Coping with Arguments Discord among Muslims on the Net

Rahima · March 10, 2005

Coping with Arguments & Discord among Muslims on the Net

Sa`d al-MÃ¢jid

Article ID: 1209 | 212 Reads

A young Muslim becomes religiously motivated. He wants to learn about his faith and turns to the Internet as a source of Islamic knowledge and as a place to find a Muslim community. He visits some Islamic websites and starts following the discussion on various Muslim online forums. What he finds is a lot of sharp criticism and people incessantly taking one another to task. Even prominent scholars seem to be involved. This disheartens and discourages the young Muslim.

All of us, as Muslims, want to see these problems go away. We want to see all the Muslims together without their polarizing themselves with their schools of thought and ideologies. However, Allah created evil as well as good, unbelief as well as faith. There is much to contend with. A Muslim needs knowledge and understanding of his religion to wade through it all. Proper knowledge bequeaths us with faith and with the fear of Allah that makes us unconcerned with the rebukes and insults of those who have evil intentions.

The ill-mannered arguments and sharp criticisms that we find young Muslims involved in on the Internet cannot be taken as indicative of true differences among Muslim. On the Net, we are dealing mainly with unknown personalities. We do not know the identities of those who are participating in online discussions. They cannot be taken as being representative of the worldâ€™s Muslims. Because of this, some of the people online are simply unscrupulous, totally unconcerned about what they say or type. Others are ignorant. Still others have truly malicious motives.

Therefore, the only disagreements that we should concern ourselves with are those coming from people of recognized knowledge and probity. When we encounter differences among known scholars on reputable, reliable websites, then we need to keep in mind that the opinions of all people are open to being accepted or rejected. The only exception to this is the Prophet (peace be upon him) in what he conveyed to us of our religion, for he had been protected from error by Allah.

We should also keep in mind that sometimes the cause of a disagreement may be that someone lacks sufficient knowledge about a particular issue. The person may be unaware of a particular relevant text. There might be some disagreement about whether a certain hadÃ®th is weak or authentic. Such is the nature of the differences that occur among scholars and students of Islamic knowledge.

As for differences found among others, they are often caused by misconceptions or personal desires. Such differences are resolved when the misconceptions are dispelled or the person puts his passions and prejudices aside and returns to the truth.

A person who does not have sufficient Islamic knowledge should steer clear of all of these disagreements that he encounters on the Internet. Following these arguments is not in any way a part of our faith. In fact, this discord likely to have a bad influence on a personâ€™s faith and may lead him to fall into some of the false notions and misconceptions that are behind it.

I wish to offer the following advice:

1. Keep the company of people who are religious, upright, and rightly-guided.

2. Participate in study groups with reputable and knowledgeable scholars and get a firm grounding in Islamic knowledge.

3. Listen to lectures that encourage good deeds and warn against falling into sin.

4. Put some effort into memorizing the Qurâ€™Ã¢n.

5. Offer more voluntary worship. Keep up the Sunnah prayers that are prescribed along with the five obligatory prayers. Fast on Mondays and Thursdays. Get up and pray in the middle of the night. Make sure to pray the Witr prayer. Get involved in helping the poor and needy.

6. Adopt good manners in your dealings with others. Always be honest. Keep your promises and fulfill your trusts.

7. Beseech Allah in supplication. An excellent supplication is: â€œO Disposer of hearts! Dispose our hearts to be obedient to You.â€ The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: â€œThe hearts of Adamâ€™s descendants are between two fingers of the Beneficent as if they were all a single heart. He turns them as he wishes.â€ Then he said: â€œO Disposer of hearts! Dispose our hearts to be obedient to You.â€ [sahÃ®h Muslim (2654)]

8. Take care not to waste time in activities that yield little or no benefit. We only have the limited time of our lives at our disposal. Why then should we squander it?

9. We should never despair of Allahâ€™s mercy. Allah will raise His word and support His religion.

TamÃ®m al-DÃ¢rÃ® relates that he heard Allahâ€™s Messenger (peace be upon him) say: â€œThis matter will reach out until to the far reaches of the day and night. Allah will not leave a mud brick house or a camelhair tent except that he will bring this religion into it â€“ making some mighty and some wretched. The might will come by Allah strengthening him with Islam and the wretchedness will be by Allah bringing him down with unbelief.â€

TamÃ®m al-DÃ¢rÃ® used to say after that: â€œI saw this for myself in my own household. I saw goodness, honor, and strength come to those among them who embraced Islam, and I saw those who rejected Islam fall into weakness, dishonor, and disgrace. [Musnad Ahmad (16509)]

10. Read books and articles that discuss the matter of disagreements among Muslims and how to cope with those disagreements. There is, for instance, an excellent article on this site entitled Between Myself and Ibn JibrÃ®n.

Rahima · March 10, 2005

Between Myself and Ibn JibrÃ®n| Sheikh Salman al-Oadah|

There are issues that I used to follow closely a while back and that would flare up from time to time. I used to refrain from responding to them, however. I had always been certain that giving such matters any extra attention would be directing my energies away from more important pursuits. Then, in spite of the fact that these issues affected me directly, I began to see that their implications extended beyond the people involved and that it was necessary to address them, not on a personal level, but in order to explain our beliefs and our religion. I still spent years avoiding these matters as much as I could, resisting the urge to responds to what was being said, waiting for a less sensitive time when addressing these issues would not be seen as a personal defense, but as a purely academic discourse.

Then I received a letter from the respected Sheikh `Abd Allah b. `Abd al-RahmÃ¢n al-JibrÃ®n that made me start thinking that the time had come for me to say what I had to say, with the hope that Allah will make what I say beneficial to us all. What I received from Ibn JibrÃ®n was a letter full of questions that he had received from a very zealous brother. All of his concerns, however, could be summed up in two major questions, and it is these two that I wish to address.

The questioner wrote:

Al-SalÃ¢m `Alaykum wa Rahmah Allah wa BarakÃ¢tuh.

We wish the respected Sheikh `Abd Allah al-JibrÃ®n to answer the following questions:

1. What is the Islamic legal ruling regarding a person who says the following about a flagrantly sinful singer:

"Allah will not forgive him unless he repents, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned that he will not be excused, saying: 'All of my people will be excused except those who are flagrant about their sins.' because he had become an apostate from Islam by his action. This man is a permanent denizen of the Fire - may Allah protect us from such a fate! - unless he repents. Why? Because he does not believe in Allah's words: 'Do not approach fornication, for it is a calumny and an evil way'. I swear by Allah, whoever knows that fornication is forbidden, is a calumny, and that it angers Allah, would never go around boasting about it before the people - in front of hundreds of thousands or millions of people."

O Sheikh `Abd Allah al-JibrÃ®n, what is the Islamic ruling on someone who says something like that? Is he not a KhÃ¢rijÃ®? Should we warn the Muslims against him for the sake of Allah and His Messenger? Should we mention him by name when we do so? Bear in mind that he has been advised about his conduct, but refuses to recant his statement.

2. What is the Islamic legal ruling about a person who makes a distinction between the divinely supported faction and the saved group and who claims that Sheikh `Abd al-`AzÃ®z b. BÃ¢z agreed with him on that matter? When Sheikh Bin BÃ¢z was asked about this, he said that he did not agree with it and said that the divinely supported faction was the same as the saved group.

Al-SalÃ¢m `Alaykum wa Rahmah Allah wa BarakÃ¢tuh.

Sheikh `Abd Allah b. JibrÃ®n graciously added the following comments to the letter and forwarded it to me.

He wrote:

`Alaykum al-SalÃ¢m wa Rahmah Allah wa BarakÃ¢tuh.

I see it appropriate to refer this matter to the respected Sheikh SalmÃ¢n b. Fahd al-Oadah so he may respond to it since he is specialized in these issues and he is best suited to discuss them with the questioner and no doubt the questioner will be satisfied by his answer if that questioner is sincere in seeking the truth. And Allah knows best. And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.

`Abd Allah b. `Abd al-RahmÃ¢n al-JibrÃ®n 22/12/1422

I sincerely desire to respond to the questioner in a manner that will not injure his feelings, and I wish to clarify the issues at hand so that, by Allah's grace, there will be no misunderstanding. The first statement about the singer was made during a public lecture that I delivered entitled "A Meeting on the Platform".

The respected brother indicated that the speaker had been advised about his conduct, but refuses to recant his statement. It seems as if he understood from my statement that I deem sinners to be unbelievers. I admit that the statement I made, on the face of it, might be understood that way if considered apart from its context and the circumstances in which it was made. Yet it is a well known fact that I made the statement in an impromptu speech given to the general public. Words spoken off the cuff are not indicative of all their implications and subtle meanings as much as they are just trying to hit home a general point. Aside from this, scholars are agreed that the indirect implications of a person's statement are not to be taken into consideration when direct, unambiguous statements to the contrary are available from the same person. Imam Ibn al-WazÃ®r discusses this matter in his book al-`AwÃ¢sim wa al-QawÃ¢sim and says that it is a matter of agreement between the people of knowledge.

The circumstances of this speaker and his well-known statements are sufficient to clarify what he meant on that occasion. However, in order to make things perfectly clear to anyone who needs clarification, I now say: No Muslim becomes an unbeliever on account of his sins as long as he does not declare these sins to be lawful acts in Islam. No one disagrees with this fact except for the sect known as the KhÃ¢rijÃ®s and those who follow in their footsteps - those who seek a way to make lawful the unjust killing of other Muslims, the seizure of their property, and the defamation of their honor.

This sect is false and those who have followed it are well known. There is no need for us to ferret out peculiarities in a person's speech to try and make him one of them. It should be assumed from the start that a Muslim is of sound beliefs. So, if a Muslim disassociates himself from the teachings of the KhÃ¢rijÃ®s, then he should be believed and his affair should be left for Allah to decide. There is no need to force this person to accept the unintended implications of a certain statement of his and then recant them.

The hypocrites came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) after his return from the Battle of TabÃ»k and offered him their excuses for why they did not participate in it. He accepted their excuses from them, sought forgiveness from them, and left their inner motivations for Allah to judge.

Today, we call the Muslims who have come together as brothers in faith to realize this type of good conduct in their interactions with each other. They should accept each other's excuses and seek forgiveness for each other. They should assume the best about each other and leave what is unseen for Allah to decide.

The statement in question was not intended to convey the meaning that the questioner understood from it. This should be clear because the printed text of the speech mentions his fornication, his seduction of young women, and his condemnation of those who do not act like he does. It mentions that he considers fornication to a sign of masculinity, a part of being young, and of being a complete person. It mentions that he makes light of his sins, even though Allah says: "Do not approach fornication, for it is a calumny and an evil way." Does anyone who believes that fornication is a calumny that brings about Allah's anger go around boasting about it?

This makes it clear that the issue at hand was not his singing to begin with, but his praise of licentious behavior, his extolling the virtues of fornication and those who engage in it, and his ridicule of those who abstain from it that they are not real men. This is quite different than just committing the sin itself.

When we look at this speech I gave, we should bear in mind that a person's words are merely the receptacle of his intended meaning. If his meaning is clear, then his choice of words may be pardoned, even if his choice of words could have been better and even if he was blatantly mistaken in his choice of words.

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) has related to us the story of a man who stumbled in his words and accidentally said: "O Allah! You are my slave and I am your Lord." That man was not sinful.

A person's words should not be taken out of context or exaggerated out of proportion. Hidden meanings should not be sought out by the listener or the reader so that the speaker can be held accountable for them, especially when the speaker's only purpose was to give advice and benefit people.

The KhÃ¢rijÃ®s had two equally corrupt tendencies that complemented each other. The first of these was extremism in matters of belief that they mistook as reverence for the sanctity of Islamic Law. They became injudicious because of their excessive tendencies and considered anyone who committed sins to be an unbeliever. The second of these tendencies stemmed from the first. It was that they aggressed against other Muslims and were violent in their conduct towards them, going so far as to deem their lives, property, and honor lawful to them.

We can thank Allah that the vast majority of Muslims do not accept the extreme views of the KhÃ¢rijÃ®s. They do not call sinners unbelievers. The number of people who subscribe to such extreme views is negligible. May Allah protect the Muslims from any harm that such people might be able to cause.

Unfortunately, there are those out there who transgress against the lives and property of other Muslims using twisted interpretations. What they are doing is dangerous. I have written extensively about them and have warned people against them. Such warnings, however, are not enough. The only way we can effectively deal with this problem is to get rid of its causes, among which are the vicious attacks and draconian limitations being foisted upon those who wish to work for Islam. These circumstances force those engaged in Islamic work to withdraw within themselves, which puts them in a situation where it becomes difficult for them to engage in needed self-assessment and correction.

Then there are those good people who possess understanding and reject the KhÃ¢rijÃ®s and their ideas, often vehemently. Sadly, however, some of them seem to have adopted for themselves one of the bad traits of the KhÃ¢rijÃ®s and that is their harsh treatment of those who disagree with them and the speed with which they are willing to heap accusations upon them. How quick they are to call other people heretics, misguided innovators, Murji'ites (1), or KhÃ¢rijÃ®s. They often do so without having any insight and without having sufficient knowledge to deal with the issues at hand. Their loyalty and their enmity for others become founded on this dubious basis. Often a young man among them gets so overwhelmed by such ideas that he spends all his time defending them and arguing about them and in the process wastes the most valuable years of his life which he could have spent increasing his knowledge and building his character.

Correcting people and clarifying the truth to them is a duty upon the people of knowledge who are qualified to do so, who possess both the knowledge and the compassion to carry it out effectively. Allah says: "We gave him mercy from Ourselves and taught him from Our knowledge." [sÃ»rah al-Kahf: 65]

People of discernment can see which efforts in Islamic work actually devour one another and cancel each other out, even though there may be a desperate need for similar efforts to be made that would prove effective, especially in a time where the Muslims are incapable of fending off their real enemies that are descending upon our lands and our wealth and interfering in every aspect of our lives.

Worse than all of this is our weakness in conveying Islam to others. While we are avidly bickering with one another on diverse matters, going around in circles without getting anywhere, four-fifths of the world are still non-Muslims, and most of them never had the message of Islam presented to them.

We should see that these two glaring problems are the real struggle that we should be preparing ourselves to engage in. We should cease attacking our brothers, preferring instead to be lenient with each other, accepting each other's excuses, and regarding each other in the best possible light. We should refrain from being severe. As for those brothers who claim to be defending the honor and reputation of certain Islamic workers, I say to them: You have done a good thing. However, it is more important for you to defend Islam and its beliefs and to try to better the sorry state of the Muslims. It is also more important for you to invite non-Muslims to Islam and work constructively in serving the religion and in developing the world.

It is not a problem if a person dies on true monotheism but has a bad opinion about me. It is, though, a problem for that person to die in ignorance of Allah, His religion, and His Law, or to die ignorant of His Book and His Messengers. We all know that the efforts that we can expend on our religion are limited by many constraints, so why then should we not concentrate on what is more important and beneficial?

The second issue brought up by our zealous questioner is that I make a distinction between the saved group and the divinely supported faction. He also brings up that I claimed Ibn BÃ¢z agreed with me on this issue but that he actually disagreed and said they were both the same thing.

There is nothing wrong with investigating this issue, since it is a topic that always rewards reflection. Nevertheless, it is not a big issue. It is merely a matter of scholars comparing the meanings of different hadÃ®th texts, as was done by the likes of al-TahÃ¢wÃ®, Ibn Qutaybah, Ibn Hajar, Ibn Taymiyah, and al-NawawÃ®. It is the same as what the commentators of the Qur'Ã¢n do when they compare and contrast the meanings of the words in its texts. These activities often lead to indecision and unintentional errors of judgment. The Muslims have been spared the sin of such mistakes, since the Prophet (peace be upon him) has informed us that a scholar who exercises his judgment will get two rewards if he is correct and one reward if he is mistaken.

Scholars have discussed matters of far more importance that the one we are concerned with here. Take, for example the meaning of Islam and that of faith. Some said both mean the same thing, others understood from each term a distinct meaning, and still others saw a distinction between the two in some circumstances only. Each of these positions has been held by scholars of great prominence. None of them became worthy of harsh treatment on account of their opinion, since the issue is a very particular academic matter. Ibn Taymiyah deals with this issue in detail in his book entitled KitÃ¢b al-ÃŽmÃ¢n (The Book of Faith).

The opinion that I gave in my book series RasÃ¢'il al-GhurabÃ¢' came as a commentary on the texts. I consider my opinion to be correct, but concede the possibility that I might be wrong. Likewise, I believe the opinion on this issue held by our questioning brother is wrong, but I hold out the possibility that he is right. There is no absolute certainty on this issue. It is not a matter of consensus, but a matter open to discussion.

Actually, some of the people who quote me on this matter make it seem as if I consider the saved group to be a completely separate and distinct entity from the divinely supported faction, which is not the case at all. I actually maintain that the saved group is a more general term than the divinely supported faction, with the divinely supported faction making up part of the saved group. Many Muslims attain salvation, even if they did not receive divine support in this world. The Companions who disagreed with each other and fought with each other were all saved, but not all of them enjoyed divine support in those matters of contention. I advise anyone who is interested to refer to what Ibn Taymiyah wrote on the matter: [al-FatÃ¢wÃ¢ 4/443-450 and 4/467-470]

The Qur'Ã¢n lends support to this position. Allah says: "It is not for the believers to go forth together. Of every group a faction should go forth to devote themselves to acquiring knowledge of the religion so they can admonish the people when they return, that perhaps they will guard themselves." [sÃ»rah al-Tawbah: 122]

In this verse, a faction is more specific than a group. In the Arabic language a faction (tÃ¢'ifah) is smaller than a group (firqah). Even a single individual can be called a faction, as some commentators understand to be the case in the following verse: "And let a faction of the believers witness their punishment." [surah al-NÃ»r: 2]

My position is further supported by the fact that the two words not only indicate different meanings, but they are qualified by two distinct descriptive terms. One of them is describes as "saved" and the other is described as "divinely supported". The general rule in the language is that such differences in construction indicate a difference in meaning. And Allah knows best.

In any event, I never said that the divinely supported faction is completely different than the saved group. I only said the divinely supported faction is part of the saved group. Some people can attain salvation even if they fall into some error, although they will not enjoy divine support. Other people will have both salvation and divine support.

I have dealt with this issue in depth in other writings and I see no reason to go into greater detail here. As for the position that the two terms are synonymous, it also has its strong points.

Sheikh NÃ¢sir al-DÃ®n al-AlbÃ¢nÃ® writes the following on this issue in his work Silsilah al-AhÃ¢dÃ®th al-SahÃ®hah:

"As for the idea promoted by one of our brother Islamic workers that there is a difference between the divinely supported faction and the saved group, it is an opinion of his that I do not see as too far from the truth. It has already been mentioned that the opinion of the hadÃ®th scholars is that the divinely supported faction are the people of hadÃ®th. We know for a fact that most of the saved group are not scholars of Islam at all, and definitely not all of them are specialists in hadÃ®th. Can we not see that the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are the best representatives of the saved group, and it is for this reason we are commanded to adhere to their ways? In spite of this, they were not all scholars; most of them followed the scholars among them. Therefore, it is clear that a group is more general than a faction. At the same time, I see no great benefit in arguing about this point. We should strive instead to maintain our unity and continue working for Islam." [1/932]

I admit that the terms "divinely supported" and "saved" are synonymous to a degree, since the reasons for salvation, taken together, are the reasons for divine support. Likewise, divine support is only enjoyed by people who are on the path to salvation. Therefore, there is a common denominator between the two terms. This does not mean, however, that they correspond exactly. It is possible that they are utterly synonymous, which is the opinion of some of our brothers. It is also possible that one is more general than the other, which is the opinion that we prefer. The fact that one word is more general than another does not rule out a general sense of synonymy between them.

If we accept the view that our questioner seems to prefer that the terms "divinely supported" and "saved" agree in meaning absolutely, then I feel that in this case the terms still differ in their degree of intensity. Many scholars of Ahl al-Sunnah maintain that two words can disagree in the intensity of their meaning are still be in absolute agreement as to the meaning that they share. These words can still take on different shades of meaning depending on the contexts in which they are found. Scholars are agreed that a word in a given context often has a different meaning than a word taken by itself.

It is an indisputable fact that there are differences between believers in their spiritual status and in their works. Paradise has many levels. The inhabitants of these many levels differ according to the differences in what they earned in their worldly lives. There are the prophets, there are those who possessed absolutely certain faith, there are the martyrs, and there are the righteous. There will be people in Paradise who are not on the level of any of these. Some people will enter Paradise without having to face judgment. Others will have to enter Hell for a time before being allowed into Paradise. Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Allah has prepared 100 levels of Paradise for those who fight in Allah's cause. The distance between any two of these levels is like the distance between the sky and the Earth. So when you ask for Paradise, ask for al-Firdaws, for it is the highest, most central place in Paradise. Above it is the Throne of the Beneficent and from it spring forth the rivers of Paradise."

Scholars have offered many approaches to classifying the people into their varying degrees. The scholars of ethics and character development have been the ones to engage in this activity. They differed in their classifications because of the different factors that they took into consideration and because of the degree of detail they were willing to pursue in this regard.

One of the underlying themes of Islamic Law is the justice that it brings about by putting everything in its proper place and giving every individual his or her rights. People are of different degrees in their faith and their works. Whenever a person attains a certain level of development; he then must strive to attain the one that is above it. Allah says: "And those who strive in Our cause, We will surely guide them to Our paths, for verily Allah is with those do right." [sÃ»rah al-`AnkabÃ»t: 69]

The most important point that must be understood from all of this is that we should busy ourselves with knowledge that will benefit us, and we should consider such knowledge in high regard. We should not use knowledge to dispute with each other and become distracted from our goals and objectives.

______________________

(1) The Murji'ites were an early Islamic sect that held extremist views diametrically opposed to those held by the KhÃ¢rijÃ®s. They claimed that no degree of sin would have any negative effect on a person as long as that person possessed faith.

Nur · March 17, 2005

Rahima sis

Jazaaklillahi Khairan for the enlighted article, the gist of the article was about an Aqeedah principle known as istixlaal. I do not think that the Sheikhs have desservingly addressed.

In one of my oldest posts about issues on Aqeedah, I've addressed the connection between sin and kufr and Nifaaq. Now let us walk through some principles in aqeedah so we can clearly see what went wrong above.

Sinning in its most primitive definition is a vioaltion of Allah's order, in Arabic, we say Macsiyah. In nature a sin is a temporary event as opposed to a permanent habit, its fluke driven by lust, a opposed by a a calculated, well thought of plan.

To plan a sin beforehand, execute it without a guilt, and then boast about it as a great acheivement, then call others to practice it, is a sin, all right, but a sin in the same league with that of satan's.

In the days to come isnhaAllah, I will shed more light on this very sensitive topic known as Istixlaal, or legalizing and justifying a devine violation

Nur

Baashi · March 17, 2005

Good one Rahima. I don't have much to add except that Istixlaal in Somali means Baneysi.

Rahima · March 18, 2005

Nur,

A young Muslim becomes religiously motivated. He wants to learn about his faith and turns to the Internet as a source of Islamic knowledge and as a place to find a Muslim community. He visits some Islamic websites and starts following the discussion on various Muslim online forums. What he finds is a lot of sharp criticism and people incessantly taking one another to task. Even prominent scholars seem to be involved. This disheartens and discourages the young Muslim.

I read this and it was almost like reading my life. At the young age of 16 I decided and consciously acknowledged that I was the slave of Allah and hence had to be obedient to the best of my ability. Considering that I did not have many other avenues to gain Islamic knowledge, like many others I turned to the net. After two years or so, I became so disheartened and stopped reading these sites. Instead of gaining more hope in the ummah, my heart was slowly dying and lost almost all hope. I canâ€™t tell you how sad I was, Iâ€™d go to our local Islamic center and they would be talking about the brothers and sisters down the road as though they were enemy no. 1 and then come on the net to find the same.

The only things, which kept me in the circle, were your posts brother Nur and the Somali dugsi, which I attended weekly. Iâ€™d come for my weekly dose of Imaan-booster and as it began to wither away Iâ€™d come back for another shot. And with that I await with anticipation your points on Istixlaal (jzk for the translation Baashi ).

Nur · March 18, 2005

Rahiima sis

You are talking for the two of us, I pretty much went through the path you've just described, initially, when we all realize the greatness of our faith its simpliciy its value we become at awe of its splendor, Islam takes over our lives like a Tsunami, I remember when i first took Islam to my heart at 18 that It was the most bewutiful thing that ever happend to me, I immediately changed my outfit and wore a thowb and kufia, to show my new identity and to ward off my old friends who were amazed and insulted at my new identity, some who even converted to Christianity later.

In the years that followed, I came across all streams of the Islamic renaissance movement, from Tabligh to Taxriir and anything between, I read all of their curriculms, found peace and meaning in all of what I have read, saw light were they saw darkness, hope were they saw danger, understanding were they saw conflict, I approached Allah SWT, when I found that He was the only true friend i had amidst the confusion I found myself in. I knew, that something was drastically wrong with the Islamic circles that propogate the spread of Islam, many of these groups were led by a single agenda and a man, and not by consensus nor by a wholesome approach in isntilling Islam to a new generation living in new realities, disagreement between these groups cerated animosity and hatred that led to their collective demise and failure in delivering the dawa work, Allah SWT says " Falamma nasuu maa dhukkiruu bihi,aghreynaa beynahumul cadaawata wal baghdaa" " when they've forgotten a portion of what they were instructed to do, we have casued enemity and hatred to flourisg between them ". What was forgotten by almost all these groups was that the Islamic work should have been complementary not contradictory, inclussive and not exclussive, it was meant to close gaps and focus on delivering this great faith to all mankind, but unfortumately, several factors played into the equation that caused these divisions and hatred to reach chaotic levels:

1. Ignorance : a) Basics of Aqeedah, b)The Moral of The Sharia ( Usuul ul Sharia) c) Fiqhul Dawa ( The Knowledge body of Islamic propogation) d)The Science of Hadeeth ( Cilmul Xadeeth) e) Contemporary moral and political issues and their impact on our faith f)Quraanic interpreatation in light of contemporary issues, g) Hadeeth interpreatation in light of conteporary issues h) The Biography of the Prophet SAWS and lessons to be learned from the early Meccan prosecution days to the flourishing of Islam

2. Lack of Worship : a) Regular reading and living with the Quraan b)Application of sunnah to our private lives c) Enjoyment of Prayers and effort for the Night prayers, helping of the poor, assisting the needy, forgiving wrong doers, showing tolerance and patience for the love of allah e)Love of Allah SWT and the enjoyment of his company in all of our actions.

3. Lack of Ikhlaas ( Sincerity) : a) Attacking people and not the problems, b) Not learning from one another due to envy c) Considering issues that can be interepreted in different ways that they are black and white d) loyalty to a group more than to Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger e) love of fame f) Non aceptance of criticism.

This coul well be a new thread of its own right, inshAllah I will launch another thread to address the above problems and ways to solve, I pray for Allah's tawfeeq in all of our endeavors and forgiveness for our mistakes. Amen

Nur

Nur · March 23, 2005

Istixlaal

A Somali aquaintance of mine once approached me with the weirdest request ever: He asked me if I could arrange his marriage ceremony with his Somali live-in girl friend. I gues in this time and age, we Somalis have come a long way from days we consdiered such living arrangements as non acceptable to even utter. Enter the twenty first century, oh boy!, do I feel a stranger in a fast paced world?

I asked the guy, " why he wanted to go through the trouble of marriage if he is already living with the woman?" he said, " she is worried about her folks ", and that was the only consideration in his and her minds, they see absolutely nothing wrong with cohabitation. welcome to the Aqeedah principle of Istixlaal or (Banneysi) as brother Baashi put it.

I declined NOT to get involved, but in the days that follwed that incidence, the discussion trigerred a yearning to read on aqeedah books about the ruling of such situations and people.

I knew that humans are prone to sin, and that a sin is not kufr in itself but can lead to kufr, just like an ailment is not death but can lead to death, however, I wanted to know where is the borderline that divides a sin from blatant kufr.

These days, amid the confusion and arguments about violations of islamic principles, we find that some Muslims would jump the gun on anyone to declare them a kafir without the blink of an eye, while on the other side, some Muslims would always find an excuse for anyone who no matter how extreme their actions or views are.

Usually, when the latter group comes to the defence of a Sinner who commits a sin that is tanatamount to Kufr, they say that if the sinner who committed a Kufr action or said a Kufr word believes that his actions and words were not halaal, then he is a sinner not a kafir, on the other hand, theys say if he is unrepentent and believes that he did nothing wrong, then he is a kafir.

The above classification is very popular among many present day scholars of the sharia, although there is no clear proof ( Daleel) from the Sharia, Quraan and the Sunnah to support such statement.

The earliest recorded incidence in which such argument was used that i could find was during Al Qadi Ciyaadh's time when a man in Iraq was reported to have insulted the Prophet SAWS. The scholars at the time differed, some ruling that the man became a kafir for insulting the prophet SAWS, and others maintained that if the man considered his action to be halaal, then he was kaafir, if on the other hand, he believed that his insults were not halaal, then his insult is a sin.

The problem with the above is that, the Qaadi Ciyaadh reported it from Mutakallimin ( Polemics masters) in Iraq who were not considered competent in Sharia at their times. Ibn Taymia in his famous book, Al Sarimul Masluul, says that the above classification has no oigin ( ASL) in Quraan and Sunnah.

The Salaf of the Ummah are in consensus that if anyone commits an action that is in the Kufr category, that the person becomes a kafir, regardless if he claims his actions halaal or not, because the fact that the person is not repenting from his deeds is sufficient to prove that he considers his actions or words to be halaal. Because iimaan ( belief) and Kufr are abstracts, we detect their existence through their fruits; actions or words, so whenever an action that is deemed to be iimaan is done, the we say that person is Mumin, according to the Hadeeth that if a man is seen praying regularly in the Masjid, we should become his witnesses that he is a believer, likewise, if a person commits an action that has no other explanation other than being a blatant disregard of our faith, then that person is what he has said or does, we should not separate the crime from the criminal.

In conclusion, if a person does an action that is Nifaaq, or kufr, then he becomes either a Munafiq or a kafir due to his actions, because iimaan is qowl and camal, deeds and words, and the words are further divided to words of the mouth, which require to be verified by actions, according to the Hadeeth, that iimaan is something in the heart, verified by deeds.

Walllahu aclam.

Nur

Rahima · March 25, 2005

^ Very interesting. I was always under the impression that for a person to be a kaffir, not only does he have to of have committed an act of kufr, but be unrepentant, continue to indulge in the sin and also believe that it is allowed (unless of course they were unaware, and once they have been told, if they continue with this opinion then he/she becomes a kaffir).

So now brother Nur, you say that the Scholars of the salaf, deem it enough for a person to persist in an act of Kufr to become a kaffir, he/she does not even need to believe in it's legitimacy for them to be classified as such?

Could you please elaborate on this topic, more importantly the daleel from Q&S and the views of the scholars. I realise you must be busy, but i am extremely curious, your points derail all that i have been taught on this topic.

Nur · March 25, 2005

Rahima sis

You write:

So now brother Nur, you say that the Scholars of the salaf, deem it enough for a person to persist in an act of Kufr to become a kaffir, he/she does not even need to believe in it's legitimacy for them to be classified as such?

Walaalo, the way to cure this aqeedah topic is dependent on your firm understanding of a timelessly useful arrticle I wrote many years ago, which since, I have reposted many times, the reason being that I tried my best to dig deep into the original Tawheed principles of Ahlul Sunnah wal Jamaaca before the corruption of latent groups like the Khawaarij and Murjia'a, Muctazilah and the like, and then simplify it for the lay person who does not have as much time as talabatul cilm al sharci.

Please in case you have already had a chance to read that old post, please read it again. This time, please focus on your question about Istixlaal, I am sure you will get the answer within the context, if not, I will explain it in depth. In addition, pay a close attention to italicized passages and paragraphs and bold letters for clues to your question.

Below is the text:

Am I A Munafiq?

Well, that is a difficult question, first let us learn the relationship between iimaan, sin and kufr to see where nifaaq belongs.

1. No Soul will go to Jannah which is not a Muslim(a)

2. No one can be Muslim without Shahaada (Tawxiid)

3. Shahaada is information, we are required to believe in and bear witness thereof.

4. The test to see if we indeed believe in information represented by the Shahaada are our deeds:

So our faith is composed of a

A. set of Information we are required to believe.

B. Set of Commands we are ordered to obey

The extent of your belief in the information that our Prophet SAWS delivered is measured by the extent of orders that we obey.

In other words, our obedience to the orders of Allah, is a reflection of our belief in the information delivered to us.

So , Islam is composed of a two sets:

A) A set of information to be believed in, like Allah, Jannah, angels, etc .

B) A set of orders to abide with, such as Prayers, (Salat), Fasting, Upholding Justice, etc .

The orders are subdivided in to two categories:

1.Orders to do something

2.Orders to stay away from doing something

If Allah orders us to do something, and we fail to comply, the reason could be:

a. We do not believe in the information

b. We believe in it but we are arrogant

c. We are MENTALLY CHALLENGED

If (a) that is clear kufr

If (b) That is also kufr, the type of Sheitan

If © We may be the same case like a crazy person, Mentally Challenged, no responsibility.

If we are ordered to stay away from something, and we do not, we have the following scenario:

a. We do not believe in the information b. We are arrogant

c. We can not resist temptation

d. We are MENTALLY CHALLENGED

All but case © are covered above.

If case © is the situation, then that is called disobedience (Sin)(Macsiyah) and it is what Adam and Eve , (Hawaa) aleyhimaa assalaam have committed. It does not make one a kaafir by itself. ( The Khawaarij are the only to claim that a sin can make one a Kafir )

To generalize the above.

If a person does something he is ordered not to do, the driver is more likely weakness against temptation, and that person is not a kaafir, this is the case of Adam and Eve, Aleyhimaa assalaam .

If a person refuses to do something he is ordered to do, the driver of his action is more likely arrogance, like the case of Sheitan .

Now we visit a new territory:

There is a principle for detecting iiman ( Faith) levels developed by Sheikh Ibn Taymiyah. Called (Talaazumul Dhaahir wal Baatin )( Synregy of the Apparent actions of a person with the Hidden Motives within the consciousness )

I will simplify it for you again.

The inside beliefs and the outward actions of a person are always working in harmony. Except when an outside disturbance influences that person attention. When as a result, the outwardly actions of that person projects and acts contrary of what is supposed to be inside .

Meaning.

In Systems Science, when we input a signal into a balanced system, we observe an output that reflects the shape of the original signal output + the function of the signal that operated on the system.

In the absence of outside disturbance, we can always predict the output. But when an outside element disturbs the system, the output will not be predictable.

A person who is a kaafir therefore will normally act as a kaafir. Sabeelul kaafireen

And a person who is a muslim will always act like a Muslim. Sabeelul Mumineen

In general, if you leave anyone alone, what he/she does is reflecting what they believe . But the minute that person feels that he/she is being observed, that feeling will somewhat effect the action of that person.

An example is when you catch a child making funny faces on a mirror the child will immediately alter his behaviour to an acceptable manner. This is called conforming.

So, when a Kaafir lives with Muslims, he may act like Muslim, to avoid problems. He is called a Munaafiq .

And a Muslim who lives with Kufaar may at times act like kuffar, to avoid problems. He is called Mukrah .

Now, a Somali Nomad who lives in Somalia, USA or Europe, is free to practice his faith, so if that person does not practice, or he acts contrary to his faiths tenets, his actions are an indicators of what is missing in his heart. In this case the actions or their absence are an indictor of the iimaan inside that person.

However a Muslim who lives in tyranny, his actions may not be indicator of his belief. Because, if this person practices his faith, he is afraid for his life. As a result this person conceals his faith portraying himself as non Muslim, when in effect he fully believes his faith and is willing tp practise it to the fullest if he was not afraid. His fear, though could be justifiable or may be unjustifiable, in which case he is in grave error.

Allah says : Are they same he who spends all his nights praying and prostrating, alert for aakhirah, and the one who is in darkness..............................."

Nasalu Allaha al caafiyah. Aamin

Istixlaal

A Somali aquaintance of mine once approached me with the weirdest request ever: He asked me if I could arrange his marriage ceremony with his Somali live-in girl friend. I gues in this time and age, we Somalis have come a long way from days we consdiered such living arrangements as non acceptable to even utter. Enter the twenty first century, oh boy!, do I feel a stranger in a fast paced world?

I asked the guy, " why he wanted to go through the trouble of marriage if he is already living with the woman?" he said, " she is worried about her folks ", and that was the only consideration in his and her minds, they see absolutely nothing wrong with cohabitation. welcome to the Aqeedah principle of Istixlaal or (Banneysi) as brother Baashi put it.

I declined NOT to get involved, but in the days that follwed that incidence, the discussion trigerred a yearning to read on aqeedah books about the ruling of such situations and people.