Tag: Islam

  • All we do is talk talk…

    We spend too much time researching and articulating our differences and too little time on our character. It’s easier to be an armchair critic than it is to be a practising philosopher. Discussing and debating ideals and perspectives is great, but like everything else, only in moderation. If my dashboard is anything to go by, then there is a very definite disparity in the amount of effort applied to practising, compared to discussing and refuting.

    Surely Islam has more to offer than the excessive debates between sects and madhabs? The next time you feel inclined to post something, reflect on whether it is pre-emptive, constructive or simply argumentative? More often than not, it’s argumentative hidden behind the guise of it being an effort to guide a potentially innocent person that may stumble across the misleading interpretation or viewpoints being rebutted.

    I think that if we focused more on practising our deen and less on debating it, we may just find that the true beauty of Imaan is realised rather than the incessant debating that prevents us from uniting.

  • They are the losers, those who make the religion hard and tough. They imperil themselves who enforce tough practices of Islam. They destroy themselves, those who are extremes.

    Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

  • Should we follow our Madhab, or follow the Hadith?

    Knowledge before action & speech: Should we follow our Madhab or Follow the Hadiths? (When they contradict)

    albosnawee:

    If a person is learning fiqh from one of the four madhhabs, then he sees a hadeeth that opposes his madhhab; and so he follows it and leaves his madhhab – then this is recommended, rather it is obligatory upon him when the proof has been made clear to him. This would not be considered as opposing his Imaam that he follows, since they – Abu Haneefah, Maalik, ash-Shaafiee and Ahmad, radiallaahu anhum ajmaeen – were all agreed upon this fundamental principle.… As for the case whereby a person does not have any evidence which opposes the view of the scholars of the madhhab, then we hope that it is permissible to act upon it (the madhhab), since their opinions are better than our own opinions; they took their proofs from the sayings of the Companions and those who came after them. However, it is not essential to declare with certainty (al-jazm) that this is the Shareeah of Allaah and His Messenger, until the proof that is not contradicted in this issue is made clear. This is the action of the Salaf of this Ummah and its scholars – both previous and recent – as well as that which they criticised: namely having bigotted partisanship for particular madhhabs and leaving off following the proof… However, if there becomes clear to him something which necessitates preferring one saying over another; either due to detailed proofs if he knows and understands them, or because he holds one of the two people to be more knowledgeable about this matter and having more piety about what he says, and so he leaves the saying of that one for the saying of the other one – then this is permissible, rather it is obligatory. And there is a text from Imaam Ahmad concerning this.

    Shaykh ul-Islaam Muhammad bin `Abdul-Wahhaab

    Ad-Durur-Saniyyah (4/7).

  • On Choosing A Sect

    These thoughts have plagued me for a long time now, and reading through some posts this morning further cemented my views on whether or not I should choose a specific madhab. 

    I’ve traditionally been raised as part of the Hanafi madhab, but have had significant exposure to the Shafi madhab as well. And given the few contradictions of practices between the two that I have personally experienced, it always left me wondering why should there be two or more different schools of thought to begin with? 

    Perhaps I’m over-simplifying a complex issue, but I would be more inclined to believe that most over-complicate a simple issue. For me it’s quite simple. Unless the action or practice was specifically forbidden, it is allowed. Even the Prophet (SAW) was not allowed to make something haraam that Allah had declared halaal. So how can anyone else come along and profess to know better?

    I once entered a prayer facility where there was a man from the Shafi madhab preparing to pray his Asr salaah, whilst a man from the Hanafi madhab was preparing to pray his Dhuhr salaah. Within the context of their specific schools of thought, they were both right, but surely logic dictates that only one of them could be correct? I could never receive a satisfactory answer to this dilemma, except for a feeble attempt from one Aalim stating that the madhab of the chosen Imam for that salaah between the two of them would prevail. That would mean that the Hanafi follower would potentially miss his Dhuhr salaah if the Shafi follower was Imam?

    It simply doesn’t make sense to me, and I’ve always found Islam to be extremely sensible. Therefore I can only conclude that the intent of the scholars was entirely misconstrued because of excessive interpretations and implementations of their teachings resulting in the mess we have today. The dogmatic application of the schools of thought have done nothing but driven a wedge between communities based on a scholar’s interpretation of the Sunnah.

    For this reason, I have chosen to follow the least restrictive guidelines in any given situation since at no point did anyone prove that either of the madhabs are incorrect. Which to me implies that it was all about context. And because we don’t seem to understand context and principles more often than not, we end up applying rulings out of context and then insist that it’s beyond reproach because the scholars said so. I refuse to limit the scope of my Imaan or my application of the Sunnah to the views of a single scholar, or to fit in with a specific community. 

    Islam is clear about Halaal and Haraam. The rest is open to debate and conjecture and is often defended based on egos and obstinacy. That is the doubtful parts that I will avoid as best as I can. Insha-Allah. 

  • Why follow blindly?

    There’s a thought that’s been in the back of my mind for some time now. I’ve touched on this in several posts recently but still feel a need to spill these thoughts further. I’m constantly confused by how much emphasis is placed on the actions of pious predecessors, especially when the focus appears to be on mimicking their actions rather than understanding and applying the principles that gave rise to it. 

    It gets even worse when I see people suddenly quoting examples from the lifestyles of the pious scholars, even though there are much more poignant and admirable examples from the life of our Prophet (pbuh) as well as his companions. And this all supports my view about the cult-ish tones that are rife in the Ummah these days. 

    We all believe we’re that one sect of the seventy three that will enter Jannah, yet I keep wondering what was really meant by that Hadith that talks about the strangers, and glad tidings to those strangers, and on what basis do any of us hold a claim to be that chosen group? Isn’t that in itself arrogance, which is an attribute of the dwellers of Hell? I worry incessantly about the Hadith that reminds us that if our destiny has been pre-ordained for us to be in Hell, that we will fulfill that fate in the last moments of our lives, despite having lived a good life to that point.

    Then I’m also reminded of the fact that our sincere duas and efforts can alter this destiny of ours, but since we have no guarantee that such duas are answered, the sincere humility that it begs is something we can never afford to take for granted. So it all brings me back to the start of this brain dump, which is simply, instead of trying to imitate the actions of the saintly, shouldn’t we rather be striving to understand and appreciate the principles of Islam that they subscribed to? Only through understanding are we ever able to implement it within the context of our own lives, which to me, is the foundation for sincerity of intention. 

    I don’t know…sometimes it just feels like we’ve taken the beauty and simplicity of Imaan and turned it into a ritualistic cult that only the conformers to other’s interpretations of Islamic customs qualify for admission, and none shall have a right to question such interpretations except the chosen few with the appropriate man-endowed titles symbolising their scholarly endeavours that separates them from the awwaam.

  • My Struggle Continues

    It tires me just thinking about how futile some struggles can be. Many of my struggles fit this description quite well. Seeing all the posts about Muharram, about special occasions, about noted personalities, and scholarly quotes, and admirable leaders…all this sometimes inspires me, but most times it tires me. 

    It reminds me of how much people focus their lives around special occasions and forget to live in between. It reminds me about how so many become cult followers of notable personalities and inadvertently create sects within the Ummah. I see people arguing about who should have been the leader of the Muslims after the demise of our beloved Prophet (pbuh) as if that would influence their imaan or standing in Allah’s eyes as individuals…and they forget how many transgressions they commit in the process of such useless debate. 

    We’ve become historians about Islam more than we are believers…we need so badly to be right about whose view is correct and whose is kufr that we’ve lost sight of the essence of Islam. We focus on who practices which rituals and compartmentalise them so that it’s easy to define where they fit in the hierarchy of believers, as if we’re even capable of gauging the true worth of anyone. And all this leaves me feeling quite disillusioned about life and this Ummah that I so desperately want to feel a part of…but I don’t.

    I feel like I’m on the outside looking in, despite sharing the same articles of faith, and the same passion for peace and tranquility of the soul in finding serenity in the remembrance of Allah. But…sigh…it doesn’t seem to matter. Presentation is much more important than substance these days. The embellishment of the facade determines our worth in the eyes of others…reminds me of something someone posted recently that struck a chord with me…despite your best intentions, society will judge you by your appearance, but despite your best appearance, Allah will judge you by your intentions. Still, we focus on appearance…we focus on appearance…and social circles…and prestige…and social standing…and outward religiosity…and when this becomes the preoccupation of my mind, I remind myself that a prostitute was granted Jannah for a single sincere act of kindness to a dog…that same prostitute would have been openly declared by many a scholar as being a kaafir because of her chosen line of work…or her dress code…or her social standing…yet she was a Jannati…but STILL, we judge by appearance…and have useless debates that never strengthens our imaan but only strengthens our pride or arrogance because of our skill at debating and nothing more…it’s so tiring…utterly exhausting…

  • Often, after a tedious debate about atheism versus theism, the residual thought that keeps floating in my head is the last verse of Surah Kaafirun. And then I wonder why I had the debate to begin with. But I always get sucked into the debate anyway. It all feels so futile sometimes. But I guess I could never sum it up better than this Surah does…It confirms that unless there is a willingness to consider the alternative, we’ll always be locked in our own views of faith and belief. So instead of continuing the insane pattern of reblogging and debating, this is my reminder to myself, and anyone else that I may have been engaging in any discussion (meaningful or not) about issues of faith.

    Lakum, deenukum, wa liyadeen…to you is your way and to me is mine. 

    I’ll try to restrain myself to the point of only establishing understanding, but not to go as far as trying to convince. 

    (Source: http://www.youtube.com/)

  • If we would like to know if a religion is true or false, we should not depend on our emotions, feelings, or traditions. Rather, we should depend on our reason and intellect.

    From the book “A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam (via anjodepernastortas)

    This sums up the logic that I try to apply to everything spiritual and religious. Those that claim that Islamic customs or laws are not always supposed to be logical because of its mystical inferences are missing the point. Just because we don’t understand or appreciate the logic behind something now, doesn’t mean that that logic doesn’t exist. It just means that we have more to learn before it becomes clearer to us.