IGNORANCE is the root cause
of Extremism!
By: Shahid Bin Waheed
In this
treatise we will discuss the meaning of extremism according to Islaam and the
command to remain along the Straight Path to avoid EXTREMISM.
Allaah (SWT)
has thought Muslims to pray in each five daily prayer and act upon in Surah
Fâtihah,
Surah Al-Fatiha 6
Guide us to the Straight Way. {1}
{1} (V.1: 6) Guidance is of two kinds: a)
Guidance of Taufîq
i.e.,
totally from Allâh, i.e. Allâh opens one’s heart to receive the truth (from
disbelief to Belief in Islâmic Monotheism). b) Guidance of Irshâd i.e. through
preaching by Allâh’s Messengers and the pious preachers who preach the truth
i.e. Islâmic Monotheism.
Surah Al-Fatiha 7
The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace {1} , not (the way) of
those who earned Your Anger {2} , nor of those who
went astray {3} {4} {5} .
{1} (V.1: 7) i.e. the way of the Prophets, the Siddîqûn (i.e. those followers of the Prophet, who were first and foremost to believe in him, like Abu Bakr As-Siddîq), the martyrs and the righteous, (as Allâh عز وجل said: "And whoso obeys Allâh and the Messenger (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم), then they will be in the company of those on whom Allâh has bestowed His Grace, of the Prophets, the Siddîqûn, the martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are!" (V.4: 69)).
{2} (V.1: 7) Narrated ‘Adi bin Hâtim رضي الله عنه: I asked Allâh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, about the Statement of Allâh: 1. " غير المغضوب عليهم Ghairil-maghdûbi ‘alaihim (not the way of those who earned Your Anger)," he صلى الله عليه وسلم replied, "They are the Jews". And 2. ولا الضالين Wa la d-dâllîn (nor of those who went astray)," he صلى الله عليه وسلم replied: "The Christians, and they are the ones who went astray" (This Hadith is quoted by At-Tirmidhi and Abu Dâwûd ).
{3}
(V.1: 7) Narration about Zaid bin ‘Amr
bin Nufail. Narrated ‘Abdullâh
bin ‘Umar رضي الله عنهما: The Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم met Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail in the bottom of (the valley of) Baldah
before the descent of any Divine revelation to the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم.
A meal was presented to the Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم but he refused to eat from it. (Then it
was presented to Zaid) who said, "I do not eat anything which you
slaughter on your Nusub * in the name of your idols etc. I eat only
those (animals) on which Allâh’s Name
has been mentioned at the time of (their) slaughtering. "Zaid bin ‘Amr used to criticize the way Quraish used to
slaughter their animals and used to say, "Allâh has created the sheep and
He has sent the water for it from the sky, and He has grown the grass for it
from the earth; yet you slaughter it in others than the Name of Allâh." He
used to say so, for he rejected that practice and considered it as something
abominable. * Nusub See the glossary. Narrated Ibn ‘Umar رضي
الله عنهما: Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail went to Shâm (the region
comprising Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan), enquiring about a true
religion to follow. He met a Jewish religious scholar and asked him about their
religion. He said, "I intend to embrace your religion, so tell me
something about it." The Jew said, "You will not embrace our religion
unless you receive your share of Allâh’s
Anger." Zaid said, "I do not run except from Allâh’s Anger, and I will never bear a bit of it if I
have the power to avoid it. Can you tell me of some other religion?" He
said, "I do not know any other religion except Hanîf (Islâmic
Monotheism)" Zaid enquired, "What is Hanîf?"
He said, " Hanîf is the religion of (the Prophet) Ibrâhîm عليه السلام he was neither a Jew nor a Christian, and
he used to worship none but Allâh (Alone) - Islâmic Monotheism." Then Zaid
went out and met a Christian religious scholar and told him the same (as
before). The Christian said, "You will not embrace our religion unless
you get a share of Allâh’s
Curse." Zaid replied, "I do not run except from Allâh’s Curse, and I will never bear any of Allâh’s Curse and His Anger if I have the power to
avoid them. Will you tell me of some other religion?" He replied, "I
do not know any other religion except Hanîf (Islâmic
Monotheism)." Zaid enquired, "What is Hanîf? "
He replied " Hanîf is the religion of (the Prophet) Ibrâhîm عليه السلام he was neither a Jew nor a Christian, (and
he used to worship none but Allâh (Alone) - Islâmic Monotheism." When Zaid
heard their statement about (the religion of) Ibrâhîm, he left that place, and
when he came out, he raised both his hands and said, "O Allâh! I make You my
Witness that I am on the religion of Ibrâhîm". Narrated Asmâ’ bint Abî Bakr رضي
الله عنهما I saw Zaid bin ‘Amr bin Nufail standing with his back against
the Ka‘bah and saying, "O
people of Quraish! By Allâh, none amongst you is on the religion of Ibrâhîm
except me." She added: He (Zaid) used to preserve the lives of little
girls; if somebody wanted to kill his daughter he would say to him, "Do
not kill her for I will feed her on your behalf." So he would take her,
and when she grew up nicely, he would say to her father, "Now if you will
(wish), I will give her to you, and if you will (wish), I will feed her on your
behalf." (Sahih Al-Bukhâri,
Vol.5, Hadîth No. 169).
{4}
(V.1: 7): Narrated ‘Ubâdah bin As-Sâmit رضي الله عنه Allâh’s
Messenger صلى الله
عليه وسلم said, "Whoever does not recite Sûrat Al-Fâtihah in his
prayer, his prayer is invalid. (Sahih Al-Bukhâri,
Vol.1, Hadîth
No. 723).
{5}
(V.1: 7): Narrated Abu Hurairah رضي الله
عنه:
Allâh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه
وسلم
said, "When the Imâm says: Ghairi
l-maghdûbi ‘alaihim Wa la d-dâllîn (i.e.
not the way of those who earned Your Anger, nor the way of those who went
astray (1:7)), then you must say, Amîn, for
if one’s utterance of Amîn coincides
with that of the angels, then his past sins will be forgiven." (Sahih Al-Bukhâri,
Vol.6, Hadîth No. 2).
Great scholar
of Islaam Imaam Ibn Taimiyyah, noted:
“When Allaah
ordered us to ask of Him in every prayer to guide us to the straight path, the
path of those whom Allaah has blessed…this made it clear that the human should
fear of himself lest he deviates to either of those two divergent paths [of
those who earned Allaah’s wrath or those who have gone astray].”
There have
also been strong warnings against extremism at many places in Glorious Qur’aan,
for example:
Surah Al-Baqarah 229
الطَّلَاقُ
مَرَّتَانِ فَإِمْسَاكٌ
بِمَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ
تَسْرِيحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ
وَلَا يَحِلُّ
لَكُمْ أَنْ تَأْخُذُوا
مِمَّا آتَيْتُمُوهُنَّ
شَيْئًا إِلَّا
أَنْ يَخَافَا
أَلَّا يُقِيمَا
حُدُودَ اللَّهِ
فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ
أَلَّا يُقِيمَا
حُدُودَ اللَّهِ
فَلَا جُنَاحَ
عَلَيْهِمَا فِيمَا
افْتَدَتْ بِهِ
تِلْكَ حُدُودُ
اللَّهِ فَلَا
تَعْتَدُوهَا
وَمَنْ يَتَعَدَّ
حُدُودَ اللَّهِ
فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ
الظَّالِمُونَ
The
divorce is twice, after that, either you retain her on reasonable terms or
release her with kindness. And it is not lawful for you (men) to take back
(from your wives) any of your Mahr (bridal-money given
by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) which you have given them,
except when both parties fear that they would be unable to keep the limits
ordained by Allâh (e.g. to deal with each other on a fair basis). Then if you
fear that they would not be able to keep the limits ordained by Allâh, then
there is no sin on either of them if she gives back (the Mahr or
a part of it) for her Al-Khul‘ (divorce) {1} . These are the
limits ordained by Allâh, so do not transgress them. And whoever transgresses
the limits ordained by Allâh, then such are the Zâlimûn (wrong-doers).
{1} (V.2:
229) Al-Khul‘ * الخلع and how a divorce is given according to
it. Narrated Ibn ‘Abbâs رضي الله
عنهما:
The wife of Thâbit bin Qais came to the Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم and said, "O Allâh’s Messenger! I do
not blame Thâbit for defects in his character or his religion, but I, being a
Muslim, dislike to behave in an un-Islâmic manner (if I remain with him)".
On that Allâh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه
وسلم
said (to her), "Will you give back the garden which your husband has given
you as Mahr)?" She said, "Yes." Then the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم
said to Thâbit, "O Thabît! Accept your garden, and divorce her once."
(Sahih Al-Bukhâri, Vol.7, Hadîth No. 197). * Al-Khul‘ الخلع means the parting of a wife from her husband by giving him a
certain compensation.
Surah An-Nisaa 171
يَا أَهْلَ
الْكِتَابِ لَا
تَغْلُوا فِي دِينِكُمْ
وَلَا تَقُولُوا
عَلَى اللَّهِ
إِلَّا الْحَقَّ
إِنَّمَا الْمَسِيحُ
عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ
رَسُولُ اللَّهِ
وَكَلِمَتُهُ
أَلْقَاهَا إِلَى
مَرْيَمَ وَرُوحٌ
مِنْهُ فَآمِنُوا
بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ
وَلَا تَقُولُوا
ثَلَاثَةٌ انْتَهُوا
خَيْرًا لَكُمْ
إِنَّمَا اللَّهُ
إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ
سُبْحَانَهُ أَنْ
يَكُونَ لَهُ وَلَدٌ
لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ
وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ
وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ
وَكِيلًا (171)
O
people of the Scripture (Christians)! Do not exceed the limits in your
religion, nor say of Allâh aught but the truth. The Messiah ‘Îsâ, son of
Maryam, was (no more than) a Messenger of Allâh and His Word, ("Be!"
- and he was) which He bestowed on Maryam and a spirit (Rûh)
{1} created by Him; so
believe in Allâh and His Messengers. Say not: "Three (trinity)!"
Cease! (it is) better for you. For Allâh is (the only) One Ilâh
(God), glory be to Him (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him
belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And Allâh is
All-Sufficient as a Disposer of affairs. {2}
{1}
(V.4: 171) Rûh-ullâh: According to the early
religious scholars from among the Companions of the Prophet صلى الله عليه
وسلم
and their students and the Mujtahidûn, there
is a rule to distinguish between the two nouns in the genitive construction: a)
When one of the two nouns is Allâh, and the other is a person or a thing, e.g.
Allâh’s House (Bait-ullâh);
Allâh’s Messenger (Rasul-ullâh):
Allâh’s slave (‘Abdullâh):
Allâh’s spirit (Rûh-ullâh),
the rule for the above words is that the second noun, e.g., house, messenger,
slave, spirit is created by Allâh and is honorable in His Sight, and similarly,
Allâh’s spirit may be understood
as the spirit of Allâh, in fact it is a soul created by Allâh, i.e. ‘Îsâ. And it was His Word: "Be!" -and
he was. (i.e. ‘Îsâ was created like Adam).
b) But when one of the two is Allâh and the second is neither a person nor a
thing, then it is not a created thing but is a quality of Allâh e.g. Allâh’s Knowledge (‘Ilm-ullâh);
Allâh’s Life (Hayât-ullâh);
Allâh’s Statement (Kalâm-ullâh);
Allâh’s Self (Dhat-ullâh).
{2}
(V.4: 171) Narrated ‘Ubadah
رضي الله عنه: The Prophet صلى
الله عليه وسلم said, "If anyone testifies that lâ ilâha illallâh (none has
the right to be worshipped but Allâh Alone) Who has no partners, and that
Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم is His slave and His Messenger, and that ‘Îsâ عليه
السلام is Allâh’s
slave and His Messenger and His Word ("Be!" - and he was) which He
bestowed on Maryam and a spirit (Rûh) created by Him, and that
Paradise is the truth, and Hell is the truth - Allâh will admit him into
Paradise with the deeds which he had done even if those deeds were few."
(Junadah, the sub narrator said; "Ubâdah added: ‘Such a person can enter Paradise through any of
its eight gates he likes.’
") (Sahih
Al Bukhârî, Vol. 4, Hadîth No. 644).
Therefore, flaws
in the formulation of thoughts and ideology are a major cause of extremism.
This is because such flaws are a path to shortcomings and results that are
based on that flawed thinking. The scholars of Islaam have played a very
important role in establishing Islaamic legal theory (ilm usool al-fiqh). It acts as the standard for the methodology
that one must follow in deriving laws from the evidences and sources. They
emphasized two important aspects:
1
The sources
of law;
2
The manner
and methodology of derivation of laws (from the sources).
Upon
examining the work of anti-Islaam forces and/or extremists I find there is
definitely a shortcoming in the formation of ideology among their kind.
Ignorance! The most glaring and influential
aspects of this ignorance are found in the following realms:
·
Ignorance of
the Glorious Qur’aan,
·
Ignorance of
Sunnah,
·
Ignorance of
the goals of Shariah,
·
Ignorance
of what is to be considered a proof and the tools used in deriving conclusions,
·
Ignorance of
the statements of scholars and their legacies,
·
Ignorance of
the Arabic language and its stylistic nuances,
·
Ignorance of
history and societal laws of Allaah in this creation,
·
Ignorance of
reality and their environment and perspectives,
·
Ignorance of
the different levels of people and the different levels of deeds to be done,
Methodology:
Lacking in the methodology! The most glaring and influential aspects of this ignorance are found in the following realms:
·
Taking a very
literal approach to understanding the texts of Glorious Qur’aan and Hadith,
·
Failure to
see the “big picture’ and understand things in a comprehensive fashion,
·
Reinterpreting
the texts [to fit their preconceived notions],
·
Taking
directly from the texts themselves [without the proper background],
·
Following the
equivocal evidences [while ignoring the un equivocal
ones],
·
Failure to
reconcile seemingly contradictory evidences,
·
Lack of
objectivity (or in other words ulterior motives and/or following desires],
·
Making Ijtihaad
while not being qualified to do so and failing to take from the respected
sources of law,
The above are some most important reasons in brief that
breed extremism involving some Muslims, who are in fact ignorant of Islaamic
teachings. The extremists certainly defy the Divine Decree that is found in Glorious Qur’aan 4:65.
Surah An-Nisaa 65
فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا
But no, by your Lord, they can have no Faith, until they
make you (O Muhammad صلى الله
عليه وسلم) judge in all disputes between them, and
find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with
full submission.
This will lead to the conclusion that extremists whether in form
of a cult, or a group and/or a vigilante gang of thugs does not represent any
religion, let alone Islaam.
Also
read: Responsibility of Muslims Living in USA.