However , I am starting to feel that you are quite oversimplifying things because if the belief was enough to keep us united then surely we wouldn't have been fighting civil wars all along our history , right ?
Thank you for taking note of my message. There is an English proverb, which reads something like ‘When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras’. It essentially means that don’t make things complicated unnecessarily. Shariah is like this and it cannot be over-simplified or otherwise. Fundamental Islamic laws that are needed to knit the fabric of an Islamic society are what Shariah is consisted of. The list that I gave covers those fundamental laws. I can elect not to follow the laws but I cannot argue that these laws are not the part of Islamic faith.
One needs to understand that the society in which Muhammed (PBUH) preached Islam was not the society of literates or scholars; it was a society of illiterate Bedouins. They would have never accepted Islam if its laws (Shariah) were complicated as many of us like to believe. It is also incorrect to say that there are several interpretations of Shariah; interpretation differences are in Fiqah (Islamic jurisprudence, explanation of laws), which is totally a different thing from Shariah.
For example, consumption of Alcohol is disallowed in Islam. Even in time of Prophet (PBUH) there were people (mostly Munafiqeen, the companions of Abdullah ibn Ubayy) who would ask if consumption in little volume is allowed etc. Muhammed (PBUH) disliked these questions, and declared that anything that intoxicates in large volumes is as much disallowed in small volumes. Now, this is an explanation of a law but it changes nothing about the law.
You talked about sunnah, and its interpretation. I will give example of Miswak. Contrary to popular belief (thanks to Mullah Politics), it is oral hygiene that is sunnah, not miswak. Those of us who use tooth brush and paste to maintain our oral hygiene are as much following sunnah as the ones who use miswak. If you are making use of fork and knife to eat your meal in civilized fashion, you are also following sunnah. If you are wearing neat and clean three piece suit and wearing a necktie, you are following sunnah. But eating with dirty hands or wearing dirty shalwar kurta and turban has nothing to do with sunnah. You don’t have to look at the sentence or who narrated it, you have to see the message and understand it. If the message doesn’t look right, and in line with logic and Quran, leave it. It does not matter who was the narrator.
Our problem is, we are lazy and don’t want to understand Islam. We can play games on the internet for hours but find it too much a chore to read Islamic books. We prefer 2nd or 3rd-hand knowledge over firsthand knowledge.
Now belief has nothing to do with the fights among Muslims. Muslims fought with each other over political gains (Moawiah’s fight was not for shariah or a different interpretation of it from Ali) and it continues to this day. Can belief unite you, yes, but as long as it favors your political ambitions (creation of united Pakistan and a later split between Bangladesh and Pakistan is textbook example of this). This is sad but this is the reality.
@
syedali73 What mechanism do Taliban suggest to implement the Shari'ah?
I have mentioned it earlier in my posts in some other threads. TTP or its political faces JI/JUI are not fighting for Shariah or implementation of it; they are fighting to take control of Pakistan. It is lust of power and nothing else. They are using Shariah as a cover and to exploit sentiments of Pakistanis.
This problem can easily be sorted out if our media agree to ignore these clowns. This Abdul Aziz, is he not the same person who signed (along with another 500 clowns) a fatwa that funerary prayers of Pakistani soldiers fighting in Sawat was haram? Now he is again on the media and spreading confusion. These hypocrites, when the loudspeaker was introduced in the subcontinent, they denounced its use based on its invention by the 'infidels'. Now they cant live without a loudspeaker. Pakistani media has to be put on leash, otherwise, mark my words, no power can stop this country from the ultimate doom. In which country do the media give coverage to the state rebels? Is Indian media any less free than that of Pakistan's, but when it comes to the security of the sate, and national interest, it always supports its government and not the rebels.
Which interpretation ? You need to interpret , right ? What interpretation of Islamic laws is acceptable to all ?
P.S. I love it when people give simple answers to difficult questions !
My friend, I can see pun in your one-liners. It seems that you have decided to stick to your understanding (or misunderstanding) no matter what. You don’t like to understand Shariah, fine. You don’t want to follow it, also fine. But please don’t make fun of it, because it is distasteful and below your apparent rank. There are numerous ways of expressing disagreement and making fun is the weakest of them all.
Your culture and agendas of a few mixed with the batter of Islam and cooked half isn't Sharia by any chance and neither it is acceptable to anyone in Pakistan except of course for a few areas in F.A.T.A. . Even KPK would resist the seventh century laws in their old form . It is unclear and has different interpretations , after all , not all in Pakistan are Deobandis .
