UNDERSTANDING PROPER ISLAM PROPERLY
It is very important for muslims to understand islam properly. Clarity in following concepts seems essential and fundamental in this regard.
1)Islam is primarily based on the quran and secondarily based on the authentic ahadith. Islam is not a personality cult but a way of life as told by allah and followed by his messengers and their followers.
2)Islam is a tradition=sunnah=path or a way of life of all muslims from adam till muhammad and to date ie it is not a new way of life but was always there right from the very first man and will remain so long as there is any muslim on the fact of this earth.
3)Islam has been passed down the muslim generations faithfully by carriers of the quran and the ahadith in two forms a)as information and b)as a tradition ie sunnah or a way of life.
4) The yard stick for proper sunnah in this age is only and only the quran because sunnah at most is only that way of life which is not found to be against the quran and at least that which is according to the quran. So any tradition amongst muslims that is found to be against the quran is not an Islamic tradition so it will be termed bida and all such bidaat are wrong because they are against proper sunnah of islam. Such badaat necessarily replace sunnah ie if you are on the wrong path then you are necessarily not on the right path.
5)The yard stick for the authenticity of the ahadith is also the quran because ahadith are suppose to tell us information about followers of islam as it is in the quran as to how they responded to the teachings of the quran in their practice of it. This means that important ahadith are only those which tell us about obligations ie religious duties and prohibitions or dos and don’ts.
6)The yard stick for the followers of islam is also fundamentally the quran and not other way round. In short even the prophets of allah had to follow the message from allah and not believe or do things against that message. Likewise had to do the final messenger and his followers. No prophet ever did anything against allah deliberately. This is why all prophets of islam are believed to be free of all sins and best amongst all the creation of allah. However they were humans and were not free of odd mistakes through human error but they corrected their errors once they became aware of them themselves or were made aware of them by allah. This is why following the prophets is essential part of Islamic tradition and in this very context.
So proper ulema of islam are only those who know proper islam properly and not those muslims who just carry Islamic information but do not know how to put it together properly in a sensible way. This is like some one is carrying some or all pieces of a jigsaw but does not know how to fit them together. This is why ulema of islam have higher status in islam than HUFAAZ=people who know the quran by heart and MUHADDISEEN=people who know the ahadith by heart. However status of hafaaz and muhaddiseen is certainly above those muslims who are none of these to that degree. It is necessary that muslims appreciate and respect these great people amongst them but according to their proper status. Don’t give lower status people the higher status or ummah will become confused. It is therefore not right to call everyone aalim, mawlana or mufti or ulaama etc etc but only those as deserve this title because they prove it by their proper knowledge of islam and its proper explanation to others. Anyone who does not know islam properly because one cannot explain it properly yet wants the title of aalim then such a person is an imposter because he is trying to claim a status that he does not deserve. Such people are known as ulemae soo=fake aalims. So it is necessary that muslims examine a person before they trust and follow him otherwise they could be misled by their ignorance or negligence or stupidity. This is why muslims must have necessary basic knowledge of islam to be able to judge islam as well as any muslim so that they could stick with proper islam and those who follow islam properly so thgat they are part of party of allah otherwise they may end up supporting party of satan because of their ignorance.
7)As it is made very clear what islamic sources are eg quran, proper sunnah, authentic ahadith, true prophets and true followers let us concentrate on what to make of the quran and how to see what proper islam really is.
a)First of all it is absolutely necessary to realise that the quran is not a book that lists all possible Islamic and unislamic beliefs nor it lists all possible Islamic laws regarding things and practices. What the quran contains is very fundamental examples of beliefs and laws and the reason is so that we could see rules therein and then decide all matters regarding beliefs and practices accordingly. This is self evident from the fact that because not everything is in the quran therefore the need for help from the ahadith. Likewise the self evident fact is that not everything is covered in the ahdith either because if it was we will not need the rules like QAYAAS=analogy or logical deduction regarding a matter needing attention using matters already found clearly in the quran or the hadith as applied to the situations or circumstances, IJTIHAAD=formation of opinion by individuals based on information from the scriptures as well as situation and circumstances related to any matter in real world to see how it fits with Islamic belief or law.
IJMA=consensus, it means a few different things. 1)It means almost people arrive at the very same conclusion regarding a matter even though they all think it over independently ie there is a convergence of opinions of independent thinkers or mujahideen on a matter or that they all find the very same solution to a problem. This kind of consensus is HUJJAT=binding upon ummah and proof that the matter is part of Islamic belief or law as appropriate ie the belief is essential part of islam or that islamically the matter is legal obligation or is unlawful. 2)Consensus that is absolutely necessary for organisational or administrative reasons for the state and the people to avoid trouble and chaos in the land due to lack in law regarding order in the state. In short muslims must know their religious beliefs and laws clearly on one hand to be able to believe in proper islam properly and practice it properly and they must also be clear as to matters relating running of state affairs properly or a huge damage and even destruction could result of ummah and its state if people become negligent, ignorant or uneducated. This is why muslims must keep learning and teaching islam through discussions and debates between themselves as well as outsiders ie nonmuslims. Keeping each other in check ensures proper understanding of things that matter as regard beliefs, practices and laws etc etc.
JAMHOOR=majority opinion. It is regarding the very same things as explained regarding ijma but is short of consensus. In religious matters it is not binding upon ummah but in state affairs it is binding just like consensus except that those who disagree must support this matter once it is decided even though they disagree with it so that there are no any dispute and problem or disunity between muslims in the muslim ummah.
Going back to the point that the quran is not list of all the beliefs and the laws so do not take the quran like that or you will lose the track of islam. So muslims who look for each and everything in the quran and the sunnah and the hadith must realise their error from this explanation and correct themselves because otherwise they will be damaging themselves and the ummah by creating disputes as regard what is islam and what is not islam.
8)Let us now see how to understand the quran. To understand the quran, reasonable knowledge of all related things is essential eg.
1)One must be able to read, write and understand a language reasonably well.
2)One must learn the quran, the hadith and to some degree maths, history, geography, biology, physics, chemistry, politics, economics, sociology, other religious scriptures and ideologies and beliefs, technology, art and design, cosmologfy, astronomy, deology etc etc.
3)One must now gather information point by point and look for how people have been putting it together to see if it makes the needed sense. If it does, fine. But if it does not then see what the problem is and try fixing it yourself. If it works fine but if it does not then may be the other related points may also need to be readjusted one by one till the whole thing makes proper sense ie all the concerned pieces of the jigsaw fits together and the picture becomes obvious.
4)Since the quran is setup as 114 lectures as surahs, from the shortest to the longest as the occasions demanded hence some times things were listed as reminders with little detail the while they were detailed more at other times individually and at yet other times they were listed as well as detailed yet further. This caused repetition about same thing through out the quran giving rise to differences in details of things with apparent contradictions. This gave rise to first fundamental rule of tafseer ie tafseeral quran bil quran ie interpretation of the quran by the quran. So if anyone wants to understand the quran properly then one must gather all the related verses about a point or an issue that cause contradiction and interpret them such that contradiction is no more. The verses in the quran that are more detailed are called MUKAMAAT because their meanings are clear and the verses that need their help to make sense are called MUTASHABIHAAT because these can be interpreted in more than one way. They only become MUKAMAAT once they are understood properly in context of MUKAMAAT. For example, take the issue of intercession. In some verses we are told by allah that none can intercede before him for anyone except for whom allah permits. However, in the other verses the verse stops at none can intercede before allah. Thus by joining one kind of verses with the others we get the proper or intended meaning. So verses that tell us no intercession are about polytheists who worshipped others as gods so that they intercede on their behalf. Allah rejects their this notion. Whereas other verses are about prophets etc who will intercede before allah for their faithful followers.
Another kind of ambiguity in the quranic verses is that they talk about things that people may lack knowledge of at one point in time till they become knowledgeable about them with time. Such verses only remain ambiguous till their meanings become apparent as people reach that stage of their awareness. For example, if a person describes to his friend a place where his friend has never actually been then that person will only have a vague idea about it till one experiences the place for oneself. Likewise the quran talks about things that are not clear for people to understand because the people have not reached that stage yet. The point is that the quran can only become clear when people know the quran as well as the thing the quran is talking about. Once both things fit together the sense of things becomes clear otherwise mutashabihaat remain a mystery and we can only interpret them with any of possible meanings.
Again one will see an apparent contradiction in the quran between 3/7 and 11/1. The quran tells us in one place that all its verses have clear meanings ie fully defined yet in the other place it tells us, some of verses have clearly defined meanings but others need interpretation because they cannot become clear till those things come to pass or till people become aware of those things that they are talking about as explained. However once that stage is reached or once what they talk about has come to pass then those verses will also become mukamaat ie clear. For example, you can try and tell a few years old child about geography, you will get the idea what I mean. It will all be a mystery to him. However when the same child grows up and learns about geography, what was a mystery for him at one point is now clear to him. Since the quran talks about various things, some already understood by people some not hence verses that talk about known things are clear but verses that talk about things that yet need to be found out remain mystery for as long as the stage is not reached when they too become clear. So till they become clear, one has to believe that they too are as true as the ones already known for what they mean.
5)Another fundamentally important point is to realise very clearly that the quran is not a list of beliefs and laws. It is just a short text with information that can be expanded. It is book of principles, and rules with examples as well as mysteries yet to be solved. In short it is like a book of maths which trains the learner for his future by teaching him rules and principles or formulas for solving various kinds of problems if one ever comes across any of them. It is not about list of all problems already fully solved in all their possible combinations. This will need mountains of paper or medium to hold that much information and people to provide that information and most of it will be a waste of time because not all possibilities will necessary come to pass in real life for real people. Likewise it will be useless and impossible to work with if allah gave us that kind of book. It would have been very difficult for people to carry it about with them and to learn it and teach it and yet many of the people may never need that information at all. This is why the quran is a book of principles for life and rules with examples for legislation.
Let me try and explain. There is no huge list of halaal and haraam in the quran. We know that there are so many things in real world and people take so many actions as they conduct themselves. Are they all listed in the quran as lawful and unlawful? No they are not. Why not? Because that will need a huge mountain of paper and people to do it. Instead we are told that allah has made all things and actions that are more good than harmful halaal for us and forbade all things and actions that are more harmful for us than good haraam. We do not have list of all of them but a rule is clear that all is halaal unless something or actions is forbidden. This means we do not need a list of both the halaal and the haraam. Knowing one thing is enough to know what the other is. As in maths, if we are told that there are apples and oranges in a bag and that how many are apples in there then we know the rest are oranges. Likewise there is no list of haraam things either instead we have been given rule as to what is haraam and why, when, where, how? This again cuts down the need for a list of things. Because we are given the reasons as to why something is haraam under what situations and circumstances etc.
The other reasons for having no list is because it is useless as things can change from halaal to haraam and haraam to halaal due to situations and circumstances that face people. For example, under normal situation and circumstance taking a life is haraam but when one is hungry one can take a life in the name of god. This is why we are allowed to eat meat of halaal animals by killing them in the name of their life giver. Likewise we cannot kill another human being but for murder or in self defence ie to stop one from creating unrest if it will result in greater loss of life. Likewise we are allowed to eat or drink haraam if we cannot get haraal food and drink in order to survive. This shows very clearly that whatever is listed in the quran is just for an example so that we could do the similar with similar things or actions for similar reasons. This is how the quran is kept as a very short text. The other way the quran is kept short is by way it is put together. Its structure makes it a very short text because it is unlike a story book. This should also point out very clearly why we did not need a huge book of ahadith collection because humans come to know a lot of things automatically by their interaction with other things in the natural world. So revelation and common sense are not very far off each other.
For the very same reasons it is unwise to take each and every move of the prophet as sunnah. Why? Because the prophet was not accompanied and could not be accompanied 100% of his time. This is impossible. Even if we accept that then that will means a person who was with him needed to be a super human being because he has to notice each and every move of the prophet in all its forms including words and actions and inaction etc. This too is impossible but even if we accept this, it needs a huge amount text to convey this information and that too is impossible. Not only that but one has to think sensibly as to what is purpose of all this? Did allah send the prophet that we follow his each and every move regardless or did he sent him on a mission for a cause? The answer is clearly that all prophets were sent on a mission. So like a general sent by a king to battlefield with his army to fight for a cause, prophets also need to be followed by their followers for the similar reason ie to help the prophet in his cause or mission. The mission of prophets is to take the message of allah, make sense of it and follow it and teach it to others so that tey too understand and do as told. The question is what is message about? It is about principles for living one’s life in this world in the hope of hereafter.
The basic message is that all people live like a family, caring and sharing, living for each other and not against each other like enemies tearing each other apart. The main principles of Islamic way of life are; freedom of thought and expression for all, social justice for all, fair play for all, peace for all, cooperation of all, progress and prosperity of all. All Islamic laws are therefore for benefit of individual, family, tribe and humanity as a whole. Any law that is against this frame work is not Islamic but anti islam and anti humanity that must be removed peacefully through deliberation, discussion and debate but if need be by force because islam is anti oppression, anti suppression, anti persecution, anti injustice, anti unfairness, anti division, anti trouble and instability, anti stagnation, anti retardation, anti regression, anti ignorance, anti illiteracy, anti poverty and anti disease, anti inhumanity.
So sunnah is not about copying the prophet in his each and every move but only those of his moves that are necessary for fulfilment of his mission. It is anti islam to try to turn the clock back and try to copy the prophet in things that change with time and the best rule is to see what the prophet may have done if he was here today. Would he still be using stones and bones for writing the message? Will he still be travelling on camel back? Will he still be wearing similar clothes? Will he still be using miswak for cleaning his teeth? Will he still have similar masaajid or houses? If not, then why not? Did other prophets live like their ancestral prophets ie copied their each and every move? Did noah live like adam? Did abraham live like noah? Did Muhammad live like Abraham? The answer is, no they did not copy each and every move of their ancestral prophets. Likewise, we too must live in our own time and follow the prophets the way they all followed each other as told in the quran, and that is exactly what sunnah means ie the path of the prophets ie islam as clearly told in the quran.
6)The quran is like a street map of a city so if one wants to understand it properly then one must visit the city to see how the map fits the streets in reality. The quran is for people to help them live in this world properly in the hope of hereafter therefore people can only benefit from the quran if they learn the quran on one hand and understand the world on the other so that they could successfully fit both together in a fitting way. So long as people learn the quran but ignore the understanding of this world, they will not be really successful. In the quran we are told that the quran is only understood properly by those who have sure knowledge ie RASIKHOON 3/7. It tells us that if you do not know something about the revelation then ask those who know with revelation who know it ie AHLAZZIKR 21/2,7, 16/43. These people are also identified by the quran in verses like 3/191. They are peope who know the revelation as well as the world in which they live. So the quran leaves us in no doubt as to who are the ULEMA AL HAQ and who are those who falsely claim to be ULEMA. Also if we read verses like 62/2 and 5, we are clearly told that people who just learn the words of revelation by heart but do not ponder over them for understanding are like donkeys carrying books. It is because of the importance of the message, which is for wisdom of humanity. It is like you write to your son a letter telling him to do something vitally important and he gets the letter and keeps it but never reads it to find out what it is about. One can also think about the quran and the world as a manual of the machine for the user. One needs to know the manual and the machine both to benefit of them properly. So people who only learn about the quran or people who only learn about the world can never benefit as much as they could if they learned them both.
7)Be not sectarian is order of allah but we have so many sects amongst muslims, so how to get out of sectarianism? First step, we need to stop claiming we are sunni or shia or whatever. Second step we must not condemn each other as sunni or shia ie we must not label each other this and that. Third step, we must stop accepting each and every belief as part of Islamic creed without verification and clear proof from the quran. This will help us unite on proper Islamic creed ie through open and free discussions and debates with each other we will finally arrive at the very same conclusion because the proof leaves no room for reasonable doubt . Forth step, we must not accept any law as part of islam religion wise without clear proof from the quran and the authentic ahadith accepting both sunni and shia ahadith equally and rejecting only those of them that are clearly found against the quran. We will reach proper Islamic law by way of open and free discussions and debates between ourselves with proof beyond any reasonable doubt. Once we succeed in this, we can be very sure that sectarian divide will die away all by itself without any of us fighting against each other. This shows clearly that we do not need to say shia is wrong or sunni is wrong or wahabi is wrong or this mullah is wrong or that mullah is wrong etc etc, all we need to do is, see who is saying and what he is saying and test it on basis of the quran and the authentic ahadith. If we find that one is correct then we must accept he is right. This way we will no longer believe things because a mawlana is saying it but because what mawlana is saying is correct according to the quran and the authentic ahadith. This will end personality cults amongst muslims which lead to senseless, damaging and destructive divisions.
8)There is no point in anyone quoting from anyone unless we first know how to see whether what anyone is saying is correct or not in light of principles and rules for living in this world that are of value to humanity because they are beneficial for humanity. It is of vital importance to always remember that allah gave law for benefit of humanity, not to harm it. Therefore laws should be formed, implemented and enforced properly with due consideration. It is a huge responsibility to get things right or consequences could be serious indeed.
So it is useless to quote laws from the quran, the hadith or the books of Islamic fiqh with knowing things properly. For example, before the laws from the books make any sense we need to know there are at least three categories of law in islam a)laws regarding personal conduct b)laws regarding social conduct or interaction and c)laws relevant to state and its people.
1)personal conduct is personal business so long as no other person knows about it or is effected by it ie a matter is between individual and his god. What it means is that a matter is private so long as no one else knows about it or is affect by it. When a matter is private it is no one else’s business at all save person himself and his god. In islam it is necessary that a person conducts oneself even in private according to islam because this will be judged by god and rewarded or punished accordingly.
2)Social conduct is social business between the people involved so long as individuals or groups keep things between themselves and matter does not become state affair. Again matters of this nature are between the people involved and their god. Suppose two people disagreed over something and had a fight with each other. After it was over neither of them went to report it to the police and just went home. This is no business of state because it was between two people who did not take it any further so the matter rests with god and the people concerned. As all people are required to live by law of god therefore whatever they do to each other must be in light of that law because the conduct of individuals towards each other is subject to judgement of god and will be rewarded or punished accordingly.
3)Any matter that does not remain personal nor social between people involved and affects state in any way becomes state business. Such matters are between people involved, the state and their god. Let us say, two people are walking down a street and are attacked by some people who after assault disappear. Again it is up to these two people to go and report the incident to the police or just forget it. If they do not report it to the authorities, the matter ends there but if they do report it then investigation starts as to what happened, when, where, why or how? If the victims or witnesses are able to provide police with any clues as to identity of attackers etc then police may be able to get them otherwise they may get away with it.
If police gets them then it will be up to police to charge them or let them go on basis of standard of evidence required for taking them to court. If evidence is sufficient then they will be charged and taken to court for confirmation of their identity etc and for entry of their plea whether they are guilty or not guilty. If they plead not guilty, the case proceeds in court till they are proven guilty otherwise they will be freed by court to go home. If found guilty then comes the question of punishment and so the punishment is announced to the convict as it has been stated in the penal code of a state constitution.
Here again a person must live by law of god that is applicable in two separate ways ie as a moral law of conduct and as a state law of conduct. Since all individuals are ultimately subject to judgement of god therefore all must conduct themselves accordingly because that is how they will be rewarded or punished by god. It is absolutely necessary that members of the public and the state officials conduct themselves as required by the law of the state or if any of them is found to be doing wrong then they will be dealt with accordingly following the due process and procedure of the law of the land.
This explanation makes it very clear that Islamic law applies to muslims at least in three different ways; as individuals in their privacy, as individuals in their groups and their interaction with each other, and as individuals or groups in relation to their interaction with each other and the state. Once this concept is clear in one’s mind then looking at Islamic books of fiqh ie Islamic jurisprudence, one will see that there are a lot of problems in the laws made by scholars of islam for various reasons. For example, many laws are not based on the quran and the authentic ahadith. Many laws are based on sectarian divide eg sunnies have different laws about same thing as compared to shias. Likewise there are sects within these main sects and they have their own laws based on their own beliefs etc. For example, sunnies have four main schools of law. All this goes to show that so called Islamic laws many of them may not be Islamic at all or some may even be anti islam.
This also proves the point that many a time when scholars claim unanimity or majority it is not really majority of ummah but of scholars belonging to a particular sect. Such a majority therefore cannot be taken as proof on behalf of islam. It means proper Islamic laws are only those that are derived from the quran and the authentic ahadith regarding which the whole ummah is unanimous regardless of sectarian divide. The rest of laws are only Islamic if they are for administrative purpose of an organisation or a country and are not against islam but necessary to run the state or organisation. The proper Islamic laws would therefore seem those which go with the flow of the quranic text in its proper context. Any laws formed by using odd verse or hadith that may cause contradiction within the quranic text cannot be Islamic in quranic context. The same is true about Islamic beliefs ie any belief that contradicts the quran is not Islamic in the quranic context.
The main thing to remember is to not to take anything as law of islam unless there is clear proof for it from the quran, the authentic sunnah and the authentic hadith of the prophet. If we took anything as Islamic law without such due consideration then it is possible that it may be found harmful for the people and the state. However, this by no means is to be taken as proof that contributions of past scholars of islam are useless, not at all. They are the best possible guidance for us to use them to make better laws ie we should not discord them but improve upon them by removing mistakes in them and the errors. Likewise we should improve our concepts and beliefs about islam and that is what learning is all about ie building on solid foundations our predecessor have left us with. It will be folly of worse kind to not to benefit from their wisdom. However, the point is that they were ordinary humans therefore were not perfect. Even in wider sense latest generations of humanity have been building on their past generations; that is why we are where we are today.
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