Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

Glimpses of Certain Aspects of Islam by Nasim.A.Jafarey

29. Deviations in Islam

Addressing the Holy Prophet Allah says in the Quran (Ayat 159 of Surah Anam): "As the for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou hast no part in them in the least: their affair is with God, He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did". In spite of the above clear-cut warning against divisive tendencies, this is unfortunately what the Muslim Ummah has been doing over the years.

The fragmentation or division of the religion of Islam has unfortunately taken many forms. The first is making a distinction between one part of religion and another, taking the part which suits you and neglecting the rest. The second form which this fragmentation takes is closely following Islam one day or one month, and remaining lost in this material world for the other six days or eleven months. Thirdly there is the attitude of making Software a sharp distinction between the secular and the religious. Lastly there is the development of sectarian bias whether it be based on personality cults or differences of view in the interpretation and application of religious dogma.

It is really surprising how over the centuries people claiming to be Muslims have been creating divisions in Islam, when Allah has so clearly stated in Ayat 4 of Surah "Maida" that "this day I have perfected your religion for you, completed my favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion". Is it not sacrilege of the worst type if something which God Himself has perfected is tampered with by human beings? But this is what so many leaders of Muslims, who were obviously extremely presumptuous as well as suffering from self-delusion, have brought about, even though some of them may not be sure of the extent of their deviation from the path of rectitude prescribed by Allah. It is really staggering to recall that according to the folklore on the subject there are no less than seventy-two sects in Sunni Islam alone. Why could not the Muslim Ummah follow the straight and clear path prescribed by Allah, and demonstrated in practical terms by the Holy Prophet and his close companions. It is obvious that all this deviation has been possible owing to the egoism and expediency of some leaders of religious thought and the ignorance and lack of knowledge of the Holy Quran by the mass of Muslims. Let us now consider in some detail the four causes of deviation which have ultimately led to the growth of fragmentation. The principal cause of the first form of deviation is extremism or excess in religion which has been roundly condemned in e Holy Quran. Ayat 80 of Surah 'Maida' states", "Say: O! people of the Book! exceed not in your religion the bounds of what is proper, trespassing beyond the truth". Although this Ayat is addressed primarily to the Christians, it is an admonition equally for the Muslims. It is this extremism in respect of one small aspect of Islam which distorts the understanding and proper perception of the religion of Islam as a whole.

To give only one random example, take a look at the importance which some people attach to purdah or Hijab for women. There are only two Ayats in the Holy Quran which directly touch upon this matter, but neither of them prescribes that women going outside their houses should cover themselves from head to foot in such a way that only their eyes are visible. There is nothing wrong with dressing, like this if some women want to, provided two conditions are fulfilled. Firstly that in following this practice they do not delude themselves into thinking that this is all that Islam requires from them and secondly that they do not denigrate those women who do not follow their practice blindly. It is an unfortunate fact of human behaviour that people who take an extremist view of Islam in one direction lose sight of other more important aspects such as the moral values of Islam and faith in the essentials prescribed by Allah.

Coming to the second form of deviation, the two obvious examples which come to mind are of the Friday prayers and the observance of fasting during the month of Ramazan. There are a very large number of Muslims unfortunately who offer prayers only on Friday and observe all religious requirements during the month of Ramazan but behave as if Islam does not exist for them during the remaining eleven months. In fact there is a common saying among Muslims that don't speak a lie at least during Ramazan, as if lying is quite all right in the remaining eleven months of the year.

As for the making of distinction between the religious and the secular, the most glaring examples can be seen in the world of business, where so many sharp practices and clever sleight of hand are considered to be valid strategies in the secular world of commercial activities. In taking this attitude the persons concerned obviously put behind their back the basic moral values of 'Adl' and 'Ehsan' which Islam has emphasised so strongly and so repeatedly.

Lastly we come to the sectarian bias which has developed over the centuries because of the trap of personality cults in which the Muslim Ummah has fallen wittingly or unwittingly. In fact most of the sects had their origin in the personality of a religious reviver, who tried to give a new direction to the message of Islam, over emphasising one aspect and ignoring or downgrading the other aspects of this great religion. The best example of this type of deviation can be seen in the development of various schools of the Sufi sect. The basic message which they proclaimed was sound, the love of God and the love of humanity, but then they fell into the error of firstly over-emphasising the personality aspect (the Peer and Mureed relationship) and then denigrating the life of this world which is obviously against Islamic teachings, which advocates that a man should live a full life in this world without getting lost in it. Some of the Sufi sects even go to the extent of totally pushing out the requirements of Shariat and concentrate wholly on what they consider to be Tariqat.

One off-shoot of this personality cult is that even after the death of the religious leader his tomb is visited regularly as if he was alive and what is worse is that the dead religious leader is invoked to intercede with Allah for the fulfilment of the supplicant's wishes or needs. And all this is done in blatant defiance of God's clear admonition contained in Ayat 255 of Surah Baqara, which has been repeated more then Six times in other Ayat that "who is there who can intercede in His presence except as He permitteth."

It is really amazing why any human being longs for intercession when Allah Himself has so clearly stated in Ayat 186 of Surah 'Baqara' that "when my servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them). I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me". In the light of these Ayats of the Holy Quran the whole business of ancestor worship in the form of regular visits to their tombs for the grant of favours or help in the solution of any problem is a clear deviation from the true path of Islam, and a practice which has done the greatest damage to a true understanding of the spirit of Islam. Ancestor worship has also been an important cause of the fragmentation of Islam and the growth of sectarianism.

Then there is the unfortunate tendency of linking events in Muslim history with the religion of Islam as if they were an essential part of it. This in spite of the very clear statement in Ayat 4 of Surah 'Maida' (reproduced above) that Allah has perfected and completed in every way the religion of Islam in the life time of the Holy Prophet. All events of Muslim history which have given rise to the formation of sects in the Muslim Ummah have Builder no relationship or relevance for the true religion of Islam as revealed by Allah through the Holy Prophet. And yet there are Muslims all over the world who attach more importance to these events than to the words of Allah contained in the Holy Quran.

Lastly we come to the sectarianism which has been created among the Muslims through the various schools of Fiqah. The rational and pragmatic way of looking at these schools is that they are all valid and the Imams on whose fatwahs they are based were all righteous men who put forward what they considered to be the most appropriate application of the Words of God to the affairs of men in this world. Every Muslim is therefore completely free to follow the fatwa of any end of these Imams on any worldly matter but no one has the right to claim superiority for his chosen school, which is what has become the basis of sectarian wars among Muslims.

There is no doubt that the growth of sectarianism with its accompanying intolerance has done great damage to the great religion of Islam. In fact it is one of the major factors responsible for producing a distorted image of Islam before the non-Muslims. Besides the intolerant behaviour of Muslims of one sect towards Muslims of other sects has sapped a lot of their creative energies. It is therefore obviously necessary that we should ponder about ways and means to eradicate or at least reduce this curse of sectarianism.

One of the most obvious and also the easiest way of achieving the above objective is universal education. If all Muslims were educated enough to read and understand the words of the Holy Quran they could never be so ferociously intolerant of Muslims Course who differ with them on some minor details of religion. Universal education among Muslims appears a daunting task but if other nations and religious groups have achieved it, why can't we. The second method of eradicating sectarianism may appear to be more difficult, but it certainly deserves to be considered seriously. This device involves the evolution of a single school of Fiqah for the Muslim Ummah.

The difficulties involved in achieving this objective are obvious but if it is decided by the Ummah that this objective is not only desirable Ravenfields but necessary for the progress of Islam, some progress can definitely be made, although it may be slow and difficult. One possible method of doing this could be an Ummah-wide referendum. This device was not available till quite recently, but with the great strides in world-wide communications which have been taken in recent years, this method has become a practical possibility. Of course before going about organising such a referendum we have to clear our understanding about Ijtihad and Ijma which are such a basic part of law making in Islam.

To sum up, Islam is a religion which demands submission to the Commands of Allah, and commitment to the way of life revealed by Him, not for one day or one month, but for every moment of the life of man. To try to over-emphasise one aspect of Islam or neglect another aspect is nothing but the grossest form of sacrilege which every one who claims to be a Muslim must guard against at all times.

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30. Parameters of an Islamic State

Index

Home Page

Preface

1. Theory & Practice of Islamic Socialism

2. Islamic Economic System

3. Islamic Financing

4. Quranic Commandments about Justice

5. The Quranic View-point about Tolerance

6. Interest on Production Loans : A case for Ijtihad

7. Moral Re-armament