Count me out!
“And when you (Muhammad SAW) see those who engage in a false conversation about Our Verses (of the Qur’ân) by mocking at them, stay away from them till they turn to another topic. And if Shaitân (Satan) causes you to forget, then after the remembrance sit not you in the company of those people who are the wrongdoers.” (Quran 6:68)
“And when they hear AlLaghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk), they withdraw from it and say: “To us our deeds, and to you your deeds. Peace be to you. We seek not the ignorant.” (Quran 28:55)
“And those who do not witness falsehood, and if they pass by some evil play or evil talk, they pass by it with dignity.” (Quran 25:72)
In recent days and even years, I’ve thought a lot about the right way to deal with particular situations that I face often. It’s about incessant arguments and heated debates between “Muslims” who have very little, not even the basic knowledge about their own Deen (and by choice, not because they did not have an opportunity to learn). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about people who’re unaware of the right Islamic teachings but those who enjoy picking out what they see as “flaws” in Islam and then debate them in unbecoming ways, with an attitude that aims to push you into a corner under a barrage of allegations. This is a small group of society that is determined to not only abandon its faith but also demean it and those who are adhering to it.
The topic of the debate is usually some incident in Islamic history or some practise of Islam – there sounds the bell and the wrestling match begins! Perosnal views, long held beliefs, guesses and even incredulous, exaggerated and fabricated remarks are all pitched against one another. One round ends only to signal the start of another round. No personality, no character is spared an attack but you won’t see angry mobs out protesting against this because, of course, these are Muslims conversing and then again, in the comfort and privacy of their drawing rooms. Yes, a “drawing room” discussion and we all know what that’s about!
Shocking and painful as these discussions are, to hear such ignorance and careless regard for Allah’s Deen being discussed in a pseudo-intellectual way, under the guise of a good cause – “pondering and increasing knowledge” – yeah, right! Please spare me! Asr and then Maghrib time come and go by but the questions ”What is the concept of prayer in the Quran? Is it meditation? How do we do it? And what are the exact timings?” are not settled.
Initially, I used to sit in and share what I knew from the Quran and Sunnah, wondering how grown-ups could know so less about so simple matters. However, what I heard in those discussions shocked my ears and twisted my insides in disgust - some of the things I can never repeat, such wild and senseless character assassinations those were, sparing not even the family and being of Prophet(pbuh) whom Allah(swt) Himself describes as being ”upon the highest standards of character.” (Quran 68:4)
Sa`d bin Hisham asked `A’ishah about the character of the Messenger of Allah , so she replied: `Have you not read the Qur’an?’ Sa`d said: `Of course.’ Then she said: `Verily, the character of the Messenger of Allah was the Qur’an.’ (Saheeh Muslim)
The only reason I sat there was to somehow introduce the real facts into the discussions but I learned my lesson after a long, long period of time. The very intent of these discussions, to dissect and question every command that Allah(swt) gives in the Quran, to twist Islam into what they want for themsevles rather than what Allah(swt) wanted… it showed the futility of the whole exercise in the name of “pondering and reflecting”. A Muslim submits – Islam means submission to Allah(swt)’s Will and finding peace through that - not pitching a whining question -”but why this way, Allah? Why? Why? Why?” – at ever command!
So, initially, I sat with them but later, I started to realize it was not the right way of utilizing my time. “You should counter them if you believe you have the answers,” one could say but really, a Muslim’s job is not to sit down with fellow Muslims who cannot find the humility to bend their ego before Allah(swt), and then point out to them the obvious. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being proud or anything but I speak from years of experience – sad memories – of being asked the question, “How do you know the Quran is authentic and unaltered? Besides, I can’t rely on these Maulvi people’s interpretations!” or “Perhaps even the Prophet went to idols? And you know what – I bet he did this and that too…” Astaghfirullah, I only quoted this to let you know the silliness of their arguments and why it was futile to be in such discussions. Will you not agree?
Later on, when I started moving, solely due to Allah(swt)’s guidance, from a being “Muslim by name” to a “Practising Muslim”, I too (or atleast my kind of people) became the subject of discussion. Then, it became quite personal and even more so, I was expected to answer their questions, just so they could refute me by brining in senseless arguments, with no evidence from the Quran or Sunnah. Of course, it was all under the seemingly harmless inquiry of “Did you read that verse in the Quran?” or “You know, Maulvi (a certain stereotype of a Muslim scholar) people do this and that?” Look at the way the question is framed, to make it seem as if they are genuinely interested in learning the right thing but let me tell you, it ends up with “Your idea of covering up is all wrong – there is no Hijab in the Quran” or “The five prayers have not been mentioned in the Quran! We need to interpret the Quran correctly” or even “Don’t talk to me about these Ahadith! I can’t stand it! We can interpret the Quran without all these made up stories!”
“Verily, those who dispute about the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of Allâh, without any authority having come to them, there is nothing else in their breasts except pride [to accept you (Muhammad SAW) as a Messenger of Allâh and to obey you]. They will never have it (i.e. Prophethood which Allâh has bestowed upon you). So seek refuge in Allâh (O Muhammad SAW from the arrogants). Verily, it is He Who is the All-Hearer, the All-Seer.” (Quran 40:56)
I’ve now come to realize, Alhamdolillah I feel this is a tiny part of wisdom in Deen that I have gained, that it is not an obligation on me to refute such arguments. It is a waste of time and energy when I could be doing better things for Islam. The best way to counter this, after knowing it to be false and vain talk, is to increase the efforts to spread Allah(swt’s) Deen, enlighten those who have the sincere yearning and desire to learn the Truth and thus, achieve something. Allah(swt) has commanded us to invite to His way and to advise others to good while admonishing them against evil in a decent way.
“Let there arise out of you a group of people inviting to all that is good (Islâm), enjoining Al-Ma’rûf (i.e. Islâmic Monotheism and all that Islâm orders one to do) and forbidding Al-Munkar (polytheism and disbelief and all that Islâm has forbidden). And it is they who are the successful.” (Quran 3:104)
This realization has brought peace to me. I do not feel guilty about not refuting every single “argument” brought forth by people, just as an excuse to cover up their own lackings in Salah, etc. When someone raises a question and I know, through experience or instinct, that the intent is not good, I avoid the discussion or move out of the area for a while, so that I would not have to hear those ignorant exchanges. It pains me when Allah(swt)’s simple Deen is ridiculed with such abandon, without fear that they will face up to Allah(swt) one terrible Day and He will ask us all, “Well, what did you do?” What will we answer when He asks us about our Salah? And when He asks us upon what basis did we ridicule His Messenger (saw) whose words and deeds, preserved in the Sunnah (by Allah(swt)) were supposed to be our guide?
Recently, my new resolve was put to test several times, such as…
“We still haven’t defined Allah – first tell me what is the definition of Allah!”
There was much worse but I cannot quote it here for the sake of decency. Alhamdolillah, even though it was as painful as ever, I was able to end the discussion quickly or go away for a while, until the topic was changed (as Allah(swt) commands). I tried to shut out the sad feelings, pray for their guidance and go on to listen to some Islamic talk online or listen to the Quran. I’ve also learned, through Islamic sources, that the right thing to do is to spend more time with pious, Allah-conscious Muslims and try to strengthen Imaan together while restricting meetings of the wrong sort, where Allah(swt)’s commands are ridiculed, to a bare minimum or at least, keep them at a level where I can interact with them in a good way (such as short visits, etc.).
Perhaps you have found yourself in such situations too but were unsure of what to do. In that case, I hope what I have concluded will benefit you as well. If you have got more to share, please leave a comment – I might benefit from your knowledge InshAllah. It would be great if you gave the reference to an Ayah or Hadith, as appropriate. I’m sure this is not the last time I shall write about this, but for now, I’ve said enough. I leave you with powerful words, may Allah guide us to Him…
“Shall We then treat the (submitting) Muslims like the Mujrimûn (criminals, polytheists and disbelievers, etc.)? What is the matter with you? How judge you? Or have you a Book through which you learn. That you shall have all that you choose? Or you have oaths from Us, reaching to the Day of Resurrection that yours will be what you judge.
Ask them, which of them will stand surety for that! Or have they “partners”? Then let them bring their “partners” if they are truthful! (Remember) the Day when the ‘Shin’ shall be laid bare (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) and they shall be called to prostrate (to Allâh), but they (hypocrites) shall not be able to do so.
Their eyes will be cast down, ignominy will cover them; they used to be called to prostrate (offer prayers), while they were healthy and good (in the life of the world, but they did not). Then leave Me Alone with such as belie this Qur’ân. We shall punish them gradually from directions they perceive not. And I will grant them a respite. Verily, My Plan is strong.” (Quran 68:35-45)
Filed under: Islah, Reflections, Society, Sunnah | 10 Comments
Tags: Islam, knowledge, Muslims, Prophet Muhammad, Quran, Sunnah
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Comments
Cookie on The Weeding’s Overd… Uncarved on Recipe for Confusion Firas MR on Recipe for Confusion Hicham on Recipe for Confusion Sammy on Deception iMuslim on Recipe for Confusion saima on Towards the Light Naureen on Me Taliban on 7 Benefits of the Niqaab BrownSandokan on Deception
Well from what you’ve written it seems to me that a balance must be achieved in such matters. Debate and discussion in the form of interpretation and Ijtihad is part of Islam and I’ve always thought that God expects us to use our own intellects to a great degree in our practical lives. But a lot of people tend to err towards extremes. Either they become so particular to each phrase of their favourite religious ’scholar’ that they would call anyone they even imagine does not agree with it to the smallest detail KAFIR. And then there are the ‘progressive’ or ‘enlightened’ elements (which appear to be the ones you’ve had the misfortune of coming across more often) who use their time and brainpower to challenge ‘traditional’ views to such an extent that they do not realize when they have descended into the utterly useless and downright ridiculous, and are in fact disrespecting God and His Prophet (peace be upon him), which is unacceptable. So while a certain degree of broadmindedness has been repeatedly urged of all believers by Allah in the Quran and by the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), such debate should only be about topics that are not already clarified by Quran and Hadith, undertaken with a solid, positive, and constructive object in the minds of the participants, and backed by not just knowledge of Islamic beliefs and history but also an understanding of the spirit of Islam.
This is what happens with me all the time. Whenever I try practicing Islam friends excluded, people in your very own(external) family start criticizing you for that. And their comments like “why are you not doing the latest fashions?, why are your hair so long , or please don’t embarrass us by coming like this in front of our friends and so on…” Why is it that whenever we start getting close to our Religion we think about it a million times that how would we be answerable to the people around us and before doing a bad deed not even a single thought comes to our mind??
Excellent writing!
Yes, a sad day indeed when people are more concerned about their image with society than that with God :S
Anyhow I’ve also seen many who are the other way around…claiming to follow Islam but hypocritical and weak in belief underneath it all… somehow I come to dislike these people more than the ones you mention
Interesting post. I think this is a situation that many young Muslims have to figure out at some point. I hadn’t considered 6:68 in this context though, jazakillahu khair for highlighting that. I wonder what the circumstances of revelation were for that verse …
Anyway, as for dealing with such people, IMHO we have to balance staying away with giving da’wah to them, depending on our reading of several factors of course. I typically try to avoid dragging older people into an argument especially if they have that sense of pride and arrogance. I think staying away works better here; the alternative just creates so much fitna that it even backfires on you.
But with people who are curious and talk this way simply because they don’t know (and this is something you have to judge) there are a few ways of handling it that I’ve found effective.
1) One is to encourage questions and curiosity from a third-person perspective. For example, if someone is doubting hadith, you could ask them “What do you think about the chances of a weak or fabricated hadith surviving given the rigor of hadith scholars?” And to not put them on the spot you could give them a few examples of hadith science principles. We have an authentic hadith, for instance, from ibn ‘Umar that there were approximately 20 gray hairs in the beard of the Prophet (saws); this is an example of the detail to which the sunnah has been preserved! And for people who question the authenticity of the Qur’an you can bring in modern historiography techniques and see how they compare to the methods employed by early Islamic scholars. (There is a great book on the history of the Qur’anic text by Dr. Mustafa al-Azami)
The idea is to make them feel like an active participant in a quest of discovery, not opponents. This will capitalize on good intentions on their part if they have them. And you can continue this with more questions, each time bringing in a fact without appearing partisan.
2) If you’re in a gathering where you’re an active participant (or expected to be one) look for an appropriate time and just say “I don’t know. I haven’t studied this particular issue in depth and I don’t know the proofs the scholars use.” Depending on what they think of you and their own disposition, this may cause them to re-evaluate the depth of their own knowledge of the matter and push them into remaining silent thereafter. Obviously this works for arguments over issues within Islam and not questions about Islam itself.
Whatever you do has to be based on good judgment of the personalities of the people involved and solid, expansive knowledge to best communicate your point. Wallahu ‘alam.
Mashallah I love your writing, and the new template iz nice!
Thank you, everyone, for your valuable comments! When I started receiving feedback on this post, I realized that some parts of my blog post were possibly being perceived in a very different light than what I had intended. That’s the problem with reading another person’s written words – it’s not possible for the reader to know the author’s background and environment, however well he or she has written it.
In this post, I was specifically talking about people who approach any discussion of Deen with “I can find out everything myself – don’t need to refer to any historic material or Ahadith – I can figure out Islam all by myself!” There is zero tolerance or respect for any Hadith being quoted (“These are all made up lies!”) and even the authenticity of the Quran is questioned (“Y’know, some words don’t seem right – they might have been added in later on!”). So you see, it’s “free for all” and that’s why when you participate in such a discussion, everything you say is thrown out the window and instead you hear, “You are not using your mind – think, reflect! What do YOU think is meant by the word “Salah”, forget what these Hadith teach!”
This is a small group of people but I’ve been around them more than I’ve been around the type of people who question with sincerity, and when they receive answers from the Quran and Sunnah, they reflect upon them and not insult them outright. This second group of people, who are generally much more common than the former Alhamdolillah, often need to be engaged in simple discussions (as BrownS has rightly pointed out in his comment, JazakAllah) and in the end, whether they are 100% convinced or not, the discussion ends on a positive note. That’s “good” discussion and I want to be part of that anyday! On the occassion of the “15th Shaban” innovation last week, I had the chance to talk to some such people and it was exactly as I said – they were shocked at first to find out “15th Shaban” rituals have no sound basis in Islam and they even asked questions about references but when they got the full information, they accepted or atleast, agreed to think about it. One friend’s views changed for good in 24 hours, Alhamdolillah and she carried the message forward. It was good having that discussion with her, Alhamdolillah.
Still, for the sake of more clarity and so that I do not come across as impatient with people’s questions
, I have edited my post in certain places. I hope this comment, which is now a mini-blog post in itself, will make it clearer.
@ Faizan Majid: Yes, that is how it should be – a clear intention, polite discussion with references to authentic sources, staying within the limits of Deen. The problem is – that’s not what’s been happening around me. While I wouldn’t call these people “enlightened”, even with the quotation marks… I can see what you mean.
I hope my general comment above makes my stance clearer.
@ Zia Khalu: Welcome to my blog, I’m really glad to see your comment here although you are too generous in your praise. JazakAllah khayr!
@ Amreen: It’s sooo nice to see you here! And the question you’ve asked is very important and should make us think about it deeply. What can be said about us Muslims when we actively resist any attempts by a person to do “good”? In my extended family too, a certain form of “religiousness” is accepted and even encouraged (cover your head for prayer, attend Milaads, innovations associated with sickness and after a death in the family) but as soon as you cross the invisible line and start dressing properly, stop backbiting or sharing cheap jokes, try to be more practising in every day routines the way Allah(swt) has commanded, my mother starts receiving veiled and not so veiled criticism from some relatives. She doesn’t like it obviously and tries to advise us sisters about it but the question I always ask is – “The people who’re critcising us for adopting good things from the Deen, their own children might be wearing inappropriate dresses, disobeying or showing disrespect to their elders, whereas we try to serve these elders for the sake of Allah(swt)’s Pleasure? Are we really doing something wrong?” My mother agrees but she does not like the criticism of course, however misplaced it is. May Allah guide us all!
@ BrownS: Your comment is extremely valuable and I will adopt the methods you’ve advised InshAllah. Just that, as you might have read my words in the general comment above, I enagage with a different kind of group usually. On the other hand, there are the slightly-knowledgeable (who are very few in my environment) and very knowledgeable (from whom I learn in the first place!) groups… I’d love to be around these kind of people more, to increase my Iman and engage in positive and polite discussions InshAllah! Whatever Allah Wills, of course!
Also, when I first read the ayah 6:68, because of the “discussions” I’d found myself an unhappy observer of on several occassions, directly hit me as the solution. Later, I learned from knowledgeable people that it was as I had thought and it did apply to discussions amongst Muslims as well – basically, whenever Allah(swt)’s commands are being mocked at or ridiculed in such a way, with wrong intentions as the basis. It’s basically “stay to make a positive change and prevent wrongdoing” or “leave untill the topic changes” – I recently found myself in company where dirty jokes were being shared, despite it being obvious how their vulgarity could never be approved by Allah(swt) and the lesson in the aayah could not have been more relevant just then!
@ Sadiyah: JazakAllah! Glad to see you’ve noted and liked the change. I love it this way too, simple and clean, so that the words can make an impact and not the design, InshAllah!
Asalaamoalaikum wa rahmatullai wa barakatahu!
I was delighted and saddened to read your post. Delighted because I have been wanting to write about those ayahs ever since I studied the tafseer on them, and you have done a beautiful job of applying them to life.
Saddened because of the polarisation of the Pakistani people, into two distinct camps.
As far as Ijtehaad, it can be done on non commandments. The ten commandments for the muslim are in the Quran and are quite simply and specifically outlined in Surah Al Anaam.
The commandment for a modest dress for men and women is in Surah Hujaraat and for covering the hair and the chest with the modest dress for women is in Surah Noor.
Thus these are commandments from Allah that cannot be discussed, argued, altered or expounded upon…………the only thing one can do is either obey or disobey and these two groups are also clearly demarcated in Surah Zumar, along with what will happen to them on the Day of Judgment.
I agree with you, keep yourself away from overtly disobedient people, because it rubs off on you eventually.
As far as Dawah Allah Subhanawataala states in Surah Baqara and in many other place that our job is to”Convey not Convince”
Those who doubt Prophet Muhammad’s words or wish to disobey him can find the commandment in the Quran in almost every Sipara many times and I paraphrase “Obey Allah and Obey His rasool” There are no grey zones there.
Allah guides the lucky ones………….so if you are one of them stay on His good side and let Him handle the negative people.
Sorry for such a long comment, May Allah strengthen your emaan and fortitude every moment.
Please keep me in your prayers.
@ asqfish:
Your comment is really positive, reassuring and very sweet! Everything that you have said is correct and true, if only Muslims would understand it so. It’s not about making Islam conform to us but rather bending and twisting ourselves to submit to the commands of Allah(swt). The problem arises when we consider that we human beings know better than the One who created and sustains us… A’oodhobillah.
Jazakillah for your long comment (I love long comments)! I really need your prayers and will definitely remember you in mine InshAllah. Sending you lots and lots of love and praying that Allah(swt) may increase you even more in Iman through knowledge!