Someone said this to me a few days ago. It was a peculiar
statement to make and at the same time illogical. I would like to write about
this here in an effort to explain why anyone who thinks like this should stop
and reconsider. Know we are not writing out of hatred rather we are writing out
of care that people remain on the right path.
Climate that the confused find themselves in
Being Sunni in this current time is seen as being narrow
minded by some. Many are, unfortunately, like that but there are many who are
not. But those who are narrow minded are also those who know how to propagate
themselves well. This is especially true of the indo pak Sunni’s who, it
is very sad to say, some of the most narrow minded individuals that one many
hope to meet. Sunni’s of other backgrounds are not like this.
There is an
understanding, rightly or wrongly, that there is corruption in the masjids. Added
to this is the fact that local masjids cater for the elderly and male members
and seemingly disregard the needs of the females in their respective
communities.
Knowledge and teaching of Islam is extremely limited and those
Sunni’s who do not like the ‘look’ of someone will make sure sufficient slander
is being spread about certain teachers. Thus making sure no one studies with
them.
These types of situations make people think that there must
be another way and that Islam was made to cater for all people not just the
elderly. People must understand that the masjids were set up in absence of
anyone knowledgeable about Islam. The elders in their communities set these
places up, we are grateful they did, but now the next step must be the
spreading of knowledge in the masjids. Which, as a whole, is not happening but
there are pockets here and there.
They meet Sufis who have taken a spiritual path but are
unrighteous. It could be because their Sheikh is that way but in most cases it’s
because they themselves do not adhere to their paths correctly.
You also have
cultural forms or understandings of how Islam should be.
So given all these factors would you not run from Pakistani
Sunni Islam? Well many have. We were lucky because there was an emergence
of English speaking Sunni scholars in the 1990’s which helped us see that there
was another way. You are familiar with their names or you are if you are
reading this blog!
Yet there were those who wandered further and they came
across wahabi/selefi version of Islam. Thanks to their good brand placement and
image, they managed to make many in-roads in Sunni communities. For a number of
reasons which we will go into now.
Inroads
The Wahabis/Selefi’s came across as a purer version of Islam
without any cultural dross and without any of the above mentioned points. So
they filled in the gaps of what the Sunni’s had neglected, as a whole. Their
funding is from Saudi who are only interested in spreading a puritanical type
of extremism. How can I say that? Well they consider everyone else as
polytheists because they are grave worshippers or so they falsely claim. This
is the true nature of a sect and breaking off into sects is unlawful/haram.
Thanks to the huge amount of petrol dollars being poured
into Saudi they spread their ill gotten gains across the globe by funding
masjids, madrasa’s and preachers of their ilk. Lovely petrol dollars
allowed them to bankroll books accusing Muslims of falsehood then the market were flooded with books of this group.
The main accusation that the wahabi’s lanched continuously
at everyone else especially the Sunni’s is innovation/Bida’. They claim that the
Sunni’s have lost their way because they have become embroiled in innovation.
Innovation is a serious accusation and is tantamount to heresy. The
wahabi’s/selefis are essentially what the inquisition was to Christianity. They accuse us of polytheism/shirk which means accusing someone of disbelief.
So to an untrained mind their arguments may seem valid but
if you examine them with a fresh mind then you see how badly flawed
their statements are. One such shocking statement made by one of the wahabi ‘scholar’ was that he said saying bismillah
before entering McDonalds means all of it is halal/lawful. This is rejected by
every sound thinking scholar on the planet. As the wahabi has made the
consumption of pork halal which means this opinion is disbelief/kufr. The list
of absurd opinions goes on and on. It is not
strange that they accuse others of disbelief yet do even worse themselves!
The other slogan is that they follow Quran and Sunnah and
nothing else. This is just a flawed argument against one thousand and four
hundred years of Islamic scholarship. No one can accuse the majority of Islamic
scholars to be all incorrect and this small minority to be right. No one group
has the monopoly of truth that had escaped 1400’s years of scholarship had missed
and this small group found out. There is a good reason why many scholars have
said not to read anything written in the last two hundred years because this is
when all the differences occurred.
Even though both groups have different routes their
objective is the same. Also they are Arabic-centric in their thought which is a
reason why they have been very effective in spreading in the lands of the
Arabs. Islam relies on Arabic as a core language but Islam does not rely on a
single background of people.
Breaking down their arguments
The first point we would like to make is that no group that
was founded on the murder and massacre of the inhabitants of Mekkah and Medinah
(twice) could ever be right. More on can be read in our previous
post.
Second point no ‘new’ group has monopoly of the truth. Sunni
Islam has existed since the time of the companions and up until this day and it
did not suddenly appear in Arabia two hundred years ago. Nor any modern group
of in the last two hundred years.
Three, the Wahabis/selefi’s were part of the products of
colonisation. British foreign policy in the countries that it ruled as to
undermine the power and the power was with the religion. So they used and
funded (de)formers such as M.Abdhu, Aghani, M. Ibn Wahabi, Rashid Rida and
many others. Their role was to actively undermine dominate Sunni presence in
their respective regions. It worked on many but there was a core of scholars
who rejected their opinions. Wahabis/ Selefis were seeds of British foreign
policy which became poisoned fruit with American.
Four, the correct group of Islamic scholarship began in time
of the companions and continues to this day which is the majority of scholars
are correct and the minority are not. The Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and
blessings upon him) said,
لا يزال طائفة الظاهرين على الحق لا يضرهم من خذلهم حتى يأتي أمر الله
و هم كذلك
البخاري 10ظ293
“A group will remain manifest on the truth; those who
forsake them will not harm them until the command of Allah comes and they are likewise.” Bukhari
This can only be the Sunni’s because all other groups broke
away from the Sunni mainstream. When I mean Sunni I mean the Hanafis, Shafi’s,
Malikis and Hanbali’s. These are the Sunnis and those who are not part of this
group I do not consider as part of mainstream Sunni Islam. They also have to
adhere to one of the following groups of Islamic belief which are Maturidi’s or
Ashari’s. This is Ahl Al-Sunnah wa Jammah and others that are excluded are
Shia, Khawarij, Mutazilities and Wahabis etc.
Five, you cannot claim to be Ahl Al-Sunnah wa Jammah and
not follow the above guidelines! Then actively undermine the groups that they claim
to be from!
Six, accusing all Muslims of innovation/bida’ is slander of
the highest order.
Seven, you cannot claim to be a period of time like I cannot
claim to be Tudor. How can I? When I am not from their time! How can one claim
to be part of the rightly guided generation of the Salaf which ended in third century
Islam? Although the manners of the salaf did not die out until a few hundred
years later. It can now be described as extreme asceticism which in itself is
Tasawwaf. So the only way they could be a Salefi was if they were born in that time period. If they werent then they have no right to claim they are a Selefi.
Eight, someone cannot recite the Quran unless they learn all
the articulation points and the correct manner of pronunciation. So no average
person can recite the Quran without it learning these rules. So if this is just
to recite the Quran, without understanding its meaning, how foolish would it be
to follow self made scholars who open the Quran and interpret translations? Without any background in the Arabic language! Or those who study Islam in western universities?
Or those who go to Medinah University and spend years with their backs to the
light? All they do is open a book and they are a scholar! No need for spending
years studying! How can you be when you cannot even recite the Quran correctly!
Would you trust me to do open heart surgery on you because I’ve just read a book
about it? No sane person would so why then would you trust such people with
your religion. Something much more precious.
Nine, Muslims do not worship graves. We go and pay our
respects to the deceased. Note the Muslim grave of a Wali or scholar is illuminated
place of lights. Prostration is two kinds: one of worship and one of respect.
The latter is what the angels did to Adam (upon him peace). It is only
disbelief if someone prostrates as an act of worship. Prostration of respect is
disliked now because of the harm it will cause. So there is no disbelief going
on here and this is a baseless accusation.
Ten, the companions did not need madhabs why do I? Well if
you are a companion then you had great people such as Ibn Mas’ud, Ibn Abbas,
Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them all) and their ilk to ask questions.
You do not have this great blessing as you and me need someone to explain this hence the Sunni schools of thought who were set up in the time of the
companions! On whose influence Islam remains to this day.
Eleven, nor can you follow a
group without a valid chain of transmission/sanad or isnad. Why? Because you
will know the correct position and this religion is passed on from chest to
chest not from book to book.Or fabricated on the spot! The Chain of transmission/Ijaza is permission given to a teacher by his teacher and this system reaches back to the companions and the Prophet (may Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him). No one but the Sunni Islam have this system.
Twelve, we follow Quran and Sunnah. This is also another
baseless claim because all the four Sunni schools are based on Quran and
Sunnah. The only difference being that we follow trusted scholarship through
Abu Hanifa and his students. The Hanifa’s, Shafi’s, Maliki’s and Hanabalis are
based on the Quran and Sunnah. In opposition to the selefis who follow their
self- fis which means they follow whatever whim comes to them. They take a text
in isolation without understanding and speak for hours based on a
misunderstanding.
Thirteen, the reject attaining blessings/barakah from relics
even though they have a museum of Ibn Saud where all of his items are
preserved! They go, visit and pay homage but according to themselves this is
shirk! This is the height of hypocrisy.
Fourteen, accusing anyone of innovation is slander. There are
two types of innovation blameworthy and praiseworthy. Blameworthy is a new
action without previous precedence. Praiseworthy innovation is a new action but
has some roots in Islam. Like the compilation of Quran into one book. There were
no orders for this to be done but it was done by the companions in order to
preserve the written word and allow others to learn it. As well as praying
twenty units of Tarawiah prayer which was confirmed by Umar Ibn Al-Khattab and
confirmed by the silent consensus of the companions (may Allah be pleased with
them). Silent consensus of the companions is when the ruling was given by Umar
(may Allah be pleased with them) and no one opposed him. Only a fool would
disobey the companions and claim to follow them!
Fifteen, the founders of the four school were all in born in
the blessed generation of the real Salaf: 1st to 3rd
century Islam. We are the true followers of the Salaf not they as they claim.
Which trusted mujtahid do they follow? Their salaf were born a few decades ago
so how can they be salaf? Also the word salaf that is mentioned in hadith means
one who lives after you have passed and it does not mean that the Prophet (may
Allah bestow peace and blessings upon him) is a salaf. Yes that was one of the
strange things someone sent to me! They claim to follow the salaf but do not follow the four madhabs which were set up the real salaf. Yet they do not follow them but claim to!
Sixteen, the four imams did not have all the hadiths? This is a rather strange claim of the wahabi/selefis because
they claim that none of the four imams had all the hadiths. This can be easily
refuted by the following points:
1. None of the collections of the following hadiths never
claimed to have all the hadiths: Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawood, Muwatta
Imam Malik, Imam Ahmad, Muwatta Imam Muhammad, Ibn Hibban, Al-Hakim, and so on.
2. The Wahabis/selefis do not know or study most hadith
books themselves! So their accusation that the four imams did not have all the
hadiths is false seen as they did not even study all the hadiths on these
collections.
How can the Wahabis/selefis accuse others of not having all
the hadiths when they do not look up the hadiths except Bukhari and Bukhari is
not all of the hadiths!
Most of the collectors of hadiths followed a process or
criteria for accepting hadith. They collected hadith over many years and then
sifted through them bases on their own principles and then compiled them. Some
of these collections took tens of years.
Imam Bukhari said he knew 100,000 authentic hadiths and
200,000 weak hadiths, but how many of those 100,000 ended up in his collection
7563. Imam Ahmad had 27647 hadiths in his works even though he knew half a
million by memory and had written 1 million by hand! (Manual of Islam p.134
Imam Nawawi trans Sheikh Nuh Keller)
Some hadiths were not widely transmitted because they were
not acted upon, and so on. Some hadith are repetitions, some hadith have
additions in other collections and so on.
No one has claimed to have all the hadiths, not a single
jurist, not a single hadith expert and not a single scholar. The insinuation is
that the wahabi/selefis have all the hadiths and this is baseless too because
they do not look at the books present in our time!
The way out
Look to trusted names and people who are part of the Ahl
Al-Sunnah wa Jammah and avoid some rabid Shia groups who also have lots of
suspicious funding. Look at the scholars who do not curse or attack people
continuously, this is a good sign. Those who adhere to goodness in their
students as well as practicing themselves.
Following wahabi
scholarship is like getting a child to build to car engine. Do not expect
anything to work but expect a few tantrums! If you follow their arguments it
will take a lot to break them down. To the layman these make a lot of sense but
to the scholar it’s the same as baby writing a book on Islam. They did not
expect anything but scribbles!
So what is wrong with being a wahabi/selefi? Well you
putting the most precious thing you have, your religion, into the hands of
those untrained individuals. Those who have killed thousands of Muslims and yet
claim to be on the right path! Those who are killing innocents are lairs and
cheats.
The problem with being a Wahabi is like seeing all types of
water as the same but some has other mixed in it and others are purer. Drinking
wahabi/selefi water is like drinking water that’s been mixed with petrol, so
do not expect to be healthy! The Sunni water is fresher and has no petrol!
Do not be fooled by people who make lots of noise because
empty things make lots of noise. A lot of their scholars are empty and make
lots of noise!
We have not written this with the intention that you attack
others, no, this is pointless. Use this as a means of self defence if you are
attacked. Most of all whichever group you belong to do not declare another
Muslim as a disbeliever. If you adhere to a school then do not force it onto others
as this causes tribulation. If you want to learn about the rights of a Muslim
then read this 40 hadith about the rights of Muslims click
here.
Most of all we ask for guidance for you and for us; as we
are all in need of the guidance of Allah (Exalted is He).
Those who want to look deeper into this then find the books
Notions that need correcting by Sheikh Muhammad Al-Maliki Al-Makki and
Realities of Sufism by Sheikh AbdulQadir Isa. Both of them are published by
Sunni pubs.
Peace
