Out of the many shortcomings that we have within the American Muslim community today, one of the most striking is the lack of manners that we have when it comes to disagreements about issues relating to religion.
In the state of hyper-religiousity that many of us have in America, the absolutist mentality is pervasive. One group will say that their group is the correct one while others are deviants. The Usooli will call the Sufi a deviant, the Sufi will call the Shi’i a deviant, the Ithna Ashari Shi’i will call a Fatimi/Bohra Shi’i a deviant, etc. This holds especially true during Muharram and Aashoora.
A person will give commentary on a situation or definition of a word and imply or even outright state that another’s opinion is invalid. I’m not speaking of baseless opinions, but opinions based upon opinions of what scholars have stated.
There is an old saying that the person who knows truly understands how much he/she really does not truly know. This person is not an absolutist by any stretch. G’d knows best frequently rolls of of their tongues and is a part of their written discourse.
Growth comes from analysizing diverse viewpoints. Correcting people should be gentle and done after contemplation and recognition if errors are blatant. Disagreements and debates should take place respectfully with use of wisdom and rationale.
And surely G’d knows best.
AA- Dawud,
Very pertinent post for these times! How I wish more of us (especially our youth) would internalize the spirit of your post….
Expressing certainty in one’s beliefs needn’t result in disrespect for the other. Too many of us haven’t realized that balance between confidence in your faith and respect for differing views.
BismillaharRahmanirRahim
as-salaamu ‘alaikum. brnaeem, I second that motion, it is indeed a pertinent post for the times. Although, the young will always be young, lacking experience; know-how and a general understanding of subtleties. You wrote,
However, for “youth” to internalize the “spirit” of this post in this present day and age, if I am understanding correctly, would be asking them to acquire knowledge of themselves on their own. In other words learning to control their own nafas by themselves. This is impossible according Islamic traditions and sciences.
shahwat an-nafs, following the appetite/desires of the soul, is a disease and a malady of the heart which is often found in the zealous desires of youth… be they for this or that. Muhammad Hadimi, an Islamic Scholar of Istanbul wrote,
Likewise, Abu Bakr Tamistani, may Allah Almighty be pleased with him, says,
These statements point at something very interesting to me and that is the subject of “following”. So the questions is, “who are we following?” That is a valid question for the “youth” and also those with more years under their belts.
I really find this quite serious, and perhaps this is why it is mentioned by so many saints and scholars of Islam, for example Sahl bin Abdullah Tustari [died in 283 Hijri at Basra], may Allah Almighty be pleased with him, says,
Islam bin Yusuf Balhi, may Allah be pleased with him, once gave a gift to Hatam-ul-Esam, may Allah be pleased with him, and seeing that Hatam accepted his gift, asked him if his acceptance of the gift would constitute following the desires of his soul. In reply, Hatam told him that by accepting his gift, he made himself lowly and made him superior. Furthermore, he said, “If I wouldn’t accept his gift, that would make myself superior and him lowly. And, my soul ‘nafs’ would’ve loved that!”
This story is poignant and begs the reader to pay attention to the subtlty of the nafs. I know I have written a bit and perhaps too much, however I am observing just as our brothers Dawud Walid and brnaeem are observing, and what seems to be at the root of the misappropriated manners mentioned in this post is more or less the application of traditions however not the traditions of the Holy Prophet, may Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him, but more closely related to self-styled customs and attitudes which may or may not originate as a result of culture but certainly are accepted as a norm by groups.
So what is my suggestion, brnaeem probably knows where I am going with this, my suggestion is to follow the commandment of our Lord. Which is to,
For their is safety in following the righteous as opposed to our own selves/nafs. It was said by our Holy Prophet, may Peace and Blessings of Allah be upon him, at the end of a long hadith that,
Dawud Walid, please accept my apologies if the length of this comment is not to your liking. My intention was to present something that would be of benefit to myself and others.
Allah hafiz
-Saifuddin
As-Salaam `Alaykum,
JazakALLAHU khayran for the post; it isn’t too long.
I see you what you’re getting at Br. Saifuddin, and you’re correct.
Many of the disagreements that I witness in the community come from what I call the “internet muftis” who have not sat with any scholars or shuyukh for any traditional learning. They read a few ahadeeth on the internet and come to their own independent reasonings on issues without any sound method.
These are the first people to attack others and lack manners in disagreement. I have personally found the Salafis brothers to be the biggest offenders in this regard in my city.
WALLAHU `Alim.
Wassalaam.
BismillaharRahmanirRahim
Right, the perhaps well intended Muslim acting independently with no training or authorization from any particular tradition of Islamic Knowledge and Science.
Perhaps, however this was not my intended point of distinction. I merely wanted to point out the importance of Islamic Tradition: the Sunnat of the Holy Prophet (may Peace and Blessings be upon him) and how the abandonment of these traditions, bayat and ijazat for example, undermines the infrastructure of authority established by the Holy Prophet (may Peace and Blessings be upon him).
-Saifuddin
ASA,
Obviously, there are differing opinions on how the concept of ba’yah is understood as well as who can or cannot give ijazah.
Your posts are most welcomed, akhi.
AA- Saifuddin,
Always a pleasure to read your well-thought out comments!
While I agree with the overall spirit of your comments, I don’t believe that the act of taking a spiritual guide is sufficient in and of itself. Surely you are aware of the young murids (of various shuyookh) who are equally guilty of infantile polemics as our Salafi brethren referred to by Br. Dawud.
The root cause of this dilemma is indeed the primacy given to the nafs and one’s desires. Taking on a sheikh is but one way to counter that problem – and only for those who have the maturity to sincerely embark on this journey.
BismillaharRahmanirRahim
wa ‘alaikum as-salaam brnaeem. Thank you for the kind words, alhamdulillah. You wrote,
Yes we’ve had this discussion before, I know your position and respect it. But, youth is youth. And a young murid is just that, a young murid. We can only hope that a young person’s station of maturity and sincerity increase with the support of their murshid.
I recall when I first took on the path of tariqah when I was 19 years old (I’m 31 now). I was completely reckless, and my shaykh who I saw nearly everyday was very patient. Looking back, I see that my behavior in a number of situations was down right indignant but hind sight is… the hikmat of the shaykh is to know when a cool hand, an iron fist or a steel blade is necessary (figuratively speaking of course).
This also brings up a good point brnaeem. How much contact are these “young murids” having with their shaykh? Is it hands-on work on the murid’s ego or is this an distant relationship which serves other purposes? But I think this is as far as we should go on this subject.
-Saifuddin