Islam vs Islamic Thinking

                 Quran and Hadith contain two types of principles- the worded principles and un-worded principles. The worded principles are those which have come on the surface through wahi and these are found in the form of Words in the texts of Quran and Hadith. The un-worded principles are those which are not found in the form of words in the texts of Quran and Hadith and which do not come on the surface through wahi; rather they are discovered from Quran and Hadith through human intellectual exertions. The worded principles are called sources of Islam; the un-worded principles are called Islamic Thinking.   Islam/Deen is combination of both sources of Islam and Islamic Thinking. The Quran and Hadith/ worded principles are Al -haque; Islamic Thinking is 'Haque'. Denial of Al-haque is 'kufr'- denial of Hadith means to deny a hadith, knowing that it is rightly attributed to our Nabi s.a.w.w. Denial of 'Haque' is 'Batil' / sin, in the light of al-maidah-44 (for details plz see       https://secondriseofislam.blogspot.com/2017/03/fallacy-of-takfeeri-doctrine.html#links).  Denial of 'Haque'    is also Sin/Batil in the light of al-nisaa-59 which states:

            "O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result".   
This verse states that     Muslims should obey men of authority (leadership)- state leadership or religious leadership. If people disagree with what they are commanded by leadership, decision will be taken on the basis of what Allah and  Rasool s.a.w.w. has given- means on the basis of principles contained in Quran and Hadith. In other words, Muslims are being directed to obey such orders/ decisions of leadership, which are based on Quran and Hadith. If we do not obey this Quranic commandment, we will be committing sin .  It may also be appreciated that Islamic Thinking may have different views but not contradictory views. If religious leadership gives different views/ commandments relating to the same issue, denial of majority leadership's commandment would be sin/ 'batil'.                                          

Fallacy of ‘takfeeri’ Doctrine

                     

‘Takfeeri’ Doctrine states that Muslims who do not practically apply Islamic commandments/principles in their lives are disbelievers/ ‘kafir’, and as such do not remain a part of Muslim Ummah. This Doctrine is primarily based, among other arguments, on following Quranic verse:

“Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light…………… So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge/ ‘yahkum’ by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the  'kaferoon'” (al-maidah-44).

Let us analyze this doctrine in the following lines.

In Quranic terminology, various derivatives from word ‘kafara’/ ‘kufr’ have been used with various meanings including to deny something, to remove something, to be ungrateful,  and to deny faith. Thus in Quran we find word ‘kufr’ has been used for people who deny something, who show ungratefulness, who undertake wrong-doings, and who deny faith (‘kufr bil eman’). It may be appreciated that word ‘kufr’ has not been used with the meanings of ‘kufr bil eman’ in all cases in Quran though it has been used with meanings of ‘kufr bil eeman’ in dozens of verses. Quran staes:

“………And whoever denies the faith (kufr bil eeman) - his work has become worthless, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers” (al-maidah-5).

In this verse,  ‘kufr bil eman’/ denial of faith has been mentioned.

“O you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange and no friendship and no intercession. And the disbelievers - they are the wrongdoers” (al-baqra-254).

In this above quoted verse, it is stated that ‘kaferoon’ are those who are wrong-doers.  

“……..will they then believe in vain things, and be ungrateful for Allah's favours?” (al-nahl-72).

……..but it denied the favors of Allah……. (al-nahl-112).

“So remember Me, and I will remember you; and be thankful to Me; and be you not ungrateful towards Me” (al-baqra152).

In all three above quoted verses, ‘kufr’ has been used with meaning of  ungratefulness.

Thus we find that, in Quran, word ‘kufr’ and its variants have been used with the meanings of ‘kufr bil eeman’ in so many verses which state about ‘kufr’ relating to Allah, His Attributes, His verses and His deeds; which state about ‘kufr’ relating to ‘Aakhira’, Angels, revealed Books and resalah; and verses which state about ‘kufr’ relating to Quran and sayings/actions of our Nabi/ rasool ﷺ and our Nabi’s ﷺ attributes mentioned in Quran. In all such cases, word ‘kufr’ has been used with meanings of ‘kufr bil eeman’. But what is to be appreciated is that this word ‘kufr’ has also been used in Quran with the meanings other than ‘kufr bil eeman’; for instance, as mentioned above, this words ‘kufr’ has also been used with meanings like ‘ungratefulness’ and ‘wrongdoings’.

A person cannot be excluded from Muslim Ummah on the basis of wrong acts/ sins, until and unless he commits ‘kufr bil eeman’. As long as a person has faith/ ‘eeman’, he cannot be excluded from Muslim Ummah because this Muslim Ummah has been established on the basis of ‘eeman’ only. In the verse al-maidah-44, the people committing wrong acts/ sins have been mentioned; they are not the people committing 'kufr bil eeman'. Therefore word 'kaferoon' means ungrateful or wrong doers. Quran states Hazrat Ibraheem a.s. prayers in the following words:

   “And [mention] when Abraham said, "My Lord, make this a secure city and provide its people with fruits - whoever of them believes in Allah and the Last Day." [Allah] said. "And whoever disbelieves - I will grant him enjoyment for a little; then I will force him to the punishment of the Fire, and wretched is the destination (al-baqra-126)"

It were these people of faith/ 'eeman' which were named as Muslim Ummah in the second next verse. Quran states Hazrat Ibraheem’s a.s words:

“Our Lord, and make us Muslims [in submission] to You and from our descendants a Muslim Ummah [in submission] to You. And show us our rites and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful (al-baqra-128).

From above qouted two verses, it is clear Muslim Ummah which was established out of Hazrat Ibraheem's and hazrat Ismaeel's a.s. descendants was established on the basis of eeman/faith. It does not mean actions do not impact eeman; they do impact eeman. According to our Nabi's s.a.w.w. Hadith, eeman increases and decreases with actions. 'Kufr bil eeman' is a state of mind where righteousness of Allah's and our Nabi's s.a.w.w. sayings and deeds is challenged.

Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique r.a. fought Munkareen e zakah who challenged righteousness of zakah. Similarly Imam Ibn e Taimia passed verdict to do ‘qattal’ against Mongols who challenged appropriateness of Islamic Shariah.

From the foregoing, we may conclude that in Quran word ‘kufr’ has been used not only with meanings of ‘kufr bil eeman’ but also with meanings of ungratefulness and wrongdoings. The word ‘kaferoon’ used in verse al-maidah-44 does not mean the people who have committed ‘kufr bil eeman’; word ‘kaferoon’ in this verse may mean ungrateful people or the people who are wrong-doers.  A person cannot be excluded from Muslim Ummah on the basis of wrong acts/ sins unless he commits ‘kufr bil eeman’ because Muslim Ummah has been established on the basis of ‘eeman’, not on the basis of actions. It does not mean actions are not required by Muslims; certainly Muslims are required to live their lives according to ‘eeman’ but if they do not live their lives according to their faith/ ‘eeman’, they will be labeled as sinner as long as they do not commit 'kufr bil eeman'; but  such sinners cannot be excluded from the Muslim Ummah.

Some Rebuttals of Views Held by Disbelievers of Hadith (Munkareen e hadith) (4)

‘Munkareen e Hadith’ say the matter of ‘haque and batil’ is to be decided through daleel/logic; but decision of a dispute/ ‘fasl e nazaa’ is to be done on the basis of majority. They mean subjects of ‘haque and batil’ are relating to ‘Eman and Deen’; and subjects of ‘nazaa’/ disputes are not related to ‘Eman and Deen’. Let us analyze this view in the light of Quran. The Quran says:  

“Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light…………… So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge/ ‘yahkum’ by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the disbelievers” (al-maidah-44).

This verse says the people who do not decide a dispute on the basis of what has been revealed are disbelievers. In other words, this verse is saying if dispute is not decided on the basis of principles, contained in wahi, such decision of dispute is ‘kufr’ and the people making such decision are disbelievers/ ‘kafir’. It means the way in which a dispute is resolved determines such decision is haque or batil.  If decision of dispute is made on the basis of principles as contained in wahi, such decision is called as based on haque; otherwise the decision is called as based on ‘batil’.  It may be appreciated that decisions of disputes are not in themselves  part of Deen (Quran and Hadith). Deen is what gives us principles to decide what is haque and what is batil. (It may be appreciated Quran and Hadith are al-haque, not haque; haque and batil are related to human deeds whereas al-haque is Allah's deeds). In other words, decisions of disputes cannot be part of Deen/Eman but they are surely ‘haque or batil’.  In other words, the differentiation made by munkareen e hadith between ‘haque and batil’ and ‘fasl e nazaa’ is not correct, as fasl e nazaa is also a matter of ‘haque and batil’, in the light of verse mentioned above. It may also be appreciated that in the verse al-maidah-44, word 'kaferoun' has been used for the people who have defective/ lesser Eman in wahi; this word has not been used here for the people who do not have Eman in Deen i.e. Quran and Hadith. In other words, word 'kaferoun' has been used for people doing something 'batil'/sin by not deciding their matters on the basis of principles contained in wahi i.e. Quran and Hadith; this words has not been used here for people denying al-haque i.e. Quran and Hadith.

From the foregoing we can conclude that the way in which matters related to ‘fasl e nazaa’ are to be decided is also to be used to decide the matters of ‘haque and batil’. In both cases- i.e. ‘fasl e nazaa’ and ‘haque and batil’- matters are to be decided on the basis of majority, as we have already seen in previous parts of this article that matters of ‘haque and batil’ are to be decided on the basis of majority among the Muslims. If there is difference of opinion among the Muslims as to what is 'haque' and what is 'batil', and if difference of opinion pertains to what principles of 'wahi' are to be applied and what principles are not to be applied to a certain case, in both these cases matter is to be decided on the basis of principles contained in wahi, and the majority would decide what principles contained in wahi are to be applied to a certain case because sanctity is attached to opinion of  ma;jority Muslims (people or scholars, as the case may be) in Islam. If a person gives different connotation of principles of wahi (i.e. Quran and Hadith), again the matter would be decided on basis of majority among Muslims (people or scholars, as the matter may be).

Munkareen e Hadith also maintain that ‘ahadith’ are not ‘Qoul e Rasool’ ﷺ ; they are kalam e ravis/ narrators. This understanding of munkareen e Hadith about Hadith is quite baseless because everybody knows it is kalam e Nabi ﷺ which is described/copied in ahadith, in substance or words. It is not narrators’ kalam which we find in ‘ahadith’. Munkareen e Hadith need to differentiate between ‘kalam’ and ‘naql e kalam’; it is ‘naql’/ copy of Nabi’s ﷺ kalam which we find in ahadith; it is not narrators’ kalam.

The disbelievers of Hadith say that ahadith conveyed to us through narrators is not acceptable. This approach of disbelievers of Hadith runs counter to normal and universal practice adopted by people to accept and rely on messages received from someone else. It is normal and universal practice of people that they receive messages from someone else and accept such messages after due verification, if necessary. In the same manner, Muslims accept  our Nabi’s ﷺ sayings conveyed to us through narrators, after verifying that sayings have been rightly attributed to our Nabi ﷺ .

The disbelievers of Hadith object there are so many contradictions among ahadith; such contradictions make ahadith unacceptable to the people. This objection is also superficial. As for contradictions, apparently contradictions are found in Quran as well. These are apparently contradictions, not factual contradictions. These contradictions are not defect of Quran; rather they are result of defective human understanding of Quran. The more intellectual exertions are made to understand Quran, the more these contradictions are resolved. If intellectual exertions are not made by people in respect of Quran, Quran would mislead such people. The more the people make intellectual exertions regarding Quran, the greater they become able to resolve apparently contradictions and avail true guidance of Quran. In the same way, the contradictions found in ‘ahadith’ need to be resolved through intellectual exertions made by the people. Without due intellectual exertions thereof, ahadith would not divulge the guidance contained in them for the people (continued).