Humanity cannot reform itself. It can - that is to say it is capable - but standing ???????????????¢??tip-toe???????????????¢?? is useless if it is temporary. There are those who are capable of rising to the best heights, but no-one can take others with them. The weighted-average cost is just too much.
I recently engaged in a ???????????????¢??debate???????????????¢???????????????? with a number of ???????????????¢??Free-minders???????????????¢???????????????? on their forum. The issue concerned the ???????????????¢??m word???????????????¢???????????????? and its status/justification in Islam. My official reply (which was inadequately addressed especially by the more arrogant protestors) is below (i.e. the link). Please do not read if untasteful to you.
The questions that a ???????????????¢??Qur???????????????¢??an-alone???????????????¢???????????????? Muslim must ask him or herself are these:
???????????????¢??Do I really want to be a Muslim, or do I only want to be one so far as it fits in with my preferences? Is it not logical that since I accept Islam, there must be a best way to adhere to it????????????????¢????????????????
The implication of the first is that we are not actually Muslim until we wholeheartedly embrace the Qur???????????????¢??an and its principles to the best of our ability:
???????????????¢??The dwellers of the desert say: We believe. Say: You do not believe but say: We submit; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts; and if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish aught of your deeds; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.???????????????¢????????????????
49:14
This means that we must have our own understanding of Islam (or else we are trusting the Qur'anic principles to scholars and not to our hearts and minds).
Some ayat which reflect the attitude of disputers posing as ???????????????¢??defenders of people???????????????¢??s opinions???????????????¢????????????????:
???????????????¢??And when they are called to Allah and His Messenger that he may judge between them, lo! a party of them turn aside. And if the truth be on their side, they come to him quickly, obedient. Is there in their hearts a disease, or are they in doubt???????????????¢????????????????¦????????????????¢????????????????
24:48-50
???????????????¢??And he who obeys Allah and His Messenger, and fears Allah, and is careful of Him, these it is that are the achievers.???????????????¢????????????????
24:52
People who cherry-pick principles and think it is fine to engage in anything not specifically mentioned in the Qur???????????????¢??an are not careful. If there are any doubts (e.g. concerning salaat or the topic below) then one cannot ignore them without being kufr.
The implication of the second is the acknowledgement that there is - and must only be - one Islam:
???????????????¢??And surely this your religion is one religion and I am your Lord, therefore be careful of Me. But they cut off their religion among themselves into sects, each part rejoicing in that which is with them.???????????????¢????????????????
23:52-53
This means that anyone who follows the principles of the Qur???????????????¢??an as best as he or she can has a right to disassociate his or herself (religiously) from those who do not. For example, I do not have to label my debating opponents ???????????????¢??Muslims???????????????¢???????????????? if they cannot argue. Furthermore, any non-Muslim who understands what I am saying (but does not happen to believe the Qur???????????????¢??an) does not have to respect the logic of any self-proclaimed ???????????????¢??Muslim???????????????¢???????????????? deliberately falling short of accepting Qur???????????????¢??anic principle (unless they have sure-fire evidence to support them!). For example:
?????'¢????????????????¦keep up prayer; surely prayer is at fixed times for the believers.???????????????¢????????????????
4:103
We cannot simply pray however many times we wish without following the principles and statements in the Qur???????????????¢??an. There is only one correct interpretation. Likewise, the followers of Rashad Khalifa accept different sacred months and thus they cannot possibly be my brothers in this deen.
This does not imply that everyone should be at each other???????????????¢??s throats! On the contrary, Allah (SWT) advocates mutual respect and prohibits religious compulsion. My argument here is that certain ???????????????¢??Free-minders???????????????¢???????????????? (and anyone who accepts them) are deliberately dividing Islam (that means the religion of the Qur???????????????¢??an alone) such that forty years since its resurfacing (albeit in an odd and still deviant form) it is showing no sign of being what it is meant to be. It is more like a parade where any confused (I can cite examples) thirteen year-old can declare a fatwa and deem himself smarter than you. Moreover, the sensitive brothers and sisters will (try to) scold you for daring to notice their sectarian symptoms and lack of faith. I am explaining my approach to them.
The other (more significant) aspect to point out is that ???????????????¢??Free-minders???????????????¢???????????????? and similar folk do not understand the concept of ???????????????¢??unity???????????????¢???????????????? ordained in 23:52-53. For instance, they cannot see that since there is a congregation prayer to be led by one person (4:102, 62:9-10), and that since the traditionalists already have a defined sequence of movements, we should adopt it as far as it is consistent with the Qur???????????????¢??an:
???????????????¢??And keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and bow down with those who bow down.???????????????¢????????????????
2:43
Having established that link, people will have no reason to be confused by the prospect of individual salaat!
This same approach should be taken with all aspects of Islam, gradually merging the sects together into an adherence to and attitude reflecting the Qur???????????????¢??an alone. Muslims must endeavour for this, not simply for the sake of religion but thus also for the sake of the world. Islam has much to offer, and so we should not be afraid of the mainstream which already acknowledges the Qur???????????????¢??an.
To explain some more frustration, I cannot resist mentioning ???????????????¢??Quranists?????'¢????????????????/Free-minders?????'¢???????????????? inability to respond to traditional arguments about whether one can eat cats and dogs etc.:
???????????????¢??O messengers! eat of the good things and do good; surely I know what you do.???????????????¢????????????????
23:51
The ???????????????¢??good things???????????????¢???????????????? are the natural sustenance of the earth and what we could desire (2:57, 7:160, 8:26, 20:81). Just like righteous (here ???????????????¢??good???????????????¢????????????????) deeds, people can intuitively or through knowledge decide what the good things are (e.g. lollipops are ???????????????¢??not good???????????????¢???????????????? because they rot the teeth!).
???????????????¢??Say: The good things are allowed to you, and what you have taught the beasts and birds of prey, training them to hunt-- you teach them of what Allah has taught you-- so eat of that which they catch for you and mention the name of Allah over it; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah; surely Allah is swift in reckoning.???????????????¢????????????????
5:4
Notice the emphasis on eating what we would normally hunt (i.e. non-predatory animals and those normally eaten). Thus, in accordance with the Qur???????????????¢??an we would not eat cats and dogs if there were a more appropriate or ???????????????¢??accepted???????????????¢???????????????? source of food about. Although they are not specifically prohibited, the Qur???????????????¢??an would be very long if it listed all organisms or ???????????????¢??foods???????????????¢???????????????? that we should not eat because a) they were intelligent/had a use or b) they were bad for our health. Allah (SWT) makes it easy by describing what we should eat (5:4), trusting us to use our judgement about it (23:51) and explaining what is actually sacred/forbidden (haram) (5:3).
We will take a moderate approach to music:
???????????????¢??And pursue the right course in your going about and lower your voice; surely the most hateful of voices is braying of the asses.???????????????¢????????????????
31:19
We should not incline to loudness or aggressiveness firstly because it will disturb others, and secondly it will distract from the remembrance of Allah (SWT) (which we should always be engaged in):
???????????????¢??And remember your Lord within yourself humbly and fearing and in a voice not loud in the morning and the evening and be not of the heedless ones.???????????????¢????????????????
7:205
???????????????¢??Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord! Thou hast not created this in vain! Glory be to Thee; save us then from the chastisement of the fire!???????????????¢????????????????
3:191
Anything which distracts us from the remembrance of Allah (SWT) and is not obviously a necessity, is obviously inadvisable. Likewise, the intention is important (is it to idle away time or to calm/prepare/assist yourself to remember Him?). It could be used to emphasise something (e.g. a celebration or a message you are trying to convey), but obviously the music should not defeat its own purpose.
???????????????¢??Say: O followers of the Book! be not unduly immoderate in your religion, and do not follow the low desires of people who went astray before and led many astray and went astray from the right path.???????????????¢????????????????
5:77
The same concept is employed in the example below. Please read no further if you feel it is untasteful to you.
Last edited by Minhaj on Thu 07 Apr, 2011 7:27 pm; edited 6 times in total
Posted:
Thu 07 Apr, 2011 2:48 pm
AhmedBahgat Site Admin
Status: Age: 58 Faith: Islam Gender:
Zodiac: Joined: Oct 16, 2006
Posts: 3236 Location: Australia
Post subject:
That is the truth dear brother with the freak minders, they are like the sunnis, shia and cult forums, freak controls. However, consider Free Islam your web site dear brother, and I can assure you that many of the freak minders and FFIer read Free Islam, so you can tell them what you want regardless being polite or not, this is a true free speech web site with the only violation of mocking Allah or any of His prophets
They did to me what they did to you, however I was impolite, and I dont think I should be polite with any manipulator who manipulates the Quran to serve their low desires
Cheers for sharing "your experience with them" with us
That is the truth dear brother with the freak minders, they are like the sunnis, shia and cult forums, freak controls. However, consider Free Islam your web site dear brother, and I can assure you that many of the freak minders and FFIer read Free Islam, so you can tell them what you want regardless being polite or not, this is a true free speech web site with the only violation of mocking Allah or any of His prophets
They did to me what they did to you, however I was impolite, and I dont think I should be polite with any manipulator who manipulates the Quran to serve their low desires
Cheers for sharing "your experience with them" with us
Salam
Wasalam;
They followed the little kid who couldn't stand it being anything less than completely halal. So they became irritated and accused me of being extremist after which it was not polite to talk to some (e.g. the more experienced). I was not impolite in the personal message sent to the moderator (which is what got me banned for some reason - that reason being he/she couldn't stand not being able to support his/her ego). The kid changed his opinioin (i.e. his stance) a few times and kept misinterpreting me. There is nothing more to learn from them (in fact quite honestly I never learnt one thing from the site). I hope that one of them has the courage to come here and continue it
...
Take care.
Posted:
Thu 07 Apr, 2011 6:55 pm
AhmedBahgat Site Admin
Status: Age: 58 Faith: Islam Gender:
Zodiac: Joined: Oct 16, 2006
Posts: 3236 Location: Australia
Post subject:
That is their main problem, they cannot stand one telling and exposing their flaws, stupidity and manipulations in the most honest way. They want one to charm them as they charm others on the foolish belief that all prophets talked nice to their people and we should take them as examples, another lie by them which I demolished by showing them that most prophets if not all mentioned in Quran talked in very aggressive way with their people, that is what I call their religion "Feel Good Religion"
Layth is a member here and Edip Yuksel and others from FM, but no one dares to come and debate me becuase they know that I will wipe the follors of FI with their foolish claims
And to be honest man, this is the same conclusion I have reached in 2006, that there is nothing to learn from them, rather everything to lose.
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