Everybody Lies
Sigh…it is really frustrating when you are trying to find answers and everyone has an agenda. I don’t mind if people take sides (except of course when they make it out that it’s the only side) but I do mind the lack of honesty. People either tell outright lies, spread fabrications without verifying them, quote things out of context, or give you a “story” (as opposed to facts). There are several major obstacles I have encountered.
The first is when people are not just. For example, I heard some things about Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullaah. The speaker would mention Ibn Taymiyyah’s opinion as if it was a new thing, whereas Ibn Taymiyyah would often hold an opinion or practice of a Companion as followable. Wouldn’t it be better to say that Ibn Taymiyyah was following an odd opinion of the Sahaabiyyaat which is not followable according to the 4 schools, etc.? That way you credit where the idea came from but can also further the point that it is not valid. Another example, many people criticize many of the opinions of the 4 schools, yet those opinions have proof to back them up. It does not matter if you hold the proof as strong enough or not (with your amazing knowledge of fiqh) but rather the opinions adhere to a methodology which is established and is valid. Why can’t we respectfully and truthfully present the other side, even if we disagree with it?
Another problem is when us “common people” get warned about people that are “deviant”. Mostly, someone will be sitting there minding their own business when someone comes along and says “let me tell you about those people“. This is equivalent to a non-Muslim learning about Islam from some Christians. Unfortunately, many Muslims have no idea what they are “refuting” or “calling against” - they simply pass on the dirt they heard from the outside. And the problem with that is usually the “objections” are extreme and atypical anyway. What happens then is that a bunch of lay people, for the “good of the Ummah” keep preaching against a people they know virtually nothing about (except the extreme stories). It reminds me of the time when at a conference there was a convert sister next to me taking notes. The speaker likened something haraam to some practices of Jamaat ut Tabligh. The sister clicked her tongue, shook her head, and commented, “I can’t believe Tablighis drink!” I, having grown up Tablighi, pointed out that the speaker hadn’t said that, only likened one of their practices to something else. Alhamdulillaah, the sister was humble enough to realize her mistake, and turning red, said, “Astaghfirullaah” and erased her note, but it just goes to show you how wildly crazy a group can look from someone who knows nothing about them but some “refutations”. If you are a layperson like me and really want to know the truth about a group, what I suggest is that you meet people who are of that persuasion, and try to see why it is that they believe/practice as they do. Yes, you could still reject it, but at least this time you’d be doing it with actual knowledge. I hate to say it, but often we have been scared and barred from contact with a “deviant group” of which we did not have accurate information.
Another thing is that hardly anyone can be consistent to what they themselves are saying in terms of methodology. I saw some brothers mock the author of a Tablighi book because he had used weak ahadeeth in it, yet there is practically consensus that you can use weak ahadeeth for “fadhaa`il”. In addition, it is part of Imam Ahmad’s methodology - that when there is a weak hadith, he prefers this to reasoning. These same brothers, many of whom champion Imam Ahmad, could obviously not give the Tablighi book any respect simply because it was what they considered not correct in its political alignment. On the other hand it seems that many people present Traditionalism as synonymous with Sufism, when that was not the case at all. Or you see that often times people go to great lengths to clarify the position of a “misunderstood” scholar (ex: Ibn ‘Arabi, whose own teachers differed about him) whereas they do not go to equal lengths to understand the “deviant” beliefs of their opponents. I even saw one article that mentioned that to understand Ibn ‘Arabi’s work, one should fulfill an entire list of conditions, some to do with external things such as knowledge, and others which were of the heart! You have to wonder if you could demand such a list to understand some of the other “misunderstood” scholars of the past. To me, I try to understand all of them and I have the greatest respect for all of them, whether I hold their positions or not, rahihmahumullaahu ta’aalaa.
But I believe the most common and frustrating is that almost everyone nowadays is political and has an agenda or thesis, and this clouds all the Islam they will teach you. I don’t know if I really know anyone who says, “I want to know what Islam is” and goes out with an open mind and tries to learn from the sources of Islam - the Quran, the Sunnah, the Sahaabah, the scholars of Islam, and doesn’t already have a methodological persuasion. And it only seems to be getting worse over time. I read some statements from classical scholars, and while many differed, they still had some level of respect or tolerance. It seems that the minor differences keep getting magnified over time until now there are huge chasms between 2 sides who may well both have very good points. I also know all this is done with “good intentions” but someone else’s good intentions cannot determine what the truth is for everyone else. We each need to make our intention to seek Islam sincerely, not have eyes which only see “ammunition” for our opponents or “fuel” for our own arguments. And to me the worst blindness is when someone sees a proof (say a Companion who held an opinion) and insists on his position as the only one, making up plausible excuses to dismiss it, simply because it contradicts what he already believes. And honestly, I blame the scholars for this - because although a scholar, with his knowledge, may in fact disagree with another group, he has no wisdom in spreading his belief to the masses of common people, who now rejoice in their own group and make enemies of all those their leader has called against, so that even the most ignorant or sinful person on the street has a superior attitude towards “the deviants”.
The fact is, if you keep getting burned by the scare tactics of each group, you simply stop aligning yourself to any one of them. (The same way very early on I became suspicious of the assertion of “ijmaa’ah” - how many times did I believe it only to find other scholars, just as respected, even on the same “side” methodologically who held a dissenting opinion!) Due to all this, I don’t think I can ever call myself anything except a Muslim or at most, a “Sunni”. That is why I refuse to join a party. NOT because I am one of those “feel good” Muslims who says “can’t we all just get along” simply so the issues will go away, but because I have looked at many of those issues (and continue to) and sincerely see that both sides have good points and that I haven’t yet got “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” from anyone yet. It’s like trying to see an entire picture which has broken and become fragmented, while some people are withholding the pieces. May Allah grant myself and our Ummah tawfeeq…
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| And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Signs clear to you, that you may be guided. (3:103) | ||||||||
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And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment. (3:105)and:
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