Mufti Zarwali Khan Sahab (DB) : Dawrah-e-Tafseer

2011

2012

Abdullah Quilliam : Harbinger of Islam in United Kingdom

Somehow so many things are converging in the life of Abdullah Quilliam.
Marmaduke Pickthall, after spending two decades in India, returned to UK to be buried near an unknown person.
Who was this man whom he loved so much?
And even Abdullah Yusuf Ali is buried nearby.
And Baron Headly.
The unknown person was Abdullah Quilliam himself.
This BBC documentary tells us the fascinating story.
Strange are the ways of our Lord.

Health and safety hazards of Neck Tie

Necktie opponents cite risks of wearing a necktie as argument for discontinuing it. Their cited risks are entanglement, infection, and vasoconstriction. Entanglement is a risk when working with machinery or dangerous, possibly violent jobs such as policemen and prison guards, and certain medical fields.[11]

The answer is to avoid wearing neckties, or to wear pre-knotted neckties that easily detach from the wearer when grabbed; vascular constriction occurs with over-tight collars. Studies have shown increased intraocular pressure in such cases, which can aggravate the condition of people with weakened retinas.[12]

There may be additional risks for people with glaucoma. Sensible precautions can mitigate the risk. Paramedics performing life support remove an injured man's necktie as a first step to ensure it does not block his airway. Neckties might also be a health risk for persons other than the wearer. They are believed to be major vectors in disease transmission in hospitals.

Notwithstanding such fears, doctors and dentists wear neckties for a professional image. Hospitals take seriously the cross-infection of patients by doctors wearing infected neckties,[13] because neckties are less frequently cleaned than most other clothes.

On 17 September 2007, British hospitals published rules banning neckties.[14]In the UK it is a popular prank to pull someone's tie so that it tightens, this prank, known as peanuting, is often used to embarrass the victim but may, more rarely, be used as a form of bullying. In March 2008, a 13 year old boy from Oxted in Surrey was rushed into hospital with spinal injuries after being 'peanuted'. He was kept in hospital for 3 days.[15]

References:-

^ Kuhn, W. (January). ""Violence in the emergency department: Managing aggressive patients in a high-stress environment"". Postgraduate Medicine 105 (1): 143–148. PMID 9924500. http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/1999/01_99/kuhn.htm. Retrieved 2006-06-08.

^ Teng, C; R Gurses-Ozden, J M Liebmann, C Tello, and R Ritch (August 2003). ""Effect of a tight necktie on intraocular pressure"". British Journal of Ophthalmology 87 (8): 946–948. doi:10.1136/bjo.87.8.946. PMID 12881330. http://bjo.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/87/8/946. Retrieved 2006-06-08.

^ Nurkin, Steven; Carl Urban, Ed Mangini, Norielle Mariano, Louise Grenner, James Maurer, Edmond Sabo, James Rahal (May 2004). ""Is the Clinicians' Necktie a Potential Fomite for Hospital Acquired Infections?"". Paper presented at the 104th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology May 23–May 27, 2004, New Orleans, Louisiana. pp. 204.

^ Satter, Raphael; Lindsey Tanner (17 September 2007). "U.K. Hospitals Issue Doctors' Dress Code". http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070918/D8RNKDPG0.html. Retrieved 2007-09-19.


Source : SF

Kalam Cosmology

There were Greek philosophers.
Then there were their followers.
It so happened that some of them either entered Islam or some Muslims fell prey to the charms of the superficially beautiful lady called philosophy.
To defend Islam against this onslaught Muslims developed the art of Kalam.
That is Muslim scholasticism.
And Greek philosophy was temporarily contained.
It was decimated by persistent and consistent onslaught by Imam Ghazali (RA) and his disciples like Imam Razi and Ibn Khaldoon and others.

In recent times a Christian debater, William Craig, has been using the Kalam Cosmology argument to give nightmares to atheists.

This would have been alright except for a minor detail - the atheists this time happen to be highbrow physicists. Here is a quote from Cosmic Variance blog:

Craig is sufficiently good at debating that atheists are now advising each other to stay away from him for fear of looking bad — e.g. here and here.

Making Faces at US : Rachel Corrie Case

It does not affect them.
They have gone beyond childish actions and corresponding reactions.
And perhaps they have gone beyond that also.
When face making is slightly more than childish and symbolic.
We are talking about Rachel Corrie case.

She was killed in Israel when she tried to block the path of a bulldozer demolishing Palestinian houses.
She was an American and America takes great care of its citizen - its citizen have more rights in many countries than the citizen of those countries.
Except for Israel - in this case Israelis are more chosen than the Americans.

It is her parents who are left to fight for justice for the soul of their departed daughter.

PS:  And the verdict is in favour of Israel.

Late Professor Muhammed Nasim Farooqi, Former VC, AMU

Sometimes AMU feels like Greece.
Both are famous for their tragedies.
Last VC of AMU, Professor P.K. Abdul Azis was a tragic figure.
He did made valiant efforts for the academic revival of AMU but his detractors were not interested in them.
They were not interested even in the off-campus centers.
The VC before him, Mr Nasim Ahmed too was a tragic figure.
AMU wan meant for imparting modern education to the Muslim society as whole, in fact its vision is global for Muslim Ummah is a global phenomena, but it has got some how reduced to cater to Khair, Sasni, Hathras, Harduaganj, Atrauli. Do not worry if you do not know these locations - you just do not know the majority student composition.
So some people wanted to reserve some seats for Muslim students and the university made a move to that effect.
And all calamity rained on AMU - even some of the very vocal supporters of the idea did tame a rather shamefully quick U-turn.
One person could not have made a graceful exit - the VC. It was Mr Nasim Ahmed.
Yours truly has his sympathies with Mr Ahmed - he in fact went into depression because of that. Why? Was it personal mistake altogether? No it was not.
The VC before him was a rather short tenured - Janab Muhammed Ansari Sahab, the current Vice President of India.
Before that it was Mr Mehmoodur Rahman Sahab.
He too is a slightly tragic figure because the work he did as VC was monumental.
Indeed in modern times of land encroachments university boundary is a monument in itself - that is one of the many things that he did for the university, construction of the university boundary wall.
(There is a BHU joke. A Maharaja was cajoled to commit to boundary wall construction. He was more than glad - building cots a lot so what is there in a boundary wall, he thought. Only to regret it later for the length of the boundary was of huge proportions.)
Another significant contribution of Mehmoodur Rahman Sahab was the slow but persistent control of the law and order situation at the campus. When he took over the reins the university was in a state of near total break down of administrative authority. It was inherited from Dar-e-Farooqi, the Farooqi era.

What makes Mehmoodur Rahman Sahab also a tragic figure is that once you do that kind of things for the university you should be a person who is accepted as a prize citizen. That has not happened. He has ended up in a high position in Bombay Mercantile Bank but any such assignment can not match the glory that goes with the Vice Chancellorship of AMU.

Finally, for this note, we come to late Professor M.N.Farooqi who expired on 24 August, 2012 at Kanpur after a heart attack.

Verily we are for our Lord and unto Him is our return.

He too was a tragic figure. There are enough academic developments in AMU that can be attributed to him and people have more or less unanimously declared that as a person or an academician he was above reproach. What made him into a tragedy is the hideously manipulative gentry at AMU who completely took over the campus. Those who were students in those days have seeped into administrative, clerkial as well as teaching hierarchy and  its effect will be there for decades to see.

There will be enough smarties around asserting that Professor Farooqi failed as an administrator. That is a travesty of truth. AMU, the non-VC part of it, failed to maintain a administrative composure. If we do not identify the problem correctly it is unlikely to have a positive prognosis

Europe Can Not Deal With Anders Behring Breivik

Have a look at the photograph that goes with this news item.
Anders Behring Breivik smiles as he came to hear the verdict on his heinous crime.
People were running for their life in very desperate manner.
Some even thought that he is the saviour for he was in police uniform.
But he remorselessly killed them.
Europe can not deal with Anders Behring Breivik
Or any moral question, for that matter.
The only reliable morality is religious morality when the religion comes from God.
Europe kicked religion out of their life and plunged itself into darkness through a process that is ironically called enlightenment.
Court has handed Breivik 25 years punishment.
Just imagine that there is a massacre of some large number of people by a person who killed them in cold blood to teach lessons to some other people.
And the punishment is just 25 years imprisonment.
Our European friends do not realize that by some impossible mental gymnastic propelled by by some pseudo-morality criminals have been decidedly and firmly given more rights then common people including victims.

Balfour's Deceit

That is what lead to the success of Zionism through creation of Israel.

Michael Makovsky in Churchill's Promised Land: Zionism and Statecraft traces Churchill's journey to or with Zionism.

A.G.Noorani recapitulates here.

Dinesh D'Souza, the American

Dinesh D'Souza is trying desperately to prove his American nationalism.
Purpose? To bring down Barak H. Obama the way Michael Moore tried in 2004.

The details that are coming out of Barak Obama's past life are a bit disconcerting.

Did We Really Do It?

Made the mightiest navy for two centuries, of the empire in which the sun never set, disappear?
That is what this man thinks.
He is my favourite analyst.
(For today!)

Monumental Folly

Idealism can do you in.
Take the example of Jawahar Lal Nehru.
China's aggression against India was a rude awakening for him.
And it was too late too for ultimately it sapped all life out of him.
The feeling is accentuated by the following quote, in Frontline.

"He (Jawaharlal Nehru) rejected the Soviet offer to propose India as the sixth permanent member of the Security Council and insisted that priority be given to China's admission to the United Nations"

S. Gopal: Jawaharlal Nehru;
Volume II; page 248.

Spread of Languages

Here is the human migration flow map.

Here is the spread of Indo-European languages.

And more Indo-European migration.

Transcript of a Maulana Salman Hussaini Nadwi Video

Respected scholars I have a pain in my heart. I feel that when we sit in a conference, seminar or a gathering then formalities and traditionalism does not leave us, we are so caught in them that we can break lose, we want that when we study Islam then we draw ourselves into a secluded corner and have self assessment. Do have a self assessment, individually, but we also have to assess whole of humanity, of the world. World is in front of us and the Prophet (PBUH) we are talking about, his word can not be uttered without universality and global relevance. His tast starts with the fact that he (PBUH) is Mercy to all worlds. He (PBUH) is Rasool to whole humanity. Allah (SWT) asked him to say that he (PBUH) is Rasool to you all people. And the educational system that he (PBUH) brought, was it for the purpose that a few scholars will be prepared to decorate our pulpits and high pedestals? Sermonizing on Seerah, delivering the duties of Imams and Friday Sermons. Abu Bkar, Umar, Usman, Ali, Khalid Ibn Walid, Amr Ibn Al-Aas, Saad Ibn-e-Abi Waqqas, Abdullah Ibn Mas'aood, Zaid Ibn Thabit and you keep reciting names, were they prepared only to the effect that our pulpits, our high pedestals, the boundaries of our monasteries some Rabbanis and people of Allah are produced? Was this the purpose? The Lord Who said while dispatching him that We have sent you as a Rasool for guidance and the True Religion so that the religion is divulged to all in its complete form and only polytheists despise it. Lord who made this purpose so clear will He (SWT) be agreeable to this that we resort to patch work (implementation of Deen). Will He (SWT) be agreeable to this that whole of the world runs on another law (other than Shariah), that there be secular rule on every square inch of Pakistan? That Islamic world is run by secular system begged from Britain and America, people spend life licking the spit Europe? Ignoring the system of Tauheed implemented by Islam that had shaken up the Roman and Persian Empires? And displayed that right of the honourable Prophet (PBUH) can not be delivered by making people slaves? Riba'i Ibn Aamir (RA) is a less prominent Companion but he, while representing the Prophet (PBUH) in the court of Rustam had the guts to say that we have come to implement a just rule, we have been sent to release people from atrocities, to change people from living according to people's wish to live according to the Wish of One God, to take people from the contraints of this world to the expanses of hereafter, from in justice of religions to justice of Islam, I shall release people from injustice and exploitation, release people from traps of human beings, I'll not play games with people's minds. God who created man Himself said that "Recite in the name of that Lord who created". Here the Creator attribute has been chosen because of the reason that it has not been stated as to what has to be recited but only hinted - read every creation of the Creator! His Signs are there in leaves, in drops of water, in waves of air, in trees, particles, in planets, in galaxies, in stars, in flower petals and in your own self and will you then not see it? His Signs are there in your mind and brain, in your crevices, in every fiber and hair. He (SWT) says that He (SWT) will show His Signs in skies and in their selves. The system that was released that should have been implemented from the shores of Japan to the shores of American, from Kavkaz to the shores of South Africa. We defaulted on that. We stopped trying after getting out of Spain. We forgot Ibn Khaldoon, Shatibi, Shah Waliullah, Mujaddid-e-Alf-e-Thani, Ibn Taimiyyah, Ibn Qayyim, Al-Jauzi, Zahrabi, Al-Kindi, Al-Farabi, Ibn Sina and our philosophy. The result is that we reduced to go from door to door begging for a system of life. We beg for educational system and confined in a small circle we imagine that yes these are the scholars who are the inheritors of beloved Prophet (PBUH), who have not the law, the politics, the economy, business, civics, culture in their repertoire who are on the margins, who are looked upon as miserable, who are prone to be blamed. Whose task was to adorn the mantle of Abu Bakr Siddique, Umar Farooq, Usman bin Affan and Ali (RAs) and later on Mu'awiya and Umar Ibn Abdul Aziz (RAs), whose task was to have control of the temporal affairs. Did it ever happen in 12 or 13 centuries that there were two educational systems in our rule? Two legal systems? Two political systems? Give us any example, from Abbasid period, from Mughal period. May Allah (SWT) raise the stature of Maulana Manazir Ahsan Gilani (RA) that he clarified in Indian Education System that there used to be a universal education system that has been hijacked by the enemy looters and threw us in to a state of turmoil. I shall finish with this last point that Hazrat Maulana Qasim Nanotwi (RA), when we had got the defeat in the battle field, that now let us try to protect whatever little treasure we have, for we had no institutions under our control. For example at our place Muslim Personal Law Board was established in 1972 when the matters that were related to our family life were preyed upon. That is when scholars proposed that there should be a board for the protection of our domestic law. Now think about it - just because in the state of turmoil we resort to protection of our internal law does it mean that we should just forget the vastness of our past system of ( rule). Should we be satisfied with that only? The matter of truth is that the system that is implemented in the Madarsas at present is a small part of the past big circle. A mere patch of cloth. Merely a piece of food. It has no value beyond that. To insist that this is sufficient and to maintain the status quo is undue attachment to past. This is a trap on tradition that has completely caught the people. Till it is broken and the system of Nabi (PBUH) era is brought back so that those people are again produced who had the complete way of life in their hands and there was no need to beg for a system of life from any one nor of patch work. I fear this Verse, with which I shall conclude my presentation, that in present our condition is like this that Jews and Christians had in Prophet (PBUH)'s times and later that you silly got satisfied with a few buds (otherwise the garden had the solution to the problem of small container). I fear that if we limit ourselves to the same extent as they did then the way Allah (SWT) told them then we too will be addressed in the same way and the lightening will shine sending our system upside down, we can see that Muslim countries are being humiliated in the world, and the reason for their humiliation is that they used Shariah for mere patchwork and merely for show and trick, they were not sincere about implementing Shariah, nor sincere to Allah (SWT) and Prophet (PBUH) nor to general public or the nobility, nor any and every part of this Deen-al-Mateen. May Allah (SWT) provide us that sincerity once again and the determination of our direction keeping the Prophetic times in front of us.

Link: YT

Quantum Physics and Tasawwuf

Yours truly wanted to comment on this article for a long time. This got unduly delayed. The lesson is that finish the routine tasks routinely. Here is the deconstruction. The original is in blue and the comments are in black.

Tasawwuf (Sufism) and Quantum Physics

Dr. Ibrahim B. SYED

Tasawwuf (commonly known as Sufism) and quantum theory have several things in common.

Tasawwuf is about spirituality. Quantum Physics is about inanimate matter. Between two of them there are various stages of difference. From inanimate to animate there is a big jump. In animate matter also there is a big jump from rest of the animate matter to human beings. In humans spiritual aspect is the upper most. Thus any existence of resemblance between Tasawwuf and Quantum Physics can be only deceptive.

For example, Sufis and physicists have very similar views of the world. In contrast to the West’s mechanistic worldview, Sufis consider all things and events perceived by the senses as interrelated and connected, different aspects or manifestations of the same ultimate reality.

See Dr Syed started talking about contrast - yours truly could rest his case here and now!

For them, enlightenment is the experience of becoming aware of all things’ unity and mutual interrelation, transcending the notion of an isolated individual self, and identifying themselves with the ultimate reality.

Enlightenment is a western world and we need not make any attempt to find its Tasawwuf equivalent. In Islam we have guidance from Allah (SWT) and that is much more than enlightenment. European enlightenment in itself is not a journey from darkness to light - it is in reality the opposite. Through enlightenment Europe moved away from religion.

An exact science is expressed in the highly sophisticated language of mathematics, whereas Sufism is based on meditation and insists that the Sufis insight cannot be verbalized.

This too is contrast.

Reality, as experienced by Sufis, is completely indeterminate and undifferentiated.

 Tasawwuf is Irfan. That is highest level of achievement to call it indeterminate gives the impression that we are talking about illusion - that is far from the truth. Tasawwuf is Ihsan, the refined state of Islam, that is clearly differentiated as is clear from the Tradition of Gabriel where Islam, Iman and Ihsan are differentiated.

They do not see the intellect as their source of knowledge, but merely use it to analyze and interpret their personal experience.

True.

The parallel between scientific experiments and Sufi experiences may seem surprising due to the very different nature of observation. Physicists perform experiments involving elaborate teamwork and highly sophisticated technology; Sufis obtain their knowledge purely through introspection, without machinery, and in the privacy of dhikr (meditation). Repeating an experiment in elementary particle physics requires many years of training; deep Sufi experience generally requires many years of training under an experienced master. The complexity and efficiency of the physicists technical apparatus is matched, if not surpassed, by the Sufi’s consciousness, both physical and spiritual, while in deep dhikr. Thus scientists and Sufis have developed highly sophisticated methods of observing nature that are inaccessible to the layperson.

Both require long planning. That is superficial. Both have complexity. That too is superficial. Both have sophistication. That too is superficial.

Dhikr

Dhikr seeks to silence the mind and shift awareness from the rational to the intuitive mode of consciousness.

To calm down mind will be a better phrase but that too misses the target. Tasawwuf is the process of perfecting your Islam and that is it. Journey from rational to intuitive is by and large right thing to say but not the complete truth - rational to spiritual is the actual direction in Tasawwuf.

This is achieved by concentrating on one item, like breathing or focusing on the sound of Allah or la ilaha illa Allah. Even prayer, which is considered dhikr to silence the mind, leads to feelings of peace and serenity that are characteristic of dike’s more static forms. These skills are used to develop the meditative mode of consciousness.

In dhikr, the mind is emptied of all thoughts and concepts and thus prepared to function for long periods through its intuitive mode. When the rational mind is silenced, the intuitive mode produces an extraordinary awareness, for the environment is experienced without the filter of conceptual thinking. This meditative state’s main characteristic is the experience of oneness with the surrounding environment, a state of consciousness in which fragmentation ceases and fades into undifferentiated unity.

This is bit qualitative. To compare anything with Physics one has to be very precise. To compare anything with Tasawwuf one has to be very spiritual. It is not easy to make these two ends meet.

Insight into reality

Sufism is based on direct insights into the nature of reality; physics is based on observing natural phenomena in scientific experiments. In physics, models and theories are approximate and basic to modern scientific research.

Quite reasonable representation.

Thus Einstein’s aphorism: “As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality” (1) ...

We got to dissect this a bit. Einstein was not a Sufi, of any kind. He did have a religious inclination and that contributed to his popularity. Above statement is problematic in the following sense. He is primarily a scientist and his job stops there. His personal opinion decidedly falls on the boundary where he should not tread - religion.Religion is for all, including scientists, but religious authority is different from scientific authority. He is talking about limitations of science in above fragment and that is how we should take it.

It is true that science has limitations and it is true that Sufis in particular and religious people in general talk about human limitations. But just because we have limitations at two places the two things do not become equivalent.

True, there is no preposition in the present article about equivalence of Sufism and Quantum Physics but there is a serious suggestion about a close connection and that is troublesome enough. We have to be on alert about superficiality getting promoted to profundity - as best as we can.

whenever the intellect analyzes the essential nature of things, it must seem absurd or paradoxical. Sufis have always recognized this, but it has recently become a problem in science.

If science is taken as a complete paradigm for life then there will always be problems. Science is a mere part of life, Islam and hence Tasawwuf is a way of life - it does not have the corresponding limitations.

A great variety of natural phenomena belong to the scientist’s macroscopic environment and thus to the realm of their sensory experience. Since their language, images and intellectual concepts are abstracted from this very experience, they are limited to describing natural phenomena. But since the atomic and subatomic worlds lie beyond our sensory perception, knowledge of them is no longer derived from direct sensory experience. Thus our ordinary language, with its images from the world of the senses, is no longer adequate to describe the observed phenomena.

Nice pinpointing of a dilemma.

As we penetrate deeper into nature, we have to abandon more of the images and concepts of ordinary language. By probing inside the atom and investigating its structure, science transcended the limits of our sensory imagination and thus could no longer rely with absolute certainty on logic and common sense.

Still very close to the truth.

Quantum physics provided scientists with the first glimpses of the essential nature of things. Like Sufis, physicists now deal with a nonsensory experience of reality and encounter the paradoxical aspects of this experience.

Now is the time to add a few comments. In case of science one has to learn to live with these paradoxes. Quantum Physics is comment on man's arrogance born out of his expertize in science. The science establishment has not realized that. In Tasawwuf the situation is opposite - they, many a times, provide solution to the paradoxes. One example should suffice. Allah (SWT) has a pait of attributes that are contradictory on their face. One is Az-Zahiru and the other is Al-Batinu. The Manifest and the Hidden. How can both of them be true at the same time? Simple - whatever is manifest it is because of Him and hence He (SWT) is the Manifest. We have not seen Him in His Being in this world so He (SWT) is Hidden. Problem solved.

One more point is in order. The direct sensory perception has limitations even before Quantum Physics.

As a result, the models and images of modern physics are akin to those of the Sufis.

This is the analogy that yours truly has trouble with. Quantum Physics is part of Physics that is a sore reminder of universal human limitations. Tasawwuf is a happy reminder of the possibility of some human beings reaching the level of Ihsan. Tasawwuf is an assertive preposition while Quantum Physics is a prohibitory preposition. Just because Tasawwuf is not everybody's cup of tea it does not mean that the statements of Tasawwuf are vague to everybody. Tasawwuf is also called Mysticism for too many of its statements look mysterious to many people. It does not mean that they are mysterious to all.

The problem of communication

Scientists realized that our common language cannot describe atomic and subatomic reality. With the advent of relativity and quantum mechanics in physics, it became clear that this new knowledge transcends classical logic and cannot be described in ordinary language.

Scientists describe the reality very well. What the author is referring to is that many scientists find it difficult to accept the reality they have discovered. In Quantum Mechanics you can not measure both the position and velocity of a particle simultaneously. This shatters the classical  confidence because in Classical Mechanics we can measure both. For a Muslim this is perfectly alright that we can not measure position and velocity at the same time. For an atheist it is not. His certainty and surety and confidence is being snatched away from him. A believer is an 'Abd, a slave and a slave is never arrogant about his abilities - he accepts his limitations.

In Special Theory of Relativity the concept of simultaneity takes the beating. Luckily this one is usually accepted by the majority scientific community as a legitimate human limitation.

Sufis have always realized that reality transcends ordinary language and were not afraid to go beyond logic and common concepts. The problem of language faced by both Sufis and physicists is the same: Both want to communicate their knowledge, but when they do so with words their statements are paradoxical and full of logical contradictions.

It is true that Quantum Physics has thrown the logical approach to winds but the same was already the case when empiricism came to the fore. What Quantum Physics is saying that empirical materialistic reality itself is beyond our control. Sufism too tells about our limitations but the main focus there is on spiritual reality. This is the gist of the story of Hazrat Khidr (AS) and Hazrat Musa (AS) in Surah Kahaf in the Noble Qur'an. For example, Hazrat Khidr (AS) killed a child and Hazrat Musa (AS) feels the revulsion. But Hazrat Khidr (AS) tells that this child was destined to be a very bad person in future. So we do not know part of the reality - we have limitations. Quantum Physics says so but that is about mechanistic aspects of life. Tasawwuf tells us about limitations of human knowledge but that is about spiritual realm.

One warning must be issued here - going to the interface of materialistic and spiritual aspects of life is the precise realm where we can not clarify this issue.

The duality of light

In quantum physics, many paradoxical situations are connected with light’s dual nature or, more generally, with electromagnetic radiation. Light produces interference phenomena, which is associated with waves of light. This is observed when two sources of light are used, for the end result is bright and dim patterns of light. On the other hand, electromagnetic radiation also produces the photoelectric effect: when short wave length light (e.g., ultraviolet light, x-rays, or gamma rays) strike the surface of some metals, they can knock off electrons from the surface. Therefore, the surface must consist of moving particles.

One technicality here - the photoelectric effect proves the particle nature of light not the particle nature of the particles on the surface.

In the early stages of quantum theory, physicists were puzzled by how electromagnetic radiation could consist of particles (entities confined to a very small volume) and waves (which spread over a large area in space) simultaneously. Neither language nor imagination could deal very well with this kind of reality.

This is the wave-particle duality in Quantum Physics. In some cases light behaves as if it is a wave while in some others it behaves as if it were consisting of particles which are now called photons. Same was true for electrons. Now classically the two entities are quite different from each other. How can light be both a wave and a particle? How can electron be both a particle and a wave? Well for a Muslim it is not much of a problem - he is ever ready to accept his limitations - he is an 'Abd, a slave. Indeed this wave-particle duality is an argument for belief in God but it can not be promoted to the level of having a consonance with spiritual limitations focused in Tasawwuf. There are limitations and there are limitations. All limitations are not the same. Limitations of Quantum Physics are materialistic while those of Tasawwuf are of spiritual nature.

Sufism has developed several ways of dealing with reality’s paradoxical aspects. The works of Attar (d.1299), Hafiz (14th century), Ibn al-Arabia (d. 1240), Rumi (d. 1273), Basmati (d. 875), and others are full of intriguing contradictions. Furthermore, their compact, powerful, and extremely poetic language is meant to throw the reader’s mind off its familiar tracks of logical reasoning.

Good observation. In fact one can say that a mind thrown into turmoil by Physics or Quantum Physics  can be brought back to peace and tranquility by Tasawwuf. So the relation between Quantum Physics and Tasawwuf will be of problem and solution respectively and not of similarity.

In an earlier phase Tasawwuf gave solace to the soul perturbed by the vagaries of logical predilection - Mutazila. People were trying to reach truth through logic and reasoning - scholasticism and Tasawwuf saved them from doom. On the materialistic side people went to empiricism and soon found themselves, in modern times, that they have again hit the wall. We have seen two major examples above, wave-particle duality and Heisenberg's Uncertainty of not being able to measure both position and velocity. The materialist has again hit a wall and Tasawwuf is the way out.

Heisenberg once asked Bohr: “Can nature possibly be so absurd as it seemed to us in these atomic experiments (2)

This is simply the statement of the problem - reality does not make sense without Islam.

Our sensory experiences, whose realm is the macroscopic world, allow us to draw images and intellectual concepts and express them in a language. This language was sufficient and adequate for describing natural phenomena. The Newtonian mechanistic model of the universe described the macroscopic world. In the twentieth century, physicists verified the existence of atoms and subatomic particles, the ultimate building blocks of nature, through experimentation. As these particles are beyond our sensory perceptions, our knowledge of them is no longer derived from direct sensory experience. Thus we face the problems mentioned earlier when dealing with the essential nature of things.

Again science is stumped because of our limitations that are universal. Tasawwuf is talking about limitations that are not universal. No one can decide whether electron is basically a wave or a particle. That is universal limitation. That is what  Quantum Mechanics is telling us. Tasawwuf is telling slightly different things. It is telling us that some spiritual aspects require high spiritual abilities. Here we talking about possibilities and not universal limitations.

Modern physics

Sufis say that the direct mystical experience of reality is a momentous event that shakes the very foundations of one’s worldview, that it is the most startling event that can happen in the realm of human consciousness, and that it upsets every form of standardized experience.

And Quantum Physics has no such claim. (True, science pursuit is not everybody's cup of tea but the limitations its talks about are universal.) So the disparity between Tasawwuf and Quantum Physics is rather stark.

Some Sufis describe it as “the bottom of a pail breaking through”.

True - the spiritual insight many times comes in a whole bundle. A bundle in Quantum Physics is called a quantum! And here one could again jump that there is a similarity but the similarity again is superficial. For nth time we would assert that one is materialistic bundle, the quantum,  and the other is spiritual bundle, the insight, guidance. Materialism and spirituality are two disparate realm of our existence and these combine to make our life. Western society took a materialistic turn and developed science. We eastern people did not pursue science in its latest phase but have managed to save the spiritual world. If there is any perception of commonality then it is in the nature of problem (that is present in the western outlook and Quantum Physics is merely a manifestation of that) and solution (that is present in Tasawwuf, Islam).

Physicists in the early part of the twentieth century felt much the same way when this new atomic reality shook their worldview’s foundations. They described it in terms that often were very similar to those used by Sufis. Thus Heisenberg wrote: “Recent developments in modern physics can only be understood when one realizes that here the foundations of physics have started moving; and that this motion has caused the feeling that the ground would be cut from science.”

I suppose my point has been made, repeated and re-repeated. So I'll add one more layer here. Thomas Kuhn, a Marxist physicist and philosopher of science, asserted that transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature science. What Heisenberg is talking about is the phase between two paradigms - the classical paradigm and the quantum paradigm. Quantum revolution, the phase where the ground beneath your feet moves, took the scientific world from one paradigm, the Classical Physics, to another, the Quantum Physics.

This observation is relevant here. Marxists tried to apply the same paradigm shift philosophy to other aspects of life, arts and social sciences, and gathered a lot of flack for that. We Muslims should learn a lesson from their mistakes and should not commit the higher mistake. Marxists applied mechanical paradigm shift theory to social realm (human realm) and ended with a pie in the face. When we are talking about Quantum Physics and Tasawwuf we are trying to apply the same paradigm shift to spiritual realm. Mistreatment of social and personal matters leads to  problems while mistreatment of spiritual matters will lead to disasters.

The discoveries of modern physics necessitated profound changes in such concepts as space, time, matter, object, and cause and effect.

Sure. These are scientific matters. Allah (SWT) gave us, in advance, a complete way of life that includes personal, social, economic and spiritual matters and has in it the inherent possibilities to explore science.
Any scientific breakthrough has the possibility of throwing light on some aspects of life but it has no ability to shake the truth revealed in the Wahy.

Since such concepts are so basic to our way of experiencing the world, those physicists who were forced to change them felt something of a shock. Out of these changes, a new and radically different worldview was born and continues to be formulated. Quantum theory implies the essential interconnectedness of nature, thus forcing us to see the universe not as a collection of physical objects but as a complicated web of relations between the various parts of a unified whole. This is how Sufis experience the world.

Space-time

Sufis seem to attain nonordinary states of consciousness that allow them to transcend the three-dimensional world of everyday life and experience a higher, multidimensional reality. In relativistic physics, if one can visualize the four-dimensional space’s time reality, there would be nothing paradoxical at all. Sufis have notions of space and time that are very similar to those implied by relativity theory.

In Sufism, there seems to be a strong intuition for the “space-time” character of reality. Sufis experience a state of complete dissolution in which there is no distinction between mind and body, subject and object. In a state of pure experience, there is no space without time and no time without space, for they are interpenetrating. Physicists base their notion of space-time on scientific experiments, whereas Sufis base it on Sufism.

Modern physics relativistic models and theories illustrate the two basic elements of Sufis worldview: the universal oneness and intrinsically dynamic character. Space is curved to different degrees, and time flows at different rates in different parts of the universe. As our notions of a three-dimensional Euclidean space and time’s linear flow are limited to our ordinary experience of the physical world, they have to be abandoned when we extend this experience.

Sufis talk of extending their experience of the world in higher states of consciousness, and affirm that these states involve a radically different experience of space and time. They emphasize that they go beyond ordinary three-dimensional space in meditation, and, even more forcefully, that they transcend the ordinary awareness of time. Instead of   a linear succession of instants, they experience an infinite, timeless, and yet dynamic present. The spiritual world contains no time divisions such as past, present, and future, for they have contracted themselves into a single moment of the present, where life quivers in its true sense.

Mosques in India

We Indian Muslims are a bit coward. Not shy, just plain coward.
We refuse to demand our rights here.
We know the rationale of that.
Some Muslims, nearly a century ago, demanded a separate Muslim state and got it.
Now that was indeed peculiar because all Muslims could not have gone to that state and did not go.
Also not everyone was eager to go there.
The Muslims who did not go to the new state belonged to India.
This was known during the freedom movement. There were enough Muslims with the main stream freedom movement. At the political level we know many organizations that had Muslims and were fighting for freedom sans partition.
Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind is only one example.
The question is that why are the inheritors of the mantle of those Muslims so timid as to ask for their rights in India?
Why do they fear that they will be labelled communal the moment they open their respective mouths to demand their rights as Muslims?
Why is that you have to club your demands with other minorities of India?
Did you secretly support the idea of partition? This can not be because you were not there at that time.
So why this cowardice?
Shouldn't those who do not deliver your rights to you be more scared of being blamed of injustice than you for demanding your rights?
Why have you relegated yourself to second class citizenship?
Remember fear of death is one of those attributes of man that were disliked by beloved Prophet (PBUH), together with love of this world.

Yours truly celebrated Eif-ul-Fitr at his home in a village. One of the bad news received during the Ramadan was that in a nearby village the majority community people took away the Fadha-il-e-A'amal and other books from a platform ascribed for Prayers by Muslims. It was merely a Musallah - not a proper Mosque. Police and some officers of administration came there but only to maintain the so called hold of the majority community - not to address the problem of the aggrieved minority community. Moreover people from a nearby village told these miscreants that it is strange that you can not control just a few house holds in your village - meaning thereby the minority. "In our village we have the largest number of Muslims in the area and they can do nothing", they asserted. This is true. The latter village as got twenty percent Muslims. And they have not been allowed to built a Mosque. Once few people started the construction of  a mosque and a single boy from the majority community came and demolished it. A Maktab had been started earlier and the majority community insisted that send your children to the common government primary school - no Islamic education separately. Twenty percent population is a lot and at the election time it becomes relevant. One of the candidates, from majority community and having a big family with enough healthy and able bodied ,  for Village Headship supported the idea of Mosque. This lead to so much of tension and sudden surge of police and administration that Muslim community thought it better not to press for the demand of a Mosque. So much for the secularism of India. Yours truly knows this for the story is from my own village. Many years ago there was a constant struggle to get the village cemetery boundary constructed. The majority community will just not allow the construction - a show of raw force. The village cemetery now has a boundary. How? Well the village has fallen within the boundary of Greater Noida and the Chief Minister in the immediate past, Ms Mayawati, had express instructions for the boundary constructions both of Muslims cemeteries as well as Hindu cremation grounds.

Then there is the story of a third village that is constantly under the gaze of yours truly. Some Muslim youth from this village had made a Musallah in their village and started Praying with Jama-'at. Miscreants came one day and burned Fadha-il-e-A'amal and the Prayers mats. Police arrived in due course and soon a case was made against the youth who had started the Musallah - no word against the perpetrators of fire and fear amongst the worshipers. The police post did not accept the report filed by Muslims nor the corresponding Police Station. More than that many of the Muslims have been scared and a statement to the effect that really do not want to pray has been extracted from them. Free country.

All this is happening in the state of UP where Akhilesh Yadav reins as the Chief Minister and many people from the majority community taunt Muslims by saying that this is their government.

The Prophet's Last Sermon

Here is a PDF of the same.

Salafi, Salafi

Ever wondered who are they?
Yes?
Well here is a concise article on that.

Or here:

Al-Salafiyoon: Salafis and the Salafi Dawa[1]

By Dr. Tariq Abdelhaleem

Table of Contents
Salafism السلفية

The Salafis السلفيون

Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a أهل السنة والجماعة

Murji'ah and Khawarij

The Salafi Groups

First Group: The Jami or Madkhali Group الإتجاة الجامي المدخلي
Second Group: The Albani Group إتجاه الألباني
Third Group: The Academic Salafis السلفية العلمية
Fourth Group: The Conventional Shaiks of Salafiyah مشايخ السلفية
Fifth Group: The Salafi “Ikhwan” سلفيو الإخوان المسلمون
Sixth Group: The Salafi Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a سلفيو أهل السنة
Seventh Group: the Moderate Ahlul Sunnah Wal- Jama'a الوسط أهل السنة
Eighth Group: the Jihadis of Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'aالجهاديون من أهل السنة
Conclusion



This subject, amongst many others, is poorly represented, if at all represented to the English speaking Muslims. It is rather sad that many of the non-Arabic speaking Muslims in Europe and North America have no, or very little, references to guide them on both the academic level and the practical level. This paper is intended to explain the main principles, terms of references of the main streams of some of the modern Islamic "Schools of thought". It will also explain the stand of these groups in major contemporary subjects (democracy, governments, etc.). These groups might have some common ground, although they are completely different in many details when it comes to the application of the theoretical principles of the Islamic thought.

Salafism السلفية

The term Salaf سلف in the Arabic language means in its general sense "the late", or what is before, and in more specific meaning "the predecessor". However, this term has been used by the Muslim Scholars of Ahlul Sunnah[2], since the time of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal to point to the good predecessors of the first three generations that were mentioned in the Hadith of the Prophet PBUH: "The best generations are those of my generation[3], then those who follow, and then those who follow"[4]. The 'Goodness" الخيرية of the three generations mentioned in the Hadith signifies that these are the best followers of the Sunnah of the Prophet PBUH. The term was widely used by almost all of Ahlul Sunnah scholars over the history of Islam.

However, in recent years, following the decline of the Caliphate, the map of Islamic politics has completely changed. Secularism[5] has taken over in shaping the laws and legal systems of almost all of the Muslim countries. The Governments of Muslims have openly adopted secularism as the alternative to Islam. In almost all of the constitutions of these governments it refers to Islam as "one of the sources of legislation" as opposed to "the one and only source of legislation" in accordance with the basic principles of Tawheed. However, one exception to that is the constitution of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where it states that it follows the Quran and Sunnah and it derives all its laws in accordance with Islam. This has been the stand of the Saudi government and officials, however there are many opponents of the Saudi system opposed to this view on the basis that although the Saudi government claims that stand in the constitution, in reality they legislate many laws that are derived from secular sources[6].

The Salafis السلفيون

During the seventies, the decade that is perceived as "the Decade of the Islamic Revival", and with the emergence of the contemporary Islamic movement in Egypt and the Arab peninsula, the term "Salafi" and 'Al-Salafiyoon"[7] emerged to signify a specific group of people with a specific mandate. It was first used by the group of Egyptian "shaiks" such as Mohamed Ibn Ismail محمد اسماعيل of Alexandria, and later by Muqbel Al-Wadieمقبل الوادعى of Yemen[8]. They were students of Hadith whose legitimacy in the Islamic movement[9] was their claim to be followers of the group that was known in the history of Islamic thought as "People of Hadith" أهل الحديث as opposed to those of "People of Opinion"[10] أهل الرأي. However, the term "Salafis" rather than "Ahlul Hadith" (People of Hadith), was used to label them and their followers. At that time, there were other groups who used to follow the same principle – adherence to Hadith and Sunnah in general, but with other interpretations of the mandate of Sunnah when applied to the present situation. These differences have given way to the emergence of other schools of thought. These schools of thought can either being labelled under the "Salafi" term, as they still follow the Salaf, or, as they prefer to call themselves: "Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a".

Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a أهل السنة والجماعة

The term Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a points to those who agree to the principles of Tawheed in its two categories: Al-Ruboobiyah and Al-Uloohiyah. It is essential to mention that each of these terms is not completely exclusive to a certain group. Also, terms were sub-categorized on the basis of the subject in question. For instance, the term Ahlul Sunnah points to those who follow Sunnah rather than Bida'a. Thus, it distinguishes between Sunnis and Shiites or Mu'tazilites.

However, when it comes to the subject of the Names and Attributes of Allah SWT, it points to those who affirmed the attributes without any Taaweel with complete negation of any similarity with humans. This excludes the Ash'aries الأشعرية who partially used Taweel, and the Mu'tazilah المعتزلة who completely distort the Attributes of Allah SWT and went out of the way of the Salaf, Ahlul Hadith and Ahlul Sunnah; no matter which term you use.

In that era of the revival of the Islamic thought (the seventies), other groups adopted this approach, the adherence to Shariah evidence, and denial of the secular laws, not only in relation to the Attributes, but also in understanding and evaluating the present situation in the political arena. In the next few pages we will attempt to map out the spectrum of the Salafi groups, including the groups who are more attached to the term "Ahlul Sunnah". We will first clarify some terms used by each of these groups to prosecute the other, either justifiably or not. Those are the "Murji'ah" and "Khawarij".

Murji'ah and Khawarij

The Murji'ah is a sect that traces its origin to the second century, where some people adopted a school of thought that denies the importance of actions in Islam, and concentrate heavily on the actions of the heart and what is called the "Aqeeda" or belief in the heart. Iman for that group is merely theoretical. It is the set of beliefs that a person holds that makes him Muslim.

The Khawarij are those people who denied the right of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb (RA) the right to arbitrate in the crisis with Muawiyah (RA) over the punishment of the killers of Uthman (RA). They split the Jama'a (Ali's group) and started to fight Ali (RA) and kill anyone who stands with him, even if he is a companion. Later, their successors developed a theoretical base and twisted the evidence from Quran and Sunnah to justify their Bida'a. They came up with the opinion that sins are Kufr. It follows that any Muslim who commits a sin becomes a Kafir and he/she can be killed as a punishment. They considered Ali and his camp as sinners and so was Muawiyah. Sins that are considered Kufr by Khawarij are these actions that Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a consider as sins only and not Kufr; such as adultery, Riba, drinking, killing, lying, back biting and so on. Scholars considered the Hadith of the Prophet PBUH describing a group of people who will come after his time and "… kill the people of Islam and leave in peace the people of idols"[11] as a clear text in Khawarij.

Necessary clarifications:

It is important to point out that in order to qualify as a member of a sect one needs to adopt all the "common principles" of that sect, as pointed out by Imam Al-Shatibi. Unfortunately, opposing factions of the "Salafi" groups, as well as the other Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a groups used to accuse each other with such Bida'as. Groups who belong to the upper side of the spectrum call the later as Khawarij and visa versa. We are not claming that all these groups are correct, as truth is only but one, but they all do not belong completely to either of the sects. It is better to say that one group has been delusional "by some of the doubts that Murji'ah have" or "by some of the doubts of Khawarij" rather than being Murji'ah or Khawarij, as Ibn Taymiyah mentioned. There can be a group of Salafis or those who belongs to Ahlul Sunnah that have some beliefs in common with either of the mentioned sects, but as mentioned, this does not justify labelling them as either Khawarij or Murji'ah. It is always better to stick to the understanding and behaviour of the Salaf. Allah SWT said: "O ye who believe! stand out firmly for Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to Piety: and fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted with all that ye do." (Al-Maidah 8).

It is also important to point out that not every individual or group who claims to follow Quran and Sunnah actually do so. We have seen lately that some Sufis call themselves "Ahlul Sunnah"! This is propaganda aiming at attracting the common simple minded Muslim who does not distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, but have enough sense to know that the term Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a is what Muslims should belong to. We have to be clear in regards to Bida'a and sects. Sufis, Mu'tazilah, Khawarij and the innovated sects are not among Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a or the Salafis (in its broader meaning), even if they claim to be so. It is their principles and methodology of understanding the Sunnah that is the judge.

Furthermore, it is imperative to understand that the points which we stated in reference to a group are not necessarily all adopted by each of the individuals that belong to the group. They, however, share most of these points. For instance, Ali Al-Halabi has openly stated in his books what we stated in point (1). Al-Madkhali, on the other hand, has been the leader and activist of points (6) and on. It is however, the analysis of his views in his book “منهج الأنبياء في الدعوة إلى الله” (Methodology of the Prophets in calling to the Way of Allah), that connect his views of Iman to Al-Halabi. Al-Halabi, also, is a student of Al-Madkhali and has published and approved books that carry such views in Iman as in the book of Murad Shokry “إحكام التقرير في أحكام التكفير” (fastening the Rules of Takfeer), which was refuted and prohibited by the committee of Fatwa of Saudi Arabia #20212, due to the Irja'a that it carries. The same applies to group #6, as will come later, Dr Salah Al-Sawi has somethings in common with Gamal Sultan. However, some views of these two blessed Du'aat are completely different. This is the nature of trying to group ideologies. It will always be the case that some vagueness and grey areas will surround the border lines of the grouping where individuals who belong to such groups might partially fall under one or the other. I ask Allah to forgive any mistake or misjudgement that might take place without intention. However, I strongly stand by these views that I expressed here below until a poof of the opposite is provided.


For the purpose of this study, we divided those who belong to the methodology "Manhaj" of Ahlul Sunnah (the Salafis in its broader meaning; following the Salaf rather than those specific groups labelled as Salafis) or in following the evidence of Quran and Sunnah to eight groups. Some of those groups accept the label of "Salafis" and are known as the "Salafis", while the others deny being "Salafis" (in its narrow meaning) and would rather call themselves "Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a". We will look into the stand of these groups in relation to:

Governments
Democratic process and voting
Takfeer of a specific person
Ijtihad and Taqleed[12] "who is entitled to look into evidence?".
We have to keep in mind the following:

All the following groups claim to follow the evidence of Quran and Sunnah. However, the question is not whether a group reverts to Quran or Hadith for guidance, it is simply whether they interpret the evidence in the same way and use the same methodology of the first three preferred generations to reach a fatwa.

Difference of opinion can be in either the belief itself, as between the Murji'ah and Ahlul Sunnah in the subject of Iman, or in the application of some common beliefs, where a Fatwa is issued based on different perceptions of the situation on hand.

Muslims in the West, and specifically the Islamic groups, are almost exclusively a small insignificant branch of one of the following groups. We did not mention any of them as they are not significant in any way in affecting the spectrum or shaping any new direction that can be addressed separately.

Also, it is important to mention that as new Muslims who revert from other religions, or born Muslim reverts, are approached by Sufis to drag them away from the way of Sunnah, some of the Salafi groups do the same tactics especially those who are active in Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Jordan (the 1st and 2nd groups) by addressing specific audience such as the young, needy and totally ignorant of Islam. They try to promote the idea of Ijtihad and Taqleed and that no one is allowed to make Ijtihad except scholars, which is correct in itself, but often used to affirm a wrong conclusion. But, as they shape up the minds of those who listen to them and attend their contrivances, the “scholars” will be their scholars, period! They also promote the correct concept of Muslims should be careful in applying "Kufr" standards to sway away people from realizing the Shariah ruling in regards to situations that are as clear as the light of the sun, as in the Hadith! They do a lot of brain damage to the minds of such youths.

The Salafi Groups

First Group: The Jami or Madkhali Group الإتجاة الجامي المدخلي :

The leaders and founders of this group are:


Mohammad Aman Jami محمد أمان الجامي of Ethiopia and
Rabie Al-Madkhali ربيع المدخلي of Yemen [13]: they both got all or part of their education in Saudi Arabia.
Mohammad Albana محمد البنا of Egypt.
Ali Alhalabi على الحلبي of Jordan.
They are also represented in Canada by the so called “Quran and Sunnah Society (QSS)” [14]. The core of their principles is to:

Consider Iman as only the Aqeeda in the heart, and that actions are a complimentary condition to Iman شرط كمال.
The falling of this is to consider that ruling with secular laws by a government is permissible as they consider it an action rather than Aqeeda.
They perceive the existing ruling systems in the Muslim lands as legitimate and must be obeyed.
They went out of their way to legitimize the existing ruling systems and make the rulers of the secular governments legitimate Walis[15] (rulers) and show that they are as good as the Salaf rulers, especially the Saudi system.
They say that being in power is the source of legitimacy by itself. They also consider that those who oppose these governments are "Khawarij".
They gave a Fatwa that it is Wajib "obligatory" to report to the authorities the people of Dawa that do not follow their principles as they are Khawarij!
They have categorized almost all the Du'aat (people of Dawa or calling for the path of Allah SWT) and bashed them as ignorant or people of Bida'a or Kuffar! They have many websites that are dedicated to bashing Du'aat! They legitimize their spying actions as performing what they see as the "Science of Criticism" or what is known in the Islamic sciences as "Elm Aljarh and Ta'deel"!
Of course, this group has no reservations on accepting democracy as a framework; as they do not interfere in the political process whatsoever in accordance with their principles.
In terms of Ijtihad and Taqleed, they adopt the same approach as Ahlul Sunnah where only scholars are allowed to give Fatwas. However, scholars are only those who agree with their point of view!
It is ironic and of great sorrow as well, that although this group of the Salafi spectrum attacks and refutes the Aqeeda and methodology of Sufism, as all other Salafi groups, they have an important feature in common with the Sufis; that is the way they raise their followers: “the blind-minded follower scheme”. Sufis, as well as Salafis of this group, teach their followers to completely lock up their minds and follow the directions, opinions and sayings of their specific ‘Shaikhs” religiously as if they are unannounced prophets. Sufis, teach their followers that to follow a shaikh is to follow Allah SWTand His messenger PBUH in whatever the Shaikh says. They provide evidences that are completely false and misused. This group of Salafis teaches the same attitude through different evidence. Although their evidence is true in general, it is, again, taken out its context and used in an overly subordinating fashion. The place of mind and self thinking and intellect has completely diminished from the followers of these two groups: the Sufis and group one of the Salafis. They both failed to recognize that although, contrary to the Mu’tazilah, Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a emphasise the need for the common person to ask those who have the knowledge, they did not completely destroy the capacity of the common person to respond to the simplest events of life that surround him/her. The reason for such tactic by G1 Salafis is obvious: the evidence and the interpretation of Quran and Sunnah as well as the outcome of such interpretation can not stand the scrutiny of the youth if they are allowed to think and question the Shaiks. This is contrary to Ahlul Sunnah who teach their followers to always ask for the proof of what they claim as Sunnah and not to be scared of hearing the opposing opinions and to always come back with questions if not convinced. The result of such tactics is devastating; a generation that are although have the outside of good humble and obedient Muslims, that is crippled almost totally and completely dependent on few names scattered over some Middle Eastern countries to tell them what to think of Bush or how to perceive a tyrant that kills Muslim Du’aat and force his society to rule with a parallel Shariah of his own! This is what is most dangerous about such groups of Sufis and G1 Salafis. This point will be further explained in Part 2 of this research.

They made a goal of their life to throw the accusation of Kufr on a particular great Da'iyah (singular of Du'aat): Sayed Qutb. They all wrote volumes in his Kufr! And they completely discarded his Tafseer "In the Shade of the Quran" as a book of misguidance!
This stand against Sayed Qutb is actually against their official view of not making Takfeer (applying Kufr) to anyone!
Of course they have no place for Jihad in their version of Islam.
This group is perceived by all other groups as pure Murji'ah[16]. They hold the worst ideas and they do not hesitate on snitching on fellow Muslims to the authorities, under a claim that such people (who call for following the Quran and Sunnah as the constitution and as basis for public life) are hazards to the general public and must be eliminated! The followers of this group are spread in the Muslim motherland and in the West as well. They fool the common Muslim by claiming to be Ahlul Sunnah and act as if their stand is the pure truth! However, although they were able to fool many common Muslims and some reverts to Islam from the West, they are almost rejected everywhere else.

They can be perceived as the "flip flop group"! Aside from being wrong in interpretation of the evidence, they hold no consistency in their methodology (Manhaj). They are "Murji'ah" when it come to rulers and governments, and they are "Khawarij" when it comes to other Du'aat! In the final analysis of their stand, they fit the criteria of the Hadith of Khawarij. They call for Takfeer of Du'aat (which are the people of Islam in the Hadith) and they call for peace and obedience to the rulers who embrace the secular systems![17]

Second Group: The Albani Group إتجاه الألباني :

Although Shaikh Nasir Al-Deen Al-Albani ناصر الدين الألباني (may Allah have mercy on his soul) is not the only scholar that is under this group, but we labelled the group after him as he was the most well known amongst those who belong to it. This group has been delusional by some of the doubts that Murji'ah have[18']. The essence of this group is as follows:

They adopt the same point of view as the first group in Iman[18]. It is important here to mention that this view of Iman was adopted in the history of Islamic beliefs by Abu Hanifah and some of his followers. They were perceived by the rest of Ahlul Sunnah as "Murji'ah of the Sunnah!". However, the Hanafi Mathhab is one of the most restricted Mathhabs in perceiving many actions as Kufr, to make up for the exclusion of actions from Iman.
They perceive the existing governments as legitimate and the rulers as sinning Muslims. However, unlike the first group, they see such systems as wrong and the rulers as sinners. They however, do not call for any uprising against them following the Hadiths that direct Muslims to follow their rulers as long as they are still Muslims. They call for improvements in the laws and constitution to follow more Islamic rulings.
They state that the ruler does not become a Kafir unless he pronounces Kufr explicitly, in accordance with their belief of Iman and that Kufr can only happen if the heart denies Allah SWT.
They do not object to following democracy and joining the democratic process and voting. However, some of their Fatwas show that they agree to the process from the point of view of bringing about interests of Muslims, not because they agree to the process from Aqeeda perspective.
They also follow the same point of view of Ahlul Sunnah in regards to Ijtihad and Taqleed. However, they are much more respectful to scholars who do not agree with their views. They rejected the ideas of Sayed Qutb (May Allah have mercy on his soul) but they did not accuse him of Kufr. They are more consistent than the first group. This is understandable as Al-Albani is far more respectful than the two small students of Elm: Al-Madhkali and Al-Jami.
Jihad for this group is theoretical rather than practical, and that it causes more harm than good. They actually label those who adopt Jihad (even against the invaders) as ‘Khawarij”

Third Group: The Academic Salafis السلفية العلمية :

Starting from this group onward, the Salafis are different than Ahlul Sunnah, as the view of Iman is different. The coming groups perceive Iman as known to Ahlul Sunnah over history; Intentions of the heart and explicit actions of the Muslim. The first of those are the so-called "Academic Salafis". This label might be attributed to the fact that they are more into writing and theorizing their beliefs than the other groups that have the same – or close – beliefs and applications.

Among the Leaders of this group:

Shaik Abdul Rahman Abdul Khaliq عبد الرحمن عبد الخالق
Abdul Razik Al-Shaygi عبد الرازق الشايجي
Hamed Al-Ali حامد العلي of Kuwait, and
Ansar Al-Sunnah movement of Egypt[19].

They are more organized and have a clearer vision of the political situation.
They still have a common view with the above groups about the rulers and governments. They perceive the rulers as Muslim sinners.
Their view of the problem of ruling with other than the Laws of Allah is that it is a sin not Kufr. They perceive ruling with other than Shariah is a minor Kufr.
They agree to the democratic process and to participation in the secular government based on the “public Interest” مصلحة.
They also stick to the point of Ijtihad and Taqleed where Fatwas are only permissible to those who are qualified.
They hold a lot of respect to Sayed Qutb although they might have differences with him in many points such as what was claimed to be his views on the Attributes of Allah SWT and the categorization of the society as Jahili مجتمع جاهلي.
Also they see Jihad as part of Islam, but they stand on the side of Jihad being theoretical and unnecessary

Fourth Group: The Conventional Shaiks of Salafiyah مشايخ السلفية :

This group are mostly shaiks of the official Saudi Arabia Islamic establishments, such as Shaik Bin Baz عبد العزيز بن باز and Shaik Al-Uthaymeen محمد بن العثيمين (May Allah have mercy on their souls) and those who adopt the same stand in other Muslims countries.

This group of Salafis hass clear understanding of Tawheed of Ibadah, and also in perceiving that ruling with other than Shariah or using secular laws is Kufr. There are many text of Bin Baz that reflects this opinion. Although many followers of the first, second or third group try to use some Mutashabih (not specific or clear) text of his Fatwas to attach him to their group. It is important to mention some criteria that has to be considered when reading the Fatwas of Bin Baz or Al-Uthaymeen:

They completely understood Tawheed Al-Ibadah as presented by Ibn Abdel Wahab and Ibn Taymiyah.

They consider those who rule with other than Shariah as Kuffar; the major Kufr that takes one out of Islam.
They sometimes used "statements" about the rulers that are typical statements used by ancient scholars like Al-Tahawi of the fifth century, or others. Those scholars used to talk about the Khalifas who committed injustices, but the constitution of the state was still adherent to Islam as the only source of laws.
They mostly had the Saudi model of government in mind when stating such quotes from old time scholars – without mentioning it of course – as they were always under the impression that the Saudi government is a sincere follower of the Quran and Sunnah, with a twist of sins here and there. Of course, the opponents of the Saudi system claim that this is not the truth, and that Bin Baz and Al-Uthaymeen were misled by the officials of the Saudi regime. They claim that although the Saudi constitution adheres to the Quran and Sunnah, the detailed laws of the kingdom follow the secular law model in many aspects of life. It is not the scope of this study to judge in such point as the author of this study is not a Saudi national or a Saudi Law expert. It is rather left to the Saudis themselves to rule on such points as said in the Arab saying: “People of Mecca know the way around it better”, which means that everyone knows his people better. We only state the different opinions that might affect the perception of Bin Baz and Uthaymeen.
They were clear in their opinions when it comes to other governments and they stated that just ruling with other than Shariah is a major Kufr. We have to put their statements together to understand their views correctly rather than pick and choose what substantiates a specific group’s views.
However, they never named any of the rulers as Kafir.
They still hold the same opinion of Ijtihad and Taqleed.
They do not agree with democracy as a system as it is not Islamic in principle. However, they did not oppose openly the participation of Muslims in any democratic process.
Also they see Jihad as part of Islam, but they stand on the side of Jihad being theoretical and unnecessary.

Fifth Group: The Salafi “Ikhwan” سلفيو الإخوان المسلمون :

Leaders of this group are some well known leaders of the “Ikhwan Al-Muslimoon” Muslim Brotherhood movement such as:

Isam Al-Basheer عصام البشير of Sudan,
Omar Al-Ashqar عمر الأشقر of Jordon,
Al-Shaik Abdel Majid Al-Zindani عبد المجيد الزنداني of Yemen.
They hold almost identical views of the previous group, but they are more open to the democratic process as being part of the Ikhwan movement. Ikhwan are sincere advocates of the participation in the democratic process although they could not show any merits to that dedication over the seventy five years of their existence in the Islamic arena!

Also they see Jihad as part of Islam, but they stand on the side of Jihad being theoretical and unnecessary.

Sixth Group: The Salafi Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a سلفيو أهل السنة :

We labeled this group between Ahlul Sunnah and the Salafis as they have common features between the Salafis (in its contemporary capacity as a movement not as followers of Salaf) and Ahlul Sunnah, as pure adherents to the strict views of Ahlul Sunnah. Leaders of such groups vary widely and can have many disagreements on many subjects. However, we will categorize them here under one group for the purpose of this study as they appear to be closer together in the presented spectrum of the ‘Salafis” and “Ahlul Sunnah”. Amongst the leaders of this group:

Mohammad Sorour محمد سرور,
Salah As-Sawi صلاح الصاوي of Egypt,
Safar Al-Hawali and Salman Al-Uodah سفر الحوالي و سلمان العودة of Saudi Arabia and
Gamal Sultan of Egypt[20].

This group is the most active, for many reasons, in the Islamic arena. They mostly hold pure understanding of Tawheed.
They tend to theorize their views extensively and are good readers of the present situation.
Their concern is always international; Muslims' problems over the whole world not only in the Middle East.
However, their “announced” views of the governments and rulers are close to the views of the previous group of Salafi Ikhwan. They condemn the governments, but stop short of “declaring” the rulers as Kuffar openly. They clearly perceive that ruling with secular laws is major Kufr, but their “public” statements do not reflect any Takfeer statements to any ruler as a political stand, not as Aqeeda.
They all agree on participating in the political democratic process. However they vary in the degree of participation from Mohamad Sorour, who opposes it in reality where he sees no benefit in participating as it is completely in the hands of the tyrants, to Gamal Sultan who openly advocates it to the extent that he is – unsuccessfully- trying to establish a political party in Egypt.
They also adhere to the rules of Ijtihad and Taqleed.
They hold great respect and appreciation to Sayed Qutb and his work although they have some differences in few points of his work.
Also they see Jihad as part of Islam, but they stand on the side of Jihad being theoretical and unnecessary. They stop short of calling the Jihad advocates as Khawarij or condemn them openly.

Seventh Group: the Moderate Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'a الوسط أهل السنة :

This group is named Ahlul Sunnah as there is no common ground between them and the “Salafis” as is known in the contemporary term. They still follow sincerely the Salaf methodology and understanding and totally adhere to it. Among the surviving leaders of such group:

Mohammad Qutb and Abdel Majid Al-Shazlie of Egypt
محمد قطب و عبد المجيد الشاذلي,

Shaikh Gazi Al-Tuwbah of Kuwait غازي التوبة.

We can categorize other late scholars who have their opinions documented in their books and

Fatwas, and who are being pushed aside form the Islamic arena by the official Islamic figures to cover up the clear stand of those scholars that is in line with the views of this group. Amongst those:

Abu Al-’ala Al-Mawdudi of Pakistan أبو الأعلى المودوي,
Sayed Qutbسيد قطب [21] ,
the great Muhadith Ahmad Shaker المحدث الجليل أحمد شاكر of Egypt
Mahmoud Shaker العلامة محمود شاكر of Egypt,
The great Mufti of Saudi Arabia Imam Mohamad Ibrahim مفتي السعودية الجليل الشيخ محمد بن إبراهيم,
the great Scholar of Tafseer Shaikh Abdel Rahman Al-Dousary الشيخ العلامة المفسر عبد الرحمن الدوسري of Saudi Arabia.
Although some of these scholars did not openly state their opinions about the existing governments they were very clear and straightforward in condemning the governments who adopt any other laws and their stand against the early attempts to do that in Saudi Arabia was very loud; as in Shaikh Al-Dousary’s stand and lectures in Riyadh back in the 60’s and early 70’s.

This group acknowledges that the present governments are secular and therefore are out of Islam as systems.
They do not hesitate to call the heads and the major participants in the legislating process of the anti-Islamic secular laws as Kuffar. They show the evidence from Quran and Sunnah, Usool Al-Fiqh and Tafseer to that effect. They believe that such systems have to be removed and leave the way to Islamic governments. Democracy and democratic process that is controlled by the same systems will never do the job; they believe.
They perceive that ruling with secular laws as major Kufr and as violation of the first right of Allah SWT.
They call upon other groups to refute their evidence with Quran and Sunnah, but this refutation never happened yet! Other groups just call them names such as ‘khawarij”, “extremists”, and “Takferioon”! but with no Islamic intellectual reply to the presented evidence. It is always easy to name names, but the question persists: where is the response to the evidence?
They tend to write a lot in theorizing their views, with more in depth proofs even than the previous group, who tend to theorize with less hard core Islamic proofs and more on-the-surface analysis.
They are adamant about the Ijtihad and Taqleed, but they perceive scholars as those who hold and acquire the required knowledge and have established Islamic intellectual work rather than just a certificate from an official institute, where it is mostly controlled by those who favor characters that agree with their views.
They are not scared of calling a person who commits major Shirk with the label that Allah SWT gave to such person (give that it was proven that it is Kufr through crystal clear evidence of Shariah). They believe that the fear of using a legitimate description that was used in Quran and Sunnah, with all the necessary conditions applied, is a tactic that was promoted by some of the government advocate groups and government officials. This tactic was used to deter common Muslims العوام from realizing the real situation that the Muslim Ummah. The situation that the Ummah sank into by being ruled by secular non-Islamic laws, which are contrary to every single principle of being obedient to Allah SWT.
They strongly oppose participation in the democratic process, on both theoretical and practical basis. Not only is democracy un-Islamic in its nature, the whole participation in secular parliaments experiment has not proven any benefit to Muslims. It only casts legitimacy on the existing governments and misleads more and more common Muslims العوام. They recognize the damage in making common Muslims judge people as Kuffar, but they also know that this case is not a case of minor Kufr that is mentioned in Sunnah - such as the “Kufr “ of a women to her husband when she denies his bounty over her, or when two Muslims fight as in Hadith. This is a case of major Kufr and fundamental disobedience to Allah SWT and claiming part of the right of Allah SWT as an Illah إله; to legislate and to establish a parallel Shariah to control the lives of Muslims.
This group perceives Jihad as a true and viable alternative to the existing situation. However, Jihad has its conditions as any other Ibadah in Islam. It has to have all the circumstances in favor of it, and all the ways and means are taken for its advantage as this was the way that Sunnah has taught us when the Prophet PBUH was in Mecca. However, this does not call for other Mecca rules to apply, as each rule applies where and when and to whoever meets the criteria of such ruling. It also means to be ready and have Jihad in mind when planning for any future setup. This group calls for what can be known as the “Revival of the Ummah[22]” through spreading the correct understanding of Tawheed and the correct application of its rules.

Eighth Group: the Jihadis of Ahlul Sunnah Wal-Jama'aالجهاديون من أهل السنة :

This group is the last of the spectrum of those who claim to follow the evidence of Quran and Sunnah as guidance to their rulings and fatwas. This group is represented by many known figures in the present time.

They agree with the understanding of the previous group on the theoretical level.
However, they believe that Jihad can not wait, and that the ruling of Jihad in this time is applicable. Removal of these systems must happen by force now, and not later through reviving the Ummah by methods of peaceful Dawa.
They also differ from the previous group in being less active in theorizing their own views.
Also they differ from the seventh group, and the other groups for that matter in some details such as the ruling of Islam in killing innocent civilians who are not combatants. This might be the impact of their stand and perception of the present situation.
The stand of this group also differs from the stand of group seven in Takfeer of individuals of the police and security forces, and army personnel of secular states on the land of Muslims. This group clearly applies Kufr of Wala'a to all individuals who belong to any security, police or army forces of these governments. Group seven, on the other hand does not go that far. They do not consider average individuals, who work for the police or the security or as soldiers in the army as Kuffar. They consider these individuals are ignorant of the situation, rather than of Tawheed. Ignorance of Manat (مناط) is different from ignorance of Tawheed. Group seven claims that such individuals are largely misled. They follow the system and have faith in the leaders. It would be a mistake, according to group seven, to consider the soldier or the officer, a kafir, even if they fight Muslims. It is evident from Quran and Sunnah that just fighting between Muslims does not constitute major Kufr of either party. However, the two groups agree on the ruling of those who actually legislate and enforce secular rules on both the public and the servants of the government.
The first and second groups, as well as some individuals belonging to other groups in general, call this group “Khawarij”, although this group has never made takfeer of any Muslim sinner, except what we mentioned above, which is to a large extent a Manat mistake on their part as well, but they do not make takfeer for those who drink, commit adultery or any other clear and obvious consented upon sin. They have wrong Ijtihad when it comes to Jihad tactics, but the description of Khawarij does not fit their Aqeeda profile.

Conclusion

It is essential to understand that:

Although some of the above described groups call for abandoning Taqleed specially in Fiqh area, they promote Taqleed in Usool Al-Deen or Tawheed! This is a reverse to the Salaf or Ahlul Sunnah stand. It is basic knowledge that there is no Taqleed when it comes to Tawheed. One should not say: "I believe that this is what Tawheed means as shaik "whoever" has told me so, and I am not capable of understanding it on my own! This is an absurd statement in that context. It is true when it comes to Fiqh where knowledge of principles of Hadith and Tafseer, areas of Ijma'a, previous Fatwas of scholars, Usool Al-Fiqh and many other sciences are required to pass a Fatwa. But, Tawheed, the origin of Deen, it is unacceptable to make Taqleed to any one. Allah SWT said in Quran:
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ رَبُّكَ مِن بَنِي آدَمَ مِن ظُهُورِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّتَهُمْ وَأَشْهَدَهُمْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَلَسْتَ بِرَبِّكُمْ قَالُواْ بَلَى شَهِدْنَا أَن تَقُولُواْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِنَّا كُنَّا عَنْ هَذَا غَافِلِينَ ، أَوْ تَقُولُواْ إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِن قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِّن بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ

"When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam from their loins, their descendants, and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I not your Lord (Who cherishes and sustains you)?" They said: "Yea! we do testify!" (this), lest ye should say on the Day of Judgment: "Of this we were never mindful., Or lest ye should say: "Our fathers before us may have taken false gods, but we are (their) descendants after them: wilt Thou then destroy us because of the deeds of men who were futile?" (Al-A'araf 172).

In these verses, Allah SWT has decreed that Taqleed of the parents, teachers, environment or any other external factors, or Jahl (ignorance[23]) is not acceptable in the matters of Islam and Kufr; i.e. Tawheed.

Sharpen your minds, and jump start it to see for yourselves what Tawheed is and what limitations it might have. Maybe you can not study for yourself, but you better listen to all the proofs you can get from others as you might be missing an important component of your Tawheed. Never turn away from anyone who explains Tawheed for you except if he/she belongs to an innovative sect like Sufism.
Be encouraged to seek knowledge especially in the area of Tawheed and principles of Deen. It is the only way to know that you will stand before Allah SWT on the Day of Judgement with the right word "La Illah Illa Allah" with all what it means and not to miss any part of it.
May Allah SWT help all of us to gain the necessary knowledge to save ourselves in that day when nothing will help but our deeds, and His mercy.

Footnotes

[1] I intended to write this article sometime ago. However, it was partially assisted in some of its aspects by an article, which I came across recently, that was published in Arabic from a lecture in Oxford University of the UK.

[2] We use the term "Ahlul Sunnah" here to distinguish between them and the Shiites and the other theorists of the 72 innovation sects. However the term will be closely explained later in a different capacity.

[3] The word "Qarni" in Arabic, which literally means "my century" is translated here as "generation" as this is the meaning in which the word is used in that context. This meaning is within the capacity of the word.

[4] The Hadith is reported by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Termizie, Ibn Majah and Ahmad.

[5] Secularism is the "worldly" vision of the universe. It is defined in the English dictionaries as "indifference to or rejection or exclusion of religion and religious considerations". However, it was translated at the end of the 19th century to the Arabic language to "Scientific" علمانية! Just to make it more acceptable to the common ignorant Muslims.

[6] It is beyond the scope of this study to cover this point or to reach a verdict in such matter.

[7] Those who follow the Salaf.

[8] They were students of Al-Albani.

[9] I use "movement" here to point out a group rather than a "movement" which requires more organization and disciplined followers, and that normally has a political agenda attached to its academic approach.

[10] Ahlul Raie أهل الرأي in the Islamic thought are those who used Qiyas "logical deduction" widely as opposed to Ahlul Hadith أهل الحديث who relied more on Hadith, and accepted Hadith as a higher evidence than Qiyas even if it is categorized as Weak ضعيف. However, Ahlul Raie term in the contemporary schools of thought, are those who do not follow the evidence of Shariah in general, but they just lay down their own opinions based on either ignorance or secular perspectives.

[11] Reported by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Nesaie, Al-Termizie, Abu Dawoud and Ahmad

[12] Ijtihad: is making the necessary effort combined with acquiring the proper knowledge to arrive at a Fatwa. Taqleed is following a Mufti blindly without questioning as a result of lack of the proper knowledge.

[13] A message was posted by a person with a name in the format of {Abu-xxx Al-xxxx). This is a typical name format that's been fashionable since mid-80's, when the young generation who followed those leaders of group 1 & 2 started to adopt such name formats to feel like they belong to the “Salaf”. Unfortunately, the name format was the end of it! They acquired nothing more of the Salaf. It is why we are now dealing with a generation that's completely superficial in dealing with Aqeeda issues, and in following those who claim to follow the “Salaf”. Poor Salaf! How many deviances are now being committed under their name!

The content of the message is expectedly insulting and bashing! Typical of what to be expected from a follower/admirer of Al-Madkhali. The message in itself is proof of the strength and truthfulness of my analysis.

There is no need to respond to the content of the message as it is naïve and simple. A funny part of that is when this person stated that I published the article with the hope that it will go unnoticed!! I posted the article on the WORLD WIDE WEB, hoping that it will be unnoticed!!!! This is again comic. However, it is important to mention that it is typical of the followers of a person who insulted and used terrible phrases describing Du’aat like Abdul Rahman Abdul Khaliq and Sayed Qutb. Al-Madkhali, as mentioned by the scholar Shaikh Bakr Abu Zaid in his message to him (see the Arabic text at the end of the footnote) has cultivated a generation of “Ruwaibidat” رويبضات as in the Hadith, which means “a trivial person who speaks in the matters of the public”. Shaikh Bakr Abu Zaid, Shaikh Al-Shaigi, Shaikh Abdul Khaliq and Shaikh Al-Qahtani have all replied to Al-Madhkali, the teacher and mentor of the likes of Al-Halabi and Murad Shoukry, and showed how far-off the Sunnah he is. The man, and of course his followers with the name format Abu-xxxx Al-xxxx, are all about making Takfeer of those who do not agree with their stand on the subject of Hukm and its relevance to Tawheed Al-Ibadah. They cherish the existing governments and consider the rulers their “Amir Al-Momineen”! In the same time they attack, bash and snitch on the Du’aat who call for the Laws of Allah to be obeyed and followed! If this is not the Khawarij stand, we don’t really know who Khawarij are.

It is a sorrow that such effort of a whole generation of young Muslims is wasted on cherishing those who disobey Allah SWT, and attack and call the Du’aat Kuffar. They use the word ‘Terrorists’ to describe the Du’aat more than the Americans do!!! What a petty.

These are some of the points that Shiakh Bakr Abu Zaid made to Al-Madkhali:

- نظرت في أول صفحة من فهرس الموضوعات فوجدتها عناوين قد جمعت في سيد قطب رحمه الله، أصول الكفر والإلحاد والزندقة، القول بوحدة الوجود، القول بخلق القرآن، يجوز لغير الله أن يشرع، غلوه في تعظيم صفات الله تعالى، لا يقبل الأحاديث المتواترة، يشكك في أمور العقيدة التي يجب الجزم بها، يكفر المجتمعات ..إلى أخر تلك العناوين التي تقشعر منها جلود المؤمنين.. وأسفت على أحوال علماء المسلمين في الأقطار الذين لم ينبهوا على هذه الموبقات.. وكيف الجمع بين هذا وبين انتشار كتبه في الآفاق انتشار الشمس، وعامتهم يستفيدون منها، حتى أنت في بعض ما كتبت، عند هذا أخذت بالمطابقة بين العنوان والموضوع، فوجدت الخبر يكذبه الخبر، ونهايتها بالجملة عناوين استفزازية تجذب القارئ العادي، إلى الوقيعة في سيد رحمه الله، وإني أكره لي ولكم ولكل مسلم مواطن الإثم والجناح، وإن من الغبن الفاحش إهداء الإنسان حسناته إلى من يعتقد بغضه وعداوته

- نظرت فوجدت هذا الكتاب يـفـتـقـد:
أصـول البحث العلمي، الحيـدة العلمية، منهـج النقد، أمانـة النقل والعلم، عـدم هضم الحق أما أدب الحوار وسمو الأسلوب ورصانة العرض فلا تمت إلى الكتاب بهاجس.. وإليك الدليل…(ساق الدليل بالتفصيل)

- أقول أيها المحب الحبيب، لقد نسفت بلا تثبت جميع ما قرره سيد رحمه الله تعالى من معالم التوحيد ومقتضياته، ولوازمه التي تحتل السمة البارزة في حياته الطويلة فجميع ما ذكرته يلغيه كلمة واحدة، وهي أن توحيد الله في الحكم والتشريع من مقتضيات كلمة التوحيد، وسيد رحمه الله تعالى ركز على هذا كثيرًا لما رأى من هذه الجرأة الفاجرة على إلغاء تحكيم شرع الله من القضاء وغيره وحلال القوانين الوضعية بدلاً عنها ولا شك أن هذه جرأة عظيمة ما عاهدتها الأمة الإسلامية في مشوارها الطويل قبل عام (1342هـ ).

- ومن جهات أخرى أبدي ما يلي:

1 - مسودة هذا الكتاب تقع في 161 صفحة بقلم اليد، وهي خطوط مختلفة، ولا أعرف منه صفحة واحدة بقلمكم حسب المعتاد، إلا أن يكون اختلف خطكم، أو اختلط علي، أم أنه عُهد بكتب سيد قطب رحمه الله لعدد من الطلاب فاستخرج كل طالب ما بدا له تحت إشرافكم، أو بإملائكم. لهذا فلا أتحقق من نسبته إليكم إلا ما كتبته على طرته أنه من تأليفكم، وهذا عندي كاف في التوثيق بالنسبة لشخصكم الكريم.

2 - مع اختلاف الخطوط إلا أن الكتاب من أوله إلى أخره يجري على وتيرة واحدة وهي: أنه بنفس متوترة وتهيج مستمر، ووثبة تضغط على النص حتى يتولد منه الأخطاء الكبار، وتجعل محل الاحتمال ومشتبه الكلام محل قطع لا يقبل الجدال…وهذا نكث لمنهج النقد: الحيدة العلمية .

3 - من حيث الصيغة إذا كان قارنًا بينه وبين أسلوب سيد رحمه الله، فهو في نزول، سيد قد سَمَا، وإن اعتبرناه من جانبكم الكريم فهو أسلوب "إعدادي" لا يناسب إبرازه من طالب علم حاز على العالمية العالية، لا بد من تكافؤ القدرات في الذوق الأدبي، والقدرة على البلاغة والبيان، وحسن العرض، وإلا فليكسر القلم.

4 - لقد طغى أسلوب التهيج والفزع على المنهج العلمي النقدي…. ولهذا افتقد الرد أدب الحوار.

5 - في الكتاب من أوله إلى آخره تهجم وضيق عطن وتشنج في العبارات فلماذا هذا…؟

6 - هذا الكتاب ينشط الحزبية الجديدة التي أنشئت في نفوس الشبيبة جنوح الفكر بالتحريم تارة، والنقض تارة وأن هذا بدعة وذاك مبتدع، وهذا ضلال وذاك ضال.. ولا بينة كافية للإثبات، وولدت غرور التدين والاستعلاء حتى كأنما الواحد عند فعلته هذه يلقي حملاً عن ظهره قد استراح من عناء حمله، وأنه يأخذ بحجز الأمة عن الهاوية، وأنه في اعتبار الآخرين قد حلق في الورع والغيرة على حرمات الشرع المطهر، وهذا من غير تحقيق هو في الحقيقة هدم، وإن اعتبر بناء عالي الشرفات، فهو إلى التساقط، ثم التبرد في أدراج الرياح العاتية .

هذه سمات ست تمتع بها هذا الكتاب فآل غـيـر مـمـتـع، هذا ما بدا إلي حسب رغبتكم، وأعتذر عن تأخر الجواب، لأنني من قبل ليس لي عناية بقراءة كتب هذا الرجل وإن تداولها الناس، لكن هول ما ذكرتم دفعني إلى قراءات متعددة في عامة كتبه، فوجدت في كتبه خيرًا كثيرًا وإيمانًا مشرفًا وحقًا أبلج، وتشريحًا فاضحًا لمخططات العداء للإسلام، على عثرات في سياقاته واسترسال بعبرات ليته لم يفه بها، وكثير منها ينقضها قوله الحق في مكان أخر والكمال عزيز، والرجل كان أديبًا نقادة، ثم اتجه إلى خدمة الإسلام من خلال القرآن العظيم والسنة المشرفة، والسيرة النبوية العطرة، فكان ما كان من مواقف في قضايا عصره، وأصر على موقفه في سبيل الله تعالى، وكشف عن سالفته، وطلب منه أن يسطر بقلمه كلمات اعتذار وقال كلمته الإيمانية المشهورة، إن أصبعًا أرفعه للشهادة لن أكتب به كلمة تضارها... أو كلمة نحو ذلك، فالواجب على الجميع … الدعاء له بالمغفرة … والاستفادة من علمه

This proves to any person who has an ounce of intelligence where Al-Madkhali stands in the hierarchy of scholars, and where his students stand.

[14] It is rather sad that these people hold conferences and attract young common Muslims, with little or no knowledge by inviting the “shaik-like” figures from the Middle East, and present a methodology to them that makes their brains frozen and become completely dependant on this groups' “scholars”. The result is an army of submissive youths who follow blindly their Murji'ah leaders without knowing it.

[15] The sadder is that (they) go even deeper in this stand to call King Fahd of Saudi Arabia “Amir Al-Momeneen”! a title that he himself did not claim!!!

[16] They are actually Murji'ah as they not only delusional by the doubts of Irja'a, but they have gone too far in applying the Irja'a principle of separating Iman from actions ((فصل الإيمان عن العمل.

[17] Among the Canadian groups that belong to this group is Troid of the UK/Ontario. They are a group of mostly coverts with little or no knowledge and are brain washed by the principles of this first group.

[18'] As expected, I received some angry reactions and e-mails when I categorized Shaikh Al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on his soul) in a group that “is infected by the virus of Irja'a", as I put it. It is necessary to clarify the following:

I do not judge Shaikh Al-Albani, as this is now the jurisdiction of Allah SWT, since he is now between the hands of Allah SWT, and Allah SWT is the best judge of all. I hold all respect and love in the cause of Allah to Al-Albani, and know that he served this Ummah a lot with his vast knowledge and accurate research in Hadith.
I am stating facts that appear to me and to those who read the works of Al-Albani, and others as they expressed it. The reason for that is to warn the youth of whatever deviation from the way of Ahlul Sunnah exist, no matter who said it (contrary to what the Madkhali group do). The Truth is beloved to us than any man on earth, as it belongs to Allah SWT.
I translated the Arabic text “دخلت عليهم الشبه التي دخلت على المرجئة” as “infected by the virus of Irja'a”. It might not be the best translation, but it holds the same meaning. I am changing it in this new version to the exact translation as “has been delusional by some of the doubts that Murji'ah has”.
Having said so, and changed the translation, it is not the first time that respected scholars have been referred to as such. As a matter of fact, Imam Abu Hanifah (who's without a doubt of higher rank than Imam Al-Albani) has been referred to, by many of Ahlul Sunnah scholars including Ibn Taymiyah, as “having been delusional by some of the doubts that Murji'ah have”, because of his, and subsequently the Hanafis, opinion of Iman. This did not take away any respect or love of Imam Abu Hanifah. It only proves that no man is higher than the truth, period.
We wish any of the critics of this article to refrain from personal attacks and refute the content rather than sticking to mere insults to some or mere respect to others. It is best for all to show that a person does not carry a wrong view in Aqeeda matters by the merit of what he actually wrote, rather than just raising an eye brow and making a useless comment about how great the scholar is and how bad of a person to criticize him. Such people are raised in an environment where you agree unequivocally and completely with a scholar, or totally drop him, destroy his credentials all together and add his name to an ironic list of “Majrouh people” or people with bad connotations! Such people have to understand that this is not the way of Ahlul Sunnah. Scholars are still humans. They make mistakes. However, their mistakes do not make them less of scholars or deserve less respect. Only, to be cautious about the point of weakness and benefit from the good.
[18] Al-Albani's views in that regard were refuted in many books and are opposed to the general consensus of Ahlul Sunnah in perceiving Iman as saying, believing and acting.

[19] It is important to differentiate between the shaiks who belong to Ansar Al-Sunnah of Egypt. For instance, Hamed Al-Fiqi or Abdul Rahman Afifi can not be categorized with the like of Mohamad Al-Bana.

[20] The writer of this article has known these respected figures personally for the last three decades and have worked with them in many joint Islamic projects and intellectual products such as books and magazines. The view presented here is as close as it can get to the opinions of these respected shaiks.

[21] There might be a question mark on Sayed Qutb in terms of what he was accused of in regards to the Attributes of Allah SWT, so someone can claim that he is not Ahlul Sunnah in that regard. My reply would be that first of all, this study is about the stand of the scholars in regards to specific rulings, and secondly, many studies were conducted to clear Sayed Qutb’s name from such accusations, and Allah SWT knows best.

[22] A term that has always been used by shaik Abdel Majid Al-Shazly of Egypt.

[23] The subject of Jahl (ignorance) in Shariah is a very delicate matter and has a lot of inferences and applications. This article's author published a book on that subject that was published by the committee of Fatawa of Saudi Arabia 1992 under the title of "The Useful Answer to the problem of those who are ignorant of Tawheed".