Compiled by:Â Sajid A. Kayum
As Muslims, we are obliged to believe and understand our religion in a manner that Allah wants us to. The way to achieve this is mentioned in the Qur’aan. Â Allah says:
And if they believe as you (i.e., the Sahabah) believe then they are rightly guided, but if they turn away, then they are only in opposition.
[Soorah al-Baqarah (2): 137]
In light of this verse, the correct understanding is what emulates the beliefs and understandings of the Sahabah (the Prophet’s Companions).
The Sahabah were the fortunate people who accompanied the Prophet (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) and learned the religion directly from him (sallallahu alehe wa-sallam). They witnessed the revelation of the Qur’aan and the Sunnah and experienced the circumstances in which they were revealed. The Sahabah’s understanding of the religion is therefore, the most pure and perfect, and they are a group that has definitely succeeded in achieving what Faith is meant to achieve, i.e. Allah’s Pleasure.
And the first to embrace Islam of the Muhajirun (those who migrated from Makkah to al-Medina) and the Ansar (the people of al-Madinah who helped the Muhajirun) and also those who followed them exactly (in Faith). Allah is well-pleased with them as they are well-pleased with Him. He has prepared for them Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise), to dwell therein forever. That is the supreme success.
[Soorah at-Tawbah (9):100]
Apathy towards the understanding of the Sahabah as well as free interpretation of Islamic texts are the primary causes of misconceptions and confusion; and consequently straying from the path of the ‘the rightly guided’.
In the first section of this book, we shall critically analyze the Modernists, beginning by understanding the deviations of the Mu’tazilah sect. We shall see with examples:
- The rejection of Kalaam by the scholars and Imams of the Muslims
- The turmoil that the Mutazilah brought upon the Islamic world as a result of their Kalaam and
- The ill-effects of philosophy on pious and knowledgeable scholars who indulged in it and later abandoned it.
We shall study the views of the ‘Muslim’ rationalists (al-Aqlaniyah), a group that emerged towards the end of the colonial era and found intellectual nourishment in the views of the Mutazilah.
We shall see in this booklet the close resemblance between Christian and Jewish Modernists on one hand, and the ‘Muslim’ modernist and progressives on the other. We shall analyze the views that have become the hallmark of the Modernist call and expose their remoteness from Islam.
We shall comment on the most outrageous antics of present-day ‘progressives’, expose their hatred for Islamic teachings and report on the complete failure of their call.
The second section of this booklet deals with the misguidance of rejecting Hadeeth as this is another malady afflicting all Mu’tazili influenced groups whether the Modernists, the Progressives, the Secularists or the pseudo-Islamists. The refutation focuses upon analyzing the views of three prominent rejecters of Hadeeth; Rashad Khalifah, Ghulam Parvez and Amin Ahsan Islahi.
The two sections of the book greatly complement each other as the modernists and the hadeeth rejecters are two sides of the same coin.
All in all, this booklet should provide a good overview towards understanding the many misguided views that emanate from varied groups influenced by the Mu’tazilah.
Download Book | Size: 8.2 MB | Downloaded 472 times