Comments on: Religious Rulings: No Longer “Yes, No? Can I Go?” But a Method of Teaching the People By: Ust. Abdul Sattar

By: thelegacymaker

thelegacymaker — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:17:17 +0000

ASA,

Imam W. D. Mohammed (may the mercy of Allah be upon him) would always warn his students of those sheikhs and scholars who would control and hold back many of their followers by not revealing much of the deeper understanding of the Islamic sciences. It was as if those scholars were fearful of loosing the power they had over the students and the people. This is knowledge that has no benefit and we ask Allah (swt) to keep us away from this ego.

By: J

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 04:21:21 +0000

Brother Abd-Allah, I find your post to be highly offensive. There are plenty of scholars nowadays, and *usually* the only ones who claim otherwise are the extremists from either side (the khawaarij on the one end and the murjia on the other).

Yes, you are right to say that there are some bad apples here and there (which would make it important to ask for proof), but to say that almost all are this way or that way is certainly from extremism. It is ironic because usually those who say “so-and-so is not a scholar” and “I don’t take from so-and-so” are the most ignorant of all; in other words, they are claiming that so-and-so is ignorant, but in reality 99% of the time they themselves are more ignorant than so-and-so!

Fi Aman Allah,
J

By: Siraaj Muhammad

Siraaj Muhammad — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:37:07 +0000

Salaam alaykum Abdul-Sattar,

A very well-thought out article, and A badly-needed challenge to the status quo. It’s not that we ought to underestimate and disregard our scholars and teachers, but just the opposite – our teachers and scholars have to recognize and not underestimate the growing literacy and intelligence of the “layman” population.

Siraaj

By: Angie

Angie — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 20:25:25 +0000

Jazak Allahu khayran. Beautifully worded!

By: ISLAMdoc.org

ISLAMdoc.org — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:37:15 +0000

Please donate, whatever the amount, for the Muslims of Gaza, this is the least we can do
http://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/CurrentAppeals.aspx

there are a number of islamic charities so please donate

By: Abd- Allah

Abd- Allah — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:47:04 +0000

The difference between in the past and recent times is that in the past, there were only a (relatively) few scholars that were known to be knowledgable and so that is who everyone asked their questions, and many times though these scholars did provide some evidence to back what they are saying, but even if they didn’t provide anything other than a simple yes or no, they were trustworthy people, so people didn’t have a problem relying on them. Now we have plenty of “scholars” and everyone who has attended an islamic intitution for a year or 2 and got some sort of degree from there is termed a “scholar” when infact the true scholars are few. Not everyone can be trusted now, and since there are many opinions out there, people ask for the proof so that they can defend their opinion if someone objects to it later.
The prophet peace be upon him said “Allah will not take away knowledge by removing it from the hearts of men, but he takes it away by the death of scholars.”
and when there are few true scholars left, it is then when people start taking ignorant people as “scholars” who give rulings based on their own desires without any proof, and so they misguide others while being misguided themselves. That is why we should always ask for the evidence that supports the claim being made by any shaikh or mufti!

By: J

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:46:55 +0000

This was an AMAZING article, masha-Allah. Much needed, much appreciated. I haven’t read this good of an article in a long time. Jazakh-Allah khair. May Allah [swt] reward you!

Fi Aman Allah,
J