Impact Of Divisions In Today's Muslim World
Nawaz
Contrary to the teachings of the Quran which prohibits any division of
Muslims into sects, they have been subject to division and
disintegration for the last few centuries, which is a result of this
as a natural consequence of predecessor worship. Difference of opinion
does occur among human beings and did occur even amongst the
companions of the Messenger but they did not allow themselves to be
divided into sects. But since the start of ancestral worship, the
followers of particular Imams took their respective Imams to be
infallible and assumed that the truth lay they said in matters of
life. In other words all the others, besides them (the Imams) said was
mere falsehood. This divided the Muslims among themselves and every
sect became content with what the Imams gave them. From then onwards
each sect struggled hard to prove that they themselves were right and
others were wrong. They became devoid of tolerance and also of self
effort to find out what was right and what was wrong. Thus they were
not prepared to hear a word against their own particular belief not
because they had good reason to do so but because anything going
against the belief of their ancestors was impossible for them to
tolerate. The differences between the sects are not necessarily on
basic issues; even the differences on petty things have separated them
from each other. The curious aspect of this situation lies in the fact
that the laws of Fiqa are now the vestigial remnants of the Muslim
rules from the past. Not a single Muslim or Islamic State based on
Islamic principles which exist today but the differences based on the
Fiqa laws continue to exist. A lot of energy is being wasted to keep
up differences, in a same way least effort is being made to revive the
Islamic state.
Because of this divisions and disintegration among muslims give us a
clear picture of the Muslim world today it is hard to find something
positive on the horizon. There is political chaos, fanatic society and
regional turmoil all over the Muslim world. Muslims seem to have lost
control of their affairs, they feel frustrated and helpless. Many
Muslim governments are persecuting their people in the name of Islam
and muslim priests exploits common people in the name of Islam. So we
Muslims hope for a better future under these circumstances?
Nawaz
Religion Islam
www.parvez-video.com
DKleinecke
>
> Contrary to the teachings of the Quran which prohibits any division of
> Muslims into sects, they have been subject to division and
> disintegration for the last few centuries,
"the last few centuries" is a strange idea. Using the most old-
fashioned traditions Islam fell apart into multiple sects immediately
upon the death of Rasul Allah. Of course, the deviant sects of the
Ridda have been explained away as apostasy - but it is easy to read
between the lines. The next major fitna was the conspiracy against
'Uthman - but that is usually not considered to be based on religion.
But immediately thereafter the first Kharijites appear and everybody
agrees they are a deviant sect of Islam. I cannot date the beginning
of the Shi'a, but they came along very soon therefter. The Kharijites
and the Shi'a are still with us.
> which is a result of this
> as a natural consequence of predecessor worship.
Predecessor worship would include the entire hadith literaure. Even
Rasul Allah was a predecessor,
<snip>
> [S]ince the start of ancestral worship, the
> followers of particular Imams took their respective Imams to be
> infallible and assumed that the truth lay they said in matters of
> life. In other words all the others, besides them (the Imams) said was
> mere falsehood.
I wonder which imams are considered infallible. I haven't encountered
the idea of an infallible (as opposed to inspired) iman. Perhaps among
the Sufis. You might make the case that this refers to the Wahhabis -
but I think that would be an error. I wonder what Nawaz is talking
about.
> This divided the Muslims among themselves and every
> sect became content with what the Imams gave them.
<snip>
> The curious aspect of this situation lies in the fact
> that the laws of Fiqa are now the vestigial remnants of the Muslim
> rules from the past. Not a single Muslim or Islamic State based on
> Islamic principles which exist today ...
I think the post must be corrected here. Surely Nawaz meant to strike
out the "which" and to change
"exist" to "exists".
> ... but the differences based on the Fiqa laws continue to exist.
Fiqa [sic] law appears today to be a theoretical game. People enjoy
playing it - why shouldn't it continue to exists?
<snip>
> Muslim governments are persecuting their people in the name of Islam
> and muslim priests exploits common people in the name of Islam. So we
> Muslims hope for a better future under these circumstances?
I wonder whom Nawaz means by "muslim priests" and how the
"exploitation works". The usual question to ask is "who benefits?" I
suspect that "muslim priests" are not a significant part of the woes
in the Muslim world and that if I knew whom Nawaz is referring to I
would understand his sectarian principles better. Can anybody
enlighten me?
I wonder if Nawaz realizes how much he is writing in code. Perhaps
everybody in Pakistan understand the code. But I don't.