What the scholars say............

What the scholars say.........

Allah The Almighty says in The Holy Quran: ”O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the messenger, and those charged with authority among you. If you differ in anything among yourselves refer it back to Allah and His Messenger if you believe in Allah and the Last Day: that is best, and most suitable for the final determination.” Surah 4:59.

There are differing interpretations of ulul amr (those of authority among you) amongst mufasireen (scholars of Tafseer) and this is not the time to go into its tafseer, please refer to the various tafseer books for more information. Some have said it includes even oppressive non Muslim rulers and hypocritical leaders (which a lot of Muslims do not accept) while others say it means the scholars and others still say it means the Imams of Ahlul Bayt. In any case if the tafseer that says it is the scholars is taken, then we ask the question.............

Which scholars exactly?

That is the question because Muslims follow different scholars, but Allah is saying obey the ulul amr. It is a misnomer to use the term Muslim scholars to refer to all of Ahlul Sunnah scholars, as if they were all one in agreement, especially when it comes to the issue of whether Shias are Muslim or not or even Jihad. There are varying opinions and it is not a unanimous agreement amongst them.

Even amongst Ahlul Sunnah there are varying opinions on many topics of jurisprudence, it is quite incorrect therefore to assume that they are all united on matters of law and fatwa’s issued.

• Some “scholars” have issued fatwa against the Shia because they have found that in Shia books there are some hadiths that sound un-Islamic. Now the scholarly thing to do would be to ask the Shia especially the scholars what they say about those hadiths. Because maybe there is the possibility that the hadith is considered weak or fabricated by the Shia scholars themselves.

• It is very unscholarly to accuse all Shia of believing in certain hadiths that they themselves may consider fabricated or weak.

• It is very unscholarly to tell Muslims not to unite with the Shia because they have “un-Islamic” concepts. But rather the scholarly thing to do would be to approach the Shia whether a regular Shia or a scholar and ask them about the hadith or practice over which there is difference. If they consider the statement false or weak and admit that they do not go along with that hadith or practice then the matter should be left alone. But if “scholars” are going to insist, despite having being told that not all Shia accept those hadiths, based upon whatever evidence, then what kind of scholar is that?

• As we can see some “scholars” are against unity for whatever reason. But often it can be seen that these reasons are not substantial enough because they are too general and not really strong enough due to insufficient research on their part to establish the true nature of certain hadiths or practices.

• Shia scholars also have different opinions on issues, just like Sunni scholars, it is natural to differ.

• Shia scholars also have a system of verifying the strength or falsity of hadiths.

• Shia scholars also may agree with part of what is in a book and reject another part of it, because for them the only thing that is 100% is the Quran, everything else is subject to a second a opinion and if need be rejected.

• Shia scholars are unanimous that there is no book of hadiths that is Saheeh (authentic) from cover to cover, so why do other “scholars” insist that just because something is from Shia sources it is accepted as Saheeh by all Shia?

• Shia scholars accept even the correct hadiths from amongst the books of the generality of Muslims, but do not accept every hadith in anyone’s book whether sunni, salafi or Shia. They have their own system of verification and ijtihad.

• The science of hadith is one that Shia scholars have been dealing with for over a thousand years and are still dealing with today. Everyone knows or has heard about the science of realtors’/narrators of hadith and it is for this reason and others why the job is so painstakingly long and intricate. For some outsider to come along and say ‘oh look what I found in Shia books’ and then to go broadcasting it around the world without proper verification from the Shias themselves, is not only misrepresenting Shias it is immature and at worst it is mischievous.

• If Sahaba, even with the best of memories, can get things wrong then what of the rest of us who did not even see or hear the voice of the Prophet?

• If scholars before us differed then what of us today are we better than all of them?

• These, nowadays, “scholars” who seem to be itching to issue fatwa’s of Takfeer against Muslims is quite a strange phenomenon. Muslims need to tread carefully in these times, and not bow to the pressures of some “scholars” who wish us to submit to them. We submit to Allah only and we reserve the right to exercise our intelligence and to read as Allah tells us many a time in the Holy Quran.

• People are clutching at straws when they condemn a whole group of Muslims to hell based upon a bunch of hadiths or practices that are not accepted by the majority.

• Scholars can get carried away with their own selves at times, we do err and even scholars have to go back and review decisions they have previously made. But part of the traits of a good scholar is patience, deep thinking, honesty and not being worldly. If a scholar is tainted it could bring about destruction for those that follow him and he could become an Imam for those that are going to hell fire, even if in this life they refer to themselves as the saved sect.

• The word of the scholar is not above the word of Allah and His Prophet, nor is the word of a Sahabi or member of Ahlul Bayt above the word of Allah and His Prophet.