In the Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful. Are there too many differences of opinions on issues in Islam such that we cannot be reunited? Or is reunion of the Ummah in one Jama’ah (in one State) absolutely possible, rather obligatory? The issue of Ikhtilaaf (differences of opinion) is a concept who’s understanding can remove conflicts and fitna in the ummah toward the obligatory re-unity in Jama’ah, and who’s misunderstanding causes the reverse, by Allah(swt)’s leave. So what exactly do we mean by “differences of opinion”? is every issue in Islam, from Usuul(foundation) to Furuu (branches, laws, rules), subject to differences? Did The Creator, The Legislator permit this differences of opinion? And how is it handled? Let us resolve these questions altogether here inshaa Allah. Firstly, we need to know that Islam is absolutely intellectual, and requires using the intellect to arrive at the understanding of the issues in the Deen, from foundation to branches. As against many religions (or ways of life) today that demands “believe” without the thorough intellectual aspect, so that the believes are matters that are unquestioned and simply subjected to. When one embarks on the pursuit to properly understand Islam, he meets two aspects; the Aqeedah (foundation) and the Shariah (The law and branching issues). 1) The Aqeedah: No differences are permitted here. The Aqeedah is the intellectual basis of Islam. This is an aspect that one has to think about and conclude in such a manner as to leave no doubt. As a result of being 100% intellectually convinced, the believe results. We are not permitted to differ or to be uncertain here. Allah(swt) says “And be not as those who were divided and differed among themselves, after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment.” [TMQ 3:105]. “Verily, those who divided their religion and break up into sects, you (O Muhammad s.a.w) have no concern in them in the least. Their affair is only with Allah, Who then will tell them what they used to do.” [TMQ 6:159]. Some issues discussed here are: i. Existence (not the essence) of the Creator of the universe, man and life: here, the existence of the Creator is arrived at by sensing, and thinking about the created (Man, life and the universe) to conclude the existence of their Creator, Allah(swt). So Muslims therefore believe in existence of a Creator like Christians, Jews, etc are said to. ii. The revealed Books: The Creator has sent revelations to mankind. The last of them being the Glorious Quran and in it is mentioned other Books previously revealed. One needs to be intellectually convinced 100% base on proofs that This Book is from none but The Creator. Consequently the Muslims have the same Book, The same Quran. iii. The Messengers and Prophets (peace be upon them): The Creator has sent Prophets and Messengers tasked with conveying the revelation (The Book). He sent them with proves in the form of miracles which only the Creator of man, life and the universe can do, and which no created can do, to confirm them and their message so that they are followed. The Quran is the miracle of Muhammad (s.a.w), the Last Prophet from the Creator. It is a literature miracle. The Quran tells about other Prophets sent before Muhammad (s.a.w). iv. Other issues here are Angels, hereafter (judgment, hell, heaven) and the Divine decree. These include issues that men do not sense but are able to think and understand their existence intellectually since they are built upon that whose existence and truth is 100% proven. Allah(swt) said O you who believe! Believe in Allah and His messenger, and the Book which He sent to His Messenger and the Book which He sent to those before (him). Any who denies Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Day of Judgement, has gone far, far astray. [An-Nisa: 136] Therefore unlike other religions such as Christianity and Judaism who differ in their religion as Allah(swt) informed us and as we still see today, in the foundations such as having different Books and disbelieving in some Prophets, some denying heaven and hell, Muslims have no differences of opinion about The Book, The Messengers, other foundational issues. 2) Furuu (branches, details, rules, laws): There are differences in some issues here. Beside the intellectual basis (Aqeedah-foundation), the other intellectual aspect is the details and laws. The foundational sources of this is the Book(Quran) and the Sunnah(sayings, actions, approval of the Prophet(s.a.w)). Thus, while the Muslims do not differ about The Book being from Allah(swt) and its content, they differed in their understanding of some verses in the Book and The hadeeth (reports) of Sunnah. Allah (swt), The Legislator, wanted and did reveal permission for the differences: i. The Prophet(s.a.w) said Whosoever does Ijtihad (intellectual effort to deduce Shariah rule) and errs therein shall have one reward. And whosoever performs Ijtihad and is correct shall have a double reward. (Bukhari & Muslim) ii. Differences amongst the Sahaba: When the Jews of Bani Qurayzah broke their treaty to the Islamic State by allying with forces that attacked Medina, The Prophet(s.a.w) was to deal with this matter after Allah(swt) saved the Muslims, so he(s.a.w) sent the Sahaba in Jihad to Bani Qurayzah and ordered the Mu’adhin (caller to the prayer) to inform to the people that “whoever was obedient should not perform the afternoon prayer until he had reached the location where Banu Qurayzah was”. But they were still on the way when the Asr was almost over so two opinions arose amongst the Sahaba (ra). A group understood the command to mean they should hasten to reach Bani Qurayzah and therefore judged that they pray before they reach (In Asr time) while the other group understood it literally and thus judged that Asr should be prayed at Bani Qurayzah even if Asr time will be over. So the second group guarded the first to pray on the way, and the first guarded the second to pray when they reached Bani Qurayzah and they did not disunite over this. The Prophet (s.a.w) was informed about this matter and He(s.a.w) approved both, though they were different. There are many issues about which the Sahaba have different Islamic opinions. (Narrations on this incident found in Bukhari and the Seerah books.) iii. Differences amongst the Tabiun (those who followed after the Sahaba-learnt from the Sahaba-ra), those after and the Mujtahid Imams (Shafi’I, Malik, Hambal, etc): For instance, in the issue of “Does touching women break wudu or not?” Imam Shafi’i ruled that it does while Imam Abu Hanifa ruled that it doesn’t. The Sahaba and followers after them are holding different Islamic opinions on the matter. It must however be noted that these different opinions are each based on Shariah evidences and arrived at by those qualified to deduce the Shariah rule from its sources, and not mere opinions. How do we deal with differences of Islamic opinion in the ummah? 1. The way the Sahaba handled the difference on their way to Bani Qurayzah as narrated above is how the differences are handled. They understood that each followed an Islamic opinion and protected each other to implement their Islamic opinion. 2. Even more importantly, the way to handle differences in Islamic opinions in the Muslim Jama’ah (The ummah together in one state under one Imam/Khalifah) is the Shariah rule that “The Imam’s Islamic opinion settles the dispute/differences”. Therefore, it is not possible for the Muslims to resolve the potential problems that result from different opinions in issues which we are supposed to be united about except by having one Imam. Looking again at the question we started with: Are there too many differences of opinions on issues in Islam such that we cannot be reunited? Or is reunion of the Ummah in one Jama’ah (in one State) absolutely possible, rather obligatory? The answer in summary is: Islam has prohibited differences in Aqeedah and permitted differences in what differences are possible in, in the rules. Islam has additionally ordered us to view all the opinions as Islamic opinions and respect them and assist each other to implement them and even to protect them from disbelievers, while also permitting proper discussions amongst us to reach the most correct opinions. And above that, Islam has commanded that the Muslims are gathered in one state ruled by one Amir(Khalifah) with only Islam and commanded that when there are differences, the Imam’s adopted Islamic opinion becomes binding upon all. Thus true unity is impossible without understanding this concept of Ikhtilaaf(differences of Islamic opinion) and ultimately reestablishing the Jamaah(Khilafah-Islamic State) and appointing an Imam to rule base on only Islam. The Prophet(s.a.w) said “The jama’ah is mercy, and division is torment.” [Reported by Imaam Ahmad] is not then re-unity under one Imam absolutely possible, rather obligatory?
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 10:05:20 +0000
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