When a Muslim scholar is in a gathering or a sitting, you always notice someone trying to put words in his mouth or extract some fatwa from him. Although everyone realizes that the scholar has more knowledge, somehow they find it OK to impose their opinion, or somehow give some authority to their opinion by extracting an approval from the scholar. Im also sorry to say that many times you find the scholar falling for that! In order not to upset his base, or to keep his approval ratings, you see the scholar bow down to this kind of pressure. This unhealthy practice is not only exercised by individuals, but is also practiced by some groups who are seeking legitimacy to their practice, or even their existence. So they keep looking for scholars who are willing to conform or approve. The scholars who are willing to oblige or behave become the favored or preferred scholars. The scholars who still have some dignity and refuse to bow to such pressure become blacklisted and written off. In fact, I have seen it many times where members of certain groups are literally forbidden from listening to a certain sheikh because he doesnt fit the bill, or because the leadership of the group determined he was not good or his ideas were too dangerous for their members! This circle can expand even further. The scholar might find himself under pressure from the status quo or the culture he lives in. He feels the need to conform to whatever man-made ecosystem in order to not lose his fame or his popularity. Even when it comes to noble terms such as righteousness or Sunnah, those terms earn new definition from the popular culture without much resistance from the scholars! I think this is a recipe for disaster, if its not already one. The mission of the scholar should not be to raise his rating or his popularity by how much he appeals to his base. Rather, it should be to say the truth, to the best of his understanding, even if it means challenging the base. It should be the scholar guiding the people, not the other way around. Yes, now we have a phenomenon, the people-guided scholars unfortunately. BTW, what I said above applies to all types of settings. In a strict setting for example, you see the scholar trying to conform to the stricter interpretation. In a more liberal setting, you see the scholar trying to conform to the more liberal interpretation. This is why, in a same environment, you keep getting the same copy-cat fatwas. They dont change. There is no tajdeed (reform or renewal). There is stagnation.
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 13:26:35 +0000
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