Ladies and Gentlemen, the State of the Union is…err… confused and weak?
But enough of playing with words and politics and let’s get down to the facts. What is in no doubt whatsoever is that post 9/11 the state of our Union, the Ummah at large, is that it has been running around like a headless chicken, without direction, without guidance, without leadership.
Not for a lack of trying mind you – the masses of Muslims returning to their spiritual roots and re-connecting with their religion has been unprecedented, the numbers of converts coming to Islam from other religions have been high, and the development of technology, methodologies and partnerships between Muslim leaders have led to the dissemination of Islamic knowledge to record numbers of Muslims and non-Muslims.
But all is not “good in the hood” and neither should anyone have been naive enough to believe that there wouldn’t be challenges to the Da‘wah along the way. So let’s get to the details.
Firstly there were the specific challenges caused by 9/11 and even before that a general increase in Islamic extremist thought that was characterised by the targeting and killing of innocent civilians. This helped lead to illegal oppressive American and European attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq and a further excuse for others in their intensification of atrocities against Muslims in Palestine, Chechnya, Kashmir, Burma, Uzbekistan, China and other places.
The correct (and only) response in these areas according to Islamic Law was the call to Jihād to defend Muslim lands and lives unless the representatives of the Muslims in these areas saw a Shar‘i legislated benefit in taking other actions, and then of course we enter the messy realm of politics, maslahah and mafsadah. And we seek refuge with Allah from the fitnah of determining the maslahah and mafsadah.
The Muslim response to this physical attack in the battlefields and then the more placid version here in “the West” was not helped by the ideological onslaught against the Sharī‘ah and the war for hearts and minds in an attempt to push secularism upon the Muslim masses wherever they were in the world.
In light of all this, the Muslim leaders, Imams, teachers and scholars had to try and work out what was best for their communities. And that of course meant the recognition of the huge role that context plays in making such decisions.
Hence we saw in this period of time many hard decisions being made, leaders putting themselves in uncomfortable and unfamiliar territory, many concessions coming forth, many bitter pills being swallowed, many words played with in the public discourse and even more omitted, a watering down of our boldness and more risky chances taken with maslahah and mafsadah than ever seen before.
Secondly, add to all of this the generic challenges to the Da‘wah and its leaders and we thus risk making a bad situation even worse. The desire for Muslims to argue, to debate, to judge others, to read the hearts of others, to not make excuses, to endlessly talk and/or write without any authority, to protect one’s self-image, to promote oneself, to save face in the presence of those one is embarrassed of, to do things for the sake of others and not for the sake of Allah, to safeguard one’s political interests, to safeguard one’s position, to safeguard one’s source of income, to protect relationships with certain Muslims and non-Muslims over and above what is sanctioned by the Lawgiver and so on have created a very combustible and fragile state of affairs.
Put these two factors together and one realises why various internet fora, blogs, chatrooms, email groups and conversations are so busy debating and arguing the latest statement A made, the response of B, the apostasy of X due to their collapse into secularism and the opposite takfīr of Y due to his extremism, and so on ad infinitum.
Let me make a concluding general statement of advice to all those who are concerned by this state of affairs and to appease those who have specifically demanded answers on the premise that it is somehow my absolute personal obligation to speak out every time something that I might have some remote connection to goes wrong.
Actually, I am under no such obligation but I’m foolishly (no doubt) going to oblige this time so that no-one can say in the future that I didn’t clarify my position. And you’ll be very lucky to get it again. So:
1. Those who work for the Muslims in the public arena – whether in political or inter-faith work, or teaching the Muslims their religion and leading them in their communities – are all publicly accountable. To be criticised is part of the job description and if one wants to avoid it, join the general masses and be content in following, not leading. Yes, although the giving of advice first in private is correct in principle, Islam allows for public scholarly criticism when the need for that becomes clear to the people that know.
2. The Muslim leaders living and engaging in the West are in a terrible dilemma; on one hand they are trying to preserve the best interests of their communities whilst at the same time trying desperately to stick to orthodoxy. This is not an easy job by any means, especially when as a result of your presence and your work, the long term security of your family, wealth, safety, community relations and other wider objectives become intrinsically linked to the Da‘wah you’re trying to safeguard. The pressure is immense and it’s just lazy rhetoric to insist people just step out of their leadership roles and leave it empty for every deviant and ignorant one to take our agenda forward.
Naturally, all those who have sincere intentions should recognise that this is a clear conflict of interest and should therefore consult those who have no such conflict of interest such as the senior scholars, or those who live outside such areas of political pressure, or as classically done: refer to the People of Jihād (and here it is the legitimate Jihād we refer to and not those deviants engaged in “Islamic terrorism” we unfortunately witness in some Muslim areas). It is these people who often bring a cold sense of reality to our thoughts and priorities, who remind us of our ultimate obligations, and provide for us guidelines that help us navigate through the labyrinth of “Islam in the West”.
Although such advice might not be obligatory to follow, might not appreciate certain contexts and scenarios and might be just plain wrong, there should be no such thing as a Muslim deciding independently on certain courses of action in their Da‘wah unilaterally – especially here in the West.
3. We must not forget justice in our work. We should respect our Muslim leaders for their sacrifices for Islam, however small it might be in the sight of others. This is regardless of whether someone sacrifices time to teach the Muslims their religion, sacrifices to move to another land, or sacrifices a lot more to go and defend innocent lives.
There is no such thing as a perfect person and everyone makes mistakes. Only the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) is beyond criticism and thus everyone would do well to measure their complaint against someone in light of their general good and benefit.
Many people would do well to leave the people of knowledge to deal with these issues themselves and to utilise their own time in more beneficial matters. And never forget the sacred advice of the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam) who said, “It is from the excellence of one’s Islam that they leave that which does not concern them.” This is all the more emphasised when the issue at hand has the potential to cause fitnah and disunity in the Da‘wah, and regardless of how difficult it might seem but in such difficult times the argument for unity is utterly compelling. Sure, this doesn’t mean that controversial issues are not discussed and sorted out, but it should be left to the experts, leaders and elders to solve these amongst themselves.
So there is my general statement that I hope you’ll all be able to read deeply into and find the answers to all your specific queries about the personalities in the news these days.
Wallāhu’l-Muwaffiq.
Except of course that I know none of you will be satisfied with that, especially the group of students who have presented a list of questions to me requesting clarification of certain statements about individuals in the headlines during recent times.
So, reluctantly, over the last few days I’ve been busy doing my research all over the internet and here is what I have to say, wa billāhi’l-tawfīq.
- Ust. Tawfique Choudhury hafidhahullāh is someone I’ve known for a long time as a friend. Despite our differences in opinion and the way one comes across to people, I find him to be a well-versed brother, especially in Hanbali fiqh, which I have a particular amount of respect for. He is also a good motivator as has been seen by the success of his teaching institute al-Kauthar. May Allah protect him, purify his and our intentions and guide us all to that which is good.
I must say that when I read his article – despite the fact that I would not have written what he did or released such a statement in such a fashion at such a sensitive time – I felt a touch of political naivety yet I did not question his intention and I understood his main point which in reality is not an issue of discussion: if we find something objectionable in the religion and we criticise it and then someone else does the same for their own interests, well, that’s just the way it is. I don’t think anyone will disagree with this point.
But when we change the parameters to the ‘Ulemā doing the criticising, the oppressors waging war on Islam looking to preserve their own interests by wanting the same, and then using certain words and phrases which perhaps could have been better, then we have the situation which has erupted all over cyber-space as it has – something which is made infinitely worse by the age-old Muslim skill of reading into something that which just isn’t there and the even better skill of reading the peoples’ hearts and intentions.
As for takfir of Tawfique based upon the wording of an article: I have to say that my heart shook in fear for the brother/sister who went there and destroyed their ākhirah with such ignorance. We can only ask Allah for ‘āfiyah.
- Sh. Anwar al-Awlaki hafidhahullāh is someone who I met whilst I was doing a little study in Makkah quite a few years ago, perhaps late 90s, and I haven’t spoken to him since. I only know good about him, and like everyone else noticed a change in direction which he has openly admitted. I remember reading a piece written by the Shaykh on the various methods of establishing an Islamic State and I found that I differed with him on that but as of yet, I don’t know of any specific details in which Sh. Anwar has fallen into extremism or completely betrayed the ‘aqīdah of Ahl’l-Sunnah, wallāhu a‘lam. Sure, he’s not the kind of name you’d be dropping whilst going through Passport Control but what I will say is that it is often our inferiority complex to the Sharī‘ah and the subjugation of many Muslims to the ideology of “the West” that has often painted quite valid statements of his as “extremism” and the like.
As for his response to Tawfique: I found it reactionary (in that I think if he had more time he would have chosen a few better words) but he was only responding to what he felt was the pressing issue of the day according to the internet warriors, something which the blogs and websites of teachers and scholars handle particularly poorly as astutely pointed out here. I only wish that the doubts could have been directly addressed instead without any mentioning of the individual, yet I found some of Sh. Anwar’s statements correct and I think many of us in the West would do well to heed some of his valuable advice in our engagement of the various issues we deal with where we are always playing around with masālih and mafāsid. I also hope and pray that Sh. Anwar returns swiftly back to the hearts of the masses and continues to benefit them in this life and the Next.
- Sh. Yasir Qadhi is a very close brother and personal friend, someone with a very good grounding in the legal and theological sciences. He is also someone I respect for his willingness to take advice despite the fact that he is better placed to give it. I remember when he was studying abroad and would have concerns about some of the positions we would adopt whilst teaching here in the UK/US, but was always willing to listen and adapt. I feel that he is an important figure to support as he engages with the wider public both in civic and political arenas, hafidhahullāh.
As for the controversy of his meeting Tony Blair and taking classes with him: this was the correct decision. Sure, we may all balk at the idea of shaking his hand and speaking in a respectful manner to someone who barely deserves it splattered with the blood of so many innocent people, yet we need to keep everything in context. I personally feel that he did better than myself – although I’m personally guilty of not throwing my shoes at Ehud Barak the last time I was in the same room – I can’t get myself to shake Blair’s hand despite numerous sittings with him in the past few years, but likewise I doubt if I’d have been able to question him directly on the hypocrisy of Iraq as Yasir did or even better to intellectually humiliate him as Sh. Hamza hafidhahullāh did with real honour and respect during the Malaria No More session last year.
- Which leads on to Sh. Hamza whom I always have and hopefully will continue to hold in high esteem for his efforts in the Da‘wah and inspiring people to return back to Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallāhu ‘alayhi wa sallam).
I’m not one to ignore elephants in the room and we may have ideological differences between us, but not to the effect that some Muslims make out to be in their haste and anger; rather he is closer to us as our elder and a scholar in the West than many people who claim scholarship and we would all do well to respect Sh. Hamza, follow him in that which is good, and avoid that which he might err in. And let it be said that his errors compared to his good are insha’Allah insignificant and certainly a lot less than myself! It should be clear to you all now that from my very early days in practising Islam to this very day, I believe the Athari/Ash‘ari or Salafi/Sūfi debate to be exaggerated and rather disingenuous at times, particular in light of the long history of Islamic scholarship. Different we are, enemies we are not. Fear Allah all of us, we must.
Public mistakes and misconceptions should of course be recanted or publicly corrected by other scholars whoever that person is and Sh. Hamza I am sure fully agrees, yet the criticism by our popular blogging brother ‘Umar Lee upon Sh. Hamza was completely off the mark and unacceptable in my opinion. ‘Umar’s blog is one of the two that I actually read regularly (the other being Haroon Moghul’s Avari) not for only its sheer entertainment value but because of his often very accurate appraisal of the “State of the Union” and its diseases. He was also correct in some of his recent criticisms against various groups but his assertion that Sh. Hamza was not completely against homosexuality was a slur, and other statements were unfortunately off the mark and I wish that they were retracted with an apology.
Other statements that I found there from visitors criticising Sh. Hamza were absolutely unacceptable and nothing but vicious personal attacks. I personally found the criticism of Shaykh Hamza flying a certain class of air travel and with members of an “entourage” smacking of desperation and ignorance. I myself hate to travel and certainly don’t like travelling alone. If you want me to come to your place to help out in the Da‘wah, then prepare for someone else to be with me holding my hand (and yes, I’m proud of it) and be rest assured that my legs and waist-size don’t do cattle class. That means I’m expensive. What then of the most motivating and inspirational Muslim scholar in the West we have seen in the last twenty years?
Nahsibuhu ‘ala’l-khayr wa lā nuzakkī ‘ala-Allāhi ahad.
- Sh. Abu Zubair hafidhahullāh of the Islamic Awakening forums is another brother that I have known for many years as a close friend although there hasn’t been much contact in the last few years. The often-quoted cliché about him was that he was always young, brash and immature; this is something that perhaps might have been understandable 15 years ago but for his opponents to claim the same statement 15 years later after a lengthy period spent studying in Egypt and Makkah under well-known scholars, then either I’m missing something or he should stop studying and start marketing his product for eternal youth.
Sure, he’s one of the more “harsher” brothers in the Da‘wah and there are certainly issues and approaches which we differ strongly on, but that shouldn’t mean that all he says is to be washed away as “extreme rants”. Islamic history has always had some figures that were smooth and others that were more vocal and public and caused people to be uncomfortable with their own strongly held views and I feel that Abu Zubair is from this type.
Yes I wish that he’d do more to clamp down on some of the irresponsible statements, outright error and sometimes extremism that emanates from his popular forum but at the same time he and many other posters there provide for an invaluable resource, standard and regulator for all those who walk the wire of fatwa instead of taqwā (such as myself) in their various roles as leaders of their communities in the West. I hope and pray that Allah jalla wa ‘ala protects him, guides him, increases him in knowledge and wisdom and puts his many talents to good use.
- The penultimate person I’ve been asked about repeatedly recently and is now the last person on this rather nice handwritten list is Usama Hasan.
I would be lying if I didn’t admit the pain and shame of the errors of someone who had so much potential and someone who has been close to me for a very long time. Such is the power and danger of fitnah and we can only beg Allah for protection and steadfastness in these very difficult times.
This is a man who has a lot of good to his name and still does much good as he continues to engage with the wider public and how I hope and pray that his good deeds might somehow intercede for him! His affair comes as a result of on one hand the fleeing from the extreme ignorant salafi cult and on the other hand the unrestricted embracing of the liberal and secular community in the UK through the charms and admittedly much good actions of charismatic non-Muslims and other good humanists. This is the true fitnah of our time as we engage the wider community and come into contact with wonderful people of other faiths and no faith, and then we start to water down and even lose our own faith. Wa Allāhu Musta‘ān
- And finally, although not on the handwritten list given to me (unsurprisingly!), we come to me, AE, ghafarallāhu wa li wālidayhi.
It is well known to many of you some of the activities I am involved with and the various responsibilities I have in the Muslim community and the wider general public at all their levels. It’s a dangerous business when you have your fingers in so many pies and have so many interests at stake – of all the above people, I need to be most monitored carefully to be kept on the straight and narrow! Also being prone to many mistakes and a weak heart, I welcome all my detractors and ask Allāh jalla wa ‘alā that He protects my ego from arrogance and allows me to accept and act upon that which is good and correct, and that He guides me away from that which is wrong and against the interests of our community.
Some people feel that I don’t speak the truth like it should be against those like the brothers above. Perhaps that is because I recognise better than most having done this work for longer than most how difficult this stuff actually is and how complicated things can become at the acute end of engagement.
In any case, I hope this is a clarification for some of you and helps to dispel the doubts and confusion that seems apparent so that at least I cannot be blamed for not doing my part to be part of the solution. And I hope I never have to do something so public again.
And Allah jalla wa ‘alā knows best.
– who passed some nice news on to us yesterday with the discovery that he wasn’t actually the first convert in his family, but rather proceeded by an ancestor in public office masha’Allah. Read it below.
), I found this little 2 minute clip absolutely delightful:
