Meeting a Salafi Maulana
By Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
03 February 2023
Discussions with a Salafi Maulana Regarding a Range of Religious Issues
Main Points
·
Most of Maulanas have done more disservice than contribute to the cause
of Islam.
·
Salafis mostly believe that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
displayed a flowing beard and shaving or trimming the beard is not allowed in
Islam.
·
The Salafis started with the noble cause of ending the division among
the Ummah, but ultimately they fell prey to sectarianism themselves in
the process of uniting the Ummah.
·
Islam was spread in Kashmir due to the efforts of Sufis, who are opposed
vehemently by Salafis.
....
I have always been wary about maulanas. Most of them have done
more disservice than contribute to the cause of Islam. It so happened that I
visited a friend whose father had passed away to offer my condolences. There I
happened to meet a Maulana, whose flowing beard and trimmed moustache
gave me an indication that he belonged to the Salafi sect. It is indeed
quite interesting to know that from the length of beards, one can just know the
sect of Muslims. Salafis mostly believe that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
displayed a flowing beard and shaving or trimming the beard is not allowed in
Islam. In my teenage years, I read a book by Mukhtar Ahmad Salafi who edited
the monthly Al Balagh and publishing house Al Darus ul Salfia,
titled Daadhi Kye Masail Quran wa Sunnat Ki Roshni Mey (The
contours of Beard in the light of Quran and Sunnah). The whole argument
of the text was that all Prophets, his companions, scholars, sages and friends
of Allah displayed beards, so it was sinful and haram to trim the beard.
This book certainly had a huge impact on my impressionable mind. I had a boyish
face then, but I made a firm resolve about not trimming and shaving my beard
once it grew. So I displayed a long beard in my high school and college days
and even now I never have a clean shave. This book made me question the piety
and religiosity of those Muslims who did not display beards, so whenever I
heard someone talking or preaching about Islam, I grew angry at the fact that
he had no right to speak or talk or preach about Islam, as he is without a
beard. Beard became synonymous for me with religiosity. Later I came to relate
beards with sects, long ones associated with Salafis, short ones with Jamaat
e Islami, dishevelled with Barelwis and dyed ones with Deobandis.
Later these sects even divided the colours; green for Barelwis, white
for Deobandis, and black for Salafis. It is so interesting food
for thought. Among Shias, black is reserved for the Syeds and
white for Non-Syeds and no Shia can question this division and segregation.
Later with more reading, comprehension and understanding of the spirit
of Islam, I overcame this exoteric display of bearded identity. I understood
the fact that salvation did not depend on beards and Allah will not give a
scale to angels to measure the length of beards and then admit Muslims to
heaven. So Islam demands something else that will help us inherit the Jannah.
Later on, when the conversation started I came to know that he is a
teacher in a local Salafi madrasa and was a writer too, besides
translating and writing exegesis of the Quran in vernacular Kashmiri. I
enquired from him about the need of translating the Quran into Kashmiri when
already a translation that is attributed to the late Mirwaiz Yusuf Shah is
existent. Although I added that it is alleged that Hanafi Sopori had translated
it into Kashmiri and given it to Mirwaiz to proofread and have a look at
it, but then out of deception and sheer injustice he got it published in his
own name. He said no, it was not Hanafi Sopori, but some other person
residing in the outskirts of Srinagar, Narbal who was a Hanafi scholar
and handed his translation to Mirwaiz. When Mirwaiz was exiled from
Kashmir, he took this translation with him and there was a breakdown of
communication between the two parts of Kashmir. So he waited till the original
scholar and translator died and then got it published in his own name. But even
those who are aware of this intellectual plagiarism maintain silence given the
reverence for the Mirwaiz family among Kashmiris.
As I am acquainted with the Salafi Manhaj, I enquired further
from the Salafi scholar about the division of Ummah. As usual, he
ranted against the Taqleed (blind following) of four Imams. But I
rebutted him with the fact that Salafi or Ahle Hadith although they are not a
monolith too is a sect now. They did start with the noble cause of ending the
division among the Ummah, but ultimately they fell prey to sectarianism
themselves in the process of uniting the Ummah. So ultimately, they
ended up dividing the Ummah more instead of uniting it. Further, I
questioned him about visiting the shrines and hospices, as it is a common
practice in Kashmir. Also, Islam was spread in Kashmir due to the efforts of
Sufis, who are opposed vehemently by Salafis. He admitted that visiting
graves is allowed in Islam but requesting and praying to the dead person is
not, I agreed with the difference that praying to the dead person can happen
even in our daily prayers. I do regularly visit shrines, but I do not pray to
the dead, but ask Allah to help me attain the qualities that will make me a
good, pious Muslim like them.
Then the question shifted to the companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)
known as Sahabas. He said we cannot question Sahabas and I did
not agree with him as Sahabas are not a monolith. There are categories
among them and only some of them were on the right path, when the prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) left this world as subsequent events unfolded. I asked
about the battle of Siffin between Caliph Ali (RA) and the rebel leader
Ameer Mu'awiya(RA). He grew angry at my calling Mu'awiya(RA) a rebel, although numerous hadiths specify
his crimes against Muslims and the family of the Prophet (Ahle Bayt). To
escape he quoted the Fitnah of Abdullah ibn Sabah. To me, that is escapism
and ludicrous. If we admit that a person or his network was so vital to
sabotage the whole community of pious companions, the Sahabas and Tabeen
then we have to admit that there was something wrong with their training
and they were not as righteous as they have been rendered by Salafis and
other sects. If we stop offering them all the reverence as if they are innocent
and without sin (Masoom) only then we can understand the real plagues
afflicting Muslims. What Salafis do is opt for escapism saying we should
not criticize the tussle among Sahabas, but then only one group is on
the correct path (Haqq) and that is of Caliph Imam Ali (RA), not anyone
else. There are no two views on it. Prophet (pbuh) asked us to revere
his family (Ahle Bayt) more than Sahabas, but Salafis undermine
the Ahle Bayt and try to push the status of some rebel companions like
Mawiya (RA) more than Imam Ali (RA). That qualifies them as Nasibiyees.
This trend is because Mu'awiya (RA) and then his progeny used money,
material and men to construct and spread wrong Hadith concocted by them and
attributed to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to perpetuate their oppressive
rule. Even now the Arab dictators and monarchs through Petrodollars are helping
to perpetuate the myth about the reverence of Mu'awiya(RA) to justify their dictatorial rule as Mu'awiya(RA) was the first monarch and dictator in
Islam. So the Salafi Maulanas failed to answer or rebut my views about
the crimes of Ummayads and its founder against Ahle Bayt. Salafism
stands for spreading monarchy, dictatorship and a monolith version of Islam
among Muslims and is doomed to fail.
..
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar,
Kashmir and can be reached at sikandarmushtaq@gmail.com
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