Salafi Tussle
By Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
07 February 2023
Over time what has changed: Mullahs or Islam?
Main Points
·
A new recording
between some students of Bashir Ahmad Salafi and Rouf Madkhali is doing
rounds over social media.
·
Mullahs were responsible for
Islam being tagged as anti-progress and responsible for arresting the growth of
humanity.
·
Rouf says it is the Ulama,
who are the real custodians and rightful interpreters of Islam.
·
But the caller points
out that there are two types of Ulama, the righteous and charlatan, Ulama
e Haqq and Ulama e Suu.
·
The caller justifies
the Takfeer and calls it an important pillar of Islam. Rouf disagrees
with it.
·
Madrasas are not able to
produce critical thinkers and leaders but sectarian leaders, who destroy
everything in their rage and spit venom on every occasion.
...
A new recording between some students of Bashir
Ahmad Salafi and Rouf Madkhali is doing rounds over social media. These
mullahs earlier opposed every new invention, thus retrograding the Muslims to
the abysmal darkness. Be it the opposition to the printing press, photography,
English education, or communication system, they opposed it with certain
exceptions. It was normal to oppose it in an individual capacity but they
exploited Islam to justify their claims. So this stance of mullahs was
responsible for Islam being tagged as anti-progress and responsible for
arresting the growth of humanity. It was not Islam that was anti-progress but
that was how these mullahs presented it before people. But now when technology
has overwhelmed humanity, these mullahs are at the forefront of accepting it
with all its flaws. So over time what has changed? Mullahs or Islam?
One can very well judge it. To add insult to injury
these ‘custodians of Islam’ and self-styled representatives have never
acknowledged their blunders and hold themselves responsible for the
current dismal position of Muslims. Expecting an apology from this
self-righteous bunch is out of the question. They still are running away from
the real blame as only those people who accept their mistakes that are
courageous and want to rectify the wrongs. They have elevated their stature to
that of Prophets, so thinking that they can make mistakes is itself considered
blasphemous.
Till mullahs continue to lead Muslim societies,
they are doomed. So in this viral clip, the so-called students are demanding
answers about holding reverence towards Maulana Abul Ala Mawdudi, who is
considered an apostate because he is gustaakh e Sahaba (one who criticizes
the companions of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)/first generation of Muslims).
Apparently, the reason for it is his finest work Khilafat wa Malukiyat
(Caliphate or Monarchy). What renders Mawdudi apostate in the eyes of these Salafis
is the fact that he exposed the inner bickering, conspiracies, and political
travesty that happened in the first generation of Muslims. This work of Mawdudi
blasts off the myth that Salafis bestow on all Sahabas without
understanding that there is a hierarchy among them, which needs to be
respected. Bestowing blanket status of sanctity on all Sahabas hurts the
real image of Islam. Many of the Sahabas did deviate from the straight
path as they were humans too. The presence of hypocrites among Sahabas
is an evident fact as deliberated by the Quran. Although Prophet Muhammad
(pbuh) did not name and shame the hypocrites openly, they were a part of
the new Muslim community. Prophet (pbuh) would have ordered their killing but
out of pragmatic reasons he did not.
The Muslim community was a new one and as is known
from a narration the Prophet did not want to be known as someone who murdered
his own companions. So he let them remain part of the Muslim community. Also,
anyone who is legally a Muslim cannot be killed. Hypocrisy is the disease of
heart and intentions so no one even the Prophet did not enjoy the right of
judging people. It is a prerogative of God only. But he and Quran did
articulate a few qualities of hypocrites, so from that, we can judge but not
call anyone a hypocrite. The politics in Islam carried on bereft of Islamic
values. It is what Mawdudi brought to the fore that renders him apostate and gustaakh
in the eyes of some Salafis.
Later the caller informs Rouf about his authority
in Islam. He then questions him about his teacher Maulana Bashir Salafi, whom
Rouf calls Bashir Chopan, in order to denigrate him. Chopan is a caste of
lumberjacks and Kashmir being a caste-ridden society, name calling by caste is
to make the students understand that their teacher belongs to a low caste, so
he should have followed his ancestral profession as a woodcutter, instead of
indulging in religious discourses. Then the crisis for authority starts. Who
speaks for Islam?
Rouf says it is the Ulama, who are the real
custodians and rightful interpreters of Islam. But the caller points out that
there are two types of Ulama, the righteous and charlatan, Ulama e
Haqq and Ulama e Suu. So Rouf, counters him about the yardstick
about deciding who are the real and charlatan ones? So he names some Salafis
of his group and calls them charlatans, and Rouf gets angry and both sides
exchange invectives, and the call ends in rage.
The caller justifies the Takfeer and calls
it an important pillar of Islam. Rouf disagrees with it. But it is now that the
chickens have come home to roost. It was the Salafis who started the Takfeer,
called other sects deviated and Mushriks, but now a few quislings have
sprouted among them and they are doing their takfeer and calling the
very Salafis as Ulama e Suu. The real question is
that except for the Islamic State that had the authority to make a policy as
state one even if it was unIslamic, now the authority has been
democratized and any scholar or mullah of any sect can declare the other one as
deviated, mushrik and gustaakh even apostate. Further, the Ulama
have been granted so much authority by their sects and blind followers that
they do not allow the right to dissent to the common people. They say that
students can have doubts but not right to different or alternative viewpoints,
thus killing any critical thinking at its onset. It is because of this mindset
that madrasas are not able to produce critical thinkers and leaders, but
only obedient followers and rageful, venomous sectarian leaders, who destroy
everything in their rage and spit venom on every occasion. The crisis of
authority among the Ulama will continue and can never be resolved, but
the democratic, tolerant, and plural environment can offer the Ulama an
opportunity for intrafaith dialogue, that seems alien to them because anger and
intolerance provide a suitable environment for them to thrive with impunity.
...
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is
Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir, and can be reached at sikandarmushtaq@gmail.com
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