Sectarianism Is Severely Condemned by God and Prophet
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
23 July
2021
The Holy
Prophet Pbuh Called Ulema Promoting Sectarianism Dwellers of Hell
Main
Points:
1. Quran prohibits Islamic teachers from mixing
falsity in truth.
2. Hadiths predicts that in later years biased
Islamic scholars will present wrong interpretation of Islam.
3. Quran says that those Islamic scholars
promoting sectarianism are dwellers of Hell.
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Sectarianism
is the major problem of the Muslim community of the world today. There are
dozens of sects and sub-sects of Muslims. These sects have come into existence
as a result of differing interpretations of Quran and Sunnah. These opposite
interpretations of the nuances of Deen resulted in different ideologies and
different ideologies formed the basis of Sects
and sub-sects. The problem does not rest at mere ideological differences.
It went beyond that. Believers in one sect started believing that all the other
interpretations of Deen were wrong to the extent of becoming kufr and so the
sect following that particular interpretation of Islam was Kafir.
Further,
since some contextual war verses of the Quran allow Muslims to fight and kill Kafirs
of the prophetic era, they apply those contextual war verses to those Muslims
of the other sects whom they consider Kafir and declare that the followers of
the other sects should be killed. This chain of misinterpretations forms a
vicious cycle of hatred and violence among Muslims.
Since the
authentic translations of the Quran were not available to the Muslims outside
Arab in non-Arab languages for about a thousand years, the common Muslims
relied on the religious teachers and scholars of their time for the
interpretation of Quran and Hadith. Their stature grew so high that their
interpretation and opinions of the Quran and Sunnah were taken as sacred and
irrefutable. Since the Quran was not available to the larger section of
Muslims, they believed the opinions of the teachers and religious scholars as
the true interpretation of the Quran though some times the opinion of a
particular teacher or scholar was based on his sectarian beliefs or wrong
understanding.
In later
years and decades, the differing views and opinions of different Islamic
teachers and scholars formed the basis of different sects and sub-sects. Their
opinions and interpretations assumed the status of Shariah though some of their
opinions could not find support in Quran or hadith.
It is clear
that all the sects
and sub-sects among Muslims that we find today are the result of extremist
or biased views and ideologies of Islamic scholars, not of common Muslims. And
when the Quran condemns and curses those who created these sects, the Islamic
teachers, thinkers and biased scholars are addressed. Even today, the common
Muslims do not like and promote sectarian hatred leave aside violence and
bloodshed.
There is a
hadith which predicts the birth of Islamic interpreters who will present wrong
and misleading interpretation of the Deen and lead people to Hell. The holy prophet
pbuh says that in later era, Islamic scholars will mix falsity in truth. They
will spread un-Islamic beliefs though they will be Muslims and will speak our
language (they will quote Quran and hadith).
Huzaifa bin
Yaman said, People would ask the holy prophet pbuh about virtues and positive
issues but I would ask him about vices and negative affairs (that would come
after him) because of the fear that I might get trapped in them. I asked him,
'O messenger of God! We were immersed in ignorance and evil, you came and
through you He blessed us with this gift (of Islam). Will evil or vices again
overtake us? He replied, 'yes'. I asked, 'Will truth prevail after that?' He replied,
‘Yes, but it will be shrouded in smoke.'(Truth will be mixed with untruth. It
will not be pure truth).I enquired, ‘What do you mean by smoke?.' The holy
prophet pbuh replied, ‘Such people will be born who will not follow my path.
They will say something right and something wrong or bad'. I asked again, ‘Will
evil prevail again?' He pbuh replied, ‘Yes, such people will be born who will
be standing at the gate of Hell and invite people towards it. Whoever listened
to them was pushed into Hell.’ I asked hams’ messenger of God! 'Please describe
their identity'. He pbuh replied, ‘apparently they will be from among us (Muslims),
they will speak our language.' I asked, 'What do you ordain for me if I am
alive till that day?' He pbuh replied, ‘Hold on to the group of Muslims and
their true imam.' I asked, 'But what (should I do) if there is no community (Jama’at)
or imam.' He pbuh replied, '(If this happens) then keep yourself away from all
the groups (sects) (in the forest) even if you have to feed on the roots of
trees. That will be better for you.'(Sahih Bukhari; Kitabul Manaqib; 812)
This hadith
is very meaningful and gives a clear picture of what's happening today. Every
exegete or Islamic scholar has his own interpretation on matters of Deen and
tries to
impose it on others. This leads to severe and sometimes violent differences
leading to fatwas of Kufr. This hadith also says that in later years, the
interpretation of Deen will be shrouded in smoke. Amid different ideologies and
interpretations, people will not have a clear picture of what true Deen is and
will be confused. The hadith also clearly says that some Islamic teachers and
scholars will present a totally wrong interpretation of Deen and will lead
Muslims to Hell. They will, out of their sectarian bias, mix falsity in truth
and distort the message of Islam. But ironically, almost every Islamic scholar
or teacher has the firm belief that he cannot bre wrong since he has a
certificate from a madrasa or an Islamic institution.
The Quran distinctly
addresses these Islamic scholars in the following verse:
La Talbisul
Haqqa Bil Batile Wa Taktumul Haqqa Wa Antum Ta'lamun (Al Baqarah: 42)
"Do
not mix falsity in the truth and do not conceal truth deliberately."
In another
verse, the Quran even declares such exegetes and scholars of Islam out of the
fold of Islam because they created new sects within Islam and divided Muslims.
"Those
who derived different paths in Deen and formed groups (sects), you do not have
anything to do with them"(They are out of the fold of Islam). (Al An'am:159)
To
conclude, the bane or curse of sectarianism that the Muslim community is
plagued today with is the result of biased and extremist interpretation of
Islam and so an honest initiative from our Islamic scholars can only rid the
Muslim community of the horrors of sectarian
violence and disunity.
----
S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-sectarianism/sectarianism-god-prophet/d/125117
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