Personality Worship Among Muslims Resulted In Many Beliefs That Are Not Supported By The Quran

By New Age Islam Staff Writer

27 January 2024

Sectarianism Is The Result Of Personality Worship

Main Points:

1.    The belief in Taqleed is the result of personality worship.

2.    Contradictory explanations of Quranic verses were presented by different scholars.

3.    Extremism and violence became a way of Muslims because of personality worship.

4.    Muslims do not scrutinise the views of religious scholars with the help of Quran because of personality worship.

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Islam does not approve of personality worship, especially in matters of faith. It enjoins on the Muslims to revert to the Quran and Hadiths for guidance in religious or social matters. In the Quran, God says:

"Today I have perfected your faith for you, completed my favours upon you and chosen Islam as your way."(Al Maidah:3)

Islam was completed and perfected during the lifetime of the holy prophet pbuh and all the teachings of Islam were made clear to the Muslims by the prophet pbuh. Therefore, there was no need to make any changes in the Islamic laws or introduce any new custom or ritual in it. Not the greatest of Islamic scholars or any group of scholars was authorised to add any thing new in the religion. The Muslims were advised to learn the Deen from scholars but the scholars were warned against making innovations in Deen. The believers were told to help each other in matters of Deen including in learning Deen.

But gradually, the Islamic scholars acquired cult figure. They propagated their own individual views on various issues of Islam. Different scholars came out with different explanations of the verses of the Quran. Some times, they presented contradictory explanations of the verses leading to new beliefs among the Muslims. For example, take the issue of secularism. While some scholars have the view that secularism is in consonance with Islam, the others say that secularism is akin to atheism or Kufr. Since the common Muslims did not have the knowledge of the Quran, they believed in the explanations and views of the scholars. In this way, religious scholars developed their own followers and their own schools of thought. This resulted in sects among the Muslims. Every sect has its own imam or leader and the followers of one sect consider the followers of other sects on the wrong path or even Kafir. They believe that the followers of all the other sects are worthy to be killed. But the fact is that the Quran does not approve of sectarianism. The Quran says:

"Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects --you (O Muhammad) are not (associated) with them in anything. Their affair is only (left) to Allah, then He will inform them about what they used to do."(Al Anam:159).

God asks His prophet to express his disapproval of sectarianism but the followers of sects actually take pride in their sects. This is because of personality worship among Muslims. One glaring example of personality worship among Muslims is the commentary of the verse of surah Luqman by Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani. The verse is as follows:

"And We have commanded people to honour their parents. Their mothers bore them through hardship and their weaning takes away two years. So be grateful to Me and your parents. To Me is the final return." (Luqman:14)

Maulana Shabbir Ahmad writes:

"Though the Quran mentions the period of weaning away as two years, Imam Abu Hanifa says it is two and a half years. He might have his own argument but the majority of ulema say it is two years."

This is the peak of personality worship. When the Quran clearly says that the period of weaning away is two years, Imam Abu Hanifa says it is two and half years. And instead of criticising Imam Abu Hanifa for having and propagating his belief contrary to that of the Quran, he says that Imam Abu Hanifa might have his own reasons to have a different view. Did he have a different Quran?

The issue of blasphemy has also become the cause of much bloodshed among the Muslims because of the personality worship. The Quran asks the Muslims to observe restraint in face of blasphemy. The Quran says:

"You believers will surely be tested in your wealth and yourselves, and you will certainly hear many hurtful words from those who were given the scripture before you and from the polytheists. But if you are patient and mindful of Allah, then surely there is a resolve to aspire to."(Al-e-Imran:186)

But many Islamic scholars have ignored this verse and have propagated violent approach to blasphemy. They have the view that one who commits blasphemy should be killed, even if the accused is a Muslim. The followers of those Islamic scholars do no have the courage to question their views because of personality worship. Therefore, there is a lot of bloodshed in the Muslim society in the name of protecting the honour of the prophet pbuh. In Pakistan, Muslims kill a Muslim at the order of a Islamic religious scholar or a cleric whom they follow for blasphemy though the order or fatwa of the cleric is itself in violation of the principle of the Quran. But the bloodshed is committed due to personality worship.

The issue of the Manhood of the prophet pbuh is also a cause of difference and bloodshed among the Muslims. A section of the Muslim clerics believe that the prophet was not a human being (Bashar) but Noor ( light). Those who believe that the prophet pbuh was a human being are considered a blasphemer though the Quran declares loudly that the prophet was a human being. The Quran declares this in more than three verses.

"Say glory to my Lord! Am I not only a human messenger."(Bani Israil:93)

"Say you, in being a human being indeed I am like you, it is revealed to me that your God is ne God, so be straight before Him and beg forgiveness from Him and woe be to the associators."(Ha Meem Sajda:6)

A sect of Muslims has a belief contrary to the Quran' s only because of personality worship. They consider the leader of their sect above the Quran or do not have the courage to question the opinion of their religious leader. Ironically, those who believe in the verses of the Quran are considered on the wrong path.

The issue of establishing caliphate has also become an important issue among a large section because some renowned Islamic scholars propagated their own interpretations of the Quranic verses and interpretations of Islamic caliphate of the initial years of Islam though the Quran does not prescribe any particular form.of government as Islamic. Shah Waliullah even wrote a book on Caliphate cementing the belief of the Muslims that the caliphate was the only form of government for the Muslims and that every Muslim has his duty towards establishing caliphate. In fact, the Quran only stresses on ensuring good governance, equality, respect for other religions, protection of the rights of minorities, honesty, righteousness etc. The Quran mentions both caliphate and kingdom in the Quran. The Quran says that God bestowed caliphate to prophet David pbuh but prophet Solomon pbuh prayed to God for a kingdom that would not be rivalled by any king after him. God granted his prayer. Taloot was made the king of his community against the army of Jaloot. Therefore, the Quran does not specify any particular form of government for Islamic nations but some Islamic scholars propagated the idea of the caliphate and the followers of those scholars accepted their personal views as the position of the Quran. In fact, this misplaced belief became the cause of civil war and bloodshed in the Middle East during the last decade. The terrorist organisation ISIS exploited this belief of the Muslims and claimed to have established a caliphate in Levant in June 2014. It committed large scale slaughter of Muslims and rape of Muslim and non -Muslim women in the region.

There are other beliefs of the Muslims as well that are based on personality worship and not on verses of the Quran. Therefore, personality worship among the Muslims has caused much harm to Islam and the Muslims of the world.

 

URL:    https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/personality-worship-muslims-beliefs-quran/d/131598

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