Main Causes of Extremism

Let us examine the following texts: (a) It is related in an authentic hadith that a Muslim should not carry a copy of the Quran when traveling in the land of the kaffar or the enemy. But if we examine the reason underlying this prohibition, we conclude that the Prophet (sa`as) prohibited this out of his concern that the kuffar might do harm to or defile the Book. In the absence of such harm or defilement, Muslims can take it with them wherever they
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wish. This is the customary practice among all Muslims today. … [also through distributing] translations of the meanings of the Qur'an to non-Arabic speakers.

(b) Another authentic hadith prohibits a Muslim woman from traveling unless she is accompanied by a mahram. Surely, the main purpose of this prohibition was to protect women at a time when traveling was a laborious and dangerous experience. Presently, however, the means of transportation used by travelers have considerably reduced the risks faced by a woman traveling on her own. Her husband, for instance, can take her to the airport and see her off. When she arrives at the other end, a mahram can meet her and convey her safely to her final destination. In fact, the Prophet (sa`as) foresaw such a development, for he said that there would come a time when people could travel from Iraq to the Ka'bah (in Makkah) fearing none except Allah (swt).

(c) The Prophet (sa`as) also did not permit a Muslim who had been away from his family for a long period of time to arrive back at night. He himself used to return only in the mornings or early evenings. There are two reasons for this. First, arriving home unexpectedly after a long absence may indicate that the husband mistrusts his wife and intends to take her unawares. This kind of mistrust is not acceptable in Islam.

Secondly, it is argued that the prohibition seeks to give the wife the right to know of her husband's arrival so that she may beautify herself for him. But in modern times a traveler can come home any time he likes, on the condition that he informs his wife by telephone or by letter, telex, telegram, etc. Further, today's traveler cannot always choose when to travel, for he is governed by schedules and timetables. Therefore, such a prohibition cannot be taken at its face value; it must be analyzed on the basis of its original purpose and intent with regard to the circumstances of time and place.

As previously mentioned, compulsory obligations related to 'ibadah cannot be rationalized in order to exclude zakah by claiming that it is part of the financial and economic system rather than of 'ibadah.
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Zakah, in addition to being a pillar of Islam - as a religious duty and a divine prescription - constitutes a significant and permanent source of income in Islamic Shariah, and is therefore, a pillar of the Islamic economic system as well. That is why all madhahib apply rational deduction on its ahkam including qiyas because of zakah's actual or potential growth like wealth.

…

In conclusion, failing to see the relevance between the ahkam and their reasons will lead to dangerous contradictions when we differentiate between the similar ones and equate the variants; this is contrary to the justice which is the basis of Shari'ah. It is true that psuedoscholars too often indulge in such complex issues seeking (without knowledge or insight) reasons for ahkam, and thus unjustly extend their domain without authentic evidence. This should not hinder our endeavor to give people their due right, or to open the gate of ijtihad for those who are qualified and capable, warning at the same time against intruders and parasites.

Such wrangling is the subject of the following hadith: "People going astray after guidance are bound to be argument-stricken."

It is also not uncommon to find people warning Muslims not to eat animals slaughtered by the People of the Book (the Christians and Jews) although there are many past and present fatawa which have legitimized this. Yet, if we examine the attitude and behavior of these people with regard to other more serious matters, we find that they engage in some definitely forbidden practices.

This reminds me of a man living in the United States who, I was told by trustworthy brothers, spoke in full-throathed clarity against eating the meat of animals slaughtered by Jews or by Christians, yet he did not mind eating with others at the same table while they were drinking alcohol. Nonetheless, he unreservedly takes this extreme stand against uncertain and controversial matters.

p.45 Such contradictory behavior of some Muslims once outraged 'Abd Allah ibn 'Umar (ra`a) when a man from Iraq asked him - following the murder of the great Muslim martyr al Husayn ibn 'All (ra`a) - whether it was halal or haram to kill a mosquito.

Ahmad related in his Musnad:
As I was sitting with Ibn 'Umar, a man came and asked him about the blood of a mosquito. (In another version of the hadith, the man asked about a pilgrim killing a mosquito). Ibn 'Umar asked the man: "Where are you from?" The man answered, "From Iraq." Then Ibn 'Umar said: "Look at this man! He is asking me about the blood of mosquitoes when they (the Iraqis) killed the Prophet's grandson (i.e. al Husayn ibn 'Ali (ra`a). I heard the Prophet (sa`as) saying: they (al Hasan and al Husayn) are my two sweetest-smelling flowers of this world.

-a.) To illustrate this point, I would like to relate the following incident which I myself witnessed. One day, an extremist saw a man drinking water while he was standing. The extremist toughly asked him to sit down because such an action was a deviation from the Prophet's Sunnah. Confused, the man remained standing. He was then told that if he were a true Muslim, he would immediately induce vomiting to purify himself. At this point I gently intervened, telling the extremist: "The matter does not deserve this harshness. Standing is a minor controversial issue which does not deserve outright condemnation or harshness." The extremist then said that there is a hadith which categorically forbid it, and require "whoever absentmindedly does so to induce vomiting."

My reply was: "But the ahadith which permit drinking while standing are more authentic and were therefore cited by al Bukhari in a chapter in his Sahih entitled "Drinking While Standing," but he cited none of the ahadith which forbade it. Furthermore, al Tirmidhi as well as others, reported several ahadith which testify to this. It is also true that the Prophet (sa`as) drank water while standing during his farewell hajj.
Moreover, it is narrated that ‘Ali ibn Abu Talib (ra`a) drank while standing and said "Some people dislike drinking while standing, but I saw the Prophet (sa`as) doing it, just as you see me doing it now.
Al Tirmidi also reported the permissibility of drinking while standing, basing this on the sayings and practices of a number of the companions of the Prophet (ra`a). According to al Tirmidhi, Ibn' Umar said:

"During the time of the Prophet (sa`as) we used to eat while walking and drink while standing"
Kabshah also said: "I came once upon the Prophet (sa`as) and saw him drinking from a suspended waterskin."

The interpretations handed down to us by the most reliable scholars of the hadith show that although there is a clear encouragement to drink while sitting, there is no prohibition of drinking while standing.

These scholars argue that the ahadith which encourage the former were revoked by other ahadith,
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and that this was confirmed by the practice by Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'Ali (ra'a). Therefore, in such an entangled issue, it would be totally wrong to forbid a person to drink water while standing.

-b.) Below-the-ankle garments were once seen as manifestations of pride, arrogance, and extravagance.

For example, the Prophet (sa`as) answered: "Allah will not look, on the Day of Resurrection, at the person who drags his garments (behind him) out of conceit."
Abu Bakr (ra`a) once said to the Prophet (sa`as): "My izar hangs low if I do not take care of it," and the Prophet (sa`as) answered: "You are not of those who do so out of conceit."

For this reason, al Nawawi and other Muslim scholars contend that wearing such a garment is makruh but a makruh can become mubah when there is a compelling reason.

Abu Bakr al Bayhaqi in his book al Jami li Shuab al Iman likens iman to a tree. The trunk symbolizes the fundamental articles of faith which represent religious observances, manners, ethics, and transactions. Just as a trunk is essential to the existence of the tree, so are the fundamental articles of faith essential to the believer. Conversely, since the tree could survive even in the absence of some of its branches, so a believer's status in the fold of Islam is in proportion to what remains of the branches of his iman.

The basic iman was defined by Angel Jibril:
”Iman is to believe in Allah, his angels, books, messengers and the divine destiny.”

Al Hafiz ibn Hajar wrote in Fath al Bari:

quote: Our righteous forebears said: "Iman is a belief in the heart, an utterance by tongue, and a practice of the fundamentals of faith." They meant that translation of iman into practice is a requisite for its perfection. In this sense, they believed that iman can increase or decrease.

quote: The Marjiyah contended that iman is a belief and an utterance only; the Karamiyah believed that utterance is enough; the Mu'tazilah believed that it consists of practice, utterance, and belief.

quote: The difference between them and the righteous forebears is that the former considered practice as a necessary condition for the truthfulness of iman, while the latter considered it as a necessary condition for its perfection. But perfection is only Allah's; for us, declaration of iman in utterance is sufficient. Once this is done, the person is to be judged in accordance with the Shari'ah, but cannot be considered a kafir unless he commits an action of kufr, i.e. prostrates himself before an idol, which shows that he is still an unbeliever. If a person commits an act of sinfulness, short of apostasy or blasphemy, he may or may not be considered a believer depending on his utterance of iman; a person may be
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judged as a non-believer according to the concept of perfect iman. If a person is accused of kufr he is to be judged by committing an action of kufr. If a person is exonerated from the accusation of kufr, he is to be judged according to his practice of iman.

...

The Khawarij, however, rejected any arbitration because of their misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Qur'anic verse:

{...the command is for none but Allah.}, and accused 'Ali (kaw), one of the first Muslims to give the cause of Islam his essential support, of deviation. Ali replied to their citing of the above verse with his famous saying: "A word of truth twisted to serve batil (falsehood)."

The fact that the command and all authority in all matters are for Allah (swt) alone does not mean that human beings are forbidden from arbitrating and judging subsidiary issues within the framework and injunctions of the Shariah. Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, who had deep insight into and knowledge of Shariah, debated the Khawarij on this issue and refuted their arguments, citing and referring to verses in the Quran which sanction various types of arbitration.
The following verse, for instance, sanctions arbitration to settle differences between a husband and a wife:

{ If you fear a breach between them twain, appoint (two) arbiters, on from his family and the other from hers. If they wish for peace, Allah will cause their reconciliation.}
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Another instance of arbitration can be seen in the discretion that the arbitrators can exercise in judging a pilgrim who hunts and kills while in pilgrim garb:

{ O you who believe! Kill not game while in the sacred precincts or in pilgrim garb. If any of you does so intentionally, the compensation is an offering, brought to the Ka'bah, of a domestic animal equivalent to the one he killed, as adjudged by two just men among you; or by way of atonement, the feeding of the indigent, or its equivalent in fasts, that he may taste of the penalty of his deed.}

Some people who do not carefully examine and contemplate the Quran and Sunnah and consider them in their entirety, seeking balance between the affirmed and the negated, comparing the specific with the general or the absolute with the limited, believing well meaningfully in the categorical and the allegorical; all such careless people will inevitably go astray, lose clarity of vision, and make haphazard judgments.

This is the trap into which those who nowadays hasten to brand others with kufr have fallen, and into which the Khawarij of old fell. According to al Shatibi, the fundamental cause behind this extremism is ignorance of, and undue presumptions about, the purposes and meanings of Shariah, which cannot be the practice of a person who is versed in Islamic knowledge.

…

These devout young people have ignored the fact that if they want to study Shariah,
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they must seek the help of reliable Muslim scholars. They cannot venture into this extensive and sophisticated discipline without the guidance of such reliable scholars who can interpret and explain obscurities, define terms, and point out similarities and the relationships between the parts and the whole. Those who venture into it alone will meet with the same catastrophic results which would certainly befall the unskilled swimmer who into deep waters.

Proper knowledge of Shariah cannot be perfected without practice and close contact with the experts, especially in those areas where opinions diverge, evidences seem to contradict each other, and certain matters seem to be confusing. This is why our forebears `ulama have warned us not to seek to study and understand the Quran through a person who has only memorized it without any knowledge of its contents, nor to seek knowledge through a person who has acquired his own "knowledge" from reading books and journals only, without being properly tutored by reputable and qualified scholars.

One however cannot but admit that there is a great deal of truth in what the young man claimed. Most of the "eminent" `ulama who are entrusted with leadership and guidance have become mere pawns in the hands of those in authority, who direct them as they wish. Such `ulama need to know that keeping silent about the truth is synonymous with uttering batil; both are Satanic evils. In a debate on Egyptian television on "family planning" and "birth control" from the point of view of Shari'ah, one of the speakers, a well-known Muslim scholar, asked - to the astonishment of the chairman - whether the aim of the debate was to advocate or oppose "family planning", so that he could be on his guard! May Allah (swt) bless the preceding generation of `ulama, one of whom courageously addressed a very influential member of the regime in Egypt in the past saying: "He who stretches his legs to look for work does not need to stretch his hands to beg."

One wishes that the contemporary scholars who have been deficient in belief and piety could enrich
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and deepen their knowledge, in general, and fiqh in particular!

The fact is that devout young people who genuinely desire to deepen their knowledge of Islam have come in contact with well­known `ulama, illustrious in the circles of rhetoric and letters, only to find that the latter's knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah is seriously deficient.

One of those 'ulama' wrote in a daily newspaper claiming that there is no usury in transactions between a government and its subjects. …

One day, the Prophet (sa`as) came upon 'Ammar ibn Yasir (ra`a) and his parents being tortured by the unbelievers. All that he did at the time was to encourage them to endure patiently, and to give them good tidings about their assured place in Jannah. Things continued in this manner until the Muslims were permitted to fight in defense of their freedom and religion:

{ To those against whom war is made, permission is given (to fight), because they are wronged, and verily, Allah is powerful for their aid. (They are) those who have been expelled from their homes in defiance of right, (for no cause) except that they say, "Our Lord is Allah."}

But this permission was only given after the Prophet (sa`as) and his companions had managed to establish a home for themselves and increase their power and authority. Thereupon they were allowed to fight their enemies, they gained one victory after another until Allah (swt) granted them to enter Makkah from which the Prophet (sa`as) had emigrated under the pressure of persecution), destroying the idols therein and reciting the following Quranic verse:
And say: { Truth has (now) come, and falsehood perished: for falsehood is (by its nature) bound to perish.}
...
A nation which neglects its history is like a person who has lost his memory; or like a nation without roots or sense of belonging or direction. … Further, history is the mirror in which Allah's sunan are reflected in the whole universe in general and in human life in particular. This is why the Qur'an has given special attention to the impact of the historical perspective and the wisdom that can be drawn from it. There are various Qur'anic references to this. Let us contemplate the following verses:

{Many were the ways of life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who rejected Truth.}

Allah's sunan (God’s ways), however, are characterized by consistency - they never change or alter (Sura 35-42/3).

As Allah's sunan are common factors for all, His ways of dealing with those who follow evil are the same in all cases and apply to all people irrespective of their religion, as well as of time and space. We have an instructive example in the battle of Uhud, when the Muslims paid dearly for disregarding the Prophet's advice, and which is clearly pointed out in the Qur'an (Sura 3-165).

However, we are not only concerned with Islamic history but with the whole history of humanity, that of Muslims and non-Muslims, ever since the beginning of creation. Wisdom is not drawn from the history of the believers alone, but from that of the atheists as well as from both the pious and the ptofligate, because Allah's sunan - like natural patterns - operate upon both parties without any favoritism towards the monotheist or the pagan. Indeed, we cannot comprehend the Quran properly or acknowledge with gratitude the favor conferred upon us by Islam unless we understand the erroneous nature and practices of jahillyah referred to in the verse (Sura 3-165).

This is also the essence of the following saying by 'Umar ibn al Khattab (ra`a): "The bonds of Islam will be undone, one by one, as some Muslims become ignorant with (the evil nature of) jahilyah (and fail to appreciate Islam)." …

Those who comprehend the importance of history and the operation of Allah's sunan in it can - and should - learn from the mistakes of past generations. Happy will be those who take a lesson and a warning from the mistakes and misfortunes of others and seek, nevertheless, to adopt their good. Wisdom, wherever he finds it, is a believer's goal, because he is more worthy of it than anyone else.

-1a. 'A'ishah (ra`a), describes the process of gradation in the introduction of Shariah and the revelation of the Qur'an, saying: "The first Quranic verses to be revealed were those in which Jannah and Jahannam were mentioned (Later), when people embraced Islam, verses dealing with halal and haram were revealed. If verses prohibiting drinking alcohol and practicing fornication were revealed first, people would have said, 'We would never give up drinking or fornication."

-1b. This brings to mind the example set by the righteous Caliph, 'Umar ibn 'Abd al 'Aziz, who successfully reconstructed life on the model set up by the Rightly-Guided Caliphs. But the process of reconstruction was not easy. Even his own son, 'Abd al Mailik, a very devout and enthusiastic Muslim, thought that his father was too slack in his attempts to eradicate all traces of deviation and aggression. He once addressed his father saying: "O, father, why don't you implement (reforms more swiftly)? By Allah, I would not care if you and I perish for the sake of the truth!" But 'Umar replied: "Do not be hasty my son. Allah condemned alcohol twice in the Qur'an
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and prohibited it only on the third time. I that fear if I forced all the truth on people (at once) they would reject it entirely, in which case I would have been the cause of even greater evil."

-2a. During the Prophet's early days in Makkah, the unbelievers used to mock him whenever he warned them of the punishment awaiting them if they persisted in rejecting Allah (swt), and therefore they asked him to hasten this punishment, not realizing that it must take its course and could neither be delayed nor hastened:

{ They ask you to hasten on the punishment (for them): had it not been for a term (of respite) appointed, the punishment would certainly have come to them: and it will certainly reach them, of a sudden, while they perceive not!} ...

At this stage Allah (swt) advised the Prophet (sa`as) to persevere just as the earlier Prophets had done and not to hasten in invoking Allah's punishment on them: { Therefore patiently persevere, as did (all) the messengers of inflexible purpose; and be in no haste about the (unbelievers).}

Allah (swt) reminded the Prophet (sa`as) and his followers of the unflinching perserverance of earlier Prophets in the face of hardships, the prolonged
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struggle, and the difficulty of awaiting victory:

{ Or do you think you shall enter the garden (of bliss) without such (trials) as came to these before you? They encountered suffering and adversity and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and those of faith who were with him cried, "When will the help of Allah come?" Verily, the help of Allah is (always) near.}

Indeed, Allah's ordained victory is near, but it has an appointed time known only to Him, for He does not hasten things as His creatures do. For this reason, the Prophet (sa`as) used to advise his companions to be patient and not to expect victory before its appointed time. The following incident demonstrates this point: When Khabab ibn al Arat complained to the Prophet (sa`as) of the great suffering which he encountered for the sake of Islam and asked him to invoke Allah (swt) for help, the Prophet (sa`as) was so angry that his face became red and he said:

“(A believer) before you used to be cut off with iron cutting tools so that nothing of his flesh or nerves remained beyond his bones, and another used to be sawed (alive) into two parts, but neither would abandon his religion. By Allah, He will surely make Islam prevail so that a traveler from Sana (in the Yemen) to Hadramawt (in Oman) will not fear (during his journey) anything except Allah, and the wolf for his sheep. But you are (always) impatient.”

There is nothing enigmatic about the root cause of this tragic condition. Islam, as a way of life, with all its comprehensiveness, vision, justice, and balance is almost absent from the scene, a stranger in its homeland. It has been removed from public life, from the economic and public affairs of the state, from legislation and from international relations, and has been cornered in a private relationship between the individual and his Lord - a situation akin to that of Christianity during the period of its decadence. Islam has been made a dīn without Shariah, a religion without a state, a Quran without authority.

Even the most despotic rulers, such as al Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, did not have the impudence to reject a verdict based on the Qur'an and Sunnah. This distinction is important, because there is a tremendous difference between deviating from Shariah for personal ends, envy, negligence, anger, etc., and denying its superiority over other systems; for Shariah should overrule everyone and everybody by virture of its nature and capacity as embodying. Allah's word and judgment:

{ Do they seek after a judgement of (the days of) ignorance? But who, for a people whose faith is assured, can give better judgment than Allah?}

No wonder then that the conscience of this generation of young Muslims - confronted with this state of affairs - is shocked to find that non-Muslim countries adapt their lives in accordance with their ideologies, philosophies, or concepts about faith, existence, God, and man; yet the Muslim alone is coerced to undergo a conflict between his beliefs and his reality, between his dīn and his society.

Why does the West support Israel to exist on Muslim land? Why does the United States challenge the whole world by vetoing every United Nations resolution that condemns Israel? Why does it support Ethiopia though a Marxist country for many years - against Eritrea? Why is there a blackout on all Muslim causes, yet a great deal of fuss is made about far lesser incidents in both East or West? Why is the Muslim blood cheaper than that of others? There seems to be no explanation for this other than the existence of a devilish alliance of Zionist, Christian, and atheist powers for a vicious and united campaign against Islam and Muslims.

Islam does not want a Muslim to work alone. The Prophet (sa`as) said: "Allah's hand (of support) is with the group,' and also: "Believers are, one to another, like bricks in an edifice that cause it to stand strong."

Cooperation in kindness and in commanding righteousness is not only a religious obligation but a vital necessity. It is no wonder, therefore, that collective work in the field of dawah is an obligatory duty, because that without which a wajib (obligation) cannot otherwise be completed is in itself a wajib. The fact that non-Muslim ideological forces work collectively in the form of blocs, parties, and associations makes it incumbent upon Muslims to counter these forces by similar techniques. Otherwise, we will continue to lag behind, totally unable to do anything, while others achieve progress.

For this reason, the gravest sins committed by some of the governments in Muslim countries are the censorship of the freedom to call people to Islam as a dīn and a system of beliefs and a way of life, and the intimidation of du'ah and those who call for the application of Shariah, the establishment of the Islamic state, the unity of the Ummah, the liberation of Muslim land, and the support of all Islamic causes.

This pressure on da'wah and du'ah, and the restriction of all forms of Islamic work, especially the collective one,
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is one of the main causes that generates extremism. This is especially so since the adherents of secular philosophies and ideologies are allowed to organize themselves in groups and to disseminate their ideas with complete, freedom and support and without any interference or restriction. It is illogical to grant complete freedom - in Muslim land - to the advocates of secularism, Marxism, liberalism, and so on, to establish parties, organizations, newspapers, and magazines, and alone censor Islam and its du'ah, who speak for the majority of the people.

Dawah to Islam, as a positive and comprehensive dīn and a way o life, faces censorship and suppression in many Muslim countries….

In comparison with the former, the latter are worse in their kufr and more categorical in their riddah as described in the Quran:

{If any fail to judge by (the light of what Allah has revealed, they are (no better than) unbelievers.}
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Having come to this conclusion, these oppressed Muslims raised a further question addressed to their fellow inmates: What do you think of the rulers who do not judge in accordance with what Allah (swt) has revealed, and who torture those who call for the application of His Shariah?

Those who agreed with them that such rulers are kuffar were regarded as friends; those who did were considered not as enemies, even as kuffar, claiming that he who holds any doubt about the kufr of a kafir is himself a kafir. But that was not all. Another question was raised about the people who submit to and obey such rulers. The answer was ready: they are also kuffar like their rulers, because - it was claimed - he who submits to a kafir is himself a kafir.

In this way the tendency to label individuals and groups with kufr was born and nurtured. The observable fact is that violence not only breeds violence but also contaminates clear thinking; suppression inevitably causes revolt.