Some Guidelines for Unifying the Ummah

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Assalaamu ‘alaikum waraHmatullaah,

There are many Muslims today who are calling for unity although it seems as though the more they shout out for it the more disunited the Muslims become. For the Muslims to group together in peace as a united body there needs to be a common factor or belief which is paramount for any successful organisation. However, with so many diverse views and policies, the principals and guidelines that will lead to unity have been overshadowed by personal opinions and the old ‘whim’. In order to achieve unity amongst the ranks of the Muslims and bring together the hearts of the believers, the correct methodology needs to be implemented by each individual based upon the Sunnah through the understanding of the Salaf-us Saaliheen (pious predecessors).

The following article was taken from Al-Istiqaamah magazine (February 1998, issue no.8) and in brief lays down some of the guidelines in unifying the Ummah. In all, it concentrates on 6 important points to achieve unity. I’ll Insha’Allaah post these in 6 separate threads.

Some Guidelines For Unifying the Ummah

The 3 Infallibles

The first and most important of these guidelines is clinging to the three infallibles: the Qur’aan, the Sunnah and that which the Pious Predecessors of this Ummah had Ijmaa’ (agreement) upon.

It is these inafallibles that determine the correct method of understanding the Religion. It is these infallibles which make up the great usool (fundametals) that this precious Ummah should be called to gather and unite upon.

Ibn Taymiyyah - rahimahullaah - said: “The Religion of the Muslims is based upon following the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah of His Prophet ‘alayhis-salaam, and that which the Ummah has agreed upon; these are the three infallible usool.” He also said: “The ijmaa’ which is affirmed is that which the pious Predecessors were [agreed] upon.”

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Asalaamu alaikum my brother in Islaam,

May Allah reward you for your efforts to spread peace and not hatred, Ameen.

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Can someon please tell me what exactly is the prophets (pbuh) sunna, what is the generally accepted definition? - Does this have any Quranic backing? Is the Quran the only inspired book given to us by God or are there others which were inspired too i.e Hadith etc.
Thanks.

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Salam Masnoon

Go and read Quran, for Allah Says about our beloved Prophet Muhammed SAW,'Wama Yantiqu Anil Hawa, In hu-aa Illa Wahy-in Yoo haa'

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Salam Abrar,

Can you pls give reference and translation if you have it.

thanks.

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Salam
Unfortunately I don't remember the reference, someone else might help. I can give you rough meanings,which I remember,is 'He(prophet SAW) does not follow his desire, whatever he does, is revealed unto him, form Allah SWT.'.
Again someone else can bring exact meaning.

Main point here is what is sunnah? Common understanding of sunnah is as follows:
1) Whatever Rasul-ullah SAW did (except few things)
2) Whatever he commended or recommended to be done
3) People performed certain actions in his presence, and he kept quite, or incouraged it.

There might be more classifications of sunnah also. So Quran confirms His SAW actions as equvalent of Wahi.
In another ayah of Quran Allah says,
'O you who believe! Obey Allâh, and obey the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) and render not vain your deeds.'
Ref:Verse 33, Chapter 47(Muhammad or Al-Qitâl)

Allah knows best

Vassalam

[This message has been edited by abrar (edited June 29, 1999).]

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Salam Abrar,

Thanks very much for the info above, your helping me to learn and develop my limited understanding, but I a few more issues.

I thought the Quran confirms that what the prophet (pbuh) said is indeed 'Wahi' but I assumed these wahi sayings is what the Quran is? I never knew that his actions were 'equivalent' of 'wahi' or everything he said and did outside the Quran is also wahi. Is this what you mean that everything the messenger (pbuh) said is wahi?

Thanks again.

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Dear Camille :slight_smile:

Yes, brother Abrar is right. Because the Messenger of Allah’s every word was inspired by Allah [wahi] “He does not speak of his own desire” being the proof from the Qur’an shareef", every word which came from his blessed mouth is for us infallible. In fact we Sunnis believe that the Holy Prophet is ma’sum which can be translated as Infallible/Perect/incapable of making a sin or a mistake. So the Holy Prophet’s every word is Law for us. Of course it has to be proved that the Prophet of Allah said it. This is what the science of hadith is about. Thus the hadith is the othr major source of Islamic Law after the Qur’an.

The Qur’an is the Speech of Allah revealed to the Holy Prophet by Allah Himself via the Archangel Gabriel.

All the non-Qur’anic words the Messenger said form the hadith.

And Allah knows best.

I hope that helped. The BEST place on the WWW top learn about Islam is www.sunnah.org

best wishes

asif

ps Hasnain ji, ijma is the consensus of the Muslim ulama at any time. Remember that Ibn Taymiyya was a controversial scholar in his own time and does not represent mainstream Sunni views. As far asd my limited knoweldge goes this [ijma] is baesd on the hadith “my Ummah shall never agree on error”] so anything the main body of Muslim scholars deem good is good and vice versa.

Also, qiyas or analogical deduction is the other source of islamic law. so we have four in all: quran, hadith, ijma and qiyaas.

:slight_smile:

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Salam Asif,

Is this not a contradiction then? Because if 'everything' the prophet peace be upon him does or says is inspiration (wahi) from God then how do you explain the following:

(66.1) O prophet! why do you forbid (yourself) that which Allah has made lawful for you; you seek to please your wives; and Allah isForgiving, Merciful.

And

(80.1-10) He frowned and turned (his) back. Because there came to him the blind man.And what would make you know that he would purify himself. Or become reminded so that the reminder should profit him? As for him who considers himself free from need (of you). To him do you address yourself. And no blame is on you if he would not purify himself. And as to him who comes to you striving hard. And he fears. From him will you divert yourself.

In the first ayah the prophet is reminded about something which he made Haraam on himslef to please his wives which was termed Halaal by Allah, thus acting on his own. Again in sura 80 why is the prophet (pbuh) being admonished for his conduct if his every word was inspired by by Allah? Does this not contradict the claim that every word and action of the prophet (pbuh) is 'wahi'? Did Allah inspire the prophet to 'frown and turn away' from the blind man himself?

Can someone please explain this to me or have got it completely wrong!!!

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Wa salaam Camille ji :)

First of all let me straight away say that I am not a scholar and you must remember that.

Also, I will consult a book I have about the Qur'an and these two verses in particular and give you a detailed answer asap [prob. next week] as I have to go home to another city to get it and wont be able to access the WWW until I go to work. So be aware of this delay please :)

Right. From what I can RECALL from memory about the second incident about the blind old man Huzoor sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam were teaching some poeple about Islam when the old man came and asked something and His Excellency turned away. The ulama have explained this verse ** not as a criticism ** of The Holy Prophet but rather that it shows that the Messenger of Allah was so absorbed in Allah and teaching His Religion.

Both these verses MUST NOT be understood to mean that Habib Allah ever made mistakes [Allah forbid!] or that he ever did anything apart from wahi.

That is why it is not a good idea for people to try and understand the Qur'an without a qualified teacher.

Becoz I do not want to give wrong information, please wait till I have found out.

Thanks!

Asif :)

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Salam Asif,

Thanks again and don't worry take your time I understand, I can only access the web at work as well.

"The ulama have explained this verse not as a criticism of The Holy Prophet but rather that it shows that the Messenger of Allah was so absorbed in Allah and teaching His Religion".

That's exactly my point, if everything is wahi then why the correction? Whats the point of the verse? Surely its not there just to prove to mankind that the messenger of Allah was so absorbed in the work of Allah that he turned away a blind man? What about the the other verse as well?

I always thought the Quran encouraged the believers to read and understand what it says rather than be relaint on someone else (not to say that we can't learn from others). Are we to say that if there is a place (a desert island for example) where there are no 'qualified teachers' then it would be imposiible to understand the Quran? The Quran is perfect and complete for all mankind forever, look at the instructions given to mankind:

"And We have indeed made the Qur'an EASY to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition?"(54:17)
"Will they not ponder over the Qur'an?" (4:82)
"Is it then that they do not ponder over what is said.." (23:68)
"..that they may ponder over its verses.." (38:29)
"Do you not then reflect?" (6:50)
"Thus do We make the verses distinct for a people who reflect." (10:24)
"Certainly We have revealed to you a Book in which is your own reminder; what! Will you not then use your reason?" (21:10)

take care.

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Salam Asif Bhai,

Did you have chance to look into the above issues, I am genuinely curious to find out.

thanks.

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Camille,

I agree with you (or at least what I think you are suggesting, I shouldn't put words in your mouth!!) that Muslims are supposed to follow the Quran only. The quotes you included show how Allah put everything into the Quran in a clear way so that people would not have need of anything else. Allah asks us "not to distinguish among his messengers." Therefore, if we follow the sunnah of Muhammed, we should also follow the sunnahs Ibrahim, Isa, etc.

When Allah asks us to "follow the messenger," he is asking us to follow Muhammed AS THE MESSENGER OF THE QURAN. He does not say "do everything in your life the very same way that Muhammed does it." Allah does ask, however, why people put restrictions on themselves that the Quran does not impose. Muslims who try to do only what Mohammed did in the same way that he did it are actually restricting their own free will where it is not necessary. It is my understanding that whatever the Quran does not prohibit is allowable.

Also, Allah and Muhammed state several times that Muhammed was a man. The Quran includes more than one instance when he made a mistake. I agree with you, Camille, that these instances were narrated to demonstrate Muhammed's humanness. Allah is saying, "see, he is a man, not a God."

Besides the issue of whether we should follow Muhammed's sunnah as we follow the Quran, there is also the issue of the reliability of the Hadith, which are our record of the sunnah. I have read many of them, and some are so outlandish and a good many that contradict the Quran. And these are from the "accepted" compilations. I do not attempt to follow these kinds of Hadith.

As a Muslim, I love Muhammed, but I try hard not to love him in the same way that I love Allah. Worshipping someone next to Allah is the worst thing for Muslims.

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Zaraatf,

No your not putting words in my mouth, I think this a very important issue because I see so many people worshipping the prophet (pbuh) without actually realising it! If you study the Quran carefully you will be guideed. Thanks for your input

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Asalamu Alaikum,

I think we must keep in mind that Allah(SWT) sent us the Prophet Muhammed (SAW) as an example to mankind. Therefore we should follow his example as much as possible. In regards to the Prophet Muhammed (SAW)'s mistakes, his mistakes were few and were corrected by Allah (SWT), so therefore whatever he did do without being corrected, we can take as being correct. Allah (SWT) corrected the Prophet(SAW) in even the smallest matters of turning away from the blind Sahaba, so that we would have a perfect example.

BUT... keeping this in mind, we should also be mindful to remember that he was the living example of how Allah(SWT) wanted us to live our lives,and not a diety to be worshipped.

W'salam

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But there are some who say we should follow the prophet (pbuh) in the way he dressed,ate and other private matters. Should these be follwed/copied too? (bear in mind if the prophet (pbuh) had been born in China for eg then these attributes and social behaviour would have been totally different).

If the answer is yes then this kind of elimnates all of the female muslim population and makes Islam look like a male dominated religion - applicable just for men. This is far from the message which the Quran sent out 1400 yrs ago about equality of the sexes.

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Asalamu Alaikum

This is how I look at it, and maybe I'm wrong, so please correct me if you see fault in my line of thinking, but as we know the Qur'an is our instruction book. So, we know what we HAVE to do according to it.. but we don't necessarily know how to follow the instructions. For these directions, we look to the Prophet (SAW).

Let me give you some examples. Eg. The Qur'an specifies that we have to pray, but doesn't give the full instructions on how to pray, so we look to the Prophet (SAW)'s example for this. Similarily, for hijaab, the Qur'an isn't specific about what things must be covered, other than saying to hide the ornaments, so we look to what the Prophet (SAW) instructed, which is that women should cover everything except the hands and the face. If we dismiss the hadith of the Prophet (SAW) then we are also dismissing a part of our Deen.

Now, in things where there is no instruction.. then we are free to do as we choose. For example, lets look at the clothes of the Prophet (SAW), we can see that it's preferable to be modest in dress, but we men don't have to wear a toupe/galabayah (whatever you call it?). That would be totally unreasonable in the Canadian winters :) But, we should take from the example of the Prophet (SAW), that we should wear clothes that are modest. You don't want to reveal too much of your body, nor wear clothes that make you look too rich or arrogant. The clothes should be clean, and preferably of a lighter colour.

As for food, we know the rules regarding the restrictions in our food, eg. no pork and alcohol, and we must follow those. The Prophet(SAW) taught us alot about eating, eg. that 1/3 of the stomach is for food, 1/3 for drink, and 1/3 for air, and that we should be sitting when we eat, etc. So we should remember these things and try to implement them. But you don't have to eat the foods he necessarily ate.

You will see some brothers and sisters going the extra mile, and doing more things that the Prophet(SAW) did, and this is out of their love for the Prophet(SAW). For example, you may see a brother wearing a galabiyah, carrying a miswak or something. This is ofcourse not required of men, but if they choose to do it, they shouldn't be criticized either. On the converse, men who don't do it shouldn't be criticized either.

I hope this helps,
W'salam

[This message has been edited by Yacoob (edited July 09, 1999).]

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Salams,

Are you suggesting therefore that the Quran is not correct in its claim that it is COMPLETE guidance for all mankind?

If we say that we should follow other sayings beside the Quran, or that we refer to further details to the words of Allah in the Quran, then we are suggesting that the Quran is not complete or full.

Check out the relevant reference to Salah in the Quran and especially:
And when We made THE HOUSE a place of Blessing and security for Mankind, AND TAKE ALL OF YOU FROM THE STANDING POSITION OF IBRAHEEM (MUQ'AM IBRAHEEM) THE SALAH PERFORMED (MUSAL'AA), and We covenanted with Ibraheem and Ismail, that purify My House for those who compass around and those who are in retreat and those who bow down and prostrate."[2.125]

So, the manner in which Salah is established in the House of Allah, that is to be adopted all over the world in all the mosques and homes in ALL TIMES, in the past, present and Inshallah in the future people will find the Salah being performed in Kaaba and will take that Salah. The number of Rakaat that are established there, what is recited etc. are to be followed. It is the house of Allah which is the Centre point of the messengers of Allah and following its system brings unity between the believers.
"And from where ever you go forth, revert your self to the intersection of Al Masjid al Haraam (shatar al Masjid al Haraam) ,and where ever all of you are, revert your selves to its intersection. THAT THERE MAY BE NO GROUND OF DISPUTE AMONG YOU, EXCEPT THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSORS FROM THEM. So fear them not but fear Me, that I may complete My favours on you and that you may be guided."

So according to Quran 2:125 we are ordered to take the Musalla from Muqam e Ibraheem in Kaaba. The manner, in which Salah is established there, that is to be adopted.

Again maybe my line of thinking may be wrong but it will be good to address these issues.

take care.

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Camille, you are my hero, seriously! I'm glad you're on my side ;-). I, too, think that Allah has given us a complete book. If he wanted women to cover everything but their faces and palms, why didn't he say that? Why bother to say "cover your bosoms," (which he says). He could have said "only leave your face and hands uncovered," which would have covered everything, so to speak!
Zara

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My reference to hijab in the Quran vs. Hadith in the previous post is just an example. There are many cases where Hadith are much more restricting than the Quran. I don't think that the ummah is required to follow Hadith. Allah asks us to follow the Quran, which he calls "complete and clear" and he guarantees its infallibility. He does not guarantee the infallibility of Hadith or any other written documents.

Zara