The Holy Quran says:
“Hold strongly to the rope of Allah and be not divided amongst yourselves…” (3:103)
What is the rope of Allah. The Holy Quran. We Muslims should hold to the Quran. And the Quran says:
"Be not like those who are divided among themselves and fall into disputations after recieving clear signs: for them is a dreadful penalty. (3:105)
“As for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou has no part in them in the least: their affair is with Allah: He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did” (6:159)
So any one who is making divisions in Islam is going against the Quran. Breaking the religion into sects is HARAM in Islam.
People here proudly say that “I am a Sunni”, “I am a Shia”, “I am a Deobandi”, “I am a Hanafi”, "I am a Shafi"etc. I want to ask all of them what our Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was? Was he a Sunni, or a Shia or a Maliki. He was a MUSLIM. You can agree with the explanations of Abu Hanifa or Imam Shafi. But that doesn’t make you a Hanafi or a Shafi. Was Abu Hanifa a Hanafi. Did he ever say,“I am a Hanafi”. No he didn’t. He was a Muslim. If some one asks you “Who are you?” You should say, “I am a Muslim”. The moment you say something other than this you are going against the Quran. The Quran says that Isa (AS) was a MUSLIM (3:52). The Quran says that Ibrahim (AS) was a MUSLIM (3:67). It doesn’t say that they were Sunni’s or Shia’s. So stop dividing Islam. Because when you do it you are going against Islam, you are doing Haram. Its just Muslim, not Shia not Sunni, but only Muslim.
sayin that "i am a hanafi" doesnt mean that one says he isnt a muslim, just that he follows the hanafi school of thought....
and it isnt a sect....
just a different valid interpretation....
P.S. this was just an example, i dont follow any particular school of thought....
[QUOTE]
sayin that "i am a hanafi" doesnt mean that one says he isnt a muslim, just that he follows the hanafi school of thought....
[/QUOTE]
Yes I know that. But a follower of Abu Hanifah is also a Muslim. A follower of Imam Shafi is also a Muslim. Then why should some one use the terms Hanafi or Shafi. Besides, as you said, these are not sects but Shias and Sunni's are. There are people who call themselves shias or sunnis. They are unintentionally doing wrong.
You are correct, the Prophet PBUH, Sahaabah and Ta'baeen did not follow any school of thought and neither did they divide into any sects.
Unfortunately most people today do not understand or if they do, they do not acknowledge this fact. Each follower of a certain sect will give you very good arguments for following this sect and that.
If we all accepted that we are Muslims and thats it. At least that way we can all do Eid and Saum at least on the same day, despite living in the same city! In the first instance.
'In order to break barriers, one must start to chisel away slowly and in small amounts'.
During the time of our beloved prophet sallalahu alayhi wasalam, muslims called themselves just that, Muslims. Nobody was a Shia, or a Bohra, or an Ahmadi, or a Sunni, or an Ismaeli, or a Qadiani or a Duruz, or a Bahai, or an Ansarullah, or anything. All Muslims were equal. Everyone proudly proclaimed the Shahada.
These sects were formed way after these prophets( Moses, Jesus or Muhammad) of God had departed.
ayah 32 of surah 30 of the Quran reads:
And be not like those who join gods with Allah, those who split up their religion and become (mere) sects, each party rejoicing in that which is with itself!
The words, "that which is with itself" refer to those differences which people use to justify their separation from Islam.
so let us not be like that, let us not differentiate of what kind of muslim we are! For the love Allah the one who created and blessed us with Islam we should forget about our differences, and live as peacful Ummah !
God makes it very clear that He abhors divisions, conflicts, and hatred.
"As for those who divide their religion and break up into sects, thou hast no part in them in the least: their affair is with Allah: He will in the end tell them the truth of all that they did."
Qur'an 6:159
"And be not like those who became divided and disagreed after clear arguments had come to them, and these it is that shall have a grievous chastisement. On the day when (some) faces shall turn white and (some) faces shall turn black; then as to those whose faces turn black: Did you disbelieve after your believing? Taste therefore the chastisement because you disbelieved. And as to those whose faces turn white, they shall be in Allah's mercy; in it they shall-abide. "
Qur'an 3:105-107
"But the sects disagreed among themselves. Then woe to those who committed evil from the punishment of a painful Day. "
Qur'an 43:65
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by PakistaniAbroad: *
hahaha funny.. followers of "madhabs" and "scholarly rulings" and "Imams" all trying so hard to hide their real beliefs.
[/QUOTE]
As long as one is confident about their beliefs, I dont think there is something to hide... Its not like one is stealing or something... But i believe too... Its about time that rather then we mud-slinging or pointing our fingers on each other and promote hatredness among each other, its about time we put all these differences aside and try to unite. The muslim ummah is facing with so many issues, and there are so many stereotypes people have against us, we should unite and through our good deeds and character, show people... we are not what they think we are, we are peace loving people and it should be our duty to help other pool muslims suffering worldwide.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
I am a whirrling dervesh :D
[/QUOTE]
Really?
The Sufis are the purest muslims in the world, they have one foot in this dunya, like a root, and the other is always on the spiritual plane in the company of Allah and our master Rasool Allah. They act only in accordance with Allah's will and thus claiming to be a fully qualified Sufi is dangerous if one is not. However, if like me, and countless others, you are from a Sufi tradition and thus an aspiring sufi-I wish you the best.
Read WHAT IS SUFISM by Martin Lings, I have started it, and it is a brilliant read-very clear explanation to a very complex question. It is the heart of Islam, the every source of Islam's knowledge. Its ppl are the ones deepest in the spiritual path of Allah, aiming for a oneness with Allah that the Sufis attain.
brother mo :), Why do u prefer to call our Nabi/Rasul/Prophet/Messenger(SAW)our Master?
Knowing that our Master is only the title of Allah(SWT) The Almighty, All wise. Also, Al Maalik is one of Allah(SWT) 99 names/attributes/qualities. The most beautiful of names ONLY belong to Allah(SWT).
[QUOTE]
The Sufis are the purest muslims in the world, they have one foot in this dunya, like a root, and the other is always on the spiritual plane in the company of Allah and our master Rasool Allah.
[/QUOTE]
The Prophet Muhammad(SAWS) had both feet on the spiritual plane in company of Allah but he still didn't call himself a Sufi. He called himself a MUSLIM. Then why should we introduce the term Sufi to describe the one who worships Allah a lot.
[QUOTE]
They act only in accordance with Allah's will
[/QUOTE]
If Sufis are the ones who act in accordance with Allah's will then who are Muslims. All Muslims act in accordance with Allah's will. If someone does not, then he is not a Muslim in the first place. Then why should someone make a distinction between them. One who worships Allah 24hrs a day 365 days an year is also a Muslim. One who fulfills only the basic duties of a Muslim and doesn't do something extra is also a Muslim. Ofcourse, spending a lot of time in worshipping Allah is nice and it makes one a better Muslim. But that better Muslim should still be called a Muslim. Why do you want to call him something other than that.
Most muslims, we can try to act according to the sharia ect, try our hardest-but our human nature often gets the better of us. The true Sufis-they fall not victim to human nature. They act ONLY according to the will of Allah, they do not speak unless Allah allows it and behave only in the ways pleasing to Allah. In short they have shed there inner naffs, whilst being normal ppl on the outsidem surely they are the ladders between this world and the next plane-they are effectively super humans. They embody the will of Allah. :)
ISLAM!!! Why do you need to belong to sects when you've got a whole religion to belong to.
[/QUOTE]
Even though i said we need to keep all our differences aside and unite, but there are some things that we need to ponder upon. Prophet Mohammad said after hiim there will be 72 sects in islam (72 or 73.. i am not sure) and out of those only one will go to heaven.. the thing we need to ponder is that most of us pray, fast and perform hajj and do same things, but there is something we did after the death of Prophet that seperates us and makes the difference between hell and heaven. I believe this question can be answered only if we develop an open mindness towards other sects and try to answer the question and search for the truth without promoting any hatredness among each other.
[QUOTE]
Even though i said we need to keep all our differences aside and unite, but there are some things that we need to ponder upon. Prophet Mohammad said after hiim there will be 72 sects in islam (72 or 73.. i am not sure) and out of those only one will go to heaven.. the thing we need to ponder is that most of us pray, fast and perform hajj and do same things, but there is something we did after the death of Prophet that seperates us and makes the difference between hell and heaven. I believe this question can be answered only if we develop an open mindness towards other sects and try to answer the question and search for the truth without promoting any hatredness among each other.
[/QUOTE]
I think "that something" which seperates us is,"Recognizing one another as if we belong to some other group" That is why I insisted to be recognized as one unit which is Muslim. This grouping is what causes the Muslims to disunite.