What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Society Religion & Philosophy
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Is Islam a ‘deen’ or ‘Mazhab’?

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Re: What is the difference between ‘deen’ and ‘Mazhab’?

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

deen is a complete divine way of life ordained by God. mazhab is a set of rules about moral "do's and don'ts" in one's life given by God.

this is my simplistic definition of those terminologies.

Islam is a DEEN. :)

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Re: What is the difference between ‘deen’ and ‘Mazhab’?

sorry, but can’t access youtube. Can you please briefly list down the points discussed in these videos?

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Aren't do's and do not's part of way of life?

If Islam is deen then what are the examples of Mazhab and when people refer Islam as mazhab, do they limit the scope?

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?


i don't think so...way of life entails details about all aspects of of our lives...including both spiritual and worldly affairs.

from how to pray to highest levels of taqwa...from judiciary to warfare, from handling poverty to social evils, from birth, inheritance, marriage to death and burial.

yes, we should not call Islam a mazhab, it's a deen and we got shari'at. an example of mazhab is Christianity...Isa [a.s.] did not get shari'at.

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Mullah ko jo hai Hind main sajdey ki ijazat
Nadan ye samjhta hai kay Islam hai azaad

So for Iqbal, Muslims of United India were not allowed to practice their Deen?

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?


i don't think Iqbal meant that. i think the way Islam is practiced in India/Pakistan is more ritualistic than spiritual...that's what 'allaamah probably meant. we did not get the spirit of Islam...from establishing Islamic tarz-e-Hukoomat [not malookiyat] to other aspects of Islam.

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

When we say 'religion is an individual's personal matter'... What does that religion mean Mazhab or deen?

So Iqbal was of the view that Muslim of India we free to practice Mazhab (ritualistic part of religion), but they were unable to follow their deen in totality.

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

mazhab for me is basically sect or mini-sects in our case in sunnis like hanafi, shaafi, maliki and hanbli. The differences could range from how they offer namaz to how many takbeers in eid namaz (trust me i was surprised when I ended up in a shaafi eid gathering here :D ) to matters like divorce where hanafi is the most strict with three verbal utterings of talaq leading to divorce.

As far as iqbal, he was a philosopher and even from jinnah's speeches, it seems that he was more worried about the bigger picture like developing a system with no interest (hasn't happened yet..) than what color topi people wore or the stuff above. It seems that pakistanis are worried more about minuscule things than bigger issues.

Even your humzulf NFP was WOWWed by the political genius of jinnah recently in one of his columns.. Imagine that ! :D

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Dear muqawwwee sb, islam is a deen and not a mazhab.

Word deen is from root daal, yaa and noon and is used in the quran in various ways. However, one use of it is, a way of life.

Although any way of life people adopt for living their lives is a way of life but the quran based way of life is very different. It is different because according to the quran Allah has created this world for a set purpose so if all things and people are created for a set purpose then that purpose cannot be fulfilled unless a way of life is adopted by all things including people which is told by Allah because only and only that way of life can help things including people fulfil the purpose they have been created for.

Since all things have been created preprogrammed to a greater extent except mankind therefore people are given the message through revelation as well to guide themselves. It is because people have been created with maximum ability to choose as compared to other animals. Other things are created for use of mankind to help them achieve the purpose they have been created for but people are created for a purpose told in the quran in detail.

Mankind are created with brains and senses for self learning and doing things to become self aware and become aware of their universe and finally their creator and sustainer with help of his revealed message.

So a way of life that can help them do that is told in the quran so the quran is a book that serves various purposes for people to help them achieve their God set goals according to his given guidelines.

The very basic thing for any thing is its existence because if something does not exist then it cannot serve any purpose at all. Likewise some things that exist serve one purpose and others another purpose eg some things exist to help others to serve their purpose. If there were no means for bringing about life or its sustenance then life could not exist let alone anything could serve any purpose. Just as some non-living things helped living things to come into existence and survive so some living things helped other living things survive and likewise some people help others come into existence and survive. This means not just existence but survival of human race is also of fundamental importance because unless mankind survive the set out purpose of Allah for mankind cannot be fulfilled.

Since human existence and survival is of fundamental importance therefore the basic goal the quran sets for mankind is to achieve unity, peace, progress and prosperity for themselves because that is the only way mankind can survive blissfully with dignity and be ready for serving their ultimate goal, which is God consciousness.

In other words none can become God aware unless one has become aware of his revelation and creation. This is not possible unless one has become self aware first. All this needs a lot of proper use of human brain and senses and provided things. This is why people who promote needed information and its proper understanding and actions based upon that knowledge for fulfilment of this purpose are doing the right thing ie this is what deen of Allah is all about and what its practice is all about.

All other ideologies and practices people invent and follow are their own therefore they cannot lead them to right end goal. The main things in that case is inconsistencies within ideologies and practices.

The quran serves purpose of a proof for mankind. How does it do that? It puts forth an irrefutable consistent explanation of the whole thing from start to finish. No other scripture has done that unless it was from Allah before the quran. However people are born ignorant and take time to learn and do things to reach as far as they can along the way as individuals and groups and interaction keeps moving people in the proper direction as time marches on. Time will come when whole humanity will be on the very same platform. How soon this will happen depends on how many people are working along the proper way and how hard they are working to help mankind see sense and do sensible things to get where they need to be.

Just as the quran guides to the way of life that is proper for humanity for fulfilling their God set purpose, so the quran condemns any other way of life that people adopt and confuse themselves and each other and create hardships and troubles for themselves.

This is why islamic way of life is basically that which leads mankind to formation of a proper human community based upon the quranic model that ensures for them blissful, dignified and secure existence. It gives people basis for coming together and working together to accomplish the goals set out for them as a proper human community.

This is why islam is all about living for each other and not at the expense of each other. A community based upon true brotherhood of humanity wherein there is no place for any way of life that is based upon use and abuse of each other for personal gains at the expense of each other.

This is the real reason why stupid elements from among human beings reject and oppose islam in various ways from among both the parties ie those who claim to be muslims as well as nonmuslims. It is because they attribute falsehood and all sorts of nonsense to Allah and his messenger.

The battle for proper version of islam and its faithful followers and the opponents will continue till mankind come to their senses and learn to see the truth for what it really is and then follow it so that they could accomplish the ultimate set out goal as a proper human community.

Since islam is a deen therefore it cannot have but only one program, consitution and law. It is because it has fixed goals and guidelines and world also works in a particular way. So ummah should have no problem in deciding its deen and its thoughts and actions as a proper human community based upon the quran in light of real world realities. Islam is not a dogmatic creed based upon invented beliefs and useless rituals this is why it is not a religion or mazhab. Islam is not about blind faith in make beliefs nor about useless practices that lead nowhere. Islam is all about making this world beautiful for mankind so that people have even better hereafter as an award from Allah for doing their job well.

regards and all the best.

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

By definition I think Deen is the complete way, and Madhab is the understanding on how to remain on that way.

Hanbali, Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki are madhahib. Islam is the deen.

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?


i think Muqwee wanted to compare Deen with other religions...not the Islamic terminology of madhab [madaahib]. we erroneously Islam as madhab. Islam is a Deen, not madhab. Christianity is a madhab. Judaism was Deen [Deen-e-Musvii (r.a.)].

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Islam is Deen...

Mazhab is shariya... interpretation of Deen... I think so... I may not right....

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Good question.

Deen is word directly from Quran and Mazhab is not. AFAIK.

Deen as I understand is what is given to mankind from Allah and Mazhab is the path/method/Raasta which Muslims choose to follow Deen.

Having said that, there is no real difference between two in laymen understanding.

Just as an example: A deendaar person is same as a Mazhabi person.

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Deen is the code / law provided by Allah through the messengers but mazhab is the way different people understand or interpret it. So a deen can have multiple mazhabs. Allah has advised us to hold on to the 'rope' of Allah to avoid 'tafarqa'. That rope, is the holy Quran and sunnah. Problem arises when people put the divine book on high racks and follow blindly views and interpretations of the people they respect.

my two cents

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Islam is a Deen, which is for all humanity and not limited to Muslims only and teaches us the way of life. Whereas Mazhab is a school of thought which is limited to individuals . These are my thoughts

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Re: What is the difference between ‘deen’ and ‘Mazhab’?

Deen becomes obvious if we bother to study the quranic terms in their proper contexts.

For example, Allah advises us to seek a beautiful world as well as beautiful hereafter as an award. You will see quran using words like hasanah, muhsineen, ihsaan, hasanaat etc etc. Did we ever stop and think what is quran talking about by use of these words?

These are derivatives of root HAA, SEEN and NOON. This root means beauty or balance. Allah tells mankind to seek a beautiful world, the question is, how do we seek a beautiful world? Before anyone could answer this question one needs to answer another question ie what is purpose of guidance from Allah?

Can we think out the purpose of guidance? yes, someone tells you the way to a destination and if you follow that way you get there. Likewise Allah has created this world and he provided mankind with guidance about it so that mankind become aware how they should go about learning and doing things in this world so that they end up where they ought to be.

A goals is set for mankind to accomplish ie bring about beautiful world for themselves using all that is provided including the roadmap or program. We know as a matter of fact that if we want to build a school we have a lot work on our hands to do before we end up with a school and likewise whatever we wish to accomplish we must work for it. In other words it is not possible that we sit and do nothing and something we wish for just comes about as a result of our wishing for it. There is no such thing as magic that makes a wish come true and if anyone believes in his mind any such thing then we think that person is being childish.

So if we want to accomplish a beautiful world for ourselves then we will need to do things that will bring about a beautiful world otherwise that world cannot come about all by itself. This is why the quran tells us to do hasanaat ie works that make world beautiful. If we will work for a beautiful world then we will also be awarded for our works as per our efforts for it in hereafter. So if we will do what the quran says we will have double reward ie our own future will be better in this world and in hereafter we will have a great life as well.

Let me also bring about another explanation about AAMILUSSAALIHAAT ie works that are said to be SAALIHAAT. This word is from root SWAAD, LAAM and HAA. It means to repair something in such a way that something that was broken seems as good as it was never broken.

Since the quran is about brotherhood of humanity and this brotherhood is fractured so it is causing all sorts of problems in human population ie broken human relationships so the quran is telling those who are committed to working for unity, peace, progress and prosperity of mankind to do the repair work on humanity so that brotherhood in humanity becomes restored.

So one can see how practical and straight forward is quranic text if understood in proper context. This is proof that islam is deen not a mazhab.

The flow chart for Islamic way of life

1)people should know goals and guidelines as individuals

2)they should know needs of people and available manpower and resources as individuals

3)they should work out all necessary things as individuals that need to be decided at community level through consultation as an agenda for coming together to decide things.

3)they should get together as a community

4)they should go through consultation process on the agenda of the meeting and agree on what needs to be discussed and done to get the ball rolling

5)they should set up institutions required for carrying out various plans of actions that will be needed for fulfilling needs of all people in the community in every way possible

6)they should work out all plans of actions in each and every detail and go for community consultation to see if the plans of actions are fit for the set out purposes to be carried out

7)they should as a community distribute responsibilities to each and every institution and the rights as well for a set period of time and review and revise and readjust things as need be.

8)they should work out all social, political and economic systems, structures, procedures and practices to each and every minute detail possible then go through community consultation process for agreement on all this.

9)they should as a community select or elect appropriate people for carrying out specific roles for each and every institution for a fixed period of time but on trial basis for a few months and if all is ok then keep people on otherwise make appropriate changes as needed till a proper balance is struck.

10)they should implement program, constitution and law for fulfilling the set goals, and keep monitoring each and everything at all levels for problems and if any show up take care of them without delay

11)proper education and training is backbone of all this and it should never be neglected

12)as a new thing in place there are going to be plenty of problems but as time goes on if appropriate steps are taken for solving them then it should not take long for the whole machinery to start running smoothly

  1. the very basic thing is land and resources and means of production and distribution and proper organisation of human population and its proper regulation so that all have a reasonably comfortable life and make progress and prosper.

For more detail read the links I provided. I recommend darse quran by allama ghulam ahmed parwez for beginners and my own work on the quran for people who want to study quran at an advance level. Urdu Books By Allama Ghulam Ahmad Parwez

Basically people need to listen to all sorts of maulanas and pick and choose things that make sense and then come up with their own overall picture of things that is consistent within the quranic context as well as in light of the real world realities.

Otherwise people are only confusing themselves more and more by not addressing the very basic points. If God exists he will do things the way he wants and for his own reasons. If messages are from God then God is only one and all his messages have to be from him and so will be his messengers.

Likewise the possible ways we can look at things are only a few ie do we want a world that is consistent or inconsistent or are we indifferent to all this?

If we are indifferent or want an inconsistent world then it matters not at all what we think or do, so there is no point in arguing for or against something because world will remain as it is or get worse all by itself. The result will be a huge majority of us human beings will have very bad life experience, is that what we want?

Things only matter if we want a world that is consistent within itself for our own well being as a proper human community, so where is sense in putting so much effort into nonsense?

So the choice is very simple, either we accept God and his message and work out things the way we are explained things as a human community and get on with making the world what it should be or do as we like as individuals and see the outcome of our own actions or inactions or wrong actions.

So it is simply a question of what we have and what we want out of it for ourselves as individuals or as a proper human community.

We should use our brains and senses as intelligent beings and not behave like monkeys and donkeys. This is why the quran keeps telling us, use your brains, be sensible, think etc etc erc.

How can we be sensible people if we follow less sensible people among us like sheep?

Islam is not about make beliefs and useless rituals that degrade God and humanity both.

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Re: What is the difference between ‘deen’ and ‘Mazhab’?

Introduction to Ancient Hebrew Part 1 of 7

Introduction to Ancient Hebrew Part 1 of 7 - YouTube
Introduction to Ancient Hebrew Part 2 of 7 - YouTube
Introduction to Ancient Hebrew Part 3 of 7 - YouTube
Introduction to Ancient Hebrew Part 4 of 7 - YouTube
Introduction to Ancient Hebrew Part 5 of 7 - YouTube
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Introduction to Ancient Hebrew Part 7 of 7 - YouTube

A History of Hebrew Part 7: Old Hebrew to Greek and Aramaic
A History of Hebrew Part 7: Old Hebrew to Greek and Aramaic - YouTube
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A History of Hebrew Part 9: Dating the Semitic Alphabet - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 10: The Hebrew Root System - YouTube
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A History of Hebrew Part 12: The Alphabet and Language Connection - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 13: The Culture and Language Connection - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 14: The Agricultural aspect of the Hebrew Language - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 15: The history of the language - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 16: East and West - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 17: Abstract and Concrete - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 18: The Original Manuscripts - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 19: The Dead Sea Scrolls - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 20: The Aleppo Codex - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 21: Ancient Translations - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 22: Textual Criticism - YouTube
A History of Hebrew Part 23: Conclusion - YouTube

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Re: What is the difference between 'deen' and 'Mazhab'?

Brother, Islam is deen and not Madhab ... but ... please read and try to understand.

If you want to know the answer sincerely without jargon that many use to complicate the matter and make fool of people, then here it is, as according to my understanding.

Best and most simple way to explain difference between 'Deen' and 'Madhab' would be with example, from where you would be able to clearly understand what is Deen and what is Madhab:

Example:
I am Hanafi … as that is my Madhab.
My deen is Islam, so I am Muslim.

In other words: All who claim that they are Muslim, their Deen is Islam and their major important beliefs (mandatory article of faiths) are same (mentioned in hadith as 6 articles of faith).

[Read six articles of faith … as for a person to be Muslim, person has to confess (with mouth) that he is Muslim … and have to have beliefs on those 6 mandatory articles of faith

Here, one should know that there are many beliefs, practices and laws that are clearly mentioned in Quran, that all Madhab accepts and follows, as these beliefs, practices and laws are part of 'Deen' ... because ... belief on Quran is mandatory for all Muslims (belief on book of Allah is mandatory article of faith), and belief on Quran means to believe whatever is mentioned clearly in Quran.].

Deen is further divided into Madhab and that depends mostly on Fiqh and some sets of minor beliefs (that are not in Quran, or if they are in Quran than can be interpreted differently).

Different Madhabs of Islam:
Hanfi, Shafi, Hambli, Maliki, Wahabi/salafi/ahle-hadith, Jafri, Ismaili, zaidi, Ibadi, and so on.

When people (of understanding) say that Islam is deen and not Madhab, it actually means that Islam is Deen where all Muslims are one body … and not Madhab that has divided Muslims into different groups.

In other words, 'Deen of all Muslims are same' but 'Madhab of Muslims are different'.

Obviously, people (under the influence of Shaitan or due to ignorance) are always there to complicate things so that they can sell themselves, divide Muslims, and make fool of masses ... and thus try to include part of their Madhab into Deen so that they can exclude others from Islam whose Madhabs are different then theirs.

[Note: I have met people who would say that ... Islam is deen and a Muslim should enter fully in deen ... but if you probe, you will find that what they really want to say is: Islam is the Madhab they follow and Muslims should enter the teaching of their Madhab fully ... as for them, it seems the madhab they follow is actually deen and rest are deviants .. in other words ... 'My way or Highway'].