Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (19) INTRA-FAITH DIVERGENCES IN MUSLIM’S HISTORY (AN ANALYSIS OF ITS NATURE, SCOPE AND REALITY) Hafiz Aftab Ahmad Prof. Dr. Ghulam Ali Khan * Difference of opinion and thought is a natural process and every individual has a right to have his own point of view. Human intellectual fertility depends on his difference of opinion and learning from it. Disagreement in the religious affairs creates ease and enhances the scope of religion. The divergence among various schools of thought in Islam is often criticized for the reason that if their source is the same, (i.e. Qur’an and Sunnah) then why there is different opinions and different schools of thought in Islam. It is emphasized that there is the need to promote mutual respect and tolerance, to promote unity and encourage mutual co-existence for a peaceful atmosphere in the Muslim societies. In this article, an attempt has been made to answer these questions in the light of Muslim’s history. The nature, scope and reality of Intrafaith differences have been described in an analytical and critical perspective. In our society whenever we come across the word „disagreement‟, we associate different forms of conflict with it, such as a heated argument, a confrontation, a brawl and some extremes forms of conflicts such as hate, bigotry, biasness, enmity, and malice. If the disagreement is on religious affairs then the state of conflict gets even more complex and serious. In case of disagreement on religious matters, the religious scholars are reproached and rebuked; moreover the self proclaimed pseudo- intellectuals often proclaim that, main reason for the disagreement on a religious matter is due to incomprehensive religious education and understanding of the religion. To make the matters worst such religious divergences are highlighted and hype is created by organizing debates to attract public attention and creating more confusion, which play a huge role in increasing the intensity of the conflict and disagreement. The disagreement between various schools of thought in Islam is often criticized for the reason that if their source is the same, (i.e. Quran and Sunnah) then why there is different opinions and different schools of thought in Islam. The fact of the matter is that difference of opinion is by itself not erroneous. This dissension actually shows the intellectual Ph.D Scholar, Department of Islamic Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore. *Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore.
18
Embed
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra- INTRA-FAITH DIVERGENCES IN ...pu.edu.pk/images/journal/alqalam/PDF/2.H.Aftab Ahmad_20_1_15.pdf · become and cause of hate and creates rifts between friends
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (19)
INTRA-FAITH DIVERGENCES IN MUSLIM’S
HISTORY (AN ANALYSIS OF ITS NATURE, SCOPE AND REALITY)
Hafiz Aftab Ahmad
Prof. Dr. Ghulam Ali Khan *
Difference of opinion and thought is a natural process and every individual
has a right to have his own point of view. Human intellectual fertility
depends on his difference of opinion and learning from it. Disagreement in
the religious affairs creates ease and enhances the scope of religion. The
divergence among various schools of thought in Islam is often criticized for
the reason that if their source is the same, (i.e. Qur’an and Sunnah) then
why there is different opinions and different schools of thought in Islam. It
is emphasized that there is the need to promote mutual respect and
tolerance, to promote unity and encourage mutual co-existence for a
peaceful atmosphere in the Muslim societies. In this article, an attempt has
been made to answer these questions in the light of Muslim’s history. The
nature, scope and reality of Intrafaith differences have been described in
an analytical and critical perspective.
In our society whenever we come across the word
„disagreement‟, we associate different forms of conflict with it,
such as a heated argument, a confrontation, a brawl and some
extremes forms of conflicts such as hate, bigotry, biasness, enmity,
and malice. If the disagreement is on religious affairs then the state
of conflict gets even more complex and serious. In case of
disagreement on religious matters, the religious scholars are
reproached and rebuked; moreover the self proclaimed pseudo-
intellectuals often proclaim that, main reason for the disagreement
on a religious matter is due to incomprehensive religious education
and understanding of the religion. To make the matters worst such
religious divergences are highlighted and hype is created by
organizing debates to attract public attention and creating more
confusion, which play a huge role in increasing the intensity of the
conflict and disagreement.
The disagreement between various schools of thought in
Islam is often criticized for the reason that if their source is the
same, (i.e. Quran and Sunnah) then why there is different opinions
and different schools of thought in Islam.
The fact of the matter is that difference of opinion is by
itself not erroneous. This dissension actually shows the intellectual
Ph.D Scholar, Department of Islamic Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore. *
Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, University of the Punjab, Lahore.
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (20)
capacity of a society, it affirms that academics and intelligentsia of
the society have the understanding to differentiate between right
and wrong. They have the capacity to analyze the difference of
opinion without any bias, accept new ideas after affirming their
validity, moreover it signifies that they value research and have the
quest to learn. It signifies that before accepting any hypothesis they
explore all possibilities thoroughly prior to the conclusion.
The deliberation amongst the religious scholars was the reason
through which Islamic jurisprudence evolved into extensive
paragon of knowledge and laws. It produced numerous discussions
debates and consultations, through which many annotations and
denotations were added to Islamic Sharia, thus the opening doors
of knowledge and avenues for research and development. Such
open and candid debate allows freedom of speech and thought, and
is impeccable to avoid conflict, that may arise due to intolerance
and lack of ability to express opinion freely. Without such level of
tolerance it will not be possible to create an atmosphere for debate,
which allows learning and research. Debate and discussion
encourages learning and evolves knowledge base of the society
and develops it into a hub of consciousness, every evolving society
will have such healthy debates on certain points of disagreement
which allows the quest for knowledge and to find solutions for
their existing problems. This is the same type disagreement that is
pointed out in the verses Quran:
هاجا 1(1)لكل جعلنا منكم شرعة ومن Holy Prophet ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص declared such disagreement as blessing and
said:
فالتخا ىتما ةمحر(2)
Disagreement is a natural process every individual has his own
point of view, and way of thinking. Human intellectual fertility
depends on his difference of opinion and learning from it.
Disagreement in the religious affairs creates ease and enhances the
scope of religion. Quran intends to create ease:
(3)يريد الل بكم اليسر وال يريد بكم العسر Similarly Holy Prophet Mohammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص has ordained to make
religion uncomplicated and said:
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (21)
سروا (4) ع سرواوالت يIn the early days of Islam the Companions of the Holy Prophet
Mohammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص had their disagreement on many issues. In spite
of the divergences the Companions of the Prophet never crossed
the limit of decency, norms and decorum associated with a debate,
nor did it ever create any form of bitterness between them. Many
such issues were raised during the times of Rightly Guided
Khalifahs, between the Khalifah and the Companions, they heard
each other‟s arguments and accepted the difference of opinion and
followed the right logic and point of view with humility and
humbleness.
Alama Suyuti describes such divergences and debates as blessing,
he says:
اطؾؿ أن اختالف ادذاهب يف هذه ادؾة كعؿة كبرة وفضقؾة طظقؿة، ولف رس لطقػ "
Grandson of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddique, Hazrat Qasim Bin
Mohammad, who is a renowned jurist of Islam, describes such
disagreement as an intellectual facility and an intellectual
elevation. Similarly, in „Jamey Al Bayan-al-Ilim‟ Falah Bin
Hameed is quoted as,
لؼد أوسع اهلل طذ الـاس باختالف أصحاب حمؿد صذ اهلل طؾقف وسؾؿ أي ذلؽ
.(7 )"يؽـ يف كػسؽ مـف يشء أخذت بف مل
Correspondingly, Rijaa Bin Jamil is quoted in “Jamey Al Bayan-
al-Ilim”, he explained the scholarly discussion between the Khalifa
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (22)
Harzat Omar Bin Abdul Aziz and Hazrat Qasim, in this
discussion they both quoted various Hadith, Hazrat Omar quoted a
Hadith which was against opinion of Hazrat Qasim, upon listening
to this Hadith Hazrat Qasim showed signs of astringency on his
face. Sensing this astringent Hazrat Omar Bin Abdul Aziz said:
.(8 )"ال تػعؾ فام يرسين أن يل باختالففؿ محر الـعؿ"
Alama Baihaqi quoted Hazrat Omar Bin Abdul Aziz in such a
way:
ما أحب أن أصحاب رسقل اهلل صذ اهلل طؾقف وسؾؿ مل خيتؾػقا ألكف لق كاكقا ققال "
واحدا كان الـاس يف ضقؼ، وإهنؿ ائؿة يؼتدى هبؿ فؾق أخذ رجؾ بؼقل أحدهؿ
.(9 )"كان يف سعة
Companions of the Prophet, Rightly Guided Khalifahs, renowned
Jurists of Islam and scholars have rightly pointed out that it is not
important to accept the view stated above in the relish of right and
wrong.
Disagreement on one hand shows the intellectual variety of a
human mind, it also shows the colors and limitless boundaries of
thought process of a man and on the other hand it signifies conflict,
belligerence, murder, killing and destruction. All notions that
signify disagreement have created an atmosphere which has
encouraged the idea of research and learning and on the other
extreme it has created an atmosphere of hate mutual distrust,
jealously, narrow-mindedness, and intolerance. So disagreement
can go both ways, it can bring positive outcomes and provide
negative impacts; it can contribute towards learning and can
become and cause of hate and creates rifts between friends and
peers.
We shall analysis the disagreement in the light of Holy Quran:
1. Word ‘Disagreement’ in the light of Holy Quran: The word disagreement has been used in Holy Quran a number of
times. It has been used in both positive and negative sense of the
word. According to Quran, a change in a system or a particular
way of life is also a form of disagreement. Allah says in the Quran:
ولي األلباب ( 10)إن في خلق السماوات واألرض واختالف الليل والنهار آليات ألTranslation:
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (23)
Here the word “disagreement” is signified with the change and
used in positive manner.
In another verse the same word is used for difference of opinion
and conflict of ideas.
ماوات والرض واختلف ألسنتكم وألوانكم إن ف ذلك ليات ومن آياتو خلق الس(11)للعالمني
And all the evidence that is provided by the All Mighty Allah, such
as creation of Earth and skies, different languages, difference of
color and creed, without a doubt such signs are for the people of
the pen. This signifies that the difference of cast, color and creed,
and this difference in the creation of Allah is the sign of his
existence and grandeur. The difference is creation of Allah‟s
creatures, and their variety in different forms is the sign of
appreciation of different types and forms of creatures.
Quran also appreciates the difference of opinions, ideas and ways
that exists between the different creatures, and explains the
disagreement in such a manner.
رين ومنذرين وأنزل معهم الكتاب بالق ليحكم ة واحدة ف ب عث الل النبيني مبش كان الناس أمب ني الناس فيما اخت لفوا فيو وما اخت لف فيو إال الذين أوتوه من ب عد ما جاءت هم الب ينات ب غيا ن هم ف هدى الل الذين آمنوا لما اخت لفوا فيو من الق بإذنو والل ي هدي من يشاء إل صراط ب ي
(12)مستقيم In the beginning people had one religion, and then they started to
disagree amongst themselves. So Allah sent his Prophets and
Messengers, who admonished the people to follow the right path of
Allah, they showed the people difference between right and wrong,
they showed them conduit excellence and created fear in them
from the wrath of Allah. He revealed his Books through his
Prophets and Messengers. He defined the issues which were
creating the divergences. In this verse the word „disagreement‟ is
twice used in its negative meaning and signifies it in terms of
belligerent argument without logic, to which Allah has provided
with a solid argument based on facts through his Book.
In the tribe of Bani Israel, such belligerent arguments and baseless
debates were common, which are explained in the Quran as such:
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (24)
ن الطيبات فما اخت لفوا حت جاءىم ولقد ب وأنا بن إسرائيل مب وأ صدق ورزق ناىم م( 13)العلم
Translation: “And we provided the Tribe of Israel with a
place to live and clean food to eat, yet they created
disagreement within themselves due to their ignorance”.
In the above mentioned verse the word „disagreement‟ signifies its
negative connotation. If we analyze the disagreement used
according to the Quran we will find that both negative and positive
aspects of the word can be used interchangeably. Positive meaning
shows the positive attitude of the society towards research and
development and negative shows the narrow and stringent aspect
of society.
2. Back Ground By analysis of the different verses of Quran, it is an obvious
conclusion that Islam does not appreciate the negative
disagreement which causes bigotry, hate, mutual distrust in the
society, and such disagreement which ignites the will to learn and
pursue a research is highly appreciated, such debates and wiles are
considered as a life blood of a society. May be this is the reason
why we see that the disagreement was first recorded in the times of
the Prophet Mohammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.
During the battle of Zaat al-Salasil, Hazrat Amr bin Aas, needed to
perform Wadoo (Ablution), due to excessive cold weather and lack
of availability of water he did his Taimum (Dry Ablution) and led
prayers, some of the companions disagreed with his act and
approached the Prophet to inform him that Hazrat Amr has led
prayers without his Wuzoo. Upon hearing this, Prophet enquired
from Hazrat Amr:
Prophet Mohammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص: “Amr! Have you led prayers when you
were soiled?”
Hazrat Amr, “Prophet of Allah, at that time I had a verse of Quran
in my mind,
(14)وال ت قت لوا أنفسكم إن الل كان بكم رحيم “Don‟t kill yourself, without a doubt Allah is merciful”
When Prophet Mohammad heard this he did not say anything and
remained quiet.
Al-Qalam June 2015 Intra-Faith Divergences in Muslim’s History (25)
Similarly such incident occurred at another occasion, when two
Companions of the Prophet performed their prayers without
Wuzoo, one of them did his Wuzoo twice and corrected his earlier
prayer, while the second did not. Prophet then informed the first
Companion who did correct his prayers that you shall be rewarded
twice for your deed2. Similarly, during the invasion of Banu
Qurtiza, Prophet ordained his Companions to perform their prayers
in the street of Banu Qurtiza, while they were moving towards the
street, the time for prayers was upon them, some of the
companions performed their prayers on the road to Banu Qurtiza
and the rest performed their prayers when they reached their
destination. Prophet was informed of both the actions and
remained silent which proves their correctness of the two separate
decisions. Many such incidences prove that Islam appreciates
divergences and difference of opinion.
3. Era of the Companions Many incidents like quoted above proves that Prophet appreciated
disagreement as it allowed the companions to think and analyze
various problems that they came across in the matters of religion
and it promoted healthy debates and discussions.
After the demise of the Prophet, many issues were raised which
caused disagreement within the Companions a few of them are
stated below:
a) Demise of Prophet and Divergences
When the news Prophet Mohammad‟s demise reached Hazrat
Omar, he refused to accept that Prophet is no longer alive, so
Hazrat Abu Bakr had to convince him through verses of Quran
only then he accepted the verity of the situation.
Mother of all Believer Hazrat Ayesha says
ان رسقل اهلل صذ اهلل طؾقف وسؾؿ مات وأبقبؽر بالسـح، قال إسامطقؾ، يعـل
واهلل ما مات رسقل اهلل صذ اهلل طؾقف وسؾؿ، قالت : بالعالقة، فؼام طؿر يؼقل
وقال طؿر، واهلل ما كان يؼع يف كػيس إال ذاك، ولقبعثـف اهلل فؾقؼطعـ أيدي رجال