New Literature for a New Era

Halifax: A Simmering Social Cauldron

And now it is beautiful Muslim Halifax! According to some estimates, upward of 2000 Muslims attend Jum’ah in one Masjid in Halifax! That means Jum’ah at Halifax is like a mini-convention every week. If the entire event lasts an hour and a half, that is 3000 man-hours, out of which Namaz per se probably takes no more than 15 or 20 minutes. The question is what do we do with 2000 Muslims for the balance of their time – balance left over from an hour and a half or two hours – week after week after week, month after month, year after year, for the past how many long years? Can that time be used to educate them in Islam and in important matters of life and in important events of the week and the day? Can it be used to motivate them to be better Muslims; better human beings; better parents, sons, daughters, husbands and wives; better community members; and better citizens?

This question becomes all the more important since Halifax, like so many other Muslim communities in UK, is in many ways a simmering social cauldron that may bubble and boil over at any time. But not too many people seem to want to lose much sleep over it. The issue some local Muslim leaders seem most concerned with in Halifax – as in some other Muslim communities in that part of the world – is Aqeedah, which boils down to one basic thing: whether or not you are a Bareilvi. Everything else pretty much seems to take a backseat to that all-important consideration.

I am not saying Aqeedah is not an important issue, because clearly it is. Nor do I blame the Muslims or Imams or mosque committees for being careful and cautious on matters of Aqeedah. But we must understand that Islam is a broad tent – a very broad tent indeed. And it is, as Hazrat Baba Farid is said to have put it, a big tree able to provide shade and solace to vast multitudes of humanity. And among those of us who claim to be or pass for Muslims, everyone who is not a Qadiyani or an Ahmadi, and who does not consider Hazrat Ali, Radiallahu Anhu, God or Rasul, can find a place under that tent – under the life-giving shade of that tree.

Of course, like everyone and everything else in this world, some Muslims are going to be better than some others. And those of us who are serious about our Islam must forever critically examine and re-examine our Aqeedah and our Iman – as well as our Amal (our practice) – and continually make Taubah and Istighfar, and endeavor to make ourselves better in every way we can.

But our concern for the purity and protection of our Aqeedah should not drive us into sectarian divisions and partisan fights. It should not close the door for those of us who may disagree with one another on matters of interpretation and detail, to working together for the attainment of larger goals – goals that we all have in common within the broad framework of the fundamental Aqeedah of La Ilaha Illallah, Muhammadur Rasulullah.

Hazrat Jibraeel, Alaihis Salam, came to Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, and said:

Ya Muhammad, Akhbirnee Anil Islam.

Paraphrased, it means:

Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam),
tell me about Islam.

To which Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, replied:

Al-Islamu An Tash-Hada An La Ilaha
Illallahu wa Anna Muhammadan Rasulullahi.

Paraphrased, it means:

Islam means you should bear witness that there is no
God but Allah and that Muhammad
(Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) is the Rasul of Allah.

That is how Islam is defined at the highest level. It is not defined in terms of someone being a Bareilvi or a Deobandi. For that is how vast and inclusive and accommodating the tent of Islam is and that is how big and shady the tree is that Hazrat Baba Farid talked about to his Murid and Khalifah, Hazrat Khawja Nizamuddin of Delhi.

My Intensive Weekend Qur’an Camp at Halifax offers precisely such a common program for Muslims of the area to work together.

Because its purpose remains to expose and connect the wider Muslim community at Halifax and elsewhere to the Qur’an – to the matchless and priceless book of Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta’ala. That means to teach the Muslims of the area how to read the Qur’an a little better and how to understand it a little more. This is a goal on which all Muslim factions, regardless of their Aqeedah, can and should agree. It is a common platform that should make it possible for the Bareilvis, the Deobandis and all the others – in that big, broad tent of Islam and under the vast shade of that big tree – to work together with a benevolent attitude of mutual tolerance, respect and accommodation.

As a result, the date was set, the venue chosen, arrangements made, publicity done and tickets for air travel to Manchester, UK, purchased and paid for. Initially, the mosque at Halifax, Allah bless that community and those who welcomed me at that time with open arms, was enthusiastic. Flyers were posted and announcements made in Jum’ah. Things were moving along splendidly. The event promised to be a significant success.

But not if Shaitan would have his way, because, as Allah says in the Qur’an, Shaitan is human beings’ open and sworn enemy: Innash-Shaitana Lil-Insani ‘Aduwwun Mubeen (12:5). And Shaitan had taken a solemn vow to leave no stone unturned and no trick untried to keep the children of Adam from coming to the Deen and to the Book of Allah. Shaitan had declared his evil intentions this way:

La Aatiyannahum min baini Aideehim wa Min
Khalfihim wa An Aimanihim and An Shama-ilihim.

Paraphrased, this means:

I shall then attack them from the front and the rear
and from their right and from their left (7:17).

The least this should do is to warn and sensitize Muslims – all brands and stripes of Muslims, no matter what their particular Aqeedah type – about the serious threat they were all facing from Shaitan. As for Shaitan himself, nothing could be simpler than the plan he devised for Muslims: Keep Muslims away from Allah’s book, the Qur’an. That meant so far as Shaitan was concerned, Muslims could do pretty much anything they wanted so long as they stayed away from the Qur’an. So, it would be naïve to think that Shaitan would be thrilled to have a broad-based attempt unfold in Halifax whose purpose was to connect the people of Allah in the area with the book of Allah by teaching them how to read the Qur’an a little better and by making them understand the Qur’an a bit more.

All of a sudden, a nameless flyer hit the streets of Halifax. Don’t let this non-Bareilvi teacher corrupt our community, it said. And then it went on to heap curses and abuses – and La’anat – on everyone and hurl threats at the mosque officials and incite the masses. It ended the onslaught by saying, ask him – meaning me – whether or not he – meaning I – was willing to call Ashraf Ali Thanawi (a Deobandi Alim of a hundred years ago) a Kafir. It all came down to that one little acid test – seemingly so small and simple and yet in fact so consuming and critical in the eyes of those to whom being Bareilvi was the essential definition of being Muslim.

That was to be the litmus test of Islam for a man who all he wanted to do was to run a Qur’an camp in Halifax, in Yorkshire, UK, in 2004. And lo and behold, in a telephone interview soon after, that was the question that was thrown at me. First the Imam of the Masjid asked me that question. And then the president of the mosque committee asked me the same question: Do you or don’t you consider Ashraf Ali Thanawi a Kafir?

I thought of Imam Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and Ma’mun Al-Rasheed, the Khalifah of the day. And I thought of the question that was being directed at him: Is or is not the Qur’an part of the creation of Allah? The Khalifah wanted a yes answer to the question. Imam Ahmad was in no mind to oblige. Result was imprisonment and torture for the Imam at the hands of the Muslim ruler.

I said that I would not call Thanawi a Kafir or, for that matter, any other Muslim a Kafir. I was not in the business of calling Muslims Kafir, I told them. I was more in the business of trying to help Muslims – and most of all myself – to become better Muslims. In fact, I was more in the business of trying to persuade non-Muslims to become Muslims, rather than chase Muslims out of Islam.

That was that.

The Imam said he understood where I stood and who I really was, and appropriate decision will be taken at the appropriate time. It sounded ominous. The mosque president was disappointed that in spite of being a fellow from India I pretended not to know the details of this epochal event on the subcontinent – the dispute between Ahmad Raza Bareilvi sahib and Ashraf Ali Thanawi sahib. I was no longer welcome at the Masjid, I was given to understand. I had become, all of a sudden, a persona non grata – in a community that I loved dearly, a community whose children I wanted so much to help.

But on deeper reflection what really is the issue? They say the issue is Aqeedah – my Aqeedah. It may be a legitimate concern on their part. But the real issue is not my Aqeedah but the Qur’an and their attitude to the Qur’an. The issue is their attitude to a serious attempt on the part of a fellow-Muslim to teach Muslims the Qur’an. To me the issue clearly is teaching the Book of Allah in the House of Allah to the People of Allah – the followers of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi was Sallam). That is the real issue and not whether I am a Bareilvi or a Deobandi. So what if I am a Deobandi – which I am not?

Teaching people to read the Qur’an is an issue on which there is room for a lot of Muslim factions, groups, associations, mosques, communities, organizations, Maddhahib, Masaalik, Firaq and individuals to cooperate, as it should be the common cause of all Muslims. This tent – the tent of the Qur’an – is so big that it can easily accommodate the Bareilvis, the Deobandis, the Ahle Hadith, the Tabligh, the Jama’at Islami, the Ikhwan and all the others who share the common agenda of the Qur’an.

And if we perceive mistakes and shortcomings among us, all we need to do is to try and correct them in a spirit of common Islamic brotherhood and Nasihah. Because, Deen after all is Nasihah. At a time when Islam and Muslims are under so much attack from so many different directions, how could we afford to do anything less? When so many of our communities are such simmering cauldrons of social problems, ills, discontent and dysfunction which are brewing among our youth, how can we afford the luxury of 100-year-old squabbles and fights using the most blessed and exalted name of Aqeedah?

Some Reasons Why I am Not in the Business of Kafirizing Muslims

I have a number of reasons for not making Kafirization of Muslims a priority item. In the tradition of Hazrath Hasan, Radiallahu Anhu, I try to bring Muslims together, rather than drive them apart. I try to look for an excuse to keep people in, rather than find a pretext to push people out.

And here are some of those reasons:

1. In general, I don’t like the business of Kafirizing Muslims.
2. I have some other serious things on my mind such as the fate of millions of innocent Muslim youth in the West and the plight of hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world.
3. The dire need to educate and instruct our youth and our communities in the West – and throughout the world – in Islam and in a better and a more successful way of life.
4. The pressing need for bridging the gap between Muslim factions and groups.
5. And for presenting Islam to non-Muslims in the West – and elsewhere, such as China, Japan, Russia and various parts of Europe and other places.
6. And for discouraging Muslim youth in the West from turning to crime and violence and from becoming radicals and extremists.
7. I want to work to reduce widespread Islamophobia throughout the West.
8. To project a more positive image of Islam and Muslims in society and in the media.
9. To correct anti-Islam and anti-Muslim propaganda in media, corporate, private and government channels.
10. To make sure every Muslim youth can read the Qur’an correctly and well.
11. To help Muslims to understand the Qur’an a bit more.
12. To provide Muslims a bit more knowledge of the Hadith.
13. To help Muslims learn a bit more about the glorious history of Islam and our noble predecessors.
14. And I want to do all I can to work to reduce crime in our communities.
15. To lower the divorce rate among Muslims.
16. To address questions of domestic abuse and violence in Muslim homes.
17. To provide Muslim youth in our communities better job training and make them more job-worthy.
18. To provide them the motivation to go to schools, colleges and universities and seek better and higher education in all walks of life.
19. To help Muslims better cope with the challenges that they face today in the Western world.
20. To teach Muslims the skills to cope with drugs and alcohol abuse among their youth.
21. To help Muslims become better citizen participants in their respective communities and societies.
22. To help Muslims to better understand the culture and the broader community in which they live.
23. To help Muslims understand the racism and xenophobia that are prevalent in many parts of the West and to teach them ways of coping with them.
24. To help Muslims to secure their rights in the societies in which they live.
25. To help Muslims to learn ways of making a positive contribution to their respective societies.
26. To give Muslims the motivation and provide them the tools for working to make their society and this world a better place for all.
27. Well, as you can see, I have run out of the letters of the Alphabet. But the list of things in my mind that are important for Muslims to do goes on and on and on.

That is why the most pressing issue to me in Halifax right now is not whether to call Thanawi, or any other Muslim, a Kafir, but to find a way for all Muslim factions and groups to work together for the common good of Islam and Muslims. History of the Muslims is full of Muslims – good Muslims, mind you – calling other Muslims – equally good Muslims – Kafir. There is no need or reason to perpetuate that unfortunate tradition, or to continue to practice it in the present day and age in the West, when so many Muslims seem to be in so much dire trouble all over the world, and when Islam itself is facing so many grave challenges from so many different sides.

Our anti-Bareilvi or anti-Deobandi prejudices of 100 years ago should be safely left behind where they belong – in India and Pakistan. They must not be blindly imported in the West and allowed to stand in the way of all of us joining hands for teaching the Muslims of Halifax and other Muslim communities in the UK the Qur’an – that is, in the way of teaching the Book of Allah in the House of Allah to the People of Allah: the followers of Sayyidina Rasulullah ( Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam).

Where Do We Go from Here?

Therefore, the real question all of us need to ask is this: Isn’t it time for all of us Muslims – of all brands and stripes – to come together on a common platform, as Allah says with regard to the People of the Book:

Ta’alau Ila Kalimatin Sawaa-in
Bainana wa Bainakum? (3:64).

If, according to the Qur’an, a common platform – Kalimah Sawaa’ – could work between Muslims and non-Muslims, why could it not also work between the various Muslim factions and Madhaahib and Masaalik?

Therefore, those of us whom Allah has blessed with power and influence in Muslim communities must work to bring our various communities together on the basis of this Qur’anic formula of Kalimah Sawaa’ and not divide and drive them apart using century-old prejudices. It is time for all of us to renew our faith in the following Aayat of the Qur’an, and to embrace it with all our heart, and make it a source of uniting us and healing our divisions and wounds.

Annal Masaajida Lillah, Falaa Tad’oo
Ma’allahi Ahada! (72:18).

Paraphrase:

Surely, mosques belong to Allah.
So, call no one but Allah!

For, what can be more serious, as the Qur’an (2:114) puts it, than for anyone to stand in the way of someone trying to glorify the name of Allah in a House of Allah?

Wa Man Azlamu Mimman Mana’a
Masaajidallahi An Yudhkara Fihasmuh
(2:114).

I, therefore, hope and pray, the local leaders will re-open their mosque and invite us back for the Intensive Weekend Qur’an Camp on May 29^th and 30^th at the mosque as it was originally scheduled to take place. I hope and pray they will lend their shoulders to this wheel and help us to make this Qur’an Camp a success. I hope and trust they will understand that while I may not be a Bareilvi, I am still a Muslim, and we are all brothers in the service of Allah’s Deen. Because all I want to do is to teach Qur’an to the Muslims of Halifax, who are in many ways a disadvantaged community.

So, I appeal to the mosque committee president and to the local Imam to reconsider their decision to ban the Qur’an Camp from their mosque. My plea to them is: We are all Muslims, such as we are. Let us help, correct and improve one another. And let us not cry Kafir at each other! But, rather, let us work together to make this event a common success for all of us and for our future generations.

And let us do so in the best interests of our youth, our community, Muslims, Islam, our society and the entire world. For, that is what our youth needs; that is what our community needs; that is what the Muslims of UK need; that is what Muslims everywhere need; and that is also what the world needs. And that indeed is the need of the hour everywhere: connecting the People of Allah to the Book of Allah in the House of Allah. In the words of a Hadith in Sahih Muslim: … Qawmun Fi Baitin Min Buyootillah, Yatloona Kitaballah, wa Yatadaarasoonahu Bainahum…Paraphrase: … people who gather around in a House of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and working together to teach and learn it …

In the end, let us all, once again, try to bear in mind that most wonderful advice Hazrat Baba Farid is reported to have given his Murid and Khalifah, Hazrat Khawjah Nizamuddin: Be like a big tree under whose vast shade  multitudes of humanity can gather to find rest and comfort.

And let us all, with great humility and sincerity, reflect on the Hadith of Sayyidina Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam:

Qultu Ya Rasulallah, Qul Lee Fil Islami

Qawlan La As’alu Anhu Ahadan Ghairak.

Qaala: Qul Aamantu Billahi Thummastaqim

Paraphrased, it means:

I said, says the Sahabi, Radiallahu Anhu:

Ya Rasulallah! Tell me one thing about Islam that will make it unnecessary for me to ever have to ask anyone else about it.

In reply, Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, said:

Just say, “I Believe in Allah!” And then stay firm on it.

Is that a broad enough definition to include all of us under the tent of Islam and in the shade of the great big tree of Iman?

May Allah open our hearts and minds for one another and may he make us all a joint instrument of good in the service of his Deen and his Kitab (book) and his people – and his Khalq, his creation -and in the effort to connect the People of Allah with the Book of Allah in the House of Allah.

Ameen!

END

© 2004 Syed Husain Pasha

Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional 
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at] 
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.

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