Continuation of my Contentions Series.
Link to Shaykh Abd al Hakim Murad’s Contentions part 1
50. The recipe for chaos: the qat‘i grows until the zanni is almost abolished.
Key Terms:
qat’i = definitive
zanni = speculative
An interesting contention considering some of the concerns towards what we call “Traditional Islam” presented by some of our more liberal minds.
I think this contention is another example of a sentiment that exists well within the traditional understanding of Islam: literalism and definitiveness is something that when applied to the exclusion of an interpretive tradition, leads to disaster.
One of the key aspects of our understanding of all aspects of the religion, the Sacred Law, and the science of spirituality is the possibility to find multiple conclusions on subjects within a certain boundary.
Of course, the need for the qat’i is just as important as the zanni. Without definitiveness in certain matters, the religion becomes completely liquid, and unable to assume the responsibilities of managing the lives of people who are under the control of their own nafs.
The nafs is a tricky thing, at one level it wants to find a definitiveness to everything. In Islam this essentially means finding a meaning to something and deciding why it alone can be correct to the exclusion of all other possibilities. This approach creates an inflexible person. The shaykh above interestingly describes this very rigid, yet stable situation as “chaotic”, and it is indeed the case.
If more than one person takes this rigid approach and reaches different conclusions we suddenly achieve total chaos, bickering, and eventually violence. On the other hand, an understanding that some things are speculative in nature opens us to the possibility that the “other” may just be correct as well.
At the same time, it is probably an important reminder that the nafs at another level wants to find a speculitive nature in every possible thing, and therefore allowing it the freedom to pick-and-choose a religion much like Build-A-Bear.
