One of the aspects of the Islamic faith that has been lost has been our history. We have sites which are devoted to current problems, however, very few focus on understanding of our past.
A major part of the problem is the curriculum of modern Islamic teaching institutions and youth groups. Such groups focus on the Prophet’s life (Sallahu’alaiheewassalam) and immediately jump into modern day understanding of Fiqh (law) and principles of Aqidah (doctrine).
What happened in between?
We have about 1400 years of scholarly progress which has suddenly gone up in smoke!
Alhamdulillah, some groups are looking to rectify this, but one piece is missing from this equation. Spiritual progress. Muslims are forgetting that while Fiqh was helpful is solving disputes and determining the exact position of ones hands in the obligatory prayers, little is being remembered of the personalities who were deeply impacted by the tradition of purification of the self which is also part of Islam.
Without realizing it we are forgetting the greatest of the greats of our religion, as we become knee deep in legal texts and linguistic differences, we have forgotten the heart of our religion. Character, Manners, Love of Allah.
Sainthood.
Sainthood in Islam is a special concept, unlike Catholicism, Muslims do not debate over whether someone is a saint in committee. In fact, the word itself is awkward for use in English. The actual Arabic word: Awliya or Wali, means Friends/Friend (as in Friend of God).
In Islam such great people receive their titles from heavenly sources, and while some remain hidden from public eyes, some become popularized through their words or deeds which they have been ordered to do.
So the question now becomes, why is it that we are so quick to forget the greats of Islam? Why have they become the equivalent of Muslim fairy tales that our fathers and mothers tell their children? In fact, just recently when I mentioned Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (rad) to someone, all the person could remember of the name was a story his mother told him some time ago of how a group of robbers repented at his hands.
This is a sad state of affairs for those of us looking to lay the bricks of strength, tolerance, hope and peace of Islam for the future. We have to know what our foundation is made of.
It is through understanding these Saints of Islam that Muslims can learn about how Islam was taught to their ancestors and how it has now reached them. We need this so we can learn about picking up from where we left off, rather than trying to tread unknown paths in the darkness.
It is also through understanding these Saints that Non-Muslims can learn what characteristics and values are important to Muslims, and how the study of the life of the Prophet (Sallalahu’alaiheewasalam) is -supposed- to impact our lives.
In closing this brief introduction, I leave you with the retelling of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani’s experience with the group of robbers.
Here is the actual retelling of his experience:
How seasoned highway robbers were moved to repentance at the hands of Shaikh ‘Abd al-Qadir.
“‘I traveled with a small caravan, bound for Baghdad. When we had reached the vicinity of Hamadhan, and found ourselves in a stretch of rugged terrain, sixty men on horseback suddenly attacked us from an ambush, and seized the caravan. None of them took the slightest notice of me personally, until one of the brigands turned to me in passing, and said: “Hey there, poor beggar, what do you have with you?” So I told him: “Forty dinars,” and he said: “Where are they?” “Stitched in the lining of my coat,” I replied, “underneath my armpit.” He assumed that I was testing his sense of humor, so he left me alone and moved elsewhere. Then a second brigand passed by me, and when he asked me the same question, exactly as the first had asked it, I repeated the answer I had given the first time, and so he also left me alone.
“‘Then the pair of them got together in the presence of their leader, and they told him what they had heard from me. “Bring him here to me,” said the leader, so they brought me to him. They were up on a hill, sharing out the goods they had robbed from the caravan. “What do you have with you?” he asked me, so I said: “Forty dinars.” He then asked: “Where are they?” and I told him: “Stitched in the lining of my coat, underneath my armpit.” So he commandeered my coat, ripped the stitching apart, and discovered that it did indeed have forty dinars inside the lining. “Whatever prompted you to make this confession?” he wanted to know, so I told him: “My mother made me promise to commit myself to truthfulness, and I would never betray my binding covenant with her.”
“‘As soon as he heard these words, the chief brigand began to weep, and he said through his tears: “You did not betray your mother’s covenant, whereas I, for so many years up to this present day, have been betraying the covenant of my Lord!” He thereupon repented at my hands, and his fellow brigands said to him: “You have been our leader in highway robbery [qat' at-tariq], and now you shall be our leader in repentance [tawba].” So they all repented at my hands, and they restored to the caravan whatever items they had seized from the travelers. They were thus the very first of all those sinners who have by now repented at my hands.”‘
His works, his life, and his miracles are accessible here: http://www.al-baz.com/shaikhabdalqadir/
November 21st, 2006 - 5:16 pm
Assalamu Alaikum Yursil:
In one of my searches on SunniPath, I came across this in an answer to a question posed there:
Regardless of everything else Jesus WILL descend from the heaven. He will destroy the cross and kill the swine. The sincere among the Jews and Christians will enter Islam at his hand while the insincere will deny him and join the Dajjal - the Arch-Liar. He will renew the Shari`a of our Prophet Muhammad and kill the Dajjal. He will marry and have children and die together with the last band of believers left on earth, after which the Hour will rise. This is our Sunni faith and whoever wishes to disbelieve let them disbelieve.
Where is this belief written? Is it in the Quran?
Also, In my quest for knowledge, and in keeping with this posting, which teachers of Islam, in keeping with the Sunni Faith should be read and understood?
November 21st, 2006 - 6:45 pm
Salaams Yursil bhai…
Yes, I agree. Most courses on Islamic history offer sira, a few cursory glances at the Umayyad and Abbasid eras, before sweeping the Ottoman centuries in their rush to reach 1924! Islam has had a rich, diverse and fascninating history.
Thinking about it, I suppose that this trend may well result from certain schools of thought which suggest a crude ‘back to the sources’, and as with most such calls, these ideas are fundamentally modernist.
This is one reason why I’m beginning an Islamic history (there’s nothing there at present though).
Abdur Rahman
November 21st, 2006 - 6:57 pm
Assalaamu Alaikum,
To play the devils advocate, I would say that it is a matter of priorities. You may disagree, but if a person does not even know what is personally obligatory on them then it makes sense to skip a while lot of history. That does not mean that you shouldn’t go back and learn it later, but at first learning basic fiqh and aqida is more important in my mind.
I’m not saying all this is so, its just something to think about.
Ma Salaama
November 21st, 2006 - 6:58 pm
Walaikumassalaam Jarhead,
This belief is the summary of authenticated hadith / sayings of the Prophet Muhummad (Sallalahu’alaihewassalaam), which have numerous figurative interpretations within the Sunni tradition about the end-of-times.
For example, when one says he will break the crosses, it is often interpreted that by his presence and actions Jesus (Peace be Upon Him) will make clear he was not sacrificed. By kill the swine, it is traditionally interpreted that he will also reclaim his title of the Messiah from those who denied it.
The Dajjal is our word for Anti-Christ, and we believe Jesus(Peace be Upon Him) will fight the Anti-Christ and win.
I think the Christian religion has a similar belief in the trials and tribulations of the end of the world.
Of course, as firm believers that Islam is the truth, we believe that when Jesus (Peace be Upon Him) returns, He will call all sincere people to believe in Islam as their faith. Furthermore we know it is pre-decreed that the AntiChrist and his compatriots will fight against Jesus (Peace be Upon Him)
One thing to consider is that this is part of speculative theology of prophecies, much of which requires much interpretation as it is being spoken figuratively. Furthermore, another thing to realize while this shows the strength our belief that our faith is true, we do not think the terrorist Osama bin Laden or anyone else can act in Jesus’s (Peace Be Upon Him) capacity or usurp his authority as the true savior. Nor should anyone’s goal be to establish what Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him) will establish.
Rather true Muslims sit and pray for peace and understanding until such a time when Jesus (Peace be Upon Him) returns.
If you are looking to learn details of such theology, then I would recommend to continue with SunniPath to learn the Sunni point of view, specifically surrounding Jesus (Peace Be Upon Him). There are other resources which I could point you to, I will gather them shortly.
On the other hand, if you are looking to determine Islamic values from a spiritual perspective I recommend reading:
http://www.al-baz.com/shaikhabdalqadir/Books_and_Text_of_Wisdom/books_and_text_of_wisdom.html
Which is a collection of books from the Shaykh I mention above.
November 22nd, 2006 - 4:26 am
Shalom,
I agree that there is rampant spiritual poverty. And the signs of this malaise is everywhere to see. Extremism, fanaticism, radicalism, nihilism; take your pick.
November 22nd, 2006 - 7:01 am
Salaams one and all…
I take Isa’ point. Indeed, it is well made. However, I think that, generally speaking, it’s as if Islamic history has been compressed into sira (our root, of course), a few snapshots from the middle before landing with a thud in 1924. It’s as if the in-between bits are somehow unimportant, or at worst, full of bida’. This seems to often go hand in hand with the attempt to remove madhhabs from the scene. Whilst I, for one, am a follower of the Hanafi school, everyone else has the right to follow their own path. But, it feels a bit like throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.
I just think that the truth is more complicated.
Ma’as salama,
Abdur Rahman
November 22nd, 2006 - 8:41 am
as-salamu’alaikum all,
To address Isa’s point, Alhamulillah, Allah made this religion very simple in terms of personal obligations. To learn how to pray, pay Zakat, fast, etc, is actually more straightforward than people like to believe. For the majority of issues are not time-sensitive, one can simply ask their local Islamic leader on what the correct process is.
Studying the legal reasonings behind them is a different issue, and furthermore, studying the depths of how such things need to be carried out in odd or exceptional circumstances is a different issue.
Yes, it is a good thing, for example, to one day have the knowledge of exactly what amount of impurity causes a still body of water to be considered unclean. But for the masses, such issues can become a distraction for the ego in its own way (Though surely it is a better distraction when one considers what other possibilities are out there).
At the same time, I feel there is a focus on such knowledge to the exclusion of knowledge of the self, which is much more critical in our day and age for personal application.
Finally my main thought is the fact that such great teachers of Islam have become relinquished as vague bed time stories for our youth today, or fogotten altogether.
Remembering them and learning about them is also a key part to improving ourselves and dialogue with others.
November 22nd, 2006 - 12:50 pm
Assalaamu Alaikum,
I think we are all in agreement, just saying it in different ways. Are there any good resources you know of Sidi Yursil on Islamic history for those who would be interested in doing some personal research into the matter?
Please make du’a for me.
November 22nd, 2006 - 3:44 pm
Walaikumassalam,
InshaAllah I will compiling a nice resource list and making a post on them discussing each. Make dua for me as well
November 22nd, 2006 - 4:52 pm
S/A
Forgotten Teachers, subject reminded me that, in the Chain of Reference, the silsila of naQshBanD…there is a great grandmaster Sheikeh Mirza Mazhar Jan Janann of Delhi India (1699-1781).
Here is a picture of his khankah and Mazar in Delhi:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/g_c/218521512/in/set-72157594152289800/
Faruk
November 22nd, 2006 - 4:53 pm
S/A
Another picture of the same:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/g_c/218521513/in/set-72157594152289800/