Im tired of all this Sunni-Shia postings. Logging off for now. Our nit-picking tendency and inability to collaborate has created a peculiar situation where we are the only people who viciously criticize each other and pronounce apostasy on one another. Have you ever heard of the followers of Hinduism or Christianity or any other religion saying about one of their denominations that they are out of the fold of Hinduism or Christianity? That they are not Hindus or Christian anymore? Have you ever heard the Pope say that the Presbyterians, Lutherans or Anglicans are not Christians? Have you ever heard the Archbishop of Canterbury talk disrespectfully about the Pope? Have you even heard the Shankaracharya of Puri say that the Namboodris of Guruvayoor or the Sastrys of Tirumala Devasthanam are not really proper Hindus? For the uninitiated, if you even do a cursory scan of the basic tenets of each of them you will see far bigger differences than among any of our Madhaahib or even among the Shia and Sunni. Yet they practice their own and live comfortably and collaboratively with each other. But what about us? If you have read some of the criticism that we hand out so freely to each other – other Muslims – you would have been as dismayed as I am to see the sheer vitriol and venom that it is laced with. And then if you look at the issues that this character assassination is being carried out for you would have a hard time suppressing your laughter. In my travels around the world I am hard pressed to find a country where Muslims are not spending a huge amount of time and energy criticising each other for frivolous and ridiculous matters. We are more concerned for example about a small, minor detail of Fiqh than about keeping the Ummah together which is a direct order of Allah and His Messenger SAW. We are more concerned about whether someone moves their finger in Tashahhud than we are about the fact that the vast majority of this Ummah does not even pray. We are grossly inward looking, tribal, casteist, racist and love creating more and more divisions and breaking up the universal brotherhood of faith that Rasoolullah SAW created and that Allah called the hallmark of this Ummah. How those who are engaged in these activities intend to answer Allah is for them to think about. We tell stories about the beautiful Akhlaaq of our Salaf and how they disagreed with love and respect such that at the end of the dispute they became closer to one another. But if you look at how those very story tellers engage in dispute you will be astonished at their amazing ability to say something without hearing what their own mouths have uttered. When will we learn that a difference of opinion is not opposition and that someone who differs with us is not automatically our sworn enemy to be castigated, excommunicated and consigned to the Hellfire? When will we learn to practice the Adaab (etiquette) of Ikhtilaaf (differing) which we are so fond of talking about? When will we remember that one day we will be called to account before Allah and will have to explain why we spent so much time in self-aggrandizement at the expense of the poor rank and file of this Ummah It is easy to diagnose and describe the ailment. It takes vision, focus, strategy, hard work and metrics to bring about a cure.
Posted on: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:12:53 +0000
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