Problems and solutions: finding a completed knowledge

[Note: the following is the Friday Khutbah 4/8/16 at Toledo Masjid Al-Islam. The opening Hamd has been omitted, much of the original Arabic texts,  and the two sections of the Khutbah have been formatted into one article.]


Acting upon a bit of knowledge


Islam is the fastest growing religion worldwide. Alhamdulillaah, people are accepting it daily, after a process of investigation, on their own free will. Even with that, however, we still face some problems.

One of the issues we face is something that is also faced by Non Muslims with regards to the deen, and it occurs both inside and outside of religion. Essentially, this problem is acting upon only a little bit of knowledge. A person reads an ayah [of the Qur'an] or a hadeeth of the Prophet, or hears about an ayah or hadeeth, and forms a belief or an act based solely upon that. We will look at two examples, one minor and one major, to illustrate this point.

"None touch it except the purified" [Q 56:79]


People hear this verse and say that the Mus-haf [the physical Quranic text] cannot even be touched if that person does not have Wudoo' or is not clean. Thus, a culture has developed wherein there is a reluctance, even today, in giving a Qur'an to a curious Non Muslim.

Before sharing the context, I must share that personally, before reading the Qur'an, I do make Wudoo'! This is also the agreement [Jamhoor] among the madhaahib of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah that Wudoo should be done before reading it, but the scholars do not offer textual support for this. Rather, we do it as a form of respect. With that, let's look at the context:

Indeed, it is a noble recitation, in a guarded record, None touch it except the purified, a revelation from the Caretaker of the Universe, is this a narrative [Hadeeth] that you ridicule, and that you make your money by lying about it." { Q 56:77-82]                            
The context clearly shows us the meaning, i.e.  spiritually dead, folks with sealed hearts, they cannot benefit or receive guidance from this revelation. This is given repeatedly throughout the Qur'an.

The major example is one that gets media attention as well as attention from Muslims. "Fighting is ordered upon you", says the Qur'an. Or "Kill them where you find them" [Q 2:191] . This is a harsh verse, yet when we read the context, we find "and fight in the cause of God those who fight you, and do not transgress the limits [set by God]" { Q 2:191]. Everywhere in the Qur'an where Qitaal is mentioned, we will also find the conditions and context. So Islam is neither a passive faith, nor a religion of aggression and violence.

So we can see what happens when we have the entire picture, the problems and misunderstandings are removed. Knowing the greater picture allows us to make correct judgements. This is not only important for the deen, but it is important for our dunya. Families are broken up, relationships destroyed,   due to misunderstandings, to having access to only half the information. Jumping to conclusions, making hasty decisions, can lead to devastating consequences. We pray to Allah to be people who act upon knowledge, we seek refuge from being hasty, losing control, and making bad choices.

Second lesson

We have to be careful, particularly in public, with our speech. While it is true that we live in a world where opinions are valued, the truth of the matter is that not all opinions are equal.  There is great wisdom in the Qur'anic statement "So ask the people of knowledge, if you don't know" [Q 16:43, among other places].

It is said that Imam Ash-Shafi'ee [ d.820 CE] was once asked by an atheist [Mulhid] if the Qur'an  tells us how to bake bread. The Imam asked for time, and later upon being asked by the questioner, gave the procedure by which bread is made. When asked where this is, the Imam cited this verse. Why? Because he asked a baker, someone whose job is to make bread, and received the answer!

So having a computer and a Facebook account does not qualify a person to speak authoritatively  on the deen, politics, history etc. We must be intelligent enough to see our strengths and weaknesses.

I once took a Non Muslim to an Islamic lecture, and the lecturer spent the next hour making inaccurate and rather ignorant statements on the Bible and Christianity. Obviously, that does not make a good impression. So don't speak on Islam, or Christianity for that matter, if you don't know the subject well enough. We must avoid the traps of self-delusions and have some humility.  Similarly, simply reading WebMD.com does not make you a doctor, a person whose opinion would be more useful than the doctor. Allow those who are trained for the job to do their job, don't seek to undermine them, as you only succeed in harming your own self. Have enough self-respect to know your limits. If you want to go beyond, work hard to reach that, but until then have enough self-respect and respect for those who have the qualifications for their roles.

Let us take lesson from the Prophet's Du'aa. After all, his supplications are not only invoking God, they are instructive for us.

"O Allah, show us truth as truth, and give us the ability to follow it, and show us Baatil  as Baatil, and give us the ability to abstain therefrom."