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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (1 of 9), Read 76 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: Murchid
Date: Saturday, June 07, 2003 05:15 PM
We see, nowadays some people giving themselves the right of giving 'Fatwas'among small groups of their followers.They just do so without having the profile of someone who has studied Islam in an academic way and who has had much experience and contacts with very famous religious people with deep knowledge of the history of Islam and the seera of the prophet and so on.They just disagree with someone and decide that he is a 'Kafeer'or they offend people because they believe they 're not good moslems.
I just want somebody to tell me the right of "Fatwa" is given to all moslems!bearing in mind that only God judges us all and only himself knows "what you hide and what you show"
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (2 of 9), Read 60 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: Umm^Abed966
Date: Monday, June 09, 2003 09:24 AM
Assalaamu ^alaykum
This has become a significant issue in recent years. Why? Because the people who seek the obligatory knowledge in Islam are less and less. Ignorance in religion is wide spread, and from this ignorance and arrogance people have begun to read the great Islamic books and assign the meaning that suits them. In recent years, the Muslim Ummah has seen men who have given a number of illegitimate 'fatwas'. They include:
1.) One claims it is haram to use thikr beads because this is bidda (innovation) and he claims all innovation is bad.
2.) One claims that because of 'extreme tribulation', it is fard (obligatory) for a woman to cover even her face and hands.
3.) One claims that the Muslim who follows the civil laws of a non-Muslim country that do not contradict Islam is a kafr and his blood is halal.
4.) One claims that the meaning of the attributes of Allah mentioned in the Qur'an are only to be assigned the apparent meaning, such as hand and face and direction, and that to say that Allah does not resemble His creations and Allah exists without a place (per consensus of the sayings of the companions and scholars) is blasphemy.
5.) One claims that it is halal to eat meat that has not been properly Islamically slaughtered.
6.) One claims that where there is a disagreement between science and Islam, science prevails.
And many, many others. Every Muslim must learn and protect themselves against the tribulations of this ignorance. All of those who give these so called 'fatwas' are easily defeated by those Mohaddath (scholars of Hadith) who still exist. They can be found in most Islamic countries, but they are very few today. When you take knowledge from someone, do not accept what he or she says, no matter who they claim to be or what the people say about them, if it contradicts the Qur'an, Hadith or the Ijma^.
Umm^Abed
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (3 of 9), Read 60 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: NAUSHEEN
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2003 12:16 AM
Assalamuaalikum wa rahmatullah wa barkatuhu,
This is not a very direct approach to the above mentioned concern, but I hope it will benefit and make understand the recent trends, insha allah.
Khutbat al-Jumu`ah
Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani
Masjid al-Iman, Oakland Calif. February 14, 2003
[this is a partially edited transcript. Please excuse any mistakes.]
O Muslims, Believers! We are in a situation that we must not be afraid of Shaytan. Because Allah swt said:
"inna Allah ma` alladheena at-taqaw walladheena hum muhsinoon" _ "Allah is with those who are pious and sincere, those who do good" [16:128].
If you do good, Allah prevents Shaytan from harming the believers. Allah prevents anyone to hurt His servants Allah said:
"Ya ayyuhalladheena aamanu ittaqullah wa koonu ma` as-sadiqeen" _ "O ye who believe! Fear Allah and be with those who are trustworthy (in word and deed)." [9:119]
Be with the trustworthy persons. They don�ft fear anything. It means that Allah is saying, "I will support you, I will back you." And the Prophet (s) told us that whoever is with Allah must not fear anyone.
And he (s) told us about the signs of the time we are in today and I would like to quote a hadith of the Prophet (s) which describes what we have mentioned in many other ahadith before, and shows what is going on today. From it we must understand that this is one of the signs of the Last Days we are approaching. If anyone tells you this world will live forever they are wrong.
You are Muslims believing in what the Prophet (s) brought. He said the dunya is ending and he brought its signs. We believe the Day of Judgment is coming, the end is coming. When Jibreel asked him about the Day ofJudgment the Prophet (s) told Jibreel (as) he doesn�ft know when it will happen but he will give its signs. One of the signs, and we discussed this many times, but one of the signs that we see today among us, is that the Prophet (s) said.
"`An ibn mas`ud qaala kayfa antum idha dhahara feekum al bida` wa `umila biha hatta yarbu feeha as-sagheer wa yahrum al-kabeer"
Ibn Mas`ud said, "How will it be when the innovation is prevalent and the child will be raised in it and the elder will have already become white-haired in it." It means the young will have been raised in it and the old will have already learned it. We are in that now. A lot of ideologies are coming up today, telling us that whatever came before us was wrong.
"�cwa yusallim feeha al-`aajim" _ " �cyour affairs or your leadership will be given to the non-Arabs," the foreigners will control you. There will be different people, other than people of the grassroots controlling you. You see someone out of nowhere becoming a leader. One who knows nothing about the religion becomes a leader, controlling the Muslim countries or Arab states. And he said, "hatta ya`malu ar- rajulu bis-sunnati fa yuqaalu bida`tun." - "when a man follows the Sunnah, it will be said of him, �eInnovation.�f" It means the people will be acting according to the Sunnah of the Prophet and the others will tell them "bida`tun."
That was foretold 1400 years ago.
Today if you do anything according to the Sunnah of the Prophet (s) they tell you "bida`, bida`." Are we seeing this or not?
You cannot move anywhere except they tell you "bida`!"; they tell you "haraam!" they tell you "shirk! , "kufr." There is a group of people among the Muslims, who if they don�ft like what you do, say "bida`, bida`."
You go to any mosque, you can hear that word easily. Are you hearing it or not? [Yes.] < br> And the Prophet (s) mentioned that 1400 years ago. And he (s) said when that happens that is from ashraat as-sa`at _ Signs of the Last Days. We never heard that "bida`, bida`" before, when we were young we never heard it used like that. But the new generation all say that, they were raised in it. They are in that hadith now. Everything they are learning from those who said "bida`, bida`," and they go on the street and tell everyone this is bida`, this is haraam. That is one of the most problematical issues we are facing today.
They said [addressing Ibn Mas`ud], "Ya Aba Abdur Rahman, when will that happen?" He said, "idha kathurat umara`akum" _ "when your leaders will increase". Today there is not one person now without a different amir. You don�ft find three without an amir. You don�ft find one without an amir. Look on the Internet. Everyone has become his own amir. Each one makes a verdict, a fatwa.
"�cwa qallat umana�fukum." _ "And your trustworthy ones will decrease." " �cwa kathurat qura�fukum. Wa qallat fuqaha�f ukum." - "And the number of your Qur�f an reciters will increase and the number of their fuqaha will decrease."
It means they won�ft have any knowledge of hadith or fiqh. Only memorizing Qur�fan. That is a sign and today we see it. There are so many people memorizing Qur�fan. He was not saying that is bad, but it is a sign. Today we see that everywhere, people sending their children to learn the Qur�fan, but "qallat fuqaha�fukum," _ "your scholars of fiqh have decreased." There is no more �eilm, no more fiqh. No one is learning the meanings of Qur�fan, no one is learning the hadith, no on is learning the reasons for revelation of each verse. "�cwa tafuqahu li-ghayri id-deen." _ "and they will study [intensively] other than the religion." They will learn Qur�fan and leave learning fiqh and increase in secular science to learn something other than religion.
That is what we are seeing. In the time of the Sahaba or the Umawi dynasty or the Abbasid dynasty, people were running after Islamic knowledge. Today that is no longer true _ it is finished. Now they are running to study secular knowledge and leaving religious study. You can be balanced, studying both in equal proportions. "�cwabtughyat id-dunya bi `amal il- akhira." - "People will seek work of < I>dunya and leave work of akhira. " No one will be interested in akhira and everyone will be interested in dunya.
That hadith reflects what we are seeing today. Everything to us and our new generation _ everything is becoming bida`, as the Prophet (s) mentioned. And in another hadith describing the signs of the Last Days:
"`an abi qilaba qaala mu`adh takunu fitanun" _ Abi Qilaba said that Mu`adh said, "there will be too much confusion, disturbances," - "yakuthuru feeha al- maal" _ "there will be too much money."
You see today a lot of money in the hands of people. Billions of dollars around the world. People before had something. Before, in the time of the Prophet (s), they used to eat two or three dates a day. The Prophet (s) was tying his stomach with a rope and a stone, in order not to feel the hunger. That is the Prophet (s) of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Messengers (s). Is anyone doing that today? If you don�ft have hundreds of different types of food on the table you don�ft eat. If you don�ft have that you say, "This is not a rich table." < br> Now listen to what I am coming to in this hadith.
"�cwa yuftahu feeha al-Qur�fan" - " �cthe Qur�fan will be opened." He did not say, "wa yuhfadhu feeha al-Qur�fan." (the Qur�fan will be memorized). It means when you open the Qur�fan and you want to go through it; you are not studying it. You want to see the meaning. And if you don�ft learn the hadith that explain the Qur�fan and learn what the Sahaba say about each of the ayats, and seerat an-Nabi, the life of the Prophet (s), you cannot understand the Qur�fan. He said "yuftahu feeha al- quran," not yuhfadhu (memorize) or yudras (study). Some people go through it, to see what is there.
That is skimming, going through it quickly. Look at what comes next. That will explain to you what is happening today.
"�chatta yiqra�fuha al-mu�fmin wal- kaafir." _ "until they read it: both the believer and the unbeliever." [another narration has: "until they read it: both the beliver and the hypocrite"] They only read it today. They don�ft seek out its deep meanings, to become an `aalim. They are not struggling to understand it. The Muslims will read it and even non-Muslims will read it. Are you seeing this today? Yes, this is what we see today.
Before, there was no way for someone other than a Muslim to touch a Qur�fan. If you went to a Muslim country, it was not allowed if you didn�ft have wudu; you could not touch the Qur�fan. Now it is available on every shelf and they can look at it. They open the Qur�fan and they skim through it and look for what they are seeking. They skim for it looking for a meaning they desire [to support one argument or another].
"Those who are not believers in Islam will be reading the Qur�fan." That is a sign of the Last Days that the Prophet (s) mentioned to his Sahaba and his Sahaba mentioned to us.
"�cwal marra�fatu war-rajul was-sagheeru wal-kabeer." _ "�cthe woman and the man and the old and the young." Everyone will be reading the Qur�fan.
That was described at the beginning as "takunu fitanun." - "There will be many trials and confusion." And people will be reading the Qur�fan in order to understand what is going to come.
At this time what must you do?
And the Prophet said, when this happens, what do you have to do? "Fa yaqra�fuha rajulun, wa yaqulu qara�ftuhu `alaaniyyatan fa laa araanee uttaba`u fa-yaq`udu fee baytihi fa yabnee masjidan fee daarihi thumma yabtadi`u bi maa laysa fee kitabillahi wa laa sunnati rasulillah salla Allahu `alayhi wa sallam fa iyyakum wa ma abtad`a fa-innahu dalaalatan." - "A man reads the Qur�fan and he says, �eI read it in public and no one followed it.�f So he sits in his home, and he builds a mosque in his house and then he begins to innovate in the religion what is not found in either the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him. So beware of him and what he innovates, for certainly it is misguidance."
And here is the problem. "Thumma yabtadi` bi maa laysa fee kitabillah wa laa sunnati rasulillah." _ "and then he begins to innovate in the religion what is not found in either the Book of Allah or the Sunnah of the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him." When you do not follow a teacher or a guide to teach you the Qur�fan, you will understand it incorrectly and begin to innovate what is not in the Qur�fan or in the Sunnah of the Prophet (s). That is what we see today. They sit behind the computers, in their little rooms, reading the Qur�fan and making fatwa without knowledge.
Those who read Qur�fan without `ilm, because there are no `ulama to guide them, will be innovating, sitting in their mosque, in their rooms, innovating and making mistakes. This is what the Prophet (s) foretold a long time ago. I will not go to the 3rd hadith. These are from the signs that the Prophet (s) mentioned to us. There will be young people, sitting in their homes, when their homes become a masjid, innovating, they have no `ilm and they think they know something and they begin to innovate things.
[In a later explanation: They sit in rooms _ they have rooms in their houses where they have their computers, full of Qur�fan, with CDs and so on. Then they open the Internet and begin to chat. Again they go through rooms _ chat rooms. These rooms and webpages are called "masjid of the internet," "internet mosque," and so on. They begin to chat with others in the "room" and they quote from the Qur�fan here and there to support their fatwa, saying this action is bida`, this one kufr, this one haraam, this one shirk. Then someone else, will enter the discussion and reject that with another argument and verse, and so on, each misguided and each misguiding.] This is from the signs that the Prophet (s) mentioned. Now there is no more trust, no one to trust. You don�ft know where to go any more. That is why he said, in another hadith, that you must be by yourself.
He said in another hadith that when confusion begins to fill the earth the one sitting is better than the one standing, the one standing is better than the one walking, the one walking is better than the one riding�c
Sit at home and be by yourself. Take care of your family and children. Nothing is coming out of what is happening today except confusion. Your benefit is to obey Allah and the Prophet (s).
We must not be part of a political discussion or a political view; of a problem here or there. It is better for us as individuals, who cannot change anything, to keep quiet. We are not leaders. We are individuals. If the Arabs and Muslim countries can change anything, let them. They cannot. Can you? [yes] Ok. Show me that you can change anything.
You can only make a change by praying in your heart asking Allah to solve the problems that we are facing. Man ra�f minkum munkaran fal yughayirru bi-yadihi fa in lam yastai`, fa bi-lisaanihi fa in lam yastati` fa bi-qalbihi wa dhaalik ada`af al- imaan." _ "He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the least of faith."
If instead of these wrong demonstrations they are making, if we all go to a stadium, all of us and all together 100 thousand, 200 thousand, we ask, "O Allah let us live in peace with everyone else." Allah will give peace to everyone.
"inna Allaha la yughayyiru ma bi-qawmin hatta yughayyiroo maa bi anfusihim" _ "Verily never will Allah change the condition of a people until they change it themselves (with their own souls). " [13:11]
We are fighting. Two mosques here cannot agree on anything. Do you think that Arab and Muslim countries are going to agree with each other? If two mosques cannot meet and come together on a common ground to agree, do you think nations will? You want to go to demonstrations, go see what you can change.
You want to demonstrate, go to Allah. Instead of demonstrating to people, demonstrate to Allah and say, "Ya Rabbee we are coming to You, we are asking." Don�ft you think Allah will grant that request, if all are coming sincerely, like in Arafat, 3 million people raising their hands, saying "O Allah let us live in peace." Everyone. Everyone is Allah�fs creation. Everyone is a human being. Allah swt will send peace to everyone. May Allah forgive us. May He make us understand that we are in the Last Days. More events are coming to show the correctness of the predictions of the Prophet (s) and that is what we are seeing day after day.
Be not heedless of thy Lord for even the blink of an eye, Lest He directs His attention towards you, and finds you unawares.
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (4 of 9), Read 58 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: Umm^Abed966
Date: Thursday, June 12, 2003 10:54 AM
Assalaamu ^alaykum
I agreed with this speech at the beginning. We are certainly seeing the proof of the Hadiths on the last days. No doubt. But for an Imam to say sit in you home, there is nothing you can do!!!!!! I was floored. I certainly understand the EXTREME frustration that this man must have been feeling to say that, but that does not mean that this is the path to advise people to take. We must encourage each other to learn! There are knowledgeable teachers everywhere. If anyone here can't find one, e-mail me! I will tell you where you can find one. I agree that we should not waste our time on politics. But we must take to the streets calling for Islam at the top of our lungs. If we know that the time may be close, we must increase our efforts to save as many people as we can. We must warn them about those who spread misguidance. Nausheen, I am sorry. I did not mean to attack. I hope you did not take it that way. But just because most of the 'Islamic centers' are directed by ignorant or misguided people, that does not mean we give up. This is not what the Prophet taught us.
Umm^Abed
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (5 of 9), Read 55 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: NAUSHEEN
Date: Friday, June 13, 2003 03:43 AM
Sister Umm Abed, walaikum assalam wa rahamtullah wa barkatuhu,
There s nothing to feel uncomfortable with your disagreement. I do not mind at all :-)
I think there is something very subtle running thru the theme. he did not say, u sit at home and do nothing. He said, go home and make dua.
Sister, we know that there are great powers in dua. When all efforts fall in vain, even then allah has recommended us to 'ask Him'.
He is discouraging ppl from falling into arguments and wasting time on political issues, but is also at the same time encouraging them in involving oneself in the service of Allah. In seeking Him thru the right guidance.
A Hadith says a time will come when a person will not be able to condemn the evil, and injustice openly. What should he be doing then?
Even in that time he will be rewarded if he bears condemnations of the wrong actions in his heart.
Sister when ur actions are made futile, u shld turn to allah for help. I think this is message is at the heart of the Khutba, and allah know best.
Ma salama,
Nausheen
Be not heedless of thy Lord
for even the blink of an eye,
Lest He directs His attention towards you,
and finds you unawares.
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (6 of 9), Read 59 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: Umm^Abed966
Date: Friday, June 13, 2003 08:53 AM
Assalaamu ^alaykum
Yes, sis Nausheen. I understand the point now. But we are still sooooo far from the time when one cannot stand up and defend right and justice openly. It scares me when I see people give up this way. Du^a is very important. Du^a is very strong and has many secrets. But we must keep teaching, and defending, and refuting the ahl fitna. The more difficulty we have, the more opportunity for bala'. I agree that we should not waste our time with matters of politics. We are suffering such extreme difficulties because we have strayed so far from Islam. Do you know that few people in Haifa know how to read Qur'an? Do you know that you can walk in the market in many of the countries of ash-Sham and hear people cursing Allah out of anger. They are so ignorant that they do not know that this makes them a non-Mulsim. Some of them believe that when they say the shahadatayn in the prayer, that this is sufficient to bring them back to Islam. It is not. We must teach. Du^a is rewardable, but teaching vital. There is a Hadith in the meaning of, the Prophet Muhammed, peace be upon him, entered a Mosque. There were two groups of people sitting. One was making thikr and one was taking Islamic knowledge. He chose to sit with those learning Islamic knowledge. This is proof of the high status of teaching and learning. I much prefer to hear the people directed to come out more. To go to the centers of learning and learn how to teach Islam. To send their children to Islamic schools. Politics are futile, but teaching is not.
I do understand the point, but I think that more might have been said.
Umm^Abed
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (7 of 9), Read 60 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: NAUSHEEN
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 01:42 AM
assalamualaikum wa rahamtullah wa barkatuhu, [With all due respect and no offense intended]
sis umm Abed says:
I do understand the point, but I think that more might have been said.
Sis, I said that once to a friend only to realise what mistake I was making in my judgement, and i see u making the same mistake. [please do not think that i disregard your criticism - in fact it is quite acceptable]
One thing that you do not bear in mind (probably) when u read the above article, is that this is a khutabat -ul-juma. A speech given to an audience, whose mind set and whose current problems are known to the person who is addressing them. I am not sure under what circumstances this khutba was delivered, but i once read a khutba(some other, not this one), and made the same mistake.
I judged the speech from my perspective, where I was not included as an audience for that particular speech, and what i said was .. "there is so much redundancy here, and there are so many other issues which shld be address on the said subject, but are missing."
A friend had showed that to me, and when she heard my reaction, smiled and said, "This is a juma khutba....delivered by Maulana Maududi to some audience in a remote village in pakistan".
This simple explanation made almost everything fall in place automatically. I don't know if u are aware of Maulana Abu ala Maududi, but he is a reknowned scholar of not so long ago. I think Abdullah Yusuf Ali and Maulana Maududi were contemporaries. Many of his writng have been published, including many khutba.- most of it is in Urdu.
So I could dismiss the (assumed) flaws in the Khutba, just by knowing that it was given by someone who is respected widely, and by understanding that the speech was specifically addressing a particular set of audience at a given time. - Keeping this in mind, what was said there was making a lot more sense.
I am not sure how much you know of the Imam who is giving the above khutba, or if you have read any other writings/speeches from this person .... however I can tell you that I do not agree with your thinking of him as 'in desperation'.
Secondly, i am not sure under what circumstances this khutba was given, and what kind of an audience it was to whom it was delivered.
My initial mistake (which i now see) is to post something on a discussion board which is not necessarily universal, to this I extend my apologies.
I thought this bears some relevance to the subject of this thread, and it did benefit me when i read it the first time, hence it was shared.
In many ppl's writings I have read at the end ... "take that which benefits you, and leave what is of no relevance" :) I also write it sometimes, may be this is what is missing most critically here.
Ma salama
Nausheen
Be not heedless of thy Lord for even the blink of an eye, Lest He directs His attention towards you, and finds you unawares.
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (8 of 9), Read 52 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: Umm^Abed966
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 01:38 PM
Assalaamu ^alaykum
Barak Allahu feeki, Sis.
I agree with your post completely. We do tend to interpret things as they relate to our own personal perspective. I am certainly not immune to this. Thank you for reminding me to step outside myself. I needed it.
Umm^Abed
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Topic: WHO HAS THE RIGHT OF FATWA ? (9 of 9), Read 41 times
Conf: Issues: Nationalism Within the Ummah
Reply From: webb21
Date: Tuesday, September 16, 2003 05:43 AM
It has been my understanding that anyone, idiot or scholar, can give a fatwa. That doesn't mean you have to care. if my hamster gives a fatwa, am I or anyone else
gonna listen? (Well, actually, if my hamtser could give fatwas, that would be kinda neat, but moving on...) Also
from my understanding, fatwas are non-binding legal opinions. Look for the merit behind the opinion. If Abdullah (names chosen arbitrarily) gives a fatwa about something, he has to back it up. His reasoning can't be, "Well, because that's the way it is." We look to scholars to give fatwas as they are (hopefully) more
learned on the matter. And remember! Scholars dissagree. You can easily get conflicting fatwas. Consider which madhab the are from, and which fatwa best follows the Qur'an and Sunnah--that is what really counts.
It is very unfortunate to have just anyone giving out fatwas to unlearned people, knowing that they have nothing to do but follow them, for better or for worse. That is when fatwas become a political tool, and that (in my opinion, at least) is wrong.
All this is only according to my very basic understanding up to this point. If I got something wrong, feel free to correct me.
(Oh, an the hamster thing, that was just humor, so don't go nuts on me. :-)
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