Mufti: Religious leaders can be challenged

[A response from al-Fadhil Ustaz Muhammad Azlan Abdullatif to Asri’s statement as appeared in Malaysiakini Nov 27, 2006 under heading “Mufti: Religious leaders can be challenged”. http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/60114 -subscriber’s only]

"The purported simplified do-it-yourself approach to understanding and practicing Islam expounded by the youngest-mufti-ever Asri in itself shows his lack of grasp on the intellectual reality of Islamic scholarship. Citing a few legal opinion which he erroneously believe as being"outdated" and "time wasting" he then proceeds to generalize the whole tradition of Islamic scholarship as grossly inadequate and require "tajdid".

This approach, as a student of history may well understand, is the clarion call of every deviated sect in Islamic history, from the Khawarij to the recently risen Islamic liberalism. What better way to further one's agenda than raising up the spectre of a make-believe enemy to cow the uninitiated into submission. In this case branding the intellectual tradition of past scholars as "confusing", "unsuitable with modernity" might well do the trick. If the Shi'is can do it by claiming the same (that the ummah has gone woefully misled and safety is in Shi'ism) why not the Wahhabis (Salafis in Asri's nomenclature).

And to whom does this tajdid falls, you might head-scratchingly wonder? Why, to Asri and his ilk, of course. !! They have, suddenly, in a burst of intellectual epiphany deemed themselves as the next saviour of Islam, understanding seemingly what no other Islamic scholar in the past 1400 years has ever understood, brushing off the methodology of the past scholars as age old relic not fit to see light of day.

As delusionally exciting as his words may seem, Asri forgets that he himself is not ma'sum and to be honest his scholarly capacity can be compared to, say, Imam Al-Ghazali (whom Asri often disparages in his climb to notoriety) akin to pre-schooler to a Nobel prize winner. He unabashedly presents himself as a scholar with original ideas but all the while he himself is imitating (read : taqlid) the ideas of a fringe group of scholars. He himself has never been able to provide a clear and detailed methodology of how "true" Islam can be achieved, instead he couches his archaic ideas in various clichés all the while devoid of any substance. He then whines over the state of the ummah and places the blame squarely on our past scholars and their methodology.

Asri claims we need to go back to the Quran and Sunnah. Well, for the past 1000 years what have we been following? Have the hundreds and thousands scholars all been wrong or deliberately mislead or lack the intellectual capacity? If Asri claims that they're not totally wrong and not totally right, then this is inconceivable as it would mean a break in the narration of the Quranic message, not only in its literal transmission but in its transmission of understanding. If there is this break then how can the truth now be in Asri's hands now since he claim he derives his own knowledge through the same chain of transmission with the same narrators whom the majority now he claims have defects in understanding the Quran and Sunnah. It is as if the total truth has disappeared for a thousand years (barring Ibn Taymiyyah and Muhammad Abdul Wahhab, of course, whom the Salafis make taqlid of) and now, voila, the truth manifest itself in Asri's hands.

If we look closely, the Salafis has never been honest in admitting that they actually have nothing to offer. There has been no significant intellectual contribution from them until this present day from the day of their inception.

Their delusional claim to prominence istotally based on:

(1) raising khilafiyyah issues repeatedly

(2) disparaging past scholars

(3) the deceitful claim that the present practices of Muslims in general are not in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah.

What better way to the limelight than condemning established practices, disparaging distinguished scholars while claiming they hold the keys to salvation? The idea of every Muslim talking about Islam is highly dangerous, in the sense that everybody becomes an expert without the proper knowledge. A Muslim may talk about Islam in its generality but not in its specific. The Quran is specific with the warning : "Do you talk about God that which you do not understand?" and the verse "Is the knowledgable the same as those who do not know?", "ask the scholars if you do not know" and other verses, points to the fact there is a significant difference between the scholar and the layman.

A healthy man may speak about his health and his experience in achieving and preserving his knowledge but without approximately 20 years of training he is no heart surgeon. Of course, everyone has the right to question his or her doctor but without proper medical knowledge he may not comprehend and if matters are taken into his own hands may result in an early appointment with the Angel of Death. You can even sue your doctor in court disputing his diagnosis by calling for a second opinion but that does not make youyourself a doctor. In fact you would contravene the law if you claimyourself as a doctor without the proper qualification. But in the case of Islam everyone who walks and talks can make decisions on the jurisprudence of Islam, on the doctrinal creed of Islam ?? This is of course nonsensical.

As for the fiqh of snow, yes, Malaysia sees no snow, neither did the Hijaz where our Beloved Prophet sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam lived, neither did Egypt (on a regular basis) where the great scholars of the Shafie madzhabs such as Al-Subki, Al-Ramli etc lived and produced their great works. As the Prophet mentioned it, so did our scholars who dutifully recorded it and expounded jurisprudically on it. Now who's following the Prophet?

I can imagine a Malaysian, who has never seen snow and reared under Asri's reformed-and-dynamic-as-opposed-to-conservative fiqh, goes on an expedition to the Arctic in the spirit of Malaysia Boleh, shoulders sagging burdened with sacks of water (oops, no leather sacks or qullah in conservative fiqh terminology, let's use plastic tanks, its more modern) because his reformed minded teacher refused to teach the fiqh of snow as Malaysia has no snow.

As a reminder, lets ponder on the hadith of our Beloved Prophet sallallahu 'alaihi wa sallam : "...........until, when no 'Alim is left, the people will take ignorant men for teachers. These will be questioned and they will reply without knowledge. They are themselves misguided and misguide others". (Narrated by Imam al-Bukhari) and in the words of Munir Abduh Agha :-

“It can be ascertained that the troublemakers (al-mushagibbun)in our time who claim that they belong to the school of the Salaf, outwardly making a show of such affiliation, do not in any way whatsoever belong to it: neither in knowledge nor in practice. They are propagators of falsehood, deception and misguidance devoid of all guidance.”

Wallahu a'lam.

related:
Countering the scary view of Islam