Dealing with Theological Differences in the Real World - Corrected Khutba

Dealing with Theological Differences in the Real World

Dr. Yasir Qadhi | September 1, 2013

Opening

To everyone, I say (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِ اللهِ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ - bismi-llāhi al-ḥamdu li-llāhi, wa-ṣ-ṣalātu wa-s-salāmu ʿalā rasūli-llāhi, wa ʿalā ālihi wa ṣaḥbihi ajmaʿīn, wa-l-ḥamdu li-llāh) السلام عليكم ورحمة الله

Welcome to MSA National Session entitled, "Bridging the Gap, Putting All Titles Aside."

We have our dear, esteemed Imam Zaid Shaker, as well as Sheikh Dr. Yasir Qadhi here with us today, to address this topic that's plaguing MSAs, that's plaguing masajid, and even communities, and even families at this point in time. So inshallah, through this session, we learn how to bridge the gap.

Too often, our MSAs become divided based on differences in thoughts and ideas, the ideologies of the different organizations we are members of, or the institutions whose weekend seminars we attend. It does not change our core belief as Muslims. Acknowledging and welcoming the various levels of religious beliefs is an important first step towards building diverse communities on campus.

Introduction

So this is a very controversial topic, and I thank the MSA for being so bold as to talk about this elephant in the room, because even if we ignore it, it doesn't go away. It is a reality that the Ummah is facing. It is a reality that especially our MSA campuses are facing.

And no doubt, a small talk such as this one is not going to solve the problem, but at least it opens up the dialogue, and at least inshallah, just the air of tension is kind of dissipated. If we can just acknowledge there's this big elephant here, and it's standing right here, and it's disturbing the rest of us, we need to figure out what to do with it. So I'm just going to talk in some broad points.

The Question of Labels

Why Do We Have Labels?

First and foremost, the issue comes: a lot of people say, why do we have all these labels? Why do we care about this or that? Can't we just say we're Muslim and that's it? And the fact of the matter is that this is a very valid point to a certain level and degree. Allah says in the Quran:

"He is the one who has called you Muslim."

So our name is Islam, or our religion is Islam, our name is Muslim. We are indeed Muslim. And at some level it would be great if we could just keep with this term. What is important to acknowledge: the only term that is Quranic is Muslim. The only term that really we have to defend is that of Islam. All other terms have historical baggage and legacies. And it is possible to take those terms and use them legitimately. And it is possible to take those exact terms and misuse and abuse them.

Origin of the Term "Sunni"

So, the term Sunni for example. Where does it come from? Well, historically speaking, the term Sunni most likely originated - our earliest books of theology mention that it was none other than Ibn Abbas, the cousin of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) who coined this term:

And this term was coined from Ahadith. Ahadith mentions, follow the Sunnah, follow the Jama'ah. So he took these Ahadith and he coined the phrase أهْلُ السُّنَّةِ وَالْجَمَاعَةِ. And he coined this phrase when the first schism took place, when the first sectarianism began. And the very first group that began was that of the Khawarij.

The Context of the Khawarij

The Khawarij were a fanatical group by all understandings of Islam. Everybody agrees they were extremely fanatical. Because they believed in some very strange ideas. And they actually would become militant and kill people. And that is why when modern militant groups are mentioned, a lot of times our theologians say, they have characteristics of the Khawarij. And there is an element of truth in this.

My point being, when another group came along, now the Sahaba Ibn Abbas, they felt the need to clarify: hold on a sec, we are not those extremists. And so he mentioned this term that is called أَهْلُ السُّنَّةِ وَالْجَمَاعَةِ - "We are the people who follow the Sunnah." Because the Khawarij, they rejected the Sunnah. They didn't follow the Sunnah.

Example from Sahih Bukhari

And an example of this is in Sahih Bukhari. The Khawarij believe that a lady in her monthly cycle, of course she doesn't fast and pray. And this is all methodologies. The Khawarij said, she has to make up her prayer just like she makes up her fast. Whereas of course, أَهْلُ السُّنَّةِ or the Sunni Fiqh says what? That the lady in that state, she only makes up the Ramadan fast. And she doesn't make up the prayer. So this group, they rejected the Sunnah.

Where do you get this from? It's in the Sunnah. We don't have it in the Quran. So the Khawarij said, she has to make up all of her prayers. For the entire week, she has to make up all prayers. And she has to make up all of her fast as well.

So a lady of them came to Aisha, our mother Aisha (رضي الله عنها - radiAllahu 'anha). And she asked Aisha, is it true that a lady has to do that, etc. Aisha says:

(Bukhari hadith 321)

"Are you from the Haruriya?"

So she used the term. And this is like Haruri is what they call Khawarij. Because they lived in a city called Harura. أأَنْتِ حَرُورِيَّةٌ؟ My point being names do have some sense to use at some time and place.

When Names Become Beneficial vs. Problematic

When Names Are Beneficial

There are occasions where names become beneficial. Because the fact of the matter is that no matter how generic you wanna be about Islam, still there are beliefs and theologies that everyone of you in this audience would find repulsive. There have been historical groups in our religion who claim that Allah came down in the form of a man. Historical, back in the past. Frankly there are some modern groups that still claim this. That Allah came down in the form of a man. That this man was Allah on earth. Now obviously this is a belief that everyone of us in this room finds reprehensible.

There have been very strange opinions in the history of the ummah by people who claimed to be Muslim. You know there are groups that emanated from Islam, they're still around. As a part of their rituals, they drink wine during their salah. This is a part of their rituals. As a part of their rituals, their prayer consists of drinking wine. Now who amongst us would say that this is something a part of Islam. So at times and at places, names become useful.

Questions That Define Categories

Do you believe in Qadr? Yes you do. Well guess what, that makes you a certain type of Muslim. Call it Sunni. Because one of the fundamental points of Sunnism against its group Mu'tazilism and Khawarijism was we believe in Qadr. We believe in Allah's Qadr. Do we believe in Qadr? Yes we do. Well then automatically that kind of puts us in one.

Do we respect the sahaba? Well yes we do. So automatically that puts us in one category. Even if you don't use the name, the fact of the matter, somebody can ask you a series of questions and then say, well you know what, you might as well just call yourself da da da, because that's exactly what you just described.

So the point being, at some place, at some time, at some level, names do have a benefit. When they're descriptive, when they become divisive, that's a problem.

When Names Become Problematic

When they become divisive, when they lead to anger, violence, militancy, that is a problem. And we see this even in terms that are Quranic.

The Example of Muhajir and Ansar

Classic example from the lifetime of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam), that's the term muhajir and the term ansar. Are these Quranic terms or not? Yes or no? Yes. Did the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) not mention the blessings of the ansar and the blessings of the muhajir? Yes or no? Yes. So he categorized Muslims by terms, muhajir and ansar. And Allah praises the muhajirs and Allah praises the ansar. Well muhajir and ansar, Allah mentions in the Quran.

Now what happened? In one incident, in one of the ghazawat, when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) was returning back from this expedition, two of the kids, teenagers, they were both teenagers, one from the ansar, one from the muhajirun. They fell into some dispute, they were told to get water, on the way one of them played a practical joke on the other, the other one fell down, as kids are prone to do. He got so angry, he started beating the other one up. Then the other one started beating the other one.

This is what kids do, this is what teenagers do, you expect that to happen. Each one of them goes back to their people, the muhajir on one side, the ansar on the other. And the anger is riled up. And so the elders got involved. And one of them says, "Ya lal muhajireen, O muhajirs, come." And the other says, "Ya lal ansar, O ansar, come."

And the two of them, adults now, they got sucked into this problem of kids. By the way, any of you who is a parent, you know this happens all the time. Somebody beats your kid up, you wanna go beat the kid's parents up, right? Where is this father, I'm gonna go right now. This is human nature, you become so protective, right? I'm gonna speak to that mother, how dare she raise a son like this? This is human nature, right? It gets out of hand very easily.

Of course, it's not good, it's not something that... You know, so the sahaba, their emotions got the better of them, and this shows they're human beings. They're human beings, they're not divine. So, what happened? The muhajirun, the ansar, they lined up. Tension is rising. They didn't get into a fight, but tension is rising. Shouting match going on. Between the muhajirs on one side, the ansar on the other. These terms are Quranic. The two peoples have been praised by their name.

But now what's happening? The term is being misused and abused for something that is bad, and that is divisiveness. And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) hears the commotion, he goes outside. And he said:

(Bukhari hadith 4905)

"What are you doing? Is this what you have been commanded to do? And I am still in your midst and you're breaking up? I mean, how could you do this? I'm in your midst and you're breaking up? Leave these calls to partisanship. Leave these calls to group mentality, my group versus that group. Leave them because they are muntina."

And muntina in English, I don't know of any one equivalent, but it means it's infested and rotting and disgusted. You call a carcass muntin. Leave these calls to partisanship, my group. And this is basically a very gang mentality. My gang or else that's it.

So when the term, that is a Quranic term, was misused and abused, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم - sallAllahu 'alayhi wa sallam) did not criticize the term, he criticized the misuse and abuse.

Dealing with Theological Differences

The Role of Scholars vs. Laypeople

Now, also the issue, I wanna talk a little bit about, well, what exactly do we do when we disagree with somebody theologically? Historically speaking, our ummah has divided primarily over theological sectarianism, primarily. The legal schools by and large have accepted one another. Anybody who divided the ummah based on legal madhabs, they were considered to be fanatic even by their own school of law.

Whether you're Hanafi or Shafi'i or Maliki or Hanbali, whether you're Zahiri or Ahlul Hadith, the scholars have pretty much tolerated the spectrum of opinion about fiqh, about the schools of Islamic law. The issues of controversy came over theology: divine predestination, do you affirm it, do you deny it? Human will, does it have any efficacy or not? Issues of Allah's attributes, issues of the sahaba.

These are the issues that really the ummah took with great care, and they considered somebody who agreed or disagreed as being of this sect or of that sect.

So what exactly do you do with somebody who once you study Islam, once you identify, look, I feel comfortable, for example, affirming qadr. I believe that Allah's qadr is true. Allah has qadr. And we believe in qadr, this is the pillar of our iman. Now you find somebody, and he says, I don't believe in qadr. I don't believe that there is qadr. He denies qadr. What exactly is our position towards this person?

Well, in a nutshell, and again this is a very deep topic, in a nutshell, we first and foremost realize that the lay Muslim is not qualified to pass a judgment. The lay Muslim should not and does not get involved in labeling and in figuring out what to do with somebody of a different theology. This is not the job of the lay Muslim. It's not the job of the average person to go around stamping, you're this and you're that, and you're this and you're that.

Nor is it the job of the lay Muslim to figure out what to do. Oh, this person he says there's no qadr, you know what, he's not allowed in our MSA. That's not your job.

Consulting the Scholars

Whose job is it? The people of knowledge. Go to the people of knowledge. And the people of knowledge, it is their responsibility to look at the scenario, look at the situation, look at how, if you like, heinous this issue is, or how trivial. It might be very trivial, it might be very big. And it is up to the scholars to judge.

If a Muslim says, I believe Allah came down in the form of a man, and that he walked on this earth and he did da-da-da-da. If a person comes to me, I will say, look, this is a person, you should not pray behind him. Because his beliefs are so esoteric, so extreme, that really this is a person you should not pray behind. If he wants to come to your MSA and pray behind you, well, that's fine. But you should not make him your imam. And you should not give him a position of leadership, because he believes in a belief that by unanimous consensus of basically all the scholars of mainstream Islam, this is not a Muslim to believe that Allah comes down like a man and preaches. Because this was the belief of some extreme groups, by the way. And as you know, there are still some groups like this, very small percentage.

So my point is, this is not the job of the layperson. You go to the scholar. And the scholar, what will the scholar do? The scholar will look at the circumstance of the society. The scholar will look at the reality of the situation and scenario. The scholar will weigh the pros and the cons, which the lay Muslim is not qualified to do. And guess what? The pros and the cons vary from time to time, from place to place, from situation to situation.

Historical Examples of Cooperation

Early American Muslim Community

My own father came to America 1963, 50 years ago. And Alhamdulillah, he's one of the main pioneers of the Islamic society of greater Houston. Made the first masjid in Houston. And he tells us all of these stories. One of the things we just heard from Imam Zaid as well, that back in the 60s and 70s, the Muslim community was so small, they didn't have the luxury to care about labels.

Anybody who was a Muslim needed to get involved to build the first masjid. And my father tells me, some of the main people that got involved happened also to be Shia and Sunni. They both joined hands to build the first masjid in Houston. Without that cooperation, the first masjid would not have been built.

So back in the 60s and 70s, all Muslims, they realize, at least here in America, and back in the Arab world, back in Pakistan and India, of course this is not happening. But in America, the Muslims realized, look, we don't have the luxury of splitting up Sunni and Shia. We have to join hands financially, quantity wise. If we were to split up, we don't have a masjid.

Now as the quantity of both communities increased, by the time the 80s came along, both communities had a healthy parting of ways. And they realized, you know what, it's healthier for the both of us, we have our own masajid, so that there's no tension. And historically speaking, this has been the way around the

Muslim world. Let's be frank here. Historically speaking, a masjid has been either this or that, and there's nothing wrong with that.

So when the quantity, when the finances came, these two communities realized, look, you know what, let's have a healthy parting of ways, it's better for the both of us. And if one of the Sunni wants to pray in the Shia masjid, one of the Shia wants to pray in the Sunni, not a problem. If you're driving by, there's the Shia masjid there, it's time for dhuhr salah, go and pray there. It's a masjid where you pray to Allah, and vice versa. But to have Shia events, to have Sunni events, each community feels better to have its own masjid.

Circles of Cooperation

The Forest vs. the Trees

Why can't we tolerate this diversity and understand, you cannot eliminate this group. Now, I wanna be very clear here, I am obviously a Sunni theologian, and I deeply believe in Sunni theology. My disagreement with other theologies should not translate into trying to ban their existence. Should not translate into even more than this, which is istaghfirullah, militancy or violence.

Look, if I disagree with a person's theology, Allah will be the judge. My job is to preach what I believe is the truth. You come and ask me about the sahaba, about this and that, I'll tell you my position, and I will prove what I think are Quranic and Sunni evidences. But other groups have been around for 13 centuries or 14 centuries. Do you think single-handedly you'll eliminate them, just because you hate them or despise them? Get real, get pragmatic, get realistic.

They will exist whether you like their theology or not. So, what does this mean? This means that what I'm proposing really, to put it in a nutshell, we have to be mature enough to separate the forest from the trees. You all know this expression. You have the capability to examine only one tree, and you also have the capability to take a step back, and look at the whole forest. We need to look at what's going on in the ummah.

And we need to realize that at different times, at different places, for different scenarios. We need to put our theological differences aside. And for certain situations and scenarios, we can take those differences into account.

Different Levels of Cooperation

I call this circles of cooperation. Circles of cooperation. These circles of cooperation vary. They change from time to place to person.

Broadest Circle: Legal and Social Issues

For example, in our modern day communities. We can get together with every single Muslim of any background to challenge the anti-sharia bills that are taking place across America. Why do I care whether this person is a Sufi or Salafi or Shi'i or this or that? We want masses to come together and sign petitions, to tell our federal and our local state governments that you can't ban the sharia, we're all following the sharia.

At this level of cooperation, I get everybody on board. SubhanAllah, not even Muslim. We get together non-Muslims who want to stand for freedom and want to stand for the First Amendment. I'll get together atheists, pagans, anybody who wants to protect the First Amendment and not ban my practice of religion. My cooperation with an atheist doesn't mean I approve of his atheism. Clear? My cooperation with a pagan, with somebody, doesn't mean that I approve. It's for this matter, we are coming together for the common good.

Narrower Circle: Religious Leadership

Now, would I invite an atheist to lead the salah in the masjid? Obviously not. So for that circle of cooperation, we narrow it down. Who am I gonna invite to give a khutbah, to give a lecture? It's somebody our community looks up to and respects. I'm not gonna invite somebody who believes that Allah came down in the form of a man to give a khutbah in my masjid.

The circle of cooperation will be a little bit stricter. The fact that I can appear with the same person on stage when I'm petitioning for freedom doesn't mean that I agree with him 100%. If we were to do this, then wallahi, you're gonna sit at home and not do anything with anybody.

Prophetic Example

And our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم)Sirah is the best example. He took help from the pagan Arabs, pagan Meccans against those who were persecuting. And I've given an entire talk about this, you can find it online, it's called "The Legacy of a Kafir, Mut'im ibn Adi." I have a whole talk about this. The Legacy of a Kafir, Mut'im ibn Adi.

Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) praised Mut'im ibn Adi, even though Mut'im never accepted Islam. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) gave him the equivalent of a medal of honor. A 21-gun salute, the equivalent after his death. Our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) honored his memory after his death, even though he died a pagan. Why? Because Mut'im did so much to benefit the ummah and our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) accepted that benefit and was grateful to him.

If you can take the help of somebody who lowers his head in front of an idol, which is what Mut'im used to do. If you can take his help for the sake of truth and justice, freedom, then surely you can take the help of everybody else.

Guidelines for MSAs

Primary Principle

So the bottom line, brothers and sisters, I don't want to go too long here. The bottom line is, the MSAs should not be the arena where theological battles are fought out. The MSA should be a place where all students who are Muslims find some type of refuge, some type of solace and comfort.

Now, no doubt, I'm being very generic here and simplistic, but sometimes issues do happen where somebody comes with a very strange ideology. By the way, when I say strange, I mean strange. Generic Sunni movements, it's not the job of the MSA to divide between them.

But sometimes somebody comes along and he really does hold the equivalent of Allah comes down in the form of a man. Sometimes really bizarre. In these types of scenarios, it makes sense to say, Okay, look, this type of group, we really can't have as the president of the MSA. Somebody who's representing the Muslims on campus cannot believe that this type of weird theology.

For these types of scenarios, go to your local scholars, go to your local imams, go to your local shaykhs and find out what is to be done. But the mainstream movements of Islam that have been historically recognized as being mainstream movements of Islam, Sunni, Salafi, in our times, These are not terms that we divide the ummah over.

Practical Application

These are not issues that should ever reach the level of, Astagfirullah, should this person be on our board? Should he be a president? No! La hawla wa quwwata illa billah. The average Muslim who believes in the six pillars of iman, who strives to practice the five pillars of Islam, this person is your Muslim brother. And he or she deserves the love that all Muslims deserve.

And listen to me very carefully, the average Muslim is not required to identify with any group. Allah will not question the average Muslim about the deep issues of theology. Did you believe in Allah'shikmah and ta'leel, for example? Did you believe in some minute shaykh? Did you believe in tasabbubunal asbab? The person who's gonna be scratching his head, what? 99% of the Muslims are ignorant of these issues, even though they're standard issues that are discussed, even in intermediate books of theology.

Allah will not question a person beyond his capability. And if the average Muslim believes in the broad pillars of Islam, I believe in Allah, and the messengers, and the books, and the day of judgment, and the angels, and qadr, basic pillars. And then he says, I wanna pray, I'm trying to pray five times a day, I wanna do this and that, then alhamdulillah, this person is a Muslim.

The Prophetic Standard

And our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has clarified this:

(Bukhari hadith 391)

"Whoever prays our prayer, and faces our qibla, and eats of our meat, that person is the Muslim, and he has the protection of Allah, and the protection of the messenger of Allah."

This is an authentic hadith in Bukhari. Whoever prays our prayer, and faces our qibla, and eats of our meat, this is a Muslim. You judge somebody by the outward signs. As for the inner deeper theologies, if it comes out, and it is blatantly weird, or strange, and bizarre, then go to the scholars. Otherwise, it's not your job to go testing people. What do you say about this? What do you say about that? It's not your job.

And our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not do this to the people. What group do you belong to? Show me your ID badge of this particular theology. No. And especially, especially, especially the MSA's.

The Reality of Diversity

Scholarly vs. Student Level

Maybe the scholars amongst themselves, yes, let them debate these issues. Maybe the advanced students of knowledge, they now wanna study deep issues of theology. Yes, wallahi, and I'll be very blunt here. There comes a time where you do need to make up your mind. Do you wanna study the books of this scholar versus that scholar? There is a fine shade of difference. But for the average Muslim, these fine shades of difference are lost upon them. They don't know them, and they don't need to know them.

And that's really the key point. We have zealots on every single group. From the Salafis, from the Sufis, from the Deobandis, from the Tablighis, from every single group. They wanna force it, my way or the highway. And that's the problem. The problem is not in Deobandism. It's not in Tablighism. It's not in Salafism. It's not in Ash'arism. It's not in Sufism. The problem is the zealots in every camp.

Once you get to a comfortable level of your own religiosity and knowledge, every Muslim is gonna make up his or her mind. I prefer this way. It makes more sense to me. I'm appealed by it. This is human nature. But make sure you understand this diversity has existed for a thousand something years. And your hatred or your zealousness is not going to eliminate it. Rather it will cause the ummah to be divided even more.

Time and Place for Theological Discussions

There's a time, let me conclude by this statement. There's a time, there's a place, there's a methodology, there's an audience, and there are speakers to engage in that type of dialogue. That time, that place, that audience, that speaker is not the MSA. The MSA is a sign of Muslim unity. All Muslims should come together under the general rubric of Islam, and exceptions are taken in an exceptional scenario. Yes, there will be exceptions. When they happen, go to your local scholars. Otherwise, the MSA should be an open place for all of those who are generic Muslims, who believe in the fundamentals of the six pillars of Iman, who want to practice the five pillars of Islam.

That is the purpose and the job and the role of MSA. And you have leaders of all of the movements telling you this. You have scholars who might have minor variations in theology. They're the ones telling you, don't make these variations of theology a big deal amongst the youth. We have bigger things to worry about. We have far bigger issues.

But sometimes somebody comes along and he really does hold the equivalent of Allah comes down in the form of a man. Sometimes really bizarre. In these types of scenarios, it makes sense to say, Okay, look, this type of group, we really can't have as the president of the MSA. Somebody who's representing the Muslims on campus cannot believe that this type of weird theology. For these types of scenarios, go to your local scholars, go to your local imams, go to your local shaykhs and find out what is to be done.

But the mainstream movements of Islam that have been historically recognized as being mainstream movements of Islam, Sunni, Salafi, in our times, These are not terms that we divide the ummah over. These are not issues that should ever reach the level of, Astaghfirullah, should this person be on our board? Should he be a president? No! La hawla wa quwwata illa billah.

Conclusion

The average Muslim who believes in the six pillars of iman, who strives to practice the five pillars of Islam, this person is your Muslim brother. And he or she deserves the love that all Muslims deserve.

There's a time and a place. The MSA is not that time and the place. May Allah grant us the wisdom to really see the forest from the trees. May Allah all unite us on the kalima of la ilaha illallah, Muhammadur Rasulullah. May Allah allow Iman to seep into the depths of our hearts. May Allah grant us the true love of Allah, and His Messenger, and the Sahaba.

"May Allah reward you [with] goodness, and peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you."