THE MODERNIST IN THE DEEN

Hazrat Jafar ibn Muhammad Rahmatullahi Alaihi has stated that there are four types of people :-

FIRSTLY – That person who has knowledge of Deen and he is aware of it, so seek knowledge from him.

SECONDLY –  That person who has knowledge of Deen but he is unaware of it, so he is sleeping, wake him up.

THIRDLY –     That person who does not possess knowledge and he is aware of his ignorance, so educate him.

FOURTHLY – That person who does not have knowledge and he is not even aware of his ignorance. Such a person is a stupid, so stay far from him.

The present day modernists belong to this fourth category. After studying a translated version of one or two Hadith Kitabs, they claim that our Ulama are not teaching the Deen of Rasulullah Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam but that of Imam Abu Haneefah Rahmatullahi Alaihi or Imam Shaafi’ee Rahmatullahi Alaihi. These modernists cite several subsidiary issues in support of their claim, such as:

(1)   Not reading Surah Faatihah when following the Imaam in Salaah;

(2)   Not folding the hands above the navel in Salaah;

(3)   Not ensuring that one’s feet in congregational Salaah touch the feet of those reading Salaah alongside one;

(4)   Not restricting the Taraweeh Salaah to 8 rakaats only. etc. etc.

 Suffice to say that the claims of the modernists are baseless, since the Imams (of the four mazhabs) have compiled the various laws of Deen from the Qur’aan and the Ahaadith.

One modernist idiot questions whether Rasulullah Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam, was a Hanafee or a Shaafiee implying thereby that it is incorrect to follow the Imaams as in Rasulullah’s Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam Mubaarak time the Fiqh (Jurisprudence) did not exist. This question is based entirely on ignorance, stupidity and prejudice. The simple answer is that the Imaams of Fiqh (Jurisprudence) did not formulate new laws, but they simplified, codified and collated the existing laws. None can say that the well-digger created the water. All the well-digger did was to bring out the Allah-created water from the depths of the earth where it was concealed. Referring to Imaam Abu Haneefah Rahmatullahi Alaihi  or any of the other three honourable Imaams as the ‘creators’ of Shariah is a stupidity of the magnitude of calling a well-digger the creator of water.

Now, our compliance with Imaam Abu Haneefah Rahmatullahi Alaihi is correct since he brought out, in a simplified form, various laws from the depths of the Qur’aan and the Hadith. None can say when we drink well-water that we are drinking water created by the well-digger. Even an imbecile should understand that the water was created by Allah and the well-digger merely extracted it. So also, is the case with the laws explained by the Imaams. When we practise upon these then we are, in actual fact, acting upon the commands of Allah as revealed to Rasulullah Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam.

Did the laws extracted by the Imams exist in Rasulullah’s Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam  time?

Most definitely they existed. Yes, at that time it was not known as ‘Fiqh Hanafee’ or ‘Fiqh Shaafiee’. But, so also were the Ahaadith that one reads in the books of Bukhari, Muslim etc. They were from the lips of the Master Sallallaahu Alayhi Wasallam himself. But they came to be known as Bukhari, Muslim, etc. much later, only after they were compiled.

Similarly, the seven Qiraats existed from the very era of our Nabi However, only much later they came to be known as the Qiraat of eg. Qari Aasim, or Qari Hamzah.

Simple logic guides us to the fact that if we reject the teachings of Imaam Abu Haneefah Rahmatullahi Alaihi or Imaam Shaafiee Rahmatullahi Alaihi , etc. then by the same logic we should not be accepting the Qiraat of Qari Aasim that we read today or the Ahaadith of Bukhari and Muslim.

The spiritual harm of following the modernist deviates is colossal and one should never chance or gamble and erode one’s Imaan away.