DISTORTION OF ISLAM IN THE NAME OF REFORMATION AND IJTIHAAD

The religion of Islam is the only way of life, which Allah has ordained for the whole of mankind in this world, and upon which rests our salvation in the hereafter. In the Holy Quran, in Surah Aali Imraan, Allah Ta'ala declares, 'Verily the only religion with Allah is Islam' [Aali Imraan 19 ]. In another verse Allah says, 'And whosoever searches for a religion besides Islam, it will never be accepted from him. And he will be among the losers in the hereafter' [Aali Imraan 85] The religion of Islam is complete and perfect, and the Qur'an, which is the fountainhead of Islam, is protected till the last day. Allah Ta'ala has promised to protect it. This in itself is a living miracle.

The laws of Islam are the same eternally, and will not allow for any type of amendment. Since it is the religion Allah Ta'ala has ordained, and not the product of the human mind, no individual or group has the right to amend or declare in it anything which is halaal as haraam or vice versa. Subsequently, if any individual or group introduces any change into the religion of Islam, this will in no way be able to alter the law of Islam. Furthermore, if anyone does venture to do so, it will render him Kaafir (out of the fold of Islam).

Since a few years ago, the enemies of Islam have embarked on a mission to change it, and in order to achieve this, they have employed such people who, though claiming to be Muslim, are such by name only. These people have never studied the Quraan or the Ahadeeth of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) nor learnt Islam from sincere Muttaqi [Allah-fearing] Muslims, nor ever stayed in the company of the true flag-bearers of Islam. These very people have become enmeshed in the snares of the Jews and Christians, and are now shouting slogans calling for a re-interpretation of the laws of Shariah. Sadly, these people have failed to differentiate between the pre-ordained religion of Allah, and something which is a product of the human mind. People who have created their own religions may alter, add to or delete from it as they please. They are free to write something in place of another, since this is consistent with their condition. If man decides to alter whatever he has created himself, this is understandable. But the Book which Allah has revealed, and the religion which He has ordained for mankind, and which was expounded by the Seal of all Prophets (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), cannot allow for any type of alteration or disfiguration whatsoever.

Whoever wishes to introduce any amendment into the Deen of Allah Ta'ala, what need is there for him to associate himself with the name of Islam? In the first place, he is not even a Muslim and should subsequently identify himself with any religion other than Islam. If anyone alters anything within Islam, then even by such interpolation, the Deen of Allah Ta'ala will still remain unchanged. The laws of Islam, which have reached us from the first era of Islam through tawaatur (transmission via an indisputably authentic chain of authority) have to be practised. Allah Ta'ala has not granted any person the power and authority to alter or revoke anything within the religion of Islam.

Some unscrupulous and impious people, in order to improve the economic and material condition of the masses, together with those individuals who percieve the "need for Ijtihaad" and those groups who shout slogans calling for the "reformation of Islam", have distorted the true teachings of Islam. Some people have now declared insurance to be halaal (permissible) while others, by means of "re--interpretation", have passed a Fatwa (religious decree) legitimizing the taking of bank interest. Another group of people, by some stretch of the imagination have declared the picture-making of animate objects as permissible. It should be remembered, however, that by these pronouncements of this materialistic class of people who are heedless of Allah Ta'ala, anything haraam will never be made halaal or vice versa.

In the name of "gender equality", some people are calling for men and women to be granted an equal status when Allah Ta'ala has not created them alike.

	First of all, in their physical strength, they are not equal.
	The testimony of one man is equal to that of two women. Allah Ta'ala Himself says, "If one of the two (women) errs, then the other will remind her" [Al-Baqarah 282]. In order to explain the reason for this, Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) has established that by virtue of intelligence, women are weaker than men.
	A woman receives half of what a man receives in inheritance. Allah Ta'ala says in the Qura'n, "And the male receives a share equal to that of two females" (an-Nisaa:11)
	Furthermore, while Allah Ta'ala has referred to the male as the one who has to shoulder the responsibility of earning a livelihood and spending on his wife, at the same time He has commanded women to remain within their homes. (Al-Ahzaab : 33)
	Regarding men, Allah Ta'ala declares emphatically, "men are superior to women" (An-Nisaa 34) and "men are a rank superior to them (women)" (Al-Baqarah : 228).
	In the Hadith, women have been ordered to stand in the last row behind men when performing salaah (collectively).
	He has crowned men with the title of "father" and women, the "mother".
	Besides, Allah Taa'la has also given a woman a physical and biological constitution different from that of a man due to which, for instance, she experiences the menstrual cycle and is susceptible to pregnancy.

Hence, in view of the lucid injunctions of the Qura'an and Hadith, how can there be any equality in the conditions and laws between males and females? If anyone promulgates such a system of laws which declares men and women equal in every respect, this will be his personally invented laws, which will have absolutely nothing to do with Islam. Often we hear some people say that such and such woman is so intelligent, and that so and so woman is ruler of a country. In such cases we should understand that for a few women to be more intelligent than men, and for some men to be less intelligent than women, does not, in any way, alter the general rule. The law is determined according to the majority. Nevertheless, if any woman is a ruler of a certain country, then in the first place, Islamically, this is not permissible, and furthermore, by appearing without the hijaab before men, she will be guilty of many other evils.

In Pakistan, ever since a woman was elected as its leader, the country had been plagued by instability, and killings and blood baths have become the order of the day. Some people, in order to seek legitimacy for such appointment of women, cite the British royal system as a proof because it has a woman at its head. This is no justification, since in the first place, the British monarchy is non-Muslim. Had they been Muslim, they would never have chosen this path. Another group of people cites as justification, the Queen of Saba (Sheeba). The flimsiness of this is clearly evident, since everyone is aware that she was a kaafir (non-believing) woman. When Allah Ta'ala very clearly states in surah an-Namal that she was a worshipper of the sun, what relation does it then bear with the religion of Islam? Besides this, after she had accepted Islam, her country came under the rule of Sulaimaan (æ#129;layhis salaam). Another important point is that the British Royal system is in actual fact a Parliamentary system, where the Queen is compelled to attach her signature to everything that has been passed in parliament. In the true sense, this can never be regarded as control or rule, but it is a situation of meek submissiveness to parliament. And such is the state of parliament there, that when a law is passed, and if the public refuses to act upon it, it is amended, and the Queen is required to fix her signature to both these laws.

About a year ago, an Afro-American woman was imported into South Africa. She had been trained in Arabic and brain washed concerning Islam. Many unwary and gullible Muslims, as well as some charlatans masqueradering as Ulama, had fallen prey to the new-fangled superficial theories and arguments she had presented, with the result that whatever she said was accepted without question. They stooped so low in their desire to gratify her, that one Friday she was allowed on the Jummuáh platform of a certain Masjid to inject her poison into people's minds. Amongst the things she is alleged to have said is (Allah forbid!) that the Qur'an needs to be revised. This woman and her ilk have forgotten that only that which they have written can be revised, and that no-one has the right to revise the book of Allah Ta'ala. In fact, the act of finding fault with anything requires a certain degree of competence and skill. These people, after having trained her, had judged the Qura'n by the standards of their own product, the Bible, and failed to realize that the Qura'n is the book of Allah Himself. Who, then, had given them the mandate and authority to revise it?

Among the many bold claims allegedly made by this woman is, that, until now, the Tafseers of the Qur'an have been written by men only, and this has led to an undermining of the rights of women, and deprived them of an equal status with men. The time has now arrived, she claimed, for women to write their own Tafseers (exegeses) in order to re-establish and reclaim their rights. Judging from the pronouncements of this woman, it is seemingly safe to conclude that women can never attain the position of men. Otherwise, they would have already written volumes of Tafseer, and not have waited to be goaded to do so, or have their minds poisoned by a woman in such a heretical manner.

Paradoxically, the "heroes" and instigators behind this movement are none other than men, who have thereby successfully forced women to relegate to their status of the weaker and the abused sex. The truth is, that only those who are the bearers of ilm, and imbued with the quality of taqwa, will possess an ever-present concern for the aakhirah (hereafter) and be able to interpret the Qur'an in its proper context, while keeping in mind the Ahaadith of Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). They will also be knowledgeable of the Laws of Arabic grammar and its idiomatic usage. They will possess a penetrative insight into matters of Deen, and when they sit down to interpret the Qur'an Kareem, they will invariably render a Tafseer of the Qur'an in its truest sense.

Hitherto, many of the Tafseers that have been written are the products of such people who have little or no idea whatsoever about Arabic grammar and who are wholly ignorant of even the basic laws of Islam. When a person lacks even the basic knowledge of the principles of Tafseer, how can he ever make bold to claim himself qualified to write a commentary on the Qur'an.

May Allah protect us!!!!

Mufti Muhammad Aashiq llaahi Bulandshahri
(Madina Munawwara)

Islamic Information

Source:  Jamiatul Ulama (Kwazulu-Natal)