BASIC OF ISLAMIC BELIEF SYSTEM

dith said...
" As thw world approaches its end, we have the anti-hadiths, the anti-mazhabs, the anti-sufis...I guess it all arises when one gets a little knowledge and regards it's the epiphany of it all .. "

QUOTE from a commentor;
"I have always maintained that, if god truly had communicated with Muhammad, surely he would have come up with a book that EVERYONE clearly understands (god isn't stupid after all, supposedly the highest intelligence in the universe). So how is it that muslims think that only a scholar or imam can explain the Quran. Where in the Quran does Allah say that he needs an interpreter?"..

Reading the above makes me shiver..

How much misunderstanding or rather no understanding AT ALL of what Islam stands for; the basic message / belief system of Islam.

I am not a qualified 'alim' or the learned in Islam but feels that the above question needs no Alim's vast knowledge to explain. It should be within the understanding and iman of the ordinary Muslim person.

First and foremost;
Islam is the 'religion' (DEEN) from God AlMighty (ALLAH s.w.t) delivered to Muhammad (mpbuh); His Messenger (RASOOL) for the whole of mankind until The End of Days (Qiamah); to be accepted and believed, practiced and lived with at personal level and in the society in order to achieve JUSTICE as ONLY God AlMighty; the Creator knows. Only GOD knows the full rights and responsibilities of humans; His creations, His Design.

Second;
God delivers The Qur'an to Muhammad (mpbuh) IN STAGES according to the needs of the Islamic Society at the time; thus enabling The Qur'an to be learned, memorised and practiced. Muhammad (mpbuh) himself dictated the order of the Quranic ayats.

God in HIS WISDOM did not deliver the Qur'an in ONE COMPLETE BOOK to be taught by Muhammad (mpbuh) like we learn in schools and universities. God delivers The Qur'an in stages AS ANSWERS to the problems and questions faced by the emerging Islamic Society and gives the direction. The Qur'an was a Book of Guidance at the time AND till the Qiamah.

Had God delivers The Qur'an to be learnt like other great books of today such as Kenichi Ohmae's Borderless World and other works of great authors of our time, it would fail to be THE LIVING GUIDANCE and just be relegated to the specifics with end result of being scholars.. However The Qur'an is NOT LIKE THAT.. The Qur'an targets to all people of all walks of life; scholars or buffons, child or elders, male or female, Arabs, chinese or Europeans, academics or law makers... all spectrum of the society.

Third
The practices of Muhammad is as important as the Qur'an and is called The Sunnah.
Allah says;
"Obey Allah and His Messenger": But if they turn back, Allah loveth not those who reject Faith.. Al Imran Verse 32.

Sura:16. Nahl Verse:64 Pickthall's Translation
"And we have revealed the Scripture unto thee only that thou mayst explain unto them that wherein they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe.."

Muhammad puts The Qur'an into practice and becomes The Walking, Living Qur'an.. This is narrated by A'isyah, the wife of The Prophet. His practices, explanation and guidance makes the emerging Islamic Society unfailing on the Right path and EARNED THE STAMP OF APPROVAL FROM GOD THE MOST HIGH as in the last delivered verse of The Qur'an;

Sura: 5. Maa'idah Verse: 3 Yusuf Ali's Translation..."..This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favor unto you, and have chosen for you as religion AL- ISLAM."

The STAMP OF APPROVAL that Allah Most High gave was to THE DEEN BEING PUT IN PRACTICE by the Islamic Society under the Guidance of Allah's Messenger Muhammad (mpbuh). So please understand that The Qur'an AND The Deen was being endorsed and NOT Just THE BOOK. The Qur'an is about Guidance and Practices..

Fourth;
Does Qur'an needs interpreter... Most Definitely as Allah Himself declared in the Surah an Nahl Verse 64 above. The interpreter is The Prophet (mpbuh). Only His understanding is PERFECT.

This is called Al Hikmah in the Quran. There are countless verses that refers to AL QURAN WAL HIKMAH.. The Quran and The Prophet's Understanding (the essence of it is called The Sunnah)..

Now WHO CAN CLAIM TO HAVE THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROPHET??????

Can learning the Qur'an through interpretations without the basic knowledge of the As Baabun Nuzul (history behind the Qur'an revealation of each ayat), Quranic Arabic, hafiz (the he can relates to all other verses because he memorise the Quran), learning of Hadeeths.. How can we be so arrogant before Allah to say we can, by just our faculty of mind and so very, very limited knowledge ???

A surgeon is not a surgeon by just reading books. He undergoes a qualified training to be surgeon. Who in their right mind would let temselve be operated by a surgeon who just learn from textbooks?? So how can be have the audacity to think we can learn and fully understand Allah's prescription to us by just reading translation of the Qur'an?? Only those who have undergone the training under The Prophet (his sahabah) best understand the deen.. These were further transmitted down the line through Islamic schools. This is how it should be..

OBEY ALLAH AND OBEY HIS MESSENGER

003.031 YUSUFALI: Say: "If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."
PICKTHAL: Say, (O Muhammad, to mankind): If ye love Allah, follow me; Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
SHAKIR: Say: If you love Allah, then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive you your faults, and Allah is Forgiving, MercifuL

003.032 YUSUFALI: Say: "Obey Allah and His Messenger": But if they turn back, Allah loveth not those who reject Faith.
PICKTHAL: Say: Obey Allah and the messenger. But if they turn away, lo! Allah loveth not the disbelievers (in His guidance).
SHAKIR: Say: Obey Allah and the Messenger; but if they turn back, then surely Allah does not love the unbelievers.

Obey Allah AND obey His Messenger is the crux of the Message of Islam. It is embodied in the Kalimah Syahadah ... Laa ila hail lallah.. Muhammadar rasul lullah

Nowadays there is a tendency to brush away al-Hadiths as a source of Jurisprudence on the argument that that ONLY the Qur'an is ASSURED OF PURITY and Hadiths are full of weaknesses because of the history of compilation and the presence of false Hadiths. This makes the use of Hadiths as a source doubtful. Furthermore there are discrepancies in Hadiths not found in the Qur'an.

I can only say this... ALLAH KNOWS BEST. When Allah Himself give the addict; OBEY ALLAH, OBEY HIS MESSENGER, Allah means exactly that... Obey BOTH. There should be no takwil on this command from Allah Most High, Most Knowing. When Allah in His endless Knowledge instruct us to obey BOTH then Allah in His Knowledge know that the Prophetic injunctions are available to the Muslims to fulfil the meaning of Obey His Messenger. To deny this means to deny the Everlasting Knowledge of Allah. If we believe that The Qur'an is everlasting till the Day of Kiamah, by this ayat we also acknowledge that the Hadiths are also protected, albeit with more studies on the Hadiths' Authenticity.

I have heard someone argues that Obey The Messenger here is similiar to Obey Allah since The Rasul ONLY teaches The Qur'an; nothing else BUT the Qur'an. I do not know what to say to this argument other than that the person have involuntarily accuse Allah as feeble minded and engages in duplicity. On one hand Allah said, 'Obey Allah'.. This is to mean Obey The Qur'an because Allah's instruction is embodied in The Qur'an and brought down by The Messenger for human consumption.

However Allah also says "Obey His Messenger"... How to obey His Messenger? To follow the Qur'an is to Obey Allah.. So where is the messages to follow the Obey The Messenger part??? To say that Obey His Messenger is follow the Qur'an is to say that Allah puts TWO SIMILIAR COMMANDS in the same ayat separated by the word AND, and means EXACTLY THE SAME THING is to say Allah is feeble minded.. astagh firullaahal azim.. So the only logical interpretation is that, To Follow His Messenger is to means following The Rasol's injunctions apart from The Qur'an.. This must surely be al Hadiths.

Some says that this injunction is only applicable DURING THE LIFE OF THE MESSENGER and after that we are only to follow al Qur'an. This is also a faulty argument. One of the Role of His Messenger is The Clarifier. He clarifies al Qur'an.

Sura:16. Nahl Verse:64 Pickthall's Translation
And we have revealed the Scripture unto thee only that thou mayst explain unto them that wherein they differ, and (as) a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe.

He guides his followers based on The Qur'an; nothing else BUT The Qur'an. He becomes the Role Model. He practices al Qur'an and put into PRACTICAL FORMS. This is embodied in the Hadiths. Without the Hadiths we are lost as to how His Messenger puts the Qur'an into Practical form for us to follow and base on.

After His Messenger practices The Qur'an FULLY and puts into SOCIETY all the tenets and teachings, Allah revealed this ayat..

Sura: 5. Maa'idah Verse: 3 Yusuf Ali's Translation
This day are those who disbelieve in despair of (ever harming) your religion; so fear them not, fear Me! This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favor unto you, and have chosen for you as religion AL- ISLAM.

Allah declares that whatever the Rosul have taught and put into practice, Allah declares it as PERFECT in religion. This is the Last Ayat prior to The Messenger's death. After Allah have guided the Muslim Society through the hands of His Messenger and declares that whatever The Messenger have achieved in society is PERFECT RELIGION, how dare we say that after His Death, we should forget about Muhammad's Teachings and practices. This is TOTAL REJECTION of Allah's command and His Seal of Approval to the practices perfected by The Messenger as per the ayat above.