Saturday, December 02, 2006

Mufti: Religious leaders can be challenged

By Fauwaz Abdul Aziz

Nov 27, 2006

It is the nature of the Quran to allow Muslims to question and challenge their religious leaders about the teachings and practices of Islam, said newly-minted Perlis mufti Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin.

The Penang-born Universiti Sains Malaysia lecturer was seconded to his new two-year post on Nov 1 to replace mufti Mat Jahya Hussin.

At 35, he is the youngest person in the country to hold the post. As mufti, Asri's role is to formulate and discuss fatwa and to advise the Perlis sultan and state government on all matters of Islamic law.

In an exclusive interview, the religious scholar said contrary to the tendency of many Muslims to react negatively to questions and criticism of their religion, Islam accords its detractors space to articulate their doubts and arguments.

He pointed out that the Quran not only engages by presenting arguments for its assertions and to support its veracity, but also accords the same space for its detractors.

"The Quran often says 'Bring forth your arguments if you are indeed truthful,' and 'summon your witnesses other than Allah if you are indeed truthful'," said Asri.

He contrasted this with the strong, often angry, responses of Muslims towards any questioning of their religion.

"They are always reacting and asking, 'What actions are we taking? This is deviant! This has gone astray!' and so on... Whatever view does not concur with theirs, they go amok instead of presenting arguments, reasons and evidence and answering intellectually, " said Asri.

The ability to respond appropriately and effectively to the challenges the ummah (Muslim community) is faced with, ideological or otherwise, is itself the biggest challenge, said Asri.

"The biggest problem is the state of the ummah's present sense of self," he said.

An idea, once introduced, may be only temporarily silenced by force, but it cannot be killed off except by an idea more powerful than the first, Asri said.

"That idea will live on in the minds and thoughts of people. If we want to do away with an idea or understanding, it is not by the use of force. It is by bringing in more powerful arguments," he added.

Reactionary conservatism

Asri illustrated this by reiterating his stance on apostasy, attributing current tensions to religious leaders who divert focus from the reasons that lead Muslims to apostasise.

Addressing such questions as the roots of apostasy, he explained, is the more relevant challenge Muslims and their religious leaders, rather than to issue calls for severe punishment for apostasy.

According to Asri, the younger generations are turning away from the reactionary conservatism of the religious establishment because the latter have ignored their intellectual needs.

"There are those in the Muslim community whose thoughts the conservative religious authorities have tried to freeze. (They may be) kept from thinking but are nevertheless thinking.

"(The conservatives) seek to stuff the mouths of the public and tell them, 'Don't speak of religion. Religion is our (exclusive) right', as what was done by the (Catholic) Church. 'Stop what you're doing and just listen', they would say.

"This cannot be accepted by the younger generations because they know they cannot be stopped from thinking."

While such conservative attitudes risk turning the young away from religion towards secularism as has happened in Europe, Malaysia has been witnessing the emergence of two movements that Asri believes will determine the direction of Islam.

"One is the Salafiyyah movement; the second, if things continue, is that of liberal Muslims," said Asri.

While the liberals criticise and go against even those things in religion that have been established by the Quran and Sunnah (recorded Prophetic traditions, or hadith), said Asri, the Salafi seek in their tajdid (revivalist movement) to make the Quran and Sunnah the terms of reference for Islamic discourse and to bring them up directly against the challenges of modern times.

"This tajdid movement that we are trying to bring about is an Islam that is genuine but that can, at the same time, confront the challenges that face us today, not the conservative form that confuses the modern generations, " he said.

"To me, being a Salafi is about going back to the fundamentals of Islam, going back to the foundations - the Quran and the Sunnah. That is what separates the Salafi from other reformists," he added.

"This Salafiyyah movement says we have the right to think, as the intellect has a function in religion, though the exercise of our thoughts should not go against the Quran and Sunnah."

http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/60114

3 Comments:

At 9:36 AM, Blogger I Feel Good said...

I'm sorry to say this, but the salafis have their hidden agendas...

 
At 6:11 AM, Blogger UmmNaRiyah said...

as salaam wailkum ,i am a salafi muslimah from america and have a friend mashallah from malayisa and she love the strick back to the basic quran and sunnah that salafiayyah teachs us muslim salafiyyah teach us to study tauhid return to the worship pf allah and not wordily things and newly innovated matter such as culture and extreme worship. teach us the difference between extreim and middle ground were there is neither extremism or lacky dazzy ness in practising of islam, Going back to quran and sunnah laws the away of life that was made perfect for us by Allah Islam and being muslim is obeying the laws and sunnah of the Prophet

Surah an-Nissa 4:65
But know by your Lord they will not have faith until they make you O Muhammad a judge concerning everything that they dispute amongst themselves & then find within themselves no resistance against your judgment and accept with full submission.


If as Muslim don't reinforce our way of life with ourselves and in our home with our children and family the Islam will soon be gone.The Muslim countries which Allah Messenger came too and gave the beauty of this religion such as Malaysia, Indonesia ,Egypt they will continue to be lost to Western and European culture. Being Muslim revert to the religion I can tell that a big difference, adopting the western dress and music life style is just away for shaton to brake the muslims eeman down and call us to the fire. Too all my sista & brother that come across this comment I say read Quran much study the hadith and inshallah Allah will make clear his religion for us once again.We have to leave off the sin of drinking hummer and gambling and chasing men and women so that true Islam can be establish in our hearts not just by our tongues

 
At 6:14 AM, Blogger UmmNaRiyah said...

as salaam wailkum ,
I am a salafi muslimah from American and have a friend mashallah from Malaysia and she love the strict back to the basic Quran and Sunnah that salafiayyah teaches us Muslim salafiyyah teach us to study tauhid return to the worship pf Allah and not wordily things and newly innovated matter such as culture and extreme worship. teach us the difference between extremism and middle ground were there is neither extremism or lackey dazzle ness in practising of islam, Going back to quran and sunnah laws the away of life that was made perfect for us by Allah Islam and being Muslim is obeying the laws and Sunnah of the Prophet

Surah an-Nissa 4:65
But know by your Lord they will not have faith until they make you O Muhammad a judge concerning everything that they dispute amongst themselves & then find within themselves no resistance against your judgment and accept with full submission.


If as Muslim don't reinforce our way of life with ourselves and in our home with our children and family the Islam will soon be gone.The Muslim countries which Allah Messenger came too and gave the beauty of this religion such as Malaysia, Indonesia ,Egypt they will continue to be lost to Western and European culture. Being Muslim revert to the religion I can tell that a big difference, adopting the western dress and music life style is just away for shaton to brake the muslims eeman down and call us to the fire. Too all my sista & brother that come across this comment I say read Quran much study the hadith and inshallah Allah will make clear his religion for us once again.We have to leave off the sin of drinking hummer and gambling and chasing men and women so that true Islam can be establish in our hearts not just by our tongues

 

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