Reflections From The Qur’an (11): No, We Shall Follow The Ways Of Our Fathers

Introduction

Alhamdulillāh… All perfect praise and thanks are due to the Almighty Allāh. I send peace and blessings upon Ḥabībī Muḥammad, his household, his companions and all those who follow his guided path, till the Day of Judgement.

This is the 11th part of the Reflections from the Qur’an series, which is posted here on GSalam.Net. It was started during Ramadān 2014. This is the first entry for Ramadān 2015. I pray that Allah grants us more understanding of His book and religion, so we can put it into practice and get closer to Him as possible.

The Verse of Our Reflection

In Sūrah Luqmān, 20-21, Allah describes how the disbelievers rejected the Messengers of Allah and denied the truth that was conveyed to them. He says:

أَلَمْ تَرَوْا أَنَّ ٱللَّـهَ سَخَّرَ لَكُم مَّا فِى ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَـٰهِرَةً وَبَاطِنَةً، وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يُجَـٰدِلُ فِى ٱللَّـهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَلَا هُدًى وَلَا كِتَـٰبٍ مُّنِيرٍ ﴿٢٠﴾ وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ٱتَّبِعُوا مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّـهُ قَالُوا بَلْ نَتَّبِعُ مَا وَجَدْنَا عَلَيْهِ ءَابَآءَنَآ، أَوَلَوْ كَانَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ يَدْعُوهُمْ إِلَىٰ عَذَابِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ ﴿٢١﴾ـ

“Have you not seen that Allāh has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth, and has completed His favours to you, both seen and unseen? Yet, there are some who dispute concerning Allāh, without knowledge or guidance or an enlightening Book. When they are told to follow the [Revelations] that Allāh has sent down, they say, “No, we shall follow the ways that we found our fathers [following].” Yes! Even though Satan is inviting them to the punishment of the burning Fire?”

Reflections on the Verse

The implication of this verse (verse 21) has been repeated in three other verses in the Qur’an. In Surah Al-Baqarah (2:170), Al-Mā’idah (5:104), and Al-A‘rāf (7:28). This is in addition to a few more verses, which can be grouped with these verses.

The verses describe the attitude of the disbelievers who profusely dispute matters concerning Allah with no knowledge, guidance, or a book of reference. Their problem has not been only that they dispute against Allah and His affairs, but they do so simply because their fathers and ancestors were not guided, and thus they refuse to open their minds to get guidance, as that will keep them out of the path of their fathers and ancestors.

This is the same logic that deters many non-Muslims today from accepting the message of Islam. They are sensitive to social norms. They are concerned about losing their loved ones. They are afraid of the aggressive reactions their relatives may face them with. In addition to that, serving one’s own egos, in the face of the truth, has a significant contribution to rejecting the truth.

In order for us not to behave the same way, some verses were revealed in the Qur’an to narrate for us such stories, and to warn us against repeating what the disbelievers did thousands of years ago. Their excuse was that they wanted to follow what was known and habitual to their fathers.

Unfortunately, today, after 1400 years of the revelation of the Qur’an, and the prophecy of Sayyidinā Muḥammad, if not exactly, some Muslims are behaving similarly the way the disbelievers behaved. It’s not uncommon to be rejected when you remind a Muslim brother or sister with that, which the Qur’an or the Prophet ṣallā Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam has said. One can easily tell you, that he is following his Shaikh, local Imams or a particular Madhhab, and for that matter, even if the Qur’anic verse or the Prophetic saying is more authentic than the opinion of his ‘local scholars’ or dominant madhhab, he will still prefer to stick to the latter. The only difference between this response and response of those mentioned in the Qur’an is that, “following the path of our fathers” is replaced with “following the path of our Shaikhs, Ulama’ and Madhhabs.” Even though neither our teachers are Prophets/perfect (with due respect and love) nor our Madhhabs are the ultimate constitution for Islam

It’s easy to remind someone with what the Prophet used to do, or what he has enjoined us to, or warned us against, only to be replied to with a statement like: “This is against the opinion of our local ‘Ulamā’.” “My Shaikh has a different opinion.” Or “According to the Madhhab of so and so…” in an effort to reject the word of Allah and saying/teaching of His Prophet, ṣallā Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam.

This happens, when all the founders of the Madhhabs have clearly declared in a way or another, that if it’s found that any statement they have ever made contradicts with an authentic hadīth unknown to them, we should stick to the hadīth, and ignore their statement. This is because, their intention was to serve Islam, and simply its teachings to the public. To that effect, it’s reported the Imām Mālik said, “Everyone’s statement is subject to acceptance and rejection, except that of the resident of this noble grave.” in an indication to the Prophet, ṣallā Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam.

We recite in Surah al-Fatiḥah, the minimum number of 17 times a day, and ask Allah to guide us to the straight path, the path of those, upon whom He has bestowed His blessings, not the path of those who have earned His wrath, nor those who have gone astray. Certainly, rejecting the truth and following our desires (hiding behind our Shaiksh, ‘Ulamā’ and Madhhabs, is not the way of the blessed ones.

The Muslim needs to understand that the Madhhab he follows serves as a guidance, and it represents thoughts and understanding which the respective founders and pioneers of the various school of thoughts are convinced with. But in no circumstance does a Madhhab serve as the ultimate constitution of Islam. If you ask me of my Madhhab, without hesitation, I will tell you: in normal circumstances, I follow Madhhab al-Mālikī. But when I’m in a Shafi‘ī dominant community, i.e. Syria, Singapore, Malaysia, I follow Madhhab al-Shāfi‘ī. At the end of the day, I know that Madhhab is not the ultimate reference of Islam. All Madhhabs have the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet ṣallā Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam as their ultimate reference. Don’t they?

Conclusion

There’s nothing wrong with following our fathers, Shaikhs, local Imām, locally dominant Madhhabs so long as they do not contradict with clear statement of the Qur’an or the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet ṣallā Allāhu ‘alaihi wa sallam. But there’s everything wrong with following them, when there are more authentic evidences pertaining to our religious deeds and obligations, than what they teach us. Other than the Prophets of Allah, no one is equal to Islam.

Thinking this way, does not nullify the contribution the founders of the various Madhhab has done in promoting Islam. Everyone’s contribution is best measured and rewarded by Allah alone. And we are required to follow what is the truth and authentic to the best of our knowledge. This is because we are responsible for our decision to follow or reject. Responsibility here means we answerable to that decision before Allah, one fine day.

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Allāh knows best.
Allāhu Ḥāfiẓ 🙂