The Ethics of Disagreement in Islam

Chapter Nine: After the Illustrious Age

Analytical thought (ijtihaad) in jurisprudence came to an end in the fourth century of the Muslim era, while blind imitation (taqleed) began to flourish.

The first and second centuries did not witness any such practice as passing judgments either on the basis of unsubstantiated utterances or on the accounts and conclusions of one scholar to the exclusion of others. During the third century, analytical thought was still very vigorous. Some scholars might have relied upon the rules, principles, and methods of deduction handed down by their predecessors, but they never clung blindly to their pronouncements and conclusions.

People in the fourth century may be divided into scholars on the one hand and the general public on the other. The general public depended on the scholars for transmitting to them the body of agreed-upon knowledge from the original sources on which there was unanimity among the scholars. This included knowledge of such matters as purification (.tahaarah), the performance of salaah, sawm, and the collection and distribution of zakaah. If they were faced with any problematic details, people would seek help from any scholar regardless of the school of thought to which he belonged.

As for the specialist scholars, they were engaged in the study of hadeeth and the legal legacy of the Companions of the Prophet and the generation that followed them. If they were faced with an issue on which they did not find any satisfactory or clear-cut answer in the original sources, they would turn to the pronouncements of previous jurists, choosing whichever verdict seemed more sound and reliable, whether it originated in the school of Madinah or of Kufah.

The scholars engaged in this task of interpretation would thoroughly research the different schools of thought. If a scholar arrived at a judgment based on a particular school he would, for example, be described as a Shaafi`ee or a Hanafee without his having in fact any firm or sole attachment to that particular school, as later happened. Some of the scholars of hadeeth in fact identified with particular schools of thought to promote mutual agreement. Al Nasaa'ee, al Bayhaqee, and al Khitaabee identified with the Shaafi`ee school, for example. However, only a mujtahid or one who was capable of analytical thought and making independent judgments could hold the position of a judge, and no `aalim was called a faqeeh unless he was a mujtahid.

Split between Political and Intellectual Leadership

The situation changed noticeably after the fourth hijree century. Al Ghazzaalee (d. 505 AH) described the situation thus:

Know that after the Messenger of God, may God's peace and blessings be on him, the khilaafah was held by the rightly-guided khulafaa'. They were leaders and scholars who were conscious of God Almighty. They were jurists who had a deep understanding of God's laws and were actively engaged in tackling problems and passing legal judgments. [So competent were they that] they rarely sought the help of jurists in dealing with actual situations, and when they did it was for the sake of consultation. Thereafter the khilaafah passed to people who did not deserve to be rulers and who lacked the competence even to formulate their own decisions. They were forced to seek the help of jurists. They cultivated the friendship of scholars in order to get assistance in making legislation of all kinds. There still existed some scholars of the same mettle as those of earlier generations. They maintained a clear vision of the requirements of the religion, and when they were approached by ambitious rulers with various blandishments to accept positions as judges and administrators they did not compromise their integrity.

People in these times saw the great esteem in which scholars were held and the attempt by leaders and rulers to attract them. The desire to gain esteem with the public and favors from rulers encouraged people to enter the field of education and to apply themselves eagerly to making legal judgments. They ingratiated themselves with the rulers, sought entry into their political circles, and tried to gain positions of authority. Some succeeded and others did not. Those who succeeded were not free from the taint of subservience and degradation. This was the process by which jurists, who were once highly honored and sought after, became devalued seekers of patronage from rulers.

In this age, however, there were some who, through the grace of God, remained genuine scholars of God's religion. But most of those who turned to dealing with legal problems and passing verdicts did so because of the pressing need for such persons in the new districts and governorates.

In the wake of these new types of jurists came ministers and princes who listened indiscriminately to whatever people said with regard to the basic principles of faith . . . People turned eagerly to argumentation and scholastic theology (kalaam). An abundance of literary works appeared on the subject. People classified the various processes of argumentation and developed the art of discovering contradictions and discrepancies in the pronouncements of others. They claimed that their expositions were for the defense of God's religion, guarding the Sunnah, and curbing malicious innovators. The same claim of protecting religion was made by those who busied themselves in passing legal judgments (fataawaa). They claimed that they were protecting the religion and that they assumed control of the laws of Muslims out of concern for God's creatures and out of the desire to offer sincere advice to them.

Thereafter, there appeared those who did not approve of the damage caused by scholastic theology and the subsequent opening of the floodgate of disputation which gave rise to terrible fanaticisms and animosities which, in turn, led to bloodshed and the destruction of Muslim lands. Such persons began to look back to the jurisprudence of earlier times, and in particular to the schools of thought of al Shaafi`ee and Aboo Haneefah, may God be pleased with them both. People abandoned scholastic theology and the subtleties of disputation. They turned instead to the controversial questions posed by al Shaafi`ee and Aboo Haneefah in particular, while tending to disregard those posed by Maalik, Sufyaan, [ According to al Ghazzaalee, there were five mujtahidoon whose schools of thought were followed. In addition to the four well-known ones, the fifth was Sufyaan al Thawree.] and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may God Almighty bless them and others like them. They claimed that their objective was to deduce the finer points of the Sharee`ah, to establish the raison d'etre of each school of thought, and to systematize the principles on which legal judgments should be based. Consequently, they came up with many classifications and methods of deduction on the basis of which they categorized the types of dialectical debates.

They have continued in this manner up till now. We do not know what God has in store for the times after us. This, then, is the impetus which drives people on to disputation and competitive debates. There is no other cause. If these opportunistic and overweening scholars had inclined towards disagreement with any of the leading scholars on any aspect of knowledge, they would probably have limped after them also. They would have kept on insisting though that their only concern, in all their endeavors, was to attain to knowledge of the religion itself and to seek nearness to God, the Lord and Sustainer of all the worlds. [Ihyaa' `Uloom al Deen, 1/14 ff.]

In the above analysis, al Ghazzaalee put his finger on the real disease which afflicted the Ummah in the era after the rightly-guided, scholarly leaders. This disease emanated essentially from the critical split in the Muslim leadership between the intellectual on the one hand and the political on the other. Our history has since been characterized by this distortion which still plagues us. Political practices contrary to Islamic norms were put in place. This stemmed from the rulers' ignorance of Islamic political theory and practice. On the intellectual front, there is only a theoretical, hypothetical appreciation of an Islamic system which is not rooted in the actual experience and problems of the Muslims. This theoretical approach could not deal with everyday problems in a practical manner as the Sahaabah and the Taabi`oon had done. The majority of juridical problems and many of the issues relating to jurisprudence were nothing but theoretical formulations produced in the course of competitive debates and in an atmosphere of dissension.

Loopholes and Stratagems

After this disastrous trend, jurisprudence tended to become a means for justifying the existing status quo rather than a means for regulating people's lives and circumstances according to the requirements of the Sharee`ah. This approach to law and legislation gave rise to unusual anguish on the part of Muslims, for they frequently saw that the same act committed by the same person and at the same time and place was regarded by one jurist as lawful and by another as unlawful. This predicament is adequately demonstrated by the fact that there came into existence a principle of jurisprudence which is dealt with in voluminous chapters called "Loopholes and Stratagems" (Al Makhaarij wa al Hiyal). [ Al Makhaarij wa al Hiyal (Loopholes and Legal Stratagems) is considered as one of the `principles' (asl) of the Hanafee school of law. A book on the subject was written by Imam Muhammad ibn al Hasan which was later commented upon at length. There is a doctoral thesis on the subject by Muhammad Buhayree entitled Al Hiyal fee al Sharee`ah al Islameeyah (Legal Stratagems in Islamic Law).] This "principle" is concerned with seeking to evade the admitted purport and consequences of the law through devising loopholes and "legal" stratagems and expedients.

Ingenuity and skill in dealing with this "principle" of jurisprudence came to be regarded as evidence of the intellectual capacity of a jurist and of his genius and excellence over others. As time went by and the authority of religion dwindled, this phenomenon assumed alarming proportions. People became careless about the Sharee`ah, and those who had the responsibility for making legal decisions started to pass verdicts which were not based on any evidence and which they themselves did not regard as sound. They claimed that they passed these verdicts either in order to facilitate matters for people or to be severe on them so as to prevent them from transgressing the limits (.hudood) of the Sharee`ah. This was particularly true of the dispensations they granted to rulers on the one hand and of the exactions they made on the common people on the other. [ Sallaam Madkoor, Manaahij al Ijtihaad fee al Islaam (Methodologies of Independent Reasoning in Islam), 450-1; also Hamad al Kubaysee, Usool al Ahkaam (The Principles of Laws), 390.]

Here are a few examples of verdicts passed at that time:

By this process and through the loss of taqwaa, the purposes of the Sharee`ah were subverted and its holistic principles were overlooked. The matter came to such a pass that frivolous and insolent poets such as Aboo Nuwaas began to ridicule the laws of God with poetry such as this:

The Iraqi has allowed fermented juice and its imbibing;
Forbidden only is wine and drunkenness, he said.
Both drinks are one and the same, said the Hijazi.
Free now to choose between both pronouncements.
Khamr is now lawful for us!
I shall press their statements to their utmost limits,
And have my draughts of this wine
To rid myself of life's cares.

The public who was expected to protect the integrity of the religion, became degraded, and religion itself became devalued in the sight of people. Overstepping the limits of the religion became acceptable in the public's, eyes as they sought to make things too easy for themselves. Some jurists succumbed to this permissive trend and destroyed the protecting walls of reverence and awe for the Sharee`ah. They allowed themselves to pass judgments to suit their whims and impulses.

Sternness and Sterility

At the other extreme, they were confronted by a stern and stubborn group who sought out the strictest and severest opinions on which to base their juristic judgments. This group thought that they were serving Islam through this get-tough policy and that they would persuade people to abide by the requirements of the religion. This was not to be. The result of the hard-line approach was - as it usually is - contrary to what they had expected. People became alienated from Islamic teachings and the Sharee`ah. They refused to comply with it and they saw in it hardship instead of ease.

There is the story of the Andalusian monarch who asked the Maalikee jurist Yahyaa ibn Yahyaa [ Yahyaa ibn Yahyaa al Laythee (d.234AH) studied the Muwattaa' from Maalik and propagated his school of thought in North Africa and Spain. See al Bidaayah, 10/312.] what he should do to atone for having intercourse with his wife during the daytime in Ramadaan. Yahyaa told him that he had to fast for two consecutive months. When he was asked why he had not given the monarch the first option of setting free someone in bondage, he replied: "He is capable of setting hundreds of slaves free. Therefore, he must have the harder punishment, which is fasting."

Islam is practical. It makes things easy rather than difficult for people. It encourages people to respond willingly and naturally to its laws and seeks to avoid distress and hardship. At the same time, it does not leave people to roam in absolute freedom and succumb to all their passions and impulses. This is the spirit in which judicial rulings should be made. It is clear from this that both the permissive and the excessively harsh tendencies among jurists at that time were not in keeping with the purpose of the wise Lawgiver.

The task of the scholar is to transmit the message of God Almighty to people as it was revealed in the Qur'an and as the Prophet taught it. It is not for him to incline arbitrarily to harshness on the one hand or leniency on the other.

"Say: Will you instruct God about your religion!" (49: 16)

"Say: Do you know better than God?" (2: 140)

The lesson to be derived from these two Qur'anic verses is that we have a duty to adopt the wisdom and follow the divine teachings of the Qur'an and eschew innovation, whether it stems from a tendency to arbitrary harshness or a tendency to arbitrary leniency.

Taqleed and Its Aftermath

We have seen above how chaotic and ridiculous the state of juristic reasoning had become. Many righteous and concerned people feared that incompetent and unreliable people would only corrupt the process of ijtihaad. Men who were at the bidding of rulers assumed the task of making legal verdicts. Without any scruples, they began to twist the texts (nusoos) of the original sources to suit their own inclinations and purposes. Scholars fluctuated between arbitrary leniency and harshness. Righteous people feared for the very destiny of the Muslim community and for the religion itself. They began searching for a cure and the only solution they could find was to bind the Ummah to taqleed! What a crisis it was that the only way out should be a retreat into blind imitation!

The jostling and the constant bickering among the jurists, their opposing and mutually exclusive views, and their unending resistance to one another seemed to point to only one way out: a return to the pronouncements of scholars of old on controversial questions. The people themselves, having lost confidence in many of the judges, began to put their trust only in those whose rulings conformed to pronouncements of one of the four a'immah - Aboo Haneefah, Maalik, al Shaafi`ee, and Ibn Hanbal.

Among the Muslim masses, following one of the four a'immah, sticking to everything they said, and steering clear from whatever they did not say became the bastion against deviant rulings issued by suspect mujtahidoon for their own ends. Imam al Haramayn (d. 478 AH) claimed that there was a consensus (ijmaa`) among specialist scholars prohibiting the taqleed of eminent Companions of the Prophet. Instead, according to this alleged consensus, people were required to follow the schools of thought of the four a'immah because they had thoroughly examined all the sources and the context of the various legal issues and properly classified them. They had also studied the methods and pronouncements of the early Muslims and so there was no need to go back directly to these sources. Imam al Haramayn supported this alleged consensus and came to the strange judgment that the common Muslim is under obligation to follow the schools of thought of these unquestionably knowledgeable and precise scholars. [ Al Burhaan, 2/1146; al Taqreer wa al Tahbeer, 3/353.]

On the basis of the pronouncement of Imam al Haramayn and the alleged consensus of specialist scholars, Ibn al Salaah issued his claim that it was obligatory to follow the four a'immah due to the textual authenticity, the disciplined approach, and the sound methods of reasoning and interpretation which marked their schools of thought. The Companions of the Prophet and their immediate successors, according to him, did not have these advantages. [ Al Taqreer wa al Tahbeer, 3/353.]

As a consequence of this total reliance on the four schools of thought, people became negligent and careless about the study of the Qur'an and the sciences associated with it, and they turned away from direct study of the Sunnah and its disciplines. They became content with knowledge that was neatly packaged and handed down, and all they had to do was to establish it firmly, defend it vigorously, and apply it as best as they could.

As this decline continued, the spirit of dissension grew stronger and spread. And for centuries thereafter, blind imitation became the norm. Intellectual thought stagnated. The tree of independent reasoning withered. Ignorance became common. Civil strife reared its ugly head. The `aalim and the faqeeh, in the eyes of people, became the one who had memorized a collection of the pronouncements of earlier jurists and equipped himself with some of their opinions without being able to distinguish between what was weak and what was reliable. The hadeeth 'scholar' became someone who had memorized a collection of ahaadeeth; whether it was authentic or spurious did not matter.

This deplorable situation did not end there but worsened considerably, as if knowledge had disappeared from the world of Muslims afflicted by intellectual sterility. In this atmosphere, harmful innovation, perversion, and corruption of various kinds flourished. All this left the door wide open for the enemies of Islam to sweep away Islamic civilization and plunder its heartlands.

The Ummah in Recent Times

This was the condition of the Ummah as it slumbered and stagnated due to taqleed, dreaming of the grandeur of a glorious past. Since the emergence of the split between the executive and the judiciary, the masses of Muslims were caught up in a state of bewilderment and tossed about by their own interests and impulses. The scholars of the Ummah were so busy justifying their own positions that if anyone had studied the legacy of this Ummah, which had dazzled the world with its unprecedented achievements, he would hardly believe that such intellectual rigidity and sterility could stem from the earlier enlightened and vibrant generations.

This was the state of the Ummah as the modern European renaissance got underway. The Europeans saw before them a Muslim Ummah which had lost virtually everything of its real vitality. Nothing of any substance remained. The faith was dormant and the Muslims themselves were bewildered. There was no longer any of the old certainty. Behavior had become deviant. Steadfastness was lacking. Intellectual thought was rigid. Ijtihaad was suspended. The science of jurisprudence was lost. Innovations were rampant. The Sunnah was laid to rest and Islamic consciousness grew dim and all but vanished. It was as if the Ummah with all its special characteristics was no longer itself.

These conditions made the Ummah an easy prey for the Western powers who were lying in wait for this golden opportunity to move in and finish off the little that remained of Islamic character. This has led to the situation in which we are today. It is a situation of ignominy and subjugation. We no longer appear to be capable of conducting our own affairs; they are in the hands of our enemies who decide our destiny. Indeed, we beg them to find solutions for problems which are of our own making.

During this period, the Ummah has tried to gather what remained of its strength to win back its lost glory and recover its balance. All attempts in this direction, however, have ended up in failure because the means adopted were flawed and not in accordance with the natural laws and patterns set by God. These attempts have been based on adopting and following alien paradigms and aping the foreign masters, both of which have only compounded the predicament.

Meanwhile, a new generation in search of a healing balm has begun to explore solutions that are sound and authentically Islamic. Various emerging groups of Muslims have begun to realize that "the means for rectifying the condition of the Ummah at this stage in its history must be the same means which were used to set it on the right course at the very beginning." They have thus turned to Islam and realized how sweet and satisfying it is. This has produced the phenomenon called the "Islamic Reawakening."

The enemies of Islam, despite their own internal differences, never wanted to give a free scope to this blessed awakening. How many are the arms and resources which they have used to combat us! Some within the Muslim ranks are also part of this armory and have been used as agents to sabotage the movement for reconstructing the Ummah in the true light of Islam. One of the most devastating methods used by the enemy was the strategy of "divide and rule." This was facilitated by the existence of rampant discord (ikhtilaaf) in the Muslim Ummah. The Islamic awakening soon found itself facing the grievous challenge of disagreements (ikhtilaaf) over and above the many other challenges which consumed the energies of the sincere workers for Islam. Energies were further dissipated on the perilous rock of discord. Some among the youth identified themselves with the early righteous forbears (the salafeeyah) and others with the upholders of hadeeth (ahl al hadeeth); one group identified itself with a particular school of thought (madhhab) while others did not see the necessity for this. Among these groups, various accusations of unbelief, blasphemy, harmful innovation, treachery, spying, and so on are bandied about. All of these accusations ought not to be exchanged between fellow Muslims let alone publicized through all the available media in total disregard of the fact that the malicious attempts to extinguish the light of Islam are more dangerous to the survival of the Ummah than these differences.

In retrospect, we can see that the leading scholars of the schools of Islamic jurisprudence had reasons to justify their differences of opinion and lessen their impact. The master perpetrators of disagreement in our times, however, do not have a single plausible basis for justifying their differences. They are not mujtahidoon or persons capable of independent reasoning or analytical thought. They are, rather, unthinking followers (muqallidoon) of those among them who raise their voices to proclaim that they are not in fact `followers' nor do they believe in the `duty to follow.' They claim that they derive their rulings and opinions directly from the Qur'an and the Sunnah of the Prophet, peace be on him. In reality, they cling to some books of hadeeth and follow in the footsteps of their authors in all matters pertaining to the authenticity of a hadeeth and the trustworthiness and reliability of its narrators. Some of them claim knowledge of the science which studies the biographies of hadeeth reporters and the extent of their reliability. On the basis of studying a single book on this vast subject, a person cannot justifiably elevate himself to the position of a mujtahid.

It is only appropriate that someone who has acquired some real knowledge should not behave like an ignorant person and hurl accusations and insults against others. He should realize the grave dangers facing the Islamic faith and seek to ward off these dangers. He should be keenly concerned to bring together the hearts and minds of people even while they follow different schools of thought. At least they should stick scrupulously to the ethics and norms (adab) of proper behavior when differences do arise, as did the noble scholars of the past.

Sincere Muslims had hoped that the Islamic awakening would at least achieve two objectives. Firstly, it was hoped that it would put an end to heretical and atheistic ideals, and false and corrupt ideologies and influences. In so doing, it was hoped that it would purify the hearts and minds of many in Muslim society and re-instill in them the true Islamic faith. Secondly, it would then propagate the Islamic message throughout the world and make the word of God supreme on earth.

It is extremely painful to note that some within the Muslim ranks have deliberately sought to clip the wings of this awakening by shackling it with the fetters of discord where this was totally unnecessary. The result is that Muslims are distracted by their own mostly petty quarrels; their efforts are dissipated; issues have become so confused and mixed up that they are unable to distinguish between trivial and important matters. How, one may well ask, can such a people deal with their problems according to the level of their importance and order their priorities in such a way as to bring about an effective renewal of Islamic life?

The effects of discord (khilaaf) among Muslims or the perpetuation of its causes is, it must be stressed, a great treason to the goals of Islam. It is tantamount to destroying the contemporary Islamic awakening which has revitalized the hopes and aspirations of Muslims. It is a hindrance to the onward march of Islam. It dissipates the sincere efforts of those striving in the cause of Islam and would incur the displeasure of God. Today, for these reasons, one of the most important obligations on Muslims in general and on those who work for Islam in particular - after belief in God Almighty - is to work for the unification of all Islamic groups and elements and to eradicate all factors causing discord among them. If this goal proves impossible to achieve, then let us keep our differences to the minimum and well within the ethics and norms of behavior set by our righteous forbears. Differences of opinion do not prevent a genuine meeting of hearts in order to bring about a renewal of the noble Islamic life. This can be achieved only when intentions are sincere and purely for the sake of God Almighty. When this becomes a reality, support and success from God will not be denied.

Causes of Differences Today

The causes of differences of opinion naturally differ from one age to another. Each age will naturally bequeath some of its problems to a succeeding age. Today, one of the most important and conspicuous causes of differences between Muslims is ignorance of Islam or a deficient knowledge of Islam.

The state of education of Muslims before the arrival of aggressive colonialism was deplorable, and it became increasingly worse after the penetration of colonialism in Muslim lands. The occupiers knew precisely where the Muslim Ummah was most vulnerable, and so began to put in place educational programs and institutions for colonializing Muslim minds and changing their ideas to conform to their own interests and worldview. This policy of infiltration was calculated to make the Muslims accept the new anti-Islamic world order in the name of progress and modernization on the European model. They argued that this rise of progress and civilization in Europe was only possible through the overthrowing of religion-based laws and loosening the stranglehold of the church. Religion as such, they argued, was nothing more than an impediment that prevented humanity from attaining freedom and prosperity.

These claims might very well be true with regard to Christianity and other religions; they certainly cannot be applied to Islam, for Islam promotes human happiness and the realization of human potentialities and is guided by the light of God. In the effort to sever the Muslim Ummah from the mainsprings of its existence and its Islamic moorings, the imperialists placed obstacles and sanctions against Islamic education and the Arabic language which is the medium of Islamic education. To realize this objective, students who sought an Islamic education found themselves neglected and devalued. The studies they pursued were also underrated, and they were denied the professional education and training that would enable them to get decent jobs and salaries. On the other hand, students who enrolled in the modern schools on the colonialist patterns were given special care and attention. The doors of opportunity were opened before them and they were groomed as the new leaders of the Ummah. In this way the grip tightened around the necks of those interested in Islamic education and the Arabic language. The avenues for seeking such an education were blocked.

In most Muslim countries, soon only a few turned to Islamic education and eventually standards dropped. Most of those who wanted such an education became like the one who tills the soil but does not expect to reap any produce. Only specific circumstances encouraged them to seek such an education. They did not have the strength to free themselves from its hold even after graduation, for the way remained blocked before them. They did not have the capacity to perform the role which a scholar should perform in society and bring to fruition the message with which he is entrusted. With the doors of opportunity blocked, they lost their independence, their personalities weakened, and they were induced to join the official religious organizations set up, in advance, to serve preplanned and limited objectives. They were unable to get beyond these inasmuch as they were denied the opportunity to perform their proper role in society. As a result, people lost faith in them.

In the attempt to deepen the gulf between the Ummah and its faith and to cut the roots which connected it with the Sharee`ah, the anti-Islamic imperialists tried to place Islamic education and the teaching of Arabic in the background. The field was left open for alien concepts and ideologies which were attractively presented to the youth but only exposed them to pain, worry, and bitterness. Every type of ideology was presented to them - from communism to socialism, and from radicalism to nationalism and democracy. However beautifully each was packaged, it only served to increase the ignominy and disgrace of the Muslim Ummah to an unprecedented level.

It became clear to many Muslims, however, that Islam alone was capable of curing the problems of the Ummah, uplifting it from its decline, and arresting the causes of decadence. After groping aimlessly in the darkness, they decided on their own to turn to Islam out of concern for themselves and their religion. When they came up against the problem of properly understanding the religion and acquiring a knowledge of its laws, they resorted to books which could not give them a sound, complete, and comprehensive understanding of this system. They were unable to acquire a knowledge of its purposes and of its holistic nature - just like the group of blind men who passed their hands over different parts of an elephant's body, each one insisting that the part he touched was the elephant. This is the condition of Muslims in relation to Islam today.

The Muslim Ummah has been split up into small groups and factions. There are those who have turned their backs on Islam and oscillate between the East and the West as if their only connection with Islam were their names and the past legacy of Islam. Were it not for a certain timidity, they would perhaps sever all connection with Islam. There are others who yearn to come back to Islam, but when they do they go along different paths and end up disagreeing among themselves. This makes them an easy prey for the enemies of Islam. Everywhere, rulers surround them and offer them no way out. They are finished off completely before they are able to recover their balance and find the straight way.

The Way to Recovery

Now that the disease which has plagued the Ummah for so long has been identified, we need to produce a remedy and chart a course towards recovery.

Sincere Muslims engaged in the field of promoting Islam and who are deeply conscious of the painful reality of the Muslim situation should identify groups of talented Muslim youths and make available to them the best means to study the sciences of the Sharee`ah. This should be at the hands of the few remaining scholars who are known for their depth of knowledge, uprightness, piety, and constructive thought and who have a sound insight into the purposes and holistic nature of the Sharee`ah as well as a good understanding of its component sciences. These scholars should adopt the educational principles and methods of the noble Prophet. This body of talented Muslim youths should also be trained by another group who are well equipped with knowledge of the various contemporary sciences and who have a high level of sincerity and piety. This combination will hopefully set the pace for an Islamic awakening and help the Ummah recover its strength and integrity. In the process, it will reassume its leading role and rescue humanity from rushing headlong, day by day, into disaster. There is no salvation for humanity except through Islam.

Secondly, Muslims are living through an intellectual crisis whose dimensions are perceived only by a small minority. In order to tackle this crisis, Muslims must rectify their manner of thinking. The crisis is distinctly manifest in the collapse of the Ummah's institutions; in the non-existence of properly organized bodies; in the low levels of consciousness, knowledge, and training of young Muslims; in the disintegration of mutual bonds between believers; in the corruption and deviation of most of the leaders in the Muslim world; in all the malicious endeavors to sabotage the well-intentioned efforts of groups of upright and pious Muslims. All this is due to the fact that Islam is far away from the lives of Muslims. There is a yawning gap between the ideals of Islam and the realities of the Muslim world. Non-Muslims see Islam as a cloud which produces no rain and therefore does not quicken the dead earth or they see it as water on a hard rock on which no vegetation or produce ever grows. This is because Muslims' hearts have become atrophied and encrusted with rust; their eyes have become bleary and can hardly distinguish between good and evil.

It has become evident that the various educational institutions in the Muslim world have miserably failed to produce the true, balanced Muslim individual. Universities which have been set up in Muslim countries on the lines of Western models do not see it as part of their task to prepare and produce Muslim scholars in all branches of knowledge so that they can Islamize the various disciplines at their disposal. Instead, they see their task as preparing graduates infatuated with the arts and sciences of the West. How quickly do such graduates turn their backs on the essential beliefs of Islam and its goals and objectives for life! These universities produce generations whose sense of belonging to Islam is weak, whose thinking is confused, and who are unable to use their knowledge in the service of the Muslim Ummah.

Educational institutions which are regarded as Islamic - such as al Azhar and other universities, colleges, and institutes patterned along similar lines, have achieved a limited success for the benefit of the Ummah. They have managed to produce some excellent specialists in some sciences of the Sharee`ah, but they have failed to provide the Ummah with able and innovative Muslim scholars and thinkers capable of presenting Islam as a holistic system with distinctive goals and objectives. Such scholars have not been able to confront contemporary challenges and overcome them. In the process, Islamic thought has atrophied and has failed to shape the thinking of Muslims and the direction of their lives. As a result, Muslim minds and hearts have remained wide open to the infiltration of all kinds of ideas which seek to subvert Islam. Muslims have become incapable of dealing with the problems facing them in politics, economics, social organization, and other fields. They have been content merely to transmit and imitate what others are thinking and doing.

This blind adoption of alien ideas and practices has created disagreement and dissension among various sections of the Ummah. These disagreements have mostly been resolved in the interests of Western-minded groups who are culturally in thrall to the West. Instead of unifying their ranks and working together to face these threats and challenges, the devout Muslims unfortunately have become engaged in wrangling over controversial issues. This is mainly because of intellectual confusion and failure to distinguish between the parts and the whole, and between the ultimate purposes of the law and its underlying principles.

We are in desperate need of sound and vigorous Islamic thought which is built on an understanding of the spirit of Islam, its ultimate purposes, its overall principles, and the hierarchy of its laws derived from its great original sources - the Qur'an and the Sunnah. We also need to study the legacy and the methodology of our righteous forbears as they studied and acted upon these original sources in the early illustrious centuries. This will enable us to achieve a clear and complete perception that Islam is the only path for the salvation of the Muslim Ummah and that it contains the ideal solution for all its problems. This clear perception will rally the Ummah around the fundamentals of Islamic thought and will steer it away from evil intrigues and manipulations.

When the Ummah is thus firmly and correctly established and is able to identify its wounds, ailments, and the source of its malady, the steps which must be taken to arrive at the required cure and to realize the desired goal will undoubtedly become clear. That is well within its reach.