Mouood Mouood English Edition
Fundamental Causes of Disunity
Many [potential] causes for discord can be enumerated but for now we will limit ourselves to actual [current] obstacles to unity. These obstacles can be summarized into three main categories:
First Cause of Disunity: Politics
Islam must be freed from siyasat (politics) of a perilous nature. Approximately 35 years earlier in a meeting attended by a number of distinguished individuals, I commented “Islam must be freed of the evil of politics.” One of the attendees replied: Do you too belong to the group which alleges the separation of religion and politics? I said: No, in this lies the very mistake.
We have two issues at hand here: firstly, religion (din) is the same thing as politics and politics is the same thing as religion. Since Islam includes a system of government, it necessarily comprises of politics as well. Those who due to alien influence claim that religion and politics must be separated are in fact stripping religion of the strength it gains by providing a system of government. The second type of politics to which I was referring, is the form of politics that from the first century of Islam and throughout the history of Islam has obstructed the path to unity. Below is a mention of significant dynasties that have been in rivalry with one another:
1. Rivalry between Bani Umayyah, the family of‘Ali (‘a), and the Khawarij
2. Rivalry between the Bani Umayyah and the Bani ‘Abbas
3. Rivalry between the Bani ‘Abbas and the family of the Prophet (S)
4. Rivalry between the Bani ‘Abbas and the Bani Umayyah (in Spain)
5. Rivalry between the Bani ‘Abbas and the Egyptian Fatimiyyads
6. Rivalry between Ayyubis and the Fatimiyyads
7. Rivalry between the Buyids (a Shi’ite maddhab) and the Seljuks (a Sunni maddhab)
8. Rivalry between the Ottoman caliphs and the Safavid sultans
It is naïve to imagine that these caliphates, dynasties, and powers played no role in the creation of disunity among the Muslims. Sadly most if not all of these regimes purposely misused madhhab (schools of jurisprudence, theology, or thought) to create dissention between the masses.
Islam must be freed from the perils of such unhealthy politics that have racked Islamic history for the last 10-12 centuries. Muslims all over the Islamic world, both in the West and the East, are still suffering the consequences of these unfortunate politics.
At this point it is appropriate to quote one of the leading players in the efforts to create unity within Islam, the late Shaykh ‘Abd al-Majid Salim, one of the foremost scholars of Al-Azhar, a teacher of Shaykh Shaltut, and a founder of dar al-taqrib bayn al-madhahib al-islamiyyah (Society for the Proximity between the Islamic sects).
This was narrated from Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Qummi, the director of Dar al-Tabligh: Shaykh ‘Abd al-Majid Salim once said in a meeting, “Madhahib [plural of madhhab] that have gained ground in Islamic countries have not done so by [convincing others with] reason and logical proof, but rather, they have spread and made progress due to political forces.”
This is a reality that only furthers the argument that the matter of politics is a lone factor [in the genesis of madhahib]. The unfortunate consequences of this form of politics are to be found in the Islamic countries and we must make attempts to remove them. To this end, it is first necessary to scrutinize each and every common practice and tradition among Muslims and seek out its origin so as to clarify the original source from which it stems. The traditions whose origins lie in politics need to be sifted out and only those which can be established with proof [from Islamic sources] ought to be practiced.
The late Sayyid Sharaf al-Din Jabal ‘Àmili, another reformer of this century, has a beautiful saying regarding the matter at hand:
That is, the form of deviant politics which is opposed to Islamic values has caused divisions amongst us; however, a humane and just Islamic political system will soon gather us around one another. Perhaps this great man had been divinely inspired with the knowledge that the Islamic Republic of Iran would soon come into existence and gather Islamic nations around each other.
Consequently, no amount of effort spent in speaking and writing is too great in countering the dire effects the policies of corrupt rulers of the past have had on the views, practices, traditions, and on what the Muslims love and hate. As an example, in Egypt it was common to hold celebrations on the day of ‘Àshura’. It is not clear which government or political faction started this unacceptable and divisive practice. But I recall that newspapers narrated that one year, the late Shaykh Shaltut and his colleagues held mourning ceremonies on the day of‘Àshura’ in al-Azhar commemorating Imam Husayn (a), in order to expunge that evil policy left over from an earlier era.
There are both [positive and negative] examples. The opposite has also held true in other places [where influential forces have promoted divisive practices].
Astonishingly, even now when the dire consequences of such mistaken politic maneuvering have become clear, there are those who insist on carrying on the erroneous practices of the past.
[Corrupt] rulers have consistently promoted their own unwise and anti-Islamic politics by resorting to madhhab and by means of court-scholars (darbari) and preachers of the sultans. In other words, corrupt scholars have been a part of the promotion of such political strategies. From this does the relationship between these forms of politics and madhahib become clear, forming our point of departure for the second cause of discord.
Second Cause of Disunity: Madhhab
In our discussion of madhhab as the second factor in disunity, we must first clarify the true meaning of madhhab and to what extent it can be a cause of discord.
Madhhab differs from religion (din). When we say the religion of Islam, our intention is those beliefs and rulings that are present in the Qur’an and the Sunnah that the Noble Messenger (S) propagated. Madhhab, however, is a path started among the Muslims as a way to bring clarity to religion. On the whole, we can speak of three categories of madhhab that correspond with three dimensions of Islam:
The dimension of beliefs and the formation of the theological madhahib of the Ash’ari, Mu’tazili, Shi’i, etc. whose underpinnings lie in beliefs. Followers of a madhhab maintain the belief that the path to true religion is the path that they are traversing, and all agree that the path of madhhab differs from religion.
The practical and fiqhi (jurisprudential) dimension.
The dimension of akhlaq (ethics) and ‘irfan (gnosis).
Usually when disagreement among madhahib is spoken of, the second dimension (jurisprudential differences) comes to mind. These sects correspond to the four mainstream and well-known Sunni madhahib and the two or three Shi’i madhahib, as well as those less-popular madhahib in both groups.
It is evident that in some instances the above madhahib are in alignment with their theological counterparts, and in some instances they differ. For example the Shi’i madhhab has independence in the dimensions of beliefs and jurisprudence, and each is a necessary corollary of the other. However this is not the case for the Sunni madhahib, where it is possible that someone who belongs to the Shafi’i madhhab in jurisprudence may belong to either the Mu’tazili or the Ash’ari theological madhhab.
Viewpoints regarding the genesis of madhahib
The different viewpoints about the genesis of these madhahib can be divided in two major stances:
The first stance is that of the Salafis, or those who maintain loyalty to the Pious Predecessors (salaf-e Salih) and believe that the genesis of madhahib in Islam is an innovation (bid’ah). The current leaders of this group are the Wahhabis. One of their leaders by the name of Shaykh Nasir al-Din Àlbani has written a book about innovations that exist even within the madhahib of the Ahl al-Sunnah. In this he declares any fatwa (legal opinion) that does not suit his own taste as an innovation.
They are of the belief that the Islam of today should be identical to the Islam of the time of the Prophet (s), the companions and the Pious Predecessors, when no madhhab, path, or differences had yet appeared. Anything that came to be after that time is an innovation.
The second group holds the belief that the development of madhahib is a positive event. However this group as well errs in that they typically have chosen madhhab in place of religion, asserting that anyone who opposes the roots and branches of the madhhab is in fact opposing the religion.
This second view is in direct opposition to the first. The first viewpoint states that no madhhab should exist since it is an innovation, whereas the second states that my madhhab is the scale by which religion is measured and whoever disagrees with my sect is in fact disagreeing with Islam.
Given the above, which one of these two opinions should we adopt? Which represents the truth?
We can not take the view that madhahib are contrary to the nature of Islam. The Qur’an says:
Do they not contemplate the Qur’an?13…
and
…Why should not there go forth a group from each of their sections to become learned in religion…14
The Qur’an’s primary goal is to call its readers to thought, comprehension (fahm), and fiqh (deep understanding). Is it not the case that in its general meaning, tafaqquh (becoming learned) in the dimensions of beliefs, practice, and akhlaq necessarily requires thought, deduction (istinbat), and ijtihad (intellectual effort to derive legal conclusions)?
Indeed it may be said Islam itself has laid the foundations of ijtihad and forming one’s own opinion. Therefore Islam must allow for difference of opinion to a reasonable extent. This is because it is not possible for the Qur’an on one hand to command us towards tafaqquh in religion, and on the other hand for any matter that arises to declare, “Say this, and nothing else!”
Fortunately scholars of all the sects believe that in fundamental (Dharuri) issues there is no room for ijtihad and taqlid. However, such fundamentals can be and have been used as a basis for ijtihad in non-fundamental issues. It is important here to remind ourselves that issues in Islam belonging to all the three spheres fall within three categories.
