Dear Sister Jabou,
Thank you ever so much for your detailed explanation.I am very happy and
satisfied that you are doing it for the love and sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala and not for any other motive,in that case, rest assured of my full
support and coperation.Please permit me to quote from the Holy Quran:-
1.".....co-operate with one another for virtue and piety and do not
co-operate with one another for sin and transgression..."(5.2).
2."Cling firmly together by Allah's rope(Islam) and do not be
divided."(3:103).
3." And the believers-men and women are friends of one another,they command
for the right and forbid the wrong,establish Salah and pay zakah and obey
Allah and His messenger..."(9:71).
Now a quote from hadith:
1." the best of you is he who has learnt the Quran and taught it"(Bukhari).
2." the seeking of knowledge is a must for every muslim man and
woman"(Miskat).
As a muslim like you i was thought at an early age to ask questions of any
thing I was not sure of,that was the reason of questioning your motive.
Maulana Maududi was a prolific writer i would strongly suggest that you
read his other works especially his Tafsir of the HolY Quran,this is now
available in English.
Yes.I would agree with you that we should follow one man and one man
only-That is Muhammad Ibn Abdullah-our beloved prophet(on whom be the peace
and blessing of Allah),he is our exemplar and should be our role model,What
he did,we copy in our life,what he did not do,we do not attempt to do.That
is the whole idea of the Holy Quran and Sunnah of the Prophet.
This is where education and the work of Dawah is so important for us.Your
present effort(what is Islam series)is therefore commendable.
There are different "brands of Islam" brought about by differences in the
interpretation of the Holy Quran.The present debate that has been raging on
now close to three weeks,is due purely to differences of interpretaton of
the Quran and Sunnah of the prophet.On the one hand, you have those that
preach and practice puritanical form of Islam(I have dubbed this
group:-Wahhabi interpretation of the Quran.Thia is a sect that was started
in Saudi Arabia by a man called Muhammad Ibn Abdul Wahah(1708-1787).They
preach Whiter than white form of islam that lack tolerance.After the Iran
Revolution that brought Ayotallah Khomenie to power,the Saudi Arabia
Authorities through the dawah agency started spending colossal sum of money
to propagate their brand of islam all over the world.There is therefore
Wahhabi influence all over the world now.
On the other hand,in the debate before us,there is also a liberal group
that believe in the liberal interpretation of the quran.This group believe
in tolerance,respect for other people's belief(especially People of the
Book)and others provided that it does not conflict with the doctrine,Ritual
and ethics of islam.The liberal believe that in living their Islam,in
demonstrating their islam,in preaching their Islam,righteous should speak
for itself.In my view,this is the brand of islam practisd in the Gambia and
Sierra leone.It is not perfect but it has stood the test of time.I now want
to give you two examples from hadith.When our prophet(PBUH) migrated to
Medina,he notice that the jews of his day were fasting on the 10th
Muharram,when he made enquiries,he was told that they(jews) were fasting as
sign of gratitude to Allah having deliver syedina Musa from the hands of
Pharaoh,Upon hearing this,our prophet told them that We(muslims)have a
better claim on Musa,so he fasted with them.The Jews on hearing this,started
taunting the muslims,that the day would come when muslims would follow them
on other things.The muslims in Medina brought this to the notice of the
prophet(PBUH),The prophet therefore stipulated that to distinguish ourselves
from them(jews) we should fast on the 9th,10th 11th of Muharram.That is how
this tradition came to be established up to this day.Muslims all over the
world who take their religion seriously fast the three days during the month
of muharram.Another example,a delegation of jews visited the prophet in
medina,he(prophet) accomodated them in the mosque he had built with his
prophetic hands together with his band of early followers,Infact he built
the mosque before building his private quaters.not only that he(Rasul)
allowed them to say their prayers in the mosque.Now,now Now,compare that
behaviour with the behaviour of our present day religious leaders.Now
brothers and sisters let us dont waste valuable time debating an issue that
can be interpreted differently depending on one's knowledge of the Quran and
Sunnah of the prophet.So you see my dear sister there is different brand of
islam depending on your knowledge and understanding.I will be sending an
article on the subject by the end of the week.When all is said and done,
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala knows best.
I wish you every success with the series,that is my last input on the
subject.Thank you for time and understanding.
With the very best of good wishes,
Musa Amadu Pembo
Glasgow,
Scotland
UK.
[log in to unmask]
Da’wah is to convey the message with wisdom and with good words. We should
give the noble and positive message of Islam. We should try to emphasize
more commonalities and explain the difference without getting into
theological arguments and without claiming the superiority of one position
over the other. There is a great interest among the people to know about
Islam and we should do our best to give the right message.
May Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,guide us all to His Sirat Al-Mustaqim (Righteous
Path).May He protect us from the evils of this life and the hereafter.May
Allah,Subhana Wa Ta'Ala,grant us entrance to paradise .. Ameen
_________________________________________________________________
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface
at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to:
[log in to unmask]
<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>
|
