In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Peace and Salutations upon our Prophet and Master
Muhammad the Chosen One
وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ
﴿١٠﴾ أُولَـٰئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ ﴿١١﴾ فِي جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ ﴿١٢﴾ ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ
الْأَوَّلِينَ ﴿١٣﴾ وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِينَ
And the forerunners, the
forerunners - Those are the ones brought near [to Allah] In the Gardens of
Pleasure, A [large] company of the former peoples And a few of the later
peoples
(Sura 56: 10-14)
Regarding the faithful Muslims of the latter-days, the Prophet (peace be upon him & his family) referred to them as Ghuraba (the estranged):
أَنّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ
صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ : إِنَّ الدِّينَ لَيَأْرِزُ إِلَى الْحِجَازِ
كَمَا تَأْرِزُ الْحَيَّةُ إِلَى جُحْرِهَا ، وَلَيَعْقِلَنَّ الدِّينُ مِنَ الْحِجَازِ
مَعْقِلَ الْأُرْوِيَّةِ مِنْ رَأْسِ الْجَبَلِ ، إِنَّ الدِّينَ بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا وَيَرْجِعُ
غَرِيبًا ، فَطُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ الَّذِينَ يُصْلِحُونَ مَا أَفْسَدَ النَّاسُ مِنْ
بَعْدِي مِنْ سُنَّتِي
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Indeed
the religion with creep into the Hijaz just like a snake creeps into its hole,
and the religion will cling to the Hijaz just like the female mountain goat
cling to the peak of a mountain. Indeed the religion began as something strange
and it will return to being strange. So Tuba (glad-tidings) is for the
strangers who correct what the people have corrupted from my Sunnah after me (Jami
at-Tirmidhi)
The Prophet ﷺ stated that the Faith would entrench itself between the
Two Sacred Mosques of Mecca and Medina (Sahih Muslim):
إِنَّ
الإِسْلاَمَ بَدَأَ غَرِيبًا وَسَيَعُودُ غَرِيبًا كَمَا بَدَأَ وَهُوَ يَأْرِزُ
بَيْنَ الْمَسْجِدَيْنِ كَمَا تَأْرِزُ الْحَيَّةُ فِي جُحْرِهَا
Regarding the blessed Ghuraba, the Prophet ﷺ stated that the majority of the people would oppose them, while
only a few would follow them (Musnad Ahmad):
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ
صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ وَنَحْنُ عِنْدَهُ : طُوبَى لِلْغُرَبَاءِ
، فَقِيلَ : مَنْ الْغُرَبَاءُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ؟ قَالَ : أُنَاسٌ صَالِحُونَ ،
فِي أُنَاسِ سُوءٍ كَثِيرٍ ، مَنْ يَعْصِيهِمْ أَكْثَرُ مِمَّنْ يُطِيعُهُمْ
The Prophet also stated that among the characteristics of
the Ghuraba is that they would be alienated from their tribes (Sunan Ibn Maja):
قِيلَ وَمَنِ الْغُرَبَاءُ
قَالَ النُّزَّاعُ مِنَ الْقَبَائِلِ
The modern-day Kharijites and Takfiris cite these and
other Hadith to justify their position of separation and opposition to the
general body of Muslims. They assert that the glad-tidings given to the Ghuraba
of the latter-days applies to none other than them. But this argument could
only be considered compelling if the modern Takfiri (Kharijite) current is the
only one which could be described as estranged or opposed by the general body
of Muslims. The truth is, however, that there are other groups or streams
within the contemporary world of Islam which too are potential candidates for being
identified as Ghuraba based on this particular characteristic. Among the most
vociferous opponents of the modern Takfiris are the quietist and apolitical
Salafis, whose nerve center is the Islamic University of Medina, and whose Ulama
are mostly based in the Hijaz, between the Two Sacred Mosques. As has preceded
from the Hadith of Tirmidhi, one of the salient features of the Ghuraba is that
they are people who rectify what the people have corrupted of the Prophet’s
Sunna. In short, the Ghuraba are in fact a religious revivalist and pietist tendency
and not a Kharijite one. The Takifirs (Kharijites) are generally characterized
as a tendency that view the broader Muslim Umma as being infidels and
apostates, i.e., outside the very circle of Islam. Many of them are violent and
see it as permissible to shed the blood of ordinary Muslims whom they regard as
apostates or infidels, for example the recent massacre in the Sinai on 24
November 2017, when Takfiri radicals slaughtered over 300 Muslim worshipers in
a mosque during the Friday service, including some 30 young children.
While it is certainly true that the Prophet ﷺ never predicted any phenomenon that would occur in his Umma that
could potentially justify mass-Takfir of it, let alone such violent and vicious
behavior to the Muslims, it should be noted that in the latter days the Muslim
Umma would fracture and become polarized into two camps:
During it a man will be a believer in the morning and an
infidel in the evening, so that the people will be in two camps: the camp of
faith which will contain no hypocrisy, and the camp of hypocrisy which will contain
no faith. When that happens, expect the Antichrist that day or the next. (Sunan
Abi Dawud)
This fracture in the Umma will be complete at the
emergence of the Antichrist (Dajjal). Until that happens, we continue to
witness the polarization and fragmentation of the Umma into two camps, one
characterized by faithfulness and the other characterized by hypocrisy. Yet,
this does not justify mass-Takfir, since there is still a large middle ground in
between with some fluidity. The Camp of Hypocrisy will only be clearly
identified at the emergence of the cursed Dajjal, as they will be those who
were from among this Umma that will follow and obey him. Nevertheless, this
Hadith which describes the rupture within the Umma into two general tendencies,
one towards Faith and the other towards Nifaq (hypocrisy) should be understood
and digested as part of the contemporary Islamic narrative but without being
related to the legal question of Takfir. For now, it is not a legal or
jurisprudential issue in Islam so the question of Takfir of any society which
claims to be Muslim does not arise. This phenomenon of polarization and bifurcation
within the Umma should only reinforce the narrative of spiritual separation
from corrupt mainstream society known as Hijra and Uzla, which I have written
about at length here.
The Hadith about the Religion clinging to the Hijaz as reported in the Jami at-Tirmidhi is extremely weak due to the narrator Kathir b. Abd Allah, a known liar according to the Muhaddithin.
ReplyDelete