Quranist Fitnah (Part 1)

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام على رسوله الكريم

The so-called Quran-only movement or Quranists are perhaps one of the most dangerous and severely misguided trends that appears to be taking off in the Muslim Ummah today. I believe a major factor for its relative success is its inherent inclination toward modernism and cultural Westernization. Our beloved master the Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم predicted this phenomenon centuries ago when he said:

أَلاَ إِنِّي أُوتِيتُ الْكِتَابَ وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ أَلاَ يُوشِكُ رَجُلٌ شَبْعَانُ عَلَى أَرِيكَتِهِ يَقُولُ عَلَيْكُمْ بِهَذَا الْقُرْآنِ فَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَلاَلٍ فَأَحِلُّوهُ وَمَا وَجَدْتُمْ فِيهِ مِنْ حَرَامٍ فَحَرِّمُوهُ أَلاَ لاَ يَحِلُّ لَكُمْ لَحْمُ الْحِمَارِ الأَهْلِيِّ وَلاَ كُلُّ ذِي نَابٍ مِنَ السَّبُعِ وَلاَ لُقَطَةُ مُعَاهِدٍ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَسْتَغْنِيَ عَنْهَا صَاحِبُهَا

Beware! I have been given the Quran and something like it, yet the time is coming when a man replete on his couch will say: Keep to the Quran; what you find in it to be permissible treat as permissible, and what you find in it to be prohibited treat as prohibited. Beware! The domestic ass, beasts of prey with fangs, a find belonging to mu’ahid, unless its owner does not want it, are not permissible to you (Sunan Abi Dawud #4604)

This Hadith is vital for understanding the controversy raised by the Quran-only movement, or as they should be referred to, the Hadith-rejecters and Sunnah-rejecters. First and foremost, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم announced that Allah Most High revealed to him not only the Quran but the similitude of the Quran, namely, the Sunnah. Hence, both are divinely revealed and Believers cannot be true in their faith until they accept both. And as the Quran contains legal injunctions, prohibitions, and guidance in creed and all aspects of life, likewise, the Sunnah contains the same kind of material.

Secondly, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم described the typical Quranist, that is, Hadith-rejecter, as someone reclining on a couch. This is actually highly significant, as it indicates that this tendency of Hadith rejection will be characterized by a lack of asceticism. So we find that the Quranists are individuals who have totally embraced the Western or modern lifestyle and see nothing virtuous or spiritual about adhering to the Prophetic lifestyle. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and his Companions رضى الله عنهم were not people who reclined on couches, but sat humbly on the ground. You will find that the so-called Quranists have no appetite for worship, for praying, fasting, dhikr, and other spiritual practises which the Sunnah has emphasized and listed countless virtues for.

Thirdly, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم explained that the so-called Quranist is someone who is primarily motivated by a desire to remove the strictures of the Shari’ah and reduce the divine laws to only those that are explicit from the text of the Quran. Therefore, the Quranist typically says that only the prohibitions found in the Quran itself are to be observed. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم gave a wonderful example in that, according to traditional Islam of the Sunnah, the domestic donkey and other beasts of prey having canines are haram, although the prohibition of eating their meat isn’t explicit from the Quran. Therefore, in any discussion or debate with a Quranist, one should necessarily point out that according to their understanding of the Shari’ah, the meat of the domestic donkey and beasts of prey (lions, tigers, bears, wolves, crocodiles, snakes and so forth) are halal. In fact, from the Sunnah and Hadith we know that there are many categories of animals that are forbidden to eat, such as dogs, cats, predatory birds (eagles, falcons, vultures), crows, vermin (mice, rodents), bugs (spiders, insects, worms, scorpions, flies), frogs and so on and so forth. The Quranist has no choice but to admit that all of these are halal. And apart from dietary restrictions, there are other critical laws in the Shari’ah which are not found in the text of the Quran. For example, the imperative of circumcision, laws relating to sexual ethics which forbid anal intercourse, etc. I have come across Quranists who argue that circumcision is not only unnecessary but a crime, and that anal intercourse between husband and wife is permissible معاذ الله

Many Muslims whose commitment to Islam is weak and are on the edge of apostasy or hypocrisy, tend to embrace the Quranist tendency so they can follow their desires in listening to immoral music, interacting with unrelated members of the opposite gender (free mixing), ladies going about unveiled since in their common interpretation of the Quran women are not required to cover their hair, and keeping pet dogs.

To be continued ان شاء الله