The Straight Path

The first chapter of the Quran says, 'O God, guide us to the straight path.' These words have come in the Quran about 50 times. To walk the straight path means to lead one's life in accordance with the creation plan of God. There are two aspects to life of this world: one depends on personal will and the other is subject to external laws of nature. For example, we have been given eyes to see. If we close our eyes, we'll see nothing. But in order to see things, we need light. Without light, nothing would be visible, even to open eyes. We have control over our eyes, but not the external light coming from the sun. The same holds true of religion. Religious teachings are meant for the individual, but people wrongly take it as meant to be imposed on others. While we can follow what we want in our individual lives, we have no control over the external world.

Video Transcript
Video Transcript

Introduction

The  term Al-Siratul  Mustaqeem is  used  in  the  very  first  chapter  of  the  Quran  and  otherwise,  it  has been  used  more  than  20  times.  Through  this  prayer,  a  believer  invokes  God  to  guide  him  to  the straight path. This prayer is read in every prayer and according to a Hadith Surah Fateha ko padhe baghair namaz, namaaz nahin (Al Bukhari)

[Without reading the Surah Fateha, namaz is incomplete] While Ulema engaged  themselves  in umpteen  debates pertaining to  the “form”  of  reciting  the Surah Fateha, none focussed on  the  meaning  of Sirat-e-mustaqeem (or the  straight path.)  A believer while praying must bear in mind the meaning  of Sirat-e-mustaqeem. The  Hadith  does not refer to a namaaz with alfaz –e fateha (mere recital) but a namaaz with shaoor-e-fateha (conscious understanding). The  irony  is  that  the  number  of  those  who  pray  (namaaz)  today  is  greater  than  any  other  time   in history.  There  are  more  than  one  billion  Muslims  throughout  the  world  today  but  according  to  a Hadith Baad ke zamane mein, unki masjid abaad hongi par hidayat se khali hongi (Al Baihaqi)

[In later times, mosques will flourish but they will be devoid of guidance]

In  every  unit  of  prayer,  a  believer  prays  for  guidance  or hidayat.  Now  the  question  arises  that  why will  the  namaz  be  devoid of guidance? It  means that people will  give more importance to  the  words and will not pay  heed to the meaning of those  words. Principally,  one  verse of the Quran  clarifies the meaning of another verse. This principle led me to a better understanding of the above. A verse in the Quran reads, Whoever refuses to be led by Satan and believes in God has grasped the strong handhold that will never break. (2:256)

The above verse clarifies a very important aspect of man’s existence; it conveys what is sought of him by God. Further,  it made me understand that in actual fact, there  are two kinds of  life  patterns in  this world:

Taghooti (Satanic) life pattern and Divine life pattern. He who treads the taghooti life pattern is devastated. An example of these life patterns was established by God in the beginning of this world.

Taghooti Life patterns

life  pattern  is  the  way  of  Satan  and Divine life  pattern  is  the  way  of  angels.  When  God created Adam, there existed two more creations  (other than material world) –  Angels and Jinns.   God asked the Jinns and Angels to bow before Adam; while Angels did as God willed, Satan,  the head of Jinns  refused  to  do  so.  It  must  be  understood  that  “bowing”  here  does  not  refer  to  “prostration;”  it refers to acknowledgment or aetaraf.

Any  movement  that  arises  on  negation  is  following  the Satanic pattern  and  any  movement  which arises  on  acceptance  is  following  the Divine pattern.  Some  people  tried  to  interpret Taghoot as  the “rule of man” and  tried politicising it,  but this is clearly wrong.  Literally, Taghoot refers to one  who transgresses the most (sabse bada sarkash) and is the name given to Satan.

Muslims in present world

Since  the  last  two  hundred  years,  Muslims  have  been  vehemently  associated  with  movements  that arose on negation. This was equivalent to following the Satan  because none of these movements were based on acknowledgement. An  Arab  writer  wrote  a  book  entitled, Teen  Azdahe (Three  Pythons).  In  this  book,  the  author describes  that  in  the  modern  world,  the  Western  nations  have  set  out  three  pythons,  which  are swallowing the Eastern world, particularly, Muslims. According to him, these three “pythons” are :

  1. Al- Istishraq (Orientalism)
  2. Al-Isteymar (Colonialism)
  3. Al-Tanseer (Missionary activities)

As  I  thought  more  about  it,  I  was  struck  by  a  painful  realisation.  According  to  the  Quran,  Israeli Prophet  Moses  was  sent  to  Egypt  where  the  Coptic  community  lived.  Coptics  practiced  polytheism and were ruled by Pharaoh. Prophet Moses went to the Court of Pharaoh  where  in front of his Coptic courtiers;  he  gave  the  message  of  God.  This  was  akin  to  giving  the  message  of  God  to  the  entire Coptic community. Pharaoh asked for a proof and so Moses cast his staff, which turned into a python.

Then Moses threw down his staff and suddenly, unmistakably, it appeared as a serpent (7:107) So, he threw it down, and all of a sudden, it turned into a fast-moving serpent. (20:20)

This  sight  scared  everyone  and  the  courtiers  devised  a plan to  counter  Moses.  In  those  days,  magic was  much  prevalent  and  therefore  a  competition  was  organised  where  all  renowned  magicians  of Egypt were called and hordes of people gathered.

On  the  decided  day,  Prophet  Moses  came  with  Prophet  Aaron  to  the  assigned  place.  He  asked  the magicians who would cast first. It was decided that magicians would throw their ropes and staffs first. Their  doing so  created an illusion and  it  appeared  that  several snakes are  running around. The sight was  such  that  even Prophet Moses  was  taken  aback. God  told  Moses to not  be afraid  and throw  his staff.

When  Moses  cast  his  staff,  it  turned  into  a  big  python  and  swallowed  all  that  the  magicians  had casted.

And it immediately swallowed up their false devices. (7:117)

I  was  agonised  to  think  that  the Ummat-e-Muslima which  prides  on  being  the Khair-e-ummat are being  swallowed  by  others!  This  was  a  realisation  which  weighed  very  heavily  on  my  heart!  I  was devastated to think that Prophet Moses’ staff swallowed everything else and today, Muslims are being swallowed  by  everyone  else.  This  is  a  severe  and  painful  comparison  and  forces  us  to  think  and reflect. We must think and arrive at the root cause of the problem.

The biggest mistake of present-day Muslims According to a Hadith Pichli ummaton ko maujze diye gaye the, mujhko jo mauzja diya gaya woh Quran hai [The earlier generations were given miracles, the miracle given to me is Quran] (Sahih Bukhari)

It means that just like Prophet Moses’ staff had swallowed everything  else which was crawling there, the Quran will swallow  everything else till  the end of  this world.  In other words,  it means that Quran is  the substitute of  miracles!  But  this  will  happen  only  when  the ummat uses  this  miracle.  When Prophet Moses had not used the staff, he was scared and the staff did not become a python on its own, till  it was in his hand. The condition was  that  free of fear and keeping all his  faith in God, he  throws down  his staff.  Neither  could he runaway nor complain; he was required to cast the staff without  any protest and then the staff would get into action.

The  biggest  mistake of  present-day  Muslims  is that they made  the Quran an “abandoned”  book;  they no  longer  use  the  Quran.  Using  the  Quran  implies  that  the  Quran  is  interpreted  in  the  modern-day idiom and spread to mankind. But Muslims are  not doing  this.  Instead of acquainting others with the Quran  and  teachings  of  the  Prophet  Muhammad,  they  are  busy  alienating  them  –  calling  them  as enemies and engaging with them violently.

Uswa-e-kamela (Complete model)

The  Muslims  worldwide  propagate  that the  model  of  Prophet  Muhammad is  a complete model. But this is  only so in words and not in action.  I will  explain this through example because if you consider the model of the  Prophet  as the  final  model  then when  these three  problems  emerged,  did  even one Muslim  in  the  world  try  to  find  the  solution  of  these  three  key  issues  from  the  life  of  the  Prophet Muhammad. The answer is no.

The  life  of  Prophet Muhammad  has examples addressing  all these  three issues. His life was spent  in Mecca  (13  years)  and  Medina  (10  years)  and  all  these  three  issues  were  prevalent  there;  only  the nomenclature was different. We must therefore evaluate that when these three issues existed, what did the Prophet do; and follow it. But people only give provocative speeches and organise fiery seminars; they care for nothing else. Isteymaar (Colonialism)

This  existed  even  at  the  time  of  Prophet Muhammad.  On  the  outskirts  of  the  Arab  peninsula,  there existed  two  great  empires  – Roman and Persian. The  intentions  of  the  Roman Empire become  clear from  Abraha’s  incident.  A  Governor  of  the  Roman  Empire, Abraha attacked  Mecca  in  order  to destroy the Kaaba. While he was not successful (Surah Fil), this incident and even the Battle of Moota clarify the intentions of his Empire.

On  the other hand, was the  Iranian empire. Once the Prophet  Muhammad visited a  fair in Mecca  and presented the mission of Tauheed to a tribe. The chief  of the tribe agreed to the mission but when the Prophet  asked  for  their  support,  the  chief  declined  saying  that  they  cannot  do  it  because  they  are situated at the border of the Iranian empire, and as per their agreement with Persians, they are required to maintain  the status  quo and  not accept anything new. Under such circumstances,  if  they  accept the message of Prophet Muhammad and take  it to their city, they would inevitably invite the wrath  of the Iranian King.

Likewise,  after  the  Treaty  of  Hudaibiyyah,  Prophet  Muhammad  sent  dawah  letters  to  chieftains  and kings  across  borders  and  lands.  One  such  letter  was  sent  to  the  Iranian  king,  Yazdgurd.  When  the letter of Prophet Muhammad was given to him, he tore it apart and said,

He [Prophet Muhammad] has the audacity to write a letter to me, though he is my slave!

Tanseer (Missionary activity)

A person  named, Waraaqah bin Naufel, lived  in Mecca. He had accepted Christianity during the dark ages.  Another  example  is  of  those  who  migrated  to  Abyssinia.  One  of  these,  a  companion  named Abdullah ibn Jahash was influenced by missionaries and he adopted Christianity. While the details of how  Christianity  reached  ancient  Mecca  are  not  available,  such  instances  depict  that  missionary activities were prevalent during the time of Prophet Muhammad.

Istishraq (Orientalism)

This  was  also  present  during  the  time  of  Prophet  Muhammad.  I  do  not  agree  with  the  present-day definition  of Istishraq, according  to  which  it  is  an  act  of  distorting  the  message  of  Islam  and presenting a  different picture altogether. It must be noted that  the  Jewish scholars  of Medina used to do this  work on  a big scale. They used  to  incite people against  Islam by proffering the argument that the  coming  of  a  Prophet  in  the  lineage  of Banu  Ismael is  against  Divine  practice  (Sunnah of  God) because all the previous prophets including  Prophet Jesus  were sent in the lineage of Banu Israel.

By doing so, they used to incite doubt in the minds of people.

Prophetic way

All the three issues – colonialism, missionary activism and orientalism – existed at the time of Prophet Muhammad but did he speak the language of they being “three pythons?” No, he did not. Instead,  Prophet  Muhammad  followed  the  Quranic  teachings  and  adopted  the  path  of  doing  dawah work. This was the only solution that he adopted. Neither did he protest, nor did he make any plans to counter any of these three issues.  He never cursed anyone.

The  dawah  approach  was  so  effective  that  in  23  years,  not  only  Mecca  and  Medina  but  the  entire Arabia came within the fold of Islam. This was the miracle of Quran! Within the next 50 years, Islam spread to all the Middle East countries.

For  example,  the  spread  of  Islam  in  Egypt  has  been  explained  by  an  English  orientalist,  Sir  Arthur

Keith in the following words, Egyptians were conquered not by sword, but by the Quran! Just like the staff of Moses had shown a miracle in the court of Pharaoh; the Quran has been showing a  miracle for  almost  1000  years in  history.  It is unfortunate  that  the  present-day  Muslims forgot  the miracle of Quran and became entrenched in these three issues.

What is the Quran?

Quran – both by way of its meaning and usloob (style) - is a miracle (or mujzaa). Many of those who embraced Islam said that it was the Quran which influenced them. I read about the British pop singer, Yusuf Islam (or Cat Stevens). He once fell so ill that he had to be hospitalised. He was then ignorant of Islam. In  those days, his  brother  visited Egypt  and got him a copy of the Quran from there.  Since the days in hospital did not keep him very busy, Yusuf started reading the Quran. He says that he became so influenced by the Quran that he embraced Islam. When asked what influenced him the most, Yusuf said,

I have read other sacred books but it is only Quran where God directly addresses man!

Bible for instance, appears to be a historical record when read and does not address man directly. I gave you the example  of  both  –  an  individual  (Yusuf  Islam) and  a community (Egyptians)  –  both  of  which  were influenced by the meaning of the Quran.

Let me now  give  the  example,  by  way  of usloob (style of the Quran).  An  orientalist has written  that sound  art in the Quran, is par  excellence.  I  saw  a demonstration  of this,  myself. In  1976, a  dialogue took  place  between  Muslims  and  Christian  in  the  Libyan  city, Tarabulus.  The  Christian  delegation was  representing  Vatican  and  Muslims  were called on  behalf  of the  Libyan  government;  I  was  also invited. The dialogue went for a week with no conclusion. Muslims argued that Christians must agree that Prophet Muhammad  was the prophet of  God and Christians countered  saying  that  Muslims must believe that by way of resurrection, Christ died with the sins of mankind. As a makeshift arrangement, it  was decided  that  atleast the end should be on  a good note  and verses from  both  the  Quran  and the Bible  should  be  recited.  As  a  goodwill  gesture,  a  Christian  Father  (from  Lebanon)  was  selected  to recite a part from the New Testament (Arabic translation) and a ruku from the Quran. He first read the Bible  and  then  recited  the Quran.  Even  today,  that scene  flashes  before  my  eyes.  There  were  about 500 people present and the hall was equipped with excellent sound system. When the priest recited the Quran,  I  remembered the  incident  of  Prophet Moses because  Quran’s voice  swallowed  the  voice  of the New Testament. Both Muslims and Christians were spellbound!

I have  heard  several  sacred  books  being recited  in  various  conferences  but  none  has  a  sound  art  as compelling as  the  Quran! When we left  that  place and went for  tea,  I  was sharing  the  table with Dr. Shulickal (belonged to Vatican) who was bewitched by the Quranic sound art even then! I  asked him, if he thought Quran is the book of God and under the influence of Quranic sound art, he admitted that yes,  it  was! The same  man who  until  one  week ago  was  not  in  agreement  with  this belief,  accepted that Quran is the book of God! However, after a while when he realised what he had said, he rectified his statement and said that it was the book of God, but only for the Arabs!

Conclusion

Those,  who  complain  that  “pythons”  of tanseer,  isteymaar,  istishraq are  swallowing  Muslims,  are people who do not  use their  mind. These so called “superior” people do not  realise that while Moses’ staff  swallowed  every  one’s  magic ;  the  present-day  Muslims,  who  claim  to  be  followers  of  the Prophet Muhammad (Khair-e-ummat), are being swallowed by others!

The  entire present-day  Muslim  community must seek mass forgiveness  (Ijtimai tauba)  from God  for being disillusioned for the last two hundred years and not recognising the miracle of the Quran!

They must re-read the Quran and re- discover the Divine plan so as to understand the power of divine religion otherwise they will continue to live in dark ages and will die as such.

I pray that God may guide us to the straight path!

Question- Answers

Question  1:  Do  you  think  ideas  shape  the  material  environment  or  does  the  material  environment shape the ideas? What is the true essence of their relationship?

Answer:  Karl Marx  said  that  material  environment  shapes  the ideas  of  man. But  this  supposition  of Marx has been proved wrong and I have  given the details of this in my book, “Marxism: Tarikh jis ko” I had published this book when USSR was at its hilt and people criticised me for radh kar chuki hai.

Writing  this  book  but  very  soon  people  recognised  that the  idea  of  Marx  was  romantic.  It  has  been researched and proven that it is the human mind which shapes the world.

Question 2: How can Quran be used in the contemporary world with atheistic philosophy all around?

Answer:  This is a  supposition  because  atheism  was never  a dominant  philosophy.  Man’s  nature  has always  been  dominant.  The  real  problem  is  that  Muslims  never  “presented”  the  Quran.  Presenting does  not  mean  that  you  merely  recite  the  Quran;  presenting  entails  a pre-requisite or a “pre-Quran condition”  whereby the mind of the addressee must be understood.

During  my  travel  to  Europe,  I  met  a  man  who  quoting  from  my  Quranic  commentary  said  that  the Quranic principle  applicable  in  the  case  of deciding  a  witness  –  either  one  man  or  two  women  -  is against  the  concept  of  gender-equality.  I  told  him  that  the  Quranic  teaching  was  as  per  the  law  of nature and this has been established  by  modern scientific research, which  has shown that man’s  mind is single-focussed as against the multi-focussed mind  of a woman. When an  instance happens, a man will singularly focus on it but a lady will not singularly focus so two ladies are assigned so that if one forgets, the other one can remind her. Upon hearing this explanation, my acquaintance agreed.

People therefore did not present Quran in the right manner. And when Quran was not presented, how can  we say that people  did not accept.  It is  imperative that before  presenting  the  Quran, the modern-day mind is understood so that it can be addressed. A companion said,

Say it such that the mind of the listener gets addressed.

Question 3: Is a guide required to re-discover Quran or will it happen without a guide as well?

Answer:  The  guide  for  understanding  the  Quran  is  its  author  itself.  Quran  is  the  only  book  whose author  is  available all  the  time for  consultation.  It  is  said  for  Ibn  Taimiyyah  that  when  he  did  not understand a verse in the Quran, he prayed to God,

O! Teacher of Abraham, give me knowledge as well!

In  order  to  understand  the  meaning  of  the  Quran,  the  reader  must  free  himself  of  all  biases  and prejudices. This, along with the prayer to God  that  He  may help  understand the right meaning, serve as a guide to re-discover the Quran.

Question  4:  What  is  the  reason  that  Al-Risala  criticises  the  Nadwi  thinkers  and  not  Deobandi thinkers?

Answer: I never criticise. This is a wrongly held belief about me. “Criticising” is a negative word and am  a  completely positive person. Whatever I say  is fact and argument-based. None of my books give a  general  or  sweeping,  personal  statement  without  stating  facts.  So,  you  must  evaluate  the  facts  or arguments stated by me. There is no other yardstick for evaluating my writings.

Question 5: The Quran says, “Mankind! We have created you from a male and female, and made you into people and tribes, so that you might come to know each other.” (49:13) Another Hadith says that Prophet said that his people will be divided into 73 sects. What is this “sect”?

Answer: The Quran refers to creation in the physical sense (and not in the ideological sense), that is, it explains that the composition of man and woman is the same. As for the Hadith, “ test”  is for everyone– both Muslims and non-Muslims – in other words, Muslims are  “not exempted” from the  test.  Some transgress in secular field and others do so in the religious field.

Question 6: What is “sirat-e-mustaqeem”?

Answer:  According  to  a  Hadith,  Prophet  drew  a  straight  line  and  then  lines  on  either  sides  of  the straight  line.  He  pointed to the  one  in  the  middle and  said  it  is the straight  path and  others are paths that lead to transgression.

God-oriented life is  the  right  path.  For example, in  the context of Surah  Fateha,  the  debate  was only on  words  and  not  on  the  spirit.  This  is  how derailment  takes  place. The only  way  to  save  one  from succumbing  to such derailment is to  enhance one’s thinking. The  more one thinks, the more will  one be able to realise, which path leads to God and which does not.

Question  7:  As  a  dayee,  what is  the  ideal  role  of  a  Muslim,  when  other  ideologies  are  being  more forcefully propagated?

Answer: I don’t think ideologies are being forcefully  propagated. Each individual has a choice in this matter.  I  will  explain this  with  my  own  example.  Whatever  I  read  so far was filled with  confusion; only  the  Quranic  teaching  of sirat-ul-mustaqeem provided  clarity  to  my  mind.  In  other  words,  only truth is able to provide consistency and clarity; rest renders us confused,

The  Muslim ulema propagated  traditional  aspects  but  the  modern  world  stands  on  reason; unfortunately,  no  one  presents  reason-based  Islam.  It  is  the  responsibility  of  the  ulema  that  neither they did it themselves, nor they appreciated what was done by others.

Question 8: Through the 200 years, ummah left dawah work. Was it left completely?

Answer: One is spread of religion on its own, which no human being can intervene in. Purely because of  its  own  strength  of  being  the  final  preserved  word  of  God,  Quran  and  Islam  kept  spreading  but those who had to discharge this responsibility did not do it and kept running after the “three pythons.”

Question 9: One person said that instead of giving the entire Quran we must recite some verses to the addressee. Just like a doctor gives prescriptive medicine and not the entire book.

Answer: This is a wrong metaphor. The entire Quran should be given and in the modern world, other helpful  literature  should  be  given  to  explain  the  meaning  better.  Man  reaches  the  verses  and  its meaning himself. Also, you do not know which verse will strike to a person. For instance, I had never thought  about  the  point  that  struck  Cat  Stevens’!  Likewise,  we  cannot  know  in  advance  what  will strike or appeal an individual’s mind.

Question  10:  What  is  the  importance  of  Al  Risala  mission  for  ulema  and  those  with  Arabic background and how can ulema benefit from it the most?

Answer: Ulema can understand this mission better because the background required to understand the terminology of  this mission  is with the ulema and  not with non-ulema.  They  would  have  more  grasp as compared to others who do not have the background.

Question 11: According to your knowledge, which sect is closer to Quran and Hadith?

Answer:  It  is  never  the  sect  but  the  individual  who is close.  You  must always  think  in  terms  of  the individual.  And it is not  your responsibility to determine which sect,  that is God’s domain. You  only need to focus on your own realisation and discovery of truth.

Question 12: In the present times, what is the role of Quran’s sound art in dawah work?

Answer:  I  did  not  mean  that  people  should  be  made  to  hear  the qirat [Quranic  recitation].  An Englishman,  Arboury was  once  staying put in a Hotel  during  his  visit to Morocco. In a nearby  room, an  Arab  was  staying  who  played  the  tape  of  Quran.  Arboury  like  the  voice  so  much  that  he  got restless to know  what  it was.  When  he  got  to know that it was  the Quran, he learnt  Arabic  himself, read the Quran and then  translated  it.  Likewise for Maurice Bucaille whose language was French.  He studied Arabic, read the Quran and then wrote a spectacular book!

Question 13: People  often say  do not read this  or that. I find  this very strange. No  one says that God is alive and so you can read anything and if you do dua, you can be saved from everything.

Answer:  People do not know that  God  and believer are in contact. When I lived in Azamgarh, I  once visited  the library of Shibli National College where an  entire set of the writings of the famous atheist,

Bertrand  Russell  had  just  arrived.  I  got  all  the  books  and  started  reading.  My  wife  felt  I  would  be misled. And today, I can say that in his book I got the biggest supporting point for monotheism. I read those  books after praying and by entering  into atheism, I got monotheism. You  read  the namaaz each day  but  do  not have  conviction  that  God  will  help  you.  Those  who  say  so  are underestimating  God and are totally unaware of the capacity of human mind and power of divine guidance. They are a case of ignorance.

Question  14:  You  said  that  if  nature  and  universe  are  silent  guides  then  Quran  is  verbal  guide.

Universe and Quran I understand but what about nature? How is that a guide?

Answer:  Nature  refers  to  “intuition.” Those  who  have  conducted  research  on  the  human  mind  agree that nature  and  mind are  not different  from  one  another.  In  our language,  we  use  different  words  to connote  mind  and  nature.  Our  mind  is  full  of  information  and  scholars  agree  that  whatever  we discover is actually unfolding of the information present in mind.

Question  15:  I  am  confused about  the  meaning  of the  word “Islam”.  Please  explain  this word  and whether it has any relation with the word “Muslim”?

Answer:  Islam  literally  means  “submission,”  which  actually  means  that  you  acknowledge  your Creator. Everything else emanates from this acknowledgement. When you realise that God created me and gave me an entire life support system - you will begin with acknowledgement and reach worship.

Then you will love and fear God. No one is Muslim by birth. Muslim is one who disc overs Islam and makes Islam his way of life.

Question 16: What is the art of questioning and what are its etiquettes?

Answer:  Question  begins  with “you.”  First  you  must  think,  study  and  when  you  have  brought  your efforts to this level, then  you should question. Questioning is therefore 50 percent about  the  one  who questions and 50  percent  about the one who  answers. If you  have not done pre -questioning,  you will not  even  understand  the  answer.  Pre-questioning  is  that  you  read  and  understand  and  fulfil  the requirements, which may allow you to reach the result of the question.

Question17:  In  tajdeed-e-deen, you  have cited  a  Hadith that  in  later times there would no longer by any ulema. What does this mean?

Answer:  An alim is used to mean a person  who has religious information. But  an alim is actually the one who  possesses religious  wisdom.  The above Hadith means  that information- ulema [competent in oratory] will  be  aplenty  but  the ulema, who possess  religious  wisdom  [and  the ability  to understand the spirit and wisdom] will no longer be found.

Question 18: I have realised  today  that the  solution  of problems  of Muslims is  dawah work. But  they are so engrossed in milli work that they do not understand this.

Answer:  I consider mill work (Muslim empowerment) to be against  the law of nature. It is  against the scheme of God because on one hand God has imbued man with immense potential and on the other he has  filled  the  world  with  opportunities  to  actualise  the  potential.  What  is  required  is hard-work.

Getting easy money kills the potential within and ironically people contribute large sums of money to such  “empowering”  endeavours.  It  is  not  God’s  scheme  that  you  get  it  the  easy  way  and  so  I  am strictly against this approach. The real empowerment is to make man such that he is able to realise his potential into actual.

Question 19: Every year, Muslims sacrifice animals. Is it not “animal killing”?

Answer:  Animal  sacrifice  is  not  the  read  aspect;  it  is  symbolic.  What  is  sought  in  reality  is  self-sacrifice, which no one is ready to offer. Prophet Abraham inhabited  his infant son in the desert. Who is it that can do this with his child today? Man spends all his energy so that he can get the best for his children but Prophet Abraham did not think twice so that a generation can come into being for striving in the cause of God. This act symbolises selflessness  and  dedication to the cause of God – dedicating self and all available resources.

Question 20: Whenever I read books like “God Delusion,” I feel frustrated. What should I do? Should I stop reading such books?

Answer: I read it too and the Book is a delusion itself. For instance, it refers to “thought crime” which is not a part of Islam but has been inferred as a result of the actions of Muslims. Despite this being an inference  and  not  a  direct  derivation  from  the  Islamic  text,  the  author  unfoundedly  condemns  the Islamic  ideology.  This  is  because  he  has  not  been  able  to  differentiate  the  Islamic  ideology  from Muslim  practice.  He  has  not  been  able  to  understand  that  Muslims  must  be  judged  in  the  light  of Islamic  teachings  and  not  vice  versa.  Islam  has  an  authentic  text  and  opinion  should  be  formulated basis this text; forming opinion on the basis of instances pertaining to misuse of freedom is incorrect.

Question  21:  Most  often  people  read  Al  Risala  only  once,  does  such  reading  suffice  in  terms  of understanding?

Answer: No. I have often experienced that people who tell me that they have read Al Risala (once) are not  able to  understand and  explain  the  context. A  reader  is  one  who is able to explain the context  in entirety once he has read the text. I once wrote that he who reads Al Risala once or twice has not read it but only one who reads it several times, has read it.

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QURANIC VERSES1:7
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