imam ahmad raza and the challenges of today

Discussion in 'Translations' started by Afzal Sheikh, Sep 27, 2018.

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  1. Afzal Sheikh

    Afzal Sheikh New Member

  2. Abdul Mustafa 786

    Abdul Mustafa 786 Active Member

  3. Aqdas

    Aqdas Staff Member

    if you can read urdu, then www.razanw.org is a priceless gem. if not, www.alahazrat.co.uk has quality english articles.
     
  4. abu Hasan

    abu Hasan Administrator

    we have a whole section dedicated on this forum for that purpose. please feel free to browse and ask.

    --
    this practice prevalent in the subcontinent was frowned upon by alahazrat. alahazrat insisted that it is not permissible to recite qur'an loudly in the masjid if it disturbs others who are praying or people who are sleeping (in the masjid like travelers etc.); then, how can you recite salam so loudly immediately after the friday prayer when many are still praying nawafil or reciting the qur'an?

    back home - it is on a loudspeaker that can be heard half a mile away!


    what you say is true - the sole criteria many 'sunnis' apply in our area is that a person's presence in the salam-after-friday-prayers and will easily label you wahabi if you leave.

    i am sorry if it sounds like a retort but we actually ask people to read about alahazrat before forming an opinion about him. we say: taste the nectar and then judge for yourself how sweet it is...
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2008
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  5. abu Hasan

    abu Hasan Administrator

    on the contrary, one of his fatwa explictly states that it is mubah and there is no harm in learning a language. he might have said something about 'angrezi ta'alim' meaning 'western education', but it has got nothing to do with english language per se.

    we cannot comment until we see the fatwa itself, if at all such a fatwa exists.

    ---
    as you have rightly pointed out, muslims in those days were less materialistic. getting an english education - which actually meant western education - was not at all necessary. moreover, just as it is today, muslims from the subcontinent who received an english/western education became snobbish and quite unislamic. some lucky ones survive but most succumb to the .

    not only that, they went furthermore and began to criticize islamic values and culture, left, right and center. some of the pathetic intellectual slaves begat insane ideas in their petty and feeble minds that western culture was superior; and attempted to 'modernize' islamic culture. the aligarh darwin was one of the leading chimps of this camp.

    ----
    alahazrat himself says in some places that any science or knowledge is not inherently evil; it might be useless but it is not evil. it is the application of such science in evil ways that makes it evil.

    ----
    alahazrat was not inclined towards teaching girls to write though he was not against educating them. he did not say that it was haram [to teach them to write] but he certainly said that it was disliked. and he was simply following countless other older traditional scholars.

    i am sorry for making the following generalization but my impression of people in our times is that their minds are paralyzed, rusted and dusty - except for a small minority who actually use their minds. and why do i have such a negative view? check:
    - they mindlessly repeat what they hear without questioning, without even bothering to make a quick check.

    - they are usually influenced by television/media and even if they deny it, they subconsciously make points they have ingested from the media.

    - logical thinking - or critical thinking is missing or severely diminished across the board.

    - an overwhelming majority of those i meet don't read books. [and that seems to be the experience of many others as we see articles on the net]. i interview candidates and very very few of them say that they read books. and those who say they do, also are cursory namesake readers.

    - even religious people don't read books. people seem to miss the fact that reading is a different skill altogether; it is this crucial tool which actually enables you for an education; and that you can get more focused and quality information when you read than when you watch/hear. moreover, you use your mind when you read in contrast to watching television with a numbed mind.

    - follow the crowd mindlessly. as RasulAllah sallAllahu alayhi wa sallam foretold: 'you will follow people of the book span by span and hand by hand; you will emulate them even if one of them goes inside a lizard hole.' check the valentines and mothers and fathers days; or the comments by various 'liberals' - who claim liberation from islam but woefully enslaved by western culture...

    - even schools which are meant to teach children to read are becoming simply useless. in our days, we had a compulsory library-period in which the whole class was marched to the library and spend a couple of hours there. kids these days spend their time on the net and are oh-so knowledgeable about the coolest gadgets, but are blanks when it comes to reading. it is the fault of parents-teachers who do not insist enough on reading.
    the reason for my rant above is because people pass judgement hastily without considering various contexts - social, chronological, cultural, political etc.

    coming back to alahazrat's fatwa on teaching girls to write, it was at a time when it was not a necessity. in those days, literacy among men was also minimal. and those who could read and write were a privileged class. hence the fatwa.

    ----
    even iqbal, the modernists love to quote said:
    laRkiyaN paRh rahi haiN angrezi
    dhunD li qawm ne falah ki raah
    ab drama dikhaye ga kya scene
    pardah uThney ki muntazar hai nigah

    girls are now being taught english (western education)
    the community (of muslims) has finally found the path to success
    what is the next scene to be shown in this drama?
    we await the curtain to rise.

    ---
    it is not that women shouldn't be taught to read and write in our times, but they need not copy men in everything - wearing pantsuits and jostling in the crowd is not our idea of equality.

    i don't know why some people think that raising kids and looking after the family is an inferior task. i think it is an honorable charge. and how does merely earning a wage make them any better - indeed, those women who have a need can work. alahazrat himself in one of his fatwa states that it is permissible for women to work so as to supplement their husband's income or any legitimate reason if a few simple conditions are observed:
    - that they should not be alone with another man [khalwah] at any time of their occupation.

    - that they should commute during times when there is traffic; that is, when there are people on the street [this is a safeguard against mugging and rape]

    - that they are covered as much as the shariah requires them to cover.
    and this is a hundred year old fatwa!

    ----
    indeed, in earlier times families were stronger, the community was fairly cohesive and people had a sense of social responsibility unlike the anarchy and abject selfishness in our times. divorced women, destitute women, old maids, orphans were somehow supported; though injustice was not entirely absent.

    however, in today's world, even that semblance of 'caring for your neighbor' has disappeared. divorce has become common and suddenly families with aged/retired parents are left with divorced daughters and their children. women are forced to go out to work to feed their families or work for a decent living. many young males are aping other young men in the west who simply live away from their parents as soon as they are old enough leaving parents to fend for themselves.

    all you needed was roti, kapda aur makan - food, clothing and shelter. but today, you need dozens of other things and you have to pay for utilities; medical bills, education, transport...[...er..telephone, internet]...

    ----
    we demand 'female doctors' for our women who observe hijab; and where will we get these female nurses and doctors if our women do not study [or get an 'english education' if you will] and become doctors and nurses?

    there is a principle in fiqh that says: 'a mufti who does not recognize the challenges of his age is an ignoramus' [literally: a mufti who does not know his times is an ignoramus].

    times have changed and so we have to adapt to them within the framework of religion and madh'hab. it is extremely unjust and foolish to measure the fatawa of our elders from an older time to compare it with problems in our times.

    Allah ta'ala knows best.
     
    Last edited: Sep 8, 2008
    Ghulam Ali and Ghulaam like this.
  6. Abu Ibraheem

    Abu Ibraheem Guest

    Salamun 'Alaykum

    My greatest problem that i do not have any reading materials on the Imam you love and respect so dearly. I do have a very breif biography, and a fiqh book containing selected fatawaa.Thats it though. These are the only materials that i have found available to me.

    What i am interested in is knowing his works on Aqidah. and if somebody has time to translate a short summary, a chapter, then that would be good for me.

    If there are texts in 'Arabic then feel free to refer me to them, and i will seek them and read them inshaAllah.

    As for disrespecting the Imam that has never been my intention. I have learnt under teachers that have a direct chain leading back to him, and have learnt a few on his fatawaa on a few issues via them.

    His fatawaa about English, has to be understood with the context and the surroundings at his given time where India was being colianised by the Brittish. A lot of theological debates used to happen, and just maybe the blameworthiness of learning English to get involved with Khusumaat was the context.

    I cannot help it if later scholars from indo-pak have done tahrif concerning the fatawaa and used it against Jusitce Karam Shah when he introduced the learning of English into the learning sylabus. This misconception that it is not allowed to dabble in English has hindered Ahmad Raza Khan's works from being translated. Therefore, i cannot be blamed if i do not know enough to accept him as a valid scholar, nor should i be forced too emotionally.

    One expierence i had is that i was labelled a Wahaabi for not reciting his poetry after Jum'ah. This is amongst many other things that i have expierenced growing up in Islam amongst the indo-pak community.

    If i seem to have any bad opinion, please overlook, it is just that i am finding it difficult to in so many words "buy the car! no test drives, just buy it!" We should remeber there is no compulsion in religion, however there is nothing wrong with building an understanding.
     

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