Wasn't sure which thread to post this under but this should be ok. I used to dislike this forum and the people who wrote on it (may Allah forgive me and please you all forgive me). I listened to pretty much everything that was available on the internet from Hamza Yusuf and I was convinced he was one of the greatest scholars of our time. Obviously, at the time I did not know what a scholar actually was and could not tell the difference between a scholar and a speaker, student, da'ee etc. etc. I would listen to mainly only converts and could not fathom how a south Asian scholar could reach a high level of knowledge which could benefit anyone. They just did not understand the religion like these guys. Also I probably had some sort of inferiority complex probably. Also I was a funder of Zaytuna college in those days (via some very small monthly contributions). When Sheikh Asrar and you guys would refute Hamza Yusuf I was convinced it was jealousy or just ignorant attacks on him. He was such a great scholar and these guys could not reach his level of knowledge, I used to think. The dante thing troubled me, and so did the SQ situation and a number of other things but I still could not get myself to criticize Hamza and other similar guys because I thought that I had benefited from them so much. Could somebody who has helped so many in Islam be wrong? Long story short, I was young, new to the scene, I had a lot of ignorance and a lot of learning to do. There is a lot more to say but this should be enough to give you some background. It took a while but eventually Allah (subhanahu wa ta'ala) gave me tawfiq to open my eyes and heart and see things clearer. Listening to Sheikh Asrar played a big role in this. He showed what someone can achieve with hard work and sincerity and showed there is no need to feel inferior. Knowledge is what matters. The writings of Maulana Abu Hasan also helped and this forum was quite good in the process as well. Nowadays, if someone was to ask what I think of the 'Barelvis' I would say thank Allah that they exist. They keep everyone on their toes and if someone deviates or even comes close to slipping they are the first ones on the scene. Without them the situation in the west would be a mess. You may not like their approach always but other than them hardly anybody else is ready or even capable of refuting deviancy. Imagine the Muslim western world without them. Who would have spoken up during the lahori qadiyani issue, the dante fiasco, the perennialism, closet shias and so forth.? Alhamdulillah for the barelvis...even if some of them are a bit wild.
daniel pipes is on their board of directors! and their shallow knowledge - trust me, if each of these charlatans were graded according to the high standards of secular sciences, say faculty of physics or faculty of english literature, they would be laughed off for their presumptuousness and ridiculed for their ignorance. for example: --- none of the imbeciles associated with the paper know the hamzah of ijtihad or i of islamic history.
See attached pdf and the names mentioned therein. I've heard about this devbandi/nadwi perennialist muzammil siddiqi some time back too. Allah forgive us for being late, we should have seen these kind of reports way back in 2003, 2004 etc. Anyway, now people worldwide are catching up with this fitnah and they won't be able to pull the wool over Muslim eyes for long.
What "further studies"? which degree? can we have a look at the asaneed? Is it at least as much as A.C. Brown's CASA certificate in Arabic (a one year course - based on which this ignoramus from Georgetown Uni's cabal of liberal Trojans dabbles in ijtihaad and re-interpreting classical scholarship) - or even less?
huwi ta'khir to kuch baa'is e ta'khir bhi thaa aap aatey the magar koyi `inaaN-geer bhi thaa there was a delay, but surely there was a reason for the delay? you would have come [early] indeed; but something must have hindered you from reaching [on time]?
A delay occurred therefore a reason for delay existed You would arrive although there was some sort of hindrance
four years ago -- huwi ta'khir to kuch baa'is e ta'khir bhi thaa aap aatey the magar koyi `inaaN-geer bhi thaa
that's right. Let's see him post his certs to prove all of that - including an ijazah from Azhar for "classical marriage counselor".
Lol I think he spent some time with Mostafa Azzam, this brother is active on FB, he gives out marriage advice. Assad probably sat with him for a few days and is now a 'marriage expert.
Studying for a few weeks in Cairo hardly makes one an Azhari graduate. Titles are being handed out like Blue Peter badges. He also spent a few weeks in Madinah during covid time, hardly much time at all. Would be easy to test his knowledge, I think this should be the way forward. Too many half boiled eggs are rolling off the production line.
I don't know about JAK previous crops so can't comment on them but the last few they've delivered have all been inadequate. Many years ago I remember coming across one of their clean shaven soon to be graduates who had a bee in his bonnet because I commented that men with beards are more beautiful than those who shave it off. The guy just kept banging on about how he can't stay quiet because he's studied a couple of years so I asked him why that study hadn't lead him to implement what he'd learned ie the keeping of a fistful beard and not shaving, poor fellas blood pressure took a sharp rise as he just continued babbling about how he's worked hard and studied for 2 years and I don't have a right to speak. I questioned again what good is knowledge if you don't practice it and implement it, I mean come on you're a open sinner I can't even pray behind you and here you are expecting me to take you seriously, this lead him to have a complete meltdown and block me. Since that day I have never taken any JAK graduate seriously, especially seeing the calibre of the last few conveyer belt crops they've stained the ground with. And to date they haven't responded to my email on their position on Hussam, lost count of how many years it's been.
Wow! A jack of all trades. What does “excellent grounding” in the area of psychology mean? What kind of training does Shaykh Asad Ali have in Psychology? Is he a clinical psychologist? Or is he a psychiatrist? Does he even have a basic degree in psychology to be able to make that claim? How old is this guy to be a life coach? Is he even married?
Clearly, during the process of learning at Jamia Al Azhar and getting great A Level results or becoming alim e nabeel, allamah and mufti- they didn't study material fallacies such as ad hominem, appeal to authority, etc. Maybe it's all the time they spend on facebook talking to ignoramuses- brings your own IQ down eventually.
Notice how people like Shahid, Asad and others are talking only about anonymity. If I wanted to refute someone, I'd just take his ideas and do a point by point radd. I wonder why they go for anonymity when they could easily just refute him and prove to everyone he's unlearned. Like, come on, boys, is that the most you've got from over 6,000 posts? That says summat... Lol.