Parents, Islamic Scholars, Popular / Majority Belief, and Tradition
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MANY MUSLIMS ARE BLIND FOLLOWERS JUST LIKE PROPHET ABRAHAM’S (PBUH) FATHER AND HIS PEOPLE |
It’s probably not a surprise that many Muslims merely follow the religious practices as taught by their parents and community. Many probably even do so without questioning the validity of what they’ve been taught. For example, many Muslims believe that men are not allowed to wear gold and silk without realizing that nowhere in the Quran does God forbid the wearing of gold and silk. When asked why they believe this, they say that that’s what their parents and teachers (scholars) taught them. This behavior is really no different than that of Prophet Abraham’s own father and his people who were idol worshippers. Consider verses 21:52-68 which details this story. Abraham asked his own father and his people why they worshipped statues. Their response was simply because that’s what their parents had done. Abraham them proved to them that their statues were not gods by breaking all but the largest statue. Obviously, if the statues were gods, they could not have been broken. Instead of thinking about this proof, Abraham’s father and his people instead threatened to burn Abraham. This story also shows that even one’s parents may be wrong.
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21:52-68 When he (Prophet Abraham) said to his father and his people, "What are these statues to which you are devoted?" They said, "We found our fathers worshippers of them." He said, "You were certainly, you and your fathers, in manifest error." … And [I swear] by Allah, I will surely plan against your idols after you have turned and gone away." So he made them into fragments, except a large one among them, that they might return to it [and question]. … They said, "Have you done this to our gods, O Abraham?" … They said, "Burn him (Abraham) and support your gods - if you are to act." |
This attitude of “blind belief” is similarly mentioned in verse 2:170.
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2:170 And when it is said to them, "Follow what Allah has revealed," they say, "Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing." Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided? |
This isn’t to say that everything that one is taught by their parents or community is wong. The point here is that people just assume that everything they’ve been taught is the truth even though some of it may not be. And that’s probably why in verse 17:36 God forbids us from following what we have no knowledge or proof of.
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17:36 And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned. |
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IF YOU FOLLOW AND BELIEVE MOST PEOPLE ON EARTH, THEY WILL MISLEAD YOU |
According to the Pew Research Center, Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world and at the current rate, it is expected to surpass Christianity as the world’s largest religion.
Unfortunately, most people on earth are clueless and just assume without proof that what they believe in is correct. According to the Quran (verse 6:116), if you follow them, they will mislead you.
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6:116 And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allah. They follow not except assumption, and they are not but falsifying. |
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IF YOU FOLLOW SOME ISLAMIC SCHOLARS, THEY MAY ALSO MISLEAD YOU |
Some people put blind trust in Islamic scholars. Following are what some very high level Islamic scholars believe that are outright unbelievable and an embarrassment to Islam.
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June 10, 2010 Sheik Abdel Mohsen Obeikan, a scholar and a consultant at Saudi Arabia's royal court, has issued a decree for women to give men breast milk to establish maternal relations and get around the ultra-conservative kingdom's ban on mixing between men and women who are unrelated. |
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February 18, 2015 Sheikh Bandar al-Khaibari of Saudi Arabic declared that the sun rotated around the earth and that the earth was flat. http://freebeacon.com/national-security/saudi-cleric-the-sun-revolves-around-the-earth/ |
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October 24, 2008 The Malaysia National Fatwa Council issued a fatwa banning tomboys which branded any girls who act un-ladylike as violating Islamic tenets. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/In-Malaysia-fatwa-condemns-tomboys-13569.html |
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June 11, 2007 According to Egypt’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, drinking the urine of Muhammad is deemed a great blessing. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/11/world/africa/11iht-fatwa.4.6098135.html |
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HUMANS OVERCOMPLICATE RELIGION |
Yellow Cow Example
Humans love to overcomplicate things, including religion. The Quran has a great story proving this. Verses 2:67-71 starts off with Moses telling his people (Jews) to sacrifice a cow. Instead of just doing what they were told, they kept asking Moses to ask God for details about the specific type of cow. God first told them, via Moses, that it should be a middle-aged cow. But that wasn’t clear enough for the Jews so then God said that it should be a bright yellow cow. Again, that was clear enough for the Jews so God finally said that it should be a cow that was not trained to plough the earth nor water the fields and without any blemishes. The jews finally sacrificed a cow although they almost didn’t do it.
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2:67-71 "And when Moses said to his people: Indeed God commands you that you should sacrifice a cow. They said: Do you ridicule us? He said: I seek the protection of God from being one of the ignorant" "They said: Pray to your Lord for us to make it clear to us what she is. Moses said: He says, Indeed she is a cow neither advanced in age nor too young, of middle age between that (and this); so do what you are commanded" "They said: Pray to your Lord for us to make it clear to us what her colour is. Moses said: He says, Surely she is a yellow cow; bright in her colour, giving delight to the beholders" "They said: Pray to your Lord for us to make it clear to us what she is. for indeed to us the cows are all alike, and if God pleases we shall surely be guided aright" "He (Moses) said: He (God) says, Indeed she is a cow not trained to plough the earth, nor does she water the field; sound, without a blemish in her. They said: Now you have brought the truth; so they sacrificed her, though they had not the mind to do (it)" |
All the Jews had to do was pick a cow, slaughter it, and be done. But no, they insisted there must be some unique special cow to slaughter. Unfortunately, many Muslims today are not different. Consider the following more recent example.
Astronaut example
On October 10, 2007, a Malaysian astronaut joined a Russian crew to the International Space Station (ISS). There were a couple of problems with this:
- The ISS orbits 200 miles above the surface of the earth and as such, the qibla (prayer direction toward Mecca) changes from second to second. During some parts of the orbit, the qibla could move nearly 180 degrees during the course of a single prayer. So how are you supposed to pray if the prayer direction keeps moving every second?
- There are two distinct schools of thought for determining the qibla: the commonly used Great Circle method and the less common rhumb-line method. Regardless of which method, how do you correctly point to Mecca from the ISS?
- It will be Ramadan when they’re on the ISS. When is sunset (the time you can break your fast) in low earth orbit if you’re experiencing a dozen sunrises and sunsets in every 24-hour period?
To address some of these questions, Malaysia’s space agency, Angkasa, actually felt the need to convene a conference of 150 Islamic scientists and scholars to find answers. They came up with a document called “A Guideline of Performing Ibadah (worship) at the International Space Station (ISS)” which was approved by Malaysia’s National Fatwa Council. They basically said that the qibla direction should be prioritized as 1) the Ka’aba, 2) the projection of Ka’aba, 3) the Earth, 4) wherever.
It’s interesting that Malaysia needed to go through all that trouble to come up with a formal document that effectively just says, “do your best.” Not only is this a trivial answer, it’s also mentioned in the Quran verse 64:16.
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064:016 |
Dr. Kamal Abdali is a Muslim cartographer who has written extensively on determining the qibla. According to him, "Prayer is not supposed to be a gymnastic exercise. One is supposed to concentrate on the prayer rather the exact orientation." His opinion is much more in line with the spirit of the Quran and verse 2:177.
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2:177 Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves; [and who] establishes prayer and gives zakah; [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise; and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the righteous. |
So did the 150 Islamic scientists and scholars ignore verse 2:177 and insist that there must be some government-approved qibla direction priority when on the ISS? Seems like it.
The article can be view at https://www.wired.com/2007/09/mecca-in-orbit/.
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THE MAJORITY BELIEF IN SOMETHING IS NOT A VALID PROOF OR ARGUMENT THAT IT IS CORRECT |
It always surprises me how some people use the argument that because the majority of people do something, then they must be right. One educated person I know argued that since the majority of Muslim women cover their hair, then it must be forbidden (haram) for women to expose their hair. Common sense should suffice to prove to you that the majority belief in something does not constitute proof of what is correct. But if one lacks common sense, they can always reference the story above (21:52-68) where everyone including Prophet Abraham’s own father were idol worshippers and they were all wrong!
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GOD GAVE HUMANS A BRAIN FOR A REASON |
It should come as no surprise that God gave us brains so that we could think and use reason. He also gave use various other faculties including sight, hearing, etc. Of course, if we choose not to use our hearing and our brains, that would render us deaf and dumb. According to verse 8:22, God considers these people some of the worst of the living creatures.
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8:22 Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason. |
In verses 7:179 and 25:44, God even considers these ignorant people to be like cows / cattle / livestock. Or like sheep. Sheep people. “Sheeple”.
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7:179 And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like cattle; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless. |
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25:44 Or do you think that most of them hear or reason? They are not except like cattle. Rather, they are [even] more astray in [their] way. |
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CIRCULAR REASONING |
When trying to prove whether something is correct, e.g. the hadith, one should be careful not to make the mistake of using circular reasoning. You’ll just end up going in circles (pun intended).
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TRAINED MONKEYS |
To help people understand how blindly following others can lead to generations after generations of misguided people, consider the following experiment.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=263x46062