INTRODUCTION
Before proceeding any further, we must draw the attention of the reader to the fact that the word ‘religion’ as used in this book refers mainly to Islam, although it may now and then assume its general meaning in the course of our narrative.
Religious arguments are on the everyday agenda of the media and form an object of heated debate among the public in general. How are we to arbitrate between such controversial questions? What makes such divergences? How is it that every one of these arguments claims to be the truth by their defenders? How are we to differentiate between truths and untruths?
The aim of the present book is to provide answers to these questions and dispel all ambiguities. The essential topic of discussion may be initiated by the question ‘What is the origin of Islam?’ The answer to this crucial question would be conducive to the clarification of problematic issues. We shall witness, in the coming pages, the fact that the divergent opinions originate from different answers given to this basic question. To start a discussion without attempting first to answer this question and without assessing every one of the issues within their respective frames, would lead us inevitably to endless controversies and dilemmas.
Our answer to the said question will clarify the steps we shall be taking. Those who start an argument without having dealt first with it proceed in a haphazard fashion. Their arguments are based on a variety of sources: some have their origin in the Quran, some in a hadith, some in their own lore, some in a religious sect of Islam, and some in an order of Islam. People who tackle the subject without any method try to impose their own ideas, wishes and obsessions in the name of Islam. Their claims, devoid of sound logic and method, seem puzzling to us, as we are at a loss to understand their reasoning. To provide an answer to the question: “What is the source of the Islamic religion?” is of utmost importance and rewarding insight into it.
Islam is a system devised by God. To know God’s expectations from His creatures, His commandments and injunctions would guide us to the answer we are after. Is the Quran the only source of Islam? Can hadiths (words attributed to Muhammad) contribute to the interpretation of the Quran? What is the authority of madhabs (religious sects) in Islam? How are we to conceive religious orders and the sheikhs, their chiefs, in terms of the established religion? You will find answers to all these questions. You will see how the answers traditionally given to these questions have played a role in misleading the masses.
After having read the present book, we would advise you to ask those who speak authoritatively in the name of Islam what the origin of their overall conceptions is, and to check the answers to be given to see whether there are discrepancies in them. If we can do this, we can easily see their paradoxes.
We must beware of people who speak about religion haphazardly, and whose lifestyles are at odds with the views they advocate. Observers of the ways of these people may be at a loss to understand the ground upon which their religious creeds are based. These people who profess to be the advocates of Islam should, in principle, lead a life like the way of life advocated by the Talibans; but they are far from willing to do so. There is a deep chasm between the lifestyle of these people and the ideas they champion. These people form not a minority, but a majority of the Islamic population. What must be done should not be directed at opening still wider the rift between their systems (theories/methods) and their actual lifestyles in the hope to better themselves. What must be done is to lay the foundation to which we refer, by such expressions as method or theory and to reduce to a minimum the clashes between faith and lifestyle. Only by developing an overall concept of Islam through a well-founded and coherent system that does not sever a person’s lifestyle from this concept can one attain a rational, logical and correct conclusion. The path leading to this achievement would be the correct answer. “What is the source of the Islamic religion?” On this conclusion shall be based a Muslim’s lifestyle and practice. This is the only way to guard against unwarranted interferences of arbitrary deductions and malicious interpretations. Our method aims at separating the true source of the Islamic religion emanating from God from the false arguments of humans. It is our fervent belief that the meticulousness in our approach will put an end to all misconceptions regarding the true source of Islamic religion.
THE HISTORY OF RELIGIONS IS AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONTROVERSY BETWEEN REASON AND TRADITIONProphets over the ages have challenged the established traditions and contested what they believed to be irreconcilable with Providence. It is explicitly stated in the Quran that the prophets always warned their public against traditions and false beliefs, manifestly at variance with God’s religion, appealing to their intelligence and cogent reasoning. Those adamant in their convictions based on ingrained prejudices inherited from their ancestors were determined not to change their opinions and were resolute not to break with tradition. Throughout history, traditionalism has proven to be the greatest enemy of the call of the Prophet, who urged his community to make use of their intelligence, in an effort to make them amenable to reason. The perpetuation of the established system inherited from our forefathers and the emulation of their ways have always seemed attractive and preferable to rationalization. Traditionalism and conservatism have always clashed with reason. It is odd that religiosity is equated today with conservatism and traditionalism. According to the Quran, man must be governed by reason. He must not be guided by traditions and preconceived ideas not sanctioned by unbiased evidence. We suggest that our readers who prefer to stick to the system of their ancestors consult the following verses of the Quran: 31 Luqmaan, 21; 14 Abraham, 10; 11 Hud, /62 and 109; 5 The Feast, 104; 7 Purgatory, 28.22 – Instead, they say: “We found our fathers following a certain way, and we do guide ourselves by their footsteps.” 23 – Just in the same way, whenever we sent an envoy before you to a settlement, the leaders among them said: “We found our fathers following a certain way, and we will certainly follow in their footsteps.” 24 – He said: “Even if I brought you better guidance than that which you found your fathers following?” They said: “We are disbelievers in the message you brought.” It is made clear in the Quran that compliance with the established creeds of a society or of the majority of a population does not guide a Muslim toward the ultimate truth. (see Chapter 33). Today, we see that communities of people have transformed the Islamic religion into the observance of a set of traditions mostly based on hearsay and blindly accepted without questioning them. Verse 21 of Sura Vanity states that ideas put forth in the name of Islam not based on the Quran are wrongly inferred set of opinions. The following verses point to the fact that what has been inherited from our forefathers has taken precedence over God’s book. Opinions expressed in the name of religion must therefore be evaluated in the light of these Quranic verses. We must examine their origin and the way they have imposed themselves throughout centuries. In the second part of our book, we shall be dwelling on the fact that the sole source of Islam is the Quran. We shall advise our readers to consult the Quran for a sound and complete coverage of Islam. Then we shall tackle the issue of the hadiths, claimed to be the sayings of the Prophet; sayings in which truth and untruth are inextricably intermingled and are manifestly in conflict with the dictates of the Quran. To say that the hadiths should not be taken as a basis for the Islamic religion is to safeguard the Prophet against slanders, rather than to behave disrespectfully toward him. While studying this question, we suggest that you revise your opinions, taking into consideration Verse 36 of Sura The Children of Israel and bear in mind the statements of Verse 18 of Sura The Throngs in order to attain the truth and re-examine your preconceived ideas and the traditional practices you are indulging in as well as the heritage of your forefathers within the framework of Verses 21, 22, 23, 24 of Sura Vanity, so that you may found your religion not on traditions but on clear evidences of the Quran, God’s will. THE QURAN IS CONSISTENT WITH REASONThe path to God is the path of intelligence and conscience. The worst creature in God’s sight is he who is deaf to reality and unwilling to use his intelligence. These people do not use their brains, a gift of God granted to man in order to differentiate him from other creatures, and are blind to His clear evidences. They have no need for intelligence as they cling to their lords, their forefathers, the established traditions and public opinion. Those who have failed to get the message of the Quran have tried to manipulate it into a system of intractable postulations mixed with dogmas and superstitions. This has caused an infinite number of people to repudiate religion or to turn them into atheists. Therefore, it is very important to differentiate Islam decreed by the Quran from the traditionally inherited religious practices rendered distressing and irrational. This will relieve Islam from unnecessary burdens, interpolations and omissions. The great masses who had turned a cold shoulder to the Quran and Islam will thus be won back. This was the mentality that had delayed for 278 years the use of the printing press invented in the 1450s and led the ulema (professors of theology) to issue a decree for the decapitation of the Sultan’s sons, a capital sin according to the Quran. This was the mentality behind the practices of the primitive and savage Talibans in Afghanistan and of the austere and unyielding Shiites in Iran, who deemed unsatisfactory what the Quran announced. This mental outlook ended by turning the imams, the mullahs and the sheikhs and their spurious statements into the wellsprings of religion, inventing grotesque hybrid systems superseding God’s Word. The pronouncements of these people having been styled the authority, and declared apostate the dissenters and excommunicated them (see Chapter 32). THE BOOK’S AIMThe aim of this book is to assert once and for all the fact that the Quran has the exclusivity of Islam, and that, unless explicitly announced in it, no one, no sect, no sheikh or authority is allowed to remove anything from it or to make any additions to it. The purpose of religion is man. To mislead a man by arousing antagonism between him and life, and generating discord between him and his self is doomed to end in a disaster. Islam is, in its essence, free from all contradictions, whereas the pseudo-religion is a den of inconsistencies, illogicalities and sources of misery. It is inconceivable that the religion that God has revealed to be in perfect accord with human nature would include contradictions.The only lawgiver is God as far as religion is concerned. God, as the only authority, has addressed humanity through the Quran, an explicit book free from all contradictions; a book that comprises all His messages. To acknowledge the truth of these facts is tantamount to recognizing Islam given in the Quran as the word of the Almighty, the only Lawgiver. This acknowledgement entails the revocation of all unsubstantiated powers of those styled ‘authorities’ and the affirmation of the fact that God is the One and Only Authority and has no equal. The Prophet, the messenger of God, has not declared any source other than the Quran; nor has he dictated any doctrine in the name of Islam. If a statement or commentary supposed to have been given by the Prophet proves to clash with an announcement in the Quran, if anything is added or omitted from the text of the Quran, this would belie both Islam and the Prophet. In the coming chapters, we shall take a closer look into the Arabian, Omayyad, and Abbasid traditions and customs, into the contrived explanatory notes, interpolated idiosyncratic remarks and the mentality that incorporated into Islam many sham practices. We shall be warned against equating the so-called established religion with the Quran and find out the reasons why the points alleged or believed to be part of the religion are in fact outside its scope and devoid of all validity. In brief, by heading for the source, we shall be better acquainted with Islam, and, in a sense, we shall restructure it. LET’S BREAK THE SHACKLES OF TABOOS ON MINDSWe shall be wary of propounding our personal viewpoint, as we shall exclusively confine ourselves to the Quran. We are well aware that we shall be faced with the expostulations of traditionalists. We shall be accused of Zionism or be excommunicated as Freemasons, as has been the case in the past. This is the usual self-deception method of the traditionalist fundamentalists who justify their backwardness by laying the blame on extraneous agents. We hereby declare that we are neither Zionists nor Freemasons. We are mere researchers and advise you to read the present book with a critical eye. The Quran is the Book of God, the true and unique source of religion. Our own opinions should be considered correct so long as they conform to the text of the Quran. This study aims at breaking the shackles that traditions, plurality, apism and superstitions have put on human intelligence.We shall be gratified if this book would be a modest contribution to a better understanding of Islam according to the Quran. |
