29. CORRUPTED RELIGIOUSNESS
Each group claims sparing no effort to reach the truth, and indeed most of them only intend reaching the truth. The monk starves himself and worships. The others are humiliated and pay the jizyah.
Each person exaggerates in practicing the teachings of his group and endures pain and harm to receive the assumed reward. However, despite all of that, most of those people are evidently deemed misguided.
This might be problematic to understand and resolve. One should seek guidance by following the means leading to guidance and then employ his endeavours to find clarification. Thus, he who fails to find the means or did not acquire some of the tools cannot be considered a person employing efforts and endeavours in finding the truth (mujtabid).
For example, the Jews and Christians are of three types; either a learned one who realised the truthfulness (sidq) of our Prophet (sjg) but still denied it to maintain his position— making him a stubborn person; or a blind follower (miiqqa/id) who in such a case is considered neglectful as he worships while overlooking the fundamental reason. Therefore bringing no benefit; or a person who investigates but does not do it truthfully, hence he says the Torah states that our religion (i.e. Judaism) cannot be abrogated (nasq) while knowing that abrogating religions exist due to change of eras and is truthful. Hence he only says that abrogation happened initially only and does not think of the difference between both events. This is why such a person needs to investigate it truthfully and sincerely.
The example of these kinds of people are the religiousness of the Kawdrij who, despite their acknowledgment to their limited knowledge (ilm), used to say: ‘There is no judgment but the judgment of Allah’ without understanding that seeking the judgment of people is part of the judgment of Allah, therefore they believed in fighting ‘Ali Ibn Abl Talib (radiyAllahu ‘anhu) based on their corrupted belief!
When Muslim Ibn ‘Uqbah looted Al-Madinah and killed people he said: ‘If I ever enter Hell after this [good deed], I shall be ruined!’
Since he thought with his ignorance (Jahl) that when the people of Madinah objected to the pledge given to Yazid that their blood and wealth became lawful to take!
Woe to the layperson whose knowledge is limited and yet does not accuse his understanding. He does not study with a person more knowledgeable than him. Instead he acts upon his own understanding!
This principle (ast) should be contemplated because many people were ruined when they overlooked it. I also saw many lay people refuse to accept a fahya [because they rely on their own understanding]:
“Some faces on that Day will be humiliated. Labouring and toiling endlessly. They will enter in the hot blazing Fire.” [al-Ghashiyah (88):2-4]
(Source: al-Hafiz Abu’l-Faraj ibn al-jawzl [d. 597AH] “CAPTURED THOUGHTS being” a translation of his masterpiece ‘Sayd al-K hatir)
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