3.0 THE ISLAMIC MOVEMENT IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION AND RELIGIOUS TRAINING
Belief based
Education is the basic and necessary approach for any Islamic movement that seeks to change the state of affairs by changing people themselves.
The point of focus in the field of education should be the preparation of the Muslim vanguard who will aid the cause of Islam. They would be to our age what the Prophet’s Companions were to the Prophet’s age.
The foremost quality that members of this vanguard must have is belief, by which I mean the belief of Quran and Sunna; the belief that has over seventy branches of values and morals; the belief on which whole volumes were compiled, for belief does not come about by the wish or by pretence: it is what settles in the heart and is proved by acts.
So, what is meant here is not just the mental knowledge whose effect does not extend to the heart to light it or to the will to move it. Neither is it just filling the memory with words and terms such as God and the Lord; religion and worship; the various branches of monotheism; idols and (the Times of) Ignorance, and then feeling proud that one possesses what makes a true believer and what constitutes yaqin [perfect and absolute belief] and dragging others to arguments and verbal battles over these words and terms.
Neither argument nor verbal battles would yield a belief like that of Pharaoh’s magicians when they believed in the Lord of Moses and Aaron, or like that of the Prophet’s Companions when they believed in the Message of Allah’s Messenger.
The needed belief is the one of the first generation, as prescribed in the Quran and Sunna.
Only one verse from a surat in the Quran needs to be quoted here: it is the verse with which Allah answers the desert Arabs who said, “We believe” while belief had not entered their hearts: (Only those are believers who have believed in Allah and His Messenger, and have never since doubted, but have striven with their belongings and their persons in the Cause of Allah. Such are the sincere ones) [Surat AlHujurat: 15]. It is also narrated in the hadith that the Prophet said, (Whoever possesses the following three qualities will have the sweetness [delight] of faith: to love Allah and His Messenger more than anything else; to love a person only for Allah’s sake, and to hate to revert to atheism [disbelief] after Allah saved him from it like hating thrown into Hell) [Bukhari & Muslim].
It may be enough for the common people who follow the leaders to have a half, or even a quarter, belief, but the leading vanguard must have a true belief. They should never include a half or a quarter believer.
Imam Hassan AlBanna used to say to his disciples, “Give me twelve thousand believers, and I will conquer with them the mountains, cross the seas and invade the land”.(l)
But is this number enough to bring about the great hopes and realize the ambitious aspirations of the Islamic Nation? I say yes, we will do with twelve thousand of the true believers. But I also say that we will not do with twenty-four thousand half believers or forty-eight quarter believers, or any of the “fractions” of believers whom one stumbles upon as a result of their stupendous numbers but who can do nothing of use in times of need.
We want believers like the Ansar of Medina, who were described of becoming large in number at the time of war and few at the time of distribution of the war booty.
As for those who are many in numbers but of little use in reality and are no better than ‘the scum of the torrent, they will never be fit to be in the leading vanguard, even if they are millions in number.
Belief based or God inspired education is the first precondition for bringing up a generation that will defend the cause of Islam.
It is this generation that has been described by the Almighty (you who believe, if any from among you turn back from his faith, soon will Allah produce a people whom He will love as they will love Him lowly with the believers, mighty against the rejecters, fighting in the way of Allah and never afraid of the reproaches of such as find fault. That is the Grace of Allah, which He will bestow on whom He pleases. And Allah encompasses all, and He knows all things) [Surat AlMa’ida: 54].
The Necessity of a Measure of Proper Sufi education
A measure of proper Sufi education based on the Quran and Sunna is in order here, as it would help in shaping a religious character whose owner would put Allah before Allah’s creation, the Hereafter before earthly life and the motives of religion before the motives of desire.
Not all Sufism is evil as some would imagine. Neither are all Sufists misled as claimed by those who lack in knowledge or fairness. Sufists are like other groups, as Sheikh Al-Islam IbnTaymia said in his treatise entitled “AlFuqara”‘ [the Poor]. He said about them, “Among them you find the straightforward and the deviant; the one who wrongs his own soul, the one who follows a middle course, and the one who is, by Allah’s leave. foremost in good deeds”.
Of course, we reject all the fallacies of philosophical Sufism (including such tenets as: hulul” divine incarnation” and ijtihad “mystic communion with God”), ecstatic utterances of heretic Sufists and the deviations of money oriented Sufism. What we really seek is the pure, quintessential Sufism of the pioneer Sufists, such as AlHassan AlBasri, AlFudayl Ibnlyad, Ibrahim IbnAdham, Abu Sulayman AlDarani, AbulQasim AlJunayd and others like them.
We seek the sunnite Sufism that follows a balanced line of Quran and Sunna the Sufism that cares about the “piety of hearts” before it concerns itself with the “acts of the organs of the body”. It is said in the sound hadith that (Allah shall not look at your bodies or your faces, but rather into your hearts} [Muslim].
We seek the Sufism that addresses the ailments of the heart, plugs the holes through which Satan can steal into hearts, and resists the desires of the human soul, so that it may have proper morals and virtues and abandon sins.
Someone described Sufism in a nutshell, saying, “Sufism is being true to Allah and good to mankind”. This is what Allah the Almighty means by saying, (For Allah is with those who restrain themselves and those who do good) [Surat AlNahl: 128]. The Sufists are with Allah by being pious, and with people by doing good.
Allama Ibn AlQayyim quoted the early Sufists as saying, “Sufism is good manners, an anyone who surpasses you in manners should be better than you in Sufism”. Ibn AlQayyim comments on that by saying, “No, religion is good manners, and anyone who surpasses you in good manners should be better than you in religion”.
True ! And we need only to quote the Prophet’s hadith, (I have been sent [with the Message] to make manners perfect) [Bukhari].
Four Points of Focus
There are four points of focus in this education, as follows:
–Pure Intention:
The first focal point is making one’s intention pure, so that his work may be done solely for the sake of Allah, not for the sake of any other gain such as money, power, people’s favor or any other of the ambitions that the soul may covet in secret.
Islamic work is a worship and a jihad. Worship is good only when it is practiced in pure intention for the sake of Allah: (And they have been commanded no more than this: to worship Allah, offering Him sincere devotion, being true [in faith]) [Surat AlBayyinah: 5].
Jihad in Allah’s cause is proper only when it is performed with an intention that is pure and is directed at making the Word of Allah exalted to the heights.
Allah the Almighty does not accept a deed with shared objective, nor a heart with shared beliefs.
This why Imam Hassan Al-Banna was keen to raise his first slogan as, “Allah is Our Goal”, so as to assert that the pleasure and reward of Allah are our most aspired goal. We might say that we seek to establish an Islamic community, an Islamic state or an Islamic ruling system, or that we work for restoring the integrated Islamic way of life, or any other near or long term objective, but our goal in all this will be to gain the pleasure of Allah so that He may count us among His righteous servants.
Every Islamic worker should bear in mind these two verses,
(Say: “Truly, my prayer and my service of sacrifice, my life and my death, are [all] for Allah, the Cherisher of the Worlds. He has no partner: thus I am commanded, and I am the first of those who submit to His will) [Surat AlAn’am: 162163].
Causes are not made victorious through the efforts of fame seekers, but through the efforts of those who were described in hadith to be (charitable, pious and quiet people, who are not felt when present nor missed when absent, and whose hearts are the lamps of [Allah’s] guidance) [AlHakim].
–Fearing Allah:
The second focal point is to fear Allah in any deed, so that such deed may take its share of perfection.
This is why the Prophet, when Gabriel asked him about perfection, said: (Perfection is to worship Allah as if you were seeing Him, for although you do not see Him, He does see you)
This is a prerequisite in any deed, be it earthly or religious, for perfection in work is a farida that every Muslim should seek to observe. Allah has prescribed perfection in everything, and nothing should make a man seek perfection more than his feeling that Allah sees and hears him and knows all that he does.
Perfection is more a prerequisite when the deed in question is related to religion, such as work in the fields of the Islamic Call and the Islamic Movement, where Islamic workers discharge
their duty on behalf of other Muslims who sit idle and watch, and even sometimes attacks them and try to bring them to abandon their efforts.
Islamic workers never lack in supervision, nor do they ever require administrative inspections, for they are under supervision from within themselves, and they are the first inspectors of their efforts, as they always have in mind Allah’s saying, (And He is with you whosesoever you may be, and Allah sees well all that you do) [Surat AlHadid: 4].
–Calling Oneself to Account:
The third focal point is self accounting. First, we have to have a true intention before setting to work. Second, we have to seek perfection in our work. Third, we have to call ourselves to account. It is the hadith (A wise man is that who calls his soul to account and works for that which comes after death, and a helpless (fool) is that who gives his soul a free right and hopes for Allah’s forgiveness [without cause for such forgiveness] )
It is also related that Omar said (Call yourselves to account before you are called to account, and weigh your deeds before they are weighed against you) Another saying by Maymun ibnMahran, is: (A pious man is that who calls his soul to an account that is fiercer than that of a tyrant ruler and a tightfisted partner.)
The origin of our point here is Allah the Almighty’s saying in the Quran, (And I do swear by the self reproaching soul) [Surat AlQiyamah: 2).
Self accounting always breeds more effort towards rectification of errors and elimination of shortcoming, making one always seek perfection and avoid self admiration, conceit and contempt of others.
Calling oneself to account is also one of the moral and educational fundamentals in Islam. This is why it is considered as a must by all Sufists and experts of education.
People nowadays repeat the term “self-criticism”. There is no harm in using this term, but there does exist real harm in regarding its meaning as being new to us and regarding it as a practice that we have copied from others, for it is nothing but the self accounting that is called for by our Quran, our Sunna and our very culture.
–Putting One’s Trust in Allah:
The fourth focal point is putting one’s trust in Allah. It is the spiritual weapon that turns weakness into strength and few numbers into large numbers. It was also the weapon with which the Apostles of Allah faced up to the tyrants among their people, never being intimidated by their tyranny or weakened by their mischief, but saying, (Why should we not put our trust in Allah? Indeed He has guided us to the ways [we follow]. We shall certainly bear with patience all the hurt you caused us. For those who put their trust should put their trust in Allah) [Surat Ibrahim: 1 2].
Putting one’s trust in Allah means to take Allah as one’s guide, following His commands and depending on Him, as He says, ([He is] the Lord of the East and the West: there is no God but He, take Him therefore for [your] disposer of affairs) [Surat AlMuzzammil: 9].
You should take Allah as your disposer of affairs, however, only after you prepare yourself and, take every precaution, then go ahead in confidence that Allah will not abandon you.
Putting one’s trust in Allah should by no means be taken to mean neglecting one’s work, abandoning the means that lead to ends, ignoring the approved practices or waiting to reap unsown seeds or harvest unattended crops. It means what the Prophet and the Apostles before him did: doing one’s best and leaving the outcome to Allah, out of trust in Him, out of conviction in His promise and out of belief in His support.
Our noble Prophet made the best arrangements for his hijra, but the unbelievers managed to reach the cave where he was hiding. When AbuBakr said, “If any of them looks under his feet, he will certainly see us!”, the Prophet said, “What do you think of two people whose third is Allah?” (Have no fear, for Allah is with us) [Surat AlTawbah: 40].
This was also what Moses said to his people when Pharaoh pursued them at the head of his army, and they were caught between the sea before them and their enemy behind them: (And when the two bodies saw each other, the people of Moses said.
“We are sure to be overtaken”. He said, “By no means!! My Lord is with Me! Soon will guide me!) [Surat AlShuara: 6162].
We really need this sort of conviction to face up to the grandchildren of Pharaoh and AbuJahl, trusting that Allah is with us. Those who have Allah with them will not fail (If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) [Surat Al-Imran: 160]. If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) If Allah helps you, none can overcome you. If He forsakes you, who is there, after that, that can help you? In Allah, then, let the believers put their trust) [Surat Al-Imran: 160].
Focusing on Seeking Right in Addition to Pure Intention
In preparing vanguards, we have to insure the presence of a combination of two things: pure intention and correct work.
Pure intention and goodwill are required in every Islamic work, because every Islamic work is a worship and a jihad, and no worship or jihad will be accepted unless there was a pure intention behind it, as we have already said. This is why our ‘ulama’ attach so much importance to the Prophet’s hadith saying, (Deeds are [measured] by the intentions behind them) that they regard it as a quarter, a third, and even a half, of Islam as a whole.
However, this alone is not enough for steering the Islamic Movement’s ship among the waves and winds of the tempest. For besides pure intention, there should exist an ability to distinguish between right and wrong, and even differentiate between the more right of two opinions and choose the lesser of two evils or the best of two good things. It is said that a man in his right mind is that who knows good from evil, but a wise man is that who knows the better of two evils, if there could ever be an evil that is good!
True, a Muslim is required to try and seek what is right; and if he goes wrong, he is excused, even rewarded. However, as the hadith says, one who tries and goes wrong is rewarded only once, while one who tries and goes right is rewarded double: once for trying and making the effort, and once for going right.
A double reward is promised to those who go right so that “seeking correctness” may always be an objective for those who try, and that all wise believers may set their sights on going right in their endeavors.
However, I would like to underscore two points here:
First, he who gets rewarded for trying should be qualified for trying in the first place, i.e. he should possess the minimum qualifications to make an ijtihad [personal reasoning]. I do not mean the literal meaning of ijtihad as pertaining to the conditions for making such endeavors as they are mentioned in usul alfiqh [ principles of jurisprudence] books, but rather to any attempt made in any field that requires special knowledge. Making a trial in politics is certainly different than making a trial in the military, economic or educational fields, as each field requires special knowledge in addition to common sense.
But he who launches himself into a topic that he does no. know well, passing judgment in it without proper knowledge, should only wrong himself, his topic and his people, and should get no reward at all, but rather get (a punishment for) an undeniable sin, for he would be passing judgment in ignorance and wading into waters he does not know how to swim in.
This was why the Prophet said in hadith (Judges are three kinds: one shall go to The Garden, and two shall go to Hell. The first is a judge, who knows right and judges by it, and he shall go to The Garden. The second is a judge who passes judgment in ignorance, and he shall go to Hell. The third is a judge who knows right but passes judgment unjustly, and he shall go to Hell) [AbuDawad, AlTirmidhi, IbnMajah, AlNasa’i, AlHakim].
This hadith makes a judge who passes judgment in ignorance equal to a judge who knows right but passes unfair judgment, as an ignorant judge would be sailing in unknown waters that he would get lost into, and had better leave them to those who can steer the ship safely through them, and give the helm to a skilled master.
Even if he does right, a man of this kind will not be rewarded by his right deed, as it is a shot without a marksman, and a right word from the wrong quarter, having no value because.: it is not based on a proper methodology.
It is said in the hadith, (He who gives his own opinion [without knowledge] in the Quran and goes right shall be wrong) [reported by AlTirmidhi who classified it as “gharib”, i.e.. a hadith which is related by only one narrator. In other Sunna collections it is classified among the “da’if”, i.e. weak traditions].
He will be wrong, although his opinion is right, because his right opinion came out of a haphazard trial, not through a proper methodology that he followed strictly. Such a haphazardly reached right is not to be depended on.
The second point I want to note here is that those who will be rewarded for their ijtihad, even with the single reward for trying, will be worthy of reward only if they do their best in seeking the truth and exert every effort to ensure that they understand things right. In so doing, they have to use all the means at their disposal and digest all the available information to discover right. They have also to consult knowledgeable people, so as to arm themselves with sound opinions and valuable experience that will help them do right.
Source: Islamic Basics by Yusuf Al-Qaradawi
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