http://www.zaytuna.org/specials/muslims_living_in_non_muslim_lands.html
Muslims Living in
Non-Muslim Lands
Shaykh
Abdullah bin Bayyah
Shaykh
Abdullah bin Bayyah visited the Bay Area in the last week of July
1999. He offered a week long course on Usool al-Fiqh in Fremont,
California. He then gave a talk on July 31, 1999 at the Santa
Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. An edited
transcription of that talk appears below. As Shakyh Abdullah
spoke, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf translated. At times, Shaykh Hamza added
some of his own comments and explanations. These appear in
brackets in the text.
Shaykh
Hamza Yusuf's Introduction of the Shaykh
Shaykh Abdallah
bin Bayyah, hafidhu Allah, is an extremely well-known and
well-respected scholar amongst scholars. In fact, he is a
scholars' scholar since many of his students are actually
considered scholars now in the Muslim world. His students study
extremely difficult texts with him that even very well qualified
scholars are not capable of understanding with any facility.
Shaykh Abdallah
bin Bayyah grew up in one of the eastern provinces in West Africa
in Mauritania. From a very young age, he showed extreme gifts
intellectually and a profound ability to absorb a lot of
information and a lot of the text. During his studies, he
memorized an extraordinary number of texts. Then, at a very early
age, he was appointed with a group of people to study legal
judgements in Tunis and went there for a period of time. When he
returned to Mauritania, he became a minister of education and
later, a minister of justice. He was also one of the
vice-presidents of the first president of Mauritania. However, due
to the conditions in Mauritania and the military change of
governments that took place, he began to teach, and he ended up
going to Saudi Arabia and becoming a distinguished professor at
The University of Usool al-Fiqh.
The shaykh is
presently involved in several organizations in the Muslim world,
such as the organization which is known as Al Majma' al-Fiqhi,
which is comprised of a body of scholars that come together from
all over the Muslim world and from all the different madhhabs
and different viewpoints; they analyze and study a lot of the
modern issues to come up with Islamic solutions to the issues
confronting modern Muslims in the modern world.
Shaykh Abdallah
is also involved in writing. He has written several books and has
delivered lectures all over the world. This is the first time that
he has come to America, so I think we are very fortunate that he
has come a long way for us. His books are really interesting, and
he has expertise in a lot of areas that have been ignored. One of
the areas of expertise that he has is in what is known as fiqh
al-aqaliyaat which is the fiqh or juristic rulings
related to minority Muslims.
Because the
Muslims tended to prefer hijra to countries where Muslims
were the majority, there are not a lot of scholars that work in
the area of dealing with how Muslims in minority areas should
actually live their lives and how they should behave when
confronted with issues that often are in contradistinction to
their deen. So, we asked him if he would talk about this
subject tonight, and I'm hoping that we will gain a lot of
benefit, and I'm certain we will in sha' Allah.
The shaykh is
going to speak in Arabic - he is very fluent in French, but he is
not fluent in English yet. So, we are going to go section by
section, and as he speaks, I'm going to translate in sha' Allah
for the people who do not know Arabic.
The
Shaykh's Insights on the Muslims' Condition and Responsibilities
in America
[Bismillah
irahman iraheem. The shaykh began his talk by praising Allah
subhaana wa ta'aala and sending prayers on the Messenger of
Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam.]
I wanted to
speak tonight about your conditions, your circumstances here. You
are a group that is small in number and yet strong in faith, a
group that has diverse ideas and understandings and whose
individuals come from many different cultural and ethnic
backgrounds, a group that is few amongst a dominant group that is
many. The dominant group is strong in many areas; in fact, they
are controlling many areas of the world. I would like to speak
tonight about what the priorities of such a group would be: What
are the obligations of such a group? What are the responsibilities
of such a group? I would like to present some ideas to you, and I
hopes that Allah subhaana wa ta'aala helps me to present
some ideas that relate to a methodology, to approaches, and to
things that will be beneficial to this group if they implement
them.
I want to speak
about the responsibilities that you carry here. In contrast to
Muslims living in the dominant Muslim world at large, you are, in
many ways, strangers in a strange land. The Messenger of Allah,
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, "Tuba lil guraba."
In other words, the conditions of the stranger are blessed
conditions, and it also means, "lahum al-jannah: they have
paradise" for bearing the burden of alienation. An Arab proverb
is, "ya ghareeb kun adeeba: oh stranger in a strange land,
be a man of courtesy and cultivation." There is also a hadith,
"Islam began alienated and will return as it began, alienated. So,
blessed are the alienated ones." This alienation should not mean
that you distance yourselves from the rest of the people. That is
not the meaning of this state of estrangement. It does not mean
you should not work with others or that you should avoid the
dominant society and distance yourselves completely from it even
though your state is one of estrangement.
Since we know
that Islam has legal injunctions and that Muslims have a code of
law, a question that occurs immediately to us in looking at these
conditions here is whether or not there are rules in our deen
that apply to one land and do not apply to another land. As we
know, the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,
said that Allah subhaana wa ta'aala has made incumbent upon
you to fulfill certain obligations, and Allah has also set
boundaries for you, so do not transgress those boundaries. As we
know, these rules in Islam relate to every Muslim. In terms of
human beings, every one is equal in relation to these rules. You
cannot say that one Muslim does not have to pray and another one
does. All Muslims who are responsible adults have to pray. So,
these rules of prayer and fasting, what are know as the arkan
al-Islam-the pillars of Islam, the foundations of Islam-are
things that are binding upon all Muslims, no matter where they are
or what place they are in.
In addition,
there is another type of set of rules in Islam that is known as
al-ahkam as-sultania, and these are rules related to
governmental authority, to the state. These rules involve certain
things, such as the penal code of the Muslims. There is a code
related to criminal law: if you do this, then this is the
punishment. The implementation of those laws is related to the
ahkam as-sultania or the rules related to the legitimate
authority of the state. The ahkam as-sultania include the
rules related to jihaad-in other words, martial activity in
which men fight in war and battles. They also include the rules
related to zakaah collecting: the gathering of wealth that
Allah has obliged people to pay. In addition, they relate to the
establishment of imams, not only the greatest imam,
who would be the khalifa, but also the aaimma who
will be in the masaajid and the qadaat who are the
people who give the khutba on the jumu'a. All these
types of things are traditionally related to the authority of the
legitimate governing body of the Muslims. Muslims need judges;
they need courts; they need police-all of these things relate to
these ahkam. These types of rules which are known as the
ahkam as-sultania are not the concern of those people who are
living in a land in which there is not a legitimate state
authority of Muslims.
If we want to
look at an analogy, we will find it in the Makkan stage of the
Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam. If you
look at the Makkan period, the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu
'alayhi wa sallam, was not making any claims to
government authority. He was calling people to tauheed: the
unity of Allah. He was calling people to prayer. He was calling
people to the purification of their hearts. He was calling people
to leave shirk. All this is known as the jihaad of
the tongue: jihaad al-kalima; it is not the jihaad
of the sword-or now the gun or the atom bomb or whatever. It was
the jihaad of the tongue. Allah subhaana wa ta'aala
said, "jaahidhum bihi jihaad al-kabir." "Jaahidhum bihi"
means to struggle against them with the Quran. In other words,
"speak the Quran to them, and struggle against them with the truth
in word;" and this was the jihaad of Makkah. You can say in
a modern sense that this is speaking with a strong tongue in the
face of wrong, in the face of injustices.
When the
Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, went to Medina, a
different stage began, and there was now a jihaad of a
physical type, a martial struggle where they went out. However,
Allah subhaana wa ta'aala says to fight them until the war
comes to an end. This type of jihaad has an end in time,
and yet jihaad in its broader understanding in the
sharia' never ends. The struggle for the sake of Allah never
ends as long as somebody is in this abode. This is why jihaad
is the expenditure of one's efforts for the sake of good. It means
to do good things. It means to exert one's effort in the society
to help people, to expend one's wealth-to give charity-to change
the conditions around you: if they are bad, make them better. This
can be done without martial effort in many places, and this is
still a type of jihaad. This is why it is wrong for people
to narrow the understanding of jihaad to some limited
definition which only gives the understanding of military struggle
because that is not what jihaad means in Islam.
Next, I would
like to address the issue of our responsibilities. Given our state
of weakness and our minority status here, the governmental aspects
of the sharia' do not apply to us. We are not legally
responsible for the governmental aspects because of our condition
here. Given that, what becomes our responsibility? If Allah has
removed from us those governmental responsibilities here, what
then are the responsibilities that we have? I want to look at two
aspects.
Relationships of Muslims with Other Muslims
The first
aspect concerns the relationships that we have with one another.
These relationships have to be based on brotherhood. They have to
be relationships based on love. Since we are minorities here and
are few in number, we have to understand that we need to have
solidarity. In order for us to have solidarity, there is something
that is very important that we must understand about our legal
structure, which is the jurisprudence of difference of opinion:
fiqh al-khilaaf. We have to look deeply into this because if
we understand this, this is a way in which we can be united and
have good feelings towards each other and not negative feelings
based on our understandings of valid differences of opinion
amongst us. This last week in the classes that many of you have
attended, we have been looking at usool al fiqh: the
foundations upon which our fiqh is based. We looked at many
differences of opinion amongst the scholars and how they were
linguistically valid, how they were actually differences of
opinion that had foundations; they were not differences based upon
empty opinions. They were differences based on real issues that
have validity and substance. If we understand that, this will
enable us to rise up spiritually to another level of relationship
with our fellow Muslims. It will take us to a higher level so that
we begin to have differences that are still based on love and
mutual respect. We will begin to see that there are different ways
of doing things and that there is validity in them all.
We can learn a
lesson from the western people who have individuality as one of
the foundations of their culture. They respect the rights of
people to explore their individuality. There is some good in this
understanding, and the Muslims should learn from this even though
it is originally from our own tradition. We should see that part
of their strength lies in this ability. What this will enable us
to do is build bridges. Despite the fact that there are two
different opinions which place us in two different positions, this
love and mutual respect enables a bridge to be built from one
perspective to another perspective, and this creates contact; this
creates the ability for us to visit each other, to be together. We
should look at these hadiths in which the Messenger of Allah,
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, "the Muslims are one
hand;" "the Muslims are strong;" "a Muslim is strong by his
brother;" "the Muslims come together as one hand against those who
oppose them;" "the Muslims are like one body: if one part becomes
afflicted with some illness, the rest of the body shares in that
affliction with insomnia and fever."
Furthermore,
the Quran says, "Do not disagree:" do not "tanaasi'u;" that
is a strong word in Arabic. It is different from "ikhtilaaf:
disagreement." "Tanaasi'u" is saying, do not have conflict
with one another-not disagreement-but conflict. Do not have
conflict with one another, and if you do that, the wind that gives
you strength to move forward will dissipate, and you will fail in
your task. You will fail in what you want to achieve. Allah
subhaana wa ta'aala said, "Rectify what is of between you."
That is, Allah says to rectify the differences that you have.
Rectify the hearts, so that you come together. The Messenger of
Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,said, "Al-muslimu
akh ul-muslim: The Muslim is a brother of his fellow Muslim."
He does not oppress him nor does he give him up to the enemy.
Thus, all of these are indications that we should be together in
spite of our differences if those differences are based on valid
fiqhi differences; and this is why we must look into the
jurisprudence related to differences of opinion.
We should look
at these differences of opinion like different trains that are
carrying different baggage or that are going to different places.
These trains could be traveling on the same track at different
times. If you do not organize them, the result is a disaster. They
will crash. But if you organize them, the trains could be using
the same tracks even though they are going to different
destinations, have different concerns, and have different
purposes. So, the blessing of organizing these differences is that
the differences do not cause us to crash into each other so that
we do not get anything done in the end.
In a sense, we
could look at this like a famous fable. There is a legend about a
lion and three bulls who were in the jungle. One of them was
white, one was yellow, and one was black. The lion was not able to
eat these three bulls because if he came near them, they would all
stand up together, and each one of them would face the lion, so he
could not eat them. The lion began to think about how he could get
them to become divided.
He saw the
bulls grazing once, and he approached the black and the yellow
ones, and he said, "You know that white one over there" He kind
of looks like the people around here. He's different from us. Why
don't you let me eat him?"
The two bulls
said, "Yeah, go ahead. Get rid of him." So, the lion went and ate
the white one.
Then, the next
day, the lion came to the yellow bull, and he said, "Haven't you
noticed that you and I look the same? We have the same color.
We're really cousins! And this black one over here-he's different
from you. So, why don't you let me eat him?" The yellow one said,
"Yeah, you're right. Go ahead."
So, the lion
went and ate him. Then, on the third day, the lion came for the
yellow bull and said, "I'm going to eat you." The yellow one
replied, "I was eaten the day you ate the white one."
This is what
happens when you get separated. You lose your strength; you lose
your power to do anything. We have to realize that what unites us
as Muslims is so much greater than what divides us as Muslims. Our
areas of difference are very small in relation to our areas of
agreement. This is why we should recognize the power of being
together setting aside our differences. In the western world, you
have arbitrators. In the whole world, you have arbitrators. You
don't want to bring in a judge. You want to bring in somebody who
arbitrates. What an arbitrator tries to do is get both people to
be satisfied so that one does not lose while the other wins. An
arbitrator will try to get each group to compromise a little bit,
to come to some kind of compromised agreement where they are both
content; each one has given up a little bit, but in giving up,
they have come together, and there is a win-win situation. You go
to the qaadi (judge) as a last resort-"aakhiru dawaa'
al-kay: surgery is the final remedy." You do not go to a
surgeon the first time. The surgeon is always the last one you go
to in the line of specialists. Doctors will try to cure you in
other ways first and will send you to the surgeon as a last
resort.
One of the
disasters of the situation that we find ourselves in here is that
you have Muslims making hijra to these lands from the
Muslim world bringing their baggage along with them. So, they are
bringing all of these problems with them that have nothing to do
with the new circumstances they find themselves in. Furthermore,
the challenges that they have in these new circumstances are so
great that these problems that they are opening up are causing all
kinds of trouble for them. Thus, the are not able to unite. They
are not able to do things to benefit them because they are arguing
about all these ridiculous things. There is something that we can
learn from in the qawaa'id of the Maliki school.
[The shaykh gives legal opinions or fatwas from all the
schools even though the primary school that he studied was
Maliki.] This particular qaa'ida is one that you find
only in the Maliki school. This interesting qaa'ida
is "jama'til muslimeen taqumu maqaam al-qaadi: a group of
Muslims can stand in lieu of a judge." That is, the group can
actually take the place of a judge.
[I told the
shaykh the other day that there is an American researcher who says
that the twelve jury system that we have here in America is from
the Maliki school. It was actually taken by western people
from the Maliki school. The principle is that a jury of
peers will judge you because in those days they did not have
qaadis (judges).] The wisdom behind this principle that Imam
Malik was indicating is that when people come together, there is a
synergistic power of unity in which they will more likely be right
in their judgments than wrong. So, if the group makes a judgment,
this is why their judgment has the weight and authority, in the
Maliki school, of a legal scholar making a judgment based on
his knowledge of the sharia'.
The
Need for Three Institutions
In order for us
to come to a point where we can work together in spite of our
differences, or with our differences, we need three institutions.
The first one is the institution of fatwa. Fatwa is
a non-binding legal opinion. It is not binding on all the Muslims.
It is binding on those who ask for it, but it is a non-binding
opinion, and there is room for differences and other opinions. The
mufti is somebody who gives legal opinions based on the
understanding-on the ijtihaad-of all of the different areas
of need in the sharia', such as marriage, the rules of
buying and selling, the rules of prayer, and the rules of
tahaara (cleanliness and purification). The mufti is
involved in all of these different things. So, we need a
muassasa that deals with this for the Muslims. They need a
sound source for guidance when these issues occur in which there
are differences.
The second
institution we need is a muassasa of tahkeem, which
is an institution that issues rulings. In this culture, it is
called people's court. A people's court is where the state does
not get involved with the case. The parties that are differing
agree to go to somebody who will listen to both sides and then
make a judgment, and that judgment becomes binding upon them based
on the prior agreement of the two. This has been done already in
the United States in Texas, so there are Muslims that are doing
this, and we should be competing with them in good.
The third
institution we need is the sulih. A musassasa deals
with sulih which is reconciliation. It deals with bringing
people together. Somebody brings the differing groups together and
reconciles between them so that they can work together or work
separately in peace; thus, they are not fighting each other,
undermining each other's work.
All of these
institutions are necessary, but it is impossible to get these
without having the least amount of respect and desire to bring
this about. There has to be a desire for this, and if the desire
is not there, then it is a disaster. Furthermore, setting up these
particular institutions is not different from setting up other
organizations such as those that are created for social issues,
for helping the needy, and for doing all the other different
things that organizations do. These three institutions are
necessary for us in order for us to move on and to resolve a lot
of the things that are causing disruption.
Relationships Between Muslims and non-Muslims
The first thing
we looked at was our relationship between Muslims in these lands
living together. The second thing we have to look at is the
relationship that we have with non-Muslims. Now, an issue that we
must look at is that of the abode: the daar. Although there
may be some people who are educated in Islam who are aware of this
issue of the abode, there are many people who are unaware of this
issue. In fact, you will even find some people who are fuqaha,
scholars of Islamic law and the legal system, who are unaware of
this issue. The issue of the abode is this: most people think that
the world is divided into two abodes, the abode of peace and the
abode of war. The abode of peace is the land of the Muslims,
daar al-Islam, and the abode of war is everywhere else. In
Nixon's book that I read a translated version of called Seizing
the Moment, Nixon wrote a long chapter on the Islamic
phenomenon of the modern world. One of the things Nixon said after
praising Islam a great deal and saying many nice things about
Islam is that one of the most fundamental problems with the
Muslims is that they view the world as a dichotomy of two abodes:
the abode of peace and the abode of war. So, the central aspect of
international relationships with the Muslims is aggression; it is
one of war. This idea is wrong. There are three abodes: there is
the abode of peace, the abode of war, and then there is the abode
of treaty where there is a contractual agreement between two
abodes.
For instance,
when I came into this country, they issued me a visa, and I signed
something. In the issuance of the visa and my signing of it, a
legally binding contract occurred which was a sulih. It was
an agreement that when I came into this country, I would obey the
laws and would follow the restrictions that this visa demanded
that I follow. This was a contractual agreement that is legally
binding according even to the divine laws. In looking at this, we
have to understand that the relationship between the Muslims
living in this land and the dominant authorities in this land is a
relationship of peace and contractual agreement-of a treaty. This
is a relationship of dialogue and a relationship of giving and
taking.
We should
remember that when the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi
wa sallam, was in Makkah, what he asked for from the Quraish
was just that they left him alone to do his da'wa. He said,
"Khalu bayni wa baynan naas: Leave me alone to talk to
these people. Let me speak to them; let me call them." And they
wouldn't let him do that. However, in this country, the ruling
people are allowing you to call people to Islam, and this is
exactly what the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa
sallam, was asking that they allow him to do in Makkah. These
people here are allowing you to call people to Islam. They are not
prohibiting you. If you go out and proselytize, they don't come
and arrest you; they don't punish you; they don't torture you.
This idea here should be understood, and the verse from the Quran
that we should take as the overriding verse in our relationship
with this people is where Allah subhaana wa ta'aala says
concerning those who neither fight you because of your religion
nor remove you from your homes that He does not prohibit you from
showing them birr: righteousness. "Birr" in the
Arabic language is the highest degree of ihsaan-it is the
'aala daraja of ihsan. Allah does not prevent you
from showing them excellence-moral excellence-in your transactions
with them nor from sharing with them a portion of your wealth.
Qadi Abu-Bakr,
Ibn 'Atiyah, and others have also said that this is what "antuqsitu
'ilayhim" means. You give non-Muslims qistan: a portion
of your wealth. In the early period of Islam, this is ta'lif
al-quloob: one of the things that they used to do in order to
bring people close. They would give monetary gifts to people whom
they saw had inclinations towards Islam in order to draw the
hearts. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam,
said, "give gifts to each other and love one another." So, the act
of giving something naturally inclines the one who is receiving
the gift to have feelings of love towards the person who is giving
them. The reason for doing these things-for treating these people
with respect, showing this good character, and having this good
courtesy-is that you will get from amongst them those who respond
and will actually enter into Islam. This really is how we should
see our relationship. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi
wa sallam, not only gave gifts to some of the mushrikeen
in Makkah, he also received gifts from them because his goal was
that they become Muslim. He did not want to fight them-that was
the last resort. The goal was that they become Muslim, that they
enter into Islam.
Also, it is
necessary for us to show respect to these people. Islam prohibits
us from showing aggression towards people who do not show
aggression towards us. The Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi
wa sallam, said, "Do not enter the houses of the Christians
nor eat anything of their fruits except with their permission."
Islam prohibits theft; it prohibits fraud; it prohibits cheating;
and it prohibits these things in relation to the Muslims and in
relation to the non-Muslims. The things that you cannot do to a
Muslim, you also cannot do to a non-Muslim. The Messenger of
Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, also said, "None of
you truly believes until he wants for his brother what he wants
for himself." Imam Shabrakhiti ibn Rajul al-Hambali and others
mentioned that "brother" here not only means your brother Muslim
because this is a close brotherhood of Islam that others are not
in, but it refers to the greater and broader brotherhood of our
Adamic nature. It is a brotherhood in the sense that we are all
from Adam, that Adam is the father of all us. Understanding this
should cause us to realize that we have distant relations with all
of these people out there, and all of them are potential Muslims.
We should see them as potential Muslims.
Allah,
subhaana wa ta'aala, for that reason says, "Call to your Lord
with wisdom and with a beautiful admonition, and dispute them in
the most excellent of ways." In other words, debate with them and
dialogue with them in the most beautiful of ways. Don't be
argumentative; don't be cruel; don't be mean; don't humiliate
them. Do it ways in which they can listen to the truth, respect
the truth, and come to the truth. For this reason, we have to be
du'ahtis salaam: people who are callers to peace.
We also have to
be good citizens because an excellent Muslim is also an excellent
citizen in the society that he lives in. This does not mean that
we lose our distinction, that we become completely immersed in the
dominant society to where we no longer have our own identity-that
is not what I'm calling to. We have to maintain those things that
are particular to us as a community, but we also have to recognize
that there are other things that are not particular to us but
rather general to the human condition that we can partake in; and
these things are not things that we should be ignorant and
neglectful of but things that we should be engaged in. We have to
maintain our roots. We have deep roots in our faith, but at the
same time we have to be open to allow others to come into that
deep-rootedness.
In addition, we
have to recognize that the creation itself is a creation of
diversity. It is a creation in which you see variation of colors.
Allah did not make all the trees one, and He did not make all the
animals one. He diversified the creation. He diversified even our
colors and our languages; and He did all this for a wisdom. Not
only that, Allah subhaana wa ta'aala made us on different
religions and different paths, and He did that intentionally
because He said in the Quran, "They continue to be in differences
except those whom your Lord has shown His mercy to, and for that
reason He created them." So, Allah subhaana wa ta'aala is
saying that He actually created us in order that we differ-that
there is a wisdom, a divine wisdom in the differences that we
have. He created us to show mercy to us as well. So, we have to
rise up to this challenge. This is a high challenge, and we as
Muslims have to rise up to this challenge.
Another thing
that is very important for us to remember is the moderation of
Islam. This is a deen of wasatiyyah: it is a deen
of moderation. We are a moderate community. We are between the two
extremes of excess and deficiency. We are in the middle. The
Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said,
"Those people who go into matters too deeply will be destroyed."
[The shaykh is an expert in the Arabic language, and he said,
"those people" are people involved in "tatarruf" or
extremism. That is what "tanatau'" is.] The Messenger of
Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, "The extremists
are destroyed," and he said, "Beware of extremism in the deen."
The Prophet, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, warned against
extremism, and he did not like it. Notice that one of the things
that extremism does is that it causes you to lose your rational
component so that you are not able to weigh things rationally.
Once you have gone to an extreme, you can no longer see things in
any balanced way. You have lost that balance of the middle way.
This makes you think that what you are doing is right even though
it is clearly wrong to others.
As an example,
take note of the Khawaarij when there was a difference of
opinion between Sayidana 'Ali and Sayidana Mu'awiyah, radi
Allahu 'anhuma. They differed. Sayidana 'Ali was the
legitimate khalifa, but Mu'awiyah did not take baya'
with him; they had differences. So, they called for arbitration.
At that point, there was a group of people who were with Sayidana
'Ali, radi Allahu 'anhu, and they were extremists in the
deen. They interpreted the Quran on their own whims. When they
heard that Sayidana 'Ali had accepted arbitration, they quoted an
ayah which says, "La hukma illa lillah: There's no
arbitration except by Allah." Allah is the only one that can make
judgment. So, they said, how can you call a hakam into this
situation for them to decide when it is Allah who will decide this
situation? Sayidana 'Ali, radi Allahu 'anhu, replied
that the ayah is a true word but that they were using it
for a false purpose. They did not listen to him despite that he
said and proved to them in the Quran there are many instances
where Allah subhaana wa ta'aala calls for arbitration where
people must be brought to decide: between marital disputes; on the
on the Haj, when somebody breaks a tree or kills an animal; and
there are many other examples of that. Their extremism prevented
them from seeing the truth, and this is why things have to be
weighed in the balance of the sacred law and of the rational,
middle understanding of a human being that is balanced in his
nature.
This means that
we should not fear, but we also should not be aggressive. In other
words, we should not be people who are cowards, and there is
cowardice in our nature, but nor should we be people who are
extremists, going to the other side and being aggressive. An
example is people who blow up innocent people in the name of
religion and do things that the sharia' is really
completely against. These are means that they are using that are
unacceptable to the deen of Islam. What they end up doing
is creating a completely distorted picture of Islam so that people
who are outside of Islam are completely repelled by it and are not
attracted to Islam. This is why Imam Shaatabi, radi Allahu 'anhu,
wrote in his Muwaafaqaat, one of the greatest books written
on usool al-fiqh, that this sharia' lies between
excess and between want. It is the middle way; and the Messenger
of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, said, "Khair
ul-umoom ausatuha: the best of affairs are those that lie in
the middle."
Other
Matters of Importance
Next, I want to
go into some more detail in looking at the general aspect of our
condition here. I already spoke about the two most important
concerns which are the relationships between Muslims amongst each
other and the relationship between Muslims and the dominant
culture. Now I would like to go into a few important points that
relate to more detail. The first thing is that it is absolutely
essential that you respect the laws of the land that you are
living in. There are a number of reasons for this, but the least
of this is the principle "al-muslimu la yudillu nafsa: a
Muslim does not place himself in a state where he is humiliated."
You are living in a land in which the people are very serious
about their laws, and if you break the laws, this can result in
you being tried as a criminal and being sent to prison and being
completely humiliated as a Muslim where non-Muslims are putting
you in a cage and preventing you from your own human dignity of
freedom and other things. So, it is essential that we remember
that.
The second
thing I want you to understand is that your circumstances here are
not normal circumstances by any means. You are in very unusual
circumstances, and because of that, there are certain things that
the sharia' allows that it does not allow in times and
places where those circumstances do not exist. One of things that
is really important for you all here to really take to heart is
that the textual positions which we have concerning women that are
more lenient should be applied in these lands. We should open up
the situation of the woman, not to where it takes us outside the
pail of Islam-that is not what I am saying at all-but where we
remain within the pail of Islam, and take it to positions that go
to the limits of facilitation for the women. Among those are, for
instance, the position of the Hanafis stating that a woman
can marry without a wali. That is because the conditions of
men and women in this land necessitate that type of a ruling.
However, the ideal situation is for her to have a wali, and
the wali can be any one of the Muslim community male
members if she is new in Islam and does not have anybody to do
that for her, but the Hanafi position should be seen as a
valid position because it is a valid position, and we should not
fault women who take that position.
In addition, we
should remember that there are positions in Islam that today to
many Muslims are quite shocking, such as the decision of Imam
Fadari. He was an imam mujtahid: he had his own
madhhab. Although it is no longer being applied, he had his
own madhhab, and he was recognized by the other Muslims as
a valid imam. He believed that a woman could be a qaadi
in all the areas of sharia'. He said that there was nothing
in the sharia' that would prevent a woman from being a
qaadi if she had the intellectual and educational background
to fulfill that role. Also, Imam Abu Hanifa radi Allahu 'anhu
stated that a woman could be a qaadi in everything other
than penal matters-blood and things that are related to blood-but
in the other matters that did not concern blood, she could be a
qaadi. So, it is important that we really broaden that area,
but we should use that broadening to work for Islam and not
against Islam, and we should take this into consideration.
Another matter
that is important is zakaah. The Muslim organizations in
this country need to play an important role in the collecting of
zakaah. Even though it is permissible for people in the
absence of a legitimate Islamic authority to give zakaah to
whom they please, there is a need for zakaah here, and
there are organizations that are working in areas which are
beneficial and are working to help people. [The shaykh used the
examples of Rahima and Zaytuna who are doing this
type of work because he has come here for a short time, and he
knows only those two names, but this includes the many, many
organizations in this country that are working for Islam, that
help people, and that know the needs of their community.] These
are organizations people go to when looking for help. Whereas they
might not go to you and know that you have zakaah to give,
they will go to that organization because it is a name; they know
of it; and they will say, "I need zakaah." So, those
organizations should be able to facilitate the movements of
zakaah money to the people who are worthy of taking the
zakaah. That is important, and obviously, these organizations
which you give to should be ones that you feel are trustworthy.
[Next, the
shaykh gave an example of a situation that he was involved in
where there was a need for facilitation that related to the
jumu'a prayer.] I am a member of a fiqh counsel in
Europe which has an number of scholars including Dr. Yusuf al-Qardawi;
it is called The Counsel of Islamic Legal Rulings in Europe.
We go to Europe for our meetings, and this year, we met in
Germany. One of the issues that was placed in front of us was the
issue of laborers who work in factories and are not able to go the
jumu'a at the time it is done. The council agreed that in
these types of circumstances, we need to look at the easier
rulings. For instance, in the madhhab of Ahmed ibn Hambal,
radi Allahu 'anhu, the khutba is permitted to be
delivered before the actual time of the prayer comes in. We need
to take rukhas, which are legal licenses, to facilitate for
people because of our conditions here-we are not living in a
Muslim country where the ruler is encouraging the practice of the
prayer and actually making sure that the prayer is being said in
its right time-[and we know that rulers in many countries don't do
that even in the Muslim world now any way]. This facilitation also
includes the joining of prayer. It is acceptable to join Dhur
and 'Asr at the time that they share according to Imam al-Qaraafi
in his majestic work, TheKhira. Imam al-Qarafi is a famous
Maliki qaadi, and it is understood in the Maliki
school that there is a time in which the prayers are shared
between Dhur and 'Asr. There is also such a time
between Maghrib and 'Isha. There is a valid opinion
amongst the recognized fuqaha of the sunni
school-not of the shia' school-that enables the delaying of
Maghrib until the time of the 'Isha prayer when they
meet at that point. So, in circumstances where people really have
a difficult time, it is better that they join their prayers rather
than lose their prayers altogether because if you do not present
those options for them, there are people who say, "I can't pray.
It's too hard. I'm working and this and that;" and their iman
might be weak. So, in these types of situations, there has to be
facilitation for these people.
What is
prohibited in Islam is the joining of all five prayers at one
time. You cannot do that. You cannot do that. Some people wait
until the end of the day and pray them altogether. No. You have to
pray in the times that the fuqaha have allowed for in the
joining of the times. [This should not be an excuse for people to
say, "Oh great! The shaykh just gave me a fatwa, and now I
don't need to worry." He is talking about situations that are
really difficult for people. He is not just saying go out and do
what you want. No. You know your deen is your most
important thing that you have; and your prayer is the most
important thing in your deen after your tauheed; and
whoever does not guard the prayer has not guarded his deen.
The prayer has times, and they are prescribed times. But what the
shaykh is saying simply is there are situations where people
really do have a difficult time, and the Messenger of Allah,
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, in a sahih hadith in
Bukhari according to Ibn 'Abbas, radi Allahu 'anhu,
joined the prayers. They said to Ibn 'Abbas, "Why did he do that?"
He replied, "So that his ummah would not have difficulty
and feel bad about doing this later," and he said, "the Messenger
of Allah, sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, was concerned
about even the last of his ummah." The Messenger,
sallallaahu 'alayhi wa sallam, in a hadith, said, "Ikhwaani,
ikhwaani: my brothers, my brothers!" at the Kabah, and Abu
Dar, radi Allahu 'anhu, said, "Aren't we your brothers?"
But he replied, "No, you're my sahaba (companions)." He
said, "My brothers come after me. They believe in me and they've
never seen me."]
[The shaykh had
given me permission to add anything that I had thought was
important, so he just reiterated what I had added about the
importance of prayer.] You should not make the joining of your
prayer a norm, but in certain excruciating circumstances, that is
a valid position which is recognized, and it becomes an option for
people having difficulty. Another thing to remember is the
importance of your neighbors. Your neighbor has rights over you.
These rights are inclusive of the Jewish, Christian, and other
neighbors you may have. There are many examples of that, but a
story that comes to my mind is that of Abu Hanifa, radi Allahu
'anhu, who is called imam al-'aadham: the greatest
imam.
It is well
known that Abu Hanifa, radi Allahu 'anhu, did tahajjut
every night. He would spend his night reciting the Quran. He had a
neighbor who was an alcoholic, and he used to drink a lot and sing
love poems. This used to bother the imam. But one day, the
imam did not hear this man's revelry, so he went and asked
about him. They said, "Oh, so-and-so. They took him to jail." So,
the very well respected imam went to the jail. He was the
most respected imam and qaadi at the time in that
place. When the ruler found out the imam went to the jail,
he asked for the reason and was told that the imam was
concerned about his neighbor who had been arrested. So, the ruler
said to release the man, and he was released. The neighbor then
asked Abu Hanifa why he did that, and he replied, "Because you
have a right upon me as a neighbor, and I have not been neglectful
of that." That was the reason that the neighbor made tauba
to Allah subhaana wa ta'aala.
Next, there is
another subject that may be a little difficult for some people to
understand, even for some people of knowledge, but I am not in any
way claiming to have more knowledge than those people, and I am
certain there are people who have come here who have greater
knowledge than me. This subject concerns the difference between
ahlu l-dhimma and ahlu l-'aahad. Ahlu l-dhimma
are people who are in a minority status in the Muslim lands.
Ahlu l-'aahad are Muslim people in minority status in
non-Muslim lands. Each of these groups has different rules that
apply to it. In relation to the people of 'aahad, there are
things that we have to understand. [The shaykh explained that he
is giving you his personal opinion, and it is the amaanah
(trust) of the translator to relate that.] I feel it is important
that people are concerned with political candidates in this
country. If we support the candidates who are known to have
positive attitudes towards the Muslims and who are supportive of
Muslim causes and even those who are just better people than the
opposing candidates, in the usooli knowledge, this would be
considered taking the lesser of two evils. In a non-Muslim
situation, voting and not voting are both not good situations, but
as a community that does not engage themselves and yet is affected
by the political instruments, the lack of participation can end up
being a greater evil than the participation itself. This is
something that has to be looked at and balanced. In my opinion, it
is probably a greater evil not to be participating at all and to
simply be disengaged from the process. So, as Muslims, people
should come together as one hand and create blocks to where they
can try to have some influence to the best of their ability.
Finally, I ask
that Allah subhaana wa ta'aala, in sha' Allah, gives me
taufiq in what I have said and that I have not said anything
inappropriate. I ask that that it benefits me and also benefits
you in sha' Allah. [Then the shaykh made a du'ah
that Allah subhaana wa ta'aala, in sha' Allah, accept this
from us and give us taufiq. Jazakum Allahu khairan.]
About
Shaykh Abdallah
Shaykh Abdallah
bin Bayyah, hafidhu Allah, is an extremely well-known and
well-respected scholar amongst scholars. In fact, he is a
scholars' scholar since many of his students are actually
considered scholars now in the Muslim world. His students study
extremely difficult texts with him that even very well qualified
scholars are not capable of understanding with any facility.
Shaykh Abdallah bin Bayyah grew up in one of the eastern provinces
in West Africa in Mauritania. From a very young age, he showed
extreme gifts intellectually and a profound ability to absorb a
lot of information and a lot of the text. During his studies, he
memorised an extraordinary number of texts. Then, at a very early
age, he was appointed with a group of people to study legal
judgements in Tunis and went there for a period of time. When he
returned to Mauritania, he became a minister of education and
later, a minister of justice. He was also one of the
vice-presidents of the first president of Mauritania. However, due
to the conditions in Mauritania and the military change of
governments that took place, he began to teach, and he ended up
going to Saudi Arabia and becoming a distinguished professor at
The University of Usul al-Fiqh. The shaykh is presently involved
in several organizations in the Muslim world, such as the
organization which is known as Al Majma' al-Fiqhi, which is
comprised of a body of scholars that come together from all over
the Muslim world and from all the different madhhabs and different
viewpoints; they analyze and study a lot of the modern issues to
come up with Islamic solutions to the issues confronting modern
Muslims in the modern world. Shaykh Abdallah is also involved in
writing. He has written several books and has delivered lectures
all over the world. He has expertise in a lot of areas that have
been unfortunately ignored by the vast amount of contemporary
scholars. One of the areas of expertise that he has is in what is
know as fiqh al-aqaliyaat which is the fiqh or juristic rulings
related to Muslims living as a religious minority with a dominant
alien territory. Because the Muslims tended to prefer hijra to
countries where Muslims were the majority, there are not a lot of
scholars that work in the area of dealing with how Muslims in
minority areas should actually live their lives and how they
should behave when confronted with issues that often are in
contradistinction to their din.