(They Wish That You Would Soften in Your Position, So They Would Soften Toward You) (The Holy Quran: 68: 9)

Was published in Arabic in September 4, 2015

Translated by Ahmed Fathy

Introduction:

1- Several people ask us why we do not restrict ourselves to clarify the greatness of Islam by tackling and discussing the positive points leaving out negative points of today's Muslims. Their question is: why we are focusing in refusing and denying the so-called hadiths and proving their contradictions as far as the Quran is concerned. Their insistence that casting doubt on hadiths casts more doubts on Islam, i.e. the Quran alone, and leads to render all 'Muslims' as unbelievers. They believe that our call for Quranism would not succeed as we oppose the beliefs of millions of Sunnites, Shiites, and Sufis who describe themselves as 'Muslims', turning them into enemies of Quranists. They urge us to show our Quranist faith and notions gradually so as not to shock others (!). Our usual reply is that when a medical doctor specialized in a certain malady would ignore the real cause or location of the disease and focus on something else; this might lead to the patient's death. The same applies to religious reformers. We repeatedly have said that Muhammadans are used for centuries to singing praises of the supposedly positive points of being a Sunnite/Shiite/Sufi, under the guise of 'Islam', while they are used to refraining from criticizing any negative aspects of their lives and faiths. The Result: they are weaker more retrograde and regressive than ever. One of the main causes is their forbidding all people from criticizing the so-called Prophet Muhammad's companions and contemporaries and caliphs, the Arab conquests and wars after Islam, and the Arab civil war in Arabia before the Umayyad caliphate. That is why they were led astray 1400 years ago until the present moment. What is done by the terrorists in ISIS group of killers and by the Wahabis is a replica of the demeanor of the so-called Prophet Muhammad's companions and contemporaries in their conquests and civil war. All over the world, Western and Eastern countries are progressing, whereas the Arab countries of the Muhammadans hate one another for historical issues and disputes that hark back to the history of early Muhammadans 1400 years ago! We replied to the above-mentioned questions and suggestions by reminding those who posed them that life is short and transient. We cannot waste time in taking soft positions and stance toward critical issues. God says in the Quran that the unbelievers of the Qorayish tribe wanted the Prophet to take a lenient position by overlooking and not criticizing their faulty ways of worshipping idols and ancestors alongside with God. "They wish that you would soften [in your position], so they would soften [toward you]."(Al-Qalam - 9). Softening one's position means to remain silent by never uttering the truth and never to show faults and the wrong ways of others. God says in the Quran: "Indeed, those who conceal what We sent down of clear proofs and guidance after We made it clear for the people in the Scripture - those are cursed by Allah and cursed by those who curse, except for those who repent and correct themselves and make evident [what they concealed]. Those - I will accept their repentance, and I am the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful." (Al-Baqara - 159:160). We, the Quranists, do not conceal what we deem as the truth so as not to deserve the curse of God our Creator.

2- An Algerian young man has offered us the same piece of advice. We will copy his whole message and then copy our reply to it.

Firstly:

 "…Your website and its useful articles have made a profound positive impact on me… but I want to ask about the terms 'Quranists' or 'People of the Quran'. Why do not you say that you are just reformist thinkers and reformers posing questions and tackling issues of real Islam without being a new group named as Quranists? Ordinary people think that you are enemies of Prophet Muhammad because you deny the hadiths/sayings attributed to him after his death. Before such people read your articles that clarify your theory of Quranism, they may think all of you as unbelievers whom one should doubt and avoid at all costs. They become prejudiced against you as they revere the so-called hadiths. I sincerely advise you in writing your articles not to curse, defame, and tarnish the reputation of Salafist line of thought. It is suffice to contradict Salafists and prove them wrong by logical reasoning and evidence. Please do not forget that several generations revere Sunnites scholars, dead or alive, and would reject Quranism as a new 'falsehood'. Such generations will use hadiths to prove you wrong and ordinary uncultured people will believe them.  Hence, do not curse and defame scholars of the main four doctrines and Al-Bokhari books, and be more lenient in your stance toward them…"

Secondly:

Our reply: we have responded to such queries several times recently, especially in the constitution of Quranists published in our website. But we reply briefly in hope that we would not have to repeat again in future:

1- We have not used the epithet 'Quranists' at first; the Mubarak-regime authorities used this epithet to describe us, having been imprisoned in 1987, when the case was published in press. We assert many times that we are not a group, a doctrine, or even a sect; we are nothing but a reformist trend that uses the Quran as a measure or a yard stick to reform Muhammadans. We like the epithet 'Quranists' which means 'People of the Quran' as opposed to 'people of Hadiths', 'People of Sunna', 'People of Sufism', 'people of Shiite", and 'People of the Book' (i.e., the Bible). We, Quranists, sincerely hope to be among those who adhere to the Holy Quran and its teachings; as God says to Prophet Muhammad in the Quran: "So adhere to that which is revealed to you. Indeed, you are on a straight path."(Al-Zukhruf - 43). "But those who hold fast to the Book and establish prayer - indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of the reformers."(Al-A'raaf - 170).

2- We absolutely do not care if others join/believe/be persuaded by the Quranists or not. People cannot guide one another toward God. Guidance is a personal individual responsibility. Those who seek guidance sincerely will reach it certainly. One should bear such responsibility alone along with its consequences. Quranists are busy avoiding God's Hell by keeping faith in the Quran and performing good deeds, of which reforming of religious thought is an essential peaceful part. This is real jihad. We do not care to cajole, satisfy, or persuade others. We never overlook errors in matters of faith and practices. We can never be lenient in our positions toward notions and practices that oppose real Islam; i.e. the Quran. We tackle the Truth as we see it and cite evidence from Quranic verses to oppose the Sunnite/Wahabi/Salafist/Sufism/Shiite creeds and notions. We cite evidence from their volumes and tomes to prove our points; yet the non-Quranists cannot contradict us and have nothing to do but to slander, defame, and curse us as unbelievers. We forgive them as much as we can, and we never impose our views on others. We ask for no reward or fees or donations. We seek God's reward in the Afterlife

3- People are slaves to the human-made creeds that show themselves as 'Islam' for centuries. These creeds that oppose the Quran are based chiefly on reverence, sanctification, deification, and worship of Prophet Muhammad, his contemporaries and companions, the imams, the lineage of the prophet's daughter and her husband, and the Sufi men; i.e. the so-called saints. We, the Quranists, are quite aware of the fact that it is extremely difficult, but not impossible, to destroy such false, heretical notions in one generation. Yet, we are aware of the fact that there are many rational persons that seek the truth innately and look for an exit from the labyrinth of falsehoods. Those persons see Quranism as this blissful exist. They refuse to ratify acts of terrorist jihadists who tarnish Islam, and they evidently see that Islam do not call for killing of others. When such persons find Quranism in our website, they feel it is safe haven away from the endless labyrinths of Muhammadans who are led astray. Such persons feel innately that Quranism is true Islam away from bigotry, terrorism, backwardness, and fanaticism of Wahabis. Some convert to atheism as a reaction against terrorist notions of imams of fiqh and crimes of terrorists committed in the name of Islam. Later on, these former atheists become Quranists when they perceive the Truth. Secular, free thinkers and researchers – who are Muslims – believe in the Quran and ardently look for evidence to clear the name of Islam and to prove that it is a religion of peace, tolerance, charity, justice, mercy, and absolute freedom in matters of religion,…etc. when such thinkers read about Quranism, they realize the huge gap or abyss between the Quranic text and Muhammadans; Muhammadans are human beings crippled with endless volumes and tomes of heritage and ancestors' thought (hadiths, Sunna, Shiite, Sufism, doctrines, fiqh schools,…etc.) and human history (conquests, caliphs of every dynasty, tyrannical rule, political oppression, civilization elements, and destruction forces). All of that is not a part of Islam. Islam is the religion of all prophets beginning from Adam until the seal of all prophets, Muhammad. This is the divinely revealed religion. The Quran is in Arabic as this is the tongue of Prophet Muhammad and his people. Islam literally means peace with others and oneself and total submission to the will of God as shown in the Quran. We should not deify, revere, sanctify, or worship any mortals or any inanimate things or buildings. Worship and good deeds to others are for the sake and love of God alone. Islam is dealing peacefully and justly with others: avoiding evildoing and doing charitable acts, avoiding unjust treatment…etc. we should draw a clear line between the religion of God (the Quran) and acts and demeanors of mortals. Sunnite Wahabis fear Quranists because we prove the most heinous crimes and most horrible injustices have been done via the false Sunnite creeds. The worst crime of all is attributing such falsehoods and lies to God. This is called false deities, and this describes, in our opinion, the so-called hadiths and their narrators and scribes who attributed these fabrications falsely to Prophet Muhammad after two centuries following his death. These narrations and narrators series cannot be accurate and never can be verified. Dead men, these supposed narrators, cannot talk to refute and deny what is attributed to them. This devilish custom is recurrent in human history. Religious wars, states, inquisitions, clergy, and institutions are based on this devilish custom. Bloodbaths and corruption spread as a result of this. This happened in Middle-Ages Europe then was overcome when religion has been confined to churches. Hence, European people began their progress. When the Muhammadans tried to catch up with human progress that began in the West, the devilish seeds of Wahabism grew stronger to establish the first, second, and third/current KSA that has managed with oil gains and the help of the west, especially the USA, to destroy the Middle East until the present moment. This makes the TV news nowadays. Away from this mass destruction done in the name of Islam, the Quranist trend has emerged to call for peaceful reform by following the judgment of the Quran and reading it in accordance to tis terminology to get to know the long-forgotten fact of Islam. Let us return to the Quran that we have forsaken for centuries for the sake of endless tomes and volumes.

4- The Algerian young man has advised us to become lenient in order to rectify Sunnites. He forgets the fact that guidance comes from God alone and will never be given to those who specialize in misleading people and leading them astray on purpose. God says in the Quran: "Even] if you should strive for their guidance, [O Muhammad], indeed, Allah does not guide those He sends astray, and they will have no helpers." (Al-Nahl - 37). Worldwide news programs show the heinous hideous ISIS crimes of rape, mass killings …etc. and assert that this is real Islam! Yet, some people blame Quranists although we have no arms except the word of truth, i.e. the Quran. Those who blame us because of our line of thought and style of expression forget that Islam is being defamed daily by ISIS and the western-sponsored political agents who are called ''Islamists''. We, Quranists, assert that such savages are not Muslims at all, and the same applies to imams, clergy…etc. that are the real enemies of God and Prophet Muhammad. They insist that Prophet Muhammad said that all Muslims should wage wars on all humanity to convert them by force to Islam! What a scandalous falsehood! It is found in hadiths written by Al-Bokhari.

5- Whether some of these historical imams and clergy were good in their faith, deeds, narrations, and intentions or not is of no importance; their history and narrations are not part of Islam. They are ordinary people subject to God's judgment in Doomsday just like all human beings. The material point here is that written traditions and heritage attributed to these imams and sheikhs contradict the Quran and defame Prophet Muhammad. We have to oppose the written traditions fiercely and blatantly to alert Muhammadans that they do not actually follow Islam, i.e. the Quran, as they suppose themselves to be. They must wake up and smell the coffee. They must reform themselves before they die. By quoting the Quranic verses and discussing them, we, the Quranists, refute and deny deeds, acts, and notions that go against Islam. We do not care for the person of Al-Bokhari, but we take care to refute his books revered and worshiped by Sunnites. The same goes for other imams. We refute books and heresies.

6- Reform by blatantly shocking others is exemplified by the Quran: it contains the terms "polytheism' and "unbelief" so recurrently to warn and guide believers. The Quran is a book of guidance in the first place, with details of traits and deeds of unbelief to make us avoid them everywhere in every age. However strongly and vehemently one calls oneself a Muslim, if one does not pay heed to Quranic guidance of avoiding traits and deeds of unbelief, one should not blame anyone but oneself. Reformists ought to judge deeds and notions of belief of the supposedly "Muslims" using the Quran alone. This criterion will differentiate between the pious and the hypocrites. The result of applying this criterion is shocking and decisive: the vast majority of the so-called Muslims worship a deity/god called Muhammad. Their ''Muhammad'' the deity has nothing to do at all with the personality of Prophet Muhammad whose character and history are found ONLY in the Quranic texts. This is our peaceful reform movement that aims at discovering the true Islam and avoiding bloodshed. Wahabis kill, steal, rob, rape, and hold people captives…etc. in order to gain transient wealth, power, authority, and control. The Sunnite Wahabis sole aim is to maintain the KSA, and they sponsor terrorism all over the world to control every Sunnite and non-Sunnite in the planet. We cite the Quranic verses to prove that Wahabism has nothing to do with Islam. Wahabis are the real enemies of God and the Quran. We must clear the name of Prophet Muhammad from Wahabi/Sunnite falsehoods and heretical ideas.

7- People who advise us to become lenient in the same manner as the Algerian young man in his message hold in their hearts deification and reverence of those misleading dead imams who lied to God. If we adopt a lenient position, the problem would never be solved. We must express the Truth aloud and vociferously. Worship and reverence are for God alone. We curse those who lied to God. Finally, the Quran describes the misleading imams of every age: "They may bear their own burdens in full on the Day of Resurrection and some of the burdens of those whom they misguide without knowledge. Unquestionably, evil is that which they bear." (Al-Nahl - 25).