Written in Arabic by
Ahmed Subhy Mansour
Saturday December 28th 2013
Translated by Mohamed dandan
Introduction:
We are not a sect, nor a party, nor a denomination or an organization.
I-We are an Islamic Intellectual trend , seeking to peacefully reform Muslims by resorting to God Almighty as The Judge through the Glorious Quran, complying with His commandment :{ 6: 114 Shall I seek other than Allah for judge, when He it is Who hath revealed unto you (this) Scripture, fully explained? }
And since we are an intellectual trend, the realm of the internet is medium of interaction among us. We hope someday, we or some of us will be able to meet in a conference in any location worldwide.
II- What unites us, in thought and in Islamic religion, is the sum of our mission or call, which is outlined as follows:
First: The beliefs aspect
1- We believe in Almighty Allah, The Sovereign, alone, with no other deities beside Him.
We do not sanctify nor do we deify any creation, be it angels, messengers, imams, saints, patrons, rabbis or monks. We long to be genuine Muslims : { 6: 162 Say: Lo! my worship and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds.}{ 6: 163 He hath no partner. This am I commanded, and I am first of those who surrender (unto Him).}{ 6: 164 Say: Shall I seek another than Allah for Lord, when He is Lord of all things? Each soul earns only on its own account, nor doth any laden bear another’s load. Then unto your Lord is your return and He will tell you that wherein ye differed.}
.Accordingly:
2-We believe In Almighty Allah, His angels, His messengers, His scriptures, we make no distinction among them, in adherence and in obedience to His command: { 2: 285 The messenger believeth in that which hath been revealed unto him from his Lord and (so do) believers. Each one believes in Allah and His angels and His scriptures and His messengers. We make no distinction between any of His messengers . And they say: We hear, and we obey. (Grant us) Thy forgiveness, our Lord. Unto Thee is the journeying.}, and hence:
3-We disavow others making preferences among messengers of Allah, because it is His privilege, and His alone :{ 2: 253 Of those messengers, some of whom We have caused to excel others, and of whom there are some unto whom Allah spoke, while some of them He exalted (above others) in degree}{ 17: 55 And thy Lord is Best Aware of all who are in the heavens and the earth. And we preferred some of the prophets above others. }, thus
4 -We believe that the testimony in Islam is but one, which is (There is no god except Allah), a testimony emphasized by God Almighty, the angels and those with knowledge :{ 3: 18 : Allah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.) , therefore:
5-We refuse and reject the sanctification and the deification of prophet Mohammad ,peace be upon him (pbuh), elevating him above the rest of the messengers, we refuse performing pilgrimage to the grave attributed to him, we refuse conjoining his name with the name of Allah in prayers, in Azans(call for prayers) and in mosques. We also believe that: saying a prayer for, to or over the prophet, is accomplished by maintaining a connection with him through adherence to the Quran, which was revealed to him. That when we recite the Quran, we are aware that we are reciting the same exact words that he himself , pbuh, used to recite, and by holding on to and subscribing to, what he held on to and subscribed to and strived for, by doing so, we are maintaining a genuine connection with him after his demise. .
6-We believe in the Latter Day according to Quranic description. We believe that Allah alone, is the Owner, the Possessor, the King of that Day , Day of Judgment, Day of Absolute Justice, whereupon no soul shall bear the heavy load of another, whereupon, each and every soul, will stand to defend and fend for itself before the Almighty One.
7 - Quran based Islam have two meanings: One is the innermost belief in and interacting with Almighty God. Here it denotes yielding, submission, obedience and compliance, belief in Him alone with no partners, no progeny, no companion, no associate ,no wife, no patron , no intercessor, He alone is, the Patron, the Intercessor, the Helper, the Supporter, the Defender, the Protector, the One righty deserving of worship. All creations submitted to Him, willingly (as with the believers), or unwillingly,( as with inanimate, like atoms and electrons, heavenly bodies, and creatures instinctively molded to obey).
The second meaning for Islam is, (peace) in dealing and interacting with others. Every peaceful human being is a Muslim as long as he does not commit aggression against others, as long as he does not subdue and subjugate others, as long as he does not coerce others in matters of religion. This peaceful man, we have no business with his belief or his creed, no matter how much we differ with it, since the arbitrator in matters of beliefs is God Almighty, and the time to settle those differences is on the Day of Reckoning. We deal with this peaceful person in kindness, in charitable fashion, on equitable terms, as long as he does not transgress the boundaries against us, does not displace us from our homes and our abode. This is the command from Allah Almighty to us: { 60: 8 Allah forbids you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with them. Lo! Allah loves the just dealers.}{ 60: 9 Allah forbids you only those who warred against you on account of religion and have driven you out from your homes and helped to drive you out, that ye make friends of them. Whosoever makes friends of them - (All) such are wrongdoers.}
We peaceful Muslims live and coexist together in peace, tranquility and in a state of mutual respect in this life, and wait for the final verdict until Judgment Day.
8-Disbelief in God and associating partners with Him are synonymous.
{ 9: 1 Freedom from obligation (is proclaimed) from Allah and His messenger toward those of the idolaters with whom ye made a treaty.}
{ 9: 2 Travel freely in the land four months, and know that ye cannot escape Allah and that Allah will confound the disbelievers (in His Guidance).}
Both of these two terms (Disbelief and Associating partners), have contradicting meanings with Islam:
In dealing with Almighty God, the Arabic word (kafara=disbelieved) means, to cover, to cover the pure natural disposition to submit to God, by deifying other created objects as gods, along with God. Association is to include others, in Devine-ship with Allah, for instance, to include the prophet as a partner in acts of worship, a partner with Allah on Judgment Day, in Mastering the Day and in intercession on that Day. This “Association” is exasperated by adding more of those Imams, Saints, Rabbis, Monks and Sanctified Figures to the procession , thereby the sanctifications and adorations accorded Almighty Allah dwindles compared to those accorded to all others, including , Prophets, Companions, Imams and Saints.
In dealing with people, Disbelief and Associating partners, manifest itself through aggression, inflicting injustice and oppression against them, by exploiting the name of and the religion of Allah. It is behavioral disbelief; one commits crimes and considers it a religious ritual. He randomly murders people calling it Jihad , kills others differing with him in religion or doctrine , and calls it (Penalty of Apostasy ),or according to their sick warped understanding of the principle of (The Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice), rendering fornication and adultery lawful through war captives and (Copulating Jihad). Whoever indulges in or advocates such a behavior, is a disbeliever and an idol worshippers, by his conduct and by advocating and promoting murder, mayhem, fornication and extortion as a religious ritual .
According to the Holy Quran, Muslims should be peaceful people, who do not transgress against others, nor do they start any aggression against anyone, because they know and are well aware that Allah does not love the aggressors :{ 2: 190 Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loves not aggressors.}.Since they realize that aggressors are “disbelievers” through their aggressive conduct, that is why, when others commit aggression against them, they ask of, and pray Allah to help and aid them in repelling and be triumphant against the “disbelieving “aggressors: { 2: 286 and give us victory over the disbelieving folk.}, here the disbelievers are such due to aggressive conduct.
9- We believe in the right of a Muslim woman in marrying Non-Muslim (Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, etc..) as long as he was peaceful in disposition and in conduct. We also believe in the prohibition of marriage to a “behaviorally disbeliever”, those of the ilk of Bin Laden and Al Qerdhawi.
10- According to the Glorious Quran, we believe that people of the book (Christians and Jews), include those who preceded us (in goodness), those who are unjust, unfair, (to their own selves and to others) and those who are moderate, compromising, temperate. The same triple distinction among Muslims and the same triple distinction among humankind at large on the Judgment Day. We believe, among them the people of the book, you will find the unjust, unfair, transgressors and aggressors who exploited God prescribed religion in invading, pillaging, usurping occupying and colonizing others, just like the early Muslims had done. We believe among them, are the frontrunners in doing good, as there are among Muslims, We are required to compete with them in doing what is good for humanity :( 5 : 48 ) (To each of you We prescribed a law and a method. Had Allah willed, He would have made you one nation [united in religion], but [He intended] to test you in what He has given you; so race to [all that is] good. To Allah is your return all together, and He will [then] inform you concerning that over which you used to differ.) It is a completion in doing good deeds , not in what is harmful, evil, or aggressive according to the Quranic principle:{ 5: 2 but help ye one another unto righteousness and pious duty. Help not one another unto sin and transgression.}
Second: Acts of Worship Aspect:
1-We believe that prayers and the rest of acts of worship were all what the creed of Abraham was commanded to follow, we hold and adhere to it, meaning, we believe in the continuous transmission of prayers form, as long as it does not contradict the Glorious Quran. The very minute segment that contradicts the Quran, known as “Attaheyyat”, (recited at the end of the second Ruk’a, and at the end of each ritual prayer), we believe it was fabricated in books of Ahadiths (sayings attributed to the prophet), has several versions and all agree that it was the invention of some companions, as they claim. We believe that testimony to the oneness of God is the one and only original testimony as related in:
{ 3: 18: Allah witnesses that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those of knowledge - [that He is] maintaining [creation] in justice. There is no deity except Him, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.) This verse was ignored and replaced with “Atteheyyat” by those innovators of manmade religion. We pray the five daily prayers, the same timing, the same format; we do not shorten the ritual prayers except in case of fright, in times of war, or fear of expiration of its allotted time.
2 -We believe that acts of worship in Islam are primary and mandatory, yet they are not the goal, rather the means towards that goal, which is godliness, devoutness, piety.:{ 2: 21 O mankind! worship your Lord, Who hath created you and those before you, so that ye may be righteous}. This applies to all other acts of worship, as in performing pilgrimage: { 2: 197 The pilgrimage is (in) the well-known months, and whoever is minded to perform the pilgrimage therein (let him remember that) there is (to be) no lewdness nor abuse nor angry conversation on the pilgrimage. And whatsoever good ye do Allah knows it. So make provision for yourselves (Hereafter); for the best provision is to ward off evil and be righteous. Therefore, keep your duty unto Me, O men of understanding.}As in fasting,: { 2: 183 O ye who believe! Fasting is prescribed for you, even as it was prescribed for those before you, that ye may be righteous}.
Consequently, Paradise is for those righteous, pious, God-fearing who employed their acts of worship to attain that status: {19: 63 Such is the Garden which We give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who were righteous, pious, God-fearing, God-conscious}
Piety is attained by fearing God, not to associate any creation with Him, by superior and higher moral caliber, through just and charitable treatment of others, and through avoiding and abstaining from aggression, transgression and oppression. God-consciousness is the higher noble goal for acts of worship. Without which (the goals), those acts are rendered hypocritical, superficial and void of any genuine meaning. Justifications for extremists, as witnessed by the dominance of man-made religions, where mosques are filled with bearded men, foreheads marked with spots(from prostration),women wearing Hijabs and Niqabs, yet at the same time the widespread and prevalence of infringement, injustice, aggression, lying, cheating, hypocrisy, moral decadence and sexual harassment.
3-We believe that ritual prayers are prescribed upon the believers at precise defined timings: (4: 103: Indeed, the prayer is upon the believers a timed decree.}.It is a prescribed obligation, a debt owed to God Almighty, each due at its own prescribed time. It is like “Zakat”, we pay in lieu for the “age” we spend in this life. So if God Almighty bestows on you 24 hours per day, you are required to pay back about half an hour in prayers, to maintain a connection with Him, elevating your soul to higher levels while communicating with Allah, seeking His forgiveness, anticipating, expecting, requesting, pleading for His mercy and pleasure, sanctifying Him, thanking and praising Him for all His favors upon you, thereby increasing your faith and sense of peace and tranquility. We believe we are responsible, and will be questioned about performing it, in shape and form, the dawn prayers, the noon, the afternoon, the sunset and the early evening prayers. We believe performing “prayers” is not enough; rather we have to establish “prayers”, and be submissive and full of humility in performing it, in compliance with God’s commands. That can be attained by being God-conscious while reciting Al-Fateha, while glorifying and extolling God Almighty, while bowing down, while prostrating, while reciting “Atta-shahud”. By establishing prayers, we mean doing all the things that draw us closer to God, thus achieving the state of “Teqwa”(righteousness ) and keep us away from committing all indecencies and reprehensible acts: ( 29: 45 : Recite that which hath been inspired in thee of the Scripture, and establish worship. Lo! worship preserves from lewdness and iniquity, but verily remembrance of Allah is more important. And Allah knows what ye do.} .
4 -We believe in Zakat in all its aspects, facets, forms and meanings.. Charity, moral purity, integrity, righteousness, purification of the soul, all achieved through Teqwa (righteousness). Purifying and growing wealth is done through acts of charity and spirit of volunteerism.
Socially: carried out by rendering the rights of parents, next of kin, the indignant, the poor, the needy, the orphans, those who ask when in need, and the deprived.
Religiously: by voluntarily striving financially in the cause and way of, and for the sake of God Almighty.
At present, this can be done by striving to show and prove Islam’s innocence and guiltlessness of all accusations and false charges heaped upon it due to extremists and terrorists’ atrocities carried out, supposedly in the name of and in defense of Islam.
5-We believe in fasting during the month of Ramadan, in performing the pilgrimage to the Sacred House of God in Mecca. We disavow, refute and refuse any pilgrimage to any “sacred” tomb, whether attributed to the prophet, or to what is known as “Aal-El Beit=progeny of the prophet through his daughter Fatima”, or the Companions or Imams or Saints. We consider all that as a form of disbelief, a doctrinal disbelief, leading to polytheism.
6-We believe Jihad in Islam is through, self and wealth. To engage in physical Jihad (self), means to defend only, to repel aggression, never to commence aggression, in compliance with God’s decree :{ 2: 190: Fight in the way of Allah against those who fight against you, but begin not hostilities. Lo! Allah loves not aggressors.}{2: 194 : And one who attacks you, attack him in like manner as he attacked you. Observe your duty to Allah, and know that Allah is with those who ward off (evil).}
Consequently, we regard all conquests “committed” by the Early Muslims and the companions as contradictory to the teachings of Islam, and the at core of what befell Muslims during “The Major discord”, which caused political fragmentation leading to man-made religions. These same manmade religions are still concealing genuine Islam and an obstacle preventing Muslims from advancement like the rest of the world. What is taking place now is the best indicator.
To do Jihad by words is to rely on the Glorious Quran, conforming His doctrine: { 25: 52 And strive against them with the utmost strenuousness, with the (Qur'an).).This is what the seal of all prophets had done, and that is what we do and will do, grasping the Quran with both hands. { 12: 108 Say: This is my Way: I call on Allah with sure knowledge. I and whosoever follows me. ).
Islam is a peaceful reform mission, prophets and messengers are the greatest reformers and the greatest sincere advisors. Prophet Saleh , pbuh, said it to his people pitifully:{ "O my people! Indeed, I delivered unto you my Sustainer's message and gave you good advice: but you did not love those who gave [you] good advice."}. Prophet Shu’eib , pbuh, said to his people of Medyen before they were obliterated:{11:88 : I desire no more than to set things to rights in so far as it lies within my power; but the achievement of my aim depends on God alone. In Him have I placed my trust, and unto Him do I always turn}, then after:
{7:93 And he turned away from them, and said: "O my people! Indeed, I delivered unto you my Sustainer's message and gave you good advice: how, then, could I mourn for people who have denied the truth?"}.
7-We believe in the “absent, suspended” Islamic divine precepts, like remembrance of God in our actions, reading and contemplating the Quran, for those capable, and the Islamic principle of consultation ( Shurah ) or direct democracy) within any and each Muslim family or society.
Third: The Mission
1- We commit ourselves to the basic principles of the mission as stated in the Glorious Quran, meaning that we vocally and loudly proclaim what is right and conform to it for the sake of Allah, at the same time, turning away and avoiding adversaries:{15:94 Hence, proclaim openly all that thou hast been bidden [to say], and leave alone all those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God}.
We proclaim the whole truth, fearing in doing so none whatsoever, neither do we force our mission upon any one, nor do we force ourselves on anyone, we ask of no one any compensation. We try our hardest to forgive, forget and let go. In addition, we endure others. We respect freedom of religion; we do not see it in conflict with our reform mission, since we respect the others’ rights in advocating their doctrine and belief system as we do. What is important is the implementation of the Quranic principle “There is no coercion in matters of religion”.
2-In proclaiming the Islamic truth, it is not enough to show and demonstrate the greatness of Islam in its value system and legislative approach, in addition we ought to point out the contradictory practices committed by followers of manmade religions. The Idolaters of Quraish believed in Almighty God, performed prayers, performed pilgrimage to Ka’ba, honored and respected the sacred months more than the Muslims of nowadays do. They never committed atrocities as contemporary Muslims have done. The pre-Islamic Ignorance environment of the Arabs before and at the time the Quran was revealed, was by far less than the Ignorance of modern day Muslims. The Quran did not address their positive practices (like belief in God, performing prayers, performing pilgrimage), rather concentrated on doctrinal disbeliefs and associating others with God, on having Saints, Patrons, Protectors they worshipped to bring them closer to God, on performing pilgrimage to Statues and monuments, offering slaughtered sacrifices that Allah prohibited consuming it. He rejected their prayer that did not stop them from indulging in indecencies and reprehensible acts, calling it mere whistling and handclapping. The Quran also concentrated on behavioral misconduct, the widespread of injustice and aggression, continuously referring to them as those who disbelieved those who associated others with Him, the disbelievers, the idolaters, oppressors, tyrants, sinners, trespassers, offenders, lascivious. Moreover, God Almighty uses their belief in Him as an argument against them, to rebuke them on how they consider others as gods and sacred sanctified objects. The terms, disbelief, polytheism, dissolute life, moral depravity and injustice, with all their derivatives are the most frequently used throughout the Quran, indicating the reformatory nature of Islam in diagnosing the ailments and prescribing the remedies. Moreover, the testimony of Islam does not merely require or stress that ( Allah is god), rather , it stresses (there is no god except Allah),meaning it denies deity to all created others and emphasized deity to the only Creator, Allah.
This is the essence of our reformatory mission, to clarify the manifestations of doctrinal and behavioral disbelief, which Muslims fall into, starting with the period of the companions of the Prophet Mohamed until today, in heritage and historically, the past and the present, all having the Glorious Quran as the arbitrator. No matter how harsh words might be, they are peaceful alternatives to what Muslims nowadays fall into of civil wars and mutual destruction and devastation. The difference between our Tekfeer (labeling others with disbelief) and theirs is that our Tekfeer is essentially of attributes, of sayings, of acts, in hope of reforming individuals. Furthermore, we do not enforce our ideas on others; we respect others’ rights in choosing their belief system, and we both wait for the final verdict until Judgment Day. Whereas Tekfeer in manmade religions is associated with murdering the dissident other, coercing him in matter of religion and denying him his natural right in making a choice, meaning either belief in clergy or being put to death.
Fourth : Sunnah and Sharee’a
1-We believe that Islam was perfected with the completion of the Quranic revelation.{5:3 Today have I perfected your religion for you, and have bestowed upon you the full measure of My blessings, and willed that self-surrender unto Me(Islam) shall be your religion.}, hence, anything being added to the perfect Islam is not from Islam. Accordingly, we believe:
2-The Sunnah means (the way, the path, the method, the example and the rule). It is the Sunnah of Allah, exemplified through the Glorious Quran. It means the methodology and the divine legislation that the prophet was exemplary in its application, and a model to be emulated. He (pbuh) was not the source of religion or legislation, rather the one who delivered the message, nothing more than delivering the message, and he finished the task in full by delivering the Quran, and just the Quran. With the completion of this delivery, Islam as a religion was completed. After his death (pbuh), and the cessation of revelation, whatever has been attributed to him is not part of Islam, rather it is attributed to Muslims, good or bad, all that was performed and done by the companions and other Muslims, have nothing to do with Islam, rather should be attributed to those who performed them. For instance, all those Al-Bukhari narrations and others, have absolutely nothing to do with the messenger (pbuh), it is a fabrication. On the contrary, we deny and reject its attribution to him through ascription and through transmission as we explained in our researches. We believe Ahadiths (narrations) exemplify and depict the era it was coined in, its author and those who transmitted them. We consider it a doctrinal disbelief to attribute those satanic, devilish narrations to the prophet (pbuh). This is exactly what the Quran has foretold about in chapters 6 and 25, among whom Allah (GBTH) has defined and included as enemies of the prophet (pbuh). Truly, whosoever believe in those Ahadiths, indirectly accuses the prophet(pbuh)of not fully delivering the message, meaning he delivered that part known to us as the Quran, and neglected imparting what is known as Sunnah(in their allegation), otherwise it would have been included within the Quran. Therefore, we believe that true love and respect for prophet Mohammad(pbuh)reflects itself through proclaiming his innocence of such lies upon which those manmade religions and their legislations were established, consequently:
3-We believe that Islamic Sharee’a totally contradicts Sunni Sharee’a in particular. This contradiction comprises all aspects, from principles, to fundamentals, to legislative details. At the doctrinal level, (there is no god save Allah), at the moral ethical level and at the level of interacting with others. We have a published book in which we discuss the principles of Islamic Sharee’a, that of justice, the absolute freedom of conscious for every individual, of direct democracy, of peace and tranquility and of mitigations of rules etc, Its contradiction with Sunni Sharee’a, which is based on prohibition, despotism, coercion in religion, injustice, tyranny, stringency, intolerance and shedding of innocent blood. It also deals with the application of the real Islamic Sharee’a. Fifth : The state and politics
1- We essentially believe that Islam calls for Taqwa (God consciousness) at both, the personal and collective levels. Its priorities are not the establishment of a state. That Jihad and physical combat was prescribed to repel aggression and to free people from tyranny, as a last resort, if all peaceful means fail to deter tyrants, especially if this tyranny was based on and practiced by a state founded by and upon manmade religion. We believe that any state maintaining justice, freedom of religion and democracy for its citizenry is in essence an Islamic state. Consequently, the closest expression of what an Islamic State should be, as founded by the seal of all prophets (pbuh), would be America, Canada, European Union and Japan. We believe that the so-Islamic “Mohammadean” states in the Middle East are clergy, manmade religions states, in absolute contradiction to what an Islamic State should be.
2-We believe in complete separation of “church and state”, meaning between religion and politics. Instead of raising sectarian divisive slogans, human rights slogans should be adopted, that all agree to, like justice for all, freedom for all, equality among and for all, and patriotism.
3-We, in our reformatory work, yearn for a (REFORM) that starts legislatively with a genuine constitution. One that establishes a lawful just democratic state, guaranteeing complete individual’s freedom of religion, freedom of political, economic and social activities, guarantees social justice among its people, sponsorship and security for its needy and poor and dignity for the human being. Based on this constitutional reform, all laws, especially the penal code, should be reviewed to remove all obstacles hindering freedom and justice for all, in addition to reforming education, economy and religious institutions.
4-We hope that all those reforms would be implemented with the least amount of sacrifices.