This article was published in Arabic in 6- 16 – 2005.
Finally, this is what I have to say in regards of the desecration of The Holy Quran:
Damned is he who desecrates the Quran, be he Muslim or non-Muslim.
A reader wrote to me, blaming me; he wrote, “The truth is that I was astonished by your silence regarding the desecration of the Quran!” He asked me, provocatively, “Is criticizing the American government prohibited because you are living there? Or do you only find time to criticize Al-Azhar and its sages? Or have you forgotten about Islam and the Quran, which you claim to have spent your life defending? Or is the matter of no importance to you and is not worth your while?”
I answered him, saying, “O Noble Brother, I have spoken on Al-Jazeera, condemning this act and demanding that the perpetrators be punished. Other than myself, many Americans have done the same thing, not because they believe in the Quran, but because they are against violating the sanctity of religion. And do not forget that it is an American magazine which broke the story. Do not forget either that in this society; this kind of thing frequently happens to the Christian and Jewish scriptures eliciting the same objections. This is an open society; nothing remains hidden long. Whoever, commits excesses is punished, in a legal system that is fair and just. I bear witness, before God, that it is the best I have ever seen in its adherence to justice and human values. I am not, here, defending America and her system, but I am affirming the truth! It has happened that I attacked, many times, at conferences and in English, American policy in the Middle East, and not always to the liking of Americans present. I enjoyed the freedom of speech which I did not find in my country.
“O Noble Brother, your questions stem from your feelings towards me, and I do not feel friendliness in them. You ask me as though I were responsible for any act of America and the Americans and demand that I answer! It may be better if you were to direct your question to the dear friends of the Americans, those allied with them, your masters, the despots in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, etc., and their agents here in Washington. I am but a mere political refugee here, unable to do much, without work, and living on a pittance, whereas the agents of the despots, here in America, have, with the money stolen from their peoples, all the power and influence in a capitalist country that allows freedom of expression to all, to the poor such as myself as well as the wealthy such as them. But victory goes to the rich and powerful. I with my limited resources, spoke out; they with their unlimited resources kept quiet, and you, Dear Sir, direct pointed questions without knowing what is really going on here! You are to be excused! But the great Day of Reckoning shall come, and God shall side with the victim of injustice against the unjust!” -Finished
The scandal of desecrating the Quran in America broke out - in this respect it is similar to the scandal of torturing prisoners at the Iraqi prison of Abu Ghreib. It will be investigated and the guilty will be brought to justice as happened in the Abu Ghreib case, according to the standards of the open American society, that exposes all wrongs, discusses them openly and punishes those responsible regardless of who they might be. In stark contrast, we find the Arab, Muslim position! They act as though they have absolutely no torture in their prisons, or as though the desecration of the Quran never happens in their midst or never happened in their history! That is why they criticize America as though this were American policy, and they forget themselves! The Almighty rhetorically asks, “ Do you command the people to be righteous and forget yourselves, even while you read the Scriptures? Have you no sense?” (2:44)
The story went from the American press to the Arab and Muslim media, and no sooner did reach the mosques and streets when it was converted to strident hatred and demonstrations against America. It was an opportunity for those who understand and those who do not understand to write. I refrained from getting involved in the melee, believing it to be an emotional outburst that will not last. But it kept inciting demonstrations here and there, thereby expressing one of the ills of the Arab, Muslim personality which merits looking into to find its cause, especially after the “writing bazaar” has quietened down and the shrill voices of the hawkers touting their cheap goods have died down.
I begin by asserting that I curse and condemn anyone who desecrates the Quran, or its printed form (mus-haf) or both together, be the perpetrator Muslim or non-Muslim.
That is the key to the case and to finding the cause; the focus of the diagnosis. I shall explain, but I wish to state, from the very beginning, that when I say “Muslims”, I do not mean to generalize; I mean only the majority of the Muslims.
First: We are always concerned with guiding the world, while we ourselves are the furthest astray. We are always observing other people's faults and weaknesses, yet we ourselves are the most corrupt and the most hypocritical. If we were to devote ourselves to reforming ourselves from the piles of our own faults and the mountains of our own evils, we would have no time left to think of the faults of others. But we reject that. We are thus very good only at talking about the successes and failures and the glories that we never tire of repeating to the point that we now live them in our daydreams, without noticing our bitter state of affairs in the present-day world where we have become the worst community produced for the people, and the source of tension and trouble in the world. Thus whenever a Muslim thinker rises - desiring to guide his people - to discuss their heaps of faults, inviting them to open and free discussion of these, and admonishes them to turn to only the Book of God for guidance in the conduct of their affairs, they angrily rise in his face to silence him, because they are like the people of Thamoud, “they don’t like those who give (them) wise counsel”.
The connection of this with the desecration of the Quran or the printed form of It, the “Mus-haff”, is that these angry people think that this crime was committed only by some American or Israeli soldiers. This is because they know nothing of their history but a few shiny tidbits. I speak here not only of the demonstrating masses, but of their leaders, their preachers and their intellectuals – who write more than they read, and they do not understand even what little they read!
If they were to read their history and their heritage, sacred and profane, they would know that desecrating the Quran, or the “Mus-haff” are major crimes committed by some Muslim rulers (khulafaa'), and Muslim sages ('ulamma') and Muslim regimes, both in the middle ages and in modern times, and before the existence of America and those American soldiers. I shall give examples at the end of this article.
Why then, my good friend, do we not start with ourselves before railing at others.
Second: I deliberately said, “I curse and condemn anyone who desecrates the Quran, or its printed form (Mus-haff) or both together” to bring out a forgotten truth, and that is that the Quran is one thing and the “Mus-haff” is another.
The Quran, is the Divine Revelation that was sent down upon the Seal of the Prophets, Muhammad, may peace be upon him and upon them. God has guaranteed Its preservation till the Day of Judgment. It Alone is the complete religion of Islam, with its tenets, its laws, its commandments and its prohibitions, what it considers lawful and what it considers unlawful. It Alone is the Book that brooks no doubt; any other is marred by doubt and uncertainty. It Alone is the Divine, and Sacred Word. Whoever accepts words other than Its Words has indeed ascribed partners to Almighty God. This according to the assertion of the Lord regarding this truth. (Please see: chapter 77, Al-Mursalaat, verse 50; chapter 7, Al-A'raaf, verse 185; chapter 45, Al-Jaathiyah, verse 6.)
The “Mus-haff”, is the reducing of the Quran to writing by human hand. There were many copies, each of which consisted of pages within one framework containing all the chapters and verses of the Quran arranged in the format that existed in the days of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him. It became a convention among the Muslims, after the death of the Prophet, to refer to these as “Mus-haff” (literally, that which is endowed with leaves or pages). This term is not used in the Quran, for it came to be used after the revelation of the Quran. And in the ensuing eras, they used to divide the “Mus-haff” into four parts to facilitate learning and memorization. They thus called it by another name similar to “Mus-haff”, namely the “Noble Quarters” (al-arbaa'-ish-shareefah), or the “Noble Quartering” (i.e the divding into four parts) or, in Arabic, (ar-rub'ata – sh -shareefah).
After writing the “Mus-haff” by hand, and excelling in the art of calligraphy, now it is printed by machine thus assuring us and others that – in the paper, the inks, the covers and the fonts used to print and store it (and now of course, hard disks, floppies and compact discs) – it is of human manufacture and, we read it, depending on our state of progress, using our ordinary human methods, from the bamboo pen to the age of the Internet.
Even though the “Mus-haff” is of human manufacture with its components consisting of natural materials from the earth we walk on, it contains Almighty God's Words – The Glorious Quran – in the Arabic language. For this reason we must treat it with deference out of respect for its content, the Word of God.
The Arabic script of the Quran might appear indecipherable symbols to, for instance, a Chinese, who might deal with it as he would with paper cuttings not knowing what they contain. He is not to be blamed if he did so. The blame is upon one who knowingly desecrates the Quran out of hatred for it.
Third: The miracle of the divine preservation of the Quran is the link that brings the Quran and the “Mus-haff” together. It is the basis of this matter as regards the mentality of the Muslims and how they treat with the “Mus-haff”, the Quran, or both. This point requires clarification from the Quran.
God Almighty says, with emphasis, “It is We who have sent down the Scripture, and We, indeed, shall safeguard It!” (chapter 15, Al-Hijr, verse 9).
The emphasis on the revelation of the scripture – that is the Quran – is in the past tense because the revelation of the Divine Book took place in one night, the “Night of Destiny” (Laylatul-Qadr). Thereafter, It came to us piecemeal, from the lips of the Prophet, as events demanded. But this is another story; it has no place here. The important thing is that the emphasis on the revelation of the Book came in the past tense whereas the emphasis on Its preservation came in terms that imply certainty and continuity. This means that once the Quran is sent down from on high upon the heart of the Prophet Muhammad and comes to us from his lips, then he dies, the preservation and safeguarding of the Quran shall remain in effect, Its enemies not withstanding.
The Glorious Quran, since the death of the Prophet and to this day, has been copied into billions of “Mus-haffs” in the same distinctive linguistic mode of writing. The text contains a miraculous phenomenon based on the orthography and the numerical values of the alphabetical letters used. Many have written about this phenomenon as proof that the unique style of drafting the “Mus-haff” has not changed since the days of the Prophet. In this connection, it has been proved that it is the Prophet Muhammad who wrote down the Quran in his own hand, and that the word “ummiy” does not, in the conventions of the Quran, mean “illiterate”. It means “gentile” in the sense of “Arab” because the Arabs were not sent a messenger after Ishmael – except, of course, Muhammad – in contrast with the “XXXXXxXxXX People of The Book” (Ahl-il Kitaab) who have received a succession of messengers descended from Isaac.
Thus, when God speaks of the safeguarding of the Quran and Its preservation, with emphasis on certainty and continuity, such safeguarding then extends to cover the “Mus-haff”; the great care taken to preserve it borders on sanctification, even if the people who sanctify it do not carry out the commandments of the Quran. The important thing is that they will vehemently reject any abuse of it, and this shall be the case until the Day of Judgment as the practical expression of God's promise to safeguard the Quran and the “Mus-haff” Its written form. The demonstrations now taking place expressing the people's anger at the abuse of the “Mus-haff” are proof of that!
Fourth: There is a difference between the “Mushaff” and the Quran in the beliefs and the thinking of the Muslims. They sanctify the “Mus-haff” but they do not believe in the Quran! I shall give some examples of this:
- The edict (fatwa) proclaiming that Salman Rushdie had committed apostasy by what he wrote in the “Satanic Verses” is well known. What is astounding, however, is that Salman Rushdie did nothing more than depend on what is in some books of exegesis (tafaaseer) in their commentary on verses 19 and 20 of chapter 53, An-Najm. It is the myth of (al-gharaaneeq). It is referred to in the exegesis of An-Nassafiy, which was required reading in the curriculum of the Azhar High Schools. I was revolted by it as a student and said that it was an attack on the Quran. The teacher shut me up in disdain. This traditional myth from their heritage, together with thousands of others expresses an acute hatred of the Quran and represents an attack upon It. In spite of that, there was a dogged insistence on teaching this insulting material to the students. These sacred myths in which the Muslims believe, and if a writer such as Salman Rushdie exploits them as a means of attack on Islam, they are outraged and demand his head. And when a Muslim researcher, such as myself, denies and rejects these myths to exonerate Islam of them, and rightly attributes them to the sages who are enemies of Islam, they are outraged and accuse him of denying the Traditions of the Prophet (As-Sunnah), thereby admitting, by implication, the conflict between the “Sunnah” and the Quran!
Conclusion: “My good friend, the Muslims cling to stories that insult the Quran and yet, at the same time, they cherish and protect the “Mus-haff” which holds the Words of the Quran between its covers.
- When Kazzafy suggested – among his outlandish revolutional pronouncements– the deletion of the word, “Say” from the the Quran, the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar - at that time Dr. Abdil-Haleem Mahmoud – was asked for his opinion, the “sufi” Sheik - well known for his calmness and composure - responded in a succinct tuneful “Azharic” tone, “Heresy (Kufrun), Heresy, Heresy!” articulating every sound. He was outraged at the suggestion that a single word be deleted from the “Mus-haff”; yet I heard this very same Sheik, Abdil-Haleem Mahmoud, with my own ears, repeat the words of Imam An-Nawawiy, “The “Ihyaa'” is almost (on a par with; as good as; equal to) the Quran!” I was shocked at his audacity to say such a thing. He meant, of course, “Ihyaa' 'uloum id-deen” (Reviving the Sciences ('uloum) of Religion) by Abi-Haamid Al-Ghazaaliy who died in 505 A.H. In this book, Al-Ghazaaliy insinuated lies and fabrications about God and His Messenger, and such disdain of the Quran as would never cross the mind of even Mr. Kofi Anan! The stand of Sheik Abdil-Haleem Mahmoud conforms perfectly with that of the Muslims; they sanctify the “Mus-haff” yet at the same time they do not believe in the Quran, because if they were to believe in the Quran alone, in its Word and Scripture, they would reject all other books, considering them to be of human provenance, falling within the scope of philosophy, history or some other discipline not connected to the Muslim religion. But they insist on sanctifying these books, which attack and demean Islam and the Quran, and considering them holy script, and they attack anyone who discusses these books scientifically referring to the Quran as criterion.
- In my youth, when I was a student at the Zaqaazeeq Azharite Institute, everyday we used to pass by a mosque that was built around a mausoleum, considered sacred, and people used to visit it to be blessed. Above the entrance of the mosque there was carved into the stone a verse which says, “The places of prostration (masaajid) belong to GOD; you shall therefore not call upon anyone besides HIM!” The contradiction between this holy verse and the very purpose of that pagan temple is glaring! The verse admonishes against considering sepulchers or people or stones sacred. They worship tombs which they hold sacred and build mosques around them and adorn them with the very verse which commands them not to do just that! In my youth I used to laugh at such ridiculous mental backwardness. When my mind developed and I understood the Quran, I found that this verse also admonishes against even the mere mention of any name besides God's Name in the houses of worship in the course of either the prayer, or the call to prayer. It is a religious duty that the call to prayer and the prayer itself be restricted to the exclusive praise and glorification of Almighty God Alone, Hallowed be His Name, without adding any other name – not even that of the Prophet Muhammad – to God's. This applies also to the Affirmation of Faith (ash-shahaadah) in the Islamic religion. There is only one affirmation; it affirms the exclusive Divinity of God, and it constitutes the religion of all the prophets. It includes belief in all the prophets and their scriptures without distinguishing a particular one or favoring him over the others. This is what hundreds of verses in the Quran assert! Thus the mosques that the Muslims enter and in which they mention Muhammad's name or the name of any other human being besides God's name, are in clear contravention of the Glorious Quran. If you dare proclaim this Quranic truth, you will arouse the Muslims to hate-filled demonstrations against you, demanding your blood. On the other hand, if you go along with them and suggest the removal of that verse from the “Mus-haff”, they will again demonstrate angrily against you and demand that your neck be cut! The conclusion, my Friend, is that they sanctify the “Mus-haff” and at the same time sanctify the established traditions (thawaabitihim) from their heritage, and they follow what they found their forefathers doing by way of religious rites which fly in the face of Quran that is contained in the pages of that very Mushaf.
- The sanctification of the “Mus-haff” reached hysterical levels among some of the leaders of a religious group known as “The Legal Society” (Al-jam'iya-sh-shar'iyah) in Egypt in the seventies. They went out into the streets of Cairo collecting papers and newspapers from the garbage, on the grounds that the Name of Almighty God, or verses from the Quran might be printed on them. They were almost at the point of ridding Cairo of its traditional garbage problem, but for the debate we engaged them in. So they took to accusing us of heresy because we told them, “Believe in the Quran first, and use It to as a yardstick to assess the truth of your fabricated Traditions of the Prophet (Ahaadeeth) that sanctify him, making him, by dint of his purported power or right of intercession, the master of the Day of Judgment. If you were to ask them to remove one hundred fifty verses from the “Mus-haff” because these contradict their beliefs, and deny the Prophet's presumed right or power of intercession, they would promptly demand that your head be cut off. If you explain to them the meaning of those verse, admonishing them therewith, and proving to them that Muhammad possesses neither right nor power of intercession, and he cannot benefit anyone on the Day of Judgment they would, again, demand that your head be cut off. The solution, then, is to stay away from them, play, have fun and forget the gloom, for the sake of your sanity. The conclusion, again, my dear friend, is the contradiction between the Quran and the beliefs of the Muslims. The only solution to this conflict is to choose one or the other; the Quran or their heritage, its sanctification and its practical application. As for combining the two opposites at the same time, that is the strangest form of mental insanity, at which the human mind boggles.
- The bottom line is that the Muslims combine two opposites; they sanctify the “Mus-haff” and reject any abuse of the words of the Quran, and yet, at the same time, and with the same enthusiasm, hate the verses of the Quran if a Muslim reformer were to adduce them in support of his case proving the conflict between the Quran and the heritage of the Muslims.
Fifth: This animosity between the Muslims and the Quran was initiated by the hypocrites among the companions of the prophet, in his day. There are hundreds of verses that speak of the kinds of hypocrites and their machinations, and of other kinds of the weak of faith and of those with diseased hearts. Other verses castigate the believers, in the time of the Prophet, and warn them. We shall limit ourselves with a quick review of chapter 9, At-Tawbah. It is among the later chapters of the Quran to be revealed. At the beginning of the chapter is a proclamation to the idolaters, the infidels, those who reneged on their oath, of a respite of four months, being the sacred months, to repent and to stop their aggression on the peaceable believers. These believers tended to be less than diligent in defending themselves - as is indicated in the chapter itself – and maintained ties with those aggressors for economic reasons, and for reasons of blood ties and tribal allegiance. They did this at a time when those aggressors gave no consideration whatsoever to oath or integrity in their relations with the believers. (9:1-40).
Towards the latter part of the chapter (verses 42 et seq.), is a classification of the companions of the Prophet, “As-Sahaabah”. Among them are the strongest in belief, “As-Saabiqoun” and among them are those who mixed good works with evil, and among them are those whom God has deferred His judgment of them, either He shall punish them or pardon them, according to whether they repent or not. Among them also are hypocrites of whom the Prophet is not aware. But God Almighty knows them; He promised them punishment twice, once in this world, then their destiny shall be great chastisement in the Hereafter. Thus God announced that they will not repent, but will sow corruption in the land in their life to follow after the revelation of the Quran. There also also many categories of hypocrites, who declare their hypocrisy and openly plot against the Prophet, but yet swear to him falsely denying what they did and what they said.
If this was the state of the Companions while the Prophet was among them, and while the Quran was being revealed - It came down already speaking of plots and of dark secrets hidden in the breasts of men, and exposing the hypocrites and those with disease in their hearts - what then would be their state after the Prophet Muhammad's death and the completion of the revelation of the Quran? There would be more opportunity for plotting because, with the revelation of the Quran safely complete, the plotters need not fear embarrassing exposure from on high! Also, the most rabid enemy of Islam, from Bani Umay-yah, like many of the notables of the Quraysh, accepted Islam in order to safeguard his privileged economic position. They had previously fought Islam for the sake of that same privileged economic position. (Chapter 28, Al-Qasas, verse 57; chapter 56, Al-Waaqi'ah, verse 82; chapter 6, Al-An'aam, verses 66-67).
It is to be expected that the degree of compliance with the commandments of Islam will diminish drastically. If what we read in the chapters revealed at Madeenah describes the level of compliance and the state of the hypocrites, then what is it likely to be after the Prophet and the completion of the Quran?
If the facts of the Glorious Quran are absolute in their truthfulness, then the “news” and narratives of history, that the Muslims have written, are relative facts, not absolute religious facts. The researcher has the right to discuss them, confirm or deny them depending on his scientific viewpoint. This is especially true since the history of the Prophet and his era came to us as oral narratives through the grandchildren of those who migrated to Makkah with the Prophet (al-muhaajireen) and of the their hosts in Madeenah (al-ansaar) in the Umayyad Period, so naturally, they deliberately ignored the historical commentaries on those chapters of the Quran that refer to their grandfathers as hypocrites, idolaters and aggressors and disowns them. Then began the practical recording of these historical commentaries in the Abbasside era, a century after the oral narratives. Consequently the writing of the Prophet's biography (As-Seerat-an-Nabawiyyah) was strongly influenced by the concepts of power, control and brute force, which were the hallmarks of the imperial Abbasside period. This does not mean rejecting history in toto, nor does mean assuming that it is free of lies, distortions and fabrications. It is for this that the profession of the historical researcher and the scientific specialization therein, came to be! It has now entered the age of great ignorance - my friend, may you live long – and has become an open field for ambulant peddlers and hawkers, some of whom, unfortunately, bear the title of 'Doctor'.
The compliance of the Muslims with the commandments of Islam, during the Abbaside Period, reached the point of contradiction. The Abbaside Period was the age of recording the Arab, Islamic civilization and its heritage. It was natural that this would happen in conformity with the exigencies of the age and the Abbaside imperial view, and their need to justify their political movement and dress it in counterfeit Islamic garb.
The Life of the Muslims Contravenes the Quran in the Abbaside Period – The Age of Recording the Arab, Islamic Civilization.
The Quran prescribes fighting but restricts it strictly to repelling aggression. The empire of the Muslims, since the days of Abu Bakr, has been built on the basis of aggression upon those who did them no harm. The Quran considers mutual consultation and discussion (ash-shuoraa), what we know today as direct or popular democracy, to be the correct form of governance. Its dicta and Its laws consider despotism idolatry (shirk), and emphasize justice, equity, fairness and impartiality and deems injustice on a par with ascribing partners to God (shirk) – the only unforgivable offense – and a violation of human rights. The Quran also emphasizes and grants absolute freedom of belief, thought, worship and religion, and considers the sequestration of these freedoms or their restriction to be idolatry, and interference with God's Laws.
The Quran, in Its stories of the Prophets, emphasizes that they are not immune to error except in regard to the divine messages revealed to them. The Revelations come down upon them reproving them, guiding them and correcting their errors. The Quran also emphasizes that the Prophet Muhammad is merely a follower of the religion of Abraham and that it is wrong to favor him over the preceding prophets. It teaches that Muhammad can neither intercede at God nor benefit anyone, and that he does not know the future. It also tells us that most of his companions were not of the category of the strongest in belief (as-saabiqeen), but of the other types. In fact, their actions, after the Prophet, conformed exactly with what the Quran foretold about them; they fell out with one another, they fought and killed each other and set up the prototype of the autocratic, despotic rule which contradicts Islam.
How to combine the two opposites? The Quran, and the exigencies of the age of the Abbasids who administered a theocratic, dictatorial, unjust and oppressive regime, masquerading under religion to give itself a veneer of religious legitimacy.
The solution was to exile the Quran and imprison It between the covers of the “Mus-haff” as nothing more than texts that nobody obeys or pays attention to. At the same time, what was obeyed was their interpretations of the verses of the Glorious Quran, and their exegeses of It. But they were not satisfied with this, so they established another source which they falsely sanctified by relating it back to the Prophet, his immediate family and his companions. These fabrications came to be known as the “ahaadeeth” (the sayings of the Prophet and his comments on various matters) and the “sunna” (what the Prophet used to do and how he did it). But even that was not enough. They were unable to attack the text of the Quran, Its verses and Its distinct, numbered chapters, for these are preserved and protected in God's care. So they decided, instead, to eliminate the effect of whatever rulings, in the Quran, they do not like. They did this under the convention of “abrogation” (naskh). This despite the fact that the term “naskh” in the Arabic Language as used in the Quran, means “confirmation” and “writing”, not elimination, cancellation or abrogation. But that again was not enough! They invented a bogus discipline which they called “Readings and Studies ('uloum) of the Quran” (Qira'aat wa 'uloum-il Quran). If you read “Preciseness in the Studies of the Quran” (Al-Itqaan fee 'uloum -il Quran) by Al-Baaqalaani. or As-Suyouti and believe what they have to say, you would come away with the belief that most of the chapters of the Quran are fabrications. Is there any greater enmity to the Quran than this?
We have inherited this animosity, from generation to generation, from the Abbasids age which has begotten for us the crises in jurisprudence (fiqh), the “hadeeth”, exegesis and interpretation (tafseer), history and the Islamic sects (firaq), and the philosophy of theocracy ('ilm-ul kalaam; or 'ilmu-ut tawheed; or 'ilmul-'aqaa'id). This Abbaside heritage was unable to delete verses from the Glorious Quran. It was not able to distort its verses or chapters because God Almighty made them, themselves preserve the Quran in the “Mus-haff”, but He allowed them to fabricate “ahaadeeth” and other lies outside of the “Mus-haff”. And God declared that they are the enemies of the prophets, those who would write the erring satanic revelations that are contrary to God's Revelations in His Noble Book. (Chapter 6, Al-An'aam, verses 112-117; chapter 25, Al-Furqaan, verses 30-31; chapter 22, Al-Hajj, verses 51-54).
We still revere the sages (a'immah) of the Abbaside age, as well as the companions of the Prophet and we consider them all immune to error, that is above the level of mankind. The proof is that rage that confronts any researcher who dares criticise them or expose their weaknesses. The well established religious wisdom (ath-thawaabit) we grew up with, and which we found our forefathers following, confirms that they are infallible; in other words they are – in plain language – gods! It is Almighty God Alone who never errs, and we say to Him, exalted be His Name, “God be Praised!“ (Subhaan-Allah). The strange thing is that the more one of these sages exhibits animosity to the Quran, the more we revere and exalt him because our actual, practical everyday religion, what we call “the well established religious wisdom” (ath-thawaabit), stems from these very sages and they backed it with a chain of transmitters (al-'an'anah) tracing it all the way back to the Companions of the Prophet.
The most mendacious of the Companions and the one most open to accusations of lying, even in the books of the heritage, is Abu Hurayrah. He accepted Islam late; he lived unnoticed in Madina, in the days of the Prophet. He left Madina for Bahrein but returned after the death of the prophet. He lived a long life and supported the Ummayads, fabricating sayings which he attributed to the Prophet (ahaadeeth), favoring them. He thus became the most famous of the narrators of “hadeeth” from among the Companions and the most respected and revered. He is the one who claimed that a revelation other than the Quran descended upon the Prophet Muhammad which he confided only to Abu Hurayrah entrusting it to him. Mr. Abu Hurayrah claimed that if he ever talked of that other revelation, proclaiminpre-eminenceg it publicly, his soft palate would be cut off. So, fearing for his precious soft palate, he suppressed that second revelation thus depriving the Muslims of half their religion! Therefore, according to this asinine insanity, it follows that Islam was not completed, and that the Glorious Quran has not been perfected and the verse that proclaims, “This day I have completed your religion for you and I have perfected My bounty upon you, and I have approved submission (Al-Islam) as religion for you!” is but a lie, according to Abu Hurayrah's narration and his soft palate. Accordingly, either the verse that says, “This day I have completed your religion....” is to be deleted, or Abu Hurayrah's soft palate story is to be deleted. But.....goodness gracious! How can the story of Abu Hurayrah and his soft palate be deleted? It is, after all, in Al-Bukhary, is it not? And with the Muslims, Al-Bukhary is more sacred than the Quran Itself.
The conclusion to be drawn, my friend, is that, in their history and in their heritage, the Muslims have committed every possible hostility against the Quran except one thing: they preserved every verse in the Quran without changing a single iota, safely in the “Mus-haff”. The reason, of course, is that God Almighty Himself undertook the task preserving It and forced them to comply. They did, by the will of God, preserve the Quran, while at the same time, they contravened, by their actions and by their heritage, the Quran that is preserved in the “Mus-haff”.
Sixth: Let us assume, for argument's sake, or out of ignorance, my friend, that Almighty God had not preserved the Quran and left it open to all these attacks before the Abbaside age and after it. Would the Quran have reached us in its present pristine form which contradicts all the beliefs of the Muslims, their heritage and their history? Would it have reached us with Its peculiar usage conventions, its unique terminology and Its particular concepts which run counter to the conventions and language used by the Muslims in jurisprudence, and theology? Naturally, the Quran we now have in our hands would not be the same had Its preservation been left in the care of the Muslims, with its redaction subject to their whims and their fancies, their religious controversies, their sectarian squabbles and political disputes. It would have been subject to substitution, alteration, distortion, addition and deletion, and would have changed substantially from the age of Abu Hurayrah to the days of the Institute (majma') of Islamic Research and Al-Azhar.
Had God left the preservation of His Holy Book – the last scripture to mankind till the Day of Judgment - to human beings, the original would have been lost and replaced with a number of “Qurans” differing from each other and attributed to some Companions and some sages, and each sect of Muslims would have its own private Quran in which it records the tenets of its belief and its law.
However - and the truth be said – these differences will never prevent them from sharing certain characteristics, as follows:
All the commandments and teachings of the Quran they canceled, these will be deleted from their qurans.
All that they falsely claimed that the Prophet said, as well as all they falsely attribute to Almighty God, under the rubric of “Sacred Narrative” (hadeeth qudusiy), will be written into their bogus qurans.
They will delete, for example, all that the Quran said denying the Prophet Muhammad's power of intercession (Shafaa’) - about 150 verses, his infallibility or immunity from errors (roughly 150 verses) and his presumed knowledge of the future ('ilm il ghayb) (roughly 30 verses) and negating his superiority to the previous prophets (33 verses).
They will substitute in place of the deleted verses, their narrations (ahaadeeth) confirming the Prophet's putative powers of intercession, his presumed immunity from error, the narrations mandating his veneration; his pre-eminence over all other prophets, the inane myth that he is alive in his grave, the importance of pilgrimage to him and the blessings conferred by his grave and his knowledge of the future.
The verses, in the Quran, referring to the values of Islam and to human rights will all be deleted and replaced by traditions allowing killing and bloodshed.
The laws regulating warfare with the idolaters – the terms idolatry (shirk) and heresy (kufr), in the terminology of the Glorious Quran, mean unjustified, unprovoked aggression when used in reference to the level of human relations - restricting it to the repulsion of aggression. These will be replaced with rules mandating fighting all the people until they accept Islam.
Hundreds of verses in the Quran confirming the freedom of thought and belief and relegating to God judgment on differences in belief will be deleted and replaced with fabrications such as “Whoever changes his religion, you shall kill him!” Killing, as a punishment, will be extended to apply to those who have not committed murder. The adulterer and the adulteress, they will be killed not by fabricated narrations and spurious verses such as “The elderly man and woman, if they commit adultery, you shall stone them to death...”, no my friend, indeed it will become sacrosanct in their “Mus-haffs”. They will also convert into holy script the other tens of bloodthirsty narrations as well as the juridical rulings (fataawa) that mandate the killing of those who do not offer their prayers and of homosexuals and those engaging in bestiality, that is sex with animals. We then come upon the piece de resistance, the blessed ruling that says, “The ruler has the right, at his discretion, to kill one third of the community to improve the conditions of the other two thirds!!!”
What is more important than all of this – and I am still addressing you, my friend, is that the fabrication has not stopped. In fact it is gaining speed and strength in our blessed age because the fast moving oil train.
We would have seen a new “Wahhaabi” quran that speaks of the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in feeding the hungry Muslims, and the endless aid caravans, and the efforts of the “Servant of the Two Noble Mosques” (khaadim-ul-haramayn) in enlarging the Mosque at Mecca and the Mosque at Madina, and his generous donations to the victims of a storm in Burkina Fasso !!!. The leaders of the Wahhaabi sect would never pass up the chance to dedicate a chapter or two to exalting their mentor, Sheik Muhammad Ibn Abdil-Wahhaab, and cursing the Egyptian musician, Muhammad Abdil-Wahhaab!
As regards the would be quran of Al-Azhar !!, the narration transmitted by Suyouti in his book “Good Lectures” which says, “Giza is one of the gardens of Paradise.” would be turned into a revealed verse in a chapter that lauds Egypt and “Cairo, the Blessed”, Bulaaq-id-dakrour and Bulaaq-abul-'ilaa. It will be added to other chapters praising Al-Azhar, being the torch-bearer of Islam and but for it Islam would have wandered on in the murk, without light! Oh my goodness! It would also speak of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and but for Al-Azhar, the Muslims would have been without a Grand Imam, but, of course, there would be something about the Prophet Muhammad resigning as the “Grand Imam” and forgoing the title out of respect for the sensibilities of the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Egypt's historic role.
This mocking, black comedy is no joke for it is no less ridiculous nor less strange than thousands of other stories, narrations and inherited juridical rulings which the Abbaside period transformed into a parallel religion to supplant Islam. These are the curricula we studied at Al-Azhar. And were it not that Almighty God preserved the Quran in the “Mus-haff” all this mental retardation would have become verses and chapters enshrined in distortions of the Quran. But God forced the Muslims, with all their hatred for the Quran, to preserve the “Mus-haff” which remains with us, pure and unsullied and shall remain a witness (hujjah) against the Muslims till the Judgment Day.
Seventh: God's preservation of the Quran was in stages:
The first: His safeguarding of the Quran the instant of its transmission from on high to the heart of Muhammad in our material world. In the terminology of the Quran, the heart is the self or the mind. In that non-material plane, about which we know nothing, and which pervades our material world going through it and surpassing it, time, as we know it, ceases, and the speed of transmission exceeds the limits of human knowledge, according to the implications in the Glorious Quran. The preservation of the Revelation here was the prevention of interference through wave transmissions by the denizens of that non-material plane, that is the Jinn and the devils (ash-shayyaateen). (Chapter 72, Al-Jinn, verses 8 – 10; chapter 37, As-saafaat, verses 7 – 11).
The second: After transmitting the Quranic Revelation, through the agency of Gabriel in written form and printing It into the heart of the Prophet, it was beyond the reach of the Prophet, and his human whims and weaknesses could not affect the preservation of the Revelation or its delivery. (Chapter 42, Ash-Shouraa, verse 24; chapter 17, Al-Israa', verses 73 – 75 and 86 – 89; chapter 69, Al-Haaqah, verses 43 – 47; chapter 5, Al-Maa'idah, verse 67).
The Third: Is the ongoing process of preservation represented by the dogged care the Muslims show for the “Mus-haff” to the extent of writing it in the same “Uthmaani” style, in attribution to the third Khalifah, 'Uthmaan Ibn 'Affaan.
'Uthmaan, during his incumbency (khilaafah), prohibited the Muslims from writing the “Mus-haff” in the ordinary Arabic writing and mandated that they use the writing that the Prophet Muhammad used to write, in his own hand, the first copy which was with the Lady Hafsah, the 'Mother of the Believers'. 'Uthmaan collected all the varying copies of the “Mus-haff” from the conquered lands (al-amsaar) and burned them in order that the Muslims might use copies made from the original text written in the unique Quranic way, from his day till the end of time. And to this day the “Mus-haff” bears his name; it is referred to as being in “The 'Uthmaani Style”. The Numerical Miracle embedded in the text of the Quran confirms this unique way of writing to be the original and proves that the Quran has not undergone any changes in any way.
'Uthmaan's great care of the “Mus-haff” and his insistence and strong determination to record the Quran in the same manner as the Prophet did, in spite of the opposition of some Companions and many of the Muslims of the conquered lands is in marked contrast with his gentle nature and his not always correct behavior during his incumbency. That behavior is contrary to the justice of Islam and and the teachings of the Quran. His care of the “Mus-haff” also contrasts with his insistence on remaining in power until his natural death or his assassination. He was fully aware of the problems that his assassination, at the hands of those in revolt against him, would cause, but he ignored the advice he was repeatedly given to resign, “I shall not take off a garment in which Almighty God dressed me!” He thus set a bad precedent for the despotic rulers who came after him, not only in wanting to remain in power for life and rejecting reform, but also in considering the mantel of power a God given garb that must not be taken off. This is in fact what happened later with the sacred theocratic rule where the dictator claims that he derives his authority not from the people but from God, and that he is not answerable to the people but only to God, on the Day of Resurrection.
All this is contrary to the Islamic principle of consultation (ash-shouraa) and in contravention of the teachings of Islam. 'Uthmaan, during his incumbency was a pioneer, in the history of the Muslims, in financial corruption, nepotism and favoritism, and in unduly coveting power even if that would lead to civil wars. All of this is squarely against the Quran, and yet he was also a leader in the matter of preserving the Quran in the “Mus-haff”. And in compelling the Muslims to adhere to one standard “Mus-haff” written in the way the Prophet wrote it, he acted with unaccustomed determination, rigidity and strength that he was not known for. The matter is not about 'Uthmaan and his personal behavior, his policies or his weak, indecisive personality; it is about a divine miracle that compelled the 'Uthmaan and the Muslims after him to preserve and safeguard the Quran in the “Mus-haff” regardless of their hatred of Its commandments and Its laws.
Eighth: In the evidence to support this truth, we present a verse, repeated twice in the Quran, that asserts that God safeguard the Quran in spite of the idolaters-Muslims. It reads, “It HE who sent HIS Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, to make It dominant over all religion, in spite of the idolaters!” (Chapter 9, At-Tawbah, verse 33; chapter 61, As-Saff, verse 9).
Hatred of the Quran is one of the basic conditions for idolatry. This is a truth the Quran Itself confirms about the idolaters of Makkah and the idolaters of among the companions who were hypocrites. ( Chapter 9, At-Tawbah, verses 64-65 and 67; chapter 10, Yunus, verses 15 – 16; chapter 8, Al-Anfaal, verses 31 – 32; chapter 22, Al-Hajj, verse 73; chapter 47, Muhammad, verse 26).
This hatred is still ensconced deep in the hearts of the extremist Muslims to this day! And I have personally suffered from it in Egypt. They had no answers to the verses of the Quran I would quote. They could not negate them, or demand that they be deleted or declare their rejection of the verses. They could not defend the sayings of their sages and leaders that were in contradiction of the Quran. The only way left was to direct hatred at me! The description, in the Quran at chapter 22, Al-Hajj, verse 73, of the look of hate on the faces of the idolaters when they hear the Quran, would clearly appear on the faces and in the eyes of my detractors as I read the Quran, using It to support my arguments in sermons, lectures and rallies. This hatred appears clearly now in their dealings with me , when I prove, by means of the Quran, the contradiction between their established tenets (thawaabit) and what they found their forefathers practicing, and the truths of Islam. At this point, I get deluged with abusive and insulting letters in the foulest language imaginable.
Had they been in the right and I in the wrong, they would have responded by presenting to me their best possible argument, as the Quran teaches. But they are following the teachings of a religion that is not compatible with Islam and the Quran. They defend their sages, their preachers and their gods not by rational arguments – they have none – but by the only thing they do have, foul language and insulting words. Their real hatred is not towards me personally, for there is no personal dispute between them and me or any relationship that might evoke friendship or animosity. The only reason is that use the Quran to support my arguments in the articles I write. When I write about politics, away from from using the Quran in support of my arguments, they do not become angry. Their anger and their animosity is directed essentially at the Quran, and by extension to all those who believe in It and who fo;;ow Its dictates and defend It.
Let us get back to the verses that was twice repeated in the Quran and study it.
Almighty God describes Himself as, literally, “He it is, who...” (also “He is the One who...”, or “It is He, who...”) This Quranic expression occurs always in the context of matters beyond the Prophet's and human capability, and can only be accomplished by Divine intervention. Among these matters is that He It is who sent His Messenger with the Quran which is described as “The Guidance”, and “The Religion of Truth” (or “The Right or True Religion”). Among these matters, also, is He It is who sent him with this Quran to make it dominant over all religion, in spite of (the opposition of) the idolaters.
How will God make It dominant over all else? By war and compulsion? This is contrary to a thousand verses in the Quran that confirm the freedom of belief, also it contradicts history. The Muslims, until they used Islam to build an Arab empire, were not able to coerce all the nations to enter Islam, so they were satisfied with demeaning those who insisted on retaining their religion and called them, literally, “Those Protected by the Conscience (of the community)” (Ahl-idh-dhimmah). Thus, making the Quran dominant means preserving It as a benchmark for the human race.
The Quran repeatedly states that among Its purposes, with regards the “People of the Book”, is narrating to them most of what they differ on (76), and that It comes to confirm the previous Divine Scriptures and “supersede Them”! (Chapter 5, Al-Maa'idah, verse 48). That is the meaning of making the Quran dominant over all religion, by preserving It for all time as the scale, the final arbiter of right and wrong in all of religion, to which people might refer. I mean, of course, those wishing to be rightly guided in matters of religion. On the Day of Judgment It will be used as evidence for or against mankind, after serving as a criterion in this life. God confirmed this by describing the Quran as “the balance” or “the scale”; it is God given and every believer should weigh his belief and his behavior on it, and God shall safeguard It till the Day of Judgment as a sign of the nearing of which It was sent down. (Chapter 42, Ash-Shouraa, verse 17; chapter 57, Al-Hadeed, verse 25; chapter 7, Al-A'raaf, verses 1 – 3 and 8 – 9).
The problem here is that the idolaters hate the Quran. It would, in fact, be a problem if the matter were up to them, but as long as God has guaranteed the preservation of the Quran, He will make it dominant in spite of the idolaters.
Someone might say that that verse speaks of the idolaters, not the Muslims, we answer that God speaks of belief and idolatry in the Quranic terminology, not in the terminology of the later Muslims.
We assert here that the term “Islam”, in dealing with Almighty God, means submission to Him, Alone, and coming to Him with a pure heart unsullied by idolatry or heresy. As for “Islam” in dealing with people, it means being peaceable and not attacking anyone without just cause. This is what people can judge, depending on demeanor of each person. Consequently, idolatry and heresy have the same anti-Islamic meaning, in matters of belief. Heresy (kufr) is the covering of pure instinct with belief in and the deification of human beings, stones and the angels. Idolatry (shirk) considering that Divinity is a partnership between God and any of His creatures. This, of course, is contrary to the Oneness of God, there is no God with or besides Him; He did not beget, nor was He begotten and nothing is like unto Him. This heresy and idolatry, God shall judge upon them on the Day of Judgment for there is no way that for human beings to judge faith or intention. On the human level, idolatry and heresy together mean injustice, aggression and crime. It is possible to specify the idolater and the heretic, not by his belief or lack thereof, but by his behavior and his actions. On this basis, Bin Laden is a heretic and an idolater as attested to by his actions that we witnessed.
Sometimes, people will write down their beliefs, which are contrary to Islam in that they deify persons and elevate them to the status of gods, and yet claim to be followers of Islam. Some Muslims, on the other hand, will sanctify people and stones elevating them to a status of holiness, under the banner of Islam, and will offer them rites and rituals including pilgrimage and sacrificial offerings, prayers and reverence and circumambulation (tawaaf) similar to or more than the worship of God. They consider that such acts will bring them closer to God. Here a warning must be given; one must refer back to the Quran and weigh such acts in Its scales to determine whether they are acceptable. This is what we do, and this is the reason why we are made to suffer oppression and harm.
The important thing is that the Muslims fall into idolatry and heresy in their devotional sense, by their sanctification of men and stones, such as mausoleums (adrihah) and the graves of “holy” men or women (qubour). They also fall into idolatry and heresy in their behavioral sense, that is, aggression and injustice in its widest sense (dhulm). This is in fact what the Companions started with upon the death of the Prophet Muhammad; what is falsely called the “Islamic conquests”. In the lexicon of the Quran these “conquests” are nothing more than aggression, heresy, idolatry and injustice that the Lord of Glory would not approve or like. And yet we call them Muslims and we admonish the Muslims who are alive with Islam and the Quran and invite them to repent, and we warn them that what they are falling into is heresy and idolatry and rejection of Almighty God. We do not pronounce them heretics and idolaters, we merely admonish them to be aware of falling into them.
We go back to our subject and say: Even though the Muslims have fallen into idolatry and heresy in both senses of the words, and even though they persist in, and have legitimized such behavior with false narrations attributed to the Prophet, and spurious interpretations of the Quran, and despite their hatred of It, and their hostility to any invitation to appeal to the Quran for guidance, they are, by a miracle of God, driven to safeguard the Quran in the pages of the “Mus-haff” and, at least outwardly, glorify It. That is why they rose in great anger and frustration against the violation of the “Mus-haff” by some American soldiers, while they themselves violate Its teachings in their prayers, their mosques and all aspects of their lives.
In the story of Moses, God, in one of His miracles, made Pharaoh himself undertake the rearing and care of Moses, such that in the end Moses might become an enemy and a source of sorrow for Pharaoh and his people. (Chapter 28, Al-Qassass, verses 3 – 8). In similar fashion, did the Creator, may He be exalted, make the bitterest enemies of the Quran, the very ones to undertake the task of caring for and safeguarding the “Mus-haff” despite their hatred of Its teachings, such that in the end It might become an enemy and a source of sorrow to them if they do not repent before drowning and death.
The funny thing is that this noble verse, which was twice repeated in the Quran, the Muslims extremists have tried to twist Its meaning among their other efforts to transform Islam into a bloodthirsty religion. They falsely claimed that the Prophet said, “I have been commanded to fight the people until they say, 'The is no god but God.........” They this turned the Prophet into a brigand of the type the Arabs of Najd were used to. They attributed to him the saying, “My livelihood (rizqee) is in the shadow of my lance!” They overlooked the fact that God sent the Prophet Muhammad as a blessing to mankind, not to terrorize mankind. The Almighty says, “Indeed in this there is a proclamation for a worshiping people. WE did not send you but as a mercy for mankind (al-'aalameen)”. (Chapter 21, Al-Ambiyaa' verses 106 – 107). But the Wah-haabi preachers still begin their sermons and their rallies by describing the Prophet Muhammad as, “The one sent just ahead of the Hour ( i.e., as a harbinger of the Day of Resurrection) with the sword to make it dominant over all religion, in spite of the disapproval of the idolaters!” That is, my friend, they were not able to cancel that verse from the Quran, so they twisted its meaning and confirmed the distortion with other fabricated narrations.
Thus do they do! They persist in lying about God and His Messenger, while the Divine safeguarding of the Quran also persists and the It will be used in evidence against them on the Day of Judgment. He, the Almighty, is the Supreme Witness of their distorting His Noble Book! He says, “Those who distort Our Revelations, cannot hide from Us. Is one who gets slung into Hell better, or one who comes safe and sound on the Day of Judgment? Do what will! He sees all that you do! After this, the Almighty says, in connection with safeguarding His Noble Book, “Those who rejected the Reminder when It came to them – It is indeed a Noble Book; no falsehood shall come to It from before It or from behind It – Revealed by One Wise and Praiseworthy! (Chapter 41, Fussilat, verses 40 – 42.
Ninth: Their hatred of the Quran and their disobedience of Its laws reached the point of violating the “Mus-haff” itself. Here we give some quick examples:
1 – The Umayad Khalif, Al-Waleed Ibn Yazeed Ibn 'Abdil-Malik; he was in power from 125 AH to 126 AH. The people hated him for his debauchery and his crimes, so they killed him. He had not reached the age of forty. They said of him, “His uncle, the Khalif Hishaam Ibn 'Abdil-Malik, put him in charge of the Pilgrimage in the year 116 AH. He was then heir to the throne. He took with him dogs in crates, and he built a dome (qubbah) the size of the Ka'bah intending to put it over the Ka'bah, and also took with him liquor (khamr). He wanted to set up the dome on the Ka'bah and sit in it, but his friends scared him off, So he assembled the singers of Makkah and turned his attention to entertainment. Another version of this story is that the sages of Makkah objected when he wanted to set up his dome on the Ka'bah and threatened to burn it down; they were headed by Sa'd Ibn Ibraahim Ibn 'Abdir-Rahmaan. They said of him, Al-Waleed, when he came to power, “He was well known for his atheism (ilhaad); he was preoccupied with the pursuit of pleasure, fun and with drinking.” In the first speech of his cousin, Yazeed Ibn-il-Waleed, who killed him and took power, said, describing him, “When Al-Waleed demolished the signs of right guidance and extinguished the light of the righteous, he was a tyrant who permitted the unlawful and who did not believe in the Book or in the Day of Reckoning.” This was not the only testimony against him. He was accused by the Banu Haashim of heresy, heathenism (zandaqah) and incest with the mothers of his father's children (mothers in law ), This behavior was reflected in his dealings with the “Mus-haff”. In the story of a famous incident, it is said that one day he opened the “Mus-haff” for commencing and got the verse in which the Almighty says, “...and seek inspiration. Every stubborn tyrant shall fail!” So he threw the “Mus-haff” down and slung arrows at it saying – in poem ;
, “You threaten me with being a stubborn tyrant? So here I am, that stubborn tyrant! When you get to your Lord on the Day of Gathering
Say, My Lord Al-Waleed riddled me with holes.”
(See “The Complete History” (Taareekh al kaamil) by Ibn Il-Atheer, volume 4, page 486. Also Al-Muntadhim by Ibn-Il-Jawzi, volume 7, pages 236 – 248.)
2 – Sheik Ibn Il-Baqaqi, one of the notable leaders of the Sufis of the ninth century AH. His name is Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Al-Misriy. He was a contemporary of the famous judge, Ibn Daqeeq Al-'Eed, but the other judges conspired against him, so they sentenced him to death on a charge of apostasy. He became well known for his dissoluteness, and for mocking religion. He deliberately did not fast Ramadan without justification and, “He used to put the “Mus-haff” (ar-rub'ata-sh-shareefah) on the floor and climb onto it to reach for things on the shelf.” (Ibn Hajar, “Ad-durar il kaaminah”, volume 9, page 329.)
3 – A sufi scholar, famous in his day, Sheik 'Afeef-ud-Deen At-Tilmisaani (died 690 AH); it was said of him, “Many gross things in both word and deed were attributed to him, in matters of belief, in “Union of the Divine with the sufi” (huloul) and “Union of the sufi with the Divine” (ittihaad), and heathenism (zandaqah). He did not consider adultery with any woman to be unlawful, and considered incest with mother and daughter to be lawful and he used to say, “These uninitiated (Al-Mahjooboun, i.e., those who are not of the sufi sect) say, “Unlawful!” (haraam); we say, “Unlawful for you!” (haraamun 'alaikum)”. Ibn Taymiy-yah said of him, “He is among the most cunning (hudhaaq) of those who knowingly preach “Union” or “Oneness” (ittihaad).” We shall briefly explain some of these words that we might understand what Ibn-Taymiy-yah is saying about At-Tilmisaani. “Union” (ittihaad) in the language of the Sufis, means the sufi ascending to be one with Almighty God, exalted be He, far above this, and (huloul) to them means the Divine Self descending to be one with the Sufi, and the Unity or Oneness of Existence (wihdat-al-wujoud) to them means that there is no difference whatsoever between the Creator and His creation, and that God has no existence outside of His creations for He is the essence of all creation. The most notorious proponents of this doctrine were Al-Hallaj, Ibn-il-Faarid and Ibn-'Araby; this 'Afeef-ud-Deen At-Tilmisaani was a student of Ibn-'Arabi's.
Let us now follow up on what Ibn-Taymiy-yah has to say about him: “He used to practice what he preached; he used to drink wine and indulge in the unlawful. A person I trust told me that he, At-Tilmisaani, read to him a book - “The Nuggets of Wisdom” (Fusous Al-Hikam) by Ibn-'Arabi. He had thought that it was by one of God's righteous servants endowed with knowledge. But when he saw that it contradicts the Quran, he said to At-Tilmisaani, 'This contravenes the teachings of the Quran!' At-Tilmisaani replied, 'The Quran is all idolatry, but “Oneness” (tawheed) is to be found in our words. He, my interlocutor, told me of a person who was with him and who had been with the last companion of At-Tilmisaani. They came upon a mangy dog, dead on the road. His comrade said to him, “This too is the Divine Self?” He replied, “Is there is anything outside It? Yes indeed everything is part of the Divine Self! ”
The same story was repeated in Alexandria in the ninth century. The sage Al-Biqaa'i relates it in his “History”. He said, “One of them said to his companion that God Almighty is the essence of all things. A donkey passed by them, so he said, “And this donkey?”, he replied, “And this donkey!” The donkey then evacuated its bowel, so he said, “And this mess?”, He replied, ”And this mess!”” (“History” by Ibn-Katheer, volume 13, page 326; “Flecks of Gold” by Ibn-Il'imaad Al-Hambali, volume 5, page 412; “Collected Letters and Questions” by Ibn-Taymiy-yah, volume 1, page 145; “History” by Al-Biqaa'i, manuscript, sheet 123.)
4 – There are, in the second volume of the book, “The Great Levels” (At-Tabaqaat Al Kubraa) by the sufi scholar, Al-Imaam Abdil-Wah-haab Ash-Sha'araani, astounding details of this type, he mentions about the holy lunatics (majaadheeb) of his day and the sufi sages. He writes about with pride in what they say and what they do, because the age he lived in believed in the sufi sages and deified them. Ash-Sha'araani is the most famous of the religious scholars of the tenth century AH. He lived towards the end of the Mameluke Age and some time into the early Ottoman Age; his many books dominated the thinking of succeeding generations until fairly recently. We shall cite some of what he has to say about his teachers (ashyaakhihi):
“Sheik Ibraaheem Al-'Iryaan, may God be pleased with him, used to climb the pulpit (mimbar) and deliver the sermon nude, and would say, 'The Sultan, Dumyaat, Bab-il-Louq, Bayn-al-Qasrayn and Ibn Tuloun mosque, Praise be to God, Lord of All Creation.' The people would experience great pleasure!”
And of Sheik Sha'baan Al-Majdhoub (literally the holy lunatic), he said, “He used to recite chapters other than those in the Quran, in the mosques on Fridays and at other times. Nobody ever objected or took him to task, and the ordinary layman used to think that they were from the Quran owing to the similarity of their rhythm to the real thing. Once I heard him reciting at the door of a house, so I listened to what he said. I heard him say, 'You are not, in believing Houde, truthful.' Then he said, 'And indeed God has sent us, at the cities that were turned upside down (al-mu'tafikaat), a people who beat us and take our property and none have we to help us'. Then he said, 'God render the reward of the noble words we read in in the books (sahaa'if) of so and so, and such and such...' to the end of whatever he said. The people had excessive faith in him, and no one took him to task or objected to anything he said or did; indeed, they considered seeing him a great joy!”
Of Sheik Muhammad Al-Khudari, Ash-Sha'araani said, “He used to say strange and wondrous things. In his periods of lucidity and when he was able to, he spoke in such terms as no-one can bear to hear against the prophets.” “On a Friday he was asked to give the sermon (al-khutbah), so he climbed the pulpit and said, 'I bear witness that no god have you but Iblees, may peace and blessings be upon him!' The people said, “Heresy!” (kufr) at which he drew his sword and went down, so the people all fled from the mosque. He sat alone by the pulpit till the call for the afternoon prayer! No one dared enter.”
We shall be satisfied with that much. Whoever wishes to read more should read “The Great Levels” (At-Tabaqaat Al Kubraa) by Ash-Sha'araani, volume 2. It is in print and readily available.
5 – In our modern day and age, some members of the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwaan Al-Muslimeen), who were victims of torture in prison, described some of the methods of torture they suffered; these included cursing God, Exalted is He, far above this, and tearing up the “Mus-haff” . I myself heard from the writer and journalist, Abdil-Mun'im Al-Jiddaawi, who is one of the renowned editors of the “Events and Issues” pages, how 'Abd-in-Naasir's regime fabricated evidence against the Brotherhood from within one of the journalistic establishments, and among such fabrications was the placing of handguns inside the covers of the “Mus-haff” and accusing the Brotherhood. This was published in the press; I still remember the pictures, and I believed then that it was the work of the Brotherhood! Maybe the same thing happened in Saddaam Hussein's prisons to make the religious prisoners suffer by desecrating the “Mus-haff”. So, as you see, the American soldiers were not the first to commit this heinous crime. Maybe the coming days will expose scandals of this kind in the Arab prisons, but there will be no demonstrations in protest because we are too busy criticizing the West and America and have no time to look at ourselves, our heritage and our history!
6 – I myself witnessed the battle of Matariyyah on the 2ndof November 1987, In that battle, a small army, in military transport, was armed with machine guns and automatic weapons. The army consisted of tens of gallant soldiers and a few brave officers. The enemy camp was roughly midway between Matariyyah Square and Mostorod Bridge, the boundary between Cairo and Qalyubiyyah governorates, an area of approximately four square kilometers. The army moved slowly in two directions to pounce on the enemy by surprise. And at 3:00 AM, before daybreak, the heroes were able to capture and occupy the entrance of the building in which the enemy held out, I mean, lived. A formation then proceeded upstairs in the building to secure all the apartments and to ensure that none will join in the battle. After that, the enemy camp, sorry, I mean the apartment the enemy was hiding out in, was stormed and the enemy was captured in his office, sitting on the floor, at a traditional low dinner table (tabliyyah), piled high with the Noble “Mus-haff” and various books, many with open pages, while he was deep in thought, concentrating on his writing! The enemy author was startled by the army storming his office and the screaming of his children as the boots of the valiant soldiers wrecked the place and trampled the Noble “Mus-haff” underfoot in search of his lethal weapons which consisted of a ball point pen and some sheets of paper and a “Mus-haff” in which he looked up the verses he needed, and some books on Islamic heritage to which he referred. The corpus delicti was a book the sinful enemy was writing under the title of: “The Law of God and the Law of Man” in which he compares the Laws of the Quran in terms of objectives, foundations and rulings, with the juridical promulgations based on the Narrations and Traditions of the Prophet (Sunnah). The intent was to demonstrate the stark contrast between The Quran and the tradition based jurisprudence, in order to block any attempt to falsely exploit Islam for political or other worldly ends.
The enemy had completed the first volume and was in the middle of the second, planning to complete the research in five volumes. But the heroic armed forces liberated – I mean impounded - the manuscript in evidence. They did not forget to collect all the bits and pieces of paper with the scribbled notes, thoughts and memorandums for the book.
During the melee, the boots of the heroic soldiers unwittingly trampled underfoot and destroyed a number of “Mus-haffs” and books of the writer which are replete with quotations from the Quran. And by an act of great generosity and nobility of mind, the commanders of the little army allowed the captured enemy author to offer a prayer to Almighty God before being led out, a prisoner, into the dark night headed for the unknown and bid farewell by the screams of his terrorized children and wife.
That is exactly what happened to me on the night of November 2nd, 1987. This did not happen because they hate me personally, but because they hate the Quran to which I dedicated my life and consequently earned the hostility of the Muslims.
My dear friend, the ignorance of the Arabs is indeed great! I wish you always a long life, my dear friend, may you live long!