THE QURAN AND THE SECTS

30:31,32 “ Turn to Him alone, all of you. Be mindful of Him; keep up the prayer; do not be among the Moshrekeen, those who divide their religion into sects, with each party rejoicing in their own.”

God is the unique source of religion. The Quran is His revelation. But, according to the sectarians Islam is made up of God + the hadiths + the companions of the Prophet + the decrees of sectarian imams + the fatwas and the opinions of other imams that succeeded them. Between the two divergent points of view there can be no middle way. For a Muslim that sticks to the Quran, a third way, which would involve a marriage between the religion preached in the Quran and the religion preached by the sects cannot even be thought of. Such an attempt might, in a sense, pave the way for opportunists who are ready to issue decrees next to those of God. If one ever ventures to think that a hadith, an established tradition or a convention may be considered as part of the religion, the principle of the Quran’s self-sufficient attribute will of necessity be corrupted.

Sects ventured to make additions to the Quran under the Omayyads and Abbasids, a few hundred years after the death of the Prophet. To come forth with the idea of formulating a new sect would be inappropriate, to say the least. The hadiths invented in the past reflected, of necessity, Arab mentality and customs. To try to hammer out a new sect would be the declaration of the former act. To have recourse to a compromise and try to find a middle path would be against the revealed religion. Is it your intention to fabricate new hadiths or sects to the detriment of the old ones? Setting up new sects is but the repetition of the same error. The only thing to do is to stick to the Quran and take it as the only pillar of religion. What one has in need of is not to invent new sects but try to understand religion within the framework of the Quran’s context.

It is often witnessed that in every new era people come forth with new ideas declaring that they have found the middle path, which is the path. We are inclined to believe that in our populist movements of today such figures may well make their triumphal entrance into the scene. The middle-path guides that will turn up with populist concerns may speak in the following manner: “Well, to avoid shaking hands with women is certainly absurd; but can one forego the use of the headscarf? There is no harm in stoning Satan during the pilgrimage.” By having recourse to such and such expressions they may try to find a third way. What should be done is not to find a third way between the sects and the Quran. People’s attempt to add their ideas to God’s commandments means ignoring God’s monopoly over religion.

The important thing is to decide on the method to be adopted. In the course of centuries man has substituted his whims, idiosyncrasies, aspirations for God’s revealed religion, mixing them with traditions, populist tendencies and personal opinions. Making additions to what is revealed is as precarious as leaving certain prescriptions out from the context. Another significant step, which calls for insurmountable difficulties to be solved, is to try to adapt God’s ways to the present day lifestyle. People who fail to understand that God’s intelligence surpasses all human conceptions, spend useless efforts to this end. One may say that 95% of the Quran tallies with our contemporary way of life. For the remaining 5%, man should beware of inventing solutions. There is no other way but to abide by the dictates of the Quran. The origin of the errors committed by sectarians lies in ascribing religious attributes to the opinions, traditions and customs under the Omayyads and Abbasids, displaying thereby their populist tendencies. Those who are preaching today a middle path risk facing the same errors. In this reconciliation, who will mediate? Men are made of flesh and bones, whereas Islam is the exclusivity of God, the unique source of everything. To act contrary to this axiom would mean impiety.

Religious issues must be tackled methodically by scholars. If the exclusive authority remains with God’s Book solely, the populist or traditionalist approaches will not blossom. The religion revealed by God without the need for any supplementary considerations will remain exclusive to Him.

6:114 “ Say: “Shall I seek a judge other than God? When He it is Who sent unto you the Book, explained in detail.”

The principle that even the hadiths cannot not be considered as a source of Islam should provide enough evidence that sectarian decrees must not be taken for God’s words. To be able to tell apart what has been truly revealed and what is a concoction has become impossible. Even though a given hadith may in fact be an authentic one as long as it does not conflict with the Quran or it stands to reason, it cannot have the validity of a religious precept.

6:115 “ The Word of your Lord is complete in truth and in justice. None can change His words. He is the Hearer, the Knower.  6:116 “ If you obey the majority of people on the earth, they will divert you from the path of God. They follow only conjecture, they only guess. “

The seekers of the middle path who insist on interpolating at least a select number of hadiths in the great work must not deceive themselves. The addition of even one single hadith would gradually pave the way for the addition of the whole body of hadiths ever collected! There is a category of people who are clean-shaven although, in principle, they must wear a beard, who listen to music although they are supposed to turn a deaf ear to unlawful sounds; they even go so far as to establish radio stations and broadcast music; who engage women speakers and see that women deputies raise their voices in the Grand Assembly and sit side by side with men although there should in principle be segregation. They even argue in defense of sectarianism and fight against the Islam as presented in the Quran. There is a wide gap between what they advocate and their practices. They try to explain away their practices as a tactic for disseminating the message. Had the circumstances been favorable, they say, we could justify the sectarian views related to the growing of a beard, the prohibition of music and the segregation of women. The public at large, ignorant of the deductions based on hadiths and unable to assess the value of the explanations provided by the pseudo-sectarians are bound to reach false conclusions about Islam.

The true intellectuals and the enlightened must, as soon as possible, differentiate between the Quran as such and the interpretations of sectarians. Attacks directed at these groups by unbelievers will contribute to their consolidation. The public watching these attacks risks identifying the sects with God’s revealed religion. This is a great danger. The only remedy is the differentiation between the real religion revealed and the sectarian inventions. Once the Sunni sects are thoroughly understood, Islam’s real value will come to the fore.

It is time now to face reality in the face of all that has gone by and leave aside all additions. The Quran is here waiting to be re-opened and the contents put into execution. The traditionalists, who will witness the implementation of such a scheme, will, of necessity, be fluttering about like bats seeking refuge in the dark at dawn.

30:30 “ So, stand firm and true in your devotion tothe religion. This is the natural disposition God instilled in mankind– there is no altering God’s creation– and this is the right religion, though most people do not know.

30:31 “Turn to Him alone, all of you. Be mindful of Him; keep up the prayer; do not be among Moshrekeen, 30:32 “ those who divide their religion into sects, with each party rejoicing in their own.