Opinion: My brother, what's my crime? A reply to Abu Aamir's rejoinder.

Suddenly, people are divided on whether I should reply the so called rejoinder or not. Those who know me very well insisted that this onslaught must not go unchecked, simply because the social media through which it was launched is an archive. But those who are worried by the prospect of disunity within the Ummah have suggested that I must let go the misinformation, taking to account that the brother and his teachers are far below my audience.

I however reconciled the two options by helping the brother pack his vomit because he’s my brother. I must affirm from the onset that this write-up is a mere response to my brother on his challenge to my intellect. Therefore, I am not going to talk on the gulf politics, I will only put some records straight, in the right perspective. I am a student of some teachers, some of who may not be alive, but I owe them the duty to protect their effort.

I had thought that this brother of mine, may Allah preserve him on khayr, would cite one hadith, among the numerous Ahaadith cited by him, that compels silence on the this issue, but all the Ahaadith he cited have only admonished us against fighting in the periods of fitan and to be subservient to the leaders. Alhamdulillahi, no one is fighting! So all the cited authentic Ahaadith are not applicable to the issue in question. Ah, my brother, what’s my crime?

He accused me of playing double standard by interacting with scholars in both the Salafi class and the haraki trend, I feel so great being accused thus, and I say to him: All your teachers and mentors are my friends; and they do interact so freely with the brothers in “Ikhwaaniyah”, to use your language. We are all brothers, irrespective of the approach in dawah, just as the Qaradhawi you maligned so much would always interact with Shaykh Uthaymin and Ibn Baaz during their lifetime. Didn’t you see Qaradhawi in a conference sharing the table with Shaykh Al-Shaykh just of recent, before the breakout of this hostility?

I am sure my brother is not aware of how many times these eminent scholars had shared the tent in masjid nimrah at A’rafah, and Qaradhawi was there with them, they didn’t run him down. Even the so called leaders of “Ikwaniyyah” in Nigeria have never claimed to be your teachers’ enemies; and I am sure, your teachers would never avoid sharing a plate of food with any of them, because I have always seen them interact. So, they are all my brothers, including you!

Having said that, I must quickly clarify a vital issue about which you insulted me. It is necessary to do so because it is about the knowledge which I have always struggled to update. If I do not clarify it, I may be doing my father (who spent so much money on me and my siblings to acquire the knowledge) as well as my teachers, a great deservice. You claimed to fault my knowlege of Arabic language – that I used fitan instead of fitnah. Oh my brother, don’t you know that FITAN is the plural of fitnah – it is jamu’ takseer.

So, if I use fitan for an occurrence of multiple turmoil, is the fitnah not pluralised into fitan?. This issue is about the Saudi’s initiated blockade against Qatar, which involves other numerous issues, including the repudiation of some reputable scholars, the ikhwani movement and the prospect of criminalising the oppressed people of Palestine. Brother, is the fitnah not multifaced? Therefore, to me, they are not fitan?.

My brother, the rhythm of my turunci (English) must have certainly deceived you. You need to ask your teachers and mentors who is this Abdur Rauf Saheed, we were probably together in the dawah trench. For a better clarification, the jamu’ takseer (plural) of hikmah ( حكمة) is hikam (حكم); while that of hukmu is ahkaam (احكام). Can you grasp it now? It’s Arabic grammar, I am at home with it. Ordinarily, I should have ignored your ignorance on this aspect, but your blind-folded students may erroneously take you for a champion in qawaa’id.

This reminds me of another goof, and you terribly goofed, when you failed woefully in your attempt to translate Fiqh waaqi’, which I call the basis of Qaradhawi’s research. You ignorantly translated it to mean ‘current affairs’. My brother, may Allah forgive both of us, Fiqh waaqi does not mean current affairs, it simply means ‘Contemporary Fiqh’ (contemporary jurisprudence) that is relevant to a specific time and space (ie, applicable to a specific occasion and location).

Let me offer you a bit of syntax, موقع from which developed the phrase fiqh waaqi, means location, and it derives from the word waqa’a ( وقع). Qaradhawi researches into Fiqh waaqi; that is, solutions to new Islamic issues in Fiqh that is just coming up, for example, in Europe, Africa, Asia etc – issues that are new, which did not develop in the early days of Islam, that is the meaning of fiqh waaqi.

But if it is contemporary Fiqh, which is relevant to the entire Muslim world and not limited to a specific location, you may call it ‘fiqh Al- ma’asir’ فقه المعاصر. Nitori ojoo mi, my good brother, current affairs is best translated into Arabic language as ‘qadaayaa saa’ah’ (قضايا الساعة); but if you prefer calling it contemporary issues, you can then say Al-Ahwaal al-Ma’aasir (الأحوال المعاصر).

The fact that we don’t usually join you on social media whenever you all scamper for linguistic identity as local champions does not imply that we are totally incapable. We know those who are truly good, and those of you who are students of students. Please my brother, kindly translate your write-up into Arabic and let me do mine for our audience to read and compare, else don’t ever question my efforts of decades. May Allah forgive you.

You called me different names, but I don’t care. You said I am ikhwani, a Mu’tazilite and many more. I don’t care because someone who is better than me was called some worse names, such as a sorcerer, a mad man, a poet; more so, Shaykh Yusuf Qardawiy is much more ridiculed in your rejoinder. May Allah forgive you on that. As for the allegation that I ran down the Saudi mufti, I never did; I only affirmed that he issued a spurious verdict, for what justifiable fatwah would ever legitimize disunity within the Ummah?

Meanwhile, why are you so pained with this affirmation, whereas you didn’t bother to vilify Qaradhawi’s image? Is Yusuf Qardawiy not a scholar, a leader of some Muslims somewhere on earth, just as the reputable Saudi’s scholars are? Go through all my write-ups, published or unpublished, I have never, and will never, malign any of the contemporary Muslim scholars, wherever he lives on earth.

It’s however ridiculous when you tried to ridicule my love for Shaykh Muhammad Saalih Al-Uthaymin, glory be Allah. Anyway, he’s not your dad, neither is the mufti of Saudi Arabia your uncle. They are not mine too, but they are our teachers from whom we learn. May Allah be pleased with Al-Uthaymin, may He rectify the mufti’s errors and my own numerous lapses.

Yes, you’re right my brother, I wrote in defense of Qaradhawi, because I benefited greatly from him. But let me alarm you, I also disagree with him on many issues, in the same manner I won’t hesitate to question the mufti of Saudi Arabia when he goofed in his recent verdict. Yes, you’re also right, I did forget the name of the mufti of Saudi Arabia in that write-up, and you were so childish to niggle on it. Is there any crime in forgetting a name? That’s so common, but a brother did call my attention to it and I corrected it. I would have loved you to address the issue in question rather than niggling on trivialities.

I have vowed never to discuss the gulf politics in this particular response because I can’t really imagine myself doing that with you, otherwise I would be breaking down a head full of prejudice on what it failed to comprehend about Qatar, Oman, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. My brother, the Persian Gulf politics is so interesting wallahi, and I wish you could enrol for a class with me, I would teach you why Iran’s Rafsanjani did not feature at all during the Medina incident I mentioned in my writeup, but which you ignorantly refuted. It was all about Khatami’s dialogue among civilization, and I witnessed it!

I am not one of those who would rush to the internet at the breakout of any crisis on international scene. We’ve always predicted it before it happens, not with the knowledge of the unseen, but with what Allah has granted us. The knowledge of Islaam, Arabic language or the global politics is not acquired from the notorious Ustaz google. We listened to erudite teachers and analyse events as they occur.

I am aware that this raging issue involving the kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a delicate one but I took the risk to venture into it. I however have no regret in doing that. I pity our collective innocence, and I am afraid, we need to intensify our prayer for the kingdom before it ruins the future of this Ummah. The citizens of Saudi Arabia are innocently subservient to the scholars, the scholars are sincerely loyal to the monarchy, the monarchy is foolishly subservient to the US, while the US is arrogantly ruled by Shaytaan. May Allah protect the Ummah of Muhammad (SAW)

We do think that the kingdom is a holy land; the birth place of our Prophet, and so it shall remain untouchable! We all bear emotional attachment to Saudi Arabia because we are Muslims, but these Qataris are no infidels! On account of this emotional sentiment, we declare anybody who questions the kingdom a renegade. Of course, in the circle of the irrational mob, emotion is always superior to logic. Thus, this kind of write-up can only appeal to the rational minds, and not those who are guided by sentiments.

Abu Mazeedatil khayr Bn Sa’eed

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