An acquaintance of mine became religious at a mature age, but he had never had sufficient religious education. He got some ideas from the people around him who were preoccupied with specific issues. He wrote me a letter lamenting all the bad things he saw around him, like people wearing their robes below their ankles, shaving their beards, listening to music, and smoking. His identification with his religious ideals was praiseworthy, and his heart was in the right place. Islam addresses particular as well as universal values. At the same time, he needed to pay more attention to matters of faith, developing the love of Allah in his heart and mind, placing his hopes in Him and fearing Him. This should have been his primary concern. He needed to commune with his Lord. His worries for the Muslims should have been for their weakness of faith, materialism, bad manners, spiritual coldness, and their overall lack of God-consciousness.
The Companions used to learn faith before learning the Qur’an. Ibn `Umar said: “We learned faith. Then afterwards we learned the Qur’an, and it increased our faith. As for you people, you learn the Qur’an and then you learn faith.”
Likewise, Jundub b. `Abd Allah said: “We were with the Prophet (peace be upon him) when we were very young, and we learned faith before we learned the Qur’an. Then we learned the Qur’an and it increased us in faith.” [Sunan Ibn Mājah]
What this means is that people need to start with an essential understanding. For instance, they need to have a deep and heartfelt knowledge of Allah’s names and attributes before delving into controversial matters of theology. It is not necessary for all people to be acquainted with thorny issues and sectarian disputes. Those are the concerns of academics and specialists.
We see that Ibn `Umar criticised the people of his time for learning the Qur’an before learning faith. Imagine what he would think of those who learn a little bit of the Qur’an and then never bother to make any real effort to learn faith?
Get to know Allah, through his words, his signs, and his actions, in a way that inspires love. This love is the most important and effective constituent of our devotion to Allah and the primary motivation of our worship. After this is our hope in Allah and our fear of Him. If we were to compare our worship to a bird, our love for Allah would be its head that leads it forward, and our hope and fear would be the two wings that keep it airborne.
You need to know your Lord, how merciful, generous, and beneficent He is, and you recognise His favours and bountiful gifts upon you, and when you appreciate at the same time His wrath and the punishment He has in store for those who are evil and recalcitrant. When you have this knowledge, you will be balanced in your understanding of Islamic legal issues and other matters. You will give everything its due measure. You will pay attention to both the outward and inward aspects of your religion. You will judge yourself before judging others.
“Faith comes first” is the motto upon which we should build our religious education and our Islamic propagation efforts. Afterwards, we can address Islamic legal issues on that basis and we will avoid the equally troublesome problems of excessiveness and neglect.
Some societies are religious and Islamic values permeate the culture. This does not mean, however, that most of the people are truly religious and sincere, so that we can devote less of our efforts on cultivating faith in the people’s hearts. Genuine faith is what makes people return to their Lord, in humility and devotion and in hope and fear. It is this faith that makes us long for what He promises, fear His punishment, and respect His commands and prohibitions, even if our knowledge of those commands and prohibitions is not very deep. The fact that there is faith in the importance of obeying Allah’s commands is what prepares people to live accordingly.
Allah talks about those: “who are upon clear proof from their Lord and recite it as a witness from Him.” [Sūrah Hūd: 17]
Ibn Taymiyah says that the “clear proof” refers to faith and the “witness” that they recite from is the Qur’an.
Likewise, Allah says: “light upon light” [Sūrah al-Nūr: 35] Ibn Taymiyah explains that the first light is the light of faith and the second is the Qur’an.
The Pious Predecessors used to take great care to teach their children a certain the latter portion of the Qur’an they referred to as themufassal section, beginning with Sūrah Qāf. `Umar said: “Whoever is engaged in teaching the Qur’an should teach the mufassal, because it is the easiest.” Almost all of the chapters in the mufassal section of the Qur’an were revealed in Mecca and they focus on matters of belief and the strengthening of faith.
Many young people who are religious are distracted from the true essence of their faith by their preoccupation with minor issues, just like they are distracted from rectifying themselves by their preoccupation with the faults of others. Instead of monitoring their inner selves, they monitor the outward behaviour of the people around them and then pronounce judgements against them as if they were judges presiding over a criminal court.
When you know Allah and then you hear a hadīth threatening the deprivation of His mercy for those who commit an act that is not actually sinful or that the Companions themselves differed about, you should not hesitate to respond with the knowledge grounded in your faith in Allah’s mercy, compassion, generosity, and immense favour on us. This is decisive and takes precedence over a report that has weakness in its chain of transmission or may have some defect in its narration.
Even in the cases where the hadīth is judged to be authentic, it may be that its context is incompletely conveyed or that we are missing some aspect of its meaning. It may be a hadīth addressing the violation of essential moral principles which points out the particular activity as an example of an outward manifestations of that moral deficiency which was common at the time of the Companions. Another possibility is that the threat applies to those who commit the act with an evil intent, like a desire to defraud someone or to gain access to something else which is licentious or sinful.
Study circles and formal lessons are the occasions where the verses and hadīth relating to legal rulings are analysed in meticulous detail. In some parts of the wolrd, these topics are taught to children and follow them through their primary and secondary education. This is especially true in religious societies like Saudi Arabia, where Islamic Law is a school subject. These legal questions become a focus of discussion, debate, and ultimately dissention among the students as they reach their late high school and college years. This leads a lot of students to declare that they wish to be a muftī or a legal scholar, often due to the prestige and perceived influence such positions have in their society.
But where are the lessons that instil in us and our children the love of Allah?
Where are the study circles that focus on putting our hopes in Him and beseeching Him in humility?
Where are the lessons that focus on the Prophet and learning about his life example which can inspire us to love him and emulate his impeccable character?
Where are we to learn how to conduct ourselves with good manners – the very thing that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said he was sent to perfect?
There are two kinds of mental skills that we need to develop. The first is to understand how to prioritize. We need to put first things first. In this way we will not neglect the essential principles nor any question great or small that ultimately derives from them. The second skill we need is understand how to give everything its just due. Nothing should be exaggerated in importance nor trivialised.
O Allah! Make us among the people You wish to do good for by blessing us to understand our religion. Make our knowledge a proof for us and not against us. Indeed you are the most merciful of all who show mercy.-islamtoday.net
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