Part 7
There can be little doubt that one of the chief architects of modern day Kharajism is Muhammad Qutb of "Islam the Misunderstood Religion" fame. One of his later works "Waqiuna al-Mu'asir' (Our Contemporary Realities) is a clear expression of this tendency. In this work - which reads more like a detective novel - he makes the astonishing claim that the majority of Muslims today may be compared to an Islamic sect called the "Murjiah". The Murjiah - in brief- held the view that it was sufficient for the remission of sins to merely express one's belief in Allah and His Prophet (SAW). In cruder terms: you may do as you please as long as you believe. The Murjiah, it appears, emerged in response to the blighting severities of the Kharajite movement.
In contrast to this alleged state of the majority of contemporary Muslims Muhammad Qutb advances his own views as those that represent the position of Ahli Sunni Islam. One simple - or miserably oversimplified - view of his is that in our present state of global jahiliyya (ignorance) - of which all the Murji'ite Muslims form a part - one becomes a kafir by participating in any of these governmental structures.
According to Salim al-Bahnasawi in his seminal work "Shubahat Hawla l-Fikr al-Islami al-Mu’asir" (Apprehensions Surrounding Contemporary Islamic Thought) matters came to a head during the arrests of many of the Ikhwan al-Muslimin (of which al-Bahnasawi was a a leading member) in Egypt in 1969. After these arrests the decision by Muhammad Qutb and his supporters to declare all members of the Egyptian government and its tributaries kafir resulted in a massive split in the ranks of the Ikhwan al-Muslimin. To make things worse the charge of kufr was extended to include the immediate family members of the Ikhwanis who refused to declare the Egyptian government kafir. This resulted in a furious debate surrounding the ridiculous question of the legitimacy of a marriage between an Ikhwani and a spouse who refused to declare a Muslim Egyptian Member of parliament kafir.
The then Murshid (spiritual guide) of the Ikhwanis, Shaikh Hasan al-Hudaibi, was enraged by what he considered to be the recklessness of their takfir. In a meeting called by himself between the opposing parties within the Ikhwan al-Muslimin he reminded Muhammad Qutb that the views they expressed were identical to those of the Kharajites. In Islamic history it was the Kharajites alone who declared an individual kafir on the basis of his/her deeds. In the "book" of the Kharajites one who drinks wine or who fornicates is a kafir. This is in stark contrast to the majority Muslim view - supported by authentic hadiths - that it is beliefs and not acts that render one outside the fold of Islam. The following hadith cited in Sahih Bukhari aptly demonstrates this position:
The Prophet (SAW) said to Abu Dharr (RA): "There is not a servant of Allah's who does not fail to recite La ilaha illallah (There is no deity other than Allah) and then dies with those words on his tongue that will not be granted Paradise. Abu Dharr then asked: "Even if he fornicates and steals?" The Prophet (SAW) replied: "Even if he fornicates and steals." Abu Dharr (in apparent disbelief) then repeated his question numerous times to the Prophet (SAW), to which the Prophet (SAW) finally replied: "Even if he fornicates and even if he steals despite your personal wishes Abu Dharr!."
The implication of this hadith is obvious: that the perpetrator of a particular misdeed must be judged by the intention or the belief associated with that act. If a fornicator believes that fornication is permissible then it is that belief that renders him/her out of the fold of Islam and not the act per se. This is consistent with a well-known hadith that is considered an Islamic principle in its own right: "Deeds are to be judged by the intentions informing them..."(Bukhari)
Adopting the general Kharajite principle of takfir on the basis of deeds alone, it was an easy matter for Muhammad Qutb to extend this ruling of kufr to those who were participating in an illegitimate - and hence haraam - Egyptian government. Nonetheless, this apparent confusion of deeds and beliefs is nothing other than a symptom of the promethean self-righteousness that defines the Kharajite perspective - a self-righteousness that accords to them the right to correctly read, without enquiry, any individuals intentions. An individual, for example, who performs tawassul at the grave of the Prophet (SAW) or any of the awliya (saints) of Allahu Ta'ala is simply judged to be a grave-worshipper. They appear to have an extraordinary gift for correctly guessing at intentions…and sincerity too, I might add.
Realizing the sheer recklessness of their position, al-Hudaibi gave them the choice of either adhering to the spirit of the Ahli Sunni position or seceding from the Ikhwan al-Muslimin. Muhammad Qutb, however, remained intractable and stuck to his views – views that are clearly enunciated in his above-mentioned work "Waqi'una al-Mu'asir".
With the definitive establishment of this takfir tendency numerous groupings subsequently emerged from the Ikhwan al-Muslimin. Amongst the more belligerent of these groupings may be counted the Qutubiyin (named after Muhammad Qutb but which he denied), al-Jihad, al-Jama'at al-Islamiyya, and the al-Hijra wa al-Takfir. These blatantly Kharajite movements differed in little else except the extent of their condemnation of and violence against others - especially Muslims who differed with them.
The above were amongst the particularly violent tendencies that emerged from fundamentally "Wahhabite" inspired principles.
Others of a different shade and persuasion emerged. Amongst these may be counted the Tabligh Jamaat. Since their early beginnings in the 19th century they have not been as politically activist - with the exception of the Taliban debacle in Afghanistan - as their Middle Eastern counterparts. They seem content in spending their time prowling around Muslim neighbourhoods and inviting Muslims to their "Gush" and their own brand of purified Islam. Generally their activities constitute something more akin to a public nuisance than anything else.
Another significant tendency that formed part of this global Islamic revival was what is often referred to as the "modernist' movement. This "intellectualist" tendency was by far the more sophisticated of the "Wahhabite" inspired groupings. Nevertheless, it clearly shared in the "Wahhabite" attempt to demystify, debunk, and even deny Islamic conceptions of sacred space and time. In their conception of things it is difficult to understand why the Valley of Tuwa (mentioned in the Quran) is considered sacred (muqaddas) or why the Night of Power (Lailat al-Qadr) is better (khairun) than a thousand months, for example. Compared to the other tendencies, this movement most likely experienced the greatest transformations and mutations during the course of its unfoldment. There remain those who are still stuck in the 1940's and '50's scientistic spirit (or pseudo-scientific for that matter). These are intent on approaching the Quran as a sociology or physics textbook wherein Djinns are either some deviant Arab tribe or - depending on the approach of course - a collection of molecules and atoms. Others of this persuasion, on the other hand, have approximated to a far more balanced and holistic conception of the multi-dimensional nature of Islam. Generally - and within the context of simplistic conceptions of ijtihad - there prevailed a climate of anti-Ulamaism. There appeared a failure to recognize that in order to address the "Ulama problem" that the very social conditions - with its standards and values - that produced these "Ulama" also had to be addressed.
Generally too, the Wahhabite cum Kharajite ethos of 19th and 2Oth century Islam appears to have been characterised by a spirit of crude exteriorisation and reductionism. It is this condition, accompanied by the spirit of takfir - or, at the very least, subliminal influences of the like - that has resulted in the monstrosity of internecine hatred and suspicion that characterized so much of our Islamic activities during the past two centuries.
Roger Garaudy, in his "The Greatness and Decadence of Islam" has referred to this state as the "disease of Islamism". As Muslims we need to learn from the lessons of the past. It is my opinion that it is the "Wahhabite" inspired spirit of 20th century Islam that has played a major role in the spreading of this "disease" - whether Abdul Wahhab himself or those who apparently misrepresented his opinions are to blame is somewhat irrelevant. To maintain, on the other hand, that certain Tasawwuf expressions of Islam are without excesses, weaknesses and superstitions - or even, in certain cases, unaffected by the spirit of takfir would be far from the truth. This is an unfortunate fact. This series of articles too, is ultimately not about the political and social conditions prevailing in Saudi Arabia, Egypt or any other Muslim country for that matter. Politics in Muslim countries – as elsewhere – is generally in a messy state. More precisely, it is an attempt to understand the ideological forces and trends that have spawned the conditions rejected and resented by thousands of Muslims around the world - whether as minorities living in non-Muslim countries or majorities living in specifically Muslim countries.
The last twenty years or so have revealed encouraging trends in Muslim attempts to restore the elevating and liberating spirit that is Islam. Attempts that are both designed to redefine Islam along Traditional lines - that we now call "mainstream" - and to make us aware of the greatness of the genuine contributions that Muslims and Islam have made to humanity. Those who dislike Islam do not want the world to see this. They want to project the world of Islam as violent and barbaric. Unfortunately as Muslims -with our narrowness and extremism - we often feed these images. It is not the Abu Sayyafs, Bin Ladens, and Talibans they want to see banned; it is the voices of integrity, fairness, and justice inspired by the Prophetic model that they want banned. In fact the voices of integrity -whether inspired by the Prophetic model or otherwise - have enormous difficulty in making themselves heard. It is for this reason that Roger Garaudy's work on Israel "Founding Myths of the Israel Policy" has been banned in France. His work consists largely of excerpts of Jewish voices of integrity that condemn the barbarity of Zionism against the Palestinians.
It is encouraging nonetheless, to see the impact and influence of works on contemporary expressions of Islam such as the aforementioned Garaudy, and numerous others. Their effectiveness lies in the fact that they have a profound understanding of both the multi-dimensional nature of Islam and an equally profound and educated understanding of secularism and Western thought in particular. Above all, their approach is characterised by a confidence, a dignity, and an expansiveness that is the hallmark of Islam. In other words, an approach that refuses to bow to the narrowness and exclusivity that marks the spirit of takfir.