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Do we Need A New Understanding of Islam?
Author : Dr. Mohammad Al-Khalayleh
Date Added : 01-03-2015

Do We Need A New Understanding of Islam

 

 

Islam is Allah`s religion which He has approved to all mankind and through which he has sealed heavenly laws, completed virtuous behavior, and observed man`s nature and honor on this earth. It is so clear that it is understood by people from different backgrounds. Allah Says in the Noble Quran (What means): "Say thou: "This is my way: I do invite unto God,- on evidence clear as the seeing with one’s eyes,- I and whoever follows me. Glory to God! and never will I join gods with God!" [Yousef/108]. In light of the gruesome events befalling our nation at this critical time along with the acts committed in the name of Islam, some calls have emerged and these promote drawing a new map to Islam based on a new understanding of it. Unfortunately, these calls found a fertile soil for their growth due to the previously mentioned acts from which Muslims themselves have suffered before others. Therefore, are we really in need for a new understanding of Islam through drawing a new map to it and rephrasing texts of the Quran and Sunna (Prophetic tradition)?

Such calls contain a great deal of extremism that outweighs that which we are already facing. The repercussions will be so disastrous that the door will be wide open for more extremism and violence through providing different pretexts for extremists and everyone who has a tendency for extremism. These calls will appear as an invitation to waging war against Islam and a golden opportunity to attack it, and may be they are already as such whether their proponents had good intentions or not.

Undoubtedly, we are in a dire need to carry out serious reconsiderations of our understanding to Islam. If we are to define the nature and form of these reconsiderations, then we had better say that today we are in need for a sound understanding of our religion and its texts, and that we should start filtering it from impurities and ideas which are taken for granted by some scholars and  laymen. As a result, these have infected the Islamic mind with illnesses, which influenced our methodology of thinking and understanding. Thus, these acts and repercussions were a definite result for such illnesses.

Sound understanding of Islam must be built on sound bases: First, adherence to the Quran. Second, sound adherence to the Prophet`s Sunna. Third, sound understanding of their texts in light of the overall rules and intentions of Islamic Sharia in alienation from any deviations, distortions, or subjective interpretation of texts to support a certain thought or belief, or justify a certain act. This understanding must also be based on the rules and principles of Ijtihad (independent reasoning), and the suitable Ijtihad of earlier scholars, which are connected with the principles of Islamic Sharia and takes the wants and needs of this era into consideration, and agree with the overall  intentions and rules of Islamic Sharia.  By Filtering lots of opinions, acts of Ijtihad, and books of Jurisprudence in general, I don`t mean deleting them altogether, rather, intend to make their reader realize that they targeted a certain time or circumstance that doesn`t fit our era; or they came within the framework of an act of Ijtihad that had deviated from the methodology of sound understanding to the nature of our religion and its relation to life. This filtering doesn`t harm us or undermine our Islamic jurisprudence or belittle its status, God forbids, because Al-Imam Ahmad (May Allah have mercy on him) said that opinions of scholars are either adopted or dismissed except those of our Prophet (PBUH). Therefore, it isn`t permissible to shed blood, violate peoples` honor and usurp their properties based on some scholars` views which contradict the texts of the Quran and the Sunna as well as the overall intentions of Islamic Sharia. Such views are even regarded more sacred than the Quran and the Sunna through being adopted as a basis for reasoning instead of the Quranic texts, the sound Sunna and the methodology of Ijtihad which is based on sound understanding.

We must realize that since the death of our Prophet (PBUH) until today, our history has witnessed many scholars, Mujtahideen (Those who resort to independent reasoning), and thinkers, who did their best within the frame of their daily life, community and time. Thus, it isn`t acceptable for any group or sect during any stage of our history to impose the view of a particular scholar on others as the true religion which can`t be subjected to Ijtihad or interpretation and which should be imposed with the sword as a mercy to all creatures!! Nowadays, our Islamic world is actually witnessing a living example of this.

Yes, today we are in need for a sound understanding of Islam, but not a new one because sound understanding paves the road for our nation to overcome its illnesses and achieve its renaissance. And Allah Knows Best.

 

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Summarized Fatawaa

Is it permissible for a menstruating woman to recite the Quran from the computer without actually touching the Quran?

It is not permissible for a woman in her menstrual period, or in postpartum to recite the Quran, even by heart, or without actually touching the Quran itself. Recitation itself is what is prohibited on her regardless of how it is done. However, it is permissible for her to surf through the Quran by her eyes, or to recall it in her head without uttering the words. There is no harm for her to look at the Quranic verses on the computer without touching it, or to utter the words as this is called looking not reciting or reading.

What is the age of the Aqiqa or the Udhiyah?

 
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
 
The minimum age for a sacrificial animal (Udhiyah) and the birth sacrifice (Aqiqa) is as follows:
 
Camels: Five years old, entering their sixth year.
 
Cattle and Goats: Two years old, entering their third year.
 
Sheep: One year old, entering their second year; however, it is permissible for a sheep to be six months old provided it is large in size and plump.
 
And Allah the Exalted knows best.

What is the ruling on congregational prayer performed outside the mosque, and is it a condition that it be performed in a mosque in order to attain the full reward?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is not a condition for attaining the reward of congregational prayer that it be performed in a mosque; however, a Muslim should still be keen to perform his prayers in the mosque, so as not to miss out on immense reward. This is due to the virtue of the mosque and of spending time there (i‘tikāf), the typically larger number of worshippers present, and the additional reward gained through walking to and from the mosque. On the authority of Abū Hurayrah (raḍiyallāhu ‘anh), the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever purifies himself in his house, then walks to one of the houses of Allah to fulfill one of the obligations Allah has prescribed, one of his steps will erase a sin, and the other will raise him a degree [in status]." (Related by Muslim)
Whoever misses congregational prayer at the mosque should still strive to pray in congregation at his workplace, or together with the members of his household. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

I bought an apartment, and I am saving money to pay the remaining balance of its price — is zakāh obligatory on this money?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Zakāh is obligatory on all saved/hoarded wealth. Once the total wealth reaches the niṣāb (minimum threshold liable for zakah— equivalent to the value of 85 grams of pure 24-karat gold) and a full ḥawl (lunar year) has elapsed over it, zakāh becomes obligatory at a rate of (2.5%) — even if the wealth is earmarked for basic future needs, and even if the wealth's owner is in debt. Debt does not prevent the obligation of zakāh, nor is it deducted when calculating the zakāh due, based on the general and unrestricted wording of all the Qur'anic verses commanding zakāh, which draw no distinction between someone in debt and anyone else.
It is stated in ‘Umdat as-Sālik, from the books of the Shāfi‘ī school: "If someone possesses exactly the niṣāb, and owes an equivalent amount in debt, zakāh remains obligatory on what is in his possession, and the debt does not prevent this obligation" — meaning, the obligation of zakāh on what is presently in his possession.
The ḥawl (annual cycle) recognized for zakāh, as well as for the other sharī‘ah obligations that Allah, the Exalted, has imposed upon Muslims, is the Hijrī (lunar) year. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

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