True Teachings Of Islam

LAW

Islam and Sect Formation

Verse 004:060 provides one of the most important rule of living in any civilized state in any era.   The rule compactly states, ‘Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you.’   The genuine practicing of this Commandments would have kept Moslems in the world in one sect.   But we do not live in an Utopian world. The Book is the name God gave to the Way to reach Him.    Parts of it were revealed to the Prophets from time to time as man’s needs and mankind evolved.    Ultimately the whole Book was revealed lump-sum, completed and perfected as Islaam (005:004).

No offence to anyone but the facts must be stated.  In 1958, I happened to repeat the above verse (005:004) that made it clear that the Holy Qor-aan was not a totally new. But since I had said in a class where I was studying for the Master’s degree in the Arabic from the Punjab University, it offended the teacher named Masood Ghaznavi.

The Holy Qor-aan includes all the good in the prior Books of Torah, Zaboor and Bible except the man-made fictions of he-said-you-said-they-said inserted therein.   Indeed Islaam is not the only way to reach God as stated in 002:063 and 005:070 and restated differently in 002:113.    That’s why it is difficult if not impossible to establish the Superiority of one Religion over all others.

Religious sects are formed by the dissidents with their ruling clergies.   Most cultures have experienced political drives advance fast when fueled by religion-based boosts.   The vultures in clergy-cloaks are available as the best weapon to muffle angry disagreeing voices.   All attempts to control by suppression quickly turns into fanaticism and frenzy to kill all opposing.   Jesus son of Mary was put on the Cross by Romans who failed to keep him from talking about God.   And the ‘People of Trenches’ (085:005) on the Stakes similarly illustrate how a religion is formed.   In the same way sects have been formed among Moslems notwithstanding the above Command.

The four words of the Holy Qor-aan are as translated above, ‘those in authority among you.’ They were expanded in the light of the words of a Hadeeth, ‘Difference of opinion in my followers.’  The clergy then interpreted the words of this direction with numerous contradictory extrapolations.   A large body of Moslems were indoctrinated with weird meanings of these straightforward words.   The scholars then justified bloodshed and wars to enforce full obedience pursuant to these words.   Moslems ignored that the Best Exemplar s.a.w had followed local rules while he lived in Makkah.   He and his followers had obeyed and lived by the rules of their domicile all along they lived there.   They practiced to Live by Law of Land when they moved to Madinah where they were welcome.   The Holy Qor-aan gave a clear Command and the Holy Prophet s.a.w practiced upon it all his life.

But after the passing away of the Holy Prophet s.a.w, several excuses were created to stage non-compliance with the above content of the Holy Qor-aan, justify departure from the precedents set by the Holy Prophet s.a.w, and side-step the provision that some people did not like.   Following are some of the major issues which the clergy created and exploited to form sects among Moslems.

1.   The doctrine of [see our Commentary titled as] Abrogation. One example: Dr Khan and Dr Al-Hilai wrote regarding 004:015 that the “Provision of this verse has been abrogated by the verse of Surat An-Nur” (024:002).

2.   Ahlay-Qor-aan (followers of the Qor-aan) are rejected by the Ahlay-Hadeeth who follow strictly only the Hadeeth, the reports of the verbal quotations of the Holy Prophet s.a.w.   They argue (a) that he was the Best Exemplar s.a.w of what the Qor-aan had stated and (b) that he had fully covered by his quotes all that was important in it.

3.   Ahlay-Sunnah-wul-Jamaa-ut (Sunny or followers of the ‘Actions’) go by the actions of the Holy Prophet s.a.w and then Ijmaa (Consensus of opinions of Scholars).   They reject all else.   Soon after the death of the Holy Prophet s.a.w some Moslems refused to pay the Zakaat to the Center and the 1st Caliph Abu Bakr waged a war on them until they were defeated and subjugated.   There are many Sunny sects.   Wahabis thrive in Saudi Arabia.

4.   The major collections of the Aha-deeth known as the Bokhari, the Moslem and the Sonun Abu Dawood are recognized, respected and reproduced in the literature of most of the Moslem sects.   Could some of the Aha-deeth be used to advance the agendas of various sects?   Could their interpretations, explanations or extrapolations multiply confusion?   Could these hear-says [neither written nor guaranteed (015:010) to be safeguarded like the Holy Qor-aan] be used, albeit unwittingly, to generate sects?   Perhaps questions like these will never be answered with an iron-clad accuracy.

5.   Shiites developed doctrines (which Sunny sects reject, some violently) as follows.
(a) That the Holy Prophet s.a.w died before last10 Parts of Qor-aan were revealed.
(b) That his son-in-law Ali r.a was entitled to an immediate succession but others starting with Abu Bakr r.a as the 1st Caliph usurped the Caliphate until he finally recovered it as the 4th Caliph.   Literature shows that Shee-yan-e-Ali were a mob that scaled over the house-wall of the 3rd Caliph Othman to stab him to death.   This crowd gained popularity.   With the passage of time Shee-yan-e-Ali name was abbreviated and the adherents became known Shiites.
(c) That Ali was given the ‘full knowledge’ including the Hidden 10 Parts of Qor-aan.
(d) That the actions of Ali merit preference over all above.   Shiites run government in Iran.   Pakistan has the seat of a Shiite sect known as Ismaeeli led by Agha Khan.

6.   The bifurcation of above basic schools had reached seventy-two (72) sub-sects by 1889.   Some sects loudly professed the others worthy of being killed by waging wars on them.   Fourteen centuries of Moslem history unfortunately shows plenty of Sunny-Shia battles.   Modern version as Iran-Iraq war in the last quarter of 20th century A.D shed lot of blood.   Blood-shed flagrantly flouts 005:033 that holds ‘to kill a man is killing whole mankind.’   Our Commentary explains that Jihad Is Striving For The Good, not for rampant murders.

7.   Moslem clergy historically ignites by spewing obnoxious lies against some of their own.   Judicial restraints have contained such malicious fires in secular states like British India.   But many countries in Asia, Africa and Middle East succumbed to their powerful clergy.   Pakistan Constitution Amendment of 1974 declared Ahmadis non-Moslems in Pakistan.   Religious zealots had thus sliced off another chunk of the Moslems into an outcast sect as shown in our Commentary Islam and Sect Recognition.