Voices of Islam (234 page)

It is unrealistic, however, and even undesirable to hope for meaningful restitution of the classical tradition and sophisticated application of concepts like
bid‘a
and
ijtihad
without the revision and renewal necessary to make the tradition compatible with present-day needs and bring it in harmony with the criteria emphasized above by Qarafi and Ibn Qayyim. Yet without enlight- ened educational institutions that attract talented students and in the absence of curriculums that impart a mature understanding of modern thought and realities, it is unlikely that a sophisticated understanding of the tradition can ever be fostered, and our multitudes of old books and dusty manuscripts will remain little more than the extraordinary historical fossils of a defunct civilization. Moreover, until classical Islamic learning is made meaningful to contemporary Muslims, it is hard to fault those who question its relevance.

As harmful and heterodox as the ‘‘new authorities’’ sometimes are, they must be judged in the context of our times and not just condemned by citing bits and pieces of scripture or referencing contrary interpretations in the classical tradition. In Islam, like other faith traditions, religious ideas— whether of innovation and heresy, creativity or the lack of it—are never set in stone, nor do they emerge from a vacuum. What people say about the religions they follow reflects the lives they are living, and it is na¨ıve to expect an optimal understanding of any religion in the absence of a tolerable socio- political context. Harsh conditions produce callous perceptions, regardless

16
Voices of Change

of the people or religion in question. When we attempt to talk about Islam in the modern world, the generally dismal sociopolitical context of its followers is unavoidable. As Gilles Kepel stresses, to ignore that context and focus instead on essentialist pronouncements about Islam or Muslim civilization is ‘‘pure Walt Disney.’’
74

Classical Islamic thought was the product of a particular sociopolitical milieu. Contrary to the Activist cliche´ that there is no separation of religion and state in Islam, Muslim religious establishments for more than a millen- nium were largely free of governmental control and jealously guarded their autonomy. Unlike the Muslim world today, the classical Islamic world was culturally advanced, economically and militarily formidable, and relatively stable politically. Above all, as Rahman stresses, it produced generations of thinkers who were self-assured and psychologically invincible in confronting new challenges.
75
It was conditions such as these that produced urbane scholars who could define and interact with the concepts of
bid‘a
and
ijtihad
in an authentic and productive way.

It should be suffi clear from what has preceded that
bid‘a,
as a control mechanism within the Prophetic law, should constitute a standard of excellence and not be invoked merely to condemn unfamiliar practices, preclude critical thought, or stifle personal expression and community devel- opment. Likewise, a sound conception of the process of
ijtihad
should serve as a positive source of inspiration for the entire Muslim community, scholars and non-scholars alike, in the search for meaningful answers to contemporary challenges.

As an American Muslim, I feel it is imperative that our community free itself from erroneous understandings of
bid‘a
and develop full competence to perform
ijtihad
independently. Both within the United States and abroad, the growing American Muslim community, which presently constitutes roughly two percent of the nation’s population, is one of the most promising and least known Muslim minorities in the world. Like our counterparts in Canada, considerable sectors of the American Muslim community, in con- trast to the majority of our coreligionists in the European Union, are highly educated and constitute, per capita, one of the most talented and prosperous Muslim communities in the world. Moreover, American Muslims, at least for the time being, enjoy a relatively favorable sociopolitical context with extensive freedoms and political enfranchisement. Few Muslims in the world today are in a more advantageous position to comprehend the essence of modernity and formulate new directions for
ijtihad
in keeping with the best traditions of Islamic thought and the imperatives of a pluralistic world.

Bulliet suggests that resolution of the present crisis of religious authority in the Muslim world may ultimately fall on the shoulders of the professoriate of Muslim universities, many members of which are already performing
ijtihad
with considerable sophistication. He emphasizes, however, that the profes- soriate of the Muslim world will only be able to fulfill this task if it extricates

Creativity, Innovation, and Heresy in Islam
17

itself from governmental control and secures broad freedoms similar to those of tenured professors in the West.
76

It is worth noting, in conclusion, that Western universities are currently producing highly qualified graduates in Islamic Studies, many of whom are quickly becoming influential intellectuals in the Muslim community and are committed to producing rigorous scholarship as well as fostering Islamic literacy. Perhaps, this new generation of intellectuals will carry the banner of
ijtihad
into the twenty-fi century and lay the foundations for a genuinely modern Islamic culture that has intellectual and spiritual depth, is actively committed to humanity and the world, and represents our best hope for quelling the harmful innovations and violent heresies of our time.

NOTES

1. See the American Learning Institute for Muslims (ALIM) homepage. Available at http://www.alimprogram.com/overview/introduc
   tion.shtml (accessed May 2006).
   

2. It is often mistakenly said that, in Islam, God has 99 beautiful names. Accord- ing to Islamic theology the beautiful names of God are infinite. Those authentically attested in Islamic scripture—the Qur’an and Hadith—are well over 99, the word
   al-Badi‘,
   referenced in the quotation being one of those. The well-known Tradition regarding the 99 names is correctly interpreted, as classical scholars have frequently noted, to mean that God had 99 ‘‘special names,’’ listed in some of the pertinent Tra- ditions, such that anyone who memorizes them and preserves their sanctity by behav- ing in a manner mindful of them in daily life will be rewarded with the Garden.
   

3. See Ahmad ibn Faris,
   Mu‘jam Maqayis al-Lugha,
   6 vols. (n.p.: Dar al-Fikr, 1979), 1:209; al-Raghib al-Isfahani, ed., Safwan ‘Adnan Dawudi,
   Mufradat Alfaz al-Qur’an
   (Damascus: Dar al-Qalam, 1992), 111; Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi,
   Al-I‘tisam
   , 2 vols. (al-Khubar, Saudi Arabia: Dar Ibn ‘Affan, 1997), 1:49.
   

4. Al-Isfahani,
   Mufradat,
   111; al-Shatibi,
   Al-I‘tisam,
   1:49.
   

5. Al-Isfahani,
   Mufradat,
   111.
   

6. G. H. A. Juynboll, ‘‘Muslims’ Introduction to His
   Sahih,
   Translated and annotated with an excursus on the chronology of
   fitna
   and
   bid‘a
   ’’ in
   Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam
   , no. 5 (1984), 308; Mohammad Hashim Kamali,
   Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence
   (Cambridge, U.K.: Islamic Texts Society, 1997), 44.
   

7. Compare Abu ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-Barr, ed. by ‘Abd al-Mu‘ti Qal‘aji,
   Al- Istidhkar al-Jami‘ li-Madhahib Fuqaha’ al-Amsar wa ‘Ulama’ al-Aqtar fi-ma Tadammanahu al-Muwatta’ min Ma‘ani al-Ra’y wa al-Athar,
   30 vols. (Cairo: Dar al-Wa‘y, 1993), 5:152 and Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-‘Amili,
   Wasa’il al-Shi‘a ila Tahsil Masa’il al-Shari‘a
   , 20 vols. (Beirut: Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 1971), 18:97.
   

8. The Manichaeans arose in the third century of the Christian era, probably out of Judeo-Christian circles in Mesopotamia. Their dualist theology was based on a radical dichotomy between the spirit and the world. The Manichaeans sought
   

   18
   Voices of Change
   

   salvation and enlightenment through self-mortification and shunning the pleasures of the world.
   

9. A less convincing etymology derives the word from the Middle Persian
   Zand Avesta,
   in which the term
   zand
   refers to the translation and commentary of the Zoro- astrian Avesta. Accordingly, a
   zindiq
   meant one who ‘‘distorted the exegesis of the Avesta.’’ See ‘‘
   zandik,
   ’’ in
   The Encyclopaedia of Islam,
   CD-ROM Edition, vols. 1–11 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), cited below as
   EI
   , 11:510; Sherman A. Jackson,
   On the Bounda- ries of Theological Tolerance in Islam: Abu Hamid al-Ghazali’s
   Faysal al-Tafriqa bayna al-Islam wa al-Zandaqa (Oxford, U.K.: Oxford University Press, 2002), 56; Maria Isabel Fierro Bello, ‘‘Accusations of ‘
   Zandaqa
   ’ in al-Andalus,’’
   Quaderni di studi arabi
   , no. 5–6 (1988): 251; Majid Fakhry,
   A History of Islamic Philosophy
   (New York: Columbia University Press, 1983), 35–36.
   

10. See, for example, ‘‘
    Bid‘a
    ,’’ in
    The Enclyclopedia of Islam
    , 1:1197.
    

11. See Bello, ‘‘Accusations of
    ‘Zandaqa’,
    ’’ 251, 257; ‘‘
    Zindik
    ,’’ in
    EI,
    11:510.
    

12. See Bello, ‘‘Accusations of
    ‘Zandaqa’,
    ’’ 251, 257.
    

13. Abu al-Husayn Muslim ibn al-Hajjaaj, ed. Muhammad Fu’ad ‘Abd al-Baqi,
    

    Sahih Muslim
    , 4 vols. (Cairo: Matba’at Dar Ihya’ al-Kutub al-‘Arabiyya, n.d.), 1:54.
    

14. Muslim,
    Sahih,
    1:55. 15. Ibid., 1:58.
    

16. Ibid., 1:60–61.

1. See Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn ‘Ali al-Razi al-Jassas, ed. ‘Abd al-Salam Muhammad ‘Ali Shahin,
   Ahkam al-Qur’an,
   3 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1994), 3:556–557; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-‘Arabi, ed. Muhammad ‘Abd al-Qadir ‘Ata,
   Ahkam al-Qur’an,
   4 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1996), 4:183; Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn ‘Ajiba, ed. Ahmad ‘Abd-Allah al-Qurashi Raslan,
   Al-Bahr al-Madid fi Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Majid
   , 6 vols. (Cairo: Hasan ‘Abbas Zaki, 2001), 6:76.
   

2. Al-Shatibi,
   Al-I‘tisam,
   1:371–372.
   

3. Sunnis make up the majority of the Muslim community, and, although their schools disagree on many points, all Sunnis share a belief in the probity of the Proph- et’s Companions, who constitute their chief means of access to foundational Islamic religious knowledge. The Shi‘a make up a substantial minority of the Muslim commu- nity. Their schools also disagree on many points but share the belief that the Prophet’s cousin, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, was his rightful heir and that the community’s spiritual leadership fell by right to various members of the House of the Prophet in subsequent generations, who constitute their principal means of foundational knowledge. The Ibadis make up a small but significant minority in Oman and parts of North Africa and are the only surviving remnant of the ancient Kharijites, although Ibadi doctrines and practices are notably more moderate than those of the early Kharijites.
   

4. Muslim,
   Sahih,
   2:592; compare al-‘Amili,
   Wasa’il al-Shi‘a,
   11:511–512, 18:40.
   

5. Ahmad ibn ‘Umar al-Qurtubi, ed. Muhyi al-Din Dib Matu,
   Al-Mufhim li-ma Ashkala min Talkhis Kitab Muslim
   , 8 vols. (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir, 1999), 3:508; Muhammad ibn Khalfa al-Ubbi,
   Ikmal Ikmal al-Mu‘lim
   , 4 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, n.d.), 3:23; Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Sanusi,
   Mukammil ‘Ikmal al-Ikmal
   , 4 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, n.d.), 3:23.
   

   Creativity, Innovation, and Heresy in Islam
   19
   

6. Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Bukhari, ed. Mustafa al-Bugha, 6 vols.
   Sahih al-Bukhari
   (Medina: Dar al-Turath, 1987), 2:662, 6:2662; Muslim,
   Sahih,
   2: 994–998; al-‘Amili,
   Wasa’il al-Shi‘a,
   19:18.
   

7. Al-‘Amili,
   Wasa’il al-Shi‘a,
   19:15, 18.
   

8. Muslim,
   Sahih,
   2:994. Although not specifically cited, Nawawi’s commentary is given in the margin throughout this edition.
   

9. See Ahmad ibn Hajar,
   Fath al-Bari’ bi-Sharh al-Imam Abi ‘Abd-Allah Muhammad ibn Isma‘il al-Bukharii,
   13 vols. (n. p.: Dar al-Fikr, n.d.), 4:86.
   

10. For the Ibadis, see Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Kindi, ed. ‘Abd al-Hafi Shalabi,
    Bayan al-Shar‘ al-Jami‘ li-al-Asl wa al-Far‘
    , 62 vols. in 48 (‘Uman: Wizarat al-Turath al-Qawmi, 1982–1993), 15:196–197, 202.
    

11. Malik ibn Anas,
    Al-Muwatta’
    , ed. Bashshar ‘Awwad Ma‘ruf, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1997), 1:169–170; al-Bukhari,
    Sahih,
    2:707–708; ‘Abd al-Razzaq ibn Hammam, ed. Habib al-Rahman al-A‘zami,
    Al-Musannaf,
    12 vols. (Beirut: Al-Maktab al-Islami, 1983) 4:258, 264–265; ‘Abd-Allah ibn Abi Shayba, ed. Muhammad ‘Abd al-Salam Shahin,
    Al-Kitab al-Musannaf fi al-Ahadith wa al-Athar,
    9 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyya, 1995), 2:164; Ibn Hajar,
    Fath al-Bari,
    4:250–252.
    

12. See ‘Abd al-Razzaq,
    Al-Musannaf,
    4:258; Yusuf ibn ‘Abd al-Barr,
    Al-Tamhid li-ma fi al-Muwatta’ min al-Ma‘ani wa al-Asanid,
    18 vols. (Cairo: Al-Faruq al-Haditha li-al-Tiba‘a, 1999), 4:93–95, 100.
    

13. Zayd ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn,
    Musnad al-Imam Zayd
    (Beirut: Maktabat al-Hayah, 1966), 158–159.
    

14. Al-‘Amili,
    Wasa’il al-Shi‘a,
    5:191–193.
    

15. Ibn al-‘Arabi,
    Ahkam al-Qur’an,
    4:183; al-Shatibi,
    Al-I‘tisam,
    1:374.
    

16. Ibn ‘Abd al-Barr,
    Al-Tamhid,
    4:93 and
    Al-Istidhkar,
    5:136, 147.
    

17. Abu Bakr ibn al-‘Arabi, ed. Muhammad ‘Abd-Allah Walad Karim,
    Kitab al-Qabas fi Sharh Muwatta’ Malik ibn Anas,
    3 vols. (Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1992), 1:283; compare Ibn Hajar,
    Fath al-Bari,
    4:252.
    

18. Al-Bukhari,
    Sahih,
    1:161.