IFSA - The misunderstanding of Muslims

Clear examples for the failure of Muslims

The mistakes of the Muslims are shirk, blind following without understanding, pride of nation, language and culture and suppression of race, sex, and the poor. There is a strong confusion of forbidden (haram) and permitted (halal) as well as sectism, superstition and a division into "schools" due to the importance Muslims give to superficial issues. That is why the Muslim empires fell. These mistakes need to be recognised, eradicated (jihad-ul-nafs) and avoided in the future, if Allah pleases.

Often brothers and sisters realise the weakness of our Iman but when clear mistakes are explained, they do not want to know. This is arrogance. At the end of the day we need to improve ourselves, everyone knows that. We have to understand the failures and delete them, even if it is uncomfortable (Jihad-ul-Nafs, striving against false desires). We have to set the right priorities according to the Quran and Sunnah; at the moment our priorities are wrong. We need to establish the right type of learning again:

18 Allah (Himself) is witness that there is no God save Him. And the angels and the men of learning (too are witness). Maintaining His creation in justice, there is no God save Him, the Almighty, the Wise

Quran Comparison (English)
Surah Al-i'Imran Surah 3 200 Ayahs

I want to give you a few clear examples of what is going wrong in the Muslim world. The Quran has been revealed to the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) by Allah as a guidance to mankind and actions which are not based upon it are wrong and one could be punished for them. We have to recognise these failures in order to educate ourselves, others and to strive against the wrong practices (jihad). We have to re-Islamise science and technology. Here is a negative example of the Children of Israel:

14. They will not fight you (even) together except in fortified townships or from behind walls. Strong is their fighting (spirit) amongst themselves: thou wouldst think they were united but their hearts are divided: that is because they are a people devoid of wisdom.

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Hashr Surah 59 24 Ayahs

Today we are divided like the Jews were at the time of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him). Unity, knowledge and strength were lost due to enjoining partners to God (shirk), like scholars or prophets. That was the case when the Mongols came to Baghdad and I will explain that in the next few lines after referring to the actual historic event:

1258: The Mongols sack Baghdad. Death of the Abbasid Caliph Mustasim. End of the Abbasid rule. Fall of Baghdad, end of the Abbasid caliphate. The Mongol II-Khans under Halaku establish their rule in Iran and Iraq with the capital at Maragah. Berek Khan the Muslim chief of the Golden Horde protests against the treatment meted out to the Abbasid Caliph and withdraw his Contingent from Baghdad

Islamic History (Chronology)
13th Century (1200-1299) CE

Keeping corpses of scholars in glassboxes in order to remember them is a pagan rite (see: " Spirit of Islam"):

(In Baghdad¼)"¼The palaces, mosques and mausoleums were destroyed by fire or levelled to the earth for their golden domes. The patients in the hospitals and the students and professors in the colleges were put to the sword. In the mausoleums the mortal remains of the sheikhs and pious Imams and in the academies the immortal works of great and learned men were consumed to ashes¼"(¼by the Mongols.)

Also the crusades were a major turnpoint of the development of Muslim history:

1095: The first crusade.
1099: The crusaders capture Jerusalem

Islamic History (Chronology)
11th Century (1000-1099) CE

Later on, the inquisition came to Spain and then imperialism, which resulted in the termination of the Ottoman Caliphate in the 1920s and later the declaration of the State of Israel. So the Muslim world was divided eventually. And now the Muslims are backward as a cultural group. The reason for that can only be a major failure.

Allah hands over the ones who commit big sins such as shirk to Satan:

32. "If any does not hearken to the one who invites (Us) to Allah he cannot frustrate (Allah's Plan) on earth and no protectors can he have besides Allah such men (wander) in manifest error.

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Ahqaf Surah 46 35 Ayahs

Shirk was and is widespread among Muslims. Just look at the tombs where the dead are asked for help, for example in India and Pakistan ("Qabarparast", as meaning someone who circumbulates the graves of his/her own fathers, grandfathers or scholars or asks them for help after their death. This is widespread among the feudalistic landlords who exploit and suppress the poor farmers of the region). I have already referred to the mausoleums in Baghdad at the time of the fall. However, the Mongols became Muslims themselves later on under the rule of Dschingis Khan, who was converted to Islam when he came to Afghanistan. (It is worthwhile mentioning that not all regions can be conquered by alien nations, current examples are Afghanistan, Chechnia and Somalia).

There is no space for mausoleums in Islam. And if you think about it, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, and the Masar of Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan, are mausoleums. (You will find Jinnah's portrait in every government office in Pakistan, just like that of Nehru's and Gandhi's in India, Ataturk's in Turkey and many Sauds' in Arabia.)

Corpses should decay in a grave among others in a graveyard without signs or marks to remind later generations of that very person. There is a funeral prayer for the deceased. Decorating graves like mausoleums or building mosques on graves is wrong and alien to Islam:

Allah's Apostle said, "May Allah's curse be on the Jews for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets."

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith
Hadith 1.428 Narrated by
Abu Huraira

When the last moment of the life of Allah's Apostle came he started putting his 'Khamisa' on his face and when he felt hot and short of breath he took it off his face and said, "May Allah curse the Jews and Christians for they built the places of worship at the graves of their Prophets." The Prophet was warning (Muslims) of what those had done.

Sahih Al-Bukhari Hadith
Hadith 1.427 Narrated by
Aisha and Abdullah bin Abbas

Also look into following books, if you have time:

15. Prohibition Against Covering Graves
Fiqh us-Sunnah Vol.4 Page 69

16. Building Mosques or Placing Lights on Graves
Fiqh us-Sunnah Vol.4 Page 69

There are about 20 or more Hadiths I could quote now additionally to these three that I have given in order to prove that it is wrong to worship human beings and honour them with mosques, tombs or mausoleums. Could not the Masjid-ul-Nabih in Medina be seen as such a mosque as well?

In fact such behaviour was a habit in Ancient Egypt (Pyramids, although those symbolise more than graves) and in recent times that of the Communists (Lenin, Stalin and Mao have been honoured with mausoleums of their own). It is the only sin that Allah does not forgive:

48. Allah forgiveth not that partners should be set up with him; but He forgiveth anything else to whom He pleaseth; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed.

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah An-Nisaa Surah 4 176 Ayahs

Because of such mistakes Allah made the Muslim Empires victims of the Mongol/Tartar invasions, Crusades, Inquisition and Imperialism. And now we are fighting among ourselves. That was the historical downfall of the Muslims as a dominating world culture. This had conquered, without the use of much violence, all continents, from Spain to Indonesia and from Nigeria to Kazakhstan within 100 years after the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) had left us. And there is clear evidence of mosques in Cuba before Columbus arrived there as well as the Native Americans having been Muslims. To show you the past glory of the Muslim empires and the fact that Muslims had reached America before the Christians I want to quote a website of the State University of Mississippi:

Quote Website

Surely a lot of navigational talent and instruments like the telescope and the astronomical instruments of measurement were needed to cross the Atlantic at those times. Without our help Columbus wouldn't have made it. In fact he thought, he was in India when he had reached Cuba, because he saw mosques there that are still standing!

The course on scientific history will include a detailed description of inventions and discoveries made by Muslim scientists and scholars. Pendulum, planetarium, telescope, astrobel, asthmospheric refraction, optical lenses and navigational maps are a few examples.
So knowledge, wisdom and sciences can be the bases of the recognition of the oneness and greatness of Allah and if Allah helps, nothing can hold a people back from conquering the world with justice and righteousness, as it was done by our people in the past. As I have explained, all guidance is from Allah directly and the success of scholars, politicians and regents is no reason for praising them, because all praise is to Allah. I hope I do not have to explain where exactly that is in the Quran.

So we should ask Allah directly for blessings on the forefathers and the prophets but we should not ask the forefathers or prophets for anything. We should ask Allah for guidance, similarly as he has guided those on whom he has bestowed his grace. That is in the very beginning of the Quran, the Fatiha:

1 In the name of Allah Most Gracious Most Merciful.
2 Praise be to Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds.
3 Most Gracious Most Merciful.
4 Master of the Day of Judgement.
5 Thee do we worship and Thine aid we seek.
6 Show us the straight way.
7. The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace Those whose (portion) is not wrath and who go not astray

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Fathiha Surah 1 7 Ayahs

Following the ways of one's forefathers blindly without checking and understanding them is a dangerous habit:

20 ("Ah!") they say "If it had been the will of (Allah) Most Gracious We should not have worshipped such (deities)!" of that they have no knowledge! They Do nothing but lie!
21 What! have We given them a Book before this to which they are holding fast?
22 Nay! they say: "We found Our fathers following a certain religion and We do guide ourselves by their footsteps."
23 Just in the same way whenever We sent a Warner before thee to any people the wealthy ones among them said: "We found Our fathers following a certain religion and We will certainly follow in their footsteps."
24 He said: "What! even if I brought you better guidance than that which ye found your fathers following?" They said: "For us We deny that ye (prophets) are sent (on a mission at all)."
25 So We exacted retribution from them: now see what was the end of those who rejected (Truth)!

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Az-Zukhruf Surah 43 89 Ayahs

104. When it is said to them: "Come to what Allah hath revealed; come to the Apostle": they say: "Enough for us are the ways we found our fathers following." What! even though their fathers were void of knowledge and guidance?

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Maida Surah 5 120 Ayahs

They said: "Hast thou come to us to turn us away from the ways We found our fathers following in order that thou and thy brother may have greatness in the land? But not we shall believe in you!"

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Yunus Surah 10 Ayah78

20 Do ye not see that Allah has subjected to your (use) all things in the heavens and on earth and has made His bounties flow to you in exceeding measure (both) seen and unseen? Yet there are among men those who dispute about Allah without knowledge and without guidance and without a Book to enlighten them!
21. When they are told to follow the (revelation) that Allah has sent down they say: "Nay we shall follow the ways that we found our fathers (following)." What! even if it is Satan beckoning them to the Penalty of the (Blazing) Fire!

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Luqman Surah 31 34 Ayahs

Actually the reasons for the people following their forefathers blindly are laziness, ignorance, arrogance and pride, which are all Satan's tricks. Muslims are therefore also splitting into many groups and sects.

These are called "schools of thought" although they teach not to think but rather obey blindly and we have seen in the beginning that blind faith is no faith and we need certainty. Let me quote the sayings of the scholars (imams) these people are following without reading or understanding the Quran themselves individually:

Abu Haneefah (may Allah have mercy upon him)
---------------------------------------------------------
"When a hadeeth is found to be saheeh, then that is my madhab."
"When I say something contradicting the Book of Allah the Exalted, or what is narrated from the Messenger (saw), then ignore my saying."
"It is not halal for anyone to accept our views if they do not know from where we got them."
"Woe to you, O Yacub (meaning Abu Yoosuf, his great student)! Do not write down everything that you hear from me, for it happens that I hold one opinion today and reject it tomorrow, or hold one opinion tomorrow and reject it the day after."

Imam Maalik (May Allah have mercy upon him)
--------------------------------------------------------
"Truly I am only a mortal; I make mistakes and I am correct. (i.e. I am right on some things and wrong on some things). Therefore look into my opinions; all that agrees with the Book and the Sunnah, accept it; and all that does not agree with the Book and the Sunnah, ignore it"
"Everyone after the Prophet (saw) will have his sayings accepted and rejected - not so the Prophet (saw)."

Shafiee (May Allah have mercy upon him)
------------------------------------------------
"The Muslims are unanimously agreed that if a Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saw) is made clear to someone, it is not permitted for him to leave it for the saying of someone else."
"If you see me saying something and contrary to it is something authentically reported from the Prophet (saw) then know that my intelligence has departed."
"Every statement on the authority of the Prophet (saw) is also my view, even if you do not hear it from me."

Ahmad ibn Hanbal (May Allah have mercy upon him)
-------------------------------------------------------------
"Whoever rejects a statement of the Messenger of Allah (saw) is on the brink of destruction."
"Do not follow my opinion; neither follow the opinion of Malik, nor Shafie, nor (Abdur Rahman) al Awzai nor (Sufyan) ath Thawree, but take from where they took."

Similar mistakes we have seen the Christians do by calling certain people holy or saints:

They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; Yet they were commanded to worship but one Allah: there is no god but He. Praise and glory to him: (far is He) from having the parents they associate (with him).

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah At-Tauba Surah 9 Ayah 31

One of the illnesses of these so-called "schools of thought" is the over importance of punishment rather than forgiveness. For example they would stone people to death with big and heavy stones. This was not at all the practice in former times. The Prophet (peace be upon him) was stoned by people who rejected him. They used small stones (like at Jamrat during the Hadj) and Allah protected him. So does he protect those whom he forgives. Stoning is not mentioned in the Quran anywhere. How can a person repent, if he is killed? When a person has been proven to be an adulterer/ess, he or she is digged into the ground up to he hip and then stoned with small stones by a few selected people. He/she can still flee, if they want and it is rather to outcast someone than to kill him/her. And there is evidence that this was the practice of the early Muslims since they copied the Jews and Christians and later on they received a verse stating whipping for both adulterers and fornicators. So the punishment was changed. It is also difficult to prove someone to be such. You need 4 witnesses and it is the responsibility of Muslims to hide other Muslim's mistakes.

The point I want to make is not that there shouldn't be any punishment! It us rather to establish justice without which Allah will not let us progress and rule, like he says in the Sura-tul-Rahman in the very beginning. Nowadays a woman who is raped even without being dressed provocative is punished more severely than the one who raped her. She will never be married again and she will be divorced by her husband on the basis of some week teachings of so called scholars. The rapist can only be punished, if 4 witnesses are brought. This goes further. We know how difficult it is for divorced women to get married again and also widows in so-called Muslim countries. These are false ideals. Moahmmed's (peace be upon him) first wife was a widow when he married her, the story is well known. Is it only a punishment for the women, if she is raped or is it also a test for the society around her, how they will treat her? But what can you expect from ignorant people as the majority of Muslims are nowadays?

Women are forced to wear Hijab, even if they do not pray. This is justified with some week Hadith in which Omar (may Allah have mercy upon him) during his Khalifah is supposed to have beaten a woman (auzobillh) because she didn't wear a Hijab. The Quran only mentions Chamir (a turban-like hat) which women are supposed to pull over their bossoms. That is in the Sura-tul-Noor and Chamir was widespread as a protection against sand for the hair in the desert. So the meaning was that women should not walk around half naked as they used to do. Clearly miniskirts and bikinis are Haram and women should cover if they are not alone with their husbands, but should they be forced to wear a headscarf? Or should it be forbidden like in France, where catholic nuns are allowed to cover and Muslim women not? Or should it be made difficult, like in Turkey, a so called Muslim country where a woman with headscarf on her picture in the application for a seat at university is systematically rejected? Or in Saudi-Arabia, where women are not allowed to drive a car?. In no case should there be a punishment for not wearing Hijab, ".. let there be no compulsion in religion...".

The maximum quranic punishment is death for death and even that can be forgiven by Allah (Moses, peace be upon him) and by the family of the victim. The next punishment is the cutting off of limbs for heavy theft (like stealing the whole possession of someone and leaving him without). The punishment for adultery and fornication is flogging. But the intention of beating is humiliation in public. That is why the punishment is to be witnessed:

1 A Surah which We have sent down and which We have ordained: in it have We sent down Clear Signs in order that ye may receive admonition. 2953
2 The woman and the man guilty of adultery or fornication flog each of them with a hundred stripes: let not compassion move you in their case in a matter prescribed by Allah if ye believe in Allah and the Last Day: and let a party of the Believers witness their punishment. 2954 2955 2956
3 Let no man guilty of adultery or fornication marry any but a woman similarly guilty or an Unbeliever nor let any but such a man or an Unbeliever marry such a woman: to the Believers such a thing is forbidden. 2957
4 And those who launch a charge against chaste women and produce not four witnesses (to support their allegation) flog them with eighty stripes: and reject their evidence ever after: for such men are wicked transgressors 2958
5. Unless they repent thereafter and mend (their conduct): for Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah An-Nur Surah 24 64 Ayahs

No punishment is to be spoken out on someone who repents and has done the crime for the first time. The harsh punishment is there to protect the victims and the innocent, not to spread terror or do mischief. Every time Allah mentions a punishment he also mentions forgiving in the very next passage. Is the opportunity of punishing not a test for the Muslim society as to whether they will practice mercy, because mercy is a character of Allah?

38 As to the thief male or female cut off his or her hands: a punishment by way of example from Allah for their crime: and Allah is Exalted in Power. 742
39 But if the thief repent after his crime and amend his conduct Allah turneth to him in forgiveness; for Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful.

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Maida Surah 5 120 Ayahs

Only through forgiveness in the right instance can we attain nearness to Allah and bliss. Only then will Allah let us have a Muslim country/state again and let us rule. At the moment Muslims are not ruling a single country on the planet.

Muslim men beat their women and even try to justify it with the Quran, which allows this only in certain cases and as the last solution. And that is only light beating in order not to hurt:

34 Men are the protectors and maintainers of women because Allah has given the one more (strength) than the other and because they support them from their means. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient and guard in (the husband's) absence what Allah would have them guard. As to those women on whose part ye fear disloyalty and ill-conduct admonish them (first) (next) refuse to share their beds (and last) beat them (lightly); but if they return to obedience seek not against them means (of annoyance): for Allah is Most High Great (above you all). 545 546 547 548
35. If ye fear a breach between them twain appoint (two) arbiters one from his family and the other from hers; if they wish for peace Allah will cause their reconciliation: for Allah hath full knowledge and is acquainted with all things.

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah An-Nisaa Surah 4 176 Ayahs

I want to stress that you will find Muslims who will forbid you to study the Quran because they think it is impossible for normal human beings to understand it. That is truly an attitude which is very far away from the Prophet's (peace be upon them) way and one should comment on that by quoting Allah:

16. And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition?

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Qamar Surah 54 55 Ayahs

Arabic is the language in which Allah has chosen the Quran to be revealed because the Prophet (peace be upon him) was born in Arabia. Part of the reason for that is the peak of ignorance of that place in those times. At the same time there was a poetical eloquence and the language of the Quran was a sign even for the skilled poets. Allah's plan is always definite and final and will prevail in the end. He has chosen a strategically central region for spreading Islam evenly throughout the world from the bridge/peninsula between two major continental plateaus. Arabia lies between Africa and Eurasia. He wanted the message to be spread to all nations.

The Arabic language has an importance as the media of the original scripture of the Quran but there is no special magic or holiness of that language apart from that. But we need to preserve it in order to refer to it whenever we read translations.

There are a few weak Hadith that talk about the language of paradise (jannah). One can understand and know Allah, even if one does not speak Arabic. This sort of Arabic pride is alien to true Islam. This nationalism/romanticism is keeping us back from progress and people who read the Quran in Arabic without understanding Arabic should also read the translation, otherwise their reading is not effective enough to improve the state of the Ummah. We cannot expect all the world to learn Arabic before they become Muslims, nevertheless every Muslim should learn as much Arabic as possible, if he/she wants to progress. More Muslims speak English than Arabic. So we have to occupy the English language for Islam and it is happening, inshallah.

195 In the perspicuous Arabic tongue.
196 Without doubt it is (announced) in the mystic Books of former peoples. 3226
197 Is it not a Sign to them that the learned of the Children of Israel knew it (as true)? 3227
198 Had We revealed it to any of the non-Arabs
199. And had he recited it to them they would not have believed in it.

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translationh
Surah Ash-Shu'araa Surah 26 227 Ayahs

12. And before this was the Book of Moses as a guide and a mercy; and this Book confirms (it) in the Arabic tongue; to admonish the unjust and as Glad Tidings to those who do right

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Ahqaf Surah 46 35 Ayahs

Allah reveals his message in any language, he speaks and understands any language that mankind knows and knows not. In fact he has taught them all, just read the beginning of the Sura-tul-Rahman. So if you cut yourself off from understanding the Quran by not learning Arabic, or not reading the translation into your own language or any language you understand, you will maybe enjoy the melody but you will not really learn. That is a very big trick from Satan. Some people know verses by heart but do not understand, thus not implement it properly:

22 But We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition

A. Yusuf Ali Quran Translation
Surah Al-Qamar Surah 54 55 Ayahs

Another similar illness among so-called Muslims is the use of talisman's and amulets consisting of miniature Qurans squeezed into tiny golden boxes or the name of Allah written on a golden ring or a bracelet. I do not want to comment much on this. What good is the Quran, if you cannot read it? That is real idiocy! I do not want to comment much on this, but very often the same people wearing bracelets or rings will tell you that they do not want to take a leaflet from you because it has the Kalma (Shahada), commitment to Allah written on it, because they are afraid of taking it into toilet. What about their ring or bracelet? We are not voodoo-children or witchcraft magicians! Allah forbids all that, in fact we seek refuge in him from all that in the Sua-tul-Falaq, Sura 113. This is a good example of how to annihilate any magic, sorcery or hypnosis done to you with a short Sura from the Quran. We have to understand it, say and read it and practice the Quran.

So we have to understand it first, then implement and practice and then remember/commemorate! (S26: V226) Otherwise we shouldn't wonder about the punishment. It is in the heart of each and every human and jinn anyway. What Allah says seems natural, if one is not perverted by the seductions of Satan. Doing good and even competing in doing good, in kindness, is the way of a Muslim. In a time where you do hardly get any Salam back during the washing (wudu) for the Friday prayer (jummah) leave alone on the streets, the Islamic Forum on Science and Art wants to improve the state of the Muslim community (ummah) and it's inward and outward communication. One way to do that apart from striving (jihad), communicating and inviting (dawah) is the practice of the five pillars:

From the sunnah we have the following statements of the Prophet:

"Islam is built upon [the following] five pillars: testifying that there is no God except Allah and that Muhammad is His Messenger, the establishment of the prayer, the giving of zakah, the fast of Ramadan and the pilgrimage to Makkah."

Fiqh-us-Sunnah
Fiqh 3.108

Introduction for Muslims

The misunderstanding of Muslims

Clear examples for the failure of Muslims