You know, I keep hearing about all these non-muslims converting to islaam, especially after 9/11. It makes me really happy and at the same time, very sad. “Sad? Are you okay brother, you may ask? Why would it make you sad?” I am sad because out of all of those thousands who have converted to Islam, I have not helped with even one. I am sad because I have a beard and I look and try to act like a Muslim around others. I am sad because I know I am supposed to treat my friends and neighbors well and I do. Yet they may have asked me questions on Islam but nothing has led them to conversion.

The part of our class on manners that really caught my attention was this part. It was taught to us that Islam provides us with guidelines for dealing with non-Muslims and this is an important topic for those living in the midst of a non-Muslim society. Shaikh Muhammad taught us that our way of life teaches us that we must have good character and respect for fundamental rights when we deal with non-Muslims. Allah says:

Allâh does not forbid you to deal justly and kindly with those who fought not against you on account of religion and did not drive you out of your homes. Verily, Allâh loves those who deal with equity.

He also taught us that Islam is a universal message and not something that we keep in our shelves all to ourselves. Allah says:

“Indeed, we sent you not except as a mercy to the worlds. (Anbiya 17:107)

The Prophet (S.A.W) also encouraged us to realize the good qualities of those who were good people even before they became Muslim. He said:

“…the best of them in ignorance are the best of them in Islam, when they acquire knowledge.” (al-Bukhaari and Muslim)

Even today we have seen many people convert to Islam and become the leading figures in the teaching and propagation of our faith. Justice and kindness with others are qualities that are good to maintain and prescribed by our faith. Allah says:

“…and let not the enmity and hatred of others make you avoid justice. Be just: that is nearer to piety…” (al-Maa’idah 5:8)

Our default with non-Muslims is that we hate them as people because of their Kufr that they practice and propogate. Even the non-Muslims who attack Islaam, we have to be just with them though we hate them with a passion. Yet Allah says that hatred and enmity must not reach such a level with a human being where it affects justice and kind treatment. So what do you think Allah (S.W.A) thinks of those Muslims who don’t even treat each others with justice?

Allah gives us one of the most common obligations that we find all over the Qur’aan. This is of the obligation of Da’wah or spreading the message of our faith to others. If Christians, with their faith of darkness, are spreading their faith to others, what about us Muslims, who have light upon light? Allah says:

Call unto the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair exhortation, and reason with them in the better way…” (an-Nahl 16:125)

A lot of Muslims today feel that Da’wah is hanging up posters and doing interactvies on the streets in loud and annoying voices. Interestingly, Allah says in a wise way and a good form along with reasoning. Muhammad as-Shareef commented on this verse and said, notice that argumentation does not come first but is a last resort. And even when it comes in propagation, Allah says to do it in a better way. We have lost these guidelines of the Qur’aan. Today, our Da’wah is composed of interfaith and saying we are all going to heaven and making up lies that may please people but will never please Allah. And our spreading of the message contains calling people to Islam and letting them know that they are stupid and dumb for not knowing about it. And our spreading of the message contains Friday sermons which make people turn away from Islam rather than come towards it. The way the Prophet (S.A.W) called the people to the religion was quite different and may Allah (S.W.A) help us follow his way.

Throughout the history of Islam, there have been differences of opinions between the scholars. They have been divided our Ummah into various branches and sects as well as united us when we understood etiquettes and certain guidelines for our disagreements. I will not go into details concerning the etiquettes of disagreement, but I am willing to share what Shaikh AbdulBary Yahya taught me in “The Purification Act,” and what Shaykh Yaser Birjas taught me in “The Code Evolved.” The important lessons present in this article convey what difference of opinions exist and why, etiquettes and guidelines for those differences and lessons that we’ve learned from the differences of our pious predecessors.

Shaykh Yaser Birjas taught us that the 4 Imams of fiqh, Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Ash-Shaff’ee, Imam Malik and Imam Ahmad (r.a) differed on some issues. He taught us that differences were solved at the time of the Prophet (saws) because he (saws) would tell the companions the correct ruling. But when the Prophet (saws) passed away, the Sahabah had many contemporary issues enter their lives as well as non-detailed issues of Fiqh. During the Prophet’s time, learned from him the basic concepts of tawheed and so they did not differ on those aspects of Iman. When he passed away, the Sahabah spread Islam outside of Arabia and so they met different cultures and circumstances. They started to meet different questions and would judge rightfully based on what the Prophet taught them.

The scholars after them faced the similar issues. There was the school of Iraq that based most of their Islamic ritual practice opinions on logical thinking due to the mass of hadith fabrication that occurred in Iraq. The scholars of Madinah, on the other hand, had access to more authentic hadith. Some of the scholars like Imam ash-Shafi’ee (r.a.) were authorities in the arabic language, while others weren’t, so they sometimes differed for that reason. Imaam As- Shafi’ee wrote two books of Fiqh. His second one, Al-‘Umm has different opinions on the same issues as his first book. This was due to the fact that he changed his location to Egypt for his second book and based his rulings on the different circumstances people faced. They also had different opinions because they each had a guideline for what they would accept as daleed. Imam Malik used the customs of the people of Madinah as daleel sometimes because he said Islam was completed in Madinah and the people there would be practicing it in its final form. The majority of scholars disagreed with him on this because they said different cultures and Sahabah immigration to other parts of the world affected Madinah’s authenticity and practice.

There can be differences in physical actions, like where to put your hands in prayer and whether you say Bismillah before wudu or not. But in issues of aqeedah there are no differences that can be accepted. Some etiquettes to remember are that you should always learn your agreements before you disagreements, as Shaykh Abdul-Bary Yahya did all throughout class. He first told us an issue like water and purification and discussed what the scholars have agreed upon and then he went to their disagreements. Also we should always have respect for our scholars whenever we speak about them by saying Rahimahullah after their names. Finally, we should always address the argument and not the person in difference of opinions.

Examples of our predecessors showed us they had love for one another despite their differences of opinion. Imam Malik walked in to the masjid and it was the time after ‘Asr, which he believed it was forbidden to pray any Sunnah or Nafl in. A boy yelled at him: “Pray two rakahs.” Imam Malik did not agree with his opinion but he still got up and prayed. When asked why he prayed though he did not agree with him, he said: “I was afraid I might be included with the people of the verse:

“When it is said unto them: Bow down, they bow not down.” (77:48)

Another example lies in how even though Imam as-Shafi’ee prayed in a different way than Imam Abu Hanifah, when he went to visit his grave to make dua for him, he prayed in his manner near his grave out of respect for him. This was the love and respect they practiced in their differences and may we also do the same, ameen.

The history of ethical thinking is a history that needs to be analyzed by the common people in order to feel the true strength of Islam. This is why Shaykh Muhammad Faqih build the seeds of Islamic character inside us and then discussed this topic. He wanted us to first see what it was that Islam said about character and then showed us how it related to people who did not even follow a religion. For example, the philosophers like Kant and Socrates did not believe in Allah but they had many concepts that came, essentially, from Islam. They were, in a sense, speaking from what was naturally common to their inner nature or Fitrah. So due to this inner nature, they came to the same conclusions in ethics as religion did.

According to many, the good life would be defined as “being happy and satisfied.” This is exactly what Islam says but the confusion comes as to what truly makes one happy? Allah (Subhaana waTa’aala) says:

“The human soul – the way He molded it and inspired it with knowledge of its evil and its good – bears witness to the fact that indeed he, who cleanses it [of all impiety] shall be successful while he, who corrupts it shall face doom.” [As-Shams: 7-10]

So there is a talk here about ethics in relation to the soul, and not to the physical body. And the point made is that you should purify your soul and this is the true success. But happiness and satisfaction in other people’s definitions, such as psychologists, would mean to “do whatever makes your physical and spiritual self happy.” Ustadh Muhammad alShareef said: “Mankind does not know what is good for them.” And Shaykh Yaser Qadhi said: “The problem is that no one philosopher will agree with another.” So when the definition of happy and satisfied comes from human beings, no one may agree on its overall compatibility to all human beings.

Allah’s definition, on the other hand, is universal because everyone knows that it doesn’t matter how much you smile at your boss if you hate his guts, on the inside.

Others would say: “Do unto others as you would be done by.” And this comes from their own thinking that if you want people to treat you well, you should treat them well. But what is treating others well if it is just for the sake of self-interest? As some philosophers would say, what if I don’t want to treat others well, what compels me to do so? And the answer to them is:

“Those who suppress their anger, and forgive other people – assuredly, Allah loves those who do good.” [Surat Al’Imran 3:134]

The truth tells us that the answer to the question is that there is no answer until you believe in Allah, the Supreme Controller. Even Aristotle had to admit that before any movers, there had to be one “Primary Mover”. So he completely denied God and yet even for him, it all had to start with One. There is no answer if you claim you came out of a big bang or that life has nothing to it but death. Doesn’t an atheist realize in the depths of darkness when drowning or when being helpless as a child in the mother’s womb, there is someone taking care of him? Doesn’t the ethical sociologist, when he makes remarks of “it is just natural to be good,” realize that nature is something that had to come from something. And nature, in some people, is just to murder and kill.

So would you say that’s also natural? And yet some others say: “The consequence of all actions is to maximize self-being.” So how then would they explain Muhammad sallahAllahu Aleyhiwasallam and his maximizing benefits when he went against all of the Quraysh? And the benefits of the self Musa Aleyhisallam gained when he went against the Pharaoh to take the Israelites out of bondage? And if we were to even forget this, what maximum self-benefit do the people who go to jail for Islam really gain? Also, the answer needs to be provided for “why is it that all human beings want to be good” aside from some maniacs, who believe beating themselves is a part of religion. Our religion answers that it is the innate nature due to our covenant with Allah that we made before we were created. It is not hard to believe that we can go to war because George Bush supposedly hears God’s voice in his ears, but this is too hard to believe?! The solution for ethics can only come from the one who makes something, the same way God knows the solution for his creation. This is where ethics and religion tie in.