Recently a man of questionable beliefs and even more
questionable motives began an institute in Cape Town, South Africa, which he
called the “Open Mosque,” meaning that it is open to all and sundry, irrespective
of belief, gender etc. The purpose of this article is not to discuss the “Mosque”
in itself – which wouldn’t serve much purpose anyway seeing that South Africa
represents a small proportion of my readership, there are more readers in
Ukraine than South Africa. Rather I’m simply using this incident to highlight
an attitude problem amongst Muslims.
Belief supersedes deeds
This is a basic principle of our faith which many Muslims
fail to understand and about which I had written previously.
It applies both ways:
·
We can appreciate the good
deeds of a disbeliever, but his deeds are null in the Hereafter. If we are
truly his well-wishers we should pave his way to belief. Ultimately correct
belief outweighs a good deed of a disbeliever.
·
The evil of a Muslim must
be abhorred, but as long as he believes, the door of forgiveness remains open.
Ultimately an evil deed of a Muslim is less than incorrect belief.
What irritates me, is not just how the masses fail to
understand this, but worse, even those who are supposed to be learned and pious
fail to distinguish between primary issues (belief) and secondary issues
(deeds). This was again demonstrated in their reaction to the Open “Mosque”
issue.However, I should mention that I was told that a statement of the Muslim Judicial Council, which I have not read, does indeed correctly target the issue of belief before other issues.
Objectionable Beliefs
Mr Tāj Hargey of the Open “Mosque” was raised a Qādiānī, a
group whose denial of the Finality of Prophethood places them outside the fold
of Islām. Although his current project makes no mention of that heresy, the
onus remains on him to clarify his beliefs, under these circumstances.
The great Muḥāddith and Jurist, al-Imām an-Nawawī had stated
that if we hear someone recite the call to Prayer, it would suffice to regard
him as a Muslim. However, if that person is a Jew, we may demand clarification.
The reason being that some Jews had no problem in declaring, “I testify that
there is no god but Allāh. I testify that Muḥammad is the Messenger of Allāh.”
However, they intended that Muḥammad صلى الله عليه وسلم is indeed Allāh’s Messenger, but only for the Arabs, not the Jews.
Typical of a denier of the Finality of Porphethood, Hargey
claims that his Islām is solely from the Qurān, he does not accept Ḥadīth.
These are primary issues of belief and these are the issues which need to be
tackled.
The Gay Temple
Because of primary belief being wrong, a host of secondary
issues (do we even dignify them by calling them juristic issues?) then arise. Mr
Hargey is adamant that there is no distinction between the sexes, hence females
may lead the prayers of males in his institute. All are welcome and there is no
problem in being openly homosexual. Thus Muslim social media denounces his
place as the “Gay Temple.” This is not the man’s primary objective. It is one
of many issues that arise because he rejects the teachings of Allāh’s Messenger
صلى الله عليه وسلم . Even
if that were his focus, it would remain secondary to rejecting Allāh’s Messenger
صلى الله عليه وسلم .
This is but an example, and I am not interested in giving
this man more publicity, which he appears to crave. The issue is the inability of
Muslims to prioritise belief over deeds. Muslims also often act immaturely and
thus lose debates before they even commence. Sensationalising one secondary
issue out of a host of issues and ignoring the primary issue does not help our
cause. Rather by making us seem irrational, it strengthens the opposition.
Another point is why
specifically was the term “Gay Temple” coined? Why were other issues not
focussed on? None of the messages I read could even verify that a single open
homosexual was following the man, although it may be. My opinion is those who
propagate this term suffer from another malady afflicting the Muslims, that of
selective morality. Homosexuality is a minority phenomenon and every Muslim
knows that it is condemned in the Qurān. Yet why should we fall victim to
selective morality, forget the sins which the majority is involved in, and feel
justified in focusing on the minority phenomenon? We feel so comfortable in
condemning sins we are not involved in and refuse to put our own house in
order.
Occurrences like the Open “Mosque” do not only reveal
heretics and lunatics posing as Muslims, but also our immaturity, love of
sensationalism and selective morality.
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