On Becoming Learned Muslim Professionals - Emerging Trends, Issues & Concerns. Presented by Ismail Ahmed of Language Explore on 28th December 2007.

1. Emerging Trends, Issues,
Concerns & Remedies
On Becoming Learned
Muslim Professionals

2. 28th December 2007
Main Auditorium, Block Lambda E3,
Kulliyah of Engineering,
International Islamic University Malaysia
Ismail Bin Ahmed
MBA, ADBM, Dip. Shariah, Dip. Arabic Language, Dip. Translation, MMIM
Guru Agama Bertauliah Selangor & Wilayah Persekutuan
Managing Director, Language Explore

3. ‫ﺍﻟﺭﺣﻳﻡ‬ ‫ﺍﻟﺭﺣﻣﻥ‬ ‫ﷲ‬ ‫ﺑﺳﻡ‬
‫ﺍﻟﻛﺭﻳﻡ‬ ‫ﺭﺳﻭﻟﻪ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻰ‬ ‫ﻭﻧﺻﻠﻰ‬ ‫ﻧﺣﻣﺩﻩ‬

4. Acquiring Islamic Knowledge
in the Information Age

5. Popularity of the internet
• Main findings on internet usage
•People access the internet for all
types of information
•Increasing number of people are
using the internet to be learned
Muslims

6. people are using the internet to be
learned Muslims
Source: http://uisk.jinonice.cuni.cz/sisler
Findings by Vít Šisler from Charles University in
Prague – on the Construction of Islamic
Knowledge in Cyberspace

7.  challenge for the ‘traditional’ authority
 Muslim minorities & the non-Islamic legal framework
 exposing to debates
 individualization & privatization
 selective interpretation
 transcending virtual borders
 ‘imam shopping’
 canonization of information – Digital Islamic Library
Project
Construction of Islamic Knowledge in Cyberspace
Findings on Construction of Islamic
Knowledge Via the Cyberspace

8. Islam Online
URL: www.islamonline.net
Operates from: Cairo, Egypt
Registered: Doha, Qatar
Mufti(s): Yusuf al-Qaradawi, European Council for Fatwa
and Research, Fiqh Council of North America, al-Azhar
graduates, etc.
Construction of Islamic Knowledge in Cyberspace

9. Fatwa Online
URL: www.fatwa-online.com
Operates from: Saudi Arabia
Registered: Medina, Saudi Arabia
Mufti(s): Saudi Arabian Permanent Committee for
Research and Fatawa
Construction of Islamic Knowledge in Cyberspace

10. Ask the Imam
URL: www.ask-imam.com
Operates from: Campertown, South Africa
Registered: El Segundo, California, US
Mufti: Ebrahim Desai
Construction of Islamic Knowledge in Cyberspace

11. Al-Azhar
URL: www.alazhar.org
Operates from: Cairo, Egypt
Registered: Cairo, Egypt
Mufti(s): -
Construction of Islamic Knowledge in Cyberspace

14. Ijtihad
URL: www.ijtihad.org
Operates from: Falls Church, US
Registered: Newark, US
Author: Muqtedar Khan
Construction of Islamic Knowledge in Cyberspace

15. An Example of A Web Page Which Propagates
An Erroneous View of Islam

16. In Seeking the Sacred Knowledge, mere
information from the internet is insufficient
because ……

17. We Are Required to Seek Direct Guidance
from the Living Authorities
• Without the explanation of Rasulullah SAW, the meanings
of the Quran would definitely be misunderstood.
• Allah mentions in the Qur'an, meaning: “Ask the people
of knowledge if you do not know.” (Al-Nahli : 43)
• Sayiduna Dawud (AS) is said to have benefited immensely
from Luqman al-Hakim, before Dawud (AS) received
prophethood.
• The sojourn of Sayiduna Musa (AS) to Sayiduna Khidhr
(AS) is well-known and enshrined in the Quran.
• During the era of the tabi‘een, whenever anyone would
claim to have any knowledge, he would be questioned as
to which person he has acquired that bit of knowledge
from.

18. We Are Required to Seek Direct Guidance
from the Living Authorities
• Many scholars of the classical times destroyed their
books themselves or instructed so for fear that they
may end up in the hands of the ignorants who
would not understand their verdicts and would only
take the apparent meanings there from.
• Imam Muhammad ibn Sirin, Hakam ibn Atiyyah and
Waki‘e ibnul Jarrah have all stated that the primary
cause for the misguidance of Banu Israel was the
books that they inherited from their forefathers.
• Imam al-Awza‘ie says, “Knowledge is sublime for as
long as it is obtained from the mouths of the
learned. When it ended up in books, it’s noor
(divine light) disappears.”

19. We Are Required to Seek Direct Guidance
from the Living Authorities
• Imam Malik (RA) was once asked if knowledge could be
acquired from one who did not sit in the company of the ‘ulama
(instead he sufficed with books only). He replied in the negative
and said, “Knowledge should not be acquired except from one
who has memorized, accompanied the scholars, practiced upon
his knowledge and has piety in him.”
• According to Shaykh Muhammad Awwamah, “The ‘ulama never
used to pay attention to one who did not have any ustadz
(teacher), neither would they consider such a person worthy of
even being spoken to due to him being prone to mistakes.”
• Qadi Iyadh and others have narrated that when Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal was requested by the ruler of his time (al-Mu‘tasim)
to discuss a certain matter with ibn Abi Du’ad, he (Imam
Ahmad) turned his face away and said, “How can I discuss with
such a person whom I have never seen at the door of any ‘alim
ever!”

20. Problem of taking sacred knowledge only
from books/ cyberspace
• No guarantee on the authority of the
“teachers”
• No guarantee on the recognised chain of
knowledge transmission
Abu Hurayrah, Ibn ‘Abbas, Zayd ibn Aslam, Ibn
Sirin, al-Hasan al-Basri, al-Dahhak and Ibrahim
al-Nakhai‘e said:
“Verily this knowledge is religion. Thus beware
who you take it from.”

21. Reminder...
Al-Tabari said:
“The main criteria for a person
interpreting the Qur’an are true faith
and commitment to the sunnah.
A person with faulty belief is not fit to
propagate not only religious matters
but also worldly matters.”

22. To qualify as a Mufassir, one must master 15
branches of knowledge according to Imam al-Suyuti
7 concerns the branches of Arabic language:
1. ‘ilm al-lughah (philology of language)
2. ‘ilm al-nahw (syntax - a branch of Arabic
grammar)
3. ‘ilm al-sarf (etymology)
4. Knowledge of ishtiqaq (word derivatives)
5. ‘ilm al-ma‘ani (knowledge of semantics)
6. ‘ilm al-bayan (knowledge of figures of speech)
7. ‘ilm al-badi‘ (knowledge of rhetoric)

23. To qualify as a Mufassir, one must master 15
branches of knowledge according to Imam al-Suyuti
8. ‘ilm al-qira‘ah (recitation of the Quran)
9. ‘ilm al-’aqaa’id (knowledge of the
fundamentals of Faith). The Sifat
[qualities] of Almighty Allah should be
interpreted, so as to negate the possibility
of establishing a physical form to the
being of Allah.
example - Surah Taha verse 5.

24. To qualify as a Mufassir, one must master 15
branches of knowledge according to Imam al-Suyuti
10. usul al-fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence)
11. asbab al-nuzul (the particular circumstance which
became the cause of the Quranic revelation)
12. al-nasikh wa al-mansukh (knowledge of
commandments that have subsequently been abrogated
or changed)
13. ‘ilm al-fiqh (knowledge of the Islamic Jurisprudence)
14. ‘ilm al-hadith – (knowledge of the hadith which
happen to be a commentary on certain verses of the
Quran)
15. ‘ilm al-mawhibah (talent or the gifted understanding,
bestowed by Allah upon His selected and pious slaves)

25. Qualifications of a Mufassir
• A commentary written by a person who is
not thoroughly acquainted with the
branches of knowledge mentioned earlier
will be based on his personal opinion.
• The Sahabah already had the Arabic
language as their mother-tongue, and
they reached the depth of the rest of the
knowledge by means of their enlightening
contacts which they had with the
Messenger of Allah.

26. Reminder...
Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali said:
…. three persons are not blessed with complete
understanding of the Qur'an:
• firstly, one who is not well versed in Arabic;
• secondly, one who persists in committing a
major sin or indulges in acts of religious
innovation, because these actions blacken his
heart, which in turn prevents him from
understanding the Qur'an.
• thirdly, for one who is a rationalist, even in
the matter of faith, feels embarrassed when
he reads an ayah of the Quran which he is
not able to fully rationalize.

27. Right Actions...
• Identify the Qualified teachers
• Check with the relevant
authorities who have set Rules &
Regulations concerning the
Qualified teachers

28. Characteristics of a good teacher to learn
from according to Imam Al-Ghazali
• does not seek the glamour of this world using his
knowledge
• does not contradict his actions from his words
(Al-Baqarah: 44)
• propagates the knowledge Allah has endowed
upon him to achieve happiness in the hereafter,
continuosly increasing the knowledge which draw
him nearer to Allah, is always occupied with his
inner actions (his sincerity etc.) and thus avoiding
superfluous debates which only flaunt his
learning and intellectuality

29. Characteristics of a good teacher to learn
from according to Imam Al-Ghazali
• leads a simple life, avoids ostentation and
practice his knowledge as an act of
obedience to Allah
• avoids high office and the company of the
oppressive rulers.
• is not quick to issue fatwa which could
cause undue disasters due to unresearched
facts and which only aim to “promote” his
megalomania
• is very concerned to watch and guard his
own inner motives and continuosly work to
achieve humility to Allah and fear the wrath
of Allah while being optimistic of Allah’s
mercy

30. Characteristics of a good teacher to learn
from according to Imam Al-Ghazali
• strives hard to achieve firm belief (haqqul-yaqin)
• is fearful of Allah and has the unblemished akhlaq
as a humble and sober individual, the very sight of
him reminds others of Allah
• indulge more on the practicing aspects of the
religion in his discourses and not on the hazy
concepts of theology, rhetoric and semantics which
only confuse and does not benefit others
• have the knowledge which emanates from the
heart and not from the written books
• his only role model is the Prophet SAW whom he is
unflinchingly loyal to

31. CONCLUSION

32. Imam Shafi‘ey says:
Oh my brother,
you will never acquire knowledge,
without these six things:-
intelligence, desire, determination,
expenditure for sojourn, tutorship of a
guide & a long consistent period of
studying under him.

33. ‫ﺃﻋﻠﻡ‬ ‫ﻭﷲ‬
‫ﷲ‬ ‫ﻭﺭﺣﻣﺔ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻳﻛﻡ‬ ‫ﻭﺍﻟﺳﻼﻡ‬
‫ﻭﺑﺭﻛﺎﺗﻪ‬