Some modern day scholars seem to pick certain Islamic
texts written by the past ulemas to justify their aim at
saying that the call to jihad is unnecassary in this
present age. They mean to say that the purifying of the
soul is more important that defending one's country
having to shed blood. One such glorious writer is the
famous Imam Al-Ghazali the author of Ihya' 'Uloomid _Deen.
Imam Al-Ghazali did not mean to say that waging war of
jihad is a triffling matter, he actually said that corrupt
Muslims are the main cause of Muslim lands being invaded by
infidels.
Let us make a comparison with a story of a great sufi
by the name of Fudhayl Bin Iyadhl who was weeping by the
side of the Kaaba showing how much he feared Allah. His
friend by the name of Abdullah Bin Al-Mubaarak who had
just returned from war with infidels recited him a
poem:
yaa 'aabida _l-Haramayn lauw abSor_ta_naa
la_'alim_ta inna_ka fie _l-'ebaadati tal'ab
man kaana yakhdhubu khadda_hu bi_dumuu'_hi
fa_huHuuru_naa bi_dimaae_naa tatakhadhdhab
= O slave of the Haramayn (Mecca and Medina) if you
were to see us, surely you will be aware that you
in your worship merely playing. He who colors his
cheeks with tears, but we let our necks be colored
with blood.
[Excerpt taken from "Rawa'eu _l-Bayaan" by Shaykh
Muhammad Ali As-Sobuuni, Volume 1, page 171]
Having heard this, Fudhayl Bin Iyadhl admitted that
his friend, Abdullah Bin Al-Mubaarak was telling the
truth.
TIGER CHAN
=================
Regarding The
Detractors of Ihya*
by G F Haddad
A generation after al-Ghazzali's death, the Ihya' was burnt in Andalus
upon the recommendation of the qadi Ibn Hamdayn who was named Commander
of the Believers in Qurtuba in 539 then fled to Malaga where he died in
548. Shortly thereafter, the Moroccans rehabilitated the book as stated
by Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din al-Subki - in a long poem that begins
with the words "Abu Hamid! You are truly the one that deserves praise."
Ibn al-Subki narrated with his chain from Abu al-Hasan al-Shadhili that
Ibn Hirzahm, one of the Moroccan shaykhs who had intended the burning of
the book, saw the Prophet -- Allah bless and greet him -- in his dream
commending the book before al-Ghazzali and ordering that Ibn Hirzahm be
lashed for slander. After five lashes he was pardoned and woke up in
pain, bearing the traces of the lashing. After this he took to praising
the book from cover to cover.
Another rallying-cry of the critics of the Ihya' is that it contains no
exhortation towards jihad and that its author remained in seclusion
between the years 488-499, at a time when the Crusaders ravaged the
Antioch and al-Qudus, killing Muslims by the tens of thousands. Shaykh
Yusuf al-Qaradawi replied to these insinuations with the following words:
The great Imam's excuse may be that his most pressing engagement was the
reform of his own self first, and that it is one's personal corruption
which paves the way for external invasions, as indicated by the
beginning of Sura al-Isra'. The Israelites, whenever they became corrupt
and spread corruption in the earth, were subjected to the domination of
their enemies. But whenever they did good and reformed themselves and
others, they again held sway over their enemies. He directed his
greatest concern toward the reform of the individual, who constitutes
the core of the society. The reform of the individual can be effected
only through the reform of his heart and thought. Only through such
reform can his works and behavior be improved, and his entire life. This
is the basis of societal change to which the Qur' an directs us by
saying "Lo! Allah changes not the condition of a folk until they (first)
change that which is in their hearts" (13:11).
Shaykh al-Islam Taqi al-Din al-Subki said about the detractors of the
Ihya': I consider them similar to a group of pious and devoted men who
saw a great knight issue from the ranks of the Muslims and enter the
fray of their enemies, striking and battling until he subdued them and
unnerved them, breaking their ranks and routing them. Then he emer-ged
covered with their blood, went to wash himself, and entered the place of
prayer with the Muslims. But that group thought that he still had some
of their blood on his person, and they criticized him for it.
Among the most famous commentaries of the Ihya':
- The hadith master Murtada al-Zabidi's ten-volume Ithaf al-Sada
al-Muttaqin Sharh Ihya' `Ulum al-Din ("The Lavish Gift of the Godwary
Masters: Commentary on al-Ghazzali's `Giving Life to the Religious
Sciences'") which contains the most comprehensive documentation of the
hadith narrations cited by al-Ghazzali.
- `Abd al-Qadir ibn `Abd Allah al-`Aydarus Ba `Alawi's Ta`rif al-Ahya bi
Fada'il al-Ihya ("The Appraisal of the Living of the Immense Merits of
the Ihya").
- Mulla `Ali al-Qari's Sharh `Ayn al-`Ilm wa Zayn al-Hilm ("The Spring
of Knowledge and the Adornment of Understanding") on the abridged
version. Al-Qari begins it by stating: "I wrote this commentary on the
abridgment of Ihya' `Ulum al-Din by the Proof of Islam and the
Confirmation of Creatures hoping to receive some of the outpouring of
blessings from the words of the most pure knowers of Allah, and to
benefit from the gifts that exude from the pages of the Shaykhs and the
Saints, so that I may be mentioned in their number and raised in their
throng, even if I fell short in their fol-lowing and their service, for
I rely on my love for them and content myself with my longing for them."
GFH
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