Memories (Episode 26)

 
It seems appropriate to reproduce the letter our respected father had presented to the Saudi scholars, because it made a positive impact on the conditions in Saudi Arabia. The original letter was in Arabic and is being published in the collection of our respected father’s Arabic letters. However, the Urdu translation done by my elder brother, Hazrat Maulana Mufti Muhammad Rafi Sahab (may his shade be extended), is as below:
With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful
Honourable Grand Mufti Muhammad Bin Ibrahim and noble scholars (may Allah Ta’ala protect you all),
Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa barakaatuhu,
First and foremost I thank that Being, besides Whom there is no one worthy of worship, for the innumerable blessings he has bestowed upon me; who gave me the ability to present myself in His court, and furthermore allowed me to participate in gatherings with scholars like yourself, who spent their glorious past in serving the Deen and protecting Islam, and who stand upon the noble pedestal of amr bil ma’roof (commanding the good) and nahi ‘anil munkar (prohibiting the evil) in the most holy city of Allah.
My appreciation and acknowledgment of your present and past religious services obliges me to openly say everything about this sacred land that I wish to say.
Anyone cognizant of the state of Muslims today will not be oblivious to the epidemic of heresy, ridicule of Deen and general repulsion from Islam, which has seeped into the youth as well as adolescents of the Muslim world. To such an extent, that these sicknesses of heresy and repulsion from Deen have even broken out in Egypt’s al-Azhar University and, spreading therefrom, are now reaching the Haram of Makkah as well.
No discerning mind will have any doubt that this epidemic is not accidental, rather it is playing out under a carefully orchestrated scheme of the enemies of Islam, and these schemes are devised and operated by organizations established in Muslim as well as non-Muslim countries.
Now that this all-encompassing disease has infected our country, our youth and our students as well, we have come here to ask our friends and the noble scholars who reside in the sacred Hijaz, as to what they prescribe to free the Ummah from the claws of this new form of idolatry, which has cast its shadows over the hearts and minds of the world today.
There can also be no doubt to any Muslim that there is no other way to unite the dispersed fragments of the Ummah and to guide them back to the straight path, than for the Muslims to return to the Wisdom-filled Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Imam Malik has said: “The last part of this Ummah will only be rectified through that which rectified its first part.”
But today, our eyes are seeing the youth rapidly turning away from the Quran and Sunnah. It is another matter that this aversion from Islam is more in some places and less in others. In our opinion, the only cause of this is that the Muslims’ unity has become fragmented, and a united platform of the scholars of Islam has also not remained. This is despite the fact that such a war is underway between Kufr (disbelief) and Islam which is not limited to a specific community or country, rather it is an all-encompassing and global war.
This situation demanded from the authoritative scholars of the Ummah to forget their differences, and to launch a united struggle to face their mutual enemy, and to collectively take up this effort for the protection and propagation of the fundamental principles of Islam and the mutually agreed-upon doctrines.
The lives of the companions of the Noble Messenger ﷺ, who spread Islam from the east to the west, are an excellent model for us. They always remained united and were one voice for helping and spreading Islam. And as for their differences of opinions on Ijtahadi issues, they never let these differences ever affect the efforts to spread, uphold and protect Islam. And this is the very obligation which, in our opinion, applies to the custodians of Deen and its knowledge today as well.
When a Christian king, finding the mutual disagreement between Hazrat Ali and Hazrat Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with them both) an opportune moment, offered his help to Hazrat Muawiya, the reply Hazrat Muawiya gave will always echo in our ears. He wrote to the Christian king:
“I received your letter in which you offered to meet me, so that you can provide me with support against my friend Ali. But listen with open ears! I am my friend Ali’s comrade and your worst enemy, and remember! If ever Ali’s armies attack you, I will be the first of its soldiers to face you, and I will rip your head off from your body like carrots are plucked from the earth.”
History has preserved innumerable such incidents for us. Even during the darkest epoch, when Islam was facing incursions from all directions, such examples did not become extinct. Shaikh Ibn Taymiyyah’s (may Allah’s mercy be upon him) example is also in front of us; when he saw the Tartars raising the flag of revolt against Allah and His Messenger, and were descending upon Muslims like a heavenly punishment, and were bent upon destroying the populations and progeny of Muslims, he brought the scholars of his time together with him to face the enemy, and did not glance even once at the differences, which had been ongoing from before, between him and his comrade scholars.
History repeats itself. The war being fought against the Muslims today is more threatening than the Crusades as well as those fought against the Tartars. This is because today, Islam’s enemies have different resources of destruction and their strategies of warfare have also changed. As a result, today all kinds of weapons are being used against us: intellectual, rational as well as material.
Honourable scholars! These conditions demand from us to unite our voices, and to gather on a single platform by forgetting our mutual resentments and conflicts. Because today we are standing in the middle of a battlefield and a vicious enemy confronts us.
No Muslim in the Muslim world dismisses the need for unity and harmony. Everyone invites Muslims to unity and harmony, as is witnessed during Hajj and during the gatherings convened by the Muslim World League. Thus, advising others to unity is no issue for Islam and Muslims; because the entire Muslim world is unanimous on the need for unity. Rather the difficult and most important issue is to deep dive into the underlying root causes of Muslims’ discords and divisions among themselves, and to muse over the possible courses of action to salvage them from these conflicts. And to identify the measures needed to protect Islam and its sha’aair (symbols), and through which we can become united for the important objectives of Deen and for protecting its sha’aair (symbols).
We have been contemplating over this complicated issue for a long time. And the more we pondered the more this historical reality came to mind that the noble Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them all) and Tabi’een, who are the best people of this Ummah and are the best examples for us, also had disagreements with respect to ijtihadi issues. However, these differences did not affect their unity for Islam and its protection in the least bit. It is for this reason that Shaikh Ibn al-Qayyim has expounded that differences in terms of secondary issues did arise among the salaf (predecessors), and one declared something Haram (prohibited) while another declared it Halal (permissible), but these differences never stopped any of them from praying behind each other, or from fulfilling each other’s mutual Islamic rights.
It is understood from the practice of those emulation-worthy elders that the desired Muslim unity cannot be achieved without turning a blind eye on the differed-upon ijtihadi issues, and to strictly follow and protect the agreed-upon issues.
But sadly we have turned the matter upside down; we declare war when someone disagrees with us on secondary issues or when they go against our personal interests, about which Allah and His Messenger ﷺ have instructed us to excuse and overlook; but we have left Islam and its fundamental principles in the lurch against the enemy, so that they can do anything, and in whichever manner, with them they wish.
Adultery and fornication, immorality, riba (interest), bribery, alcohol, nudity, music, and cinemas and theaters are rampantly seeping into various strata of Muslims day by day. These are such evils that no one has any difference of opinion about their prohibition. But regrettably we find very few guiding scholars who are perturbed or restless about them. On the other hand, we observe that if anyone differs with them with respect to secondary issues, they become upset and spend all their energies in proving their opinion right. However, difference of opinion about such secondary matters existed even in the times of the Sahaba and Tabi’een, and it is not possible to settle them through proofs and debates in the future as well.
Then isn’t it compulsory for the preachers and custodians of Islam to devote their concerted efforts in eliminating the agreed-upon evils, and to keep the disagreed-upon secondary issues to classroom discussions and Fatwas (legal verdicts)? The method of this would be for each scholar of Islam to explain the Quran and Sunnah in his personal lessons according to his school of thought and to also act according to it, but at the same time to overlook his differences with those of other schools of thought. But against evils and in protecting Islam, scholars of all schools of thought should become a leaded wall by unifying into a single body.
In my opinion, there is no other way for the unity of Muslims living from the east to the west except this. And it is Allah alone who bestows success. We have also done a lengthy analysis of the state of Muslims in Muslim countries, and the scholars and rulers of the sacred Hijaz appear the best-suited of all to unite them upon the Book and the Sunnah. This is because whoever faces any tribulations in the Muslim world, he turns to them only. And it is in their cities only that he finds, through Islam, peace, security and honour. It is this very distinction (that you possess) which has led us to place our hopes on you, that perhaps we may be able to provide some beneficial service to Islam and Muslims through this gathering. The Muslim World League, which is located in this blessed country, can also prove to be a good means to achieve this goal. This is an organization which has laid the foundations of its aims and objectives upon the fundamental principles of Islam, and which desires to put all its energies into uniting Muslims and in cleansing the Muslims dispersed all over the world from discord and division.
But this monumental objective demands a determined struggle which is collectively undertaken by a large majority of the scholars of the Muslim world, and these scholars should also be of such caliber that general Muslims should trust their knowledge and integrity; who are guardians of Islam and possess a deep-seated concern for it, and whose dignified religious and scholarly personalities are unanimously agreed-upon by all. In this manner, the Muslim World League will be able to bring together the most influential and outstanding personalities from the various communities and countries of Muslims from all over the world. Through this, the League will achieve such strength which will be immensely powerful as well as reliable.
It is our opinion that gatherings of the Muslim World League should be convened in other cities and places besides Makkah Mukarramah as well, wherever possible. This is so that the League can observe the conditions of those places from up close, and the people in those places can also boost their aspirations and strengthen their religious connections through the League.
Before I end this letter, I consider it my duty to bring to the attention of the authoritative scholars, who are responsible for the obligation of amr bil ma’roof (commanding the good) and nahi ‘anil munkar (prohibiting the evil), to those evils which came to my observation in this blessed city of Makkah Mukarramah, and which are totally against the Quran and Sunnah.
1. Prevalence of statuettes of living beings, which are idols in themselves, which Islam has prohibited and which we are commanded to destroy without any ado. But it is regrettable that we have observed some Hajis that together with buying other souvenirs from this blessed land for their relatives, they buy these idols as souvenirs as well. This is happening despite the fact that these pictures and figures have been brought from non-Muslim countries purely to pollute the beliefs of Muslims, and to erode away notions about the peculiarities of Islam from their hearts. Stopping this is an obligatory job responsibility for the rulers.
2. The Islam that has prohibited zina (illegal sexual intercourse) and everything that can lead to zina, it has also prohibited musical instruments. Because it is also a close precursor to many grave evils. The Noble Messenger ﷺ has alluded to this when he said:

لَيَكُونَنَّ مِنْ أُمَّتِي أَقْوَامٌ يَسْتَحِلُّونَ الْحِرَ وَالْحَرِيرَ وَالْخَمْرَ وَالْمَعَازِفَ

Translation: From among my followers there will be some people who will consider zina (illegal sexual intercourse), the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful.

But today the sounds of music and singing are frequently heard from the shops and houses of Makkah Mukarramah. This evil in a blessed city like Makkah Mukarramah, which is the place of refuge for the Muslims of the entire world, will eradicate moral values and will stir up such storms of depravity and immorality here as well, which have already battered other countries in various ways.
3. Mixing of men and women during Tawaf is something that kindles anguish in the heart of every Haji, common man as well scholar. And it is such a wrongdoing and depravity that it will not be acceptable by any means to be heedless of it in. Because the pure Shariah has not allowed this mixing of men and women even during prayer. It is for this reason that Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) had made separate arrangements for men and women to perform Tawaf, so that no kind of evil can arise and also so that everyone could perform their Tawaf with concentration and devotion. Therefore, in our opinion making arrangements for this is the biggest obligation to protect the Deen. This matter relates to that most sacred place on which Allah Ta’ala sent the Revelation, and which has remained the center for the recitation of the verses of the Quran.
4. Another matter that wounds the hearts of Muslims is that even during prayers in the honourable Haram, women generally stand in the rows of men, and this is now aggravating to an extremely painful and horrendous situation. We have not seen this situation in any Masjid anywhere in world, from the east to the west, then how can it be acceptable in the very Masjid al-Haram which Allah Ta’ala has made the Qibla (direction of prayer) for the entire world? Any Muslim coming for Hajj will be astonished at seeing this scene in Allah’s holiest house. The scholars of this land who possess ghairah (sense of honour), whose services in opposing bid’aat (innovations) and other evils are well-recognized, are the most worthy to remove this evil, and to make arrangements for women’s prayers in such an allocated place which should be for women only. So that such a painful transgression should not repeat itself in the very middle of the sacred Haram.
5. Since it is our heartfelt desire that this center of Islam and its inhabitants should remain safe from all plots of disbelief, it feels necessary to narrate to you the things we felt or observed in some of the Muslims here.
It was clearly felt that the Islamic Arab traits are rapidly eroding away day by day, and instead the misguiding social norms of non-Muslims are progressing, until this sickness has even entered and laid its roots in the Haram and adjoining areas as well. If this continues, no refuge will exist for Muslims which remains undefiled from such contamination of disbelief. Because other countries have already been engulfed by this storm.
6. The most powerful medium which is infusing heedlessness from the commandments of Shariah, repulsion from Deen and transgression and immorality into the youth is those books of literature which, imbued with Western influences, are commonly seen in the bookstores and libraries here. The reality is that this modern literature is based upon the concepts of freedom from religion, ridiculing Deen and heretical notions. These magazines, which comprise of despicable romantic novels and shameful half-naked pictures, do not teach the youth anything besides heresy, transgressions and immorality. And every person possessing insight knows that these magazines and books are among the most powerful means of influencing the youth. We thus deem it a job responsibility of our friend scholars that they should pay attention to these matters without any delay, so that this torrent can be blockaded before it engulfs us up to our heads. And similar to books of people of innovation, they should also ban the bringing of such magazines into this holy kingdom. May Allah Ta’ala give them the best of rewards.
We are drawing your attention to the above matters in the hope that those having concern and insight will rectify them. Allah Ta’ala continues helping His slave as long as he continues helping his brother. So why won’t Allah help those who stand up to help His Deen and Shariah? Allah Ta’ala’s help for such people will be even more extensive and absolute.
We supplicate to Allah the Pure and Most High that He grants us and you the ability to serve His Deen in such a manner as is pleasing and beloved to Him. Please accept my deepest regards of respect and esteem. Wassalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuhu
Lowly Indigent Muhammad Shafi, President Darul Uloom Karachi,
Currently residing in Makkah Mukarramah,
24 Dhul Hijjah, 1383H

Our respected father was still in Makkah Mukarramah when he received the reply from the Grand Mufti, whose text is reproduced below:
With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia —— Number 4602
Special Office, Dated 25/12/83
Copy for: Mufti and Chief Justice and Faculties and Institutes of Knowledge
From: Muhammad Bin Ibrahim, to respected Shaikh Muhammad Shafi, Dean Darul Uloom Karachi
Assalamualaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa barakaatuhu,
We received the letter dated 24/12/1383 from your respected self, and we read with delight the matters of ma’rifah (gnosis) that Allah Ta’ala has made plain to you. You have indeed pointed out very important issues, paying attention to which and taking action regarding which is essential at all cost. Without a doubt, we and your scholar brothers share your feelings. If Muslims do not pay attention to the matters you have mentioned, and instead of safeguarding against those sicknesses by taking preventive measures, they take action against them only after contracting them, and only then begin purging their societies from them, then that will lead to terrible results. May Allah Ta’ala save us from this. I supplicate to Allah Ta’ala that He grants Muslims and their rulers the ability to call towards the truth, and to help the truth and elucidate it, and to eradicate falsehood. Indeed He has power over all things. Wassalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakaatuhu.

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