Islam's Reformers .pdf

wrong belief of his is a sin which is worse even than the gravefelonies such as murder and fornication. It was declared inhadîths that there would be seventy-two groups of bid’a andthat they would all go to Hell.“If something related to belief is put forth in a wrong form bynon-mujtahid men who think of themselves as mujtahids andattempt to interpret âyats and hadîths or speak according totheir own points of view, those who believe it will becomeunbelievers even if it is not a clearly declared or widespreadteaching. For example, a mujtahid who disbelieves, as a resultof his ijtihâd, in Rasûlullah’s (’alaihi ’s-salâm) Ascension (Mi’râj)or in the questioning in grave becomes a man of bid’a, i.e. aheretic, while a non-mujtahid man of religious post who, as aresult of his own reasoning or opinion, disbelieves in thembecomes a non-Muslim because of having slighted Islam’steachings.“Islamic scholars who have not gone wrong in their ijtihâd inthe belief and the Muslims who believe the truth like them arecalled Ahl as-Sunna or Sunnî.“The worship of the seventy-two groups of bid’a is notacceptable even if they worship correctly. Their bid’a in theirworshipping is an additional guilt, even if they call it ijtihâd.“The ijtihâds deduced by the Ahl as-Sunna scholars in theknowledge concerning ’ibâdât are not bida’. Their mistakes infinding out this knowledge will not cause them to be guilty.Leaders of the four madhhabs derived this knowledge, with thepermission of the Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) who announcedIslam, from the sources which Islam prescribed. This knowledgehas not changed Islam, but it has helped Islam. Ijtihâd cannotbe employed on the things that are declared clearly in theQur’ân and the Hadîth. They should be admitted as they are. Itis not a guilt to go wrong in searching for the proof of somethingthat has not been declared openly. But, if the proof stating theright way is clear and if the mujtahid goes wrong in finding outthe proof, or by following his own mind without deriving from aproof, an ’ibâda based on this deduction is a bid’a and heresy. Ifsuch a reform causes a sunnat muakkada to disappear, it willbe a worse sin.“The action Rasûlullah (’alaihi ’s-salâm) used to perform asan ’ibâda and omitted from time to time is called sunnat hudâor sunnat muakkada. It has not been declared that those who- 284 -