Islam's Reformers .pdf

performance. Hadrat Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) himselfperformed them and told them to his companions exactly as hehad been taught. Even Hadrat Prophet (’alaihi ’s-salâm) was notallowed to change the fard, wâjib and harâm, which he neverdid. Our religious leaders understood all of these by seeing andhearing them from the Prophet’s companions (radiy-Allâhu’anhum), and they wrote them in their books. As theseprofoundly learned scholars reported, the Qur’ân al-kerîm to berecited in salât has to be in Allâhu ta’âlâ’s Word. The duty willhave been done only in this way. Those who want tounderstand the meanings of what they recite in salât can learntheir meanings beforehand easily by studying a little. Whyshould not they study for this while they study for many years,learn many a branch of knowledge and many a foreignlanguage for worldly advantages? Outside of salât, a Muslimcan pray to Allâhu ta’âlâ in his own language. He can learn themeaning of the âyats he recites in salât from the books of theAhl as-Sunna scholars. Those who attempt to learn from booksof the enemies of Islam and of the religion reformers will learnwrong, false, loathsome things and their toil will have beenwasted.In order to learn and teach the meanings in the Qur’ân andwith pleasure, the religious knowledge correctly and to performsalât easily and Muslims all over the world use Arabic as thereligious language. Muslim men have to perform the five dailyprayers of salât in congregation in mosque. If everybodyperformed it with his own language, Muslims who are of variousnationalities and speak different languages would not be able toperform salât together. The same danger arises if the khutba istranslated. If it is read in various languages, Muslims will partinto separate mosques for salât on Fridays and ’Iyd days, whichwill result in the danger of the breaking of the unity of Muslims.Reformers try to eliminate the ijtihâds of our madhhableaders in order to distort Islam. It is not right, neither for areasonable friend nor for even an ignorant, slanderous enemy,to say, or even to think, that Islam was spoilt in the time of theProphet’s companions. How would it ever be possible today tofind the real shape of a religion if it had been spoilt onethousand three hundred years ago? If it had been spoilt, thesereformers’ efforts to correct the religion, to make “true” ijtihâds,would have been in vain. If the basic knowledge of Islam had- 72 -