http://sunni1.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/al-maghrib-institute-exposed/

Allah save us from them! Muhammad

To my somali sisters who find sufi’s something to boast about, subhanallah indeed sis you are wrong. Somalia has a history of sufi’s = inovation and numerous shirk. This however is reducing since many are gaining knowledge and not just blindly following. And this facination woth TJ’s (is it an abbreviation for tabliegy) if so, I would like to put to you this, where did this methodology begin from….and do you no the founder of this is buried in a mosque in india…whats that about??? Their dawah is not from the sunnah.

Those were interesting words from another brother who posted a comment on this article.

This is one thing I have noticed on a personal basis with the people who are stringent salafis. They find it difficult to accept any form of criticism and easily judge others without confirming and questioning that person on their beliefs and hikmah into their actions.

May Allah guide us all and grant us success!

I would just like to say subahanallah to the remarks people are making…If we are all claiming we are upon the quran and sunnah, why are we arguing and blindly insulting eathother? it is beyond belief..but when people just go by hear’say thats the knowledge of our ummah today. Lack of knowledge, and to my knowledge all the speakers and scholars who follow the way of the salaf explain all the teachings of the 4 imams. As for somali people following this path i see it as a step forward, may allah (swt) guide us all to the right path, just remember following imam shafi’i (rahimuallah) is not exactly the sunnah is it? the sunnah means follow the way of the prophet (saw).

Ws

I would also add that what occurred on that forum (the one Tim refers to above) only shows that human beings, regardless of what title they choose for themselves, can easily fall prey to such diseases as namima, gheeba, kibr, argumentation, bickering, and anything else that starts with the waswasa. And I don’t know a single “traditionalist,” including those involved in said discussion, who would have claimed to be immune to waswasa. The only sorrow is that people forgot themselves and their adab.

I just find it interesting that so many commenting on so many diff. blogs have used the opportunity of a series that largely critiqued the followers of a particular minhaj to do the same old tired attacks of the so-called “Sufis.” My take on UL’s posts were that they called for self-reflection on the part of people who proclaim so loudly to be followers of the “Salafi Da’wah,” not yet another opportunity for the same old verbal beatings of the so-called “Sufis.” Surely, there is more to the SD than that… ?

“Traditional Islam distinguishes itself, not only among sects of Islam but among all religions, for its ability to accommodate minor differences of opinion without loss of decorum and without Muslims anathematising each other.”

A recent schism on a well-loved online Muslim forum which caused the owner to suspend all commenting proves that this is not the case.

Rather, Umar’s article is a warning for all of us. You never know when the good times will end and what will bring us down.

WS

I’m not really qualified to explain the Ash’ari aqeeda, but it is one of the two schools of thought in doctrine (the other being the Maturidi, which differs in a few minor matters) to which Muslims who follow classical scholarship belong. Generally, the Maturidi school coincided with the Hanafi school of fiqh, with the Ash’ari being followed by those who were Maliki or Shafi’i. However, they are nearly identical.

Imam Abu’l-Hasan al-Ash’ari is best known for his work in rebutting the Mu’tazila, who were various groups of heretics in the Abbasid period. He himself adopted a position of “tafweedh”, that is, “consigning to Allah” the knowledge of what is meant by certain ayaat of the Qur’an known as mutashabbihaat. These verses refer to “body parts” such as the “hands” and “shin” of Allah ta’ala; of course, Allah ta’ala cannot be a body with physical limits, which taking these phrases literally would entail.

So, the original Ash’aris (or Ashaa’ira) took the position of tafweedh. Later Ash’aris moved towards ta’weel, which is to suggest figurative interpretations within the bounds of classical Arabic. There are actually many such images in classical Arabic; as Shaikh Nuh Keller noted, it is unimaginable that a language as rich as classical Arabic would lack “this basic expressive faculty”.

Ibn Taymiyya rejected the notion that there are figurative interpretations in the Qur’an, and the modern-day “salafis” follow him in this.

Shaikh Nuh Keller gave the definitive rebuttals of anti-Ash’ari agitation in English. See the following articles:

• Literalism and the Attributes of Allah
• Al-Ash’ari (supposedly) Abandoning Ash’arism
• Was Imam Ahmad an Anthropomorphist?

Also, see the entire Shaikh Nuh section on br. Mas’ud Khan’s webpage.

Saggal,

I havent met Ikwaans to my knowlegde in somalia or U.K (or maybe i did and wasnt aware). I’m unfamilar with these a million and one labels and groups lol. I’ve only really come into contact with TJ’s and Sufis in somalia, mainly TJ’s though. A few of my male relatives are TJ’s and some of my uncles went on travelling with them. I’ve always being fascinated with their 40 days/nights travel and was impressed by the love and warmth that they recieved in somalia. You’d see people on the buses, streets, in cars just call out to them and wave and they’d say their salams back as they walked along, carrying their few wordly possesions as they went off to spread the deen. I’d love to travel with them one day, just for the expreince if anything.

[The real Salafis are those who are upon the Holy Qur’an and Rasul Allah’s Sunnah, not the heartless ones obssessed with appearances and punishment.]

Agreed! Although those that you describe would say that they are the only ones fully on the quran and sunnah.

You had a lucky escape with that brother from Kuwait. Guys like him want nothing more then a muslimh barbie! (aka brain void, passive and only there to submit 100% to his physical needs!)

Yusuf: I’d like to know what Asha’ri Aqeeda is too. Im with Saggal, never heard of it either.