Ebrahim Bham – Difference of opinion
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Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillahi wahdah, wassalatu wassalamu ala man la
nabiyya ba'dah, amma ba'du l-qawmu min alimin
ash-shaytanir rajim, bismillahirrahmanirrahim, wa min ayaatihi khalqus
samawati wal-ardh, wa khtilafu al-massilatikum wa
alwalikum, sadaqallahul azim.
My dear respected elders and brothers, Allah Azza
wa Jal has created human beings different from
one another.
Every person differs from another person.
We differ in our appearance, in our conduct,
in our temperament.
Allah has created everyone different, to such an
extent that even the fingerprints of everyone is
different from another person.
Therefore Allah in the Quran, in Surah Qiyamah,
He says, when I will resurrect people, bala
qadirina ala an-nusawwiya balara, when people express
doubts about Allah resurrecting and bringing people back
to life, Allah said, not only will I
bring you back to life, I will bring
you back to life with your same fingerprint.
Now who knew that time in the Quran
was revealed that every person's fingerprint is different
from another?
But this is how Allah Ta'ala is
mentioning.
Everyone is different.
Just as we differ in our physical appearance,
in our conduct, in our temperament, we also
differ in our intellectual capabilities and our understanding.
Everyone has got a different understanding.
Everyone has got a different methodology of thinking
and looking at things.
Allah Ta'ala has made everyone different.
In Sirah, in Surah, even in thinking.
Everyone's thinking is different from another person.
Everyone has got a difference.
To such an extent that even our understanding,
our intellect is different.
Allah in the Quran, in the ayat which
I recited in the khutbah, Allah Ta'ala
says, wa min ayatihi, amongst the signs of
Allah, khalqus samawati wal ardi, I created the
heavens and earth, wa khtilaku al-sinatikum wa
alwanikum, I created differences in your languages, in
your colors.
People speak different languages.
It's a sign of Allah Ta'ala.
Allah Ta'ala.
People have different complexions, different skin types, different
color of the skin.
This is a creative sign of Allah Ta
'ala.
People are different.
To such an extent that in Sirah, in
Surah, in their language, everyone is Allah Ta
'ala.
This is a sign of Allah Ta'ala's
perfect nature.
Now, just as we differ in all of
these things, we also differ in our intellect.
Now, because if we differ in our intellect,
there will always be difference of opinion.
People will look at things differently.
You know, here is an alim, Mawlana Palan
Akkari.
Mawlana Palan Akkari came many years back to
South Africa.
And that time he gave an example.
He says, a person, you know, people went
and someone told them about the elephant.
And there were people who were blind.
Everyone went to go and study the elephant.
So when they came back and they studied
the elephant, and they said, what did you
see?
So three, four different people gave different perceptions
about the elephant.
One looked at his trunk and he said,
no, the elephant is something that got a
long trunk.
It's got something very long.
Other one said, it's got a very big
body.
Other one said, it's got a very big
leg.
The leg is very big.
If that trunk was upon someone, he'd die.
Now, if people looked at it from different
perspectives, would you say that they are wrong?
Or they just looked at it from a
different perspective?
Now, it doesn't mean anyone is wrong.
It just means that people have looked at
it from a different angle.
So in a similar manner, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala has given us, you know, internet.
And just as an orchard becomes more beautiful
with different color of flowers.
So if you go into a park, and
you go into a beautiful botanical garden, and
you see one color of the, all the
flowers are one color.
Would that be more beautiful?
Or would it be more beautiful if all
the flowers have got different colors?
And everyone says beautiful.
It is more beautiful when people have different
color flowers.
You go into the botanical garden, now you
go, you see different colors of roses.
You'll have white, and you'll have yellow, and
you'll have orange, and you'll have red.
And sometimes you get a blue, which is
very rare.
Right?
So that makes the orchard beautiful.
In a similar manner, when we have the
intellectual world becomes more stimulating, more beautiful, when
we have people who have different approaches, and
they bring it to the table.
So the complete consensus, because of people having
different intellect, will not happen.
There will never be complete consensus in people
the way they think.
Complete consensus, ulama have written, will only happen
in two ways.
Mufti Mehmood Sahib, he has written a beautiful
book, The Boundaries of Difference of Opinion.
In there he said, you'll have complete consensus
only in two occasions.
One is when people are stupid, don't have
intellect, and when people are not honest.
Either they are so stupid, they
don't have the ability to think and to
be able to put forward their suggestions and
their understanding.
And the second thing is that either they
are stupid or they are dishonest.
Dishonest, they have, they do believe about something.
But in that particular manner they don't say
anything despite the fact that they disagree with
something.
When there are people of intellect, and there
are people of integrity and honesty, there will
be difference of opinion.
In a similar manner, in religious matters also
there will be difference of opinion.
In religious matters there will be difference of
opinion.
Now, in Islam, there is no scope for
difference of opinion on something, on an Ateeda
that is unanimous.
In an Ateeda, which is unanimous for everyone,
there is no scope for confusion.
There is no difference of opinion in, for
example, the finality of the Prophet's Prophethood.
There is no scope for confusion in Khatm
-e-Nabuwat.
And there is no difference of opinion on
things which Allah has made clearly halal and
haram.
There is scope for difference of opinion.
We must have a scope for difference of
opinion.
Where halal and haram are established and unanimous,
there is no scope for confusion.
But in Ruhi matters, in sub-divisional issues,
in matters which are not clear-cut, in
which there is scope for difference of opinion,
there will be difference of opinion.
And in that difference of opinion, it is
our responsibility to be able to respect those
difference of opinion.
Let me say again, there will be no
difference of opinion on fundamentals.
And our difference of opinion must not be
based on egoism.
Allah says, Don't follow your desires, Allah will
lead you astray.
So if you're going to have a difference
of opinion on your desires, on your selfish
desires, you'll never get the true path.
So don't have a difference of opinion on
your beliefs or on your actions or on
the whole of the Ummah.
Or on your selfish desires.
But besides that, there is a wide scope
of accommodation for difference of opinion.
And, Whether it is a hadith, some say
it is a hadith, some say it is
a saying of scholars, Because in the Ikhtilaf
of Ummah, there is Rukhsat, there is Rahmat,
there is Mercy.
As Umar bin Abdul Aziz, Rahmatullah Alayhi, known
as the fourth most Khalifa Rashid.
And everyone agrees with regard to his greatness.
He said, I will not be happy when
the companion did not defer.
If they did not defer, there would be
no accommodation, there would be no Rukhsat.
There would be no accommodation to do things
a little bit differently.
Now, like Allah, there is difference of opinion,
there is Rukhsat.
There is ease in our Deen because of
the difference of opinion.
Now, there are many examples.
You know, difference, and you know, one very,
Hazrat Sheikh Amtul Ali, Hazrat Sheikh Zakariya Amtul
Ali has written an amazing thing.
He said, where there is difference of opinion,
and the difference of opinion is controlled, and
there is respect, there will never be fitna.
Hazrat Sheikh Amtul Ali said, There
will be no fitna if there is difference
of opinion with respect.
Fitna will happen all the time.
The fitna comes when we don't respect, and
we don't keep the difference of opinion in
a proper way.
How many examples there are?
In Nabi A.S. time, after the Battle
of the Trench, Nabi A.S., you know,
the Sahaba were about to take off their
armor.
They said, the battle is finished.
Hazrat Jibreel A.S. come and said, Ya
Rasulullah, you could have taken out your armor.
The angels did not.
They are still busy with regard to the
war.
And he said, we have to go and
deal with Bani Qurayza.
You know, Bani Qurayza.
So Nabi A.S. took the Sahaba and
go there.
And reached there by Asr time.
Asr time, you go to Bani Qurayza and
pray there.
Bani Qurayza.
I think it is Bani Qurayza.
So in that way, two Sahaba, when they
were going, some of them became late.
So some said, Nabi A.S. said, you
go there and pray Asr time.
Whether you reach there by Maghrib or Isha
time.
And someone said, no.
One said that, no, Nabi A.S. said,
Masjid Asr is in Bani Debt, we are
going to read Asr time.
Someone said, Nabi A.S. meant that you
must go there quickly.
Now Asr is going away.
We can't make Asr Qaza.
They read Asr on the road.
Two different approaches.
Subhanallah, look at that.
What did our beloved Nabi A.S., when
he came to know about it, he didn't
say anything is wrong.
Nabi A.S. left it.
So there was difference of opinion.
But no one went to tell the other
one, you're wrong.
Because both of them were trying to reach
what Nabi A.S. was saying.
And sometimes difference of opinion comes because of
different reasons.
Sometimes perceptions.
Sometimes temperament.
Sometimes we have a difference of opinion because
of temperament.
This is also a strange matter.
So in the Battle of the Badr, when
the prisoners were brought, so there were two
views.
About Khaidi.
There are two opinions about the Battle of
Badr and Khaidi.
There are two opinions.
One is from Nabi A.S. and Abu
Bakr A.S. And the other is from
Umar A.S. Abu Bakr A.S. said,
Ya Rasulullah, these people are your brothers.
They are people of our own family.
You know, let us show mercy upon them.
Have mercy on them.
Maybe they will become Muslims.
So this is the opinion of Abu Bakr
A.S. Ya Rasulullah, show mercy upon them.
Hazrat Umar A.S. said, This is the
first war of truth and falsehood.
We must show them a lesson.
And we must show them a lesson.
And what we must do is, We must
get all of them killed.
The one who is closest to the prisoners,
he must go and kill him.
Nabi A.S. called the Sahaba.
He said, Allah has made certain people's heart,
you know, soft.
And Abu Bakr, your example is like Hazrat
Ibrahim A.S. And what did Ibrahim A
.S. said?
If you, O Allah, if my followers follow
you, they are part of me.
And if you follow and they disobey you,
then you are Ghafoorur Raheem.
You are forgiving and merciful.
And O Abu Bakr, you are like Isa
A.S. You are like Isa A.S.
Isa A.S. did the same dua.
O Allah, if my followers, they obey me,
then they are, you know, If you punish
them, then you are Ibadur.
They are your bondsmen, your servants.
You got the right to punish them.
But if you forgive them, you also have
the power to forgive them.
And O Umar, you are like Noah A
.S. Noah A.S. said, O Allah, don't
leave one single disbeliever alive.
And O Umar, you are like Musa A
.S. Destroy
them.
They must not believe Iman until they see
your punishment.
Now there was two views.
So sometimes views come because of perceptions.
Sometimes views differ because of temperaments.
So this is something that we have to
keep in mind.
So Ibrahim A.S. was soft.
He was soft.
All the Ibrahims are soft.
That was who people have objected.
Ibrahims are soft.
What must we put up?
Anyway, And this is that Hazrat Ali and
Hazrat Muawiyah A.S. Had a war.
And that war came about because of pitting.
But whatever it is, they had a war.
But look at the respect.
Hazrat Muawiyah A.S. used to say, I
regard Ali is better than me.
I only got an ikhlaq with him.
I got a difference of opinion with him
with regard to the killers of Usman.
I say, treat and go and get the
killers of Usman immediately.
Subhanallah.
And then one day, when Hazrat Muawiyah A
.S. was sitting, Then Zarrar was very close
to Ali A.S. He came in the
presence of Hazrat Muawiyah A.S. So Hazrat
Muawiyah A.S. told him, Give me the
qualities of Ali A.S. Hazrat Zarrar in
there, Gave such beautiful qualities of Ali A
.S. Such beautiful qualities.
I don't have the time.
One day we will read the qualities when
we speak about Ali A.S. He gave
the qualities of Ali A.S. And he
started crying.
And he started crying.
And Muawiyah A.S. started crying.
Until his beard was back.
And this is about people who had a
difference of opinion which led to war.
But in praising Ali A.S., In front
of Muawiyah, Muawiyah A.S. started crying.
Hazrat Uthman A.S. was asked, At the
time when the rebels took whole of Madinah,
And they laid siege upon him, That what
must we do with regard to the people
who are leading Salah?
They are rebels.
Subhanallah, look at the greatness of Uthman A
.S. He said, if they do good, assist
them.
If they do wrong, stay away from it.
This is how it was.
Although these were rebels.
And they didn't have any firm footing.
All the allegations were wrong.
If they are doing right, follow them.
Someone who is doing right, follow him.
If he is doing something wrong, stay away
from him.
And there are so many examples.
Imam Shafi'i A.S. went, you know,
He went to the Qabar of Imam Wahnifa
A.S. In Baghdad.
And there, of course, according to Imam Shafi
'i A.S., There is Rafa'i A
.S. And there is Qunut in the time
of Khuja.
There, on that particular day, he didn't read
Qunut.
He didn't read Rafa'i A.S. People
asked him, why didn't you do it?
This is your religion.
Your religion believes in that.
He said, out of respect for the person
in this Qabar.
Out of respect for Imam Wahnifa A.S.,
I didn't do these things.
This was the respect.
They did good, but they still have respect
and dignity.
Hazrat Mufti Shafi'i A.S. writes, And
I want you to read this.
I'm not quoting my own self.
He says, today religious people do not have
that much of hate for those who mock
Allah and His Rasool.
The way they have hatred for people who
oppose their views.
Ya Allah, what's gone wrong with us?
The religious people do not have so much
hate for people who mock Allah and His
Rasool.
The way they have hatred for those people,
you know, who oppose their views.
Look at the difference between Sheikh Ali Khan
and Muhammad A.S. One was in favor
of Pakistan.
One was not in favor of Pakistan.
But they respected one another.
When Muhammad A.S. was arrested, Muhammad A
.S. was crying.
Someone said, he is your opponent.
He said, so what is my opponent?
He is my opponent in terms of my
view, but he is still my brother.
Then he said, I didn't realize.
I didn't realize that I have so much
love for Muhammad A.S. I didn't realize
I have so much love for Muhammad A
.S. Despite the fact that they had difference
of opinion.
So these are the things that we have.
One incident, I don't have the time.
I could have given you an incident between
the two.
That will make your hair stand.
That what respect they had for one another
despite the difference of opinion that they had.
I don't have the time, but anyway.
Now all of this, what do we do?
Just few take away points.
First, never lose sight of the big picture.
One thing.
People who believe in Allah and Nabi A
.S. The Quran in the year after will
be closer to each other than those people
who do not share the belief.
You believe in Allah, you believe in one
prophet, you believe in one messenger, you believe
in the Qiyamah, you believe in the Quran.
So why do you have then hatred?
Keep sight of the bigger picture.
We are one.
We are one against the enemies.
When Hazrat Muawiyah was fighting with Ali R
.A. The Christian king wrote to Hazrat Muawiyah
and said, I will help you in your
fight with Ali R.A. Muawiyah said, if
you look at one gaze in a wrong
manner to Ali R.A. I will be
the first person to stand behind Ali and
fight against you.
Don't take advantage of our fight.
Don't take advantage of our difference of opinion.
Understand the bigger picture.
Secondly, we must avoid heated arguments.
The best way, if we have a difference,
discuss it in an amicable way.
Discuss it in a civilized way.
Stop being rude to one another.
It is most difficult for us to see
the light of truth in the heat of
an argument.
Hazrat Imam Malik R.A. says, Argumentation extinguishes
the light of knowledge in the heart.
So stop heated arguments.
And for people who don't have that degree
of Islamic knowledge, otherwise a certain degree, everyone
must have, do not get involved in religious
argumentation.
Hazrat Mufti Shafiq Sahib R.A. said, In
Urdu, Stop religious argumentation.
You don't know Quran and Hadith.
Why are you arguing on religious matters?
Leave it to the ulema.
And you follow the alim that you have
respect for.
The ulema that you have respect for, and
respect for them, don't argue with them.
That is for the people.
Religious argumentation, how the ulema deal with it,
that's a different matter.
But for us on the ground, we don't
get involved in religious argumentation.
You follow the one whom we have an
agreement with, follow him.
But don't stop this whole particular type of
situation that is happening nowadays.
When we are sitting and talking.
Look at how all our efforts.
All our efforts today.
Today one person says something, the other person
says something the next day.
Then this one says something, the other one
person says something.
How are we going to do positive work?
When are we going to do positive work?
If all the time our efforts are only
towards one another, against one another.
When are we going to do positive work?
But that's in the situation.
And stop hatred.
Don't stop hating one another.
Don't hate one another.
You can hate the sin, but not the
sinner.
Don't hate one another.
Don't make hasidh with one another.
Don't turn against one another.
Become brothers unto one another.
No one has iman until he abandons envy,
hasidh, jealousy, rancor, malice and hatred towards one
another.
Otherwise you don't have iman.
These type of things are very important in
the climate and what is happening nowadays.
I don't want to say in any particular
specific situation.
But on a general level, these are advices
that we should try and adhere to.
May Allah ta'ala give you an attitude
of understanding.
Wa akhiru da'awwana min kulli wa akhiru.