Mohammad Elshinawy – [Ep. 07] Disunity Vs Healthy Divisions – Managing Our Disagreements
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The speaker discusses the four categories of disagreements in Islam, including those that are not disagreements but are tackled by the clerk or by a judge. They give examples of disagreements that occur when a person is faced with a negative opinion or a fundamental belief, and how it can lead to conflict and negative behavior. The speaker emphasizes the importance of unity and discomfort in finding equilibrium for communities.
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said I'm on Ecomondo to La Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala Rasulillah Welcome back to managing our disagreements, or working through them or working together despite them. I added that qualifier there because now we're talking about the fourth category. You see the first three categories, you know, kind of funneled into each other were subsets of each other. Not every difference variation necessarily clashes, its parts clash with one another. No, a subset of that only is disagreements conflictual views, and then not all conflictual views are to be, you know, rejected to be pushed back against only a subset of disagreements or inexcusable positions, right.
This fourth category is not a subset of inexcusable positions, it's actually subjected to a completely different calculus, which is essentially the risk benefit ratio, the pros and cons factor that is what really determines unity from disunity in an Islamically justified way. And I'll give you a few examples. Number one, there could be inexcusable positions observed by certain people, yet we will still unite with them for the greater good. So the prophets of Allah who Allah He was salam united
with the Jews of Medina, why for the collective social well being welfare of the people of Medina, we will defend this place together. And so that was a position that a Muslim cannot excuse meaning as being possibly Islamic, but they can certainly get together with those that have those views. When it is ascertained, there's a greater benefit in US collaborating on something. Another example within Islam is people that violate the GMAT. They have views that have no precedent, you know, are indefensible Islamically speaking, and we can still get together with them collaborate with them for the greater good. And there's a whole host of reasons why, but I'll give you just one example. You
know, when Earth men have not found or the hola Juan was fought by the holodeck, the, you know, insurgent rebels who had some very deviant, inexcusable positions, they basically confused between sins and disbelief. So a sinner was a disbeliever and they presume they're a man or the Aloha and committed certain sins, therefore, he was a disbeliever. They laid siege to his house in so I had Makati at the end of his life before they assassinated Earth man, a man visited his house and said, Oh, yeah, I mean, I mean, oh commander of the believers, you are the great Imam. And we pray behind an imam
of this fitna, meaning our local neighborhood Mosque has an imam who follows this crazy ideology of sinners equals disbelievers. You are a disbeliever when 100 So how do I know we don't know what to do? Like how do we deal with this. And so a throne or the Lion said something that was not just so selfless and so wise, but so Islamic, so prophetic, he said to the man, prayer is the greatest thing a believer does, it's the greatest physical act in Islam. So whenever people do good, partaking good with them, and whenever people do evil, make sure you have the readiness and the resolve and the willpower to abstain and not follow the herd effect, not just play along. And so he told him Do not
ever allow prayers in the mosque to go extinct, keep the mosque populated, pray behind him, even if he has this view. And so the greater benefit is keeping the masajid open, keeping the Muslim community together, I actually want to give you a quick example on the on the inverse or the reverse of this, sometimes there can be certain differences, like ethnic differences, that should be left alone, and just respect it. And we don't need to blur the lines and say everyone needs to be united means blur the lines, you know, you know, the same way. We can say that sisters Thrive among sisters, brothers Thrive amongst brothers, this is not disunity, you know, a majority of the
community being from a certain ethnic group and therefore, you know, catering to that to bring them an imam that speaks their language, you know, linguistically and psychologically if you will, right? They the meals are of their preference. These things are important for, you know, social cohesion for bonding. And even not just differences. Let's give an example of disagreements when the disagreements are excusable sometimes just want to leave them alone, for the sake of the community. Staying together. I mean, if I am a Hanafy, or a Maliki or a chef, or a Hanbali, and I'm teaching my community everything according to this
School of Islamic law, it would not be alienating for me to limit the guests that come to my mosque and speak on law to speak from this vantage point, just to spare people of the confusion that is not dividing the OMA. And so for the sake of cohesion for the sake of gelling for the sake of increased camaraderie, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam brought everyone together, but at the same time sometimes preserve the lines between them. The more hygiene and the on site stayed more hygiene on site, it was discernible, even in battle, he would have them fight under the banners of their clans, because they were just more effective. More tenacity, more ferocity, more, you know, chivalry when
it's my cousin, and my uncle, and so on and so forth around me. Therefore, this thing, this subject of unity versus disunity, when do we get together when do we allow for distinctions or even divisions that is subjected to a pros and cons, calculus, whatever there is greater benefit in and by the way, that makes it the hardest one. This can only be something that is known by those who master how the Shediac prioritizes benefits and harms and also masters understanding the realities on the ground to apply these principles to today's reality, not yesterday's, and here's reality, not somewhere else's. And so May Allah help us and guide us and enable us to have those leaders with
that sort of insight and that sort of ability to find the equilibrium for our communities is like Aloha masala hos Hello water Caribbean