بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Salafis and sufis, labels thrown around to define and divide, but really just a spectacular fitna in which Iblis is surely revelling.
Those who claim to be following the righteous predecessors of the first three generations after the passing of our beloved Messenger, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa sallam, must recognize that the four established schools of judicial law that remain today are from that era, the earlier part of it for that matter with Imam Abu Hanifa returning to His Lord in 150 AH, Imam Malik in 179 AH, Imam Al Shafi' in 204 AH, and Imam Ahmed in 241 AH - may Allah be well pleased with them all and have mercy on all our deceased, ameen. None follow the scholars, but they follow legal judgments of the Quran and sunnah based on the understanding of the scholars who had the high level of knowledge required to derive these judgments. The rest of us only have our perception of "what makes sense" within our frame of ignorance - a careless way to live the deen.
I suspect that most who ascribe to the this way do not necessarily know what is said by the scholars they claim to follow, and instead adopt broad and hollow ways of thinking that really only serve in satisfying the notion that he is right and another is wrong.
What we require from the deen, for us to draw closer to our Lord and fulfill that which He commands of us, is agreed upon by all the scholars. The knowledge of it is definitive, qati', and yet some segments of the ummah want to find faults in their brethren by justifying an ill opinion of their religious practices in matters that are speculative or zhanni.
To all who are essentially seeking to divide the ummah, all I can say is get over yourselves and turn to Allah. How dare we continue in our ignorant ways as if it is for His pleasure and His sake.
For those who think that attending zhikr sessions and singing qasaid while neglecting the Quran and authentic sunnah is the way of righteousness, I say your priorities need sorting, but that's between you and your Lord and if you think yourself better than another because of it, then again we're of opposing views.
Alas, the nafs goes wild as people hang tightly to groups and idealogies. All of us say we want the pleasure of our Lord and we want to be attached to the legacy of our beloved Prophet and Messenger, salla Allahu 'alayhi wa salam. If that is truly what we seek, then we need to follow guidance that doesn't turn the permissible into haram and vice versa, and we need to seek the rarity of true scholarship combined with righteous practice.
For me, an indication of righteousness is good character. If one should speak ill of another, for the sake of arguing, I would be weary. The scholars of the past disagreed with each other, but with authentic proofs and with adab. Manners.
Don't misunderstand me. There are a lot of commonplace acts that are blatant acts of kufr or shirk and we need to recognize them based on the Quran and authentic sunnah and correct them. But who is actually studying the Quran and authentic sunnah?
We are living in the end of times. Allah only knows how much longer it is until the Final Day, the Day of Accounting, will arrive. Nonetheless, we all know that death is our shadow and we must prepare for it.
It's not our place nor our right to make judgments about people's personal practice of the deen in speculative matters, nor is it our place to discuss fiqh rulings when we haven't the knowledge to do so. It is only our place to check ourselves and to seek knowledge for the sake of improving our spiritual and religious practice.
Allah, Transcendent is He, revealed in the Quran:
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن قَبْلِكَ إِلاَّ رِجَالاً نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِمْ فَاسْأَلُواْ أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ
And We sent not before you except men to whom We revealed [Our message]. So ask the people of the message if you do not know. [Al Nahl:43]
Let's connect our hearts to the Prophetic way of understanding and inclusion in that which is permissible, forgiveness and good counsel in that which is blameworthy, and reform in that which is forbidden. The deen is a systematic way of living. It's not an apple orchard where you pick the fruits that suit you based on your limited perspective.
We cannot lie to our Lord. For the whole world, do what you will, but for myself, I have the Quran and the authentic sunnah which I must strive to live by as taught to me by the scholars who commit their lives to sincere and earnest practice of divine guidance. I must remind myself that each moment brings me one breath closer to my last.
Choices must be made. Habits must change. Hearts must be cleansed. Actions must be improved. Amends must be made. Lives must be truly lived.
اللهم لك كل الحمد والشكر. اهدنا وتب علينا وفرج على المسلمين والمسلمات في كل مكان آمين
