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[10] Fighting extremism with extreme negligence! Ed Husain’s Distractive Ruse

In The Name of Allah, The Most Merciful, The Bestower of Mercy.

Allah [The Exalted] stated about the Prophets [peace be upon them]:

أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ ٱلَّذِينَ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ‌ۖ فَبِهُدَٮٰهُمُ ٱقۡتَدِهۡ‌ۗ

They are those whom Allah had guided. So follow their guidance. (1)

Meaning, these Prophets are the ones whom Allah [The Almighty] has guided to the true religion He has ordained, therefore, follow their guidance and path. (2)

Indeed, our Lord commanded us to follow the path of the Prophets in all facets of life, and Prophet Muhammad [peace and blessings of Allah be upon him and all the Prophets] is the last of them whose path has abrogated all other paths and laws. Therefore, no one understands and will ever understand the human condition better than he does until the Day of Judgement. However, misguided Ed Husain desperately seeks to elevate people whose status Allah has not elevated so that he can also elevate his status among those who he hopes would view him as their ally in thought and orientation. Ed said:

First of all, unless this person accepted Islam and followed the path prescribed by Allah to understand the human condition, he is undoubtedly on the wrong path, let alone being one who best understood humans.

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim [may Allah have mercy upon him] said:

“The Creation is needy in two different ways. Everyone, the righteous and the wicked are bound to the first because it cannot be avoided. This (type of neediness) does not necessitate praise or rebuke, neither reward nor punishment; rather, it is solely due to the fact that they are created beings (i.e. absolutely in need and completely dependent on their Creator in every way). The second type of neediness is one of choice, from which two magnificent aspects of knowledge emerge. The first is one’s knowledge and awareness of their Lord, and the second is knowledge and awareness of oneself in reality. When these two aspects of knowledge are acquired, they lead to a type of neediness that becomes a person’s distinct and most precious source of wealth, as well as the way to success and happiness in (this life and the next). The varying stations of people in this type of neediness are determined by their distinct stations in these two aspects of knowledge.

Those who know that their Lord (Allah) is the Self-Sufficient One—completely free from all needs and upon Whom all things are dependent, and none can do without Him for even a moment- will know that they are completely needy. Those who know that their Lord is the only One with a perfect ability (the only One with All-Encompassing Ability and the ability to do all things) will know that they are totally helpless – (cannot accomplish anything in the blink of an eye without) His support. Those who know that their Lord is The All-Mighty will know that they are (absolutely impoverished, weak, and in need unless He provides). Those who know that their Lord is the possessor of All-Encompassing knowledge and Wisdom will recognise their ignorance.

Allah took them from their mother’s womb when they had no knowledge, no possessions, no ability to give or take, and no ability to harm or benefit. It is well known that this is the very nature of human beings and they continue in that state, (and) this state of neediness, which persisted until they attained a more perfect state, is something witnessed and manifest. They do not leave this state and transition into a state of Lordship, where they are self-sufficient and have no need of anyone or anything. Instead, they continue to be slaves of Allah and dependent on their Rabb [Allah the Creator, All-Provider and the Only One Who Controls and Sustains Everything] and their Faatir [Allah, The Originator and Creator of Everything]”. (3)

Therefore, we want to remind misguided Ed Husain that Alexis is not someone the Creator has chosen to serve as a guide he did not pursue the path ordained in the final revelation to understand himself and others. 

Second, among the creation, the Prophets and Messengers are the most judicious. Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim [may Allah have mercy upon him] said, “The clear evidence that the Messengers are the most judicious of all creation is that the beneficial knowledge they have brought–righteous actions and beneficial affairs related to true well-being in this worldly life and the afterlife–has not come from others or anything even close to it. Nothing else, from any perspective, can compare to what the Messengers conveyed in terms of useful knowledge, righteous deeds, and the beneficial affairs of true well-being in this worldly life and the afterlife. Whoever ponders their personal life stories – in specific and general (circumstances), their patience and perseverance, their abstinence from those unneeded lawful pleasures of the worldly life, their fervent longing for Allah’s Pleasure and the reward Allah has kept in the afterlife, their pure manners, the fact that they are the most truthful among the creation, (possessors) of the most virtuous hearts and souls, trustees of the greatest trust (i.e. revelation and Messenger ship), the noblest of individuals whom a person can accompany, the purest in their innermost conscience, the purest in their private affairs – will not question that they are without exception the most judicious among Allah’s creation. (As a result), there is no question that whoever is closest to them (i.e. follows them properly), their share of judiciousness will be more than (that of others)”. (4)

Therefore, we want to remind misguided Ed Husain that Alexis is not someone the Creator has chosen to serve as a guide because he did not pursue the path ordained in the final revelation to understand himself and others.

Allah [The Most High] said:
وَكَذَٲلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ ٱلۡأَيَـٰتِ وَلِتَسۡتَبِينَ سَبِيلُ ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ

And thus do We explain the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) in detail, so that the way of the Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists, sinners) become manifest. [Surah Al-An’aam. Aayah 55]

Imam Ibnul Qayyim [may Allaah have mercy upon him] stated:

Those who know Allah, His Book, and His Religion are acquainted with the paths of believers and disbelievers in detail; the two paths are clearly visible to them, just as a path leading to its destination and a path leading to destruction is made clearly visible. They are the most knowledgeable of all creation–the ones who benefit (the people) the most, provide the most valuable advice, and are evidence of upright guidance. This is why the Prophet’s companions have excelled over all those who came after them until the Day of Judgement, because they were raised on the path of misguidance, Shirk, and paths leading to destruction, and they knew them in detail. The Messenger then came to them and brought them out of darkness into complete light- from shirk to Tawheed, ignorance to knowledge, misguidance to guidance, injustice to justice, confusion and blindness to guidance, and clear-sightedness. They understood the worth of what they received and were triumphant as a result of it, as well as what was included in it since what is opposed to the (truth and upright guidance) shows the goodness of what it opposes, because (righteous deeds and beliefs ordained by the Creator) are made evident by their opposites. So they grew in desire and love for what they embraced and detested and despised what they had rejected (i.e. pre-Islamic beliefs, ideas, deeds, etc). And they had the greatest love for Tawheed, Imaan, and Islam, and the most hatred for anything that was opposed to it. They had the most in-depth understanding of the (upright) path.

However, among those who came after the Prophet’s companions are people raised in Islam but do not have knowledge of what is opposed to it. As a result, some of the details of the believers’ and disbelievers’ paths were perplexing to them because confusion occurs due to a lack of understanding about both paths or one of them, as Umar Ibn Al-Khattaab [may Allah be pleased with him] said: “The bonds of Islam will be undone one after the other when a people who grew up in Islaam know not what Jaahiliyyah (Pre-Islamic Ignorance) is”. This (statement shows an aspect of) Umar’s perfect knowledge (of Islam and its opposite). (5)

Indeed, there is a statement in the above clarification – by Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim – that precisely reveals an issue with Ed Husain, namely the fact that Ed is a person who finds it difficult to distinguish between the paths of believers and disbelievers in some matters. As a result, he rushes to support what he believes to be an aspect of praiseworthy civilization until he praises the path of disbelievers. Alexis was a political thinker who wrote about democracy, and Ed regards him as someone who understands humankind! Indeed, it is impossible for someone who concocts ideas and rejects the path of the seal of the Prophets to know what is actually useful or harmful to humanity in affairs of politics.

Imaam Muhammad Ibn Saalih Al-Uthaymeen [may Allah have mercy upon him] said:

“We are certain that anyone who isolates politics from the religion (of Islam) and develops politics based on what he deems appropriate and what he forbids, then indeed, his politics is corrupt. If it corrects one matter based on his deficient opinions, it certainly corrupts from another angle. If one considers the state of affairs of those who base their politics on their desires and opinions, and become distant from the religion of Islam, one will discover – after contemplation – that either all or most of that politics is corrupt, and that if it rectifies an affair from one angle, it corrupts from another. So, based on this, separating politics from the religion (of Islam) is a sinful deed, and it is incumbent on one who seeks self-rectification and (rectification) of others to do so only on the basis of Islam”. (6)

Read articles by Shaikh Abu Iyaad [may Allah preserve him]
http://abuiyaad.com/a/najmi-jahiliyyah-democracy-majority
http://abuiyaad.com/a/jami-two-faces-of-secularism
https://www.abuiyaad.com/a/call-to-liberalism-atheism-and-disbelief-in-gulf

We ask Allah to guide Ed Husain or protect us from his misguidance, dangerous negligence, and unrestrained desires in the pursuit of knowledge. We ask Allah:

اللَّهُمَّ أَصْلِحْ لِي دِينِي الَّذِي هُوَ عِصْمَةُ أَمْرِي
وَأَصْلِحْ لِي دُنْيَايَ الَّتِي فِيهَا مَعَاشِي
وَأَصْلِحْ لِي آخِرَتِي الَّتِي فِيهَا مَعَادِي
وَاجْعَلِ الْحَيَاةَ زِيَادَةً لِي فِي كُلِّ خَيْرٍ
وَاجْعَلِ الْمَوْتَ رَاحَةً لِي مِنْ كُلِّ شَرٍّ

O Allah! Rectify my religion for me, which is the safeguard of my affairs; rectify my worldly [affairs], wherein is my livelihood; and rectify my Afterlife to which is my return, and make life for me (a means of) increase in every good and make death for me as a rest from every evil. [Saheeh Muslim Number: 2720]


[1] Surah Al-An’aam. Ayah 90

[2] At-tafseer Al-Muyassar

[3] An Excerpt from Tareeq Al-Hijratayn. pages 9-10

[4[ An Excerpt from As-Sawaa’iq Al-Mursalah 4/1514

[5] An Excerpt from ‘Al-Fawaa’d pages 167-180

[6] https://binothaimeen.net/content/7366. Paraphrased]