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A Call for Co-Existence
Episode 3
Even though we might
differ, let us coexist. Coexistence is derived from the word existence, which
means to live together. Differences are part of the law of nature on which the
universe was built. The reason behind this program is the awful hardship the
Muslims are facing nowadays. We can disagree but we should still talk,
converse, respect, and accept each other’s existence. Our motto through out
these episodes will be the following verse that says, “O
you mankind, surely We created you of a male and a female, and We have made you
races and tribes that you may get mutually acquainted….” (TMQ,
49:13). Therefore these differences
exist to enable us to mutually acquaint.
Harmony is a
commitment in Islam and every juristic judgment in Islam aims at spreading
harmony among people in general and Muslims in particular. Allah
created earth so that we may develop it through the exchange of interests,
thoughts, economy and trade.
We are different,
but can we still coexist.
The 4 imams, Imam
Abu-Hanifa, Imam Malik Ibn-Anas, Imam ash-shafe’iyy and Imam Ahmad Ibn-Hanbal
(great scholars) are credited for being the first to shape Islamic jurisprudence
and have their own schools. Jurisprudence, one of the most important sciences
in Islam, is the science of finding solutions for peoples' problems in life in
light of the Qur’an and Sunnah.
Throughout this
program I will endeavor to achieve what the following verse says, “Surely the
believers are only brothers ...” (TMQ, 49:10). My intention is to bring us
together and Allah is my witness. We will not get mutually acquainted unless we
coexist together, only then can we talk about revival and how to deal with other
nations and races in this revival. The first step will be how to live and
coexist together?
We shall start with
Imam Abu-Hanifa; a prime example of how to effectively coexist. His name is
No’man Ibn-Thabet al-Mazraban, a Persian. His grandfathers were non-Arabs but
they embraced Islam. He was born in Koofah in the year 80 after
hijrah
and died in the year 150 after hijrah. Thus he lived for 70 years. He
paved the way for those who followed him. He was the first to develop the
revered science Islamic jurisprudence.
Scholars say,
"Muslims should supplicate for
Abu-Hanifa in their prayers because he was the first to shape Islamic
jurisprudence and laws in Islam". Today we find Muslims in disagreement with
one another, yet Islam and Muslims at that time accepted Abu Hanifa despite
being a non-Arab.
Ibn-Abu Laila, a
scholar, was once sitting with Eissa Ibn-Hisham, the ruler of Koofah who
was fanatic about Arabs. Ibn-Hisham asked him about the best jurisprudence
scholars and Ibn-Abu Laila replied with many great names. When Ibn-Hisham
discovered that the scholars of Al-Madinah, Makkah, Yemen, Yamamah, Levant, the
Arab Peninsula and Basra were all non-Arabs, his face turned red with anger. He
then asked who is the scholar of Koofah, Ibn-Abu Laila was going to say
Hammad, the teacher of Abu-Hanifa who was a non-Arab but instead he mentioned an
Arab called Ibrahim al-Nakh’iyy. Ibn-Hisham breathed a sigh of relief and said
“Allahu Akbar (Allah is the greatest)”.
Non-Arabs excelled
in science, meanwhile Arabs were preoccupied with battles and conquests
therefore they were not able to delve in science. Non-Arabs wanted to be part
of the new nation and Islam so they concentrated on science; hence a balance
between the two groups (Arabs and non-Arabs) was achieved. Arabs are credited
for accepting the study of non-Arabs of Islamic sciences, and as a result the
community became integrated.
Are community
members nowadays ready to accept each other? When Arabs gave the chance to
non-Arabs to study and excel; they effectively preserved many revered sciences
of Islam. A man like Abu-Hanifa, for example, was accepted by the community
although he was of Persian origin. Later on, Abu-Hanifa becomes known as the
‘Greatest Imam’ and the ‘Imam of Imams’.
Abu Hanifa was
brought up in Koofah, the center of the Islamic reign during the rule of
Ali Ibn-Abu-Talib. A huge mosque was built in Koofah which held up to
40,000 people. This mosque was to be the starting point for Abu-Hanifa.
Abu-Hanifa's father
was a fabric merchant. When he was about 17 years old, he decided to make his
father’s shop the largest in Iraq. He looked for the finest man who taught
marketing science as he had a scientific approach to every thing in life. By the
way, three of the four imams were encouraged by their mothers to study science.
This was the year 80 after hijrah. Interestingly enough, very few people
today apply science to trade. Yet Abu-Hanifa wanted a specialist to teach him
the essence of trade. At this stage studying was never on his mind, all that
mattered to him was to be successful in life.
He asked his father
to modernize the shop and in a few years he became the owner of one of the
biggest shops in Koofah. He always excelled in anything he did. His
father allowed him to develop the business hence the shop flourished and they
became richer by the day, their yearly income became 200,000 dinars. Abu-Hanifa
only kept 4000 dirhams per year for himself and his family and spent the rest on
charitable causes.
Nowadays we find
problems arising between generations when the son joins the father’s trade. The
father wants to apply his method and the son wants to innovate.
One day Abu-Hanifa
passed by a man called ash-Sha’biyy, one of the greatest and well-known Islamic
scholars. Ash-Sha’biyy asked Abu-Hanifa about the scholars from whom he learns
from to which Abu-Hanifa replied, "a marketing lesson", but ash-Sha’biyy was
referring to scholars' lessons. Ash-Sha’biyy found in Abu-Hanifa the
attentiveness, activeness, intelligence and drive that cannot be satisfied by
trade alone. Science was the advice of Ash-Sha’biyy to Abu-Hanifa to make use of
his intelligence.
We suffer these days
in our countries because no one knows how to spot talented people. Talents are
born, then die and get buried without being discovered. Ash-Sha’biyy took one
look at Abu-Hanifa and knew that trade was not the only thing he would be good
at. If he learns religious science as well, then he was destined to be unique.
Ash-Sha’biyy's words led to the emergence
of a great Imam in Islam who founded the first Islamic jurisprudence school and
the most famous to date. Abu-Hanifa is the most widespread juristic school in
the Islamic world, especially among non-Arabic speaking Muslims.
Abu-Hanifa started
by asking about the different religious sciences available for study, and he was
told, “Qur'an, hadeeth, linguistics, poetry and jurisprudence.” Those were the
sciences at that time. He asked Ash-Sha’biyy about the best scholars in the
field and was told “Hammad Ibn-Abu-Sulaiman”.
It was after this
encounter that the young Imam began his quest for knowledge, and he
accompanied Hammad for 18 years. After just 3 years, Hammad felt that Abu-Hanifa
was progressing so well that he let Abu-Hanifa sit beside him in his circle.
Nowadays, we hear of
professors or seniors who when faced with an exceptional employee, they would
either harass him or expel him. Hammad allowed others to succeed, that is why
Abu-Hanifa was always grateful to him.
Coexistence is
evident in such a society that accepted the success of a young man of Persian
origin. Coexistence is clear in this community of scholars who accepted and
welcomed a merchant, and in Hammad who accepted a young, well-dressed man to
become his student and then his colleague.
Abu Hanifa sought
the teachings of Ja’far as-Sadiq, the founder of the Shiite jurisprudence.
Abu-Hanifa studied Shiite jurisprudence although he disagreed with it in some
aspects. This is a great example of coexistence on Abu-Hanifa’s part. Regardless
of whether you agree or disagree with a certain concept, individual, or idea,
one must accept and respect its existence. This was a healthy community that
reinforced coexistence where a mentor helps his students to excel and then
distinguishes one to be his equal. Such attitudes result in a mature, tolerant,
and prosperous community.
Today, we want to
say that coexistence is evident in our everyday life. You have to coexist with
yourself, your family, your mentors, and with your society.
In today’s society,
many of us are actually pushing each other backwards. Coexistence is clearly
lacking even within the same home. Courts are filled with lawsuits. Think about
this verse, “..and We have made you races and tribes that you may get
mutually acquainted.” (TMQ, 49:13)
Later on, Hammad was
informed that he inherited a relative in Basra. As he was the sole beneficiary
he had to go there himself to receive the inheritance. Hammad left the circle
and asked Abu-Hanifa to take his place.
Have you ever heard
of a research group that succeeded together, and then stayed together? The West
is more successful because they work in a joint institutional system.
Abu-Hanifa replaced
him for two months. During this period, he faced questions that have never been
asked before. When Hammad returned, Abu-Hanifa presented the questions to him.
They dealt with 60 questions. He agreed with him on 40 and disagreed on the
remaining 20. He then realized that he was wrong about the remaining 20
questions.
One major problem in
our countries is that our companies, factories, universities and research work
all lack teamwork spirit. We also lack coexistence between mentors and
students?
Abu-Hanifa had
disagreed with Hammad on more than one occasion. Nonetheless, he still asked
Allah’s forgiveness to be bestowed upon Hammad in as much as he asked it for his
parents. He even asked Allah's forgiveness for all those who taught him and all
those he taught. People asked him why, and he would reply, “so that they may
stick to the right path “and I may continue to be rewarded for their work”.
Fathers may ask how
they can contain their children. Children may ask how they can deal with their
fathers. Women may ask how they can live in harmony with their husbands.
Abu-Hanifa was 40 years old, when he founded the greatest school. He was the
first to reject the idea of individual jurisprudence. Thus, he started a group
of 40 scholars. The group contained all specialties: commerce, language,
hadeeth, Qur'an, interpretation and poetry. This group would gather and address
the needs and problems of the society through searching for provisions in the
Qur'an and the Sunnah. If nothing could be found, they would think together to
reach a solution. In fact, hundreds or even thousands of people attended these
sessions. But the 40 experts would sit in the first few rows.
Abu-Hanifa would
begin by presenting the problem, and then the discussion would start. They
would analyze the problem, discuss the assumptions and search for the cause. A
member was designated to write the minutes of the session. Indeed, this is
scientific methodology which involves analyzing the problem, proposing
assumptions, and then presenting solutions. This could last for one day, two
days, or even a week .The group members would also participate by raising their
hands and having their say. Eventually, they would reach a final decision
concerning the given problem, in light of the collective opinion. What if the
decision was different from Abu-Hanifa's opinion? That did not matter as the
decision was a result of combined opinions of the group members.
A very important
role was played by a man called Abu-Yusuf, one of Abu-Hanifa's distinguished
students. He occupied the position of the chief judge in the Islamic state
during the reign of the four Caliphs. During his time with Abu-Hanifa, he would
write the final decision or fatwa (legal
opinion issued by Islamic scholars), and the
reasons behind it. This group worked for 30 years, starting from when Abu-Hanifa
was 40 till he became 70. They bridged the gap between worldly life and
religion. Abu-Hanifa offered the first scholarship to Abu-Yusuf. Although he was
a poor student, Abu-Hanifa thought he was very promising. Occasionally,
Abu-Hanifa would give him 100 dirhams. He even told him that when he ran out of
money he should go back to him. Then, he gave him a monthly allowance.
Abu-Yusuf decided to
start his own circle. One day Abu-Hanifa asked one of his attendees to go to
Abu-Yusuf's circle and present to him the following question: A man went to a
tailor (Abu-Yusuf was originally a tailor), and asked him to shorten a garment
for a dirham. The next day the man returned to find that the job was not done.
When he tuned up on third day the tailor denied taking the garment. On the
following day, He passed by only to find his shortened garment up for sale.
Feeling embarrassed, the tailor, gave it to him.
The question to Abu-Yusuf
was: Does the tailor deserve the fee? If he says, “yes”, the man would tell him,
“You are wrong”. If he says, “no”, the man would tell him, “You are wrong”.
Abu-Yusuf said, “Yes, the tailor deserves to be paid”. The man said, “You are
wrong”. Abu-Yusuf thought again and then said “No, he does not deserve it”. The
man again said, “You are wrong”. Abu-Yusuf asked the group in his circle to wait
while he went to Abu-Hanifa's circle.
Abu-Hanifa went to
meet him alone. He said, “Perhaps you are here because of the tailor's
question”. Abu-Yusuf said, “Yes”. He said, “If the tailor shortened the garment
before intending to keep it, he deserves the fee but if the tailor shortened it
after intending to keep it then he does not deserve the fee”. Abu-Hanifa looked
at him and said, “Whoever thinks that he can do without working with others,
should really pity himself. I have faith in you Abu-Yusuf, if you leave us, you
will lose and so will we”. Abu-Yusuf remained with Abu-Hanifa until his death.
He later became the chief judge for the entire Islamic state.
I suggest you think
about this example, its logic, wisdom, and tolerance. Take a good look at our
Islamic history. The West says that we are terrorists and that our thinking
methods are stagnant because those who founded our jurisprudence were stagnant.
Can we start
thinking of how we can live in harmony with the other for the sake of Islam and
for this poor nation? “And adhere firmly to the Rope of Allah …” (TMQ,
3:103).
May the Peace and
Blessing of Allah be upon you!
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