Asalaam O Alaikum Brothers and Sisters... :)
I wanted to say thank you and JazakAllah for all the support that I've seen at this forum since the terrorist attack in Paris. I am so glad and happy that I am at this forum with brothers and sisters who have understanding of the Message of Peace which is in Islam and that is what Islam is truly all about, its about love, peace, mercy, kindness, tolerance towards Muslims and non Muslims, and forgiveness and to always side with the truth regardless whichever side is it on and support the weak/oppressed who have no support.
Except for the very few here, who InshA'Allah I pray may Allah (swt) guide them to and if they choose to continue this way then I hope the admins will do their job.
2ndly I came across this article written by Dr. Yasir Qadhi, who I'm pretty sure many of you have heard him a lot online and on TV on different Islamic channels across the globe. He's a very good scholar mashA'Allah and I hope we continue to benefit from him. I personally have benefited from him quite a lot in the past.
He has written a short book called '
Salafi Islam' by Dr. Yasir Qadhi. You can find the book at the below link. He has discussed the great contributions of Salafi interpretation but he's also pointed some grave error that are of very serious nature, that cannot be overlooked especially at this time when extremism has become a cancer and has emerged from within the majority of this Ummah i.e. Sunni Muslim world.
http://muslimmatters.org/2014/04/22/...r-yasir-qadhi/
http://cdn.muslimmatters.org/wp-cont...asir-Qadhi.pdf
....the reason for sharing this book is because I believe that many brothers and sisters here at this forum are from U.K (not all) and else where following Salafi interpretation. I respect that. However I believe that since every movement has its pros and cons and the pros are beneficial but cons are what we should be aware of. Since I began my journey in Islam I've almost always come across brothers and sisters following this interpretation having a very staunch opposition to those who don't accept their scholars Fatwas. They are at times very narrow minded and consider everything black and white in Islam, even those areas which are grey areas and which are open to other interpretations.
Considering Shias as Kafirs, niqab is compulsory in Islam, women cannot drive, Sufis are doing shirk, don't pray behind Sufis and Shias, declaring Takfir in words against those whom they consider deviants and then at times in actions! etc etc. The tolerance I've observed is almost zero towards others of different views and most important of all there is no love. An extreme form of these concepts then leads some young ones who have natural zeal in them due to the fiery youth within them to even pick up weapons and fight these 'deviances' in the name of Jihad....one of the extreme form was in the face of the Siege of Makkah in 1979.....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Mosque_seizure
...these men were worshippers at night, through Tahajjud they would all be in prayers and guess what they did? They even spilled blood inside the Masjid Al Haram for the sake of 'Enjoin Good and Forbid Evil'.....I've read a book called the Kingdom or I think Inside the kingdom which explained their characteristics before they siezed Al Haram. The other face of it can be seen later in the face of Al Qaeda, TTP in Pakistan and now ISIS.
Please don't think that I'm saying that following this interpretation would lead you to commit the same acts, absolutely NO! But we must be aware as to what are those actions and concepts that lead towards danger zone? May be you and I won't be led towards the danger zone but some in their extreme zeal will and it has happened and is still happening in Iraq, Syria and other parts of the Muslim world in the acts of suicide bombers and other similar acts! My sole intention is to share this message and the booklet by Dr. Yasir Qadhi for my brothers and sisters, whom I love and I want them to see which I believe many of you need to know.
I am sorry if I have hurt anyone's feelings, Allah (swt) knows that that is not my intention. I just believe that we should be aware of the things that can corrupt and confuse us.
This thread is opened just to share this message and the book. It is not for long discussions, however please feel free to share comments and feel free to correct me.
May Allah (swt) increase us in guidance and love and mercy between our hearts and the Ummah. Ameen.
The Sheikh has said in the end of his book which I would like to quote as it is an advise and warning to the one who will quote his book.
A note to my detractors: It is un-Islamic to quote one sentence from this article and portray it asrepresentative of my entire opinion. Context is crucial, otherwise even the Qur’an and Sunnahcan easily be misunderstood. Feel free to differ, but please link to the entire article, and leteducated readers decide my views for themselves as they read the complete article, and see mypraise alongside my criticisms of the movement, and the disclaimers in the end.