In a recent talk, I mentioned that the Muslim community in the West needs more takfir, not less. *Qualified* scholars need to be willing to openly declare certain views and those who espouse them as heretical and outside the fold of Islam. This is something healthy and vital for preserving the faith of this generation of Muslims as well as future generations.
As history has shown, over time, deviant views crop up like rust. If that rust is not regularly cleared out, it threatens to corrode, corrupt, and ultimately destroy what is valuable. Scholars have taken the responsibility over the centuries to do this important work and they will continue to do so inshaAllah and we should support them because it is not easy given all the pressures nowadays against takfir.
Obviously there is the liberal pressure to accept all no matter what their "religious" beliefs are. To be firm on delineating correct belief risks one being labelled an extremist.
But there is also a financial pressure. Being exclusive ostensibly means fewer conference attendees, fewer registrants, fewer sign ups, and thus less money coming in. It is far more lucrative in that sense to expand the circle of acceptability, not constrict it. It is far more lucrative to water down or outright distort your material or your services to apply to as many people as possible. Alienating people with firm theological boundaries is bad for business, according to this mindset.
It has gotten to the point where now some prominent groups have been flirting with perennialism. They are pushing the bounds of acceptance to other religions even.
May Allah guide us to the Straight Path and keep us there, protecting our faith and the faith of our children and their children until the Last Day.
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