Dealing with Theological Differences - Dr. Yasir Qadhi

[Hulk]

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you Hulk,

I watched the video, but have to say I found little in common with the good doctor. He talked about two Muslim groups building a Mosque together because they were both short of funds, years later the two groups divided because they had the money to build two separate mosques.

It seems when you come together for human and commercial reasons, then this unity will not last.

My thoughts on dealing with theological differences is, that you should put Allah first and find ways to pray together and to pray for each other. Despite all our differences we are all created by the same God, and the same God hears all our prayers.

In the spirit of searching for a greatest meaning of 'One God'

Eric

[Hulk]

Greetings Bro Eric H,

Thanks for watching the video and I hope you will take my response with a grain of salt as I am not particularly knowledgable on the matter and any mistake I make is out of my lack of knowledge.

While it may seem to mean that the coming together was for a "commercial reason", that may not necessarily be the case. To put it in Islamic terms it is for the maslaha of the muslim ummah. Meaning it is in the interest of the muslim ummah that such differences are put aside.

There is no doubt that serving Allah comes first before anything. It is out of love for Allah that some muslims find it difficult to work together because they believe that the other party is "wrong" in certain aspects.

However, when it comes to the question of "Who are the muslims?", there are many despite the differences, and it is in the interest of the ummah as a whole that he is referring to when talking about cooperation etc.

In regards to the two groups having separate mosques(sunni/shia) after having the means to do so, it can also be said that it is out of interest for the community as well as the intention was not to blur the lines between sunni and shia(in that context) but for the muslims to be able to have a place of worship. The separate mosques should not be taken to mean that there is any sort of "bad blood" or "aggression" between them.

My thoughts on dealing with theological differences is, that you should put Allah first and find ways to pray together and to pray for each other. Despite all our differences we are all created by the same God, and the same God hears all our prayers.

I think that in essence the message of his talk is do not let minor differences divide the Ummah and do not let it get in the way of worshipping Allah. Not to pretend that there are no differences, but rather not let the differences stand in the way of worship. When it's time to pray, pray at the nearest mosque. When it comes to discussing differences and so on, leave it to the ones who are knowledgable. It's important to remember that despite the differences, we are still muslims.

Allahu alam
God knows best.

[Eric H]

Greetings and peace be with you Bro Hulk,

Hulk; Greetings Bro Eric H,

Being looked on as a Bro despite all our differences, is a great blessing.

Unity and the ‘Oneness of God’ are a profound subject.

When I look at the struggle for unity in my marriage, we have far more that we disagree about, than we have things we can agree on, yet somehow we have been together nearly thirty years. At times I struggle to understand how we are still together, yet something keeps us coming back for more.

We have the same problems in Christianity, we are all stubbornly right in our beliefs, and this separates all the Christian denominations, you do things your way; and I will do things God’s way. But none of us truthfully knows the mind of God.

Put a dozen Catholics in a room and there will be disagreements about our faith, but we tend to tolerate these differences more; because we all have the same label.

The unity that inspires me the most, is when people with great differences; work together for a good cause. I have been a Street Pastor for nearly six years, and this brings Christians of eight denominations together, we pray with each other, and we pray for each other.

I would like to see some kind of interfaith initiative that would do the same kind of thing.

In the spirit of searching for the ‘Oneness of God’

Eric

[M.I.A.]

im not a historian so im quite confused.. lost in fact.

so the first division was the label of sunni, used to distance the majority from the extremists.

and before that they were all one.


why were the differences not found previously or made public?

or were they tolerated due to mutual understandings or other reasons.



seems to me that what we have in the world at present is the same as 1400 years ago.

and probably same since the beginning of time.



it is truly a testament to and a reinforcement of the prophet muhammed pbuh.

as well as the will of allah swt.