Reflections on ‘Mission Impossible: Uniting the Ummah | Shaykh Osta’

How can we unite Muslims across the world when there is so much bickering over minor issues such as moonsighting, madhab debates and the most dreaded one ‘Aqida debates’. There is chaos in the Muslim world with millions of Uyghurs in detention in China, blood being spilt in Syria, Libya, Iraq and Palestine, just to name a few. When we need to unite the most, we are the most divided.

Shaykh Osta explains that we have to appreciate the diversity within the Ummah. For instance, the Salafis championed independence of ijtihad and purity of aqida, the ikhwanis championed social work and activism, Tableeghi Jamaat focused on the spiritual lens of salaat, sufi tariqas focused on akhlaaq, adab and tazkiyya (purification of the heart), the Ulema presented a formal study perspective and Hizb-ut Tahrir focused on politics. Every movement had a focus that they worked hard to perfect.

Now it’s time to produce a synthesis of these movements to deliver a holistic and fully integrated solution to the Ummah’s problems. Shaykh Osta mentions that the Ummah over time has become even more disunited.

Co-host Ramet describes each group as having a piece of a jig-saw puzzle and they each need to consolidate to complete the picture. It’s also about ‘priorities’ for instance if calling out the Milad un Nabi as a bid’a is as important as tackling therising Islamophobia that we face in the West.

There is also the question of where do we draw the line with compromise. Is the deen one size fits all? Shaykh Osta admits there’s a bipolar dichotomy with those who are strict madhabis and those who are anti-madhabi and the Shaykh opines that there is an solution that lies in the middle path. The Madhabs should build schools and universities across the world and use people, who are developed in the skill of ijtihad, to develop the madhab. There should also be opportunities to produce and develop new schools of thought. This is a ground breaking projection by Shaykh Osta and one that would be unthinkable to many muqallids reading their advanced Usool Al Fiqh books.

How can there be a madhab after the big 4 madhabs who have survived centuries of critique and peer review work for another one to spring up in the new age?

Well the times and challenges are different and we are living in a new era of technology and information which the 4 madhabs are struggling to incorporate. There should be flexibility within the madhabs to produce scholars who are not afraid to reinterpret the texts to solve modern problems.

For instance a fiqhi question in Australia surrounding usage of insurance policies could have a completely difference answer in Pakistan.

At the same time, we can’t just mix a potion of the different groups and create a soup, where it may result in contradictions. Careful study must take place of what can be synthesised to produce solutions to the Muslims. There should remain clear boundaries, for e.g. not supporting tyrannical rulers, having a sound aqida and never going against the ijma of the scholars. Shaykh Osta explains that every 100 years there is a revival, where the point of convergence is found.

Co-host Tanzim asks Shaykh Osta about Shaykh Hamza Yusuf being selected in the ‘Commission on Unalienable rights’ in which the commission is not under the influence of the Trump administration and thus independent. Shaykh Hamza Yusuf may put forth the idea that he may be able to influence Trump’s politics and policies in favour of the Muslim ummah. This could very much possibly be the case.

Tanzim recalls when he was salafi, and embodied ablack or white understanding of Islam, he used to view the Sufis as deviants and was told not to follow certain ulema such as Shaykh Yaqoobi and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf. This close mindedness limited Tanzim’s depth of understanding to the Islamic tradition. He then experienced an awakening when he started to listen to Shaykh Hamza Yusuf and is now a designated Hanafi Ashari. This evolution is common amongst the youth with a typical trajectory starting as a hardcore Salafi non madhabhi who then starts to appreciate the 4 schools of thought when encountering fiqhi problems and realising that direct Qur’an and Sunnah derivation is the work of experts and not laymen.

For many, these issues can be very confusing, for e.g. what madhab to choose and who to speak to in order to form a foundation when it comes to understanding the tradition. This is a learning process and the most important ingredient is open mindedness and welcoming the diversity of opinions within the madhabs.

The most important takeaway points from this episode is to:

1. Subscribe to a school of thought

2. Being open to a new perspective

3. Appreciate the diversity of opinions that Islam has to offer