From the book The Big Step: How to Survive Islam in the Anglosphere
Before continuing, I want to make it clear that what I’ve said and what I’m about to say is not meant to gainsay whatever benefit converts from that era have brought to Muslims in the Anglosphere and elsewhere. Rather, and this will be the ultimate conclusion of this book, we are seeking to establish where final authority in Islam lies, which is where every Muslim should invest his faith. There are plenty of Muslims who have knowledge, who can teach, who can translate, who can give a good lecture, but they are not worthy of being invested in wholeheartedly, and this is for two main reasons. The first is that they have not reached a level of knowledge in which they can be called an authority. The second is that they are still alive.
On my blog and in the introduction to my translation of Imam an-Nawawī’s Adāb al-ʿĀlim wa al-Mutaʿallim wa al-Muftī wa al-Mustaftī,[1] al-Hajj Abū Jaʿfar al-Ḥanbalī explains how authority in Islam works and how authorities are identified,[2] but we want to focus on the idea of investing one’s faith.
Think of your faith as the most precious thing you have, similar to your life’s savings. If you lose it, you will be in serious trouble. How are you going to store your life’s savings? Would you store them in Pakistani rupees, Euros, American dollars? The first currency is weak and unstable, so no. The Euro is a disaster waiting to happen, and has been that way ever since it was introduced. The American dollar is the world’s reserve currency, but how long is that going to last? No paper currency remains the reserve currency forever. Is there anything else, any other monetary form?
What about gold? The value of gold is stable. It’s not subject to inflation unless there is a highly rare mass discovery. Gold has also stood the test of time. It has been a safe haven for rulers, governments, wealthy elites and others for millennia. Gold would clearly be the best option.
What does it mean to invest your faith in gold? For us, gold is the scholars who have stood the test of time and whose value has never decreased. Think of someone like Imam an-Nawawī, may Allah have mercy on him, whose book is mentioned above. This is a scholar of remarkable authority. His books, especially in the sciences of fiqh and ḥadīth, continue to be studied and read to this day. His Lord called him home well over 700 years ago, which means that we know everything we are going to know about him and there are no surprises lurking in ambush.
If you invest your faith in Imam an-Nawawī and people like him, people who have stood the test of time and whose value has never decreased, your faith will be safe. If you turn to people like this for answers to your questions, for advice in difficult times, for guidance in the face of falsehood, you will be well-served, and your faith will be safe. It is these people that you need to look at and tell yourself, ‘These are the people bearing Islam. Islam is with these people.’
If you invest your faith in Imam an-Nawawī and people like him, people who have stood the test of time and whose value has never decreased, your faith will be safe. If you turn to people like this for answers to your questions, for advice in difficult times, for guidance in the face of falsehood, you will be well-served, and your faith will be safe. It is these people that you need to look at and tell yourself, ‘These are the people bearing Islam. Islam is with these people.’
When it comes to studying and learning from people who are alive, you want to be with those people who have saved the gold. You want to follow the living people who, in turn, follow the likes of Imam an-Nawawī in word, creed and deed. Living people like this are akin to a strong paper currency, and a strong paper currency is backed up by gold. They become gold themselves after they have left this world and their works and legacy have stood the test of time. Following people like this and benefitting from them is similar to having gold in one’s vault while using cash for one’s day to day transactions. No matter what happens to the cash, the gold is always there, safe and sound, ready to back you up.
In short, we judge the living by the dead.
In short, we judge the living by the dead.
The dangers of investing your faith entirely in living people, especially those who are not backed up by gold, should now be clear to you. If you look at a living person, or a group of living people, and tell yourself, ‘These are the people bearing Islam. Islam is with these people’, you are investing your life savings in paper currencies. Some are stronger than others, that’s true, but none of them are gold, and they can he hyperinflated until they are worthless. If you invest your faith in some Sufi shaykh or hippie convert or cult or political organisation, what will happen when that individual or organisation disappoints you? What will happen to your faith when they drastically change course or can no longer meet your needs? You will lose your faith, plain and simple.
[1] This translation has now been published: http://www.ibfim.com/img/kmc/2017-publications/007.jpg (Accessed Sept 26, 2017)
[2] http://mahdinnm.blogspot.com/2016/02/authority-in-islam.html (Accessed Nov 28,2016)
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