{Quick Reflections 44} Corrupted Islam 3

To set the records straight and make sure we are all on the same page I would like to reiterate the following.
Islam is a very practical and realistic way of life. Nothing in its teachings or directions is theoretical. Definitely any topic or issue that is managed theoretically is not Islamic and if it is said to be then it is part of the corrupted Islam.

To understand in depth the difference between theory and practice and hence between corrupted and authentic Islamic topics or authorities I will relate a couple of experiences I went through. Each one of them could be considered a phase in my life that lasted for several years in my journey in trying to understand and filter through the ruble the diamond from the brass. After that understanding we will be able to recognize whom to trust and whom not to in terms of Islamic authorities or leaderships with a very high accuracy. Once we reach that stage of recognition we can then start believing and thinking about a plan for reform. Until then the corruption will further erode through all of us lead by the fifth column (whom we will extensively talk about at a later stage if God wills).


The first phase was experiencing “Islam the theory” which started as early as I can remember until college, around 18. The second phase is what I call “Real Life Islam” or “True Islam” that has started since then is on going until now.


Phase I: The Genius of Muhammad (Peace be upon him)

Unfortunately adults often underestimate children's memory and understanding. Hence many talents and potentials are buried underneath heaps and heaps of stereotyped school curricula and an unending list of meaningless do's and don’ts being learnt either at home or in school. Even worse they are usually misused to serve the most shallow meanings or causes. In the few instances that parents have recognized and well directed their children how to think and believe those children grew up to be great men who have a noble mission and a smart cause. For example Ralph Nader’s father, when he was 10 he asked him: “Well, Ralph, what did you learn in school today? Did you learn how to believe or did you learn how to think?”
That is not what I intended to talk about here, perhaps later!

When I was 4 years old I remember hearing my father discussing with my mother how they want to raise my brother and me. I remember him focusing mainly on morals and ethics. He continued to raise us in a “protected environment” where almost everything was perfect and there was minimal chance for any form of corruption or evil to cross our path until I was 12 years old. I did not realize that I was raised in a protected (unreal or theoretical) environment until years later when I went out to the “Real Life”. At that point I was reading the series of the “Geniuses” by Abbas el-Aqaad like, “The Genius of Omar”, “The Genius of Khalid” and others. The most intriguingly simple of which, at that time to me, was “The Genius of Muhammad” (peace be upon him). Of course Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) has the most humanly perfect manners. However the way el-Aqaad presented it, in light of being raised in a protected environment on the same concepts, it seemed simple.

Phase II: Morals of the Muslim

After I was released from my protective cage to the real world, every day and every encounter with others was a test to all what I had learnt. I was around 18 when I started reading “Morals of the Muslim” by el-Ghazaly (may God’s mercy be upon him). It took me almost 2 years to finish the book. After each chapter discussing one moral or another I would stop and evaluate myself to see where I stand from that based on my daily interactions with others. After some achievement on the relevant moral in real life I would then move to the next chapter. It was the simplest book and most difficult one I have ever read in my life. Only then I started to realize the genius of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and that I know nothing and understand nothing. I had to start learning for real….

Only then I understood how easy it is to talk and preach and how difficult it is to practice what you preach in real life. Only then I slowly started to realize the difference between a preacher and a real practical Muslim living life at its fullest. Only then I realized the genius of Omar Ibn-el-Khattab as a man of actions not words.
You will notice that the most prominent companions of the Prophet (peace by upon him) and leaders of early Islam where not scholars and have not narrated many ahadeeth. On the contrary they all had tough jobs through which they earned money with which they helped Islam. They were not there all the time sitting at the feet of the Prophet (peace be upon him) listening to him. They would hear from him (peace be upon him) and be out there in life implementing what they learnt. That is how tough and strong they were. They were leaders from, and in, real life. They were not theoretical heroes and carriers of immense amounts of knowledge.

One of my best friends, who is a physician, was much stricter than me, in religious terms, when he was in a certain “research” position where life is easier and time is more abundant. Once he moved to another much more demanding clinical job with less free time and much more interaction with people he started to loosen up more and his views became more lenient, practical and applicable. Real life is not a protected environment like that entertained by most researchers and scholars.

It is easy to lock yourself up in a room amongst a pile of Islamic scholarly books and then come out every once in a while to tell people what to do and what not to do. After all you “learned” much more than them and they would not have the knowledge to argue with you. It is easy to direct people and judge them when you are living in a protected environment, where you receive your salary in a protected job, with everyone looking up to you and respecting you because of your knowledge. However that knowledge is mostly theoretical. You have not experienced the hardships of true life that an average man faces. Accordingly your “opinions” and “directions” to the poor average man are not practical or realistic.

With time the rift between the “theoretical scholars” and the “average Muslim” widens because most what the former directs to the later is not applicable and does not address real life. After a while some average people who try to listen to the theoretical scholars lose balance and become extremists in one part of the religion or another and totally abandon another part. The majority of other people lose interest in whatever those theoretical scholars say and slowly sway away from religion. After centuries of that practice you end up with the current situation of corrupted Islam. You have “knowledgeable unrealistic scholars”, “extremists to one end or another” and a majority of Muslims losing trust in Islam as a whole because of the 2 other groups.

However that is not the whole story. There is a very important fourth group that ensures the maintenance of the status quo; the hypocrites or the fifth columnists.