It’s appalling to see some of the university graduates to be victims of the dubious preachers and “Islamic teachers” with their bogus teachings and principles. Any student of higher learning would know the importance of references and sources for their academic thesis and essays but it seems that some of them give very little importance to it and regardless, readily accept the short-change from this “Islamic knowledge studies” for their consumption. It appears that there is no need for re-verifications and re-look for the authenticity of the subjects that are taught.
It is a must to ensure that we do not make lies upon Allah ﷻ & our beloved prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The teachings should remain sacredly authentic. Scholars upon scholars over the centuries have kept the religion clear from corruption. The chain of narrations were filtered and scrutinized with diligence to make sure that was no distortion or even a lie about what was being said and taught. We are very fortunate today because we have various tools and resources for us to verify, research and study to make sure what is authentic, trustable and reliable against the fake teachings and deviated doctrines. Any claims to what were said by Allah ﷻ and Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, could be substantiated with printed books and digital format in this day and age.
How can anyone be readily fooled and continuously get deeper, go darker and unbelievably different than what is real, original and authentic? How can someone just accept everything and anything without having any worry what is being consumed is of any good? It is about the religion. It is Islam. A religion that is based on references, examples and exact teachings of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. The consequences are real. We need to know what we are practising are accepted by Allah ﷻ. We need to make sure all the efforts are not gone to waste. We must make sure that we are doing it right. We cannot invent the methods and we cannot follow our own ways and desires. It is Allah’s ﷻ religion we are dealing with. So there is only one way of performing our deeds and acts of worship and that is the way of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Isn’t it funny how we are concerned about what goes into our mouths but not for what enters our hearts and souls? Rotten food makes us sick and poisons would kill us. How about our soul? What do we feed it with? What if we have destroyed and make our hearts hardened from accepting the truth? We should be very careful with the things that we do in the name of the religion. It has to be backed up with evidences and authentic sources to ensure that we are not innovating the religion of Allah ﷻ and mocking our greatest human role model, Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.
Perhaps back in those days, where information was very limited, we would completely rely on the teachers and whatever available reading materials that were within reach. However, today, the world is getting smaller and we should be eager to dive into the wider pool of knowledge. Today, the Islamic academic materials are put together and it is getting clearer by the day for those who desire to seek knowledge and immerse in deeper. The scholars upon scholars have made Islamic knowledge very reachable and readily accessible for the masses. There are various translations of the Islamic academic books and are easily available today. It makes Islam less foreign and causes many students of the religion to become active learners of the actual Arabic language, in order for them to have a more accurate understanding of the text that were written.
It should not put the Islamic teachers into the redundant basket but it will definitely make Islamic knowledge less exclusive to a specific group. We should all be thankful and grateful that this phenomenon of “woke” age and “seeking answers” community make us all less passive Muslims. We want answers and we want it accurate. We wouldn’t want to be fooled and be kept in the dark. Islam proves over time, that the al-Quran is the word of Allah ﷻ and Muhammad ﷺ is not a liar. The liars are the enemies of the religion and they have difficulties today to find more victims for their lies and deviation.
The ultimate truth is, Allah ﷻ Guides whomever He wishes and it is He who decides who goes astray. We should be resilient and remain steadfast to ensure that we will always ask Allah ﷻ for guidance, even if we think we are on the right path. For all we know, we are misguided by syaitan and we have no knowledge other than what Allah ﷻ bestowed upon us.
والله أعلمُ بالـصـواب