Kassim Ahmad's introduction to Hadith: A Re-evaluation argues that the hadith, falsely attributed to Prophet Muhammad, caused the disunity and decline of Muslims, who deserted the Quran amid a century of world crisis. Lydia Kelley draws on Sura 18, verse 5:4, and the Book of Tobit to show that God does not prohibit dogs. A notice gives the Ramadan fasting dates for 1997.
...Therefore, congratulate My servants who listen to all
views, then follow the best.
These are the ones guided by God; these are the intelligent ones. (39:17-18)
[Editor’s note: This article is part of the introduction
of the book “Hadith: A Re-evaluation” authored by Kassim Ahmad
of Malaysia. This book is translated into English from the Malay original
by Syed Akbar Ali. We are in the process of publishing this book. God
willing, it will be available for distribution by the month of Ramadan.]
Age of “Great Disorder”
The time has now arrived for the Muslims to examine their situation more
critically and boldly. Actually, this perilous situation is not confined
to the Muslims alone; it covers the entire mankind. A number of twentieth
century philosophers, historians and social critics have unanimously stated
that this century is the most critical century in human history. The late
Chinese leader, Mao Zedong, described the century as “Great Disorder
under Heaven.” The American historical philosopher, P.A. Sorokin,
has detailed the crisis of the twentieth century in his able book,
The Crisis of Our Age, published
in 1941. It is in this century that two terrible world wars occurred,
and a third more horrible one might still occur, in spite of the end of
the Cold War, to destroy the present civilization.
It is in this century also that an array of philosophies, ideologies,
theories, systems that includes liberalism, Marxism, pragmatism, logical
positivism, existentialism, Nazism, Fascism, Stalinism, Ghandhism, Maoism
and religious traditionalism collapsed. When dominant existing philosophies
and systems cannot solve the problems of human security and welfare, it
is a sure sign that a very serious crisis is upon us.
....This great disorder is evidenced by the great ideological cleavage,
the continuous raging of the fires of war, the massive starvation and
poverty in the Third World, the steep decline in public morality, world-wide
financial and economic crisis and the inability of the United Nations
to function effectively.
The Muslims had long lost their intellectual
and political leadership of the world. The break-up of their empire in
1258 AD gave way to independent dynasties which continued until they were
colonized by European powers beginning in the sixteenth right up to the
early twentieth centuries. Then, with the rise of nationalism in Asia
and Africa, nearly all of them regained their independence and set up
sovereign nation-states.
However, the Muslims had ceased to be creative around the fourteenth
century. Their period of intense creativity lasted three centuries from
the ninth through to the eleventh. Their last great philosopher was the
Arab Ibn Khaldun (d. 1406). Since that time Muslim intellect stagnated
and even degenerated and Europe took over to develop dominant philosophies
and disciplines along materialist and hedonistic lines.
After more than a century of modern reformism
Page 2
Hadith
efforts initiated by Jamaluddin al-Afghani and Muhammad Abduh,
the Muslim world, a world as disunited as any other, has not progressed
much. They have not been able to fight off the ideological influence
and domination of the world power-blocs. They are not united in
their Muslim purpose. Their economies are dependent and backward.
Their sciences and technologies are non-existent. Militarily, they
are weak and dependent on the big powers.
However, there has been much talk, since the early seventies, of
implementing the Shari`a or medieval Muslim law and the setting
up of an Islamic state. This is the slogan of the traditionalists
who have taken over the reform movement of Muhammad Abduh. The examples
of mullah rule in Iran since the great popular anti-Shah revolution
and the Islamization programs in some countries do not give support
to the traditionalist alternative.
The main weakness of the Muslims is their disunity. This disunity
takes the form in their inability to cooperate for the good of Muslims
in individual countries and the whole Muslim world. It also surfaces
in the form of conflicts and wars between Muslims, as typified by
the Iran-Iraq war and the civil wars in Lebanon.
What is the cause of this disunity? The Muslims claim that they
worship one God and follow His one religion. They also declare their
religious brotherhood. How then are they so disunited? This is the
mystery that we have to unravel. This is
the reason for our re-evaluation of
the hadith. Our hypothesis is that the hadith—in principle,
a false teaching attributed to Prophet Muhammad—is a major
factor causing disunity and backwardness among Muslims. Our study
is to prove this hypothesis.
Where Have We Gone Wrong?
The time is ripe for Muslims and for mankind as a whole to undertake
a fundamental study of this great human crisis. At some point, somewhere,
we have gone wrong. Where have we gone wrong? It will be recalled
that modern secular Europe emerged in the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries in rebellion against the Catholic Church in particular
and against religion in general to embrace secular humanism of the
liberal or Marxist variety. For the last one to three hundred years
it experimented with these social philosophies and systems and the
experiments have proved a failure. Today the two philosophies and
systems are seeking a synthesis. Can the synthesis be achieved?
Can it answer mankind’s present quest for a new spiritual
philosophy?
As for the Muslims, the new and young Muslim society and state
set up by Muhammad and his compatriots in seventh century Arabia
developed and expanded so rapidly that within a century it had become
an empire to comprise also Persia and Byzantium, and within two
to three hundred years it had created a great world civilization.
But, as quickly as it had arisen, so quickly had it declined and
fallen. Today, the Muslim polity, science and civilization, great
though they were in their time, are glories and things of the past.
There seems to be no bridge linking their great predecessors of
the early centuries and present-day Muslims.
The great question mark hanging over
the Muslims and the entire mankind today is: Why? The short answer
to the question, which is the thesis of this book, is that mankind,
including the Muslims, have deserted the true teachings of God.
The true teachings of God in the era of Muhammad are contained in
His final scripture to mankind, the Quran. The People of the Scripture,
i.e. believers before Muhammad, especially the Jews and the Christians,
rejected Muhammad because they had idolized their own prophets and
religious leaders and refused to acknowledge Mohammad’s divine
message. Modern secular rebellious Europe not only turned against
their religious priesthood, in which action it was right, but also
against religion altogether, in which action it was wrong. This
is the cause of the present Western impasse.
As regards the Muslims, Muhammad brought them the Quran, described
by God Himself as an invincible book, but no sooner did Muhammad
die and leave them, they contrived to make Muhammad bring two books
and, after bitter quarrels, they legislated, two hundred and fifty
years later, that Muslims must uphold not only the Quran but also
the hadith. However, in truth, since then, they followed the hadith
rather than the Quran. This explains God’s warning in the
Quran [25:30-31.] So it came about that while secular Europe embraced
either liberalism or Marxism, the Muslim world embraced the hadith,
with the philosophies of secular humanism infecting the elite of
Muslim societies, thus justifying the Quranic warning.
Kassim Ahmad
Page 3
Dogs: Beyond Traditional Islam
Why is it that dogs are looked down
upon in the so-called Muslim world? Why has tradition made it so
difficult to keep a dog in your home? Why would a “Muslim”
taxi driver refuse to allow a blind man and his guide dog into his
cab? Dogs are wonderful creatures of God. They bond with humans,
protect them and serve them, and that has been true almost since
God placed man on earth. Does it make sense then that Muhammad (or
any messenger of God) would place prohibitions on these loving creatures
when God does not?
How do we know that Muslims are not forbidden to be around dogs?
We look at God’s word, at the Quran. In the story of the men
of the cave in Sura 18, it becomes clear that God sees dogs as part
of men’s lives. 18:18
“You would think that they were awake, when
they were in fact asleep. We turned them to the right side and the
left side, while their dog stretched his arms in their midst.”
Hadith tells us that angels won’t enter a room where there
is a dog. That means that for the 309 years that the sleepers were
in the cave, no angel ever entered. Yet God says “We turned
them....” The use of “we” clearly indicates the
participation of angels. There is absolutely no reason to even mention
the dog as part of this story, except to make it clear to future
generations that dogs are permitted to live among people, right
“in their midst.” And 18:22 clearly shows that the dog
was counted right along with the believers.
“Some would say, They were three; their dog
being the fourth, while others would say, Five; the sixth being
their dog, as they guessed. Others said, seven, and the eighth was
their dog. Say, My Lord is the best knower of their number. Only
a few knew the correct number. Therefore, do not argue with them;
just go along with them. You need not consult anyone about this.”
There are books of the Bible that don't
make it into all Bibles. They are recognized by some sects but not
by others. These are called “apocrypha.” One such book
is entitled “Tobit.” It is a wonderful narrative. It
reminds me of Luqmaan in the Quran. A faithful man counsels his
son to worship God always, to be righteous, to give charity and
never begrudge the gift, to be humble and to be fair in all business
dealings. In this book of Tobit, the son, Tobias, goes off on a
journey to help his father. God sends with him an angel in the form
of a man, and chapter 5, verse 16 says: “So they went out
and departed and the young man’s dog was with them.”
And as they return home, after all the adventures and good things
that happen, in chapter 11: “After this Tobias went on his
way, praising God because He had made his journey a success....So
they went their way, and the dog went along behind them.”
There is no other mention of the dog in the whole narrative. It’s
just like the people of the cave. There is no reason to mention
the dog at all, except to show that it’s a perfectly natural
thing to be accompanied by your dog. God certainly does not prohibit
it.
God has given dogs qualities that make them perfect companions
and helpmates for humans. The fact that dogs like to be around people
and like to please them makes them easy to breed for specific characteristics
and to train for a variety of wonderful jobs. Dogs come in all shapes
and sizes from the 5" tall, 6 pound Chihuahua to the Mastiff
and St. Bernard which may reach 200 pounds. Some dogs are meant
to simply be a companion to man, small enough to carry around and
sit on your lap. Scientific studies have shown that just petting
a dog can lower a person’s blood pressure. So their simple
companionship is a gift from God.
Beyond that, dogs perform a vast
array of wonderful skills. Dogs are excellent herders and guards
of sheep and cattle. Some dogs have a natural desire to protect.
Police and the military frequently make use of this attribute, using
German Shepherds, Dobermans and Rottweilers in their work. Dogs
are wonderful in search and rescue. This has gone on for hundreds
of years, from the famous St. Bernards of Switzerland finding people
lost in the snow and laying down with them to keep them warm (they
did not carry a keg of brandy) to modern times, finding survivors
in the rubble of earthquakes.
Dogs have always participated in the sporting world, as the Quran
attests in 5:4.
“They consult you concerning what is lawful
for them; say, Lawful for you are all good things, including what
trained dogs and falcons catch for you. You train them according
to God’s teachings. You may eat what they catch for you, and
mention God’s name thereupon. You shall observe God. God is
most efficient in reckoning.”
Yet according to Hadith, anything a dog touches must be washed
seven times, the final time in dust. That seems inconsistent with
the Quran saying you may eat what they catch for you. The beautiful
bird brought back proudly in the Retriever’s mouth would have
to be washed seven times, finally in dust. It doesn’t sound
very appetizing.
Recently man has come to rely on the dog more for companionship
and affection than anything else. And out of that has come the use
of dogs as eyes, ears, arms and legs for the disabled. To watch
a seeing-eye dog guide a blind person down a busy street or through
a crowded mall is a truly inspiring sight. It allows freedom and
independence that this person would not otherwise have.
Page 4
Dogs: Beyond Traditional Islam
For a deaf person, a hearing-ear dog allows
him or her to live alone without fear. The dog can be taught to alert
his owner to the doorbell, telephone, alarm clock and smoke alarm. A deaf
couple can respond to their baby crying, for the dog will alert them.
The world is not so frightening, and they don't feel so alone, with a
dog to hear for them.
For someone in a wheelchair, or someone whose arthritis won’t allow
them to bend or lift, a dog can provide so much help and comfort. The
simple act of picking up a dropped object is something we take for granted.
But to a disabled person, it might mean the humiliation of always having
to ask for help. With a service dog by his side, that same person achieves
independence and self-esteem. The dog is happy to get the pen or the keys
or the pill bottle, even if it rolls under a table.
The positive qualities of the dog—loyalty,
dependability, tolerance— have been recognized throughout history.
Mark Twain said “If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous,
he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and
a man.” And Lord Byron’s epitaph for his dog says “[He]
possessed beauty without vanity; strength without insolence; courage without
ferocity; and all the virtues of man without his vices.”
And of course the most important trait of all, which Byron missed, is
complete and total submission to God for all his life. I think we’d
be well served to share our lives more with these wonderful creatures,
and learn more from them.
“The heavens and the earth are full of proofs for
the believers. Also in your creation, and the creation of all the animals,
there are proofs for people who are certain.” (45:3-4)
“Among His proofs is the
creation of the heavens and the earth, and the creatures He spreads in
them. He is able to summon them, when He wills.” (42:29)
Lydia Kelley
Ramadan
The Month of Fasting
January 10 - February 7, 1997
O you who believe, fasting is decreed for you, as
it was decreed for those before you, that you may attain salvation.
(2:183)
Ramadan is the month during which the Quran was revealed,
providing guidance for the people, clear teachings, and the statue
book. Those of you who witness this month shall fast therein.... (2:185)
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