TWO TYPES OF MUSLIMS (I)

Muslims are of two types: scholars or elites (hawâs) and populous or common people (’awâm). The book Durr-i-yaktâ, in Turkish, provides the following information: Common people are those who do not possess knowledge regarding methodology and rules of Arabic grammar and literature like “Sarf” and “Nahw”. These people cannot understand books of “fatwâ” (religious legal decisions).

It is obligatory (fard) for these people to learn by asking about the knowledge of belief and worships (’ibâdât). It is also obligatory (fard) for scholars to teach through lectures, conversations (sohbats), and writings; firstly knowledge pertaining to faith and secondly knowledge pertaining to five obligatory worships which are the foundation of the religion of Islam. It is written in the books Zahîra and Tâtârhâniyya that it is most urgent for every Muslim to learn first about the knowledge of “Ahl as-Sunnat”, i.e., the faith and tenets of belief. For this reason, the great scholar Sayyid Abdulhakîm al-Arwâsî ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’ said, sometime close to his demise: “I have preached for thirty years exclusively the teachings of Ahl as-Sunnat belief and the knowledge of beautiful ethics of Islam in all the mosques of Istanbul. Ahl as-Sunnat scholars acquired these teachings from the Sahâba, who in turn had learned from our blessed Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sal-lam’.”

The teachings of belief are called “’aqâid” or “i’tiqâd.” To maintain the tradition, we have devoted all our books to a comprehensive explanation of the belief of Ahl as-Sunnat, flavouring our explanations with Islam’s beautiful teachings on ethics and, for the same matter, emphasizing the astute merit of being in good terms with others and following a utilitarian line of action in matters involving the government. Also as a means to this ultimate end, we have kept expressing our disapproval of religiously ignorant, eclectic and disruptive people like Sayyid Qutb and Mawdûdî, who do not belong to any of the only true four Madhhabs and whose writings provoke against established governments and stir up enmity among brothers.