A speech by Shaykh "Muhammad Nafi'" titled: "Islam and Intellectual Freedom."
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The Shaykh : ... and he is the famous da'iyah in Idlib for the pure Muhammadan Salafi call. We take advantage of the opportunity of his presence, along with his friend, Professor ... We ask them to benefit us with a speech that guides us all, perhaps there is benefit and remembrance in it, and remembrance benefits the believers - if Allah wills - . The honorable Professor, Shaykh "Muhammad Nafi'", delivered a speech on the "radio" which was delivered on his behalf ... he delivers it to us because it contains benefits that are certainly useful, but we do not limit ourselves to this extent from him; rather, we hope that he will follow it with another speech directed to our Salafi brothers, including what ... especially regarding the circumstance we are in, which is the blessed month of Ramadan. So, let him please proceed if he wishes.
The Shaykh : Muhammad Nafi': May Allah bless you. The speech that was broadcast on the radio.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
Those present : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The Shaykh : Muhammad Nafi': Which I selected from four speeches, the best of us in addressing one of them, and its title is: "Islam and Intellectual Freedom."
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Nothing like Islam educates its followers and adherents in intellectual freedom. It is the only religion that liberated minds from falsehoods and superstitions and from the bondage of blind dependency, just as it liberated souls, through their servitude to Allah, from the snares of Satan and the pressure of desires. It made those who believe in it the best nation produced for mankind. It is clear that intellectual freedom means the release of the mind to perform its natural function of understanding and knowledge, for these are its vast fields. Indeed, the mind is the application of reflection in matters in pursuit of the desired truth. By his fitrah (innate natural disposition), man is inclined to know the truth from everything he sees and hears. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), when He granted man the powers of sensation ... made him responsible for them so that he does not take it lightly to neglect them. He said, Mighty and Majestic:[Al-Isra 17:36].
And He blamed him for ... following the pattern of those who came before him without reflection and reasoning, where he said ... His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) ... the ignorant of the previous nations[Az-Zukhruf 43:23-24], and in several places in the Noble Qur'an, He lamented the blind following of those who follow without thinking.
And ... in the teachings of Islam, we find that it unleashed the mind to derive rulings from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and ... to look at the universe to benefit from the treasures, minerals, benefits, and laws that Allah placed in it, which He made a provision among His servants, where everyone who grasps the secret of work, striving, and thinking gets his share from it.[Al-Anbya 21:105], so He draws attention to what is behind, [Al-A'raf 7:185], then He commands him to urge reflection and contemplation, saying: , , [Ar-Rum 30:8], [Ar-Ra'd 13:3], [Ar-Ra'd 13:4], [Al-'Ankabut 29:43], [Ar-Rum 30:28], [Al-Baqarah 2:29]; do you think He created it so that they would neglect it? Or so that they would benefit from it? And whoever knows the abundance of those who benefit from the verses like Islam, whether from the Companions, the Tabi'un, or those who follow them, realizes that they did not take the path of ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) except because Islam made it easy for them and tasked them to exert ijtihad in every matter where they did not find an explicit text from the Lawgiver, or they did not obtain it or look at it, or it was ambiguous with more than one interpretation. Allah (the Exalted) said: [Muhammad 47:24], and He said - also - : [An-Nisa 4:82-83], and he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan an-Nasa'i 5381Sahih (Darussalam).
And it is sufficient for Islam in honor that it opened the locks of minds and shattered their chains, encouraging them to move forward ... and it did not restrict ... experimental sciences ... and nothing is more indicative of this than ... Muslims in medicine, astronomy, the layers of the earth, marine sciences, and ... the conditions of animals ... and other sciences. And it did not ... because it sees that as a religion, just as if it blocked the need of the nation for industries that make them independent of others, which is a collective obligation (fard kifayah) for which the entire nation is sinful ... and they also became sinful ... so they did not think about ... the causes of military and non-military material strength and their realization, in verification of the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:[Al-Anfal 8:60], and ... the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) guided his ummah (Muslim community) to the application of thought ... life is a command that educates man in the fear of Allah in secret and in public, and he counted among them that his silence in it should be thought and his speech should be remembrance. He also taught them not to accept a statement without evidence: [Al-Baqarah 2:111], and He severely condemned following desires, and lowered the status of one who neglects his thought and does not benefit from his hearing and sight; until He placed him at the level of livestock, or even lower than them. He said, Mighty and Majestic: [Al-A'raf 7:179].
And since we have clarified the extent of intellectual freedom in Islam and its encouragement of intellectual liberation and its respect for rational thinkers, we see it necessary to hint at what befell Muslims during periods of weakness: a deviation from sound Islamic education, by which its causes harmed Islam and Muslims, intentionally or unintentionally. It crippled their minds, disabled their thinking, and turned their submission, making it to sheikhs and educators after it was to Allah and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
So the description of the seeker as righteous is not complete except with his complete submission to his Shaykh, such that he becomes like a dead person in the hands of the washer!! And they taught him that a seeker who says to his Shaykh: "Why?" will not succeed, even though the great Imams of religion and knowledge did not allow their followers to take their ijtihad or issue fatwas based on it until they knew their evidence in it.
So look, O my Muslim brother, at this great reversal that cut off ijtihad, disabled thinking, and distorted intellectual freedom, preventing the student from objecting to his Shaykh even if he saw him doing what is wrong, as their sheikhs explicitly stated in speech and writing. By doing so, they paved the way for colonialism; where the colonizer exploited this deviant education that was given the attribute of religion. He bought the consciences of followed people, and by virtue of their blind obedience to them, he reached many of his demands and imposed much of his power. He terrified and frightened, and many of them remained silent about proclaiming the truth. They neglected speaking about the verses that liberate and the hadiths that awaken. Negligence increased among Muslims due to the silence resulting from the ruler's oppression and tyranny. Intellectual freedom diminished, and necessity compelled many free thinkers to accommodate those who control their necks and to adjust their research according to the desires of the tyrants. Thus, the philosophy of thought mixed with the politics of command, producing a sterile direction that only beget the splitting of the word, the widening of disagreement, and the multiplication of inclinations and directions. The Muslim peoples bowed under the yoke of direct and indirect colonialism in its various military, political, economic, and cultural forms. But hope has become strong with our rising generations, which began their intellectual awakening at the beginning of the twentieth century at the hands of some Islamic renewers. They will return the truth to its place with the help of Allah (the Exalted), and uproot the disease of stagnation and negligence from minds and souls, and correct the crooked behavior that filled the midst of Muslims with lewdness and recklessness. And Allah is the One to be sought for help in that, and He is sufficient for us and is the best Disposer of affairs.
Those present : May Allah reward you with good.
The Shaykh : Muhammad Nafi': May Allah bless you. The speech that was broadcast on the radio.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
Those present : And upon you be peace, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The Shaykh : Muhammad Nafi': Which I selected from four speeches, the best of us in addressing one of them, and its title is: "Islam and Intellectual Freedom."
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Nothing like Islam educates its followers and adherents in intellectual freedom. It is the only religion that liberated minds from falsehoods and superstitions and from the bondage of blind dependency, just as it liberated souls, through their servitude to Allah, from the snares of Satan and the pressure of desires. It made those who believe in it the best nation produced for mankind. It is clear that intellectual freedom means the release of the mind to perform its natural function of understanding and knowledge, for these are its vast fields. Indeed, the mind is the application of reflection in matters in pursuit of the desired truth. By his fitrah (innate natural disposition), man is inclined to know the truth from everything he sees and hears. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), when He granted man the powers of sensation ... made him responsible for them so that he does not take it lightly to neglect them. He said, Mighty and Majestic:
Indeed, the hearing, the sight and the heart - about all those [one] will be questioned.
إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولَئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولًاAnd He blamed him for ... following the pattern of those who came before him without reflection and reasoning, where he said ... His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) ... the ignorant of the previous nations
(23) And similarly, We did not send before you any warner into a city except that its affluent said, "Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are, in their footsteps, following." (24) [Each warner] said, "Even if I brought you better guidance than that [religion] upon which you found your fathers?" They said, "Indeed we, in that with which you were sent, are disbelievers."
وَكَذَلِكَ مَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِكَ فِي قَرْيَةٍ مِنْ نَذِيرٍ إِلَّا قَالَ مُتْرَفُوهَا إِنَّا وَجَدْنَا آبَاءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ وَإِنَّا عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ مُقْتَدُونَ * قَالَ أَوَلَوْ جِئْتُكُمْ بِأَهْدَى مِمَّا وَجَدْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ آبَاءَكُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّا بِمَا أُرْسِلْتُمْ بِهِ كَافِرُونَAnd ... in the teachings of Islam, we find that it unleashed the mind to derive rulings from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and ... to look at the universe to benefit from the treasures, minerals, benefits, and laws that Allah placed in it, which He made a provision among His servants, where everyone who grasps the secret of work, striving, and thinking gets his share from it.
And We have already written in the book [of Psalms] after the [previous] mention that the land [of Paradise] is inherited by My righteous servants.
وَلَقَدْ كَتَبْنَا فِي الزَّبُورِ مِنْ بَعْدِ الذِّكْرِ أَنَّ الْأَرْضَ يَرِثُهَا عِبَادِيَ الصَّالِحُونَDo they not look into the realm of the heavens and the earth and everything that Allah has created
أَوَلَمْ يَنْظُرُوا فِي مَلَكُوتِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا خَلَقَ اللَّهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍDo they not then reflect?
أَفَلَا تَتَفَكَّرُونَDo you not use your reason?
أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَDo they not contemplate within themselves?
أَوَلَمْ يَتَفَكَّرُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْIndeed in that are signs for a people who give thought.
إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَIndeed in that are signs for a people who reason.
إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَAnd these examples We present to the people, but none will understand them except those of knowledge.
وَتِلْكَ الْأَمْثَالُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ وَمَا يَعْقِلُهَا إِلَّا الْعَالِمُونَThus do We detail the verses for a people who use reason.
كَذَلِكَ نُفَصِّلُ الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمٍ يَعْقِلُونَIt is He who created for you all of that which is on the earth
هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُمْ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًاThen do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?
أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَى قُلُوبٍ أَقْفَالُهَا(82) Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction. (83) And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.
أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا * وَإِذَا جَاءَهُمْ أَمْرٌ مِنَ الْأَمْنِ أَوِ الْخَوْفِ أَذَاعُوا بِهِ وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ وَإِلَى أُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمَهُ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَنْبِطُونَهُ مِنْهُمْIf a judge passes judgment and strives to reach the right conclusion and gets it right, he will have two rewards; if he strives to reach the right conclusion but gets it wrong, he will still have one reward.
إذا اجتهد الحاكم فأصاب فله أجران ، وإذا اجتهد فأخطأ فله أجرAnd it is sufficient for Islam in honor that it opened the locks of minds and shattered their chains, encouraging them to move forward ... and it did not restrict ... experimental sciences ... and nothing is more indicative of this than ... Muslims in medicine, astronomy, the layers of the earth, marine sciences, and ... the conditions of animals ... and other sciences. And it did not ... because it sees that as a religion, just as if it blocked the need of the nation for industries that make them independent of others, which is a collective obligation (fard kifayah) for which the entire nation is sinful ... and they also became sinful ... so they did not think about ... the causes of military and non-military material strength and their realization, in verification of the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
And prepare against them whatever you are able of power
وَأَعِدُّوا لَهُمْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ مِنْ قُوَّةٍSay, "Produce your proof, if you should be truthful."
قُلْ هَاتُوا بُرْهَانَكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَAnd We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless.
وَلَقَدْ ذَرَأْنَا لِجَهَنَّمَ كَثِيرًا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ أَعْيُنٌ لَا يُبْصِرُونَ بِهَا وَلَهُمْ آذَانٌ لَا يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا أُولَئِكَ كَالْأَنْعَامِ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْغَافِلُونَAnd since we have clarified the extent of intellectual freedom in Islam and its encouragement of intellectual liberation and its respect for rational thinkers, we see it necessary to hint at what befell Muslims during periods of weakness: a deviation from sound Islamic education, by which its causes harmed Islam and Muslims, intentionally or unintentionally. It crippled their minds, disabled their thinking, and turned their submission, making it to sheikhs and educators after it was to Allah and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
So the description of the seeker as righteous is not complete except with his complete submission to his Shaykh, such that he becomes like a dead person in the hands of the washer!! And they taught him that a seeker who says to his Shaykh: "Why?" will not succeed, even though the great Imams of religion and knowledge did not allow their followers to take their ijtihad or issue fatwas based on it until they knew their evidence in it.
So look, O my Muslim brother, at this great reversal that cut off ijtihad, disabled thinking, and distorted intellectual freedom, preventing the student from objecting to his Shaykh even if he saw him doing what is wrong, as their sheikhs explicitly stated in speech and writing. By doing so, they paved the way for colonialism; where the colonizer exploited this deviant education that was given the attribute of religion. He bought the consciences of followed people, and by virtue of their blind obedience to them, he reached many of his demands and imposed much of his power. He terrified and frightened, and many of them remained silent about proclaiming the truth. They neglected speaking about the verses that liberate and the hadiths that awaken. Negligence increased among Muslims due to the silence resulting from the ruler's oppression and tyranny. Intellectual freedom diminished, and necessity compelled many free thinkers to accommodate those who control their necks and to adjust their research according to the desires of the tyrants. Thus, the philosophy of thought mixed with the politics of command, producing a sterile direction that only beget the splitting of the word, the widening of disagreement, and the multiplication of inclinations and directions. The Muslim peoples bowed under the yoke of direct and indirect colonialism in its various military, political, economic, and cultural forms. But hope has become strong with our rising generations, which began their intellectual awakening at the beginning of the twentieth century at the hands of some Islamic renewers. They will return the truth to its place with the help of Allah (the Exalted), and uproot the disease of stagnation and negligence from minds and souls, and correct the crooked behavior that filled the midst of Muslims with lewdness and recklessness. And Allah is the One to be sought for help in that, and He is sufficient for us and is the best Disposer of affairs.
Those present : May Allah reward you with good.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.