مقدمة
There is no doubt that the worsening crises and deteriorating conditions that the Islamic nation is going through today at various levels call for a pause for reflection and a deep review of all the concepts that we have inherited, and this review is not an intellectual luxury but an urgent necessity to understand where the fault lies. This review is not an intellectual luxury but an urgent necessity to understand what went wrong that led the nation to this dire reality.
Since we are a religious nation that believes in the one and only God and that His promise is true, and that the religion of Islam is the true religion that will lead us to security and empowerment if we follow its righteous path, a fundamental question comes to mind: Are we really on the right path?
إشكالية الواقع المأزوم والوعود القرآنية
When we look at the reality of Muslims today, we find a stark contrast between the divine promises mentioned in the Holy Quran and the miserable reality of Muslim countries. Some of these promises include:
- وعد التمكين والاستخلاف:
“Allah promised those of you who believe and do good deeds that you will succeed them in the land as He had succeeded those before them, and will enable them to establish their religion which He has chosen for them, and will replace them from after their fear with security, so that they may worship Me without any form of suspicion” (Al-Nur: 55).
- وعد النصر:
“We will support our messengers and those who have believed in this life and on the day of the witnesses” (Ghafir: 51).
- وعد الحياة الطيبة:
“Whoever does good deeds, male or female, while he is a believer, we will give him a good life and reward him with a good reward for the best of what they did” (Al-Nahl: 97).
However, when we compare these promises with reality, we find a vast gap between what God has promised us and the misery, poverty, corruption, and fear that the Muslim nation is experiencing today. In contrast, non-Islamic countries, often labeled as infidels by traditional religious discourse, are safe, secure, prosperous, and enjoy systems that achieve social justice and preserve the rights of their citizens under strict laws.
مراجعة الروايات التقليدية وتفسير الخلل
When faced with this contradiction between Quranic texts and reality, Muslims turned to their religious scholars and sheikhs: The failure to worship and the prevalence of sins is the cause of misery and unhappiness, and that this world is a place of trial and not a place of reward. .
They also said that the prosperity enjoyed by the West is not proof that they are on the right path, but that it may be a “temptation by Allah”and that the outcome will be in the afterlife, where Muslims will receive paradise and “infidels” will go to hell. As for Muslims who suffer in this world, Allah will reward them for their patience in the hereafter.
إعادة التفكير بعد تجربة التطبيق الحرفي للمنهج السلفي
This answer was not convincing to many, especially when some began to apply the literal religious approach based on the Salaf’s understanding of the texts, with the aim of achieving the desired happiness in this world and the hereafter. The disastrous result was the emergence of examples of the literal application of this Salafi understanding, such as the Taliban regime in Afghanistanand the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The literal application of this understanding led to horrific results that did not differ in scale of destruction and devastation from the impact of the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A student of the Salafi approach realizes that ISIS and al-Qaeda have only applied the texts found in heritage books in a literal manner.
As profoundly tragic as these experiences were, they clearly revealed that the issue is not only the lack of implementation, but also the methodology itself.
صدمة التطبيق والمراجعات الفكرية
The ISIS experience and the resulting destruction has shocked many researchers and thinkers and led to a reconsideration of what many people believe in. Yes, this experience has caused some people to leave Islam, whether through atheism or conversion to other religions, as a result of the brutality of the application.
On the other hand, this shock has prompted many researchers and thinkers to re-examine the Islamic and heritage approach in depth, to look for the source of the imbalance.
جهود المفكرين في نقد المنهج التراثي
During the last two decades, a group of thinkers and researchers have emerged who have sought to criticize the heritage approach and called for a return to the Book of God as the sole reference.
These thinkers include:
- الدكتور محمد شحرور، الذي قدم قراءة معاصرة للنص القرآني.
- الأستاذ إسلام بحيري.
- المهندس عدنان الرفاعي.
- الأستاذ عصام القيسي.
- الأستاذ ياسر العديرقاوي.
- المستشار أحمد ماهر.
- الأستاذ أحمد الرمح.
Other scholars have made serious efforts to criticize the religious heritage and search for the truth, each from his own angle.
النتيجة النهائية: نقد الدين الموازي
What these researchers concluded, and what many people realize today, is that the issue lies in the existence of a parallel religion based on hadiths and narratives, not in the Book of God itself. These narratives have become a separate and contradictory approach to the Qur’anic text, despite the fact that “God has not given it any authority.”
We have explained in previous discussions that the pillars on which those who adhere to the authority of hadiths and narrations are based are nothing but a mirage, as described by the Qur’an:
“Those who disbelieve, their deeds are like water, which a thirsty person thinks is water, until he comes to it and finds nothing, and finds Allah with him, so he pays his account, and Allah is quick to judge” (Al-Nur: 39).
خاتمة
Reconsidering the heritage approach and distinguishing between the Qur’anic text and the so-called Sunnah, ijma and qiyas is an unavoidable necessity if we are to rise as an Islamic nation and emerge from this troubled reality to a more just and prosperous reality closer to the spirit of the Qur’anic text, which calls for reflection, contemplation and following the truth.
