Q: Asalmalkium, imam

What do you tell a person that says” I’m NOT a Sunni, Shi’ite, Sufi, Ahmedi, Shafi-ee, Hanbali, Hanafi or a Maliki.. I’m a MUSLIM!”?

Time: Wednesday April 28, 2010 at 8:56 pm

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first of all, to discuss with ignorant people affects ones faith. You should not even be talking to ignoramus fools. Deficiency remains on your your part that allows you to entertain their arguments, This will only create more personal deficiency in your self. Cheap debtors  pull you down from your current position of Imaan and intelligence and crave you become like them. A smarter response for you would be: ‘I do not feel comfortable sharing matters that are personal to me.’  the less you talk, bigger the fool such people would make of themselves. Let people’s actions do the talking.

Everything has a label. Human is a label. We cannot say: i am a homo sapian, or ‘speaking animal,’ or for that matter, a person that refuses to say they are ‘human’ and instead claim ‘mammal’ so as to feel more ingratiated with their true animal side.  After all, are biologists wrong when they classify humans as mammals first?

Everything has a category, be it cars, nationalities, and the list goes on and on. These are identification tools so as to provide us with a map to understanding ourselves and our our faith, assist us with meeting people who are like ourselves and help us attain relationships that are thriving under the banner of Truth.

Very seldom do people say:

• I am selling a car. Do not ask me what car it is. It is a car and that is all that matters!
• Do not ask me my gender on DMV forms, I am human. Is that not enough?
• Do not ask me for my address on my tax forms; is it not enough that I live in a home and i pay my taxes on time?
• Do not ask me for my major, am I not in college? I pay fees. How much do you want?  (Sure you are paying etc., maybe you’re there as the perfect voluntary candidate seeking $25 as part of an experiment in the psychiatric dept. as well)

We give answers to everything, but when it comes to religion, being a Muslim is enough! Ironically, type of education, car, home, employment, etc. the detail is greater! This surely indicates the caliber of people we are dealing with! I am more saddened that you talk to such people. What a waste of your precious time.

The good side of them

The fact that they claiming: they are ‘Muslim’  is in itself a positive step. Do not make it an issue. Since they lack depth and breath, merely talk about things that are common to you both and move on with your life. Life is too precious to debate and be on the defensive with people that lack knowledge or care to share details of spiritual similarity.

To be fair to ‘Muslims,’ we should not ask them their denomination. Their level of faith presents itself based on their practical love of Quran and Sunnah via application. Actions speak louder than words.

Give the benifit of doubt

Sometimes a person is not ashamed to claim their denomination. They sometimes resist in sharing it due to social politics. They just want to sound ‘cool’ and want to fit in. Usually such people are also very ignorant regarding the basics of religion and refrain from the cognitive ability of researching religion and following it for what it is.

In all fairness, it is detrimental for a person to state Sunni etc. and live his/her life contradicting her/is claimed fundamental belief system.

Let us all gain grasp of ourselves and who and what we are then concern ourselves with others, Ameen.

Allah Certainly Knows Best.