The holy month of Ramadan is inching closer! Faith Muslims around the world are preparing towards welcoming the blessed month of the Islamic calender.
Allah made Ramadan compulsory to Muslims during the two years of hijra/migration of the Prophet from Mecca to Medina.
Surah Baqarah - Ayat 183 reads:
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ ٱلصِّيَامُ كَمَا كُتِبَ عَلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
Transliteration: “Yaa ayyuha allatheena amanoo kutiba alaykumus siyaamu kamaa kutiba allatheena min qablikum la allakum tattaqoon”.
Translation: O' you who have believed, decreed upon you is fasting as it was decreed upon those before you that you may become righteous -
Ramadan also provides a host of psychospiritual benefits for faith Muslims to supplicate, and be in the remembrance of God, call upon Allah during unease by eliciting the names that are closely related to their constraints during the course of the holy month.
- 1 Ramadan “takama-takama”:
Is here again making noise around the town's. Nyāa kaasi fatajo’s rejection of poor men was/is consumed by the new age materialism. This trend has left many young girls/women stranded in their relentless pursuit hoping to find Mister Right.
Many marriages ended in tatters withiout any justification. The short life span of many marriages has thus, created a nation-wide debates among faith Muslims as a soul search, to root out permanent solutions through securing Jurisprudential teachings of Islam.
This, and many developments from Islamic Jusrists yielded no positive results at the borders of inquiry. Materialism has defaulted the careers of many young girl's/women. Without financial wherewithal, many have resorted towards seeking survival “baluwoo” from Bakary “ndongoo" on a heated grounds.
Verily, Allah has presented to us many straight paths for mankind to follow, reminding him of the dangers posed on wrongful deeds. On the other hand, many evils has been staged and performed by many people in every action situations. Daily robbery's, and frequent attacks has become routine phenomenon in many street corners.
- 2 Benefits of Ramadan:
Ramadan is described as a charitable month, for Muslims to show generosity towards one another.
Hitherto, still the existence of the pandemic grief has brought economic hardship to many families who cannot afford daily square meals.
During the course of the holy month, it is advisable for Muslims to worship together and help heal material, and spiritual problems they are facing.
- 3 The Wahhabis as neo-Kharijites
The Wahhabis are well known for their notoriety towards reviving the ways of the Khawarij (or Kharijites). The Khawarij, meaning “those who exited”, they first appeared during the time of the caliphates of Ousman and Alieu.
The duo were the closest companions to Prophet Muhammad. They stood in opposition to Alieu- Prophet Muhammad son-in-law, because of his willingness to arbitrate with Mu’awiyah, the governor of Damascus over the issue of the caliphate.
- 4: What is a Wahhabia?
Wahhabia or Wahhabism was name after its founder, Muhammad ibn Abdul-wahhab (1703-1792).
His father wags a warning finger for Muslims to be mindful of the poison believe of his son.
His biological brother, Sulayman Ibn Abdul-wahhab, an orthodox Sunni scholar refuted him in a book entitled (al-Sawa’iq al-ilahiyya fi al-radd ala al-Wahhabia (“Divine Lightnings in Refuting the Wahhabis”.
Many orthodox Sunni scholars also refuted the many ugly innovations of Abdul-wahhab. His famous book, “Kitab at-Tawheed” (Book of Unity of God) is hugely circulated amongst Wahhabis worldwide, including many Wahhabis in The Gambia, plus the most notable one Chebu Cham. Many orthodox Sunni scholars discredit the book for its lack of content and many errors in the book.
- 5: The division between the orthodox Sunni, and the pseudo sunni creed
The pseudo Sunnis are Wahhabi Muslims with a pretentious Sunni believe wrongly accusing the orthodox Sunnis of committing shirk (polytheism) when asking something from Allah through an intermediary, either the person was a pious Muslim, objects (tabarruk), or seeking protection from Allah using amulets with inscriptions of the Qura’n verses.
To do tawassul at a tomb of a Muslim saint is widely accepted by trustworthy Muslim scholar's. More details has been highlighted by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773-852 AH) in his greatest book entitled (Fath-ul baari).
Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, is one of the greatest elites in Islam. His book provided investigations of the lexicological meaning of the Prophetic speech, studies of the isnād, debates over the circumstances surrounding the genesis of each Hadeeth (asbāb al-wurūd).
The book is a seminal genre of Literature, namely the Hadeeth commentary. The book features significant commentaries of Hadeeth, its precise meanings, context and applications.
The book is also credited for its doctrinal soundness, featuring complete coverage of Bukhāri’s material. The Wahhabis refused to accept the understanding that the Prophet himself is a means to asking Allah for things.
The confrontation between Muslims on Bid’ah is quite disheartening. The four school of Islamic thought widely agreed that Bid'ah is an innovation in Islam that did not exist during the time of the Prophet.
The Islamic Jurists provided two significant categories of Bid'
’ah. Bid'atul huda, is a praiseworthy Bid'ah and Bid'atul (dalaala) is the blameworthy Bid’ah.
To understand the two categories on which Bid’ah falls, one need to overlook the principles of Islamic law (al-qa waa'ed al-shareyya).
Omar (ra) once observed that the Taraweeh prayers (qiyaamo shahri Ramadan) highlighted that it is a praiseworthy innovation (ni’mat al-Bid’atul haadihi), meaning it does not exist during the time of the Prophet (pbuh) but does not contradict anything that does exist.
The division between the orthodox Sunnis and the pseudo Sunnis has left the dormain of rational discourse, and arguing into irrational territories of the sunni creed.
Below are the lists of books written and published by orthodox Sunni scholars, warning Muslims against the Wahhabia poison.
Dahlan, al-Sayyid Ahmad Ibn Zayni (1304/1886) onetime Mufti of Mecca: al-Durar al-saniyyah fi al-radd ala al-Wahhabiyyah “The Pure Pearls in Answering the Wahhabis”. The book was published in Egypt in the era 1319.
Al-Dajwi: (al-Basa’ir li Munkiri al-tawassul ka amthal Ibn Abdul-wahhab) “The Evident Proofs Against Those Who Deny the Seeking of Intercession Like Muhammad ibn Abdul-wahhab”.
Dawud Ibn Sulayman al-Baghadadi (1815-1881: (al-Minha al-Wahhabiyya fi radd al-Wahhabiyya)
“The Divine Dispensation Concerning the Wahhabi Deviation”.
Al-Hilmi al-Qadiri:( Jalal al-hagg fi kashf ahwal ashrar al-khalq)
“The Splendor of Truth in Exposing the Worst of People”. The book was published in 1355.
Author: Sheriff Saidykhan, is the managing editor of The Outpost. He is also an associate fellow of “Maktab”, an Islamic research institute for Islamic scholars across West Africa