Matn/Mutoon, Summaries, Abstracts, Synopsis/Synopses that should be written

Deobandis
Hamza Yusuf

(i.e., about where they deviate from Sunnis)

 

The Killer Mistake

 

The context is I was asking some folks to critique and denounce the incorrect claims being made regarding the najran delegation. This is from six years ago, did it in a rush, and am embarrassed by my writing looking back now

The summary I wrote follows.
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The Issue

Unscrupulous and ignorant people are misquoting and misrepresenting the narrations of the delagations of Najran. Amongst other things, they are claiming that the Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam:

• invited; or
• asked; or
• directly permitted; or
• indirectly permitted

disbelievers (Christians) to worship according to their own tradition.

Some Examples

A Common Word website
“Even the prophet Muhammad invited Christians to pray in a mosque before meeting with them.”

Dr. Tahir ul Qadri of Minhaj ul Quran
“Then a delegate of 14 Christians came from Najran...they asked: Can we worship according to our own religion? Holy Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam said: Yes, you are allowed to worship according to your own religion in my mosque, al-Masjid-un-Nabawi.”

A local Imam
“...Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) not only allowed but asked the Christians of Najran to offer their Christian prayers in one of the holiest places of Islam, Masjid Nabawi Sharif in Madinah.”

Arab News
“One of the spectacular examples of the Prophetic respect and honor of other religions, especially Christianity, is when the Prophet (peace be upon him) allowed Christians to pray in his own mosque according to the Christian way of praying.”

Why this matters / implications

If the claims of the A Common Word website and Dr. Tahir are to be believed, then they are saying:

• The Prophet `alayhis'salaam condoned false beliefs and asked people to commit shirk; and
• By analogy, Muslims can invite non-Muslims to worship according to their respective traditions in our mosques (or elsewhere).

Correct understanding of the narrations concerning the delegation of Najran

The book Minhaji Fata Morgana is a direct refutation of Dr. Tahir ul Qadri and in general the claim mentioned in the issue above.

Specifically, the book examines Dr. Tahir’s narrations concerning the Najran and Habshah delegations and concludes that he makes factual errors and adds fake details to justify his actions; is not meticulous and faithful in his narration; and attributes a lie to RasoolAllah sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam.

The author presents roughly 19 narrations concerning the Najran delegation and roughly 8 narrations concerning the Habshah delegations from hadith, seerah and history works to prove this.

Some of the key points from the correct understanding of the narrations pertaining to the Najran delegation are as follows:

• The Christians arrived to the Prophet’s mosque and simply began praying (without asking for permission); and
• The Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam did not stop them or said (to the Companions) to leave them.

Therefore this cannot be construed as the Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam inviting, permitting or asking Christians to pray according to their own Christian tradition.

Some say: well the Christians prayed anyway and the Prophet sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam did not stop them. A response to this is provided in Minhaji Fata Morgana; the book also provides examples of where the Prophet `alayhis'salaam did not stop deplorable actions immediately, but explained the ruling afterward.

In general, think of an example where a thief breaks into your home and is stealing your money. You stop him as he is about to leave your house but show mercy and let him keep the money and leave with only a warning. Does this mean you permit thieves to steal from your home?