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Justice is a general term which means being in the middle. Muslims are at this position; and in particular Ahl AlSunnah wa AlJamaah are being in the middle in all their matters without exception; they give every one his rights. Justice has many domains and many forms. Here we present some important pictures of justice.
Justice with enemies and friendsIt is common that people usually tend to mention their friends with praise that they may be unworthy of and their opponents with derogation, which may have no real basis.
Is it possible for the Da'iah to speak about the shortcomings of people closest to him who agree with his way and method or the shortcomings of a partner working with him to complete some task? Can he sincerely speak about the merits of someone who is in difference with him in some issues? If the Da'iah can do so, then he has realized justice in this respect. Unfortunately, the opposite is the common practice; many people are being unjust with their opponents when they blame them of flaws they are free from, and being unjust with their friends when they praise them with merits they lack. The latter would appear as an act of friendship, but, in fact, it is an act of injustice and derogation because this friend will have a lower status in the eyes of others when they discover that he does not have such merits.
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) ordered us to be just even with enemies: “ And let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety” (Meaning of Quran 5:8). It is sad that even when we accept this advice from Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), we do not put it in practice. As soon as we find someone has done what we think is a mistake, we degrade him and turn our attention away from him. In many instances, the many merits of someone will obliterate his few shortcomings and the many shortcomings will obliterate the merits. The matter is actually worse; In many occasions, It is the few flaws that make us forget the many merits, which is contradictory to the Shari’a rule that states: if the water amounts to two jars then impurities (or scum) can be neglected.
Justice in Evaluating BooksIt is not just to state what are negative about a book and not mention its positive sides. For example, you say that the book contains weak or not authentic hadeeths and that it has some strange opinions meanwhile you ignore to mention the good scientific research and the useful ideas it may have. Stating half the truth and ignoring the other half is a departure from honesty.
When a mistake is found in a book, as quoting a weak hadeeth or having a fault in discussing a case, you will find many people losing trust in the book and warning others about it. If we deal with books of scholars using this criterion we will be left with no books to read. Take for example Saheeh AlBukhari, The most authenticated book after the Quran. Is it absolutely perfect? No, Some parts are left blank, some topics were stated without reporting any hadeeth, and some hadeeths either had broken chain of narrators or had differences in the narration.
Excluding Quran, any book will have some sort of imperfection; therefore, justice requires presenting both its negative and the positive sides.
Justice in judging Islamic Da’wah and Islamic MovementsSince the fall of the Islamic Caliphate, many Da’wahs and movements had evolved targeting noble objectives as reestablishing the Islamic way of life, reviving the Islamic government, propagating the Islamic message among non-Muslims, reviving Sunnah, and other similar objectives.
These Da’wahs are different in their methods, their basis, and their objectives. They are also different on how close or far they are from the way of AlKitab and AlSunnah (The Quran and the way of the prophet, peace be upon him).
Many have talked about these Da’wahs and studied their different aspects. You find that many studies lack justice. This is either because the writer of such a study is a follower of a Da’wah who likes its methods and ways or an adversary who cannot see but flaws; and between the two, truth is lost.
Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) likes justice and despises unfairness. If one was deficient in one side, it does not imply that he is deficient in all sides. It is not appropriate to neglect the few advantages even beside the numerous disadvantages.
Sometimes, you will find someone who talks about a group of Da'iahs picturing them like devils. He will try to twist the meanings of their words and acts; even uttering the Shahadatan ( the two testimonies of accepting that there is no god worthy of worship except Allan and that Mohammad is his messenger), will be interpreted in a twisted manner. Making a generalized judgment in the case of Da’wahs is wrong. Da’wahs should be studied with careful consideration, giving results that are detailed, accurate, scientifically disciplined, and fulfilling justice in presenting both positive and negative aspects.
The Imams (leaders) of Ahl AlSunnah wa AlJamaah, when they mentioned Ahl AlBida’ah (heretics), they blame them and warn people about their ways, but they do not forget to mention the efforts of such people in charity, in standing against others who have more Bida’ah (heresy), against outside enemies, or to call non-Muslims to Islam where the new Muslims will have some Bida’ah but it is in any case better than remaining a non-Muslim.
It is just that we do not overlook the Bida’ah on the pretext that Ahl AlBida’ah (heretics) were good on some issues at the same time that we do not ignore their good works on the pretext that they are of Ahl AlBida’ah.
Justice in Viewing Da’wah Works and EffortsThere are efforts in the field of Da’wah that cannot be associated with any certain group, but it is a collection of jihad and Da’wahs works from many Muslim groups and individuals. It is a human effort that can be right or wrong and it is not infallible in any way. It is of obvious interest that these efforts should be evaluated justly and correctly. This will result in benefiting from positive aspects and enhancing them while avoiding negative ones and getting rid of them. This way mistakes will not be repeated and Muslims will not start from the same point again.
This obvious interest might get wasted between two sides. A side that views this effort as a perfect one and will incriminate any one who tries to criticize it and another that cannot see but flaws to the point that he renders this effort useless.
Take, for example, the Afghani Jihad, which lasted for more than ten years with much sweat, tears, blood, sacrifices, struggle and sleepless nights. You find someone that considers it as free from mistakes and flaws and that it resembles the jihad of the prophet companions. He will see it as a jihad that is above any criticism, comments, or supervision. On the other extreme, you will find another who classifies the Mujahideen as ignorants and of Ahl AlBida’ah without any hesitation and without giving any details. When asked how did he arrive at such judgment he will say that they use amulets and have mosques that are not according to Sunnah. It is even graver! Someone has declared that this is not jihad but polytheists fighting atheists. I have read another stray comment by someone about Muslim groups that follows the way of Kitab and Sunnah; it says: "He is an infidel who does not consider this group as infidels." If this was his judgment on such a group then what do you expect about his judgments on groups who are not as close to Kitab and Sunnah. This is not the just balance that Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) has put for this nation and this is not the real adherence to the way of the prophet (peace be upon him) who would acknowledge the value of each and every one and who would not rob people from the rights they should have. Hasn't he praised people, if it was of common interest, because of the good deeds they have even if they were not free from flaws. Hasn't he (peace be upon him) praised AlNajashi and said that “ He is a king that no one is treated unfairly under his rule” (Ibn Ishaq in Biographies and Campaigns 213, AlBaihaqi 9/9, Ahmad in AlMusnad 5/290) even though AlNajashi was not a Muslim at the time.
There is a group of Da'iahs who look at matters from one angle; either from the angle of satisfaction where he misses the shortcomings or from the angle of hostility where he misses the merits. Da'iah should strife for right judgment that holds the scale from the middle and looks at matters with a balanced look that is careful not to be influenced by emotions positively or negatively. “ And let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice. Be just: that is next to piety” (Meaning of Quran 5:8).
Justice in Treatment of Shari’a TextsThose texts that are firm and clear (Muhkam) are a "religion". They must be accepted, followed, and believed in; no text can be abandoned as long as it remained firm and was not substituted or deleted (Mansookh) during the life time of the prophet (peace be upon him).
Having a balanced look at these texts is an act of justice; so, do not take a type of these texts and reject another type, particularly when the two types deal with the same subject or two opposing subject like belief and disbelief.
Some people will take the texts of threats and ignore the texts of promises. For example, someone will take the hadeeth: “ The person who severs the bond of kinship will not enter paradise” (AlBukhari 5984, Muslim 2556, Abu Dawwod 1996), or the hadeeth:“ The Qattat (The qattat is the person who conveys information from one person to the other with the intention of causing harm and enmity between them) will not enter paradise” (AlBukhari 6056, Muslim 105, Abu Dawood 4771, AlTirmithi 2127). and will label others of disbelief if they do such acts according to what may appear as the meaning of these texts neglecting other texts of promise and anticipation as the hadeeth narrated by Utban: “ If anybody comes on the day of resurrection who has said: La ilaha illa Allah, sincerely, with the intention to win Allah's pleasure, Allah will make the hell fire forbidden for him” (AlBukhari 4623, Muslim 33), or the hadeeth:“ If any one testifies that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah Alone Who has no partners, and Mohammad is His slave and his apostle, and that Jesus is Allah's slave and His apostle and His word which He bestowed on Mary and a soul from him, and that Paradise is true, and Hell is true, Allah will admit him into Paradise with the deeds which he has done even if those deeds were few” (Ahmad 5/314, AlBukhari 3435, Muslim 28, AlTirmithi 2640).
On the other extreme you will find someone who takes only texts of anticipation leaving out texts of threats, making people feel safe from Allah's design, “ After them succeeded an (evil) generation: they inherited the book, but they chose (for themselves) the vanities of this world, saying (for excuse): (every thing) will be forgiven us. Even so, if similar vanities came their way they would (again) seize them” (Meaning of Quran 7:169).
The justice is to take this text and that one until the scales are balanced.
Another aspect of justice on dealing with Shari’a texts is the justice between the particular and the general. Religion in its entirety belongs to Allah, so there is nothing in it that is trivial or that can be ignored or neglected. This is why the prophet (peace be upon him) , when he answered Gabriel about AlIsalm, AlIman, and AlIhsan said: “ This is Gabriel came to teach you your religion” (AlBukhari 50, Muslim 1009, Abu Dawood 4698, AlNisai 4990).
This is why if someone denies a matter that is known by necessity from the religion and that has been reported through several different chains of narrators and that is firmly proven to be authentic, he will be a disbeliever even if this matter is a Sunnah or fardh kifayah (Duty that is sufficient to be done by some Muslims), like the Sunnah of two rakaahs before fajr prayer and the fardh kifayah of Adhan (call for prayer) and other similar works.
There are no marginal matters or trivialities in the religion as some hasty ignorant or opponent would claim without having a legitimate proof, but there are priorities like matters of belief and the precedence of general matters before particular ones. When you see a person having different sort of mistakes, it is wise to start with the graver ones first. It is not advisable that you blame this person on uttering athkar (remembrance of Allah, like subhan Allah, AlHamd li Allah,...) which are Sunnah while he is still having problems with pillars of prayer like reciting AlFatihah; it is neither logical to start your journey of Da’wah with him by asking him to stop smoking while he is falling in shirk (polytheism).
Da’wah in a gradual way is established by the fact that the prophet (peace be upon him) instructed Muath when he sent him to Yemen saying:“ You are going to a nation from the people of the scripture, so let the first thing to which you will invite them, to the Tawheed of Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) (Accepting the Oneness of Allah) . If they learn that, tell them that Allah has enjoined on them, five prayers to be offered in one day and one night. And if they pray, tell them that Allah has enjoined on them Zakat of their properties and it is to be taken from the rich among them and given to the poor...” (AlBukhari 1458, Muslim 19 Abu Dawood 1584, AlNisai 2435, AlTirmithi 625 all from the hadeeth of Ibn Abbas). Therefore, ordering matters according to their importance is the way of the prophet (peace be upon him) and was his method in practical Da’wah and it is part of his instructions to his companions who reported his actions and deeds.
Some of the devoted Da'iahs will concentrate on a group of details -- that are important without any doubt -- but where there are more important matters. We advise them not to turn their attention away from these important details but to place them in their natural order behind the more important matters.
In explaining to the students the hadeeth of Abu Saeed:“ If one of you came to the mosque, he should look at his shoes. If he found any dirtiness, he should wipe it out and pray with them on” (Abu Dawood 652), I have illustrated a practical example on how to apply justice in dealing with Shari’a texts.I. I have mentioned the sunnahs reported on how the prophet (peace be upon him) dealt with the question of praying with the shoes on. To sum up they are five:
In short we need to make clear that there is no conflict between attending to the whole and attending to the detail and clarify that caring of general matters does not require neglecting partial ones or vice versa. We also need all the Da'iahs to work in a consistent pattern that gives each affair the importance it deserves.A. That the prophet (peace be upon him) sometimes intended to pray without his shoes as reported in the hadeeth of AbdAllah Ibn AlSaib:“ I have seen the prophet (peace be upon him) praying on the day of conquest and he had put his shoes to his left” (Abu Dawood 648, AlNisai 776).
II. I have mentioned the opinions of scholars regarding this issue and they are three opinions:
B. That the prophet (peace be upon him) prayed with his shoes on as reported in the hadeeth of Abu Saeed and what was reported by Abu Maslamah Saeed Ibn Yazeed AlAzdi. “ He said: I asked Anas Ibn Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) was the prophet (peace be upon him) praying with his shoes on. He said: yes” (AlBukhari 386, Muslim 555, AlTirmithi 400, AlNisai 775).
C. That the prophet (peace be upon him) sometimes prayed barefooted and sometimes with his shoes on as in the hadeeth of Amr Ibn Shoaib (Abu Dawood 653).
D. That the prophet ordered to put the shoes between the feet, not to the right or left, except if there was no one to the left as in the hadeeth of Abu Hurairah (Abu Dawood 654-655) and others.
E. That the prophet (peace be upon him) ordered to pray with the shoes on as in the hadeeth of Shaddad Ibn Aws:“ Differ from the Jews, they do not pray with their shoes or slippers on” (Abu Dawood 652).
A. It is makrooh (reprehensible). This opinion was reported to be of Ibn Omar and Abu Musa AlAshar.
III. I gave preponderance to the opinion that is in accord with authentic and clear evidence from the Sunnah and that it is mustahab (desirable) to pray with the shoes on, but considering the following points:
B. It is mustahab (desirable). This is the opinion of the majority like Omar, Othman, Ali, Anas, Ibn Masood, Ataa, Mujahid, Tawoos, Shuraih and others.
C. It is ja'iz (allowable) if the shoes do not contain najasah (squalor), as chosen by AlKhattabi, Ibn Daqeeq Aleid, Ibn Battal, AlNawawi and others. This means that they have the opinion that praying with the shoes on is not desirable. Ibn Daqeeq Aleid assumed that touching the ground with much dirt makes the shoes unfit to pray with them on.
A. To look at the shoes and be sure that they are free from dirt or filth following order of the prophet (peace be upon him) as in the hadeeth of Abu Saeed mentioned earlier.
B. That praying with the shoes on will not result in any disturbances like raising voices in the mosque, arguments, hatred, breakage of relations or even quitting prayers at the mosque. All these actions may be done by some people whom we needed to win their hearts. Such events may be exploited by enemies of Da’wah to label the Da'iahs with false accusations and drive people away from them.
C. The necessity to set priorities in order. We need to get people to have the correct faith and warn them against all sorts of shirk (polytheism), the apparent and the hidden. we need to get people to perform Fariadahs (Compulsory duties) and refrain from Muharramat (unlawful doings). We need to urge them to do sunnahs and mustahabat( desirable deeds) and avoid makroohat (reprehensible actions). It is not logical to insist on teaching people a Sunnah no matter what effort it takes if at the end, because of ignorance, they will reject this Sunnah and may go as far as rejecting the Da'iah himself and not accepting anything from him. The ladder of Shari’a priorities begins with learning the basics of belief, then performing faridahs (duties) and refraining from muharramat (unlawful actions), then doing sunnahs and avoiding makroohat (reprehensible deeds). It is like the order of necessities then needs then accessories.
It is not a shame that the Da'iah learn or teach the sunnahs that are, at present, considered strange like wearing dresses not longer than middle of the leg for men, or the sitting of rest in prayer or moving the finger during tashahud. These are matters of Shari’a that are backed up by texts and need specialized scholars to form an opinion regarding them on the condition that it will not exhaust all their efforts leaving other issues untouched. They need also to be applied by young people and spread by them to others when they find that the time and place permit the acceptance of these sunnahs. These young people also need to stop propagating these sunnahs when they fear that the interest of the religion may be harmed and not out of the fear of people looks and words.
It is not justice to write fourteen papers on a partial subject where grave matters and catastrophes happening to the Muslim nation are not being attended to, leaving people going astray stumbling with their own opinions that are not based on solid knowledge. On the other hand, you find some one neglecting the details and take care only of general or whole matters. he will say: "I am on the steps of our pious forefathers and when I look at Omar who spread justice and who said: (If a mule stumbled in Iraq I feel that Allah will question me about it: why didn't you paved the road for it, Omar?); I do not look at the personality of Omar who had short dress and long beard as some kids do".
Subhan Allah! Why would we split the personality of Omar into two: Omar the just, who bears the responsibility even of a mule in Iraq and Omar who committed to Sunnah on what he does, what he wears, and how he looks. Omar did not believe in this double or split personality, and here is the proof.
When Oqban Ibn Amir (may Allah be pleased with him) came to Omar carrying the good news of the successful conquest of Syria, he made a one week trip from a Friday to the next until he reached Madinah and told Omar about the conquest. Muslims chanted: Allah Akbar, and were happy to be victorious. Then Omar looked at the shoes of Oqbah and asked: When did you wear them? Oqbah said: It's been a week and I've been wiping over them [instead of washing feet for Wudu]. Omar said: What you've done is the Sunnah (AlBaihaqi 1/380). The story is authentic as Ibn Taimiah (Ibn Taimiah Alfatawa 21/178), and others declared. The news of the conquest and the business to bring the world under the rule of Islam did not prevent Omar from discussing a partial detail -- in the view of some -- and then stating what is Sunnah according to his opinion and finding.
When he was dying the choice of the next caliphate was of a great concern to him and to the companions of the prophet (peace be upon him) . This was an extremely important general and essential matter, but it did not divert the attention of Omar from giving advice on some other partial matters. A young man from AlAnsar entered visiting Omar after he was stabbed. The young man said nice words to Omar and he was exiting, Omar noticed that his dress was long; so he ordered to bring back the young man and told him: "O. my nephew, raise up your dress. It is cleaner for it and it is more pious" (AlBukhari 3700 on the authority of Amr Ibn Maimoon). Minutes after, he was discussing the question of grand father being eligible for inheritance with the brothers. Omar said: "I have formed an opinion regarding the grand father. If you find it right follow it". Othman (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "If we follow your opinion, it is on the right direction and if we follow the opinion of the old man before you (Abu Bakr) then he was one of good opinion" (AlDarimi 2916 on the authority of Marwan Ibn AlHakam).
This was Omar (may Allah be pleased with him) , a mixture of concerns of the general and the detailed, the whole and the partial in a harmonious way where no color overcomes other colors and where the construction is wholly integrated where every part is necessary.
Justice in the Overall Look at IslamIslam governs all aspects of life at the level of the individual and the group and all social, economical, political, scientific and other levels. Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta'ala) has blamed and reproached the Christians by telling: “ From those, too, who call themselves Christians, we did take a Covenant, but they forgot a good part of the Message that was sent them: so we stirred up enmity and hatred between the one and the other, to the day of judgment” (Meaning of Quran 5:14).
Grouping around one part of the religion neglecting other parts is the heritage of the perished nations and one of the greatest causes of conflict and dissent among Da'iahs. You find a sect of Muslims that emphasizes on the worship aspect of the religion. They will stay up praying most of the night. They will utter athkar most of the time, and may be, they will add unfounded religious practices borrowed from Sufism. I have been told that one of the western spies lived with one such sect, then he reported that such people are absolutely harmless. Their only concern is what under the ground and what's above heavens. I'm amazed! They only talk about death, graves, punishment, reward and about Allah, the angels, and the hereafter, but they never get concerned with what is happening on earth.
Other groups get concerned with the political aspects of Islam. Their struggle is in the field of forming political parties, gathering supporters, winning elections, participating in parliaments and educating youth on political struggle.
You also find groups who put their efforts on the sciences of religion. They learn Sunnah and Hadeeth, and get occupied in classifying the hadeeths, warning people against invented and weak ones. This may be accompanied by dryness and weakness of worship and distraction from the realities of the Muslim nation and what is been devised against it.
Before any one would jump to conclusions, I would come forward and say:1- Islam encompasses these three fields and others. It is a religion that links one to his creator through worship, fear and hope, and hence the religious worship like prayer, fasting and hajj were enjoined. It is also a religion that governs life affairs. It is not a priesthood and not a separation from life realities. Politics is an integrated part of Islam, so struggle in this field with every permissible mean that would lead to fulfilling the objective should be part of the concern of the Da'iah. It is also a religion that defines worship and controls the motion of life with the order of AlKitab and AlSunnah leaving no place for emotions or personal inclinations. Therefore, we must have knowledge of AlKitab and AlSunnah so that we can have our worship and works done correctly. These three fields are among what Islam calls for and urges on.
2- It may be impossible for an individual or a group of individuals to encompass all the efforts needed for those fields. Capacities have limits and if they are devoted to one thing other things may be forgotten along the way. Add to that the different inclinations and skills people have. Someone may have piety and ascetic benevolence but he is not gifted with the tools of Shari’a sciences which makes him unable to contribute in this field. Here we say that every one knows what his strong points are. Therefore, he should exploit this strength to contribute to the completion of the integrated Islamic structure as did the companions of the prophet (peace be upon him) . Among them were brave fighters like Khalid Ibn AlWaleed besides great scholars and judicial jurists like Ibn Abbas and Ibn Masood, and the ascetic devotee as Abu Thur, who used to shout among the people in words and in actions calling them to turn away from this worldly life. Very few others were a compound of virtues like Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali. Such models will rarely repeat during the following generations.
3- We should complement each other. The different concerns must not be a cause of conflicts and accusations. It must not make one accuse the other of ignorance, delving deep in the details, unconsciousness, hardship, or loving this worldly life. No, every one should acknowledge that his brother had taken responsibility of a part he could not do and he should pray for his brother and protect his back from enemies. We should not group around one part of the religion and fight those who care for other parts. On the contrary, if we were unable to care for a part we should be grateful to those who relieved us and took the responsibility. There is a great difference between the two attitudes.
4- If we devote ourselves to a part of the religion, be it science, worship, or political struggle then we should not neglect other parts. It is not acceptable for a Da'iah not to have knowledge of things that every Muslim must know, like knowing the correct belief, rules of ablution, prayer, fasting, etc., and knowing what he needs in his practical life as the good manners of marital life, rules of Zakat and trade for trade people, or rules of practicing professions like medicine and engineering. This, by will of Allah, will protect our concern of one part from being excessive leading to negligence of other parts. Devoting oneself to worship without associating with that the correct knowledge of Shari’a may lead to Sufism, and caring for Da’wah without basis of Kitab and Sunnah and good understanding may lead to Bida’ah or misleading people.
Justice with realitySome of the Da'iahs lives in modern times as if it is the fifth century of Hijrah. He does not know what happens around him and he gets overtaken by current events as a layman would be. An Imam was reading the Friday Khutbah from a book. At the end he prayed that Ameer AlMoumineen the Ottoman sultan has his kingdom and rule everlasting. He was unaware that the sultan was dead for along time and that his kingdom was split between the East and the West.
This extreme case of unconsciousness may not repeat very often, but there are other more frequent cases that are less extreme. A young man once asked me: The Ba'ath party, what are their other beliefs besides denying the Ba'ath (In Arabic, Ba'ath means resurrection and it also means revival)? This young man thought they were called the Ba'ath party because they deny Ba'ath, same as the Qadariah (fatalist) sects were called so because they denied AlQadar (fate).
The Muslim is responsible for the time he lives in and he is a witness upon it. He lives the community concerns and knows the streams of thoughts and the directions of politics. He strives to find the correct suitable solutions for new events and to resist the deviations after he knows them and understands what their roots are. The western thought cannot be refuted by someone who does not know its roots, circumstances, and objectives.
It is necessary for every Da'iah to have such knowledge, but there should be a group who will take this responsibility. In general, every Da'iah must have a window through which he monitors the important current events surrounding him, and be able to guide people to the right conduct concerning them.
On the other side of those who are separate from reality, you find someone who transforms dealing with the current state of affairs into some kind of defeatism. He tries to find pretexts to say that the status of people is according to Islam. He may also renounce some Shari’a matters for the sake of current realities or because of the psychological pressure.
Justice with reality is recognizing the current state of affairs and subjecting it to the principles of Islam and rectifying its deviation accordingly as far as possible.
Justice in Dealing with the Difference (AlKhilaf)Difference of opinions is part of the human nature, “ They will not cease to differ, except those on whom Your Lord has bestowed his mercy” (Meaning of Quran 11:118,119).
This difference varies according to intentions and objectives and according to minds, understanding, and knowledge. Dealing with the difference requires a position according to Shari’a.
Some Da'iahs call for unity and ignoring the difference without a clear definition of whom to unite with and whom to separate from on the grounds of his Bida’ah, stray actions, or deviations.
On the other extreme there is someone who exaggerates on the conditions and terms; he wants agreement in all issues even in his own personal opinions and inferences. If he was not agreed with in some issues he will stand on the opposite side of the others and he will then not give their opinions any weight.
Justice requires accepting the difference in issues that can be differed on, like means of Da’wah, subordinate issues that are not fundaments of the religion, and rulings that were differed on by the first generations and other similar issues where the difference was built upon a study of Shari’a (Ijtihad Shar'i) to understand the texts and not on personal desires or inclinations. This kind of difference is tolerable, and there is enough room for different opinions to be accepted. On the other hand, forgiving and tolerating the people who follow Bida’ahs in the belief and have essential deviations on the pretext of preserving unity is a fabricated course which is not logical and does not agree with Shari’a.
It is essential to know that requiring consensus in all issues is impossible and cannot be imagined except in the minds of naives.
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