Timeless Islam

Just recently, I attended a talk by Syeikh Abdul Halim Abdul Karim at PERGAS on Liberalising Islam? What Liberal Islam Stands for and Our Response.

A thought-provoking session, he cautioned the Muslim community to comply to RasululLah s.a.w. Last Sermon: "... Beware of Shaytan, for the safety of our religion. He has lost all hope that he will ever be able to lead you astray in big things; So beware of following him in small things..."

My take on this session is that Muslims should focus more on the unity of Ummah by agreeing to the established verses or Muktamad instead of squabbling about the permutations of the less established verses or Mutashabeeha.

Islam truly unifies its followers regardless of diverse expressions because Islam is timeless as it transcends context so let's not undermine it by contextualising it by location, time, etc. Whenever we are unsure, always turn to the Aleem Ulama' or knowledgable and avoid passing judgment (May Allah protect us from the hellfire!)

Also, Islam is a religion based on justice. In my humble opinion, so long as justice is present in a country, secularism can play second fiddle so let's not harp too much on labels since Islam encourages its follower to always ikhtiar or make the effort towards progress and excellence as the call to prayer emphasises, "Haiya Alal Falah, Haiya Alal Salah" [Come towards victory and success, Come towards prayer]

I also agree with Syeikh Abdul Halim that for upcoming Maulidur Rasul, we should constantly highlight sifat-sifat or traits of RasululLah s.a.w. so that our generation knows who truly is the perfect role model in Islam.

Hmm, perhaps it is also time that the Muslim authority in Singapore follow the steps of our neighbouring countries - Indonesia and Malaysia - and come up with a fatwa on Pluralism, Liberalism and Secularism in Religion (instead of keeping its silence, take a knowledgable stand). I end this post with Surah Al-Baqarah 002.208: "... O ye who believe! Enter into Islam whole-heartedly; And follow not the footsteps of the evil one; For he is to you an avowed enemy..."

Read other similar articles:

• Islam does not need liberalising
• Islamisation of Knowledge

P/S: Let's not be followers of a religion who pick and choose what they want to believe in. Truly, Islamization is the acceptance of Tawheed and the submission of Man to the Will of Allah SWT. True freedom lies in submission to Allah SWT so believe in Allah and the Last Day, dutifully follow the Quran and the Sunnah and be protected from the hellfire, insya Allah.