Today, the fact that Sunnis do not stand behind Iran is not only because Arabs have “sold out” to the West, but also because they oppose the Shiites.
Author: Farid Younus, Professor of Cultural Anthropology of the Middle East, Islamic Philosophy, Member of the Advisory Council of “Sangar”.
Why do I not have a madhhab? This is a question I have been asked many times: which madhhab do I belong to?
Many years ago, I renounced my affiliation with any madhhab.
First, it must be understood that from a scientific perspective, history belongs to the liberal sciences, and everyone has their own view and understanding. For example, if a supporter of Hekmatyar writes history, Hekmatyar is a hero of jihad to him; if one of his opponents writes it, he declares him an infidel. Therefore, I have my own historical perspective.
First, madhhabs emerged as a result of division, not the unity of Muslims or the needs of the people.
Second, madhhabs offer their own interpretations and have created “double standards” in the name of religion. One God, one Qur’an, one Prophet — yet many different viewpoints have been created, and this was not the goal of God and His Messenger. For example, Sunnis consider temporary marriage forbidden, while Shiites consider it permissible; Sunnis say a woman can be a judge, while Shiites say she cannot hold the highest judicial position.
Both directions oppose human freedom. Neither says that humans are created free; instead, religion is imposed by both Shiites and Sunnis. Where in the Qur’an is it stated that the Prophet commanded imposing religion?
Many issues were invented: some say that the Prophet and the Imams are infallible, others say that only the Prophet is infallible.
Scholars of these two traditions, whose works were published in the 20th century, failed to truly define human dignity, and therefore often call Jews and Christians unbelievers. I have repeatedly read that Iran’s war is a war against disbelief, not against the “People of the Book,” or that they interpret the verse “Amanar-Rasul” in such a way that since Jews and Christians did not accept Muhammad (peace be upon him), they are not believers. However, studies show that they are believers within their own religion.
Sayyid Qutb, if studied carefully, was a radically anti-Western figure. When he came to America and saw Western culture, he became overwhelmed, and from an anthropological perspective, he turned into an absolute ethnocentrist, judging everything solely from his own viewpoint. He described Western life as “repulsive.”
Today, thousands upon thousands of Muslims live in this so-called “repulsive” environment and enjoy their lives. Instead of building a bridge between Islam and the West — so that neither side would suffer — he pushed people toward fanaticism and hostility toward Western culture. The Muslim Brotherhood never stated that men and women are equal in civil terms. In Islamic groups, women are always considered a secondary layer of society, and they consistently support a patriarchal system — and this is a function of madhhab, not religion itself.
Mawdudi, who wrote a book on the political system, placed women in a subordinate position and expressed unjustified fanaticism by writing “The power of man” (!!!). Going further back, Ibn Taymiyyah was a staunch fanatic, opposed to any standards of progress and civilization.
Consider, for example, in Shiism: Majlisi and Shaykh Mufid — both were extremely strict religious figures, to the extent that they considered marriages between Sunnis and Shiites forbidden. Likewise, those Sunnis who called Shiites “rafidah” and unbelievers also considered such marriages forbidden. One of my Shiite acquaintances in Northern California proposed to a girl from a Sunni family, and her father (now deceased) said, “We do not give our daughter to a Shiite.” Even though both recite the shahada!!!
The scholars of Sunnis and Shiites (if one can even dare to call them scholars, since one of the qualities of a true scholar is the absence of fanaticism) have caused deep divisions between the two madhhabs. The fact that Sunnis today do not stand behind Iran is not only because Arabs have “sold out” to the West, but also because they oppose Shiites. Did Saudi Arabia not execute a Shiite scholar? Ask yourselves: Is capital punishment part of Islam? Did Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) execute anyone?
Yusuf al-Qardawi, widely known in the Sunni world, justified suicide attacks against Israel, which led to tragedies for Muslims in Afghanistan: ignorant Taliban carried out such attacks daily, and another individual even rebranded them as “istishhadi.” Meanwhile, the Qur’an says that if you kill one person, it is as if you have killed all humanity, and if you save one person, it is as if you have saved all humanity.
For five years now, women and girls in Afghanistan have been deprived of their right to a normal life; some ignorant people remain silent, while others, even living abroad in the so-called “civilized world,” justify this due to tribal or ethnic biases — and all of this contradicts both Islam and morality.
Religion has been turned into a tool — by both Shiites and Sunnis — for personal and group interests, leading people into poverty and suffering. There are hundreds of examples showing that today both Shiites and Sunnis bear responsibility for the hardships of Muslims. Open any book, and you will see nothing but fanaticism and injustice.
The problem is not limited to the conflict between Shiites and Sunnis. Shiites have exploited Shiites, and Sunnis have exploited Sunnis. The Qur’an tells Christians not to commit excess in religion, yet today, under the banner of madhhab, people go to such extremes that they lose their humanity.
This was a very brief summary of why I decided not to belong to any madhhab, while still sincerely loving my religion and defending it.
