Reflections on Imam Mahdi (III)

The fourth proof of ‘Qaddam Sidq’’s ignorance is his assumption that his views on Al-Mahdi and other issues are shared by about 90% of the Muslims. He does not seem to know that those 90% are the Ash’arites and the Mu’tazilites and the Sufis and so on and they are not counted nor considered as […]

The fourth proof of ‘Qaddam Sidq’’s ignorance is his assumption that his views on Al-Mahdi and other issues are shared by about 90% of the Muslims. He does not seem to know that those 90% are the Ash’arites and the Mu’tazilites and the Sufis and so on and they are not counted nor considered as Muslims in the school of Islam to which he subscribes.
Al-Uthaymeen, a very promi-nent contemporary advocate and theoretician of the salafi school to which ‘Qaddam Sidq’ subscribes states very clearly in his book titled “Sharhul Aqeedatil Waasitiyyah” that the Ash’arites, the Mu’tazilites, the Shi’ah and so on are not among the Ahlus Sunnah but are Mubtadi’ah (innovators).  They are lost and misguided. And Allaamah Naasiruddeen al-Albany, who ‘Qad-dam Sidq’ proudly quotes, states in his Mausoo’ah (encyclopaedia) that the Prophet’s parents were disbelievers and are now in Hell. This is definitely not the opinion of those 90%. The school to which ‘Qaddam Sidq’ subscribes believes only its members and followers are Muslims, and everybody else is a heretic and non-Muslim.
The fifth proof is his belief in what his handlers tell him that the Shi’ah, in this age, are denied access to their books by their scholars, and that, by implication, he knows those books more than the Shi’ah themselves. Hear him : ‘… perhaps the average Shi’a adherents in Nigeria and elsewhere never know them, just as they never realise how they were misled into this heretical dogma in the first place. I am sure that, their clerics will never tell them, neither will they allow them to access such shocking assertions, either.  After all, only those who are too deluded and indoctrinated to see anything wrong in them are told such things.’’ He does not realise that he is the one who is deluded and indoctrinated. That is why he feels he knows everything about every other opinion or point of view.
That is why he feels he can use ‘Mustalahul Hadith’ to write off all the books and works of other scholars. He does not know that they know the Science of Hadith more than his handlers because they were writing Hadith and creating ways of protecting it since when it was prohibited to both narrate and document Hadith. ‘Qaddam Sidq’ needs a lot of treatment indeed, because he does not know that attempts were made to stop the narration and documentation of hadith since the time of the Prophet himself, and that he was the first person who stood in the way of those attempts by instructing Abdullah bn  Amr to write everything he heard from him because nothing but the truth was coming out from his mouth. The shi’ah and their scholars have never deviated from that instruction, even though ‘Qaddam Sidq’ is ignorant of the fact. He only knows how to twist and distort facts; quote scholars out of context; dabble into texts, try to understand them literally all by himself, and then pass his own verdict on them. Surely,
He knows how to vehemently deny his ignorance of the basic rules of the Arabic language as clearly illustrated in his inability to spell and pronounce his name correctly. ‘Qaddam Sidq’ thinks that simply because he writes his name using English letters, it automatically follows that it has become anglicised, and therefore he can apply rules to the name as they may be in the English language. He wants to have us believe that the double d uses in the first part of his compound name should be considered and pronounced as a single d, because that is how consonants are treated in the English language ‘almost often’. He fails to see that that can only apply if he had anglicised his name as in the case of, say Jabalut Taariq which has been anglicised to Gibraltar; or Ibnu Seena which has become Avicennes; or Ibnu Rushd which has become Aveross , or Baitu Lahm which is also known as Bethlehem. Many other examples can also be readily cited.
By the way, all these names are very relevant here because they are all compound names – like Qadamu Sidq – which have to comply with the rules of Mudaaf and Mudaaf ilaih. Similarly, if ‘Qaddam Sidq’ had been Michael or Jonah or Abraham or Moses or Drinkwater or Kirkpatrick or Sylvester we would not have bothered to tie him to the rules of the Arabic language – we would only have done that if his name was Ibraheem or Musa or Isa or Yunus. One is also amused at the way ‘Qaddam Sidq’ tried to conveniently avoid the second part of his compound name – Sidq – by not mentioning what would have happened to the connecting letter if he had decided to anglicise it also, just as he refused to say anything about the Mohammad. In short, assuming that writing one’s name using English letters automatically anglicises it is nothing but a graphic display of ignorance in its worst and most bizarre form.
Now, finally, on the subject of the books of Shi’ah scholars, I must say that ‘Qaddam Sidq’ does not know what those scholars use as criteria to verify or authenticate any opinion or narration. He also does not know their methods. He also does not know that they do not consider their books as infallible as his own scholars do. Discussing these subjects with him and his likes is sheer waste of time. He should best be advised to leave bread to its bakers. ‘Qaddam Sidq’ is neither equipped nor qualified for a serious academic discussion on these issues by any and every yardstick and/or stretch of the imagination. Case rested. Praise belongs to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.
Sheikh Usman Danfodio’s Views on Imam Mahdi
As I said in my reporting on the seminar on Imam Mahdi, I asked my study group teacher for his views on Imam Mahdi and he gave me two books to read before we commence our discussion. In one of them, titled Tambihul Ummati p.40 Sheikh Danfodio cited the following scholars: ‘Jalalu Al Suyudi said in his book Urful wardi fi akhbaril Mahdi  and Kashfu fi mujazawati hazihil ummatu alfa  that Imam Mahdi will appear at the end of time around the time that  Dajjal (L) Isa the Son of Maryam (AS). This is also confirmed by Sayyadi Hassan Al Yusi ibn Mas’ud in his writing.’’
(To be continued)