better light a candle than curse darkness
Number 10, October 2008
Publisher: biharanjuman.org
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Relevance of Imams
by Arif M Khan
The Imams were great scholars of the times in which they were living. Following the spirit of the Quranic command, "And those who strive hard in us, We will surely guide them to our paths; and indeed God is with those who do good deed" (29.69), the Imams truly exerted and ratiocinated to find solutions to the problems which arose with the expansion of Islam to include peoples of different cultural and lingual backgrounds. In fact one may say that they responded intellectually to the needs and the challenges of their times. The Imams always said of their views as their personal opinions applicable to a given situation and not laws laid down forever. Imam Abu Hanifa is reported to have said: "We know this is an opinion and it is the best we were able to produce. However whoever comes with a better opinion, we will accept it". On another occasion he said: "Ours is no more than an opinion. We do not oblige or coerce anyone into accepting it. Whoever has a better judgment, let him advance it." (Intiqa P. 40)
The schisms and divisions are not creations of the Imams, but are rooted in the tendency of humans to turn into idol every person and notion that they admire or respect. Imams in fact were human beings who were blessed with extraordinary powers of acquisition of knowledge and wisdom. But they were not divine. What we need to understand is that it is not so much the words that they used but the methodology and spirit with which they exerted their cerebral and intellectual prowess to find solutions for contemporary problems that needs to be followed. If we take the Imams in the spirit with which they viewed themselves then instead of becoming the cause of division and dissension they will become great sources of enrichment of our minds and stimulate intellectual development. Since there is inherent uniqueness in each ordinary individual, how come we expect total uniformity of views and approach among these highly gifted individuals.
Quran declares unequivocally: "Unless you go forth He will punish you with a grievous penalty and put others in your place; but Him you would not harm in the least. For Allah has power over all things" (939). Life consists not in blind imitation but in eternal striving to move forward and compete with each other in doing more and more good to others: "To each is a goal to which Allah turns him; then strive together (as in a race) toward all that is good" (Quran 2.148).
I think we spend too much time trying to correct the opinions of others. Quran honors us as Khairul Ummat, not to tell us that we are superior to others but to tell us that we have special responsibilities to do good to others. We can hope to be at peace (the goal of Islam) only by imbibing the essence of Quran and not by imitating others in actions and strategy.