Dr Khalid Khan Adores Javed Ahmed Ghamdi - 15
1 hour 3 minutes onwards.
Q: The way you have treated Qur'an Majeed in an Islamic government you would have gor worse punishment than imprisonment. For example your translation of Surah Ikhlas and some other verses is completely different from commonly acceptable ones - is it not tinkering with the text?
A: Maulana Islahi also should get the same punishment for the translation quoted by you is from him.
Then he does a clarification in which he does talk things that are in consonance with the conservative interpretation. Here the yound Maulwi could not clearly enunciate his objection.
Then he clarifies about the meaning of another word (Ghusa an ahwa) that the young 'Alim had asked. He recommends the young 'Alim to refer to Maulana Farahi's explanation and asserts that this is not modification (tinkering) but merely a difference of opinion.
Here we shall leave the matter to the Scholars, Mr Ghamidi not being one of them but he does possess a right to talk to them, and not delve into such technicalities that do not concern us.
He then does a massive name dropping - Maulanas Farahi, Islahi, Maududi and Hazrat Mehmoodul Hasan RA and Hazrat Thanwi RA. Since latter ones have done their own translations therefore former ones too can do so. This again takes us into excessive technical regime where he should not be dumping new info on common people.
He : The most you can say about Maulana Farahi is that you do not agree with some opinion of his. (Context Urdu and Arabic Tafaseer of Maulana Farahi in the context of the phrase Ghusa an ahwa of Surah Al-A'ala.)
He is wrong. There was a Fatwa against Maualana Farahi.
Q: Sir you say that your Usool is to adopt the common meaning but you do not follow the Usool that you claim to have.
A: You have to define the meaning of common meaning. Maulana Farahi asserted that in the case of above mentioned phrase a possible meaning became neglected because people were overwhelmingly using the other meaning. He pointed this out.
( Common vs Obsolete )
As we said earlier the discussion is something that is not for common men. Clearly his ground here can not be very firm because his dependence on Maulanas Farahi, Islahi and Maududi whose views are not appreciated amongst traditional Ulama - both Deobandi and Barelwi. In fact Barelwis are outraged.
Q: You accuse Madaris people of Taqlidi mentality while you yourself keep doing Taqleed of your teachers (Farahi-Islahi-Maududi).
A: I do not do their Taqleed it so happens that my opinion agrees with theirs. But on tens of points I have disagreement with them. My mightily honourable teacher Maulana Amin Ahmed Islahi has a wonderful book Dawat-e-Deen Ka Tareeqa-e-Kar. I have rejected nearly all of it. On inheritance (disagreement). If you list all the issues on which I have difference with my teachers then a whole book will get compiled.
This might look like a wonderful thing in today's environment where a wester method and approach towards knowledge has become the way of life. In reality this is a dangerous trend where everyone is being encouraged to disagree with everyone else including teachers. Islam is about submission and not revolt and free for all.
Here the question arises that if there is a genuine difference then what should one do? This certainly is not a problem because difference of opinion amongst the Ulama is in fact a way of life. So in the conventional approach to theological knowledge the difference of opinion is not forbidden. Yet the traditional approach starts with the part that is agreed upon. Difference of opinion comes much much later. To live life you need the positive, assertive and agreed upon things first. People like Maulanas Farahi-Islahi-Maududi encourage dissension from the word go and make personal opinion a currency. A fifteen years old boy has the same level of credibility as a seventy years old Alim - democracy of opinion.
Of course the teenagers will like this approach where they become equals of big scholars on day one. Deen is to precious a thing to be thrown to untrained people and their opinionating and that is what Ghamidi is advocating.
He : So it is not Taqleed but selective acceptance of the opinion on the basis of personal analysis.
Here he repeated the same view that we have been rejecting in the present analysis.
Young 'Alim : There is a problem here again. You disagree with your teachers. Neither Deobandis nor Barelwis agree with you. So all you want is to spread differences and differences.
He : I am a student I want to put a full stop to this traditional attitude (of following past scholars.) My attitude and mentality is of a student and a student accepts things on the basis of reasoning.
Here it is clear that he really insists on sabotaging the traditional method and order that has been serving Islam for more than a thousand years. The adamant person does not realise that reasoning, though necessary, is not sufficient to reach truth. Empiricism, that lies beyond reasoning, becomes a necessity in science and even science is not sufficient to get all the knowledge we need. We need revelation from God. Here we are talking about revelation only and reason falls short miserably in this realm. Things are being explained to him again and again but he is fixed and fossilized in his thinking and can not move beyond reasoning as a tool to extract knowledge. Incidentally he he accuses the traditional Ulama of fossilization and want them to adopt his methodology. It is like a blind man criticizing the seeing ones and insisting upon leading them. Massively dense.
Q: Sir the problem is not that you should not be allowed to think differently. the problem is that you are trivializing the 1437 years old knowledge. You reject experience 1400 years on the basis of your twenty five years of experience. Do you think all of intellect has been exclusively conferred on you? You put yourself completely revolt against all the traditional knowledge and inheritance of knowledge.
A: This word, revolt, is your choice, I have not used it. I am merely looking as as an student on the things. A student confining himself to the side of the old knowledge will never learn a new thing. I too am accpting knowledge from old sources and I am overviewing that knowledge passed by past generations.
1 Hour 15 Minutes over.
