Thread by @mnizami_uk

[Thread]

The word Islam is a verbal noun, which means it's something you do. This reflects that it doesn't work simply as grand theory. But today that's what Islam largely is. Want to be a good believer? Take some courses in Islamic academic disciplines.

Study the science of hadith, or usul. Why? Ajr of course! (As if God put us on earth to study method.) What's happened is that ppl been moved away frm prophetic knowledge to the academisation of ilm. Reading medieval fiqh & aqidah books for most layman doesn't resolve much.

And after years of taking courses they realise they're still stuck for guidance, no more informed on what to do in the here & now. This is bc ppl advising them studied curricula they little understood the purpose of - they mythologised it and treated it like timeless revelation.

So poor laymen get caught up in the confusion of students/graduates, who themselves don't fully understand what they studied to operationalise it. Transformative learning is vocational, not academic. You're not *studying*, you should be deeply informed.

The problem is the promotion of theory. And what's added to this is the type of religious leadership of those w/ little life experiences, esp in the places they want to issue verdicts/advice.

How can they KNOW subservience to God in particular situations when they haven't experienced it, had to navigate complex terrain, and understand the social, political, emotional & psychological variables at play? These aren't found in any book.

What I value as much as theory is lived experience, & it's a travesty when someone pontificates from a realm of arbitrary assumptions abt a context in which the revealed word is meant to operate. Those who live insular segregated lives have no place in issuing such verdicts.

But equally, if u seek God's guidance for the very modern complex world we're in from those who literally haven't lived the real world and know nothing of ur life, then let's be fair, who's to blame: the insular clerics in their own rudimentary bubbles, or YOUR choice of advisor?

Most shaikhs/mawlanas go&come from mosque, spent young life in madrassah, & adulthood as imam going &coming from mosque. Truth is real world scares them & they have NO IDEA how to operate in it. I met an Asian imam in UK who said he hadn't seen a non-Asian *person* in 6 months!

They have no idea about the cultural references we'd use, nor understand the factors that shape our way of thinking. Hollow rhetoric, irrational religion, and arbitrary condemnation is modus operandi for many towards modern life. It's superficial, boring, and ungodly.

Eg: I rarely answer questions from those abroad, bt even in UK, if someone is active adherent of specific ethno-culture, I advise seeking answer from those in their own community. I see how my advice might b counterproductive & that my life experiences doesn't correlate w/ theirs