Deviation: Causes, Dangers, and Remedies (Part 6)
“Al-Ajwibatus Sadeedah ‘ala al-As’ilatir Rasheedah” – (The Sound Answers to the Rightly Guided Questions) – (Part 6)
By: Allamah Zayd ibn Muhammad ibn Haadi al-Madkhali (may Allah have mercy on him)
Urdu Translation: Umm Muhammad Khushnuma Muslihuddin
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Question 10: What is the meaning of deviation from the straight path? Also, what are its causes, means, and dangers?
Answer: Deviation from the straight path means turning away from the path of truth that leads to Allah, and instead, following the paths of misguidance.
📍 And the reasons for deviation from the straight path in Islamic societies, especially in the present era, are numerous and diverse. I (the author) am mentioning some of the most important of these causes below:
(1) Many people not understanding the correct creed (Aqeedah), even though it is the origin and foundation of the religion.
(2) The evils spread through modern media, such as obscene films, lewd dramas, and pictures in TV, newspapers, and magazines that are based on and incline towards the immodesty of men and women. These have reached almost all Muslim households, whether in the city or the village, except for a few upon whom is the special grace of Allah (and such people are very few). Similarly, singing and music, the beat of the drum, the tune of the oud, mixed dancing of men and women, and women wearing fashionable Western clothing that in reality promotes immodesty, because the creators of these designs are Jews, and the hostile attitude of the Jews towards Muslims is not hidden from anyone.
(3) The advertisement and promotion of nightclubs for dancing and indulgence, and dens of obscenity that exist in many countries of the world. (May Allah protect the Muslims from their evil).
(4) Failure in the practical field and self-imposed leisure (vagrancy), which traps a person in a life of waywardness and the swamp of misguidance and evil.
(5) The use of intoxicating substances and becoming addicted to various types of drugs.
(6) The presence of evil people from among mankind who have joined the group of Satan. Satan has prepared them in such a way that they may dominate people and misguide them from wherever it is easiest to make them slip.
(7) The obsession with modern sports and extravagance in them, spending time thinking and planning for them. Similarly, the evils associated with these sports, which include wasting a great deal of time, neglecting obligations, lack of modesty (pardah), and the mixed gathering of men and women as spectators, as is seen in most Muslim countries today, where religion and morals have deteriorated because they have left their desires unchecked.
(8) The prevalence of ignorance and unfamiliarity with the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah in most of today’s Islamic societies.
(9) The spread of destructive ideologies and misguided Sufi paths in the Islamic world, as well as the prevalence of externally imported thoughts and ideologies in the Arabian Peninsula, which contain great dangers that one must be aware of and cautious about.
These were some of the existent causes that have led to deviation from the path of truth and righteousness in Muslim countries. In addition, there are also causes related to absence, some of which I will mention below:
(1) The lack of Shariah knowledge, Salafi methodology, and wisdom among those who call to the religion in most of the Islamic countries of the world. (2) Not pondering over death and the torment and terrors of the Barzakh (the intermediary state after death) and the Hereafter. (3) The absence of the intention for Jihad in the way of Allah when all its Shariah conditions and means are present, and ignoring the broad meaning of this great act, due to the weakness that has penetrated the hearts, which is the extraordinary love for the life of this world and the hatred of death, in which many Muslims have become afflicted.
📍 And as for the matter of the dangers of deviation, Allah the Almighty Himself has clarified it in His truthful words:
{وَمَنۡ اَعۡرَضَ عَنۡ ذِكۡرِىۡ فَاِنَّ لَـهٗ مَعِيۡشَةً ضَنۡكًا وَّنَحۡشُرُهٗ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيٰمَةِ اَعۡمٰى (١٢٤) قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرۡتَنِىۡۤ اَعۡمٰى وَقَدۡ كُنۡتُ بَصِيۡرًا (١٢٥) قَالَ كَذٰلِكَ اَتَـتۡكَ اٰيٰتُنَا فَنَسِيۡتَهَاۚ وَكَذٰلِكَ الۡيَوۡمَ تُنۡسٰى (١٢٦) وَكَذٰلِكَ نَجۡزِىۡ مَنۡ اَسۡرَفَ وَلَمۡ يُؤۡمِنۡۢ بِاٰيٰتِ رَبِّهٖؕ وَلَعَذَابُ الۡاٰخِرَةِ اَشَدُّ وَاَبۡقٰى} – [طه : ١٢٤ – ١٢٧]
Translation: "But whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind." (124) He will say, "My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was once seeing?" (125) [Allah] will say, "Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten." (126) And thus do We recompense he who transgressed and did not believe in the signs of his Lord. And the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe and more enduring. [Ta-Ha: 124 - 127]
📍 Perhaps a questioner may now say that we have understood the meaning of deviation, its causes, and its dangers from your writing, but what is its treatment and the method to eliminate it?
So I submit (I seek refuge in Allah from unnecessary talk and deviation in creed and action) that overcoming and eliminating deviation is possible (if Allah wills) through the following matters:
(1) The existence of Muslim rulers who, with complete honesty and awareness, are desirous of practically implementing all Islamic teachings in creed, worship, dealings, manners, morals, politics, governance, war, and peace (i.e., in every sphere). Thanks to Allah that He has granted the rulers of our country, Saudi Arabia, the ability to implement His pure Shariah and to accept Allah as Lord, Islam as religion, and Muhammad (ﷺ) as Prophet and Messenger. May Allah the Almighty increase them in guidance and complete His apparent and hidden blessings upon them. (2) The presence of scholars and callers to the truth in the societies of the Muslim Ummah who are prepared to sacrifice knowledge, action, wisdom, life, wealth, honor, and time in the path of Allah. They should be seekers of only Allah’s mercy and fearful of His punishment. They should begin their call with the rectification of the correct creed, which is the fundamental purpose of the call of the Messengers, so that people worship Allah with monotheism (Tawhid) and sincerity (in its general sense) according to the way of the Prophet (ﷺ) and his companions. And they should be completely obedient, both outwardly and inwardly, to everything the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) brought. He (ﷺ) invited both jinn and mankind to enter this religion and to act upon its principles and branches, with the condition that the Shariah principles and regulations of the call and the methodology of the Prophethood and the Rightly Guided Caliphate are kept in view, as Allah the Almighty states:
{ذٰلِكَ الدِّيۡنُ الۡقَيِّمُ وَلٰـكِنَّ اَكۡثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ} – [الروم : ٣٠]
Translation: "That is the correct religion, but most of the people do not know." [Ar-Rum: 30]
(3) Guiding the common Muslims towards listening to Shariah books and Islamic lectures that are written and recorded by the jurists of the religion and scholars who hold a clear Salafi methodology. In them is nourishment for the souls of the servants, life for their hearts, and light for their insights, so that they may know where they came from, why they were created, and what their original point of return and end is. (4) Purifying the Islamic society from everything that becomes a source of misguidance and corruption, which prevents one from coming towards the truth and hinders people from living a good life according to the Shariah of Allah, because true righteousness in the life of any accountable person is not possible without the system prescribed by Allah the Almighty.
(5) The selection of responsible individuals in the field of education and upbringing should be such that they are well-wishers of the Muslims, knowers and practitioners of the truth, callers to it, and who are patient with hardships on this path with truthfulness and sincerity.
(6) The general affairs of the Muslims should be entrusted only to those who possess knowledge, wisdom, piety, sincerity, and the ability to make decisions, rather than on the basis of personal interest or recommendation, because it is not permissible to assign any task to an unqualified person.
(7) Giving special attention to the educational curriculum and giving it a uniform shape in all Islamic countries, in such a way that its source is the pure Islamic Shariah, which is the guarantor of the worldly and otherworldly interests of humanity, and to completely reject everything that is contrary to the Islamic Shariah.
(8) Encouraging callers who invite with wisdom and a better, effective manner, supporting them materially and morally, and giving them the Shari`ah-based freedom to guide the Muslim Ummah, treat its illnesses, and correct its mistakes, with the condition that they adopt the methodology and style of the Prophets and Messengers in their call.
(9) The selection of those who work in the media (whether electronic or print: radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, etc.) should be made only from among those who possess religious competence, broad Islamic culture, zeal for the religion of Allah, and a sentiment of well-wishing for the people. At the same time, they should refrain from broadcasting anything that is harmful to the religion or the worldly life of human beings, because in Islam, neither harming oneself nor harming another is correct.
(10) Mosques should receive special care and attention in such a way that:
First: All basic facilities are fully available in the mosques, for example, housing for the Imam and Mu’adhdhin, a library equipped with scholarly books, restrooms, and ample parking space nearby so that worshipers can easily gather and worship in the houses of Allah, those houses which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein.
Second: Imams and Khatibs (preachers) should be selected who possess scholarly capabilities and have the ability to deliver effective sermons among the public while following the methodology of the Salaf as-Saliheen (the righteous predecessors). Because these are the scholars who can treat the problems of society through their sermons, lessons, and continuous educational activities. This educational series in the mosques should always continue. And the day when people with superstitious beliefs and partisan organizational thinking are removed from the imamate, then the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama’ah (the Salafis), who follow the Book and the Sunnah according to the understanding of the Salaf as-Saliheen, will rejoice in this favor of Allah. Indeed, it is Allah who sets right the affairs of His creation, and He is in a new matter every day.
