Disclaimer: This blog post is a thought in progress as I work through my stray thoughts and source materials. It is raw, unfinished, could be factually incorrect, and might not represent my latest understanding on any matter.  #TheRelearningProject

﷽

اَللّٰهُمَّ اَرِنَا الْحَقَّ حَقًّا وَّ ارْزُقْنَا اتِّبَاعَهٗ وَ اَرِنَا الْبَاطِلَ بَاطِلًا وَّ ارْزُقْنَا اجْتِنَابَهٗ

O Allah! show us the truth as true, and inspire us to follow it. Show us falsehood as falsehood, and inspire us to abstain from it.

There are enough instances in my life where I find myself doubting a statement just because it seemed ridiculous to me (ie. I am not able to see or understand it), to know that this is a problem I have. Still do have that problem.

The first time I realised this was when I had trouble accepting the stories of the awliya shared with me by the asatizah of Rubat Singapura; each story they narrated was met with a thought: “huh.” Men and women being able to transport themselves to Mecca in a blink of an eye? People who could read your thoughts? Must be folklores of old, something from the tradition that is assumed to be part of Islam but actually isn’t.

The second major incident was in Tarim itself, in which I couldn’t walk without wincing in pain for a couple of weeks. The girls tried to tell me it was the evil eye; I scoffed. In fact I might have even raised an eyebrow in skepticism as to why these girls still believed an ancient superstition. “But it’s from a Hadith kak, not from us,” they said. I still couldn’t (or didn’t want to?) wrap my head around it.

And there are the countless (literally) subtle things I noticed in the way that I accepted information as Truth. Like how when there is a Qur’anic verse or Hadith recommending (or commanding) a certain way of doing things, I would only totally accept the statements had there been some “scientific study” backing them. The most recent: “Oh, Rasulullah ﷺ said that consuming barley alleviates a little sadness. Why ah? Let me google it. Oh, barley is good for gut health! No wonder!”

Current way of processing:
Qur’an / Hadith says something → really meh? → Presented with a situation/information → experience/so-called intellect agrees → Truth

What it should be:
Qur’an / Hadith says something → Truth

The current way I measure Truth is by the barometer of my own experiences and understanding of things. For the awliya and evil eye examples, it was only when Allah ﷻ literally placed me in a situations where I see the karama of the awliya and the lifting of the evil eye through the karama of the awliya, that I believed in them. It was only through my readings on barley and gut health based on some random health websites on the internet that I had certainty in Rasulullah’s ﷺ statement. Or only when new scientific studies emerged on the damaging effects of handphone use on children, did I now believe Habib Umar’s warning many years ago.

Put that in comparison to any of my mashaAllah friends, who did not need to go through that whole cycle to take Truth as Truth. I still remember AO’s flabbergasted question, “Why do you have to question it when Rasulullah ﷺ has said it? Why do you have to find similar statements in your “scientific papers” or in the books of other faith in order to strengthen your faith in the truth of Rasulullah’s statement?”

Good question lah, why?

The answer to that, I conclude today, is pride.

Pride, because to suspend MY judgements 100% in favour of taking everything from the Qur’an and Hadith as Truth would mean to place my preferences, my experiences and my so-called intellect below Revelation, and below that of those who are in position to explain Revelation.

I honestly think this deficit in faith roots from our secular way of understanding knowledge. We are taught, from young, that we accept what is true through experimentation; if we can prove something and see that proof with our own eyes, then we can accept it as fact. As long as something cannot be proven via data, or replicated to get the same results, then it remains a myth. Through this, it gets ingrained into us that reason trumps Revelation, without a doubt.

Whereas Allah ﷻ and His Messenger ﷺ are the ones to not be doubted.

That which is forbidden even if it is pleasing now is contaminated in the end. That which is permitted even if it is hateful now is wholesome in the end.

– Imam al-Qushairi, in the commentary of al-Baqarah verse 168

So now that I know I carry this naqs in my imaan, how do I go about changing the way I process information and therefore what I accept as facts?

P/s. Here I must first thank Allah swt in uttermost gratitude for allowing me to experience what I needed to in order to see Truth, instead of just leaving things uncovered. I wouldn’t even know I had such a terrible deficit in my deen. Alhamdulillah, yaa Rabb!

P/s. Interestingly, one of the very first things that we learn through Fiqh Tahawulat is that the current education system is one of the biggest weapon that Dajjal wields.