Sat 26 Apr 2008
The Sufi and “Sunni” Versions
Posted by themanoffewwords under Poetry, Theology, controversy, religion, video
It’s about time for some controversy. A friend of mine shot me an email and asked me to post it and so here it is. He contrasts the lyrics for two nasheed presumably to highlight the “shirkiness” of one of them. Which one, you decide.
As a note I think it is a bit inaccurate to label the non-Sufi lyrics as Sunni since generally Sufis are considered Sunni and would take great offense at the distinction. But that’s how the email came, and at the very least this should be quite stimulating. I wanted to change it to Sufi and Salafi but I couldn’t justify calling Mesut Kurtis a Salafi, nor do I think he would appreciate the title. I guess when Muslims start playing the label game confusion is inevitable. Anyway, enjoy.
A simple illustration
of Sufism Vs. Sunni Islam
Two different versions of lyrics
are presented below:
- The original version
that is sung in Mawlid and Dhikr gatherings by those who
ascribe themselves to Tassawuff. - Modified version
sung by non-Sufis.
| Original Sufi
O Leader of the Messengers, You are my support You are the Gate of Allah and my reliance So in my life and in the hereafter O Messenger of Allah, guide me [Both poems are drastically different from this point on; comparison is not possible] |
Modified non-Sufi
O Lord of the Universe, You are my support It is on You, O my Master, that I rely So in my life and in the hereafter O Lord of the Throne, guide me |
Here are the Sufi Lyrics and here are the “Sunni” Lyrics.
(Oh snap, no he didn’t!)
April 26th, 2008 at 2:55 am
MY MY MY……yeah Sufi lyrics are…hmm..no comments! BTW, i came across sufi lyrics for the first time .. i think i need to diversify my circle of friends so i wouldn’t be as shocked next time =)
April 26th, 2008 at 4:10 am
OK first of all, why would you post something for the purpose of starting controversy? there is a big difference between posting something controversial that will bring benefit, and posting something for the mere purpose of creating controversy.
Second, while everyone calls themselves sunni, only one can be true ahlus-sunnah waljamm3ah.
Thirdly, why put quotations over “shirkiness” asking the Prophet to guide you is shirk not “shirk” we find guidance through the teachings of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, but even the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam cannot even INTERCEDE for us without the permission of Allah.
wallahu alem.
April 26th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Hidaya,
you are a bit out of touch to be “shocked.”
Shirien,
1. I didn’t say I posted it for the sake of controversy, I said it’s time for controversy thus describing the post as controversial. Duh. And it is of benefit obviously… double duh!
2. This is debatable as I’m sure you are aware.
3. I put quotations around “shirkiness” because it’s not a real word. Triple duh. You have earned three duh in one comment being the first to do so on my blog. How does that make you feel?
Aren’t you a writer of some kind? You should feel silly. Now DEFEND YOURSELF if you dare!
April 26th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
lol you’re so vain. In fact, I love the fact that you even have a category called “vanity”
I made my points.. no defense needed.
April 26th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Guilty as charged.
Cop out.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Please refrain from ever using the word shirk when dealing with actions that other muslims are doing, unless you are positive that what they are doing is actually considered shirk. When you say that someone is comitting shirk knowingly, you are calling them a mushrik. I am sure that the 100 million muslims plus who sing the first version of the song will tell you that they know exactly what they are saying. And you calling their actions shirk, then means you are calling them mushriks. To call another Muslim a Mushrik, when that person is not actually comitting any shirk, can throw you out of the fold of islam. It is not to be taken lightly. Nor is it the job of common muslims to call each other’s somewhat controversial acts, “shirk”. We have thousands of scholars who can do this if it is necessary. And I am not talking about the scholars on the internet who are safe behind their computer screens. I am talking about the scholars who will have the courage to state their opinion infront of the people they are accusing of shirk. It is a real huge fitnah in the entire ummah these days of common people opening up the Quran and the Hadith books and just coming up with their own opinions on matters, as if they are writing essays in college. And coincidentally, this new phenemona emerging in the Ummah of people just reading the Quran and Hadith and coming up with their “own” judgements has led them to do what? Start saying “shirk” this and “shirk” that. It is a trap of shaytan to destroy our brotherhood and to destroy the excellence of our Ummah’s scholarly work and tradition which has been unmatched to this day.
I encourage everyone to learn - study - read - EVERYDAY for 50 years, 60 years, 70 years….Open your minds instead of closing them. Who taught you that that was shirk? Shirk is associating others with Almighty Allah. Labeling the Prophet (peace be upon him) as our guide, teacher and as someone who we rely on before any other human being is not shirk - I have no idea why anyone would think that is shirk? If one were to say they only rely on the Prophet (peace be upon him) and not on God - then there will be controversy there. But the song is merely stating that we rely on the Prophet (peace be upon him). Obviously, the people who are singing that song recognize that he is the Messenger of Allah and ultimately all reliance is on Allah. We truly only can rely on Allah. But Allah sent us a messenger who is our guide, teacher, the one who Allah wanted us to rely on on this world to please Allah, the one who we love more than any other human being, the one where most of our respect belongs to, the one who the Sahaba would jump infront of arrows and give their lives for in war, the one who the Sahaba would compete to grab a drop of water that fell of his body. (peace be upon him). That song praises the Prophet (peace be upon him) and their is nothing wrong with that. I do not see any shirk in this. Please find out for yourself by doing research (and not on the internet) Almighty Allah knows best.
April 29th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Salam Muj,
I don’t want you answer back, just think about these little points.
- Which version of lyrics would the Prophet pbuh prefer Muslims to sing?
- You may claim that the Prophet actually hears you, when you would sing “O Messenger, guide me”. Since he is alive in his grave, but the same applies to all prophets and martyrs (they are alive in their graves) Should we start singing, “O Jesus, guide me”, “O Abu Bakr (ra), guide me”.
- Can you think of an example of over-praising the Prophet pbuh? (I am assuming that you believe that over-praising the Prophet is not a good thing). Christians over-priased Jesus pbuh, until they made him God. Maybe some Muslims are following the same path.
Anyway, Prophets are not sent to be objects of our devotion. Don’t you think that Prophet Muhammad pbuh would be much happier if we directed our efforts in following what he did, rather than calling onto him to guide us?
April 29th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
B (lol):
I completely agree with you about how one should contemplate and think about what the Prophet (peace be upon him) would want us to do in any situation.
In terms of songs and poetry of praise - even the Sahaba used to sing songs of poetry infront of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and he approved of them. It is a tradition in our Ummah to have poetry like that and to sing it.
In regards to what you mentioned about Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) - I don’t actually think their “over” praise of the Prophet Isa (peace be upon him) actualy led to them starting to worship him. I believe the church was hijacked by a pagan empire and was corrupted by their teachings and corrupt intentions. I don’t think that a group of people remembering him and praising his life and thanking God for sending him would lead to that. But I really don’t know, I never studied christian history like that, even though I went to Catholic school for 8 years lol.
It is a fact in our religion that we need to love the Prophet (peace be upon him) more than even our mothers and our own selves. That means a mother, who has an infant child, still needs to regognize the status of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and to love him more than even her own child. To me, this condition of Iman in our religion which was set by the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself, far outweighs the praises that one can have for the Prophet (peace be upon him) in any song or poetry. Do you understand what I mean? We praise the Prophet (peace be upon him) by remembering him every single day. In every prayer, we send salaam to the Prophet (peace be upon him), in ever seerah book, we recognize how God blessed us with the Prophet (peace be upon him).
Can one attain paradise by believing in Allah alone and not recognizing the Prophet? NO - not in Islam. “There is no God, but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”. Allah loved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) so much that he put his name next to HIS and made it a condition in our Ummah to love him and respect him and revere him. Does this mean the Prophet (peace be upon him) is divine - NO WAY - it is our Lord showing to all of us who His most beloved is. The Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them) all had immense love for the Prophet (peace be upon him). In their songs, in their actions, in their daily lives. They died for him, would starve for him, would try to spend as much time for him. Ofcourse, ultimately for the sake and pleasure of Allah.
I am in total agreement with you that people will get carried away and start to attribute things to the Prophet (peace be upon him) that might be divine. But when one says he is our guide, they don’t MEAN he is our GUIDE as in Allah alone guides us to the right path. He is the guide sent to us by Almighty Allah. In the song, they ARE directly saying that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is our guide. Just like you DIRECTLY eat your food everyday to survive. You don’t leave the food on the table and say “my salvation is with Allah alone and I will not eat this food because that means I am not recognizing the fact that Allah alone sustains mean.” What is food? Food is something Almighty Allah created for us to need. Who is the Prophet (peace be upon him)? He is someone who Allah created that we all need the MOST out of any other creation. He was sent down as a Mercy for mankind, and Allah loved him so much that He elevated his rank as the “BEST OF CREATION”.
My urgent response was to the use of the term shirk and “shirkiness” and words like these that open up fitnah for us to start attacking one another. I am sure that you as well as others are aware of the amount of fitnah in our communities these days concerning what Aqida I am following, what “type” of muslim I am, and how “that group is misguided” and “this one is right”. My request, to myself, and to everyone else is to truly understand the state that the Ummah is in, and to then base their actions and words to one another based on this understanding. We are at a point where people are beginning to open up the Qur’an and start reading it and interpreting it themselves. I have met people, and I was one of them, who think you can just dwelve in there and figure out what the verses meant (this is, by the way a protestant christian way of thinking - thats why you’ll have evangelicals come up to you on the street throwing verses at you to prove things to you, instead of just reciting their book to you for you to listen). We are at a point where we have scholars for “dollars” all over the muslim world giving fatwas that even a moron can see are incorrect. Then how about the fatwas and positions that are soo much more subtle and cause an even more dangerous type of corruption? Yes, I know too that many muslims unknowingly commit shirk, even to themselves with their arrogance. But honestly, the majority of the Ummah, the majority of the scholars will, inshaAllah, always be on the right path in terms of their beliefs. In terms of our following those beliefs, we are at the weakest point in our history.
I just think there are a lot of “sophmores” out there. Very “wise fools” who have went from being a freshman who knows a little bit about the religion and does a few things here and there, to beginning to learn about the deen. And the first thing MOST people run into these days when they initially embark upon a sincere intention to learn the deen: “They are comitting shirk, they are mushirk, they are doing biddah, they are extreme, they are wahabi, they are extreme sufi, they are misguided, they are doing things alll the wrong way, he is saying he is sunni but he is really a shiah (lol), he is worshipping that grave)”. It really is troubling and it DIVIDES us like the shaytan and our enemies would like us to be divided. So my request is that we all just keep quiet about these things while we all go through this sophmore phase of learning the deen, and kind of not repeat this craziness we hear, ESPECIALLY when it comes to accusing someone or some group of shirk unless it is absolutely clear. I am not saying to shut the dialougue off, I am saying to pump up the research efforts, to read, to pray and to follow what we already know and keep your mind clear from things that don’t even affect you. Someone told me the other day that “an indication of a person being inclined to becoming a liar is that he will repeat what he hears without fully understanding it first himself.” In that case we are all liars and are lying to ourselves about how much we know about our religion, including myself. And on that note I have to go! May Allah guide all of us - Ameen.
Allah knows best
April 29th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
B: Walaykum Asalaam
April 29th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Maybe I misunderstood the poem myself, I was under the impression that the lyrics are not just mentioning that Prophet pbuh as our guide, rather the lyrics are explicility asking our Prophet for guidance.
“O Messenger of Allah, guide me”
Do you see what I am saying?
April 30th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
B:
I understand what you mean. That is actually the controversy these days. Many people in the Ummah believe that it is completely good and fine to actually ASK the Prophet (peace be upon him) for help, even after his earthly existence. They have been doing it for HUNDREDS of years and they probably number in the 100 millions. They have many proofs and narrations related to Umar, Uthman, Kahlid bin Walid (May Allah be pleased with them) where those people have approved asking the Prophet (peace be upon him) for help after his passing away. Like you can go to the grave of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and ask him to make duaa for you to Allah. Or if you are in a trouble time, you can call upon the Prophet to give you help, by obviously asking Allah to help you. The point of using the Prophet (peace be upon him) as an intermediary is his extremely high status. Just like if you would ask your mother to make duaa for you or a righteous person. You would be much more inclined, and wisely so, to seek out a truly righteous person who you believe is close to Allah to make duaa for you.
I am not, however, about to get into that debate lol - because honestly, it takes true Hadith scholars who have studied hadith for a long period of time to know how to prove something and how not to prove it.
My original point was that it is not shirk. Asking someone for help is not shirk. As muslims, we ask people for help ALL the time. If you have a project you are working on and ask me for assitance, you are not worshipping me or recognizing that I am the ulitmate power which will give you your result. No way - you are asking me for help but you UNDERSTAND that only Almighty Allah can grant you what you are asking for and He is truly the one who will help you. It is not shirk.
Now the confusion is, whether or not it is shirk to ask someone after they passed away. Lets break down the argument in another way - is it SHIRK for someone to believe after their mother or father has passed away, and they are sitting in a room talking to them - lets say they are saying “O my mother I miss you so much”? Is that a form of shirk? NO - if it wasn’t shirk when they were alive, how can it be shirk when they are dead. To my understanding, and Allah knows best, anything that you did or believe about someone on this earth that was not shirk cannot be shirk after they have passed away. SHIRK, by definition, is associating others with Allah. The fact that someone believe they can communicate with someone in their grave does not mean they are elevating that person to a godly status. In fact, the reason why many muslims believe this is because Islam teaches us that humans will enter into the next phase of existence which the Grave - before the day of Judgment. And in our religion there are many things which explain how people can hear other’s who are burying them, hear footsteps, the etiquette of saying salaam to the believers who are buried in a grave yard, etc etc. Muslims just didnt’ make up this idea - it is in our faith.
And if they are saying “O Messenger of Allah, guide me” -
#1 they are recognizing in THAT sentence that he is the Messenger of God, NOT that he is GOD himself
#2 asking anyone for guidance is okay - just like its okay for your parents to send you to school and the masjid to be guided by teachers and sheikhs - but since you are muslim, you UNDERSTAND that everything you have is TRULY from Allah - any guidance you gain is TRULY coming from Allah - because HE created your teacher to guide you
#3 if there is something wrong with asking something from someone who has passed away, then what the person is singing is wrong, BUT IT IS NOT SHIRK - SHIRK is if the person said, “O Muhammad, you are my Lord or you are the Son of God” (We seek refuge from Allah from ever thinking such a thing)
And lastly, I would like to say that if you have a doubt in something, just stay away from it. It is your job to find out through learning, etc. I, myself, do not know enough about this at all. That is why I have not made up my mind about it (nor do I have any urgency). So if you have a doubt in this, don’t sing the song and try not to listen to it. That is the wisest thing you can do for yourself. But, obviously do research and be patient. In the end, this topic or subject to me is not so important because as muslims, we should truly be concentrating on our fardh and our obligations that we have as a muslim to Allah and our Prophet (peace be upon him)our families, communities and faith. There are so many things that we are COMMANDED to do, yet we are not fulfilling them. And one thing which is HIGHLY important in our religion is NOT to accuse someone else of Shirk or NOT take matters of religion LIGHTLY and to really leave them to the scholars - or inshaAllah to try and become a scholar yourself
I hope I did not say anything wrong, I just want people to not call each other mushrik or even to start accusing others of shirk type activities. Even if you say “im not calling him a mushrik, I’m just saying he is ingorantly doing shirk” Unless you REALLY KNOW he is comitting shirk stay AWAY from that accusation - because it will start to make your opinion of other Muslims brothers LOW for no reason and without any REAL intelligent proof - especially when we have enough enemies trying to kill us these days and split us apart. I feel extremely sad when I see and hear brothers planting the seeds to their OWN beef with each other. It starts out by saying, yea I think that song sounds weird - to yea they are all ignorant - to yea we should stay away from them - to yea lets start our own masjid - to yea lets keep our kids away from them - to yea we shouldn’t worry about them being killed because they are MUSHRIK anyway (and believe me it will happen unless we educate ourselves and protect ourselves)
Again, we come to the conclusions that as Muslims in America, we need to make an EXTRA effort to gain knowledge. We are susceptible to many many many ideas and opinions alll at once because we truly are exposed to almost every single culture and idea around the world - especially in New York City area and because of the high speed internet lol We owe it to ourselves and to our brothers and sisters to learn
May Allah forgive me if I said anything wrong at all and Allah knows best.