Download A Religious Life Based on Knowledge

Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura
Friday Sermon
3 March 2017 / 4 Jamadilakhir 1438H
A Religious Life Based on Knowledge
Blessed Friday Jemaah,
Strive hard to have taqwa to Allah by obeying all of His
commands and abstaining from His prohibitions. Hopefully by
doing so we will continue to receive His mercy and protection,
Amin.
Jemaah,
All of us here will agree that religion is the most important
aspect of our lives. Religion is not only important as a source of
morality and ethical values for humanity, it is also our compass
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to the truth. Furthermore, religion provides spiritual guidance
and faith for humanity. It is through religion that a believer
(mukmin) is able to develop his spirituality. True spirituality
provides balance in the lives of believers in difficult times when
facing the realities of life.
Hence, to ensure that religion can play a pertinent role and that
it will have the intended effect in our lives, every Muslim must
make certain that the religious knowledge and information that
they hold on to is accurate and derived from authentic sources.
This will allow one to fully develop his or her religious life. This
is because one’s practice and application of the religion will be
based on the knowledge that one has acquired. Imam Ibn Sirin
said:
Meaning: “Verily religion is knowledge, so be aware where you
have gained your knowledge from.” [Kitab Sahih Muslim]
Jemaah,
Paying attention to the sources of religious knowledge and
information is critical in this age where one can easily access
information through various ways and platforms. At times, parts
of the information that we receive do not correspond to proper
religious understanding. With the ease of gaining access to
various interpretations in this day and age, one needs to be
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vigilant of ideas that have been misused and taken out of
context, with the aim of destroying and misleading us.
What then is the solution? Here, I would like to suggest a few
principles or guidelines that can be a measuring stick to gauge
the authenticity of the religious information that we receive.
The First Guideline: Religious content is not contradictory
Oftentimes
we
will
come
across
religious
opinions
or
interpretations that are harsh and rigid. For example, violent
acts carried out by certain individuals who defend their actions
and claim that religion validates their actions. Just look at the
calls to jihad made by various groups. We have seen the acts of
violence and terror caused by these groups that carry out acts
of murder, killing innocent lives and claim to do so in the name
of Islam, the Quran and Sunnah. When in fact, the Quran and
Sunnah are far from these acts.
True religious teaching is alien to such acts. Islam teaches its
community to do good, it calls humanity to acts of compassion,
and to ensure that justice is upheld. Just reflect upon the verses
of the Quran recited by the khatib at the end of every Friday
sermon. Allah says:
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Meaning: “Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and
giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and
oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be
reminded.” [Surah An-Nahl verse 90]
The verse explains to us that all the teachings in Islam call us to
goodness, and for every matter that Allah s.w.t. has forbidden
we will realise that it is because such acts bring about harm.
According to Sheikh Ibn ‘Ashur this verse contains within it all
the foundations of the religion. It presents to us an all-inclusive
view of Islamic values in which all the teachings of Islam are
meant to achieve these noble values.
Jemaah,
The Second Guideline: Ensure that we learn from those
who are accredited.
One of the signs that a teaching is questionable is when it is not
open to the public. Imam Ahmad said: “If you witness a group
whispering about religious matters without including others,
then they are on the deviant path.” [Kitab Al-Zuhd]
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Just look at the example of our beloved Messenger, Prophet
Muhammad s.a.w. He left behind a tradition that is based on
knowledge. Everything was explained by Rasulullah s.a.w. and
nothing was hidden. The Prophet s.a.w. said: “Verily, I have left
you on a bright path.” [Hadith reported by Imam Ahmad]. Why
do we need to hide and learn about Islam in secrecy? That is
one red flag that we should look out for and have doubts about.
To develop the resilience of our family members, especially the
young among us, in order to help them differentiate and reject
deviant as well as extremist teachings, and to enable them to
identify the truth from falsehood, they require strong religious
foundation. We need to ensure that live by Islamic teachings
and uphold the religion. We are also responsible to ensure that
the religious education received by our families are authentic
and proper, that it is conducted in a dignified setting and
managed by qualified asatizah.
Jemaah,
Know that knowledge is part of our religion. Resilient faith has
to be built upon religious knowledge that is accurate and
authentic. Therefore let us make certain that the knowledge and
information that we acquire is correct and accurate. May Allah
s.w.t. grant us taufiq and inayah, to practice our deen as
required and commanded by Allah. Amin Ya Rabbal Alamin.
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