Disrespect And Insult Of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was'sallm) In Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanvi's Statement Of Hifz ul-Iman.

[MuhammedAli]

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Edited 25 ستمبر 2022 by MuhammedAli

[MuhammedAli]

Updated.

Disrespect And Insult Of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was'sallm) In Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanvi's Statement Of Hifz ul-Iman.

Introduction:

Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanvi a Deobandi scholar is a controversial personality. Scholars like of Sayyidi Ala Hadhrat (alayhi rahma) deem him to be Kafir due to Shaykh Thanvi writing a statement which insults Prophet (sallallahu alayhi  wa aalihi was’sallam). This brief article will attempt to explain how Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanvi’s statement of Hifz ul-Iman is disrespectful and insults Prophet (sallallahua layhi wa aalihi was’sallam).

Insulting And Disrespectful Statement Of Hifz ul-Iman:

“If according to Zaid it is correct to attribute knolwedge of Ghayb to holy being (of Prophet) then matter needs to be enquired; is intended meaning of this Ghayb; baaz Ghayb or qull Ghayb (of Allah); if baaz knowledge of Ghayb is intended; then in this what is so unique about Hadhoor (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam); Ghayb knowledge like-this is even possessed by Zayd and Amr; every infant, lunatic, all animals and quadrupeds; because every person knows something which is hidden from another person. (If knowing Ghayb is criteria of attributing title;) then we should call everyone of them Aalim al-Ghayb.” [Ref: Hifz ul-Iman, by Shaykh Ashraf Ali Thanvi, Page15, here]

Shaykh Negates Uniqueness And Compares Prophetic Ghayb:

There are two important features of his statement: i) Shaykh Thanvi negates uniqueness/speciality of Prophet Muhammad’s (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) via his knowledge of Ghayb. ii) In order to negate/refute speciality of Prophet Muhammad’s (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) knowledge of Ghayb Shaykh compares his knowledge of Ghayb with Zayd and Amr (i.e. regular Joe’s), infants, lunatics, and animals of all types.

Aysha’s (radiallah ta’ala anha) Reaction When Counted Amongst Destables:

It is recorded in Ahadith if dog, donkey, and a woman pass infront of person performing Salah then it would be invalidated: “It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Prophet said: “The prayer is severed by a woman, a dog and a donkey.” [Ref: Ibn Majah, B5, H950] “It was narrated from ‘Abdullah bin Mughaffal that the Prophet said: “The prayer is severed by a woman, a dog and a donkey.” [Ref: Ibn Majah, B5, H951] When this was mentioned presence of wife of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) she took exception to mention/inclusion of women into this; as it is established from following Hadith: “Narrated Aisha: The things which annul prayer were mentioned before me (and those were): a dog, a donkey and a woman. I said: ‘You have made our (women) comparision with donkeys and dogs. By Allah! I saw the Prophet praying while I used to lie in (my) bed between him and the Qibla. Whenever I was in need of something, I disliked to sit and trouble the Prophet. So, I would slip away by the side of his feet.’” [Ref: Bukhari, B9, H493] Please note the mere mention of women in the list of unclean animals offended her and took it to mean women are being compared with animals. Shaykh Thanvi explicitly compared Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) through his knowledge with the mentioned: “… Ghayb knowledge like-this is even possessed by Zayd and Amr; every infant, lunatic, all animals and quadrupeds …” First of all to even mention Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) amongst the mentioned is insulting and disrespectful. By comparing RasoolAllah (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) with mentioned even in knowledge denotes Shaykh Thanvi deemed Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) to be equale and like the mentioned in knowledge.

Insult And Disrespect Of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam):

To put it into perspective of UK incident. Recently went for a hair cut. Not having much to do while waiting for my turn I decided to pic news paper and read. What I read in it prompted me to come home and YouTube said incident to see what the fuss was about. A young boy, Ned Woodman, tiny comedian. His first insult/pun began: Why were people so excited to see the talking dog on the Britian’s Got Talent? Amanda Holden has been on it for years. The audience gasped and judges gasped with mouths wide open. What he insinuated was obvious: He called one of talent show judge as a talking dog. If you logically follow what he said then; he implied people are not excited about Amanda Holden talking on BGT then there is no cause for being excited about talking dog being on BGT. Ofcourse there is an argument to be made in defence of Ned Woodman but the easily accessible and first impression cannot be defended. Deobandis too feel there is justification and Shaykh Thanvi’s statement is defendable and so they attempt it. But they cannot escape the injunctions resulted from following verse: "O believers say not (to the Messenger): word raina (i.e. consider us), but say undhurna (i.e. look upon us); and listen (to him): For those disblievers there is a grievous punishment." [Ref: 2:104] Shaykh Thanvi compared Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) with mentioned due to his knowledge and little Ned Woodman compared Amanda to talking dog because of her talking. The apparent and easily accessible implication of second is; Ned called her talking dog. So what should the conclusion be with regards to Shaykh Thanvi comparing Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) to mentioned in knolwedge? That Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) is a infant in knowledge, lunatic in his knowledge and no better then infants and lunatics in knowledge. Astaghfir ullah ul-azeem. How can this not be insult and disrespect of Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam)!

Comparing To Destable And Unclean Is For Insulting And Disrespect:

If one says; Shaykh Thanvi is a human being like Dajjal. Or says; Shaykh Thanvi is like village idiot in knowledge of Tajweed. Shaykh Thanvi and cursed Dajjal are both human beings and in being human being they are like each other. By comparing him to a an enemy of Allah (subhanahu wa ta’ala) even in Bashariyyah (i.e. humaness) indicates Shaykh is being insulted. Shaykh Thanvi may have equal knowledge of Tajweed, plus/minus bits, like a village idiot but to compare him to an idiot is to insult him. Shaykh Thanvi compared Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) in his knowledge to animals, infants, lunatics, every day Joe’s, unclean carnivorous animals in his following statement: “… Ghayb knowledge like-this is even possessed by Zayd and Amr; every infant, lunatic, all animals and quadrupeds …” Yes he may not have intended to do so but from his statement he is indeed guilty of disrespecting Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam). In our daily language we compare people with detestables to insult or to imply an insult. We say; stop eating like a pig. Even though it means stop eating too much. Is that appropriate way of putting it? Ojbective behind is to degrade through comparision in order to achieve the objective – i.e. eating less. So when Shaykh Thanvi compares prophetic knowledge to knowledge of lunatics and infants the primary objective is to degrade Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam). Shaykh wants to belittle Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) to prevent Muslims from believing that Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi wa’sallam) is Aalim ul-Ghayb. From his perspective; when the Muslims realize there is nothing special about his knowledge of Ghayb in comparision to lunatics and infants then there is no reason to hold to the belief at all.

Conclusion:

Shaykh Thanvi’s statement of Hifz ul-Iman compares Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) to infants, lunatics, regular Joe’s, herbivores and carnivores. And it is matter of principle; when a superior is compared to detestable, unclean, and it results a merit being negated then insult is always meant. Also merely being mentioned amongst the list of  donkey, dog, and pig is enough to indicate insult and disrespect but when a great personality is compared to inferior merit of lowly then insult is always meant. Shaykh Thanvi compared the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) through his prophetic knowledge to knowledge of lowly and disrespected Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam). Shaykh Thanvi was indeed guilty of insulting Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa aalihi was’sallam) and is guilty of negating uniqueness oprophetic knowledge of Ghayb in comparision to infants, lunatics, animals, and regular Joe’s. And fact is prophetic knowledge is unique and special and how and why is for another article.