The Hadi narrative of Andalusia

Sufis are religious ascetics who went around in their simple cotton garbs, with their famous renunciation of most, if not, all things materials.

Thus Sufis, which come from the word "sufs," which means cotton, often go around impressing upon many that they don't need anything except God.

Impressive. But there is a slight kink to the story too. Most Sufis also believe that the belief in God alone suffices. Thus there is no need for syariah (Islamic jurisprudence), let alone Maqasid Al Shariah (Objectives of Shariah).

When Sufis argue that the path to God is the negation of syariah and Maqasid Al Shariah, to the common believes it sounds an impressive leap of faith. But the next problem comes in: what are Muslims to do with Quran and Hadith and the many Sunnah (prophetic traditions) practised by Prophet Muhammad (SAAS) to which many were inscribed and recorded by his close friends or "Sahabis"?

The solution to the above conundrum in Islamic history begins with the training of a group of scholars or ulamas (religious scholars) to render what is right and wrong, as supported by the Quran and Hadith (sayings of the Prophet).

When the Quran and Hadith are in need of further exegesis, otherwise known as "tafsir," another discipline is established to look into the Quran and Hadith. This discipline is separately known as Ulum Al Quran or Ulum Al Hadith, which can be translated as the Science of Quran or Science of Hadith.

Now, when PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang gives an opinion, which in Islamic scholarship is known as “rayy”, the following distinction is in need of further clarification:

Is Hadi merely giving an opinion or “fatwa” (religious verdict)? Even if it is the latter, more questions have to be raised: was it based on "ijma" (consensus), "qiyas" (juristic analogy) or even "ijtihad" (independent reasoning)?

In a sense, this is the beauty of Islam and syariah. It creates many categories and sub-categories where sound, rational and non-offensive debates and discussions can be had, between Muslims and even non-Muslims, if they should be trained in the jurisprudence of Islam.

The above leads us to the recent view of Hadi on Andalusia, which is a packed and loaded historical word. Andalusia means Muslim Spain.

And Muslim Spain was under the conquest of multiple Muslim dynasties and warlords, though often simplified as the Umayyad dynasty. And, the wars with Christian Crusaders lasted from 711 AD to 1492 AD.

Within this long period, what historian Fernand Braudel of France called "longe duree," (long duration), Muslims were often fighting among themselves more than Crusaders were at each other's throats.

Hadi claimed that it is better to "herd a few camels" than to "look after a few pigs" gifted by foreign intervention. That the memory of colonialism in Malaysia remains fresh. That Malaysia should not invite foreign intervention in 1MDB.

And, he argued that Muslim Arabs invited Christians into their wars, which in turn allowed the Christians to triumph over others, leading to the defeat of Muslim Spain to foreign forces.

That is Hadi 's opinion of Andalusia, compressed in seven and a half centuries. Can things really be that simplistic?

Truth seeking

In fact, it isn’t. During the seven centuries, Muslims were strongest when they used truth to their best advantage - by deepening their knowledge in astronomy, medicine, philosophy and mathematics. The library in Cordoba could hold 400,000 books.

Even Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher, known as the Father of Jewish philosophy, wrote in classical Arabic.

And Muslims and non-Muslims worked and studied together in Cordoba, Sevilla, Navarene, and even present-day Barcelona.

Where Muslims were weakest was the time when they abandoned truth seeking, and got themselves consumed by petty conflicts and wars, often between themselves.

This means PAS and Umno ganging up to close all channels to truth, by shouting and crying foreign intervention, when they are in fact international legitimate investigation, is not healthy for the ummah, in Malaysia or around the world.

Truth is Al Haqq. No one needs to suppress truth, or tell who can check on the prime minister or who can't. “Berani kerana benar”, in case Hadi doesn't know the principle.

At least Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man does. And that is a credit to the PAS deputy president to call out the incoherence of Hadi.

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RAIS HUSSIN is a Supreme Council member of Parti Peribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM). He also heads the Policy and Strategy Bureau of PPBM.- Mkini