The liberals went a bit too far recently. Apparently now Fridays and Saturdays are interchangeable. You must really be surprised to read this. According to Farouk Peru, you can now do your Friday prayers on Saturdays. Is that not awesome? Next time you can take leaves on Friday by referring to the precedence set by Farouk.
This is a worrying trend that is occurring People want to change religion to suit themselves or their motives. What can we expect next? Changes in prayer times? Changes in fasting rules? If everything can be changed that easily there is no need for the Qur’an or Sunnah. People can just make up things about Islam as they wish.
One of his teachers, Amina Wadud, organised a program to deviate from Friday prayers. She lead the prayers, she gave the sermon, there were men praying behind her for God’s sake. She had to choose Friday prayers, and there was a lot of controversy with regards to that. As if that was not enough, someone had the idea for gay imams.
The to change Islam into is not new. Efforts to develop a syncretic version of Islam have existed for a long time. Many have tried to merge Islam to suit the practices of the respective era but failed. Some want to be called Muslims but do not want to practice Islam. A view that does not make sense in my opinion.
Insinuating that being gay is okay in Islam. These people label themselves and chose a discriminatory path. Our scholars never labeled people as gays or lesbians. People chose to label themselves. Our scholars labeled people based on the crimes they did. Instead of repenting, some choose the wrong path and invite others to join. Why do they want to be Muslims when they know these things are wrong in Islam?
They are very stubborn indeed, and want to continue with their own ways of life rather than what was prescribed. It does not make sense to go on after being corrected countless times. Some people just do not pay heed to advice given to them. They go on with their conjectures, and proudly so. In essence, anything that they don’t like can be changed.
There is no such kind of freedom in Islam. You can’t just make up what you think Islam should be. Islam is at it has been prescribed, changing what is fixed means to deviate. There are a lot of things that are dynamic in Islam. There are also things that cannot be changed. Liberals have been going all out to make efforts changing Islam in places that cannot be changed.
Most if not all of their efforts are very deviating. Farouk Peru for example tries to interpret Islam the way he wants to and not how Islam should be. Misinterpretation does not serve the purpose of truth. Truth is truth, one can’t deviate and claim to be on the right path.
For one thing, there is a reason we Muslims call it “Friday Prayers”. Basically because the prayers are held on Friday afternoons. Somehow Muslims know, that the word Juma’ah in Arabic corresponds to Fridays in English. So where did Muslims get the idea of praying on Fridays? Well here is the verse from the Qur’an,
O you who have believed, when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu’ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade. That is better for you, if you only knew.
Qur’an 62:9
As can be seen, the verse literally says “Friday”. How can someone who calls himself a Muslim, change the day to Saturday? What is even more astounding is that he even encourages people of other religions to participate. So let’s try to digest this; an event for Friday prayers is open to someone professing a religion other than Islam. The format of the program follows that of the Friday prayers in mosques.
In a hadith, the Prophet Muhammad mentioned the importance of Friday Prayers,
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: ‘Whoever abandons Friday (prayer) three times, for no necessary reason, Allah will place a seal over his heart.’”
Narrated by Ibn Majah
If a person does not attend the Friday Prayers more than three times, God will seal his heart. The seal here means, to seal it from guidance. Friday Prayers are of great importance and stature in Islam. One cannot leave the prayers just because he/she thinks they have an alternative. Such a prerogative has never been presented to anyone.
Friday prayers are a Muslim ritual. Meant specifically for Muslims. The prayers are also obligatory upon every Muslim. There are many problems with this program and one of them is the day. Apart from the day, the event encourages religious pluralism. The event is hosted by liberal Muslim(s).
The funny thing is, the self proclaimed liberal, Farouk Peru is one of the authors in a book published by G25, “Breaking the Silence”. So yes, Farouk did manage to break his “silence”. To what results did he pursue his opinion? Changing the commandments in the Qur’an? Referring himself as a Muslim, but yet deviating beyond reason from the actual teachings of Islam.
It would have been better if Farouk invented a religion of his own. Doing things in the name of Islam and using the same format as Friday prayers, is very insulting. His actions explain why he stays in United Kingdom and not Malaysia. The feelings I have when I see Farouk’s actions are similar to those when I see ISIS in action.
Sadness and anger at the same time. Sad, because they give Islam ada bad name. Angry, because they both try to change Islam to what it is not. In Islam there is no place for religious pluralism. Islam never acknowledged religious pluralism. Islam does recognise plurality in a society but never a syncretic version of Islam.
Reducing religion to a personal choice does not do justice to Islam. Islam is about living together, doing what is right and leaving what is wrong. Every Muslim has a responsibility towards oneself, the society, the nation, and most importantly towards Islam. By no means damaging Islam and deviating from the teachings of the Prophet is a form of responsibility.
ISIS and Farouk’s effort to deviate Islam have become a nuisance to Muslims. According to Dr Khalif Muammar (2006) the radicals and the liberals are both the extremes of the opposite ends. Hopefully, the Muslims in UK can show the correct version of Islam to Farouk. As for ISIS, we are all doing what we can do best. If this continues, I personally hope that ISIS and Farouk can both distance themselves from Islam.
As for those who still hunger for the truth, may God show them the path. As for those who deny the truth, may God direct them to the truth. We pray that Muslims can abide by the teachings of the Qura’an and Sunnah.
Rehan Ahmad Bin Jamaluddin Ahmad
Research Fellow, Institut Kajian Strategik Islam Malaysia (IKSIM)
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official views of, and should not be attributed to, Isma or Ismaweb.
Congrats, Rehan. Always writing about ‘liberals’ , ….so fortunate for you that we ‘liberals’ are around as constant fodder for your pieces….*sarcasm*
Keep on writing and expose them Mr Rehan. Many are getting benefit from your articles.
Liberals are the shameless and immoral hypocrites (Munafiqun) who are decried in the Quran for pretending to be Muslims while actively seeking to undermine or destroy the Muslim community and Islam from within so Liberals are more dangerous to Muslims than the worst non-Muslim enemies of Islam.
Liberals are actively cooperating with the non-Muslim enemy of Islam so that they could undermine or destroy Muslim community and Islam more efficiently and effectively.
They claim to be Muslims but at the same time they are trying to distort and corrupt the teachings of Islam in order to deceive, mislead and deviate ignorant and naive Muslims from the true teachings of Islam.
When the hypocrites come to you, [O Muhammad], they say, “We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah .” And Allah knows that you are His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars.
They have taken their oaths as a cover, so they averted [people] from the way of Allah . Indeed, it was evil that they were doing.
That is because they believed, and then they disbelieved; so their hearts were sealed over, and they do not understand.
And when you see them, their forms please you, and if they speak, you listen to their speech. [They are] as if they were pieces of wood propped up – they think that every shout is against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded? Al-Munafiqun (The Hypocrites) : 1-4
By declaring publicly that people are free to commit sins, immoral act, misdeeds etc because of their individual freedom, liberals have confirmed that liberals are Shaitan (Satan @ Devil) that incite humans to commit evil through deception etc in order to lead all men and women astray to Hell.
The hypocrite men and hypocrite women are of one another. They enjoin what is wrong and forbid what is right and close their hands. They have forgotten Allah , so He has forgotten them [accordingly]. Indeed, the hypocrites – it is they who are the defiantly disobedient. At-Tawbah (The Repentance) : 67