Mullah is an Arabic word which means teacher, mentor or imam while Aleem (Ulema is its plural) means scholar. They are commonly referred as Islamic scholars being knowledgeable in Quran including alleged hadith and sunnah like priests who are knowledgeable in the Gospel including Trinity in Christianity, and Rabbis who are knowledgeable in Torah including Mishnah and Gemara/Talmud in Judaism and so on. However, they accept religion as profession considering themselves knowledgeable in Quran and Hadiths. Their presence in religious institutions, observances and ceremonies, public debut and publications are prominent. In addition, their dresses also bear their identity and dignity in the society to expose themselves to be God fearing as well as knowledgeable in Islam to entice other Muslims to convince them that they are followers of Islamic teachings and laws, and are competent to judge what is right or wrong to lead a righteous life in an Islamic way, even they can pass on their opinion (Fatwa) when any dispute arises around us.
God’s Religion
God designs religion for humanity for their safe return to Him and His religion is as old as the history of human being on earth (7:23 & 2:37). But He reshaped His religion sending prophets and messengers from time to time to guide the humanity including updates and clarifying commands when people are disputing on some matters to resolve them and to lead people to the right path for the respective community. Thus, His message has been made fit for all generations of people to conform to the stages of human civilization while the designation (description) of His religion had always been the same, the monotheism (haneefan in Arabic not popular among even observant Muslims) being an instinct of God on which He has created mankind (30:30), which is mapped to Submission (islaam in Arabic) being its practices when the Quran has been revealed (3:19, 3:83, 3:85) completing and perfecting its practices (5:3, 22:78). As such, His religion is evolved since origin, just from specific words given to Adam and Eve when they came down to earth, while its rites were formally instituted and revealed through prophet Ibrahim that we practice today (2:130, 2:135, 3:95, 4:125, 22:78). Since then, those rites are passed down to us through practicing of people generation after generation. Hence, all the messengers and prophets who came after Abraham established the practices given to him to develop their souls through remembering and appreciating God.
God made a covenant with the Children of Israel that He would be with them so long as they establish the salat prayer and give the zakat (5:12). Jacob (Yakub) took a promise from his children to worship the god of their forefathers Abraham, Ismail and Isaac when he had been on his death bed (2:133). Luqman advised his son to establish the salat prayer (31:17). Moses and Aaron were asked to turn their homes in Egypt into synagogues, and to maintain the salat prayer until God delivers them from the tyranny of Pharaoh (Rameses II) (10:87). Jesus was enjoined to establish the salat prayer and to give zakat for as long as he had been alive (19:31). When the Quran was revealed to Muhammad being the last edition of the scripture (33:40), he was enjoined to continue the religion of Abraham as well (16:123) and also the messenger who has been prophesied in the Quran to come after him (3:81, 33:7) to confirm the delivery of all scriptures as well as to preach people to bring back to His religion advocating them to worship God alone and to follow the Quran alone when the Hour is very near (27:82).
It is apparent that the religious practices given to the people through prophet Ibrahim get corrupted over time and God has sent scriptures, prophets and messengers from time to time to guide the people to bring them back to His religion for proper practicing of rites including any updates as required. As such, when the Quran was revealed to prophet Muhammad, these practices were already in existence and he was asked to “follow the religion of Abraham,” which clearly indicates that these practices as given to be continued until the end of the world (9:54, 16:123, 22:78), the Quran being the final edition of scripture (33:40). While the Quran covers new and existing laws/instructions to do the righteous deeds and develop the soul but when dealing with the religious practices, the Quran does not bring anything new. It only: (1) confirms the existence of the practices and asks to continue of doing them; (2) corrects and restores those parts of the practices that had become distorted over time such as the tone of voice at the prayer (17:110), the steps of ablution and nullification of ablution (5:6, 4:43); (3) modifies a practice i.e. allowing sexual intercourse during the nights of fasting (2:187) and (4) completes our religion confirming, consummating and consolidating the previous scripture (5:3, 5:48, 21:24, 35:31).
God has sent a messenger of covenant as per His covenant with the prophets placed in every scripture and its confirmation found in the Quran (3:81) including the Quran given to Muhammad (33:7) and the Bible (Malachi 3:1-2) to advocate people to worship God alone and to follow the Quran alone supported by Quran’s mathematical code, number 19 found in the Quran (74:30), which is one of the great (signs) (74:35). The code 19 being a common denominator of Quran provides strong physical evidence of God being the author of the Quran as well as for the authenticity of the Quran as well. Since this 19-based physical evidence of the Quran was revealed in 1974 in the information (computer) age exactly after 1406 (19x74) lunar years of the revelation of the Quran, it might be a hint for us that the Hour is not too far from now as there is mention of when the punishment is almost due, a creature will be produced from the earth to speak to the people that they are not certain about God’s revelations in (27:82). While the mathematical coding of the Quran is at work to perpetually authenticate the Quran, our generation and the future ones are blessed with the knowledge that every single letter and word in Quran is precisely and deliberately chosen and counted along with the physical proofs to confirm the chronological order of the revelation and physical composition of the Quran to eliminate any traces of doubt from the hearts of the believers. This code helps us to remove 2 false verses of the Quran inserted just after 19 years of the death of prophet Muhammad including physical verification of many misconceptions, superstitions added to Islam over the period of time and misinterpretation of many verses of the Quran. The people of the world get the pure Quran and the mechanism to prevent it from further distortion in the future. In addition, we have the opportunities to confirm all our religious rites as given through prophet Abraham using the code of the Quran to avoid all kinds of idol worshipping discarding all corruptions and innovations that happened over the period of time after the death of prophet.
History of Advent of Mullahs
History tells us that the period of Harun ar-Rashid marks one of the great periods of Islam. Ironically, until the death of Harun ar-Rashid in 809 CE, there was nothing like ‘Fatwa’ or ‘Sharia Laws’ in the Muslim domain. Even when appointing Harthama as the governor of Khorasan, Harun ar-Rashid gave him a copy of the Quran and not a book of Sharia laws. But the table was turned around when al-Ma’mun, one of the sons of Harun ar-Rashid, recruited a huge number of mercenary, Judges and administrators from Turkey to prevent an Arab revolt. Unlike the Arabs, the Turks had little or no idea of the message of Islam and these circumstances allowed those Turks to justify Caliphs’ actions as adherent to Islamic legislation under the pretext of Prophet Muhammad’s precedents, known as the ‘Hadith’. Over the years, various Caliphs’ imprints of ruling crept into Islamic laws, ethics and customs despite the fact that a large number of the Hadith had severe contradictions with the Quran. The Hadith got eventually more prominence than the Quran itself. Fatwa and Sharia Laws took over general consensus. In about a century, the Islamic domain was made to appear as what existed in Christian Europe before the fifteenth century. Islamic lands were seen as an outer darkness of barbarism and unbelief from which there was nothing to learn or to fear.
There are about 50 Hadith books and so many contradictions in them that it is almost impossible for anyone to go through all the books of hadith without getting confused and totally lost, especially if the person wants to examine what each different sect has to offer. That’s why the so-called Islamic universities offer academic degrees in studying hadith to raise “learned men” of the religion. These students literally waste their time to learn all the details of their living in accordance with the supposed sayings and deeds of the prophet such as how to sleep, how to cut their nails or even how to step in and step out of the mosque. These ill-educated people organized themselves and claimed them to be religious experts having thorough and detailed knowledge of Islam. Thus, they took religion as their profession serving in the newly created religious institutions including mosques to lead Salat prayers as well as to lead the funeral prayers and other Islamic festivals invented by them. Thus, they were recognized as religious leaders (scholars) and the Muslims began to follow the corrupt teachings and innovations of their religious leaders and fall into idol worship which is an unforgiveable sin if maintained until death.
However, some people may say we need the hadith to explain the Quran because the Quran is too difficult to understand. Why do people who find it difficult to understand a single volume of God’s revelation feel it necessary to refer to 50 volumes of hadith books for clarification! Would God reveal a message so difficult to understand, yet expect people to follow it? This does not make sense. Furthermore, God tells us in the Quran repeatedly: “And certainly, we made the Quran straightforward for the warning. So, is there any who will have admonition?” (54:17, 54:22, 54:32, 54:40). Doesn’t God know what He is talking about? Doesn’t He know His creatures’ abilities? Since Hadiths are fabrications and guess works against God’s will, the true believers follow ONLY the Quran NEITHER the Hadith NOR the Quran along with Hadith to make them idol worshippers.
Specialization in Human Civilization
Human civilization was driven more than anything, by innovation and invention through specialized knowledge in different areas. Its architects designed buildings that defied gravity. Its mathematicians created the algebra and algorithms that would enable the building of computers, and the creation of encryption. Its doctors examined the human body, and found new cures for disease. Its astronomers looked into the heavens, named the stars, and paved the way for space travel and exploration, and propose the theories of “Big Bang” and “The Expanding Universe” collecting information through observation and investigation. Its writers created thousands of stories: stories of courage, romance and magic.
Specialization in Religion
Like the contribution of specialized knowledge needed in the development of human civilization, many Muslims believe that the same concept is also applicable in case of religion, and Mullahs are considered experts in religion, who can only understand and teach the Quran and are fully aware of the details of our religious activities. In addition, they claim that they are authorized by God to add laws and regulations to Islamic teachings to reshape Islam. As such, none can study and understand the Quran without their direct mentorship and cannot perfect the practices of religious rites as well without going through the steps elaborated by them. They claim that even if anyone studies and knows the Quran by himself will not be able to understand the message in it. We often hear from them that the Quran is difficult to understand, even for them who know Arabic well. All these are Satanic tricks to keep many Muslims away from getting the divine message in the Quran to find the straight path for their return. Do we not need to confirm whether these are God’s teachings in the Quran or the satanic trick not to make efforts on behalf of the believers for their successful return to God?
God has revealed the Quran in Arabic without having any ambiguity in it that we may understand it and that we can be righteous (12:2, 20:113, 39:28, 41:3, 42:7), and He has promised to be its teacher (55:1-4) while He has informed us that He has explained it (75:18-19). He has also told us in the Quran that language is irrelevant (41:44), and that only the sincere ones, i.e., those who accept the Quran to be the only valid source of religious laws and teachings will be able to understand the Quran irrespective of their languages (56:77-80); while those who are not sincere or failed to worship Him alone will fail to understand it, even if they speak, read, and write Arabic well (17:46, 62:5). Moreover, God has described the Quran to be a timeless and universal doctrine to the world for all the people that fits all generations, and applies to all eras and societies until the end of the world (16:102, 38:87, 68:52, 81:27). Hence, God has made it requirement for the believers to be sincere to understand the Quran while He has warned us about the only impediment that we will face to concentrate on its verses if we fail to prevent the interference of the Satan when we study the Quran (16:98).
It is interesting to note that God has not sent down any book or knowledge in any area for the development of human civilization to support our life on earth through any scientist, philosopher, writer or artist, musician while He has chosen many prophets and messengers among us from time to time to communicate His message in which we find what we exactly need to believe as well as to practice to develop our souls to prepare ourselves for the Hereafter. Hence, NOT ONLY Mullahs, even prophets and messengers who are roots of our idol worship were not authorized to add a single word to His religion as they strictly followed what they are commanded to follow or revealed to them (6:50, 7:203, 10:15). As such, the Mullahs and their puppets who claim that they can only teach and understand the Quran are actually divinely blocked NOT to understand it although they can read it without getting access to its message (17:46). To substantiate this debarment, here are a few examples from the Quran referring to very straightforward verses that do not need any university degree or proficiency in Arabic language to interpret: in 33:40, God has informed us that Muhammad has been given ‘a messenger of God and a seal of the prophets’, while they interpret it that Muhammad was the final prophet as well as the final messenger of God, in 56:79, God has confirmed us that only the sincere can understand the Quran while they interpret it that we need ablution (Wudu in Arabic) before recitation of the Quran and the place of Quran is in the higher shelf all over the world, even though ablution is only required when we establish the salat prayer (5:6), and in 16:98, God has warned us to study the Quran being freed from the interference of Satan so that we can reflect on the real message or derive the message coded in its verses since the Quran is divine message not just an excellent literature book in Arabic while they just make it a customary to recite “I seek refuge in God from the Satan the rejected” (a`uudhu bi-llahi mina al-shaytaani al-rajeem) before Basmalah (the first verse of surah al-Fatehah as well as of the Quran) to begin the recitation of Quran but as believers, we are to remember God’s name first when we plan to do anything good or to start eating (6:121), which is an opportunity for us to remember God to stay with Him all the time expecting His help.
Conclusion
Islam is God’s religion but in most cases it is being controlled by the so called religious leaders all over the world. They have not only corrupted our God given religious rites by including many traditional rituals not ordained by Him: Eid prayers, Taraweeh, Istikhara, annual observance of Laylatul Qadr, adding steps to ablution, adding Rak’ahs to Salat prayers or extra Salat prayers or introducing qaza and qasr prayers, prohibiting menstruating women from observing Salat, Fasting, Hajj etc. but they have also updated His perfect religion by adding rules and regulations on how we should sleep, how we should cook, eat or drink, which dress we should wear, how we should get into mosques and so on. As consequences, not only the hardship is imposed on the practices of religion but also people is divided into groups and sects despite of God’s warnings (6:159), and each group claims that they are in the right path and are happy with their wishful thinking (30:32) paying no attention to whether they are upholding God’s commands to be blessed and guided by Him. Thus, Muslims are deprived of perfect religion of God because of satanic tricks, and to get out of this repugnant situation we all must read and understand Quran as God has made us in-charge of our own souls (2:123, 45:15, 53:39).
God has ordered us repeatedly to study the Quran being sincere and freed from the influence of Satan, and to learn from it as He has placed in it all the lessons that we need to find salvation. The Quran is a divine message, not just an excellent literature book in Arabic language. If anyone cannot read it in Arabic should do not wait until the day he excels in his Arabic language, because this day may never come to him. We should trust God and know that He is the teacher of the Quran and He will teach it in any language to any nationality as He created all things. If we read the Quran in any language that we understand and master, and leave the rest to God, we would be blessed with the message to make our own decision about all the unauthorized updates made to His perfect religion being knowledgeable about His teachings, laws and warnings. God is aware of all our situations as well as He does not forget or make mistake or run out of words, then is there any need or room to correct Him by the so called Islamic scholars or even by His messengers sent with His message to deliver and follow?
Peaceful Friday, salaam and God bless.
Tafazzal (8/14/2015)