In this khutbah (sermon), Sheikh Yasir Qadhi tackles the subject of fanaticism, extremism and sectarianism which unfortunately we find among some sections of the Muslim Ummah today, especially those involved in Islamic activism and daw’ah. His talk outlines five dangers of fanaticism, five points on how to recognise fanaticism and three ways to protect ourselves from such ideas and groups.

This is a paraphrased transcript of Yasir Qadhi’s khutbah on ‘The Dangers of Religious Fanaticism’. For the full lecture please watch the video below.

Introduction

During Hajj on the morning of Al-’Aqabah, our Prophet ﷺ told his cousin Ibn ‘Abbas to collect pebbles for throwing at the jamarat. So Ibn Abbas brought a whole bunch of pebbles and he showed them to the Prophet ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ looked at this group of pebbles, and he picked from them all of the large ones, and he threw them away, and said, ‏ أَمْثَالَ هَؤُلاَءِ فَارْمُوا ‏ “Throw something like these (i.e. the small pebbles).” Then he ﷺ said to the people,

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِيَّاكُمْ وَالْغُلُوَّ فِي الدِّينِ فَإِنَّمَا أَهْلَكَ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمُ الْغُلُوُّ فِي الدِّينِ ‏

“O people, beware of fanaticism in religious matters for those who came before you were doomed because of fanaticism in religious matters.”[1]

This anecdote demonstrates that our Prophet ﷺ is warning us about one of the many problems that the ummah will face, and is currently facing, and that is a type of fanaticism that is motivated by piety. It’s not motivated by evil, and it’s not motivated by trying to displease Allah. The motivation is good, but it is not done based upon knowledge.

Imagine how people felt when they were doing the Hajj with the Prophet ﷺ, when everyone was in a spiritually elevated state! Thus, when our Prophet ﷺ gives the order to gather some stones, Ibn Abbas chooses the largest one. The Prophet ﷺ then warns us to exercise caution since even in these minor matters, such as the question of the jamarat.

He ﷺ said that based on this little analogy, the people before you were destroyed because of religious fanaticism because they went too far in matters of this Deen. Allah ta’ala reminds us in the Qur’an when he talks about other previous nations who went to extremes, Allah ta’ala says,

يَـٰٓأَهْلَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ لَا تَغْلُوا۟ فِى دِينِكُمْ

“O People of the Book! Do not go to extremes regarding your faith”[2]

If you’re going to pick large pebbles you think this is more pious to Allah. What will happen if the crowd is throwing these big Stones rather than small Pebbles!?

Our Prophet forewarned us over and over, saying that if you make things strict on yourself, you will make things harder on yourself. He also stated in another hadith three times, that هَلَكَ الْمُتَنَطِّعُونَ “Those who go to extremes are destroyed.”[3]

One of the great Islamic figures, Ibn Rajab, offered commentary on this hadith. He stated that there are several categories, one of which is to become bogged down in the details of the religion, ask unnecessary questions, and become involved in matters that are not necessary. In other words, when Allah commands you to do something, follow His instructions and don’t ask further questions that will complicate matters for you.

The Qur’anic example that is used is the well-known one where Allah ta’ala commands the Bani Israel to go and sacrifice a cow. The Bani Israel started talking about what kind of cow, what colour, what size, what conditions, what features, and so on. They continued to make things worse for themselves until they ultimately destroyed themselves. When Allah ta’ala says something, follow the proper protocol and make the necessary enquiries; however, do not take this too far.

Realise, O Muslims, that our religion is a lovely, blessed, and simple one. This is not only what I say; the Qur’an and the Sunnah both indicate that Allah ta’ala has chosen you and has not made your religion difficult; religion is not supposed to be difficult.

Allah ta’ala says in the Qur’an,

يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِكُمُ ٱلْيُسْرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِكُمُ ٱلْعُسْرَ

“Allah intends ease for you, not hardship”[4]

Allah ta’ala says in the Qur’an describing the Prophet ﷺ as the one who,

وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَهُمْ وَٱلْأَغْلَـٰلَ ٱلَّتِى كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ

“relieves them from their burdens and the shackles that bound them”[5]

freeing them and making them more noble.

Oh Muslims, realize that one of the many issues we face and have faced throughout history is that of religious fanaticism, or the issue of being too zealous within the deen itself. Our Prophet ﷺ recognised this, and one of Islam’s central teachings is to caution against becoming too zealous, too fanatical, or overtly fundamentalist. This theme runs throughout the Qur’an and the Sunnah.

In fact, in Sahih Bukhari we learn about the first batch of students that came to study with the Prophet ﷺ when the people began embracing Islam in the year of the delegations in the ninth year of the Hijra. In this year when thousands of people embraced Islam the Prophet ﷺ held what we would call a summer camp to come and study with him, because you have to teach the people the religion. What did the Prophet ﷺ say to the first batch of graduates that studied with him when he sent them back to their tribes? He ﷺ said,

يَسِّرُوا وَلاَ تُعَسِّرُوا، وَسَكِّنُوا وَلاَ تُنَفِّرُوا

“Make things easy for the people, and do not make it difficult for them, and make them calm (with glad tidings) and do not repulse them.”[6]

Our message as preachers should always be uplifting. Our message should be optimistic. Our message should be cheerful. People should not be turned off by the deen or its beauty, but regrettably, what we see today is that some of those claiming to preach in the name of religion, or at least their interpretation of it, actually drive people away from the religion rather than drawing them in, and this kind of fundamentalism has always existed.

In fact, in the lifetime of the Prophet, he ﷺ warned against overzealousness and fanaticism and he told us of a group that would come who we now call the Kharijites (Khawarij). These are the fanatics of this ummah, they are the literalists of this ummah, and he ﷺ warned us that these people are more dangerous than the Dajjal! These people are more dangerous than Dajjal because you will recognize Dajjal and see him, and you know he’s the Dajjal, but this group – the Kharijites – you won’t know they’re the Dajjal. You won’t know they’re a part of you and yet they’re going to harm you. He ﷺ warned us about this ultra-fanaticism in a manner that every one of us should pay heed to.

So dear brothers and sisters, I want to summarize five dangers of fanaticism, extremism, literalism and simplistic fundamentalism.

In order to help us avoid this reality, I want give five points to understand how we know something is fanatical and beyond the pale. After all, we are all witnessing the resurgence of certain groups in society, particularly those belonging to the next generation. Another wave of fanaticism, sectarianism and blind-minded bigotry in the name of the religion is something that those of us in the older generation have witnessed repeatedly. In the last ten years we have had to deal with ISIS. Prior to that, there were other crazy groups out there.

Every few decades a new generation comes and they haven’t seen the past and they think that the religion is meant to be the harshest and the strictest fatwa, and anybody who doesn’t live up to their understanding of the religion, they are immediately labeled and immediately become the enemy.

Oh Muslims, you are all aware of the sectarian violence taking place around the globe with Muslims killing other Muslims, Muslims bombing the masajid of other Muslims, Muslims saying every other group is misguided other than our group.

The dangers of fanaticism

1- Destroys the beauty of Islam

There are many dangers of fanaticism, fundamentalism, extremism and overzealousness and number one of them, and the biggest dangers of fundamentalism is that these movements ignore the beauty of Islam and they pick and choose things that demolish the beauty of Islam, where nobody looks at such people and recognizes prophetic beauty. Nobody sees the religion of Allah ta’ala amongst these fanatics. 10 years ago when ISIS was around, what bad image did they give to the whole religion of Islam? Don’t we understand that even though there are movements that are not killing other people, they have the same characteristics and the same fanaticism, and nobody is attracted to that level of fanaticism.

2- Turns people away from the religion

This leads me to my second point that fanaticism actually turns people away from the religion rather than calling people to the religion.

Oh Muslims one of the main reasons why fellow Muslims who want to come closer to Allah and who deep down inside love Allah, is they see the bad akhlaq and the arrogance and fanaticism of a group of people who presume they are the spokespeople of the ummah.

They presume they are the arbiters of who is good and who is bad, and the average Muslim who genuinely wants to be a good person, who deep down inside knows that the Qur’an is true, and who wants to pray and fast comes across this group. This group with their judgmental attitude, their arrogance, their constant demeaning, their disconnectedness from reality, it rubs these people in such a bad way that shaitan comes and says to them, if this is what religiosity is I don’t want to be like these people not because they don’t want to be religious, but because those who claimed to be religious misrepresented the religion.

You can’t blame innocent people. It’s not their fault. They don’t know any better when they see the religious folks preaching a version of Islam full of hatred, full of anger, full of absolutely bizarre fatwas against other people, against non-Muslims, against other groups, against other genders, and they’re mistreating people in such a manner in the name of Islam. What do you then expect? What is going to happen to the average person? Will he or she say you know what, if this is what religiosity is something doesn’t make sense, leave me to myself and my Lord. So the problem is this group has made themselves the spokespeople. Nobody appointed them. Nobody put them to be the guardians, but they are the ones who say you must follow us and our interpretation.

So the second danger of fanaticism and extremism is that it actually turns people away from the beauty of Islam.

3. Fanaticism is impossible to maintain

The third problem and danger of fanaticism is that fanaticism is impossible to maintain for more than a few years. By Allah, brothers and sisters! Take it from me, and take it from others older than you who have seen this reality. You cannot remain overzealous for more than a few years. It’s a phase you go through in your early 20s and that’s it. It’s just a phase. Then you burn out. You fizzle out. When you burn out, you lose religion. I cannot even begin to tell you how many people I have seen in my own life, in my own iterations that I’ve gone through. They’ve gone through the hardcore phase. You would think that these people think they’re walking angels on earth and within five years because they were so hardcore, so fanatical, so overzealous, within five years they’ve lost all religiosity! They don’t come to the masjid. They might have left doing salah. Some of them might have even left the religion.

I have seen with my own eyes people who used to be hardcore fanatics and who now no longer even identify as Muslims! You cannot maintain this level of overzealousness. In a beautiful Hadith narrated by Anas ibn Malik:

عَنْ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ دَخَلَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَإِذَا حَبْلٌ مَمْدُودٌ بَيْنَ السَّارِيَتَيْنِ فَقَالَ مَا هَذَا الْحَبْلُ قَالُوا هَذَا حَبْلٌ لِزَيْنَبَ فَإِذَا فَتَرَتْ تَعَلَّقَتْ فَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَا حُلُّوهُ لِيُصَلِّ أَحَدُكُمْ نَشَاطَهُ فَإِذَا فَتَرَ فَلْيَقْعُدْ

The Prophet ﷺ entered the mosque and saw a rope between two pillars. The Prophet asked, “What is this rope?” They said, “This rope is for Zaynab, who uses it when she becomes tired in prayer.” The Prophet said, “Do not use it. Let one of you pray when you have energy. If you feel tired, sit down.”[7]

The Prophet ﷺ also said,

إِنَّ الدِّينَ يُسْرٌ، وَلَنْ يُشَادَّ الدِّينَ أَحَدٌ إِلاَّ غَلَبَهُ، فَسَدِّدُوا وَقَارِبُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا، وَاسْتَعِينُوا بِالْغَدْوَةِ وَالرَّوْحَةِ وَشَىْءٍ مِنَ الدُّلْجَةِ

“Religion is very easy and whoever overburdens himself in his religion will not be able to continue in that way. So you should not be extremists, but try to be near to perfection and receive the good tidings that you will be rewarded; and gain strength by worshipping in the mornings, the afternoons, and during the last hours of the nights.”[8]

In another beautiful hadith a group of three men came to the houses of the wives of the Prophet ﷺ asking how the Prophet ﷺ worshipped (Allah), and when they were informed about that, they considered their worship insufficient and said, “Where are we from the Prophet ﷺ as his past and future sins have been forgiven.” Then one of them said, “I will offer the prayer throughout the night forever.” The other said, “I will fast throughout the year and will not break my fast.” The third said, “I will keep away from the women and will not marry forever.” Allah’s Messenger ﷺ came to them and said, “Are you the same people who said so-and-so? By Allah, I am more submissive to Allah and more afraid of Him than you; yet I fast and break my fast, I do sleep and I also marry women. So he who does not follow my tradition in religion, is not from me (not one of my followers).”[9]

Aisha (ra) narrates that,

أَنَّهَا قَالَتْ مَا خُيِّرَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم بَيْنَ أَمْرَيْنِ إِلاَّ أَخَذَ أَيْسَرَهُمَا، مَا لَمْ يَكُنْ إِثْمًا، فَإِنْ كَانَ إِثْمًا كَانَ أَبْعَدَ النَّاسِ مِنْهُ

“Whenever Allah’s Messenger ﷺ was given the choice of one of two matters, he would choose the easier of the two, as long as it was not sinful to do so, but if it was sinful to do so, he would not approach it.”[10]

4. Thinking they are acting on behalf of God

The fourth problem of fanaticism and religious overzealousness is that the religious fanatic thinks he is acting on behalf of God. Therefore, no matter what you say to him it will fall on deaf ears because he thinks he is upon the truth and he’s acting in the name of God.

If you go the sinner who’s drinking, who’s womanizing and taking drugs, the sinner will say “you know you’re right may Allah forgive me!” The sinner knows he’s committing a sin. The sinner has more chance and opportunity to come back to the truth than the arrogant fanatic, because the arrogant fanatic presumes that he knows the religion, and nobody else knows it, and this is the sign of fanaticism.

We learn from the seerah that the first fanatic was the leader of the Kharijites. The first fanatic that came to the Prophet ﷺ. When the Prophet did not give him the amount of money he wanted he accused the Prophet ﷺ of not being fair. He said “Oh Muhammad!” He didn’t even call him the Messenger of Allah! Fanaticism is always arrogant against knowledge and the people of knowledge. The man said, “O Muhammad! You have not been just in your division!” So Allah’s Messenger ﷺ became very angry and said: “By Allah! You will not find a man after me who is more just than me.” Then he said: “A people will come at the end of time; as if he is one of them, reciting the Qur’an without it passing beyond their throats. They will go through Islam just as the arrow goes through the target. Their distinction will be shaving. They will not cease to appear until the last of them comes with Al-Masih Ad-Dajjal. So when you meet them, then kill them, they are the worst of created beings.”[11]

5. Disunity and sectarian violence

The final danger I will mention, and we see this in our own lives, that fanaticism opens the door to disunity, to harshness, to sectarianism and to division of the ummah. Fanaticism ends up with bloodshed. People kill one another in the name of fanaticism. This is the reality that we’re witnessing in Gaza. It is because of a fanatical interpretation of Judaism called Zionism. Fanaticism is dangerous in any faith tradition.

What we saw in our own faith community of this group ISIS, and even right now as we speak in so many lands, different versions of Islam, different sects of Islam, are killing each other. Sects bombing other sects and physical violence. Nobody’s saying you shouldn’t correct people politely and gently, but where did you get the fatwa to go and kill another person because their interpretation is different than yours!? Who told you, you can bomb a masjid on Friday, which is happening across the Muslim Globe!? Where did you get this understanding from? The problem is you think

you are acting on behalf of God. You think Allah is on your side. Then how can you possibly reason with such fanatics?

So brothers and sisters, without a doubt fanaticism is extremely dangerous but the question arises, how do you know you’re a fanatic, because no fanatic is going to say “I’m a fanatic!” No overzealous person, no ultra

religious fundamentalist is going to say “I am wrong!” because they have been brainwashed to think they are right. So let me share with you five symptoms five litmus tests you can quickly use to see whether you and your group, you and your position, you and your scholarship, you and your group of people, are perhaps beyond the fringe of mainstream Islam.

How to recognise fanaticism

1. Only you and your group are correct

First and foremost of the biggest signs of fanaticism is the presumption that only you and your little group is correct, and everybody else is going to jahannam (hell). Every other Muslim, every other strand of Islam is automatically going to jahannam.

Our Prophet ﷺ said in multiple muttawatir ahadith praised the bulk of the ummah. He ﷺ said:

أُمَّتِي هَذِهِ أُمَّةٌ مَرْحُومَةٌ لَيْسَ عَلَيْهَا عَذَابٌ فِي الآخِرَةِ عَذَابُهَا فِي الدُّنْيَا الْفِتَنُ وَالزَّلاَزِلُ وَالْقَتْلُ

“This ummah of mine is one to which mercy is shown. It will have no punishment in the next world, but its punishment in this world will be trials, earthquakes and being killed.”[12]

He ﷺ said:

فَإِنَّ يَدَ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْجَمَاعَةِ فَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ مَعَ مَنْ فَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ يَرْكُضُ

“Verily, the Hand of Allah is over the united community, for Satan is with one who secedes from the community, running after him.”[13]

He ﷺ said,

تَلْزَمُ جَمَاعَةَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَإِمَامَهُمْ

“Stick to the jamaat of Muslims and their Imam (ruler).”[14]

There is no prophet after our prophet ﷺ, so this automatically necessitates that this ummah as a whole will be rightly guided. The bulk of the ummah, their beliefs and their knowledge will be upon good.

Nobody’s saying that as individuals they are definitely correct, but when you meet an individual Muslim and ask him how many times we pray and how we perform it, the average Muslim will know the correct understanding of Islam, even if they fall short in applying it. This is what our Prophet ﷺ is saying.

Therefore, any group, any firqa (sect), any teacher, any person that comes along and constantly says everybody’s misguided, and all other groups are going to Jahannam, all of the other scholars are sellouts, that very person has demonstrated that they are the fringe by their own testimony.

Memorize this Hadith from our Prophet ﷺ who said:

إِذَا قَالَ الرَّجُلُ هَلَكَ النَّاسُ ‏.‏ فَهُوَ أَهْلَكُهُمْ

“If a man says the people are destroyed, he is the most destroyed among them.”[14.5]

The ummah is upon good. Its scholars are upon good. The mainstream is upon good. Anybody who comes accusing the bulk of the ummah, the entirety of the ummah, and the mainstream scholarship that they have gone astray, is truly astray by the testimony of the Prophet ﷺ.

2. Attacking fellow Muslims

The second symptom, the second litmus test that we have, and this is explicitly mentioned by the Prophet ﷺ when he talked about the first fundamentalist group – the Kharijites. He ﷺ said,

يَقْتُلُونَ أَهْلَ الإِسْلاَمِ، وَيَدَعُونَ أَهْلَ الأَوْثَانِ

“They will kill the Muslims but will not disturb the idolators.”[15]

Any group, any firqa, and any preacher that constantly lambasts and terrorizes fellow Muslims, the fact of the matter is that this is not prophetic. What unites us as Muslims is more than what divides us. Even if a correction has to happen, even if an internal debate has to happen, there must be an adab (etiquette), and there must be brotherly love. It must be done with naseeha. When a firqa or a strand or a preacher is known more for attacking Muslims, especially now that the genocide is ongoing, and they’re only obsessed with trying to label other people, this demonstrates their own fanaticism.

3. Prioritize petty issues and ignore the major ones

The third litmus test of fanaticism is to concentrate on the petty issues and ignore the larger ones. This lack of priority by concentrating on the very small aspects even if they might be correct in the broad scale of things, but ignoring the much bigger issues. This is again a characteristic of fanaticism. You all know of the terrible tragedy of Kabala, where the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ was assassinated and killed by a group of evil people. One of their associates, one of their friends, came to do Hajj and he visited Abdullah ibn Umar and asked him whether a Muslim could kill flies. I heard him saying (in reply):

فَقَالَ أَهْلُ الْعِرَاقِ يَسْأَلُونَ عَنِ الذُّبَابِ وَقَدْ قَتَلُوا ابْنَ ابْنَةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم، وَقَالَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم ‏ “‏ هُمَا رَيْحَانَتَاىَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا ‏”‏‏.‏

“The people of Iraq are asking about the killing of flies while they themselves murdered the son of the daughter of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ. The Prophet ﷺ said, “They (i.e. Hasan and Husain) are my two sweet basils in this world.”[16]

What a strange person you are! Your people killed the grandson of the Prophet ﷺ and you didn’t blink twice, but you come and ask fatwa about a fly! How can you possibly be worried about this, when looking to the reality of what you have done! This is a sign of fanaticism.

I keep on saying 250,000 people have lost their lives in Gaza. How can you possibly be bickering about anything else right now! How can you possibly be dividing the ummah and getting involved in abstract issues such as the sectarian issues of the attributes of God for example. It’s a classical issue. It’s something that academics need to discuss behind closed doors. Let students of knowledge discuss with other students of knowledge in a polite manner. But to bring this abstract sectarian theology into the public eye, to have YouTube debates, to have Twitter and Facebook completely abuzz with this sectarian warfare in which 99% of the ummah is completely unaware, and the 1% that is super religious and fanatical are making takfir of each other because of how they interpreted a particular attribute of God!

I say this bluntly how foolish are the people that are involved in such sectarian online politics even as the genocide is ongoing. Have you no shame! Imagine if you were in Gaza right now. Imagine if the people of Gaza saw you and your bickering online about this particular abstract theological point that nobody even knows beyond your students. Have some shame. Have some hikma. This is the essence of fanaticism. I say this bluntly and loudly have some shame in light of what is happening, and leave these academic discussions to the private classrooms. I’m not saying don’t have them but have them at the right time and the right place with the right audience. Dragging the ummah into these abstract issues while this is going on truly indicates a complete lack of wisdom and of knowledge of the prophetic methodology.

4. Do not allow any diversity of thought or opinion

This brings me to the next symptom of fanaticism. How do you know you are a fanatic? One of the ways is you do not allow for any diversity of thought, no spectrum of opinion. It’s my way or the highway. If you don’t agree with me, you’re a kafir. If you don’t agree with me, you’re going to jahannam. Ibn Taymiyyah says it is not allowed for any person to make his opinions the criterion of Islam. It is not allowed for any human being to make his positions the criterion of correctness, such that whoever follows them is a good Muslim, and whoever disobeys is a bad Muslim. That is only for the Prophet ﷺ. Only the Prophet of Allah has unconditional loyalty.

Other than that Oh Muslims, from the time of the sahabah we have had differences of opinion. The sahabah disagreed about aspects of theology. They disagreed but they were still united in their love for Islam. We have to have a level of tolerance.

I will give you a personal anecdote that is well known, meaning I know the two people involved. These are great scholars and mentors who I admire and respect. Sheikh bin Baz, the grand Muti of Saudi Arabia in the 90s and Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, the great scholar of Islam.

As we are aware or many of you are aware I’m very fortunate to have met both of these scholars multiple times, interacted with them, and I admire both of them and consider both of them to be mentors that I look up to. Sheikh Qaradawi had a different understanding of fiqh (jurisprudence) than Sheikh Bin Baz. We all know this or the students of knowledge know this. Sheikh Qaradawi had written a book ‘The Halal and the Haram in Islam’. Back in the 80s, in Saudi Arabia the country was very strict about publishing books, so every book had to be approved by the ministry. This book was brought to Sheikh Bin Baz, and the whole book was read to him. Afterwards he called Sheikh Qaradawi to Makkah. They met and Sheikh Bin Baz gave a long list of points he didn’t agree with. Many points, maybe 25 points he didn’t agree with. Since Bin Baz is senior and elder and he was a blind man, Sheikh Qaradawi said he didn’t want to get involved in any debate. He just listened, and this is well known as he says this in a public lecture. He said I thought because he disagrees with my book in 25 points, he’s not going to allow the book to be published. But lo and behold after Sheikh Bin Baz advised me privately, the next thing I know he allowed the book to be published and sold in the Kingdom.

This demonstrates for you diversity of thought. Sheikh Bin Baz did not agree with all the views in ‘The Halal and the Haram in Islam’, but he understood that who am I to ban other points of view? Who am I to enforce my view, when this is a legitimate understanding as well? Even if I disagree, who am I to stop other people from hearing another mainstream interpretation? There was no labeling of Sheikh Qaradawi. He wasn’t a sellout or a reformist or a liberal or a demonizer or somebody wanting to destroy Islam, this is his understanding of Islam and his own understanding. Anybody who has this narrow-minded bigotry is once again demonstrating fanaticism.

5. Complete loss of Islamic spirituality

The final point I will mention of these five symptoms of fanaticism, and by Allah this is the worst of them. Again I mention straight from the hadith the worst manifestations of religious fundamentalism, the worst manifestations of overzealousness. This is people who lose Islamic spirituality completely. Their hearts become hard and arrogant and they become obsessed with the outer form of Islam, and forget the inner spirit of Islam. Once again these are not from me. I quote you the Prophet ﷺ when he warned against the Kharijites. The Prophet ﷺ said,

يَخْرُجُ فِيكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَحْقِرُونَ صَلاَتَكُمْ مَعَ صَلاَتِهِمْ، وَصِيَامَكُمْ مَعَ صِيَامِهِمْ، وَعَمَلَكُمْ مَعَ عَمَلِهِمْ، وَيَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ لاَ يُجَاوِزُ حَنَاجِرَهُمْ، يَمْرُقُونَ مِنَ الدِّينَ كَمَا يَمْرُقُ السَّهْمُ مِنَ الرَّمِيَّةِ، يَنْظُرُ فِي النَّصْلِ فَلاَ يَرَى شَيْئًا، وَيَنْظُرُ فِي الْقِدْحِ فَلاَ يَرَى شَيْئًا، وَيَنْظُرُ فِي الرِّيشِ فَلاَ يَرَى شَيْئًا، وَيَتَمَارَى فِي الْفُوقِ

“There will appear some people among you whose prayer will make you look down upon yours, and whose fasting will make you look down upon yours, but they will recite the Qur’an which will not exceed their throats (they will not act on it) and they will go out of Islam as an arrow goes out through the game whereupon the archer would examine the arrowhead but see nothing, and look at the unfeathered arrow but see nothing, and look at the arrow feathers but see nothing, and finally he suspects to find something in the lower part of the arrow.”[17]

He ﷺ said when you look at their salah it will put your salah to shame. Their recitation will put your recitation to shame. The Qur’an will not leave their throats, meaning the Qur’an will not be acted on by them. It’s just a show. It’s a shallow shell. It’s an outer form. You think they’re religious but there’s no religiosity in them. This is straight from the words of the Prophet ﷺ. You look at them. You will be impressed but there’s no reality to that spirituality. Fanaticism does not bring spirituality. Overzealousness does not bring love of Allah ta’ala.

Any group, any firqa, any trend, any preacher that does not bring you closer to Allah. Does not cause your

heart to be full of rahma and compassion. Maybe even mocks compassion. Anybody who makes fun of rahma and makes fun of the beauty of this religion, will have testified to themselves that they are on the fringe of fanaticism, and not within the mainstream.

This religion of Islam is all about spirituality. It is all about the connection with Allah. It is all about tazkiya an-nafs (purification of the inclinations). When you don’t have that, even if you have the outer form, you have lost the entire plot of Islam.

Oh Muslims! Realize that fanaticism has always been a problem from the beginning of Islam, that’s why our Prophet ﷺ warned against it, and so we have to be careful in this day and age that we do not fall prey to it. Realize this religion is a beautiful religion. It’s a mainstream religion. We are an أُمَّةًۭ وَسَطًۭا ummatun wasata (balanced nation)[18]. Therefore, be careful of falling prey to these ideas because they are from Shaitan, and not from the methodology of our Prophet ﷺ.

Ways to protect yourself from fanaticism

1. Follow the well-known experienced senior scholars

Here are three simple pieces of advice to protect us from extremism and fanaticism. First and foremost, without a doubt one of the most obvious mechanisms is not to follow anonymous people, or youngsters but to follow the senior elders with proven track records.

Oh youngsters! I’m telling you bluntly, you cannot compare a 70-year-old scholar who has 55 years of service to the community with some anonymous online 25-year-old. Fear Allah. Age, wisdom, experience, all of it comes in handy. Do not think that a 25-year-old has more zealousness for the religion than an elderly man. Do not think that a youngster knows Islam better than somebody who has a track record of five, six or seven decades. We have elders in our community that have been preaching Islam since even before I was born. We have seniors that have decades of wisdom. Listen to them, because you cannot learn wisdom from books. You cannot replicate experience. Wisdom comes with age. It comes with seniority. Alhamdulillah, we have great ‘ulema in this country and around the world, so listen to those senior ‘ulema and do not follow youngsters.

In fact, in one hadith our Prophet ﷺ literally described the Kharijites as being those who have high fangled ideas but they’re youngsters in their age. They have beautiful slogans but they’re all a bunch of youngsters. You think they’re saying good but they have no experience to back up that good. He ﷺ said,

يَخْرُجُ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ قَوْمٌ أَحْدَاثُ الأَسْنَانِ سُفَهَاءُ الأَحْلاَمِ يَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ لاَ يُجَاوِزُ تَرَاقِيَهُمْ يَقُولُونَ مِنْ قَوْلِ خَيْرِ الْبَرِيَّةِ يَمْرُقُونَ مِنَ الدِّينِ كَمَا يَمْرُقُ السَّهْمُ مِنَ الرَّمِيَّةِ

“In the end of time there will come a people young in years, foolish in minds, reciting the Qur’an which will not go beyond their throats, uttering sayings from the best of creatures, going through the religion as an arrow goes through the target.”[19]

So follow the elders of your community, because they have experience and wisdom that the youngsters don’t have.

2. Never trivialize du’a to Allah

Point number two, never trivialize du’a to Allah. Be sincere. Raise your hands to Allah. Do you know oh Muslims, that our Prophet ﷺ in the middle of the night in tahajjud (night prayer), one of his duas was,

«اللهمَّ ربَّ جِبرائيل، ومِيكائيل، وإسرافيل، فاطرَ السماوات والأرض، عالمَ الغيب والشهادة، أنت تحكم بين عبادك فيما كانوا فيه يختلفون، اهدني لما اختُلِف فيه من الحق بإذنك، إنَّك تهدي مَن تشاء إلى صراطٍ مستقيمٍ»

“O Allah, Lord of Jibrīl, Mikha’īl, and Israfil, Originator of the heavens and the earth, Knower of the unseen and the seen, You judge between Your slaves concerning that in which they used to differ. Guide me, by Your permission, to the truth about which people differ. Verily, You guide whom You will to the straight path!”[20]

If he ﷺ is making du’a, that in confusing matters guide me to the truth, where do you and I stand. Have you sincerely made du’a to Allah in this confusing mess of all these different fatawa. All of these different interpretations. All of these different competing clergies. Have you ever thought, let me ask Allah for hidiyah (guidance). Genuinely raise your hands to Allah and say oh Allah it’s really confusing, I don’t know which of these groups seems to make more sense. Which of these Scholars. Which of these clerics. Make du’a to Allah ta’ala.

3. You will know them by their fruits

Any group or preacher that you associate with, and they make your heart softer towards Allah and you find yourself wanting to worship Allah, and your love for Allah and his Messenger increases, this is a very positive sign. Any group or preacher that your heart becomes hard and you don’t find peace in salah. You don’t really want to worship. You’re more involved in reputation. You’re more involved in lambasting. You’re more involved in academic arguments rather than spirituality. Without a doubt this is a sign that something is wrong.

You will know them by their signs. Look at the fruits of their dawah. Look at what is produced when you follow a particular interpretation or strand. When you find that your closeness to Allah increases then in sha’ Allah it’s a positive sign. When you find that no there’s no connection to Allah, but enjoying debate and getting involved in abstract issues, then this is not the religion of the Prophet ﷺ.

Conclusion

Oh Muslims! Beware of fanaticism.

The Prophet ﷺ said,

This deen is the essence of simplicity and ease. No one will make this religion more strict, except that it will end up destroying him. Do not make the religion stricter than it is. Do not become fanatical and overzealous. There is no guidance better than the guidance of the Prophet ﷺ. The best interpreters of that guidance are our senior mainstream people that have demonstrated their connection with our tradition. May Allah ta’ala make us amongst those rightly guided people. Ameen.