Part 5
Abdul Wahid
Youth and Ignorance: The Danger of Emotional Zeal Without Insight
Another trait of the Khawarij that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) mentioned is their youth and ignorance. This description isn’t meant to condemn or belittle young people. It points to the condition in which a person gets involved in great religious matters out of emotion and passion, without scholarly and intellectual maturity, and makes decisions about faith, disbelief, jihad, society and people’s lives without sufficient knowledge. These people declare Muslims disbelievers over small matters and expel them from the fold of Islam. One cause of this quick takfir of Muslims is the youth and intellectual immaturity of those who make such declarations.
The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:
“يَخْرُجُ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ قَوْمٌ، أَحْدَاثُ الْأَسْنَانِ، سُفَهَاءُ الْأَحْلَامِ، يَقُولُونَ مِنْ خَيْرِ قَوْلِ الْبَرِيَّةِ”
[Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3611]
“In the last days of this world there will appear some young foolish people who will use (in their claim) the best speech of all people.”
The point to note in this hadith is that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) isn’t pointing only to the outward form of their speech; he is separating the beauty of slogans from sound understanding. Sometimes a person’s words are entirely religious, beautiful and moving, but if knowledge and sound understanding are missing behind them, the outcome can be completely at odds with the aims of Sharia.
For this reason, an important lesson of this hadith is the value of knowledge and intellectual maturity in religious matters. Matters concerning faith, disbelief, jihad, the sanctity of blood and Muslims’ rights are very weighty and sensitive, and a decision can’t be made on emotion, hearsay and personal understanding alone. At the same time, Islam hasn’t barred young people from taking part in religious and social affairs. Many Companions (Sahaba) of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) carried great responsibilities in their youth. The problem isn’t youth itself; youth joined with ignorance, misplaced haste and a lack of insight can lead to mistakes.
By describing this trait, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is, in truth, drawing Muslims’ attention to the value of scholarly and intellectual training. Religious passion and feeling carry weight when joined with knowledge, wisdom, patience and a sound understanding of the Holy Quran and the blessed Sunnah. So an important message of this hadith is that, in sensitive religious matters, we shouldn’t be swept up by hot slogans and beautiful words alone. We should look at where the speaker takes his words from, how much he understands the Holy Quran and the blessed Sunnah, and whether his words and actions fit the settled principles of Sharia.
All Muslims should pay attention to such matters, and they have a responsibility to make others aware of this group’s takfiri ideas and creeds. In our time, the Daeshi Khawarij are among this same group; their whole attention has turned to Muslims, and in this age the greatest blows to Islam and Muslims have come from them. In many countries of the Islamic world, they have tried to eliminate the ummah’s great scholars and leaders, and they have fought all their wars against Muslims and still do.
Like the Khawarij of early Islam, this group has appeared with the same habits and traits that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) mentioned in his hadiths. Every Muslim should make himself aware of all their traits and habits, and should coordinate and cooperate with the Islamic system to eradicate their ideas and creeds.
