Maullana Qadhi Abdur-Rasheed a learned scholar in Pakistan (head of Islamic Schools) often repeats in his jumma khutbas and talks… “So! the answer is out there and you tell me you have never read it and let me tell you its not in the book you read it is in the books you don’t read…” or he also says “many a people say oh! I have never heard that then I tell them it was not in the party you attended but the majlis you missed” (not verbatim, I am using my wording)

Whats worse is that some people choose not to do research or seek the answers. KNOWING that they will find it…some have even said to me “If i dont find out the truth , I wont get punished for it”.

Its so sad! May Allah guide us.

Suhaib,
This comment is a gem of sorts because it serves to illustrate the gist of your article. Its writer probably does not possess too much knowledge of hudud since it is subject to controversy not only in the west but its details are subject to significant disagreement in pre-modern classical Islamic scholarship (the number of hudud crimes, the nisab for sariqa, what constitutes hiraba, and the combination of punishments for zina etc – the list could go on).

The hudud are a controversial and there is no need for you to amend your article as the somewhat pretentious comment demands
with salam and best regards

Jazaki Allahu kul khayr, great reminder ma sha’ Allah

Anon,

I dont think the sister meant that the huddud are controversial in nature–rather they are controversial in society. Without a doubt many people do not understand the huddud, and some Muslims even look down upon this because of their lack of understanding. As she said, many Muslims pull a blank and have no idea what to say when some one is attacking them based on certain aspects of the deen, and one of these aspects that I have seen before–is the huddud–and at this point and time–in the gathering that the person is in…this subject IS controversial.

I first began learning about Islam at the age of 14 and 15. I was a bright student and a voracious reader, and I read through the Quran, and all of Sahih Bukhari, Sahih Muslim, and many other books. This was not necessarily the best approach. Reading through these hadith collections with no Islamic background and nothing to put them in context can be confusing and can lead to many questions and doubts.

Alhamdulillah my faith was strong and when doubts arose, I put them on the “back burner” as I said to myself, and let them simmer there as I continued to learn. I found that in time, and with increased knowledge, my questions were answered one by one. But I can see how someone with too many pots simmering on those back burners might be vulnerable to doubting his faith, or might be open to arguments against Islam.

It’s important to reach out to such people. We should never say, “You shouldn’t question Islam. Allah says it, so accept it.” Instead we should be open to their questions and try to provide context and answers.

May Allah increase us in guidance and taqwa.

The author is correct in pointing out the ease with which information is accessible now yet the zeal is not as present as much as days gone by when people would travel..and travel with great difficulty to gain even one gem.

I think (and I hold up my hands as guilty too), we are quick to blow hot air but very few take action in sincerely searching, because knowledge has become a pre-packaged commodity which people want in an instant, rather like everything else in our lives.

The hudud are not a contorversial issue from the Islamic point of view. But for the West, some hudud are veiwed as being too harsh or unfair. Even though we don’t accept to compromise our faith regarding what Allah (s.w.) decreed as the appropriate punishment for certain violations of Islamic moral conduct, we should understand that this is how some people in the West view hudud and that this is how some Muslim youth in the West feel about them as well. The hudud as well as other Islamic decrees might seem controversial to some Muslim youth. The author, Asmaa, placed the word “controversial” between quotation marks to convey this particular meaning. Her use of quotation marks also makes it clear to the reader that the author does not agree necessarily to the idea that hudud are controversial but that this is how they are viewed by some. It is clear that the message the author is conveying here is that we should not and do not have blind faith. But the fact that many of the Muslim youth today do not care enough to assertain their faith and establish it on strong foundations, creates controversy in the minds of those youth regarding fixed and just Islamic legislation.