“indeed allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves” - Q13:11

so let’s change! shall we?

A Call to Make Course Correction!

Allah is perfect, Allah’s Deen of Islam is perfect. Muslims are far from perfect. We need to work purposefully to get closer to perfection Allah SWT commands for us. Before we start defining the Tashih process,

let us clarify what it is not. 

  • The definition of reform implies change and improvement. There is no room for either in Islam when Allah said in Quran that He perfected the Deen of Islam for all of us. We believe here the emphasis is too much on bringing change and improvement which does not capture the essence of what needs to be done. Muslims may need to change but Islam should remain the same as Allah sent it for us.

  • The concept of Renewal of Tajdid is based in a Hadith recorded by Abu Dawood where the Prophet is reported to have said that there will be a Mujaddid (renewer) in Islam every 100 years. Renewal implies that the Deen is broken and in need of repair or replacement of some parts and repackaging. It also casts a shadow of suspicion on the relevance for the deen of Islam for all times. The Deen does not need renewal. It needs correct application of the Deen to the contemporary world. That application can only be achieved if we understand the essence of the Deen (i.e. the wisdom) and not just the Dos and Don’ts! We need to understand the answer to the why of each ruling, Then we can preserve the spirit of the ruling instead of forcing the letter of the law as we always do. 

  • If we have a problem with renewal as noted above, I am sure you would understand that we could not consider revival. Only Allah SWT decides whether Islam lives or dies and whether someone needs to revive it. We do not consider ourselves even remotely competent to revive Allah’s chosen Deen. We are not in control of our own life and death. It will be sheer arrogance to think we can revive the Deen of Allah SWT.

  • This is typically the opinion of those who think that Islam is rigid and cannot be applied in all times. Hence it needs to be modernized to suit the times. As stated above we believe that the Deen of Islam is for all times. It just needs to be understood and applied as such.

  • Given the progress of the western world and some truly honorable practices of these societies some Muslims believe that we need to re-interpret Islam in view of what has been shown to work in the west. These opinions generally tend to be in awe of the west and readily overlook the shortcomings of western society. They just want to copy the west and keep the Deen of Islam in the ream of limited private life.

  • Progressivism is built into Islam. If you look at the advent of Islam, some of the ideas were way ahead of its time. So, if one thinks that Islam needs to be progressive, they have not understood the essence of the Deen of Islam.

  • Let’s go back to the way they used to do things during the time of the prophet and copy these blindly”, the mantra of Salafis or fundamentalists is Taqlid. Taqlid is defined as imitation where we just try to copy something with no regard to whether it is relevant. This puts all common sense to the side and directly contradicts the command of Allah SWT to think for ourselves.

  • Here some people would try to justify the rulings in the Deen of Islam by reasoning and argumentation. We do not believe we need to defend Islam. We just need to practice the correct Islam, and let our deeds, our conduct and character do the talking. Our position is that when it comes to direct commands from Allah SWT, we should accept them instead of rationalizing. Our rational and empirical scope is too limited to question the command of Allah SWT. Hence if a command in the Quran is questioned and we cannot come up with a rational explanation, it does not undermine the divine wisdom but it highlights the human limitations.

Self-Correction - Tashih

Correction is defined as an effort to make something right, true and accurate. Hence Tashih is the process of correcting our practice of Deen of Islam to its truest essence as taught by Allah SWT and His Messenger Muhammad SAWS. In order to correct anything, not only do we need to understand the perfect state of it but also try to understand the true purpose or goal of the entity being corrected. When a teacher corrects a pupil’s paper, she not only knows the perfect answer but also how close the given answer is to fulfilling the objective of the question. When an auditor reviews financial records of an organization, she looks for the amounts and its allocations and is not distracted by the format or presentation. The purpose of the financial records is to reflect true income and expenditure of the organization while the goal of the auditor is to catch any attempts at fraud or misrepresentation.

Just as the goal of the Deen of Islam is to make each one of us and thereby collectively better in this world and hereafter. Are we leading this life that fulfills that goal, are we living the Deen of Islam in a way that makes us, individually and collectively better today than we were yesterday? All indicators are pointing to the fact that we are going in the wrong direction. As an Ummah, we are worse of today than we were a couple of decades ago or even worse from a couple of centuries ago. Our individual improvement if any, is on shaky ground if the community is in dire straits as we can witness everywhere in the world today. No Muslim is safe anywhere. Many of us may be ignorant of the threat, but we are not safe from exploitation or persecution. Hence we should study to learn what the goal of Islam is and then apply the guidance given in Quran and Sunnah. That in essence is the objective of Tashih.

Subject of tashih

Most Importantly, the subject of Tashih is not the Deen of Islam. Which as we stated is well above human critique. However, Deen of Islam needs to be applied to human life in this world as directed by Allah SWT. Hence the subject of Tashih is the Muslim individually and Ummah collectively. We need to understand Islam in every possible way and also try to understand the intent and purpose of the Deen of Islam. Allah SWT has made its goals and objectives clear in Quran, we do not need to guess these at all. We only need to study these and capture the essence of it to be applied in our lives. That is Tashih in action which distills from Quran and Sunnah the true essence of Islam and applies it thoughtfully in our life based on the time period, place and the circumstances.

Tashih Process

Read

The Quran starts with "Iqra" (Read!) because Allah SWT wants us to first gain knowledge of the Creator and the creation. When we get the proper knowledge Allah knows that we will be in awe not only of the creation but eventually of the Creator. Our obligation to educate ourselves is reiterated several times in Quran and repeated by the Prophet SAWS. Education and Learning is the first step towards everything necessary for this life and the hereafter. The benefits of education in this world are obvious as it gives many material gains through science and technology. Learning about God and hereafter makes our worship much more meaningful when it is done with an awe of a human who knows who he worships. Then believing in and following the guidance He sent in Quran and Sunnah will be easy and automatic.

ACT

The term "Alladhina Aamanu wa Amilu Salihat" (Those who believe and do righteous deeds) comes 57 times in Quran. If the goal of Quran and Islam was individual salvation then just believing would have been enough. Islam is a Deen for collective salvation and success for the community and the humanity at large. Hence Allah commands us to always follow the belief with righteous deeds. A good Muslim is not selfish, but works towards the upliftment of others. He / She will stand up for justice and do something  to challenge injustice.  This link of action and deeds is broken in our Ummah. We have started to wrongly believe that ritual worship will get us to the ultimate success. It is because we have failed at the first step of educating ourself about Islam and what it truly means and expects from us.

Pray

Once we know our creator and follow His guidance our worship and supplications become more intentional and powerful. Our salah and sujood will be more impactful as the presence of Allah SWT will become more palpable to us. With this attitude and humility Allah is much more likely to elevate our knowledge to the level of wisdom we can use in our actions. This wisdom makes our ability to distinguish between good and bad through the chaos and confusion. It brings moral and ethical clarity to everything.

SUBmit

Exercise of freewill and intentional actions towards good deeds is the effort we are commanded to put in. The ultimate results of that effort is in the hands of Allah SWT. If we succeed we will be rewarded and even if we fail we will be rewarded in the hereafter by Allah SWT. Because unlike this world which only rewards results, Allah SWT rewards us on our effort as He knows the results are not in our hands but only with Him. As Muslims we are grateful in success and failure because we know Allah SWT has guaranteed our reward in the hereafter. We are not bitter, resentful or sad when we fail, but say Alhamdulillah just as we do when we succeed. Then we move on to the next deed with a positive mindset and inner peace.

Self Correction

  • Tashih provides you with the foundational course material and curriculum to enable self-paced study so you understand the fundamentals of the Deen of Islam.

  • You will be assigned a mentor to develop your knowledge and application of Islam in your life. You will be counselled by the mentor to take classes customized to your needs.

  • Pragmatic classes specific to your needs to empower you to lead your family towards success in this world and hereafter.

  • This is a group consisting of those who are in general agreement with the message of Tashih and the need for it now. As a friend we would like to count on you to coordinate the propagation of the message.