The situation of attaining the Knowledge of Deen by Muslims – An Analysis.

Bismillah! Al Hamdulillah!

Attaining the Knowledge of Deen – Acquired by Contemplation or by Poured in?

The Tradition – Learning at Childhood:

Most of the Muslim know Islam, at least the basics.
Their parents send them to a ‘Madrasa’ or ‘Maqtab’ or to a ‘Moulavi’ to teach them Islam.
They teach them how to read the Quran.
They teach them how to pray Salat and
They teach them the minium of the Quran to memorise to get along with their Salat.
And then they know this is Halal, that is Haram.
That’s their limit on learning Deen.
And yet they think they know Islam.
And that’s the status of the Most of the Muslims in terms of knowledge of Deen.

The Tradition – Learning whatever comes in their way!

Then, most of the Muslims never go through any organised study of Deen but only whatever they learned in their childhood.
Among them, a few in the later stages of life put their effort to learn Knowledge of Deen.
But the knowledge which they acquire, mostly comes from the third parties, from the books written by scholars or in the form of lectures.
But unfortunately, this knowledge is not what they earned nor achieved by their own effort.
The knowledge is poured down unto them.
Most of them never check this knowledge with the primary sources, the Quran and Hadiths.
Most of them do not read the Quran with understanding.
Few of them read the Quran with translations but they don’t read to contemplate on it.
They have no idea how to Contemplate on the Quran, it is something they never thought of!
They don’t have the ability to contemplate on the Quran.
They get the understanding of what is taught by their respective Ulema or whatever they understand by  reading a Tafseer.
And that’s their knowledge about Islam.
And yet they think they know Islam.
And that’s the status of Muslims, in terms of knowledge of Deen, those who regularly practice the Deen.
(Feeling the vacuum in heart writing this)

The Tradition – Institutional Learning; Understanding of Deen is Poured in:

Then come to the few who go through an organised study.
They study from the original, primary sources but they are barred to understand those by themselves.
They are blocked by their ‘Ulema’ to contemplate on those primary sources by themselves.
They get the understanding of the primary sources, again, from the third parties. Example, Tafseer of Quran or the books written by Ulema.
They get the understanding of any issue from the scholars they follow.
And the scholars of each group, either Haqq or Baatil, accumulate tons of evidence to blogged up their reader’s minds which left them (the readers) no scope to think over them by themselves.
Therefore, in the end, they follow whatever direction they (the ‘scholars’) showed them.
Thus they never attain the ability to differentiate between the Haqq and the Baatil.
Each of these followers thinks what their ‘Ulema’ has described is the Haqq.
And they understand the Haqq Ulema by the number of degrees an Ulema has earned, by the position an Ulema hold in this or that university.
That’s their knowledge of Deen based on.
So, they know Islam but a conned view of it.
Thererfore, they become rigid in understanding of their version of Deen.

There’s no Teaching of Contemplation:

How did this happen?
The teaching of Deen designed in a way, in every group, whether Haqq or Baatil, that it does not let a student have any scope to Contemplate.
You will find the issue of Contemplation absent in any form of study of Deen.
They (the Ulema) never really implement what they teach as the meaning of ‘Contemplation’ commanded by Allah Ta’ala.
Nowhere you would find the teaching as to how to practice Contemplation.
But they teach the word and its significance very often.
Meanwhile, all they get (the students) about the Contemplation is explanations of the scholars.
Yet they think they are Contemplating on the Quran.
These are the basis of Islamic knowledge to a knowledgeable Muslim.

And the Result?

Do you see arguments in two groups of Muslims?
Each of them brings evidence and gives the logic and reasons borrowed from their respective scholars.
Therefore any Ayah of the Quran, even with a simple meaning, contrary to what they have been made to understand, cannot move them from their stand on what already they took for granted.
They keep on arguing and find it absurd why can’t the other group do not accept his opinion?
In reality, they don’t have their own ability to reason.
Only because they are indoctrinated with the falsehood that, ‘You can’t understand the Quran on your own’
Therefore, how could they open their minds to simple math and accept it?
Therefore, they end up following their respective Ulema over the clear command from their Rabb.

And Allah knows best.
And only Allah knows their status with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala.
May Allah guide Muslims.
May Allah give Muslim proper understanding of Deen.
May Allah retun Muslims to the Quran.