Question:
Dear Sidi Gibril.
Following question was addressed to check with you from a Bareilvi scholar regarding the issues on Dr Tahir ul-Qadiri
Q 1.Has any of the muhaddis given such a statement to say “My mosque is open for the Christians till qiyamah for them to offer ibadah as per their way of worship”?
Q no 2. Is it right to say at a gathering of Present day Christians who take Hazrat Eesa Alaihissalam as son of Allah that the Jews and Christians are among the believers ?
Answer:
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Rahim.
If they are among the believers then let them believe in Muhammad (saws) and then there is no problem. If they do not, then how can they be called believers when they simply disbelieve? It is the object of belief as defined by Allah Most High that qualifies one for that title, not belief in what one picks and chooses. In the latter scenario, even sun-worshippers could be categorized as believers in relation to what they believe. However, Christians are the nearest among the unbelievers to true belief, followed by Jews, and this is the meaning probably implied by Dr. Tahir ul-Qadiri in his hyperbolic statements.
Such statements appear to be based respectively on
(1) the hadith of the Banu Najran Christians being invited by the Prophet (saws) to conduct their worship in the Mosque of Madina
and
(2) the Qur’anic verses:
“Verily those who believe [in Allah and the Prophet], and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabians [Mandeans]: Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day and does right, surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.” (2:62)
and
“They are not all alike. Of the People of the Scripture there is a staunch community who recite the revelations of Allah in the night season, falling prostrate. They believe in Allah and the Last Day, and enjoin right conduct and forbid indecency, and vie one with another in good works. They are of the righteous. And whatever good they do, they will not be denied its reward. Allah is Aware of those who guard themselves.” (3:113-115)
Furthermore he appears to follow his own ijtihad on the application of the above texts to interfaith daawah today in his own contemporary terms. Such a method may produce provocative statements which are either prone to misinterpretation or are just plainly mistaken. This method is not infallible; we have seen recently a contemporary state mufti make much less acceptable statements in this respect.
Yet, according to one respected view of Ahlus Sunna wal Jamaa — as stated by Imam al-Nawawi in Sharh Sahih Muslim and elsewhere — every qualified mujtahid has his reward even if he is wrong and even if, in our limited knowledge, we have never heard any of our teachers or read that any of the established authorities of Ahlus Sunna wal Jamaa ever made such statements.
And Allah knows best.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
