Ever since 'the great king Gadanaadeethiya the Prosperous" beheaded the last remaining Buddhist monks and drove those who would not embrace islam out of their villages in 1194 AD, Islam has been the state religion of Maldives except for the period reigned by King Monoel (otherwise known as King Hassan IX). Even in recent times in an effort to enforce this conformity, the government of Mullah Maumoon and his Arab ideologues have come up with the "Dhivehi Raiyithunge Deenee Ebbaivanthakamuge Gaanoon".
But the unprecedented access to information is having its effects. More people are choosing to follow the dictates of their conscience. Some are becoming athiests. Others are reverting to Buddhism, religion of our forefathers. And others are accepting Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
Even the Maldivian Muslims are now diverging. While a strong group of Arab educated missionaries are spreading their vision of Islam (Wahhabism, Sakafism, etc) , other Maldivians are beginning to interprete Islam in their own way.
Some Maldivian Muslims are trying to find answers without the use of the Hadiths. They are not restrained by the thought that without Hadiths and Sirat, no one can know anything about Mohammed or the history of Islam. even though you cannot even understand the Quran and its context without the help from Hadiths and Tafseers (Which inturn relies on Hadiths) and you cannot even have Pillars of islam without these sources it is not holding them back.
It is all coming to the point where sooner rather than later, people must be allowed to follow their conscience regarding religion.
Without Hadith the Koran falls flat on its face. It was a Hadith in the form of Mohamed's first claim to hearing things that established him in his eyes as a messenger of the fictitious god he created. If one doesn’t believe in Hadith one cannot find a way of making an exception to that particular Hadith. If one doesn’t believe in that particular Hadith, then one cannot believe in Islam. So I'm afraid, the Koran-only Muslims are stuck with Hadith, warts and all.
ReplyDeleteWhile other religions are able to keep pace on the superhighway of progress, Islam is up to its axles in the mud of the seventh century....
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