Overview........................................................................01
The Two Modernist Trends...................................................03

Philosophy and its conflict with Islam..............................09
'Ilmul-Kalaam' and sects that pursued it..........................14
Major Deviations ofthe Mu'tazilah ...................................15
An Important note on the harmony between sound intellect
and Quran and Sunnah.......................................................18
Reasons for the spread of Mu'tazili Ideology.....................20
A testament ofthe great ordeals caused by the Mu’tazilah:
Imam Ahmed Ibn Hanbal's Trial......................................22
Imam Abu Hanifa's condemnation of Kalaam...................27
Section One
Mu'tazilah, Aqlaniyyah and the Modernists....................07

Imam al-Ghazzali's rejection of Philosophy and
Kalaam...........................................................................29
The Aqlaniyyah (rationalists) school of thought................35
The Modernist Movement................................................37
1. Call to adapt and adjust the religion to the
requirements and
necessities of the times..............................................41
2. Call for the renewal of the Deen claiming advancement
of the society.............................................................43
3. Free interpretation of the Qur'aanic injunctions without
any hindrance or intervention ofthe Sunnah..............44
4. The claim that Qur'aan can only be a relevant source of
guidance as long as it can be interpreted independently
in the present...........................................................45
Non-acceptance of Ahaad Ahadeeth in matters of
Aqeedah...............................................................46
5. Dividing the Sunnah into 'Sunnah Tashree'eah' and
'Ghair Tashree'eah.'..................................................47
6. Support for Wahdat al-Adyaan (unity of religions)......49
7. Modernists and ‘Hadeeth-Rejectors’.........................51
8. 'Neo Modernists' or Progressives.........................51
The Female-Imam Fiasco......................................52
Deen based on feelings..........................................53
Disputing agreed-upon matters....................53
The True Meaning ofIjtihad v/s the false understanding of
the Progressives..............................................................55
A Movement in Disarray..................................................59
The Modernist Call to Transform Islam.......................40

Section Two
Munkareen al-Hadeeth (the Hadeeth-Rejecters)..............63

Authority and Significance of Sunnah in Islam
The Misguidance of Rejecting Hadeeth.............................67
Hadeeth-rejecters come in different orientations..............68
Hallmarks of the Hadeeth-rejecters.................................70
Callers to evil masquerading as Reformers.......................72
1. The Example of Allah's Messenger is part of
Islam..................................................................75
2. Allah's Messenger received revelations beside the
Qur'aan...............................................................76
3. The Sunnah is in itself a Revelation from Allah.......78
4. The Qur'aan needs to be understood as Allah meant
it to be understood...............................................80
5. The Qur'aan can only be correctly understood in light
of the Sunnah......................................................81
i) The Sunnah explains the commands ofthe
Qur'aan in details..........................................82
ii) The Sunnah establishes a meaning, when a
number of meanings are possible.......84
iii) The Sunnah can specify exceptions to a
general rule...................................................85
iv) The Sunnah also gives additional injunctions
in a number of issues....................................85
v) Inadequacy of language alone to understand
Qur'aan........................................................86
vi) Detailed book?............................................87
6) Allah's Protection for the Dhikr includes all
the Deen..............................................................90
Defining Sunnah and Hadeeth........................................92
Preservation of Hadeeth..................................................94
Compilation of the Qur'aan..............................................95
Compilation of Hadeeth...................................................97

Writing Hadeeth..............................................................99
Saheefah Hammaam ibn Munabbih..............................102
Structure of Hadeeth and Methodology of its
authentication.............................................................104

Doubt 1: Hadeeth were not written (the primary
objection).................................................................108
Doubt 2: No Effort was put into preserving
Hadeeth.........

As Muslims, we are obliged to believe and understand our
religion in a manner that Allah wants us to. The way to achieve this is
mentioned in the Qur'aan.Allah says, "And ifthey believe as you (i.e.,
the Sahabah) believe then they are rightly guided, but if they turn
away,then they are only in opposition." In light
of this verse, the correct understanding is what emulates the beliefs
andunderstandings oftheSahabah(theProphet'sCompanions).
The Sahabah were the fortunate people who accompanied
the Prophet and learned the religion directly from him . They
witnessed the revelation of the Qur'aan and the Sunnah and
experienced the circumstances in which they were revealed. The
Sahabah's understanding of the religion is therefore, the most pure
[Soorah al-Baqarah(2): 137]

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and perfect, and they are a group that has
definitely succeeded in achieving what
Faith is meant to achieve, i.e. Allah's
Pleasure. “And the firstto embrace Islamof
the Muhajirun (those who migrated from
Makkah to al-Medina) and the Ansar (the
people of al-Medina who helped theMuhajirun) and
also those who followed them exactly (in Faith). Allah is
well-pleased with them as they are well-pleased with Him. He has
prepared for them Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise), to
dwell therein forever. That is the supreme success.”
Apathy towards the understanding of the Sahabah as well as
free interpretation of Islamic texts are the primary causes of
misconceptions and confusion; and consequently straying from the
path of the 'the rightly guided'. The Messenger of Allah said, "This
Ummah (nation) will split into seventy-three sects, all of them in the
Fire except one." They asked, "What is that sect?” He said, "That
whichIandmyCompanions areupontoday."
Ilmul-Kalaam(argumentationbasedonGreekphilosophy)is
among such innovations in the religion that created intellectual
schisms intheMuslim nationand initiated deviant trends. One ofthe
sects that indulged in Ilmul-Kalaam were the Mu'tazilah. They gave
precedence to intellect over the revealed texts of the Qur'aan and the
Sunnah - when they perceived the two conflicted. This attitude set an
evil precedent for all later groups who sought to make intellect and
desire decisive over the Qur'aan and the Sunnah. In this book, we
shall critique such modernist groups that attempt to impose novel
interpretationsuponIslamic teachings.

[Soorah at-Tawbah

(9):100]

[at-Tabaraanee]
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It is important to clarify from the onset that condemning
'modernism' is rejecting illegitimate interpretations in religious
matters and not about opposing science and technology, or about
rejecting benefit from information and awareness that mankind
constantly improves with time. What is eternal and ever-relevant
according to Islam are the teachings revealed by Allah – the Most
High and since Prophethood ends with Prophet Muhammad , his
teachings will be preserved and applicable untilthe time people need
Guidance.

One trend of Modernists are the self-proclaimed 'Islam-
experts' and 'Muslim-reformers' that we see all to often paraded on

major media outlets. They openly demand reformation in Islam and
call for a 'progressive' interpretation of Islamic values. Their catch
phrases are “humane Islam”, “gender-friendly Islam”, “Islam 2.0”,
“Progressive Islam” andthe like.
Their newly-found activity gained momentum with the
emergence of violent extremist elements that misinterpret Islam to
create chaos and cause hardship for Muslims. This began a search for
an alternate, sensible and moderate voice - a voice that can expect
state funding andfavors.
The lucrative opportunity thus created has attracted
an assembly-line of individuals with a history of
apathy for Islam and Muslims,to masquerade as
champions ofthe 'oppressedMuslimwoman',
good-governance for Muslim nations,
human rights, etc. They claim to be the
moderate voice and speak in a language
that the media, especially the western

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TheTwoModernistTrends

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media, likes to hear. They persist in this
evenifit alienatesMuslims andreinforces
biased stereotypes about Islam. In the
name of 'progressive thinking', they

organize campaigns against the head-
covering for women, for women to pray in

mosques alongside men, for the acceptance of
lewdness, and other similar issues. They seek to
misinterpretIslamic texts in light of rationalthought, modern values
and even feelings and desires for,they consider the rational(Aql) and
desiresdecisiveover the revealedtexts (Naql).

Another group that is an equally staunch patron of free-
thinking and modernist interpretations is that of the so-called

'Islamic-thinkers' and activists. Their primary goal is political power
and thus, their novel interpretations are aimed at supporting their
revolutionary goals and undermining genuine priorities of Islamic
Dawah that they see as a hurdle or a distraction from their primary
goal.

Politically, the two modernist groups are poles apart. The

'progressive thinkers' are extreme secularist while the 'Islamic-
thinkers' are ardent callers to the Khilafah - however distorted their

views may be about it. But the two are similar in making Aql decisive
over Naql, in their apathy towards Hadeeth, in their emphasis on
modernistic interpretations of the Qur'aan, and in their unjustified
toughening or lightening of Islamic regulations for the achievement
ofpolitical/organizationalgoals.
The vocal participation of these media-savvy modernist
groups in speaking about Islam and affairs of the Muslims has
resultedinthe spreadof a lotof confusionandmisinformation.Inthis
book, Insha'Allah, we shall critically analyze the Modernists,

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beginning by understanding the deviations oftheMu'tazilah sect.We
shall seewithexamples;
a) the rejection of Kalaam by the scholars and Imams of the
Muslims,
b) the turmoil that the Mutazilah brought upon the Islamic
worldasa resultoftheirKalaamand,
c) the ill-effects of philosophy on pious and knowledgeable
scholarswhoindulgedinit andlater abandonedit.

We shall study the views of the 'Muslim' rationalists (al-
Aqlaniyah), a group that emerged towards the end of the colonial era

and found intellectual nourishment in the views of the Mutazilah.
Impressed by Western advances in science and technology, they
sought inspiration from the west for the advancement of Muslim
societies, assimilating along the way 'Modernist' attitudes towards
religion that had gained popularity amongst European Christians
andJews.
The European Modernist agenda was primarily aimed at
settling the conflict between religion and rationality with the help of
philosophy.Ontheirpart, 'Muslim'Modernists attempted to reject or
alter those teachings of the Qur'aan and Sunnah that they saw as
hindrances, and turned to the Mu'tazilah and 'Muslim'
philosophers for guidance.
We shall see in this booklet the close
resemblance between Christian and Jewish
Modernists on one hand, and the 'Muslim'
modernist and progressives on the other.
We shall analyze the views that have

become the hallmark of the Modernist call and expose their
remoteness fromIslam.

 All in all, this book should provide a good overview towards understanding the many misguided views that emanate from varied groups influenced by the Mu’tazilah.