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PublishedonFeb27,2015

AretheteachingsofISISIslamic?Notbythe
sanad
Anemphasisonsanad,orscholarlytradition,helpskeepMuslimteachersontrack.Butthisisoverturned
bytheSalafischoolofthoughtwhichrejectshistoricaltraditioningoingbacktothefirstthreegenerations
ofMuslimscholars.

ByH.a.HellyerForTheStraitsTimes

Earlierthisweek,SheikhAhmedalTayyeb,theGrandImamofAlAzhar,SunniIslam'smostrenowned
educationalinstitute,calledforeducationalreformforMuslimstopreventthespreadofreligiouslyinspired
extremism.
SheikhTayyebwascarefulnottoassociateterrorismandviolencespecificallywithIslam."Bad
interpretations"and"ahistoricalaccumulationofexcessivetrends",hesaid,hadledMuslimstobecome
morevulnerabletorecruitmentbyradicals.
Incontrast,thefightersoftheIslamicStateinIraqandSyria(ISIS),otherwiseknownas"Da'ash",made
surethatallwhoviewtheirpropagandamaterialofgrislyexecutionsareleftinnodoubtthattheyare
doingitinthenameofreligion,citingchapterandversefromwithintheIslamictradition.
Thishasledtoaflurryofrecentcommentariesarguingthatthosewhoinsist,likePresidentBarackObama
didlastweek,thatISISisunIslamicarelivingindenial.
AretheGrandImamandthePresidentoftheUnitedStateswrongthen?IsISISIslamic,givenitsexplicit
useofQuranicversestojustifyitsactions?
AkeytothisheateddebateistobefoundinSheikhTayyeb'sscholarlyterm,"interpretations",ofwhich
Islamhasalongandrichtraditiondatingbackcenturies.
ThereisacertainironythathemadehisremarksinMecca,theholiestcityforMuslimsworldwideandpart
ofmoderndaySaudiArabia.ThemodernSaudistatearoseonthebackofreligioussupportfromthe
puristSalafimovement,whichmanydescribemorederogativelyas"Wahhabism".
SheikhTayyebdidnotgointothedifferencesinhisspeechbuttheGrandImamcomesfromwithinthe
Azharitradition,aschoolofthoughtrepresentativeoftheSunnimainstream,andonewhichdisagreeswith
Salafisminmorethanoneareaofreligiousteachings.
ThereisafurtherironyinthatintheterritoriesISISmilitantshavetakenover,theyoftenuseSaudi
religioustextbooksevenasthereligiousestablishmentofSaudiArabiarailsagainsttheextremists.
Ofcourse,onecouldaskonwhatbasisdoesSheikhTayyebjudgeinterpretations,deemingsomegood
andothersbad?Afterall,thereisnopapacyinIslam,noristheresomekindofhierarchicalecclesiastical
authority.IsitmoreakinthentoProtestantChristianity,withtheindividualhavinggreatlatitudein
interpretingscripture?
Bothcomparisonsarenotveryuseful.Academia'speerreviewprocesscomescloser.
Traditionally,thereligiousauthorityofMuslimtheologiansandjuristsisfirstbasedonarigorouseducation
inIslam'sprimaryandsecondarytextstheQuranandpropheticnarrations,butalsovariouslegal
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methodologies,commentariesandothersuchworksbyspecialiststhathavebeenwrittenoverthe
centuries.
Butthatisnotenough.Thelearninghasalsotobederivedfromthesanad,alongchainoftransmission
fromscholartoscholargoingbackseveralgenerations.
Thismethodical,peerreviewedapproachtostudyingthetextswasuntilrelativelyrecentlyunderstoodto
benecessarytothosewhowishtospeakwithanycredibilityonreligiousmatters.
Withoutthatfoundationandthediscernmentthatissupposedtocomewithit,itdoesnothingforone's
standingevenifonemakesabigdealofspoutingverses,likewhatISISisdoingnow.
ButpuristSalafismchallengedthatsystem.ItsbasicclaimisthattheMuslimcommunityhadgoneastray,
deviatingfromthetruepathsetbythefirstthreegenerationsofMuslims,the"SalafalSalih"orthe"pious
predecessors".
Thatmeant,ofcourse,therehastobe"reform"which,giventheirstrictliteralistworldview,wouldmean
doingawaywithmuchofthesophisticationthathaddevelopedovercenturiesofIslamicstudies.
IfapoliticalalliancehadnotbeenstruckbetweentheAlSaudfamilyandSalafipreachers,andoilhadnot
beendiscoveredinthekingdom,puristSalafismmighthavesimplypassedfromtheMuslimworldasmany
otherlessmainstreamapproachestoreligionhad.
Certainly,therewasmorethanoneheterodoxmovementinthepastthatisnowafootnoteinhistory.But
puristSalafismremained,thrived,andtrainedpreachersthatwentaroundtheworld.
ISISisnotautomaticallytheresultofpuristSalafismitwouldbeunfairtomakesuchastraightforward
connection.Nevertheless,withoutthepresenceofpuristSalafism,itisdifficulttoseehowISIScouldhave
emerged.
Itslackofrelianceontraditionalsystemsofreligiousauthority,ashistoricallyexemplifiedininstitutionslike
theQarawiyyininMorocco,theKairouaninTunisia,theAzharinCairo,ortheoldmadrasahsofTarimin
Yemen,allowsittoreinterpretIslaminavarietyoffieldswhichhassoshockedtheworld.
Ofcourse,evenwithoutISIS,SunniIslamwouldhavefacedatremendouschallengeinmaintainingits
traditionalsystemsofreligiousauthority.
ModernitybringsliteracyandwhileSunnireligiousauthoritiesinthepastcouldhaveinsistedthatlaymen
simplytrusttheminmattersofreligion,thatisnolongerfeasiblewhenanyonewhocanreadArabiccan
easilyaccesstextsthatwerehithertobeyondtheirreach.
Thereligiousestablishmentneedstobefarmoreopeninitsdeconstructionofradicalideassomethingit
ismorethancapableofdoing,butwhichithithertodoesfarlessthanitoughtto,outofasensethatit
shouldbeenoughtosimplysay"thisisunIslamic".
Beyondthat,andthisisprobablythemostdifficultchallengeofallmainstreamreligiousauthoritiesneed
tobeabletogain"streetcred".
Withthatkindofcredibility,thosesectionsofMuslimpopulationsthataremostvulnerabletoISIS
recruitmentwillpayclosertoattentiontomainstreamauthoritiesbuttheycangetthatkindofcredibility
onlyiftheycriticisetheabusesofauthoritythatisendemicinsomuchoftheMuslimworld'sgovernments
today.
SheikhTayyeb'seffortstoimproveeducationalstandardswithinreligiousestablishments,sothattheyare
moreawareoftraditionalnotionsofinterpretation,andhowthesedifferfromthelikesofISIS,maybea
stepintherightdirection,butSunniIslamwillneedtodoalotmorethanthat.
stopinion@sph.com.sg
ThewriterisanassociatefellowattheRoyalUnitedServicesInstituteinLondonandtheBrookings
InstitutioninWashington,DC.

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