NO NEED FOR DEGREES!!
A LAYMAN’S SOUND ADVICE FOR THE ULAMA. Brother Sahl writes…

I fully agree that a matric certificate should not be a requirement for admission into a Darul Uloom to become an Aalim of Deen. Our pious predecessors did not have no schooling and they became great flag bearers of Islaam. Our Aakabir Ulama excelled in every branch of knowledge without a matric. They ran huge madrasah’s, orphanages, welfare trusts, managed social issues, carried out JIhaad against the British rule in India and changed millions of lives for the better with no degrees and matric.

So these new ideas should not be allowed to continue. Every Aalim of Deen should speak out against it. One very senior Aalim of our Country who was a lecturer long time ago, correctly calls it his “unfortunate days”.

Personally, I know of many Ulama who have degrees. They are doing more harm to Deen and Muslims then good. They lack the spiritual link. They lack self-respect. They lack the ability to sacrifice. They lack simplicity and humbleness. Their bayaans are more with quotations and fancy and high words. They don’t even make proper Salaam.

Imagine becoming an Aalim and sitting in a room with half naked females and males and studying (contact session) and writing exams. What is the need for the degree? This bipolar mentality must be stopped in its tracks.

I am a graduate. After obtaining my degree and I started work, the company re-trained me to meet their standards. So how will these degrees help promote Deen? Some Degrees are just a piece of paper.

Some Ulama are joining these modernist individuals and are getting carried away with their warped mentality. This is affecting their pristine and pure knowledge and their thinking and vision. That is why to-day we see the following: some girls and boys doing hifz together in one class, some new Ulooms organising sport tournaments for their students, Ulama shirking their responsibilities and outsourcing their duties, refusing to teach in primary Madrasah’s and take on Imaamath responsibilities, wear designer kurtaas and those Salafi/ Wahabi gowns and deliver their lectures using the podiums, allow their wives to drive cars, attend un-Islamic weddings in halls, organise huge jalsas using public money and sit on the stage and listen to the master of ceremony (MC) and praising them.

Another sore point are these so called Qiraat competitions. One student who went all the way to winning the local finals and going to Saudi for the ultimate finals gave a very negative report of how the competition takes place in Saudi.

Over the years some Ulooms are dropping their standards just to increase the pass rate and show the number of Aalims and Qaaries that have qualified from their Ulooms.

It is time the senior Ulama e haqq sit down and come up with the correct criteria and requisites for establishing an Uloom and issuing an Aalim, Mufti and Qarie certificate.

The Ulama’s sole responsibility and concern should be to link the creation to the creator.
An Aalim is one who has full knowledge of the Quraan, Hadith, fiqh and other Islamic sciences and most important the spiritual knowledge and link. That is all that is needed. No need for matric and Degrees.

13 Rabiuth Thaani 1435 – 14 February 2014