Muslims, who is the final authority on the proper interpretation of Islam.?

Question

In other words, for an American based Muslim, they would go to their local mosque and an Imam would help with translation of verses etc correct? What about if the Imam had questions, where do they go?

What I am trying to figure out is more or less where are American Muslims getting their interpretation of Islam seeing as there are so many differing interpretations out there.

Seriously though, we have American based Muslims who say they don't believe like the Arab based Muslims. I would like to know how they came to such drastically different points of view while reading the same holy books.

Interesting, not one Muslim to answer this question?

Has anyone taken notice that not one Muslim has yet to identify him/herself with an answer?

If it was a question that appeared to be even the slightest negative towards Islam I bet I would get some immediate responses from Muslims.

If it was something that was obviously pro-Islam I bet I would get some Muslim posting praising remarks.

Why no Muslims response? Do Muslims in America not know the answer? Do they know the answer and don't want to divulge the truth?

Do I have to ask a rude question to get a response as I have notice they are more then happy to spend their time responding to?

If there is no hierarchy then no one is leading the various sects of Muslims?

Muslims don't have to have Popes to have religious leaders.

Aren't there religious leaders of Islam sort of Imams, Ayatollah, Mullah, Mujtahid, Muezzin and Sahib?

I am trying get a grasp of the ROOTS of the American based interpretation of Islam versus the ROOTS of the differing radical islamic interpretations.

And by what authority are those Imams and Scholars authorized to interpret the Koran and Hadith?

How do you know that they are authentic interpretors of the religion, where do you go to verify that what they say is accurate? YOU HEART?

This international general group of ulima or scholars etc. What version of Islam are they Sunni, Shiite, other?

Are they authorized by Shiites, Sunnis, Al Quieda or what group authorized them to speak on Islam?

So I am not allowed to have a healthy skepticisms about Islam?

I hear Muslims say that Islam is the religion of peace and I also hear Muslims say that God told them to blow up the World Trade Center.

I investigate Islam and find some serious contradictions, I then go on to yahoo questions to see what any Muslims would have to say about the things that I am curious about Islam.

Don't tell me, you would prefer I go to the Mosque to find the UnBIASED answer about Islam right?

Here is the point to my question.

Although Osama bin Laden is not a trained Islamic jurisprudent, he is considered "well versed in the classical scriptures and traditions of Islam" and has been mentored by scholar such as Musa al-Qarni.

Therefore you can begin your journey as moderate Muslim and through more and more "guidance" become more and more like a famous terrorist we know of.

Those who speak Truth do not fear criticism or skepticism since Truth would eventually prevail, so why does it appear that Islam not only does not welcome it, Islam systematically tries to silence it!!! WHY?

I would embrace my critics and skeptics because when I prove them wrong I will vindicated and they will look like fools. I fear no criticism.

Answer 1

At the final judgement, will the American Muslims who delete us and delete "freedom of expression" be punished?

If they cannot forgive us for expressing our feelings, they may not make good neighbors for the harmony-loving people in Heaven.

.

Answer 2

I am a Muslim too, and those are my beliefs:
We have to revise the English version of the Quran, and try to find for ourselves what was misinterpreted over the last 1500 years that might have brought us down to mockery and criticism. We have a golden opportunity to add 1 billion new Muslims, just if we know that none of them wants to be a monk or share her husband with another. (Al Baqara 136) قُولُواْ آمَنَّا بِاللّهِ وَمَآ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْنَا وَمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَإِسْحَقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ وَالأسْبَاطِ وَمَا أُوتِيَ مُوسَى وَعِيسَى وَمَا أُوتِيَ النَّبِيُّونَ مِن رَّبِّهِمْ لاَ نُفَرِّقُ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُمْ وَنَحْنُ لَهُ مُسْلِمُونَ states the core of the religions is the same for we all worship one God, The One And Only.

A question remains, did God bestow a gift on Muslims to marry four wives and left the rest of humanity without such social privilege? If it was so, every man would have used that privilege. Did God order only Muslims to cover their hair and left the rest of humanity enjoying the hair gift? The present version of Islamic interpretation for the Quran is tanned with some extremism producing a low self esteem society who feels incompetent for the present measures. That’s why the human product of the present Christianity and Judaism is more powerful and confident. Islam has a place for everybody with or without beards and veils. At this era, Islam needs people who can do more than just worshipping. We lack brilliant communicators, negotiators and drivers of civilization. We can at least attract them. Addressing our critics, Islam says let's all sit together and pray that whoever says something wrong about God be doomed as in (Aal Imran 61) فَمَنْ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِن بَعْدِ مَا جَاءكَ مِنَ الْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْاْ نَدْعُ أَبْنَاءنَا وَأَبْنَاءكُمْ وَنِسَاءنَا وَنِسَاءكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَةُ اللّهِ عَلَى الْكَاذِبِينَ

Answer 3

I'm a British Muslim, I know you've asked for an American Muslim here but I gues the same goes for Muslims all over the world.

The final authority on the proper interpretation of Islam, is down to the individual. For example this is what the Quran says about previous religions that went to others of authority for guidance:

"They take their priests and their anchorites to be their lords in derogation of Allah, and (they take as their Lord) Christ the son of Mary; yet they were commanded to worship but One Allah: there is no god but He. Praise and glory to Him: (Far is He) from having the partners they associate (with Him)." (Quran 9:31)

Above someone has quoted 36:69

"We have not instructed the (Prophet) in Poetry, nor is it meet for him: this is no less than a Message and a Qur'an making things clear: That it may give admonition to any (who are) alive, and that the charge may be proved against those who reject (Truth)." (Quran 36:69-70)

Has the Quran been made clear? Most definiatly. Lets just take a look at what many critics of Islam and even Abu Hamza (a muslim cleric in Britian) tried to used this same verse to suggest that he was just preaching from the Quran and not inciting racial hatred.

So when the sacred months have passed away, then slay the pagans wherever you find them, and take them captive and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-due, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful

Quran Tawba Chapter 9 Verse 5

As you read this verse you probably have already made some judgments, saying “How can anybody justify this?” However this verse is being quoted out of context. If you read the verse before this it sheds more light on what is going on.

(But the treaties are) not dissolved with those Pagans with whom you have entered into alliance and who have not subsequently failed you in aught, nor aided any one against you. So fulfil your engagements with them to the end of their term: for Allah loves the righteous.

Quran Tawba Chapter 9 Verse 4

As you can now without a doubt see there were covenants and treaties in place which had been broken by some of the pagan tribes of Arabia. You can plainly see war was not waged on tribes which had abided and kept true to their word and Allah clearly reminds us of that.

If you read a verse that tells you to fight if you read the chapter or a few verses before and after it you'll find the answer as to why and under what pretences.

As for who does the Imam go to? He goes to more knowledgable scholars than himself. The final authority would be with the Caliph

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliph

But since 1924 the Muslims do not have a Caliph, and to be honest Muslims governments (and Western governments) do not want to give their power to one. It is far too much power for one man to have! If the Muslims united under the Caliph he would probably be far more powerful than any one nation.

This is becuase the Caliph is not only a spiritual leader but also a political one unlike the Pope. However still, the individual is responsible for correctly interpreting the Quran because he is the one that will bite the bullet. As the Quran says:

"O you who believe! if an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done." (Quran 49:6)

I'm sorry i could write more but it is late if you want more info please feel free to email me and I think you have asked a valid and interesting question.

Answer 4

Edited on 5th January 2007:

First of all, I am not an Imam or religious scholar and I will use my limited knowledge with information from Wikipedia. Though it's long winded one but bears repeating here since your question and ‘additional details’ seems to be interesting.

I would say that we come across many religious questions on day-to-day basis for which we seek help of the Imams or religious scholars who seek clarifications from Hadiths and other books written by Islamic scholars which are consulted universally whether you live in US or UK or Middle Eastern countries or in China. Therefore, it is not a big issue if in some place some Imam is not having the ready-answer for any specific question the where he can go or how he can find the answer. It is all laid down in so many books.

However, the four Sunni Islam schools are not generally regarded as distinct sects, as there has been great harmony amongst their various scholars throughout Islamic history.

Sunnis believe that all four schools have correct guidance, and the differences lie not in the fundamentals of faith, but instead in finer judgments and jurisprudence, which are a result of the independent reasoning of the Imams and the scholars who followed them. Because their individual methodologies in interpretation and extraction from the primary sources were different, they came to different judgments on particular matters. For example, there are subtle differences in the methods of prayer in the four schools, yet the difference is not so great that separate prayers need to be held for followers of each school. In fact, a follower of any school can usually pray behind an Imam of another school without any confusion.

Generally, Sunni Muslims insist on taqlid and follow a single madhhab. Some however (notably the adherents of the Salafi school) take guidance from all of the four schools.

In the first 150 years of Islam, there were many schools - in fact, several of the Sahaba are credited as having their own. The prominent schools of Damascus (often named Awza'iyya), Kufa, Basra and Medina survived as the Maliki madhhab, while Iraqi schools were consolidated into the Hanafi madhhab. Shafi'i, Hanbali, Zahiri and Jariri schools were established later.

Shi'a Islam has its own school of law, the Jafari, founded by the sixth Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq.

By the way, it seems that some people have nothing better to do than spending times in R&S Section of Y!A to spread hate and malign other participants. For example “jimmy j” is member since December 23, 2006 and managed to ask the following 8 questions:

8. Muslims, who is the final authority on the proper interpretation of Islam.?
7. Muslims, I finally found a video that has Muslims speaking out against extremist, is it enough?
6. Can anyone tell me what kind of Muslims are on these videos?
5. Muslims, we have terrorist who use your "Holy Book" to wage war against the world what are you doing about it?
4. Muslims, if Mohammad was the model for all humanity to follow then... ?
3. A question for Muslims about a famous pro-Islam quote.?
2. If you are religious, how would you like being called a blind-faither?
1. Why did I get violation notice for mentioning the name of a religion whose prophet drank camel urine?

Now, does it not seem that someone is having agenda fixed to step on someone’s toes to start the fight? No wonder Muslims would avoid such Asker’s questions since the R&S has been crowded with people who are intolerant, to say the least. This also applies to some of the over zealous Muslim participants in Y!A as well. I do not know why the YAT is still experimenting with R&S Section which can claim lion share of uncivilized participants from all the strata of religion as well as non-believers, thereby ruining the essence of a decent community and camaraderie in the Y!A, thus inhibiting sharing of knowledge and information in civilized manner.

Answer 5

All muslims should rely on the Qur'an and the Hadiths of the Prophet (PBUH) as their teacher. If they have questions, certainly a person who has spent more time learning about Islam is a good source, at which point as you mentioned, a local imam would be a good option. If they were stumped, someone with a stronger background in arabic linguistics would be a good option (as the Qur'an and Hadiths were revealed in their original arabic).

There is also the general group of ulima or scholars who have international esteem and are regarded as great understanders of Islam. Part of the beauty of the religion is that we don't have a heirarchy where one person is the end all, know all. We don't have a Pope. We have our intellect and ability to interpret based on the most complete knowledge we can collect. First and foremost, God knows best and guides properly whom He wills!

Answer 6

you spot there is in easy terms a million e book in Islam for each and each sect that's the Qur'an and it has the comparable meaning in the time of provide or take some words... the clarification we've sects that are Sunni and Shia is political, it has virtually not something to do with islam. all of them basically stick to the comparable innovations, it truly is merely that they might do small issues the others do not. The Sunni and Shia are not truly struggling with that lots, it truly is all media hype have faith me... the only actual difference is that Shia have faith Ali (ra) could have been the inheritor to the Islamic dynasty after Muhammad (sa) as a substitute of Abu Bakar (ra), this has been the backside for the finished branch... and it truly is all political.. the different sects are deviants... Sunni= stick to the Qur'an an the Prophets words = the quickly direction Shia= virtually comparable element, different than for the political ameliorations. we don't have distinct Qur'an's for each Sect, the Qur'an is the comparable for all of them... the version lies in the exaggeration of the small ameliorations...

Answer 7

I am Muslim, and considering all the personal interpretations that mix with the religious texts, I've come to make my own interpretations through independent research and scholarly input. I use the Quran as my ultimate source of law, read the commentaries, consider ALL interpretations and choose the most peaceful, modern, progressive and liberal interpretation that still does not compromise my morals. I like to focuse mor on the message of truth in Islam insted of the legalistic aspcts that distract me from total devotion to God's divinity. Peace.

Answer 8

american based muslims get their interpretion from quran and each and everymuslim outhere reads quran for problems because it is the book which is common for everymuslim.

actually islam is one. if we want to be a good muslim we dont have to just choose dishes in a buffet but to eat each and everydish.

the reason why certain muslims have certain beliefs is that uneducated people preach islam and sometimes even alter the pure things.

Answer 9

Umm that would be me. The interpretation is simple. Look both ways before crossing the street on your camel. Hide your bombs in your turbins. Watch out for power lines when flying on your majic carpets. Make sure your at the 7/11 be 6 a.m. to serve coffee to all of the normal people of the world. UMM...and no toilet paper is allowed. Wipe your a s s with your bare hand. And then bite your fingernails. Uhh yeah thats it.

Answer 10

There is a reason why interpretation of the holy Quran and the Prophet's Sunnah (prophetic traditions) is an affair dearer to the hearts of Muslims than anything else, but an affair feared by many. It is dearer because Muslims find joy, peace and comfort in both reciting and gaining as much knowledge and understanding of the holy Quran as possible.

Nonetheless, it is feared as without proper understanding of the science of interpretation (exegesis), one can be easily led astray, hence many and I mean many schools of thoughts condemned as heresy by prominent leading scholars since the early ages of Islam. Even these prominent scholars of Islam have taken great precautions and expressed their concern in the affairs of the Sacred Law (holy Quran and Sunnah), keeping in mind how overwhelming the task could be, as told in their biographies. This is reasonable enough as the holy Quran is first and foremost the words of God, the only thing in the world which is close to being divine.

Having said that, it is of utmost importance to realise that as people possess different capacity, interpreting the holy Quran is not a task for everyone. Therefore, for an incapable person to quote the holy Quran literally and use it to justify the killing of innocents in the name of God is totally unislamic, utterly blasphemous, and a sin so grave that it would strike terror in the hearts of rational Muslims everywhere, hence the vast condemnation and alienation of terrorist groups with the likes of al-Qaeda by the Muslim World for instance. Enough to say, the affairs of Quranic exegesis is a virtue so virtuous that those who are blessed with the capability to do so (one of them being the famous classical thinker, Imam Ibnu Kathir with his masterpiece - Tafseer Ibn Kathir - Exegesis of Ibn Kathir - widely read by Muslims worldwide) would earn saintly respect from ordinary Muslims while the misundertaking of such venture by the incapable would cause them terrible loss, humiliation and chastisement.

I'm only 19 years old, thus, I can't elaborate extensively on this matter due to my lack of knowledge. Kindly refer to the reliable links given below for more information.

Is the Quran Clear or Incomprehensible?
You can find the answer here:
http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=article&aid=56&sscatid=89

Differentiating between 'Literal' Meaning and Meaning as a 'Term'
You can find the answer here:
http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=1782&sscatid=119

How to Determine the context of Verses and Ahadith?
You can find the answer here:
http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/text.asp?type=question&qid=1921&sscatid=168

And finally, I would like to urge you to focus your utmost attention on the following verse (translation) of the holy Quran:

003.007: "He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except God. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say: "We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord:" and none will grasp the Message except men of understanding."

Carefully reread it for a few times. I'm sure in the end you'll be able to fathom why there are different interpretations - sometimes with not much difference while sometimes with marked difference.

Visit www.tafsir.com for an authoritative exegesis (interpretation) of the holy Quran, based on the works of one of Sunni Islam's most respected scholar - Imam Ibnu Kathir (may God be pleased with him)

And God alone knows best.

Peace and Love.

Answer 11

there is no central authority in Islam. you can ask who we call Uli el'elm (the intellectuals/scholars)

there are thousands of commentary (of the Quran) books out there by many different commentators.

so if you have a question you can ask some one who knows start with your Imam if the Imam doesn't know then you can ask a scholar which is very easy now adays you can e-mail one and he'll answer you in a reasonable time period.

and finally we are taught by the Prophet (pbuh) to consult our hearts even if this person of authority authorizes something for you.

Number one, you ask God to guide you
two, you ask a scholar
and finally, consult your heart.