The minor or subsidiary religious issues over which we, the ‘ulamā’, constantly engage in arguments and disputes may interest, at most, 1% of the country’s population. The remaining 99% have little interest in such discussions. Many even treat these disputes as a source of entertainment.
To be clear, these issues have been debated for centuries, and there is certainly a place—and a need—for discussing them to a reasonable extent. Scholars from different madhhabs and schools of thought may also engage in private scholarly debates and critical discussions. However, reaching a consensus on such matters is often difficult. Therefore, the less these disputes and polemics dominate our discourse, the better it is for the Ummah.
We must remember that these are not the central problems facing the Ummah today. Nor are they the principal challenges confronting our young people in safeguarding their faith.
Our younger generation is struggling to preserve its fundamental beliefs, religious identity, and moral character. Materialism, liberalism, humanism, atheism, secularism, scepticism, rationalism, feminism, modernism, postmodernism, and hundreds of similar ideologies are shaking the very foundations of their faith, creed, and character.
Consequently, many are gradually developing an aversion to Islam as a way of life. They are being swept away by a new and pervasive tide of riddah (apostasy), in which the voice of truth is often scarcely heard.
Yet our voices are not nearly as strong as they should be on these critical issues. Worse still, many of us have not even acquired a basic understanding of them. We fail to realise how grave a threat these ideologies pose to the religion and the Ummah, and how destructive their consequences may be.
Alas! When the main task becomes secondary, peripheral issues inevitably take centre stage.