“Branches of Iman” by Imam Aabdessalam Yassine
“Branches of Iman” is predominantly a book of hadith. It was written by Imam Yassine, God [...]
“Branches of Iman” is predominantly a book of hadith. It was written by Imam Yassine, God [...]
The fifth anniversary of the passing of Imam Abdessalam Yassine is celebrated Saturday 16th December 2017 [...]
The international political landscape is plagued with violence, hate and tension. The local contexts in [...]
A panel was held about the thought of Imam Abdessalam Yassine in BRAIS (British Association for Islamic Studies) annual conference. The conference took place this year at the university of London from 13 to 15 April. The panel was held on the first day of the conference, and was chaired by Dr. Hammadi Nait Cherif. Three papers were presented touching upon different but complementary aspects of the thought of the Imam, namely the political, the educational and social aspects.
Change is such a trans-disciplinary term that its methods, prerequisites, challenges and outcomes are taken into account in administerial issues and plans, organizations, companies, governments and other bodies. The term has recently permeated the political scene of the worldwide Muslim communities undergoing drastic and very painful political changes marked by the growing acts of bloodshed, destruction, and systematic torture perpetrated by change-resisting forces.
The age of turbulent clashes in the world makes pressure on us to reconsider our idea of rationality. Nowadays, when our societies (even the Western ones) experience the revival of religiosity, many religious scholars and secular thinkers try to draw a perspective of relations between faith and reason. In Islamic tradition, we have this issue formulated according to the patterns ‘aql (“the individual reason”) and naql (“the transmitted one”, meaning sacred texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah). Imam Abdessalam Yassine was a leading figure of the Contemporary Islamic Thought, who addressed not merely theoretical side of this problem, but wrote a clear vision of how its solution may benefit modern Islamic societies in both Muslim world and the West. How the modern Muslim culture, balancing between its Classical Age and Western Colonialism, may build its future? Is it really possible to find a compromise between all-encompassing doctrines of Islam and modern scientific world outlook? May Muslims develop into society of Islamic values, recognizing Western impact into intellectual life?
Imam Yassine –God have mecy on him– clearly states that there is “no conflict between reason and faith”, nor should there be. But the mind “becomes inconsistent with scientific knowledge when led to reckon upon issues he is not created for; when confined to all that can be grasped by its senses and (manipulated by) its tools. But when you arrange for it experimental and empirical tasks, when you guide it by adequate method, the mind then comes up with impressive results. And if you leave it transcend the threshold of its competence, it verily gets into fever of hallucination and subsequently utters mere confusion and illusion.”
Our pursuit of the Prophetic Method [al-Minhāj an-Nabawi] is a response to the urge of the individual believer to draw closer to God -Exalted is His Name- by actions dear to Him; it is also a response to the needs of a generation of believers who are eager to struggle in the way of God, in hopes and yearning for the fulfillment of His promise. If God allows this method to turn into a well-paved and distinct path embodied in Education and Organization, while we observe the conditions of Education and Organization, which include the virtues of companionship for the sake of God,