QUESTION: You have mentioned that some people have misunderstandings and
misconceptions in their beliefs. How might these have crept into people’s beliefs?


ANSWER: misunderstandings and misconceptions can creep in for many different
reasons.
We will take a bit of time over the next few postings to discuss some of these
reasons. 1
1) LACK OF KNOWLEDGE:
Islam teaches that many people simply do not know about what Islamic beliefs are.
This might be because their parents did not tell them – and this is sadly the case
with many Muslims and non Muslims around the world today – or it may be because
people actually choose not to look into Islam and find out what it teaches and
encourages.
It is certainly true that many people wander through life with their own set of ideas
about what life is all about, without ever stopping to think ‘Is this right? Does it
make any sense at all? Should I look into what other people think in case they have
something better than me?’
Yet Islam teaches that people must think about all the things they see and hear
around them. Many verses in the Quran praise ‘the people who reflect and think’.
2) STICKING TO WHAT THE PARENTS OR FOREFATHERS WERE UPON.

In Arabic, this is called ‘ta’assub’.
You will find people who will not let go of what their parents followed, despite their
brain and their hearts telling them that it is incorrect. ‘My family do it this way, so I
will do it the same way.’
This kind of thinking is criticised severely in the Quran. Allah says:
When it is said to them "Follow what Allah has sent down!" - then they
reply
"No! We will follow what we found our fathers following."
(Would they do that) even though their fathers did not understand
anything, nor

were they rightly guided?
Surah Al Baqarah (2) ayah 170
Ta’assub is seen amongst the Muslims as well as the non Muslims.
Allah mentions in this ayah that ta’assub cannot be used as an excuse for turning
away from something true in favour of something false, simply because a person’s
ancestors used to do things a certain way.
NEXT TIME:
We will mention the concepts of
1) taqleed (which means blind following of people) and
2) ghuloo (which refers to exaggerating the status of people until they are taken as
gods in and of themselves