Halal TubeCommonly Misunderstood Verses of the Quran
Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq
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salam
the knowledge of this teacher is a blessing from ALLAH
may we all benifit from it inshALLAH.
ameen
دابة العنكبوت تكشف عن موقع سفينة نوح علية السلام من القران الكريم وهي حاليا موجودة في حضرموت.شبوة. اليمن ادخلshipnoah.com Noah’s Ark Hadramout Yemen. سفينة نوح علية السلام MUST WATCH!!!shipnoah.com
This explication of the hadith “Every child is born upon Fitrah” makes complete sense, and I am sure everyone would agree with that. Does that then mean that saying “revert” rather than “convert” (to Islam) has no basis?
Assalamualaikum
Revert does hv basis coz after being born on fitrah the parents changed the child into other ways of life awawy from fitrah so when he/she realizes reverts back to initial fitrah which is islam.
Wa3laikum assalaam Abdullatif,
Did you watch the video? In case you didn’t hear what Sheikh Riyadh ul Haq said near the beginning of this this video:
“Commonly, this hadith is used to prove that all people are born in the state of Islam, as Muslims, and therefore all children remain Muslims… That’s incorrect. This hadith doesn’t mean that every child is born a Muslim… The correct understanding of this hadith is that every child is born upon nature. And the natural state of every human being is one of clarity, purity; of being in a pristine form; of being unpolluted, unadulterated by external factors. And that natural state is conducive to a person embracing Islam. That natural state is one in which a person is inclined to the beauty and the truth of Islam, but not exactly a Muslim. As that child grows up, the external factors influence that child’s nature. If the external influence is corrosive and corruptive, then that purity would be affected, and the person would be disinclined to Islam… and thus they will become followers of other faiths or of no faith.”
To summarize: Fitrah means “the pristine, natural state of a human being that is conducive to belief in Islam”; it does not mean “Islam”. To revert means to return to a previous state, condition, or practice, and Muslims generally understand it to mean “reverting to Islam”, based on the hadith under question. However, since fitrah does not mean Islam, we can hardly call someone who decides to be a Muslim later in life a “revert”. Maybe you can argue that those people are reverting to that natural state (which I don’t know if you really can), but why not just call them “Muslims”? I decided to become a Muslim last year, but I just tell people that I am a Muslim, without any qualifiers (e.g. “revert” Muslim), and I think that is more correct. Most of the Sahaba converted to Islam from other faiths (or no faith)… Did they call themselves “reverts”? No… They just called themselves Muslims, plain and simple.
In my opinion, you are completely right brother Suan 🙂 You explained yourself clearly and backed up your point with logical reasoning… I always felt like there was something rather awkward with the “100% pure Muslim at birth” thing, but never figured out exactly WHY those “equations” didn’t relate properly in my head…
There’s Purity which is one thing (let’s say a state), and there’s Islam which is another thing (a way of living), there’s Spirituality also (a mindset) and there is corrosion/corruption which is another thing (a process, i would say). I don’t think a baby can have a “way” of living at birth since he/she is just born, although he/she may actually be worshipping Allah in some other form – and Allah knows the best.
By Allah’s Grace, you just gave me the clearest of all answers. May Allah bless you and Guide you always! 🙂
…And Allah guides whom He wills to a Straight Path. [2:213]
Very well said brother Suan.
All respects to Dr. Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq…may Allah grant him al jannah and to all of us with him. allahouma salli 3la Mohammad wa ala sahbihi ajma3ine. wasalamou alaikoum wa rahmatou allah.
[…] post is basically an expansion of a comment I made here as a response to Sheikh Abu Yusuf Riyadh ul Haq’s lecture “Commonly Misunderstood […]