Types of Muslims: Why We Need to Reject Labels
How using labels other than "Muslim" is doing more harm than good.
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It was his first day on the job.
The new imam of the mosque had spent the last 12 years away from home studying the traditional Islamic sciences. Just 6 months after graduating he found himself responsible not only for the daily prayers but also for teaching the Quran to the community’s children.
One day after prayers, one of the regulars came up to the imam and asked him if he had a minute to talk. The man began by saying that he had found the imam to be “different from the others”. He seemed to mean it as a compliment.
The man then hit the imam with a peculiar yet all too familiar question,
“What type of Muslim are you?”
The Imam, though uncomfortable with the question, replied confidently and with a kind smile,
“I’m just a Muslim.”
You see, even though the imam disliked being asked, he knew very well that Muslims have been obsessed with these types of questions for a long time. Asking someone what type of Muslim they are was up there with unsolicited advice on the proper way to pray and how long one’s trousers should be.
Unsatisfied with the Imam’s answer the man continued,
“But imam! You must follow a group, right?”
Why is it so difficult to just say “I am a Muslim”?
It is probably safe to say that most Muslims label themselves with something in addition to being a Muslim. We do not seem to be satisfied with being called a “Muslim” only. We add “Sufi”, “Salafi”, “Barelvi”, “Tablighi”, and so forth.
We feel the need to give ourselves some sort of description to feel good. One of the reasons -- if not the main reason -- why we feel the need to add labels is that we are insecure about our relationship with the Quran and with the Sunnah.
The labels offer a layer of feigned legitimacy for our immature understanding of the Texts. We wear these labels as a way to fast-track our claim to knowledge. They are a way of proving our credentials as Muslims (almost always to other Muslims) because we are insecure about our own religious identity.
“Only me and my sheikh are going to Jannah!”. This is a disease of the heart. We only do it to feel good or authentic. We do not seem to care or even recognise the damage this is doing to the Ummah.
Regardless of the reasons why we do this, it ultimately comes down to one thing: We want to think we are the only ones with the truth and all others are on falsehood.
To put it another way, human beings need to feel a sense of belonging so we pick “teams”. Some do it with sports, becoming fanatical about their chosen team. Muslims do it with groups and sects.
People pick their teams because they grew up in a certain town or because they were influenced by the people around them. Muslims pick groups in much the same way. We associate with a group and know no better.
Fans will readily express their deep-seated hate for the opposite team and will even attack rival fans. This is regardless of how arbitrarily they found themselves with their respective teams. In much the same way Muslims are all too ready to hate each other over invented differences of ideology.
This is all despite the numerous warnings from Allah, the Creator and Sustainer of us all, and from His Messenger, the Mercy for all mankind. It is particularly dangerous because it is toxic human behaviour painted with an Islamic brush.
The comparison with sports fans is not an analogy. It is literal. We are talking about human behaviour which takes many forms depending on the context. Think about the following:
Sports fans wear team colours -- “Islamic” clothes vary depending on the group.
People usually support the team from their hometown -- Muslims usually follow the group in their geo-ethnic area.
Sports fans sing team anthems -- “Islamic” songs vary depending on the group.
Attachment to a team often breeds fanaticism and violence -- ...do we need to say more?
These are all ways we identify with a group. There is something in our genetic makeup that drives us towards division. Does Islam encourage this or does it condemn it?
The Islamic Identity
Everyone has their version of how we should label ourselves. What does Allah and His Messenger tell us regarding this?
O you who believe, fear Allah, as He should be feared, and let not yourself die save as Muslims.
Quran 3:102
In this ayah of the Quran Allah is addressing the Muslims. There is no distinction being made here about any group.
If you died feeling "I'm Salafi" or "I'm Sunni" then you added that. Should you die feeling you are a Muslim then this is Allah’s word.
Often the arguments are a result of seeing the other. First and foremost you are Muslim. Allah says in the very next ayah,
Hold fast, all of you, to the rope of Allah, and be not divided. Remember the blessing of Allah upon you: When you were enemies to each other, and He brought your hearts together, so that, you became brothers through His blessing. You were at the brink of a pit of Fire, then He saved you from it. This is how Allah makes His signs clear to you, so that you may take the right path.
Quran 3:103
A clear and direct command to not be divided! Allah describes how He brought us together. This should shake the heart of every Muslim at its very core.
Notice how Allah says it is our hearts that were brought together. This is because the unity of the Muslims must come from a place of love for each other. Allah tells us we became brothers through His blessing.
If you think you are authentic and are happier with that which divides us and with labels then there is something wrong in the heart.
Is it not a despicable breach of this command and blessing from Allah when we keep doing things that divide us? Are we not running back to the "pit of Fire"?
It is time to take the right path. Allah named us Muslims (Quran 22:78), it is time to let this suffice.
We cannot fully internalise the spirit of Islam until we feel secure in our understanding of the Texts as a whole. This can only be achieved with a serious and lifelong commitment to Allah's commands -- not the pressures of society.
The Harms of Labelling Ourselves
“It is sad that [our] sense of identity... often comes from a process of 'othering'. I am me because I am NOT YOU. We have totally discarded the reality of Bani Adam and fanatically embraced Bani XYZ.”
Sheikh Omar Baloch
Another big reason why we create labels is that we self identify based on what we are not rather than what we are. We label the "other" as we perceive them to be.
"Those Sufis do some weird things!"
"Those Salafis believe in that!?"
What is the real need to know someone's madhab or group? It comes back to insecurity. We use our judgement of them to prove to ourselves, and others, how we are not like them. To prove we are "true believers" committed to the "cause".
Our perceptions of the other often emerge as a result of some age-old arguments that bear no actual relevance to being a Muslim. They are ideas that were formulated over time as an answer to a useless debate. Those ideas become part of the identity -- and we do it without even realising.
Example 1. Many Salafis accuse Sufis of going to extremes in venerating the Prophet. This leads many Sufis to believe that the Salafis do not love and respect the Prophet. One accusation in response to another.
Example 2. A self-identifying Barelvi was told all his life not to pray at the so-called Deobandi mosque because they supposedly do strange practices there. He goes in one day out of curiosity and discovers to his amazement that they are simply praying as normal.
Arguments like these go on for centuries, with new generations writing and teaching the "answers" to these accusations. A vicious cycle that has caused much more severe issues for the Ummah.
Everyone forgets how the hate began and believe that this is what it means to be a true Muslim: don't be like them. What came first; the halal chicken or the egg?
We are not saying Muslims should be a monolith. These differences are a reality that we have to live with. But we will always be Muslims. We must learn to love each other regardless of individual differences.
Can we find anything positive about labels? Here are some facts about Muslim denominations:
Sectarian divisions have a long and complex history.
Divisions among Muslims are always surrounded by controversy, often leading to conflict.
Denominations amongst Muslims have always been used by rulers for political motives.
Muslims repeatedly call for unity but our actions perpetuate division.
The major divisions amongst Muslims happened around a thousand years ago.
We argue about the same issues while our enemies benefit from our disunity.
Taking Action
This is not a call for rejecting legitimate legal schools of thought. The vast majority of Muslims need to adhere to some form of jurisprudential guidance when it comes to religious obligations such as prayer.
But this does not justify fanaticism. We must follow scholarship in so far as we need it to fulfil our religious duties. We need the wisdom of knowledgeable scholars to learn how to please Allah in our worship -- not to attack each other, win debates and make ourselves feel authoritative by making others feel low.
Studying and practising Islam should enlighten us and HUMBLE US. This is regardless of whether you follow one of the four madhabs or not. It should make us better people, not worse. As someone wisely said,
“Don’t call yourself a Hanafi. Say ‘I wish I was a Hanafi,’...it is not such a simple thing to claim!”
Those labels are scholastic terms, they are not for everyone. The scholars use them for technical use. We are using them without the right to attack each other unjustly.
In a hadith about the challenges of the end times, a companion asked the Prophet what to do. The Prophet instructed him to stick with the jama`ah of the Muslims and their imam. The companion asked what he should do if there was no jama`ah or imam. The Prophet said,
"Then turn away from all those sects even if you were to bite the roots of a tree till death overtakes you while you are in that state."
Sahih al-Bukhari
To summarise:
Do not label others and do not label yourselves.
Call yourself a Muslim first and last.
Embody love and peace towards your fellow Muslim.
Who can be better in words than the one who calls towards Allah, and acts righteously and says, “I am one of the Muslims”?
Quran 41:33
Do you agree or disagree?
This came at a perfect time. Been Muslim for exactly a year, I haven't yet "chosen" a madhab and don't feel like I ever will.
I really hate it when people call themselves Hanafis, Malikis, Hanbalis or Shafis because these labels make it all seem like they're not Muslim.
It also might come from me hating group sports so maybe I'm just against picking teams 😅🤷♂️