Question and Answer

QUESTION AND ANSWER after affirming the declaration of faith, continues to circumambulate graves, why does this act not prevent his Islam, and why is such a person not considered a polytheist? 8. In your literature and books, I have not seen as much emphasis on grave-worship and other aspects of shirk as is placed by those who describe themselves as “tawhid-oriented.” What is the reason for this difference, when you too oppose shirk— indeed, strongly oppose it? (Mr Abdul Latif, Karachi, Pakistan) Answer The evil of disagreement found among present-day Muslims is not due to the fact that Muslim groups are working on something other than monotheism. The real cause of disagreement is one, and that is extremism. Contemporary Muslim groups have adopted, in one form or another, an extremist approach. Some are caught in extremism in matters of belief, some in political extremism, some in legalistic extremism, some in sectarian extremism, and others in different forms of extremism. It is this extremism that is the root cause of present conflicts. In the Quran and Hadith, extremism is described as ghulu. The Prophet  said: “Beware of excess in religion, for those before you were destroyed