turning aside in disdain: when invited they find it beneath them, when admonished they mock, when questioned they deal harshly, and when they question they impose hardship. They have splintered the religion and become factions, hurling abusive labels at one another, trading accusations of unbelief, rallying around sectarian slogans, and supporting one another in following whims—so Islam has once again become a stranger, just as it began. What wonder, then, at swords being unsheathed, fear becoming all-encompassing, and wealth and lives diminishing? What can we expect, after ever increasing in waywardness, but an ever increasing affliction—until Allah judges between us as He wills, for He is the best of judges.

In earlier times the seeker of knowledge would listen in order to understand, learn in order to act, and study Allah’s religion so that he might benefit himself and benefit others. Today, however, the student listens merely to accumulate, accumulates merely to recite, and memorizes so that he may out-argue and boast. Debaters in jurisprudence once disputed over weighty, practical matters—clear rulings that people actually needed—so that Allah would benefit both speaker and listener. Now most disputation concerns what is minute and obscure, matters that will never occur, and questions that have