Causes of Deviation from Authentic Creed
⚠️ Causes of Deviation from Authentic Creed — أسباب الانحراف
"Knowing evil protects you from it. The traveler who knows the traps on the path is the one who reaches his destination."
📖 Prologue: The Traps on the Path
🛤️ THE PATH AND ITS DETOURS
The Prophet ﷺ once drew a straight line on the ground, then drew lines on either side of it.
He said, pointing to the middle line:
"هَذَا سَبِيلُ اللَّهِ" — "This is the path of Allah."
Then, pointing to the side lines:
"وَهَذِهِ السُّبُلُ، عَلَى كُلِّ سَبِيلٍ مِنْهَا شَيْطَانٌ يَدْعُو إِلَيْهِ"
"And these are the paths. On each path, there is a devil calling to it."
(Reported by Ahmad, authenticated by Al-Albani)
Allah ﷻ says:
﴿وَأَنَّ هَٰذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ ۖ وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ﴾
"And this is My path, which is straight, so follow it; and do not follow other ways, for you will be separated from His way." [Al-An'ām: 153]
Knowing the causes of deviation = Protecting your faith.
1️⃣ Ignorance (الجهل) — The Mother of All Deviations
🚨 Danger #1
📕 THE PROPHECY OF THE PROPHET ﷺ
The Prophet ﷺ warned of a dark future:
"إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ انْتِزَاعًا يَنْتَزِعُهُ مِنَ الْعِبَادِ، وَلَكِنْ يَقْبِضُ الْعِلْمَ بِقَبْضِ الْعُلَمَاءِ، حَتَّى إِذَا لَمْ يُبْقِ عَالِمٌ، اتَّخَذَ النَّاسُ رُؤُوسًا جُهَّالًا، فَسُئِلُوا فَأَفْتَوْا بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ، فَضَلُّوا وَأَضَلُّوا"
"Indeed, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the servants, but He takes away knowledge by taking away the scholars. Until, when no scholar remains, people take ignorant leaders. They are asked and give verdicts without knowledge, so they go astray and lead others astray."
(Sahih Bukhari 100, Sahih Muslim 2673)
This is the catastrophic scenario: the blind leading the blind.
📊 Two Types of Ignorance
| Type | Definition | Danger |
|---|---|---|
| 🟡 Simple ignorance | Knowing that you don't know | ⚠️ Can be cured by learning |
| 🔴 Compound ignorance | Believing you know when you don't | 💥 The most dangerous! You refuse to learn |
💊 The Remedy
- 📚 Seek authentic religious knowledge
- 👨🏫 Return to righteous scholars
- 🪷 Humility and acknowledging one's ignorance
2️⃣ Second: Following Desires
Meaning
Giving precedence to the soul's desires over Allah's and His Messenger's commands.
Proofs
"Have you seen he who has taken as his god his own desire, and Allah has sent him astray due to knowledge and has set a seal upon his hearing and his heart and put over his vision a veil?" (Al-Jathiya 45:23)
"And do not follow desire, for it will lead you astray from the way of Allah." (Sad 38:26)
Manifestations of following desires
- Rejecting texts with reason or taste
- Interpreting texts to match desires
- Picking from religion what suits
- Abandoning the truth because it contradicts customs
The remedy
Omar ibn al-Khattab رضي الله عنه said:
"Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable."
3️⃣ Third: Blind Imitation
Meaning
Following ancestors and scholars without proof or insight.
Proofs
"And when it is said to them: 'Follow what Allah has revealed,' they say: 'Rather, we will follow that upon which we found our fathers.' Even though their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided?" (Al-Baqara 2:170)
"We found our fathers upon a religion, and we are following in their footsteps." (Az-Zukhruf 43:23)
Types of imitation
| Type | Ruling |
|---|---|
| Imitating a scholar in what one doesn't know | Permissible |
| Imitating without proof while able to know | Blameworthy |
| Imitating in contradiction to explicit text | Forbidden |
The remedy
- Asking for proof
- Not being fanatical toward individuals
- The truth is more worthy of being followed
4️⃣ Fourth: Extremism
Meaning
Exceeding the limits in religion, whether through excess of strictness or laxity.
Proofs
"O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion and do not say about Allah except the truth." (An-Nisa 4:171)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Beware of extremism in religion! For what destroyed those before you was extremism in religion."
(Sahih Ibn Majah, authenticated by Al-Albani)
Examples of extremism
- Exaggeration toward the righteous until worshipping them
- Excommunicating (takfir) without right
- Forbidding without proof
- Excessive strictness in worship beyond one's capacity
The remedy
- Moderation and balance
- Knowledge before action
- Gentleness and ease
5️⃣ Fifth: Doubts (Shubuhât)
Meaning
Deceptive ideas thrown at a person that make him doubt his religion.
Proofs
"As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they follow that which is ambiguous, seeking discord." (Al Imran 3:7)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Indeed, the lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear. Between them are ambiguous matters."
(Sahih Bukhari 52, Sahih Muslim 1599)
Sources of doubts
- Western philosophies
- Blameworthy theology (Ilm al-Kalam)
- Misleading media
- Internet without controls
The remedy
- Returning to the scholars
- Not delving into what one doesn't master
- Submitting to the texts
6️⃣ Sixth: Carnal Desires (Shahawât)
Meaning
Following forbidden pleasures and desires.
Proof
"Then there came after them successors who neglected prayer and pursued desires; so they are going to meet evil." (Maryam 19:59)
How do desires affect creed?
- Desire blinds discernment
- It weakens faith
- It makes a person justify himself
- It distances from knowledge and scholars
The remedy
- Striving against the soul
- Good companionship
- Remembering the Hereafter
Seventh: Influence of Foreign Philosophies
Meaning
Importing ideas contrary to Islam from other cultures.
Historical examples
- The Mu'tazilites: Influenced by Greek philosophy
- Philosophical Sufism: Influenced by Neoplatonism
- Contemporaries: Influenced by secularism and liberalism
Proof
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"You will certainly follow the ways of those who came before you, handspan by handspan, cubit by cubit."
(Sahih Bukhari 3456, Sahih Muslim 2669)
The remedy
- Pride in Islamic identity
- Studying Islam before anything else
- Constructive criticism of imported ideas
Eighth: Bad Company
Meaning
Deviant companionship affects creed and behavior.
Proofs
"The Day the wrongdoer will bite on his hands saying: 'Oh, I wish I had taken with the Messenger a way. Oh, woe to me! I wish I had not taken that one as a friend. He led me away from the Reminder after it had come to me.'" (Al-Furqan 25:27-29)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"A man is upon the religion of his close friend, so let each one of you look at whom he befriends."
(Authenticated by Al-Albani)
The remedy
- Choosing good companionship
- Staying away from gatherings of falsehood
- Inviting friends with wisdom
Ninth: Turning Away from Allah's Remembrance
Meaning
Abandoning the Quran, dhikr, and worship.
Proofs
"And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind." (Ta-Ha 20:124)
"They forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves." (Al-Hashr 59:19)
The remedy
- Persevering in reading the Quran
- Remembering Allah in all circumstances
- Praying on time
💎 Sayings of the Scholars
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله
"The origin of every tribulation is from giving priority to opinion over the Law, and to passion over reason."
Imam Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله
"Doubts and desires are the armies of Iblis, by which he misleads the servants."
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymin رحمه الله
"Among the causes of deviation: extremism and laxity, and both are blameworthy."
Prevention against deviation
- Authentic religious knowledge
- Good companionship
- Perseverance in acts of obedience
- Supplication for steadfastness
- Beware of doubts and desires
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"O Turner of hearts, make my heart firm upon Your religion."
(Sahih Tirmidhi, authenticated by Al-Albani)
Supplication
O Allah, Turner of hearts, make our hearts firm upon Your religion.
O Allah, show us the truth as truth and grant us to follow it, and show us falsehood as falsehood and grant us to avoid it.
وَقُل رَّبِّ زِدْنِي عِلْمًا. 📖