The Dilemma
“You need to be open minded,” we are both told and tell others. This has become the common line to say to anyone who disagrees with our opinions. It is obvious that if someone doesn’t share our own views then they must be narrow-minded, right?
“Be careful of having an open mind, you don’t know what you could let in,” said the notice on the bulletin board at a very conservative Masjid. Does this mean having an open mind is a bad thing?
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Who defines what is open minded and what is not? Who decides when it is good to be open minded and when it is not? And who came up with the above saying anyway?
Qur’anic Guidance
As with any other issue, we as Muslims need to look at the guidance of Allah and his messenger (peace be upon him) and not answer the above questions according to our own ideas. There is no doubt that the Qur’an encourages thinking as mentioned in the following verses:
“Do you not think?” (Surah Saffaat 37:138)
“Do they not reflect?” (Surah Al-Ar’aaf 7:184)
“And when they are told to follow what Allah has revealed, they respond, ‘no, we will follow what we found our forefathers doing.’ Even though their forefathers did not understand nor were they guided,” (Surah Baqara 2:170)
“And when they are told ‘come towards what Allah has revealed and to his messenger.’ They reply, ‘No, what our forefathers did is enough for us,’ Even though their forefathers did not know anything nor were rightly guided,” (Surah Maa’ida 5:104)
“Indeed in that are signs for people who ponder,” (Surah An-Jaathiyaat 45:13)
At the same time, the Qur’an makes it quite clear that Allah and his messenger need to be obeyed at all times and there is no room for opposing the Qur’an and Sunnah based on our own logic, as is clear in the following verses:
“Oh you who believe, obey Allah and his messenger and the people of authority from you, and if you dispute in any matter then refer it to Allah and his messenger, if you truly believe in Allah and the Last Day…” (Surah Nisaa 4:59)
“It is not befitting a believing man or woman, when Allah and His messenger decree a matter that they have any say in it, and whoever disobeys Allah and His messenger has gone far astray,” (Surah Al-Ahzaab 33:36)
“Whatever the messenger gives you, take it and whatever he prohibits you from, stay away from it…” (Surah Al-Hashr 59:7)
The first set of verses promote thinking while the second set promote following, thus showing that the Islamic understanding is a balance between knowing which issues we should consider different views on and which issues are rigid and fix.
The Limits
Unfortunately today, being open minded is very loosely defined and is used to attack anyone who doesn’t see or consider our viewpoints, even if our viewpoints are flawed or deviant. Based on the above verses, we can define the Islamic limits of keeping an open mind as follows:
1) We should have an open mind towards anything which is not related to the religion.
If it is a discussion of some worldly subject which doesn’t oppose any of the teachings of Islam, then there is nothing wrong in discussing and considering it. This may seem obvious to some but there still exists a group of Muslims who regard studying worldly sciences like medicine, psychology and biology as Haraam. The general principle in Islam, regarding things of this world, is that everything is Halal until proven Haraam so that applies to studying this world as well.
2) There is no room for differences in issues explicitly stated in the Qur’an and Sunnah and agreed upon by Islamic scholarship.
There are things which are implied or understood from the Qur’an and Sunnah and then there are things which are explicitly stated and agreed upon. While the former are the area in which differences are acceptable, the latter are areas in which we should submit wholeheartedly.
These days the term Ijma (consensus) is thrown about too easily by different groups to win their arguments and often quoted on issues which don’t have consensus. Nonetheless, on the actual few issues which do have consensus there is no room for difference of opinion, and being rigid on these issues is not being narrow-minded, it is being Muslim (submissive to Allah).
3) Keep an open mind when dealing with legitimate differences of opinion
Keyword here is legitimate because the reality is that in today’s world, everything seems to be subject to a difference of opinion. A legit difference of opinion is one that either existed among the early scholars (if it is an old issue) or an issue in which contemporary Mujtahids differ (if it is a new issue). In such issues, it is important for Muslims to have an open mind and consider different opinions, without forcing their views upon others.
Conclusion
Modern culture is all about freedom to do as one pleases and accepting everything as open to discussion. Muslims, however, should realize that our religion is one of Uboodiyah (servitude) and Islam (submission) to the Creator of the Heavens and earth, and considering viewpoints that go against His explicit commands is not acceptable, even if people call us narrow-minded for doing so.
Announcements2 weeks ago
Zabih
November 23, 2012 at 3:35 PM
Is the principle general, regarding everything is permissible unless proven haram? I was told that, that is the case in Muaamalaat, and in Ibadaat everything is impermissible unless proven permissible.
Please clarify JazakAllah Khayr wa BarakAllahu Feek
M
November 23, 2012 at 4:03 PM
^ I had the same thought while reading the article- I think this particular sentence might need to be clarified so people don’t take it out of its context or misapply it (“The general principle in Islam is that everything is Halal until proven Haraam so that applies to studying this world as well.”), since the opposite is true when it comes to acts of worship. wAllahu a3lam.
jazaakAllahu khayr for writing the article; I think it’s a unique and very important topic!
Ismail Kamdar
November 24, 2012 at 2:35 AM
You are both correct about this, I thought I had written it that way. Anyway, it has been corrected now.
Jazakallah Khair for the feedback.
Yasmin
November 23, 2012 at 3:53 PM
Jazakallah khair for this great post!
amel
November 23, 2012 at 4:56 PM
This reminded me of one of my acquaintance who use to say “Beware! Don’t be so open minded that your brains fall off!”
ahsan arshad
November 23, 2012 at 8:32 PM
“And who came up with the above saying anyway?” lol that remains unanswered…
Muslims use such stereotypes for other muslims (rigid, extreme) when they do not understand an issue. One must try to understand the roots of rigidity and extremism in order to fight and such statements “you need to be open minded” are no good
June
November 23, 2012 at 10:05 PM
Assalamu alaykum,
Nice article. Concise and poignant. I will keep in mind: “being rigid on these issues is not being narrow-minded, it is being Muslim” I like the way you said that.
Jeffery
November 24, 2012 at 4:14 PM
I think this was a very good article. We are reminded that there is no open minded discussion about what is reveled in the Quran or what is demonstrated by our Prophet (peace be upon him) through his Sunnah.
Muna Bushra
November 24, 2012 at 4:39 PM
This was really refreshing to read, great article.
Gibran
November 24, 2012 at 11:57 PM
Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh
This article seems to be balanced between two extremes. We cannot be too open minded and we cannot be too close minded.
There is a fine line.
JazzakAllahu khairan.
Samina
November 26, 2012 at 8:33 PM
Nice article qnd a good reminder. Perhaps, an anecdote or two would make it even more interesting.
Tayra
November 5, 2015 at 11:07 AM
Assalamu alaikum,
This post is very good. But, I’m so sad for Muslim world of today. I think this age is a dark age of Islam society. We are very close to what Christians used to be in medieval age. Science was forbidden. At the same time, while Christians were closed-minded Muslims were great scientists, artists, etc. It is opposite now. Actually, the atheists are scientists mostly. Allah commanded us to study and to think a lot. We would never understand Quran’s miracles of science if there were not some scientific discoveries.
Hidayah
November 3, 2016 at 3:25 AM
What is youe opinion regarding lgbt issues? I know that it is haram but we cant just point that to them, “you are going to hell for this” i think we cant just assume/ judge them just like that. Maybe there is something happened before that might have been the trigger. People just dont change/ be. Or what about if a girl said that i like her, im in love with her. This is a matter of feelings. Yes this happen bcs of the act of satan but I dont know. A lecture of mine once said,”life is a journey there are times you might go astray but sooner or later you will feel that this is the wrong i must find the real path”. Im scared thst if im being to open minded regardingon matter like this…