Kaduna Zonal Dawah: NASFAT Intensifies Advancement of Missionary Members, Trains 44 NASFAT Facilitators … not anyone called scholar is a scholar – Sadiat Onike

In my own case,  l started with Islamic Education Trust in 2008, when l did my module, 101.  Later became a facilitator with IET. So, l am a facilitator of IET.

We are ten in number from NASFAT who are core facilitators with IET.

So, we too are training our members to become  trainers. That is why NASFAT has put in place the, Nastrul -L-Fatih Society, NASFAT Missionary Institute, (NMI)Train -The – Trainer Course where members are taught about Islam.

During the training they are exposed to different aspects of the religion.

And this is done yearly on Zonal bases in collaboration with Islamic Education Trust.

After the training, participants are expected to step it down for others to benefit.

Answering the question as to who a scholar is in lslam? She has this to say.

“When we talk of professionalism, just as we have in other profession, so also do we have in lslam.

A scholar is that who has knowledge. For instance if you look at the medical field, we have different areas. Under children, we talk of pediatricians, skin, you talk of dermatologists, women, you talk of gynecologists, even surgery, you talk of surgeons.

The same way in lslam, we have different aspects. You talk about tafsir, you talk about knowledge of hadith fiqh.

So, we have these different areas. So for you to say you are a scholar in lslam, it is not just having a broad knowledge of all. It is picking an area, specializing in that area. That makes you a scholar.

A scholar of hadith may not be a scholar in tafsir. When you say, Muhaditun, Mufasirun. A Mufasirun is a scholar of ‘tafsir’. The science and evidences of the Quran and when you talk of Muhaditun, is a scholar of hadith.

So, when you talk about a scholar, you are talking about somebody who has lot of knowledge about a particular area of lslam. And when you look at that area, sometimes they narrow it down.

Somebody who has done masters will still take a broader level. But when you are going for PHD, you pick a smaller aspect of what you did your masters on.

So, for you to call yourself a scholar, we will say you know more and more about left and right. So, that small one you have picked, you have read, you have done a lot of research, you have done a lot of findings, you have done a lot of knowledge seeking. In that aspect, they will call you a scholar.

So when you are in that area, we say a scholar is speaking. Not just somebody who studies Islamic studies and you say you are a scholar and you are talking.

That is one of the problems we have today where people misinterpret the text because they are not scholars in those areas.

But because of the way we are giving them titles, Sheikh, Maulana, different big, big titles and they too want to act like “a-know-it-all,” and it is only Allah that knows it all.

Scholar is somebody who has done research, who has done knowledge findings about a particular area of study.

And that is what fiqh, Sharia intelligence one of the courses we are doing is trying to let our people know about.

That there is a methodology through which rulings are derived. You find out that you see different rulings, different factual, a lot of people talking on issues they don’t have deep knowledge about.

So, someone who has deep knowledge about something when that person speaks, you know, that person will represent the prophet (SAW), will represent Allah but somebody who has a shallow knowledge, when he is talking, he will just talk.

Today in the world, a lot of people are talking. So, who are the scholars, who are the professionals?

“The professionals use the right methodology. It is like a mathematics, you have an equation . The lay man will just solve the equation but a professional, like a mathematics will look at the rules. And one of the rules is “Bodmas” .

When you solve that equation using ‘Bodmas’, you will get the correct answer. But if you use other methods, do it the lay man’s way, you will get a wrong answer.

That is what we are trying to clear in essence that, we want scholars to talk. We want people to recognize the people talking and be able to know that, this one is a scholar and this one is not a scholar. Let me accept the ruling of a scholar.

It will interest you to know that NASFAT places importance in the education of its members.

To complement its Mission Statement of developing an enlightened Muslim Society that has the true understanding of the religion Islam,  it focuses on the principles of ‘HELD’. A scheme whereby the generality of its members and that of immediate society are being extended some goodwill.