Abdullah bin Bayah, Voice of Moderate Islam from Africa

 

Abdullah bin Bayah, Voice of Moderate Islam from Africa

Abdullah bin Bayah was born in 1935 in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a country located on the African continent. His father, Sheikh Mahfudz bin Bayah, was a prominent cleric and chairman of the Ulama union throughout Mauritania. Bin Bayyah spent his studies in Mauritania, at his own father's school. Here he studied the science of the Qur'an and its interpretation, the science of hadith, fiqh, qaidah al-fiqhiyyah, nahwu-sharaf, and so on. At the age of 24 he continued his studies in Tunisia by taking a concentration in Islamic Law and training to become a Judge.

One of bin Bayyah's most famous thoughts is Islam as a Compassion Religion (Islam as a Religion of Compassion). This concept is almost reflected in every writing of bin Bayyah in his books, articles and fatwas. This concept encouraged him to always promote peace. Bin Bayyah wanted to show that Islam is a religion that loves peace and does not want any form of violence.

One of his famous quotes is “ If I asked for people to die for the sake of God, I would have them lining up at my house. But when I ask people to live for the sake of God, I can't find anyone”, people to live in God's way, so I couldn't find anyone willing).

This word has a deep meaning that is addressed to groups that call for 'death' as ​​a fast way to heaven. On the other hand, bin Bayyah wanted to show that being 'alive' is a way of faith that can lead a person to his Lord.

His concern for peace issues can also be seen from several of his writings that criticize terrorism and care for minority issues, for example Fatwa Response to ISIS, This is not the path to paradise. He criticized the violent acts carried out by ISIS by revealing four main points that he quoted from the Koran, Hadith, the words of friends and scholars. He also offers a concept of jihad that is not just fighting and taking up arms. Jihad is obeying God's commands.

In addition to jihad, it also criticizes the use of the term Caliphate which is considered to be the only form of government that has strong legitimacy in Islam. For bin Bayyah the caliphate is not a theological problem but only one form of legal subject for legal provisions. Caliphate is just one of many ways to achieve unity between States or regions so that they can work together and complement each other.

Therefore, the caliphate system may be replaced today if it is no longer relevant. He concluded by saying, “We believe that the opportunity for justice to flourish exists when there is peace, not war. Every war must be stopped and civil war must be stopped.”

Apart from being an active writer, he is also an active member of international organizations and initiated several forums to promote peace. In 2014, bin Bayyah initiated a meeting of more than 250 Islamic scholars and thinkers. The purpose of this forum is to invite religious leaders to take responsibility for maintaining peace, namely protecting the lives of Muslims.

In his speech he conveyed, "there is no excuse for scholars and leaders not to fulfill their obligation to clarify matters and advise the Muslim world to extinguish the flames of conflict in order to stop the bloodshed and cooperate in what is right and good".

Bin Bayyah and his spirit to create peace were driven by his thoughts which always carried out reforms in Islamic law. He stated, "Renewal is fundamental in Islam, namely renewal based on the connection between religious texts, the purpose of the text and the reality of life at this time".

It was through the idea of ​​renewal that he found that, "The call to security is also a call to achieve justice, through an approach that is not unjust and closer to the principle of mercy."