QUESTION:
Who am I supposed to believe? Doubt began to seep into my heart and I am beginning to doubt the values of this religion. How can I not when everyone curses everyone. Is this Islam?
ANSWER:
In the Name of Allah, the All-Beneficent, the All-Merciful.
May Allah bless Muhammad and his Family and damn their enemies.
The conflict between sects is not as it was in the past. Thank Allah that the sects of this nation only curse each other; in the past, they killed each other in civil wars, such as al-Jamal, Siffin, NahrawAn, and the wars that followed!
Does this conflict present a horrific picture? Yes, it does. However, this is the eternal struggle between truth and falsehood, good and evil, and honesty and hypocrisy. It is the will of the Wise, the Most High, Glorified and Exalted is He, as He granted humans freedom of choice, to test them.
All you have to do is search for the truth and decide, based on evidence and proof, which sect is on the right path.
Imagine as if you were living at the time when the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) faced A’isha, Talha, and al-Zubayr – with whom would you have stood and fought?
If you had said, “I stay neutral”, it would be said to you: This is contrary to the ruling of the Qur’an, as Allah has said
And if two factions among the believers should fight, then make settlement between the two. But if one of them oppresses the other, then fight against the one that oppresses until it returns to the ordinance of Allah.
49:9
Afterwards, you would have to search whether the truth is with Ali, as the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) has stated, or that the truth is with A’isha?
Your search will take you to Ali (peace be upon him). Be brave then, and do not say, “How do I fight the Prophet’s wife and his two companions?! And how are they upon falsehood?!”
Stand with the truth wherever it was.
A man came to the Imam, the Commander of the Believers (peace be upon him), before the Battle of Jamal and said to him:
O’ Commander of the Believers, I see that Talha, al-Zubayr, and A’isha have gathered for a righteous cause!’ So he (peace be upon him) said to him: “You have been possessed by confusion! Verily, truth and falsehood are not known through people, rather, know the truth by following those who follow it and [know] falsehood by avoiding those who have avoided it [the truth]
Nahj-us-Sa’ada fi Mustadrak Nahj-il-Balagha, vol. 1, p. 298.
So make it a basis for your search for the truth, and you will reach it, Allah willing. Do not be repulsed by the conflicts taking place between the sects, let your aim be the search for the truth; know its people, and you will never doubt your belief.
The Office of Sheikh al-Habib