How can the Imam fulfill his responsibility of being murabbi to his community as his voice continues to fade in this digital age? What transformations and adaptations will he have to make to reclaim the authority and influence that he historically enjoyed over the centuries? Historically, the ulama were at the center of the creation of culture within the Muslim community. They were the trendsetters. This is no longer the case. The various sciences used to be the domain of the ulama. Traditionally, memorization of the Qur'an and the hadeeth was a basic prerequisite for pursuing a career in the natural and social sciences. This led to ulama who were also doctors, engineers and philosophers. It was these kinds of people who interpreted the world for the Muslim masses based on the principles of the Qur'an and the Sunnah.

The Muslim world has succumbed to the separation of science and religion so diligently followed in the secular West. As a consequence, on the one hand, we have Muslim doctors, scientists, and engineers that are ignorant in the basic prerequisite knowledge of the Qur'an and Sunnah. On the other hand, we have ulama that are divorced from expertise in the social and the natural sciences. This has created a seemingly unbridgeable rift within the Muslim ummah between those who have been educated in the secular schools and those educated in the traditional madrasahs. Neither understands the other and all are unable to provide that comprehensive and holistic guidance that was the legacy of the ulama of old. Few Muslim scholars exist in the ummah that are proficient in both the religious studies and the sciences.

Additionally, there has been a slow and steady brain drain from the madrasahs over the centuries. Due to the tremendous career opportunities available for those graduating from secular institutions as opposed to those graduating from madrasahs, Muslims have tended to enroll their smartest and their brightest in secular schools. As a matter of fact, schooling in a madrasah is a last option for many Muslims and is usually considered for those who have failed the secular educational system. This has created a concentration of critical thinkers in the secular camp and a vacuum of critical thinkers amongst the ulama.

የ "ታሪካችን" ተራኪዎች

ኢስላም በአረቢያ ምድር በ7ኛው መቶ ክ/ዘመን መሰበክ በጀመረ ማግስት ከተከሰቱ አበይት ታሪካዊ ክስተቶች መካከል አንዱ የነብዩ ሙሀመድ (ሱ.ዐ.ወ) ቀደምት ተከታዮች በመካ ቁረይሾች ከሚደርስባቸው ግፍና መከራ ሸሽተው ወደ ሐበሻ በስደት መምጣታቸውና በወቅቱ  የአክሱም ንጉስ ጥገኝነት ማግኘታቸው ይጠቀሳል። ይህ ክስተት አገራችን በኢስላም ታሪክና በሙስሊሙ ዓለም የመጀመሪዋ የስደት አገር (ዳሩል ሒጅረተል ዑላ) ተብላ ለመጠራቷ ምክንያት የሆነ ታሪካዊ ክስተት ነው።

ከሒጅራ ጋር ተያይዘው በሚጠቀሱ ታሪካዊ ሁኔቶችና እውነቶች ዙሪያ በሙስሊም የሃይማኖትም ሆነ የታሪክ ምሁራን ዘንድ ከሞላ ጎደል ውዝግብ የለም። ያም ሆኖ የኢትዮጵያን ታሪክ የፃፉ የአገር ዉስጥና የዉጭ ምሁራን፤ በተለይም ተያይዞ በሚነሳው የነጃሺ (በአረብኛ ስሙ አስሃማ) እስልምናን መቀበል ጉዳይ ላይ የሚያንጸባርቁት አቋም የውዝግብ ምንጭ ሆኖ ቆይቷል።

ለመሆኑ ግን የ7ኛው መቶ ክ/ዘመን የኢትዮጵያዊያን ታሪክ የፃፉ የውጭ አገር እና የአገራችንም ምሁራን በነጃሺ የመስለም ወይ አለመስለም ጉዳይ ላይ አቋም ይዘው የሚሟገቱት በምን መሠረት ላይ ቆመው ነው? ስለ 7ኛው መቶ ክ/ዘመን የኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ ያላቸው መረጃና ግንዛቤስ ምንድን ነው? የነብዩን ተከታዮች ተቀብሎ ያስተናገደው ክርስቲያን ንጉስ ኋላ ላይ እስልምናን ስለመቀበሉ የተጻፈውን ታሪክ ለማረጋገጥ የሚያነሷቸው መከራከሪያ ነጥቦች ምንድን ናቸው? የሚያቀርቡት ማስረጃስ ምንድን ነው? በዚህ ጽሑፌ ከዚህ በላይ ላነሳኋቸው ጥያቄዎች መልስ በመሻት ባደርግሁት ዳሰሳ ላይ ተመስርቸ በር ዕሰ ጉዳዩ ዙሪያ ጥቂት፣ ነገር ግን በጣም ቁልፍ የምላቸውን ቁም ነገሮችን ለማካፈል እሞክራለሁኝ። ሙሉ ጽሁፉን እዚህ በመጫን ያንብቡ (ፒዲፍ/pdf)