This foolish Abde apologist of Dawedar Mr. Muffadul Saifuddin (DMMS) has completely ignored my argument and continued to rant on and on about how Fatimid Imams did this and that. It is of no importance what the Imams did or did not do. Not all their actions are Sunnah, to be followed or emulated. Imams also had slaves. Should we bring back slavery? As I show below, there is no Quranic justification for hunting. Rather the opposite is true. Hence, if the Fatimid Imams did something which contradicts the Quran, they are, in brief, wrong. I am reproducing my message for this DMMS foot-licker again:
TaherH21 wrote:
While I hold the Quran as absolutely supreme, it does not mean other texts are questionable. Everything Syedna al Qadi al Nauman RA wrote was verified by Imam al Muiz AS. He being infallible would not let Syedna RA write anything wrong.
Before I point out the severe flaws in the reasoning of TaherH21, I want to say that religion is the refuge of the scoundrel. It is very evident, that the reasoning by TaherH21 is a post-hoc justification for behavior what any sane person would condemn, specially when it comes from the leader of a religious group. Nothing can justify the killing of lions, elephants, water buffalo or any other endangered species by a da'i. No references to so-and-so literature, no amount of references to conservation articles. Nothing.
Now, the most significant mistake is the above statement by TaherH21. The only book that is without errors is the Qur'an. That is it. No other book, written by anyone else can be flawless or without errors. Even if Qadi Nauman wrote under the supervision of the Imam, that does not mean he did not make errors, or that his reasoning is eternal or valid for ever.
For example, in the Ikhwan as-Safa, there are long descriptions of cosmology, mathematics and other scientific fields. These were supposedly written by Imam Ahmad al-Mastuur, or under his supervision. However, the whole edifice of science in it is wrong, and so outdated that is almost irrelevant today. For example, they did not know of the existence of the outer planets, put the Earth at the center of everything, thought the stars occupied a "fixed sphere" and so on and so forth. Their idea on origins of the universe were 100% wrong.
Now, if the writers of the Ikhwan as-Safa were alive today, they would agree with me, and say that yes, we should adjust our beliefs and knowledge according to the times. Sticking to the old-fashioned Ptolemaic astronomy is to remain forever in the past. It does not behove us, who the Qur'an commands to marvel (which means explore) the wonders of Nature, to remain ignorant fools.
Now, if even the Imams and da'is got questions of physical sciences wrong, how much more likely is it that they got some questions of ethics wrong? For example, yes, it may be legal to hunt big-game like lions, but the question remains: is it ethical? We are not talking about the actions of a private individual, but of a leader, someone who should be setting an example for others. What type of example is the da'i setting, when he goes and hunts a lion or elephant for fun? I mean, what do we tell our children when we visit a zoo or a safari? That these beautiful creatures are made for pleasure of the rich and powerful da'i, to satisfy his lust, hunger and greed? At the end of the day, it is nothing but lust that makes one kill beautiful creatures.
If we look at the Qur'an, we notice the that very first thing it says is that Allah is Compassionate and Merciful. We say this phrase before everything we do. Can you imagine the da'i saying this and the very next moment using a bullet to kill a lion!?
I want to point out something which not everyone may know. The word "ar-rahman" actually encompasses both the believer and the unbeliever, and encompasses all created beings. Hence, it is translated as "Compassionate" and not "Gracious" as it should. The word "ar-rahim" includes the believers only, and hence is rendered "Merciful".
Looking deeper, what this means is that Allah extends his compassion to everyone, believers and unbelievers, animals and plants. The unbeliever is given a chance to accept the message of the prophet, and earn jaanat for himself. This is compassion for him. The animals and plants are given Allah's protection by being put under the protection of humans. These creatures are unable to respond to the linguistic message of the Qur'an and hence must be protected by others who can, that is us.
In this way, we learn that we must protect the animals and plants from wanton destruction. What this also means is that it is totally unethical for a da'i to go hunting for pleasure. There is no justification, and the da'i is doing things which will take him further from the mercy of Allah.
Some people say that the fees of hunting helps in conservation. That may be true, and perhaps a valid excuse for an ordinary private citizen. However, it does not apply to a public figure like a da'i. If the da'i is so concerned about conservation, he should just donate the money he would spend on a hunt to the conservation agency. By going on the hunt, he is showing that yes, I want to help conservation, but only if I get to satisfy my lust also. That is unacceptable behavior from a da'i. No excuses.
In short: no textual evidence can override the Compassion of Allah (Q 1:1). No da'i, no Imam no one. Compassion extends to all creatures. Hence, it behoves a da'i to control his lust and not engage in unethical things like big game hunting. He should instead go on sight-seeing safari, or donate large sums of money to conservation agencies.
Also, da'i's followers should not feel compelled to defend everything he does. Sometimes da'i can make mistakes. Don't quote or mis-quote so-and-so book and partake in his crime of killing innocent creatures. Don't be a scoundrel who takes refuge in religion.