Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi on Religious Instruction

Religious instruction, for Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi, has to be pursued in light of the knowledge of present circumstances. He says, “Religious admonition is offered in those matters that are in need of attention” (Khutbat-e-Hakim al-Ummat, 4: 443). He argued that through “social witnessing” (mushahada-e-halat), one senses the religious needs of a community. For Thanawi, social witnessing entailed listening to the statements and observing the activities of Muslims. This meant exposure to the many facets of social life and knowledge of the multitude of social mores and norms. However, not anyone observing a particular social scene could diagnose a community’s religious needs. Only a properly trained Sufi-‘alim, Thanawi emphasized, could diagnose the religious needs of a specific community. Religious instruction, therefore, encompassed three steps:
1. witnessing a sociality
2. identifying the religious needs of that sociality
3. proper instruction that addresses these religious needs
From this, we learn that Thanawi understood religious instruction as a gradual process in which a Sufi-‘alim participates.

Questions we may ask include:
*what is lost when ordinary Muslims are banned from participating in the diagnosis of their religious needs?
*why would Thanawi emphasize witnessing social existence when he himself often remained aloof in his spiritual center?
*how do we distinguish religious needs from other sorts of needs?