Kasancewa "malamin al'ada" (mai bin tafarkin al'ada) a matsayin Musulmi kalma ce ta martani. An kirkiri kalmar ne domin a iya bambance tsakanin ta da "Musulmi na zamani" da "Musulmi mai gyara." Abin da ya bambanta malamin al'ada shi ne girmama hankalin Musulmai na baya da kuma shakku game da ingancin tunanin cewa zamani ya fi komai daraja. Shi kuwa na zamani, akasin haka, yana shakkar hankalin Musulmai na baya kuma yana da yakinin cewa zamani ya fi kowa.

Being a “traditionalist” Muslim is a reactionary term. The term had to be coined in order to make the necessary distinction against “modernist” and “reformist Muslim.” The defining feature of a traditionalist is respect for the intellect of past Muslims and a skepticism in the validity of modern exceptionalism. The modernist, in contrast, is skeptical of the intellect of past Muslims and a firm believer in modern exceptionalism.

Wato, masu tunanin zamani (modernists) suna ganin cewa muna rayuwa ne a wani lokaci na musamman, kuma hakan yana bukatar a yi aikin Musulunci ta hanyar da ba a taɓa yin ta ba a baya. Haka kuma masu tunanin zamani sukan yi imani cewa a zamanin yau muna da ilimi na musamman da magabatan Musulmi ba su da shi, kuma wannan ilimin yana ba mu izinin yin Musulunci ta hanyar da ba a taɓa yin ta ba.

In other words, modernists believe we live in a unique time and that that necessitates practicing Islam in a way that it has never been practiced before. Modernists also tend to believe that, in modern times, we have unique knowledge that past Muslims were not privy to, and that knowledge licenses us to practice Islam in a way that it has never been practiced before.

Masanin al'ada, a daya bangaren, yana ganin wannan hujja ba wai kawai ba ta gamsar da shi ba, har ma tana da kamar rashin hankali. Me ya sa zamanin yau ya zama na musamman har ya cancanci a karɓi imani da ayyuka da ba a taɓa yi ba a baya? Cikin shekaru 1400 da suka wuce, mu har yanzu nau'in mutum ɗaya ne, da bukatu iri ɗaya, da tsarin tunani iri ɗaya, da dabi'u iri ɗaya, da rauni iri ɗaya. Wannan ba yana nufin Shari'a ba ta yarda da wasu nau'o'in canji da bambanci a lokuta da wurare daban-daban ba. Sai dai zamaninmu ba shi da wani keɓanta ko na musamman da zai iya ko da fara tabbatar da wasu daga cikin abubuwan da masu zamani ke kira zuwa gare su.

The traditionalist, on the other hand, finds this reasoning not only unconvincing but even irrational. What is so unique about modern times that merits the adoption of unprecedented beliefs and practices? Over the past 1400 years, we are still the same species with the same needs and basic mental makeup, the same tendencies, the same weaknesses. Which is not to say that the Sharia does not accommodate certain kinds of changes and variation across time and place. But our times are not exceptional and unique enough to even begin to justify some of the things modernists call for.

Masu bin Sunnah suna girmama hankali da zurfin fahimtar ilimin malaman Musulunci gaba ɗaya a cikin shekaru 1400 da suka wuce. Idan akwai akidu da ayyuka da mafi yawan malamai, idan ba duka ba, suka riƙe, to wannan kanta hujja ce da ke nuna ingancin waɗannan akidu da ayyuka da kuma daidaitarsu. Al'umma ba ta yarda da kuskure ba. To me ya sa mu ke da wata daraja ta musamman, wace ƙwarewar hankali ta musamman muke da ita da za mu saɓa wa ra'ayin tarihi baki ɗaya?

Traditionalists also respect the intellect and spiritual insight of the collective body of Muslim scholarship over the past 1400 years. If there are beliefs and practices that the vast majority of, if not all, scholars upheld, that in itself is evidence of the validity and soundness of those beliefs/ practices. The community does not agree on error. What makes us so special, what unique intellectual capacity do we have to go against the tide of historical unanimity?