bluebird,
Quote:Why don't Muslims believe in any concept of clergy?
In the Qur'an we are told about how the institution of a clergy led the religious communities before us (ie. the Jews & Christians) astray.
They have taken as lords beside God their rabbis and their monks and the Messiah son of Mary, when they were bidden to worship only one God. There is no God save Him. Be He Glorified from all that they ascribe as partner (unto Him)! O ye who believe! Lo! many of the rabbis and the monks devour the wealth of mankind wantonly and debar (men) from the way of God. They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of God, unto them give tidings of a painful doom, Quote:Isn't a Sheikh a cleric also? If not, what is the difference?
A clergy is a specific religious class, who are supposed to be somehow holier than the 'laypeople'. In Islam all people are supposed to be religious I guess. The way I've always viewed it is that every Muslim should strive to be on the level of 'a religious class'. This is why we see every Muslim woman is required to cover herself, to the same degree that only the religious class in Catholicism for instance do (ie. nuns). Likewise any Muslim should be capable of performing a wedding or a burial or any other religious festivity/rite.
The word 'Sheikh' actually just means old man, there's really no significance for this word in Islam, apart from in developed traditions, but they have no legal standing in the Shari'ah. Likewise there is no special clothing for a clergy.
Quote:Also, on the site I had a look at the about us, it states that they are non-sectarian Muslims, does that not mean they are not shiah and not sunni?
I have very strong doubts that it is even a legitimate Islamic website, as expressed above. A lot of things on the website just don't sound right. Most of the language used appears to be ripped straight out of media stories about Muslims. Also just about every single article on there, just seems aimed at inflaming Muslim/non-Muslim tensions. Add this to the fact nobody within the entire Australian Muslim Community has ever heard of "Sheikh Haroon", and it becomes very suspicious.