Monday, January 12, 2009

The Predicament of Our Times

Category: SOUND

The following are excerpts from a particularly poignant post on SunniForum.com:


Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: “You people should continue to enjoin people towards the doing of righteous deeds and you should continue to prohibit them from evil; otherwise Allah will put into authority over you the worst of people to rule over you. At such time the best from among you will pray to Allah (for deliverance) and your prayers will go unanswered.’."

...

Everything in our power must be done to enjoin the good and forbid the evil, but in doing so extreme precaution must be taken to ensure it is only through completely Halaal means. Halaal and Haraam are clear as daylight. But we keep resorting to matters that may fall in between Halaal and Haraam, convinced that, our lack of reliance on what is undoubtedly Halaal, will not affect Allah‘s barakah on us.

...

Thus they dived deeper and deeper into doubtful actions, until what is blatantly Haraam, still retained the shape of Halaal in their eyes.

...

The slightest of transgression and negligence by one person can and does affect the whole Ummah:

When Allah provided help to the army of Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas, by enabling his army to cross on top of the river, Sa’d Ibn Abi Waqqas was repeatedly reciting, “ As long as there is not a single unjust person in my army, Allah will help us”.

Umar (ra) once reprimanded a man severely for selling items in the market without knowing all fiqh rulings of trading. He genuinely feared that due to one man’s negligence of the Shariah, Allah will withhold His rain from the whole Ummah.

Khalid Bin Walid, due to an undesirable word he uttered inadvertently, found a subsequent battle many times more arduous than his previous battles, despite having better numbers and weaponry.

...

Abu Darda (Radiallahu anhu) reports that Rasulullah
(Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam) said: “Allah says: I am Allah besides whom there is no Diety, the Master of Kings, King of Kings. Verily the hearts of kings are under the control of My Hands. When My servants obey me, I turn the hearts of kings and rulers towards them so that they rule over them with mercy and kindness and when My servants disobey Me, I turn the hearts of kings and rulers to treat them harshly, with anger and vengeance. Thereby they mete out torture and oppression. Hence do not occupy yourselves with praying for curses upon kings and instead turn to Me in remembrance and with humility. And I will preserve you against the tyranny of the kings.”

...

When Hadhrat Umar (ra) approached Jerusalem after its conquest, and observed some of the Sahabah wearing extravagant clothes, he became furious and started pelting stones at them, uttering words that, as was to become a habit of his, turned out to be truly prophetic:

“We were amongst the most abased of man, and Allaah had
granted us honour with Islaam, hence if we ever seek
honour in anything besides what Allaah had honoured us
with, Allaah (will once again) debase us.”

Externally we have lost our identity, having barely any physical resemblence to the Salaf, and internally only Allah knows how much more distant we are from the Sunnah. Worse still, the virtual absence of the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw) does not seem to cause any discomfort to the majority of us, with some even venturing as far as defending this indifference. Those of us who attempt to adopt the attitude of the Sahabah towards the Sunnah, are regarded as fundamentalist, rigid bearded fanatics, by such people.

The Sahabah were fervently passionate about every single practice of the Prophet (saw). The weight of no acts of Sunnah was lightened due to the existence of some other supposedly bigger fitnah - one of the reasons parroted nowadays as an excuse to neglect certain Sunnah. Any act that had the slightest possibility of being Sunnah would be grasped onto so firmly and rigidly, such that the level of our attachment to the major Fard acts today, pale in comparison.

One wonders what Hadhrat Umar would pelt at us if were here to view our extravagance and our negligence of the Sunnah of Prophet (saw).

...

“Even if your tongues become dry from all the prayers you say (while calling on Me) and even though you lift up your hands in prayer till they reach the very heavens, I shall not show any Mercy to any of you who cry and wail so bitterly until you people discard all your unjust dealings and unfair treatment among yourselves.”

Shirk

Category: SOUND

Imam Shafi'i (ra) stated, “I debated a scholar and beat him. Then I debated a layman and that layman beat me - he had no knowledge of the principles and texts. I had nothing to say.”

Imam Razi stated: "There is no meaning to Shirk other that a human taking a ma'bud other than Allah."
(Tafsir Kabir 16/33)

Imam Sanusi mentioned:
"Shirk is of 6 types.

-Shirk al-Istiqlal- Affirming two separate "gods" like the shirk of the Majus
-Shirk Tab'idh- To believe in a god who is made up of multiple gods, like the shirk of the Christians
-Shirk Taqrib- Worshiping other than Allah, so that they could take one closer to Allah, like the shirk of the early part of the Jahiliyyah era.
-Shirk Taqlid- Worshiping other than Allah, in emulation of someone else, like those of the later Jahiliyyah era
-Shirk al-Asbab- Attribution effect to the apparent means, like the shirk of the Philosophers etc
-Shirk al-Aghradh- Performing actions for other than Allah

The First four are Shirk by consensus, while the sixth is disobedience and there is detail concerning the fifth..."
(Sharh al-Muqaddamat Pg. 33 and 40)


Idolatry [shirk], like disbelief [kufr], is a covering up of the obvious truth.

There is "major idolatry," which expels a man from his faith, and "minor idolatry" (instances of which include ostentation and some sins), which does not.

It is therefore appropriate to quote what one of correct doctrine says about idolatry. Its kinds - may God protect us! - are six:

1. Autonomous idolatry [shirk istiqlal]. This is to affirm the existence of two autonomous dieties, as is the case with the Zoroastrians.

2. Separative idolatry [shirk tab'id]. An instance of this is the Christians who say that God is one of three, the other two being Jesus and his mother. {79}

3. Approximative idolatry [shirk taqrib]. This is to worship other that God with the purpose of drawing nearer to Him through them. Such was the belief of the early Arabs who worshipped stones, saying, "We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to God" (QURAN, 39;3)

4. Imitative idolatry [shirk taqlid]. This involves worshiping other than God in imitation of others. This also was the form of idolatry present in the pre-islamic era of ignorance. They say, "We found our fathers following a religion, and by their footsteps shall we be led" (QURAN, 43;22)

5. Idolatry of secondary causes [shirk al-asbab]. {80} An instance of this is the idolatry of the philosophers and those who believe in nature, and those who follow them.

6. Idolatry of intention [shikr al-aghrad] {81}. This is to carry our acts for other than God.


The unanimous ruling regarding the first four is that they are forms of disbelief.

The sixth is a sin but does not constitute disbelief.

As for the fifth, a distinction has to be made between, first, those who say that secondary causes [in themselves] produce effects by virtue of their intrinsic properties [as, for example, fire leading to burning, water to irrigating, and food to satiety]: such people are disbelievers; second, those who believe that they are effective through a power that God the Exalted has put in them: they are guilty of innovation [bid'a].


[TRANSLATORS NOTES]

{79}: Since the Virgin Mary is called in Christian terms "Mother of God," the implication is that she herself is divine. This is how the word "mariolatry" came into being.

{80}: The Primary Cause or Prime Mover is God Himself. To believe that creatures or secondary causes have autonomous power is to set them up as gods beside God.

{81}: Acting out of ostentation or simply to satisfy some lust or appetite is to set one's intention in competition with sincerity with God. It is to worship one's ego, passions, or appetites.



Source: SunniForum.com

The Day of Judgement and the Hereafter

Category: SOUND

Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrated that Allah's Messenger (saw) said:
"The Last Hour will not come till you wage war against a people who wear shoes made of hair and till you fight the Turks with small noses, red faces and small eyes, as though their faces are smitten shields. You will find good people strongly opposing this. People are of different kinds--good people of the jahiliyyah and good people of Islam."
(Bukhari 2927; 2928) (Muslim 4711:2912) (Abu Dawud 4303) (Tirmidhi 2215)

The Holy Prophet (saw) has said, "When you see the base becoming rulers, desires being followed and everyone taking pride in his opinion then it is incumbent on you to worry about yourself and leave the masses to themselves."
(Tafsir Tabari p-3/25. Mustadrak Haakim. Ittihaf.)

Abu Sa'eed Khudri (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "Soon the best property of the Muslim will be a herd of sheep. He will take them and retire to the peak of the mountains where he will get rain water that he may preserve himself from trial in religion."
(Bukhari [Kitab al-Eeman]) (Abu Dawud [Kitab ul-Malahim]) (Nasa'i [Kitab ul-Eeman]) (Ibn Majah [Fatan])

Abu Hurayrah (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "The poor Muslim will be admitted to Paradise half a day before the rich. That will be like five hundred years."
(Tirmidhi 2354) (Musnad Ahmad p-2/343)

Anas (ra) said, "The time that comes on people is followed by a time that is worse than it. This will go on forever, till you meet your Lord. I had heard this from your Prophet (saw)."
(Bukhari 7068)

Anas (ra) reported that someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, when should we cease to enjoin righteousness and to forbid evil?" He said, "When you experience the condition of the Banu Isra'il and when your elders are indecent and immoral, knowledge is with the base people, and rule with the young."
(Ahmad p-3/187) (Fath al-Bari p-13/301)

Hazrat Ali (ra) said to Abdullah ibn Saba', "Woe to you! By Allah, I have never concealed from people anything that I knew. I did hear Allah's Messenger (saw) say that there will come before the Last Hour many liars. (And I say,) You are one of them!"
(Bukhari [Book of Fitan, ch. 25]) (Ahmad 2/118) (Kanzul Ummal 38381, 38762)

Jabir ibn Abdullah (ra) reported that the Prophet (saw) said that the Dajjal will emerge when religion will be taken lightly and learning would be avoided.
(Ahmad 14937) (This is reported from more than one source)

Ibn Umar (ra) reported that Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "The Dajjal's destination is this hillock. Most of those who go to him will be women so much so that a man will go to his wife, to his mother, his daughter and his aunt and chain them lest they go to him."
(Muslim 7667) (Tirmidhi 2236) (Musnad Ahmad 2/67, 4/217, 3/368)

Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrates that the Prophet (saw) said, "When three things appear, faith will not benefit one who has not believed previously, or earned any kind of good from his belief: the Dajjal, the beast of the earth and the rising of the sun from the west or from its place of setting."
(Muslim 396) (Tirmidhi 3072) (Musnad Ahmad 2/445)

Abu Sa'eed Khudri (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "As the Hour draws near, there will be much lightning. In fact, a man will come to his people and ask, 'Who was struck by lightning yesterday?' They will say, 'So and so and so and so were struck by lightning'."
(Musnad Ahmad 2/94) (Kanzul Ummal 31406) (ad-Durr al-Manthur 6/55)

As for the Prophet's (saw) words 'the slave gives birth to her master', it means that in the last era the female slave will enjoy a high position and will be held in esteem. Only the elite will have them and ordinary people will not have female slaves. This is why this phrase is complimented with, 'the bare-footed and the naked will become chiefs'. They will build large houses, have much wealth, possess high esteem and will lack courage except to compete in constructing houses.
(Ibn Kathir - Al Fitan wal Manahim)

"The Hour will not come till the 'reproacher son of the reproacher' is one who enjoys the world most of all people." (Worldly possessions with one who has no manners and no religion)
(Tirmidhi 2209) (Musnad Ahmad 5/389) (Kanzul Ummal 38476)

Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrated: the Prophet (saw) said, "By Him Who has sent me with the truth, this world will not end till there occur with the people swallowing (into earth), throwing away (or scandalising) and metamorphosis." They asked, "When will that be, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "When you see women seeking sexual satisfaction, and (when there are) many female singers and false testimony (is given often), and men enjoy men and women enjoy women."
(Mustadrak Haakim 4/437) (ad-Durr al-Manthur 6/55, 2/324) (Majma' az-Zawa'id 8/10, 10/8)

"Men will be fewer and the number of women will increase so that for (every) fifty women there will be one man to look after them. They will indulge in sexual play in the streets as though they were animals."
(Bukhari 81) (Muslim 6727) (Tirmidhi 2205)

"The Hour will come tomorrow and touch you."
(Muslim 7334) (Ibn Majah 4040)

Ibn Abbas (ra) narrated that Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "How can I be at ease while the holder of the Trumpet has put it to his mouth and bent his forehead waiting for the command that he may blow."
(Tirmidhi 2431) (Musnad Ahmad 1/326, 4/374) (Kanzul Ummal 39743)

Ibn Umar (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "If anyone would like to look at the Day of Resurrection as though he saw it with his eyes then let him recite the surah [When the sun is folded up], [When the heaven is cleft] and [When the heaven is rent asunder]"
(Mu'jam Kabir 17/287) (Kanzul Ummal 2586, 2587)

Ibn Umar (ra) narrated that he heard the Prophet (saw) say, "My pond is as between Aden and Amman. It is more cold than ice, sweeter than honey and more fragrant than musk. Its cups are like the stars of the heaven. He who takes a drink from it will never be thirsty after that. The first of the people to come to it will be the poor of the muhajirs." Someone asked, "And who are they, O Messenger of Allah?" He said, "Their heads are dishevelled, their faces are pale and their clothes are dirty and closed doors are not opened for them, and graceful women will not marry them. They give all that is due from them but do not take that which is due to them."
(Musnad Ahmad 2/132)

Abdullah ibn Amr (ra) narrated that Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "Surely Allah does not love the indecent and indecency [or He hates the indecent and indeceny]. And the Hour will not come till indecency and vulgarity is observed openly, and severing of ties of relationship, wickedness with neighbours, trusting the betrayer and betrayal by the trusted. Know that your appointment is at my pond whose breadth and length are identical being as between Aylah and Makkah, a month's journey. In it are pitchers like the stars. Its drink is whiter than silver. He who drinks from it once will never feel thirst again after that."
(Musnad Ahmad 2/159, 2/195, 4/180, 6/135)

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (ra) narrated that the Prophet (saw) said, "I will precede you to the pond and some of you will surely be picked up and then removed away from me. I will say, 'O Lord, my sahabah!' But, it will be said, 'You do not know what they did after you'."
(Bukhari 7049)

"Surely Allah will call the slaves on the Day of Resurrection. He will say, 'I did keep quiet for you since I created you. I observed your deeds and heard your words. Now, you should keep quiet for Me. These are only your deeds and your scrolls (records of deeds). They will be read over to you. He who finds good, let him praise Allah but he who finds otherwise, he must blame only himself.'"
(Muslim 6517) (Al-Ba'th wa an-Nushur 669) (al-Matulat 36) (ad-Durr al-Manthur 5/339-342)

Tabarani reported that Tha'labah ibn Hakam (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said that Allah will say to the ulema (Islamic scholars, people with knowledge of Deen) when He sits on His Chair to pass judgement, "I did not give you My knowledge and My wisdom except that I intend to forgive you. And, I do not care."
(Ibn Hajar in al-Matalib al-Aaliyah 4629) (Kanzul Ummal 39094)

"There is nothing heavier in the scale than good manners."
(Musnad Ahmad)

"On the Day of Resurrection, (the surah) al-Baqarah and al-Imran will come as two canopies or clouds with two wings and defend those who had recited them."
(Musnad Ahmad 4/183, 5/249, 251, 255, 257, 348, 352, 361)

Ibn Mas'ud (ra) narrated: "My legs are thin. When the wind blew heavily, I came off balance. So the other people laughed. Allah's Messenger (saw) asked, 'At what do you laugh?' They said, 'O Prophet of Allah, at his lean, weak legs.' He said, 'By Him in Whose Hand is my soul! They will be heavier than the Uhud in the scale.'"
(Musnad Ahmad 1/114, 421, 5/131)

Anas (ra) narrated: The Prophet (saw) said, "By Him Who has the soul of Muhammad in His Hand! If you see what I see, you will weep much and laugh little." The sahabah (ra) asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what do you see?" He said, "I see the Paradise and the Hell."
(Musnad Ahmad 3/217)

Anas ibn Maalik (ra) narrated: The Prophet (saw) said to Jibril, "Why is it that I do not see Mika'il laugh, at all?" He said, "He has never laughed since the Hell was created."
(Musnad Ahmad 3/24)

Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "Indeed, the slave may utter a word carelessly not considering what its worth is. Thereby, he will slip down in Hell further than what separates the east and the west."
(Bukhari 6477) (Muslim 7407) (Tirmizi 2314)

"Surely a man speaks a careless word that earns Allah's wrath. Thereby, he is dropped into Hell to a depth seventy years."
(Musnad Ahmad 7214, 7945)

Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "Seek refuge in Allah from the well of grief (which is jubb ul-hizn)." They asked, "O Messenger of Allah, what is jubb ul-hizn?" He said, "It is a valley in Hell from which Hell seeks refuge everyday four hundred times. It is prepared for reciters (of the Qur'an) who are ostentatious with their deeds. And, indeed, the most detested of the reciters in Allah's sight are they who wish to be seen by the chiefs and tyrants."
(Tirmizi 2383) (Ibn Majah 256)

Tabarani reported that Abu Musa (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "When Adam landed down from Paradise, Allah taught him to make everything and provided him the fruits of Paradise. These fruits of yours are from the fruits of Paradise except that they have changed while those (of Paradise) have not changed."
(Kanzul-Ummal 6344, 35323) (Tazkiratul Mawdu'at lil fitnah 161)

Umm Salamah (ra) asked, "O Messenger of Allah, some of the women marry twice, thrice, four times before they die. Then they go to Paradise and their husbands also go there. Who then will be their husband there?" He said, "Such a woman will be given choice. She will choose the best of them in manners. She will say, 'O Lord, this one was the best mannered with me in the world, so marry me to him.'. O Umm Salamah, good manners get the best of the world and the Hereafter."
(Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir, Tabarani 23/870)

Ahmad reported that Anas ibn Malik (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "Paradise is surrounded by hardships and Hell is surrounded by temptations."
(Musnad Ahmad) (Muslim 7061) (Tirmizi 2559)

Ahmad reported that Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrated: Allah's Messenger (saw) said: When Allah created Paradise, He sent Jibril to it, saying, "Look at it and at what I have prepared for its inhabitants." So, he went, looked at it and at what Allah had prepared for its inhabitants and returned to Allah, the Exalted. He said, "By Your Honour, no one will hear of it without entering it!" Then, He commanded it and it was concealed in unpleasant things and difficulties. Then He said, "Go back to it and look at it." So, he went and looked at it. Behold! It was concealed in difficulties. He came back to Allah and said, "By Your Honour! I fear, indeed, that no one will get through the difficulties."
(Musnad Ahmad 2/332)

Abu Hurayrah (ra) narrated that Allah's Messenger (saw) said, "Mostly two hollow things are responsible for man's entry into Hell -- the private organs and the mouth. And mostly fear of Allah and good manners take man to Paradise."
(Musnad Ahmad 2/392)

Know! The Hell is surrounded by desires (and temptations) but in its inside are all harmful (and painful) things and reptiles. Paradise is surrounded by hardships but inside is what eyes have not seen, ears have not heard and the human heart has not contemplated the pleasant and enjoyable things there. This is as the clear verses of the Qur'an and authentic Ahadith tell us. Its bliss is perpetual and its enjoyment is constant. It is what the ears have never heard.


Source: Al-Fitan wal Malahim by Ibn Kathir