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Muslims’ duty towards their religion

March 01, 2019 | 12:37 AM

By Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Ibn Baz (rahimahullah)Some of the due rights on us towards our Lord is the performance of Salaah in congregation and avoid behaving like the hypocrites who are described by Almighty Allah as:The hypocrites, they think they are over-reaching Allah, but He will over-reach them. When they stand up to prayer they stand without earnestness to be seen of men, but little do they hold Allah in remembrance. [An-Nisaa: 142]All Muslims must co-operate and help one another on piety and kindness. They must study their religion and become well-versed in it, so as to be knowledgeable in their (Jihaad) in their peacetime, and their war-time. Man is not born with knowledge but with ignorance. Allah Almighty said It is He Who brought you forth from the wombs of your mothers when ye knew nothing; and He gave you hearing and sight and intelligence and affections that you may give thanks (To God). [An-Nahl: 78]The Muslims must devote their attention to the Holy Qur’an, it’s continuous recitation and its study and asking about its deep meanings. The students, boys and girls, must study and review the literature on (Tafseer) which mentions the evidences and explains the meanings. So must the other Muslims. They must listen to the preaching delivered on the (Jumu’ah) Salat. They must listen to the public lectures and lessons. Negligence of these good deeds, is the work of the disbelievers. Allah Almighty said: “But those who reject Faith turn away from that.” [Al-Ahqaf: 3] So studying and being learned on religion is one of the most essential duties, particularly in this time of ours. Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said, “Whom Allah intends good, grants him the knowledge and insight in religion.” Each one or us must participate to the extent of his utmost capacity in teaching the people and guiding them in the path leading to the good, and that is through inviting with wisdom and beautiful preaching, arguing with them in the ways that are best and most gracious. All this is to be done in observation of the hadith of Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, who said, “Religion is sincerity. We said. To whom? He said: To Allah and His Book and His Messenger, and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common folk .” So sincerity to Almighty Allah and to His servants, guiding the astray, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil through wisdom and good preaching and not through violent methods except with those aggressors. Allah Almighty said: And dispute you not with the People of the Book except with means better (than mere disputations) unless it be with those of them who inflict wrong (and injury). [Al-Ankabut: 46] Invocation is to be made to those who are charged with authority to be granted success in their endeavours and their good intentions, and that Allah Almighty brings around them the earnest assistants, who would help them achieve the good and hold fast to the ordinances of Almighty Allah, applying the Shari’ah of Allah for the good in this world arid the bliss in the Hereafter. When Almighty Allah sees the manifestation of good intention from one of His servants, He would direct him to the good deeds and would help him to the work accepted by Him Almighty everywhere. A Muslim must send his invocation for the good of the place where he is living, for probably his invocation be blessed and accepted and that he would become behind the guidance to the good path of those whom chose to be guided, whether he is a ruler or a prince or any other Muslim with authority, become in being guided those people would be the examples to be followed by the members of the (Ummah).Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said: “The one who guides to the good, he would get the same reward like the doer of it.” This is a great offer which would not be achieved except through sincerity, devotion, and avoidance of violence in preaching, the thing which would repel the people. The caller to Islam must resort to the gentle methods which help in the way of accepting the truth and putting it into effect. The Muslim must strive in what would improve his religious life and the life of the members of his family. One must help the members of his family to be good and pious. He must teach and instruct them and guide them in the straight path, and warn them against the prohibition of Almighty Allah and from his wrath.Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said, “Each one of you is a guardian and he is responsible for his charge. The ruler is a guardian and he is responsible about his subjects, the man is a guardian in his family and he is responsible about the members of his family, the woman is a guardian in the house of her husband and she is responsible about her house, and the servant is a guardian over the property of his master and he is responsible about his duty, and all of you are guardians and are responsible about your obligations.” So men and women are held, each one of them, responsible to carry out the obligation of responsibility of educating the family members because raising a good family is participation in building the good society. Allah addressed the Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam: Enjoin prayer on thy people, and be constant therein. [Ta Ha: 132]One should follow the example of the Prophets and the good people, and pay attention to the affairs of the family members. The young one must be ordered to perform the prescribed prayer when they reach the age of seven, and lightly beat them if they do not perform Salat when they reach the age of ten so that they make it a good habit to perform Salat every day, following the good straight path of the religion.They must be warned against all that would harm them and against all that is forbidden by Almighty Allah such as neglecting Salat, consumption of intoxicants and drugs, smoking, shaving of the beards, wearing the clothing below the ankles (isbaal ath-thiyaab - for males), listening to singing and all the disobedience. This is your duty, you Muslim, towards your children, your brothers and sisters, towards your wife, and those who are around you. It is imperative to help one another in righteousness and piety, as Allah Almighty says:Help you one another in righteousness and piety. [Al-Maaidah 2]Those who do so are the real winners, from the men and the women of all times and all places. Those are the ones who were granted tranquility of the hearts and so they entered earnestly and sincerely into the realms of the light of faith, not only that, but they put their faith into application and practiced all that they were ordered to do, and abstained from all that they were prohibited from. They advised one another in righteousness and the truth. They invited the people to the faith and guided them in the mutual teachings of Truth and of patience and constancy. Those are the ones who are saved arid salvaged in this world and in the Hereafter. Such should be the behaviour of the Muslim, striving for his livelihood in the (Halaal) permissible ways in selling and in buying, doing all that would improve him spiritually and materially. He is never to beg the others, but would rather ask the help from Almighty Allah to make the (Halaal) earning available to him. He should be following all the permissible ways in health and in sickness and abstaining from the (Haram) forbidden ways. Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, said, “The strong Muslim is better and closer to Allah from the weak Muslim, and in each one there is good.” and another saying states that Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam, was asked, “Which kind of earning is the best?’ He said, “Man’s work by his hand and all accepted deals.”And “Guard that which is beneficial to you and depend upon Allah and do not be weak. If something bad occurs to you don’t say ‘If I had done such and such this and that would have happened.’ Rather, say ‘Allah had decreed it and what He wills comes to pass for indeed saying “If” opens the way for the work of Shaitaan.” [Muslim]So you slave of Allah must work hard in seeking you livelihood, and earn through what is halaal and avoid dependence on people, begging, staying away from cheating, lying and betrayal. He must keep his trusts and be honest whether in buying and selling, business, building or writing or whatever.I ask Allah by His beautiful Names to grant us all success and do what is acceptable and pleasing to Him and to bless us to stand upon the truth and give victory to His deen. We ask that His Word be raised uppermost and that He correct the condition of the Muslims everywhere and put the best of them over the rest of them. I ask that Allah make the leaders successful in the things that are pleasing to Him and do what is best for their people and nations and assist them to do good and give them righteous advisors and make them guides for the righteous implementing the Shari’ah.

I ask that Allah make them safe from the insinuations of the Shaitaan and the trial of going astray for He is indeed the Protector and Most Able. Finally, I pray that Allah give the Muslims understanding of their deen and to stand upon it and to co-operate in righteousness and piety and help us all to do that which is pleasing to Him. May Allah’s salaat and salaam and blessing be upon his slave and messenger our Prophet Muhammad and upon his family, companions and those who follow him in good.

History of Imaam Maalik KhutbahAll praise is due to Allah.May peace and blessings be upon the noble Prophet, sallallaahu ‘alaihiwa sallam, his household and companions. Fellow Muslims! Speakingabout great scholars is not an easy task, for however you try to graspthe life of any of them you will not be able to do so. Even you may missthe most important and the most impressive aspect of his life. Theway of life of the earliest great Ulamaa is the exemplar par excellenceand showing that is an encouragement to our youths in order todiscourage them from imitating evil people who have either no positiverole to play in this life nor any value in human history. Our speechabout the scholars does not in any way mean being partisan to any oneof them, for everybody can have his word accepted or rejected except theimpeccable Prophet Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alaihi wa sallam. Our manof today’s talk is that great Imaam who grew up in this city ofMadinah, whose mention is elevated and whose knowledge has filled theearth. He taught people in the corners of the great Prophet’s mosque andbecame so popular that people called him “The scholar of Madinah” or“the Imaam of the city of Hijrah”. Maalik Ibn Anas was born in theProphet’s city and grew up there as a lover and seeker of knowledge inspite of his poverty. His mother gave him good upbringing by tellinghim: “Go to Rabee’ah and learn from him manners before you learnknowledge”. This woman knew her role in life and her mission ofeducating and grooming the youth. She knew that manners are goodcompanions of knowledge and that knowledge is valueless without manners.This woman moulded a man and as such moulded a nation. Mother’srole is not restricted to nurturing body and guarding it againstphysical diseases. Rather, she has greater mission to accomplish. Hermission includes strengthening the faith, building a strong personality,developing intellectual capability and encouraging children to aimhigh. All these cannot be achieved except by first giving preference tomeritorious act of upbringing over concerns for this world. This waswhat actually happened in the life of Maalik and that was what made hima school in manners from whom students learn and the whole Ummahbenefits. Maalik once told a Quraishee youth: “O my nephew, learn manners before you learn knowledge”. Yahyaibn Yahya At-Tameemee said: “I stayed with Maalik after the completionof my learning knowledge from him for a year in order to learn mannersand good qualities from him. And the qualities are the same as those ofthe companions of the Prophet and those who followed them.” Brothersin faith! Modern educational methods sometimes appear like mere textsthat are devoid of any moral content thereby making knowledge losing itssplendour and impact. If knowledge were to be separated from manners –however much the knowledge may be – you will see a huge defect in itsinfluence on people’s conduct and purity of their deeds. Therefore,there is no good in a knowledge that does not earn one good morals. Creatinga gap between knowledge and manners breeds ill behaviours likeattacking the Ulamaa, being rude to them, bad conduct, maltreatment ofparents, blind imitation of unbelievers in matters of dressing andbeing hostile to teachers and educators either physically and verbally. Thecity of the Prophet had a significant impact on Maalik’s personality,for it has been flourishing with scholars. The first school in Islamichistory was the Prophet’s mosque and there have always been classesthere conducted by competent scholars and these classes provided theMuslim children with good education that guaranteed for them religiousand moral qualities that make man good-mannered. Brothers in faith!It goes without saying that bad environment only destroys and does notbuild …If not, what is the benefit of teaching a child Islamic values inthe morning and in the evening he goes to bad companies who destroywhat his parents has put in order? Or what is the benefit of teaching achild manners for years and then to be taken to corruption riddenenvironment by his very father?! Imaam Maalik sat to give fatwa(formal legal opinion) and did not do so until seventy scholars hadattested to his worthiness of that. What a difference between the onewho praises and forward himself and the one who is praised and forwardedby the knowledgeable and distinguished people! Maalik said: “It is noteveryone who would like to sit in the mosque and teach the Hadith andgive fatwa are worthy of that. Let the one who wants to sit for fatwafirst seek for the advice of pious and distinguished people; if they seethat he is fit for that, let him do that; for I did not sit to teachHadith and give fatwa until seventy scholars attested to his worthinessof that.” Imaam Maalik said: “I am only human, I make mistakes and Ido give correct opinions. As for my opinions, examine them, if they arein accordance with Sunnah take them.” With this valuable statement,Maalik established a moderate line between those who follow theirleaders blindly and those who reject authentic evidences outright andreject the sayings of scholars and say, “They are men and we are alsomen.” What a difference between those men and these men! What adifference between dead men whom Allah immortalises their names forcenturies and valueless men who though are living are counted among thedead! Mere mention of the formers’ names activates the heats whilekeeping the company of the latter deadens the hearts. Those scholars ofeminence did not only possess knowledge but were also leaders in morals,piety, self-abstinence and fear of Allah. There are however somefollowers of these scholars who prefer only imitation and do not wish toexceed that in spite of their ability to differentiate between thetruth and falsehood. It is also a mistake to look down upon otherpeople’s works or to feel that one’s good deed is better than others.This is because all these talents and capabilities are provisions fromAllah and not from any human being. This is a great concept that Maalikwanted to show people that serving Islam is an obligation that shouldinvolve every Muslim in all professions without anyone revoltingagainst others.Maalik wrote to one of the worshippers of his time,“Allah has portioned out deeds as He has portioned out provisions. Manyare endowed with energy and the will to pray (as many supererogatoryprayers as possible) but are not endowed with (much of voluntary)fasting; others are endowed with giving charity but are not endowed withfasting; others are endowed with Jihaad and others with seeking forknowledge. Spreading knowledge is one of the best deeds and I amcontented with Allah has endowed one with and I do not think that what Ido is less meritorious than what you do but hope that both of us aredoing good and righteous deeds.” Therefore charitable people,worshippers, those who spend their times in the cause of Allah, thescholars, the propagators of Islam and those serving Islam in theirvarious fields are all doing righteous deeds - if they are sincere intheir intentions. Whenever Maalik was asked a question, he wouldtell the questioner, “Go now and let me think over it.” When thequestioner was gone, Maalik’s students would ask him the reason for whathe said and he would answer. “I fear a Day with the Questioner (Allah)and what a (terrible) Day!” A man was sent by the people of Maghribto ask Imaam Maalik about some issues. The man would ask Maalik aquestion and he would say, ‘I do not know, for we do not know of thisissue in our land and we have not heard any of our scholars sayinganything about it, but you can come back again!’ On the following day,the man went back to Maalik and Maalik told him: “ You asked me questionbut I do not know the answer!’ the man said: ‘O Abu Abdullaah! I camefrom a people who think that there is none in the world who is moreknowledgeable than you!’ Maalik answered: “I am not perfect.” He wasalso asked a question and he asked the questioner to give him time tomake some research and the man said: ‘But the issue is very simple.Maalik retorted, ‘There is nothing simple in knowledge! Don’t you hearthe saying of Allah’: “We shall send down to you a weighty word.”(Qur’an 73:4) Maalik used to say, “The people of knowledge andunderstanding that I have met in our country, when one of them wasasked a question on an issue, he would feel like the one about to die.But the people of our own time love giving fatwaa (without hesitation).Had they know what they are going to face tomorrow (in the Day ofJudgment) they would not have done that. Umar, Alee and ‘Alqamah aresome of the best companions of the Prophet, yet when anyone of them wasasked a question, he would consult his fellow companions before givingan answer to it. But it is unfortunate that fatwaa has become the pridefor the people of our time” These are the erudite and sagaciousscholars who filled the world with their knowledge and good deeds andyet used to say, “I do not know”. You will however be surprised to seesome people who know next to nothing about Islamic law and yetdesecrating it by speaking about the allowed and forbidden things. Even,a topic on Islamic law may come forth in a meeting and the meetingwill not end before all the attendants -irrespective if their differentfields of knowledge - give their opinions saying for instance,‘According to my view . . .’ ‘As far as I believe . . .’ etc. SubhaanAllah! When did the matter of legalising and forbidding become a subject toignorance and conjecture?!! If an engineer were to practise medicineand prescribe drugs, what are you going to say about him and what isgoing to be his fate?! What then about the one who dares to desecratethe Islamic law and speak about the lawful and forbidden things withoutknowledge particularly on special events that are so complicated thatif Umar were to witness such events, he would have gathered all thecompanions who took part in the Battle of Badr to help solve theproblem. But unfortunately fatwa in our age has become a spacious groundin which all those who wish to become popular or are seeking people’spleasure at the risk of Allah’s displeasure contest. Brothers infaith! Issues pertaining to Islamic belief are static ones over which noone is allowed to give his independent judgment. Likewise are issuesthat have evidences in the Qur’an and Sunnah and issues on whichscholars have consensus. It is incumbent on all Muslims to leave the sayon matters of knowledge to whom they are due and not to enter into theissues of Halaal and Haraam on which they have no knowledge. Maaliksaid, “Whoever wants to give answer to a question should first assumehimself standing between Paradise and Hell and ponder about how he isgoing to be saved in the Hereafter before he answers.” Some peoplemay be thinking that these Ulamaa are only well-versed in controversialissues and discussion of scholastic opinions and that their classes aredevoid of admonishing Hadith that address the hearts and remind ofParadise and Hell. In order to show that their classes are resplendentin various kinds of sciences, let us hear what Maalik said to a brotherof his admonishing him:“Remind yourself of the agonies of death,what you are going to experience and what is going to be your fate afterdeath; your standing before Allah, your reckoning, then your perpetualabode of either Paradise or Hell. Provide for that moment what will makethings easy for you then, for when you see those who have earned thewrath of Allah and the horror of their torment and you hear their criesin the Fire with their gloomy faces; unable to see and talk andexclaiming for destruction and greater than all this is Allah’s turningaway from them and their despair of His answer to their pleas and Hewill say: “Remain you in it with ignominy! And speak you not withMe.”(Al-Mu’minoon 23:108) if you know all this, nothing in this worldwill be too great for you to sacrifice if you want salvation.” ImaamMaalik was sick for 22 days and died at the age of 87. Naafi’ (hisfamous student) said: “Maalik died at the age of 87 and lived inAl-Madinah as its Mufti for 60 years.” May Allah have mercy onMaalik, for he used to say: “I met some people in Al-Madinah who had nofaults but they speak of other people’s faults, then people createdfaults for them. I also met other another group of people in al-Madinah,who had faults but kept away from speaking of other people’s faults andthe people also keep off from speaking about their faults.”

March 01, 2019 | 12:37 AM