The Humble I

Knowing, Doing, Becoming

Archive for the category “prophetology”

08 May 2018
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Satan’s Deceit, Adam’s Slip & the Tree of Immortality

This read starts with the question: Does it matter how one sins? To answer it, it explores the deeper layers of the story of Adam, Satan and the divine command to not eat from the Tree of Immortality, in order to understand why it is that at the end of the story Adam is bathed in grace, while Satan is utterly disgraced. For at the heart of the saga, we discover the theme of divine love.

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Are all sins equal? No, they are not. Are some sins worse than others? Yes, indeed! Does how you sin make any difference to Allah? This may come as a surprise to some, but yes, how one sins does make a difference to Allah. This last point is taught to us in a gem of a saying from the exemplary scholar and saint, Sufyan ibn Uyaynah, who said:

مَن كانَتْ مَعْصِيَتُهُ فِي الشَّهْوَةِ فَارْجُ لَهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَتْ مَعْصِيَتُهُ فِي الْكِبْرِ، فَاخْشَ عَلَيْهِ فَإنَّ آدَمَ عَصى مُشْتَهِيًا، فَغُفِرَ لَهُ وَإِبْلِيْسُ عَصى مُتكَبِّرًا فَلُعِنَ.

‘Whoever sins due to a desire, have hope for him; while whoever sins out of pride, fear for him. For Adam disobeyed out of a desire, but was forgiven, whereas Iblis disobeyed from pride and so was cursed.’1

The reference to the Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, and to Iblis or Satan, lies at the heart of the human drama. The story is recounted at the start of the Qur’an at 2:30-9, and also at 7:11-25; 17:61-5; 20:115-23 and 38:71-85. In the Adamic story, both Adam and Iblis are subject to a single divine command. For Adam it was: ‘O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Garden, and eat as you wish, but do not come near this tree.’ [2:19] For Iblis: ‘Prostrate yourselves before Adam!’ and they all fell prostrate, except Iblis, who was not of those who prostrated. [2:11] In both instances, Allah’s order was not followed through: Adam [and Eve] ate from the tree; Iblis refused to prostrate. One could be forgiven for assuming that both these actors would be recipient to similar consequences for having failed to uphold a divine command? But they were not.

On being asked why he disobeyed the command to prostrate, Iblis replied in this defiant and arrogant tone: ‘I am better than him. You created me from fire, while You created him of clay.’ [7:12] Being made of subtle fire, Iblis presumed himself to be better than Adam, who was heavy and clay-like in nature. So driven by pride, and exercising his own reasoning in defiance of the Divine Command, Iblis set himself up as a god against Allah and thus was cursed. Yet what Satan, in his hubris, failed to acknowledge was the heavenly, luminous substance called ruh or “spirit” that was insufflated into Adam: ‘So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My spirit, then fall down prostrate before him.’ [38:72] Inspite of Adam’s opaque, earth-like nature, it is this God-knowing spirit which grants mankind the potential to rise above all other sentient creatures.

As for our father Adam, peace be upon him, his is a story of love; in terms of what drove him, deprived him and distressed him. We read in the Qur’an: But Satan whispered evil to him, suggesting: ‘O Adam, shall I show you the tree of immortality and a kingdom that never decays?’ [20:120] His eating from the Tree of Immortality was not out of defiance of Allah’s will, rather: We made a pact with Adam before, but he forgot. [20:115] However, some of the scholars hold that his forgetting doesn’t refer to eating from the tree, but to not recalling that Satan is his avowed enemy: ‘O Adam, this [Satan] is an enemy to you and your wife; let him not drive you both from the Garden.’ [20:117] In this reading, it is Adam’s love for Allah and his aching desire to remain in His presence that drives him to eat from the tree. Let us hear from Ibn ‘Ajibah on this point:

‘Realise that Adam’s eating from the tree was not out of obstinacy or wilful disobedience. It was either due to not recalling the command, so he ate whilst being forgetful; which is what some have said, and is what may be meant in Allah’s saying: but he forgot. [20:115] If, however, he ate whilst remembering the command, he did so because: ‘Your Lord forbade you this tree lest you become angels or become of the immortals.’ [7:20] So his love for Allah and his deep attachment to Him made him to want what would lead him to dwell forever in Allah’s company and abide with Him eternally. Or [he wilfully ate because] he desired to become angelic. For Adam, peace be upon him, held the angels to be closer to Allah, so he wished to eat from the tree to be an angel who – as far as he was concerned – were the best [of creation].’2

Satan whispered to Adam and Eve, in order to lead them by deceit: And he swore to them: ‘Truly, I am a sincere advisor to you.’ [7:21] Adam, in his innocence, believed him, thinking that no one would ever swear by Allah’s holy Name falsely!3 So he used Adam’s love for Allah and his yearning to be in His presence as a means to make him eat of the tree. Adam was thus deceived into thinking that if he were to become an angel or an immortal, he too would be able to abide in Allah’s holy presence forever – perpetually adoring, glorifying and worshiping God as the angels do. Hence the lover ate.4

Ironically, love deprived him – for a while, at least – of dwelling in Allah’s presence: He said: ‘Go down, both of you, from the Garden.’ [20:123] And: ‘There will be for you on earth a habitation, and a provision for a while.’ [7:24] It was this very same love that caused him to then weep a thousand tears and be utterly heart-broken and remorseful. For unlike Satan who refused to own his sin, but sought instead to justify it, Adam and Eve acknowledged their slip and were remorseful, repentant and longed for God’s acceptance: ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If you forgive us not, and have not mercy on us, we shall be among the losers!’ [7:23] Ibn al-Qayyim wrote:

‘By Allah! Having committed the error, Adam neither profited from his rank: ‘Bow down before Adam!’ [2:34]; nor from his nobility: He taught Adam the names of all things [2:31]; nor his distinction: ‘that which I created with both My hands’ [38:75]; and nor his glory: and breathed into him of My spirit. [15:29] Instead, he profited only from his humility: “Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If you forgive us not, and have not mercy on us, we will be among the losers!” [7:23]’5

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One last point, and it’s an important one. When we say that Adam “sinned” – Thus Adam disobeyed his Lord [20:121] – it’s not the usual type of sin that is driven by the ego’s wilful opposition to Allah. Rather, as the Qur’an says elsewhere, it was an unintentional sin; an inadvertent “slip”: But the Devil caused them to slip. [2:36] Both courtesy and creed; adab and ‘aqidah, demand that we acknowledge this. Courtesy because when one speaks about God’s chosen prophets – the crown of all His creation – one does so in the most respectful and reverent way possible; salawatu‘Llahi ‘alayhim ajma‘in. Not to do so could, in certain cases, amount to disbelief (kufr). As for creed, then this is because the texts of the Qur’an and Hadiths, when taken collectively, teach us that the prophets are ma‘sum – “infallible” in the sense of being protected from sin and wilful disobedience. Al-Qurtubi stated: ‘The prophets are protected from major sins and the reprehensible minor sins, by consensus.’6

Although Adam and Eve are the first humans to violate a command from God, Satan is the first of all Allah’s creation to wilfully disobey Him. His decision to rebel came purely from himself and his pride; no one else lured or persuaded him. Furthermore, his decision to continue to disobey God after his initial defiance ensures that God will not forgive him. In contrast, both Adam and Eve immediately felt remorse and sincerely repented. We could say that while Iblis was driven by pride; Adam’s slip, in stark contrast, was driven by love and his longing to be with his Lord. Love is what drove Adam to eat – and there is always some special consideration for Allah’s true lovers.

The example of the Prophet Adam, peace be upon him, remains as valid today as it was then. For having turned to God, Adam did not transmit the curse of an “original sin” to his descendants. Instead, he was received into divine grace and a state of harmony was once again restored between him and his Maker: Then Adam received words from his Lord, and his Lord relented towards him. [2:37] A similar grace awaits all those who sin, but turn to Allah in remorseful repentance, following the Adamic example. The key is in pondering God and His grace, which allows one to become closer to Allah and more devoted to Him. In the Adamic saga, Iblis contemplates only himself: Adam constantly contemplates God and being close to Him.

So here’s to contemplating closeness!

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1. Cited in al-Dhahabi, Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala (Beirut: Mu’assasah al-Risalah, 1998), 8:461.

2. Ibn ‘Ajibah, Bahr al-Madid fi Tafsir Qur’an al-Majid (Cairo: al-Maktabah al-Tawqifiyyah, n.d.), 4:320, citing Ibn Ata‘illah, Kitab al-Tanwir.

3. See: Qadi ‘Iyad, al-Shifa’ bi Ta‘rif Huquq al-Mustafa (Damascus: Maktabah al-Ghazali, 2000), 692.

4. Cf. Muhammad Idris Kandhalawi, Ma‘arif al-Qur’an (Sindh: Maktabah ‘Uthmaniyyah, 1422H), 3:85-90. I am indebted to Shaykh Jaleel Ahmad Akhoun, hafizahullah, for bringing this point, and this superb Urdu tafsir, to my attention.

5. Al-Fawa’id (Makkah: Dar ‘Alam al-Fawa’id, 2009), 51-2.

6. Al-Jami‘ li Ahkam al-Qur‘an (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1996), 3:194.

Posted in a short read, heart matters, marvels of man, prophetology, qur'an, tafsir, tadabbur, sirah & sacred history, sufism, suluk & spirituality and tagged , , , , , , ,
19 Mar 2018
2 Comments

Deepening Our Love for Allah’s Beloved ﷺ

Filmed in the warm and friendly setting of Chapters Coffee Corner, Goodmayes; London, this short talk discusses how a believer may nurture and deepen his or her love for the Prophet ﷺ. The video can be viewed here.

Posted in prophetology, sufism, suluk & spirituality and tagged , ,
01 Jun 2016
12 Comments

The Prophet ﷺ & Salafi Love

Burdah1No doubt, there can be a fine line between veneration and idolisation; reverence and idolatry. The Qur’an is at pains to stress the mortalness of the Prophet ﷺ and that he possesses no aspect of divinity: Say: ‘I say not to you I possess the treasures of Allah, nor that I know the Unseen; and I say not to you: ‘I am an angel.’ I follow only that which is revealed to me.’ [6:50] Another verse explains: Say: ‘I am but a man like yourselves, but to whom it has been revealed that your Lord is only One God.’ [18:110] In fact, in the greatest defining moments of the prophetic career, the Qur’an addresses him simply with the honourable term, ‘abd – “slave”.

So, referring to his Night Journey and Heavenly Ascension (isra wa’l-mi‘raj), Allah said: Glory be to Him Who carried His slave from the Sacred Mosque to the Farthest Mosque the environs of which We have blessed. [17:1] While receiving revelation, Allah says: And He revealed to his slave that which He revealed. [53:10] Speaking of the Qur’an’s timeless challenge (tahaddi), there is this verse: And if you are in doubt concerning that which We sent down to Our slave, then produce a chapter the like thereof, and call your witnesses other than Allah, if you are truthful. [2:23]

The Qur’an depicts the Prophet ﷺ as Allah’s perfect “slave” and Muslim conciousness pays this title the highest respect. Yet this can in no way justify decrying veneration (ta‘dhim, tawqir) of the Prophet in the name of a narrow reading of tawhid. This would be to turn our backs on the immense distinctions Revelation has showered him with, as well as belittle the esteem the salaf accorded him – glimpses of which are offered by Qadi ‘Iyad. So in the section: ‘The Companions’ Reverence, Esteem and Veneration of the Prophet ﷺ’, in his hugely celebrated work, al-Shifa’, he relates the following:1

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‘Said ‘Amr b. al-‘As: “There was none more beloved to me than Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, nor anyone more honourable in my sight than him. I could never get my fill of gazing at him due to my reverent awe of him. If I was asked to describe him I could never do so, for I was unable to gaze upon him enough.”2

‘Al-Tirmidhi records that Anas said: ‘The Messenger of Allah ﷺ would go out to his Companions from among the Emigrants and Helpers (muhajirun wa’l-ansar) and they would be sitting; in their midst would be Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. None would raise their gaze towards him save Abu Bakr and ‘Umar; they would look at him and him at them, they would smile at him and him at them.’3

‘It is reported that Usamah b. Sharik said: ‘I once came to the Prophet ﷺ and found his Companions sitting around him [absolutely still] as if birds were perched on top of their heads.’4 In another hadith describing him [it says]: ‘Whenever he spoke, those around him lowered their heads as if birds were perched on them.’

‘When the Quraysh sent ‘Urwah b. Mas‘ud to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in the year of Hudaybiyah, he saw what he saw of the unparalleled reverence that the Companions accorded him: of how whenever he performed ablution (wudu) they would race to get the leftover water of his ablution,5 almost fighting for it; if he spat, they took it in their hands and wiped it over their faces and bodies; if a hair of his fell, they ran to get it; if he ordered them with something, they hastened to carry it out; and when he spoke, they would lower their voices in his presence, and none of them could look at him out of awe of him. When he returned to the Quraysh, he told them: “O assembly of Quraysh, I’ve been to Chosroes in his kingdom; Ceaser in his kingdom; and Negus in his kingdom. But, by Allah, I have never seen a king among his people treated like how Muhammad is treated by his Companions.”6

‘In another version, it says: “I have never seen a king whose companions revere him as Muhammad is revered by his Companions. I saw a people who could never be disloyal to him.”

‘Anas narrates: “I saw the Prophet ﷺ as his head was being shaved. His Companions would gather around him and no lock of [his] hair would fall, save that it fell into the hand of one of them.”7

‘Another example is when the Quraysh permitted ‘Uthman to perform tawaf of the Ka‘bah when the Prophet ﷺ sent him as an envoy during the Treaty [of Hudaybiyah]. But he refused to do so, saying: “I shall not do so until Allah’s Messenger does so.”8

‘In the hadith of Talhah: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ requested an ignorant bedouin to ask the Prophet about those that fulfill their vow – for they were too in awe of him and revered him too much [to do so themselves] – but the Prophet turned away from him. When Talhah came, the Prophet ﷺ said: “He is among those who fulfill their vows.”9

‘It states in the hadith of Qaylah: “When I saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ seated in a squatting position, I would shudder in fear.”10 This was out of her awe (haybah) and reverence (ta‘zim) of him.

‘In the hadith of al-Mughirah: “The Prophet’s Companions would knock on his door with their fingernails.”11

‘And al-Bara’ b. ‘Azib said: “I wanted to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about a matter, but delayed doing so for years from being in awe of him.”12‘

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Having related such wondrous glimpses into how the Companions manifested ta‘zim al-nabi – prophetic veneration and reverence, Qadi ‘Iyad then offers us a section on: ‘Venerating the Prophet ﷺ after his death.’ He writes:

‘Know that it is just as necessary to honour and revere the Prophet ﷺ after his death as it was during his lifetime. This, whenever he is mentioned ﷺ; when mentioning his hadith and Sunnah; on hearing his name and sirah; when dealing with his family and relatives. [It further includes] honouring his Family (ahl al-bayt) and Companions. Abu Ibrahim Ishaq al-Tujibi said: “It is obligatory upon every believer that whenever they mention the Prophet, or whenever he is mentioned in their presence, they must exhibit reverence and humility, being composed and not fidgeting. They must display the utmost reverence – as they would have done had they been standing before him, manifesting the courtesy (adab) toward him that Allah has taught us.” Qadi Abu’l-Fadl states: “Such was the way of our Pious Predecessors (salaf) and past Imams, may Allah be pleased with them all.”’13

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Having set the parameters, as it were, Qadi Iyad then records this about Imam Malik and about some of his venerable teachers:

‘Malik said: “I was once asked about what I said of Ayyub al-Sakhtiyani that, “I haven’t narrated from anyone better than him.” I went on Pilgrimage twice and I never heard the Prophet ﷺ being mentioned without him weeping, until we took pitty on him. When I saw from him what I saw of his reverence for the Prophet ﷺ, I then began to write [hadiths] from him.”

‘Mus‘ab b. ‘Abd Allah relates: “Whenever the Prophet ﷺ was mentioned, Malik would grow pale, so much so that it disturbed those sitting around him. He was once asked about it, to which he replied: “Had you seen what I have seen, you would not object to what you see happen to me.”

“I used to see Muhammad b. al-Munkadir, who was the master of the Qur’an reciters. Never was he asked about a hadith, except that he wept to such an extent that we felt pity for him.”

“I used to see Ja‘far b. Muhammad al-Sadiq. He was jovial and would smile a lot. But whenever the Prophet ﷺ was mentioned in his presence, he would start to turn pale. I never observed him narrating a hadith of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ, except in a state of ritual purity (taharah). I visited him for a time and never observed him save in one of three states: he was either praying, observing silence, or else reciting the Qur’an. He never spoke of affairs which did not concern him. He was one of the deeply devout scholar who had true reverent awe of Allah.”

“Whenever ‘Abd al-Rahman b. al-Qasim mention the Prophet ﷺ, his face seemed as if the blood had drained from it. His tongue would become dumb-struck, out of awe of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ.”

“I visited ‘Amir b. ‘Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr. Whenever the Prophet ﷺ was mentioned to him, he would weep so incessantly, till he had no more tears to weep.”

“I would see al-Zuhri: he was one of the friendliest and most approachable of people. Yet whenever the Prophet ﷺ was mentioned in his presence, it was as if he did not recognise you, nor you him.”

“And I would frequent Safwan b. Sulaym. He was an exceptionally devout and diligent worshipper. Whenever the Prophet ﷺ was mentioned to him, he wept so profusely that he wouldn’t be able to stop himself. At this point, people would have to get up and let him be.”’14

Subhana’Llah!

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Given all the above, it should be crystal-clear that the path of our salaf – the true salafi path – not only demands that we love the Prophet ﷺ, but that we honour and revere him too. Anything short of that just isn’t salafi love or reverence. Allah insists: Those who believe in him, revere him, support him, and follow the light that was sent down with him: those are the successful. [7:157] Imam al-Qazwini contrasts honour, reverence and veneration (described by terms such as tabjil, tawqir and ta‘zim) with that of love, and cites al-Bayhaqi saying: ‘This is a higher degree than that of love; for not all who love revere. A father loves his child, or a master his slave, but doesn’t revere him. Whereas all who revere also love.’15

Indeed, what else other than ta‘zim al-nabi animated our salaf to such deeds of loving awe and veneration? What other than ta‘zim drove Imam Malik to relate hadiths only after taking a full bath or performing ablution, wearing his best clothes and turban, applying kohl and perfuming himself?16 And what else other than ta‘zim spurred Abu Ayyub al-Ansari to refrain from walking across a room simply because the Prophet ﷺ was in the room below?17

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1. Al-Shifa’ (Damascus: Maktabah al-Ghazali, 2000), 516-19. The chapter title in Arabic being: fi ‘adati al-sahabah fi ta‘zimihi ‘alayhi’l-salam wa ijlalihi wa tawqirihi.

2. Muslim, no.121

3. Al-Tirmidhi, no.3668; al-Tayalisi, no.2518.

4. Abu Dawud, no.3855.

5. i.e. they would race to collect the water that dripped from him during his ablution because of the blessings, or barakah, it contained. Such is also the case with respect to his hair, nails, sweat and saliva. In fact, his entire body is barakah. The act of seeking barakah from his blessed body, and whatever it came into direct physical contact with, is called tabarruk. Seeking tabarruk from him ﷺ is an agreed upon matter according to Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jama‘ah. Consult: al-Nawawi, Sharh Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1995), 14:38.

6. Al-Bukhari, no.2731.

7. Muslim, no.2325.

8. Ahmad, Musnad, no.18910.

9. Al-Tirmidhi, no.3742, saying: ‘The hadith is hasan gharib.’

10. Abu Dawud, no.4847.

11. Al-Hakim, Ma‘rifat ‘Ulum al-Hadith, 19.

12. Cited in al-Suyuti, al-Manahil, no.999.

13. Al-Shifa’, 519-20.

14. ibid., 520-22.

15. Al-Qazwini, Mukhtasar Shu‘ab al-Iman (Beirut: Dar Ibn Hazm, 2003.), 20.

16. Cited in Qadi ‘Iyad, Tartib al-Mudarik (Saudi Arabia: Wizarat al-Awqaf wa’l-Shu’un  al–Islamiyyah, 1983), 2:14-16.

17. Muslim, no.2053.

Posted in prophetology, sufism, suluk & spirituality and tagged , , ,
03 Aug 2015
9 Comments

The Sunnah’s Inner Beauty

zillij7The Qur’an says: To Allah belong the most beautiful names. [7:180] In a sahih hadith we read: ‘Allah is beautiful and loves beauty.’1 Now these aren’t statements about feelings, impressions or sentimentality, they’re statements about the very nature of the Divine Reality! Imam al-Munawi comments upon Allah’s beauty (jamal): ‘He is the possessor of absolute and perfect Beauty. From this Beauty, every manifestation of beauty that exists in creation emanates. His Essence (dhat) is beautiful; His Attributes (sifat) are beautiful; and His Acts (af‘al) are beautiful. If His Face were not veiled by light (nur), the majestic splendour of His Face would annihilate creation as far as it extends.’2

A more recent commentator had this to say about the above hadith: ‘Allah, exalted is He, is beautiful in regards His Essence, Names, Attributes and Acts; and He loves both outer and inner beauty. [He loves] outer beauty, like cleanliness of one’s body, clothes and home; and their like. As for inward beauty, it is beautification of character with excellence. This is why one of the prayers of the Prophet ﷺ would be: “O Allah, guide me to having beautiful conduct and character; for none can guide me to beautifying them except You. And avert from me bad conduct and character; none can avert them from me save You.”3 And Allah knows best.’4

Religion, then, is the recognition of such beauty, as well as the quest to actualise it in our lives and society at large.

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For believers, to imitate the Prophet ﷺ is to imitate beauty. Emulating the example of the Prophet ﷺ – known in religious parlance as his Sunnah (lit. “way”) – must be at the core of every believer’s life. The Qur’an states: You have in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful example. [33:21]

The love, respect, attachment and admiration Muslims have for the Prophet ﷺ (from which imitation of him is arises) is not just an impressive fact of history, it is a central part of faith itself. He was a man who experienced life in an exceptional range. Not only was he a shepherd, merchant, orphan and exile, he was also a leader, law-giver, statesman and soldier. He was also a husband, a father who was bereaved many times over, a friend, a companion, and a widower. And in all these roles he was an exemplar. His wife, the lady Aishah, was once asked as to what he was like. She responded with these words: kana khuluquhu’l-qur’an – ‘His character was that of the Qur’an.’5 So her intimate knowledge of the Prophet’s life and character ﷺ led her to conclude he was the living embodiment of the Revelation – he was, figuratively speaking, the ‘walking’ Qur’an.

For Muslims, therefore, the Prophet’s Sunnah represents the very perfection of human conduct and being. It is to such beauty – and not to the mediocrity or ugliness offered by the norms of today’s dominant culture – that believers must fix their gaze.

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In the botanical world there are certain plants which need to be grown on a trellis or a support of some kind, if they are to grow to their full potential. Otherwise they tend to sprawl across the ground, without direction, their leaves devoured by snails and slugs, their purpose unfulfilled.

In a similar way, man is a ‘climber’ too, and we need not look very far for examples of the human inability to grow or to flower without a firm support or framework. In this sense the Prophet’s Sunnah, Gai Eaton wrote, ‘provides not only a framework but also, as it were, a network of channels into which a believer’s will enters and through which it flows smoothly, both guided and guarded. It is not his way, the Muslim’s way, to cut new channels for his volatile life through the recalcitrant materials of the world against the grain of things. At first sight one might expect this to produce a tedious uniformity. All the evidence suggests that it does nothing of the kind; anyone who has had contact with good and pious Muslims will know that though they live within a shared pattern of belief and behaviour, they are often more sharply differentiated one from another than are profane people, their characters stronger, their individu-alities more clearly delineated. They have modeled themselves upon a transcendent norm of inexhaustible richness, whereas profane people take as their model the fashions of the time. To put it another way: the great virtues – and it is the Prophet’s virtues that the believer strives to imitate – can it seems be expressed through human nature in countless different ways, whereas worldly fashion induces uniformity.’6

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The Sunnah, however, insists that a certain sense of haybah, or “dignity” of character, is essential to make even the most valuable manners respected and respectable. The belief that the Sunnah can be practiced without the least change in how we do things “on the streets” or “in de hood” is more ego than Islam. The Sunnah comes to elevate and dignify. Indeed, the greatest achievement of the ego is to make the practice of the Sunnah look ugly or undignified. For nothing is more troublesome than when the ego seeks to wear the robe of the Sunnah.

At the end of the day, those who drag the Sunnah down to their own crass, unrefined levels need ask only this: How long will I delay embracing the Sunnah’s inner beauty?

By the same token, to follow the Sunnah out of anger, protest, resentment or identity politics, darkens and deforms it and causes people to flee from Islam. Following it out of love for Allah’s Beloved ﷺ, intuiting its beauty and wisdom, is a radiant light and conclusive proof.

At the end of the day, those for whom the Sunnah is little more than a tool with which to vent their political angst and frustrations need ask only this: How long will I delay embracing the Sunnah’s inner beauty?

Likewise, to limit the Sunnah to no more than a few outward expressions of piety and external modes of behaviour makes it look superficial, unworthy and uninviting. The consequence of such shallow piety and religious reductionism: the Prophet’s beauty is veiled behind his Sunnah. Just to be clear. Emulating and imitating the Prophet ﷺ in his comings and goings, and in his manners and modes of behaving, is the hallmark of a true believer; of a lover, even. But outward emulation is of little worth unless it both reflects and engenders a profound inward conformity.

At day’s end, those fixated upon just the external aspects of the Sunnah need ask only this: How long will I delay embracing the Sunnah’s inner wisdoms and beauty?

The Sunnah, let’s not forget, is the middle way; and strict compliance with the Sunnah is what faith enjoins so as to avoid the fringes of deviancy. But strictness driven by the ego’s diktats is extremism; strictness that is born of the Spirit is pure submission. In fact, one of the great virtues of the Prophet ﷺ was his perfect sense of balance and proportion; of being able to put things in their right priority, correct order and proper perspective. The closer we contour the Sunnah, the closer we are to such balance.

At the end of the day, those who obscure the lines between the Spirit’s rigour and the ego’s; making them cold, harsh and hostile, need only ask this: How long will I ignore the Sunnah’s inner beauty.

♦

As for those who consider the details of the Sunnah to be trivial and insignificant, for which we need to apologise or to exorcise from Islam; and if not, then from the public sphere, they either have a poor grasp of the realities of faith, or else are uninterested in the prophetic light. For his beauty ﷺ is in the detail, not just the broad strokes. We seek refuge in Allah from ugliness; and ask that He make us people of beauty.

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1. Muslim, no.147.

2. Fayd al-Qadir Sharh al-Jami‘ al-Saghir (Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah, n.d.), 2:224.

3. Muslim, no.771.

4. Al-Sa‘di, Bahjat al-Qulub al-Abrar (Cairo: Dar al-Furqan, 2004), 203

5. Muslim, no.746.

6. Islam and the Destiny of Man (Cambridge: The Islamic Texts Society, 1997), 201.

Posted in prophetology, theology and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
23 Jan 2014
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Celebrating the Prophet ﷺ

Prophet Muhammad PBUHThere have been times throughout history whereby the heavens have opened and the celestial light cleansed certain human souls who, as a result, were divinely invested with prophethood (nubuwwah) – the highest condition possible for any human being. For a prophet is a bridge, as it were, between heaven and earth; Creator and creation, helping us to recall our purpose of being and our ultimate return.

One hadith has it that Allah sent a hundred and twenty-four thousand such prophets to the peoples of the earth:1 And every people had a guide. [13:7] When the revelatory wisdoms of one prophet faded or were forgotten, the link was reforged by the sending of another prophet. The last person to be invested with prophethood was the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, after whom the prophetic age came to a completion and close. The Qur’an says:  Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the Seal of the Prophets. [33:40] As to the remaining ages of this world, the heavenly link would be reforged and renewed by scholars and saints; but never again by prophets.

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Rejoicing in the sending of the Prophet, peace be upon him, the Qur’an says: Allah has surely shown favour to the believers by sending them a Messenger from their midst to recite to them His signs, and to purify them, and to instruct them in the Book and in wisdom; whereas before this they were in clear error. [3:164] Not only did the Prophet bequeath to mankind knowledge that could quench their inborn thirst for matters spiritual and sacred, he came with perfect guidance for their temporal affairs too. So for Muslims, the Prophet is by far the greatest of the heavenly gifts to have ever descended upon the human realm; so much so that the shari’ah has actually marked the day on which he was born and when he first received revelation as a commendable day to fast. This, as a heart-felt thanks to our Creator for this precious of gifts and most wondrous of blessings.

The Prophet, upon whom be peace, was once asked about the significance of fasting on Mondays; so he replied: ‘This is the day on which I was born and which revelation first came to me.’2 Elaborating upon this hadith, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali says:

‘[In it] there is an indication that it is desirable to fast on those days where the favours of Allah upon His servants renew themselves. The greatest of the divine gifts to this nation is the manifestation of Muhammad, peace be upon him, to them and of him being sent to them as a Messenger. Allah, exalted is He, reveals: Allah has surely shown favour to the believers by sending them a Messenger from their midst. For the blessing of him being sent to this nation is far greater than of causing the heavens, the earth, or the sun, moon, winds, night, day, rainfall, food, vegetation or other things to actually exist. For these gifts are for the creation in general – even those of humanity who are disbelievers in Allah and His Messenger and the final meeting with Him; those whose response to the favours and graces of Allah is sheer ingratitude. As for the favour of sending Muhammad, peace be upon him, then by it the blessings of this world and the Afterlife were completed, and the religion Allah chose for His servants perfected. So his acceptance is the actual cause for their felicity in this world and the Afterlife. Thus, fasting on the day that Allah’s favour to His servants is renewed is not only good and excellent, but it is also a way to reciprocate Allah’s favours that are renewed at such times, with an abiding sense of gratitude.

‘Similar to this is fasting the day of ‘Ashura wherein Allah saved Noah from the Flood, and Moses and his people from Pharaoh and his army; drowning the latter in the sea. Both Noah and Moses, peace be upon them both, showed their gratitude to Allah by fasting [that day]. Allah’s Messenger, peace be upon him, [also] fasted this day out of emulating those Prophets of Allah. He said to the Jews: “We have more right to Moses than you.”3 He thus fasted that day and instructed others to do so too.’4

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Rejoicing in the sending of the Prophet, peace be upon him, is undoubtedly a central aspect of every believer’s faith – for it is his light and life that warms and illuminates believing hearts: O Prophet! We have sent you as a witness, and as a bringer of good news and a warner, and a caller to Allah by His permission, and as a lamp giving light. [33:45-6] As for celebrating the Prophet’s mawlid or birthday, annually, peace be upon him, this is an area of legitimate differing among the scholars and should not be made into a source of division or discord. Those who hold there is a shari‘ah basis to do so, will do so; those who don’t won’t. But none would disagree that celebrating the Prophet’s life on a daily basis – by adhering to his teachings, emulating his character, deepening our love and veneration of him, and habituating ourselves to abundantly invoke salawat or blessing of peace upon him – is where we all need to be heading. And unto that the believer holds!

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1. As per Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 5:265. The hadith with its collective chains yields a final grading of hasan; as demonstrated in al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadiih al-Sahihah (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Ma‘arif, 2005), no.2668.

2. Muslim, no.1162.

3. Al-Bukhari, no.2004; Muslim, no.1132.

4. Lata’if al-Ma‘arif (Riyadh: Dar Ibn Khuzaymah, 2007), 236-7.

Posted in a short read, prophetology and tagged , , , , , ,

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