Sufi cinema
September 12, 2008 at 7:58 am | Posted in Pseudo Sufism | 4 CommentsTags: pseudo sufis, sufism
Sufi cinema
Today so called” SUFIS” only emphasize on the verbal remembrance of Allah. They abandon many important aspects of Shariah and they concentrate on being a Sufi!
Sitting down happily doing dhikr, thinking that they are doing something for Islam. When you look at them, they appear to be proud and ready to promote their way of doing dhikr to other Muslims. They claim that they are the followers of great Saints like Sheikh Abdul Qadir and Khawaj Moinuddeen. But just take their outward appearance, they will be in western clothes and imitating the movie stars with or without their knowledge. They will easily accept any haram acts which goes totally against Quran and Sunna but will be furious when it comes to minor issues. Like for example showing respect to their leader(Sheikh), they will treat him as if he is the Prophet, slight slackness in treating him well will make them think that they have done a grave sin. But the same people will justify usury, insurance, lottery, free-mixing. Modern secular values and other haram acts. They will buy a car saying it necessity with riba. They will send their daughter to school without covering their awrah. They will be proud of their womenfolk progressing in worldly affairs and they will feel shy when their daughters, sister or wives want to follow Islam properly
If we look in to the lives of the great saints of Allah, they used to call such people as Munafiq.Qadiri, Rifayee, Ahmadi Idrisi, Naqshabandi, Qhisty, Tijani, Zshadhuli, Suhrawardi and countless of other tareeqa or Sufi Orders.
We are living in post-Khilafa period. We are living our lives without an Imam. We do not have a Jama’ah. We are all disunited today mainly because of the modern nation-states and also because of our race and language. Sadly the over emphasize on the creeds of Islam and schools of thought have further divided us and have caused a permanent division among us. With addition to this divisions we have the Tareeqas(sufi orders). In reality all these tareeqa are not division or gropus. The sufi orders which they are named are all after the names of great saints of Islam. None of them called for separate identity nor a group. They were all pious Muslims and were always interested in the unity of the Ummah. How could they have called their followers to isolate from the rest of Muslims to promote their ways of doing Dhikr and commanded the Muslim laymen to address himself as Qadiri or Naqshaabandi?
All of the great saints of Islam deserve a great love by all Muslims as they were the cause of the spread of Islam in many parts of the world. If you visit many parts of India or Indonesia, you will find tombs of many Sufi saints. People are now visiting them day and night, they were the ones whoc spread Islam and whoc brought the people to Islam. Through them the countries, which were not captured by Islamic Armies like India, Malaya and Indonesia, embraced Islam. They concentrated on Dawah, they struggled against the oppressors and teach everyone about the beauty of Islam.
Their followers were all great people who were well versed in the knowledge of Shariah, They were not ignorants. They taught the whole of Islam and not just dhikr, They taught them how to get yourself away from the evil concepts like materialism. They taught the Muslims how to do dawah and how to live and die for the sake of Islam.
They lead a very simple life and followed Prophet Muhammad in all aspects of life , not just in outward apperance like the modern so called Sufis.
SUFISM DOES NOT EXIST TODAY, even though,,Tasawwuf which has its foundation in Islam of course exist and we are suppose to follow it. We have to concenterate on SHARIAH today and bring to our lives and we can’t blindly follow the sufi aspect of any SUFIs from the past. Firstly because, they were living in the Islamic Khilafah period in which they were all safe and protected from the enemies of Islam. The Muslim lands were all protected and the honours of women were also protected unlike today. Today the world is totally opposite. Muslims face poverty, Oppression, Occupation of evil oppressors in mUlsim land, diseases and so many problems today. Quran command us to help the Muslims and feed the poor who are in need of help. WE are supposed to work for the humanity.
Prophet Muhammad’s.a.w. life is a good example for everyone in which we can see how cocerned was he for the ummah unlike many so call Sufis who are trying to get many followers and to relie on them financially and deviate them from the true path.Today the Sufi claimers attribute themselves in to many Tareeqa orders even though they are in reality, just pretenders.
Who is the “SAVED SECT”?!
September 12, 2008 at 7:42 am | Posted in Muslim Unity | Leave a comment73 Sects
He replied: “The one that follows what I and my Companions are upon right now.”
This hadîth is mentioned all of the time. In fact, scarcely does anyone speak on the topic of disagreement without mentioning it. This hadîth is often mentioned inappropriately and to audiences who cannot fully appreciate its implications. Therefore, I wish to discuss this hadîth and elucidate more clearly what it is telling us.
This hadîth is not recorded in either Sahîh al-Bukhârî or Sahîh Muslim. This by no means implies that the hadîth is unauthentic. However, it is possible that they did not mention it because it was not up to their arduous standards of authenticity.
The hadîth can be found in the four Sunan works and in Musnad Ahmad with different chains of transmission. Some scholars declared it to be authentic or at least good, including al-Tirmidhî, al-Hâkim, al-Dhahabî, Ibn Taymiyah, al-Shâtibî, and Ibn Hajar al-`Asqalânî. Others declared it as weak, including ibn Hazm and Ibn al-Wazîr.
The most correct opinion is that it is authentic; taking into consideration the large number of ways it has reached us, with some chains of transmission strengthening the deficiencies of others. Nevertheless, we should not behave as if it is the only hadîth in the world that addresses the issue of difference among Muslims.
We have the hadîth where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “This community of mine is a community blessed with mercy. It is not punished in the Hereafter. Instead, it is punished in this world with strife, instability, and bloodshed.” [Musnad Ahmad, Sunan Abî Dâwûd, and Mustadrak al-Hâkim] It is an authentic hadîth. It indicates that Allah has shown mercy on the Islamic community and that its punishment will be in this world instead of the Hereafter.
The Muslim community is the community most highly esteemed by Allah. The Qur’ân and Sunnah both state this fact in the most unambiguous terms. It is better than the communities that followed the previous scriptures were in their own era, namely the Jews and the Christians. This is why Allah says: “You are the best community brought forth for humanity.” [Sûrah Âl-`Imrân: 110] and: “And likewise we made you a balanced nation.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 143]
The Prophet (peace be upon him) on so many occasions emphasized the fact that the Muslim community is the best community of faith on Earth. Therefore, no one should ever infer from the hadîth about the 73 sects that the previous communities of faith were less divided amongst themselves and therefore were somehow better or less afflicted.
Ibn Mas`ûd relates that he was with some people when the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked them: “Would you like to be one quarter of the population of Paradise?” When they replied that they would indeed like that, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked them: “Would you like to be one third of the population of Paradise?” When they replied that they would indeed like that, the Prophet (peace be upon him) asked them: “Would you like to be one half of the population of Paradise?” When they replied that they would indeed like that, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “I swear by Him in whose hand is Muhammad’s soul. Indeed, I hope that you will be half the population of Paradise. This is because none shall enter Paradise except a soul that has surrendered to Allah, and you are to the polytheists like a single white hair on the hide of a black bull or a single black hair on the hide of a red bull.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim]
In this hadîth, the Prophet (peace be upon him) made it clear that half of the denizens of paradise will be from among his followers.
Allah has forgiven this community what it falls into by mistake or out of forgetfulness. We are instructed by the Qur’ân to offer the following supplication: “Our Lord, do not impose blame on us if we forget or err.” [Sûrah al-Baqarah: 286] The prophet (peace be upon him) said: ‘Allah has pardoned my community what it commits by mistake, out of forgetfulness, or out of compulsion.” This is an indisputable principle of Islamic jurisprudence recognized by all scholars and jurists.
Moreover, Allah has spared this community from the burdens and impositions that the previous religious communities had upon them. Allah says: “He releases them from their heavy burdens and from the yokes that are upon them.” [Sûrah al-A`râf: 157]
Returning to the hadîth about the 73 sects, the fact that the Muslims will divide into a larger number of sects has puzzled some scholars throughout the ages. However, there are a number of possible answers to this puzzle.
First of all, the Muslim era is the longest era for any religious community.
Secondly, the divisions within the Muslim community are by far less serious that the divisions suffered by those who have gone before. The deficiencies brought about by the divisions among Muslims are more than counterbalanced by the good and the favor that the Muslims possess. Moreover, the existence of a sect does not require that the sect has many followers. One person following his own ideas can constitute a sect. Therefore, it is quite possible for there to be 72 other sects that collectively constitute a small percentage of the entire Muslim community.
The real problem exists with those who fancy themselves as the “saved sect” to the exclusion of all others, declaring everyone else to be astray and damning them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “If a man says that the people are damned, then he is the damnedest of them all.”
We must bear in mind that the Prophet (peace eb upon him) described those other 72 sects as Muslims. He said: “My community will divide into 73 sects.” This means that the followers of those sects are neither unbelievers nor polytheists. They are, in general, Muslims and believers. This does not mean that there cannot be a few hypocrites and unbelievers among them. However, the overwhelming majority of them believe, in spite of their deviance and their shortcomings. This is the way that most of the scholars have understood the hadîth of the 73 sects, including Ibn Taymiyah and al-Shâtibî.
It was not the practice of our pious predecessors to concern themselves with identifying these sects. Al-Shâtibî makes this point clear in his book al-Muwâfaqât. Ibn Taymiyah also states this in a number of his works. He says:
Anyone from one of the 72 other sects who is a hypocrite is indeed an unbeliever in his heart. Anyone form among them who is not a hypocrite but who in fact believes in Allah and His Messenger is not an unbeliever, regardless of whatever mistakes in interpretation they may have. When a believer says: “Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who have preceded us in faith” [from Sûrah al-Hashr: 10], he means all the Muslims of the past centuries, even those who made mistakes in interpretation, acted contrary to the Sunnah, or committed some sins. They are still from his brothers who preceded him in faith and they all come under the generality of his supplication, even if they had belonged to one f the 72 other sects. Each one of these sects contains within its ranks a large number of people who are not unbelievers. They are believers who have gone somewhat astray and have sinned, making them worthy of the threat of punishment.
This hadîth should be seen in the proper perspective. Though we might view it as authentic, we should not extend its meaning beyond what it actually says. We should not allow this hadîth to be used to aggravate divisions between Muslims and stir up arguments among believers.
Al Munawwar
September 12, 2008 at 7:28 am | Posted in al munawwar | 2 CommentsAl Munawwar
Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu!
Al-Munawwar literally means “Enlightened”. Al Munawwar, that was the first Muslim community formed by Rasoolullah(s.a.w) in Madinatul Munawwarah. The community consisted of all the companions of Rasoolullah(s.a.w) who were united and loved each other based on Islamic Brotherhood. There was no difference of race, color or language amongst them. Everyone was equal. They were not divided into sects or schools of thoughts, even though they had differences amongst them. Their only identity was Muslims and did not identify themselves with names other than that.
That was the first Muslim community which Allah has praised in the holy Quran. Those were our leaders who taught us to live base on the Islamic Unity which we are lacking today. Amongst them we find many youth who understand Islam and sacrificed for Allah and Rasool(s.a.w).Today we must implement that method of unity and brotherhood formed by our Prophet (s.a.w) on the Madinan Society. And from there Rasoolullah (s.a.w) and his companions gave the world,the message of Islam.
Ansar, the natives of Madinah join hands with Muhajirin, those who migrated from Makkah. They were bided by the brotherhood. Ansar helped the Muhajirin and eradicated the national boundaries. They showed the world what is known as the Universal Brotherhood, which is beyond geographical locations. They had among them, Arabs, Africans, Roman and Persian. They were all united, unlike us today. All of them were like the bricks in a building, holding close and tight.
We must form the same Al Munawwar, which was the cause of the spread of Islam in the world today. Al Munawwar is not a group or sect in Islam, It was just a name given to Madhinah by Prophet (s.a.w), Madinatul Munawwarah. The city which is filled with Noor(light). So when we start to follow Prophet (s.a.w) and his companions Allah will give us the Noor of Islam.Al Munawwar is just an ideology understood from the lives of Prophet (s.a.w) and his companions (r.a). Prophet (s.a.w) was sent as a mercy to all creations. Allah has praised Rasoolullah (s.a.w) as
And We have not sent you but as a Mercy to all creation.(Al Quran 21:107).
Prophet (s.a.w) is mercy not only to mankind but even to jinns, animals and to other creations. He (s.a.w) is for everyone, both to Muslims and non-Muslims. So we must love all creations of Allah and propagate the peaceful message of Islam to all mankind regardless of race, language or religion. Today humanity needs a path, straight path, which has been introduced by Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w)1400 years ago. Let us spread the message of love and universal brotherhood and carry the message of Islam to every corner of the world.
Wassalam
Jihad and the Middle Way
September 12, 2008 at 7:10 am | Posted in Misc Articles | Leave a commentTags: jihad
Jihad and the Middle Way
Anyone who makes the claim that he wants to serve the Deen yet is not thinking about jihad in the way of Allah, either has no understanding or he is not a truthful and sincere person. However, concerning the issue of jihad, people have gone to two extremes, both of which are mistaken. One group understood from the concept of jihad that it is necessary to view all the kuffar as those whom we must raise the sword or rifle to kill. The other group understands from the concept of jihad that we must be gentle, affectionate, and love all of them, and by doing such we would be �struggling� (i.e. making �jihad�) with them to bring them back to Allah and His Deen. Obviously, both groups have fallen into error. In reality, we are not a people whose mission is to kill the kuffar, nor are we a people who love the kuffar unrestrictedly. When it is time for fighting, we do not fight except those who, by doing so, we would be serving Allah alone (not our passions or personal agendas).
Sayyidina Ali (may Allah honor his face) was fighting a kafir in one of the battles. During the battle Sayyidna Ali knocked him down and raised his sword to kill him. As soon as the kafir knew that he was going to be killed he spat in Sayyidna Ali�s face, so immediately Sayyidna Ali left him and went on his way. He was later asked, �Why did you leave him when Allah clearly gave you power over him?!� Sayyidna Ali replied, �I was fighting him for the sake of Allah, and when he spat in my face I feared that if I killed him it would have been out of personal revenge and spite.�
From this we understand that it is obligatory that we differentiate between fighting people who are our own personal enemies and others whom we fight because they are the enemies of Allah. If a believer is forced to fight a kafir, he fights him not because the kafir hates him, because the kafir is conspiring against him, because the kafir wants to overcome him, rather, he fights him only because he is an enemy to Allah, the time to fight has come, and the command from Allah has been given.
On the other hand, we have those who say, �We must love the kuffar, be kind with them, and esteem them. They are nice people and they have a lot of good in them.� People who say this have mixed truth with falsehood, just as those who say they want to kill all the kuffar, without understanding or differentiation, have also mixed truth with falsehood.
It is impossible for a true believer to love a kafir: �You will not find people who believe in Allah and the Last Day having love for anyone who opposes Allah and His Messenger� (Qur�an 58-21). With this said, we do love goodness for them. There is a clear difference between loving them and loving goodness for them. If you say you love them then you are claiming that you love their essence (thaat) that you interact with in front of you, yet the believer doesn�t love any essence except the essence of Allah (Thaatul-llah), the Mighty and Majestic. If you love the good qualities in them while desiring that the possessor of these qualities is saved from the fire, and uses them in the service of Allah, while looking at them with the eye of mercy and the eye of desiring salvation for them, because you know that this pleases Allah, then in this case you have understood how to interact with them.
So we view all the kuffar as being, firstly, the creation of Allah. And as Muslims, we love Allah�s creation. Therefore, we do not love the kafir, rather, we love Allah�s creation (suna� Allah). We view them as being a means for our spiritual transaction with Allah; a means for our drawing nearer to Allah. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, �For Allah to guide one person (to Islam) through you is greater than the whole world and all that is in it.�
Hence, through this balance do we interact with them upon the foundation of having mercy for them, compassion for them, and a desire to try to save them from the fire. This is the only way we should view our interaction with them. We do not esteem the influential one amongst them because he can benefit us in our da�wah (as a kafir), nor are we generous with the needy amongst them because we love them in themselves, rather, we deal with the influential, the poor, the sick, and the young amongst them with mercy, and through mercy, because this is the way that Allah loves.
The way we enter discourse with them should be in ways that their intellects can understand, using means that they like and are familiar with, as long as it is not prohibited in the Sacred Law. This is not because those means are the only means, but rather, because they are means that Allah loves. So if the time comes that it is more pleasing to Allah that we use another type of means, with some of them, then we do not hesitate for even one second to abandon the old method and to use the new method. The principle is that we are expansive and inclusive of everyone, merciful with everyone, loving and wanting goodness for everyone, from societies to leaders, from Muslims to kafirs. Then if a situation arose that calls us to deal with sternness, even if it reached the level of fighting, then we do not allow our previous ways of mercy and gentleness to delay that which Allah has commanded.
One of the sons of Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, did not become a Muslim while they were in Mecca, and as you know, the affection of a father to his son is much greater then the affection of a son to his father. In Mecca, Sayyidina Abu Bakr tried with love and gentleness to convince his son as to the veracity of Islam. He used the best and loftiest means to try to bring him over to Islam, yet Allah had not decreed for him to become a Muslim just yet. Sayyidina Abu Bakr made Hijrah and later went to fight in the battle of Badr. This son of his also went out on the day of Badr, yet he was with the kuffar. The son was trying his best to avoid his father so they would not have to fight each other. Later, when his son accepted Islam, he said to his father, �Oh my father, on the day of Badr (when I was a kafir) I was avoiding you so we wouldn�t have to fight.� Sayyidina Abu Bakr replied to him, �As for me, if I met you on that day I would have killed you.�
What is the reason behind this? This intricate point is necessary for us to understand. When the action of the son wasn�t based on servitude to Allah, but rather, was based on compassion (for his father), and his going out to battle was only for glory, honor, and nationalistic goals, this was how he acted. His actions were a slave to his emotions. On the other hand, the actions of Sayyidina Abu Bakr (in Mecca) and his love and compassion were not for himself, but for the sake of his Lord. So when the time came that he had to serve Allah by fighting against his son, he didn�t waiver, even if it meant his own son�s death. We are in need of this criterion in establishing the correct concept of jihad with the kuffar.
Therefore, the understanding of jihad is to establish the means for the guidance and salvation of the kuffar, not merely to just fight them. Fighting them happens in a few cases, and the goal behind it is to save others from the oppression of the ones who are preventing the guidance from spreading. We do not fight out of revenge and spite. The Muslim doesn�t fight because the kafir is my (personal) enemy, because the kafir is conspiring against me, because the kafir has killed and slaughtered other Muslims. The Muslim fights the kafir because he has prevented and has become a barrier for the guidance to reach others. Again, the Muslim doesn�t fight out of revenge and only because the enemy has killed other Muslims. Think about what is being said deeply!
The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, when he entered Mecca, didn�t avenge for the killings of the Muslims on the day of Uhud., even though Allah established him over the kuffar on that day of the great Conquest (the Fath). These disbelievers in Mecca were the same ones who killed his companions and members of his own family! These were the same people who barred the guidance from reaching others. These were the same people who ripped open the chest and stomach of Sayyidina Hamza (the uncle and companion of the Blessed Prophet, peace be upon him). These were the same people who ate from the liver of Sayyidina Hamza, may Allah be blessed with him. And what is more amazing is that those who actually conspired to kill Hamza (Hind and Wahshi), their Islam was accepted by the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, and he didn�t kill either of them even after their accepting of the faith.
If we were to understand that the purpose of fighting against the kuffar is to avenge for spilt Muslim blood then it would have been befitting for the Prophet, peace be upon him, to command the killing of Wahshi and Hind right when he entered Mecca. But the issue with the Muslims is not one of revenge, it is an issue of guidance and the spreading of its light. The Muslim is the �letter of guidance� sent to humanity from Allah (al-Muslim bareed hidayat-illah ila al-khalq). So when the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, saw that there was hope in them being guided he said, �Go, for verily you are free.� And this is how our interaction must be. The day I meet with an enemy soldier off the battle field, who killed Muslims in Afghanistan, and I sense that he may want guidance, then I will treat him with the utmost of mercy. This is what we MUST understand. So our ultimate and primary mission in jihad is their guidance, even while we might be (physically) fighting them!
All this is clearly understood in the beautiful story where our Blessed Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, got upset with Usamah ibn Zaid, the beloved, the son of the beloved (he was named this because the Prophet, peace be upon him, loved him greatly). Usamah was out on the battle field fighting the enemy. During the heat of the battle one of the enemies slipped and fell, so Usamah lifted his sword to strike him. Immediately the enemy shouted out �La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammad Rasul-lullah,� yet, Usamah struck and killed the man anyway. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, heard of this and began to greatly blame and censure Usamah saying, �Did you kill him after he said it (the Shahadah)!?� Usamah replied, �Oh Messenger of Allah, he only said it our of fear of the sword.��Did you look into his heart?! Oh Usamah,� replied the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him.
This same kafir may have killed many Muslims on that day, and he was in the act of fighting against the Muslims, yet, as soon as he said the Shahadah, even if it was in hypocrisy, and Usamah didn�t refrain himself and killed him, the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, became very upset. The Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, continued to blame Usamah about what he did for the rest of the day, until Usamah said, �I wish that I became a Muslim after this day� (meaning that he wished that the event never even happened and that he could have a fresh start in Islam).
This incident is not mentioned to put blame on Sayyidina Usamah, may Allah be pleased with him. Rather, there is an important principle that we must understand here. The mishaps of the individual companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, are looked at as a further perfection in the society of the companions. This is so because the goal behind the community of the companions is that we may emulate them, so if no mishaps occurred by individual companions, then we would not know how to deal with a person who falls into error in our time and the times to come. Therefore, the mishap of one of the companions is in reality a perfection on the societal level. All this was so that the realities of what it really means to learn may fully manifest themselves for us.
In this incident, the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him, made firm in our hearts the understanding that even while fighting, our goal is their guidance. So if the enemy shows the signs of being guided, then the fighting between us and them ceases, even if it was an outward form without any true reality. That is why the meaning of the statement, �Did you kill him after he said it, Oh Usamah?!� is that we should not let our drive to fight blind us from the real cause of fighting, which is their guidance.
This is why they mention about our master Al-Hussein, the son of Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both), when his army met the army of the mistaken and fugitive Muslims who wanted to kill him, he looked at them and began to weep. The number of Al-Hussein�s men, including the women (non-combatants), did not exceed 80, while the number of the opposition was greater then 3,000. Remember, Al-Hussein is the son of the daughter of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessing be upon him, the beautiful scent of the Messenger (rayhanat Rasulillah, a title given to him by the Messenger himself, peace be upon him), the master of the youth of paradise, the one whom the Messenger made supplication to Allah for saying, �Oh Allah, love the one who loves him (Al-Hussein).�
The army had risen against Al-Hussein after pledging allegiance to him. They gathered 17,000 signatures from the people of their land and called Al-Hussein out to them saying �come and lead us to goodness.� So when he went to them they met him with an army of 3,000 men wanting to kill him, most of them being from amongst those who signed the allegiance. These were people who wanted to commit one of the greatest crimes on the face of the earth: killing a member of the family of the Prophet, peace and blessing be upon him!
As Al-Hussein stood looking at his deceptive opponents he began to weep. His sister, Zaiynab, saw him weeping so she asked him, �What is it that makes you weep, Oh Hussein? Are you afraid of death? For verily you are heading for your martyred brother Al-Hasan, your martyred father Ali, your mother Fatima, and your grandfather the Messenger of Allah!� Al-Hussein turned to her and said �Woe to you, Oh Zaynab! Al-Hussein is not one to be afraid of death!� �Then what is this that I see upon your face?� she asked. He replied, �Oh Zaynab, I looked at these men who were treacherous to the covenant of Allah that we made, and I see that they will kill me and enter the fire if they have no right for doing so, while I wish that they will go to paradise instead.�
This is the meaning that is incumbent upon you to understand concerning jihad. If you understand this while removing from your hearts the delusional power of �physical means,� and �people of means� (ahlul-asbab), while adding to this the realities of da�wah and seeking sacred knowledge, and you take these as means to the foundational purpose of your creation, which is your worship of Allah, you will be from amongst those chosen and elevated by Allah, to the levels of closeness, in this age that we live in. And this is the mission that you came for, if you but understood. This is what you must ask Allah for in these days that end Ramadan, and for the rest of your lives.
Insignificance of Race in Islam
September 12, 2008 at 3:36 am | Posted in Muslim Unity | Leave a comment
Commemorating the Birth Of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)
September 12, 2008 at 3:32 am | Posted in Misc Articles, Prophet Muhammad(S.a.W) | Leave a commentTags: mawlid
In the Name Of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Peace and Salutations be upon Prophet Muhammad and his Companions.
Commemorating the Birth Of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)
It has been a practice in the Muslim Ummah for centuries that the birth of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) is celebrated grandly. This practice was first started during the Fatimid dynasty. Though it was stopped later due to the change of dynasty, in the beginning of the 7th century, a prince by the name of Muzafar Al-Deen Abi Sa`d Kawakbri Ibn Zein Ed-Deen started the practices of Mawlid Nabi again.At that time it was celebrated in a very grand way and it continued throughout the Muslim world till today
Though none of the companions celebrated the Prophet’s birthday in the manner which was done during and after the time of Muzaffar, it does not mean that we should abstain from commemorating the Birth of Prophet(s).The purpose of this article is not to say that we should not celebrate Mawlid or to call it a misguided innovation, rather our aim is to inform the Ummah that Mawlid should not be celebrated or commemorated in the way which we are currently celebrating.
Today people hold different views with regards to the celebration of the birth of Prophet (s.a.w). One group which consists of scholars and laymen supports the Mawlid celebrations and the other group believes that such celebrations are bad innovations in Islam and should be stopped immediately. This situation is going on in the Muslim world for many years. And over the decades, arguments and conflicts within the Ummah pertaining to this matter increased to a great extent.
If we put aside any sectarian bias we have and look at this issue rationally we will come to the conclusion that these celebrations are actually permissible as long as they are aligned with Shariah. This view has been supported by many scholars like Sheik Yusuf al Qaradawi. However having said that the present way in which the Muslim Ummah celebrate the birth of Prophet(s.a.w) is something we have to ask ourselves whether it is based on the Sunnah of Prophet and his companions as it contradicts the Teaching of Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w) in many ways.
The Present Situation
Even though origin of celebrating Prophet’ birth, Mawlidur Rasool (s.a.w) existed long in the Islamic history, the present form taken by the Muslims makes one doubt whether this is really commemorating the birth of Prophet(s).Apart from reciting poem without knowing the meaning, and which was written by traditional scholars in Arabic, the main attraction of this celebration is FOOD. LAVISH food. Many rich people who are wealthy come forward to spend blindly on food.
From the way this event is celebrated, one thing for sure is that whether your love for Prophet increase or not, definitely your weight will increase because of the delicious Mutton Briyani which we are offered throughout the month Rabiul Awwal and the following month. Every mosque and Muslim organization spends thousands and thousands of dollars just on FOOD! Allah declares those who spend extravagantly as:
Verily spendthrifts are brothers of Shaitan and Shaitan is to his Lord ungrateful. Al-Quran17: 27
Even Madrasahs which are always seeking financial assistance spend extravagantly for this occasion; their whole food expenses may cost 20 thousand dollars. While their students are having a hard time buying the school text books because of their financial situation, this is how the Madrasah show their love for Prophet (s.a.w) by “helping” those students!
These Muslims who get this food are not poor. Most of them are financially stable, who are eager to get the free food thinking that the food is Baraqah. This is not Baraqah. You can get Baraqah only if you feed the poor. Rich Muslims should think before they sponsor for such Mawlid programs. They should ask whether it is really necessary to spend extravagantly and whether they will earn the love from our Prophet (s.a.w). Instead of spending money on the food for the public they should rather donate this money to the poor and needy who can be found even in the country which we live. At the same time, an organization should be formed in order to help the foreign Muslims too, which is of course a huge task for laymen to accomplish.
At least if we are Muslims living in places like Africa or Indonesia the grand distribution of food could be justified. In these countries, the poor are suffering without food, but yet we who are living luxuriously are eating on their behalf! We Muslims here in this country have one of the highest standards of living compared to Muslims from other countries. No Muslim here is having a shortage in food, Alhamdulillah everybody has more than enough. Even the poorest person here gets his daily needs. There are many charity organizations available here to take care of their other needs apart from food and accommodations.
Those living in poor Muslim countries like Bangladesh, Iraq, Pakistan and Palestine are lacking access to essential health services, suffering hunger or even starvation. They experience mental and physical health problems which make it harder for them to improve their situation. Every year nearly 11 million children living in poverty die before the age of 5. Those living in poverty often suffer from hunger. 800 million people go to bed hungry every night. Just imagine, the number is not 8 thousand but 800 million. A United Nations press release said action is urgently needed to tackle a range of problems facing over 600 million children in the Islamic world, from poverty and disease to education and protection. And here we are wasting our money on food claiming that we love Prophet (s.a.w). Is this how we love our Prophet(s.a.w)?
As we can see in the mosques, the mosque committee is arranging for the food daily and distributing to the Muslim laymen who is not aware of the simplicity which our Prophet (s) commanded in eating and drinking. I have personally witness with my own eyes that how much the mosques are wasting food while boasting that they are commemorating the birth of Prophet Muhammad(s).
Wastage and Extravagance
Extravagance is blameworthy and forbidden in all matters, ESPECIALLY in food and drink. Allah says,
‘And Eat and Drink but waste not by extravagance, certainly He (Allah) likes not al-Musrifoon (those who waste by extravagance).’ (Al-Quran 7: 31)
Islam stresses on moderation. We are told to be moderate in everything we do. And even in celebrating the Eid, we have to be moderate.While in many parts of the world people are starving and dying because of hunger, how can we behave in this manner? This money which is spent on food should be stopped and it should be used to help the poor and needy Muslims. Rather than to spend money on this unnecessarily we should direct the effort and our resources on other issues which can solve the problems of Muslims in general.
How will Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w) will react if he sees these practices? Wouldn’t he be sad that his Ummah is pretending to love him truly and wasting money and food? Wouldn’t he be sad that no Muslims today follow his simplicity in eating and drinking?
We have forgotten our responsibility as Muslims, at a critical time in the Muslim history, when Muslims are oppressed and Muslim women’s honor is insecure. We Muslims who claim to love Rasoolullah (s.a.w) are not doing anything to help them or relieve them from their suffering! We do not have any proper charity organization which is doing an efficient duty like Red-Cross. We Muslims should learn from them how we can aid the fellow human beings who are suffering. We are not doing anything useful today while our Muslim brothers, sisters and children are crying for help all over the globe. Shouldn’t we do something about this condition? We must give away part of our wealth in charity and help change the lives of Muslims in the world instead of wasting money on Mawlid celebrations.
But we can see Muslims are not bothered and are self centered, saying that this is the way to show the love on Prophet Muhammmad(s.a.w) by spending thousands of dollars on food without having concern over the affairs of Muslims. How will you get the love of Prophet (s)) when you are acting against the teaching of Quran and his Sunnah? If you really love him you are supposed to obey him in his every deed.
Say: “If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” (Al Quran 3:31)
Many Muslims have this mindset that by sponsoring for the Mawlid Celebrations they will get lots of rewards and their sins will be forgiven. They are totally wrong. Instead their sins are being increased because they do not spend this money on the poor and needy but waste them just to show everyone.
Now our question is that if you really love Prophet (s) why are you spending extravagantly? Just look at a few of the ahadith to see how our Prophet(s.a.w) lived a simple life. Of course there are many more ahadith in the list which could not be listed due to the length of this article.
Anas said about the Prophet’s life: “According to my knowledge, the Messenger of Allâh (s.a.w) has never tasted a thin flattened loaf in all his lifetime, nor has he ever seen with his own eyes roasted mutton.” [Sahih Al-Bukhari 2/956] The Holy Prophet (s.a.w) thought it a luxury and therefore avoided it.
Aishah said: “Over two months have elapsed — during which we have seen three crescents — and yet no fire has been kindled in the houses of the Messenger of Allâh (s.a.w) (i.e. they did not cook food).” “What did you eat to sustain yourselves?” ‘Urwah asked. She said “The two blacks: dates and water” [ibid 2/956]. Lots of information about the hard life of the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) were told.
I repeat again that I am not saying that we should not celebrate Mawlid. Rather this is not the way to celebrate the Mawlid.We are not living in the time of Caliphate when, wealth flourished among Muslims and no Muslims were living in poverty. In fact we have to prioritize what we are supposed to do today. Today the economy is not in our hand. We Muslims are not progressive and are now having a hard time. Be it locally or internationally Muslims are having a lot of problems. This is our main issue now. We need help and support within the Ummah. Instead of spending extravagantly for the celebration, the same amount or more should be used for other purposes like aiding the orphans, helping the handicapped Muslims, helping the broken families, giving financial assistance to converts, helping those who are in debt, supporting the widows with children, assisting Muslim youth for education and helping the Muslims who are in poverty in foreign countries. Do you think that by doing theses types of work, we are not commemorating the birth of Rasoolullah(s.a.w)?
Is eating and drinking the only way that we celebrate Mawlid? Just fulfilling our nafs and than we say commemorating the Birth of Prophet (s.a.w). Recite few poems written in Arabic and than we say we love our Prophet(s.a.w) while majority of them do not understand the message of Quran. Is this the way companions of Prophet (s.a.w) showed their love for Prophet(s.a.w)?
How can we enjoy eating this way while our Muslim brother can’t get a biscuit to eat in oppressed Muslim lands? Rasool(s.a.w) did not even leave a single dirham at his house, he spend it on the needy. What about us? We boast that we love our Prophet(s) but what are we doing? Didn’t Rasool(s) said in a Hadith that you are not a Muslim if you eat to your full while your neighbor goes hungry.
Remember that there are millions of Muslims in this world who are still suffering in hardship in this blessed month. Muslims are too poor to afford good clean food. They live each day in hunger. They live each day shivering with cold for lack of warm clothes. They live each day without a roof over their heads. And here we are blessed with shelter, food and money and all forms of Rizq from Allah, the almighty. Dare we waste them? This is not the way to commemorate the birth of Prophet (s.a.w).
It is reported in Al-Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet (s.a.w) said: “He who does not follow my SUNNAH, is not from me (not one of my followers).” It is also reported in Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abu Ya`la that the Prophet (s.a.w) said: “Whoever loves me should follow my tradition.”
Let us not become hypocrites who say that we love the Prophet (s.a.w) but hurt him by not following his message. If we really love the Prophet let us spend the money wisely to help Muslims and not waste it in Mawlid celebrations
Wassalam
Humble Servant of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w)
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