Da’wah Bitesize by Talib Jaleel - HTML preview

Among the qualities a da’ee should posses are:

• Expect nothing worldly in return.

• Humility, make oneself small.

• Have mercy, love, forgiveness for the entire creations.

• Work in stages and not affected by results.

• Relentless, uses every opportunity. Never takes a holiday like the Sun.

Developing the above noble qualities is a must for a da’ee for him to be steadfast and successful. Allah guides him first who makes effort to con-nect Allah to his slaves, and then chooses him to guide others.

Maulana Yusuf ?:

To make effort in Europe & America and such materialistic coun-

tries, the workers needed to be slaves of Allah with a level of

yaqin that they do not stretch their tongues out for the bling-

bling and worldly attractive life and social systems. Instead, they

should shed tears upon seeing the systems of life contrary to Is-

lam and the amali life brought by Rasulullah r .

 

Wisdom of Opposition to Da'wah

Every da’wah which calls to the truth will definitely face opposition and ob-stacles. People will argue against it and put doubt in it. Allah I informs us about it:

 

* َنوُئِزْهَت ْسَي ِهِب اوُناَك اَّلِٕا ٍلوُسَر ْنِم ْمِهيِتْٔاَي اَم ۚ ِداَبِعْلا ىَلَع ًةَر ْسَح اَي

Alas for mankind! There never came a messenger to them but

they used to mock at him. [36:30]

The trials and afflictions is by design, it serves a very important purpose among others, that is to purify the community of imposters.

 

* اًريِصَنَو اًيِداَه َكِّبَرِب ٰىَفَكَو ۗ َنيِمِرْجُمْلا َنِم اًّوُدَع ٍّيِبَن ِّلُكِل اَنْلَعَج َكِلَٰذَكَو

Thus have We made for every Prophet an enemy among the Mu-

jrimun (disbelievers, polytheists, criminals, etc.). But Sufficient

is your Lord as a Guide and Helper. [25:31]

 

ۗ ِبِّيَّطلا َنِم َثيِبَخْلا َزيِمَي ٰىَّتَح ِهْيَلَع ْمُتْنَٔا اَم ٰىَلَع َنيِنِمْؤُمْلا َرَذَيِل ُهَّللا َناَك اَم

Allah will not leave the believers in the state in which you are

now, until He separates the wicked from the good. [3:179]

 

* ْمُكَراَبْخَٔا َوُلْبَنَو َنيِرِبا َّصلاَو ْمُكْنِم َنيِدِهاَجُمْلا َمَلْعَن ٰىَّتَح ْمُكَّنَوُلْبَنَلَو

And We will surely test you until We make evident those who

strive [for the cause of Allah] and the patient, and We will test

your affairs. [47:31]

There is absolutely no doubt that Allah’s knowledge precedes the occur-

rence of all events. In this ayat, “ ” means ‘until We know of its oc- َمَلْعَن ٰىَّتَح

currence.’ This is why Ibn ‘Abbasd said in regard to this and similar texts,

“ ”, means, ”so that We may see [2].” َمَلْعَن ٰىَّتَح

151

Opposition to da’wah cannot harm deen as Allah I destroys their effort:

 

ْنَل ٰىَدُهْلا ُمُهَل َنَّيَبَت اَم ِدْعَب ْنِم َلوُسَّرلا اوُّقا َشَو ِهَّللا ِليِب َس ْنَع اوُّد َصَو اوُرَفَك َنيِذَّلا َّنِٕا

* ْمُهَلاَمْعَٔا ُطِبْحُيَسَو اًئْيَش َهَّللا اوُّر ُضَي

Verily, those who disbelieve, and hinder (men) from the path of

Allah, and oppose the Messenger, after the guidance has been

clearly shown to them, they will not hurt Allah in the least, but

He will make their deeds fruitless. [47:32]

 

Patience & Steadfastness

When trials come, the da’ee must be steadfast. The da’ee should bear pa-tiently any harm as Allah is with the patient:

 

َنِمَو ْمُكِلْبَق ْنِم َباَتِكْلا اوُتؤُا َنيِذَّلا َنِم َّنُعَم ْسَتَلَو ْمُك ِسُفْنَٔاَو ْمُكِلاَوْمَٔا يِف َّنُوَلْبُتَل

* ِروُمُٔاْلا ِمْزَع ْنِم َكِلَٰذ َّنِٕاَف اوُقَّتَتَو اوُرِب ْصَت ْنِٕاَو ۚ اًريِثَك ىًذَٔا اوُكَرْشَٔا َنيِذَّلا

You will certainly be tried in your property and in your persons,

and you will certainly hear much that will grieve you from those

who received the scripture before you and from those who as-

cribe partners to Allah; but if you persevere patiently, and be-

come muttaqis then verily, that will be a determining factor in

all affairs. [3:186]

 

* اًروُفَك ْؤَا اًمِثٓا ْمُهْنِم ْعِطُت اَلَو َكِّبَر ِمْكُحِل ْرِب ْصاَف

Therefore be patient with constancy to the command of your

Lord, and obey neither a sinner nor a disbeliever. . [76:24]

A da’ee is never discouraged by weak or negative response or encouraged by a strong response. So keep the purpose in front. We are not responsible for results, we are responsible for making effort. Even Rasulullah r could not give hidaya to his beloved uncle. We will give da’wah and we will not be hopeless of anyone because all hearts are in control of the Lord.

Maulana Yusuf Khandlawi ? said:

Take time out from your time of earning. An ill person taken to

the hospital, cannot earn or stay at home. So, when in the path

of Allah, earnings will lessen, have patience. A patient doesn’t

take to anger etc., he adopts patience even at less income.

 

152

Not Affected by Circumstances

In general, the environment affects everyone - no one can resist it. Can a doctor say, ”I am not going to feel the heat (weather)”? He can’t avoid it. Similarly, if the environment is of deen then no one will be able to resist the positive effects.

It is not blameworthy to be affected by the condition. Even prophets and sa-habaf were also affected by conditions. However, the difference between them and others is that others get affected so much by the conditions that they break the commands of Allah whereas the prophets & sahaba f did not let their fear break the commands of Allah, rather they were ready to sacrifice upon the promises of Allah. Because of this Allah’s help was with them.

Allah I inform us about Musa u:

 

* ٰىَغْطَي ْنَٔا ْؤَا اَنْيَلَع َطُرْفَي ْنَٔا ُفاَخَن اَنَّنِٕا اَنَّبَر اَلاَق

They said, “Our Lord, indeed we are afraid that he will hasten

[punishment] against us or that he will transgress.” [20:45]

So Allah consoled him:

 

* ٰىَرَٔاَو ُعَم ْسَٔا اَمُكَعَم يِنَّنِٕا ۖ اَفاَخَت اَل َلاَق

He (Allah) said: “Fear not, verily! I am with you both, hearing and

seeing…” [20:46]

Musa u thus overcame their fear and fulfilled the commands of Allah. In the Qur’an we also find that Nooh u gave da’wah in all possible conditions: day and night, alone and in groups, openly and covertly, at home and out-side etc. Allah I asked Nooh u to do da’wah and then to make du’a.

People of Musa u became nervous when they met the red sea. Musa u said, “Allah is with us.” Another time they said to Musa u, “You and your lord fight…” Thus his people became affected by the environment.

Rasulullah r would take every opportunity to give da’wah. During his hijrah from Makkah as a fugitive, his guide gave him the option to take a safe route which was long or an alternative route which was shorter and easier but has two highway robbers. Rasulullah r chose the route with the robbers, he gave them da’wah and they became Muslims.

 

153

Sahaba f made da’wah effort under the guidance of Rasulullah r . They were active in da’wah long before the commands of salat, zakat etc. Sa-haba f were sent out in small groups or in groups of forty or more, and sometimes alone. They were ready for sacrifice, often risking their lives.

When Rasulullah r passed away many sahabaf took effect from the pre-vailing condition and suggested halting the army of Usamad. However, it did not prevent them from following the decision of khalifa Abu Bakd.

 

Seeking Only the Pleasure of Allah

Whatever effort is made, in our own home town, village or further afield, it must entail intention to spend our time and wealth on da’wah, talim, wor-ship and in building qualities. This we do only so that Allah become pleased with us. Further, we want this manner of pleasing Allah I by spending both

health and wealth to become normal in the ummah [16].

We must make the utmost effort to save ourselves from such evil and de-structive faults as desires for respect, fame, showing off, greed, etc. Even if someone invites us for food, then we should not have greed for that, rather the aim behind the acceptance of this invitation should be to further deen.

Da’wah is not for gaining rewards, wealth or power - but those things are to be sacrificed for da’wah! None of the prophets would tolerate a compro-mise or decline in da’wah for any of their personal needs. The smallest loss due to abuse of this effort is that the person will be cut off from this effort. We want rewards only from Allah I and after death.

Sahabaf used to worry when wealth was coming to Madinah. It is said that, when Islam spread and the Muslims conquered all the surrounding territory, Khabbab bin Alarat d used to weep and say: “Allah seems to he compen-sating us in this world for all our sufferings, and perhaps nothing would be left for us as rewards in akhira.” Umard used to say that if there was any good in these then Allah I would have given it to his predecessors.

Rasulullah r said that all forms of discrimination, colour, race, territorialism, tribalism etc. must be crushed. Da’wah will die if nationalism etc. comes in the way. We do not have the right to use our capacity, wealth, time anyway we like. It should be utilised according to the need of ummah. Each and every daily activity should show that we are believers.

 

154

Concern for Others Matched by Tolerance & Forbearance

The da’ee is gentle with people. They consider themselves to be a helper in transition. Da’wah should be with gentle admonition. When Musa u went to Pharaoh, he was advised thus:

 

* ٰىَشْخَي ْؤَا ُرَّكَذَتَي ُهَّلَعَل اًنِّيَل اًلْوَق ُهَل اَلوُقَف

And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may heed or fear. [20:44]

Allah I enjoined gentleness towards believers:

* َنيِنِمْؤُمْلِل َكَحاَنَج ْضِفْخاَو

And lower your wings for the believers. [15:88]

And by the mercy of Allah, Rasulullah r was gentle with his sahaba f:

 

ۖ َكِلْوَح ْنِم او ُّضَفْناَل ِبْلَقْلا َظيِلَغ اًّظَف َتْنُك ْوَلَو ۖ ْمُهَل َتْنِل ِهَّللا َنِم ٍةَمْحَر اَمِبَف

َهَّللا َّنِٕا ۚ ِهَّللا ىَلَع ْلَّكَوَتَف َتْمَزَع اَذِٕاَف ۖ ِرْمَٔاْلا يِف ْمُهْرِواَشَو ْمُهَل ْرِفْغَت ْساَو ْمُهْنَع ُفْعاَف

* َنيِلِّكَوَتُمْلا ُّبِحُي

So by mercy from Allah, you were lenient with them. And had

you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away

from about you; so pass over (their faults), and ask forgiveness

for them; and consult them in the matter. And when you have

taken a decision, put your trust in Allah, certainly, Allah loves

those who put their trust (in Him). [3:159]

Fikr or worry & concern for own rectification as well as the wider humanity is essential for da’ee. This will keep the work going - it’s not knowledge, materials or status. Darkness cannot cause any harm to the light. Actual problem is the weakness of eman which is inside.

It has also been narrated by Sa’d ibn Abu Burda through his father through his grandfather that Rasulullah r sent him and Mu’adh (on a mission) to the Yemen, and advised them:

Show leniency; don’t be hard upon them; give them glad tidings (of

Divine favours in this world and the hereafter); and do not create

aversion. Work in collaboration and don’t be divided [4].

Later on Rasulullah r sent Abu Musa Asharid 63 to assist them.

… " …

155

33 .

 

Da'wah to Allah I

 

Purpose of This Ummah,

 

Mark of its Distinction

 

This ummah has been taken out for the benefit of mankind. If dunya was our purpose (maqsad), then what is the difference between us and the non-Muslim?

This ummah is not ordinary, not created to work in factories etc. This is the best ummah, to be a well-wisher of the whole of mankind, to work on people’s heart, so that people become real people. To this, we bring two things in our own life:

Life of Rasulullah r- Sahabaf used to say “Be like us” because they were

samples of Rasulullah r ’s life.

Effort of Rasulullah r- Sahabaf became Muslims through da’wah, they

learnt to do da’wah first. Rasulullah r taught sahaba da’wah first,

then salat and other ibadah.

Our existence must be for the betterment of the entire humanity:

 

ۗ ِهَّللاِب َنوُنِمْؤُتَو ِرَكْنُمْلا ِنَع َنْوَهْنَتَو ِفوُرْعَمْلاِب َنوُرُمْٔاَت ِساَّنلِل ْتَجِرْخُٔا ٍةَّمُٔا َرْيَخ ْمُتْنُك

You are the best ummah ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin

good and forbid evil, and you believe in Allah. [3:110] Allah I in this ayat declared the esteemed status this ummah holds above all the previous nations by enjoining good and forbidding evil. This is the most righteous and beneficial nation ever raised for mankind. Ibn ’Abbasd and others all explained that ”You are the best of peoples ever raised up

for mankind” means, ”…the best of peoples for the people” [2].

Rasulullah r said [8, 5, 7]:

You are the final of seventy nations, you are the best and most

honoured among them to Allah.

However, only those from this ummah who have the qualities of enjoining

good and forbidding evil will share this praise. Qatadah ? said [2]:

We were told that ’Umar ibn al-Khattab recited this ayat dur-

ing a hajj that he performed, when he saw that the people were

rushing. He then said, ”Whoever likes to be among this [praised]

ummah, let him fulfil the condition that Allah set in this ayat.”

Sahabaf understood the purpose of this ummah and so they made their graves hundreds and thousands of miles away from their place of birth. Within few years sahaba f were all over the world, Yemen, Sham, Persia and even China. They could have chosen to stay in Makkah and Madinah where rewards are multiplied thousands of times, but purpose takes prior-ity. They were ready to leave their home for the sake of deen at any time, whether alone or in groups.

Sahabaf knew saving one’s life is not success but in giving life for the sake of Allah I is success. Thus they risked their lives for the sake of da’wah. The

incident of Bi’r-Ma’una is just one example of their dedication for da’wah 64.

Whatever is customary is loved by everyone. At sahaba’s time, it was cus-tomary to give life. Today it’s customary to stay home and live a life of lux-ury. Rasulullah r nurtured his sahabaf so that they could continue da’wah in all adversity and whatever the condition of the people.

Allah I has fixed parameters of success. There is no change in the sunnah of Allah I. Da’wah is to attach certain a’mals in our lives - visiting, talim, khuruz etc. Da’wah is the root a’mal, it’s not just for sawab, it’s a duty in itself on this ummah. Thus, we must make a firm decision: I will not waste my time. The person who is not doing the effort of deen is not doing what he is responsible for, he is a loser, ummah has lost him.

 

157

Narrated by Ammar bin Yasird:

Rasulullah r once sent me to a clan belonging to the Qais tribe

to teach them the Shari’ah of Islam. However, I found them to

be like wild camels, with their gazes always aspiring for more and

with no other interests besides their goats and camels.

I therefore returned to Rasulullah r, who asked, ’O Ammar! What

happened?’ When I related to Rasulullah r what the people were

like and how indifferent they were, Rasulullah r said:

O Ammar! Should I not inform you of people even stranger than

these? They are people who know what these people are ignorant

of and are still indifferent towards it as these people are 65.

Every individual is responsible for the whole ummah and the whole ummah is responsible for every individual. It’s not obligatory that you spend every day and all of your life working. Sahabaf also worked, but not all the time. When we meet shopkeeper etc., we explain to them that the noblest and the best work is where Rasulullah r exerted his effort in.

If we do not refrain from lowly mentality, if we fail to make da’wah our work, then there is a severe warning:

اَهوُمُتْفَرَتْقا ٌلاَوْمَٔاَو ْمُكُتَريِشَعَو ْمُكُجاَوْزَٔاَو ْمُكُناَوْخِٕاَو ْمُكُؤاَنْبَٔاَو ْمُكُؤاَبٓا َناَك ْنِٕا ْلُق

يِف ٍداَهِجَو ِهِلوُسَرَو ِهَّللا َنِم ْمُكْيَلِٕا َّبَحَٔا اَهَنْو َضْرَت ُنِكا َسَمَو اَهَدا َسَك َنْوَشْخَت ٌةَراَجِتَو

ِهِرْمَٔاِب ُهَّللا َيِتْٔاَي ٰىَّتَح او ُصَّبَرَتَف ِهِليِبَس

Say: If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your

kindred, the wealth that you have gained, the commerce in which

you fear a decline, and the dwellings in which you delight are

dearer to you than Allah and His messenger, and striving hard

and fighting in His Cause, then wait until Allah brings about His

Decision (torment). [9:24]

* ْمُكَلاَثْمَٔا اوُنوُكَي اَل َّمُث ْمُكَرْيَغ اًمْوَق ْلِدْبَت ْسَي اْوَّلَوَتَت ْنِٕاَو

…And if you turn away, He will exchange you for some other

people, and they will not be likes of you. [47:38]

Allah I created us to have His love in our hearts. Sahaba f sacrificed so much that the love of Allah I moulded their life. Hence any shortcoming in deen would make them unhappy. Material well-being was of secondary importance to them.

158

We must take stock of ourselves. as Muslims hold key to peace and salva-tion. So we must find our way first before we help others. Anyone who does not understand this may become an obstacle. Asma’ bint Yazeed g

questioned Rasulullah r 66:

O Rasulullah, may my father and mother be sacrificed for you. I

have come to you on behalf of the women. Verily Allah has sent

you to men and women. We have believed in you. We do not go

out and we stay at home. We are their source of physical plea-

sure. We carry their children. A man goes out to pray jum’ah and

jama’ah, and follows the janazah. And if they go out for hajj, or

’umrah, or jihad, we look after their wealth. We wash their cloth-

ing. We raise their children. Shall we not share in the reward?

Rasulullah r turned to his sahabaf and said, “Have you ever heard anything a woman has said better than what she has said?” Then he r said to her:

Understand O woman, and inform the other women.

Indeed a woman’s perfection of her relationship with her husband,

her seeking his pleasure, and doing that which he approves of is

equivalent to all of that.

Asma g left exclaiming ﴾هللا اَّلِٕا َهٰلِٕا اَل﴿. Family support makes da’wah easy. Allah brought Musa u from his fam-ily and belongings (sheep etc.) to Tur in order to give the work of da’wah. Hajira u supported Ibrahim u in passing all the tests and hidaya spread. On the contrary wife of Shuaib u did not support him and hidaya did not spread much in his community. Khadijah g spent everything for sake of da’wah. A’isha, Umm Salama g used to go out with Rasulullah r. Usmand received da’wah from his aunt. However, in general, women give da’wah amongst women. Maulana Yusuf ? said:

If our wives, children sacrifice like Hajera and Ismael, Allah I will

open direct help from His Qudhra. Allah I made Ibrahim u the

imam of the monotheists. Allah I’s help is with those who are

making practical sacrifices for the deen, not nice bayans, etc. He

loves each and every word and action of the one who is trying to

save people from the wrath of Allah I. Allah I take him close

to Him. Allah I will give the taste of the love of Allah I to him.

… " …

159

34 .

 

Da'wah to Allah I

 

It's Everyone's Issue,

 

Not Just for Ulama

 

Da’wah is everybody’s responsibility. There is no pre-requisite to giving da’wah. Da’wah, the representative work of Muhammad r, is the work of all those who follow him till Qiyamah.

 

َنِم اَنَٔا اَمَو ِهَّللا َناَحْبُسَو ۖ يِنَعَبَّتا ِنَمَو اَنَٔا ٍةَريِصَب ٰىَلَع ۚ ِهَّللا ىَلِٕا وُعْدَٔا يِليِب َس ِهِذَٰه ْلُق

* َنيِكِرْشُمْلا

Say, “This is my way; I invite to Allah with insight, I and those

who follow me. And exalted is Allah; and I am not one of the

polytheists.” [12:108]

In the Qur’an, Allah I praised an ordinary Muslim who came to support a group of prophets who were doing da’wah in a distant city:

 

* َنوُلَسْرُم ْمُكْيَلِٕا اَّنِٕا اوُلاَقَف ٍثِلاَثِب اَنْزَّزَعَف اَمُهوُبَّذَكَف ِنْيَنْثا ُمِهْيَلِٕا اَنْلَسْرَٔا ْذِٕا

When We sent to them two messengers, they belied them both,

so We reinforced them with a third, and they said: “Verily! We

have been sent to you as messengers.” [36:14]

 

اَل ْنَم اوُعِبَّتا * َنيِلَسْرُمْلا اوُعِبَّتا ِمْوَق اَي َلاَق ٰىَع ْسَي ٌلُجَر ِةَنيِدَمْلا ى َصْقَٔا ْنِم َءاَجَو

* َنوُعَجْرُت ِهْيَلِٕا َو يِنَرَطَف يِذَّلا ُدُبْعَٔا اَل َيِل اَمَو * َنوُدَتْهُم ْمُهَو اًرْجَٔا ْمُكُلَٔا ْسَي

And there came running from the farthest part of the town, a

man, saying: “O my people! Obey the messengers; Follow those

who do not ask of you [any] payment, and they are [rightly] guided.

And why should I not worship He who created me and to whom

you will be returned? … [36:20-2]

Eventually, the rebellious people of the town killed the man but Allah I honoured him with Jannah in return. This praise is for a person on whom da’wah was not obligatory, so what about us when da’wah is obligatory?

 

َنِم يِنَلَعَجَو يِّبَر يِل َرَفَغ اَمِب * َنوُمَلْعَي يِمْوَق َتْيَل اَي َلاَق ۖ َةَّنَجْلا ِلُخْدا َليِق

* َنيِمَرْكُمْلا

It was said, “Enter Paradise.” He said, “I wish my people could

know. Of how my Lord has forgiven me and placed me among

the honoured.” [36:26-7]

Every part of the body is important and needed, eg. hair in the nose, eyelids. Exactly the same way every person in ummah is important. Everyone must be giving da’wah so that their eman improves, thus contributing well to this ummah of one body. The one who loves this ummah will be given the ability to do this work properly. This da’wah factory is the Lord’s factory. If you don’t work properly then you will be made redundant.

This ummah is better so long as it does da’wah. Da’wah is mentioned before eman in the verse:

 

ۗ ِهَّللاِب َنوُنِمْؤُتَو ِرَكْنُمْلا ِنَع َنْوَهْنَتَو ِفوُرْعَمْلاِب َنوُرُمْٔاَت ِساَّنلِل ْتَجِرْخُٔا ٍةَّمُٔا َرْيَخ ْمُتْنُك

You are the best community ever raised up for mankind; You en-

join what is right and forbid what is wrong and you believe in

Allah. [3:110]

Allah I further said:

 

* ِرْيَخْلا ىَلِٕا َنوُعْدَي ٌةَّمُٔا ْمُكْنِم ْنُكَتْلَو

And let there be [arising] from you a nation inviting to [all that

is] good, … [3:104]

The objective of this ayat is that there should be a segment of this Mus-lim Ummah fulfilling this task, even though it is also an obligation on every

member of this ummah, each according to his ability [2].

 

161

Rasulullah r said:

Whoever among you witnesses an evil, let him change it with his

hand. If he is unable, then let him change it with his tongue. If

he is unable, then let him change it with his heart, and this is the

weakest faith.

In another narration he r said: There is no faith beyond that, not even the

weight of a mustard seed [4].

Rasulullah r said:

Convey to the people even if it were a single sentence, and tell oth-

ers the stories of Bani Israel (which have been taught to you), for

it is not sinful to do so. And whoever tells a lie on me intentionally,

will surely take his place in the hellfire [3].

Al-Haafiz ibn Hajar ? said in Fath al-Baari: He said in the hadith, ”even if it is one verse” so that everyone who heard him would hasten to convey what-ever he heard of the verses, even if it was very little, so that in this manner everything that he r brought would be conveyed.

Shaykh Ibn ’Uthaymeen ? said:

If a person understands what he is calling people to, it makes

no difference whether he is a great and prominent scholar or a

seeker of knowledge who is serious in his pursuit thereof, or a

regular person who has certain knowledge of the issue in ques-

tion. Rasulullah r said: ”Convey from me, even if it is one verse,”

and he did not stipulate that the da’ee should have reached a

high level of knowledge, but it is essential that he should have

knowledge of that to which he is calling people. But calling out

of ignorance or calling based on emotion is not permissible 67.

Every ummati must recognise and feel the responsibility of the da’wah for the whole world. Our fault is that we have not realised this reality. Other nations are busy with business, trade, with ambitions of the world and ma-terials etc. We were sent as da’ee and with the power of du’a. To relief us of the worldly problems, there is no way except through da’wah and du’a. Allah I always destroyed falsehood with da’wah or after da’wah, not with means and materials.

 

162

This ummah has been chosen to do work of Rasulullah r. Sahabaf under-stood this, they started spending time and money for this work. The first thing they got in this effort is the reality of eman. The importance of this work is further underlined by many other hadiths. There is no room for one to be only satisfied with their own piety.

Rasulullah r said:

By He in Whose Hand is my soul! You will enjoin righteousness and

forbid evil, or Allah shall send down a punishment from Him to you.

Then, you will supplicate to Him, but He will not accept your sup-

plication [8].

A’isha g says [7, 11]:

Once Rasulullah r entered the house and I guessed from his face

that something of great importance had happened to him. He

did not talk to anyone, and after making wudhu he entered the

mosque. I stood behind the wall to hear what he said. He sat at

the pulpit and after praising Allah, he said:

0 Muslims! Allah has commanded you to call people to good deeds,

and prevent them from committing sins; otherwise a time will come

when you will pray to Him, but He will not listen to you; you will

ask your needs of Him, but He will not grant them; you will demand

His help against your enemies, but He will not help you.”

After saying this, he came down from the pulpit.

Rasulullah r warned about wrongdoers:

There are not a people among whom acts of disobedience take

place and they are able to change them but they do not change

them except that Allah will soon include them all in a punishment

from Himself 68.

You people must all command people to do good, restrain them

from evil otherwise Allah will cause such a tyrant to rule over you

who will not respect your elders and will not have mercy on your

youngsters. Then you people will pray to Him but will not answer

to your prayers, you will ask Him for help but will not help you, you

will seek His pardon but will not pardon you 69.

 

163

Mission - Everything that belongs to us may go down but not kalima. We are not for dunya - only for the work of Rasulullah r. Everybody including beggars, women, children, kings all are deputies of Rasulullah r. This was the motto of the men, women and children of sahabaf. We must beg Allah to accept us. We should discuss what Allah has done, is doing and will do in future.

Rasulullah r did so much effort on each and everyone who received kalima until they became his companion, a helper in the effort of propagation of deen. The first command after kalima is to call people to Allah (in Makkah). For this, each and everything including life is to be sacrificed.

When we change our intention of life to the propagation of deen, being a deputy of Rasulullah r then Allah I shall be with us directly. Changing the condition is not in the hands of anybody in the world. All control belong to Allah. So if someone does da’wah then Allah will take care of anything that comes against this da’ee or effort. Sahabaf are a clear example of this.

Once Maulana Ilyas ? went to a bed-ridden ill person. He told him, “I know you are sick, but you know the state of the people in your locality, at least you can call them here.”

Today we are chained with our status. We must free ourselves. We must realise and propagate that we are the deputies of Rasulullah r and incul-cate this fikr in others by talking about this responsibility. We start this with tawbah, then Allah will be pleased with us.

Abu Bakrd said, “Anything in deen is lacking and I am alive, it’s impossible.” He would work one day to do da’wah for six days. The men making his life comfortable, increasing businesses while deen is dying but says the kalima- Allah replies such is a liar. Rasulullah r neither stopped sahaba f from working completely nor let them engage fully in work.

Ulama say that not giving da’wah because of not practising is just like saying, “Because I don’t pray salat, I will also not fast.” This has two sins together, otherwise, it would only be one sin. Same with not giving da’wah and not practising.

We should appreciate people’s strengths as no one is free of weaknesses and shortcomings. Even if you consider somebody to be a wali, you will still find in him weaknesses which generate hate. Contempt, mockery, fault finding, back-biting and complaining are sources of disagreements and dis-

164

unity and thus forbidden. Further, if we want everybody to participate in this noble work, young and old, men and women, literate and illiterate, rich and poor, etc. then we must only look at their strengths.

Sahabaf moulded their life with Qur’an and Sunnah. That’s why they could easily say to people, ”Be like Us.” We can do the same only if our life is made that impressive.

Rasulullah r urged the delegates of Abdul Qais to memorise the faith and the knowledge and to convey the same to those left behind. Narrated by

Abu Sulaiman and Malik bin Huwairith [3]:

We were a few young men of similar age and stayed with Rasu-

lullah r for twenty nights. Then he thought that we were anx-

ious for our families, and he asked us whom we had left behind

to look after our families, and we told him. He was kind-hearted

and merciful, so he said:

Return to your families and teach them and order them (to do good

a’mals) and offer your prayers in the way you saw me offering my

prayers, and when the stated time for the prayer becomes due,

then one of you should pronounce its call, and the eldest of you

should lead you in prayer.

One day Rasulullah r praised certain Muslim tribes and then warned other tribes of imminent punishment from him ”who neither inculcate an under-standing of deen in their neighbours, nor forbid them from evil. And what has happened to certain tribes who neither acquire knowledge from their neigh-bours, nor attain an understanding of deen, nor accept advice….” Following this warning the tribe of al-Ash’ari, who were known to have knowledge of

deen, sought one year for this work 70.

When ordinary people become the ambassadors of Islam, then they will change their own lifestyles. So the truth of Islamic lifestyle need to be learnt and explained, and at the same time change their own lifestyle ac-

cording to that, this will cause Islam to proliferate [16].

Rasulullah r is the last prophet and the universal prophet - for all jinns and humans until the hour. That’s why he not only did da’wah to establish deen but he made effort to prepare a generation who will carry this message. He tried to instil in them the priority of being in the path of Allah over other acts of devotion.

165

Narrated by Ibn ’Abbasd [5]:

Rasulullah r deputed ’Abdullah ibn Rawahad on an expedition

and that was on Friday. His companions set out in the morning,

but he decided to stay back and offer salat with Rasulullah r ,

and join them later. When he offered salat with Rasulullah r, he

was noticed by Rasulullah r.

He enquired: What prevented you from going out in the morning

with your companions?

He replied: I intended to offer Salat-ul-Jumu’ah with you and

then join them.

Rasulullah r said: Even if you spend whatever is in the world, you

will not be able to achieve the reward of those who left in the

morning.

Abu Hurairah ? relates [5]:

A sahabi once passed by a mountain pass in which a spring of

sweet water was flowing. The sahabi was extremely pleased

with this scenery and he said: How wonderful it would be to

abandon everything else and stay in this beautiful environment.

Somehow Rasulullah r learnt of his statement whereupon he

told the sahaba:

Do not ever do this because setting out from home in order to ele-

vate the deen of Allah Ta’ala entails greater reward than perform-

ing seventy years of salat at home.

Uthmand relates that Rasulullah r said [5, 9]:

Patrolling for a single day in the path of Allah is more superior than

a thousand days of worship at home.

Being part of this effort depends on acceptance and not on qualification. And the true sign of acceptance is that our day and night resembles effort of Rasulullah r.

… " …

 

166

35 .

 

Spend Health, Wealth & Time

 

in Four Channels:

 

Carnal Needs, Angelic

 

Worship, Vicegerent Care &

 

Prophetic Effort

 

Every man and woman is given three great strengths: health, wealth and ability to make effort. And they are given the freedom to spend these bless-ings the way they want. That choice basically follows effort on two distinct patterns:

On Materials: Whatever progress we are seeing, virtually all of that shows

its results on food, medicine, houses, cars, business, communication,

sports & entertainment, factory and in office, in short - on materials.

On Human: The methodology of the effort pursued by every single prophet

showed its impact on the man himself - it was on their tongues, ears,

eyes and most importantly on the hearts. The result was the progress

of the souls which pleased Allah, the souls which made effort on a’mals

and solved their problems through Allah.

By making effort Pharaoh mustered his army and all other asbabs of his time. This same effort is happening in today’s world, the only difference now is that this is made in an accelerated rate, involving as many members of the family as possible. So in one side asbabs improved but near-universal neglect of the souls has made a world comprising people who are lonely, stressed, worked up, angry, depressed and detached from their creator and sustainer, just as we have been warned:

 

اًكْن َض ًةَشيِعَم ُهَل َّنِٕاَف يِرْكِذ ْنَع َضَرْعَٔا ْنَمَو

And whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will

have a wretched life… [20:124]

The thing on which people exert their effort - applying both their hearts and intellects - that thing becomes valuable. Thus soil becomes valuable as it turns into bricks, ceramics, plastics, metals and alloys etc.; wood turns into furniture, metals fly in the sky and so on. Yet today invented things have become weapons against them. On the contrary, if they put effort on themselves as Allah I wishes, every creation will benefit him. If they were to direct this effort for themselves they would be worthy of Jannah.

The two commodities: health and time are such that without them we can-not do anything. These are such that no one can buy them and no one can donate them. Both of these are given free by Allah I and controlled by Him. It’s false to say we see by the eye etc. rather it’s the soul that uses the eyes to see. Then who has given the soul?

After death people will realise how useless their efforts on worldly things have been. So make effort on each organ of the body to such an extent that with a blink of an eye you can earn a Jannah that is million times more valuable than this world. For example, if one’s sight falls on a non-mahram woman but their heart turns the eyes to a different direction by the fear of Allah, he will be blessed with a Jannah.

So how should Muslims spend their time and effort to maximise their rank? By the mercy of Allah I any Muslim can target to become the best Muslim, they can be da’ee, they can become wali of Allah I. There is no prerequisite to this journey. This is an amazing realisation - because it throws all the peo-ple of the world on the same level playing field. From the kings to pauper, young or old, men or women, rich or poor, farmer or trader, literate or illit-erate etc., none of them is hindered by their background! They all have the

 

168

opportunity to pursue a life to be in the company of the prophets, siddiqins and shuhada forever.

Ulama explain how any Muslim can deploy their efforts in four distinct and increasing meritorious ways to attain everlasting rewards and higher ranks in the sight of Allah I:

Carnal Needs: These a’mals stem from human desires and needs, but Allah

has certain commands and specified method concerning them. When

such a’mals are performed according to the commands of Allah, man is

raised above base animal state, the a’mals become a’mal of deen. For

example, eating, sleeping, wedding, feeding wife and children, wear-

ing garments, showing mercy, shopping, farming, working in factories,

or as a daily labourer. Here the sphere of effort is own-self.

Angelic Worship: There are a’mals which show the servitude of the slave in

the court of Allah I and show worship of Him. By doing these a’mals

of worship one attains pleasure and nearness to Allah. Salat, fasting,

hajj, sacrifice, dhikr, and Qur’an recitation are examples of this type

of a’mal. These a’mals raises the person above the angelic state. Here

the sphere of effort is own-self too.

Vicegerent Care: In performing these a’mals one acts as a vicegerent of

Allah I. For example enjoining kindness, ihsan, feeding the hungry,

caring for refugees & orphans, be just and establish justice, forgiving,

covering faults, punish the guilty. These qualities and attributes ac-

tually belong to Allah and these are His prerogative. Believers are or-

dered to perform these according to their status and ensure humanity

is benefited. Here the person is benefiting others materially.

Prophetic Effort: These are a’mals, which are obliged upon prophets, their

followers can do them as their deputies. For example, da’wah, tabligh,

talim, tarbiyat, enjoining good and forbidding evil; striving and sacri-

ficing in His path, raising the word of Allah etc. Prophets were sent

only to do these a’mals. The result is that people get hidaya, they re-

alise their purpose, they come on to a’mal - as a consequence people’s

akhira is made unlike the previous three kinds of efforts.

For any a’mal to become deeni it needs to meet certain conditions such as eman, sincerity and according to Sunnah. One also needs to ensure that the a’mals are not performed at the expanse of other a’mals of higher priority

 

169

and importance. For example, if somebody becomes so busy with his work, wife and children that he cannot find time to learn the knowledge of deen, to strengthen eman and yaqin, developing the reality of salat, and relation-ship with Allah, then his looking after the wife and children and busying with the work will never become deeni a’mal, rather it will be punishment and a fitna. It is manifesting

ۚ ٌةَنْتِف ْمُكُداَلْؤَاَو ْمُكُلاَوْمَٔا اَمَّنِٕا

Your wealth and your children are only a trial… [64:15]

Rasulullah r said [5]:

You live in such a time that if any of you abandon even a tenth of

what you are enjoined, you will be ruined. But a time will come

when, if a person fulfills only a tenth of what is enjoined, they will

be saved.

Helping the deen is a way to get close to Allah. Khadija g, who supported the effort of Rasulullah r with all her wealth and energy had the honour of hearing Allah’s pleasure in this earthly life! Narrated by Abu Hurayrad:

Jibrael u came to Rasulullah r and said, ”O Rasulullah! This

is Khadija coming to you with a dish having meat soup (or some

food or drink). When she reaches you, greet her on behalf of her

Lord and on my behalf, and give her the glad tidings of having a

Qasab palace in Jannah wherein there will be neither any noise

nor any fatigue (trouble) [3].”

Al-Hasan al-Basri ? who recited the ayat:

 

* َنيِمِل ْسُمْلا َنِم يِنَّنِٕا َلاَقَو اًحِلا َص َلِمَعَو ِهَّللا ىَلِٕا اَعَد ْنَّمِم اًلْوَق ُن َسْحَٔا ْنَمَو

And who is better in speech than he who invites to Allah, and

does righteous deeds, and says: “I am one of the Muslims.” [41:33]

and said, ”This is the beloved of Allah, this is the close friend of Allah, this is the chosen one of Allah, this is the most beloved of the all the people of earth to Allah. He responded to the call of Allah and called mankind to that to which he had responded. He did righteous deeds in response and said, ‘I

am one of the Muslims.’ This is Allah’s vicegerent [2].”

… " …

 

170

36 .

 

Have Good Expectation of

 

Allah I With Good Deeds

 

He Will Bring Good Conditions

 

Three days before departing Rasulullah r said [4, 7]:

None of you should die without having good expectations in Allah.

Allah I enjoins a balanced view, between fear and hope:

 

* َنوُرِساَخْلا ُمْوَقْلا اَّلِٕا ِهَّللا َرْكَم ُنَمْٔاَي اَلَف

None feels secure from the Plan of Allah except the people who

are the losers. [7:99]

 

* َنوُرِفاَكْلا ُمْوَقْلا اَّلِٕا ِهَّللا ِحْوَر ْنِم ُسَٔاْيَي اَل ُهَّنِٕا

Certainly no one despairs of Allah’s mercy, except the people

who disbelieve. [12:87]

Shaitan wants to disappoint the Muslim - that disbelievers have everything -you’re doing effort but no benefit - leave it. Shaitan creates a feeling of de-

privation - or even to take him to evil 71. Instead give glad tidings, entertain good expectation of Allah, do good deeds, Allah will bring good condition for you.

Allah Almighty says about the righteous slaves:

 

* ُروُرَغْلا ِهَّللاِب ْمُكَّنَّرُغَي اَلَو اَيْنُّدلا ُةاَيَحْلا ُمُكَّنَّرُغَت اَلَف ۖ ٌّقَح ِهَّللا َدْعَو َّنِٕا

Verily, the Promise of Allah is true, let not then this (worldly)

present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver (Satan) de-

ceive you about Allah. [31:33]

 

اوُناَك يِذَّلا َن َسْحَٔا ْمُهَّنَيِزْجَنَلَو ْمِهِتاَئِّيَس ْمُهْنَع َّنَرِّفَكُنَل ِتاَحِلا َّصلا اوُلِمَعَو اوُنَمٓا َنيِذَّلاَو

* َنوُلَمْعَي

And those who believe and do righteous deeds – We will surely

remit from them their evil deeds and will surely reward them

according to the best of what they used to do. [29:7]

 

ِلٓاِب َقاَحَو ۖ اوُرَكَم اَم ِتاَئِّيَس ُهَّللا ُهاَقَوَف * ِداَبِعْلاِب ٌريِصَب َهَّللا َّنِٕا ۚ ِهَّللا ىَلِٕا يِرْمَٔا ُضِّوَفُٔاَو

* ِباَذَعْلا ُءوُس َنْوَعْرِف

”…And I entrust my affair to Allah. Verily, Allah is the All-Seer

of (His) slaves.” So Allah saved him from the evils they plotted,

while an evil torment encompassed Pharaoh’s people. [40:44-5]

Rasulullah r said in a hadith qudsi:

Allah says: I am just as My slave thinks I am, (i.e., I am Able to do

for him what he thinks I can do for him) and I am with him if he re-

members Me. If he remembers Me in himself, I too, remember him

in Myself; and if he remembers Me in a group of people, I remember

him in a group that is better than them; and if he comes one span

nearer to Me, I go one cubit nearer to him; and if he comes one cu-

bit nearer to Me, I go a distance of two outstretched arms nearer

to him; and if he comes to Me walking, I go to him running [3].

Allah I informed us about the good expectations that the people of the cave had about Him concerning their provision, dwelling, etc. in the Qur’an:

 

ِهِتَمْحَّر نِّم مُكُّبَر ْمُكَل ْرُشنَي ِفْهَكْلا ىَلِٕا اوُؤْاَف َهَّللا اَّلِٕا َنوُدُبْعَي اَمَو ْمُهوُمُتْلَزَتْعا ِذِٕاَو

* ًقَفْرِّم مُكِرْمَٔا ْنِّم مُكَل ْئِّيَهُيَو

(The young men said to one another): “And when you withdraw

from them, and that which they worship, except Allah, then seek

refuge in the Cave, your Lord will open a way for you from His

Mercy and will make easy for you your affair.” [18:16]

 

172

Allah I is the doer of everything. Have good expectation of Him. He es-tablished Children of Israel and relieved them from the slavery of Pharaoh. Allah I established sahabaf. He blessed them with security after their persecution in Makkah when they proved firm in their faith.

 

* ِضْرَٔاْلا يِف ْمُهَّنَفِل ْخَت ْسَيَل ِتاَحِلا َّصلا اوُلِمَعَو ْمُكْنِم اوُنَمٓا َنيِذَّلا ُهَّللا َدَعَو

Allah has promised those who have believed among you and done

righteous good deeds that He will certainly grant them succes-

sion [to present rulers] in the earth… [24:55]

 

َنوُنِقوُي اَنِتاَيٓاِب اوُناَكَو ۖ اوُرَب َص اَّمَل اَنِرْمَٔاِب َنوُدْهَي ًةَّمِئَٔا ْمُهْنِم اَنْلَعَجَو

And We made from among them leaders guiding by Our com-

mand when they were patient and [when] they were certain of

Our signs. [32:24]

 

* َنيِنِسْحُمْلا َعَمَل َهَّللا َّنِٕاَو ۚ اَنَلُبُس ْمُهَّنَيِدْهَنَل اَنيِف اوُدَهاَج َنيِذَّلاَو

And those who strive for Us – We will surely guide them to Our

ways. And indeed, Allah is with the doers of good. [29:69]

 

ۚ ِهَّللا َدْنِع ًةَجَرَد ُمَظْعَٔا ْمِهِسُفْنَٔاَو ْمِهِلاَوْمَٔاِب ِهَّللا ِليِبَس يِف اوُدَهاَجَو اوُرَجاَهَو اوُنَمٓا َنيِذَّلا

* ٌميِقُم ٌميِعَن اَهيِف ْمُهَل ٍتاَّنَجَو ٍناَو ْضِرَو ُهْنِم ٍةَمْحَرِب ْمُهُّبَر ْمُهُرِّشَبُي *َنوُزِئاَفْلا ُمُه َكِئَٰلؤُاَو

Those who believed and emigrated and strove hard and fought

in Allah’s Cause with their wealth and their lives are far higher

in degree with Allah. They are the successful. Their Lord gives

them glad tidings of a Mercy from Him, and acceptance, and of

Paradise for them wherein are everlasting delights. [9:20-1]

We have to raise the expectation of our brothers the way Rasulullahr raised their expectation and bring them to a platform of struggle and sacrifice. In this manner, sahaba f who were penniless like Abu Hurayrah d became governors, Bilald whose footsteps were heard in Jannah and Abu Dhard

who became more well-known among the angels than men 72.

One needn’t worry about destiny - whatever to happen, will happen. Be happy with whatever is given by Allah I . Creator of all conditions is Al-lah I. Worldly calamity is not the biggest calamity. With eman sickness is a blessing, not a curse. Disease, poverty and oppression are not failure of life. Without deen life is a failure, even in the midst of all worldly blessings.

… " …

173

37 .

 

The End Product of the

 

Effort & Sacrifice of

 

Rasulullah r was Sahabaf

 

Similar Effort & Sacrifice

 

Will Bring Similar Result

 

Maulana Ilyas ? said:

I am doing this because it’s the work of prophethood. The more

of prophetic qualities mastered the more fruitful. Rasulullah r

is the best example of sacrifice and etiquette. If done correctly,

the same effort will bring results like sahaba. Any deviation from

the prophetic way will spread darkness.

Our effort must copy seerah - how Rasulullah r lived in Makkah and Mad-inah, worked inside and outside of the masjid, how he prayed etc. Rasul-ullah r left Makkah because he was prevented from doing his job, his fol-lowers were persecuted. Their enemies boycotted them socially & econom-ically, eventually hatched a plan to murder Rasulullah r with impunity. Even in Madinah, kuffar had many schemes to murder him.

Sahabaf had parents whose life was saturated in shirk, sorcery, social and economic oppression including propensity to endless quarrel. The mushriks kept 360 idols inside Ka’ba and used to do tawaf naked, doing so as a mark of respect. All this troubled Rasulullah r tremendously growing up amongst them.

When Rasulullah r was endowed with prophethood, it was through sheer tenacity, relentless effort, supreme character and above all help of Allah I that these people became the best generation. Rasulullah r said:

The best of the people are my generation, then those who come

after them, then those who come after them [3, 4].

As Maulana Umar Palanpuri ? explained they were the best generations not because of their race, colour or riches but because of their the pure hearts, and outstanding deeds of sacrifice, steadfastness, high-mindedness and such qualities they developed as followers of Rasulullah r.

When da’wah is made upon the methodology as prescribed in seerah, then Allah will be with them. Sahabaf learnt in the environment of the masjid and in the path of Allah. In Makkah, they received regular talim in the house of Arkamd. We must be careful that in the name of da’wah something else is not being pursued. After preparing Musa u and his brother, Allah said He is with them.

 

* ٰىَرَٔاَو ُعَم ْسَٔا اَمُكَعَم يِنَّنِٕا ۖ اَفاَخَت اَل َلاَق

[Allah] said, “Fear not. Indeed, I am with you both; Hearing and

Seeing. [20:46]

Ummah is not the name of a tribe or nation. This is an ummah of a’mals set upon pure eman, not of colour, language, land etc. Rasulullah r built this ummah with people from all strata of society, from slaves to the lead-ers, ulama to traders, it had Shuaibd (Roman trader), Bilald (black slave), Salman d (Persian), Emigrants and Ansar (Madinese who accommodated the emigrants), it had men, women (Sumaiya g ), children (Alid ) and many others from diverse backgrounds.

Calling on qawm (nation) is slaughtering the ummah. Check our deeds and intention to see whether the ummah is being helped and not. Allah knows what’s in the heart.

 

175

One whose fikr and deeds, life and wealth can draw goodness from the trea-sures of Allah, then even eating, sleeping and time with family will be deen. Opposite actions will bring evils: destroy deen, corrupting lives, and harm the Muslims.

Our end goal, no matter how we serve this ummah, must be the growth and protection of eman and a’mal of the people. If this is not happening then we need to reflect on what exactly are we achieving? Have we got a misplaced objective? Maulana Yusuf ? told a group of students who graduated from madrasah as follows:

My dear brothers! You have completed a study of Saheeh Bukhari,

acquired the knowledge, now three types of effort on this knowl-

edge is necessary:

• Have yaqin according to this knowledge

• Produce a’mal according to this knowledge

• Spread this yaqin and a’mal in the whole world

Efforts were made on the knowledge brought by Rasulullah r

in these three fronts initially, because of which then Roman and

Persian empires which were upon various worldly philosophies

and falsehoods broke into pieces…

All this can happen in the present time. The only condition is

that a group will make effort like Rasulullah r and the sahabaf.

Allah made the a’mals of Rasulullah r more powerful than atom

bombs, every single a’mal has been made a means to change the

world. Salat of Istisqa is a means of changing the condition of the

land. Salat of kosuf and khosuf is to change the condition of the

moon and the sun. Dua and salat of hajat can change individual

and collective adverse circumstance [16].

… " …

 

176

38 .

 

Only by Returning to Da'wah,

 

can the Ummah Change its

 

Condition

 

The key to solving our condition is the realisation that we as Muslims, are of such poor quality believers that we will never see any change in our con-dition unless we develop as quality Muslims. Otherwise, we may have more wealth, better education, better jobs, better technology, better transport, better everything else in the external world - everything else can change around us - but we will still be where we started with, in the same state of being losers!

First of all, make our own mindset according to Islam. And this will only hap-pen when one builds firm yakin on the fact that creation cannot do anything without the will of Allah I; whatever happens, is from Allah I; and the con-dition of good or evil, construction or destruction, success or failure does not come from having asbabs or not having asbabs. Rather these happen by the decisions of Allah I.

Maulana Yusuf ? said:

Allah I will make the decision to establish and flourish only when

I am on the sunnah of Muhammad r. Thus to remain on this path

we do not need any external wealth, rather we need internal

wealth. Yaqin must be on Allah. There must be a consciousness

of Allah. There must be taqwa of Allah. There must be yaqin of Maulana Yusuf ? explains the story of Children of Israel as follows:

receiving from the treasures of Allah and opening the door of

blessings upon practising the sunnah. For these internal trans-

formations, some effort must be made. In order to remove the

yaqin of success from materials and to gain yaqin of success from

Allah I some time must be spent away from the materialistic

life [16].

We must be alert to the fact that in this day and age many people are setting things up in the name of Islam, or in the name of da’wah, but they are far from it. So we question these programmes objectively:

• What problems are they trying to solve from the problems we see and

problems we are informed about? Is it an old problem in new guise?

• What is the solution? Is there any side effect?

• Is the solution according to sunnah upon the understanding of the

salaf?

• How does the programme fulfil the objects? Can we track the progress?

Such basic critical thinking may help to ascertain straight path from the stray path. How many people lose their sense of direction or the will to persevere, usually because of emotion, desire, culture, ignorance or failure to distinguish between means and objectives?

One must realise that Allah I and His messenger has explained the fore-most problems and their solutions till the Hour. This ummah will undergo similar humiliation and struggles as Children of Israel. Abdullah bin ’Umard narrates that:

Rasulullah r said: Every condition that afflicted the Bani Israa’eel

will certainly afflict my ummah as well just as the two soles of a

pair of shoes correspond with each other. (Their conditions will

be so close that) Even if a person from the Bani Isra’eel commit-

ted open incest with his mother, there will be someone from my

ummah who will do the same. Whereas the Bani Isra’eel split into

seventy-two groups, my ummah will split into seventy-three. All

these are headed for Jahannam except one.

Sahaba asked: Which group will this be, O Rasulullah!

It was said: The one that follows my ways and the ways of my sa-

haba [5].

 

178

Musa u prepared the Children of Israel upon a’mals which progress

the soul and please Allah I. He instructed them thus, “O my peo-

ple! If you thread the way of eman, then have trust in Allah I,

seek the help of Allah with full eman, yaqin and tawaqqul.

 

* َنيِمِل ْسُم ْمُتْنُك ْنِٕا اوُلَّكَوَت ِهْيَلَعَف ِهَّللاِب ْمُتْنَمٓا ْمُتْنُك ْنِٕا ِمْوَق اَي ٰىَسوُم َلاَقَو

And Musa said, “O my people, if you have believed in Allah, then

put your trust in Him if you are Muslims.” [10:84]

They replied, ”We accepted your advice, and placed our convic-

tion and hope upon Allah I , we supplicate to Him so that He

protect us against the tyrany and oppression of Pharaoh and his

rule, and relief us from the slavery of this unbelieving people. 73 ”

Further, in the Qur’an Allah ordered Musa u and Harun u to

establish centres and places of worship in Egypt for their nation,

and establish salat to build relation with Allah and mould their

lives in obedience to Him 74. They were also told to give glad

tidings of acceptance of their supplication when they put into

practice the above deeds.

Musa and Harun u engaged in worship and nurturing of Chil-

dren of Israel as directed by Allah I. When the Children of Israel

also started to pray salat and the effort to change their lives,

Musa u and Harun u supplicated, ”O Allah, with the wealth

and other blessings you bestowed on Pharah and His people,

they are misguiding the believers. O Allah, destroy their wealth. 75 ”

Allah I accepted their du’a and ordered them to migrate with

Children of Israel from Egypt. They left Egypt and Allah I made

way for them in the sea, because of which they crossed the sea

peacefully. Pharaoh followed with his army but they were drowned

completely. All this happened through the power of the qudrah

of Allah.

This is the way of the prophets. They not only put themselves

and their people upon the commands of Allah I, they patiently

bore difficulties in the path of Allah, and Allah solved their prob-

lems with the power of His qudrah. This is what is referred to in

 

179

the Qur’an as ”sunnatullah” or sunnah of Allah. And His sunnah

is immutable:

 

اًليِوْحَت ِهَّللا ِتَّن ُسِل َدِجَت ْنَلَو ۖ اًليِدْبَت ِهَّللا ِتَّن ُسِل َدِجَت ْنَلَف

But you will never find in the way of Allah any change, and you

will never find in the way of Allah any alteration. [35:43]

So if we see our condition as one of humiliation and oppression then this was not an accident. Rasulullah r warned was about it and the remedy! He r prescribed it long before this state came into existence.

Rasulullah r warned:

When you deal in ’eenah (usury-based) transactions, hold onto the

tails of cows, become satisfied with agriculture, and leave off ji-

had, then Allah will cover you with humiliation, and he will not

withdraw it until you return to your original deen 76.

Now, the beginning of the solution is to return to deen and if we do so, then and only then the problems of the ummah will depart. To put it another way, what is required is a complete ”U” turn, that is to return to correct aqeedah, and undertake a programme of tasfiyah and tarbiya upon the manhaj of the salaf.

Eman is not “See and believe”. Eman is to believe in the unseen. Life without da’wah will weaken eman. Sahaba f always took care to safeguard and in-crease their eman. Abdullah ibn Rawahad used to call others saying, “Come increase eman.” Similar stories are reported from Muadh ibn Jabald.

Eman is not hereditary, eman cannot be bought in a shop - it has to be learnt, to be acquired through sacrifice and effort. Whatever you want to come into existence, start discussions on it. Unless ummah returns to da’wah, it’s condition will not change.

Maulana Yusuf ? said:

If we make intention for the whole world till Day of Judgement,

then our thinking will change.

The world is full of spiders webs when there are no righteous people. Allah wiped out Roman and Persian webs. Maulana Yusuf ? used to say:

Mould yourselves in line with Rasulullah r. Allah will break and

destroy any obstacle to such a person as the shell of an egg.

180

Deen will come through the path of deen. If there is no eman, then their talk will corrupt eman. The work of deen should be in the manner performed by Rasulullah r- that methodology will bring deen till Day of Judgement.

When the need of da’wah came sahaba f left salat with imam and jamat of sahaba even though it was so dear to them. They made such sacrifices because of the need of deen and its effort.

When Rasulullah r was sending Mu‘adhd to Yemen to teach them about Islam, he bade farewell to him as he walked for some distance out of the city alongside Mu‘adhd. Finally, he said to him:

O Mu‘adh, perhaps you shall not meet me again after this year

- perhaps when you return you shall see only my masjid and my

grave.

Mu‘adhd then started to cry uncontrollably. Those with him wept too. A feeling of sadness and grief overtook him as he parted from his beloved Rasulullah r.

Every one of the sahaba f was da’ee, alim, servant etc. Today the ummah is so low because of leaving the individual and collective da’wah. Let alone the reality of kalima, some cannot even recite it. Such incredible losses are due to us leaving the work of da’wah.

Da’wah is such an effort, any ummati will be at a loss, the ummah will be at a loss, if they are cut off from it regardless of circumstance. As sacrifices are made to bring deen in the lives of people, then the person making the effort will taste its sweetness, which is far more than the sweetness of amassing materials, food, clothes, fame, family and influence etc.

Maulana Ilyas ? swore three times:

I don’t need respect, materials …I want this ummah to be like

the way Rasulullah r left it.

If the condition of the people become corrupt, and all the pious people of the nation can cry to Allah in supplication for their rectification, then their

duas will be powerless to improve their condition [16]. All of the children of Adam are sinners - the prophets were sent precisely to this kind of people. So the da’ee does not look at how corrupt the people are, they look at the commands of Allah I and the examples of the prophets. This da’wah is for all, we do not choose who we give da’wah to.

181

Ibn Kathir said, ”…Allah, by His grace and mercy towards His creation, did not stop calling them to the truth and to the wise Reminder, i.e., the Qur’an, even though they were heedless and turned away from it. Indeed, He sent it so that those who were decreed to be guided might be guided by it, and so

that proof might be established against those who were decreed to be [2].” Regarding this Allah I informed us in the Qur’an:

 

* َنيِفِر ْسُم اًمْوَق ْمُتْنُك ْنَٔا اًحْف َص َرْكِّذلا ُمُكْنَع ُبِر ْضَنَفَٔا

Shall We then (warn you not and) take away the Reminder (Qur’an)

from you, because you are a transgressing people. [43:5]

Maulana Yusuf ? said:

Only Allah I changes the condition, He can change whatever

condition and whenever He wishes. Upon us is the servitude,

effort is demanded, upon this Allah will change condition.

He also said:

Those relations with apparent means which we made our natural

habits and acts, and exerting all effort to get weak, these very

relations are drawing the calamities upon the world.

Khilafa is given to those adapted the deen. When people leave deen, khi-lafa weakens. But how do we establish deen without khilafa? Deen comes through da’wah, which is the first thing shown by Rasulullah r and Allah’s closeness is achieved through it. Our original work is da’wah. We should do tawbah and go back to original work.

Maulana Sa’ad ? said:

The purpose of our going in the path of Allah I is to take hard-

ship for the sake of Allah and rise up to the need of deen (takaza).

With this, there will be the help of Allah and hidaya.

This effort must be discharged at any cost just as it was for Muhammad r. When a man gives importance to his job he is very careful about it. When we take this effort above jobs and other commitments, it becomes easy to sacrifice. We need to strive with life, wealth and dua. Then dua will be accepted.

We are not giving the right of the work it deserves. Maulana Saeed Ahmad Khan ? used to say, ”Keep talk of Great great. Keep lowly low.”

 

182

Once some VIPs were introduced to Maulana Yusuf ? by their worldly titles such as minister, doctor etc., he said:

Had you introduced them as a donkey or some other animals I

would have understood better…

When our salaf were introduced, it wasn’t said that this one is

the owner of many factories, this is the owner of this many vil-

las or cars. Rather it used to be said he is a Badri, he joined

Uhud, that brother participated in such and such battle, and this

brother made such and such sacrifice for the sake of deen. This

is how they were introduced.

The first obligation, is to establish the yaqin on Allah I and to struggle to establish that amongst people. In doing that if we tolerate a little bit of fear, then we will be free from eternal fire. If we tolerate a little bit of hunger, then we will be free from eternal hunger. By separating from family-children, we will be together eternally.

Maulana Yusuf ? said:

Upon the dua of jamat, Allah will help against apparent system.

The da’ee must downgrade the worldly affairs. The da’ee should take ac-count of himself concerning the six qualities every day. Fikr is like petrol for self-rectification and tabligh. Maulana Ilyas ? would have given the name “Tahreeq-e-eman” to this effort because this effort strengthens eman.

… " …

 

183

39 .

 

Tabligh for the True Soul &

 

Essence of Deen

 

It is difficult to appreciate fully the great effort begun in Mewat, India by Maulana Ilyas ? in reviving the da’wah & tabligh without knowing a brief history of the environment in which this came about. He is rightfully con-sidered mujaddid of da’wah effort of last century. Rasulullah r said:

This ’ilm will be carried from every generation of ulama by its hon-

est and fair-minded ulama. They will reject from it the alteration

of the extremists, the appropriation of the corruptors, and the in-

terpretation of the ignorant ones [12].

Due to negligence of ulama the religious condition of Mewatis sunk so low that there was little to distinguish between their belief and practices and wholesale apostasy. Major Pawlett wrote in Alwar Gazetteer in 1878:

All the Meos are, now, Muslims, but only in name. Their village

deities are the same as those of the Hindu landlords, and they

celebrate several Hindu festivals…They engage the services of

the Brahmins to fix dates of marriages.…Very few of them know

the kalima, and fewer still observe salat regularly.…Men wear

dhoti and loin-cloth. …Mosques are rarely to be seen in their

villages …

The maulana visited Mewat, and after much persuasion, the maktab was established. He used to say, “Give me the pupils, I will provide the money.” Once someone presented a purse with the request that he spends it exclu-sively for his own needs. He replied, “If we do not regard Allah’s work our own, how can we claim to be His bondsmen?” Within a few years, hundreds of similar maktabs were running in Mewat.

Despite the apparent success, Maulana Ilyas became dissatisfied with the progress. He found that the students who graduated out of these maktabs were incapable of rendering any real service to deen. Maktabs could barely exert any influence on the general pattern of living. In addition, it did not address the problem of adults incurring the displeasure of Allah owing to their apathy and ignorance.

There was one incident which caused the maulana to further lose enthu-siasm for maktabs. During one tour one young man who completed the study of Qur’an was presented before the maulana with many laudations. The sight of the man who was clean-shaven, wearing a dress which could not distinguish him from non-Muslims utterly shocked him. On the bright side in such tours, the maulana was able to solve many local disputes and family quarrels. The mewatis used to say, ”This man so lean and thin, and yet he finds a solution to whatever problem he takes on hand, and, some-how, even the most strong-headed obstinate persons submit to his decision without argument.”

Upon returning home from Hajj in 1925, Maulana Ilyas ? begun tours and exhorting others to propagate basic tenets of Islam such as kalima and salaat directly to the masses. After much persuasion, only a few people joined his movement. Then jamat was formed and the tour was planned for the few days and when that tour ended it was planned for a few more days. This carried on in mewat for few years.

Maulana Ilyas ? was asking people to give time: days, weeks and months- for the sake of the deen. He desired to rekindle the spark of eman and ignite the spirit of dedication and sacrifice in this life for rewards of the akhira. Only then inclination and ability to follow the complete deen be-come automatic. He wanted the workers of the movement to attain the level of suffering losses in trade and agriculture willingly for the sake of Allah. Despite the difficulties and setbacks, in the beginning, this enabled the Mewatis to realise the higher aims and ideals and subordinate material interests.

 

185

Abul Hasan Nadwi ? comments on this success thus:

The tremendous change that came over Mewat as a result of the

untiring efforts of tabligh workers who moved from village to

village, carrying their luggage on their backs, is, perhaps, with-

out a parallel in recent times. Within a few years, the whole re-

gion emerged from darkness into light. Had a government, with

all its resources in men and material, tried to bring the people

nearer to eman, it would not have achieved so much in such a

short time.

…Anyone who saw the tabligh parties of Mewat, travelling on

foot, with blankets thrown on their shoulders, the siparas tucked

under the arms and parched grain or bread tied in a corner of

the mantle, their tongues engaged in dhikr, eyes showing the

signs of nightly vigil and the mark of sajdah on the foreheads

would have been reminded of the martyrdom of sahaba of Bir

Ma’ona who were killed while going on the mission of teaching

the Qur’an and imparting the knowledge of the commandments

of the shari’ah on the orders of Rasulullah r.

The Criteria is Quality, not Quantity

The object of this work is to bring six qualities within ourselves. This is the case whether people accept us or not, whether they go out or not. So we see our eman increasing by giving dawah, correcting our ibadah; increased desire for ilm within us and amongst laymen, doing dhikr in every condition, discharging rights of others and fervour to do their ikram increasing; devel-oping desire to please Allah and utilise own health, wealth in the path of Allah; if the fervour for these is increasing then our work is moving forward. This will draw people’s attention to this work - that I need to do this!

As Maulana Yusuf ? said the sort of people who are required to do this work are those who, despite living in the materialistic environment, remain steadfast on the yaqin and belief that deen will only flourish through sac-rifice in the path of da’wah, keeping their sight steady on the all-powerful qudrah of kun-fayakun of Allah I and then dua. The path of Muhammad r is the path of da’wah and sacrifice, not a path of power, means and mate-rials. When sacrifice is made for Islam, it flourishes even if surrounded by enemies. However, when sacrifice is not made then Islam disappears amid all the power, means and materials!

186

As part of a long hadith, Aisha g said to an Iraqi man who visited her to ask

few questions and see her copy of the scripture [3]:

…When the people embraced Islam, the verses regarding the

lawful and unlawful were revealed. If the first verse to be re-

vealed was not to drink wine, they would have said: we will not

stop drinking. And if it had been revealed not to commit adul-

tery, they would have said: we will not stop committing adul-

tery…

Recognise that an old-timer is the one who has rendered himself with high qualities. One does not become an old-timer because of spending one year, two years, three years or forty years - unless the person acquires the right qualities. In the court of Allah, an old-timer would have developed many re-fined qualities, even if they have not spent much time. These are the qual-ities which require effort and sacrifice to develop. Here is a partial list of

such qualities 77:

• Taqwa & Tawaqqul • Adl & Insaf

• Zuhd (abstinence) & Qanaa’t • Predominant love for Allah &

(content with little) His messenger

• Sabr & Shukr • Desire to be Muhajir & Ansar.

 

The aim of this effort of deen is not simply to spread partial or small a’mals. Rather the aim is, having continuously spent all resources upon creation, upon the human belief and yaqin which has become so corrupt by the effect of materialism that it lost the condition, capacity and quality to benefit from the Creator, in order to:

• connect eman and yaqin to the Creator,

• spend health and wealth to build that eman and yaqin,

• fulfil the commands of Allah to come out of homes to be in His path,

• experience the difficulties in this path,

• prepare others to fulfil these commands and

• inspire them to benefit from the Creator, so that they also repeatedly

experience the difficulties while spending their own resources in the

path of Allah with the yaqin and hope, da’wah, utilising their time and

to cry for that [16].

 

187

Basis of This Effort 78

1. Person to Person- Not by big gatherings or ijtima. Not about talks and

speeches. In Makkah the work was done primarily by individuals and

in Madinah the work was done primarily by jamats. Ijtima creates a

good environment but not good for individual attention.

2. Heart- Not intellect. Not thought, philosophy, ideas. It’s about burn-

ing heart, having a concern. Everyone can have a concern, weeping or

burning heart, but not high intellectual thought. When heart burns, it

pierces the hearts of others.

3. Footwork- Not by pen. Those who do not desire deen, they will not

come to you. On the contrary, you will go again and again.

4. Effort by Men- Not by means & materials. Person is the target, not ma-

terials. What is required is sacrifice & striving.

5. Humbleness- Not by pride and arrogance. Regardless of what people

do, we need a compassionate heart. Not revenge. If you water from

a jar, the neck must bend.

6. Peace- Not by war. Rasulullah r accepted many humiliating conditions

to maintain peace, eg. Hudaibiyah.

7. Unity- Not by argumentation & splintering. There are thousands of things

that unite the ummah - only about 200 differences in masail, such dif-

ferences are mercy and certainly not a source of disunity. Take masail

from local ulama. No need to argue on the differences of opinion.

8. Mashwara- Not by dictating. For all collective matters, mashwara is nec-

essary. Even Rasulullah r was commanded to make mashwara.

9. Enjoining Good- Not forbidding evil, ” ”. This indirectly leads ِرْيَخْلا ىَلِٕا َنوُعْدَي

to the latter anyway. Adhan is a complete da’wah as read in du’a for

muazzin da’wah at-Tamma. New baby needs soft provisions, like those

of weak eman. All six qualities in tabligh errand are enjoining good.

When darkness occurs, bring light; ” 79 ِۚتاَئِّيَّسلا َنْبِهْذُي ِتاَن َسَحْلا َّنِٕا ” . Hence

the worst person can participate to become mu’min with this effort.

Forbidding evil has its own limits and conditions.

10. Under Cover- By istitar, not open ishtihar. Not through propaganda

or publicity. This effort mainly related to interior - heart, eman. We

should cover our own a’mals and faults of others.

188

11. Concise- By ijmal, not tafseel. Not details or elaboration. Declare the

truth - no need to justify, clarify. Acceptance is upon others. In the

Qur’an there is no details of a’mal - yet every ayat is an ocean of knowl-

edge. Keep explanation of six qualities simple. Maulana Ilyas ? said,

“Bringing details into six points is dangerous”. Keep it simple.

12. Usool- Focus on usools, not on furu or branches. We are concerned

about the root of the deen.

We accept all the commandments in Shariah which has fundamentals

and branches. First of all, the major things need to be understood,

then the matter relating to the branches will be understood. This ef-

fort is not focused on the branches of Shariah. In jamat all kinds of

people participate, yet they practice same kind of programme and de-

velop same habits.

13. Glad Tidings- By Tashheer, not tanfeer. Give glad tidings, not create

hatred. Truth is bitter - sugar-coat it. Not hurting other’s feelings,

or causing resentment. Not taunting or criticising those who do not

conform immediately.

14. Gentle Encouragement- By targeeb, not tambih. Give gentle encour-

agement, not warning or telling off. We cannot punish or cut-off any-

body. Just rely on gentle reminders and dua, don’t make rectification

of others a target.

 

Avoid Distractions

The elders of tabligh & da’wah further advise shunning:

• Newspapers, media and other contemporary means of propaganda.

• Debates, fiqhi issues which have divergent opinions, and anything else

which might create disunity.

• Mentioning the help of Allah that came in our time, focus on help to

prophets and sahaba.

• Discussing current affairs.

• Discussing weaknesses that appeared in the ummah in the form of

eman, a’mal and akhlaq. Instead focus on strengths and qualities to

be achieved.

 

189

Make A'mals Alive

The promises of Allah I are not on lifeless a’mals or lifeless worship. So how does a’mals become alive? To achieve this in every a’mal, as explained by Maulana Umar Palanpuri ?, we need to do mujahada (persevere) upon five matters:

1. Correct Yaqeen - This will strengthen the eman. For this a two-fold effort

is required:

• Remove yaqin of creation. The yaqin of creation automatically

takes root in the heart - solution is negation & sacrifice. Thus periodically leave means & materials, business & home etc.

• Bring yaqin of Allah. This does not come on its own - hence, effort

is necessary. The means for this is repeatedly engaging in a’mals of da’wah.

2. Correct Motivation - Whatever Allah informed us about the virtue of that

a’mal, whatever Allah promised with that a’mal, have firm conviction

of attaining that (ihtisaab). This is why we need to sit in the gatherings

of talim and to hear about the virtues of a’mal.

3. Correct Methodology - A’mals must be conducted according to Sunnah.

To know this we must sit with those who have the relevant ilm: Ulama

of fiqh for rules & regulations, Ulama of da’wah for da’wah effort etc.

4. Correct Consciousness - Be in a state of awareness of Allah, whether we

are inside salat or outside running our businesses etc. Rasulullah r

described it as the state of ihsan. To develop this we need to do fre-

quent dhikr, recitation of Qur’an, etc.

 

* ِةاَكَّزلا ِءاَتيِٕا َو ِةاَل َّصلا ِماَقِٕا َو ِهَّللا ِرْكِذ نَع ٌعْيَب اَلَو ٌةَراَجِت ْمِهيِهْلُت اَّل ٌلاَجِر

Men whom neither trade nor sale diverts from the Remem-brance of Allah (with heart and tongue), nor from perform-ing salat, nor from giving the zakat… [24:37]

5. Correct Intention - Seeking only the pleasure of Allah. How is it achieved?

This is gained when the effort of deen is done through the sacrifice of

health, wealth and desires.

Make mujahada in bringing these five matters in salat, then in business, then in weddings - slowly bring these to everything we do.

190

One practices upon the above matters in the path of Allah. To learn deen we are going out in the path of Allah. We are also going to prepare people to come out also to learn deen. Maulana Saeed Ahmad Khan? wrote in one

of his letters [25]:

One should not emerge in this field of da’wah with a motive of

reforming others but one should come out with the sole inten-

tion of encouraging others to come out into the path of Allah

Ta’aala as well. Those who fuss over the spiritual reformation of

others tend to create discord and malice amongst themselves

all due to the deception of shaytaan and the evils of the nafs.

Hence the sole object should be personal reformation together

with a firm resolution to learn.

The best ikram to Muslims is to make them realise their true purpose of life, sacrifice their desires for the sake of Allah I and He will be happy with them. Allah I will be happier than a bedouin who lost his camel carrying food and water and then finds it in front of him.

The ummah must come on to the purpose for which it was created. Today purdah is broken, haram is committed in the name of progress. They do not understand. We must realise that everything worldly (business, family, jobs, etc.) should be secondary. Primarily, we are the slaves of Allah, carrying the message of Rasulullah r. Rectification of our circumstances will follow rectification of our a’mals and rectification of a’mals will follow rectification of eman. Everybody is in need of it and this effort must be done every day.

When we know shari’ah, want to obey Allah, but the environment is poi-sonous, shaitan and nafs overpowering us, what’s the cure? Allah I says, “Fafirru ilallah”, not to this place or that place. Running water is clean - this khuruj is a cleansing act. When there is obstruction, the water goes around it, and if the water is plenty, then obstruction would not show.

In khuruj, when people go out in the path of Allah purely for His sake, people change their passion (jazba), they come to obedience (itayat) and develop zeal to serve (khidmat) etc. because of noorani a’mal of Masjid Nabawi. We should repeat this again and again with the aim of ultimately raising our eman to such a level that the value of a brick of gold and a brick of clay become equal in our sight.

… " …

 

191

40 .

 

Victory is Inevitable When

 

the Hidden System of

 

Allah I Comes to Support

 

Through His might and power Allah I brings to reality, some of what is apparent to human and yet some are hidden from them. No earthly power can frustrate the decision of Allah Almighty.

From the apparent power of Allah I, we see how He brings out a soft plant from a hard seed and it grows to have more seeds and trees. From the ap-parent power of Allah I we see how He creates sweet orange and sour lemon from the same soil!

From the hidden power of Allah I, we see the survival of Musa u despite Pharaoh slaughtering thousands of male babies of Bani Israel. From the hidden power of Allah I, we see how Rasulullah r escaped from Makkah from his house surrounded by eleven assassins and his protection in the cave with Abu Bakrd.

Through prophets and divine books Allah I reveals such matters which are not perceptible to humans in any other way. Yet these things Allah has been doing, currently doing and will continue to do so in future. This hidden sys-tem, if comes to support, then success will come even with apparently little or no means.

Allah’s help is assured upon two internal conditions:

1. Total freedom of the heart from the notion that anything other than

Allah can do anything, and

2. A heart totally absorbed by the greatness of Allah.

The divine help is for only as long as our sight is only on Allah, and with certainty that nothing can happen from other than Allah. Allah I assures us in the Qur’an:

 

َفَل ْخَت ْسا اَمَك ِضْرَٔاْلا يِف ْمُهَّنَفِل ْخَت ْسَيَل ِتاَحِلا َّصلا اوُلِمَعَو ْمُكْنِم اوُنَمٓا َنيِذَّلا ُهَّللا َدَعَو

ْمِهِفْوَخ ِدْعَب ْنِم ْمُهَّنَلِّدَبُيَلَو ْمُهَل ٰى َضَتْرا يِذَّلا ُمُهَنيِد ْمُهَل َّنَنِّكَمُيَلَو ْمِهِلْبَق ْنِم َنيِذَّلا

* َنوُقِساَفْلا ُمُه َكِئَٰلؤُاَف َكِلَٰذ َدْعَب َرَفَك ْنَمَو ۚ اًئْيَش يِب َنوُكِرْشُي اَل يِنَنوُدُبْعَي ۚ اًنْمَٔا

Allah has promised those among you who believe, and do righ-

teous deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (au-

thority) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and

that He will grant them the authority to practise their religion,

that which He has chosen for them. And He will surely give them

in exchange security after their fear, (for) they worship Me and

do not associate anything with Me. But whoever disbelieves af-

ter this, they are the rebellious. [24:55]

In this ayat Allah I promises three gifts which are conditional upon us doing four things. Four things we need to do are:

1. Purify eman

2. Perform a’mals according to sunnah

3. Worship Allah alone

4. Do not associate partners to Allah in any way.

The gift which Allah will bestow in return are:

1. Khilafat on earth

2. Establishment of Islam

3. Peace & Security.

The hidden system of Allah I came in the aid of sahabaf who wore tatty clothes, their houses tiny, their resources insignificant, barely survived on dates. Against them were such mighty powers of Kaisar and Kisra. The worldly people, unaware of the hidden system, were astonished at the speed at which they changed the world forever.

193

But the same Allah I is always there, in every age, with all His names and attributes. When His hidden system comes in support, then life is made. On the other hand, if human behaviour contradicts this system then life is ruined in the midst of all the means.

Therefore when the information about the hidden system is revealed through prophets, with eagerness mankind must pay attention to it. Allah I informs us about this system:

 

* ُريِبَخْلا ُفيِطَّللا َوُهَو ۖ َرا َصْبَٔاْلا ُكِرْدُي َوُهَو ُرا َصْبَٔاْلا ُهُكِرْدُت اَل

No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision. He is the

Subtle, the Aware. [6:103]

 

ْمُكْيَلَع اَنَٔا اَمَو اَهْيَلَعَف َيِمَع ْنَمَو ِهِسْفَنِلَف َر َصْبَٔا ْنَمَف ْمُكِّبَر ْنِم ُرِئا َصَب ْمُكَءاَج ْدَق * ٍظيِفَحِب

There has come to you enlightenment from your Lord, so who-

ever sees, will do so for [the benefit of] his ownself, and whoever

blinds himself, will do so to his own harm, and [say], “I am not a

guardian over you.” [6:104]

 

* َنيِنِمْؤُمْلا َعَم َهَّللا َّنَٔاَو

And verily, Allah is with the believers. [8:19]

When people

• Listen to divine revelation with eagerness and full attention,

• See the apparent system of the world in light of the divinely revealed

hidden system,

• Ponder over with heart and mind

they will truly realise who Allah I is and they will be endowed with the light of guidance. The light of eman will radiate, good a’mal will come from them- they will see success in good deeds and failure in evil deeds. They will rush to good deeds and will not care whether that is in line with the apparent system. Similarly, they will refrain from evil deeds even if it goes against the apparent system.

If we need something we shall ask Allah directly, eg. through salat. When sahabaf received help directly through salat, it boosted their eman. Going for da’wah in abnormal condition will draw direct help of Allah.

 

194

Allah I promises direct help to those who help His deen. This is not about helping Muslims, it’s about the preservation of deen, revival of deen and spread of deen:

 

ِهَّللا َرا َصْنَٔا اوُنوُك اوُنَمٓا َنيِذَّلا اَهُّئَا اَي

O you who believe! Be you helpers (in the cause) of Allah. [61:14]

This is what ’Esa u asked to his close companions, hawariuun.

Similarly, during the days of Hajj, Rasulullah r used to ask:

Who will support me in conveying the Message of my Lord? Verily,

the Quraysh have prevented me from conveying the Message of

my Lord.

Allah the Exalted and Most Honoured raised Aws and Khazraj to support the prophet. They were the residents of Madinah who gave the pledge to him and supported him, vowing to protect him from mankind and the jinns if he migrated to them. When he migrated to them with his companions, they fulfilled their vow to Allah. This is the reason why Allah and His messenger called them, Ansar, the supporters. The name became synonymous with

them. May Allah be pleased with them and please them as well [2].

 

* ْمُكَماَدْقَٔا ْتِّبَثُيَو ْمُكْر ُصْنَي َهَّللا اوُر ُصْنَت ْنِٕا اوُنَمٓا َنيِذَّلا اَهُّئَا اَي

O you who believe! If you support (in the cause of) Allah, He will

help you, and make your foothold firm. [47:7]

 

* ٌزيِزَع ٌّيِوَقَل َهَّللا َّنِٕا ۗ ُهُر ُصْنَي ْنَم ُهَّللا َّنَر ُصْنَيَلَو

Verily, Allah will help those who help His (cause). Truly, Allah is

All-Strong, All-Mighty. [22:40]

Helping Muslims such as looking after their welfare is not helping deen. When Abu Bakrd became khalifa he headed for the market to support his family until a stipend was allocated to him from the Baitul Mal. However, the same Abu Bakrd left his family with young children and a blind father in Makkah, taking all money with him, when he emigrated to Madinah. This was his helping the deen of Allah - so special divine Help was due for him and his family.

 

195

And how did Allah I help them? The next hadith is enough as a witness. It

is related from Abu Sa’id al-Khudrid that Rasulullah r said [3]:

A time will come to people when groups of people will go on expe-

dition and will say, ’Is there any among you who kept the company

of the Rasulullah r ?’ They will say, Yes.’ And victory will be given

to them.

Then a time will come to people when it will be said, ’Is there any

among you who kept the company of the Companions of Rasulul-

lah r ?’ They will say, ’Yes.’ And victory will be given to them.

Then a time will come to people when groups of people will go on

expedition. It will be said, ’Is there any among you who kept the

company of the companions of the Companions of Rasulullah r ?’

They will say, ’Yes.’ And victory will be given to them.

Once Saad ibn abi Waqqasd wrote to Umar d for help from battlefield. Umard only gave him 10,000 against 200,000. Umard replied, “Next time don’t ask for help from Medinah”, “I already gave you Allah”. You do:

• Safeguard your and your troop’s a’mals. Don’t go against the com-

mands of Allah.

• Even if a’mals are according to Allah, still don’t start fighting. Send

several of your men to Kisra to give da’wah. If he accepts - no fighting.

If he disobeys then he will be fighting Allah - in which case Kisra can

never win. Falsehood was never demolished by people - it was only

done by Allah.

Saad ibn abi Waqqasd followed accordingly. So connect to Allah and call others to Him. After da’wah any trouble from them will cause their destruc-tion.

This tabligh is so powerful that to whom da’wah is given, either he benefits

or get destroyed. Rasulullah r said [3]:

The example of a Mujahid in Allah’s Cause - and Allah knows better

who really strives in His Cause - is like a person who observes fasts

and offers salat continuously. Allah guarantees that He will admit

the Mujahid in His Cause into Paradise if he is killed, otherwise He

will return him to his home safely with rewards and war booty.

 

196

Allah I reminds us in the Qur’an, to remember those days when believers were few and lacking armoury, yet He gave them victory:

 

* َنوُرُكْشَت ْمُكَّلَعَل َهَّللا اوُقَّتاَف ۖ ٌةَّلِذَٔا ْمُتْنَٔاَو ٍرْدَبِب ُهَّللا ُمُكَر َصَن ْدَقَلَو

And already had Allah given you victory at Badr while you were

few in number. Then fear Allah; that you will be grateful. [3:123]

So one alim said in response to the person who pointed to another ayat

where Allah said “ 80 prepare yourselves…” like them:

It’s shaitan who says you can win with this or that weapon. But

Allah says you only win with His help. Allah asked Musa u to cor-

rect Bani Israel so that Allah gives victory to them over Pharaoh.

Allah I only obliterates kufr when it comes against the means of da’wah. Thus we must:

• Have intention to reach everywhere to propagate deen,

• Bring every ummati in this original work,

• Bring every ummati in the temperament of sahaba.

This is the real matter. This is the sum short of the many stories narrated in the Qur’an, that solution to our problems, success and salvation is in the decision of Allah and His help. And these things are with those people who became His, and who strive in His path.

… " …

 

197

ooo

 

198