Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Most Intelligent
Al-Sajda (The Prostration) Sura 32: Verse 14

"So taste [the punishment] for having forgotten the meeting with this your Day! Verily, We have forgotten you! And taste the punishment everlasting for that which you used to do."

These words are spoken by God or by the angels who serve as the keepers of Hell to the disbelievers as the latter enter Hell. This is one of several verses that speak of the disbelievers being forgotten by God. Such verses mean that they are cast out of God's Mercy or into the state of punishment since God does not "forget". Many understand such verses to mean that disbelievers are left to wallow in the punishment of the Fire, but it also speaks to the importance for one's spiritual life of remembering the meeting with God and thus death. In this regard, the Prophet is reported to have said, "The intelligent person is one who knows his soul and works for what follows death." And when asked, "Who is the most intelligent of believers?" he replied, "The most frequent in remembering death, and the best prepared for what follows it, they are the most intelligent."

Compiled From:
"The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary" - Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Correcting Wrong

Abu-Said Al-Khudri, may God be pleased with him, said that he heard God's Messenger, may God's peace and blessings be upon him and his family, say, "If you see something wrong, you must correct it by hand. If you can't, you must correct it by condemning it verbally. If you can't, you must correct it by rejecting it in silence, for this is the weakest form of faith." Reported by Muslim.

The saying of the Prophet, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, "correct it," is an obligatory order for correction that's agreed upon unanimously by the nation. It is corroborated by the Qur'an's and Sunna's call on people to enjoin others to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong. It's also an advice, which is a form of the religion. Muslims are obligated to enjoin others to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong. If they perform that and people don't obey, they're not to blame. They can't force them into submission.

Also, enjoining people to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong is fard kifayah. If enough people offer the advice, it absolves the rest. If no one offers the advice, everyone bears sin except those with an excuse. It can also be fard ayn for an individual when this individual is the only one who knows of a certain wrongdoing or when this individual is the only one who's in position to correct a wrongdoing. It's also fard ayn for those who find their spouses, children, or servants (bondmen) committing sin. Scholars said that even when individuals think that their message will not be heeded by people, they still have to enjoin them to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong.

Scholars said that for people to enjoin others to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong, they don't have to be perfect, i.e. doing what is right and refraining from doing what is wrong. They have to enjoin others to do good deeds even when they themselves aren't doing what is right and refraining from doing what is wrong. That is so because people are obligated to do two things. First: They are obligated to enjoin themselves to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong. Second: They are obligated to enjoin others to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong. Performing only one of the two doesn't absolve someone from the other.

People should order others to do what is right and refrain from doing what is wrong amiably in order to make it easier for them to accept the message. Imam Al-Shafii, may he rest in peace, said, "Those who advise their brothers and sisters in private, help them and beautify them. And those who advise them in public, shame them and besmear them."

The statement of the Prophet, may God's peace and blessings be upon him, "correct it by hand ... correct it by condemning it verbally ... correct it by rejecting it in silence," shows the order of the steps to be taken to correct a wrong. "Reject it in silence" means hate it within yourself. This doesn't physically correct a wrong but that's all that can be done under the circumstances. The statement of the Prophet, may God's peace and blessing be upon him, "the weakest form of faith," means the least rewarding.

Compiled From:
"Ibn-Daqiq's Commentary on the Nawawi Forty Hadiths" - Ibn Daqiq Al-Eid

Blindspot!

Hypocritical Facade

Only within a patriarchal structure is maternity the only social power open to women. When I submit my resume for jobs, grants, or creating short bios in other public roles, the twenty-plus pages is impressive to some, but if a short biographical sketch is composed I always request they include that I am the mother of five children as the most important achievement. This chapter is partially inspired by the living hell for many single female parents, or women with disabled or un-able fathers, husbands, and brothers in a Muslim community that ignores the agony of these women, making them invisible. It is not intended to direct attention to their plight for the purpose of pity. Rather, I use the particulars of this experience as a major criterion for challenging all reformist dialogue that is held primarily by men whose "fight" for justice focuses so exclusively on the right to preserve or extend greater privilege to the ones already privileged - Muslim men. They offer little or no direct contribution to the discourse and practice of family, nor to the eradication of poverty with its negative gender consequences. Neither have they participated in, recognized, or allowed entry into their discourses the words and experiences of the ones who demonstrate the critical failure of elitist reform discourse in the first place - poor mothers.

On the contrary, most Muslim male reformists wantonly secure their own families according to patriarchal traditions. The number of women in the Muslim world whose lives and suffering are allowed to remain invisible discredits the aspirations articulated by such men as progressive Islam. It is disappointing to note how frequently some who are considered the most progressive are at best liberal in their gender agendas as evidenced by the embodiment of their own domestic experiences. Their failure to listen to, understand, or incorporate the self-expressions of the diversity of Muslim women renders them deaf to the intense ways these women need assistance in the name of reformed Islam and the agency they could contribute in constructing reforms beyond the double jeopardy.

If the most oppressed amongst us - those with a life of suffering and despair that lies writhing under the floor of the fancy conference halls and behind the walls of elegant five-star hotel rooms inhabited by those considered champions of Islamic freedom and justice - are not equal participants in the discourse, then reform discourse remains a hypocritical facade. The inconsistencies of elites seeking to enhance their privileges, for example by taking full benefit of their wives' care-work, in order to focus exclusively on power politics as philosophical and theological foundations for a reformed Islamic future, allow this discourse to ignore those whose lives represent the level of survival and struggle most reflective of the need for this movement.

Compiled From:
"Inside The Gender Jihad: Women's Reform in Islam" - Amina Wadud, pp. 126, 127