Rope of Allah, Richness of Soul, Erosion of Morals, Real Strength, Stop The War
Issue 215 » March 28, 2003 - Muharram 25, 1424
General
Al-Imran
(House of Imran)
Commentary: By the 'rope of Allah' is meant that agreement and covenant which was drawn up between us and the Almighty Allah - the covenant of the Quran. This opinion is based on a hadith in which the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: "The Book of Allah: It is the Rope of Allah that has been extended down from the heavens to the earth." (Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi) Imam Razi comments: "Since the path that believers are required to take is a very narrow one, the likelihood of a person slipping off always remains high, except in case of him who holds a rope that runs across." The command to hold fast to the Quran implies that we have been directed to follow the code prescribed through the Quran for our individual as well as collective life. In every difficult situation involving our convictions and ideaology the Quran should be our guiding star for steering us to safety. By 'be not disunited' it is implied that we must not lose our grip on the Rope of Allah and fall into the snare of prejudice by splitting into groups led by different Imams and leaders, whereby truth and guidance, instead of being radiated directly by the Quran might appear to become the private property of certain individuals and personalities. Mufti Shafi remarks: "When we speak of unity of ranks, we know that it cannot be attained without the unity of ideas, faiths and objectives. That will come from the Quran and the Sunnah. It is only when we hold fast unto them, accepting them as the sole criteria, guide and judge, that the much sought after unity of ranks, will be achieved. Every other method will fail miserably." [Compiled from 'Juristic Differences' by Amin Ahsan Islahi, pp 14-15 and 'Tafsir Ishraq al-Maani' by Syed Iqbal Zaheer, Vol 2, pp. 89-90] |
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Richness of the Soul "Richness
is not in plenty of provisions; the (real) richness is the richness of
the soul." "Successful
is the one who has entered the fold of Islam and is provided with sustenance
which is sufficient for his needs, and Allah makes him content with what
He has bestowed upon him." The affluence of soul means that man lives on whatever he possesses, remains independent of others and avoids begging. The above hadiths point out the excellence of those people who remain satisfied with their limited income and do not beg of people. Affluences often makes a man proud, whereas poverty lowers his image in the eyes of people. Yet adequate livelihood has no room for the pitfalls of the two extremes. [compiled from Riad-us-Saliheen] |
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This is a series from the book "Building a New Society" Erosion of Morals Compassion, altruism and morals are slowly eroding. Worship of the 'self' has become a major driving force in our present day information age. Many are investing a great deal of their time, energies and abilities in gaining self-pleasure, material gain, wealth, pomp, fame and power for themselves. More cars, more houses, more luxuries, and 'loads of money' seem to be the motto of the day. This has led to a 'me-society' and to a people who can be classified in 'mad', 'bad' and 'sad' categories. Many love their money, belongings, and even their dogs, cats and teddy bears more than they love and respect their fellow human beings. Today, drugs have entered the schools which our children attend. We are witnessing poor education, an increase in crime in our neighbourhood, over-crowded prisons, and increasing pollution of our environment. [Compiled from "Building a New Society", by Zahid Parvez, pp. 83, 84] |
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Our Real Strength "Our ethical behaviour and conscience of good and evil is an arm that is used against us by depots, lovers of titles, power and money. They do that which we cannot do; they lie as we cannot lie; they betray as we cannot betray and kill as we cannot kill. Our exactness before God is, in their eyes, our weakness. This apparent weakness is our real strength." - Said Ramadan [Taken from "Islam, the West and the Challenges of Modernity", by Taric Ramadan] |
