Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Two Essentials
Al-Baqarah (The Cow) - Chapter 2: Verse 153 (partial)

"O you who Believe, seek strength in Patience (Sabr) and Prayer (Salah). God is with those who are patient."

Background

Having established a permanent and universal Qiblah for Islam, and having outlined the general features of the 'balanced' Muslim community, the Quran gives Muslims specific instructions to endure adversity with fortitude and to observe Prayer.

Two most essential requisites for the Muslim Ummah to be able to withstand the hardships and trials are:

1) Patience: Patience is required on the personal level for observing one's religious duties, for resisting temptation, misfortune, poverty, oppression, and injustice, and for carrying out one's responsibilities towards the establishment of the Islamic way of life in society.

2) Prayer: To avoid the state of despair, God links patience with Prayer, as an inexhaustible source of strength and energy. The two combine to infuse the heart with boundless confidence and fortitude, total tranquility and inner peace.

A Powerful Link And Assurance

The value and role of Prayer lies in its being the direct link between God and human being. It is the means by which a human being, an insignificant mortal, draws strength, reassurance, and help from God's infinite power and everlasting mercy. God is always there to provide the believers with help and comfort, to lend them His support and replenish their fading enthusiasm and morale. 

Compiled From:
"In the Shade of the Quran" - Syed Qutb, Vol. 1, p. 149-152

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Corrupt Rulers

“Whoever among you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand (by taking action); if he cannot, then with his tongue (by speaking out); and if he cannot, then with his heart (by hating it and feeling that it is wrong), and that is the weakest of faith.” [Muslim]

"You will come to be governed by the rulers who will indulge in good (ma'roof) as well as evil (munkar). So one who regarded their evils as such, he attained salvation, and also the one who raised his voice against their evils. But the one who approved of them and followed them was doomed."
[Muslim]

"There was not a single Prophet among those who were sent before me who did not have apostles and companions and followed his sunnah and obeyed his commands. But afterwards other generations came whose words belied their deeds, and whose deeds were not in accordance with what they commanded others to do. Whoever struggles against the with his hand is a believer. Whoever struggles against them with his tongue is a believer. And whoever struggles against them with his heart is a believer. But when none of these things are done, then not a single mustard's seed weight of faith is present." [Muslim]

"By One in Whose Hand is my life, you must continue inviting people to virtue (ma'roof) and forbidding evil (munkar), otherwise it may be that Allah will send down on you His Punishment and then you will cry to Him for relief but He will not hear you!"
[Tirmidhi]

Blindspot!

Answering Questions

Despite the profound depth of knowledge of the Rightly­Guided Caliphs, they used to consult and be consulted by their learned companions when confronted with critical issues. Out of the body of fatawa which were made collectively emerged the ijma (consensus) in the first Islamic era. When consulted, some companions refrained from making any comment, and others simply used to say that they did not know. Utbah ibn Muslim reported that he was once Ibn Umar's companion for a period of thirty-four months. During that time, Ibn Umar was asked about various important issues and he often replied that he did not know. Ibn Abu Layla related the following about the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, most of whom were from among the Ansar and were his contemporaries:

When one of them was consulted on a certain issue, he would refer the questioner to another, who in turn would refer him to another and so on until the questioner finally returns to the first person whom he had approached first. They wished to be spared the reporting of a hadith or giving a fatwa in answer to a question.

It was the rule rather than the exception for them to reply that they did not know when they were uncertain. Al Imam Malik, for instance, was exceptionally cautious and used to say. "If a person is asked about a certain issue, he should think of Jannah (Paradise) and of Jahannam (hell) and of his own salvation in the hereafter before he replies Ibn al Qasim also heard Malik saying: "I have been investigating a particular issue for more than ten years, but I have not made up my mind about it yet."

Compiled From:
"Islamic Awakening: Between Rejection and Extremism" - Yusuf Al-Qaradawi