Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Unseen
Luqman (Luqman) - Chapter 31: Verse 34

"Indeed, Allah alone has knowledge of the Hour and sends down the rain and knows what is in the wombs. And no soul perceives what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul perceives in what land it will die. Indeed, Allah is Knowing and Acquainted."

Allah alone knows the matters of the Ghaib (unseen). No one other than Him has the knowledge of the unseen. Nobody knows as to when shall the Doomsday occur, a news so much wide-spread and well-known among the people that they are almost certain about its occurrence. What about the matters like victory and defeat, health and sickness and similar to it? No one knows about them either. Similarly, nobody knows when it shall start raining even though it has a definite season and it often rains during that season. Most of people do wish to know about it and had it been possible to know beforehand, they would indeed have known about it. Then how could the people possibly know about the things which neither belong to a particular season nor are they of any public interest like someone's death and his life-span, being blessed with a child or not, being wealthy or impoverished, emerging victorious or facing an ignominy of defeat etc.

If that is the case, then how could one possibly read the internal matters of a person like thoughts, intentions and the condition of one's faith and hypocrisy? As long as one does not know as to what he himself shall be doing tomorrow, how could he know about the circumstances of others?

No person or entity has the capability to learn about the future by exercising his own free will and choice except for Allah. Hence it is known to us that the people who claim to have the knowledge of the unseen are none but liars. And if someone neither claims to possess the knowledge of the unseen nor claims to have the capability of knowing it by exercising his own free will but only claims that a certain matter which Allah has informed him about, was beyond his control and capacity; and his own choice and will, had nothing to do with it; in this case there are both the possibilities, the man making such a statement, could either be a truthful or a liar.

Compiled From:
"Taqwiyat-ul-Iman" - Shah Ismail Shaheed, pp. 72, 73

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Teaching at Battle

Following are some lessons the Prophet, peace be upon him, taught his Companions (May Allah be pleased with them) while on the campaign of Tabuk:

The Prophet performed prayer behind Abd Al Rahman ibn Awf, who led the Muslims in praying Fajr at Tabuk, when the Prophet was late for a certain reason. When he came, Abd Al Rahman wanted to stand back, but the Prophet mentioned to him to complete the prayer, and he prayed behind him. This indicates that the lesser is permitted to lead the prayer and the greater may pray behind him. [Muslim]

Muadh ibn Jabal asked him about a deed which would admit him to Paradise, while they were on the way back to Madina. The Prophet replied that the head of such deed was Shahadah, its framework was Salah and Zakah, and its pinnacle was Jihad. [Ahmad]

During this campaign, he was asked about the sutrah (defining the space) of one who is performing salah. He answered that it should be the size of the end of a camel saddle. [Al-Nasai]

During this campaign, he combined Zuhr and Asr prayers, and Maghrib and Isha prayers. [Muwatta]

He stayed in Tabuk for 20 days, and shortened salah during that time. [Mawarid al Zaman]

He asked for some water from a house in Tabuk and it was given to him in a container made of leather. Concerning the skin of the dead animal he said, "By tanning it, it becomes pure." [Abu Dawud]

Compiled From:
"Madinan Society at the Time of the Prophet" - Akram Diya al Umari, pp. 215,216

Blindspot!

Tolerance

Since the Umayyad dynasty, the Christians had their religious ceremonies beside the public thoroughfares and went in processions on public roads. In these processions, some people bearing crosses led the procession; and their religious leaders, in their special dress, accompanied them.

During the period of Rashid, the Christians on the occasion of Easter came out in the form of a huge procession holding aloft big crosses on pedestals. Al-Maqdisi mentions in his book Ahsan al-Taqasim that on the occasion of the Christian festivals the markets of Shiraz were decorated.

It is amazing to note that these manifestations of tolerance and love were noticable even during the period of the Crusades. This behaviour continued unaltered even though the Christendom had risen against the Islamic countries and had assaulted them with great fury. Ibn Jubary says, "What is most curious about this period is the fact that Muslims and Christians were engaged in a deadly war, and on many occasions it has been witnessed that both armies were facing each other in perfect battle array. However, elsewhere the delegations of Muslim and Christians were moving from one place to another in perfect amity, and meeting with people, and nobody objected to this. The caravans were moving from Egypt to Damascus and from there to European countries. Muslims were paying taxes to the Christians in their lands willingly, and Christian traders were paying the custom duty for their merchandise in the Muslim countries, and full justice and equity was being observed in these dealings. While their armies are fighting with each other, the people were living in perfect amity and peace."

Compiled From:
"The Islamic Civilization" - Mustafa Sibai, pp. 88-90