Category Archives: J. Rights

Islam is not a religion!

Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Rafi’ Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

‘It must be explicitly clear that Islam is not merely a religion.

This is especially so as the religion is defined as a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.

Islam is a Dīn.  That is, religion PLUS a complete way of life. It provides guidance for each and every aspect of human life.

The Holy Quran and the blessed sayings of the Prophet (Allah bless him and grant him peace)  repeatedly mention that Islam is a Dīn and not merely a religion (madhab).

‘Today, I have perfected your Dīn (religion and a way of life) for you, and have completed My blessing upon you, and chosen Islam as Dīn (religion and a way of life) for you.[5:3]

‘Whoever seeks a Dīn (religion and a way of life) other than Islam, it will never be accepted from him, and he, in the Hereafter, will be among the losers. [3:85]

Struggle for (seeking the pleasure of) Allah, a struggle that is owed to Him. He has chosen you and did not impose any hardship on you in the Dīn, the  faith (religion and a way) of life of your father Ibrāhīm. He (Allah) named you as Muslims earlier and also in this (Qur’ān), so that the Messenger becomes a witness to you, and you become witnesses to (other) people. So establish Salāh, pay Zakāh and hold fast to Allah. He is your patron. So, how excellent He is as a patron, and how excellent as a supporter![22:78]

Dīn is the exact correlate of Shari’a.

Therefore we as a Muslim have to live a life following the ways prescribed by Shari’a.

Shari’a rulings have been categorized in five subsections,

1. The article of belief (‘aqaid),

2. The methods of worship (‘ibadaat),

3. The social dealings (ma’asherat),

4. The financial & business dealings (ma’amlaat) and

5. The moral values (‘ikhlaqiyat, including siyasah).

To be a true Muslim we have to follow all these rulings in our life.’

Qari Rafeeq’s residence, Safa distt, Jeddah, bayan after maghrib, 20th January 2012

Misconception: Asceticism

Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Rafi’ Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

‘A friend of mine consulted me regarding a marital dispute. He told me that his wife wanted many stylish and good quality (obviously modest) dresses for her daily use. He disagreed claiming that this was wasteful (israf) and three dresses per a year should be suffice.  That is one for summer, another for winter and the third one for Eid (& special occasions). The wife would not agree to this and this discussion was deteriorating their marital relationship. He requested for a solution?

I (Mufti sahib) told him that him that his stand was incorrect. In matters like this, one has to look at the common practice prevalent (‘urf) in the society he is living in. Based on this principle he has to take in to account his social, professional and financial status, place of residence, the standards of the community he socializes with and then decide what is the decent quality, style and number of dresses required by his wife.

Furthermore, one should be reminded that our beloved Prophet Mohammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) told us that the best philanthropy (sadqa) done is that on one’s wife and children.

These are the principles and practices that have to be actively learned from a Sahikh by having an effective islahi relationship.

Without such a relationship practicing real Deen remains elusive. Moreover, close relationships become sour and marital life becomes miserable. ‘

Qari Rafeeq’s residence, Safa distt, Jeddah, bayan after maghrib, 20th January 2012

Misconception: Limited paths to Allah

Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Rafi Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

‘A very dangerous misconception that has crept into our thinking these days is that we limit the path to Allah in the following three things,

1. Religious studies at madersa

2. Tabligh

3. Jihad

This is incorrect thinking. Limiting the Deen to these three things is very dangerous and its consequences are devastating.

A Muslim’s whole life is in the path of Allah, if he/she is following the rulings of Shariah in whatever field he/she is working or studying.

Moreover, it is fardh-e-kafayah (obligatory for some individuals to do, otherwise the whole community will be sinful of negligence) for Muslims to be involved and excel in the fields like medicine, engineering, research, education, technology, agriculture, trading, etc. This is so that they stand strong in all aspects of life and decide their own destiny. Abandoning progress in these fields has left us at the mercy of Non-Muslim domination and their manipulations of our affairs in their own best interest. .’

Qari Rafeeq’s residence, Safa distt, Jeddah, bayan after maghrib, 20th January 2012

 

Unromantic spouse

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The spouses of the seekers on the path to Allah often bemoan about their unromantic partners. Especially, when it comes to verbalization of romantic sentiments.

However, a true seeker is always over cautious to fulfill the rights of their spouse and keeps them happy.

He/she may be tongue tied fearing to be untruthful in making bold claims.

Please, have mercy on him/her and remember:

(Picture: Richard Templar’s Rules of Love)

Be merciful!

Sayyidi wa sanadi Hadhrat Mawlana Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) was approached by two scholars who requested for permission to narrate the Prophetic sayings (sanad e hadith). Both were graduates of Nadwat ul Ulama, Lucknow. They had brought the canonical books of the blessed Prophetic sayings (Hadith) with them and wanted to recite the initial hadith from all of them and then get the permission.

Hadhrat sayyid wa sandi told them that it is better to start with hadith musalsal bil awaliya. He narrated it to them through his Shuyukh, particularly Shaikh Hasan Mashat al-Maliki, al-Makki and Shaikh Yaseen Fadani (Allah have mercy on them):

The Prophet (Allah bless and give him peace) said, “The merciful are shown mercy by the All-Merciful, تبارك و تعالى. Be merciful to those on earth and the Lord of the Heavens will be merciful to you.”

Then they read the first hadith from each of the Hadith text. Sayyidi corrected their reading for any mispronunciations. When they read from Musnad e Ahmad he clarified that he has ijaza of it by permission and not via studying it with a Shaykh (darsan).

Afterwards they requested for some advice.

Sayyidi wa sanadi pointed out to them that traditionally the first lesson a student of Islamic sciences gets from his teacher is this Prophetic saying, musalsal bil awaliya.

Why is it like this?

The authors’ of the books of hadith have initiated their works by various different Prophetic sayings, as you read earlier in this session.

Imam Bukhari (Allah have mercy on him) considering the utmost importance of sincerity started with rectifying the ‘intention’: “The reward of deeds depends upon the intentions and every person will get the reward according to what he has intended. So whoever emigrated for worldly benefits or for a woman to marry, his emigration was for what he emigrated for.

Imam Muslim (Allah have mercy on him) started with the basic believes: One day we were sitting in the company of Allah’s Apostle (peace be upon him) when there appeared before us a man dressed in pure white clothes, his hair extraordinarily black. There were no signs of travel on him. None amongst us recognized him. At last he sat with the Apostle (peace be upon him) He knelt before him placed his palms on his thighs and said: Muhammad, inform me about al-Islam. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: Al-Islam implies that you testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and you establish prayer, pay Zakat, observe the fast of Ramadan, and perform pilgrimage to the (House) if you are solvent enough (to bear the expense of) the journey. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: It amazed us that he would put the question and then he would himself verify the truth. He (the inquirer) said: Inform me about Iman (faith). He (the Holy Prophet) replied: That you affirm your faith in Allah, in His angels, in His Books, in His Apostles, in the Day of Judgment, and you affirm your faith in the Divine Decree about good and evil. He (the inquirer) said: You have told the truth. He (the inquirer) again said: Inform me about al-Ihsan (performance of good deeds). He (the Holy Prophet) said: That you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, for though you don’t see Him, He, verily, sees you. He (the enquirer) again said: Inform me about the hour (of the Doom). He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: One who is asked knows no more than the one who is inquiring (about it). He (the inquirer) said: Tell me some of its indications. He (the Holy Prophet) said: That the slave-girl will give birth to her mistress and master, that you will find barefooted, destitute goat-herds vying with one another in the construction of magnificent buildings. He (the narrator, Umar ibn al-Khattab) said: Then he (the inquirer) went on his way but I stayed with him (the Holy Prophet) for a long while. He then, said to me: Umar, do you know who this inquirer was? I replied: Allah and His Apostle knows best. He (the Holy Prophet) remarked: He was Gabriel (the angel). He came to you in order to instruct you in matters of religion.

Whereas the authors of Sunan (Allah have mercy on them started with cleanliness and purity (tahara).

Imam Malik (Allah have mercy on him) thinking that the rulings of tahara will only be applied when the time of salah arrives started Muwatta with the timimgs of the prayers: Don’t you know that the angel Jibril came down and prayed and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed.’ Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then he prayed again, and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, prayed. Then Jibril said, ‘This is what you have been ordered to do.

The reason to select this specific hadith is, most likely, to remind us that Allah’s attribute of mercy predominates and surpasses His attribute of wrath. The Holy Quran starts with ‘With the name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful’[1:1]. Then comes,’Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds [1:2] the All-Merciful, the Very Merciful[1:3].

The message that is being conveyed here to the novice student of Deen is that the characteristic of mercy should predominate in your character. This should be the moto of your life. Be merciful to all the humans on the face of the Earth, including the Muslims and the Non-Muslims. However, the modes and manifestation of this mercy may differ for each of them.

We should be merciful even to Non-Muslims. This means that we should have a burning desire in our heart that Allah guides them to truth. And they receive salvation, enter Paradise and are saved from Hell-fire. We should invite them to Islam with love and compassion.

We restrict this mercy to Muslims alone. However, in reality it should be on Non-Muslims to.  The hatred is not for any Non-Muslim individual but for his devious beliefs (kufr & shirk). As person we should have compassion for him like we have for a person afflicted with a disease.

Hence, the reason why our pious predecessor teachers selected this hadith for the very first lesson was to sow the seed of mercy in an aspirants heart. To make him realize its importance so that he becomes a manifestation of this mercy for the whole mankind.  Following our Master the ‘Mercy to the universe’ (rehmatul-il-‘alameen) Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and grant him peace) he brings the creation closer to Allah.

May Allah make us understand this fully and facilitate acting according to it. Amin!’

Qari Rafiq’s residence, Jeddah, al-Safa distt. 14th January 2012, after maghrib

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Main Entry:
mercy  [mur-see]
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: kindness, compassion
Synonyms: benevolence, benignancy, blessing, boon, charity, clemency, commiseration, favor, forbearance, forgiveness, generosity, gentleness, godsend, goodwill, grace, humanity, kindliness, lenience, leniency, lenity, lifesaver, luck, mildness, pity, quarter, relief, ruth, softheartedness, sympathy, tenderness, tolerance
Antonyms: cruelty, intolerance, meanness, uncompassion

Criteria for instructing others

Shaikh Shaddad bin Hakim (Allah have mercy on him) used to say:

“Whoever possesses the following three characteristics should instruct people; if not, then he should leave off teaching.

1. He reminds people of God’s favors in order that they give thanks for them;

2. He reminds them of their sins in order that they repent from them; and

3. He reminds them of their enemies (nafs & Shaytan) in order that they beware of them.”

Ikhlaq as-Saliheen, translation Tambih al Mughtarin of of Imam Sha’rani (Allah have mercy on him)

Seeking religious knowledge

Shaikh Sufyan bin Thawri (Allah have mercy on him) used to say:

“My mother advised me:

‘My son!

Only seek religious knowledge if you intend to implement it.

Otherwise, it will be a source of torment for you on the Day of Resurrection.’ ”

Ikhlaq as-Saliheen, translation Tambih al Mughtarin of of Imam Sha’rani (Allah have mercy on him)

Facebook

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An individual inquired that if it was still inappropriate to keep a face book account.

Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) replied,

‘Yes indeed one should not have an account on the facebook . It is against the Islamic honor to do so. The desecration they did for our master Prophet Muhammad (Allah bless him and give him peace) was despicable.

However, I do not say that it is impermissible (na-jaiz/haram) to do so.

Some people tell me there is an account under my name also. I do not approve of it. I tell them to delete it if possible. I have no connection with it.’

Medinah e munawwarah, Al-Taiba Suites, 11th January 2011

Tackling eccentric opinions

Mention was made about the stream of publications written recently against the eccentric views of a contemporary scholar.

Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

‘Indeed we live in a era where holding individualistic views are common. Anyone with an attentive audience feels free to do it. It is one of the signs of the end of time as mentioned in a Prophetic sayings.

فإذا رأيت دنيا مؤثرة وشحا مطاعا وإعجاب كل ذي رأي برأيه، فعليك نفسك

However, the tactics used to bring this to their attention and correct them should be with utmost wisdom, thorough knowledge and in a heartfelt manner. It should be in private. This is so that they are not humiliated and alienated.

Publishing these sorts of books is usually not useful. It will lead to the publication of a rebuttal and then another answer to it will be written. This process will be repeated multiple times without any benefit. Moreover, all this argumentation and infighting adds to the armamentarium of the enemies of Islam.

These issues were referred to us at Darul ifta in Darul Uloom, Karachi also many years ago. We wrote in detail about them and send it directly to the highest authorities in charge of the movement this scholar is associated with. All praise to Allah, it was received well by them and significant improvements were made according to our recommendations.’

Makkah Towers # 2, 3rd January 2012, after esha

Value time

Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) said,

‘These days most of us are preoccupied by the past events or future apprehensions. In doing so we neglect the present.’

An individual inquired,

‘In our era due to technological advances every day chores are done relatively quickly. Hence we have extra time available to us. This usually results in preoccupation with useless involvements including those you mention. How can we utilize time more effectively?’

Sayyidi wa sanadi replied,

‘I repeatedly tell the people the same and ask them what are they doing with the time they save by using these new technologies.

An individual has to develop the importance of value of time.

Once this importance is developed then it will be impossible for him to waste a single second. Moreover, Allah will give barakah in his time and he will be able to do more work effectively in the same amount of time.’

Makkah Towers, 3rd January 2012, After esha

Munasbet

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A wife complained regarding her husband’s strictness in implementing Shariah at home. This individual has a very close islahi relationship with another contemporary Shaikh.

Sayyid wa sanadi Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) replied that it will be grossly incorrect for him to interfere in this matter. He also elaborated that it has to be acknowledged that there is the issue of congeniality (munasbet).

(Some individuals have  it with a Shaikh who appears to be extremely strict, blunt and cantankerous to others. Yet some people have no problem with him and benefit from him spiritually.)

It is inappropriate to chastise him for something (permissible) his Shaikh recommends.’

Makkah e muramah, 6th Safar 1433/1st Jan 2012

Useless knowledge & pride

Our master Prophet Jesus son of Mary (Allah’s peace be upon them) said,

“It is of no use to you to come to know what you did not know, so long as you do not act in accordance with what you already know.

Too much knowledge only increases pride if you do not act in accordance with it.”

Abu ‘Abdallah Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Shaybani Ibn Hanbal:  Kitab al-Zuhd  327:

Stay away from sinful

Hakim al-Umma Mawlana Shah Ashraf Ali Thanawi (Allah have mercy on him) instructed a seeker,

‘A little determination is required to stay away from all that is sinful. In addition, sit and recite daily with contemplation hundred times ‘Allah’ ‘Allah’. Do this in spite of not having the desire to do so.

…….

I have a strict criteria (in instructing those aspiring spiritual progress)  to stay away from all that is sinful.

Holding one’s self from indulgence in sinful is the most undesired (yet most beneficial) of all the spiritual struggles and exercises for the lower self (nafs).’

Tarbiyet us Salik, volume 3, page 1026

Forceful islah of the household members

Many people try to coerce their family members to reform (islah). Use of verbal,  physical or emotional pressure may be involved in this effort.

The golden words of Mufti Rasheed Ahmad Ludhyanawi (Allah have mercy on him) must be remembered that this is not permissible to do so for post-pubertal individuals, like adult sons, daughters, sons & daughters-in law, etc.

If done without wisdom it backfires and leads to alienation from religion, misunderstandings  and souring of relationships. (May Allah save us all. Amin!)

It is best to make excessive supplications (dua) in this regards and ask Allah for guidance. Then only one should advice them gently in a heartfelt manner at an appropriate time in privacy. Until then one should be involved in his own islah.

Sayyidi wa sanadi Shaikh Mufti Mohammad Taqi Usmani (Allah preserve him) repeatedly tells us,

‘A truthful advice in not a club to strike another individual as one desires.

Sometimes one has to wait for years to say the right thing with the right intention in the right manner for it to be effective.’

Allah give us the tawfeeq. Amin!