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Ethics & Values New Muslims

Social Relations: Lessons from the Qur’an

Allah being man’s Creator knows best what might damage cordial social relations, as a result of weaknesses in human nature:

The believers are brothers in faith. So make peace and reconciliation between your brethren. And fear Allah so that you may receive His mercy. O Believers! Let not some men among you laugh at others. It may be that the latter are better than the former. Let not some women laugh at others. It may be that the latter are better than the former. And do not criticize one another, nor call them by offensive nicknames. It is bad to commit sin after professing belief. And those who do not repent are wrongdoers. O Believers! Avoid suspicion as much as possible. For in some cases suspicion is a sin. And do not spy on and backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of your dead brother? You would abhor it. And fear Allah. Allah accepts repentance and is Most Merciful. O mankind! We have created you from a single pair of a male and female. And We have made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. The most honored of you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most pious of you. And Allah has full knowledge and is well acquainted with all things. (Al-Hujurat 49:10-13)

The passage above goes to great lengths in identifying and remedying these human failings.

Against Ridicule

Mention is made first of the fairly common tendency of laughing at others. Both men and women are equally prone to doing this.

Strikingly enough, the Qur’an addresses both men and women separately, asking them to desist from it. For the men or women so ridiculed may be better than those scoffing at them. What actually accounts for issuing this directive separately to men and women is that Islam does not envisage any intermixing of men and women.

It does not, therefore, admit the possibility that men may mock women and vice versa. For they should not and cannot gain such acquaintance with the opposite sex, as may result in taking them as the butt of ridicule and mockery. Repetition of the directive is also aimed at emphasizing the evil of such a practice.

Laughing at others may take many different forms, as is pointed out thus:

Copying someone’s voice, laughing at his words, face or dress, and making gestures so as to attract attention to others’ weaknesses. The underlying idea behind this act is to express one’s superiority by undermining the prestige of others.

This is regarded as character-assassination in Islam, and is abhorred in the same way as physical attack and persecution.

Since mocking others amounts to attacking their honor and prestige, it is bound to strain social relations. The victim too might even resort to revenge. As a result, the social fabric is damaged, giving rise to many more evils.

Islam therefore, strikes at the root of this common human failing of laughing at someone else’s expense.

Not to Slander

Another habit that deals a severe blow to mutual love and understanding is the tendency to criticize and blame others for offences, both real and imaginary. Needless to add, acrimonious remarks made against others are always counter-productive. The blame game is endless, with each party projecting the other in the worst possible light.

Far from promoting the Islamic value system, this tendency creates fissures and ruptures in community life. Such actions and reactions run counter to the Islamic ideal of Muslim brotherhood. At another place too, the Qur’an condemns the practice of slandering:

Woe to every kind of scandalmonger and backbiter, who piles up wealth and lays it by, thinking that his wealth will make him last forever. By no means! He will surely be thrown into that which breaks to pieces. And what would explain to you that which breaks to pieces? It is the fire of Allah kindled to a blaze. (Al-Humazah 104:1-6)

Using offensive nicknames is a variation of slander. The Qur’an makes a point of prohibiting this as well. For, like mocking and slandering others, it disrupts cordial social relations. The victim may avenge himself or he may harbor ill-feelings against those who show disrespect towards him. In either case, social relations are bound to be affected.

quran_prayer beads

Not only does Islam proclaim the sanctity of human life, property and honor, it also expects every member of the community to uphold the same.

God-Consciousness

The Qur’an is so particular about maintaining and promoting social harmony that it mentions, one by one, these irritants and urges man to shun them.

For curbing these the Qur’an goes a step further in asking man to be conscious all along of the All-Hearing, All-Seeing Allah and of the terrible consequences of such misdeeds in the Hereafter.

At the close of the verse these misdeeds, which harm fellow human beings, are branded as acts of wickedness. Muslims are reminded that after having professed belief, they should have nothing to do with any wicked act. As for those who refuse to pay any heed to these warnings and persist in such misdeeds, they are dubbed as wicked.

The note of warning is clear and emphatic. Little wonder then that one comes across several reports about the Prophet’s Companions that they made a point of shunning such behavior. `Abdullah ibn Mas`ud is on record as exclaiming: “I dread laughing at even a dog, lest I be turned into a dog.” (Al-Qurtubi)

Verse 12, “O Believers! Avoid suspicion as much as possible. For in some cases suspicion is a sin. And do not spy on and backbite one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of your dead brother? You would abhor it. And fear Allah. Allah accepts repentance and is Most Merciful (Al-Hujurat 49:12), marks the extension of the same moral code.

The focus shifts to those weaknesses which generally creep into a community as a whole and its behavioral pattern. Once again, the objective is to promote good social behavior among members of the community and also towards others who are not part of the faith community.

The directive starts by striking a blow at the root cause of all quarrels and conflicts – suspecting others and ascribing bad motives to all of their actions. If one does not check this tendency, it might make one’s own life miserable.

While one should be on one’s guard regarding one’s interests and not act in a gullible way, one should not take everyone as an enemy. Suspicion breeds hostility which eventually results in severing ties and relationships.

The Qur’an dubs such suspicion as a sin for it prompts one to doubt someone else’s integrity and to interpret an action in the worst possible terms.

Closely related to suspicion is the human weakness of spying on others in order to find out their secrets. Also included under this heading are the following: “Bugging, reading someone’s letters, peeping into someone’s house, investigating someone’s financial, private and family affairs.”

Collective Responsibility

Not only does Islam proclaim the sanctity of human life, property and honor, it also expects every member of the community to uphold the same. Accordingly, it forbids any interest in others’ personal and private lives. The Prophet brought home the above point thus:

“Do not speak ill of fellow Muslims. Do not look for their failings and weaknesses. For one who looks for their weaknesses, his failings are identified by Allah. Such a person is destined to be disgraced.” (Al-Qurtubi)

The Islamic norm that one’s personal life should not be probed unnecessarily is illustrated best by the following incident in the early history of Islam, involving a person of such exalted stature as the Caliph `Umar.

Once on his nightly inspection round the Caliph ‘Umar passed by a house, resounding with song and music. He jumped over the wall and found inside the house a man in a drunken state in the company of a woman who was playing music. Enraged, the Caliph asked the man to explain his misconduct.

However, the man retorted thus: “O Caliph, if I have committed one sin, you stand guilty of three. Allah has forbidden us to spy on someone. Yet you did the same. He has commanded that one should enter a house after securing permission. You have violated this. Moreover, you have invaded my privacy.” The Caliph realized that in his zeal to check evil he had not followed the social norms spelled out in the Qur’an. He, therefore, did not press charges against the person.

However, he instructed the latter to lead his life in accordance with Islamic morals and manners. The latter assured him that he would mend his ways.

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The article is an excerpt from Abdur Raheem Kidwai’s The Qur’an: Essential Teachings, published by the Islamic Foundation, 2005/1426 H.

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Categories
New Muslims Qur'an & Sunnah

The Qur’an: To Start from the Beginning

By Haya Muhammad Eid

Al-fatihah

Short and concise as it is, Al-Fatihah adroitly contains the totality of the Islamic creed

Reading the Qur’an gives the feeling that the speaker is all around, seeing and hearing everything; all-knowing of us – every feeling, every thought, every memory, every good or evil tendency; all-knowing of the heavens and earth – every atom, every breath of air, every grain of sand, every fruit on every tree; and all-knowing of the past, present, and future – every moment, every event, every detail:

He knows what enters into the earth and what comes forth from it, what descends from the sky and what ascends to it. He is with you wherever you may be. And Allah  is the All-Seer of what you do. (Al-Hadid 57:4-6)

The tone is that of supreme authority, full lordship, and absolute sufficiency:

Allah, there is no god except Him, the Ever Living, the Self-Sufficient Master Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber nor sleep overtake Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. (Al-Baqarah 2:255)

Despite its grandeur and majesty, the Qur’an does not evoke a sense of distance or strangeness, but rather affinity with the divine words because of their familiarity with human nature, its needs, its fears, its pains, and its desires:

Indeed, We (Allah) have created the human, and We know what his own self whispers to him. And We are nearer to him than his jugular vein. (Qaf 50:16)

Reading and rereading it, each time with more purpose and focus, eventually forms a rope safely tying us to our Creator, as depicted by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him):

“Truly, this Qur’an is a rope; one end of it is in Allah’s Hand and the other end is in yours. Hold fast to it. Indeed, you will never go astray or be ruined after it (after holding on to it).”  (Ibn Hibban)

Al-Fatihah

In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of existence, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful, the Owner (Master) of the Day of Judgment. It is You (alone) we worship, and You (alone) we ask for help. Guide us to the Straight Path, the Path of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace, not the path of those who have incurred Your Anger, nor of those who have gone astray. (Al-Fatihah 1:1-7)

Al-Fatihah (the Opening) is so named because it is the chapter with which the Qur’an begins. It is also named Umm Al-Qur’an (the Mother of the Qur’an) and As-Sab`-ul-Mathani (Seven Oft-recited Verses).

Short and concise as it is, this Qur’anic chapter adroitly contains the totality of the Islamic creed, which reveals the wisdom behind the divine ruling that Al-Fatihah be recited in every unit of salah (prayer) and the invalidity of salah without it.

“In the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.”

The start of anything, as Allah guides, should be in His name; everything in this universe is in His name and happens by His will and permission. Starting any action with Allah’s Name means taking Him as one’s helper and supporter in that action.

The mention of Allah’s name is accompanied by His two sublime Attributes, the All-Merciful and the Ever-Merciful, as a constant reminder of the open doors of His mercy; thus, no one should feel unwelcome.

“Praise be to Allah, the Lord of existence.”

Coming into existence out of nothing is a bounty from the Lord of existence, Who gives to all, and takes nothing for Himself. With every breath, His endless and continuous blessings flow by day and night, which can render the tongue speechless, at a loss for the right words. But Allah teaches that thanking Him is done with only two words, “Alhamdu lillah” (Praise be to Allah). This is a favor in itself.

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) expressed the human inability to fully thank our Creator, when he said: “I cannot praise You enough. You are as You have praised Yourself.” (Muslim)

“The Owner (Master) of the Day of Judgment.”

This is what gives balance to the whole world. Without it, the world would be a jungle. Without it, human life could not be elevated. Only through belief in the Day of Judgment can hearts find rest; what humans receive in this world is not their final portion. There is a world to come that is worth striving for, unrestricted by the limits of a lifetime or the scope of this earth.

Believers and disbelievers in this Day are not the same in their emotions, thoughts, behavior, or actions. Their attitude towards it splits them into two totally different types of people. Believers rarely lose sight of their inevitable meeting with Allah and retain Him in their thoughts and actions, for they know they will be judged. Disbelievers do not have Allah in any of their thoughts or actions. About them, Allah says:

As for those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert which a thirsty one thinks is water until, when he comes to it, he finds it to be nothing. Instead he finds Allah before him, Who will pay him in full his due. And Allah is swift in account. (An-Nur 24:39)

“It is You we worship, and You we ask for help.”

As long as people worship only their Creator and seek only His Help, they are free and immune to subjugation by regimes, circumstances, or other humans. They will not fall prey to superstitions, myths, or fancies. Filled with feelings of submission to and reliance on Allah alone, Muslims live in this world free, with no fear of – or for – anything. They bow to Allah (Exalted be He) with humility and stand with their heads raised before everything else.

“Guide us to the Straight Path.”

This is the first and most important supplication a believer can pray for to continue to adhere to and practice Allah’s true religion, Islam, to attain happiness in this life and the next.

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The article is excerpted from the Book “A Brief Tour through the Qur’an” by Haya Muhammad Eid, edited by Emily Richardson. To read or download the book click here.

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New Muslims Qur'an & Sunnah

Tilawah of the Qur’an: Meaning and Blessings

reading Qur'an

As the tongue recites and words flow from the lips, the mind ponders, the heart reflects, the soul absorbs, tears well up in the eyes, the heart quakes and trembles.

Tilawah is the word that the Qur’an uses to describe the act of its reading. No single word in English can convey its full meaning. ‘To follow’ is closest to its primary meaning. To read is only secondary, for in reading too, words follow each other, one closely behind the other, in an orderly and meaningful sequence. If one word does not follow the other, or if the sequence and order is not observed, the meaning is destroyed.

So, primarily, tilawah means, move closely behind, to go forward, to flow in a sequence, let go in pursuit, to take as a guide, leader, master, a model, to accept the authority, to espouse the cause, to act upon, walk after, practice a way of life, to understand, to follow the train of thought – or to follow.

Hence, reading the Qur’an, understanding the Qur’an, following the Qur’an – that is how those who have any right to claim faith in it relate themselves to it.

All-Inclusive Act

Tilawah or recitation is an act in which your whole person, soul, heart, mind, tongue and body, participates. In short your whole existence becomes involved.

In reading the Qur’an, mind and body, reason and feeling lose their distinction; they become fused. As the tongue recites and words flow from the lips, the mind ponders, the heart reflects, the soul absorbs, tears well up in the eyes, the heart quakes and trembles, the skin shivers and softens just as the heart does, there no longer remains any duality between the two, even your hair may stand on end.

And ”so he walks in a light from his Lord”  (Az-Zumar 39:22) “that is God’s guidance, whereby He guides whomsoever He will.” (Az-Zumar 39:23)

To read the Qur’an thus, as it deserves to be read, is not a light task; but nor is it too difficult or impossible.

Otherwise the Qur’an could not have been meant for laymen like us, nor could it be the mercy and the guidance that it surely is. But obviously it does entail much travail of heart and mind, soul and intellect, spirit and body, and requires that certain conditions be observed and obligations be fulfilled – some inwardly, some outwardly. You should know them all, now, and endeavour to observe them before you enter the glorious world of the Qur’an.

Matchless Blessing

Only then will you reap the full harvest of blessings that await you in the Qur’an. Only then will the Qur’an open its doors to you. Only then will it let you dwell inside it and dwell inside you. Nine months spent in the womb of your mother have transformed a drop of water into ‘you’ – hearing, seeing and thinking.

Can you imagine what a lifetime spent with the Qur’an – seeking, hearing, seeing, thinking, striving – can do for you?

It can make you into an entirely new ‘being’ – before whom even angels will feel proud to kneel. Ascending at every step taken within the Qur’an and every moment spent therein, you will reach towering heights. You will be gripped by the power and beauty that breathe and move within the Qur’an.

From `Abdullah ibn `Amr ibn Al-`Aas: The Prophet (Allah’s blessings and peace be on him) said: “The companion of the Qur’an will be told: recite and ascend, ascend with facility as you used to recite with facility in the world. Your final abode is the height you reach at the last verse you recite”. (Abu Dawud, At-Tirmidhi, Ahmad, and An-Nasa’i).

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The article is excerpted from the author’s book “Way to the Qur’an”.

 

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New Muslims Qur'an & Sunnah

The Qur’an: A Message for All & for Each One in Particular

quran

The Qur’an makes known, reveals and guides: it is a light that responds to the quest for meaning.

For Muslims the Qur’an stands as the text of reference, the source and the essence of the message transmitted to humanity by the Creator. It is the last of a lengthy series of revelations addressed to humans down through history. It is the Word of God – but it is not God.

The Qur’an makes known, reveals and guides: it is a light that responds to the quest for meaning.

Reminder for All

The Qur’an is remembrance of all previous messages, those of Noah and Abraham, of Moses and Jesus. Like them, it reminds and instructs our consciousness: life has meaning, facts are signs.

It is the Book of all Muslims the world over. But paradoxically, it is not the first book someone seeking to know Islam should read. (A life of the Prophet or any book presenting Islam would be a better introduction.) For it is both extremely simple and deeply complex. The nature of the spiritual, human, historical and social teachings to be drawn from it can be understood at different levels. The text is one, but its readings are multiple.

For the woman or the man whose heart has made the message of Islam its own, the Qur’an speaks in a singular way. It is both the voice and the path. God speaks to one’s innermost being, to his consciousness, to his heart, and guides him onto the path that leads to knowledge of him, to the meeting with him:

This is the Book, about it there can be no doubt; it is a Path for those who are aware of God. (Al-Baqarah 2:2)

Not Just a Text

More than a mere text, it is a traveling companion to be chanted, to be sung or to be heard.

Throughout the Muslim world, in mosques, in homes and in the streets, one can hear magnificent voices reciting the divine Words. Here, there can be no distinction between religious scholars (`ulmaa’) and laymen. The Qur’an speaks to each in his language, accessibly, as if to match his intelligence, his heart, his questions, his joy as well as his pain. This is what the scholars have termed reading or listening as adoration.

As Muslims read or hear the text, they strive to suffuse themselves with the spiritual dimension of its message: beyond time, beyond history and the millions of beings who populate the earth, God is speaking to each of them, calling and reminding each of them, inviting, guiding, counseling and commanding. God responds, to her, to him, to the heart of each: with no intermediary, in the deepest intimacy.

For Every One

No need for studies and diplomas, for masters and guides. Here, as we take our first steps, God beckons us with the simplicity of his closeness. The Qur’an belongs to everyone, free of distinction and of hierarchy. God responds to whoever comes to his Word.

It is not rare to observe women and men, poor and rich, educated and illiterate, Eastern and Western, falling silent, staring into the distance, lost in thought, stepping back, weeping. The search for meaning has encountered the sacred, God is near:

Indeed, I am close at hand. I answer the call of him who calls me when s/he calls. (Al-Baqarah 2:186)

A dialogue has begun. An intense, permanent, constantly renewed dialogue between a Book that speaks the infinite simplicity of the adoration of the One, and the heart that makes the intense effort necessary to liberate itself, to meet him. At the heart of every heart’s striving lies the Qur’an. It holds out peace and initiates into liberty.

Indeed, the Qur’an may be read at several levels, in quite distinct fields. But first, the reader must be aware of how the text has been constructed. The Qur’an was revealed in sequences of varying length, sometimes as entire chapters (surahs), over a span of 23 years.

qur'an

At the heart of every heart’s striving lies the Qur’an.

In its final form, the text follows neither a chronological nor strictly thematic order. Two things initially strike the reader: the repetition of prophetic stories, and the formulas and information that refer to specific historical situations that the Qur’an does not elucidate.

True Understanding

Understanding, at this first level, calls for a twofold effort on the part of the reader: though repetition is, in a spiritual sense, a reminder and a revivification, in an intellectual sense it leads us to attempt to reconstruct. The stories of Eve and Adam, or of Moses, are repeated several times over with differing though noncontradictory elements: the task of human intelligence is to recompose the narrative structure, to bring together all the elements, allowing us to grasp the facts.

But we must also take into account the context to which these facts refer: all commentators, without distinction as to school of jurisprudence, agree that certain verses of the revealed text (in particular, but not only, those that refer to war) speak of specific situations that had arisen at the moment of their revelation. Without taking historical contingency into account, it is impossible to obtain general information on this or that aspect of Islam.

In such cases, our intelligence is invited to observe the facts, to study them in reference to a specific environment and to derive principles from them. It is a demanding task, which requires study, specialization and extreme caution- or, to put it differently, extreme intellectual modesty.

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Source: nytimes.com

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New Muslims Qur'an & Sunnah

What should I Do If I Don’t Understand a Verse from the Qur’an?

Reading the meaning of the Qur’an is important and something every Muslim must do. Understanding the Qur’an’s meaning is vital. What happens if one comes across a verse that they do not understand? Is it okay to reject it?

Sheikh Yasir Qadhi explains and answers.

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Source: Faith IQ

 

 

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