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loveyouallah · 5 months ago

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﷽

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي بِنِعْمَتِهِ تَتِمُّ الصَّالِحَاتُ | اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

Seeking Beneficial Knowledge. Reflection #2 21/1

Praise be to Allah for the bestowal of faith and Islam. Enough [for me] are they as a bestowal.

We praise Allah for allowing us to attend classes, for granting us the breath to wake up, facilitating every matter known to Him for us, and enabling us to make strides to attend the Tuesday gatherings.

We praise Allah for blessing us with our teacher Ustad Sameer, who teaches us from Imam Ghazali (رحمة الله عليه) 's magnum opus, Ihya Ulumuddin.

May Allah bless and elevate the status of the author Imam Ghazali and our teacher, Ustad Sameer, for teaching us.

During last Tuesday's class, we covered the next few pages of the Introduction. Throughout the week, lessons learned resonated with Ustad's teachings from previous classes.

Before proceeding, I wish to mention that writing this reflection serves as a reminder for both self reflection, self-improvement and understanding of my thoughts.

مَنْ عَرَفَ نَفْسَهُ فَقَدْ عَرَفَ رَبَّهُ

He who knows his own self (Nafs), knows his Lord (Rabb).

I also intend for this reflection to inspire or remind our brothers and sisters. It would mean much if Allah allows me to share something beneficial.

Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said to Imam Ali (رضي الله عنه), “By Allah, if a single person is guided by Allah through you, it will be better for you than a whole lot of red camels.” (Al-Bukhari and Muslim)

Before delving into Ustad Sameer's teachings, there was a specific point he mentioned that I realized I had overlooked and fallen short of, and insha’Allah I intend to improve upon it. So what is it?

Talabul ilmi fareedatan a'laa kulli muslim.

طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ

Seeking [obligatory] religious knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim.

Yes indeed this. But something more than just learning about this hadith we have to do. We have to definitely internalise what we have learnt and make it part of us. But as what Ustad Sameer mentioned, it is also very important for us to memorise it. The importance of memorising what we learnt needs to also be emphasized as this was indeed one of the spiritual openings Imam Ghazali (رحمة الله عليه ) himself went through.

The account narrates that Imam Ghazali was embarking on his journey to seek knowledge. On his way back home, a group of robbers raided his caravan and robbed his bag containing all his notes. Worried he would lose years worth of knowledge, he pleaded with them to return the notes and offered the rest of his belongings instead. But the chief robber mocked him, saying: "Knowledge is in the chests (i.e., hearts), not in notes (or books)." In the end, Imam al-Ghazali got his notes back, and he later commented: Allah sent him (the chief robber) to teach him a lesson. Just from this, we learn that we have to retain our knowledge in our hearts and implement it in our actions.

طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ

Another thing I learned last week, relevant to the previous post, is about having high himma (aspiration). Lately, I came across a poem resonating with having high himma and pleading to Allah to grant us high himma:

“If a man does not strive for heights, at least he should aspire for heights. Whoever is content with ‘less than heights’ is less than heights, and the greatest aspiration of heights is to be close to Allah.”

From this, I have learned that in this dunya (worldly life), it is crucial for us to have high himma and never despair of Allah's mercy in granting us the resolve to change. We should constantly strive and plead to Allah (swt) to change our conditions and grant us resolve.

Sidi Ibn Ataillah( رحمة الله عليه) mentioned, “If you do not know that Allah can take you in this moment and make you one of His Awliya, then you do not know anything about His qudra (power).” So we should never despair and strive to become people of wilayah (friendship with Allah) and those close to Allah (swt).

Another recount which I heard recently was an recount of Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jaylani, where one day, Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Jaylani was walking through the streets of Baghdad with his students when they came across a homeless drunkard sitting by the roadside. The students, eager to clear the path for their revered Sheikh, moved the man aside.

As Sheikh Abdul Qadir passed by, the man looked up at him and asked, “Yaa Abdul Qadir, Qaadir am ghairu Qaadir?” (O Abdul Qadir, can He or can’t He?). The Sheikh responded calmly, “Qaadir” (He can).

As they walked further, the man called out again, repeating the same question: “Qaadir am ghairu Qaadir?” The Sheikh stopped and answered firmly, “Balaa, Qaadir, Qaadir” (Yes, He can, He can).

When the Sheikh attempted to continue, the man shouted a third time, repeating, “Yaa Abdul Qadir, Qaadir am ghairu Qaadir?” This time, Sheikh Abdul Qadir broke into tears, sat down, and replied with great emotion, “Balaa… balaa… Qaadir… Qaadir…” (Yes… Yes… He can… He can…).

When his confused students asked for an explanation, Sheikh Abdul Qadir explained:

The man’s first question seemed to mean, “Can Allah, al-Qaadir (the All-Powerful), cleanse me of my drunkenness and homelessness and make me whole again?” His second question seemed to ask, “Can Allah not only purify me but also elevate me instantly to the status of a wali (a close friend of Allah)?” Each time, the Sheikh affirmed that Allah’s power is limitless.

However, the third question hit the Sheikh deeply. It was as if the man was asking, “Can Allah completely transform our roles? Can He take me, in my current state of sin and disgrace, and elevate me to your position as a wali of Allah? And can He, by His will, place you in my state of homelessness and drunkenness?”

May Allah guide us all always and protect us and may he increase us in our iman and nearness to him!

On a side note: Almost every day after our classes as I head back home, I always encounter a person who always is spending his time drinking alcohol. I always believe that its a sign, Allah is showing me to pray for him and also a sign that Allah is teaching me, that he has indeed blessed me with his guidance. I pray to Allah that those who are reading this post to pray for this man for guidance to Islam. May Allah grant this man to become a wali of Allah and may he become drunk in the love of Allah.

طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ

Without further digression, let's delve into what we learned from Ustad Sameer's class last Tuesday.

Imam Ghazali, in page 10 of his book on knowledge, narrates a hadith where Rasullulah (ﷺ) mentioned, “The most severely punished of all men on the Day of Resurrection will be a learned man whom Allah has not blessed with His Knowledge.” [al-Tabarani] and again he also mentioned, “No man will truly learn unless he puts knowledge into practice” [al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, Iqtiḍā’ al-‘ilm al-‘amal #17]

This hadith also points out that the most severely punished on the Day of Resurrection will be the teachers of falsehood. This brings us to Ustad Sameer mentioning the importance of distinguishing between scholars of this world and scholars of the hereafter. When we speak of scholars of this world, we refer to teachers whose sole purpose in pursuing knowledge is to enjoy the luxuries of this life and to attain power and position among people.

طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ

Ustad Sameer also mentioned being cautious of Islamic orators or “Da'i” who lack adab (etiquette) when giving dawah (inviting to Islam) and who may give dawah for the purpose of gaining followership. Ustad reiterated the importance of seeking teachers who are not just Mualim (teachers) but also Murshid (spiritual guides). A Murshid is a spiritual guide who remains with the student throughout life, training and guiding them in their journey to overcome their ego.

Recently, to emphasize the importance of having a Murshid, I came across a reel where Shaykh Yusuf Weltch mentioned the importance of reading a book with a teacher. He said, “It is important to read a book with a teacher because even if you skip parts you do not understand and only act on what you understand, what you think you understand may be flawed and incorrect.”

Therefore, it is crucial for us to seek a teacher. If Allah sends us a Waliyan Murshida (guiding friend), we should be immensely grateful for such guidance. For it is stated in the Quran, in chapter 18, verse 17:

”Whoever Allah guides is truly guided. But whoever He leaves to stray, you will never find for them a guiding mentor.” [18:17]

Ustad Sameer also mentioned that a Murshid should also be Ulul Amr (those in authority), a man of God, and when you see him, he reminds you of God. The Murshid is someone who practices the Sunnah in his life fully and instills the Sunnah in others. Ustad Sameer also mentioned that through the journey with the teacher, one gains experiential knowledge that allows them to attain Ihsan where they can worship Allah as if seeing Him.

طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ

Ustad Sameer addressed the current state we are living in, questioning how we dedicate so much time to building our careers and chasing higher paychecks, and whether we are truly worth the “hefty” paycheck we believe in. Indeed, no! We are beyond the value of that, and the value of our soul is invaluable. In ancient times, when people were described, they were referred to as Men and Women of God, not men of career.

Ustad Sameer also mentioned that Allah has given us years and decades for a higher purpose, which is to know and attain Allah. When one embarks on the journey to know Allah, they are on the path to higher stations of Wilayah (friendship with Allah).

To embark on the path of God, we must understand and attain different levels of Iman (faith): Iman Taqleed (imitative faith), Iman Tashdid (confirmative faith), and Iman Tahqeeq (realized faith).

Insha’Allah, I will write more about these stages of Iman in my upcoming reflections. Ustad Sameer also mentioned in the journey to God one also has to attain different forms of Ilm which would be Ilmul yaqeen, Ainul Yaqeen and Haqqul yaqeen and both The levels of Iman (Taqleed, Tashdid, Tahqeeq) and the levels of Yaqeen (Ilmul Yaqeen, Ainul Yaqeen, Haqqul Yaqeen) are complementary stages in the journey of a believer. Insha’ Allah I look forward to learn more about this and will delve further into the reflections in the future.

During the course of this journey of knowing God and Attaining God, Imam Ghazali also highlights on the importance of having patience.

Ustad Sameer also further highlighted that many often try to complete the books, mentioning that they have completed so many books but have we actually became the book, Internalise them and has it resulted in internal and external actions - reminder to myself firstly.

طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ

Ustad Sameer also highlighted that if we Believe in Allah being our God , we are already friend of God(Awliya allah) and we should look to see others as the friend of God as well.

This in reference to the ayat where it states.

Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out from darknesses into the light. And those who disbelieve - their allies are Taghut. They take them out of the light into darknesses. Those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide eternally therein. [2: 257]

However, Ustad Sameer mentioned that there are many different higher stations of wilayah that one should strive to attain and when one reaches higher stations, he would able to attain further nearness to Allah and secrets would be opened to him.

Ustad Sameer also mentioned that while a person strives to seek Ilm he should also be cautious to ascertain Ilm which would be beneficial for him and which knowledge would be harmful. He shouid seek to avoid places where knowledge isn't beneficial. Having a murshid would help to better facilitate the seeker to know which knowledge is beneficial and which isn't.

I would like to also close this reflection with a dua that Prophet Muhammad(ﷺ) taught us seeking protection from knowledge that does not benefit, and from submission to things other than him and from our duas not being answered.

اللهُمَّ إِنِّي أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ عِلْمٍ لَا يَنْفَعُ، وَمِنْ قَلْبٍ لَا يَخْشَعُ، وَمِنْ نَفْسٍ لَا تَشْبَعُ، وَمِنْ دَعْوَةٍ لَا يُسْتَجَابُ لَهَا Allahumma inni a’udhu bika min ‘ilmil la yanfa’ wa min qalbin la yakhsha’ wa min nafsil la tashba’ wa min da’watil la yustajabu laha

‘O Allah, I seek refuge from knowledge which does not benefit, from the heart that is not submissive to you/fearful of you, from the soul that does not feel contented and the supplication that is not answered’ - Sahih Muslim

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

#islam #tasawwuf #Imam Ghazali

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ervinafindy · 2 years ago

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Denny Ja: Exploring inspiration in religion: enriching the human mind by respecting tradition

Spiritual experience can be obtained from various sources, and religion is one of the most popular sources. However, sometimes we forget that religion not only meets spiritual needs, but also inspires to develop you into a person to reflect the values of life related to trust and moral actions. In this context, Denny JA became a very inspiring figure. Denny JA is not only a political figure, but also a consistent writer and adherent of religion. Denny JA gives inspiration in religion by respecting his religion and tradition, while making contemplation to foster yourself and others. One of Denny Ja's monumental works titled "Becoming Indonesia Through Poetry". In his book consisting of 99 poems, Denny Ja invited his readers to view Indonesia with a deeper and analytical view, including spiritual, historical, and sociological perspectives. In a poem entitled Ihya Ulumuddin, Denny Ja discussed the work of Ahmad Al-Ghazali who talked about how to revive religion in the modern era. In this poem, Denny Ja reminds us that religion is not only about blind service and obedience, but also involves reason and reflection. We must understand the principles of religion and practice, but also need to be open to facing bad news around us and try to improve things that are not good. Denny Ja also wrote about local wisdom and Indonesian culture in other books. For example, in "independence in joking", Denny Ja wrote about the humor of the people as a legacy of local wisdom that should be preserved. According to Denny Ja, religion is a source of courage in living this life. There are several teachings in religion that foster human enthusiasm and courage. The puzzles and obstacles must be overcome, because as humans born in this world, we must be able to adapt to the surrounding conditions. In the book "Merdeka in Joking", Denny Ja wrote about caricatures and freedom of expression in the perspective of religion. Denny Ja advised us to take a wise and intelligent attitude in religion, by not attacking and hostile to the people we do not agree with us. We must respect the right of others to express their opinions and refrain from committing acts of violence. In conclusion, Denny Ja with his work has provided inspiration in religion, even though he never forced religious teachings on others. He shows through his actions that religion can enrich the human mind and help us respect diversity and tradition. Through his opportunity as a writer, Denny Ja continues to show the importance of embracing diversity and tolerance in a plural society. The message to be conveyed by Denny Ja really makes us think again about how we treat religion and tradition. We must take lessons for Denny Ja's work and advice, and respect our religion and tradition as an invaluable source of inspiration. Denny Ja has proven that religion can be a part of our lives that help us become mature people, be wise, and embrace diversity.

Check more: Denny JA: Exploring inspiration in religion: enriching human mind by respecting tradition

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3linaturabi · 4 years ago

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What is Hijab ? Hijab comes with Chastity....

Syeda Zainab(sa)is also known by the name of:-

AL SHUJAA.......

The Chastity and Piety of Syeda Zainab(sa)are the most admirable virtues for any women.

Syeda Zainab (sa) learned chastity in the school of her father. Imam Ali(as)Her father used to say: a martyred fighter who lays his life in the way of Allah, will not be rewarded more than a person who is powerful but is chaste, that is who can commit sin but refrains from doing it. A chaste person is very close to angels.”

1)Zainab e kubra(sa) demonstrated her chastity even during the most difficult times. During her captivity and veli being taken to Sham from Karbala, she preserved her chastity. History has recorded that she used to cover her face by her hair from her head because her scarf had been snatched from her,

2) In order to safeguard the perimeters of chastity and meekness she used to shout upon Yazid(L), saying: O, the son of those liberated (by my grandfather, Holy Prophet of Islam), is it fair to keep your wives and maids behind the curtain and take the daughters of the Prophet of Allah here and there as captives?

You have removed their veil and exposed their faces of there daughters of Rasulullah(saww)and left you're nice Umm e Laila(sa) without velli shame on you,.3) Following the Wali (religious leader)

The Holy Qur'an commands the Muslims to obey Allah(swt)and the holy Prophet(saww)and those in authority.

4)Sani e zahra Zainah(sa) who lived during the time of seven infallible figures.

5) was a prominent lady in following the religious leader (her knowledge of the leader, unequivocal following of the leader, introducing of the leader to others, and making sacrifices for the leader). She had witnessed how her mother protected the Imam of her time, saying to her leader Imam(as): May I protect you even by sacrificing my life for you.

6) And finally, she sacrificed her life for protection of Imam Ali(as) and fell martyr in the way of Imam(as). Zainab e kubra(sa)learned the lesson of following the Imam(as) from her mother Fatima zahra(sa)and demonstrated this lesson in Karbala in a proper manner".

Notes:‌

[1] Nahj al-Balagha, Faiz ul Islam, Philosophical Point 466.

[2] Jazayeri, Al-Khasis ul Zainabiya, p. 345.

[3] Majlesi, Muhammad Baqir, Bihar al-Anwar, (Beirut, Dar al Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi), vol. 45, p. 1

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baabulilm · 6 years ago

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This is Habib Sa’ad al Aydrus.

He was the Quran teacher for many of the scholars from the habaib in Tarim, amongst these Habib Kadhim and Habib Umar. He even memorized the Quran while he was in jail. He was put in jail not because of misdeeds, but because the Soviet communists feared the influence he was gaining due to his dawah activities. He didn’t act out in anger during the suppression he was experiencing, rather he used it as an opportunity to worship Allah and get nearer to Him.

He was jailed for 3,5 and experienced torture. In the end the Soviet communists released him from jail, as they saw that his behavior was harmless. They had no grounds to keep him.

He loved cats and opened his home to them. He wrote many interesting books (more than 100), including The Book of Intentions, which has been translated to more than 17 languages, even in his own lifetime. He also wrote a book explaining the real color of water, which is black. He used verses of Quran and hadith to prove this. All of his books are short and precise, to make it easy for people to gain knowledge and to make them affordable.

He was born in 1932 and died in 2011 at the age of 82. He spent his last hours reading the masterpiece written by al Ghazali (Ihya). Thus we see the truth in the hadith where our Prophet ‎ﷺ told us that we will die as we live: This master of knowledge died while studying and revising knowledge.

Please take this lesson and spend your time wisely. And lastly say al-Fatiha for this blessed habib. May we all follow him in his way of life.

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wisdomrays · 8 years ago

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Killing an Innocent

Killing an InnocentGod Almighty declares that killing an innocent person unjustly is like killing all of mankind and saving a person's life is like saving all of mankind. Could you please explain this? A: Before the relevant verse [1] (Maida 5:32), God Almighty commands the Prophet "Narrate to them (O Messenger) in truth the exemplary experience of the two sons of Adam " and draws attention to the first murder committed on the earth. The First Murder and the Master of Murderers Most Qur'anic interpreters say that the two sons of Adam are Cain and Abel and they give detailed information about the lives of these two brothers. Actually, their names are not mentioned in the Qur'an; but in the ancient scriptures and narrations the names of Adam's sons are mentioned as Cain and Abel. It is for this reason that Muslim scholars have not found anything wrong in referring to the characters involved in the event by these names. At the same time, some have interpreted the "two sons of Adam" to be just two men from the Children of Israel. In truth, one doesn't have to know their names in order to learn a lesson from the parable. What matters is the fact that this event did happen and the expression "in truth" mentioned in the verse shows that this is not a myth, but a true story. As narrated in the Qur'an, they both offered a sacrifice to God; but only one of these was accepted. The brother whose sacrifice was not accepted told the other "I will surely kill you." Despite the fact that killing a person, particularly killing one's own brother, is a great transgression, the murderer, who had lost control due to jealousy, shed the blood of his innocent brother; this brother did not even attempt to struggle against his brother, and he was only a good-intentioned companion. The first murderer of the earth whose unfortunate end is told in the verse (Maida 5:30) "His carnal, evil-commanding soul prompted him to kill his brother, and he killed him, thus becoming among the losers" became the trailblazer on a horrible path which leads to Eternal Fire; he virtually breached a dam that was to be followed by a great flood. For this reason, when God's Messenger narrated this sad event he said: "The son of Adam has a share (of sin) from the blood of anyone unjustly killed; for he was the one who started killing the first time." After relating this tragic event and reminding us of the first murder, God Almighty sets the relative principle, He commands the following to show what a great sin murder is and how great the importance of human life is: "It is because of this that We ordained for (all mankind, but particularly for) the Children of Israel: He who kills a soul unless it be (in legal punishment) for murder or for causing disorder and corruption on the earth will be as if he had killed all mankind; and he who saves a life will be as if he had saved the lives of all humankind." Killing Unjustly and Retaliation The murder stated in the verse as equal to killing all of mankind is limited to "killing an innocent person who did not cause disorder or corruption on the earth." This means that if a person sheds the blood of innocent people, there can be retaliation and that killer can face a penalty similar to his own crime. If such a person causes disorder on the earth and therefore causes people to die, if the killings follow one upon another without the killer thinking why they had taken a life and if the victims do not know why they are being killed-as is happening in some parts of the world today-the criminal or the group of criminals who cause such anarchy can be executed. The people who start wars against God and His Messenger, who cause disorder on the earth, who habitually transgress against people's lives, properties, and chastity, thereby disturbing the order of society, corrupting the generation, should be executed or sent into exile in accordance with the gravity of their crime. However, even if they have committed such crimes, if the transgressors are truly repentant then none of these punishments is to be carried out; rather the case becomes one of a violation of personal rights. That is to say, the people whose relatives have been killed or whose property has been damaged can forgive the perpetrators, or they can ask for retaliation and compensation for the damage if they wish. To express this in modern legal terms, a complaint can be made or it can be withdrawn. In other words, the punishment of intentional murder in this world is retaliation. The heirs of the deceased can withdraw the demand of execution and ask for compensation, or they can forgo this financial penalty as well. However-given that the killer does not repent after the murder and is not granted divine mercy-the punishment of such a great crime in the Hereafter is eternal hellfire. Eternal torment because of committing murder might seem to be too great a punishment. In fact, the sin committed is also great; for to kill a person who does not cause disorder on the earth, who does not unjustly shed blood, and who does not cause corruption to necessitate their own execution is like killing all of humanity. This is because such a murderer has violated the right to live that is granted by God Almighty alone; the prohibition of shedding the blood of innocent people has been violated, an ugly deed has been initiated, and thereby the way for others to do the same has been paved and encouragement has been provided. In addition, even if a murderer kills one innocent person, this murder reveals their personality; it shows that they are inclined to shed blood and commit murder. Someone who has committed one murder in practice has a personality that may potentially kill all people and now their identity in general is that of killer and murderer. Therefore, once having committed that fatal sin, killing another person will not be more difficult for them than the first time; in particular after a few murders, killing will become something ordinary and everyday to them. It is from this perspective that a person who has murdered an innocent soul can be viewed as a murderer of all mankind. Saving a Life Whoever saves a person's life by changing their mind about a murder, by forgiving, or by withdrawing the right of retaliation, or by saving someone from danger, for example, from drowning or being burnt alive, or helping another to survive, is like one who has saved the lives of all people and one who has done that favor for all of mankind. The life-saving mentioned in the verse incorporates forgoing retaliation, not killing, or saving someone from disaster; for the one and only Owner of Life is God, He is the Giver of Life. No one has the power to kill or save in the real sense except for God. Human beings can only become a means for someone to live; they cannot be the true cause. In the Qur'an, Nimrod says: "I give life and make to die," this is expressed with the word ihya (giving life), but his giving of life means only that he refrains from killing and murder. Now, in this sense, a person who saves another's life is-if they can-inclined and willing to save the lives of all mankind. In other words, wherever such a person witnesses injustice, they will immediately try to prevent it. True, in the verse spiritual salvation is not mentioned literally; but if a believer who has faith in God, His Messenger, and the Hereafter speaks about God, His Messenger, and teaches about the faith, this act can in a way be considered to be ihya. Likewise in verses such as: "O you who believe! Respond to God and to the Messenger when the Messenger calls you (in the Name of God) to that which gives you life " (Anfal 8:24) God Almighty uses the word ihya, in order to express human beings leaving behind the animal life and ascending to the level of spiritual life. Therefore, if a believing man helps a person who is slave to their carnal desires to ascend from a merely material life to a spiritual life, they can be considered to have brought the latter to life. In this respect, a believer who strives to inspire others to embrace the faith and tries to become a means for their salvation, in terms of their potential aim, can be considered as one who is ready to save all of mankind. The Most Horrible Kind of Backbiting On the other hand, we know that God made some things hidden among others: the Greatest Names (Ithm al-Azam) are hidden among the beautiful divine names, the acceptance of prayers (Waqt al-Ijaba) is hidden among Fridays, saints among ordinary people, the Night of Qadr among the last ten days of Ramadan, Doomsday within the life of the universe, and the moment of death within a person's lifetime. Likewise, there are such transgressions hidden among sins and evil that they can suddenly topple one over and lead to disaster. As a result of this secrecy, which serves to make believers constantly alert, to watch their step, and to seek refuge in God, there are such types or degrees of sins in the same category that attract divine wrath which will strike like a poisonous snake. As you know, talking about a person behind their back and uttering words that will not please them if they were to hear them is known as backbiting (ghiyba). If what has been said is true, then it is backbiting; if what has been said is a lie, then it is both backbiting and slander; this is several times a greater sin. Together with this, there are also different levels of backbiting (like stairs descending), worse and worse as they go downwards. Those close to God consider even an evil thought to be in the same category, calling it "backbiting of the heart." Indicating somebody by pointing with your finger or making fun of them with facial gestures is also a form of backbiting. Saying such simple things as somebody is short, or their jacket does not suit them is clearly backbiting. Each of these types of backbiting is a sin; they spoil the goodness of this life and they cause trouble beyond the grave. However, there is type of backbiting that is an incomparably dangerous and destructive sin. It is so great a sin that in a hadith it is stated that this kind of backbiting is a sin that is twenty times greater than fornication. For example saying things about a person who represents a group, movement, or a community is a sin of this kind, for the fate of that person is united with the community they represent. Therefore, saying bad things about such a person is saying bad things about an entire community. Moreover, if such backbiting is committed not about an ordinary person but, let's say, about a man of God like Sheikh al-Jilani, or for example, not about a movement or an ordinary community, but a community like the Naqshbandi order and, to make matters worse, if what started as a simple event of saying bad things becomes widespread through the mass media, if this then becomes a great slander campaign, this is such a horrible sin that it might lead to the loss of faith; there are ways in every sin that lead to unbelief. It is such a deadly crime that, if you were to speak against Sheikh Naqshbandi, you would slander the golden chain of saints of the Naqshbandi order. These people, with the light they received from their Sheikh, have enlightened the world since the time they lived up until our time. They have always been spiritual guides for people. Think how evil it is to destroy this light. And if the transgressor makes the act even worse by labeling the people they are slandering with names that end in -ist Then it would be very hard for the slanderer to enter Paradise without asking forgiveness from each member of that community; God's Messenger said "Do not backbite, for backbiting is worse than fornication. If a person fornicates and repents (promising never to do it again) God Almighty accepts his repentance; but the sin of the backbiter will not be forgiven until he is forgiven by the person he has backbitten." But it is possible that the All-Merciful Lord can grant extra blessings, allowing the transgressors to face the people they backbit and He may say "grant forgiveness to this servant of mine." But such a fortunate event depends on a surprise blessing; servanthood is not built on extra blessings. It is for this reason that believers should try to keep away from all kinds of backbiting, so that they will not face such a terrible end. They should free their tongues from such ugly words and purify their minds from evil thoughts and feelings. For the sake of avoiding a disaster worse than fornication, they should avoid even the most trivial negative utterance, saving themselves from committing the greatest of sins without being aware. To avoid having a share of the zaqqum tree in Hell, they should constantly seek refuge in God and be alert against all kinds of disasters of the tongue. Such a Degree of Fitna The same can be said about fitna, which is closely related to our topic. Actually the word fitna has meanings like "deviation, confusion of the mind, differing, falling for something, sinning, unbelief, dazzling beauty, property and children, testing someone, torture, misfortune, or trouble." In nearly sixty verses of the Qur'an, either this word or another word derived from the same root can be found. While even a disagreement between two people can be called fitna, acts aiming to spread unbelief, turning people from God's path, and causing terror in society are also categorized as fitna. Making two people dislike each other is fitna and it is an ugly sin; but fitna also has a type so bad that it invokes divine wrath; it cannot be regarded as equal to other types of fitna, for it can instantly make someone fall into a pitfall of Hell and finish their happiness in both worlds. Therefore, in order not to face such a terrible end, we need to keep away from even the pettiest kind of fitna and eliminate the words and actions that may lead to fitna at the very beginning before they become great crimes. The Qur'an states "fitna is worse than killing " (Baqara 2:191). That is to say, even if all kinds of fitna are not like killing, there is a type of fitna that is even worse than murder. For instance, trying to spread unbelief through brute force, alienating Muslims from their own values, and making younger generations strangers to their own spiritual values, thereby throwing them into a terrible torment in both worlds are all such grave offenses that they are far more dangerous than murdering an innocent person. In some murders, there is fitna and murder intermingled. For example, somebody assassinates an important figure and disappears. Then an innocent person or a group is blamed for that murder. Therefore, the situation becomes a blood feud. Both the supporters of the victim and the slandered group suffer. Thus, the murder is not limited to a single event; it is followed by mutual accusations and it becomes a great fitna. Finally, an unstoppable chain of fitnas has been started, and results in a condition of anarchy where thousands of murders are committed. Unfortunately this kind of fitnas has taken place in the history of Islam and such acts have yielded far worse results than a single murder. For instance, the assassination of the second Caliph, Umar ibn al-Khattab, was not just a simple murder; even more so since, as Hudayfa al-Yamani reported, Umar was a locked door against fitna. After his martyrdom, that door was opened; more correctly, it was broken down. Here we will examine this event in a bit more detail. One day Umar ibn al-Khattab asked Huzayfa about the words of God's Messenger describing fitna that surges like the waves in the sea. Huzayfa answered "O the chief of believers, there is no harm to you from this fitna; for there is a locked door between it and you." When Umar asked "Is that door going to open or be broken down?" Hudayfa answered "It is going to be broken down." Umar said "Then it will not be locked again until the end of the world." When one of his friends asked about that door, Hudayfa's answer was "that door is Umar himself." In this respect, the assassination of Umar cannot be taken as an ordinary murder; it was the breaking down of the door that blocked against fitna, and the opening of way for fitnas to continue until the end of the world. The Qur'anic statement concerned with the murderer of an innocent person, stating that they will stay in Hell forever, must be concerned with murderers like Umar's assassin. What a terrible end! Ibn Abbas and some of the imams from the generation following the Companions of the Prophet inferred from the following verse that somebody who committed murder will suffer eternal punishment in Hell: "Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense (in the Hereafter) is Hell, therein to abide; and God has utterly condemned him, excluded him from His mercy, and prepared for him a tremendous punishment." (Nisa 4:93) Some interpreters of the Qur'an have made a different comment: In the same way that a murderer deserves to be executed in return for the crime they have committed, the same punishment must be given to one who has killed all of mankind. There is no greater punishment to be given. Likewise, as the punishment of the murderer of a single person is eternal Hell, the punishment of one who has murdered all of mankind must be the same. Therefore, a person who has murdered a single person is like one who has murdered all of mankind. The divine statement "Assuredly God does not forgive that partners be associated with Him; less than that He forgives to whomever He wills" (Nisa 4:48) limits the meaning of the verse we mentioned above. However, when we look at the issue on the whole, we will see that even if it is not true that every murderer will stay in Hell forever, there is such a type of murder that the one who commits it will suffer eternal torment. To sum up, as there are degrees of sins, like backbiting and fitna, murder too has different degrees as an offense, depending on the identity and status of the victim, and the results it will bring about. Whoever the victim is, a murder is a grave crime, but assassinating the commander of an army or the head of a state is not the same as killing an ordinary citizen in terms of the chain of events that follow. Again, a murder committed in the Sacred Mosque in Mecca where it is even forbidden to kill an insect or pick tree leaves will not be equal to a murder committed somewhere else. It is for this reason that Ibn Abbas considers killing a Prophet or a leader of believers as equal to killing all mankind. Therefore, those who execute a person whose fate is united with a nation's fate will have issued an execution decree for an entire nation. Those who poison a man of action who devoted himself to the salvation of all of mankind can be considered to have poisoned an entire nation; we can even say that they have poisoned Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. This is such great an atrocity that even if those who commit it are believers, they can never find their way to Paradise unless they are forgiven by all of mankind. So, in order not to commit such a great crime, one should keep away from any type of murder. Similar dangers and the same principle still exist for today's people. When Hasan al-Basri was asked, "is the same principle still valid for us?" he replied: "I swear by God Almighty apart from Whom there are no gods that yes, it is; for the blood of the Children of Israel is not more valuable than our blood." In conclusion, all kinds of unjust murders are great sins; but we can talk about different degrees, depending on the time, place, the identity of the victim, and his status.

#Savingoflife #quran #holybook #revert help team

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tachtutor · 5 years ago

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An Overview of Ghazali’s Ihya – Shaykh Faraz Rabbani – SeekersGuidance

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In this lesson, Shaykh Faraz gives an overview of the first chapter from Imam Ghazali’s Ihya Uloom ud-Din, the chapter on knowledge. Shaykh Faraz explains Imam Ghazali’s statement that “the purpose of religion is knowledge – knowing Allah”.

Shaykh Faraz further explains that all the…

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leekchess87-blog · 6 years ago

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A Muslim Founder of the Social Sciences?

NOVEMBER 3, 2018

FOUNDER OF SOCIOLOGY, forerunner of Marx, economist, and anthropologist avant la lettre: over the past century few medieval thinkers have been lauded with so many modernist labels as Ibn Khaldun. Spreading his fame westward, the world historian Arnold Toynbee described his masterpiece, the Muqaddima, as “the most comprehensive and illuminating analysis of how human affairs work that has been made anywhere.” By the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was even citing Ibn Khaldun in support of Republican tax policies. But then, ever since he was first introduced to Europe by the Austrian Baron von Hammer-Purgstall, this “Arab Montesquieu” (in the baron’s telling phrase) has been claimed for many schools and causes, most of them secular and some quite at odds with his own pious principles. In his highly readable appraisal of Ibn Khaldun’s life and work, Robert Irwin sets out to demythologize and, at the same time, remystify a man whose mind was formed far from the seminar rooms of 20th-century social science.

Born in Tunis in 1332 to a family of aristocratic pedigree, like countless itinerant Muslim clerics of his time, Ibn Khaldun spent most of his career as a freelance bureaucrat roaming between the competing courts of the Maghreb. His was a life not without excitements, or at least dangers: there were the years of intrigue at the tumultuous center of politics followed by exile and new beginnings; of diplomatic missions to places as differently perilous as the Christian court of Castile and the dominions of Berber tribesmen; the weeks of unsettling interviews with the would-be world conqueror, Tamerlane. In one of Robert Irwin’s many memorable phrases, Ibn Khaldun was “a kind of bureaucratic condottiere,” though it is not for his life he is usually remembered, despite leaving his own written account of it. Rather, it is for the Muqaddima he first composed during two years of self-imposed seclusion in a remote castle in Algeria. Though usually rendered as “Prolegomena,” the Arabic title is more plainly translatable as “Introduction,” which is indeed how he intended it: as an introduction to the study of history that identified general characteristics, patterns, and indeed cycles, behind the fleeting turn of events. Given its author’s capacious intellect and disciplined curiosity, what began as the literal introduction to a larger work grew into a masterpiece in its own right, approaching 1,500 pages.

It is on this comparatively short introduction rather than the even longer chronicle that followed it that Ibn Khaldun’s fame has ever since rested; or rather, dwindled for centuries before a latter-day upswing. Almost 40 years ago, the bibliography of studies of the Muqaddima compiled by the Syrian scholar Aziz al-Azmeh already reached over 800 items, rendering it difficult and perhaps unnecessary to say anything truly original. The main lines of interpretation and debate were already laid out decades ago: between Ibn Khaldun as the Hellenist rationalizer, whom the Egyptian Greek economist Charles Issawi called “an Arab philosopher of history,” and the Sharia-steeped moralist seeking to reconcile the hidden laws of the human world with the Qur’anic revelation. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it is the former image that has underwritten his reputation as the sociological forerunner of Durkheim, Comte, and Marx. Robert Irwin, however, makes plain his preference for the latter, more religious reading of Ibn Khaldun, and takes it as the task of his intellectual biography to demonstrate how brilliant insights into historical process could emerge from the study of scripture, theology, and religious law.

If this sounds a somewhat dry agenda, its execution is considerably more vivid via a tour d’horizons of the distant world of the medieval Maghreb. As Irwin explains early on, “When I read the Muqaddima, I have the sense that I am encountering a visitor from another planet — and that is exciting.” At the center of his task is incorporating into our understanding of Ibn Khaldun the religious, moral, and even magical elements typically excised from the selective translations and famous quotations from his work, which means accounting for his fascination with freak events, the occult, and miracles as well as group solidarity and state formation. “There have been other ways of looking at the world than the one we mostly take for granted today,” Irwin continues, and Ibn Khaldun offers the “modern reader access to a premodern and radically different approach to understanding societies and their histories.”

In conceiving his book as an “intellectual biography,” Irwin primarily sets out to restore Ibn Khaldun to his time and place in a way that explains rather than reduces the significance of his insights. With this in mind, we first meet the young Ibn Khaldun “among the ruins,” amid the vestiges and memories of former peoples that lay the first seeds of his subsequent theorizing on the rise and fall of dynasties and civilizations. These melancholy surroundings partly comprised the material ruins of Carthage and Rome that still lie strewn across North Africa, including near the castle where the Muqaddima was composed. But the ruin was also an abstract site, rendered discursive and moral by qasida poems, popular legends, and Qur’anic accounts of the destruction of wicked peoples. Born 74 years after the Mongols executed Baghdad’s last caliph, and witnessing the Black Death sweep through the lands of Islam at the age of 16 (taking his parents with it), Ibn Khaldun was raised among concerns that Muslim, or at least Arab, civilization was reaching the divinely appointed time of its own downfall.

Having thus positioned his subject in his pessimistic age, in the course of a little over a hundred pages Irwin follows him from this formative first context through the Andalusian, North African, and Egyptian courts where he found employment, before dying in 1406 in Cairo, where he was buried in a Sufi cemetery. At each point on the itinerary, Irwin pauses to examine the books, intellectual methods, and debates to which Ibn Khaldun was exposed. A specialist on the Mamluk period and its literature, Irwin is on familiar ground here, and his narrative sets a jaunty pace through terrain he knows well.

The test of any introduction to Ibn Khaldun, though, is how successfully it communicates the sheer excitement of his ideas. Determined to historicize his subject out of the clutches of his secularizing and modernizing champions, Irwin makes the test that much trickier by declaring from the outset his disinterest in making the Muqaddima “relevant.” Instead, in four chapters devoted to different aspects of Ibn Khaldun’s thought, there is as much emphasis on moral and metaphysical concerns as on the social and material forces that won him the admiration of later positivists. Thus, a chapter on the Muqaddima’s methodology emphasizes the centrality of the Maliki legal school in which Ibn Khaldun studied and later taught, affirming H. A. R. Gibb’s reading of the text’s central political lesson as being the historical costs of disobeying divine law as one people after another roll through the Qur’anic cycle of the rise and fall of kingdoms. Other chapters take up themes that modern commentators have emphasized, such as the comparative social structures of townsmen and tribesmen, and the importance of economic factors in historical change. Here too Ibn Khaldun is presented as primarily a moral thinker whose “ideas about economics drew upon ethics, hikma, Islamic law, and personal observation,” as well, most importantly, as al-Ghazali’s Ihya’ ‘Ulum al-Din (“Revival of the Religious Sciences”). Rather than allowing his posthumously recognized magnum opus to dominate his biography, Irwin positions the Muqaddima among its author’s other works, which are similarly infused with this moral vision, not least the disappointing historical chronicle that followed the Muqaddima. For even by its title, Kitab al-‘Ibar (“The Book of Warnings”), the latter echoed the Qur’anic model of historical narrative as the provision of admonishing lessons.

However, it is in two chapters on Sufism and occultism that Irwin takes readers furthest from the textbook picture of Ibn Khaldun as the father of the social sciences, remarking that “he inhabited a different and darker world than the one known to European economists and sociologists.” Affirmed by the Qur’an as many supernatural forces were, Ibn Khaldun believed in the power of sorcery and miracles, numerology, and letter magic, predictive dreams and astrology, all of which he discussed in the Muqaddima (though he also warned about frauds and charlatans). The sheer force of Irwin’s revisionism runs the risk of making first-time readers unfamiliar with Ibn Khaldun wonder what all the fuss was about. But far from trivializing, these sections form part of a determinedly holistic approach to what is, after all, a medieval intellectual biography. Irwin speculates fruitfully about the possible connections between his subject’s interests in history and divination as respectively licit and illicit methods of making the future knowable.

Turning to the question of Ibn Khaldun’s connections with Sufism, Irwin notes rightly how integral Sufi ideas were by the 14th century to the religious education of Muslim clerics. Most of Ibn Khaldun’s mentors and closest associates were Sufis, and he himself wrote a short but positive treatise on Sufi doctrine, while declaring in the Muqaddima that “Sufism belongs to the sciences of the religious law that originated in Islam.” Even so, Irwin refuses to overplay its impact on his broader ideas and argues against Allen Fromherz’s case in his Ibn Khaldun: Life and Times for reading the Muqaddima as a specifically Sufi interpretation of history.

Given that Ibn Khaldun’s reputation rests solely on the Muqaddima, Irwin is right to devote his last and longest chapter to the great book itself, tracing its own reputation over the centuries. Rather than being historiography to be sifted and subsumed at the start of his study, Irwin’s approach turns the scholarship on the Muqaddima into part of its own story by way of a reception history, echoing a wider trend over the past few years in which books, and not only authors, have become the subject of biographies. While the Muqaddima “was all but forgotten in the Arab world” till modern times, it did generate a degree of interest in the 17th- and especially 18th-century Ottoman Empire, where it was translated into Turkish and thence probably transmitted to Hammer-Purgstall during his years as a diplomat in Istanbul. From this point on, a large proportion of Ibn Khaldun’s readers and commentators appear to have been European Orientalists whose dialogue with Muslim scholars ensured the belated but concurrent first printings of the Muqaddima in Cairo and Paris.

Autograph manuscript of the “Muqaddima” from Istanbul.

As the text became more accessible through publication and translation, its stature expanded accordingly among Arab as well as European and increasingly American scholars, most notably the Chicago world historian Marshall Hodgson. The field of world history had developed a special relationship with Ibn Khaldun ever since Toynbee integrated him into his own vision of the rise and fall of civilizations. For Hodgson, the Muqaddima provided penetrating lenses for viewing world history that were polished long before the rise of the West. And yet for Hodgson, as well as for other promotors of the pioneer sociologist approach, making Ibn Khaldun amenable to modern academia required something of a trade-off. Less the trained exponent of Sharia and reconciler of the moral vision of the Qur’an with the visible facts of the world, Ibn Khaldun assumed the more secular form of the Arab heir to the Greek philosophers. There is still a good case to be made for this view, as recently shown in Stephen Dale’s The Orange Trees of Marrakesh: Ibn Khaldun and the Science of Man.

That is not, though, the approach of Robert Irwin, who points repeatedly to the Muqaddima’s criticism of philosophy (falsafa). Rather than domesticate Ibn Khaldun through the cultural halfway house of Graeco-Arab philosophy, or familiarize him through anachronously secular epithets, Irwin prefers to position him in the medieval society he endeavored to make sense of. To “modernize Ibn Khaldun,” he remarks in his closing statement, “and to elide the strangeness of his thinking is to denature him.” It will not be the last word: the mental riches of the Muqaddima will continue to provoke both new readings and the retrenching of old positions. But for now at least, in this concise and compelling biography Robert Irwin has snatched the Muqaddima from the modernists and returned it to the medievalists.

Nile Green holds the Ibn Khaldun Endowed Chair in World History at UCLA.

Source: https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/a-muslim-founder-of-the-social-sciences/

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