Monthly Archives: September 2009

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim,

Abu Nawfal said, “‘Ammar bin Yasaar used to speak little, lengthened his silence and his usual words would be of the one who sought refuge in ar-Rahman from His Punishment.” [Kitab az-Zuhd 1/284]

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim,

On the authority of Malik bin Dinar who said, “Abud-Darda’ said, ‘Whoever increased in knowledge, increased in pain (of being answerable to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala ).’ And in the narration of Sa’id, ‘And I don’t fear that it will be said to me, “O’ ‘Uwaymir (Abud-Darda’ himself) what did you learn?” Rather I fear that it will be said to me, “O’ ‘Uwaymir what have you done with what you learnt?” [Kitab az-Zuhd 1/265 of al-Imam Abu Dawud rahimahuLlah]

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim,

Narrated Mansur bin ‘Ammar who said, “Sulayman bin Dawud said, ‘Verily, the one who conquers his desire is stronger than the one who takes over a city alone.’” [Hilyah al-Awliya’ 6/1707]

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim,

Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Kathir said, “Narrated to us some of the people of al-Hijaz who said, ‘Abu Hazim said, “Any blessing that does not result in coming to close to Allah the Exalted, then it will be a cause of worry (i.e. on Day of Judgement).”’” [Hilyah al-Awliya’ 2/497]

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim

Narrated to us Abdullah bin Muhammad bin Ja’far who said, “Narrated to us ‘Ali bin Ishaq who said, ‘Narrated to us Husayn al-Marwazi who said, “Narrated to us al-Haytham bin Jamil who said, ‘Narrated to us Salih al-Murri on the authority of Aban from Wahb who said, “I read it in a wise saying, ‘There are four pillars for disbelief: a pillar of it is anger, a pillar of it is desire , a pillar of it is greed and a pillar of it is fear.’” [Hilyah al-Awliya’ 3/603]

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim,

Abu Ahmad Muhammad bin Ahmad told us that Ahmad bin Musa al-’Adani told us that Isma’il bin Sa’id al-Kasa’i said, “Kathir bin Hashim told us on the authority of Ja’far bin Burqan said, ‘It was informed to us that Wahb bin Munnabih used to say, “Glad tidings to the one who sees his own faults over others faults. And glad tidings to whosoever humbles himself to Allah without any neediness. And may mercy be upon the people of humility and submissiveness. And those who give in charity from wealth that is not gathered in disobedience (i.e. haram means of earning). And the one who keeps in company of the people of knowledge and perseverance and wisdom. And who held fast to Sunnah and did not transgress it by innovation (bid’ah) [Hilyah al-Awliya’ 3/602]

BismiLlah Ar-Rahman ar-Rahim

Sa’id bin ‘Abd al-Ghaffar said, “It was Muhammad bin Yusuf al-Asbahani and I, when the book of Muhammad bin al-’Ala’ bin Al-Musayyab arrived from al-Basrah (or al-Busrah) to Muhammad bin Yusuf. He read it and then Muhammad bin Yusuf said to me, ‘Do you not see what Muhammad bin al-’Ala’ has written in it? And in is, “O’ my brother! Whosoever loves Allah, loves that people don’t know him.”’” [At-Tawadhu' wal Khumul 1/39]

If one studies Surat al-Hujurat, one will find that is Surah is filled with laws dealing with social issues. And in this very chapter of the Qur’an, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us how to deal with our fellow Muslims. The saying of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala,

In this ayah, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us to make sure if the news or narration we hear from any fasiq is true or authentic before accepting or basing our opinion on it.

Al-Hafidh Ibn Kathir rahimahuLlah writes in his tafsir,

“Allah the Exalted ordered investigating the news that sinners and the wicked bring, to make sure of its authenticity. Otherwise, if the sinner’s word is taken for granted and a decision is based on it, regardless of whether the information is true or not, the authorities will be taking the lead of the sinners. Allah the Exalted and Most Honoured forbade taking the path of the corrupted and sinners. This is why groups of the scholars of Hadith refuse to accept narrations from narrators whose reliability is unknown, for they might be from among the wicked people, in reality”[2]

Imam Al-Mawardi rahimahuLlah writes,

“In this ayah is the proof that the report of one individual is acceptable if he is trustworthy.”[3]

Imam Al-Qurtubi rahimahuLlah writes,

“…And whosever’s fisq is grounded (and proven) then his statement is rejected completely for reporting is a trust and the indication of fisq nullifies it.”[4]

We, the Muslims, are afflicted with the disease of accepting whatever is presented to us with any verification what so ever whether is be a Muslim or a non-Muslim source. A prime example of this would be the onslaught of the media against Islam. They are trying their best to portray Islam in the worst way possible. Even in Muslim countries, the liberals and secularists ‘Muslims’ try to put down those who follow or even attempt to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam. The non-Muslims accuse the groups of Muslims as ‘terrorists’ and when Muslims are told this, they hear and believe in instantly without trying to find the source of the news. And we learn from this ayah, that this is completely forbidden for a fasiq, then what about a non-Muslim?

Not knowing the source of information and then accusing a fellow Muslim brother/sister of something can lead to slandering which is even worse than backbiting as the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam said in the following hadith,

The Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam said

“Do you know what is meant by backbiting?” They said, “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said, “To say something about your brother which he dislikes.” One asked, “Even if what I say is true about my brother?” He replied, “If such defects you say are true about him, then you have backbitten him, and if he doesn’t have what you say, then you have committed slander against him.” [5]

And we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us in ayah number 12,

If one looks at this verse with an eye of a grammarian, he will find that the word Ijtanibu starts with an alif known as ‘fa’l amr’ which means a commanding action and that means that avoiding the much suspicion is an obligation upon us as Muslims.

Al-Hafidh Ibn Kathir rahimahuLlah writes in his tafsir,

“Allah the Exalted forbids His faithful servants from being suspicious, which includes having doubts and suspicions about the conduct of one’s family, relatives and other people in general. Therefore, Muslims are to avoid suspicion without foundation. The Leader of the faithful ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab said, “Never think ill of the word that comes out of your believing brother’s mouth, as long as you can find a good excuse for it.”

It is reported that the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam said,

“Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales; do not spy on one another; do not look for other’s faults; do not be jealous of one another; do not envy one another; do not hate one another; and do not desert (shun) one another. And O Allah’s servants! Be brothers.”[7]

‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas says,

“Allah has forbidden a believer to have bad suspicions about believers.”[8]

Al-Hasan rahimahuLlah says,

“We were in a time in which having suspicion of people was forbidden, but today; you act, remain silent and be suspicious of people however you will.”[9]

So being suspicious of your brothers and sisters doing acts, in general, against the teaching Islam is not allowed at all. As ‘Umar radhi Allahu ‘anhu said, we should try to give our brothers and sisters good excuses when we see them doing wrong. For example, we see a brother talking to a ghayr mahram. Normally the people would start having ill thoughts about that brother thinking maybe she is his girlfriend or such stuff. But, he being our brother deserves that we only think good of him. Instead having doubts about his Islamic personality, we should give the benefit of doubt that maybe he is seeking assistance from the lady or maybe the girl is his own sister.

But, we find that some Muslims are ready to accept whatever they hear from the non-Muslim sources who accuse our brothers and sisters of ‘terrorism’ and all other such nonsense. Moreover, we see that the accused Muslims get insulted and mocked by their fellow Muslim brothers and sisters sometimes just to please the non-Muslims and at times due to their ignorance of the teachings of Islam. In Islam we know that a person is innocent until proven guilty as the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam said,

“Were people to be given according to their claims, some would claim the wealth and blood of others. But the burden of proof is upon the claimant and the taking of an oath is upon the one who denies (the allegation).”[10]

But the enemies of Islam think that a Muslim is guilty even when proven innocent. The reality is, we should be careful with whatever we utter as we are going to be accountable for everything we utter on the Day of Judgement.

If we let suspicion to creep in our hearts, then this gives a solid foundation to have more illnesses in our hearts such as finding faults in one another, being envious of one another, hating others and so on.

Brotherhood:

The saying of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala,

“The believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islamic religion). So make reconciliation between your brothers, and fear Allah, that you may receive mercy.”[11]

This ayah is a general ayah, which means it does not specify that there comes a situation or a time when a believer does not remain another believer’s brother. Whether or not he practises his religion properly or he goes and carries out heinous crimes, a believer is a believer’s brother.

“The believers are nothing else than brothers (in Islamic religion)…”

Imam at-Tabari rahimahuLlah explains in his tafsir,

“(Brothers) in religion.”[12]

The Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam said,

“The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim, he is not unjust with him nor does he forsake him.”[13]

Al-Hafidh Ibn Hajar al-’Asqalani rahimahuLlah writes in his book of sharh,

“‘The Muslim is the brother of the Muslim’ this is the brotherhood of Islam. For all the unity that is between the two people, takes the name of brotherhood. ‘He is not unjust with him’ this report is of the meaning of a command for the oppression of a Muslim to another Muslim is forbidden. ‘Nor does he forsake him’ that he does not leave him with someone who is harmful or something that is harmful to him.”[14]

Imam al-Qurtubi rahimahuLlah writes as an explanation of the verse,

“That is (brotherhood) in religion and sanctity, not in lineage. It was said regarding this, that the brotherhood in religion is stronger than the brotherhood in lineage for the brotherhood in lineage is disrupted due to the difference in religion whist the brotherhood in religion is not broken off due to the difference in lineage.” [15]

Part of injustice is having bad suspicion about your brother and it is one of the ingredients of the destruction of brotherhood as the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam said,

“Do not be envious of one another; do not artificially inflate prices against one another; do not hate one another; do not shun one another; and do not undercut one another in business transactions; and be as fellow-brothers and servants of Allah. A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim. He neither oppresses him nor humiliates him nor looks down upon him. Piety is here – and he pointed to his chest three times. It is evil enough for a Muslim to hold his brother Muslim in contempt. All things of a Muslim are inviolable for another Muslim: his blood, his property and his honour.”[16]

From this hadith we understand that holding a Muslim on contempt is also forbidden according to the Shari’ah of Prophet Muhammad salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam. We should deal with our Muslim brothers and sisters with a clean heart and having no ill feeling having for them. This way one achieves two benefits:

1) Having good relations with one another

2) Possibility of committing injustice lessens as the heart is devoid of evil

“…So make reconciliation between your brothers…”

This ayah was revealed in connection to the ayah preceding it but it can also be used for general purposes.

Imam al- Qurtubi rahimahuLlah writes in his tafsir,

“Abu ‘Ubaydah said, ‘Reconcile between all the brothers.’”[17]

Then he goes on and says,

“In this verse and the one before, is evidence that the ones tyrannise (like khawarij) do not cease to carry the name of Iman because Allah, the Exalted, named them brothers of believers in spite of the fact that they are wrong doers. Al-Harith al-A’ur said that ‘Ali bin Abi Talib was asked and he was exemplary in fighting the people of tyranny (khawarij or hypocrites) from the people of the Jamal and Siffin, ‘Are they polytheists?’ He said, ‘No, the one who do shirk have fled.’ Then it was asked, ‘Are they hypocrites?’ He said, ‘No, for the hypocrites do not remember Allah except little.’ Then it was said to him, ‘Then what is their condition?’ He said, ‘They are our brothers who have transgressed against us.’”[18]

I have personally read statements of kufr against the brothers and sisters who are accused by the west of murdering many innocent people. The situation of ‘Ali radhi Allahu ‘anhu was worse and still he considered them as his brothers.

In conclusion, we should try our best to refrain from all sorts of evils we could indulge in when dealing with our brothers and sisters. Not judging them, nor being suspicious of them nor speaking ill of them would solve many of the current problems this Ummah is facing. And indeed, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala knows best.

I ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to accept this work and give benefit to whoever reads it and save them from misguidance. Amin

References:

[1] Surah al-Hujurat, 49:06

[2] Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim

[3] An-Nakat wal-‘Uyun & Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an (similar statement mentioned)

[4] Jami’ li AHkam al-Qur’an

[5]Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abi Dawud, Sunan At-Tirmidhi

[6] Surah al-Hujurat, 49:12

[7] Muwatta Imam Malik

[8] Jami’ al-Bayan Fi Tafsir al-Qur’an

[9] Jami’ li AHkam al-Qur’an

[10] Sunan al-Bayhaqi

[11] Surah al-Hujurat, 49:10

[12] Jami’ al-Bayan Fi Tafsir al-Qur’an

[13]Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

[14] Fath al-Bari Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari

[15] Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an

[16]Sahih Muslim

[17] Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an

[18] Ibid

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim

Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells us,

The word Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has used to mention about the Harut and Marut is Malakayn. The root of this word is Malak which means an Angel. But, Imam al-Baghawi rahimahuLlah mentions in his tafsir that ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas radhi Allahu ‘anhuma, Al-Hasan rahimahuLlah and Imam Fakhrud-Din ar-Razi rahimahuLlah mentions that adh-Dhahhak rahimahuLlah used to recite the word as Malikayn [2]whose root is Malik with a kasrah on lam rather than fathah. This fact is also mentioned in Tafsir al-Kashshaf by Imam az-Zamakhshari rahimahuLlah

One might wonder, the Qur’an is in different recitations? The answer to this question is yes, it has reached to us in ten different but authentic Qira’ah. Before we study the variant recitation of the verse, lets give a brief introduction to the different Qira’ah of the Qur’an.

A Qira’ah is, for the most part, a method of pronunciation used in the recitations of the Qur’an. These methods are different from the seven forms or modes (huruf) in which the Qur’an was revealed. The seven modes were reduced to one, that of Quraysh, during the era of Caliph ‘Uthman radhi Allahu ‘anhu when he ordered that the Qur’an be copied in the Qurayshi dialect and distributed among the Islamic centers of the time. Hence, only the Qurayshi mode remains today and all of the methods of recitation are based on this mode. The various methods have all been traced back to the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam through a number of the Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhum who were most noted for their Qur’anic recitations. That is, these Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhum recited the Qur’an to the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam or in his presence and received his approval. Among them were the following: Ubayy ibn Ka’b, ‘Ali ibn Abi ?alib, Zayd ibn Thabit, Ibn Mas’ud, Abu ad-Darda’, and Abu Musa al-Ash’ari radhi Allahu ‘anhum Many of the other Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhum learned from these masters. ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Abbas radhi Allahu ‘anhuma, the master commentator of the Qur’an among the Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhum, learned from both Ubayy and Zayd radhi Allahu ‘anhma. [3]

Among the next generation of Muslims, referred to as the Tabi’un there arose many scholars who learned the various methods of recitation from the Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhu??and taught them to others. Centers of Qur’anic recitation developed in Madinah, Makkah, Kufah, Basrah, and ash-Sham (Greater Syria), leading to the evolution of Qur’anic recitation into an independent science.[4] By the mid eighth century CE, there existed a large number of outstanding scholars, all of whom were considered specialists in the field of recitation. Most of their methods of recitation were authenticated by chains of reliable narrators, ending with the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam. Those methods on each level of their chain were called Mutawatir and were considered to be the most accurate. Those methods in which the number of narrators were few or one on any level of the chain were referred to as Shadh.

However, some of the scholars of the following period began the practice of designating a set number of individual scholars from the previous period as being the most noteworthy and accurate reciters. By the middle of the tenth century CE (6th century AH), it became a popular convention to limit the number of best reciters to seven, since this number coincided with the number of huruf in which the Qur’an was revealed.

Similarly, during this period the number of schools of Islamic law (Madhhab) were reduced to the famous four after a period in which there were many. The first to limit the number of authentic reciters to seven was the ‘Iraqi scholar, Abu Bakr ibn Mujahid rahimahuLlah (d. 936 CE), and those who wrote books on Qira’ah after him followed suit.[5] This limitation is not an accurate representation of the classical scholars of Qur’anic recitation. There were many others who were as good as the seven and a number who were greater than them. In fact, the classification of scholars was really a classification of how well their methods of recitation were preserved. Hence, the famous seven were those early scholars from different generations whose methods of recitation had the most chains of narrators with many narrations on each level of the chain. However, there were other classical scholars whose methods of recitation were just as authentically (Mutawatir) recorded as the famous seven. A list of the ten scholars of Qur’anic recitation whose methods were best preserved is as follows:

1. Abu ‘Amr ibn al-’Ala (d. 771 CE/154 AH) of Basrah

2. Ibn Kathir (d. 738 CE/119 AH) was among the students of the Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhum of Makkah.

3. Nafi’ (d. 786 CE/169 AH) was originally from Isfahan, and his recitation, as transmitted by Warsh (d. 812 CE/196 AH), was of Madinah.

4. Ibn ‘Amir (d. 737 CE/118 AH) was the chief judge (Qadhi) of Damascus during the reign of al-Walid ibn ‘Abdul Malik, who, along with the other Umayyad caliphs, made that city his capital.

5. ‘Asim (d. 746 CE/128 AH) of Kufah was the narrator of the dominant recitation in current use. His narration, as transmitted by Hafs, is the most common method of narration used in the Muslim world today with the exception of Africa.

6. Hamzah (d. 773 CE/156 AH) of Kufah.

7. Al-Kisa’i (d. 805 CE/189 AH) of Kufah was one of the foremost grammarians. He played a major role in the formulation of Arabic grammar rules.

8. Abu Ja’far (d. 750 CE/132 AH) of Madinah.

9. Ya’qub (d. 820 CE/204 AH) of Basrah.

10. Khalaf (d. 844 CE/229 AH) of Baghdad rahimahum Allah

At the same time that scholars of hadith laid down conditions to determine the authenticity of statements or actions attributed to the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wassalam, scholars of Qur’anic recitation also formulated conditions to facilitate critical analysis of the existing recitations. For any given recitation to be accepted as authentic (Sahih), it had to fulfill three conditions. If any of the conditions were missing, such a recitation was classified as Shadh (unusual). The first condition was that the recitation have an authentic chain of narration; that is, that the chain of narrators had to be unbroken, that the narrators were known to be righteous, and that they were known to possess good memories. It was also required that the recitation be conveyed by a large number of narrators on each level of the chain of narration below the level of the Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhm (the condition of Tawatur). Narrations which had authentic chains but lacked the condition of Tawatur were accepted as explanations (Tafsir) of Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhu??, but were not considered as methods of reciting the Qur’an. As for narrations which did not even have an authentic chain of narration, they were classified “batil” (false) and rejected totally.

The second condition was that the recitations’ variations match known Arabic grammatical constructions. Unusual constructions were verified by their existence in passages of pre-Islamic prose or poetry.

The third condition required the recitation to coincide with the script of one of the copies of Qur’an distributed during the era of Caliph ‘Uthman radhi Allahu ‘anhu. Hence, differences which result from dot placement (e.g. ta’lamun and ya’lamun) are considered acceptable, provided the other conditions are met. If no support for an unusual condition could be found, the recitation of that construction would be classified Shadh. [6]

This classification did not mean that all aspects of the recitation were considered Shadh; in fact, none of the accepted ten methods are totally free from some Shadh constructions. Shadh narrations of this type also serve as explanations for the authentic narrations, as they are obviously statements of the Sahabah radhi Allahu ‘anhum.

Now back to the issue of variant recitation. The answer to this question is that it is an odd recitation that has was rejected by Imam At-?abari rahimahuLlah although it was transmitted in authentic chain from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas radhi Allahu ‘anhma. This recitation is both Shadhah and Mashhurah at the same time as it is a recitation that that is according to Arabic language and match the writings of the ‘Uthmani script written words that comes in authentic chain but did not reach level of Tawatur. And, this is not from the famous ten recitations. This ayah’s tafsir been disputed by the scholars of the past so it is not possible to say which of the tafsirs is stronger. And indeed, Allah subhanahu wa ta’alaknows best.

References:

[1] Surah al-Baqarah, 2:102

[2] Ma’alim at-Tanzil

[3] Al-Itqan

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] Ibid

BismiLlah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim

Bishr bin al-Haarith, may Allah have mercy upon him, said, “I don’t know a man who loves to be known except that his religion leaves him exposed.” And Bishr bin al-Haarith said, “A man will not experience the sweetness of the hereafter, who loves that the people know him.” [At-Tawadhu' wal Khumul 1/75]