Muslims in the present times

 
Nowadays, Muslims consider themselves as awakened and turning to Islam and are under the impression that their heedlessness is dispelled!  Of what benefit can this be!  If a person comes to know that wealth has to be acquired, but doesn’t know neither what wealth actually is nor how to acquire it.  Can knowing only this much be of any benefit to that person?  First that person should understand what wealth actually is.  It might be that that person considers only a small amount of money as wealth and includes himself in the list of wealthy persons only after gathering a few rupees. Will you consider that person wealthy?  Or will you say that person is suffering from lunacy.  The fact is that the person who has substantial wealth will be considered wealthy.

 

In the same way, can a person be considered religious only on knowing that religion is necessary?  We have left many religious deeds.  Then our belief that we are religious isn’t correct.  We can be religious when we are acting on every bit of Islam.

 

The fact is that we have become heedless of Islam.  No worry about the (true) tenets of belief.  No anxiety about deeds.  No thoughts about social life and no regret about bad manners.  No part of our Islam is alright.  On our own thoughts, we include one thing and exclude the other.  Our belief is that in Islam some commands are worthy of being acted on and some aren’t.  That’s why, if we do some Islamic things, we leave others.

 

The reality isn’t this.  Every command of Allah Most High which is in His preferred religion Islam is worthy of being acted upon right until the Day of Judgment.  We can understand this with the following incident:

 

Hadhrat ‘Abdullah bin Salaam (May Allah be well pleased with him) had given up eating camel meat, as it isn’t necessary to eat it in Islam.  Another thought was that by not eating camel meat, he is acting on the Torah as well.  Immediately, the following verse of the Holy Quran was revealed:

 

Just think!  Was not eating camel meat something that important?  That on giving it up such a stern command of Allah Most High came?  This shows that no part of Islam can be left out.

 

Obeying Almighty Allah and surrendering oneself to Him is Islam.

 

Giving up one’s freedom and authority for Allah Most High is Islam.

 

Bowing one’s head before the kingship of Almighty Allah and His commandments is Islam.

 

That person is a Muslim who surrenders all his affairs to Almighty Allah and the person who keeps them in his own hands or hands them over to somebody other than Allah Most High is not a Muslim.  Surrendering all the affairs to Almighty Allah means to accept the guidance given by Allah Most High through His book, the Holy Quran and His Prophet, Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  Not to object to it and whatever the affairs of life, they should be dealt in light of those teachings and not to care for one’s own intellect and the customs of the world.  Only this person is a Muslim.

 

On the contrary, the person who chooses his own intellect and the customs of the world and the customs of his forefathers.  This kind of person is not at all a Muslim.  Muslims don’t have the right to follow their own opinions or the customs of their families.  Thus, considering the blessed Word of Almighty Allah and the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) as the touchstone of truth and considering everything against it as false is the frontier of Islam.  The person who is inside this is a Muslim and the person who steps out of it can never be a Muslim.

 

It should be known that a human being enters the frontier of Islam by reciting the Declaration of Faith (Kalima).  As soon as person says: La Ilaha Illallahu Muhammadur Rasoolullah, he/she changes into something else entirely.

 

The essential thing is the meaning.  The effect of the words lies in the meaning.  If there is no meaning and they don’t enter the heart and with their force, our thoughts, etiquette and actions don’t change, then only by reciting the words nothing will happen.  The meaning of this is that there is none worthy of worship except Allah Most High and that our Master and Savior, Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the true Prophet of Almighty Allah.  Muhammadur Rasoolullah is said after La Ilaha Illallah.  This means that we have accepted that Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) is the Prophet through whom Almighty Allah has sent His laws to us.  After accepting Almighty Allah as our Master and Emperor, it is necessary to find out what His laws are.  What deeds should one do so that He is pleased and what deeds should one desist from through which He is displeased.  By following which law He will pardon us and on disobeying Him, He will punish us.

 

We affirm that Almighty Allah is our Lord and the Lord of each and every thing that we have.  This means that our life and all the parts of the body are not ours but are the property of Almighty Allah.  This arable land, cattle, wealth, property, which we draw benefit, none of this is ours.  Everything is under the ownership of that Eternal Lord.  We have received all this as a grant from Him.  After admitting to this what right do we have to say that our life, money, etc. is ours?

 

When a Muslim sneezes, he/she should turn to someplace where no one is there and then sneeze and should say, “Alhamdulillah” (Praise be to Allah) in a loud voice.  Those who listen to it must say, “Yarhamukallah” (May Allah have mercy on you).  It is Wajib (Compulsory) on those who listen to it to say so.  If those who listen to it don’t reply to it, then because of leaving out a Wajib, they will be considered sinners.

 

When one yawns, then if out of Salaat, one should place the back of the left hand on the mouth and say:  La Haula Wa La Quwwata Illah Billahil ‘Aliyyil ‘Azeem and should think that the Prophets never felt the urge to yawn.  With this, the yawn will be stifled.  This is one of the methods of stifling a yawn.  In Salaat, trying to stifle the yawn is enough.

 

A sneeze is from angels and yawning is from Satan.  A saint was asked by a non-Muslim that on sneezing, why do Muslims thank Allah, although there is a part of the brain that when it twitches, one sneezes.  What is the occasion to thank Allah for this?

 

The saint said:  We thank Allah on sneezing because that part of the brain twitches just once or a few times and then stops.  If it kept twitching, the life would be hell.

 

Hadhrat Shaykh Ahmed Sirhindi Mujaddid Alf Thaani (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says:  Don’t respect those who are heedless and those who commit (reprehensible) innovations in Islam.  Those who respect them have as if aided them in debasing Islam.  We should stay away from non-Muslims who are enemies of the Lord Almighty and the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and shouldn’t allow them to participate in our religions sessions.  As far as possible, we should avoid turning to them in any matter.  If there is any stringent need, then like the calls of nature, one can fulfill one’s need.

 

These are all good deeds of Muslims.  In these times, Muslims aren’t aware of even these necessary issues!  It is the responsibility of us Muslims to become aware of these issues oneself and make arrangements for the next generations to learn these details as well.

 

Hadhrat Sufyan bin ‘Uyaina (May Allah shower His mercy on him) says:  For the articles of Hajj, Makkah, for the recitation of the Holy Quran, Madina and for the rules of Fiqh, Koofa is the important place.

 

In the first era of Islam, the palaces would tremble with the Takbeer (i.e. cry of Allahu Akbar).  Nowadays, the hearts of Muslims tremble with the names of idols. 

 

[Excerpted from Mawaaiz-e-Hasana, Vol. 2]