The Islam of the Companions (May Allah be well pleased with them)

  

The Islam of the Companions

(May Allah be well pleased with them)

 [The first part of this article ran here.  This is the second part.]

 

Just see!  Islam is such a thing against which even life is not considered worthy enough.  This was the state of the Companions (May Allah be well pleased with them) when the opponents of Islam would torture them.

 

That cruel heat of the Arabian lands in which one cannot even walk barefooted, in such heat, Muslims would be made to lie on the sand, huge stones would be placed on their chests and they would be asked to abandon Islam.  All this had no effect on them.  On the other hand, in these times, forget about danger to life and limb, some people assent to the opponents of Islam only with the hope that it will lead to some worldly benefit.  So that they are not “blamed” with religious fundamentalism, these people have gone against those beliefs of Muslims which have been handed down from centuries together.  They have not even considered that these are well established through millions of books.

 

        Their way out is that jurisprudence, etc. are not the words of Allah Most High or His Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam).  Thus, it is not to be considered.  Hadith cannot be considered as it has not been rigorously passed on (Mutawatir).  The Holy Quran has been rigorously passed on, but its exegesis and explanations given the Pious Predecessors (Salaf Saliheen) and the Hadith-experts are rubbish.  The only exegesis worth consideration is the one which we perform.

 

Listen to the state of their exegesis.  First of all, they have set down some “principles” which suit their purposes.  Among them is that anything which goes against what we know has to be explained in some other manner.  Then they have written down whatever explanations they want to.  Thus, this is not the Holy Quran, which the Muslims have been believing in for 1400 years.

 

If you ask me, there is no reason to believe in this new book of theirs.  As belief is necessary when there is something which is beyond our reasoning and intellect and we believe in it only on the strength of the One who asks to believe in it.  When there is nothing like this in this new book, then why the need for belief?

 

Thus, comparing the words of Allah Most High and His Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) with one’s own intellect.  Neither is there any acceptance nor obedience.  Then Allah knows, what they consider as Islam. 

 

Anyways, acceptance and obedience as mentioned in the previous lines is Islam.  These cannot be achieved without absolute affirmation (Tasdeeq).  They will surely be gained after absolute affirmation.  This shows that Imaan and Islam are dependent on each other.

 

Here, an objection is raised that affirmation can be only about information.  There cannot be affirmation for orders.  For e.g., if someone gives someone an order and this person says:  What you have said is the truth.  Then this affirmation is out of place.  Then how can Imaan and Islam be dependent on each other?

 

The answer is that it is written in Sharh Maqaasid that affirmation of orders and prohibitions is by believing that all of them are from Allah Most High.  Obedience to information is to force the intellect to accept them no matter how irrational they seem, the way the parts of the body are forced to follow the orders and prohibitions.

 

Someone might say that in Hadith, Imaan and Islam have been differentiated from each other as the Law-Giver (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) has described Salaat, fasting, etc. as Islam and Imaan i.e. faith is a matter of the heart.

 

The answer to this is that the hypocrites are worse than the disbelievers, even though these acts were regularly performed by them.  This shows that only acts/deeds are not enough for Islam, affirmation of them (as described above) is also necessary.  A slight difference between Islam and Imaan is that the former is mostly related to actions and senses, while the latter is related to the heart.

 

Someone might say that Almighty Allah says in the Holy Quran:

 

The Bedouins say: ‘We have believed.’ Say: ‘You have not believed. Rather say: We have submitted.  Surah Hujuraat (49:14)

 

The aforementioned verse shows that they are interdependent.

 

The answer to this is that the word Islam is sometimes used in the sense of entering a pact as well, as mentioned in Lisaan Ul Arab.  These people’s real intention was to make a pact.  Thus, Almighty Allah admonished them that what do you have to do with Imaan?  You want a pact, so say:  Aslamnaa.

 

Thus it is mentioned in Durre Manthoor in the exegesis of the aforementioned verse that a clan came to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) and talked as if they were doing a great favor to the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) that we will not fight with you the way so and so clan fought with you. This shows that their real intention was a pact.

 

Thus, that Islam is not applicable to the hypocrites means that in the terminology of the Shariah, Islam means or is at least equal to Imaan.

 

The following Hadith also tells us the same thing:

 

Translation: Ummayya says that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) borrowed a metal shield from me.  I requested:  If this is lost, then will I get its price?  He said:  Yes!

 

By chance, that shield was lost.  The Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  If you want, I will indemnify you.

 

I said:  Now, there’s no need.  Today, there is Islam in my heart, which was not present on that day.

 

Thus, like Imaan, the essence of Islam is also related to the heart, but as it is expressed through speech and actions, from whomever these are expressed, that person will be declared a Muslim.

 

 

[Excerpted from Maqasid Ul Islam, Vol. 1]