God: A Mutual Right With God — Worship Him Alone Commentary By Adil Salahi — Arab News The Prophet, peace be upon him, often made concise statements that were farreaching in significance. He was not given to verbosity. On the contrary, he always referred to broad subjects in the most precise and concise of manners. The Prophet, peace be upon him, refers to this as he says, “I have been gifted with comprehensive speech.” When we consider his Hadith from the point of view of literary merits and scope of expression, we find that his description is clearly accurate. On one occasion, he summed up the relationship between God and mankind in two short statements. Consider the following Hadith reported by Mu’ath ibn Jabal, a famous companion of the Prophet: “I was behind the Prophet, peace be upon him, on his mount when he said to me, ‘Mu’ath!’ I said: ‘I am at your service.’ He repeated this address three times and I replied in the same manner. He then said: ‘Do you know what right mankind owe to God? That they worship Him alone, associating no partners with Him.’ He traveled on for a while and then said to me: ‘Mu’ath!’ I said: ‘I am at your service.’ He said: ‘Do you know what people earn from God by right if they do that? That He would not put them to any suffering’.” [Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Al-Tirmithi and Abu Dawood] This Hadith outlines in a most precise manner the essence of faith and what people merit if they truly believe. The fact that the Prophet, peace be upon him, addressed Mu’ath, who was one of the most learned companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, three times before saying anything about what he wanted to say served to make the addressee most attentive. It was clear that the Prophet, peace be upon him, was preoccupied with something of great importance. Hence, his companion was awaiting his communication with much interest. When the Prophet, peace be upon him, spoke, he certainly gave a highly important message, putting it in the clearest of terms. He stated something owed by all people to God, and described it as a right belonging to God Almighty. Moreover, the Prophet, peace be upon him, did not wait for his companion to say whether he knew the answer to his question; he gave the answer immediately. “People must worship God alone, associating no partners with Him.” This is the basic and most fundamental principle of faith, which admits of no compromise whatsoever. A person may either believe in God’s oneness, or he may not. If he believes that all Godhead belongs to God alone, he must guard against any trace of polytheism, in any shape or form. The Prophet’s statement suggests that when people fulfill this condition, they meet the basic requirement of faith. The Prophet, peace be upon him, left his companion to contemplate his statement for a while before he put to him another question. This time he asks whether he knows the result that people could expect. Again the Prophet, peace be upon him, describes this as a right which is owing to people for their fulfillment of their basic requirement. This right is that God would not punish them. It is a very clear and straightforward bargain, establishing mutual rights: God’s right to be worshiped alone, without any claim assigning partners to Him, whether in people’s minds or actions; and people’s right to suffer any punishment. This means that when people truly believe in God’s oneness and worship Him alone, they spare themselves punishment in the Hereafter. This is a great prize, which all people should try to achieve. The way is facilitated for them by this outline the Prophet, peace be upon him, gives them. But what does this actually mean in practice? Is it sufficient that people recognize God’s oneness? The Prophet’s statement is precise. It gives two qualities as owing to God: worshiping Him and believing in His oneness. This statement does not stop at mere intellectual and theoretical ideas. The recognition of God’s oneness has a practical manifestation in worship. Proper worship is offered in the manner satisfactory to God, which He has made clear to us through His messenger. His oneness means that we allow no trace of associating partners with Him, in worship, legislation or daily actions. It requires an acknowledgment of His sovereignty over both the universe and human life. An authentic Hadith, on a different topic mentions that the Prophet, peace be upon him, used to visit Umm Haram bint Milhan, who was an aunt of the Prophet, peace be upon him, through breast-feeding. “On one of his visits, she gave him a meal and then she stroked his head and he relaxed and slept. A short while later, he woke up smiling. She asked him the reason for his smile, and he said: ‘I was shown in my dream a group of my community Traveling by sea, looking like kings on their couches.’ She said, ‘Messenger of God, pray God to make me one of them.’ He said, ‘You are one of them.’ He then dozed off again, and woke up smiling. Again she asked him why he was smiling, and he said the same thing. Once more, she said, ‘Pray God to make me one of them.’ The Prophet, peace be upon him, said to her, ‘You are in the first group.’ She was subsequently married to Ubada ibn Al-Samit who joined an expedition by sea and he took her with him. On the way back, as she was about to ride a mule, she fell off, broke her neck and died.” [Related by all six, Malik and Ahmad] This is a highly authentic Hadith from which we may deduce several rulings, such as the desirability of visiting a woman related by breast-feeding and treating her as one would treat a blood relation of similar rank. Umm Haram was an aunt of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and as such she was unlawful for him to marry. Hence, he visited her, ate at her place and slept. She stroked his head to make him relax, and waited upon him. She asked him why he was smiling, as would any close relative. We also find in this Hadith a basis for women going out with a Muslim army to fight or to give support, even though the expedition requires a highly unusual effort. For the Arabs in Madinah, Traveling by sea was felt to be a very hazardous task, because they lived in a city in the midst of a vast desert, far off any coastal area. When the woman felt that the Prophet, peace be upon him, was very pleased with those who would be undertaking such a task, she requested him to pray that she would be among them. He did so, assuring her that she would be one of them. When she repeats the request after the second nap the Prophet, peace be upon him, had with the same dream, he told her that she would be with the first group. What the Prophet, peace be upon him, said to her came true. She traveled with her husband, whom she married after this particular incident. Their expedition was by sea during the reign of the third Caliph, Osman ibn Affan. The commander of that expedition was none other than Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufian, a companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, who was later to become the fifth Caliph.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 21:38:42 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015