عَنْ أَبِي حَمْزَةَ أَنَسِ بْنِ مَالِكٍ خَادِمِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ عَنْ النَّبِيِّ قَالَ: ((لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ)). It has been narrated on the authority of Abu Hamza Anas bin Malik – the servant of the Messenger of Allah – that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace said: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother (li-akhihi) what he loves for himself (li-nafsihi).” - This hadith has been related by Imam al-Bukhari and Imam Muslim This hadith must be considered ‘ground zero’ for Muslim unity. Sincere Muslims everywhere desire and yearn for the Muslims to be unified. However, many of the believers confuse uniformity with unity. This push for uniformity, in the guise of “unity”, becomes obvious every year during the season of Ramadan and the two ‘Eids; when the Muslims try to synchronize their calendars with each other regardless of the location. You will see Muslims trying to begin the fast of Ramadan with each other, even if they are hundreds of miles away from each other – under the false pretense that this is “unity”. This agenda is aggressively advanced, even though the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, never did this; and in many cases many principles of the Shari’ah are violated. This hadith and its commentary clearly define what “unity” is and how it is achieved. Shehu ‘Uthman Dan Fodiyo, may Allah envelop him in His mercy, has mentioned this hadith in his book Bayaan Wujuub ul-Hijrah ‘alaa l‘ibaad or “The Obligation of Emigration on the Servants” under the chapter dealing with the obligation to befriend the believers (wujuub muwaalatul Mu’mineen). He says: وَ أَمَّا الْإِجْمَاع فَقَدْ اِتَّفَقَ أَهْلُ السُّنَّةِ رَضِىَ اللهُ عَنْهُمْ عَلَى وُجُوبِ مُوَالَاةِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ . فِي الرِسَالَةِ : وَعَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِ أَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرَ لِأَبَوَيْهِ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنِ وَعَلَيْهِ مُوَالَاةُ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ وَالنَّصِيحَةُ لَهُمْ، وَلَا يَبْلُغُ أَحَدٌ حَقِيقَةَ الْإِيمَانِ حَتَّى يُحِبَّ لِأَخِيهِ الْمُؤْمِنِ مَا يُحِبُّ لِنَفْسِهِ، كَذَلِكَ رُوِيَ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَ سَلَّمَ. “As for the ijmaa’ (consensus) the scholars of ahlus-Sunnah, may Allah be pleased with them, are agreed upon the obligation of befriending the believers (muwaalatul-mu’mineen). According to the Risaalah: ‘It is incumbent on the believer to seek Allah’s forgiveness for his parents (if they are believers), to befriend the believers (muwaalatul-mu’mineen), and to give good counsel (an-naseehah) to them. No one reaches [a state of] true faith (al-imaan) until he loves for his believing brother (li-akhihi) what he loves for himself (li-nafsihi). This is the hadith as it was related from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.” The Shehu continues by quoting al-Fawaakih ad-Diwaani, which is an excellent commentary upon the Risaalah, written by Shaykh Ahmad ibn Ghunayn an-Nafraawi al-Maaliki: It says in al-Fawaakih ad-Diwaani: “To befriend the believers means to meet with them and show them love (as-suhbah) and avoid what creates aversion such as rancor (al-ghill) and envy (al-hasad) – Allah forbid! To befriend here does not mean mere bodily contact (al-ijtimaa’ bil-abdaan) with them without sincere affection (‘an l-mahabbatul-qalbiyyah). And it must be known that submissiveness (leen al-jaanib), better known as humility (at-tawaadu’), is of three (3) divisions: [1] Obligatory (waajib): like the humility (at-tawaadu’) shown towards Allah, His Messenger, the ruler (al-haakim), the scholar (al-‘aalim), and towards one’s father; [2] or Forbidden (haraam): like the humility (at-tawaadu’) shown towards the people of oppression (az-zulm) and disbelief (al-kufr), because humility shown to these is a humiliation (adh-dhill) in which there is no honor (laa ‘izza) and a baseness from which one cannot be raised up; [3] or Commendable (manduub): like the humility (at-tawaadu’) shown to the servants of Allah (‘ibaadi-Allah), other than those mentioned above.” It is clear from what we have quoted above that unity and uniformity are two different things. Unity is not defined by having the believers doing the same thing at the same time in the same place. Unity is characterized by having the believers loving for each other what they love for themselves. This means that they treat each other the same way they want to be treated, they are not selfish, and when one of them is hurt or feels pain it is as if he is suffering from that pain himself. This is true unity and brotherhood. It is a characteristic of the inner as well as the outer! One cannot be divorced from the other. And Allah knows best!
Posted on: Sat, 17 Aug 2013 05:12:10 +0000
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