| Aqeedah - Belief |
What is Allah’s Right on Mankind ?
On the authority of Mu’aadh bin
Jabal, a companion of the Prophet Muhammed who said :
"I was riding with the Prophet , sitting behind him, when he said to
me, “O Mu’aadh! Do you know what is Allah’s right over His slaves , and
what is the slave’s right over Allah?”.
I said, “Allah and His Messenger know Best”.
He said, “The Right of Allah over the slaves, is that they should worship
Him alone [1] and not
associate anything with Him [2],
while the right of the slaves over Allah is that He will not punish (on the
Day of Judgment) whoever does not associate with Him.”
Collected by al-Bukhari, Muslim, at-Tirmidhi, Ahmed & Ibn Majah
THE CREATION OF MANKIND
Glorified be Allah, who created man (Adam) and caused one of the noble souls (Ruh) to enter him [3] and made mankind into nations and tribes, that they may know one another. Verily the most honorable of them in the Sight Allah is the believer who has at-Taqwa (i.e. the Qualities of piety, righteousness and the fear of Allah; that keeps him away from all kinds of sin and evil deeds) [4] .
THE RECOGNITION OF ALLAH
The question would arise that: ... How can all the people around the world be expected to believe in the One True God , given their varying backgrounds, societies and cultures ?
For people to be held responsible for worshipping the One True God, they all need to have access to knowledge of Him.
The Qur’aan teaches us that all human beings have the recognition of Allah imprinted on their souls as part of their very nature with which they are created. This natural in-born inclination to worship Allah alone is called in Arabic as the ‘Fitrah’. If the child was left alone, it would grow up aware of Allah in His Unity, but all children affected by the pressure of their environment, whether directly or indirectly The Prophet Muhammed reported that Allah said : “ I created man in the right religion, but the devils (Shaitaan ) made him go astray.
Reported in Sahih Muslim, vol.4, p.1488, no.6853
The Prophet also said “ Every child is born in the state of Fitrah (i.e. a Muslim), then his parents make him a Jew, Christian or a Zoroastrian.”
Reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.8, no.597 and Muslim, vol.4, no.6423
The religion the child follows is one of
custom and upbringing and Allah does not hold it to account or punish it for
this religion. But when the child matures in youth and clear proofs of
falsehood of man-made religions are brought to it, the adult must now follow
the religion of knowledge and reason. The shaitaan (devils) try to make evil
pleasing to him and encourage him to stray away from the straight path. The
person must now live in the midst of a struggle between his Fitrah and his
lower desires in order to find the right path. If he chooses his Fitrah, Allah
will help him overcome his desires even though he may have to go through a lot
of trials and struggles, as Allah says :
Surely We (Allah) will test you with fear, hunger, loss of wealth, and life
and fruits of your work, so give glad tidings to those who are patient,”
Soorah al-Baqarah (2): 155
Because of all the powerful forces fighting
against the Fitrah, Allah chose certain righteous men and revealed to them
clearly the right path. These men whom we call Prophets were sent to help our
fitrah defeat its enemies, and Allah says:
“Verily We (Allah) have sent every nation a messenger saying
‘Worship Allah alone and avoid the Taghoot (false gods)’”
Soorah al-Nahl (16): 36
All the truth and good practices today, came from the teachings of the past Prophets.
BORN MUSLIMS
Those who are fortunate enough to have been born in Muslim families must be aware that all such ‘Muslims’ are not automatically guaranteed paradise, because the Prophet warned that a large portion of Muslims will stray away from the teachings of Islam; and the Sunnah would be replaced by innovations (Bidah) , as mentioned in the following Hadeeths :-
Hadeeth 1: “I have been given the Qur’aan and its equal (the Sunnah) with it.
Reported by Abu-Dawood (Eng. translation), vol.3, no.4587, at-Tirmidhi, al-Haakim & Ahmed.
Let me not find any of you, while resting on his couch, that an order of mine is mentioned in front of him, either a command of mine or a prohibition, he says: ‘I do not know! Whatever we find in the Book of Allah (the Qur’aan) we follow (otherwise we do not)".
Reported by Abu Dawood (Eng. translation),vol.3, no.4588, at-Tirmidhi, ibn Majah, Ahmed
Hadeeth 2:“You will follow the practices of your
predecessors, inch by inch and yard by yard; so that if they were to enter a
lizard’s hole, you would also follow them. “When the Prophet was asked if
he meant the Jews and Christians , he replied “If not them, who else?”
Reported in Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.9, no.422 & Sahih Muslim, vol.4, no.6448
Hadeeth 3:“The Last Hour will not come until some groups of
my nation attach themselves to the polytheists and some of my people worship
idols.
Reported by Abu Dawood (Eng. translation), vol 3, no.4239; Ibn Majah and at-Tirmidhi.
Hadeeth 4: “The Last Hour will not came until women from the daws
tribe wiggle their buttocks (as they circumambulate) around the temple of the
idol al-Khalasha.”
Reported by al-Bukhari, vol.9, no.232 & Muslim, vol.4, no.6944
Hadeeth 5:“There will be among my followers those who will make
allowable (Halaal) fornication and adultery, the wearing of Silk (for men),
taking intoxicants and musical instruments (Ma’aazif)....Allah will destroy
them during the night and let the mountain fall on them.”
Collected in al-Bukhari, vol.7, no.494 (b).
All those mentioned in the Hadeeths above, will have Muslim names and
will consider themselves Muslims, but it will be of no benefit to them on the
Day of Judgment. This is because ..........
They ignored the teachings of the Last Messenger Muhammed (sallallahu alaihe wa-sallam) and altered the Religion according to their convenience.
Soorah al-Furqan (25): 43
Soorah Muhammed (47): 33
Say (O Muhammed to mankind): if you (really love Allah then follow me, Allah will love you and forgive your sins.”
Soorah al-Imran (3): 31
They seek help in other than Allah
Soorah Yusuf (12): 106 &
Soorah Ghafir (40): 60
When my slaves ask you (O Muhammed) about me tell them ‘Verily I am close, I listen to the prayer of every one who calls on me.”
Soorah al-Baqarah (2): 186
And invoke not besides Allah, any that neither can profit you nor harm you, but if you do so you shall certainly be one of the disbelievers.”
Soorah Hud (11): 106
Do we not find Muslims, praying to the dead, building tombs and masjids over graves and even performing rites of worship around them, while Allah says in the Qur’aan :
But you cannot make them hear, those who are in the graves.”
Soorah Fatir (35): 22
Soorah al-A’raaf (7): 194
Some Muslims have turned the Qur’aan into a good luck charm which they hang on chains around their necks, in their cars or have placed them in beautifully decorated cases to be kept in the house along with the other pieces of furniture; while our Prophet Muhammed said that the purpose of the Qur’aan is to ......
Musnad Ahmed ibn Hambal.
Verily this Qur’aan guides to that which is most just and right and gives glad tidings to the Believers, who do deeds of righteousness, and they shall have a great reward.”
Soorah al-Israa’ (17): 9
But alas, some so-called Muslims will even refuse guidance from the Qur’aan:
“And the Messenger (Muhammed) will say ‘O my Lord! Verily my people deserted this Qur’aan (by neither listening to it nor acting according to its Laws).”
Soorah al-Furqan (25): 30
REMEMBER YOUR PLEDGE TO ALLAH
Let us give a thought as to whether we are
simply Muslims by chance of Muslims by choice ? ? ?
Is Islaam what our parents, tribe or country did (or does), or is it what the
Qur’aan teaches and what the Prophet Muhammed and his Companions (May
Allah be pleased with them all) did.
In the seventh chapter of the
Qur’aan-Soorah al-Araaf, Allah explains that when He created Adam, He caused
all of Adam’s descendants to come into existence and He took a pledge from
them........
‘Am I not your Lord?, to which they all replied ‘Yes, we testify to
it.”
Soorah al-A’raaf (7): 172
Allah then explained why He had all of mankind bear witness that He is the Creator and the Only True God, worthy of worship; “That was in case you (mankind) should say on the Day of Resurrection, we were unaware of all this.”
Soorah al-A’raaf (7): 172
“It was also in case you should say, ‘Certainly it was our ancestors who made partners (with Allah) and we are only their descendants; will you then destroy us for what those liars did.”
Soorah al-A’raaf (7): 173
Therefore the pledge with Allah can only be fulfilled by a Muslim by choice and by the practical application of the principles of Islaam in our lives.
Say truly, my prayer, my sacrifice, my life and my death are all for Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”
Soorah al-An’aam (6): 162
CONCLUSION
May Allah, the Merciful keep us on the right
path to which He has guided us and bestow on us His blessings and mercy, for
indeed whoever Allah guides......no one can misguide.
“None has the right to be worshipped but you, O Allah. Truly I have been
of the wrong-doers.”
Soorah al-Anbiyaa (21): 87
May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be on the Prophet Muhammed, his Family, his Companions and on all those who follow the path of guidance until the Last Day
Bidah : Any new act or belief in Islaam, which is made to compete or resemble the Sunnah and is followed for the same reason the Sunnah is followed, i.e. to please Allah.
[1] i.e. to establish Tawheed...”the belief that Allah is One, without partner or associate in His Dominion and Actions; without similitude in His Essence and Attributes (Asmaa’ was-Sifaat) and without rival in His divinity and in worship.” -There is none equal or comparable unto Him. [Soorah al-Ikhlas:4]
[2] meaning in Arabic ‘Shirk’......”directing any form of worship to anyone or anything besides Allah (eg. calling upon any idol, prophet or a dead person for help) believing that others besides Allah have the power to harm or benefit.
[3] Soorah al-Hijr (15):29
[4] Soorah al-Hujarat (49):13
