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TAG: Ihsan

What Is Faith? What Is Islam? When Will The Hour Be Established?

What is Faith?
What is Islam?
When will the Hour be established?

[Sahih Al-Bukhari: Volume 1, Book 2, Number 47] Narrated Abu Huraira (Radi Allah Anhu): One day while the Prophet (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked:
“What is faith?” Allah’s Apostle (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) replied, ‘Faith is to believe in Allah, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection.”
Then he further asked, “What is Islam?” Allah’s Apostle (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) replied, “To worship Allah Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat), and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan.”
Then he further asked, “What is Ihsan (perfection)?” Allah’s Apostle (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) replied, “To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you.”
Then he further asked, “When will the Hour be established?” Allah’s Apostle (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) replied, “The answerer has no better knowledge than the questioner. But I will inform you about its portents when a slave (lady) gives birth to her master. When the shepherds of black camels start boasting and competing with others in the construction of higher buildings. And the Hour is one of five things which nobody knows except Allah. The Prophet then recited: “Verily, with Allah (Alone), is the knowledge of the Hour–.” (31. 34)
Then that man (Gabriel) left and the Prophet (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) asked his companions to call him back, but they could not see him. Then the Prophet (sal-allahu-alleihi-wasallam) said, “That was Gabriel who came to teach the people their religion.” Abu ‘Abdullah said: He (the Prophet) considered all that as a part of faith.

Our Lord! grant us good in this world and good in the hereafter, and save us from the chastisement of the fire.

Justice and Compassion: the Basic Shariah Rules

SHARIAH is the law of Allah. It shows the Muslim how to remain a Muslim. It is the only course that really organizes the life of both individuals and communities. It shows man how to obey his Creator and how to behave toward his fellow human beings, Muslims and non-Muslims.

Almighty Allah says: “Verily, Allah enjoins Al-Adl (i.e. justice) and Al-Ihsan ( i.e. to be patient in performing our duties to Allah), and giving (help) to kith and kin and forbids Al-Fahsha (i.e. all evil deeds) and Al-Munkar (all that is prohibited) and Al-Baghy (all kinds of oppression). He admonishes you, that you may take heed.” (An-Nahl 16:90)

This verse is known as the most comprehensive verse of the Qur’an. It summarizes basic Islamic principles and values: Adl (justice) and Ihsan (compassion). These should be the overriding principles for everything that we say and everything that we do, individually or collectively.

The Nature of Shariah
Shariah is the law of Allah. It is different from laws in the common sense of the word. Shariah is the law that is based on ethics. Its basic values are permanent and universal. Shariah deals with the outward and inward. The rules of Shariah cannot be observed without sincerity, true intention, love, and respect for the law and the Law-Giver, Allah.

Purpose of Shariah
The purpose of Shariah is to make good persons and a good society. Its whole objective is ethical and moral. Shariah establishes what is good and beautiful. If something is not moral (good and beautiful), it is not part of Shariah. It is also impossible to implement the Shariah without becoming a good person. A society that establishes Shariah must become a good and beautiful society.

It is impossible to have a society compliant to Shariah and have injustice, ugliness, and evil in it. It is also impossible to have a good Muslim who is unjust, unfair, unfaithful, and immoral.

Ibn Al-Qayyim in his famous book of Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) says: “The Shariah is founded and based on wisdom and the good of people in this life and in the eternal life. Shariah is altogether justice, mercy, benefits, and wisdom. Any rule that departs from justice to oppression, from mercy to its opposite, from benefit to harm, and from wisdom to uselessness, is not from the Shariah, even if it is included in Shariah by interpretation.”

When we follow the rules of Shariah we must keep in mind the objectives of Shariah. Very often we follow the rules but we ignore and overlook the spirit and real purpose of the rules.

1. For example the Qur’an speaks about Taharah (purification), Ghusl (purificatory bath), and Wudu (ablution). We take these rules and apply them, but we do not take the objective of cleanliness very seriously.

2. We pray in Jamaah (congregation), but we have not learned the system of organization from our Salah.

3. We give zakah, but we have not been able to establish a system of social justice.

4. We go to Haj, but we have not been able to develop a unified Ummah, a community that transcends nationalistic divisions.

5. We recite the Qur’an many times, but we do not try to understand its meaning and message.

6. We talk of the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) but mostly related to some appearances. We pay little attention to the Prophet’s character of love, kindness, honesty, truthfulness, sincerity, fulfilling the promises, etc.

Our Responsibility
It is our responsibility to know the rules of Allah and put them into practice with sincerity. But before anything, we should ask ourselves: Are we really practicing justice? Are we really fair to others, to our spouses, to our relatives, to our neighbors, employees, employers, to Muslims, to other human beings, to animals, to anything and everything? Are we really compassionate people? Are we really increasing in compassion or are we becoming angry, hateful, arrogant, or complacent about ourselves? We must improve ourselves in justice and compassion. If we do not have Adl and Ihsan or Rahmah (mercy), then we are not practicing the Shariah. Similarly, if we think that we are following the law of Allah but the result is injustice and lack of compassion, then it means that we have not properly understood the law of Allah or we are not interpreting it right.

What Made The Companions Special

ABDULLAH bin ‘Amr bin ‘Aas narrated that a woman came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) with her daughter. On the daughter’s wrist were two heavy gold bracelets. The Prophet (peace be upon him) asked her, “Do you pay Zakat on this?” She replied, “No.” The Prophet said, “Would it please you that Allah will encircle you with two bracelets of fire?” The narrator commented that she took them off and threw them down in front of the Messenger, and said, “They are for Allah and his Messenger.” (Ahmad, Tirmidhi)

Think about this for a second – Fiqh of Zakah aside. Imagine if you were in this place. What would you do? Probably hum and haw, then half of Juz Amma (the last chapter of the Qur’an). Memorize the entire Qur’an (step by get them weighed, calculate the value, and give your Zakat.

But what did this Sahabiyyah (female Companion) do? She gave entire bracelets, both of them, as charity. She did not just pay the 2.5 percent of the value required for Zakah – she actually donated the whole thing in the way of Allah.

This is one of the things that makes the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) so special (and so much better than us). We do the bare minimum, just to scrape by, but they go for the maximum reward.

How you can apply this today
Read about Ihsan. Learn about it. Ask yourself frequently: “What would it mean to do Ihsan in this thing I’m doing right now?”

Aim for the gold medal. Don’t be satisfied with memorizing only step, of course).

Give a Little Extra. If someone asks you for help – with some project, essay, exam, task, chores around the house (parents) – don’t just do the bit they ask, do a little extra. As Allah says: “Is there any reward for good other than good?” (Qur’an, 55:60)