This world is a place where we have been sent to perform
our duties. On the Day of Judgment, Allah (SWT) would
appraise our worldly performance and we would be duly
rewarded then. So it is important for us to know what Allah
(SWT) expects from us? Whether the duties which we are
currently performing are enough and as per His wish?
Because if we fail to understand whatever Allah (SWT) is
expecting from us then all the good deeds and duties which
we have performed may not be useful to us on that day
Let us then begin our research with the following ayah from
Surah-e-Baqra:
It is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and every act of obedience to Allah, etc.) that you turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the Angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, in spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masakin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and gives the Zakat, and who fulfill their covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.) in extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the truth and they are Al-Muttaqun (Quran 2:177)
In the above ayah Allah (SWT) has given us the clear definition
of good virtues. If we follow them we would be considered
virtuous by Him. But to be a virtuous person is the only thing
which He expects from us?
Now we will see the ayah from Surah-e-Furqaan:
And We shall turn to whatever deeds they did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust (Quran 25:23)
Here, Allah (SWT) promises that He is surely going to destroy
the good deeds of certain people and turn them devoid of all
virtues. It means Allah (SWT) is looking for something much
beyond the good virtues as indicated in the ayah of Surah-eBaqra.
So if we want to be considered amongst the successful at
the Day of Judgment and wish that all our good deeds like our
prayers and charity get accepted and are meaningful in the
court of Allah (SWT); we need to find that “Precise thing”
which He is looking for in us.
Let us again turn to the Quran for this. In the following ayah
from Surah-e-Fussilat, Allah (SWT) says
And if We had sent this as a Quran in a foreign language other than Arabic, they would have said: "Why are not its Verses explained in detail (in our language)? What! (A Book) not in Arabic and (the Messenger) an Arab?" Say: "It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing. And as for those who disbelieve, there is heaviness (deafness) in their ears, and it (the Quran) is blindness for them. They are those who are called from a place far away (so they neither listen nor understand).(Quran 41:44)
Allah (SWT) says that the same Quran which is a guide and a
healing for a believer; is a deafness and blindness for a nonbeliever. Now, we know that whoever believes in Allah (SWT)
is a believer and whoever does not believe in Him, he is a nonbeliever. But if a person is a non-believer of Allah then why
would he recite Quran? And if he is not reciting Quran then
why did Allah (SWT) say in the above ayah that Quran is
deafness and blindness for a non-believer. This means that
Allah (SWT) is referring to those people who though believe
in Him and recite Quran but still are considered as nonbelievers. So who are those unfortunate ones?
Rasool (SAW) in the following hadith says:
“Ali is with the Quran and the Quran is with Ali, and
these two will never be separated from each other until
they reach me at the Hauz-e-Kausar!” (Ref: Jam’a
Sagheer, p 56, Kanz-al-Ummal p 30, Izalut-ul-Khifa
Maqsad 2, p 279)
Mawla Ali and Quran are inseparable and thus in the light of
this and our pondering upon the above-mentioned ayah, it
can be inferred that if somebody separates Mawla Ali (A.S)
from Quran, he is a non-believer as per Allah (SWT) and thus
Quran would no-longer guide him and instead he could be
misguided as he would fail to understand Quran in the right
perspective. Thus love for Mawla Ali (A.S) is a parameter
which would separate a believer from a non-believer and it is
a doctrine to understand Quran.
In this regard let us focus on one more ayah:
And the Messenger (Muhammad SAW) will say: "O my Lord! Verily, my people deserted this Quran (Quran 25:30)
There are many great Islamic scholars who have translated the
holy book in various languages, it seems that they have really
contributed to propagate Quranic knowledge and philosophy,
so why would Rasool (SAW) say that his people have deserted
the Quran, when we find many great scholars who have learnt
Quran by heart and can discuss the ayahs at length with their
listeners?
We have got Quran through the holy presence of Rasool
(SAW), it was revealed in the form of ‘wahi’ to him on
different occasions. He is then the best judge to decide
whether we are doing justice with the book or not. And I am
sure he must have given us clear instructions which if we
follow, we would do justice to our Quranic recitation and be
well-guided.
The following hadith of Rasool (SAW) instructs us in this
direction. This is also known as Hadith-e-Saqlain, where
Saqlain stands for two weighty things:
“I will soon be called away and will have to depart from
you, but I leave amongst you two weighty things; the
book of the High and Mighty Allah and my progeny.
The Book of Allah is like a rope which extends from the
heavens to the earth, and my progeny are the people
of my house (Ahl-ul-bait). The Subtle and Aware (Allah)
tells me that the two shall never part from each other
until they come to me at the Pool. So, take care how
you treat them after me.”
This is a very prominent hadith whose reference can be found
in different books of Islamic scholars. It is well-recorded by
Imam Ahmed (Ibn-e-Hambal) from the tradition related by
Abu Sa’eed-al-Khudri in (Musnad, Ahmed Ibn-e-Hambal, Part
3, P 26.) and also recorded by Ibn-e-Abi Shaiba, Abu Ya’li and
Ibn-e-S’ad from Abu Saeed (Kanz-ul-Ummal, Part 1, P 47).
The same tradition is also mentioned in the books of
prominent Islamic historians and commentators. (Ref: Tirmizi,
5:328, Nisai 96:79, Ibn Atiyyah 1:34, Ibn-e-Hajar P 89)
When we focus on above hadith, we understand that it is
Allah’s wish that the Quran and Rasool (SAW)’s progeny would
never part. And if somebody tries to separate them, then he
is working against the Will of Allah (SWT) and might incur
Allah’s wrath.
The progeny of Rasool (SAW), which is in fact the household
of Mawla Ali (A.S) is as important as Quran in our lives and if we wish that Quran be a guide and a healing we need to recite it in the light of their love.
The important result which can be derived here is that
however impressive a Quranic interpreter and a scholar we
come across, unless he has the understanding of the status of
progeny of Rasool (SAW) he can never guide anybody as he
has not followed Rasool (SAW)’s instructions. His learning
Quran by heart would not yield him any benefit as he has
disobeyed Allah’s Wish. And if we get impressed by such an
orator of Quran and follow him we are taking a big risk as we
might get misguided by him.
It was the sacrifice and hard-work of our holy Prophet (SAW)
which brought us from the darkness of illiteracy to the light of
Islamic philosophy. He guided us and thus he has maximum
right on our lives after Allah (SWT). That is the reason Allah
(SWT) in the following ayah asks Rasool (SAW) to seek the
compensation of his efforts in the following manner:
Say: "No reward do I ask of you for this (that which I have brought from my Lord and its preaching, etc.), save that whosoever wills, may take a Path to his Lord.(Quran 25:57)
No comments:
Post a Comment