Category: Quran

Etiquettes of Reading and Handling the Qur’an – Imam al-Qurtubi [d. 671 AH]

On By splendidpearlsIn QuranLeave a comment

It is the inviolability of the Qur’ān:

1. not to touch the Qur’ān except in the state of ritual purity in wudu, and to recite it when in a state of ritual purity;

2. to brush one’s teeth with a toothstick (siwāk), remove food particles from between the them, and to freshen one’s mouth before reciting, since it is the way through which the Qur’ān passes;

3. to sit up straight if not in prayer, and not lean back;

4. to dress for reciting as if intending to visit a prince, for the reciter is engaged in an intimate discourse;

5. to face the direction of prayer (qiblah) to recite;

6. to rinse the mouth out with water if one coughs up mucus or phlegm;

7. to stop reciting when one yawns, for when reciting , one is addressing one’s Lord in intimate conversation, while yawning is from the Devil;

8. when begining to recite, to take refuge from in Allāh from the accursed Devil and say the Basmala, whether one has begun at the first sūrah or some other part one has reached;

9. once one has begun, not to interrupt one’s recital from moment to moment with human words, unless absolutely necessary;

10. to be alone when reciting it, so that no one interrupts one, forcing one to mix the words of the Qur’ān with replying, for this nullifies the effectivness of having taken refuge in Allāh from the Devil at the beginning;

11. to recite it leisurely and without haste, distinctly pronouncing each letter;

12. to use one’s mind and understanding in order to comprehend what is being said to one;

13. to pause at verses that promise Allāh’s favour, to long for Allāh Most High and ask of His bounty; and at verses that warn of His punishment to ask Him to save one from it;

14. to pause at the accounts of bygone peoples and individuals to heed and benefit from their example;

15. to find out the meanings of the Qur’ān’s unusual lexical usages;

16. to give each letter its due so as to clearly and fully pronounce every word, for each letter counts as ten good deeds;

17. whenever one finishes reciting, to attest to the veracity of ones’s Lord, and that His messenger ﷺ has delivered his message, and to testify to this, saying: “Our Lord, You have spoken the truth, Your messengers have delivered their tidings, and bear witness to this. O Allāh, make us of those who bear witness to the truth and who act with justice”: after which one supplicates Allāh with prayers.

18. not to select certain verses from each surah to recite, but rather the recite the whole surah;

19. if one puts down the Qur’ān, not to leave it open;

20. not to place other books upon the Qur’ān, which should always be higher than all other books, whether they are books of Sacred Knowledge or something else;

21. to place the Qur’ān on one’s lap when reading; or on something in front of one, not on the floor;

22. not to wipe it from a slate with spittle, but rather wash it off with water; and if one washes it off with water, to avoid putting the water where there are unclean substances (najāsa) or where people walk. Such water has its own inviolability, and there were those of the early Muslims before us who used water that washed away Qur’ān to effect cures.

23. not to use sheets upon which it has been written as bookcovers, which is extremely rude, but rather to erase the Qur’ān from them with water;

24. not to let a day go by without looking at least once at the pages of the Qur’ān;

25. to give one’s eyes their share of looking at it, for the eyes lead to the soul (nafs), whereas there is a veil between the breast and the soul, and the Qur’ān is in the breast.

26. not to trivially quote the Qur’ān at the occurrence of everyday events, as by saying, for example, when someone comes, “You have come hither according to a decree, O Moses” [Qur’an 69:24],
or, “Eat and drink heartily for what you have done aforetimes, in days gone by” [Qur’an 69:24], when food is brought out, and so forth;

27. not to recite it to songs tunes like those of the corrupt, or with the tremulous tones of Christians or the plaintiveness of monkery, all of which is misguidance;

28. when writing the Qur’ān to do so in a clear, elegant hand;

29. not to recite it out aloud over another’s reciting of it, so as to spoil it for him or make him resent what he hears, making it as if it were some kind of competition;

30. not to recite it in marketplaces, places of clamour and frivolity, or where fools gather;

31. not to use the Qur’ān as pillow, or lean upon it;

32. not to toss it when one wants to hand it to another;

33. not to miniaturize the Qur’ān, mix into it what is not of it, or mingle this worldly adornment with it by embellishing or writing it with gold;

34. not to write it on the ground or on walls, as is done in some new mosques;

35. not to write an amulet with it and enter the lavatory, unless it is encased in leather, silver, or other, for then it is as if kept in the heart;

36. if one writes it and then drinks it (for cure or other purpose), one should say the Basmala at every breath and make a noble and worthy intention, for Allāh only gives to one according to one’s intention;

37. and if one finishes reciting the entire Qur’ān, to begin it anew, that it may not resemble something that has been abandoned.

[Jāmi’ li-Aḥkām al-Qur’ān of Imām Muḥammad ibn Aḥmad al-Qurṭubī (d. 637 AH)]
Taken from: Mas’ud Blog

The Obligation to Follow One of the Four Schools of Thought

On By splendidpearlsIn Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Hadith (Prophetic traditions), Islamic History, Quran, Seeking Islamic Knowledge1 Comment

By Shaykh Murābit al-Hājj al-Mālikī
Translated by: Hamza Yusuf

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

Amongst the most important replies that I have given, is my reply concerning the one who has deviated to the point where he censures the importance of studying the branches [furu’] of jurisprudence, and we seek refuge in Allah from the deviation of such a wandering deviant. Would that he simply had claimed independent reasoning (ijtihad) for himself only, and Allah is his reckoner, but abandoned the call of Muslims to leave that which is incumbent upon them. In our reply to such a one, we make mention what the scholars of the methodological bases of Islamic jurisprudence (usuli’un) and the Imams of jurisprudence themselves have said about such a matter. As for my labelling him a deviant, it is only because he has desired to impose upon common people the precious rank of absolute independent reasoning [ijtihad], about which Muhammad an-Nabigha  said,

And ijtihad in the land of the Moroccans,
The western phoenix has taken to flight with it.

I say in reply, that the following of qualified scholarship (taqlid) is an obligation on anyone other than an absolute mujtahid. I shall make mention of all his prerequisites if Allah wills. [Sidi Abdullah Ould Hajj Ibrahim] has said in his Maraqi as-Sa’ud:

“[taqlid] is necessary for other than the one who has achieved the rank of absolute ijtihad. Even if he is a limited [mujtahid] who is unable [to perform absolute ijtihad].”

Commenting on this line, [Sidi Abdullah] said in Nashru al-bunud,

“It means that taqlid is an obligation on anyone who is not an absolute mujtahid, even if he has achieved the limited rank of ijtihad muqayyad . . . [until he says], ‘And ask the people of the reminder, if you yourselves do not know.’”

By using the line of Muhammad an-Nabigha above, I am in no way claiming that all ijtihad has been severed in every land; how [could I say such a thing] when [Sidi Abdullah] says in Maraqi as-sa’ud:

“The earth will never be void of a mujtahid scholar until its very foundations shake.”

He also said,

“[Regarding] the necessity of binding to a specific madhhab, the [scholars] have mentioned its obligation upon anyone falling short [of the conditions of ijtihad].”

He says in Nashru al-bunud,

“It means that it is incumbent for whoever falls short of achieving the rank of absolute ijtihad to follow a particular madhhab.”

Again, in Maraqi as-Sa’ud, Sidi Abdullah says,

“The consensus today is on the four, and all have prohibited following [any] others.”

He says in Nashru al-bunud,

“This means that the consensus of the scholars today is on the four schools of thought, and I mean by the schools of Malik, Abu Hanifa, Shafi’i and Ahmad. Indeed, all of the scholars have prohibited following any other school of an independent and absolute mujtahid since the eighth century when the school of Dawud adh-Dhahiri died out and until the 12th Century and all subsequent ones.”

In the chapter concerning inferential reasoning, from Maraqi as-sa’ud, [Sidi Abdullah] says,

“As for the one who is not a mujtahid, then basing his actions on primary textual evidence [Qur’an and hadith] is not permissible.”

He says in Nashru al-bunud,

“It means that it is prohibited for other than a mujtahid to base his actions upon a direct text from either the Book or the Sunna even if its transmission was sound because of the sheer likelihood of there being other considerations such as abrogation, limitations, specificity to certain situations, and other such matters that none but the mujtahid fully comprehends with precision. Thus, nothing can save him from Allah the Exalted excepted following a mujtahid. Imām al-Qarāfī1 says,

‘And beware of doing what some students do when they reason directly from the hadith, and yet they don’t know their soundness, let alone what has been mentioned [by the Imams] concerning the subtleties involved in them; by doing this, they went astray and led others astray. And whoever interprets a verse or hadith in a manner that deviates from its intended meaning without proof [dalil] is a kafir.’”

As for the conditions of the absolute and independent ijtihad, they are mentioned in the Maraqi as-sa’ud in the following line and what follows:

“And that [word ‘faqīh’2]  is synonymous with the [word] ‘mujtahid’ coupled with those things which bear upon [him] the burden of responsibility,

Such as his being of extreme intelligence by nature, and there is some debate about one who is known to reject juristic analogy [qiyas]

He knows the [juristic] responsibilities through intellectual proofs unless a clear transmitted proof indicates otherwise.

[Sidi Abdullah] says [in his commentary] Nashru al-bunud,

“This means that among the conditions of ijtihad is that [the mujtahid] knows that he must adhere to the intellectual proof which is the foundational condition [al-bara’atu al-asliyya3]  until a transmitted proof from a sacred law indicates otherwise.”

He then goes on to mention the other conditions of a mujtahid:

[The sciences of] grammar, prosody, philology, combined with those of usul and rhetoric he must master.

According to the people of precision, [he must know] where the judgements can be found without the condition of having memorized the actual texts.

[All of the above must be known] according to a middle ranked mastery at least. He must also know those matters upon which there is consensus.

[Moreover, he must know] things such as the condition of single hadiths and what carries the authority of great numbers of transmissions; also [knowledge of] what is sound and what is weak is necessary.

Furthermore, what has been abrogated and what abrogates, as well as the conditions under which a verse was revealed or a hadith was transmitted is a condition that must be met.

The states of the narrators and the companions [must also be known]. Therefore, you may follow anyone who fulfils these conditions mentioned above according to the soundest opinion.

So, consider all of the above-mentioned, and may Allah have mercy upon you, and [may you] see for yourself whether your companion is characterized by such qualities and fulfils these conditions—and I highly doubt it. More likely, he is just pointing people to himself in his demands that the people of this age take their judgements directly from the Book and Sunna. If, on the other hand, he does not possess the necessary conditions, then further discussion is useless.

In Muhammad ‘Illish’s, Fath al-‘Ali al-Malik, there are many strong rebukes for those who wish to force people to abandon the study of the judicial branches and take directly from the Book and the Sunna. The actual text of the question put to him is as follows:

“What do you say about someone who was following one of the four Imams, may Allah the Exalted be pleased with them, and then left claiming that he could derive his judgements directly form the Qur’an and the soundly transmitted hadiths, thus leaving the books of jurisprudence and inclining towards the view of Ahmad bin Idris? Moreover, he says to the one who clings to the speech of the Imams and their followers, “I say to you ‘Allah and His Messenger say’, and you reply ‘Malik said’ and ‘Ibn al-Qasim said’ or ‘Khalil said.’”

To this, Imam ‘Illish replies:

“My answer to this all this is as follows: Praise be to Allah, and Prayer and Safety be upon our Master Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah. It is not permissible for a common person to abandon following the four Imams and take directly from the textual sources of the Qur’an and the hadiths for the simple reason that this entails a great many conditions that have been clarified in the books of usul. Moreover, these conditions are rarely met by the great scholars, especially in these last days in which Islam has become a stranger just as it began a stranger.”

Ibn ‘Uyyana, may Allah be pleased with him, has said,

“The hadiths are a source of error except for the jurists.”

What he means is that people, other than the scholars, might interpret a tradition based on an apparent meaning, and yet [the hadith may] have another interpretation based on some other hadith that clarifies the meaning or some proof that remains hidden [to the common people]. After a long discussion, he remarks,

“That as for their saying, ‘How can you leave clear Qur’anic verses and sound hadiths and follow the Imams in their ijtihads, which have a clear probability of error,’”

His answer to them is as follows:

“Surely the following of our [rightly guided] Imams is not abandoning the Qur’anic verses or the sound hadiths; it is the very essence of adhering to them and taking our judgements from them. This is because the Qur’an has not come down to us except by means of these very Imams [who are more worthy of following] by virtue of being more knowledgeable than us in [the sciences of] the abrogating and abrogated, the absolute and the conditional, the equivocal and the clarifying, the probabilistic and the plain, the circumstances surrounding revelation and their various meanings, as well as their possible interpretations and various linguistic and philological considerations, [not to mention] the various other ancillary sciences [involved in understanding the Qur’an] needed.

“Also, they took all of that from the students of the companions (tabi’in) who received their instruction from the companions themselves, who received their instructions from the Lawgiver himself, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, divinely protected from every mistake, who bore witness that the first three generations of Muslims would be ones of virtue and righteousness. Furthermore, the prophetic traditions have also reached us through their means given that they were also more knowledgeable than us through their means given that they were also more knowledgeable than those who came after them concerning the rigorously authenticated (sahih), the well authenticated (hasan), and the weak (da’if) channels of transmission, as well as the marfu’u4, mursal5, mutawatir6, ahad7, mu’dal8 and gharid9 transmissions.

“Thus, as far as this little band of men is concerned, there is only one of two possibilities: either they are attributing ignorance to Imams whose knowledge is considered by consensus to have reached human perfection as witnessed in several traditions of the truthful Lawgiver, upon him be prayers and peace, or they are actually attributing misguidance and lack of din to Imams who are all from the best of generations by the testimony of the magnificent Messenger himself, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Surely, it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts in our breasts.

As for their saying to the one who imitates Malik, for example, “We say to you ‘Allah says’ or ‘the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, says’ and you reply, ‘Malik says’, or ‘Ibn al-Qasim says’, or ‘Khalil says’, for example,” our response is that the follower who says, “Malik says . . . etc.,” means that, “Malik says based on his deep understanding of the Word of Allah, or of the words of the Messenger, or of those firmly adhering to the actions of the companions, or of the tabi’in who understood clearly the Word of Allah and the word of the Messenger of Allah or took their example from the actions of His Messenger.” And the meaning of [a follower] saying “Ibn al-Qasim said . . .” is that he has [faithfully] transmitted what Malik said based on his understanding of the Word of Allah or of what Ibn al-Qasim himself understood from the word of Allah the Most Exalted. And the meaning of him saying, “Khalil said . . . .”, for example, is that he is transmitting only from those [Imams] aforementioned. As for Malik and Ibn al-Qasim, they are both Imams whose spiritual and judicial authority is agreed upon by unanimous consensus of this Umma; and they are both from the best of generations.

As for the one who leaves their leadership and says, “Allah said and His Messenger said . . . ,” he has relied solely on his own understanding despite the fact that he is incapable of having any precision in the verses and hadiths that he quotes since he is unable even to provide chains of transmission [with any authority], let alone that he lacks knowledge concerning the abrogated, the absolute and the conditional, the ambiguous and the clarifying, the apparent and the textual, the general and the specific, the dimensions of the Arabic and the cause for revelation, the various linguistic considerations, and other various ancillary sciences needed. So, consider for yourself which is preferable: the word of a follower who simply quotes the understanding of Malik, an Imam by consensus—or the word of this ignoramus who said “Allah said and His Messenger said . . . .” But it is not the sight that goes blind, but rather the hearts in our breasts.

Furthermore, know that the origin of this deviation is from the Dhahiriyya10 who appeared in Andalucia [Muslim Spain] and whose power waxed from a period until Allah obliterated all traces of them until this little band of men set about to revive their beliefs. Imam al-Barzuli said, “The first one ever to attack the Mudawwana11 was Sa’id bin al-Haddad .”

If you consider carefully the above-mentioned texts, you will realize that the one who censures you from following [the Imams] is truly a deviant. And I am using the word “deviant” to describe them only because the scholars [before me] have labelled this little band and their view (madhhab) as deviant. Moreover, you should know that those who condemn your adherence to the Imams have been fully refuted by Muhammad al-Khadir bin Mayyaba  with the most piercing of refutations, and he himself called them, in his book, “the people of deviation and heterodoxy.” He called his book, Refuting the people of deviation of heterodoxy who attack the following [taqlid] of the Imams of independent reasoning, and I used to have a copy but no longer do. So, my brother, I seriously warn you from following the madhhab of these people and even from sitting in their company, unless there is an absolute necessity, and certainly from listening to anything they have to say, because the scholars have declared their ideas deviant. Ibn al-Hajj  says in his book, al-Madkhal,

“;Umar ibn al-‘Aziz said, ‘Never give one whose heart is deviant access to your two ears, for surely you never know what may find fixity in you.’”

I ask Allah to make you and me from those who listen to matters and follow the best of them.

Murabtal Haaj, Mauritania
Source: Masud Ahmed Khan’s Blog

———————————————————————————————-
Footnotes

  1. Ahmad ibn Idris Shihabudin as-Sanhaji al-Qarafi al-Maliki was born in Egypt in the seventh Century, and died there in the year 684. He was one of the greatest Maliki scholars who ever lived and is especially known for his work in methodology and law (usul al-fiqh). He was a master of the Arabic language and has remarkable works in grammar. His book adh-Dhakhira is a magisterial 14 volume work recently published in the Emirates, that looks at Maliki fiqh with proofs from usuli sources. He is buried in Qarafi in Egypt near Imam as-Shafi’i. May Allah have mercy on them both.
  2. Sidi Abdullah says in his commentary on this line that the faqih is synonymous with mujtahid in the science of usul. There are different types of faqih. A faqih according to the scholars of usul is anyone who has achieved the rank of ijtihad. According to the scholars of furu’u, a faqih is anyone who has reached the level of knowledge in which he can give valid juristic opinion. This latter definition is important considering endowments that are given to fuqaha. See Nashur al-bunud `ala maraqi as-sa’ud, kitab al-ijtihad fi al-furu’u (1409 Hijrah. Beirut: Maktabat al-Kutub. p.309)
  3. The foundational condition is that a human being is not asked by Allah to do anything other than those things which have a firm proof through the transmission of the prophets, peace be upon them, and that the human being is only accountable for those things in which there is clear responsibility. All other matters are considered permissible because of the lack of a proof indicating their impermissibility.
  4. The transmission (sanad) goes to the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace) the hadith came from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace).
  5. A tabi’i related it from the Prophet (Allah bless him and give him peace); a companion (sahabah) is missing from the line of the transmission.
  6. The hadith comes from so many sources that it is an absolute proof.
  7. A hadith, that at some point in the line of transmission, has only one narrator.
  8. Two people in a row are missing in the chain of narrators.
  9. The narrator of the hadith is trustworthy, but no one else related the hadith.
  10. The Dhahiriyya followed Daw’ud ad-Dhahiri’s madhhab.
  11. Mudawwana: Imam Malik’s work of fiqh.

Related Articles:
Understanding the Four Madhhabs – Abdal-Hakim Murad
What is a Madhhab and Why is it Necessary to Follow one? – Nuh Ha Mim Keller

Muharram: The Sacred Month of Allah

On By splendidpearlsIn Hadith (Prophetic traditions), QuranLeave a comment

Allāh ﷻ says in the Qur’ān:

“Verily, the number of months with Allāh is twelve months (in a year), so was it ordained by Allāh on the Day when He created the heavens and the earth; of them four are Sacred (i.e. The 1st, Muḥarram; the 7th, Rajab; the 11th, Dhū al-Qa’dāh; and the 12th, Dhū al-Ḥijjah). That is the right religion, so wrong not yourselves therein, and fight against the Mushrikūn collectively as they fight against you collectively. But know that Allāh is with those who are Al-Muttaqūn (the pious).”

[Sūrah at-Tawbah 9, verse 36]

In explanation of the above verse, Imām al-Qurṭubī al-Mālikī said:

“Allāh ﷻ mentioned the sacred four months in specific and forbade injustice in them as a kind of honor to them, although injustice is forbidden in all times. As for His ﷻ saying {so wrong not yourselves therein}, that means not to wrong yourselves therein by committing sins, because when Allāh ﷻ honors something from one aspect, it gains one sanctity; however, when He ﷻ honors it from two, or more, aspects, its sanctity becomes multiplex. Therefore, Allāh ﷻ multiplies punishment in it for doing evil deed as He ﷻ multiplies the reward in it for doing good deed. The person who obeys Allāh ﷻ in the sacred month in sacred city is not like the one who obeyed Him ﷻ in the lawful month in the sacred city. And the person who obeys Him ﷻ in the lawful month in the sacred city is not like the one who obeyed Him ﷻ in lawful month in lawful city.”

[Al-Jāmi’ Li-Ahkām Al-Qurān: 8/134]

‘Alī bin Abī Tālib – May Allāh be pleased with him – states that:

“A man came to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and said: “O Messenger of Allāh! Inform me of a month in which I could fast after the month of Ramadhān.” The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said: “If you want to fast in any month after Ramaḍhān, fast in Muḥarram because it is the month of Allāh. It is a month in which Allāh ﷻ accepted the repentance of a nation and will accept the repentance of other nations [as well].”

[Aḥmad 1/154 and Tirmidhī 741]

Ibn Rajab al-Ḥanbalī says in Laṭāif al-Ma‘ārif:

“The Prophet ﷺ called Muharram ‘the month of Allāh’. Actually, attributing it to Allāh demonstrates its honour and merit, because Allāh ﷻ only attributes His special creations to His self. For example, He ﷻ attributed Muhammad, Ibrahim, Ishaq, Ya’qub and others among the prophets (upon them all be peace) to His worship, and as He ﷻ attributed His House (the Ka’bah) and She-camel to Himself.

Since this month is specifically attributed to Allāh ﷻ and fasting is one of the deeds which is attributed to Allāh ﷻ, it was considered appropriate to specify an action for this month – which is attributed to Him ﷻ – with an action – that is attributed to Him ﷻ and – done solely for Him ﷻ, viz. Fasting.

Fasting is a secret between a servant and His Lord. It is for this reason that Allāh ﷻ says: ‘Every deed of man is for him, except for fasting. It is for Me and I shall personally give the reward for it because he gave up his desires, food and drink for My sake.'” [Sahīh Bukhārī 1904]

Ibn Rajab further says:

Qatādah states that the dawn on which Allāh ﷻ took an oath in the first verse of Sūrah al-Fajr is the dawn of the 1st of Muḥarram from which the year commences. Since the [four] sanctified months are the most superior after the month of Ramadhān, or they are the most superior of all, it is desirable to fast in all of them – as instructed by the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. One of them marks the end of the lunar year [Dhū al-Ḥijjah] while another marks the beginning of the lunar year [Muḥarram]. If a person fasts for the entire month of Dhū al-Ḥijjah – apart from the days on which fasting is prohibited – and then fasts for the entire month of Muḥarram, he would have concluded the year with obedience and commenced the next year with obedience. It would thus be hoped that his entire year will be recorded as an act of obedience. This is because when a person’s initial deed is an act of obedience, he is considered to be completely engrossed in obedience in the period between the two.

A Ḥadīth states: “When the angels, who are deputed to record deeds, take a book of deeds to Allāh ﷻ and He set sees good in its beginning and end, He ﷻ says to His angels: ‘I make you witnesses to the fact that I have forgiven My servant for the intervening period.'”

Argumentation without Knowledge

On By splendidpearlsIn ʿAqidah (Creed), Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Hadith (Prophetic traditions), Quran, Seeking Islamic Knowledge, Tasawwuf (Spirituality)Leave a comment

“Realise brothers that argumentation without knowledge causes the loss of much good and leads the ones arguing to invalidate a path from one of the paths of the sharī`ah. . . We have taken an oath that we would not open the door of argumentation without knowledge with anyone. Acting in that by the words of the Prophet, ‘No one argues about the religion except an infidel or an apostate in the religion.’

We qualified the blameworthiness of argumentation by our words, ‘without knowledge’ in order to exclude those who argue with knowledge about the religion of Allāh `azza wa jalla. For that type of argumentation is obligatory.

However, no servant attains the rank of knowledge and is called someone who can argue with knowledge except if he knows all of the paths of the sharī`ah. It says in the prophetic tradition, ‘Verily the sharī`ah came in three-hundred and thirteen paths. There is not a single path from among them which a servants takes except that by means of it his Lord will enter him into Paradise.’ this has been related by at-Tabrānī and others. For if a person knows all of these paths and he sees a path which contradicts these paths, then he has the right to argue concerning it. However, if he is ignorant of even a single path, then it is not possible for him to enter into dispute or perhaps he will invalidate by his arguments one of the paths of the sharī`ah; or perhaps he refuses to act by it and loses much good. As a result he becomes counted among those who reject the sharī`ah.”

[Excerpt taken from Shaykh ‘Uthmān ibn Fodio’s, Najm al-Ikhwān]

The Secrets of Surah al-Kahf

On By splendidpearlsIn Quran, Seeking Islamic Knowledge2 Comments

Suratul kahfEver wondered why Prophet Muhammad ﷺ asked us to recite Sūrah Al-Kahf (Chapter 18) every Friday?

Let’s find out today inshāAllāh…

Virtues of Sūrah al-Kahf:

Abdullāh Ibn ‘Umar said: “The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said:

‘Whoever reads Sūrah al-Kahf on the day of Jumu’ah (Friday), a light will shine for him from beneath his feet to the clouds of the sky, which will shine for him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will be forgiven (his sins) between the two Fridays.”
[al-Targheeb wa’l-Tarheeb, 1/298]

Imam ash-Shāfi’ī said in al-Umm 1.239:

“It has reached us that whoever recites Sūrah al-Kahf on Fridays will be protected from the Dajjāl (Anti-Christ).”

al-Hāfidh ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalānī said in Amāli:

“In some reports it says ‘the day of Jumu’ah (Friday)’ and in some reports it says ‘the night of Jumu’ah (Friday)’. They may be reconciled by saying that what is meant is the day which includes the night and vice versa.” (Fayd al-Qadeer, 6/199)

The stories in Sūrah al-Kahf:

  1. The People of The Cave
    This is the story of young believing men who lived in a disbelieving town, so they decided to migrate for the sake of Allāh. Allāh rewards them with mercy in the cave and protection from the sun. They go to sleep and wake up hundreds of years later and found the entire village as believers.
    Moral: Trial of Faith

  2. The Owner of Two Gardens
    This is a story of a man whom Allāh blessed with two beautiful gardens, but the man forgot to thank the One who blessed him with everything and he even dared to doubt Allāh regarding the afterlife. So his garden was destroyed – He regretted, but was too late and his regret did not benefit him.
    Moral: Trial of Wealth

  3. Prophet Mūsā (Moses) and Khidr, the righteous servant of Allāh
    This is a story of Prophet Mūsā (Moses) and Khidr, the righteous servant of Allāh (May peace be upon them both); when Prophet Mūsā (Moses) was asked, “Who’s the most knowledgeable of the people of earth?” He replied, “Me”. Allāh then revealed to him that there’s someone who knows more than him. Mūsā (Moses) then traveled to Khidr and learnt how the Divine Wisdom can sometimes be hidden in matters which we perceive as bad.
    Moral: Trial of Knowledge

  4. Dhul-Qarnayn
    The story of the Great King, Dhul Qarnayn, that was given knowledge and power; who explores the ends of the Earth, helping people and spreading all that’s good. He was able to overcome the problem of Ya’jūj-Ma’jūj (Gog and Magog) with the help of people (whom he could not understand) and builds a massive barrier by filling up the space between the two steep mountains-sides with iron and molten lead.
    Moral: Trial of Power

The relationship between Sūrah Al-Kahf and the Dajjāl (Anti-Christ):

The Dajjāl (Anti-Christ) will appear before the Day of Judgement with four trials:

  1. Trial of Faith: He will ask people to worship him and not Allāh.
  2. Trial of Wealth: He will be given powers to start/stop rain and tempt people with his wealth
  3. Trial of Knowledge: He will trial people with the “knowledge” and news he gives them.
  4. Trial of Power: He will explore and control the ends of the Earth.

How to survive these trials? The answer lies in Sūrah al-Kahf

  1. Good companionship
    “And keep thy soul content with those who call on their Lord morning and evening, seeking His Face; and let not thine eyes pass beyond them, seeking the pomp and glitter of this Life; no obey any whose heart We have permitted to neglect the remembrance of Us, one who follows his own desires, whose case has gone beyond all bounds.”     (Sūrah Al-Kahf, verse 28)
  2. Know the reality about the life of this world
    “Set forth to them the similitude of the life of this world: It is like the rain which we send down from the skies: the earth’s vegetation absorbs it, but soon it becomes dry stubble, which the winds do scatter: it is (only) Allah who prevails over all things” (Sūrah Al-Kahf, verse 45)
  3. Humility
    “Moses said: “Thou wilt find me, if Allah so will, (truly) patient: nor shall I disobey thee in aught.”” (Sūrah Al-Kahf, verse 69)
  4. Sincerity
    “Say: “I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me, that your god is one God. Whoever expects to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and, in the worship of his Lord, admit no one as partner.” (Sūrah Al- Kahf, verse 110)
  5. Calling to Allāh
    “And recite (and teach) what has been revealed to thee of the Book of thy Lord: none can change His Words, and none wilt thou find as a refuge other than Him.” (Sūrah Al-Kahf, verse 27)
  6. Remembering the Hereafter
    “One Day We shall remove the mountains, and thou wilt see the earth as a level stretch, and We shall gather them, all together, nor shall We leave out any one of them. And they will be marshalled before thy Lord in ranks, (with the announcement), “Now have ye come to Us (bare) as We created you first: aye, ye thought We shall not fulfil the appointment made to you to meet (Us)!”: And the Book (of Deeds) will be placed (before you); and thou wilt see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say, “Ah! woe to us! what a Book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great,but takes account thereof !” They will find all that they did, placed before them: And not one will thy Lord treat with injustice.” (Sūrah Al-Kahf, verses 47-49)

Make it a habit to recite and reflect upon this Sūrah every Friday.

Source: http://letssharestories.tumblr.com

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