46.The Faithful ask for and abide by Guidance
If someone asks, "Why does the believer ask Allah for
guidance during every prayer and at other times, while he is already properly
guided Has he not already acquired guidance''
The answer to these questions is that if it were not a fact
that the believer needs to keep asking for guidance day and night, Allah would
not have directed him to invoke Him to acquire the guidance. The servant needs
Allah the Exalted every hour of his life to help him remain firm on the path of
guidance and to make him even more firm and persistent on it. The servant does
not have the power to benefit or harm himself, except by Allah's permission.
Therefore, Allah directed the servant to invoke Him constantly, so that He
provides him with His aid and with firmness and success. Indeed, the happy
person is he whom Allah guides to ask of Him. This is especially the case if a
person urgently needs Allah's help day or night. Allah said,
﴿يَـأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ءَامِنُواْ بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ
وَالْكِتَـبِ الَّذِى نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ وَالْكِتَـبِ
الَّذِى أَنَزلَ مِن قَبْلُ﴾
(O you who believe! Believe in Allah, and His Messenger
(Muhammad ), and the Book (the Qur'an) which He has sent down to His Messenger,
and the Scripture which He sent down to those before (him)) (4:16).
Therefore, in this Ayah Allah commanded the believers to
believe, and this command is not redundant since what is sought here is
firmness and continuity of performing the deeds that help one remain on the
path of faith. Also, Allah commanded His believing servants to proclaim,
﴿رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا
وَهَبْ لَنَا مِن لَّدُنكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْوَهَّابُ ﴾
(Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after
You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower.)
(3:8). Hence,
﴿اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴾
(Guide us to the straight way) means, "Make us firm on
the path of guidance and do not allow us to deviate from it.''
﴿صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ غَيْرِ
الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّآلِّينَ ﴾
(7. The way of those upon whom You have bestowed Your grace,
not (that) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who went astray).
We mentioned the Hadith in which the servant proclaims,
﴿اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ ﴾
(Guide us to the straight way) and Allah says, "This is
for My servant, and My servant shall acquire what he asks for.'' Allah's
statement.
﴿صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾
(The way of those upon whom You have bestowed Your grace)
defines the path. `Those upon whom Allah has bestowed His grace' are those
mentioned in Surat An-Nisa' (chapter 4), when Allah said,
﴿وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ مَعَ
الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ
وَالشُّهَدَآءِ وَالصَّـلِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـئِكَ رَفِيقاً - ذلِكَ الْفَضْلُ
مِنَ اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ عَلِيماً ﴾
(And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad ), then
they will be in the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His grace, the
Prophets, the Siddiqin (the truly faithful), the martyrs, and the righteous.
And how excellent these companions are! Such is the bounty from Allah, and
Allah is sufficient to know) (4:69-70).
Allah's statement,
﴿غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّآلِّينَ﴾
(Not (the way) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those
who went astray) meaning guide us to the straight path, the path of those upon
whom you have bestowed Your grace, that is, the people of guidance, sincerity
and obedience to Allah and His Messengers. They are the people who adhere to
Allah's commandments and refrain from committing what He has prohibited. But,
help us to avoid the path of those whom Allah is angry with, whose intentions
are corrupt, who know the truth, yet deviate from it. Also, help us avoid the
path of those who were led astray, who lost the true knowledge and, as a
result, are wandering in misguidance, unable to find the correct path. Allah
asserted that the two paths He described here are both misguided when He
repeated the negation `not'. These two paths are the paths of the Christians
and Jews, a fact that the believer should beware of so that he avoids them. The
path of the believers is knowledge of the truth and abiding by it. In
comparison, the Jews abandoned practicing the religion, while the Christians
lost the true knowledge. This is why `anger' descended upon the Jews, while
being described as `led astray' is more appropriate of the Christians. Those
who know, but avoid implementing the truth, deserve the anger, unlike those who
are ignorant. The Christians want to seek the true knowledge, but are unable to
find it because they did not seek it from its proper resources.
This is why they were led astray. We should also mention
that both the Christians and the Jews have earned the anger and are led astray,
but the anger is one of the attributes more particular of the Jews. Allah said
about the Jews,
﴿مَن لَّعَنَهُ اللَّهُ وَغَضِبَ عَلَيْهِ﴾
(Those (Jews) who incurred the curse of Allah and His wrath)
(5:60).
The attribute that the Christians deserve most is that of
being led astray, just as Allah said about them,
﴿قَدْ ضَلُّواْ مِن قَبْلُ وَأَضَلُّواْ كَثِيراً وَضَلُّواْ عَن
سَوَآءِ السَّبِيلِ﴾
(Who went astray before and who misled many, and strayed
(themselves) from the right path) (5:77).
There are several Hadiths and reports from the Salaf on this
subject. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Adi bin Hatim said, "The horsemen of
the Messenger of Allah seized my paternal aunt and some other people. When they
brought them to the Messenger of Allah , they were made to stand in line before
him. My aunt said, `O Messenger of Allah! The supporter is far away, the
offspring have stopped coming and I am an old woman, unable to serve. Grant me
your favor, may Allah grant you His favor.' He said, `Who is your supporter'
She said, `Adi bin Hatim.' He said, `The one who ran away from Allah and His
Messenger' She said, `So, the Prophet freed me.' When the Prophet came back,
there was a man next to him, I think that he was `Ali, who said to her, `Ask
him for a means of transportation.' She asked the Prophet , and he ordered that
she be given an animal.
'' `Adi then said, "Later on, she came to me and said,
`He (Muhammad ) has done a favor that your father (who was a generous man)
would never have done. So and-so person came to him and he granted him his
favor, and so-and-so came to him and he granted him his favor.' So I went to
the Prophet and found that some women and children were gathering with him, so
close that I knew that he was not a king like Kisra (King of Persia) or Caesar.
He said, `O `Adi! What made you run away, so that La ilaha illallah is not
proclaimed Is there a deity worthy of worship except Allah What made you run
away, so that Allahu Akbar (Allah is the Greater) is not proclaimed Is there
anything Greater than Allah' I proclaimed my Islam and I saw his face radiate
with pleasure and he said:
«إِنَّ الْمَغْضُوبَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْيَهُودُ وَ إِنَّ
الضَّالِينَ النَّصَارَى»
(Those who have earned the anger are the Jews and those who
are led astray are the Christians.)''
This Hadith was also collected by At-Tirmidhi who said that
it is Hasan Gharib.
Also, when Zayd bin `Amr bin Nufayl went with some of his
friends - before Islam - to Ash-Sham seeking the true religion, the Jews said
to him, "You will not become a Jew unless you carry a share of the anger
of Allah that we have earned.'' He said, "I am seeking to escape Allah's
anger.'' Also, the Christians said to him, "If you become one of us you
will carry a share in Allah's discontent.'' He said, "I cannot bear it.''
So he remained in his pure nature and avoided worshipping the idols and the
polytheistic practices. He became neither a Jew, nor Christian. As for his
companions, they became Christians because they found it more pure than
Judaism. Waraqah bin Nawfal was among these people until Allah guided him by
the hand of His Prophet, when he was sent as Prophet, and Waraqah believed in
the revelation that was sent to the Prophet may Allah be pleased with him.
47.The Summary of Al-Fatihah
The honorable Surah Al-Fatihah contains seven Ayat including
the praise and thanks of Allah, glorifying Him and praising Him by mentioning
His most Beautiful Names and most high Attributes. It also mentions the
Hereafter, which is the Day of Resurrection, and directs Allah's servants to
ask of Him, invoking Him and declaring that all power and strength comes from
Him. It also calls to the sincerity of the worship of Allah alone, singling Him
out in His divinity, believing in His perfection, being free from the need of
any partners, having no rivals nor equals. Al-Fatihah directs the believers to
invoke Allah to guide them to the straight path, which is the true religion,
and to help them remain on that path in this life, and to pass over the actual
Sirat (bridge over hell that everyone must pass over) on the Day of Judgment.
On that Day, the believers will be directed to the gardens of comfort in the
company of the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs and the righteous.
Al-Fatihah also encourages performing good deeds, so that the believers will be
in the company of the good-doers on the Day of Resurrection. The Surah also
warns against following the paths of misguidance, so that one does not end up
being gathered with those who indulge in sin, on the Day of Resurrection,
including those who have earned the anger and those who were led astray.
48.The Bounties are because of Allah, not the Deviations
Allah said,
﴿صِرَاطَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾
(The way of those upon whom you have bestowed Your grace),
when He mentioned His favor. On mentioning anger, Allah said,
﴿غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ﴾
(Not (that) of those who earned Your anger), without
mentioning the subject, although it is He Who has sent down the anger on them,
just as Allah stated in another Ayah,
﴿أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ تَوَلَّوْاْ قَوْماً غَضِبَ
اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم﴾
(Have you (O Muhammad ) not seen those (hypocrites) who take
as friends a people upon whom is the wrath of Allah (i.e. Jews)) (58:14).
Also, Allah relates the misguidance of those who indulged in
it, although they were justly misguided according to Allah's appointed destiny.
For instance, Allah said,
﴿مَن يَهْدِ اللَّهُ فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ وَمَن يُضْلِلْ فَلَن
تَجِدَ لَهُ وَلِيًّا مُّرْشِدًا﴾
(He whom Allah guides, he is the rightly-guided; but he whom
He sends astray, for him you will find no Wali (guiding friend) to lead him (to
the right path)) (18:17)
and,
﴿مَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَلاَ هَادِيَ لَهُ وَيَذَرُهُمْ فِى
طُغْيَـنِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ ﴾
(Whomsoever Allah sends astray, none can guide him; and He
lets them wander blindly in their transgression) (7:186).
These and several other Ayat testify to the fact that Allah
alone is the One Who guides and misguides, contrary to the belief of the
Qadariyyah sect, who claimed that the servants choose and create their own
destiny. They rely on some unclear Ayat avoiding what is clear and contradicts
their desires. Theirs, is the method of the people who follow their lust,
desire and wickedness. An authentic Hadith narrated,
«إِذَا رَأَيْتُمُ الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَابَهَ مِنْهُ
فَأُولئِكَ الَّذِينَ سَمَّى اللهُ فَاحْذَرُوهُمْ»
(When you see those who follow what is not so clear in it
(the Qur'an), then they are those whom Allah has mentioned (refer to 3:7).
Hence, avoid them.)
The Prophet was referring to Allah's statement,
﴿فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ فى قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ
مَا تَشَـبَهَ مِنْهُ ابْتِغَآءَ الْفِتْنَةِ وَابْتِغَآءَ تَأْوِيلِهِ﴾
(So as for those in whose hearts there is a deviation (from
the truth) they follow that which is not entirely clear thereof, seeking
Al-Fitnah (polytheism and trials), and seeking for its hidden meanings)(3:7).
Verily, no innovator in the religion could ever rely on any
authentic evidence in the Qur'an that testifies to his innovation. The Qur'an
came to distinguish between truth and falsehood, and guidance and misguidance.
The Qur'an does not contain any discrepancies or contradictions, because it is
a revelation from the Most Wise, Worthy of all praise.
49.Saying Amin
It is recommended to say Amin after finishing the recitation
of Al-Fatihah. Amin means, "O Allah! Accept our invocation.'' The evidence
that saying Amin is recommended is contained in what Imams Ahmad, Abu Dawud and
At-Tirmidhi recorded, that Wa'il bin Hujr said, "I heard the Messenger of
Allah recite,
﴿غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّآلِّينَ﴾
(Not (that) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those who
went astray), and he said `Amin' extending it with his voice.''
Abu Dawud's narration added, "Raising his voice with
it.'' At-Tirmidhi then commented that this Hadith is Hasan and was also
narrated from `Ali and Ibn Mas`ud. Also, Abu Hurayrah narrated that whenever
the Messenger of Allah would recite,
﴿غَيْرِ الْمَغْضُوبِ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ الضَّآلِّينَ﴾
(Not (the way) of those who earned Your anger, nor of those
who went astray), He would say Amin until those who were behind him in the
first line could hear him.
Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah recorded this Hadith with the
addition, "Then the Masjid would shake because of (those behind the
Prophet ) reciting Amin.'' Also, Ad-Daraqutni recorded this Hadith and
commented that it is Hasan.
Further, Bilal narrated that he said, "O Messenger of
Allah! Do not finish saying Amin before I can join you.'' This was recorded by
Abu Dawud.
In addition, Abu Nasr Al-Qushayri narrated that Al-Hasan and
Ja`far As-Sadiq stressed the `m' in Amin.
Saying Amin is recommended for those who are not praying
(when reciting Al-Fatihah) and is strongly recommended for those who are
praying, whether alone or behind the Imam. The Two Sahihs recorded that the
Messenger of Allah said,
«إِذَا أَمَّنَ الْإِمَامُ فَأَمِّنُوا، فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ
وَافَقَ تَأْمِينُهُ تَأْمِينَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ
ذَنْبِهِ»
(When the Imam says, ' Amin', then say, 'Amin', because
whoever says, Amin' with the angels, his previous sins will be forgiven.)
Muslim recorded that the Messenger of Allah said,
«إِذَا قَالَ أَحَدُكُمْ فِي الصَّلَاةِ: آمِينَ،
وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ فِي السَّمَاءِ: آمِينَ، فَوَافَقَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَى
غُفِرَ لَهُ مَا تَقَدَّمَ مِنْ ذَنْبِهِ»
(When any of you says in the prayer, 'Amin ` and the angels
in heaven say, `Amin', in unison, his previous sins will be forgiven.)
It was said that the Hadith talks about both the angels and
the Muslims saying Amin at the same time. The Hadith also refers to when the
Amins said by the angels and the Muslims are equally sincere (thus bringing
about forgiveness).
Further, it is recorded in Sahih Muslim that Abu Musa
related to the Prophet that he said,
«إِذَا قَالَ يَعنِي الْإِمَامَ : وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ،
فَقُولُوا: آمِينَ، يُجِبْكُمُ اللهُ»
(When the Imam says, `Walad-dallin', say, `Amin' and Allah
will answer your invocation.)
In addition, At-Tirmidhi said that `Amin' means, "Do
not disappoint our hope'', while the majority of scholars said that it means.
"Answer our invocation.''
Also, in his Musnad, Imam Ahmad recorded that `A'ishah said
that when the Jews were mentioned to him, the Messenger of Allah said,
«إِنَّهُم لَنْ يَحْسُدُونَا عَلَى شَيْءٍ كَمَا يَحْسُدُونَا عَلَى
الْجُمُعَةِ الَّتِي هَدَانَا اللهُ لَهَا وَضَلُّوا عَنْهَا، وَعَلَى الْقِبْلَةِ
الَّتِي هَدَانَا اللهُ لَهَا وَضَلُّوا عَنْهَا وَعَلَى قَوْلِنَا خَلْفَ
الْإِمَامِ: آمِينَ»
(They will not envy us for anything more than they envy us
for Friday which we have been guided to, while they were led astray from it,
and for the Qiblah which we were guided to, while they were led astray from it,
and for our saying `Amin' behind the Imam.)
Also, Ibn Majah recorded this Hadith with the wording,
«مَا حَسَدَتْكُمُ الْيَهُودُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مَا حَسَدَتْكُمْ
عَلَى السَّلَامِ وَالتَّأْمِينِ»
(The Jews have never envied you more than for your saying
the Salam (Islamic greeting) and for saying Amin.) Further, it is recorded in Sahih Muslim that
Abu Musa related to the Prophet that he said,
«إِذَا قَالَ يَعنِي الْإِمَامَ : وَلَا الضَّالِّينَ،
فَقُولُوا: آمِينَ، يُجِبْكُمُ اللهُ»
(When the Imam says, `Walad-dallin', say, `Amin' and Allah
will answer your invocation.)
In addition, At-Tirmidhi said that `Amin' means, "Do
not disappoint our hope'', while the majority of scholars said that it means.
"Answer our invocation.''
Also, in his Musnad, Imam Ahmad recorded that `A'ishah said
that when the Jews were mentioned to him, the Messenger of Allah said,
«إِنَّهُم لَنْ يَحْسُدُونَا عَلَى شَيْءٍ كَمَا يَحْسُدُونَا عَلَى
الْجُمُعَةِ الَّتِي هَدَانَا اللهُ لَهَا وَضَلُّوا عَنْهَا، وَعَلَى الْقِبْلَةِ
الَّتِي هَدَانَا اللهُ لَهَا وَضَلُّوا عَنْهَا وَعَلَى قَوْلِنَا خَلْفَ
الْإِمَامِ: آمِينَ»
(They will not envy us for anything more than they envy us
for Friday which we have been guided to, while they were led astray from it,
and for the Qiblah which we were guided to, while they were led astray from it,
and for our saying `Amin' behind the Imam.)
Also, Ibn Majah recorded this Hadith with the wording,
«مَا حَسَدَتْكُمُ الْيَهُودُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ مَا حَسَدَتْكُمْ
عَلَى السَّلَامِ وَالتَّأْمِينِ»
(The Jews have never envied you more than for your saying
the Salam (Islamic greeting) and for saying Amin.)
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