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- Creed from the Quran and Sunnah
Some requisites for faith
Dear brother, this is lesson number 3 of the series The Islamic Aqidah. Today's topic is about the requisites for faith. If your faith is sound and right, this faith entails requisites. The first requisite is that you should adhere to this faith, so if anyone claims to be a believer but he does not apply the faith requisites, his faith is worthless.Dear brother, one of the faith requisites is to believe in everything sent from Allah to mankind, but this requirement needs to be explained. When you ponder over the universe and find out that it contains wisdom, science, mercy, experience, omnipotence and richness, this will lead you to believe that there is a Great Creator of this universe. This Great Creator has sent to His Messengers Divine Books, and since these books are from the Creator of the universe, the Creator of this universe is the One who sent the Quran:
﴾All praises and thanks be to Allah, Who (Alone) created the heavens and the earth﴿
﴾ All the praises and thanks be to Allah, Who has sent down to His slave (Muhammad PBUH) the Book (the Qur'an)﴿
When do you believe in everything mentioned in the Quran? You believe in everything when you believe that there is a Creator of the universe, and when you believe that the Quran is His Words. After that you will believe everything He says.
Important point:
Dear brother, giving evidence from the Quran to someone who does not yet believe in Allah and the Quran is a wrong approach in your Da'wah (calling people to Allah). You should lead him to believing in Allah through this universe, and after having the faith meant by Allah the Almighty, you can tell him that one of his faith requisites is to believe beyond doubt that Allah never leaves His creations without a Book of His Divine Method which will tell them why they were created, and what He wants from them. After you believe that Allah exists, that He is the One and the Only Deity, that He is Perfect, that He is the Educator and that He is the Manager of All affairs, after you believe in His Beautiful Names and Exalted Attributes and after you believe that He sent the Messenger and His Divine Books and that the Quran in your hands is His Words, and its inimitability proves that it is the same Quran that was revealed to Muhammad PBUH, you will believe in whatever is mentioned in this Quran, and you will believe in whatever is clarified by the Prophet PBUH. Therefore, believing in everything mentioned in the Quran should be preceded by many stages among which are pondering over the universe and realizing its greatness, realizing the Greatness of its Creator, knowing the inimitability of the Quran and finally believing in everything that is mentioned in it and everything that is said by the Prophet PBUH which is considered the final stage of so many preceding stages.
If you do not belong to the people of the truth, you belong to the people of falsehood:
Dear brother, there is truth and falsehood on earth, and we can call these two opposite concepts "binary oppositions" which include the truth and falsehood, good and evil, obedience and disobedience and believing and disbelieving. The subtle fact, derived from these opposits is that if you are not with the people of truth, then definitely you are with the people of falsehood, and if you do not follow Allah's Path, then you follow your desires:﴾ But if they answer you not (i.e. do not believe in your doctrine of Islamic Monotheism, nor follow you), then know that they only follow their own lusts.﴿
If you are not on this path then you are on the opposite one, because it is either falsehood or truth and there is no third path. Following the path of truth is like driving on the road, whereas following falsehood is like falling into the valleys on the left and the right sides of the road.
﴾ But if they answer you not (i.e. do not believe in your doctrine of Islamic Monotheism, nor follow you), then know that they only follow their own lusts.﴿
It is either the truth or falsehood.
﴾Then in which speech after Allah and His Ayat will they believe?﴿
There are no other options, but these two; if man does not follow the truth, then he follows his desires, if he is not with the people of the truth then he is with the people of falsehood and if he does not follow the Noble Quran, then he follows his lusts.
Ponder over this fact:
﴾ Then what (or who) causes you (O disbelievers) to deny the Recompense (i.e. Day of Resurrection)? Is not Allah the Best of judges? ﴿
Allah said in Qudsi Hadith:
((The son of Adam reviles Me and he has no right to do so, and he belies Me and he has no right to do so. As for Him reviling me then it is his statement that I have a son. As for his denying Me, it is his saying that I will not remake him as I made him at the first [initial] time.))
Some of faith requisites:
1- Believing in everything mentioned in Quran and Sunnah
Believing in what is mentioned in the Quran and in the Sunnah is one of the requisites and necessities of the sound faith. Therefore:﴾ The Day whereon neither wealth nor sons will avail* Except him who brings to Allah a clean heart [clean from Shirk (polytheism) and Nifaq (hypocrisy)].﴿
Al-Qalb As-Saleem (The clean heart) is the heart which rejects any piece of information which contradicts the Divine Revelation. You might think that this is easy to achieve, but let me tell you that the mere disbelieving in anything mentioned in the Quran or in the authenticated Sunnah is considered Kufr (disbelieving). Unless you believe that everything in the Quran is the absolute truth, and that everything mentioned in the authentically reported Sunnah is the absolute truth, your faith is not sound, and it is considered Kufr, but it is not apparent.. A man might unintentionally say to you, "I am not convinced with this matter", but this is something mentioned in an Ayah in the Quran or in an authenticated Hadith, thus saying so about something in the Quran or in Sunnah is a sort of Kufr.
As I said earlier: First you should believe in Allah through the constant evidence (of His Existence) which is the universe. The universe manifests Allah's Beautiful Names and Exalted Attributes, so when you believe in Allah by following that path, this will lead you to believe that the Quran is His Words because of its inimitability, and this will lead you also to believe that this miraculous Quran is the same Quran which has been revealed to Muhammad PBUH who conveyed it to us. After all that you should believe in everything mentioned in the Quran or in the authenticated Sunnah, and this is the first requisite of the sound faith.
2- Obeying Allah and His Messenger:
The second requisite of the sound faith is to obey Allah the Almighty and to obey His Messenger PBUH. It is rather bewildering to the mind that someone knows Allah and does not love Him, or someone loves Allah and does not obey Him. You disobey Allah pretending that you love Him
How awful such a claim
If you truly love Him, you will obey Him
As the lover obey his beloved
Hence, he is not considered a worshiper whoever obeys Allah but does not love Him, or whoever loves Allah but does not obey Him since worship is a voluntary act of obedience which is mixed with a full heartedly love (towards Allah).
This is the Fitrah of the human being:
Dear brother, every soul on earth longs for safety, happiness, success, superiority, prosperity and distinctiveness. This is the Fitrah of man which urges him to seek perfection (of course according to each one's own perceptive). Allah the Almighty says:﴾And whoso obeys Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad PBUH), then they will be in the company of those on whom Allah has bestowed His Grace, of the Prophets, the Siddiqun (those followers of the Prophets who were first and foremost to believe in them, like Abu Bakr As-Siddiq, the martyrs, and the righteous. And how excellent these companions are!﴿
Some Ayat where faith and offering good deeds are closely connected:
The greatest gain is to obey Allah the Almighty, and without obedience man's faith is meaningless. Believing in Allah and offering good deeds are mentioned inseparably in 200 Ayat in the Quran:﴾ those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds﴿
﴾ Verily, those who say: "Our Lord is Allah (Alone)," and then they Istaqamu﴿
Obeying Allah correlates with faith, and offering good deeds correlates with calling to Allah.
﴾ Verily, those who say: "Our Lord is Allah (Alone)," and then they Istaqamu﴿
﴾ And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."﴿
This is why Allah linked His Bestowal with man's striving.
﴾And whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it, with the necessary effort due for it (i.e. do righteous deeds of Allah's Obedience)﴿
﴾So whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let him work righteousness and associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord." ﴿
The Muslim should be an active person, so if he is a passive man who stays at home, does nothing, offers nothing to sh3er, falls short in offering his duties, watches the news only and passes judgments, then he is not a true believer, for believing is evaluated according to the Muslim's deeds.
What does the following Hadith mean?
((Narrated Abu Hurairah: Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said, "All my followers will enter Paradise except those who refuse." They said, "O Allah's Messenger (PBUH)! Who will refuse?" He said, "Whoever obeys me will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me is the one who refuses (to enter it)."))
This means that when you disobey Allah the Almighty, it is as if you are rejecting Paradise, but when you obey Allah the Almighty, it is as if you are paying the price for Paradise. Hence, the second requisite of the sound faith is obedience (to Allah).The Satanic faith:
I am obliged to say to you that there is the Satanic kind of faith, for Satan said to Allah:﴾ By Your Might﴿
This indicates that Satan believes in Allah as a Lord and as a Deity with Might. Satan also said:
﴾ [Iblis (Satan)] said: "O my Lord! Give me then respite till the Day they (the dead) will be resurrected."﴿
This indicates that Satan believes in the Hereafter. Satan said:
﴾You created me from fire﴿
This indicates that Satan believes in Allah as a Creator, but his deadly mistake is that he disobeys Allah haughtily. Accordingly, whoever believes in Allah but does not obey Him, his faith is like Satan's faith. Therefore, obedience (to Allah) is a requisite of having sound faith, given your value in the Sight of Allah accords with your obedience to Him:
﴾ Verily, the most honourable of you with Allah is that (believer) who has At-Taqwa [i.e. one of the Muttaqun (pious)].﴿
Allah will not raise your fame unless you obey Him
Our master Sa'd, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of the most favorite companions and for that reason, the Prophet (PBUH) paid Sa'd a great compliment by saying, "Here is my uncle, Sa'd. If anyone has an uncle like him, then he should show me." Sa'd is the only companion to whom the Prophet PBUH said:(("Throw (the arrows) Sa'd! Let my parents sacrifice their lives for you."))
Abdullah bin Shaddad reported that he heard 'Ali saying, "Allah's Messenger (PBUH) did not gather his parents except in case of Sa'd bin Malik that he said to him on the Day of Uhud, 'Shoot an arrow, may my father and mother be taken as ransom for you'." Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said to this very companion, "Sa'd, do not be dazzled by being the uncle of the Prophet PBUH, as people are equal in the Sight of Allah, and no ancestry is to be taken into account save their obedience to Him." Only your obedience will exalt you in the Sight of Allah.Dear brother, bombastic Islamic mottoes will not reflect the sound faith. Some storeowners hang on their wall the name of Allah, and other Ayat of the Quran like:
﴾Verily, We have given you (O Muhammad PBUH) a manifest victory.﴿
Other merchants hang mottoes such as, "Allah is the Razzaq (Who gives provision) and I am His slave". Even if you hang thousand Islamic quotes, cover your store's walls with Ayat of the Quran or hang a copy of the Quran on your car mirror, these things only reflect that you are a Muslim, but the minute you feast your eyes on women's beauty (for example) all these Islamic appearances will do you no good. Hence, obedience is a requisite for sound faith. Allah says:
﴾ And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger he has indeed achieved a great achievement (i.e. he will be saved from the Hell-fire and made to enter Paradise).﴿
Al-Wali (pious righteous man) is not the one who is able to walk on the surface of water or fly in the air, but the Wali is the one who obeys Allah's Orders and abstains from violating Allah's Prohibitions, and he is the one who acts upon Allah's Order and refrain from Allah's Prohibitions.
3- Offering Fara'ed (religious duties and acts of worship):
Offering Fara'ed is one of the requisites of sound faith. The heart, which is full of faith, urges its holder through certain signals to offer good deeds and to strive in offering the Fara'ed, while the one who claims that his heart is full of faith, but he does not offer Fara'ed, is deceived by Satan. Reported in Sahih Al-Bukhari, An-Nu'man bin Bashir narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said:((The lawful is clear and the unlawful is clear, and between that are matters that are doubtful (not clear); many of the people do not know whether it is lawful or unlawful. So whoever leaves it to protect his religion and his honor, then he will be safe, and whoever falls into something from them, then he soon will have fallen into the unlawful. Just like if someone grazes (his animals) around a sanctuary, he would soon wind up in it. Indeed for every king is a sanctuary (pasture), and indeed Allah's sanctuary is what He made unlawful.))
Allah has never been worshiped on earth by any means better than offering Fara'ed.
What do these As7adeth indicate?
Abu Ad-Darda' reported the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) as saying:
((There are five things, if anyone observes them with faith, he will enter Paradise. He who prays the five times prayer regularly, with the ablution for them, with their bowing, with their prostration and their (right) times; keeps fast during Ramadan; performs Hajj (pilgrimage) to the House (Ka'bah), provided he has the ability for its passage; pays Zakat happily; and fulfills the trust (he will enter Paradise). People said: Abu al-Darda', what is fulfilling the trust? He replied: Washing because of sexual defilement.))
Offering these five Fara'ed leads man to Paradise. Hence, offering Fara'ed is a requisite for having sound faith.
((Salah (prayer) is the pillar of this religion, whoever performs it, establishes for this religion, and whoever leaves it demolishes this religion))
((Between a man and disbelief and paganism is the abandonment of Salat (prayer). Whoever abandoned Salat is a disbeliever.))
((Salat is the foremost among the acts of worship, and it is the believer's journey to the Lord of the heavens and the earth))
Salat is the repeated act of worship which should never be waived under any condition.
4- Following Divine Orders and abstaining from Divine Prohibitions:
Following Divine Orders and abstaining from Divine Prohibitions is a requisite of sound faith. Man's faith is not complete unless he abstains from the Divine Prohibitions, follows the Divine Obligations and applies the authenticated Sunnah. The well-known Fara'ed are Salah, Sawm, Zakat and Hajj. The obligations are every Prophetic order which is mentioned in Sunnah, and the proof is the following Ayah where Allah, Sublime and Exalted be He, says:﴾And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad PBUH) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it), and fear Allah. Verily, Allah is Severe in punishment.﴿
((Reported in Saheehain, Narrated Abu Aiyub Al-Ansari: A man said, "O Allah's Messenger (PBUH)! Inform me of a deed which will make me enter Paradise." The people said, "What is the matter with him? What is the matter with him?" Allah's Messenger (PBUH) said, "He has something to ask (what he needs greatly)." The Prophet (PBUH) said (to him), (In order to enter Paradise) you should worship Allah and join none in worship with Him: You should offer prayers perfectly, give obligatory charity (Zakat), and keep good relations with your Kith and kin."))
The Noble Prophet PBUH ordered us to strengthen kin ties as strengthening them is considered an obligation. Also, the Prophet PBUH ordered us to visit the patient, so visiting the sick person is an obligation. Furthermore, the Prophet PBUH ordered us to accept the invitation of other people and so forth. Thus, every order in Sunnah entails obligation. I would like to repeat that the requisites of having sound faith as a believer are the following: To believe in whatever is mentioned in the Quran and in the authenticated Sunnah, to obey Allah in the widest sense of the word after believing in Him, to offer Fara'ed and to offer the Prophetic obligations which are mentioned in the authenticated Sunnah by following the Prophetic orders and abstaining from the Prophetic prohibitions.
An example of how man can manipulate Allah's Shar'ah:
The Prophet PBUH cursed the one who eats usury, the one who authorizes it, the one who witnesses it and the one who writes it down. The Prophet PBUH cursed the female or the male who gets tattoos on their skin and the ones who draw it on sh3er' skin, and the Prophet PBUH cursed the one who prevents Sadaqah. Moreover, the Prophet PBUH cursed the Muhallel and the Muhallal Lahu (when man divorces his wife three times, it is called Binoonah Kubra [irrevocable], because after divorcing the wife three times, she cannot get back to her husband any more unless she is married to another man according to Shari'ah rulings and then get her divorce from him according to Shari'ah rulings as well. Only then she can go back and marry her ex-husband, but some men abuses Shari'ah rulings in such cases and bring a man [who is called the borrowed mule "Al-Jahsh Al-Musta'ar"] to marry the ex-wife for one night only and divorce her in the morning, so that he can get married to her again. This action is cursed by the Prophet PBUH, because it abuses Shari'ah rulings.This is one of the ways of abusing religion and people follow thousands of ways even after knowing the sound Shari'ah rulings. For example, a man who wants to live with a woman who is not his wife (such as his brother's wife) tries to make staying with her alone at home legitimate, so they bring a neighbor's little daughter, and this woman breastfeeds her. In this case the infant becomes her daughter in Rada'a, and the man marries the infant girl with a sound marriage contract, so that he can stay at home with his mother in law. After a while he divorces the infant girl, but he keeps treating the woman who uses to be his mother in law as if she is still Mahram ((a woman he is forbidden from marrying), and so he stays living with her under one roof forever. This is abusing religion and ridiculing the Shari'ah rulings. Lots of similar situations are taking place.
Another example of manipulating religion is the Misyar marriage which contains some controversial points. Some scholars support their opinion by referring to the incident when the Prophet PBUH got the permission of one of his wives, prior his death, to give Aishah her night so that Aishah could take good care of him. Based on that incident scholars approved that the wife of Misyar marriage can give up her rights in allowance, conjugal home and fairness. Accordingly, someone who uses to travel to Cairo once every year to do some work can get married to a woman there, but she is not entitled to ask him for allowance, marriage rights or conjugal home. As I see it, this is a sort of manipulating Allah's Religion and violating the Shari'ah rulings on marriage.
Some people give a poor man a loaf of bread in which they put 5000 Liras, and then the man says to the poor, "May you sell it to me for 25 Liras?". The poor man gives it to him and takes the 25 Liras, and by this way the man who is supposed to pay Zakat gets his Zakat money back. These are but tricks which indicate the foolishness of people and prove how far they are from Allah the Almighty. I am not saying that these matters are prevailing nowadays, but they used to happen. Someone played a trick on religion when he refused to go to Friday prayer, so he put a clove of garlic in his mouth, and he depended on the Hadith which goes as follows:
((Whoever eats (from) this plant (he meant garlic) should keep away from our mosque.))
This is a clear abuse towards Islam as a religion.
5- Hasting to repentance:
The true believer, as described by the Prophet PBUH, hastens to repent if he sins. The Prophet PBUH said:((All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who repent.))
Allah also says:
﴾ And those who, when they have committed Fahishah (illegal sexual intercourse etc.) or wronged themselves with evil, remember Allah and ask forgiveness for their sins; - and none can forgive sins but Allah - And do not persist in what (wrong) they have done, while they know.﴿
Therefore, the believer hastens to repent, and he repeatedly repents. Hastening to repentance means that the believer never lets a sin last for a long time, so he repents as soon as he sins. The believer repents immediately after he sins, and if he forgets but then reminded of his sin, he will hasten to repent. Therefore, hastening to repentance is a requisite for sound faith.
((Narrated Abu Bakr as-Siddiq: Asma' bint al-Hakam said: I heard Ali say: I was a man; when I heard a tradition from the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), Allah benefited me with it as much as He willed. But when some one of his companions narrated a tradition to me I adjured him. When he took an oath, I testified him.))
((Abu Bakr narrated to me a tradition, and Abu Bakr narrated truthfully. He said: I heard the apostle of Allah (PBUH) saying: When a servant (of Allah) commits a sin, and he performs ablution well, and then stands and prays two rak'ahs, and asks pardon of Allah, Allah pardons him. He then reauthord this verse: "And those who, when they commit indecency or wrong their souls, remember Allah" (Al-Qur'an 3:135).))
6- Enjoining Ma'ruf (goodness) and preventing Munkar (evil-doing):
Let me repeat the requisites of having sound faith as a believer: To believe in whatever is mentioned in the Quran and in the authenticated Sunnah, to obey Allah in its widest sense after believing, to offer Fara'ed and to offer the Prophetic obligations which are mentioned in the authenticated Sunnah by following the Prophetic orders and abstaining from the Prophetic prohibitions. The sixth Fard is enjoining Ma'ruf and forbidding Munkar. As you know authorities in every country are the legislative power, the executive power and the juridical power, but they recently have added a forth power which is media because of its importance in public life.Much in the same line, we can consider enjoining Ma'ruf and forbidding Munkar the sixth Fard, better yet, it is the reason of the superiority of this Ummah (the Islamic nation). Keep in mind that the minute we, Muslims, abandon this sixth Fard, and when we stop enjoining Ma'ruf and forbidding Munkar, we will lose our superiority as an Ummah, and we will become a nation like any other nation created by Allah. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾The believers, men and women, are Auliya' (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another, they enjoin (on the people) Al-Ma'ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden);﴿
What does Ma'ruf mean?What is Ma'ruf? Ma'ruf in its precise meaning is whatever known by sound pure Fitrah without any education. Ma'ruf is to be a good husband, an honest seller, and a good crafter, and it is to be an honest man who does not tell lies if he talks, who is trustworthy if he is entrusted and who is chaste if his desires are inauthord. This is the definition of Ma'ruf, so it is the matters with which the pure sound Fitrah is familiar. Allah says:
﴾ And by Nafs (Adam or a person or a soul, etc.), and Him Who perfected him in proportion* Then He showed him what is wrong for him and what is right for him;﴿
Man's pure ownself knows goodness and evil by Fitrah. The pure ownself knows when it does something right and when it does something wrong.
Some scholars said, "Enjoining Ma'ruf is calling people to abandon Shirk and embrace Islam, whereas forbidding Munkar is to forbid people from worshiping idols." Of course this definition is very limited. Whatever draws you closer to Allah is Ma'ruf and whatever drives you away from Allah is Munkar. Besides, whatever the sound pure Fitrah approves is Ma'ruf, and whatever it condemns is Munkar.
Pay attention to the following Hadith:
(("How will it be for you when you stop enjoining Al-Ma'ruf and forbidding Al-Munkar?" The companions asked inquisitively, "Will it happen, O Messenger of Allah?" The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, "Yes, and worse than that is going to happen." The companions asked again, "What can be worse than that, O Messenger of Allah." The Messenger, peace be upon him, replied, "How will it be for you when you enjoin Al-Munkar and forbid Al-Ma'ruf." The companions asked, "Will it happen, O Messenger of Allah?" The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "Yes, but worse than that." The companions asked, "What is worse than that, O Messenger of Allah?" The Messenger, peace be upon him, said, "How will it be for you when you perceive Al-Ma'ruf as Munkar and Al-Munkar as Ma'ruf?"))
This took place already, for we live in the era when Ma'ruf is almost considered Munkar and Munkar is considered Ma'ruf.
((It is narrated on the authority of Tariq bin Shihab: It was Marwan who initiated (the practice) of delivering khutbah (address) before the prayer on the 'Id day. A man stood up and said: Prayer should precede khutbah. He (Marwan) remarked, "This (practice) has been done away with." Upon this Abu Sa'id remarked: This man has performed (his duty) laid on him. I heard the Messenger of Allah as saying: He who amongst you sees something abominable should modify it with the help of his hand; and if he has not strength enough to do it, then he should do it with his tongue, and if he has not strength enough to do it, (even) then he should (abhor it) from his heart, and that is the least of faith.))
If you do not resist Munkar with your hand, tongue or heart, then be sure that there is no faith in your heart not even as much as the weight of a mustard seed. In another narration the Hadith goes as follows:
((…and beyond that there is no faith even to the extent of a mustard seed.))
The Quranic proof is the following:
﴾ By Al-'Asr (the time)* Verily! Man is in loss* Except those who believe (in Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth (i.e. order one another to perform all kinds of good deeds (Al-Ma'ruf)which Allah has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds (Al-Munkar)which Allah has forbidden), and recommend one another to patience (for the sufferings, harms, and injuries which one may encounter in Allah's Cause during preaching His religion of Islamic Monotheism or Jihad, etc.). ﴿
Recommending one another to the truth makes quarter of man's salvation. Do you want to hear the Hadith which tells us why Muslims' condition is so bad nowadays? This Hadith is in Musnad Al-Imam Ahmad:
((Hudhaifah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (PBUH) said, "By Him in Whose Hand my life is, you either enjoin good and forbid evil, or Allah will certainly soon send His punishment to you. Then you will make supplication and it will not be accepted".))
Did Allah not answer the Du'a of Muslims who kept making Du'a in the five prayers for 20 days in all Masajid before the war against Iraq?
7- Da'wah (Calling to Allah):
Calling to Allah is a requisite for sound faith. The proof in the Quran is as follows:﴾ Say (O Muhammad PBUH): "This is my way; I invite unto Allah (i.e. to the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge, I and whosoever follows me (also must invite sh3er to Allah i.e to the Oneness of Allah - Islamic Monotheism) with sure knowledge. And Glorified and Exalted be Allah (above all that they associate as partners with Him). And I am not of the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah; those who worship sh3er along with Allah or set up rivals or partners to Allah)."﴿
Unless you invite to Allah with sure knowledge, you are not following the Prophet PBUH. Allah says:
﴾ And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."﴿
This means that there is no man better than the one who:
﴾ who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."﴿
Out of Allah's Bounty to mankind, He will reward whoever calls to Him as mentioned in the following Hadith:
((Abu Hurairah reported the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) as saying: If anyone summons other to follow right guidance, his reward will be equivalent to that of the people who follow him, without their rewards being diminished in any respect on that account; and if anyone summons sh3er to follow error the sin of which sins being diminished in any respect on that account.))
What is te profitable commerce according to the Noble Quran:
If Allah bestows upon you the blessing of guiding someone to His Path, or makes you the reason why someone turns back to Allah, you should know that all his good deeds till the Day of Resurrection will be in your record. If the guided man gets married to a pious wife, has children whom he raises according to Islamic teachings, and his children get married all his deeds, his family's deeds and his offspring's deeds till the Day of Resurrection will be in your record, because you are the reason of all that goodness. Hence, no deed ever is better than being the reason of guiding someone to Allah. Allah says:﴾ and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind.﴿
﴾ O You who believe! Shall I guide you to a commerce that will save you from a painful torment* That you believe in Allah and His Messenger (Muhammad PBUH), and that you strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with your wealth and your lives, that will be better for you, if you but know!﴿
Guiding someone to Allah's Path is the best commerce. In commerce people consider profits as much as 20 % a very good trading comparing to other commerce which gives only 3, 5, 7, or 9 % tops, but as for the commerce of guiding someone to the Path of Allah, its profits are one billion %. It is so profitable to such an extent that even the bite a man puts in his wife's mouth will be as high as Mount Uhud (a mountain of good deeds) on the Day of Resurrection.
One should know the following truth:
The Noble Prophet passed by a grave then said:((The buried person of this grave considers a simple prayer that you scorn and belittle of value is worth your whole worldly life.))
A company in Japan has 40. 000 workers, but its profits are as much as the national income (GDP) of a country whose population is 50 millions. The national income is the net gross domestic product of a country, and the budgets of such giant companies are more than the budgets of a group of countries. I would like to repeat the Hadith: The Prophet PBUH said:
((The buried person of this grave considers a simple prayer that you scorn and belittle of value is worth your whole worldly life.))
One should make use of the following goodness:
((The Prophet PBUH said to Ali, "By Allah, if Allah guides even one person through you that is better for you than possessing a whole lot of red camels"))
How much would the wealth of the man who owns the oil wells of the entire five continents? Every well gives 3 million barrels daily and every barrel is sold for $ 28. However, no matter how rich this man is, he is not richer than the one who manages to guide someone to the Path of Allah.
((The Prophet PBUH said to Ali, "By Allah, if Allah guides even one person through you that is better for you than possessing a whole lot of red camels"))
In another narration, the Hadith goes as follows:
((…is better for you than the worldly life and what is in it.))
Guiding another person to the Path of Allah is better than possessing a whole lot of the best camels. Persuading someone to become upright and to attend the religious session on Sunday or the one on Friday in the Masjid is a very exalted deed. Persuading a woman to wear Hijab or convincing someone to offer prayers is the best trading ever, because it is the craft of Prophets (i.e. calling to Allah).
It bewilders me to see a man who never thinks of guiding people to Allah, given when a pot is full of something it should spill out. Therefore, I do not believe that whose faith is true never thinks of guiding people to the Right Path.
A man I know is illiterate and is not eloquent enough to talk to sh3er about religious matters, but he said to me, "I bought 100 cassettes of religious sessions and I lent them to my relatives. One year later, half of them started attending religious sessions in the Masjid." This man guided those people to the Right Path without even saying one word; he finds himself a way to convey Islamic knowledge to them (through lending them the cassettes).
8- Allying with believers and renouncing Kuffar (disbelievers):
Allying with believers and renouncing Kuffar is a requisite for sound faith. Allegiance means offering Muslims love, affection, support and help. Allying with the believers and renouncing Kuffar is one of the requisites for having sound faith. On the other hand, allying with Kuffar nullifies your faith, helping Kuffar against Muslims makes you a criminal, and helping Kuffar in killing Muslims puts you in the lowest levels of Hellfire. I repeat, allying with believers and renouncing Kuffar are a requisite for sound faith.﴾ Verily, your Wali (Protector or Helper) is Allah, His Messenger, and the believers, - those who perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat), and give Zakat, and they bow down (submit themselves with obedience to Allah in prayer)* And whosoever takes Allah, His Messenger, and those who have believed, as Protectors, then the party of Allah will be the victorious.﴿
Allegiance means offering Muslims love, affection, support and help, it means to hope that they become victorious and it means to be concerned about their worries. All these are requisites for sound faith. Renouncing Kuffar and sinners, hating their deeds and avoid befriending them are also requisites for sound faith. On the other hand, loving Kuffar and hating believers nullify one's faith, taking the side of Kuffar while letting believers down is a major sin, but helping Kuffar in killing believers is a major crime. Hence, allying with believers even if they are weak and poor, and renouncing Kuffar even if they are strong and rich are one of the requisites for sound faith. Allah says:
﴾ The believers, men and women, are Auliya' (helpers, supporters, friends, protectors) of one another, they enjoin (on the people) Al-Ma'ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam orders one to do), and forbid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. polytheism and disbelief of all kinds, and all that Islam has forbidden); they perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give the Zakat, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah will have His Mercy on them. Surely Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.﴿
Allah likes to see Muslims support one another, cooperate with one another, communicate with each other, visit one another, offer advice to one another and to favors to one another, and these things make Allah love us. As for renouncing Kuffar, the following Ayah indicates this point:
﴾ Indeed there has been an excellent example for you in Ibrahim (Abraham) and those with him, when they said to their people: "Verily, we are free from you and whatever you worship besides Allah, we have rejected you, and there has started between us and you, hostility and hatred for ever, until you believe in Allah Alone,"﴿
The summary:
Among the requisites for sound faith are the following: 1- Believing in everything mentioned in the Noble Quran and authenticated Sunnah.
2- Obeying Allah and His Messenger PBUH.
3- Offering Fara'ed.
4- Offering duties.
5- Enjoining Ma'ruf and forbidding Munkar.
6- Calling sh3er to the Path of Allah.
7- Allying with believers and renouncing Kuffar and Mushrikeen.
Whoever skips any of these requisites will be neglected by Allah, and whoever does the opposite of the aforementioned requisites nullifies faith in his heart.
Conclusion:
Dear brother, Aqidah is the most crucial part of religion, because if is it sound then man's deeds are right, but if it is corrupted, man's deeds will be wrong. Aqidah is like a scale which cannot be fixed if it has a flaw, whereas the details of Shari'ah are like weights, which can be corrected if they are wrong. Not to mention the incorrect weights are never repeated. This means, if someone has doubts, if he follows innovations or if he is a prey of a corrupted doctrine, he should turn to Allah with repentance. Repentance from sins is much easier, because the behavioral errors are easy to correct (by repenting) but repenting from a corrupted Aqidah – I seek refuge with Allah from that- is very hard, because the one who believes in a corrupted doctrine he mistakenly thinks beyond doubt that he is right and the sh3er are wrong.
