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Praise be to Allah, the Lord of Creations, and Peace and blessings be upon our prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest.
Oh, Allah, we know nothing but what You teach us. You are the All- Knower, the Wise. Oh Allah, teach us what is good for us, and benefit us from what You taught us, and increase our knowledge. Show us the righteous things as righteous and help us to do them, and show us the bad things as bad and help us to keep away from them.
O Allah our Lord, lead us out from the depths of darkness and illusion, unto the lights of erudition and knowledge, and from the muddy shallows of lusts unto the heavens of Your Vicinity.
First sermon:
Undoubtedly, man’s personality comprises several different aspects: material, intellectual, mental, psychological, emotional and social, among others. And the aspect we are going to tackle in this article is: the social aspect in man and its relationship with Islam, Allah’s Religion which He, Most Gracious, chose for His subjects and by which He completed His Divine Messages and confirmed its domination over all other religions.
Among the basic needs of man is to love and to be loved, to be respected by others, sociability; and security. This is because man needs help, power and support from other fellow humans. He also needs their knowledge, experience, achievements, among many other things that man cannot achieve except with other fellow humans. All such needs create in man an inclination to affiliate himself with a certain group or community that guarantees fulfillment of his needs whether physical, psychological or intellectual.
Side by side with such social inclination in man there exists individualism and selfishness incited by man’s instincts and personal interests. And when man’s social inclination clashes with his personal interests, and unless he is sincerely committed to his Lord’s Guidance and Religion, he is apt to prefer his personal interests to social values, a phenomenon usually found in materialistic communities.
Such is man before he gets to know his Lord, Allah, Most Gracious, before he receives mental enlightenment and spiritual purification and enhancement, and before his work is rectified and set aright. But when Islam enhanced the social inclination in man and incited him to stick to altruism and shun individuality and selfishness, it strove to enhance such social inclination and elevate it at all its stages and levels. In other words, Islam made social inclination in man based on his worship of Allah and pursuit of His Good Pleasure and Generous Recompense. This is achieved by providing other fellow humans with service and help and not by fulfilling one’s individual needs and interests. Islam also caused man’s social activities to run through pure clean channels, determined by Allah’s Religion, that guarantee safety and security of both man and society respectively. Therefore, according to the teachings of Islam, most of the great human achievements and moral values are attainable only through altruism and teamwork, and most of the evil deeds and immortalities stem from individualism and selfishness. However, in a society where corruption prevails and morality is non-existent, then Muslims are strongly bidden to shun these evil communities
The above-mentioned are some of the Islamic social rules and principles; and the following are the Quranic and Prophetic texts on which such rules and principles are based:
Narrated At-Tirmithi on authority of Omar Al-Khattab: The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH) said:
“Stick to the (Muslim) group and beware of individualism, for Satan is with the one, but he is more distant from the two. And whosoever seeks the Bliss of Paradise has to stick to the (Muslim) group.”
The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), also describes the true believer as being “Ma’laf”, [amiable, i.e. good-tempered and kind-hearted]. To this effect, narrated Imam Ahmad on authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him: The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), said:
“A (true) believer is someone who is ‘Ma’laf’ [amiable, i.e. good-tempered and kind-hearted]; and there is no good in someone who neither likes others nor is liked by them.”
In order to strengthen unity of a Muslim community the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), assimilates true believers to a firmly constructed building the parts thereof strengthen one another.
To this effect, narrated Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their books of Hadith on authority of Abu Mousa Al-Ash’ari that the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), said:
“A (true) believer to another believer is like a firmly constructed building the parts thereof strengthen one another.”
And he (PBUH) elaborated the meaning of unity among believers when he showed that their whole community is like a well-constructed building in which spreads one spirit and one common sense: They are like a whole body whose parts work in complete cooperation and harmony. To this effect, narrated Muslim on authority of Nu’man bin Al-Basheer, may Allah be pleased with him: The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), said,
“Believers are like one man: if his eye suffers (from an ailment), all his body does (suffer); and if his head suffers (from an ailment), all his body does (suffer).” He (PBUH) also said, “The parable of believers in their friendliness, sympathy and compassion is the parable of one whole body: if one part thereof suffers (from an ailment), the whole body hastens (to help) by wakefulness and fever.”
The Holy Quran includes reference to the strong feeling of affiliation and the sublime collective feelings and positive altruistic stances Muslims should have towards their community. To this effect, Allah, Most Gracious, says,
“And eat up not your property among you unjustly.”
In this Verse Allah, All-Wise, does not say: Do not eat up the property of your Muslim brothers. The Verse rather says: O you believer! The property of your Muslim brother is in fact yours in the sense that his financial power is a source of power not only to you but to the whole Muslim community as well. Unlawful or unjust devouring of his property brings weakness and disability to you and to the whole Muslim community. Your brother’s property is also yours in the sense that it is your duty to protect it and not cause it to perish by eating it up unjustly or unlawfully. In other words, according to the teachings of Islam, the property of a Muslim belongs to the whole community and should, therefore, be spent in accordance with Allah’s Divine System, which guarantees balance of the interests of both individuals and communities. If it is misused or spent extravagantly, it causes harm to the whole community. That is why Islamic laws necessitate that property of foolish people should be put under guardianship because they are legally incompetent. To this effect, Allah, All-Wise, says,
“And give not unto the foolish your property, which Allah has made a means of support for you, but feed and clothe them therewith, and speak to them words of kindness and justice.”
Similarly, Allah, Most Merciful, says,
“And defame not yourselves.”
It is obvious that no one ever seeks to defame or disdain oneself but rather to defame or disdain other people. But, according to the teachings of Islam, if a Muslim defames or disdains another Muslim, this means that he does so to himself and to the whole Muslim community as well.
In order to deeply root the collective spirit among Muslims, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), bade them to eat together so that Allah may bless their food. In this context, when some Companions complained to the
Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), that when they ate, their appetite was not satisfied, he (PBUH) said,
“Do not eat individually, but rather eat together, and call Allah’s Name on your food that He may make it blessed for you.”
The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), also disavows isolationists who alienate themselves from others under the pretext of avoiding their evil harmful deeds. To this effect, he (PBUH) says,
“A Muslim who mingles with people and bears with patience their evil harmful deeds is better than him who does not mingle with them or does not bear with patience their evil harmful deeds.”
Some kinds of worship in Islam, like the Hajj (pilgrimage), Friday prayer, prayer of the two Feasts, and funeral prayer, cannot be performed individually. Even the five obligatory prayers that Muslims have to perform daily are best performed in congregation in mosques. To this effect, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says,
“He who performs Salat Al-Fajr (the dawn prayer) in congregation is under Allah’s Care (and Protection).”
Also, Al-Bukhari and Muslim narrated on authority of Abdullah bin Omar, may Allah be pleased with them: The
Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), said,
“Congregational prayer is twenty-seven times better than that performed individually.”
Perhaps one of the most eloquent sayings that deeply root collective spirit among Muslims is the Prophetic Hadith narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim:
“The one of you does not become not a (true) believer unless he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), also shows that the social motive that Islam enhances and elevates should be governed by certain rules and regulations. To this effect, He (PBUH) says,
“Do not envy one another! Do not practice An-Nashaj (trying to sell a commodity at a price higher than its real value)! Do not hate one another! Do not turn your backs on one another! Be brother
slaves of Allah! A Muslim is another Muslim’s brother: he does not do wrong (or injustice) to him; he is not untruthful to him; and he does not disdain him. Piety is right here (he repeated that three times pointing to his holy breast). It is evil enough for someone to disdain his Muslim
brother. A Muslim is all unlawful for another Muslim: his blood, his wealth and his honor.”
Imam An-Nawawi spoke highly of the above Hadith; and Ibn Hajar Al-Haithami said that it included a lot of the Islamic rules and moral values. This is because by virtue of the above Hadith the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), forbids Muslims to envy one another, because envy bespeaks lack of faith in Allah’s Wisdom and Justice and reflects a malicious desire that Allah’s Favors should be removed from others, which, in turn, clashes with
Muslim brotherhood because, as the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says,
“The one of you does not become a true believer unless he loves for his (Muslim) brother what he loves for himself.”
The Messenger of Allah also forbids practicing An-Nashaj, i.e. fake purchase of a certain commodity at a high price with the aim of selling it at a higher price than its real value, which is both tricky and dishonest. In this context, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
"Nor defame one another"
The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says,
“Trickery and evil plotting are both in Hell-Fire.”
He (PBUH) also curses those who do evil or harm to Muslims or plot evil against them.
By virtue of the above Hadith the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), forbids hatred because it comes from selfish individual desires and interests, which sow dissension and discord in the Muslim community. In fact, prohibition of hatred means elimination of the causes and elements thereof. In other words, any word or deed that may cause hatred between you and your Muslim bother is strictly forbidden in Allah’s Religion. Moreover, hatred diminishes with friendliness and compassion, which are traits of true believers. In this regard, Allah, Most Gracious, says in Surat Al-Imran,
“And hold fast, all of you together to the Rope of Allah, and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allah’s Favor on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren, and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, but He saved you from it. Thus Allah makes His Signs clear to you that you may be rightly guided.”
[Aal Imran; 103]
The Messenger of Allah also forbids Muslims to forsake one another or turn their backs on one another. To this effect, He (PBUH) says,
“It is unlawful for a Muslim to forsake his (Muslim) brother for more than three days; and he who forsakes his (Muslim) brother for six days, it is as if he shed his blood.”
Having forbidden causes of enmity and hatred, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), strongly bids Muslims to do things conducive to sympathy, love and brotherhood among them, saying
“And be brother slaves of Allah!”
because they are indeed slaves of Allah, Most Merciful, and have, therefore, to obey Him and stand on equal
footing, as brothers, before Him.
In another Prophetic Hadith the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), shows clearly a Muslim’s rights upon other Muslim brothers – and undoubtedly the fulfillment of such rights breeds feelings of love, compassion and brotherhood among them. Narrated Al-Bukhari and Muslim in their books of Hadith on authority of Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him: The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), said,
“A Muslim’s rights upon another Muslim are five: to answer As-Salam ( Muslim Salutation), to visit the sick, to answer his invitation, to walk in a funeral, to say ‘May Allah bless you’ upon sneezing and - in another narration by Muslim –‘If he asks you for advice, you should advise him’.”
Furthermore, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), strongly forbade all things that might cause dissension and discord among Muslims. He (PBUH) strongly forbade Muslims to let one another down in both their secular and religious affairs. Therefore, it is considered most erroneous to be able to help a Muslim brother or sister against injustice and tyranny and yet abstain from doing so. It is also considered most insincere to be able to counsel a Muslim brother or sister or to prevent them from committing sinful deeds or going astray and yet refrain to do so.
To this effect, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says,
“He in whose presence a believer is disgraced while he is able to help him but he does not, will be disgraced before all creatures on the Day of Resurrection.”
The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), strongly forbids Muslims to belie or lie to one another. To this effect, He
(PBUH) says,
“It is most disloyal to tell your brother something whereby he believes you, while you are untruthful.”
The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), strongly forbids Muslims to disrespect one another after Allah has honored them with His Divine Religion and Guidance. He (PBUH) considers that showing disrespect to a Muslim reflects insolent arrogance towards his Creator and Maker. To this effect, He (PBUH) says,
“It is evil enough for someone to disrespect his Muslim brother.”
This is because disrespect comes from arrogance, about which the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says,
“Arrogance is to reject the Truth and to disrespect people.”
and,
“He in whose heart is the weight of an atom of arrogance shall not enter Paradise.”
This is because arrogance contradicts man’s being a slave of Allah, All-Mighty. And just as one single drop of oil spoils a whole jar of honey, so does the least amount of arrogance spoil the whole worship.
The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), shows that blood, honor, dignity and wealth of a Muslim are all sacred; and, in fact, a Muslim community is essentially established on the basis of such sanctities, which ensure security, peace and fraternity, and guarantee protection of people’s lives, wealth and honor. That is why Al-Qisas (the Law of Equality in punishment) has been legislated in case of any violation of any of man’s things. In this context, Allah, Most Gracious, says,
“And in Al-Qisas (the Law of Equality in punishment) there is (saving of) life for you, O men of understanding, that you may attain self-protection.”
Muslims are also strongly forbidden to frighten one another. To this effect, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), says,
“It is strictly forbidden for a Muslim to frighten another Muslim.”
* * *
Having spoken of the theoretical basis of the social aspect of the Muslim’s character, and having mentioned the Quranic and Prophetic texts relevant thereto, it is proper to mention some incidents, which provide practical evidence thereof. The following story, which took place at the time of the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), is an example of the spirit of mutual cooperation and consultation among believers:
Umair bin Sa’d Al-Ansari was a poor needy orphan whose mother got married to Al-Jullas bin Swaid, a wealthy man from the tribe of Al-Aous. Umair and his step father Al-Jullas loved each other like father and son. And Umair never missed a prayer behind the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), in the mosque. In the ninth year after his emigration to Medina, the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), announced that he intended to fight the Romans at Tabouk, and he bade Muslims to get ready for that. Umair noticed that Muslims exerted every effort to build up a strong Muslim army. Uthman bin ‘Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, for example, came to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), with a thousand Dinars of gold. Abdur-Rahman bin ‘Aouf came to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), with two hundred ounces of gold. The Ansari women took off their jewels and offered them happily to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH). A man even put his bed for sale so he could buy a sword to fight with in that battle.
And a lot of men came to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), to join the army, but he (PBUH) did not accept them because he did not have enough animals to carry them, so they went back with tears in their eyes of sorrow.
Having noticed the great offerings of the Prophet’s Companions, rich and poor, Umair was surprised to see his step-father , Al-Jullas, tarry to take part or give offerings to the Muslim army but turned to Umair saying, “If Muhammad is truthful in what he claims of Prophecy, then we are worse than donkeys.” Umair was astonished at what he heard and thought that if he kept silent and concealed what Al-Jullas had said, it would be a great disloyalty to Allah and His Messenger, whom he loved more than himself; and if he announced what Al-Jullas had said, it would be undutiful to Al-Jullas, the man who had been good to him and his mother. Therefore, he addressed Al-Jullas saying, “By Allah! No one has ever been dearer and more beloved to me, after the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad bin Abdullah, than yous. And you have said something: if I announced it, I would do a lot of harm to you; and if I keep it secret, I would deceive Allah and His Messenger and, hence, destroy myself. Therefore, I am determined to go to the Messenger of Allah and inform him of what you have said before Divine Revelation comes down making me your partner in such grievous sin. I am telling you this so that you may know what to do.” Having informed his mother’s husband what he was about to do, Umair went to the mosque and informed the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), about what he had heard Al-Jullas say. The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), summoned Al-Jullas and asked him about what he had said to Umair. Al-Jullas said, “O Messenger of Allah! He has told lies against me, for I have said nothing of that which he informed you.” Some men who were present said, “He (Umair) is but an undutiful boy who intends to do harm to his mother’s husband who has always been good to him.” Others said, “Nay, he is an obedient pious young man.” Turning towards Umair the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), saw Umair’s face red with anger and tears falling down from his eyes invoking, “O Allah! Send down to Your Messenger something to unveil truthfulness of what I have said!” Readily enough, Al-Jullas said, “O Messenger of Allah! I swear by Allah that I have said nothing of that which Umair reported to you about me!” The Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), was silent for some time; and suddenly Divine Revelation started to come down to him,
“They swear by Allah that they said nothing; but they did say the word disbelief; and they disbelieved after accepting Islam; and they resolved that which they were unable to carry out; and they could not find any cause to do so except that Allah and His Messenger had enriched them of
His Bounty. If then they repent, it will be better for them, but if they turn away, Allah will punish them with a painful torment in this worldly life and in the Hereafter. And there is none for them on earth as a protector or a helper.”
[At-Taubah; 74]
Having heard the Verses being revealed in his denunciation , Al-Jullas trembled with fear and turned to the Messenger of Allah, (PBUH), saying most regretfully, “Nay, I do repent, O Messenger of Allah! Umair told the truth, but I was a liar! I beseech Allah to accept my repentance! May I be made a sacrifice for you, O Messenger of Allah!” The Messenger of Allah turned towards Umair bin Sa’d to find tears of happiness wetting his bright face. He (PBUH) stretched his holy hand towards Umair’s ear and held it gently saying, “Your ear has heard well enough that which you said you heard; and your Lord (Allah) has confirmed that you are truthful.” Al-Jullas showed sincere repentance and returned to Islam. The strange thing was that the Prophet’s Companions knew sincerity of his repentance through the great donations that he used to confer upon Umair and the good things he used to say about him, for whenever Umair’s name was mentioned before him, he would say, “May Allah reward him good for me, because he rescued me from disbelief and delivered me from the Fire!” Cooperation, truthfulness to one’s beliefs and mutual counseling can be clearly seen in the above story of Umair and his step father Al-Jullas.
* * *
Second Sermon:
Undoubtedly, Allah’s Creative Command is substantiated by His Divine Acts, while His Legislative Command is substantiated by His Divine Laws and Legislations. Moreover, through His Creative Command, Allah, All-Mighty, Most Gracious, created man in the best stature and conferred His Divine Honor upon him. And through His Legislative Command, He bade him to establish on earth the ideal human civilization on the basis of cooperation, organization, moral values, justice, sympathy, and righteous work. Any malfunction or corruption in the human civilization stems from deviation from Allah’s Legislative Command.
Allah, All-Wise, desires to show us an example of His Creative Command through the creation of a society established on miraculous cooperation, integration, specialization, hard productive work, and organization. It is the bee-society, in which there is no malfunction or corruption whatsoever. It is a society where everything goes perfectly well by Allah’s Creative Command.
Each bee-hive is a unified and integrated society headed and governed by one single undisputed authoritarian queen. Each bee feels the existence of the queen by a special material excreted by the queen and carried by the bee-workers to all members of the hive society. Once the queen is dead, the system of the whole hive gets confused, disorder spreads and all kinds of work stops. In the spring, the queen lays about two thousand eggs per day: queens, males and females. The queen puts each kind of egg in a special place in the hive in order to receive the proper kind of food and care.
The female bee-workers do a lot of wonderful jobs that are distributed among them according to their ages and abilities. However, in cases of emergency or good seasons, bees do all kinds of w ork regardless of their age or abilities. There are servant-bees that take care of the queen and provide her with her special royal food. There are also breeders and nurses that look after the young bees and bring food for them. Other workers do such jobs as providing the hive with water, ventilating the hive in summer, heating the hive in winter, providing the hive with the necessary moisture in dry summers, cleaning the hive and making its walls smooth and impermeable, and guarding the hive against enemies. No bee is allowed to enter the hive before she identifies herself or gives a password, or else she is killed. The password is sometimes changed if necessary. There are special workers that make wax-cells most beautifully and miraculously, leaving no spaces between the cells. Other workers discover places of flowers; and once they have found a suitable place, they come back to perform special a special dance to guide other bees to that place. By such dance, they inform the other bees of the direction and distance of pastures as well as the amount of nectar available therein. The other workers hasten to such pastures to get the nectar, from which they make honey, traveling more than ten kilometers away from their hive and coming back after having gathered nectar in a way which still remains very much of a mystery.
Bees are the best of all insects in collecting, carrying, and storing the most possible amounts of nectar in the shortest time and with the least effort. They are also the best insects in view of plant pollination. It is noticeable that bees of a certain hive usually go to one place, already determined, to gather one kind of nectar, also already determined. It is also noticeable that diseases of bees are not transferred to man through honey.
Bees also have a mysterious sense of time, for they know when flowers of each kind of plants excrete their nectar or spread their pollen; and they visit such flowers regularly in due time.
In order to collect the nectar needed to make one kilogram of honey, bees have to fly a distance of more than four hundred thousand kilometers, ten times the circumference of the earth.
The curative value of honey is far greater than its nutritional value. Its miraculous curative benefits to the different tissues, parts and organs of the human body go beyond human imagination. In this context, Allah, All-Mighty, says,
“And your Lord inspired the bees: ‘Take you habitations in the mountains and in the trees and in what they erect. Then eat of all fruits, and follow the ways of your Lord made easy (for you).’ There comes forth from their bellies a drink of varying color wherein is healing for men. Verily, in this
is indeed a Sign for people who think.”
But why does Allah, All-Wise, address bees by using the feminine pronoun: “Ittakhithi” in the above Verses, while in another Surah He, Most Gracious, addresses ants using the masculine pronoun “An-Namlu”:
“Till, when they came to the valley of the ants, one of the ants said, ‘Ya Ayuhan-Namlu (O ants)!
Enter you your dwellings lest Solomon and his hosts should crush you while they perceive not!’”
[An-Naml; 18]
The answer to such question falls under “The Scientific Miracles of the Holy Quran”.