The Prophetic Tradition Includes Sayings, Practices and Approbations

  Honorable brother, we continue with a new lesson in the series ‘Understanding the Prophet’s Life and Deeds’.
 I like to always remind that the Prophetic Tradition (Sunnah) consists of the sayings of the Prophet, peace be upon him, also of his practices. His sayings are Traditions, his deeds are Traditions, and also his tacit consent is Tradition: if something is said in his presence which he does not approve or disapprove, then it is deemed proper and acceptable.
 So we have sayings, practices and consent or approbation. His sayings are the subject of our ‘Prophetic Traditions’ lessons, and his deeds and practices are the subject of the Prophetic Biography lessons.

The Prophet’s Practices are the Embodiment of Allah’s Words:

 Again I remind that his deeds, peace be upon him, are a better expression of his understanding of Allah’s Words than his sayings. This is because his deeds are well defined, while his sayings are subject to interpretation. This is why Allah Almighty says:

﴾ And whatsoever the messenger giveth you, take it. And whatsoever he forbiddeth, abstain (from it)﴿

(Surat Al Hashr, 7)

 There is a subtlety to understand here. The events that took place during the Prophet’s life were not ordinary occurrences, they were meant for a reason of their own. In fact, in every situation, the Prophet assumes a perfect stance, and this initial attitude becomes law. His sayings are law and his deeds are law. His deeds also have a further purport: they as are the living proof of the truth he expresses. For people are suspicious of the preaching of religious guides, they will say: this is idealistic, this is not realistic, this is not practical, or this cannot be done, this is difficult to apply, or not all prescriptions are applicable in our times … But it is different with deeds. The Prophet’s deeds proceed from a truth which they in turn corroborate; they show idealism as an observable reality. In this way all Moslem missionaries should strive to make the world ideal, and to become living examples of this idealism, a ‘realizable’ idealism, that can be put to practice.
 It is for instance reported that Abu Hanifa, may Allah have mercy upon him, performed, during forty years, the dawn prayer (Fajr) with the ablution of the evening prayer (Isha’). This is not a ‘realistic’ ideal, for no one can do without sleep, not even for a few days, without suffering serious disorders.
 On the other hand, the Prophet, peace be upon him, says:

((I fear Allah most among you. Yet I sleep and I stay up to pray, I fast and I eat, I marry women, and I eat meat. This is my tradition, and whoever turns away from it is not of my followers))

(Bukhari from Aisha)

 With all the respect and veneration that belong to Abu Hanifa, this may not be correct, because it goes against the nature of things, for sleep is a necessity.
 Do not offer me a religion that cannot be followed, but show me rather a realistic scheme where I can marry, have a business, earn money, have children and yet be the closer to Allah.
 In this connection I say: when our contact with Allah grew weak, mysticism (Tasawwuf) appeared as a response. When knowledge became uncontrolled, literalists appeared. When our resources grew scarce and we lagged behind the nations, laicism appeared. These three tendencies appeared because we neglected to apply Allah’s scheme in a full and balanced way.
 Now some of you may say: these lessons speak of events that took place 1400 years ago. True, but it was Allah’s design that they be typical situations wherein the perfect perspective of the Prophet, peace be upon him, would set the precedence that we follow today.
 For example, when Master Omar decided to emigrate, he faced the pagans in broad daylight and dared them, saying: ‘Let those who want their msh3er bereaved follow me to this valley’, and he went on his way under the eyes of all. But when it was time for the Prophet, peace be upon him, to emigrate, the best of beings, the dearest to the Lord and the master of Adam’s children, headed in secret with Abu Bakr towards the coast, the opposite direction to Medina, he remained three days in hiding in the Thawr grotto, until Quraish gave up looking for him.
Who showed more courage? Those who do not understanding the nature of prophethood would say Omar was braver, because he emigrated under the nose of everyone. As for the learned, they would choose the Prophet, peace be upon him … Indeed, the noble companions used to turn to him for protection in the heat of battles.
 But the Prophet, peace be upon him, is a lawmaker, while master Omar only speaks for himself. Had he emigrated the way Omar did, daring dangers would have become an obligation, and taking precautions would have been forbidden, and his nation would have perished.
 I do not know if Abu Hanifa actually said that, at least it was so reported. True or not, it is not humanly possible to pray at dawn forty years with the evening ablution. Getting up part of the night is possible, but not sleeping at all is not.
 To summarize, the Prophet, peace be upon him, in his conduct sets laws. His way of life is well defined, meaning that his practices convey better his understanding of Allah’s Book than his sayings, because his sayings are subject to interpretation while his practices are not.

The Incident with the People of Taif:

 After Quraish exiled him, the Prophet, peace be upon him, went to Taif, hoping they would believe in him and offer him protection. Instead, they greeted him with disbelief and mockery, and even inauthord their young to harass him, until his noble feet bled. Listen carefully to what he said:

((O Lord, I complain to you of my weakness and perplexity, and of the little respect people have for me))

(Narrated by the Tabarani from Abdallah Ibn Jaafar)

 Today, other nations are heedless of our people. Allah Almighty says:

﴾ The recompense for an injury is an injury equal thereto﴿

(Surat Al Shura, 40)

((O Lord, I complain to you of my weakness and of my perplexity, and of the little respect people have for me. O Lord of the oppressed, to whom do you abandon me? To a friend who rejects me, or to an enemy of whom I must depend. If you are not angry at me, I do not care, and I seek to please you until you are satisfied, but your clemency would be more generous towards me))

 No other invocation is more relevant today than this one ‘but your clemency would be more generous towards me’. It means: O Lord, if this hardship and harm befalling me are the expression of Your anger, then I ask for Your forgiveness and turn to You in repentance. But if they are not related to Your anger, then I am well pleased with You.
 An amazing attitude, in the middle such an ordeal: imagine a person of such rank and perfection, the closest to Allah Almighty, imagine him humiliated, disbelieved, mocked, beaten…

The Night Journey and Ascension, a Reward after Taif

 As a consequence came the Night Journey and Ascension. Listen to this Ayah:

﴾ Glory to (Allah) Who did take His servant for a Journey by night from the Sacred Mosque to the farthest Mosque, whose precincts We did bless,- in order that We might show him some of Our Signs﴿

(Surat Al Isra’, 1)

 Someone with poor memorization of the Quran would be tempted to add here:

﴾ He has surely power over all things.﴿

(Surat Al Ahqaf, 33)

 thinking that it logically follows, since he was taken from Mecca to Jerusalem, then up to the to the Lote Tree beyond which none may pass (Sidrat Al-Muntaha).
 But the Ayah continues differently:

﴾ for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things) ﴿

 This means that, when he was given the power to avenge himself, and the angel in charge of mountains said to him: ‘O Mohammad Allah put me under your orders, and if you wish I can crush them between these two mountains’, and even though he was disbelieved, mocked and beaten, he did not opt for revenge, but rather said:

((O Allah, guide my people …))

 He did not abandon his people, he prayed for them, and found them an excuse:

((… because they do not know))

(Narrated by Abd Allah Ibn Ubaid Ibn Umair, incompletely transmitted)

 And he prayed Allah to give them a righteous posterity, trusting that from their loins Allah will create people who will testify to His Oneness.
After the ordeal came the bestowal: you O Mohammad are the master of Adam’s children:

﴾ Near the Lote-tree beyond which none may pass﴿

(Surat Al Najm, 14)

 A degree none has ever reached before:

﴾ Near it is the Garden of Abode. Behold, the Lote-tree was shrouded (in mystery unspeakable!), (His) sight never swerved, nor did it go wrong! For truly did he see, of the Signs of his Lord, the Greatest! ﴿

(Surat Al Najm, 15-18)

﴾ Will ye then dispute with him concerning what he saw﴿

(Surat Al Najm, 12)

﴾ for He is the One Who heareth and seeth (all things) ﴿

 This Ayah means: We heard your supplication in Taif, O Mohammad, and this is a gift from the heavens to compensate you for being forsaken on earth. This is a gift from your Lord whom you invoked sincerely concerning the people’s disbelief.

Lessons Drawn from the Night Journey and Ascension:

1- To each Affliction of the Believer Corresponds a Reward

 The moral to be drawn from the Night Journey and Ascension, is that every time a believer is tried, he can expect a reward to follow.

﴾ and it may be that you dislike a thing while it is good for you, and it may be that you love a thing while it is evil for you ﴿

(Surat Al Baqara, 216)

 I said every affliction is followed by a reward, indeed, but there are reservations: If someone earns his money illicitly, or slanders Moslems, or cheats them, and a punishment from Allah follows, this would be a true retribution, not a trial, and what I just said about a sequent reward does not apply here. It applies to the righteous believer struggling with adversities, a believer who prays, fasts, who is pious, compliant, has done good deeds, who has never done anything that deserves punishment. For such people we say: after every affliction there will be a reward, and every hardship brings you closer to Allah Almighty.
 It is in this sense that after Taif the Prophet, peace be upon him, knew that he was the leader of Adam’s children. He headed all the prophets in prayer which means he is the leader of all prophets and messengers, the best of all beings, the dearest to the Lord. Allah Almighty even swore by his treasured life:

﴾ … by thy life (O Prophet) ﴿

(Surat Al Hijr, 72)

 Moreover, Allah Almighty never addressed him by his name, while he called all his prophets by theirs:

﴾ O Yahya ﴿

(Surat Mariam, 12)

﴾ O Zakariya ﴿

(Surat Mariam, 7)

﴾ O Issa﴿

(Surat Al Imran, 55)

 Not once in the Quran you find the Prophet, peace be upon him, addressed by ‘O Mohammad’, as a mark of deference:

﴾ O Prophet! ﴿

(Surat Al Tahrim, 9)

﴾ O Messenger! ﴿

(Surat Al Maeda, 41)

 In a nutshell, the Night Journey and Ascension teaches us the following lesson: if you suffer a hardship, expect to be drawn closer to Allah. If you are afflicted with something, expect a reward to follow:

﴾ but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not﴿

Projection on the Present Situation of Moslems:

 Look, in the light of these meanings, at the catastrophic situation of Moslems today: the suffering and pain in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine... Allah Almighty says:

﴾ And verily We make them taste the lower punishment before the greater, that haply they may return﴿

(Surat Al Sajda, 21)

 However, those who totally strayed from Allah Almighty, who do not have the slightest good in them, those are referred to differently:

﴾ Then, when they forgot that whereof they had been reminded, We opened unto them the gates of all things till, even as they were rejoicing in that which they were given, We seized them unawares, and lo! they were dumbfounded.﴿

(Surat Al Anaam, 44)

Comments about the bond of brotherhood:

 We have a few comments concerning the bond of brotherhood that was the subject of our previous lesson.

1-The Number of Immigrants and Helpers which the Prophet, peace be upon him Associated as Brother

 The bond of brotherhood concerned 45 men of the Immigrants (Muhajireen) and 45 of the Helpers (Ansar). Imagine, only 90 men, and Moslems today are a billion and a half strong.

﴾ a goodly tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching into heaven﴿

(Surat Ibrahim, 24)

 Sometimes you do not realize all the good that results from your call to Allah. You may be weak, but Allah Almighty can create at your hands countless good deeds. Take for instance this honorable brother who had a young daughter. He looked after her upbringing, he was very watchful of her faith, her belief, her character, until he gave her in marriage to a young Moslem. In turn this family begot children who were raised in this Moslem house, in obedience to Allah. This man who married a righteous woman, who begot righteous children, perhaps on Judgment Day he will see a million believer from his progeny, with all their deeds to his credit. The proof:

﴾ And (as for) those who believe and their offspring follow them in faith, We will unite with them their offspring and We will not diminish to them aught of their work; every man is responsible for what he shall have wrought﴿

(Surat Al Tur, 21)

 Forty five men became a billion and a half. Those men who introduced Islam to China have in their deeds Book all the people who entered Islam there. The same is true for the West and for North Africa.
I was once in Istanbul where I visited a religious academy. I could have sworn I was in Damascus! The correspondence of Moslems is amazing! Our brother believers in Istanbul share with us the same nature, the same principles, the same values, the same moral constitution, the same goals... Moslems are one.
Those were a few comments concerning the 45 who became a billion and a half...
Another thing we should be aware of is that this bond of brotherhood is not confined to the Emigrants of Quraish, but applies to all Moslems who have seniority in knowledge.

2-The Ideal Bond of Brotherhood is not the one Between Equals

 In the previous lesson, I explained how, ideally, bonding should not be between peers. It can be a senior-novice relationship where a man with superior knowledge teaches the beginner. It can be between rich and poor, the rich man supporting the poor, between the strong and the weak, the healthy and the sickly, between a married man and a youngster getting married, sharing his experience with him, explaining what should and what should be done or said, how to treat his in-laws …
Fraternization is not the mere association between two people, but rather the cooperation between them. And this cooperation becomes more fruitful where there’s disparity between the two. This was the scheme of the Prophet, peace be upon him.
He used to say, when someone entered into Islam: take your brother for he accepted Islam, and teach it to him.

3-Brotherhood in Islam is an Education

 Dear brother, brotherhood in Islam is an enlightening experience, and a lifetime commitment by the Moslem to care for his brother Moslem. Nothing rivals with a brother in Allah. A brother in Allah is priceless and unique. He supports you and you support him, he counsels you and you counsel him, he assists you and you assist him, he lends you and you lend him, he serves you and you serve him…
In this respect the Prophet, peace be upon him, said quoting the Lord:

((Have truly earned My love, those who love one another in Me, those who befriend one another in Me, those who call on each other in Me, those who give freely in Me... Those who love one another for my sake, will be raised on pulpits of light, envied by prophets, saints (Siddeequn) and martyrs (on judgment day))

(Reported by Ahmad, Tabarani and Al Hakem from Ubada Ibn Al Samet)

4- Moslems Today Need this Love in Allah

 Today, we Moslems need this kind of loving, for, over time, our hearts have hardened and we cumulated enmities, quarrels, accusations and bad relations. Allah Almighty says:

﴾ and dispute not one with another lest ye falter and your strength depart from you﴿

(Surat Al Anfal, 46)

 Yes we need this kind of loving…Like those two companions who performed the evening prayer together in the mosque of the Prophet, peace be upon him, hugged each other and went each on his way. They met again at dawn for prayer, just a few hours after, and one of them said to his partner; ‘I really missed you, my brother!’.
 Amazing love! The night before at ten you were together, at three thirty in the morning you tell him: ‘I really missed you my brother’. This is being a Moslem, this is love. Islam is love, Islam is modesty, Islam is sacrifice, Islam is selflessness, so Allah may love us.
 Those who do not feel the need to love or to be loved do not belong among humans. Love is like a fragrant rose, with beautiful colors. Islam without love is like an artificial rose devoid of all feel. If you take love out of religion, you take life out of it, leaving a mass of information, arguments and ideas which quickly tire you. But where there’s love, there’s stamina.
 Indeed, sometimes you stay with a brother of yours for hours on end, and you do not feel the time passing. Once I traveled north to a country where many of my brother live. By Allah I say, we started a conversation at five in the evening, the next time I looked at my watch it was one in the morning. I had no sense of time, for there was love, friendliness, interest … Today our lives are desolate: jealousy, envy, no love for one another. This is a cause of weakness.
 On one of his expeditions, the Prophet, peace be upon him, asked after one of the companions. He was told: ‘O Prophet of Allah, working his orchard kept him from fighting with you’. One of the companions, faithful to the mentioned companion, retorted: ‘By Allah it is not so. Many men failed to join you and they love you just like we do. If they had known that you were facing an enemy they would not have failed to come’. The Prophet, peace be upon him, smiled until his molars showed. He smiled for the love between those two brother.
 You should uphold your brother. Once in a while you should say to him: where have you been, we missed you, we were worried about you, we hope you are in good health … to spirit him up.

The Actual Practice of Brotherhood

 I hope that this lesson will be put to practice. Each one of you should take a brother in Allah the way the Prophet did, peace be upon him... Take his name, his phone number, his address at home and at work. If he does not attend the next lesson, fill him in, it costs you nothing…
Sometimes a man arrives too late for the lesson, but in time to follow the evening prayer with the sheik, he tells you: this prayer livened me up! This is the meaning of the saying: Congregation is mercy and separation is penalty.

((Stay in congregations and beware of separation, for Satan is with the solitary person, while he is farther away when you are two))

(Narrated by Ahmad in his musnad, Tirmizi and Al Hakem in the Mustadrak thru Omar)

((Verily the wolf preys on stray sheep))

(Narrated by Abu Dawud thru Abu Darda’a)

 Take a brother in Allah, like the Prophet, peace be upon him, did with the Emigrants and the Helpers (Muhajireen and Ansar), this is my advice to you. Put this lesson to work, take a brother who will help and support you and whom you can help and support, like the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((The believers in their kindness, their compassion and their mercy, are like the body: When an organ falls ill, the whole body responds in fever and vigilance))

(Bukhari and Muslim)

((The believers in their kindness…))

 A cordial disposition, a smile, a friendly expression, a handshake, an invitation, a show of hospitality, of generosity, a gift, all these are different forms of kindness.
 One of our brother once bought a house. Every time a load of furniture arrived, a neighbor would rush to help him moving it in. Afterwards, he would bring refreshments. He told me: ‘By Allah, I don’t even know the man!’. He asked him who he was, he said: ‘I belong to this mosque’, referring to our mosque. How did this man become so fervent? He says: ‘I have a cousin in this mosque who kept urging me to attend the lessons. I did not want to, but he insisted so much that I decided to go along … for one time’. When the lesson was over, the former brother greeted me saying: ‘This is my cousin, and this is his first lesson’. It took just a warm handshake, and a show of modestly, I said: ‘I hope you liked the lesson’. He said: ‘Indeed, by Allah, it was a beautiful lesson’. I said to his cousin: ‘Take care of your cousin’, then again I shook his hand warmly. He was very poor, and when he felt the kindness, the warm handshake, and how I entrusted him to his cousin, by Allah, even though he meant to come for one time only, just to please his cousin, he has been assiduous to these lessons ever since.
 Take yourself a brother in Allah, ask him about his health, help him … Again I tell you: you do not interest people in this religion with its concepts, though they are wonderfully profound, subtle, enlightening, harmonious and consistent, giving you a notion of life and of the universe. What first draws people to this religion is the society of Moslems, their sincerity, honesty, modesty, their willingness to help. Indeed congregation is mercy and separation is penalty.

((Allah's hand is with the congregation))

(Narrated by Tirmizi thru Ibn Abbas)

((Stay in congregations and beware of separation, for Satan is with the solitary person, while he is farther away when you are two))

(Narrated by Ahmad in his musnad,Tirmizi and Al Hakem in the Mustadrak thru Omar)

((Verily the wolf preys on stray sheep))

(Narrated by Abu Dawud thru Abu Darda’a)

 This Tradition (Hadith) is a reference in relations between Moslems:

((The believers in their kindness, their compassion and their mercy, are like the body: When an organ falls ill, the whole body responds in fever and vigilance))

Islam is a Social Religion

 Dear brother, Islam is a socially oriented religion. The congregational prayer is worth 27 times the prayer a man performs alone. Fasting is a communal activity, and so is pilgrimage, because in congregation there’s mercy.
 I liked these words which I read somewhere: you are not alone in this life, one is for all and all are for one.
 I can give you plenty of examples. For instance, a man who earns little gets married. He needs plenty of things. His friends and brother get together and agree to raise the money needed to meet his secondary needs: a fan, a cooler, a washing machine, a stove … Every time one of them gets married the rest of them help him in this way. This is how cooperation should be, this is the true Moslem society.
So my brother, when you are in a Moslem society you are not alone in this world, all are for you and you are for all.
 Islamic legislation is geared towards creating a unified and cohesive society, a society that fosters, among other things, the forming of families, the protection of the rights of both spouses as well as those of the children.
 I hope and expect from you that we start practicing this brotherhood. If you have one brother in Allah, that’s fine, but two are better, and three and four are even better. The friendlier the Moslems are, the more sacrificing, the selfless they are, the more useful, the closer they will be to Allah Almighty.
 God willing, we will continue this subject in another lesson.