Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in America:
True Spirit of the Deen of Islam Is
Providing Honest Feedback and Advice to Others!
Hadith Sharif: Addeen Annaseehah!
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in America:
True Spirit of the Deen of Islam Is
Providing Honest Feedback and Advice to Others!
Hadith Sharif: Addeen Annaseehah!
(Need Revision: Just ran out of time.)
Dr. Pasha
(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur'an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It --
And which One Does Not?)
Everybody needs support. And validation. Everyone needs a degree of appreciation from others.
Even commendation and praise from time to time.
I had a tortuous and fairly tortured life trying to figure out the answers to some of the following questions -- like countless other questions that I am not listing here:
a) Should we or should we not praise others?
b) Should we be supportive or critical of others?
c) What should you say when people around you do things you may consider good and praiseworthy?
d) And how should you react when you see people doing things you may think are bad?
Can you imagine a childhood haunted by these and many, many other questions of every kind? And not too many satisfactory answers even remotely in sight.
The scholars and wise people of both the East and the West came up short when I knocked at their doors.
Allah bless my parents. My father was among the wisest people I ever met, with an intellect sharper than a razor blade and deeper than any well I know. But there were occasions, and there were issues, when I returned still thirsty no matter how deep I drank from the inexhaustible fountains of knowledge and wisdom Allah had blessed my father with.
It was then that the Hadith embraced me. What else can I say? Hadith Sharif and the Seerah of Sayyidina Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, gave me refuge -- when I had no refuge and nowhere to go. I don't know how else to describe it.
I simply fell in love with the Hadith Sharif.
And with the Seerah of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. No two ways about it.
Not that I was a better Muslim or a better human being than others. That thought never occurred to me. It still does not. As I said I was a mere child. But Allah had given me a fairly sharp mind and a temperament that has been both my joy and torment to this day. Instinctively, I take no nonsense, no matter what its source.
Even as a stripling, I could cut through all kinds of fluff and foolishness, and meanderings, in people's speech and writing with the decisiveness of an axe a woodsplitter in the Early days of White Settler America would have been proud of.
But the Hadith left me speechless. Sheer mathematical precision of its language; unmatched literary elegance of its diction and construction; breathtaking profundity of its meaning; and the absolute unassailability of its logic and argument all held me spellbound.
And the noose tightened around my brain and my being the deeper I delved into the Hadith. If it is not a sin to say so, I would happily say that Hadith and I became friends.
And this relationship became so strong over the years that I began to whisper, at least to myself if not to others, that if I did not know a Hadith, then it was not likely to be in the Sihaah Sittah -- the Six most carefully and minutely sifted and sorted compendia of strong and valid -- Saheeh -- Hadith: Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi, Nasaa-i and Ibn Maajah.
May Allah bless those great expert collectors and scholars of Hadith whose names these collections carry to this day.
Outside the Qur'an, there is no more valid or dependable body of knowledge, of any kind, in any language or culture, in any part of the world, under God Almighty's Big Blue Sky.
The most amazing thing the world doesn't know about the Hadith is that each individual Hadith falls under the category of what scholars and scientists will refer to as "Primary Data."
Each an eyewitness account! A First-Person report. Nothing less. Pure and untampered by time or circumstance.
Each clearly identifying every single individual associated with its reporting from the time of Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, to the Scholar-Expert collector and composer of the specific Compendium named above.
And all this from 1400 years ago.
This makes the Hadith the most authentic body of information about any age, era, individual, culture, people or set of occurrences and events in human hands today or ever.
Excepting the Qur'an of course.
This makes the Hadith not only the Best History there is, but also the Only History there is: of anyone or anything, anywhere.
And let me say this in the simplest, clearest and most direct language I can. In fact, let me say these three things:
a) The world has nothing even remotely like this: like the Hadith I mean.
b) The world has no knowledge or understanding that there even is such a body of knowledge in existence under God's sun.
c) Nor does the world seem to care.
And there are several reasons for this colossal state of ignorance and indifference:
a) Reason One: Our Mortal Enemy Shaitan.
Don't forget, Shaitan is a constant companion of the Human Race. And Shaitan leaves no stone unturned to keep Humanity uninformed, ignorant, misguided, foolish, stupid and errant.
Both Adam and Shaitan were thrown out of Jannat together and they both evidently landed in this world together.
Wa Qulnahbitoo Minhaa Jamee'an.
And the relationship between and among them was also defined in fairly clear and explicit terms: one of enmity, hostility and ill will forever.
Ba'dukum Li-Ba'din 'Aduww.
How much more clearly or emphatically could this relationship -- between Shaitan and Insaan -- be defined?
Innash-Shayitaana Lil-Insaani Aduwwun Mubeen (12:5)
Paraphrase:
"Doubtless, Shaitan, is an Open Enemy of the Human Race."
So, Shaitan is Reason Number One why the world is so woefully uninformed and uncaring about the existence of a solid body of knowledge about its past like the Hadith.
b) Reason Two: Muslims Themselves.
Muslims themselves are the other reason for the world's abysmal ignorance of, and indifference to, Hadith.
First, most Muslims don't know much about the Hadith themselves.
Second, Muslims by and large have done not a thing to make the Hadith widely known in the world. Muslims just don't see this as part of their Terms of Reference from Allah: something that they are duty-bound to do.
So, the story is the same one that I have repeated elsewhere: The non-Muslims don't ask, and the Muslims don't tell. And they both live happily ever after in this sad and most dangerous state of ignorance and darkness.
But the happiest of all is really Shaitan, who hates both Muslims and non-Muslims, so long as they happen to be the children of his original enemy Adam, Alaihis Salam.
While Allah blessed me with a measure of proximity and familiarity with the Sihaah Sittah, Muatta of Imam Malik, Rahimahullah, however, continued to play hide and seek with me, which it does to this day.
May Allah give me the opportunity, and the ability, and Tawufeeq, to make a better acquaintance with this most amazing and Early collection of Hadith by one of the greatest of Tabi'een -- Companions, if you will, of the Companions, Sahaabah Kiraam, of Sayyidina Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam: Imam Maalik.
And may Almighty Allah also enable me to return to the rest of the Hadith Collections, especially the Sihaah Sittah, with which my bond has become frayed over the years.
At the very outset, I became a child of the Hadith. I was not yet 10. No sirree, not by a long shot. And I became bonded to the language of the Hadith. And to the meaning and teachings of the Hadith.
And I am not surprised. For, even though the amount of human knowledge today is stupendous, both in terms of quality and quantity, the real answers to real questions are far and few between.
So, Hadith, I was able to see, was the best there was: in terms of both its content as well as its form and language.
So, I stayed with the Hadith for an eternity, it seemed to me. Meaning, Allah gave me a long lease of life in the companionship of the Hadith.
There were moments in my life, growing up as a young man in school, college and all that, when my early acquaintance with the Hadith and the Seerat of Sayyidina Muhamm
Being addicted to Nothing But the Best, I read every book in every language I knew, by every author, so long as it fell under the category of "The Best."
And in personal life I kept company with the best minds and most exciting personalities around me.
And this was a dangerous enterprise. For, many of these books were hostile to Islam and Muslims -- and to the Message and Spirit of Haqq, which the Hadith had instilled in me. And not too many Muslim voices and minds, as I saw it, could stand up to these ill winds.
And I was not about to accept Second-Rate stuff, just because it came packaged with the label of Islam -- not real Islam, mind you, but what many a mediocre Muslim voice cried was Islam.
So, I was friendless and rudderless in a merciless and mostly uncaring world, except for the Hadith. Lost and confused, and looking, and totally frustrated and heartbroken, is how I felt. My soul was in tatters and my spirit in tears and torment.
Not that I did not have friends. I did. More than most others and better. And what amazing friends they were. And many of them still are. But my loneliness was one of the mind and the soul. It was not one of usual social isolation or disconnection.
I was hungry for Haqq. And I would accept nothing but Haqq: pure and unmitigated.
And the little packets with mysterious White Powder in them, and all them tiny little bottles filled with Strange-Looking Oil, that people handed me in the name of Islam, often attired in robes and garbs they claimed to be "Islamic," were simply not satisfying enough. They fell short of my basic credibility test of Nothing but the Best.
My soul's cry of Nothing but the Best could not be silenced by either intimidation or sweetness and guile, both of which I received aplenty in my inexorable and unstoppable march toward Haqq.
No, I did not steal this slogan from Mercedes-Benz. And I am not saying they stole it from me. But this is the first lesson of Islam that was packed into every fiber of my body and mind, way before Mercedes-Benz maybe ever thought of it: Nothing but the Best.
So, to my way of thinking, Islam had to be the Best. I mean everything about Islam. And, later in life, and after much trial and error, I was able to see that Islam was indeed the Best. Everything about Islam.
And everything Islamic. It simply could not be otherwise.
But at that particular juncture in my life, all I had was the Hadith -- and the Life of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. And I knew and saw with my bare eyes how the Hadith was the Best and the Life of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, was the Best.
So, knowing the Hadith, I knew full well, Islam was anything but mediocre. Later on, I came to realize, both analytically and empirically, that Islam, being from Almighty Allah, simply could not be anything but The Best.
And it was: The Best. In everything it touched. And which part or aspect of human life did Islam not touch or cover?
And I realized that Islam and Mediocrity could not, and did not, mix. And if I found the Muslims swimming in a Sea of Mediocrity and Make Believe, it was their own doing. It was Operator Error, as I called it elsewhere, and not System Error.
Meaning, it was Muslims dropping the ball and not Islam, Astaghfirullah, leaving anything incomplete or unaddressed or incapable to solving the problems of the world.
So, every time you see the world in trouble, it is mostly a case of Muslims defaulting, or coming up short, on their responsibilities. And of course, non-Muslims wallowing in their ignorance, arrogance and hostility to Islam and Muslims.
Let me quickly complete this train of thought and get to the point I was trying to make at the start of this write up that we all need, and could use, a little Pep Talk from time to time.
Thus, while the Hadith was my early passion, my own deleterious life came in the way of keeping up with the Hadith. Naturally, the relationship became strained. As a result, while there was a time when I practically knew every Hadith from the Sihaah cold, now I have to struggle to recall the exact words and in several cases even the content and the meaning of Ahaadeeth -- plural for Hadith.
And the other thing that happened, and that led to the weakening of my close contact with the Hadith, was that my relationship with the Qur'an, Mashallah, grew by leaps and bounds. The Qur'an, that eluded me, and was coy with me, for the longest time, suddenly became my best friend and my closest companion.
More about it later inshallah. But the upshot was that I became so absorbed in the Qur'an that there really was not much time -- or need -- for anything else, including, no matter how preposterous this may sound, the Hadith.
And the Qur'an then proceeded to provide me the most amazing, complete and satisfactory answers to every question and doubt that I ever had. A man whose whole life was so full of doubt and questions was finally united with the Book that was free from all Doubt.
I was home at last. Wal-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Aalameen!
So, here then is the answer of the Qur'an to the questions I raised at the beginning of this Write-Up. Not just one answer, but all the answers you will ever need. My short answer is: Read the Qur'an and you will get the picture.
It is amazing how generous Allah himself is -- with his praise and appreciation, when he wants to be, and for whom he chooses.
Addressing his Rasul, Sallallahu alaihi wa Sallam, Allah says in the Qur'an:
Innaka La-Alaa Khuluqin Azeem.
Paraphrase:
"You possess the most amazing character."
And, addressing the Muslims, Allah says this:
"You are the best there is."
Words in the Aayat Karimah:
"Kuntum Khayira Umaatin."
If only Muslims understood where and how Allah says this about them, and why, this whole world would become a very different place than the kind of sorry mess it is today.
But life is not all about unqualified praise. Allah does not hesitate to chastise those whom he wishes and provide them warning of terrible consequences if they did not make changes to the lives they were living.
Allah does not spare even his own messengers when he has to.
In humans this requires the ability and the skill to be able to give, receive and handle criticism when such is warranted. Negative feedback as it were.
Just like praise and appreciation, human beings also need criticism. A critique of sorts. Direction and ideas for course correction, if you will, when the occasion calls for those.
That is the nature of human life on earth. That is how human nature seems to unfold in this world.
As a result, the ideal human situation, ideal human society if you will, can be said to be one in which every human being provides free, frank, fair and honest advice to every other human being in that society.
Just like a mirror does.
You look in the mirror, and the mirror, if it is not broken, or crooked, provides you free, fair, honest and fearless feedback about what exactly you look like: your beauty spots as well as your warts, zits and all other blemishes and sore spots.
In other words, the mirror provides you "perfect" feedback. That is why every household totes a mirror of some kind. Even the ancients, before modern mirrors were invented, polished up metal of one kind or another to perform the function of a mirror.
Similarly, a "perfect" human society will also be one in which every member of the society acts like a mirror to every other member of that society. By constantly interacting with one other, members of such a society will give and receive continual feedback about their life, conduct and behavior. By rubbing shoulders with one another, they would know what they are doing right, and what they should do different or better.
Allah, Allah, Allah! What a great and "perfect" society such a society will be! Ideally, such a "perfect" society, with such a "perfect" feedback system in place, will live happily ever after, as they say, in a state of "perfect" and blissful homeostasis.
And such a "perfect" society can only be a society of Believers: Mu'mins.
Al-Mu'minoon, as the Qur'an calls them.
And that is because:
(a) The Believers will be conscious of how God Almighty's vigilant eye watches and monitors their every thought and word and act.
(b) And how they will have to render a full account of their every thought, word and action before God Almighty on the Day of Judgment, after they die and resurrect again.
(c) As a result, the Mu'minoon -- Believers -- will be most selfless and sincere in both their praise and criticism of others.
As the Qur'an says:
Wa Bil-Aakhirati Hum Yooqinoon.
Paraphrase:
"And they have a firm and deep-rooted belief in Life Hereafter."
And that is because much of what people say about each other is generally filtered through a complex nexus of motivations, ranging from self-interest to fear of consequences to everything else. So, a great deal of the feedback people receive from or give to other people is not always selfless, frank, unbiased or unmotivated.
But the case is, and it has to be, different when it comes to Believers.
The Mu'mins, Believers that is, while as human beings, they also may possess a natural fear of displeasing powerful people, and they too, as most humans would be, may be tempted by the favors others can grant them, the Believers' eyes are fixed on the Hereafter (Aakhirat).
This gives the Believers the strength and ability to transcend these worldly considerations of loss and gain and focus on the true reward and punishment that are sure to come in Life Hereafter from God Almighty.
And how beautifully the Hadith captures this concept:
Al-Mu'minu Mir-aatul Mu'min.
Paraphrase:
"A believer in relation to other believers is like a Mirror."
If believers want to know how they are living their lives, all they need to do is to look at other believers.
One, that will show them how they are measuring up in relation to other believers.
Two, other believers will act as a mirror and point out the good and bad aspects of their lives to them. Being believers, they will provide fair, fearless, honest and truthful feedback.
How wonderful such a society will be in which every member of the society provides automatic feedback and ongoing checks and balances to every other believer.
Five times a day, when believers show up in the Masjid for Jama'at Namaaz, Salaah, it is almost like putting their lives on public display -- five times a day. It is an open invitation for public review and comment on their lives and conduct from the rest of the Jama'at: The Community of Believers.
What an amazing system of thought, speech and action! And of private and personal life as well as of life in the public sphere.
That is why the more I try to understand this Deen, the more awed and overwhelmed I become.
Now, let us try and apply this concept to a real-life situation unfolding in the world today in relation to two of the most important public personalities and leaders of the world: American President Donald Trump, and Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan.
They are both interesting people, to say the least. Each, in his own way, is also a powerful leader. At the same time, all kinds of controversies swirl around each one of them, which means to some they are good people doing good things, and to some others they are not such good people and what they are doing is problematic.
And now one is coming to America at the invitation of the other. Mr. Khan is coming to America as the guest of Mr. Trump.
What should the world do? And in particular, what should Muslims -- The Believers -- do? Both in America and around the world.
So, in the light of all I have said thus far, here is a simple formula for action for everybody:
If a leader like American President Donald Trump, or Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, is doing bad things, people need to tell these leaders that they should stop doing those wrong things and they should change their ways. People need to tell them that what they are doing is wrong.
And people need to do that with all the sincerity, honesty and truthfulness they can muster. And not filter and process their comments through their personal, political or other selfish and partisan agendas.
At the same time, here is something that Muslims need to understand. More than all the people in the world, it is the duty of Muslims to do so. Muslims in America; Muslims in Pakistan; and Muslims all over the world. They all have to raise their voice and make themselves heard.
If Mr. Trump or Mr. Khan is doing bad things, Muslim voices need to rise in criticism of them.
If, on the other hand, Mr. Trump or Mr. Khan is doing good things, Muslims need to tell them that too. And Muslims need to offer them support and encouragement. And they need to stand by them.
That is how I understand the implications of the Hadith Sharif:
Addeen An-Naseehah!
Paraphrase:
"Deen of Islam is all about providing others frank and fearless advice."
The Hadith Sharif continues:
We said, Naseehah for whom?
Rasulullah, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, said:
To Allah;
To Allah's Book;
To Allah's Rasul (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam);
To Muslim Leaders and Rulers;
And to common Muslims.
Now tell me Muslims, which part of this Hadith Sharif do you not understand.
And when you are done answering that questions, tell me if you now understand my being so totally beholden and bonded to the Hadith right from the beginning of my life.
END