26th Shawwal, 1435
Bismillaahi-r Rahmaani-r
Raheem
Assalaamu alaykum wa Rahmatullaahi wa Barkaatuhu
brothers and sisters in Islam. Bear me witness that I testify that there is
nothing worth anyone’s worship except Allah and Prophet Muhammad suallal Laahu
alayhi wa sallam is His servant and Messenger. I pray that all of us are
blessed to die on this testimony. Aameen.
So, this is my first article after Ramadaan. I pray and
hope that your Ramadaan was an excellent one and we pray that Allah azza wa jal
makes us witnesses to the next Ramadaan. Aameen.
So I read for the umpteenth time a hadith that got me
thinking about love and all. I thought; ‘I should write my thoughts down.’
Perhaps, I’ll stand to benefit at the end of the day. So I am sitting here at
3:41am and writing and praying to be able to convey the message right.
I was mc-ing a very beautiful ladies get together named
GMD-Ghana Muslimah Dilemma, and I was honestly enjoying the ‘feel’ of so many
Muslims ladies and mothers around as we did our own Muslimah thing. In my busy’ness’,
a woman stopped me, I can’t recall her face but she seemed really excited like
me, she had something to say. She said;
‘I don’t know you
from anywhere but I want to know that I love you for the sake of Allah.’
Errmmm! So, I was taken off guard obviously. I was
blushing even. Her statement went straight into my heart and I could tell that
I loved her too for the same reason. And of course, for me, the moment you are
Muslim, you have my love for Allah’s sake but then sometimes people like this
woman make this love a lot more clear and visible.
Interesting enough, that wasn’t the first time someone
I didn’t know had expressed his or her love for me fiisabi lil Laah and it was
not to be the last either. So many times, especially due to what I do on
facebook, blogging, whatsapp and all, I get to hear this line once in a while.
Alhamdu lil Laah, I am grateful for that and I pray those people and I are both
loved most by the Owner of Love; al-Wadud, for His love is our greatest
yearning (note: I am not boasting about anything here to you, I am trying to
make a point. Definitely, I seek refuge in Allah from the desire of wanting to
please humans against His will for it is pointless anyway. May Allah azza wa jal
save us from that. Aameen.) The Prophet Muhammad suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam
tells us;
Verily, whenever Allah loves a servant of His, He calls
Jibril and says, "O Jibril, verily I love so-and-so, so love him.'' Thus,
Jibril will love him. Then, he (Jibril) will call out to the dwellers of the
heavens, "Verily, Allah loves so-and-so, so you too must love him.'' Then
the dwellers of the heavens love him and he will be given acceptance in the
earth. Whenever Allah hates a servant of His, He calls Jibril and says, "O
Jibril, verily I hate so-and-so, so hate him.'' Thus, Jibril will hate him.
Then, he (Jibril) will call out amongst the dwellers of the heavens,
"Verily, Allah hates so-and-so, so you too must hate him.'' Then the
dwellers of the heavens hate him and hatred for him will be placed in the
earth.
Al-Bukhari and
Muslim
So we see that Allah’s love is the ultimate. May we be
among the most beloveds of Allah and may He save us from His wrath. Aameen. As
Muslims, we love one another as a ‘means’ of attaining Allah’s love.
If you are a Muslim and you do not see yourself loving
your fellow Muslims (brothers and sisters together) for Allah’s sake and all
that you feel in your heart for them is contempt, then we have a problem. A
problem we must work on quickly.
Rasuulullaahi suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam told his
companions about a man who was destined for Jannah. One of the sahaaba
(companions) made it a point to find out what things the man did to earn him
such a status (and the sahaaba were like that, striving to be at the forefront
in serving Allah). Soon he found out to his surprise that the man did nothing
unique but rather whenever he was going to bed, he would make sure that he bore
no grudges against any one. Are you thinking? Could you say with certainty that
you bear no grudges with other people especially our fellow Muslims?
It does not mean
your ‘lovers’ are flawless
No one is perfect! That is a fact that you and I cannot
change. As someone will put it;
‘Perfection ended
with rasuulullaah.’
We are humans and we are bound to have problems and
disagreements with one another; even with our fellow Muslims. We would not
admire one another always, sometimes not at all. We will forever have different
opinions on some issues and our understandings about certain matters will
forever remain different. That is how we were made to be.
What I believe however is that; the moment we are
Muslims, our differences notwithstanding, and no matter how a big deal we think
those differences are; we could still love one another for Allah’s sake solely.
This is because our grudges against one another could never be greater than the
shahada and the other pillars of Islam that bind us together as Muslims.
So there is this general love that we feel for one
another for the sake of Allah azza wa jal purely because of the mere fact that
we are Muslims all together. May Allah azza wa jal keep us on this beauty,
deen. Aameen. It is also true that some Muslims win yet another stage of our
exceptional love for Allah’s sake by their piety and religious attachment to
Allah. These Muslims exhibit in them some light that is seen by the eyes (the
hearts have eyes too…and that is the real eye) of their beholder. Yesterday, an
office colleague asked me about a certain woman who had come to a program we
organised for some Muslim women. After giving me the description of the woman,
I found her out and told him whom she was. One of the awesome, strong, humble,
down-to-earth, Allah inclined, motherly Muslim women in our country. And this
is an older man with his wife and children and all that he is interested in is
to have some form of relationship with this woman, halal of course. To be to
him like a mother even; and I am just so sure, she could be so and more. He
fell in love with her for the sake of Allah. He saw her nuur…that is how I
would put it. Now imagine this;
Yahya related to me from Malik from Abu Hazim ibn Dinar
that Abu Idris al-Khawlani said, "I entered the Damascus mosque and there
was a young man with a beautiful mouth and white teeth sitting with some
people. When they disagreed about something, they referred it to him and
proceeded from his statement. I inquired about him, and it was said, 'This is
Muadh ibn Jabal.' The next day I went to the noon-prayer, and I found that he
had preceded me to the noon prayer and I found him praying."
Abu Idris continued, "I waited for him until he
had finished the prayer. Then I came to him from in front of him and greeted
him and said, 'By Allah! I love you for Allah!' He said, 'By Allah?' I said,
'By Allah.' He said, 'By Allah?' I said, 'By Allah.' He said, 'By Allah?' I
said, 'By Allah.' "
He continued, "He took me by the upper part of my
cloak and pulled me to him and said, 'Rejoice! I heard the Messenger of Allah,
may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say, "Allah, the Blessed and
Exalted, said, 'My love is obliged for those who love each other in Me, and
those who sit with each other in Me, and those who visit each other in Me, and
those who give to each other generously in Me."
Source: The Muwatta
of Imam Malik
From this hadith, we must learn a thousand and one
things.
1.
The narrator had just
observed from a distance a man showing signs of real intelligence of the deen.
The fact that he was young and those learning will constantly refer to him for
clarification was impressive enough and he had met him nowhere else than in the
Masjid.
2.
He went ahead to
make enquiries only to find out that he was one of the companions of rasuulullaahi
suallal Laahu alayhi wa sallam.
3.
So then he wanted
to prove his love for him and he had gone to meet him in the Masjid to confess
this love that was pure and genuine and for no worldly benefit but fiisabi
lillaah.
4.
He confessed his
love and then Muadh ibn Jabal radiyallaahu anhu wanted to know whether he was
sure that it was for nothing but Allah.
5.
After he was
assured that this man loved him solely for the sake of Allah azza wa jal, he
went ahead to give him one of the best of news.
Those are self-explanatory enough. Now the questions:
1.
Will we not love
that Allah loves us for the mere fact that we love each other truly for His sake as brothers and sisters in
Islam, that we sit with one another, visit one another and help one another
solely for His sake and not for any other worldly benefit?
2.
What kind of people
do we love and for what reason do we love them? Do we love people because they
are like Muadh ibn Jabal radiyallaahu anhu? Do we love people because they are
movie stars, politicians, wealthy people, royalty or what?
3.
Could we really say
with certainty that we have even a single person we love solely for the sake of
Allah? Well, a scholar said; ‘To say you are sincere is a sign of insincerity.’
But in this case, let us all search our hearts and ask this question again and
again to ourselves only then try to find answers.
4.
Do our Muslim
brothers and sisters who love us do so for the sake of Allah? Could we ask a
couple of them in order to be sure their love for us is for His sake just like
the sahaabi did? I just asked someone and she said yes. Maa shaa Allah.
For me, that is what ahaadith such as this should do to
our minds…set it working. We should not just throw them aside because we cannot
trade Allah’s love for anything imaginable and unimaginable. Now, the hadith I
read is;
Rasuulullaah said: “Among Allah’s servants are people
who are neither Prophets nor martyrs, but whom the Prophets and martyrs will
deem fortunate because of their high status with Allah.”
They asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Inform us of who
they are.”
He said: “They are people who loved each other for
Allah’s sake, without being related to one another or being tied to one another
by the exchange of wealth. By Allah, their faces will be luminous and they will
be upon light. They will feel no fear when the people will be feeling fear and
they will feel no grief when the people will be grieving.”
Then he read the verse: “Behold, on the friends of
Allah there shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.”
Sunan Abi Dawud
Now, you and I should be envious of such a state enough
to love our brothers and sisters solely for Allah’s sake truly. For indeed, if
our love for one another was truly for His sake, He says that He does not
renege on His promise! Are we going to be able to do that? Are you going to be
able to do that? Well, remember always that I love you for Allah’s sake solely
and I pray I get this nuur and high status with you on the D-Day. Aameen.
Jazaakumullaahu
khair always!
Assalaamu alaykum!
www.mmahajia.blogspot.com for my
articles
www.rubabawords.blogspot.com for
my poetry
Rubaba
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