Knowledge, da'wah and jihad - How?

[Consider]

By Sheikh Salman Ibn Fahd Al 'Awdah - Hafidhahullaah

A question is often asked,

'How can one manage his time between seeking
knowledge, working for Da'wah and Jihad? Where
should one start?'

It seems a troubling issue suffered by many young
men knocking the doors of Da'wah whilst being
surrounded by others calling for seeking knowledge
or for Jihad.

But why should one consider Islam as separate
issues and then use them one against the other!

Why don't we follow the good example of the earlier
Muslim generation?

One would perform the Fajr prayers with the Prophet
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) then join a study
circle which would go on till sun rise and then
proceed to earn his living. Later on in the day you
would find him hosting a Bedouin to teach him the
fundamentals of Islam and should there be a call for
Jihad you would find him in the forefront.

All of this constitutes Islam. All of this constitutes
Deen (a complete way of life) and there is no call to
separate those issues as all of them are divine
injunctions and requirements.

They had learnt that from the great teacher, Muhammad
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) who told them, "Convey
(my teachings) to others, be it a (single) statement."
[Bukhari]

So, a man would learn a Surah from the Qur'an, then
would go and teach it to his family, the neighbours
and then, may be to the rest of his tribe.

He realised, if he is to see the fruit of his efforts,
having learnt a chapter in the day time he is to stand
the night (or part of it) in prayers reciting what he
has learnt and later on implementing it to the best of
his capabilities.

He didn't see any contradiction between this and him
working to earn his living, which is essential to his
life.

One's life was a continuous harmony of balanced
events, interconnected without double standards or
contradictions.

This is not to say that you wouldn't find one of them
(the companions) who excelled in a particular field
which could have possibly resulted in him lacking in
some other duties, as for example was the case with
Khalid bin Al-Waleed (radhiAllaahu 'anhu) who is
reported to admittedly saying, "Jihad has kept me
away from (learning) Qur'an."

There are however, some prerequisites to be adhered
to if someone for example is to preach, he is not
to preach ignorance and he must preach what he has
learnt of Allah's (subhaanu wa ta'ala) Deen, Islam.

Also, a person who fights for the sake of Allah should
not do so unless he has learnt the necessary rules
concerning Jihad. He should know who he is to fight?
Why he is to fight? How he is to fight?

They (the companions) did not find in the above issues
contradictions or objections, to the contrary those
issues as a whole formed the particulars of their
active life.

This is why when Jibreel ('alaihis-salaam) came to
the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) - in
the form of a man - asking him about Islam, Iman and
Ihsaan, the Messenger (sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam)
having answered him, then informed them (companions)
that that was Jibreel ('alaihis-salaam) who came to
teach them their religion, as all that represented
Deen and obedience to Allah (subhaanu wa ta'ala).

It is rather wrong for someone justifying to himself
his lacking in doing good, using this excuse or that.
If you didn't have the opportunity to do an intended
task, then the least you can do is to abstain from
criticising and belittling others, who have embarked
on doing that same task.

Instead, you should be supportive, Helping with ideas,
gently advise or (at least) making Du'a for them.

Do not let Satan lead you astray by making you think
high of what you do and belittling the efforts of
others. You may find yourself looking down at someone
seeking knowledge about his Deen, because, you think,
he is engaged in unnecessary details, too busy to
find solutions to the society's ailments, too busy
to join in Jihad.

In another instance, you might find yourself looking
down at someone who is involved in Jihad because, in
your opinion, he has not done enough effort to learn
his religion.

Or you may find yourself looking down at someone
involved in youth activities preaching to them during
a trip or at the Masjid, looking down at him because,
you think, he is too busy to seek knowledge from the
learned scholars.

Surely all those in the above examples are good doers
and the activities and tasks they have embarked on are
something each one should strive to do and if someone
lacks the knowledge of the other, then they should be
complimentary to each other and be supportive to one
another as Allah (subhaanu wa ta'ala) enjoined on us,
for the Believers should be friendly with each other.

(This article, written by Sheikh Salmaan Al-'Awdah,
had been published in Arabic in the As-Siraat
Al-Mustaqeem Newsletter)

JIMAS
PO Box 24, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP3 8ED, UK
http://www.jimas.org

[M.H.Mubarak]

As-Salamu Alaikum,

Thankyou for sharing this post with us. Too often we assume others ought to be doing things according to our time and our perception of things. The world doesn't work like that. If each of us took the time to listen and observe what others are saying and doing, and reflect on them for a moment before we react or form a quick judgement, there would be less misunderstandings and more cooperation amongst people.

[GenN]

Assalam alykum,

this is such an excellent article, one that all the differnet groups working for the revival of the ummah could learn from, and unite upon, continue to work in theri own field with their own group, but support the other groups working in other fields or even other groups working in the same field, instead of criticising each other,

groups like charity groups
jihad groups
dawa groups
teaching organisations
Islamic media organisations
islamic history and scientifc research groups

and so on

[Huja Usman]

Originally posted by GenN
Assalam alykum,

this is such an excellent article, and so on

Me too. very good

[AbuMubarak]

They had learnt that from the great teacher, Muhammad
(sallallaahu 'alaihi wa sallam) who told them, "Convey
(my teachings) to others, be it a (single) statement."
[Bukhari]

So, a man would learn a Surah from the Qur'an, then
would go and teach it to his family, the neighbours
and then, may be to the rest of his tribe.

http://www.jimas.org (http://www.jimas.org)

so much for those who say you cant teach islam unless you are a sheikh or a student of knowledge

sometimes we make islam so difficult
sometimes we are our own worse enemies

[GenN]

so much for those who say you cant teach islam unless you are a sheikh or a student of knowledge

sometimes we make islam so difficult
sometimes we are our own worse enemies
Anyone can teach the little bit of islam they know to anyone else. I dont know who says you can't teach islam unless you a scholar. Yes there are many things which are in the realms of scholars and students of knowledge but as we are all doing here at ummah we can share knowledge.

however the key concept of "historical context" needs also to be understood.

[AbuMubarak]

teach what you know

dont teach what you dont know

plain and simple

[AL-FIRDAUS]

Are the Interests of the Da’wa Decided Using the Mind or the Shari’ah?
02 Aug 2005


Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Raheem

Many of the sons of the Muslim Ummah, from amongst those who are called Islamic thinkers or those who are involved in Islamic work, when they find that their methods, means and styles for change, and the programs, goals and objectives they aspire to, contradict the Islamic ‘Aqeeda or its Ahkam Shar’iah (legislation), they choose what they deem is the “most important”, claiming that the interests of the Da’wa necessitate this. One instance made me particularly upset, where one of the more prominent and involved people in Islamic work, even seen as a representative of the work, and while standing on the Mimbar (podium) of the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, he said:

“Regardless of whether it is Halal or Haram, our involvement in the legislative elections and our entering the Legislative Assembly is in our interests”. And another statement, from another place but in the same type of event, it was said: “Let us put the Ahkam Shar’iee (Islamic Legislation) aside, and look at the benefits the elections will achieve for our nation”, as well as many other statements that carry these same messages and more. We are not as concerned with the wording of these statements as much as we are concerned with the meanings and concepts that are being spread through them.

If we look closely at these, and similar, words and statements, we find that they built them on one fundamental concept they carry, which is that the interests of the Da’wa are decided using the mind, and not the Shari’ah. In other words, the arbitrator that determines the benefit or harm is what their minds conclude, and not what Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, and His Messenger, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, decree. And regardless of whether their statements agree or disagree with the Qur’an and Sunnah, the final say in determining the interests of the Da’wa is the mind and not the Shari’ah.

The intellectual basis from which legislation emanates and upon which thoughts are built, for them, is the mind and not the Islamic ‘Aqeeda, where they are Muslims who carry the Islamic ‘Aqeeda, but they stopped using it beyond spiritual slogans and a few Fiqhi laws, and did not establish the Islamic ‘Aqeeda the way Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, established it as an intellectual basis from which all legislation and solutions emanate, and upon which all man’s thoughts that exist, or could even possibly exist, are built.

Returning to the subject of the interests of the Da’wa, and whether they are decided using the mind of the Shari’ah, there are two relevant examples that took place during the life of the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam. The first example is what came to us in the Tafseer of Ibn Katheer regarding the Ayah “And do not send away those who call on their Lord, morning and evening, seeking His countenance.” [Al-An’aam:52], where Ibn Abi Haatim said:

“Ibn Sa’eed bin Yahya bin Sa’eed Al-Qattan narrated that…Khabab said regarding this verse “And do not send away those…” that Al-Aqra’ bin Haabis and ‘Uyayna bin Hisn came and found the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu ‘alayhi waslallam, with Suhayb, Bilal, ‘Ammar and Khabab, sitting with the weak from amongst the Believers, and when they saw them sitting around the Messenger, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, they saw them to be inferior.

They then took him (the Prophet) aside and said to him: “We would like you to make a special time to sit with us, letting the Arabs know our honor and status, for the Arab delegations come to you and we are embarrassed to be sitting with these slaves, so if we come to you, ask them to stand up, and when we finish with you, then sit with them if you wish.” He replied “Yes.” They said: “Write a letter for us”, so he, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, called Ali, radhiAllahu ‘anhu, to write for him. Jibril then came down to him and revealed the verse “And do not send away those who call on their Lord”, so he threw away the paper from his hand and called us and we came to him”.

The second example is what was narrated by Al-Haakim in his Sahih, on the authority of Ali bin ‘Isa Al-Hiyriee…from Sa’eed bin Yahya from his father, regarding the Ayah of Allah “He (the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam) frowned and turned away, because the blind man came to him” [‘Abasa:1-2], where he said: “This is what we read to Hisham bin ‘Urwah from ‘Aisha, where she said: “(This verse) was revealed regarding Ibn Umm Maktoom, the blind man, when he came to the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, saying “Oh Messenger of Allah, teach me”, but the Messenger of Allah had some of the most powerful men of Quraysh in his company, and continued discussing with them and turning away from the blind man. In this matter, the verse “He frowned and turned away” was revealed.”

In the first example, we notice that the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, was keen on protecting the Iman of the powerful people of Quraysh, for what strength their Iman would add to the strength of Islam and the Da’wa. He, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, saw that the interests of the Da’wa required that he give the leaders of Quraysh a special time to sit with them that is separate from the time he sits with the weak and poor of the Muslims.

In the second example, the Prophet’s turned away from Ibn Umm Maktoom, who came to seek knowledge from him. But Ibn Umm Maktoom was already a Muslim, so the Prophet’s, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, turning away from him was not out of arrogance or belittling him, rather it was out of trust in the safety of his Iman that he already had, so the Messenger of Allah saw that focusing on the disbelievers of Quraysh was far more important to the interests of the Da’wa.

There were many situations which presented themselves to the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, and he would not respond to them, waiting for the Wahi (revelation) to inform him of the Hukum (ruling) of Allah from above seven skies. Here, in the situation of Ibn Umm Maktoom, the Hukum of Islam is that it was Fard (obligation) upon the Messenger of Allah to give Da’wa to whomever he could, and the he tried to give Da’wa to the leaders of Quraysh, which is a Fard.

When Ibn Umm Maktoom came to him and wasn’t given his rightful attention, due to the Prophet’s seeking the conversion and Islam of the influential of Quraysh, even though it was also a Fard upon him. But the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, saw that teaching him was less of a priority, even though the highest priority was to teach Ibn Umm Maktoom, since he was seeking knowledge. In this situation, the Prophet, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, chose the lower priority over the higher priority, and was rebuked by Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, for not choosing the highest priority.

If this is the result of choosing the wrong priority from amongst two clear obligations, then how much worse do you think is using the mind to legislate in matters of the Da’wa?

And in the example of Al-Aqra’ bin Haabis and ‘Uyayna bin Hisn, the Messenger of Allah, sallAllahu ‘alayhi wasallam, decided to set a specific time to sit with them, and another time to sit with the weak from amongst the Muslims, which is a certain form of organizing people. But the Divine Command came down to clarify the nature of this type of organizing to be sending away those who call on their Lord morning and evening, even if this organizing is for the sake of helping guide the influential amongst the people.

Based on the above, it is clear that the interests of the Da’wa are decided by the Ahkam Shar’iee (Islamic legislation), and does not fall under the judgment of the human mind. Equally, judging the obligations or recommended actions must also be based on the Shar’i (Qur’an and Sunnah) and nothing else.

In conclusion, the Muslims – their scholars, their thinkers, their leaders, and their general public – must understand this Divine truth. They must make all their actions, statements, and behavior, as well as programs, goals, and objectives guided by the Ahkam of Allah, His commands and His prohibitions, and not guided by their limited minds, so that they may earn the honour of this life and success in the Afterlife.

We ask Allah that He makes us amongst those who listen to what is said, and follow the best in it.

And the last of our words is Alhamdulillahi Rabb Al-‘Aalameen.

Source: KCom Journal