Friday Nasiha

Living The Quran

Al-Qasas (The Story)
Chapter 28: Verses 23-24 (Partial)

Helping Others
"And when he arrived at the watering (place) in Madyan, he found there a group of men watering (their flocks), and besides them he found two women who were keeping back (their flocks). He said: "What is the matter with you?" They said: "We cannot water (our flocks) until the shepherds take back (their flocks): And our father is a very old man." So he watered (their flocks) for them."

We have in Moses (peace be upon him) prophetic example of helping others. When he arrived at the wells of Midian, he found the men folk busy providing water for their flocks. He also saw two young women waiting at a distance with their sheep, unable to approach the wells.

Moses (peace be upon him) was appalled by this situation. The above verses of the Qur’an relate the incident.

What was it than made Moses take such offence at this situation? It was his upright character that made him concerned for the rights of the weak. Those who are weak and vulnerable should be cared for and given priority. They should not be sidelined and neglected. His immediate response was to help them. His courageous, noble, and generous nature would allow for nothing else.

We are right to be impressed when we consider Moses’s circumstances. He was a man on the run, far away from his home where he had the status of a wanted criminal. He was among strange people, none of whom he knew, and he had no provisions even for himself. He had enough problems of his own to worry about. Nevertheless, it went against his nature to stand by and see such helpless people being neglected.

Allah chose people with big hearts to entrust with His Message; people who were naturally inclined to help others. It takes such people to shoulder the burden of guiding others from the darkness into the light. Only those with compassion, mercy, and a gentle disposition can carry out such a task.

This truth is evident from the lives of the Prophets. Those who wish to be the inheritors of the Prophets should keep it in mind. The more we reflect the character of the Prophets in our own conduct, the more successful we will be in carrying out their mission. Scholars and Islamic workers need to have a strong social consciousness. They need to be people others can turn to in need. They need to be able to address the problems of society with understanding and compassion.

If our social consciousness is not fully awakened, our success in calling others to Allah’s Message will be limited. Our efforts might even yield negative results.

Compiled From:
"Calling to Allah by Helping Others" - `Abd al-Wahhâb al-Turayrî

Understanding The Prophet's Life

Rejuvenating the Elderly

The Prophet's (peace be upon him) teachings establish a high regard and respect for the elderly and rejuvenate in them feelings of hope and vigour during the sunset of their lives. Anas reported that the Prophet said: "If a young man supports an old man because of his old age, God will definitely assign people who will respect him when he is old" [Tirmidhi]. In fact, the Prophet of mercy went one step further and joined the respect of such people with the worship of God Himself by saying "it is part of venerating God to respect the elderly Muslim" [Abu Dawud].

He once related that "the Angel Gabriel commanded me to give priority to the elderly. he taught that 'when serving food and (at) ceremonies, the old must be taken care of first.' He said: "Start with the elderly'" [Abu Yala].

The merciful Prophet's regard and respect for the elderly went beyond the boundaries of religion. On the day of Victory of Makkah when the Prophet entered the sacred mosque, Abu Bakr brought his elderly polytheistic father to meet the Prophet of mercy. When he saw his companion's elderly father, he asked Abu Bakr: "Why didn't you leave him at home? I would have gone to him" [Ibn Kathir].

Compiled From:
"Mercy: Prophet Muhammad's Legacy To All Creation" - Ibrahim H. Malabari, pp. 48-50

Blindspot!

Reservations on Democracy

Some Islamists still have their reservations on democracy, and are even wary of the word "democracy” itself.

What I wish to stress here is that Islam is not democracy and democracy is not Islam and that I would rather that Islam is not attributed to any principle or system. Islam is unique in its means, ends and methodologies, and I do not wish that Western democracy be carried over to us with its bad ideologies and values without us adding to it from our values and ideologies in order to integrate it into our comprehensive system.

However, the tools and guaranties created by democracy are as close as can ever be to the realization of the political principles brought to this earth by Islam to put a leash on the ambitions and whims of rulers.  These principles are: shura [consultation], good advice, enjoining what is proper and forbidding what is evil, disobeying illegal orders, resisting unbelief and changing wrong by force whenever possible. It is only in democracy and political freedom that the power of Parliament is evident and that people's deputies can withdraw confidence from any government that breaches the Constitution, and it is only in such an environment that the strength of free Press, free Parliament, opposition and the masses is most felt.

The fears of some people here that democracy makes the people a source of power and even legislation (although legislation is Allah's alone) should not be heeded here, because we are supposed to be speaking of a people that is Muslim in its majority and has accepted Allah as its Lord, Mohammad as its Prophet and Islam as its Religion. Such a people would not be expected to pass a legislation that contradicts Islam and its incontestable principles and conclusive rules.

Anyway, these fears can be overcome by one article stipulating that any legislation contradicting the incontestable provisions of Islam shall be null and void because Islam is the religion of the State and the source of legitimacy of all its institutions and therefore may not be contradicted, as a branch may not run against the main stream.

It should be known that the acceptance of the principle that legislation or rule belong to Allah does not rob the Nation of its right to seek for itself the codes necessary to regulate its ever-changing life and earthly affairs.

What we seek is that legislations and codes be within the limits of the flawless texts and the overall objectives of Shariah and the Islamic Message. The binding texts are very few, while the area of "permissibility" or legislative free space is quite wide and the texts themselves are as flexible and capacious as to accommodate more than one understanding and accept more than one interpretation, which leads to the existence of several schools and philosophies within the expansive framework of Islam.

Compiled From:
"Priorities of The Islamic Movement in the Coming Phase" - Yusuf Al-Qaradawi