kundey-reality or myth?

8/12/2019 kundey-Reality or Myth?

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KundeyReality or Myth?

When trying to understand the custom of Kundey, I felt there was a lack of English

resources on this topic. Much of the material available on the net is in Urdu or is

explained in a way which I felt wasnt very accessible. All praise is due to Allah, I

speak and understand Urdu and so was able to understand this topic. I believe Ihave a responsibility to convey this to others who may not know Urdu and are also in

search of the truth, so at least on the Day of Judgment I can say to Allah that I tried.

I write this intending good for my brothers and sisters and the reward from Allah.

I have compiled this using predominantly the Quran and hadeeth because these are

our sources of guidance. Much of it is based on a brochure written in English Urdu

by Dr. Syed Shafeeq-Ur-Rahman. I have then added narrations from the

companions of the prophet Muhammad where relevant because their interpretation

of verses and hadeeth were and are undoubtedly more accurate than our own. Asearch was done in Google and then the key arguments for Kundey were explored

in comparison to authentic Islamic teachings.

Every effort has been made to provide a comprehensive yet concise treatise on this

topic so that a reader of any level, from the most basic to the more advanced, can

read, understand and benefit from this if Allah wills (inshaa Allah). You may share

this with your family and friends and on your own blogs and sites.

May Allah accept this effort and may you all benefit from this knowledge, ameen.

Your Sister Amber

Updated 23.3.14


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1. The Tricks of Shaitan

Our real enemy is, always has been and always will be Shaitan. When he was

banished from Heaven due to his arrogance and pride, he said to Allah that he

would

{...lie in wait against them (human beings) on Your (Allahs) straight path.

Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right

and from their left...} (Surah Al-Araf, 8:12-18)

To this Allah said

{Get out from this (paradise), disgraced and expelled. Whoever of them will

follow you, then surely, I will fill Hell with you all.} (Surah Al-Araf, 8:12-18)

The true believers will however strive against Shaitan

{Verily, my slaves (i.e. the true believers in Islamic monotheism) - you have

no authority over them. And All-Sufficient is your Lord as a Guardian} (Surah

Al-Isra, 17:65)

One of his greatest tricks is to misguide people in their basic beliefs, or Aqeedah. A

condition for our deeds to be accepted is for us to have a sound Aqeedah thus for it

to be corrupted gives shaitan pleasure. If polytheism, or shirk, enter into our beliefs

then our deeds wont be accepted and they will go to waste

{Say [O Muhammad to the polytheists]: Do you order me to worship other

than Allah? O you fools! And indeed it has been revealed to you [O

Muhammad], as it was to those (Allahs messengers) before you: If you join

others in worship with Allah, (then) surely , (all) your deeds will be in vain,

and you will certainly be among the losers. Nay! But worship Allah (Alone

and none else), and be among the grateful.}(Surah Az-Zumar, 39: 64-66)

Narrated Abdullah: The prophet said one statement and I said another. Theprophet said: whoever dies while still invoking anything other than Allah as a

rival to Allah, will enter Hell (fire).And I said, Whoever dies without invoking

anything as a rival to Allah, will enter paradise.(Sahih Bukhari, 6/4497).


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2. Understanding Islam and Worship

Whilst no Muslim would deny following the Quran and Sunnah, what we find is

verses and hadeeth interpreted by laymen, but is this how we should be

understanding our religion?

{This day I have perfected for you your Religion and completed My Favour

upon you and chosen for you Islaam as your Religion} (Surah Al-Maa`idah,

5:3)

The classic scholar Ibn Kathir states that this verse

...is the biggest favor from Allah to this Ummah, for He has completed their

religion for them, and they, thus, do not need any other religion or any other

Prophet except Muhammad... Therefore, the permissible is what he allows,

the impermissible is what he prohibits, the Law is what he legislates and

everything that he conveys is true and authentic and does not contain lies or

contradictions. (Ibn Kathir, 2006)

So we see that Islam has been perfected. A hundred years later to bring into

existence an occasion called Kundey and associate it with Islam indicates that such

a person believes Allah has lied to us, and surely this is an evil assumption,

oudbillah.

Being a Muslim entails the belief in what the prophet Muhammad informed us about

in the famous hadith of Jibreel which begins with a key component of Islam

Jibreel said: Oh, Muhammad! Tell me about Islaam. The Messenger of

Allaah replied: Islaam is:

1. To testify that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaahand

that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allaah (i.e. that Allaah sent him to

convey His Religion to mankind).

2. To establish prayer (i.e. to implement prayer with all its pillars, with repose

and humility).

3. To pay zakaah. (If a Muslim owns more than 85 gms. of gold or its

equivalent in money, he must pay 2.5% of it after one year. Other forms of

wealth and property have their own set amounts to be paid upon them).

4. To fast the month of Ramadhaan (i.e. to abstain from food drink and

sexual relations and all manner of sins from dawn until dusk)

5. And to make pilgrimage (Hajj) to the House (of Allaah,

in Makkah) if you have the means to do so. (Narrated by Muslim)


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Allah created mankind with a very specific purpose. Allah says

{I created the jinn and mankind not, except to worship Me} (Surah Az-

Zaariyaat 51:56)

Here Allah is telling us to worship Him alone. We worship Allah how He

commanded us to and how His prophet commanded us to

{Oh, you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and do not render

vain your deeds} (Surah Muhammad 47:33)

{All praise and thanks be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds} (Surah Al-Fatihah

1:2)

If we believe that Allah is the Lord of the worlds, then it only leads to the fact

that our worship be directed exclusively to Him. This includes praying, fasting,

keeping vows, sacrificing etc

{And your Ilh (God) is One Ilh (God - Allh), L ilha illa Huwa (there is

none who has the right to be worshipped but He), the Most Gracious, the

Most Merciful.} (Surah Fatiha, 2:163)

You may be held back from accepting the truth about Kundey because you belong to

a sect or group and Kundey is a part of those sects beliefs. If this is the case then

reflect for one moment on what Allah says about those who dont follow the truth only

because their forefathers or scholars or imams had a different belief

{And when it is said to them, "Follow what Allah has revealed," they say,

"Rather, we will follow that which we found our fathers doing." Even though

their fathers understood nothing, nor were they guided?} (Surah Baqarah,

2:170)

{And similarly, We did not send before you any warner into a city except that

its affluent said, "Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are, in

their footsteps, following." [Each warner] said, "Even if I brought you better

guidance than that [religion] upon which you found your fathers?" They said,

"Indeed we, in that with which you were sent, are disbelievers." So we took

retribution from them; then see how was the end of the deniers.} (Surah Az-

Zukhruf, 43:23-25)


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Here Allah reveals to us that there was a nation who was called to monotheism but

they rejected it only because their forefathers, relatives etc believed in something

else so they rejected the truth. The result was that they were punished.

Allah then reminds the believers that we are responsible for ourselves which

includes learning about Islam

{O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves.Thosewho have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To

Allah is you return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to

do.} (Surah A-Maida, 5:105)

3. The Story of Kundey

Every Rajab sweet food is prepared in the name of Jafar As Saddiq, may Allah be

pleased with him. This is mainly celebrated in the Indo-Pak region. On the 22nd

Rajab sweet rice pudding is made and then put into a bowl made of mud/clay which

is called a Kunda in urdu. Then the name of Jafar As Saddiq is invoked upon the

food. Then guests are invited and all eat the food together.

Those who celebrate this cite the story not of the prophet and neither his sahaba,

rather of a poor woodcutter. The story goes that a wood cutters wife heard Jafar AsSaddiq in Madinah say that whoever prepares food in his name on the 22ndRajab,

their prayers or dua will be fulfilled by Allah and if their prayers are still not fulfilled,

then they can grab his shawl on the Day of Judgment. The wife related this to her

husband who then did kundey and returned to his wife with lots of money. He built a

glorious mansion in which he began living. Its said that there was a ministers wife at

the time who didnt believe in kundey and as a consequence her husband lost his

job. She then began doing kundey and her husband got his job back. Since then, the

ruler and his people began celebrating kundey with great jest(Shafeeq-ur-Rahmaan,

2012)

The extraordinary thing is that whilst this story is used to prove the practice of

kundey, it does not have any consistent reference or author for us to be able to know

if it is even a genuine story or not. As we established earlier, Islam is not based on

stories or peoples assumptions. Islam is based on the revelation of Allah, the way of

the prophet Muhammad and the understanding of the consensus of his companions,

peace be upon them. No Muslim would disagree or have a problem with this, then

why do some of us look elsewhere for guidance, hope and help?


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Not only this, but why is there no name of the minister or the woodcutter? Why is the

main character, the woodcutters wife, unknown and anonymous? If Islam was

based on unknown narrators, what would it look like!

4. The Beliefs Behind Kundey

Those who partake in kundey do so with a set of beliefs and assumptions. The

woodcutter story was only created to be a smokescreen for certain beliefs. Here we

shall see what these are and what Islam says about them.

1. Nazar (Arabic) / Niyaz (Persian) / Mannat (Urdu) (Ibn Ahmed Alhindi, 2011):

Those doing kundey predominantly believe in the concept of Vows which is

vowing to do something voluntarily such as giving money to charity or other forms

of Sadqa e Jaria (or khairat/ voluntary spending). There are two kinds of Vows:

Nazr-e-Muallaq and Nazr-e-Mubram (ibid). Nazr-e-Muallaq is vowing with a

condition (e.g. if you do this for me, I will do so and so for you). Nazr-e-Mubram is

vowing without a condition, like the wife of Imran said

{My Lord! Verily, I have vowed to You what is in my womb to be dedicated to

Your service}(Surah Al Imraan 3:35)

Thus we find people who have no children, are still single, want to improve theirsocio-economic situation and are in other problems making vows. Kundey

celebrators believe that by preparing food or spending in the name of Jafar As

Saddiq, he will be pleased with them and will help get rid of their problems or fulfil

their wishes.

Vows are mentioned four times in the Quran (see 3:35; 19:26; 22:29; 76:7-9). If

you read these verses carefully it will become clear to you that in each situation,

a vow was made to Allah alone, no one else.As such there is no evidence to

making vows for people, alive or dead.

2. Can Jafar As Saddiq get rid of our problems and/ or improve our situation?

{And call not upon other than Allaah, who can neither benefit nor harm you,

for if you did so, you would indeed be one of the wrong-doers}(Surah Yunus

10:106)

In our five times salah we read

{It is You Whom we worship and it is Your Aid we seek} (Surah Al-Fatihah 1:5)


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Accordingly the ones who make a vow to other than Allah are essentially seeking

someone elseshelp and aid even though Allah tells us

{And your Lord said: Call upon Me and I will answer you; verily, those who

scorn to worship Me, they will surely enter the Hell-fire in humiliation} (Surah

Ghaafir, 40:60)

Here Allah tells us to call upon Him. Calling upon Allah for help or to answer our

prayers is to make a Dua. Dua is a form of worship as we saw earlier. If dua is

worship, then to make a dua to other than Allah constitutes shirk because you are

giving a share of Allahs right to other than Him.

{Oh, you who believe! Fear Allaah and seek the means of approach to Him}

(Surah Al-Maa`idah, 5:35)

{And if Allaah seizes you with harm, none can remove it but He}

(Surah Al-Anaam, 6:17)

Its important to note that whilst seeking help from those who have died is not

acceptable in Islam, this doesnt mean we cant seek help from others at all. In

reference to those who are living, Allah says

{Help you one another in righteousness and piety} (Surah Al Maa`idah 5:2)

We can help one another if we are alive and able to do so otherwise there is no

evidence to seek help from those who have left this world.

3. Others believe Kundey based on miracles they have seen firsthand(Sunni Forum,

2008). However even Christians have claimed such miracles, does this mean they

are on the haqq? And why must the miracle be attributed to a person? Is it not

possible that Allah blessed you so that you may be grateful, and yet you thank Jafar

radiAllahuanho and others who themselves were grateful and pious servants of

Allah?

I end this article with a few more verses from the Quran which warn us of the

severity and seriousness of shirk.

{But if they had committed shirk, all that they used to do would have been of

no benefit to them} (Surah Al-Anaam 6:88)

{And those whom they invoke besides Allaah do not create anything, but are

themselves created.(They are) dead, lifeless and they know not when they will

be raised up} (Surah An-Nahl 16:20-21)


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{And whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him perform righteous deeds and

not associate none as a partner in the worship of his Lord} (Surah Al-Kahf

18:10)

References

Afroz (2013) 22 RAJAB KE KUNDO KI HAQIQATpage 1[Internet] Available

from:

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Ibn Ahmed Alhindi (2011) Nazr/Niyaz for Ahl albayt: Is this teaching of Ahl Albayt?

[Internet] Available from:

http://youpuncturedtheark.wordpress.com/2011/06/20/nazrniyaz-for-ahl-albayt-is-

this-teaching-of-ahl-albayt/.

Ibn Kathir (2006) Islam Has Been Perfected For Muslims [Internet] Available

from:http://mquran.org/content/view/6930/2/.

Ibn Taymiyyah (2007) An Introduction to the Principles of Tafseer. England:

Al-Hidaayah [Internet] Available from:http://IslamHouse.com/53016.

Md. Umair (2011) NAZAR-O-NIYAZ KA ISLAMI TASAWWUR (QUR'AN KI

ROSHNI ME) (Eng: Oaths and Vows from an Islamic Perspective (In Light of

the Quran)) [Internet] Available from:

http://islamicleaks.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/nazar-o-niyaz-ka-islami-tasawwur-

quran.html.

Meraforum (2012) Masla e Niyaz [Internet] Available from:

http://www.meraforum.com/archive/index.php/t-93307.html

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and Sunnah [Internet] Available from:http://abdurrahman.org/faith/takeurbeliefsfromquranandsunnah.pdf.

Rahman, S. Dr Shafeeq (2012) Rajab Ke Kunde [Internet] Available from:

https://code.google.com/p/qlrf/downloads/detail?name=Rajab+Ke+Kunde+-

+Pamphlet.pdf&can=2&q

Raising Islam (2011) Q & A: My friend says Nyaaz and Fateha are

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