the principles of teaching and calling to islam

8/4/2019 The Principles of Teaching and Calling to Islam

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DISCOURSESONISLAMIC WAY OF LIFE

BY


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Venue : Jame ' ~ a s j i d a it ul MukarramGulshan-e-Iqbal, Karachi.Date : 15th November, 1991

THE PRINCIPLESOFPREACHINGAND CALLINGTO

ISLAM

.+ ".:p, , 5,dlbg( U j ; b r , ,V ! d hY) - , Y 0 4x Praise belongs to A llah. We praise Him and ask


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20 D~scour\cs n Is lam~cWay Of Life ( V o l VIII \Dlscc~~l-scsn Isla~iilcWa! O f I . I ~Vol VIII)

Hiin for help. and we seek His forgiveness. Webelieve in Him and place our tl-ust in Him. A nd,we seek refuge in Him fi-om the m ischief of ourbase self and from our evil deeds. He whomAllah guides none can mislead and he whom Heleaves to stray none can guide. We bear witnessthat there is no god except Allah, the On e whoh a s n o p a r t n e r a n d w e b e a r w i t n e s s t h a tsayyid ina Muhammad I s His Servant andMessenger, may blessings of Allah be on him,his family and companions, and may He bestowfavours and peace a complete peace.I seek the protection of Allah from the cursedd e v i l . I n t h e N a m e o f A l l a h . t h eCompassionat, the Merciful.And t he be l i ev i ng m en and t he be l i ev i ng

ome n are friends of one another. They enjoint he r i gh t and fo rb i d t he wrong . and t heyestabl ish the Salal?. and pay the Zakah, andthey obey Allah and His Messenger. Those -Allah shal l ha\ e Inercy upon the m. SurelyAllah is Mighty, Wise. ( a t - [ a ~ h a h -71) 4I believe in Allah who has spoken the turth and Heis our Great P rotector. And. . His Messenge r and noble

Prophet has spoken the truth. too. And we bear witness tothat, and we are than kli~ l. raise belongs to Allah Lold o fthc orlds.

-Stages enjoining the Rightand forbidding tile Wrong

'I 'his verse of tht. ~ u r ' a n eals wilh 'enjoining what-i k right and for hid din^ \ \ ha t is wrong: In describing the.lunlitl .,f f l is p~ ou s laves. \It:!h say. that ?h e\ hid othzr---

people to do is good and forbid them to do what is bad orev i l . The ve rb i n t he ve r s e . ( anzas t e t r a ) m eans ' t ocomm and ' . 'to b id ' whi le the noun (ma ;-zf) means ' theright', 'piety'. 'goo d'. The verb (nahi) meh ils 'to forbid'and the noun X. (i;l~tlnkar) eans 'evil'. The jurists contendt ha t j u s t a s i t is 4$ ( o b li g a to r y ) on e v e r y M u s l i ~ n oobserve Fast and offer Salat, so also it is cp;(obligatory)to stop anyone who d oes something evil according to hisability telling him that what he does is sinful. Generally,peop l e know t ha t ' t o en j o i n r i gh t and fo rb i d ev i l ' i sobligatory but the y d o not kn ow when it is ,;(obligatoruv)and wh en i t is not . The resu l t i s that many p eople areneglectful of this duty. Such a man sees his wife, childrenGd -fG end s indulge in unlawful activities but he does notfeel inclined to forbid them from d oing evil; he observes-- "...them defer their du ties but he does not bid them to fulfiltheir obligations. On the other hand, there a re some peoplew h o i n t e r p r e t t h i s v e r s e ' t o th e l e t t e r ' a n d o c c u p yt hem s e l ves f rom m orn i ng t o even i ng in ba r i ng o t he rpeo ple fro111 differe nt ac tivities. In thi s way, p eop le go tothe extremi. in o bserving this verse because they have notunder s t ood i t we l l . There fo re , l e t u s go t h rough t heexplanation o f this verse.

LTwo approaches in Preaching andCalling Individually and C ollectively

The first thing that we must know is that there aretwo w ays in which anyone may preach and call others toIslam. (i) The individual way is to convey the m essage toan individual. For instance? if anyone sees another persondo i ng an ev i l deed o r d i s r ega rd i ng an ob l i ga t i on t henasking him to give up the evil or meet his obligation is theindividua l preaching and calling 'to Islam'.


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D ~ > c o u ~ . s c \ n Islanl~cM a\ 0 1 ' I . ~ lk V o I V I I I ) 3 0 3 1 I ) ~ s c o ~ i ~ \ c . sn Islo~ i i~c . n\ Of 1.1li' Vol VIII)

(ii) The 'Cllective preaching and calling to Islam."Tl i is i s achieved when anyone del ivers a sermon to a

-a- '..group of people. or teaches tlieiii. or intends to visit otherpeople and tell them about religion with no other purposein min d. This las t i s also done by the nienlbers of theTabl igl~iams bt \vlien they visit otlier people's hom es ando f f i c e s t o c o n b e y t o t h e m r e l i g i o u s i d e a s. T h i s i s'c ol le ct iv e pon me T h e r u l e s f o r b o t h t h e s eapproaches differ as also their etiquettes.Th e Collective method isalso a Fnrd KiynyalzThe 'collective propag ation' is not an individual dutyCfad& but it is a far d kEfayah (collective duty). Thus, itis not incumbent on every Muslim to go to other peopleand deliver a serm on, or to visit them and preach bacausethis is a fa rd kIfaayah which means that if a few peopledischarge that du ty the remaining are absolved o f it, but, if110 one does it then all the people are being sinhl. Takethe fun eral prayer. I t i s not the responsibi l i ty of everyinciividual to join, it; if he does, he will be rewarded but iflie does not then he will not be a sinner provided somepeop le a re o f fe r ing i t . I f no one o f fe rs i t t hen everyMuslim there will have committed a sin. This is known asfur d kifayah (a collective obligation). In the sam e mannerthe collective preaching and calling to Islam ' is a far dk!/n)ia h .Individual Propagation is alsoAn Individual Obligation

The 'individual preaching and calling to Islam ' isw h a t a n y o n e d o e s w h e n h e s e e s a n ot h e r p e r so n d osomething wrong or overlooks a duty: to the best of his

ability he stops that person from doing \vrong. or makeshirn fulfil h is ob liga tion . It is not a .fa rd kifairllah but i t is afa rdhyn . I t implies tliat one does not leave it fiw otherpeople to do it . or imagine tliat a preaclier or a me mber oft h e T ob li gh i J a n ~ at will do i t It is nil ohligatuion oneve ry in dividu al M usliln tliat mu st per101.m and is ktio\vnasfa]-d~ " v M .To Enjoin Right and Forbid Wron g Is ~ c r r d ~ ~ ~

Allah has described tlie pious people in many verseso f tlie ~ u r ' a n . e sa ys . ; a i l , a+ 3i+ a 4 [They bid whatis right and forbid \?illat is wrol~gf Thus this beliaviour isa duty on every individual. Today, we do not even knowt l ia t i t is an ob l iga t ion . W e see our ch i ld ren . fam i lymembers, acquaintances do wrong but we do not care towarn them or feel within ourselves tliat we must reproachthem, this is a continuous dereliction of duty. a perpetualnegligence in fulfill ing an obligation. Just as a M uslil~ i so b l i g e d t o o b s e r v e S a l a t f i v e ti m e s a d a y , F a s t in t h emonth of Ram adan, pay zakah and perform HUJJ. so too ishis duty to elisjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong.We mus t. . t herefo re , rea l i se i t s s ign i f i cance before w eproceed. If anyone is pious all his life, never missing aS a l a t o r a F a s t a n d p a y s i a k a h r e g ul a r ly a n d p e r f or n isHajj and he never co~ilniits grave sin at any time yet hehas omitted to enjoin the right and forbid tlie wrong andnever thought ofbkeepingotlier people away from doingevil then. in spite of his personal piety, h e will be called toaccoun t in the Hereaf t e r . He wi l l have to exp la in whatef fo r t s he under took to s to p the ev i l be ing com ni i t tedbefo re h i s eyes . Therefo re , i t i s no t eno ugh to re fo rmoneself but i t is necessary to worry about correcting otherpeople.


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t When doeslB idding the Right andforbidding the Wrong' becom e Obligatory?We m us t I -e lncmber tha t t here a re two k inds o fw o r s h i p : t h e f a r d o r w a j i b ( a b s o l u t e o b l i g a t o r y o robl igatory) and Szlr~i~ahr Mzlstahab (the practice of theP r o p h e t O. o r t h e d l s i r e a b l e b e h a v i o u r ) . T h e f o r me rinclude: regular Salat. Fasting, Zakah. H& and so o n Thelat ter include: us ing the Siwaak. reci t ing the Bisnzillahbefore eating, drinking water in three sips, and so on, andinclude all the practices of the Holy Prophet &. As for theevil deeds, they are also of two types; the unlawful, sinfulacts absolutely disallowed, and those though not unlawhlyet violate the Sunnah are undesireable. If anyone omits the

I ---?s--fard or wajib, or commits the unla wh l, i t isfard ayn to 'bidthe right and forbid the wrong', If anyone drinks wine, orinvolves him self in any illicit act, or backbites, or tells lies,it is obligatory to 'forbid the wrong' and stop him doing so.If anyone omits regular Salat , or does not pay zakah, orskips Fasting in Ram adan then it is obligatory to ask him todo his duty../"'When is it not Fnrd to Forbid the wrong

In discharging the foregoing duty, it is a conditionthat the perpetrator is likely to pay heed to the person whodischarges his duty and there is no risk to the latter. Thus,i f o n e i s c o n f i d e n t t h a t t h e p e r p e t r a t o r w i l l n o t p a yattention but make fun of Shari b-h and belittle it then on eis absolved of the duty to forbid him. W e must rememberthat by insulting Shari hh the person commits an act ofdisbelief because to belitt le a comm and of Shari b-h is noton ly s in fu l bu t i t d raws the person ou t s ide the fo ld o fIslam and makes him an unbeliever. Therefore, when thereis l ikelihood of the doer of an evil act reacting to an advice

of a preacher aiid making fu n of Shari b-h or its comman dst h e n i t i s n o mo r e a d u t y t o f or b i d h im f r o m d o i n ganythin g sinful. However, one must remove oneself fromthere a nd pray for the sinful person: "0Allah! This slaveo f y o u r s i s s ic k . d o c u r e h i m o f h i s a i l me n t by y o u rmercy. "Forbidding One W ho S ins 2

Let us examine the case of a person who is deeplyk involved in a sinful act and derives full pleasure out of it.A t tha t t ime , there i s no poss ib i l i ty w hat soever o f tha tt person listening to advice aiid stopping himself fi-om thesinful act. If anyon e approaches him at that t ime when he

i s d e r i v i n g p e a k p l e a s u r e a n d , w i t h o u t a s s e s s i n g th e ,situation, commen ds to him the right way then that personwil l make fun of the command of Shari hh and thus do athing o f disbelief. T he resdonsibili ty of this man's conduc trests on the 'bidder of the right conduct '. We have seen,therefo re . t ha t i t is dangerous and d i sadvan tag eous toforbid a sinner when he is deeply involved in the sin. Thecorrect way is to explain to him later on what he did wasnot proper.

1- hen the chances are equalWhen the possibili t ies of the sinner paying heed and

refusing to listen are equal then it is necessary to conve yt o h i m t h e m e s s a g e . T h e c h a n c e s a r e t h a t A l l a h w i l li n s p i re h i m t o l i st e n t o t h e p r e a c h e r a n d h e ma y t h u sreform. If that happens then every pious deed that he doesthereafter will earn a reward for the preacher too.


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D~scourse.; On lsla~nicWa y Of Life (Vo1:VIII) 34,y > Discourses On [ s l a m ~ c ay Of L ~ f eVo1:VIII)

:,When there is possibility ofharm befalling the Preacher

There i s a l so the poss ib i l ity that the person w ho'bids the right or forbids the wrong' might be harmed bythe s inner when he i s asked to des i s t bu t he many notcomment on Shari hh . In such cases, too, it is proper notto preach to the sinner and the 'bidding and fo rbidding' isno t fard. However, it is better to forbid him from doing------.-wrong because although the prGcEeFinay risk himself, hewill, nevertheless, convey the Truth. He may endure thea n n o y a n c e a n d d o t h e p r e f e r a b le t h i n g . W e m u s tr em em ber t he fo rego i ng t h ree pos s i b il i ti e s . They a re :when i t is likely that advice and counsel will backXre andthe person advised may speak against the commands ofShari bh , the commended must not be bid and the wrongmust not be forb idden but one mus t main ta in s i l ence.W hen t he re a re equa l pos ? i b i l i ti e s o f f avou rab l e andunfavourable response f rom the perpet ra tor of s in , i t i snecessary t o preach him. The third possibility is that theperpetrator of sin may not deride Shari bh but may harmthe advisor; in this case although it is not necessary topreach to him yet it is better to endure the hardship andtell him 'to do the right and shun the wrong'. This is thegist of the courses open to the preacher which he mustremember.When advising anyone theintention m ust be Sincere

The person w ho conveys the message of Shar i bh i/Imust be sincere in his intention. If he imagines himself as areformer, religious-minded and God-fearing and his subjectas a sinner and misled whom he is reforming then his goodwords wi l l benef i t nei ther the person to whom they are 1

. ad J rcs s ed no r t he i r s peaker . Th i s i s becaus e a f au l t yintention grows in the speaker arrogance and his deed nolonger gains approv al in the sight of Allah Thus his deed isworthless and of no avail and his effort wasted. The listenel-too wil l not be impressed by his words. Therefore, i t isimperative that the caller to good deeds must be sincere inhis intention.The Style of delivery must be proper

In the same way, when the message of Shari bh isconveyed t o s om eone t he s peaker m us t adop t a co r rec ta p p r o a c h . H e m u s t s p e a k i n a p o l i t e , l o v i n g m a n n e rwishing him well so that the person w ho is addressed doesnot feel much hur t and d i sgraced . My respected fa ther .M a u l a n a M u f t i M u h a m m a d S h a f i C ~ S ~ ~ ~ Q T ~f t en quo t edA l l a m a S h a b b i r A h m a d U t h m a n i + h l k p r l a s s a y i n gfrequently, "When the Tru th is spoken in a true way with at rue in ten t ion i t wi l l never cause harm ." So , when everthere is a conflict after someo ne says something True, oneof the three things will be found surely: the speaker maynot have spoken the truth or his intention may have beenfaulty or he may h ave hope d to disgrace his listener. Sucha shortcoming would deprive the words of their power toinfluence. If, on the other hand, the words were true andthe speaker was sincere, then the approach may have beenf a u l ty . T h e w o r d s m a y h a v e b e e n s p o k e n r o u g h l y a sthough the addressee was being beaten with a stick. TheTrue wo rds a re no t a s t i ck t ha t one p i cks up and h i t sanother with but it is a well-wishing affair that should bedone po l i t e l y .W hen t he w e l l -w i sh i ng f ac t o r i s m i s si ngthen the T rue word w il l also cause harm.


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-3 7 1)1scoursesO n I s l a m ~ cWa y Of Life (Vol VIII)D~scoursesOn Islamic Way Of L ~ f eVol.VI11) 36

The Preacher mu st be Soft-SpokenMy respec ted fa ther , Maulana M uft i Muhammad

~ h a f i ' i u ~-, often remarked that when Allah directedSayyidina Mu sa and Aaron (Harun) pu~g?c to preach toFir'aun, (Pharoah) H e asked them.

@ , o ,,s , , $ * ,#'$ , , ,,( i * iJY) &-lJ& & J Y> 4 uj i2

But speak to him mildly; Peichan ce he maytake warning or fear (Allah). (2 0 44)But, who was this Fir'aun? Was he not wh o said that

he had divine powers? He said:I. oYJu,,L;LC J\FJi

"I am your Lord, M ost high."Thus, he was the worst o f the disbelievers.My father would say after narrating this event that

there cannot be a reformer more capable than SayyidinaM u s a p ~ ~ a j cn our age nor can t he re be anyone moremisled than the Pharaoh no matter how sinful he may be.The Ph aroah laid claim on divinity. In spite of that the twoP r o p h e t s , S a y y i d i n a M u s a a n d H a a r u n ? wlk g?c we reinstructed that they should speak to him politely, not in aharsh tone. This principle we have to follow u pto the Dayof Resurrec t ion and we s hould be sof t when speakingabout religious matters.The Method Of The Holy Prophet &$The Holy Prophet 4% was sitting in Masjid Nabvionce with the Companions ,+dl&, when a villager enteredit. He offered his Salat hurriedly and then made a verysuprising supp lication.

,,, o , 0 , ,, $ $ , a 0 , e $ > > *i&\ dg \A& j*,\&I"0Allah, have mercy on me and Muhamm ad& a n d d o n o t s h o w m e r c y t o a n y o n e e l s e

besides us."The Holy Prophet & heard him and said, "You haverestricted the m ercy of Allah very m u cl ~ nd limited it totwo peo ple only, no m ore! But, the mercy o f Allah is largeand a l l -encompass ing." After a whi le , thi s vi l lager sa tdown in the courtyard of the mosqu e and p assed his 'urine.On seeing him the Companions + 2: hurried towardsh i m a n d w e r e o n t h e p o i n t o f s c o l d i n g h i m a n drepriminding him when the Holy Prophet 2% said : o,u,jiY(D o not interrupt him. Leave him alone ) (Soh,/, ~/lrs/rrr,BOO^ OI-

.l.aharah Chapter Ghusl)- 0 + ,> 0 - , 1 3 1 - 51s;j; >& r;;u"!

"You are sent as well-wisher for the p eople, tomake things easy for them and not to createdifficulties in their way."He then asked them to throw water over it and clean

the mosq ue. He then called the villager to him and exp lainedto him that the mosq ue was the House of Allah and was notmeant for what he d id, so "do not do it again."The M ethod of Preaching By the Prophets cu~e .

If someone behaved in this way in our presence anddefiled a m osque, we might perhaps teach him the lesson ofhis life. The Holy Prophet &., however, ob served that thenlan was unacquainted w ith the etiquette of the Mosque andwhatever he did, he did out of lack of know ledge . So,instead o f reprimanding him, he gen tly explained to himwhat the proper way was. This was the way o f teaching withall the Prophets e.f any one abused them they neverretaliated. The Holy ~u ;a n has reproduced the words of theidolators , they used against Prophets- 0 &\,. ,&" .&Lady ?( 7 , & ' 2 ,


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O i s c o ~ ~ r s c sn lsla~ii~cay Of Life (V o l -V I I I ) 38

We see you in folly. and surely, we think youto be on e of the liars.(al-~'raf.66 )If anyone w ere to speak in this manner to a religious

s c l ~ o l a roday, o r to a sermoniser, he would retal iate andabuse hiin in similar words. But, the Prophets rK^ilp+ said.6 , 2 3-4,, pJ, LL. ?$-

"0my peo ple. there is no folly in me, but I ama Messenger from the Lord of the worlds." ( A I~ ' r a f 67)How gentle are the words! In another case. people

said to their Messenger:(1. d , y y l ) $Jib3 3'J

4 . 4

Surely we see you in manifest error. (al- A'raf 7 60)But, their Messenger answered that he was not inerror but that he was a Messenger from the Lord of theworlds. Tha t was their manner of teaching an d reforming.But. we find that our preaching does not bear fruit whichis because of one of these things: We do not convey theTruth, our m ethod is not True or our intention is not True.That is why there is so much evil around.An Incident in the Life of Shah ~s m a'i l dl->Shah 1sma il Shaheed +&I-, is one of those eminentpious men who h ave proved this behaviour to be correct. Hewas delivering a sellnon in the Jami Masjid of Delhi whenone of the audience got up and asked him to answer hisquestion. The Maulana asked him to put the question. Hesaid. "I have heard that you are a bastard? (We seek rehgein Allah). He said it when the se m o n was being deliveredb efo re a m u l t i t u d e an d t o a m an wh o was n o t o n l y areligious scholar of high calibre but also a royal prince! On elike me might hav e turned red in anger at that very moment

39 I)~scoursesO n Isla~nicWa y Of I.ife (Vol:VI I )and might have punished the daring interrupter. And if onelike me would not do so, the supporters would surely havetaught h im a lesson for say ing such a th ing about thei rShaikh. But, Maualana Shah ~sm a'il haheed +&i-, said inanswer to the man, "Brothe r, you have a wron g information.The witnesses to the marriage of my mother are yet presentin Delhi." It was thus that he answ ered the man and did notmake an issue out of it.How M ay One Create Effective Words:-

W h e n a p e r s o n s p e a k s s o l e l y f o r A l l a h a n dsuppresses his own desires so that his listeners too realisethat he speaks for the cause of Allah and has no axe togrind for himself then what he says produces the desiredresu l t . As for Maulana Shah 1srpa ' i l Shaheed +&I->,thousands of people repen ted to Allah at his hands in eachof his sennons. In comparison, we may say for ourselvesthat we have, in the first instance, given up the task ofp r o p a g a t io n o f I s Ia m a n d i f a n y o f u s d o e s m a k e a na t t e m p t h is a p p r o a c h i n c i t e s h i s l i s te n e r s . T h e r e i s ,therefore, no produc tive result. To overcome the drawbackwe m u s t r em em b er t h ree t h i n g s an d o b s e rv e th em . Wemust convey the Truth with a sound intention and whenwe do it we will not suffer any dam age but we w ill derivemuch benefit.

>dLh/ Who Is Authorised To Ma ke The 'Collective Call'The second wa y to preach and cal l to Islam i s thecollective approach. In this method, the preacher gatherspeople and delivers a sermon or a speech, or gives themadvice. This is know n as collective preaching an d calling to~ s l a r n . ' ~ h eollective call' is not fard a'yn. It is fard kifayahand if some people undertake it, the others are absolved of


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D ~ s c o ~ ~ r s e sn lslaniic Way Of Life (Vol:VIIl) 40it, but eve ryone is not authorised to do it. The preacher musthave certain qualifications and if a person is not qualifiedenough then he m ay not undertake the work. A person whois not likely to utter anything wrong during his sermon maybe permi t t ed to se rmoni se . Th i s t ask o f 'p reach ing andcalling7 is a very de licate affair. When a speake r observes alot of peo ple listen ing to him, he gets it into his head that heis a great scholar and he misleads his listeners into believinghim a s a great scholar . They imagine he is a very piousperson. When th e l i s teners are cheated, he himself goesalongwith and considers that he is a great man. "SO manypeople! They all call me a scholar. a righteous and piousman. There must be something to it. They cannot be mad,all of them." Th is is how on e may trap oneself into a trial.

There fore, everyone must not at tempt to del iver aspeech or sermo n. Of course. if a teacher or an elder ushersa p u p i l f o r w a r d t h e n h e ma y b e g i n u n d e r t h e e l d e r ' spatronage and seek Allah's help who will potect him fromthe trial.

*? T o I m p a r t L ess on s F r o m T h e ~ u r ' a n HaditlzWe hav e comm ented on delivering the sermon and the

speech which is comparatively easier than giving lessons int h e Q u r ' a n a n d Hadi th . Now-a-days ,abou t every o therperson take s i t upon himself to impart lessons from theQ u t a n a nd Hadith. But the truth is that the H oly Prophet &has sa id abou t the Noble ~ u i a n .

, U 1 ~ b ~ & i g ; j s + + d \ 2 i J \ g J L 4 ~"If anyone says anything by way o f interpretingthe Q ui an without having the knowledge thenhe m ust know that his destination is Hell".Another Hadith tells us:

,& +dl -6 2 -L ' J,Jl"If an) one giv es his persona l opinion in theB o o k o f A l l a h . t h e G r e a t . a n d e v e n i f h i sopinion is correct then. lie has erred (in givingit)". l h l l I ) L I I I OOLI 13001, 01 hl l ( , \ \ C C I ~ LWhat a serious warning the Prophet 32 has given! In

spite of that we see people learning soliietl i ing from thebooks then imagining themselves learned men and scholars.They then consider them selves capable of impal-ting lessonsin Qur'an al tho ugh this de partm ent l ike t lie lessons in

i Hadith, is one th at enlinent lJla1iia hesitate to undertal


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I l~ s cour s csO n I s l a m ~ cWa y Of Life (Vol.VII1) 42 43 [)lscourscs O n I s l am ~cWa y O f 1.1kVol VII I )word in explanation of these Ahadith, so much so that hedid not distinguish them under different chapters althoughothers in this field have don e so-Book on Salat, Book onPurification, and so on . He did not do it lest it go dow n asan explanation on the Hadith of the Prophet &, and hemight commit a mistake and make himself answerable toAllah for that. He said simply that he had collected theAhadith from which the Ulama may derive knowledge.We can see from it that it is a very delicate task but wefind around us that givers of lesson abound: we hear ofsomeone speaking on the Qur'an at some place, someoneelse explaining the Ahadith at some other place thought h e y m a y l a c k i n k n o w l e d g e a n d m a y n o t h a v e t h erequired qualifications. The result is there is a plethora ofconfusion and mischief. Those who attend such gathering smust satisfy themselves that the person imparting lessonsin Qupan or Hadith is qualified and wol-thy of it. Theymust veri@ if he has the required know ledge because it isnot fit for everyon e to impart lessons in this manner. In thesame way he who lacks in the required knowledge shouldnot undertake 4col lect ivepreaching and cal l to slam',.should not give sermons or deliver speeches. He should,of course, carry on with individual preaching and call.Should One Who Does NotPractice Not Preach

It is commonly believed that anyone wh o does somewro ng should not stop others from the same mistake.Thus,i t i s s a id i f a man does no t o f fe r h i s Sa la t wi th thec o n g r e g a t i o n , h e s h o u l d n o t u r g e o t h e r s t o j o i ncongregat ional Salat unless he himself observ es i t ; th isview is not correct. In fact, it is the other way round: theperson who invites other people to offer congregational

Salat must also observe them regularly. It is not that oncwho neglects them should not invite other people! Peoplegenerally qu ote the following verse of the Qur'an:-

( 7 - a'+ b d)f$$ \-&I$ 6-L-0 you w ho believe. w h y do you say that whatyou do not? (n\ - \a l f 0 1 2 )Some people take it to mean that if anyone does not

do som ething then h e inust not urge others to do i t .Forinstance, if anyone does not give chasity then he must notimpell other people to give charity; or, if he does not speakthe t ruth then 11e cannot recommend others to speak thetruth. It is wrong to interpret the verse in this manner. Thecorrect meaning of this verse is: "if you do not possess anat t r ibute then do not claim to have that qual i ty in you."T h u s , i f a p e r s o n d o e s n o t o f f e r h i s Sa la t w i t h t h econgregation then he must not say to other people that lleobserves the dongregational prayer; if he is not devout thenhe must not pretend to others that he is one; if he has notpefo rmed HUJJ hen he inust not tel l o thers that he hasperformed it. ga hat which you do not do, why do you claimto have done?" is the meaning of tlie verse but not hatwhich you do not do, do not ask other people to do." Often,a man be nefits fi-om telling othe rs to do goo d. When he tellsothers but does not do it himself then he feels ashamed andfeels compelled to do it.One Who Counsels Must HimselfPractice What He Preaches

There is another verse of the Q ui an . Allah addressesthe scholars of the Jews and tells them:

9 0 1 11"( i i : a + a ) y ) ' ~ i b 0 ~ ' & l ~LII b p ~ \

Do you enjoin virtue upo n mankind and yet


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YOU y o ~ r s e l v e sorget it. (a1 Baqarah 2 44 )When a man recommends someone to do some good

he must himself remember and behave accordingly. It is notthat be caus e he does not practice Ile will not preach. In otherwords. o ne shou ld not feel hindered from advising anyone ifo n e i s n o t d o i n g \ v h at h e a d v i s e s . O u r e l d e r s h a v ee lnphas ised g , , ~ c . , ( -w , "I have no t abs ta ined bu t you doabstain." Maulan a Ashraf Ali Thanavi .scdl-, has said "Atsome times I sense a drawback within myself then I speakon that very topic the next time I deliver a sermon. It isthereby that Allah r eio ~l ns e of that shol-tcoming."

Nevertheles s, there are two sides to this question.T h e r e i s o n e ma n w h o d o e s n o t p r a c t i c e h ims e l f bu tpreaches to other people while there is also the man whoprac t ices h imse l f and preaches to o the r people too . O fcourse. there is a difference in the results of their efforts.As for him who acts and then recommends, Allah blesseshis effort so that what he says is digested by his listenersand the y are reformed by th at. As for the advice that is notpreced ed by action , the listeners are not very impressed byit. The tongue speaks and rebounds from the ears of hisl i s t e n e r s a n d t h e s p e e c h i s n o t d i g e s t e d b y t h e m .Therefore, it is necessary to endeavour and practice tooalthoug h lack of it does not debar one from advising otherpeople.When Th e Mustahab (desirable) Is Neglected,It Is Not Wise To Reproach

W e have seen that it is fard to preach to one whoneglects the obligatory duties or commits an obvious sinand to 'bid him to the right way and fobid the wrongJ.H o w e v e r , . t h e r e a r e c e r t a i n t h in g s t h a t t h e Shar i hhregards as Mustclhab (recommended or preferrable acts)

\vhicli are n ot far-d or ~ ~ a j i bobligatory). A4ustahah deedsare those that fetch the doer rewards but do not make aperson sinne r if he neglects them: or. the A!z~ctulilrrbare thee t i q u e t t e s o f Shar-i hh as explained by the IJlanla.l.11ccorrect procedure is that people should be encouraged toobserve the A4ustaliab but if anyone skips observanc'e hesl ~o ul d ot be reproached for that. We have no authority torepr imand a pe r son who ov e r looks the Mzrstnhnb or toinsist on his performance. However, a teacher. a mentor. aparent or a guardian may surely point out to his student.disciple. child or ward that he should have observed theMz~stahab r the etiquette that he omitted previously. Asfor any oth er person, one has no right to c onde mn hi111 forp a s s in g o v e r a i71zlstahabac t . Some people e leva te theMustahab to the leve l o f wajib and censure those whoignore and overlook their performance. They demand toknow why the 111z4stahnb as ignored although Allah willnot ask anyone on the Day of Resurrection why he hado mi t t e d t h e Mz~stahab. e i the r wi l l the ange ls pu t theq u e s t i o n . T h e s e p e o p l e a p p r o p r i at e t o t h e ms e lv e s t h eau thor i ty to ques t ion o the r people ' s behaviour in th isregard.Supplication After T he A z n i ~

As an example we may cite the supplication that ismad e after the Azan which is Mustnhab :

+31 A ~ C P - + L L ) GIAI s + l j LLII 4 . ~ 1 L J412 q l & - ?r &I 4 i&j 4jJId12gp.xp O L l p & a l l j

"0Allah, Lord o f the perfect call and the salaht h a t i s t o f o l l o w g r a nt M u h a m m a d & t h emeans of approach to you and em inence, ande l e v a t e h im to t h e g lo r i o u s s ta t i o n t h a t y o u


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Discollrses On Isla~nicW ay Of Life (V o l V I I I ) -16

have promised him. Surely, you never fail in(your) promise."The Holy Prophet has prompted us to recite this

supplication after every Azan. It is a blessed supplication.We must teach it to our children and house folk and advisethem to recite it after Azan. We lnust also advise otherMuslims to pray in these words. But, if anyone does notmake th i s p rayer then i t is wrong on our par t t o ra i seobjections or rebuke him. W e may only reprimand anyonewhen an om ission involves a fard duty or when there is acomm ission of sin.Omission Of An E tiquettedoes not invite Reproach

We com e across som e behaviour that is not labelled asMustahab in Shari hh, t he ~ u ;a n o r the Hadith yet someUlarna regard them as Adab (etiquette). For example, someUlama a dvise us that when a man washes his hands beforeeating he shou ld not clean dry them with a towel.They alsotell us that we m ust sit down to eat before the food is laid; ifit happens the other way about and the food is laid beforewe sit down, we have neglected the etiquette. We do notfind mention of these etiquettes in the ~ u r ' a n r Hadith bu tthe Ulama have told us that these are etiquettes of eating.They do not cla ssif j as Mustahab too. So, it is not right onour part if we object to a person who cleans his hands afterwashing them before he sits to eat, or if he waits for thefood to be laid do wn and then sits down at the table spreadto eat; we canno t tell such a person that he has violated theSunnah or the Shari hh. These things are neither Sunnah no rMustahab and i t i s wrong to censure anyone who skipsthem. Bu t, we find people raising objections vociferously onflim si grounds which they should not.

Sitting Cross-legged When Eating Is PermittedI t is not disallowed to sit cross-legged while eatingand no sin is attached to it. How ever, this posture is not as

near to hulnbleness as the squatting posture (sitting on thehip and bending the legs backward at the knees) or sittingon the hips with one leg bent backwards and the otherraised on the foot. Therefore. we m ust accu sto~ n urselvesto eat in one of these postures but if anyone cannot sit inthis manner or feels more colnfortable in the cross-leggedposture then it is not a sin. It is wrongly understood bymany people that the cross-legged posture is disallowedwhile eating; these people must realise their mistake andnot reproach anjron ewho sits cross-legged.It Is Correc t To Eat At the Dining TableAga in , i t i s no t d i sa l low ed to ea t a t t he d inn ingtable but to sit on the floor while eating is nearer Sz(nnahand fetches reward because of the imitation of Sz~nnah.Therefore, we must try, as far as possible. to eat whiles i t ting on the f loor.The more we fol low the Sunnah th emore the blessings and reward. In spite of that, i t is notwrong to eat at the dining table and there is no sin indoing so; therefore, we should not rebuke those who s itat the table to eat their meals.It Is Suniinlz To Sit On The Floor To Eat

Tlhe Holy Prophet & sat on the floor to eat for tworeasons. First, much simplicity was observed during thosedays and there w as no concept of chairs and tables, so theysat on the floor. Sec ondly, there is much hu mility in eatingon the floor and one respects the food as blessings. It issomething one may experience oneself by observing hisinner feelings in trying both the methods. Th ere is a world


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of difference in the two methods because eating on thef loor a rouses a sense o t ' submisiveness , m eekness anddevotion to Allah These things are not found in eating atthe dining table. 'Therefore. one n~ us t ake it a habit to eat011 the floor but if one faces a situation when table is usedthen there is no harm in using it and no sin either. So, it isa g a i n w r o n g t o o p p o s e t h e u s e o f t a b l e a n d c h a i r svehemen tly as som e people are wont to oppose and call its iuse unlawful for eating. IProvided The Su~znnh s Not Ridiculed

The foregoing referenc e to eating while being seatedo n t h e f l o o r a s a S u n n a h a n d p r e f e r a b l e a n d m o r erewarding is subject to Sz~nnah eing respected. If there isa possibility of an yone making fun of the Sz~nnahhen wemust not insist on eating on the floor.

b

Eating On Th e Floor In RestaurantMy respected father narrated an incident while he

was te achin g us once. It was about his visit to Delhi fi-omDeoband with some companions. At Delhi they had to eattheir meal but could not find any place so they went to arestaurant. N aturally, food is served on the dining table ina restaurant and two of his companions protested that theywould eat on the floor, not at the table. They decided tosp r e a d th e i r t o we l s o n th e t l o o r a n d o r d e r t h e m e a lbecause that was the Sunnah. My respected father advisedthein not to do so but sit on the 'chairs and eat at the table.They wished to know why they should give up the Sunnaha n d o p t t o s i t a t t h e t a b l e . a n d wh y sh o u ld th e y f e e lasha med ab out it. My father. explained to them that it wasnot a question of feeling ashamed or afraid. "The truth is,he said, "that when you w ill spread the cloth on the floor

19 Disco~~rsesn Islamic Wa) Of' L~f eVo l VIII)and ask for food you will be conspicuous and other peoplemay laugh at you and be guilty of deriding the Sunnah.No t o n ly i s t h a t a s i n b u t l i a b l e t o p l a c e t l i e m . in todisbelief." May Allah preserve us from that!An Event To Learn FromMy respected father then recalled to them an incident.It was about a veiy eminent person, Sulayman mash. Hewas the teacher of Imam Ab u Hanifah +dl-, The Books ofHadit11~ I J C eplete with his narrations. mash is an Arabicword m eaning 'blear-eyed'; one whos e eyes are blurred andhis eye-lashes drop an d whose eyes dai zle because of light.Because he w as bleary-eyed, he was called m mash. He hada student who was lame. He was one of those students whokept himself close to his teacher at all times. Some studentshave that habit and they are constantly with their teacher.They follow him whe rever he goes. This student of ha mashwas one like that. Thus when Imam m mash +&I-, went tot h e m a r k e t , h i s s t u d e n t ~ > a j e c a u s e o f t h elameness-accompanied h im. The peop le in the marke tpassed remarks at the tw ain: " Look at that! The blealy-eyedteacher (a 'masb) and the lame s tudq l t (~ ' r a j ) ! o , Imamha ash instructed his student not to follow him when hewent to the market-place. The student asked "Why? Whyshould I not accompany you?" Imam + &IL, said, "Whenwe go to the masket, the people make fun of us, calling out:th e ha mash t ea ch er w ith t he ~ ' r a jtudent!" The student putin: , + ,,, - 0as+LdjflpL a'L

"W e are rewarded fo r the i r behav iour whi lethey sin by calling o ut in that manner. So, wegain thereby an d lose nothing."Ima1~1m mash +&I-, explained to him.


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Discourses On l sla~i i tcWa v Of L ~ f eVol VIII) 505 1 Discourses On Islamic Way O f L ~ f eVo1:VIII)

s,,%,,,,, \s>,d,&-, j+jgoj-kj,;rgc c,"We will be safe and they too will be secure from

sinning. That is better than our ge tting a reward an d theircommitting a sin. It is not obligatory that you accompanyme and there is no disadvantage if you do not accompanyme. Rather, there is the adva ntage that these people will beprevented from sinning. So, do not come with me againwhen I go there".

This is what we mean by understanding religion. Onthe face of it. the student seemed to say the right thing: Ifpeople m ake fun, let them do it. But if a person has his eyeson the creatures of Allah w ith compassion, he does not lookat their mistakes very much. R ather, he works to protectthem from sinning. That is why he disallowed his studentfrom accompanying him. Whenever there is a likelihood ofpeople m aking mo re fun, it is better to keep qu iet.A Saying of Hazrat ' ~ l i . 2,

The fo l lowi ng s a y i ng o f S ayy i d i na ' ~ l i ApJ isworth remembering:

I ~ ' ~ & ~ ~, & bi Lo$>- ,&,&J, ,+,"Speak to the people ?bout what they know.Would you like that they shou ld reject Allah and His

Messenger &?" That is, when you speak to them aboutreligion, speak in a manner that does not arouse in themrebellious tendencies. For instance, we must not talk ofre l ig ion a t an inoppor tune t ime. l es t our l i s teners arecompelled to deny it. It is not correct to speak of religioustopics at such times.

An Incident In Th e Life Of Maulana Ilyas .+alkp,,Every Musl im knows Maulana I lyas .+AIL=->. Al l ah

had inspired him with tremendous love for religion and itsdispersion. He w ould not m iss an opportunity to talk aboutre l ig ion . W herever he went , he would g ive the cal l andinvite people to work for Islam. It is related about him thatsomeone used to visit him regularly and he came to him formany days. But, he had not grown a beard. When he hadcome for many d ays , Maulana I lyas thought that he waswell-acquainted so he said to him, "Brother, I wish that youtoo adopt the Sunnah of the beard." That man felt ashamedon hearing him say that and did not turn up the next dayonwards. Maulana Ilyas + dl ker] felt very so ny for that andrepented to his companions that he had made a mistake andnot waited for the proper o pportunity. The result of his hastyaction wa s that the man had stopped visiting him. "If he hadbeen coming, at least, he would have heard som ething aboutreligion regularly. It would have been beneficial." Anyoneelse looking a t it outward ly would hav e said that if a persondoes something w rong we must tell him orally because theProphet & has said. "If you cannot prevent evil physically,at least, speak against it with your tongue." But, here theoral ut terance proved disadvantageous because that man'smind was still not prepared for advice. It is wisdom thatchooses the right time for an action and how it should bedone. Religious work is not like throwing stones at will,neither is it a du ty that one may ignore. The spea ker mustassess the situation and see what results he might get, andhow will his efforts be receive d. If it is likely that the re sultswould be adverse then it is better to defer the attempt. Thisdeferment also comes under the inability exemption (thatthe Prophet & has defined).


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SummaryIt is not from reading books alone that one knowswh at to say, when to say. how to say, when to be stern andw h e n m i l d . T h e s e t h i n g s a r e l e a r n t b y k e e p i n g t h ecom pany of elders. Only w hen a man has gone through theroug h wit11 rel ig iou s lne ntors that he ca n perce ive thep r o p e r m e t h o d . W h e n a n y o n e m a k e s a m i s t a k e . i t isp roper to ca l l tha t to h is a t ten t ion bu t one must knowwhen it is fard to do so and when not. One must knowh o w t o t a l k . T h i s i s t h e s u m m a r y o f t h e m e t h o d o fpreaching. M ay A llah make us understand it and may Hecau se a ll M u s l im s t o r e fo rm th ro ug h th i s k n o w led g e . tAan z e e ~ . 1

&I +J, h . b a l l 3I L14.2 zZSj

the principles of teaching and calling to islam

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