At-Tibyān Publications: The Greatest Blessing by the Shaykh, Abdullāh bin Muhammad Ar-Rashūd
29-08-2007
The
Greatest Blessing
Written by the martyred Shaykh, Abdullāh bin Muhammad Ar-Rashūd
May Allāh have Mercy upon him
At-Tibyān Publications
My Mujāhid Brother:
The Muslim feels much happiness with the blessings that Allāh causes to
transpire to him and motivate him and remind him of the greatness of Allāh’s
bounty upon him. And although not every blessing is a blessing in reality - for
it might be a trial for the slave and an enticement for him, or other than that
- there remains the blessing of the honors that are indisputably nothing but the
Grace which our Lord, عزّ وجل, bestows upon the best of His creation, and the
most beloved of them to Him was our Prophet Muhammad, صلى الله عليه وسلم.
Indeed it is the blessing of “maintaining steadfastness” and not being affected
by the misguidance and deception of those who are astray, as Allāh Ta’ālā says,
وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللّهِ عَلَيْكَ وَرَحْمَتُهُ لَهَمَّت طَّآئِفَةٌ مُّنْهُمْ أَن
يُضِلُّوكَ وَمَا يُضِلُّونَ إِلاُّ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَضُرُّونَكَ مِن شَيْءٍ
وَأَنزَلَ اللّهُ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ
تَعْلَمُ وَكَانَ فَضْلُ اللّهِ عَلَيْكَ عَظِيمًا
Had not the Grace of Allāh and His Mercy been upon you (O Muhammad), a party of
them would certainly have made a decision to mislead you, but (in fact) they
mislead none except their own selves, and no harm can they do to you in the
least. Allāh has sent down to you the Book (The Qur’ān), and Al-*Hikmah (the
Prophet’s Sunnah), and taught you that which you knew not. And Ever Great is the
Grace of Allāh unto you (O Muhammad) [1]
And in the Chapter that follows it, Allāh عزّ وجل says, warning His Prophet
about these misguided pursuers of Fitnah:
وَأَنِ احْكُم بَيْنَهُم بِمَآ أَنزَلَ اللّهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعْ أَهْوَاءهُمْ
وَاحْذَرْهُمْ أَن يَفْتِنُوكَ عَن بَعْضِ مَا أَنزَلَ اللّهُ إِلَيْكَ فَإِن
تَوَلَّوْاْ فَاعْلَمْ أَنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللّهُ أَن يُصِيبَهُم بِبَعْضِ ذُنُوبِهِمْ
وَإِنَّ كَثِيرًا مِّنَ النَّاسِ لَفَاسِقُونَ
And so judge (you O Muhammad) between them by what Allāh has revealed and follow
not their vain desires, but beware of them lest they turn you far away from some
of that which Allāh has sent down to you. And if they turn away, then know that
Allāh’s Will is to punish them for some sins of theirs. And truly, most of men
are Fāsiqūn (rebellious and disobedient to Allāh) [2]
And despite the fact that the believer of all time periods understands the
greatness of this virtue, it is the believer during the period of estrangement (Ghurbah)
that [reaches] the highest degree of absorption and understanding of the
greatness of this Divine blessing, especially when he sees the plenitude of
those around him who lapsed without attaining what [they] sought after - and
there is no Might or Power except with Allāh. So these situations increase the
believer in faith and in deference, and they increase him in his turning to and
his need of Allāh, and they increase him in contempt and scorn for himself.
Exactly as the Companions, may Allāh be pleased with them, used to act.
So you see, for example, the guided and directed Imām, the legal expert, [the
one] who was given the glad tidings of Paradise and Deliverance - ‘Umar Bin Al-Khattāb,
may Allāh be pleased with him, was copious in his weeping over himself and his
fear over himself from the sources of hypocrisy, so he would say to Hudhayfah,
may Allāh be pleased with him, “I ask you by Allāh, did the Messenger of Allāh
count me as one of the hypocrites?” And Ibn Abī Mulaykah said, “I met thirty of
the Prophet’s companions, صلى الله عليه وسلم, and all of them feared for himself
from hypocrisy.”
So because of this, they were, may Allāh be pleased with them, the best of the
people in action, and the most copious of them in fear, and the most severe of
them in accounting themselves due to the glorification of Allāh that was
established in their hearts, and their knowledge of His being entitled to a
hundred times the worship and submission that the slaves perform.
And due to this Divine consciousness in their hearts, may Allāh be pleased with
them, the Messenger of Allāh, صلى الله عليه وسلم, made their methodology the
standard next to which no other is acknowledged. So in the Hadīth, “‘And this
Ummah will divide into 73 sects, all of them in the Hellfire except one.’ So
they [the Companions] said, ‘Which one is it, O Messenger of Allāh?’ He said,
‘Those who were upon what I and my companions are upon today’” [3]. And because
of this, the one who seeks to take an example should take them as an example,
may Allāh be pleased with them, especially if the strangeness of the Religion
heightens and the helpers and the supporters are few in number.
The Strangeness of the
Religion:
Yes. “Islām began [as something] strange and it will return to being [something]
strange as it began, so Tūbā for the strangers.”[4]
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh have mercy upon him, said, “Its [i.e. Islām’s] Ghurbah
(estrangement) is greatest when those who once entered into it forsake it…”
until he said, “So indeed no party forsakes Islām except that Allāh brings a
people He loves who will fight on His behalf, and they are the Victorious Party
until the Hour is established. And this demonstrates that He mentioned this in
the context of prohibiting alliance with the disbelievers. So He, Ta’ālā, said,
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّخِذُواْ الْيَهُودَ وَالنَّصَارَى
أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُم مِّنكُمْ فَإِنَّهُ
مِنْهُمْ إِنَّ اللّهَ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ
O you who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians as Awliyā’ (friends,
protectors, helpers, etc.), they are but Awliyā’ to one another. And if any
amongst you takes them as Awliyā’, then surely he is one of them. Verily, Allāh
guides not those people who are the Dhālimūn (polytheists and wrong*doers and
unjust) [5]
until His Statement:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ مَن يَرْتَدَّ مِنكُمْ عَن دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ
يَأْتِي اللّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ أَذِلَّةٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
أَعِزَّةٍ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ يُجَاهِدُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَلاَ يَخَافُونَ
لَوْمَةَ لآئِمٍ ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاء وَاللّهُ وَاسِعٌ
عَلِيمٌ
O you who believe! Whoever from among you turns back from his religion (Islām),
Allāh will bring a people whom He will love and they will love Him; humble
towards the believers, stern towards the disbelievers, fighting in the Way of
Allāh, and never afraid of the blame of the blamers. That is the Grace of Allāh
which He bestows on whom He wills. And Allāh is All*Sufficient for His
creatures’ needs, All*Knower [6]
So those being addressed with the prohibition of taking the Jews and the
Christians as allies are the same ones being addressed in the Verse about
apostasy.”[7]
Yes. Indeed it is the strange estrangement, and from its features is what was
reported in the Hadīth, from Umāmah, “And from the end [i.e. the end days] of
this Religion is that the entire tribe will be drained of knowledge, until there
will not remain in it but one learned man or two, and they will be subjugated
and meek, and will not find in this any assisters or helpers.” And at this time
the vast Mercy of Allāh will descend upon these strangers, and Allāh will
compensate them for this estrangement with a Divine Virtue, and it is
multiplying their reward for them the way the rewards were multiplied for the
first generations. And in At-Tabarānī Al-Kabīr from Ibn Mas’ūd, may Allāh be
pleased with him, that the Messenger of Allāh, صلى الله عليه وسلم, said, “Indeed
you will leave behind you an era in which the patience of the one adhering [to
his Religion] in it is the reward of 50 martyrs from amongst you.”
And this minority is the Victorious Party, as it was reported in Muslim from
more than one of the Companions his statement, صلى الله عليه وسلم, “This
religion will continue to be established, and a group of people from the
Believers will continue to fight for its protection until the Hour is
established.” [8] So he made their most apparent characteristic their fighting
in the Path of Allāh, that characteristic that made them most deserving of
Allāh’s Love for them:
إن الله يحب الذين يقاتلون في سبيله صفاً كأنهم بنيانٌ مرصوص
Verily, Allāh loves those who fight in His Cause in rows as if they were a solid
structure [9]
So here, my brother, you have these texts that ease your state of estrangement,
when the idle ones draw upon the dark texts of the Tawāghīt that promise them
poverty and command them with corruption.
But, my Mujāhid brother:
What is your attitude towards the lessons of time and the wondrous
transformations and alterations? Yes, it is required of you to take from these
circumstances beneficial lessons - we ask Allāh for Guidance and Soundness. And
from the benefits are what follows:
1) Joy at the blessing of steadfastness:
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh have Mercy upon him said, “And this does not mandate
that if he becomes a stranger that the one holding fast to it [i.e. Islām] is
upon evil, no. Rather, he is the happiest of people, as it was said in the
complete Hadīth, “So Tūbā for the strangers.” And “Tūbā” is from At-Tayyib
(good)[10]. Allāh Ta’ālā said:
طُوبَى لَهُمْ وَحُسْنُ مَآبٍ
Tūbā (Happiness, or a name of a tree in Paradise) is for them and a beautiful
place of (final) return. [11]
So indeed he is of the class of the First and Foremost, who followed it [i.e.
Islām] when it was strange, and they were the happiest of people. And as for the
Hereafter, they are the highest people in rank after the Prophets, may Allāh
send His Peace upon them” End quote. [12]
2) Lack of grief and distress over his estrangement:
Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh have Mercy upon him, said, “And just as Allāh
prohibited His Prophet to be afflicted with grief or distress for those that did
not enter into Islām in the beginning of the matter, in the Hereafter it is
likewise. So the believer is prohibited from feeling grief over them and to be
distressed over their plots. And for many of the people, if he sees evil or if
he sees much of the situation of Islām changing, he becomes anxious and
exhausted and he weeps the way the people of calamities weep, and he is
prohibited from all of this. Rather, he is commanded to have patience and trust
in Allāh and to have steadfastness upon the Religion of Islām” End quote. [13]
3) Endurance, patience, and positioning:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ اصْبِرُواْ وَصَابِرُواْ وَرَابِطُواْ وَاتَّقُواْ
اللّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
O you who believe! Endure and be more patient (than your enemy), and guard your
territory by stationing army units permanently at the places from where the
enemy can attack you, and fear Allāh, so that you may be successful [14]
فَمَا وَهَنُواْ لِمَا أَصَابَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ وَمَا ضَعُفُواْ وَمَا
اسْتَكَانُواْ وَاللّهُ يُحِبُّ الصَّابِرِين َ
But they never lost heart for that which did befall them in Allāh’s Way, nor did
they weaken nor degrade themselves. And Allāh loves As-Sābirīn (the patient
ones) [15]
4) Throwing oneself before the door of Al-Ghanī (the All-Rich), Ar-Rahīm (the
Most Merciful), and breaking down before Him with supplication and seeking
forgiveness:
Indeed the greatest thing that humiliates the slave is his sins. And in the
Hadīth Qudsī, “O my servants, all of you are astray except for those I have
guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you.” until He says, “Indeed
you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek forgiveness of Me
and I shall forgive you.”[16]
And from the powerful supplications, “O Allāh, Turner of the hearts, make my
heart steadfast upon Your Religion.” And this was of the moving supplications
made most by the infallible, صلى الله عليه وسلم. And also from amongst the
moving supplications, “O Allāh, inspire in me guidance and protect me from the
evil of my self”; “O Ever-Living, O Self-Subsisting, by Your Mercy I seek
assistance, rectify for me all of my affairs and do not leave me to myself or to
any of Your creation for the blink of an eye”; “O Allāh I ask you for certainty
and safety.”
5) Increasing in the praise of Allāh for His blessings:
So the steadiness of His blessings and their increase is dependant on the
magnitude of your praise of Allāh. And He Alone is Deserving of praise in the
beginning and in the end; so all praise is due to him, apparent and hidden.
And may Allāh send peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, and all of his family and
his companions.
Published in Sawt Al-Jihād magazine, issue #6
Shawwāl 1424
———————————-
[1] An-Nisā: 161
[2] Al-Mā’idah :49
[3] The Hadīth of ‘Abdullāh Bin ‘Amr was recorded and classed as Hasan by At-Tirmidhī
(#2641). It was also classed as Hasan by Al-‘Irāqī in Ahkām al-Qur’ān (3/432),
Al-‘Irāqī in Takhrīj al-Ihyā’ (3/284) and Al-Albānī in Sahīh At-Tirmidhī.
[4] Muslim #208; Musnad Al-Imām Ahmad #3596; Sunan At-Tirmidhī #2553, and others
[5]Al-Mā’idah :51
[6] Al-Mā’idah :54
[7] Fatāwā Shaykh Al-Islām 18/297
[8] Muslim #3546
[9]As-Saff : 4
[10] An-Nawawī said, “Tūbā is from At-Tayyib (good), stated by Al-Firā’. And as
for the meaning of Tūbā, then the scholars of exegesis differed upon the meaning
of His, Ta’ālā’s Statement, “Tūbā is for them and a beautiful place of (final)
return.” So it was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās, may Allāh have Mercy upon him, that
its meaning is happiness and delight of the eyes. And ‘Ikrimah said, ‘The best
of what is for them.’ And Ad-Dahhāk said, ‘Felicity for them.’ And Qatādah
said,’Goodness for them.’ And Ibrāhīm said, ‘Good and bounty is for them.’ And
Ibn ‘Ijlān said, ‘Perpetual good.’ And it was said, ‘Paradise.’ And it was said,
‘A tree in Paradise.’ And all of these are meanings supported by the Hadīth.”
[11]Ar-Ra’d :29
[12] Fatāwā Shaykh Al-Islām 18/292
[13] Fatāwā Shaykh Al-Islām 18/295
[14]Āl-Imrān: 200
[15]Āl-Imrān: 146
[16] Muslim #4674; Musnad Al-Imām Ahmad #20405. The full text of the Hadīth is
as follows: “Abū Dharr reported Allah’s Messenger, صلى الله عليه وسلم, as saying
that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, said: ‘O My servants, I have made
oppression unlawful for Me and unlawful for you, so do not commit oppression
against one another. O my servants, all of you are astray except for those I
have guided, so seek guidance of Me and I shall guide you. O My servants, all of
you are hungry (needy) except one whom I feed, so beg food from Me, so that I
may give that to you. O My servants, all of you are naked (need clothes) except
one whom I provide garments, so beg clothes from Me, so that I should clothe
you. O My servants, you sin by night and by day, and I forgive all sins, so seek
forgiveness of Me and I shall forgive you. O My servants, you can neither do Me
any harm nor can you do Me any good. O My servants, even if the first amongst
you and the last amongst you and even the whole of human race of yours, and that
of the Jinn even, become (equal in) God-conscious like the heart of a single
person amongst you, nothing would add to My Power. O My servants, even if the
first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race of yours and
that of the Jinn too in unison become the most wicked (all beating) like the
heart of a single person, it would cause no loss to My Power. O My servants,
even if the first amongst you and the last amongst you and the whole human race
of yours and that of the Jinn also all stand in one plain ground and you ask Me
and I confer upon every person what he asks for, it would not. in any way, cause
any loss to Me (even less) than that which is caused to the ocean by dipping the
needle in it. My servants, these for you I shall reward you for them, so he who
deeds of yours which I am recording finds good shouldpraise Allah and he who
does not find that should not blame anyone but his self.’ Sa’īd said that when
Abū Idrīs Al-Khawlānī narrated this Hadīth he knelt upon his knees.”