general guidelines concerning
The Muslim Ummah
section one
Some Characteristics of the
Ummah
[1]:THIS UMMAH IS THE BEST OF
NATIONS
Allaah, the Most Perfect, said:
"You are the best Ummah ever raised up for
mankind; you command the good and forbid the evil and you believe in Allaah."
[Soorah Aal-Imraan 3:110].
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam
said about this Ummah:
"You are equivilant to seventy of the other
nations; you are the best and most noblest with Allaah."
"The people of Paradise will consist of
one-hundred and twenty ranks; eighty will be from this Ummah, and fourty will be
from the rest of the other nations."
[2]: THE UMMAH ADVOCATES A BROTHERHOOD OF
FAITH
Shaykh Abdul-Azeez bin Baaz, hafidhahullaah,
said:
"Islaam invites towards [establishing] the
brotherhood of faith (al-ikhwatul-eemaaniyyah), and towards being sincere
to Allaah and maki worship exclusively for Him, and towards respecting your
Muslim brother; neither harbouring any ill-feeling towards him, nor any
jealousy, and neither cheating him, acting treacherously towards him, nor other
than this from the blameworthy morals. Allaah, the Majestic, said:
"And the believing men and the believing
women are friends and allies one to another." [Soorah at-Tawbah 9:71].
"Indeed the believers are but brothers."
[Soorah al-Hujuraat 49:10].
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam
said:
"The Muslim is a brother to another Muslim, he
neither oppresses him, nor belittles him, nor forsakes him."
So the Muslim is the brother of another
Muslim. It is obligatory to honour him and not to belittle him. It is obligatory
to do justice to him and to fulfill the rights that Allaah, the Mighty and
Majestic, prescribed for him. He sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam said:
"The believer to another believer is like a
solid wall; one part supporting the other."
And he sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam
said:
"The believer is a mirror to his brother
believer."
Therefore - O my brother - you are a mirror to
your brother, and a brick from amongst the bricks in that wall; which is built
upon the brotherhood of faith."
[3]: THE UMMAH IS LIKE A SINGLE BODY
Imaam ash-Shanqeetee, rahimahullaah,
said:
"So the bond of Islaam between you and your
brother is like the bond between your hand and your wrist, or your foot and your
shin; just as occurs in the hadeeth from the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa
sallam:
"The example of the Believers in their mutual
love, mercy and compassion is like the example of a single body; if one part of
the body feels pain, then all the body suffers in sleeplessness and fever."
Due to this, the great Quraan frequently uses
the term oneself to mean ones brother. in order to cause a realisation that the
bonds of Islaam [necessitate] treating your brother Muslim like you would
[treat] yourself. About this, Allaah, the Exalted, said:
"Do not expel yourselves from your houses."
[Soorah al-Baqarah 2:84].
Meaning: do not expel your brothers. Also:
"Why didn't the Believers, men and women,
when they heard the slander, think good about their ownselves." [Soorah an-Noor
24:12].
Meaning: about their brothers, according to
the soundest opinion from the scholars. Also:
"And do not defame yourselves." [Soorah
al-Hujuraat 49:11].
Meaning: do not defame your brothers;
according to the most soundest explanation. Also:
"And do not consume your wealth between
yourselves." [Soorah al-Baqarah 2:188].
Meaning: let not any of you consume his
brothers wealth.
There are other Verses like this. Likewise, it
is established in the Saheeh, from the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa
sallam who said: "None of you truly believe, until he loves for his
brother what he loves for himself.""
Being a single body requires that the various
Muslim lands are considered as a single land:
Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah,
rahimahullaah, said about this:
"When the enemy enters into the Muslim lands,
then there is no doubt that it is obligatory upon those closest to repel them;
if not, then the next closest, and so on. This is because the [various] Islaamic
lands have the status of being a single land."
[4]: WHO IS A MUSLIM?
A Muslim is a person who has testified to the
fact that none has the right to be worshipped except Allaah (laa ilaaha
illallaah) and that Muhammad sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam is Allaahs
Messenger (muhammadar-rasoolullaah); and has done nothing to negate this
testification. The Prophet alayhis-salaam said:
"Whoever testifies to (laa ilaaha illallaah),
faces our direction of Prayer, prays our Prayer, and eats our slaughtered meat,
is a Muslim; to him is due what is due to a Muslim, and from him is due what is
due from a Muslim."
The rank and nobility of any individual within
the Ummah is in proportion to his taqwaa; i.e. what he has of beneficial
knowledge and righteous actions:
"Indeed, the most noblest of you with
Allaah, are those that have the most taqwaa." [Soorah al-Hujuraat
49:13].
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam
said:
"There is no superiority of an arab over a
non-arab; nor a non-arab over an arab; nor a white person over a black one; nor
a black person over a white one, except through taqwaa."
How should a person who combines in him
obedience and disobedience be viewed?
Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah,
rahimahullaah, said:
"If, a person combines in him both good and
evil; obedience and disobedience; righteousness and wickedness; Sunnah
and bidah; then he is deserving of allegience and reward in proportion to
what he has of good, and he is deserving of enmity and punishment in proportion
to what he has of evil. So it may be that a person possess what warrents both
honour and dishonour, and he possess some of this and some of that. This is just
like the poor thief whose hand is cut off for what he has stolen, but he is
given what wll satisfy his needs from the storage of charity. So this is a
fundamental principle that is agreed upon by Ahlus-Sunnah wal-Jamaaah;
but is opposed by the Khawaarij, the Mutazilah, and those that
agree with them."
[5]: ITS INDIVIDUALS ARE SACROSANCT
The blood, property and honour of each
individual in the Ummah is sacred; as the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa
sallam said:
"Indeed your blood, property and honour are
sacred; just as the sacredness of this day of yours, this month of yours, and
this city of yours."
Ibn Umar radiallaahu anhu said, whilst
looking at the Kabah one day:
"How great and sacred you are! But the
sanctity of the Believer is greater than yours."
And Allaah has made annoying the Muslims one
of the major sins:
"Those who annoy believing men and women
undeservingly, carry upon themselves the crime of slander and clear sin." [Soorah
al-Ahzaab 33:58].
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam
said:
"O you who declare Islaam with your tongues,
but whose hearts faith has not yet settled! Do not annoy the Muslims, nor seek
out their faults ..."
Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah,
rahimahullaah, said:
"So whoever annoys a believer, whether living
or dead, and without there being a sin [comitted] that necessitates this, falls
under the [threat] of this Verse."
[6]: IT IS AN UMMAH OF JUSTICE
Allaah, the Most Perfect, said:
"Thus have We made of you a justly-balanced
Ummah, that you may be a witness over mankind." [Soorah al-Baqarah 2:143].
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam
said:
"The Muslims are equal with respect to their
blood; the least of them can guarantee protection on their behalf, and the one
residing furthest away from them may give an agreement on their behalf, and they
are a single hand against other than them."
"O Usaamah! Do you interceed regarding one of
the prescribed punishments of Allaah? Indeed the children of Israaeel were
destroyed because when one of their nobles stole, they would leave him; but when
one of their weaker ones stole, they would apply the prescribed punishment upon
him. By Him in Whose Hand is my life! If Faatimah the daughter of Muhammad were
to steal, I would cut-off her hand."
Ibn Taymiyyah, rahimahullaah, said
about administering justice:
"The affairs of people in this life are
established with justice (adl); even if it is accompanied by some sins,
more than it is established with oppressing the rights; even if it not
accompanied by other sins. This is why it has been said: Indeed Allaah upholds
the just state (ad-dawlatul-aadilah); even if it is unbelieving, but does
not uphold an unjust one; even if it is believing. And it has been said: The
world endures with justice and unbelief, but does not endure with injustice and
Islaam."
[7]: THE REFERENCE POINT FOR THIS UMMAH
The reference point for this Ummah - against
which all things are weighed and judged - is: the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah
of His Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, and that which the Ummah
has agreed upon.
"And if you differ in anything amongst
yourselves, refer it back to Allaah and His Messenger; if you do truly believe
in Allaah and the Lsat Day." [Soorah an-Nisaa 4:59].
"Whoever contends with the Messenger, even
after guidance has been clearly conveyed to him, and follows a path other than
that of the believers; We shall leave him in the path that he has chosen, and
land him in Hell, what an evil resting place." [Soorah an-Nisaa 4:115].
The Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam
said:
"I am leaving amongst you two things, you will
never go astray as long as you cling to them; the Book of Allaah and my Sunnah."
"Indeed Allaah has protected my Ummah from
uniting upon misguidance."
Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said:
"The Religion of the Muslims is built upon
following the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah of His Prophet sallallaahu
alayhi wa sallam, and that which the Ummah has agreed upon. These are the
three infallible fundamentals (usool)."
And he, rahimahullaah, said:
"And with these three fundamentals; the Book,
the Sunnah, and the consensus (ijmaa) of the Pious Predecessors (Salaf),
they weigh all that the people are upon concerning the Religion; from
statements and actions, whether inward or outward."
The Ummah has no other reference point upon
which it forms allegience or enmity; neither a particular shaykh, leader,
written constitution or agreement:
Shaykhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah said:
"So whatever the Ummah differs in, then it is
referred back to Allaah and His Messenger. Thus, it is not for anyone to set-up
for this Ummah a particular individual; calling to his way, and forming
allegience (walaa) and enmity (adaa) based upon that, except for
the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam. Nor should they ascribe to any
speech, based upon which they form allegience and enmity, except for the Speech
of Allaah and His Messenger, and that which the Ummah has agreed upon. Rather,
this is from the actions of the people of Innovation; those who ascribe
themselves to a particular individual or saying, by which they cause splits
between the Ummah; forming allegience or enmity based upon that saying or
ascription."
The three infallible fundamentals are the
reference point for both individuals and groups - irrespective of what label
they display, or what they call themselves.
Shaykh Abdul-Azeez bin Baaz, hafidhahullaah,
said:
"The group which is obligatory to follow and
whose methodology should be traversed, are the people of the Straight Path; the
people who follow the Prophet sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam; those who
follow the Book and the Sunnah. They are those who call to the Book of
Allaah and to the Sunnah of His Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam,
in both statement and action. As for the other groups, no one should follow
them, except in whatever agrees to the truth - whether it is the group
Ikhwaanul-Muslimoon, Jamaaatut-Tableegh, or Ansaarus-Sunnah, or those
that call themselves Salafees, or Jamaaatul-Islaamiyyah, or those
that call themselves Jamaaah Ahlul-Hadeeth; as well as any other
group which calls itself by whatever name. So they are to be obeyed and followed
in what is the truth. And the truth is that which is established by a proof.
Whatever opposes the proof is rejected, and it is said to them: You are mistaken
in this. So it is obligatory to agree with them in that which agrees with a
noble Verses, a noble hadeeth, or a consensus (ijmaa) from the Pious
Predecessors of the Ummah ... These groups contain truth and falsehood, and they
are not infallible; each one of them is fallible. However, the truth is what is
established by a proof from the Book of Allaah, the Sunnah of His
Messenger sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, or a consensus of the Pious
Predecessors of the Ummah."