|
|
|
|
|
"Two hungry
wolves sent against a sheep will not do more damage
to it
than a man's eagerness for wealth and prestige does
to his or her religion."
[Reported by Ahmad and Tirmidhi]
The Prophet (sall Allahu 'alayhi wa
sallam) was explaining that the damage done to a
person's religion (deen) by his eagerness for
accumulating wealth and attaining prestige is no less
than the damage done by two hungry wolves to a flock
of sheep. This is quite obvious, for if a human's
faith is sound, he will not have an eagerness or
anxiety over these secondary things. Once the
heart has tasted the sweetness of true servitude to
Allah and love for Him, nothing else will be dearer
to him than that and nothing else will take priority
over Allah in one's life.
How many times do we find ourselves
having to chose between obedience to Allah and doing
that which we know to be right or following our
desires in pleasing others or self-gratification by
means that are prohibited? Surely the two choices are
not equal and a person of character is content with
the former in all circumstances.
Let us remember this hadith
the next time we 'sacrifice' some duty of Islam for
some worldly gain, the next time we are
'prevented' from praying due to our 'busy schedule'
or embarrasment amongst people, the next time we are
so 'blinded' by our devotion to our career, academic
or leisure pursuits that we forget our
responsibilities towards our familes, communities,
and most fundamentally, our own preparations for the
akhirah (life hereafter).
What good is all that if one was to
lose his or her connection with Allah and closeness
to Him and hence any hope of inner peace or spiritual
contentment?
[some
parts excerpted from "al-'Ubudiyyah" (True
Servitude) by Imam Ibn Taymiyyah]
Correcting
misconceptions that are due to something not being
clear in people’s minds
Muslim reported from
Anas that a group of the Companions of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) asked the
wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) about what he did in secret. One of them
(those Sahaabah) said, “I will never marry women.”
Another said, “I will never eat meat.” Another said, “I
will never sleep on a bed.” [The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)] praised and thanked
Allaah, then he said, “What is the matter with some
people who say such-and-such? But as for me, I pray and
I sleep, I fast and I break my fast, and I marry women.
Whoever turns away from my Sunnah has nothing to do
with me.” (Saheeh Muslim, no. 1041).
Here we may note the following
points:
-
The Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) came
to them and addressed them directly;
when he wanted to teach all the people, he did not
refer to them by name or expose them, he merely
said, “What is the matter with some people…?” In
this way he was gentle
with them and covered up for them whilst
at the same time acting in the common interest by
teaching everybody.
-
We also learn that
going to extremes in worship
may cause a person to get bored, which
in turn could lead him to stop worshipping
altogether; the best of things are those that are
moderate.
-
Mistakes
generally come about as a result of misconceptions;
if the ideas are put right, mistakes will decrease.
It is clear from the hadeeth that the reason why
those Sahaabah adopted those concepts of extreme
worship and monasticism was that they thought they
had to go beyond the Prophet’s actions in worship
in order to attain salvation, because he had been
told that all his sins were forgiven, but they did
not have this advantage. The Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) set them straight,
and told them that even though he was forgiven, he
was the most fearing of Allaah among mankind, and
he commanded them to follow his Sunnah in worship.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|