Imam Malik one day entered the Masjid after Asr. Towards
the front of Masjid An-Nabawee (The Prophet’s Mosque) he drew
closer and sat down. Rasul Allah (Allah's Prophet) had
commanded that anyone who enters the Masjid should not sit
until he first prays two rakahs as a salutation of the Masjid.
Imam Malik was of the opinion however that Rasul Allah’s
forbiddance of praying after Asr took precedence and so he
would teach his students to not pray the tahiyyatul Masjid if
they entered between the Asr and Maghrib time.
At that moment that Imam Malik sat down, a young boy had seen
him sit without first praying the two rakahs of Tahiyyatul
Masjid. The young boy scorned him, “Get up and pray two
rakahs!” Imam Malik dutifully stood up once again and began
praying the two rakahs. The students sat stunned: What was
going on? Had Imam Malik’s opinion changed? After he had
completed the salah, the students swarmed around and
questioned his actions. Imam Malik said, “My opinion has not
changed, nor have I gone back on what I taught you earlier. I
merely feared that had I not prayed the 2 rakahs as the young
boy commanded, Allah may include me in the Ayah…
“And when it is said to them, ‘Bow (in
prayer)’, they do not bow.” (77/48)
Imam Ahmad held the opinion that eating camel meat nullifies
ones Wudu, an opinion that the majority of scholars differed
from. Some students asked him, “If you find an Imam eating
camel meat in front of you and – without first making Wudu -
then leads the Salah, would you pray behind him?” Imam Ahmad
replied, “Do you think I would not pray behind the likes of
Imam Malik and Sa’eed ibn Al-Musayyab?”
Allah created humans with differences. It is the law of
creation. Different tongues, different colors, different
cultures… all that on the outside. On the inside, humans were
created with many degrees of knowledge, intellect, and
comprehension of concepts. This is all a sign of Allah’s all
encompassing power to do whatever He wills:
"And among His signs is the creation of
the heavens and the earth, and the variations in your
languages and your colors: verily in that are signs for those
who know." (30:22)
Humans shall differ, that is not the issue. The issue is how
as a Muslim should one confront these differences of opinions
and what should be our relationship with someone of a
different opinion.
What does it mean to have Hikmah
(Wisdom) when differing with someone?
The grandsons of Rasul Allah once set one of the most
beautiful examples of Hikmah in advising others. Al-Hasan and
Al-Husayn – in their young age - once saw a senior man
performing Wudu incorrectly. Together they arranged a plan to
teach the man without insulting him, advising him in a manner
befitting of his age.
Together they went to the senior and announced, “My brother
and I have differed over who amongst us performs Wudu the
best. Would you mind being the judge to determine which one
of us indeed performs Wudu more correctly?”
The man watched intently as the two grandsons of Rasul Allah
performed Wudu in an explicit manner. After they had
completed, he thanked them and said, “By Allah, I did not
know how to perform Wudu before this. You have both taught me
how to do it correctly.” Some people may have Hikmah of
knowledge. But we see that when they try correcting others,
advising them, they lack the Hikmah of Action. This causes
many a common folk to reject the Hikmah of knowledge.
To illustrate this hikmah of knowledge without Hikmah of
action, a brother once completed the Salah in a local Masjid
and then proceeded to shake hands with the people on his
right and left. The brother to his immediate right slapped
his hand and snapped, “That is not part of the Sunnah!” The
man replied most correctly, “Oh, is disrespect and insult
part of the Sunnah?”
To show Hikmah when we differ requires
the following;
1-Sincerity:
If we differ, our intentions should be that we are differing
in the sincere hope of coming away with the truth. Our
intentions should be sincere to Allah.
We should not differ just to release some hate or envy in our
heart. We should not differ to embarrass someone like we may
have been embarrassed.
Rasul Allah said, “Whoever learns knowledge – knowledge from
that which should be sought for the sake of Allah – only to
receive a commodity of the material world, he shall not find
the fragrance of jannah (Paradise) on the day of
resurrection.” (An authentic hadith narrated by Abu Dawood in
Kitab Al- Ilm)
2-Kindness and Gentleness:
To have Hikmah when differing means we should rarely depart
from an atmosphere of kindness and gentleness, we should
seldom allow ourselves to become angry and raise our voices.
Fir’own (Pharaoh) was one of the evilest people that lived.
Musa was one of the noblest. Look at how Allah told Musa to
advise Fir’own…
“Go, both of you, to Fir’own. Indeed,
he has transgressed. And speak to him with gentle speech,
perhaps he may remember or fear (Allah)” (20:43-44)
A man once entered upon the Khalifah and chastised him for
some policies he had taken. The Khalifah replied, “By Allah,
Fir’own was more eviler than me. And by Allah, Musa was more
pious than you. Yet, Allah commanded him… “And speak to him
with gentle speech, perhaps he may remember or fear (Allah).”
3-Take Your Time and Clarify:
To have Hikmah when dealing with others is to be patient and
clarify things before snapping to conclusions. Imam Ahmad
narrates with his chain of narrators leading to Ibn Abbas who
said, “A man from Bani Saleem passed by a group of the
Prophet’s companions. (At that time of war) The man said ‘as
salamu alaykum’ to them. The companions concluded that he
only said ‘as salamu alaykum’ to them as a deception to save
himself from being caught. They surrounded him and Malham ibn
Juthaamah killed him. From that event Allah revealed the
verse…
“O you who have believed, when you go
forth (to fight) in the cause of Allah, investigate, and do
not say to one who gives you (a greeting of peace), “You are
not a believer,” Aspiring for the goods of worldly life; for
with Allah are many acquisitions. You (yourselves) were like
that before; then Allah conferred His favor (i.e. guidance)
upon you, so investigate. Indeed, Allah is ever with what you
do, acquainted.” (4:94)
4-Speak Kindly:
Never trade in kind words for harshness, especially when
dealing with other Muslims. Look at the power of a sincere
and polite word:
Mus’ab ibn Umayr was the first ambassador of Rasul Allah in
Madinah. Before Rasul Allah had arrived in Madinah, Mus’ab
taught ahl al-Madinah about Islam and they began to enter the
Deen. This enraged Sa’d ibn ‘Ubaadah, one of the chieftains
of Madinah. He sheathed his sword and set off for the head of
Mus’ab ibn ‘Umayr. When he confronted Mus’ab he threatened,
“Stop this nonsense you speak or you shall find yourself
dead!”
Mus’ab replied in the way that should be a lesson for us all.
This man before him did not stop at rudeness and ignorance,
he wanted to slit his throat. Mus’ab said, “Shall you not sit
and listen for a few moments. If you agree with what I say
then take it, and if not, we shall desist from this talk.”
Sa’d sat down. Mus’ab spoke about Allah and His messenger
until Sa’d ibn Ubaadah’s face shone like a full moon and he
said, “What should a person do whom wishes to enter into this
Deen?” After Mus’ab had told him he said, “There is a man, if
he accepts this Deen, there shall be no home in Madinah that
will not become Muslim. Sa’d ibn Mu’aadh.”
When Sa’d ibn Mu’aadh heard what was happening, he was
infuriated. He left his home to go and kill this man called
Mus’ab ibn Umayr for the dissention he had caused. He entered
upon Mus’ab and announced, “You shall desist of this religion
you speak of or you shall find yourself dead!” Mus’ab
replied, “Shall you not sit and listen for a few moments. If
you agree with what I say then take it, and if not, I shall
desist from this talk.” Sa’d sat. Mus’ab spoke about Allah
and His messenger until Sa’d ibn Mu’’s face shone like a full
moon and he said, “What should a person do who wishes to
enter into this Deen?”
Look at what a kind word did. Sa’d ibn Mu’aadh went home to
his Madinan tribe that night and announced to them all,
“Everything of yours is Haram upon me until you all enter
into Islam.” That night, every home in Madinah went to bed
with Laa ilaaha illa Allah … all because of a kind word.
Who wins?
When Mu’aawiyah ibn al-Hakam al-Salami came to Madeenah from
the desert, he did not know that it was forbidden to speak
during the salaah. He relates: “Whilst I was praying behind
the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), a man sneezed, so I said ‘Yarhamuk Allaah (May
Allaah have mercy on you).’ The people glared at me, so I
said, ‘May my mother lose me! What is wrong with you that you
are looking at me?’ They began to slap their thighs with
their hands, and when I saw that they were indicating that I
should be quiet, I stopped talking (i.e., I nearly wanted to
answer them back, but I controlled myself and kept quiet).
When the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah
be upon him) had finished praying – may my father and mother
be sacrificed for him, I have never seen a better teacher
than him before or since – he did not scold me or hit me or
put me to shame. He just said, “This
prayer should contain nothing of the speech of men; it is
only tasbeeh and takbeer and recitation of the Qur’aan.” (Saheeh
Muslim, ‘Abd al-Baaqi edn, no. 537).
Thus we learn that when a mistake happens it should be
corrected. However, the method of correction is what needs
our attention. Whenever Muslims argue, it is as if each party
carries a banner of: ‘I must win and you must lose!’ Careful
study of the Sunnah however shows us that this is not always
the case with the way Rasul Allah acted. Consider the
following examples:
“I lose and you win!”
A Bedouin came to Rasul Allah and told him, “Gived him, “Have
I honored you?” “Yes, by Allah,” said the Bedouin. “Ash hadu
an laa ilaaha illa Allah, wa ashhadu anna Muhammadar Rasul
Allah.”
When the Sahabah heard of how the man changed, Rasul Allah
taught them. “Verily the example of myself, you and this
Bedouin is that of a man who had his camel run away. The
townspeople tried capturing the camel for him by running and
shouting after the camel, only driving it further away. The
man would shout, ‘Leave me and my camel, I know my camel
better.’ Then he took some grass in his hand, ruffled it in
front of the camel, until it came willingly. ‘By Allah, had I
left you to this Bedouin, you would have hit him, hurt him,
he would have left without Islam and eventually have entered
hellfire.”
“I win and you lose!”
A Muslim should not have an apologetic stance to everything
he is confronted with. There are times when the truth must be
said, when there is no room for flattery. When the Makhzoomi
women – a women from an affluent family – stole, people
approached Rasul Allah to have her punishment canceled. Rasul
Allah became very angry and stood on the pulpit and
announced, “By Allah, had Fatimah the daughter of Muhammad
stolen I would have cut her hand off.” No room for flattery,
the truth must be stood up for. It is here that the etiquette
of disagreement that we talked earlier about should shine.
“I win and you win!”
There doesn’t always have to be a loser. We see in many cases
that Rasul Allah gave a way out for the people he differed
with. When he sent the letter to Caesar, he said in it,
“Become Muslim and you shall be safe, Allah shall give you
your reward double!” He did not say surrender or die! Nothing
of the sort. Become Muslim and you shall win, rather your
victory shall be double.
I shall end with this shining example of how to act with
other Muslims from our role model, Abu Bakr: Abu Bakr once
disputed with another companion about a tree. During the
dispute Abu Bakr said something that he rather would not have
said. He did not curse, he did not attack someone’s honor, he
did not poke a fault in anyone, and all he said was something
that may have hurt the other companion’s feelings.
Immediately, Abu Bakr – understanding the mistake - ordered
him, “Say it back to me!” The companion said, “I shall not
say it back.” “Say it back to me,” said Abu Bakr, “Or I shall
complain to the Messenger of Allah.” The companion refused to
say it back and went on his way.
Abu Bakr went to Rasul Allah and related what had happened
and what he said. Rasul Allah called that companion and asked
him, “Did Abu Bakr say so and so to you?” He said, “Yes.” He
said, “What did you reply.” He said, “I did not reply it back
to him.” Rasul Allah said, “Good, do not reply it back to him
(do not hurt Abu Bakr). Rather say, ‘May Allah forgive you O
Abu Bakr!’” The Companion turned to Abu Bakr and said, “May
Allah forgive you O Abu Bakr! May Allah forgive you O Abu
Bakr!” Abu Bakr turned and cried as he walked away.
Let us leave today with a resolve to revive this air Rasul
Allah and his companions breathed, an air of mercy, love and
brotherhood. And Allah knows best.
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