tazimerasul

FOR A BELIEVER (MUMIN) IMMEDIATELY AFTER BELIEF, THE FIRST THING THAT BECOMES COMPULSORY IS THE HONORING (TAZEEM) OF THE HOLY PROPHET (PEACE BE UPON HIM).

In this lecture we will deal with

i.e. assisting and honoring the Holy Prophet e. Allah y has issued three orders here i.e.

Thirdly; we should praise Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) morning and evening.

Immediately after believing i.e. (Iman) Allah commands the assistance and honoring (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and after this he commands that He should be praised morning and evening. This confirms that for a Believer (mumin) immediately after belief, the first thing that becomes compulsory is the honoring (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him). Allah has also confirmed this in another two verses of the Holy Qur’aan:

It is those who believe in him, honor him (respect and revere), help him and follow the light, which is sent down with him. It is they who will achieve success.

Again in this verse Allah (Almighty and Glorious is He) mentions firstly, believing in the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and immediately thereafter He mentions the respect and reverence (adab and tazeem). Thereafter Allah says we should assist him and follow the light i.e. the guidance of the Qur’aan, which is sent down with him. This again shows that Allah has put the following of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and the Holy Qur’aan after his respect and reverence (adab and tazeem). Again it is emphasized that for a Believer (mumin) immediately after belief, the first thing that becomes compulsory is the honoring (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him).

Again immediately after belief, the first thing that Allah mentions is the honoring (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him).

RESPECT AND REVERENCE OF THE HOLY PROPHET (PEACE BE UPON HIM) IS THE LIFE AND SOUL OF ALL WORSHIP AND SERVICE OF ALLAH (IBADAH).

In the three verses we have quoted Allah mentions immediately after Faith (Iman) utmost respect and reverence (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). So it has been established that for a Believer (mumin) the first thing that becomes compulsory (waajib) is utmost respect and reverence (tazeem) of the Messengers of Allah (Peace be upon them all) more especially the Leader of all the divine messengers, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him and his family) Honoring (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) becomes compulsory (waajib) because just as Allah has ordered us to have faith He also orders us to honor (tazeem) the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). The utmost reverence of the beloved of Allah is a compulsory pre-requisite of all compulsory acts of worship (faraaiz). Respect and reverence of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) is the life and soul of all worship and service of Allah (ibadah). If there is the slightest lapse in this respect and reverence (tazeem) then all worship and service of Allah (ibadah) is rejected by Allah and becomes null and void.

I am not passing a verdict this is a clear injunction in the Holy Qur’aan in Sura 49 al-Hujeraat: Verse 2

Allah says to the Believers that when they address His Beloved Messenger (Peace be upon him) in the course of the address, they should be careful that the pitch of their voice is not raised above the pitch of the voice of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him). Here a point of note is that Allah has not stated that words be disrespectful; even if the words are respectful and full of praise it should not be stated in a pitch above the pitch of the voice of the voice Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him). If the voice is raised then the result will be that every act of virtue will be annulled and Allah will not give the divine help (Tuafiq) to realize that all acts of virtue have been annulled. What is this status? Allah will forgive any insult done to Him but He will never forgive any act of audacity directed to His beloved. This is the law of love. If for a single error, of disrespect to Allah's beloved, every act of virtue is annulled, how much must Allah love him? Thus it has been established that the utmost reverence of the beloved of Allah is a compulsory pre-requisite of all compulsory acts of worship (faraaiz) and acts of virtue. The blasphemer, is not given the realisation he has sinned, thus the door of repentance remains closed. Those that have attained Allah realization (aarifeen), those who rose to spiritual eminence, they say,

You may have heard from the Scholars (ulama) that when the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) migrated from Makkah the Ennobled and settled in Madinah the Illumined at that stage Muslims considered, from the point of view of love, residing in Makkah as very undesirable (mamnuh) and impermissible. Here we should ponder that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) had left Makkah but the Holy Kaaba, Station of Abraham, Mount Safa and Marwa -these Holy symbols of Allah were still in Makkah. But the Master had left, so the Muslims regarded residing in Makkah as very undesirable (mamnuh) and impermissible. This situation arose because the Kaaba had not left Makkah, but the soul and life of the Kaaba had left.

There was an elderly Companion of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) whose name was Jundub bin Gamrah (may Allah be well pleased with him). The rest of his family, children etc. were all disbelievers. He had not migrated due to his old age. His family however had taken care of him. Later he realized that all the Muslims had migrated to Madinah as per the Divine command and there was no exception for the old and infirm, so he too had to migrate. His family members forbid him from migrating, saying that he was not capable due to his old age. He however insisted that he should be put on horseback, fastened on the saddle with rope and the horse should be set in the direction of Madinah. He said that his duty was to embark on the journey and to take him to the destination was in Allah’s hands. When he started his journey, after a while, he became unconscious due to the extreme heat, weakness and rigors of the journey. His head was hanging sideways and it attracted attention. People stopped the horse and unfastened him. It was now his last few moments of life and he said, ‘O Allah! I did what I had to do, you be witness that I am considering my right hand as the hand of your holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) and I put my left hand into this hand and swear allegiance to your Messenger’. He then read the Testification of Faith and passed away. He was buried and the news eventually reached Madinah. The companions in Madinah began speaking amongst themselves that this companion of theirs could not be counted amongst those who migrated (muhaajirun) since he had not reached Madinah. At that juncture Allah revealed the following:

Allah said in effect that it should not be said he is not counted amongst those who migrated (muhaajirun) for he is counted amongst them and is rewarded.

GAGE ACCEPTANCE BY ALLAH ON THE LEVEL OF REVERENCE OF THE HOLY PROPHET (PEACE BE UPON HIM AND HIS FAMILY) AND NOT ON EXTERNAL ACTS OF PIETY AND LEVEL OF INTELLIGENCE.

We were discussing the fact that respect and reverence of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) is the life and soul of all worship and service of Allah (ibadah). Satan did not fall from grace because he rejected the oneness of Allah (tauhid) or he joined partners to Allah (shirk). Neither did he reject being a servant of Allah or bowing down to Allah.

So what resulted in his fall from grace? Allah ordered him to bow down to Adam (Sura 2 al-Baqarah: Verse 34)

Imam Fakhruddin Razi (may Allah be well pleased with him) says in his commentary of the Holy Qur’aan – Tafseer e Kabir and Allama Zurqani (may Allah be well pleased with him) writes in Zurqani:

Angels were ordered to prostrate to Adam (may Allah bless him with peace) because the ‘Light of Muhammad’ or ‘The Essence of All Creation’ (nur e Muhammadi) was on the forehead of Adam (may Allah bless him with peace). Actually the order of prostration was an act of reverence for the ‘Light of Muhammad’. In Sura 2 al-Hijr: Verse 30 Allah says:

All the Angels fell in prostration, in reverence for the ‘Light of Muhammad’ as per the order of Allah but one Mawlana refused. Satan was ‘the teacher of the angels’ (muallamul malkuut) and he worshipped Allah for millions of years. But he refused to revere the ‘Light of Muhammad’ or ‘The Essence of All Creation’ (nur e Muhammadi).

Allah asked him for the reason of refusing to bow down in reverence of the ‘Light of Muhammad’ or ‘The Essence of All Creation’ (nur e Muhammadi). Allah knew the reason but He asks questions to give us some wisdom. The reason Satan gives is stated in Sura 2 al-Hijr: Verse 33:

As soon as Satan displayed this arrogance, Allah passed sentence on him as mentioned in Sura 7 al-Araaf: Verse 13

Therefore we should gage acceptance by Allah on the level of reverence of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) and not on external acts of piety and level of intelligence. All his apparent acts of virtues were annulled due to his blasphemous attitude towards the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). Our standing for sending salutations on the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) with hands tied is an act of respect and reverence (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). We are accused of tying our hands as in salaah when sending salutations and are branded as being on the fringes of worshipping the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). Here we should note the following:

There are two actions, one is ‘worship’ (ibaadat) and the other is ‘reverence’ (tazeem). There is a difference in the two acts. ‘Worship’ (ibaadat) is to accept somebody or thing worthy of worship and thus revere them and ‘reverence’ (tazeem) is to accept one as not worthy of worship but to revere them. Thus the difference is whether we accept somebody or thing worthy of worship or not. So although we adopt a similar posture in ‘salaah’ and ‘salutation’ the difference is in the intention. Sitting is also a posture adopted in ‘salaah’. So if we sit in respect in front of ‘scholars’ (ulama) or ‘friends of Allah’ (awliya) the intention determines whether it is ‘worship’ (ibaadat) or ‘reverence’ (tazeem). The jurists of the Hanifi jurists state that during salutations:

Prior to the Saudi/Wahabbi alliance ruling the Hijaz after ‘every call to prayer’ every one used to stand and recite:

In the Hadith compilation of Ahmad ibn Hamnbal (may Allah be well pleased with him) it is reported by Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) passed by the door of a Companion Hazrath Ubayy ibn K’ab (may Allah be well pleased with him) and called him. Ubayy did not respond to the call since he was reading was busy reading his Compulsory Prayer (Farz Salaah). He quickly concluded his prayer and came to the door. The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) asked him why he did not immediately respond to his call. He explained that at the time he was busy reading his Compulsory Prayer (Farz Salaah). The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) asked him did he not hear the Qur’aanic injunction in Sura 8 al-Anfaal Verse 24

Firstly, note that after Allah and His Messenger are mentioned, the pronoun and verb in the next clause are singular: For the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) represents nothing but the will and intention of Allah.

Secondly, if any person is in salaah and the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) calls him he must leave his salaah and respond immediately.

A question arises that after responding to the Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) should he restart his salaah or read from where he had left it? Imam Shafei (may Allah be well pleased with him) says that ones salaah does not break and he should continue from where he left it, since Attention Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) is attention to Allah.

Many preach today that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) only became a prophet when he was forty years old. On this basis they say that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) did not know for forty years what is faith (iman) and what is a divine scripture (kitaab). Those who preach this substantiate what they say by quoting Sura 42 as-Shura: Verse 52

You did not know (before) what was Revelation, and what was Faith

(Small letters are additional words by translator, Irshad Soofi) Here the proper meaning is to cancel the allegations that the Holy Prophet had forged the Qur’aan and Islam from previous scriptures and other faiths. So it should be:

You were not influenced or had been schooled in Revelation, and other Faiths

They also quote Sura 93 ad-Duhaa: Verse 7

And He found thee wandering, and He gave thee guidance.

(Small letters are additional words by translator, Irshad Soofi) The proper translation given by a lover of Allah and his Messenger (Peace be upon him and his family) Imam Ahmad Raza Khan (may Allah be well pleased with him) is:

And he found you drowned in his love so He gave you a way unto Him

Most translators have erroneously translated the word ‘daul’ in such a way that it affects the prestige and personality of the matchless and sinless prophet. The word wandering does not befit his dignity.

If this is our belief and if we have a debate with a Christian and he says that in your Qur’aan it is stated that the newborn baby Jesus (may Allah bless him with peace) defended his mother when she was accused of having a child out of wedlock. The baby Jesus (may Allah bless him with peace) spoke and said, as mentioned in Sura Maryam: Verse 30/31:

He said: "I am indeed a servant of Allah: He hath given me a ‘divinely revealed book’ and made me a prophet; "And He hath made me blessed where ever I be, and hath enjoined on me Prayer and Charity as long as I live:

He said much more than this but this will suffice for our purpose. Some commentators of the Holy Qur’aan say he was a newborn baby whilst others say he was a 40-day-old child. Irrespective of the age the fact is that he spoke as a child and is prophesizing, or giving news of the unseen. Here he defends his mothers honor, but with such foresight and wisdom. He knew a time would come when they would perceive him as being the son of God, so first he says that he is the ‘servant of Allah’ and not the ‘son of God’. That which would transpire years later, he defends in advance. He then says that Allah has given me a ‘divinely revealed book’: here a point of note is that the word aa’ta is ‘past tense’ (sigat al-mazi). Meaning –Allah has already given me a ‘divinely revealed book’. Further he says that Allah has conferred prophet hood on me; Here too the word ja ala is also in the ‘past tense’ (sigat al-mazi). So Christians can present this verse from our Qur’aan and ask us Muslims that if Jesus, at birth, knew he was a servant of God, a recipient of a ‘divine scripture’ and a prophet of God, whilst your Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him and his family) did not know till the age of forty, therefore our messiah is greater than your Prophet. What answer will we give to this? Those who hold the belief that the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) only became a prophet when he was forty years old will have no answer whilst we Sunnis will have an answer. We will say that undoubtedly we believe Jesus (may Allah bless him with peace) made these miraculous revelations at birth but our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him and his family) said that he was already a prophet when Adam (may Allah bless him with peace) his forefather was still in an evolutionary state of being in between water and clay.

Kuntu nabiyan wa Aadamu baynal maai wat teen

I was a prophet when Adam (may Allah bless him with peace) was still in an in between water and clay.

So this new belief system, discarding beliefs that Muslims have held for fourteen hundred hears, have opened the doors of attack from other religious faiths. These attacks have always been there, but as long as our ‘belief system’ (aqaid) was in conformity with the original ahle sunnat wa jamaat our scholars had had no problem in answering them. E.g. A Christian priest once told Shah Abd al-Aziz Muhaddith of Delhi (may Allah be well pleased with him) that our Jesus (may Allah bless him with peace) is greater in status than your Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him and his family) because Allah raised him to the heavens whilst your prophet is buried on the earth. Shah Abd al-Aziz Muhaddith of Delhi (may Allah be well pleased with him) did not immediately answer but a simple farmer sitting in his company requested permission to answer the Christian priests taunt. On being given permission to answer by Shah Abd al-Aziz Muhaddith of Delhi (may Allah be well pleased with him) he went to his nearby home and brought a scale. He put a lightweight on one side and a heavy weight on the other. The side of the scale with the lightweight remained up whilst the side with the heavy weight touched the floor. He told the Christian priest that the one with the lighter status went up whilst the one with the greater status remained down. Shah Abd al-Aziz Muhaddith of Delhi (may Allah be well pleased with him) also answered by saying that the water bubble rises to the top whilst the pearl stays at the bottom.

Thus this new belief system, discarding beliefs that Muslims have held for fourteen hundred hears, have opened the doors of attack from other religious faiths. The damage caused to Islam by deviant Muslim sects is much more than was ever caused by unbelievers. Who martyred Hazrath Uthman, Hazrath Ali and Hazrath Imam Hussain (may Allah be well pleased with them all)? Read the history of Islam and see the damage caused to Islam by deviant Muslim sects. Who allowed the Caliphate to be abolished? Who allowed the Spiritual Headquarters of Islam, Makkah and Madinah to be run by a toothless monarchy? Who has allowed the material wealth of Islam to be assimilated in a interest based economy whilst putting the oil wealth into kuffar hands? (Small letters are additional words by translator, Irshad Soofi)

Coming back to our topic, sending salutations on the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) with hands tied is an act of respect and reverence (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). Honoring (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family) becomes compulsory (waajib) because just as Allah has ordered us to have faith He also orders us to honor (tazeem) the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). To celebrate Meelad is also an act of honoring (tazeem) of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). Allama Imam ibn Hajar Asqalani (may Allah be well pleased with him) says[1]

In fact all things, including help comes from Allah, but He has means of disseminating whatever he gives. This ‘means’ is called wasila or zaria.

The following Hadith is quoted by Imam Abu Nuaim Isfahani (may Allah be well pleased with him) a great Imam and Muhaddith whose transmission of Hadith literature is included in Mishkat Shareef, in his book, Hilyat al-Awliya; Allama Imam Hallabi (may Allah be well pleased with him) also quotes it in Sirate Halabia and Imam Jalaluddin Suyuti (may Allah be well pleased with him) quotes it in Qasaise Kubra Shareef. The Hadith is as follows:

If a Jew, of bad character can attain salvation for reverence to Allah’s beloveds name, why will a Believer, in the love of Muhammad (Peace be upon him and his family), kissing the name of Muhammad not hope to be saved by Allah for this act of love and honor? Kissing is an act of love and affection (muhabbah).

Kissing is an act associated with love. Hw many a thing or being is kissed out of love. Someone once saw the traditional lover Majnun kissing the feet of a dog. The onlooker asked why do you kiss a dogs feet. Majnun replied that you don’t know:

A lover will kiss the soil of the streets of the beloved and the feet of the dogs that walk in those streets. Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi (may Allah be well pleased with him) says:

Create a bond of love (ishq) with the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him and his family). Hazrath Abu Bakr (may Allah be well pleased with him) heard the words "Ashadu ana Muhammad ar-Rasulullah" and he kissed his both thumb nails and rubbed it over his eyes saying:

To celebrate the Blessed Birth (meelad), reciting salutations (salaami) and kissing of the fingernails are all acts of love (ishq) and reverence (tazeem). The parting advice is this that doesn’t join those that have wrong belief (aqaaid) and you will remain on the path of truth (haq).

A lecture delivered by Maulana Muhammad Shafi Okarvi (may Allah be well pleased with him) in South Africa at the Flower road Masjid on 20 May 1976/20 Jamad al-Awal 1396

Translated by Irshad Soofi Chishti Nizami Habibi on December 20, 2003/14 Shawaal 1424

[1] Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, al-Durar al-kamina fi ain al-Miat al-thamina

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