The
Chishti Nizami Habibi Soofie
Pietermaritzburg
South Africa
Does a hypocrite being buried in Makkah or Madinah become an automated Jannati?
Does a hypocrite being buried in Makkah or Madinah become an automated Jannati?
Abd-Allah ibn Ubayy عبد الله بن أبي بن سلول also called ibn Salul in reference to his mother, (died 631) was a chief of the Arab tribe Banu Khazraj and one of the leading men of Madinah (then known as Yathrib). Upon the arrival of the Holy Prophet Muhammad e, Ibn Ubayy became a Muslim. The first chapters to be revealed in Madinah were The 83rd Sura al-Mutaffifīn الْمُطَفِّفِيْن (Fraudulent dealing) or in the modern context I will call it ‘Capitalist Mentality’. Some commentators regard this as a Makkan Sura. Those who support the Madinan revelation refer to a tradition from Ibn Abbas according to which when the Holy Prophet e arrived in Madinah, the evil of giving short weight and measure was widespread among the people there. The title of the Sura has taken from its first verse, that the fate of the capitalistic system and business mentality will ultimately be doom. Either way the Holy Prophet Muhammad e had taken on the Fraudulent Capitalists in Makkah and he had to purge his adopted home and model city of this exploitative economics. So the Holy Prophet Muhammad e enquires, from the Aus and Khazraj, who were farmers, as to where the market place is and he is informed that it controlled by the Jews. So the Holy Prophet Muhammad e got the Muslims to set up their own marketplace and started building the Masjid. So this points to deen and dunya. This teaches us an important lesson of worship as well as maintaining our economic integrity and independence. Hazrath Ali t said:
There is no good in a people that eat what they don’t grow and wear what they don’t weave
This was a powerful political act that would obviously upset the Jews. The Muslims in Makkah were all faithful Muslims (Mukhlisun) but now we see the emergence of a new group the Hypocrites (Munafiqun). The people of Makkah in their frames of reference had never experienced a religious hypocrite - those who swing between Truth and Falsehood. In Makkah when Islam was only a doctrine and creed, rather than an operational model it became in Madinah, there was no class of people referred to as hypocrites. Hypocrisy is a product of power. The hypocrite’s motive is only to be with the side in power, right or wrong, moral or evil, Islamic or otherwise. As the Muslim prestige increased after the victory in the Battle of Badr so did the number of hypocrites. Many high ranking kuffaar and mushriks joined the Muslims. They had to do so in a business sense, to protect their status and possessions. They changed sides but did not undergo a change of heart. These were ‘dual-loyalists’- out of convenience they perform their part in a ritual Islam, but when it comes to honour their commitment to Allah Y, in struggling and sacrificing, they show their inclination to the anti-Islamic camps, states or powers. They delude even themselves that they are Muslims, while in reality they owe their allegiance to the forces of kufr. Duplicity, which is a deeper phase of hypocrisy, corrupts a person’s moral tone, on the one hand, and brings loss of face to him, on the other. Thus, side by side with being unjust to others, he who practices duplicity also damages himself. Hence it is a ‘duty to self’ to abstain from it completely. Wherever hypocrisy is practiced it is a grave vice, and it is the duty of a Muslim to abstain from it totally if he has to be true to his Faith. The Muslims were now faced with a struggle of simultaneously being at war on the outside with the Makkans and on the inside with the Jews and hypocrites.
Ibn Ubayy occupied a respected status in pre-Islamic Madinan society, and his supporters aimed for him to become ‘king’. This aim was not realized, however, due to the arrival of Muhammad in 622 CE. People now looked towards another arbitrator the Holy Prophet Muhammad , whose preaching had made him famous beyond his home town of Makkah. The arrival of the Holy Prophet Muhammad e eclipsed Ibn Ubayy's influence. This provoked his jealousy, which he was careful to conceal. Ibn Ishaq calls him:
A man of great authority in Madina before the advent of the apostle and who remained a continuing thorn in the flesh of his success.
Because of repeated conflicts with the Holy Prophet Muhammad e, Islamic Allah Y has labeled him a Munaafiq (hypocrite) and ‘leader of the Munafiqun’. This criterion to judge a Munaafiq is given in various verses in the Holy Qur’aan and an entire chapter called ‘The Hypocrites’. So people who say we should not judge should realize we pass judgement in accordance with the criteria given in the Holy Qur’aan which is called the Al-Furqaan (the criterion).
صحيح بخاري / كِتَاب تَفْسِيرِ الْقُرْآنِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ اسْمَانِ مِنْ الرَّحْمَةِ الرَّحِيمُ وَالرَّاحِمُ بِمَعْنًى وَاحِدٍ كَالْعَلِيمِ وَالْعَالِمِ
بَاب قَوْلِهِ اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِنْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَلَنْ يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ
حَدَّثَنِي عُبَيْدُ بْنُ إِسْمَاعِيلَ عَنْ أَبِي أُسَامَةَ عَنْ عُبَيْدِ اللَّهِ عَنْ نَافِعٍ عَنْ ابْنِ عُمَرَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمَا قَالَ
لَمَّا تُوُفِّيَ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ أُبَيٍّ جَاءَ ابْنُهُ عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَسَأَلَهُ أَنْ يُعْطِيَهُ قَمِيصَهُ يُكَفِّنُ فِيهِ أَبَاهُ فَأَعْطَاهُ ثُمَّ سَأَلَهُ أَنْ يُصَلِّيَ عَلَيْهِ فَقَامَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لِيُصَلِّيَ عَلَيْهِ فَقَامَ عُمَرُ فَأَخَذَ بِثَوْبِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ تُصَلِّي عَلَيْهِ وَقَدْ نَهَاكَ رَبُّكَ أَنْ تُصَلِّيَ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنَّمَا خَيَّرَنِي اللَّهُ فَقَالَ اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لَا تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِنْ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً وَسَأَزِيدُهُ عَلَى السَّبْعِينَ قَالَ إِنَّهُ مُنَافِقٌ قَالَ فَصَلَّى عَلَيْهِ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ فَأَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ وَلَا تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ مَاتَ أَبَدًا وَلَا تَقُمْ عَلَى قَبْرِهِ
Narrated Ibn Umar: When Abdullah bin Ubai (the ameer and pir of the hypocrites) died, his son 'Abdullah bin 'Abdullah (a true Muslim) came to Allah's Apostle who gave his shirt to him and ordered him to shroud his father (the ameer and pir of the hypocrites) in it. Then the Holy Prophet Muhammad e stood up to offer the funeral prayer for the deceased, but Hazrath Umar bin Al-Khattab y grasped the blessed garment of the Holy Prophet Muhammad e and said:
"Do you offer the funeral prayer for him though he was a hypocrite and Allah Y has forbidden you to ask forgiveness for hypocrites?"
The Holy Prophet Muhammad e said, "Allah Y has given me the choice saying: [9th Sura, at-Tawbah (Repentance) التَّوْبَة in verse 80:]
اسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ أَوْ لاَ تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ إِن تَسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً فَلَن يَغْفِرَ اللّهُ لَهُمْ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَاللّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْفَاسِقِينَ
Whether or not you seek forgiveness for these (wicked and arrogant hypocrites who dare scoff at your eminence), if you implore forgiveness for them seventy times (out of your natural compassion and your benevolent practice of forgiving and forbearing), even then Allah will not forgive them at all because they have rejected Allah and His Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) and Allah does not guide the rebels.
The he added:
"I will (appeal to Allah Y for his sake) more than seventy times."
So Allah's Apostle offered the funeral prayer for him and we too, offered the prayer along with him. Then Allah Y revealed the 9th Sura, at-Tawbah (Repentance) التَّوْبَة in verse 84:
وَلاَ تُصَلِّ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِّنْهُم مَّاتَ أَبَدًا وَلاَ تَقُمْ عَلَىَ قَبْرِه إِنَّهُمْ كَفَرُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَمَاتُواْ وَهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ
And never perform (funeral) Prayer over any of these (hypocrites) who dies, nor stand at his grave (because your stepping on some place also brings about mercy and blessings, and they do not deserve your mercy and blessing). Indeed they did not possess true commitment (belief) regarding Allah and His Messenger (blessings and peace be upon him) and died as defiant.
[Sahih Bukhari, Darussalam Publishers, Print July1997, King Fahd National Library, Vol 6, The Book of Commentary, Chapter 12, Page 148, Hadith Number 4670]
So the chief of the Hypocrites was buried in Baqi does this make any hypocrite buried in Baqi or Makkah a Jannati?