* An Obligation For Every Muslim...

An Obligation For Every Muslim...

- abu muQatil

ibn_muharram writes "the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "And I command you with five that Allah has commanded me: Hearing, obeying, Jihad, Hijrah, and the Jamaa’ah." [Narrated by Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi.] What follows is an excerpt from the work of Sheikh Usaamah ibn Muhammad ibn 'Awadh ibn Laadin in which he highlights the obligations of the Islamic Ummah which are often ignored or left out. We pray that you may benefit from this short yet powerfull piece of text.Allah has commanded you to perform the Salaah. So when you pray, do not turn your face away, for verily Allah puts His Face towards the face of His slave while he is in Salaah, as long as he does not turn his face away. And He has commanded you to fast, for verily the example of that is like the example of a man wearing a belt which has a pouch containing musk, and all of the people wonder [or: he wonders] at its scent. For verily the odour from the mouth of the fasting person is more pleasant to Allah than the scent of musk. And He has commanded you to give charity, for verily the example of that is like the example of a man taken captive by the enemy, bound with his hands to his neck, and brought forward to be beheaded, and he says: "I will ransom myself from you with a little or a lot," so he ransomed himself from them. And He has commanded you to make remembrance of Allah, for verily the example of that is like the example of a man being pursued by the enemy who are rapidly catching up to him, until he comes to a protected fortress, so he secures himself from them. Likewise it is for the slave, he cannot secure himself from the Shaytaan except by the remembrance of Allah." Then the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم followed up by saying: "And I command you with five that Allah has commanded me: Hearing, obeying, Jihad, Hijrah, and the Jamaa’ah." [Narrated by Imam Ahmad and at-Tirmidhi.] So the issue here is that the first five, which are the pillars of al-Islam, cannot be established as a government nor as a methodology for mankind, except with the other five. Likewise, a person cannot be a Muslim in his essence and in his heart, while he judges by man-made laws and al-Islam does not govern the earth. As for the Islam that was sent down to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and that he was ordered to convey, it is to govern the earth and the judgement is to be referred back to it, and not to remain a mere series of ritual symbols. So these five are necessary. And these five, if we take notice, accord with and affirm the reality that came in his Da'wah صلى الله عليه وسلم to the tribes: [1] "To the Shahadah, that none has the right to be worshipped but Allah," and all of the implications of the Shahadah of "La ilaha illallah". [2] "...and that you shelter me and aid me." So shelter and aid are dependent on these five. For shelter and aid need a Jamaa’ah, and they need hearing and obeying, and they need Jihad, and they need Hijrah. And when we follow the texts in the Book of Allah, and in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم , we clearly find that these realities, wherever they go, express strongly that the way to establish the Islamic state and to spread the religion needs: [1] A Jamaa’ah. [2] Hearing and obeying. [3] Hijrah and Jihad. So those who want to establish something for al-Islam without making the sacrifices of Hijrah, and without making the sacrifices of Jihad in the Cause of Allah, then such people have not understood the Manhaj of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم . And if they have understood it, then they have not acted upon it, rather they have occupied themselves with other acts of obedience. So these people are running away from the heavy consequences of these great acts of worship, for verily Jihad is a hardship, as Allah (Subhanahu wa-Ta’aala) has stated in His Book. So it is clear from what has preceded as to the great importance of the Jamaa’ah and Jihad. As for today, there are deficiencies in the method of guarding this religion, and in the implementation of the available resources to aid this religion. So now the one who sits back from aiding the religion does not realise that he is committing a sin, indeed he feels that he is in obedience. And he does not realise the shame of this great sin.The Hadith of Hudhayfah (radhiyallahu 'anhu) from the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم which depicts a situation similar to our current situation, in which he said (radhiyallahu 'anhu): "The people used to ask the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم about the good, but I used to ask him about the evil, for fear that it would overtake me. So I said: "O Messenger of Allah, we were in Jahiliyyah and evil, and Allah brought us this good. So will there be any evil after this good? " He said: "Yes." I said: "Will there be any good after this evil?" He said: "Yes, but it will be tainted." I said: "What is its taint?" He said: "A people who follow other than my guidance, you will see good and bad in them." I said: "Will there be any evil after this good?" He said: "Yes, callers at the gates of Hell; whoever responds to their call, they will throw him into it." So he (Hudhayfah) said: "So what do you order me to do if I live to see that?" So he (the Prophet) gave him a single order despite the great number of obligatory duties and their importance however in the likes of this situation there is one order, which has priority over all other obligatory duties after Iman itself. He said: "So what do you order me to do if I live to see that?" He صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Stick to the Jamaa’ah of the Muslims and their Imam." -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Ibn Muharram notes: For the purpose of using and spreading the message through our website, we have cut&paste the above from the original work called "Tawjihat Manhajiyyah"."