Here’s one of the earliest posts from my blog, The Humble I. Although it’s a decade old, it still captures certain truths that the people of tawhid, of Abrahamic Monotheism, ought to keep in mind: https://thehumblei.com/2012/08/31/inbreak-of-truth-outbreak-of-violence/
The Humble I
With the Inbreak of Truth, Comes the Outbreak of Violence
Ibn Mas‘ud – an early convert to Islam, who went on to become one of the most learned scholars from the Prophet’s Companions – said of the Prophet ﷺ when the latter sustained…
The Two Pillars of Spiritual Wayfaring:
IBN AL-QAYYIM wrote the following about the foundations of a believer’s suluk or spiritual ‘wayfaring’ to Allah. It is a principle that must be kept at the heart of what it means to be a Muslim. He wrote:
‘Good character with [Allah] the Real, and with people, revolves around two words which were mentioned by ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani: “Be with the Real without people, and with people without ego (kun ma‘a’l-haqq bila khalq wa ma‘a’l-khalq bila nafs).”
‘So consider how profound these two sentences are, despite their brevity; and how exhaustive they are in depicting the principles of spiritual wayfaring and every beautiful chracter trait. For corruption of people arises when they put others between themselves and Allah, or their ego between themselves and others. So whenever you set aside others, at the time when you are with Allah; and keep your ego at bay, at a time when you are with other people, you will achieve all that the spiritual community allude to, be diligent about it and constantly attached to it. And Allah’s help is sought.’1
_____________
1. Madarij al-Salikin (Riyadh: Dar Taybah, 2008), 3:107.
IBN AL-QAYYIM wrote the following about the foundations of a believer’s suluk or spiritual ‘wayfaring’ to Allah. It is a principle that must be kept at the heart of what it means to be a Muslim. He wrote:
‘Good character with [Allah] the Real, and with people, revolves around two words which were mentioned by ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani: “Be with the Real without people, and with people without ego (kun ma‘a’l-haqq bila khalq wa ma‘a’l-khalq bila nafs).”
‘So consider how profound these two sentences are, despite their brevity; and how exhaustive they are in depicting the principles of spiritual wayfaring and every beautiful chracter trait. For corruption of people arises when they put others between themselves and Allah, or their ego between themselves and others. So whenever you set aside others, at the time when you are with Allah; and keep your ego at bay, at a time when you are with other people, you will achieve all that the spiritual community allude to, be diligent about it and constantly attached to it. And Allah’s help is sought.’1
_____________
1. Madarij al-Salikin (Riyadh: Dar Taybah, 2008), 3:107.
“Seeing Modernity with a Prophetic Glance.” After a lengthy hiatus, here’s the latest posting - a short spiritual reminder - from the newly revamped, The Humble I. Please do share: https://thehumblei.com/2023/11/02/seeing-modernity-with-a-prophetic-glance/
Here is the latest post on The Humble I. Please share with others (and like, if you’ve benefitted): https://thehumblei.com/2023/11/05/palestine-victory-is-already-here/
The Humble I
Palestine: Victory is Already Here!
ALTHOUGH THE TITLE sounds like a clickbait one, I can assure the reader that it is rooted in the Qur’an itself. Permit me the indulgence to explain: I. the Victory The Holy Qur’an says: Truly Our w…
Revving the Engine of Spiritual Wayfaring
ONCE RELIGIOUSNESS, or religiosity, is experienced as suluk, as spiritual wayfaring to Allah’s presence, rather than as stagnation or meaningless rituals where we can’t see the wood for the trees, our Islam then starts to take on a whole different hue.
Once we board the vehicle of suluk and rev the engine of mujahadah, spiritual striving, and move forward; once we activate the fiqh and deeply root the ‘aqidah, and sprinkle over them both a healthy dose of shari’ah-compliant tasawwuf and make the vehicle shudder into motion, then there won’t be boredom, indifference, or serious backsliding.
For then, the eye of the heart starts to open up, and we begin to see the beauty of the journey; not as a chore, but as a labour of love. Then, even the skirmishes with the nafs start to be likeable and doable, and Allah helps us to understand the tricks of shaytan and the subtle ways in which he first tries to render us ungrateful, then ultimately forgetful of Him. Once we are helped to see through his ruse, we see that there’s not much really there: ‘Indeed the guile of the Devil is weak.’ [Q.4:76] Shaytan is persistent in snapping at our heels, but Allah’s obedience and dhikr repel his whispers, and mahabbah melts the wall of ice we’re caged in, allowing our frozen hearts to thaw.
So once that ignition is turned on, and the whole thing comes to life, and soul-fuel and nur course through the system, it’s a different ballgame altogether.
ONCE RELIGIOUSNESS, or religiosity, is experienced as suluk, as spiritual wayfaring to Allah’s presence, rather than as stagnation or meaningless rituals where we can’t see the wood for the trees, our Islam then starts to take on a whole different hue.
Once we board the vehicle of suluk and rev the engine of mujahadah, spiritual striving, and move forward; once we activate the fiqh and deeply root the ‘aqidah, and sprinkle over them both a healthy dose of shari’ah-compliant tasawwuf and make the vehicle shudder into motion, then there won’t be boredom, indifference, or serious backsliding.
For then, the eye of the heart starts to open up, and we begin to see the beauty of the journey; not as a chore, but as a labour of love. Then, even the skirmishes with the nafs start to be likeable and doable, and Allah helps us to understand the tricks of shaytan and the subtle ways in which he first tries to render us ungrateful, then ultimately forgetful of Him. Once we are helped to see through his ruse, we see that there’s not much really there: ‘Indeed the guile of the Devil is weak.’ [Q.4:76] Shaytan is persistent in snapping at our heels, but Allah’s obedience and dhikr repel his whispers, and mahabbah melts the wall of ice we’re caged in, allowing our frozen hearts to thaw.
So once that ignition is turned on, and the whole thing comes to life, and soul-fuel and nur course through the system, it’s a different ballgame altogether.
Here is a repost from the end of last year. For our politics to be ‘Islamic’, it’s absolutely essential for us to understand the principles of sacred siyasah. This article addresses a number of such principles: https://thehumblei.com/2022/12/15/rulers-rebellions-righteous-anger/
The Humble I
Rulers, Rebellions, Righteous Anger
The following is a chapter from my upcoming book, God-willing, called: Salafism Reconsidered: True Salafism, False Salafism & Ijma’ Theology. This is the fortieth chapter, and discusses t…
Protecting Our Faith in this Age of Fitnah and Confusion:
THE ARABIC WORD, ‘fitnah’ can mean: trial, discord, affliction, temptation, civil war, or any other strife that ruptures a community’s unity and pits Muslim against fellow Muslim.
There are the ageless and abiding fitnahs of women, wealth and worldliness. There are also fitnahs of callers to misguidance, rulers or governments seeking to domesticate Muslim scholars, and the active promotion and funding of warped understandings of our faith. And, of course, there is the fitnah of sectarian violence and of wanton takfir.
Our Prophet ﷺ gave to us this stark warning when he said:
تَكُونُ بَيْنَ يَدَىِ السَّاعَةِ فِتَنٌ كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ يُصْبِحُ الرَّجُلُ فِيهَا مُؤْمِنًا وَيُمْسِي كَافِرًا وَيُمْسِي مُؤْمِنًا وَيُصْبِحُ كَافِرًا يَبِيعُ أَقْوَامٌ دِينَهُمْ بِعَرَضٍ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا.
‘Before the coming of the Hour there will be fitnahs like patches of dark night. A person shall awaken in the morning a believer but by the evening become a disbeliever, or in the evening be a believer but by morning become a disbeliever; and people will sell their religion so as to acquire some portion of the world.’1
In these times of immense confusion in which we now live; in this age of inversion, there may well be many a believer who is a kafir under the skin, and many a kafir who is closer than he or she realises to the One God in whom he or she thinks they do not believe.
This isn't an excuse for pointing the finger of accusation at one another, or for making specific declarations of takfir. But it is a wake-up call to earnestly ask God for firmness of faith, safety from fitnah being secreted into our hearts, and continued guidance upon the path of His good pleasure. Our prayer, then, is:
رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ.
‘Our Lord, cause not our hearts to swerve after You have guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from Your Presence. Undoubtedly, You are the Bestower.’ [Q.3:8]
To that, let us say ‘Amin’.
Amin!
______________
1. Al-Tirmidhi, no.2197. The hadith was graded as hasan in al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Ma‘arif, 1995), no.810.
THE ARABIC WORD, ‘fitnah’ can mean: trial, discord, affliction, temptation, civil war, or any other strife that ruptures a community’s unity and pits Muslim against fellow Muslim.
There are the ageless and abiding fitnahs of women, wealth and worldliness. There are also fitnahs of callers to misguidance, rulers or governments seeking to domesticate Muslim scholars, and the active promotion and funding of warped understandings of our faith. And, of course, there is the fitnah of sectarian violence and of wanton takfir.
Our Prophet ﷺ gave to us this stark warning when he said:
تَكُونُ بَيْنَ يَدَىِ السَّاعَةِ فِتَنٌ كَقِطَعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ يُصْبِحُ الرَّجُلُ فِيهَا مُؤْمِنًا وَيُمْسِي كَافِرًا وَيُمْسِي مُؤْمِنًا وَيُصْبِحُ كَافِرًا يَبِيعُ أَقْوَامٌ دِينَهُمْ بِعَرَضٍ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا.
‘Before the coming of the Hour there will be fitnahs like patches of dark night. A person shall awaken in the morning a believer but by the evening become a disbeliever, or in the evening be a believer but by morning become a disbeliever; and people will sell their religion so as to acquire some portion of the world.’1
In these times of immense confusion in which we now live; in this age of inversion, there may well be many a believer who is a kafir under the skin, and many a kafir who is closer than he or she realises to the One God in whom he or she thinks they do not believe.
This isn't an excuse for pointing the finger of accusation at one another, or for making specific declarations of takfir. But it is a wake-up call to earnestly ask God for firmness of faith, safety from fitnah being secreted into our hearts, and continued guidance upon the path of His good pleasure. Our prayer, then, is:
رَبَّنَا لاَ تُزِغْ قُلُوبَنَا بَعْدَ إِذْ هَدَيْتَنَا وَهَبْ لَنَا مِنْ لَدُنْكَ رَحْمَةً إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْوَهَّابُ.
‘Our Lord, cause not our hearts to swerve after You have guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from Your Presence. Undoubtedly, You are the Bestower.’ [Q.3:8]
To that, let us say ‘Amin’.
Amin!
______________
1. Al-Tirmidhi, no.2197. The hadith was graded as hasan in al-Albani, Silsilat al-Ahadith al-Sahihah (Riyadh: Maktabah al-Ma‘arif, 1995), no.810.
The seminar discusses the following five questions:
1 - Can we read any verse or hadith and act on it without scholarly guidance?
2 - What are the three infallible sources of Islam?
3 - Is there a consensus on the matter of taqlid and madhhabs?
4 - What is the view of senior scholars of Contemporary Salafism on the issue of consensus (ijma’)?
5 - What examples are there of contemporary Salafism violating an established consensus?
1 - Can we read any verse or hadith and act on it without scholarly guidance?
2 - What are the three infallible sources of Islam?
3 - Is there a consensus on the matter of taqlid and madhhabs?
4 - What is the view of senior scholars of Contemporary Salafism on the issue of consensus (ijma’)?
5 - What examples are there of contemporary Salafism violating an established consensus?
On Government Scholars, Populist Scholars, and True Scholars:
RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS, LONG ago, were divided into three types: [i] government scholars (‘ulema al-dawlah), [ii] populist scholars (‘ulema al-‘ammah) and [iii] righteous religious scholars (‘ulema al-millah).
Government scholars needn’t be salaried employees of the state. Rather, the label will apply to any scholar whose intended aim is to be royalist and to defend official state policies – regardless of truth, justice and the shari‘ah. Their goal is not God, as much as it is to placate the palace. These sell-outs are different from those state appointed scholars whose lives are a testimony to their God-fearingness and piety, but whose perceptions and outlook, when it comes to fatwas on larger political matters, could be skewered by false government briefings, misinformation and palace propaganda. While the personal integrity of such scholars is unquestionable; their political fatwas are less so.
Populist scholars are at the other end of the spectrum. They are scholars whose chief purpose is to be popular among the masses. Their fatwas are always anti-government, merely for the sake of gaining acceptance among the masses. Again, God, justice, and truth isn’t their main goal, as much as it is keeping the hysteria of the masses happy, courting the crowds, and pandering to the public’s praises. These people, as with the above, have also betrayed their scholarly credentials.
As for those righteous religious scholars, their intent is God’s good pleasure. They issue fatwas out of piety, in light of the shari‘ah and with trying to conceptualise the actual situation. Their fatwas are based on knowledge, justice and on scrupulousness. God’s pleasure is their aim: whether the fatwa agrees with the monarchy or the masses, the president or the public. These are the true inheritors of the Prophets.
RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS, LONG ago, were divided into three types: [i] government scholars (‘ulema al-dawlah), [ii] populist scholars (‘ulema al-‘ammah) and [iii] righteous religious scholars (‘ulema al-millah).
Government scholars needn’t be salaried employees of the state. Rather, the label will apply to any scholar whose intended aim is to be royalist and to defend official state policies – regardless of truth, justice and the shari‘ah. Their goal is not God, as much as it is to placate the palace. These sell-outs are different from those state appointed scholars whose lives are a testimony to their God-fearingness and piety, but whose perceptions and outlook, when it comes to fatwas on larger political matters, could be skewered by false government briefings, misinformation and palace propaganda. While the personal integrity of such scholars is unquestionable; their political fatwas are less so.
Populist scholars are at the other end of the spectrum. They are scholars whose chief purpose is to be popular among the masses. Their fatwas are always anti-government, merely for the sake of gaining acceptance among the masses. Again, God, justice, and truth isn’t their main goal, as much as it is keeping the hysteria of the masses happy, courting the crowds, and pandering to the public’s praises. These people, as with the above, have also betrayed their scholarly credentials.
As for those righteous religious scholars, their intent is God’s good pleasure. They issue fatwas out of piety, in light of the shari‘ah and with trying to conceptualise the actual situation. Their fatwas are based on knowledge, justice and on scrupulousness. God’s pleasure is their aim: whether the fatwa agrees with the monarchy or the masses, the president or the public. These are the true inheritors of the Prophets.
Never Underestimate the Power in Praying for Others:
IN ONE HADITH we read the following: ‘No Muslim servant prays for his brother in his absence, except that the angels say: “And for him the same.”’ [Muslim, no.2732]
This hadith directs believers to a lofty code of conduct, in that they are taught to love goodness for others, especially by supplicating for their fellow Muslims. Therefore, each of us should try to make it a part of our daily spiritual litany (wird) to supplicate for our fellow Muslims - particularly in their times of dire need, vulnerability, oppression pain, suffering or loss.
So virtuous is the act of du’a for others, and so sacred is the sanctity of a Muslim in Allah’s sight, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, also said: ‘Whoever seeks forgiveness for the believing men and women, Allah records for him a good deed for each believing man and woman [he prays for].’ [Al-Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, 10:210. It was graded as hasan in al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami’ al-Saghir, no.6026]
Of course, we may read the above hadith only from the angle of how immensely rewarded we shall be for praying for our fellow Muslims. We might limit our focus on the fact that one good deed can yield ten to several hundred times the reward of the actual deed; so if we multiply that by the one and half billion Muslims currently living, and the hundreds of thousands of million Muslims throughout the generations that have already passed away, that’s a big number - an immensely large reward. But that would be shortsightedness on our part and to miss the deeper point!
Rather, the hadith is pointing to something beyond just calculating ‘ajr or reward. It is directing us to internalise just how great the sanctity (hurmah) of each believer is in Allah’s sight; how we must honour and not dishonour such sanctity; and how much Allah loves that we put ourselves in the service or khidmah of others, for the love of Him. Hence the greatness of the reward.
Thus our prayer or supplication can only be: O Allah! Forgive all the believing men and believing women, the Muslim men and the Muslim women, those living from us and those who have passed away, with Your mercy; O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
IN ONE HADITH we read the following: ‘No Muslim servant prays for his brother in his absence, except that the angels say: “And for him the same.”’ [Muslim, no.2732]
This hadith directs believers to a lofty code of conduct, in that they are taught to love goodness for others, especially by supplicating for their fellow Muslims. Therefore, each of us should try to make it a part of our daily spiritual litany (wird) to supplicate for our fellow Muslims - particularly in their times of dire need, vulnerability, oppression pain, suffering or loss.
So virtuous is the act of du’a for others, and so sacred is the sanctity of a Muslim in Allah’s sight, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, also said: ‘Whoever seeks forgiveness for the believing men and women, Allah records for him a good deed for each believing man and woman [he prays for].’ [Al-Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, 10:210. It was graded as hasan in al-Albani, Sahih al-Jami’ al-Saghir, no.6026]
Of course, we may read the above hadith only from the angle of how immensely rewarded we shall be for praying for our fellow Muslims. We might limit our focus on the fact that one good deed can yield ten to several hundred times the reward of the actual deed; so if we multiply that by the one and half billion Muslims currently living, and the hundreds of thousands of million Muslims throughout the generations that have already passed away, that’s a big number - an immensely large reward. But that would be shortsightedness on our part and to miss the deeper point!
Rather, the hadith is pointing to something beyond just calculating ‘ajr or reward. It is directing us to internalise just how great the sanctity (hurmah) of each believer is in Allah’s sight; how we must honour and not dishonour such sanctity; and how much Allah loves that we put ourselves in the service or khidmah of others, for the love of Him. Hence the greatness of the reward.
Thus our prayer or supplication can only be: O Allah! Forgive all the believing men and believing women, the Muslim men and the Muslim women, those living from us and those who have passed away, with Your mercy; O Most Merciful of those who show mercy.
The Ego’s Anger v. Courage and Righteous Anger (a Friday sermon delivered at the Karima Foundation): https://youtu.be/XIZOOvycWr4?si=J7tU1afmtk6BOxXK
Prayer or Protest?: A short, 57 second clip. https://youtube.com/shorts/UFgEk-2J9xQ?si=by5fLcHQvrO4ULPu
YouTube
PRAYER or PROTEST?!
For Believers, Trials and Ordeals in Life Have Purpose and Meaning:
THE HOLY QUR’AN teaches: ‘We will surely test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property and lives and trade. But give glad-tidings to the patient who, when struck by some misfortune, say: “We belong to God, and to Him shall we return.” On those shall be blessings from their Lord and mercy; and such are the rightly-guided.’ [Q.2:155-57]
We read in one hadith: ‘The case of the believer is wonderful, for his affair is always good, which is not the case with anyone else save the believer. If good comes his way he is thankful, and that is good for him. But if adversity strikes him he is patient, and that too is good for him.’ [Muslim, no.2999]
Another hadith states: ‘A person is tried in proportion to his faith. If his faith is firm, his trial is increased. If his faith is fragile, his trial is lightened. A person continues to be tried in this way till he walks on the earth with no sin whatsoever.’ [Al-Tirmidhi, no.2398, declaring the hadith is hasan sahih]
So while the grief, anxiety, loss or full blown trial a believer has to face in life are expiations of sins, they are much more than that. For the next hadith offers this comfort and healing: ‘Whoever Allah loves, He tries him through ordeals.’ [Al-Bukhari, no.5645] So for a believer, it is this divine love that is the real game-changer.
The believer endures trials and tribulations precisely because adversity and suffering are not seen as senseless or meaningless. Instead, he or she sees such trails as invested with purpose.
They know this worldly life is a preparation for what comes after. The believer views trials as being, not something negative, but part of life’s learning where the divine intent is to: [i] nurture our latent potential in order to bring out the best in us, [ii] to refine and raise our rank with God, [iii] to prune and purify us from sins, [iv] or to simply humble us and bring home to us how powerless we are in the face of affliction and how in need we all are of Allah’s kindness and grace.
Moreover, as believer, we are less concerned with why we face trials and ordeals – which we are content to leave to a Wisdom far far greater than our own – than with the right response we should offer Allah in such situations.
THE HOLY QUR’AN teaches: ‘We will surely test you with fear and hunger, and loss of property and lives and trade. But give glad-tidings to the patient who, when struck by some misfortune, say: “We belong to God, and to Him shall we return.” On those shall be blessings from their Lord and mercy; and such are the rightly-guided.’ [Q.2:155-57]
We read in one hadith: ‘The case of the believer is wonderful, for his affair is always good, which is not the case with anyone else save the believer. If good comes his way he is thankful, and that is good for him. But if adversity strikes him he is patient, and that too is good for him.’ [Muslim, no.2999]
Another hadith states: ‘A person is tried in proportion to his faith. If his faith is firm, his trial is increased. If his faith is fragile, his trial is lightened. A person continues to be tried in this way till he walks on the earth with no sin whatsoever.’ [Al-Tirmidhi, no.2398, declaring the hadith is hasan sahih]
So while the grief, anxiety, loss or full blown trial a believer has to face in life are expiations of sins, they are much more than that. For the next hadith offers this comfort and healing: ‘Whoever Allah loves, He tries him through ordeals.’ [Al-Bukhari, no.5645] So for a believer, it is this divine love that is the real game-changer.
The believer endures trials and tribulations precisely because adversity and suffering are not seen as senseless or meaningless. Instead, he or she sees such trails as invested with purpose.
They know this worldly life is a preparation for what comes after. The believer views trials as being, not something negative, but part of life’s learning where the divine intent is to: [i] nurture our latent potential in order to bring out the best in us, [ii] to refine and raise our rank with God, [iii] to prune and purify us from sins, [iv] or to simply humble us and bring home to us how powerless we are in the face of affliction and how in need we all are of Allah’s kindness and grace.
Moreover, as believer, we are less concerned with why we face trials and ordeals – which we are content to leave to a Wisdom far far greater than our own – than with the right response we should offer Allah in such situations.
A Word On the Male Lust & the Female Form:
WE READ THE following in the Holy Qur’an: ‘Made beautiful for mankind is the love of desires for women and offspring, of hoarded heaps of gold and silver, of branded horses, cattle and plantations. [Q.3:14]
Although the above things are elsewhere spoken of positively in the Qur’an, as blessings for which people ought to be thankful, here they are spoken of seductively in terms of objects that men lust over, crave or covet. Unsurprisingly, craving for women tops this list.
This fact rings loudly in a hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ informed: ‘I have not left after me a trial (fitnah) more harmful for men than women.’ [Al-Bukhari, no.5096; Muslim, nos.3740-41] It’s a warning that only a fool or a fasiq would be keen to ignore or to trivialise.
Another hadith states: ‘The world is green and sweet and Allah has put you in it as custodians to see how you behave. So be mindful of the world and be wary of women; the first fitnah of the Children of Israel was to do with women.’ [Muslim, no.2742]
If alcohol breaks inhibitions such that people will behave sexually in ways they usually wouldn’t when they are sober, then the devil is even more potent in removing modesty, boundaries and inhibitions between men and women. The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘A woman is ‘awrah; whenever she goes out, the devil beautifies her.’ [Al-Tirmidhi, no.1173, saying it is hasan gharib]
Now the word ‘awrah, often translated into English as ‘nakedness’, can also mean: weakness, vulnerability, or something that is unseemly. Women are ‘awrah due to their desirability. In Islam, the feminine form – desirable, alluring and sensuous in the privacy of the marital home – must not be made to appear so in the public sphere. It’s not just the objectifying male gaze that demeans or diminishes women; sometimes some women need saving from their own selves!
Of course, in our world awash with sin, porn and even the sexualisation of children, such revealed wisdom is unlikely to be received with the openness it would have done in a not so long ago past. Notions of modesty, decency and respectability in terms of how the sexes should interact are now alien to our consumer-driven, sexually-charged culture. To even suggest, as Islam does, that there could be a modest or dignified way of being a ‘lady’ (and, of course, a ‘gentleman’) is to court ridicule or scorn from an often uncritical public.
The principles of modesty, restraint and respectability have long been written out of our social norms, and this was bound to eventually impact Muslim attitudes too. One hadith says: ‘Modesty and faith are two close companions; if one of them is removed, the other follows.’ [Al-Bukhari, al-Adab al-Mufrad, no.1313; graded sahih in al-Albani, Sahih al-Adab al-Mufrad, no.986]
So as Muslims themselves begin to relax these principles, or compromise them in the hope of being seen as more liberally cultured, can we perhaps see in where it has led others, where we too might now be heading?
WE READ THE following in the Holy Qur’an: ‘Made beautiful for mankind is the love of desires for women and offspring, of hoarded heaps of gold and silver, of branded horses, cattle and plantations. [Q.3:14]
Although the above things are elsewhere spoken of positively in the Qur’an, as blessings for which people ought to be thankful, here they are spoken of seductively in terms of objects that men lust over, crave or covet. Unsurprisingly, craving for women tops this list.
This fact rings loudly in a hadith in which the Prophet ﷺ informed: ‘I have not left after me a trial (fitnah) more harmful for men than women.’ [Al-Bukhari, no.5096; Muslim, nos.3740-41] It’s a warning that only a fool or a fasiq would be keen to ignore or to trivialise.
Another hadith states: ‘The world is green and sweet and Allah has put you in it as custodians to see how you behave. So be mindful of the world and be wary of women; the first fitnah of the Children of Israel was to do with women.’ [Muslim, no.2742]
If alcohol breaks inhibitions such that people will behave sexually in ways they usually wouldn’t when they are sober, then the devil is even more potent in removing modesty, boundaries and inhibitions between men and women. The Prophet ﷺ said: ‘A woman is ‘awrah; whenever she goes out, the devil beautifies her.’ [Al-Tirmidhi, no.1173, saying it is hasan gharib]
Now the word ‘awrah, often translated into English as ‘nakedness’, can also mean: weakness, vulnerability, or something that is unseemly. Women are ‘awrah due to their desirability. In Islam, the feminine form – desirable, alluring and sensuous in the privacy of the marital home – must not be made to appear so in the public sphere. It’s not just the objectifying male gaze that demeans or diminishes women; sometimes some women need saving from their own selves!
Of course, in our world awash with sin, porn and even the sexualisation of children, such revealed wisdom is unlikely to be received with the openness it would have done in a not so long ago past. Notions of modesty, decency and respectability in terms of how the sexes should interact are now alien to our consumer-driven, sexually-charged culture. To even suggest, as Islam does, that there could be a modest or dignified way of being a ‘lady’ (and, of course, a ‘gentleman’) is to court ridicule or scorn from an often uncritical public.
The principles of modesty, restraint and respectability have long been written out of our social norms, and this was bound to eventually impact Muslim attitudes too. One hadith says: ‘Modesty and faith are two close companions; if one of them is removed, the other follows.’ [Al-Bukhari, al-Adab al-Mufrad, no.1313; graded sahih in al-Albani, Sahih al-Adab al-Mufrad, no.986]
So as Muslims themselves begin to relax these principles, or compromise them in the hope of being seen as more liberally cultured, can we perhaps see in where it has led others, where we too might now be heading?
Please Join us at Chadwell Heath Central Masjid for a complete reading (in English) of the famous classical creedal (‘aqidah) text: al-‘Aqidah al-Tahawiyyah. It’s a text that some scholars urge that the general Muslim public read and refresh their knowledge of on a yearly basis.
This summary reading session is in preparation for ‘The Foundations of Faith’ classes starting soon at the mosque, insha’llah. The aim of these classes is to complete a non-academic explanation of the Tahawiyyah text, designed to benefit the lay seeker and student alike.
Classes are by Shaykh Surkheel Abu Aaliyah. And whilst the classes are free and open to all, registration is required: https://themasjidapp.org/cheacs/events/5985
We hope to see you there, and please do share.
This summary reading session is in preparation for ‘The Foundations of Faith’ classes starting soon at the mosque, insha’llah. The aim of these classes is to complete a non-academic explanation of the Tahawiyyah text, designed to benefit the lay seeker and student alike.
Classes are by Shaykh Surkheel Abu Aaliyah. And whilst the classes are free and open to all, registration is required: https://themasjidapp.org/cheacs/events/5985
We hope to see you there, and please do share.