The real and true friendship in an Islamic prospective and point of view.
Tafseer of the Hadeeth of Six Rights of every Muslim
Ash-Shaikh ‘Abdur-Rahmaan As-Sa’dee’s explanation of the hadeeth regarding the Muslim’s rights Abu Hurayrah (radhiyallaahu ‘anhu) narrated that the Messenger of Allaah (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “The rights of the Muslim upon the Muslim are six.” It was said, “And what are they Oh Messenger of Allaah?” He replied, “When you meet him, give him the greeting of peace, when he invites you, respond to his invitation, when he seeks your advice, advise him, when he sneezes and praises Allaah, supplicate for mercy upon him, when he becomes ills, visit him, and when he dies follow him (i.e. his funeral).”
This hadeeth was reported by Muslim.These six rights, whoever establishes them in dealing with the Muslims, then his establishing things other than them (from the obligations) are even more important (or necessary). And his doing these things results in him fulfilling these obligations and rights, which contain an abundance of good and tremendous reward from Allaah.
The First Right:
“When you meet him, give him the greeting of peace.” For verily the greeting of peace is a cause of love, which results in producing faith (Al-Eemaan), which results in the person entering the Paradise. This is as Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said, “By the one in Whose Hand is my soul, you all will not enter into the Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love each other. Shall I not direct you to something that if you do it, you will love each other? Spread the greeting of peace amongst yourselves.”
The greeting of peace is from the virtuous characteristics of Islaam. For verily each of the two people who meet each other supplicates for the other for safety from evils, and mercy, and blessing that brings about every good. And what follows this is a cheerful face and appropriate words of greeting which result in unity and love, and it removes feelings of estrangement and cold disassociation. Thus, giving the greeting of peace is the right of the Muslim, and it is obligatory upon the person who is greeted to return greeting with a similar greeting or one that is better than it. And the best of the people are those who start the greeting of peace first.
The Second Right:
“When he invites you, respond to his invitation.” This means that when he invites you with an invitation to some food and drink, then fulfill the request of your brother who has drawn near to you and honored you with the invitation. Respond to his invitation (i.e. accept it), unless you have an excuse.
The Third Right:
His statement, “And when he seeks your advice, advise him.” This means that if he seeks consultation with you regarding some action, as to whether he should do it or not, then advise him with that which you would like for yourself. Thus, if the action is something that is beneficial in all aspects, then encourage him to do that, and if it is something harmful, then warn him against it. And if the action contains both benefit and harm, then explain that to him and weigh the benefits against the harms. Likewise, if he consults with you concerning some dealing with someone among the people, or whether he should marry a woman off to someone, or whether he should marry someone, then extend your pure and sincere advice to him, and deal with him from the view point of what you would do for you own self. And avoid deceiving him in any matter of these things. For verily whoever deceives the Muslims, then he is not of them, and indeed he has left off the obligation of being sincere and advising. And this sincerity and advising is absolutely obligatory, however it becomes more emphasized when the person seeks your advice and he requests from you that you give him a beneficial opinion. For this reason the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) specifically mentioned it in this important situation. The explanation of the hadeeth, “The religion is sincerity”, has already been mentioned previously (in this book) in a manner that suffices without us having to repeat the discussion here.
The Fourth Right:
“And when he sneezes and praises Allaah, then pray for mercy upon him.” This is due to the fact that sneezing is a favor from Allaah, in the expelling of this congested air that is blocked in certain parts of the body of the human being. Allaah makes it easy for this air to have a passage out where it can exit, and thus the sneezing person feels relief. Thus, the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) legislated that the person praise Allaah for this favor, and he legislated for his (Muslim) brother to say to him, “May Allaah have mercy upon you.” He also commanded the person who sneezed to answer his (Muslim) brother by saying to him, “May Allaah guide you and set right your affairs.” Therefore, whoever does not praise Allaah, then he does not deserve for others to pray for mercy upon him, and in this case he cannot blame anyone except himself. For he is the one who has caused himself to lose the two blessings: the blessing of praising Allaah, and the blessing of his brother’s supplication for him that is a result of the praising.
The Fifth Right:
His statement, “And when he becomes ill, visit him.” Visiting the sick is from the rights of the Muslim, and especially for the person who has a highly stressed and emphasized right upon you, like the relative, and the friend, and so forth. It is from the best of the righteous deeds. And whoever visits his Muslim brother, he remains engulfed in the mercy (of Allaah), and when he sits with him the mercy (of Allaah) covers him. And whoever visits the sick Muslim at the beginning of the day, the Angels send prayers of blessing upon him until evening comes, and whoever visits him at the end of the day, the Angels send prayers of blessing upon him until morning comes. It is desired for the person who visits the sick to supplicate for him to be cured and to make him feel at ease. He should ease his worries by giving him glad tidings of well-being and recovery (i.e. be positive). He should remind him of repentance and turning to Allaah, and he should give him beneficial admonition. He should not sit with him too long (i.e. over staying his welcome), rather he should only sit with him long enough fulfill the right of visiting, unless the sick person is positively effected by many people coming in to see him and many people coming to sit with him. Thus, for each situation there is a different statement (i.e. advice on how to deal with it).
The Sixth Right:
His statement, “And if he dies, follow him (his funeral).” For verily whoever follows the funeral until the deceased’s body is prayed over, then he will receive a Qeeraat of reward. (Translator’s note: A Qeeraat is an amount equivalent to the size of the Mountain of Uhud in Madinah.) And if he follows the funeral procession until the body is buried, then he will receive two Qeeraats of reward. And following the funeral procession contains (fulfillment of) a right for Allaah, a right for the deceased, and a right for the living relatives of the deceased.Ash-Shaikh ‘Abdur-Rahmaan bin Naasir As-Sa`dee (Rahimahullaah)
Source: Bahjatu Quloob il-Abraar wa Qurratu ‘Uyoon il-Akhyaar fee Jaami’ il-Akhbaar, pp. 65-67, hadeeth no. 29.
Translated by: Aqeel Walker
In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.
First of all, it goes without saying that every committed Muslim is supposed to pay his parents, especially his mother, due respect. One should try to show dutifulness to one?s parents, even if they happened to be non-Muslims, let alone being Muslims. What Islam goes against is to imitate non-Muslims by marking a special occasion such as celebrating the Mother?s Day in a way that shows that mothers do not deserve due respect and care save on this very day. If we are going to make the whole year a Mother?s Day, then Islam welcomes celebrating the occasion with open arms.
Indeed, Muslim scholars have maintained various opinions regarding the issue. Here below we will attempt to furnish you with Juristic views as regard this issue:
First of all, Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, deputy chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states:
Dutifulness to parents, especially the mother, and treating them kindly is an act of worship enjoined in both the Qur?an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Being dutiful to parents is not confined to a specific time. It is an obligation that should be observed every time, as all people commonly know.
Yet, the Mother?s Day, as it?s known nowadays is a Western habit. The Westerners specified a day and called it the Mother?s Day. On that day sons and daughters show gratefulness to their mothers and offer them presents. It has become part of important feasts in the West, whereas we Muslims have no other festivals except the Lesser and the Greater Bairams. Any other celebrations are deemed mere occasions or anniversaries; and this is applied to the Mother?s Day.
The Mother?s Day implies paying more attention and exerting more effort in expressing gratitude to mothers. So there is nothing wrong in that.
However, there are two reservations worth mentioning; first, considering the Mother?s Day a feast; second, confining the task of showing dutifulness to mothers to that specific day, giving implication that throughout the whole year, just only one day is for showing love to parents. If such two anomalous points are addressed, then there is nothing wrong in considering the Mother?s Day a chance to give more care to mothers.
Thus, we may take the Mother?s Day as a chance to lay more emphasis on our duty towards our mothers, as Islam enjoins us, because dutifulness to parents is a genuine Islamic teaching. But Muslims, in doing that, should never deviate from the Islamic teachings, they should do things in Islamic manners, not in Western manners. Hence, they would not be imitating the non-Islamic habits of the West.
Hence, viewed in juristic perspective, we can say that celebrating the Mother?s day is controversial among the contemporary scholars. While a group of them consider it haram (unlawful) as a kind of blind imitation of the Western non-Islamic habits, which have no benefit for Muslims, another group see it halal (lawful) on condition that showing gratitude and dutifulness to parents should not be confined to that day only.
Moreover, the well known erudite scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi states:
The Arab tend to blindly follow the Western in their celebration of the Mother?s Day, without trying to understand the wisdom behind inventing such an occasion.
When the European found that children do not deal properly towards their parents nor give them their due right, they resorted to specifying an annual occasion for children to remedy the situation. But in Islam, mothers are to be given due respect and love every time, not only one day a year. For example, when one goes out, he kisses one?s mother?s hand seeking her pleasure and blessing.
A Muslim must not allow any gap between him and his mother, he must offer her presents every time. This indicates that Muslims can dispense with such an occasion, the Mother?s Day. Unlike the case in the West, where it?s a vogue for some children to show indifference to their mothers? feelings, and, what?s more, it is so common to see some parents being dragged to infirmaries (as their kids have no time for them), dutifulness to parents in Islam, alongside with worshipping Allah, is a sacred duty.
In this concern, Almighty Allah says: (And We have commended unto man kindness toward parents. His mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reacheth forty years, he saith: My Lord! Arouse me that I may give thanks for the favor wherewith Thou hast favored me and my parents, and that I may do right acceptable unto Thee. And be gracious unto me In the matter of my seed. Lo! I have turned unto Thee repentant, and lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Thee).) (Al-Ahqaf 46: 15)
Reflecting on the aforementioned Qur?anic verse, we find it stressing both parents? right, but reviewing the following verses we find them paying special care to the mother and tackling the hardships she suffers in pregnancy, fosterage and rearing children.
In this verse, Almighty Allah informs man of the debt he owes his mother since he was a fetus, passing by the process of childbirth, infancy, childhood until he comes of age. A child normally forgets the hardship which his mother underwent during pregnancy. Hence Almighty Allah draws his attention to such hardships, laying emphasis on her great status in Islam.
Finally, Dr. `Abdul Fattah `Ashoor, professor of Qur?an Exegisis at Al-Azhar University, concludes:
Holding celebrations in honoring others and commemorating anniversaries are neither feasts nor Islamic. But one may seize any chance to express gratitude to those who deserve it. This is how we should consider the Mother?s Day. The mother has a special place in the Islamic culture, and all other civilized cultures. So it is something good to do anything to please her and show gratefulness to her.
So dedicating a day to showing good feelings towards parents, especially the mother, is by no means blameworthy as it does not contradict the Islamic teachings, nor can it be merely considered a form of joining the Western vogue of making celebrations. Conversely, it is a kind of devotion to Allah?s orders that we should be dutiful to our parents.
Urgent Bangladesh Cyclone Appeal
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