eDawah

Exhortations from the Book and the Sunnah

Written by

Dr. ‘Alee bin Muhammad bin Naasir al-Faqihee (hafithahullah)  

Professor of the Department of Higher Studies in the Islamic University of Madeenah, K.S.A, College of Da’wah and Usool-ud-Deen 
 
Translated by

Aboo ‘Imraan al-Mekseekee

 
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم  

Introduction

All praise is for Allah, we praise Him, seek His assistance, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the wickedness of ourselves and from the evil of our actions. Whomever Allah guides will never be misguided, and whoever He misguides will never be guided. I bear witness that nothing is worthy of worship except for Allah, He is Alone having no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger. 
 
{O those of you who believe fear Allah as He ought to be feared and do not die except as Muslims.} Soorah Aali ‘Imraan: 102

 
{O those of you who believe fear Allah and always speak the truth. He will rectify your actions and forgive you of your sins. And whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has achieved the greatest achievement.} Soorat-ul-Ahzaab: 70-71 
 
To proceed: The Book of Allah the Almighty and the Sunnah of His Noble Prophet contains righteousness and happiness for mankind until Allah inherits the earth and everything that is upon it. The Messenger of Allah (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) said in his final testimony to his nation: 
 
((I am leaving you all with something that if you hold tight to you will never be lead astray it is the Book of Allah and my Sunnah.)) 
 
And it is here that we find that the exhortations that are included in the Book and Sunnah all invite towards goodness and moral excellence in addition to impelling towards obedience and the perseverance of ones piety, because the exhortation is an established and confirmed matter. 
 
And it is appropriate that we begin with the beginning of the narration that is from (one of) the exhortations contained in the Book and the Sunnah, the narration of the ten legislated commandments that were narrated in the Book of Allah Most High and in which the noble companion ‘Abdullah bin Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: 
 
Whoever desires to read the will of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) then let him read the following verses: 
 

{Say: Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Do not join anything in worship with Him; be good and dutiful to your parents; kill not your children fearing poverty-We provide sustenance for you and for them; come not near to shameful deeds whether committed openly or secretly, and kill not anyone whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to Islamic Law).This He has commanded you that you may understand. And come not near to the orphan’s property, except to improve it, until he or she attains the age of full strength; and give full measure and full weight with justice. We burden not any person, but that which he can bear. And whenever you give your word, say the truth even if a near relative is concerned, and fulfill the Covenant of Allah, this He commands you, that you may remember.}

Soorat-ul-An’aam: 151-152 
 
The Exhortations contained in these two Quranic verses from Soorat-ul-An’aam are universal to the entire life of man according to what will rectify him in his religion and in his daily life. It begins with the basic principle that the Divinely Legislated Commandments are not achieved until after one has full conviction of belief in Allah, the Unique, the Only One Most Deserving to be worshipped Alone, and alienation from Shirk (polytheism). The Most High says: 
 
{Say: Come and I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden you from and it is that you do not associate partners with Him in worship} 
 
And He commanded to believe in Tawheed as He Most High says in the verse found in Soorat-ul-Israa: 
 
{Do not worship other gods alongside Allah or you will sit down reproved and forsaken (in the hellfire). And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him.} Soorat-ul-Israa: 22-23 
 
Thus He has commanded with belief in Tawheed to the One Who is Most-Worthy of worship and then after that one must alienate ones self from ash-Shirk (polytheism). 
 
And here He says: {…Do not worship other gods alongside Allah} which means: Devote your worship to Him alone. 
 
Then He places these exhortations to clarify for the Muslim what one must undertake (from the affairs of his religion), adhere to completely (from the affairs of his religion) and perform (from the affairs of his religion) as Allah has commanded, it is the Siraat-ul-Mustaqeem (the Straight Path) which is the clear path that is explained to the people and gives counsel to all of His Servants, ordering the believers to adhere to the Jamaa’ah and prohibiting them from differences and separation, informing them that it destroyed those who were before them by way of opinions and argumentation in the Religion of Allah Most High Who says: 
 
{This is My Straight Path so follow it and do not follow the other paths that separate you from His Path that is advice for you so perhaps you will be god-fearing people.} 
 
Because the life of a Muslim is lived solely for Allah as the Most High says: 
 
{Say: My prayer, my sacrifice, my living and dying are all for Allah, Lord of all the worlds, He has no partner and I have been ordered with that and I am the first of the Muslims.}

Soorat-ul-An’aam: 162-163 
 
So the teachings of this Religion include creed, worship, business transactions and moral manners. As for creed then it is the decisive belief that Allah Most High is the Creator, the Provider, the Giver of Life, the One Who causes Death, the One Who causes harm, the One Who causes benefit, the One Most Worthy of worship Alone. So because of this it is not permissible for the Muslim to direct any act of worship to anyone other than his Lord and Creator, devoting himself purely for His religion and adhering to His Messenger, because the condition for the acceptance of a righteous act to Allah Most High is that it is done purely for Allah and in accordance with the commands and statements of His Messenger (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) thus Allah says: 
 
{And they were not commanded except to worship Allah and worship none but Him Alone.} Soorat-ul-Bayyinah: 5 
 
And He says: 
 
{So whoever wishes to meet his Lord then let him do righteousness and associate none as a partner in worshipping his Lord.}

Soorat-ul-Kahf: 110 
 
And the Messenger of Allah (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ((Whoever does a deed that is not in accordance with our religion then it will be rejected.)) Agreed upon by Bukhaaree and Muslim with the meaning of the Arabic word radd to mean mardood (something rejected, not accepted). 
 
And in regards to ones business transactions and moral manners then they are towards his parents, his children and towards others of society in performing and protecting their rights in accordance with the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) because the Islamic religion is the seal of all the religions and the religion that Allah is pleased with for His Servants it has come perfectly intact as the Most High says: 
 

{Today I have completed your religion and completed my blessing upon you and I have chosen Islam as your religion.}

Soorat-ul-Maidah: 3 
 
Therefore its teachings, rulings, and advices are from the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, the One Who knows the true nature of mankind, and knows what will rectify him in his worldly life and what is related to the happiness and success experienced in the next life: 
 
{Should not He Who has created know? He is the Most-Kind, the All-Aware.} Soorat-ul-Mulk: 14 
 
And from here the Da’wah of the Chosen One (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him), from the beginning of his mission up until the time he met his Companion the Most High, began to turn his followers towards rectifying the hearts and connecting them to the Creator, the Organizer of its Decree, and immersing pure faith into the hearts of the people with the meanings of His Names and Attributes, not a secret is kept from Him and He knows the misleading eyes and whatever the chests conceal, He is the All-Knower of everything, the One having ability to do all, in addition to belief in the Last Day, in the Resurrection and the Rewarding of the Deeds performed by a person during his life, that which Allah has made as habitation for the Hereafter, so whoever does good will find his reward with Allah on the Day when he will be in most need of it, and whoever does evil will wish he had not done so: 
 
{On the Day when every person will be confronted with all the good he has done, and all the evil he has done, he will wish that there were a great distance between him and his evil.}

Soorat-ul-Aali Imran: 30 
 

And He says: 
 
{So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom shall see it. And whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom shall see it.} Soorat-uz-Zalzalah: 7-8 
 
So if this small deed consists of good and evil then it is safeguarded for the one who performed it and it is (either) against him (or) he is rewarded for it, if it is a good deed then it is good and if it is an evil deed then it is evil, so what do you think of the one who does (the good deed) the like of the mountains? Allah never depletes the reward of the one who perfects good deeds. 
 
 
And it was for the sake of affirming this belief in the heart so that when the Divinely Legislated Commandments were revealed and the soul found acceptance – he (may the peace & blessings of Allah be upon him) then took care in purifying the hearts from the filth of doubts and desires saying: 
 
((Verily in the body is a morsel of flesh that when it is upright then the entire body is upright and if it is corrupt then the whole body is corrupt it is none other than the heart.)) 
 
That is because the heart is the king (over all) of the body parts; it commands them and directs them either towards the path of good, success and happiness or towards the path of evil and destruction. 
 
Now when we closely examine these Ten Commandments we find that the first commandment is being meticulous in rectifying the hearts and purifying them from doubts, and it is the prohibition of associating partners with Allah Most High because Allah is the Sole Creator. It is obligatory that He be the only focal point of worship alone. Allah Most High says: 
 
{He has created the heavens without any pillars that you see and has set on the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you. And He has scattered therein moving (living) creatures of all kinds. And We send down water (rain) from the sky, and We cause (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein. This is the creation of Allâh. So show Me that which those (whom you worship), besides Him have created. Nay, the wrongdoers are in plain error.}

Soorah Luqman: 10-11 
 
And He is the One in whose Hands is harm and benefit: 
 
{Say: "I possess no power of benefit or hurt to myself except as Allâh wills.} Soorat-ul-A'raf:188 
 
And now onto the prophetic narration concerning the first exhortation and it is the prohibition of associating partners with Allah Most High and its importance in the life of the Muslim.