Tag Archives: hadees

English, Islam

HADEES : MUHAMMAD HAS THE LARGEST FOLLOWING ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

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MUHAMMAD HAS THE LARGEST FOLLOWING ON THE DAY OF JUDGMENT

Muhammad tells us that he �will have the greatest following on the Day of Resurrection� (283).  And understandably so, for the hellfire is on his side.  The hellfire will be busy consuming the opponents of Muhammad, and there will be no one left for Paradise to receive except the Muslims.

Muhammad tells us: �He who amongst the community of Jews and Christians hears about me, but does not affirm his belief in that with which I have been sent and dies in this state of disbelief, he shall be but one of the denizens of Hell-Fire� (284).  The Jews and Christians will suffer in hell not only for their own unbelief in Muhammad, they will also act as proxies for any Muslims who happen to be sent there.  �There would come people amongst the Muslim on the Day of Resurrection with as heavy sins as a mountain, and Allah would forgive them and he would place in their stead the Jews and the Christians,� Muhammad tells us (6668).  This would also, incidentally, solve the problem of space in heaven: �Space in paradise would be provided by Christians and Jews being thrown into Hell-Fire,� the translator tells us (note 2967).

Another important segment of the infernal population is made up of women.  Muhammad says, �O womenfolk . . . I saw you in bulk amongst the dwellers of Hell.� When a woman asks him why it should be so, Muhammad tells her: �You curse too much and are ungrateful to your spouses.  I have seen none [like them] lacking in common sense and failing in religion but robbing the wisdom of the wise.� The �proof of the lack of common sense� in them is the fact that in Allah�s law promulgated by Muhammad himself, �the evidence of two women is equal to one man�; and the proof of their failing in religion, as he tells them, is that �you spend some nights and days in which you do not offer prayer and in the month of RamzAn you do not observe fast� (142).  Women sometimes abstained from voluntary fasts because the Prophet had commanded that it was more meritorious for them to do their duty by their husbands than to fast.  �Aisha, the Prophet�s wife, did not observe some fasts �due to the regards for the Apostle of Allah� (2550).  But, it seems, the very merit of women turns into its opposite: predestined damnation

author: ram sawrup

English, Islam

HADEES : EVIL THOUGHTS AND EVIL DEEDS

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EVIL THOUGHTS AND EVIL DEEDS

A Muslim is Allah�s prodigal son as well as His spoiled child.  His past is forgotten unless it is good, his future is assured, and many things are permissible for him that are not permissible for a polytheist or even for a Jew or a Christian, the Peoples of the Book.  Jesus spoke of �lusting with the eyes� regarding it as bad as lust in its more visible form.  But Muhammad gave greater latitude to his followers: �Verily Allah forgave my people the evil promptings which arise within their hearts as long as they did not speak about them or did not act upon them� (230).  This idea is expressed with less partiality and in more universal terms in the Indian spiritual tradition.  God knows that man is weak and forgives his lapses and failure but supports his strength and multiplies his good.  The less theistic but not less exalted yogic systems would put this idea somewhat differently and in more psychological terms-we should not harp too obsessively on our lapses, but should dwell more lovingly on the Divine within us.

author: ram sawrup

English, Islam

HADEES : THE PRE-MUSLIM ARABS

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THE PRE-MUSLIM ARABS

Muslim theologians and writers are in the habit of painting a very dark picture of pre-Islamic Arabia.  They describe it as morally depraved and utterly lacking in any sense of chivalry and generosity, referring to this period of history as the �state of ignorance or barbarism� (jahilIyya).  Everything good began with Muhammad.  But there are many ahAdIswhich prove the contrary.  We are told that one HakIm b. HIzam did �many deeds of religious purification . . . in the state of ignorance� (222).  Another hadIs tells us that he �freed one hundred slaves and donated one hundred camels� in this state (225).

Ordinarily such good acts do not avail a polytheist; but if he embraces Islam, it is a different story, and the whole complexion of his acts is changed.  They are no longer wasted; they become fruitful and are credited to his account.  Muhammad assures HakIm: �you have accepted Islam with all the previous virtues that you had practised� (223).

author: ram swarup

English, Islam

hadees : MORAL VALUES

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MORAL VALUES

Muhammad�s religion is predominantly theological, but moral values are not altogether neglected.  The pre-Muslim Arabs believed in many moral values common to all mankind.  Muhammad retained these values but gave them a sectarian twist.  A Muslim owes everything to the ummah, very little to others.  He has no obligations, moral or spiritual, toward non-Muslims as part of the human race, except to convert them by sword, spoils, and jizyA.  For example, sincerity is a universal human value, and we should exercise it in our relations with one another irrespective of creed and nationality.  But in Islam, it is limited to Muslims.  Muhammad at one place defines al-din (�the religion,� i.e., Islam) as �sincerity and well-wishing,� which should be a good definition for any religion.  But on being asked, �Sincerity and well-wishing for whom?� he replies: �For Allah, His Book, His Messenger and for the leaders and general Muslims� (98).  JarIr b. �Abdullah reports that he �pledged allegiance to the Apostle of Allah on sincerity and well-wishing for every Muslim� (102).

Again, other moral values are given the same twist, and the universal is turned into the sectarian.  Muhammad tells his followers: �Abusing a Muslim is an outrage and fighting against him is unbelief� (122).

AUTHOR:  RAM SWARUP

English, Islam

hadis : GOOD AND EVIL DEEDS

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GOOD AND EVIL DEEDS

What are good deeds and what are bad deeds?  These questions have been the concern of many religions, many philosophies, and many teachers.  Islam too has provided its characteristic answers.  It tells us that good deeds are not a matter of indifference but must be coupled with the choice of the right religion.  Abdul HamId SiddIqI, the translator of the SahIh Muslim, gives the Islamic view in the following words: �The good deeds performed in the state of ignorance (outside the fold of Islam) are indicative of the fact that a man is inclined towards piety.  But to be truly pious and virtuous it is quite essential to have the correct understanding of the Will of God.  This can be confidently known only through the Prophets and is embodied in Islam.  Thus without having faith in Islam we cannot serve our Master and Lord according to His Will. . . . The acts of virtue may be good in their own way but it is by coming within the fold of Islam that these become significant and meaningful in the eyes of the Lord� (note 218).

In the eyes of Muhammad, a wrong theology is worse than wicked deeds.  When asked, �Which sin is the gravest in the eyes of Allah?� he replies: �That you associate a partner with Allah.� To kill your child and to commit adultery with the wife of your neighbor are second and third in gravity according to Muhammad (156).

In fact, only a wrong theology can keep a Muslim out of Paradise.  But no morally wicked act-not even adultery and theft-can prevent his entry.  Muhammad tells us: �Gabriel came to me and gave me tidings: Verily he who died amongst your Ummah [sect, nation, group] without associating anything with Allah would enter paradise.� In clarification, AbU Zarr, the narrator of the hadIs, asks Muhammad whether this is true even if the man committed adultery and theft.  Muhammad replies: �Yes, even if he committed adultery and theft� (171).  The translator clarifies the point further: He says that adultery and theft �are both serious offences in Islam . . . but these do not doom the offender to the eternal hell,� but polytheism or associating any god �with the Lord is an unpardonable crime and the man who commits it is doomed to Hell� (notes 169 and 170).

If polytheism is the worst of crimes, monotheism, by the same token, is the best of virtues.  Muhammad is asked about �the best of deeds.� He replies: �Belief in Allah.� �What next?� he is asked. �JihAd,� he replies (148).  In Muslim theology the formula �belief in Allah� of course means �belief in Allah and His Messenger.� Once one accepts the theological belief in Allah and His Messenger, one�s past crimes are obliterated, and future ones hold no great terror.  Muhammad gave this assurance to some polytheists who �had committed a large number of murders and had excessively indulged in fornication,� but who were ready to join him.  To another person who felt a sense of guilt about his past, Muhammad said: �Are you not aware of the fact that Islam wipes out all the previous misdeeds?� (220).

AUTHOR:  RAM SWARUP