Saturday, August 6, 2011

Kulle Imaan

Meticulous financial accounting and planning ensures that the said organization grows boundlessly. If companies don’t pay attention to their financials and don’t keep the accounting in order, most of the time they wouldn’t grow and chances are that they might have to close down. Thus the financial planning and management is the backbone of any organization.

Most of the companies take services of reputed Chartered Accountants (CA) for proper guidance in the field of financial accounting and other related activities. These CAs are the most powerful in the organization after the chairman, as they know every minutest financial details of the company.

One of my students recently sent me a mail along with his biodata, requesting me to put forward his candidature to a reputed CA for internship. He claimed that under the guidance of such a CA he would hone his skills of accountancy and create his own reputation in the industry.

 Proper financial accounting and planning is the backbone for any company to survive and grow in the competitive market. This makes CAs most sought after by many companies as they help them strengthen their financial backbone.


Like any organization even Islam is a vast religion and hence in this article we will try to find out the backbone of our religion and the steps we should take to strengthen it. We will start our journey with the following ayah:

•“Arab ke dehati kehte hai ke hum imaan laye ae Rasool (SAW) tum kehdo ke tum imaan nahi laaye balke yun kehdo ke Islam laaye haanlake imaan ka abhi tak tumhare dilon se guzar hua hi nahin….” – (Surah-e-Al-Hujuraat, ayah 14)

“(The Bedouin say, “We have attained to faith.” Say [unto them, O Muhammad]: “You have not [yet] attained to faith; you should [rather] say, ‘We have [outwardly] surrendered’ - for [true] faith has not yet entered your hearts….)”


There is a difference in claiming to have accepted Islam as a religion and in being a true believer. A believer’s heart is filled with faith and he submits himself for the cause of religion. Thus ‘Imaan’ (faith) is the backbone of Islam and if it is lost everything is lost. It is hence important to hold the faith in every situation and strengthen it.

Let us see the following ayah:

•“Yeh log Khuda ko chhod kar aisi cheez ki parastish karte hai jo na unn ko nuuksaan hi pahoncha sakti hai aur na nafa’ aur kehte hai ke Khuda hi ke haan yehi log hamare sifarashi honge. (Ae Rasool (SAW)) tum unn se kaho to kya tum Khuda ko aisi cheez ki khabar dete ho jis ko Woh na to aasmanon main kahin paata hai aur na zameen main. Yeh log jis cheez ko uss ka sharik banate hai uss se Woh Paak Saaf aur Bartar hai. – (Surah-e-Yunus, ayah 18)

“(They worship those besides God who cannot do them harm or bring them gain, and say: "These are our intercessors with God." Say: "Do you want to inform God of things in the heavens and the earth He does not know?" Glorious is He, and too Exalted for what they associate with Him!)”


The above ayah mentions a certain section of people who worship those who are not associated with Allah (SWT) and claim that they are the intercessors with Allah (SWT). And Allah (SWT) considers it as ‘Shirk’.

From this we can infer that the intercessors (Wasila) must be closely associated with Allah (SWT); and seeking and asking from those who are not the chosen intercessors is ‘Shirk’. Hence asking from the chosen intercession is asking from Allah (SWT) Himself. So wouldn’t rejecting them lead to ‘Kufr’?

This makes it important to identify the appointed intercession so that we remain free of ‘Shirk’ and ‘Kufr’. One more ayah to go further in this direction:

•“Momineen momineen ko chhod ke kafiron ko apna wali (sarparast) na banaaye. Aur jo aisa karega to use Khuda se kuch sarokar nahin magar (iss qism ki tadbiron se) kisi tarah unn (ke shar) se bachna ho to (khair) aur Khuda tumko Apne hi se darata hai aur Khuda hi ki taraf laut kar jana hai” – (Surah-e-Aale Imran, 28)

“(Let not the believers take the non-believers for wali (guardian) rather than believers; and whoever does this, he shall have nothing of (the guardianship of) Allah, but you should guard yourselves against them, guarding carefully; and Allah makes you cautious of (retribution from) Himself; and to Allah is the eventual coming.)”


The message is very clear and straight. A believer should take a believer as his guardian (Wali) but instead if he takes the non-believer as his ‘Wali’, he would not be under the guardianship of Allah. It thus becomes mandatory to identify the right ‘Wali’ and follow him to be under the guardianship of Allah. So who is this ‘Wali’?

The following ayah would throw some more light on this:

•“Aur (Ae Rasool (SAW)) tum kehdo ke tum log apne apne kaam kiye jaao abhi to Khuda aur uss ka Rasool (SAW) aur Momineen tumhare kaamon ko dekhenge aur bahot jald (Qayamat main) zaahir wa baatin ke jannewale (Khuda) ki taraf lautaye jaoge tab Woh jo kuch bhi tum karte the tumhain bata dega.” – (Surah-e-Tauba, ayah 105)

“(Say, ‘Do as you will. God will watch your conduct and so will His Messenger and the believers. Soon you will be brought back to Him who knows what is hidden and what is manifest: then He will show you the truth of all that you have done.)”


So there are 3 who watch our conduct: Allah – The Greatest, Holy Prophet (SAW) – The Greatest Messenger and a Believer. We all are believers, but you can’t say what I did this morning neither do I know what you have done. We don’t have powers to see and watch each other’s conduct. Thus the appointed Wali (guardian) above us is the Greatest ‘Wali’ and has been given divine powers by the Almighty Allah to watch our conduct. And we would be made accountable to him along with Allah (SWT) and the Holy Prophet (SAW), when we are brought back to The Almighty Allah.

And we find the following ayah which announces the ‘Greatest Wali’:

•“Ae Rasool jo hukm tumhare Parvardigar ki taraf se tum per naazil kiya gaya hai pahoncha do. Aur agar tum ne aisa nahin kiya to samjhlo tum ne Uss ka koi paigham hi nahin pahonchaya aur tum daro nahin Khuda tum ko logon ke shar se mahfooz rakhe gaa aur Khuda hargiz kafiron ki qaum ko manzil e maqsood tak nahin pahonchata.” – ( Surah-e-Maida, ayah 67)

(“O Apostle! deliver what has been revealed to you from your Lord; and if you do it not, then you have not delivered His message, and Allah will protect you from the people; surely Allah will not guide the non-believing people.”)


After the revelation of the above ayah, in front of the huge crowd of around 120000 pilgrims, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) raised Hazrat Ali (A.S) and announced “Man Kunto Mawla ho fa hazaa Ali un Mawla” at Ghadeer-e-Khum. And with this Allah (SWT) appointed Hazrat Ali as Prophet (SAW)’s successor and ‘Wali’ (Guardian) over the ummah. (Ref: Durr-e-Mansoor, Vol 2, P 298, Egypt, Tafseer-e-Fatah ul Qadeer, Vol 2, P 60, Egypt, Tafseer-e-Fatah ul Bayun, Vol 3, P 89, Egypt, Tafseer Mazhari, Vol 3, P 353, Daarul Isha’t Karachi, Sawaiq e Mohraika, P 40 & 120, Sunan e Tirmidhi, Vol 2, P 298 and many more)

Now let us focus on the above ayah and try to find few meaningful inferences. The ayah clearly states that if the message was not delivered by the Holy Prophet (SAW) it was as if no message of Allah (SWT) was ever delivered by him (SAW). Thus Allah (SWT) holds this message as important as Messengership of the Holy Prophet (SAW) itself. Again this message was delivered in front of pilgrims of Hajj and they were all devout Muslims and there was not a single nonbeliever in the crowd, then why did Allah (SWT) say that He will not guide the nonbelievers? Thus rejecting the message of ‘Man Kunto Mawla…” is a ‘Kufr’ and whoever rejects it turns ‘Kafir’ even if he is a Hajj performing, devout Muslim. Lastly with appointment of Mawla Ali (A.S) as the leader over us, Allah conveyed that only He appoints guardians and we don’t have any right in this regard.

Let us see what few of the prominent Islamic scholars have to say about the Ghadeer Declaration:

•Dr. Tahir ul Qadri in ‘The Ghadir Declaration’ page 80 narrates the following tradition:

It is narrated by Ali (A.S) himself. He said ‘On the day of Ghadeer Khum, the holy Prophet (pbuh) had a turban tied round my head (as a symbol of honour) and let the loose end hand down at the back. Then he said: The angels whom Allah (SWT) had sent to help me at Badr and Hunayn were wearing turbans of the same kind. He then added: surely the turban differentiates between belief and disbelief.”

• This tradition is narrated by several other books as well (Ref: Ibn Athir, Asad-ul-ghabah fi ma’rifat-is-sahabah (3:170), Muhib Tabari, ar-Riyad-un-nadrah fi manaqib-il-‘ashrah (3:194) and more)

And Allah (SWT) confirms our above inferences by revealing the following ayah just after the announcement of “Man Kunto Mawla…”

•“Aaj Maine tumhare deen ko kaamil kardiya aur tum per apni ne’mat poori kardi aur tumhare iss Deen-e-Islam ko pasand kiya.” – (Surah-e-Maida, ayah 3)

“(This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.)


Hazrat Abu Sa’eed al-Khidri has narrated that this verse descended upon the Holy Prophet (SAW) on the day of Ghadeer-e-Khum when he declared that Ali was the leader of whomever he was leader. Abu Hurairah has also narrated it and further said that it was revealed on 18th of the month of Dhil Hajj when the holy Prophet (SAW) returned from Hajj al Widah (the last pilgrimage). (Ref: Tafseer Ibn Katheer, Vol 2, P 14, Egypt, Tafseer Durr e Mansoor, Vol 2, P 259, Egypt).

Thus our religion is perfected only after accepting Hazrat Ali (A.S) as a Guardian and a ‘Wali’. Without his love, religion remains imperfect and hence love for him is the backbone of faith. That is why the holy Prophet (SAW) has often referred him as ‘Kulle Imaan.’

Again from the ayah no. 67 of Surah-e-Maeda, we saw that without the successful deliverance of the message of “Man Kunto Mawla…,” the mission of the Prophethood of our Greatest Prophet (SAW) was incomplete. Does the same hold true for other Prophets?


•“(Aur Ae Rasool (SAW) wo waqt bhi yaad dilao)) jab Khuda ne paighambaron se iqraar liya ki Hum tumko jo kuch kitab aur hikmat (waghaira) dein usske baad tumhare paas koi Rasool aaye aur jo kitab tumhare paas hai usski tasdiq kare, to (dekho) tum zaroor uss per imaan lana aur zaroor usski madad karna, (aur) Khuda ne farmaya kya tum ne iqraar liya, tum ne (Mere ahad ka) bojh uthaliya, sab ne arz ki humne iqraar kiya, Irshad hua (achha) to aaj ke qawl (wa qaraar) ke aapas main ek doosre ke gawah rehna.” – (Surah-e-Aale Imran, ayah 81)

“(And when Allah made a covenant through the prophets: Certainly what I have given you of Book and wisdom-- then an messenger comes to you verifying that which is with you, you must believe in him, and you must aid him. He said: Do you affirm and accept My compact in this (matter)? They said: We do affirm. He said: Then bear witness, and I (too) am of the bearers of witness with you.)”


Here, in the above ayah the covenant that Allah (SWT) took from the prophets was of the ‘Wilayat’ of Hazrat Ali (A.S). (Ref: Bisaar-ad-dahrajaat al-Jazahir thaani, pg 93). We also find similar references in various other prominent books:

•Allama Nishapoori has reported the following Hadith of Holy Prophet (SAW) narrated by Abdullah Ibn e Mas’ud in his Tafseer-e-Gharaib al Quran Vol 25:

“When the Chief of Prophets (pbuh) led the prayers and the other Prophets prayed behind him, an Angel descended and said “O Beloved of Allah! Ask these apostles of Allah on what condition they were granted Prophethood.” The Holy Prophet (pbuh) got the following reply when he posed the same question to all other Prophets “That we accept the Wilayat of you and Ali”. (Ref: Tafseer e Gharaib al Quran Vol 25 P 58 published in Egypt (On the border of Tafseer e Ibn e Jareer Tabari)

•In Lisan al Meezan Vol 5 Page 147, Ibn Hajr al Asqalani while writing on ‘Mohammed bin Hameed’ narrates the following from him:

…Hisham bin Abdul Malik summoned from Hejaz to Syria. In a place called Balk I observed something scrawled on a black mountain. When I reached ‘Amr’ I asked if anyone could read what was on the mountain. I was told of an elderly man and I took him to the mountain and showed him the words. He read them, became surprised and said ‘Bring me something so that I can translate it for you.’ I brought something and he translated from the Hebrew:

“There is only One true God, Mohammed is His Messenger, Ali is His ‘Wali’. These words have been written by Musa (A.S) bin Imran.”


An aspiring CA sought the internship with a reputed CA so that his financial knowledge, skills and knowhow increases manifolds and he can create his own reputation as a financial expert. We had used this analogy during the introductory section of this article. In this light let us see what happens to those who seek nearness to Hazrat Ali (A.S) – The Greatest ‘Wali’?


•“Aagaah raho uss main shak nahin ke Auliya e Allah (dost) per (qayamat main) na koi khauf hoga aur na wo aazoorda khatir honge.” - (Surah-e-Yunus, ayah 62)

“(Behold! verily on the Auliya (friends) of Allah there is no fear, nor shall they grieve)


The word ‘Wali’ or ‘Auliya’ used in various ayahs which we referred up till now was to mean ‘Guardian’ over us, which we did prove by reflecting over ayahs and other authentic references; While in the above ayah ‘Auliya e Allah” means friends of Allah for whom there would not be any fear or grief. Now without Mawla Ali (A.S) the faith remains incomplete, hence the ‘Auliya’ of Allah need to be guided by Mawla Ali (A.S) to reach that rank. We will establish this association of ‘Auliya’ with Mawla Ali (A.S) with the help of few references and ayah from the holy Quran.

Farman Ali Saheb in the footnote of his Urdu translation of the Holy Quran, while referring to the above ayah writes:

•“There are various ahadith mentioning presence of certain people in this world, whose silence is ‘Zikr’ and when they speak that is wisdom. Had there been no fixed time for death, their souls would have left their bodies either in fear of punishment or in want of happiness. They are good in conduct and don’t associate themselves with things that are ‘Haram’. They are not concerned with worldly matters and earn ‘Halal’ livelihood and spend on good deeds. They are such that even ‘Ambiya’ and ‘Shaheed’ would be awed by them.”


Dr. Tahir ul Qadri in his Ghadeer Declaration writes on the ‘Wilayat' of Mawla Ali (A.S):

•“The gist of the discussion is that the Prophet’s declaration at Ghadeer Khum proved forever that Ali’s spiritual sovereignty is in fact the Prophet Mohammed’s spiritual sovereignty. Though the door of Prophethood was closed after the Holy Prophet (SAW), Allah opened new avenues for the continuation of the Prophet’s blessings till the Day of Judgment. Some of these avenues were manifest, while others hidden. The hidden avenue led to spiritual sovereignty and Ali al-Murtuza (A.S) was the first person to hold this office. Then this chain of sovereignty passed down to his progeny and finally to the twelve Imams. During this period, many leaders appeared on the spiritual horizon but they all, directly or indirectly, expressed their allegiance to Ali al-Murtuza (A.S). No one was disaffiliated from him and this chain will continue upto the Day of Judgment until the appearance of the last Imam, and he will be Imam Mohammed Mahdi (A.S), the twelfth Imam and the last caliph. (Ref: The Ghadir Declaration, P 15 & 16, Dr. Tahir ul Qadri)

Qazi Mazhari in the second volume of his Tafseer e Mazhari declares Mawla Ali (A.S) as “Qutb e Wilayat” he writes:

“Ali was the Pivotal point of all the virtues and attributes of Wilayat: The Qutb of Wilayat; All auliya, including the Sahaba were in the rear and subordinate to him in this regard.” (Ref: Tafseer e Mazhari, Vol 6 P 20, published by Daar ul Isha’t Karachi.)

Allama Ibne Hajr Makki in his book Sawaiqe Mohraika has reported from Hazrat Umar:

•He said: “Get to know! No honour reaches the position of excellence without acceptance of Ali as the ‘Wali’ (Guardian). (Ref: Sawaiq e Mohraika, P 176, Egypt)

And Allah (SWT) says in Holy Quran:

•“Ae Imaandaro tumhare wali (malik sarparast) to buss yehi hein Khuda aur uss ka Rasool (SAW) aur wo momineen jo pabandi se namaz adaa karte hai aur haalat-e-ruku main zakat dete hai. “Aur jisne Khuda aur Rasool (SAW) aur unhi Imaadaro ko apna sarparast banaya to Khuda ke lashkar main aagaya aur issme shak nahin ke Khuda hi ka lashkar ghalib rehta hai.”” – (Surah-e-Maeda, Ayah 55-56)

“(Verily your wali (leader) is only Allah and His messenger and those who believe; those who establish worship and pay the poor-rate while they bow down in prayer. And whoever takes Allah and His apostle and those who believe for a guardian, then surely the party of Allah are they that shall be triumphant.)”


The above verse was revealed when Mawla Ali gave his ring to a beggar while bowing down in ‘ruku’ (Ref: Imam Nasai in Saheeh-e-Nasai, Aljam’a Bain-ul-Sihah-ul-Sittah, Sa’labi)

Thus Allah (SWT) in the above ayahs confirms that it is Mawla Ali (A.S) along with Allah Himself and the Holy Prophet (SAW), as our Guardians and ‘Wali’ and we need to follow him to be in the triumphant party of Allah.


Now if we relate the above ayahs of Surah-e-Maeda with the ayah of Surah-e-Tauba (ayah no. 105) which says that – Allah (SWT), the Holy Prophet (SAW) and Believers watch our conduct, it is clear that the Believer so mentioned in that ayah is the same is our Guardian Mawla Ali (A.S). He has been given Divine Powers to watch our conduct and we would be made accountable to him along with Allah (SWT) and the holy Prophet (pbuh). That is why the Holy Prophet has said in the following hadith that:

•"O Ali, you are the divider of Heaven and Hell" (Ref: Sawaiq-e-Mohraika, P 126, Yanabe-ul-mowaddat, vol 1 P 163)


While referring to Mawla Ali (A.S) the above ayahs have used a plural form as ‘wo momineen’ or ‘those who believe’. Prominent Islamic scholars have given following explanation for this:

•Allama al-Tabarsi, while commenting on this verse in Majma’-al-Bayan states: “The plural form has been used for Ali, Commander of the faithful, in order to express his honour and eminence.”


•Allama al-Zamakshari in his Tafsir al-Kashshaf writes “If you inquire how this plural word is applicable to Ali, may Allah be gracious to him, who is an individual, I shall say that though this verse is about Ali, an individual, the plural form is used in order to persuade others to act similarly and to give alms as readily as Ali did. There is also an implied instruction that the faithful should keep themselves always on the look out for occasions of acts of sympathy, benevolence and charity to the poor and the needy, and readily do the needful without waiting till the completion of even so important a duty as saying a prayer.” (Ref: Tafsir al-Kashshaf, by al-Zamakhshari, v1, p649)

Mawla Ali (A.S) is the Greatest ‘Wali’, his guidance and guardianship ensures that a faithful reaches to the rank of ‘Auliya’ as it is his love which completes the faith and it is a license to enter the triumphant party of Allah (SWT). He is definitely ‘Ameer ul Momineen’.

After mentioning the ayah from Surah-e-Yunus (ayah no. 18) we had inferred that the intercessor is chosen by Allah (SWT) Himself and if we seek from anyone else it would be considered as ‘Shirk’, we had further inferred that then if the chosen intercessor is rejected it would lead to ‘Kufr’. We would establish this now. Let us find out what Allah (SWT) has to say about intercession.


•“Aur Jis shakhs ke liye wo ijaazat ata farmaye
uske siva kissi ki sifarish us ki bargaah main kaam na aayegi.”- (Surah-e-Saba, ayah 23)

"(No intercession can avail in His Presence, except for those for whom He has granted permission)”


Apart from the chosen ones
of Allah (SWT) who have got His permission no intercession would be beneficial to the Ummah. Yes, intercession does work but the authority has been given to few chosen servants of Allah (SWT). As the following ayah says:

•“Aur logon main se Khuda ke bande kuch aise hai jo Khuda ki (khushnudi) haasil karne ki gharaz se apni jaan tak bech daalte hai aur Khuda aise bandon per bada hi shafkat wala hai.” – (Surah-e- Baqra, ayah 207)

“(And among men is he who sells himself to seek the pleasure of Allah; and Allah is Affectionate to the servants.)”


The above ayah describes the act of an ardent servant of Allah (SWT), who was ready to sacrifice his life for the Almighty Allah’s cause. This sacrificial act of him got its due appreciation by way of getting Allah’s Pleasure and thus His Permission.

Imam Ghizali in his Tareekh e Khamees writes that the above ayah of Surah-e-Baqra was revealed mentioning the sacrifice of Mawla Ali (A.S), when he slept on the bed of the Holy Prophet (SAW) during the night of ‘Hijrat.’ Similar tradition is also mentioned by Imam Hakim on the authority of Ibn-e-Abbas in his Mustadrak. (Ref: Tareekh e Khamees, Imam Ghizali, Mustadrak, Vol 3 Page 4, Imam Hakim).

Thus Mawla Ali’s ardent love and affection for the Holy Prophet (SAW) and Islam made Allah (SWT) grant him with His Pleasure and appointed Mawla Ali (A.S) as chosen intercession along with the Holy Prophet (SAW) above us.

Let us also establish now whether this chosen intercession if rejected leads to ‘Kufr’?


•“Khuda ko chhod kar jin ki parastish karte hain unko sabko ikattha karo phir unhain Jahannum ki raah dekhao aur haan zara unhain thehrao to un se kuch poochna hai.” – (Surah-e-Sa’affat, ayah 23-24)

“(Gather together those who were unjust and their associates, and what they used to worship besides Allah, and lead them to the Way to the (Fierce) Fire! “But stop them, for they must be asked.)”


In our day to day life whenever we cross the path with disobedient people we ignore them and move ahead. And a place for a disobedient ‘Kafir’ is Hell, but here in the above ayah Allah (SWT) still wants to ask them something specific. The thing which Allah (SWT) wants to ask hence is as important as worshipping Allah (SWT) as One without any ‘Sharik’. Thus it can be inferred that if whatever Allah (SWT) is asking from them is not fulfilled He would consider them a greater ‘Kafir’

Abu Saeed Khudri on the authority of Ibn-e-Abbas has quoted a tradition that Rasool (SAW) has said that on the day of Judgment people would be questioned about Wilaya of Ali Ibne Abi Talib and love for him. (Ref: Sawaiqe Mohraiqa P 503, Allama Ibn-e-Hajar, Riyadh al Nadira Volume 2 page 116, Mohib Tabari).


Shah Ismail Shaheed
of the Deobandi Movement in his Mansab e Imamat says: “Imam has such authority in this world and the next that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) had said ‘Don’t I have more rights over the people than they have over themselves, to which the people replied in affirmative. The Prophet then said ‘Of whomsoever I am Mawla, Ali is his Mawla.’ And this is why Allah says in the Quran that on the Day of Judgment you will be summoned with your Imam and questioned (Surah-e-Sa’afat) and the Prophet said that we will be asked about the Wilayat of Ali.” (Ref: Mansab-e-Imamat, Page 109-110, Shah Ismail Shaheed).

Thus rejecting Mawla Ali (A.S) as Guardian and intercession is as bad as ‘Kufr’.

But we being the ardent lovers and followers of Mawla Ali (A.S) need not worry as Allah (SWT) promises us:

•“Phir (nuzool e azaab ke waqt) Hum Apne Rasoolon ko aur jo Imaan laye unnko (azaab se) nalwa bacha lete hein yunhi Hum per laazim hai ke Hum Imaan lane walon ko bhi bachalein.” – (Surah-e-Yunus, ayah 103)

“(Then We shall save Our messengers and those who believe. Thus We have made it incumbent upon Ourself to save the believers.)


Allah (SWT) has promised to save all the believers. A person is a ‘Momin’ when he is under the guardianship of Ameer ul Momineen – Mawla Ali (A.S), thus his love is access to Allah’s Help and Protective Care and hence Mawla Ali is “MushkilKusha”.

That is why the holy Prophet (pbuh) has certified that:

•“Followers of Ali would surely succeed” – (Ref: Yanabe-ul-mowaddat, vol 2 P 312, Kareeb Minal lafaz fi tazkirtul khawaas, P 56)


So what are we waiting for? let us say “Ya Ali Madad”.