Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Rehmat-ulil-aalamin


In the praise of our beloved Prophet (SAWW), the holy Quran says that he has been sent as a Mercy to the Worlds - (Surah-e-Ambiya, ayah 107):
وَمَا أَرْ‌سَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَ‌حْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ
This makes it clear that Allah’s Mercy follows only if the Prophet (SAWW) wills. Every Islamic sect believes that it is through his merciful intercession one would get salvation in the hereafter. After having sent His most revered creation to earth and making him Mercy upon the Worlds why did Allah (SWT) create a Hell to punish His creations? The propbable explanation of this is that there has to be a sin, which if committed would take one beyond the precinct of Allah’s Mercy and land him in Hellfire.
In order to further explain my above point let me take the help of an example. There are two friends say A and B. A gifts something very precious to B, but B does not honour the gift nor the feelings of A. What would A think of B? He might think B to be a thankless person and unworthy of any favour
*** Through this article let us take a journey to find the divine favours and gifts of Allah (SWT) bestowed upon us. Honouring these would make us worthy of the merciful intercession of our holy Prophet (SAWW) and salvation in hereafter. And dishonouring and ignoring these would make us ungrateful and lead us to the hellfire. Thus we embark upon our journey.
Our beloved Prophet (SAWW) was the only Prophet to be honoured with ‘Meraj’ – his ascension to the Highest part of the Horizon; where neither any Prophet nor any angel could ever reach. It displays his closeness to Allah (SWT) and hence he is also referred as ‘Habib-e-Khuda’. We will see the few ayahs of Surah-e-Najm depicting his journey to the highest horizon during Meraj
  •  “Aur iss haal main ke wo Ufaq-e-Aala per hai. Phir qareeb ho aur aage badha. Phir do kamaan ka faasla rah gaya balke isse bhi qareeb tha. Khuda ne apne bande ki taraf jo wahi bheji so bheji”. – (Surah-e-Najm, ayah 7-10)
  • “(And he is in the highest part of the horizon.  Then he drew near, then he bowed So he was the measure of two bows or closer still. And He revealed to His servant what He revealed.)” 
When the holy Prophet (SAWW) reached to the highest part of horizon, there was none who had accompanined him. The arch angel Jibraeel (as) did not proceed beyond Sidratul Munteha (The Lote Tree of the farthest boundary) sighting his limitations. It would be needless to reiterate that the verses of Quran were revealed to the holy Prophet (SAWW) by Jibraeel (as) and Quran has also confirmed this in Surah-e-Shaura (ayahs 192-195) but for the fact that ayah no. 10 of the above mentioned ayahs says Allah (SWT) revealed to the Prophet (SAWW) what He wanted to reveal. Thus it talks about certain revelations Allah (SWT) did to the holy Prophet (SAWW) at Highest Horizon in absence of Jibraeel (as).

Faidh-al-Kashani in his famous book Kashful Ghummah narrates a tradition from Umar that when the Prophet (SAWW) was asked as to what voice did Allah (SWT) speak to him during Meraj, the Prophet said: 

“My Lord spoke to me with the voice of Ali Ibn Abi Talib and said, “O Ahmed! I am an Entity that is not like anything else. I cannot be compared to anything else and I know all the secrets of your heart. With the exception of Ali Ibn Abu Talib, you have no other close friend. Thus, I speak to you with the voice of Ali Ibn Abi Talib so that your heart will be at ease” 

Thus the revelations received by the holy Prophet (SAWW) at Meraj were in the voice of Mawla Ali (as)

‘Meraj’ was the most important event of the holy Prophet (SAWW) and the highest point of his Prophethood, hence whatever Allah (SWT) revealed to the holy Prophet (SAWW) at Meraj must be the Most Important Revelation of His Prophethood

To strengthen with logic the above explanantion let us look into the following ayah from Surah-e-Maeda:  

  • “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 Us 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-Maeda, 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 unbelieving people.”)
This ayah was revealed at Ghadeer-e-Khum, when the holy Prophet (SAWW) was returning from his last Hajj. (Ref: Tafseer al Kabir by Fakhr al Din Mohammed ibn Umar al razi (1357/1938), Umdatul Qari fi Sharh Sahih al Bukhari - by Al Ayni, Tafsir al Nisaburi, v6 P194)

The ayah instructs the holy Prophet (SAWW) to deliver what had been already revealed to him. In the entire Quran it is a rare ayah which does not have the message along with the instruction.
For example if we see ayah from Surah-e-Shura which says “Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives” it has two parts ‘Say: ..” is the instruction to deliver and “I do not….” is the message attached. 

Similarly the ayah from Surah-e-Ra’ad says “Say: Allah is sufficient as a witness between me and you and whoever has knowledge of the Book.” Here again “Say:…” is the instruction to deliver and rest is the message to be conveyed.

While above-mentioned ayah from Surah-e-Maeda is different. We might like to think and contemplate that why the ayah from Surah-e-Maeda was not revealed with the clear message attached like the above ayahs? For example in this form :  “Say : For whoever I am Mawla, Ali is his Mawla." 

The only explanation for this is that the message to the holy Prophet (SAWW) had already been conveyed before hand. So when was this message conveyed by Allah (SWT) to the holy Prophet (SAWW)?

The ayahs of Surah-e-Najm and the reference we saw, have made it clear that Allah (SWT) had communicated directly with the holy Prophet (SAWW) during Meraj in absence of Jibraeel (as). So it seems logical to infer that the message of ‘Man Kunto Mawla ho fa hazaa Aliyun Mawla..” was conveyed by Allah (SWT) to the holy Prophet (SAWW) at Meraj when nobody was between them not even Jibraeel (as). Hence Jibraeel (as) brought the revelation in this form.

This point can be further explained by comparing the two events. Meraj was the most important event of the Prophethood of our beloved Prophet (SAWW) while deliverance of this message was of greatest importance as the ayah confirms that if this message was not delivered then it was as if no message of Allah (SWT) was delivered by the holy Prophet (SAWW). Thus this being the most important message, Allah (SWT) chose the most important event of Meraj to convey it Personally to the holy Prophet (SAWW).

And once the holy Prophet (SAWW) successfully delivered the message of “Man kunto Mawla ho fa haza Aliyun Mawla” at Ghadir e khum as per the instructions given by Allah (SWT) the following ayah was revealed:
  •  Aaj Maine tumhare din 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.)
Commenting on the revelation of this ayah, most of the compilers have unanimously said that it was revealed after the holy Prophet (SAWW) announced ‘Man Kunto Mawla ho…’ by holding the hand of Hazrat Ali (A.S) and indicating him to the gathering at Ghadeer-e-Khum. 

(Ref: Durr-e-Mansoor, Jalalluddin Suyuti, V3, P 19, Tarikh by Khatib al Baghdadi, V8 P 290, 596, Yanabi-al-Mawaddah from Abu Hureira by Al-Qudoozi Al-Hanafi). 

The holy Prophet (SAWW) has further said in the following hadith that:

·         “Allah is Great on the perfection of religion, completion of bounties and Allah’s satisfaction with my messengership and Ameerul Momineen Ali Ibn Abi Taalib (a.s.)’s mastership after me.– (Ref: Tirmizi, Nisaai, Hakim Neshapuri, Ahmad-e-Hanbal, Tabari)

Thus with the deliverance of the message of Man Kunto Mawla hoall the bounties and favours of Allah (SWT) were complete upon us.

The holy Prophet (SAWW) is the Mercy to the Worlds (Rehmatulilaalamin). On the appointment of Mawla Ali (as) as Imam all the favours of Allah (SWT) are completed upon us. Thus we can say that Mawla Ali (as) and the rest of 11 Imams from the Progeny of the holy Prophet (SAWW) are the Complete Favour (Ne’mat) bestowed upon us by Allah (SWT).

Whenever we decide to gift something to someone we ensure that it is best possible thing without any flaws. When we wish to extend our favours to someone we are careful in extending best of it and we are sincere in our efforts. Similarly Allah (SWT) who has created the Progeny of the holy Prophet (SAWW) as a Complete Favour upon us has thus ensured that this Favour is without any flaws and is amongst His perfect Creations. And He confirms  this in the following ayah: 

  • “Ae Paighambar ki Ahl-ul-bait Khuda to buss yeh chahta hai ke tum ko har tarah ki burai se door rakkhe aur itna paak rakkhe jitna paak rakhne ka haq hai  - (Surah-e-Ahzab, Ayah 33)
  • (“Verily, Verily Allah intendeth but to keep off from you (every kind of) uncleanliness, O Ahl ul bait, and purify you with a thorough purification.”)
Thus it is Allah’s Will that the Ahl-ul-bait remain purified from all kind of uncleanliness and thus they are the infallible as per the above ayah. (Ref: Tafseer Durr-e- Mansoor, Mulla Jalaluddin Suyuti, Vol 5, P 198-199).

*** Allah (SWT) has created the holy Prophet (SAWW) as Mercy to the Worlds. He has also created Hell to punish the wrongdoers. But by creating His Complete Favour -  the Purified Progeny of the holy Prophet (SAWW) He has open the doors of salvation for us. In order to become worthy of the Prophet (SAWW)’s merciful intercession we need to honour this Favour of Allah (SWT) and love them.

We started with the example of two friends A and B in the introductory section of this article. Hypothetically we also discussed that if B dishonours the gift given by A, A might find this behaviour unforgiveable and might sever all relations with B. In the light of this example let us discuss what happens if someone dishonours the Favour bestowed upon us by the Almighty Allah? Do we find in the Quran a mention of such an incident? 

Following are the ayahs from Surah-e-Meraj
  •  “Ek maangne wale ne kafiron ke liye ho kar rahne wale azaab ko maanga jisko koi taal nahin sakta jo Darje wale Khuda ki taraf se (hone wala) tha.” – (Surah-e-Meraj, ayah 1-3) 
  •  “(A questioner asked about a Penalty to befall - The Unbelievers, to which there is none to ward off, - (A Penalty) from Allah, Lord of the Ways of Ascent)” 
Commenting on the revelation of above ayah Sala’bi writes in his tafseer that the news of Mawla Ali (as)’s appointment as master and the leader by the holy Prophet (SAWW) on divine command spread everywhere. 

A person named Haaris Ibn Noman Fehri came to the holy Prophet (SAWW) and said: “You asked us to give two witnesses (of divinity and messengership), we gave. You made prayers, Zakaat and Hajj obligatory upon us, we accepted. Now, you intend to appoint your cousin (Ali) as our master by announcing, “Of whomsoever I am his master, Ali is his master too.” Is this announcement from your side or on divine order?” The Messenger of Allah answered:

“I swear by Allah, except Whom there is no God, this command was certainly divine.”

On hearing this, Haaris stood up and walking towards his camel, grumbled, “O Allah, if this order is from your side, then punish me by raining stones upon me.” He had hardly completed his sentence, when a stone fell from the sky and crushed him to death. At this justice, the Qur’anic verse was revealed: A questioner asked about a Penalty to befall.”  (Ref: Tafseer-e-Sal’abi)

Haaris had audaciously questioned the Divine Order and rejected the Favour bestowed upon him by Allah (SWT) by questioning the succession of Imam Ali (as) as Prophet (SAWW)’s ‘wasi’ and first Imam after him. Thus Allah (SWT) deprived him of His Mercy and punished him in the presence of ‘Mercy to the Worlds’ – the holy Prophet (SAWW). Thus making it clear that  the merciful intercession of the holy Prophet (SAWW) is not for those who reject Allah’s Favour – the Progeny of the Prophet (SAWW) and Imams after him.

Haaris Ibn Noman Fehri got punished for rejecting Allah’s favours. Let us see who’s punishment is getting revoked on accepting these favours from Allah?
  •  “Phir Aadam ne apne Parvardigar se (Mazerat ke chand alfaaz sikhe), pus Khuda ne un alfaaz ki barkat se Aadam ki tauba qubool kar li beshak Wo bada maaf karne wala Maherbaan hai”.  (Surah-e-Baqra, ayah 37)
  • “(Then Adam received (some) words from his Lord, so He turned to him mercifully; surely He is Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.)”
 The commentators and Islamic scholars have agreed that these holy words (mentioned in the above ayah) through which Adam (as) was forgiven are the names of Panjetan Paak i.e. Mohammed (SAWW),  Ali (A.S), Fatema (S.A), Hassan (A.S) and Husain (A.S). (Ref: Durr-e-Mansur, Suyuti, vol 1 P 16)
 
Allah (SWT) forgave Adam (as) when he prayed to Him (SWT) seeking the intercession of Panjetan Paak (as). Thus Adam (as)’s acceptance of the greatness of Panjetan Paak (as) made him change Allah’s attitude towards him and as the ayah confirms – “Allah turned to Adam (as) mercifully”.

We can support our conclusion that the merciful intercession of our beloved Prophet (SAWW) will bless only those who have loved the Progeny and honoured them by the following hadith of the holy Prophet (SAWW) which says:

“My intercession will avail those people from my community who love my household.” ~ Prophet Muhammad (SAWW) (Ref: Kanz-ul-ammal, Hadith No. 39057)

*** Hence let us, who are the seekers of the intercession of the holy Prophet (SAWW) in the hereafter and strivers of salvation, remember the following ayah from Surah-e-Shura (42:23) and recite together:
قُل لَّا أَسْأَلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرً‌ا إِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْ‌بَىٰ