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The middle course in relation to sinners is to regard them as
believers despite their iniquities, and not to cast them out of the fold
of Islam as renegades. _Kufr_ (disbelief) and _nifaaq_ (hypocrisy)
mentioned in some texts - like fighting a believer (Sahih Al-Bukhary)
and to judge by what Allah has not revealed (al-Maa’idah, 5:44) are
catalogued as _kufr_; and lying, breaking of promise, betraying of
covenant, or impudence and abusiveness during a quarrel are described as
_nifaaq_ - the culprits in these cases should be sheltered within the
_Hadeeth_ which says:
“Whoever prays the way we do, faces our _qilblah_,
and eats of our slaughtered animals is a Muslim, and is under the
protection of Allah and His Apostle. Therefore, do not betray Allah by
betraying those who are under His protection”. (Sahih Al-Bukhary)
Sinners, doubtless, but they are, in the middle course of Islam,
Muslims, provided they do not belie the message brought by Muhammad,
sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, or make lawful what Allah has forbidden.
Except where it involves _shirk_, sin, no matter how great, is not
disbelief. The middle course in Islam, as regards sin, stands between
laxity and extremity, hoping for the righteous among the _mu’mineen_
that Allah will pardon them for their _zunub_ and admit them into
_Aljannah_ by His Mercy; as for the sinners, including those who indulge
in _al-Kabaa’ir_ (major sins), it seeks forgiveness for them without
raising their hopes or putting them in despair of Allah’s Grace.
Indulgence in _al-Kabaa’ir_ will not consign the sinners to an
everlasting sojourn in Hell even where they die in iniquity before
_taubah_, but affirming Allah’s _Tauheed_. They are under Allah’s
Providence; He may forgive and relent towards them out of His
Benevolence, (an-Nisaa, 4:116); or He may chastise them and then
transfer them to _Aljannah_ out of His _Rahmah_ or through the
intercession of His righteous servants.
To our leaders, the
middle course is that we hearken and obey them in what does not
constitute disobedience to the Creator; no rebellion or revolt against
them; we neither plot to uproot their government nor make _du’aa_
against them even when they are inequitable. As long as leaders remain
within the limits imposed by Allah they are entitled to our fealty
because in obedience to them there is obedience to Allah Almighty.
“Whosoever obeys me,” said the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa
sallam, “obeys Allah; and he who disobeys me, disobeys Allah; and
whosoever obeys the _Ameer_ (leader), in fact, obeys me; and who
disobeys the _Ameer_, in fact, disobeys me”. (Al-Bukhary and Muslim). In
another Hadeeth, he said, “Listen and obey even if an Abyssinian slave
whose head is like a raisin”, “maimed and disabled” (Sahih Muslim) “is
placed in authority over you”. (Sahih Al-Bukhary). Also in the two
_Sahihs_,_ Al-Bukhary_ and _Muslim_ is another enjoinment: “It is
obligatory upon a Muslim to listen (to the ruler) and obey whether he
likes it or not, except when he is ordered to do a sinful thing, in that
case, there is no obligation to listen or to obey”.
__Huzaifah_ bn Yamaan_, may Allah be pleased with him, said that people
were more inclined to ask the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa
sallam, concerning the good, but as for him, he chose to inquire more
about evil for fear of being overtaken by it. He asked if another evil
would come after that of the period of ignorance. The Prophet,
sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, affirmed, in answer to the question, that
“There will appear “_Dakhan_”, a vile band who will flout at my _Sunnah_
and evade my guidance. You will behold them and disapprove of their
actions”. Another evil, after this, “will be summoners on the entrance
of Hell, and whoever answers their call shall be plunged in it”. These
summoners to Hell, the Prophet, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam, said
“..will belong to us and speak our language”. The best a Muslim will do
when they witness the advent of this evil is to stick to “the group of
Muslims and their Leader”, in the absence of which one should avoid “all
those different sects” (Al-Bukhary and Muslim).
In another
tradition, the Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,
admonished the _sahabah_, as if in a farewell sermon: “I counsel you to
fear Allah (may He be glorified) and to give absolute obedience even if a
slave becomes your leader. Verily, he among you who lives (long) will
see great controversy, so you must keep to my _Sunnah_ and to the Sunnah
of the rightly-guided _Rashidite_ Caliphs - cling to them stubbornly…”
(Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhy).
And finally on leadership, I_bn
‘Abbaas_, may Allah be pleased with both of them, related that the
Prophet, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said: “Whoever perceives anything
that they dislike in their leader, they should be indulgent; as whoever
deserts the main Muslim body even by a handspan will die the death of
the time of ignorance”. (Sahih Al-Bukhary)
The middle course in
the interaction among Muslims is through helping one another, not in sin
and transgression but, in righteousness and _Taqwa_ (Al-Maa’idah, 5:2).
“Help your brother,” said the Prophet, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,
“whether he is an oppressor or is oppressed”. A man inquired: “O
Messenger of Allah! I will help him when he is oppressed, but how can I
help him when he is an oppressor”? He, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam,
said, “You can keep him from committing oppression. That will be your
help to him”.
Allah has described the believers as “protecting
friends one of another; they enjoin the right and forbid the wrong, and
they establish worship and they pay the poor-due, and they obey Allah
and His messenger. As for these, Allah will have mercy on them. Lo!
Allah is Mighty, Wise.” (At-Taubah, 9:71). In this connection, the
Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said, “The similitude
of the believers, in their mutual tenderness, compassion and sympathy,
is that of one body. When one of the limbs suffers (any hurt), the whole
body responds to it with insomnia and fever”; “…like (the bricks) of a
building, each strengthens the other”. (Al-Bukhary and Muslim). It is on
the basis of this comradeship that Allah adjured the faithful “to hold
firmly to His Rope” and “not to be divided among” themselves (Aali
‘Imraan, 3:103); and that _hablullaah_, (the Rope of Allah), is the
Glorious Qur’an. “In it is the chronicle of what happened before you,
the information about what comes after you, and the judgement for what
happens between you. It is, without jest, the Criterion (of right and
wrong). Whoever … abandons it, Allah crushes them, and whoever seeks
guidance from other than it has strayed from the even way…. Whoever
speaks in accordance to its contents has uttered the truth…” (Jaami’
at-Tirmidhy).
There are quite a number of traditions where the
Messenger of Allah, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam underscored the essence
of unity among the Ummah and avoidance of division. In a _Hadeeth_
reported in Sahih Muslim he, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Verily,
Allah likes three things and disapproves of three things for you. He
likes that you worship Him Alone, associating no partners unto Him (in
worship), and that you hold fast to the Rope of Allah and not to be
divided among yourselves, and that you give good counsel to the leaders
that Allah has given authority over you. He disapproves of irrelevant
talk, excessive questioning and the squandering of wealth”.
The
middle course in relating to non-Muslims is to demarcate those that are
friendly with the Muslims from the ones that are not, especially those
that waged war against the Muslims, who plundered and pillaged their
substance, as well as committed genocide and desecrated holy places. But
those who are peace-loving among non-Muslims, Islam’s middle course
encourages Muslims to consort with them in ways that will engender
mutual respect and understanding. “Allah forbiddeth you not those who
warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from
your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with
them. Lo ! Allah loveth the just dealers”. (Mumtahanah, 60:8).
Date Published: Friday, December 28th, 2018
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