In the name of Allah

The All Compassionate, the All Merciful

13th Jamadiat-Thani 1444 (6th January 2023)

Islamic Universal Association

20 Penzance Place, Holland Park

London, W11 4 PG

www.arafeh.co.uk

 

Jihad An-Nafs – Part 113

Purification of the heart-Part 55

The Day of Reckoning has been dealt with in the Holy Quran in various ways and I quote below some Ayahs from it relating to questioning on that Day:

• Ayah 6 of SurahAl-A’raaf:“We shall certainly question those to whom Our messengers were sent and verily, We shall also question the ones We sent as m”
• Ayahs 56 and 93 of SurahAn-Nahl:“They set aside of what they did not know a portion of that which We have provided them. By God, you shall be questioned about what you have been forging.
• Had God willed, He would surely have made you all a single nation, but He leaves to err whomsoever He pleases and guides whomsoever He But you shall certainly be questioned about what you were doing.
• Ayah 92 of SurahAl-Hijr: “… and most certainly he will make clear to you on the Day of Judgement concerning about that which you differed.”
• Ayahs 13 and 23 of SurahAl-Anbiya: “(We said):“Flee not but return to that wherein you revelled, and to your dwellings, haply you may be questioned.
• He is not questioned about what He does, but they shall be questioned.”
• Ayah 13 of Surah Al-Ankabut:“They shall certainly bear their own burdens, and other burdens with theirs too, and they shall certainly be questioned on the Day of Judgement about what they were forging.”
• Ayahs 21-24 Surah As-Saffat: “This is the Day of Judgement which you used to disbelieve.

(It will be said to the angels):“Gather now together those who were unjust, and their mates too, and that which they used to worship

Instead of God and lead them all to hell.

But stop them for verily they have to be questioned.”

• Ayahs 19 and 44 of SurahAz-Zukhruf:“They make the angels who are the servants of the Beneficent females. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence shall be recorded, and they shall be questioned!
• And verily it is a reminder for you and your people, and you shall soon be questioned about it.”
• Ayah 8 of SurahAt-Takwir: “And when the female infant buried alive is asked.” To be continued.

Second Sermon

Hazrat Fatima (a.s.) – Part 6

The Holy Prophet (s.a)’s household has been assigned a special status by Allah (s.w.t.) in Ayah 23 of Surah Shura, which stipulates as follows: “God gives glad tidings to His servants who believe and do righteous deeds. Say: “I do not ask for any reward for it save the love of my near of kin; and whosoever earns good, We increase for him the good therein; verily God is oft-Forgiving, Appreciator of good deeds.”

1- In the above Ayah, Allah (s.w.t.) commands the Holy Prophet (s.a.) to demand from his Ummah the love for his progeny. Love for them implies sincere attachment to them which must manifest in every thought, word and deed as they have been purified by Allah (s.w.t) and they are the truthful ones and the custodians of the Holy Quran.

1. The Holy Prophet (s.a.) has been commanded to demand recompense, for the toils of his prophet hood, from the believers. The recompense is in the interest of the believers themselves and it is not in any way profitable to the Holy Prophet (s.a.) as it is evident from the words “God gives glad tidings to His servants who believe and do righteous deeds.”
2. The right of the Holy Prophet (s.a.) must be honored by honoring his family and we must love them for his sake. This love for them is thus an entitlement of his family and it has become an obligatory function of Islam and a fundamental condition for the devotion to Allah (s.w.t).
3. The words “near of kin” have been used to show that not only relationships but nearness in character and accomplishment have also been taken into consideration here. History shows that every member of the Ahlul Bait has presented an ideal Islamic pattern of life, not equaled by anyone, and love and devotion to them have been ordained so as to provide the highest form of guidance to mankind.
4. Allah (s.w.t.) increases the reward of the believers and the righteous for He is merciful and appreciates the doers of good deeds.

It would be appropriate to identify the Holy Prophet (s.a.)’s ‘near of kin’ referred to in the Ayah under reference. It has been reported in Majma Al-Bayan that when this Ayah was revealed to the Holy Prophet (s.a.), his uncle, Ibne Abaas, asked him who were his near of kin to which the Holy Prophet (s.a.) replied they were Fatima, her husband, Ali and their two sons, Hassan and Husain (a.s.). In Majma Al-Bayan it has been narrated that the Holy Prophet (s.a.) has said: “Allah has created His messengers from different trees but He created me and Ali from the same tree; I am the base or roots of that tree, Ali is its trunk, Fatima is its pollen, Hassan and Hussain are its fruit and our followers are its leaves. Whoever holds on to the branch of this tree will be safe and whoever turns away from it, is not our Mawadda and he will be punished in the hereafter even if he worships Allah in the mounds of Safaa and Marwa for thousands of years until he is as weak  as a dry water-skin.” Thereafter the Holy Prophet (s.a.) recited Ayah 23 of Surah Ash-Shura wherein it has been clearly indicated that love for the Holy Prophet (s.a.)’s Ahlul Bait is binding on every follower of Islam.