Wasted knowledge and rhyming prayers

Ibn ‘Abbâs – Allâh be pleased with him – said, “Address the people once a week, and if you must do so more often, then twice; and if you have to do even more, then three times; and do not make people tired or bored with the Quran. Let me not find you coming to the people to exhort them and tell them stories while they are speaking amongst themselves, thus interrupting their conversation and tiring them. Instead, listen, and when they tell you, address them when they desire to listen to your speech. And beware of making your supplications rhyme, stay away from this, for I found Allâh’s Messenger – peace and praise of Allâh be upon him – and his Companions doing nothing but [staying away from this].”

Al-Bukhârî, Al-Sahîh ‘What is hated about making supplications rhyme.’

Notes

In this narration, the illustrious Companion ‘Abdullâh b. ‘Abbâs gives some guidelines about being wise and aware of people’s condition when teaching them and calling them to Allâh. He advised that a person should not address the people and give talks to them too often, lest they become bored or fed up of hearing the Quran. This consideration is taken from the Sunnah of the Prophet – Allâh’s praise and peace be upon him – as related by Ibn Mas’ûd.

This tradition also expresses the dislike of trying to disseminate knowledge in a way that might be detrimental to its purpose. We are discouraged from spreading knowledge to those who do not desire it or those who are not enthusiastic to receive it and interrupting people while they are speaking. We are encouraged to teach knowledge to those who express their desire for it, because all this means it is more likely that the recipient will benefit from this knowledge.

The narration also warns against the practice of trying to make du’â (supplication) rhyme. This is because occupying oneself with putting together rhyming prayers conflicts with the state of being humble and imploring Allâh, which is how a person should be when supplicating. There is no contradiction between this disliked behavior and the fact that some of the Prophetic supplications and statements rhyme, because the Prophet never used to have to try and make them rhyme, but was effortlessly eloquent and at the same time fully humbled in front of Allâh.

Adapted from Ibn Hajr, Fath Al-Bârî.

September 17, 2009 - الخميس 28 رمضان 1430 | Manners and Conduct, da'wah, knowledge, supplication

5 Comments 

Supplicating for an Unbeliever

‘Uqbah b. ‘Âmir Al-Juhanî – Allâh be pleased with him – once passed by a man who looked like a Muslim, so he greeted him with salâm, and he replied, “And upon you [be peace] and the mercy of Allâh and His blessings.” A boy informed him, “He is a Christian!” So ‘Uqbah got up and followed the man, caught up with him and said, “The mercy of Allâh and His blessings are upon the believers; however, may Allâh give you a long life, and make plentiful your wealth and offspring.”

Al-Bukhârî, Al-Adab Al-Mufrad. Shaykh Al-Albânî grades its chain of narration hasan in Sahîh Al-Adab Al-Mufrad p444, and notes, “In this narration this illustrious Companion indicates that it is permissible to supplicate for someone to have a long life, even if he is an unbeliever, and so [this can be done for] a Muslim a fortiori…However, the supplicant should make sure that the unbeliever is not an enemy of the Muslims. It is also taken from this [narration] that such an unbeliever can be commiserated with what has been mentioned therein [i.e. the believers are the ones who will receive the mercy of Allâh and His blessings].”

June 18, 2009 - الخميس 25 جمادى الثانية 1430 | Manners and Conduct, da'wah, supplication

Leave a Comment 

Responsibility in Knowledge and Da’wah

‘Alî b. Abî Tâlib – Allah be pleased with him – said:

Narrate to people what they can understand; do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved?

Quoted by Al-Bukhârî, Al-Sahîh, Chapter about a person preferring some people with certain knowledge to the exclusion of others.

Ibn Hajr said in Fath Al-Bârî, “[In this narration] there is evidence that ambiguous knowledge should not be mentioned amongst the general public.”

Shaykh Muhammad b. Sâlih Al-‘Uthaymîn – Allah have mercy on him – explained this very important and often misunderstood point beautifully. After mentioning the narration of ‘Alî, he states:

It is therefore an aspect of wisdom in da’wah (calling others to Allah) that you should not surprise people with things they are not able to comprehend. Rather, you should call them in stages, bit by bit until their minds settle…”

He goes on to say:

“[The statement of ‘Alî] ‘Do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved?’ is a rhetorical question, posed as a criticism of such behavior. It means: by narrating to people things they cannot understand do you want Allah and His Messenger to be disbelieved? This is because in such cases when you say, “Allah said, and His Messenger said” they will say you have lied if their minds cannot comprehend what you are saying. Here, they are not disbelieving Allah and His Messenger, but they are disbelieving you because of this speech that you have attributed to Allah and His Messenger. Thus they will end up disbelieving Allah and His Messenger – not directly – but by way of the one who transmits this knowledge (i.e. you).

Now if it is said: Should we stop telling people things they cannot understand even if they need to know? The answer is: no, we do not leave this knowledge altogether, but we should tell them in a way that they will be able to understand. This is done by telling them stage by stage, bit by bit until they can accept the speech we want them to know and they can feel comfortable with it. We do not abandon knowledge that people cannot understand and just say ‘this is something they will reject or dislike so we will not speak about it.’

The same is the case with acting upon a Sunnah that people are not used to and which they might find objectionable. We should act by this Sunnah, but only after informing people about it, such that they will be able to accept it and feel comfortable about it.

We learn from this narration (of ‘Alî) that it is important to employ wisdom in calling to Allah, and that it is incumbent upon anyone who calls to Allah to consider the level of understanding of those he is inviting, and that he should put everyone in their proper place.

Majmû’ Fatâwâ Ibn ‘Uthaymîn Vol.10 p140.

November 19, 2007 - الاثنين 11 ذو القعدة 1428 | da'wah, knowledge

Leave a Comment 

‘Alî, the Armor and the Christian

During his Caliphate, ‘Alî b. Abî Tâlib – Allah be pleased with him – saw some armor of his with a Christian. He decided to take the matter up legally, so he took the dispute to Shurayh (the Judge).

‘Alî said, “This is my armor, and I have not sold it nor given it away.” Shurayh said to the Christian, “What have you to say about what the Amîr of the Believers claims?” The Christian replied, “It is my armor, although I do not regard the Amîr of the Believers to be a liar.” Shurayh then turned to ‘Alî, “O Amîr of the Believers, do you have any proof (of ownership)?” ‘Alî laughed and said, “Shurayh is correct, I have no proof.” So Shurayh judged that the armor was the Christian’s. The Christian took it and began to walk away but then returned. He proclaimed, “As for me, I testify that this is the judgment of the Prophets – the Amîr of the Believers himself takes me to his judge and the judge rules against him! I bear witness that there is no deity deserving worship but Allâh and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allâh. By Allâh, the armor is yours o Amîr of the Believers. I followed the army when you were on your way to the Battle of Siffîn and the armor came out of your equipment.” ‘Alî said, “If you have accepted Islâm the armor is yours.” And then he put him on his horse. Al-Sha’bî (the reporter of this incident) said, “I was later informed by those who saw this man that he fought the Khawârij (alongside ‘Alî) at the battle of Nahrawân.”

Ibn Kathîr, Al-Bidâyah wa Al-Nihâyah Vol.8 p5.

October 3, 2007 - الأربعاء 23 رمضان 1428 | Character, Coming to Islam, Law, Manners and Conduct, da'wah

Leave a Comment