'O believers! Fear
Allah and speak correctly. He will improve what you do and forgive your sins.
Whoever obeys Allah and His Prophet will indeed achieve a great victory.' (Surah Al-Ahzab, 33: 71-72)
Good words transform hearts. Allah has prescribed in the Quran that while there are specific laws for believers and limits they must not exceed, respecting the barriers that Allah has set for them through Taqwah, Allah has given His Prophet superiority concerning the laws He has prescribed, which are reserved only for him (the Prophet – whether it be the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), but also all prophets who will arise within his Ummah and to whom the Quran’s instructions will apply). Allah says: “Fear Allah and speak correctly.” Do not take the Prophet as an ordinary person like all of you. If Allah gives him certain permissions that He has not given to other believers, then the believers must submit to the divine will and not speak words that could cause their faith to vanish.
Once, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) defined Taqwah with this parable:
A person who passes through a
dense forest full of thorns tries to protect himself from the thorns that
surround him. He makes an effort to keep those thorn-filled bushes away from
him. Sometimes he moves to one side and sometimes to the other to protect
himself from potential injuries he may suffer because of those thorns.
This action and caution
on the part of that person in that thorn-filled forest to protect himself from
the thorny bushes and trees is Taqwah.
It is in this way that
a Muttaqi (a person who has the fear of Allah within him) should lead
his life in this world; a world filled with the thorns of evil and corruption.
He tries to protect
himself by fulfilling the duties linked to Taqwah. This concerns a
believer among all sincere believers of the Ummah of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh).
But the actions of a prophet, which the prophet does only by divine
instruction, are between him and Allah, and this responsibility lies with
Allah.
Now, concerning the Taqwah
that links a believer and his Creator, there is the prescribed Salat
(prayers) so that the believing Muslim develops protection, a form of immunity,
in the form of Taqwah so that this Taqwah protects him from attacks
of evil, both internal and external. The internal refers to within himself, and
even within the circle of Islam, and the external refers to all external
attacks that seek to attack a believer. So Taqwah becomes an excellent
protection for the spiritual survival and temporal and spiritual victory of a
true believer.
Verily, the best person
in the eyes of Allah is the one who has Taqwah in his heart, and Allah
says in the Quran: 'O people, We created you
from a male and a female, and made you nations and tribes, so that you may know
one another; and the most noble among you in the eyes of Allah is the one who
follows His straight path most closely. Allah knows all and is well-informed.' (Al-Hujurat, 49: 14)
This verse addresses
not only the Muslim Community as a whole but all humanity. This verse was
revealed so that even when humanity becomes Muslim, it will concern all of
them. Insha-Allah. This is the perfect world we are talking about, a
world where Islam overcomes the tyranny of Satan. And it is a proclamation from
Allah to all His human servants on earth, whether they believe in Him or not, a
reminder that it is Allah Who established them on the earth and spread them
everywhere on this earth.
In reality, humanity
originates from a single pair of parents. Their tribes, races, and nations are
practical labels and different characteristics through which people can
recognize each other. But before Allah, all humanity is one, and the one who
receives the most honour before Him is the one who is most pious, who has the
most Taqwah (fear of Allah).
The Quran highlights
here the major error that has always been responsible for corruption and
injustice in society throughout all ages: the prejudice based on differences of
race, colour, language, or nationality. This discrimination is not founded on
any rational or moral principle but on where a person is born [in which
country, place, etc., he was born]. In this verse from Surah Al-Hujurat, Allah
explains three important principles.
First, you were born
from a single pair of parents, a man and a woman, and all races and nations in
different parts of the world are, in reality, descendants of this same ancestral
original pair. Therefore, there is no logical, rational, or moral basis for ranking
yourselves hierarchically – debating on who are those who should be at the top
or bottom of the human ladder, [i.e. the ladder of human society which most of
time arrogantly classifies people in high or low categories]. You all have one
God Who created you all from the same pair of parents and the same substance.
Second, despite
originating from the same source, your distribution into tribes and nations is
natural. Obviously, not everyone can, in a restricted sense, physically form a
single family or nation. With population growth, it is inevitable that many
families will come into existence, and from these families, tribes and nations
will emerge. Similarly, with the movement of people to different regions and
parts of the world, we can also expect differences to arise in languages, colours,
characteristics, and cultures of people.
With these movements of
people to other countries, where each seeks Allah’s favours on the earth He
created for them, this has created a great geographical separation and distance
between these different nations, where they gain different habitats. However,
this natural difference and separation between different nations do not
guarantee that all people will stay on the right path. On the contrary, with
these differences and the free will Allah has given each human on earth, we
find that degradation occurs among people, among themselves. But this
separation does not mean that one people should consider themselves superior to
another people.
The reason Allah
created people in tribes and nations is to allow them to recognize each other,
so that cooperation exists among them. In this way, people from the same
family, tribe, or nation can work together, form a culture, and cooperate in
social goals. Therefore, it is not to increase hatred and moral and spiritual
differences that Allah has established people in nations, but to allow
cooperation and mutual recognition so they can find common ground and work
together in piety for the consolidation of their respective nations but also
for the entirety of the spiritual community where Allah has made all true
believers form a community that fights for His cause and invites others to Him,
so that this humanity, which was initially divided and dispersed in the world,
can know Him alone as their Creator.
This is why before the
advent of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh), Allah sent prophets to
various nations, where each nation had its special warners. But with the advent
of Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) and all prophets who would (and will) come from him,
from his Ummah, Allah has guaranteed a universal message and a universal
community of believers through the establishment of Islam as the only true path
that leads people to Allah.
Third, if there is any
difference or superiority among people, it is by moral excellence, virtue, or
piety. All people are equal in terms of birth because they were all created and
born and placed in this world through a single pair of common ancestors. Only
your virtue and Taqwah distinguish you from others in the eyes of Allah.
A believer is not like a non-believer; a true believer is not like a believer
whose faith wavers, where sometimes they believe, sometimes they do not, and
doubts consume them from within. And a believer is not like a hypocrite who
pretends to believe and forms part of the believers, while in reality, they do
not believe at all.
Remember well that no
one chooses their birth. Only Allah knows where He should place His servants
and test them so they can find the path that will lead them to Him. This is why
it is a great favour that Muslims have received, that they were born into
Islam, but they must keep this Islam alive and not let Satan turn their Islam
into hypocrisy. A Muslim who is Muslim only in name is devoid of true faith.
Therefore, no one is
superior except by Taqwah, and this Taqwah is judged only by Allah.
Only Allah knows the depth of the Taqwah that they claim to have.
The Holy Prophet Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) said in his speech on the occasion of the victory of Mecca that
no one is superior to their companion except by piety.
So, may Allah guide the
world to the light of Taqwah, which makes each soul, each nation, each
tribe be counted as one [in unity] before His eyes. May Allah guide the world
to truly understand the principle and purpose of their creation, which is to
worship Him alone and build their lives to form one with Him, in humility,
modesty, and Taqwah. Insha-Allah, Ameen.
---Friday Sermon of 20 December 2024~ 18 Jamadi'ul Aakhir 1446 AH delivered by Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin Al Khalifatullah Munir Ahmad Azim (aba) of Mauritius.