Religious Brotherhood and its Benefits Part 1 Al Allaamah Ash Shaykh Saalih bin Fawzaan Al Fawzaan Khutub Al Minbariyyah V4 Translated By: Kashif Khan All praise is due to Allaah, Lord of the worlds. He made the believers beloved brothers in the religion. And I testify, truthfully and with certainty, that nothing is worthy of worship except Allaah, alone with no partners, and I bear witness that Muhammad, the truthful and trustworthy, sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam is his slave and messenger; may the blessings of Allaah be upon him, his family, his companions, and those that follow them upon righteousness until the last day. As for what follows: O people! Be fearful of Allaah the Most High and know that brotherhood in the religion outranks relational brotherhood. Indeed Allaah orders brotherhood between the believers and Muslims, even if their lineages differ and their countries are distant. He the Most High says, “The believers are nothing else than brothers.” (Soorah al Hujaraat: 10) And He has ordered with opposition towards the Kufaar regardless of how close their lineage is. He the Most High says, “O you who believe! Take not for Awliyaa (supporters) your fathers and your brothers if they prefer disbelief to Belief. And whoever of you does so, then he is one of the wrong-doers.” (Soorah at Tawbah: 23). And there are great rights and noble benefits for this brotherhood between the Muslims and believers; Allaah and His Messenger sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam have clarified them in the Qur’aan and the Sunnaah. It is obligatory to observe and live by them, and it is not permissible to disregard and neglect them. From these rights and benefits is the obligation to reconcile between the Muslims when there occurs differentiation and disputes between them, or enmity and division occurs between them. He the Most High says, “And if two parties or groups among the believers fall to fighting, then make peace between them both, but if one of them rebels against the other, then fight you (all) against the one that which rebels till it complies with the Command of Allaah; then if it complies, then make reconciliation between them justly, and be equitable. Verily! Allaah loves those who are equitable. The believers are nothing else than brothers. So make reconciliation between your brothers, and fear Allaah, that you may receive mercy.” (Soorah al Hujurat: 10). Also from the rights that Muslims and believers have upon each other is respecting each other’s honor, and abstaining from lowering each other. He the Most High says, “O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. How bad is it, to insult one's brother after having Faith. And whosoever does not repent, then such are indeed wrong-doers.” (Al-Hujurat 49:11). Allaah the Glorious forbids the men and the women from ridiculing each other, for it may be that those that are being mocked are better than the mockers in this world and the hereafter. And mockery does not emanate except from the deficient. And Allaah has forbidden al Lumz (slander), and He has forbidden insulting one another with al Alqaab (nicknames), and that is calling a person by a nickname that he has not been named with, and al Laqb is what hurts a person when he hears it. Some of the Mufasiroon have said that from it is, “Yaa Faasiq” (O’ Sinner), “Yaa Kalb” (O’ Dog),“Yaa Himaar” (O’ Donkey). And indeed mockery and slander and defamation with nicknames have been named sins by Allaah, and this is a proof of its repulsiveness and ugliness, and it is a proof of the obligation to stay distant from it. And from the rights of brotherhood between the Muslims and the believers is that they refrain from unjustified suspicion in those affairs that are between them, and they refrain from spying on each other, and they refrain from backbiting each other. He the Most High says, “O you who believe! Avoid much suspicions, indeed some suspicions are sins.” (Soorah Al Hujaraat: 12). And that is to suspect Ahlul Khayr of evil. “And spy not” (Soorah Al Hujaraat: 12). At Tajassus (spying) is looking for the shortcomings of the people. Allaah has forbidden looking into what has been hidden from the shortcomings of the people and following the deficiencies of the people. “Neither backbite one another.” (Soorah al Hujaraat: 12). The Messenger of Allaah sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam has explained al Gheebah (backbiting) as mentioning your brother with what he dislikes. And there is Ijmaa’ (consensus) that al Gheebah has been prohibited with severe prohibition. And Allaah has likened it to eating the flesh of a dead man; He the Glorious says, “Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it (so hate backbiting).” (Soorah al Hujaraat: 12). Meaning: As you would surely dislike this, also dislike the later legislatively, because the penalty for it is worse. And from this brotherhood of Islam and Emaan, is helping one another upon righteousness and piety, and helping one another in achieving what is good for them and removing what is harmful to them. He the Most High says, “Help you one another in al Birr and at Taqwa (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression.” (Soorah al Ma'idah: 2). And the Messenger sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said, “ The likeness of the Muslims in their friendship, and their sympathy towards each other, and their mercy towards each other is like a single body. If a part of it suffers, the rest of the body is affected with sleeplessness and fever.” So the Muslim is delighted with the happiness of his brother, and the pain of his brother hurts him. And from the rights of this brotherhood of Islam and Emaan is the giving of advice between the Muslims and ordering of good and forbidding evil. He the Most High says, “The believers, men and women, are Awliyaa' of one another, they enjoin al Ma'roof, and forbid from al Munkar; they perform as Salaat and give the Zakaat, and obey Allaah and His Messenger. Allaah will have His Mercy on them. Surely Allaah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.” (At-Tawbah 9:71). And the Messenger sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam said three times, “The religion is Naseehah (sincerity).” It was said, “To whom O’ Messenger of Allaah?” He said, “To Allaah, to His book, to His Messenger, to the A’imma (Imaams) of the Muslims and to their general masses. And from the rights of this brotherhood of Islaam and Emaan is the Mu’min loves for his brother what he loves for himself, as the Messenger sallallaahu alaihi wa sallam says, “None of you believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.” What is intended is religious love and not mortal love, for indeed there are humans that love evil. So it is obligatory for the Mu’min to love for his brother what he loves for himself form good and benefits. And whosoever does not love for his brother what he loves for himself is envious, and envy is dispraised. _________________________________________________________________ PC Magazine’s 2007 editors’ choice for best Web mail—award-winning Windows Live Hotmail. http://imagine-windowslive.com/hotmail/?locale=en-us&ocid=TXT_TAGHM_migration_HM_mini_pcmag_0507 ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤