Austerity and the economic Sunnah

THE PROHIBITION OF RIBA IN THE QUR’AN AND SUNNAH

AUSTERITY AND THE ECONOMIC SUNNAH

Muslims must be advised to adopt that life of moderation, simplicity and austerity which is the essence of the economic Sunnah, and which not only makes it possible to extricate themselves from debt and riba but also, makes savings possible. And so, a major element in the overall strategy against riba must be the inculcation of the economic Sunnah as it relates to simplicity, austerity and moderation in living. Such a lifestyle is not possible for those given to excessive consumption, an example of which is commonly found in overeating. And so the Qur’an warns, with language of great severity, against such:

Eat of the good (and wholesome) things which We have provided for your sustenance. but commit no excess therein, lest My wrath should justly descend on you; and those on whom My wrath descends surely perish.

(Qur’an; Ta Ha;-20:81)

... and eat and drink but do not be immoderate or intemperate: verily He does not love those who are immoderate or intemperate.

(Qur’an: al-'Araf-7:31)

Abu Hurairah reported Allah's Messenger as saying. My Lord has given me nine commands - 
to fear Allah in private and in public; 
to speak justly both when angry and when pleased; 
to show moderation both when poor and when rich; 
to reunite friendship with those who have broken it off with me; 
to give to him who refuses me; 
to forgive him who has wronged me; 
that my silence should be occupied with thought: 
that my utterance should be occupied with mention of Allah; 
that my looking should be an admonition; 
and that I should command what is good and virtuous.

(Razin)

The Prophet (s) is also reported to have said:

Each one of us does not need more, in this world, than the provisions which a traveler takes with him on a journey.

How much, we well may ask, did he, the Messenger of Allah the Most High, take with him during his journey of life?

Aisha said that Muhammad's family did not have enough barley-bread to satisfy them on two consecutive days up to the time when Allah's Messenger was taken in death.

(Bukhari, Muslim)

Sa'id al-Maqburi quoted Abu Hurairah to the effect that when he passed some people who had a roasted sheep in front of them and invited him to eat, he refused to do so, saying: Allah’s Messenger left this world without ever having had a full meal of barley bread.

(Bukhari)

Anas said that he took some barley bread and rancid fat to the Prophet who had given a coat-of-mail of his to a Jew in Madinah and received from him some barley for his family. The transmitter reported that he heard Anas say Muhammad's family had in the evening a sa of wheat or a sa of grain, yet he had nine wives.

(Bukhari)

Umar said that he went in to see Allah's Messenger and found him lying on a reed mat with no sheet between him and it, with marks of the mat on his side, and supporting himself on a leather cushion stuffed with palm fibers. I said: Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to enrich your people, for He has enriched the Persians and the Byzantines, yet they do not worship Allah. He replied: Is that how you feel, Ibn Khattab? These people have been given their good things in advance in the present world. 
A version has: Are you not pleased that they should have the present world and we should have the next?

(Bukhari, Muslim)

Mu'adh bin Jabal said that when Allah's Messenger sent him to Yemen he Said Beware of living extravagantly (or sumptuously), far Allah's servants do not live extravagantly.

(Ahmad)

Ali reported Allah's Messenger as saying: If anyone is satisfied with small provisions from Allah, Allah will be satisfied with a few good deeds from him.

(Baihaqi)

Source: IMRAN N. HOSEIN

to be continued . . . . 

The Prohibition of Riba (Interest) by Imran Hosein

The Prohibition of Riba (Interest) (Q&A) by Imran Hosein

The Way to Salvation - KINDNESS

KINDNESS

A prophetic saying further elaborates this in these words:

‘He who is devoid of kindness is devoid of all good’.

A higher stage of ‘twasi bil-haqq’ is that of calling people to Allah, enjoining good and forbidding evil. A true Muslim should give clothing to the ill-clad, food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty. But the greatest benefit he can render to his fellow beings is to turn them back from moral and spiritual bankruptcy and guide them to the straight path of the Quran and Sunnah. 

In one’s life journey to the ultimate goal, the duty of each Muslim is to catch hold of the hand of one who goes astray from the straight path of Islam and to guide him aright. Mutual counsel gives life to actions and fosters a healthy spirit among the individuals.

At a still higher stage, ‘twasi bil-haqq’ adopts the form of testifying to the truth and veracity of Islam (Shahadat-ihaqq) exalting the truth from Allah over all man-made ideologies (E’Ia-e-Kallmatillah), and establishing Islam both in the individual and social aspects of life (Iqamat-i-Din). The testimony to the truth may be by the tongue of a true preacher or the pen of a devoted scholar, or by the life of a man devoted to service. The highest and most revered form of this testimony is presented by a Muslim who leaves his house and family to fight the enemy for the cause of Allah (Jehad-fi-Sabilillah). Endurance is the greatest solace of a true Muslim while going through all the trials on account of ‘twasi bil-haqq’. Especially in the higher stages, mutual teaching and exhorting to constancy become so essential that ‘twasi-bis-sabr’ has been mentioned separately to highlight the collective and cooperative character of Muslim society.

It is no doubt difficult for all and sundry to attain the above mentioned highest stages of belief or ‘Iman’, righteous deeds, mutual exhortation of truth and mutual exhortation of patience and endurance. But if a man’s inner personality has not been corroded by some spiritual or moral ailment, it is almost certain that a healthy and potent seed of religious belief will flourish into wholesome and balanced branches of righteous actions, exhortation to truth and constancy.

It is surely excusable if a lay Muslim, who has very little knowledge of the fundamentals of Islam and performs the well known basic duties of ‘Shariah’ (Islamic code of law), confines himself to ‘twasi bil-marhama’ i.e., doing himself acts of kindness and compassion and advising others to the same, which is just the threshold of ‘twasi bil-Haqq’. But those who embark on rigorous spiritual exercises like repeated recitation of a religious formula called ‘Zikr’ to attain deeper and richer states of faith and belief, those who engage themselves in devotional prayers and ‘mustahabbat’ (some thing additional to what is obligatory of ‘farz’) but pay little attention to the more obligatory duty of ‘twasi-biI-haqq’ are seriously misguided in their attitude. Lives of these people are mostly either totally devoid of the essential religious duty of ‘twasi bll-haqq’ or they exhibit just a vestige of it in the form of occasional brief sermon or sporadic moralizing advice. This state of affairs is certainly wrong and needs to be rectified immediately.

In this connection a story reported by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) puts the urgency of this duty in very bold relief. He mentioned an extremely pious old man whom the angels testified that he never indulged in sin even for as long as the blink of an eye, but who never angered or got moved at the sight of people breaking the commands of God. Despite all his piety and life-long spiritual observances, Allah ordered the angels to destroy him first and then the entire community.

On the other hand, it should also be clearly understood that it is equally dangerous to aspire and struggle for the highest stages of ‘twasi bil-haqq’ through activities geared to establishing an Islamic order of society, but taking meager interest in spiritual devotions and performing only those prayers which are obligatory (farz), and attenuate faith to a mere theological belief without realizing its deeper meaning and cultivating it inwardly. All types of unbalanced attitudes and life-styles within these two extremes are misconceived and possibly dangerous.

Source: The Way to Salvation (Book by Dr Israr Ahmed)

SALAT OF A PERSON ON JOURNEY

SALAT OF A PERSON ON JOURNEY

Q.   For how long great a distance must one have intended for travel to quality for the definition of a person “person on journey”?

  According to Shariah a “person on journey” is one who intends to travel as far as takes three days to walk (on foot). It does not mean three days continuous walking but traveling from morning till the decline of the sun. Walk means walk on ordinary pace and the day for the purpose is to be the shortest day.

Q.   What do we mean by walk on ordinary pace and three days journey means how many miles?

   

             i.     Walk on ordinary pace means walk of a man travelling on foot.

           ii.     Three days walk may, for the sake of convenience, be taken to mean forty eighty miles or eighty kilometers.

Q.   What does the Shariah say about a person who covers the distance (walkable in three days) by train, bus or chaise drawn by the horses?

  He is to be rested as “on journey” howsoever speedily he covers the distance.

Q.   In what respect is the Salat of a person on-journey different from the normal prayer?

  A person on-journey offers two Rak'ahs instead of four for Dhuhr, ‘Asr and ‘Isha. There is, however no change in the prayers for Fajr, Maghrib and for Witr.

Q.   What is the technical name given to this act of shortening the Salat from four Rak'ahs to two?

  It is called Qasr (shortening).

Q.   When should a person on-journey start availing himself of the Qasr (shortening) provision?

  He should start doing Qasr from the time he gets out of the bounds of his locality.

Q.   How long should he avail himself of the provision for Qasr?

  He can avail it as long as he is on-journey and does not make the intention to stay in any one city, town or village for a minimum of fifteen days. But the moment he makes up his mind to stay at any one place for a period of fifteen days or more, he should start saying unabridged (full) Salat.

Q.   What is the injunction about a  person who had the intention to stay for three four days, but the stay to be prolonged for another term of three four days as the job in hand could not be finished and again the process was repeated in like manner until the stay went beyond the stipulated period of fifteen days?

  As long as he does not make an intention to stay for full fifteen days at a time, he should offer shortened prayers. The provision will hold even if the total period of stay exceeds fifteen days.

Q.   What is the stipulation for one who by mistake says, full four Rak'ahs of the Salat?

  If he has done the sitting after the second Rak'ah, one remedial prostration at the end will set the Salat right. Deliberate flouting the stipulation will amount to sin. But there is no blame if it is a genuine lapse. In this case two of the Rak'ahs will be counted towards Fard while the other two will be Nafl prayers.

In case no sitting was done after the second Rak'ah, the commanded prayer will not be deemed to have been consummated. The whole exercise will turn Nafl. Fard will have to be said once again.

Q.   What is the injunction about a person on journey saying his Salat behind an on-station Imam?

  The person on journey following an on-station Imam also becomes under obligation to say full four Rak'ahs.

Q.   What is the injunction about a person on journey leading the prayers of those who are on-station?

  In this case the on-journey head of the prayer will turn his face in Salam after two Rak'ahs and ask his on-station followers to go ahead with the remaining part of their Salat without him. Others in congregation will stand on their legs without turning their faces in Salam and complete their remaining two Rak'ahs. They should neither recite Surahs after Al-Fatihah in these two Rak'ahs nor will they execute the remedial prostration in case of a lapse in Salat.

Q.   Is Salat permissible on board a running train, aeroplane or ship?

  Yes, Salat is permissible to be said on a running train, aeroplane or ship. If it is possible to stand and say the Salat without fear of feeling giddy and falling down we must do it in the standing posture. If it is not possible we are allowed to sit and say it. If, during the prayer the train, the aeroplane or the ship changes its direction so that the worshipping no longer faces the Qiblah, let him also adjust himself so that the Qiblah remains before him.