From the Lamp of the Prophethood (1) “O’ Mu’adh Bin Jabal”

From the Lamp of the Prophethood (1)

“O’ Mu’adh Bin Jabal”

All praises be to Allah who ordained shariah and did not keep difficulty in religion. I bear witness that there’s no god but Allah, the One who has no partner. There’s established proofs and evidences on His oneness. I bear witness that our prophet is Muhammad, Allah’s slave and messenger for whose sake hearts and souls are sacrificed. May the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him, his family, companions and their followers, and those who followed them in good deeds till the Day of Judgement, and after:

I advise you and myself of having the fear of Allah so that our souls are purified, our hearts are satisfied, we succeed by the permission of the Merciful and Noble with the eternal blessing and we are saved from the painful torment. Allah said: (O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.) [Al-Tahreem: 6].

Slaves of the Merciful, a youth gave his hand in pledge to the hand of the prophet on the occasion of the pledge of Aqabah. Then, he accompanied the messenger of Allah with a heart efflorescent with belief and with a bright and enlightened head. He stayed close to the prophet, memorised the Quran and gained knowledge and understanding and became the greatest scholar of the nation in matters of lawful and unlawful. He received sworn love from the prophet and got a care soaked in closeness and special status. He’s Mu’adh Bin Jabal. Here’s the hadith for you:

He said: I was riding behind the Prophet (ﷺ) and there was nothing between him and me but the rear part of the saddle, when he said: Mu'adh b. Jabal: To which I replied: At your beck and call, and at your pleasure, Messenger of Allah! He moved along for a few minutes, when again he said: Mu'adh b. Jabal: To which I replied: At your beck and call, and at your pleasure, Messenger of Allah! He then again moved along for a few minutes and said: Mu'adh b. Jabal: To which I replied. At your beck and call, and at your pleasure. Messenger of Allah He, (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you know what right has Allah upon His servants? I said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Verily the right of Allah over His servants is that they should worship Him, not associating anything with Him. He (the Holy Prophet) with Mu'adh behind him, moved along for a few minutes and said: Mu'adh b. Jabal: To which I replied: At your beck and call, and at your pleasure, Messenger of Allah! He (the Holy Prophet) said: Do you know what rights have servants upon Allah in case they do it (i. e. they worship Allah without associating anything with Him)? I (Mu'adh b. Jabal) replied: Allah and His Messenger know best. (Upon this) he (the Holy Prophet) remarked: That He would not torment them (with the fire of Hell). (The hadith has been narrated by Bukhari and Muslim).

According to another narration by Bukhari and Muslim: I said, “Messenger of God, shall I not give this good news to the people?” He replied, “Do not tell them, and have them trusting in it alone.”

Respected readers, Let’s have a look on some of the lessons drawn from this hadith:

First lesson: Virtue of the Oneness of Allah, the Exalted. The Oneness of Allah, i.e., monotheism is the foundation of all worships and greatest act of obedience. It also contains the gravity of all types of shirk, small or big. It’s reflected in the part of hadith “Verily the right of Allah over His servants is that they should worship Him, not associating anything with Him.” That’s why the biggest fear of the prophet with regard to his nation was the hidden shirk. According to a hadith: “The thing I fear most for you is the lesser shirk (polytheism), showing-off (of good deeds).” (Ibn baaz has declared it to be of Sahih grade and Albaani said: its chain of narration is good).

Second Lesson: The vastness of Allah’s mercy and His affection with His slaves. This is reflected in the fact that the greatest act of worship through which the proximity of Allah is sought, is easy for the one who’s been given the strength for that by Allah as every human being, small or big, strong or weak, rich or poor, can do the same.

Third Lesson: The skilfulness of the prophet in educating and motivating the human mind. This is Mu’adh who attained the speciality and proximity to the prophet and only he’s with the prophet. Then, he calls him by his name and his father’s name as if he’s calling him for far while he’s near to him. Even when Mu’adh responds to his call, he remains silent. It’s a guess that the mind of Mu’adh would have had so many thoughts in the moments of silence which the prophet divided in his three calls. The call as well as silence is attention-attracting. It remained so till the mind was extremely alert and then the information came in the form of a question “Do you know what right has Allah upon His servants? I said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He (the Holy Prophet) said: Verily the right of Allah over His servants is that they should worship Him, not associating anything with Him.”

Fourth Lesson: Mu’adh was a young man who had not exceeded twenty years but a little. Despite that, the prophet chose him to give him a knowledge exclusive to him and did not allow him to tell that to others fearing that other might not understand it as he had understood. This prove the point that every learner should be given the knowledge which suits his comprehension ability, understanding and need.

Fifith Lesson: The piousness of Mu’adh is reflected in the fact that he informed of that at the time of his death due to the fear of sin of hiding knowledge. The narrator says: “Mu'adh told about it at the time of his death, to avoid sinning.”

May Allah be pleased with Mu’adh, all companions and with us along with them. Indeed, He’s Generous and Noble. Seek the forgiveness of Allah. He’s the Most forgiving. All praises be to Allah.

And after:

Sixth Lesson: Mu’adh whom the prophet told this glad tiding was known for his strong penchant for worship. It’s been reported about him that he said at the time of his death: O’ Allah, Indeed, I would fear you, but I have hopes from You. O’ Allah, You know that I did not love this world and staying in it for making the rivers flow or planting trees, but for quenching the thirst of the thirsty, struggling for hours and joining the crowded gatherings of remembrance of Allah with the scholars.”

So, he did not misunderstand the glad tiding of the prophet which he had shared with him exclusively and did not make it an excuse for trusting on it alone, giving up deeds and committing sins. Rather, he understood it rightly and took motivation from it for more worship, enjoyment in acts of obedience, standing in prayer for long and fasting in extremely hot days.

Seventh Lesson: Mu’adh did not leave his mission which he received from the prophet until his last breath, i.e., inviting and educating. You may remember that prophet said when he chose him for this mission at the time of sending him to Yemen: "You will go to the people of the Book. First call them to testify that 'there is no true god except Allah, that I am (Muhammad (ﷺ)) the Messenger of Allah.'” (Sahih Muslim).

Last Lesson: That the prophet was sitting on a donkey and was sharing the ride with a youth from the Helpers, is an act humbleness. Indeed, he’s the messenger of Allah. He was a salve and prophet, not a king and prophet.

May the blessings of Allah be upon you, O’ symbol of guidance

Throughout days, not a single moment has passed