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Good news and warning – Tarawih reflections 5

Good news and warning - Tarawih reflections 5
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March 14, 2024
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Spread good news

In ayah 119 of Surat al-Baqarah, Allah says

‘Surely, We have sent you with the truth, as a bearer of good tidings, and a warner, and you will not be asked about the people of Hell.’

Allah is referring to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, one of whose names is al-Bashir, the one who carries good news. He used to tell his Companions,

‘Give glad tidings, and do not scare people away. Make things easy, and do not make things difficult.’ [Abu Dawood]

Your style of delivery can be what makes people like or hate Islam. This also applies to your children. Many of those who leave Islam later in their life had issues with a teacher, madrassa, or parent in their childhood, whose style was too harsh. The moment they felt they could get away, they flipped the page, without realising that it’s not about your parent or teacher, but about your relationship with Allah. They associate this relationship with bad memories, and want to delete the whole file without distinguishing between what is right and wrong.

The prophetic way

In this ayah, Allah is confirming that Muhammad ﷺ was His Messenger, and that he wasn’t just making things up. Every day there were newcomers to Islam, so Allah keeps confirming this many times throughout the Quran.

This reminds me of a story from the Sunnah, when a Bedouin came and grabbed the Prophet ﷺ , and said, ‘O Muhammad (with no honorific), I am going to ask you harsh questions so don’t have anything in your heart against me.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied, smiling, ‘Ask whatever you want.’

The man asked, ‘By Him who created the Heavens and Earth, did He send you?’ The Prophet ﷺ replied, ‘Yes he did.’ The man was challenging the Prophet’s ﷺ authority, but the Prophet didn’t get angry, or say, ‘How dare you question me?’ He answered simply with a smile on his face.

Narrated Anas bin Malik:

While we were sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) in the mosque, a man came riding on a camel. He made his camel kneel down in the mosque, tied its foreleg and then said: “Who amongst you is Muhammad?”

At that time the Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting amongst us (his companions) leaning on his arm. We replied, “This white man reclining on his arm.” The man then addressed him, “O Son of `Abdul Muttalib.”

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “I am here to answer your questions.” The man said to the Prophet, “I want to ask you something and will be hard in questioning. So do not get angry.”

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Ask whatever you want.”

The man said, “I ask you by your Lord, and the Lord of those who were before you, has Allah sent you as an Apostle to all the mankind?”

The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “By Allah, yes.” The man further said, “I ask you by Allah. Has Allah ordered you to offer five prayers in a day and night (24 hours)?

He replied, “By Allah, Yes.”

The man further said, “I ask you by Allah! Has Allah ordered you to observe fasts during this month of the year (i.e. Ramadan)?”

He replied, “By Allah, Yes.”

The man further said, “I ask you by Allah. Has Allah ordered you to take Zakat (obligatory charity) from our rich people and distribute it amongst our poor people?”

The Prophet (ﷺ) replied, “By Allah, yes.”

Thereupon that man said, “I have believed in all that with which you have been sent, and I have been sent by my people as a messenger, and I am Dimam bin Tha`laba from the brothers of Bani Sa`d bin Bakr.”[Bukhari]

I have seen some teachers who hate being questioned, let alone having their authority challenged. If they give an opinion and you say something different, they react as if the Day of Judgement will come!

The best of creation

The Prophet ﷺ was the best of creation, and he accommodated all these kinds of questions and more. What is your weight on the scale compared to his?

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was sent as bishara (good news) from Allah. The fortunate ones are those who believed in him and followed him, may Allah make us all from among them.

This is Allah’s gift to humanity. He selected the best of his creation to deliver the last message, and those who believed in him will be among the people of Jannah. Those who rejected him, have bad news.

The bringer of warning

The Prophet ﷺ was also sent with nidhara, warning. Allah has given everyone freedom of choice, but freedom with no accountability is nonsense. Allah is giving you a choice, but also showing you the consequences of your choice.

There was a caricature in a French newspaper on Monday mocking the people of Gaza, calling it freedom of speech. What kind of freedom is this? Is this an appropriate topic, to mock those who are being massacred? They have lost their humanity. This is why we need freedom with accountability.

Genuine mercy

At the end of the ayah, Allah tells the Prophet ﷺ that he won’t be accountable for the dwellers of Hell. This reflects his concern about the people of Jahannam. He was sad because of their bad choices, and wanted to save them. He didn’t mock them or say they deserved their punishment, and this is true mercy from Allah.

Allah is calming him down, assuring him that he won’t be asked about them. He did his job and delivered his message; they chose not to believe him. We see this across many different surahs in the Quran where Allah tells him not to be sad.

Look at this genuine mercy from Rasul Allah ﷺ. He wasn’t campaigning for election, like today’s politicians, who try to win votes by pretending to be concerned about people and building a sea port. If they were really concerned, they wouldn’t be sending military support. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ was genuine in his mercy.

We ask Allah to make us among the people of good news, who spread the true message with genuine concern for people’s safety and salvation.

Based on the reflections of Shaykh Haytham Tamim

Transcribed by Hana Khan

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Shaykh Haytham Tamim is the founder and main teacher of the Utrujj Foundation. He has provided a leading vision for Islamic learning in the UK, which has influenced the way Islamic knowledge is disseminated. He has orchestrated the design and delivery of over 200 unique courses since Utrujj started in 2001. His extensive expertise spans over 30 years across the main Islamic jurisprudence schools of thought. He has studied with some of the foremost scholars in their expertise; he holds some of the highest Ijazahs (certificates) in Quran, Hadith (the Prophetic traditions) and Fiqh (Islamic rulings). His own gift for teaching was evident when he gave his first sermon to a large audience at the age of 17 and went on to serve as a senior lecturer of Islamic transactions and comparative jurisprudence at the Islamic University of Beirut (Shariah College). He has continued to teach; travelling around the UK, Europe and wider afield, and won the 2015 BISCA award (British Imams & Scholars Contributions & Achievements Awards) for Outstanding Contribution to Education and Teaching.

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