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| Ahmadiyya Mosque, Tanzania |
Every so often a member of our team recommends a site or a blog which we then sample on our own. Recently, our team member called 'The Storm' recommended that we advertise an amateur blog- like our own- called wayofaseeker.wordpress.com, in which a young Ahmadi Muslim writes articles on various concepts in Islam. Below is a sample from the blog, which features references on the importance of the Muhammad s.a.w's sunnah:
I have coined this term from the blog of a brother in islam who always says “This is not a Risalabut a Blog,” so I will also say it. :)
This is not a Risala but a mere blog post, exploring my understanding as to why it is important to follow the Sunnah (Literally meaning: A clear and well trodden path and in the Islamic sense it is the path and practise of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) which we should be following).
I, and many others, feel that the Muslims in general (youth in particular), have to an extent lost their understanding of the true essence of this noble path, which is the pleasure of Allah and thereby have neglected some of the incumbent duties put upon us. As an Ahmadi Muslim I also hold firm faith in a Messiah who was promised to come in the latter days. His titles vary from Messih-e-Mau’d, ‘Isa ibn Mariyam, Imam Mahdi, Muhammad al Massih and last but not the least al Hakamun ‘Adl. In Essence he is the rejuvenator of Islam who was to bring back Islam’s true teaching based entirely on the Qur’an, Ahadith and Sunnah. As I believe that this person is no one other than Seyyidna Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (as) I will make reference to the 3 most important/relevant resources in this discourse: The Qur’an (Revealed Word of Allah), Ahadith (Narrations of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw)) and the Writings of the Imam Mahdi (as).
I am no one to beat around the bush much, so I think the above will suffice as an introduction. The first verse which comes to my mind is:
This verse makes it incumbent upon believers to obey Allah’s messenger in whatever he did and had said, because, following the messenger means you follow Allah (obey in other words).
In a Sahih Hadith we find:
This narration explicitly commands us: “You must then follow my sunnah”, The word used is ‘must’ and not ‘should,’ making it an incumbent duty on us. Similarly, towards the latter part he s.a.w. said “Hold to it and stick fast to it” this makes it a huge obligation on us and we shall not neglect this command of our beloved Prophet s.a.w.
The Holy Prophet s.a.w. in his prophetic wisdom knew of the coming times, which is why he spoke of the fitna or turmoil that were to follow, the huge disagreements in small and huge matters, wars and the schisms in Islam. This is precisely why he said “for those who live after me”. One can conclude that this command is for us, as we have come and lived our lives after the death of the Holy Prophet (saw).
The third aspect of this Hadith, which I wish to point at, is the fact that the Holy Prophet s.a.w. also said after commanding us to follow his Sunnah, to follow the Sunnah “of the Rightly-Guided Khalifs”. Firstly, we have the obvious Khulafa-e-Rashid (ra) or the four khalifas who followed Muhammad s.a.w. directly after his passing. In terms of obedience we have the following verse of the Noble Qur’an:
The Rightly Guided Khulafa would be considered the “’Ulil Amri” (those in authority among you). Applying the same principal as with the first verse, the 3 beings that are mentioned one after the other are Allah (to whom obedience is incumbent in all circumstances), Allah’s Messenger (Seiyydina wa Maula-e-na Khataman Nabiyyeen (saw)) (to whom obedience is second most important yet as he’s the perfect reflection of the the teachings and command of Allah we must follow him in order to live according to the command of Allah) and lastly the ones in authority among us (ie Khulafa e Rashideen) these are the reflection of the light emitted by the Holy Prophet (saw) which is why he held them in such esteem going all the way to say ‘follow my sunnah and that of the rightly−guided Kalifs’. In this same point I wish to draw attention to a point not so widely known. I’m referring to Al-Khalifat-Ullah (The Khalif of Allah).
On anyone who accepts the Mahdi (as) it is incumbent to follow his Sunnah, firstly based on the authority of the Holy Qur’an as he is an ‘Ulil Amr (in authority among us) and secondly on the Authority of the initial hadith as he also a Khalif, and as Mahdi means Guided one, he is a Rightly Guided Khalif. The importance of following the Practice of the KhalifatUllah (as) is made clear by this hadith where Allah’s Apostle (saw) says “Pledge your allegiance to them even if you have to crawl over the snow”. Pledging allegiance in other words means selling yourself to someone and thereby abiding by all their good commands and all their decisions, the second part talks about the importance of following the command comparing it to crawling over snow (ie extreme hardship).
Now, allow me to have a look at what this KhalifatUllah (as) said in regards to obeying Allah, which in turn would translate as obeying the Messenger (saw) of Allah as he was a true reflection of Allah on this earth. He says:
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