THE INFLUENCE OF MOVEMENT ON MISSION
Friday Sermon by
Presented by Dr Mahmud Abul-Huda Al Husaini
Al “Adiliyya Mosque, Aleppo, 792007
After our Lord, Exalted He be, presented the summary of the lesson of Sha”iban on Tabuk, He drew the attention of whoever desired to serve the religion of the Exalted Allah to a fact that he should be aware of. After He aroused the zeal of the Muslims in the lesson of Al “Usra Army (the army of adversity), and referred to the categories of people, namely:
-some complied with the Prophet (PBUH) and went with him;
-others felt inwardly reluctant, but they resisted their self-desires and complied with the Prophet (PBUH);
-some others inclined to comply with the Prophet (PBUH) but were defeated by their self-desires though they were good believers;
-some others hid behind frail excuses, because they did not want to serve the religion of Allah;
and after the exposition that the Exalted Allah presented in the lesson of Tabuk, He drew the attention to a general matter. It is the necessity of keeping the movement active in calling to Allah. If calling up to fighting in the expedition of Tabuk was public and nobody was excused from not sharing in it except the sick or the one who has a cogent excuse, it is followed by an instruction that the Ummah might benefit from after the public recruitment.
During public recruitment, nobody is excused unless he has a valid cause of not joining the army, but after that, a certain phenomenon should remain continuous all the time. It is the phenomenon of delegating only part of the Muslims to fighting. The Exalted Allah refers to this fact saying:
"Nor should the Believers all go forth together", i.e., at a time other than the time of public recruitment.
"If a contingent from every expedition remained behind" (Al Tawbah, v.122). A qualitative representation is referred to here so that it includes all layers of society with all its spectrum and types. It is a general statement.
If, at a certain time, division was based on the family, the clan or the tribe, choice and delegation were in proportion to that, but when the construction of society changes and division becomes based on interest and specialization, the concept changes to be in agreement with these specifications. Moreover, the Exalted Allah did not delegate an individual from one group, He rather wanted a band to move from every group, for one specialized person might not be enough to express his own specialization, whereas when a band is presented there would be greater possibility of representing the whole group.
Then the Exalted Allah draws the attention to a matter that we, as well as the Muslims, are unaware of. It is the influence of movement on understanding religion. The Exalted Allah said: "So that they could devote themselves to studies in religion". Religiously speaking, Fiqh (jurisprudence) means understanding. When society, community or any group of people are stagnant, trying to understand religion with inactivity, they soon rot and become corrupted, but when they move and be active, they dispense with their corruption and rottenness, so is the case in understanding the religion of Allah, the Exalted.
If man”s prospective does not exceed the limits of this life in his movement, in his travel, in his visits and his effort to attain his aims, man will not be one who has good understanding of religion, for activity, by necessity, should widen the horizon of man”s understanding and teach him how to deal with the details of religion.
Because of our inactivity, our religion has become stagnant.
We travel and move only for the purpose of getting worldly benefits, whereas our ancestors travelled and moved for their religion.
Moving for the purpose of this world is not forbidden in our religion. The Exalted Allah said:
"For the covenants (of security and safeguard enjoyed) by the Quraysh, their covenants (covering) journeys by winter and summer" (Quraysh, vs. 1-2).
But how ugly it is to make our movement restricted to our worldly aims, and how ugly it is to make our activity and determination only for the service of our present life neglecting altogether the service of the religion of the Exalted Allah.
If you stay inactive in your stagnation and stillness you will never have good understanding of religion.
Nor should the Believers all go forth together: if a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies in religion, and admonish the people when they return to them, that thus they (may learn) to guard themselves (against evil)" (Al Tawbah, v. 122).
The believer who is still does benefit from religion as the moving one who gets good understanding of it. Moreover, the moving believer makes the still one benefit from his movement. Thus, the moving and the still take turns alternately. At one time, the moving one becomes still, and at another, the still becomes moving and so on.
When society, community, or any group of people behave in such a way, they will never suffer misunderstanding of religion, corruption and rottenness in the method of treatments.
If we reconsider the verses of the Holy Qur”an, we find that the Exalted Allah praises the believers who are described as moving not still.
In the case of Ibrahim (PBUH), he said:
"I will go to my Lord he will surely guide me" (Al Safat, v.99).
Concerning immigration to Medina, the Exalted Allah said:
"He who forsakes his home in the cause of Allah" (Al NIsa”, v. 100).
Concerning our Master, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH), the Exalted Allah said:
"Remember that morning thou didst leave thy household (early) to post the faithful at their stations for battle" (Al Umran, v.121).
He (PBUH) did not stay in his house among his family members. He rather moved out.
Many other verses are concerned with encouraging this movement, let us quote some of them as examples:
"O ye who believe what is the matter with you, that when ye are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah (i.e., move on quickly), ye cling heavily to the earth? do ye refer the life of this world to the Hereafter? (this life attracts you to the earth and chains you with materialism, but the one who is spiritual has a light self, and does not suffer from the heavy load of chains. He is active in his mission in calling to the religion of the Exalted Allah. He does not suffer from the strife that draws the others to this life and its materialism), "but little is the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter" (Al Tawbah, 38).
Moreover, the Exalted Allah emphasizes this movement whether the believer feels heaviness or lightness in his soul. He is charged with this movement even though he sometimes feels heaviness. Thus the Exalted Allah said: "Go ye forth lightly or heavily" (Al Tawbah, v.41).
This life attracts you to its chains, but you become more active for movement when you are spiritual.
Religious obligation asserts movement.
"Go ye forth", i.e., move on quickly to call to the religion of the Exalted Allah "lightly or heavily".
What awaits us is plenty, and the shadow of ordeals has begun to enter forcibly our Islamic world. The places where we are living in will be the field of these ordeals. They are the places that our Master, the Messenger of Allah told us about, namely the countries of Al Sham, Iraq, Hejaz, and Egypt. Most of the prophetic traditions foretold about the ordeals that would happen in these places.
In Al Sham country, there is Jerusalem, the center of strife. The disturbances would begin from Iraq and expand to reach as far as Hejaz and Egypt then end in Yemen in the south.
But do you know what these ordeals would do to the one who has no readiness or aptitude?
These ordeals will be like a sword. What is good for mankind remains in the earth, but what is scum and froth disappears and has no traces or remains:
"Allah will establish in strength those who believe, with the word that stands firm" (Ibrahim, v. 27).
If we do not train ourselves in movement for the sake of the religion of the Exalted Allah, and if we go on anesthetized by the material and distracted from our great mission, we will be the scum that is driven by flood.
"Go ye forth, (whether equipped) lightly or heavily, and strive and struggle, with your goods and your persons, in the cause of Allah. That is best for you, if ye (but) knew" (Al Tawbah, v. 41).
See how the Holy Qur”an describes those who prefer stillness to movement:
"Those who were left behind (in the Tabuk expedition) rejoiced in their inaction behind the back of the Messenger of Allah: they hated to strive and fight, with their goods and their persons, in the Cause of Allah: they said, "Go not forth in the heat." Say, "The fire of Hell is fiercer in heat." If only they could understand"! (Al Tawbah, v. 81).
See also the description of those who responded to the attraction of the material, and are drawn to it by their self inclinations. Consequently, they relinquished the movement for the sake of the Exalted Allah and the service of His religion:
"When a Surah comes down, enjoining them to believe in Allah and to strive and fight along with His Messenger, those with wealth and influence among them ask thee for exemption, and say: "Leave us (behind): we would be with those who sit (at home)" (Al Tawbah, v. 86).
The month of Ramadan is approaching, but if we understand this month to be the time of rituals and worshipping only, and if we forget about the fact that Ramadan is an occasion for man to free himself from his own shackles and fetters so that he becomes ready for the movement, we would not understand the purpose of this month, for spirituality is not the end, it is rather a means to an end.
If man understands the spirituality of Ramadan to be an end by itself, he will not quite realize the purpose of this month.
The Jihad (fighting for the cause of Allah) of the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) in the Great Expedition, namely, Badr Expedition, took place in Ramadan. He returned from the last Expedition he carried out, Tabuk Expedition, in Ramadan too. In Ramadan the opening of Mecca took place. In Ramadan, the Holy Qur”an was revealed to make the Ummah move, not to sit down only to read the Holy Qur”an, reciting it frequently with no understanding that this Holy Book calls the best Ummah to guide mankind. The Holy Qur”an does not want the Ummah to sit down and recommend good-doing in a state of inactivity. It is an Ummah that should not keep silent. It is an Ummah that is ordered to admonish people when they commit the forbidden and not be dumb. It is an Ummah that believes in Allah, and prefers the unseen world to the material one.
This is the Holy Qur”an that was revealed in Ramadan, but we understand it to be mere verses that should be recited frequently with no influence on our behavior, our movement, our renaissance and our civilization.
The problem is that we do not move, so how can we understand our religion?
"if a contingent from every expedition remained behind, they could devote themselves to studies in religion".
Allāhum…Guide us to You favorably, and make us from those who listen to wisdom and follow the best of it.
I say my words and ask Allah”s forgiveness.