بسم الله وحده والصلاة والسلام على من لا نبي بعده
Ālimah Siddiqa al-Fārsiyyah
Student, Takhassus Fil Hadith
Checked and Approved:
Mufti Ismail Moosa
www.ulumalhadith.com
In this article, Shaykh ‘Abdullah Siraj ad-Din speaks about the importance of honouring the symbols of Allah Ta’ala, and severe warning against those who disrespect them. Below, I will condense and translate some of the main beneficial points from the article:
Allah Ta’ala says: {That [is so]. And whoever honours the symbols [i.e., rites] of Allah – indeed, it is from the piety of hearts.} [Qur’an 22:32] — Shaykh ‘Abdullah Siraj ad-Din explains: “Thus, the symbols of Allah are the symbols of His din, places of His worship, all the rites of Hajj like ‘Arafah, Masjid al-Haram, Muzdalifah, and all the Houses of Allah (i.e. masajid). It also includes the books of the Shari’ah, the carriers of the Shari ‘ah, the scholars of din, the carriers of the Qur’an.
Imam an-Nawawi (rahimahullah) has also taken the aforementioned verse as evidence upon the necessity of honouring the people of the Qur’an and scholars, because they are the carriers of the Din of Allah. He has also transmitted from Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Shafi’i that they said: “If the scholars are not considered the Friends of Allah (awliyau ‘llah), then Allah Ta’ala has no other friends.”
Shaykh ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah) explains: “Thus, if honouring the rites of Allah is considered from the purity of the hearts, then honouring His names, His verses and the ahadith of the Prophet (sal Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) is from among the greatest of the purity of hearts. And it is known that when a Muslim establishes the purity of the heart, he carries it to the purity of his limbs and body also, just like how the Prophet (sal Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) said: ‘Piety is here, piety is here, piety is here’ and pointed to his blessed chest.”
Imam al-Bayhaqi (rahimahullah) narrates with his chain from ‘Ali (radhi Allahu ‘anh) that he said: “A man beautified his handwriting when he wrote the Bismillah (out of respect), and Allah Ta’ala forgave him through it.” Imam al-Bayhaqi adds: “This report is mawquf, however, it is in the hukm of marfu’ as it is from those topics which have no room for opinion.”
Shaykh ‘Abdullah (rahimahullah) further advises: “Beware! — O seeker of knowledge — that you give opportunity for the names of Allah Ta’ala and the names of the Prophet (sal Allahu ‘alaihi wa sallam) to be disrespected, or thrown on the ground. It should not be placed in luggage and bags which are designed to carry all sorts of things, and be placed on the ground. Neither should you write names like ‘Abd al-Karim,’ ‘Abd ar-Rahman,’ ‘Muhammad,’ ‘Ahmad’ and their likes on these carrier bags, some reasons being:
- These bags are not designed as a tool of honour or respect, rather they have merely been designed to carry many different things at once, and this is not appropriate for carrying the tools of learning.
- The bags are placed in various places after one is done using them, especially on the ground, and this is a form of disrespect.
- The papers are eventually thrown into bins and dirty places.
Thus, keeping the above in mind, one must be mindful of where they write names like ‘Abd al-Karim,’ and ‘Muhammad,’ to avoid becoming a reason behind them being disrespected.
The article can be accessed here.