MARF-UL-HADITH

Actions And Mortal Habits That Are Inimical To Faith (45) Bahzain Hakim relates from his father, Hakim, on the authority of his grandfather, M'awiya bin Haida Qushairi, that the Apostle of God said: “Anger spoils Faith as aloe spoils honey.” -Baihaqi Commentary:- Anger, of course, is destructive of Faith and when it takes possession of anyone he unhesitatingly crosses the limits prescribed by God and does things that are ruinous to Faith and are likely to bring him down in the estimation of the Lord. (46) Aus bin Shurahbil related to us that he heard the Apostle of God say: “Whoever set out to help the oppressor and knew that he was the oppressor went out of the fold of Islam.” -Baihaqi Commentary:- When to support injustice and to help the oppressor, in any form, knowing well that he was the oppressor, is such a mortal sin in Islam that the Holy Prophet has declared that anyone who does so forfeits his claim to be a Believer, it can be imagined how inimical cruelty and injustice are to Faith and what place do those who are cruel and unjust occupy in the sight of Allah and the Apostle. (47) It is related by Abdullah bin Masood that the Apostle of God said: “A truthful Believer never indulges in taunting and cursing nor does he use intemperate language.” -Tirmidhi and Baihaqi Commentary:- It shows that to utter oaths, curses and blasphemies and to indulge in violent, vulgar and abusive language is contrary to the spirit of Islam and a faithful Believer ought to be free from these habits. (48) Sufwan bin Salim has related to us that the Prophet was once asked if a Muslim could be a coward. “It is possible,” the Prophet replied. It was next asked of him if a Muslim could be a miser. “It is possible,” the Prophet again replied. After it, it was asked of him if a Muslim could be a [habitual] liar. The Prophet said, “No” [meaning that Faith and the filthy habit of deliberate lying could not exist with each-other]. -Bukhari and Muslim Commentary:- Though cowardice and stinginess are bad, these are such natural weaknesses that a Believer, also, can fall a prey to them. But the habit of falsehood is so excessively repugnant to Islam that the two cannot be present in the same person. (49) It is related by Abu Hurairah that the Apostle of God said: “No adulterer commits adultery and remains a Muslim during the time he commits the adultery, and no thief commits theft and remains a Muslim during the time he commits the theft, and no drinker drinks wine and remains a Muslim during the time he drinks the wine, and no robber commits robbery, in full view of men, and remains a Muslim during the time he commits the robbery, and no embezzler commits embezzlement and remains a Muslim during the time he commits the embezzlement. Thus, O ye who believe! Save yourselves from these [Faith-destroying] acts. Save [yourselves].” -Bukhari and Muslim Commentary:- Adultery, theft, wine-drinking, murder and robbery and embezzlement are antithetical to Islam and during the time a person performs any of these evil acts the light of Faith deserts him. It does not, however, mean that he altogether goes out of the fold and becomes an Infidel. While commenting on this saying, Imam Bukhari himself has remarked that “the perpetrator of these sins ceases to be a full Believer at the time at which he perpetrates them and the light of Faith does not remain in him.” To put it differently, if the peculiar inner feeling which is known as Faith is alive and the heart is illumined with it, a person will never be guilty of these wicked acts. Such sins are committed only when the flame of Faith has died out in the heart and the special spiritual consciousness which protects a man against evil-doing has disappeared or grown feeble due to some reason or the other. In a nutshell, the Traditions in which it has been said about some grave misdeeds that whoever commits them is not a Believer or about some moral virtues or good actions that whoever gives them up or departs from them is devoid of Faith do not imply that he has actually seceded from the Islamic faith and now the laws of Infidelity and not of Islam will apply to him, and, in the Hereafter, he will be treated as a heathen but simply that he no longer possesses the true spirit of Faith which is the glory of a Muslim and pleasing to God. The particular phrasing has been preferred only to lend a greater force to it. It will, as such, be patently wrong and unjust to regard these Traditions as ‘Fiats' of Infidelity or ‘Judicial Decrees' of Fiqh [Islamic Jurisprudence] and start expelling people from the Millet, as the Mo'tazilla and Khawarij did.