GOOD ADVICE PROPELS SOCIETY TO REACH UNTAPPED POTENTIAL

Jumuah lecture on Friday 2 November 2018 (23 Safar 1440)

by Mowlana Syed Aftab Haider

at the Ahlul Bait (a.s) Masjid, Ottery, Cape Town

Almighty Allah (SWT) says in the Holy Quran through Nabi Nuh (a.s), in verse 62 of Surah A’raaf (chapter 7):

“I deliver to you the messages of my Lord, and I offer you good advice and I know from Allah what you do not know.”

Nabi Nuh (a.s) conveys this verse to the people, explaining his duty and responsibility. It is very clear from this verse that one of the major functions of Prophets (a.s) is to give advice and good guidance to the people. This is besides conveying the message of Almighty Allah (SWT) to the people.

Advice and good guidance is not only the responsibility of the Holy Prophets (a.s) of Almighty Allah (SWT). In fact, it is the responsibility of every Muslim.

GIVING GOOD ADVICE IS THE HALLMARK OF A TRUE BELIEVER

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) is reported to have said in an authentic Hadith narration that the highest status of people on the Day of Judgement before Almighty Allah (SWT) will be those who walked amongst the people giving advice. Their lifestyle trend is to give advice.

In another well-known Hadith narration from our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), he says that religion is advice! So, we can very clearly understand advice as an important fibre of life of a Mu’min.

What is Nasiha defined as? Nasiha means to guide and seek good for your fellow brethren. Again, it is recorded in authentic Hadith narrations from Rasulullah (SAWA) that each one of us should make Nasiha to our fellow brethren, in the same way that we advise ourselves. Very importantly, we learn from this Hadith what the motivation and objective of Nasiha is.

ADVICE SHOULD BE ENTIRELY TO UPLIFT OTHERS

We learn here that the drive behind Nasiha should be purely about seeking good for that person, in the same way that one would not give advice to oneself which is condescending. Sometimes we offer advice (Nasiha) to express our superiority over others. This type of advice which is based on arrogance is not Nasiha. Real Nasiha is based on sincere intentions, where you only want good for someone, in matters of Dunya and Akhirah.

We read in Hadith narrations that one of the places where Nasiha is highly recommended is when someone wants to start a business. It is a good practice to give him/her good advice. The motivation for giving advice should never be for someone to fail!

Another highly recommended area to give advice is in marriage. This is particularly important when 2 people want to get married and do not know each other well, and approach you for objective advice on the proposal. Very interestingly, one is even allowed to do backbiting in this area of advice! As we know backbiting is such a huge sin, that there are Hadith narrations which explain backbiting to be worse than adultery!

This is the magnitude of the sin of backbiting! However, the exception is backbiting in the case of Nasiha in marriage. Backbiting is permissible in this context. If you know that the proposal between a boy and girl is problematic, then one should not have the approach of wanting to cover up the floors. You are required to speak the truth, by highlighting the areas of concern in order to protect the future of the individual concerned. This is why backbiting is specifically allowed in this context, as part of advice on a marriage proposal.

The person conveying Nasiha must be truthful, trustworthy and sincere.

ABSTAINING FROM GIVING ADVICE IS UNISLAMIC

Nasiha (advice) is a very broad category. Islam has a very important principle. The true spirit of Islam is opposed to individualism. Islam is categorically opposed to you only worrying about yourself and not others.

The approach of “it’s not my problem and therefore I don’t care” is completely un-Islamic. A Muslim can never say “I don’t care” or “it’s not my business”. You HAVE TO care about others. The whole institution of “Amr bil Ma’ruf wannahi anil Munkar” is inspired by this spirit and very fibre of the Islamic message, whereby we are not only responsible for ourselves, but also responsible for the society at large.

I have spoken on numerous occasions about the Quranic reference to the Day of Judgement where we will be held accountable for our individual deeds and also our contribution to society. Ayatollah Shaheed Syed Muhammad Baqir Sadr expounds on this very beautifully in one of his main books titled “Trends of History in Quran”.

We will be given a book of account as a nation in addition to our book of individual deeds. We can argue that we did not commit all the debauchery in the society. However, the problem arises because we lived in that society and did nothing about it! This nonchalant social responsibility because of our selfish individualistic approach directly contradicts what Islam is about.

GOOD ADVICE IN THE WORDS OF PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SAWA)

Our responsibility towards others is not one of interference in the privacy of people. The principle that we need to maintain at all times is that each of us are responsible for the society we live in, and one form where this responsibility is manifested, is in the form of Nasiha.

This is a broad responsibility, which includes each and every one of us. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) said that religion is Nasiha, and this advice is for:

- the pleasure of Allah (SWT);

- His Holy Book;

- His Rasul (SAWA);

- the leaders of Muslims; and

- for the general public.

What does this really mean? It means that first and foremost, Nasiha (advice) that you provide must be purely for the sake of Allah (SWT) and not about proving your superiority and the contempt of others. It should be purely for the pleasure of Allah (SWT) and in the manner where Rasulullah (SAWA) advised the people ie. without insulting or hurting others.

Furthermore, Nasiha must be consistent with the teachings of the Holy Quran. We have no right to introduce our own ideas and promote Nasiha on such basis. The criteria are Almighty (SWT), His Holy Book and his Rasul (SAWA).

One of the rights of the people on the leadership is indeed Nasiha. We normally find it to be the other way, where leaders make Nasiha to the people. However, from this Hadith, it is also the people’s right to give advice to the leadership. Therefore, those who really followed this spirit of Nasiha never get upset about it, but rather, they welcome it as a precious gift from a Mu’min.

GOOD ADVICE IN THE WORDS OF IMAM ALI (A.S)

In Khutbah 216 of Nahjul Balagha, which Amir al Mu’mineen Imam Ali ibn abi Talib (a.s) delivered at the Battle of Siffin, we read that someone approached Imam Ali (a.s) with countless praise. Imam Ali (a.s) responds to this by requesting that he not be addressed in the manner that cruel despots are addressed!

Furthermore, he requests for people not to keep things away from him out of fear. Imam Ali (a.s) goes further to request people not to flatter him. In addition, he says that people should not fear about talking the truth to him, no matter how bitter it is, in the fear that he will not be able to tolerate it. He reassures people that this should not be the case. In other words, Imam Ali (a.s) emphasises in this Khutbah that people should not hesitate to be critical of him or his policies. It will not be a burden for him.

Thereafter, Imam Ali (a.s) utters a most remarkable statement, where he says if someone finds truth very difficult to digest, then justice will be much heavier for him/her! This is truly thought-provoking, because a person who feels disgusted about a truth being placed before him/her, would find it more difficult to act upon it!

Therefore, Imam Ali (a.s) says that we should not abstain from pointing out a matter of justice before him, because he does not regard himself above errors. This is Amir al Mu’mineen Imam Ali ibn abi Talib (a.s)! Who are we in relation to such exemplary ideals?!

Unfortunately, the Ummah (Muslim nation) has very much ignored this great responsibility, while the leadership are also very uncomfortable to hearing anything critical. There are very few who follow the path of Imam Ali (a.s) and his leadership model. We see the results in front of us unfortunately, with those despots who have usurped the leadership and wipe out people for uttering the smallest of critique or disagreement!

DOUBLE STANDARDS IN THE WORLD TODAY ARE CLEAR FOR EVEN THE BLIND

One common problem we see consistently in this world today is that of double standards. We indirectly hinted toward the murder of a journalist who was supposedly critical of the King and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, and we see what happened to him. We see how vociferous the world has been in its response.

Indeed, it is a tragedy and a terrible act which should be condemned unconditionally. The double standards have been quite blatant, that there is such a huge media outcry for the life of one individual, whereas the hands of the same Saudi monarch are drenched in blood from the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of people directly in Yemen. However, we see that this has never created an outcry.

It has never tickled the conscience of these same people who have caused a major outcry, on whether it is appropriate for people to be killed in such an indiscriminate manner, be it at weddings, schools, hospitals, school buses. Why does this not attract an outcry or talk of sanctions or any form of protest?

DOUBLE STANDARDS WITNESSED IN NIGERIA ATTRACTS WHOLESALE SILENCE

I often get stuck in understanding the morality of this world and the criteria they follow. Let us not go very far. In our own continent of Africa, we see that the leader of millions of people in Nigeria by the name of Shaykh Ibrahim Zakzaky still remains incarcerated under the most inhumane and deplorable conditions. This is after the Nigerian courts did not find guilty and ordered for his release more than a year ago. Why does nobody even mention this flagrant disregard for human dignity meted out by the Nigerian regime?

Nigeria has a population of millions of followers of Ahlul Bait (a.s), and as a result they have big processions annually to commemorate Arbain ie. 40days commemoration after the tragedy of Karbala. They march peacefully without interfering with anybody, but we see that the Nigerian army opened fire, killing more than 40 innocent people. This is the number quoted by Western media sources.

Why does nobody challenge?

WHERE IS SOUTH AFRICA IN DEFENDING HUMAN DIGNITY IN NIGERIA?

Why is there deafening silence on this merciless act committed by the Nigerian army? Why does our own South African government, which speaks very confidently about human rights and the legacy of Nelson Mandela, not utter a word of condemnation?

Furthermore, our own South African government has much to answer for its huge arms deals with Saudi Arabia, where these weapons that it sells to them is being used on the innocent people in Yemen! These very countries of Nigeria and Saudi Arabia have absolutely no regard for human life and human rights, yet our country enjoys such levels of relations with them.

This really is hypocritical, especially where our country’s leadership is the best when it comes to talking about the legacy of Madiba in striving for human rights and the struggle for democracy! How does this talk correlate with the hypocrisy on such arms deals? Where can we claim to still be standing for the same principles as those heroes of our nation’s liberation struggle, when our business interests impair our ability to be guided by the moral imperative?

This travesty of justice in Nigeria should really be raised to the headlines as much as possible in the media and the attention of the masses, as it is happening on our very continent of Africa on a continuous basis, where the people of Nigeria are simply crushed when demanding the release of their leader Sheikh Ibrahim Zakzaky.

I hope and prayer, that our leadership opens its eyes and continues that path of struggle which our country claims to have fought for.