In Quest of Genuine Islam
By: Seyyed Ali Shahbaz
"In the Prophet of Allah there is certainly for you the Excellent Exemplar, for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah greatly." (Holy Qur'an 33:21)
This is how the Almighty Creator introduces to mankind His Last and Greatest Messenger, entrusted with the universal message of Islam for the benefit of all humanity in order to enable them to promote peace, fraternity, and social justice in the transient life of the mortal world, and to achieve the bliss of paradise in afterlife.
Today, on the eve of 27th Rajab, the Day of Mab'ath or Resurgence, when the 40-year old Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), whom the pagan Arabs knew as Sadeq (Truthful) and Amin (Trustworthy), had his formal investiture by Archangel Gabriel at Cave Hera on Jabal an-Noor (Mountain of Light) with the revelation of Surah Alaq, while Satan moaned in despair and no other human being was in sight, except the ten-year Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) who used to bring food and water for his meditating cousin, there are points worth pondering upon for proper cognizance of the ethereal teachings of Islam and the liberating mission of the Messenger that was foretold by all prophets of yore, including Moses and Jesus.
As modern day Muslims, we ought to take stock our own selves, especially of our faith, to determine whether we really adhere to the letter and spirit of the holy Qur'an and the genuine Sunnah and Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), or are unwittingly following the hypocrites that claimed to be his political heirs and polluted the pristine message of Islam with discord, violence, brutality, bloodshed and terrorism.
"I was sent to complete the best of morals", had said the Seal of Messengers and during his 23-year prophetic mission he strove to build the model of the ideal state of social justice in the face of the most severe plots against him by the ever rebellious Israelites and the pagan Arabs, who at times jointly, imposed wars upon him.
The Arabs and the Israelites would have succeeded in killing the Prophet and wiping out Islam, if God Almighty had not protected him through his valiant cousin, who risking his life volunteered to sleep on his elder cousin's bed in order to enable him to leave Mecca undetected, and who later in Medina almost single-handed defeated the bloodthirsty hordes whenever they imposed an armed encounter upon the fledgling Muslim state.
No wonder, in order to keep alive the torch of humanitarian values of Islam and the best of morals, Allah commanded the Most Excellent Exemplar to proclaim his cousin, and now son-in-law, the Leader of the Pious, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as vicegerent at the memorable gathering of Ghadeer-Khom on 18th Zilhijjah 10 AH. Since the Prophet was God-sent and not chosen by the Arabs, his vicegerent or rightful caliph was also divinely-designated, rather than being elected by the neo Muslim Arabs who had spent the greater part of their life in idolatry and sins.
It is an undeniable fact of history that as time passed, the most avowed enemies of the Prophet, that is, the vanquished Israelites and the defeated pagan Arabs became Muslims – without faith entering their hearts. Unfortunately, these two groups, in spite of their apparent hypocrisy and their sinister pre-Islamic record, began to be revered as Salaf or progenitors by the ignorant latter day Muslims whom the Godless Omayyads and the Abbasids kept away from the enlightened path of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, whose unsullied purity God Almighty Himself has vouchsafed in the holy Qur'an (33:33).
These facts warrant us to study the life and mission of the Mercy unto the creation from the proper perspective that is, through the words and statements of his Ahl al-Bayt, rather than the dubious chronicles compiled during the Omayyad and Abbasid caliphates, or the so-called hadith literature that needs to be scientifically scrutinized.
And this is absolutely necessary in our days when the Godless Takfiri terrorists, created and funded by the heretical Wahhabi cult and armed by the Zionist-US nexus, are tarnishing the image of Islam through their savage and cannibalistic behaviour.
Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), like his predecessors, the prophets of the past, neither left the Ummah in the dark nor told his companions to elect one of them as his caliph. The seditious gathering of Saqifa Ban Sa'da is thus a blot on Islam and contrary to the commandments of God.
Imam Ali (AS), as the person most nearest and dearest to the Prophet, and regarding whom the Prophet had said that he embodies the characteristics of the prophets of the past, like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, says in Sermon 161 of Nahj al-Balagha:
"Allah deputed the Prophet with a sparkling light, a clear argument, an open path and a guiding book. His tribe is the best tribe and his lineal tree the best lineal tree whose branches are in good proportion and fruits hanging (in plenty). His birth-place was Mecca, and the place of his immigration Taybah (Medina), from where his name rose high and his voice spread far and wide. Allah sent him with a sufficing plea, a convincing discourse and a rectifying announcement. Through him Allah disclosed the ways that had been forsaken, and destroyed the innovations that had been introduced. Through him He explained the detailed commands.”
The Imam has also left us valuable guidelines in order to save us from the pitfalls of Takfirism and terrorism, as is evident by the following passages:
"Look towards the members of the Prophet's family. Adhere to their direction. Follow their footsteps because they would never let you out of guidance, and never throw you into destruction. If they sit down, you sit down, and if they rise up you rise up. Do not go ahead of them, as you would thereby go astray and do not lag behind of them as you would thereby be ruined." (Sermon 97)
"Where are you being taken astray and how are you groping while you have among you the offspring of the Prophet? They are the Reins of Right, Ensigns of Faith and Tongues of truth. Accord to them the same good position as you accord to the Qur'an, and come to them (for quenching the thirst of guidance) as the thirsty camels approach the water spring.” (Sermon 86)
Congratulations on the Blessed Anniversary of Mab'ath
"In the Prophet of Allah there is certainly for you the Excellent Exemplar, for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah greatly." (Holy Qur'an 33:21)
This is how the Almighty Creator introduces to mankind His Last and Greatest Messenger, entrusted with the universal message of Islam for the benefit of all humanity in order to enable them to promote peace, fraternity, and social justice in the transient life of the mortal world, and to achieve the bliss of paradise in afterlife.
Today, on the eve of 27th Rajab, the Day of Mab'ath or Resurgence, when the 40-year old Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), whom the pagan Arabs knew as Sadeq (Truthful) and Amin (Trustworthy), had his formal investiture by Archangel Gabriel at Cave Hera on Jabal an-Noor (Mountain of Light) with the revelation of Surah Alaq, while Satan moaned in despair and no other human being was in sight, except the ten-year Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) who used to bring food and water for his meditating cousin, there are points worth pondering upon for proper cognizance of the ethereal teachings of Islam and the liberating mission of the Messenger that was foretold by all prophets of yore, including Moses and Jesus.
As modern day Muslims, we ought to take stock our own selves, especially of our faith, to determine whether we really adhere to the letter and spirit of the holy Qur'an and the genuine Sunnah and Seerah of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), or are unwittingly following the hypocrites that claimed to be his political heirs and polluted the pristine message of Islam with discord, violence, brutality, bloodshed and terrorism.
"I was sent to complete the best of morals", had said the Seal of Messengers and during his 23-year prophetic mission he strove to build the model of the ideal state of social justice in the face of the most severe plots against him by the ever rebellious Israelites and the pagan Arabs, who at times jointly, imposed wars upon him.
The Arabs and the Israelites would have succeeded in killing the Prophet and wiping out Islam, if God Almighty had not protected him through his valiant cousin, who risking his life volunteered to sleep on his elder cousin's bed in order to enable him to leave Mecca undetected, and who later in Medina almost single-handed defeated the bloodthirsty hordes whenever they imposed an armed encounter upon the fledgling Muslim state.
No wonder, in order to keep alive the torch of humanitarian values of Islam and the best of morals, Allah commanded the Most Excellent Exemplar to proclaim his cousin, and now son-in-law, the Leader of the Pious, Imam Ali ibn Abi Taleb (AS) as vicegerent at the memorable gathering of Ghadeer-Khom on 18th Zilhijjah 10 AH. Since the Prophet was God-sent and not chosen by the Arabs, his vicegerent or rightful caliph was also divinely-designated, rather than being elected by the neo Muslim Arabs who had spent the greater part of their life in idolatry and sins.
It is an undeniable fact of history that as time passed, the most avowed enemies of the Prophet, that is, the vanquished Israelites and the defeated pagan Arabs became Muslims – without faith entering their hearts. Unfortunately, these two groups, in spite of their apparent hypocrisy and their sinister pre-Islamic record, began to be revered as Salaf or progenitors by the ignorant latter day Muslims whom the Godless Omayyads and the Abbasids kept away from the enlightened path of the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt, whose unsullied purity God Almighty Himself has vouchsafed in the holy Qur'an (33:33).
These facts warrant us to study the life and mission of the Mercy unto the creation from the proper perspective that is, through the words and statements of his Ahl al-Bayt, rather than the dubious chronicles compiled during the Omayyad and Abbasid caliphates, or the so-called hadith literature that needs to be scientifically scrutinized.
And this is absolutely necessary in our days when the Godless Takfiri terrorists, created and funded by the heretical Wahhabi cult and armed by the Zionist-US nexus, are tarnishing the image of Islam through their savage and cannibalistic behaviour.
Prophet Muhammad (SAWA), like his predecessors, the prophets of the past, neither left the Ummah in the dark nor told his companions to elect one of them as his caliph. The seditious gathering of Saqifa Ban Sa'da is thus a blot on Islam and contrary to the commandments of God.
Imam Ali (AS), as the person most nearest and dearest to the Prophet, and regarding whom the Prophet had said that he embodies the characteristics of the prophets of the past, like Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, says in Sermon 161 of Nahj al-Balagha:
"Allah deputed the Prophet with a sparkling light, a clear argument, an open path and a guiding book. His tribe is the best tribe and his lineal tree the best lineal tree whose branches are in good proportion and fruits hanging (in plenty). His birth-place was Mecca, and the place of his immigration Taybah (Medina), from where his name rose high and his voice spread far and wide. Allah sent him with a sufficing plea, a convincing discourse and a rectifying announcement. Through him Allah disclosed the ways that had been forsaken, and destroyed the innovations that had been introduced. Through him He explained the detailed commands.”
The Imam has also left us valuable guidelines in order to save us from the pitfalls of Takfirism and terrorism, as is evident by the following passages:
"Look towards the members of the Prophet's family. Adhere to their direction. Follow their footsteps because they would never let you out of guidance, and never throw you into destruction. If they sit down, you sit down, and if they rise up you rise up. Do not go ahead of them, as you would thereby go astray and do not lag behind of them as you would thereby be ruined." (Sermon 97)
"Where are you being taken astray and how are you groping while you have among you the offspring of the Prophet? They are the Reins of Right, Ensigns of Faith and Tongues of truth. Accord to them the same good position as you accord to the Qur'an, and come to them (for quenching the thirst of guidance) as the thirsty camels approach the water spring.” (Sermon 86)
Congratulations on the Blessed Anniversary of Mab'ath