Why the majority of Muslims dont follow Nahjul Balagha?
Mu'
meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As
Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy
and Blessings be upon all of you)
One
of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:
Dear
Brother(s), Asalaam-O-Alikum. Before I ask my question, I want to tell
you what a great service to Islam and the Bohra Community (in particular) that
you guys are doing. Masha' Allah, you have become a breath of fresh air
for those of us who thought that there was no voice to speak out against the
Bohra clergy. Alhamdurill'Allah, I have learned a tremendous amount from
your questions and answers forum and
now I would like to ask you a question myself.
Question:
Every Muslim in this world agrees that the road to Jannat is to follow The Holy
Quran and the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammed (SAW). Every Muslim also tries
to lead his life to the best of his abilities according to The Quran and the
Sunnah. Sunni Muslims use the Hadiths (Sahih Al Bukari, Sahih Al Muslim,
etc.) as their main source of The Sunnah and
Shiite Muslims follow the Alail-bait (Nahjul Blagha, in particular) as
their main source of the Sunnah.
(Sometimes it seems that you're more inclined to Sunni ideas, so what I
want to know is) what do you feel is THE CORRECT SUNNAH? And Why don't
the majority of the Muslims follow the Nahjul Blagha as much as they follow the
Hadiths, when in fact it was written by one of the greatest men who helped
spread Islam and it was written earlier than any of the Hadiths. Also, concerning
the Alail-bait, who would know the Sunnah of Prophet Mohammed (SAW) better than
his family. I think that as a direct descendant of Prophet Ibrahim (AS),
it would be premature to accuse or discredit his descendents with now knowing
the correct Sunnah.
I understand that you may say that the Najhul Blagha has been tempered with or
that it wasn't actually written by Imam Ali, but the exact same argument could
go for any of the Hadiths in Sahih Al Bukari or Sahih Al Muslim. Thank you for reading through my question
and once again thank you for your great service.
Your
brother in Islam.
(There may be some grammatical and
spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation)
Answer:
In the
name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness.
Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray,
none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no
person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but
Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and
the seal of His Messengers.
Firstly
we would like to thank you for your kind words of encouragement and
support. Allah is our witness, our
intention is only to invite our brethren to read and understand the Holy Quran,
and thereby formulate their way from this Glorious Book, and leave alone
everything else that does not conform with the Holy Quran.
What
you have said is absolutely true, that the road to Allah’s Mercy and thus
Paradise is to believe and follow Allah and His Last Messenger (saws).
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisa verse 79-80: We have sent you (O
Mohamed) as a Messenger to mankind, and Allah’s witness suffices for this. Whoever obeys the Messenger, in fact obeys
Allah, and whoever turns away from him, he will be accountable for his
deeds. Anyhow, we have not sent you (O
Mohamed) to be a guardian over them.
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imran verse 31-32: Prophet, tell the
people, “If you sincerely love Allah, follow me. Then Allah will love you and forgive you your sins, for He is All
Forgiving, All Merciful.” Also say to
them, “Obey Allah and His Messenger.”
And if, in spite of this, they do not accept your invitation, warn them
that Allah does not love those, who refuse to obey Him and His Messenger.
There
is absolutely no doubt that the Glorious Quran is amongst us, in the exact same
format as it was revealed by the Lord of the Worlds, and all the muslims are
unanimous in this belief.
The
Sunnah or tradition of the Prophet is the details of the practical way which the
Messenger of Allah (saws) lived his life, said and did; and every muslim
believes that whatever the Prophet (saws) did or say, he did it exactly
according to the commandments of Allah as stated in the Holy Quran.
For
eg. Allah commands the believers to
‘establish prayer’. The Messenger of Allah (saws), showed and taught the
believers practically how to perform the prayers in detail, and thousands of
believers saw and learnt this act of prayer from the Prophet (saws), and
followed accordingly after his death. Similarly, every commandment of Allah,
like the practical way to collect and distribute zakat, the practical way of
performing Umrah and Hajj, fasting, etc., were all done and taught by the
Messenger of Allah (saws) to the believers. Likewise, the Messenger of Allah
(saws) lived an exemplary muslim life, and Allah ordered the believers in the
Quran to follow the example of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 33 Surah Ahzab verse 21: There is indeed the
best example for you to follow, in the Messenger of Allah, for every such
person looks forward to Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah much.
Thus
the Sunnah was established and those who saw and learnt it, taught it to their
companions and offsprings, and they in turn taught it to their companions and
descendants. And this is how the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws) was
established and implemented in the lives of the believers.
It is a
misconception that the believers follow the Sunnah because Bukhari or Muslim
wrote it down almost 300 years after the death of the Prophet (saws)! The Sunnah was followed immediately after
the Prophet performed the act or approved of a deed. No one waited 300 years after the death of the Prophet to follow
his Sunnah. It is obviously not true,
that before the hadiths were collected by scholars like Bukhari, Muslim, etc.,
the believers did not follow the Sunnah.
The Sunnah was implemented in the lives of the believers through those who
learnt it from the Prophet (saws), like the noble ahle-bayt, his noble
companions, and the believers. Many of the traditions of the Prophet (saws)
were narrated by the wives and family of the Prophet (saws), many were narrated
by the noble companions, and many were related by the believers who were
fortunate enough to have lived their lives in the companionship of the Prophet
of Allah (saws).
Thus
there is no differences in most of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws)
between the various sects of Islam.
The
difference is primarily in the events that occurred in the History of the
Muslims. This is where the major differences occurred, as each party or sect
wrote the history according to their side of the story. And this translated
into the breaking up of the One Ummah of Islam into various sects and
sub-sects!
As far
as the noble ahly-bayt are concerned, it is a duty of every muslim to love
these noble souls. Most of the early
descendants of the Prophet (saws) were the most respected and revered scholars
of their times… and the Ummah of Islam are unanimous in the respect for these
noble scholars. But we must realize
here that the Messenger of Allah (saws) was not sent to establish a dynasty or
a kingdom for his family on this earth.
Nor did he come to proclaim that one particular family was sacred or
divine. The Messenger of Allah (saws)
was appointed by Allah as a mercy to mankind, to show them the Straight Path of
Islam. And this is evident from the
clear aayahs of the Holy Quran. Nowhere
does the Quran mention that one particular family or group of people have been
appointed to lead mankind. The criteria which is laid down in the Quran is
Piety or God-consciousness. Whoever is
the most pious and the most God-conscious, is the most honorable in the sight
of Allah.
Allah says
in the Holy Quran Chapter 49 Surah Hujuraat verse 13: Indeed, the most
honorable among you in the sight of Allah is he who is the most pious of
you. Surely, Allah is All Knowing, All
Wise.
But
some mis-guided people have taken the noble ahle-bayt and raised them to a
position of divinity. They have made their graves their shrines of worship!
They invoke them for all their needs! They celebrate their birthdays and mourn
the day of their death! They recount their
lives in fiery speeches and allocate and fabricate all kinds of false things
and divine miracles to their names, without any authority from the Holy Quran!
They have appointed some of them as their ‘intercessors’ with Allah on the Day
of Judgement, without any authority from Allah. They have done exactly what the
Christians did to the noble Prophet of Allah, Jesus ibn Mariam (a.s.). They have declared that the only way to gain
the Pleasure and Mercy of Allah is to love these noble personalities, and have
thus broken off from the mainstream muslims, who claim that the way to Allah’s
Mercy is to follow the Quran and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
Bukhari,
Muslim, and the other scholars were simply the collectors of the various
ahaadiths of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
And as with all human works, there is always a chance of error. So much
so, that it is recorded, that Bukhari collected almost 300,000 hadiths of the
Messenger of Allah (saws), but only about 7,000 of them were deemed to be
absolutely authentic and sound which were according to the principles of the
Quran and other established facts of the Sunnah. And this work was collected and compiled in the volumes of Sahih
Bukhari. The rest of the hadiths were rejected either because they were against
the guidance of the Holy Quran, or were of weak narrators, or were simply
manufactured by some unscrupulous people and attributed to the Messenger of
Allah (saws).
Nahajul
Balagha is not a book of Sunnah. It is
a compilation of the letters and ‘khutbaas’ of Imam Ali ibn Abi Taalib (r.a.).
If one reads the Nahajul Balagha, it becomes obvious that although most of it
might be correct and in accordance with the Quran and established Sunnah, there
are some parts which are absolutely inconceivable, for the believers to believe,
to have come from this noble companion of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
There are some statements in the Nahajul Balagha which go directly against the
guidance of the Holy Quran…. And to
accept them as the spoken or written words by Imam Ali ibn Abi Taalib (r.a.)
would be to attribute false things to this noble companion.
The
foundation in Islam to follow Allah and His Messenger (saws); to worship and
invoke the One Lord Alone; and to avoid the heinous sin of ‘shirk’ or
associating anything with Allah.
Thus
today, all a believer has to do, is stay away from any and all controversies,
and just follow the clear commandments of the Holy Quran and the established
Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws).
That is the Siraat al Mustaqeem, or the Straight Path of Islam.
And
today, if one says that he does not believe in either the collections of
Bukhari, Muslim, Nahajul Balagha, or
any other scholar of Islam, and
believes only in the Holy Quran and the unanimously accepted and established
Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (saws),
it would be more than enough for his guidance.
The
deen of Islam was completely revealed and practiced by the Messenger of Allah
(saws) before his death. Nothing can be
added or removed from this deen. Thus, if one does not believe in Abu Bakr, or
Umar, or Uthman, or Ali, or the Imams, or Bukhari, or Muslim, or
Tirmidhi….etc. it really would not
matter. These people were people of the
past and they served the deen of Islam to the best of their capability, and we
will not be questioned on the Day of Qiyaamah about the deeds of these
people. We are accountable for our
deeds in accordance with the Quran and Sunnah, and they will be accountable for
their deeds. This is the clear
guidance of the Holy Quran.
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 134:
They were
a people who passed away. They shall
receive the reward of what they earned, and you shall have the reward of what
you will earn. And you will not be
questioned as to what they did.
May
Allah guide you and us to leave aside all the controversies and differences,
which have crept up in this Ummah of Islam.
May Allah guide you and us to the deen of Truth, which was revealed by
Allah and practiced by the Messenger of Allah (saws). May Allah bestow on us the wisdom and the courage to understand
and follow the commandments of the Holy Quran. May Allah guide you and us to the Straight Path of Islam. May Allah take full retribution from these
unscrupulous self-made holy men and self-proclaimed leaders, who have divided
this Ummah in various sects and sub-sects for their own gains, in the name of
Islam.
Allah
says in Chapter 45 Surah Al-Jathiyah aayat 17: "Then they differed amongst
themselves after the knowledge (of Islam) had come to them, only because they
wanted to wrong one another. Your Lord will judge between them on the Day of
Resurrection concerning the matters in which they have been differing."
Just
look at the Anger and Wrath of Allah described on those who break up their
religion into sects:
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 23 Surah Mu’minoon verse 52-55: And you all
belong to one and the same ummah, and I(Allah) am your Lord; so fear Me
Alone! Yet afterwards the people divided
themselves into different sects, and each sect rejoicing in what it has. Well, leave them deeply involved in their
heedlessness up to an appointed time.
What? Do they think that, by
continuing to provide them with wealth and children, We are solicitous for
their welfare? Nay, they do not
understand the reality of the matter!
May
Allah take full retribution from the leaders who are foremost in segregating
this Ummah of Islam into various sects and creeds, to hold on to their own weak
power bases! They mis-guide people in the name and garb of Islam. Some sects even forbid their followers to
understand the clear guidance of the Holy Quran, and the unsuspecting followers
just follow these leaders blindly in whatever they say, and assume that
everything these leaders say is from the Quran. Little do they realize today that these self-proclaimed holy men
are guiding them away from the Quran and towards the ever lasting Fire of Hell! These unscrupulous leaders have allotted
their followers plots in Paradise, in exchange for their wealth and their
subjugation. On the Day of Qiyaamah
these followers will realize that by not understanding and following the Truth
of the Quran, they were following nothing but falsehood. And they will have no one to blame except
themselves for leaving the clear guidance of the Glorious Quran!
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 2 Surah Baqarah verse 77-79: Do they really not
know that Allah is fully aware of what they hide and what they disclose? Then there are among them some ignorant
people who have no knowledge of the Book, but depend upon empty hopes and are
guided by mere conjecture and guess-work. So woe to those who write the Book
with their own hands, and then say to the people, ‘This is from Allah’, so that
they might gain some paltry worldly gain!
This writing of their hands will bring woe to them, and what they gain
from it will lead them to their ruin
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 9 Surah Taubah verses 34-35: O you who
believe! There are indeed many among
the priests and the holy men who devour the wealth of others by evil means, and
debar the people from the Way of Allah. Give them the good news of a painful
torment, who hoard up gold and silver and do not expend these in the Way of
Allah. The Day shall surely come when
the same gold and silver shall be heated in the fire of Hell, and with it will
be branded their foreheads, their bodies and their backs. (And it will be said): “Here is that
treasure you had hoarded up for yourselves!
Taste now the evil of your hoarded treasure!”
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah Kahf verses 103-106: Tell them (O
Mohamed), “Should We tell you who are the most unsuccessful people and
miserable failures in regard to their deeds?
They are those, all whose endeavors in the worldly life, had gone astray
from the Right Way, but all along they were under the delusion that everything
they were doing, was rightly directed! Those are the people who rejected the
Revelations of their Lord and did not believe that they would ever go before
Him. Therefore all their deeds were
lost, for We shall assign no weight to them on the Day of Resurrection. Their recompense is Hell for the disbelief
they showed, and for the mockery they adopted in regard to My Aayahs and My Messengers!”
Allah
says in the Holy Quran Chapter 25 Surah Furqan verses 26-30: The Real Kingdom
on that Day will belong only to the Merciful.
And it will be a very hard Day for the disbelievers. The unjust man will bite at his hand and
say, “Would that I had stood by the Messenger!
Oh, woe to me! Would that I had
not chosen so and so for a friend! For
it was he, who had deluded me to reject the Admonition which had come to
me. Shaitaan has proved indeed very
treacherous to man.” And the Messenger
will say, “O my Lord, my people had made this Quran the object of their
ridicule.”
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Whatever
written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance,
and whatever of error is of me. Allah
Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your
brother and well wisher in Islam,
