HADITH 2

Those who turn away from guidance do so because they want to turn away, i.e. they choose not to be guided. They have been misguided because they are arrogant - they refuse to listen.

And so when they swerved from the right way, Allah let their hearts swerve from

the truth.

[Surah As-Saff (61): ayat 5]

Nevertheless there are people who have not received the Message of Islam/guidance at all or the Message has not reached them in the clearest form, i.e. it is incomplete or distorted. These people are called Ahlul Fatrah and will be excused and not be punished, even though there are misguided.

There are certain situations where we can do something about our qadar. For example:

· Illness/sickness is qadar - but we have been commanded by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi

wasallam, to look for a cure should we become ill. Finding a cure is also qadar. Thus, a

qadar could be dealt with through another qadar.

· If something unfortunate happens to us, e.g. if we lost our job, we don't just say that it's qadar and do nothing about it. We look for another job, the consequence of which is another qadar. 

'Umar bin al-Khattab was traveling with a group of Sahabahs during his Khilafah (leadership).

They were coming to a town when they heard that it had a contagious/infectious disease, i.e. cholera. 'Umar asked his group whether they should proceed or go back (to Madinah). The majority of the Sahabahs said they should go back but some said they should proceed. Then one

Sahabi said he knew a hadith where the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said, "If you hear that this disease exists in a country, don't travel to that country." So 'Umar decided that they should go back. Another Sahabi (it seems from the second group) asked him whether he was running away from a qadar. 'Umar replied that they were moving away from one qadar to another qadar.

Thus, whenever there is a problem, a challenge or any hardship which we can remove, overcome, solve or minimize, it is a must that we do so. Some scholars like al-Imam al-Jilani use the term: "overcoming qadar" in this regard.

In one hadith, the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said, "Be keen for whatever is beneficial for you. Seek the help of Allah. And don't be reckless." This hadith implies we must make the effort.

The right concept of qadar is: we are responsible for whatever we do.

For example: If we were to drive recklessly and caused an accident where someone died or was injured, we cannot simply say that it is qadar, abusing the concept to justify our mistakes. It is qadar that the incident took place because it is by the permission of Allah. But we are responsible for the death because it is through our willingness and ability that it happened. That's why in the courts we will be found guilty. If qadar can be used as an excuse, then many crimes will go unpunished - a thief can simply claim that his stealing was qadar!

Those who abuse the concept of qadar are those who fail to be responsible. They abuse it to justify their failure. The correct way of using qadar as an excuse is: if someone exerts himself to do his best to fulfil an obligation but due to an unavoidable circumstance, which was out of his control, he could not achieve that obligation - then he might be excused. For example, a student has studied hard for an exam but on the day of the exam he falls sick and does poorly or cannot even attend the exam, then he can say that it is qadar and that it is the will of Allah.

When it comes to religious obligations, the matter is the same. We cannot blame qadar for committing sins or failing to do a wajib as some Muslims might do. We have to know that we are responsible. We might get into a weak status of Iman in doing a sin or delaying a wajib. Islam is such a practical religion that it gives us room for repentance and getting back to the right path. 

In the above hadith the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, defines Al-Islam, i.e. the five pillars, as

the outward actions of the limbs, Al-Iman as being associated with belief - the inner actions of the heart, and Al-Ihsan as the highest level to attain. But the first two definitions can be interchanged with each other - sometimes Islam can be used to describe internal actions and Iman can mean external actions. There are a few hadiths which The Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, mentions that there are more than seventy actions which are considered as Iman.

If the term Islam is used on its own, it means the whole thing - Al-Islam, Al-Iman and Al-Ihsan.

Similarly, when Iman is used on its own it means Al-Iman, Al-Islam and Al-Ihsan. The Prophet,

sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, mentions at the end of this hadith that the deen consists of these three

things.

If the Iman is weak it will affect Al-Islam (good deeds/actions). According to al-Imam Abu

Hanifa: Even though Al-Iman and Al-Islam are different, Al-Iman necessitates the actions (Al- Islam).

Some Scholars say the Muslims are considered strangers among the Disbelievers; and the

Mua'minin are considered strangers among the Muslims; and the Muhsinin are considered

strangers among the Mua'minin. 

Al-Ihsan (the highest level of Iman where we worship Allah as if we see Him or if we don't see

Him we know He sees us) is about fearing Allah and glorifying Him. This will lead us to strive

for our best in performing our ibadah - we will be more sincere in our ibadah. Thus Al-Ihsan is

also about the best actions of the heart. The actions that will lead to Al-Ihsan: to love Allah the most, to fear Allah the most, to seek the help of Allah, to have hope in Allah that He will give us mercy and guide us, to trust Allah wholly.

When Jibril, aliyyhi as-Salam, asks the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, about the Hour (the Day of Judgement), the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, replies that neither he nor Jibril knows the

answer. This is an example set by the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, where even someone

with vast knowledge like himself does not know everything and admits so.

Al-Imam Malik was asked forty questions by someone and to most of them he answered "I

don't know - Allah knows better". The man was surprised that the great Imam Malik didn't

know the answers. Seeing the man surprised, Imam Malik told him that when he goes back to his town, to tell the people that he met and asked al-Imam Malik questions and Imam Malik said he didn't know the answers. Al-Imam Malik didn't want to be accountable for giving wrong

answers. Thus, if we are to become an educator or a scholar, we should have the courage to admit what we do not know. We should not give an answer which may contain incorrect information.

The signs of Akhirah mentioned in this hadith are minor signs, as opposed to major ones. We

believe in these signs but we should not worry about them too much - we should not worry about when these signs will occur. We should actually be careful as some of these signs are bad deeds and we must steer away from these bad deeds.

Conclusion

This hadith contains everything about Islam: the five pillars of Islam, the beliefs that make up

Iman (including the belief of fate or qadar), the attainment of the highest level of Iman which is

Ihsan, the adab of seeking knowledge and of teaching.