Allah Is My Guide

Qur’aanic Verse 3.31:

31	قُلْ إِن كُنتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Transliteration: 

31. Qul in kuntum tuhibboona Allaha faittabiAAoonee yuhbibkumu Allahu wayaghfir lakum thunoobakum waAllahu ghafoorun raheemun

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Translation: 

31. Say, “If you do love Allah, obey me. Allah will then love you and forgive you your sins.^{35 to 37} And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”

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Comments:  

35. Allah’s loving us and forgiving our sins is apparently made conditional to our obeying His Messenger (peace be upon him). At the time when the Messenger was living among mankind here in this world, this divine directive obviously meant that all the Messenger’s directions, whether in matters of religion or of administration, were to be obeyed scrupulously. But what about us now, when the Messenger is no longer living among mankind? A majority of Muslims believe that obeying the Messenger means following his sunnah as described in authentic ahaadeeth. But who decides whether any hadeeth is authentic or not?

36. Allah has guaranteed the protection of the Qur’aan (Verse 15.9). There is, however, no such divine protection guaranteed for the ahaadeeth. And the ahaadeeth were floating from mouth to mouth for generations till some of them were recorded in writing, for the first time, at least 150 years after the death the Prophet (peace be upon him). There is every likelihood, therefore, of the ahaadeeth having been contaminated and interpolated with the personal opinions and words of the narrators. The Allah-perfected Religion of Islam could not therefore be based on such an unreliable source. It is based solely on the Qur’aan now. This does not mean that the ahaadeeth are to be completely discarded. They are invaluable in the sense that they give us the historical perspective of the era in which our Prophet lived. But any hadeeth, that is basically contradictory to the teachings of the Qur’aan, has to be rejected outright. The Qur’aan is, and ought to be, the criterion.

37. Obeying the Messenger ought now, therefore, to mean following the Qur’aan.

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The above is an extract from Qur’aanic Studies - Volume VI republished on regenerated site, INVITATION TO SALVATION. Please give your honest comments, on this extract, in the space provided below.

Mohammad Shafi

272	۞ لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاءُ ۗ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ وَمَا  تُنفِقُونَ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تُظْلَمُونَ

272. Laysa AAalayka hudahum walakinna Allaha yahdee man yashao wama tunfiqoo min khayrin fali-anfusikum wama tunfiqoona illa ibtighaa wajhi Allahi wama tunfiqoo min khayrin yuwaffa ilaykum waantum la tuthlamoona

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272. Guiding them is not your responsibility, but Allah guides whom He pleases.^{509, 510} And whatever wealth you spend, it is for your own benefit. And you spend not, but to seek Allah’s pleasure. And the wealth, you spend, shall be recompensed to you, and you will not be wronged.

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509. Some Muslims think that even now, over 14 centuries after his death, the Prophet (peace be upon him) still somehow guides every individual of his Ummah. This verse ought to correct their grievous misconception. I call it grievous because, indulging in such a conception is nothing but shirk. In this, we are following the footsteps of the Christians, who have taken to Jesus (peace be upon him) so much that they have forgotten their God. This verse categorically tells us that guiding any person to the right path is the exclusive preserve of Allah Almighty. It was so even during the time when the Prophet was living in this world.

510. Under Allah’s guidance, the Prophet taught the divine Qur’aan to his Ummah. It was like a good teacher teaching indiscriminately to all pupils in his class. But some pupils learn, and some do not. Likewise the Prophet taught the divine message for the entire mankind; some got guided by the Message, while many did not. Had it been in the power of the Prophet to guide people, he would have guided all without any distinction. It is Allah Who guides whosoever He pleases, to the Straight Path. And Allah has declared that only the pious would receive the guidance from Him. (Refer Verses 2.2 to 2.5 of these Studies.)

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The above is an extract from Qur’aanic Studies - Volume V republished on regenerated website, www.islam-n-interest.com. You’re welcome to offer your honest comments in the space provided below.

Mohammad Shafi

Verse 2.208:

208	يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ  الشَّيْطَانِ ۚ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِينٌ

Transliteraion: 

208. Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo odkhuloo fee alssilmi kaffatan wala tattabiAAoo khutuwati alshshaytani innahu lakum AAaduwwun mubeenun

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Translation:

208. O those who believe! Get into Islam thoroughly^{365, 366}, and follow not Satan’s footsteps. He indeed is an open enemy to you.³⁶⁷

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Comments:

365. The original Arabic phrase could also be translated as ‘Surrender yourselves completely to Allah’. Complete surrender to Allah would inter alia mean adherance to all applicable Qur’aanic commands.366. Once a cyber-friend told me that it wasn’t practical to do everything that the Qur’aan asks us to do. It was enough to adhere to as many Qur’aanic commands - from among those applicable - as it was practically possible. This view is a negation of this verse we are presently studying. The Satan it is that subtly induces man to entertain such views in order to lead him astray. That’s why the verse further advises man not to follow the Satan’s footsteps. He (the Satan) arrogantly (see Verse 7.12) thought it wasn’t possible for him to follow one of Allah’s commands to him - to bow before Adam!367. In Verse 2.168 there is a similar divine instruction not to follow Satan’s footsteps as ‘he is to you an open enemy.’ The instructions there were in the context of consuming lawful and wholesome things. One of the food items that are prohibited is ‘that which is consecrated to someone other than Allah’ [Verse 2.173]. This category of prohibited food could include items distributed as tabarruk from the shrine of a peer or saint. The association of the saint wih the food makes the latter consecrated to ’someone other than Allah’. Consumption of such food in the belief that it specially benefits the consumer, is a manifest sin of shirk. It (the belief) betrays the consumer’s blasphemous assumption that the peer or saint partners with Allah in granting special benefits in the act of eating the tabarruk. Satan, the avowed enemy of man, misleads the consumers in making them think that they are doing nothing wrong.

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Please offer your honest comments on the above extract from Qur’aanic Studies - Volume IV, which I have just republished on the regenerated website INVITATION TO SALVATION, in the space provided below.

Mohammad Shafi