KHUTAB III - 42. BROTHERHOOD IN ISLAM

42. BROTHERHOOD IN ISLAM

Brothers in Islam,

          We are living in the era where Muslims are so disunited. It is very shameful that we Muslims are not able to solve our problems and settle our difference peacefully. We can have different opinions and interest, but these should not lead us to mutual enmity and confrontation. Let the following fable give us a moral lesson.

          Two cats found a piece of bread. They decided to divide it equally among themselves. As none of the cats wanted to have less than half of it, they went to a monkey to help them divide the bread into two exactly equal halves. The monkey cut the bread into two and put each of it in a pan or scale of a balance. As one piece of the bread in a scale is heavier than the other, the monkey ate a peace of it and put it back onto the scale. As the scale became lighter, he took the bread of the other scale and ate a piece of it, and took it back to the scale. The scale became lighter, and the monkey took the bread from the other scale, ate a bite of it, and put it back into the scale. As the two pieces of bread could not be divided with exact equal weight, the monkey kept eating the heavy one, until nothing was left, and the scales had equal weight because they were empty. Had the two cats agreed to divide the bread among themselves and tolerated the difference in weight and size of the bread, each of them would have their share. The monkey, who tried to solve their problem, ended up eating the whole bread. “Half a loaf is better than no bread,” said the English proverb.

          Another example is as follows:  A man who was in his death bed called his sons. He asked them to collect branches of trees and to bind them together. He then asked each of them to break the bound branches, but none of them could. Then he asked them to unbind the branches and asked to break them one by one, and all of them were able to do so. Then the dying father said to them.

          “My sons, like these tree branches, if you are united nobody will be able to defeat you, but if you are disunited, then your enemy will easily defeat you.”

 If we are driving your car (in Australia on the left side of the road), and a car is coming on the wrong side of the road taking our side, we warn the driver to get back to his side of the road to avoid a collision. If we turn and take the right side to avoid the collision, the other driver might turn to his left side at the last moment, and the collision would happen on our wrong side of the road, and we will be guilty for the accident. Shall we continue driving and stick to our left side of the road, disregarding the possible collision? According to our traffic regulation, we are still considered guilty if we do not try to avoid collision. We should avoid it by turning to the left (not to the right), to the shoulder of the road, and  give our way to the oncoming driver.

          One of many lessons we should learn from the Qur’ān is the story of the first person killed called Hābīl (Abel). By whom? By his own brother Qābīl (Cain). Out of jealousy Cain threatened to kill his own brother Abel, but Abel said, “If you intended to kill me, I will have no intention to kill you.” Allah said:

  وَاتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ ابْنَيْ آَدَمَ بِالْحَقِّ إِذْ قَرَّبَا قُرْبَانًا فَتُقُبِّلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمَا وَلَمْ يُتَقَبَّلْ مِنَ الْآَخَرِ قَالَ لَأَقْتُلَنَّكَ قَالَ إِنَّمَا يَتَقَبَّلُ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْمُتَّقِينَ. لَئِنْ بَسَطْتَ إِلَيَّ يَدَكَ لِتَقْتُلَنِي مَا أَنَا

 بِبَاسِطٍ يَدِيَ إِلَيْكَ لِأَقْتُلَكَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ (المائدة : ٢٧-٢٩)

 Recite to them in all truth the story of Adam’s two sons: How each offered a sacrifice, and how the offering of one was accepted, while that of  the other was not. The latter [i.e. Cain] said, “I will kill you.”

 The former [i.e. Abel] replied, “Allah only accepts the sacrifice

 of the righteous. Even if you stretch your hand to kill me, I shall

 not stretch my hand to kill you, for I fear Allah, the Lord of the

 Worlds. I intend to let you bear the burden of my sins as well

 as yours and thus become an inmate of the Fire which is

the reward of wrong doers.” (Q. 5: 27-29)

          This is what we should do as Muslims: to give away our right if by sticking to it will cause danger to ourselves as Muslims. We sacrifice our right in order to protect our community from self destruction.

          We are not even allowed to scare our Muslim brothers and sisters by pointing our weapon at them, let alone killing them. Abū Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet s.a.w. said:

He who pointed a weapon towards his brother the angels invoke curse

upon him even if he is his real brother as long as he does not

abandon it (the pointing of weapon towards one’s Muslim

brother) (Muslim, h.adīth no. 1202).

Allah said,

 وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ أَنْ يَقْتُلَ مُؤْمِنًا إِلَّا خَطَأً وَمَنْ قَتَلَ مُؤْمِنًا خَطَأً فَتَحْرِيرُ رَقَبَةٍ

مُؤْمِنَةٍ وَدِيَةٌ مُسَلَّمَةٌ إِلَى أَهْلِهِ إِلَّا أَنْ يَصَّدَّقُوا ... (النساء: ٩٢)

It is not for a believer to kill a believer except by mistake; and whoever kills a believer by mistake, he must set free a believing

slave and submit compensation (blood money) to the

deceased’s family unless they remit it… (Q. 4:92).

 وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللَّهُ

عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا (النساء  :٩٣)

Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell to live therein forever; and the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him,

 and a great punishment is prepared for him. (Q. 4:93)

Ah.naf ibn Qays narrated: “I went to help that man (i.e., Ali), and on the way I met Abū Bakrah who asked me, ‘Where are you going?’ I replied, ‘I want to help that man’ He said, ‘Go back, for I heard the Prophet saying: “If two Muslims face each other with their swords, (both) the killer and the killed one are in (Hell) Fire”. Abu Bakrah asked” O Messenger of Allah, it is alright for the killer, but what about the killed one?” He said” “The killed one was eager to kill his opponent.” (Bukhārī, vol. 1, h.adīth  30, and vol. 9, h.adīth114).

Al-H.asan narrated that Ah.naf ibn Qays said: “I went out carrying my arms during the nights of the affliction (i.e., the war between ‘Alī and ‘Ā’ishah) and Abū Bakrah met me and asked, “Where are you going?”, and I replied, “I intend to help the cousin of the Messenger of Allah (i.e., ‘Alī). Abū Bakrah said, “The Messenger of Allah said, ‘If two Muslims take out their swords to fight each other, then both of them will be from amongst the people of Hellfire.’ It was said to the Prophet, ‘It is alright for the killer, but what about the killed one?’ He replied, ‘The killed one had the intention to kill his opponent.’ (Bukhārī, vol. 9, h.adīth 204). The Prophet had warned us against blood offences. He said:

عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَوَّلُ مَا

يُقْضَى بَيْنَ النَّاسِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فِي الدِّمَاءِ (رواه مسلم و النسائي)

‘Abdullah [ibn Mas‘ūd] narrated that the

Messenger of Allah said:"Blood offences are the first

 disputes to be judged between the people on

 the Day of Resurrection."

 (Reported by Muslim and Nasā’ī)

Conclusion:

If we stick to the teachings of our religion towards our Muslim brothers and sisters (in faith) and treat them like brothers and sisters of the same parents, then the condition of the Muslims world would be much better than what we are having now. Allah said,

إنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ إِخْوَة (الحُجُرَات : ١٠)

The believers are but brothers…” (Q. 49:10).

The word  إِخْوَة  is used in the Qur’ān for brothers of the same parents, except in this verse, as if we should treat our brothers in faith like our brothers of the same parents. (ANUMA, 25.05.07)