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MADRASA AL-HIDAYA |
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MUSLIM SCHOOL OF RIGHT GUIDANCE |
Bismillāh ar-Rahmān ar-Rahīm
MANBA‘ AL-IMDĀD: A FOUNTAIN OF HELP
A Compendium of the talks of:
AL-HABĪB AHMAD MASH-HŪR BIN TĀHĀ AL-HADDĀD
Rady Allāhu ‘Anhu
Compiled by his grandson:
As-Sayyid Muhammad bin Mustafā Bū Numay
Rahmatullāhi ‘alayh
DARS 25: EVERYONE IS ANSWERABLE
In the words of my master, my grandfather, may Allah spread his benefit, when he explained the Saying of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace):
Each of you is a shepherd and each shepherd is answerable for his flock.
He explained, may Allah be pleased with him.
This Saying (of the Prophet, Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) is about the total character, and applies to both men and women. And answerability is the thought about the future, that man is answerable for his deeds and for everything that has passed him. (This is) because man is not safe from mistakes, nor is he safe from passion, nor is he safe from rivalry. If he decides about doing something that is not at its proper time, nor at its proper place, then he is deciding about something that he is not entitled to, and does it. But if he knows that he is answerable before Allah, he shuts himself off from misdemeanor and walks on the agreeable path. And all this comes from knowing that he is responsible.
As for the one who does not cherish the responsibility, he is the one who treats unjustly, and so he ruins his social life, he ruins his character, and he ruins everything.
And answerability is of many types and has many parts. There is answerability to Allah, answerability to people, answerability even to yourself and answerability to your companions. Answerability is the scale which makes you walk straight. So when you know that you are answerable about what is right, and answerable about mistakes, and answerable about what has preceded, it suffices you in your fight and struggle against people.
Till when will you be busy about your own self
While you are answerable for everything that has passed
The Hadith quoted here (at the beginning) applies to everyone. The Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) said:
Each of you is a shepherd and each shepherd is answerable for his flock.
But the one who is astray does not care for anything, and he does not care about any action, whether it is permitted or prohibited, good or bad.
Allah, The Glorified and The Exalted, says (in the Qur’an):
Surely, the hearing and the sight and the heart, each of these shall be questioned about that (on the Day of Judgement). (17:36)
Man should not neglect himself as he is answerable for his deeds between him and Allah, and between him and the creation; and answerable as well for the parts of his body which Allah has given him. Are the hearing, the sight and the heart used in what Allah has commanded you? You have been given to see for a reason. You look in the book, you look at amazing things, you look at beautiful things. But if the sight is used to look at the prohibited, and you open your eyes to the prohibited, to the sanctified and other prohibited things, it darkens the heart. Such a look gives you darkness in the heart, it gives you hardness in the heart, it tears apart your obedience to sacred Muslim law.
And relieve yourself with tears from eyes that are filled
with prohibited things and take to remorse
(A couplet from Qasida Burda)
If you are put to test walking on a street behind a woman, do not take a second look (at her). This is especially a general problem these days in our times. Men are not safe. The devil beautifies for them the deeds and beautifies for the women the deeds. But man knows that he is answerable, answerable about the glance when he looks, and about the hearing when he hears, and about the talk when he talks, and about all the parts of the body, and about social behaviour. Responsibility means that he is steadfast on the agreeable path until he saves himself (from sinning) and saves others (as well), and is ready to draw near to Allah, to improve himself, his kinsfolk, and his family. All this comes when responsibility is recognized, and (its teaching) is contained in this Hadith:
Each of you is a shepherd and each shepherd is answerable for his flock.