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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 32: HADITH: FAITH HAS MORE THAN SIXTY BRANCHES
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):
“Iman (Faith) has over sixty branches”.
He explained, may Allah be pleased with him.
Shu‘bah means a kind or a type among types. And in this way, he (the Prophet), may Allah bless him and grant him peace, explained by way of comparison and types.
Iman (Faith) has many branches among which are the deeds of the heart and the deeds of the body which includes the tongue and other parts (of the body). An example of the deed of the heart is the belief in Allah which includes the belief in His Essence, and His Attributes and His Oneness and other things which have been mentioned in the tenets of Faith. And (it includes) belief in the Last Day (of Judgement) and it includes the questioning in the grave (by the angels), and the Resurrection and the Gathering and the taking of Account (of good and bad deeds), and the Scale (to weigh good and bad deeds), and the Bridge, and heaven and hell.
And (it includes) Faith and belief in Prophethood which includes love for him (the Prophet), may Allah bless him, and honouring him, and invoking blessings of Allah on him, and following his Sunnah (tradition).
And (it includes) ikhlās (sincerity) which includes (on the one hand) abandoning show-off, hypocrisy and self-love, and (on the other hand) repenting, fearing (Allah) and hoping (for His Mercy). And (it includes) humility and abandoning arrogance. All these are from the actions of the heart.
And from the deeds of the tongue are: the utterance of the Word of Monotheism, and the recitation of the Qur’an, and acquiring knowledge, and teaching it, and supplication to Allah, and remembrance of Allah and seeking forgiveness from Him.
And from the deeds of the body: ritual purity, avoidance of uncleanliness, covering the private parts, and daily Prayer, both ordained as obligatory as well as the additional supererogatory and zakat (alms-due), and emancipation (saving necks), and generosity, and giving food, and hospitality of guests, and fasting, both ordained as obligatory as well as the additional supererogatory, and Hajj and ‘Umra.
And likewise, included in the deeds of the body are: the circumambulation of the Ka‘bah, seclusion in the masjid for worship, and battle against sin, and migration from non-Muslim lands, and faithfully observing vows, and atoning for non-fulfillment of good deeds.
And included (in the good deeds) are those that pertain to marriage, to restrain oneself when he is overcome by passion, and there is no restrain except by marriage, so getting married is a fortification. In the same way (among the goods deeds are) fulfilling the rights of the family, and the rights of the parents, and good upbringing of the children, and maintaining good relations with kith and kin, and obedience of Muslim rulers, and being gentle with the servants.
Just look how many (good deeds) these are! That is why the Prophet (Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) said:
“Iman (Faith) has over sixty branches”.
This is by way of quotation of examples but if we were to count all of them in detail, they would reach hundreds. And man is in pursuit of all of these and does all of them. And these are between man and his Lord.
As for those between a man and people, if you find that a man is blind, it is on you to deal with him with justice (not cheating) in taking, giving and making wholesome.
And included (in the good deeds) are being generous to neighbours, and seeking what is permitted. So, if a man does not have anything, he should not remain ignorant because seeking (for livelihood) what is permitted is obligatory on all Muslims. But it does not matter if he personally deprives himself of his own right. But if he has children, then he must work for them. Also if he is in debt, then he has to work for it (to repay it).
And the most excellent among all these good deeds is the Declaration: Lā ilāha Illallāh (None is to be worshipped but Allah), because none of these good deeds are accepted except by Pure Islamic Monotheism. So the most excellent of these branches that we mentioned is the Declaration: Lā ilāha Illallāh (None is to be worshipped but Allah), with conviction and pronouncement. And the humblest, that is, the smallest of these good deeds that have been mentioned is the removal of what is harmful from the road, that is, anything that might be harmful to Muslims such as a thorn or a stone from the path of the Muslims.
After that he (the Prophet, Sallallahu ‘alayhi wa Sallam) said:
“And hayā’ (shyness) is a branch of Faith”.
He singled out hayā’ (shyness, sense of shame) and what is hayā’? Hayā’ is for a person to be shy and to control himself from plunging into something fearing the thing might shame him or might bring blame on him. Hayā’ is a characteristic and a character trait of a person that leads to the avoidance of the shameful, and prohibits any reduction in the rights of the rightful. This is hayā’. The word hayā’ is a significant word and hayā’ is a branch of Faith because hayā’ prevents a person from sinning, as someone who has a sense of shame always fears being disgraced, so he is prevented from and abandons sin through fear and does everything in obedience (to the Commands of Allah).
And the best of the hayā’ is hayā’ with Allah. “Be shy before Allah as is His right that you should be shy before Him”. They (his Companions, may Allah be pleased with them) asked: “O Prophetic Messenger of Allah! How is that?” He replied: “Protect your head and what it collects, and the stomach and what it contains, and remember death and the decay (of the body). So whoever does that, then he is shy before Allah as is His right that he should be shy”.
So what does being shy before Allah mean? It means that He should not see you where He has prohibited you. He should not see you except in His obedience and as He has commanded you. So the pious worshippers are always in obedience of Allah as He has commanded them and this is the spiritual station of ihsān (spiritual excellence): “that you worship Allah as though you see Him, for although you do not see Him, yet He sees you”.
Then, my master said (by way of more explanation), may Allah be pleased with him.
In this Hadith (Saying), the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him, urges us and teaches us not to consider anything to be difficult from the various good deeds that we mentioned as indeed it is the tree of Faith in the heart of a Muslim believer. When the tree of Faith grows and becomes strong in the heart of a Muslim believer, it bears fruit of good deeds at all times as Allah, the Exalted says (in the Qur’an):
Allah gives the example of a Good Word like a good tree, its root is firm and its branches are (high) in the sky. It gives its fruit at all times by the permission of its Lord. (14:24-25)
The tree of this world does not bear fruit except seasonally in summer or in winter. But the tree of Faith in the heart of a Muslim believer which is (the Declaration): Lā ilāha Illallāh Muhammad-ur-Rasūlullāh (None is to be worshipped but Allah, Muhammad is the Prophetic Messenger of Allah) bears fruit at all times. Every moment a Muslim believer obtains fruit from it. Remembering Allah is fruit. Praying is fruit. Helping his companion is fruit. Being good to parents is fruit. Learning about an issue is fruit. Walking to the masjid is fruit. And all of it is right guidance obtained through the Enabling Grace of Allah.
O Allah! O the One Who grants success to people of goodness with goodness and helps them to (attain) it. Grant us success with goodness and help us to (attain) it. (Āmīn).