FRIDAY
LEARNING
10th Shawwal 1427 AH /
“Indeed the faithful
are brothers (to each other). Therefore make peace between your brothers and be
wary of Allah, so that you may receive His mercy”. (49:10)
Islam encourages the Muslims to socialise among themselves and it
does not view seclusion and isolation favourably. When one distant and isolates
himself from the Muslim stream, he denies himself of many benefits.
One of the things that happen to such a person is that he is
deprived of spiritual guidance. In the days of Imam Ja’ffar as-Sadiq (as), there
lived a person who had isolated himself from the people. One day, some people
praised him in presence of our Imam (as) and said, “This person never comes out
from his house. He always and at all times remains busy in remembering God and
the Hereafter”. Imam (as) was not impressed. He (as) asked, “This one who
sits in a lonely corner, how does he improve his religious behaviour without
seeing anybody?”. (Usool al-Kaafi)
Such
a person also does not get to learn the discipline that is required to be
observed by the Muslims when they are among themselves. There are certain
Aadaab
‘Ethical principles’ that have to be observed by Muslims, when they are among
themselves. Such as extending of Islamic greetings; and Usage of Islamic
phrases
like,
‘Inshallah, Mashallah etc’; Learning to sit on the floor particularly
during sermons, Majalis & prayers, when a person is in the
Mosque.
A
person, who spends more time with the outsiders than with fellow Muslims, finds
all these strange. He is more comfortable in saying ‘good morning’ then ‘Salaamun Alaykum’; He is more
comfortable in saying, ‘Holy Cow’ and ‘Touch wood’ than saying ‘Yaa Allah’ or
‘Inshallah’; And when it comes to sitting down on the floor, he suffers from
muscle pull in his back and legs even if he is still
young.
In
addition, a Muslim who does not go the Mosque and abstains from socialising with
fellow Muslims misses out on motivation and encouragement to do
good.
There
was a person who never used to go for Jumu’ah prayers. One Friday, he happened
to be near the Mosque when he heard Adhaan. Somehow, he felt like it wouldn’t be
right to ignore, so he went inside. The Imam was giving a sermon in which he
pleaded to people to contribute towards the refurbishment of that Mosque. This
man was blessed with wealth. Immediately after Salaat, he came forward and paid
the total cost of refurbishment and he felt extremely good within himself. Later on, he admitted, “Had I not come
to the Mosque, I would not have been motivated to do this good act”.
Therefore,
Islam
does NOT view seclusion and isolation favourably. When one does this, he denies
himself with many benefits.
To be continued………………………………………