Qualities of A Mutaqee

So what is a Mutaqee? As described by Mola Ali (as):

• He doesn't care about this duniya and the world is insignificant in his eyes.
• Outside the domination of his belly.
• Most of the time he is silent but if speaks, he silences others in a decisive manner.
• Physically weak person but when the call for jihad comes he will become a lion.
• Gives benefit of doubt and won't make a judgment till he is sure about it.
• If he went through a difficulty in his life he wouldn't talk about it until he has overcome it.
• If somebody could overcome him in speech, they could never overcome him in silence.
• If two things confronted him in the gray area, he will reflect on it and he will decide by comparing both issues and ask himself which of the two he likes more or desires more and he will leave the one he likes and will do the other thing to be sure he doesn't get into a situation which might lead him to sin.
  

Why is this important to us or relevant to us today? If we strive to be as Mola describes, then it will be easier to follow our religion. By pausing and taking just a few seconds before talking or carrying out our actions, we can consciously make the right decision and stay on sirat al mustaqeem, the true & right path!

The Light of the Prophet

It’s true what they say – it only takes one rotten apple to spoil the bunch. All it took to incite the rage of thousands of Muslims across the world was a page on Facebook titled “Draw Muhammad (saww) Day.” But what started this whole spectacle and why is the Muslim ummah so enraged? It began with a South Park episode which almost depicted the face of the Prophet (saww), resulting in Comedy central receiving threats from two bad apples (read: two morons) over at Revolution Muslim (RM), a radical group. Keep in mind that the only reason RM even got a public platform was because of the backing of CNN – but that is a completely different agenda. So two morons decide to speak for the entire Muslim community… what happens next is textbook material. Feeling a threat to freedom of speech, Molly Norris, who has since backed off from the whole idea, began “Draw Muhammad (saww) Day” (DMD) page on Facebook. Facebook received more than 15000 reports about the page being offensive yet ignored the whole matter and did not take any action against the group. A few protesters snowballed into an entire nation blocking access to Facebook. In Pakistan, Justice Chaudhry saab of the Lahore High court condemned Facebook and banned it until at least May 31st ; YouTube, Wikipedia, Wordpress, Flickr, and Google were shortly added to the list of “blasphemous” sites that can no longer be accessed. Noble efforts, yet the cause was lost on me. Since the page was still up, a friend sent me the link and I decided to take a further look at what exactly DMD’s justifications were for their blasphemous response to RM’s threats.
The DMD page claims that its purpose is not to insult the average Muslim, but to practice their freedom of speech. It further states that “it is time to…protect our freedom of expression before it is too late.” Right. And what’s a hate page without the hate? I read on and found this bit:

“Now, in other recent news, for all of the artists out there who might not know exactly what features Muhammad actually had, here is a short list based on reputable sources:

1. Muhammad suffered from acromegaly, and his symptoms described in the ahadith of Bukhari and al-Tirmidhi include: heavy and thick fleshy hands and feet, large head, spaced teeth, odorous sweating (which he masked with perfume), stiffness, involuntary lip movement, and impotency in later years. (“Understanding Muhammad,” p. 155, and Al-Tabari, Vol. IX, para. 1789)

2. Muhammad’s battle injuries left him with scars on his face and a missing tooth. (al-Tabari, Vol. VII, para 1403)

3. Muhammad dyed his hair with red henna and katam. (al-Tabari, Vol. IX, para. 1793)

4. There was a huge mole — “the Seal of the Prophet” — a protruding lump of flesh on his back. (Ishaq, para. 141, and Al-Tabari, Vol. IX, para. 1791)”

If you are not Muslim, you probably read that with a bit of confusion and perhaps cringed at the visual. If you are Sunni, you most likely read that and nothing crossed your mind. If you are Shia, you most likely had a heart attack.

While everyone is busy ranting about how the Prophet (saww) is being insulted by these people and by this page, the Muslim ummah has failed to notice the biggest insults to our Prophet (saww) are being committed by Muslims themselves! How readily Muslims around the world stand up to defend the Prophet yet turn a blind eye to what the ummah itself is saying about him.

As Anita Rai puts it, “the catastrophe is that for the Muslims the nucleus has shifted from Muhammad to Quran alone. They refuse to acknowledge the Custodian, the Carrier, the Bearer, the Receiver, and the Transmitter of the Quran. They Message is overall for them, and the Messenger, they wish to cast out or push into a corner of oblivion. They have been made to forget that Islam vis-à-vis the Quran centers on the Person and Work of Muhammad.” Many do not know the character of our Prophet, his qualities, or his disposition and have ignored him most of their Muslim lives, yet scream bloody murder when he is “disrespected.” When they do come across hadith of the Prophet, it is, shamefully, similar to what is posted above and ironically do not feel he has been disrespected by those depictions.

Our argument isn’t the tug of war between Sunnis and Shias but because of the vast differences in Sunni and Shia traditions, the discrepancies must be mentioned in order to take a look at which hadith are catering to which sect. Shias believe the Prophet to be Noor, Infallible, and under the command of Allah at all times. He was a prophet from birth, and is the perfect embodiment of all that is good in mankind. Sunni traditions however, have a different take on him. Or rather, it is the Raavis, or the narrators, the historians, who have portrayed the Prophet in a completely different manner than presented by the Quran and well, reality.

The ahadith quoted on the DMD page cite al-Tabari as the source. Al-Tabari, in turn, uses the two Sahihs – Muslim and Bukhari – as sources for his narrations. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, with the addition of the Muwatta of Imam Maalik, are regarded as the three books that are the most authentic sources for the teachings, or Sunnah, of the Prophet, according to Sunni Islam.

The famous Sunni scholar Imam Nawawi states, “The scholars have agreed that the soundest of all hadith compilations are the two sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim.” In short, they are separate from other books and sources of hadith in that they do not require any investigation – the content is sahih. Furthermore, they say Bukhari is completely authentic. Every narration is absolutely sahih and the book is deemed to be “the most authentic book after the Book of Allah.” Similarly, the Muwatta is also considered absolutely authentic, with Imam Shafi’i stating that there is no book after the Book of Allah more authentic than the book of Malik.

That being said, Muslims should be surprised to find that there are false hadith contained in these books, believed to be true. These narrations clearly contradict the teachings of both the Quran and the established Sunnah. These false narrations prove that the books are not sahih, thus confirming many of the hadith to be fabricated. We’re only going to examine the ones that are in regard to the Prophet as a person and his character.

May Allah forgive us for repeating these narrations.


1) The Prophet humiliates himself in public .

While Allah’s Apostle was carrying stones with the people of Mecca for (the building of) the Kaaba wearing an Izar (waist-sheet cover) his uncle Al-Abbas said to him: ‘O my nephew! (It would be better) if you take off your Izar and put it over your shoulders underneath the stones.’ So he took off his Izar and put it over his shoulders, but he fell unconscious and since then had never been seen naked."

Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol 1, Book 8, Hadith No 360

Is this the respect Muslims have for who they regard as the greatest man that ever lived? This narration is only found in this book and has not been validated by other sources.


2) The Prophet becomes bewitched and is unaware of his own actions.

“Once the Prophet was bewitched so that he began to imagine that he had done a thing which in fact he had not done”

Narrated Aisha: Sahih al-Bukhari, Volume 4, Book 53, Hadith No 400.

Narrated Aisha: “Magic was worked on Allah’s Apostle so that he used to think that he had…”*

*The rest of the words are too disgraceful and disrespectful to use for the Prophet

Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol 7, Book 71, Hadith No 660

Would Allah choose for the people a role model that is not aware of his own actions? How could he carry out his duties as a messenger of God? The Prophet was chosen because he was the best amongst them in all aspects and in the Quran it is repeatedly stated that every order, every action, every word of the Prophet is by the order of Allah. It’s sad how Muslims will easily accept that the Prophet was bewitched, but would be more hesitant to believe that it was certain people who were claiming that he was bewitched.

“…by the grace of your Lord you are not mad.” - Quran 68:2

3) The Prophet frequently gets angry and abuses, curses and whips innocent people.

The Messenger of Allah was reported to be saying: “Oh Allah, I am a human being and for any person amongst Muslims upon whom I hurl malediction or invoke curse or give him a whipping make it a source of purity and mercy.

Sahih Muslim, Book 32, Hadith No 628

This hadith doesn’t even begin to make sense. It is because of the Prophet’s teachings that most of Arabia’s society became civilized. Many important teachings of Islam focus on akhlaq which most definitely do no include abuses and curses. The Prophet was a gentle man who respected and treated the innocent people with care. As for anger, Islam denounces one who lets his anger control him, how can the Prophet of Islam be so angry, and that too “frequently?”

“…and most surely they are liars.” - Quran 6:28

This is just a small sample of some of the false hadiths in these books. Abu Hurairah’s hadiths are rampant in both books and because he has been discredited by reputable Sunni and Shia scholars, his traditions in the Sahihs make the books themselves not so legitimate.

There’s one aspect of the Prophet’s life that is particularly insulting but is endorsed by many Muslims. The marriage of Aisha binte Abu Bakr to the Prophet is a source of controversy in the Western world and a source of embarrassment to the Muslim world. Thousands of narrators have written that Aisha was nine and the Prophet was fifty-three when he consummated his marriage with her.

“Ayesha had said, ‘The Apostle of Allah married me when I was seven years old… When we came to Medina, some women came…I was then brought to the Apostle of Allah, and he took up cohabitation with me when I was nine.”

Sunan Abu Dawood, Vol 2, Hadith No 2116
Sunan Abu Dawood, Book 41, Hadith No 4915

It is a shame when the Muslim ummah would rather believe Aisha and the narrators who tried covering the facts rather than taking a look at the life of the Prophet. Aisha’s father Abu Bakr had four children from her mother, who were all born before the proclamation of Islam. So when Aisha was married in 1 AH, that makes her at least fourteen years old. Bukhari writes that Aisha had said she was a young girl when Surah Al-Qamar was revealed. This Surah was revealed nine years before hijrah to Medina. Aisha herself had said that she was a young girl. If she were to be about 7-9 years, then when she started living with the Prophet, that places her at about 17-19 years. There are many more facts like these pointing to the real age of Aisha, but it all rests on the Muslims on who or what they are willing to believe.

Muslims will believe what narrators write but are much more hesitant to see the good qualities of our Prophet. As for Al-Tabari’s depiction of the Prophet, it can safely be said that those narrations are fabricated. The Quran testifies to the Prophet’s physical appearance and there are countless hadith stating how beautiful the appearance of the Prophet was.

Eloquence in speech, fairness in judging, strong in character, soft in manner, superior intelligence, heavenly disposition, and brilliance of thought – all these qualities were to be found in the Prophet (Musavi Lari, ch 9). The Sufi poet Shabistari writes, “The first appearance of prophethood was in Adam, And its perfection was in the ‘Seal of the Prophets’.”

"The Prophet (saww) had a most handsome constitution. Some gave the smile of his beauty to that of the full moon...His nose was thin... His face was smooth...His beard was thick...His neck was the most beautiful...If the rays of the sun fell on his neck, it appeared like a cup of silver mixed with gold...”

Ghazzali, Volume II, p.251

"He was innocently bright and had a broad countenance. His manners were fine... He had black attractive eyes... His hair glossy and black, inclined to curl, he wore long. His voice was very commanding. His head was well formed and set on a slender neck. His expression was pensive and contemplative, serene and sublime. The stranger was fascinated from the distance, but no sooner he became intimate with him, than this fascination was changed into attachment and respect. His expression was very sweet and distinct. His speech was well set and free from the use of superfluous words, as if it were rosary of beads. His stature was neither too high nor too small. He was singularly bright and fresh. He was always surrounded by his Companions. Whenever he uttered something, the listeners would hear him with rapt attention and whenever he issued a commandment, they vied with each other in carrying it out. He was a master and a commander."

al-Mubarakpoori, ‘The Sealed Nectar’

"I never felt a silk cloth, nor pure silk, nor any other thing softer than the palm of Rasulullah (saas). Nor did I smell any musk or any other fragrance, more sweet smelling than the fragrance of Rasullullah (saas)."

Tirmidhi, p 224

“Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder or twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?”

Alphonse de Lamartine, Histoire De La Turquie, vol 2, pp 275

Even non-Muslims have the highest praise for our Prophet, while our own narrators jump to record offensive traditions about the Prophet.

Now tell me, who is insulting the Prophet? The members of the DMD group, or the Muslims themselves?