Part one
Praise be to Allah the First and the Last, the Obvious and the Hidden; He created everything
with His Knowledge and precise determination. Verily, all praise is due to Him in the Herein and
in the Hereafter No vision can grasp Him, but His Grasp is over all vision. He is
the Most Subtle and Courteous, Well Acquainted with all things. [Al-An’ām:
103]. I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Almighty Allah alone with
no associate, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger –Master of the
first and the last generations of Adam’s children, and the leader of the Al-Ghurr-ul-
Muhajjaleen.1 May Allah’s Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy), Peace and Blessing be upon him,
his virtuous and immaculate family, his wives –mothers of the believers– his Companions and
tabi’in (the contemporaries of the Companions of the Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him] after his
death) and upon those who follow them righteously till the Day of Judgement.
1 This is how the followers of the Prophet [May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him], will be called on the Day of Resurrection. They
are those who perform wudhū (ablution) regularly and properly; such ablution would leave a radiant trace on their
faces, arms and feet.
٢
Now then,
I exhort you, O people, as I exhort myself, to heed Allah’s recommendation to the ancient
predecessors and last successors; He (May he be extolled) said And to Allâh belongs all that is
in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And verily, We have
recommended to the people of the Scripture before you, and to you (O
Muslims) that you (all) fear Allâh, and keep your duty to Him, But if you
disbelieve, then unto Allâh belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in
the earth, and Allâh is Ever Rich (Free of all wants), Worthy of all
praise.[Al-Nesaa: 131]
Therefore, servants of Allah, observe taqwa of Allah and obey Him in public and in private,
in wrath and in serenity; worship Him and thank Him, to Him you shall return.
Servants of Allah!
There is a four-letter word in Arabic that could cause inevitable quake upon making contact,
physically and figuratively, with a member of the coherent community. The quake would
certainly be followed by a crack that would cause the crumbling of adjacent building blocks and
eventually the collapse of substantial parts of the building, and possibly the whole building.
Verily, servants of Allah, it is literally a four-letter word, but its meaning needs book lengths
or volumes to explain. It is a four-letter word that societies have choked on; it has caused
hoarseness in the voice of advisors and social reformists, and has created a lot commotion and
uproar in social ethics.
These four letters uttered by all, or most, of us. This Arabic word is atharah ( أثرة ). Yes, it is
atharah. You can also, if you like, call it “selfishness”, as it is known informally amongst us, or
the term that the educated use: “the ego” or “self-centeredness”. Regardless of the multiplicity of
signifiers used, the signified is the same. No matter how many interpretations and
conceptualisations the word may assume, they are all assigned the same negative connotation.
Yes, servants of Allah! Athara is selfishness that incites one to give priority to one’s personal
desires and interests in total disregard for the public and private rights of others. It is the kind of
selfishness that would virtually cause blindness, deafness and short-sightedness. An egotist
cannot see the world but through an acute and dark angle that allows him to discern nothing but
himself and his own interests in total indifference to the other Muslims’ interests.
٣
In the egotist’s code of ethics there is no consideration whatsoever for the family or society.
For such people, life is nothing but their own interests and not anybody else’s. Allah has
deprived them of that sweet feeling of faith that may not obtain with such vicious characteristics.
Indeed, the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) said, “None of you will have complete faith
until he desires for his brother (in Islam) what he desires for himself.” [Narrated by Bukhari
and Muslim]
The word ‘I’ acquires an egotistic dimension that gradually inflates into a mental and moral
tumour. Then the egoist can say nothing that does not begin with I. He may not enter into any
deal without asking, “What’s in it for me?” This classfies him along with the “people of the ego”
such as Pharaoh who described himself as "I am your lord, most high" [Al-Nāzi’āt: 24]
and the Nimrod, who said "I give life and cause death." [Al-Baqarah: 258]
Those people of the ‘ego’ are like their leader and predecessor Lucifer, may Allah’s curse be
upon him, who brought havoc to their moral code when he said to his Creator and Lord, "I am
better than him (Adam), You created me from fire, and him You created
from clay." [Al-A’rāf: 12]
Servant of Allah!
The value of society lies in its morals. Unless each individual acknowledges that he is part of
his society, he will see that he alone is society. This is the painful atharah.
A society, whose members know nothing except the word I, will achieve no success. Like a
good family, society members cherish all that is good and discard all that is evil. What
contributes to the common good is allowed, and what is ruinous is disallowed. There is no place
for egotism. A society whose members are unable to see but themselves will be doomed.
Societies will not be able to stand on their own if they lack consideration and respect for the
lawful rights of others, an obligation Allah entrusted to each individual so he may carry it out in
accordance with what would please Him (Sublime be He) and not himself.
The Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) said, “The parable of the one taking care of Allah’s
command is like a group of passengers sharing a ship. Some took the upper deck; and some
the lower. If the lower deck passengers wanted to have access to water, they had to go up. So
they would say, ‘If only we create a hole in our part of the ship without causing damage to the
people of the upper deck!’ If they allowed them to do what they wanted, they would all perish.
But if they prevented them, they would all be saved!” [Narrated by Bukhari]
٤
Yes, servants of Allah! If the people of the upper deck were so egotistic and said, ‘It’s none of
our business, let them do what they want,’ everybody would perish. Selfishness has no place
when public interest is at stake.
Our pure sharia has in the strongest possible terms urged Muslims to sublimate the soul and
dissuade it from evil acts that may induce pride, egotism and self-centeredness. Such evil
behaviour gives priority to personal interests at the expense of public interests.
Jāber Ibn Abdullah (May Allah be pleased with him) said, “I went to see the Prophet about a debt on my
father. I knocked on the door, and he asked, ‘Who is it?’ ‘It is I,’ I answered. ‘I, I,” he
responded as if he hated it.” [Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim]
The word has found its way into the general currency of our everyday language. It does not
normally signify that the user is bragging about himself or is aiming at anything beyond
introducing himself. Yet, the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) dislike it with the intention of
establishing among His (Islamic) Ummah humility and leniency and precluding any signs of
arrogance, self-admiration and self-centeredness beyond what Allah Almighty has permitted.
Now then, may Allah protect you!
Selfishness has reigned over many societies and got deeply rooted in families, neighbours,
knowledge circles, and labour markets; it has produced laziness in voluntary work and inflamed
competition in self-interest endeavours. In addition, it has helped lay to rest the virtue of
intercession and mutual benefit among people. Instead, it has fostered bribery, malignancy, and
blackmailing.
So if, on the one hand, the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) has prohibited for his Ummah to
stop giving what they have to give for the sake of Allah or to ask for what is not theirs,
selfishness, on the other hand, strikes the selfish with violent voracity and mad desire for the
accumulation of material wealth. A selfish person would have nothing to say except ‘give me’,
‘give me’. Such is indeed the epidemic of societies!
Ibn Al-Qayyim (May Allah bless his soul) said: "Beware, indeed, beware of the tyrannical
predominance of ‘I’, ‘I own’, and ‘I have’, for Iblis (Satan), Pharaoh, and Qārūn were afflicted
with these three expressions. The following Qu’ānic statement I am better than him
[Al-A’rāf: 12] was uttered by Iblis, the dominion of Egypt is mine [Al-Zukhruf: 51]
was uttered by Pharaoh, and This has been given to me only because of the
knowledge I possess [Al-Qasas: 78] was uttered by Qārūn."
٥
O Allah! How great the Guidance of our Prophet and Example (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) is in
instructing his Ummah not to treat selfishness with selfishness! For by so doing people will be
treating a disease with a disease; rather, he has guided them to what can elevate the human self
(to lofty spheres) and what can accomplish the interest of the Ummah and the one (united)
society.
He (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) never guides except to what is Good and never warns except
against what is Bad. He (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) has said: "You will see after me selfishness
and matters which you will deem impermissible." They said: "So, what do you order us to do, O
Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Give them their right, and claim yours from Allah." In another
version of the Hadith: "Be patient until you meet me." [Narrated by Al-Bukhari]
May Allah bless you and me by the Glorious Qur'ān and the Noble Sunnah, and make what
they contain of verses, remembrance and wisdom beneficial to you and me! This is what I have
said. If it is correct, it is so thanks to Allah, but if it is wrong, it is my own fault and Satan’s. I
ask Allah to forgive my sins, yours, and those of all Muslims, so ask Him for forgiveness, for He
is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful!
٦
Part Two
Praise be to Allah for His blessings, and thanks are due to Him for His guidance and bounty.
Now then,
O servants of Allah! Islam does not dispraise anything without commending its opposite.
Therefore, if the word ‘I’ is dispraised in certain contexts where it does not fit, there are other
contexts where this same word ‘I’ is praised. Thus, the distance between ‘I’ in the context of
reform or reconciliation and ‘I’ in the context of corruption, pride, and vanity is like the distance
between earth and heaven. Good is indeed the following utterance: I will bring it to you
within a twinkling of an eye. [Al-Naml: 40] in response to the order of one of the
Prophets (Solomon). Also, the following is a good one: I will tell you its interpretation,
so send me forth. [Yūsuf: 45] said in an attempt to interpret a dilemma that befell them.
The following is also a good statement: And verily, I am indeed strong, and
trustworthy for such work.[Al-Naml: 39] motivated by a sense of trustworthiness and
dedication to public interest; for none of the afore mentioned matters was carried out for the sake
of personal interest over public interest.
This is what is called preference over oneself which is praised by Allah's following
words:and give them (emigrants) preference over themselves even though
they were in need of that.[Al-Ḥashr: 9]; a person may decline his own interest for the
sake of the more general interest. This is indeed a virtue only of those upon whom Allah has
mercy and whom He has bestowed with manifest and latent blessings:That is the Grace
of Allah which He bestows on whom He Wills. And Allah is the owner of
Mighty Grace.[Al-Jumu’ah: 4]
In Bukhari’s Sahih, the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him) said to Al-Hassan Ibn Ali (May Allah be
pleased with both of them): "My son, this one, is indeed a master, and Allah may reconcile through him
between two great groups of Muslims."
What the Prophet said actually took place later on when Al-Hassan Ibn Ali declined the
caliphate to Mu’āwiah, the scribe of Divine Revelation to the Prophet (May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him).
May Allah be pleased with all of them!
٧
Preference over oneself and the suppression of the self's desires and interests whenever they
contradict public Muslim interests is clear here; hence, bloodshed may be averted and Muslims
may be able to unite their word.
Biographers have mentioned with approval the story of Abdullah Ibn Huthāfah Al-Sahmi
when he and some other Companions were taken captives by the Roman Caesar. The Caesar
punished him severely and then said to him: "Would you kiss my head and I set you free?”
Abdullah said: "And you set free all Muslim captives?” Caesar said: “And all of them.” Abdullah
Ibn Huthāfah said to himself: “I kiss the head of one of Allah’s enemies and he sets free the
Muslim captives; there is no harm in that!” So, he kissed Caesar's head and the latter set the
Muslim captives free. When Omar Alfārūq (May Allah be pleased with him) knew about the story, he kissed
Abdullah Ibn Huthāfah's head (May Allah be pleased with all of them).
Such is altruism that would bury selfishness and self-centeredness. An altruist lives like a
candle which imparts light on his people and society. He can sense the throbbing of his heart and
the swift blinking of his eyes, but he can never forget the hadith of the Chosen One (May Allah’s Salat and
Peace be upon him): "Do not envy one another; do not inflate prices (in your dealings); do not hate one
another; do not shy away from one another; and do not undercut one another (in the
marketplace), but be brothers, O servants of Allah." [Narrated by Imam Muslim]
(The Sheikh quotes two lines of poetry paraphrased as follows):
Success is his he who listens to Muhammad's hadith
And then follows in his footsteps (example);
For the Chosen One has said warning us:
You will see after me selfishness.
Ask Allah –may He have mercy on you– to send His Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy) and
Peace on the best of His creatures and the purest of mankind, Muhammad Ibn `AbdAllāh, who is
given al-hawdh (a basin in Paradise) and is vested with intercession, for Allah sent His Salat
(Graces, Honours, Mercy) and Peace on him and then ordered His angels, that are praising His
sanctity, to do likewise and called out to you, O believers, to ask Him to send His Salat (Graces,
Honours, Mercy) and Peace on him. Allah Almighty says: O you who believe! Send your
Salât (ask Allâh to bless) on him (Muhammad peace be upon him), and (you
should) greet (salute) him with the Islâmic way of greeting (salutation i.e.
As-Salâmu ‘Alaikum). [Al-Aḫzāb: 56]
O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours, Mercy) and Peace on Your Servant and
Messenger Muhammad who has the brightest face and the most glorious forehead, on his four
Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali, on all the Companions of Your Prophet Muhammad
٨
(May Allah’s Salat and Peace be upon him), and the tabi’īn and on those who righteously followed them till the
Day of Judgment! O Allah! Be also pleased with us all, along with them, by Your Pardon and
Generosity, O You, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate of all!
O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O
Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Fail polytheism and polytheists (who
associate partners with You)! O Allah! Grant victory to Your Religion, Your Holy Book, Your
Prophet’s Sunnah and Your true servants!
O Allah! Bring an end to the suffering of Muslims! Rescue those in distress, and help those
indebted pay back their debts! Cure those of us and those of the Muslims who are ill, O You,
Most Merciful, Most Compassionate!
O Allah! Grant us security in our homelands! Set right our leaders and those responsible
for our affairs, and make our leadership from among those who are fearful of You, who observe
taqwā, and seek your satisfaction! O You, Lord of al-'ālamîn (the worlds)!
O Allah! Guide our Imam (leader) to do and say whatever you please and accept! O You the
Ever-Living, the Eternal Guardian! O Allah! Make his retinue righteous, O You, the Lord of
Majesty and Bounty!
O Allah! Be with our brothers and sisters who are oppressed in their religion everywhere! O
Allah! Be with our brothers and sisters who are oppressed in their religion everywhere! O
Allah! Grant them victory over Your enemy and theirs sooner than later, O You, the Lord of
Majesty and Bounty!
… Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the
Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the Fire!
[Al-Baqarah: 201]
