Muslim

Hadith Commentary: Benefits and Issues: The words of the adhan should be repeated along with the adhan, and this and other supplications are to be recited after the adhan. The wording of Ibn Rumh (“wa ana ashhadu”) indicates that this can be recited along with the words of testimony (shahadah).

Another argument and its answer: In the hadiths, after hearing the adhan, it is mentioned to repeat the words of the mu’adhdhin. In place of (ḥayya ‘alaṣ-ṣalāh or ḥayya ‘alal-falāḥ), it is prescribed to say (lā ḥawla wa lā quwwata illā billāh), and then the listener is instructed to send blessings (salat) upon the Noble Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam after the adhan. However, some individuals have written, referencing fiqh books, that upon hearing for the first time: (ashhadu anna Muḥammadan rasūlullāh), it is recommended (mustahabb) to say (qarrat ‘aynī bika yā Rasūlallāh).

Allamah Shami, in Radd al-Muhtar 1/293 (Maktabah Majidiyyah, Quetta), has supported this by quoting a hadith from al-Maqāṣid al-Ḥasanah of al-Sakhawi, and then, referencing al-Jarrahi, has transmitted: (lam yaṣiḥ fī al-marfu‘ min kulli hādhā shay’un) — when the hadith itself is not authentic, how can it be used as support? And in al-Maqāṣid al-Ḥasanah (Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, p. 450), another hadith is mentioned, but the narration cited by Ibn ‘Abidin is not present, and what Mulla ‘Ali Qari said after Sakhawi’s statement is not correct.

A biased Hanafi scholar, ‘Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah, in another book of Mulla ‘Ali Qari rahimahullah (Kitab al-Maṣnū‘ fī Ma‘rifat al-Ḥadīth al-Mawḍū‘), Maktabah al-Matbu‘at al-Islamiyyah, Aleppo, p. 169, footnote 2, expresses great astonishment at the statement of Allamah Qari: (wa idhā thabata raf‘ahu ilā al-Ṣiddīq fa-yakfī al-‘amal bihi! li-qawlihi ‘alayhi al-ṣalātu wa al-salām: ‘alaykum bi-sunnatī wa sunnat al-khulafā’ al-rāshidīn) — and writes: (fa-kāna ta‘qqubuhu lā ma‘nā lahu illā al-khaṭa’ idhā lam yaṣiḥ isnādahu ilā Abī Bakr) — that this objection has no basis except error, because its attribution to Abu Bakr radi Allahu ‘anhu is not authentic. And Abu Ghuddah has written regarding Tahtawi’s argument: (huwa kalām mardūd bimā qālahu al-ḥuffāẓ) — and regarding Mulla ‘Ali Qari: (yaṭību lahu fī kathīrin min al-ta‘aqqubāt ḥubb al-istidrāk wa-law bi-ta’wīl ba‘īd lā yaqūmu ‘alayhi dalīl) — that he, out of fondness for objection, often resorts to far-fetched interpretations without any evidence (p. 170).

And Allamah al-Ṣabbāgh has written in the footnote 316 of al-Mawḍū‘āt al-Kubrā: (kayfa yaqūlu al-mu’allif idhā thabata wa-qad dhakara qabla qalīl annahu lā yaṣiḥ?) — How can the author say “if it is established” when just a little earlier he himself said it is not authentic? And according to Imam Ibn Taymiyyah rahimahullah, in the book al-Firdaws, there are many fabricated (mawḍū‘) hadiths. (Minhāj al-Sunnah: 3/17)

And in the hadith, the listener is instructed to send blessings (salat) after responding to the adhan, and it is clear that the listener responds to the adhan quietly and also recites salat quietly. However, some individuals have included the mu’adhdhin in this ruling and then established that the mu’adhdhin should recite salat loudly before and after the adhan.

And the strange thing is that this reality has been acknowledged. From the statements of Allamah Sakhawi and Allamah ‘Alai, it has become clear that reciting salat and salam after the adhan began in the eighth century Hijri by the order of Sultan Salah al-Din Abu al-Muzaffar, and from the end of the fourteenth century, salat and salam began to be recited before or after the adhan of all five prayers.

(Sharh Sahih Muslim Urdu: 1/1093, Allamah Ghulam Rasul Sa‘idi)

The question is: If this is a good deed, as is claimed to be proven from Allah’s words ﴿wa-f‘alū al-khayr﴾, then why was this good not known to any Companion, Tabi‘i, hadith scholar, or Imam until 781 Hijri? And then, when it was known, it was to a king? Sending blessings and salutations (salat and salam) is a desirable act, and love and devotion to the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is a requirement and sign. The question is about this specific manner and form, for which there is no proof in the religion. And the decisive statement regarding this is the saying of Abdullah ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu ‘anhuma, which Allamah Sa‘idi himself has quoted: A man sitting beside Ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu ‘anhuma sneezed and said (al-ḥamdu lillāh wa al-salāmu ‘alā Rasūlillāh). Ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu ‘anhuma said: I say, praise is due to Allah, and peace is for the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, but the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not teach us to respond to a sneeze in this way. The Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam taught us to say:

(al-ḥamdu lillāh ‘alā kulli ḥāl)

After this, Allamah Sa‘idi writes: The reason that person said (al-ḥamdu lillāh wa al-salāmu ‘alā Rasūlillāh) after sneezing was not that he loved the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam more than Ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu ‘anhuma, nor was it that Ibn ‘Umar radi Allahu ‘anhuma, out of hatred, was forbidding him from reciting salat after sneezing. His only intent was that the acts of worship which the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has legislated and prescribed should be performed exactly as they were legislated, without any addition or alteration, and that adhering to them as they are is following the Messenger and remaining attached to the community of the Companions radi Allahu ‘anhum ajma‘in. To add anything before or after them from one’s own opinion is, in any case, not praiseworthy.

(Sharh Sahih Muslim Urdu: 1/1095)

And before this, it has already been acknowledged: For ten years in the presence of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the adhan was given in Madinah Munawwarah; for thirty years during the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, the adhan was given; and for a hundred years during the era of the Companions and Tabi‘in, the adhan was given, and at no time was salat (salutations) recited aloud before or after the adhan as a separate act. And for eight centuries, Muslims continued to give the adhan in this manner.

(1/1094)

The question is: Why has there now arisen a need for amendment and addition? If, in the name of goodness, permission is given to add to the religion in this way, then this process will never stop. And the meaning and purpose of (kullu bid‘atin ḍalālah) — “every innovation is misguidance” — will be lost, because every innovation is invented in the name of goodness. Someone might say: Calling the adhan is a symbol of the religion and a proclamation of the religion’s manifesto; the adhan is given for the gathering of Jumu‘ah prayer, and there is an even greater gathering on the two ‘Eids, so what is the harm in giving the adhan for them? Reciting the Qur’an is a good deed, so what is the harm in reciting it aloud in the silent prayers? Reciting salat (salutations) is a praiseworthy act, so what is the harm in reciting it during the standing, bowing, or prostration of prayer? Prayer is the pillar of the religion and a very virtuous act, so what is the harm in making the rak‘ahs of Maghrib four, and those of Fajr also four? When did you say not to make Maghrib four rak‘ahs, or not to add to Fajr? In this way, in the name of goodness, keep adding whatever you wish, and as proof, say: Allah’s command is: ﴿wa-f‘alū al-khayr﴾ — “Do good deeds.”

In summary, the religion is that whatever the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did, it should be done in the same way, without any addition or subtraction from oneself, nor should any specific manner or form be invented for any act.

680. Commentary: Certainly, whoever is firm in creed and sincerely acknowledges these matters, Allah, exalted is He, truly forgives him, no matter how many sins he may have committed. After all, who can stand between His forgiveness and the servant?

Commentary:
(1)
The acknowledgment of monotheism (tawhid) and messengership (risalah) is the foundation of Islam, and salvation depends upon it.

(2)
Being content with Allah’s Lordship (rububiyyah) means to have such faith in His Lordship as is the due right of faith.
The awareness that all blessings are being given to us by Him alone, and that He is continuously providing everything we need, generates a feeling of gratitude and love. For this reason, a believer’s love for Allah is unparalleled.
This love motivates him to perform every good deed in order to attain further closeness to Him, and compels him to avoid every sin.
After this, all hopes become attached to Allah alone. Whoever attains this station will certainly enter Paradise by Allah’s mercy.

(3)
Accepting Islam as one’s religion means to develop the conviction that every aspect of this religion is true, and every guidance is precisely correct, in which there is no defect or flaw of any kind.
No belief, custom, or etiquette of non-Muslims is superior to the great civilization of Islam.
When this awareness is developed, it is no longer possible for us to look towards non-Muslims for guidance in any matter; rather, in every field of life and every aspect of living, guidance is found in the teachings of Islam, and the heart is content with it.
In reality, this is the faith that is missing in most Muslims today; this is the reason why every Muslim society has, in practice, become a non-Muslim society and is deprived of the blessings of Islam.

(4)
Being content with the prophethood and messengership of Muhammad (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) means that his noble example (uswah hasanah) is the true interpretation of Islam, and acting upon it is our objective.
The laws (shari‘ahs) of the previous prophets (alayhim as-salam) have been abrogated.
We have no need to act upon them.
Similarly, no follower (ummah member) holds such a status that every statement of his should be accepted blindly.
The center and axis of the unity of Muslims is only the blessed person of the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).
As Allamah Iqbal (rahimahullah) has said:
“Bih Mustafa bar-san khwesh ra keh deen hama oost
Agar bih oo na raseedi tamam Bolehabist”
Bring yourself to Mustafa (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), for his very being is the entirety of the religion.
If you do not reach him, then everything else is merely the way of Abu Lahab.