Title: More on Imitating the Prophet (pbuh) Question/Comments: When I mentioned the Ayat 59: 7, 3: 31 and 7: 158 you say that-exceptions to this principle include all such actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that were specific to his position as a Prophet or a Messenger (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and/or relating to his personal tastes. Here you are giving your own opinion. You are not giving any proof or evidence of our previous pious Imams or Scholars. You say that establishment of Islam and removal of kufr is only for Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and collectivity of Bani Ishmaeel. For proof you give the article. The political revolution brought about by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and establishment of Khilafa in present times. Here again you are interpreting Qur'an in your own way without quoting any interpretation of our previous pious Imams or Scholars. Then you mentioned about Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wives as proof but when I mentioned that it is clearly mentioned in Ahzab: 50 you agree with it which means your proof has become invalid. Finally I mentioned 2:208 where every Tafseer says that we have to follow Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in all spheres of life you ignore this Ayat. Hope you will clarify this considering the above points. My email is sajidkallingal@calicutcity.com Hope you will answer this question. Thank you. Answer: You wrote: When I mentioned the Ayat 59:7, 3:31 and 7:158 you say that-exceptions to this principle include all such actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) that were specific to his position as a Prophet or a messenger (peace and blessing of Allah be upon him) of Allah and/or relating to his personal tastes-Here you are giving your own opinion." I was actually referring to exceptions to the rule of imitating the Prophet (p) and not really to exceptions to the rule of the verses. I do not consider any of the verses that you referred to as demanding from us that we imitate him in each and everything he does. On the contrary, his duty was to deliver the message of God to us and it is within this domain that we are supposed to follow him. The following Hadith may make this picture clearer to you: "I am a human like you. When I give you any religious command, accept it. When I say something out of my personal opinion, remember that I am nothing but a human being. I had only guessed [regarding the fertilization method of date palms]. Do not accept from me that which is based on guesswork. However when I convey something from Allah, follow it because I will never attribute anything to Allah falsely. As regards your worldly affairs, you are more knowledgeable than I am." (Sahih Muslim, Kitabul Fazail) Here the Prophet (p) explicitly clarifies that we need only to follow him when he conveys something "from Allah." In other words, only what is part of the religion is obligatory upon us. Take into consideration that there is not a single place in the Qur'an where we are told to imitate the Holy Prophet (p) in everything he does. One will need to stretch the verses very far for this. It would clearly be a gross misinterpretation of the Qur'an. It is worth mentioning here that there is clearly a basic difference in our approach in understanding religion that renders our exchange quite futile. We try to derive the meanings of the Qur'an from its context and you can only be convinced by citations from earlier scholars. We have tried to clarify our basis and rather than comment on any weakness in our basis you continue to ask us whether or not such an opinion was ascribed to by any earlier scholar. Even though the opinions of earlier scholars is only an input in our endeavor to understand Islam and never a deciding factor, yet merely for your deliberation, verse 59: 7 is stated to have been interpreted by Hassan as relating specifically to the distribution of the gains of war that are being referred to in the earlier part of the verse (Al-Durr al-Manthur, Vol. 8, Pg. 104); verse 3: 31 is stated to have been interpreted by Ayesha (ra) as one referring to the Prophet's humility towards God, His piety and His obedience (Al-Durr al-Manthur, Vol. 2, Pg. 179); The relevant portion of verse 7: 158 has been interpreted by Baidawiy as: "The possibility of being on guidance has been mentioned as the result of two things in this verse, thereby admonishing those who believe in the prophethood of Muhammad but do not adhere to the Shari`ah that he has brought, they shall be deemed as those going astray". (Tafseer al-Baidawiy, Vol. 3, Pg. 65) You wrote: "You are not giving any proof or evidence of our previous pious Imams or Scholars. You say that establishment of Islam and removal of kufr is only for Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and collectivity of Banu Ishmael. For proof you give the article-The political revolution brought about by the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and establishment of Khilafa in present times-Here again you are interpreting Qur'an in your own way without quoting any interpretation of our previous pious Imams and Scholars." What we present in support of our view is the Qur'an itself. We are fortunate in that we have the very dictation of God in their original words with us. As such, there is no reason why we should not be allowed to differ with previous scholars. Correct understanding and knowledge did not just come to a stand still after they presented their understandings. Furthermore, they are humans like us. There is no sanction given by God to the view that these scholars are some how infallible and therefore I think that we should not simply accept their views carelessly. This does not mean that what they say is worthless, but rather that we should still analyse what they say in the light of the Qur'an. You may also be interested to know that unlike the interpreters of the Qur'an, many of the fuqahaa (i.e. Jurists) and Muhaditheen (i.e. Hadith Scholars) actually interpret verses like 22:78, 2:143 and 3:110 to be restricted to the companions and not all Muslims in general. So here you clearly happen to have a difference of opinion making it all the more necessary for you to analyse all the arguments in the light of the Qur'an. In the Qur'an Allah (swt) frequently makes mention of previous nations who were doomed because they rejected the Messenger that was sent to them. Concerning the Messengers, it is said: As for those, whom He selects as a messenger, He surrounds them - from before them and behind them - with armies of watchers, to ascertain that they have adequately delivered the messages of their Lord... ( Al-Jinn 72: 27 - 28) In other words, God makes absolutely sure that these Messengers deliver the truth perfectly without any flaws, thus leaving their addressees without any reason to deny God's message. As a result, God says: And your Lord was not one to destroy a people, without first sending a messenger in its chief town. ( Al-Qasas 28: 59) So it was only after God sent a Messenger, who made the truth as clear as daylight, to a particular people that God destroyed the people who rejected this manifest truth. Logically and as explained in the Qur'an, the addressees of the Prophet (p) were now in the same boat. They were addressed by a Messenger who was making truth manifest to them. Consequently, if they refused to accept this truth, they would now be subject to God's unalterable law regarding the rejecters of a Messenger. The only difference for them was that their punishment was going to be carried out through the hands of the believers. This being because the Prophet (p) had a state with a community of followers behind him. Thus the Qur'an states: Fight them; God will punish them through your hands. He shall put them to shame and He shall grant you victory over them and thereby heal the hearts of a believing people. - ( Al Tawbah 9:14) It also clarifies the reason for this as follows: Do you think that you would be left alone, though God has not yet distinguished those among you, who fight [in His way], and do not take anyone besides God, His messenger and the true believers as friends? And God is fully aware of what you do. - ( Al Tawbah 9:16) God was not to leave the believers in the state in which you are in, till He rendered the clean [of heart] and the unclean completely distinguished from each other. - ( Aal Imran 3:179) Thus, through this, God differentiated the true believers from the hypocrites. Indeed, this was important since this was a group that was being formed to bear witness of God's justice to the rest of the world and because these hypocrites were always planning on spreading corruption while they were masked in the midst of the community. They would never be ready to fight since their course was not noble and thus they would be spotted by their reactions to these Divine orders. Had the Messenger (p) been in a scenario similar to that of many of the previous Messengers - who were lacking men power - then God surely would have punished the rejecters in another way: If you do not go out [to fight], God will subject you to a painful punishment and shall replace you with another people and you shall not be able to harm him [i.e. the Prophet (pbuh)] in the least. Indeed, God has power over all things. If you do not help him, then remember that God Himself helped him, when the rejecters turned him out, when he was only the second of the two, when they were in the cave, when he said to his companion: 'Do not worry, indeed God is with us'. Then God sent tranquility and peace upon him and strengthened him with armies that you could not see and, thereby, God humbled the word of the rejecters and His word is always exalted. And God is Powerful, Wise - ( Al Tawbah 9:39-40) It should now be very clear that the establishment of the manifest truth and the removal of its rejection as mentioned in the Qur'an is only in the context of the addressees of a Messenger. There is no basis in the Qur'an for the view that this can be generalized - that we today should be doing the same. Thus, those who propagate such a view have no Qur'anic support. You wrote: "Then you mentioned about Prophet's (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wife as proof but when I mentioned that it is clearly mentioned in Ahzab-50 you agreed with it which means your proof has become invalid." I humbly disagree with you. What I was trying to explain in my last answer to you was that just as we would not consider imitating the Holy Prophet (p) when it comes to his marriages on the basis of what the Qur'an says, we would also refrain from imitating him in regards to the 'establishment of Islam and the removal of Kufr' (i.e. deliberate rejection of the Ultimate Truth) on the same basis (i.e. on what the Qur'an says). Thus I referred you to the following two verses, which I shall now quote: "And thus have We made you a group in the middle, so that you be an ultimate witness [of God's guidance] on [other] people and the Messenger be an ultimate witness [of God's guidance] on you." ( Al-Baqarah 2: 143) And: And strive in God's way, as is due to strive [in His way]. He has chosen you and laid upon you no burdens in the observance of your religion. [He has chosen for you] the way of your father, Abraham. He named you Muslim before this, and in this [book] as well. So that the Messenger be an ultimate witness [of God's guidance] on you and you be an ultimate witness [of God's guidance] on [other] people. ( Al-Hajj 22: 78) If you keep in mind what I have already explained above, then you will know that since God's Messengers made truth manifest upon their addressees, these addressees were subject to Divine punishment if they refused to follow the Messenger (as mentioned on several occasions in the Qur'an including Surah 47:32 where it states that those who were rejecting the truth after its ultimate manifestation - would have their works rendered waste). Thus it was because the Messenger was an "ultimate witness" of God's guidance (as mentioned in the above two quoted verses: 2:143 & 22:78) that the rejecters suffered such a fate at the hands of the believers. Here we are further told that since he bore witness to them; his followers in their collectivity among the Banu Ishmael (i.e. the descendants of "father Abraham") would be bearing "witness" to the other people who were not addressed by the Messenger. Thus, in order for your view to hold water, you would now have to explain how we too are "ultimate witnesses" of God's guidance. I have yet to see the basis for this in the Qur'an. If as I see it, there is none, then logically the argument that you are propounding has no basis in our religion. You wrote: "Finally I mentioned 2:208 where every Tafseer says that we have to follow Prophet (s) in all spheres of life, you ignore this Ayat. Hope you will clarify this considering the above points." The verse 2:208, reads: "O you, who claim to have believed, you should all enter the folds of sincere obedience towards God and refrain from following the footsteps of Satan. Satan, indeed, is your open enemy." I really cannot comprehend how the above indicates, in anyway, that we need to follow each and everything that the Prophet (p) ever did. I also disagree that "every Tafsir" interprets this verse to indicate such a thing. They really do not. By entering "the folds of sincere obedience towards God", the Qur'an is asking the people to obey God's orders and to follow the Messenger. It is asking them to submit to the message that the Prophet (p) conveyed - and like I have said - the Prophet's (p) duty was to convey the religion. Not everything that he did was a part of the religion. The above verse includes the necessity of fighting alongside the Messenger, but as I have explained this fight against the rejecters does not fit our situation as it strictly addresses the immediate followers of the Messenger (p). For us, there is no order to fight the non-Muslims. If we look at these verses in their correct context, we shall Inshallah save ourselves from misinterpreting verses. I hope this is of help, And Allah (swt) knows best, Hischam Khan November 15, 2004