First Obligation as a Muslim
You should know - may Allah
guide you and us to His obedience- that the foremost obligation upon a Muslim
is to know his Lord (Allah), who created him and provides him with all His
bounties and needs. He is Allah; the Only Divine and everything else is His
Creation. He is Unique, Incomparable, and a Merciful God. He is unseen, both,
in this world and the Hereafter; otherwise (if He is seen) He is Comparable to
His Creation. He has no association nor needs a helper or advisor. He is
Ever-living, All-Knowing and Omnipotent.
Allah says in Chapter Al-An'am
verse 59:
(وَعِندَهُ مَفَاتِحُ
الْغَيْبِ لاَ يَعْلَمُهَا إِلاَّ هُوَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ
وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا وَلاَ حَبَّةٍ فِي ظُلُمَاتِ
الأَرْضِ وَلاَ رَطْبٍ وَلاَ يَابِسٍ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ)
"And with Him are
the keys of the Unseen; none but He knows them. He knows what is on land and in
the waters; and not a leaf falls, but He knows it. Not a grain in the shadows
of the earth, nothing of wet or dry but it is in a clear book." [6:59]
And in Chapter Fatir Verse 11:
(وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُم
مِّن تُرَابٍ ثُمَّ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَكُمْ أَزْوَاجاً وَمَا تَحْمِلُ
مِنْ أُنثَى وَلَا تَضَعُ إِلَّا بِعِلْمِهِ وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍ وَلَا
يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ)
"And Allah
created you from dust, then from a drop of [seminal] fluid, then He made you
pairs. And no female bears or brings forth except with His knowledge and no
long-living person is given long life, nor is anything diminished of his life,
but it is [recorded] in a Book. Surely that is easy for Allah." [35:11]
This is the first thing a Muslim
is obliged to know.
Then the second obligation upon a
Muslim is to know his Messenger Mohammad (May Peace be upon him), who was sent
by Allah for the guidance of the whole humanity. And that he is truthful and
trustworthy and thus it is obligatory upon every Muslim to follow what he says
and does. He was born in Mecca; where Allah first revealed to him the Noble
Quran (through Angel Gabriel) and sent him as a Messenger to both the Jinn and
the Humans. He then emigrated to Madina - by Allah's permission- from where
Islam spread to every corner of the world.
Allah says in Chapter An-Nissaa
Verse 80:
مَّنْ يُطِعِ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدْ
أَطَاعَ اللّهَ وَمَن تَوَلَّى فَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظاً))
"Whoever obeys the
Messenger, verily obeys Allah; and whoever turns his back, We have not sent you
as a watcher over them." [4:80]
Allah says in Chapter Al-Ahzab
Verse 56:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَمَلَائِكَتَهُ
يُصَلُّونَ عَلَى النَّبِيِّ يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا صَلُّوا عَلَيْهِ
وَسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيماً))
"Indeed Allah and His angels
bless the Prophet. O you who believe, invoke blessings on him and invoke peace
upon him in a worthy manner." [33:56]
Allah says in Chapter Al-Hujurat
Verse 2:
(يَا أَيُّهَا
الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلَا
تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَن تَحْبَطَ
أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ)
"O you who believe, do not
raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not shout words at
him, as you shout to one another, lest your works should be invalidated without
your being aware." [49:2]
See how critical and dangerous it
is to embark on any deed that displeases the Prophet (Peace be upon him) because
that destroys all your previous deeds, and will only be restored by making repentance.
Then a Muslim is obliged to know
the following:
1.
The true faith
in Allah, in His absolute attributes, His Angels, His Scriptures, His Prophets,
Day of Judgement and Predestination
2.
The Do's, that
is the righteous deeds to be done
3.
The Don'ts, the
evil deeds that are prohibited
Faith - He should believe that what Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was sent
forth with is the truth (The Quran and the Sunna), death is the truth,
resurrection in the day of judgment is the truth, accountability is the truth,
Siraat is the truth- the straight path that Allah wants his servants to follow;
Mezaan (scale) is the truth- Allah's justice over his servants and his ability
and swiftness to distinguish between good and evil deeds of his servants and
does not mean the material scale. And that Paradise is the truth, and Hellfire is the truth;
and whoever enters Paradise will dwell therein forever, and therein whatever
his soul desires and his eyes enjoys to see; and whoever enters Hellfire - may
Allah saves us and you from it- will not depart it and will dwell therein
forever, a permanent and everlasting abode, will be punished and tied up (hand
cuffed) and will be stung by the frightening crawling pests, will be burned
(roasted) in its fire and will be drowned in its Zamharir (the Valley in the
Hell which cuts the bodies due to its extreme coldness as the fire cuts due to
its extreme hotness), will wish that death comes to him but of no avail and
will wish if he is shifted from the heat of the fire to the coldness of the
Zamharir and vice versa. Allah, exalted in His Majesty has prepared such severe
punishment to those who were disobedient to Allah and his Messenger (PBUH).
Allah says in chapter Annisaa
verse 13 and 14:
(وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ
وَرَسُولَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ
فِيهَا وَذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ (13) وَمَن يَعْصِ اللّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ
وَيَتَعَدَّ حُدُودَهُ يُدْخِلْهُ نَاراً خَالِداً فِيهَا وَلَهُ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ
(14))
"Whoever obeys Allah and His
Messenger, He will admit him to Gardens underneath which rivers flow, abiding
therein; that is the great triumph. But whoever disobeys Allah, and His
Messenger; and transgresses His bounds, him He will admit to a Fire, abiding
therein, and for him there shall be a humbling chastisement." [4:13-14]
And it is obligatory to know that
whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger and strives to adhere to their
instructions and is steadfast on that until death comes to him Allah shall
enter him Paradise and it is obligatory for Muslims to love him (i.e. maintaining
good relation with him and ask Allah to have mercy on him) and this is known as Al Walayah.
And that whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and does not adhere to their
instructions and dies on this state then Allah shall put him into Hell and
abides therein forever and it becomes obligatory upon Muslims to hate him (i.e.
severing of relations and shall not ask Allah to have mercy on him) and this
state is called Al Bara'ah.
He should also believe that
whoever dies on major sins, the Prophet (PBUH) will not intercede on his behalf
before Allah.
Allah SWT says in chapter Ghafir
verse 18:
(مَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ
وَلَا شَفِيعٍ يُطَاعُ)
"The evildoers will not have
any intimate [friend], nor any intercessor who might be heeded."[40:18]
Allah SWT says in chapter Al
Anbiya verse 28:
(وَلَا يَشْفَعُونَ إِلَّا لِمَنِ
ارْتَضَى)
"And they do not intercede
except for him with whom He is satisfied"[21:28]
For anyone who disobeys Allah
can't acquire His contentment until he asks for His forgiveness and repents to
Allah for his past sins and make intention to return to bad deeds anymore and
instead that he intends to do righteous deeds.
He should believe that the attributes
of Allah is His Essence - Glory be to Him - and there is no distinction between
His Essence and his Attributes; the meaning of which, Allah, for example, is
Omniscient, thus out of His Attributes is Knowledge but His knowledge is not
acquired or gained like the knowledge of His creation because they are born ignorant
then acquired knowledge by learning, etc. but this is not the case with Allah;
His knowledge is not acquired but His Essence measures on the same basis all
His Attributes.
Inspired from the book "Planting
the Rightness in the Hearts of the Beloveds" prepared by Sheikhs of Dar
Al-Quran.
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