With the permission of Allah in many of my previous articles, I have explained about the meaning of Sunnah. All the actions of our Prophet Muhammad saw are known as Sunnah. Sunnah is to explain the Quran. Quran and Sunnah are both from Allah. Quran is the words of Allah which expound the wishes of Allah and Sunnah is the actions of the Prophet Muhammad directed by Allah to explain all the actions which should be done by Muslims in order to fulfill the wishes of Allah. In other word, Sunnah is the actions of Prophet Muhammad saw to explain the Quran. Prophet Muhammad saw had left us the Quran and the Sunnah and whoever among the Muslims who follow the Quran and Sunnah, they will always be guided on the correct path. Hadis is the words of Prophet Muhammad saw which explain about Sunnah. Hadis could be a true Hadis or it could be a false Hadis but none of the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw is a false Sunnah. There are many Hadis which are false Hadis and Muslims should not be practicing on whatever mention in false Hadis. Quran was written during the times of Hazrat Abu Bakar only a few years after the demise of our Prophet Muhammad saw but Hadis was written about two hundred years after the demise of Prophet Muhammad saw. I think one good reason why they are so many false Hadis is because Allah did not promise to guard the sanctity of the Hadis as Allah has taken the responsibility to guard the sanctity of the Quran.
In my opinion, a Hadis is a false Hadis when the meaning of the Hadis does not complement the meaning of any verses of the Quran. Hadis is the words of Prophet Muhammad saw which explain about the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad saw. Sunnah is the actions of our Prophet Muhammad saw which explain about the Quran. When a Hadis does not complement the meaning of the Quran, the Hadis must be a false Hadis. Many Muslims unknowingly follow and practice the false Hadis and when they follow the false Hadis, their Islamic practices are not the true Islamic practices. The practice of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils or the practice of inviting men to Allah is the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw and also the Sunnah of all the Prophets in the past. Similarly the practice of performing the five times daily prayers and the practice of eating with the hands are also the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw. But when the Sunnah is made obligatory then the Sunnah is a Great Sunnah and when the Sunnah is made Sunnat then the Sunnah is a small Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw. All the orders of Allah are the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw. However there are some of the orders of Allah which are made Fardu or obligatory to be performed by Muslims and there are some of the orders of Allah which are made Sunnat to be performed by all Muslims. Both the orders of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils and the order of performing the five times daily prayers are Fardu or obligatory to be performed by all Muslims. The orders of Allah which are Fardu or obligatory is divided into two kinds of Fardu. The first kind of Fardu is known as Fardu Kifayah. When the order of Allah is made to be Fardu Kifayah, it means the order is obligatory to be performed by men with a Jemaah or congregation. When the order of Allah is said to be Fardu Ain, it means the order is Fardu or obligatory to be performed by every individual Muslims, either males or females. Such practices like wearing the turban and eating foods with the right hand are the Sunnah which is Sunnat which is not Muakkad or only recommended to be practiced by all Muslims.
The practice of having beard is the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw but the Sunnah is not obligatory or Fardu to be practiced by Muslim men. The Sunnah of having beard is Sunnat Muakkad which means it is highly recommended and the practice of shaving the beard is Makruh Tahrimi, a practice which should be highly avoided by all Muslim men. There are also practices or the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw which is Sunnat, a Sunnat which is not Muakkad or recommended to be practiced by Muslims. The practice of wearing turban or eating with the right hand is the Sunnah which is a non-Muakkad Sunnat or only recommended to be practiced by Muslims. When the Muslims are not doing the work of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils or when the Muslims are not performing the five times daily prayers or when the Muslims are not fasting in the month of Ramadan, it means the Muslims are not practicing the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw which are obligatory or Fardu to be performed by all Muslims. When Muslims are not wearing the turban or when Muslims are not having the beard or when the Muslims are not eating foods with the right hand, it means that the Muslims are not practicing the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw which are Sunnat to be performed by all Muslims. When Muslims are not performing the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw which are obligatory, the Muslims are disobeying the orders of Allah and the Muslims are committing sins.
When Muslims are not performing the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw which are Sunnat, the Muslims are not disobeying the orders of Allah and the Muslims are not committing any sins. When Muslims are performing the Sunnah which is either Fardu or Sunnat, the Muslims are obeying the orders of Allah and the Muslims will be rewarded by Allah. When the Muslims are not performing the orders of Allah which are obligatory or Fardu, the Muslims are said to be disobeying the orders of Allah and the Muslims are committing an acts of sins. When the Muslims are practicing the actions which are not allowed by Allah the Muslims are also disobeying the orders of Allah and the Muslims are also committing an acts of sins. When the Muslims are practicing an actions which are not ordered by Allah or not the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad saw, the Muslims are performing an actions which are either Haram or strictly forbidden or actions which are not strictly forbidden or not strictly Haram to be performed by Muslims. The actions which are not strictly Haram is also known as Makruh. Actions which are Makruh or actions which are not strictly forbidden are divided into two types. One is known as Makruh Tahrimi or is not strictly forbidden (of the higher level) and the second type of Makruh which is known as Makruh Tanzih or is not strictly forbidden (of the lower level).
When Muslims are not practicing the orders of Allah which are obligatory or Fardu, the Muslims are said to be disobeying the orders of Allah and they are committing sins. When Muslims are practicing something which is forbidden by Allah such as the practice of drinking alcohol and the practice of premarital sex, the Muslims are said to be disobeying the orders of Allah and the Muslims are committing sins. When Muslims are practicing something which is neither ordered by Allah nor the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw the Muslims are practicing something which is either Haram or Makruh. Haram means strictly forbidden and Makruh means not strictly forbidden. The practices of going out in the path of ibadah for 3 days every month, 40 days every year and 4 months once in the whole lifetime are practices which is mainly done by the members of Jemaah Tabligh which neither ordered by Allah nor it is the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad saw. Although the practices are not ordered by Allah but Muslims are not prevented by Allah to practice such practices. What is the Hukum for such practices in our life? Because the practices of going out in the path of ibadah for 3 days every month, 40 days every year and 4 months once in the whole lifetime is not the order of Allah and not the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad saw but they are not prevented by Allah, a Muslim who follows such practices is doing something which is Makruh Tahrimi or a practice not strictly forbidden but of the higher level. A person who practices Makruh Tahrimi can fall into Haram or strictly forbidden act when such practices cause harmful to the family such as no basic needs or not being adequately provided for family or lying to employer to obtain leave 40 days or 4 months. When a person practice an action which is Haram or forbidden by Allah then he is committing an act of sins.
Actions which are not ordered by Allah or not the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw are actions which are either Makruh or Haram. The Makruh can either be Makruh Tahrimi or Makruh Tanzih. Therefore, actions which are ordered by Allah or the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw are either Fardu or Sunnat and the Sunnat can either be Sunnat Muakkad or highly recommended or Sunnat which is not Muakkad or recommended. There are only two orders of Allah which the Muslims are obligatory to perform as an individual and as a Jemaah or with congregation. The two orders which are obligatory to all Muslims men and women whether as an individual (Fardu Ain) or as a Jemaah (Fardu Kifayah) are the orders of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils and the order of performing the five times daily prayer. When the order is Fardu Kifayah, it means the order is obligatory to be performed by Muslims men as a Jemaah or with congregation and when the order is Fardu Ain it means the order is obligatory to be performed individually by all Muslims male or female. When an order is obligatory or Fardu to be performed both as an individual and as a Jemaah, it shows that the order is a very important order of Allah. Both the order of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils and the order of performing the five times daily prayers are both obligatory to be done by Muslims as Fardu Ain and as Fardu Kifayah. When the order is Fardu Kifayah, it means the order is obligatory to be performed daily with Jemaah or congregation at least by some adult men in the locality. When either one or both of the orders are not done with Jemaah or with congregation in any Muslims locality then the whole Muslims living in that locality are committing an act of sins. Nowadays, there are many mosques in different localities in which the performance of the five times daily prayers are done with Jemaah or congregation. However, there are very few mosques in a very few localities in the whole world in which the performance of the work of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils is done with Jemaah or congregation.
The work of inviting the non-Muslims to recite the Great Kalimah is the same work of inviting men to Allah and it is the same work of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils. Jemaah Tabligh is a movement which supposes to do the work of inviting mankind to good and forbidding mankind from evils but contrary to the name, Jemaah Tabligh does not encourage their followers to do the work of inviting the non-Muslims to recite the Great Kalimah. I would like to ask the question to Jemaah Tabligh whether their movement does the work of Tabligh or a movement which does only ibadah? When the elders of Jemaah Tabligh do not encourage their followers to invite the non-Muslims to recite the Great Kalimah, it means Jemaah Tabligh is not doing the work of Tabligh but only the work of ibadah. What is the meaning of Tabligh? Tabligh means to deliver the Great Kalimah to the non-Muslims but in reality Jemaah Tabligh is not doing the work of delivering the Great Kalimah to the non-Muslims and therefore Jemaah Tabligh is not doing the work of Tabligh. Why should the Muslims call a Jemaah which does not do the work of Tabligh by the name of Jemaah Tabligh? In my opinion the correct name for Jemaah Tabligh is not Jemaah Tabligh or the movement of iman but should be known by the name of Jemaah Ibadah or Jemaah Tarikat. Tabligh is one of the qualities of Prophet Muhammad saw and Tabligh mean to deliver the Great Kalimah to the non-Muslims. Does Jemaah Tabligh delivers the Great Kalimah to the non-Muslim and do the work which is the same as the work of all Prophets? In my opinion, the work of Jemaah Tabligh is not the work of the Prophets and it is not the work of the Prophets because Jemaah Tabligh does not deliver the Great Kalimah to the non-Muslims.
What is the main work of Jemaah Tabligh? The main work of Jemaah Tabligh is only to invite Muslims to go out in the path of ibadah for 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months once in their whole lifetime. According to Jemaah Tabligh whoever spend 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months once in their lifetime will obtain strong iman and good amal. The Key performance Index(KPI) of the member of Jemaah Tabligh is to obtain more peoples to join them. The more peoples they could recruit to join Jemaah Tabligh, the more rewards, the more iman, and the more amal that person will obtain from Allah. Why do the members of Jemaah Tabligh spend time for 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months once in the whole lifetime in the path of ibadah? Is the practice is an order of Allah or the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad saw? I think there is not even one verse in the Quran which orders the Muslims to spend time for 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months, once in the whole lifetime in the path of ibadah. If there is not even one verse of the Quran which orders the Muslims to spend time for 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months once in the whole lifetime in the path of ibadah, thus, it is no doubt such practice is not the order of Allah and not the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw. When a practice is neither the order of Allah nor the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw, then the practice could either be Makruh or Haram. Because the practice is not forbidden by Allah the Hukum of doing such practices should be Makruh Tahrimi.
When an action is not the order of Allah and also not from the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad saw, the actions cannot be Fardu or Sunnat to be performed by Muslims. Any action which is not ordered by Allah can either be Haram or Makruh and certainly the actions; can never be Fardu or Sunnat. When the members of Jemaah Tabligh are practicing the act of going out for 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months once in the whole lifetime in the path of ibadah, they are actually practicing something which is neither the orders of Allah nor the Sunnah of our Prophet Muhammad saw but an act which is Makruh Tahrimi. It is very unfortunate for the members of Jemaah Tabligh who believe that they are practicing the order of Allah which is Fardu or obligatory but in fact they are practicing something which is Makruh Tahrimi. When a person practice an act of Makruh Tahrimi but such practices have caused harmful to an extent even the needs of their families are not adequately provided then the practices of going out for 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months once in the whole lifetime in the path of ibadah become Haram.
What a shame to both the elders and the members of Jemaah Tabligh who believe that they are on the path of Sunnah or the right path but in reality they are in the wrong path. All praise be to Allah who has saved me from following the wrong path of Jemaah Tabligh. I am praying to Allah to show to both the elders and the members of Jemaah Tabligh the correct path. I love all of them because I was with them for nearly thirty years. When I was with Jemaah Tabligh, I also believed that the practice of going out in the path of ibadah for 3 days in a month, 40 days in a year and 4 months once in the whole lifetime was a correct practice. At that time I did not know that the practice of Jemaah Tabligh is Makruh Tahrimi. Now, it is only Allah who has made me to understand that the practice of Jemaah Tabligh is Makruh Tahrimi. If I had known that the practice of going out for 3 days, 40 days and 4 months is Makruh Tahrimi, I will not join the work of Jemaah Tabligh but I remained with Jemaah Tabligh because I was ‘blind’ for nearly thirty years.
Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
April 2013
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre