Socio-Islamic Philosophy Part-1
By: Mudassir Ahmad Qasmi
Translated from Urdu by: Shafiur Rahman Qasmi
An alumnus of Markazul Ma’arif Education & Research Centre, Mumbai
Human beings, in order to stay safe from the scorching sun and heat wave, seek dense shade and cool breeze. Similarly, they might sometimes face heat-wave-like difficult situations in their real life. In such phases, they require a shadowy tree and cool breeze which may calm their body and soul together. What comforts them in real life are actually parents for children, husbands for wives, teachers for pupils, sisters for brothers, and vice versa; sometimes they also appear in the form of sincere relatives and friends.
It is this basic need of man that Islam has clearly explained the importance of above and other relationships. For example, Allah (SW) says in Surah Al-Nisa (verse 36):” Worship Allah and associate no partners with Him, and to parents do good, and to relatives, orphans, the needy, the near neighbor, the neighbor farther away, the companion at your side, the traveler, and those whom your right hands possess. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are self- deluding and boastful.”
Similarly, the Prophet (saws) also describes the importance of kinship in a hadith. Abdullah ibn Salam (ra) says that the very first auspicious words that came to my air from Prophet Muhammad (saws), when he arrived to Madina and I attended his assembly were, “ O people: Promote greetings among one another excessively, feed ( the poor and needy) for the sack of Allah’s pleasure and perform (supererogatory) Salah at (dark hours of) night when others are asleep. Remember, you can enter the Paradise safely without any obstacle by putting these things in practice.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)
Here we need to understand a specific point. Islam lays greater emphasizes on maintaining different types of relationship in the best manner. One of the important benefits it has is that these relationships come to support us in bad times. The relatives will obviously turn to be dense shade and cool breeze during the hot phases of life, if we maintain a relationship with them selflessly in normal situations. In contrast to that, we sometimes stay deeply engaged in our own lives and neglectful of the vicissitudes of life occurring with our relatives in our normal situations. But we will find ourselves standing alone when we need their support. The heat of life will leave us burnt and lesson for others. This is indeed the ultimate result of self-obsession.
In accordance with the topic, it would be fair to mention that everyone must have in their lives persons who may give them correct advice in difficult situations and help them get out of their difficulties. It should be kept in mind that if we don’t establish relationships with some sincere persons, we are more likely to be trapped by the treacheries of the insincere ones.
It is common that human beings do not let everyone know of all the matters of their lives, nor should they do. That is because telling everything to everyone may cause harm. To conclude the article, we need to choose some sincere persons in our lives who are expected to fulfill the rights of relationship and friendship, so that we move forward on the hot path of life with cool breeze. The saying of Ali (ra) in this regard serves as a beacon of light for us: “Catch fast to your brothers (friends), because they are rarely found in this world, and in the hereafter too.” (Tafseer Tabri)
