عَنْ أَنَسٍ عَنِ النَّبِىِّ – صلى الله عليه وسلم – قَالَ
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[البخاري]
“None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself.”
[al Bukhari]
Stop and think for a minute. When you look around at the people sitting and talking among themselves, what do you hear? Whether you are in the cafeteria, boardroom, meeting hall or whatever the venue might be, you will see friends and family sitting around discussing things that are important to one another. You find that their love for one another usually causes them to discuss things that are beneficial to the person with which they are speaking. This is something that is natural. Those people that we love and care about, when we fell as though there is some benefit to be brought forth, or harm to be warned against, our love causes us to address the situation. I am sure that is something that is agreed upon by everyone reading this right now.
Well, if we really feel this way, why is it that we do not do the same thing with this Religion? As Muslims, we understand that Islam is the greatest blessing that Allah has bestowed on His creation. There is no good in this world except that Allah has requested that we go towards it. Just as there is no evil or harm that exists, whether we see it as that or not, except that Allah has forbidden us from getting near it. This is from the basic beliefs that we as Muslims should have about this way of life. So once realizing this, we should be doing our best to call others to this religion. This is especially true when we realize that it is the only thing that will cause ease, happiness and success in both this life and in the hereafter.
Now that we have brought these two ideas (of people calling their loved ones to things they need, and the fact that everyone is in need of Islam) together, we need to look at what should be done. How is it that we sit and have long telephone conversations, meetings, lunches, breaks, study sessions and even spend time on those social media networks discussing with people things that mean absolutely nothing. When we look at the reality of things, we find that people talk about car crashes, crime, food, jewelry and the list goes on. They even talk about senseless things. What is worse is that we find that they do these things knowing that the person that they are talking to is in dire need of something else. Does this make sense to anyone?
The best thing that we can do with our family members and friends, if we truly care about them, is to tell them about Islam. When someone says this to us, we tend to think we are talking only to those that are talking to non-Muslims. This is not the case. Rather, Muslims need to be called to that which is correct as well. We definitely should not limit our call on one group or the other. Rather Allah sent the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) to all of the creation. Allah mentions this in the Qu’ran:
{قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنِّي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ إِلَيْكُمْ جَمِيعًا}
[الأعراف: 158]
{Say (O Muhammad SAW): “O mankind! Verily, I am sent to you all as the Messenger of Allah}
[7:158]
So we see that this message is not one that is limited to only the Muslims or the non-Muslims. This is a call that needs to be made to everyone.
Now I know there are a few of you that are thinking to yourselves that you already know this. Though, I challenge you to think about today, and how many people you came across. Now think about the last week, and how many people that you spoke to even casually. How many of them did you bring up Islam to and its benefits to all of mankind? If you know that this message is a universal message, and that everyone is in need of it, why didn’t you do your best to tell more of them about the message of Islam in some way shape or form?
Whether it is trying to tell our friends and family members about why they should really think about becoming Muslim, or explaining to our Muslim brothers and sisters why they should be doing better, it’s a must that we try to call to what is good. Our love and concern for them should cause us automatically to call them to benefit and away from harm. Yet we feel shy many times to bring this issue to the surface. So we do our best to dance around the issue. Are we benefiting them at all by doing this? We definitely are not. In no way shape or form and I saying that we need to hoard the conversation and talk about nothing at all with them until they become Muslim. I am though saying that we should in conversations at least be trying to open the doors for some conversations about Islam, so as to inform them to the best of our abilities.
As well, the situation of our brothers and sisters who are already Muslim, should we or should we not be doing our best to help one another be the best Muslims that we can possibly be? Should we not be aiding one another to obeying Allah and leaving off all types of disobedience? Is this what we find ourselves doing?
Many times we, even when we feel uncomfortable with the conversations, say little to nothing. We try our hardest not to stir up any bad feelings or emotions. The last thing that we want is for the person we are talking with to become angry or upset, so we leave off telling them in which direction they need to take their speech or actions. Is this that which we have been commanded to do?
When you think about it, we are more worried about them becoming upset with us, than thinking about what is good for them. We care more about their friendship, than their wellbeing. How can we call someone our loved one, and see them walking toward something that could mean nothing but danger to them, and not try to stop them? No matter how much we try to, we cannot begin to rationalize this statement.
We need to begin to call those that we say we love and care about to that which will cause their success, even if they don’t yet realize what that is. This was the way of our Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him). His way is the way we were commanded to follow if our love for Allah is true. Look at what Allah instructs those that claim to love Allah with doing:
{قُلْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُحِبُّونَ اللَّهَ فَاتَّبِعُونِي يُحْبِبْكُمُ اللَّهُ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ذُنُوبَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ}
[آل عمران: 31]
{Say (O Muhammad SAW to mankind): “If you (really) love Allah then follow me (i.e. accept Islamic Monotheism, follow the Quran and the Sunnah), Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.}
[3:31]
We need to begin to take our responsibility to our friends and loved ones more seriously. We need to call them to that which is correct, which in turn is calling them to that which will cause them true happiness and success. After all, this is call to the good is one of those things that make this nation the best of the nations as Allah has mentioned in His book. We have all heard the verse where Allah said;
{كُنْتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ لِلنَّاسِ تَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَتَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ وَتُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَلَوْ آمَنَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ}
[آلِ عِمْرَانَ: 110]
{You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind; you enjoin Al-Ma’ruf (i.e. Islamic Monotheism and all that Islam has ordained) and forbid Al-Munkar (polytheism, disbelief and all that Islam has forbidden), and you believe in Allah.}
[3:110]
We ask Allah to bless each and every one of us to be from among the true believers in both statement and action. Allahuma ameen.
