Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Heartstrings July 8, 2013
Chastity for God's Sake
Impromptu
speeches
may not always be thorough.
Unlike the rank and file,
guides should
think twice before they say something
for the sake of their followers.
Maybe they should think ten times
before they speak.
And when they do,
they should wax poetic
with no illiterateness.
They should weigh each word
and consider how those words will be received.
Failure to do so
might cause quite a commotion,
which is hardly ever
made up for.
"Jirahatu's-sinan ila haltiyam
Wa la yalta muhajaraha'l-lisan,"
says a poet.
It means "Spear wounds can be healed,
but the wounds of a sharp tongue cannot!"
Wrong words cause
discord, dissension,
disarray and disorder in the community.
One single word may
pit a force against another force
causing conflicts.
One single statement may cost a nation its future.
A digital display reminded me of these.
I respect such devices for their displays.
Since they are just devices,
no matter what you say
they would not reply
with bluster.
Even if you
cheer them to the echo,
they would pay no attention to you.
They transmit whatever they receive without distinguishing,
with no questions asked.
If objects could have sincerity,
I would call such devices sincere.
They do not have any plans on the sly.
They do not build their hopes
on what they do
or, rather, what they transmit.
I wish people could be as sincere as devices.
I wish they could act with no benefit to themselves;
or, they laid down their lives
but asked for nothing in return,
even the smallest thing.
In fact, this is the path of Prophets
who spent their lives for their cause
but asked for nothing in reciprocation.
Some kings like Prophet Solomon and Prophet David,
led very humble,
contented,
decent and chaste lives.
God still gave them kingdoms
which they used for the cause of
the true religion of their times.
They spread it
from Hadramawt and Sheba
to Al-Aqsa Mosque,
to the Mediterranean,
and even to Central Asia
by communicating their message.
However, their kingdom did not corrupt them,
make them egoists,
or make them change their humble way of living.
They were always chaste,
sinless,
loyal to God,
wise and,
committed to communicating their message.
They were always faithful
to their Prophetic qualities as they lived.
Hence, those who follow the path of Prophets
should also be
representing these Prophetic qualities.
It is possible for those who do not follow
the path of Prophets
to stray to the path of Satan.
The requirements of following the path of Prophets
are contained in
the part and parcel
of its followers' qualities.
One of them is chastity;
i.e. being morally pure,
leading an entirely decent life,
in all aspects of it
including habits and manners,
and the way one perceives and expresses the world.
Chastity for good and all.
All Prophets led chaste lives,
and were as pure as fresh snow.
They did not let even the smallest thing
lay a finger on their chastity.
It was a couple of hours ago when I had thought of a similar topic.
In particular,
for the members of an eminent group devoted to follow the path of Prophets,
even the smallest indecency they exhibit,
a seemingly minor unchastity,
or a minor unfaithfulness,
might turn out to put the entire community under suspicion.
An eminent group is like the human body,
which has such a concentration
a desegregation,
and such a unity
that if a lesser part of that body happens to be in the wrong,
it cannot be denied just because it is not one of the body's greater parts.
So is the case
when a member
of an eminent group or community
has eyes out on stalks,
big ears,
or dirty hands.
Some rapacious people
who are never content with what they have
are excessively desirous of acquiring more and more.
Although I do not feel comfortable giving details,
you can use your own reasoning to understand what I mean.
Those who are discontented
with what would suffice for them
and with the pleasures that Islam permits
might, therefore,
have an eye on what is not permitted by it.
If they commit carnalities by any means,
by their immoral proclivities,
by their evil weaknesses,
as a member of an eminent group,
they cannot use their lesser positions as an excuse
claiming they have not anticipated
their guilt bringing discredit to their community.
The noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, references Muslims as parts of one body.
One body that is like a firm and solid structure
the parts of which act as pillars of strength
and back up each other constantly,
just as the parts of a building that are clinched by lead and iron.
Correspondingly, as the Muslims of the world
we are like the parts of one greater body.
Each of us is its hand, foot, tongue, lip, eye, ear,
finger, heel, head, hair, or so forth.
If any of these transgresses,
it puts the entire community to shame.
The prayer of a saintly figure on one of the displays
says: "God! Please do not put my comrades to shame because of me.
As well, do not put me or my comrades to shame because of one of us."
It would be a breach of the rights of the entire community.
No matter how minor the position or
the status of a member is,
not being responsible enough
will be violation of the rights of the entire community.
Their actions compromise the community nothing less than those of Satan's.
Unless all of the members of the community forgive them directly,
it is uncertain that they would enter Paradise; may God protect us from it all.
Like I said, it is a violation of the rights
of the members of an entire community.
It might disrepute the community.
I will not be specific again,
but I have received
such disappointing information
about some people who seem like good Muslims
that weighed me down, and
although I am not any more close to them
and have always been far away from them,
which is true, I cross my heart.
I wish they had not done such things.
I wish they had not followed their carnal souls.
I wish they were wary of the Qur'anic principle
"For assuredly the human carnal soul always commands evil" (al-Yusuf 12:53).
I wish they were loyal to God,
and preferred death
to carnality,
and to sinfulness.
I wish they were strong enough
to wish for the worst of the worldly conditions
instead of transgression.
For the sake of the rights of this community,
supported by millions of people,
they should have been chaste.
For it is the path of the Prophets we follow,
and chastity is essential to stay on it.
We should not put a foot wrong,
lead chaste lives,
be honest to goodness,
fend off hypocrisy, be loyal,
zero in on communicating God's message,
call attention to God,
constantly work for the cause of spreading the word of our beloved Prophet,
peace and blessings be upon him,
all over the earth
and dream of achieving it,
and look for ways to
make the Prophet's message heard even in the poles.
Then it does not matter whether we see
or just watch it happen as we are in our graves.
This is what we should devote ourselves to.
Yet, it can only be achieved through wisdom.
People lacking wisdom
would easily sacrifice eternal pleasures
for this temporary world,
and hence violate the rights of their community.
Such people deserve to be called unwise fools,
or wretched vagabonds of perspicacity.
Please consider me having not said these
and forgive me.
For saying such things in your presence
would be improper and inconvenient.
Since the right path is that of the Prophets,
the sole requirement of succeeding to follow it,
should be equipping ourselves
with Prophetic qualities.
The sole requirement of success on that path
is to lead a decent and chaste life.
To neglect worldliness and not have a soft spot for it.
To complete one's lifetime keeping their hands off
anything that is carnal.
Not to swerve towards hypocrisy...
To refrain from deceiving others...
To stop showing off...
May God protect us from it,
we should not lead an unchaste life.
It says "Please, show chastity!" and "Please, have purity!"
"Please, have perspicacity!"
or "Please show loyalty!" in some displays.
Those displays
used to be shown to prospective people by Sufis
to remind them of the rules of their world.
If they wanted to join the world of the Sufis,
and be a part of it,
they had to have chastity,
purity,
fidelity,
and loyalty.
I remember talking about loyalty recently.
These are some of the virtues we have lost.
The virtues which are the fundamental elements of Paradise Lost.
If you intend to construct a heavenly world one more time,
these are the elements you need.
The statics of it are also embedded in these virtues.
Its architecture was laid out way before
by Prophets.
In order to keep the architecture in recent memory
they have been presented one more time
through the respected expounders, renovators, saints and the people of faith and knowledge.
Its purpose is to warn people off
of the dangers of going astray.
True servanthood of God
is strictly related to how chastely you live.
That is right.
Chastity... purity... loyalty...
perspicacity... and conveying God's message.
"Ayna antum?" (What is your position then?)
said Qutb.
"Ayna nahnu?" (What is our position then?)
"Wa ayna'l-Muslimun?" (And where are the Muslims?)
We are a far cry away from the true Muslimhood.
Mehmet Akif gives a tongue-lashing:
"Let alone being Muslim, we can hardly be called human;
Let us make no pretense, we cannot fool anyone.
All the true Muslims I knew are already in their graves.
The real Islam is I guess, nowhere else but in heavens.”
The doors to hopelessness
should be shut down for good and all.
We should never give up all hope.
Nonetheless,
we should never stop checking up on our condition.
"Hasibu anfusakum qabla an tuhasabu"
If you watch your step in this world
you end up on the safe side in the other world.
The noble Umar ibn al-Khattab
was a man of Prophetic intelligence,
who, as our beloved Prophet put, would be the next Prophet if he had a successor.
He said "Hasibu anfusakum qabla an tuhasabu"
Before the day when you get the third degree,
give yourself the third degree.
Lead a principled life
on moral grounds.
Be meticulous
in following righteous principles.
You can make the most of them
and profit
through leading an upright life.
Then again, may God protect us from it,
just one mistake you make
could lay everything to waste.
"Be alert and careful!
Always act with caution,
and in fear of sinking.
Do not drown
in a word,
in a morsel,
or in a grain!" says Bediüzzaman.
Your faculties are capable of embracing the universe;
thus, should not be dissipated
for nugatory things.
I adapted this from Bediüzzaman,
the respected sage,
the shining moon, who still enlightens our souls.
Therefore, it is an open-ended situation.
If you act with principles, you profit.
If you do not, however,
you could go up in smoke
by just one ogle,
as stated in one of the Divine hadiths.
"An-nazratu sahmun
min sahami iblisan masmum."
The ogle, glancing at the forbidden, is one of the venomous arrows of Satan.
Once you ogle the forbidden,
your steps are stimulated towards it,
as are your hands,
and you could find yourself in the depths of licentiousness.
Then, this shame,
may God protect us from it,
would put all of the members of your community to shame.
Today, people are outed
through their phone calls or uses of internet, as they are tapped.
All the information received is stored in data pools.
That includes their intimate talk,
their surreptitious connections,
and so much more.
They lie in wait for the right time to attack
so that they can stake their reputation.
This way, they aim at
staking the reputation of an entire community
by using what they have gathered secretly.
Now, for God's sake,
let us be God-conscious,
and avoid any such mortifying licentiousness
that would put our entire community to shame.
Let us wall ourselves off from such dangers,
let us avoid unchastity like the plague,
let us shut the door upon it,
so that Satan and his accomplices
cannot go through the door
and that we end up on the safe side, by God's leave.
Let us not blow all that God has given us
by following our carnal souls.
He has been so munificent to us.
He has given us what He has not given to superpowers.
He has assembled a community of commons who have not made the acquaintance of each other.
He has prospered us in such a way he has not prospered the Sublime State of the Ottomans.
Honestly!
If we, in return for such munificence,
do nothing but incessantly say "Al-hamdu lillah" (All praise be to God)
we would not have returned the favor.
Sa’di Shirazi says
"Wa bi har nafas ast, du shukr wajib ast."
Meaning "Each breath requires pieces of thanks to God."
What God has given us more than the breath.
It is such an influence He has not bestowed to any superpower.
Believe me when I say
no other community has been bestowed something like this,
like this grant bestowed to the blessed people of your community.
I beg of you to not let them down,
to lead a chaste life,
to abstain from carnal desires forever and ever.
This is a must for us
and the only way to save our souls in the Hereafter.
Let us not be like some people who have ruined their eternal life.
Let us not seize the opportunity
to line our pockets hence ruin our afterlife.
Let us not ruin our Hereafter by forgetting that this world is transient.
Let us not become like Croesus
or like Sa'laba.
Let us clean up our acts and be like our beloved Prophet,
the noble Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.
May God not let us stray from their paths.
I am sorry if I troubled you.
Bismillah, wa billah, wa minallah, wa ilallah. (In the Name of God, and with God, and from God, and toward God).
God! I am weak.
I am incoherent.
I am susceptible to go astray.
Please do not let me err and put the community to shame.
I try to err on the side of caution and wall myself in here.
It has been six months since I last went out.
Because I did not want to get pulled in by anything immoral
as I could not rely on my own self.
I have always tried to be on my guard against Satan.
I have always dreaded the possibility of being considered an infidel.
Regardless, I do not have the right to put shame to this community.
I apologize for letting my emotions take over.
The burden is heavy.
The trust is invaluable.
Even fifty escorts will not be enough to carry this trust safely:
the escort of sagacity,
the escort of sobriety,
the escort of cautiousness,
the escort of staunch loyalty,
the escort of prayers and worship...
These escorts are hardly enough to protect this trust.
It is the trust of God,
of our beloved Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
of the renovators,
and of Bediüzzaman, who said:
"I had no choice but to hurry down, thus I came in winter. You will, however, come in a Paradise-like spring."
For God's sake, do not let that great man down.
I apologize if I offended you in any way.
"Ya mutajalli, irham dhulli." (O the All-Manifesting One, forgive my faults).
"Ya muta’ali, aslih hali." (O the All-Transcending One, make me righteous).
Please forgive me for not being able to carry on.