The Essence of Islam, its core values that were summed up when the Holy Prophet Muhammad Salallahu Alayhe Wasallam presented his last sermon.
With the name of Allah most Beneficient ever Merciful
Searching amongst the petals, with it my home sweetens. The world’s a flower, O man, Search its essence, To sweeten your hereafter
Allah Subhanatallah called the teachings of our Holy Prophet Muhammad ﷺ “Islam” Al Quran 3:19
Islam means peace, because it is derived from the root word “salama”, peace. Peace comes about by submitting oneself to Allah SWT (by obeying our religion, our spiritual guides, our parents and husbands) and it is for this reason that some translate Islam to mean submission.
In all its teachings Islam strives for submission to Allah SWT which leads to peace and contentment on an individual level, social level and the global level. It encourages humanity to be moderate, peaceful and to develop their personalities along qualities of forgiveness and softness. It encourages a person to be charitable, caring and loving.
“Those who spend (in the cause of Allah) in prosperity and adversity and those who suppress anger and pardon (the offences of) the people – Allah loves such doers of good to others.” Al Quran 3:134
As soon as the Holy Prophet ﷺ had the opportunity to set up a government based on Islamic principals in Medina, he based it on the concept of brotherhood. He asked the people of Medina to help those that migrated from Mecca by each one giving half his property to a person from Mecca.
His next task was to form a political alliance with the Jews. He then moved on to establish the first state based on freedom and equality which encouraged all that which is good for humanity and forbade that which caused harm and dissension.
Now let’s move on to see what he did towards the end of his stay on earth. From a very humble beginning, with little resources and a few followers, the Prophet ﷺ spread the teachings of Islam and in his lifetime the entire Arabian Peninsula came under his sway. From being pelted with stones, to being insulted and boycotted, he now humbly stood in front of a hundred and twenty five thousand followers to give what he knew would be his last sermon.
It is this sermon that he summarised his life’s work and while delivering this sermon he was so aptly inspired to call his teachings “Islam,” which means “peace”.
In this sermon he summarised the road to that peace – that peace within oneself, peace within society and peace globally. These are some of the points he stressed to achieve this peace.
1) To ensure a healthy family unit he stressed the equality of men and women saying that both have rights over each other and by fulfilling the rights of each other there would be happy, healthy family units. Men are to be kind to their spouses and women are to be obedient and never to deny the husband intermit relationships.
2) On a larger scale, when dealing with others in the community, we have to behave responsibly. “The life and property of everyone is sacred. Do not kill one another and do not take their property without permission.”
“A sober minded man said to Jesus, “what is the hardest to bear of all things in existence?” He replied, “O (my dear) soul, the hardest is God’s anger, on account of which hell is trembling as we (are).” He said, “what is the security against this anger of God?” Jesus said, “to abandon your own anger at once.” Matnawi 4:113 3)
The Prophet ﷺ then went on to stress the alleviation of poverty. He said: “Treat the poor and less fortunate well. If we have servants and workers then instead of exploiting them we must feed, clothe or pay them as we would feed, clothe and pay ourselves.”
In the same vein, with regards to social responsibility, we must not encourage usury or interest as this is a disease which allows the rich to exploit the poor. In short we must not be selfish but work as a team for the good of all.
3) As a Muslim community, we should not abuse the rights of non Muslims living amongst us. They have rights too, and they should be respected. He said that if they are wronged then he would plead on their behalf on the day of judgment against us.
4) He set the stage for human freedom and equality by saying: “You are all the children of Adam (AS)” and therefore do not allow racism to divide you. “No Arab is better than a non Arab” he said, everyone is equal.
5. However he knew that there had to be leaders and followers and in regards to this, he indicated that instead of using race or status to choose leaders, we should choose leaders based on qualities such as caring, fairness, goodness and piety and when a leader is chosen he should be respected and followed “even if he is a black slave.”
6) He sent out diplomats to other neighboring countries to develop cordial relationships with them showing that we must strive for global peace.
In this sermon he constantly repeated: ‘No doubt! Your blood, your properties, and your honour are sacred to one another like the sanctity of this day of yours, in this (sacred) town (Mecca) of yours, in this month of yours’ and after this he addressed Allah Subhanatallah and said: ‘O Allah! Haven’t I conveyed (Your Message) to them‘. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ knew that this was his last sermon and he was summarising his teachings and emphasising its essence.
We today stress the rituals and disregard the essence. While we pray ritualistically we are materialistic and in our greed to have more, we not only totally disregard others, but even exploit them.
“So curses on the worshippers who are neglectful of their prayers, those who want to be seen but refuse to supply neighbourly needs” Sura Al Mauan 107:4
End.
Published by Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi 2014.
Anjuman e Waris e Mohammedi was founded by Dr Hakim Hazrath Khwaja Sayed Shareef Ahmed Ali Shah RA (lovingly known as Hazrath Poona Wale Shah Saib RA)
Author: Mahomed Hassan Gaffoor WhatsApp: +27 84 910 1486