Belief in the Angels - , Are the angels superior or the Prophet and the righteous?.,Dought & clear - ,

Do the angels worship Allah better and more perfectly than the
Prophets themselves?.
Praise be to Allaah.
The angels are honouredslaves and do not disobey Allah in what He
commands them to do; they do whatever they are commanded. Allah
created them and made their innate nature one of obedience and worship
of Him. Some of them are appointed in charge of the revelation,some
are appointed in charge of provision, some are appointed in charge of
the mountainsand some are created to worship, pray, and glorify and
remember Allah.
At-Tirmidhi (2312) narrated, in a report which he classed as hasan,
that Abu Dharr said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him) said: "Verily I see what you do not see andI hear
what you do not hear. The heaven is creaking and it should creak, for
there is no space in it the width of four fingers but there is an
angel there, placing his forehead in prostration to Allah."
Classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh at-Tirmidhi
In the hadeeth of the Isra' (Prophet's Night Journey) it says: "Then
the Much-Frequented House (al-bayt al-ma'moor) was raised up for me,
and I asked Jibreel (about it). He said: 'This is the Much-Frequented
House.Every day seventy thousand angels enter it and when they depart
from it, they never return to it.'"
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (3207) and Muslim (164).
At-Tabari narrated in his Tafseer (21/127) from Ibn Mas'ood (may Allah
be pleased with him) that he said: Among the heavens is one in which
there is no space the sizeof a handspan but on it there is the
forehead of an angel or his foot standing there. Then he recited the
words: "Verily, we (angels), we stand in rows for the prayers (as you
Muslims stand in rows for your prayers). Verily, we (angels), we are
they who glorify (Allah's Praises i.e. perform prayers)" [as-Saffaat
37:165-166].
Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in as-Saheehah, 1059
Such worship is beyond the capabilities of any human being, and they
are not able to do it. Theangels do not slow down or become tired, as
Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning):
"But if they are too proud (to do so), then there are those who are
with your Lord (angels) glorify Him night and day, and never are they
tired"
[Fussilat 41:38].
What is instilled in human beings is human nature, including the
Prophets and Messengers of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
them); they are different from the angels in their attributes and
natures.
The angels are able to do feats of worship that no human is able to do.
But the fact that their worship is greater does not mean that they are
superior to the Prophets;the Prophets are to be viewed on the basis
that they are human beings with human nature. It is because they have
risen to such a high status in obedience to their Lord that they have
a particular virtue and sublime position, so much so that more than
one of the scholars has said that the righteous among mankind are of
ahigher status than the angels, because the angels do not have any
inclination towards evil or disobedience, whereas the righteous among
mankind have these inclinations, but they resist them and overcome
them in order to obey Allah.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah was asked about those who obey Allah
among the ummah of Muhammad (blessingsand peace of Allah be upon him):
are they superior to the angels?
He replied:
It was proven that 'Abdullah ibn 'Amr said: The angels said: O Allah,
You have created the sons of Adam, and they eat and drink and enjoy
life in the world; create for us the Hereafter as you created the
world for them. He said: I shall not do that. They asked Him again and
He said: I shall not do that. Then they asked Him again two or three
times and He said: By My Glory, I cannot regard the righteous among
the descendants of the one whom I have created with My own hand as
being like one to whom I said: Be! And he was (i.e., the angels). This
was narrated by 'Uthmaan ibn Sa'eed ad-Daarimi.
It was narrated from 'Abdullah ibn Salaam that he said: Allah has not
created any creationdearer to Him that Muhammad. It was said to him:
Not even Jibreel and Mika'eel? He said to the one who asked him: Do
you know what Jibreel and Mika'eel are?Jibreel and Mika'eel are
subjugated creations like the sun and the moon. Allah has not created
anyone who is dearer to him than Muhammad (blessings and peace of
Allah be upon him).
I do not know of any one among the Sahaabah who disagreeswith that.
This is the well-known view amongthose who claim to belong to Ahl
as-Sunnah,the companions of the four imams and others, namely (the
view that) the angels and close friends of Allah (awliya') are
superior to the angels.
End quote from Majmoo'al-Fataawa, 4/344
He also said:
Allah created Adam from clay; because He shaped him and breathed into
him the spirit He createdfor him, and instructed the angels to
prostrate to him, and He favoured him over them by teaching him the
names of all things and He created him with His own hand and so on, he
and the righteous among his descendants are superior to the angels,
even though mankind was created from clay and the angels from light.
End quote from Majmoo'al-Fataawa, 11/95
Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Allah, may He be glorified, created from inferior material that which
is superior to that which was created from something else. This is a
sign of His perfect power, may He be glorified. Hence Muhammad,
Ibraaheem, Moosa, 'Eesa, Nooh and the Messengers are superior to the
angels. The view of Ahl as-Sunnah is that the righteous among mankind
are superior to the angels, even though their substance is light and
the substance of mankind is dust.
End quote from as-Sawaa'iq al-Mursalah,3/1002
He also said:
The righteous among mankind are superior to the angels, because the
worship of the angels is free from any contamination of the whims and
desires of thehuman nafs; it is done bybeings that have nothing to
prevent, undermine or resist it. It is like breathing for the living.
As for the acts of worship of human beings, they are done despite the
inclinations of their hearts and by suppressing their whims and
desires and going against their natural urges. So they are more
perfect. Hence most of the scholars said that humans were superior to
the angels for this reason and others.
End quote from Tareeq al-Hijratayn, 349-350
There are some scholars who highlighted a different approach to this
issue. Shaykh Ibn 'Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
Comparing angels to the righteous among mankind is a matter concerning
which there are differences among the scholars, each of whom quoted
texts to support his opinion. But the most correct view is that the
righteous among mankind are superior to the angels on the basis of the
final outcome because Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, will
give them reward the like of whichcannot be attained by the angels as
far as we know. Rather the angels will be in the abode of the
believers – namely Paradise – and will enterupon them from every gate,
congratulating them (with the words): "Salamun Alaikum (peace be upon
you) for that you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the
final home!" [ar-Ra 'd 13:24 – interpretation of the meaning]. From
the point of view of their origin, the angels are superior because
they were created from light and their innate nature is to worship and
obey Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and they have been given
the strength to do that. Allah, may He be exalted, says that amongthe
angels are the angelsof Hell:
"over which are (appointed) angels stern(and) severe, who disobey not,
(from executing) the Commands they receive from Allah, but do that
which they are commanded"
[at-Tahreem 66:6]
"And those who are nearHim (i.e. the angels) are not too proud to
worship Him, nor are they weary (of His worship).
They (i.e. the angels) glorify His Praises night and day, (and) they
never slacken (to do so)"
[al-A'raaf 7:206].
This is the decisive view concerning this matter.
Indulging in discussion of this matter and seeking to determine
whether the righteous among mankind or the angels are superior is a
kind of superfluous knowledge. Man has no need of understanding and
learning about this matter.
End quote from Fataawa Noor 'ala ad-Darb, 8/6
He is right, may Allah have mercy on him. This and similar matters are
things that people have no need to indulge in discussion of and enter
into disputes as to whichgroup is superior and which group worships
more? It is a kind of superfluous knowledge and the Muslim has no need
to know which group is superior and more perfect. What the Muslim
should do is focus on putting his ownaffairs in order by obeying his
Lord.
And Allah knows best.

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A Quality to Avoid

A Quality to Avoid
Abu Hurairah (RA) narrates that Rasulullah (peace be upon him)
happened to pass by a heap of grain and inserted his hand into it; his
fingers were moistened by the wet grain. At this, he asked the owner
of the grain: What is this? The man replied: O Rasulullah! It isdue to
rain. Rasulullah (peace be upon him) said: Why didn't you put the damp
(wet) grain ontop of the heap, so people could see it? He who deceives
people does not belong to me (my Ummah).
Source: Sahih Muslim.
We should always remember that deception is one of the qualities of
Shaitan. Others may not see us when we are deceiving them but Allah is
there watching us. A true believer knowing that he has to stand in
front of Allah will avoid such activities.

The Power of Prostration

The Power of Prostration
The following story was mentioned by brother Firoz who is originally
from Guyana and now living in Scarborough, Canada. Brother Firoz lived
in the USA before moving to Canada. He can easily be identified as a
Muslim as he wears a Muslim hat and has white beard. In USA, one day
he was going to the market to buy some things when he was approached
by a white American man who asked him whether he knew of any Halal
Muslim restaurant. Brother Firoz knew of one but was unable to give
him the proper direction. He figured that the American was a new
Muslim in this area. So, brother Firoz invited him to his house to
have some food. There were also some other Muslim brothers living with
Firoz at that time. When they reached home, everyone in the house
welcomed the special guest. They were also curious to know about the
reason why he accepted Islam.
The new brother told them that he was taking a world religions course
in the University. His teacher happened to be Jewish. When they came
to the topic about Islam, the Jewish teacher at one point started
showing the class how Muslims pray. "The moment I saw the teacher
doing prostration (sajdah), I knew that I belonged to this religion,"
said the new brother. This is what led him to Islam, a simple
demonstration of sajdah.
Just one act of Islam was enough to make this individual a Muslim.
Imagine, how many people will be convincedwhen all the Muslims start
practising Islam completely!

The New Millennium

The New Millennium
By Maulana I. Suleman
Assalamu Alaikum, dear respected brothers, sisters, elders, and young friends.
Humanity, at this moment in time, human civilization andhuman beings
are all waiting for the mew millennium from the far east coast of
Moscow to the far westcoast of the United States of America; right up
north to the north pole and down to Antarctica. The whole of mankind
is spinning and revolvingaround one word, which is known as the
Millennium. Leaflets have been posted through letterboxes informing
parents, children, neighbors, and societies about what the millennium
bug is. But the fact of the matter remains that this notion of the
millennium has gripped the world and the tools by which the brains are
captured by the TV, Sky TV, and cable TV. These are the tools by which
the brains of the humans are captured. There is a great deal of
apocalyptic hype as weapproach the new millennium. Ordinary people are
grasped by anxiety, where as, scientists, politicians, economists,
religious leaders and the media are busy in anticipating and
predicting the future and the most affected generation is the young
generation. Thisconcept of the new millennium is nothing new.
We should look one thousand years ago when the first millennium came
and see what the history books say. I will quote a particular work by
Professor William Durant, a professor at the University of Berkeley in
California, USA. He wrote the history of civilization over thirty
years. At the time of the last millennium, human beings thought that
the Day of Judgement was going to come. Forthe preparation for theDay
of Judgement they decided to build churches so everyone turned towards
God because they thought the day of Judgement was coming and they
thought, Now, we haveto face our Lord. What will our answers be? But
this Day of Judgement did not come. And if you read the books of
Christianity, they will tell you that the next year after the
millennium is called, The Biggest Disappointed. The biggest
disappointed because Qiyyamah never came. They have a church in
Germany called the Reformation Church. They decided that people are
gettingso far away from Allah:We need to reform, resurrect our Iman.
Thats why they have the Reformation Church and this concept was also
hit tothe Muslim communities. We are now in our 15th century when the
one thousandth Hijri came. Allama Suyooti (R.A.) stated in his work
that this Ummat (of Rasoolullah) will pass their first millennium,
which occurred four centuries ago. He collected all those ahaadith,
which proved that the Muslims will go past the first millennium
because people were concerned at that time like other communities so
he proved in his book by collections of the Prophet SAW that they will
pass the new millenium, which was the first millennium for the Muslims
(according to the Islamic calendar).
So this concept about the millenium was relevant to the Muslims as it
was to the Christians. Some groups of the Christian churches believe
that Y2K will bring the Day of Judgement and others believe that the
time of the millenium is the time of partying. If we put the money
that will be spent in celebrating the new millenium in one corner and
you look at the third world debt on the other corner, you will see
that the world will be spendingthree times as much more money than the
debts of the third world countries.
Human behaviour has come to such an extentthat not only have
theyforgotten Allah, but also they have decided to take the satanic
path, the path of Shaytaan in celebrating. We need to understand the
story line as to why thenew malls, movie theaters, football stadiums,
etc. are being built. We have tounderstand the times and the world we
are facing and then see what the problem is and try to find a solution
for our children and I particularly address those brothers who have
children because it is the future of your child that is at stake now
and the Quran addresses all of us: This world is full of pleasures and
pursuits.If you look at the scenarios around us, you will see stickers
onthe back of cars spreading messages like, Its good to show off. And
if you ask people what they do when they get upset, a lot of people
say, I go shopping. There used to be a time when people used to go to
churches and mosques to find some satisfaction and internal security
and peace in them. But now, we have to go to the big malls and big
arcade places and big cinemas. These are plans of Shaytaan to deviate
mankind away from his goal in life, away from the remembrance of their
Lord. And your Lord says: O man! What has lured you away from your
Gracious Lord, Who created and molded you and gave you an upright
shape?
When the Prophet SAWcame into this world, the community, at the time,
was known as Ummi, or illiterate. They did not know how to live life.
They didnt know what the potential of the humanbeing was and the
Prophet SAW, himself, was not described as a person fully educated
with a professorship or a Ph.D. He was also described as an Ummi. On
the one hand, we have a Prophet who is Ummi and on the otherhand we
have a community who is Ummi. The Prophet SAW stands up to his
community and makes two major claims. Claim number one: I have been
sent into this world as an educator. He had nevereven seen the face of
a teacher and he claims to be an educator. Claim number two: I have
been sent into this world to perfect the best moral conductin human
behaviour, to educate them, and make sure that they live life as human
beings, not as animals of a jungle. This was a major challenge given
to the Prophet SAW. When the last sermon was delivered in the field of
Arafah, there were 125,000 people present. There is no other period of
time in the past two millenniums that one person has changed the lives
and minds of so many people in a period of 23 years. Professor William
Montgomery Watt, lecturer at Edinburgh University, wrote a book called
Muhammad at Mecca, Muhammad at Madina. He is described as a
professional and number one expert on the life of the Prophet SAW. He
said, One thing baffles me. I cannot understand how one man, who hasno
formal education, could lead a community who behaved like animals and
created those human beings, which the world had never seen, created
them into the best individuals. This baffled the professor. These were
Christians who studied Islam and said that the Muslims were the people
who gave the world a lifestyle to live and the intelligence to think
and today the Muslims are living like animals!
You must have heard the name of Ubay bin Khalaf. He was the person who
left no stone unturned in demonstrating his enmity against Islam.
Allama Zahabi has written in his book which is about major sins that
those people who do not perform their salah regularly because they
were too busy in business (or work) would be resurrected on the Day of
Judgement with Ubay bin Khalaf, who was a commercial businessman in
the city of Makkah. And if you were away from salah because you were a
king of a country, then your resurrection will be with Pharaoh because
he forgot Allah. And if you are at a ministerialor a professional
position and that leadsyou away from the remembrance and worship of
Allah, your resurrection will be with Haman. And if your material
assets deviated you from the remembrance of Allah, your resurrection
will be with Qaroon.
Ubay bin Khalaf had a brother called Ummayah bin Khalaf, who was
killed in the Battle of Badr in the year 2 Hijri, year 620. Ummayah
bin Khalaf had a son named Safwaan bin Ummayah. Safwaan wanted to
assassinate the Prophet SAW in revenge of his fathers death. He was a
leader at the time and hired the services of a hit man, a professional
assassin, whose name was Umayr bin Wahb. Umary, after financial
security from Safwan went ahead and dipped his sword into poison and
traveled 600 kilometers from Makkah to Madina. When he got to the
mosque, the Prophet SAW was already giventhe news for the reason he
had come. When he came, the Prophet SAW told him in one ear and not in
front of everyone that, O Umary, have you come to kill me? Safwaan was
shocked and said, How do you know, O Prophet of Allah? The Prophet SAW
replied, I was informed by that Creator who has the information of
everything. And at this moment, Umary said that this person can only
be a Prophet and recited the shahadah. Eight years later, Makkah was
conquered. Umayr saidto the Prophet SAW, You may remember Safwaan, the
one who issued a contract against you. Today, he has fled to Jeddah
and wants to commit suicide because he feels that his life will be
taken (for trying to kill the Prophet SAW eight years before). The
Prophet SAW took his turban off and sent it to Safwaan. When Umayr
came back, he said, Safwaan feels secure from you now and needs two
monthsto think about this. TheProphet SAW said, Givehim four months.
After that, the Prophet SAW took Safwaan to Hunayn and Taif and he
gave him a share of the booty and the spoils of war after which
Safwaan said, This type of behaviour can only be expected from a
Prophet, so the answer to the questionProfessor William M. Watt put
forward in his book is the fact thatIslam was not spread by the sword,
but by the behaviour of the Prophet SAW. The same people who came to
cut off the neck of the Prophet SAW put their necks in his laps. This
kind of person does not rule over the land and territory. This kind of
person rules over the hearts of the people.
So, how do we educateourselves? At the time of the Prophet SAW there
was a Jewish community, there was a Christian community,there was a
community that did not believe in any god. The same communitiesare
here today. The thing that changed the Arabian society was the
characteristics of Rasoolullah SAW. In this day and age, this isa form
of dawah and tableegh propagation of Islam and it is upon the mothers
and fathers to make sure that that type of education is supplied to
our children. Who knows how the next generation will face our deaths.
Are we going to spend our lastdays in this world in nursing homes? Are
they going to remember us at the time of death? As one poet says: Life
is thing that turns on wheels. Death is thing that everyone feels. If
life was a thing that money could buy, the rich would live and thepoor
would die. Allah, in his wisdom, has made it so that the richand the
poor, together must go.