Attributes of the Believers as defined in Suraa Al Mu'minun

Part 1/2
One of the pure miracles of the Prophet (s.a.w.) that the Most
Merciful Allah has bestowed uponhim, was aiding him with an elite
community of believers who fully understood the meaningof Iman. The
nature of that early Qur'anic generation of believers was governed by
their righteous deeds and virtuous attributes. Today, the Muslim
societies are starving forsuch qualities and attributes that will
uplift their faith and strengthen their consciousness with the Exalted
Creator. The success of the entire Muslim nation in this life and the
next, is only possible when they truly comprehend the meaning of Iman,
and hence, reflect the noble attributes of the believers.
"Successful indeed are the believers
Those who offer their Salat (prayers)
with all solemnity and full submissiveness
And those who turn away from Al-Laghw
(dirty, evil vain talk, falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden)
And those who pay their Zakat"
These exalted verses are from Surah Al-Mu' minun which takes its name
from the first verse. The name of the Surah reflects its theme and
defines its subject, in thatit begins with the attributes of the
believers and digresses into the signs of Iman in theoneself and in
the universe.
The tone of the Surah is that of declaration and calm argument, of
sentimental logic and of feelings that inspire the thought and the
consciousness. The mood which dominates the Surah is that which its
subject presents, Al-Iman (the Faith). Its opening verse pictures the
seen ofsolemnity and full submissiveness in Salat , " Those who offer
their Salat (prayers) with all solemnity and full submissiveness" ,
followed by the splendid description of the believers and the
attributes they possess.
The fact that th e people who have accepted the Message of the Prophet
(s.a.w.) have started acquiring noble qualities of character, is a
practicalproof of the truth of the message. According to a tradition
related by 'Urwan bin Zubair, ' Umar(r.a.a.) who had embraced Islam by
that time, said: " This Surah was revealed in my presence and I myself
observed the state of the Prophet (s.a.w.) during its revelation. When
the revelation ended, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) remarked: 'on this
occasion, ten such verses have been sent d own to me, that the one who
measures up to them, willmost surely go to paradise'. Then he recited
the initial verses of the Surah" [Ahmad, Tirmithy, Nassa'ey, Hakem].
"Successful indeed are the believers". This is the true promise and
the declaration of success to the believers. "It is a Promise of
Allah, and Allah fails not in His Promise" [30:6]. The"Believers" ,
who have attained true success, both individuals and the Jama'ah, are
those who have accepted the Message of Muhammad (s.a.w.), and have
acknowledged him as their guide, and followedthe way of life taught by
him.
This assertion cannot be fully appreciated unless one keeps in view
the background on which it was made. On the one hand, there were the
well to do and prosperous chiefs of Makkah, the opponents of Islam,
whose businesses were thriving and who were enjoyi ng every good thing
of life, and on the other hand there were the followers of Islam, a
majority of whom were either poor from the beginning or had been
reduced to poverty by ruthless antagonism to Islam. Therefore, the
assertion, "Successful indeed are the believers" with whichthe
discourse begins, wasmeant to tell the disbelievers in every age that
the criterion of success and failure that they had in mind was
notcorrect. It was based on misconceptions besides being transitory
and limited in nature, it led toreal failure and imaginary success. On
thecontrary, the followers ofMuhammad (s.a.w.) whom they regarded as
failures were truly successful, because by accepting the invitatio n
to the Right Guidance given by the Prophet (s.a.w.), they had struck
abargain which would lead them to true success and everlasting bliss
in this world, as well as in the Hereafter. Whereas by rejecting the
Message,the opponents had incurred loss and would meet with the evil
consequences both in this world and in the next. This is the main
theme of the Surah and the whole discourse, from beginning to end,
ismeant to impress the same.
The noble characteristics of the believers pointed out in the next fe
w verses are the arguments to prove the above assertion. It is these
characteristics that depicts the Muslim character of the highest
eminence, that of Muhammad (s.a.w.) the best of Allah's creation, whom
Allah described in His Noble Qur'an, "And verily, you [O
Muhammad(s.a.w.)] are on an exalted standard of character" . When
'Ai'sha (r.a.a.) was asked about the character of the Prophet
(s.a.w.), she replied: "His character was the Qur'an", then
sherecited: "Successful indeed are the believers" till "And t hose who
strictly guard their (five compulsory congregational) Salawat (at
their fixed stated hours)". Then she said:"That is how The
Prophet(s.a.w.) was" [Nasa'ey].
"Those who offer their Salat (prayers) with all solemnity and full
submissiveness". Khashi'un in the Text is from Khushu'' (to bow down,
to express humility) which is a condition of the heart and the body.
Khushu' of the heart is to fear and stand in awe to Allah, and Khushu'
of the body is to bow one's head and lower one's gaze and voice in
Allah's Company. In Salat , one is required to show Khushu' both of
the heart and of the body, and this is the essence of the prayer. When
the Prophet (s.a.w.) once saw a person offering his prayer as well as
playing with his beard, he remarked: "Had he Khushu' in his heart, his
body would have manifested it". Though Khushu' is actually a condition
of the heart, asstated by the above tradition, it is manifestedby the
body as a matter of course. One should neither turn to the right or
left, shift about or incline side ways, but must fix the gaze on the
place where the forehead would rest in prostration. Similarly, it
isdisrespectful that one should stand stiffly erect, recite the verses
of the Qur'an in a loud resounding voice, or singthem, or belch and
yawn repeatedly and nosily. It is also not approved that one should
offer the Prayer in a hurry. The injunction is that each article of
the prayer should be performed in perfect peace and tranquillity, and
unless one article has been completely performed , the next should not
be begun.
Along with this etiquette of the body, it is also important that one
should avoid thinking irrelevant things during the Prayer by purifying
the thought and keeping the mind in full harmony and tune with the
tongue. One should also try the utmost to ensure that the mind and
heart are wholly turned towards Allah in order to sense His Grace and
to worship Him solely.
" And those who turn away from Al-Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain
talk,falsehood, and all that Allah has forbidden)". Literally, Laghw
is anything nonsensical, meaningless and vain, which is no way
conductive of achieving one' s goal and purpose in life. The believers
pay no heed to such useless things and show no inclination or interest
in them. If by chance they see such things being i ndulged in, they
keep away and avoid them scrupulously, and treat them with utmost
indifference. This attitude has been described in Al-Furqan [25:72]: "
.. if they pass by some evil play or evil talk,they pass by it with
dignity".
This is indeed one of the outstanding characteristics of the believer.
There are many thoughts that distract thebeliever from evil vain talk.
His attention is diverted towards the remembrance of Allah and the
contemplation ofHis signs in the universe. He is also occupied with
obligations in Aqeedah such as purification of the soul, holding
steadfast to Iman , enjoining what is good and forbidding what is
wrong, protecting the community from corruption, and the obligation of
exercising Jihad for the sake of Alla h. Hence, He is a person who
feels the burden of responsibility at all times,he regards the world
as aplace of test, and the life is a limited time allowed for the
test. This feeling makes him/her behave seriously and responsibly
throughout life and spends each moment of his/her life on works which
are useful and productive in his ultimateresults. So much so that even
in matters of recreation and sport, he makes a choice of only those
things which prepare him for higher ends in life and do not result in
mere wastage oftime. For him time is not something to be killed but
used profitably and productively.
Besides this, the believer is a person who possesses a right thinking
mind, pure nature and fine taste. He has no inclination to indecent
things and can talk useful and healthy things but cannot indulge in
idle talk. On the authority of Abu Huraira (r.a.a.), the Prophet
(s.a.w.) said: "Lethim who believes in Allahand the Last Day either
speak good or keep silent" [Bukhari and Muslim]. The believer has a
fine taste of humour, but is not given to jesting, joking and
ridicule, nor can he endure dirty jokes. For him a society in which
the ears are never immune from abusive language, back-biting, slander
lying, dirty songs,fortune tellers and indecent talk is a source of
torture and agony. A characteristic of the promised Paradise is:
"NoLaghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk) will they hear therein, nor
any sinful speech (like backbiting, etc.)" [56:25].
"And those who pay theirZakat". the word Zakat literally means
purification and development without obstruction. As an Islamic term,
it implies both the portion of wealth taken out for the purpose of
purifying the rest of wealth and the act of purification itself. The
words of the original Text mean that the believer constantly practices
purification. Thus the meaning is not confined to paying off of Zakat
dues only, but it is extended to self- purification which include
purification of morals as well as wealth, property and life in
general. This purification is thus, not limited to one's own self, but
includes the purification of the lives of other people as well. So the
verse means: "The believers are the people who purify themselves
aswell as others". This fact has been stated at other places in the
Qur'an, for instance, "Successful is hewho practiced purification and
remembered his Lord and prayed" [87:14-15]. But this verse is more
comprehensive in meaning because it stresses the purification of both
society and one's own person. This was also confirmed by the Prophet
(s.a.w.) when he said: " To smile in the company of your brother is a
charity. To command to do good deeds and to prevent others from doing
evil is charity. To guide a person in a place were he can go astray is
a charity. To remove troublesome things like thorns and bones from the
road is a charity. To pour water from your jugof your brother is a
charity. To guide a person with defective vision is charity for you"
[Bukhari].
References
1. S.Abul A'la Al-Maududi, The Meaning of the Qur'an, vol. VIII p4-10.
2. Sayyid Qutb, In the Shade of theQur'an, part 18 p2451-2455.

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