Q. The Prophet (peace be upon him) is quoted as saying that no one attains to true faith unless he loves God and His Messenger more than anyone else, including himself and his children. Does this contradict the Qur’anic instruction to the Prophet to make clear that he asks no reward from people for delivering God’s message? Why would he insist on such a standard of love, which is difficult to attain?
M. Khan
A. The Hadith you have mentioned is authentic. In fact there are several Hadiths to this effect, making clear that to be a true believer one must love the Prophet more than one loves himself, his parents, children and all mankind. Umar said once to the Prophet that he loved him above all others except himself. The Prophet said: “No, this is not enough. I must be dearer to you than your own self.” Umar said: “You are certainly dearer to me than myself.” The Prophet said: “Now, you have it, Umar.”
This is indeed the mark of true faith, when one places his faith in God above all else. One would then be ready to sacrifice everything for the cause of Islam. Such love is a mark of appreciation of the work the Prophet undertook in delivering and explaining God’s message to mankind. Without it we would not have known God’s guidance and we would have remained in ignorance. Look at societies, which choose to conduct their affairs without reference to divine guidance. You will see how misguided they can be on many issues, particularly morality as well as personal and social behavior. It is the Prophet who has saved us, and humanity, from such ignorance. Hence we should recognize what he has done and express our gratitude by dedicating such love to him.
Can we say that this love is his reward for undertaking his task and fulfilling his responsibilities? What benefit to him is this love of ours? Neither materially nor mentally does it give him any reward. It only benefits us because it helps us to realize the high standard we attain by embracing the Prophet’s guidance and following his example. Such appreciation of the Prophet’s role is very important in our endeavor to attain faith. Consider the Hadith that also includes another mark of true faith. This mark is that one “would hate to go back to disbelief as much as one would hate to be thrown in the fire.” Such Hadiths define standards. When we attain these, we are true believers. As for the Prophet’s reward, it comes only from God and it is all given in the life to come. No one had ever given him anything in return for delivering God’s message, and no one could be said to have done the Prophet a favor that made the Prophet indebted to him. Yet the Prophet has done us all the greatest favor anyone could have, namely, guiding us to true faith.
Traveling to Visit the Prophet’s Mosque
Q. People often say that they would travel to visit the Prophet’s grave and greet him. They cite certain Hadiths to justify their action. To my knowledge, these Hadiths are unauthentic. Could you please explain this and what should a visit to Madinah involve?
S. Haroon
A. The travel to Madinah must be aimed at visiting the Prophet’s mosque. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that “travel can be undertaken to visit only three mosques: the Sacred Mosque in Makkah, this mosque of mine, and the Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem).” This is an authentic Hadith. In another, the Prophet mentions that the reward of a prayer in the Aqsa Mosque is equal to that of 500 prayers elsewhere, except for the other two mosques. A prayer in the Prophet’s mosque in Madinah is equal to 1,000 prayers elsewhere, except for the Sacred Mosque in Makkah, where a prayer is equal to 100,000 prayers elsewhere. We visit these mosques because the Prophet told us that they have a special status. They were all built by prophets. The Sacred Mosque in Makkah was built by the prophets Abraham and Ishmael, and the Aqsa Mosque was built by the Prophet Jacob, while the mosque in Madinah was built by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon them all). To intend the travel to Madinah for any other purpose is wrong because it contradicts what the Prophet said. Of course we do not include here other types of travel, which do not have a religious purpose, such as travel for business, visiting family or friends, taking up a job, etc.
Starting a Day of Fasting
Q. When should we start our fasting day? Some people say that it starts 10 minutes before Fajr prayer is due; some say only 5 minutes before that; others maintain that it is at the point when Fajr is due and the call to prayer is made. Please advise.
I. Merchant
A. God has defined the start of the fasting day, saying in the Qur’an: “Eat and drink until you can see the white streak of dawn against the blackness of the night. Then resume the fast till nightfall.” (2: 187) So, the start is at dawn, when Fajr prayer is due, and the finish is at sunset when Maghrib prayer is due. There can be no further argument. Yet people have introduced something called Imsak, which means abstention from eating and drinking, and they established various beginnings for it: they put it at 20, 15, 10 or 5 minutes before dawn. They do so out of a desire ‘to be on the safe side’. Yet all this eagerness to make sure is unnecessary. God defined the time and we should keep to it.
Suppose a person wakes up five minutes before the Fajr prayer is due. He can manage to have a drink of milk or water and a bite before Fajr is due. If he does so, is his fasting valid? If those people who speak about observing Imsak time say that his fast is valid, then why start earlier? If they say it is not valid, they commit a huge error.
The point is that Islam does not like this idea of ‘keeping on the safe side’ in matters of worship. It opens the door for rigidity and adding hardship to acts of worship. What is very important about Islamic worship is what God says in the Qur’an, within the context of fasting: “God desires that you have ease. He does not desire that you be afflicted with hardship.” (2: 185) Thus scholars say that if you happen to be drinking a glass of water and you hear the call to Fajr prayer, do not stop your drink. You better finish it. This is because God desire what is easy for us.