بِسْمِ اللهِ
الرَّحْمّانِ الرَّحِيمِ,
وَصَلَّى اَللَّهُ عَلَى
سَيِّدِنّا مُحَمَّدٍ
وَأَلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ
وَسَلَّمَ
اَلْحَمْدُ
لِلَّهِ رَبِّ اِلْعَالَمِينَ، وَأَفْضَلُ الصَّلآةِ وَأَتَّمُ التَّسْلِيمِ
عَلَى سِيِّدِنّا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى أَلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، وَرَضِىَ اللهُ
تَعَالَى عَنِ السَّاداتِ التَّابِعِينَ، وَالْعُلَمَآءِ
الْعَامِلِينَ، وَالأئِمَةِ الأرْبَعَةِ اِلْمُجْتَهِدِينَ، وَمُقَلِّدِيهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ
اِلدِّينِ. أَمَّا بَعْدُ:
In the
name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Peace and blessings of Allah be
upon our master Muhammad, his Family and Companions. All praises are due to Allah,
the Lord of the worlds, and the best prayers (afdalu as-salaati) and most abundant peace (attamu at-tasleemi)
be upon Muhammad our master (sayyidina) Muhammad, upon his family (alihi), and Companions (sahbihi),
all of them (ajma’een). May Allah, the Most High, be pleased with
the masters (as-saadaati) of the Taabi’een and the right-acting ‘ulamaa’ and the four
Imaams who exercised independent judgment and those who follow them until the Day of Judgment. As to what follows (amma ba’d):
Allah
ta`ala says:
وَلتَكُنُ
مِنكُم أُمَّةً يَدعُونَ
إِلَى الْخَيرِ وَيَأمَرُون
بِالمَعرُوفِ وَيَنهَونَ
عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ وَ أُلَئِكَ
هُمُ الْمُفْلِهحُونَ
“Let there emerge from amongst you a community, calling to excellence, commanding what is good, and
forbidding indecency. It is they who are successful”
And the words of His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace;
))من رأى منكم منكراً فليغيره
بيده، فإن لم يستطع فبلسانه،
فإن لم يستطع فبقلبه؛
وذلك أضعف الإيمان(( رَوَاهُ
مُسْلِمٌ
“He among you who sees an evil must change it with his hands.
If he is not able to do that then he must change it with his tongue. And
if he is unable to do that, then he must change it with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith.” There are the words of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace as related by at-Tirmidhi:
والّذي
نفسي بيده لتأمرون بالمعروف
ولتهون عن المنكر أو ليوشكن
اللّه يبعث عليكم عقابًا
منه ثمّ تدعونه فلا يستجاب
لكم
“I swear by the One in Whose hand is my soul, You should command
the good and forbid indecency or Allah will soon dispatch against you a punishment from Himself. Then you will supplicate
Him and He will not answer you.”
This is a small risaalah from Abu Muhammad Na’eem Abdullahi regarding
the modern misuse of the term “Imam”. I was motivated
to write this letter after reading a letter called “Playing Ping Pong with the Imamate”. I found this letter to be highly deceptive in nature. It was
written concerning a masjid that is having internal problems – fitnah.
This fitnah is related to the Imam who was hired to lead the prayers and teach classes; and the ability
or right of the Amir - who hired him - to also be able to fire him.
This issue is explosive, to say the least. There
are people on both sides of the issue and a lot of innocent common people caught in the middle. These innocent believers have become more confused about the deen of Allah, as a result of this
fitnah. It is not my intention to address this fitnah in its entirety. However, as stated above, I’ve decided to restrict my discourse to flagrant
misuse of the term “Imam”. Success is with Allah!
In Arabic, certain words have two connotations, the unrestricted (al-mutlaq)
and the restricted (al-muqayyad). For example, when the word jihad
is used unrestrictedly, it means jihad with the sword, i.e. fighting in the way of Allah. When other types of jihad are meant, they must be qualified or restricted such as jihad bil qalb
– jihad of the heart, jihad bil lisaan – jihad of the tongue by word of mouth, and so on. Likewise, when the term imam is used unrestrictedly (mutlaq), it means
the Amir, Sultan or Khalifah, which is an overall leadership embracing all religious and temporal affairs
- undertaken on behalf of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When
the imamate is restricted (muqayyad) it may mean the leader of a particular group or institution such as imam as
- salaah (leader of the prayer) or imam al-masjid (leader of the mosque), etc.
Abdullahi Dan Fodio further illustrated this point in the second chapter of his book Diya ‘l-Hukaam: “Realize that appointing the Imam is obligatory upon the Muslims according
to the consensus of the shari`a. Al-Laqaani said, "This is addressed to
the entire Ummah from the moment he, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, died until the establishment of the Hour. For when the people who loose and bind establish it, then the responsibility is removed
from the rest. And there is no difference of opinion concerning that, regardless
if it is a time of tribulation or not."
It is obvious that he is speaking of the Khalifah, even though he used the
word “Imam”. He further illustrates this point when he said:
وفي الفواكه الدّوانى
للنّفراوى - والإمامة
أربعة أقسام: إمامة وحى
وهى النّبوة, وإمامة وراثة وهى العلم, وإمامة
عبادة وهى إمامة الصّلاة,
وإمامة مصلحة وهى الخلافة
العظمى لإقامة مصلحة
جميع الأمة ".
“In
the Fawaakih ad-Diwaani of an-Nafrawi[1]; "The imamate is in four divisions:
[1] the Imam which receives revelation - this is prophecy (an-nubuuwa);
[2] the Imam of inheritance - this is knowledge;
[3] the Imam of worship - this is the imam of salaat; and
[4] the Imam of authority - this is the great vicegerency (khilaafa) in order
to enact the overall welfare of the entire Ummah.”
All of the above meanings were appropriate to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. But whenever it is applied absolutely, it changes to another meaning, which is the
general leadership (riyaasat `aamat) regarding religious and worldly matters as a representative (niyaaba) of
the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. It is for this reason the
Imams of the Muslims are called Khulafa."
Shaykh ‘Uthman dan
Fodio in his book Bayaan al Wujuub al Hijrah, quoting from Diyaa’ al-Khulafa’, said
“the required qualifications of an Amir are eleven. He must be:
1.
a Muslim, for an unbeliever cannot be made imam according to ijma’;
2. a just man, for an unjust person may act arbitrarily and may transgress,
so that people are deprived of their rights;
3.
male;
4.
a free man;
5.
adult;
6.
of sound mind;
7. a mujtahid (one qualified to give independent judgments
in both the ‘roots’ and ‘branches’ of the law, if such a man can be found; if not a “follower”
(muqallid) will do;
8. courageous, not afraid of
facing the enemy and enforcing the prescribed penalties (huduud);
9. a man of sound judgment and diplomacy in handling affairs, capable
of being strict when necessary and lenient where leniency is required;
10. a
man able to execute his decisions and commands;
11. in the case of the supreme Imam (Amir ul-Mu’mineen) he
has to be from the tribe of Quraysh if one can be found who fulfils the previous requirements; otherwise he should be from
Kinana; in the absence of such a Kinani, he should be a descendant of Ismaa’eel; if such a person is not to be found,
the a non-Arab should be installed.”
He later made mention of a difference of opinion – among the classical,
upright scholars - regarding points seven through nine.
It
is clear, for anyone with eyes, that the above-mentioned traits and prerequisites are those of an Amir, Sultan
or Khalifah not the Imam of Salah, or the Imam of the Masjid (Imam ur-Raatib).
The
author of the article “Playing Ping Pong with the Imamate” says,
“To question of whether an imam is a mere employee, unable to make independent decisions regarding
the Muslims under his charge, or to even suggest that the imam of a masjid in the United States is responsible to his title
and position and not to the people whom he leads in prayer or addresses during Jumah or teaches, marries, or advices, is the most insidiously preposterous notion that I have heard in along time. The fact
that the matter is even under contention is an ominous sign that we have lost
the ability to distinguish truth from falsehood which is the very reason why people need and deserve knowledgeable imams in
the first place. The position of the imam is not independent, it is interdependent.
You cannot have an imam without having a ma'moom (follower). Furthermore, a ma'moom
without an imam is in spiritual jeopardy. The Prophet (SAWS) said; "I enjoin
you to be in community for verily the wolf devours the stray sheep". There does
not exist in the religion of Islam, any circumstance where the imam does not have authority over the parameters of his domain,
except in the case of insanity, in which he has neither authority nor accountability, or, in the case of certain types of
incapacity, such as blindness, mental retardation, or quadriplegia. Courage is
one of the conditions of the imam according to the majority of scholars. However most of them consider courage applicable
as a condition only in the imaatul- kubraa (the Caliphate) and even then, none of the scholars of Islam past or present ,
consider cowardice as a valid reason for the removal of an imam. The imam's authority is nullified when he commands the commission
of sin or act of disobedience to Allah, or to His Prophet (SAWS).
He further states, “
“The extent and limits of an imam's authority or domain can vary according to circumstance that is
determined by many factors. When the imam is compelled to seek permission, to
obey or follow the whim of a subordinate, or employer in areas that come under his domain and responsibility, the position
of the imamate is compromised. When the salary, home, or other type of compensation of the imam is leveraged against his conscience
or against the proofs by which he is bound, then it becomes thulm.”
This is what I call the deliberate mixing of apples and oranges. The novice would read this article and assume that the prayer leader has all of the authority and rights
that is mentioned in his discourse, which is not the case. The fact of the matter
is, the Imam of Salah or the Imam of the Masjid is an appointment that is made by the Amir. It is a paid position. With an Amir
appointing an Imam (of Salah) and paying him he has no reason to be absent from his post. If the Imam (of Salah) is not doing his job he can easily be admonished or replaced by the
Amir. The amazing thing about the author of this article and those who
advance the same position, is the fact that they don’t enjoin the people to organize themselves under the authority
of an Amir! They quote all of the proofs for it and then give that authority
(of the Amir) to the prayer leader.
Shaykh
Uthman ibn Fudi said in his book Umdat al-Bayaan,
وَشُرُوطُ اِلإِمَامِ خَمْسَةٌ: أَن يَّكُونَ ذَكَرًا
مُّسْلِمًا عَاقِلاً
عَادِلاً بَالِغًا عَالِمًا بِمَا لاَ تَصِحُّ
الصّلاَةُ إِلاَّ بِهِ.
“The prerequisites of the imam are five: [1]
that he be male; [2] Muslim; [3] rational; [4] just; and [5] mature. He should be knowledgeable of what makes the prayer valid.”
The Shaykh didn’t feel the need to specify the term “imam” in this section
because the section is in the chapter of prayer (Salah).
Imam Ibn Abi Zayd said clearly himself in his Risaalah that,
وَ يَؤُمَّ النَّاسَ
أَفْضَلُهُمْ وَ أَفْقَهُهُمْ
. وَلا تَؤُمُّ
الْمَرْأَةُ فِي فَرِيضَةٍ
وَلا نَافِلَةٍ لا رِجَالاً
وَ لا نِسَاءً.
“The one who leads the people in prayer, is the best of them (afdaluhum) and the most knowledgeable
(afqahuhum) of them. The woman does not lead, in an obligatory prayer
or in the supererogatory prayer, neither men nor women.”
It has been related by an-Nasa’i and Ibn Habaan, on the authority of `Irfaja
who said that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
" ستكون بعدي هنات
وهنات فمن رأيتموه فارق
الجماعة أو يريد أن يفرّق
أمر أمّة محمّد كائنًا
من كان فاقتلوه فإن يد
اللّه غلى الجماعة وإن
الشّيطان مع من فارق الجماعة."
“There will be shortcomings and shortcomings. When you see those who seek to disassociate with the jama`at (group) or those who seek to dismantle
the affair of the community of Muhammad, whoever he may be, then fight him. For
the hand of Allah is over the jama`at and Satan is with one who seeks to disassociate with the jama`at.”
As-Sindi said in his Hashiyya about the above prophetic tradition: “The meaning of ‘those who seek to disassociate with the jama`at’,
these are those who dissent from or disagree with what the Muslims have agreed about, by causing division among the Muslims
and causing discord between them.” He also said about the above ‘For,
the hand of Allah is over the jama`at’, this means that the protection of Allah ta`ala and His divine assistance
is with the jama`at of the Muslims when they agree upon something. Thus,
whoever desires to bring about discord among them also desires to remove the divine assistance of Allah from them.”
Those
who have thrown their proverbial hats in the ring, on this issue, have done nothing other than to make matters worse. The common people (al-‘awaamm) in the masjid have become divided
- arguing about siyaasah (politics & diplomacy) and fiqh issues they know nothing about. The shayateen have crawled from under their rocks and cranked up the slander mill, further polarizing
the community. The chief culprits of this crime are the ones who claim to have
the knowledge. May Allah forgive them and us!
I
intended to shed some light on the term “imam” and how its meaning and usage vary based upon the context
in which it is used. I hope that the Allah will bless this effort. To read the author’s article, he said one should check his website in a few days for a more comprehensive
version: www.lotustreepublications.com. May Allah bless him in his efforts, Ameen!
Success is with Allah!
