Mixing and Isolation (Part 1) (note sharing)

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This is another part of my notes which is very crucial to let other ppl know too
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All praise is due to Allah and may Allah's peace and blessings be upon the prophet Muhammad. () and on all those who follow the path of righteousness until the Last Day.

The practice of mixing and isolation—these are two elements that we find from various statements of the Prophet Muhammad () with regards to the spiritual life of the believer.

And it’s a hadeeth which was narrated by ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (), in which he said [and this is a well-known hadeeth],

“The Muslim who mixes with people and patiently bears their harm is better than the Muslim who does not mix with people nor bear their harm.”

Collected by at-Tirmithee and Ibn Maajah and authenticated in Saheeh Sunan at-Tirmithee, vol. 2, pp. 306-7, no. 2035.

There are other narrations of it in which on other occasions the Prophet Muhammad () said virtually the same thing, but he may have changed some of the wording slightly. He said in another narration, for example, “”—“the believer who mixes with people is better (more beloved to Allah) than the believer who doesn’t mix with people and bear their harm.” So this hadeeth basically has an encouragement for mixing with people and a discouragement for isolation…for isolating one’s self. We are talking about spiritual matters…to develop one’s self spiritually.

There is another hadeeth in which the Prophet () speaking about times that would come…as society becomes more corrupted, etc, he was narrated as saying by Abu Sa’eed Al-Khudree (), “Soon there will come a time when the best wealth a Muslim will have will be sheep which he will take to the mountain tops and places where rain falls, fleeing for the sake of his religious commitment from tribulation.” And in another narration when he was asked about who are the best of people, he said, “A believer in a mountain pass who worships Allah and leaves the people alone.” So we have that set of narrations, which seem to indicate preferability of isolation and then this very strong narration where he openly is saying that mixing with people and bearing their harm is better. Again, these ahaadeeth (as we spoke before) when we look at the various statements of the Prophet () we have to look at the full range. Because had we read one only, or other of the ahaadeeth, we could have come to the conclusion straight off the top that it’s not good to be alone—the other one: it’s better to be alone. But we needed to put them both together and look at the context in which they are being said to understand that ultimately the issue of being alone or mixing with people will vary according to the circumstance…according to the person involved/the times that it’s taking place/the locations…a number of different factors there can either make the situation one where it is obligatory for you to mix with people…recommended/disliked or prohibited…depending on the circumstance.

So as has been pointed out, in a circumstance (we take the general circumstances today) where people have some consciousness of Allah—there is some safety in society; we are not in a situation of trials and tribulations…you are able to communicate with people/convey advice to the general public, etc.—in such circumstances, if you have knowledge which can benefit the people then it is obligatory for you to mix with the people. This is when the main hadeeth (hadeeth number 99) comes into play. You have knowledge which can benefit people—there is no danger in the process, then it is obligatory on you. This is what you should be doing…you should mix with people. And he said, “…and be patient with their harm” because in the process of mixing with people—of course, there’s going to be evil elements there. You’re dealing in the society, there’s good and there’s evil. And if you are mixing with that society with the idea of trying to promote the good, then the forces of evil will be arrayed against you—because the forces of evil perceive what you perceive as good as being evil. They are trying to promote their own view (which is an evil view)—they present that as the good and what you are promoting as evil. Say, just as a simple point, where Islam stands for chastity (we were speaking about this earlier—importance of chastity. Islam is strongly against extramarital relations). In the past, this was a good thing; most societies considered it to be a good thing. Some, even in Europe (today when we think of the West being so licentious—in places wide open anybody can do anything) in the past they had a thing called a “chastity belt” which was a metal contraption which was put around the waist of the woman, covering her private parts so that she would remain chaste at the time of marriage…to ensure it. The key is given to the husband…he unlocks it…obviously they had a high premium on chastity, to go to those kinds of extremes. So that was the past, society has changed—secular democratic society…whatever the people feel is good; is good, whatever they don’t feel is good; is not good. So the whole scale of good and evil now changes. Good is “free/freedom/free sex” (that’s how it used to be called in the old days—free sex.) With the development of the condom and contraceptive pills, then the consequences of sex outside of marriage were removed. The big one was the girl getting pregnant, it was a huge problem—so you solved that problem…so free sex. So adultery is no longer a crime, take it off the books. Fornication—take it off the books. So those people who say you should not…now they are looked at as extreme. These are extreme attitudes. So in that society, where you might be promoting chastity…sex after marriage, the solution for AIDS…is not just “get condoms”. The solution for AIDS is stop “free sex”. If sex remains within marriage—AIDS will not spread…very little of it—the cases of it that spread because of transfusion is very, very small. The greater proportion for the spread of AIDS amongst heterosexuals is from promiscuity. A man having so many female partners, a woman having so many male partners—this is the main cause. So obviously, you see that’s the main cause…then the main solution is: correct it! That’s what Islam says: correct it. Now if you try to promote that, you will have an army arrayed against you because that is no longer considered “so good a thing” anymore. This is why our kids going to school now are threatened. Some sisters were just

telling me about how they had to pull their son out of school because the girls were on him…they would just not let him go. His name was ‘Umar, and because he wouldn’t go along with the girls and hang out…girlfriend/boyfriend thing, they started calling him “Gaymar”. This was only about an hour ago a sister was telling me that. She decided to take her son out of school and home-school him instead. Because it is something hurtful to him, etc. Why should he have to suffer that? This is the reality of the schools. So when we stand up for that wholesome way of marriage and sex in marriage and keeping things within limits is now looked at as being antiquated/oppressive/people’s freedoms are now limited…all these kind of things. So the bottom line is that when one takes that responsibility of carrying wholesome values/calling people to what is good/etc., then the forces that are opposed…the forces of evil will be arrayed against you. So you’re going to have to suffer—whether it’s the words of people, what they write about you. Maybe physical harm can even come. When different issues arise…they’ll paint things on your door, break your windows, all kinds of things can happen…all of this. But you have to be prepared, that what you are doing…what you are calling to is righteousness and goodness and then you have to be patient to suffer the consequences of that call. And this is what was exemplified by the Prophets, all of them. They called to righteousness and goodness and they suffered virtually in all cases—they suffered. But that should not deter us from understanding that that is still the best way…that is the better way.

As the Prophet Mohammad () had said, “The Muslim who mixes with people and patiently bears their harm is better than the Muslim who does not mix with people nor bear their harm”. As we said, this is in the circumstance where one is in a position to convey the message. They are not being hindered; not being threatened, etc. So the principle of patience comes to bear and that we know is among the higher qualities of the believers. That when one takes that route, then one is challenged to be patient and that when one responds and is patient in those circumstances we know that it raises our spiritual status. So we will grow in spirit in the midst of that struggle. Like the iron or the gold that is mixed in with ore…when you put the heat to it, then the pure metal comes out. This is a basic principle for faith. And that’s why the Prophet () had said, “The people who receive the most trials in life are the Prophets, then those most like them, then those most like them.” The Prophets of God receive the most trials. Normally we think of trials and tribulations as something for bad people. But this is not really the fact. The fact is that the Prophets of God, they receive the greatest trials. And that elevated their own status spiritually and they became the examples for the believers down through the ages.

So the basic recommendation then, as we said, is to be patient and we know so many verses in the Qur’an in which Allah () has spoken about those who are patient, saying (for example),

“Give glad tidings [of Paradise] for those who are patient”.

“Those who when calamity befalls them…”

“They say we belong to Allah, and to Him we must return”. [Al-Baqarah 155-156]

I know we normally are just saying this when somebody dies, but actually when you read the verse it doesn’t say “when somebody dies”; it just says “whenever a calamity befalls them”…whenever trials/difficulties…they are faced with that—it’s

“We belong to Allah and to Him we must return”. This is to remind ourselves we belong to God and we must return to him. Those trials are only temporary trials so we will be patient with it. And ultimately we know in those trials that there is good. Because if God has destined a particular trial for us, it means He has destined it for something good. The trial of Satan and Adam and Eve—it was a trial. Satan tricked Adam to eat from the tree. And we learn as we read that story…we learn from the story the methodology of the evil, the satanic forces and how it operates. But primarily, when Adam ate from the tree, he disobeyed God. And what was the good that came from that trial? Repentance…he laid down the practical principle of repentance as the basic means of salvation—salvation through repentance…because prior to the trial, Allah had already taught Adam and Eve how to repent because otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. Common sense tell us for God to have put them on trial and not taught them how to deal with that trial when they fail…because before He created them He already knew they were going to fail. So He already gave them the means of removing the sin from themselves. So once they disobeyed God, it became exposed. What their response was was to turn back to God in repentance.

These were the words that God had taught Adam and Eve. “Our Lord, we have oppressed ourselves. And if you do not forgive us and have mercy on us, we will be of those who are lost.” [Surah Al-A’raf : 23]

So when those sincere words of repentance were turned to God, God forgave them. So that good which came out…that good, righteous act of Adam and Eve in turning back to God in repentance; that was a huge, righteous act. So powerful, as the Prophet () 
described it

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