Understandling priorities of Practicing Islam (Abdullah Cheng)
2024.05.24 主麻講稿 Jumuah Khutbah
Allah has blessed us with Islam, the perfect way of life, the ultimate guidance for us to achieve success both in this life and in the afterlife. The best way to implement Islam into our life is by following the model that our Prophet (SAW) has exemplified for us. The most authentic and correct understanding of Islam is the understanding of the Prophet (SAW) and his Companions.
When we face any problem in our life, whether it is a family dispute, financial crisis, conflict, emotion, depression, oppression, instead of immersing and being obsessed with the issue itself, we have to put things into a larger perspective, and use the Qur’an and Sunnah as our criterion and standard to judge between truth and falsehood, between good and evil, and between what is important and less important. As Muslims, one of the qualities we should bear is the ability to set our priorities in the right order. It’s not just about knowing what should be done and what shouldn’t be done, but also “when” and “how” things should be done.
There is a very famous Hadith (Sahih Bukhari 1299) that illustrates the example of setting our priorities. During the Battle of Mu’tah, the Prophet (SAW) sent 3 of his closest companions as the leaders for this battle: Zayd ibn Harithah, which was his adopted son, Ja’far ibn Abi Talib, the cousin of the Prophet (SAW), he is also the brother of Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Abdullah ibn Rawahah, one of the earliest companions among the Ansar. All three of them were chosen as the leaders for this battle, however, they were martyred and died during the battle. When the Prophet (SAW) knew that all three of them passed away, he was so sad that he could no longer stand and had to sit down. The women of Ja’far also heard the news that Ja’far was martyred, and they were not only crying, but also wailing, which means they were screaming loudly and saying things that were not appropriate.
A man heard the women of Ja’far wailing, so he went to the Prophet (SAW) and told him about this. So the Prophet (SAW) told him to stop them. Then he went, but they didn’t listen so he came back to the Prophet. The Prophet (SAW) told him again to stop them, so he went, but they still didn’t stop. Then for the third time, he told the Prophet: “Ya Rasulallah, Wallahi they are not listening”. So the Prophet (SAW) told him to go and put dust in their mouths. A’isha saw this, so she went to that man and told that man: “May Allah stick your nose to the dust” (You are the one who should have his mouth filled with dust) “You couldn’t fulfill the order of the Prophet (SAW), and you also couldn’t make him feel better”
Because the Prophet (SAW) was suffering from grief. He has just lost 3 of his most beloved companions. Also for the women of Ja’far, it’s the first time they are experiencing a tragedy like this, and they knew that they were not supposed to cry and wail like that, but their emotions took over them and they couldn’t control themselves.
Even when the Prophet (SAW) said “to put dust in their mouths”, it is just an expression, it doesn’t literally mean to actually put dust into their mouths, but because he already told the man to stop the women and he still couldn’t, so what else does he expect the Prophet (SAW) to do? And that is why, A’isha was angry seeing this, because this person isn’t very wise. The Prophet (SAW) was already suffering from sadness, it was not appropriate to go and ask about something so trivial at this time. Even though his understanding of the prohibition of wailing is right, the way he prioritized this problem was wrong.
This is only a small example of an inappropriate prioritization of our religion, but when our priorities are all mixed up and not arranged according to Islam, it could easily lead to extremism and hypocrisy. This means that a person could be doing the best deeds, like praying Tahajjud, giving charity, fasting, but still enter the Hellfire because of prioritizing his duties in the wrong order. And how does that happen? By being overly obsessed with one particular issue and ignoring the bigger picture and far more serious issues.
Allah says in Surah Ali ‘Imran verse 7:
هُوَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أَنزَلَ عَلَيْكَ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ مِنْهُ ءَايَـٰتٌۭ مُّحْكَمَـٰتٌ هُنَّ أُمُّ ٱلْكِتَـٰبِ وَأُخَرُ مُتَشَـٰبِهَـٰتٌۭ
(He is the One Who has revealed to you ˹O Prophet˺ the Book, of which some verses are precise—they are the foundation of the Book—while others are ambiguous.)
فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ زَيْغٌۭ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ مَا تَشَـٰبَهَ مِنْهُ ٱبْتِغَآءَ ٱلْفِتْنَةِ وَٱبْتِغَآءَ تَأْوِيلِهِۦ
(Those with deviant hearts follow the ambiguous verses seeking ˹to spread˺ doubt through their ˹false˺ interpretations)
وَمَا يَعْلَمُ تَأْوِيلَهُۥٓ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ
(but no one can grasp their ˹full˺ meaning except Allah.)
وَٱلرَّٰسِخُونَ فِى ٱلْعِلْمِ يَقُولُونَ ءَامَنَّا بِهِۦ كُلٌّۭ مِّنْ عِندِ رَبِّنَا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّآ أُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَلْبَـٰبِ
(As for those who have knowledge, they say, “We believe in this ˹Quran˺—it is all from our Lord.” Only the people of reason will be mindful of this)
There are endless things that are clearly mentioned in the Qur’an for us to spend time learning and studying, but some people choose to go for the ambiguous things in the religion and want to know what they mean. Sometimes it could be because they want to show people that they are very involved in this religion, and they start assigning priorities to the religion according to their own taste, customizing the religion the way they want, and then coming up with new creative ideas without any clear evidence from the Qur’an or the Sunnah, which eventually causes Fitna and divisions in our community.
When someone is even struggling with praying 5 times a day, when someone is having doubts about believing in Allah and understanding the concept of Tawhid, are we supposed to criticize them for not memorizing the Qur’an, not wearing the hijab, not eating Halal food, drinking alcohol? The verse about hijab, for example, was revealed around the 16th year after the Prophet started his mission, for 16 years the Muslim women didn’t have the ruling of hijab, yet some of us today prioritize it as if it is among the 5 pillars of Islam.
When you are so obsessed with Halal food, if the food is Halal or not, if the butcher is praying 5 times a day or not, but at the same time you are dealing with Riba (interest), the food you buy and eat is still not Halal.
When you are praying 5 times a day and even praying Tahajjud, fasting every week, giving charity, but you are being nasty to your neighbors, you’re not concerned with what’s going on with the Muslim community, with the Ummah, with the people suffering in Palestine and other places in the world, how is this even Islam? Is this how the Prophet (SAW) taught us to behave?
Brothers and sisters,
Allah describes our Ummah in the Qur’an as “أُمَّةً وَسَطًا”, which is a “middle nation”, a “moderate nation”, a group of people who bring balance to their religion.
Our Prophet (SAW) also said: “the religion of Islam is made easy, and whoever overburdens himself will be overwhelmed by it” (Sahih Bukhari)
So let us continue to reflect on our priorities in life, and put our duties in the order they deserve. May Allah protect us from the trials of this life, may Allah continue to guide us on the path of the righteous people, may Allah bring harmony and peace to our Ummah.