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Saturday 14 November 2020

Who are the Rightly Guided?


Getting into the fold of Islam is one thing but adhering to its code of conduct in the light of the Divine Commandments contained in the Qur'an and Sunnah is the actual litmus test for the reverts. One has lived long adhering to the another faith and its the habits and lifestyle really gets grinded in one's way of living. Therefore when one embraces Islam, it takes time to shed away the older lifestyle and code of conduct of the older religion and adopt the new way of life which imposes many restrictions which become hard to really accept.

One of the habits or mindset is the shirk: Holding someone equal to or an associate of Allah or still following the religious deities and running over to them for their needs. This is specially seen in the Indian subcontinent where people with weak faith / Eeman prefer asking their deities for the fulfillment of their prayers rather than seeking help directly from Allah. It is these believers who get their faith tarnished and inadvertently get lost between the real truth and falsehood.

The following verse from  Surah 6. Al-An’am ( verse 82) points towards this direction and is of special significance for the reverts who may across believers who are tainting their faith by indulging into shirk: 

اَلَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَلَمۡ يَلۡبِسُوۡۤا اِيۡمَانَهُمۡ بِظُلۡمٍ اُولٰۤـئِكَ لَهُمُ الۡاَمۡنُ وَهُمۡ مُّهۡتَدُوۡنَ
Those who believe and did not tarnish their faith with wrong-doing for them there is security, and it is they who have been guided to the right way.'

The expression 'and did not tarnish their faith with wrong-doing' led some Companions to the misapprehension that perhaps this 'wrong-doing' signified 'disobedience'. But the Prophet (peace be on him) has made it clear that this wrong-doing signifies shirk (associating others with God in His divinity). The verse means, therefore, that they alone are fully secure and rightly-guided who believe in God and do not mix their faith with any polytheistic belief and practice.

Prophet Ibrahim Abraham, peace be upon him) was the first of the prophets who found out who the real God was and his journey to the truth began with the sun and then proceeded by way of the stars to his discovery of the One True God. Initially, he not only held the sun to be his Lord but even worshipped it, and that the same happened in connection with the moon. But when the truth had reveled unto him, he did not care for the consequences and even thrown into the fire but did not budge. 
It is interesting to learn that this incident, which is the starting-point of Abraham's prophetic career, has found no place in the Bible. It is mentioned only in the Talmud. The Talmudic version, however, is different from the Qur'anic version in two ways. First, in the Talmudic version Abraham's quest for the Truth begins with the sun and then proceeds by way of the stars to his discovery of the One True God. Second. it states that Abraham not only held the sun to be his Lord but even worshipped it, and that the same happened in connection with the moon.
Ibn Kathir Explanation:
Those who worship Allah alone without partners, will acquire safety on the Day of Resurrection, and they are the guided ones in this life and the Hereafter.

Al-Bukhari recorded that `Abdullah said, "When the Ayah, (and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong).) was revealed, the Companions of the Prophet said, `And who among us did not commit Zulm against himself' The Ayah, (Verily! Joining others in worship with Allah is a great Zulm (wrong) indeed.) [31:13], was later revealed.'' 

Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah said, "When this Ayah was revealed, (It is those who believe and confuse not their belief with Zulm (wrong),) it was hard on the people. They said, `O Allah's Messenger! Who among us did not commit Zulm against himself' He said, (It is not what you understood from it. Did you not hear what the righteous servant (Luqman) said, (O my son! Join not in worship others with Allah. Verily! Shirk is a great Zulm (wrong) indeed.)) [31:13]. Therefore, it is about Shirk. 
Therefore, the sense of the ayah is that one who enters the bliss of emaan and then does not associate anyone with the Being and the Attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala shall remain safe from punishment and considered guided.
We must therefore guard ourselves against everything, specially the shirk, which may tarnish our good deeds and get us excluded from the rightly guided believers. 
Only those who believe in Allah and then do not go on to mix up their faith with injustice shall be the people who can hope to be safe against punishment. They are the guided ones in this life and the Hereafter. Here, Zulm [injustice] refers to Shirk [associating partners with Allah].
May Allah help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'anYou may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Photo | Reference: | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation has been taken from the Qur'ān officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [2]  
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

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