Safety & Security in Islam - Dr Ahsan Hanif

Safety & Security in Islam

When Allah ordered the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam) thousands of years ago to go to Mecca and to leave his wife and his newborn baby son in what was then a barren land — a land in which there was no food, no vegetation, no water, no people, no structures and no buildings — to leave them there and to abandon them, the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam), as Allah recorded in the Quran, made a du'a. And Allah narrated this du'a due to its importance in two separate locations within the Quran.

Allah mentions the du'a of Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam), and in Surah Ibrahim, the second narration of that du'a — from all of the du'as and from all of the things that the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam) could have asked for, for his wife and his son as he was leaving them in the land of Mecca — he could have asked for food and provision, could have asked for water, could have asked for people to come and look after them, could have asked for so many of the blessings of Allah. But both of those narrations of the du'a mention a single blessing that the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam) emphasized:

"O my Lord, make this land, make the city of Mecca a safe and secure land, make it a sanctuary." From all of the du'as, from all of the things, from all of the blessings that he could have sought from Allah, he sought this one single blessing.

And that is why the scholars of tafsir (rahimahumullah) say that the reason why the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam) chose the blessing of safety and security and peace — the reason why he chose that blessing and made du'a for that particular blessing — is because nothing else can take place until you have that blessing. Iman cannot flourish until you have a safe community. You cannot worship Allah the way that you wish and the way that Allah loves until you live in a safe community. Your family, your children, your wealth, your health — all of these blessings of Allah that He bestows upon us — they are worthless if we don't live in a safe and secure environment. You can't enjoy them to their optimum benefit unless you have safety and security.

And so the Prophet Ibrahim (alayhi as-salam) made du'a for safety and security. That is what he wanted for his wife and for his son Ismail (alayhi as-salam). And that is why Allah granted him that du'a, as Allah says in the Quran — and We made the Sacred City of Mecca a place of sanctuary and a place where people come to seek reward.

Safety & Security in the Quran

In the Quran, when Allah takes an oath by Mecca, He says:

"By the fig and the olive, and by the Mountain of Sinai, and by this Sacred City" — meaning the city of Mecca — and Allah describes it as a sacred city.

When we look in the Quran and in the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), one of the blessings that Allah emphasizes the most, one of the blessings that is repeated the most, one of the blessings that Allah uses to show His favors upon His creation — Muslim and non-Muslim — one of the blessings that Allah mentions against the non-Muslims and rebukes them for not appreciating, is that of safety and security.

And that is why Allah said about the people of Thamud, the nation of Salih (alayhi salatu wasallam) — they would go to the mountains and they would carve within the mountains dwellings and houses in a safe environment, and Allah rebukes them for not appreciating that safety that Allah granted them.

Allah in the Quran speaks about the people and the nation of Saba — the people of Sheba. They were given so many blessings of Allah: gardens, fruit, vegetation, wealth and provision, and Allah made other cities around them easy for them to travel to, blessings upon blessings. And then Allah says:

"Go in the land, travel by day or by night, and you will have safety and security." But they too didn't appreciate that blessing of Allah.

In the story of Yusuf (alayhi salatu wasallam), after many many years of all the trials that Yusuf (alayhi salam) underwent, when finally he was reunited with his parents and his brothers when they came to Egypt, he said to them:

"Come and enter into the land of Egypt by the will of Allah in safety and security." Why? Because the whole life of Yusuf (alayhi salam) was one of fear — trial after trial, in prison, being abandoned, all of these different trials that he underwent. So he said now to his parents: come in a safe and secure manner.

Allah also rebukes the people of Quraysh in the Quran and says to them:

"The tribe of Quraysh, worship the Lord of the Ka'bah — that same Lord who, when they were hungry, would feed them, and when they were in times of fear, would give them safety and security." One of the greatest blessings that Allah can bestow upon any people.

And that is why when Allah addressed His Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and told him about the conquest he would make of Makkah, and that he would go back and make Umrah in safety and security, He said:

"Allah has made truthful the dream that our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) had — that you will surely enter the Masjid al-Haram by the will of Allah in safety and security." Over and over again.

Safety & Security in Worship

Even when we look at our ibadah — the way that we worship Allah — within the Quran, Allah equates His worship with safety and security. Allah says about the prayer:

"Preserve your prayers and especially the middle prayer — the Asr prayer — and stand in front of Allah in obedience. But if you are in a state of fear, then pray either standing or riding — meaning whichever situation you are able to. But when safety and security returns to you, then worship Allah as He taught you to do so."

In states of fear, in a time of fear, you worship Allah to the best of your ability. But when Allah grants you safety and security, you worship Allah the way that Allah wants you to worship Him, to the best of your ability.

When Allah in the Quran speaks about Umrah and Hajj again, He equates it with safety and security:

"Then if you have safety and security, and you wish to combine between the Hajj and Umrah, then make a sacrifice to Allah." Over and over again in the Quran we see this issue of safety, security, and peace.

Safety & Security in Jannah

And that is why Jannah — the abode which, inshallah, Allah will grant to all of the believers including us by His permission — is an abode of safety and security. From all of the different descriptions and characteristics that Allah gives to Jannah, one of the foremost is that of safety.

"The pious — the muttaqeen — on that day will be in an abode of safety and security." And Allah says they will be within their palaces and their abodes in a safe and secure environment. And Allah mentions that the greeting of the people of Jannah as they are being welcomed into it is one of safety:

"Enter into Jannah with salam, with peace and with safety and security." Over and over again.

The Warning: Ingratitude Turns Blessing into Punishment

But just as Allah mentions all of these blessings of safety and security over and over again, He also mentions to us — in relation to the people of Quraysh — that if we are people who do not appreciate this blessing of Allah, if you are not grateful for this blessing of Allah, then Allah will change this blessing into one of punishment and fear.

Allah says in Surah an-Nahl about the people and inhabitants of Makkah during the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam):

Allah sets forth a powerful example of those people in Makkah who lived in safety and security. They had tranquility and peace, and all of their provisions would come to them from all corners of the world. But then they disbelieved in this great blessing of Allah — they rejected this blessing of Allah — so Allah changed it to one of fear because of that which they used to do.

And that is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said to us in what is a beautiful and famous hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2346)

"Whosoever wakes up each and every morning and they have a safe and secure environment for themselves and their families, they live in security, and Allah has granted them health in their body, and they have enough for that day to eat and drink — they have enough provisions for that day — then it is as if Allah has given them all of the blessings of the dunya."

There is no greater blessing that Allah can bestow upon you after iman and Islam than having safety and security for yourself and your family, health and good health for yourself and your family, and provisions for yourself and your family. If you have these three things, you and the richest person in the world only differ in types and varieties. Both of you have exactly the same thing — he may just have a better variety than you.

The Principle of Masalih and Mafasid

This is one of the greatest blessings of Allah. And that is why when we look in our Sharia, we find that from the many principles and foundations that it is based upon, one of the greatest of those foundations — and according to some of the scholars, the greatest foundation that this religion is based upon — is something known as masalih and mafasid: looking at the benefits and the harms, weighing the pros and the cons. And when you look in the Sharia, whether in the Quran or in the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), you find that this is how the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would approach each and every single thing — looking at the benefits and the harms.

The Pledge of Aqabah: A Prophetic Example

When the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) lived in Makkah with a few Muslims — numbering no more than a few hundred — and those Muslims lived in a state of fear, being persecuted, tortured, and oppressed, people trying to kill them, to take away their wealth, to attack their family members, and the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) himself was ridiculed and mocked and attacked and harassed and tortured — then Allah blessed him with those people of Medina.

When those people of Medina came to ask the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) to make hijrah from Makkah to Medina, they came in the days of Hajj and they met him on the last day of Hajj in Mina. They went close to Jamrat al-Aqaba — the pillar of Aqaba where today we stone the Shaytan — and they met with the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) while all of the people were sleeping: all of the Arabs, the Quraysh, and the people from outside of Makkah. The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) only brought with him three other people: his uncle Abbas, his friend Abu Bakr, and his cousin Ali (radhiallahu anhum ajma'een). And there were 70-odd people from Medina — the Ansar — and they came and gave the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) a pledge of allegiance that we today call al-Bay'at al-Aqaba al-Thaniyah — the Second Pledge of Allegiance at Aqaba. They gave him this pledge that if he and the Muslims were to come to Medina, they would protect him with their wealth, their lives, and their families. They would grant them asylum and safety.

Then the people of Medina, after they finished this pledge, said to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam): "O Messenger of Allah, if these people are causing you so much harm — they are evicting and exiling you from your own land, torturing you, harassing you, oppressing you in your own lands and with your own families, and they are your own relatives as well — then why don't we just go and kill them all right now as they sleep? Finished. We'll finish them all off and the issue comes to a close. Abu Jahl, Abu Sufyan, Umayyah — all of those leaders are sleeping right there. We'll kill them all in their sleep and it's over. You don't need to come to Medina, you don't need to worry — no more torturing, no more harassment, no more oppression, no more persecution. All of them will die, the leaders of Quraysh will be dead, and you will become the leader of Makkah."

Did the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) say — as we see unfortunately today — yes, go and plant a bomb, kill them all, go and knife them or shoot them as they sleep? What did the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) say?

"Verily, we the Muslims have not been ordered to act in this way."

Yes, they may torture us, they may persecute us, they may have done wrong and ill to us — but our religion is not based upon my emotions or your emotions, upon what I think is halal or what you think is haram. Our religion is based upon the Quran and the Sunnah — that which pleases Allah and that which pleases our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). And so he said: "We have not been ordered with this."

And that is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam), throughout all of the 13 years that he lived in Makkah, not once did he allow anyone to go and just kill any person — even though they were the same people who were persecuting the Muslims, torturing the Muslims. Never did he allow a Muslim to go into the houses at night and kill them, or as they walked in the alleyways and streets of Makkah to knife them down, or to plant some type of bomb to kill the leaders of Makkah. Not once.

The Treaty of Hudaybiyyah: Seizing the Chance for Safety

Yet when the chance came for safety and security — when the people came from Makkah and offered him the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah — even though its terms were not in the favor of the Muslims, even though its terms were highly biased towards the disbelievers and the Muslims were getting the bitter end of the deal, yet the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) grasped the chance. He took the chance because he knew that with the safety and security that the treaty would provide, the Muslims would be able to go and call others to Islam, iman would flourish, and people would be able to worship Allah.

And that is why within that two or three year period from the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah to the Conquest of Makkah, more people accepted Islam than in the previous 13, 14, or 15 odd years of Islam combined. That is the benefit of safety and security. That is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) chose as he did.

Two Lessons the Prophet Taught Us

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) taught us two things in this regard:

1. Knowledge of the Religion

The first — and perhaps the most important — is knowledge within our religion: knowledge of what the Sharia is, understanding correctly the Quran and the Sunnah, and putting into context the hadith, the stories, and the ahkam that we find within the Quran. The Quran is not based upon my intellect and my understanding, nor is it based upon who is the most eloquent speaker, who has the most fiery rhetoric, or who can do the best job of convincing the people. The Quran is based upon a number of principles ingrained and enshrined within the Quran and the Sunnah — foundations that Allah has laid down for us upon which we live our lives as Muslims.

That is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) for the early part of his prophethood — 13 years — all he did was teach the people. No jihad, no fighting, no killing, nothing. All he did was teach the people, because knowledge is the most important aspect, the most fundamental cornerstone of our religion. If you don't have knowledge, not only do you not know how to pray, how to fast, how to make Hajj, not only do you not know what to do in issues of marriage and divorce — you also don't know how to deal with the issues that are going around us in the wider community. When people come and mention their doubts to you and tell you things which confuse you and which you don't understand, without knowledge you don't know how to traverse those issues.

The companions were once on an expedition and in that expedition one of them was seriously wounded. During his sleep that night he had a wet dream, and so he woke up in a state of janabah — a state of major ritual impurity — and needed to take ghusl. He said to the companions: "I am injured, I am bleeding, and I don't want to make ghusl. Can I make tayammum instead?" They said to him: "No, the ruling is that you make ghusl from janabah, not tayammum. We have water — make ghusl." So he made ghusl and his wounds became more aggravated and he passed away.

They came back and mentioned this to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam). The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) — who was the most kind, the most merciful, the most generous of people, from whose mouth you would rarely hear anything except du'a and words of kindness — said concerning those people who gave this fatwa, this religious verdict:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 336)

"They killed him. May Allah kill them. Is it not sufficient for them that if they don't know, they ask someone who knows?" If you don't know and you don't have knowledge, you ask — you seek that knowledge. You go to someone who is more qualified and more knowledgeable than you. This is what the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) taught us.

2. Farsightedness: Considering the Consequences of Our Actions

The second thing that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) taught us is that in all of the issues that took place with the Ummah in those days — with all of the problems and all of the trials that the Muslim community was facing — the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would always be farsighted. He would always look at those events that would take place as a result of the actions we perform today — the ramifications and the repercussions of my actions and your actions today.

Just as what happened last week in Woolwich — today they say that over 200 Muslims have been attacked because of that single act. 200 Muslims. On Yawm al-Qiyamah, those people will be hard to account for each and every single one of those attacks.

And that is why when Umar (radhiallahu anhu) came to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, the munafiqeen — the hypocrites — those people who are in the ranks of the Muslims and who try to destroy Islam from within, the worst type of disbelievers, the ones who will have the most severe punishment on Yawm al-Qiyamah — why don't we just kill them? O Messenger of Allah, you know who they are. You know each and every single one of them by name and you know where they are. Tell us and let us go and kill them, be rid of them."

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) said no. Because if we kill them then the people will say: "Don't go to Muhammad because all he does is kill his own companions." So the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) allowed them to live. Not only did he allow them to live — he didn't even inform the other companions of their identities, out of fear that they would take matters into their own hands. The exception was a single companion, Hudhayfah (radhiallahu anhu), and he made him promise that he wouldn't spread this to anyone else.

That is how the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) would look ahead and have foresight. He would look and he had this vision of how the Muslim community would be able to prosper, how they would be able to worship Allah, how iman would flourish, how they would be able to represent Islam and call other people to Allah.

That is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) accepted the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah. That is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) didn't allow for the killing of the hypocrites. That is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) didn't allow for the killing of the people of Makkah when the Muslims lived there. And that is why the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) focused, for all 23 years of his prophethood, on the issue of knowledge and understanding of this religion.

The Trials of Our Times

Our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) informed us from what he prophesized that from the signs of Yawm al-Qiyamah, as we get closer and closer to the Day of Reckoning and the Day of Judgment, the fitan and the trials and the tests that this Ummah will face will also increase — not only in terms of their frequency and number, but also in terms of their severity.

And that is why it is important on this blessed day of Friday that the message from this minbar and from this masjid is for each and every single one of us to learn about our religion. We have many of our younger brothers and sisters sitting here today because it is a school holiday — people who go to school and college and university, people who are easily impressionable, people who listen to people on the internet and are easily swayed and persuaded. It is our message today: learn about your religion from its authentic sources — from the Quran, from the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) — according to the understanding of those companions and those great pious scholars who preceded us.

And that is why Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (radhiallahu anhu) would say: "Whosoever wants to follow someone, then let him follow those who have passed away from before us. For those who are still living, you don't know how they will change tomorrow. You don't know what tomorrow will bring for them. Follow those who have already passed away — those scholars of Islam that Allah praised in the Quran and that the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) praised within his Sunnah."

From the ways that we seek knowledge of these events, and from the way that we equip ourselves to deal with these situations, is by studying our own history. Our history, from the time of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) until today, is full of these types of trials and tests — and the way that the scholars dealt with these issues was far greater and far more severe than what we are dealing with today.

And that is why — on that note — we have our seminar today, Turbulent Times, which focuses on perhaps the first most significant trial that took place within the history of this Ummah: the assassination of the Khalifa Uthman (radhiallahu anhu) and the subsequent events that took place. And that is not because we want to delve into the differences between the companions — for it is our aqeedah, the aqeedah of the Sunnah, that we love all of the companions and we respect all of the companions and we do not speak ill of any of those companions. But just as the scholars did before us, we study those events so that we can equip ourselves, so that we know the reality, so that other people can't come and pull the wool over our eyes and use those events as evidence and proof when we haven't taken the time to study our own history.

Closing Du'a

I urge you to attend and to benefit from that seminar — but generally as well to learn about your religion, seek knowledge, learn about your religion, and equip yourself with what Allah has given to you in the Quran and in the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam).

We ask Allah with His most beautiful names and His most lofty attributes — He is the One that we worship alone without any partner — that Allah blesses us with safety and security and makes our affairs easy for us, and that Allah grants us sanctuary in this city and in this country for us and our families, and that Allah protects us from every single type of evil and every single type of fitnah, and that Allah blesses us not only in this life but on Yawm al-Qiyamah when we meet Him.