﴿And warn your closest relatives﴾
(Translated)
It is sad in our time that many who carry the call, with the passage of decades, become lazy, and in many cases stop completely because of family pressures and from their children. Despite remaining carriers of the call and adhering to their beliefs, they often, indeed very often, face constant opposition from their families and children. Women, young men, and young women are under great pressure from peers to conform to societal patterns, while those who carry the call adopt views and positions that seem strange to society. Young people are exposed to a secular education system and a liberal atmosphere within schools, colleges, and universities.
There is therefore no escape from such internal opposition, as it comes from the very family from whom we seek comfort, reassurance, and support. The family's opposition exhausts the carrier of the call over years and decades, and he often finds himself in a contradiction between the call he carries and his children's demands to integrate into society. This issue extends to matters related to prayer, the khimar, the jilbab, taking usurious student loans, and the mixing of genders, and this contradiction is difficult to bear on a pure heart, and may become overwhelming and painful.
On the other hand, families blessed with many children who carry the call are a help and a motivation. Those who carry the call in such families remain steadfast even after marriage and parenthood, and even after they become grandparents. As always, the good in our lives comes from adhering to the Sunnah, and misery results from abandoning it. Let us look specifically: what is the prophetic method for a believer's family?
The model for the Muslim family is the blessed family of the Prophet ﷺ, the Ahl al-Bayt (the Prophet's household). It was a blessed family with his daughter Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, who carried the call and stood with her father in times of hardship. And it was a blessed family with his young cousin Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, who filled his youth with obedience to Allah ﷻ and support for His Messenger ﷺ. And it was a blessed family with his two noble grandsons, Al-Hasan and Al-Hussein, may Allah be pleased with them, who throughout their lives, and with their firm stances against the oppressors and their martyrdom, had a profound impact on the Muslim Ummah. Indeed, many young men and women of the Ahl al-Bayt became foundations for the Muslim Ummah, and Muslims throughout the centuries continue to study their biographies to draw inspiration and guidance from them.
Allah Almighty said: ﴿And warn your closest relatives﴾ Ibn Kathir commented on this verse, saying: "Then Allah Almighty said, commanding His Messenger, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him, to warn his closest relatives, that is, those nearest to him, and that no one of them will be saved except by his faith in his Lord, may He be glorified and exalted, and He commanded him to be gentle to those who follow him from among Allah’s believing servants." Ibn Kathir also mentioned regarding the saying of Imam Ahmad: Waki' narrated to us, Hisham narrated to us from his father from Aisha, who said: When the verse ﴿And warn your closest relatives﴾ was revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stood up and said: «O FATIMA, DAUGHTER OF MUHAMMAD, O SAFIYYA, DAUGHTER OF ABD AL-MUTTALIB, O CHILDREN OF ABD AL-MUTTALIB, I HAVE NO POWER TO PROTECT YOU FROM ALLAH IN ANY WAY. ASK ME FROM MY WEALTH WHATEVER YOU WISH». Muslim mentioned it in his hadith.
Imam Al-Nawawi mentioned in Sharh Muslim, in the chapter "Regarding His saying: And warn your closest relatives," that the Prophet ﷺ said: «O FATIMA, SAVE YOURSELF FROM THE FIRE, FOR I HAVE NO POWER TO PROTECT YOU FROM ALLAH IN ANY WAY, EXCEPT THAT YOU HAVE KINSHIP WITH ME, WHICH I WILL CHERISH», meaning: save yourself from the fire, for I have nothing with Allah, except that you have kinship that I will use as an intercession. Regarding the Prophet's ﷺ saying to his daughter, «ASK ME FROM MY WEALTH WHATEVER YOU WISH», Imam Al-Turbashti, one of the Hanafi scholars, interpreted it as meaning not literal wealth, but rather expressing what he possesses of matters that he can dispose of and implement. Thus, the Prophet ﷺ affirmed to his daughter that he cannot benefit her with Allah if she does not believe, but he can give her from his wealth whatever is within his power to dispose of.
Thus, we see that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ taught his daughter Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, with sincerity and affection. As a teacher, he was paternal in his dealings, and she was one of his first young students inside his house. The Prophet ﷺ said: «I AM TO YOU LIKE A FATHER, TEACHING YOU» Sunan Abi Dawood. The Prophet ﷺ was gentle, respectful, and caring towards his daughter, until her personality was shaped by the effects of his upbringing, and her actions and morals resembled his ﷺ. Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, said: «I HAVE NOT SEEN ANYONE AMONG THE PEOPLE WHO RESEMBLES THE PROPHET ﷺ MORE IN SPEECH, NOR IN CONVERSATION, NOR IN SITTING THAN FATIMA. SHE SAID: WHEN THE PROPHET ﷺ SAW HER APPROACHING, HE WELCOMED HER, THEN STOOD UP FOR HER, KISSED HER, THEN TOOK HER HAND AND BROUGHT HER UNTIL HE SEATED HER IN HIS PLACE. AND WHEN THE PROPHET, PEACE BE UPON HIM, CAME TO HER, SHE WELCOMED HIM, THEN STOOD UP FOR HIM AND KISSED HIM». Al-Adab Al-Mufrad.
With sincere faith and complete adherence to Islam, Fatima, may Allah be pleased with her, learned the religion and remained steadfast on the truth, so she supported her father in the trials of the call. When Uqba ibn Abi Mu'ayt threw filth on him while he was prostrating ﷺ, it was Fatima who came and washed it off him. After a long call filled with struggle and sacrifice, the Prophet ﷺ was certain that his return to Allah was near. Fatima was informed of her position in Paradise with her father ﷺ. Aisha narrated: Fatima came walking as if her walk was the walk of the Prophet ﷺ, so the Prophet ﷺ said: «WELCOME, MY DAUGHTER», then he seated her to his right or to his left, then he told her a secret and she wept, so I said to her: Why are you weeping? Then he told her another secret and she laughed, so I said: I have never seen a joy closer to sorrow than today, so I asked her about what he said, and she said: I would not disclose the secret of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ until the Prophet ﷺ passed away, so I asked her, and she said: He told me a secret that Gabriel used to review the Quran with me every year once, and this year he reviewed it with me twice and I do not see it except that my death is near and that you are the first of my family to join me, so I wept, so he said: «ARE YOU NOT PLEASED TO BE THE LADY OF THE WOMEN OF PARADISE OR THE WOMEN OF THE BELIEVERS?» So I laughed at that. What a blessed ending for a father and his daughter!
O brothers and sisters! O uncles, aunts, fathers, mothers, and grandparents:
Look at how the Prophet ﷺ raised four blessed daughters who have been a good example for the Muslim Ummah throughout the ages! Look at how he ﷺ raised Ali bin Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, his cousin. Look at how he ﷺ raised Al-Hasan and Al-Hussein, may Allah be pleased with them, his two noble grandsons. Value Fatima, Ali, Al-Hasan, and Al-Hussein! In every family there is a treasure of young people; they are the youth among our daughters and sons, and the daughters and sons of our maternal and paternal uncles and aunts, and our grandchildren. Let us care for each one of them and appreciate them, without neglecting to hold the tyrants of the age accountable. We who follow the path of the Prophet ﷺ for change do not say that we have time for something and leave something else! No, do not neglect either. Pay attention to the young men and women so that they support us and we support them; and let us care for them so that we all attain an eternal life in the bliss of Paradise. O Allah, make it true, Amen.
Written for the Radio of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut-Tahrir
Musab Umair - Wilayah Pakistan