Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter 7: The Power Of Love In Society

The power of love is a great and effective force in relation to society; the best societies are those which are administered by the power of love: both the love of the leader and the ruler for the people, and the love and devotion of the people for the leader and ruler.

The feeling and love of the ruler is an important factor in the stability and longevity of a government, and until that factor exists the leader cannot, or finds it very difficult to, lead the society, train people to be law-abiding individuals, and even establish justice and egality in that society. But once he does so, people will be so lawfully minded that they will see the affection of their ruler and it is this affection which will attract them to obedience and dutifulness.

The Qur'an addresses the Prophet and says to him that he has a great power in his hands to influence people and to administer society

It is by some mercy of Allah that thou art gentle to them; hadst thou been harsh and hard of heart, they would have scattered from about thee. So pardon them, and pray forgiveness for them, and take counsel with them in the affair. (A1 `Imran, 3: 159)

Here it is made clear that the cause of the people's coming to the Prophet is the affection and love which he has bestowed on them. Then it orders him to forgive them and to ask for forgiveness for them and to consult with them. These are all among the effects of love and friendship, just as tolerance, patience and forbearance are also among the degrees of love and kindness.

By the sword of clemency he (Ali) redeemed so many throats Of such a multitude from the sword.

The sword of clemency is sharper than the sword of iron;Nay, it is more productive of victory than a hundred armies.[21] The Qur'an also says: Not equal are the good deed and the evil deed. Repel with that which is fairer and behold, he between whom and thee there is enmity shall be as if he were a loyal friend. (Fussilat, 41:34 ) Forgive, o son, that man can trap By goodness and do savage deeds with fetters, Chain the neck of the enemy with mercy, Which noose no blade can cut. In his firman to Malik al-Ashtar, when he appointed him to the governorship of Egypt, Amir al-mu'minin also explained how his behaviour with the people should be: Awaken in your heart mercy for (your) subjects and love for them, and kindness towards them . So give them of your forgiveness and your pardon, just as you would like Allah to give you of his forgiveness and pardon.[22] The heart of the ruler must be a focus of affection and love towards the nation; power and force are not enough. People can be driven like sheep by power and force, but their inner strengths cannot be awakened and put to use. Not only is power and force not sufficient; even justice, if it is lifelessly enforced, is not enough. Rather the ruler must love the people from his heart like a loving father, show his affection towards them and also have an attractive personality which fosters devotion, so that he may make use of their wills, their ambitions and their great human strengths in furthering his own divine aim.

Notes:

[21]. Rumi, bk.l

[22]. Nahju 'l-balaghah, Letter no. 53

Chapter 8: The Best Means For Refining The Soul

The previous discussion on the subject of love and affection was an introduction, and now we want gradually to draw a conclusion. The most important part of our discussion - it is in fact the foundation of our discussion -is whether love and affection for those near to God, and devotion to persons of excellence, is an aim in itself, or whether it is a means for refining the soul, reforming one's morals, and acquiring human virtues and excellences.

In animal love, all the interests and endeavour of the lover is towards the form of the loved one and the harmony of the loved one's limbs and the colour and beauty of the skin, and these are instincts which pull and attract man. However, after the satisfying of the instinct, these fires have no brightness, become cool, and are eventually extinguished.

But human love, as we have said, is life and vitality; it engenders obedience and loyalty. This is the love which makes the lover resemble the loved one, makes him try to be a manifestation of the loved one and a copy of the loved one's behaviour, just as Khwajah Nasiru'd-Din at-Tusi says in his commentary to Ibn Sina's Kitabu 'l-isharat wa 't-tanbihat (Book of Directives and Remarks)

(The love of) the soul is that whose source is the essential resemblance of the soul of the lover with the soul of the beloved. Most of the lover's delight is in the characteristics of the beloved which proceed from the soul of the beloved . It makes the soul tender, yearning and ecstatic and gives it a delicacy of feeling which detaches it from the distractions of the world.[23]

Love pushes towards similarity and resemblance, and its power causes the lover to assume the form of the beloved. Love is like an electric wire which joins the being of the beloved to the lover and transfers the qualities of the beloved to him; and it is here that the choice of a beloved is of fundamental importance. Thus Islam has given much importance to the subject of finding a friend and taking a companion. There are many verses (of the Qur'an) and sayings (of the Prophet and the Imams) in this domain, because friendship causes resemblance, creates beauty and brings imprudence. Where its shines its light it sees the defect as art, and the thorn as rose and jasmine.[24]

In some of the verses (of the Qur'an) and sayings (of the Prophet and Imams) a warning is given about frequenting and befriending unwholesome and rotten people, and in some of them a call is made to pure-hearted friendship.

Ibn `Abbas said: "We were in the presence of the Prophet when it was asked: `Who is the best companion?' He replied: `That person who when you see him, you are reminded of God; when he speaks, your knowledge increases; when he acts, you fall to thinking of the hereafter and the Resurrection.' "[25]

Mankind is in dire need of the elixir of love for pure and virtuous people, so that love may be cultivated, and so that love for such people may create a resemblance and similarity to them in mankind.

A variety of ways have been recommended for reforming one's morals and refining the soul, and various methods have come into existence, one of which is the Socratic method. According to this, man must reform himself by way of his intellect and his own devising. A man should first of all find complete faith in the benefits of the purification of, and the harm of confusion in, the morals, and then, one by one, find the blameworthy qualities with the instrument of his intellect - like someone who wants to pick out the hairs from inside his nose one by one, or like a farmer who, by his own hand, pulls out the tares from the furrows of his land, or like someone who wants to clean his wheat of small stones and soil by his own hand - and then cleanse these bad qualities from the harvest of his being. According to this method, one must gradually remove moral depravities by patience, perseverance, careful reckoning and applied thought, and purify the gold of one's being from false coin. Perhaps it should be said that it is not possible for the intellect to acquit itself of this task.

Philosophers seek to reform morality by thought and reckoning. For example, they say that purity and continence are the cause of man's honour and character in the eyes of people, and greed and avarice are the consequences of hardship and inferiority; or they say that knowledge is the consequence of power and ability, knowledge is like this and like that, knowledge is "the seal of the kingdom of Solomon", knowledge is the light along man's path which illuminates the pitfalls in his way; or they say that envy and malevolence are spiritual sicknesses, from which evil consequences will result as far as society is concerned; and so on.

There is no doubt that this way is a correct way, and this means is a good means; but we are talking about the balance of the value of this means in comparison with any other means. Just as a car is, for example, a good means, but when it is compared to an airplane we must examine carefully the extent of its value.

First of all, we have no argument with the value of the way of the intellect as regards guidance, that is to say from the point of view of how far so-called intellectual reasoning reveals reality in the matter of ethics, how far it is true, and in conformity with the facts, and is not faulty and erroneous. We will only say this much, that there are countless philosophical schools of ethics and education, and this problem has still not passed beyond the boundaries of discussion and argument as far as reasoning is concerned. Moreover we know that the Sufis are all in agreement when they say:

The leg of the reasoners is of wood;A wooden leg is very infirm.[26]

At the moment, our discussion does not concern this aspect, instead it concerns how far this way can reach.

The mystics and people of the spiritual journey have recommended the way of love and fellowship in place of following the way of the intellect and reasoning. They say that one should find a perfect being and hang the halter of love for, and fellowship with, him round one's heart, since this is both less dangerous that the way of the intellect and reasoning, and also swifter. By way of comparison, these two paths are like the old-fashioned way of doing something by hand and the way of doing it by machine. The effect of the power of love and fellowship on the doing away with moral vices from the heart is similar to the effect of chemicals on metals; for example, an etcher removes what is unwanted on his plate by the application of strong acid, not by using a nail, or the point of a knife, or anything like that. However, the effect of the intellect in reforming moral evils is like the work of someone who wants to separate iron-fillings from dust by hand; how excruciating and troublesome that would be! If he had a powerful magnet to hand, perhaps he could separate them with one sweep. The force of love and fellowship gathers the vicious qualities like the magnet and castes them away. The mystics believe that love of, and fellowship with, purified and perfect individuals is like an automatic apparatus which gathers the vices together by itself and ejects them. If the state of being attracted finds the right object, it is one of the best states, and it is this which refines and bestows exceptional qualities.

Truly those who have taken this path want to reform their morality through the strength of love, and they have relied on the power of affection and fellowship. Experience has shown them that companionship with the pure and fellowship and love for them has affected their spirits to an extent which reading hundreds of volumes on ethics has not.

Rumi has related the message of love by the complaint of the reed; he says:

Whoever saw a poison and antedote like the reed?

Whoever saw a sympathiser and a longing lover like the reed?

Whoever's garment is torn by love Is entirely cleansed of covetousness or blemish.

Hail, O Love, that bringest us good gain -O physician of all our ills.[27]

Sometimes we see some great person whose followers imitate him even in the way of walking, dressing, meeting with people and gesturing. This imitation is not voluntary, it is automatic and by the force of nature. It is the strength of love and fellowship which has influenced all the elements of the lover's existence and has made him resemble his beloved in every one of his states. This is why every human being must search for a man of reality and truth for his own reformation, and devote himself to him so that he can truly reform himself.

If there is the desire for union in your head, O Hafiz,You must become like clay in the craftsman's hands.

When a man who, however much he may at first have decided to be pious and do good deeds, again falls prey to weakness in the fundamentals of his aspiration, finds love and fellowship, that weakness and lethargy will then go away, and his resolution will become firm and his ambition strong.

Love of the good ones unscrupulously took away heart and religion;The rook in chess cannot take as much as a beautiful face can capture.

Do you imagine that Majnun became deranged by himself ?

It was the glance of Layla that transported him among the stars.

I did not find my way alone to the source of the sun,I was a mote, and love for you bore me up.It was the curve of your eyebrow, it was your heavenly hand,Which circled round in this revelry and drove my heart insane[28]

History tells of great persons in whose spirit and soul a revolution was created by love and fellowship with a perfect one - at least according to the idea of their followers. Mawlana Rumi is one of such persons. He was not from the first so consumed (by love) and full of commotion. He was a scholar, and was calmly and quietly engaged in teaching in a corner of his town. But from the day that he encountered Shams-a Tabrizi and the desire for fellowship with him seized his heart and soul his manner completely changed and a fire flared up inside him. It was like a fuse which has fallen into a gunpowder store and bursts into flames. He was, apparently, a follower of Ash'arism, but his Mathnavi is without doubt one of the greatest books in the world. All the poetry of this man is surging, in movement. He composed the Divan of Shams in memory of his desire, his beloved; and in the Mathnavi too, he mentions him a great deal. We see Mawlana Rumi in the Mathnavi searching after something, but as soon as he remembers Shams a wild storm brews up in his spirit, and roaring waves surge up in him; he says:

At this moment my soul has plucked my skirt;He has caught the perfume of Joseph's vest.(He said:) "For the sake of our years of companionship,Recount one of those sweet ecstasies,That earth and heaven may laugh,That intellect and spirit and eye may increase a hundred fold. "

I said: "The one who is far from his beloved is Like an invalid who is far from the doctor.How should I describe (not a vein of mine is sensible) That Friend who hath no peer.The description of this severance and this heart's blood Do thou at present leave over till another time.Do not seek trouble and turmoil and bloodshed:

Say no more concerning Shams-a Tabrizi.[29]

And this is the fitting meaning of what Hafiz said:

The nightingale learnt its song by the favour of the rose, otherwise there would not have been Any of this song and music fashioned from its beak.From this we can infer that exertion and being drawn, or action and attraction must go together. Nothing can be accomplished from effort without attraction, just as being drawn where there is no effort will not reach its aim.

Notes:

[23]. Sharh Kitab al-isharat wa 't-tanbihat, Tehran, 1379 A.H., vol.3, p.383.

[24]. As for love, there are blemishes also. Among these is the fact that the lover, as a result of his preoccupation with the goodness of his beloved, is heedless of the beloved's defects:

Love of anything brings a blindness and a deafness.

Anyone who loves something, his sight becomes defective and his heart sick. (Nahju 'l-balaghah).

Sa'di wrote in his Rose Garden (Gulistan):

For everyone it is the same, one's own mind seems perfect and one's own child beautiful.

This bad effect is not inconsistent with what we said earlier on, i.e., that the effect of love is a sensitization of the intelligence and perception; sensitization of the intelligence means that it brings man out of slow-wittedness, and actualises his potential. However, the bad effect of love is not that it dulls man's wits but that it makes man heedless, and the question of intelligence is different from that of heedlessness. Very often, as a result of the preservation of a balance in sensibilities, dim-witted persons are less prone to heedlessness.

Love makes the understanding more keen, but the attention one-sided and one-tracked. Thus, we said before that the property of love was singleness, and it is as a result of this singleness and focality that the defect arises, and attention to other things diminishes.

What is more, not only does love cause defectiveness, but it shows the defects as something good; for one of love's effects is that wherever it shines its light, it makes that place seem beautiful, it turns one speck of goodness into the sun. It even makes black seem white and darkness light. As Vahshi said:

If you sat in the ball of my eye, Naught would you see but the goodness of Layla.

And it is perhaps for this reason that love is unlike knowledge, which is completely a function of what is known. Love's inward and psychic aspect is greater than its outward and real aspect; that is to say, the equilibrium of love is not a function of the scales of goodness, but more a function of the scales of the potentiality and essence of the lover. In fact, the lover has an essence, a matter, a latent fire which is seeking an excuse, an object. Whenever it happens to encounter an object and finds compatibility - the secret of this compatibility is still unknown, and that is why it is said that love is unreasonable - this inner potentiality manifests itself and creates goodness according to its own ability, not according to what exists in the beloved. This is what the sentence above refers to when it says that the lover sees the defect of the beloved as art and the thorn as rose and jasmine.

[25]. Biharu 'l-anwar, vol. 15, bk. 10, p.51 (old edition).

[26]. Rumi, Mathnawi, bk.l

[27] Ibid.

[28]. `Allamah Taba'taba' i.

[29]. Adapted from Nicholson's translation of Rumi, Mathnavi, bk.1

Chapter 9: Examples From The History Of Islam

In the history of Islam we find distinguished and unprecedented examples of the strong love and devotion of Muslims for the person of the Prophet. In fact, one difference between the `school' of the prophets and the `school' of the philosophers is just this, that the pupils of philosophers are just students, and philosophers have no more influence than that of a teacher; but the influence of the prophets is like the influence of someone, a beloved, who has entered into the depths of the spirit of the lover, caught him in his grasp, and taken a hold on every element of his life.

One of those who dearly loved the Prophet was Abu Dharr al-Ghifari. The Prophet had given the order to march to Tabuk (a hundred farsangs - about four hundred miles -north of Medina, close to the border with Syria). Some made excuses, the hypocrites tried to disrupt things, but eventually a powerful army set out. They had no military equipment, and they were in difficulties and in need as regards food too, so that sometimes some of them would make do with a single date; however they were all full of vigour and cheerful. Love created their strength and the force of attraction of the Prophet gave them their power.

Abu Dharr was also marching towards Tabuk with this army. On the way three persons, one after the other, fell behind, and the Prophet was informed about each one as he dropped back. Each time he said:

If there is any good in him, God will make him come back; and if there is no good in him, it is better that he go.

The thin, weak camel of Abu Dharr fell back, and then Abu Dharr was also seen to be behind. "O Messenger of Allah ! Abu Dharr has fallen back too!" Then the Prophet repeated the same sentence:

If there is any good in him, God will return him to us; and if there is no good in him, it is better that he go.

The army then continued on its way and Abu Dharr stayed behind; but there was nothing to be done - his animal stayed in the same state. No matter what he did, it would not move, and he had now dropped several miles behind. He set the camel free and took the pack on his own shoulder, and in the hot weather he set out over the scorching sand. He was thirsty and it was killing him. He came across some rocks in the shade of a hill and among them some rainwater had gathered, but he said to himself that he would never drink until his friend, the Prophet of Allah, had drunk. He filled his water-skin, slung it also on his back, and hastened off in the direction of the Muslims.

In the distance they espied a figure. "O Messenger of Allah ! We have seen a distant figure coming towards us! "

He said that it had to be Abu Dharr. He came nearer -yes, it was Abu Dharr, but exhaustion and thirst took his feet away from under him. He was afraid he would collapse. The Prophet said to give him some water quickly, but he said with a feeble voice that he had water with him. The Prophet said:

"You have water, but you are near to dying from thirst! "

"Yes, O Messenger of Allah ! When I tasted the water I refused to drink any before my friend, the Messenger of Allah. "[30]

In all truth, in which of the world's religions can we find such a state of captivation, such restlessness and such unselfishness ?

Another of these enamoured and selfless people was Bilal al-Habashi. The Quraysh were subjecting him to insupportable torture in Mecca, and they were tormenting him under the burning sun by laying him on scorching stones. They wanted from him that he say the names of the idols and declare his belief in them, and that he renounce, and say he would have nothing to do with, Muhammad. In the sixth part of the Mathnawi, Rumi has related the agonising story of Bilal, and he has justly made a masterpiece out of it. He says: Abu Bakr counseled him to hide his belief, but he did not have the fortitude for dissimulation for "love was ever rebellious and deadly."

Bilal was devoting his body to the thorns:

His master was flogging him by way of correction,(Saying:) "Why dost thou celebrate Ahmad ?Wicked slave, thou disbelievest in my religion! "

He was beating him in the sun with thorns (While) he cried vauntingly "One!"

Till when Siddiq (Abu Bakr) was passing in that neighbourhood,Those cries of "One!" reached his ears.Afterwards he saw him in private and admonished him:`Keep thy belief hidden from the Jews.He (God) knows (all) secrets: conceal thy desire. "

He (Bilal) said: "I repent before thee, O prince. "

There was much repenting of this sort,(Till) at last he became quit of repenting,And proclaimed and yielded up his body to tribulation,Crying: "O Muhammad! O enemy of vows and re-pentance! O thou with whom my body and all my veins are filled!How should there be room therein for repentance?

Henceforth I will banish repentance from this heart.How should I repent of the life everlasting?"

Love is the All-subduer, and I am subdued by Love:

By Love's blindness I have been made bright like the sun.O fierce wind, before Thee I am a straw: How can I know where I shall fall?

Whether I am Bilal or the new moon,I am running on and following the course of Thy sun.

What has the moon to do with stoutness or thinness ?

She runs at the heels of the sun, like a shadow.

The lovers have fallen into a fierce-torrent:

They have set their hearts on the ordinance of Love.(They are) like the millstone turning round and round Day and night and moaning incessantly.[31]

Islamic historians have given the names of the Raid of ar-Raji ` and the Day of ar-Raji ` respectively to a famous historical event and the day on which it occurred, and there is an interesting and fascinating story attached to it.

A group from the `Adal and al-Qarah tribes who were apparently from the same ancestral stock as the Quraysh and who dwelt in the proximity of Mecca came to the Messenger of Allah in the third year of the Hijrah and said: "Some people from our tribe have chosen Islam, so send a group of Muslims to us that they may instruct us in the meaning of the religion, teach us the Qur'an and inform us of the principles and laws of Islam."

The Messenger of Allah sent six of his companions along with them for this purpose, and he entrusted the leadership of this group to a man called Marthad ibn Abi Marthad al-Ghanawi, or else to a man called `Asim ibn Thabit ibn Abi ' l-Aqlah.

The envoys of the Messenger set out in the company of this mission that had come to Medina, till they reached the area which was where the Hadhil tribe lived, and there they halted.[32] The friends of the Messenger had settled down to sleep without leaving anything from any where, when all at once a group from the Hudhayl tribe fell upon them like a thunderbolt with their swords drawn. It became clear that the mission that had come to Medina had either had the intention of acting deceitfully from the beginning, or else had become despondent on reaching this place and had had a change of heart. At any rate, it is known that these people sided with the Hudhayl tribe with the aim of seizing these six envoys. As soon as the- friends of the Messenger were aware of what was happening, they swiftly dashed for their arms, and got ready to defend themselves; but the Hudhayli swore that they did not intend to kill them. They wanted to deliver them to the Quraysh in Mecca and get something for them, and they were prepared to make a pact with them there and then that they would not kill them. Three of these men including `Asim ibn Thabit said that would not accept the shame of a pact with polytheists, and fought until they were killed. But the three other men by the names of Zayd ibn ad-Dathinnah ibn Mu'awiyah, Khubayb ibn `Adiy and `Abdullah ibn Tariq showed themselves more flexible and surrendered.

The Hudhayli bound these three men firmly with cord and set out towards Mecca. Near Mecca, `Abdullah ibn Tariq managed to get his hand free of the bonds and reach for his sword, but the enemy did not let him take the opportunity and killed him by hurling stones. Zayd and Khubayb were carried to Mecca, and they traded them in exchange for two captives from the Hudhayl who were held in Mecca, and then they went away.

Safwan ibn Umayyah al-Qurashi bought Zayd from the person to whom he belonged so as to kill him to avenge the blood of his father who had been killed in Uhud (or Badr). To kill him he took him outside Mecca. The people of the Quraysh assembled to see what would happen, and they brought Zayd to his place of execution. He came forward with his courageous gait and did not tremble even the slightest in his walking. Abu Sufyan was one of the spectators, and he thought he would take advantage of the circumstances of the last moments of Zayd's life: perhaps he could get a statement of contrition and remorse or an avowal of hatred of the Messenger from him. He stepped forward and said to Zayd:

"I adjure you by God, Zayd, don't you wish that Muhammad was with us now in your place so that we might cutoff his head, and that you were with your family?"

"By God", said Zayd, "I don't wish that Muhammad now were in the place he occupies and that a thorn could hurt him, and that I were sitting with my family."

Abu Sufyan's mouth stood agape with surprise. He turned to the other Quraysh and said "By God, I swear I have never seen a man who was so loved as Muhammad's companions love him."

After a while, Khubayb ibn `Adiy's turn fell, and he too was taken outside Mecca for execution. There he requested the assembly to let him pray two rak `ah of prayer. They agreed, and he recited the prayers in all humility, respect and absorbtion. Then he spoke to the crowd, and said:

"I swear by God that were it not that you would think that I only delayed out of fear of death, I would have prolonged my prayer."

They condemned Khubayb to crucifixion; and it was then that the sweet voice of Khubayb ibn `Adiy was heard, with a perfect spirituality which held everyone in its spell and caused some to caste themselves down on the earth in fear, entreating God with these words:

O God! We have delivered the message of Thy Messenger; so tell him tomorrow what has been done to us. O God! Reckon them by number and kill them one by one, let none of them remain.[33]

As we know, the incident of Uhud ended in a sorrowful way for the Muslims. Seventy Muslims were martyred, including Hamzah, the paternal uncle of the Prophet. The Muslims were winning at the beginning, but later, as a result of the lack of discipline of a group who were placed atop a hill by the Prophet, the Muslims were subject to a surprise attack by the enemy. One group were killed, another group was scattered, while the small group round the Prophet remained. The only thing this reduced group could do was to gather their forces once again and become an obstacle to the further advance of the enemy, especially when the rumour that the Prophet had been killed was a further cause for the scattering of the Muslims. But as soon as they heard that the Prophet was still alive, their spirits returned to them.

A number of wounded had fallen on the ground and they did not at all know what their fate would be. One of the wounded was Sa'd ibn ar-Rabi`, and he had received twelve mortal wounds. In the middle of all this one of the escaping Muslims reached Sa'd, when he had fallen on the ground, and told him that he had heard the Prophet had been killed. Sa'd said:

Even if Muhammad has been killed, the God of Muhammad has not; the religion of Muhammad remains too.

Why do you not stay and defend your religion?

Away from this, after the Prophet had collected and verified his companions, he counted them one by one to see who had been killed and who was still alive. He did not find Sa'd ibn ar-Rabi`, so he asked who would go to find out what had really happened to Sa'd for him. One of the Ansar said he was ready. When the Ansar found that Sa'd was at his last breath, he said to him: "O Sa'd! The Prophet has sent me to find out for him whether you are alive or dead." "

"Give my greeting to the Prophet," said Sa'd, "and say that Sa'd is a dead man, for no more than a few breaths are left of his life. Tell the Prophet that Sa'd said: `May God reward you by us better than he has rewarded any prophet by his people.' " Then lie spoke to the Ansar and told him: "Convey a message too from me to my brothers of the Ansar and the other companions of the Prophet. Tell them that Sa'd said: `You have no excuse with God if anything has happened to your Prophet while you can flutter an eyelid.' "[34]

The pages of the early history of Islam are full of such acts of devotion, deeds of love and episodes of beauty. In all the history of mankind, no-one can be found who was loved so much as the Messenger, and the object of so much affection from his friends, companions, wives and children, who loved him so deeply and sincerely.

Ibn Abi l-Hadid writes in his Sharh (commentary on) Nahju 'l-balaghah:

"No-one heard him (the Messenger) speak without love for him taking a place in his heart, and without becoming inclined to him. Thus the Quraysh called the Muslims round Mecca "subat " (the infatuated ones) and said: `The fear is that al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah give his heart to the religion of Muhammad; and if Walid, who is the cream of the Quraysh give his heart, all the Quraysh will pledge their hearts to it.'

They also said: `His speech is magic, it inebriates more than wine.' They forbade their sons to sit with him in case they might be attracted by his speech and the pull of his countenance. Whenever the Prophet sat down beside the Ka'bah near the Stone of Isma'il and recited the Qur'an in a loud voice, or fell to remembering God, they would stick their fingers firmly in their ears so as not to hear and so that they would not fall under the spell of his speech and be "bewitched" by him. They gathered their garments over their heads and covered their faces so that his attractive appearance would not draw them. Nevertheless, most people believed in Islam just by hearing him once or seeing his face and his appearance and tasting the sweetness of his words."[35]

Of all the facts of Islamic history which should cause the amazement of every anthropologist or sociologist, reader or researcher, is the revolution which Islam created among the pre-Islamic Arabs. By any ordinary reckoning and with the usual devices of education and training, the reform of such a society should have required the passage of much time so that the old generation habituated to vice could have been extinguished and the foundations of a new generation laid afresh; but the effect of the power of attraction must not be neglected, for we said that like tongues of fire it burns away the roots of evil.

The majority of the companions of the Messenger were deeply enamoured of this great man, and it was by riding on the steed of love that such a long way was covered in such a small time, and that in a short period his community became completely changed.

The wings of my flight became the noose of love for him,Dragging me all the way to his mountain.How can I have a lamp before me or behind When the light of my beloved is not before me or behind?

His light shines on the right, on the left, above and below It is on my head and round my neck like a crown and a yoke.[36]

Notes:

[30]. Biharu'l-anwar, vo1.21, pp. 215 -216 (new ed.).

[31]. Adapted from Nicholson's translation of Rumi, Mathnavi, bk.1

[32]. At a place called ar-Raji'. (tr.)

[33]. Ibn Ishaq's The Life of Muhammad, translation of A. Guillaume, London, 1955, pp.426 - 428.

[34]. Sharh of Ibn Abi'l-Hadid, Beirut, vol.3, p.574; and ibid. (note 33) p.387.

[35]. ibid. vol.2, p.220

[36]. Rumi, Mathnavi, bk.l

Chapter 10: Love For `Ali In The Qur'an And Sunnah

What we have said so far has shed light on the value and influence of love, and it has incidentally become clear that love for the pure ones is a means for the reform and refinement of the soul, not that it is an end in itself. Now we must see whether Islam and the Qur' an have chosen someone we should love or not. When the Qur' an relates what the previous prophets have said, it points out that they have all said: "we do not ask a wage from people, our only reward is from God." However it addresses the Seal of the Prophets thus:

Say: "I do not ask of you a wage for this, except love for (my) relatives." (ash-Shura, 42:23 )

Here there is a need to ask why the rest of the prophets looked for no wage but the most noble Prophet asked for one for his message; why did he want friendship for his near relatives as a requital for his message?

The Qur'an itself provides an answer to this question:

Say: "I have asked no wage of you; that shall be yours. My wage falls only upon God. " (Saba', 34:47)

That is to say, that which I ask for as a wage accrues to you, not to me; this friendship is a halter for your own perfection and reformation, and it is called a wage. Otherwise it is in fact another good which I recommend to you from the point of view that the Household and relatives of the Prophet are people who do not gather round defilement, and whose hems are clean and pure.

Love and devotion to these people brings no other result apart from obedience to the truth and adherence to virtues, and it is friendship for them which transmutes and perfects like the elixir.

Whatever the meaning of "relatives" may be, it is certain that the most obvious person to whom it is applicable is 'Ali. Imam Fakhru'd-Din ar-Razi says:

"Zamakhshari relates in his (Qur'anic exegesis) al-Kashshaf: `When this verse was sent down they said: "O Messenger of Allah! Who are the relatives to whom our love is due?" He said: " `Ali and Fatimah and their sons." '

"It is thus established from this tradition that these four persons are "relatives" of the Prophet, and that they should enjoy the respect and love of the people, and this matter can be reasoned out in a number of ways:

" 1 - The verse: except love for my relatives.

" 2 - There is no doubt that the Prophet dearly loved Fatimah, and he said: `Fatimah is a part of my body; what harms her harms me.' he also loved 'Ali and the Hasanayn (Hasan and Husayn), since a great number of mutawatir traditions (those which are narrated by so many as to make doubt impossible) have reached us on this subject. Thus friendship of them is obligatory on all the community,[37] because the Qur'an commands:

And follow him (the Prophet), haply you will be guided. (al-A'raf, 7:158)

"It also commands:

You have a good example in Allah's Messenger. (al-Ahzab, 33:21)

"These (considerations) prove that love for the Family of Muhammad - who are `Ali, Fatimah and the Hasanayn -is obligatory on all Muslims. "[38]

There are also many traditions from the Prophet concerning love and friendship for `Ali:

1: Ibn al-Athir narrates that the Prophet spoke to `Ali and said: "O `Ali, God has embellished you with things, no dearer embellishment than which exists before his slaves: resignation from the world has been ;appointed for you in such a way that neither do you profit from the world, nor it from you. On you has been bestowed the love of the wretched; they are proud of your leadership, and you also of their following you. Content is he who loves you, and is a true friend to you. And woe betide he who shows enmity towards you, and lies about you."[39]

2: as-Suyuti relates that the Prophet said: "Love of `Ali is faith, and enmity towards him is sedition."[40]

3: Abu Na'im narrates that the Prophet addressed the Ansar and said: "Shall I guide you to something which, if you grasp it after me, you will never go astray?" They said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah ! " He said: "It is 'Ali: love him with the love (you have) for me, and respect him with the respect (you have) for me. For God has ordered me through Gabriel to tell you this."[41]

The Sunnis have also narrated traditions from the Prophet in which observing `Ali's face and talking of his virtues is counted as a form of worship.

1: Muhibb at-Tabari narrates from `A'ishah that she said: "I saw my father (Abu Bakr) gazing often at 'Ali's face. I said: `O my father! I see you gazing often at 'Ali's face.' He said: `O my daughter! I heard the Prophet say: "Looking at the face of `Ali is worship."'[42]

2: Ibn Hajar narrates from `A'ishah that the Prophet said: "The best of my brothers is `Ali, the best of my paternal uncles is Hamzah, and remembrance of 'Ali and speaking about him is worship."[43]

'Ali was the most loved person before God and the Prophet, and thus naturally the best of those who are loved. Anas ibn Malik says: "Every day, one of the children of the Ansar would do some task for the Prophet. One day my turn came. Umm Ayman brought a chicken dish before the Prophet and said: `Messenger of Allah! I have caught this chicken myself and cooked it for you.' He said: `O God! Send the best of (Thy) slaves that he may share with me in eating this chicken.' At that very moment someone knocked on the door and the Prophet said to me: `Anas! Open the door.' I said: `May God make it a man of the Ansar!' But I found 'Ali in front of the door, and I said: `The Prophet is busy.' Then I returned to stand in my place. Again there was a knock at the door, and the Prophet said: `Open the door.' Again I prayed that it would be someone from the Ansar. I opened the door and again it was 'Ali. I said: `The Prophet is busy.' Then I returned to stand in my place. Yet again there was a knock at the door, and the Prophet said: `Anas, go and open the door, and bring him in. You are not the first person to love your own people; that is not one of the Ansar.' I went and brought 'Ali in, and he ate the chicken dish with the Prophet."[44]

Notes:

[37]. The love of the Prophet towards them had no personal aspect, that is, it was not only because, for example, they were his children and grandchildren and if someone else had been in their place he would have loved them. The Prophet loved them because they were exemplary persons and God loved them, for the Prophet had other children whom he did not love to this extent and to whom his community had no such obligation.

[38]. at- Tafsiru 'l-kabir, vo1.27, p.166 (Egyptian ed.).

[39]. Usdu 'l-ghabah, vo1.4, p.23

[40]. Kanzu 'l-`ummal. In as-Suyuti, Jam`u 'l-jawami `, vol.6, p.156.

[41]. Hilyatu 'l-awliya', vol.1, p.63. There are many traditions on this subject, and we have come across more than ninety in authoritative Sunni texts, all of which concerns love for Amir al-mu'minin. There also exist many traditions in Shi'ah texts, and the respected scholar al-Majlisi has gathered them together in vol.39 (of the new edition) of Biharu 'l-anwar in the chapter on love and hatred for Amir al-mu'minin; he related 123 traditions in this chapter.

[42]. ar-Riyadu'n-nadirah, vo1.2, p.219; and about another twenty traditions, as far as we are aware, have been related in Sunni texts on this subject.

[43]. as-Sawa'iqu 'l-muhriqah, p.74; and five more traditions have been related in Sunni texts on this subject.

[44]. al-Mustadrak `ala as-Sahihayn, vo1.3, p.131. This story is related in various ways in more than eighty narrations in authoritative Sunni texts.