5. Al-Maaida

It has been recorded in the traditions that when the order regarding Hajj was received, the Prophet Muhammad said in a sermon ‘O, people! Hajj has been made compulsory for you.’ On hearing this, a person from the Banu Asad tribe got up and asked: ‘O, Prophet of God! Is it for every year?’ The Prophet Muhammad was very angry and said, ‘By the Lord in whose hands my life is! Had I said “‘Yes”, it would have become compulsory for every year, and having become compulsory for every year, you would not have been able to perform it every year and thus committed denial of truth.’ So, leave out whatever I leave out. When I order anything to be done, do it, and when I prohibit you from doing anything, don’t do it.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir).

It has been recorded in the traditions that when the order regarding Hajj was received, the Prophet Muhammad said in a sermon ‘O, people! Hajj has been made compulsory for you.’ On hearing this, a person from the Banu Asad tribe got up and asked: ‘O, Prophet of God! Is it for every year?’ The Prophet Muhammad was very angry and said, ‘By the Lord in whose hands my life is! Had I said “‘Yes”, it would have become compulsory for every year, and having become compulsory for every year, you would not have been able to perform it every year and thus committed denial of truth.’ So, leave out whatever I leave out. When I order anything to be done, do it, and when I prohibit you from doing anything, don’t do it.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir).

These are different categories of domestic animals which the pre-Islamic Arabs used to dedicate to their deities.

The ban on raising unnecessary questions in force at the time of the revelation of the Quran is applicable even today. The best and correct thing to do is to keep any order that is given in its original form. There should be no attempt, by raising unnecessary questions, to extend or reduce the limits of its restriction. Making a brief command more detailed, making an absolute command a limited one and making efforts to make an indefinite order definite, are additions in religion which God and the Prophet have prohibited. The former elders of a community attain holy status after a certain passage of time. Many kinds of wrong practices occur in the name of these long deceased people. So much so that if they had established the custom of venerating sheeps and camels, their successors would go on doing so without giving any thought to it. Such misguided behaviour, which is based on a tradition of holiness, is so firmly and deeply rooted that it is very difficult to dissuade people from it. It is possible to rise above such psychological complications only when a man acquires a firm belief, in the real sense, that finally he has to appear before God. One holding such a belief man accepts today itself what he will be compelled to accept after death; but acceptance at that time will be of no use to anyone.

The ban on raising unnecessary questions in force at the time of the revelation of the Quran is applicable even today. The best and correct thing to do is to keep any order that is given in its original form. There should be no attempt, by raising unnecessary questions, to extend or reduce the limits of its restriction. Making a brief command more detailed, making an absolute command a limited one and making efforts to make an indefinite order definite, are additions in religion which God and the Prophet have prohibited. The former elders of a community attain holy status after a certain passage of time. Many kinds of wrong practices occur in the name of these long deceased people. So much so that if they had established the custom of venerating sheeps and camels, their successors would go on doing so without giving any thought to it. Such misguided behaviour, which is based on a tradition of holiness, is so firmly and deeply rooted that it is very difficult to dissuade people from it. It is possible to rise above such psychological complications only when a man acquires a firm belief, in the real sense, that finally he has to appear before God. One holding such a belief man accepts today itself what he will be compelled to accept after death; but acceptance at that time will be of no use to anyone.

If a man is on a journey and he senses that the time of his death is approaching, he should seek out two Muslims and hand over his personal possessions to them with proper instructions about bequeathing them to his inheritors. If he cannot find two Muslims in time, he should do likewise with two non-Muslims. These two persons should bring his possessions and hand them over to his heirs. At that time, if the inheritors have any doubts about the statement of the witnesses, they (the latter) should be detained in a mosque and should be made to take an oath before the general body of Muslims, which will testify that whatever they have said on behalf of the deceased was correct. If the inheritors are not satisfied with the statement on oath of the witnesses, then two of the inheritors should take an oath to that effect. Thereafter, a decision should be taken in accordance with their declaration. The giving of this right to the inheritors amounts to the establishment of a check, due to which no one will dare to commit a breach of trust.

In the Islamic law, such instructions are given concerning day-to-day life as provide lessons in a wider sphere of existence.. After a person’s death the division of his property is a family and economic matter. But this has been made a source of training in two important respects. One is that people should adopt the attitude of not giving consideration in their dealings to connections and relations: they should take into account only rights and truth. They should see what the truth is and not question who is favoured by it and who is not. The other is that every procedure should be treated as giving evidence before God. Anything which is in the custody of man is in God’s trust, because man saw it given by God with his own eyes, preserved it in his memory as given by God and now has to declare it with the help of the tongue given by God. Under these circumstances it will be a breach of trust if a man does not state the facts as he has seen them or committed them to memory.

In the Islamic law, such instructions are given concerning day-to-day life as provide lessons in a wider sphere of existence.. After a person’s death the division of his property is a family and economic matter. But this has been made a source of training in two important respects. One is that people should adopt the attitude of not giving consideration in their dealings to connections and relations: they should take into account only rights and truth. They should see what the truth is and not question who is favoured by it and who is not. The other is that every procedure should be treated as giving evidence before God. Anything which is in the custody of man is in God’s trust, because man saw it given by God with his own eyes, preserved it in his memory as given by God and now has to declare it with the help of the tongue given by God. Under these circumstances it will be a breach of trust if a man does not state the facts as he has seen them or committed them to memory.

Those who embraced the faith on the strength of their prophets’ teachings later fell away from the true religion and concocted their own religion in the name of the prophet. In spite of this, every group treated itself as the ummah (community) of its prophet, though after deviating from the real teachings of that prophet, they ceased to have any link with him. The Jews claim to have a connection with Moses and the Christians with Jesus, though their present religions are unconnected with those prophets. This fact has become obscure in the present world of trial. But, on the Day of Judgement, all will be made clear. On that Day, God will assemble all the prophets and, in the presence of their communities, He will ask them what teachings they gave their community and how the community adopted them. In this way, it will be made clear to every community before its prophet as to how far its members contravened their prophet’s teachings on the religion of God, and it will be shown how they had falsely linked their self-made religion with the prophet.