If a person's deeds slow him down, his lineage cannot be accelerated...
Question
My teacher, peace be upon you… I read a hadith that means if a person’s deeds slow down, his lineage cannot be accelerated. Is this an authentic hadith? If so, I would be happy if you could write the whole thing. What does this mean? My respects.
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Answer ( 1 )
IT IS PROHIBITED TO BRAGGED OUT OF LINEAGE AND ANCESTRATION
And peace be upon you, may Allah be pleased with you and your blessings be upon you… My dear brother, your question is one that can be answered in pages. However, we tried to keep our answer short…
The expression, “If a person’s deeds slow down, their lineage does not accelerate them.” means that a person whose deeds are insufficient will not reach the rank of those whose lineage and lineage are deserving of worship. Therefore, a person should not neglect good deeds, worship and piety by relying on the honor of his lineage and the virtues of his ancestors and trusting in the honor of his lineage and lineage. (1)
The full text of one of the hadiths you mentioned in your question is below:
عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ، قَالَ： عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ
I'm sorry. نَفَّسَ اللهُ عَنْهُ كُرْبَةً مِنْ كُرَبِ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ
وَمَنْ يَسَّرَ عَلَى مُعْسِرٍ، يَسَّرَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
وَمَنْ سَتَرَ مُسْلِمًا، سَتَرَهُ اللهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
وَاللهُ فِي عَوْنِ الْعَبْدِ مَا كَانَ الْعَبْدُ فِي عَوْنِ أَخِيهِ
وَمَنْ سَلَكَ طَرِيقًا يَلْتَمِسُ فِيهِ عِلْمًا، سَهَّلَ اللهُ لَهُ بِهِ طَرِيقًا إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ
وَمَا اجْتَمَعَ قَوْمٌ فِي بَيْتٍ مِنْ بُيُوتِ اللهِ، يَتْلُونَ كِتَابَ اللهِ، وَيَتَدَارَسُونَهُ بَيْنَهُمْ، إِلَّا نَزَلَتْ God bless you وَحَفَّتْهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ وَذَكَرَهُمُ اللهُ فِيمَنْ عِنْدَهُ
I'm sorry, I'm sorry
Hazrat Abu Hurairah (ra) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“Whoever relieves a believer of one of the troubles of this world, Allah will relieve him of one of the troubles of the Hereafter.
If someone makes things easy for someone in trouble, Allah will make things easy for him in this world and the hereafter.
If someone covers up the faults (sins, flaws) of a Muslim, Allah will cover up that fault in this world and in the hereafter.
As long as the servant helps his brother in religion, Allah also helps the servant.
Whoever follows a path and seeks knowledge on it, Allah will make easy for him a path leading to Paradise.
When a group of people gather in one of the houses of Allah and recite the Book of Allah and discuss it among themselves, tranquility descends upon them, and the mercy of Allah covers them, and the angels surround them, and Allah remembers them through those with Him.
If a person’s deeds slow him down (leave him behind), it does not speed up his lineage (make him advance).”(2)
The word "removing the problem" in the hadith means to eliminate or remove it. Here, the virtue of meeting the needs of Muslims and being useful to them through knowledge, wealth, help, showing them a benefit, giving advice and any other way that is easy for a person is emphasized, as well as the virtue of covering up a Muslim's faults.
In the same way, the virtue of giving time to a debtor who is in difficulty (i.e. who has difficulty paying off his debt) is understood, as is the virtue of going there to acquire knowledge. This requires engaging in knowledge on the condition of seeking the consent of Allah, the Almighty.
One day, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said to his daughter Fatima: “Oh my daughter Fatima! Do not trust in my father as a Prophet, do your duty of servitude to your Lord. If you cannot buy your soul from Allah, then by God I cannot do anything on your behalf…” [3]
One day, the Prophet addressed his aunt Safiye and his daughter Fatma:
"Rise up and carry out the command of your Lord. Do not rely on being the daughter and aunt of the Prophet. Otherwise, tomorrow, on the Day of Judgment, you will not benefit from me unless you have permission from my Lord," he said.
It was because of the warning in this hadith that the Prophet (pbuh) made similar statements to his relatives, his aunt, his daughter Fatima, and his wife Aisha.
In other words, it is so that they do not neglect their duties of serving Allah and rely on others, and do not become slack in their worship. It is to remind us that the final word always belongs to Allah (swt). It is to prevent some fraudulent religious merchants from seeing themselves as intercessors and distributing this right and left. In other words, it is for the purpose of warning the ummah of Muhammad.
We will do whatever is necessary to fulfill our duty of serving Allah, we will strive to discipline our ego, and as we progress in this direction, we will pray to Allah (swt) for forgiveness and pardon for our remaining faults!
Our Lord has informed us in the following verse that it is futile to boast about one’s lineage on the Day of Judgement:
"When the trumpet is blown, on that day there will be no kinship between them, nor will they seek each other out." (4)
Also in a couplet in the Masnavi:
It is stated, “Know that lineage has no value on this path. The altar of virtue and attainment is asceticism and piety.”
In another hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah (ra), the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
“If a person is held back by his actions, his lineage and ancestry cannot save him, elevate him or advance him.” (5)
“The most honorable among you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most pious. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab (ajam). A non-Arab has no superiority over an Arab. A black-skinned person has no superiority over a white-skinned person, and a white person has no superiority over a black-skinned person. Superiority is only in piety.” (6) (Cem'u'l-Fevaid, 1/510, Hadith no: 3632)
Footnotes:
1) Imam Nawawi, Commentary on Sahih Muslim, al-Minhaj, 11/105-106.
2) Muslim, Dhikr 38; Abu Dawud, Adab 68; Tirmidhi, Hudud 3
3) Muslim, Faith, 89
4) Believer:101
5) Ibn Majah, Muqaddimah 17, Hadith no: 225.
6) Cem'u'l-Fevâid, 1/510, Hadith no: 3632.
The Prophet (PBUH) was asked the following question: “Is loving one’s lineage (tribe, nation) considered tribalism (nationalism)?” His answer was: “No, however, helping one’s nation in oppression without cause is racism/nationalism.”[1]
One day, Abu Dharr al-Ghifari and Bilal Habashi (May Allah be pleased with them) had an argument about an issue. The two valuable companions had spoken harshly to each other. However, Bilal Habashi’s heart was broken not so much because of the disagreement between them but because of the insult directed at him. This was such an insult that Bilal, who was a black Abyssinian, was being belittled because of his mother’s skin color and called “the son of a black woman”! This self-sacrificing person, who was one of the first Muslims and had endured much torment from the polytheists, could not stand it and told the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) about what had happened. The Prophet (PBUH) was surprised and angry. Because racism was the mentality of ignorance. However, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) had said that people are equal “like the teeth of a comb” regardless of their color, race, language or gender. He called Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (Radiallahu Anhu) to him and warned him: “Abu Dharr! Did you blame him because of his mother? It means you are someone who still has traces of ignorance in you!” Abu Dharr (Radiallahu Anhu) was very upset and was consumed with regret. He apologized many times so that Bilal would forgive him. He eliminated every ounce of arrogance, pride and discrimination from his life, and even after years, he would wear the same clothes as his servants and would tell this incident to those who asked him the reason.[2]
Islam Provides Justice and Balance in Society
Our sublime religion, Islam, aims to establish a universal, just, balanced, peaceful and serene social life and world order. It ensures justice and balance in society by establishing certain commandments and prohibitions that constitute the basis of law, morality and social balance. Our religion tolerates love of country and homeland to a reasonable and balanced extent, encourages establishing close relations with relatives and maintaining kinship. Because it is quite natural for a person to love and adopt the environment and milieu in which he/she was born and lives, and to see himself/herself as a child of those lands. The hadith we mentioned at the beginning of our article indicates this. It is also natural to establish closeness with relatives and those who are blood-related to him/her, to feel a sense of belonging to them. However, all of these are not the primary and determining factors in expressing oneself for those whose main superordinate identity is “Islam/Muslim”. “Being a Muslim” has already been determined by Islam as an identity, this is such an honor that there is no and cannot be a higher rank in the world than this; It is stated, “Allah Almighty named you as ‘Muslims’ in the Holy Quran…” [3]
In order to fully understand the relationship between Islam and nationalism on a correct basis, first of all, we need to clarify what the concepts and terms used in this field mean. In this way, the meanings of these concepts, their areas of use, their limits and frameworks can be determined exactly and a study, research and discussions conducted accordingly can yield healthy results. Because nationalism is one of the areas where words and concepts are distanced from their original meanings and a shift in meaning occurs. First of all, the conceptual framework on this subject needs to be settled so that a result can be obtained from the objections and responses made. It is unlikely that any result will emerge from the discussions conducted without the concepts being settled.
According to Islam, nation means “religion, belief, sharia”. Today's modern Nationalism: It is the practice of people from the same race/lineage or ethnic origin prioritizing their own race, lineage and origin, overly emphasizing it and seeing it as a reason for superiority and privilege over other races on the earth. It is the name of humiliating and othering races different from oneself by pursuing racial differences. In other words; nationalism is the name of the distorted understanding and thought that leaves aside all the characteristics that make a person human, values people only based on ethnic origin, gives them superiority and sees only their own race as distinguished, elite and superior. On the other hand, nationalism, as a new, modern and developed form of “tribalism” not only based on ethnic origin, has emerged as the strongest ideology of nation-states and has also become an alternative to religious affiliation. Since nationalism, tribalism, racism and nationalism are used in meanings close to the meaning of “nationalism”, all of these terms have been considered different names of the same meaning. Nationalism; It has a multi-layered structure with many different approaches, examples and varieties, based on the feeling of togetherness of those who share certain common values, under the influence of factors such as religion, language, land and common interests. In short, nationalism is not a single type of structure, it has many different formations (versions).
The relationship between modern nationalism, which began to flare up with the declaration of the First Constitutional Monarchy in these lands, and Islam has become quite problematic to understand. This relationship has become even more complicated, especially in countries where there are many nationalist discourses of a Muslim group and Islamic groups that voice nationalist discourse, as in Türkiye. As a result of this process, the incompatible concepts of Islam and nationalism have begun to be used side by side in many Muslim countries. However, the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon Him) strived to establish a society and world order based on the universal Islamic brotherhood principle that encompasses all of humanity.
He rejected racism by emphasizing in his Farewell Sermon that an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, or a white has no superiority over a black: “O People, listen to my words carefully! Your Lord is one and your father is one. You are all children of Adam, and Adam is from dust. An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab, nor a non-Arab over an Arab, nor is a red-skinned person superior to a black, nor is a black person superior to a red-skinned person. Superiority is only through piety.”[4] Again, there are many hadiths in which the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) rejected racism.
The nationalist structure of the idolatrous Arab society that lasted for centuries was shaken with the coming of Islam and was completely eliminated with the statements of the Prophet (PBUH) to this effect. According to the narration of Jundab ibn Abdullah al-Bajalī, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: “Whoever is killed under the banner of a community that has gone astray by propagating racism or supporting tribalism, his death is like the death of the people of the age of ignorance.”[5]
According to Jubayr ibn Mut'im, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "He who calls for racism is not one of us. He who fights for the cause of racism is not one of us. He who dies for the cause of racism is not one of us."[6] According to Ibn 'Omar, the Prophet of Islam gave a sermon to the people during the conquest of Mecca and said: "O people! Allah has removed from you the pride of the age of ignorance and the habit of boasting about your ancestors. People are of two groups: one is the righteous, the pious, the honorable in the sight of Allah, and the other is the sinful, the wretched, the worthless in the sight of Allah. People are the children of Adam, and Allah created Adam from dust..." [7]
In another hadith, our Prophet (PBUH) said: “There are some people who take pride in their ancestors, who were nothing but the fuel of Hell. They either give up this boasting or they will become less valuable in the sight of Allah than the filth-rolling insects with their noses.”[8] “If a person is held back by his deeds, his lineage and ancestry cannot save him, elevate him or advance him.”[9]
At this point, we definitely need to explain a very important issue; according to some, the nationalism or tribalism described and criticized in these hadiths were different from today's, and some nationalism concepts defend Islam in today's sense, they say. However, the Arab nationalism emphasized and banned in the hadiths above is the exact equivalent of today's nationalism. If the meaning of the phrase "Conservative nationalism", which is currently used together with nationalism, is love of homeland, land, flag, culture, history, the effort to protect and sustain national and spiritual values, and to protect Islamic lands against all kinds of colonialism (such as intervention in culture and lifestyle), then this is a different issue. As long as it is not contrary to Islamic values, measures and provisions, and as long as it does not end in racism, this issue should be evaluated separately. It is quite difficult to bring together the concept of "nationalism", whose main purpose is to create a rival and alternative identity against religion, and the concept of "conservatism", which represents belonging to religion, is a complicated situation that contains many problems. It is very important for all Muslims and humanity on earth that some Muslims who are attracted to popular and fashionable culture today should be very careful about nationalism, which was defined by the Prophet (Peace be upon him) as a "rotten carrion and the customs of the age of ignorance". They should not use the universal Islam as a tool for such a primitive ideology.
In conclusion, we can say this; according to this hadith, no one should trust their lineage. Lineage should not be considered superior. Superiority is only through piety. The most superior people in the sight of Allah swt are the righteous people who are most busy with worship. The rest are empty dreams… Praise be to Allah swt…
Footnotes:
[1] Musnad Ahmad b. Hanbal, 28/ 196, hadith: 16989; Ibn Majah, Fitan 7, hadith: 3949.
[2] Bukhari, Faith, 30.
[3] Surah Al-Hajj, 78.
[4] Bayhaqi, Shuabu'l-Iman, 7/132, hadith: 4774.
[5] Muslim, Imara, 57.
[6] Ebû Dâvûd, Edeb, 111-112.
[7] Tirmidhi, Tefsîru'l-Qur'an, 49; Ebû Dâvûd, Edeb, 110-111.
[8] Musnad Ahmad b. Hanbal, 16/455, hadith 10781; Abu Dawud, Abwabu'n-Nawm, hadith 5116.
[9] Ibn Majah, Introduction 17.