Friday 1 February 2019

The Protectors of al- Hudood

Salaams brothers. 
Jumaa Mubarak. 

I promise this won’t be a rant ðŸ˜‚
And I hope that the little that I give here is of benefit. 

We all hold in respect the Hafidh (or Hafiz) ul Quran, those protectors of the recitation that have it, as it were, inscribed on their hearts. For them it is both a great achievement and a lifelong struggle, to keep it ever present. 

In Surah Taubah, v112, after telling us to enjoin good and forbid wrong, God extols yet another protector, one who is hardly ever mentioned in our discourses. 

They are the Hafidh (or Hafiz) ul Hudood; the protectors and upholders of the punishments prescribed by God in the Quran. These include the punishment for theft and sexual transgressions. 

It is a interesting choice of words, for why does God choose to say protectors in those regards and not enforcers. For are not the two synonymous?

When we contemplate this question in light and context provided by the life of the Messenger (saw), and his companions (as), then we realise that they are not. 

For it was their understanding that to protect the Hudood was to not be overzealous in its application, and instead to err towards leniency, and only prescribe them when all other options were at a loss. 

There is an interesting anecdote of Umar (ra) chasing a man who had snatched his hat in a marketplace and shouting after him, “you have not stolen that from me... I have given that to you in Sadaqa (charity)”. 

This is what it means to be a protector of the Hudood, and these are the ones that God lauds in Surah Tauba....
From good emanates good, and from wrong emanates wrong. 

Those that affirm the Hudood, but are easy in it’s application and err on the side of ease. And prevent wrong with good. These are the ones. 

For the prescribed punishments are necessary to prevent society slipping away from a concrete moral code, as is happening now on a Worldwide scale. 

However the Saudi understanding of our Shariah, hampers rather than helps. And it is not true to the Sunnah, and is not a reflection of how Muslim society should be. 

Even the best of us sin. 
To sin is human, and to forgive is angelic. 

The Messenger (saw) informed us that of all of his Nation everyone would be forgiven, but not the sinner that outwardly displays his sinning and has no shame. 

In imam Ghazali’s thought the Fasiq is the wrongdoer who feels shame, and the Munafiq (hypocrit) is the one who wrongs but feels no shame and then tries to justify his/her wrong action. 

Here we note that when we do wrong, shame trumps truth. For it dictates that we cover it up in shame. 

Just as Cain covered his brother out of shame of his crime, and was guided thus by God sending a crow to show him how. 

When we sin, it takes you momentarily out of belief, until you remember that God loves to forgive and is aware of our weaknesses. And then recompense your sin with a good deed- reaffirming your faith in goodness- by the Salat and then by directly asking for God’s forgiveness and admitting your weakness to Him. 

No sin is so huge that it cannot be forgiven. 
And then God blessed us, as a Nation, with the sixth pillar of our belief, Qadr or predestination, which frees our future action, and resolve, from the encumbered past which had already been written. 

May God make us all Hafidh ul Hudood. Affirming it’s truth, whilst being easy with it, chasing away wrong with good, and then not seeking to apply it whilst we have not the power to construct a just society, along the lines established by the Sunnah (way) of the Messenger (saw), where mercy takes precedence over everything. 

And then may He bless us to hide our shame, and the shame of our brothers and sisters, and seek forgiveness from him. 

Ameen

What I have said here is my opinion. If it is wrong then that wrong belongs to me. 
I have paraphrased for effect, and knowledge is sought through study and contemplation, not via lectures, nor speeches, nor this. 


Shafeesthoughts 

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