"O you who have believed, do not violate the rites of Allah or [the sanctity of] the sacred month or [neglect the marking of] the sacrificial animals and garlanding [them] or [violate the safety of] those coming to the Sacred House seeking bounty from their Lord and [His] approval. But when you come out of ihram, then [you may] hunt. And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty."
[Al-Maidah 5:2]
Emblems or rites of Allah are those signs and symbols that represent the pure way of God-worship as against the ways of idolatry, unbelief, paganism and atheism. The Muslims are required to show respect to the emblems of Allah wherever they find them in any way or system, provided that their psychological background is purely attributed to God-worship and has not in any way been polluted by any association with idolatry or unbelief. Therefore, if a Muslim comes across anything in the creed and deed of a non-Muslim which has an element of God-worship in it, he will show due respect to that element and to the emblems connected with God-worship. There will be no dispute with the non Muslims on that account: a dispute arises only when he pollutes God-worship with the worship of others.
In this connection, it should be noted that the command to show due respect to the emblems of Allah was given at a time when the Muslims were at war with the pagan Arabs who were in possession of Makkah. This was necessitated because some of the pagan Arabs had to pass on their way to the Ka'abah through places where the Muslims could strike at them easily. Therefore the Muslims were enjoined not to molest them when they were proceeding to the House of Allah, even though they were idolaters and at war with them. Like wise, the Muslims should not attack them during the sacred month of Hajj nor snatch from them those animals, which they were taking to the House of Allah as offering. This is to ensure that the element of God-worship, which had remained intact in their corrupt religion, should be respected and not violated
Immediately after this Command, a few emblems of Allah have been specially mentioned because there was an imminent danger of their violation by the Muslims owing to the state of war. This does not, however, mean that these emblems alone are to be respected.
Incidentally the command about ihram has been given here because this is also one of the emblems of Allah. Hunting during the state of ihram is prohibited, because it is the violation of one of the emblems of Allah. But when the restrictions of ihram come to an end according to the law, one is permitted to hunt, if one desires to do so.
This prohibition was laid down to check the Muslims from preventing the pagan Arabs from proceeding to Hajj and attacking them when they were passing through their territories. The Muslims had been so enraged when their enemies had prevented them from visiting the Ka'abah and from the performance of Hajj in contravention of their old custom that they were prone to retaliate, but Allah warned them not to transgress the bounds.
Instead Allah Ta'ala has commanded the Believers to enjoin in good actions and piety for the fear of Allah changes a human completely. Once a person has gripped the concept, he/she never deviates from the path of Allah because Allah is watchful over everything and the thought of upsetting Allah firmly straightens the Believers.
Things we learnt:
> To abide by the emblems of Allah sincerely.
> The purity and sancity of the sacred months (Ramadan, Dhul Hajjah) must not be voilated.
> Believers must not cause hurdles in the way of those who come to Ka'bah to receive Allah's bounty and reward in order to purify themselves even if they are not Believers. The mere existence of their desire to please Allah is enough for Believers to not harm them nor snatch their animals.
> The guidance in Qur'an was not only for the Muslims of those times but also for us. When Allah commanded for Believers to not transgress due to their anger and hatred of being thrown out of Masjid Al-Haram, the meaning could be taken to today's era. The hatred or aggressive desire towards someone who has wronged us or has thrown us out must not lead us to trangress. For they will be asked about their deeds and we will be asked about ours. It is thus better to remain firm in our belief that Allah is Watchful and He is Just.
> The fear of Allah should be prominent as well as permanent in a Believer's way of doing things. The fear of Allah leads us to enjoin what is good and inhibit what is wrong. That in itself is the worldly test we all must work hard on passing gracefully.
Additional note:
> The fear of Allah is one thing but pleasing Allah is a feeling all Believers yearn for. Hence when faced with a choice of right or wrong, a Believer should deliberately choose the right path with the conciousness that Allah will be pleased with him if he walks on the right path. Infact, fear of Allah and pleasing Allah are two co-exsting variables. One variable cannot be accomplished without the existence of the other. One can only truly fear Allah if he feels a strong passion to please Allah. And conversely, one can only please Allah if he truly fears Allah. But the dominant feeling should be pleasing Allah. It will hold the key to our eternal future, In sha Allah.
May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.
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O You Who Believe
SpiritualIn the name of Allah, The Most Beneficient, The Most Merciful. Here, we will discuss the number of times Allah has directly referred to the Believers in the Qur'an and the orders He has directly betided upon us.
