BACKGROUND
The Holy Quran starts with Surah Al-Fatiha, which is a prayer that Allah taught mankind. In this prayer, we seek guidance from Allah towards the straight and righteous path. We also seek the blessings of Allah, which he generously bestows upon his obedient slaves. Moreover, we also request him to keep us away from the path of the wrongdoers.
Everything that comes after the first Surah is a response to it. Within it, we find the guidance requested in Surah Al-Fatiha. This guidance is the main subject of the Quran.
If you observe Surah Al-Baqarah, you will note that it starts with some definitions. These definitions describe three broad types of humans present in the world. In the first five Ayahs, you will find the description of Believers, and in the next two Ayahs, you will find the description of Kafiroon. In the next 21 Ayahs, the definition of Munafiqeen is present. All of these Ayahs discuss the attributes and characteristics of three distinct groups of people. Those who claim to be believers should reflect upon themselves and analyze their conduct. Doing so will help them see where they stand in these groups according to the Quran. We need to test ourselves on the parameters. It will be unsettling to see that most of those who claim to be believers fail to meet the definitions. In other words, many people are not believers, according to the description of believers present in the Quran.
The Ayahs that appear after these definitions deal with different subjects. These subjects include the beginning of humans, foundations of good, evil, right, and wrong, and the arrival of humans on earth.
At the beginning of this article, the third Ayah of Surah Al-Baqarah is briefly discussed. This Ayah explains how to spend in the way of Allah. The main focus of this article will be on the fourth Ayah, which explains the status of previous scriptures in Islam. The exaltedness of these scriptures is highlighted by drawing proofs in the form of Ahadith and logical arguments.
SPEND IN THE WAY OF ALLAH
Verse 3 of Surah Al-Baqarah defines the Muttaqeen (the pious, those who fear their lord or those who are saved from Hellfire) as the ones who believe in the unseen (see the previous article for an explanation), established the system of salah (refer the previous article) and spend from whatever has been provided to them. In this article, this last part is elaborated.
What to spend, and how much to spend?
First of all, this expenditure in the path of Allah doesn’t only refer to Zakah. It is spending beyond this obligatory amount.
In the third Ayah of Surah Al-Baqarah, there is a general ruling that you have to spend in the way of Allah. More details are provided later on in the Quran itself.
This Ayah asks us to spend the surplus or the excess resources that we possess but do not need. If you want to spend in the way of Allah, this is the way to do it. However, a question may arise that how do we decide how much surplus we have? Some people may have millions of rupees but still, be unable to fulfill their needs. They may have a business that requires significant investment, so they need more than just one car or house. So what is the best way to measure this surplus?
The view of Allama Syed Abdullah Tariq, who is an eminent scholar of Islam, is presented ahead. He speaks on this topic in the light of the Quran and Ahadith.
Spending in the way of Allah by spending whatever surplus you possess is the system defined by Islam. It is worth noting that this system, which the Quran mentions, is neither socialist nor an interest-based capitalist system.
In the socialist system, the state decides the need of its citizen. According to them, all wealth should be distributed among citizens equally irrespective of their contribution to the economy. In this system, productivity often suffers because it does not promote individual economic growth and can only be implemented forcefully. Historically this has been a failed system.
Islam makes it mandatory for believers to give Zakah. Wherever there is an Islamic State, it is responsible for assessing, collecting, and distributing the Zakah. It is only the state that has the authority to punish those who refuse to pay Zakah. However, the instructions to spend in the way of Allah has something more to it than just Zakah. The state does not define the extent of surplus for you. This amount may vary for two individuals, even if they have the same level of wealth.
Humans are the only species that store and collect money for the future. We have banks and wallets which keep our wealth in safekeeping. On the other hand, birds go daily in search of their daily provisions and come back to their nests in the evening with their bellies full. No one among them remains hungry or worries about the future. The same teachings and analogy were given by Prophet Jesus (PBUH) to break the capitalist system of the Jews based on an interest-based economy. Jesus (PBUH) didn’t bring any law but gave moral teachings. Islam came afterward with a balanced system keeping in mind the nature and needs of humans. This system emphasizes that there shouldn’t be any economic disparity among people. In other words, some individuals should not have excessive wealth, while others may be dying of hunger.
Islam gives utmost importance to the duration of a year, as emphasized in various Ahadith. Therefore, according to Allama Syed Abdullah Tariq, whatever remains unused for more than a year qualifies as surplus. Such things and resources should be given away to the needy who require it more than you. This excess could be in any form like jewelry, money, or even property.
Islam encourages us to use our money or property for some productive work. In other words, money should be mobile in the market as it plays a role in providing jobs to people and improving the economy. Anything that you have and you don’t use is, by definition, not in productive use. Islam doesn’t encourage us to keep any surplus while others are starving to death. That is why “the extra” should be spent for Allah on the needy.
ANY REWARD FOR SPENDING “THE SURPLUS”?
One thing more, giving away the surplus doesn’t entitle anyone to a reward (sawab). Because according to the Quran 3:92:
Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah] from that which you love. And whatever you spend – indeed, Allah is Knowing of it.
Thus, an individual will only attain righteousness and reward if he spends from the things that he loves and likes. Since the surplus is what we do not use, it is not something that we love, and we will get no reward for giving it away.
THE HIDDEN MESSAGE
Quran doesn’t discourage us from earning, but it advises us to use and invest whatever we have so that the economy runs smoothly. We should not be hoarding the money and property. If anyone does it, he has to pay Zakah on it (the excess wealth and property), and this will eventually reduce it.
BELIEF IN THE PREVIOUS SCRIPTURES
In Verse 4 of Surah Al-Baqarah, firm faith in the Holy Quran and the Previous Holy Scriptures is characteristic of believers. So, what does it mean to believe in these books? Is it sufficient to only know that these books are from God? The 47th Ayah of the 10th Surah already tells us that messengers were sent to every nation and tribe. So why is believing in previous scriptures an article of faith when the Quran highlights their existence?
Belief in the articles of faith makes specific demands and involves some considerations. For instance, when we say that “we believe in Allah” we don’t just mean that he is one and unborn; it has other considerations as well. For example, we also implicitly claim that we rely only upon him, and we believe that he is the disposer of all our affairs. Thus, having faith in other books must have some demands and considerations.
As far as believing in the Quran is concerned, we know it is the last testament of Allah sent on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This Book remains preserved in its original form, and all its guidelines are mandatory to follow. On the other hand, over time, all the previous books are altered and hence contain many interpolations. Being altered doesn’t mean that they are entirely wrong. It is untrue to say that nothing is right within them. Quran says that these books (still) have guidance and Noor within them. Therefore, he has asked us to believe in them. They can’t be completely wrong. Apart from the interpolations in them, everything else has been revealed by God.
In Quran 2:79, Allah curses those who write the Book from their own hands and attribute them to Allah.
A close look at these scriptures will tell you that these books are witness over themselves that they absorbed changes within them. For instance, take the example of Vedas. There are four Vedas, namely Rig Veda, Atharva Veda, Yajur Veda, and Sam Veda. Yajurveda is of two types Shukl (white) Yajurveda and Krishna (Black) Yajurveda. These two Yajurveda have different version known as Samhitas or Shakhas (Recension). According to Arya Samajis, these are various commentaries of Yajurveda. But this is merely a deception. Many Shakhas of Vedas are lost. Rigveda had 131 Recension, as mentioned in the literature, but only 4-5 are present to date, and the rest is lost. These 4-5 recensions cannot be the commentary of the Vedas as they are entirely distinct from each other. They are the different versions of the Vedas. Many parts of these recensions are the same, while many are different. These different Samhitas or Shakhas (Recension) even have a different number of mantras (See Picture Below).
Similar is the case of the Torah. The first five books of the Bible are believed to be revealed to the Prophet Moses (PBUH). In Deuteronomy, the last Book of the Torah it is written:
How is Prophet Moses reporting his death in this Book? By any logic, these verses cannot be the word of God revealed on Moses. These must be added by someone else (maybe some historian) many years after the death of Prophet Moses (PBUH). Furthermore, according to Deuteronomy 34:10, no prophet came to Israel after Moses. So these verses have not been revealed to any other prophet.
Bible claims to include different books revealed to various Prophets. The present-day Bible consists of the word of God, the word of Prophets, and historical records written by other people. Still, Christians call this Bible to be the word of God only.
The Bible includes the Torah as well as Injeel (Gospel) that is believed to be revealed on Jesus (PBUH). In the Bible, there are four Gospels. However, only one Gospel was revealed to Jesus, so what is the source of the rest of the Gospels?
There were hundreds of different versions of Injeel or Gospel that people had. In 325 AD, the king of that time (Constantine I) organized a Nicaea council where according to his belief, he approved 4 Gospels as authentic and burnt down all other versions and announced that whosoever possesses any of these different versions will be burnt alive. There are four Gospels that we find in today’s Bible:
- The Gospels According to Mathew,
- The Gospels According to Luke,
- The Gospels According to Mark and
- The Gospels According to John.
We don’t find the Gospel of Jesus in the Bible.
It means that according to Matthew, the Gospel is different, and according to Luke, Mark, and John, they are altogether different. The Titles of these Gospels speak for themselves that they are not the word of God but written by Mathew, Luke, Mark, and John. Similarly, other verses in the Bible can be easily recognized to be written by some historian or narrator, which cannot be the word of God.
Another issue with the Bible is that it never includes the original text. We have translations in different languages like English, Hindi, and Urdu, etc. Christians are the only community that does not have access to the original text of their Book. Oddly this issue has never been publicized. Without the original text, we cannot detect whether the translation is accurate or not.
BELIEF NEVERTHELESS
So, what does it mean to believe in them even when they have interpolations? Because of these interpolations, many scholars believe that it is sufficient to say that these were books of God and were true. But as discussed earlier, belief has particular demands. There must be some wisdom behind, including them as an article of faith.
The 285th Ayah of Surah Al-Baqarah clearly instructed us not to make any distinction among messengers of Allah. However, don’t we make any such distinction?
A Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim reveals that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) asked us not to say that he is superior to other prophets. We are instructed to make no difference between him and even Prophet Yunus, who made a mistake. It does not mean we can’t believe so, but it is advised not to utter this. This command is specified for the worldly life. The superiority of Prophet Muhammad over others is true for the time before the world’s creation and the Hereafter. But in this world, he asked his followers to abstain from saying this. There is a lot of wisdom behind this command, as it ensures that people don’t indulge and fight over it.
Quran 2:253 Says:
Those messengers – some of them We caused to exceed others. Among them were those to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them in degree…
This Ayah indicates that some prophets do have certain excellency over others, while all are equally holy under God’s eye. For instance, Prophet Jesus has superiority over others in a way as he talked in infancy and could raise dead alive while other prophets didn’t have such abilities. According to Quran 4:164, Moses spoke to Allah in this world while no other prophet could do that. On the other hand, Prophet Muhammad went on Meraaj while others did not. Thus Prophets did have superiority over others in some fields. But we should abstain from saying so as per Quran 2:285.
Why is there no command asking us to make no distinction among the books? Because certainly there is a distinction among the Books.
The Quran 29:46 says:
This means we should believe in what is revealed in these books, and claiming belief is not sufficient. What would we do if the People of the Book come to us and say, “we believe in your books, but we won’t follow it”? In other words, heartfelt obedience is a must to prove belief.
The 59th Ayah of the 5th Surah commands the believers to go to the people of the Book and tell them that we believe in the previous scriptures. However, this is not enough. The Ayah further commands the believer to say to the people of Book that they are baseless until they establish the Torah and the Injeel and whatever has been revealed to them by their lord. (Our attitude is contrary to this. Instead, we believe that we should go to them and ask them to believe in the Quran and leave everything aside).
It must be kept in mind that this Ayah is one of the last ones to revealed, so it cannot be claimed to have been abrogated.
EXTENT OF EXALTEDNESS
So, what should the status of these scriptures be in the eye of a Muslim? What extent of exaltedness do they have?
Ahadith are the collection and compilation of the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). It is the unanimous view of the scholars that various false traditions have been included in the Ahadith collections.
There are many books of Hadiths; among them, six are considered to be most revered, and among these 6, two of them have the highest authority. It does not mean that the rest are wrong. It only means that books of Ahadith also have these gradations based on their authenticity and reliability. We believe in the exaltedness of all these books.
According to Munkareen-e-hadith, all Ahadith are wrong as they are work of human collection, and false traditions have been included in them. On the contrary, some believe that all Ahadith are right.
The point is despite so many issues; we still consider the Book of Ahadith as exalted. Now, if the previous scriptures have truth along with interpolation, why can’t they be considered eminent?
Similar Nature of Ahadith and Previous Scriptures
SAME THINGS BUT DIFFERENT NARRATORS AND WORDS
There are some Ahadith, which share the same meaning but display slight variations. Prophet Muhammad said only one thing, so why do the collections have multiple versions? These differences arose because the companions of the Prophet narrated the traditions in their own words. There is only one Hadith that is present verbatim, as Prophet Muhammad said.
Similar narrations and verses are also present in previous scriptures, so why can’t they be accepted like Hadith?
SAME ORDER OR EVENT BUT DIFFERENCE IN DETAILS
There are events described in the Hadith, the details of which vary among different narrations. For example, in one Hadith, it is mentioned that Prophet was at Umme Hani’s home when he went for Meraj. In another hadith, it specified that he was at Kaaba. The details of the incidence of Meraj also vary among Ahadith.
The same issue is with the previous books where the details of a particular incident might vary at places, but the event and the moral of it roughly remain the same.
CORRECTION OF SCRIBES’ ERROR BY SCHOLARS
It is found that in Ahadith, there some errors can be attributed to the scribes. In other words, the sayings of the Prophet have not been noted down with specific errors. These errors are recognized when whatever is written does not fit the context. Whenever a scholar identifies such a mistake, he corrects it in a way that allows the word to work in the context correctly. The same thing happened with the people of the Book. Thus, their scriptures can’t be rejected in its entirety.
RESEARCH FOR AUTHENTICITY IS STILL ON
The research on finding out the authenticity of Ahadith is still going on. Nasir Albani is one of many contemporary scholars who re-categorized Dhaeef and Sahih Ahadith. It should be kept in mind that things are researched and analyzed when there is some doubt about them. There are certain doubts about the authenticity of some Ahadith. That is why it is vital to explore Ahadith to find out the truth. We don’t do such researches on the Quran because we know it is free from all errors. Similar research is being conducted on the previous scriptures by the people of the Book as well.
CONCORD AND PREFERENCE AMONG CONTRADICTIONS
There may be some Ahadith that seem to contradict each other, but scholars concord (Prove the truthfulness of both) them by adding their views according to their understanding and knowledge. In other words, they highlight the middle ground that shows how both of the points can be congruent. And at times during contradiction, they give preference to certain Ahadith over others. Such events can also be seen among the previous books.
REVEALED IN TERMS OF MEANING
Ahadith are believed to be the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad. He only spoke whatever Allah directed him to say. But the Ahadith, as discussed earlier, are not present in the exact words of Allah or Prophet Muhammad. They are present in the words of companions. So, they are believed to be revealed in terms of meaning, not in terms of exact saying. The same is the case of the previous books, where the Godly word might not remain preserved, but the meaning does.
The points mentioned above draw a parallelism between the exaltedness and sacredness of Hadith and the previous books. If, despite so many issues, we can consider Ahadith holy, why can’t we consider these books sacred?
Maulana Abdullah Sindhi also suggested that these previous scriptures can be given the same status of holiness/exaltedness as Ahadith. As the collection of Hadith also has certain discrepancies like these books.
A HADITH PROHIBITING USE OF OTHER SCRIPTURES
A hadith is often quoted to show the prohibition of the use of other scriptures. According to this Hadith, Hazrat Umar (RA) came to Propet Muhammad with some pages of the Torah from the schools of Jews and praised it, saying that many good things are written in it and began reciting it. That recitation annoyed the Prophet; when Abubakr (RA) noticed it, he stopped Umar from doing so. Umar repented and apologized. At this point, Prophet Muhammad said:
People present this Hadith to stop people from using other scriptures. Quran, on the one hand, is asking believers to go the people of the Book and ask them to establish the previous scriptures, then why would the Hadith stop us from it?
This Hadith is from Darmi. Another hadith is present in the Bukhari, and we know that Bukhari is much more exalted and stronger than Darmi. The Hadith of Bukhari says:
Now, these two Ahadith may seem contradictory. But this is not the case, and both the Ahadith are correct. The Hadith of Darmi says, “if you followed Moses and left me, you would have gone astray”. How can one follow Moses in such a way that he might leave Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)? Had Moses presented different Tauheed or a different view of the Hereafter? This leaving of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and following Moses can not be in regards to the faith because all the Prophets preached the same faith. One can follow Moses and leave Muhammad only if he abandons the Sharia of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and follows the Sharia of Moses (PBUH) because different prophets were given other Shariahs. Shariah of Muhammad abrogated all previous Shariah, and individuals must follow it. Even if Prophet Moses were present now, he would have followed the Shariah of Prophet Muhammad. So, it can be concluded that the pages that Hazrat Umar was reciting contained the Shariah of Jews. One thing to be noted that this incident took place just after the migration of the Prophet to Medina. We got to know this from the fact that only in the early days of Prophethood at Medina, Muslims had cordial relations with Jews. Things were so good that Umar (RA) went to the school of Jews and brought back pages of the Torah. After a few years, Jews became hostile to Muslims and began conspiring against Islam. We know that all the laws of sharia were revealed in Medina. In earlier days of Medina, when the earliest laws were revealed, Prophet discouraged the study of the old laws which he knew were going to be abrogated. Now, in later times when all the laws were revealed, he allowed the usage of previous scriptures as mentioned in the Hadith of Bukhari. So in a way, the Hadith of Bukhari abrogates the earlier Hadith of Darmi.
Now, why would we use these previous scriptures? How much could be taken from them? See the next article for these answers.
Article extracted from
DISCOVER QUR’AN – SURAH AL-BAQARAH (2:3-4) | BELIEF IN THE PREVIOUS SCRIPTURES-WHY AND HOW? Link: https://youtu.be/RFFNlq5yNNk