Question 322 - The Enlightening Answer Across the Ether, Vol 4

Ahmed al-Hasan Response:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, the Imams and the Mahdis, and grant them abundant peace. Answer to the first: Regarding a woman’s voice, whether she can speak to men, and how she should speak to men, this is clear in the Quran. The Exalted said: ‘O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women, if you are mindful of Allah. So do not be soft in speech, lest one in whose heart is disease should desire, but speak appropriate words’ (^[49]). ‘… And when you ask them for an item, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts. It is not for you to harm the Messenger of Allah, nor ever to marry his wives after him. Indeed, that would be a grave matter with Allah’ (^[50]). ‘So eat and drink and be comforted. If you see any human being, say, “I have vowed a fast to the Most Gracious, so today I will not speak to any human being”’ (^[51]). The verses clearly show that it is permissible for a woman to speak with a man, but on a condition I will explain later, Allah willing. The last verse clearly shows that Mary (a) used to speak to them and there was no impediment to her speaking with them later; only at that time did she refrain from speaking with them because she had vowed a fast. Therefore, only then would she not speak to any of them, as the verse states. If you also review the lives of al-Zahra (a) and Zaynab (a), both of them-peace be upon them-spoke, defended the right of the vicegerents of Allah upon His earth, and confronted the tyrants and their followers. Indeed, because al-Zahra (a) incited the people against the tyrants who had usurped the vicegerency of Allah upon His earth, she was subjected to much harm. They wanted to burn her house and kill her and her children. They stormed her house and broke her rib. Her pains and sufferings did not deter her from continuing to defend the truth until she was martyred-may Allah’s prayers be upon her. As for Zaynab (a), her stances before, during, and after the event of Karbala were like those of her mother al-Zahra (a). It remains that when a woman confronts tyrants, she will certainly be subjected to harm in different forms. They are devils and satanic offspring, and Satan incites them as well. What is required of the believing woman is not to be soft in speech, and to be strong and firm for the sake of Allah and in confronting tyrants. If she finds one of them using obscene speech or even presenting a narration that is inappropriate for a man to discuss with a woman, her response to him should be resolute and severe. If, for example, you are on Paltalk, remove his speaking privilege and tell him, for example, ‘Had you been a legitimate son, you would not have dared-or attempted to dare-to speak this way to a woman.’ Or use any expression humiliating him, such as telling him, ‘You are as Allah, the Exalted, described you and those like you: “Or do you think that most of them hear or reason? They are only like livestock; rather, they are further astray from the way” (^[52]). You are more astray than a beast.’ This is so such people will refrain from affronting believing women and will consider the response their words will receive. If these people feel safe from punishment, they behave badly. Muting and expelling them alone are not enough; rather, they must be humiliated-may Allah disgrace them-perhaps they will be deterred. Indeed, they are one of Satan’s means for preventing believing women from striving, exalting the supreme word of Allah, and ascending. Thus Satan-may Allah curse him-seeks to achieve his malicious purpose through these filthy people by preventing believing women from following the example of al-Zahra (a) and Zaynab (a). It is truly grievous to me, my daughter, that these people-the most evil of Allah’s creation-dare to address believing women of pure chastity with words, expressions, or discussions that are morally unacceptable or obscene. Yet I cannot prevent believing women from following the example of al-Zahra (a) and Zaynab (a). Rather, I must urge them to follow this blessed path even if they are subjected to harm, for in al-Zahra (a), Zaynab (a), Khadijah (a), Fatimah bint Asad (a), Narjis (a), Mary (a), Asiya the wife of Pharaoh, and the long list of women who took blessed stances in supporting the truth and were harmed in the way of Allah, Glorious is He, they have the best consolation. Answer to the second: The message means that he is sent with the religion and to establish the new belief. Allegiance means establishing the sovereignty of Allah and allegiance to the vicegerents of Allah. If we return to the beginning of Islam, the one who brought the message was Muhammad (s). He bore the matter of conveying the new religion and establishing belief in the new religion. That is, he bore the message, conveyed it, and established it, and he pointed to allegiance and spoke about it, but the focus was upon the message he brought, correcting corrupt beliefs, and spreading the sound doctrine he brought. As for allegiance, Allah’s sovereignty, and their establishment, Imam Ali (a), Fatimah (a), and the Imams (a) after them bore their burdens. Allegiance was among the things Muhammad (s) brought in his message, but Ali (a) and Fatimah (a) were charged with establishing it. The Messenger Muhammad (s), who brought and established the Islamic message, is in reality also an Imam; and Imam Ali (a), who established allegiance, is also a messenger from Muhammad (s). I have explained this in the book The Seal of Prophethood. As for the First Mahdi, he bears both matters together. The first is the message: correcting corrupt beliefs and establishing belief in the Mahdis. The second is establishing allegiance and the sovereignty of Allah, from which all people have deviated. Now, as you know, no one truly professes allegiance. The misguided religious authorities used to profess it with their tongues, but today they have disavowed allegiance and Allah’s sovereignty even in their statements, while urging the sovereignty of the people, consultation, and elections. Their practical approach is the nullification of allegiance; as is not hidden, today they have unanimously adopted the approach of consultation and elections and entered into it through their emulators, who formed parties and groups, every party rejoicing in what it possesses. In the First Mahdi, the role of Muhammad (s) and the role of Ali (a)-the mission and guardianship-are combined. For this reason I wrote in The Allegories what you quoted. Answer to the third: The preceding discussion addressed a woman’s work in delivering the divine religion to the people. Answer to the fourth: The Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s) ate the fruits of the Garden, including a fig from the Garden, and from this fruit Allah created the seed of Fatimah (a) in the loins of Muhammad (s). Answer to the fifth: ‘Indeed, We tested them as We tested the owners of the garden when they swore that they would surely harvest it in the morning, making no exception. Then a visitation from your Lord visited it while they slept, and by morning it was like a harvested field. They called to one another at daybreak: “Go early to your crop if you intend to harvest.” So they set out, whispering among themselves, “No poor person shall enter it against you today.” They went early, resolved and capable. But when they saw it, they said, “We have surely lost our way. Rather, we have been deprived.” The most equitable among them said, “Did I not tell you: why do you not glorify Allah?” They said, “Glory be to our Lord; indeed, we were wrongdoers.” Then they turned upon one another in blame. They said, “Woe to us! We were indeed transgressors. Perhaps our Lord will replace it for us with something better; indeed, we turn eagerly to our Lord.” Such is the punishment, and the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if only they knew’ (^[53]). The verses recount a story that is also an admonition and an explanation of the condition of those who confront the messengers. The story is that a group of people owned an orchard-a garden-and wanted to harvest its fruit without paying its zakat or giving any of it to a poor, needy, or destitute person. Allah sent against it something that destroyed its fruit and left none of it, just as happens now when plants in protected cultivation sometimes freeze on winter days because of a fall in temperature, leaving no tree or fruit undamaged; or as happens when insects such as locusts or animals such as rats attack some farms and eat their trees, their fruit, or both. ‘They would surely harvest it’: that is, gather its fruit; sarm means cutting. ‘By morning it was like a harvested field’: that is, like land whose crop had been harvested and whose fruit had been cut, leaving no fruit to be gathered. ‘The most equitable among them said’: that is, the most just among them. The outcome they reached was a worldly punishment Allah sent down upon them because they withheld that which Allah had made sustenance for a person in need from the wealth whose administration Allah had entrusted to them. The truth is that worldly punishment is not sent down pointlessly. Allah, Glorious and Exalted, knew that they-or some of them-would benefit and take admonition from this punishment, and for this reason He sent it down upon them. Their taking admonition is clear after the worldly punishment descended and their wealth was destroyed: ‘But when they saw it, they said, “We have surely lost our way. Rather, we have been deprived.” The most equitable among them said, “Did I not tell you: why do you not glorify Allah?” They said, “Glory be to our Lord; indeed, we were wrongdoers.” Then they turned upon one another in blame. They said, “Woe to us! We were indeed transgressors. Perhaps our Lord will replace it for us with something better; indeed, we turn eagerly to our Lord.” Such is the punishment, and the punishment of the Hereafter is greater, if only they knew.’ The verses explain that zakat is an increase in provision, and that withholding zakat and withholding expenditure from the poor, destitute, and orphan may be a cause of the eradication of provision. They explain that worldly punishment for people may affect wealth and the economy as a warning to them, perhaps they will return to the truth: ‘We will surely make them taste the nearer punishment before the greater punishment, perhaps they will return’ (^[54]). Indeed, it may descend in a form that can be interpreted as not being a punishment. They might say that the punishment is a natural phenomenon, an economic crisis, a planet that happened to pass and destroy people, or a strange epidemic they had not known before that came and destroyed people, or … or … Whoever wants to interpret punishment as not being punishment in order to deny the messenger because of whose rejection it descended will never lack an argument over which to stumble. But those who want to take admonition and know the truth will say it is punishment and will consider the wrongdoing their hands have earned and acquired, whether it was wrongdoing against one of Allah’s proofs or violating what Allah’s proofs brought concerning spending upon the poor and paying zakat: ‘The most equitable among them said, “Did I not tell you: why do you not glorify Allah?” They said, “Glory be to our Lord; indeed, we were wrongdoers.”’ Although the preceding is sufficient, there is no harm in asking what happened to Quraysh for Allah to present this parable to them. The truth is that they were only afflicted by economic hardship because the Messenger Muhammad (s) supplicated that they be afflicted with years like the years of Joseph (a). Allah regarded it as one of His signs, Glorious is He. But do Quraysh, ancient and modern, take admonition and benefit from the signs? Certainly, some took admonition and some do so now. But how many are those who take heed and admonition? How many are those who, when a wise or reasonable person among them-the most equitable among them-says, ‘Why do you not glorify Allah?’ respond, ‘Glory be to our Lord; indeed, we were wrongdoers’? Answer to the sixth: According to terminology used among the people, ‘Muslim’ applies to one who testifies to the two testimonies. Its true meaning, however, is taken from submission to Allah and His vicegerents, and this matter has degrees. As for a believer, he is one who affirms Allah and His vicegerents, and this matter also has degrees. Ahmed Alhasan The blessed month of Shaban, 1430 AH