215. The pious have no fear.
Some misrepresent this verse (10:62)of the Quran to come to the conclusion they can pray to the saints and pious men.This verse of the Quran stresses that each should strive to live a saintly life and not worship a saint.
The next verse also lays down the characteristics of a saintly person.
No one can know if the other person really believes and fears God,because both these factors are something that cannot be judged from the outer looks and deeds of a person, but something from within a person.
These verses talk about how men cannot find who a real saint is, and hence the question of celebrating a saint does not arise.
Though according to us a person may look perfect, he is so only in our looks and we cannot decide he is the same in the eyes of God.
When Usmaan Bin Mazhoon, a comrade of Prophet Muhammad passed away, a lady by the name of Ummul Ala called towards the dead person to say “ Allah will dignify you “ to that Allah’s messenger turned towards her to ask “ how do you know he has been dignified by Allah”
Hadith by :Bukhari 1243
Usman Bin Mazoon was one of the best of the comrades of Prophet Muhammad, he was the one who also migrate along with the prophet.If one has to be named as a saint,by observing his acts and deeds, he perfectly fits in, but after his death Prophet Muhammad reprimands the lady who declares Allah has dignified him on his death like as it was her prerogative to decide in this matter..
In a battlefield a person fought very bravely and the other comrades of Prophet Muhammad praised him, at that time Prophet Muhammad called him a hell dweller. As if to prove it true the person committed suicide because of the unbearable pain from the wounds he recieved during the fight.
Hadith by: Bukhari 2898
It is narrated by the prophet of Islam that in an incident in the hereafter, a martyr, a scholar, and a wealthy person while subjected to questioning about their good deeds on earth, where each would reply, with the martyr saying he lost his life fghting in the way of God, and the scholar saying he spent his life teaching people about the Almighty,, and the wealthy person saying he spent his wealth for the sake of Allah. To this the Almighty would reply to them saying all the deeds by these people were done with an ulterior motive of gaining name and fame in the world, which they have already earned, and they may be heralded into hell in the hereafter.
Hadith by: Muslim 3865
This hadith tells how people termed as martyrs , generous persons ,and scholars in this world are hell dwellers in the eyes of Allah, and the impossibility of humans to decide on the saintliness of others.
When a child passed away, Ayesha (RA) made a remark naming the child as a sparrow in paradise. Prophet Muhammad was against that remark and reprimanded her.
Hadith by: Muslim 5174, 5175.
From this Hadith we come to understand that even the position of an innocent child cannot be decided by anyone when dead.
Now, when we cannot decide on the saintliness of men, messages that give out the characteristics of a person as pious come into question..Let’s try to explore this point of view.
. Oh, believers fear Allah! Be truthful.(The Quran 9:119).
Do not get married to infidel women till they come to believe in the Oneness of Allah..( The Quran:2:221)
Though knowing about infidels as hell-dwellers, seeking forgiveness because of they being close relatives, is prohibited for the believers and for this messenger (Prophet Muhammad).(The Quran 9:113)..
The above verses talk about living with the true believers, the bar in getting married to infidel women, and prohibiting seeking forgiveness for the infidels when they are dead.
We can follow the above commandments of the Quran only after deciding a person is good or bad.
In our opinion those that live a life as per Islamic laws are considered as good. But at the same time those that are seen as good in our opinion, cannot be viewed as same in eyes of Allah, for it is not for us to decide how Allah’s views should be.This is the fundamental belief of Islam.
We must live with those who are true believers in our view. At the same time the belief that a person is good only in our opinion and the rest God alone is aware, should be the basic belief. This is the way the Almighty says to decide about people.
“Oh! you who believe, when women who migrated come to you, examine them, Allah is the best Knower of their belief. When you perceive them as true believers, do not send them back to the infidels” (The Quran 60:10).
This verse of the Quran says, when the believers in women who left Makkah and came to Madina, are to be examined about their real objective. It cannot be said for sure, even after examining them the decision arrived at that they are muslims may not be correct, and only the Almighty knows the contents in their hearts, can be seen in the words of this verse.
These verses also confirm that just because a person is seen as pious and good, need not necessarily be the same in the hands of God Almighty on death.
But the shrine worshippers fail to understand this basic concept in islam and cite the above Quranic verses to justify their stand only shows their ignorance in deciding the position of people after their death.
They cite the following hadith to justify their belief that people can decide the greatness of others.
Anas(RA) narrated,
Once, when people had to pass by a dead soul laid down, they praised the dead person, at that time Prophet Muhammad said “it is confirmed”. At a different time when people remarked about a dead person while passing by they spoke ill of him,at that time Prophet Muhammd remarked “It is confirmed” To this Umar (RA) who was beside the prophet asked him, ‘what is confirmed’ ? The prophet replied, in the first case since the people praised the dead person, paradise was confirmed for him and, in the second case people cursed the dead person,as a result he was consigned to hell fire for..
(Hadith by:Bukhari 1367).
From this hadith it seems that a conclusion can be arrived at vaguely, that if a person is praised by people he attains paradise and, if a person is cursed he is consigned to hell.
Though this hadith portrays people as being the one responsible for the fate of the dead, we do not have the right to decide on such matters, nor do we have the knowledge regarding the same. Hence this hadith goes against all the evidence presented by us.
Moreover this is against practicality. We have seen people deciding on persons who are blatantly against Islam as being branded good, those that smoke cannabis,beedies, and living without bathing for years together, with braids are found in the list as spiritually high persons. This is yet another proof that people do not make the right decision.
Moreover this is against the basic concept of Islam that no one has the knowledge to read what is in the heart of another.
When we analyze if this hadith was quoted with reference to any other context, the result is follows:
In the above cited hadith we find a whole set of phrases left out. This is the reason that we get a faint belief that people can decide on others. We can see the left out phrases in other hadiths.
Anas (RA) narrated:
Once when I was accompanying Prophet Muhammad, a funeral procession passed by, and the great prophet asked me about the funeral, to that the people arond replied and identified the dead person and said he was a pious person and showed love and affection towards Prophet Muhammad, and did a lot of good deeds as commanded by the Almighty, and strived towards doing good to others. To this the prophet said “It is confirmed” .Later on there was another funeral, where the dead person was identified as one who had a dislike for Allah and his messenger ,and always in the attempt of doing acts and deeds against Allah. Immediately Allah’s prophet said “It is confirmed! It is confirmed! At this the people around approached Prophet Muhammad and asked him, Oh, messenger of Allah,the first time when people praised the dead person in funeral you said ‘It is confirmed’ and the second time when people cursed the dead person in the funeral, you again said ‘It is confirmed’ what does it mean ? the prophet replied by saying, there are certain angels from God on this earth, they talk in the words of people about whether a man is good or bad.. (Hadith by: Hakim Part 1 Page 533).
This hadith does not mention about people speaking voluntarily, rather it is about a man being good or bad in the words of angels Since Prophet Muhammad was a messenger of Allah, it was made known to him by Allah about the two dead persons in the two funerals, and he declared the same as a paradise dweller and a hell dweller accordingly.
This hadith mentions that only when angels speak in the words of people Allah is called as a witness and not when they talk voluntarily on their own.
Did the angels really speak in the words of the people or was it the claim of people that was revealed to the great prophet. Based on this the prophet could identify it and not everybody could do it. This hadith proves the point that even if the whole world vouches for the goodness of a person, that may not prove to be true.
This explanation is according to the evidences previously presented by us and does not in any way contradict the basic concepts of Islam.
To know more about how the arguments by the shrine worshippers justifying their stand is wrong please refer to points 17, 41, 49, 79, 83, 100, 104, 121, 122, 140, 141, 193, 213, 245, 269, 298, 327, 397, 427, 471.
