KHALWAH IN ISTANBUL: CHECK YOUR POCKETS……….68:5188

I am in Istanbul The curfew ( regading the spread of the corona virus) has been lifted for people to buy goods. I am walking to the store. A wooden Ottoman building that I pass is adorned with cascading roses. I stand entranced, tempted greatly to pick a rose for my apartment. I look at the numerous blooms after all there are so many…………..I think. Just as I am thinking of this the voice in my head says “Are these yours? You need to take permission if you want to pick one”.

Just then a luxury car turns into the neighborhood and parks in front of the scenic outlook and spills out a well-dressed modern couple. They walk around and then the man who is tall stops to look at the cascading roses which are back lit with the evening sun turning them into almost the color of deep red velvet shot with gold. He turns to ask the woman with him and she demurs coyly, he reaches up for the largest rose, picks it and hands it to the woman with him and they leave.

A flash back to my teaching days:

I am standing at my desk at the Medical School where I teach, I need paper and a three-hole puncher at home. There are several of each in the supply closet, I take one ream of paper and one of the three-hole puncher and turn to leave the room when a voice in my head stops me…….

“ Are these yours………?” I stop dead in my tracks and something I had read lights up like a flashing neon sign in front of me: “you will be accountable for all those things that are under your dominion…….”  The intellectual rationalizing voice kicks in “ but I work here and I would have used them here anyway” it says, to which the reply comes “….but you are taking them home and will you use these entirely for work purposes at home?

I give in,  and go back and replace the items in the closet. After work I leave to go buy them at the store, which means an investment of time that I am already hard pressed for.

Every human being is accountable to Allah Subhanawataala either in this world or in the Hereafter. It is this awareness that modulates human behavior. When it is absent or dulled the human being rides rough shod over those who are weaker or in need as is evident nowadays.

Every human being (almost) now with access to the internet has been given access to the Quran as to what Allah has designated as best for them and for their fellow human beings.

 For every human being the commands of Allah are clearly demarcated in the Quran and demonstrated in advice and acts of daily living by Prophet Muhammad pbuh which have been copiously documented in the Hadith and passed down with meticulous references to this day.

 

So as I listen to this hadith it gives me chills because I do and have had in the past and even now worn many hats: A daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a supervisor of my servants, a teacher of my students, a doctor of my patients, and a volunteer and activist in society for good and now a fulltime student of Ilm.

May Allah forgive my lapses and my mistakes in stewarding in those arenas.

Here is a Hadith that if people followed it to the letter it would transform society into a harmonious, just and pleasant way of life:

SAHIH BUKHARI HADITH 5188 ( The book of Wedlock chapter 68)

Narrated `Abdullah bin `Umar: The Prophet said, Every one of you is a guardian and every one of you is responsible (for his wards). A ruler is a guardian and is responsible (for his subjects); a man is a guardian of his family and responsible (for them); a wife is a guardian of her husband’s house and she is responsible (for it), a slave is a guardian of his master’s property and is responsible (for that). Beware! All of you are guardians and are responsible (for your wards).

DISCUSSION

Each one of you will be questioned about your guardianship:

1. The Rulers will be asked regarding their subjects
2. The man who is over his family members
3. The wife who is over her husband’s home
4. The slave/servant who is responsible of his master’s property will be asked.

BEWARE, BEWARE, BEWARE!

Hadith Arabic with isnaad ( chain of transmission):

Hadith in urdu with isnaad ( chain of transmission):

End lesson

I find this Surah as a beautiful guide to Community behavior in general:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

• Mufti Adnan Kakakhail ( Al Burhan.org) for his Hadees lessons
• My mother who taught without labelling but by action
• My mother’s Khala (Khalaji) who taught by stories ( she told a story about this hadith)
• All those who have helped me learn the Hadith and the way of the Quran

May Allah bless them all!