Part 14

Verily, the first of it to be revealed was a surah among the short suras in which is mentioned heaven and hell. After the people came to submission (Islam), the halal and the haram were revealed. If the first thing to be revealed were "Do not drink intoxicants" they would have said: "We will never leave our intoxicants." And if the first thing to be revealed were "Do not commit fornication and adultery.", they would have said: "We will never leave fornication." Verily, the following verse was revealed to Muhammad in Makka while I was a young girl playing: [No, the hour of judgement is more grievous and more bitter (i.e. than any hardships a Muslim may find in the path of Allah in this life)], and the chapters of Al-Baqarah and An-Nisaa (which contain extensive rulings on the halal and the haram) were only revealed while I was with him (sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam) as his wife." Then Aisha took our her mus-haf and dictated to him the verses of the chapter." Enjoining Right & Forbidding Wrong - 28 Translated by Salim Abdallah ibn Morgan Differences About Enjoining & Forbidding Are The Cause Of Division Kufr, corruption, and disobedience are the cause of evil and strife. A person or group may fall into sin and disobedience. Then another group keeps quiet, and does not fulfill their obligation of enjoining right and forbidding wrong, and that becomes a sin of theirs. And another group enjoins and forbids, but in a manner forbidden by Allah, and that becomes a sin of theirs. The end result is division, difference, strife, and evil. This is one of the greatest sources of evil and chaos in all times, former and present. This is because man is by nature dhaloom (ever given to criminality), and jahool (ever given to ignorance and foolishness). See Quran 72/33. This criminality or oppression, and this foolishness are of different types. The oppression and foolishness of the first person or group (i.e. the one committing the original disobedience of Allah) is of one type, while the oppression and foolishness of the second and third groups (those who knew and kept quiet, and those who enjoined and forbid in a manner not allowed by Islam) is of other types. Anyone who contemplates the strife and chaos which afflicts the Muslims will see that this is indeed their reason. All of the confusion which occurs between the rulers of the Ummah, and its scholars, and those who follow them among the common people has this as its root cause. Also in this category are the various causes of going astray: hawaa in both religious and worldly matters, innovation (bid'ah) in religion, and depravity in this life. These things are general, and afflict the entire human race, because of the element in them of criminality and foolishness. Thus, some of the people sin by oppressing themselves (i.e. by any disobedience to Allah) or others by committing fornication or homosexuality or drinking intoxicants, or economic crimes such as betraying of trusts, stealing, taking peoples property by intimidation, and other such crimes. Sins Are Desired By Human Nature It is known that these sins and acts of disobedience, though understood to be detestable and blameworthy by intellectual reasoning and by the criteria of Islam, are desired by human nature. It is a normal condition of the human self that it does not like others to have what it has not, or to have more of something than it, rather, it wishes for the good which has come to others to come to it. This is known in Arabic as Ghabta which is the lesser of the two forms of envy. Thus, the human self wishes to be superior or over others, and to be preferred to them, or it is envious of them, and wishes for the destruction of the good things which have come to others, even if it will not itself obtain it (this is the Enjoining Right & Forbidding Wrong - 29 Translated by Salim Abdallah ibn Morgan extreme form of envy). So, the human self contains these elements of desiring superiority, corruption, pride, and envy which makes it wish to possess its desires over and above others. How will such a self feel when it sees others having possessed what it desires while it has not obtained it?