Part 2

Qadi Burhan ad-Din az~Zur'a said as quoted from him in Dhayl Tabagat al-Flanabilah,

‘There is none under the heavens who has greater knowledge than he.

Imam Ibnu-l-Qayyim passed away at the age of sixty, on the 13" night of Rajab, 751H, may Allah shower His Mercy upon him.

With the Name of Allah, the All-Merciful, the Most Merciful

IMAM MUHAMMAD IBN ABI BAKR Ibn Qayyim alJawziyyah, may Allah bestow His Mercy upon him, said:

This is a discourse on the inclination towards listening to music and songs versus the affinity to salah and the Qur’An - offering a detailed account of how the experience derived from the Qut’an and Salah is antithetic to that of music and singing, It will also elucidate the inverse relation between the two inclinations and the manner in which the strength and influence of one necessities the weakness and ineffectiveness of the other [i.e. the stronger the yearning for music and singing is, the weaker shall the attachment to salah (and Qur’an) be].

1.1 The Salah is tranquility for worshippers and Allalr’s gift to the believers

1.1 The Salah is tranquility for worshippers and Allah’s gift to the believers

It is imperative for you to know that sa/ah is, without any doubt, the domain of tranquility for devotees (mupibbin), the enjoyment of the souls of monotheists (#awabidin), the gatden of the worshippers (‘“abidin), the essence of enjoyment of the humble ones (khashiGn), the test of the sincere ones (sadigin), and the scale measuring the mettle of those embarking the right path (salikin). It is truly a divine Mercy that Allah has gifted to His believing servants that He has Guided them to, and acquainted them with. He delegated His truthful and honest Messenger, Prophet Muhammad (98), to deliver this gift to His believing servants in order that they may attain a noble status with Him. Through its means He dignifies, honours and showers them with His Mercy, and allows them to win His nearness. He bestows upon His believing servants all this although He is in no need of them, He just wants to lavish them with this gracious gift to show His Favour upon them and bring their hearts and bodies altogether into His servitude.

He, the Most Exalted, endows the heart of the knower of Allah’ by enabling him to reap the best of its harvest; turning to Him, Exalted be He, rejoicing in His closeness, basking in His love, enjoying standing before Him [in sa/dh], dismissing everything except Him [from his heart] as soon as he commences worship, and fulfilling the rights of his servitude to Him, inwardly and outwardly, in order for his worship to be in a manner that pleases Allah.

Even as Allah tested His servants by cteating them with innate

''The one who recognises the true status of Allah; hence acts upon this knowledge by living as His real slave.

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Before attending the feast their hearts endured starvation, thirst and nakedness but as soon as they commence the worship [i.e. salah), all that shall change to become the opposite, hence they shall leave the feast with stomachs full, throats moistened and bodies attired.

2 Tn Mas‘td (radiyAllébu ‘anbn) used to say: “Indeed, this Qur’an is the banquet of Allah; so take from it as much as you can [Le. learn from it] for I know nothing more unworthy than a house in which there is nothing of the Word of Allah. The heart which contains nothing of the Word of Allah, goes to ruin like a house in which no one lives.” al-Datimi

* It is a metaphor referring to the actions of the salah.

1.2 The Likeness of the Heart to the Earth

1.2 The Likeness of the Heart to the Earth

Due to the sterility and poverty of indolence, disaffection, idleness, etc.] that the hearts (qu/ib) and souls (nufiis) endure time and time after, the invitation is renewed five times a day. However, the Mercy of Allah necessitated that a gap of time pass between each invitation so the invitee is constantly calling for the rain from the One in whose Hand is the water to quench the hearts, and beseeching the clouds of His Mercy to have their water descend upon his heart in order that the trees of iman and the harvest of ibsan, growing from this divine Mercy (Le. salah), do not dry out. The essence of these plants maintains their survival in his heart (gall) and his soul (ri); therefore the heart of the ‘abd’ (of Allah) continues to implore in humility for the rain (to fall upon his heart) from his Lord and invoke Him to relieve his heart from drought and thirst. This truly for the “bd of Allah is the way of life.

Indeed, the drought of hearts is heedlessness (ghaflah), but as long as the ‘abd (of Allah) is indulged in the remembrance of Allah and constantly turning to Him, the rains of His Mercy will showet his heart abundantly. As soon as he becomes heedless however, drought shall strike his heart and the damage caused will be according to the degree of his heedlessness. This is because when inadvertency dominates and overwhelms the heart, its land becomes lifeless; it shall produce no harvest for reaping, and the fite of desires will scorch it from every side, leaving the land bare after it had once been rich with every different kind of vegetation. Nonetheless, as soon as the rains of Mercy fall upon the heart of the “bd (of Allah), the land of his imdn and deeds quivers, turns fertile causing every lovely kind to grow thereon, sustained and nourished by the life-giving water. When the land is

* ‘Abd: pl. ‘ebad. slave, setvant, worshipper.

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deprived of water, the branches and leaves of its flora wither away, becoming fruitless; even the branches ate bereft of benefit as they become rigid and fragile.

At this juncture, the wisdom of the One overseeing this garden dictates having these dried trees cut and making its wood a fuel for fire.

1.3 The heart becomes dry when devoid of Tawhid

Similarly is the case with the heart of the “bd (of Allah), it becomes dried whenever it is devoid of:

1) Love (Sabb) for Allah

2) Knowledge about Him

3) His remembrance (dbikr)

4) Supplication and invocation

5) Most importantly, sawhid

This is because the heat of desire (nafs) and the fires of lust (shahwa) infiltrating the heart cause the branches (i.¢. limbs) to become unresponsive, inflexible and inert (whenever the ‘hd of Allah intends to employ them in good deeds). Under these circumstances, the tree including its branches is rendered useless; its only fitting use is as fuel for (Hell) fire.

due 4.70. OGRE OL aeoate “Then woe unto those whose hearts are hardened

against remembrance of Allah, Such are in plain error.”

1.3 The heart becomes dry when devoid of Tawhid

When the heart is watered with the rains of Mercy, the branches will be soft, moist, pliable and responsive; if you call them for the worship of Allah, they submit and hasten to obey, letting you teap from each branch the fruits of (true) enslavement to Allah, whose essence is the irtigation of the heart, which influences (the functioning of) the heart and the limbs. On the other hand, when the heart is parched and dried (e. rigid and hardened), the branches do not perform any good deeds because the essence of life is missing from the heart, thus the limbs are cut off from life accordingly. And even though each limb has been created and prepared to render a unique act of worship demonstrating an aspect of mankind’s servitude to Allah, the limbs cannot produce their anticipated harvest due to the incapacity and hindrance in their functioning.

1.4 Divisions of People in regards to the actions of the limbs

In light of this, people are of three kinds in regards to the actions of their limbs:

1) Those whose limbs ate engaged in the service of their Lord, to fulfill the purpose for which they are created. They are among the successful ‘werchants’ who have made Allah’s obedience to be their trade and livelihood, from which they yield the greatest profits. Sa/ah has been prescribed in such a manner, that the entire body follows the lead of the heartso that each limb practises its individual act of worship demonstrating its servitude to Allah. These are the category of people who have realised the grace of Allah upon them and have understood the true purpose behind the creation of their limbs, and therefore they dedicate their limbs to

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worshipping their Lord, all the while safeguarding them from being involved in matters that may displease Him - so they fulfill the duties and responsibilities ‘of their servitude to Allah.

2) Those who utilise their limbs in pursuit of what they have not been created for, and dedicate them to committing sins and disobeying Allah. ‘They are the ones whose endeavors fail and whose trade is never successful - and because of that, they deserve Allah’s Punishment and Wrath and ate precluded from receiving His Pleasure and Reward.

3) Those who completely suspend their limbs from engaging in any kind of productive activity; they neither serve the purpose for which they are created nor use them in obtaining the good of this worldly life, due to their ignorance and idleness. This group is even worse than the previous group, because mankind is created to worship and obey and not for incapacity (and impotence). In fact, the most despised people to Allah are the useless type who are neither productive in this life nor endeavour to have a share in the Hereafter - they are condemned in every sense. If a person is condemned when his endeavour are dedicated for this life only, then he will without doubt be more condemned and be a greater failure when his endeavour are dedicated neither for this life nor for his Hereafter.