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࢙ l / '\ .• ...._. आU इ U ) . ई) उ) 4-=-w __ t v .. -.... Ŷ.... ǽ,,..· (' ... . / / "I convey unto you the messages of my Lord, and I am a trustworthy adviser (naasih) to you" (al-Araaf 68). Another example is the case of Saalih. Allah has said, J. / J / .... ,,.. ,,.. ,,. (" 1 ,- ...: E/>/:)/ "' / .:'. t 1 / } } ? 1"'1 :Lil ,.F / J' /GH r'sࢲc • l 2 ऩ"' -- ध) ...., .......,ા rन - : ઼ઽ '-'...1 r.5..T- "Then he [Saalih] turned from them, and said, 'O my people! I have indeed conveyed to you the message of my Lord, and have given you good advice but you do not like good advisers'" (al-Araaf79). Hence, when a person is fulfilling the obligation of naseehah to his fellow Muslims, he is actually fulfilling a role that was also an obligation upon the most noble of creation, the messengers of Allah. 1 Other Hadith Concerning Naseehah The hadith under discussion here gives a clear picture as to the importance of naseehah in the religion of Islam. There are other hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) that further demonstrate the place of this important concept. Note the following: Jareer ibn Abdullah narrated that he had made the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet (peace be upon him) upon the condition that he would establish the prayer, give the zakah and have sincere conduct (naseehah) toward every Muslim. (Recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim.) Muslim recorded on the authority of Abu Huraira that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) stated, ,,.. / Ҹ ,,.. "' / / ,,.. ,,,. ... ,,,. .... .. #+ ࢨ; \(*J I!:/ • +\ હ ઺ \(*J $ ,lj द\ \(*J ҧi.; !.\Tࢩ ;.;J઻ ::.i% \-(J . . / / "The rights of a Muslim over another Muslim are six." It was asked, "What are they, 0 Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)?" He replied, "When he meets him, he greets him; when he invites him, he responds; if he seeks his 1 Sultaan, p. 95. Commentary on the Forty Hadith of al-Nawawi sincere advice, he advises him; ifhe sneezes and praises Allah, he asks Allah to have mercy on him; if he is ill, he visits him; and when he dies, he follows him [that is, his funeral procession]." The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said, .... g ,... .... ,,. .... .... $ ੤a©Je b:.i ऊऋ (:',a©঴·.,\ \঵শ "If a man seeks sincere advice (naseehah) from his brother, he should give him sincere advice."1 "To Allah" When asked to whom this naseehah is due the Prophet (peace be upon him) first said, "To Allah." Making naseehah to Allah requires the fulfilling of the obligatory duties in the best way possible (ihsaan). The naseehah to Allah cannot be complete or perfect without this. This should be a goal of every Muslim. However, this cannot be done without a love for what He has ordered. This also implies that a Muslim should strive to get as close to Allah as possible by doing voluntary good deeds and by forbidding the forbidden and avoiding disliked acts. Making naseehah to Allah includes all of the following acts of worship: believing in Him, denying any partners to Him, affirming all of His attributes that are stated in the Quran and the sunnah, obeying Him, fulfilling His commands, abstaining from what He has forbidden, doing one's best to remember Him under all circumstances, loving and hating for His sake, being ' friends to those who support Him and who work for His cause, and being against those who are against Him and who fight against His cause, having honor for the sake of Allah and being upset when the laws of Allah are ignored and disrespected, recognizing the blessings He has bestowed and properly thanking Him for those blessings, and so on. This is the making of naseehah to Allah. (Note that all of the above have some aspect of purifying something, such as one's beliefs, or of joining something together, such as, one's relationship to Allah and the believers in Him). This is the complete and desired naseehah and this is the religion oflslam as the Prophet (peace be upon him) stated. It should also be noted that this naseehahimplying having the correct intention in one's heart to fulfill the rights of Allahto Allah is obligatory under all circumstances, even under those circumstances wherein other duties are no longer obligatory because they are beyond one's ability to perform them. For example, Allah says in the Quran, 1 Recorded by Ahmad. According to al-Arnaoot and Baajis, it is sahih due to supporting evidence. See al-Arnaoot and Baaji's footnotes to ibn Rajab, Jaami, vol. 1 , p. 2 17.