Commentary by Adil Salahi
The Prophet’s companions were able to develop a keen insight into Islam, its constitution and method of dealing with human life. The best among them were even able to attain a highly refined understanding of the basic Islamic concepts, which made their judgement both accurate and mature. Let us consider the following Hadith, which has been related by Ahmad and Al-Bukhari: “A man came to visit Abu Ubaidah ibn Al-Jarrah when he was ill. He asked him: ‘How is the reward of the Ameer getting on?’ In reply Abu Ubaidah asked him: ‘Do you know what earns you a reward?’ The man said: ‘What befalls us of things which we dislike.’ Abu Ubaidah said: “You earn a reward for what you spend or get to be spent on your behalf for God’s cause. [He then enumerated all articles of a horse’s equipment, even including the horse’s rein.] What you complain of physically is credited to you by God in order to erase some of your past sins.’”
Perhaps it is important first to say a few words about Abu Ubaidah, who has made this distinction between what earns a reward and what, erases past mistakes and sins. Abu Ubaidah was one of the very early companions of the Prophet. The Prophet, peace be upon him, sent him on several missions, some of which involved fighting or chasing the non-believers. His leadership qualities were manifest to the extent that Abu Bakr appointed him as one of the principal commanders of Muslim armies fighting in Syria and Palestine. At the time of Omar, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of all Muslim armies in those two important provinces, which were at the time under the Byzantine Empire. The Prophet, peace be upon him, gave him the title of ‘The Trusted Man of the Muslim Community.’ Moreover, he was one of the ten companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, who were given the happy news of assured admission into heaven.
It is not uncommon to confuse earning a reward with the forgiveness of sins. Abu Ubaidah’s visitor made this common error, and asked him about his illness in an indirect but highly comforting manner. He asked about his reward, meaning that if the illness were very severe, his reward would be greater. To a Muslim, this is most comforting. He is reminded that what he suffers does not go in vain.
However, Abu Ubaidah felt that he should correct his visitor. He pointed out to him that a handsome reward is earned by donating one’s money to further the cause of God. He enumerated every article of equipment a horseman needs, no matter how cheap it might be. This example is only to be expected from an army commander. To him, the most important thing is to concentrate his soldiers’ attention on their duty to sacrifice. On the other hand, physical complaints, pains and illness erase some of one’s past sins.
Someone may suggest that it will eventually come to the same thing, since one’s reward is weighed up against one’s sins to determine his destiny in the Hereafter. The fewer his sins are, the higher his position in heaven is. Again, the greater his reward, the better his position. The two will be weighed against each other and the side, which is preponderant, determines the outcome.
Nevertheless, the distinction is real. When we examine the Prophet’s Hadiths on this point, we find that they concur in stressing the erasing of sins as a result of illness or calamities and reversals, which one may have to endure in life. Abu Saeed Al-Khudri and Abu Hurairah, both companions of the Prophet, quote him as saying: “Whatever befalls a Muslim of physical weakness or complaint or worry or distress or harm or despondency, even a thorn in his finger, is used by God to erase some of his sins.” [Related by Al-Bukhari, Muslim and others]. Here the Prophet, peace be upon him, enumerates all prospects of misfortune, going down to having a thorn in one’s finger. All these would be used to forgive him some of his past sins. When he endures whatever happens to him with patience and perseverance, his reward is much greater. This is because he combines the misfortune with patience, which is in itself a virtue.
This is indeed an aspect of God’s grace, which many people tend to overlook. The Prophet, peace be upon him, tells us that when illness and misfortune continue for some length of time, the person who endures them may come on the Day of Judgement without a sin to account for. He would have been already forgiven. This is illustrated by the Hadith in which Abu Hurairah quotes the Prophet, peace be upon him, as saying: “Misfortune may continue to befall a believer in his body, family or property until he meets God, the Almighty, with no sins whatsoever.” [Related by Al-Bukhari, Ahmad and At-Tirmithi].
When we consider all these Hadiths, we are no longer surprised at the patience and fortitude shown by early Muslims in the face of calamities. They treated whatever befell them as part of life and were happy to earn forgiveness of past sins. This continues to be the attitude of those of us who know what we stand to gain in return for enduring misfortune with patience. Again the companions of the Prophet, peace be upon him, provide us with a good example to follow.
Huthaifah ibn Al-Yaman was a companion of the Prophet, peace be upon him, from the Ansar. He was appointed as a commander of a Muslim army fighting against the Persian Empire. He was at Al-Mada’in when he was seriously ill. His people learnt that his illness might be terminal, so they came to visit him during the night or just before dawn. He asked them: What hour is it? They said: “Late night or nearly dawn [as the case might be].” He said: “I seek shelter with God against a morning of fire.” He then asked them whether they brought a cloth for him to be wrapped in. When they answered in the affirmative, he said: “Do not spend over much of such cloth. If I am to meet a happy end, my wrappings will be replaced by something better. If mine is the other type of destiny, I will lose these wrappings very quickly.” [Related by Al-Bukhari].
What we learn, from all these Hadiths and reports, is that we should face up to any misfortune with courage and patience. When we do so, we earn the forgiveness of much of our sins. Our position in the Hereafter is thus enhanced. We stand a better chance of being admitted into heaven. ~
Commentary by Adil Salahi — Arab News
It is often said that the prosperity of nations cannot come about without an attitude, which encourages hard work throughout the community. While this is true, especially in a period of construction, or even a period of re-construction after a natural calamity or a devastating war, it remains important in times of peace and prosperity, in order to ensure that the benefits are not short lived or limited to a particular generation. No doctrine, which has managed to raise a certain people to the state of nationhood, has ever failed to emphasize the need for hard work on the part of the individual and the community. Needless to say, the emphasis must be placed in the first instance on the individual, because the work of the community is the total sum of the contribution of its members.
We have always said that Islam is the system, which God has devised for human life. In other words, it is a complete system which regulates all aspects of life in the light of its basic principle of believing in the Oneness of God and the message of the last Prophet, Muhammad, peace be on him. It is only natural, therefore, to expect that Islam stresses the importance of hard work.
But it is more in the nature of Islam to place particular emphasis on hard work, since it is only through good actions that a person attains salvation in the Hereafter. A Muslim who is conscious of the requirements of his faith has the best motivation to do well in this life. When we remember that Islam links actions, which are purely concerned with man’s life and needs in this world to what is purely religious and dedicated to the achievement of happiness in the life to come, we can appreciate the strength of his motivation.
Even when human beings go about earning their livelihood, they can hope to be rewarded for their efforts in the Hereafter. What they have to do is to steer away from what is forbidden and to link their immediate purpose to their wider one of earning God’s pleasure. Once the Prophet’s companions saw a man apparently going to do his daily job. They thought that his effort is much lower than that of a person who strives to serve God’s cause. The Prophet, peace be upon him, pointed out to them that if the man had parents to support, or a family to look after, then that particular effort of his serves God’s cause. Moreover, even if he has only himself to feed, his effort serves God’s cause, should he seek by his work to keep himself away from sin.
The idea of effort and reward is central to Islamic thinking. Every action can earn reward from God if it is intended for the right purpose. Since it is the amount of reward a person earns in this life, which will ensure his destiny in the Hereafter, then every thing that may increase his reward is very appealing to a Muslim.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, was always keen to point out what action or attitude could earn reward in order to encourage his companions to do it. He often emphasized the importance of certain types of work by pointing out that they were bound to earn reward. Look, by way of example, at the following Hadith in which Anas ibn Malik quotes the Prophet, peace be upon him. “If the Hour [of Doom] is highly imminent and any one of you has a young date tree in his hand, and he can manage to plant it before the Hour strikes, then he should do so.” [Related by Al-Bukhari and Ahmad]. Another version of this Hadith makes its ending clause as follows: “Then he should do so, for he will be rewarded for that.”
What is particularly significant here is not merely the fact that a purely worldly action is given a heavenly reward, but the action itself is of no particular use either to the person who does it or to any one else. The young tree which the Prophet, peace be upon him, encourages us to plant, even at the point when the Hour of Doom is about to strike, is a date tree, which does not start to yield its fruit in the normal state of affairs for several years. However, this is very consistent with Islamic philosophy, which gives reward for every constructive action. When one has a choice between planting a small tree and leaving it to die, he should not hesitate for a single moment. Planting it is a constructive action, so it must be done. Moreover, that action signifies an attitude, which promotes life. Therefore, God rewards it.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, expresses his message in a particularly vivid manner. The Hadith shows a person who is trying hard to push back the hour of doom until he has finished planting the young tree. But why should he bother in the first place? After all, the end of human life on earth is only a few moments away. Who will benefit by that tree? The answer is that most probably no one will ever benefit by it. But the Prophet’s message serves to emphasize that one must do good work at every moment in one’s life and work stops when life has stopped, not a moment earlier. It is such an attitude, which builds civilizations. And it is this particular attitude which has made the Islamic civilization unique. It always looks at what is constructive and takes every measure to fulfil it. That is not to say that Islam does not allow its followers to enjoy their spare time. But the best enjoyment is the constructive one.
Although the Hadith speaks of the Hour of Doom, which signals the end of human life, and indeed all life on earth, it has a particular significance to every one. Human beings always tend to think that life will continue forever. After all, so many generations have passed and there is nothing peculiar to make our own generation unique. Therefore, it should not be expected that the Day of Judgement would come at the end of our lifetime.
Some of us may tend to think that this Hadith and similar ones have no particular significance to us. This is not true, because there is an individual Hour, as it were, for every single one of us. Let us remember the Hadith which states that “when a human being dies, all his actions come to an end except in one of three ways: a continuous act of charity, or a useful contribution to knowledge, or a dutiful child who prays for him.”
This is, then, the hour for every single one of us. At the point of death, if anyone of us has the time or the ability to do a good action, even though it may be of no benefit to himself or to his offspring, he should do it because he will then be earning a reward for it from God. That improves his lot in the Hereafter. For a Muslim, that is something worth working for, right to the last breath of one’s life. ~
You also mentioned that a woman may use hair coloring, but does that not affect her ablutions like using nail enamel?
Hair dye or color is different from nail enamel, because enamel forms a layer over the nail that prevents water from reaching it. A color does not form such a layer. If a woman colors her hands with henna, for example, her hand may be red, but when she washes her hands, they become wet and water certainly reaches her skin.