Ihyaaud Deen An Effort to Revive Deen in Totality
The entire structure of Islam rests upon the foundation of love and respect. Every aspect of Islam gains value when coupled with the quality of love and respect. Hence, at all times, a believer should endeavour to possess the deepest love and respect for Allah Ta‘ala, thereafter for His Rasul (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) and for every aspect associated with the Deen of Islam.
Similarly, together with possessing love and respect within his heart for every aspect of Islam, a believer should express this love and respect through upholding the commands and injunctions of Islam in the manner shown to us by Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam), as well as opposing the ways of the kuffaar that go against the ways of Islam.
When a person has true love for someone, then it is this love which will guide him and teach him how to uphold the etiquettes of respect in fulfilling the rights of the beloved. At every juncture, he will be extremely careful and cautious not to displease the beloved, but rather he will look for opportunities to serve the beloved and please him to the best of his ability.
When the aspect of love and respect decreases in the life of a believer, then he will not find Islam to be the ideal way of life and will begin to adopt the ways and culture of the kuffaar. At this point, the structure of his Islam will begin to weaken and deteriorate, and if remedial steps are not adopted to rectify the situation, one will fall deeper into the abyss of destruction. Eventually, his Islam will collapse and (may Allah Ta‘ala save!) – he will reach the point where he can even be on the brink of losing his imaan.
The Way to Protect One’s Islam
From the entire ummah, the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) possessed the greatest love and respect for the Qur’aan Majeed, the Sunnah and for Deen. Hence, the benchmark of progress and success for the ummah is to follow the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) and emulate them in Deen.
When we view the life of Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu), we find that he possessed great respect for the Qur’aan Majeed in his heart. Such was his respect that if a person argued with him on any issue and quoted a verse of the Qur’aan Majeed, then out of respect for the words of Allah Ta‘ala, Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) would immediately remain silent.
Hazrat Umar (radhiyallahu ‘anhu) would not respond at that moment, as he regarded responding to be a form of outwardly showing disrespect to the words of Allah Ta‘ala. (Saheeh Bukhaari #4642)
The Respect which the Salaf-e-Saaliheen Showed to Deen
When the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) possessed the highest level of respect for Deen, then the Taabi’een learnt this aspect of respect from them, and the Salaf-e-Saaliheen (pious predecessors) who followed thereafter acquired it from the Taabi’een in turn.
Among the Salaf-e-Saaliheen was the great Imaam – Imaam Abu Yusuf (rahimahullah), one of the leading students of Imaam Abu Hanifah (rahimahullah) and the head Qadhi (chief justice) appointed by Haaroon Rasheed during his rule.
It is reported that on one occasion, Imaam Abu Yusuf (rahimahullah) quoted the Hadith which mentions that Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) would love to eat calabash. On hearing the Hadith, one of the people who was present remarked, “As for myself, then I do not like calabash.”
Hearing this remark, Imaam Abu Yusuf (rahimahullah) became extremely angry, unsheathed his sword and addressed the person saying, “Either you renew your imaan (and make taubah by expressing love for what Rasulullah [sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam] loved i.e. calabash), or else I will execute you!” (Mirqaat 3/846)
From this incident, we see that the reason for Imaam Abu Yusuf (rahimahullah) becoming extremely angry was that the person showed disregard and disrespect to some aspect relating to the mubaarak life and sunnah of Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam).
Disrespecting Deen through the TV and Movies
In today’s times, one of the worst ways in which disrespect is shown to Deen is through viewing deeni content on the TV. The TV is an instrument of such evil that every type of sin and haraam can be seen in it. The first evil of the TV is that it is used to display pictures of animate objects which is haraam in Islam. In regard to photography and video-making, the Hadith clearly warns us that those involved in picture-making will be subjected to the most painful of punishments on the Day of Qiyaamah.
Over and above the evil of displaying pictures of animate objects, the TV plays music, displays kufr and shirk, nudity, zina, gambling, wine and swine, intermingling of men and women, and everything that is abhorred, detested and condemned in Deen.
When the TV is a device that is a conglomeration of every type of evil and filth, then how can it be used as a means to propagate Deen which is pure and pristine in every way? Propagating Deen through this means is like mixing urine in pure milk.
In the Hadith, Rasulullah (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) mentioned, “Indeed, Allah Ta‘ala is Most Pure and He only accepts that which is pure.” (Saheeh Muslim #1015)
Making Movies of the Ambiyaa, Sahaabah and Pious Predecessors
Another fitnah of today’s times is the fitnah of making videos of the Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam), the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) and the pious predecessors. This is so detrimental that it can take one out of the fold of Islam, as this is a form of mockery to Deen and is an attack on these great luminaries through using them for a haraam purpose. When Allah Ta‘ala and His Rasul (sallallahu ‘alaihi wasallam) had declared photography and video-making to be haraam, then making a film of these personalities will be using them in the production of that which is haraam in Shari’ah.
Apart from this, the Fuqahaa have stated that if people enact a deeni play for entertainment purposes, where one person assumes the position of a great Aalim or Mufti, and people refer deeni issues to him, and laugh at him and make a mockery of him, then on account of showing disrespect to Deen, all the people present will come out of the fold of Islam. When this is the serious consequence in the case where an Aalim or Mufti is portrayed, then one can well imagine how much worse the consequences will be in the case where the Ambiyaa (‘alaihimus salaam) or the Sahaabah (radhiyallahu ‘anhum) are portrayed!
It is obvious that many of the people who will watch a deeni movie will be doing it for entertainment purposes, and similarly, when seeing certain things in the movie, they will laugh at it. This type of sin, where our great Deen and the great personalities of Deen are reduced to film actors and actresses and are laughed at for the purpose of entertainment, is such an extremely vile, heinous and grave sin in the sight of Allah Ta‘ala that there is a fear that the producers of the movie, the actors who are portraying the Ambiyaa, Sahaabah, pious etc, and those who view the movie will all come out of the fold of Islam.
Therefore, we should exercise extreme caution with every matter relating to our Deen and should not take Deen as an entertainment.
