One day during Jummah salah, a 1,000 member congregation was surprised to see two men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying sub-machine guns. One of the men proclaimed, “Anyone willing to take a bullet for Allah remain where you are.”
Immediately, the congregation fled, and out of the 1,000 there only remained around 20. The man who had spoken took off his hood, looked at the Imaam and said, “Okay Maulana, I got rid of all the hypocrites. Now you may begin your sermon.” and the two men turned and walked out.
If the above scenario was real, there is nothing wrong in the people running away. This does not symbolize that they are munafiqs.
What purpose would it have served if all the people stayed and got gunned down ? Would Islam have strengthened.
It is in these very situations, if it actually were to happen, that Allah (swt) has directed believers to adopt Taquiah. If Islam is not under threat, and the loss of a muslim's life is at stake for no apparent gain, then concealment of one's faith becomes a religious obligation.
As in many other cases, such stories sound good on the outside, but they have no Islamic basis to them.
Before applauding on this scenario, ask yrself this :- Would you not have done the same ?
You have an obligations to Allah (swt) and the holy apostle (pbuh) to use yr aql in such matters.
Note that when you know that by your silence, Islam would come under threat, then Jihad is the only option available. In such an event, losing one's life in the action is not an issue anymore. It must be done.
Gunmen, whether masked or not, have no place inside a masjid. The scenario described comes across as a threat by the gunmen, and its because of that threat that the people fled…not because of lack of desire to die for Allah SWT.
PS: I know this is a make believe story, but why didnt the men stick around to hear the sermon themselves? Why were they roaming around with guns in ninja garb at the time of jumma salat?
the masked men might have been on the mission of getting the masjids empty.
i mean those who are better muslims, only they are allowed to pray; and the rest should stay away from mosques and stay away from mending their ways. cool
[This message has been edited by Scratch (edited February 03, 2001).]
OK guys tell me this, at the time of the Holy Prophet people use to enter Masjids with swords & knifes and still in Saudia and Yeman people enter with knifes and small weapons like hand guns, also in Afghanistan and NWFP.
Now you tell me, whats the differance between a knife, a sword, and a gun?
One kills faster then the other?
One has longer reach?
Atleast guns dont have enimies blood on em.
Sorry brothers, but most of your replys smelled cowardly.
A1shah!
The two man said “Who will die in the name of Allah?”
The didn’t say “Who wants to live?”
salaam
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The weapon handling practices in NWFP and Afghanistan are tribal customs, not islamic ideas. And I have yet to see people carry knives/guns into masjids in Saudi arabia.
Denial of such practice does not constitute cowardice. The issue here is not about Islam. Its in the method of deliverance. You could play around with the wordings and decipher what they said in a million different ways, but fact of the matter is, masked hooded men armed with machine guns in a masjid are not a sign of peace.
There are plenty of other peaceful ways of spreading the message. This method was not based on logic....it was based on a threat.
Amongst the many believers, there are those with stronger faith than others. This does not mean the weaker ones are munafiqs.
Even if you believe that all of the 1000 people should have stayed to take the bullet, on what basis did the gunmen classify the people who left as munafiq ? Amongst those that left, there could be many who helped the orphan and needy in the name of Allah (swt), for example. Or perform minor jihad everyday in raising their families along Islamic ideals.
Would you call them munafiq ?
In the times we live in, giving money away has become more arduous than giving life.
Hmmm kay u guys put a different spin on this story. I didn’t see it the same way as a1shah and akif, to tell the truth. I never thought about it in that sense…because i didn’t take it as something literal. I don’t know, it seemed obvious to me that it was a story, and not one close to real life.
a1shah you say, Before applauding on this scenario, ask yrself this :- Would you not have done the same ? I think that was the point of this narrative, its supposed to make you question your own feelings, and perhaps commitment to your life…your religion…right?
I agree, something like that would be completely wrong in real life, ie.the masked armed gunmen and all. But i think that example was used just to emphasize or illustrate the point…the point i guess being the degree of hypocrasy present amongst us today…and there is a degree of superficiality, there’s no denying that…and maybe i don’t know, thats how i saw the story. Not at all cowardice, though that does at times stem from hypocrasy…
a1shah:) What you said, reminded me of this verse, ‘Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah: of thems ome have completed their vow (to the extreme), and some (still) wait: but they never changed (their determination) in the least.’ (33:23)
The objection here would be to call those who went away as munafiq.
And saving ones life in such a scenario would be the logical thing to do.
The verse you refer to talks of certain people who strive harder in the way of Allah (swt) as compared to others. In your will to achieve Allah's (swt) pleasure, losing ones life unnecessarily is not a method that the ayat stresses.
ok- so here IS a real life situation i just heard about yesterday thatis similar to this..
if anyone is familiar with myna (muslim youth of n. america)...they have retreats and conventions for adoloscents...
anyway, a few years back these boys who didn;t have their counselor with them put together a smoke bomb and as a joke- and the entire hotel had to be evacuated (this was in the middle of the night too)...
and some of the participant girls said- hey, if we are going to die, let's die with our hijabs on!...so it took them longer to get out than the other girls who thought to themselves- if i want to live..i'll leave it and just get out.
GFQ…I dont think anyone disagrees with the basic idea behind this story. But its all in the presentation. The use of ‘masked men armed with sub-machine guns’ seems to be an ill-placed interjection.
The presence of a gun instills fear. Now if this were to be a real situation, whats to say that the 20 odd guys who did stay back, didnt stay out of the fear of being chased down later? Whats to say that its not they who are hypocrites?
Actually this scenario sounds more from a punjabi movie. The intention might have been good, but the presentation was erratic, which is why a greater percentage will take it the wrong way.
Its the absence of the word ‘Jihaad’, and the use of the word ‘masked men’ and ‘sub-machine guns’ that makes this questionable.
PS: GFQ, they left to change…but the sermon has already started. They are going to miss the khutba, which is ‘fard’
Bharysh…now thats a good example. And we have to differentiate between these two. An act that arises out of the purity of your own heart is what matters. And in the other case, the desire to die for Allah SWT was ‘unintentionally’ replaced by a possibility of dying in a hail of bullets.
[This message has been edited by Akif (edited February 03, 2001).]
Oh maaan, i’m feeling so sheepish. I guess i did put this story up without really thinking about it…umm i mean without looking at it from all angles. I put it up, cause it kinda made an impression, ‘symbolically’, but still the example, or rather the details don’t ring true and so that does take away, from the basic msg its trying to convey, and so i guess its kinda not right in that sense:)
Thanks Bharysh…Its true, Allah swt looks at what is truly in our hearts, and what emotions, what feelings, what motives our actions arise from, beyond the ignorance and superficialities
I guess the main reason i feel uncomfortable by this story is because this forum is frequented by muslims and non-muslims alike. And while muslims wont have a problem seeing the true moral/meaning behind this story, non-muslims will…and thats what leads to muslims being incorrectly branded as terrorists.