"Know why you are the best of all ummah" - Shaykh Jamal Faroq Ad Daqqaq

Bismillah.

Kuala Lumpur: Masjid Usamah bin Zaid welcomed a special guest tonight - one distinguished scholar from Al Azhar University, Prof. Dr. Shaykh Jamal Faroq Jibril Ad Daqqaq. Alhamdulillah wa shukrulillah.

Shaykh Jamal began his tausiyah by praising Allah for His bounties upon us for His bounties are the most perfect of all. He said we have been gathered by Allah in the most honorable state. The topic this evening is on the privileges of being ummah of Rasulullah and the importance of protecting the rights of Muslims.

Shaykh Jamal quoted two hadith which described the relationship among Muslims, that we are like a building which is being reinforced by various parts, and that we are like a body which gets affected if any of our bodily parts gets injured. For this reason, Allah has made it a duty upon us to care about the affairs of Muslims. 

O you whom Allah bless!
Know that the ultimate honor granted to the ummah of Rasulullah is the fact that the Quran bears witness 'you are the best of all ummah, those who enjoin good and forbid evil'. Take note of three advantages mentioned in the hadith: firstly, you enjoin good, secondly, you forbid evil and thirdly, all of that after having been given faith (iman).

There are two distinctive characteristics of ummah Rasulullah s.a.w. If anyone asked you, why is ummah Muhammad regarded as the best of all ummah, the answer is because firstly, we preserve a genuine tauhid and secondly, we protect the sanctity of our ibadah. Meaning, we keep to the original and do not innovate unlike the ummah of the other prophets who altered their ibadah against what Allah has prescribed to them. Allah says in Surah Maryam, "O Maryam, prostrate unto Allah." However, when a revelation was given to Bani Israel they changed things. Whereas, we know in shariat Islam when we make sajda we will have all our 7 limbs prostrate, namely the forehead, two hands, knees, and feet. We are taught specific rules on how to make sajda and we follow.

Why are we honorable? Because Prophet Muhammad s.a.w had taught us the correct aqidah. O people, the most important element in aqidah is having a perfect tawhidullah. There are various levels of tawhid. We learned from the Quran in Surah Al Ikhlas about Allah's omnipresence and omnipotence. Allah has given us one kitab and one prophet. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had two gods? They would have given conflicting orders. That is why Allah in His utmost wisdom asked us to proclaim His oneness. On the other hand, sunnah is meant to provide further clarifications pertaining to the Quran. The previous ummah had their kitab changed. But Allah has honored us by giving us one unadulterated kitab and sunnah.

There was an incident when Rasulullah (s.a.w) saw a man reading the Torah. He said to the man, did you know that if Nabi Musa was around he would have disregarded the Torah and follow the Quran instead? Each of the ummah is given a kitab and Allah has specially selected the Quran for us and made all other kitab null and void, so as not to confuse us.

Another unique factor (khususiyah) of this ummah is that Allah gives us Islam as a religion which suits the intellect of man. Why is that so? Because Allah has not discounted our shahwat (desires). He promotes marriage. The intellect (aqal) is for us to differentiate between the good and the bad. While religion is prescribed to us to enjoin good and forbid evil, so they complement each other. Evidently, the religion that is most suiting to the intellect is Islam.

The other aspect that makes Islam unique is its emphasis on knowledge. There is a story about a learned man who studied the prophet's sirah. When he found verses in the Quran referring to the creation of oceans and the universe, he instantly believed that Quran could not possibly be something which Muhammad could ever compose. One cannot separate knowledge from the Quran. In the first revelation Allah taught Muhammad that knowledge must be acquired through reading. Allah teaches us the importance of writing. There are many instances in the Quran where Allah teaches us the value of knowledge. Muslims in the past were great achievers in many areas such as geography and architecture because they had based their inventions from the Quran. In fact, Allah teaches us many branches of knowledge in the Quran.

If we wish to make extraordinary advancement in wordly matters we must be equally advanced in matters of the aqidah. Otherwise, we might lose our religion. Allah has given us Islam, a religion which befits our intellectual capacity. Therefore, if we wish to make our nation successful, we should not reject this religion.

In a nutshell, Allah has honored this ummah; Allah has specifically mentioned in the Quran that we are the best of all ummah; we are a knowledgable ummah; we are the ummah who strive in His Path; Prophet Muhammad s.a.w is the most foremost prophet; Prophet Muhammad has bear witness that whoever follows this religion will not go astray; the chaos that is currently taking place in several countries has got nothing to do with the Islamic teachings but is reflective of the state of the hearts of certain Muslims; those factions who have a tendency to brand people as kafir is a typical occurrence, it happens in each ummah; there shouldn't be any divisions (mahzab) among Muslims. We have got one Allah, one religion. We fast in the same month, we perform congregational prayers behind one imam, we are not divided, we have one God and one prophet. The Quran asks us to hold on to the rope of Allah. The Quran asks us to love one another. By all means, reject anyone who tries to break our bonds.

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Note: One paragraph has been purposely ommitted due to inter-faith sensitivity.
Wallahu a'lam.