Don't be like Zul Quwaisirah

Bismillah.

MashaAllah, on hearing a tausiyah by Habib Ali Zainal Abidin al-Hamid, I immediately remembered an incident when a woman boasted to me about her being regular in tahhajud prayers and therefore she's able to know things that are otherwise hidden. That Allah "showed" her things as a sign of Him favoring her, for the tahajjud that she's been performing. MashaAllah, she was bragging because in her opinion, I was the crooked one. [May Allah forgive and guide me.]

At sahur today, I listened to Habib Ali's tausiyah and learned that this woman may have some similarities with a man named Zul Quwaisirah. Don't be like Zul Quwaisirah. 

Zul Quwaisirah lived during the Prophet's times. He caught the attention of the sahabah as one who was very pious (waraq) who was always performing solah, in fact his beard was always wet from his constant wudhu. His being istiqamah in solah and ibadah was clearly visible physically. It was apparent on his outward appearance so that people including sahabah would talk about Zul Quwaisirah's piety. 

One day when the sahabah were sitting with the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam in a masjid, the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam asked sahabah to show him the man, the ahli ibadah they kept praising. When Zul Quwaisirah appeared, the sahabah quickly pointed: "That's him." 

On seeing Zul Quwaisirah, the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam said: "I see signs of syaitan on his face." 

Habib Ali said, this was a person who was much praised for his ibadah yet the ruh of ibadah did not manifest in him.

When Zul Quwaisirah came up to the Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam, he was asked: "Did you, as you walked into the masjid just now, did you say in your heart that you are better than everyone present in this masjid?" 

Zul Quwaisirah admitted: "Yes!" And the Prophet remarked: "I see signs of syaitan on your face." 

Habib Ali said, this is like Iblis who was proud of his ibadah and refused to prostrate to Adam thinking that he's better than Adam. This is ujub, the feeling that one is holier than others. Zul Quwaisirah then stood up and left the Prophet's majlis without showing any signs of remorse and went to a corner in the masjid to pray. Again Zul Quwaisirah was acting like Iblis who did not care when Allah reprimanded him for his reluctance to obey Allah and prostate to Adam.

The Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam then said to the sahabah: "Who among you dare go chop off his head?!" Of course the Prophet knew no one would dare. It was just to show how grave the matter was.

One man eventually took up the challenge and went looking for Zul Quwaisirah. But he found him praying, therefore he was not able to kill Zul Quwaisirah. He went back to the Prophet saying: "I couldn't do it. The man was in solah." 

Then Saidina Umar Ibn Khattab stood up and approached Zul Quwaisirah but he too found Zul Quwaisirah in solah - in rukuk. He went back to the Prophet saying: "The man was in rukuk." In Islam it's haram to kill a person who is in prayers, said Habib Ali.

The Prophet then asked Saidina Ali bin Abi Talib to go get the man, but it was too late as Zul Quwaisirah had already left. The Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam said to Saidina Ali: "Had you chopped off his head, there wouldn't be fitnah among my followers in akhiru zaman."

Habib Ali said, one of the fitnah in akhiru zaman is that people perform ibadah outwardly, yet the ruh of ibadah is missing.    

The Prophet salallah alaihi wasalam said in a hadith: During akhiru zaman there will be people who would recite the Qur'an so fluent as if it's just been revealed - kamaa unzil - like it's still hot. But the Qur'an that is recited does not pass their throat. It's only in the mouth. It never enters the heart. These are the people who would end up leaving the religion like an arrow leaving the bow!

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Allahu a'lam. 

May Allah forgive us. May Allah guide us and protect us. May Allah shield us from ujub and fitnah. Ameen Allahumma ameen.

Credit: Darul Murtadza.com