The Moon stood up, round and bright, above the clouds, smoothly moving bit by bit ahead. Find out what the Moon mentioned to the Owl."I need you to know that our Beloved (ﷺ) said,مَنْ أَفْتَى بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ كَانَ إِثْمُهُ عَلَى مَنْ أَفْتَاهُ وَمَنْ أَشَارَ عَلَى أَخِيهِ بِأَمْرٍ يَعْلَمُ أَنَّ الرُّشْدَ فِي غَيْرِهِ فَقَدْ خانه"If anyone is given a legal decision ignorantly, the sin rests on the one who gave it; and if anyone advises his brother, knowing that right guidance lies in another direction, he has deceived him." [Sunan Abi Dawud; Hasan according to Al-Albani]Generally, all persons who are directly or indirectly, responsible for leading and educating the Ummah, individually—i.e. like one's wife, children, relatives, etc.—or collectively, their Jama'ah—i.e.like Masjids, communities, organizations, etc.—should pay careful attention to this Hadeeth and its implications. It's because, they are the ones who are most likely to find themselves involved in this serious sin of injustice and misguidance of their brothers and sisters.This often occurs when such educators, or leaders, knowing the truth in a given issue or affair, as established from the Qur'an and the Sunnah, deliberately gives a Fatwa, or promote directly or indirectly, the wrong opinion or version of a particular issue. The motivating factors for such deliberate deception of his fellow Muslims, who vested their trust in him to lead and guide them correctly, is one or more of the following,
- Ittibaa'ul Hawaa, i.e. following their personal prejudices, preferences, tastes, desires, etc. Hawaa can mean, the inclination of the soul to the desired; the will of the soul towards the favored; man's love for something to the point of defeating his heart; drifting towards something, then until it becomes a strong impulse that overwhelms the heart, and finally settles in it firmly, until it is difficult to get rid of, except with hard work for a long time.
- Seeking to acquire or maintain a position of office—either because of fame or money;
- Political motives—partisanship, i.e. to support the operative view of a particular organization because it appeals to its adherents, or because it appeals to the masses.
This type of deception, can also result because of material benefits. For example, someone seeks the advice of his brother in relation to a particular business venture, but his brother likes the idea himself, and then Shaytaan influences him to reserve the business for himself, thus he responds to the seeker of the advice against getting into the business, explaining that there is little or no benefit in it. It can also be that he deceives him because he is envious of his brother, and so he with holds what he knows from him.So, I followed a caravan, and it lead me to the Land called Asinus Terra. I saw two men were talking about something. After following their conversation, I knew that one of them, wished to purchase an Ass, and agreed with its owner—the other man—that he should try out the animal before he bought him. He took the Ass home and put him in the straw-yard with his other Asses, upon which the new animal left all the others and at once joined the one that was most idle and the greatest eater of them all. Seeing this, the man put a halter on him and led him back to his owner.
At that time, I saw them talking. The owner asked how, in so short a time, the purchaser could have made a trial of him. Before he answered him, the Purchaser told a story.A Lion, took a fancy to hunt in company with an Ass. During the journey, the Ass shouted, 'Non-negotiable Asinus Terra! Non-negotiable Asinus Terra! Whoever doesn't follow the Ass' way, all wrong!' This made the Lion frown, until they passed an old house. The Ass said, 'The house, indeed, was a gift for my grandma!' Somewhat surprised, the Lion commented, 'Really? Wasn't it dedicated to this Land?' The Ass replied, 'According to the whispers among the Ass species, it belongs only to us!' The Lion said to himself, 'Obviously it belongs to all, but admitted belongs to them, eat that your grandmas!'Finally, after searching for game, the hunters saw a number of Wild Goats run into a cave, and laid plans to catch them. And, to make the Ass more useful, the Lion gave him instructions to hide himself in a thicket, and then to bray in the most frightful manner that he could possibly contrive. 'By this means, you will rouse all the beasts within the hearing of you, while I stand at the outlets, and take them as they are making off,' the Lion explained.This was done, and the stratagem took effect accordingly. The Ass brayed most hideously, and the timorous beasts not knowing what to make of it, began to scour off as fast as they could, while the Lion, who was posted at a proper avenue, seized and devoured them, as he pleased.Having got his belly full, he called out to the Ass, and bid him leave off, telling him, he had done enough. Upon this, the lop-eared brute came out of his ambush, and approaching the Lion, asked him, with an air of conceit, how he liked his performance. 'Prodigiously! You did it so well, that—I protest—had I not known your nature and temper, I might have been frighted myself!' the Lion idly concluded.'At first, I didn't understand what the Lion meant,' said the Purchaser. 'But after a little bit thinking, I know that a bragging cowardly fellow may impose upon people that do not know him; but is the greatest jest imaginable to those who do. There are many men who appear very terrible and big in their manner of expressing themselves, and if you could be persuaded to take their own word for it, are perfect Lions; but if we take the pains to enquire a little into their true nature, are as arrant Asses as ever brayed.''For understanding better,' explained the Purchaser, 'listen this next story about the Ass!'So, the Ass found a Lion’s costume left in the forest by the Barong Dancer. He dressed himself in it, and amused himself by hiding in a thicket and rushing out suddenly at the animals who passed that way. All took to their heels the moment they saw him.The Ass was so pleased to see the animals running away from him, just as if he were King Lion himself, that he could not keep from expressing his delight by a loud, harsh bray. A Fox, who ran with the rest, stopped short as soon as he heard the voice, and soon made him sensible that he was no more than an Ass. Then he reported this to the lion, and together with the animals, approaching the Ass. Suddenly, a strong wind blew, carrying the Barong costume away from the Ass, the Fox said with a laugh, 'Look who's talking! If you had kept your mouth shut, you might have frightened me, too. But you gave yourself away with that silly bray.'They both laughed. The owner asked, 'By the way, you haven't answered my questions.' The Purchaser responded, 'I don't need a trial! I know that the Ass will be just the same as the one he chose for his companion.' They laughed again, and tuned,'Tell me why?''Ain't nothin' but a heartache''Tell me why?''Ain't nothin' but a mistake''Tell me why?''I never wanna hear you say,'I want it that way!' *)The Moon concluded, "O Owl! Those who are the weakest in understanding and most slow of apprehension, are generally the aggressive in opinion, and most precipitate in uttering their crude impressions. On many occasions, with a secret awe, we regarded the dignified dress and important manner of some senatorial person, whom we had chanced to meet in a coffee-shop, was what a true speaker do. We thought, before we heard him speak, his breath was the seriousness of a privileged counsellor, and his visible feature, like the dignity of an eminent patriot: but when he expressed himself, then he disenchanted us; he brayed, and revealed to the whole community, what he was. As all affectation was wrong, and tend to expose and made a man ridiculous, so the more deeper he was from the thing which he pretend to appear, the stronger would the ridicule, and thereby, the greater the inconveniences into himself.A man is known by his words, as a tree is by the fruit; and if we would be apprised of the nature and qualities of any one, let him but talk, and he himself will disclose them to us, better than anyone could ever describe. And Allah knows best."
Citations & References:
- Darussalam Research Section, Guarding the Tongue from the the Book Al-Adhkaar, Darussalam
- Samuel Croxall, D.D., Fables of Aesop and Others, Simon Probasco
*) "I Want It That Way" written by Andreas Mikael Carlsson & Karl Martin Sandberg
