"Once, I passed by a land called Bhumi Adhineta," the Moon disclosed after saying basmalah and greeting with salaam. "In that land, I observed two men, with their respective story. But before telling you about them, O Owl, I want to remind us of something, to myself and to you who are willing to observe!" Then, the moon quotes, "`Abdullah bin `Umar had said, 'I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) saying,
كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ
عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، الإِمَامُ رَاعٍ وَمَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، وَالرَّجُلُ رَاعٍ فِي أَهْلِهِ وَهْوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، وَالْمَرْأَةُ رَاعِيَةٌ فِي بَيْتِ زَوْجِهَا وَمَسْئُولَةٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهَا، وَالْخَادِمُ رَاعٍ فِي مَالِ سَيِّدِهِ وَمَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ
'All of you are guardians and responsible for your wards and the things under your care. The Imam (i.e. ruler) is the guardian of his subjects and is responsible for them; and a man is the guardian of his family and is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband's house and is responsible for it. A servant is the guardian of his master's belongings and is responsible for them.'
I thought that he (ﷺ) also said,
وَالرَّجُلُ رَاعٍ فِي مَالِ أَبِيهِ وَمَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ وَكُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ وَمَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ
'A man is the guardian of his father's property and is responsible for it. All of you are guardians and responsible for your wards and the things under your care." [Sahih Al-Bukhari]
Ibn Sinni related an authentic hadith from Abu Hurayrah, radhiyallahu 'anhu, that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Every person from the children of Adam is a chief: A man is the chief over his family, and a woman is the chief of her house.”
So, regardless of whether we have a Muslim ruler or not, every single one of us is a shepherd, a leader, a chief, a commander, a guardian in his home—with tremendous responsibilities that he must fulfil.
Islam is a number of hand grips as related by Ibn Hibban in authentic hadith, 'The handgrips of Islam (i.e., the teachings and legislations of Islam) will be undone one handgrip at a time. Every time one handgrip is undone, people will hang on to the one that follows it. The first of them to be undone is al-Hukm (Islamic rule) and the last of them is the Prayer.”
Therefore, Islam is made up of parts that hold together; the most important of those parts is Islamic rule, which comprises Prayer, Zakat, Hajj, etc. Just because a Muslim is busy calling upon society to establish Allah’s Shari'ah as a way of life and as a constitution of a country, he is not excused from the duty of applying Allah’s Shari'ah in his life, among his family, and among all whom he is able to influence.
This is important to understand, because some people who, for instance, call upon others to correct their beliefs and raise their level of understanding are accused of frustrating the efforts of others who are trying to establish Allah’s Shari'ah in a land. In another example, you might find people who get frustrated when they are told to straighten their lines for Salaah; they might say, for example, 'This is not what we should preoccupy ourselves with these days.' But if one were to reflect on the our beloved's (ﷺ) command regarding this practice, one would come to an opposite conclusion. Abu Mas'ud reported,
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to touch our shoulders in Salaah, and said,
اسْتَوُوا وَلاَ تَخْتَلِفُوا فَتَخْتَلِفَ قُلُوبُكُمْ لِيَلِنِي مِنْكُمْ أُولُو الأَحْلاَمِ وَالنُّهَى ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ
'Keep straight, don't be irregular, for there would be dissension in your hearts. Let those of you who are sedate and prudent be near me, then those who are next to them, then those who are next to them.'
Abu Mas'ud said, 'Now-a-days there is much dissension amongst you.' [Sahih Muslim]
Our beloved (ﷺ) plainly stated that not straightening the rows in Salaah, leads to discord among the hearts of people. They are therefore, wrong, who say that speaking about the importance of straightening the rows divides the hearts of people and diverts them from the more important teachings of the Religion.
Discord among the hearts of the Ummah, then leads to failure, destruction, and a dissipation of strength. Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said,
وَاَطِيْعُوا اللّٰهَ وَرَسُوْلَهٗ وَلَا تَنَازَعُوْا فَتَفْشَلُوْا وَتَذْهَبَ رِيْحُكُمْ وَاصْبِرُوْاۗ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ مَعَ الصّٰبِرِيْنَۚ
'And obey Allah and His Messenger, and do not dispute and [thus] lose courage and [then] your strength would depart; and be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.' [QS. Al-Anfal (8):46]
Abdullah narrated, 'I heard a man reciting a verse of the Qur'an, but I had heard the Prophet (ﷺ) reciting it differently. So, I caught hold of the man by the hand and took him to Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) who said,
كِلاَكُمَا مُحْسِنٌ
"Both of you are right."
Shu`ba, the sub-narrator said, 'I think he (ﷺ) said to them,
لاَ تَخْتَلِفُوا فَإِنَّ مَنْ كَانَ قَبْلَكُمُ اخْتَلَفُوا فَهَلَكُوا
"Don't differ, for the nations before you differed, and perished [because of their differences]." [Sahih al-Bukhari]
If we combine the meanings of the above-mentioned ahadlth and verse, this is the meaning we are left with, 'Straighten your rows, and do not differ (neither in your bodies when you are lined up for Prayer nor in your hearts); otherwise, you will be destroyed, you will fail, your strength will depart, and your enemies will defeat you.
One who thinks that, if we are to establish Allah’s Shari'ah on earth, we must ignore straightening the rows in Prayer and other similar issues in the Religion, is like a person who thinks that Prayer is more important than fasting and all else, and so he reproaches those who talk about the importance of fasting or the prohibition of usury-based dealings. They are both wrong, for obligatory deeds in the Religion, are as many as they are varied. And the Muslim is required to perform them to the utmost of his ability.
Therefore, there is no just reason to say that some duties clash with other duties. Performing Jihad in the way of Allah is obligatory; inviting others to the way of Allah is obligatory; waging war on false beliefs is obligatory; fighting the spread of backbiting and slander is obligatory; being dutiful to one’s parents is obligatory; straightening the rows is obligatory; a Muslim is responsible, according to his ability, for all of these duties.
When one says that there are priorities — the more important duty and the important duty - he is speaking the truth. However, we need to know about priorities, not in order to forsake our duties, but in order to coordinate and classify our duties and in order to race to perform good deeds.
For every matter that is important, there is another that is even more important. Yet the presence of what is more important, does not play down or nullify what is important. It is only when a situation becomes difficult and constricted, when one is able to apply only one of two or more matters that he should give priority to the most important matter. This is akin to the way we sometimes—when we are short on time, for instance—give precedence to the obligatory deed over the voluntary one.
When circumstances are not straitened, which is the rule and not the exception, then we must strive, according to our ability, to apply both the more important and the simply important matter.
In the light of our beloved (ﷺ) saying,
مَنْ رَأَى مِنْكُمْ مُنْكَرًا فَلْيُغَيِّرْهُ بِيَدِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِلِسَانِهِ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ فَبِقَلْبِهِ وَذَلِكَ أَضْعَفُ الإِيمَانِ
'Whosoever from you sees evil, then let him change it with his hand; if he is not able to, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to, then with his heart. And this (changing evil with one’s heart, by at least sincerely hating it) is the weakest level of al-lman. [Sahih Muslim]
And we must not forget the jurisprudential principle, 'It is not permissible to delay clarifying [the ruling in an issue] until after its needed time.' Let us suppose that you hear a person mentioning a fabricated hadith; will you delay telling him about his mistake until after Allah’s Shari'ah is applied as a way of life and as a constitution of a country ? Are you hoping that you can then inform him that a number of years ago he mentioned a fabricated hadith ? What guarantee do you have that both of you will be alive when Islam has a country ? What guarantee do you have that you will remember all of the wrongs you did not redress in years gone by, or all of the good deeds that you did not enjoin others to perform ? When you see someone performing an evil deed, will you postpone reproaching him until the Islamic country is established ? Or will you apply the aforementioned hadith, 'Whosoever from you sees evil...'
‘Evil’ in the hadith is expressed as an indefinite noun, which indicates that the hadith is referring to evil that is both great and small.
