The Deen is Sincere Advice [2]
Sincerity to the Leaders
And as for the Naseehah to the leaders of the Muslims, then this involves helping them in the Truth, and obeying them, and ordering them with the Truth, and reminding them of it with kindness and gentle words, and notifying/advising them of that which they have neglected, and informing them of the rights of the Muslims, and not rebelling against them with the sword, and gathering the hearts of the people upon obeying them, and praying behind them, and fighting in Jihaad along with them, and making supplication for their correction.
Sincerity to the Muslims
And as for the Naseehah to the common folk of the Muslims, and they are those who are other than the rulers, then it involves guiding them towards that which will correct their affairs of both this life and the next, and helping them in that. And it involves protecting them from harm, and helping them in times of need, and acquiring what is beneficial for them, and ordering them with al-Ma’roof (good) and forbidding them from al-Munkar (evil) with kindness and sincerity, and showing mercy towards them.
And it involves honouring and respecting their elders, and showing kindness to their youmgsters, and supporting them with good advice. And leaving cheating them or having jealousy of them, and that one loves for them what one loves for oneself of goodness, and that one hates for them what one hates for oneself of evil, and protecting their wealth and honour, and other than that from speech and action. And it also involves encouraging them upon all that we have mentioned above of the various types of Naseehah, and Allaah knows best.
And giving Naseehah (sincere advice) is a Fardh Kifaayah, such that if a sufficient number of people perform it then the obligation is lifted from the community as a whole, and it is obligatory according to the ability of the individual.
And in the Arabic language ‘naseehah’ means ‘purification/clarification’, as it is said: “I purified (nasahtu) the honey”, and it is said that it means other than that. And Allaah knows best.
Summary
That one cannot worship Allaah sincerely without being sincere to what He has revealed, and to the people according to their station in life. Also one has to respect and honour His Messenger (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), which is to respect and honour what he said, did, approved of or recommended, and to love him for who he was and what he was.
This article was culled from the publications of Deen Communication Limited