Will you give information about showing consent to qadar and not cursing time?

Dear Brother / Sister,

9.1.10- Showing consent to qadar and not cursing time

Showing consent to qadar and surrendering to qada is a sign of being a believer. Once, the Prophet (pbuh) reported the following from Allah Almighty in Madinah:

“Sons of Adam curse time. However, I am the creator of time. Everything is in my hands, and I change the day and night.”¹

1) It is Allah who creates everything including time though He is free from time and space.² Time began with the creation of the earth and the heavens. Everything is by his predestination and judgment. He has predestined and determined everything before the creation of the earth and the heavens.

Qurayshi polytheists pagans and those who looked like them said, “Time is so bad”.  Thus, they attributed the difficulties and the misfortunes that hit them to time; they talked badly about time. Almighty Allah said, “Anad-dahru = I am time”, that is, ”I created time and I manage and control time”.

3) God Almighty has given His slaves what they deserve; he has always been fair to them in His deeds; He has never oppressed them. It is Allah who creates what happens in the course of time; He creates both the good and the evil. However, creation of evil is not evil; doing evil is evil. Nevertheless, people blame time for the bad deeds that they prefer and commit and for the bad results of what they do;³ thus, they actually blame Allah.

4) They sometimes express this thought by saying, “Yakhaybatat-dahri = O loss/disappointment of time”.⁴

Are you pleased with qadar?

When verse 108 of the chapter of at-Tawba was sent down,⁵ the Prophet (pbuh) went to the village of Quba from Madinah with some muhajirs. He stopped and stood at the gate of Quba mosque and asked the people of Quba who were inside the mosque:

 “Are you believers?”

The congregation were surprised by the question. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked again.

“Are you believers?”

When they did not answer, Hz. Umar said,

“O Messenger of Allah! They are definitely believers. I am together with them.”

After that, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) asked them the following question about qadar:

 “Do you show consent to Allah’s qada and qadar?”

This time, those in the mosque answered:

“Na’am = Yes.”

The Prophet mentioned belief in qada and qadar there. This incident shows that belief in qada and qadar was an issue that was talked about from time to time. The Companions believed in qada and qadar. The questions and answers continued as follows:

“Do you show patience when you are hit by a misfortune?”

Belief in qada necessitated showing patience in the face of the misfortunes and hardships coming from Allah. The people of Quba answered it with one word:

“Yes.”

Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said,

“By the Lord of the Kaaba, you are believers.”⁶

The answers they gave were evidences for their belief. By believing in Allah, they showed consent to qada and qadar,⁷ and showed patience in the face of the misfortunes and calamities. This necessitated not complaining about Allah in the face of the misfortunes and calamities. They were pleased with Allah when they were in comfort and in hardship. Then, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) sat among them and asked,

“O people of Ansar! Allah praised you. What do you do when you make wudu and when you go to toilet?”

The people of Quba gave the following answer:

“O Messenger of Allah! We use three stones to clean the feces. Then, we clean with water.”

Upon, their answer, the Messenger of Allah recited the following verse: “Rijalunyuhibbuna an yattahharu = In it are men who love to be purified…”⁸ The people of Quba had learned cleaning with water or having a bath after becoming junub from Jews. However, the verse praised them, not the Jews. The belief of oneness and fulfilling the requirements of that belief were emphasized along with the importance of cleaning in the verse. It is also stated that they washed the residues of urine with water; they never walked around when they were junub and they did not sleep when they were junub.The people of Quba continued cleaning with water after becoming Muslims. They did not even sleep when they were junub. There are two views about the dirt they were cleaned of:⁹

1) They were praised for being cleaned of material dirt. The verse particularly praises them for using water in the toilet.

2) According to the second view, the reason for the praise is not only because they were people who liked to be cleaned from material dirt. They were muttaqis (people who feared from Allah). They built a mosque on the principle of taqwa (fear of Allah). Thus, they liked to be cleansed from shirk (polytheism) and sins, which are spiritual impurities. They were also the people who were cleansed of unbelief, shirk and hypocrisy, which are the biggest sins, with belief, sincerity and honesty.  So, belief is cleanliness, shirk and unbelief are spiritual impurities as the following verse indicates: “Innamal-mushrikunanajasun = Truly the Pagans are unclean”. It is also a requirement of strong belief and taqwa to want very much to be cleaned from dirt and impurities. Thus, the believer is clean. If he gets dirty, he is cleaned with repentance or water. Cleaning of sins is a means of closeness to Allah and obtaining thawabs. Allah loves them because they are cleaned of unbelief and sins. The following is stated at the end of the same verse:

“Allah loveth those who make themselves pure.”

1) According to the verse above, Ansar and Muhajirs were loved by Allah very much because they liked to be cleaned and showed consent to qadar. Allah declared that he loved them.

2) The love of Allah is of high rank and it is love of the type of affection.¹⁰ Affection means to love fully.

3) Allah’s loving a person means His being pleased with him and promising that He will give him goodness and grant him a lot.¹¹ And they are pleased with Allah no matter what happens to them and what is recorded in their destiny (qadar) because they show consent to what is in their destiny. In other words, they are in the rank of consent. Their patience in the face of misfortunes also shows it. All these explanations show the importance of the mosque built on taqwa as well as the states and virtues of the Companions regarding their belief in qadar.

1.Umara, p. 340, nr. 530; (Bukhari, Tafsirul-Quran, 65/45, 1); Munawi, IV, 470, nr. 6024; Sarıcık, Cahiliye, p. 133-134.
2.See Taslaman, C. ibid. p. 211- 212.
3.Misfortunes hitting people due to what they do; seean-Nisa, 4/62, 79; ash-Shura, 30; an-Nahl, 34; az-Zumar, 51; Aal-iImran , 72; ar-Ra’d, 31; Qasas, 47; al-Maida, 49.
4.Munawi, IV, 481; Watt, p. 111.
5.Sarıcık, M.Çağrı- Medine, p. 369- 372.
6.Hay’ah, Majmaut-Tafasir, III, 197.
7.There is a sign related to the existence of qadar here.
8.Hay’ah, Majmaut-Tafasir, III, 197.
9.Hay’ah, Majmaut-Tafasir, III, 196-197.
10.see Feyruzabadi, al-Qamus, p. 90; Raghib, p. 153; IbnuAbil-’Izz, p. 165; Hay’ah, al-Mu’jam, p. 252; For alaqa, irada, sababa, gharam, mawaddah and other types of love, seeSarıcık, SahabeModeli, p. 130, 160.
11.Hay’ah, Majmaut-Tafasir, III, 197.

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