Islamic Tourism

The Dr. has taken a few weeks during the school holidays to make Ummrah. I can't go with her so I will take a little trip away somewhere else and reflect upon the creation of Allah. Firstly, I want to look at the concept of travel for touristic reasons with an Islamic agenda.

By Islamic tourism I don't mean a shopping trip to Malaysia!

Allah The Most Powerful challenges us in His Book to travel in the land and reflect upon how the former nations perished and to let it be a lesson for us of Allah's power and omnipotence over the creation and to see the destruction of those who go astray.

In four ayaat the challenge to travel and see is an order:

سِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ ثُمَّ انْظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ

"travel in the land then see how was the end of the liars (those who rejected truth) (al-Anaam:11)

قُلْ سِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَاْنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الْمُجْرِمِي

"Say, travel in the land and see how was the end of the criminals" (An-Naml:69)

قُلْ سِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَانظُرُواْ كَيْفَ بَدَأَ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ اللَّهُ يُنشِىءُ النَّشْأَةَ الاٌّخِرَةَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ قَدِيرٌ

"Say, travel in the land and see how He originated the creation then Allah will bring forth the creation of the Hereafter. Verily, Allah is able to do all things." (Al-Ankaboot:20)

 قُلْ سِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَانْظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلُ كَانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُّشْرِكِينَ

"Say, travel in the land and see how was the end of those before you, most of them where musrikeen (polythiests)" (Ar-Rum:42)


These Ayaat all start with the command imperative form in the second person plural "seeroo". Also the word for see (nathara) is also used in the command form "unthuroo" with the letter 'fa' before it "fanthuroo" denotes and - the fa in this case means that the seeing happens very shortly after beginning the travel.

All the ayaat are similar and Allah used a lot of repetition in Qur'an to hammer home a point, so we will be reminded.


There are another seven ayaat which use the rhetorical style to get us to consider and think and reflect. In Arabic when we want to make a rhetorical question we may start the sentence with alam or afalam.

 ...أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ

"...Didn't they travel in the land and see how was the end of those before them?..." (Yusuf:109)

In this ayah the question is aimed at the people of firaun (Pharoah) where were so oppressive and the Pharoah himself proclaiming himself as a deity, the question is saying "are they so dumb as not to be able to see how people like them perished before?"

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَتَكُونَ لَهُمْ قُلُوبٌ يَعْقِلُونَ بِهَآ أَوْ ءَاذَانٌ يَسْمَعُونَ بِهَا فَإِنَّهَا لاَ تَعْمَى الاٌّبْصَـرُ وَلَـكِن تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِى فِى الصُّدُورِ

"have they not traveled through the land, and have they hearts wherewith to understand and ears wherewith to hear Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind" (Al-Hajj:46

أَوَلَمْ يَسيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَانُواْ أَشَدَّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةًوَلَـكِن كَانُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ يَظْلِمُونَ

"or haven't they traveled in the land and seen how was the end of those before them, they were greater than them in strength but they used to wrong themselves" (Ar-Rum:9)

This ayah extents us to consider how strong the former people where yet they were destroyed because of their oppression to themselves by not believing or accepting the truth.

Other Ayaat with similar or same messages are in surahs Fatir:9, Ghafir 21 and 82 and Muhammad:10

Have you ever seen the Roman ruins in Turkey and Europe or the Greek antiquities? You can make a visit to these ruins a worship of Allah by considering what is mentioned in the ayaat, Consider how powerful these societies were and triumphant in war and expanding their lands and now they are reduced to crumbling ruins and museums. What happened to these people? Why were they destroyed? And then apply this to today's superpowers. They seem so strong and invincible now and they reject the message of Islam and they are oppressive upon the people. Their end will come if they would only take heed.

Visiting these places, as well as other famous ruins and antiquities like the pyramids in Giza Egypt can help us reflect upon the shortness of this life and the ruin of disbelief in this life and the next. When we visit these places around the world we should feel humbled, not in awe of the people who built the monuments and the like, but in awe of ALlah's power over all, and we feel humbled and fear Allah.

There are also places mentioned in Quran that we can visit while in Saudi Arabia for Hajj or Ummrah - go to the sites of Badr and other famous battles, as for me, insha Allah I will take you for a trip to the land of the two gardens "Ardh al-Jannatayn" in Yemen. It is a story mentioned in Surat al-Qalam.

Surat al-Mu'minoon ayah 10 and 11

They are those who are the inheritors (10)

//oolaaika hum alwaarithoon//

warith - one who inherits - warithoon - plural of warith. Wiratha - inheritence

This ayah is short and aims to draw the reader in by saying they (the mu'minoon) are the inheritors without saying what. So then we read eagerly the next ayah:



 They inherit al-Firdaus, they will reside therein eternally. (11)

Not only will the Mu'minoon get Jannah (Paradise/Heaven) but they will get the highest part of Jannah - al-Firdaus where the Prophets of Allah will be.

This is indeed the best inheritance - the highest part of Jannah and all its beauties and luxuries. But to get it you must be a Mu'min and that means carrying out completely the seven sifat listed in the opening ayaat of this surah (Khashi3 in prayer, leave laghoo, do the zakat, protect their chastity, vigilant over fulfilling responsibilities and promises, and guard their salat)

 Allah does not ask us for much for such an immense reward, but it takes constant renewal of the intention and checking of the self to stay on the path to Jannat al-Firdaus. The Mu'min lives a very clean and clear life. We ask Allah the Most High to make us of those who will inherit the ultimate inheritance that never fades nor is it stolen, the ultimate inheritance of eternity in His Jannat al-Firdaus with the Prophets and pious people of all mankind.

Surat al-Mu'minoon ayah 9

وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ عَلَى صَلَوتِهِمْ يُحَـفِظُونَ

"and those who are guardant over their salat" 9

Stranger: The first ayah of characteristics talked about the prayer and this ayah, 9, also talks about salat - so we can have that reminder and confirmation of the absolute importance of salat for a mu'min.

Dr. Yes the salat is very important the first salat with khusoo and this ayah about guarding. They are two different issues relating to the salat.

Guarding refers to many things. Firstly praying the five compulsory daily prayers in the correct time, and not forgetting ever, the mu'min is mindful of the prayer times.

The Mu'min also guards the arkan as-salat - the pillars of the salat such as wudu, and making wudu with clean water, and without any filth on their clothing and in a place without filth or bad smell. They guard the pillars of the salat for all salat, not just the fard compulsory but the sunnah, witr, eid prayer, janaza funera; prayer, solar and lunar eclipse prayer, istikhara prayer and any other prayer they carry out.

In the case of men, they pray in a masjid. Ali ibn Abi Talib (ALlah be pleased with him) said that for the neighbour of the masjid, their is no prayer except in the masjid.

Stranger :Here in Yemen that is easy because you can find a masjid in almost every street but it can be difficult for those in non-Muslim countries because the masajid are few.

Dr. Then the mu'min will try to live near a masjid, or travel to the nearest masjid and get the reward of every step taken to get there. Yes in Yemen there is no excuse for anyone living in the cities to not pray in the masjid. For men that is. For women the best prayer is in the house but there is no problem  if she prays in a masjid. Also the woman should be properly dressed for prayer - hijab, loose long garment that is not see through and it is best to cover the feet either with the long garment or with socks.

And Allah knows best

Surat al-Mu'minoon Ayah 8

And those who are watchful over their trusts and promises.

Stranger: Amaanaat -  trusts and 3ahd - promises (3=ain), these are things that will be lost in Akhir zaman. I feel they are very lost here in Yemen.

Dr: Yes, the loss of trust and promises is very damaging in our lives. It is very hard to achieve real progress in Yemen due to the extreme loss of these. Let's look at this ayah and compare it with the previous ayaat. If you notice in the previous ayaat of characteristics and practices of Mu'mineen, you will see that only one thing is mentioned in each ayah - prayer with khushoo, staying away from idleness, doing zakat, protecting oneself from zina, but in this ayah there are two things together - amaanaat and 3ahd. This is because these two are inseparable and are one and the same but slightly different which I will explain.

Stranger: First Amaanaat, plural for amanah.

Dr: There are two types of Amaanaat

1- trust over physical things of all types, from money to borrowed items and anything else put in our trust, like our children and even our health that ALlah has given us.

2- Trust over non-tangible objects like secrets and confidential information, the privacy of inside someone's house, oaths and promises.

Stranger: What about lying is that a break of trust?

Dr: If it is lying about something you have been  entrusted but generally lying is from laghoo that we covered before.

With keeping trusts and promises, these are not extras from following Sunnah these actions are ordered upon us by Allah The Most High as He said in His Book in Surat an-Nisa 58:

"Verily, Allah has ordered you to fulfill the trusts to those to which they are due, and that when you judge between men, you judge with justice. And Surely excellent is that with which Allah admonishes you. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeking." (an-Nisa 59)

When you borrow money, you return it exactly, the same amount and if someone gives you money to buy something for them, you buy what they asked for and give back the change, not buy something cheaper and then pocket the rest - that happens a lot here, especially when you are trying to maintain buildings!

If you borrow an item from someone you return it to them in exactly the same condition, not broken, and if broken you need to take responsibility by buying a new item or compensating the owner with what is reasonable.

Stranger: Like when you borrowed my friend's book.

Dr: Yes, I had a trust upon me when I borrowed the book and I was not careful in putting it somewhere safe and my son threw it at his sister and the cover ripped so I compensated the sister. Even the smallest trusts will be asked about on Qiyama we must take care and be watchful over all trusts big and small.

Allah says in Surat al-Ahzab 16:

 

"And truly they had already promised Allah that they would not turn their backs, And a promise with Allah will have to be answered for". (Al-Ahzab:15)

Allah is going to ask you about all your trusts and promises and you will be held accountable.

Stranger: What about promises?

Dr: When we promise or make an oath we need to follow through and keep our word. If we promise to do something we should do it and if we make oaths our speech must me truthful. We must keep these promises and oaths with other Muslims, disbelievers, between nations or individuals. Rasool Allah (Peace be Upon Him) make treaties and agreements with Jews and Quraish in his lifetime and he NEVER broke one word but it was the other parties who broke treaties and this is mentioned by Allah in Surat al-Anfal:56

"Those with whom you made a covenant; then they break their covenant every time, and they do not fear Allah". Al-Anfal:56

Stranger: What is meant by //raa3oon// the last word of the ayah in the form of "fa3il - the doer of the verb"?

Dr: Ra3ee is a shepherd, here ra3oon is the act of shepherding. Shepherding needs to be done vigilantly otherwise the flock will either be in danger or lost completely! If a shepherd falls asleep on the job he can lose it all!!! So Allah the Most Wise has used this term here to show us how vigilant we must be about our oaths and promises and trusts. Every watchful!