MUSJIDUL HAQ

Download PDF: [S] Respect for their Teacher

The Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – has stated that, “Respect the ‘Ulama because with Allah they have a mighty status.” (Musnad Al Firdous)

In another Hadith Shareef it is mentioned, “On the Day of Judgement, there will Mimbars of Nur. These Mimbars will be studded with pearls and jewels and it will be announced, ‘The Fuqaha, the ‘Ulama, the A’immah of the Masaajid and the Mu’azzins may sit on these Mimbars. On them there is no fear or sadness.’” (Musnad Al Firdous)

In one Hadith Shareef, the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – made Du’a, “O Allah, please have mercy of my Khulafah.”

In another Hadith Shareef, the Holy Prophet – may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him – has stated that, “My Khulafah are people who spread my Ahadith”. (Daylimi)

The following interesting incident.

It is mentioned that the two sons of Harun Rashid, namely Mamun and Ameen, were the students of Imam Kisaa’I – may Allah be pleased with him. One day, Imam Kisaa’i awoke and when they saw him, both the sons of the Sultan ran forward to hold his shoes so that they could place in on his feet. In fact, both of them also argued about who should hold the shoes. They then decided that each one will hold one shoe and in this manner, both will get the opportunity of placing the shoes on the feet of their teacher. In other words, no matter what these children were, they understood the respect that should be accorded to a Muhaddith.

When Sultan Harun Rashid hear about this incident, he called Imam Kisaa’i – may Allah be pleased with him – to his court. When Imam Kisaa’i – may Allah be pleased with him –  appeared in front of Sultan Harun Rashid, the Sultan asked him, “Who is the most respected person in the kingdom?”

Imam Kisaa’i – may Allah be pleased with him – replied, “Perhaps, it is the Sultan.”

However Sultan Harun Rashid replied, “A person of immense respect is that person who when he rises, both sons of the Sultan rush forward to place the shoes on his feet after arguing among each other on who should place these shoes.”

Imam Kisaa’i – may Allah be pleased with him – felt that perhaps the Sultan was insulted by this and wanted to explain his side of the story. However, the Sultan replied, “Listen very carefully! If you stop my sons from displaying this respect, I will become angry with you. By doing, their status and respect is not lowered in any way. In fact, it is increased. At the same time, their inner quality of intelligence and wisdom also become apparent.”

One should bear in mind that no matter how old a person is, or how much of knowledge he has or how high his status, he can never be bigger than three people. The Qadi of the area, his Islamic teacher and his parents. (Sunayri Awraaq)