Skip to main content

Save yourselves and your family from the Hellfire

Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an:

{ يا أيها الذين آمَنوا قُوا أَنفُسَكم وأهْليكم ناراً }

{O believers, save yourselves and your family from the Hellfire whose fuel is men and
stones}

* Whenever Allah (swt) begins anything with the phrase ‘o believers!’, it means He is alerting our attention to something important for us to do or to avoid. Ibn Mas`ud (ra) says:

وقال ابن مسعود: إذا قال اللَّه يا أيها الذين آمنوا فارعها سمعك فإنه خير تؤمر به أو شر تنهى عنه
 “Ibn Mas`ud said: whenever Allah says ‘o believers’ then raise your hearing because it is a
good you are being commanded to or a bad you are being told to avoid…”.1

The meaning of {save yourselves and your family from the fire} means turn them away from it, prevent them from it. Sayyiduna `Ali (ra) in his commentary of this verse as well as Qatada and Mujahid state:

“Save yourselves from the Fire through your actions and save your family from the Fire through giving them all correct advice and guidance (bi-wasiyyatikum) [...] and there are three meanings to the phrase ‘and save your family from the Fire through giving them all correct advice and guidance’ and they are: [1] To command them to obey Allah and to avoid disobeying him. This is what Qatada said. [2] To teach them all the obligatory aspects of their religion as well as to train them with the correct manners and conduct in their lives. This is what `Ali said. [3] To on the one hand teach them the khayr (‘the good’) and to ensure they are made to live with it and to clarify what is wrong and bad so as to ensure they avoid it…” 2

الثالث: قوا أنفسكم بأفعالكم، وقوا أهليكم بوصيتكم، قاله علي وقتادة ومجاهد.
وفي الوصية التي تقيهم النار ثلاثة
أقاويل:
أحدها: يأمرهم بطاعة اللَّه وينهاهم عن معصيته، قاله قتادة.
الثاني: يعلمهم فروضهم ويؤدبهم في دنياهم، قاله علي.
الثالث: يعلمهم الخير ويأمرهم به، ويبين لهم الشر، وينهاهم عنه.

Lessons:

* In this noble verse of the Qur’an, Allah is commanding the Muslim believers to take serious consideration in safeguarding themselves and their family from the Hellfire.

* To safeguard and protect the family means to ensure they live by the commandments of Allah and to avoid his prohibitions.

* All fathers and providers of the household have a duty to their family that involves teaching them the obligatory aspects of their religion which is the fiqh (Islamic rulings) on all daily actions. > We must not fall short in this or neglect this. How can it be that we are aware of our duty to learn Islamic rulings and prevent our wives from learning it as well? How can our children learn the teachings of Islam unless their parents instil it in them?

* The need to train, nurture and teach Islamic values, norms and principles to our family is all the more serious given the context of the widespread assault on Islam, Shari`ah and Muslim family values as being antithetical to anything British, Western and liberal.

1 Imam al-Mawardi, al-Nukat wa’l-`Uyun, .
2 Imam al-Mawardi, al-Nukat wa’l-`Uyun, .

Source

Also see:

Q&A: Sending children to schools where Kufr is taught?

Comments

Unknown said…
very nice
thanks for it
islam-and-computing.blogspot.com
Anonymous said…
Provide the reference Ayaat... always make it a practice to do so...

Popular posts from this blog

An advice to Muslims working in the financial sector

Assalam wa alaikum wa rahmatullah wabarakatahu, Dear Brothers & Sisters, We are saddened to see Muslims today even those who practise many of the rules of Islam are working in jobs which involve haram in the financial sector. They are working in positions which involve usurious (Riba) transactions, insurance, the stock market and the like. Even though many of the clear evidences regarding the severity of the sin of Riba are known, some have justified their job to themselves thinking that they are safe as long as they are not engaged in the actual action of taking or giving Riba. Brothers & Sisters, You should know that the majority of jobs in the financial sector, even the IT jobs in this area are haram (prohibited) as they involve the processing of prohibited contracts. If you work in this sector, do not justify your job to yourself because of the fear of losing your position or having to change your career, fear Allah as he should be feared and consider ...

Q&A: Age of separating children in the beds?

Question: Please explain the hukm regarding separation of children in their beds. At what age is separation an obligation upon the parents? Also can a parent sleep in the same bed as their child? Answer: 1- With regards to separating children in their beds, it is clear that the separation which is obligatory is when they reach the age of 7 and not since their birth. This is due to the hadith reported by Daarqutni and al-Hakim from the Messenger (saw) who said: When your children reach the age of 7 then separate their beds and when they reach 10 beat them if they do not pray their salah.’ This is also due to what has been narrated by al-Bazzar on the authority of Abi Rafi’ with the following wording: ‘We found in a sheet near the Messenger of Allah (saw) when he died on which the following was written: Separate the beds of the slave boys and girls and brothers and sisters of 7 years of age.’ The two hadiths are texts on the separation of children when they reach the age of 7. As for the...

Authenticity of ahadith on tall buildings in Makkah?

Question Are these   ḥadith  sound? Are the references provided correct and accurate? When you see the belly of Makkah will be cleft open and through it will be dug out river-like passages (i.e. tunnels) (or water in the road to Makkah), and you see the buildings surpass its mountains, then take care (or beware, or a variant has: then know that the matter is at hand, or then understand that the time of trial (Judgment day) is near at hand). [Narrated by Al-Azraqi in the Book of reports about Makkah – Kitab Akhbaar Makkah, Hadiyth-1725; A specific Hadiyth (in fact several related-Hadiyths) which prophesizes about this Tower. Itha ra’aitun mecca bu’ijat katha’ima, wa ya-tasawa bunyanuha ru’usa jibaliha, faqad athalati as-Sa’atu. When you see Mecca, its mountain with holes (pierced through them), and its buildings reach its mountain tops, then as-Sa’ah (the Hour) has already cast its shadow. [Suyuti] So when you see in Makkah that channels have already been dug (or tunnels b...