ASSEMBLIES

ASSEMBLIES:

2:125 - Remember We made the house a place of assembly for men and a place of safety; and take ye the station of Abraham as a place of prayer; and We covenanted with Abraham and Isma`il that they should sanctify My House for those who compass it round or use it as a retreat or bow or prostrate themselves (therein in prayer). 125 126

125 The Ka'ba, the House of God. Its foundation goes back by Arab tradition to Abraham. Its fourfold character is here referred to. (1) It was the centre to which all the Arab tribes resorted for trade, for poetic contests, and for worship, (2) It was sacred territory and was respected by friend and foe alike. At certain seasons, all fighting was and is forbidden within it limits, and even arms are not allowed to be carried and no game or other thing is allowed to be killed. Like the Cities of Refuge under the Mosaic Dispensation to which manslayers could flee (Num. xxxv. 6) or the Sanctuaries in Mediaeval Europe, to which criminals could not be pursued. Mecca was recognized by Arab custom as inviolable for the pursuit of revenge or violence. (3) It was a place of prayer; even today there is a Station of Abraham within the enclosure where Abraham was supposed to have prayed. (4) It must be held pure and sacred for all purposes. (2.125)

126 Four rites are here enumerated, which have now acquired a technical meaning. (1) Compassing the sacred territory, or going round the Ka'ba: Tawaf. There are special guides who take pilgrims and visitors round. (2) Retiring to the place as a spiritual retreat, for contemplation and prayer: Itikat. (3) The posture of bending the back in prayer: Ruku. (4) The posture of prostrating oneself on the ground in prayer: Sujud. The protection of the holy territory is for all, but special cleanliness and purity is required for the sake of the devotees who undertake these rites. (2.125)

6:130 - O ye assembly of Jinns and men! came there not unto you apostles from amongst you setting forth unto you of the meeting of this day of yours?" They will say: "We bear witness against ourselves." It was the life of this world that deceived them. So against themselves will they bear witness that they rejected faith. 953

37:8 - (So) they should not strain their ears in the direction of the Exalted Assembly but be cast away from every side. 4038

4038 We can form a mental picture of the Court of the Most High, in the highest heaven, conforming to the highest idea we can form of goodness, beauty, purity, and grandeur. The Exalted Assembly of angels is given some knowledge of the Plan and Will of Allah. Evil is altogether foreign to such an atmosphere, but is actuated by feelings of jealousy and curiosity. It tries to approach by stealth and overhear something from the august Assembly. It is repulsed and pursued by a flaming fire, of which we can form some idea in our physical world by the piercing trail of a shooting star. (37.8)

55:33 - O ye assembly of Jinns and men! if it be ye can pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth pass ye! not without authority shall ye be able to pass! 5194

5194 Cf. vi. 130, where the Jinns and men are addressed collectively. That whole passage, vi. 130-134, should be read as a commentary on this verse. 'If you think that because you do things in secret, or because some of your sins do not seem to meet their inevitable punishment or some of your good deeds seem to go unnoticed, do not be deceived. Judgment will soon come. You cannot possibly escape out of the zones in which your lives have been cast, without authority from Allah. Be grateful to Allah for the chances He has given you'. "All that hath been promised unto you will come to pass: nor can ye frustrate it in the least bit" (vi. 134). (55.33)

58:11 - O ye who believe! When ye are told to make room in the assemblies (spread out and) make room: (Ample) room will Allah provide for you. And when ye are told to rise up rise up: Allah will raise up to (suitable) ranks (and degrees) those of you who believe and who have been granted Knowledge: and Allah is well-acquainted with all ye do. 5347 5348 5349

5347 Even when a great man or a Leader comes into an Assembly, we are not to press forward without discipline, as it causes inconvenience to him and detriment to public business. Nor are we to shut out other people who have equal rights to be in the Assembly. We must spread out, for Allah's earth is spacious, and so are our opportunities. (58.11)

5348 "Rise up" here may imply: 'when the Assembly is dismissed, do not loiter about'. (58.11)

5349 Faith makes all people equal in the Kingdom of Allah, as regards the essentials of citizenship in the Kingdom. But there is leadership, and rank and degree, joined with greater or less responsibility, and that depends on true knowledge and insight. (58.11)

62:9 - O ye who believe! when the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the Day of Assembly) hasten earnestly to the Remembrance of Allah and leave off business (and traffic): that is best for you if ye but knew! 5461 5462 5463

5461 Friday, is primarily the Day of Assembly, the weekly meeting of the Congregation, when we show our unity by sharing in common public worship, preceded by a Khutba, in which the Imam (or Leader) reviews the week's fife of the Community and offers advice and exhortation on good living. Notice the gradations of social contact for Muslims if they followed the wise ordinances of their Faith. (1) Each individual remembers Allah for himself or herself five or more times every day in the home or place of business, or local mosque, or open air, as the case may be. (2) On Friday in every week there is a local meeting in the central mosque of each local centre,-it may be a village, or town, or ward of a big city. (3) At the two 'Ids every year, there is a large local area meeting in one centre. (4) Once at least in a lifetime, where possible, a Muslim shares in the vast international assemblage of the world, in the centre of Islam, at the Makkan Pilgrimage. A happy combination of decentralisation and centralisation, of individual liberty and collective meeting, and contact at various stages or grades. The mechanical part of this ordinance is easy to carry out. Are we carrying out the moredifficult part?-the spirit of unity, brotherhood, mutual consultation, and collective understanding and action? (62.9)

5462 The idea behind the Muslim weekly "Day of Assembly" is different from that behind the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) or the Christian Sunday. The Jewish Sabbath is primarily a commemoration of Allah's ending His work and resting on the seventh day (Gen. ii. 2; Exod. xx. 11): we are taught that Allah needs no rest, nor does He feel fatigue (ii. 255). The Jewish command forbids work on that day but says nothing about worship or prayer (Exod. xx. 10); our ordinance lays chief stress on the remembrance of Allah. Jewish formalism went so far as to kill the spirit of the sabbath, and call forth the protest of Jesus: "the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath" (Mark. ii. 27). But the Christian Church, although it has changed the day from Saturday to Sunday, has inherited the Jewish spirit: witness the Scottish Sabbath; except in so far as it has been secularised. Our teaching says: 'When the time for Jumua Prayer comes, close your business and answer the summonsloyally and earnestly, meet earnestly, pray, consult and learn by social contact; when the meeting is over, scatter and go about your business'. (62.9)

64:9 The Day that He assembles you (all) for a day of Assembly that will be a day of mutual loss and gain (among you). And those who believe in Allah and work righteousness He will remove from them their ills and He will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow to dwell therein forever: that will be the Supreme Achievement. 5489 5490 5491

5489 The Day of Judgment will truly be "a Day of Mutual Loss and Gain", as the title of this Sura indicates. Men who thought they were laying up riches will find themselves paupers in the Kingdom of Heaven. Men who thought they were acquiring good by wrong-doing will find their efforts were wasted; xviii. 104. On the other hand the meek and lowly of this life will acquire great dignity and honour in the next; the despised ones doing good here will be the accepted ones there; the persecuted righteous will be in eternal happiness. The two classes will as it were change their relative positions. (64.9)

5490 "Remove from them their ills". The ills may be sins, faults, mistakes, or evil tendencies; Allah will of His grace cover them up, and blot out the account against them; or they may be sorrows, sufferings, or disappointments: Allah may even change the evil of such persons into good, their apparent calamities into opportunities for spiritual advancement: xxv. 70. This is because of their sincere Faith as evidenced by their repentance and amendment. (64.9)

5491 "Gardens" the place of the highest Bliss, see ii. 25, n. 44; xiii. 35; xlvii. 15. (64.9)

Maududi Sura Introductions
Surah 53. An-Najm
See Section

The parts of this Hadith which have been reported by Aswad bin Yazid, Abu Ishaq and Zubair bin Mu'awiyah from Hadrat Ibn Mas'ud, indicate that this is the first Surah of the Quran, which the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) had publicly recited before an assembly of the Quraish (and according to Ibn Marduyah, in the Ka'bah) in which both the believers and the disbelievers were present. At the end, when he recited the verse requiring the performance of a sajdah and fell down in prostration, the whole assembly also fall down in prostration with him,

Fiqh-us-Sunnah
Fiqh 4.107

Warning Against Sitting in Company Where Allah is Not Mentioned and Blessings on His Prophet are Not Invoked

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If peopie sit in an assembly in which they do not remember Allah nor invoke a blessing on the Prophet, it will be a cause of grief for them on the Day of Judgment." This is reported by Tirmidhi, who says it is a sound hadith.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah
Fiqh 4.107a

Atonement for Sitting in an Assembly

Abu Hurairah reported that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "If anyone sits in an assembly where there is much clamor and says before getting up to leave, Subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika, ashadu an-la illaha illa-anta, astaghfiruka wa atubu ilayka (Glory be to You, O Allah, and I begin with declaring all praise is due to You, I testify that there is no god but You; I ask Your pardon and turn to You in repentance), he will be forgiven any sin that he might have committed while in that assembly. (Tirmidhi and Al-Baihaqi, (Kitab ad-D'wat Al-kabir))

Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 4839 Narrated by
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As

There are some expressions which a man utters three times when he gets up from an assembly he will be forgiven for what happened in the assembly; and no one utters them in an assembly held for a noble cause or for remembrance of Allah but that is stamped with them just as a document is stamped with a signet-ring. These expressions are: Glory be to Thee, O Allah, and I begin with praise of Thee, there is no god but thou; I ask Thy pardon, and return to Thee in repentance.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 4841 Narrated by
AbuBarzah al-Aslami

When the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) intended to get up from the assembly he used to say in the last. Glory be to Thee. O Allah, and I begin with praise of Thee, I testify that there is no god but Thou; I ask Thy pardon, and return to Thee in repentance. The man asked: Apostle of Allah! you utter the words now which you did not do in the past? He replied: (This is an) atonement for what takes place in the assembly.

Fiqh-us-Sunnah
Fiqh 4.99

ADH-DHIKR

If anyone remembers Allah, He remembers that person: "Remember me, I shall remember you." Qur'an 2.152 In a hadith qudsi, the Prophet, peace be upon him, narrated: "Allah says: 'I am to my servant as he expects of Me, I am with him when he remembers Me. If he remembers Me in his heart, I remember him to Myself, and if he remembers me in an assembly, I mention him in an assembly better than his, and if he draws nearer to Me a hand's span, I draw nearer to him an arm's length, and if he draws nearer to Me an arm's length, I draw nearer to him a fathom length, and if he comes to me walking, I rush to him at [great] speed. (Bukhari and Muslim)

Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 4285 Narrated by
AbudDarda'The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The place of assembly of the Muslims at the time of the war will be in al-Ghutah near a city called Damascus, one of the best cities in Syria.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith
Hadith 2481 Narrated by
Abdullah ibn Umar

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) seldom got up to leave an assembly without using these supplications for his companions: "O Allah, apportion to us such fear of Thee as will come between us and acts of disobedience to Thee, such obedience to Thee as will bring us to Thy Paradise, and such certainty that the calamities of this world will be made easy for us by Thee. Let us enjoy our hearing, our sight and our power as long as Thou dost grant us life, and do the same for those who inherit from us. Grant us revenge on those who have wronged us and help us against those who are hostile to us. Let no calamity befall our religion, let not worldly affairs be our greatest care of all that we know about, and let not those who do not show mercy towards us rule over us."

Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying this is a hasan gharib tradition.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith
Hadith 2272 Narrated by
AbuHurayrah

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "If people sit in an assembly in which they do not remember Allah or invoke a blessing on their Prophet, vengeance will descend upon them. If Allah wills He will punish them, but if He wills He will forgive them."

Tirmidhi transmitted it.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith
Hadith 1065 Narrated by
AbuMusa

Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said: Every eye is lustful and when a woman applies perfume and then goes about in an assembly, she is like such and such, i.e. an adulteress.

Transmitted by Tirmidhi and AbuDawud and Nasa'i transmitted something similar.

Sahih Muslim Hadith
Hadith 6931 Narrated by
Hudhayfah ibn Usayd Ghifari

Allah's Apostle (peace be upon him) came to us all of a sudden as we were (busy in a discussion) He said: What do you discuss about? (the Companions) said: We are discussing about the Last Hour. Thereupon he said: It will not come until you see ten signs before and (in this connection) he made a mention of the smoke, Dajjal, the beast, the rising of the sun from the west, the descent of Jesus son of Mary (Allah be pleased with him), The Gog and Magog, and landslides in three places, one in the east, one in the west and one in Arabia at the end of which fire would burn forth from the Yemen, and would drive people to the place of their assembly.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 5036 Narrated by
AbulAzhar al-Anmari

When the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) went to his bed at night, he would say: in the name of Allah, I have laid down my side for Allah. O Allah! forgive me my sin, drive away my devil, free me from my responsibility, and place me in the highest assembly.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 4837 Narrated by
AbuHurayrah

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: People who get up from an assembly in which they did not remember Allah will be just as if they had got up from an ass's corpse, and it will be a cause of grief to them.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 5189 Narrated by
AbuHurayrah

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: When one of you comes to an assembly, he should give a salutation and if he feels inclined to get up, he should give a salutation, for the former is not more of a duty than the latter.

Sunan of Abu-Dawood
Hadith 4839 Narrated by
Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As

There are some expressions which a man utters three times when he gets up from an assembly he will be forgiven for what happened in the assembly; and no one utters them in an assembly held for a noble cause or for remembrance of Allah but that is stamped with them just as a document is stamped with a signet-ring. These expressions are: Glory be to Thee, O Allah, and I begin with praise of Thee, there is no god but thou; I ask Thy pardon, and return to Thee in repentance.