In Sahih Al-Bukhari, Abdullah Ibn-Mas’ood mentioned that the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said: “You will see after me, selfishness (on the part of other people) and other matters that you will disapprove of.” They asked, “What do you order us to do, O our Prophet? “ He said, “Pay their rights to them (to the rulers) and ask Allah for your right.”
O People, in this Hadith; our Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam puts a necessary rule in our life, which is an origin in our religion. This issue is not specific for just rulers or people who are in charge, but it includes every single person who has rights to fulfill or rights to gain.
Therefore, rulers andpeople in authority have to be fair and honest with their people. Otherwise, they must wait for a severe torture from Allah if they did not; as the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said in Sahih Muslim, “If Allah appointed anyone as a ruler over people and he died while he was treacherous to his people, Allah would forbid him from Paradise.”
At the same time, people have to listen and obey their governors without disobeying Allah, they should advice the ruler privately, they should not keep away from the group, pay Zakah, perform Jihad under their leadership etc.
Moreover, if there is a ruler or a leader who does not give his people their rights, they are not allowed to do the same with him, or to disobey or humiliate him according to the meaning of the hadith: ‘Do what they had ordered you and ask Allah to give you your right.’ This is what our Prophet peace be upon him advised Huzayfah {one of his companions} saying; “There will come leaders who will not follow my guidance and not follow my Sunnah. There will be among them men who will have hearts of devils in the bodies of humans.” He (the companion of the prophet) asked, “What shall I do, O messenger of Allah, if I reach that stage?” He replied, “You should hear and obey the ruler even if he flogs your back and takes your wealth, then still hear and obey.” Therefore, obeying is necessary even in a state of hatred, love, laziness or ease; even if you are punished or robbed, you have to obey and ask Allah to give you your stolen right in life and hereafter.
Obeying here includes everyone who has duty to do towards anyone. We have many kinds of it; like parentswho have duties towards their children through expenditure, kindness, raising and teaching. You have to respect and obey your parents even if they failed to fulfill their duties, even if they punish or humiliate you. You have no excuse before Allah to be undutiful or disobey them whether by word or action. Therefore, you have to do what Allah had ordered and Allah will call them to account if they failed to fulfill their duty.
The same applies with your kinship. You have to keep a good relationship with your relatives even if they do not do the same with you because Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said, “Keep your relationship with even those who do not keep it with you and be good to even those people who are not good with you!” The fact is that, if every person deals with his relatives the same way they deal with him, it would lead to breaking off the relations and it would lead to great corruption. Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam mentioned, “The person who perfectly maintains the ties of kinship is not the one who does it because he gets recompensed by his relatives (for being kind to them.) But the one who truly maintains the bonds of kinship is the one who persists in doing so, even though the latter has severed the ties of kinship with him.”
I said these words and I seek Allah’s refuge.
Praise be to Allah,
Actually, if people do not apply the Hadeeth ‘Do what they had ordered you and ask Allah to give you your right,’ there will be many problems and disputes will happen. This can clearly be seen in the case of a husband and wife relationship; if this hadith is not applied then this may lead to divorce in many cases. Husbands and wives do not know what their duties and responsibilities are towards their partners.
For example, the husband asks all of his rights, even though he does not perform his responsibilities and maybe he insults his wife in front of her family or kids. When the wife notices that, she also does not perform her duties, just to get the attention of her husband and to get her rights. Therefore, problems appear and she begins to deal with him as if he is equal in rank; does not obey him, does not respect him; the matter then leads to divorce.
However, the wife has to do her duties even if her husband does not, at the same time she has to ask for her rights till she gets her rights or not. She should complain and ask Allah to give her these rights without any shortcoming in fulfilling her duties towards her husband, even if he was unjust and Allah will call him to account. The husband has great favor upon the wife as the Prophet salla Allahu alaihi wa sallam said about the duty of the wife towards her husband, “Even if she licked his ulcer, she would never fulfill his rights.” In addition, the Prophet said, “If it was justified for a person to prostrate to anybody other than Allah, I would have commanded the woman to prostrate to her husband.”
Therefore, we have to teach our daughters the rights of husbands and even our sons should know the rights of wives and the concept of manhood.
As long as there are some obligatory medical tests before marriage, it is preferable also to let the youth join some training lectures about marriage duties. In addition, they have to be raised upon sacrifice and giving without return.
We have to feel humbletowards everybody that we help. Nowadays, very few people work as volunteers in the Path of Allah, without expecting anything in return from people and doing it just to please Allah. Moreover, if every worker, student, teacher, etc. performs his/her job accurately without waiting for any recompense or evaluation, Allah will surely make his/her life better. Similarly, if the elder deals gently with the younger and the younger shows respect to the elder and if one grants everyone their due rights upon him, Allah will surely help us lead better lives, full of blessings.
O people of Allah! Fear Allah, fulfill your duties and ask Allah for your rights. Maintain the ties of kinship, learn how to donate and help others without expecting anything in return from the people. Know well that Allah does not waste any good effort. May Allah benefit us with the Qur’an and the Sunnah.
The quotations from the Qur’an and Hadiths in this article are a rough translation of the meanings of the original text!