Chapter 31: Making Peace among People

allah, the exalted, says:

"there is no good in most of their secret talks save (in) him who orders sadaqah (charity in allah's cause), or ma`ruf (islamic monotheism and all the good and righteous deeds which allah has ordained), or conciliation between mankind.'' (4:114)

"...and making peace is better.'' (4:128)

"so fear allah and adjust all matters of difference among you.'' (8:1)

"the believers are nothing else than brothers (in islamic religion). so make reconciliation between your brothers.'' (49:10)

248. abu hurairah (may allah be pleased with him) reported: messenger of allah (pbuh) said, "on every joint of man, there is charity, on everyday when the sun rises: doing justice between two men is charity, and assisting a man to ride an animal or to load his luggage on it is charity; and a good word is charity, every step which one takes towards (the mosque for) salat is charity, and removing harmful things from the way is charity".
[al-bukhari and muslim].

commentary: almighty allah has made human body flexible, that is to say, its parts have joints which enable him to make all kinds of movements. if human beings did not have these joints, it would not have been possible for its different parts to make movements which they do. had it been so, one would not have been able to use various parts of his body as he likes. thus, these joints are a valuable gift from allah for which one should always be grateful to him. in all, a person has three hundred and sixty joints in his body, as has already been stated in a hadith narrated earlier.

according to some ahadith, two rak`ah of duha prayer (optional forenoon prayer) has been regarded sufficient for this purpose, while in others, it has been stated that if one cannot do anything else for expressing gratefulness to allah, he should refrain from harming others as it is a form of sadaqah.

249. umm kulthum bint `uqbah (may allah be pleased with her) reported: messenger of allah (pbuh) said, 'the person who (lies) in order to conciliate between people is not a liar, when he conveys good or says (something) good".
[al-bukhari and muslim].

the narration in muslim added: she said, "i never heard him (she meant the prophet (pbuh)) giving permission of lying in anything except in three (things): war, conciliating between people and the conversation of man with his wife and the conversation of a woman with her husband".

commentary: this hadith tells us a very important principle, that is, in spite of its being unlawful, one is permitted to tell a lie if one has to do it for reforming one's society or family or in the interest of muslims in general. if two muslim brothers are estranged and someone communicates to them such things which are likely to remove conflict and rancour between them, promote mutual love and bring them nearer to each other, such action, even if it has a lie, is not called a lie in islam.

1. in order to keep the enemy unaware of the true position, it is permissible to make false propaganda as it is an indispensable device for winning war.

2. in order to maintain pleasant atmosphere in family life, and for this purpose telling a lie becomes inevitable. shari`ah has permitted lying on such occasions.

250. `aishah (may allah be pleased with her) reported: messenger of allah (pbuh) heard the voices of altercation of two disputants at the door; both the voices were quite loud. one was asking the other to make his debts little (so that he could pay them) and was pleading with him to show leniency to him, whereupon the (other one) said: "by allah, i will not do that". then there came messenger of allah (pbuh) to them and said, "where is he who swore by allah that he would not do good?'' he said: "o messenger of allah, it is me. now he may do as he desires".
[al-bukhari and muslim].

commentary:  this hadith highlights the following four main points:

1. it is desirable to help someone who is in straitened circumstances because of a debt. if the lender forgives a part of the loan or gives concession of time in repayment of loan, it is an act of great merit. as allah says:

"and if the debtor is in a hard time (has no money), then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay; but if you remit it by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know.'' (2:280)

2. if someone seems to incline towards evil, he should be scolded so that he would keep himself away from it and would turn to virtue.

3. such people who quarrel among themselves should not be left to mutual bickering but efforts should be made for their reconciliation.

4. people who are quarrelling should also co-operate with those who make efforts for reconciliation, and respect their spirit of goodwill.

251. sahl bin sa`d as-sa`idi (may allah be pleased with him) reported: there was some quarrel among the members of banu `amr bin `auf. messenger of allah (pbuh) went with some of his companions to bring about peace between them and he was detained. the time for salat approached and bilal (may allah be pleased with them) went to abu bakr (may allah be pleased with him) and said to him: "messenger of allah (pbuh) has got late and it is the time for salat. will you lead salat?'' he said: "yes, if you desire". bilal (may allah be pleased with him) proclaimed the adhan and then pronounced iqamah. abu bakr (may allah be pleased with him) stepped forward and commenced as-salat. (he recited takbir and the people followed him). in the meantime, messenger of allah (pbuh) arrived and, passing through the rows, took his stand in the first row. the people started clapping. it was the habit of abu bakr (may allah be pleased with him) that whenever he started praying, he would never look round. he paid no heed (to the clapping). when the clapping increased, he turned round and saw messenger of allah (pbuh). he (the prophet (pbuh)) beckoned him to continue performing salat. but abu bakr (may allah be pleased with him) raised his hands and praised allah. then he retreated, taking his steps backwards. when messenger of allah (pbuh) saw that, he went ahead and led salat. when he finished salat, he faced the congregation and said, "why do you clap when something happens during the salat. clapping is only for women. if something happens in the course of salat you should say, subhan allah. it is bound to attract attention. and you, abu bakr, what prevented you from carrying on with salat, after i beckoned to do so?'' he said, "it was not becoming for the son of abu quhafah to lead salat in the presence of messenger of allah (pbuh)".
[al-bukhari and muslim].

commentary:
1. banu `amr bin `auf was a big tribe of aus which consisted of many families, they lived in quba. a quarrel arose among them on some issue and they used stones and brickbats against each other. when the prophet (pbuh) came to know about it, he personally went to them. the hadith shows how important it is to bring about reconciliation amongst muslims who are estranged from each other so that tension among them is not aggravated. if efforts are not made for reconciliation at the initial stages, the conflict will be escalated and then it will become difficult to resolve it.

2. salat can be offered behind two imam, one after the other.

3. in the course of salat if imam makes an error, his followers should bring it to his attentions by saying the words "subhan allah'' aloud. women may clap only.

4. in case of need, it is permissible in salat to turn one's face slightly, to look with glances and move a little onward or backward. such an act does not constitute a defect which renders the prayer invalid.