Muslims are brothers

“Dari Abu Hurairah r.a., dari Nabi SAW, yang bersabda :

“Barangsiapa yang melapangkan seorang mukmin suatu kesusahan dari kesusahan-kesusahan dunia, nescaya Allah akan melepaskan dirinya dari suatu kesusahan dari kesusahan-kesusahan di hari kiamat. Dan barangsiapa yang meringankan penderitaan seorang yang susah, nescaya Allah akan meringankan penderitaan dirinya di dunia dan di akhirat. Barangsiapa yang menutup keaiban seorang Muslim, nescaya Allah akan menutup keaibannya di akhirat. Dan Allah selalu menolong hambaNya, selagi hambaNya berusaha menolong saudaranya. Barangsiapa yang menuju satu jalan untuk menuntut ilmu, nescaya Allah akan memudahkan suatu jalan baginya ke syurga. Dan tidak berhimpun suatu kelompok manusia dalam suatu rumah dari rumah-rumah Allah, mereka membaca Kitabullah dan mempelajarinya antara sesama mereka, melainkan diturunkan ke atas perhimpunan mereka ketenteraman, diliputi oleh rahmat, di kelilingi oleh para Malaikat dan disebut Allah kepada sesiapa yang di sisiNya. Sesiapa yang dilengahkan oleh amalannya maka tidak akan dipercepatkan oleh keturunannya.”

(It was related on the authority of Abu Hurairah, radiyallahu 'anhu, that the Prophet, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, said:
"Whosoever relieves from a believer some grief pertaining to this world, Allah will relieve from him some grief pertaining to the Hereafter. Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in both this world and the Hereafter. Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the Hereafter. Allah will aid a servant (of His) so long as the servant aids his brother. Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise. No people gather together in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them, and Allah makes mention of them amongst those who are in His presence. Whosoever is slowed down by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his lineage." )
(Hadith Riwayat Muslim)

LESSONS

"Whosoever relieves from a believer some grief pertaining to this world, Allah will relieve from him some grief pertaining to the Hereafter."

• The one who successfully removes a grief or distress that a Muslim is encountering will be rewarded more than the one who helps and tries his best to minimise the consequences of a certain difficulty.
• We have to motivate Muslims to help others and to remove the distress or difficulties of one another.
• The reward for the removal or relief of the distress of a Muslim will be rewarded by a removal of a similar distress or difficulty in the Hereafter
• The difficulties of this life are incomparable to the distress aspects of the Hereafter (which nobody can endure as it is beyond human capacity), Allah reserves the reward for removing a distress of a distressful aspect of this life until the Day of Judgment.

"Whosoever alleviates the difficulties of a needy person who cannot pay his debt, Allah will alleviate his difficulties in both this world and the Hereafter."

• The person who is owed the money might forgive the borrower and try to help him not just by giving him more time but also by reducing the amount of money owed or forgiving him.In the Hereafter Allah will reward him and forgive his sins because of his generosity.
• This means that there is a situation where a person who is kind to those in need and Allah will relief that person by rewarding him a great reward from Allah's Mercy and Help.
  

"Whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults in this world and the Hereafter."

• Muslims should not reveal the mistakes of their Muslim brothers to others. Some Muslims today take it as a topic for fun and entertainment to reveal the mistakes of others even on very minor issues.
• As Muslims we should refrain ourselves from such acts. Consequently, the reward will be that Allah will conceal our faults from others.
• In this life we are subject to faults. If we do not conceal the faults of others, Allah will put us in a situation where our faults will be exposed to other people and everyone will be talking about them. So the punishment is relevant or of the same nature of the act if it is a bad act.
  
  
  "Allah will aid a servant (of His) so long as the servant aids his brother."

• The greater the help, the greater the reward.
• This is something that Muslims should take seriously because if we have a community which care about each other and help one another, then there would be no needy.
• This should be our attitude - we should seek to be motivated to offer our help at any time to our Muslim brothers.
  

"Whosoever follows a path to seek knowledge therein, Allah will make easy for him a path to Paradise."

• Here we can find the encouragement of Islam in seeking and gaining knowledge.
• The knowledge seekers will be rewarded if the knowledge is beneficial to oneself as well as for the betterment of the Muslim community.
• This statement of the hadith can be interpreted in 3 ways:
  · Allah will make it easy for the knowledge seeker to gain the knowledge that he is seeking.
  · Allah will make it easy for the knowledge seeker so that he will benefit from the knowledge he is seeking. This means that he will benefit from the knowledge and this will lead him to enter Paradise. There are many people who seek knowledge but there are no blessings in the knowledge they seek. The crucial point here is the person should seek knowledge with good intentions.
  ·For the one who seeks knowledge with good intentions, Allah will safely help him go through the horrible incidents and situations on the Day of Judgment.
• Ibn Rajab classifies ilm (knowledge) into two types:
  · The outcome of knowledge is placed in the heart. That is the knowledge about Allah and His attributes that implies fearing Allah, glorifying Him, and loving Him.
  · The knowledge that we merely memorise or speak about - without our hearts being influenced or affected. This means that if the person does not abide by the knowledge that he has already obtained, then he is in a very critical situation where the he may be subject to the punishment of Allah.

"No people gather together in one of the houses of Allah, reciting the Book of Allah and studying it among themselves, except that tranquility descends upon them, mercy covers them, the angels surround them, and Allah makes mention of them amongst those who are in His presence."

Here the hadith implies a preferable act: to go to the mosque, to recite and study the Qur'an, or attending lectures. Ibn Rajab says that this can be applied to all branches of knowledge and not just the Qur'an. The hadith mentions four rewards for those who gather in the mosque:

• Tranquility - this is a great reward which includes relief from stress and being calm.
• The Mercy of Allah over them.
• The angels surrounding them.
• Allah making mention of them amongst those who are in His presence.
  

"Whosoever is slowed down by his deeds will not be hastened forward by his lineage."

• This indicates that doing deeds are the means of getting the rewards and that will lead a person to Paradise.
  
  CONCLUSION
  "A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim - he does not wrong him nor does he forsake him when he is in need; whosoever is fulfilling the needs of his brother, Allah is fulfilling his needs; whosoever removes distress from a believer, Allah removes from him a distress from a distressful aspect of the Day of Resurrection; and whosoever conceals the faults of a Muslim, Allah will conceal his faults on the Day of Resurrection."
  


• Muslims are brothers - one will not harm another nor will he do injustice or fail him when he is in need.
• So, the hadith can be taken as a motivation for helping other Muslims, especially those who are in need.
• We just need to imagine the situation of the ummah when we help each other and fulfill the needs of others.
• We will end up being a better society, with less needy people, and stronger social ties that will lead to the strength of the Muslim ummah at large.