RAMADAN: THE STRAIGHT PATH

SALAAMU ALYKUM WARAHMATULLAH WABARAKATUH. We going to talk about; THE STRAIGHT PATH

The Straight Path is the path that the one journeying to Allah traverses and it is none other than obedience to Allah and His Messenger (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). The Salaf have described the Straight Path in various ways but all of their definitions revolve around this basic fact:

The Book of Allah as stated by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and others.
Islam as stated by Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, Ad-Dahhak and others.
The Religion of Allah other than which He will not accept as stated by Ibn Al-Hanafiyyah.
The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and the two Caliphs who followed him as stated by Abu'l-Aliyah and Al-Hasan al-Basri.
The truth as stated by Mujahid.
All of these opinions are correct. So whosoever follows Islam has followed the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) and the two Caliphs after him, i.e. Abu Bakr and 'Umar. Whosoever has followed them has followed the Truth and whosoever has followed the truth has followed the Qur'an and whosoever has followed the Qur'an has obeyed Allah.

At-Tirmidhi reports from Nawas ibn Sam'an that the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) said:

"Allah Has set forth the following as a parable: There is a road that leads straight to the destination. On either side of the road there is a wall in which there are open doors with curtains hanging on them. From the remote end of the road, a voice calls, 'Proceed straight and do not turn aside.' Whenever someone intends to lift a curtain from the door another voice calls from above, 'Beware! Do not lift the curtain, otherwise you will be lured inside.' "

The Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) explained the parable by saying that the straight path is Islam, the walls are the limits imposed by Allah, the open doors are the things that He has prohibited, the voice which calls from the end of the road is the Qur'an and the voice which calls from above is Allah's monitor in the heart of every believer. At-Tirmidhi (Adab, no. 76), Ahmad (4/182-183). It was declared sahih by Al-Albani in Sahih al-Jami'.

From the above verse we also learn that the Straight Path is one path and not many and indeed that anything that deviates from it is to be regarded as misguidance. Ash-Shatibi explains this further by saying:

"'And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not [other] paths, for they will separate you away from His Path. This He has ordained for you that you may become pious.' [Al-Qur'an 6:153]

"The Straight Path is the path to which Allah has named and that is the Sunnah. The other paths are the paths of the people of disagreement who deviate from the Straight Path, and they are the People of Innovation. The intended meaning here is not the 'paths of disobedience' because no one makes disobedience a path that he continuously treads upon - in imitation of and resemblance to the legislation, but rather this description is specifically for the newly invented innovations.

"In what Isma'il has narrated from Sulayman ibn Harb lies evidence for this: Hammad ibn Zayd narrated to us; from 'Asim ibn Bahdalah; from Abu Wa'il; from 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas who said:

'One Day the Messenger (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam) drew for us a long, straight line' and then Sulayman drew for us a long, straight line, 'and then he drew lines to its right and to its left and then said, 'This is the Path of Allah.' Then he drew lines to its right and to its left and said, 'These are different paths, upon each of these ways is a devil calling to it', and then he recited the verse:

'And verily, this is my Straight Path, so follow it, and follow not [other] paths … ' [Al-Qur'an 6:153]'

meaning these paths.

"' … for they will separate you away from His Path.' [Al-Qur'an 6:153]'


Ghazali Muhammed