14: Duties of Brotherhood – Renewal by the Book: Quran Tafsir Based on Imam Ghazali’s Ihya – Shaykh Faid Said

In this lesson, we are joined by visiting scholar, Shaykh Faid Said as he gives an overview of the chapter on Duties of Brotherhood from Imam Al-Ghazali’s Ihya and the verses from the Quran that correspond to it.

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
The believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy. [Quran, 49:10]
In this ayah Allah tells us that Muslims in all their affairs are brothers and this is exemplified in the way the Prophet, peace be upon him, joined between the companions from Mecca and Madinah. For this reason, Allah tells the Prophet, that it is from Allah’s favor upon him that he brought the hearts of the companions together, such that they were all one heart. The Prophet, peace be upon him, says that the Muslims in their love for one another are like one body, if one part feels pain the rest does.

Shaykh Faid explains that brotherhood is one of the requirements of faith. The Prophet, peace be upon him says, that you cannot believe until you love one another. This brotherhood is a mercy from Allah, exalted is He. This is stressed even in the Fatiha, where we address Allah in the plural, as a reminder that we worship Allah by entering the circles of the righteous.

Shaykh Faid concludes by reminding us that there are levels of paradise that cannot be attained except through brotherhood. Brotherhood is not only about being there for one another, helping them out when in trouble, but to keep an eye out for them and give them advice when they need it.

In this series Shaykh Faraz, and the other scholars and teachers will be looking at points of reflection from key verses in the Quran. The series will follow the thematic order of Imam Ghazali’s Ihya Ulum al-Din (Renewing the Religious Sciences). The aim is to connect the key verses of guidance from the Book of Allah with the blueprint of renewal, the Ihya, so that we experience a renewal by The Book.

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