HADEETH OF SAFEENAH

By Abu Baraa

Based on a lecture by Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad

CONTENTS
Contents ............................................................................... 1
The Hadith of Safeenah ........................................................ 3
Linguistically: ........................................................................ 6
In Usul ul Fiqh: ...................................................................... 7
In the Fiqh: ............................................................................ 9

THE HADITH OF
SAFEENAH
There is a Hadith reported in Bukhari, in the chapter of partnership
narrated by Nu'man bin Basheer (ra) that the prophet (saw) said,
"The example of the one who stands for the Deen of Allah and the one who
has left it are like the people in a boat, some of whom occupy the upper
deck and some occupy the lower deck. Whenever those in the lower deck
need water, they have to go to the upper deck to retrieve it. So some of
them said, why dont we make a hole in our deck so we do not harm the
people of the upper deck? If the people do not stop them, they will all fall
and be failures, but if they stop them they will all be saved"

This Hadith has also been reported in another narration that the
prophet (saw) said,
"The example of the one who stands for the Hudud of Allah and the one
who compromises the Hudud of Allah ..."

It is Saheeh and has many narrations. The prophet (saw) has given
us this parable explaining the reality of people in the society that
they are living in and their role in it.

The Hadith mentions the fact that people in any society must live
together and put up with each other, that each people have needs
that need to be fulfilled such as the need of the people of the lower
deck to take water. The example of the ship is like people in a
society where some people wish to engage in bad deeds by making
a hole in bottom of the ship and this Hadith explained that the
people of the upper deck Must either do their duty and stop them
or if they ignore them and the crisis, then destruction will face
everybody.

So the Hadith teaches us that there is no society free from Munkar

and corruption and each corrupted person justifies their corruption
by any argument, whether by claiming it is relieving others of
hardship or that it is freedom or modernity. Therefore the
people in that society must prevent them from their corruption and
save everybody from the anger of Allah and if they fail to do so the
anger of Allah and punishment will reach everyone. Allah (swt)
says

And fear an affliction which may not smite only those of you in
particular who are unjust; and know that Allah is severe in requiting
(evil). [EMQ Anfaal: 25]

The Hadith says that there are people who want to stand to the
Hudud of Allah and some people who want to compromise it. The
prophet (saw) said,

"If the people see an oppressor and do not stop him, the punishment will
reach all of them"

So changing the Munkar must have very strong words, it requires

rejecting and exposing from all directions and changing with the hand"

This Hadith teaches us many Ahkam, Usul, Aqaa'id and topics of

Fiqh.

LINGUISTICALLY:
1) Linguistically, Al Qa'im hududillah is among the most
beautiful terms. It refers to those who forbid the evil and are
the safeguard of the earth,

2) then the Hadith says "the example of people who commit evil"
referring to those who disobey Allah and cause Fitnah for
others,

3) And he (saw) mentions "akhez bil yadd" that they must stop
them by their hands. That is metaphoric, stressing that the
action must be stopped and refuted from every angle with no
room left to justify it.

IN USUL UL FIQH:
4) From the Usuli point of view, this Hadith teaches us the
science of Qiyaas, the juristic analogy. Qiyaas is to attribute the
rule of an old matter to a new matter if they share the same divine
reason. This Hadith teaches us the analogy made by the
prophet (saw) between society and the boat. Indeed the science
of analogy is based on this parable and other Ahadith like this.
For example, Umar ibn Khattab said to the prophet (saw),

"Today I did a serious thing; I kissed while I was fasting." The prophet
(saw) said, "What if you rinsed your mouth with water while you were
fasting?" he said "that will not affect my fasting"

So the prophet (saw) explained to Umar using an analogy that

kissing does not invalidate the fast in the way that rinsing your
mouth with water does not invalidate the fast.

5) We can also learn a general principle (Qaaidah Kulliyah) that

is derived from this Hadith, that "Any harm must be removed."

6) We also learn from this Hadith the principle that we must bear
a lesser harm if it will prevent a greater harm

In this example of the boat, we see that the people of the upper
deck are always harmed by the people of the lower deck but when
removing that harm leads to making a hole and destroying them
all, they must bear the harm of going to the upper deck for water

7) Another two principles derived from this principle are that the
"harm cannot be removed by harm." Or that "the harm cannot be
removed by something similar. Just as a Munkar cannot be
removed by another Munkar.

8) We also learn that although people could be harmed, they can

also bear it in order to prevent harm coming to other people.
From this we learn the principle that "If two harms coincide with
each other, we will consider which is a greater harm and remove it"
i.e. we will choose the easier of the two harms and bear it and
remove the greater of the two because the stronger and greater
harm must be prevented by the lesser of the two harms.

IN THE FIQH:
9) We also learn a number of Ahkam, such as that it is obligatory
to command good and forbid evil in the society where we live.
We are all sailing and we cannot let people cause harm upon
others whether by drilling holes in our ship, by opening night
clubs, selling drugs and alcohol or other Munkaraat. They
must be stopped. Allah (swt) says,

And from among you there should be a party who invite to good and
enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong, and these it is that shall be
successful. [EMQ 3:104]

Abu Saeed al Khudree narrated that the prophet (saw) said,

"Whoever saw a Munkar, let him change it by his hand and if he cannot
then by his tongue and if he cannot then with his heart and that is the
weakest of Imaan" [Muslim]

There is a consensus that to forbid the Munkar is Fardh and the

only one who disputes it is the Shiah Raafidhah. Changing the
Munkar by the hand is Fardh al Kifaayah, it is obliged upon all the
people until one or some of them change it and then they are all
blameless. However if none of them did it, they will all be sinful.

Commanding good is to command the good that is absent (i.e. that

people are not doing) Forbidding Munkar is to forbid the Munkar
that is present (i.e. that people are doing). So we cannot just come
out speaking about everything, we need to focus on what people
are doing.

However, changing the Munkar by the heart is to hate the Munkar

and to hate the people of the Munkar, i.e. to hate the Deen of
freedom, to hate democracy, secularism etc and to hate the
people who believe in and promote these false religions. This form
of changing the Munkar is Fardh 'ayn upon everybody

10) We also learn Ahkam of trade; that people are allowed to share
ownership of a property.

11) We learn that it is permissible for different people to live on

two floors, one on top of the other

12) We learn that neighbours sharing a building must maintain

their relationship in that house and share responsibility for it.

13) We also learn from this Hadith that it is obligatory upon the
neighbour to be patient and refrain from harming his
neighbour, especially if it is going to lead to a greater harm on
both of them.

14) We also learn that someone living beneath others is prohibited

from damaging or demolishing his part of the building if it
will make the building unstable or unsafe, even though it may
be his own property.

15) We learn that the people who deserve punishment in the

hereafter are those who do not change the Munkar while they
had the capability to do so. That is because the Hadith
mentions that, "if they do not prevent them they will all fall and be
failures." That is explained by a Hadith narrated by Aisha (ra)
that the prophet (saw) saw a dream and then awoke saying,

"I saw something strange, there were people in my Ummah that will be
lead by a man of Quraysh in the Kabah, there will be a landslide that will

destroy them all, while among them will be people blind and weak. They
will die together and they will be risen on the day of judgement upon their
Niyyah. (i.e. they are all punished together in the earth but will
have a different reward or punishment on the hereafter because
they had different circumstances.)

Also a Hadith of Umm Salamah who asked,

"are we going to be destroyed while there is among us good people? he

said "yes because the evil has become widespread. They (the good people)
will face whatever they (the sinners) face and on the day of judgement,
they will get the mercy of Allah"

16) We learn from the Hadith of Safeenah that people who leave
commanding good and forbidding evil will be considered
partners with the sinners in their crime.

17) We learn that there are some people of Bidah and people of
Hawaa, who although people might say "give them an excuse"
or "they had good intentions", we learn that good intentions are
not enough to save you from punishment as the Hadith
mentions that the people of the lower deck indeed had a good
intention, which was not to harm the people of the upper deck,

but that would not save them if they are allowed to sink the
ship.

18) We also learn that it is sometimes necessary to make a parable

to help people understand who may never understand in any
other way no matter how articulate you are.

19) We learn that one of the styles of the Dawah and preaching
from the Sunnah of the prophet (saw) is to make use of
parables because the people will enjoy the elaboration and the
parable will clarify issues to people and so that they will not
become bored.

20) We find that the prophet (saw) made this issue simple for the
people to understand and so we learn that the Daa'ee must
simplify his words and terminology, not to show off or try to
impress people with big words that they will not understand
or benefit from. It is narrated that a Bedouin came to the
prophet (saw) and asked,

"How can my wife have a black boy and his parents were not black?" he
(saw) explained that "There could be a red camel from parents that are not
red"

And so the Messenger (saw) simplified the matter for him by using
this parable.

21) We learn also about compromising and caring. Sometimes you

may make mudaraah during your Dawah, which is not
compromising but is being considerate and gentle. This Hadith
is clear in condemning any form of compromising the Hudud
of Allah but the Daaee may sometimes use some soft words to
persuade the heart and it is permissible to treat people nicely.
The prophet (saw) is the best teacher for this Ummah and all of
mankind and he said,

"Allah did not send me to make it hard and difficult on the people, he sent
me to teach people and make it easy on them"

So Islam teaches us how to teach people in an easy way and use the
best terms when speaking and explaining things to people.
Mu'awiyah narrated,

"I was praying with the prophet one day and someone sneezed and so I
said "yarhamukallah". The people looked at me in anger, so I said "what
happened to you?" they hit their thighs in anger. I never saw a teacher

like the prophet (saw), he did not stare at me or hit me or insult me but at
the end of the Salah he said, the Salah is not for talking in."

22) Another lesson on the Hadith is that we should know about

the people that we are inviting so that we can teach them in
the best manner. The Hadith describes people who commit the
Munkar; others who are silent about it and another people
who beautify and justify the Munkar, all are blameworthy. It is
narrated by ibn Hibbaan that the

"The one who did the Munkar, the one who was silent about it and the
one who beautifies it for them ... (are all sinful)"

23) The Hadith of Safeenah teaches us that we can neither have

integration (Indimaaj) nor isolation (Uzlah). (i) If we integrate
with the people who make a hole and join them in their evil,
we will be failures and drown all together. (ii) We cannot
isolate

ourselves either,

"minding our own business",

worshipping Allah in seclusion while ignoring what happens

in society. If we do so, that will be equally fatal as there will be
nobody to stop the people in the lower deck from sinking the
ship with all its inhabitants.

Rather you must have interaction. You must tell them not to drill a
hole or else everyone will sink and be destroyed. The prophet
(saw) is our teacher and the best example in our life.

Verily there are countless more lessons and benefits that can be
derived from this Hadith and we are indeed blessed with such rich
texts that are so heavily loaded with knowledge and Fiqh. May
Allah give us the strength to practise and implement the lessons of
this Hadith and save us from being destroyed with the oppressors
and sinners around us.