The Bond Beyond Blood: La Ilaha Illallah

Allah is defining a new relationship that is thicker and more powerful than the relationship of blood, and that is the relationship of la ilaha illallah. This is the ukhuwwa of this ummah. What is sad today is that people see themselves first as a Hanafi or a Shafi'i or a Maliki. They see themselves first as this school of thought or that school of thought. They identify primarily as part of this institute or that institute, as followers of this madhhab or that madhhab, this firqa or that firqa. People see themselves as followers of this shaykh or followers of that shaykh. What they do not see is that they are people of la ilaha illallah, and before them stands a Muslim brother. Innamal mu'minuna ikhwa—believers are nothing but brothers.

Those Who Avoid Unfairness

Allah says, Inna Allaha yuhibbul muqsitin. No doubt Allah loves those who avoid unfairness. The translation of al-muqsitin should not simply be "people who are fair." It is lughat al-addad, meaning it should actually be translated as people who avoid unfairness at all cost. In explaining that Allah loves those who avoid unfairness, there is a narration from Abdullah ibn Umar. The Messenger of Allahsaid in the hadith of Zuhayr: Innal muqsitin inda Allah—no doubt those who avoid unfairness as far as Allah is concerned, in the company of Allah, ala manabira min nur, they are going to be on pulpits made up of light. They will be an yamini ar-Rahmani azza wajalla wa kilta yadayhi yaminun—on the right of ar-Rahman, and both of His hands are the right. These are alladhina ya'diluna fi hukmihim—those who are equal in judging parties when they pass judgment. They treat wa ahlihim—their family members equally, and whoever and whatever followed thereafter, meaning beyond their families too. Whatever they treat people, they treat them equally; they do not discriminate. They do not treat one person with better treatment and another with less treatment.

There is a very famous hadith about this principle: Ankur akaka wa'aman au mazluman—help your brother and aid your brother whether they are the wrongdoer or the one who is the victim of wrongdoing. Help both the oppressor and the oppressed. Someone asked, "O Messenger of Allah, fine. I understand helping the one who is wronged because he is oppressed." But then they asked, "Fakayfa ansuruhu Valiman?—how am I going to help him if he is a wrongdoer? Why would I help someone who is doing wrong?" The Messengerreplied that you help the wrongdoer by stopping him from doing wrong. That is how you help him. That is how you help him.

Fairness Begins at Home

This principle of avoiding unfairness must be applied first and foremost within our families. What you cannot implement within your family, forget about society. We cannot talk about bringing about justice in society and fairness in society. We cannot say that if two groups fight, make peace between them, when we cannot even make peace between cousins, uncles, brothers, or siblings, or between spouses. If we cannot do this, then peace outside is not even a question. There is fighting happening between parents and children. These principles have to apply first and foremost within the family, and then they translate into society.

When you do fairness, there is a price to it. The price of being a fair judge is that you make people upset. Every party, every side is angry, and if you want to make a fair judgment, a lot of times a truly fair judgment means everybody walks away unhappy. Your family is unhappy with you, this side is unhappy with you, that side is unhappy with you, because you made a fair judgment. That is the price of it. Allah therefore says, "Do not worry about making anybody else happy or who does not love you anymore." Inna Allaha yuhibbul muqsitin. It is Allah, in fact, who loves those who avoid unfairness. You might lose love because you are trying to avoid unfairness, but you will gain Allah's love. It is an interesting thing because you do not normally think of love when you think of fairness. You think that Allah will reward fairness, that Allah will forgive people who are fair. But Allah says He loves those who are fair, and it is actually very pointed because people who are fair lose love. It comes at the price of people's sentiments towards you.

The Central Principle: Believers Are Brothers

The guiding principle and the central ayah of this entire passage is Innamal mu'minuna ikhwatun—believers, true believers, are nothing but brothers. True believers are nothing but brothers. Therefore, Fa'aslihu bayna akhawaykum—make reconciliation and peace between your brothers. Notice that Allah says, "Make reconciliation between them." It connects to the previous ayah, which says to make peace between them, but it goes beyond it. It addresses all kinds of conflict, not just fighting. If there is any kind of wrongdoing between brothers, fix it. Aslihu is not just to make peace; it is actually to reform something that has gone bad. Two guys who used to be very good friends with each other have gone apart from each other—fix it. They are your brothers, fix it for them. Fa'aslihu bayna akhawaykum. So this has larger ramifications beyond just fighting. That is why this ayah is a separate ayah.

Believers are nothing more than brothers, nothing short of brothers, nothing more and nothing less. So make peace, reform, reconciliation, and fix matters that have gone bad among them. Then Allah says, Wattaqullaha la'allakum turhamun—be cautious of Allah so that you may be shown love, care, and mercy.

Taqwa and the Treatment of People

Notice again what Allah is teaching us about taqwa. We learned that making the Propheta priority is taqwa. We learned that lowering our voice before the Prophetqualifies us for taqwa. Now we are learning that going out of your way to make peace between Muslim believer brothers and sisters is an act of taqwa. That is how you show taqwa. And in doing so, have the taqwa of Allah. It actually does two things. While you make peace, be cautious of Allah. Do not, in the desire to do something good, cross lines. Sometimes you mean to do well, and the ends are good, but the means are not good. One way to look at this ayah is that the end is you want to make peace between people and make things better, but the way you go about it is bad. Do not violate Allah's boundaries in wanting to make peace. The ends do not justify the means.

The other meaning is that in trying to fix the relationship, this is how you will gain the taqwa. This is you actually fulfilling the obligation of taqwa. This is taqwa of Allah. Have taqwa of Allah. We think of taqwa of Allah as something entirely spiritual that has nothing to do with us and other people. We think of it as something that has to do with us and Allah alone. But you are going to learn that taqwa has to do with how you deal with people. You cannot have taqwa of Allah if you cannot fix how you are with people. That is what this is teaching. "So that you may be shown love, care, and mercy." Al Jazaa'u min jinsi al-amal—the reward is of the same kind as the deed. You making peace is so you can restore love, care, and mercy between believers. This is actually alluding to another ayah in the Qur'an that just came in the previous surah. Ashidda'u alal kuffari Ruhama'u baynahum—they are absolutely harsh toward the disbelievers, loving, caring, and merciful among each other. You are trying to restore that love, care, and mercy. And in doing so, you are going to get Allah's love, care, and mercy. That is what is being said. This is actually continuing from what was mentioned in Surat Al-Fath. Wattaqullaha la'allakum turhamun.

The Obligation to Intervene

Wal jumlatu mawqi'uha mawqi'ul illah—meaning you should be doing this. You should be making peace between brothers because in the previous ayah, no matter if they are fighting, you must make sure you are not unfair because more than anything else, they are family. A lot of times people do not want any part of the problem. They say, "I do not want to get involved. I do not want to get my hands dirty. These guys are always at it." But when you do so, you are actually depriving yourself of a chance to earn Allah's mercy. Do not think that you are neutral. We cannot be passive bystanders as believing brothers fight each other.

The Meaning of Ikhwa: Brotherhood in Faith

The word ikhwah is something really powerful. According to ar-Razi, innama lil hasri la ukhuwwata illa baynal mu'minin—the word innama here suggests there is no such thing as brotherhood if you do not know what it is between believers. The word brotherhood is defined by the relationship between believers. We are the manifestation of the idea. There is no brotherhood like believing brotherhood. Subhanallah.

One of the most interesting comments about al-ikhwah is that al-ikhwatu jam'ul akh min an-nasab wal ikhwa jam'ul akh min as-sadaqah—the word akh means brother. Everybody knows that: akhi, my brother. The plural of it has two forms: ikhwa, which is used in the ayah, and ikhwan. Ikhwan is used when you are brothers in a fraternity or when you are brothers in a community, like brothers in arms in the army, my brothers.