Islamic Ethics: Joining relations (Sila-e-Rahem)
‘And those who join that Allah has bidden to be joined and have awe of their
Lord and fear the evil reckoning.’
(Sura-e-Rad : 21)
If we look into the history of mankind we will
notice that as man progresses he has a sense of pride for his
achievements. At the same time there is also an increase in
difficulties and problems that are a part and parcel of this progress.
We rarely come across any person who says that he is satisfied and that
he has acquired all the necessities of life. Today we are living in
such a society and environment where man is in the clutches of problems
and anxieties. He is living in a society where the rich are becoming
richer and the poor get poorer. Even acquiring the basic necessities of
life has become a monumental task and it is almost impossible for him
to conduct his life with respect and modesty.
Under such conditions it is our duty to join and
maintain relations with our relatives (i.e. Silhe Rahem). From the
Quranic verse mentioned above we learn that doing Silhe Rahem and
fulfilling our duties with respect to our relatives, makes accounting
in Qiyamat easy.
We are aware that on the Day of Qiyamat every
individual will be so grieved and distressed regarding the accounting
of his deeds, that neither will the father care for his son, nor will
the son attend to his father. Even that person will avoid him in whose
love he neglected the hereafter. Indeed the Day of Qiyamat will be the
most severe and chastising day. Allah, the Almighty, has given us a
solution and our Imams (a.s.) have clearly explained it with their
insightful traditions and decisive actions. We see that Imam Jafar
Sadiq (a.s.) at the time of his death made a will stating
‘…after my death give 70 dinars to my cousin brother (paternal
uncle’s son) Hasan.’ When he was asked. ‘Master you are bestowing to
the one who had attacked you with the sword!’ Imam (a.s.) answered
‘What! Do you not want me to be included among those about whom Allah
has said – and those people who have been ordered by Allah to do Silhe
Rahem, they continue to do it.’
Imam Jafar Sadiq’s (a.s.) statement and his action
is a lesson for mankind and an event that should be reflected upon.
Today when we look at our society, we find that its condition is going
from bad to worse. We realise that people are not only avoiding Silhe
Rahem but are finding excuses for breaking relations (Qate Rahem). We
observe that even silly and baseless arguments are enough for people to
severe relations. They ignore and disregard the sacrifices that were
made in order to maintain these age-old relations.
When we look at the ignorant Arabs (before advent of
Islam), we pride ourselves at living in an advanced scientific era,
where man has set foot on the moon and is now trying to reach other
planets. But on close scrutiny we see a lot of similarities between the
ignorant Arabs and us. We realise that in many ways we have even
surpassed the uncivilised Arabs. Just as they were selfish and looked
only at their own benefit, we are also doing the same. If this is not
true, then why do we see our blood relations becoming distant from us?
It is only because we have discarded the etiquette of maintaining
relations and have fallen prey to our selfishness. We are Muslims only
for namesake and we have a long way to go before we can call ourselves
‘true Muslims’ in the real sense as Allah and His Apostle (s.a.w.s.)
want us to be.
Allamah Majlisi (r.a.) has narrated a tradition in
Beharul Anwar vol. 2, pg. 106 from Imam Muhammad Baqir (a.s.) who has
narrated on the authority of the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) – I am doing
wasiyyat to all people of my nation – those who are present, absent,
the future generations till Qiyamat, who are in the loins of men and
wombs of women, that you all maintain relations with your relatives
even if they are residing at a distance of one year’s travel. This is
because Silhe Reham is one of the commands which Allah has made as a
part of religion.’
www.AlMuntazar.com
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