The Arabic syntax of this hadith of the Prophet (prayers and peace from Allah upon him), directs the attention to the didactic nature of the words of the prophet, This enduring ecumenical concept is cognitive of Islamic doctrinal teachings which are promoted by the profuse opulent knowledge of the Prophet The exegesis of this erudite hadith is comprehensive in respect to the request of support. Who is to be asked for support, how to ask, when to ask, and the concept of support in to be asked for. All these relevant questions constitute the educational prescriptive nature of the Hadith.
Support is help and assistance, and this implies the understanding that it is an extrinsic part which is to be added to an original intrinsic part. It is an additional supporting element to an already existing quantity. This original existing quantity is the resultant of one’s own capacity to achieve. On the other hand, when support is provided to the incapacitated, the impoverished, the ignorant, the disabled or the despondent: the subsidy given is a gratuity of offering. The subtle difference between support and gratuity must be well understood and appreciated. Support is to the able, the potent, the one making effort, but who require some assistance; whereas gratuity is granted to those who do not or unable to make effort. The poor who do who does not seek work, the ignorant who does not learn, the learned who does not research ; all those do not in reality deserve gratuity, because they are not seriously earnest in life .there must be a threshold, quantity of effort input by the individual, before support is justified and provided.
According to Islamic teachings, asking support Allah the sovereign, the vigilant, is the initial phase of any action of mankind. This is followed by detailed planning of the scheme for the work to be done; good faithful intention of true devotion to the effort. The action must in the first place be a legitimate laudable action. The praiseworthy sincerity of intention at the start of the action is the beginning;
And the reward for the exemplary commendable action is the end. Between that beginning and that end, the time of request for support is justified as appropriate.
The methodology of requesting support is also another crucial matter. Essentially based on true immaculate innocence of the soul, the mind, the self and the body. The innocence of the soul involves the total abnegation of heretical agnosticism; and the absolute submissive resignation to the Divine Supreme being. the innocence of the mind entials the freedom from doubtful uncertain skepticism; a mental state achieved by true knowledge of the reality of creation, the recognition of the infinite dominion of the Transcendent Creator. The innocence of the self is achieved by cultural training aiming at the development of an auto oriented mechanism to program the human faculties towards praiseworthy actions and chastised purposes. The functional capabilities of the self must be accurately balanced within a path of true moderation; to avoid destruction on one side, and on the other side to prevent stagnant paralysis of human talented qualifications, initiative innovation, and ingenuity of thought.
The innocence of the body is the freedom from the guilt of sinful actions or thought, the procurement of lawful earnings. Human action must be utilized in the service of the Creator as a form of constant worship.
Human action must also be in the service of mankind by acts of justice. Human action must also be in the service of the life itself to advance and promote the eloquent characteristic excellence of humanity. The Islamic doctrines condone the possibility of human error; and for such, the path to Redemption is continuously wide open to achieve atonement. The magnitude of success of any human action is directly proportional to the degree of innocence in all its complicated aspects. This entails the totality of man s existence; both materialistic demands and spiritual seraphic righteous qualities.
The sources of support of mankind are limited to four fundamental channels. The first and foremost is the Divine Power. No support reaches mankind except through divine Will. All other channels of support are derived from that original mainstem source. The infinite omniscient support of The Supreme being to mankind is very precisely optimized and justified conforming to the fact of reality. The divine will, Mercy Compassion, Bounty Guardianship, Wisdom, Justice are attributes of the Supreme Being that embrace mankind with divine Support. at fault, it strengthens and never weakens, continuous uninterrupted, essential and not optional to human life. Divine support concerns the wholeness of the entire existence of man. The Islamic concept of “Support" is comprehensively given in the prophet's Hadith,
"when you ask Allah; and when you seek support, seek support from Allah".
The holy Qur'an express this meaning in few words.
"Allah, the source of all support."
The other channels of support to mankind are instruments of life, and finally man to man assistance. All these are secondary to divine Support, and act through Divine Will and Providence. the individual self support is achieved by exploiting the potent capabilities of one’s self, harnessing them to serve his purpose. These potencies are those of the human mental capacities, will power perception, skills, thoughts, and decision. The functional processes of the entire human existence are totally programmed by Divine Authority. The support derived from the instruments of life to serve mankind; these instruments comprise all universal creations including energy sources, plant and animal life, the whole integrated cosmic environment are essentially instrumental in the service of mankind. The utilization of all disciplines of sciences and technologies are Allah’s Will to mankind in support of human progress and promotion. Man to man assistance, is essentially the basic law of nature. Every individual human action and effort is in its reality a service to other humans. The integral efforts in reciprocal mutual benefits. The need of man to his fellow man in all walks of life is the natural process of the kinetics human inter_relations.
The second phrase of the hadith which is "despair" is the most Literary elegance. The command “do not despair" bears in its basic concepts, of understanding. The first is an ordinance not one’s thought, when one is capable of action and effort) gain entry into the mind through despair. Such false ideas the mind; it magnifies the problem, and minimizes the potential capabilities. Estimate of the issue allows despair to develop. The feeling of despair should be very rigorously challenged and defeated before it gains authority over the human mind. Despair is detrimental to the inertial initiative of human efforts. it must be anti doted by will power, true intention and resolution; self training is also indicated to individuals who require understanding of human potentialities.
The purpose of the Hadith is to encourage man to work, and initiate. These human functions must be utilized mankind towards the goal of excellence. The human mind knowledge in earnest experimentation for man"s benefit; this is a divine ordinance. The true effort forward is in itself success, and recession in despair is failure. Human effort should never fall back in despair, it is an effort on the path to Allah, and if that effort is genuine in devotion, it will meet with success through Divine guardianship and support.
Human functions and efforts must be shared with others in support; this sharing lends mutual education, culture and exchange of knowledge. The proliferation of knowledge from one generation to another is fundamental to the progress of humanity and to the mechanisms involved in its development and promotion. In Spite of the endeavor to bring out the salient meanings of this hadith, it remains copiously productive with the wisdom of the prophet. The hadith will continue to emanate the radiance of knowledge for humanity. The coming generations will explore new meanings of understanding from the hadith to add to its existing opulence of knowledge.
By: Abdel Hakim Ahmad Taha
Translated from the Arabic original by Dr. Anas M. El Naggar
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