Die vergessene Sunnah – Das Stehen im Regen (english)

The Forgotten Sunnah – Standing in the Rain

An unusual sound penetrated my train of thought as I sat studying at my desk. I looked up pensively from my book and a few moments passed before I realised that what I was hearing was the sound of pouring rain. A sound so common back in my hometown,Cape Town, was now so foreign to me in the desert city of Madinah.

I rushed out onto the balcony to admire the rainfall. As I stood, witnessing Allah’s answer to the prayers of the community, a strange sight caught my eye down below. A man, instead of running for cover, walked calmly to and into his building. He reappeared shortly carrying a chair. Still in a state of composure, he placed thechair out in the pouring rain and just sat down! He appeared to be enjoying the sensation of the raindrops falling on his skin. I was intrigued.

Back home, many people become grumpy at the first sign of rain or run frantically from it when it catches them unawares. I just kept staring. I then made an intention to find out more about what I had witnessed and soon discovered that spending time in the rain was a practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and His Companions (may Allah honour them), based on these findings:

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Ibn Khaldun -rahimahullah- über sufisch-schiitische Parallelen

„The ancient Sufis did not go into anything concerned with (the Mahdi). All they discussed was their (mystic) activity and exertion and the resulting ecstatic experiences and states. It was the Imamiyah and the extremist Shi’ah who discussed the preferred status of ‚Ali, the matter of his imamate, the claim (made in his behalf) to have received the imamate through the last will (of the Prophet), 949 and the rejection of the two Shaykhs (Abu Bakr and ‚Umar), as we have mentioned in connection with the discussion of Shi’ah dogmatics.950 Thereafter, there originated among them the dogma of the Infallible Imam 951 Much was written on (Shi’ah) dogmatics. The Isma’iliyah Shi’ah made its appearance. It asserted the divinity of the imam through incarnation. Others asserted that the (dead) imams would return, either through metempsychosis or (in the very form they had had during their lifetime). Still others expected the coming of imams who would be cut off from them through death. Others, finally, expected that the family of Muhammad would return to power. They deduced this from the afore-mentioned traditions concerning the Mahdi, and from other traditions.

Among the later Sufis, removal (of the veil, kashf) and matters beyond the veil of sense perception likewise came to be discussed. A great many Sufis came to speak about in­carnation and oneness. 951a This gave them something in com­mon with the Imamiyah and the extremist Shi’ah who believed in the divinity of the imams and in the incarnation of the deity in them. The Sufis also came to believe in a „pole“ (qutb) and in „saints“ (abdal). This (belief) looked like an imitation of the opinions of the extremist Shi’ah concerning the imam and the ‚Alid „chiefs“ (nugabd‘).952

The Sufis thus became saturated with Shi’ah theories. (Shi’ah) theories entered so deeply into their religious ideas that they based their practice of using a cloak (khirgah) on the (alleged) fact that ‚Ali clothed al-Hasan al-Basri in such a cloak and caused him to agree solemnly that he would adhere to the mystic path. (The tradition thus inaugurated by ‚Ali) was continued, according to the Sufis, through al-Junayd,953 one of the Sufi shaykhs.

However, it is not known with certainty that ‚Ali did any such thing. The (mystic) path was not reserved to ‚Ali, but all the men around Muhammad were models of the (various) paths of religion. The fact that (the Sufis) restrict (precedence in mysticism) to ‚Ali smells strongly of pro-Shi’ah sentiment. This and other afore-mentioned Sufi ideas show that the Sufis have adopted, pro-Shl’ah sentiments and have become enmeshed in them.“

(Aus der englischsprachigen Übersetzung der Muqaddimah von Franz Rosenthal)

Ibn Khaldun -rahimahullah- über das Revoltieren gegen ungerechte Herrscher

„To this chapter belong cases of revolutionaries from among the common people and of jurists who undertake to reform evil (practices). Many religious people who follow the ways of religion come to revolt against unjust amirs. They call for a change in, and prohibition of, evil (practices) and for good practices. They hope for a divine reward for what they do. They gain many followers and sympathizers among the great mass of the people, but they risk being killed, and most of them actually do perish inconsequence of their activities as sinners and unrewarded, because God had not destined them for such (activities as they undertake). He commands such activities to be undertaken only where there exists the power to bring them to a successful conclusion.

Muhammad said: Should one among you see evil activities, he should change them with his hand. If he cannot do that, he should change them with his tongue. And if he cannot do that, he should change them with his heart.

(Aus der englischsprachigen Übersetzung der Muqaddimah von Franz Rosenthal)

P.S.: Interessant in diesem Zusammenhang ist für mich, dass Ibn Khaldun -rahimahullah- in keinster Weise das Revoltieren an sich verurteilt, sondern nur das Revoltieren ohne Erfolgsaussicht.