Family of Faith - Portal Gems #76

Est. Read time: 4 min
Edition Number: 76
Adapted from: Surah Al-Hujurat: Code of Conduct
Instructor: Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed & Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda

Assalamu Alaykum,

Today’s gem is from Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed and Shaykh Abdul Nasir Jangda’s course, Surah Al-Hujurat: Code of Conduct. In this gem Shaykh Abdul Nasir explains one of the wisdoms of using the word ikhwa instead of ikhwan to refer to believers as siblings in Surah Hujurat Ayah 10.

Hope you enjoy!

We begin in the Name of Allah ﷻ, the Most Merciful and Compassionate,
We ask that He ﷻ sends Peace and Blessings upon our noble and beloved
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

Allah ﷻ tells us that in ayah number 10, in what is such a beautiful powerful verse of the Quran, Allah SWT says

That all the believers are brothers and sisters, they are siblings, they are family. So always focus on uniting your brothers, your sisters, your family members, bring them together. Be mindful of Allah ﷻ, be conscious of Allah ﷻ so that you may receive the mercy of Allah ﷻ.

Now, there's a technical point about the language of the Quran that I'd like to highlight here. The plural of brother or sibling actually has two options. One plural is “ikhwa/ikhwatun” which represents biological siblings, people that share a father or a mother or both. The other plural for brothers/siblings is the word "ikhwan." The word “ikhwan” is used more figuratively when you describe somebody as brother or sister in regards to something. Like Allah ﷻ tells us:

That the people who spend unnecessarily and in evil things, they are the brothers of Shaytan. They're not the biological siblings of Shaytan, but what that means is that they are aligned with Shaytan.

Now, what's interesting is Allah ﷻ is saying all Muslims - you would think the word that fits here more is "ikhwan" because all Muslims are not biological siblings. But Allahﷻ used the word that is normally used for biological siblings to actually represent the relationship that we share because of our faith. And the idea there is think about what you'd be willing to do for a family member.

If your brother or your sister was in trouble, what would you do for them? You'd do whatever you could. You'd move Heaven and Earth in order to help your brother, your sister, your sibling, your family. Allah ﷻ is saying that the relationship that we have as a community, it's very difficult to have that same level of care for your fellow Muslims like you do for your own family, but at least try. That's the goal.

And you know, never say something is impossible. Never say never. Never say it's impossible, why? Because the Sahaba actually proved that it was possible. The way they bled for each other, sacrificed for one another, gave preference to each other over themselves, was remarkable. It was like family, beyond family even. And so Allah ﷻ does this very fascinating switch of words in this ayah to make us really reflect on that care for your fellow Muslims. At least think about trying to care for your fellow Muslims the way you would care for your own family.

May Allah ﷻ grant us tawfiq to care for our fellow Muslims.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم، فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرحيم

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