Qualities of the Ikhwan-e-Rasool

There are two essential qualities of the Ikhwan-e-Rasool. One relates to the realisation of religion, and the other relates to the call of religion.

There are two essential qualities of the Brothers of the Prophet. One relates to the realisation of religion, and the other relates to the call of religion. These two characteristics are equally necessary. The lack of one in any group will render it unfit to play the role of Brothers of the Prophet.

To understand the first quality, we have to study this Tradition of the Prophet: “When Islam began, it was a stranger. Again it will become a stranger. So congratulations for the strangers.” (Sahih Muslim, Hadith No. 145)

In this Tradition, we are told that according to the general law of nature, the later generations of Muslims will enter a period of degeneration. They will still call themselves Muslims but become far removed from true Islam. So those people must be congratulated, who, in later times, will discover the real Islam and will follow it once again.

Why will the later Muslims suffer from degeneration of this kind? The reason is their distance from the age of the Prophet. The truth is that the Muslims of later times will take Islam from their latter-day leaders rather than from the Prophet and his Companions so that they will be distanced from the sources of Islam—the Quran and Sunnah and the Prophet’s Companions. As the Quran tells us: “They have taken their learned men and their monks for their lords besides God.” (9:31)

The immediate source of religion for the Companions was the Prophet. The immediate source for Tabieen (the disciples of the Companion) was the Sahaba (Companions of the Prophet). Therefore, the immediate source for the taba Tabieen (disciples of Tabieen) was the Tabieen. In this way, the primary basis of religion continued to change from generation to generation. This change always takes place gradually. For this reason, it continues unconsciously. One becomes aware of these changes only when the small changes result in a significant difference.

For instance, in the religion received by the Companions, all the emphasis was on spirit. Subsequently, in every generation, some changes continued until the age of the Abbasids, the age of the jurists. Then all the emphasis began to be laid on laws (ahkam), in other words, the form. During the times of the Prophet, religion was spirit-oriented. During the time of the jurists, religion became form-based.

In this way, during the time of the Prophet, the external target of Islam was to call people to God. In those times, Islam was a religion of calling people to God. But with later generations, this thinking that Islam’s peaceful message must be communicated to all humanity gradually decreased. By the eighth century, when the Muslims’ political empire was established, they forgot this divine role. They had only one target: to attain political power.

During the time of the Prophet, no supererogatory culture developed. In those early times, the Prophet and his Companions had accepted Islam as a mission. But when Islam spread to different countries and the Muslims came into contact with other communities, which involved continued interaction, a culture began to develop amongst the Muslims. This activity continued until that way of life came into existence which is known as the Muslim culture.

These changes among the Muslims have come full circle to the point where the real Islam brought by the Prophet has become alien to them. They think that they are practicing Islam, but they are embracing a version of Islam that is not real but a cultural version of Islam.

Now, the time has come for the Brothers of the Prophet to play their role. They can perform this role by rediscovering the Islam of the Prophet and his Companions. This will entail bridging the temporal gulf that has come into existence between the Muslims of today and the Prophet of Islam. Only then will the ethos of the Age of the Companions be restored.

Although the role to be played by the Brothers of the Prophet will be in the 21st century, in their thinking and their character, and their mission, they will become at one with the Companions of the Prophet. Therefore, although the roles of the Companions and the Brothers of the Prophet will be different regarding time, their roles in their nature will be identical.