Being With Truthful

‘O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true.’ (At-Tawbah, 119)

The 119th verse of the surah At-Tawbah mentioned above, has been revealed about the three companions falling behind from the Battle of Tabuk. Nonetheless, its hukm (judgment) applies to all believers.

Allah Ta'ala informs believers in the previous verse that he accepted the tawbah (repentance) of three companions who intended to stay back from the battle of Tabuk and did as they intended. In this verse, Allah Ta’ala commands all believers not to be together with the hypocrites who stay back from every battle under simple excuses, instead stand with those who are true believers and join the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) in jihad. 

According to the reason behind this revelation, the verse can be given the following meaning: “O you who believe! Do not be like the hypocrites, and be with the sincere believers and those who have not fled from the war. And do what is commanded of you, and fear Allah in what He will not be pleased with, and be with those who are truthful in their faith, their words, their deeds, and every aspect of their lives.”

Fear of Allah and taqwa

The “ittiqa” mentioned in the verse means to avoid, to be afraid. Ittiqa is also called “taqwa” (piety). It is a person's desire to protect himself from the things that are feared. In Shariah, taqwa means that the mumin gives a wide berth to the pitfalls of sins. This is achieved by abandoning things that cause the wrath of Allah Ta'ala. This level of taqwa is associated with believers in general. At the level of the friends of Allah, taqwa takes on a rather specialized definition; it bears the connotation “being pleased with Allah in His ordainment of qada and qadar.“

The essence of taqwa is to avoid shirk in the first place. Then comes the avoidance of sin and evil deeds. Finally, avoiding suspicious things and abandoning senseless and fruitless endeavors that benefit no one is the last rung of the ladder that complements taqwa.

A mumin should always say the following and live accordingly:

"There is no helper for me except Allah Ta’ala. My only guide is the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). I must avoid everything that will make me heedless of the Almighty and keep me away from Him. ‘And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah’ (Al-A'raf-169). Therefore, I must exert my efforts for the sake of the Hereafter and hold fast to obedience and ibadah (worship). I must not pollute my body with things that are contrary to Islam, but also purify my inner world from all spiritual diseases and constantly obey Allah Ta'ala with ikhlas.”

It has been said that the following three things indicate that a person has taqwa:

• He has a good tawakkul for things he can't gain.
• He is content with what he gains or achieves.
• And he is patient with what he loses or misses out on.

Salvation is only through taqwa and the truthfulness within taqwa. (Qushayri, ar-Risalah)

With the words of Ziya Pasha:

‘Even if a person is made to suffer injustice, loyalty suits him, and Allah is the helper of the truthful believers.’

With the Sidq (Truthfulness) and Loyalty 

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) said, 

"Abide by truthfulness. For indeed truthfulness leads to righteousness. And indeed righteousness leads to Paradise. A man continues telling the truth and trying hard to tell the truth until he is recorded with Allah as a truthful person. Refrain from falsehood. For indeed falsehood leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to the Fire. A slave (of Allah) continues lying and trying hard to lie, until he is recorded with Allah as a liar." (Al-Bukhari, Al-Adab 69; Muslim, Birr 103-104)

Sidq is the opposite of a lie, and it means to tell what is as it is. Sidq means that the words are in accordance with both what is in the heart and what is being delivered. Sidq is the highest degree after prophethood. It is the basis of morality. Every action attains its best form and becomes whole with sidq, and the way of establishing order in every deed lies in it. It stands for making the utmost effort to achieve a goal to the fullest. It is to cling to obedience with one’s entire strength during times of hardship and scarcity.

Sidq (truthfulness) is like a double-edged sword. It cuts off all it touches. In this sense, cutting off means achieving a fortunate (khayr) result in every deed—cutting its way to the better end, as it were. There are different areas where sidq manifests:

Sidq in niyyah (intention) and iradah (willpower):

This aspect of sidq signifies ikhlas. It is for the fear of punishment and the hope of receiving rewards to appear in the heart, only by longing to please Allah. In other words, the force that drives a person to do something should only be the will and the intention to please Allah.

Sidq in words:

It is for the words to be consistent with actions. It is to protect one’s words from falsehood and to remain true even if it leads to death. It is to direct one’s greatest attention to the faithfulness in the words of prayer and supplication to Allah. For example, if a person’s tongue says, “I turned to the one who created the heavens and the earth,” and his mind is rapt in a dream for worldly things, he is deemed a liar, as far as his words in this claim are concerned.

Sidq in deeds:

Sidq in deeds can be described as the deeds being in accordance with the words; the outward appearance also being in accordance with the inward. It is to protect the acts of worship from hypocrisy, ostentation and to stay away from expecting an earthly benefit in return for these acts. In short, it is living one’s life with Allah at the heart of every decision and action.

If zahir is misaligned with batin purposefully, it is called “riya,” and this state destroys ikhlas. And if it's unintentional, it destroys loyalty. While being like an open book and seeming the same both on the inside and the outside is just and righteous, having a more refined and nobler reality on the inside than the outside is a virtue for a person.  

Sidq in spiritual states:

It means that the spiritual states of a person are in accordance with the truth of the divine secrets and the will of Allah Ta'ala, the owner of all. In addition, it is to protect the existing spiritual state from corrupt intentions, such as the temptation of standing out from the crowd, being validated and recognized, attaining a respected position, performing karamah, or realizing other petty goals.

Allah (subhanahu wa taala) says in the Quran:

‘And whoever obeys Allah and the Messenger will be in the company of those blessed by Allah: the prophets, the people of truth, the martyrs, and the righteous—what honorable company!’ (An-Nisa 69)

Who is the sadiq one?

Sadiq (truthful, loyal, faithful) means someone who never leaves the truth. Siddiq, on the other hand, is also from the root of sidq and denotes exaggeration in its meaning. In other words, a very truthful person means a person who does not lie at all. A siddiq is a person who has integrated the qualities of perfection within themselves to gain the ability to confirm what the Prophet brought in terms of knowledge, actions, deeds, and words. Above the maqam of siddiq is the maqam of nubuwwat (prophethood).

Ahmad bin Hadrawayh (rahmatullahi alayh) said, "Whoever wants Allah to be with him, let him cling to the truth because Allah Ta’ala says: 'O you who have believed, fear Allah and be with those who are true.' (Tawbah, 119)" 

The wisdom of sidq becomes starkly apparent in the following words as well: “Speak the truth when you think it will bring harm, it will certainly benefit you. And abandon lies when you see that it will help you. It will certainly benefit you.”

Ibrahim Hawwas (rahmatullahi alayh) said, "You will see a sadiq person either fulfilling a fard duty or pursuing a virtuous endeavor.”

A sadiq person who really seeks the rida (pleasure) of Allah Ta’ala does not engage in idle things.

When Harith al-Muhasibi was asked where sidq originates, he said: “Its origin lies in knowing that a person can be believed when they are aware that Allah Ta'ala is the one who hears and sees and they know that Allah Ta'ala alone is the one who sees and hears themselves; it originates from knowing that only Allah Ta’ala is able to mete out true punishment and reward, and that only sidq will save a person. A servant increases their ability to perform good deeds with this awareness. The servant thus becomes a truthful and loyal person.”

Muhasibi (quddisa sirruhu) continued his words about the signs of sidq and said: "Sidq means a person does not mind even if he loses all his reputation in the eyes of the public, nor does he want anyone to witness his good deeds in the slightest, and he is not displeased when his bad deeds are revealed to the public. He cares about the integrity of his heart above all this because his dissatisfaction with any of this would be evidence that he wants to increase his reputation among the people. And this is not a part of the virtues of the sadiq person.”

As a summary of all this explanation, it can be said: “The sadiq people are the ones who are righteous, genuine and upright inside and out." This statement holds true comprehensively because in this way, both hypocrisy in faith and opposition in deeds will be eliminated.

Together with the sadiq ones: Loyalty

Allah commands the believers to be with the sadiq people. This means that there will always be sadiq servants of Allah at all times and periods.

An opposing view might claim the following: ‘The command “Be with the sadiq people,” stands for "Follow in the footsteps of the sadiq people." It cannot be inferred from this verse that there are sadiq people at all times and periods.’

This claim is answered as follows: The statement “Be with the sadiq ones” is an order to obey the sadiqs and a prohibition to oppose them. This situation also depends only on the condition that there are always sadiq people around. Therefore, this verse indicates that sadiq people will always be found.”

Again, since there is no specific time mentioned in the word of the verse, it is not correct to limit the command only to the time when the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) lived and exclude it from other times. The fact that the time is not specified in the verse and that the commands and prohibitions in the Qur'an are aimed at all believers who will live until the day of akhirah (resurrection) is evidence that there will always be sadiq people.

One of the awliya of Allah Ta’ala said:

– No time-critical fard (obligatory acts) is accepted from anyone who does not fulfill the permanent fard that must be performed continuously. 

– What is the permanent fard, they asked.

– Truthfulness, he replied.

According to what Fakhraddin ar-Razi and an-Nasafi declared in their tafsirs (interpretations), this verse indicates that ijma is a form of authoritative proof. This is because ordering servants of Allah to be with the sadiq ones requires acceptance of their opinion.

The following incident, which occurred at the time of our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), is one of the examples that indicates the virtue and superiority of truthfulness. 

A man said to our Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam):

- I want to believe you, but I really like wine, zina (fornication), theft and lying. People say that you forbid it, but I can't afford to leave it all at once. If it's enough for you to have me leave only one of them, let me believe you.

The Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) answered:

- Then quit lying.

The man agreed to this and became a Muslim. After a while, when the man was offered to drink wine:

– If I drink this now, and tell a lie when the Messenger of Allah asks me if I drank it or not, I will have broken my promise. If I speak correctly, he will impose a hadd punishment on me. It's best if I don't drink, he said, and quit drinking. When sins such as theft and fornication came to mind, he couldn't bring himself to do any of them for the same reason.

After a while, he said to the Prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), "What a wonderful thing you have done! When you banned me from lying, all the doors of sin sealed shut.” And then he repented all of his sins.

Abandoning truthfulness is also an obstacle to many virtues. Anas (radiyallahu anh) said, “Indeed, a man is deprived of night prayer and nafilah (supererogatory) fasting because of a lie he has told."

The name of being with the sadiqs at any moment: Rabita

The leading figures of the path of tasawwuf have shown that the divine command “Be with the sadiq ones” is evidence for rabita.

Haja Ubaydullah Ahrar (quddisa sirruhu) is the first to mention this verse as evidence. His opinion on this issue is mentioned in his work “Rashahat” as follows:

‘It is necessary to bind the heart to one of the sadiqs. Everything other than Allahis banished from the clear sight of their heart, and everything that is good and righteous is present. Because they turn their hearts to Allah Ta’ala in every moment, the reality of their existence is blessed with it and they have reached the level of spiritual perfection.’

When it comes to being with the sadiqs, it can happen in two ways: The first is to be with them physically. Being with the sadiqs physically occurs when one's inner self becomes enlightened with the light of their morals and attributes. The second is to be with them spiritually. This happens by connecting the heart to them through the batin,the inner world.

The sadiqs are those who deserve to be the intermediary for the people. It is necessary to avoid physically being with them in the same gathering all the time and watching them attentively and constantly with a lingering gaze. Instead, it is necessary to move from form to meaning by building a permanent bond of affinity with them from within the heart.

Humans are created with a tendency to be extremely influenced by those with whom they spend time together. That is why the command in this verse is addressed to them. Muslims should know how to withdraw themselves from anything that will make them forget Allah and prevent them from receiving the boons and benefits of remembrance and togetherness.

Haja Ubaydullah (quddisa sirruhu) said in summary, "To be with the sadiqs is to be with them in form and meaning." Then he expressed this ‘spiritual togetherness’ with rabita and peace. (Mawlana Ali bin Husayn as-Safi, Rashahat Aynu'l-Hayat)

Let's finish the interpretation of this verse with the prayer of Prophet Sulayman (alayhissalam), taken from the translation of the 19th verse of surah An-Naml: 

“And admit me by Your mercy into [the ranks of] Your righteous servants.” (Naml, 19)

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala knows the best.

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