Aspects Of The Islamic Faith - 51: Coming Last To Take The
Lead
Islamic Perspectives - Muslim JournalsArab News
& Information - By Adil Salahi
Islam was the final message God sent to mankind.
Before it a long line of prophets and messengers gave
guidance to mankind in various ways and places.
However, the divine message maintained its essence in
all its forms. The essence is the belief in God’s
oneness and His being the only one to whom worship may
be addressed and from whom help is to be solicited. He
is the sole Creator and everyone in the universe
submits to His will, whether willingly or unwillingly.
The messages given by prophets differed in details of
worship requirements and in certain laws, but the
essential moral values remained the same. An earlier
message might be complemented, or amended, through a
later messenger, as in the case of Jesus Christ (peace
be upon him) who relaxed some of the restrictions God
had imposed on the followers of Prophet Moses (peace
be upon him). Jesus declared that he did not come to
abrogate the message, but to endorse and complement
it.
Earlier messages were often distorted, with some
divine legislations undergoing change, abrogation or
neglect. At times, learned men of religion disagreed
on certain principles, with the disagreement leading
to great divisions that continued over the centuries.
Islam came to set the record straight and purge the
divine message of all distortions that crept into it.
God has guaranteed to preserve the message contained
in His last revelation, the Qur’an. Muslims are
required to make this message known to mankind,
telling them that God wants them to follow it and then
leave people to make their free choice, whether to
follow this message or not. No one should be compelled
in any way or form to follow it. Faith is a matter of
choice. Hence, the Qur’an declares the everlasting
principle: “No compulsion is admissible in matters of
religion.” (2: 256)
One aspect of the divine faith is that people have a
day every week when they are required to perform a
special type of worship, and to be a day of relaxation
and renewal of their resolve to follow divine
guidance. To Muslims, this day is Friday. The
following Hadith tells us that it was also applicable
to earlier nations. Abu Hurayrah says that he heard
the Prophet (peace be upon him) when he said: “We are
the last community, but we will be ahead of all on the
Day of Resurrection. They, however, (i.e. other
nations) were given the divine book before us. Then,
this (i.e. Friday) is the day that has been made
obligatory to them, but they differed concerning it,
while God has granted us His guidance. Therefore,
others come on our trail concerning it: the Jews
tomorrow and the Christians the day after.” (Related
by Al-Bukhari).
This statement by the Prophet tells us that Friday was
always the day God wanted people to assign for special
worship. Muslims offer a congregational prayer at
midday, starting with a speech by the imam who should
remind people of their duties toward God and that they
will have to answer for all their deeds on the Day of
Judgment. They then offer a short prayer. God has
given us an hour on that day when all our prayers are
answered.
It appears from other Hadiths that Moses informed his
followers that they should make their special worship
on Friday, but they said to him that God did not
create anything on Saturday, and they would prefer to
make Saturday their special day. He left them to carry
on with their choice. The Christians, on the other
hand, chose Sunday because it was the day on which God
started to create His creation. Both groups erred by
not following the guidance given them by their
prophets. Muslims on the other hand followed God’s
messenger and observed Friday as their special day. On
the Day of Judgment they will be the first to be
assigned their places after they have submitted their
accounts of what they did in this present life.
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