Q. Do the sahabah doing or practising Tableegh jamaah follow the correct path of Quran and Sunnah? Also explain the meaning of the hadith of Huzaifa (ra) about fitna.
A. Yes, Tableegh Jamaat follows the correct path of Quran and Sunnah.
The hadith of Huzaifa (R.A) about Fitnah is:-
Huzaifa (R.A) said, ‘Once I was sitting with Umar (R.A) and he said, ‘Who amongst you remembers the statement of the Messenger of Allah (S.A) about ‘Fitnah’ (affliction)? I said ‘I know it as the Prophet said it’. Umar said, ‘No doubt, you are bold’. I said, ‘the afflictions caused for a man by his wife, money, children and neighbors are expiated by his Salaah, fasting, charity and by enjoining (what is good) and forbidding (what is evil)’. Umar said, ‘I did not mean that, but I asked about that affliction which will spread like the waves of the sea’. I (Huzaifa) said, ‘O leader of the faithful believers! You need not be afraid of it, as there is a closed door between you and it’. Umar asked, ‘will the door be broken or opened?’ I replied, ‘it will be broken’. Umar said, ‘Then it will never be closed again’.( Bukhari)
In this tradition, Umar wanted to know about some of the trials and mischiefs that will come on the face of the earth, and knowing that Huzaifa (R.A) learnt many of these, he decided to ask him about them. When asked, Huzaifa (R.A) thought that he asked about the minor signs (Fitna) which occurs when dealing with one’s wife, children and neighbor, and so, he responded by saying that these sins will be forgiven through the other good acts like that of Salaah, fasting etc. Umar then reminded him that he wanted to hear about the severe trials and mischiefs which will spread on the earth like the waves in the sea. Upon this, Huzaifa pointed out to him that he should not be ‘worried about that, since it will not come in his time’.
Umar himself was the closed door which stopped those mischiefs from entering.
And Allah knows best.
Mufti Waseem Khan