ARE WE ALL TABLIGH? By Sanni Kay Yusuf

After an exclusive teaching-learning with some senior students on Descriptive Essay, they were saddled with a feedback assignment on the topic: “My Favourite Teacher”. That gave all of them the opportunity to write about me, and their description of my person was not only wowing but stimulated my cheeks to laughter. They hit the nail on the head not minding whose ox was gored.

Their write-ups had something in common – as if they had a conspiracy theory on their teacher. That made me insinuate that those girls had discussed me before the assignment.

Unanimously, they said I was tabligh. Reason being that they had never seen (and would never see) my trousers go down my ankles and my beard equally growing unshaved. By so doing, they concluded that their teacher was tabligh.

This notion of theirs just reminded me that even many of my colleagues, neighbours, friends including relations do ascribe same to me, and all efforts to educate them accordingly usually go into deaf ears. Even those who have never practised Islam before do claim to know better than the practitioners of the religion. How possible? And it disappoints when Muslims, who should know better, confidently and expressively argue out their ignorance: that anyone who dresses as such is tabligh. The worry however isn’t the name-calling, but the way it is scornfully, spitefully spat by the callers. Isn’t it laughable that even a lady who clads herself in wears that are sizeably meant for the newborn equally mocks us for choosing to dress sunnatically?

I therefore see this incident as an opportunity to educate whoever notionally bears same in mind so that they unlearn, relearn that which they had wrongly learned and have relinquished the aspersions they cast on wearers of ankle-levelled trousers.

It’s the practice of Islam and the Sunnah of the Prophet to have the trousers ankle-levelled or up above it. This is a norm that is expected of every Muslim man irrespective of their organizational inclination or affiliation. Therefore, that such was preponderant with the tablighees – in those days – doesn’t make everyone who complies accordingly a tablighee. Tabligh is a jamaa’ah, and every sunnatic Muslim isn’t a member. Hope you got that?

وعن أبي هريرة قال، عن النَّبيِّ ﷺ قَالَ: مَا أَسْفَلَ مِنَ الْكَعْبَيْنِ مِنَ الإِزار فَفِي النَّار. رواه البخاري.

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet said: “that which goes beyond the ankles of the cloth (for men) is in hell fire.” Buhari

The statement above is of the Prophet, not of the tabligh. That therefore makes it a practice of the Prophet which is known as Sunnah. So whoever practises it upholds the Sunnah, not tabligh.

وعن أَبي ذرٍّ عن النَّبيّ ﷺ قَالَ: ثلاثةٌ لا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهُ يَوْمَ القِيَامةِ، وَلاَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهم، وَلا يُزَكِّيهِمْ، وَلهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَليمٌ. قَالَ: فقَرأَها رسولُ
اللَّه ﷺ ثلاثَ مِرَارٍ. قَالَ أَبو ذَرٍّ: خابُوا وخسِرُوا مَنْ هُمْ يَا رسول اللَّه؟ قَالَ: المُسبِلُ، والمنَّانُ وَالمُنْفِقُ سِلْعَتَهُ بِالحَلفِ الكاذِبِ رواه مسلم.
Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him) said:
The Prophet (ﷺ) observed: “There are three (types of) people to whom Allah will neither speak on the Day of Resurrection nor look at them nor purify them, and they will have a painful chastisement.” The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) repeated it three times. Abu Dharr (May Allah be pleased with him) remarked: “They are ruined! Who are they, O Messenger of Allah?” Upon this, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “One who lets down his lower garments (below his ankles), one who boasts of his favours done to another; and who sells his goods by taking a false oath.” [Muslim].

That’s another narration to adduce the fact that the dress style is an obligatory practice to be adhered to by every Muslim man. Hope that is taken?

It baffles when fellow Muslims ascribe extremity to dressing as aforementioned. When the baba adinnis, iya adinnis of this world see their children take to that sunnatic path, they as a result of the stereotype in their minds war them even harder than their enemies. This is rather unfortunate. And it perturbs when same oloyes approve of Michael Jackson’s trouser style and Wizkid’s commonly-worn carrot on their children. That’s sociability, not extremity. Subhaanallah! We need no one to tell us that Shaytan is at work in the minds of such people. He is doing with their heads what he wishes.

May Allah keep our feet firm on His path, guide Muslims who practise Islam with laxity and open the hearts of the enemies of the religion to the truth.