A Forgotten Sunnah: At-tafaqqud

A Forgotten Sunnah: At-tafaqqud

Nowadays, with the development of telecommunication tools, it is possible to get news from almost anyone instantly, even if they are thousands of miles away. And yet, the number of people who feel lonely and isolated is only increasing. We no longer find in our daily lives the human warmth we all need. We no longer notice the absence of others, we no longer seek to know how they are doing. Individualism has spread even within Muslim families. We are rather glued to our screens all day long living a life, which if shown to the generations that preceded us, they would have been horrified. What has happened to us?

And yet when we look into the life of the one who is our model, the Prophet ﷺ, who was an EXTREMELY BUSY man, we notice that he had an attitude completely opposite to what we see today; he visited the sick, gave importance to others, and inquired about the situation of the absent... Today we are going to talk about an endangered behavior: At-tafaqqud.

The word tafaqqud means:

It is a special attention motivated by love and responsibility towards others.

The examples in the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ are extremely numerous! But we choose to highlight only 3.

1) The Episode of the Woman Who Cleaned the Mosque: Umm Mihjan

In Madinah, a woman cleaned the Prophet's mosque. She was not Arab, was poor, did not have a high social status and on top of that, was a very discreet woman. Thus, one could say she had all the characteristics to be invisible. One day she fell ill and the Prophet ﷺ asked about her every day. He had warned people that if anything should happen to her, he would like to be informed. Umm Mihjan died at night, after 'Isha. The companions decided that waking the Prophet was inappropriate and that they would inform him as soon as he woke up. They therefore did what was necessary, prayed over her and buried her with dignity in the cemetery of Madinah. When the Prophet learned of this, he reproached his companions for not having woken him, and he asked to be shown where she had been buried. He went to the cemetery and prayed over her.

Through this anecdote, we see that the Prophet teaches his community the importance of taking care of vulnerable people, precisely those to whom people do not attach much importance.

2) The Sick Jewish Boy

The Prophet ﷺ visited him during his illness, sat near his head and invited him to Islam. The boy looked at his father who was there. His father told him "Obey Abu al-Qasim". So he embraced Islam. When the Prophet left their home, he said "Praise be to Allah who saved him from the fire."

Here we see that the mercy we must have towards one another goes beyond the community, and that we must show tafaqqud even towards those who are not Muslims.

3) The Example of Thabit Ibn Qays

This example is often cited as a beautiful example of tafaqqud. Thabit ibn Qays had a naturally loud voice. When the verse "O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet..." (Surah Al-Hujurat, 49:2) was revealed, he became afraid. He feared that this verse applied to him and that his deeds would be nullified. So he stayed at home, very depressed. The Prophet ﷺ noticed his absence among a crowd of companions which is exceptional and he went to visit him. He explained his fear and the Prophet gave him comforting words and informed him that he was among the people of Paradise.

In conclusion

In light of these examples, we understand that it is important to inquire about the situation of the absent, to ask our surroundings to know who is in difficulty in order to help them. Following the sunnah is not an easy task; we must strive to take the Prophet as an example in his behavior. Moreover, he said himself: "I was only sent to perfect good character".

May Allah allow us to be merciful towards one another.