The following ḥadīth is pertinent to the blessed season of Ḥajj, particularly for those who are sitting Ḥajj out,
“The poor Muhājirīn came to Rasūl Allāh ﷺ and said, “The wealthy ones have taken the highest ranks and lasting bliss.” He ﷺ asked, ❝How is that?❞ They replied, “They offer prayer as we offer it; they fast as we do; and as they are wealthy they perform Ḥajj and ʿUmrah, and go for Jihād, and they spend in charity but we cannot, and they free the slaves but we are unable to do so.” Rasūl Allāh ﷺ said,
❝Shall I not teach you something with which you may overtake those who surpassed you and with which you will surpass those who will come after you? None will excel you unless he does what you do.❞
They said: “Yes, please do, O Messenger of Allah.” He (ﷺ) said, ❝You should recite: Tasbīh (SubḥanAllāh), Takbīr (Allāh Akbar), Taḥmīd (Alḥamdulillāh) thirty-three times after each Ṣalāh.❞ [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
We learn a principle from this ḥadīth which when applied mindfully will bring you a lot of rewards with Allāh and it will allow you to make the most of every circumstance. I call it the Next Best Alternative principle.
The idea is this: You are never cut off from Allāh because of a circumstance that has been decreed upon you. If there is an act of worship that you are unable to perform for whatever reason, you still have many other alternatives of drawing close to Allāh because He is still you Rabb, He is still Near, and He still Hears and Answers and Gives.
The above ḥadīth embodies this principle beautifully; what do you do when you are unable to perform the great ibādah of Ḥajj? What do you do as your heart tears into shreds as you see yet another group of Ḥujjaj embark on this sacred journey? Do you wallow in self-pity? Do you complain about the unfairness of your income? Do you complain about the greedy leaders who supposedly encourage the high prices? And do you also, in addition to all the lamenting, add a dig at the Makkah clock tower—as people do, because its ugliness has somehow added to your miseries?
Of course not. You seek the Next Best Alternative of drawing closer to Allāh and of pleasing Him in spite of your situation.
If you are unable to perform Ḥajj because of lack of wealth, Rasūl Allāh ﷺ guided us to dhikr: Subḥān Allāh, Alḥamdulillāh, Allāh Akbar, 33 times each, following your prayers.
If you are unable to pray standing, you pray sitting down. If you are unable to fast at all, you feed a poor person. And on and on.
You are never cut off from Allāh. You are never at a disadvantage because of an inability or a disability. If one path is blocked, what is the next shortest path to Allāh? Take that.
Though this principle has a wide and general application, I want to specify women in the following post.
A lot of Muslim women have somehow become influenced to believe that within their dīn they are at a disadvantage when compared to men. The reasoning is, men have been given a degree of responsibility over them and in certain matters of faith, thereby rendering them inferior.
We need to understand an important point in relation to this, while keeping emotions at bay: There is tafḍīl in this life. Allāh has favoured some over others, Allāh says in the Qurʾān,
انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ
See how We have favoured some over others in this life.
Al-Isrāʾ:21
But please understand the following well: Tafḍīl DOES NOT EQUAL Ḏhulm (injustice).
When Allāh favours you with a blessing, He has not done injustice to those who have not been given that blessing.
When Allāh has favoured the former ones of this ummah with virtue, He has not done injustice to the latter ones.
When Allāh has favoured some with health, He has not done injustice to the sick ones. When Allāh has favoured some with wealth, He has not done injustice to the poor ones.
When Allāh has given men some rights that He has not given women or given them some responsibilities over women, this can never be understood as injustice or unfairness in any way. And it should never be taken as a sensitive matter that requires a great amount of justification.
Allāh is al Ḥakam al-Adal, our perspective of this world should stem from our understanding of these two Names of Allāh.
In the ḥadīth that I shared above, there is an extended narration from Muslim, “The poor Muhājirīn later returned to Rasūl Allāh ﷺ and said, “Our (wealthy) brothers heard what you had told us and now they’re doing what we were doing! Rasūl Allāh responded, “That is the Faḍl of Allāh (favour of Allāh) that He gives to whom He wishes.”
This is tafḍīl. A favour from the One who confers endless favours upon His undeserving slaves. It would be a travesty to think of this as injustice or “inequality”.
The point of this slightly disjointed post is, if at any point you, as a woman, feel cut off because you are not able to lead the whole community in prayer or travel on your own to seek knowledge or fast and pray during these blessed days because of your period—or whatever it might be, remember the Next Best Alternative principle and don’t fall into the falsafah (read: nonsense) that many of our sisters fall into of trying to compete with men or trying to distort the meaning of texts or of getting worked up and angry over things that are beyond their understanding. Find the Next Best Alternative, and work hard at it because only then you’ll be doing exactly what you Lord wants you to do. And just as there is tafḍīl in this life, there is tafḍīl in the Next, Allāh says,
انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ۚ وَلَلْآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَاتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًا
See how We have favoured some over others ˹in this life˺, but the Hereafter is certainly far greater in rank and in favour.
Al-Isrāʾ:21
If you want to vie, vie for that.
This is how the ṣaḥābiyāt thought and reasoned. In a ḥadīth narrated in ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, the mother of the believers Aisha r.a. said, “O Rasūl Allāh, we see jihād to be the best of deeds, can we not partake in it?” She saw an opportunity of drawing close to Allāh—the best of opportunities—so she wanted a share of the reward. Rasūl Allāh replied, ❝For you (females), the best jihād is an accepted Ḥajj.❞ He guided her to her Next Best Alternative. =)
May Allāh grant us tawfīq from Him.
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