Understanding The Four Pillars By Mutohhir Abdulhamid Olanrewaju

I travelled around the nation crossing path with a lot of people during my sojourn.

 I got to realise that this life has four pillars which are important and cannot be do without. These four pillars can be categorised as follows: The parent whose impact on the other categories can never be overemphasised, as it's the heart of the remaining three pillars. Other pillars are children, the teacher and the leaders.

Islam emphasise on these four pillars and connects all of them with the hereafter. As a result, a Muslim is bound to fall under one of these four categories. If you'd recollect in the Quran, our uncreated Creator gives us different kind of names to honour the Muslims, one of the name He give to us is 'vanguard'. 

According to Q2:30 Allah says  "And when your Lord said to the angels, I am going to place in the earth a khalif, they said: What! Will Thou place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood, and we celebrate Thy praise and extol Thy holiness? He said: Surely I know what you do not know." 

Allah made it known to us that we're the inheritors on earth. Prophet Muhammad Salla-llahu 'alayhi wa sallam also taught us in one of his hadith that was titled as 'shepherd'. It was reported by Abdullah ibn Umar that The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said; “Every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock. The leader of people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and he is responsible for them. A woman is the guardian of her husband’s home and his children and she is responsible for them. The servant of a man is a guardian of the property of his master and he is responsible for it. No doubt, every one of you is a shepherd and is responsible for his flock".

{Source: Sahih al-bukhari  7138,sahih Muslim 1829

Grade: Muttafaqun Alayhi (authenticity agreed upon) according to Al-Bukhari and Muslim}

In this hadith, the most virtuous of all mankind made it known to us that individual will be responsible for his or her flock. Parent must educate their children, both Islamic and the western knowledge so as to be free from Allah’s wrath on the day that money nor children will avail because some of them will be the reason why their parent will enter hell fire on the day of judgment. The children must obey the commandment of Allah and show kindness to their parents even if these parents do not practice Islam this will help them to succeed in life and the life to come. 

It makes me wonder why some teachers are cheaters today!? A diligent and upright teacher will surely put it at the back of his mind that he'd definitely account for being a teacher on the day of judgment. Oh ye lovelies! It's no more news that potential teachers are more or less easy to see. However, on the run to choosing an upright teacher, you must note these characters:  According to a scholar in one of his book “he should first and foremost,  be somebody whose life is in conformity with the sunnah of the  first teacher of this Ummah, Muhammad (Salla-llahu 'alayhi wa sallam). His actions should testify to his preaching. He should be an acne of moral per excellence. He should be a model of humility and patience. He should not impose himself by action or implication, on you. His being qualified as a trainer will mean that he will present Islam with wisdom and good preaching. He should respect other’s people view. He should not see himself as infallible. He should not be greedy. He should not be a ‘man of word without action, which should necessarily be regulated by wisdom. He should be somebody who respect the elderly and honour the young. He should admit his mistakes quickly. He should be seen working for Islam and not promoting his own ego. He should be rational and not subjective. If you could not get a man of these qualities, then you can turn to Allah (SWT) for guidance" (Reading Culture by Dr Zafaran Adeniyi).

The leaders are to take care of all their followers and accord them rights. Justice must be served and this must start individually among the leaders. Islam encourages us to lead people with all our strength because the leaders will surely account for all they did on the Day of Judgment.

It's incumbent on us to abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the Almighty so that we will be among to see Almighty Allah on the day of resurrection.

By Abdulhamid Mutohhir abdulhamid.