Question:
Assalaam alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I know we are supposed to respect, honor and follow the descendants of Rasulullah (SAWA) out of our love and respect for him. Could you explain it what this means? Many treat sayyids like a caste system.
Answer:
Waalaykumussalam warahmatullah wabarakatuh,
It means to remember that the blood of Rasulullah (upon him blessings and peace) is flowing in their veins. So even though they are subject to the rulings of Shari`a like everyone else, and even though all Muslims are sacred in their lives, honor and property, nevertheless descendants of the Prophet deserve from us extra love, extra loyalty, extra respect, extra support and extra forgiveness in case they offend us or commit a personal wrong towards us.
Shaykh Muhyi al-Din Ibn `Arabi said:
If you treat your relationship to them with such care and treat any personal wronging of you the way you would treat a storm that wrecked your crops, i.e. as a divine matter over which you are helpless, then Allah will cleanse you, He will lift you and make you part of them; and that is the secret of the Prophet’s statement “Salman is part of us, Ahl al-Bayt” when each of the Ansar and Muhajirin sides wanted Salman to be with them during the digging of the Trench around Madina.
Hajj Gibril Haddad
