The Touch of Al’Byatt
Al-Hasan Bin Arafah narrated that when he visited Imam Ahmad Bin
Hanbal after he was whipped and tortured, the Imam told him, “Verily, I
saw nothing more than people selling their religion and I saw scholars that
were with me sell their faith. So I said to myself, ‘Who am I? What am I?
What am I going to say to Allah tomorrow when I stand in front of Him and
He asks me, if I sold my religion like the others did?’ So I looked at the whip
and the sword and chose them.”The loyalty expressed by Imam Hanbal is based on absolute trust, and what is
trust but the human belief in what and who will
be of benefit to them?
When the Prophet took the oath or
pledge of loyalty, he touched hands with
those people who believed he would be
of everlasting benefit. This trust
transcends the mundane world of
common human expecta-tions and is the
very essence of romance in as much as it
represents what is everlasting. The gesture
of touching hands affirms a mutual promise
to preserve As-Sakkinah or peace and security.
Those so doing supported the touch with an oath
to defend the bond of trust with their lives.
Essentially, and as an analogy, the byatt given to the Messenger of Allah
represents communal zawaj or covenant. It is the shahadah that
acknowledged our pre-incarnate contract with Allah SWT; the one in which
we all conceded that Allah is our Lord and whereby all are born Muslim. This
eclipses any carnal accord with meaning and purpose, and is the authentic
reason for the marriage celebration that indeed honors the primal bond of
Adam with Eve. In marriage the byatt is continually reinforced and
strengthened through various gestures of 'touching' of which one is holding
hands. This repeated affectionate touching between husband and wife
signifies and re-expresses something quite specific that places sensuality in a