If someone fails to obey a verse or passage from the Holy Qur’an, or a righteous Imam, would they fall into the category of an unbeliever?

Insha Allah these verses from the Holy Qur’an would answer the question:

O ye who believe! bow down, prostrate yourselves, and adore your Lord; and do good; that ye may prosper. 22:77

And strive in His cause as ye ought to strive, (with sincerity and under discipline). He has chosen you, and has imposed no difficulties on you in religion; it is the cult of your father Abraham. It is He Who has named you Muslims, both before and in this (Revelation); that the Messenger may be a witness for you, and ye be witnesses for mankind! So establish regular Prayer, give regular Charity, and hold fast to Allah. He is your Protector – the Best to protect and the Best to help! 22:78

As our Beloved Holy Prophet Muhammad (owbp) was a guide and exemplar amongst us, so we as Muslims ought to be exemplars among mankind. Then we become the best witness to Allah’s (swt) Truth, to willfully disobey the above verse, is to become an unbeliever or a disobedient servant of Allah (swt).

“Obey those who ask no reward of you (for themselves), and who have themselves received Guidance. 36:21

If we have someone to lead us in any righteous deeds, and he or she is just a simple honest soul who obeys the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (owbp) and obtained their spiritual desire for themselves and did their best to obtain salvation for their families, friends and the people that they tried hard to lead in righteous deeds, then we ought to follow them and their teachings with all respect.

To disobey a righteous Imam as the above verse states is an act of unbelief, or a disobedient student or follower.

O ye who believe! When ye are told to make room in the assemblies, (spread out and) make room: (ample) room will Allah provide for you. And when ye are told torise up, rise up Allah will rise up, to (suitable) ranks (and degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted (mystic) Knowledge. And Allah is well- acquainted with all ye do. 58:11

Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet: O ye that believe! Send ye blessings on him, and salute him with all respect. 33:56

Those who annoy Allah and His Messenger – Allah has cursed them in this World and in the Hereafter, and has prepared for them a humiliating Punishment.36:57

And those who annoy believing men and women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a glaring sin.33:58

The best illustration from the above verses is very simple to understand. We as Muslims are to obey and adore Allah (swt), chapter 36 tells us to obey our righteous Imam or a trust worthy person who is righteous.Chapter 58, we are told to have good discipline and good unity in a function, and if we are asked by our leader to make room for other people to sit, then we must right away do so with love, and if we are told to stand for respect due to a pious person that comes into the assembly then we must right away do so. In chapter 33, we are told to send Blessings and Salutations on our Beloved Prophet Muhammad (owbp); Ameen

Let’s look up the meaning for Peace and for Salute; Peace means:

1. Free from noise or anxiety
2. Not involving war or violence
3. Inclined to avoid conflict.

Salute:

1. A greeting of respect or acknowledgement
2. Rising of a hand to the head, a gesture of respect. We are told and commanded by Allah (swt) to Salute our beloved Prophet Muhammad (owbp) with all respect. This command from Allah (swt) is for us as Muslims to make a formal Salute to express our respect and admiration to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (owbp). If we fail to obey Allah (swt) commandment then He would become very upset and annoying with us and we would achieved His anger and His curse would befall us, as mentioned in Chapter 33:57. At no time we must do things to please mankind, we must always put our mind and thought on Allah (swt) and the teachings of His Prophets. When someone who is leading a program and he stands up in respect to send Peace and Salutations on the Holy Prophet Muhammad (owbp), he should not tell the audience, those who wish to stand can do so and those who wish to sit can do so, for if he does such a thing, then he himself can earn Allah’s (swt) anger. The best thing for him to do is quote the Qur’anic verse chapter 33:56, and then he is not responsible for those who choose to ignore this verse.

Many people dispute and make themselves ignorant and lack of understanding over this verse, also to help stop the conflict and bring to the people who wish to put fear in their hearts of becoming an unbeliever, and earn Allah (swt) anger. Chapter 58:11 mentions if we are told rise up, we must do so, also it speaks about unity, obedience to your leader and respect for the pious. Chapter 33:56 tells us to send Blessings and Salute the Holy Prophet (owbp) with all respect and this applies to all believers. The problem is people are saying that the Holy prophet (owbp) is not present in the function, so they don’t have to stand in respect for him, okay! If such is the case, then why even recite Tazeem or Darood Shareef while sitting, he is not present to collect the Blessings, also why talk about him, he would not know if you are saying good or bad things about him, because he is not present.

Some people say we do not need to stand in Tazeem for we recite Darood Shareef everyday; isn’t this plain disobedience to Allah (swt) commandment, who are we to disobey and argue with Allah (swt), our duty is to obey the commands of Allah (swt) and we shouldn’t care whether he is around or not. When we obey Allah (swt), He orders the Angels to mention the names of all the people in that function to the Holy Prophet (owbp) who stand in respect to send Blessings on him. So he knows from the Angels and as such he in turn rise his hand and ask Allah (swt) to Bless us and our loved ones and to keep us in his company after our death, how beautiful would this be for us after our death. The Holy Qur’an states:

And obey not (the behests) of the Unbelievers and the Hypocrites, and heed not their annoyances, but put thy Trust in Allah. For enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.33:48

We have to pay heed here of what this verse is telling us, men of little or no faith will often lay down the law and tell men who has wisdom and understanding more than themselves what to do and what not to do. We have to ignore them and their annoyance; no attention must be paid to them.Many of us obey Allah (swt) command and we bow down in Sijda in our prayers to Him, but how many of us really and sincerely love Him as He told us to adore Him. Many of us pray, and bow our heads to Him but not with love and sincerity, but yet He kept His promise and gives us prosperity. This is how much Allah (swt) is kind and merciful to all His creations. To gain a passport to Allah (swt) we have to be sincere in our love and in every good deed we do.