Kamil Ahmad – Todays Q&A
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the Qadar of Allah and the importance of protecting one's heart and family's health from addiction. They stress the need to be mindful of one's behavior and not completely missing the teachings of Islam. The speakers also emphasize the importance of obeying rules and avoiding punished behavior. The segment also touches on the use of shaytan and the importance of finding the right people to lead in online learning.
AI: Summary ©
And vice versa, that's a separate hadith.
So what that hadith means is what the
Qadar of Allah was.
So Allah had written that this person will
go to the Hellfire.
Throughout his life he lived a righteous life.
Or as explained in another hadith, he lived
a righteous life in that which appeared to
the people.
So deep inside it was something else.
And vice versa.
So that's the end result.
How that person dies is how Allah had
written for him at the time that his
soul was breathed into his body.
So when it comes to understanding this, as
I said, this all comes under the topic
of the Qadar of Allah.
And the Qadar of Allah, we have to
understand something before we delve into discussing Qadar,
is that as the early scholars said, Qadar
is something, I believe this was attributed to
Imam Abu Hanifa, he says that Qadar is
from the secret of Allah.
It is something that its door has been
shut and locked and its key forever lost.
And one of the Salaf also said that
I pondered over those who delve and talk
about Qadar and I realized that those who
talk about it the most are those who
know the least about it.
And that those who talk about it the
least are those who know the most about
it.
Basically, trying to understand fully this topic of
Qadar is not possible for us.
Why?
Because we're talking about an attribute of Allah.
In fact, more than one attribute.
We're talking about the actions of Allah.
We're talking about Allah's knowledge.
We're talking about Allah's will.
We're talking about Allah's decision.
Allah and his attributes are infinite.
Our minds, our human minds are finite.
The finite can never understand and encompass what
is infinite.
We'll never be able to do it, no
matter how much we try.
Because we're talking about Allah and his attributes
and his knowledge and why he does what
he does.
He has given us some of that knowledge,
but a very small amount.
As Musa Alayhi Salaam, when he was traveling
with Khidr in the story mentioned in Surat
Al-Kahf, and they were on the ship,
as the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentions, a
bird came and put its beak in the
water.
And so Khidr tells Musa Alayhi Salaam that
my knowledge and your knowledge, remember that Khidr
and Musa were the most knowledgeable people on
the face of the earth at that time.
Musa Alayhi Salaam being a chosen prophet of
Allah, and Khidr having knowledge that Musa didn't
have.
The two most knowledgeable people on the face
of the earth at the time.
Khidr said to Musa, my knowledge and your
knowledge combined, compared to the knowledge of Allah,
is like what this bird just took out
of the ocean, out of the sea, of
water.
Compared to the water in the ocean.
Uncomparable.
Our knowledge is very, very little.
Right?
We have so little knowledge.
So imagine trying to encompass the knowledge of
Allah.
So this is basically something we need to
understand before discussing Khidr.
That the topic of Khidr is something that
has caused a lot of people to go
astray.
Because they tried to do something impossible.
They tried to understand what was impossible for
our human minds to fully understand.
So they gave up and they said, okay,
this doesn't make sense.
This doesn't make sense according to our human
mind.
Because according to them, it's a contradiction.
How can Allah will and at the same
time we also will?
And that's why you had two main groups
that went astray.
The Qadiriya, who rejected human free will.
Or no, they affirmed human free will and
they rejected Qadr.
And the opposite group, the Jabriya, they affirmed
the Qadr of Allah.
But they said, we have no free will.
Because according to both of these two groups,
they thought it's a contradiction.
The Ahlus Sunnah wal Jama'ah, they remained
balanced and they combined the two.
Because if we look at the Qur'an
and the Sunnah, we find both.
We have free will and Allah also wills.
As Allah says, وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ إِلَّا عِنْ يَشَاءُ
اللَّهِ So here Allah affirms that we have
will.
وَمَا تَشَاءُونَ You do not will.
Except that Allah wills.
But then how do we understand that?
We try to explain it.
We don't say we can't explain it.
We explain it and the scholars have explained
it.
But we have to understand, if you still
can't understand it, then say, this is something
I can't understand but I submit to it.
I submit to it.
So anyways, coming back to the question, there
are some people who Allah, or everyone, Allah
has already written our fate, whether we're going
to Jannah or the Hellfire.
But it doesn't mean we're forced to go
to either Jannah or the Hellfire.
And this question came to the minds of
the sahaba also.
One of the companions asked the Prophet ﷺ,
that if Allah has already written for us
our fate and where we're going, then why
should we do anything?
What's the point of doing amal?
What's the point of trying to get to
Jannah if I'm already destined for the Hellfire?
So the Prophet ﷺ answered.
He said, اِعْمَلُوا فَكُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ لِمَا خُلِقَ لَهِ
Strive hard to do amal, to do actions
that will get you to Jannah.
And then everyone, Allah will make easy for
him what he strives for.
And what he was created for.
So if you put in the effort, then
Allah will help you.
And don't say that, oh, it was already
destined for me to go to Hellfire, so
what's the point?
We can also ask the person who's saying
this, and do you know what your fate
is?
For you to say, I'm already destined for
the Hellfire.
Who told you you were?
Who told you you were destined for the
Hellfire?
You're assuming here.
You have been destined for either the Hellfire
or Jannah.
Right?
Yes, you are destined for one of the
two.
And Allah knows where you're going.
But you don't.
You don't know the Qadr of Allah.
Right?
So those who try to use the Qadr
of Allah to justify their ways, the reality
is they're finding an excuse to live however
they want.
That's the reality.
They're trying to justify Qadr to be lazy.
Right?
And to enjoy themselves in this dunya.
Alright, any other questions?
Yeah, let me answer this one first.
So the question is, reciting the Quran.
We spoke about reciting the Quran.
And the question is, if you have the
option between reciting from the Mus'haf, or
from your phone, which one is better?
It's better if you can recite from the
actual Mus'haf.
Right?
The actual Mus'haf, the rulings pertaining to
a Mus'haf apply to it, and don't
apply to the digital version.
For example, being in a state of Tahara
when you're touching it.
It applies to the actual book, the Mus
'haf, and not the digital Mus'haf.
Right?
So that shows us that it's always better
for us to read from the actual Mus
'haf.
There's better concentration in that than if we
use our phones.
And the second question?
So the
question is about a narration collected by Imam
Ahmed.
But from what I recall, this narration is
weak.
From what I recall.
In Allah and His Best, that it's a
weak hadith that basically, that if Allah is
displeased with a person, then he'll curse that
person, and his curse will reach the seventh
child.
Will reach the seventh child.
So the scholars basically explain this to mean
that our actions, they have an effect on
our children.
However, that does not mean that Allah is
unjust.
As Allah says in the Qur'an, that
He will not hold someone accountable for someone
else's actions.
And that is basically the foundation of Christianity.
The original sin.
That we are to blame for what Adam
Alaihissalam did.
And that's why we're here.
And basically, we are shouldering the burden of
his sin.
And Isa Alaihissalam came to bring us out
of that, basically.
And so Allah says in the Qur'an,
وَلَا تَزِيرُ وَازِيرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ No human bears
the sin of another.
Right?
So, they say what this hadith is talking
about is your actions.
Your actions and your life of sin.
Automatically, they transfer onto your children.
Don't they?
Right?
If you yourself are not practicing, then there's
a good chance your children are not going
to be practicing.
And then there's a good chance that's going
to continue.
It's going to continue until the 7th generation.
Right?
So in that way, that's how they explain
it.
And Allah knows best.
That's if the hadith is authentic.
Any other questions?
We'll take the questions.
I think this is a follow-up to
a question that we were asked in the
conference yesterday.
وَعَلَيْكُمْ أَسْلَامًا You touched upon seeking knowledge and
that we should not seek it through social
media.
As you know, it is tough for some
of us to seek knowledge and travel.
What about if we join online institutes and
study with a shaykh online or a teacher
from there?
Okay.
So that's the question.
So yes, yesterday I remembered this question and
I answered that, you know, the question was,
should we seek knowledge through social media?
And obviously, social media is not a method
of seeking knowledge.
Right?
You know, whether it be Instagram or, you
know, these social media platforms are not places
of seeking knowledge.
You know, you get reminders here and there,
you know, but it's not something you actually
sit down and learn through.
Just like you wouldn't if you want to
become a doctor or an engineer.
No one says, you know, this is how
you go about doing it.
Right?
So why do we treat Islam like that?
And so the follow-up to that question
was this, you know, what if we join
online institutes and study with a shaykh online
or a teacher from there?
Yes, of course.
If you cannot travel abroad to study with
scholars, then alhamdulillah, you know, the times in
which we live in, we should utilize, you
know, the technology that we have.
And, you know, there are many opportunities for
studying online through online institutes.
In fact, even the Islamic University of Medina,
you can actually study online now, you know,
through the actual university.
But you need to know Arabic, basically.
So if you know Arabic, you could apply
and you could, you know, finish four years
of a bachelor's degree in Sharia or whatever,
just like, you know, someone who is actually
studying there.
Alright.
The next question, if you're traveling, can you
give charity to expel the evil and trials
while you are traveling?
For example, when you go on travel and
you give sadaqa to protect yourself.
In general, giving sadaqa has a lot of
benefits and one of the benefits of giving
sadaqa is that Allah removes harm from us,
potential harm.
And so yes, I mean, if you're traveling
and you want to give sadaqa for that
purpose, then yes, you know, it counts and
Allah will protect you from whatever harms, potential
harms that are there if you're going to
be traveling while you're traveling.
Any questions from the floor?
So the
ruling of photography?
So the question is the ruling on photography
and making videos.
Basically, the scholars have unanimously agreed that there
is nothing wrong with making images of non
-animate beings.
Beings that are not alive.
Whether it's a human being, an animal, or
even an imagined being.
So for example, to draw mountains, to draw
the stars, a tree, etc.
All of this is permissible.
There's nothing wrong with that.
This is by agreement of all the scholars.
Where they differed is, okay, to continue on
where they agreed, they all agreed also that
to draw with your hand, whether it's to
carve out a sculpture, or to draw an
image with your hand of a living being,
this is also haram.
This is haram.
They agreed on that.
But then where they differed is modern technology.
This is where they differed.
So one group of scholars, they took all
of those hadith that talk about not drawing
images, they applied it to the cameras that
we have, etc.
And they said it takes the same ruling
so you're not allowed to take pictures and
images of living beings.
Another group of scholars, they permitted it and
they said it's not the same.
And their reasoning for that, they said that
this technology that we have, it's basically giving
you a mirror image of what you are
taking a picture of.
An exact mirror image.
Right?
It's not like something that someone is doing
with his hands.
Because we have a hadith in Bukhari in
which the Prophet ﷺ says it will be
said on the Day of Judgment to those
who used to draw images, Allah will bring
their images on the Day of Judgment and
say, now breathe a soul into it.
Breathe a soul into it.
And it will be said to them, you
tried to create like my creation so now
breathe a soul into it.
So the scholars who said that photography, there's
nothing wrong with it, they said that it's
not the same.
There's no effort involved.
You're not going around trying to make a
creation like the creation of Allah.
And it's literally a mirror image of what
you took a picture of.
of what you took a picture of.
However, what you're not allowed to do now
is take a picture and then change it.
Going around modifying it etc.
Because then you are doing, you are creating
an image now.
What also comes under what is not permissible
with the technology that we have is to
draw images with the technology that we have
and publish them.
As long as it is a full being
So the scholars say that if the full
being is not there so for example certain
features are removed then it's fine.
Then it is fine.
For example facial features.
If you remove the nose, if you remove
the eyes, if you remove the mouth, then
here it's no longer a living being because
you need these in order to be considered
living.
And that's why you find many children's books
etc.
where people have removed facial images based on
this fatwa.
There are two questions here.
The first is how can we deal with
the whisperings of Shaytan that come to our
mind Basically the whispers of Shaytan is real
and the way to deal with it is
by seeking refuge in Allah from Shaytan So
saying whenever Shaytan puts something in our minds
or in our hearts and not entertaining those
thoughts Just stop thinking of those thoughts and
seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan and move
on.
The second question Could you recommend some useful
books for self-purification Generally you have the
books of Ibn Qayyim which are very beneficial
and I always specifically advise the books of
Ibn Qayyim because other scholars who have written
on self-purification they had some issues with
their aqidah So you have for example some
Sufi scholars whose writings are well known when
it comes to this topic of self-purification
and the Sufis in general really focus on
this area but they go to extremes with
regards to self-purification So Ibn Qayyim obviously
was a scholar who did not go into
Sufism and his writings are very beneficial when
it comes to self-purification to the point
where even the Sufis will use his books
They will use his books So among his
most famous books that are on this topic
of self-purification is a book that we
went through, Addat wa Dawat Also he has
a book called Al-Wabil As-Sayyib which
talks about adh-dhikr and getting the heart
attached to Allah and there is Ighathatul Lahfan
min masayid ash-shaytan a book that he
wrote combating the traps of shaytan and many
other books Some of the books of his
that we have in English today have actually
been taken from his books A lot of
people think that Ibn Qayyim, for example, wrote
a book on patience No, he never wrote
a book just Yes, he did write a
book on patience but that was a book
that he combined between patience and gratitude There
is a book in English called Patience or
something along those lines It's taken from one
of his books So anyways that is regarding
Tazkiyatul Nafs Also, another book I could advise
is one written in English by one of
the famous du'at His name is Jamaluddin
Zarabozo He has a book called Tazkiyatul Nafs
Purification of the Soul It's called Purification of
the Soul The
question is if a man and a woman
want to get married but are worried about
zina and at the same time maybe are
not financially stable how do they go about
getting nikah done especially with the pressure of
society and family to have a big wedding
Obviously, the Prophet ﷺ advised the young men
to get married whoever is able to So
that is the general rule to get married
as soon as you can But if you're
not able to then the Prophet ﷺ said,
fast If you're unable to, you don't have
the money you can't financially do it, then
fast Now, if someone is able to financially
but it will become burdensome on him as
long as he has a basic income then
he should put his trust in Allah and
he should understand that Allah will definitely help
him out And so it's a trap of
shaytan It's a trap of shaytan to delay
getting married When you're able to but you
may not have that much money Allah will
provide for you because we have in a
hadith that the Prophet ﷺ tells us that
whoever gets married for the sake of Allah
to protect him his chastity then it is
binding upon Allah to help him Allah took
it upon himself that he will help such
a person Right?
And so the way of going about it
is not by first getting to know each
other that's not the right way of getting
getting married but rather the right way of
going about it is for a brother who
is interested in a sister to approach her
wali Now unfortunately living in the west Muslims
we follow the ways of the kuffar and
if you're interested in someone you'll start discussions
with them right away and then you'll go
on a date with them and you'll see
if we're compatible or not completely far from
the teachings of Islam And so you go
directly to the wali and you talk to
the father if he's alive and if not
then the next wali and that's the way
of going about doing it Alright, any questions
from the floor?
The question is regarding the previous question on
images and taking pictures Do the angels enter
a house in which there are portraits hanging
on the walls?
The answer is no they don't And so
the Prophet ﷺ said that the angels do
not enter a house in which there are
images and dogs Specifically these two things The
Prophet ﷺ says that the angels do not
enter such houses So you know we have
to bring down any images or portraits hanging
in order for the angels to enter The
question is being a Muslim can we help
non-Muslims if they are poor and needy?
The answer is yes We're allowed to help
the poor and the needy irrespective of their
deen Irrespective of their deen However, there are
guidelines Number one, we're not allowed to give
them from zakah from the zakat money unless
they qualify as one of the eight categories
that Allah has mentioned from the eight categories
which go to zakat So there is a
category there for non-Muslims, who knows what
it is?
Yes?
No?
No?
Allah says those whose hearts are attracted to
Islam or those whose hearts you can attract
to Islam by giving them some money So
if you find some kafir actually this goes
whether he's needy or not, even if he's
rich Because the poor and the needy that's
already a category mentioned in the ayah Right?
The poor and the needy, those are already
two categories Then Allah says this is a
category So they are those who you can
attract to Islam by giving them money Right?
The kafir So this is the first guideline,
we cannot give them from the zakah, so
only from extra sadaqah Also from among the
guidelines of giving to kafir is that there's
a good chance that they won't use it
in haram Right?
So you usually find beggars on the streets
and we know that most of these beggars,
they'll probably use that money to buy drugs,
to buy alcohol, etc So the better thing
to do with them is that you don't
give them cash but you give them food
Or anything else, give them clothes, give them
food give them something that they will use
when you think that they'll probably use money
in haram Any questions?
That are poor or?
Muslim relatives?
Yes, so
of course if you have Muslim relatives who
are poor and there's a good chance you
know that they'll probably use it in haram
then you don't give to them Here, like
I said, you have to know the situation
You can't just assume You have to actually
know that based on experience they're going to
use it in haram So refrain from giving
them There's a question
here That the Prophet ﷺ stopped men from
looking at women And if they see a
woman at first by mistake they can't look
again purposefully a second time If they do
it, it would be a sin There are
shaykhs that describe that there were sahabas who
used to reach out to women and ask
them if they want to marry So even
if looking is not allowed how are they
reaching out to them without seeing them So
as we mentioned as we mentioned you know
the Islamic teachings regarding getting married is not
by going directly to the woman and the
sahaba never did that If they were interested
in a particular woman it was not necessarily
the case that they saw her first and
they liked how she looked and that's why
they went to get married to them Because
as we know they cover themselves properly They
cover themselves properly So their interest would be
based on for example their female relatives telling
them that this woman she's beautiful, perhaps you
can get married Or they heard good characteristics
about the woman and then they started to
investigate And so it's not necessarily the case
that they saw how she looks and based
on that they wanted to get married to
them And what further proves this is that
we have the hadith in which one of
the companions, he got married And the Prophet
ﷺ he congratulated him and he said Have
you seen her?
He said no So the Prophet ﷺ said
First go look at her, then marry her
So this proves that they never used to
do that They never used to go around
looking at women And based on that they
would marry them The question is what is
the minimum mahr that one can give Mahr
is basically the dowry that the man gives
to the woman And there is no minimum
to it We know that the Prophet ﷺ
married some of the sahaba He married them
off based on them teaching the woman some
of the Qur'an Because they were not
well off They didn't have that much money
And so there is no minimum We don't
say there is any minimum But if you
were to ask what is recommended then that's
a different question So there is no minimum
And every nikah is valid as long as
the conditions of the nikah have been fulfilled
And one of them is to mention the
mahr So as long as the mahr is
mentioned no matter how small it is, the
nikah is valid But now if you want
to ask what is recommended then the scholars
say that goes back to the custom So
every society has a different custom in terms
of what is recommended to give But if
the custom is that the mahr is very
high then here we don't follow the custom
In certain Muslim societies the custom is a
very high mahr And what that causes is
that it causes a lot of brothers to
not get married So the scholars say that
if the custom of the people is that
the mahr is very high then here we
don't go by the custom And Allah knows
best How
can we be ensured that we get da
'wah from the right people Especially we are
in an era of a lot of differences
I mean the shia, the sufis, etc So
obviously when it comes to our deen we
should be careful and investigate and research ourselves
First of all understanding what is the correct
Islam And then looking for those teachers and
those schools and institutions that are teaching that
kind of Islam That's how simple it is
And so one has to do their due
diligence And figure out what is the Islam
that the Prophet ﷺ left us with and
his companions And then strive to follow that
Strive to follow that And look for those
teachers and those scholars who are teaching that
Islam The question is how do you balance
protecting your heart and being there for close
family who are suffering from addiction I'm a
reaver and my family has issues with alcohol,
drugs, etc And it hurts my heart to
see them suffer and not say something What
advice do you have What advice do you
have and without seeming self-righteous So obviously
with our relatives even if we are converts
and our relatives are not Muslim We have
to maintain ties with them Our parents, our
siblings And it's all part of the test
of Allah When you see them suffering But
you have to understand something that seeing them
suffering from addiction and these things should not
affect you as much as seeing them remaining
upon kufr Right Because that is a more
serious problem Because the suffering of that will
continue on for eternity Whereas the suffering of
these addictions It will remain in the dunya
So for example If they accept Islam And
they continue with these addictions While understanding that
what they are doing is wrong Then at
least If they are punished in the akhira
They won't be punished forever As we know
So that's my advice To focus on To
prioritize And so give them da'wah These
addictions will actually be resolved by them accepting
Islam Because Islam teaches us how to deal
with addictions So don't focus on their addictions
More than you should be focusing on their
Islam Any questions?
The question is regarding Obeying Obedience to the
rulers And there are various ahadith in which
The Prophet ﷺ warns us from disobeying rulers
And not just ahadith But we have ayat
in the Quran That tell us that we
need to obey those Who are in authority
over us This is a very huge topic
It requires an entire lecture on its own
But I'll just summarize When it comes to
these ahadith What they are talking about is
The rulers from among us Our Muslim rulers
Who are Basically From us, from the Muslims
And who are basically Applying the shariah of
Allah in the land Now applying that Throughout
history was easy From the time of the
sahaba onwards Because our rulers were doing that
for the most part Applying the shariah, waging
jihad against the kuffar etc Until the fall
of the last Khilafah, the Ottoman Empire That
is when we now had The colonizers Who
came and ruled over us The kuffar And
then when they left They basically put their
people In their place People who were from
us But who basically followed their ways In
continuing ruling by other than the shariah By
using man-made laws Not implementing the laws
of Allah Implementing secular laws Separating Separating
deen from From the state etc And then
You have that, so that's one thing And
then you have some Who openly committed kuffar
Some rulers, and that's why many scholars They
consider them to be Out of the fold
of Islam The likes of Sheikh Ibn Baz
and others They called out on some of
the rulers That lived in their time as
being kuffar Now when it comes to Obeying
them, obviously We obey them in that which
is Within the obedience of Allah As the
Prophet ﷺ says لا طاعة للمخلوق في معصية
الخالق There is no obedience to the Creator
If it is in disobedience to the Creator
And As for revolting against Muslim rulers Then
that's not permissible Even if they are oppressive
As long as they are Muslims And that's
what those ahadith are talking about Now if
If you have a non-Muslim ruling over
Muslims And it has been established By the
scholars of that country That this person is
a kafir Then even here, revolting against him
Is not permissible Unless the Muslims feel That
they are able to do it successfully And
Imam al-Nawawi actually mentions this Imam al
-Nawawi says that there is ijma' There is
unanimous consensus That Muslims have to Have to
remove A non-Muslim who is ruling over
them If they are able to If they
are unable to, then They are not supposed
to do that Because it would obviously cause
bloodshed And it wouldn't go anywhere And Allah
knows best The
question is What
we'll do is we'll take one last question
From the questions that we have here And
then one last question from you guys insha
'Allah The
question is As you know we all have
some people in our family Whose iman is
weak And they always ask some questions As
one of our relatives asked how Or when
Allah created Adam and then Hawa There was
no nikah between them So are all Are
all the children from that You know children
of zina basically So this is obviously You
know one of the doubts Of the kuffar
that they try to put in our minds
That there is an easy answer to And
that is And it's not only with regards
to whether there was a nikah or not
But also The fact that the children of
Adam They married each other And it's not
permissible for a brother to marry a sister
So how do you answer that?
We answer that by saying that it was
necessary There was no other way For human
beings to continue Right?
So first of all we say That if
we were to apply that to our shariah
The shariah of the Prophet ﷺ Then we
use the qa'ida of ad-darurat tubih
al-mahzurat In times of necessity Haram things
become permissible But then we can say that
to begin with Every prophet had a different
shariah Right?
Musa ﷺ had a different shariah To the
Prophet ﷺ When Isa ﷺ came Certain things
Allah changed from the shariah Of Musa ﷺ
Likewise in the time of Adam ﷺ There's
nothing wrong with saying that For him to
marry Hawa without a nikah It was permissible
Right?
But it's not permissible now There's nothing wrong
with accepting that And the same thing with
brothers marrying sisters In the shariah of Adam
there was nothing wrong with that Right?
And Allah knows best Alright, any questions?
No, no, go ahead