Ali Albarghouthi – The Disease and the Cure #34 Do Islamic Rules Make Sense
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
And gave ta'zeer to it, discretionary punishment,
right?
So the judge will have a leeway in
terms of, it could be this punishment, but
it's not prescribed, and it's not as tough,
it's not as severe, right?
وَلَمْ يُرَتِّبْ عَلَيْهِ حَدَّةٍ There is no specific
prescribed religious punishment for it.
He says, for example, like eating excrements, or
drinking blood, or eating dead meat.
He says, what there is a natural deterrent.
Do you know anybody who drinks blood?
Please don't raise your hand if you say
yes, right?
But you don't know, and you don't likely
that you will know someone.
Why?
Because for most of humanity, that's not something
that they do.
Like drinking blood, drinking urine, eating excrement.
Why?
There is a natural deterrent.
So what's the punishment if a person does
this?
He says, there is no prescribed religious punishment,
because not a lot of people are gonna
do this.
They don't wanna do it.
And so if it happens, one, it is
haram, but also if there is some perversion
in nature, with a person or among a
people, there will be ta'zeer.
This punishment, this punishment, so that can deter
them.
But you don't need to prescribe something for
it.
وَمَا كَانَ فِي الطِّبَاعِ دَاعٍ إِلَيْهِ وَرَتَّبَ عَلَيْهِ
مِنَ الْعُقُوبَةِ بِقَدْرِ مَفْسَدَتِهِ وَبِقَدْرِ دَاعِ الطَّبْعِ إِلَيْهِ
But if there is an inclination and propensity,
a natural propensity to do such an act,
people are attracted to it.
And there is harm in that act, Allah
Azza wa Jalla will prescribe a punishment in
proportion to, in accordance with, the inclination and
the harm.
So people wanna do it and there is
a lot of harm in it.
So if there is a lot of people
wanna do it because there is a strong
desire, and there is a lot of harm,
then the punishment will be what?
Bigger, higher.
But if the inclination is lower and the
harm is not as much, that punishment will
be lower.
So it goes up and down in accordance
to those two things.
How much people wanna do it and how
much harm comes from their doing it.
And He is saying here, وَهَذَا لَمَّ كَانَ
دَاعِ الطِّبَعِ إِلَى الزِّنَ مِنْ أَخْضَ وَالدَّبَاعِ It
is because people are strongly inclined and they
have a strong desire towards the other *.
So they have a strong desire towards zina.
He says, the punishment for it was one
of the severest, most terrible type of executions
you will find.
Because it's by stoning.
If a person is married.
And the easiest of the punishments for zina
if someone is unmarried, is for them to
be flogged a hundred times and banishment for
a year.
He says, that's the easiest.
That's the lightest.
Whereas the severest and the toughest is what?
For them to be executed when they are
married.
He says, why?
He is saying, why is that?
He says, because of two things.
And He will talk about this.
There are two things here that are factors.
One, the harm.
So the harm is great.
Second, there is propensity.
People want to do.
There is an inclination to it.
So how do you stop it?
How do you deter?
Because there is no natural deterrent.
So there has to be an outside deterrent.
The outside deterrent will be what?
Punishment.
And here, let's pause a little bit here
to understand the benefit of what he is
talking about.
Because there is a difference between you understanding
the individual punishments or deterrents in the sharia.
And being provided with a holistic general structure
of the sharia.
The skeleton of the sharia.
From a scholar who looks at the individual
cases.
This, this, this, this.
Then he sits back and he says, here
is the general principle that governs all of
this.
Right?
And when you know this, A, it's a
gift because you understand the sharia better.
Not individually but holistically.
And also it's a remedy for being restricted
when you look at the sharia from a
particular vantage point.
A limited vantage point.
And some people complain about it because they
think this is too harsh.
This is too difficult.
It's too harsh.
Or because it goes against their own wishes.
Their own practices.
They say, no, I don't like this.
And why does this happen?
It happens because you only are looking at
it from your own personal advantages and disadvantages.
Benefits and harms.
What you like and what you dislike.
Versus at the whole picture.
And that is part of dawah.
I look at it, that's part of medicine.
It is medicinal for you to understand this.
Because it will treat a lot of confusions
about the sharia.
So for instance, there will be some females
who are opposed to hijab.
And when they hear the argument that one
of the benefits of hijab is that men
are attracted to women.
And so by that you decrease the fitna
and all of this.
The argument that some of them employ is,
Why should I be burdened because men are
too weak to control their impulses?
And why should I put on something?
A hijab or a jilbab or this.
Why should I cover my body?
Because it's men who cannot control their eyes,
cannot control their thoughts, cannot control their desire.
It should be them that are burdened, not
me.
And that of course is an argument against
the hijab.
But it's actually more than that.
It is assuming that if you wanna be
safe, it is not your job to be
safe or to make yourself safe.
It's everybody else's job to behave.
It's everybody else's job to follow the rules,
to not commit a crime, to not take
advantage of you or anybody else.
The burden is on humanity to walk the
straight path.
So let me give you an example to
illustrate how that argument can never be consistent.
Then go back to this argument.
So if you park next to handicapped parking,
you see the sign that says maximum $5
,000 fine.
That's the maximum.
Isn't that a lot?
$5,000.
Why is there a fine?
Because we all understand that people who are
unable to walk, they need a closer parking.
But when you look at their parking, and
it's the best parking, it's big and it's
close to the entrance, and the incentive to
park there is strong.
Now, what if we say, what if society
says, why don't we apply the following and
say, we're not going to fine anyone, we're
going to go by the honor system.
We know that all of you are adults,
and you should know right from wrong.
So you know that these people need that
more than you, and you shouldn't really take
advantage of them, and you will be harming
them if you do so.
So we're not going to impose anything on
anyone in terms of fines, or tickets, or
arrests.
We want everybody to follow, just because it's
the right thing.
How many people will actually follow this?
I don't know if the majority will follow,
but I know that a lot of people
won't.
And how do I know that a lot
of people don't?
Because I see the world around us, not
even the world, the city that we live
in, and you know that people break the
law all the time for their own advantage.
In traffic, in buying and selling, in advertising,
they break the law all the time, regular
people like you and me.
I'm not talking about the big corporation, I'm
talking about people like you and me.
We break the law all the time to
serve our own advantage.
So if there is no fine over there,
everybody will be parking.
And no one will pay attention to the
feelings or to the needs of somebody else.
So unless you impose a fine, there will
be no deterrent, then there will be no
conformity or following of the law, and eventually
then there will be a breakdown in society.
So you have to impose something.
So for the female that thinks about hijab,
we can bring another example, just before we
go into hijab.
So airport security.
As hassleful, meaning full of hassle, airport security
is.
What do you think of the idea of
doing away with airport security altogether where we
just walk into the airport, the plane, and
by that we could reduce waiting time, boarding
time, and of course expenses.
We don't have to pay anybody to search
anyone.
Do you want to do away with that
altogether?
Even though we get profiled when we board
planes, right?
But do you want to do away with
that altogether?
Or would you say, I don't mind a
little bit of hassle just to be safe.
You say, but why?
He says, because I don't trust that everybody,
even though they should, will do the right
thing.
So I'd rather be safe.
So for a female, this hijab is your
shield of security.
Are you really going to trust that all
men are going to do the right thing
just simply because it's the right thing?
Why not do away with the police?
But why do you need the police?
Because you know that whether it's men or
women, we're not going to do the right
thing.
At least a lot of us.
So you need something to deter.
So if you're going to do away with
the hijab, and you want to live the
way that you want to live, not the
way that Allah wants you to live, and
you want to freely mix with men and
women, what do you think is going to
happen?
When you eliminate that security that Allah had
given to you, that buffer that Allah had
given to you, what do you think is
going to happen?
In terms of harassment, sexual, physical, verbal, in
terms of attack, in terms of *, in
terms of lack of security.
So when you remove it, you've removed a
layer of protection that Allah had given to
you.
And yes, men are weak when it comes
to certain sins.
Are we going to lie about that?
But it's also the same that women are
weak when it comes to certain sins, right?
All of us are.
Because Allah did not say men are weak,
women...
He says, وَخُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ وَاتْضَعِيفًا Humans were created
what?
Weak.
So in the face of that weakness, I'm
not going to tempt my brother or tempt
my sister because it becomes my sin if
I do this.
And I will reap the consequences of it.
Because the impulse to the haram is strong.
The impulse to the haram is very strong.
So another example is, if you think giving
zakah is a burden, and you don't notice
how giving zakah helps you.
He says, why should I give my money
to somebody else?
And you hear some arguments coming from non
-Muslims whenever they're talking about social welfare.
I'm not commenting on social welfare, but I'm
just saying about how some Muslims could adopt
these ideas.
Why should I give my money to somebody
else?
I've earned it.
I work hard.
They don't.
They just sit and receive, etc., etc.
I'm going to keep it to myself.
So here, you've removed that layer of protection.
Now what do you think if all Muslims
withheld in a Muslim society, let's say, or
non-Muslims in a non-Muslim society stopped
helping those who are poor.
What do you think is going to happen
to that society as income inequality rises?
And the rich get richer, and the poor
get poorer, and they see the difference.
What happens when the society gets poorer?
Grow more crimes.
They start assaulting you in your own home,
and they steal from you, and they terrorize
you, and they break what you have, and
they take it all from you.
Because you didn't give a little bit, all
of it is going to be taken away
from you.
So when you do not give the zakah
because you think, oh no, I want to
keep more to myself, all of it is
going to go away.
Because that layer of protection that Allah had
given to you had been compromised.
So you see how it works.
So when you start arguing against the sharia,
you're arguing against Allah Azza wa Jalla.
So you have to keep in mind, who
am I arguing against when I'm saying, oh,
I shouldn't wear the hijab because men and
because women.
Who are you arguing against?
It's against Allah Azza wa Jalla.
That's your argument.
That's the one who's on the other side.
Not men.
And when you oppose zakah or oppose anything
else, or you oppose deterrence like this, when
you start saying, this is too harsh.
So who are you arguing against?
And you do not see how deterrents are
needed.
So Ibn al-Qayyim says, the greater the
crime and the greater the motivation for it,
the greater the punishment should be.
Which tells you that in the wisdom of
the sharia, deterrents are important.
Deterrents are important.
And the greater the crime, the greater the
deterrent.
And you see in at least some western
societies or a lot of western societies, what
you see is that when people overwhelmingly start
committing a crime or a sin, they cave
in and they legalize it.
Like the more people commit it and they
can't fight it anymore, what do they do?
There's no sense in fighting it.
So rather than increase the deterrents, they lower
it.
And they lower it.
And then it becomes legal.
At least we can make money off of
it.
Which destroys society.
Whereas the wisdom of the sharia will say
what?
The opposite.
No, the deterrents should be greater.
Because more people are doing it.
That's the only way to stop.
And even though it looks harsh, it eventually
saves society.
Whereas if you go the other route, what
happens is that you're going to destroy yourself
and everybody around you.
So when Ibn Qayyim is saying, why was
zina so severely punished?
This is why.
And he'll talk about it further.
And he continues.
And he says, وَلَمَّ كَانَتْ جَرِيمَةٌ لِّيُوَاطِ فِيهَا
الْأَمْرَانِ He says, and because also *, having
* with males.
He says, because it also has those two
factors in it.
Greatly harmful.
And a person who commits it will want
to continue to commit it.
So they will have a great desire to
continue.
He says, that's why the punishment for it
is capital punishment anyway, whether the person is
married or not.
So if you say, why is it so
harsh and they're consenting?
He says, no.
And you will see what Ahmad ibn Hanbal
will say about zina inshaAllah.
قَالَ وَلَمَّ كَانَ دَعَيْ السَّرِيقَ قَوِيَّةٌ Also why?
Because theft.
People are attracted to stealing.
And its harm is great.
That's why its punishment is amputation, is cutting
the hand.
قَالَ وَتَأَمَّلْ حِكْمَتَهُ فِي إِفْسَادِ الْعُضْوِيِ لَذِي بَاشَرَ
الْعَبْدُ بِهِ الْجِنَايَةِ He says, and consider here
the wisdom of the shari'a and how
it incapacitates the limb, the part of the
body that commits the crime.
So he's pointing here, wisdom and justice.
And he'll explain.
كَمَا أَفْسَدَ عَلَىٰ قَاطِعَ الطَّرِيقِ يَدَهُ وَرِجْلَهُ الَّتَيْنِ
هُمَ آلَةِ قَطْعِهِ So the highway robber who
terrorizes people to steal their money, he says,
he removed his hand, he removed his foot,
because these are the tools, like one hand,
one foot.
These are the tools that he uses to
terrorize people.
So those go away to punish him.
وَلَمْ يُفْسِدْ عَلَىٰ الْقَادِفِ لِسَانَهُ He says, but
the person who accuses another with zina, he
says, he did not cut his tongue.
Because the sin or the punishment, if it
were to be cutting the tongue, would outweigh
the sin itself.
So instead, he's to be flogged.
Instead, he's to be flogged.
Because if you remove the tongue, he cannot
speak for the rest of his life, he
cannot remember Allah for the rest of his
life.
So that is severe.
So instead of that, though the sin was
committed with the tongue, you punish the rest
of the body.
So it's transferred from the tongue to the
rest of the body.
فَإِنْ قِيلَ فَهَلْ لَا أَفْسَدْ عَلَىٰ الزَّنِي فَرْجَهُ
لَذِي بَاشَرَ بِهِ الْمَعْصِيَةِ He says, okay, why
not?
He's asking to answer.
He says, the fornicator, who committed zina, why
not remove his private part?
Because that's the part that actually committed the
crime.
He says, no.
For several reasons.
One is because that is a greater harm
than the crime that is committed.
Because if you take that away, he can
no longer have children.
He could be reformed later.
And he could have children later.
But if you do this to him, he'll
never be able to do this.
So his progeny is cut.
His lineage is cut off.
And he says also, additionally, that part of
the body is concealed.
So it's not a deterrence as much as
when a person steals and his hand is
cut, that's visible to everybody.
But if it happens, no one can see
that this is his punishment.
And he says that for the thief, if
you got one hand, at least he has
another hand that he could use in his
life.
And finally, and this is an interesting part.
He says, since the joy of zina was
experienced with the whole body, it was fitting
that he should experience pain with the whole
body.
Like he felt the joy of zina with
all of his body.
So then the punishment is what?
Let the whole body feel pain.
So it would match that joy and remind
him of what he had done.
So he said here, فَعُقُوبَاتُ الشَّارِعِ جَأَتْ عَلَىٰ
أَتَمِّ الْوُجُوهِ He says, the punishment that Allah
Azza wa Jalla had prescribed are the most
perfect, the most rational, and the one that
brings the greatest benefit.
قَالَ وَالْمَقْصُودُ He says, what we intend to
say is that أَنَّ الذُّنُوبُ وَإِنَّمَا تَتَرَّبْتُبُ عَلَيْهَا
الْعُقُوبَاتِ الشَّرِعِيَّ أَوْ الْقَدَرِيَّ أَوْ يَجْمَعُهُمَ اللَّهُ
لِلْعَبْدِ He says, there is prescribed religious punishment
for some sins.
There is also destined punishment for them, cosmic
destined punishment for them.
And they could be both of them or
could be none of them.
So for instance, a person who commits zina
could be punished with that prescribed punishment that
we talked about.
Or if not, Allah could send on him
cosmic destined punishment.
Or he could have both, he's saying, or
he could have none.
Especially if he what?
Repents.
Now when he...
Since he brought this, he wants to explain
the punishment of sins.
And he says that, عُقُوبَاتُ الذُّنُوبِ نَوْعَانِ شَرِعِيَّةٌ
وَقَدَرِيَّةٌ The punishment of sins are of two
kinds.
Religious prescribed, and the other is قَدَرِيَّة.
These are the destined one.
Destined meaning like a flood, like loss of
money.
Something that Allah brings on a people or
a person.
So it's either prescribed, religious, revealed in the
shari'ah, or Allah عز و جل brings
it.
And this following sentence is important.
He says, فَإِذَا أُقِيمَتِ الشَّرِعِيَّ رَفَعَتِ الْعُقُوبَاتِ الْقَدَرِيَّةِ
أَوْ خَفَّفَتْهَا He says, when you establish the
religious punishment, it excludes the destined cosmic punishment
or it decreases them.
Meaning if you punish people for theft and
for zina and for killing and for the
crimes that Allah عز و جل had outlined
in the Qur'an.
When you do the punishment that Allah had
commanded, you do as Allah wanted, then the
cosmic punishment doesn't come.
You're saved from it.
And if it were to come, it'd be
softer.
Why?
Because you did your job.
You did as Allah wanted from you.
So there is no need for a lot
of extra things to come.
Either nothing else comes or very little comes.
وَلَا يَكَادُ الرَّبُّ يَجْمَعُ عَلَىٰ عَبْدِهِ الْعُقُوبَتَيْنِ He
says, it's seldom that Allah عز و جل
would combine those two types of punishment upon
a person or a nation.
Seldom does Allah do this.
Unless if one of them was insufficient to
remove that sin and to remove that illness.
Meaning He says, most of the time, most
of the time, if the religious punishment is
administered, there is no cosmic punishment.
If they don't come together, He says, unless
that religious punishment was insufficient in treating a
person.
Interesting.
It's treatment.
We're calling it punishment.
But you could just erase that and you
say a treatment.
It's a religious treatment.
So say, if that treatment was insufficient to
treat a person, Allah عز و جل may
deem it necessary for the sake of that
person to taste a little bit more so
that that could save him.
He's saying that's how it is.
قَالَ وَإِذَا عُطِّلَتِ الْعُقُوبَاتُ الشَّرْعِيَّةِ إِسْتَحَالَتْ قَدَرِيَّةٍ
It says, if you disregard the religious punishments,
they turn into destined cosmic punishment.
Like they get transformed.
So if you're not gonna do what you're
supposed to do, so as if Allah is
saying, okay, that you want me to do
it.
So you don't want to punish those people
because you're feeling soft or you don't wanna
do this or you think people will criticize
you, whatever.
Okay, fine.
But you don't wanna do this, then something
else is gonna come.
And He says, وَرُبَّمَا كَانَتْ أَشَدَّ مِنَ الشَّرْعِيَّةِ
وَرُبَّمَا كَانَتْ دُونَهَا وَلَكِنَّهَا تَعُمْ وَالشَّرْعِيَّةُ تَخُصْ And
He says, those cosmic destined punishment, they could
be worse than the religious punishment or they
could be less but they are general whereas
the religious punishment are specific.
فَإِنَّ الرَّبَّ تَعَالَى لَا يُعَاقِبُ شَرْعًا إِلَّا مِن
بَاشَرَ الْجِنَايَةَ Because Allah Azzawajal religiously does not
punish a person unless he is the one
who specifically committed it or caused it.
As for the destined cosmic ones, when it
comes, it comes public and personal.
فَإِنَّ الْمَعْصِيَةَ إِذَا خَفِيَتْ لَمْ تَضُرَّ إِلَّا صَحِبَهَا
He says, because if sin is private, it's
secret, it will only harm the person who
commits it.
But if it is public, it harms the
person and the public.
It harms the person who has done it
and everybody else who knew about it.
Because if people see the munkar and they
do not talk about or talk against it,
Allah Azzawajal is about to engulf them all,
include them all in his punishment.
So the dynamic here is really important and
he is giving you a principle.
That principle doesn't change with time or from
one place to the other.
It could get delayed for some reasons, but
it doesn't change.
Meaning, if you ignore Allah's commands in terms
of punishing this crime and that crime, that
punishment turns into something that is destined and
cosmic, that is general and public.
It doesn't exclude people.
He says, okay, what is the crime here?
So he is the one who committed the
act.
What is the crime of the rest of
society?
One, they did not punish him, they did
not talk against what he has committed, they
allowed it to continue, they accepted it as
normal in their society.
That acceptance in itself is what?
That's a sin.
That acceptance is a sin.
So may you be sitting back and saying,
I'm fine.
I'm not doing this, it's day.
But you're quiet.
You're not talking about it.
You're not fighting it.
You're not resisting it.
It's normal.
That normalization of it will bring on the
punishment of Allah Azza wa Jalla.
And then that punishment is not upon only
this person or that person, it's everybody else
who witnessed and failed to act.
So he says, and Allah Azza wa Jalla,
as he said, Allah Azza wa Jalla had
made punishment of three kinds, which is capital
punishment, amputation, and flogging.
These are the three.
And again, he's kind of trying to kind
of bring the Sharia altogether, right?
So he says, this is one, two, three.
And he says, capital punishment is for Kufr.
Disbelief.
And what comes close to it, like fornication
and *.
He says that's close to it.
فَإِنَّ هَذَا يُفْسِدُ الْأَدْيَانِ Disbelief corrupts religions.
That your relationship with Allah Azza wa Jalla,
it corrupts it.
وَهَذَا يُفْسِدُ الْأَنْسَابَ وَنَوْعَ الْإِنسَانِ And this corrupts,
meaning fornication and *, corrupts bloodlines and lineages
and human nature.
So, first of all, it's interesting.
In the world today, disbelief is not a
sin.
Right?
Like as a personal freedom.
Just to tell you in passing, how Allah
Azza wa Jalla sees things versus how we
look at them.
Like if today a person were, and I'm
not asking anybody to do anything.
But if a person today would in a
country, they would, let's say for instance, punish
a person, not even execute.
No, punish a person for a wrong belief.
People in some countries will be up in
arms saying, this is freedom of speech, freedom
of conscience, freedom of this and freedom of
that.
And he may choose to look at it
this way, that you are free to incorporate
that belief into your belief system.
That is totally up to you.
But this is not what Allah Azza wa
Jalla looks at it.
Otherwise, why would He punish for disbelief?
So, Ibn Qayyim is saying, the harm of
disbelief is the greatest harm.
The greatest.
Otherwise, why is capital punishment in certain cases?
Not like, you don't just find a kafir
and you kill him.
He's Christian, he's Jewish, you kill him.
No, no, no, he's not talking about this.
He's talking about someone, let's say, who apostates.
Or someone who blasphemes, Muslim or non-Muslim,
against Allah, against the Prophet ﷺ, right?
And they don't repent from it.
Fuqaha will disagree over is there repentance or
not.
No need to tackle this now.
But he's talking about that type.
So, corrupting religion is the greatest crime.
And you'll see the hadith, how it is
greater than killing someone.
It's more sinful, more criminal than murder itself.
Corrupting religion.
Because when you end someone's life, which is
a great crime, you end it only in
this life.
When you corrupt someone's religion, you've ended the
hereafter for them.
So, what is more serious?
So, again, subhanAllah, as human beings, but also
as Muslims living in a world that is
not dominated intellectually by Muslims, you have to
look at things the way that Allah wants
you to, not the way that non-Muslims
look at it.
So, your mind cannot be occupied.
The most dangerous occupation is not the occupation
of Muslim lands.
The most dangerous occupation is the occupation of
Muslim minds.
Because if I can occupy your mind, I
have you.
If I can occupy your land, you'll always
know I'm an outsider.
You'll kick me out sooner or later.
But if I occupy your mind, you are
my servant.
You will never free yourself of me.
So, here, corruption of religion is the greatest
corruption.
Followed, he's saying directly, by zina, fornication, and
*.
Here, Imam Ahmad is quoted as saying, رحمه
الله, قَالَ لَأَعْلَمُ بَعْدَ الْقَتْلِ ذَنْبًا أَعْظَمَ مِنَ
الْزِنَةِ He says, I do not know of
a sin after killing someone to be greater
than zina.
Meaning, right after murdering someone, what is the
sin right after that?
He says, zina.
Again, we need to kind of restructure our
mind to actually start believing this.
Because one, in our societies today, and I'm
talking even globally, by the way.
Globally.
And I'm including a lot of Muslim lands
also.
Killing someone is a crime.
You know, it's unthinkable.
How could you do this?
Zina is not.
Whereas he is saying what?
Zina is the greatest crime right after killing
someone.
And he said, and he took this, وَاحْتَجَ
بِحَدِيثِ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ بِنِ مَسْعُودٍ When he asked
Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, أيُّ الذنبِ أَعْظَم؟
What is the greatest sin?
He says, أَن تَجْعَلِ لِلَّهِ نِدًا وَهُوَ خَلَقَكَ
He says that you would make to Allah
an equal, or you will take an equal
to Allah, a rival to Allah, and He
is the one who created you.
He said, ثُمَّ أَيْ He says, then what?
He says, أَن تَقْتُلَ وَلَدَكَ مَخَافَةَ أَن يَطْعَمَ
مَعَكَ He says, for you to kill your
child out of fear that he will eat
with you, share your food.
He says, ثُمَّ أَيْ He says, and then
what?
قَالَ أَن تُزَانِيَ بِحَلِيلَ تِجَارِكَ He says that
you will sleep with your neighbor's wife.
فَأَنزَلَ اللَّهُ سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَ تَصْدِيقَهَا Then Allah revealed,
confirming what the Prophet ﷺ said, وَالَّذِينَ لَا
يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرٌ Those who do
not invoke besides Allah another Ilah, and they
do not kill the soul that Allah had
forbidden except with a cause, a just cause.
وَلَا يَزْنُونَ And they do not commit zina.
So he says, based on that ordering from
the Prophet ﷺ, when Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
asked him, what is the greatest sin?
The second was killing, the third was zina.
So he's saying that's why zina is the
greatest sin right after killing someone.
قَالَ وَالنَّبِيُ ذَكَرَ مِنْ كُلِّ نَوْعٍ أَعْلَاهِ لِيُطَابِقَ
جَوَابُهُ سُؤَالَ السَّائِلِ فَإِنَّهُ سَأَلَهُ عَنْ أَعْظَمِ الذَّنْبِ
فَأَجَابَهُ بِمَا تَضَمَّنَ He says, Ibn Mas'ud
r.a. asked him about the greatest sin.
So the Prophet ﷺ did in fact two
things.
He gave him the categories and in each
category, the instance in that category that is
the greatest in it.
So shirk is the greatest sin and in
shirk giving a rival to Allah is the
greatest type of shirk.
There are other types of shirk.
He says, this is the greatest shirk.
Allah created you and you put an equal
to Him.
What is the next one?
He says killing.
What is the worst type of killing?
That you would kill your son.
See, you understand what he's saying?
So these are categories.
Shirk, killing, zina.
Okay, so when it comes to killing, is
it all the same?
No.
What is the worst of it?
He says that you would kill your son.
Why?
Out of fear that he will share your
food, eat with you.
So that involves what?
One, you are killing.
So that's one.
Second, you're killing someone that you're entrusted to
take care of.
Defenseless.
Allah gave him to you, He said you
take care of him.
He's 100% dependent on you.
You end his life.
The third thing is that you end his
life because of what?
Expecting the worst from Allah Azza wa Jal.
He's not gonna give me enough to feed
both of us.
I better eliminate him.
I don't have enough money to feed me
and him.
One, two, three.
That makes it the worst.
How you think about Allah Azza wa Jal,
how you deal with the closest to you
and then you kill.
That aggravates, compounds the sin.
And he says the third, zina.
There are a lot of types of zina.
What is the worst?
He says that he would sleep with his
neighbor's wife.
He commits zina with his neighbor's wife.
فَإِنَّ مَفْسَدَةَ الزِّنَةَ تَتَضَاعَفُ بِتَضَاعُ فِي مَنْ تَهَكَهُ
مِنَ الْحَقِّ Because the severity, the sin of
zina is compounded by how much you have
violated of rights around you while committing this
act.
So don't think that the same act, no
matter when and how you committed or with
whom you committed, it's all the same.
It is not the same.
It gets compounded.
It becomes more sinful based on other circumstances.
So he says, if a person commits a
zina with a woman that is married, that's
more sinful that if she's not married.
Why?
Because he has violated the right of the
husband as well.
And has ruined his household, ruined his bed,
ruined his bloodline.
And probably attached to him, because that happens,
attached to him, a son or a daughter
that is not his.
So if she's unmarried, not that it's okay
if she's unmarried.
But subhanAllah, even in the mindset of the
non-Muslims, it's worse.
Right?
When a person is married.
Not that that stops a lot of them.
But it's worse.
They understand that it's worse.
So it's rational in a sense.
So he's saying that because of the many
violations in it, that's a greater sin.
Okay?
فَهُوَ أَعْظَمُ إِثْمًا وَجُرْمًا مِنَ الْزِنَ بِغَيْرِ ذَاتِ
البَعْدِ آلَ فَإِذَا كَانَ زَوْجُهَا جَارًا It says,
her husband, she's married.
And her husband is a neighbor.
You add to the sin also, the sin
of violating the rights of your neighbor.
And he has greater rights on you than
a stranger.
So you've also compromised that.
You've also attacked someone who trusts you.
Someone who everyday comes out and says hi
to you and you say hi to him.
He's supposed to feel secure when it comes
to you and you to him.
You're supposed to help each other, right?
Because he said ﷺ, لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ
لَا يَأْمَنُ جَارُهُ بَوَائِقَةً He says, a person
will not enter Jannah if your neighbor does
not feel safe from your harm.
And you go and you sleep with his
wife, that's the greatest betrayal.
That's the greatest betrayal.
Zina.
Married woman, and he's your neighbor.
So it's not the same.
Like if she's just simply a stranger.
So that compounds the sin.
And he says, and there is nothing more
sinful than if you commit zina, types of
zina with the wife of the neighbor.
And he's saying, here kind of to bring
it closer.
He says, if a person commits zina with
a hundred women that is unmarried, that is
lighter than committing it once with a married
woman who is his neighbor's wife.
And that's why kind of one lesson that
you want to take from this is that
as a male or as a female you
need a buffer between you and your neighbor.
You need a buffer.
Whether it's a house, whether it's an apartment.
It doesn't say, oh we're just neighbors.
Hi, hi, how are you?
And you stand there for a long time
talking back and forth, back and forth, joking,
exchanging this and exchanging that.
Because the more that you talk, the more
familiar the relationship is and then less, less
barriers.
So keep a buffer.
Keep a buffer.
Because it is dangerous and this is out
of respect for your neighbor and out of
respect for yourself and out of safety.
It doesn't mean that you need to be
rude.
It doesn't mean that you need to be
unhelpful.
You could be very nice, very kind, very
helpful but respect and a buffer between male
and female.
قَالَ فَإِذَا كَانَ الْجَارُ أَخَنَوْا قَرِيبًا مِّنْ أَقَارِبِهِ
He says, if the neighbor is a relative
اِنضَمَّ إِلَى ذَلِكَ قَطِيعَةٌ رَّحِمِ فَيَتَضَاعَثُ الْإِثْمُ عَلَيْهِ
So if he's a relative also, then another
sin is the sin of severing kinship.
So that is even greater because of this.
Right?
And that is also a lesson to be
taken from that.
Some people could be very cautious when it
comes to strangers but not when it comes
to relatives.
Oh, she's just my cousin.
Oh, we grew up together since we were
little.
We're like brothers, or not brothers, like brother
and sister.
Right?
No, it's not.
But this is our culture.
Damn that culture that's gonna cause you to
commit that sin.
There's no culture that takes precedence over what
Allah Azza wa Jal wants.
It's a wrong culture.
So you have to have a buffer.
Cousin or no cousin, you have to have
a buffer.
Because if you don't have a buffer, Oh,
she's just...
No.
Right?
So, zina is absolutely serious.
And if you just slip that once with
that relative, Right?
Then the family breaks and there's no putting
it back together.
قال فإذا كان الجار غائبا في طاعة الله
He says, if the neighbor is absent performing
an obedience of Allah Azza wa Jal, like
salah, like seeking knowledge, like jihad, there'll be
even greater and greater sin.
حتى إن الزان بمرأة الغازي في سبيل الله
يوقف له يوم القيامة It's just to the
extent that if a person commits a zina
with the wife of a mujahid who's absent
doing jihad for the sake of Allah, and
jihad for the sake of Allah Azza wa
Jal, because we can't imagine it, how it
is today.
A person would be gone for months.
Right?
It's not like a quick trip and they're
back.
They go on their station and it's months
and months and months until he comes back.
And the wife is alone.
Right?
So he's saying, if a person commits a
zina with that woman and her husband is
out fighting for the sake of Allah Azza
wa Jal, the Prophet ﷺ, he says, if
that happens, قَالَ يُوقَفُ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ That
person who committed that zina with his wife
will be brought to him on the day
of judgment.
And it will be said to him, خُذْ
مِنْ حَسَنَاتِهِ مَا شِئْتْ Take as many good
deeds of him as you wish.
Take as many good deeds from him as
you wish.
So the Prophet ﷺ said, فَمَا ظَنُّكُمْ So
the Prophet said, what do you think will
happen?
Right?
So ibn al-Qayyim, he says, what do
you think will he leave him any good
deed?
If he has the power to take all
of it and he is desperate to be
saved from hellfire, and this is the time
when a father will run away from his
son, and a son will run away from
his father.
What do you think will happen?
Like if a person has that opportunity, you're
afraid of hellfire, of being punished.
And somebody comes to you and says, all
of these good deeds are available, take as
many as you want.
No one is gonna blame you.
Will he leave anything?
Just to compensate him for that harm, to
understand the severity of the crime.
So where will that person go if he
commits this act?
If he has no good deed at all,
you'll understand where he's gonna go.
قال فَإِذَا التَّفَقَى So if the woman is
a relative, also there will be severing kin
when it comes to compounding the sin.
فَإِذَا التَّفَقَى أَن يَكُونَ الزَّانِ مُحْصَنًا كَانَ الْإِثْمُ
عَظَمًا It says if that fornicator, the adulterer
is married, that's even the greatest of sin.
قال فَإِلَوْ كَانَ شَيْخَ If he's an older
man, that is a greater sin.
وَهُوَ أَحَدُ الثَّلَاثَةِ الَّذِينَ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهِ And
he's one of the three whom Allah Azza
wa Jal will not talk to them on
the day of judgment, not purify them, and
they'll have severe punishment.
Why?
If he commits a zina, and he's older,
it's a greater sin.
Because there's less of an incentive, and more
of a disgrace if he's found out.
Right?
Because usually he's established, usually he has family,
so that, and he does not have the
intensity of desire that a young man has.
So if he commits it while he's older,
his punishment or his sin is greater.
And he says if you add to it
that this should happen in a sacred month,
or a sacred town, or a sacred time
with Allah Azza wa Jal, like the times
of prayer, or the time when the dua
is answered, then sin is multiplied.
وَعَلَىٰهَذَا فَاعْتَبِرُ And with this scale, consider that
the sins will be multiplied, and they will
be compounded based on those circumstances that surround
it.
So it's not all the same.
So he could tell you, a sin on
a Friday is not like a sin on
a Sunday.
A sin in Ramadan is like a sin
outside of Ramadan.
A sin in Mecca and Medina is not
like a sin outside of Mecca and Medina.
A sin at the time of salah is
not like a sin not at the time
of salah.
A sin in the masjid is not like
a sin outside the masjid.
You follow, right?
So when there is greater incentive to obey
Allah Azza wa Jal, but you disobey, the
sin is greater.
Right?
So let me see if I just, inshallah,
just stop here, and see, inshallah, if you
have questions.
Because if you have questions, why not give
you time, inshallah, to ask them.
Fadda.
Sahih, sahih, sahih.
Sahih, sahih.
* is even worse.
Sahih, sahih.
So you're asking about really DNA evidence.
No, no.
It's not that only women, for instance, are
the ones who bear the brunt of punishment
because they are the ones who tend to
be pregnant.
It's not just simply that.
Of course, it's the most visible of the
consequences of zina.
But, you know, women can also terminate their
pregnancy very easily.
So if they are living in non-Muslim
countries, they'll never be touched.
And living in Muslim countries, they have ways
now to end the pregnancy, to terminate the
pregnancy, to claim even *, to claim whatever,
right?
If they do want to escape it.
So there are ways out.
And if there is shubha, if there is
doubt, whether she was compelled or not, forced
or not, she's not going to be killed
or punished for it unless she comes out
and she confesses and she says, yes, I
committed.
But if she claims, oh, I was forced,
oh, I was drugged, I was this and
that, she's not going to be punished for
it because there's always a shubha.
And the hudud are to be repelled or
suspended whenever there is shubha.
DNA, I think the councils, there was a
council, if I remember right, of fuqaha when
they looked at it.
And they said, DNA on its own is
insufficient to establish a crime of zina.
Because the crime of zina is not just
simply someone being guilty of it.
Because if that's the case, two witnesses should
be enough.
If you just want to establish the fact
that he did it, well, one person saw
him and he's honest and that's it.
So two people saw him.
But it is to be public enough to
cross a threshold in society and with Allah
azza wa jalla that four people would see
you.
That is what brings on the punishment.
So three is insufficient, four is only the
number that would be okay, that would be
fine with Allah azza wa jalla to administer
that punishment.
So I don't think a woman will bear
the brunt of it.
Societies could misapply, right?
And that is up to them, inshallah, to
reform how they look.
No, I mean Ma'iz came and he
confessed.
He was a man and he came and
he confessed that he committed zina and he
was stoned.
So it happened.
It's not the same incident, it's different.
He cannot, so I mean, she confessed that
she committed, she cannot accuse somebody else of
it.
Just the same with Ma'iz, he can
say, I did it, but he cannot accuse
somebody else of doing it because he will
fail to have witnesses.
So then you would open the door for
false testimony.
You could just accuse anybody.
Oh, she did this and she did that
with me, right?
I'll die fine, but at least they'll die
with me.
So your testimony against yourself is incriminating, but
not against somebody else.
Right.
I get it.
So if you witness zina, you know, between
someone who's married or between two people who
are not married to each other but married
to other people, and then you just keep
it under wraps, you know, you keep it
a secret because you don't want to destroy
their marriage.
In fact, you should actually conceal it because
you're only one witness and you're not supposed
to expose what had happened to them because
your testimony, as we were talking to the
brother, is insufficient to establish guilt.
So in that case, you have to because
if you go public with it, you'd be
punished.
How are you talking about this and you
don't have other witnesses to corroborate what you're
saying?
So no, you're going to be punished for
it.
So you keep it a secret and just
the same thing that Rasulallah ﷺ, when we
talked about Ma'iz, who came and confessed
to the Prophet ﷺ that I've committed zina.
After the incident, the Prophet ﷺ turned to
his relative who advised him to come and
confess.
خَالَ لَوْ سَتَرْتَهُ بِثَوْبِكَ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَكَ He
says, if you were to conceal him with
your own cloak, it would've been better.
Meaning rather than advise him to come and
confess and be killed because of his crime,
is if you just advise him to repent
and you conceal his sin, it would've been
better.
So when we're talking about zina, we're not
talking about exposing the individuals.
We're talking about speaking against that sin as
a practice, as an accepted way of life.
No, this is haram.
Or a person comes and admits, he says,
yeah, I'm doing it.
What's wrong with it?
We don't accept that and we tell them
what is wrong with it.
That's what it is.
If a person, you know, betrayed a mujahid
with his wife while he's absent, and on
the day of judgment, right, Allah tells him,
take whatever good deeds you want, and you're
just assuming that he has nothing, no good
deeds, right?
Which is impossible, right?
That a person really has nothing at all.
But let's suppose that he has nothing at
all, then he would do what?
Accept his sins.
He will take his sins, right?
Yeah, so I mean, so the person who
had been betrayed, right?
So you follow kind of the scenario, right?
So the person who has been betrayed, and
Allah tells him, take all of his good
deeds if you want.
He has nothing, then he'll take his sins.
Since you have no good deeds, I'll take
all my sins and give them to you.
Does it make sense?
Okay.
Okay, repeat that again, please.
There are some sins that you get killed
for, yes.
No, there's a chance that you could repent
from, of course.
So, some of these sins, a person may
never be caught, even in a Muslim environment,
right?
He may never be caught.
So that means that he's never gonna be
punished for them, meaning like this religious punishment
for them.
So what is left for him?
What's left is either for him to repent,
which is the best option, or not repent
and be punished for it, either in the
dunya or in the akhira or both.
So of course he has the chance to
repent.
And if a person is religiously punished for
him, for his sin, it takes the sin
away, right?
But if he's not, then the sin is
still on his shoulder, he's still carrying it,
and he needs to repent, if he doesn't
want to face Allah Azza wa Jalla with
it.
Does that answer your question?
Okay.
Now, go ahead.
Go ahead.
No.
Yes.
Right.
Yes.
Sahih.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So the question of the brother, which is
relevant, which is talking about, you know, how
you have public widespread sins, right, in some
or many western countries that we don't talk
against, and they are very public, very overt.
And in fact, you become at fault, you
are criticized, if you criticize it, just like
the sin of the people of Lot, alayhis
salaam.
So he says, what do we do?
Because we're not talking against it, we're not
condemning it, and it's very public, and if
the sin will come, the sin will come
and include all of us.
So what do we do to save ourselves
from that sin?
And the thing is to do your best
to condemn it.
Do your best to speak against it.
Do your best to say that it is
wrong.
Because as you said, that punishment of for
that sin, when it comes, it's not gonna
distinguish between Muslim and non-Muslim, especially if
the Muslim has what?
Lowered his head and said, that's not my
business, I'm just gonna continue to live as
long as I eat and drink, and I'm
raising my kids and I'm fine, I'm fine.
No, you're not fine.
Because that thing will infect your own family.
Right or wrong?
It will infect your own family because you
did not resist it, you didn't fight it,
you didn't say that this is wrong.
And even if it doesn't touch, you're untouched
by it in terms of that behavior.
But you will still see the effect in
society, you will not run away from it,
whether it is rising prices, or inflation, or
increased crime.
It's not gonna leave you.
And it will come gradually by the way,
it's not gonna come all of a sudden
slap.
But it will come gradually and you will
see it happening, right?
That it becomes more and more unlivable.
The order in society starts to unravel.
People start to hate each other.
Can you escape that?
You're in this society.
So what do you do?
You speak out against it, hopefully that though
we are a minority, that delays the punishment,
that could exclude you, that you could be
immune from it.
To a degree to a time where the
tide is so strong and so corrupt, you
say to yourself, salamu alaykum.
I can't continue because I think I'm gonna
die if I continue to stay here.
But until that happens, you resist.
You continue to say this is wrong.
Why this is wrong?
Even though at a cost.
But you continue to say this is wrong.
At least to say, you know what?
In our belief, in Islam, in the Quran,
in this, this is what we believe.
And this is why it's wrong.
And this is what will happen to people
if this happens.
And we're not so that you provide a
balanced, what will look like a rational approach.
We're not advocating hate.
We're not saying that you should use violence.
We're not saying this.
We're not saying this.
We're not saying that.
In fact, a lot of the people who
are doing this are actually confused about it.
And we recognize that they're confused about it.
Even some Muslims are confused about the issue.
So we realize that we need to teach.
Then we teach.
Presented this way, right?
And hopefully, you could escape some criticism, but
you're not gonna escape all of it.
But at least, it's better and easier and
safer to do this with a little bit
of harm than to let it go and
be slapped, right?
By whatever Allah Azzawajal is gonna send.
You can add.
You can, you can.
So he says, the brother is saying, can
we apply the hadith where if a person
sees a munkar, let him change it with
his hand, but if not with his tongue,
but if not with his heart.
And that is the weakest of iman.
And so, of course, all of us should
have the weakest of iman.
Meaning, that's the minimum.
Meaning, what's left behind?
What's left after that?
If you see the munkar and it doesn't
move you, you don't hate it, you don't
wish for it to go away, then, of
course, you don't have iman.
So that is the minimum that you should
have.
But, of course, Allah Azzawajal knows who and
what can tolerate, right?
Not every person's minimum is the same, right?
Some people can tolerate more.
But if all of us say, like all
of us, let's just stick to the minimum,
no one is going to talk about it,
right?
And if no one talks about it, no
one will learn about it.
And if no one learns about it, your
own children will be infected by that.
But we're not only responsible for our own
children.
These children outside, the children of non-Muslims,
the non-Muslim adults, we're responsible for them
too.
And we have to care for them.
So I'm not doing this to oppose you.
I'm not doing this to enforce it on
you because I want to take your rights
away.
This is what I believe is right.
At least listen to me.
At least let me do my job in
conveying the message.
And then if you don't want to listen,
don't listen.
But at least I need that space.
And if you value, if free speech is
so sacred, then it has to be sacred
for all, right?
At least, right?
And if it's not sacred, then let's just
confess that it's not sacred and make that
public and not pretend anymore.
I mean, he says, since there's no religious
shari' punishment, is the only qadari punishment the
only thing that is there?
Not as long as the faithful are speaking
against that sin.
And they're trying to resist it and trying
to change it and trying to change people
around them as they are changing themselves.
Not as long as they are trying.
So just like with the Prophet ﷺ, right?
And many other reformers.
They're trying their best and that is the
limit.
And Allah says that this is their limit.
لا يُكَلِّفُ اللَّهُ نَفْسًا إِلَّا وُسَأَهَا Allah will
not put a burden on people more than
they can bear.
So if they're doing their best, no, they're
excused.
The problem is that when people don't do
their best, they forgo their responsibilities out of
fear, out of just desire for safety, right?
That's what it is.
Let me say quickly inshaAllah with these questions
here.
May Allah bless you as well.
There was a story.
One of the Salaf that was jailed due
to his inability to pay his debt.
He proceeded to explain that it was due
to him looking out of prison.
Does this mean that one can be punished
with his thoughts even if he does not
repent?
So the brother is asking or a person
is asking here about it's Ibn Sirin who
once was put in jail because he due
to his inability because he mocked not mocked,
he kind of labeled a person bankrupt.
So the story really is not just a
thought that he had.
So when Ibn Sirin he said he was
put in jail.
He lost all of his money.
And he says, I know why this happened.
It happened because of a sin that I
committed 40 years ago.
I said to someone, Ya Muflis.
I said to someone, Oh, bankrupt.
So I became bankrupt after 40 years.
So the thing here is not just a
thought that a person had.
If a person just has a thought No,
Allah does not hold you responsible for it
if it's a passing thought.
If you do not act on it.
If you don't say anything.
But if you say it, if you act
on it, then yeah.
Allah Azza wa Jalla will hold you responsible
for it.
Khair, Inshallah.
So we'll pause here, Inshallah.
And we'll, Inshallah, resume next week.
Bi Ibnillah Azzawajal.
SubhanakAllahu wa bihamdik.
Ashadu an la ilaha illa anta.
Astaghfirullah.
Tawbah olaikum.
Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen.
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
Ameen.