Ali Albarghouthi – The Disease and the Cure #35 Sin is the Cause of All Evil in the World
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AI: Transcript ©
K.
So Ibnuqayim Rahim Allah,
if you remember he started talking about the
prescribed
religious punishments
and how that should make us feel in
relation to,
the severity
of Allah's
punishment, not only
the prescribed
religious one,
but the worldly destined one, and definitely the
one in the next life.
So he's still talking about that, and we
talked last time about the capital punishment,
right, the death penalty and,
the crimes
that deserve that. Now he moves very quickly
here to talk about Al Qut'uwajal,
his amputation
and flogging,
whipping.
So he said, this is
designated
for
stealing
money,
right, for stealing money.
That part that
you cannot
secure, you cannot hide your money because
the thief,
the one who will deserve,
to have his hand amputated,
does it in secret.
Also he said,
So he does it in secret,
climbs over walls,
digs through holes or tunnels through holes. He
says this is like a cat or a
snake that sneaks into your house,
steals without your knowledge. So he says,
it's not
he doesn't deserve death for it,
but at the same time
he deserves some sort of punishment.
And here it is not whipping,
it's not lashes,
but the best thing is to incapacitate,
is to
stop that limb that committed the crime and
that limb is that hand.
When he says,
he
says, whipping,
is
connected to,
corrupting of the minds and this is through
what,
alcohol.
So a person consumes alcohol,
so he corrupts the mind. This
is ripping
one's honor or reputation
by
zina accusation, so he deserves to be,
whipped because of it.
Khalafadaratul
Ghubaad. So he says the punishment of Allah
azzawajal
are of 3, the ones that we talked
about, which is what have capital punishment,
whipping, and amputation,
he says,
and al kafarat,
the acts that are done to atone, to
expiate.
So if you commit something and you want
to atone for it, he says, al kafarat
are also 3,
which is
what? Freeing a slave,
feeding, and fasting.
So he's kind of like contrasting those 3
to those 3. So if a person wants
to expiate for something that they have done
and he's gonna explain it, he says, it's
one of those 3, either free,
and enslaved person or you fast or
you feed. And he said, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he made these sins of 3 kinds.
And this by way, I mean, Ibn Khayyib
here is going on a kind of a
small tangent
and will soon insha'Allah come back to the
main topic, but as because he started talking
about
these religious punishments,
he wants, I think, to clarify, elucidate
the wisdom behind them
and how they fit within the general structure
of Islam. So he names 1, 2, 3,
and this is what happens if you do
this and this and that, and this is
why they fit the crime. They fit that
the punishment fits the crime. So he says
the sins are of 3 kinds. He says,
one where there's a had in it, it
prescribed religious punishment, and he says if there's
a had there's no kafarah.
Right? If there's had Allah prescribed that the
person is to receive this punishment in Islam,
there is no kafarah because the had is
sufficient.
The physical punishment is sufficient. He doesn't need
to do anything else on top of it,
or there is,
no had in it, but instead there is
kafara, some things that you have to do
to atone.
So he says, for instance, like sleeping or
having *
with your spouse during Ramadan, daytime.
So that's a sin you need to atone
for it. There's no had,
there's no physical punishment, but there's a kafara.
Right? And he says also like al lihar
or you know wrongly killing a person or
if you wanna break your oath,
break your promise.
So you have to atone for it, so
you have to do one of these things.
And he
says, the 3rd kind, there is no hadin,
there is no kafara. There's no specific,
physical punishment. There's nothing that you would do
to atone
because the sin is not that big. It's
harm is not that great. He says it's
of 2 kinds. One, where the deterrent is
natural,
just like he said, like eating excrement or
drinking urine.
So there is no,
physical punishment. There is no,
act of atonement. There is no kafara.
There could be tazir, as he described before
elsewhere, but there's nothing prescribed, nothing specific.
And he says the other thing which is
not as harmful, though it's still haram. He
says what is harm is not as harmful
as the other things that we've talked about.
He's saying, for instance, like the unlawful look,
the unlawful touch, the unlawful kiss, the unlawful
conversation, or stealing a dollar.
So there is no physical punishment for it.
There's nothing specific that you would do to
atone for them in the Sharia,
but there's what? There is forgiveness.
There is tawba.
There is sadaqa. There are other acts, but
they're not specific.
Right?
And that's because the harm is not as
great as the other ones. And he says
the kafarat also are of 3 kinds. The
first one is what is already permissible
and
at the time when you've done it, it's
impermissible.
Just like having * with your spouse, permissible,
during Ramadan,
daytime is what?
Impermissible. It's haram. So you atone for it.
Right? So that's one kind.
The other kind is an oath or a
promise.
Alright.
You,
promised by Allah's name that you're gonna do
this, this, this, and now you find that
you cannot do this or it's better not
to do this, then you have to have
a kafarah
to atone for the fact that you're gonna
break your promise. You're gonna break that oath,
what you promised Allah that you're gonna do.
The third one is something to compensate for
a mistake, a past mistake,
even if there is no, sin in it,
like killing someone by mistake or killing an
animal, you know, especially like during, let's say,
if you're hunting or during Ihram, you kill
them by accident, then there's something to do
to atone for it even if there is
no sin.
Then he says, walayashtamayorhadduatazirufilmasiyyah.
He says, if there is had,
and I don't know if you remember the
difference between had and tazir.
Had is
prescribed,
specific punishment.
Tazir is what? Undetermined punishment, which is left
to the judge. It says if there is
a sin
and there is had in
it, specific physical punishment, there is no tazir
cause the had is sufficient.
Right? Like if someone you're gonna cut his
hand, you just cut his hand.
If you're gonna whip him, you simply just
whip him in the sharia. You're not gonna
add anything else because this is sufficient.
And there is no hadan kafara,
there's no physical punishment and also an act
for atonement.
No. 1 or the other because one is
sufficient.
But he said it's possible for tazir and
kafara to combine. It's possible
because the tazir is lesser punishment.
So in case, right, as some said, in
case with some sense, maybe there is tazir
and you'll also be asked to also atone
for it. Anyway, this is just what a
small tangent,
so I'm just gonna I summarized it from
the words of Ibn Khayyim Rahimullah.
But now we move on back to what
he was talking about. He's saying
there are
religious
punishments and there are
destined
cosmic punishments.
And remember when we said that if you
don't apply the religious punishment, what happens?
They get transformed into
destined punishment. That is if you do not
do as Allah wants you to do, which
is to deter to punish
the sinner, the aggressor, the criminal,
and you normalize that sin or you fail
to act to stop it,
then the punishment of Allah, azzawajal, descends and
the punishment when it descends it's general, it's
not specific
to the criminal or to the sinner.
Right? So it is to everybody's
advantage
to stop that sin,
And it's to everybody's detriment if you fail
to stop that sin because once corruption
spreads,
it devours the entire society. Even if you
wanna think about it only in worldly terms,
not even in religious or other worldly terms.
If you don't stop corruption in a society,
what happens to it?
It just it's destroyed.
If you don't stop cheating and lying in
society,
disregard of its laws,
what happens to it? It breaks apart.
So if you don't stand up for justice,
you don't stand up for what Allah loves
because you think it's just easier not to
speak, easier not to act,
easier to look the other way, and it
is momentarily
easier, isn't it?
And why get into trouble with this person
and that person?
With this group and that group, with the
government sometimes? Why get in trouble with them
when you denounce
a an act,
of injustice.
Why get in trouble?
It's easy what? To live and let live.
Look the other way. If someone is stealing,
look the other way. If someone is lying,
look the other way. If there's a problem,
don't correct it.
People will like you that way. Right?
People usually dislike you if you're outspoken about
the truth,
if you say right and wrong, even if
you are gentle and nice.
So
that that kind of the benefit or the
lesson
from all of this is that if we
fail to act,
seeking
comfort,
we're ultimately
bringing the greatest discomfort
and agony to ourselves
and our families and communities.
Right? So he said, Now
he goes back now to the destined punishments.
He says,
are
of 2 kinds, those destined punishments.
Something
or a kind that affects the hearts and
the souls,
and another that affects the body and wealth.
So one that is physical
and one that is spiritual,
and both of these things are destined or
cosmic,
meaning they are divine, directly divine. Allah
sends something
to affect you.
He says, and the one that affects the
heart, these
divine punishments
that touch the heart are of 2 kinds.
1, a pain
or a disease that afflicts the heart,
something that exists.
Okay? So a disease that comes upon the
heart
or a discomfort that comes upon the heart,
just like an illness, just like a physical
illness.
It says here, to stop the supply
of what gives it life
and health.
Alright?
And if that happens, the opposite
takes place, which is it either dies or
is sick.
So you think of
a body, a physical body, just so that
we would remember this.
The body
could be sick because a sickness
visits it,
an infection.
Right?
The body is otherwise healthy,
but a sickness comes and it infects it.
It becomes sick because of it. So that's
a foreign body that comes and visits that
body.
Or that body starts to lose
its nourishment.
It doesn't eat.
Right?
It lacks vitamins
so it becomes weak.
And as it becomes weak, it becomes sick.
So either something comes and infects it
or it's losing itself.
So he says, the disease of the heart
is of the 2 kinds,
Either the thing that gives it life
starts to diminish. What gives it life?
Allah, azzawajal,
in the Quran,
and dhik, iman in general.
So when these things shrink
or the supply
dwindles,
the body becomes sick.
Or something that comes and infects the body
itself,
and you feel it. Says it's this or
that.
He says, and the punishment of the heart
the punishment of the heart is the root
of all punishments.
Right? And it's the origin of the 2
types of punishments. It's punishment for the body,
right? He says the destined punishment is either
upon the body or wealth
or either for the heart.
Right?
Tiyani,
again, so that we would remember, if Allah
decides to punish a nation or decides to
punish a person, He could make him sick,
physically sick,
or He could make his heart sick.
Right?
He could take his money away,
or he could take the richness of his
heart away so he'd become poor on the
inside, not poor physically, but poor on the
inside. Always anxious, always thinking that he doesn't
have enough.
No comfort.
So he could punish his body or punish
his heart. So Ibn Qayyim is saying, among
the two punishments, which one is the most
severe?
The heart.
Which one is the root of all punishment?
Which is what the origin of all punishment?
It's the heart.
It says in its punishment, this punishment
on the heart,
it increases
and intensifies
until it goes from the heart to the
body
as the also the heart feels the pain
of the body.
So the punishment or the pain
could flow from heart to body or body
to heart.
Right?
Now think of examples.
Now somebody could be sick
physically
and that could sadden him or depress him,
especially if that sickness
is long term,
debilitating,
is incurable.
So the person starts to feel the pain
of that illness not only in body, but
in body and spirit.
Right or wrong?
So this is one that flows from body
to heart.
He says, also it flows from heart to
body.
So someone can be anxious enough physically, he's
100%,
but anxious enough, depressed enough that he becomes
physically ill as well.
Right?
So the pain of the heart causes
the pain of the body.
And he's saying that's the most severe of
the 2.
Because if there is pain in the heart,
there is no way to stop the pain
of the body.
Right?
There is no way. If the heart is
ill, that's why he says that's the origin
of it.
That's the most severe of all of them
because if the heart is not doing well,
there is no way that the body is
doing well.
But the body may not be doing well,
but the heart may be doing well.
Right?
It's possible. Right? You think of
all the prophets of Allah alayhi wa sallahu
alaihi wa sallam who were afflicted severely physically
and tested in family members and tested in
society and community and in wealth and all
of that, yet their heart were still
healthy and well
and supplicating
and praising Allah azza wa jal. So the
heart was okay.
Actually, it could it could thrive
because of that physical pain. Right?
It could thrive and this is why also
Allah azza wa Jal destines pain sometimes
for those whom He loves
because the heart will not be able to
thrive or reach the heights of iman without
the physical pain.
Right? You think of exercise.
Exercise sometimes is painful. Right?
But why do you, or those who exercise,
why do they push their body to that
limit, to the limit of feeling pain?
Because they know that as long as what
they're doing is healthy. They know that they'll
not be able to reach that level of
fitness, physical fitness without that pain.
Are we right? You can.
Same with fasting.
Fasting sometimes could be difficult. You may experience
pain. Right?
Think about it. I'm only talking in physical
terms and even in spiritual terms.
Why do those who fast
for health,
fast despite the pain?
Because you know that you cannot reach that
level of health without some pain.
So
pain is not something to run away from.
Right?
Rain,
pain is not something to run away from.
So here when Allah, azzawajal, write, he could
afflict the body
but the heart could be strong enough that
it could, as we said, not only tolerate
the pain of the body but thrive because
of it and have greater iman because of
it. I learned that it is
a soul and a heart regardless of a
body or not.
The soul exists beyond the existence of the
body. It's greater than the body.
So that's one thing.
But as we said, it's not possible to
have a disturbed heart and then a healthy
body.
So he says,
He says, then when the soul separates from
the body and
if this being, this human being was under
Allah's punishment in both heart and body, and
the heart and the soul they separate, or
the soul separates from the body,
and Allah still wants to continue to punish
that person,
that punishment will be attached to the soul
after death, which is what happens in the
grave. So he says the manifestation
of that punishment upon the soul is the
punishment in the grave because the body is
already dead.
Right?
So this is what he is saying, Rahimahullah,
about the 2 types of punishment and it's
good always to remember that point that he
mentioned, that the severest of all pain
is the pain of
the heart.
And it's interesting also
to note
how alarmed we are
about the pain of the body
or the potential
of the deterioration
of the body
and the decay of the body,
that we do everything and we spend almost
all that we have
to safeguard the body, banal
the soul.
So when you see the focus
of humanity in general,
see how much time we spend on my
time and resources
and,
attention
on trying to
eat healthy
or at least talk about eating healthy even
if we're not eating healthy.
Supplements,
and how many 1,000,000 of dollars are being
spent on advertising and the purchase of supplements,
and eating healthy food,
and exercise,
and and and and.
What is what is this all for? Because
I wanna keep the body healthy as much
as I can for as long as I
can.
And if there is either potential of illness
or an actual illness, you rush to save
the body
and you consult and you don't mind to
pay top dollars
if
it takes that to heal the body.
So this is how we are alarmed over
the state of the body and how we
are eager to save it.
But you don't find that much attention
to the pain or to the disease of
the soul and the heart. We ignore it.
We don't take care of it. We're not
willing to sit and medicate
ourselves and hear ourselves
even though that's more important than the body
and that's more lasting than the body. So
there's actually no,
comparison
between how much money and effort we give
to the body versus the one that we
give to the soul, and it should be
the other way.
That is as you give yourself, let's say,
sometime 2 or 3 times a week to
walk or to exercise, you ask yourself, where
is the exercise of the soul and the
heart?
Where is it if you're gonna spend time
buying things for your body? He says, what
am I buying for my soul?
And if you're gonna spend time taking care
of it and going to a doctor and
consulting about, what is the state of my
health now? Why should I eat? What should
I avoid? Why don't you ask this yourself
the same things about your soul? What is
the state of my soul right now? Why
isn't it doing very well? Why is it
that I'm not doing very well? What should
I stop doing? What should I add to
my routine
so that I'm feeling better and my heart
is feeling better?
So we have to give greater attention than
the one that we are doing today to
our soul,
and we don't have to wait
till we have mental
illnesses,
and only then rush to try to understand
what is happening.
Yeah. Do I have to wait till I
am severely depressed,
or severely anxious,
or have having severe whispers whenever I wanna
do something or I cannot sleep
or I have other
instances
and other disturbances
and only then I wake up to the
fact that something is wrong and I need
to fix it. Do I need to wait
till that happens?
Do I need to suffer
first before I realize how important this is?
This is just like saying to yourself, I'll
wait till I'm sick
and then
I'll go to the doctor. Then maybe I'll
think about treatment.
Maybe then I'll take some precautions.
The problem with that is that
once you're sick you don't know if you
can be healed. Right?
You don't know if you can be healed.
You don't know if the healing is easy.
So it's easier and better
to protect yourself
rather than try to heal after an illness.
He continues,
Rahimu'lala, and he says,
It says, and the affliction of the body
is also of 2 kinds, 1 in the
duniya and 1 in the akhira.
And he says, and the severity
and longevity
of that test, of that
punishment
is in accordance with the corruption
of that sin.
How long will that punishment continue?
How severe is that punishment? It's in accordance
with the
harm that that sin had brought, with the
corruption that that person has committed.
And then he says something that is very
important and should be highlighted.
He says,
He says there is no
evil in this dunya, in the akhira,
except it's because of sin and its consequences
and its punishment.
So evil is the name of all of
this. The sin
and what it breeds.
And that is a really
insightful
observation.
He says, all the evil that you find
in the world today, where does it come
from?
Is this all of it is coming from
sin and its consequences.
Otherwise, there will be no evil
in the world today. There will be no
corruption in the world. You Allah did not
create it like that.
Of course, there'll be things in the world
no matter how righteous we are that are
not gonna be perfect. There's always gonna be
death. No one is gonna be able to
stop that.
There will be some catastrophes in the world.
Allah created the world this way and it's
part of the test of existing in this
world. These things are not gonna disappear. But
he says the level of corruption,
the level of evil that you find in
the world today, where does this all come
from?
He says all is coming from sin,
and, of course, what sin leads to.
So people typically,
when they see the world and state,
they tend to blame whom?
The divine, God.
Where is God? Why did God do this?
Why did he allow that?
But that's an escapist
stance
because you're not really looking at the true
culprit and the true culprit are those who
are sinning, are those who are committing that
sin.
And we realize that when we, you know,
look at someone who's lying,
cheating,
killing,
sinning,
and I don't mean by that the occasional
slip that no one is free from.
All of us
are prone to that. Right?
All the children of Adam are sinners.
I'm not talking about that occasional sin that
you do, you regret, you come back to
Allah
then again you may forget and then you
do and then you come back to Allah
azaujal.
That's that's the routine of the believer.
They are continuously
struggling against their impulses and the shaitan. I
don't mean those types of sins. I'm talking
about the sins that are so continuous, so
egregious
that the person is non repentant,
not regretful.
They do it and they enjoy that they're
doing it, and they do more and more,
of it without any conscience,
without without any repercussions
or consequences in their mind.
So when you look at someone,
a killer,
Right? A killer. Just to just for us
to affirm again that
in our minds, no matter what how we'd
like to protest, we blame the criminals. When
you look at someone who's a serial killer,
do you blame God or you blame them?
You blame
them. You understand that they have they are,
as human beings, have done things, have made
some choices
for which they need to be condemned. They
don't say, well, God forced them. We understand
that that's not the case. If someone steals
from you,
don't you wish to punish them? If whether
whether you punish them or not, eventually that's
one something else. But don't you feel the
urge to punish them?
And why does that urge exist? Because you
know that they made a bad choice
and they are responsible for that choice. So
if someone is continuously murdering people, you understand
that they are condemnable.
We don't say God forced them. We understand
that they're not being forced. How do we
know that they're not being forced? Because other
human beings did not make that choice.
Someone in your circumstances did not make
the choice to be as sinful as you,
but you did.
And so, Ibn Qayyim is saying here, all
the evil that you see in the world
today, where does it come from?
Some of the earthquakes,
tornadoes,
natural disasters, some of them are natural, are
gonna happen no matter what, some of them
are a consequence of human sin.
The inflation,
rise in prices,
lack of resources,
discomfort, friction between people, people not liking each
other, not tolerating each other, the spread of
crime. Where does this come from? He says,
that's the spread of sin.
And it breeds this. It's like a poison.
You throw it in a pond and the
fish start dying. What is this? Why is
this happening? It's that poison. You polluted the
pond. You polluted the water.
Now, actually,
even the water itself actually is polluted.
Why is this? Because there are some greedy
people who are polluting the water. Why? Because
they favor money over people's health. That's sin.
Who's spreading this sin in the world today?
It's people, and it's their greed,
and it's their disregard for the divine because
they don't even believe, and disregard for people.
So what he's saying here, he said, sin
is the cause of all evil in the
world.
SubhanAllah.
And if you understand this, then you understand
the treatment
of any mistake, of any problem, of any
affliction.
What's the first line of treatment?
The first prescription,
stop sinning.
That's what Muslims should convey to all of
humanity.
You can try whatever you wanna
try. And this is, by the way, in
line with the title of the book, Adahu
Ad Dawah. This is the disease and this
is the cure. Right?
So to be able to diagnose yourself but
also diagnose all of humanity.
So when we're talking to people,
we have to use that language. You know
what is wrong
with this society and that society and the
globe, it is sin. Whether you wanna see
it or not, Allah tells us this is
haram. This is a sin.
When you allow it to spread, when you
normalize it, when you approve it, when you
punish those who criticize it,
yeah,
you they punish those who criticize that sin,
then you're at war with Allah azza wa
jal. How are you gonna prosper?
So you are gradually marching towards
your doom
and we understand this and you have to
warn them about it whether they see it
or not we see it.
We see it.
And that if you wanna fix your society,
fix your families, fix your economy,
fix your politics,
fix anything,
before you tell me about anything else that
you wanna do, he says, take away sin.
Then Allah will guide you.
So he said,
sin is the origin of all evil.
Right? And subhanAllah, I mean, it's such a
simple prescription,
but we keep missing it.
Some such a simple prescription. You you want,
like, reform a society?
Stop sinning.
It's all inclusive. Stop sinning. You'll be better.
You wanna be
better as a person, feel better? Stop sinning.
Right? Simple prescription.
Just we need to remember it and remind
each other of it. So he says, and
this is
why the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam used to
seek Allah's protection
from
Sharru Nafsi was Sayyatul Aamal.
The prophet salalahu alaihi wa sallam in his
du'a in hootbatul Hajah.
And we seek Allah's protection from the evil
of ourselves
and
the sins of our deeds.
Right?
And he says,
Rahimahullah
here.
No. And he says Rahimahullah here. What is
the meaning of woman sayiati a malina? So
he says, we seek Allah's refuge from the
evil of ourselves. So there's an evil in
us or an inclination to do evil in
us.
So we have an inclination to do good.
And we have also what? A desire, a
weakness, a temptation, an inclination to do evil.
Right?
We have this inclination and we have that
inclination. So when he's standing in the khutbah
alayhi salatu wa salam, and he is teaching
this to everybody who is listening. He says,
we Allah, you Allah, protect us from the
evil that exists within.
And then the evil of the deeds that
we commit.
And then the evil of the deeds is
in Al Qayyim. What does it mean here
by the evil of the deeds? He says
it either means the bad deeds that we
do
or the consequences
of our bad deeds, and he says it
could be in both.
The bad deeds that we do the sins.
And what's the consequence of that sin?
Punishment.
So, yeah, Allah protect us from the evil
that is within, and that if we do
a sin,
protect us from its
consequence
or protect us from that sin altogether.
So we don't do it.
So it says that is the origin of
all evil
and subhanAllah
it begins with us,
not with blaming other people.
Right?
Because I cannot blame another before I fix
myself,
before I rid myself, before I strive to
rid myself
of the evil that is within and the
evil that I do.
And I know that I am also responsible
and I know that I need Allah azza
wa jal to save me from it. So
it's not that I am blameless and I
am good and I am righteous and everybody
else is
a criminal.
No. No. I need to acknowledge
and I need to be humble and I
need to ask Allah Azarjar for protection. But
he says if a person is protected from
this, he's protected from all evil.
Right?
And he said,
woman dua'il manaika, he says, the angels also,
they make du'a
for the believers, and this is in Surat
Qafir.
And he says where they say,
He says, and save them from sin.
For indeed, the one that you saved from
sin at that time,
you are merciful with.
If you save them for sin,
you
have showed them mercy.
So he says, what does it mean here
to say and save them from sin? He
said, it's the same thing.
Save them from committing a sin
or save them from the consequence
of that sin that they committed,
or both of them.
And if that's the case, then they will
be saved completely.
So they don't commit a sin, janiyah Allah,
save me from committing a sin altogether.
Or if it happens that I do, save
me from its consequence in the duniya and
in the akhira.
And by that, you are saved from all
evil.
And he said,
wikayatusayat,
as he said, wikayatu fee'iliha,
wikayatujazayha.
So you don't do it and you are
not
punished for
it.
And he said,
in fact, the whole aya, because he explained
a bit
of that entire aya, and one before before
and one after. He said,
those who carry the throne of Allah and
those who are around him,
they glorify Allah,
believe in him, and they ask Allah to
forgive the believers,
and they say, Rabbanawasayatakula
shayirrahmatawa'ilma.
You Allah, you've encompassed
everything
in mercy and in knowledge,
meaning your mercy and your knowledge is inclusive
of all.
So he said here, Rahimahullah.
Right?
It says before they made dua to Allah,
a zawjal, they pleaded with Allah
by indicating
the inclusivity
and how encompassing, all encompassing
his knowledge and his rahma is. Meaning, you
Allah, you know all and you are merciful
with all. So what he's saying here,
He says Allah's all encompassing knowledge
includes knowledge that that he knows their sin
and why they have sinned, and their weakness,
and how their enemy is able to overseas
them, meaning the shaitan, and how that they
have desire and they have nature, and how
they are attacked,
attached to the duniya. And he also knows
them, how he started
their creation from this earth.
And when they were,
fetuses and then infants and fetuses,
and also his knowledge that they must disobey
him, and that he loves forgiveness,
and he loves mercy.
All of this, he says, that's his vast
knowledge. So he knows them inside out.
So, you Allah, as if they are saying,
you Allah who knows all of this about
them,
be fully merciful with them.
So Allah
knows all and Allah is merciful with all.
And it's interesting, subhanAllah, as others have remarked,
is that the more that you know the
more merciful you should be.
Because that is the trait or the, quality
of Allah
He is all knowledgeable
and he is all
merciful.
So the more that you know about yourself,
about the sharia, about people,
the more merciful you will be with them.
Because you know their weakness
and you'll be closer and closer
like Allah Azzawajal,
loving of mercy and loving of forgiveness, not
punishment.
Allah loves that more than punishment.
So you'll be like Allah. You'll try to
be more and more like Allah's,
attribute
of the forgiving and the merciful.
So,
He says, Allah's vast mercy includes what?
It says no believer would perish
with Allah Azza wa
Jal. No pea no believer will lose
with Allah a. As long as Allah loves
you and you love him, you'll never lose.
You will always win. You'll always be merciful.
You'll always come on top. Right?
Only the miserable
choose to exit from the mercy of Allah,
azza wa
Jal. Right?
He says, there's no one more miserable than
the one who gets himself excluded
from that mercy that includes everything.
You understand what he's saying? He says, the
mercy of Allah, azzawajal,
is so vast that everything is in it.
What have you done
to drive yourself out of Allah's mercy?
He says, then you must be the most
miserable person then.
Only the one who
desires
to perish would perish with Allah azza wa
Jal. Like what?
Like what the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam
said,
a good deed is multiplied how many times?
10.
And the 10 could be multiplied to how
many times?
700 and more. And the bad deed is
written as what?
As one. And that could be easily forgiven
if a person ask Allah for forgiveness and
he repents.
He says, with all of this, with all
of this math, how do you end up
in *?
And it's actually the the scales tipped are
tipped in your favor. It's not one to
1. Right? It's like you go to school
and someone said
for instance, if you score if you score
1,
I'll make it 10.
If you score 10, I'll make it 700.
And if there is one bad
answer,
you can come back and correct it.
How do you fail?
How? You can't fail. Right? With that formula
in school, you cannot fail. Does that make
sense to you? You cannot really fail. So
how do people fail with Allah Azza wa
jin? That's his that's his vast mercy.
Like everybody should be going to Jannah.
But how is it that a lot of
people don't go to Jannah, they go to
hellfire? What is it that we are missing?
So there is a lot that had distracted
us, a lot that had stolen us and
taken us away from Allah, azza wa jal.
So even the little bit of good that
we can do, we're not doing.
And even that repentance that could take away
all those sins and that forgiveness could erase
our bad deeds, even that we're not doing.
That that is incredibly regrettable that a person
could be offered that great opportunity from Allah
to fix himself, to save himself and those
around him and he doesn't take advantage of
it and they end up being punished. In
the akhira, yes, and before it even in
the dunya.
You look at the world today,
tell us are we righteous? Are we good?
Are we pleasing to Allah Azawajal? Are we
being blessed or punished? Just look at our
state.
Are we being blessed?
We're being punished.
Right?
Collectively, globally, we're being punished.
In Muslim countries, what is happening? Are we
being punished or blessed?
Punished.
What's happening?
Where are our minds?
Where are our priorities?
Why is it that we favor Allah's punishment
over and Allah is reminding you and the
punishment is not as severe?
Why is it that we favor the punishment
over
the blessings of Allah Azza wa Jal? Right?
So he said,
Arrahima Allah,
he says that they made dua, You Allah
Azzawajal.
You have encompassed everything in terms of knowledge
and mercy,
so forgive those who have repented and followed
your path
and save them from the punishment of hellfire.
So here understand that
supplication of the angels angels is restricted for
those who have repented and follows Allah followed
Allah past.
Yes, Allah's mercy encompasses all, but that forgiveness
is for whom?
Those who have taken steps towards Allah azza
wa jal. And if you repent,
an angel is making dua for you.
And if you follow Allah's path, an angel
is making dua for you.
So you have support
even if it feels like you're alone, you
have support. Allah is telling you about this
to understand that you have support
And you may enter
Jannah
because of the du'a of the angels.
You may be guided in this dunya because
of the du'a of the angels, because of
their intervention.
Some people will be taken from hellfire
because of the intercession of the angels.
So Allah is telling you, you have support.
So,
Admit them into Jannah and also their families
with them, the righteous families.
Meaning don't separate them from their loved ones.
Bring their loved ones also with them if
they are righteous.
Then he said,
You are Al Aziz Al Hakim.
And said, they have attached those two names
to indicate Allah's complete power and Allah's complete
wisdom. Al Aziz, you Allah, you are the
one with full power,
and you are the one who is Al
Hakim, with full wisdom.
So everything that you do is emanating from
your complete power and wisdom because when you
are completely powerful and wise you do whatever
you want, but you do it in the
right way. So, Allah, we ask you because
you have all power and also all wisdom
to do this.
And he said,
Fedembu, he says, going back to the point
that he initially made,
that the punishment of sins are religious
or destined,
they are
affecting of the they are affecting the heart
or affecting the body,
they are in the afterlife or in the
grave or before it in the dunya.
It says, with all of this, remember,
fathambulayakhloominuqhubatinilbata. It says
that
sin
must bring punishment.
There's always punishment
attached to sin. Walakinlijahili
abdila yasharubimahuwafihiminalukhubat.
It is because but because of a person's
ignorance,
he doesn't feel the punishment.
He says whatever sin a person commits,
no matter what,
it must bring
punishment.
It must bring some pain and some affliction
to it.
It must
he says, but because of a person's ignorance
and numbness,
he says, they don't feel it. He says,
this is like someone who is intoxicated,
drunk,
or someone who is numb because of drugs,
or someone who is asleep, doesn't feel the
pain, but when you wake up you feel
it.
So people are asleep
or people are drunk, so you don't feel
the pain.
But sometimes it doesn't manifest itself,
right?
It does
you're fine, you have enough food, you have
enough water,
I mean, you have a house, you have,
but you're not happy.
Why? Because you're supposed to have everything here.
That people struggle
to secure the basics.
You have the basics and more, and not
only more, you could go buy a lot
of things that you desire. You could travel
if you want. Maybe you're not the richest
but you're doing well enough, but you're not
happy,
and you're suffering,
and you're
discontented with everything around you, that's a manifestation
of it.
That's a manifest otherwise you should be feeling
feeling well,
you should be grateful.
So that dissatisfaction
is a manifestation of missing something,
and maybe of that pain that you're feeling.
So he says, fataratubaluqubati
aladunubikataratubalihirakhi
alin nar. He says,
the consequences
of sins, which is pain,
is like a consequence of fire, which is
burning.
As there must be burning when there is
fire, there must be pain when there is
sin.
Or must be something must something must break
when you try to break it. Right?
Or
drowning with water. He says, like, there's just
cause and effect, cause and effect, cause and
effect.
So in the dunya, if there is cause,
the effect must follow.
In your mind, that's it. You have a
knife, you try to cut something with it,
it cuts. You're not surprised when it cuts.
Right?
It cuts. You try to break something breakable,
you break it and it breaks. You're not
surprised when it breaks.
Cause effect. Cause effect. This is as you
see physical cause and effect and it does
not surprise you, in fact, it would surprise
you if it doesn't happen,
is it the same thing with cause and
effect. Sin and pain, sin and pain, sin
and affliction, they must follow. If you don't
see it, it's just you're blind to it,
but it's happening.
It is happening.
He says, and that pain or that hardship
or that punishment
could accompany the sin, could be delayed for
a little bit or after a while,
just like an illness sometimes,
could be delayed after its causes were introduced,
could be immediate,
right, depending on the cause.
It says,
a common mistake
a common mistake that people make is that
they commit a sin or they see a
sin
and they don't see the consequence of that
sin immediately.
And he does not know that the consequence
is gradual,
is incremental,
is slow,
just like a poison or anything harmful that
is corrupting a body. It takes a while,
but it's really doing harm.
You catch yourself
after that sin
with medicine
and expelling
harm
and fasting,
you'll be fine. Otherwise, you will perish.
It says, this is the case if there
is just one sin.
If you and you fail
to treat it, that's the consequence.
What about if there's one sin after the
other and you ignore them?
So what he's saying here is also something
to keep in mind,
which is
a person
may commit a sin
and see the consequence immediately,
or they commit a sin and
they don't see a thing.
And what's happening either that the consequence is
coming,
but it will may take some time,
or it's happening and you don't you don't
realize
it. And that lack of realization
is the most dangerous thing
because if you realize you're being punished, at
least you could wake up. Right?
At least you could relate a to b
and say, and this has happened because of
that. Let me ask Allah to forgive me.
Let me repent. At least that will scare
you.
You do something and you get into an
accident and you can relate the 2,
that will frighten you. Right?
And that actually would be something good because
then you will learn a lesson from it.
But if you see no consequences
or you are blind to them, you'll think
that you've escaped
or nothing is gonna happen, or that you
are special, or that you are forgiven,
and that is a catastrophe.
So he's saying that, no, no, no, don't
think. Think again.
It must have an effect.
You're just not feeling it. And maybe its
effect is like small doses of poison,
and they are being injected into your body,
and you're changing because of it, and you
are dying because of it, but you don't
realize it, and you will not realize it
until
it's too late. So don't think it
can be escaped.
That
is something to keep in mind. Right?
Let me see.
Khalafastahdirbaadaluqubaad.
He says, so think about I think I
will stop here, insha'Allah, just to look at
some of your questions.
And
there was a statement from some,
some of the Salaf reported from Benu Israel
and I will make that insha'Allah
a connection to what we'll be talking about,
bi'nillah Azzawajan, next week.
Some of the scribes of Benu
Israel, he said, You Allah, come asiqa wallato
aqibuni. He says, You Allah,
how many times do I sinned, do I
disobey you and you don't punish
me? Kind of he's having this conversation
with Allah azza wajal.
He says, so Allah revealed to some of
the prophets of Banu Israel who was alive
then he says go and tell him how
much do I punish you and you don't
realize it?
How much do I punish you and you
don't realize it? Did I not take from
you the sweetness of conversing with me?
The sweetness of talking to me?
Alright? Did I not take that away from
you? But you didn't see that as a
punishment.
Alright?
So the fact that
you could lose
reading the Quran,
You could read it,
but now you can't.
Or you could lose,
coming to the masjid.
Or you could lose what else?
Fasting,
if you had a habit of fasting.
Or you could lose dua,
or you could lose dhikr.
He says, that, I took it away from
you.
I didn't even realize I took it away
from you, and he didn't even realize that
that was a punishment.
You're being punished but he didn't see it.
So, subhanAllah,
the fact is that there there could be
a punishment. We could be punished right now,
but you don't see it.
And that requires, of course, we're pleading with
Allah a zawdul to forgive us our sins
and their consequences
so that the punishment would go away,
and if our path is blocked, it'd be
unblocked.
If our connection to Allah, azza wa Jal,
is suffering it would be restored,
and whatever that punishment may be it would
go away.
So it's good to be terrified at the
prospect of being punished for a sin,
and for that not to make you
paranoid,
but to make you obsessed about asking Allah
for forgiveness.
There's a difference between the 2.
A person could go paranoid, this is a
punishment, this is a punishment, this is punishment,
is this a punishment or not, is this
punishment or not? And they could live
in this,
downward spiral of everything is a punishment,
and they could lose hope.
That's not what we're advocating.
That's not the proper reaction
because you know the medicine. What's the medicine?
Stop your sin, ask Allah for forgiveness,
repent,
do good,
you'll come out of it. So don't be
stuck.
Right? Is this a punishment? Am I being
punished? Am I being punished? Suppose it is.
Then what?
Come out.
Don't be stuck.
And the way to come out is
all the things we talked about.
Then you could save yourself, bayanilla, azzuraj, and
save your family.
So be obsessed with what? Asking Allah for
forgiveness and
then Allah will give you power,
bayanilla, and save you and save us all
from that, bayanilla, Azawajal. Let me know insha'Allah
if you have questions.
Mhmm.
Mhmm.
Overseeing?
Oh, okay. Overseeing.
So the part about the heart, can a
heart reach a level where it can no
longer
feel
or see
because of over sinning? And of course it
can, and that it would be the dead
heart.
And we'll talk about that Insha'Allah
next week, bi'nillah Azza Wajal,
different types of hearts and the heart of
the hypocrite and the heart of the disbeliever.
So if the heart is completely sealed,
it doesn't know right from wrong anymore, it
doesn't feel anymore, it doesn't see,
it doesn't,
ponder,
or,
is changed by Allah's reminders. So it's a
completely dead heart, just like a dead body.
What is the difference between,
punishment and a trial?
In one sense, they are the same, right?
They are the same,
because
if you are being punished, you're being tested.
There is
almost
no affliction,
no hardship that comes to us except it's
because of some sin that we have done.
So in one sense you could think about
it
as a form of punishment,
but that punishment
is not intended
to destroy,
but to remind.
Right? To bring life back to the person.
And so it tests him that way.
Will he submit to Allah's decree? Will he
return to Allah Azzawajal? Will he ask for
his forgiveness? So, in that sense, it's a
trial.
And it's also in that sense also because
of its previous
sin that caused it, it's a punishment.
Trial could also be, what,
with some good things in life.
So children could be a trial,
money could be a trial, something that tests
you. So that's not a punishment,
but it's a trial. But a person, if
they misuse it,
then it could turn into a punishment,
you see?
So this is kind of how we could
talk about these things especially in the English
language which is not precise
Islamically. Right? So as we translate, we do
our best.
No. Then if a person is unable to
pay the kafarah or perform the kafarah, it
drops.
So he's not able to fast, he cannot.
Then he doesn't. He's not unable to give
the sadaqa,
he doesn't.
So it just falls. And this is not
what happened with the Prophet, alaihis salatu wa
sallam, time when a person,
came
and he had
had slept with his wife during
the days of Ramadan, and the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam offered him, can you free
a slave? No, I cannot. Can you fast
60 days? No, I cannot. Can you give
sadaqa for 60,
people? No, I cannot.
And then he said, wait. And then somebody
came with sadaqa
and he gave it to the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam. Then the prophet gave it to
this man and he said, go and gave
this as in sadaqa for your kafarah.
He said, to whom, oh prophet of Allah,
there's no one poorer than I am. He
said, just take it.
Right? So it kind of drops. If there's
inability, it drops.
Meaning if you're unable to do the kafar,
do sadaqa instead? Yeah. So do what you
can. So if you're unable for instance to
fulfill,
Allah's specific commands in terms of either fasting
or,
or freeing a slave is gone, fasting or
a specific,
feeding
or clothing of people, you're unable to do
this but you could do
something
less. So you do that with the intent,
Yeah Allah, I'm just doing my best.
And that goes also for other sins as
well. Since when there is no specific kafarah,
but you want Allah to forgive,
then you could also give sadaqa with the
intent, I want Allah to forgive this. So,
yeah. It can do that insha'a. Yeah. Saldali.
Okay. So just the last part. Can you
read the last part? Can we say you
say? Can you say what?
Okay. Okay.
Okay. So he's saying that maybe the the
young, the youth are not attracted to the
mosques. They don't come to the mosque because,
let's say there's greater emphasis on talking about
hellfire
versus
heaven and Allah's mercy and all of this.
So,
Allahu Adam, it's it's hard for me to
assess
this generally, like, I mean, how many masjids
and how many scholars and how many countries
and is that the case or not.
I can maybe partially agree,
especially in the olden
days, more than more than it is today.
I don't think that that's the case today.
Today, if you go to the masjids and
if you listen to Khutbat al Jum'ah and
stuff, people are not really talking about hellfire
and the punishment and stuff. They're trying to
pull people and bring them together.
Bring them, together and bring them to the
masjid. But I think maybe once upon a
time maybe that was the case, or in
some,
communities or in some cultures maybe that's the
case when there's greater emphasis on hellfire and
punishment.
And you hear that sometimes when,
children
rightfully or not, but they complain about how
they've been raised and introduced to Islam, introduced
to Islamic practice.
Pray or Allah will punish you. Fast or
Allah will punish you. So it's always about
the punishment.
It's nothing about the incentives of, okay,
you're fasting because
this is good for you, or that you're
fasting because Allah loves that, and Allah will
love you, and you will love Allah, how
prayer is a connection between you and Allah,
Azza Jannah. That part I think I would
agree with. We don't emphasize the other side.
The other side of Allah's love, Allah's mercy,
the things that
entice you rather than scare you. And I
think that's the case.
But there are other things also why, you
know, probably the youth are not as attracted.
Sometimes
today,
maybe a topic for another time, insha'Allah, but
I think
generally the world today
because it's so liberal
and it is light on punishment and discipline,
you'll find that there is a pushback now.
And some of the youth actually, right, are
turning to
stricter interpretations
of religion
because they're sick of that liberal,
where everything goes and there's no line and
there's no discipline and no borders. So we'll
see we'll see where that goes, Wallahu Alaihi.
Let me read the question here.
How do we totally break away from the
punishment of past sins? Does repentance erase the
punishment or consequence of the sins?
Yes, it does. Because some sins would delay
punishment. So if Allah, azzawajal, forgives a sin,
he forgives it and its,
consequences.
So if you want Allah, azzawajal, to protect
you from something that was done in the
past and anything that come from it,
ask Allah for forgiveness,
and keep doing it.
So repent and keep repenting
and do other things. It's not just simply
a declaration, I repent from it, but if
you're really worried about something
you will add
actions to guarantee
that forgiveness.
So we talked about sadaqa.
So we're worried about a sin gift sadaqa.
You're worried about sin make dua.
You're worried about sin make greater deeds, especially
ones that correlate to that particular sin that
you are worried about. And keep doing this
so Allah, azza wa jal, will shield you
from
that sin and its effects. So if you're
worried about it, keep doing that, and if
Allah forgives 1, he will forgive it and
what comes from it.
Mhmm.
So the brother is asking, says we've mentioned
a few weeks back
that
when you sin, one of the consequence of
that sin or his punishment is that Allah
could take away sin,
blessings from you. You could lose some blessings
because of a sin.
He says, is it possible that the opposite
could happen as well, which is that because
of your sins you are blessed?
Right? This is, yes, it could happen, but
if a person has reached that stage
he's being punished without being realized, without realizing
it. So if a person, let's say, he
steals or cheats or,
swindles people
and he's getting richer and richer,
and he's finding greater and greater success,
what do we say to this? He's being
what?
Punished.
Those then are not blessings.
But this is what is called istidraj.
He's being led on, he's being deceived,
he's being given more. By the way, it's
not, you know, that this is undeserved. No.
Allah azza wa jal, if this happens to
someone, Allah must have sent him messages to
wake up.
Right? You don't get led on like this
if you don't deserve it. What being led
on is what? You resist Allah azza wa
jal. You resist all of Allah's messages, all
of His commands.
You insist stubbornly upon disbelief or sin. Right?
You insist, this is my choice. This is
what I want to do. And once you
do that and Allah, azza wa jal, is
done with you,
he says now take what do you want.
What do you want? More money, more power,
more fame? You take more of it so
that you would continue to do greater sins.
So you're blind to your own mistakes.
That is what being led on means. Until
you arrive at your own destruction, which you
are walking towards willingly,
but you're blind to it. So yes, it
can happen. Allah mentions that in the Quran,
you know, in one more than one place
is that when they rejected Allah we bless
them.
Until they thought that, oh, we're just blessed
and what had happened to us before, the
trials and the adversities, this is just normal.
You know, people experience
adversities and that they can over it.
And this is normal. Now we're being blessed,
he says, until Allah
destroys them completely and utterly.
So, yeah, blessings could come because of sin.
No.
So the short answer is I do not
know,
but I'll just let me repeat your question.
So the brother is asking, is there a
basis for
the saying that the more righteous you are
the more immediate,
your punishment is, whereas if you are less
righteous
the punishment might be delayed?
Now I don't know or remember anything at
this point to testify to this, to say
that this is true or not. So, Allahu'alam.
So if I think of something, insha'Allah, I
will answer that question next week,
there might be
something
that
this could make sense in the sense of
Allah, Azzawajal,
loves a person so much. Right? That's why
he is righteous. He wants him to realize
his mistakes. So he wakes him up by
punishing him, whereas the other person,
may not receive that favorite treatment. Possible, but
I have to, Insha'Allah, seek, evidence for it
to Allah.
Okay. So
what what type of good deeds that you
can do to correlate with a sin that
you have done? For instance, if you, of
a person, stole money to give sadaqa,
if a person used to cheat people, he
advises them,
or he helps them,
if he used to take something to give
something like that to people. So something that
kind
of corresponds to to it, so that the
damage that was done can be nullified also
by some of these deeds, if that's possible.
If they you cannot,
then whatever is available. But I'm saying especially
if there's some sort of correspondence.
So let's say, for instance, when they said
about reba backbiting a person, one of the
ways that you could repent from that is
by praising that person. So it's similar to
the mistake or to the offense.
So something, if you can think
of good deeds that correspond, then great. If
not, if it's not available, then whatever is
available.
Let me read this insha'Allah, then we'll stop.
How do I know if something is a
sign or a punishment? Meaning,
they're not exclusive. Yani, Allah Azzawajal could say
could be sending you something,
as a punishment and as a sign as
well. Right?
The thing here insha'Allah
is to
pray and ask Allah, Azza wa Jal.
Is it, Yeah, Allah Azza wa Jal, do
you want me to do this or do
you want me to do that based on
all the things that are happening to me?
The best thing insha'Allah first is to make
du'a and ask Allah, Azza Jajal, to clarify
the matter for you. And the next thing
insha'Allah ask the people around you,
what is more pleasing to Allah? If I
do this or if I do that? Then
you will know insha'Allah, be itnillah. And if
Allah wants you to know it, you're gonna
know it, be itnillah, a sujal.
Ta'eem insha'Allah. Jazakumullah khair. We'll see you be
itnillah azza wa jal next week. Subhanakum wa
bihamdik.