Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #011 Heaven and Hell Swimming in Knowledge
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AI: Transcript ©
The messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be
upon him, encouraged us to strive for uprightness
by seeking assistance in the early mornings, late
afternoons at and something of the depths of
the night. From this tradition, the scholars made
it a habit to briefly read text of
religious guidance in the late afternoon and often
term such readings the daily.
The term refers to the late afternoon, but
also to a time of rest from worldly
toils and reinvigoration of one's spirit.
In this day, Sheikh Harazrabani will be covering
2 texts, Imam Zarnunji's primer on the etiquette
of seeking knowledge,
and Imam Youssef An Nabhani's beautiful collection of
40 sets of 40 prophetic hadith.
We're
continuing to look at the 40 hadith
collected by
Sheikh Youssef and Nabhani.
And we need to still look at hadith
number 15.
And then we'll be looking at hadith number
17
18
today.
So hadith number 15,
This is related by Sayedna Anas.
The
personal attendant, the khadim of Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, was in the prophetic household,
from when he was a young boy.
Once the prophet
entered Medina, he was in the service of
the prophet
He relates from the prophet
that Allah most high says,
So
Allah most high says,
the
lightest
of the people of the fire in in
punishment,
if
you would have
all
of what is on earth.
Right,
and you were to make it ransom
for
them to be saved from even the lightest
punishment of the fire, they would say yes.
Right? If someone could have everything
that exists on earth,
you would give it away
to be
saved from even the lightest punishment of the
fire.
That's how grave punishment is. But then Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and what I've asked
for you is much easier than that.
From when you were in the loins of
Adam.
Right?
That do not associate
any partners
with me.
Do not associate any partners
with me.
But you have refused except to associate partners
with me.
And the association of partners,
there is the absolute association of partners,
the
which is to actually
believe in a God besides Allah
The but there is
what one what can what one can call
latent shirk,
which is not shirk itself.
It is not
that which takes you out from being a
believer.
But
it goes against
what is entailed by divine oneness.
Right? Anything that goes against
what is entailed by divine oneness
in
in one's
living
is a type of latent
Is a type of latent
So
and this returns to the to many qualities
of the heart. Right?
Because
if you believe
that Allah is 1
in his entity, and in his attributes, and
in his actions,
then from his attributes
is that he is
the
that he is characterized by both absolute will
and absolute power. And affirming Allah's will and
power entails believing that everything is in the
hands of Allah.
That none no one has will and power
like the power will and power of Allah.
So therefore,
that of course, from
knowledge, power comes belief in destiny.
So
if you believe that someone can benefit you
or harm you besides Allah, that is latent
shirk.
Now that's not it doesn't have to be
a point of belief in that I believe
But if you behave like that,
then that is latent shirk.
If you believe anyone can benefit or harm,
give or take.
Everything
depends upon
so and so coming through. No. Everything depends
upon Allah.
And it's not about what what how you
phrase it. Right? But
the qualities of the heart. Right? The the
early Muslims, many of the great early imams,
amongst them, for imam in
his collection,
when he talks about the branches of faith
related
to belief.
He talks about the things we believe in,
but then he talks about hope and fear,
reliance and trust,
etcetera.
These are all
these are the qualities
that are entailed by believing in the oneness
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. That Allah is
one in his entity, one in his attributes.
So if one believes in the encompassing knowledge
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, for example,
then
one
would
have 1 would have sufficiency in the knowledge
of Allah.
That if you did the right thing or
try to do the right thing as best
you could, and then people say what they
say,
it doesn't matter because one finds sufficiency in
the because on the day of judgment,
they're not gonna stand.
Right?
So let's say you started,
you know, a project
to feed the homeless,
and it got charitable status and became very
successful. Say, oh, he just did that to
make some free money on the side.
That's not why you did it. So but
you you don't find any.
You're not roiled, you know, by these things.
And of the most there's many types of
latent shirk. The prophet referred to it as
a as well. There's
explicit shirk, and
there's hidden shirk.
Some refers to
the greater shirk, and as shirkul asar, the
lesser shirk.
Amongst
the there's many aspects of what is lesser
shirk.
One of them, of course, is
is showing off, is doing things for other
than the sake of the pleasure of Allah.
And has
levels
has levels.
Because there's explicit there's showing off in religious
matters, that's the domain of Allah, and that's
inviolable. If you do anything
that is meant to be done for the
sake of Allah directly, it's the acts of
worship.
But the acts of worship are not just
the ritual acts of worship.
It it is our worship,
our
ritual our formal acts of obedience,
but also knowledge and
are
from what is
from that. Right? Everything that falls on directly
under deen.
Right? Those things
in those is destructive.
Whereas,
if
some random
brother called Jack
wanted to get a better car than his
intended Jill,
Ria
and Duniaui matters itself is actually not even
haram. You want to show off? I wanna
show Jill I have a better car than
her. Is that haram?
It's actually not haram in itself.
It could be haram because then Jill, he
didn't realize Jill's father was really wealthy.
He says, okay.
She goes and buys a limited edition,
custom made, whatever kind of car.
Then he then he gets feels malice towards
her, forgets about marrying her. He's gonna, like,
you know and then it can result in
sin.
But knowing these qualities, these are all these
qualities of the heart, they're connected with
shirk. Right? They're connected with shirk.
But the person is not a mushrik. And
what problem is, there's a lot of people
making accusations
of shirk.
But shirk itself relates to someone who worships
other than Allah,
who accepts a God besides Allah.
Right? All the other qualities of shirk are
weaknesses in faith. Weaknesses
in
the faith is a seed that is rooted
in the heart, that seed has a tree
that emerges from it. That tree has branches.
If the branches of faith are not manifest,
this tree is deficient. If its fruits are
lacking, it is deficient.
But some of these are diseases affecting the
tree of faith, and those diseases
are the lesser shirk. And the danger of
the lesser shirk is that it can can
corrupt the whole tree and
not only
can it become
bereft of fruit and shade, but it can
actually die.
Right? So it's very dangerous, which is why,
for example,
when it comes to knowledge,
say that Hassan al Basri said,
The punishment for the people of knowledge
is the death of hearts.
Says,
Says, how is the death of a heart?
How do hearts die?
And he says,
by seeking
worldly matters,
by actions that are
for the next world.
Right?
So that's something that one needs to be
careful of. And this is why
that's how we understand
hadith like this that
all I've commanded you is do not associate
partners with me. It's a deceptively simple command.
Right? At one level, okay, I believe,
but that belief
has consequences.
And those consequences,
going against those consequences,
some of that counts as If
you
act
contrary to the what it entails by Allah
being the giver, the taker, the knowing, etcetera.
These are latent shirk.
Right? Which is why the prophet
counsel was to Ibn Abbas, if you ask,
ask only Allah. If you rely, rely only
on Allah. Right? And that hadith serves as
a reminder of this, which is why
some of
the early Muslims when they're asked what is
the spiritual path,
he said the spiritual path itself is all
shirk.
And the questioner was completely shocked.
It was meant to shock. He said, because
anything whose goal
is perfected
is complete tawhid,
then the whole path to it,
there remains some shirk.
And because what is
what is
what is the state of Ihsan?
It's perfection. Ihsan is Iqbal and Iqan. It's
completing and perfecting. What do you complete and
perfect? Faith and what it entails.
It's
perfecting and completing and perfecting
faith itself and what faith entails.
And until you've done that,
there
are latent elements of shirk. You're still in
an LMS state. Right? There's or whatever it
is. Latent, l e s. Right? Latent elements
of shirk.
And this when the ulama meant exactly what
they said, there's a great treatise which is
available in English.
It's a very high treatise, but it's by
Wali Ruslan Dimashbi.
It was published by Al Baaz Publishing, very
ably translated by Mukhtar Holland
with a couple of commentaries on it because
the text itself requires explanation.
It's called
by,
a treatise concerning divine oneness. It's a very
brief work,
but it's deep.
Right? But
but it begins
with a call to attention. Because ever a
lot of people become complacent. The spiritual path,
well, I'm doing my weird.
I'm doing this. I'm doing this. And guess
what? I'm doing this. So it's all like,
you know, their their zikr is not their
weird
or their spiritual works. It's I. I am.
I am. I am.
K? So sometimes people need like a high
level
reminder.
So
begins his text,
your entirety
is hidden
shirk. And divine oneness will not be
manifest to you.
Until you leave
by him yourself.
So that you are by him and not
by yourself.
Right? So this is that's all that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is calling for.
One thing.
Right? One thing. Everything else that we do
are all means to that. What does it
entail
to uphold that one meaning? That's what the
messenger
is. Right? He is
the
manifestation
of what it means
to be
one
with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Right? To be
completely
Allah's.
So that's a little
but it also tells us so the hadith
tells us on 2 parts. Right? The the
the least punishment
of the people of *, and this is
not even the punishment for
the disbelievers. This is for those who commit
sin or whatever. The least thing that they
could be punished for, if they were
I
just
so
they
don't
they're
not
punished
for
that one
I just so they don't they're not punished
for that one sin, the the least sin.
The least thing that falls from being
to being in the category of haram.
Right? That leaving of the sunnah that crept
up to being a sin. That attitude that
became sinful. Right?
So it tells you about
you know, as we said, we should be
reflecting on what this is telling us about
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So that part tells
us about the majesty
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, the lordship of
Allah.
And in that sense, no sin is small.
Says, No sin is small
if you are faced by his justice.
And no sin is
great.
No sin
is great if you are faced
by his
bounty or his grace.
One should
be between these two states. And the second
part that
what I ask you for is much easier
than that.
Just one thing,
which is what the prophet said,
Say, I believe in Allah.
Then be upright. What is uprightness?
All of it
is These are all things entailed by faith.
So that's hadith number 15. We took
16 and 17 last week,
but
for strange reasons,
we had none 15. Hadith number 18.
Says, I have prepared
for my righteous
servants.
Right?
That which no eye
has seen,
meaning the like
of.
Nor ear
has
heard the like of
nor
has
the heart of anyone even imagined it.
Right? What I have and it's not just
what is promised, because a promise
is something that will come.
Right? That if you do 123,
then I'll bake you a cake. Right? So
it's promised. But I have prepared for it.
It is waiting. Right? It's you're gonna say,
I am preparing. Right? But what
what what
we're coming up to Bab Al Afal. Correct?
It's Mardi.
It's past.
I have prepared for you.
I have prepared for whom?
I have prepared
for
my righteous servants that which no eye has
seen, the like of which no eye has
seen nor any ear heard, nor any heart
even
imagined.
Right? That's
that's what's been prepared. And then Allah says,
of course,
and with us is that which is much
greater that as we took last time.
So this is, you know, so this is
telling us about the vastness of divine favor
and also the reality of mercy.
Right? That the mercy is already there.
The mercy is already there.
You only lose it if you refuse it.
Right?
So, you know,
the other point that arises, of course, if
one reflects
that if it's already
there for you,
then the most intelligent of Allah's servants did
not seek it.
Not because they didn't want it
nor because they disparaged it,
because something that's guaranteed
is like let's say, you work for a
good employer. So they give you a paycheck
at the end of each month.
Then would you go to your boss and
say,
miss Jill,
can I have my paycheck, please? Why?
It's coming.
And are you used to anything
you know, you can any sensible person would
judge future action on previous action. Are you
accomplished
that you know, are you
used to anything but
divine mercy, divine
truth? Right? So which is why the great
scholar of North Africa,
Sheikh Ahmed Al Aaliyah, in one of his
poems says,
talking about the state of the righteous servants
of Allah.
He says, the gardens of paradise are in
need for us because Allah tells us. And
there's this is something, you know, this hadith
and
is also the like of it's mentioned in
the Quran, and you can find it. It's
promised.
As long as it's promised that it will
come,
it's
Right?
Paradise describe the word
It has been prepared already. It's it's waiting
for you. Right?
It's there. You don't have to ask about
it. It's there.
So all he so, Arwala
we have to ask,
what do I have to
ensure to get in there? And the other
aspect is, there's more to seek than that
which is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala himself.
And
this reality that
the gardens of paradise
are in need of us
because Allah has promised them for Allah's righteous
servants.
And Allah's promise will come to pass, but
there amongst his servants who seek only him.
So paradise yearns for them. And this was
mentioned
by the prophet
in the Meccan period with respect to say,
when
he was being tormented
and tried, the prophet commented
and he was cheerful. His companion was being
punished
and the prophet was pained for him but
very happy for him. He said,
Paradise is yearning for Ammar.
Because Ammar, like those other companions,
their concern was,
hadun, had, like the one the one.
The next hadiths then
shift a little thematically
to telling us
about some of the matters related
to Jannah
as well.
And it's a somewhat lengthy
hadith,
hadith number 19. So we'll look at hadith
1920
next time, but we'll
look briefly at,
Talim al Mutalim
of Imam Azirnuji
regarding
the proper way of seeking knowledge.
So
we've been looking at
the,
the different types of knowledge that that are
required. 1 of the last that we looked
at was knowledge of the states of the
heart.
Correct? We read that part. Correct?
Now, with respect to knowledge of the states
of the heart,
this is something
that
requires attention
both in study and practice.
Right? And no one
is ever freed of this. It's always meant
to be a struggle. It is always
meant
to be a struggle.
More than practice.
Because
although
because outward practice can be turned into habits
much more easily than inward states.
First, it can become
second nature to get up for fajr, to
to do one's routines, etcetera. They they become
habits.
But in general, states
can be given to more fluctuation
than
than
one's
outward actions.
So they're more of a challenge. And even
in
in one's habits to maintain
the states that are called for
while maintaining one's outward actions
can be a challenge. So this is an
area that requires attention both
at the level of knowledge
of knowledge of these
qualities,
but also
at the level of
one's active
upholding of them and rectifying
whenever
one recognizes,
shortcomings. And
which is why
like
others
mentioned, Whoever
does not become deeply
immersed
in this knowledge of ours, the knowledge of
the states
of the heart
with one's Lord,
will die
consistently
committing enormities,
and they don't realize it. And thinking ill
of people, not having, you know, having malice
and envy and ill feeling and ill opinion
and,
not having reliance and trust on Allah, fearing
other than Allah, all these different qualities that
are all prohibited, which is why he says,
because it
arises in all one circumstances.
So
and
and that's something that requires consistent
attention. Then he says,
the virtue of knowledge is not hidden to
anyone.
We took that?
Right? So we we looked at he says
the knowledge
the virtue of knowledge is known to anybody,
like it's obvious.
And
the the virtue of humans arises from that
virtue of knowledge.
And then
it was said to Muhammad ibn Hasan.
Right? And very often,
the the scholars, even from the time of
the salaf,
would give advice in poetry because it would
be memorable,
eloquent,
and
and memorized.
You you could retain it.
So someone counseled Muhammad Al Hassan, Shaybani,
the second most
esteemed student of Abu Hanifa.
And Muhammad Al Hassan
was you know, also studied under Imam Malik
and was one of the principal teachers of
Imam Al Shaffei.
Imam Al Shaffei
debated him
later in life, but could continue to say,
if I wish to say that the Quran
was revealed
on the language of Muhammad Al Hassan, I
could have said that.
And Muhammad Al Hassan, though, was a tough
man. He refused to lend his books to
Imam Shafi. So Ahmed Shafei wrote to him
some lines of poetry that
knowledge prevents its people from preventing it from
its people.
It's a bit of a tough customer because,
Abu Yusuf, the main student of Abu Hanifa,
became chief justice under Harun al Rashid,
the, yeah, the
the very distinguished caliph,
and served a tremendous historical role in Islam.
He was the 1st person to be given
the term, the title, The
chief justice, but this means the of all.
Some some of the early Muslims didn't like
that title, but they they accepted it.
They had to.
And
and Abu Yusuf,
you know, his
righteousness and religiosity
was unquestioned. But many feared those high positions,
but he upheld it with the highest of
distinction.
And there's many amazing encounters between him and
Harun al Rashid.
But
Ali Abu Yusuf, who
really was one of the greatest
judges in in in human history, without exaggeration,
and laid down a lot of
the a lot of the the procedural
framework
for Islamic
for the Islamic legal system,
he wanted good justices
working under him.
And no one
was more deserving
than his own student, Muhammad Al Hassan. Because
Muhammad Al Hassan only studied 4 years under
Imam Abu Hanifa.
But in those 4 years, he became the
second most
senior student of
Imam Abu Hanifa.
But Abu Yusuf continued his studies
under Abu Yusuf.
So he he's Abu Yusuf tried for a
long time to get Muhammad Al Hassan to
become chief justice,
but become a senior judge. He refused.
And he tried all kinds. He refused. But
then he leveraged I mean, he's a. He
has after the Sultan himself, there's pretty much
no one in the Muslim lands more powerful,
especially in religious matters. There's no one more
powerful. Because his
the Mufti
the Mufti, the Afatwa
informs of a legal opinion.
But the but the legal verdict,
that's just a legal opinion.
The gives a legal opinion. The gives a
legal verdict.
So his authority is stronger,
although more limited in range.
He sort of leverage his authority that basically
he had to. So he agreed to it.
He became of
I believe it was for for a period
of time. Once he became he refused to
talk to Abu Yusuf.
Because Muhammad Al Hassan had a different perspective.
Abu Yusuf said, look, we have to establish
a system
that is just to Allah's servants and and
preserves the good and rights and so on.
Muhammad Hassan was concerned that the most important
thing we have to do is to preserve
the legal legacy of Abu Hanifa.
That's preserved through teaching and writing.
Actually, most of the opinions of Abu Yousef
are transmitted by Muhammad al
Hassan. It's a very interesting so there's a
period of time where they weren't talking to
each other
with complete respect.
And they're both tough with one another.
There's a range of issues
where Muhammad al Hassan relates from
Abu you from Abu Yusuf
that he said such and such. I said,
I didn't say it. I said, I don't
remember saying it. I said, I remember that
you said it.
And the fuqaha differ whose opinion is giving
precedence.
And because
say,
The one who affirms is giving precedence over
the one who who negates.
He didn't say, I did not say. I
don't remember. He said, I remember you said
it.
And there's there's a small number of issues,
but there's many more issues, but not a
huge number,
but significant
you know, it's a limited but significant number
where
Muhammad Al Hassan relates
from Abu Yusuf that Abu Hanifa said something,
and Abu Yusuf said, I don't recall him
saying that.
But Muhammad Al Hassan said, I recall that
you did relate it, and he took it.
And it's accepted. Even though Abu Yusuf's narration
is also accepted.
That I recall this,
or his opinion differed, because he didn't remember
that from Buhaneefah.
So they're tough with each other. And after
he he resigned as Khadi and the resignation
was finally accepted, year a few years later,
then their relationship got patched up.
And sometimes the greatest of people differ
on principle,
and perspective.
So he says so he was advised to
alum,
learn
for knowledge
is
a beautification.
Yeah. It's beautification
and radiance for its people.
Adornment, but beautification.
And great virtue,
and
and a banner for all that is praiseworthy.
Muhammad
and Muhammad are all that is praiseworthy.
Be one who gains benefit
each day
by an increase in knowledge.
And
swim
in the oceans
of
points of benefit in knowledge. Right? And how
do you swim in it? That's what what
is what is a student of knowledge thinking
about? Knowledge.
Right?
Knowledge.
Knowledge
or that which is related to knowledge.
Knowledge,
teaching,
conveying.
But how does one
everyday but even if one's not studying full
time, everyday, one should seek to gain some
increase.
And swim, if you can, in the the
oceans of points of benefit
And gain knowledge
of. Right? Gain knowledge of.
Right?
For,
Yeah. Because these are the actions, these are
the rules related to human actions.
And here is not just
Islamic law, but that which enables you to
act in accordance with what is pleasing and
beloved to Allah. So it's fiqh plus.
Right? It is
it's deep understanding of religion. That which enables
you to pursue
Allah's pleasure.
Right?
Gain deep understanding of religion. Gain fiqh. For
fiqh is the best guide
to virtue
and to taqwa. That's the that's the knowledge
that is sought.
Sheikh Nuh put it really beautifully once. He
said, any understanding of deen
that diminishes
deen in your life or in the life
of others
is false.
Sometimes one facilitates, but first the facilitation that
is sought is that which facilitates from someone
that doesn't make doesn't make it easy, doesn't
make it difficult for them to turn and
return to Allah.
They're finding something difficult, so it's facilitated, so
they're able to turn, and then to gain
the momentum
to then
turn towards Allah
Right?
Gain
for is the best of is the best
guide
to virtue, to and
is all
good
when it comes together.
And mindfulness.
And the most upright
way of seeking, that if you're seeking Allah,
the most upright
and straight way
of seeking Allah is by
seeking knowledge, but
seeking these qualities.
Which which knowledge, which fiqh? It is the
knowledge that guides you
to the sunnah of guidance,
to the to the prophetic ways of guidedness.
That is,
is is this does this enable me to
to connect with the the way of the
prophet
in concern, in conduct, in action? If it
does, then that is guiding knowledge.
It is the fortress.
It saves from all
tribulation.
For 1,
one person of
who is
scrupulous,
is
firmer against the shaitan
than a 1,000
devotees. And this is referring to hadith
of the prophet
that
that affirms
that that one
scrupulous
faqih,
that's one scrupulous person of knowledge,
right,
is
more intense
against the shaitan than a than a 1,000
devotees.
So that,
you know, that is how we approach knowledge.
And then he
tells us about,
akhlaq,
the qualities of character. Right?
So he sometimes they distinguish
between the states of the heart
and the akhlaq.
The states of the heart being the qualities
that one upholds in one's relationship with Allah,
which as we mentioned, some of the Ullman
referred to as, the qualities of faith. And
that what we look at in the next
session is,
so and one needs that quality.
That one needs to gain those qualities.
And every time Allah subhanahu talks about worship,
acts of worship, there's always
some quality either explicitly mentioned
or being pointed to.
Stand
for Allah
pet penitently.
Right? Calling calling upon him in longing
and in awe.
Right? Throughout the Quran,
these qualities are pointed to.
Right?
Successful indeed are the believers who in their
prayer have
Right? They have
they
have kushua.
Right?
Etcetera. So it points to those, but
from the fruits of the of the tree
of faith are
are
traits of character, which you'll
with and this very often refers to with
people.
Right?
Well, technically, both are akhlaq. They're akhlaq of
the heart. But the akhlaq of the heart
with Allah, that's what he mentioned before.
And
the with people,
anyone's living,
he this is what will be coming, next.
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