Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #015 Divine Forgiveness Seeking God Through Service Difining Knowledge
AI: Summary ©
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 Zarrnouji'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 Hadith Qudsi
from the collection of 40 sets of 40
Hadiths of
Sheikh Alalama, Yusuf and Nabhani,
and we reached hadith number
24.
So
in hadith number 23,
we looked at
the importance
of
the Rahim.
Right?
The
relations
of family
right,
and that
the Rahim,
the
womb
literally
holds on to the divine throne,
right, and says
and begs Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for its
rights.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
are you not pleased that I
Are you not content
that I connect those who can connect you?
And I cut off those who cut you
off.
Right. And this applies to
the
the
there's a silat rahim, there's rahim al haqiki
which is family,
right.
But
that's a direct
but there's other types
of sila
that are akin
to the
amongst them is
the is
the is a fraternal
relations.
There's the rahem of
of the of the jiwar,
the connection
of neighborhood.
There's also the connection of
the
connection of the
Knowledge is
the connection.
Right? The connection of mercy. Right? The Rahim
between its people.
Right? It's the basis of relation
between
people, but it has
those rights. Right?
And whoever teaches me even one issue, I
am eternally a servant
to them.
Right?
And all of these have their have their
rights.
So we've we stopped at
we reached
hadith number 24
which is on
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
if my servant commits a sin,
or if my servant commits any sin, and
they say, and the servant says,
O Allah forgive
me my sin
Allah
Most High says,
my servant committed a sin
and he knew
that he has a Lord who forgives sin
and punishes
for sin.
And who punishes sin.
So Allah recognizes.
Right? And what is the recognition?
That the servant has iman.
That the servant has
And then the servant goes back
and
commits another sin.
And
says, oh, lord.
Oh, Lord, forgive me my sin.
And Allah most high says,
my servant committed a sin and knew that
he has a Lord who forgives sins
and punishes for sins.
Do what you wish for I have forgiven
you.
Right?
Related by Imam Muslim. So there's a few
lessons that are learned from this.
The first is
that
seeking forgiveness
is an expression of faith.
Seeking forgiveness
is an expression of faith.
Right? My servant knows
that he has a lord who
forgives
and punishes,
who is merciful and just,
who is caring,
but
who is also
exacting.
So
seeking forgiveness
is
an act of faith.
Secondly, seeking
forgiveness is pleasing to Allah
Thirdly,
seeking forgiveness is expressive
of one's
servitude
to Allah
Fourthly,
that seeking forgiveness
is not negated by
falling into the sin again,
but rather
each time one commits a sin, one renews,
one seeking forgiveness and repentance.
Why? Because change takes time.
And we understand from this that
remorse and regret are not in itself sufficient
to change.
Right? Change
can take time.
And
it is
by con the continuity
of
regret,
remorse,
repentance,
seeking forgiveness,
And going back to it,
that one
establishes
one's
the sincerity and trueness of one's regret and
remorse,
and
Allah manifests
the facilitation
to leave the sin.
And
So the manifestation of the forgiveness
may take time. So Allah accepts
forgive the the repentance and the seeking of
forgiveness
even by the the one time.
Right. The sincere
repentance and the sincere seeking of forgiveness
is accepted.
But when he's successful in repenting and seeking
forgiveness,
when one establishes
one's
one's sincerity and trueness in it.
So one does not lose hope.
This hadith, of course, shows that there
are different expressions of seeking forgiveness.
Because in the first one it says
The second says
Right?
And it's not specifically necessarily this expression.
It's whether it's with this expression or other
expressions. But these are 2 of the
ways of seeking forgiveness.
And when the the divine name Allah
connotes majesty,
right.
Conveys mercy.
Has the the aspect of
care and concern.
Hadith number 25,
So the messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam related
from Allah Most High that
that he says on the day of
resurrection.
Oh son of Adam, oh child of Adam,
I was sick and you did not visit
me.
So the servant will say,
How can I visit you
when you are the Lord of the worlds?
He said Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala responds
that did you not know that my servant
so and so was sick
and you did not visit him?
And had you visited them,
you would have found me with them.
You would have found me with them.
I sought oh,
child of Adam, I sought food from you,
and you did not feed me.
Allah and the servant says,
How can I feed you when you are
the lord, the cherisher, the nurturer
of all the worlds?
Did you not know
that
my
that so and so of my servants
sought food sought food from
you, but you fed him not?
Did you not know that had you fed
them,
you would have found that
with me?
Adam.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, oh child
of Adam,
I sought
drink from you, and you did not give
me to drink.
The servant says, oh, lord, how can I
give you to drink when you are the
lord of the worlds?
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala responds
that my servant so and so sought drink
from you and you did not give them
to drink.
Did you not know
that had you given them to drink, you
would have found that
with me?
And either in terms of reward
or in terms of divine good pleasure
or in terms of divine presence.
You would have found that with me.
So there's levels of finding
from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Finding reward,
finding his
riba or finding
presence with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
This
of course highlights
the spiritual consequence of service.
Why do we visit the sick?
For Allah.
Right? But visiting the sick.
These are three actions are high. Visiting the
sick,
feeding the hungry,
and giving drink, giving water to those who
don't have it
are
powerful ways of
finding Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
through serving his creation. And these are three
things that one should strive to make a
regular practice.
Feeding, but particularly
the needy.
Right?
And this
there's those who are needy because they're impoverished.
Right? They're impoverished.
They're in famine situations or they're in crisis
or disasters. And one should strive to have
regular charity that one gives to those who
are
without food.
Where they're most desperate
but particularly
in one's area. And one should have a
goal.
Right? One should have an intention
that we should be striving collectively to eradicate
poverty.
Right? That leads to hunger.
That leads to
distress. That leads to sickness. Right? It's mentioned
visiting the sick,
feeding the hungry,
giving water to those who don't have water.
Right? So that we should be striving. It's
a collective obligation to strive
to
facilitate
medical well-being,
facilitate health. You know, the preservation
of life
is
one of the of the Sharia, and the
preservation of life
is by the prevention of the harm to
life, which
is sickness, but and particularly
the the widespread,
diseases and so on that are that can
be averted through access to medication,
access to
proper health and sanitation.
That's a collective
clear collective obligation.
And these are things that one should be
be be part of. One should be assisting
those who are facilitating
medical assistance,
health,
access
to
basic
health care,
one should
likewise
and then why does one do it?
Seeking Allah Subhanahu Wa'ala. You would have found
that with me.
Feeding others
likewise. Both those in desperate situations,
those who are homeless, those in one's own
area, and one should set goals in these
because these are the things that we compete
for.
People compete for dunya
Okay. I got my starter home. Now I
get my
my dream home, and then I'll get my
fantasy home.
And all you're left with with is a
nightmare
of
in your life. Right? But
we
strive as Allah says. In that, let those
who strive, strive in
in good. Why?
In seeking closeness to Allah Subha'ala thereby
out of trueness of concern.
But also there's many Sunnahs related to feeding
others.
The blessedness of an event
is to the extent that
the poor and the needy
are invited to it whether it be a
wedding
or another social occasion.
So to include
those who are
not normally connected
through family
or friendship or community.
Right? So
a blessed Eid gathering, for example, is not
just one where one invited the immediate family,
but one went out of the one's way
to connect
those
who are in need.
Right? And when you have 25, 30 family
members, you have 2 or 3 you have
a few people come,
people really don't care because the marginal
addition is insignificant.
But those are ways that
one connects people. And there's people who do
that very beautifully.
And, one should strive to have these traditions
at any time one has any kind of
gathering to deliberately
connect to those who are fed.
Or when there's large events, often there's leftover
food. Where does that go?
Sometimes
perishable food, if you can't take it to
a food bank. But if you don't know
people who don't have enough food,
it means that, you know, you're not living
social concern. You should always know
families,
individuals, single people,
students, others who are who are in the
situations where
you they it would be * helpful to
them to drop off some food.
Right?
And all of these things, right, so that
food is not wasted.
Providing water is another of those critical things.
We have a lot of people in Canada,
particularly in the
almost exclusively native reserves
who don't have access to clean running water.
And that's
that's something that, you know, a collective obligation
for us morally that
requires
our concern and our attention.
So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us
of those who realize these meanings.
And then the next
hadith
begins with mention of the divine
beholding,
and we'll look at that tomorrow.
We'll read briefly from,
Talim al Mutalim
on the adab of a seeker of knowledge.
And
where did we start?
Yeah.
Page 10.
Okay. Well, depends on the edition.
So we're still looking at the introductory chapter.
I actually talked about what is what is
knowledge and the types of knowledge, but then
what is the definition of knowledge?
Right.
And
said knowledge is one of those things that
are so clearly known
that it does not require nor accept definition.
Knowledge is what defines other things.
And it itself is so obvious it doesn't
accept
definition.
But he says
As for the definition of knowledge, it is
equality
by which
the one who possesses it
clearly,
you know, they they
sees clearly
the mentioned
as
is.
Right?
So knowledge,
you
know, knowledge
manifests
or
discloses
the known
as it actually is,
the thing that is mentioned.
So if you say,
the one who knows the
the thing mentioned
as it
is. Right?
Which is why
the scholar's logic will say
that
knowledge is either
or
It's either conceiving of
particular
things
which is through their definitions
or conceive or
understanding arguments.
Right?
Right? But so what what does knowledge do?
Knowledge
uncovers.
Right?
Some say
It uncovers.
Right? It makes clear.
And that's why knowledge has been called a
light
because without knowledge, things are unclear. So they're
either in the darkness or in the shadows.
But knowledge is like a light because it
shows things as they are.
So that's the definition of knowledge.
And then imam al Ghazali goes through a
number of definitions in his book of knowledge
of also of knowledge as
practical knowledge, beneficial
knowledge.
And
fiqh, right? Fiqh,
he says,
Okay?
Fiqh,
which refers to deep understanding, is to know
the subtleties of knowledge
with
some
acquisition.
Right? With some acquisition, with some capacity.
Right?
Right? Because fiqh is deep understanding.
But it's not fiqh is not just to
know a lot, but to be capable
of understanding things, right, with with a certain
capacity.
Right.
So this
is the general sense of mean of fiqh.
Fiqh is
deep understanding,
to know the subtleties of things.
Right? Imam Abu Hanifa said when asked what
is fiqh? What is
religious understanding? He said fiqh is to know
oneself.
What is for it and what is against
it?
Is to know
yourself, your nafs
to know who you are
and what counts for you and what counts
against you.
And by fiqh al fiqhufideen is deep
beneficial understanding
of religion.
Which is why they said
al fiqh
fiqh
is Allah, knowledge of the path to Allah.
Or knowledge of what draws you closer to
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And
he also said,
knowledge is only
acting upon it
meaning
true knowledge
knowledge
in its reality is acting upon what you
know And
and acting on knowledge is leaving
the immediate
for what lasts.
For Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
that the next life is better for you
than this life.
This is the way of Sayedna. Ibrahim Alaihi
Salam.
I do not
like
things that perish.
Therefore,
it befits a person
that they not be heedless of themselves
and what benefits 1 and what harms 1
in their this life and in their
next life.
So that
they draw to themselves all that benefits
that truly benefits oneself
and one avoids all
that harms it.
Lest
their intelligence
and their knowledge be a proof against them.
And
thus they increase in punishment.
We seek Allah's refuge from His wrath and
punishment.
They say,
It is sufficient ignorance for a person
to be pleased
with what harms them or to be content
with what's harm what harms them.
And he mentions, we talked about high Himma,
high resolve,
right.
I will
consider even difficulties to be easy
even if I face death.
And it says, and there has come in
the virtues of knowledge
and its praiseworthy
qualities,
many verses
and sound reports
that are well known.
We have not busied ourselves with mentioning them
lest this book become
too lengthy.
And then he begins the next chapter with
intention,
when one learns.
But here, since
there are
verses and hadiths on the virtues of knowledge,
we're going to look
in the next lesson just to mention
them. Some of the key
verses
on
knowledge
and some of the key hadiths on knowledge
and just comment briefly on them.
Thank you for listening to the
daily guidance for seekers
Help us continue to give light to millions
around the world by becoming a monthly donor
at seekershub.org/
donate.
Your donations are tax deductible in the US.