Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #034 The Vision of Allah Most High Belief in Destiny Respecting Ones Teachers
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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 Razrabbani will be covering
2 texts. Imam Zarrnouji's primer on the etiquette
of seeking knowledge,
and Imam Youssef Anabahani's beautiful collection of 40
sets of 40 prophetic hadith.
To look at this collection of 40 hadiths
in praise of Allah
by the great
scholar
Sheikh Yusuf An Nabihani
who dedicated himself to highlighting
the love of the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam
in a time when many people
were
neglecting
this pillar
of faith.
And he wrote many great and distinguished works,
and we're blessed now in English to have
a number of them
translated
quite capably.
So we reached hadith
number
26.
And the first
hadith
is a hadith in which
a Sahabi
asked
what might be considered a
sensitive
question.
1 Abi
Razin
or Abi Ruzain
lord
on their
own,
on the day of resurrection,
mukliyaanbihi,
meaning
that
will each of us
see
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
alone with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
And this hadith that indicate that that
each person,
each believer
will
behold Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala on the day
of judgment.
And there'll be this direct address with Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So this is the question, will each of
us see
their Lord on the day of resurrection
alone
with
with him.
The Messenger of Allah
said, indeed.
And then he
and in some that that
so there's a response here by the prophet
salallahu alaihi wa sallam which is found
in the in the narration in Sunan Abu
Dawood. Right? The prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam
said, Bella.
Then the Sahabi
said, What is the sign of that in
his creation?
What is the sign of that in his
creation?
And the reason the Sahabi asked this question
was for certitude,
for clarity
and for certitude. And there's nothing wrong with
asking questions,
seeking
clarity or seeking certitude.
The prophet
said O Abu Razin
does
each of you not see
the moon when it is full on the
nights when it is full
directly on their own?
And that is just a creation of the
creation of Allah.
And Allah
is more majestic
and more
mighty
or more majestic and more tremendous. And this
hadith is related by Imam Ahmed and Abu
Dawood and ibn Majah and Hakim and and
others all with similar
wordings.
Right?
So
The prophet SAWHSAW said do you not
see the full moon
clearly on your own? Said yes.
So similarly
you will see Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala clearly.
Right?
And
of course, the the similitude
is in seeing,
not in
what is seen,
which is
and the theologians have extensive discussions
that rationally,
anything that exists
is in itself possible
to see.
Rationally,
anything that exists
is possible to see.
As for there being directionality
or encompassing
in the act of seeing,
then this only applies
to
things that exist and are created, and that
is considered to be a,
a normative ruling.
In itself, it is possible
to to to to see an existent thing
that is
the existent that is eternal.
Allah
but
it is distinct
from the seeing of created things.
And of course, and it's textually established.
So irrationally
possible
to see
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
and it is textually
established,
which is why prophets asked for it.
Let's say the Musa alaihi salam
asked for it.
And Allah made
seeing him
contingent upon something that is possible.
So
From that, it is understood. But we see
here
a couple of matters. Right? One is
that of the matters that Allah has blessed
the believers with is beholding Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. And the Sahabi didn't understand, well, how
can you see Allah? He said, well, can
you not see the moon when it's full?
But the moon is
and
you can see it even though it is
very far. You can see it even though
it is so so great.
And you have
so Allah is just absolutely greater.
Right?
Right? Allah is absolutely greater that you don't
have to be close to something
necessarily.
Like, you don't have to be physically close
to something
to see it.
But of course Allah is absolutely
distinct in that regard.
And then he expands on the consequence of
beholding
Allah Subha'ala in subsequent hadith as we'll see.
So hadith number
27.
The hadith of,
right,
which here begins that when the people of
paradise enter paradise and the people of *
enter
or the people of the fire enter the
fire.
A caller will call out,
oh people
of paradise,
truly you have with Allah
an appointment.
That he will, that he wishes
to fulfill
for you.
They will ask, and what is it?
Right? They'll ask what is it?
Now there's a context to this hadith,
which is in some of the narrations,
it mentions that the Messenger before
this
had recited the verses from Surat Yunus
verse number 26.
And for those who did good
is
good
and increase.
For those who excelled
is excellence,
right,
those who did good
shall have good.
Was yada
and
increase, meaning in great increase
from Surat Yunus verse 26.
But
the commentators on hadith mentioned here that this
hadith that we're reading indicates
that once that
one of the great blessings of Allah
upon the believers
when they enter paradise is when they're rewarded
for their deeds and their deeds are and
the reward is multiplied
beyond measure.
They'll be completely content
and they and out of Allah's mercy and
wisdom,
he will cause them to forget
the promised increase
because that will be even greater
satisfaction.
Right? There won't be expectation that, oh, Allah,
but you had promised us the increase.
So
when
for those who did good
will be the great good. Right?
Why? Because the little that you did in
this life has eternal,
magnified,
multiplied
reward.
And
even in terms of reward, there's unimaginably
more. There's no point of comparison between the
reward
and the deservingness of the servant. So they'll
be completely content.
So the caller will call out here that,
oh, people of paradise,
truly you have
a a mawid,
a
promise that Allah wishes to fulfill
for you
but they've forgotten.
So they say
and what is it?
Did Allah not cause our scales to become
weighty,
far weightier than what their deeds deserved?
And did He not
cause our faces
did did he not make radiant our faces?
And did he not enter us into paradise?
And did he not grant us salvation from
the fire?
Like, what more could we want?
Then the narrator said,
So Allah
lifts
the veil.
So Allah lifts the veil and they behold
Him
Right? And by Allah, Allah
did not grant them
anything more beloved to him then looking towards
him
nor anything bringing more joy to their eyes.
This hadith is related by Imam Ahmad and
Al Nasai and Ibn Maja
and Ibn Khuzaima and Ibn Hiban and many
others. It's a well narrated hadith here, again
highlighting
the tremendous mercy of Allah that from His
mercy is this forgetfulness.
That and one of the wisdoms why the
human being forgets
is that
this forgetfulness has a great role to play
in the hereafter. We'll forget the greatest
promised joy
that believers
will be granted.
But also it's of course a reminder
that the best thing you could seek in
paradise itself,
the greatest,
most pleasing,
most fulfilling pleasure is
beholding Allah Himself
is Allah Himself
The next hadith
is another hadith
related to doubt,
to praiseworthy
doubt.
But what to do with doubt?
So, it is related,
right,
an abiabdila
pharaohs adalami,
it is related by Abiabdila
pharaohs
Adeilami,
who
Who was
of the Tabi'in,
of those who met, a number of
the companions of the Messenger Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
Right? And,
and he was of the people of Hadith
and he fought one of the false prophets
or or or
or the false prophet.
Right?
And
there's a lot to be said
about
pharaohs.
So
he had a question, and he was a
learned man.
He
said,
I went to Ubayy ibn Kab, the distinguished
companion of the prophet
said
there's something in my heart,
something has come into my heart
regarding
destiny
regarding destiny
and
of course, Ubay ibn Kab was
one of the scribes of revelation
of the kuttab al wahi.
Right?
And one of the greatest of its memorizers.
And
so
he he said there's something in my heart
regarding destiny.
And this,
again, is an example
of
not hesitating
to ask one's questions, right, but what is
the adab of asking a question
of
addressing
a question is to take it to someone
learned. So he went to obey ibn Kab,
one of the senior most companions.
He said there's something that something's come into
my heart
something has come within me,
a confusion
regarding destiny.
So he said
so so explain it to me.
So that it may be that Allah remove
my confusion from from my heart.
Fa'ala
so so said
So Abu Abu so Ubay ibn Kab said
that if Allah
were to punish if Allah, mighty and majestic,
were to punish all the people of heaven
and all the people of earth,
he'll be punishing them without having wronged them
in any way whatsoever.
Why?
Because they're his creation.
And the owner can do with their proper
with what they own as they wish. And
Allah's ownership over his creation is absolute.
He created them from nothing.
He owes them nothing.
Whatever he's promised them,
he's promised them from his absolute grace, not
from any inherent deserving
on their part.
So it's a reminder that
of this basic principle.
And if Allah were to have mercy on
all of them,
And if you were to have mercy on
them, meaning on all of them, whether those
who apparently deserved it and those who didn't,
meaning if you put all of them in
paradise.
And that's how at least the
The have a footnote there which we won't
go into. And if you had mercy on
all of them,
that mercy would be better than their actions
because the the actions are not do not
give someone the inherent right
to anything
because it's upon Allah to accept.
And even the action was a gift from
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. He inspired it. He
facilitated
it. He created it.
Then he warned him. So he explained this
principle. Then he said, listen.
If you were to spend
the like of Uhud in gold in the
path of Allah, Allah would not accept it
from you until
you believe
in destiny.
Of
course, he did not
doubt it. He had a confusion that, you
know, how does it work?
Right?
Or what's the relationship between destiny
and our responsibility and actions?
So Allah would not accept that charity until
you believe in destiny because we know clearly
from the Quran,
from the Hadith of the prophet that this
is one of the this it it's a
truth and it's an article of faith.
And then but then he gave him so
he gave him the the foundational principle
that
it is all from Allah. You are from
Allah.
Allah has created you in all you do.
Any good that you have is mercy from
Allah
and none has rights over all these basic
principles.
Then he said
and that and to know
and this is the practical consequence of belief
in destiny and this is quoting the hadith
of the prophet
and you can find it in
the 14.
And that and to know that whatever hit
you was not going to miss.
And that whatever missed you was never going
to
hit.
And if you die on other than disbelief,
you you may enter
the fire.
So
the
narrator,
he said,
Abdullah ibn Masrudin
then said, I went to Abdullah ibn Masrud.
May Allah be well pleased him.
And he said,
similar to that.
Then I went to Hudayfah ibn
he said similarly.
Then I went
to said the narrator.
And Zayd bin Thawid related to me from
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam with the
like of that.
And
this was related by Imam Ahmed and Abu
Dawood and ibn Majah.
So here highlighting the importance
of belief in destiny
and that ultimately
that no one has any rights upon Allah
Subha Ta'ala. Right? That
the foundation of that belief is to appreciate
that
everything
only
exists because Allah willed it
to be and He
brings it into existence with His power.
And no one had any
Allah can do anything possible
or not do it
and no one has any demand upon Allah.
But his,
you know, any reward
is by his mercy.
And
injustice
is absurd to conceive of for Allah Subha
Ta'ala's muhaal because injustice
is
to deny someone
what is rightfully theirs
or what is owed to them
And no
one
has any rights
inherently
over Allah.
The the rights, what what Allah refers to
as the servants rights
are there because Allah has chosen
to affirm them for them, not because he
had to, but
with pure
divine largess.
So that's
hadith number 28. We're going to continue from
hadith number 20
9,
which
is the
Khutbatil
Haja,
which the prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
would often
read to
open
his address, but also will clear a confusion
because some
You
You probably memorized it just by attending when
he khudwas, etcetera.
It is from the prophet, sala alayhi, salaam,
but it has a particular context as we
will see.
Any questions before we look at?
Yes.
That injustice is observed for Allah is established
by reason and revelation. By reason because how
could like, what
what right could
something that is created out of nothing
have? Actually, its reality is it's completely indebted
to Allah.
It's absolutely indebted. It is the indebtedness of
creation to Allah is intrinsic,
it's existential.
That creation
is indebted to Allah for its existence itself.
For coming into existence,
without him, it wouldn't even exist.
Without him, it wouldn't
remain in existence even for a moment.
So that is an absolute death. If Allah
pulled the plug, you don't have anything anyways.
And so every moment is absolute blessing from
Allah Subha'ala.
Any consequence thereof is
with what their hands have wrought. And that's
from Allah's mercy.
Muhammad
We'll we'll stop there.
And
we'll just look at the opening of the
chapter
on venerating knowledge and its people.
From Imam Zarrnouji's work, Talim al Mutalim,
he says, a
chapter on venerating knowledge and his people. He
says,
Know
that the seeker of knowledge will not attain
knowledge,
meaning will not attain beneficial knowledge nor benefit
from that knowledge.
Accept by having deep respect for knowledge
respectful to them.
And that's why it's been said, no one
attains of those who have attained
except through hirma, except through
veneration,
through deep having a sense of the
inviolable rights
of those who have rights.
And no one
fell of those who fell
except by leaving
in viable respect.
And it has been said that deep respect
is better than obedience.
Do you not see that a person does
not commit disbelief
by sin alone,
but they
do commit disbelief
by
denigrating
an act of obedience or considering
an act of sin to be inconsequential
by looking down and say, ah it's nothing,
that could be, can be kufr
and by leaving respect
for the inviolable limits of Allah
And from deep respect for knowledge is having
deep respect for
one's teacher. And there's 2 types of teachers,
right? There's a direct teacher, someone you are
studying directly with,
but also
from teachers and this understood, of course, from
this quote coming from,
is anyone that one has benefited from in
knowledge.
So one may not have studied a text
with them directly, for example, but you've listened
to their lessons.
You've
attended their lectures, etcetera, someone you've benefited from
in religious knowledge.
Right? One has to have deep respect for
them.
And of course, if they're not worthy of
respect, then you shouldn't be listening to them.
Right? It's kinda people have sometimes a conflicted
relation. They'll listen to people, but then they'll
speak ill about them.
Said, I am the slave of someone who
has taught me
even one letter
if they wish they may sell me and
if they wish they may free me and
if they wish they may
keep me
enslaved
meaning I am completely under
at their behest.
Said and I heard some lines of poetry
regarding this
said I have seen one of the poets
said, I've seen the most important of rights
to be the rights of one's teacher
and the most incumbent of them to safeguard
for every Muslim.
It would be truly deserving
to give to them out of honoring
for teaching even one
issue,
a 1,000 dirhams. Like how can you because
what they give you
is
knowledge.
And what is knowledge? Knowledge is that which
enables you to draw closer to Allah that
leads to
an eternal
advantage
to eternal
advantage.
And Imam Zalnuji explains and we'll stop with
that explanation. He says
said because the one who teaches you
even one
letter meaning one issue
of the things that you need in your
religion
is like a father to you in your
religion.
Right?
And then he says,
one of his teachers,
may Allah have mercy on him, used to
say
that his teachers said may Allah have mercy
on them and on on all our teachers.
Said whoever seeks
for
their own child to be a person of
knowledge,
then it is incumbent upon them to carefully
guard
to the rights
of
the strangers
from the the the scholars and people of
knowledge. The Quraba meaning those who are foreigners
to a land because they don't have the
support of family and they're not established etcetera.
Right? And to
honor them and to feed them and to
venerate them and to give them something.
And if one does this, then if one's
own child doesn't become a scholar, then one's
grandchild will become a scholar.
Then he mentions some of the adhab of
having respect for one's teacher. That from respect
for one's teacher is not to walk ahead
of them.
And not not to sit in their place.
Not to begin talking in front of them
except with their permission.
And not to speak too much in front
of them except with their permission because the
point of a personal knowledge is that
you you benefit from their knowledge. And this
is a very common mistake
when, for example, you have visiting scholars come.
So people have lunch with them. They got,
so how was your trip? And how where
did you stay on the way? And, how
is Allentown?
And
that's not their existential purpose. The existential purpose
is personal knowledge, someone to take beneficial knowledge
from.
And that's,
you know and there's some social etiquette
that one upholds,
but one should be avid to benefit from
them, from what they have.
Right?
And also not to use that as a
springboard to express all one's ideas and views
and so on. Right?
Although sometimes they like, you know, one of
the simplest ways of not having to talk
too much, they'll ask open ended questions. And
some of our teachers, Sheikh Talal,
being a in most conversations, Sheikh Talal would
only speak at most
15 to 20% of the time.
He's a master of asking open ended questions
and to let you speak on and on
and on,
but one needs to be aware.
And not to ask
anything
when they are
tired.
Right?
And to be careful with respect to
time with them.
And not to knock on their door.
But one rather one should be patient until
they come out. And that that's context so
some is contextual,
meaning
that
you shouldn't unnecessarily
inconvenience
them. You should be avid for benefit,
but you shouldn't unnecessarily
inconvenience them. Of course, one shouldn't be foolish.
Different adab have
different contexts. And we'll look at,
the the principles of adab with one's teacher
in the
in his coming explanation.
Thank you for listening to the
daily guidance for seekers
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