Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #064 The Branches of Faith Actions of the Tongue & Actions of the Limbs Personally and Fa
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss various branches of faith that relate to one's life, including honoring one's guest, performing actions of worship, and maintaining family ties. They stress the importance of fulfilling promises and balancing between pursuing one's beliefs and others. The importance of reflecting before making a speech and being mindful of one's words is emphasized, along with the importance of considering speech and listening to others to avoid confusion. The speakers provide advice on how to properly say and speak, and emphasize the importance of being a person of consideration and knowledge.
AI: Summary ©
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You're listening to the daily
guidance for seekers with Sheikh Rasra Behni, who
will be covering Imam Yusuf al Nabhani's beautiful
collection of 40 sets of 40 hadith of
the prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,
as well as imam Zarnooji's guidance for seekers
of knowledge regarding the ways of seeking knowledge.
In our daily,
we we've been looking at
different sets of 40 Hadiths of our beloved
Messenger
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
and we recently just completed 40 Hadiths on
the virtues of Iman and Islam.
The final hadith was on the branches of
faith.
That faith has 60 odd branches
or 70 odd branches in other narrations.
So we saw yesterday
that some of the scholars
tried to
deduce what the branches of faith are, and
they did so in different ways. Some didn't.
They said that faith has many branches,
so it has many and we won't go
into them. But others delved into it, and
there's a beautiful work that we recommended called
the branches 77 Branches of Faith,
which is a translation in English of
al Qazwini's
abridgment of Imam Behati's work.
Imam Behati's orig and it's one of the
it covers 77 branches of faith. It's a
very nice overview
of the religion of Islam and its virtues,
but it's not really an abridgment
of Imam al Behati's
work because
Imam al Behati's work, the edition I have
is in 10 or 12 volumes.
Right? So the 70 page abridgment
is really
just
a sort of it's
summarized
points from it. It's it's, you know, it
basically has the the Qur'anic verses and had
and
a verse and a hadith or 2 on
each of the branches. So it's real really
useful.
But Imam Al Behati's works is one of
the great encyclopedic works of Islam and and
very beneficial.
So we saw that the branches of faith
can be divided into 3 areas.
The branches
of faith that relate to actions of the
heart. You mentioned that there were 24 of
them.
And then there are the branches of faith
that relate to the actions of the tongue
and the branches of faith that relate to
the actions
of the limbs.
So he's and this is from the explanation
of Imam ibn Hajar al-'Askalani,
the great commentator on Sahih al Bukhari.
Right, the actions of the limbs
and this
this
includes 7
qualities.
Each quality being one of the branches of
faith.
Affirming
divine oneness,
right? Affirming divine oneness. This is one of
the branches of faith that relate to the
tongue,
affirming
divine oneness.
Saying
and recitation of the Quran
And to learn
religious knowledge is a branch of faith
because if you believe in Allah,
you would want to know
how to submit to Allah.
You would want to know how to
please Allah
Because if you know that Allah is 1
and he is your lord,
then and that he has commanded you and
forbidden you
and encouraged you and discouraged you
from certain actions,
then it is entailed.
Now
that basic
slavehood entails that you learn what you must
know.
And
right
slavehood to Allah would entail learning
all that is pleasing to him
and avoiding all that is displeasing him and
teaching others, which is out of sincere concern
for the good of others.
And supplication
is a branch of faith
because supplication
expresses
one's recognition that Allah is the Lord and
that you are the needy servant. Allah is
the fulfiller of all needs
and you are in absolute need to him.
It entails
knowing that he is merciful,
knowing that he answers
the call of his servants when they call
upon him.
Right?
And
remembrance
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is a branch
of faith. Why? Because every statement of dhikr
is a statement of faith.
So it confirms
faith when you say repeat repeat lahi lahi
Allah, it is confirming
a point of faith
and it is
strengthening
that faith
and nourishing
that faith,
and it's a means of perfecting
consciousness of faith.
Remember me and I will remember you.
And included in remembrance is seeking
forgiveness
and leaving
all
useless speech. Here
is useless speech.
Useless,
blameworthy,
or sinful speech.
Whoever believes in Allah in the last day,
said the prophet
in the hadith in Bukhan Musham, let them
say the good
or remain silent. And is
all speech that is not beneficial speech,
which could actually be something that is true,
but it will have harmful consequences.
Let alone something that is without benefit.
Let alone something blameworthy.
Let alone something sinful. So that would include
so from the branches of faith is avoiding
all the sins of speech.
Right? Because all of them are
the
extremities
of Lagoo.
The worst of useless speech is sinful speech.
And we have a wonderful lesson with
the course on seekers with Sheikh Ramin Sur
on the
on
the sunnah's speech and the prohibitions of the
tongue.
So these are the branches of faith that
relates to the tongue.
Most of them relate
to what the tongue should be engaged in.
The tongue is there as a me it's
a limb that is meant for worship.
And a basic accounting that one should do
with respect,
if you want to take a look at
your faith, is how much of what you
say each day is from from this category
of
any of the branches of faith. How much
of what you say is
affirming divine oneness,
reciting the book of Allah, learning because learning
requires speech. You read
to a teacher,
you review your your class, you memorize, etcetera,
by reading out loud. Right?
Learning
or teaching
or making dua or engaging in dhikr or
engaging in istighfar.
How much of it is these
and how much of it is laghu? It's
things without benefit,
which any which is anything that is not
of
it's malayani.
It is anything that is not of benefit
to you or others in this life
or the next
of clear benefit.
So these are the
actions of
the tongue.
And then he says,
Right? And then there's the actions of the
limbs.
And these include 38 qualities.
And there's some that
some of these relate to individuals
and these are 15
qualities.
The first is
is purifying oneself
from tangible
impurities
and
from ritual impurities. And
this would include avoiding filth.
And covering one's
that which is legally considered nakedness.
And the prayer, both obligatory
and superogatory,
because my servant draws close to me by
nothing more beloved to me than what I
made obligatory upon them. And my servant continues
to draw close to me by superogatory works,
by nephil works until I love them, the
hadith and bukhari.
Was Zakat Uqadelic and Zakat likewise,
the obligatory Zakat and the recommended charity.
And freeing
slaves.
And
generosity
is a branch of faith. Every act of
generosity,
right, of giving
is an act of faith.
You will not attain virtue
until
you spend
of what you love.
Until you give of what you love.
And included in generosity
is to feed others.
Is to give food to others. Whether it
be by hosting people
right, or sharing food to them, right, of
family or friends or neighbors
or acquaintances or anyone with whom there is
an actual or encourage relationship,
or it is feeding those who are needy.
There's a feeding
of relation and there's a feeding of need
and both are praiseworthy.
Right? Of
And honoring one's guest.
This sometimes people
are lax on. Like so you have guests
over so you make something practical for them
but you keep the nice stuff for yourself.
The way of the righteous is clear in
the sense.
Ikram
is to
is not just to have karam, but to
express
honoring of the guest.
So people would save up the best of
what they had for their guests
without exaggeration,
right, without exaggeration,
because then it's not sustainable.
But
and fasting is a branch of faith related
to individuals,
both the obligatory and voluntary fasting.
And the Hajj and Umrah likewise.
And all the parts of that like and
the circumambulation
is an act of worship.
And performing particular
particularly in Ramadan and particularly in the last
10 nights,
but iatikaf
is
recommended
at all times.
Anytime,
one can go to the masjid, one should
intend iatikaf,
and it's also praiseworthy to to make
outside Ramadan,
like like a full day of or a
full night of
There's great merit
in that.
And to seek out
which is better than
a 1000 months.
And to flee with one's religion.
And use this expression because it's in in
hadith
that one guards one's religion
more than one guards anything else.
So if one's religion is threatened, one would
flee with it because one
one would not risk religion for anything.
Preservation of religion is is more
is more consequential than preservation of faith
rationally.
Because you die, you die,
and you'll die anyways.
But you lose your faith, you've lost,
and you didn't have to lose.
Right?
And included
in fleeing with one's religion,
right, is
migrating
from lands of polytheism,
your lands of disbelief,
Meaning, any land where
one cannot
uphold one's religion
such that one is able to practice its
obligations
and avoid its prohibitions
or
where one has
reasonable fear
that one will not that one's
faith and practice are threatened
or the faith and practice of one's children
is threatened.
And if threatened, then one either must take
the means of preservation
where one is. And if unable to, then
one must
go to wherever
that those conditions are fulfilled.
And from the branches of faith is fulfilling
one's vows. If one makes a vow,
right?
An oath
that
one fulfills.
And
to be scrupulous in one's
oaths, like here meaning
where one swears to something, that one is
careful to fulfill it.
And
to fully pay any expiations that are due
for 1, like if you broke an oath,
for example.
And
and there's other branches of faith that relate
to to those
around 1.
Right?
And these are 6 qualities.
The first is
is to restrain oneself
through marriage.
Because Allah Subha Ta'ala has created
humans
with desires and if those desire
and those desires
will be manifest
and
and one must either
restrain them
or restrain one gain or restrain oneself through
marriage
by them being channeled in permissible
ways.
Well,
and to
fulfill
the rights
of one's household,
which
is,
you know whether as a husband or as
a wife
to fulfill those rights that's a branch of
faith and it's an act of faith and
one seeks Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala Baye. And
righteousness
with one's parents.
And this has sub branches. Wafihi
Chtinaebul Oqook.
And included in this is avoiding
being bad
to one's parents
or being bad to family more broadly.
And
and
educating, raising
one's children.
Right?
This is this is an act
of iman
because of the
text related to that.
And maintaining
family ties.
Right? Maintaining
family ties. Wasl is to connect something. Right?
Maintaining,
family ties
with all those who are customarily considered family,
Most
particularly with immediate family
beyond parent because parents have their unique distinctive
rights, but immediate family would be siblings,
first uncles and aunts on both sides.
That's most immediate family.
And then
generally immediate family would be
cousins and nephews and
nieces and then
then
broader than that each according to,
their degree of closeness.
And the least of maintaining family ties
is not to harm any of them
and not to break relations with any of
them.
And if relations are harmed or broken to
at least
restore
basic
free freedom from harm in the relationship.
And obeying
the notables
and obeying
the the the notables, the leaders
here,
the leaders in society.
And to be gentle
with,
slaves.
Or with servants. And
this is one of the areas that,
you know, the basis is that if someone
had a slave, they had to treat them
as if they were a member member of
the family in terms
of feeding, clothing, educating,
honor, you know, respecting, etcetera.
Right?
The rights, you know,
which is why there are several Muslim
empires
where
the ruling class was all slaves
like the Mamluks in Egypt.
Right?
And that they're they had so much status
in society that it matters flipped that the
whole ruling class, they called them Mamluks. They
they they were the slave kingdom, and there's
other cases too. The,
so it's,
you know, though, of course, there was abuse
in the system,
and it's, you a system that
it's superior for it not to be,
but it certainly beats the prison industrial complex,
right,
any day.
And then of the branches of faith are
those that relate to the common,
you know, to to
others.
Right?
Right?
And these are 17 traits.
Right?
So
the those that relate to the the body,
the the branches of faith that relate to
outward actions, that those that relate to oneself,
those that relate to those around one,
okay, to one's immediate circle of association,
family,
etcetera. And then there are those that relate
to
the broader society.
And those are
17, and we will look at them.
Next, some of them require some
explanation. So these are some of
the branches of faith. We're going to close
today by looking at
a reminder from
Talim ul Mutalim
instructing the student
on
the ways
of learning
by Imam
Zarrnooji.
So, Imam Zarrnooji says,
It befits a seeker of knowledge
that they be ever reflecting
in all their times in the subtle
in the subtleties
of knowledge and to become accustomed to that.
Now what are you thinking about?
Think about knowledge.
You're reviewing
the things that need review. So if you
just studied about the different types of miracles.
So you review, okay, what were the 6?
What's the definition of this? What's the what's
the difference between this and that?
Right? It's
through reflection.
What are you doing in the car? What
are you doing when you're walking?
Right?
Right? One is thinking about
the the other the details of knowledge because
it's only retained
through repetition and reflection.
Because subtleties
are only
attained.
Right?
By
reflection.
That's why it's been said,
consider
and you will attain.
And it's absolutely necessary
to reflect before one speaks.
So that it can be sound.
Right? And that includes asking questions.
Right, and includes
think before you send an email or think
before you comment. Right?
So it's sound.
Because
speech
is like
an arrow.
So it must be straightened. Otherwise, it won't
go straight.
Oh, you believe
be mindful of Allah and say words
that go straight.
Right?
And how do you straighten your speech?
By reflecting
before throwing it. That's why it's called.
The word for
word in Arabic is is that which is
cast forth.
So that it is sound.
So this is a tremendous principle.
And that is that the speech
of a of
of the
who would
who's capable of
debating others
be only on the basis of the of
reflection.
And it is said that
the pinnacle of intelligence
or the basis of intelligence
is that one speech be through
confirmation and reflection.
To make sure you don't just
say whatever and hope it's right.
And likewise,
with the the question of a student of
knowledge is.
And you've
you've tried to to make each constituent part
correct.
And you've reflected on what you'll say, and
then you say it.
And how rare that is.
So this is a beautiful advice.
It says, I advise you
in your speaking
with 5 things. Not the milkylam, in ordering
your speech,
in arranging
your words
with 5 things.
If you are
to the caring
adviser,
obedient.
Do not be heedless
of the
of the cause of your of your speech
and its time
and its mode
and its extent
and its place, all of these.
Right?
Right? But if you want to listen to
someone who cares for you
and and is being advising you, when you're
going to say anything,
consider 5 things.
Why are you saying
it? Why are you saying the Sabbath? Why
are you saying it?
And the the and the
why are you speaking?
Should be you're speaking for the sake of
Allah
and unless you're speaking to yourself.
And out of concern for the good of
the other.
Right? You want to seek the pleasure of
Allah and you're seeking good for the other.
If it's not, don't say it. If either
one is not found,
don't say it.
And it's time.
When's the right time to say it?
Well, kef, and how do you say it?
And how much to say?
And
the place where you say it.
Like one of my one of my teachers,
he said, you know, like, if anyone would
be troubled,
said the most effective way of consoling them,
invite them over for a meal.
It's because everything goes goes down better with
a little food.
So, I'd heard it in different context. There's
some people who came to Damascus and they're
very confused by some things they saw.
So
and I, we didn't know what to do.
We're because these guys came from Canada. They're
really confused by some of the things
they they saw.
I was like, of course,
back then.
Remember that advice we heard? Yeah. Let's take
them for lunch.
We took them to a nice place. Didn't
really have to make much of an argument.
Because you you know, it was what we
were saying was right, but it was
enveloped in a meal.
Right?
So, yeah, just a spoonful of sugar helps
the medicine goes go down. Right? So don't
forget 5 things.
Why you're speaking,
when you're speaking,
how you speak, how much you speak, and
where you speak.
These these are 5
considerations.
So this is
so
consideration
in knowledge
and in con and the sign that you're
a person of consideration and knowledge is to
have considered
speech.
To have considered and that was the state
of the messenger of
Allah in his speech. Right?
His words
were clear,
distinct,
purposeful.
Right?
And then he says,
and a per a student of knowledge
is
seeking benefit.
They they are
seeking benefit. Mustafid
is always seeking Faida, benefit
in all circumstances
and in all times from all people.
Right? You you even go to a family
gathering,
learn something of benefit. And that's one of
the ways they say also
how you show respect to people.
Ask them questions.
You'll learn a lot.
Of course, part of the artist, ask the
right people the right questions.
So, don't ask your uncle. So, what position
do you follow on moon sighting? Because not
a scholar.
But you ask them.
It's actually one way also of keeping conversations
away from trouble in family gatherings. Ask people.
Like
and there's a lot that one can benefit
from from.
Say, what what what
what things of benefit can I ask this
person? And ask them questions.
So I remember in when I was in
Jordan, one of the very senior scholars
was asked
by a much younger scholar who was specialized
in the science of hadith,
but
a good 15 years
younger
and much, you know, much more much less
senior
than the scholar.
He asked him to
that the the young the younger scholar who's
a hadith expert
asked to meet the senior scholar.
So the senior scholar said, anytime, I'll come
and visit you.
So the the the younger scholar figured, you
know, okay. I'll, you know, I'll host him.
The Arabs love hosting and
did that. Then he and he said, it
was a really strange gathering.
I was invited. I
had better things to do than Go. But
it says very strange gathering.
The senior scholar came and the whole gathering
was the the senior scholar was asking the
junior scholar.
He asked him 15, 20 questions in the
science of hadith. All subtle. He went prepared.
So just a social visit. There's no other
thing, just a social visit.
Here's someone specialized in hadith. So ask him
15 questions.
And
I said if we had more time,
I'm pretty sure he'd have asked me more.
Right? So this is,
this is the the attitude. There's a Yemeni
scholar
who came to Oman on to visit one
of the senior scholars.
I helped arrange the meeting.
Because no one
and the whole meeting was in reverse. The
senior scholar asked the the the Yemeni scholar
is much
good 20, 25 years younger than him, asking
him a few questions the whole time. Said,
I want I wanted to ask him for
advice, for this, for this. I didn't get
a chance.
Why? Because,
yeah, in every situation, you're trying to seek
benefit.
May Allah make us all those who have
that attitude in our seeking of knowledge, and
we express that in the way we live
and deal with people
as
well.
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