Faraz Rabbani – The Rawha #078 Gardens of Paradise on Earth Avoiding Argumentation
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You're listening to the Roha, daily guidance for
seekers with Sheikh Farazrabani,
who will be covering Imam Yusuf and Abiheni's
beautiful collection of 40 sets of 40 hadith
of the prophet, peace and blessings be upon
him, as well as Imam Zarnouji's guidance for
seekers of knowledge regarding the ways of seeking
knowledge.
We are continuing to look at
40 hadiths on the merits
of the remembrance of Allah
from this
from a collection
of 40 sets of 40 hadiths by Sheikh
Yousaf and Nabhani.
And
we stopped at hadith number
32,
which is the hadith of Saydna Anas
In the previous hadith,
we looked at
the
great merit
of gathering
to remember
Allah
Out of
complete sincerity
that no people gather to remember Allah, mighty
and majestic,
seeking thereby nothing
but
Allah himself.
Except
that a caller calls out from the heavens,
you can now stand
forgiven
for I have changed your bad deeds into
good deeds.
And this is the great power of
sincerity. And one of the powers of that
sincerity in gathering for remembrance
is
that
the act of gathering,
the act of remembering Allah,
the
and of being with people who are who
are also
sincerely striving to remember Allah. All these
factors coming together
and the reminder that they serve, this is
one of the
places
where
divine favor
is manifest.
Right? As is come in the tradition,
that
direct yourself
towards
the breezes
of divine favor.
Right? Turn towards
and there are certain
there
moments of opportunity
in the days of our lives.
Right?
Right.
Congregational prayer is one of those moments.
The Friday
prayer
is one of those moments.
Gatherings of remembrance
are one of those moments, and one should
magnify these special moments.
But but remembrance of Allah also nurtures
that
longing for the divine
that
infuses
light
into all the moments of our lives.
Right?
So the haditha we're going to begin
looking at we begin by looking at today,
The the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said, when you if you pass by
the gardens of paradise,
then
spend time therein.
Right?
And
and the command here
is relax therein.
Enjoy yourselves
therein.
Gain
from them.
Right?
So it's a it's a word
full of potential
that spend time there, benefit,
relax,
enjoy yourself,
avail yourself
of them.
Right?
And referring to them,
gardens of paradise that they are fruitful.
Right? They're fruitful.
There these are full of benefit,
but the these are not worldly.
These are
as it were a piece of paradise
on earth.
If you pass by the gardens of paradise,
then dwell therein.
And, of course, the also remind us that
fruit
is now something taken for granted.
Because, you know, right here in Canada, we're
in the middle of winter, but if you
got a cold,
you go buy yourself some oranges.
Right?
But
fruit would only appear
at certain times of the year. Fruit is
a great opportunity.
Right? It's very something very special,
and we should not be negligent
of these blessings.
But this was a strange expression, unusual expression.
That if you pass by the gardens of
paradise,
then dwell therein.
So they asked,
So the companions asked the messenger
what are the gardens of paradise?
And the messenger of Allah said,
the circles of remembrance.
So it's related by and it's a sound
hadith, and there's many other similar narrations.
Hadith 33.
So so the mess say, Nurjabir relates to
the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
came out one day,
and this haba were gathered.
And he said, oh people,
truly Allah has
parties,
you know, groups
of angels
that
remain
in
and stand
upon
the the
gatherings of remembrance on earth.
So dwell
so let you dwell
in the gardens of paradise.
So dwell in the gardens of paradise.
So
they
said,
So
they
asked,
so
where
are
the
gardens
of
paradise?
The messenger of Allah said,
the gatherings of remembrance.
So remain.
Right?
Right? So begin your day and end your
day in remembrance of Allah.
Right?
You
know, head out each morning
and return each morning.
Right?
Fahdu,
meaning head out each morning
and return
each afternoon
at the time of
the in remembrance of Allah.
Right? And then he said, sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, and remind yourselves
that whoever
would like to know
their standing
with Allah,
then let them look how is Allah standing
with you.
For Allah
gives
the servant
the accord.
Right? Or the, you know, the rank
in accordance with
the accord that the servant gives
to Allah
within themselves.
That your rank with Allah,
how how
esteemed you are in the sight of Allah
is according to how esteemed
Allah
is in your
sight. And what's the sign of that? How
much do you remember Allah?
How often are
you striving to be conscious of Allah?
So the prophet
gave various keys here.
Right?
One is that don't miss out on the
garden on the circles of remembrance.
Right? But these are special because we have
our worldly responsibilities,
our duties and obligations and commitments.
So it may not be something facilitated
on a
on a daily basis,
but connect with them.
And for many, hadith al Alemessa, this is
something that one seeks at least once a
week. If not if you if one is
not able to twice a week
to to be connected with some gathering of
remembrance.
But
that's not it, because these are means to
be conscious of Allah and the prophet encouraged.
The angels
seek them out
and dwell therein.
Right? They are they are gardens of paradise.
And one of the things that one should
do,
right, Allah sub is to visualize
what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes in the
Quran.
To visualize what the prophet
describes.
What is a garden? What is its beauty?
I have to pause and reflect
on these.
Allah gives us examples and parables and metaphors
and imagery
so that we can
reflect
upon it. And so you don't just pass
it by. Okay. There's garden of paradise equals
this,
but
feel
that meaning.
Right?
And the prophet after
so gather for remembrance,
but also
begin the day and end the day
in remembrance of Allah.
And the means of that are many.
Make the most of fajr time. What do
you do on the way to work?
On your return back home from
work,
busy yourself
with remembrance of Allah. And this is also,
of course, the, you know, the the deen,
the religion
has come. The prophet
has come with mercy. Right? It is good
for you
in your hereafter,
but it also preserves good for you in
this life.
You're going to work. You may be tired.
You may be stressed.
You may have a lot of challenging things
at work, etcetera.
Remembrance
is not done to relax,
but it gives you a spiritual
balancing.
At the end of the day, you're exhausted,
you're tired, or you're not really looking forward
to domestic
challenges.
Right? Or whatever
you're dealing with.
Return in remembrance.
Right? And it'll
it it gives you succoon, serenity.
Of course, the ultimate sukun that is sought
the sukun that is sought is the eternal
sukun,
but it it
promotes and and preserves
worldly serenity as well. And this is related
by Ibn Abid Dunia and Abuiala and Bazar
and Tabarani and Al Bayhaki and Al Hakim
and many others.
And Al Hafid al Muziri, the author of
the brilliant work at Tarhib. With Tarhib,
he said that this is a sound
hadith.
Hadith number 34.
So Abdullah bin Umar
asked the messenger
that, oh messenger of Allah,
what is
the benefit
of the gatherings of remembrance?
And what is the attainment?
The ghanima
is what are the spoils.
Right? What is the benefit,
the attainment
of the gatherings of remembrance?
The messenger of Allah
said,
the benefit of gatherings of remembrance is paradise.
This is the
and this is a sound hadith related by
Imam Ahmed and others.
You also see, of course, the insight of
the companions
that if the prophet
encouraged something greatly,
it's because
there is some great benefit in it.
So he wanted to know precisely what is
that benefit. The prophet sallam is nothing but
Jannah. And of course, why is Jannah sought?
Because it's Allah's paradise. Right?
Right?
Right? Allah addressed the soul
content.
You know, pleased and pleasing.
Right? So enter amongst my servants
and enter
my paradise.
Right?
It is where you find
your eternal
station of closeness
to Allah
Right?
The garden is where you find
where you finally
encounter
the one you love.
Hadith number 35,
So
relates to the messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi sallam
relates that Allah most high
So the and who are the people of
honor?
Oh messenger of Allah.
The messenger of Allah
said,
the the people of the gatherings of remembrance.
So it's related by many of the great
imams of hadith, and it's a sound
hadith
that
on the day of resurrection,
right? Right? So Allah says that on the
day of resurrection,
the people of the gathering will know who
are the people of honor. Uhul karam.
Karam, of course, refers to generosity or honor.
Because the 2 are interrelated.
It is the generous who are honorable,
and if someone claims to seeks to be
honorable, they should be generous.
And if one is lacking, it means the
other is lacking.
Right?
Right?
Like the the people of spiritual path said.
The vilest of the vile
is someone who claims to be a person
of the spiritual path and yet they're stingy.
Right?
We'll take one more hadith. Hadith number 36,
Anjebid
So the prophet relates from the met from
the prophet
that no
human performs any action whatsoever
that is more salvific
for them
from the punishment
of
* than remembrance of Allah most high.
And it was said, not even striving in
the path of Allah.
Unless
one strikes with one sword until it is
shattered.
This is related by Imam Tabarani
in his
and
its transmitters are
those of the Sahih.
So again
and this we've seen other similar hadiths to
this. Right? But here, that there's nothing that
is more salvific. Nothing protects you
more from the punishment of the fire than
remembrance of Allah, mighty and majestic.
So
the the call is clear. Right? Keep your
tongue moist with the remembrance of Allah. Remind
yourself of the benefits
of remembrance.
Right?
Connect
with the circles
of remembrance.
We'll look at one more. And
said,
oh, messenger of Allah,
counsel me, advise me.
And the messenger of Allah said,
The messenger of Allah said,
migrate from sin
for it is the best
migration.
And he and he said, Salliezah, and carefully
guard
your obligations,
which is in general but applies most particularly
to the obligatory prayers. And to guard them
is not just to perform them,
but to perform them properly
as commanded.
Because in concept, say, okay, I'll pray 5
times a day. But
in the tests of life,
right, with work, with family, with distractions,
with
laziness, with inclinations,
guard your obligations for for it is,
for they are the best
jihad.
And he said
and make much remembrance of Allah,
for you will not come to Allah
with anything more beloved to him than
much remembrance
of him. And so related by with
a good chain of transmission.
Right? So,
this
great female companion asked for
advice. So he gave her 3 councils.
Right. Hijra is migration, which to abandon one
land for another.
Right. That the
make Hijra from sin.
So sin is not just avoided. And when
you migrate, you leave completely.
You distance yourself,
and all who migrates from a place
leaves it completely.
And the basis of migration
is that you don't return.
Otherwise, you're just a gharib, you're just a
visitor. The the migrant is the one who
leaves the land, and the expectation is they
won't return.
There's a difference between a migrant
and someone who's residing somewhere for a while.
Right?
Like a permanent resident. Right? Different between an
immigrant and a permanent resident. The permanent resident,
even if they say it's permanent, but they're
not
necessarily there,
you know,
permanent. Or you're there.
They're there on a visa. So they're here
for a while, but
so completely abandoned.
Right?
Sin,
which is don't sin.
Right? Don't
be be carefully
leave sin, but also carefully leave the things
that lead you to sin,
and leave those
things
that
may get you close
to getting to sin.
Right?
Right?
Such as dislike matters,
questionable places,
questionable company, that's all from
migrating from sin.
For it is the best of migration. That's
the first. The second, carefully guard
your obligations
and al Farahid
also can can refer specifically to the obligatory
prayer.
So what Allah has made obligatory upon you
is the most important thing in your life.
So guard it carefully. Hifth,
protect it.
And when you protect it,
you, you know, if you're going to protect
something, you make hifth of something,
right, you put barriers around it from all
that would threaten it.
And what are the barriers around it?
The farb the sunnah is the protection of
the farb.
Right? A sunnah, tahfadulfaraib.
Right? The sunnah,
right,
guards the obligations
in anything.
Right? So for example, a lot of people
wonder about halal meat, for example. That's obligatory
in terms of halal and haram food, but,
you know, they they try to live on
the razor's edge.
Right? They say this restaurant owned by questionable
people. They do all kinds of questionable thing,
but
the meat's halal. So they don't care about
the command of Allah in anything else.
Oh, but they do care to
to be truthful about the claim of halal.
That's not guarding the limits of Allah. Right?
You carefully
you know, you protect it. Right? If you
have
someone gives you a $1,000,000, you don't say
I I'm guarding it. I I closed the
door.
You put it in a safe like you
take. The more you care about it,
the more you'd protect it.
For that is the best of striving.
And make much remembrance of Allah for you
will not come to Allah with anything more
beloved to him than much remembrance of him.
And
Ibn Hajjar mentioned in his
commentary on on Sahih al Bukhari that one
of the meanings of remembrance of Allah being
the best of actions is anything that you
do in life
that is infused with the remembrance of Allah
is absolutely better than anything that you do
without remembrance of Allah. And the purpose
of all
acts of
devotion is remembrance of Allah.
And the potential
in all permissible actions is that they be
done with the remembrance of Allah.
Right? Even eating and drinking, Allah loves the
prophet
and for something to be beloved to Allah
means his great consequence.
That Allah loves that his servant
eat a morsel of food and they praise
Allah for it.
Right? What is praise of Allah?
Is type of remembrance.
But that remembrance made
the poultry and fleeting
into something
of drawing close, of attainment of love of
Allah. And Allah loves that his servant
drink a sip of something
and praise Allah for it.
The poultry
is turned into
light
through remembrance of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So
tomorrow, we're going to complete
the remaining
hadiths
in this section.
We'll just look very briefly
at some of the councils for the student
of knowledge
from yamzirnuji's
work, instructing the student on the ways of
learning.
And this is a chapter on
caring
for others
and having sincere concern for others in one's
pursuit of knowledge.
So he says,
Right? That
it it is incumbent on the student of
knowledge
not to argue with people
nor dispute with them
because it'll waste your time. And he's talking
about argue and dispute in matters of knowledge.
Don't argue with anybody.
It'll waste your time.
Right?
And one, because when you're studying, you don't
really don't know the issues anyways.
Right? It's more it it's more of a
of a tribal thing. Well, our people say
this, like what do you really know about
the principles and what are you know, the
you know, you're just saying it because that's
what your teacher said. Right? So
and
it'll busy you from what's more important And
it causes and you still don't have wisdom
to know how to deal with it.
Right?
So
don't waste your time.
People, you know, Sheikh Adib Kallas
people used to go and ask what are
what's a good book in refuting such and
such group about such and such matter? He
said, look, he said,
are you a student?
He said, yeah. He said, look,
Acquire knowledge
gain knowledge and you know all the answer.
And they'll free you of need of refutations.
K?
But on the other hand, if you read
all the refutations, but you didn't gain any
knowledge,
you just know why everyone else is wrong.
You don't know the truth yet.
Right? Properly.
Right? But you've also acquired a lot of
bad character traits.
It is said that the one who does
good will be rewarded for the good they
do. And the one who does bad,
it's sufficient
that that they have their bad deeds. Like,
what else do you want? Right?
And then
he he quotes he says, Anshaddani
shaykhul imamrukulul
Islam Muhammadun al Bikrul Ma'ruf b Imam Huaharlzada
al Mufti Rahimahu Ta'ala.
And Huaharlzada
is one of the great Hanafis. That's why
his name took a line and a half.
Well, have mercy upon him. He said, and
Shaddani
Sultan al Sharia,
Yusuf al Hamadani,
related by the ruler of the Sharia.
The big title. They're all generally from the
Eastern Islamic lands.
So he said these these lines of poetry.
Said don't respond to another
for the bad that they have done.
It is enough for them,
the bad that they're in
and the bad that they did.
Right? Poor guy. So, you know, they they
did something bad to you, but the why?
Because have concern for them. They did bad
to you. Don't respond to the bad that
they did,
but rather it's enough for them that
they're in a bad state and they did
something bad. So if you realize that, you
don't want to actually help them.
Assist your brother if the wrongdoer or the
one wronged.
And
and he said, whoever wants
to embarrass their enemy,
then let them repeat that line of poetry.
K? Someone,
you know, tries to dispute with you.
I will not respond.
I don't respond
to to the bad another did, it's enough.
The bad that they're in and the bad
that they've done.
That's from
naseha.
Right?
And then and that occurs
both in the issues of knowledge but also
in the dealings because if you're trying to
seek knowledge, some people will think you're crazy,
you're wasting your time,
etcetera, relax. There's all these kinds of things.
Let them be. Right? Let them be. And
also because if you do respond,
then when you do try to convey benefit
to them, your having argued with them
will cause them now to be defensive with
respect to you. You could win the argument
about
whatever
thing. They say, oh, you don't have to
follow a med hub, you don't have to
do the whatever you argued with them about
that, but then when you want to share
some benefit with them, they'll they'll not be
receptive
even if you won the argument.
Right? But if you,
you know because the point is
the reason we correct
is
in order to benefit.
The reason we convey is in order to
benefit.
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