Hamzah Wald Maqbul – 1440 2 Ramadn Late Night Majlis Guarding the Tongue and Eyes 05062019
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AI: Transcript ©
So we continue from
reading the introduction to the,
that we started yesterday,
which is kind of,
like, what you need to know in order
to be able to benefit from any knowledge.
A a a a it it kinda like
a ilm
98
type
text so that your knowledge will be beneficial
for you.
Like it was to say, not Adam alayhis
salam into the Ambia and to the
not like the knowledge of Iblis,
which, was just a,
an increase in the
proof against him and the burhan
of his damnation.
So he continues
that
it is
an obligation
on every
mukalaf, every morally responsible person
to guard their tongue
from faksha.
Generally
in generally translates to indecency,
and the of deeds is is is indecency,
perversion.
But the fasha of the lisan of the
tongue is just going overboard,
Just going overboard,
cursing,
or
saying things you're you don't need to say,
and and just going overboard and and speaking
what you need to do, being, like, flamboyant,
and just it's just going too far.
Anything that you're able to say in less
words, the sunnah has to say it in
fewer words rather than
in more. Now, obviously, sometimes there's a need
for for speech.
He he he mentions very explicitly. And, Imam,
for those who know him, he's not like
a controversial scholar. Within the tradition,
Imam Noe is basically the one that everybody
loves.
And, everyone will claim that, you know, we
follow his his path. He's a master, Muhammed,
the master in in
the. He's a master in the,
Kalam of the Ashari school,
but just a, you know, relatively solid guy
when it comes to everything he says. It
becomes like a standard in.
And so
he he writes in
the
that,
a person should weigh the benefit and the
harm in in in saying things. And if
there's more harm than there is benefit, then
just don't say
it. Meaning what? That there could be benefit
in it, but don't say it. And he
says, even when the harm and the benefit
is equal, the sunnah is toward what? It's
toward being silent.
If the harm and the benefit are equal,
still the sunnah is
towards silence.
So Fakhsha is obviously,
speaking
excessively or going overboard when you when you
say things.
Being able to say something in a simple
way and,
just completely,
being too severe in in the way you
speak, a person should should stay away from
that. And, unfortunately,
like, we're in an age where
the person's factual column is gonna get more
retweets and more likes and more shares and
more listens and more hits and all of
that other stuff.
You know, you have to ask yourself if
it's worth it or not.
That a person should
keep theirs their tongue away from. The speech
of sin,
like lying
or like
threatening people.
That thing which is that you know speaking
those words that are not that are ugly.
You know there's no there there's no beauty
in them. They make a person,
they make a person react in a way
that
that that that evokes their
their,
you know, the fact that they don't they're
they're not happy about what they what they
just heard for no reason. You know? Saidna,
Saidna,
Imam Ghazali
he mentions that that Saidna
passed by the rotting corpse of a pig,
and he commented about how white and beautiful
the teeth were. And so his his disciples
were baffled by why did he compliment the
corpse of a pig. And, after some time
not being able to figure it out, one
of them spoke up and asked him, said
that you you said this thing. We just
don't get it. We don't understand why. And
so he says, yeah, I I saw about
the, you know, I saw about the pig,
what you saw, and I was revolted by
it just like you were. And I wanted
to say something bad about it, but, then
I was afraid that my tongue shouldn't be
become accustomed to
saying, you know, that it's bad.
And,
saying bad things, negative things, and so I
forced myself to say something good. And this
is, again, has to do with the idea
that the tongue is also a limb of
the heart and that everything that the tongue
says, a carbon copy of it goes back
into the heart.
And so a person should be careful how
bad they say things. This is one of
the things also I mentioned yesterday. Allah Mahalad,
he actually mentioned this
in in, in the majlis that we sat
in, that you don't have to correct everything
that's wrong in the world.
You don't have to shut down every person
every time they say something that's wrong. In
fact, the sunnah is is oftentimes to what?
Is to let it go. Allah ta'ala talked
to you with them.
That the the the the the the the
the slaves of Ar Rahman are the ones
that when someone is talking nonsense, they pass
by them with nobility. Meaning, you not only
just pass by, just don't pay attention to
them, pass by as if you're unaffected by
them.
They're the ones that when the people of
Jahu, when the people of ignorance
speak to them, They say they don't say
salaam as in
necessarily,
but they say such words that, like, shield
them from the harm of that person and
just keep going. Because some people are crazy.
Some people are are crazy in this world.
If you say anything to them, if you
even look in their direction, they're going to
do something that's going to harm you or
injure you. So there's an art to how
to, like, pass by those people because it's
a waste of it's a waste of time
trying to trying to correct them. I mean,
imagine that that
even
in even in,
in Madinah Munawara, the
Abdullah bin Ubay Ra'isul Munafirteen. He's not only
a a a president, but he's also a
client. So the he's the he's the he's
the he's the the the the head of
of the of the hypocrites.
He was the one who was going to
become they were gonna crown him king in
before the prophet
came in. He was salty that that that,
you know, his his throne got snatched away
from him. And so he was always hatching
plots and just just being just vective against
the prophet
in public private snide comments, etcetera.
So that that that he he one time
insulted the prophet
so then he openly took he openly accepted
Islam for, you know, convenience for political convenience.
It's not like he said I don't believe
in you or anything, but he accepted the
din and then afterward he sang snide comments.
He said the words that are tantamount to
Kufr in the,
in the belittling of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And said, Nur alaihi wa sallam hadith of
Bukhari nonetheless.
Said, the Omar alayhi wa sallam asked for
permission to go and kill him, to dispatch
him, to put him out of his misery.
And
the prophet
says, no. Leave him. Why? Because I don't
want people to say that Muhammad kills his
companions.
That he doesn't he he he he was
afraid that people would think that the the
people who didn't know the context of what
was going on would think, look, this Islam
is,
is one of those things you can't win.
You know, if you if you don't join
them, they're they're out for your blood. And
if you join them, you're never gonna live
up to whatever standards. So you have to,
like, let some stuff slide. You know what
I mean? I think this is a really
poignant,
lesson.
And maybe some people will be like, oh,
how come he's talking about so and so?
I'm not taking any names here.
But myself included, there are some people maybe
they're too harsh with others
even if they are right.
And we extol that harshness because we're like,
oh, look, they're sticking up for the deen,
but sometimes it's one of those things that
you have see. Is there something beneficial gonna
come out of this or not? Or are
are are we just, you know, killing our
companions?
Because there are a lot of people who
are on our side.
Right? There are
our sisters in congress, they say stuff sometimes,
like, it's not out of me because it's
like or something so bad, like, far from
the deen that a person is like you
know, like, why did you say that?
However, at the end of the day, they're
ours. I mean, they're not gonna, you know,
they're gonna they're not gonna celebrate Hanukkah. They're
gonna be celebrating Eid. If they celebrated Hanukkah,
that would have been whatever. Fine if they
were from that tradition. I'm not saying bad
about it. But they're the ones who are
gonna celebrate Eid. When it comes time for
them to die, they're gonna have a janazah.
You know, you understand what I mean? They're
one of ours
one way or the other. So what is
it? Is it easy just to throw them
in the garbage can if they make a
mistake, or is it better to perhaps
try to, like, you know, reel it in?
You know? What what is the the prophetic
Hikma,
with regards to that? So yeah. You know,
a person shouldn't be shouldn't be, like, so
harsh in their in their in their
criticism of everybody.
That doesn't mean, like, carte blanche, like, everybody
can say whatever they want to. There are
certain situations in which someone will say something
and someone has to say something back against
them. But generally speaking, you know, you have
to have some sort of a a a
like a a scale by which to weigh.
Is this one of those times or not?
You can't reflexively just like be like, oh,
this is
this is all, snot, and we're gonna hack
everything down that that person did or said.
You can't reflexively do that. It's not part
of the deen.
And, you know, people may find it ironic
that I'm saying that, but,
you know, sometimes,
sometimes we have to admit our own faults
and, try to try to, you know, you
know, get help. That's first step toward getting
help is admitting your mistakes. That it's not
that a person doesn't have to act like
they're gonna be that everything I say or
everything that happens in front of me is
gonna be some sort of proof of the
Sharia. Sometimes you have to let certain things
go,
in order to get a a a a
larger,
benefit that the that the sharia countenances.
You can't be the police over everything because
what's gonna end up happening, you're gonna kill
everybody else. And then one day, if you're
honest about it, you're gonna see your own
mistakes and you're gonna kill yourself too. And
then everyone's dead, and that's not really a
a useful outcome.
Well,
or like, you know, some people they they
oh, I swear if, you know, if that,
you know, I swear the the whatever Cubs
are gonna win the game. Otherwise, I'm a
I I'll divorce my wife. Right? There are
people who are like that. Like, this type
of speech is is is is unnecessary,
and it's a type of,
stupidity. A person's tongue wasn't made for saying
stuff like that. Imam Abu Hanifa, forget about
swearing the oath of of of Talaf,
of of divorce against one's wife. Imam Hanifa
used to actually have a a swear jar,
but not for saying 4 letter words because,
obviously he's a
he's not gonna be saying stuff like that.
You know, the the man who makes khatam
Quran every night, the tongue is not made
for those things. His swear jar was what?
Whenever I say wallahi for something.
Why? Because he doesn't want the tongue to
cross a line and then end up
end up,
taking away from the the the homeland sacredness
of the mention of mention of Allah
in vain.
So how much worse is it that a
person should do, like like, silly things like,
swear, talaq against his wife,
just in order to make a simple point
that doesn't really need all that much,
doesn't need all that much emphasis as as
a person
as the person puts into it. Some people
make the a man of talaq
protect us,
on weird things. There's one brother,
who was, one of the olema. He was
in he came from South Africa. He was
from Pakistan. Alama Youssef Benuri sent him to
South Africa to help,
with the nascent what was in those days
the nascent Madars of South Africa. So he
taught in Newcastle, which to my knowledge is
the first,
Madarsa that taught Darshan Izami in the English
medium. He taught there for some time, and
then he came to America for a while.
And he's one of the original
of Molana Tamim
and,
a number of the brothers in the Bay
Area. And I remember I was a college
student in those days when he used to
come as well, and, we could tell he's
a very special person.
Somebody once,
came into his majlis and asked for Dalil,
and,
he says, I the the the hadith is
from Bukhary. He's like, oh, yeah. Well, tell
me the hadith.
And,
they he told them, and the guy's like,
well, who's the narrators?
Right? And so Moana got upset, and he
read the narrators, and he read the hadith,
and he kept reading from from memory for
the next, like, 20 minutes until the guy
left the.
So,
he he,
was thrown out of the country. He was
on a, he was on a green card.
He got thrown out of the country surreptitiously
after 911
as many people were,
I think in 2008 or 7,
in that in that era when they were
just basically throwing people out without any questions
asked. And,
he
went back to South Africa, and, he,
he was, robbed and killed. So he died
as a shahid maybe a year and a
half, 2 years ago. So we mentioned we
met we've visited his grave. He used to
teach the the local students back in the
day be before, studying din was fashionable,
in our circles. And, one of the students,
his parents got so upset. His father got
so upset at him. Why are you wasting
your time with these mullahs?
That he said that I swear if you
go and take darts from him again,
I'll divorce your mother.
And so he called up Moana. I said,
what am I supposed to do now? He
goes, I wanna study, but I don't want
my father to divorce my mother.
And so he says, come to the
come to the and sit in the threshold
outside on the sidewalk, and I'll teach you
I'll teach you from inside.
But the idea is that there are some
people who are like this. Protect us from
the tongue wasn't made for these types of
things. These types of things are a type
of foolishness.
To swear an oath of for something good
is dumb enough. To swear an oath of
for something that's evil is even stupider.
Protect us.
The happy one is the one who learns
a lesson from other people's
misfortunes.
And to,
to badger
and hack down another Muslim and to humiliate
him and to curse him.
These things are all haram,
which means what? When you get into a
fight with somebody on Facebook or on Twitter,
even if they are wrong, you know, make
your point and move along. Don't don't, you
know, start calling them names and start to,
you know, start to theorize about why they're
as messed up as they are once you've
proved how messed up they are.
If you're not gonna you know, if you're
like, no, this is one of the exceptions
where we have to hack them down. We
can't just, you know, it's not. We can't
just pass them by. They have something has
to be said about them. At that point,
you're not allowed to you're allowed to make
your point, and you're you have to move
on then. You can't, you can't just hack
them down and and and humiliate them and
disgrace them and then start calling them names.
A person is not allowed to,
to
to to to make a person afraid,
in any way, shape, or form, another Muslim
afraid without a without a of the sharia.
And what are the of the sharia? Like
someone tries to, like, rob you,
you can,
you know, do something that will make them
afraid to, like, proceed with what their plans
are. It's that type of stuff. Otherwise, to
instill fear in another
another believer or really in another human being
without a hapa is a is a is
a major sin even with your tongue,
to make a threat. I like that. And,
unfortunately, this is one of the reasons the
Muslim world is in such
bad situations that people really don't think
much about,
telling one another off,
and they don't think much about talking garbage
about one another. And this is the fact
of the matter is you're never gonna be
in a position where you kill another person
until you've,
a, harbored bad feelings toward them in your
heart, which is also not permissible.
And then, b, after that, you talk garbage
about them and you demean them to the
point where you don't see them as another
human being anymore.
Because once you see a person like a
human being, if you kill them, you're gonna
yourself, it's it's it's a, it's not possible.
If you do, you'll regret it right away.
However, if you, demean them in your in
your heart and in your speech so much
to the point where they don't mean anything
to you, then to, you know, then inside
your heart, it's as if you just, like,
slaughtered an animal or something like that. And,
you know, it's sad to, like, you know,
slaughter a lamb or whatever, but you eat
dinner and get over it. You know what
I mean? It's not really that big of
a deal to you.
And so these are doors that have to
be closed,
and if they're not, it leads to other
bad things.
So,
he continues, he says that it is also,
it is also necessary to for him to,
guard his
his,
his gaze.
What does what does that mean to guard
his gaze?
Generally speaking, what we think of when someone
talks about guarding a person's gaze, guarding a
person's eyesight
is that that, you know, something of a
sexual nature that don't look at women, don't
look at the opposite gender, you know. So
that all that stuff is part of the
meaning for sure.
However, it's very interesting what is his what
is the the the,
the example he brings up. He says it's
not halal. It's not permissible for a a
Muslim to look at another Muslim in a
way that harms them.
That's why I tell you don't
be mean to each other. Don't make faces
at each other. When you
squirt scrunch your eyes, grimace at one another,
that
bothers another person. Right? Why are they why
are they looking at me like that?
That's not permissible.
Even to look like that, even to look
like that at your at your brother, it's
not permissible.
You know, to look at your brother in
a way that you like
you look at them in a way that
you don't
feel that they have any worth.
That's the that's the example he came up
with. He's not talking about
the thing that we usually, like, first think
of when we think about guarding the eyes.
That that's a sin. No doubt. And that
will harm a person. No doubt. But what
is the thing that he the the the
example that he brings means that what? He's
afraid of something.
He brings what? That don't don't look down
on your don't look down on your but
but how many of us do that?
You go to Hajjalaku people from x y
z country. I've heard people talking garbage in
the Haramain Sharif thing of people from this
country and from that country. They look down
on they look down on them. They look
down all these people, these immigrants, all these
people from the hood, all these people from
here, all these people from there. And they
look down they look at they look at
them with the with the with such a
glance that it's like poison.
And, that's what he's afraid of, that a
person should should should do that to another
person. That's very deadly for the heart that
will kill a lot of the benefit that's
that's there in the heart. Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala, he says
whoever makes a a a an enemy of
a of
mine. I declare war on that person.
And it's our that everyone who says
even even even a person who,
we don't have, like, you know, that we
don't find them very glamorous or whatever. That
in some degree, that person has the of
Allah.
And this again, what is the logical end
of this is that people kill one another,
people fight one another, the Muslim world will
become the messed up salad, fruit salad, and
nut salad that it is,
right now because they they were never taught
to guard their eyes against
looking like this. It says
except for what?
Except for if that person is an open
sinner, a profligate.
It
not that they commit sins. Everybody commits sins.
If you look closely
and not that everybody, you'll find something wrong
with them. Everybody, you'll find something wrong with
them.
People fall in love with each other and
then after a while, they're like, oh, this
person is not what I thought they were.
Right? So how about somebody you hate from
the beginning?
However, he's talking about what? The open sinner,
the person who has no shame, the person
who flaunts their sins? That person,
that person it is it is, Wajib. It
is an obligation
just like it's obligatory to pray 5 times
a day, and eat halal, and, like, not
rob and steal people, and to be a
good person, and whatever all the other wonderful
things that people, you know, know that are
part of the Deen. It's to leave that
person's company.
Leave that leave them. Just leave them. You're
no longer friends with one another. You no
longer interact with one another.
You no longer interact with one another
in a in any way, shape, or form
that you have an option to avoid.
Now we live, in the,
we live in the time of
the cult of Dawa.
But Sheikh, what about Dawa? It's like, look,
you know, maybe that person is gonna get
better because of your company or maybe you're
gonna get better because of theirs. Generally speaking
generally speaking, most people when you keep the
company of someone who doesn't care about Dean,
it's like,
it's like, trying to open up, trying to
open up a a China shop, you know,
amongst a herd of buffalos. It's not gonna
end well. Why? Because what you have is
very delicate.
Right? China China is what? It's like type
like dishes, like glass dishes. Right? Fine glass
dishes. And a herd of buffalo, if they
run past, what's gonna happen to the China?
If it's sitting on a display case, what's
gonna happen to it? It's gonna break. It's
gonna break. It's gonna fall. When a glass
plate breaks, is it easy to put it
back together again?
Even if you glued every piece back together,
will it be still you will it be
useful?
You'll have cracks and crevices. You cut your
finger when you touch it. It's gonna be
a complete mess. It's gonna be a failure.
Right? So your deen is like your deen
is like what?
You work so hard. You cried at night.
You, you know, go to Darcy. You go
to Saba. You go to Maktab. You go
to Madrasah. You go to.
You go to,
Tara. We you do all these things in
order to make it, like, so,
you know, you in order to polish it
and make it good. And then what happens,
you keep the company of a bad person,
they'll shatter it into pieces.
Right? So someone's like, well, shit, you know,
your deen shouldn't be so weak. I agree
your deen shouldn't be so weak. So go
make
against your for the next 40 years until,
you know, you're one of those people that
you walk in the street and then you
cast another on a person and then they
make and whatever and, you know, they dream
about
the prophet that night and they also become
a. Go go for it. Go ahead. I
agree. Your deen shouldn't be weak. Go do
that and then come look at me as
well.
You know?
Uh-uh. But until
then, as when you're when you're still in
the process,
you know, it may be smart not to
not to do that. And if you're one
of the people who it's not gonna affect
you and you're gonna affect them, then by
all me by all means, be my guest.
You know, go ahead and, you know, walk
walk amongst,
walk amongst the, you know, the the impoverished
masses and bring them the light of your
of your kefir.
But in general, a person shouldn't leave not
should he says, it's
it's it's it's it's an obligation to lead
those people's company. But how many of us,
we keep the company as somebody who is
a open sinner and a propagate sinner
because we're impressed with something about their dunya
or impressed with something with regards to their
lineage or with regards to their beauty or
with big regards to their money or with
regards to some other thing that they have.
And Allah gives all those things to people
he hates, but he doesn't give,
obedience to somebody that he hates. And to
keep the the to keep the company of
such a person is not it's it's it's
haram. It's a sin. It's a sin. A
person has to leave those people's,
company, and that's the rule. And it may
have exceptions, but exceptions don't teach you about
the rule.
And how are how is a person gonna
get ahead in their saluk if they keep
the company of those people that you work
hard,
to, you know, to go to Darce and
go to Tarawi and put in, like, you
know, 2, 3 hours of work, and it
will be literally, it'll evaporate within, like, 5
minutes of or 5 you know you know,
30 seconds of vain talk from somebody whose,
state is, like, so so murky and so,
you know,
unpaid attention to, you know. Someone's like, well,
am I gonna be, like,
arrogant on other people? But no. Maybe that
person will make toba and be a wonderful
person later. That doesn't mean that you, like,
allow them to stab you in the eye,
you know. Uh-uh,
they're 2 they're 2, separate things.
So he he mentions that he mentions that
that it's not it's not, permissible
it's not permissible for a person to,
look
at another with
a gaze that harms them or,
looks down on them except for that person
who is an open profligate
in the context of their profligacy, in the
context of their open and shameless sinning. So
it's not you're not looking down at their
iman. You're not looking down at their humanity
or whatever.
But, like, okay. Yeah. This guy
is literally behind the counter in his liquor
store selling the liquor and you pass by.
That's an exception that you can look at
that and say, like, what is this like?
You know, like, with your eyes, you can
shoot some negative,
whatever, glance with your eyes to that person.
But even then, how what's the solution to
not being a negative person? It's still, like,
just not keep their company. But if you
pass by that thing, it shouldn't offend you.
It should it shouldn't bother you. Allah
give us,
the tawfiq of keeping
keeping and guarding the
the the the the the boundaries that he
set for us with our eyes and with
our,
with our tongues and that we only use
our tongues for that which is beneficial
and our glance for that which is beneficial
and that he protect, our tongues from speaking
the evil or our eyes from seeing the
evil.