Hamzah Wald Maqbul – 21 1440 Ramadn Late Night Majlis The Seal of Compulsion 05262019
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So we continue.
By his father, we reached the last 10
nights of Ramadan.
And,
this is the 21st
night. It's an odd night.
There's a possibility that it's
and,
to fulfill the sunnah that the prophet
needs to remind his family as well,
in these nights
that, if a person is to
be in these nights in general and in
specific, if they are to feel that tonight
might be
then the the dua that was prescribed by
the prophet
You
are
the one who
is
completely and emphatically,
the person who
forgives
such a forgiveness that
it doesn't leave any ill effect behind.
One is someone asked for forgiveness and you
grudgingly forgive them, and one is that forgiveness
that is like forgive and forget. Although Allah
doesn't forget anything, but,
you know, it's the forgiveness that leaves behind
no trace of the of of the ill
will, from the offense to the point where
it comes in the hadith of the prophet
not only is the
the repentant from sin is the one who
has committed no sin at all. In fact,
the sin has turned into a good deed.
Allah will actually reward you for that sin
as one of the many,
acts of grace from
repenting to Allah.
So that's the the of Allah is that
that that he forgives in such a way
that he's not going to hold it against
you afterward once he's forgiven you.
You're the one who always forgives like that
unconditionally and completely.
And you're the one who loves that people
should forgive one another completely.
And this also has a connection with these
days,
with these Mubarak days. Why?
Because,
not forgiving one another
in these days,
when everything is said and done. Obviously, someone
still owes you money. They still owe you
money. If there's still some sort of zone
going on against you, you have the right
to pursue that if if, you know, there's
benefit in it.
You have the right to still pursue it,
and it's okay to pursue it if there's
some benefit in it. But when everything is
said and done and you've gotten your restitution
or things have passed,
a person should forgive.
And withholding forgiveness to one another is a
especially when somebody asks you for forgiveness. To
not forgive them at that point is just,
like, inhuman.
But even those who don't forgive you, you
know, even those who
wrong do and they don't say anything bad,
it's from a prophetic character to forgive them.
And, again, that doesn't mean that, you know,
the money they owe you that they haven't
paid, that that you, you know, that debt
is forgiven,
but, the sin that's involved with it.
So
it comes in the hadith that that withholding
forgiveness from one another is a reason that
Allah will withhold forgiveness from people, that the
day of Eid is a occasion of Allah's
forgiveness,
and Allah tells the angels that in the
unseen go and and give
to my
slaves that they've been forgiven.
And angels will ask how about so and
so and so until they still got beef
with one another.
And
the lord
will say, leave them until they forgive one
another, then then they'll be forgiven too. So
that you,
you know, you love that people forgive one
another completely and totally like that. And so
forgive us completely and totally,
like that. And, so
The difference between is for me and is
for us if you're making in
a gathering.
This is the weird of the in this
in this Mubarak nights.
So read as much Quran as you can,
pray as much as you can,
say your adkar as much as you can,
and, keep away from sin as much as
you can because in the holy times,
the the ill effect of sin is also
multiplied.
And to sin in these in these Mubarak
nights is a sign of it's a sign
of being deprived,
deprived, which is something we're gonna talk about
incidentally tonight.
So Allah protect us from it. So if
all you can do is just, you know,
shut off the TV or stop doing the
sins that you do in the other nights,
that's also a great there's a great if
all you can do in these nights is
just go and pray in congregation.
There's there's a great in it as well.
1,
that that's multiplied through Al Fisar, through a
1000 months, it comes out to a lot.
And 1, is a lot in and of
itself.
The Yom O'Puyama people will be walking,
back and forth between people,
like
stark and raving mad mad men,
hungry, driven
mad by hunger and thirst. For what? For
1
and for 1
and for 1
and
for 1 So, you know, take advantage of
these nights
for myself and for others.
So near the end of the,
the,
that we've been reading for for the last,
several,
nights over a week now, I guess,
is
a,
a a a a set of discussions
on different Quranic themes,
that are transmitted by the compiler of this
book, Mullana Kamruzaman
Elaha Bedi,
from,
a a work of Tafsir Jawahirullah Quran of
Maulana Hussein Ali. May Allah have mercy on
him. So he wanted to
he wanted to quote,
a couple of sections that are,
important for a person to understand,
how the heart works,
and how how, Allah
its transaction is with Allah on this path.
So the topic we wanted to discuss tonight
is what,
what what is referred to, in the technical
vocabulary is as
When Allah most high gave man a heart,
eyes, and ears to understand, see, and listen
to the truth, he commissioned the prophets
to explain the truth and he sent books
to them. If a person still does not
understand the truth,
does not see it and does not listen
to it, instead, opposes it out of stubbornness
and obstinacy,
and remains willful on his false beliefs and
polytheistic practices,
then the ability of such people to listen
to the truth and understand is obliterated from
them.
What what does this mean? This means that
the haqqiq comes to you and Allah gives
you a chance, he gives you another chance,
he gives you another chance, but you're not
given an infinite
number of chances.
And, that's something, I guess, everybody can understand
in the sense that nobody lives forever,
but it also doesn't necessarily mean that your
your,
your chances are as much life as you
have.
Your chances are as much life as you
have, but the life is not the life
of the body. The life is the life
of the heart.
So
not accepting the truth when it comes to
you, it's extremely dangerous act.
And rejecting it, even though you know it's
true or you have an inkling of its
truth inside of your heart is a very
harmful act. It's a suicide of the heart.
He says what? He says that
one who
opposes it out of stubbornness,
obstinacy,
obstinacy of 1,
and remains willful on false beliefs and polytheistic
practices,
then the ability of such people the ability
of such people to listen to the truth
and understand it is obliterated from them. It's
taken away from
them. They're they die spiritual death and they
die a death in the heart even though
the the the the physical heart and the
physical body may be still ticking. You may
be able to go to the hospital and
get your vitals taken and they'll they'll they're,
you know, they're they're not gonna sign your
death certificate yet. But spiritually, your death certificate
has been signed.
This is something very scary and this is
something a person should take
a take a lesson from in other people.
And, this is something that a person should
be very careful that they,
surround themselves with the haqq at all times.
That they hear the hak in their ears
and they look at the hak with their
eyes
and they, understand the hak in their hearts,
whether it's whether it makes them feel good
or it doesn't make them feel good. Why?
Because as long as you keep the channels
for the hop open to your heart, your
heart still has life in it. There's still
some chance that you can do good.
Whereas once it's blocked, once your eyes are
now watching,
you know, Instagram and YouTube videos and,
Netflix and all these things, but they're not
seeing the hawk anymore. And once your ears
are listening to whatever,
iTunes and,
Spotify and, you know, whatever nonsense Baqwas is
on the radio. Some people are like, well,
I listen to the news. Sometimes the news
is the worst thing to listen to. Sometimes
it's better just to listen to Britney Spears
or whatever than some of the garbage that
they put on the news.
You know,
if that's all you're listening to, that's all
you're hearing, and you're not hearing the hawk,
then,
then then that's a really scary a really
scary situation to be in.
The inspiration to embrace iman is taken away
from them. This is a condition known as,
al kahr al jabari,
or, the force of compulsion.
This is not jabr
in the in the in the sense of,
the predestination
which
completely absolves a person from the moral responsibility
of choice. Because Jabbar is when a person
is not even given the ability to understand
the truth,
and nor are they given the means to
recognize the truth.
Those means are not provided to that person.
So this is different than that. This is
what that you chose wrong enough times that
you killed your heart, and and then afterward
the
the lock is placed on it. The Quran
explains this concept in various ways.
Allah says in
his book
They have hearts with which they do not
understand. They have eyes with which they do
not see. They have ears with which do
they do not hear. They are like they
are like grazing animals.
Al Anam is what? Is goats, sheep, cattle,
and camels.
Animals that are herded and grazed, raised for
their meat or for some, you know, for
milk or or or, you know, just for
consumption essentially.
It says they are like grazing animals. In
fact, they are further astray.
They are the ones who are completely heedless.
So that's a that's a really powerful metaphor
that Quran uses that those are the animals
that are literally raised to be eaten,
but they still are obedient in in in
most of their in most of their daily
things, and they're attached to the one who's
gonna want to eat them.
And it is a a a epitome of
of stupidity. Why? Because the dean teaches us
that everything is well that ends well.
So, you know, somebody, no matter how nice
they are to you, if you know they're
gonna eat you, they're not your friend.
You understand what I'm saying?
If you know they're gonna eat you,
you know one day they'll take a knife
to your throat, cut you into pieces, and
then have a barbecue. But with you, Not
like as in share the barbecue with you,
but you are the barbecue. They're not your
friend.
So the one who still, has a bond
of obedience with someone like someone like that
is like the person who is,
subjected,
themselves and their existence to the ultimate stupidity.
This verse does not attribute this condition of
theirs to any cause.
However, the condition,
of,
is the force of compulsion is sometimes attributed
to false beliefs and polytheistic practices.
For example, Allah Ta'al says in his book,
nay, indeed,
rather, it is the rust,
that that that completely encapsulated their heart because
the the the sins that they earned with
their with their hands.
So a person keeps sinning and they keep
damaging their heart more and more until it
completely dies.
And then they're subject to this they're subject
to this
compulsion by Allah
that they they no longer
are are able to receive Hidayah anymore.
And legally, they're still required to become a
Muslim. They just destroyed the means spiritually for
for them to to do so.
Sometimes the condition is attributed to the polytheists
themselves.
They say our hearts are covered. They're completely
they're completely in hijab,
toward that which you call us.
And, our ears are blocked and there's a
veil between you and between us.
So do whatever you like and we're gonna
keep doing whatever we like.
Sometimes it is attributed to Allah most high
because he is the real doer and the
creator of man's actions.
Allah says in his book,
Allah has sealed,
cast a seal on their hearts and on
their on their hearing and on their,
sight is a veil
and for them is reserved a
a a a a a huge punishment.
Allah says in his book
says when you recite the Quran, we place
between you and those who don't believe in
the hereafter
a a a a a barrier which is
hidden.
And Allah says in his book,
He describes, the people who are in such
a condition that those are the ones who
Allah has placed a seal cast a seal
on their heart and on their hearing and
on their,
their their vision.
And this is what their spiritual their spiritual
faculties.
Those are the people that they they they
can see they can see even the prophet
themselves. They can see the masjid, they can
see every alama and sign of the haqq,
and it's not gonna affect them. Even though
they can see that you see 2020, they
don't need glasses, they don't need, contacts or
LASIK vision or any of this stuff. But
when they see the it just doesn't register
in their spiritual heart. When they hear the
haqq, it doesn't touch their heart anymore.
Those people are the hafilun. Those are the
ones who are heedless. They're the ones who
don't know what's going on.
Even if they, you know you know, know
the stock sign of every,
every stock in the, in the stock exchange.
And even if they know every the atomic
weight of every chemical in the periodic table,
and if they can name the entire pharmacology
of all the different medicines, and they get
all, you know, all of these things, whatever
it is you need to know in order
to know. They say it's a knowledge based
economy.
Well, the economy is destroying the earth and
it's poisoning the air and the water. I
think of it in some ways as a
jahold based economy. But anyway,
if nothing else, the fact that your economy
is based on the precept that there's only
$10 in the world and so I have
it and you don't. So I'll lend it
lend you $10 and then you have to
pay me back 11.
That is that possible?
It's not, you know, so that's that's our
quote unquote knowledge based economy. That's the type
of jahu that Allah will afflict people with.
And it causes wars, it cause people to
kill, each other and then eventually kill themselves
as well. That's the type of economy that
makes people voluntarily
destroy their own lineages.
So this this is the wafla that Allah
cast on the heart of somebody,
who who keeps,
running afoul of this,
running afoul of Allah Taal's guidance.
The reason for these different approaches is so
that the adress he may learn what is
intended by the seal of compulsion.
Why and where why and when it is
set and who sets the seal.
The first, second, and third,
each of these is in the sequence of
explaining what, why,
when, and who sets the seal.
Sometimes the Quran explains the nature of the
seal of compulsion,
but the reasons for it are not explained.
This is because
only a description of the condition is intended
as in the case of
Allah has set a seal on their hearts.
Sometimes the reasons are mentioned.
This is because they prefer the life of
this world over the hereafter,
and because Allah doesn't guide unbelieving people.
It is these
upon whose hearts, seal is cast and upon
whose eyes and ears, seal is cast.
Meaning what? What does it mean to prefer
this world over the hereafter?
This dunya is a place of hijab between
you and Allah
The creation in this in this life, the
creation is the proof that Allah exists because
nothing creates itself.
Everything that exists has to have a creator
to to to create it.
And so the idea is that that that
in this world, we only see the creation.
In the next world, we'll see the creator.
And the one who prefers this life over
the hereafter, what what is it? He said
they don't wanna meet Allah Ta'ala. That they
don't have love for Allah Ta'ala.
And so Allah
then says, if you love the dunya, if
you love things so much, here,
separate yourself from me and stay with those
things.
You get what you want. It's not really
something you can blame Allah for. And there
are some people, they really don't they really
don't care. You tell them about the Jannah,
and you tell them about Jazal al Amal
and things like that. And they they say
things it's really interesting in the Quran. Right?
Like Surat Surat Suratul Kahf yesterday, masha'Allah
Jum'ah, and it's also good to read it
anyway, otherwise, other than as well. So now
to read the the the the
of
every day also.
That that there's a story in there, the
story of the
etcetera.
That
that that one of the verses, you know,
that one one man is telling another wealthy
man,
and wealthy people are especially
subject to these things. And wealth here means
being free from need. And most poor people
in this country are also free from need.
There are poor in America for sure, but
many of them are not starving to death.
You know?
Some of them might be, but we're not
talking about those ones. We're talking about the
ones that whose basic needs are are fulfilled,
even if they live in the penthouse suite
or anything. But they have enough food to
eat, and they're, you know, the heater works
in the winter, and things like that. So,
And this is actually one of the few
places for the, people of tera'at,
that there's actually a difference in the in
the Rasama as well, that in wars it's
But at any rate, he says that this
guy is like, you know, he's his his
his friend who's not as wealthy as him
is telling him to, you know, fear Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And he's like, you know,
all this Allah
stuff. And then and then at the end
of, at the end of that rant, he
says what?
Anyway anyway, my my rabbi Allah is such
that, you know, even if it turns out
that this all this stuff is true, that
you're saying all this religious hocus pocus is
true,
Allah will forgive me anyway.
Right? Allah will forgive me. Right?
Anyway,
just for free, he's gonna forgive me. No,
it doesn't unfortunately it doesn't work that way.
And that story it's really interesting that Allah
mentioned that as well because the Quran is
very emphatic about about the forgiveness of Allah
But we mentioned this yesterday also that Allah
himself says in his book, he said,
that that that,
he that I myself am,
the zafar
for the one who makes toba and the
one who
works,
righteous deeds.
Right? That that was the the quote from,
Moana,
Muhammad,
who was again one of the
the the the great masha'ikh
of one of the great masha'ikh of the
tariqa in the subcontinent for the from the
last century. He's one of the of Moa
Hakim Akhtar Sab as well, and he was
a very well known a very well known
dignified
and and spiritual personage of
of the tariq. And he said that that
people people say that
being forgiveness
being forgiven is easy.
He says that Allah is all forgiving and
most merciful,
and he he said that I I I
say forgiveness is not so easy, rather it
requires repentance and iman and good deeds. Allah
said in this regard,
That I am the one you'll find, that
I'm the one who forgives again and again
and again. For who? For the one who
repents
and then who does good deeds,
and then,
takes the path of guidance. If you don't
do it, then this whole thing
Yeah. Anyway, if even if all your stuff
is true, you know,
that even then, you know, he's he's nice
he's nice. He'll forgive me anyway. It doesn't
really work that way. In fact, that's that
that sentiment of not putting any effort and
not putting any love in it and feeling
entitled afterward afterward to the forgiveness itself is
a sin that that many sins,
are nothing compared to that sin. That itself
is a a a great sin. And it
itself is,
you know, the talk of somebody who is
trying to earn the seal being cast onto
their heart. Allah be our protection.
So, the sheikh
explains he says, this can be explained through
an example.
A person is in the early stages of
suffering from
a terminal illness. A very professional and affectionate
doctor gives him medication for free,
and says to him,
take the medicine immediately
or your condition will become incurable.
The patient totally disregards the doctor's advice and
does not take the medicine.
Or later on when he's forced to take
it, he spits it out.
And his condition worsens to accept to the
point where the doctor informs him that it
is now incurable.
There's nothing but death. Obviously, it was no
fault of the doctor. If anyone was at
fault, it was none other than the patient
himself.
The disbelievers and polytheists are, on whose hearts
the seal of compulsion is set are are
just like this patient.
You know, Allah
warned that person. Allah gave them all the
means to to take Hidayah. Allah gave them
all the means to do what was right
and to benefit themselves, and they themselves rejected
it. This is a a really important
insight.
Why? Because a lot of people,
in America,
you know, Islam was new to them
not too long ago.
And this is both the both the,
both the the the those who are indigenous
and converts and people who were,
immigrants to the society.
The ones who were immigrants, they thought that
somehow,
they are going to be separate from separate
from society.
Why? Because back in our old countries, we
never heard of anybody leaving the din, or
it was exceedingly rare.
Back in our old countries, we never heard,
like, you know, it was very rare that
someone, you know, their
sons and daughters will openly commit or
their children will, you know, openly do a
certain bad acts. It was known to happen,
but at least there was some sort of,
like,
a a shame that people had about it.
The shamelessness with it, it it wasn't there.
And those who accepted Islam as well, the
the the the zeal and the fervor of
fervor of a new convert,
it's it's something it's something very real, but
it doesn't last forever.
And it doesn't last, you know,
through generations either.
So now those people,
became Muslims, for example, and now their grandchildren
are born as Muslims. But they're still gonna
go to school. They're still gonna go they're
still gonna go through everything else that everybody
else goes through.
And,
the idea is this is that
the kefia
the the the kefia or the
condition of gafla, heedlessness,
has taken such a grip of people because
unlike in a Muslim majority country
or unlike in,
in
times where Muslims had, like, political hegemony,
or even unlike in situations of extreme,
oppression.
Right now, life is so normal. The normalcy
of the life itself is is is something
that that that's harmful. Like, if you look
at immigrant populations. Right? There's certain immigrant populations.
Why? Because they look black or they look
white, their, they they they, their children will,
assimilate
very easily.
Whereas somebody who doesn't look like somebody who's
like a quote unquote indigenous
American, or,
I don't wanna say Native American because that
means something else, but somebody like black, white,
or just some, you know, well known or
accepted
racial designation, whether that designation has any haptikar
or not, that person, they'll always look different
because you stick out, you're not gonna be
accepted.
Beholden to your difference all the time.
Whereas, if you get caught up in your,
what you call, accepted into the society,
very quickly,
then,
what happens is that there's a great fitna
for a person for them to be heedless,
to just be like the Anam, like, the
whole rest of the pack of flock of
sheep is going in a certain direction.
And,
that direction is the direction of the slaughterhouse.
And you're like,
I know that I don't wanna get eaten,
but at the same time, look, everybody else
is doing it.
This is a this is a great danger.
People should know this. These are things that
happen. They should know this for their own
homes, for their own houses, for their own
children. Don't just send your kids to school.
Forget about regular school. Don't just send your
kids to Islamic school for that matter. And
think that these these these pressures are not
going to be on them. That they're going
to have to constantly actively
be trained how to
look for the Haqq, how to cast their
glance on the Haqq and away from the
batil again, away from the falsehood. How to
constantly listen, see where is the Haqq so
that they can constantly keep listening to it.
So that the ears don't rust and they
they they they don't lose the ability to
hear the anymore.
Because, you know, it's if a person is,
like, you know, like I said, as a
small kid, think about what it's like to
be a kid. People always boss you around,
order you around, push you around, bully you
around. You're accustomed to it as a kid.
Once you become, like, big, like, you know,
professional respectable type of person, then no one
can tell you what to do anymore. And
someone pushing you around like they used to
when you're a kid, even, like, a fraction
of that, you get really upset really quickly.
Right? The fact of the matter is that,
yes, you shouldn't let other people push you
around. But Allah is the one who, has
the heart that if he tells you to
do something, whether you like it or not,
your own
perception of your own self esteem is irrelevant
to,
how dangerous it is to not accept that
accept that order. A person has to keep
themselves connected to these things. Otherwise, this
this
is going to take hold inside of a
person's heart. Many people many people beyond I
I'll be honest. Many of the many of
the people who are on the quote, unquote
path of guidance and piety, it's just a
crisis of opportunity. If they had a upper
opportunity to fit in, they would have done
it and they would have been gone as
well. Right? So people like like me, like
you look brown looking dude, don't look black
and don't look white.
Okay? So I can be like, yeah, you
know, go white because if I put on
a suit people still look like me a
biggie. This guy looks like Pacqui anyway. You
know? Like, it's not gonna do anything for
me. Right? However, I've seen this in other
countries. They're like you go to South America.
Okay?
Colombia. Right? Every every every Colombian either looks
like he's Desi or he looks like he's
Arab. It's like 1 or 2 choices. I
see that. Our people come in their Khalats.
They're gone. They mix like sugar and water.
They they, have no trouble getting married. They
have no trouble getting a job. If they
can speak Spanish, just fine. You know, people
don't look at look at you like you're
different.
And, you know, speaking with the people in
the community down there, and the imams, and
things like that, they say this is a
fitna
that people come, they'll immigrate in order to
get a job or something like that, that,
you know, you'll see that person will be
coming to the masjid, and they'll be just
fine on their game. And then what happens,
Janab, they've,
you know, get married,
and,
which is fine. That's a wonderful thing. There's
nothing wrong with getting married, you know, but
they just mix into the into the family
and cost. It's, you know, they're they're gone
now. There there's no longer any,
any any struggle. Why? Because there's they feel
like there's no need to struggle anymore. The
entire flock is going to the slaughterhouse. Why
don't I just go with them?
Why don't I just go with them? This
is a fitna all of us are gonna
face over here. All of us are gonna
face over here. Even this entire, like, this
whole thing about Muslims, for example,
you know, making, quote unquote, alliances with,
you know,
extreme liberals or extreme conservatives for that matter.
What is it?
Right? You can cast your alliance with people
in ad hoc way. Meaning, like, on a
one issue thing. Like, you guys wanna
get, like, the ordinance to, like, ban payday
lenders in the state past, and we do
too. So that's our alliance. That's where it
starts. That's where it ends. If there's something
else that we wanna ally with, then we'll
ally on that one issue as well. That's
not only is there nothing wrong with that,
it's just smart politics. But this idea that
somehow our our lot is cast in with
these people together, and if we make friends
with them that we'll finally belong and we
won't be, you know not everyone's not gonna
look at us and be like, oh, look
terrorist, you know? Oh, look. It's it's it's
Osama who's, like, you know, up to his
jihad again or whatever and, you know, like,
we we wanna we're just regular Americans like
you and everybody else. Obviously, in some way,
we're not whoever says
forget about being regular Americans.
Was a member of. He was in the
middle of and he was thrown out because
of this.
There are people who are just not gonna
like it.
And the fact of the matter is you
have you have to choose. Is this what
you want or is it is something else
that you want? Until you can you can
push that
that that,
push that that
that heedlessness
that want to just,
you know, have everything just go
quote unquote normal or go easy in life.
And until you can push that out and
accept the fact that, I'm gonna have to
keep my eyes open. I'm gonna have to
keep my ears open. I'm gonna have to
keep my heart open to realities that may
be sometimes uncomfortable. Why?
Because that's what will keep my heart connected
with Allah and
keep it alive.
Then those those those channels are going
to erode and die. And once they die,
they cut off the lifeblood and the the
nur to the heart that needs to survive.
And then once the heart dies, then the
seal is cast, and a time may come
when a person hears every ayah in the
book of Allah, every hadith in the book
of, in every hadith of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam,
they may see every convincing proof in the
in the in the in the in the
faces and the deeds of the oliya of
Allah
living and dead, and it's not gonna affect
them anymore.
And that's not,
something that you can blame Allah for because
he gave us every choice in our life.
So it's
from Allah that we have these Mubarak days
and nights that we can make mudakah out
of this when the grip of shaitan on
us is is let free, and the grip
of the nafs on us is at least
loosened. Allah give us
to live by his,
to live by his pleasure and die by
his pleasure and to live by his, love
and to die with his love
in this world and the hereafter, and to
forgive one another even though it's difficult.