Hamzah Wald Maqbul – Mawlana Bill Al Ansr Concealing Faults of Others
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AI: Transcript ©
So
today, we,
we go back to,
a a chapter of that
precedes, I think, where currently,
Muhammad Hamza has reached in Kitab ul Aqil,
I believe. And this chapter
deals with the issue of
concealing
the private affairs of Muslim brothers
and sisters.
And the prohibition
of spreading
the private affairs
of,
Muslims without necessity.
And Imam Nawawi Rahmatullah, he begins with the
an ayah
of Surah Anur.
That
that verily those who love, that,
that,
indecency
spread
amongst those who believe for them is a
severe and and painful torment or punishment.
In this world as well as in the
and the next.
So as Imam Nawawi does, right, throughout the
book, he begins with an ayah of the
Quran that relates to the subject matter. And
so he begins with actually a very important
verse of the Quran because it is one
of a number of verses that's revealed regarding
an incident that takes place in the time
of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam that is loaded with lessons
about how to deal with
very severe severely traumatic,
social conditions.
And
this is the story of the ifq
or the false accusation against, our mother Aisha
radiAllahu anha.
Just to give a little background about that
story, so when the messenger of Allah Sallallahu
alayhi wasalam used to embark on a journey,
because of the number of wives of the
messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
he would draw lots
to choose,
fairly,
one of the wives of the messenger of
Allah Sallallahu alaihi wasallam to accompany him on
the journey.
And so on this particular journey, the prophet
of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam drew lots and
Aisha radiAllahu anha's name came up and so
she was chosen to accompany the messenger of
Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Now what what we
need to know about Aisha radiAllahu anha is
that she was very light.
Meaning she because of her age as well
as
just, her her her her,
you know, physical nature, she was she wasn't
very heavy.
And so they used to the women used
to travel on these what they called,
on top of a camel, which was essentially
I think what they call them in English
is,
what do they call it? How old is
in English? Carriage?
Heck. Yeah. A carriage. Like a it's a
covered, like, almost like a tent
on top of a camel. Right? And it's
it's covered so that a person who's inside
can be concealed.
And so,
when this this, group of companions and the
prophet
are traveling that they would stop, you know,
and they would, encamped for some time. And
one of those stops,
Aisha exits the and she goes to fulfill
the or to answer the call of nature.
And because she's so light,
when the time comes for the the group
to proceed on,
those who are carrying the haudaj and place
it when they place it back onto the
camel,
they didn't notice that Aisha was not inside.
And so she, is essentially left behind.
Right?
And Aisha
because she was so intelligent, she recognized that
it would not be beneficial for her to
move around. So, she stayed put in that
same spot
until she
thought that someone would return and to
bring her back.
And it just so happened that a man
by the name of Susafwan ibn Maathal
who
said that he he used to be a
very heavy sleeper. So he sometimes would fall
asleep and and and it required many people
to wake him up and so he would
fall behind.
So he was he is he was falling
behind and so
he, after the sun rises,
he,
you know, basically is following the the the
caravan and he he stumbles upon Aisha radiAllahu
anha. And he recognizes her before the the
hokum of hijab because hijab
had not yet, or or before hijab the
the rules of hijab had been implemented.
Safan al Ma'at
had seen Aisha radiAllahu anha. And so he
immediately recognized that this is, you know, the
mother of the believers, Oma'iha radiAllahu ta'ala Anha.
And so he stops and he offers her
his camel
and he basically, you know, follows behind out
of deep respect.
But, of course, you know, the
take advantage of the situation
and they became very happy when they see
Aisha radiAllahu and how, you know, approaching the
caravan with this man. You know, a single
man and a single woman. And this being
the wife of the messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam, you know, they found their
opportunity.
And so they began to spread a rumor.
And the rumor was that something that is
illicit took place between Aisha radiAllahu anha and,
Safa radiAllan.
And, you know, to the extent that this
rumor doesn't just spread amongst the munafiqeen
or the hypocrites,
but that at least 3 or 3 individuals
amongst the sincere believers,
right?
Hassan Muthabit, Hamna Bintajahash, and, Mista, and,
and, mister
who was the cousin of Abu Bakr radiAllan.
Yeah. Ibn Khaledi
Abi Bakr radiAllan. So the son of the
kala of Abu Bakr. And he was actually
supported financially by Abi Bakr radiAllanahu as well.
So these 3 individuals were sincere individuals. They
got caught up in this rumor.
And that's the nature of rumors. Right? That
that,
they spread in such a way that even
people who are sincere and honest, they get
caught up in in those rumors. Right?
And so what happens is that,
for a long period of time, then Rasulullah
waits for wahi to be revealed in order
to either absolve
Aisha
of this accusation
or to discover, you know, that, if she
had committed a crime or she had committed
some lewd act that,
you know, what would the be the consequence.
And for a long period of time, Aisha
radiAllahu an has essentially
kept in the house of her parents
and and to the verses of Surah Anur
revealed that, you
know, absolve Aisha radiAllahu anan of any wrongdoing.
And amongst those verses is this verse.
The. So the verse is actually referring to
those types of individuals who specifically had an
a a particular individual or individuals in in
mind when they spread a rumor,
a Fahish rumor about someone.
So,
we'll talk a little more about how this,
this verse relates to the issue of concealing
one's sins.
But,
one should know first and foremost that the
term
or.
Right? Or in in Urdu, you know,
Right?
Comes from the word in Arabic and means
that which is concealed.
Right? And there are 2 types of.
There's
an and.
The
refers to an esoteric,
you
know, intangible,
that which is concealed.
And then there's a aura or a tangible
exoteric
physical aura, which we all usually think of
when we think of the word aura. We
think of like that part of the physical
body that needs to be concealed, that needs
to be covered, right, from your navel to
your knees in the case of men.
So here when im Imam Nahu, he says,
right, he's not speaking about covering the physical
bodies of fellow believers, right, by providing them
clothing, etcetera,
right, or not looking at their aura. What
he's speaking about is the the
esoteric
aura, the private affairs of a person of
a of a believer,
meaning his character and his sins is and
his mistakes,
right, his faults, his transgressions,
that also is something that is to be
concealed.
Right? So,
what Imam was I'm now sorry,
is is trying to refer to here is
the idea that there are certain things
in a person's character, in a person's life,
in a purse amongst a person's deeds
that should be concealed.
And it is the responsibility of a believer
to conceal
those,
elements of their life.
So
in this verse,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is speaking about
spreading the
spreading like,
in this case, like false rumors, right, because
that's the the suburb of nuzul or the
background of revelation of the verse
regarding those people who believe. So the ulema,
they say that actually there's 2 types of,
2 ways of spreading
Fuhash or indecency.
1 is when you spread it in general
and the other is when you spread a
rumor about some Fuhash act of an individual.
Right? And, of course, the verse is
specifically talking about
the idea of an accusation about individual.
Right? That those people who spread a rumor
about a particular individual with an evil intent
or even accidentally because they're caught up in
a in a in a rumor,
that for them is a is a painful
torment in the duniya and the akhirah.
And it's really, subhanAllah, fascinating and profound verse
because
it it doesn't just restrict the punishment and
consequence of spreading faesh
in this world, but also I'm sorry. In
the akhirah, but also in this world.
So sometimes a person thinks that, you know,
people spread rumors about others, people backbite,
or people say, you know, false things about
me, I won't be able to see the
effect of or the the justice
serve or meted out for that for that
act until the akhirah.
But the reality is that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala punishes people for those types of, sins
even in this world.
Right? So Allah says,
For them is a a a painful torment
in the dunya as well as in the
akhirah. Okay?
Now amongst those people who spread Fahesh Fahesha
in general, right, they're not just spreading it
about an individual, but they participate in the
process of, you know,
popularizing,
Fahish things.
So, they they obviously are intended as well,
secondarily.
Right? And and and how does a person
do that?
So that's an important question. Right? How can
a person participate in in spreading evil? Well,
obviously, if a person is himself engaged in
evil,
right, engaged in lewd acts or illicit acts
or immoral acts
and then they,
they do that in public,
number 1,
then that is potentially something a way of
spreading evil. Right? The other is that a
person doesn't participate in the act himself
but he, you know, doesn't,
reject it, refute it, prevent it. Right?
And then the third possibility is that a
person, he commits an elude act, but in
private.
So he himself is the one who commits
or she herself is the one who commits
the act but
concealed that act, made
it made it something private.
Just like, you know, your private parts.
But then the person himself
consciously and voluntarily
exposes himself
by as we will see in the hadith,
like, you know, mentioning it to his,
in you know, he he commits a sin
at nighttime in the darkness of the night,
and then in the morning, he goes and
he boasts about it. Right? So that's what
the idea of aura here is.
Okay. So this is the the way that
he begins with the with the with this
verse.
What is the, the the compensation for
this type of spreading of evil in this
world?
Right? In the, we know that a person,
you know, if they have
infringed upon the right of another,
that that comes to haunt them in the.
How? That,
your sins
first of all, you you earned a sin,
but your good deeds are given to the
person that you wronged. Right? That's the compensation
in the Akhirah.
The compensation in this dunya is what?
The basic rule is what?
As you act with others, so shall you
be treated.
Right. So as you treat others, you shall
be treated the same way. So if you
want to be treated in a in a
way
where your sins are concealed,
then a person should also conceal the sins
of others.
He mentions
an an important point about
recognizing
the the the
or no. How to acquire
a
the skill of.
How do you at that time where you're
really itching to to speak about someone's private
affairs
when you want to put someone down Right.
And you want to expose their sins.
At that at that moment, what sort of
mental exercise helps you
in concealing that sin at that time?
So he says a person should recall he
should do of the lutfa of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
He should recall, he should he should,
you know, imagine
how much mercy, compassion
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has showed him has
shown him in his life.
Right? Meaning that he should consider his sins
and how many of his sins Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala never exposed to the people.
And if Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala was so
merciful with me,
why should I not be also merciful with
others?
Right? Meaning that, you know, he should have
a sense of shame.
Because if he if he doesn't treat others
the same way, then
he can recognize that what Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala can conceal or can can
uncover all of my sins in public.
One of my teachers, he used to say
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is so merciful
that we commit sins all day and all
night
And sometimes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala conceals those
sins even from ourselves.
That we don't realize it. But when we
do Tawba, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgives it.
Because the question is like, you know, if
a person
he he he does Tawba, he repents to
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
does he have to recall all of his
sins?
What if he doesn't even know of the
sins that he committed, right? But he makes
a general dua, O Allah, forgive me my
sins. So it you know, the Ulamas say
that if a person is sincere in his
Tawbah that all of his sins will be
forgiven even the ones that he doesn't know.
And so we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
oh, Allah forgive us of the sins that
we know and those sins that we don't
know.
Right?
And then he would say
and I say rahim Allah because this teacher,
he passed away.
So he would say sometimes and he would
like he was a very soft hearted
he was a very soft hearted teacher.
He would oftentimes come to to tears when
he would be speaking to his students.
I remember once when the first time I
was coming home,
he hugged me, you know, before I was
leaving and then he was tearing up.
Like, I was his son leaving him for
a long time. And he said, make sure
you come back, you know. I'm afraid you
won't come back.
So he was very soft hearted. So he
would say, subhanAllah,
with the the sincerity of his heart, he
would say to the students that how merciful
is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
if people knew what thoughts pass pass our
mind.
He says even the types of thoughts that
come into our mind when we're praying our
salah, they would no one would wanna be
friends with us.
Right? Like, the the types of thoughts that
come into our mind, people if they knew
what those thoughts were, they wouldn't want to
have any
connection to us. That is the that is
the of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. That is
how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala conceals our sins.
So this is an incredible mercy. Right? And
that's what and and and a person when
he
he wants to to conceal or yeah. He
wants to
uncover or he wants to spread, he wants
to mention some something that's negative about another,
he should think about that.
And he should also think about how Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, he has complete power
over ourselves.
And that if he wanted,
right, that Allah
could spread every single detail of our private
life to to others.
Right? That's the the the.
Right. I was on the way here. I
was listening to,
60 Minutes. You know, 60 Minutes on the
radio.
And they were interviewing,
inmates in a jail, I believe, in in
one in some African country.
And one of them was singing a song.
Right? He was singing a song about
how when he comes out of jail, no
one's gonna want to,
you know, hire me and no one I'm
gonna be alone even there. And he was
talking about his fears of of going out
into the world and being a free man
because no everyone will think when someone steals
something that I was the one who stole
because he was in in jail for for
theft.
Right? That,
how am I gonna live my life when
I will always be known as a thief?
You know, I spent my 5 years, I
did my time, but I'm just gonna be
known as a thief. How Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala can ruin the life of an individual
if he so desires just by what?
The will.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can completely just destroy
a person's life if he wants.
So you are completely at the mercy of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And if Allah wants, right,
that if you treated people in such a
way that you expose their sins, don't you
think Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a second
could expose all of your sins to the
people?
Right. So that's
the. Right.
The first hadith of the chapter is
that no slave
conceals
another slave, meaning his sins, in this world,
except that Allah
conceals him, meaning his sins, on the day
of resurrection.
This is narrated by Imam Muslim.
So how how,
ajeeb of a strange of a hadith. No
slave conceals a slave. Why did Allah, why
does Allah
use the the term to
remind us that we are slaves.
Right? So when you can when you when
you are oftentimes, like, you know,
concerned about someone else's sins and you wanna
expose their sins, we oftentimes forget that we're
also at the mercy of someone. Right? We
are the slaves of Allah
So here Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
Surah Alaihi Wasallam says, no slave conceals another
slave. Remind to remind you, you're a slave,
they're a slave also.
Right? If a if 22 inmates, right, know
that, you know, they have like a or
even 2 slaves, they have an oppressive
master.
And they know that, you know, if if
the master is angry with 1, he might
be angry with the other.
Right? He shows a little mercy with his
fellow slave.
So if we both know that we we
are slaves of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
then he will exert himself extra to show
compassion and mercy because every ab every slave,
right, he seeks and desires mercy.
So the the reward of concealing the sins
of another is that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala,
on the day in which all of the
person's acts and deeds will be presented in
front of all of humanity.
Right? On that day, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
will conceal our sins. Right? Now there are
2 types of, satah, right? There are 2
situations that require,
a person to either conceal or to expose
someone's sins. The one I might say that
there are times when a person
must actually expose a person's sins. Right? And
is I guess the same applies to the
the first category. If if a person knows
that he will commit a sin also, sometimes
it is obligatory for him
to reveal his own sins
or potential sins.
What is that circumstance in which a person
must
reveal
and expose his own sin or someone else's
sin? So the UHNAM may say that the
general rule is that when you
fear an impending harm,
right,
or you fear
that the the the the infringement of the
right of another.
Right? The of of of the Ibad.
That you know, for example, that you're about
to kill someone. You're in extreme rage. You
know you're gonna do something wrong. So now
you must actually tell someone, warn someone that
I feel out of control.
So you don't I think,
you know, you should you should try to
prevent me from it, right, or maybe you
should call an authority.
Right? Why? Because the hack of someone else
is involved. So when the the the the
right of someone else is involved,
then it is actually permissible and not just
permissible but
also obligatory
to expose someone's sins. And the the olema
of,
of Hadith, they they, when they write these
large books of biographical dictionaries, these, Rijal works,
right, in which they mention people's
mistakes as narrators of Hadith or as individuals
who who transmitted the the hadith of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Oftentimes, the first chapter of these books would
be a chapter on the permissibility of ghiba.
When is it permissible to actually do ghiba
and when is it necessary to do ghiba?
So for example, they mentioned a number of
cases where it's necessary to conceal to conceal
and when it's necessary to expose someone's sins.
When they say it's necessary to conceal one's
sins
in the field of Hadith, it's when that
person's sin has nothing to do with his
transmission,
right,
of of hadith.
It doesn't affect his credibility as a narrator.
And when is it necessary?
That when this person, his his evil deeds
of may affect what he is transmitting on
the authority of the messenger of Allah, salallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
And they give a similar type of
a scenario for someone, for example, who's asked
advice about another person.
So let's say, for example, someone says, well,
you know, what do you think about so
and so for as a candidate for marriage
for, you know, this girl, this this boy?
And you know that that person has,
you know, a past that's still affecting his
present or will affect his future.
Right? This person has you know, let's say
he he's, you know, on drugs.
And he's not going to expose that himself.
Right?
Now if someone says, what do you think
about this boy
for my daughter?
And you conceal that person's sin,
recognizing that this person's
sin may negatively affect the marriage and negatively
affect that girl.
Right? Or that person's, let's say he's abusive,
Right? Or you have someone who's like a
a counselor. Right?
And they have knowledge of a person's, let's
say, you know, domestic abuse issues and in
previous marriages. And someone comes to you and
says and this is actually a very, I
guess,
a sensitive issue that, you know, I want
I I know that so and so he,
you know, he he consults with you
and they they have asked for,
my daughter in marriage. Right?
And I know that they've had previous marriages.
What do you know about them? Right? Or
someone who says to a therapist that, you
know, I
I wanna, you know, get an abortion in
the morning.
Right? So there's a hack of a child
involved or a hack of a husband involved.
Right?
So now the person is is is sort
of thinking well, you know, maybe I should
conceal his sins.
Right? This person's anger, maybe it's something in
in his past.
But then he thinks maybe it actually has
to do with the right in the present
or the future of someone someone
else and it doesn't seem right to to
to to, conceal that. So when it comes
to the rights of someone else, then the
ulama must say that either it is
praiseworthy or in certain cases when it's like
a life and death situation,
it's obligatory,
right, to actually expose that sin. But only
to the extent that it is necessary.
So, like, for example, Imam Taghuddin Suki and
Taghuddin Suki, father and son.
Both great scholars of law and and hadith.
So the father is in the in the
house, and the and the son is at
the door of the house, and he's playing
and he sees a dog passing by.
So he says in a derogatory manner,
Oh, dog son of a dog.
So the father reprimands him and says don't
say that.
So the the the son says to his
father, oh, my father, isn't it a dog
and the son of a dog? I mean,
it's actually a dog. It's not a person.
He wasn't speaking about a person but actually
a dog.
So the the the the the father said
yes, but you said it in a condescending
manner.
You said it to insult that dog.
Right?
So even if that's his reality,
right, then,
the intention is is is what you look
at and that was not necessary.
Right?
So for example, like, you know, somebody is
from a particular,
part of the world.
Right? Someone like Punjabi.
Right? Now he he may not consider that
to be an insult
nor do most people. But if someone says,
oh, you're Punjabi.
And in his heart, he has, like, you
know,
an evil intent.
He intends to insult. He's, like, he's insulting
that person.
Right? Oh, that's because you're Punjabi or you're
Punjabi.
And then you say, you know, that's insulting.
Well, aren't you a Punjabi?
That would be incorrect.
Why? Because of the intention.
Similarly, if a person is asked about an
individual, let's say, give you the same situation,
you know, as a candidate in marriage
And that person, you know, is asking about
something that affects the marriage.
And you say something like, completely unnecessary. You
know when this person was a little, you
know, child, child? You know, he didn't do
a sting job properly.
Right? Or you said run around without pants.
You know, it has nothing to do with
marriage.
But you want to you you you say
that, you know, maybe just to get a
shot at him. And
then that would be impermissible as well. So
So it is impermissible or necessary to expose
the sins of others when it,
when it when it,
has to do with the rights of others,
but only to the extent that it is
necessary.
And if a person does the opposite and
he conceals the sins of others, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala
will bless him with this magnificent reward in
the akhirah of concealing his sins on the
day that everyone will be embarrassed about, you
know, what they've done in this world.
We commit sins day and night and we
are emboldened by the fact that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala conceals them.
That's what allows us to continue to to
to commit them. Right? Look how people's behavior
changes when they know there's a camera in
the room.
Right? So, if a person is constantly being,
you know,
protected by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he shouldn't
let that become a means of raflah.
Meaning like negligence. He shouldn't lose sight of
of of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's mercy.
Another way of looking at it is what?
Look at the idea of maslaha.
So if you come across a situation where
you feel that you are being,
you know, tempted to expose someone's sins and
you have a this ethical question in mind
that should I or should I not expose
it, then a person should think about it.
Does this serve anyone's interest?
Right?
Does this serve the the of an individual?
And if it does, right, then you can
explore explore it further. You could ask a
scholar, like, you know, should I reveal this
information about an individual or not? And if
it doesn't, then but a person should be
very particular about concealing it. Like for example,
if a person he, you know, like in
they they get job references.
And job references, this is also a very
touchy issue because if you, you know,
incorrectly
or without enough sufficient detail
mention some negatives about a person, and then
that continues in that industry, like in the
banking industry, for example. Right? Like, the entire
industry uses the same sort of reference system.
So, if
you do essentially mention conceal or you you
sorry. Expose,
and reveal a person's,
you know transgressions or mistakes.
Then what can happen is that this person's
entire life could be ruined. Right? He may
not be able to get a job in
the industry for for for good.
And,
and sometimes it is necessary. Right? Sometimes it
is necessary.
So it is something that a person in
general must look at with the with the
great amount of precaution. Whose is involved?
How important is that
meaning, like, whose interests,
or special interest is is is involved?
And to what degree do I need to
expose this person's sin in order to accomplish
that interest, right, or that benefit?
So this hadith mentions that, Abu Horeira heard
the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
when saying that all of my
my my community, I mean, my my entire
ummah
are forgiven except those who are Mujahireen.
Mujahireen comes from jahar. Those who,
do something in in public or out loud.
Okay? But what does
mean here?
And that,
the act of doing something
in
in,
refers to here.
Is that a man he commits some
or he does some deed at nighttime.
And then he awakens in the morning and
Allah
had concealed his sin.
Right.
But then he goes around saying, oh, so
and so, I did last night or yesterday,
such and such an act.
And he spent the entire night
in a manner that Allah
had,
concealed his sin.
And then he spends the day time doing
what? Exposing what Allah had concealed.
Again, how,
profound is the expression
that imagine what he a person is doing
in the morning when he's telling people about
what he committed at nighttime is that he's
contradicting the will of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Here, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala was trying to
do was was doing what? Concealing his sin.
That was his desire. The desire of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala was where to be concealed.
In the morning, he's contradicting that. So not
only is it a repugnant act when it,
you know, comes to the person himself and
his own sin. I I mean, this is
upon oneself.
But on top of that, this person is
what is like fighting with the will of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Here, Allah wants to
conceal his sin. He wants to expose his
sin.
Right? So this is called a mujahid.
A person who,
like,
publicizes
his his evil.
Right? And as I mentioned before, a person
who publicizes his evil can do so in
a number of ways. Right?
Essentially, it comes down
to the person's intention.
Sometimes a person intentionally
publicizes what he did. Right? He's boasting about
what he did,
his sins,
or he doesn't even consider it to be
sinful even though it is a sin. And
he goes and he like, you know, wants
to become famous. He wants to build a
reputation based upon it, right? Yeah, I killed
so many people, right?
Oh yeah, you know, I slept with so
many women.
Now that, you know and he he he
doesn't consider it a Fahesha but it is
a Fahesha. That's one type of Mujahtera.
The other type of Mujahtera is the Mujihara
of an individual or a person who publicizes
his sin, you know, mistakenly. He doesn't intend
to do so, but he does so without,
like, having an eve even in, like, a
the wrong intention in doing so.
So if a person out of hafla, like,
he's he's a hafla. He's just kind of
not not a very aware you know, he's
kind of a a neglectful person when it
comes to concealing his sins or, you know,
exposing his his sins. He just kinda doesn't
have a filter.
Right? That person will be treated different differently.
But the one who actually intentionally,
you know, spreads evil by
normalizing it, by mentioning what he does in
private,
that person is the one who's is essentially
intended with this hadith.
Right?
That he will not be forgiven. And this
is it's really significant.
All of my Ummah will be,
you know, forgiven except the Mujahi. Everyone can
be forgiven. Who does Doba? So the hadith
cannot be taken literally that a person who
even
like popularizes sin. Let's say a person spent
his entire life in an industry that's very,
like, fehish, you know, like in in Hollywood.
He spent his entire life in in, you
know, in in the film industry or in
musics, you know, rapping about, you know, the
worst possible things. Like, just spread like, the
most fashish person on the face of the
earth. If he does Tawba and it's sincere
Tawba, will he be forgiven?
Right. Of course, it's the that
he will be forgiven.
So the hadith obviously refers to what what
they call it Alwad al Shadid or Zajd
al Shadid.
Right?
This is an exaggerated,
an example of exaggeration
in the expression of a punishment.
It's as if this person will not be
forgiven.
Meaning, it's who will not be forgiven? The
Mosheq.
Right? Who dies on shirk. Not the one
who who who repents from shirk. But the
person who dies on shirk, none of his
sins will be forgiven. Right?
So it's as if the this person is
so bad that he will not be forgiven.
He will be like the person who will
never be forgiven. Okay. One of my teachers
used to say that when we explain away
these ahadith, right, by saying that, it's not
literal,
he sometimes we lose the effect of the
white.
Right? Meaning Allah
is is or the prophet is frightening us
by saying, for example, the prophet
said,
The one who intentionally
abandoned salah has committed kufr.
Right?
So the scholars will go to great lengths
to explain what that means. And there's different
types of kufr. There's a linguistic kufr. Right?
And then there's like a technical kufr. And
what's referred to here is either the linguistic
kufr or it means like this person is
doing the act of someone who is a
kafir but not really a kafir. You know,
there are all these different explanations. You explain
away the hadith
to
essentially, you know,
synthesize with our our aqidah. However,
one of one of my teachers said that,
you know, all that's fine
for an for an academic discussion. But the
in the power, right, the the rhetorical power
of that statement is lost by explaining it
away. So sometimes if a person has a
sound aqidah, you leave it as it is
because they understand this person is not literally
going to become a kafir or mushrik by
exposing his sins, by popularizing his sins. But
imagine how severe it is in the eyes
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that this person
is being described as like unforgivable.
It's unforgivable.
Right. So that's pretty severe. May Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala protect us.
So this, the the the commentators explained that
with a person, he
he becomes part of the popularization
of sin. Why is this person also not
potentially forgiven?
Because he may ask
I mean, he or they they they explain
it this way that a person may may
ask for forgiveness for themselves, but they don't
keep in mind the
the idea that they may have established a
tradition of sin.
Right? They created a culture of sin or
acceptability.
Right? So they say, well, I'm not I'm
not a racist. Right?
But they created a sort of a platform
for racists.
Right? You'll be responsible for that
even if you yourself were not directly the
one who created that. Right? Or you did
it yourself, you said, well, you know why?
I see forgiveness for myself. But the messenger
of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said what?
The one who does a good deed or
who establishes a positive tradition,
he gets the reward of the one who
does that sunnah as well as those who
follow that tradition until the day of judgment.
That the one who establishes, you know, an
evil tradition, an evil practice, an evil culture.
By doing what? By just
kinda talking about sin in in in a
in a way that makes it doesn't seem
so bad. Right? That makes it seem like
very light, but not even a sin at
all.
What happens is that then the the wizard
of everyone who does that, like, the burden
of everyone
who commits that sin.
Because it doesn't seem so bad if so
and so is doing it. Right? You are
responsible for their sin as well until the
day of judgment.
So maybe what the hadith means is that
your your your your,
Tawba is contingent your is acceptability is contingent
upon what
your attempt to remove that culture as well.
Mhmm. Right? I met in, in Pakistan. I
met a,
a man from Ghana.
He was about 60 years old.
And he asked me to translate,
in a beginner,
Maliki fip text.
And he seemed like a very knowledgeable person.
He he spoke English, he spoke French, he
spoke the local government languages.
And so I asked him like, you know,
what what the purpose of that,
translation was. So he says, you know, I
need to learn the religion really quickly.
So I said, oh, have you, you know,
you did you just accept Islam?
I didn't know much about Ghana and the
majority population.
So he said, yes.
I spent the last 40 years of my
life
doing missionary work for Christianity.
He says, there are entire villages of Muslims
that I have converted to Christianity.
So I want to learn as quickly as
possible. He was very insistent that you need
to translate this as quickly as possible, and
I was already studying at that time. He
says, I
I I need to go back as soon
as possible
so that I can go back and undo
all the work that I had done.
Right? To tell these people that I was
wrong. What you guys had before was right.
Right?
So if a person, he's he creates what?
A a wrong culture and tradition by popularizing
haram, by popularizing the Fahesha,
then perhaps that forgiveness is contingent upon,
upon the attempt to counter that,
you know, act of popularizing what is wrong.
And that's perhaps why the Rasool Allah says
that person is not forgiven.
Right?
The messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was
brought a person or a man called Shari
ba Habran
who had drunk hamar. Hamar is in, you
know, wine or in,
literally wine, but can then refer to also,
what they call,
I don't know if they call it date
wine, but an alcoholic intoxicating beverage made from
either grapes or,
dates.
So Rasulullah said, we physically reprimand him. Right?
Because the punishment for drinking alcohol
or drinking,
so this is an incident that takes place
most likely early
on
after the prohibition of Khamer and after the
prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has made it very
clear that it is prohibited.
But before there is a very clear
revelation as to what the specific punishment is
for the one who drinks alcohol. In the
time of the
essentially, the the punishment becomes 80
80,
strikes.
Right? Or 80 lashes.
And there are some narrations that mentioned that
during the the period the the hadith of
Abu Bakr, he was 40.
Right? And in this hadith, it's it seems
that maybe even
there wasn't any any, like, indication of what
the punishment was. So some,
of the companions,
when this person was was being punished,
they would they were striking him with their
hands, others with their with their sandals,
and others with their clothing. Right?
So when the the punishment was complete
and that man left, some of the people
said,
may Allah disgrace you.
So Rasulullah
said to them,
do not say such.
Do not Do not do not,
support Shaitan upon him. I mean, against him.
Do not support Shaitan in his, you know,
campaign against this man.
Meaning what? That if the person has,
you know, done Tawba, he's repented, he has
asked for forgiveness and he has been punished
and he's been purified. It's as if he
didn't commit any sin. Now if you're asking
for a Khiziyyah, you're asking for this person
to be disgraced,
then that is that is oppression.
Right? I mean, these were people
subhanAllah. Many of the companions when they committed
these types of sins that,
mandated,
a a had.
Right? A criminal punishment.
They would come to the messenger of Allah
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam And say, you Rasulullah,
I've committed zina. You Rasulullah, I drank I
drank khabar. You Rasulullah, I did this. I
did that. And
Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam in the case
of many of these,
these confessions would turn away because that confession
wasn't necessary. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala con concealed
it and it did not have to do
with the right of another individual.
So the the preferred practice in those cases
is what is to conceal that sin.
Right?
If a person is has has has rectified
their wrong,
has even, like, ensured that he will not
continue that act. Maybe he used to drink
alcohol. Right? Maybe he used to commit,
you know, adultery.
But now he's rectified that
wrong.
And he no longer is engaged in that
act. Now if you are asked about that
person, you know, and their past, you're supposed
to conceal that because there's no right of
anyone else involved that's going to be affected
by it. Right? A lot of people who
have a who have a bad past. Right?
But if you look at their present, it's
not
They've turned that page in their life. Right?
There are a lot of people if you
look at their life before Islam,
right? This is a life that, you know,
wasn't regulated even by Islamic law. If you
looked at that life,
right,
as a as a Muslim after they accept
Islam, many people would not be able to
kind of overlook that the fact that that
was before Islam even. Right?
How many people would like could they come
out of prison? They accept Islam in prison
and they try to integrate with the Muslim
community, but no one wants them to integrate.
Why? Because he's a thief, he's a murderer,
he did this, he did that. Right?
So if
so if a person has has
a a a dantawba and then you continue
to seek evil for them,
right, then that is a great oppression. So
taught the companions that this is tatkir for
them. This is a form of purification.
Once they've been purified, now in the eyes
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they're pure, they're
chased. They are, you know,
at,
at,
they have a clean slate.
So why do you now, you know, do
dhoom upon them and upon yourselves by then
seeking disgrace
upon them? So that's a Shaitan.
Shaitan's trying his best already, right? Why would
you support Shaitan?
Shaitan is trying to give that person any
excuse to continue that act. And if you
create this sort of,
impression that this person, even after they've done
whatever they could to atone for their sins,
is still this a sinner,
then what are you doing? You're telling that
person, you know what? Just keep on doing
it because no matter what you do, you're
always gonna be a sinner.
Right? So like that person who was saying
that I'm always gonna be
I I was thinking about this. Subhanallah. That's
that's what happens. A person commits one mistake,
they they they steal even in desperation.
Anytime that someone loses money, what happens immediately
is our people begin to suspect.
In the in in India, Pakistan, you know,
they have Nokas. Right? Servants.
So oftentimes, the servants come from very poor
backgrounds.
So,
there was there's an old old lady in
a in a home.
So there was an incident where one of
the knockers, one of the servants had actually
stolen some something, and they caught him.
And he admitted to it. Right?
And,
basically,
you know,
he he basically said that, look, I know
I'm in a desperate situation. I have this
issue or that issue. And it wasn't justified.
It was some issue, you know, he had
to help take care of his parents and
he was being given enough money, but he
just, you know, he see found an opportunity
and he made a mistake. And he admitted
his mistake and everybody moved on. But the
old lady in the house, you know, like,
it's very hard for them to to, change
their perspective. Once
the the elder matriarch of the family
got this impression in her mind that this
person is a thief, anytime anything went missing,
if even, like, one of her rings was
not where she thought it was to be,
she's like, call him and you could say,
where is it? You know? She immediately accused
that person of stealing. And it became so
comical, right,
that at some point, you know, it was
just like,
anytime anything went missing, they would say don't
tell so and so because she's gonna say
that it was stolen.
To the extent that this person eventually he
left,
another Nokor came into the house, right?
Totally different name, totally different person, whenever this,
you know, something would go missing,
he would be blamed also.
So,
when this is what Shaytan is tries to,
I mean, you know,
there was an individual who came to me.
This person had spent time. He had accepted
Islam in prison. And ironically, he really strangely,
he had accepted Islam.
So he had actually gone he had committed
a crime
while his father was in prison.
And his father had become Muslim in prison.
And then he was in then went to
prison. His father got out,
and he then was in in prison.
He also accepted Islam as well.
So, he came out and then father and
son had were basically came out in prison.
It's really strange how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gives hidayah sometimes in the most
unexpected of places.
So, you know, you this person was having
a very tough time. You know, he actually
moved to the suburbs.
But, you know, whenever he would be driving,
small muffler problem, cops would pull him over.
He'd lose his license. This and that. He
was going through a lot of difficulty.
So I used to support him from time
to time whenever I could. And one day,
I brought you know, I asked him to
come
to come to the house and was just
talking to him. He says, you know, he
came to get some some some support, and
then I said, you know what? Just wait
for a few minutes, man. You know? Like,
just I wanna talk to you. So he's
like, why? He's like, you know, we always
we always kinda do this, but I never
get a chance to kinda just sit with
you and ask how you're doing.
So he started just talking about, you know,
his his his problems, his wife's problems, and
they're having medical issues. They couldn't get on
Medicaid and all these problems, and I was
just thinking, SubhanAllah,
look how hard it is. But then he
said something very strange. He said he just
broke down. He said, you know, Mawana, he
said,
I can't tell you how every single day
of my life I'm tempted to go back
to the streets, to go to the very
same corner where I used to sell guns,
to go to the guy and still know
him by name and got his number on
my phone and said, dude, you know what?
Just give me a couple of guns. I'll
sell them for you. Right? I know where
the drugs being dealt. I know the streets.
I don't He says like every day of
my life the greatest challenge is what? Going
back to that old life Because it's he
said, it's easy money.
It's so easy to sell this stuff. Right?
And every day I have it here, I'm
trying to do the right thing. I I
can't pay for my my my wife's, you
know,
medical
bills. My child needs clothes. You know?
I'm trying to study and trying to get
my car keeps breaking down. Right?
Car gets keeps getting,
what do you call it?
What do they call it? Impounded?
Right? All these problems I'm having. And he
says, every day, Shaytan tells me, go back
to that life. Go back to that life.
So if we create this culture of what
not allowing people to reform themselves to get
out of that, then what are you doing?
You're doing the iyanah of shaitan. You're becoming
doing the work of the devil. Right?
By basically making it impossible for people to
change their themselves.
So this was the Bab
of May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us
amongst those people who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has concealed their sins in this world, and
he got concealed our sins also in the
in the next. And may Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala make us amongst those people who popularize
good and not popularize evil. May he may
he make us amongst those whose sun as
right? Or whose traditions
are followed in their era and after them
on the day of judgment when our book
of deeds is open, we will see
not only our own good deeds but the
good deeds of all those people who followed
our traditions and followed our ways until the
day of judgment.