Hatem al-Haj – QWD014 Coherence of Sharia – Subsidiary Maxims Under Maxim 1A
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of understanding the meaning of "ma'am" in contracts and the cultural system in Islamic. They stress the need to be mindful of intentions and words in contracts and emphasize the importance of considering intentions and words in contracts. They also discuss various maxim and exclusions related to human behavior, including rewarding behavior, rewarding actions, and reciting the Quran in any language. The speakers stress the importance of learning in language and reciting the Quran in any language to achieve their roles in the American language. They also discuss various positions and positions in their job, including the Madhhab Madhab, which is meant for people to learn something, and the minor position in their Madhab, which is meant for people to learn something.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah, alhamdulillah, salatu wassalam wa rasool Allah, alayhi
as-sahbihi wa-sallam, ma'a adha to
proceed.
So today, inshallah, we will go over the
applications of the Umar ibn Maqsidiyya, or matters,
all matters, are judged by their intentions.
All matters are judged by their intentions.
Maqsid is the plural of maqsid, and maqsid
means intention or objective.
This is the first slide, the first comprehensive
major liyab maqsim, one of the five comprehensive
major liyab maqsims that you should have memorized
by now.
You must have memorized by now, the five
major liyab maqsims.
If you haven't, go back home and try
to memorize them.
Because we repeated them like about 1,014
times.
So, what we said, with every qaeda, what
we were going to do, where are we
now?
We are in this second section.
The first section was about the introductions.
The second section was about the major ones.
The third section will be about the minor
ones.
And the last section will be about the
daabat al-taqiyya, which are the controllers or
regulators, or the maqsims that are limited to
one chapter.
If a maqsim operates only within one chapter,
within a narrow scope, that's called the daabit,
and not a qaeda per se, not a
regulator, not a maqsim per se.
So, we are in the second section.
We're going over the five major liyab maqsims,
and we're doing the first one.
And we said, with every one of them,
we would go over the clarification, which is
basically to discuss the meaning of the maqsim,
the justification, which is to talk about the
evidence for this maqsim, the guidelines and benefits,
which is to understand how we can use
the maqsim and apply it, and finally, the
subsidiary maqsims, the branches, the subsidiary maqsims, and
the different applications.
Of course, we've mentioned some of the applications
of this maqsim when we were talking about
clarification, because part of clarification is to give
examples, you know, and we've mentioned several applications.
But now, we will go over the subsidiary
maqsims, the subsidiary maqsims that belong under that
major maqsim.
Five main subsidiary maqsims, and under some of
them, there are sub-subsidiary maqsims.
But the five main ones that I chose
for you are la thawaba illa biniyya, and
then you could also add wala aqab.
So you could either say la thawaba illa
biniyya, and thawab means both reward and punishment,
by the way.
But if you want to be more explicit
or clear, you can say la thawaba wala
aqab illa biniyya.
There is no reward, nor is there punishment
without intention.
Okay, the second one, ala ibra fil raqood
lil maqasid wal ma'ani, la lil alfadh
wal mabani.
So the second one would translate as, and
I try as much as I can to
keep the, because when you translate something, you
could have like a different translation every time.
So I try to be consistent within the
book so that you don't get these things
confused.
So consideration in contracts is given to intentions
and meanings, not words and forms.
Consideration in contracts, ala ibra fil raqood lil
maqasid wal ma'ani, is given to intentions
and meanings, not words and forms.
And then the third qa'ida is, ala
ibra fil raqood lil maqasid wal ma'ani,
which would translate to, the means take on
the rulings of the objectives.
And when we go over this qa'ida,
we will discuss in detail the sort of,
the Islamic ethical system, which I was talking
about it yesterday, and I said it's divinely
prescribed moral utilitarianism.
How is this different from the ends justify
the means?
That will be discussed when we address this.
al-wasa'illah ahkam al-maqasid, the means
take on the rulings of the objectives.
How is that different in Islam from the
ends justify the means?
That will be discussed insha'Allah when we
address this qa'ida.
Then al-lafdha ala niyyat al-lafiz, which
I translated here to, the meaning of words
depends on the intention of the speaker.
The meaning of words depends on the intention
of the speaker.
And finally, al-kitab kal-khitab, which means
written communication is treated like verbal communication.
Written communication is treated like verbal communication.
There will be different qa'id sub subsidiary,
you know, below, under each one of these,
not each one of them, but under some
of these, there will be other qa'id
that we will address.
For example, the second qa'ida, al-ibra
fil-uqood, we will also discuss al-asbab
wal-dawa'i lil-uqood wal-tabarra'at
mu'tabara, which means what?
It means the causes and motives for contracts
and donations are considered.
So, here they are telling you that what
matters is intentions and meanings, not words and
forms in the aqid.
And we will come to the explanation.
Conflict with what?
Al-kitab kal-khitab?
No, al-kitab kal-khitab does not conflict
with this at all.
This means that written communication is like verbal
communication.
So, when you write something, it's like you
said it, because ultimately what matters is not
the wording, but the meaning and the intent.
And so, when you express your intent in
writing, it's like you're expressing your intent in
wording.
That will be part of the discussion, because
someone may say, what does that mean?
Like, you can come back and say, I
didn't mean it.
So, this is part of the discussion of
this qa'ida, which is consideration and context
is given to intentions and meanings.
We will discuss this.
We will discuss also how this operates in
the case of dispute, because you could have
your own intention, I have my own intention,
and then whose intention matters?
Between the two transactors, the buyer and the
seller, for instance.
So, we will come to this discussion.
But then, when we talk about al-'ibrah fil
-waqud lil-maqasid wal-ma'ani, we're trying
to discover the intent.
We're trying to discover the intent.
And sometimes you need help discovering the intent.
That is why we say al-asbaab wal
-dawa'i fil-waqud wal-tabara, al-asbaab
wal-dawa'i.
Asbaab are the causes, and al-dawa'i
are the motives.
So, the causes and the motives are considered.
So, we will be attempting to discover the
intent in various ways, including the causes and
motives.
So, if you're having a fight with your
wife, and you say to her, you're a
taliq, and then you come back and say,
I meant you're released from your shackles.
No.
I mean, that's not the context.
You know, mal-ladhi hayyajaka ala qawli ma
'qud?
What prompted you?
What sort of triggered you, provoked you, to
say what you've said?
You were having a dispute.
You were not basically having breakfast.
So, anyway.
Now, al-wasa'illah ahkam al-maqasid, for
instance, this qa'idah, al-wasa'illah ahkam
al-maqasid, under this qa'idah, we will
address two other ones that are very important,
and that will make a huge difference.
One of them is ma la yatim al
-wajib illa bihi fahuwa wajib, which we translated
as what's necessary to fulfill an obligation is
obligatory.
What is necessary to fulfill an obligation is
obligatory.
Another one is ma hurri masaddan lil dhari
'a qad yubahu lil maslahat al-rajiha, which
is what was prohibited to block the means
to evil may be permitted for a greater
benefit.
These are very important, but also dangerous concepts,
you know, because it depends on who's operating,
you know, the vehicle, who's driving.
When it comes to the industry of fatwa,
it depends to a great extent on the
driver and the intent of the driver, and
the sincerity of the driver, and the knowledge
of the driver, and their background in the
sharia.
So between the two ends, which is frat
and tafrit, between strictness and laxity, it's a
very wide scope, and everybody claims to be
moderate.
You know, I claim to be moderate, you
claim to be moderate, but who's really moderate?
That requires two things.
It requires tawfiq from Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, which is given to those who are
sincere, and it requires knowledge.
It does require knowledge.
It's not only about tawfiq, and it is
not only knowledge.
It requires the two things, two things so
that you could avoid failures in intent and
failures in judgment.
People who are not sincere, they will have
failures of intent.
You know, they will have different motives.
They may not even be aware of their
suboptimal motives or their evil motives.
They may not be aware, and that is
الذين يحسبون أنهم يحسنون وصنع Those who are
misguided, and they think that they are good
doers, that they are doing well.
So anyway, these are things that we need
to have a good understanding of so that
we can, you know, know how to approach
our zin.
Now مقاصد اللفظ أعلانية اللافظ which is this
قاعدة مقاصد اللفظ أعلانية اللافظ or the meaning
of words depends on the intention of the
speaker.
Under this, we will discuss three different maxims.
One of them is هل اليمين أعلانية الحالف
أو المستحلف Is the oath based on the
intention of the swearer or the one requesting
the oath?
So like if you basically make an oath
in front of someone whose intention matters here,
the one who's requesting the oath, I ask
you swear on this or that.
And then you make the oath, but you
make it in sort of equivocal wording.
Does your intent matter here or my request?
I want you to swear on a particular
thing, but you made an equivocal oath.
Whose intent matters here?
And then we will talk about هل تنية
تعامم الخاص وتخصص العام بغير خلاف فيهما وهل
تقيد المطلق?
So this is like a Hambali phrasing because
it's, you know, in the Hambali Madhhab, the
intention generalizes the specific and specifies the general,
but does it qualify the absolute?
We will come to the details of this.
And then دلالة الأحوال تختلف بها دلالة الأقوال
which is the interpretation of statements changes based
on the context in which they are made.
So the intention of the statements differs based
on the context, the circumstances.
And finally, this particular قاعدة which says written
communication is treated like verbal communication.
In addition to this, we say والإشارة المعهودة
من الآخرس كالبيان which would translate to and
the established gestures of a mute person are
considered equivalent to verbal expression.
The established gestures.
So if you speak sign language and we
know what, you know, what type of sign
language you speak, it's American Sign Language, for
instance.
So it's established.
Established meaning is not any gesture.
It's an established gesture.
So we know this is American Sign Language
and you speak in American Sign Language, then
we will treat this as if you're speaking
English.
It will be treated like verbal communication if
it is established.
So these are the major well, they're not
major, they're subsidiary.
But these are the major subsidiary maxims that
fall under الأمور بمقاصدها.
And if you have any other ones that
you want to add, let me know.
Really, I'm not, it's not, it's just like
a sincere request.
If you find in any other madhhab maxims
that we should add, let me know.
Because the issue here is they may be
relevant to our Hanbari madhhabs, so we can
add them.
Or they may be somewhat relevant and we
can show how they sometimes apply and sometimes
don't apply.
Or they may be irrelevant and we can
basically point out that they are irrelevant.
They are irrelevant in the Hanbari madhhab.
We don't act on them, those maxims or
subsidiary maxims.
Most of the time, that's not the case.
As I told you before, the fuqaha largely
agree on all the maxims.
Agree on all the maxims, not, no, you
know, largely, largely, largely would qualify the statement.
And then, but the more, most of the
disagreement will come, will come into the application,
application of the different maxims and exclusions, istithna
'at, from the different maxims.
Now, let us go over the first subsidiary
maxim, la thawaba wa la aqaba illa biniyya.
There is no reward or punishment without intention.
No reward or punishment without intention.
Certainly, Allah is fair.
And if you don't have any particular intention,
you will not be rewarded or punished.
You will only be rewarded or punished based
on what you have intended, what you have
meant.
So when you do things mistakenly, absentmindedly, then
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive that,
will pardon that, as established in the Qur
'an and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.
Now, in this particular siyaha, la thawaba wa
la aqaba illa biniyya, sometimes is used as
an alternative formulation for the major legal maxims,
particularly by the Hanafi, particularly by the Hanafis
because it applies to them, you know, it's
more congruent with their principles and their applications.
So they use that formulation in place of
al-umur bi maqasidiyya.
They say la thawaba wa la aqaba illa
biniyya.
And it's a consistent, it's qa'ida muttarida.
The word muttarida is often found in muttarida.
Muttarida means what?
Consistent.
It always applies.
It's a consistent qa'ida, qa'ida muttarida.
It always applies.
wa la yushaghib ala dhalik And it doesn't
cause, you know, any problem or it doesn't
basically take away from the ittarad of this
qa'ida or the consistency of this qa
'ida that some people, because of their complete
devotion to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, their
good deeds have become second nature.
Their good deeds have become second nature.
So they do good, they do good and
righteousness, you know, all the time, even absentmindedly.
It's just like automatic thing.
It's second nature for them to do good
deeds and to be kind, you know, to
be beautiful.
And they don't even think about it.
They don't even think about it.
So they're not having a specific naya here.
Like when you, like if you see like
a cat stuck, for instance, somewhere and you
run to save it, you may not bring
in the naya into your heart.
But will you get rewarded for that or
not?
You get rewarded for that.
And they actually addressed to this because they
wanted to be consistent.
How are you getting rewarded if you don't
have any intention here?
This is an act that is spontaneous, that
didn't, basically, that's not based on any intention
of taqarrab lillah azza wa jal or drawn
closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Keep in mind that they all agree that
if you're able to bring the intention into
your heart every time you do something, that
is more complete and that is more perfect.
But وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ ابْتِغَاءَ مَرْضَاتِ اللَّهِ صَلْفَ
نَوْتِهِى أَجْرُ الْعَظِيمَةِ And whoever does this, لَا
خَيْرَ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِن نَجْوَاهُمِ إِلَّا مَنْ أَمْرَ
بِصَدُقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَحٍ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ لَا
خَيْرَ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِن نَجْوَاهُمِ إِلَّا
مَنْ أَمْرَ بِصَدُقَةٍ أَوْ مَعْرُوفٍ أَوْ إِصْلَحٍ بَيْنَ
النَّاسِ There is no good in much of
their secret conversations.
There is no good in much of their
secret conversations, except he who, you know, enjoins
others to صدقة charity, معروف that which is
good, or إصلاح بين الناس, reconciliation between people,
reconciliation between people.
So الشيخ السعدي رحمه الله which is, people
sometimes who have transparency they have, they are
Allah ﷻ gives them that insight.
So, he says in his tafsir, لَا خَيْرَ
فِي كَثِيرٍ مِن نَجْوَاهُمِ إِلَّا So, this means
that this is خَيْر even without نَيِّه because
there is an exception here.
So, this means that this is automatically خَيْر.
This is like, you know, if you ordain
that which is good if you encourage people
to صدقة, it is automatically considered خَيْر.
Anytime you ordain that which is good, you
basically encourage people to give صدقة, you reconcile
between people.
Every time you do this, then it is
خَيْر.
Then it is goodness.
It is goodness.
But at the end of the verse Allah
ﷻ says وَمَ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ فِي تَغْوَى مَرْضَةِ
اللَّهِ فَسَوْفَ نَوْتِهِ أَجْرًا غَظِيمًا Whoever does this
to seek the pleasure of Allah, we will
give them a great reward.
So, in order for you to get the
complete, the great reward and the complete reward,
you know, you want to be mindful of
why you're doing this.
Mindful that you're doing this for the sake
of Allah ﷻ.
But if you do it and you're not
mindful that you're doing this for the sake
of Allah ﷻ, it will go under what?
اِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنَسُكِي وَمَحْيَا يَهُوَ مَاتِي لِلَّهِ رَبِّ
الْعَالَمِينَ اِنَّ صَلَاتِي وَنُسُكِي وَمَحْيَا يَهُوَ مَمَاتِي لِلَّهِ
رَبِّ الْعَالمِينَ So my prayer and my sacrificial
offerings, my life, and my deaths, my life
and my deaths are Lillah, Rabbil Alameen, are
all for Allah.
This is what you basically sign for, subscribe
to, when you say, La ilaha illallah Muhammadur
Rasulullah.
You're part of this league now, you're part
of this sort of fraternity of people who
proclaim this.
You're proclaiming this, you know, just by accepting
Islam, or converting to Islam, you're proclaiming this.
Inna salati wa nusukhi yawma hiyaa umamati lillahi
rabbil alameen la sharika lahu wa bidharika umarato
man awwalin muslimeen So, here, let's read this.
Abu Sulayman al-Darani said, and I am
reporting this from Ibn Rajab.
So, Ibn Rajab stated, the only room for
speculation is if the person does a good
deed without a sound or corrupt intention.
He just does a good deed, there is
no intention.
Not a good intention, not a bad intention,
no intention.
Without a sound or corrupt intention.
He says, Abu Sulayman al-Darani, you know,
he's one of the heart doctors, said, whoever
does a good deed without a specific intention,
the intention of choosing Islam over other religions
suffices for them.
The intention of choosing Islam over other religions
suffices for them.
The apparent meaning of this statement, that's Ibn
Rajab speaking, rahimahullah, the apparent meaning of this
statement is that such a person will be
rewarded for the deed without any specific intention
at all.
For their choice of Islam implies a general
inclination toward good deeds, and thus they are
rewarded for every good deed they do by
that intention, that general intention.
And Allah knows best.
Okay, so this is clear.
But like I said, it's recommended for you,
and that's what the righteous predecessors used to
do.
When they were invited to good, even Salat
al-Janazah or anything, they would, you know,
it's the great pause.
You know, the great pause is before you
do anything, figure out why you are doing.
Why you are doing.
The why is the most important question, right?
The why comes before the how and the
what.
The why is the most important question.
Why you are doing it.
Okay, now let's move on to the second
one.
You know, in the second one, the first
one is the easiest and the shortest.
The second one is certainly the largest.
Although, you know, from here on, all of
them will be a little bit more sort
of complicated than the first one.
But the second one is al-'ibrah fil-'aqood.
Al-'ibrah, consideration or what matters.
Fil-'aqood, in contracts.
Li al-maqasid wal-ma'ani.
Al-maqasid, plural of maqsad.
And the maqsad means intention or objective.
Ma'ani means meanings.
La, not.
Lil al-faz, not.
Al-'ibrah or the consideration or intention is given
to maqasid wal-ma'ani.
Not to al-faz.
Al-faz, which means words.
And ma'bani.
Al-ma'bani.
Ma'bani means forms.
Words are forms.
Okay.
Now, this is a very important maxim.
And you will find that there is a
little bit of controversy about this maxim.
We said before they largely agree over all
the maxims.
Well, let's give, let's say why we said
largely.
The shafa'is don't go by this.
Although they don't contest much of it when
it comes to, you know, like, really, do
you mean that words matter more than intents?
The shafa'is want to say, you know,
what are you talking about here?
You're talking about how Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala perceives things or how Allah judges things.
You know, Allah is all aware and we
don't need to worry about it.
I am worried about the judge.
I am worried about me as a judge.
When people come to me, is consideration given
to intents and meanings or consideration is given
to words and forms?
I am more concerned about words and forms
because that is what I can know.
That is what I can know.
But let us see how the jumhur, the
majority, will validate their qaeda, that no, it
should be given to intents and meanings.
And we're aware of what you're saying, but
we're not saying that we will, that we
have, like, basically a heart reader that can
figure out intents.
But we will try to figure out the
intent.
Sometimes you don't need to figure out.
Sometimes you're not even in a position of
a qadi to begin with.
You are a mufti, not a qadi.
And someone comes to you and says, I
made an oath and said such and such
and intended such and such.
You're not a qadi to begin with.
There is no dispute.
The guy just made an oath, and he
wants to ask you of the consequences of
this oath.
So you can ask him, what did you
intend?
You're not a qadi.
You're just a mufti.
And then you give him the answer based
on his intention.
And also, if you're a qadi, you will
be exercising extra effort to discover the intent.
Not that you have a heart reader that
you could look into hearts and figure out
intents, but you want to discover the intent.
Sometimes the intent can be discovered through circumstances.
You know, sometimes it can be discovered from
the muhayyid, or the thing that triggered that
statement or triggered that contract or context, etc.
So you're working as a qadi here not
to read into people's hearts, but from sort
of circumstances and whatever causes and circumstances, you're
working hard to discover the intent of people.
So this expression is by the Hanafis and
the Malikis.
This very expression is by the Hanafis and
the Malikis.
And it applies to us because even though
we're not right there with the Hanafis and
Malikis, like if the Hanafis and Malikis are
here, and the Shafais are here, we're here.
So we're between the Hanafis and Malikis, but
much closer to the Hanafis and Malikis than
we are to the Shafais.
And here are some statements from the Imams
of the Madhhab to show this.
Ibn Muflih, you know, rahimahullah, and that is
Muhammad Ibn Muflih, different from Ibrahim.
Muhammad is the direct student of Imam Tamir,
rahimahullah, and Imam Muhammad Ibn Muflih is the
author of the great book of al-Furwa.
And this is basically the repository of all
the positions in the Madhhab.
Okay, so he said, المقاصد عندنا في العقود
معتبر المقاصد عندنا في العقود معتبر which translates
to intentions are considered in contracts in our
Madhhab.
Intentions are considered in contracts in our Madhhab.
Now, who was like the Hanafis and Malikis
or even more than the Hanafis and Malikis
in this regard?
Imam Taqayyuddin Ibn Taymiyyah.
He was even more than the Hanafis and
Malikis in this regard.
Defended this concept in great, great, great detail.
And we will come to some of his
statements.
So he says, الوقوت صح بكل ما دل
على مقصودها من قول أو فعل Contracts are
valid by anything that indicates their purpose, whether
by speech or action, whether by speech or
action.
He also said, and this is like a
wider expression or a more inclusive expression.
He said المقاصد والاعتقادات معتبرة في التصرفات والعادات
كما هي معتبرة في التقربات والعبادات which would
translate to intentions and beliefs.
المقاصد والاعتقادات are considered in legal conducts.
تصرفات is legal conducts.
Whenever you see تصرف, the word تصرف, it
means legal conduct.
Not just any action, but the legally consequential
action.
تصرفات والعادات and customs, just as much as
they are considered in acts of devotion and
acts of worship.
So thereby, this expression encompasses contracts and customs.
Contracts and customs.
So he gives priority to intents and meanings
in customs and contracts.
Now, let's go over Ibn Rajab's, and as
we said, قواعد الرجبية or the قواعد of
Ibn Rajab is the closest book we have
to in the madhhab, the closest classical book
we have in the madhhab to a book
of قواعد.
Because we haven't really been that good at
authoring in the discipline of قواعد.
But Ibn Rajab's book, and Ibn Rajab is
an 8th century scholar.
8th century scholar.
So Ibn Rajab's book, he was born in
the 8th century.
Ibn Rajab's book is, and he was the
student of whom?
Ibn al-Qayyim.
So Ibn Rajab's book is the closest thing
we have to al-Qawa'id.
Therefore, we rely on it a lot.
So let us read this قاعدة from Ibn
Rajab.
It's pertinent.
He says القاعدة العاشرة or the 10th maxim.
10th maxim.
الالفاظ المعتبرة في العبادات والمعاملات The words that
are considered in acts of worship and transactions.
He starts by saying, among them are those
where both wording and meaning are considered.
Such as the Qur'an, whose wording and
meaning are miraculous.
Hence, a translation cannot serve as a substitute
for the original.
فلا تجوز الترجمة عنه بلغة أخرى Some people
could read this and say, Ibn Rajab is
saying it's haram to translate the Qur'an.
فلا تجوز الترجمة عنه بلغة أخرى But pay
attention to عنه, which means as a substitute.
So a ترجمة would not be a substitute.
A ترجمة would not be a Qur'an.
But in our Madhhab, it's recommended to translate
the Qur'an.
It clearly says in مطالبة أولي النهى يحسن
ترجمة القرآن ولا يكون بذلك قرآنا فقط ترجمة
معاني So they say in مطالبة أولي النهى
that it is recommended to translate the Qur
'an but it does not become a Qur
'an when it is translated.
It's only a تفسير.
It is like تفسير of the Qur'an.
It's sort of interpretation of the meanings of
the Qur'an.
But certainly, the Qur'an's power lies in
only eloquence or the strength of meanings.
And at the end of the day, which
one is more powerful?
The meanings of the Qur'an or the
eloquence of the language?
The meanings of the Qur'an is more
miraculous, more powerful, more important than the eloquence.
Yet, because it is the exact word of
God, we do not consider a translation to
be Qur'an.
That's why people say ترجمة معاني القرآن the
translation of the meanings of the Qur'an
not ترجمة القرآن the translation of the meanings
of the Qur'an.
Okay, so that's the first thing.
So the ترجمة is not a substitute for
the Qur'an.
What does he mean by this?
It doesn't count.
Like you can't recite al-Fatiha in English
in your salah.
And we will talk about this.
You know, this particular discussion is relevant to
us.
We live in America.
You know, we may be able to speak
Arabic.
Everybody is encouraged to learn some Arabic.
But Arabs are 20% of Muslims, right?
About 20% of Muslims.
The rest of the Muslims are not native
Arabic speakers, although many Muslims speak Arabic, particularly
people who are, you know, so the mashayikh,
if you're like a sheikh from India or
Indonesia or what, Senegal, you will likely speak
Arabic.
If you're a scholar from those places, you
will be speaking Arabic.
Therefore, it is the language that connects sort
of the scholars from all communities, and they
write in Arabic and so on.
But do people need to speak Arabic to
become Muslim?
Of course not.
So the recent sort of whatever, I don't
know.
Some brother by the name of Omar Johnson
has left Islam recently just because of this.
Dr. Omar Johnson.
Yeah.
It's not recent.
He is explaining why he left Islam.
Okay, but he made it clear.
I mean, the whole sort of discussion was
about this.
He made it clear that he left Islam
because it sort of defies Arab culture and
language and stuff like this.
And he clearly said, like, why do I
need to speak Arabic or something like this
to follow a religion?
So this is a pertinent discussion.
Certainly, he did not need to speak Arabic,
of course.
Eighty percent of the Muslims don't speak it,
and nobody ever doubted their Islam.
Although people are encouraged to learn it because
if you receive a message from, like, God
in a particular language, you would be encouraged
to learn it.
And Allah would have communicated with humanity in
one language at the end of the day.
So Allah did not communicate to humanity the
last divine message in English or French.
He chose Arabic for the last divine communication,
which makes it recommended to basically learn it
so that you could read the message that
came from God as it came.
But is it required?
Of course not.
Nobody ever said it is required.
And you could basically live your entire life,
your entire life, not knowing except al-Fatihah.
And so according to our madhhab, which is
basically strict in this regard, you need to
know Allahu Akbar, al-Fatihah, سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ
حَمِدَهُ رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ اللَّهُمَّ اغْفِرْ لِي
اَنَا التَّشَهُدُ Okay, so, and then we will
come to say, you know, زَوَّجْتُكَ or, you
know, in our madhhab also, but we will
come to this discussion later.
But this is basically all you need to
learn.
سَمِعَ اللَّهُ لِمَنْ حَمِدَهُ رَبَّنَا لَكَ الْحَمْدُ رَبِّغْ
فِرْلِي رَبِّغْ فِرْلِي اَنْتَ التَّشَهُدُ التسليم Yes, you
will say salam alaykum, okay.
You add taslim to this.
Now, how long will it take you to
learn this?
I mean, it depends, but for the average
person, it would take two hours.
I think it would take two hours for
the average person, right?
That's it.
That's all you need to learn in Arabic.
So, he says that you can substitute for
the Quran by learning another language.
So, which Quran would you need to learn?
Al-Fatiha.
And that's it.
Because that is what you need for your
prayer to be valid.
Keep in mind that this is according to
us, but it's not according to the rest
of the mazahib.
So, for the Hanafis, even Allahu Akbar can
be said in any language.
The only thing that must be said in
Arabic is al-Fatiha.
Al-Fatiha.
They even had some disagreement over this at
some point, but they then came back to
agree that al-Fatiha, you know, Imam Abu
Hanifa and Imams Abu Yusuf and Muhammad ibn
al-Hasan, they had a lot of disagreement
over this at some point, but then eventually
they came back to agree that al-Fatiha
must be recited in Arabic.
But they also agreed that Allahu Akbar can
be said in any language.
Can be said in any language.
Okay.
So, according to some scholars, the only thing
you will need to learn is al-Fatiha.
How long will it take you?
I mean, you're talking about submission to God.
You're talking about accepting a new religion, not
changing a job.
Like, if you change jobs, you will probably,
like, if you start a new job, you'll
probably have, like, two days of orientation where,
you know, this is like 12 hours, 24
hours, sometimes more.
Forget about the fact that you have studied
for 12 years and then four years in
college, and maybe now, you know, college degrees
are worthless, so you need to do a
master's or something, or something more to just
get the job.
And then to get oriented, you spend about
12 hours at least just for orientation.
If you are a physician, you will have
to learn how to use the EMR, the
electronic medical record.
And you change jobs, it's a different electronic
medical record, and you spend a couple of
days trying to learn the new...
We're talking about, you know, a religion, the
last of divine communication, and basically to accept
that last of divine communication and to comply
with the rules, you just need to learn
al-Fatiha in Arabic.
And that's it.
And that would take from a person of
average intelligence about one hour.
I haven't tried it, so if I'm not
saying the truth, correct me.
But I think, I guess, I presume it
takes about one hour to memorize it.
But even if it takes like half a
day, that's still not a problem.
Now Imam Ibn Rajab says, وَمِنْهَا مَا يُعْتَبَرُ
مَعْنَاهُ دُونَ لَفْظِهِ كَالْفَاظِ عَقْدِ الْبَيْعِ وَغَيْرِهِ مِنَ
الْعُقُودِ وَالْفَاظِ الطَّلَاقِ So here, the Quran, we're
very adamant that wording, you can't substitute for
the wording of the Quran.
That is, if you want to pray.
But if you want to learn about the
Quran and you read the translation, you could
learn the meanings of the Quran by reading
the translation of the Quran.
But the Quran in prayer, that when you
say, I recited the Quran, you need to
recite it in Arabic.
Learning is a completely different story.
You know, to reflect and to dabbur and
all of this is good, all of this
is reward worthy, all of this is great,
and I would say that reciting without the
dabbur is insufficient.
But reciting the Quran has to happen in
Arabic to get the reward of qira'at
al-Quran, the recitation of the Quran.
And certainly in prayer, it would not be
valid without reciting al-Fatiha in Arabic.
Okay, but then he said that some things,
among them are those where only the meaning
is considered, not the wording, such as the
wording in contracts of sale and others, as
well as that of divorce.
So, financial transactions, the wording does not matter
for us the Hanbalis.
Wording does not matter, you could just, whatever.
And that is why we said that we
agree with the qa'id, al-ibra, al
-iqood, al-maqasid, al-ma'ani, al-alfadh,
al-mabani.
Consideration is given to intentions and meanings, not
words and forms.
Yes, we are saying that in financial transactions,
words don't matter.
You know, so express your intent in whichever
way you want.
And also in divorce.
Why did he say in divorce and not
say marital transactions?
Because in marriage, it's different in the Hanbali
madhhab.
Different in the Hanbali madhhab, and we will
come to this difference.
Okay, then he says, وَمِنْهَا مَا يُعْتَبَرُ لَفْظُهُ
مَعَ الْقُدْرَةِ عَلَيْهِ دُونَ الْعَجْزَ عَنْهُ وَيَدْخُلْ تَحْتَذَٰلِكَ
صُورًا Among them are those where wording is
considered.
If one is able to use the Arabic
wording, able to use the Arabic wording.
The Qur'an, it won't count, you know.
Do you have a way out of it?
Even with the Qur'an, yes, and we
will come to this discussion.
If you are unable to learn al-Fatiha
in Arabic, there is a way out of
it.
You are still a Muslim.
If you are unable to learn al-Fatiha
in Arabic, no problem.
Unable, no problem.
You will still be a Muslim.
And then you will be told how to
substitute for this by making dhikr.
Okay, so the first thing here among the
things where wording is considered, if one is
able to use it, but not if incapable.
This includes several cases, such as saying the
takbir, tasbih, and supplications and prayer, where it
is not allowed to translate these if one
is able to say them in Arabic.
In the case of incapacity, should these fall
under the first category and thus be waived?
Waived, or under the second where one may
use their own language.
Takbir, tasbih, and supplications and prayer.
Okay, when I said the things that you
need to learn in Arabic, I forgot to
say subhanAllah and subhanAllah.
SubhanAllah and subhanAllah are things you need to
learn in our madhhab.
So allahu akbar, when you say allahu akbar,
do you have to say allahu akbar in
Arabic?
You have to, according to the Hanbalis, the
Malikis, and the Shafa'is, you have to
say allahu akbar in Arabic.
According to the Hanafis, you don't have to
say allahu akbar in Arabic.
Even if you know Arabic.
Even if you know Arabic, you don't have
to.
So what if someone cannot say allahu akbar
in Arabic?
Hanbalis and Shafa'is will say translate.
Malikis will say waived.
Don't translate, it's waived.
Get into the prayer without allahu akbar.
Get into the prayer without allahu akbar.
Intend to inaugurate your prayer, to start your
prayer without allahu akbar.
It's waived.
According to the Malikis, it drops.
So what about the tasbih and other adhkar?
Tasbih and dhikr in general in the prayer.
All the dhikr in prayer, let's take the
tasbih as a prototype of this.
In our madhhab, do you have to say
it in Arabic?
Yes, if you're able to.
What if you're unable to?
What is the position in the madhhab?
Waived or translate?
Translate.
The position in the madhhab for the wajib
dhikr.
For the wajib dhikr.
Translate.
The non-wajib dhikr, don't say it.
Don't do any non-wajib dhikr.
But the wajib dhikr, translate.
The other position in the madhhab is waived.
But the dominant position in the madhhab, translate
for the wajib dhikr.
The non-wajib dhikr, drop.
But translate.
Okay.
What about ad-du'a?
Supplication.
Outside of the prayer, nobody questions whether du
'a should happen.
Nobody asks you to make du'a in
Arabic.
Of course.
It's complete.
It's better.
It's greater when you make the exact du
'a as the Prophet ﷺ used to make.
When you make the du'a as of
the Qur'an, رَبَّنَا أَتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنًا
وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ حَسَنًا وَقِنَا عَذَبَنَّا رَبَّنَا أَبْلَنَا مِنْ
أَزْوَاجِنَا وَثُرِّيَاتِنَا وَقِرْوَةَ آيَنَا وَجَعَلْنَا مُتْقِينَا مَوْتًا
And all of the du'as of the
Qur'an, you know, greater and more complete,
but no one ever said, Oh Allah, I
want to get married.
Not me, but you know.
So like someone, whatever, just in your language,
you could do this.
Okay, we're not discussing why the Hanafis are
doing this.
Because we're going to get, like, it's a
qawa'ah, it's not a fiqh class.
They just don't feel that it is required.
They don't feel it is required.
They don't feel it's Qur'an.
So they don't feel it's mu'ajiz, meaning
it is, you know, miraculous.
They don't feel the other adhkar are Qur
'an.
So they don't feel that they are miraculous.
The Qur'an is the only miraculous speech
that cannot be substituted for, to them.
But the Jumhur said, the Prophet said, صَلُّوا
كَمَا رَأَيَتْ مُنْ يُصَلِّي Pray as you see
me praying.
And this applies to all Muslims.
And the average person and the sub-average
person can learn those few words in Arabic.
So that eventually, eventually, this is, you know,
the importance of this is quite clear.
The importance of praying in the same language
is quite clear.
Like people who used to travel, the Rahalas,
you know, who used to journey through the
Muslim lands.
You could stop by any masjid from China
to Morocco.
You could travel.
Ibn Battuta, when he made his travels, he
could stop anywhere he wants.
You know, all the way to China, starting
from Morocco, all the way to China.
You could stop at any masjid.
And you say to them, وَدُوْا And they
will show you where to.
And you start, you stand in line behind
the imam, and it will be familiar.
Nothing different.
You know, as long as we're praying, nothing
would be different.
And it would be completely familiar.
So isn't that important for that concept of
one ummah and for that social cohesion, cohesion
within that religious group?
And certainly when you have one language, when
Allah ﷻ chooses for you one language, so
that as an ummah, we can communicate through
this one language, so that the scholars of
this ummah can communicate together, and people are
not living in their own compartments.
And the scholars, you know, because they can,
that exchange of ideas, and you know, you
add brain power when people are able to
communicate in one language.
So you add brain power.
Like someone like me growing up in Egypt,
I was able to read Sheikh Abul Hasan
Nadwi's books, you know, and benefited greatly.
And certainly many other scholars from non-Arab
countries.
But personally, in my personal experience, Sheikh Abul
Hasan Nadwi was one of my favorites.
And I was able to read his books
because they were written in Arabic, or you
know, a good number of them was written
in Arabic, and so on.
So this is where the beauty comes in,
and where the benefits and the wisdom of
this comes in.
But for the average Muslim, you just need
to learn Fatiha.
You know, if you want to go Hanafi,
you only need to learn the Fatiha.
If you want to go Al-Hanbali, you
need to spend like two more hours learning
a few more things.
Just two more hours learning a few more
things.
So supplication.
Supplication in general.
Outside of the prayer, do it in whichever
language you want.
Inside the prayer, what do they say about
supplication?
So the Malikis say, whatever you want.
Whatever you want.
Make it in whatever language you want.
The Hanafis say it's disliked in any other
language than Arabic.
The Shafiis and Hanbalis say it is not
allowed.
The Hanbalis say it is not allowed in
any other language.
It's not allowed in any other language.
The Shafiis and a position within the Hanbali
Madhhab will make the distinction between someone who's
able and someone who's unable to speak it.
And they will allow translation.
Keep in mind that there is another discussion
before this discussion.
There is another discussion.
Are you allowed to make any supplication you
want in the salah?
Or you're limited to al-ma'thur, the reported
supplications.
So the Malikis and Shafiis say, and this
is a minor position in the Hanbali Madhhab,
any supplication you want, any supplication you want.
The Hanafis and Hanbalis in their dominant view,
in the dominant view in the Madhhab, they
say no in salah because if you leave
it open, people will be making ridiculous, you
know, supplications in the salah.
So this is limited inside the salah to
that which is reported.
That's Hanafis and Hanbalis.
But likely, likely, you are, the Malikis are
right about this.
You can make whichever supplications, and that is
a minor position in the Hanbali Madhhab chosen
by Imam Ibn Qudama because the Prophet ﷺ
said, after tashahhud, ista'idh billah min arba'
and then make whatever supplications you desire.
Make whatever supplications you desire.
So whatever supplications you desire, whatever comes to
your mind, yes.
Both.
So now, so that is the supplication.
Then he said, wa minha khutbatul jum'ah
la tasihhu ma'al-qudra bi ghayri al
-arabiyya alas sahih wa tasihhu ma'al-adz.
Another example is the Friday khutbah, which on
the corrective view must be delivered in Arabic
if one is able, but may be delivered
in another language if one is not, if
one is not.
Khutbatul jum'ah, does it have to be
in Arabic?
Who are the people that are most adamant
about this?
The Hanafis.
Which Madhhab is most lenient about this?
The Hanafi.
Yes.
So the people who are most adamant about
this are the Hanafis.
The Madhhab that is most lenient about this
is the Hanafi.
But, you know, I'm not making fun of
them.
They're trying, Jazahmullah khair, they're trying to do
their best.
But again, at the same time, I believe
that when there is room, when there is
concession, we should use this concession.
I'm Hanbali, and I'm using the Hanafi Madhhab
here to basically deliver the speech in the
language that people comprehend because it is meant
for people to learn something.
It's maw'idah, it's exhortation.
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَّا بِلِسَانِ قَوْمِهِ لِيُبَيِّنَ
لَهُمْ We have not sent a messenger except
speaking the language of his people to make
things clear for them.
So, that is what it is, and that's
what the khutba is about.
So, the khutbat al-jum'ah, there are
three different positions when it comes to khutbat
al-jum'ah.
One, they say it's a condition to be
in Arabic.
Must be in Arabic.
You see how the malikis were lenient about
supplications?
They are strict here.
The malikis say it's a condition.
No matter what, it has to be in
Arabic.
The hanbalis are also strict here.
They say it's a condition to be in
Arabic.
Then the second position is, it's a condition,
ma'al qudra, but if everybody speaks another
language, then you may say it in whichever
language they speak.
And that is the correct position in the
Shafi'i Madhhab, and that is a minor
position in our Madhhab.
Okay?
So, this would be a what?
Condition if the congregation speaks Arabic.
Would not be a condition if the congregation,
if all the congregation does not speak Arabic,
then you say it in whatever, you deliver
it in whichever language they speak.
Now, the last one is recommended not a
condition.
It is not a condition.
Not a condition.
And that is the Hanafi position.
So, most of the contemporary scholars take the
Hanafi position now because of this verse, وَمَا
أَرْسَلْنَا مِنْ رَسُولٍ إِلَىٰ بِاللِّسَانِ قَوْمِهِ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ
Now, to accommodate the other positions, what do
I do?
In my delivery of the Friday khutbah, what
do I do?
I include all of the pillars of khutbah
al-jum'ah.
I say all the pillars of khutbah al
-jum'ah in Arabic.
So, I give khutbah al-hajjah in Arabic.
I say one maw'idah, taqullah, you know,
be mindful of God in Arabic.
You know, I recite some Qur'an in
Arabic.
I send salutations on the Prophet ﷺ in
Arabic.
And that's it.
I'm done.
You know, I have done my, you know,
khutbah in Arabic.
But the rest is going to be in
the language that the congregation understands.
But anyway, so it's a matter of controversy.
Finally, and I know that I went over
time, but I'm just going to finish this
so that I finish that excerpt from al
-Qawa'at al-Fiqhah al-Ibn Rajab.
Finally, he said, وَمِنْهَا لَفْظُ النِّكَاحِ يَنْعَقِلُ مَعَ
الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْقُدْرَ عَلَى التَّعَلُّمِ فِيهِ
وَجْهَدْ وَمِنْهَا لَفْظُ النِّكَاحِ
يَنْعَقِلُ مَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ
الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ
الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ
الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ
الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ
الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ
الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ
الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَب بِغَيْرِ
الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ
بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ
بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ
بِغَيْرِ الْعَرَبِيَّ وَمَعَ الْعَجْزُ بِغَيْرِ الْعَر between financial
transactions and marital contracts, the later or the
latter of marital contracts being closer to acts
of worship, even though they are still transactions.
Thus, wording carries greater weight in them, but
it is waived in cases of incapacity.
In another view, chosen by Imam Taqaydeen ibn
Taymiyyah, the meaning is what matters even in
the marital contract.
So, if someone knows Arabic and can say
whatever word in Arabic that counts in Arabic,
that's beautiful.
If not, people don't need to worry about
it whatsoever.
Whatever language they speak, it will be fine.
So, hopefully, this is basically a contentious issue
and it's so sad and so unfortunate that
someone would leave Islam just because of an
issue like this.
But you need to have like a comprehensive
understanding of this so that you could...
Ultimately, no one needs to learn the language.
You just need to learn Al-Fatiha.
That's it.
It takes one or two hours.
If you start a new job, you will
take a lot longer in orientation.
أقول قولي هذا استغفر الله ورحمة الله وبركاته