Kamal El-Mekki – Three Rivers
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The importance of showing the complete and perfect justice of Islam's actions in front of courts is emphasized. The Prophet Muhammad's actions are presented in front of the courts to show the complete and perfect justice of his actions. The hesitation to admit bad deeds is a result of fearing one's actions and the importance of addressing one's actions to avoid negative consequences. The segment emphasizes the need for individuals to acknowledge and address their actions to avoid negative consequences.
AI: Summary ©
I bear witness that there is none worthy
of worship except Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah.
I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger
of Allah.
Hayy alas-salam Hayy
alas-salam Hayy alal
falaam Hayy alal
falaam Alhamdulillahi
rabbil alameen, wassalatu wassalamu ala rasoolihi al ameen,
wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'een.
Amma ba'd, brothers and sisters in Islam, the
title of our khutbah today is Three Rivers.
And we begin with this hadith that is
narrated in Sahih Muslim, and the narrator is
Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, the companion.
He said, the Prophet ﷺ said, إِنِّي لَأَعْلَمُ
آخِرَ أَهْلِ الْجَنَّةِ دُخُولًا الْجَنَّةِ وَآخِرَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ
خُرُوجًا مِّنْهَا And the Prophet ﷺ said, Indeed,
I know the last of the people of
Al-Jannah to enter Al-Jannah.
And the last of the people of the
Hellfire to leave the Hellfire.
And of course he's talking about the same
person.
The last one to leave the Hellfire and
the last one to enter Al-Jannah is
the same individual.
رَجُلٌ يُؤْتَى بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ A man that
will be brought forth on the Day of
Judgment.
فَيُقَالُ أَعْرِضُ عَلَيْهِ سِغَارَ ذُنُوبِهِ وَارْفَعُ عَنْهُ كِبَارَهَا
فَتُعْرَضْ عَلَيْهِ سِغَارُ ذُنُوبِهِ So the Prophet ﷺ
said, Then it will be said, meaning Allah
will say, Present him, this man after he's
taken out of the Hellfire, Allah will tell
the angels, Present him with the minor sins,
all his minor sins.
And do not display his major sins.
فَيُقَالُ عَمِلْتَ يَوْمَ كَذَى وَكَذَى كَذَى وَكَذَى وَعَمِلْتَ
يَوْمَ كَذَى وَكَذَى كَذَى وَكَذَى فَيَقُولُ نَعَمُ So
then it will be said to him, You
did on the Day of such and such,
this and that.
And you did on the Day of such
and such, this and that.
And he will say yes.
لَا يَسْتَطِعُ The Prophet ﷺ says, لَا يَسْتَطِعُ
أَن يُنكِرَ وَهُوَ مُشْفِقٌ مِّن كِبَارِ ذُنُوبِهِ أَن
تُعْرَضَ عَلَيْهِ The Prophet ﷺ is saying, He's
not able to deny any of the deeds
that he's presented with.
Because his major concern is that he doesn't
want his major sins to be displayed.
These are the minor sins, so he's agreeing
to everything.
His major concern is that they will bring
his major sins to display in front of
him.
Before we continue, the question is, Why are
the deeds presented?
And the scholars say, لِكَمَالِ الْعَدْلِ To show
the complete and the perfect justice of Allah
ﷻ.
And we see this in other hadith.
In Surah Al-Tirmidhi and also narrated by
Ibn Hibban.
The famous hadith known as Hadith Al-Bitaqa,
The Hadith of the Parchment.
And the point we want from that hadith
is that, At one point, when the deeds
are displayed, Allah ﷻ will ask the servant,
أَظَلَمَكَ كَتَبَتِي الْحَافِظُونَ Did my servants, meaning the
angels who write down the deeds, Did they
do any injustice to you?
فَيَقُولُوا لَا يَا رَبِّ He will say, No,
my Lord.
Meaning, he will see the complete justice.
Everything is written and he will not feel
injustice whatsoever.
And that's why whatever you do of big
or small, It will be written and recorded
and brought forth on the Day of Judgment.
As Allah ﷻ says in Surah Al-Zalzalah,
فَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَى وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ
مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ شَرًّا يَرَى Whoever does the weight
of الذر عند العرب النمل Small ants, they
used to call it ذر.
So whoever does the weight of a small
ant, Of good, he will see good.
And whoever does the weight of a small
ant in bad, he will see bad.
So it's the perfect justice of Allah ﷻ
that He presents the deeds in front of
us.
And likewise, it is also the mercy of
Allah ﷻ.
The scholars say Allah ﷻ will display thousands
of your bad deeds and then pardon them
right in front of you.
So you see the mercy and the justice.
So in our hadith, the man is worried
that his major sins will be presented.
فَيُقَالُ لَهُ فَإِنَّ لَكَ مَكَانَ كُلِّ سَيِّئَةٍ حَسَنَةٍ
It will be said to him, You will
have in the place of every sin you
see here, a good deed.
فَيَقُولُ رَبِّ قَدْ عَمِلْتُ أَشْيَاءٌ لَا أَرَاهَهَا هُنَا
So he will say, My Lord, I did
other bad deeds that I don't see here.
Why is he saying that?
All the deeds that were presented were switched
and changed into good deeds.
So now he wants to see the rest
of his bad deeds.
And then our narrator, Abu Dharr Al-Ghaffari
radiallahu anhu says, فَلَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ
بَحِكَ حَتَّى بَدَتْ نَوَاجِذَةٍ Then he says, I
saw the Prophet ﷺ laugh until his rear
teeth showed.
Why is the Prophet ﷺ laughing?
The man didn't want his deeds to be
displayed, but when they were switched into good
deeds, now he's saying, But I did other
things that I don't see up here.
Because he wants his reward.
The question also in this hadith is, What
happened to the major sins?
And why weren't they presented?
Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah, the great scholar, explains
in his famous book, Madarij al-Saliqeen.
He says, For the sinners are three rivers
in this dunya that they use to purify
themselves, to cleanse themselves of their sins.
So if they don't purify them, these three
rivers in this dunya, if they don't purify
your sins, they are purified, تُحِرُوا بِنَارِ جَهَنَّمٍ
They are purified with the hellfire.
وَالْعِيَادُ بِاللَّهِ And he says, They are, number
one, التوبة النصوح The good tawbah.
And then, good deeds.
الأعمال الصالحة And then the trials or calamities
that expiate sins.
And then he continues, And if Allah wants
good for his servants, he enters them or
him into one of these rivers.
And if he enters one of them, then
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saves him from
the fourth.
يعني if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guides
you to one of these three rivers, tawbah,
good deeds, and calamities that expiate your sins,
and if they don't expiate, then Allah will
purify them with the hellfire.
وَالْعِيَادُ بِاللَّهِ So it is from the mercy
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he
has given us many avenues through which our
sins are erased.
We have a tawbah.
And we have spoken about a tawbah from
this minbar before.
And we've all heard lectures.
And we know so many examples and so
many things that invite you to return to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
In Surah Al-Imran, Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala says, إِلَّا الَّذِينَ تَابُوا مِنْ بَعْدِ ذَلِكَ
وَأَصْلَحُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ Except for those
who repent, tawbah, make tawbah, repent.
After that, وَأَصْلَحُوا And they do righteous deeds
or they become righteous.
فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ Indeed, Allah is forgiving
and merciful.
In Surah Hud, وَاسْتَغْفِرُوا رَبَّكُمْ ثُمَّ تُوبُوا إِلَيْهِ
And ask forgiveness from your Lord.
And then repent to Him.
إِنَّ رَبِّي رَحِيمٌ وَدُودٌ Indeed, my Lord is
merciful and wadood.
Why this ending?
Wadood means loving.
If your God is angry or hateful or
vengeful, would that encourage you to repent to
Him or a God that is loving?
And the scholars also say that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala is ending it in this
way and in other verses also like in
Surah Al-Buruj to tell you that He
will forgive you but keep loving you.
Because on this dunya, we might forgive one
another.
I forgive someone but I don't like them
anymore or I even hate them but I've
forgiven them.
But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive
you but He will keep loving you.
So, what if we fall short in tawbah
and repenting to Allah عز و جل?
Then we have the second river, good deeds.
And we have much evidence in Islam to
support this that the good deeds erase the
bad deeds.
And one of the strongest verses in Surah
Hud, Allah عز و جل says, وَأَقِمِ الصَّلَاءِ
طَرَفَي النَّهَارِ يعني صبح والمغرب وَزُلُفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ
يعني صلاة العشاء إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَا السَّيِّئَاتِ ذَلِكَ
ذِكْرًا لِلذَّاكِرِينَ Allah عز و جل says and
establish the prayer in the two ends of
the day, Fajr prayer and Maghrib prayer.
وَزُلُفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ and in the night, meaning
the Isha prayer إِنَّ الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَا السَّيِّئَاتِ Indeed,
the good deeds push away, erase the bad
deeds.
This verse was revealed regarding an incident that
was narrated in Sahih Muslim.
A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and
he said that he had kissed a woman.
So the first thing is, in this narration
in Sahih Muslim, Umar ibn al-Khattab was
there.
And so the first thing Umar r.a
tells him is that, Allah ﷻ concealed you,
why would you expose yourself?
Because it is not for us in Islam
to expose our bad deeds in front of
others.
So the Prophet ﷺ does not answer this
man until he left.
And when he left, he had someone go
out and call him because this verse was
revealed.
وَأَقِمَ الصَّلَاةِ طَرَفَي النَّهَارِ وَزُلُفًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ إِنَّ
الْحَسَنَاتِ يُذْهِبْنَا السَّيِّئَاتِ ذَلِكَ ذِكْرًا لِلذَّاكِرِينَ So, in
Sahih Muslim, a man says, فَقَالَ الرَّجُلُ مِّنَ
الْقَوْمِ يَا نَبِيَ اللَّهِ هَذَا لَهُ خَاصَّةً A
man said, O Prophet of Allah, is this
just for him, specifically this verse?
That the prayer and the good deeds erase
the bad deeds?
And the Prophet ﷺ said, بَلِّ النَّاسِ كَافَّةً
He said, rather it is for everyone.
In Sahih al-Bukhari, the man himself said,
فَقَالَ الرَّجُلُ مِّنَ الْقَوْمِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ أَلِيَّ
هَذَا؟
He said, is it just for me?
قَالَ لِجَمِيعِ أُمَّتِي كُلِّهِمْ It is for my
entire ummah.
And in the hadith, just as examples, that
the good deeds erase the bad deeds.
As just one example, the Prophet ﷺ said,
وَالصَّدَقَةُ تُطْفِعُ الْخَطِيئَةُ كَمَا يُطْفِعُ الْمَاءُ النَّارُ And
the sadaqa extinguishes, puts out the bad deed,
the sin, the same way the water puts
out the fire.
And this is an excellent example and a
strong analogy because the fire here represents sins.
Its heat and its flame and its ability
to cause destruction.
And then when water extinguishes fire, there's not
even a spark left.
It's completely gone.
So the good deeds erase the bad deeds
and there's a lot of evidence.
And we know from other examples, the companions
themselves understood this concept.
After the treaty of Hudaybiyah, Umar رضي الله
عنه, he was not happy with the terms
of the treaty, as were the other Muslims.
So he started to question the Prophet ﷺ
and question Abu Bakr.
And he didn't really do anything haram, but
he felt guilty later for questioning the Prophet
of Allah ﷺ in that way.
So then what does he do for the
rest of his life?
He said, فَعَمِلْتُ لِذَٰلِكَ أَعْمَالًا I did many
deeds to cover up for that sin.
In his eyes it was a sin.
But he did so many, which shows the
understanding and the concept that you do good
deeds to cover up for your bad deeds.
So brothers and sisters in Islam, let us
drown our sins in the rivers of tawbah
and in the rivers of good deeds.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِ هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ الْعَظِيمَ لِي وَلَكُمْ
فَاسْتَغْفِرُوا فَيَفَوْزَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرِ الحمد
لله رب العالمين والصلاة والسلام على رسوله الأمين
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين So Ibn Qayyim رحمه
الله said, we have three rivers to cleanse
ourselves from bad deeds here in this dunya.
And the first we said was tawbah and
the second was good deeds and the third
was calamities.
The calamities, the trials, the difficulties that befall
us in this world, they expiate from our
sins.
And that's why Imam Ahmad رحمه الله he
used to say, لَوْلَا الْمَصَائِبِ لَقَدِمْنَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ
مَفَالِيسٍ Had it not been for the calamities,
we would have come forth bankrupt on the
day of judgment.
But it's Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى expiating our
sins with difficult trials and tests and calamities
that remove from our sins.
Otherwise, we would have nothing on the day
of judgment.
And in Sahih Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet
ﷺ explains to what extent anything, any difficulty
you encounter in this world removes from your
sins.
That he said, حَتَّ الشَوْكَ يُشَاكُهَا Even the
thorn pricks your finger, removes from your sins.
Every difficulty you go through, removes and expiates
from your sins.
But the scholars do make an important point.
They said, when do calamities and difficulties expiate
sins?
They said, إِذَا صَبَرُ If the person is
patient.
If the person is patient through the difficulties
and calamities, then they will remove and expiate
from their sins.
And one of the beautiful points they mentioned
is that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى might expiate
sins with calamities.
Sins that you don't even remember.
Because you don't remember them, you are not
going to make tawbah from them.
You're not going to repent and ask Allah
to forgive these sins because you've forgotten them.
And so here come the calamities and the
trials and tests and they will remove and
expiate the sins that you've forgotten about and
you've forgotten to make tawbah about as well.
So the third river takes care of them.
فَهَلْ مِن مُنزَجِرِ وَهَلْ مِن مُعْتَبِرِ With that,
we ask Allah عز و جل to make
us of those who recognize the truth as
clear truth and follow the best of it.
And to make us of those who recognize
falsehood as clear falsehood and abstain from it.
اللهم اغفر لنا اجمعين اللهم تب علينا اجمعين
اغفر خطأنا وعمدنا وجدنا وكل ذلك عندنا اللهم
اغفر ذنوبنا واسرافنا في امرنا اللهم اغفر لنا
ما قدمنا واخرنا واسرافنا وأعلننا وما أنت أعلم
به منا اللهم إنا نؤمن أنك سميع وأنك
قريب وأنك تسمع سرنا ونجوانا وتعلم السر وأخفى
اللهم لا تصرفنا من هذا الجمع إلا بذنب
مغفور اغفر لنا اجمعين وتب علينا اجمعين وهب
المسيئين منا للمحسنين يا الله ما كان بيننا
وبينك فاغفره وتجاوز عنه وما كان بيننا وبين
أحد من خلقك فتحمله عنه اللهم اغفر لكل
من أسئنا إليه ولكل من أذنبنا في حقه
اللهم اغفر لكل من ظلمنا ولكل من أغتبنا
اللهم حللنا من الظلمات اللهم حللنا من الظلمات
التي بيننا وبين العباد وحللنا من الظلم التي
بيننا وبينك يا أرحم الراحمين اللهم أبرم لأمة
الإسلام أمرا رشدا يعز فيه أهل طاعتك ويهدى
فيه أهل معصيتك ويؤمر فيه بالمعروف وينهى فيه
عن المنكر يا سميع الدعاء وصلى اللهم وبارك
عن ابعوث رحمة للعالمين وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين
وقوموا إلى صلاتكم ورحمة الله