Navaid Aziz – Al Wasiyah Assughra
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AI: Transcript ©
So,
I am doing a one off halaqa.
Insha Allah. What I'm hoping to achieve is
to give you an introduction to the book,
and then you guys can read the book
on your own
It's actually a very short book
with footnotes. It's about 28 pages long. With
footnotes, it's about 28 pages long.
And we're gonna jump straight into it.
So what I would suggest is take a
picture of the of the screen. This was
published in the nineties. It's available for free
as a PDF online so that you find
this exact version
online
There are a few other versions that are
out there, but I found this one to
be the most concise with the best English
and you all with the most beneficial
footnotes. So it's called a concise
legacy. In Arabic, it's known as
So to give you context behind this, there
is a Moroccan sheikh by the name of
Abil Asim Al Qasim Abdul Yusuf ibn Muhammad
al Sabdi.
And he, at some point, had come into,
interacting with Sheikh Islam Ibn Taymiyyah
And he was very impressed with what he
saw by Sheikh Islam Ibn Taymiyyah.
So later on in life,
when he needed advice,
he wrote a letter to Ibn Taymiyyah asking
him about 4 things. Asking him about 4
things. Number 1, what is the best piece
of advice you can give me with regards
to my dunya and akhirah?
Number 2, what books should I be studying?
Number 3,
what is the best skill set that I
can develop
with regards to getting a profession
in which Allah
will increase and bless my risk.
And then last but not least, to explain
to me what are the best deeds after
the obligatory deeds. What are the best deeds
after the obligatory
deeds? So I wanna do like a a
quick survey.
Imagine you're Ibn Tayni right
now. Someone comes up to you and says,
what is the best advice you can give
me for my dunya and akhira? What advice
are you gonna give them?
Miss Milag, go ahead. Yeah.
Yes, you. Don't waste your time. Don't waste
your time. Love it. Great advice. What else?
Excellent. Try your utmost best not to miss
your prayers.
Madinah. You have your hand up. You came
running all the way from the back.
Go ahead.
Always use your eyes instead of your mouth.
That is some deep stuff, bro.
So look at the halal and stay quiet.
That's what I'm gonna take over.
The taqo of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Excellent.
Okay. So that's good for question number 1.
Question number 2.
What books should we be studying? Someone asked
you for a recommendation for books. What advice
are you gonna tell them with regards to
books to read?
Let's go with sisters. Bismillah, go ahead. Yeah.
Read the Quran. Okay. Excellent. What else? Brother
in the back. The seerah of the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Excellent. What else? I'm
gonna try to go to people that I
haven't that haven't answered already. Bismillah.
The men around the Messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam. Excellent.
People that haven't answered already. People that haven't
answered already.
Anyone over here? Someone asked you for a
book recommendation.
What are we recommending?
The alchemist? When the
moon splits, so the seerah of the Prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Excellent. Let's go to
question 3. Someone comes up to you, you
can imagine they're like a confused university student.
They're like, I wanna get a job. Can
you tell me what's like the best job
that I can get that Allah
will increase my risk and bless my risk
for me? People that haven't answered yet.
Become a doctor. Become a doctor.
Allahu Akbar. Okay. What else? Go ahead.
Become a teacher. Excellent. You know, that's fascinating.
In the province of Alberta, if you become
a teacher, it's you're pretty well off after
a few years. And most other provinces, if
you work in an Islamic school, you're getting
paid like below minimum wage.
What else? What other professions are we encouraging
people to go into? People that haven't answered
yet.
Stay at home dad.
Take care of your children. Yes, 100%. But
don't stay home. Seek your risk. Your own
business. Start your own business. Become an entrepreneur.
Excellent. I love it. One more from the
sisters. Any more recommendations for jobs?
No?
Isabella, go ahead. Yeah.
Sorry?
A software developer? Women in Tech?
Okay. Nice.
And then last but not least,
after the obligatory deeds,
what is the most beloved deeds to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala?
After the obligatory deeds, what is the most
beloved deed to Allah? The zikr of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. Excellent. What else? Tawhid?
Isn't tawhid obligatory?
I thought it was.
Yeah. So I said after the obligatory deeds.
After the obligatory deeds.
Sister in the back.
The deeds that are most consistent. Excellent. Excellent.
The sunnah, the sunnah? The sunnah of the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
Go ahead.
Sorry.
Giving charity.
Okay. Good answers. So let's go
through what Sheikh Al Islam Ibn Tayni says.
So Ibn Tayni
I want us to understand context now.
So
actually, yeah. Let me read this out to
you. So
when Ibn Tayni responds
to this, he's between 36 to 39 years
old. And I want you to think about
how Abu'l Asim is talking to Ibn Taymiyyah,
even though Abu al Asim is older than
Ibn Taymiyyah,
look at how he refers to his teacher.
He says, I requested our leader, the sheikh,
faqih, imam, respected scholar, vanguard of the predecessors,
leader of the later generations,
reviver of the deen, expressor of rare and
wonderful ideas with great eloquence and literacy. The
most
I've met in the lands of the east
and the west. Abdul
Abbas Ahmadibault Taymiyyah. May Allah enable us to
continue benefiting from him. That's how he refers
to him at the age of 36 to
39. And Ibn Tayni hasn't
even reached, you know, his pinnacle as they
say. So it shows you the type of
individual that Sheikh was.
Number 2, it shows us the importance of
being able to ask great questions.
If you ask great questions, you're gonna get
great responses.
Right? So as a part as a student,
you want to learn how to ask great
questions which are going to be most beneficial.
Because you never know who ends up benefiting
from them. That's subhanallah. 700 years later, here
we are benefiting from this.
Number 3, and perhaps for me this was
like one of the most important ones.
When we think of generosity,
we often think of financial generosity.
Sheikh al Aslambim Taymiyyah
He shows us that generosity
is a spirit.
It's not something restricted.
So you're you're generous with your time, you're
generous with your words, You're generous with your
responses.
You're generous with your interactions with people.
And this is the mindset that we wanna
develop.
Your mom is right there. Mom is right
there. Mom is right there. She's just behind
you. She's just behind you. Right there.
You want to have a generous spirit that
whatever you do, you come across as generous.
So you praise people with generosity. You thank
people with generosity.
You spend time people with generosity.
And this is what Ibn Taymiyyah
does. That, subhanallah, someone writes you a letter,
like by natural reaction would be, dude, how
did you get my address? Like, how did
this happen? How did I get myself in
this situation? And then if someone was to
ask me a question, I'm like, who has
time to write 28 pages?
I'll be like, you know, let's get on
a phone call, let's meet in person, we
can discuss this. Or at best kalas in
1 page, you know, I'm gonna respond to
you. Bashayk al Islam is obviously better than
me. He responds in 28 pages.
And there's a benefit here, that why is
it called
Ibn Taymiyyah
he responded to many letters that were written
to him.
This was a smaller letter that he responded
to as opposed to a much larger letter
that he wrote, which became known as alwasiyatul
Kubra, which became known as alwasiyatul Kubra. So
So now Ibn Taymiyyah
he starts answering the question
with regards to the best advice that you
can receive with regards to your dunya and
Accra,
he doesn't respond to it with his own
words.
He says, the best advice that you can
ever receive is the advice of Allah
and His Messenger
And this teaches us an important lesson with
regards to epistemology.
What Where do we derive our knowledge from?
Our ultimate source of knowledge and the truest
form of knowledge that we will ever have
as human beings is from Allah
and His Messenger
So he quotes a verse from the Quran
where Allah
says,
That verily We have enjoined on those who
were given the book before you, and on
you, O Muslims,
to fear Allah.
So this is the wasi of Allah
to the people before us, and to
us as well. And this shows us a
very important lesson, not only with regards to
our epistemology,
but also with regards to the continuation of
the message. So as Allah
sent revelation down to people, there were certain
key themes that were consistent
throughout history. So the message of tawheed is
a consistent message. Worship Allah
alone. Obey Allah
alone. Another one of those consistent messages
is to live a life of god consciousness,
to live a life of taqwa. So here
Allah
says that we have advised the people of
the book before you, as well as you,
to have taqwa of Allah
Now, we're not gonna get into a detailed
discussion on this, but Imitayni
he answered this later on, there are two
meanings of taqwa. He says, taqwa comes with
2 meanings in the Quran and the sunnah,
a general meaning
and a specific meaning.
As for the general meaning of taqwa, it
is the deen in its in its entirety.
Follow the deen in its entirety, this is
the taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
then he says the specific meaning of
taqwa is to create a barrier between yourself
and the wrath, anger, and punishment of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is to create a
barrier
between the wrath, anger, and punishment of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So what is the general meaning of taqwa
folks? What is the general meaning of taqwa?
Yeah? All of the deen in its entirety.
The deen in its entirety. And what is
the specific meaning of taqwa?
To fear Allah and to create a barrier
between the punishment, anger, and wrath of Allah
and your
self. Then he goes on to, where did
the Prophet
give a similar advice? And he brings the
hadith of Mu'adh
He says, O Mu'adh, fear Allah wherever you
may be, and follow-up a bad deed with
a good one, and it will wipe it
out, and behave towards people with beautiful
manners.
Why would this be a very significant
advice of the prophet
Who knows why?
The prophet
gave many advices to many people. But why
this one in particular?
Why would
ibn Tayni'ar himullah choose this?
Go ahead. Was it when Abu Adalaylahu went
to Medina to give dua? No. He went
to Medina to give dua? Yeah. He went
somewhere. Yeah. I'm sorry. He went to Yemen,
Asant. Tayb, now let me put you on
the spot. Who is the companion that was
sent to Medina?
Call a friend. Call a friend? Yeah. Which
friend are you choosing?
Mas'ab ibn Umar. Mas'ab ibn Umar. Ascentum.
Okay. So the prophet
chose Mu'adhib al Jabal to go to Yemen.
And this is basically a farewell advice, and
this is how you need to treat it.
The prophet
he already knows that his time is coming
to an end, but Mu'adh ibn Jabir
doesn't know this. So the prophet
wants to impart something with mu'ad,
that if he does not meet him again,
he has enabled
to be successful. He has enabled
to be successful.
Successful what? A successful servant of Allah
and a successful leader in his community, and
a successful leader in his community.
So he gives them this advice, that fear
Allah
wherever
you may be.
Whether you are in Madinah,
whether you are in Yemen, always have the
taqwa of Allah
And this is such important advice over here
because
often times we may think that if I'm
in a particular
land, I will be a better Muslim.
Right?
And this can happen for small, short glimpses,
for small, short instances.
You go for Hajj and Umrah,
your life is completely changed during that time.
But what you experience at Hajj and Umrah,
is it sustainable with and of itself? No,
it isn't.
It is the novelty factor that kicks in
that you're away from all of your distractions,
you're away from all of your other obligations,
you can focus
purely on the worship of Allah
and that is why you experience that iman
high. And this is why, if you look
at the letters that were written between the
salaf, one of the beautiful letters that was
written was from Salman al Farsi to Abu
Darda
When Abu Darda asks him to come back
to Madina. And Salman al Farsi
he basically says, why? Why should I come
back to Madinah?
The land that you live in does not
make any one person more holier than the
other.
So if it is not the lands that
make us holy, how do we protect our
faith? It is through the taqwa of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. So wherever you may end
up in life, live with this notion that
I need to be conscious of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. And I want to dig deeply
into this very briefly.
Taqwa
is the ability to control your thoughts.
Taqwa is the ability to monitor your thoughts.
Taqwa is the ability to change your thoughts.
That is what the taqwa of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
is. So you're constantly thinking,
what am I thinking about? Why am I
thinking about it? How did those thoughts get
there? And how do I change them to
the most beneficial
thoughts? Because eventually your thoughts will become intentions,
and your intentions become actions.
So he wants he really want to be
looking at
what is the best thing that I can
do right now to attain the pleasure of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? What is the best
thing that I can do right now to
attain the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
And then we'll come to this briefly,
almudaawamaalakpa.
Being constantly
in the state of obedience to Allah
is what you should be striving for. And
if an individual
can be in a state of constantly
striving
in the obedience of Allah
you don't have time or opportunity for sin.
You don't have time and opportunity for sin.
So good deeds within of themselves
are the ultimate protective factor between you and
disobedience.
Good deeds are the ultimate protective factor between
you and the wrath and anger of Allah
Number 2, he says follow-up a bad deed
with a good one and it will wipe
it out.
Who can remind me of the verse in
the Quran
that says a similar message? Bismillah.
Had the whole hadith.
I've tested you enough.
Surahood. So in Surahood
verse 111, Allah
says,
Indeed, the good deeds wipe away the bad
ones. Indeed, the good deeds wipe away the
bad ones. The majority of Mufassirun,
they said that the good deeds that are
being referred to over here
are the salawatulcomes,
the 5 daily prayers. You keep off your
5 daily prayers, and it'll wipe away your
sins.
The minority
of scholars, they said no. It is something
specific
that you should be doing.
Alimintayni,
in
this letter, it seems
he inclines towards this.
And he inclines towards the fact that the
type of sin that you commit
requires
a specific type of good deed that will
wipe it out. So for example,
if you, you know, accidentally fell into some
sort of dubious transaction
in wealth, then you should give sadaqa to
wipe it out. You should give sadaqa to
wipe it out. So it has to be
similar in nature, and that is what Ibn
Taymiyyah
alludes to over here. Ibn Taymiyyah
he eventually goes on to say
that there are 4 things,
there are 4 good deeds
that will wipe away your sins. There are
4 good deeds that will wipe away your
sins. And I want us to understand this
to the best of our ability.
What are the 4 good deeds that imintaymiyyah,
rahimuhullah,
refers to?
Being patient
on the trials of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Being patient on the trials of Allah
Number 2
is tawba.
Number 2 is tawba. And they're not in
the order that Ibrahim Demi mentions. I'm I'm
mentioning this from the from from my memory.
Well, actually, let's do this in the order
that Imtayna mentioned. That's bad. So the first
one that he mentions is tawba. That is
the best deed that you can do to
wipe out your sins.
Number 2,
he says, making istighfar
without tawba. Making istighfar
without tawba. And we'll explain all these within
the highta'ah.
Number 3,
he says the kafarat,
those specific deeds that will expiate
sins.
And he says there are general kafarat and
specific kafarat.
So the specific kafarat,
actually we'll go into that when we explain
it. Okay. So general kafarat, specific kafarat. And
then the last one he mentions,
number 4,
is to be patient upon the trials. To
be patient upon the trials.
And then the last piece of advice he
says, the prophet tells Mu'adh,
is treat people with the best of manners.
Treat people
with the best of manners. So let's go
through what Ibn Taymiyyah
goes on to explain.
The excellence of Mu'adh ibn Jabal. The excellence
of Mu'adh ibn Jabal. So he's quoted the
hadith, the advice that the prophet gave him,
now he's talking about the virtues of Mu'adh
ibn Jabal. From the virtues of Mu'adh ibn
Jabal, the Prophet
says, he was the most knowledgeable
of the halal and the haram. He was
the most knowledgeable of the halal and the
haram. From the virtues of Muadh ibn Jabal
is that he will be a foot ahead
of all of the scholars of the ummah
in the hereafter, that he'll have a lofty
position in front of all the scholars of
the Ummah. From the virtues of Muadh ibn
Jabal that Abdullah bin Masood radiallahu ta'ala anhu
used to say about him, that he is
an Ummah within of himself
like Ibrahim alaihi salaam. He is an ummah
within of himself like Ibrahim alaihi
as salaam. So these are some of the
virtues of Muadh
ibn Jabal.
Now,
ibn Taymiyyah, he now goes into
why was this advice so comprehensive. So we
already mentioned it's a pharaoh advice. The prophet
wanted to give him the best advice that
he could. But he summarizes what every human
being needs to survive.
He says, your whole entire life
is in fulfilling two rights.
The rights of Allah
and the rights of the creation.
Okay?
So now let's repeat the hadith of Mu'adh.
Have taqwa of Allah
wherever you are.
Follow-up a bad deed with a good one,
and it will wipe it out. And treat
people with the best of manners.
Which of these are the rights of Allah,
and which of these are the rights of
the creation?
Bismillah.
That's towards the people. Okay.
I'll accept the first and the third. And
number 2 is divided in in in both
actually. Right?
Number 2 is divided in both. So having
taqwa of Allah
is the right of Allah
Follow-up a bad deed with a good one,
and it will wipe it out. The majority
of this is for Allah
but there's a share of this with regards
to the creation as well. And treat people
with the best of manners is the right
of the creation, is the right of the
creation. So now, ibn Taymiyyah
he goes on to what are the types
of actions through which sins can be forgiven.
And the first of them he mentions is
tawba, repentance.
So the word tawba actually means to return.
Right? Linguistically, it means to return. So you've
gone off a path, you return,
kataab. Right? He returned to it. When scholars
talk about tawba,
there are 5 prerequisites
that they mentioned. There are 5 prerequisites
that they mentioned. Number 1, sincerity
to Allah
Number 2, giving up the sin immediately.
Number 3,
making intention
to never return to the sin.
Number 4,
feeling remorse and regret.
Number 5,
is to do it in its appropriate time.
To do it in its appropriate time. Meaning
before death. The prophet mentions, before the soul
reaches the throat, or before the sun rises
from the west. So these are generally five
conditions
of tawba.
This is if the sin is in relation
to you transgressing the boundaries of Allah
If you have transgressed the creation, then there's
a 6th condition.
There's a 6th condition
which is you return the rights of the
people. You return the rights of the people.
Now let's go through all of this. So
the first one is sincerity.
And this is the most important of all
affairs. Of any act of worship that you
do, it has to be sincere for the
sake of Allah
But particularly, when it comes to giving up
sins,
it shouldn't be
because, oh, what will the people say?
Or you know what? No one else is
doing it so I shouldn't be doing it.
Or you know what? This person will only
marry me if I give up the sin.
And you can think of a variety of
scenarios.
Perhaps a brother doesn't pray, and he knows
that the sister will only marry him if
he starts praying. So for the sake of
getting married, he starts praying. Vice versa, sister
doesn't wear hijab, the the sister knows that
the brother will only marry her if she
starts wearing hijab.
Right? So here your intentions are not pure,
you need to make them sincerely for the
sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that
is the only way that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala will accept this from you.
Number 2, you stop the sin immediately.
As soon as you realize and you know
that it is a sin, you have to
give it up.
And this is where people make a mistake,
the delusion of time.
I will give it up later on. I
always have later on in life to start
praying. I always have later up in life
to stop smoking, or whatever it may be.
Right?
But we know for a fact that none
of us are guaranteed time. We do not
even control the next second. So one has
to make the intention
to give it up immediately.
Number 3
is that you make the intention
to never return to it. You make the
intention
to never return to it. And this is
perhaps the trickiest one. Particularly, when we talk
about addictions, particularly, when we talk about dependency,
particularly when we talk about human weaknesses.
The reality is,
is that Allah
does not hold you accountable for the results,
He holds you accountable for the intention and
the effort. And that is what you have
to remember.
There are certain sins that people will continue
to do for the rest of their lives.
There are certain sins that people continue to
do for the rest of their lives.
Shaitan wants them to think,
don't make tawba because you're gonna keep returning
to the sin.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells you
that keep making tawba
even if you keep turning back to the
sin. That is the only way eventually you
will over commit.
So in your mind, every time you commit
to the sin,
you make the intention, inshallah, this is the
last time I'm doing it.
Even if you keep falling into it, you
have to make the intention to never return
to it. Number 4
is that you feel remorse and regret.
And this is spiritually,
in our times, the hardest one.
That we are constantly bombarded with so much
haram,
with what we are exposed to on social
media, with what we listen to on the
radio,
with what we see in society
around us,
your heart can only handle so much
that eventually, when you fall into the sin
yourself,
you no longer feel bad about it.
And you question yourself, why don't I feel
bad? And that's a very important question to
ask.
The reality is it's because we've we've become
desensitized.
So how do we counter this desensitization?
You have to heavily monitor
what you expose yourself to.
You are
responsible
for what you expose your eyes, ears, heart,
and mind to.
No one else
is responsible for that.
Right?
That indeed the hearing, the sight, and the
heart, all of that we will be questioned
about.
So you have to monitor what you're exposing
your eyes, ears, and heart to. And that
is the first step in protecting our hearts
and our minds, and keeping them sensitive to
the haram.
Number 2,
is asking Allah for
protection.
Right? You're constantly asking Allah
for pardon and for protection.
Number 3,
surround yourself
who will help you and protect you. Surround
yourself with those who will help you and
protect you.
Right? We understand that we are very social
beings.
The The people that we socialize are the
things people that we do activities with, that
we converse with, that we socialize with, that
we watch things with. If all of us
have that same mindset that we need to
protect our eyes, ears, and heart, the likelihood
of being exposed to haram is very, very
minimal.
Right? So that is
how you feel remorse and regret. That is
how you feel, remorse and regret.
Number 5,
before
the sun rises from the west or the
soul reaches the throat. Meaning, before death. Right?
And I think that's pretty obvious.
Now we move on to, what if you
have transgressions against other human beings? You stole
someone's money,
or
you spoke ill of someone and tarnished their
honor.
With regards to stealing someone's money, the answer
is pretty obvious.
You return their money to them, this is
a part of your tauba.
Now, how about with something that's not tangible?
Right? Someone's honor is not tangible. How do
you return someone's honor to them? And the
scholars have, you know, elongated
explanations on this to summarize of which
they say that you break this down into
2 scenarios.
Scenario number 1, they know about it. Scenario
number 2, they don't know about it.
Scenario number 1, if they know about it,
it is mandatory for you to go to
them and to apologize to them. It is
mandatory for you to go to them and
to apologize to
them. Scenario number 2, they don't know about
it. This further falls into 2 categories.
Number 1,
you know that they are very difficult to
deal with.
They get angry very easily. They sever ties
very easily.
In this sort of situation,
you do not go and apologize
to them.
And then you have a different path that
you follow.
Or the other reality is this person is
very easy going.
And you know that they love to forgive,
and they're they're easy to pardon and easy
to forgive.
Now it becomes obligatory
for you to go and seek forgiveness for
them, from them and,
apologize
to them. Okay? So now going back to
a path a over here, where you know
they get easily upset and they sever ties,
and the consequences
could be very severe and dire. What do
you do in that situation?
In that situation, there's 3 things.
Number 1,
in the audience that you spoke ill of
them, you speak good of them.
What if you can't find that audience? That's
fine.
Seek forgiveness for them with Allah
Oh, Allah forgive so and so for their
sins. Oh, Allah overlook their shortcomings and mistakes.
Oh, Allah replace their bad deeds with good
ones. Right?
Give sadaqah
on their behalf. Give sadaqa on their behalf.
So these are the measures you take to
even return people's honor. These are the measures
that you take even to return
people's
honor.
Right? So this, in summary, is what we're
referring to, tawba.
Tawba would and of itself is a good
deed. So when the prophet says, do a
good deed to wipe out the bad deed,
the best deed that you can do is
tawba.
Then number 2, Ibn Taymiyyah
he mentions to make istighfar
even without making tawba.
And subhanAllah, this is a very fascinating one.
You're not giving up the deed completely,
but you're still seeking forgiveness.
Ibn Taymiyyah
he
mentions this very specifically
that with the intention
of seeking forgiveness,
that eventually Allah guides you to making tawba.
Eventually, Allah
guides you to making tawba.
He mentions very interestingly over here, that when
tawba and istighfar
are mentioned in isolation of one another, they
mean the exact same thing.
Tawba and istighfar
mean the exact same thing. That with your
heart, you're making the act of repentance, and
with your tongue, you're seeking forgiveness from Allah
However, when they are brought together in the
same sentence, in the same paragraph, then they
have 2 distinct meanings.
Tawba is the act of the heart,
and then istighfar is the act of the
tongue, to seek forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Let's look at a couple of things.
Why is Ibn Taymiyyah
encouraging people to make istighfar?
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says,
That Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will not punish
the people as long as you are amongst
them, Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And Allah
will not punish them as long as they're
seeking forgiveness. So meaning during the time of
the prophet as long as the prophet is
alive, the punishment of Allah will not come
down upon the people.
But how do they secure their safety
after the death of the Prophet
It is to seek forgiveness.
Now, towards the end of the life of
the Prophet
after Surat Al Nasr came down in particular,
we see that the Prophet
is seeking forgiveness from Allah
70 to a 100 times plus a day.
Yet Allah
in multiple places has told us that all
of the sins of the Prophet
are forgiven.
So why is the Prophet
seeking forgiveness?
Who can tell me? Why is the prophet
making istighfar if all of his sins are
forgiven?
So the brother's answer is, should I not
be a grateful slave to Allah
Istighfar is to seek forgiveness.
To be a grateful slave, you say, alhamdulillah.
I mean,
why not be a grateful slave like Jesus?
But I'm saying there's a disconnect between istighfar
and be a great being a grateful slave.
There's, you know, to be a grateful slave
is to use the blessings of Allah to
get closer to Allah
There's many other ways to be grateful to
Allah
There's specific reasons as to why the prophet
is making istighfar.
Yeah.
From Surah Anno, I know what you're saying.
Jazakul okay. So those are from the benefits
of risk. What do we get out of,
making istighfar? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala opens up
their doors of risk with regards to having
children, with regards to having wealth, with regards
to rain coming down. But why is the
Prophet
making his tighfar even though all of his
sins have been forgiven?
Excellent. So that is one reason. So that
is that the people follow his example. The
prophet
knew that whatever he did, the people would
do as well. And he wants to lead
by
example.
What's reason number 2? Why is the prophet
making a stikfar?
To raise his level in jannah. Allah's Messenger,
There
is there is nothing left.
But good answer. Go ahead.
To make him human,
that's a very interesting answer. Expand further.
Allow me the flexibility to interpret your words
in the right way, inshallah. Okay?
So, ibn Khudamain al Ghazali
they go on to explain is that seeking
forgiveness from Allah
is not
restricted to committing sins only.
Right? The sinful people seek forgiveness from Allah
for the sins that they commit. The more
righteous a person gets, then they seek forgiveness
for falling into
You fall into
something that is disliked. So it's not haram,
but it's something that is disliked.
A level higher than this
is that you seek forgiveness from Allah
for missing out on the
That you seek forgiveness from Allah
that Allah has presented you an opportunity to
do a good deed, and you missed out
on it, so you seek forgiveness from Allah
for that. This is reason number 2, as
to why the prophet
is making a istighfar. And I'll give you
reason number 3 just for the sake of
time,
is that the prophet
is showing us
that Allah
loves this deed, so you should do it.
Right? Allah
loves those that purify themselves physically and spiritually,
and he loves those that repent.
So he's showing us how to become from
the beloved of Allah
That is why the prophet
is making istighfar.
So the second thing that Ibn Taymiyyah
mentions is making istighfar
without tawba
in hopes that as you make your istighfar,
Allah
guides you to tawba. And this is a
very important point over here.
We, as human
beings,
do not control
the act of tawba.
Tawba
is tawfiq from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not give tawba
to everyone.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala only gives tawba
to those whom he loves.
Right? This is why we see
regularly in the Quran,
That Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted them the
ability to perform tawba, and thus they performed
tawba. Right? So this is a gift from
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Ibn Taymiyyah is
saying that you may not be at that
level right now where you're able to perform
tawba, but hopefully through consistent istighfar, you become
beloved to Allah,
and then Allah
guides you
to tawba.
Then Ibn Taymiyyah
he talks about the kafarat,
those deeds which will expiate
deeds.
And he says, these are specific
and general.
As for the specific,
he talks about the individual
that has marital intimacy in the daytime of
Ramadan.
So an individual that has marital intimacy in
the daytime of Ramadan,
what are the good deeds they need to
do
in order to repent to Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala? Who knows?
Marital intimacy in the daytime of Ramadan,
what are the deeds you need to do
in order to be forgiven? Go ahead.
You've jumped to the ending. There's before it.
Excellent. Freeing a slave,
and then as the sister said, fasting consecutive
2 months. So number 1 is to free
a slave. If you're unable to free a
slave, then you have to fast 2 consecutive
months.
What if you're not able to fast 2
consecutive months? What do you do then? The
farmers who do it. You feed 60 people.
You feed 60 people with food that you
yourself would regularly
eat. So we see it's a very specific
deed that you need to do in order
to compensate.
And here we learn
that the specific
kafarat
are for major sins in Islam.
Specific kafarat
are for major sins in Islam.
So with regards to major sins, there has
to be a specific tawba.
And if there's a specific deed that is
mentioned,
it has to be done. It has to
be done.
Who can think of other deeds that have
specific kafar? Actually, I'm sorry. Let me retract
that. We have a shortage of time. Another
action is lihab in Surat Al Mujadala. Right?
When a man says that you are like
my mother for me, and he refuses to
have intimacy with his
wife. Another action
is in the days of Hajj. If you
do some of the muhduraat,
then there are specific deeds that you need
to do. So if you go hunting in
in Hajj or you kill an animal, then
you have to give charity of a similar
animal like it. Right? So these are examples
of specific
kafarat.
And what we learned over here is about
the major sins. So as I mentioned, specific
tawba for major sins, and those that have
deeds, you have to do the good deeds
with them, Which brings us to the minor
sins.
Minor sins
are forgiven
through the good deeds that you do.
This is when the prophet
mentions,
one prayer to the next,
one
Friday to the next,
one umrah to the next,
one hajj to the next,
all of it is forgiveness
of sins.
Right? So a person that has minor sins,
it's good that they make tawba for it,
but even if they don't, the good deeds
that they do will wipe out their sins.
So when you're performing wudu, the droplets of
water that are falling off, they're forgiving your
minor sins. When you're in ruku',
your sins are falling off of you just
like leaves fall off of a tree.
Right? When you walk to the masjid, with
each step that you take, there is a
sin that is being forgiven.
These are all in reference
to the minor sins. These are all in
reference to the minor sins. So specific kafarat
is in relation to the major sins that
have specific deeds. The general kafarat are the
general good deeds that we do, are the
general good deeds that we do. Let's pause
over here.
Who can think of
major
good deeds
that can be done
to wipe out major
sins?
Both of these narration, one, we have a
hadith for 1, and then we have a
statement of Ibn Abbas for the other. So
I want you to think of what is
the greatest good deed that you can do
that would wipe out a major sin that
you have committed? And then you can sponsor
or at least claim it. Sorry?
Go ahead.
Allahoquard. Miss I'm so sorry. I didn't see
you. Yeah. But it's okay. The question was
You wanna answer a previous question?
Some people So which question are you answering?
Tell me that.
Just close to this one. It's close to
this one but I don't know which one
it is. It's coming. It's coming. So it
hasn't come yet.
So you're asking me a question. You're not
answering a question.
Okay. So questions, we'll do nothing to do
at the end. Right now, I'm asking you
questions that I need answers to insha'Allah. But
I will answer your question, bayan alayhi wa
ta'ala, later on. Okay? So who can think
of specific good deeds that we can do?
Oh, sorry. General good deeds that we can
do that will wipe out major sins?
Dhikr? Good guess, but no.
Good guess, but no.
The sister behind you. Same thing?
So sadaqah? Good guess, but no. Hajj. Hajj.
Who said Hajj?
Okay.
What about Hajj?
There's a specific action in Hajj that the
Prophet tells us.
Romeo jamarat. The Prophet
says, With each stone that you throw, a
major sin is being forgiven. With each stone
that you throw, a major sin is being
forgiven.
Number 2, a man came to Abdullah ibn
Abbas
saying that he had killed someone. Abdullah ibn
Abbas said,
I know of no deed better
than being good to one's mother that will
wipe out this sin. I know of no
good deed better than serving one's mother that
will wipe out this sin. So the scholars
generally mentioned if a person has had
numerous major sins that they've committed,
they should strive to perform hajj and intentionality
at the jamarat. Think about the sins that
they've committed. Number 2, is if they're not
able to, or if they have the ability
to perform hajj and do this, to take
care of your mother to the best of
your ability. To take care of your mother
to the best of your ability.
Ibn Taymiyyah now
goes on a very quick tangent.
Before he gets to point number 4, who
can remind me what was point number 4
according to
as to what will forgive your sins?
Being patient on the trials and tribulations that
Allah
test you with. So before he gets to
that, he goes on a quick tangent.
He says that there is a disease that
the Muslim Ummah has been plagued with, and
that is to follow the footsteps
of the nations before you, particularly the Christian
nation and the Jewish nation.
The Christian nation had no concern for revelation,
had no concern for objective truths and reality.
And Allah
called them
those that went astray.
The Jewish nation, some of them,
they knew what the truth was,
but they chose not to follow it, or
they found ways to circumvent it.
And he says that the Muslim, umma,
will fall into the exact same thing. So
you have to be very conscious
that you do not fall into this. And
this goes back to reminding the people with
regards to epistemology,
you have to care about your sources of
knowledge. You have to care about your sources
of information.
It's not about I feel, it's not about
I think, it's about what did Allah and
His Messenger
say.
Once you know that, then you know that
you have to follow it. There's no option
there, thereafter. You have to follow what Allah
and His Messenger
said and did. So now he gets to
that 4th point, which is patience in the
face of misfortune.
And this is where he brings the hadith
of the prophet
that there is no sadness,
there is no pain,
there is no misery,
there is not even the pricking of a
thorn
that pricks the believer,
except that Allah
forgives some of their sins. Except that Allah
forgives some of their sins. So the greater
the trial, the greater the calamity from Allah
the greater the forgiveness
from Allah
And I think this is, an important point
of reflection
that when you study the books of tazkiyah,
they usually mention about
10 things that will forgive your sins.
Ibn Taymihyah
highlights 4 of them.
What are the other remaining 6 that the
scholars of Tasqiya mentioned?
It's in reality to understanding the life of
this world.
Meaning,
let's reverse engineer.
Daras salaab, jannah is
an abode only for the pure.
Only the pure will enter into Jannah.
And that is why the hadith that specifically
mentions, the last person that is entered into
Jannah,
what is the last action that he goes
through?
He's dipped, and he's cleansed, and he's purified,
and then he's entered into
Jannah.
So the scholars mentioned over here that you
have to be purified in this life.
And it will either happen through the good
deeds that you do and the repentances
that you do,
or it will happen through the hardships and
calamities
that you face in this life,
or
the pangs and the sufferings that you go
through at the time of death,
or the questioning in the grave, the squeezing
of the grave, and the punishment
of the grave,
or the trials and tribulations
of the hissab itself, meaning the actual reckoning,
or the trials of the day of judgment
itself, like crossing over the sirat.
These are all means of purification.
So
what we need to understand over here,
you can voluntarily
purify yourself
through the good deeds that you do,
or Allah
will force
purification
upon you. Or Allah
will force purification
upon you.
And this is such an important point to
understand.
You have a conscious decision to make,
either I can purify myself
through repentance and
through good deeds,
or Allah
forces purification
upon me through trials and tribulations,
through the grave, through the events of the
hereafter.
And the last step, and may Allah
protect us from that ameen,
is that you actually go to the hellfire
to be purified.
And that is why certain believers
throughout all of this, they would not have
been purified,
but they have to go to the hellfire
in order to be purified.
And these are people that had tawheed,
but also had committed major sins that they
did not repent from. They had tawheed, but
they also had major sins that they did
not repent from.
Now, let's get to the question that Abu
Bakr
asked. The people of Jannah are talking to
the people of the hellfire.
How did you end up in this situation?
Why are you in the hellfire? Subhanallah, you
seem like a good person when I knew
you in the dunya.
We were not from the people that used
to pray.
So one of the biggest
reasons
why people, believers,
will end up in the * fire is
that they were not consistent
with their prayers.
So now, with regards to making up prayers,
you have 2 main schools of thought.
You have the latter day hana billah, and
then you have the jumbur. And I'll present
both to you.
The jumbur
scholars said
that after the age of puberty,
whatever prayers you've missed,
you have to make them up. You can't
remember approximately how much they were? You approximate.
And how do you do that? So for
every fajr salah you pray, you pray another
fajr with it to make it up. For
every duhr you pray, you make another duhr
to make it up. For every asr you
pray, you make another asr to make it
up. This is if there are large quantities
in number.
If there are just a handful and you
have a good idea of what they were,
then you can pray all of your prayers
at the same time that you've missed, and
be it in lahi ta'ala, that is your
tawba for missing prayers.
That is the approach of the jumhur, the
majority of scholars.
The minority of scholars from the latter day
Hanabilah,
ibn Taymiyyah, Sheikh Abner Saymeen,
Rahim Mohammalah,
and other scholars,
they said
and this is what like, it's important to
understand this distinction.
And a per a person
who intentionally leaves off the prayer has left
a fold of Islam.
Has left a fold of Islam.
So when they make tawbah to Allah, they
re embrace Islam,
and all of their sins are wiped out,
and all of their sins are wiped out.
So what they are obliged with is be
consistent with your prayers moving forward,
and try to pray as many sunnah and
nawafil as you can. And try to pray
as many sunnah and nawafil
as you
can.
Now, what does a person do in this
situation?
I think a person needs to have a
sincere
conversation with themselves.
Where if a person believed that they were
still Muslim,
yet they were lackadaisical
with their prayers, they should follow the approach
of the majority.
That is the safer approach and the better
approach.
However, if a person feels that you know
what, subhanAllah, I had left Islam. I didn't
care about what Allah said, and what the
prophet said, and I didn't care about the
other aspects of Islam,
and I had stopped praying. Then for this
person, they make tawba, they seek forgiveness from
Allah
and they become consistent with their prayers moving
forward. They become consistent with their prayers moving
forward.
Does that answer your question Abu Bakr? Good.
Yeah. Yeah? Okay. Alhamdulillah.
Taweed.
So now, let's move on to the last
part of the advice
of,
of the prophet to Madam in Jabal.
He says, when Allah
says,
That you, O Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
are of the highest
standard of character.
This is referring to the whole entire deen.
And he uses the hadith of Aisha
that when the when Aisha
described the Prophet
she says,
That his character was the Quran, meaning he
embodied it in its entirety, and he lived
it in its entirety. And this is what,
actually means.
So in order for us to understand
what good character actually means,
it is to live the whole entire deen.
And this goes back to the first part
of the hadith, to live a life of
taqwa, to live a life of taqwa.
But now he goes on
to something very very specific,
and that is the virtues
of having good akhlaq. The virtues of having
good akhlaq.
So the prophet says,
the most complete of the believers in iman
is he who has the best of character.
And from the best of character is having
ikhlas with Allah
From the best of character is having,
ikhlas with Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Prophet
says,
shall I teach you
that which if you do,
you will reach the station
of the one that fast during the day
and prays during the night,
strive to perfect your akhlaq.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says in
a separate hadith,
the individual
that gives up argumentation
even when they are right, will have a
house in the lowest level of paradise.
The individual that gives up lying
even,
that gives up lying even if they are
joking, will have a house in the middle
levels of paradise.
The individual that strives to perfect their akhlaq
will have a house in the highest levels
of paradise. Will have a house in the
highest levels
of paradise.
And I wanna share something
specific
with you.
Okay? So that is striving for good character
in its generality.
But what does good character actually look like?
Ibn Taymah
goes on to say, It is from the
good nature of a worshiper that when a
person cuts off relations with him, he continues
to associate
him by greeting him,
respecting him, praying for him, asking Allah to
forgive him,
speaking well of him, visiting him. If someone
deprives the worshiper of knowledge and wealth,
he responds by presenting them to him, meaning
knowledge and wealth.
He does
He who does injustice to the worshiper with
regards to his blood, wealth, or honor, he
forgives him.
These are some of the characteristics
that constitute good nature.
Among them are some that are obligatory
and others that are recommended, and others that
are recommended.
So Ibn Taymiyyah, he
highlights a very important point over here, which
is our understanding of good character
is, oh, let me be kind, let me
be generous.
But that is not the essence of good
character.
The essence of good character is when people
disrespect you and they treat you badly,
you treat them with kindness and mercy. I'm
not talking about abuse here. I'm not talking
about someone, you know,
taking advantage of you. That's not what I'm
talking about. Right?
The believer does not fall in the same
hole twice.
What I'm speaking about is regular interaction.
Right? A one off interaction.
Someone doesn't give you the respect you deserve,
someone doesn't initiate salam to you,
someone younger than you, you know, looks with
you, looks at you in a in an
angry and mean way.
Ibn Taymi says
that your true good character comes out when
you're treated by people like this.
That is when you see what your akhlaq
is like.
When people don't respect you, you still respect
them. When people don't share their knowledge and
wealth with you, you share your knowledge and
wealth with them. Remember going back to generosity?
Ibn Taniyah did
a remarkable job highlighting this.
Generosity,
nobility
is with everyone,
but particularly
those that cut you off. Particularly those that
cut you off. And this is what the
prophet
strive for. That time and time again, people
are abusing him, yet the prophet
seeks forgiveness for them and overlooks them. And
when they ask for, you know, the,
the spoils of war, he gives it to
them. He doesn't withhold from them. And this
is what the prophet
was. So I think, if you remember something
about good character,
remember this.
Good character is not with people that treat
you well.
Good character is with people that do not
respect you and do try to cut off
ties with you. That is who you strive
to have good character
with.
Which now brings us to the second question,
which is what is the best deed after
the obligatory
deeds?
And he says that the scholars differed
to 3 opinions. The scholars differed to 3
opinions.
Opinion number 1,
the dhikr of Allah
Opinion number 2,
seeking knowledge.
Opinion number 3,
Going on an expedition
with the Muslim ruler for the sake of
Allah
He said, These are the opinions of the
scholars with regards to what is the best
deed.
But then he goes on to say, What
is the evidence for these things? Where did
people come up with these? So then he
goes through multiple narrations
where people came up to the Prophet
and he said, You Rasulullah,
which are the most beloved deeds to Allah?
In one narration, the Prophet
says,
Right? Prayer on this appropriate time, or prayer
at its earliest time.
In another hadith, the sister mentioned that the
most beloved of deeds to Allah
are the most consistent of them even if
they are few. Another hadith he mentions,
righteousness to Allah
Another hadith he mentions,
That is the most beloved deeds to Allah
So all of these answers are given,
and Ibn Taylih
says that what we learned from this
is that you have
context
specific
and then general.
As for context
specific,
then if then the prophet saw within people
what he knew was best for them and
he advised them with it.
Now that the prophet does not know your
specific situation,
we have to come up with general guidelines.
We have to come up with general
guidelines.
What are those general guidelines?
Those general guidelines are
starting off
with that
which will keep you engaged with Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala the most.
And he uses the term dhikr over here,
but when we think of dhikr, we think
of subhanAllah, alhamdulillah, Allahu Akbarla, illahi lalah, walaahu
lalahu lahu lahu kwata illa billah. But Ibn
Taymiyyah
he says that dhikr
is with the mind, it is with the
heart, and it is with the tongue.
Where your thoughts are route, what is most
pleasing to Allah
Where your heart is longing for the love
of Allah, fearful of Allah's punishment, hoping for
the reward of Allah
And then your tongue is engaged in the
remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he
breaks this down into general and specific.
He says the best specific
dhikr is the recitation of the Quran.
There is no
thing better than the recitation of the Quran.
And then the general dhikr that we have
been prescribed with, and the general dhikr that
we have been prescribed with. And he breaks
this down scenario by scenario.
So he says there are adqa that we've
been taught to do with certain deeds.
So you wake up,
what dhikr do you make? What do you
say when you wake up from your sleep?
Asant. Right? You praise Allah
How about what is the dhikr for entering
the masjid? What do we say when we
enter the masjid?
Excellent.
We say, bismillah wsalatwassalamu
alaarsulillah, Allah mftahli ababarrahmatik.
Right? So you have athkar that are mentioned
for specific deeds.
So that is the best dhikr that you
can do at that
time.
Right? So specific
action,
specific dhikr.
Then we have
specific time,
specific
dhikr.
So when the adhan is being given,
what is the best thing that you can
do? Should a person recite Quran at that
time?
No. Should a person be saying subhanallah, alhamdulillah,
Allahu Akbar at that time? No. The best
dhikr that you can do is to repeat
after the Mu'adin.
Right? After salatul fajr, you've done your athkar
pertaining to the salah,
then you do athkarasabah,
pertaining to the time of the morning.
After salatul Asr,
after you've done your athkar of the salah,
you do athkaral masaad, the athkar of the
evening. So those that are in relation to
the time.
Then after that, you busy yourself with the
regular dhikr of Allah
And he says the statements are 5. Subhanallah,
Alhamdulillah,
Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah, and Laahu lahu
lahu lahu wata illa billah. And he says,
you busy yourself
with these adkar. Now, quiz time. Out of
these 5, which is the best of them?
So out of the 5, subhan'Allah,
Alhamdulillah,
Allahu Akbar, La ilaha illallah, and La Hawla
walaqwata illallah. Which is the best of them?
Our brother-in-law.
Why? There's a hadith mentioning it. There's a
hadith mentioning it. Allahu Akbar. You can't go
wrong with that. You can't go wrong with
that. There's a hadith that mentions it. There
is a hadith that mentions it. The prophet
says that the best thing that I and
the previous messengers have been taught is to
say, la ilaha illallah, wahdahu la shirikala,
the whole mulkwahulhamd,
wahu a laqulishain
kadir. And this is where an important lesson
needs to be taught,
that the term when we say tasbih,
not only does it include
but it includes
subhanAllah,
All of this is included in the tasbih.
Then you have the tahmid, all the versions
of Alhamdulillah.
Allahu Akbar, all the versions of Allahu Akbar.
La ilaha illallah tahleel, all the versions of
La ilaha illallah.
And all the versions of all the versions
of that. So understand that all of that
is included.
So the conclusion that Imatayni
mentions
with regards to the best deed after the
obligatory
ones,
r is the act of dhikr, but embodiment,
mind,
heart,
and tongue. Right?
What is the most beloved thing that I
can do right now for Allah
The heart loving, fearing, and hoping for Allah
and the tongue being engaged
either with a specific dhikr related to time
or a specific dhikr related to action.
Okay. So that is the best deed that
the slave can do. We're almost done because
the last two questions, Ibn Taymiyyah
You can almost sense he's getting fatigued. Right?
He's like, okay man, let me get, you
know, finish this letter.
Now, what is the best profession that a
person can get into?
Ibn Taymiyyah
he says, there is no profession
that you can get through which Allah
will hasten your risk or increase your risk.
But the best quality that you can develop
is to have tawakkul in Allah
That whoever lies, upon Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala,
Allah will suffice for them.
Now, understand that this is not tawakkul
in isolation.
This is tawakkul
with
taqwa. Right?
That whoever has taqwa of Allah, Allah will
make a way out for them.
And will provide for them from ways that
you do not expect.
So the taqwa
is to take your physical asbaab,
the tawakkul
is to leave it now in the hands
of Allah
And that is why the prophet
says, that if you were to have
tawakkul in Allah, a tawakkul that he is
truly deserving of, he would provide for you
just like he provides for the bird that
leaves its nest
hungry in the morning,
and comes back at night with its stomach
full. So you have to take the physical
means, that is the taqwah of Allah
After you tried your utmost best, then you
rely upon Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The prophet says that the best risk that
any man can earn is that which is
with their two hands. And that which he
gives his family is a sadaqa, that which
he gives his slave is a sadaqa.
Right?
Which brings us to the last question,
what is the best book that I can
study? What is the best book or series
of books that I can study? And Saman,
it's a very fascinating answer.
Ibn Taymiyyah
he says, that our times have drastically changed,
and your access to knowledge will depend
to where you are in the world.
So see what is easily accessible to you,
and seek your knowledge wherever you are. Find
the experts of the land there.
However, if I was to recommend one book
to you,
I would recommend this book to you.
Which book is it?
It's not the Quran. It's not the Quran.
Right? The Quran is the book of Allah
This is a book by human being.
Riadas saliheen,
good guess, but not yet. Okay. Go ahead.
Sahil Bukhari. I sent it. It was Sahil
Bukhari.
He said, I would recommend
that you read Sahil Bukhari,
and this will not suffice your journey of
knowledge. He says these exact words, it will
not suffice your journey of knowledge, but it
will good you give you a good exposure
to the vast majority of Mas'id. It will
give you a good exposure to the vast
majority of Mas'id.
Let me contextualize this
for my day for our day and age.
And if a student of knowledge wants a
starting point, what should they start with?
I would recommend
2 books.
Number 1,
the explanation of Imam An Nawis for the
hadith by Jamal Zerboso.
It's a 3 volumes on the 2 The
new version has 2 volumes. It's just been
condensed.
As a student of knowledge, you should have
that. Number 2, there is a series of
aqeedah books by Sheikh Omar al Asqar called
the aqeedah series. Belief in Allah, belief in
the angels, belief in the day of judgment.
I think it is imperative for people to
have these two books,
as a student
of knowledge. That is where you should start
off with. You want to go even further?
Then get Riad al Salihin as well with
his commentary. The darasalam version in English, it
has brief commentary after every hadith, go with
that.
And that is where ibn Taymiyyah,
rahimahullah,
concludes.
So I'll We'll actually,
read the conclusion that ibn Taymiyyah has.
He says,
so we ask Allah Almighty that he sustains
us with guidance and firmness,
instills in our hearts our corrected,
direction,
protects us from the mischief of our own
selves,
that he does not allow our hearts to
deviate after giving us guidance,
and that he bestows on us mercy from
him. He is the most generous.
All praise be to Allah, Lord of the
worlds, and his blessings
be on the most noble of messengers.
And this is from,
you know, the etiquettes of concluding. And so
on, this is a big reminder for myself.
From the etiquettes of concluding is that you
always conclude with a du'a. They can be
a general du'a that you make in relation
to the event,
or the specific kafaratul majlis that the Prophet
used to make. And this is the dua
that he concludes with, asking Allah
for guidance and istikamah.
And asking Allah
for direction,
that our hearts do not deviate
even from the mischief of our own selves.
And that Allah
bestows upon us His mercy.
So now, one important thing that I forgot,
and I should have done this at the
beginning,
is that from the etiquette of the student
of knowledge,
is that when you start reading the text
of a scholar or a sheikh,
you begin by making dua for the author.
So you start off by saying, qalal mu'alifu
rahiman Allahu aya. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
or the author I said, may Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala have mercy upon him and us.
So I forgot to mention that at the
beginning, but that is a proper etiquette for
reading a book that you start off by
making du'a for the author. That may Allah
have mercy upon the author and upon us,
and then you begin reading. Number 2, when
you conclude a gathering, you conclude with a
general du'a in relation to what was discussed,
and then the specific dua of Kaffaratul Majjis.
And number 3, Ibn Taymiyyah He reminds us
that no good deeds are possible
except by the will of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. And you praise
for that. Alhamdulillah. Bifadlihi waniamihi tatimu
as salihat.
So on in general, I take about 6
hours to to cover this text in its
entirety.
I wanted to give you an introduction. I
wanted to give you an introduction to the
text. What I'm hoping for
is that you will go home, download this,
and in your own time, study this bi
idhnillahi ta'ala. Study this bi idhnillahi ta'ala. Expand
your horizons. See how Ibn Taymiyyah interacted
with his students. See what questions this person
asked. See the responses that Ibn Taymiyyah gave.
Look at how generous Ibn Taymiyyah was his
with his time and with his knowledge, and
try to find those subtleties
and embody them to the best of your
ability. InshaAllah,
the class that I did in 6 hours,
one of them was recorded
in Sacramento and I'm hoping within a couple
of weeks, it'll be uploaded online for you
to follow along as well. Baytin Allahu Ta'ala.
But I hope that suffices as an introduction.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala knows best.
And
I will take your questions. We have about
12 minutes till,
isha time,
Subhan'Allah.
With regards to salah, so if somebody takes
the second opinion where where those who miss
salah on purpose, then they leave the call
to Islam Yeah. And they make Tawba. Yes.
Does that mean they actually pass this to
me? What is this?
We'll we'll stop for
when we stop with the halakah, we'll make
the adhan and they come right after
I appreciate the enthusiasm,
though. So so sorry. It's okay. So if
that person misses the intentionally,
they're out of the way of,
thinking.
Cover from that specific salah that
I'm gonna write you down? And the second
part of that is when it comes to
the,
are you throwing a stone for a specific
category of sin or,
a specific sin in and of itself?
So if you do credit card rira, if
you added that one time, but you're trying
to think of the sin, or can you
say rira in general? Because there's too many.
Excellent.
So as a general etiquette,
as a student of knowledge, when people are
are asking questions or the teacher is speaking,
we try our utmost best to remain silent.
If it's something that needs to be discussed,
we can go outside or to a separate
room,
So let's learn together, inshallah, as students of
knowledge. So the brother's question is with regards
to 2 things. Number 1, with regards to
the salah. He says if someone takes the
second opinion that they leave the fold of
Islam,
do they only have 2 chances as per
what the ayah mentions?
So I think with regards to this question,
there's something important to understand.
We, our our own selves never make it's
tihat. We always leave up to leave it
up to the scholars to make ijtihad. So
a person has a specific question, go to
your local Mufti, ask your question,
explain the whole scenario in this in totality,
and ask them what I should do. Ask
them what I should do.
That is how you handle the situation. With
regards to the ayah itself,
Allah
is reminding us that you cannot abuse Allah
That if you make a sin, and you
feign tawba, make the sin again, and you
feign tawba, then by the 3rd time, Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is not even gonna give
you the opportunity to faint tawba, He'll let
you die upon your sin. That's what's going
to happen. So when tawba is made, it
has to be sincere. It has to be
sincere. The brother's second question is with regards
to jamarat. We mentioned that the prophet said
that when you throw the jamarat,
your major sins are forgiven. The brother is
asking, do we make a general intention for
all of my sins dealing with raba, all
of my sins dealing with alcohol, all of
my sins dealing with that? Or do we
think of specific sins?
And Allah
knows best, but it is the specific sins
that are thought about. And with each jama'ah,
a specific sin is forgiven. So if a
person has done a lot, then we go
to righteousness to one's parents along with performing
multiple Hajjis.
And Allah
is the most forgiving, and Allah knows best.
Who grew up under? USSR. The USSR. The
Soviet Union. Yes. Yeah. He never played, but
then when he came to a, I'm afraid
So as I've mentioned in response to
this, every person should have a mufti that
they go to, that they have an interaction
with. Go and ask a question to that
specific mufti.
Just explain your situation and scenario, and the
mufti will give you a specific answer. So
for that brother, that is what I would
advise him to do. And Allah, Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, knows best. Go ahead.
This book.
So as I mentioned, take a picture of
the book. You literally go into Google, type
the concise legacy, even send me a PDF,
and you'll get multiple versions. This is the
version that I encourage.
And if you read Arabic, just look,
and there's multiple
online in the Arabic language for this book
as well.
Any other questions from the sisters? Yeah. Go
ahead.
Sorry. Can you repeat the last part? Does
that also include?
Delayed prayers.
The people who delayed their prayers. No. So
if you delayed a prayer
within its, allotted time,
you don't make up that prayer. Here, the
prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam says, pray your
sunnah and pray your nawafil,
and those sunnah and nawafil will fill in
the deficiencies
of your heart prayer. However, if you delayed
a prayer past its allotted time, then you
do have to make up that prayer.
Seek forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and
then also increase in your sunnah and nawafir
to help fill in the deficiencies.
Any more questions for the brothers?
With respect to,
when
the talks
about
respect
and the character.
If you have a family member that's mortared,
that's no longer Muslim, how are you supposed
to extend that,
sort of respect to that person that is,
belligerent with the way they believe and doesn't
believe in Islam anymore? Are you supposed to
keep your distance, or are you supposed to
still extend
that line of communication?
Excellent. So the brother's question is with regards
to a family member that has left Islam
and is belligerent in their interaction
with you.
So at the end of the day, Allah
wants us to facilitate Tawba for as many
people as possible. So in this sort of
situation,
as long as it's not psychologically and physically
affecting you, then you should keep ties with
this person. Try to encourage them to repent.
Show them your good character. Show them the
virtue of Islam.
Show them, you know, how it,
enhances
social discourse,
and that is what one should do along
with making du'a for them. However, if one
is physically impacted or psychologically and emotionally impacted,
then they are excused from keeping, their distance.
But they should still make du'a that Allah
guides them and allows them to repent, before
they pass away. And Allah
knows best.
Any last questions from the sisters?
Thayib. Let's conclude with that. Jazakam Makran for
being a wonderful audience. May Allah
accept our good deeds, forgive our sins and
shortcomings.
Allow us
to implement the good that we learned in
today's class, grant us the tufiq to become
students of knowledge and to continue learning till
the day that we meet Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala and that we don't die except that
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is pleased with us.