Navaid Aziz – Fiqh of Social Media #03 – Publicizing your Sins
AI: Summary ©
The importance of social media and the use of music in promoting a culture of consensus and engagement is emphasized. It is crucial for success and everyone to act for their own benefit and not try to be seen. The pandemic and the need for people to stay safe and inform themselves as they go around the world is emphasized. It is crucial for everyone to stay safe and inform themselves as they go around the world.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim Al hamdu lillahi Narmada who wants to know who wants to clear off when I also will let him ensure all the unforeseen are women so yeah Dr. Medina, Maria de la hola medulla Who am I a little further hottie Allah wa shadow Wanda ilaha illallah who wash the whole la sharika was shadow Anna Mohammed Abu Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa the early he was so happy he was sitting them at the Sleeman Kathira oh my god, my dear brothers and sisters. Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.
Welcome to class number three of the field of social media. Now, where are my people at that joined me in the challenge last week. So the challenge last week was you had to turn your screen time on and see how you did. And I told them that there's no embarrassment or being shy in this matter. And that I would start off with myself. Okay. So my screen time was absolutely horrible. And honest to God 11, I was just I'm very sharing this with you. Only just because I said that I would. That's the only reason I'm sharing it. It was eight hours, eight hours was my screen time. But now let me try to defend myself in some way. Somehow. A lot of this was YouTube, a lot of this was YouTube. And
what I realized is that YouTube's keeps your screen on unless you have like a subscription. When you're driving or if you're listening to something while you're working. Your screen is always on and that counts is screen time. So like the average lecture is like 40 minutes to an hour long. So that's where a lot of the time was coming. So like three hours a day of YouTube. I'm like what's happening over here, but then I realized that it keeps your screen on. So hopefully you guys won't judge me too badly inshallah. Allah who's next. Who's next? Bismillah Go ahead.
Eight hours and a half. Okay. Go ahead. Seven hours 10 hours. Allahu Akbar.
That's impressive, bro. That's impressive. Mashallah. Go ahead.
Six hours 47 minutes, going 12 hours Allahu Akbar. You're memorizing some serious Quran, masha Allah. Allahu Akbar. Yeah.
The the one that he shows you like to choose your daily average rate.
An hour and 24 Allahu Akbar. MashAllah Tabata kala Montez
three hours and three minutes mashallah from the sisters what do we have?
Michelle, I wouldn't expect more from you. I wouldn't expect more for you that's very good Mashallah. Go ahead.
Three hours or ebooks philosophy, you have a justification as well inshallah. Go ahead.
Three hours that's really impressive. Mashallah, go ahead. Nine hours Allah Hawkman another person reciting a lot of Quran Masha Allah to Allah Kula. So I hope this is a good exercise. Oh, you have it on as well.
10 hours? No, have you too young to be doing 10 hours? Seriously, we will talk after We'll talk after inshallah.
You had a science project Hamdulillah. I love that. I love that. Okay, so I hope that was a good exercise, we have to be able to confront our own demons, we have to be able to confront our own demons in order to make progress. So you want to see where your time is being lost. And particularly if it's on social media, then we got to fix that, right. Like, as we mentioned, last week, the average person will spend two hours, try not to be above average, in this matter, you know, we often tell people to excel and be above average, be extraordinary, not in this matter. Try to be under the two hours try to be under the two hours in the night. Tada. So now, let's move on to today's topic,
which we'll be talking about publicizing since publicizing since what's been really fascinating on social media this week, is people have been sharing what they've been listening to, and how long they've been listening to their Spotify accounts. I don't know, I'm not sure if other
like brands do this. But I know Spotify is really big on this. And a lot of people were sharing this. So one of the individuals that I was following, it showed you know what they were listening to. But the shocking part was, they shared how many minutes of music they listened to. I did some math after dividing it by 24. So dividing it by 16, and dividing it by 24. It came out to 54 days of music that this person had listened to. And I was like SubhanAllah. So I think this ties in perfectly that when we talk about, you know spreading sins, and sharing sins. A lot of times people don't think about how much society actually promotes this, right, like Spotify and other platforms
will actually facilitate for you to share what you're listening to and how much you're listening to it. Now, Spotify actually had good causes, in the sense that there are a lot of podcasts that you can listen to. And if you're listening to podcasts, great if you're listening to podcasts, great. But if you're listening to music, then this is something that drastically needs to change. And I want to quickly speak about music over here.
She had come out and monkey actually has a very good lecture called the end of music. And when she goes into detail talking about Islamic ruling on music, what I want to do is counter the argument of those people that say that music is halal counter the argument of those people that say music is halal. Now, where I'm coming from over here is firstly, we have to define what type of music we're talking about. So contemporary music that has a lot of profanity in it that's, you know, promoting a very haram culture that we all need to agree upon, is haram by consensus. No one will tell you that sort of music has had
in the past, you had two scholars that are often quoted that have allowed music. You have been hasm, and Imams show, Kenny, Rahimullah, great scholars of Islam, they have done tremendous work, and they are the ones that are often quoted in music being Khaled. But when they speak about music, being Khaled, two things needs to be understood. Two things need to be understood. Number one, they were speaking about things like classical music, so it's just playing instruments, and nothing else. Number two, we as Muslims, were not so much concerned about who held the opinion, but were more concerned with what was the evidence for their opinion. So you will find a hadith in Sahih al
Bukhari where the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says that towards the end of times, there will be a group of people that will consider my eyes if as being Khaled massif is a synonym of music without going into too much detail. You can listen to what a commandment he has to say about it. So it has him on the show Kenya Rahim Allah, they both weakened this hadith, even though it is inside Sohail Buhari, even though it is insights to help Buhari so their intention was not to promote evil of the industry that exists today. But their way of approaching it was that things are within of themselves halal. And there's no evidence to indicate explicitly that it is haram. So it remains
upon his default ruling it being halal, but it wasn't about the music that we have today. So to justify what people listened to today, through the likes of Mr. Michel Kenny, through the likes of Amazon, Rahimullah is not justified. So that's just a brief snippet I wanted to share with you and inshallah you can listen to check them out the monkeys lecture, the end of music, to refer back to that. Now let's get back to our issue at hand.
And even handsome, even handsome, so shall Kenya Rahimullah more recent from Yemen and even Hassan from Andalus. More back in time. So let's start off with a verse from the Quran. In surah, two Nord verse number 19. It can be translated as indeed those who like that immorality should be spread among the believers will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter, Allah knows and you do not know. So the word that Allah subhanaw taala use for immorality over here is fascia, which is lewdness and immorality. So here, Allah subhanaw taala says that those people that love to spread this immorality, they will have a punishment in this life and the hereafter, and Allah knows and you
do not know. And this last part, that's the scary part. When Allah subhanaw taala says, And Allah knows, and you do not know, he's talking about the severity of the punishment, and how this punishment will impact you. We all have different tolerances for pain, we all have different tolerances for punishment. But here Allah subhanaw taala is posing a threat, that you do not know how this punishment will impact you that it's going to be so severe that it's going to be in this life and the hereafter, and be prepared because you don't know how severe it is. Be prepared, you don't know how severe it is. So here there is a severe warning from the Quran that do not spread
your sins, nor spread the sins of others. Why is this prohibition there? Let's look at two angles right now from the beginning. Angle number one is that as we've been discussing throughout the series, as believers, when we see a sin, and we're in a position of authority, we change it with our hands. If we're not in a position of authority, but we have ability, we speak out against it. If we don't have ability, then we hate it in our hearts, meaning that when sin is done, that is, you know, the three tiered approach we want to take towards it. So if you are sharing a sin, you're going against this tiered approach. Then number two, is the ramification of the sin, the ramification of
the sin also breaks down into two. Number one, we'll discuss this hadith in detail as it's coming up, or actually let's just take it right now. That the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, every one of my nation will be forgiven, who on my team or alpha, except for those that sin in public. Among them is a man who commits an evil deed in the night that Allah has hidden
For him, then in the morning, he says, oh people I have committed the sin. His Lord had hidden it during the night, when in the morning he reveals what Allah has hidden. So this shows us that Allah subhanaw taala is merciful nature with us is that when we commit a sin, the default is that Allah subhanaw taala has covered it for us, and no one knows about it. And then the day 10 comes in you shared with the people when Allah has covered it. This is as if you're rejecting the Mercy of Allah and rejecting this gift from Allah subhana wa Tada. So that's one component to this. The second component to this is that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam tells us that whoever initiates a
good deed in Islam will get the reward of the one that does it. And whoever initiates a sin in Islam, and a bad deed in Islam, will get the evil deed of the one that does it as well. And often times, all that people need is that sense of encouragement. So people see one person doing it, and they feel it gives them license, you know, what, not only should I can I commit the sin as well, but I'm going to publicize it as well. And this goes back to the span of sharing your Spotify playlist and how long you listen to to it for what is the sense of behind that? Can someone explain that? Like, why would you publicly disclose how much time you've wasted listening to this stuff? Right, is
purely about following trends and being socially validated, and getting those likes, and we'll come to discuss the impact that that has as well. So now, let us establish another baseline as well, which is each and every one of us is prone to sin.
Allah says messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he tells us Kulu Ibni Adam or Fatah that all of the children of Adam are sinners, they're going to make mistakes. So that's inevitable, but how will we respond to the mistake is paramount. And that is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam goes on to say, well Halal kata in a toa boon, that the best of those that sin are the ones that repent to Allah subhanaw taala. So part of your repentance should be that you do not disclose your sins, not publicly, not to anyone else. And you keep it to yourself, and you keep it to yourself. Now, question for you.
Is there a time where you are allowed to disclose a sin that you have committed? What do you guys think?
If you have an answer, raise your hand.
Go ahead.
If you're confessing to so on, that is a very interesting concept. In Islam, we don't confess our sins except to Allah subhanaw taala.
Not Alone. Let's say you're saying.
So you're telling Allah subhanaw taala. So you're basically saying that Oh, ALLAH forgive. It's kind of like, kind of like Toba? I'll accept it. I know you're coming from the right place. There's a sister with her hand up go ahead.
Excellent, so we'll take that as rule number one. So particularly for libre.
Did you attend the sisters class this Wednesday? By any chance? No. Okay, because we spent a lot of time talking about that. So particularly when it comes to libre, when you make Toba for Libra, it's not just about you asking Allah subhanaw taala for forgiveness, but in the situation where you back within another individual, and it will not lead to a greater Mufasa you actually are required to go and apologize to them for that sin, you actually are required to go and apologize to them, as long as it doesn't lead to greater MCSA. So this is number one, that if you've done something wrong to someone, and you go to apologize to them, you specify what it is for. So you you're telling them
about that sin? How about scenarios two and three? Go ahead.
higher authority.
But why would you tell them about a sin that you committed? Like I'm trying to think about a scenario where why would you need to tell them that?
I think you're heading in the right direction. You're like halfway there. But you need to just work on that a little bit. Go ahead.
Excellent, so that's number two, a person that's seeking professional help, and this person has experienced or is trained in this matter. So dealing with addictions and those sorts of things. So in that sort of situation, you can speak to a professional counselor and tell them what you're addicted to and tell them what you are struggling with. That is scenario number two.
It's quite
interesting. So what are you referring to? Exactly?
Okay.
Okay, I'll be honest, I did not think of that. But I will accept that as well. So we're going to make that number three and then move on to number four. So number three was the brother said was that if you're proposing to someone, and you have a habit like vaping, this is something that you should disclose. This is something that you should disclose that you have this habit, with the intention that you're trying to give it up and you're seeking the professional help to give it up. What is a fourth scenario, that you can disclose a sin and it would be valid,
right.
Okay, so you slashed your tires, and you go and tell them, hey, I slashed your tires.
I don't know, man, this is a tough one. But this is considered part of the Tober. Right? This is a part of October like you're making, you're making you're repenting for a mistake that you made, and you've damaged someone you're gonna tell them of the damage that you make. So I'll accept that. But I'm going to tie that in with number one. So that still keeps us at four. Go ahead, moose.
Yeah, go ahead.
No, that's not what I'm thinking of. But I got happy when you raised your hand, I'm gonna share the answer that I'm looking for the answer that I'm looking at you go ahead, we didn't go to you.
Allahu Akbar, explain.
Exactly. And that's why you find so many stories of Toba from the self, that they share their stories of Toba, you have like the famous story of Medicube new dinar and I believe will die live in the yard, how they used to steal and how they used to drink and eventually the repented and the share the stories not for the sake of exposing their sins. But for the sake of encouraging the sinners that look, let me help you use this story as a lesson if I was able to do it with a light Allah you will be able to do it as well, so to inspire people to make Dilbert inspire people to make Toba. So, those are the scenarios under which it would be permitted to expose a sin those are the
scenarios under which it would be
permissible to expose your sin. Now, he goes on to discuss one of the names of Allah subhanaw taala, as sit here, and often we hear the name a sitar and a CTO and they're often considered synonymous. And Allah knows best the more authentic version of Allah's name is actually a Satya, the one that perpetually covers up and regularly covers up. Now the beauty of this name is that if you look at some of the commentary of the scholars when it comes to this, they talk about this covering that Allah subhanaw taala does is such a beautiful covering like Sophia Anna Marina Rahim Allah, He says, that imagine of Allah subhanho wa Taala had put an odor to our sins. Imagine if Allah subhanaw taala
had put an odor to our sins, no one would want to sit next to us, no one would want to sit next to us. So as to thier the one that covers up those sins, hides that odor that the sin would have given up hides that odor that the one that has given off. You have other great Imams that talk about when people are impressed with you. They're not impressed with your deeds, but they're impressed with the covering up of Allah subhanaw taala of your sins. They're impressed with the covering up of Allah subhanho wa Taala OF YOUR SINS and this is what is extracted from the name of Allah subhanho wa taala.
So oftentimes when a person commits a sin, not only do we make Toba and seek ALLAH subhanaw taala this forgiveness, but we ask Allah subhana wa Taala for sitter, we ask Allah subhanaw taala to cover our faults from the people who don't want our faults to be exposed Not in this life, nor in the hereafter. Allah subhanho wa Taala talks about one of the very first punishments that will take place on the Day of Judgment is the humiliation of people. The very first punishment will be the humiliation of people. So we know the famous Hadith of the scholar, the martyr and the January's person, they all say that I did this for your Seco Allah and Allah subhanaw taala says that you have
lied, and they will be dragged on their faces and thrown into the hellfire, why dragged onto their faces, to be humiliated in front of the people. So when you seek Sittard from Allah subhanho wa taala, Allah subhanho wa Taala conceals your sins in this life and the next. So make that as a part of your dua that you ask Allah subhanaw taala for Sittard in this life, and the next. Now, let's talk about people getting exposed. So you'll see from time to time, people will get exposed and you may think to yourself Subhanallah How did this person get exposed? Is Allah subhanaw taala not assertive is the Allah subhanaw taala
are not the one that covers the faults and mistakes. Well, let's look at what I'm gonna Mahatama even though we thought they'd have to say, as you reported in Sahih Muslim, so, on the Sybil Malik, he reports the story of a thief at the time of Ramana Macatawa. The thief said by Allah, I have never stolen before this. So this thief has been caught. Omar said You have lied by the Lord of Allah. Allah does not take a slave out to the first sin, meaning that all subhanaw taala will not expose the person for the first sin that they have committed. Then Ali ibn Abi Talib said, oh leader of the believers, Allah is more forbearing than to take a slave for the his first sin. Omar then
gave the order that this man should be punished. Then he asked him to speak the truth. How many times before had you stolen, and he said 21 times 21 times. And this is a second lesson over here Subhanallah
that a lot of us will struggle with since a lot of us will struggle with since.
But the key over here is to improve and to have the intention to improve and the intention to change. And never ever give up on that intention. And as long as you do that with Allah Tala, you will have the city of Allah subhanaw taala as long as you don't expose it yourself. And this is like a big thing in our times, due to the nature of the internet, where you can do things privately and no one will know about them, except you and Allah subhana wa Tada. It's very important that we keep this intention in mind that as you struggle with your sin, repent to Allah subhanho wa Taala rectify your intention that Oh, Allah helped me to never commit this sin again. And if it happens, do the
same thing again, and keep doing it. But also make sure you're trying to make habits to change that bad habit. So I'll give you an example. One of the things that ends up happening particularly with young men, they end up watching things on the internet that they shouldn't be doing.
How do you change this? So one of the things that you can do is get a net nanny installed on your intranet. So don't know the password, give it to someone else. And it works all of those websites and blogs, all of those websites. Number two, keep your computer in a public space. Don't have it just in your room. Or if you have it in your room, leave the door open and never close the door while you're using the computer. Number three, ask ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala for help. This is something that isn't done enough. Let's seek refuge in Allah subhanho wa Taala from the sins of the ice and ask Allah subhanho wa Taala to protect your eyes and to protect your heart and to protect
your chastity, the same dua that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made for the young man that came and asked permission to commit Zina. Right. So continue to do these things and make sure you're taking those proactive steps, do not share your sins publicly, and keep rectifying your intention. And as long as you do that, then Bismillahi Tala A time will come, where you will be able to come will you will be able to overcome it.
You and ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada are stronger than any sin that you could be addicted to, you have to believe that. And that is a part of the change process that you and Allah together are stronger than any sin that you're committed to or addicted to. And you have to believe that as a part of the process. So now getting exposed. Allah subhanaw taala gives people many, many opportunities, and he continues to conceal. But if they stopped making Toba and they do not make a sincere effort to give up, then Allah subhanaw taala exposes them, and we seek refuge in Allah subhanho wa Taala from that Allahumma Amin. Now, we've spoken about this before as well. The internet is forever, the internet
is forever. And it's really scary what that actually means. Like if you go into like Google archives, if you like, had a blog in like, you know, 1999 somehow Google has an archive of it. And it's crazy some of the things that the internet is able to retain. Now, why is this so important? Why is this so important? Because you may think you're young, you know what? Your race, it'll go away, it'll get forgotten. But when it comes time for marriage, and they type your name into Google, and then Google archives comes up, you're gonna get exposed. You apply for a job, one of the things that they're doing these days is they want to see your social footprint online. Right? You're
applying for other things, other opportunities, even going to university now in two masters and PhD programs, they look at your social footprint online, and they see what you've done. So you may think that I'm young, I'm gonna get away with it. It's not going to have an impact. But trust me, those things don't get erased and don't get deleted and when those mistakes are done, it's very hard to erase them and get them off the internet doorbell
He complicated ways to do that. But at the end of the day, prevention is better than cure. Prevention is better than cure. So take the approach that I'm not going to publicize any of my mistakes, any of my faults, any of my sins online, which leads us to the responsibility of the believer of casting away doubt from themselves. The responsibility of the believer to cast away doubt from themselves. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was in its Acuff and his wife Sophia came to see him. And as they were leaving, it was dark outside and there was no lights, there's no lampposts, there's no lights out there, and two men walked by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam as He was with Sophia. Now the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, the best of mankind. If anyone gets the benefit of the doubt, it is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, but he teaches us the noble thing to do, to cast off doubt from yourself, whenever possible, yes, people should give you the benefit of the doubt. In all scenarios, people should give you the benefit of the doubt. But the Prophet SAW Selim teaches us a very valuable lesson. So he goes to these two believers. And he tells them that this is my wife, Sofia, she is not a strange woman that I am with. And he say you're a Sula, we would only assume the best of you. You know, there was no need for you
to do this. But look at what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam says, he says shaytaan circulates in the body of man, just as blood circulates. And I was afraid he would instill evil, a suspicion in your hearts. So the responsibility of the believer is to cast away doubt from themselves. So if you're ever in a situation that could compromise your integrity could compromise your character. Make sure if you're seeing in such a situation, you explain what you were doing there, rather than assuming that people will give you the benefit of the doubt rather than assuming that people will give you the benefit of the doubt they should. But as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam explains that even the best of people can be overcome by shaytaan. She thought plants that seed Hey, Wasn't this the guy that was leading Salah in the masjid was in this the guy that was speaking about x, y? And Zed? Wasn't this the guy that tells people to do good deeds? What is he doing in such a situation? What is he doing outside of this place? And she thought keeps planting that seed till you start wondering? And then he goes on as soon Hey, you know what I saw? I saw so and so outside of such and such place, what do you think they were doing there? And then you guys start backbiting, and you start to guessing what they were doing there. But in that sort of
situation, clarify what you're doing, and you save yourself a lot of headache, you save yourself a lot of headache. Now, I want to share a quick quote with you from Vincent Cerf. I think that's how you pronounce his name CRF. And he's known as one of the fathers of the internet. He said, The Internet is a reflection of our society, and that the mirror is going to be reflecting what we see. If we do not like what we see in that mirror. The problem is not to fix the mirror, we have to fix society, we have to fix society.
Now, I want you to take a guess.
What is the number one type of site that is created every single day?
What do you think that is? Do you think it's something good or something bad? So the type of site that's created every single day? Is it something good or something bad? No, I love the fact that you're still young and innocent. May Allah subhanaw taala keep you like that always. It's something bad. And it's not even close. Like if you look at the numbers for adult entertainment, the number of sites that are created every single day, it out shadows, like every other category, exponentially, exponentially out shadows, all the other categories. And you can add like business websites, you can add blogs, you can add whatever and exponentially the those sins are still greater SubhanAllah. And
that's the reality of it. So when we look at the internet, and we take this quote at face value, then that is a reflection of the sicknesses and the illnesses in our society. And we, as a community have a responsibility that starts off with ourselves first, that we want to make sure that we're not consuming this content. We want to make sure that we started trying to stay away from it. And we lead as Khaled as a lifestyle as possible. But then the second tier to this is that what are we doing to counter this immorality? What are we doing to counter this immorality? And that's a discussion for another time. Right? What does it look like as a collective that is trying to counter
immorality that is trying to counter immorality. And one of the things that needs to be spoken about is also the agenda of the LGBT community. Right? We have to speak about that at some point or another. And there's a great lecture that I would encourage people to listen to by Sheikh Mustafa Omar Bashir. Most
of armor, that he speaks about the agenda of the LGBT community, and the responsibility of faith based communities, encountering such agendas, encountering such agendas. So that's something very important to look at.
Now, we've spoken out sharing our own sins, but how about sharing the sins of others? How about sharing the sins of others. So on Instagram, you can share other people's photos, you can share other people's stories on Twitter, you can quote, retreat to them. And there's a point that needs to be made over here, that as people promote to their sins, even in trying to counter that sin, we should not be sharing it, even trying to counter that sin.
Do not share it. So to speak about the concept in general, Muslims shouldn't be drinking Muslims shouldn't be at clubs. Muslims shouldn't be doing X, Y, and Zed, but don't bring attention to that person sin. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, all you who have believed with their tongues, yet faith has not entered their hearts, do not back by the Muslims, and do not seek to discover their faults. For whoever seeks after their faults, Allah will seek his faults. And if Allah seeks his faults, he will expose him with even what he commit, even if what he committed was in his own home, even if what he committed is in his own home. So let's speak about this. Remember,
maybe, for those of you that were there for lecture number one, how do you deal with those people that you don't like online? So Islamophobes people that are promoting evil? How do you interact with them? Right, we've discussed this. And one of the things what someone might end up doing is going through their history, and then exposing their history. And we see this all the time. You have a question? Sorry, blocking, you should block them. Best advice you'll ever receive, block people freely, feel free to block them. And don't even feel guilty about that. You don't owe anyone anything. Block everyone that bothers you block everyone that annoys you only interact with the
people that you want to interact with lovely advice. But what I was trying to get at was one of the mistakes that people make, is you start going through people's histories, start going through their Instagram history start going through the Twitter's history, pointing out their mistakes, pointing out their faults, trying to discredit them. And this particularly when you're debating someone, right, you know, we have these
keyboard warriors all the time, that wanted to beat people on line, someone proves you wrong colors, let's go through the history and find a way to discredit them because they couldn't prove them wrong. And this is what the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is referring to in this hadith Do not be of those people that go down the road that is so dark, that in hurting others, they're only hurting themselves. So understand the sanctity of hurting people. Now, let's look at another vise becoming famous by any means necessary. So we're speaking about becoming an influencer, becoming an influencer. And this is something that is in our day and age. People see these people getting brand
endorsements and getting paid the sponsorships. And they're like, You know what, this is a viable career, this is what I want to do. So shaytaan planted in your head, I want to become famous by any means necessary. And you look at certain families and speak openly about this. If you look at the Kardashian family, what positive quality do they have to share with you? Name one positive quality that they have to share with you. So now the question arises, how did they arrive to fame? It's by the public sense that they committed and the sense that they shared with the world. The world clicked on it, the world saw it, it created a reputation for them. And Brian saw that these people
now have an audience, and all of a sudden, we're sending sponsorships their way. Hey, can you advertise for us? There's another example. I don't know her name.
But she's known as bad Barbie. She's the one that had this famous quote with Dr. Phil catching me outside. I don't know if you guys remember that or not. Right? Like, if you look at this lady, if you look at this lady, what positive impact does she bring to the world? Absolutely nothing. But she gets paid like $16 million a year for brand endorsements and stuff like that. And don't quote me on the number but it's in the millions. Why? Because eyes are on her and as long as eyes are on her brands want their we don't brand exposed. They're like you know any exposure is good exposure. So if you look at how that happens, and this is another point that needs to be understood as Muslims we
don't believe in this concept of getting influential by any means necessary. In fact, we believe in the exact opposite. The more influence you have, the more accountability you will have with Allah subhanaw taala the more influence you have, the more accountability you will have with ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada so that if you can't influence to the people towards good
Then at least don't influence them towards but at least don't influence them towards but and this is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he tells us either lamb Testa he first namaste yet, then if you do not have any modesty or shame whatsoever, then go ahead and act and see what Allah subhanaw taala does with you and see what Allah subhanaw taala does with you. Now, how do we counter this need for recognition, this need for validation, this need for wanting to be seen. And this is something that it happens to everyone the need to be recognized. But what we want to look at is, who is our audience who do we want to be seen by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the Farewell
Sermon in the hospital whether he ends off the sermon towards the ending, he says Allah who has heard that Oh ALLAH testify that I have conveyed the message.
One of the wisdoms that you can extract to be a bit from this is that Allah's Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam wanted to reinforce within himself, that Allah is watching what I'm doing and Allah is a witness to what I have had just committed, meaning that towards the end of his life, he has conveyed the message of Islam. He has conveyed the message of Islam. What's even more fascinating, is what Allah subhanho wa Taala tells the believers in Surah Tober he tells us call it yeah Malou first AR Allahu Allah, Allah kumara Sula, who will make me known that go ahead and act for surely Allah and His Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and the believers, they see everything that
you do. So if you're doing good deeds, you'll get that recognition. Don't seek it, it will be a byproduct of the good deed itself. Your main sincere Allah will grant you cabal and acceptance amongst the people. You love that sincerity. No matter how many ads you put up, publicizing your good deed, you're not going to get acceptance amongst the people.
The key is always sincerity with Allah subhanaw taala. Number two, is that keeping true and good companionship, these friends that you have, that encourage you to be the best version of yourself that encourage you to work on your weaknesses. They're encouraged you to spend time studying the dean and help you hide your sins and your mistakes. They are the best form of validation. And that is what you want to seek out those close friends that will bring you closer to Allah bring you to Halaqaat bring you to the masjid that will help you become a better person. That is how you get your validation. And this is what the Prophet sallallahu so this is what Allah subhanho wa Taala tells
us, that even friends will be turned into enemies on the Day of Judgment, except for who except for the MATA goon. And so for those friends, that the relationship was based upon taqwa and getting closer to Allah subhanho wa taala. Now, let's conclude with the action item that he has the action item that he has, he says, Learn and make this dua regularly, that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would make every morning and evening. And it's reported by Abu Dhabi with necessity and even no matter and inshallah I will share this
on social media so that everyone can get access to it. But the summary of it is, Oh Allah, I ask You for Your pardon and well being in this life and the next the DUA that starts off with Allahumma India as a local alpha will Afia for dunya and akhira. It's a long dua, but it's as a good dua to say regularly why, and because it goes on to say Oh Allah, I asked you for pardon and well being in my religious and worldly affairs, and my family and my wealth. Oh Allah, veil my weaknesses and set at ease my dismay, so will my weaknesses. Oh Allah preserve me from the front and from behind and on my right and on my left and from above, and I take refuge with you, that I should be devoured by the
Earth from underneath and take refuge in you that I should be devoured by the Earth from underneath. So that is his action point for regard with regards to publicising since Go ahead.
That's exactly the one that's exactly the one is like okay, maybe you can spend some time teaching everyone inshallah. Go ahead.
Sure.
Of course, so that's always the exception to the rule. So the sisters question is, what if they're doing something that is considered harm to themselves and it can end very, very badly. So in that sort of situations, by all means, at any time, where someone is in drastic danger, there is no concept of backbiting you, there is no concept of backbiting and reach out to the
Oh create person. It can be their parent it can be a professional. But there's nothing there's no back waiting at that time and that can definitely be done did and it Tada go ahead
of course
like
I said, though the brothers question is where the Lord's to do art and Imams and show you that have, you know, expose a pieces done about them? How do you react to it? How do you react to it, and this is panela. In over the past few years, this has happened more and more frequently. But we have to establish a number of principles said right off the bat, that our deen is not tied to personalities. And it's easy that you listen to this person every single day. And you listen to the regulars luxury, nor regularly, you're going to build some sort of love and affinity for that individual. So it's inevitable that you build attachment. But it shouldn't come to the point where if they do
something wrong, it ends up being a crisis of faith for you. And that's what I'm talking about, that you don't want to have a crisis of faith, when you find out that your famous celebrity preacher has made a mistake. Number two, our natural response should be twofold. Number one, asking Allah subhanaw taala to protect our own sins and to cover our own faults and thanking Allah that we have not been exposed. And number two, to make dua that Allah subhanaw taala guides them if they've made this mistake, or that Allah subhanaw taala proves their innocence if they're actually innocent. That's step number two. Step number three, is stay away from discussing this. There is no real need
to discuss this. I think that's where the bigger problem is, an article is written and someone you know, does a talk, and we want to share it with people we want to discuss it with people often look at what is the merit of sharing it. The only time you know again, talking about harm. If this individual is causing harm to the community, he's preying on the community, then yes, that person should be exposed. But that is something that should be left to the Imams and the shield of the community, not to the lay people. And that is why the burden is so great on the Imams and the shoe on the community, that they have a responsibility to protect their communities. So leave that up to
them, but it should not be done by the lay people. And that is the three piece of advice I would share. Go ahead
wonderful brothers.
Right?
How
to prevent that you spoke about prevention, right?
The brother or sister?
Probably gonna say
in the last paragraph, but the pressure from the community can lead to suicidal ideation. How? How is us as as a response? What should we do with it?
Excellent. So the brothers question is with regards to a person that gets exposed and now starts having student suicidal ideation. So number one, is that if this person is innocent, this person continues to ask Allah subhanaw taala to prove his innocence and to make their path out of this easy and the scholars recommend continuously making us defer. That is the hardest one of the best ways. And Allah subhanaw taala opens the doors. Number two is that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam he tells us on sort of a haka volley, mono Muslim, that help your brother and sister, whether they are oppressing or being oppressed, the Sahaba responded or messenger of Allah. We know how to help
someone when they're being oppressed. But how do we help someone when they are the oppressor, and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, by helping them get out of their oppression by helping them get out of their oppression. So over here, the community has a responsibility for reforming people's behavior within public spaces. So if someone's doing something bad publicly, you have a responsibility to change that behavior. So this sort of situation of a public person has been exposed for publicly been doing something. The community has a responsibility to sit down with this individual and engage with this individual. If this person is sincere, they repent to Allah and tell
them that look, I'm trying to change my ways, help me change my ways. But oftentimes, and I shouldn't say often, what happens sometimes, is that people become very egotistical as they become defensive. Right? They're like, No, I didn't make this mistake. No, you guys are overreacting. No, I'm innocent. No, you guys are just out to get me. And he started developing this personality.
of constantly being a victim. And that's what you try to want to try to avoid that if you've made a mistake, own up to it, say, look, I made this mistake. I have repented to Allah and I'm apologizing to everyone. And that is step number one. Step number two, outline the steps that you're taking for re formation and rehabilitation. And that is as simple as it is. Do those two steps. And the Muslim community is very forgiving
for the acceptance from the community, but if you're innocent, and you're just being slandered. It is the Sunnah of Allah, that the innocent will be vindicated. We see this with Aisha Radi Allahu Allah, we see this in the hadith of Judah age, we see this in many other in the story of use of the innocent will always be vindicated. Just have faith in Allah and Allah subhanaw taala will make a way out. And Allah knows best. Go ahead.
Sometimes, the public finds out that a popular personality that something's
very common with
that person anymore, they were cancelled, and they weren't allowed.
Yeah.
Excellent question. By the way, was that the question you asked me last week, because I'm gonna be asking a good question last week, I still want you to ask me that later on, though. Okay. So now, the cop topic of canceled culture and how we respond to this. You know, she hasn't got the he has a very good lecture on canceled culture. I think that's worth listening to much longer lecture, we can listen to that. But should we socially punish people for the misdeeds that they have done? And I think I want to take another angle to this. If this is an Imam, this is a chef that's spreading knowledge, a part of knowledge is baraka. Right? A part of knowledge is baraka. And if this person
is publicly and openly committing sins, you only want to seek knowledge from people that you will get Baraka through their knowledge through their own practice, through their own implementation. Right. So that's what we're going to be referring to. Now, if this is just another public figure, then again, the key concept comes back, how do we get them to reform and rehabilitate? If there is merit in re formation and rehabilitation? Through social boycott? I think that's a step that can be taken. But is this actually proven that if you socially boycott someone, do they rehabilitate and reform?
I don't believe that to be true. And I think if we take the example of Kanye West right now, and everything that's going on, he's banned from Twitter, gets kicked back comes back to Twitter, and becomes like, 10 times more worse, use that you quoted me and that was your mistake. I'm going to punish you for that now, right? So you have to look at the personality that you're dealing with, you really have to look at the personality that you're dealing with. And this is why you have to look at is this person sincere? is they're putting, are they putting their ego aside? Are they willing to listen to advice? If they're a are we holding them by the hand and we help them repent and get
closer? But if they aren't, for the sake of your own Deen? Why would you want to interact with this person? Why would you want to learn from this person? Why would you want to benefit from this person, when there would be no Baraka in what they're doing and sync and implementing? And Allah knows best?
How are you guys feeling? are you guys feeling tired right now? Who's tired? Raise your hand who started raise your hand? Okay. So I think, you know what, we'll just do a couple of more questions, and we'll call it a night and then I'll tell you something else. Inshallah you have a question? Go ahead.
Yeah.
Can you think of an example, can you give me an example?
So there's person A and person B, what happened to person and person B?
Physically, okay, and now what are you what are you asking? Should I What should you do?
Tell Person B. But Person B knows about because they physically got hurt.
So they said something about them?
No, there's obviously no way you should not do that. That's considered in the meme. The meme is you telling something to someone else with the intention of causing a fight. So your response and sister can have your attention? Yeah, your response is that if you see Person A say something about someone else, if you have the ability to go and speak to them, and tell them what they've done is wrong. That's what you need to do. If you don't have that ability to stay silent and hate in your heart, but by no means should
You go and tell someone else that hey, such and such person says such and such about you, right? The only exception to that, again, is like if that person says that, hey, I'm going to go and stab someone and you see like a knife in their hand, warn them and then obviously told the appropriate professional at that time to then
go ahead
hour yeah
Excellent. So the concept of seeking leadership, I actually did two sessions on this that you can find on the icy YouTube channel, prophetic lessons in leadership. In summary, if you have the qualifications, no one else better to do the job then yes, you should see that position. But if you don't have the qualifications, or if there's someone else better to do the job find the person that's better to do it and Allah knows best right?
NEMA
forgive them, so the person is the brothers question is someone that shares slander with you? What should you do with that individual? Forgive them and move on with your life? Forgive them and move on with your life. Yes. You mentioned
mentioning something negative
and walk away Yes.
Exactly, exactly. Well not even defend the person that our deen is based upon, masala Hana facet benefits and harms. If what you're going to do is going to lead to a greater harm, then you don't want to do it. But if you feel that you're able to defend the person, then by all means, you should by all means you should and whoever defends their brother and sister in their absence, Allah subhanaw taala will protect them from the hellfire. Now I want to just talk about two topics that
are related to this or related to this. Number one is with regards to sisters that do not wear hijab sisters that do not wear hijab, and their social media accounts.
Again, I'll start off with the disclaimer, I recognize that wearing hijab is a challenge, that as a man as a brother, I will not understand and I recognize that and I come from the position, not of judgment, but from the sake of informing and educating that today we discussed the topic of publicizing since publicizing since assist sister does not wear hijab without a valid reason. This is considered sinful behavior. And that is something that she should repent to Allah subhanaw taala for
and go on a very quick tangent, a part of a sister's rectification of her behavior of that is that she can wear her hijab in places that she feels more comfortable. So she comes to the masjid. There's a safe space there inshallah there's no Islamophobic attacks, Inshallah, no one's going to judge you Bismillahi Tala, we can hope it's a safe space, you can wear your hijab in the masjid while you're here. But if you don't wear it, on your way, back, Hollis, at least you're making an effort to wear it when you can. And that is not considered hypocrisy, that is taking a gradual approach to doing the right thing. Now getting to the point that I want to get at a sister that does
not wear hijab, her having a social media account, can she have a social media account? Yes, without a shadow of a doubt, she is allowed to have a social media account with all the other guidelines that we have given. But what should not happen is for her to expose her pictures publicly. So if you want to have an Instagram account, keep it locked, only shared with your friends that are sisters and females as well. Or your male relatives that are allowed to see you without hijab on they're allowed to see without your hijab on it is a worry and a fear and Allah subhanaw taala protect us all and keep us safe. And, you know, by any means necessary keep us away from the punishment of the
Hellfire. I mean, that these pictures that are put up online and every time a non Muharram man sees it, that the sister incurs sin, the sister incurs sin, and that this goes against the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu Sallam that Allah conceals your fault, and you publicize it. So this is a genuine advice to rethink our approach to social media and influence, particularly when it comes to the sin of not wearing a hijab. And if a sister has a valid reason for not wearing hijab, and that's something that can be looked at and explored psychologic psychological trauma, valid Islamophobia in the area that she lives in like in France, or in Quebec or something of that nature. There are
exceptions to interaction at that time, but even then,
And we want to mitigate that online presence. We want to live mitigate that online presence.
Number two, is that a brother had asked me a question two weeks ago, and that was about men watching MMA and watching, you know, people fight. And they said that I would answer this question publicly. And I think this is a big thing. There's a culture, particularly with Khabib, particularly with Islam, particularly with a smile and and all these Muslim fighters that have come and are still fighting until today. How do you respond to that? How do you respond to that? Number one, is I think we need to understand what is halal and what is haram. So when we look at the contentions of fighting, there are three things that we will talk about that are haram. Number one, is the issue of
hitting on the face. Number two, is the issue of the aura of the fighters themselves. And then number three, is the issue of the ring girls, and even women fighting and even when fighting, because that's become a thing as well. So with regards to hitting on the face, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has explicitly forbidden that, that you're not allowed to do so you're not allowed to strike another individual on the face. The only exception to this is if a person is sparring and it's training. And your intent is not to harm and the other person is wearing protective gear, then at that time, you are allowed hitting, but not with the intention to harm if
we're with the intent to train. So the general rule is that it is haram stay away from it. But with training and with protective gear in place, and no intention to harm, it will become allowed. Number two with regards to the IRA, we know that the IRA of the man is between the navel and the knees. If they'll call him Rahimullah, he says that the IRA is of two types, the IRA lever and the IRA FIFA. What is the difference between the two, the hour of the Lila which is the hour which is severe, you're not allowed to look at even if it is covered up, meaning you shouldn't stare at that area. And the person is required to cover that area up, that person is required to cover that area up. And
this is the upper thigh and the private area of the mind. That is the IRA lever.
The Rock of FIFA, he says is the area that you're not required to cover up. But a man should not stare at that area either. But a man should not stare at that area either. And he says this is the Lord thigh to just above the knees. And this is the the lower part of the stomach. But above the abdomen, the lower part of the stomach, but above the the abdomen. And that is the outer FIFA that is the outer FIFA. So when you're looking at MMA, and you're looking at these fighters, oftentimes their outer will be covered by this definition, but you still should not be staring at it, you still should not be staring at it. And then number three is with the ring girls, there's no way around it.
She's walking, even if you're watching MMA and you recognize that it's wrong, if you can fast forward through it. If you can't lower your gaze till it's over and the fight begins, lower your gaze to the fights over and your fight begins. Now, the last thing that I'll mention is that are all fights the same. What does that mean?
What that means is the example of Khabib fighting McGregor,
there was a vested interest of the Muslim community in that fight, because it just wasn't an MMA fight anymore. This was like the religion of Islam, protecting itself from Islamophobia. Right? Like that's literally what it was in Conor McGregor is making all these Islamophobic statements, and you never have a legal opportunity to punch these people in the face. Kobe had that opportunity. You know, it was as if we were punching Conor McGregor through coffee that night. So I will give that disclaimer that if a person avoids MMA and UFC, but he gives into these like fights where it's like Islam defending itself, there may be some rules for acceptance and tolerance. But the general rule
is try to avoid it. If you are going to watch it, minimize your sense. And don't just be like I'm going to watch everything even though the woman fighting, right? There's no need to do that. Yeah, there's no need to do that. Minimize your sins. So that is the answer I wanted to give with that.
Yes,
no, you can. You can, but with those three conditions
Yeah,
If
that's not training, you go into a fight, not for the sake of sparring, but with the intention to win and to defeat and to harm. Right? That's not that's what's not allowed.
As in, like, we've been discussing this, right that when you see an evil take place,
you either change it with your hands, speak out against it or hate it with your heart. And the thing with constantly being exposed to it, it becomes harder and harder to hate it with your heart. Right? So I understand that this is a phenomena of our day and age. But you got to call a spade a spade, man, right? You can't find a way around it. And Allah knows best. So if you are going to watch it, because it's such a trendy thing, try to minimize your sins. That's the best I can say. Right.
Now, so our submissions considered lawful. So you want to tax them instead of punching them? You put them in an armbar?
Is your intention or is his intention to harm at that time?
It's not just to compete, bro. It Right? It is to arm and that's the issue, right? Like you go into those fights with the intent to harm with the intent to win within pretend to prove prove your superiority and someone else's inferiority. Like those are the problems that need to be addressed. Right.
So inshallah I hope that answers that. I know we've gone on quite a bit. But this is what I want to say. So I do have good news for some of you. And that is 100. I have permission to extend the series. So I know we were supposed to conclude last week, but in all honesty, we're halfway done the book. And tonight I wanted to do two chapters, we only ended up doing one. So be there later next week. We're going to try to do four chapters with the night either, so be prepared to sit longer next week. We will take a break if we have to, but I want to get through the four chapters next week. And with Elijah the week after that, we will finish the week after that, we will finish so
that is the good news within the heater. Let's conclude with that Subhanallah home will be humbuckers shadowline Island iStockphoto go to Blue Lake Docomo credit for attending was Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh