Suhaib Webb – AlGhazzali’s The Way Of Worship Lesson Three The Importance of learning
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AI: Transcript ©
So we begin,
we begin with the name of Allah,
the most gracious and merciful.
We send peace and blessings upon prophet Muhammad
salallahu alayhi wasalam,
upon,
his community,
his family, and those who follow them until
the end of time. So I'm actually reading
the text in Arabic,
because because it's very important.
These kind of writers,
every word they would write has kind of
like an important meaning. They wrote they wrote
with a tremendous amount of
investment, and then I'm translating it as best
I can. And today, we're going to talk
about the following ideas. So, like, if you're
taking notes,
this will help you,
hopefully, as we have time.
We're going to actually be consulting another text
later,
if time permits. So the first is you
remember, he said that the first obstacle is
knowledge.
First obstacle is knowledge.
And within that, he began to talk about,
of course, the importance of knowledge. And that's
what we talked about last week. If you
need to consult that, you can see, that
recording,
Insha'Allah.
And as he was talking about the importance
of knowledge, he then began to talk about
knowledge and worship.
Knowledge and worship, like, which comes first, like,
worship or knowledge?
Which one should you give kind of, like,
priority to?
Which one is important? So we'll continue today
our conversation on this,
which one is more important and how to
balance them
how to balance them.
And then after we we spend some time
talking about that, he's going to then return
to why learning
is important. And he divides
learning into
3 areas.
But before I give you the 3 areas
that he divides it, I want you to
think about it in this way, kind of
as an analogy.
Number 1 is learning where I'm going.
Like, what is the destination?
The second thing is,
what do I need
from practices
and acts to arrive to that destination?
What do I need
to be able to to reach the end
goal?
And then the third is, like, what are
the psychological and emotional qualities
and characteristics
I should have
to also be successful?
So so 3 three components. Right? He's going
to frame it in this way, but I'm
I'm trying to help you. Let's think about,
like, what are what is it I want
to accomplish?
So first, I have to know what.
Then I have to know, Keif,
how? Like what are the necessary actions
that may
expedite
reaching the goal
or slow me down?
And then the third is what kind of
like attitudes,
characteristics should I have
on this journey?
And what he's talking about here is number
1, is
to know Allah
because the Quran says,
Allah is the end. So I I have
to know
faith.
I have to know who Allah is
in order to set my GPS.
Where am I headed?
The Quran says the last stop.
Doesn't say at the end. This says
the last stop on your journey
is Allah.
The second is what actions
do I need to amplify
and engage in
to ensure a safe journey?
And what actions should I avoid
that may slow me down?
Or cause me to
you know, be delayed.
That's the knowledge of now
now we can appreciate like a more holistic
understanding
of Islam's pedagogy.
That the reason for faith is to keep
my eye on the destination.
The reason for is to help me as
I am on that journey.
What am I commanded to do? What am
I commanded to avoid?
And then the third,
what are those things for attitudes
and character? Because I can't be a troll
on a plane. Right? I think I've traveled
with Anwar before, so we know each other.
Why would Omar
would
say to people, like, if you haven't traveled
with someone, you don't know them.
How am I on the in this the
the word for this
process is called,
the journey to Allah.
So these are the 3 components that he's
gonna talk about why you have to have
knowledge of each one
in order to be successful.
And then after that,
he talks about and this will be the
so the first thing we'll talk about is
balancing between knowledge and and worship.
The second thing we'll talk about is
why it's important to have knowledge in relationship
to those three things. The destination.
What are the provisions for the destination? What
are the attitudes and character I need on
this path?
The third thing that we're gonna talk about
is the ultimate goal of knowledge.
Like, how do I measure it?
And then the 4th thing we're gonna talk
about a lot of stuff, so we may
go a little over time today.
And that is, what does the common Muslim
have to know?
Not the scholar. We make a mistake. Right?
We tell people, you have to learn, you
have to learn, you have to learn. And
We know that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
he said,
seeking knowledge is an obligation upon all Muslims,
but does it mean you have to learn
everything?
What does that mean? How do I map
that course? Because if I don't have a
map, I'm gonna get lost on the path,
or I may be delayed.
The second thing
the next thing that we're gonna talk about
is bida.
What is bidah? What is innovation? But we're
gonna talk about it briefly. This is a
very controversial issue. Really doesn't need to be
controversial,
but unfortunately,
you know, people like to make a controversy
out of out of kebab. Like, who can
make controversy out of kebab? Nobody. Right? But
you'll find somebody, I'm sure, who can.
And what we're gonna talk about that is
who is Ahl Sunnah?
You know, this is a term that we
hear a lot, Ahl Sunnah.
And what we're going to note, if we
have time,
is the the development of its application.
How
the early days of the companions of the
prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, the word ahlas sunnah
is applied very liberally,
has a broad meaning.
But as we travel through history,
it becomes more restricted
and more restricted
and more restricted till today.
In 2021,
we could probably say that
the common Muslims'
exposure
to a modern definition of ahlul sunnah is
perhaps the most
in history since the Khawarij.
It's very important to understand this,
That if you hey. If you hear Suhaib
say, fa amma ahlusunna,
this is ahlusunna,
you have to understand Suhaib, he lives in
2021.
He lives in Brooklyn.
So he may exclude
Harlem from Ahlus Sunnah because he's in Brooklyn.
Right?
I'm saying this, of course, as a as
a as a as a an analogy, right,
that I'm obviously going to be impacted
by the environmental
circumstances
of my situation.
So when you hear a scholar or an
activist or a content provider or anyone say,
this is ahl al sunnah, you you cannot
separate that from the their surroundings.
And what I'm going to argue, hopefully, if
we have time, is that we should return
to the broader definition
given by the
Sahaba and the early imams.
That is one that encompasses
and unifies
and doesn't separate and vilify.
No doubt it has its its orthodoxy.
It has certain nonnegotiables.
Absolutely.
But the application
of that orthodoxy
was compassionate
and disciplining,
and it was unifying, and very rarely
did it separate.
That's why Imam Ahmed said,
ikhrajun nasimin Ahlus Sunnati Shadid.
Imam Ahmed ibn Hambal,
he said that to
exclude people
from Ahlus Sunnah
is difficult.
It's harsh.
And then I'm going to focus
with a specific
kind of,
lens
on the development of the Hanbali school.
Because unfortunately, it is through the modern Salafist
movement
within the Sunni community that we've seen perhaps
the greatest restriction
of the application of Ahlus Sunnah to the
point that many modern Salafis
turn against their own Sunni community
and declare them as not being from Ahl
al Sunnah.
And if you if you're Shia, also you'll
take benefit from this because
this is unfortunately
applied with Shia communities in many many ways
that allows them to be murdered and killed
and slaughtered.
So we have a lot
to talk about today.
And as we continue, it's very important if
you're attending this class,
feel free to differ with me. I that
means you're listening. Of course. Right?
But don't differ based on emotion.
Differ based on evidence.
Don't don't differ with me passionately or declare
someone wrong or evil
if you're not able to substantiate
what you're saying. So when I go into
unpacking
the development of the Hambali School,
and and I'm not talking here about Hanabella
as of today. I'm talking about, in particular,
the modern school.
I'm going to bring evidences,
citations.
You can go read them for yourself. Correct
me if I'm wrong.
So Imam Al Ghazari, we have a lot
to do. He says,
He says
very beautifully
on in this print is a very old
print,
that I'm using.
He says here on
page number 6.
He
says, he says even though we talked about
the importance of knowledge,
a person has to couple that with worship
because
knowledge
without worship
is a waste.
Because knowledge is like a tree,
and worship is its fruit.
Knowledge is is the tree and worship is
the fruit. And those of you joining on
Instagram live, if you can take notes for
people, whoever takes the good notes, I'll give
you a lifetime subscription to Swiss, inshallah.
So Imam Al Khazari says,
that knowledge is like a tree.
And worship is like the fruit that comes
from that tree.
He
says Right? Then of course, the tree is
the found
right? That a tree is is best known
by the kind of tree it is, its
foundation.
But the benefit of the tree is fruit.
What it brings,
what it shares.
And we know that the prophet in
a long hadith when he talked about the
example of the guidance I was sent with
is like rain and that there's 3 different
earths. There's a earth that has that that
that that soaks the rain
and then also irrigates the water. This is
a person who said that he come in.
This is someone who understands religion.
They benefit, and they benefit others.
That's, like, the highest goal.
And that's why we say we should be
Salih Muslim, not just righteous in my own
life, but how do I impact society in
a better way? That's the fruit
and the worship.
And then he says,
Allah
to have a portion of knowledge and a
portion of worship
of worship. Like, they both have to be
there.
So what he's trying to say is because
I talked about the importance of knowledge, don't
think that that excuses somebody from worship or
devotion.
No. No. No. He said you have to
have fruits.
This is this is the, you know, the
the the the the the fruit of that
knowledge is going to be worship.
Then he mentions a really nice statement of
Al Hasan al Basari that we mentioned last
week. He said,
and worship. He says, you should seek knowledge
as long as it doesn't harm your worship,
and you should worship as long as it
doesn't harm your knowledge. Meaning balance them. Have
them both together.
Then he says, say, Imam,
And he says, thus, as since it's been
established that both are extremely important,
but knowledge has to come first.
And that takes us back to the analogy
that I gave earlier.
I could be passionate
about travel.
You may see me
at the airport with my bags,
with everything, my Tumi bag. I'm super excited.
My phone is charged.
You and you come to me, oh my
gosh. You're traveling. Saman is like, chacha sab
suhayb. Where are you traveling? I said, you
know, masha'allah.
I have no idea.
But I'm just so excited to go.
I packed my bags.
I brought my snacks.
But Yazidi asked me,
The Quran says,
Where are you going? I don't know. So
packing my bags
has no meaning
if I don't know
where I'm headed.
So he says you have to
start with knowledge. And we talked about this
last week how sometimes new Muslims and people
who come back to Islam,
the passion and the beauty of that experience
does not equate to knowledge. It equates to
that experience.
So I should not suddenly translate the passion
of being a new Muslim
in
to your audition and knowledge. I have to
taper that. I have to guide that with
understanding.
Now we gave the example of Abu Dhar,
who last week, he prophet said, don't go
tell them. He said, no. No. I'm gonna
he went and told them la ilaha illa.
And what happened to him? He was beat.
He was
beat. Then he says,
He said because knowledge is the foundation, and
it's your guide.
It's the signs on the path
that tell you
where you should go.
Then he mentions a statement of some of
the
That knowledge is the imam of action.
There's a chapter in Sahih al Bukhari.
Right? That knowledge before action.
And
then he says, and now I'm going to
give you two reasons
why knowledge has to come first.
The first, he said,
is so you can achieve worship.
Because worship is based on knowledge.
And then, Inshallah, you'll be safe in the
hereafter.
Because the first thing is you have to
know who you worship.
And then you have to worship him. So
you have to know
who and how.
That's why some of the scholars said that
none of the early Muslims
did anything except they asked themselves 2 questions.
Why and how? Why is what's the reason?
Where am I headed?
Sincerity.
And then how is it in conformity? So
sincerity and conformity
are the 2 ingredients of a sacred act
of devotion.
Sincerity to Allah
and conformity to the Sharia.
Sharas
Sharif.
He said, so how would you worship the
one if you don't know what you have
to believe about him, what you're forbidden to
believe about him, and what you are allowed
to believe about him?
The majority of
Sunni theological schools
in their crafting of tawhid
do not divide it by rububiyah,
uluhiya, and asma iwasifat.
This was started by imam Ibn Taymiyyah, Rahim
and is the methodology of most of the
modern salafis. There's nothing wrong with that. That's.
There's nothing wrong with
in these issues.
But the majority of
They said that
the Tawhid is divided into 3 things,
what we have to believe about
God, what we are forbidden to believe about
him,
and what may or may not be
probable in our relationship with Allah. I'll give
you three examples.
The first is we have to believe Allah
is 1.
And Yuzidi, these are the Sifaat Ashriem. Everything
this is why they teach Sifaat Ashri.
Number 2
is that Allah is human
or physical.
That he has a beginning, that he has
an end.
Allah says
The third what's jaa is to Allah? I
could be happy, I could be sad, I
could be rich, I could be poor, I
could get into this university, I pass this
exam, I don't pass this exam, I'm sick,
I'm healthy, what's called a monkey net.
So the majority of
Ahl al Sunnah, Abra Tariq,
their understanding of the journey to Allah is
what do I have to believe? What do
I have to
And what is probable?
As for the minority,
which was the followers of Ibn Taymiyyah and
Abdul Wahab, Sheikh
Abdul Wahab.
They said, no.
So he says the first is that how
would you be able to worship the one
that you don't know?
And that's why he says,
So how could you worship the 1 if
you don't understand what's an obligation for you
to believe about his attributes, his names and
his essence?
When we say the essence of Allah,
that we have to make a very important
point.
Theologians agree that it is impossible for any
human being to know the true essence of
Allah.
It's impossible.
But what we know about Allah is what
he has revealed about himself in a way
that we can understand.
That's why Sayidina Musa said,
when Sayidina Musa, he said, can I see
you?
You can't see me. You're not built for
that.
How can the human
material see the non material?
So that's why Allah sent books and prophets
out of his
out of his mercy and out of his
blessing
to teach us about himself
in a way that we can comprehend.
That's why Surat Tafat, you had the statement
Hamdulillah actually is a command.
It's a it's a command, meaning if you
want to praise me, say Al Hamdulillah.
None of us would have known to say
that on our own.
But Allah
sent us.
So what are the 3 things quickly as
we mentioned earlier? What is obligate
obligatory to believe about Allah? What's what we
have to deny about Allah and what's probable.
Then he says,
He says,
because if you don't learn, then you may
assume something about Allah which contradicts the truth.
May Allah protect us.
That's why we have a very important principle
in theology
that Allah is not known through assumptions
and suspicion.
Or,
Ilham
through inspiration.
But Allah is known through his books and
his prophets.
That answers a lot of questions.
So
and we're gonna talk about this later, you
know, like, I think God is like this.
I don't know. I'm not sure. I I
I, you know, I think God is like
Allah says in the Quran
You have to know
what is
and the same thing with the prophet.
One of the greatest challenges in Anwar can
attest to this. In the nineties,
we were busy
refuting the doubts of the disbelievers.
Now
we're busy refuting the doubts of believers
because usually the doubts which they share
are rooted in suspicion
and ignorance.
This goes against the methodology of Islam.
Second thing we take from this is in
the face of people like Bill Maher and
Slick Atheist who say that Islam is anti
intellectual. Look at what he's saying here. You
have to learn for yourself.
You have to learn.
It can't be based on, you know, I
feel
God is like this or, you know, I
don't know, man. I saw someone on Facebook
disliked my post. God hates me. Like, what
are you talking about, man? This is a
very serious relationship.
It has to be rooted in knowledge. What
is that knowledge?
Prophets and books.
So now what are we able to do?
We're able to center
the role of prophets
and books in our lives as educators.
What are they teaching us? What's obligatory to
believe about Allah? What we're supposed to deny
about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, what's probable
with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And he says, and if you do this,
like if if you and I were to
live a life just based on this is
how I think god is, you know, I
have this cool inspiration, this is how I
feel,
said then your Ibadah, what's your your Ibadah
is gonna be useless. Your worship won't have
meaning because you're not worshiping
Allah You're not headed to the end.
You're the guy at the airport
who doesn't know
where
he or she is going. Someone's asking in
Instagram, can you give an example of the
3rd? Absolutely. What a great question. May Allah
bless you.
I could be rich. I could be poor.
The prophet could win a battle or lose
a battle.
I could call someone to the truth that
they don't accept.
Allah doesn't guide them.
That's why it's called.
And most of us struggle with that third
one. We all do. Right? My mother used
to say to me, I leave it to
God in the morning. I want it back
by lunchtime.
Right? It's hard. It's tough.
Then he says, Rahimullah,
as he continues,
He says then the second thing is you
have to learn what is obligated upon you.
Meaning
acts of devotion.
What do I have to do?
So the first one we talked about,
what's the destination?
Allah.
What's the means to traverse that definition that
destination?
Ibadah.
But if I don't know what I have
to do, what I don't have to do,
what's obligatory,
what's disliked,
what's makru,
what's musta'hab recommended,
How can I travel?
So he says, thumma after that, yajeeba'alaykha
after
that to learn
You gotta know what you're commanded, what that
object of worship commands you to do.
And now we see.
Now we center. We
should emancipate
from the constricted definition of, I have to
do this. I have to do this
To know learning fiqh is what allows me
to scale and establish
being on the path.
Being on the journey.
What's gonna slow me down?
What's gonna speed it up? And I believe
when we teach, especially children,
we should encourage them to think about meeting
Allah
The hadith says who loves to meet Allah,
Allah loves to meet them.
Instead of you have to do this, you're
a bad Muslim, this is horrible, this is
haram, this this this this this is filk.
This is not.
Is the language of lovers.
Is what caused over a 1000000000 people to
leave food and drink and * for a
month for Allah.
So he says,
so you gotta learn
what you have to do and what Allah
has commanded.
And that makes you a Muslim.
Allah
loves the people of Ihsan.
From on this path. What is it you
have to do? What is it you have
to leave?
What is it you have to abandon?
From the things which Allah has prohibited so
you can you can avoid them. That's why,
subhanAllah, a good question to ask people when
they say is, like, you know, I don't
know why I have to pray or, like,
why can't I drink or, like, I have
so much trouble not doing haram.
A simple question
we can ask them is, where
are
you
headed?
Where are you headed?
And ask them, be honest.
What is your what is your goal? Like,
what is it really you want to achieve?
And unpack it. If the goal is Allah,
then you're not gonna find trouble in doing
that, man.
But if the goal is something else,
you're gonna have trouble.
And we all struggle. We all struggle with
this. And
that's why on that path, we'll talk about
it later. You gotta have companions.
Like, who who reinforces
that
challenge
is the Ummah
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
And he said, because if you don't learn
what you have to do and what you
have to avoid, then how are you going
to establish obedience
for something that you don't know? You don't
know how to perform it. You don't know
what's
an obligation for you to do,
and you don't know what you have to
avoid.
You don't know what's sin.
In fact, you may not even know that
it's evil.
So so therefore, you have to learn
what is prayer,
what is purification,
what is fasting,
What is Hajj? So that you can establish
them
on
the journey.
He said, and maybe for years, you will
spend years in worship. I will spend years
in worship. And because we don't know,
we have nullified that worship. And Allah is
Kareem, Allah is Raheem. Of course, Imam Al
Khazari
is trying to
bring a sense of responsibility
to the table.
Well, Azman
in in a long period of time,
those things may have existed and you didn't
know it,
and they didn't agree with the sunnah.
You don't even know it.
Then he says and then also, in life,
you're gonna run into and those of us
who are parents, we know exactly this situation.
Or we're married,
said you're gonna run into an issue. You
don't know the answer for it.
And you can't find someone to ask.
So what are you gonna do?
How can you continue to travel?
So it's very beautiful. Imam Al Khazadi says,
number 1, you have to have knowledge of
god in order to know him and faith.
Number 2, you have to have knowledge of
how to worship in order to worship correctly.
And number 3, when you have knowledge, you
become someone who can help others.
And most importantly, you help yourself.
And he says, and the crux of all
of this
rest on the 3rd.
And that is the knowledge
of your heart and your soul.
The knowledge of
purifying your heart.
Because that's what is the driver. That's the
Uber of your heart.
That's what's driving you. That's the gas.
If you have a Tesla, that's the battery.
Supercharger.
That's the supercharger.
So knowing Allah, knowing how to worship Allah,
and then knowing what's called albartina,
the inner states of the heart.
He says,
these things you have to know,
and he gives examples of those. What does
it mean to be reliant on Allah?
How can I be reliant if I don't
know what reliance
is? Number 2, a tafwid. How do I
suspend
outcomes to Allah?
So many people are worried about outcomes, but
they forgot the outcomes are not in their
hands.
We just have to work hard.
Sayed the Imam Ibn Utta'a Allah said
give yourself a break with
from trying to administrate outcomes,
meaning, like, not work hard and have strategy
in that, but once it happens
once it happens, it's beyond our control.
The proof that Allah is existing
is you can get the best ingredients,
and you can try your best to cook
the best cake in the world.
But you still don't know if it's good
or not until you what?
Until you taste it.
Because the
of everything
because only Allah knows the truth.
People be the people are always gonna need
evidence because we don't know. That's why we
need evidences because we are not the knowing.
So how can I know what it means
to Allah? A a good example of this,
you find people. They say, man, I remember
when I was memorizing the Quran, we had
a classmate. He got in the car with
a sheikh. The sheikh put on his seat
belt, and the guy, he didn't put on
his seat belt. The sheikh, he said, man,
you're gonna we're not gonna go till you
put on the seat belt. You know, he
was young. He was a Thundercat. Oh man,
I trust in Allah I'm
all you know, I don't need to wear
a seat belt. Allah will protect me.
This is a wrong understanding of
Tafwid.
To take every precaution is the sign that
a person really followed Amrahu Ila Rabi. Like
Sayidina Muhammad, he did it when he made
Hijra go in the direction of Medina. He
went the opposite direction.
His guide was a non Muslim. Why would
he do all that?
The other is the one who's like, you
know, I'm gonna do this and this will
happen. I'm gonna do this and this will
happen. Like in Sotokaf.
So we see Muslims, they have 2 suspicions
on this issue. Both are wrong.
Both of them are incorrect. How do I
learn what is tafwid
from the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam?
Why would Allah command Musa to hit a
a rock with his staff? There's no relationship
between the 2. Akhdubuil aswab. Why would he
command Mariam to shake a tree? Akhdubuil aswab.
Now we find people say, you know these
dictators,
this is what Allah has decreed for us.
Alhamdulillah,
we surrender to Allah. That's not what it
means according to ala sunnah.
Or
or This is a hallmark card understanding of
But Islam says work. Didn't the prophet
say, if the hour starts, plant a seed?
If you see the hour start in front
of you and you have a seed in
your hand, plant that seed.
So learning the correct definition of tafwid,
surrendering to Allah
to be content with Allah
to be resilient
in the face of things.
To be sincere.
And other such things which he is going
to mention later.
So here we see that Imam Al Azari
says in these three areas,
where am I headed? What do I have
to do to get there? What are the
characteristics in ad dev that I have to
have
in order to arrive?
All of those have to be proceeded with
knowledge.
I cannot engage any of those in any
truthful, sincere way without learning. So now I
understand. Why do I learn aqidah? To divide
the Muslims and split the Muslim community, or
do I learn aqidah
to help me on my path to the
end?
Number 2, and to keep me strong in
the face of disbelief.
Number 2, what do I learn fiqh So
I can prioritize worship.
Number 3, why do I learn to sew
off? To understand the qualities of the heart.
And what you see Imam Al Ghazali is
doing
is he's mirroring the hadith of Jibreel.
When he asked the prophet about
what's Islam, what's iman, what's ihsan.
And then he gives some examples.
He says,
well that, he says,
And you also have to know what's prohibited
for your heart. What are the prohibited characteristics?
He mentioned the positive ones. Now I have
to learn what are the negative
ones. Which are the opposites of the things
he just mentioned.
Displeasure.
Right? Being upset with God.
False hopes
showing off
arrogance.
So that you can avoid these things because
these things he says, which I just mentioned,
trusting in Allah,
suspending the outcomes to Allah,
pleasure with Allah,
resilience with Allah,
repentance to Allah and then what
being angry at Allah
While having false hopes, oh, Allah will forgive
me, Allah will forgive me, I don't have
to change, I got a long life. If
you die tomorrow, that's not true.
So, false hopes
without action.
What is false hopes mean in Islamic theology?
To have hope in Jannah and act like
I'm going to *.
That's false hope.
To have hope in toba, but to be
a sinner.
Showing off in arrogance.
He said all these things are
He said in everything that I just mentioned
the issues of the heart Allah has clearly
expressed in his Quran
and commanded
and
prohibited.
And on the word and through the words
of the blessed messenger,
Then he mentioned some verses of the Quran
that talk about issues of the heart.
So therefore rely on Allah if indeed you
are believers.
Be grateful to Allah if indeed you are
truly worshiping him.
Be resilient and make your resilience only for
Allah.
And devote yourself to him completely.
A
meaning be sincere.
Why do you think after he talked about
aqidah and fiqh,
he didn't really talk about how this is
an obligation. He just said these are obligations.
But then when he got to the issues
of the heart, he goes into this long
embellishment.
These things are furred.
These things are mentioned in the Quran because
as imam al Maqdisi mentions very beautifully,
most Muslims have no problem with faith. Most
Muslims have no problem with practice,
but most of us are gonna have a
problem
here.
And understanding that here
is also as important as what I do
if I wanna be complete
on the journey.
As the prophet said in the body, there's
a piece of flesh. If it's sound, the
whole body is sound. If it's corrupt, the
whole body is corrupt. It's the heart.
And also because this is the subject of
his book. I see people asking in the
comments box, how do I have trust in
Allah? How do this is this this is
the book that we're gonna read. It's in
front of of us. And the reason I'm
reading in Arabic, number 1 is it's important.
But number 2 is so you know we're
not missing
anything
from the text. And for those students I
have who understand Arabic, of course,
there's also another reason,
why we're reading it in Harabi.
Then Imam Abu Hamad Al Ghazali,
he says something very important.
He said and there's so many verses that
command us to do these things which are
the issues of the heart.
And just as he commanded
us to do those things,
he also commanded us to pray and to
fast. So what he's saying is these commands
are all commands. These are all Farb. These
are all obligations.
He says something really beautiful here, man. He
says, and how could it be that you
would establish prayer and fasting?
But you would leave the obligations of the
heart
when they all come from 1 lord
in one book,
from 1 messenger,
meaning the commands.
So that would mean that we fall into
the description of
Bani Israel
while Allah
says
very profoundly.
You believe in some of it, but you
don't believe in some of it. You disbelieve
in some of it, and you believe in
some of it. You take a little, and
you leave a little. Allah says,
become complete, a complete Muslim.
Doesn't mean we're gonna be perfect, but I'm
not neglecting.
I'm trying to work on things as best
I can.
So what Imam Al Ghazari Abu Mohammed is
teaching us here is the balance.
And that I've always gotta be working to
improve myself in these three areas.
He said, but most people when he's talking
to me,
so I'm still gonna say it to me,
he said, but Suheib, you neglected this stuff,
man.
You did that but you didn't do this.
That's what he says to the reader.
Don't you fear you who are seeking guidance?
And don't you fear, he says, oh you
seeker of guidance that
you have neglected.
Right?
That you wasted your time
And you did not actualize these obligations of
the heart.
In fact, most of them
and that you spent your all your time
in prayer and fasting,
but you got no reward for it. What?
Because the intention wasn't there.
So there was worship,
but without
and we said last week, it's like the
jah without the water.
So the worship is there, but the water
is not there.
Allah said that knowledge
is like an empty vessel
and the life of that vessel is a
Khalas.
Then
he continues,
and he says,
As for the other reason that knowledge is
important,
Which necessitates that you give preference to knowledge.
Is that beneficial knowledge
causes reverence,
respect for the sacred,
reverence to Allah
and being in awe of Allah.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in the Quran
in 2 places.
That indeed only those who revere Allah are
the people of knowledge.
And this is one of the clear signs
of beneficial knowledge
in a postmodern
era,
an era where nothing is sacred.
Now, one of the greatest fruits of knowledge
is amplification
and honoring
the sacred.
It's unfortunate now that we see
people can become popular in the Muslim community
by ridiculing Islam
or by amplifying the Haram
or making jokes of the fart.
Where it should be the opposite.
What people do in their private lives, that's
their business, of course.
But we're talking about a public
amplification
and gratitude
and mocking of the secret.
That's very dangerous.
So he says the fruit of that
is that you have
the idea of the sacred
and the value
and the humility with Allah becomes central to
your being.
He said because it's by knowledge that Allah
is known and that knowledge causes
to
respect him
and to hold that relationship as sacred.
Thus, that kind of knowledge is going to
bring about the fruit of complete obedience.
And protect from evil
And he says, therefore,
outside of that, like, there's nothing else behind
the knowledge, right? Reverence,
appreciation for the sacred,
improperly
knowing, worshiping
and living.
Then he makes dua for us. Now, we
get to drive.
So after saying
he continues now to the next point. We
may actually run out of time today.
So make this by the blessing and grace
of Allah your priority.
But then he says,
he says, but after all of this, you
may ask
You may say, but what about the narration
of the prophet sallallahu alayhi sallam and the
Muslim. Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every
Muslim and this is the next thing that
we wanna address, inshallah, and then we'll stop
because of time.
He
says,
You know, it's been reported that the prophets
from this hadith is sound read by Imam
Al Hakim Al Mustadrak.
At the prophet
said that seeking knowledge is incumbent upon every
Muslim.
And he says,
here's the question. Sorry.
So the person will say okay
then
what is the knowledge that we have to
seek that obligatory knowledge
and what is the limit like not everybody
has time to learn everything.
So what is the limit of the knowledge
that the average person should seek?
That is incumbent upon a
novice
to truly establish worship. Meaning the non scholar.
He
said, He said, you have to know that
there are 3 knowledges which are incumbent upon
you to learn. And here you go. Now
as you listen to this class, what is
the imam al al Khazari giving you in
a sloppiness of the contemporary age, in this
free for all of learning,
he's saying,
here
are the three things you gotta know.
When we say seeking knowledge is a book
of every knowledge, like every I have to
learn about different and
how to read this and to know hut
and to know calligraphy. Do I have to
know Ilma Muqamat?
Of course not.
He says, so to help you
understand and what he's building on is what
early scholars right after the generation of the
Sahaba and the and
the
begin to formulate.
What are the 3
foundational subjects? Go back to the Hadith of
Jibreel.
You have to know something about.
So he says, As
we finish,
next week, we'll talk about bidah and ahlasunna.
Because today, we're not gonna have time.
He said here,
So these are the 3 knowledges you have
to learn.
Number 2, the knowledge of the heart that
we talked about earlier.
And number 3, filk.
That's it.
Did he say the knowledge of argument?
Did he say how to fight with all
the Muslims? Did he even mention this? To
divide the community?
I saw a lecture one day. Somebody said
the permissibility to backbite. Why would you teach
people this?
Like, why would you teach someone this? The
permissibility
to backbite.
Why would anyone teach someone the red line
issues?
Let us center the community
on its foundations, men,
the foundations of a man to ski it
to nafs and practice.
So he says,
this should be written
you must know the sciences
You have to know that the sciences that
you have to learn about are 3.
It's a very nice nice word, he says.
1st is the knowledge of Tohid, faith.
Number 2, the knowledge of the path. Meaning
of the heart and attitudes and emotions.
And then he
says,
He said, what's an obligation upon you to
know an
is whatever you need to understand the foundations
of faith.
Allah, his messenger,
angels,
books, their judgment,
and emotions. Someone's asking. We're talking about
good question
So he said, you have to learn in
faith whatever you need
to establish
in your life, those foundations.
And then he explains it. What does that
mean? Again, he's very ambiguous. He says,
here's a brief description of what you have
to know. And it's very important. This is
very important. We're gonna talk about this next
week. We talk about
and this fitna of this era to kick
people out of over issues of
One time
I'll mention this next week. This is mentioned
by
and of course, Sunnis and Shias were different.
We know this. We have different
different positions, different
certain issues we differ on.
But one time, a Shia,
he came to visit Imam Ahmed in his
house.
Imam Ahmed.
This is mentioned by Imam Al Khalal in
his book, a sunnah, volume 3, page 349.
I'm bringing it tonight. I'm not gonna sit
around and just tell you what I'm giving
you
the citation.
And that that brother came to visit Imam
Ahmed.
Even though we know Imam Ahmed,
like us Sunnis, Abu Bakr, Uthman,
Omar, Uthman Ali.
After this man left his house and we're
gonna mention this in detail.
People begin to criticize Imam Ahmed. How could
you how could you allow this person to
to be in your house?
He says, Subhanallah,
you're gonna you're gonna treat somebody badly because
he loved the family of the prophet
He understands how to control the temperament of
a religious community because if you don't responsibly
control and guide the temperament of a religious
community, they will kill each other and slaughter
each other and divide themselves. Now look at
the Muslims today.
What has been the fruit of?
Ask Let's ask ourselves this question.
If we're to do and this is not
an emotional question. This is a question that
we can look at from an analytical perspective.
Has it united the Muslim community?
What has extreme sufism
done for the Muslim community? Has it united
the Muslim community or split the community?
We live in an age now where the
people of balance are the biggest enemies of
Islam.
And if you want to be popular,
you just say the craziest things,
The most insane things.
And Allahu Akbar.
Or you become completely
politically compromised. Or or you become a
jihadist.
Where's the where's the balance? The prophet
said,
that in every generation there will be the
the people in the middle,
but they're small in number. May Allah make
us from those people. Look at Imam Ahmed.
Then people ask him, I'll mention this next
week also.
What do you say about people who say
that Sayidina Ali is better than Sayidina Abi
Bakr? We know this is a big issue
with Imam Ahmed.
He said, SubhanAllah,
will I kick all of Ahlul Kufa out
of Islam?
Because the people of Kufa, they preferred Sayna
Adi
over Sayna Abi Bakr, even though this goes
against our position as Sunnis.
Look look at the maturity.
This
this all of these narrations are.
What would imam Ahmed say now if he
met someone on YouTube who said Yasser Akari
is not Muslim because he's doesn't agree with
my position on student loads.
And this is what he said to someone
about the whole entire community of.
He said,
Islam. We have to be very careful
of not only religious education,
but the maturity and
temperament
and nuance needed to carry it.
Because as of now,
we are being throttled.
We can do nothing for Palestine.
In the sense of politically,
we can do things as
far as donations and support. That's what we
can do.
But can we stop anyone from taking the
home of Mona Kurd?
So what is the fruit of all this
fighting online and attacking each other?
I mean, it's one thing to be beaten
up but it's another thing to be beaten
up and then beat up other people
who are also being beaten up.
When when will the Muslims have the strength
and bravery to be won?
Because we failed to realize, even though we
differ,
we're not gonna compromise on our positions, of
course, but I can hold my positions like
Imam Ahmed
without
destroying and harming people.
And I'll bring all the citations for this
next week. Don't worry. Don't worry.
I'm a give you some some some
some
some beef to serve people.
Not to not to create fights,
but to hold them accountable and call them
to unity.
Call them to balance.
The Muslim world has be has been conquered,
been destroyed, been wrecked.
Muslims in America, we we we have so
many systemic challenges. Ask Anwar.
Even Muslim countries declared Islamic Relief as a
terrorist organization.
What can we do about it?
But we're fighting each other.
So look what he says,
as we finish.
He says, I want to explain to you
what you have to know as far as
belief because the predominant opinion amongst theologians
is that Muslims are only commanded to know
the general issues of Islam,
not the specific issues of iman. What does
it mean? Somebody said, I believe Allah is
1. Okay, you don't ask him. What do
you mean? What do you mean Allah is
1? What does that mean? Can you define
that?
I believe the prophet is the prophet. What
does that mean? What do you mean the
prophet the prophet? Can you define it?
The
prophet
when the man
He didn't ask them to, like, break it
down.
So
Imam Al Ghazari, he says,
He said you have to know that you
have one God
who's all powerful,
who has a will, who is alive, who
speaks, who hears, who knows, who is one,
who has no partner
is described with transcendent qualities
and is above any shortcomings or weaknesses
and will never die.
That's it.
And he is free from being like having
a beginning or an ending.
The only one who has no beginning.
And
he does not have like nothing impact. Allah
doesn't evolve. Allah doesn't become.
He was and is.
And that Muhammad Alaihi Salam is his messenger
and his prophet and truthful in everything he
brought.
Now, people want to make this hard. 1
of
one of our books in a is only
1 page. We studied years ago. It has
all the foundations of of Sunni theology.
It's 1 page
He used to say that the of the
Muslims is clear
because it's only 1 page.
It's not complicated.
Then he says,
after you understand that the prophet is the
prophet of Allah, the final messenger, the truthful
one in everything he brought.
And that he was,
you know,
truthful and everything he mentioned about Allah and
the hereafter.
We're gonna stop there inshallah because
it's a lot to discuss on the next
page. But next week inshallah we'll talk about
what is we're
going to talk about who is
and then we're going to do a brief
analysis
of the modern day Salafi school
and it's
restricting the application of Ahlul Sunnah
to themselves.
SubhanAllah.
To the point that they have divided
Sunnis within the Sunni community.
We ask Allah