Suhaib Webb – Imam alSuyutti’s Map For A Student of Knowledge (Lesson One)
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
I plan to regularly,
and I need to set a schedule for
this that's better,
to come,
live to Instagram as well as on my
YouTube page and read through some important text
that are meant to foster
higher level of thought and studies, and more
importantly, to help those interested in religious studies
in a formal way map out the process,
how
you push into learning.
So before we get started, I want just
people to know, like, this may not be
for everybody,
But this is for people who
are interested in religious studies and then people
who need religious studies. But at the same
time, it will serve everyone because
there's so many content provider providers out there.
And just because someone may have access to
share content, doesn't mean that they're necessarily qualified.
So what what we're going to do is
read a very important text called An Nuqaiyah
of Imam Asiuti. Imam Asiuti dies 9:11 after
Hijri.
He's an incredible scholar,
He did a tremendous effort and work for,
the Ummah in so many different fields of
studies.
And as we get started, it's very important
that we remember,
brothers and sisters in Morocco, we ask Allah
to help us be in a position to
help and assist them.
We ask Allah to accept those who passed
away and to bring peace and mercy and
joy,
in the hereafter to them, and also to
bring a sense of security and relief to
their family members.
So we're going to be reading this text,
and this text is going to, number 1,
show you the measure needed for someone to
be, like, officially speaking about Islam.
What are the qualifications that someone should have
before they, for example, are teaching
Islamic studies
or talking about Islam.
There has to be some sense of accountability
and regulation structures.
The number 2 is going to introduce you
to a classical text, which is really awesome.
And number 3, for those of you interested
in seriously per pursuing religious studies,
is going to provide you a map. And
this syllabus that I'm going to share with
you through this book is what actually we
teach at our school,
Swiss. So the word
actually, it's an adjective
talking about a noun which isn't mentioned,
which means as Imam Suyuti, he also explained
this book. This is his explanation of the
actual text. The actual text is very short.
Imam Suyuti says that I
I placed in this refined light notebook. So
means
something refined,
something pure.
These ideas that he's going to share with
us.
And in this text, he's going to go
through 14
subjects
that somebody should learn about
in order to then
measure their growth in their religious studies.
Because oftentimes, I've been there. When I embrace
Islam, it's like, what do I need to
study? Where do I go to study? What
are the subjects I should look for? What
are the things that I should give importance
to?
So this text, he's going to go through
14 subjects
that a budding
religious
educator should cover and know.
I also believe that these kind of things
should formulate our job interviews with potential imams
and Islamic studies teachers. We should be able
to
evaluate
and make sure that they're qualified to do
what they're doing.
The same thing for those of you who
don't have that interest, but you you're taking
in content from people online.
You can use this to measure
where people are.
Like, are they qualified to be discussing and
talking
about Islam? My my approach in explaining this
is what we call
the
means that we're going to go through it
word by word. So it's not for everybody,
but it is specifically
for chaplains, for example,
people that are in, say, Bayan, Claremont School,
people that are in Medina and SR
who speak English, people in,
people who are
entertaining the idea of becoming religious educators.
Homeschoolers can use what we're about to talk
about.
Young people that are interested in just like
studying Islam,
but not necessarily the professional level. You should
be conversant in each of the subjects. What's
interesting is Imam Asiyuti
talks about 14 sciences,
and one of them he talks about is
medicine. So he actually mentions that studying medicine
is one of the 14 sciences or disciplines
that a a religious teacher should know. Why?
Like, why would he have a section of?
He has a section on on on on
anatomy.
Like, why would it be important for any
imam or sheikh or mufti
or religious educator to be familiar with medicine,
to be familiar with human anatomy? And he
actually locates this as being religious subjects.
Because everyday, almost, I receive a question about
something that is
intersecting
between religion
and medicine.
Religion and science.
So he mentions mathematics.
He goes through mathematics because how are you
going to help people with their inheritance or
their zakah
if you're not familiar with, say, math? So
here you can appreciate
Imam Ascot,
Rahim Muhullah not only mentions Quran, sunnah, the
the the the right? Those things are important,
but he expands
the depth
and flexibility
of religious scholarship
so that it is equipped to deal with
the challenges of any age
and locates things like good handwriting,
right, good composition,
medicine,
mathematics,
human anatomy. Why?
Because those are things that scholars will need
to know in order to function.
One of the things that you also appreciate
about just listening to this is
we are sometimes told
that Islam is regressive,
and that we are also told by some
Muslims
that Islam is in opposition
to the current age we live in.
So we have these 2 kind of absolutist
mentalities.
1, especially held by people more on the
left leaning side of things, is that Islam
is regressive. It's keeping us from progress.
The other on the more conservative leaning side
are that Islam is inflexible
and and sits as a dam
in front of the modern age.
Both of these are problematic
because both of them are going to polarize
Islamic thought in a way that's going to
drain from it the nuance and temperament and
flexibility
to function in the world.
So Islam has always been about sifting and
filtering
society.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam doesn't completely reject
the people of Mecca,
nor does he completely accept them, but he's
able to engage them. In, for example,
means something that has no ruling.
If it's deemed good by Islam coming outside
of the text, meaning coming from society,
it maintains that goodness from the word sahaba.
It's just have it it its its goodness
companionship it, if you will, all the way
through time.
So what I think another important reason for
reading a text like this with you is
to see the beauty, flexibility,
capability,
and strength of Islam
to take on
all ages and all situations.
Islam not only functions
as
a sandbag against immorality
and,
disbelief,
nor
nor does it function
as something that completely capitulates to an era.
But Islam is so profound and so deep
and so beautiful
that it can,
in a very
flexible way,
in a firm way, guide us through any
situation. And the reason for that is Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is the rub of Islam.
Allah created all times and all situations,
and he made the prophet the final messenger,
and he made the Quran the final book,
alayhi salam. So therefore, it will be able
to function in any given situation.
If Sayidna Yunus, alaihis salam, can worship Allah
in the belly of a fish, you and
I, we can worship Allah
wherever we are. So imam in this book,
is
going to map 14 subjects that we need
to study, and we're going to go through
one subject every week or
2 until we finish the text. And then
you will have the road map for what
you need to study if you're interested in
being a student of knowledge.
And also how to evaluate
religious
content providers and teachers
to make sure that it's not just a
brand that carries a risala.
We are carrying a re we are carrying
the risala that may lead to a brand.
It's very different than what we find in
social media today. So he begins, he says,
The word mutton means a small text. I
like to tell people, gives you the meat
because the word, of course, m u t
t o n, is meat. Right? But in
in Arabic means a small text. So if
someone wants to get to the meat of
Islamic studies,
let them have their mutton. See how I
I did that.
It's a double entendre. He says
He begins
because, of course, the Quran begins that way.
And the prophet
said, everything which is super important, you should
begin it
with or it will not have a complete
blessing.
All praise is due to Allah, and thanks
is to Allah. Alhamd
is different than shukr.
Alhamd
is coming from
our
understanding of something's greatness.
Shukr
is said
in in our
in in opposition in the context of us
understanding something's goodness to us.
So when someone does something good, we say
shukran. We don't say,
but when we see something awesome or something
amazing, we say
So
comes from knowing Allah.
The shukr of Allah comes from recognizing Allah's
blessings.
And the complete person is the one who
brings them both together.
So say, says,
and may the peace and blessings be upon
the best
prophets.
There's 2 ways to say nabi yin or
nabi in.
And peace and blessings upon the best prophet
that Allah sent. The word Khayr, it does
not have a form
So you don't
say,
you say
means
so the best.
This
these pure pages
contain or from some of the
disciplines
that every student needs to know.
When we use the word
it's different than
ilm. The word marifa
is different than ilm.
Is used in the beginning of our studies.
Is used at the end of our studies.
So
Marifa
deals with
conceptualization.
We say in Islamic logic,
to conceptualize something.
And
is dealing with nisbah, relationships.
Need to pay attention to this if you're
serious about your studies.
So to Howard MSA. Had a great time
there Friday. May Allah bless you. Such a
beautiful community
in DC.
So
means learning, conceptualizing
something.
Means to conceptualize relationships.
We say that conceptualization
is marifa.
Affirmation or denial is elm.
Remember this. Conceptualization
is called marifa.
The
the
affirmation of that idea or denial is called.
So in Islamic logic, we say.
Is
conceptualizing
something.
Il knowledge is to affirm or deny a
relationship. I'll give you an example.
If you move to a a a new
college campus or neighborhood for the first
time. You before you can navigate that campus
or that neighborhood, you have to conceptualize it.
So you may ask,
where's the cafeteria? Where's the halal restaurant? Where's
the MSA at? Where's the Musa Allah at?
And people tell you, here, here, here. So
you begin to envision it in your mind.
Then you go to the location,
and you know what? You find out, there's
no restaurant here. That's.
Now
that's
Now you're you're able to affirm or deny
what you conceptualized.
You see, this is something in Islamic studies
that's very important.
Very important. So
Oh, really? There's a halal restaurant over there?
Then I go there. It's not there.
That's
I'm denying that
proposition. If I go there and there is
a halal restaurant, that's also
now
and I want you all to listen to
something.
Think about this.
In the current
epic that you live in,
and this may shock you,
in the current
time you and I live in,
our entire thoughts,
the
the focal point of all of our ideas
is around the economy.
Everything.
But if you think about what I just
told you,
that Islam is worried about and
conceptualizing
something and then affirming its existence
or nonexistence.
The focal point
of Islamic life
as the focal point in the west and
the world now is the economy,
the focal point, the qiblah of our lives
as Muslims
is existence nonexistence,
existence, non existence, existence, non existence.
Because if we follow that and we allow
that to drive our being as the economy
drives our being now under capitalism or communism,
that
practice of it exist, doesn't exist, exist, doesn't
exist
will lead us to ihsan.
To worship Allah as though you see him
even though you can't see him, you know,
he sees you.
So the pedagogy of the classic Islamic system
is set up in a way that trains
the person
to compass their entire being,
emotions,
acts,
thoughts,
anxieties,
and joys
on existence nonexistence.
And the conclusion is the only thing that
exists with no beginning and no ending is
Allah.
So therefore, what should drive me
is
my conviction in Allah's.
What I just told you actually is very
important,
and pay attention to it.
What drives the postmodern
psyche,
the ethos that rest in the minds of
people is
money.
What drives
the Muslim
is existence, nonexistence.
That's why Allah says
I did not create human beings except to
worship me, even Abbas
said except to know me.
And that's what the first obligation in Islam
is to know.
As Imam Ibn Asher mentions in the same
as Paul de Andalusian scholar, he said that
the first obligation on your person is to
think. Think about what?
Conceptualize,
accept, deny.
Conceptualize,
accept, deny. So the Muslim is someone who's
trained
to allow what moves them emotionally
and allows them to set their moral compass
and priorities on what exists
permanently,
what exists that helps me
achieve
the hereafter,
and what doesn't exist, or what's temporary,
and then I create my priorities on that.
That's why the outcome of properly studying theology
is zuhid.
To be in a healthy detachment from the
corruptive,
corrosive ingredients of the temporary world.
So sayna Imam Masayoodi says,
So the purpose of this book here
is to give us a basic
conceptualization
of the Islamic
normative
Islamic curriculum.
What should I be learning?
What should I be studying
if I want to deeply
engage
in the pedagogy
of Islam.
And I worry about this generation because what
I see now is talk shows after talk
shows after talk shows.
Muslims are more busy talking about people than
they are talking about.
Muslims are more engaged in talking about dunya
than talking about.
Muslims are more engaged in talking about the
beauty of this life than the
and worship. That's
scary, man.
That is scary.
So he says,
Every religious science is gonna rest on one
of these 14 topics that imam
is gonna talk about in this text.
And this is called
meaning
I ask Allah.
I
ask.
To make this text a benefit, he says,
that this book will be a cause of
goodness. So we'll begin now the first section,
the first science.
Imam Sayna, Coote is gonna mention 14.
14 sciences.
We're gonna go through the first. And for
those of you who are joining now, we're
gonna be reading from time to time a
text that goes over the 14 subjects.
Anyone who's interested in being a student of
knowledge should cover.
Anyone who's a content provider, whether on TikTok
or Instagram should be judged by their knowledge
of these 14 sciences. If they don't have
it, then there's certain things they shouldn't talk
about.
They should be careful.
And the first one he says,
Usul is the plural of us.
Usul is called general
Like for who? Fahad for who?
For homies people. So
so when we see this Jam Utakshir, why
is it called Jam Utakshir? Because the plural
is broken between the and the lamb, there's
a break.
What does he mean by?
The foundations of the deen?
The most of Sunnis, when they say,
they mean three things.
Number 1,
studying
God. Number 2,
prophethood.
Number 3,
the unseen.
So when we hear the word,
the majority of Sunnis mean these three areas,
hillahiyat or tawhid,
godhood.
Anubu what? Prophethood.
Number 3,
means those things that are heard. It's very
beautiful. Why would the scholars use the word
Because a sem, I have to listen.
So this runs against the notions of transmodernity
that what I feel is the truth, what
I infer is the truth, it's all about
me.
No. No. It's not Islam.
It's not how I perceive Islam to be.
I have to learn what Islam is. I
have to hear it
from the Quran or from the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam.
That's what
what did they say?
We hear.
We intake.
Not dreams, not feelings, not experiences,
not this.
I have to learn.
So now the sheikh, Imam Assiiti, is going
to introduce the first
subject out of 14 subjects that we should
study, we should learn. If you're new to
Islam,
you wanna use this map to guide yourself,
man. What are the things you should study
to learn if you're interested? Because I know
for me, when I embrace Islam, I wanted
to learn
first, to worship correctly, and second, to preserve
Islam amongst my family.
Generational spirituality.
The person that's caught up in the current
monoculture of the economy is always worried about
generational wealth.
But the Muslim, the mukmin, who's able to
parse his or her engagement with this current
time is not only thinking about that, but
most importantly, he's thinking about generational spirituality.
How am I going to make sure my
my offspring follow the deen?
So he says,
It begins with and we said
means 3 things.
Godhood,
prophets,
and the hereafter, the unseen.
Maybe somebody says, why doesn't you call it
Tawhid? Why doesn't you call it Aqida?
We have a very important principle. You wanna
remember this. You wanna write this down.
That principle says
We don't argue over terms.
This is a classic principle of Islamic,
the ac Islamic academic tradition. We don't argue
over terms.
Because what do terms mean?
You can call it food, you can call
it bread,
you can call it a staple,
still food.
So Islamic scholars were very invested
in removing us from childhood shallow reductive arguments.
And one of the things that they would
do is say, don't argue about what you
call something.
We see this all the time. Someone embraces
Islam. We say, Masha'Allah, I welcome this convert,
brother. And immediately someone starts to make it
revert, convert, revert, convert, revert, revert. And what's
lost in all this debate is the person
who embraced Islam. Also, I don't like the
word revert or convert because
you should just call them new Muslims.
Because when you say new Muslim, that implies
an eventual commitment to pushing into the community
and being part of the community,
not an external terminology
that separates them from the larger body of
the community. New Muslim because after 20 years,
you can't be a new Muslim.
But Imam is gonna begin now also the
says
a science,
which researches
which researches
what we have to believe.
So now he introduces as the first out
of 14 subjects we should learn well.
And this is the subject of faith, what
we have to believe in as Muslims, and
what we have to deny.
He says and the first one, he says,
The
first thing we believe in and that we
should discuss in theology
is that the world is temporary.
That all creation is temporary, hadith.
From Hadith to talk because hopefully our our
talking isn't too long. It should have a
beginning and an ending. The word Hadith, that's
what we call an axe an accident,
Hadith.
Hadith.
So Imam Asiyuti, he begins, and this is
where most of the scholars of the and
the begin their introductions
to in his books
Always
the first section is that the world and
everything except Allah is temporary.
Again,
what motivates and drives us is not the
economy.
What motivates us and drives us is existence.
And Allah is the only true existence, meaning
no beginning, no end. So therefore, what should
drive me and motivate me is pleasing Allah.
The word hadith means has a beginning and
an ending.
That's why Imam Sheikh Adardir, he says in
Al Kharida
which we teach at my school at Swiss.
He says,
That the Hudut of something
is that it did not exist and now
it exists. That means you and I are
had it.
You and I are not permanent.
Every mountain will be turned
to rubble
eventually.
No matter how great we may think we
are, no matter how many accomplishments we have,
we only are here temporarily.
That's called Hadith.
And when I realized I'm hadith,
that I'm here temporarily,
the outcome of that is feeling
impoverished
to the one who isn't hadith,
to the one that has no beginning and
has no ending. And what we know from
the laws of thermodynamics
is that all matter,
all creation is temporary,
and that matter cannot create nor destroy itself.
Yet matter is here.
So whatever made matter is not matter,
and therefore, since matter has a beginning and
an ending,
whatever made matter does not have a beginning
or ending.
Someone's asking Muslim.
* and a Muslim.
Are you Muslim?
Do you honestly think a kafir is going
to be teaching the book
of
Imam
Very interesting in the racial dynamics in the
community.
So whatever has no beginning and no ending
is not matter.
And we know that all matter has a
beginning and an ending,
but it didn't start itself, it can't end
itself, that's why it's hadith.
So therefore, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not
hadith, he's the creator of all things.
That also extends to a second discussion.
Why we say that Jesus isn't God?
Because
Jesus alaihis salatu salam was matter.
He walked on the earth, he was subjected
to physical laws, he ate, He drank. He
got tired. He was subjected to the laws
of gravity, and he had a beginning and
an ending, and he evolved. And we say
that endings and beginnings are macro and micro.
The macro is we were born, the micros
we continue to exchange
throughout our life. We continue to change every
wrinkle on your face is a reminder
of
changing.
So one of the most important arguments we
have with everyone,
atheists,
Christians,
whoever, Hindus,
is the idea of.
Why would you worship something which is temporary?
Why would you worship something that cannot create
itself nor destroy itself?
And we know that matter cannot create
nor destroy itself.
So, therefore, whatever created and will destroy matter
is not matter. Isn't that
Isn't that?
This is what it means. Allah has no
likeness.
So this simple principle that Sayna Imam Asiyuti
mentions in the first subject that we should
study
is the key to so many things. Number
1, it's the key to our own rational
acceptance of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala and his existence.
Number 2, it's a reminder that we are
creation and we should know our place.
Most people commit shirk because they don't know
their place.
They don't know their place.
Like
He didn't know his place, so he thought
he could achieve the attributes of Allah.
But the Muslim
recognizes
I'm creation.
And if I'm creation, that means I have
a.
I have a creator.
So therefore, I should rely and trust
and turn to that creator. This is the
edifice of.
So that's why we say
knowing this idea of temporality and accidents in
creation,
it will bring about,
a proper responsible detachment from unhealthy things in
this dunya.
So Sheikh Imam,
Sayidna Imam,
he says,
that the evidence that we are had is
temporary is that we existed when we didn't
exist.
And the opposite of is
al define
suhid.
Someone's asking me if I'm on the sunnah.
Ask yourself if you're on the sunnah. Don't
get this is ridiculous.
You wouldn't say this in a classroom. You
wouldn't stand up in a classroom and say,
are you on the sunnah? Don't say anything
in the comments of action I'm willing to
say to someone in person, but this is
a lesson you're being taught. Has some ata,
man. Worry about yourself. Don't worry about me.
Don't worry about other people. Focus on the
lesson. If you don't want it, you can
go.
Someone asked me to define zuhid. What does
zuhid means? To means indifferent to unhealthy attachments
to the world.
To not be a heathen,
to not be occupied from Allah.
So sheikh Ahmed ad Dardir, he says,
The proof that we are temporarily
or temporary is that we did not exist,
now we exist.
Exactly. The Instagram emboldens people because,
great point,
they think that their
is stronger because they are in the comments
box. They don't know their place.
The opposite
of
is No beginning, no ending.
What's the proof that you and I are
temporary outside of just common sense?
He says,
Imam Sheikh Dardir in Al Kharida, which we
teach at my school Swiss.
Sayna Sheikh Dardir, he says,
He says, you have to know that this
world,
What does Sheikh Dardir, he say that you
have to know that the world is temporary.
Everything except Allah is temporary.
And the greatest sign of this is that
you are constantly going through changes,
You and I.
Micro and macro changes.
Yeah. It's also on my YouTube page. Thank
you for asking. So you can find this
later on my YouTube page as well. It'll
be here in there, but sometimes Instagram
Instagram's tripping. But thanks for asking, Barakalofiki.
So the first principle of saying, says
Everything is temporary.
And the creator, the manufacturer of all creation
is Allah, the one. Al Kadhim. Al Kadhim
means the one who has no beginning.
Then he does something very interesting if you
read Arabic. He doesn't say what. He doesn't
use.
After he says he
says
he doesn't say
to show you this is a sentence which
is the explanation of the sentence that came
before. If an incident is studying Arabic,
oftentimes, the absence of a conjunction
is to show a close relationship between the
two sentences. What we would say is a
run on sentence, in Arabic is used to
explain.
So he says
He says, what does it mean that Allah
is Al Kareem? He has no beginning and
no ending.
For example, you can see shortal Hadid.
You know, this verse is showed to hadith,
some
if you wanna protect yourself from jinn and
shayateen,
if you feel that you're being hurt by
magic or jinn or something, read this verse
of Quran.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
The to whom
Allah
his existence
is
in opposition to all creation.
We'll see fair to who? And what are
the major attributes we should know about Allah?
That Allah is alive.
Well,
and that Allah wills all things all things
that are happening about the will of Allah.
Nothing can happen that he didn't will and
nothing can be stopped that he
will. Good and evil, pain, suffering, happiness, sadness,
rich, poor, all those things are from
Allah. We believe Allah knows.
Allah is all powerful.
And that Allah hears and sees all things.
And that Allah
he speaks,
and that speech is
related to his existence
It's not time to ask questions. You can
wait till after the lesson.
Again, we wouldn't stand up in a classroom
and tell someone, answer my questions. We'll wait
and we'll ask when we're done.
I'm super excited that you wanna ask a
question,
but be patient and and wait till the
lesson is finished.
Quran. Explained and expressed his attributes and his
speaking and his power and his authority are
all expressed in the Quran.
Which is written in the Mus'haf.
Which
is protected in the chest.
Recited
by people.
Are are beyond time,
immortal.
Doesn't have a physical shape like we have
a physical shape.
Or color,
or taste,
or
width. Allah is not contained in anything.
So here is he he's explaining,
right, our belief about transcendence. How do we
understand the attributes of
Allah and our relationship with Allah that Allah
doesn't take on a human body
tajsim or lone or a physical color
or
or taste. Anything
our 5 senses can
can,
experience, Allah is beyond it. And anything we
can imagine, Allah is beyond that.
You have a great accent. It says anything
you can imagine,
Allah's beyond that.
That.
Anything you imagine, Allah is an opposition to
that. You can't imagine, I can't imagine Allah.
Because if we were to imagine him, then
that would mean he's matter because we cannot
think beyond matter. If you were to close
your eyes right now and try to imagine
a creation that we've never seen before, a
shape we've never seen before, a color we've
never seen before, you couldn't do it. Try.
Everyone close your eyes. Try to imagine
a new creation, a new color, a new
dimension, a new shape, a new angle even,
and then describe it for us. You can't.
And the reason you and I cannot do
that is we are not creator. We are
creation.
So that one little exercise I just gave
you
is the best way to show people we're.
Try it. You can do it. So
the shaykh, he says,
transcend,
then we don't give him a physical
shape like we understand.
What loan and color.
That's why we shouldn't allow ourselves to be
pulled into the cult of white supremacy
or racism
or Eurocentricism
or Arabism or Dacism or Oklahomism.
All of this nonsense
because all of our colors are hadith. All
of our colors are temporary, and the one
who created our colors is Allah. Do you
know that if we use the color of
our skin to hurt people, we will be
potentially punished because this is a namah Allah
has given us.
Who will use a namah
to be ungrateful to Allah?
So the people who should be farthest away
from Eurocentrism
and white supremacy and any supremacy
are the Muslims.
Well, Arab will hulu, Allah is not we
don't describe him as a physical width or
inside something.
Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And
anything which appears in the book in the
min al mushkil. What does he mean by
mushkil? It means those verses and hadith that
describe Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
in physical form, like the hand of Allah,
the rising above the throne,
all of those things like that, what are
called.
Says,
And here we see the responsibility and beauty
and scholarship of Imam al Seedy, who understands
that this is a very controversial issue. So
what does he do? Instead of limiting the
dai era of Ahl al Sunnah, instead of
saying my group is only who's correct, he
opens the way to show that actually within
Sunni
academic tradition, we have 3 Methabs in Aqira,
just like we have 4 Methabs in fiqh,
just like we have 2 Methabs
in language, and just like we had multiple
Methhebs in
and in the,
he recognizes that there were these 3 different
schools of Ahlul Sunnah and Aqira
who engaged
these kind of texts.
And you all have to be very careful
because there are intelligence agencies,
and there are people working online
to amplify and ignite the differences amongst
specifically Sunnis
and Muslims in general, whether Sunni or Shia,
on issues that
traditionally our scholars were very mature
and very reflective about.
Be careful of that stuff because watch how
imam
does it. He says
What Imam Assiuty did right here is he
made space for 3 major theological schools to
fall under the purview of orthodoxy,
and that's the sign of his scholarship and
brilliance.
Number 1, he says whenever we come across
these kind of texts about Allah's hand,
Allah rising above the throne, smiling, and so
on and so forth,
first, we
we understand this to be
not literal.
We understand it has to be transcendent because
So none of us
are going to stick to the of the,
the explicit meaning of the text.
Then he mentions the 3 different approaches
that Sunnis theologians
had on these type of ideas and concepts.
First, he says,
meaning we affirm it,
but we leave its true meaning to Allah
while denying any human or material likeness.
And this is the Atharia.
This is the the followers of imam Ahmed
Alhamba.
Then he says,
We surrender its true meaning to Allah.
Or we interpret it
in a way that preserves its transcendence. So
the first group, they suspend
discussing it and leave the meaning to Allah
to preserve Allah's transcendence.
The second group, they said, no. We have
to interpret it because if you're silent, someone
else will start to talk about it. Silence
is not a
a a strategic
weapon in the face of your enemies on
things like this because then they will begin
to interpret the Quran and provide meanings to
the Quran and Sunnah, which are outside of
the purview of Islam.
Example of this now is what it means
to be a man.
So Muslims except for, like, Imam Dawood Walid
and others haven't talked about what it means
to be a man. So now we see,
unfortunately, Muslim men being co opted by people
on the far right who are telling them
this is what it means to be a
man.
Because the space was empty. That's why 16
years ago, I gave a lecture in Chicago
on the qualities of men in the Quran.
And before that, I did a lesson on
the mothers of the believers because I was
worried
that this gender thing was going to take
off and the meaning of being a man
and the meaning of being a Muslim woman
were going to be defined by people outside
of Islam, and we would be co opted
and mentally colonized and incapable
defining who we are
because the dominant culture is defining it for
us.
That's why some scholars like the Asha Ira,
they said, no. We have to make tawil
because if you're silent on what these attributes
are,
that leaves a space open for disbelievers
to start to tell Muslims what their text
means. See something there.
And, also, this is the way of.
So he said,
So
here, Imam al Suyuti
in approaching these texts,
which are sometimes complicated and difficult to understand,
which if we were to interpret them explicitly,
would imply that god is a human,
He said there are two approaches to this.
Number 1 is to affirm its its the
text and leave the meaning to Allah. This
is the school of Imam Ahmed
and to
deny any human likeness.
The second schools, which are the majority of
Sunnis throughout history, the Masuridis
and the Asharis. It's a historical fact. I'm
not gonna get into arguments with people. That's
ridiculous. We don't have time for that.
They said we have to affirm
that Allah is transcendent, but then we're going
to interpret
these words in ways that affirm that transcendence.
If you think about it, both schools,
they take 2 different
ways.
1 may take a plane, 1 may take
a train, but the destination
is the same. And
that is That Allah's transcendence is preserved. So
the Sadafis and the Sufis,
you guys are fighting over the road, but
you all end up at the same the
same destination.
You end up at the same destination.
And so, therefore, we,
as educators
and the public, we should ask ourselves,
where did what did these divisions lead to?
Where have they
brought any to the?
And if you're Sunni, I'm gonna say something
that's somewhat controversial.
Can you show me one Sunni state
that defends Sunni is like Iran, different Shiites,
politically and militarily.
We are slaughtered across the globe.
We are decimated
everywhere,
and nobody comes to our aid except Allah.
Because we're too busy fighting over these little
issues
to take on the major issues, like making
sure that we, as a community,
defend one another
and support one another.
So this division that you find
amongst
Muslims on TikTok and Instagram on theology,
run from it.
Don't waste your time.
Then he says and
we're gonna finish now.
He says,
meaning we have believe in what Allah has
decreed, the good and the evil.
Whatever he decreed will happen. What he did
not decree won't happen.
And the last will not forgive shirk. What
does it mean, though,
if somebody didn't repent?
Allah has promised that he will not forgive
them.
So doesn't mean this verse, Allah forgives all
sense. Doesn't mean Allah won't forgive shirk. It
means if someone doesn't repent to Allah
before they die.
And no one can obligate Allah
to do anything.
It is says I'm gonna put out a
schedule for the lives.
Thank you for asking. This is my fault.
Forgive me everybody. It's been
a crazy,
time.
Then he says
Allah sent. No problem. You can send me
a DM also, bro. If you need to
go, send me the DM. I'll respond to
you insha Allah. It seems like you have
a serious question. I'm here to help you,
to be at your service. I'm honored that
you would wanna ask me a question. You
can either send it here on the q
and a box, or you can DM it
to me, and I'll take care of you.
Then he says, continuing in his discussion of
as we finish,
Allah send prophets with clear
exam miracles. The word
is from
means to be weak. We say a Jews
is a old woman. She's too weak.
Just too
means I'm too weak to do something.
So
are those things which are beyond
physical law,
those things which are beyond human strengths.
That's why they're miracle.
So he says Allah sent to prophets with
miracles. Well,
and
the last prophet, the seal of the prophets
is Sayeda
Muhammad.
And then he defines what are.
He says
are those things that go beyond
norms,
physical norms.
That's a miracle.
We can take a lesson from that. Maybe
sometimes you wanna post something on Instagram or
YouTube or TikTok, and you wanna add a
little flavor to it. You wanna do something
halal that will bring attention, and then shaitan
comes to you and says, stop for Allah.
You're doing this to show off. How would
you do this? Why would Allah send the
prophets of?
Obviously, to gain the attention of people. So
when you wanna gain the attention of people
but through something good and not the goal
isn't attention, The goal is to guide them
to something better. It's acceptable.
We need to be balanced.
So he
says
that the purpose
of that the purpose of these were
to argue were
to argue. And that the prophets,
they were sent,
with these as
a means to establish themselves
as prophets.
And those kind of things that happen are
gifts
to the auliya,
the friends of Allah. Who are their friends
of Allah? Allah
says, Allah
is the friend
of those who believe. Anyone who says
is from the of Allah.
And then the levels of being a friend
to Allah are only known to Allah.
Then he says when I talk
and we believe that the punishment of the
grave is true.
Allah
says
in
the
Quran
Allah
says we will punish them twice and then
they will return to Allah. How are they
gonna be punished twice? The people of Firaam.
Number 1, the adhab of being drowned in
the ocean.
The second punishment is in the grave. The
third punishment is when they go to meet
Allah. So you find in the the Quran,
in the context of and his people, 3
punishments.
Gonna punish them twice.
And then they will we will send them
back for a grievous punishment. So the first
two punishments,
drowning,
grave, the last punishment is in the hereafter.
And we believe that the questions of the
angels in the grave, who's your deen, who's
your lord, what's your deen, who's your messenger,
alayhis salaam, is true.
And we believe that people will be gathered
together
and and
on the plane where they'll be questioned before
they get questioned.
This is the truth.
And
the fountain of the prophet is true.
And the bridge that people cross over *
is truth.
And that the scales are true, where people's
deeds will be weighed.
The intercession of the prophet, the 6 intercessions
of the prophet are true.
And that some believers will see Allah in
the hereafter.
And
that
physically happening with the prophet was the truth.
And the return of Isa
near the end of times is true. And
him killing the is true. What if a
Quran and that the Quran will be removed
from the face of the earth towards the
end of time is true?
So Imam Su'adin now is going through the
details of.
He's not gonna give you the the the
the the description of each one because we
said the purpose of this text is to
cover the 14 sciences that you need to
conceptualize
in order to move oh, I need to
study this more. Oh, I need to study
this more. Oh, I need to push into
this more. Oh, I need to learn this
more.
And that heaven and * are true.
And that they are now. They exist now.
They were created. They exist.
And that paradise is in the universe.
And we don't say anything about. No one
knows where * is. And here we see
something beautiful. Someone as great
as
in knowledge.
Someone as brilliant and as intelligent and as
accomplished as he is says, you know what?
I'm not gonna talk about that. What's called
a.
So he says,
We're not gonna talk about it. We don't
know.
Now if we go online, TikTok, Twitter, Facebook,
wherever,
all these different people talk about everything they
don't know. They even now talk about people
they don't know.
So look at Imam Masiyuti, all the knowledge
he memorized more than 1 man in Hadith,
and here he says in front of you
and I, I don't know,
man.
I don't
know.
I want you all to listen to this
part. This is from our doctrine as Muslims.
And compare this to how people treat each
other nowadays.
And he says and that is that sin
does not take someone out of Iman.
We don't people make mistakes. They fall into
sin. We don't throw them out of the
community.
We don't tell them they're no longer Muslims.
We're not
We're not
We believe in repentance. We believe in redemption.
So he says,
We believe that sin doesn't take a person
out of Islam.
Now how do we treat people,
We may see and I've never understood how
someone has time to notice other people, how
they have that that budget to pay attention
to people so much
that they forget themselves.
The prophet
said the successful one is the one who's
so busy with his or her
need to grow. They don't notice other people.
And you don't know where people are coming
from. Like, sometimes I've done lives and people
that it'll be, like, their first time. And
they might they they might not have a
name that's suitable.
Their their their, profile pic may not be
that good, and people will start to pound
them. And one time, a person contacted me
in DM and said, you know, I've been
away from Islam for so long, and I
came into your life, and people were so
nice to me, and so considerate, I fell
in love with Islam again.
And I've seen people who are so abused
and and mistreated by fellow Muslims
that it pushes them away from Islam.
Be a physician, not an executor, man.
Be a physician, not an executor.
And say
Nasruti says
That sin doesn't take someone out of Islam.
This is an also
It's very rare that we say.
Take someone out of Islam except in certain
issues that we'll talk about in the future.
He says the only type of that takes
someone out of Islam is to say that
Allah has a human shape
like the Christians.
Or as the Jews say, God wrestled with
somebody and lost
in in their text. For us,
that takes someone out of Islam. Well,
in or to deny
part of
to say, for example, Allah knows great things,
he doesn't know small things, as the say.
As
the say.
It's a problem.
We believe Allah knows all things.
Listen to this is this is our belief
as Sunnis,
orthodox
Sunnism. So people ask, do we make takfir
of Shia? Of course not. Did you hear
what he just said?
Did you hear what he just said?
And these issues where we have to acknowledge
our differences definitely, we have differences with with
Shia
thought and fiqh,
but not to the point that we can't
allow ourselves to work on major issues.
Look at the Muslim world. Look at the
Muslim community. Look at the disarray, the slaughter
of Muslims.
Our lack of economic utility,
our resources have been stolen from us. Our
land has been stolen from us. Our leadership
has been stolen from us, and you and
I are gonna argue our secondary issues.
Last week, I was talking to a beautiful
brother who fought in the Bosnian war in
the nineties. And his job was to sing
songs to the soldiers
on the battlefield
to motivate them to fight the Serbs when
the entire world turned its back on Bosnians
and Albanians and people in in in Macedonia.
You know what he told me?
Later on,
he kept going and he would sing Nasheed
Sarawat upon the prophet to the to soldiers
in Bosnia
to strengthen them, to embolden them, to fight
against the Serbs. Listen to this what he
told me. He said, but towards the end,
when I would go out to sing songs,
there were a group of people who were
new. They weren't from the the locals.
And they started telling me, this is bira.
This is haram.
This is fisk. This is evil, this is
not allowed.
I said to him,
they had time on the battlefield while you're
fighting the Serbs to argue about the validity
of music?
Where do you think those people are that
argued with him?
What do you think happened to them?
They died. They got killed.
So the moment, the lack of priorities
a lack of priorities is the sign of
colonality. Like, if you wanna be really honest,
you wanna talk about decolonality.
If you wanna decolonize yourself, learn Arabic.
If you wanna decolonize yourself, learn Arabic, learn
Urdu, learn Persian, learn Rodolf.
The second side of commonality is you argue
over what the tells you you should argue.
So you and I now arguing over issues
that aren't even important to us. Look how
Muslims in America are caught up in the
cultural wars of America that have nothing to
do with this except a few things like
immorality, sexual morality, homosexuality,
all that, of course, is forbidden.
But how we've allowed that to now suddenly
supplement
all of our concerns.
So we have no agenda except the agenda
of what Tucker Carlson tucks us at tonight
with or what AOC
tells us is important.
Where's the Muslim agenda?
Where's the Muslim agenda on issues?
So that's the sign of commonality is a
lack of priority.
So say the Imam Suyuti says
Islam, nor does Bida accept certain types of
Bida. And then listen to what he says,
brothers and sisters. He he says
We do not definitively
claim
that someone is going to be permanently punished
in *,
and Fatima, I wanna welcome you to this
space.
I appreciate you being here and pushing in.
And he says, and we do not
definitively
affirm
for anyone that they will be in *
permanently
from the believing Muslim community if they didn't
repent.
That's not my business.
Now you see people,
man, the person's going to *. This person,
Allah will punish them. The Allah will never
forgive them. Who do you think you are?
Who do I think I am? Allah
says Allah can punish who he wants. He
can reward who he wants.
He can punish who he wants. He can
forgive who this is our aqidah. Aqidah, which
is balanced,
caring, mature,
flexible,
nuanced,
responsible.
Not just going around declaring everyone out of
Islam and everyone's deviant and everyone's
those kind of people actually are just projecting
their selfishness on the community. It's very easy
to be an immature
isolationist.
It's very difficult to be a mature part
of an ummah,
because the word ummah is the outcome of
maturity.
The word ummah is the outcome of nuance.
The word ummah is the product of a
deliberate process,
not a isolationist.
It's very important.
Now think about this, brothers and sisters.
Think Think about what I'm about to tell
you, and this is why those people hate
me. People online, people showing up in the
comments box. It doesn't bother me. I've been
at this for too long, and I know
who I am,
and I have my teachers to correct me.
But I don't like when they bully you
guys. That's what bothers me. I don't like
that stuff, man.
Because why are you being a bully?
Let peep people growing in their faith, man.
Leave people alone. Worry about yourself. Go mow
your yard, man.
Go mow your yard. Great hashtag. Go mow
your yard, bro.
Go sweep the sidewalk.
Go bring groceries to your neighbor. Don't come
and bully the Muslims.
And people are so brave and so strong
that the total object of their anger and
angst are Muslim sisters.
Like, wow. Like, really?
Now you're some kind of brazen
superhero.
You're the John Snow of the Ummah slaying
dragons, bro. Because you're able to take all
of your
emasculated
insecurities
and project your inability
to be mature
with men and women
and blame
Muslim women for your problems.
Is that not being co opted by people?
Is that not now being sort of used
in a proxy war through some kind of
post colonial
binge hangover?
Because historically,
when the colonialist
entered into the Muslim world read the history
of Algeria.
Who's the first
person they attacked?
Was our mothers.
Who was the first person they attacked was
our sisters. Who's the fur they went after
the Muslim woman largely through hijab and niqab.
So now you have to wonder,
who are you being used by if in
the name of religiosity,
you are attacking
Muslim women who are good sisters?
You are now an extension of this man.
And also on the other end, extreme feminism,
which constantly attacks
Muslim men as being the whole problem. Both
of these are games, man.
Both of these are games.
The left
wants to eat your soul.
The right wants to eat your body.
Just remember that.
Conservatives,
they wanna eat our body.
Liberals,
we'll eat our hearts and minds.
So then who can you truly rely on?
Your only is Allah, his messenger
and your fellow believers. But if you and
I are so busy attacking each other and
destroying each other, when we come out of
this battle with the left and the right,
you and I will no longer have a
relationship anymore. So then we have nothing left.
Watch out, man. The people are playing chess,
not checkers.
So he says,
we do not say that someone's going to
* who hasn't repented. We leave it to
Allah from the believers.
Don't know what do we say they're gonna
stay in * forever. This is our aqeedah,
this mature
responsible
aqeeda, which preserves dogma, but brings the beauty
of humanity to Then he
says,
in the best of creation is say the
Muhammad. We know
is coming. The birth and death of the
prophet happened in this month.
So we say
then Ibrahim then Musa then Issa then Noah,
and these are
These are
And then after those, we say the
are best.
And the best angel
and then sayna Abu Bakr, sayna Amar, sayna
Although there is a khilaf even among Sunnis
on this issue.
And then after that, the 10 promised paradise.
And then after the 10 promised paradise, the
people of the people of the people
people
of and then the rest of the Sahaba
and then the rest of the ummah of
the prophet.
Based on our
taqwa and our imam. Then he finishes the
section on also the dean. We finished it
now.
He says,
and of course, amongst there's a difference of
opinion. Some Sunnis, they say the best woman
is Fatima.
Just like Al Imamia Jafariya.
Some Sunnis say the best woman is Sayida
Mariam Alaihi Salam.
And some
Sunni say the best woman to say the
Khadija. Whatever. None of this is gonna lead
to Amal, but just realize this is.
These are issues of,
theological
sort of opinions. We shouldn't,
wreck ourselves over this.
Well,
and
then the
Khadija,
and he his opinion, Khadija is superior to
say that
Aisha.
Of course, many scholars, they don't like to
talk about this stuff because they said it
leads to greater differences that do not lead
to actions or unity.
What we should do is just acknowledge this
school says this, this school says this is
my opinion. It's opinion.
Then he says,
that the prophets are free from the sins
that will compromise their role as prophets.
And that the prophets are just and honest,
that they have integrity. The the Sahaba, excuse
me, the Sahaba.
And
that those Imams, those early Imams, what they
left is guidance,
but not the same
guidance as Quran,
but guidance in the area of human endeavorment.
Remember this.
Then he says when it comes to the
issues of
So it depends on which school you're reflecting
from. An imam,
of course, he's Ashari. So you're gonna say
imam Abu Hassan Al Ashari
All those Imams are good. And
all those Imams were right, and sometimes they
were wrong because they're human beings.
And
depending on your perspective, you will say which
one you prefer. If you're Hanbali, you're gonna
say Imam Ahmed. If you're Ashari, you're gonna
say Imam Abu Hassan. If you are a
Matoridi, you're gonna say Imam Matoridi, Abu Mansoor.
All 3 of these are imams of the
3 madhhabs of Aqid and Ahl Sunnah.
Imam Asafarini Rahimullah.
He said,
The Imams of Sunni theology are 3.
Imam Ahmad Alhambal, and he's the imam of
the Atharia.
Imam Abu Hassan al Ashari is the imam
of Ashaya.
Imam Abu Mansur al Maturi is the imam
of Maturidiya.
So what?
You and I are fighting about fighting about
these imams, but we don't even protect the
imam in our masjid.
You and I are gonna fight about the
validity of these imams, and we forgot, like,
our brother here from measured tones who teaches
Quran to give that imam attention.
We we use the past as an excuse,
not subhanallah
to
to to negotiate the future.
But we use the past to stop us
from moving forward.
And of course, he doesn't mean that these
are the only imams, but he's doing this
just as an example. Well, imam Jafar Asadib,
for example, Imam Zaid for the Zaidiyah.
And now he mentions that Tariqa Sofia, which
comes from Imam Junaid
Al Baghdadi, which of course is because
Imam Junaid was an Adam in in Quran
and Hadid and so many things.
That's why
his tariq is a safe tariq.
So congratulations.
You finished the first
science
of the 14 sciences.
We should know.
Imam Assayuti is now mapping out this path
for us if we really wanna study. This
class is not for people who wanna argue,
people who wanna debate a lot. You can
go. There's a 1,000 places. You can even
do that, like, on on a fortnight or
whatever somewhere. This is not the place for
that. This is the place for people who
wanna grow. People wanna think critically. Of course.
People can ask questions. Absolutely. Of for sure.
But the arguments, I'm too old for that.
You wanna argue about those simple things, continue
to waste your time. And I give you
the example earlier of the brother in the
Bosnian war who's singing the sheets and these
guys come and tell him, who are not
from Bosnia, that what you're doing is bida
and haram, and those guys got killed. That
brother, he's still alive.
He's still alive. So next
week, hopefully, we'll do
the next science,
The science of tafsir. And we'll go through
all of them until we finish all 14.
If you have any questions, we can take
your questions now in the comment box box.
If not, this will be saved on my
YouTube page. You can find it there probably
better. The recording will be a little better.
And people asking if you wanna support
this work.
Please go to my website. Join someone can
type it in the comments box for me.
Join.suahayebwebb.com.
Support
our school, man.
Support this kind of education. If this is
the kind of education you like, you should
support. If this is the kind of education
you enjoy, you should support it. Don't just
say,
Who will help us?
So you can visit join dotsuhehbab.com.
You can take classes with me and other
scholars, hamdan, and teachers.
Someone's asking, is the gelatin in the vitamins
haram?
No. Because
as sheikh Yasir Qari, who's head of our
field council with the American field council notes
in his YouTube video on this, that the
molecular structure of the gelatin has been changed.
But if the molecular structure of the gelatin
has been changed, we have a great axiom
that says, rulings go according to their causes.
The cause is gone, the ruling's gone, so
now it's permissible.
I have a question about discussing Islam with
Sikhs explaining
our beloved prophet to them
is the seal of the prophet as they
believe Guru Nanak has come after. Please, could
you explain
how to address it? Yeah. It's mentioned in
the Quran.
The prophet
This is doctrine. The prophet said, there's no
prophet after me, only liars. You don't wanna
say that to them. Maybe it will offend
them. But then you can talk about why
the finality is of prophethood is important and
how even within the Sikh community, and I
have great relationship with Sikh people,
that they don't have the history of law,
theology, tasquets, and that's what you find within
Islamic framework
that a prophet would bring.
Yeah. So I already answered the question about
gelatin.
Maybe you missed it.
Someone's asking what is your opinion about someone
who says all the Asharis are Kufar.
So if we say that the Ash'a era
are Kufar, that means that anyone that's Ash'ari
is kafir, is not allowed to take fatwa,
tafsir, hadith, anything from kafirs.
So then that would mean
90% of the academic tradition of Islam is
gone because someone has declared all those people
Kufar.
But at the same time, don't waste your
time with this kind of thing.
What a that when someone says something like
that, just say, okay. Bye.
I don't have time.
And what you realize is, I mean, they
don't wanna argue with them. Actually, they just
wanted to argue for the sake of argument.
Who will say something like that? When will
you come to Kuala Lumpur?
Yeah. Inshallah, one day, I hope to visit,
Kuala Lumpur.
One day.
Any other questions that people have?
My 4 year old asked me about how
big Allah is or where, etcetera. So you
have to realize, I have a 4 year
old too.
So they're not able to moralize or to
logically engage things the way we do. So
you just say, Allah is bigger than everything.
Allah is beyond everything. You don't need to
get into theological debates with kids, man. They're
they're small hamdu. Just remind them that Allah
loves you, Allah is close to you, Allah
is with you.
Let them. You know? Let them find Allah's
love in the early stages
of their
lives. So that love that's why have been
help. It means a seed will grow, and
they will have that relationship with Allah. Take
a few 4 more questions, and then I
have to
jump off. Thank you so much, Fatima. We
really enjoyed,
you being here.
Yeah. I also miss someone said about New
York City. I miss New York. Hope to
visit soon.
I will try to put out a schedule
for this class. My apologies.
Next week, I have to teach. We're starting
our youth programs at this time, so I'll
be teaching young people,
at Swiss. Again, you can join at join.suayebot.com.
May Allah bless you, increase you. Please share
this with others if you wanna help. Also
share if you found the class beneficial for
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