Yasir Qadhi – Q&A – What is the difference between Qadr & Qadha
AI: Summary ©
The speakers emphasize the importance of good deeds and the value of the media's prerogative. They touch on the legal system for gifting deceased parents' good deeds and suggest that individuals should choose who they are based on the rules of Islam. Gifting is not a detrimental to others and is not a reflection of who is the creator of the rules of Islam.
AI: Summary ©
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Said I want a kumara masala who never occurred to him that allow Salatu was Salam ala Rasulillah who Allah Allah, He will be the woman while Welcome to another episode of our regular Tuesday q&a. And we have a very a number a very interesting question and shout out to other today as well. Let us begin. Our first question is from Brother Ahmed, he email emails from London. And he says that he suffers from OCD. And he constantly gets bad thoughts that causes him to feel that he might have left Islam because of these thoughts that he's getting. So he constantly renews his Islam by saying the Shahada. And so he's asking for advice about that he's frustrated, he's tired, and he's reaching
out for help. I'll add another question from Sister Pfizer, also from England, that she's also saying the exact same thing in terms of that she's suffering from OCD. So I'm going to take both of these questions together. But her OCD deals with cleanliness, and she's always doubting her will do her purification. Even for example, she says she enters the restroom, and then she feels that the floor is unclean. So every time she does will do then when she walks outside, she thinks she might have touched something on the floor when she's walking out. And so how can she pray in this regard? And she's worried about the validity of her silence, I'm going to combine both of these questions
because of the similar nature of the the concept of OCD, and inshallah try to give an Islamic answer.
Now, of course, the main features of these questions are about the obsessive compulsive disorder OCD. And for those of you that are unaware, for To summarise, OCD is intrusive thoughts are usually relentless. They're sometimes for most of us, we would we would view them as being not normal or not, you know, they're not something that we would consider to be rationally they seem to be just too, you know, irrational. From our perspective, again, from the perspective of those who are getting these thoughts, they're particularly they think it is completely normal. So these are
thoughts that keep on coming into one's mind that drive the people who get them to have be very anxious, and very specific thoughts. Usually, they're repetitive thoughts. So for example, in both of these scenarios, if you looked at it, the one question the one the first brother, he is saying that he's getting thoughts about ideas that make him think that he's not a Muslim anymore, and he's constantly renewing his shahada over and over again throughout the day. And then in the second part, the sister is worried about the Tahara issues, then adjust the issues, which uses the restroom. And then for example, you know, when she does will do, she puts her floor, she puts her foot on the
floor, and then she's worried that the floor might have an edge on it. So she's, again, acting in a manner that again, this would be termed OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. And this leads the people that are having these thoughts to do types of scenarios, repetitive actions, in an effort to neutralize or in an effort to reduce, or in an effort to combat to those anxious thoughts, or those feelings or those sensations. And unfortunately, sometimes OCD even leads to a type of depression, sometimes even serious depression, and sometimes worse than this. So this is in a nutshell, and again, this isn't a medical analysis, I'm simply saying, from our lay perspective, how would those
of us who don't have OCD view, OCD. And to respond to this, there's two angles, two ways to respond. The first of them is from an Islamic, legal and theological standpoint. And that's what I'm going to talk a little bit about. The second is not my area of expertise, but I'll just you know, talk generically, and that is from a psychological or from a therapy perspective, I am not a psychiatrist, I am not trained in psychology. So it's not my area to advise you specifics, but I will simply give you generic advice that is found on you know, mainstream textbooks and whatnot of this nature, and also advise you to find a therapist. So these are two areas to respond to this OCD,
firstly, from the 50 and the theological side. And then secondly, some generic psychological advice or psychiatric advice that can help and shallow to other in this regard. As for the Islamic perspective as for the religious perspective, realize do your brother and your sister realize anyone who is having these types of thoughts that Allah subhanho wa Taala has not made the religion that difficult, that Allah has not made the religion difficult. Allah says, you read Allah who become a user of
Law wants to ease for you. Hola once ease, and Allah says one magia Hola, la confit de Neiman how Raj, there is no difficulty in this religion. And one of the main principles of Islamic law, there is a section of Islamic law called the Maxim's of filth, I will call 150 year the maxims of filth and there are five primary Maxim's and one of them, one of them is a you know law your Zulu be shocky that which is certain is not going to be gotten rid of by that which is doubtful that which is certain is not going to be eliminated by something that is doubtful. And I need you to memorize this rule and then to apply it to all of these scenarios to the best of your capability. So, for
example, that which is certain you have wiped your hand that is now certain, okay, then you lift your hand up, then a doubt comes, did I miss a small area over there, that is a doubt the certainty you have wiped your entire hand up until the elbow that is certain, you have seen this, you have felt it? Okay? The certainty is that the floor is clean, that is certain, right? The default is that the floor in a Muslim household is going to be clean, right? You're talking about your own house, we're not talking about a public restroom, which again, we're gonna get to in a while even that, but in your own house, the certainty the default is that everything should be clean, you should not be
assuming that anything, you know, you touch or whatnot is not just on the contrary, the default or the certainty is cleanliness, then the doubt is what is there an edge or not. So, what is the principle of faith that which is certain is not going to be eliminated, because of something that is doubtful. So that certainty is what we will base our verdict on. And of course, this is based on many a hadith some of them, it appears that, for example, even some of the Sahaba because, you see, OCD is not a rare phenomenon. OCD exists in every society, it has existed since the beginning of time, and it is very likely that the companion who asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the
following few questions we're going to mention it's very likely that they also suffered from this type of very normal issue. And that is this OCD. So for example, a person is saying that Oh, Messenger of Allah, you know, I'm basically always thinking that I'm breaking my will doom I'm passing gas, right? I'm always breaking my will do, and I'm not sure it's just a thought in my mind. I'm not sure you know, I feel a sense or I think I feel I think I feel but I'm not sure what did our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say, Do not break your Salah, based upon those assumptions? Again, going back to this principle, early again, the certainty is not eliminated, because of the
doubt, what is certain you are praying and you have done will do? What is doubtful? Did something come out? Did something cannot come out? Did I break? When did did you know? Was it released or not? This is doubtful. So whether the process some say until you are certain? And how did he in that particular Hadith raised the bar of certainty, he said until you hear or until you know, the smell comes to you that you are now certain. And our scholars mentioned, the purpose of these two is not that only these two, the purpose is to achieve the level of certainty, right. So if a person is certain that he has broken his will do if a person is certain that the arm has not been fully
washed, so you go to the middle of the hand, and then you stop and we'll do okay. Or if a person is certain that you know for a fact that there's not just on your hand or on your foot, in this case, then okay, that's a separate story. Otherwise, the default is that you ignore that which is doubtful. And in fact, in another Hadith, we also get a companion that seems to be having an OCD that is about what's worse, or thoughts, just like our first brother, the same question that he asked that a man came to the Prophet sallallahu sallam, and he said, O Messenger of Allah, I get thoughts in my head, that are so evil, that I would rather be, you know, in one version, like, you
know, torn apart before I utter those things in my from my tongue, I'm getting these bad thoughts all the time. And again, perhaps Perhaps even back then they weren't psychiatrists to analyze into, you know, psycho diagnose, we don't know, but perhaps this was a companion that was also suffering from a type of OCD. So he is saying, oh, Messenger of Allah, I'm constantly getting these doubts that are very, very evil thoughts, very evil thoughts, and I would rather be torn to shreds then to verbalize them. Did the Prophet system tell him you have committed Cofer every single time the thought comes? Did the Prophet system tell him you have to do the shahada multiple times a day? On
the contrary, the Prophet says no, calmed him down and said that does Surya Hoon Iman. Will what you are your reaction basically is the essence of faith. Your reaction is the essence of it. What does this mean? Our scholars say the fact that the
man felt a type of of anger or disgust at those thoughts. He didn't want to act upon them. He wants to get rid of them. The fact that the man is saying that I would rather be basically torn apart before I verbalize these thoughts, the fact that he says this, our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that emotion of hating those bad thoughts is the essence of EMA and SubhanAllah. Therefore, dear brother in Islam, you do not have to verbalize the shahada over and over again, sure you want to do vicar and say Lila Allah go for it, no problem you want to do Vickers Al Hamdulillah Subhanallah no problem, do it 100 times a day Excellent. But to think that you have become a Kaffir
because of a thought that comes into your head, not at all, you do not become with a biller with a Kaffir simply because of a Westwater a doubt that is most likely coming from Shaytaan most likely, it's not even coming from you. It's not even from you. It's from Iblees. It's from shayateen. They're just whispering things into your ear. And therefore do not act upon these things feel a sense of, you know, I wish it wasn't happening. And then that's it, you do not have to repeat the column as if you have left Islam. As I said, we are separating between doing the Kalima as a statement of vicar, which is fine, you may do it at any time, or versus thinking that you have left
the fold of Islam and then constantly returning back quote unquote, because your question it says, I'm constantly re accepting Islam, no, you have never left Islam such that you need to re accept it, you are Alhamdulillah a Muslim throughout all of these thoughts that are happening. So we do not open the door to these whisperings to these Westwater and we do not act upon them. So my advice to all of our brothers and sisters that are suffering from this phenomenon known as OCD that we should try our best to minimize and we should realize that Al Hamdulillah the Sharia does not make the religion difficult that we are not required to every single time we wipe our hand and we think oh is
every single molecule is every single spot don't know the default you wipe it and you go to your elbow and then that is it if you even you do it once it is the minimum and three times is of course the sooner to do once you have done it even once that is it. The pain is there the certainty is there you have done it. The same goes for your bathroom floor or any place that is in your house that the default is that it is not noticed now in a public bathroom. By the way, if somebody were to say, Okay, how about the public bathroom? I'm not sure what is in there. Guess what our Prophet system explicitly said that if you are going to the restroom, then anything that is on the floor
there, once you walk a few steps, it is forgiven, okay? It is forgiven, that the Hadith says that if a person steps in nudges, okay, if a person steps in nudges, because in those days, there was no you know, flushing toilet there was you know, excrement and waste everywhere and it was common for a person to step in something like this. So the Prophet system said the steps after it purify that which was that which was on it. So in other words, if you're wearing shoes, and you walk into the public restroom, you just simply continue walking outward. And you know, as you walk outward, that is going to be forgiven what is at the bottom of your the soles of your shoes, this is forgiven
anyway, therefore do not make this such a big deal. The Shediac is an easy Shetty, the Sharia Sharia is not requiring you to go to this level. Therefore from an Islamic perspective, dear brother and dear sister and all of you who are listening that have symptoms that are OCD, that understand that this is the simple principle, once you have done something that you should do, which is LDL clean, then you ignore all of the shock that comes after it, you do not have to act upon it, and it does not affect the Yaqeen. Now, as for the psychological side of things, obviously, I am not an expert. So I strongly urge you to seek professional help in this regard. And there's some generic advice
that is mentioned in the standard books of that discuss this issue of them is that some psychiatrists say that your goal should not be that you need to eliminate the thought because that is perhaps an unrealistic goal. Rather, the goal is to conquer it such that you are not acting upon it. So the goal is not that you're not thinking the thoughts No, rather, the goal is to conquer so that even if the thoughts come that you are not going to be acting, your goal is to control the action. And it is not to control the thought. Okay, so that's one of the things of psychological tactics. Also, some psychiatrists have advice that go ahead and agree even with the thought, but
then realize you don't have to act upon it. Therefore, in this example, for example, suppose that you know shaytaan comes with the OCD was was comes and you think to yourself, Oh, my hand did go all the way. But perhaps there's a molecule somewhere on my arm that the water didn't touch, in your mind, say, You know what, maybe there is that molecule Okay.
came, but Allah does not require me to wash at the molecular level, so then I can ignore it. So then even embrace the thought, if it is going to allow you to not act on the action, right? Because the goal is that you don't make your life difficult. The goal is that Allah subhanaw taala is not going to call you to task for something that is so trivial, you wiped your hand. And if some potion is left, even after you wiped, you are forgiven at the molecular level, Allah is not asking you to do that. And the same goes for all of the other aspects as well. Also, some of the psychiatrists have also mentioned that try your best to take care of your physical and mental health outside of the OCD
issues, because anything that is going to affect your health will also trigger the OCD, anything that's going to affect your mental state as well might make the OCD worse. So take care of your body, eat healthy foods, you know, monitor your caffeine, how does caffeine affect you have good sleep habits. And make sure that you know you can try to minimize stress in other areas because we don't want other stress to come. Because if that happens, it's going to cause your OCD to go into if you like extra drive more than we don't need to make it worse. Also, try to find friends that are going to help you and stick around family members that are loving rather than rather than making
things difficult and here, let me just pause here and address family members that are not suffering from OCD that please parents and siblings, please cousins and relatives, educate yourself, educate yourself. OCD is something that is beyond the control of those who are having it. Please have some mercy and sympathy. Have some love and compassion. Don't make things worse. Don't mock your brother or sister. Don't put your son or daughter in more trouble with a biller. Educate yourself. If you don't know, ask if you don't know find out help from psychiatrists from a therapist, because a lot of times and I'm sorry to be blunt here, but your attitude is making that OCD 100 times worse than
it needs to be your callousness or your your hard heartedness or your lack of understanding because maybe it's not callous in some cases, but it's a lack of understanding they don't understand. And they're like, why are you spending so much time in the bathroom? Why are you washing your hands 50 times why are you doing will do and they get irritated. And they don't understand that this OCD is something that needs to be treated in a different manner. It needs to be treated with love and compassion. And also, by the way, sometimes it needs a type of medication as well. And again, you need to go to a psychiatrist, it's not my area to tell you, you know the specifics of this, but
definitely go to a trained therapist, for some people, for some people, certain types of medications keeps the OCD in check. So you need to ask find out what is possible. Also, another advice that is given is that set achievable goals, very small, incremental, achievable goals. For a simple example, suppose that on average, you're spending half an hour in the bathroom doing will do over and over and over again, okay? Make it your goal that okay, and you're washing yourself, let's say you know, 10 times every limb, okay? Make it your goal that I'm never going to wash 10 times I'm going to bring it down to let's say five times, if it ever happens again, five times, don't think you're
gonna go from 10 to one overnight, it might not happen or maybe from 10 to eight even set your goal that I'm never going to go more than this. Okay? Then when you get to that goal, thank Allah subhanho wa Taala and then try to minimize even more. So work in increments. Work in a goal that is reasonable for you that's possible for you to do once you get it Alhamdulillah that's an achievement you've unlocked an achievement right from there, you reward yourself you do something that is halal permissible that you make yourself happy you thank Allah subhanho wa taala. And then you set the next goal and then the next goal and then the next goal until finally you are at least in that one
act. And again, you start maybe one act at a time suppose you have this OCD complex and multiple areas, maybe it's not possible to simultaneously do all of them. So concentrate on one for example will do Okay, so construction on the window and say that insha Allah my goal is that day by day, week by week, I'm going to minimize the OCD when I'm doing well do so that insha Allah Allah by a set number, whatever you put the number in your head, you calculate it out, you know best what's what's going to work for you. And then you have a you know, Coach, if you like in your house, somebody that's supportive, and you then report to them, they're going to work with you and you set
these realistic goals and inshallah to Allah it will also help in this regard. Also, many therapists advise keeping a journal as well a private journal, a personal journal, where you share your thoughts so that later on when you read them, you realize okay, you know what, next time I don't need to do that. So take a personal journal, and you express how you feel. And these days of course, there's so many ways even you can write it up and you know, lock the file put a password on it, so only you can read your personal thoughts because that also helps to bounce your ideas off of yourself so that in sha Allah Allah you can minimize
As this complex of continually, you know, doing the same act over and over again. So that's another thing that can be done. Also may I also advise one other thing, and that is to listen to lots of Quran to listen to Quran, I have also dealt with cases of this nature where reading the Quran and listening to the Quran actually helped the OCD. Therefore try your best to have the Quran playing in the background, and maybe even put on your earphones. When you are even doing will do for example, you know, in this case, inshallah is permissible, because it's going to be in the earphones, you put your earphones on, and you listen to some recitation of the Quran. I've had cases where when they
listen to the Quran, the OCD goes down a lot, which actually indicates that in that particular case, the OCD was coming not even from them, it was coming from Shaytaan. So they're completely, you know, they have nothing to do with that. So all of this is some of the techniques that you can use. And most importantly, don't lose hope. Don't feel anything negative or bad. You are not a bad person for having OCD or with Ebola, you're normal in your own way. And I'm normal in my own way, you know, what is normal for you might not be normal for me, what is normal for me might not be normal for you, Allah created all of us in different ways. And you have certain things you're struggling with,
I have certain things I'm struggling with, and you know, perhaps in conquering your struggles, you have the opportunity to rise much higher than me and anybody else. So Allah has given you a task that he hasn't given me. And perhaps in conquering that task, perhaps you are going to rise to higher heights that I can possibly go to. So don't view it as an impediment, view it as a challenge that Allah has also given you the tools to conquer why because Allah says in the Quran, that you can live Allahu nevsun Illa Wasaga Allah does not bear a soul more than a burden than it can possibly carry. So any burden you have and OCD is a type of burden, any burden that you have, Allah is
telling us in the Quran, that he knows you have the strength to conquer it, he knows you're able to overcome it. If he did not know this, if it was not true, you would not be in the situation. In other words, the fact that you are in this situation indicates Allah knows you can conquer the situation. Allah knows you have it in you to be able to rise up to the challenge and to be able to overcome this OCD. So again, remember dear brother and sister that you don't feel bad or guilty, you are not leaving the faith and coming back and you are not constantly having to do will do no, this is all from Shaytaan and it's not from you do what needs to be done the proper way. And then try
your best to eliminate all other thoughts. Definitely you do not have to act upon those thoughts even if they come like I said, the goal is not necessarily elimination if you're able to that's great, but try your best to eliminate but if you're not able to eliminate go ahead and accept the thought but then conquer the action, conquer the action and say I'm not going to act upon this and realize as I said that earlier you know Daya Zulu Bishop What is certain is not going to be gotten rid of by that which is doubtful, turn to Allah make dua to Allah subhana wa Taala and in sha Allah Who to Allah insha Allah to Allah a bit by bit slowly but surely, you will be able to overcome your
OCD to the point of your life becoming as normal as possible. hamdulillah and that is really the goal. May Allah azza wa jal make it easy for you.
Our next question, brother Ahmed from Montreal, asks, Montreal is of course, the beautiful French city of Canada, where the people are. French Canadians have been there many, many times and they're well known for many things, including their shawarma, they say they have the best showroom and all over North America. So that's a shout out to the shawarma places of Montreal. So rather I'm at from Montreal asks that he's been doing some research about theology, and he has a very technical question. He says what is the difference between the decree of Allah and the will of Allah, meaning the other of Allah and the Kabbalah of Allah, the cutter and the Kabbalah, Kabbalah and the other he
says, What is the difference between Kabbalah and cada?
So this is a very good and very technical question and a very interesting one. And he is basically wanting to know what are these different terms that are mentioned in the Quran and the Sunnah? Because we learned there are six pillars of iman. And the sixth pillar is to believe in our product and Kado. And the Quran uses both of these terms. So for example, Allah says in the Quran, in color che in Calico now who because we have created everything with other, we have created everything with other therefore the word other is used. And in another verse, Allah says in the Quran, through magic to Allah, through Magetta, Allah cardarine Musa, then you came with Kadar, oh Musa, that Musa, you
came to tourists Aina you came to mA
To You came here upon Allah SCADA when it was decreed in Destin, so these are terms that are other and then we also have the term Allah so for example in the term in the, the verse pertaining to the Battle of Allah Subhana Allah to Allah says, While Otowa tomb lacked enough to fill me, de Walla Kinley Jacobi, Allahu Amana kind of buffer with Ali Jacobi Allah. Allah says to the Muslims, if you had attempted to work out a time and place to meet, if you had attempted to schedule the Battle of whether what time were place, what location all the logistics Allah says, you would never have agreed. But Allah Allah Allah had already decreed that on the 17th of second year of the age of 78
of Ramadan, in the second year of the Hijra in the plains above that the two armies would meet, they did not know Allah knew. They did not control Allah control, they did not set the appointment time, while Otowa to Lakhta left home fill me ad, even if you both promised and attempted to, you would not have been able to live up and you would not have agreed to when and where and how well actually Jaco the Allahu Amaran Kanima for Allah. But Allah, Allah, Allah came, and it was already decreed, and therefore it was enacted. So we have over here in the Quran, the term called law and the term other and the both of them are mentioned in the context of divine destination. Now, predestination
and of course, I mean, obviously the question did not ask about predestination, but obviously it should be understood that we believe in Allah, Allah and Potter is one of the six pillars of iman. And it is something that hamdulillah all Sunni Muslims agree upon one of the definitive characteristics of all the Sunnah. Wajima is that we believe in Kedah, which means that everything that happens happens with the knowledge of Allah, the will of Allah, the power of Allah, the execution of Allah, not to leave falls, except that ALLAH knows. And Allah wills that it will fall. It's not just a knowledge, it is also the willing of ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala that nothing happens in
the dominion of Allah without the permission, and also without the decree of Allah subhana Horta either to claim otherwise is to claim our will Billa that God is an impotent God that God does not control his own creation. No, we believe that Allah controls everything. And nothing happens in the dominion of the King of kings, except that the king not only knows it, but has given permission for it and has granted his execution and has willed that it is going to occur. All of this is mainstream, you know, believe there is no controversy at all, amongst all the Sunni groups over the primary issues of the other and the color of Allah subhanho wa taala. But the question was not over
the realities of other The question is, what is the difference between Kabbalah? And other? Believe it or not the answer to this question, the answer to this question is not simple. It is something that has been
a bit of a controversy in a trivial sense in the sense that there is not much to gain from the difference of this nonetheless, you find difference of opinion. So we have for the for the purposes of this answer. I'll just summarize it in three different opinions and then share some thoughts. First and foremost, the first opinion is that called law and other are absolutely synonymous, that they are both the same thing that we don't have to worry about what each one is a technical difference, because they are synonymous and of course, in every single language, sometimes you have multiple words to describe the same, the same concept or the same entity and of course, these are
called synonyms. So, according to one group of scholars Kudla and Kadar are simply two words that indicate the same concept and the reason why you would have two words in the Arabic language, each word is bringing something different to the table and so called law for example, the term cada the term other means to have power over something, the term other means to decrease something and the term Allah means to carry something out and also means to decrease. So either has an element of the knowledge of power, and Allah has an element of carrying something out, and the both of them have the connotation of decreeing something, okay. So, either Hadera means to to to make a decision, and
to make a binding resolution and Kaga also means to make a decision and to make a binding resolution. So Allah was harder and Allah has called up indicate that Allah azza wa jal has decided something and Allah is going to execute that decision and Allah will will it and Allah knows it. So some have said it is completely synonymous. Therefore that is one opinion. Another opinion says that Allah is before
Other and that is that, that Allah is Allah's Will before the creation that Allah azza wa jal knows and Allah subhanho wa Taala has written down in the local mifold and that is Kabbalah. And then when it occurs when it is manifested, that is other, okay so Kaaba is in the knowledge of Allah and Kabbalah is written in the local mifold and Kabbalah is written, you know, in the with with the scribes of the angels, and then when it comes into existence, it is other and this is a position that some have said, is a majority position, and even hedger has a modification of this and his fertile body had been hijacked says that the cabal is a human coolie and he maliphant Sal, the cabal
is the totality of all of a laws decisions that are pre eternal, okay, the Kaaba is the totality the sum total and the Kadar is every single, you know, miniscule issue that is then coming from the totality. So, the other is the manifestation on the daily basis of the Kava. So, anything that happens of this of the you know, daily life occurrences, this would be the cover, and all of the other put together is the corridor. So, this is the position of a half an Ibn hedger, which you can see is a modified second position, it basically it means the same thing except that what he's saying is that Cobalt is all of the totality of Allah's knowledge and knowledge is Allah's writing down and
then other is going to be that every single particular incident that takes place, so a person is born, a person passes away, a person loses a job, a person is blessed with this a person who gets married a person, another one's in the accident, that all of that each one of those is the cutter and then all of it put together will be the cabal of ALLAH SubhanA wa taala. And of the evidence that evidence is that is used by the scholars of this position is the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that nothing changes other except dua, nothing changes other except DUA and what is meant by other here are the actual occurrences that a sick person dying or being cured,
what is going to happen, perhaps something has already been decreed nothing will change that coder except dua. So again, this is one opinion. Now, some have said the exact opposite. Some have said what we just said the second opinion was the third opinion is the exact opposite. And that is that the other is the pre eternal and the Kabbalah is the Daily Execution. So basically flip it around, and you get position number three, and this is the position of many scholars, including my own teacher beneath me and a lot humble that he said when he was asked this question that what is the difference between Cobra and huddle, he will say the two are synonymous, when used separately, now
listen to this year, when used separately, we will think they're the same thing. But when we put them next to each other, and we say elbow and Kadar, then each one takes on one meaning that put together is going to be the total meaning of both sums, okay. And therefore, he said when used together Carder is what Allah has written in the pre eternality and called law is the occurrence of that other is what Allah has written in pre eternity and COBOL is the manifestation or the occurrence which is literally the exact opposite view of what had been hedged yourself. But again, you know, this is just another opinion out there. And this is mentioned in a hadith that
caught the Allahu macabre holiday that Allah Tada Allah wrote the cover of all of the macabre deal of the Creation before He created the creation by 50,000 years. So, this position says that the Kadar is the pre eternal and the Kabbalah is what is happening on a daily basis. Now, in reality, in reality, for all practical purposes, the difference is semantic. What does that mean? It means the difference does not bring about any major change the difference does not really change the understanding of Cobo and other and the main point is that we believe in Allah's knowledge, and that Allah subhanaw taala has written down in the local food and also when we are in the wombs of our
mothers that Allah has written down, what is going to happen that Allah subhanho wa Taala has willed, when the thing is going to happen, Allah's Will that it is going to happen, and that nothing happens without the will and the mushiya and the errata of Allah subhanho wa Taala along with of course the knowledge that we ourselves are given a type of of power and a type of mushiya that allows us to do what we are doing. In other words, and I don't want to go down the issue of the concept of other and maybe another q&a. I've already spoken about this in other lectures, but people always have questions and maybe
They'll do another tangent about the issue of other. But to summarize our philosophy about color, it's actually very straightforward. Okay, listen to this carefully
as Muslims, for all practical purposes in the decisions that we make, we act as if we are free agents in our actions, we act as if we have free will. Yet we believe theologically that Allah is in full control, and that ALLAH knows and that nothing happens without the knowledge and the decree and the will of Allah subhanho wa taala. So when it comes to actions, we live as if we have free will. We cannot blame anything. When I decide to do something. I cannot blame other unclutter my actions we act as if we have free will. Because it's some sense we do have that. And yet, in our beliefs, and in our iman and in our athletes, we firmly believe that Allah is radical Mulk and Allah is in
charge, and nothing happens without the knowledge and without the will of Allah subhana wa Tada. So that is our in a nutshell how we deal with this issue of Allah and other. And in reality, the difference between the two doesn't really bring about any change in our philosophy. So for all practical purposes, we can assume that the two are synonymous. Some have said one precedes the other. And whichever position you hold, it doesn't change the fact that kava and powder are used in a way that is interchangeable, because even if you say one precedes the other, in reality, the two are intertwined together, and the two necessitate each other, even if you separate the concepts and
the meanings, and therefore for all practical purposes, we can use them as synonyms. And I hope that that answers this question.
Our final question for today, Sister Shiva or Shiva emails and says that her mother has passed away in Ella one erode your own, and she wants to do something for her on a regular basis. And she is saying that the easiest thing for me to do is to recite the Quran, but she has been getting conflicting opinions about whether this is permissible or not. So she asks what what is the position that is the correct position with regards to reciting the Quran for her mother.
First and foremost, my condolences for your loss, we ask that Allah subhanaw taala grant your mother full dose and forgives her sins, and gives you and all of your loved ones suburb. Also, I'm very happy to hear actually that you want to do something regular. It really made me happy to read this phrase in your email, because all too often somebody passes away. And well, sometimes relatives do nothing. And sometimes they want to do one off and that's good. I'm not discouraging that. But our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that the most beloved of all good deeds to Allah is that which is consistent and regular, even if it is small. So I was very happy to hear that you want to
start something regular, to do something for your mother. And that shows insha Allah to other the love that you have for her. It shows you a dutiful daughter. And it shows that you have a commitment in sha Allah, that you will continually give back to your mother even as she gave unto you when she was alive. So this is very good. And I love that spirit. And I ask all of us to think about when our loved ones pass on that we do something, even if it's small, something regular for them. So that's very, very good. Now, you asked that you wanted to use specifically asked you wanted to recite the Quran. However, let me just take a step back and say that obviously you can do a lot more before we
get to the issue of the Quran that is explicitly mentioned in the Hadith. And I have given a much more detailed lecture about this. In one of the final episodes of my Bozak series if you can I forgot the number I think it is eight or nine I forgot. But I given a lot of details I went to a lot of details over every single Hadith that is mentioned about what can you do for the deceased, explicitly what is mentioned and I went over, making dua for the deceased and making it still far for the deceased and giving charity on behalf of the disease. And in particular, building Wells is also mentioned literally explicitly on behalf of the deceased and performing Hajj and also
performing O'Meara and also sacrificing an animal and gifting the reward of that meat to the deceased. And also visiting the relatives and the friends of your of your mother or of your loved one that you would regularly that you would typically not visit but you only visit because as a memory of you know, your mother. So all of this is explicitly mentioned in the prophetic narrations and even if you decide to go beyond this, which is again we're gonna get to that issue. Please also do these things whatever you can do every once in a while so that you are also doing all of this variety. Now. You are asking specifically about the issue of reciting the Quran. And the the the
controversy which has been a very minor controversy for Islamic history is
legal nature controversy throughout all of Islam up until modernity, the controversy comes as follows. That our Prophet Sall, Allahu Allah, he was seldom gave 789 various things that can be done for the deceased. Sometimes he offered himself when a man came and says, What can I do? He said, Yes. Make dua make us that far. And sometimes the person asked him on Messenger of Allah, I want to give charity on behalf of my mother, may I do so? So the point is that put together we have a list of things that are mentioned in the Hadith. Oh, that's clear so far. Okay. The question arises, is that list exhaustive? Or is that list representative? Do you understand the difference? If that list
is exhaustive, then you put a full stop, and you say nothing more can be done. And that's it. However, if the list is representative, then what it means is that we can look at that list. And then based upon what we see, we can add other things that are of a similar nature to what is already on the list. Okay, so now and again, I've spoken about this in a lot more detail in one of my lectures on the buzzer, I will simply summarize, because I need to also mention this concept in the q&a series that we're doing over here. So I hope that inshallah if you are really interested, you can go to the more academic discussion in the, in the in the berserk series, which is online. Now,
to summarize the response.
The majority of scholars, from the earliest of times have considered this list to be representative, and not definitive, not exhaustive. And the reasons for this are self evident of them is that various people are asking different things of the prophets, Allah, Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and every time anybody asked him anything, he said, Yes. Now, if only that thing was allowed, then the response should have been, oh, you're only supposed to do this and not anything else. But however, every time somebody comes, one person wants to do hedge, another person wants to build a, you know, a, well, I know the person wants to give charity, and every time somebody comes, my mother died, my
father died, I will do this every time he says, Yes, you may. Yes, you may. Yes, you may. So it is as if the concept of gifting one's good deeds is being affirmed. And not that the list is being made exhaustive, right. And so from this, we have from the four schools of Sunni law, from the very beginning of times, two of them have allowed basically all good deeds, and two of them attempted to restrict it, but even they, in the end, ended up allowing it therefore, the mainstream position of all four schools of Sunni law, from all of the giants of of their traditions is that it is permissible to gift the recitation of the Quran to the deceased. And this is again, I can go over so
many quotations. The Hanafi school has always allowed this from the beginning of time in Aberdeen writes in his hasha, that the Imam will Cassani one of the earliest scholars of the Hanafi madhhab died 587 that Imam Al khair. Sunni says that it doesn't matter whether you give a gift, even to the living or to the dead, and you may give intend to give the gift before you do the deed. And you may even intend to give the gift after you do the deed it is all permissible to do in other words, the Hanafi school basically looked at a good deed, as if it is a type of currency in the eyes of Allah. And that once you have that currency, you may then choose just like if you have money, you can give
it to anybody you want. So you have a good deed that you've done. You may then gift it to anybody whom you want living or dead, and you may make dua to Allah that Oh Allah, this camera that I did gift it to so and so Oh Allah, this charity I gave gifted to so and so and that is your prerogative because in the end of the day, you yourself did that deed. And
the same goes for the Shafi school the earlier shafr is were a bit strict Imam Shafi himself, by the way, did not allow, you know, the gifting of the Quran from the Philippine perspective, however, imam in no way comes along, you know, five centuries after Imam Shafi and said that, you know, the more prominent position is that, yes, the Quran should not be recited for the deceased. However, a group of scholars of our madhhab did allow that the Quran be gifted and this is also the position of Imam Muhammad dibny humbled and this is the position also of the data left of Egypt, which is the primarily of obviously Shafi in madhhab. And also the sad scholars of our times and the Syrian
scholars of our times which are all shot for a scholars that by and large they are now saying that it is completely permissible to gift one's good deeds to the deceased no problem. So this is the shot very position as well. The magic is as well again, there's you find opinions on both sides, however, the majority of them
Allow the gifting of the recitation of the Quran and of good deeds to other people. And this is very clear. So, the famous the Maliki scholar ama did. He writes in his chakra matassa Helene, that appeared on the later Maliki scholar said, there is no problem in gifting the recitation of the Quran and even vicar and in making all of it the swab or the good deeds going to the diseased and the diseased shall get the reward. And this is the position of all of the righteous people and the famous quote to be scholar Imam Al Khor to be from Cordoba, Spain, the famous Imam will go to be he also said that reciting the Quran whether it is done, you know, at the graveyard or it is done
afterwards that the recitation of the Quran is going to get the swab will go to the deceased and giving charity the federal go to the CS and making is still far all of these, the throw up or the good deeds will go to the deceased. And this is the position of the majority of the Maliki scholars, so much so that in our times, this is the default, the humbly scholars The irony is that they were the only group that goes from laxity to strictness. So the earlier humbly scholars it is very clear that they allowed the gifting of the Quran Imam Muhammad is very explicit on this point he allowed the gifting of the Quran even Kodama democracy, even Kodama, he says that any good deed that is
done, can be gifted to the diseased, any Muslim can gift any good deed to another Muslim, and in sha Allah, Allah it will benefit that Muslim and he explicitly mentioned in the Quran Quran that if the Quran is recited over the person while he's about to pass away, or even afterwards, and the swab is going to be gifted to him, that inshallah to Allah that we hope for him, that it is going to reach him. And he says that there is unanimous consensus of all the Muslims of every single land and of every single timeframe that they would gather together and they would recite the Quran and they would intend to reward that recitation to their deceased and nobody would criticize them for doing
this. This is the famous humbly scholar even Kodama in his book and more honey, you can look this up volume two page 225. And the same goes for remember booty in cash shuffle. Pena, he mentioned that this is the well known position of Imam Muhammad that all good deeds reach the disease. And
this is something that has been done in all places and times that people read the Quran for the disease, and no one has said that this is incorrect. So he says this is like there is EEG monitor is unanimous consensus. What is interesting is that this was also the position of Ibn Taymiyyah and ignore him explicitly. It is very, very clearly the position of both the giant Ibn Taymiyyah and his students ignore em that even Tamia right, it has been affirmed that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam allowed sadaqa and allowed fasting for the disease. And all of these evidences are used by Imam Muhammad to allow gifting other good deeds like salah, and like Quran to be given also to
disease, however, had been Tamia then adds a very good point, he says, that it should be known that it was not from the general custom of the early generations that every time they prayed, or every time they recited the Quran, or every time they fasted hedge, that they would give their the seeds to their deeds to all of the deceased or even those close to them. And the best method is to follow the early generations. In other words, what he is saying is, don't go overboard. Every time you read the Quran, you don't say give the gift to somebody else. Every time you give charity, you don't say, you know, give the gift to somebody else that should not be done. Rather, you choose wisely. And
like you say yourself that you want to give something regularly to your mother. So every you know, day, maybe read a few minutes of Quran for your mother and the rest for yourself, you know, so make sure you have your own good deeds as well. And Abraham, he has a very lengthy passage in his famous book, Kitab, Rafi, the book of the soul. And he actually has around seven pages in my edition, where he discusses this controversy. And he goes over all of the evidence is that this is completely permissible. And he says that all of these texts, they simply prove that the rewards of any good deed reach the dead when the living does it for the dead. And this is what common sense and chaos
and analogy leads to because the reward belongs to the one who does it. And if he gives it that is his right, just like if you were to gift any money that he had to another person. In other words, again, the same philosophy that if you've done a good deed you've given $100 right for the sake of Allah, that's your good deed. If you choose to gift it to somebody else. That is your prerogative. If you have recited the Quran, you want to gift it to somebody else that is your prerogative. So this
says, if not pay him in his Kitab a row. And then he says, As for what some scholars and what he means here is the Martha Zilla that because the Morteza did not allow this, interestingly enough, and those who prohibited our time should think long and hard. Who exactly are they following? When he mama didn't maintain, we have no claim. And pretty much all of the format of our times are saying this, who exactly are they following in their claims? So he explicitly mentions some of the arguments that other non Sunni groups use, including the verse in the Quran, will lay son in insanity Illa Messiah, that no soul shall earn anything except what it itself has done. And he
mentions that, yes, the verse of course, is valid. However, you know, if somebody wants to gift, a good deed to another person, the only reason they would do this is because that person has benefited, the one who's gifting so it is a part of his good deeds. Why are you wanting to give to your mother, because she's done so much for you. So then Allah is saying what Allah said, Insanity Illamasqua. So your mother did something for you. Now you're giving that back to her. It doesn't go against the verse that the soul is not getting except what it has done, and asked for the famous Hadith, that when the son of Adam dies, all of his deeds come to an end, except for three, this
hadith is so easily explained, it is a misunderstanding by a very, very small group of scholars who claim that they're following the self. And in reality, they have gone against the unanimous consensus of the self. No group before this group that exists in our times has considered it an innovation to recite the Quran and gift it to the deceased, except for some amongst that strand of those who claim to follow the self. And of course, this is, as with many of their other opinions unprecedented in Islamic history. But the claim that the Hadith does not allow the gifting of good deeds, because the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said that when the son of Adam dies, then
everything is cut off from his deeds except for three. This hadith is very easy to explain, because the Hadith says he there must have been Adam in Ottawa Rama Lu who eliminated his good deeds, or her good deeds cut off, the Hadith has nothing to do with a third party, gifting good deeds to him. It's simply saying he can no longer accrue his own good deeds, except for three things that he's done in his lifetime, that even when he's gone, then his Amman will continue, the Hadith has nothing to do, it simply cannot be used in the entire arena of gifting. Because the Hadith does not negate that a third party can gift the Hadith only says his own deeds, he's not going to pray anymore. Okay,
that's very true. He's not going to get anything you know, good from from him what he has done. That's very true, except for the three things that even when he passes away, however, if another person gifts, then of course, that is something that has nothing to do with this particular Hadith. Now, of course, our sister is saying that she's confused because she's read some online controversies in this regard. And of course, you know, I have to be fair here. Yes, there is an opinion, which is unprecedented in Islamic history, as I said, so the permanent committee of scholars of Saudi Arabia, and its fatwa number 2232, they said that it is prohibited to recite the
Quran for the deceased, and that it does not reach the dead. And that in fact to do so, it is a bit or this is an innovation and shareholder money Allah Muhammad, he also said that it is only allowed for the children of the deceased to give the Quran to the parents, otherwise, no one else can gift to the deceased, and that's based upon his own, what is called vahidi or literalist also, that he did not allow anybody outside of the children to do so. So and this is the position also of other greater them, we love and respect them. There's not meant at all to denigrate them, some of them are my teachers, I love them immensely. Shahana with me and and others, I love them immensely for the
sake of Allah subhanho wa taala. But the truth is more beloved to us than any individual. And the fact of the matter is that I am not aware of any scholar, pre this movement, claiming that reciting the Quran for the deceased is an innovation in and of itself. True. Some scholars said it doesn't reach the dead. And that's the mama Shaeffer he said this, but he did not call it an innovation. It was a 50 issue for him was a legal issue. And for this movement to make it a theological one. There is no basis for this it is a legal issue. It has nothing to do with with the aspects of al Qaeda much less aspects of data. And in fact, as I said, all four schools of law have accepted this except
for this one strand that is that is a very prominent in our times and has a position that it's there and if you choose to follow it then
That's that's your prerogative and you can do all the other things. But it I think it is patently clear that the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, in this regard about gifting to the deceased, that it is not restrictive. Rather, it is indicative that essentially, the prophet system is allowing the gifting of good deeds to the deceased, because it is your prerogative, it's your good deed. However, even Tamia does have a very interesting point. And I think that that should be followed. And that is that we don't just go around gifting every single deed that we do. That doesn't make any sense. Every single time we opened up the Quran, we finished reciting it, we gift
it to somebody else, well, then what is going to be left for you because you realize a very good point, a very interesting point, you need to understand this, your brothers and sisters, the concept of gifting a good deed is literally like gifting money to somebody good deeds is the currency of Allah subhanaw taala. Imagine if you gave your money to everybody else, what would you have for yourself. So when we give to our mother, deceased parent, when we give to our father, when we give to an uncle a gift to anybody who's moved on in this world, and we give them a good deed,
we expect Allah to reward us more for the gift.
But technically, the gift itself is no longer in our possession. I hope you understand that point, right? Technically, if you read a juice of the Quran, and you shut the most half, and you said Oh Allah, give the reward of this restriction, my disease mother, excellent. You have taken all of that reward, and you have gifted it to your mother. And you want Allah to give you something different, and inshallah better for you. Then this recitation, but technically that recitation is not yours anymore. Now, can Allah give you the gift of that recitation, and more, of course, he can. A lot of Krishna.
But technically, the point is that you've gifted it to somebody else. Therefore, as Ibn Taymiyyah says, This is not something that is done for each and every gift for each and every good deed you choose, every once in a while you do something for somebody else, okay, no problem. But the concept of just gifting indiscriminately, it should not be that oh Allah give the restriction to every single Muslim in the world. That's not the point. The point it's a very weird, you just take your bank account and just throw it in the streets for everybody? No, it's precious to you, your good deeds are precious to you, you only give them to somebody who is more precious to you than those
good deeds, somebody who's impacted you more than you know, in a way that you need to repay. And that's why, you know, your parents are obviously the first that come to mind, if anybody has helped you in a way that you need to repay them, in the eyes of Allah subhanho wa taala. And therefore, choose this wisely, who you give to, and what you give to, and how often you gift, choose it wisely. And also, my position is that it is completely permissible to give the Quran even to me and have no claim says this. And really, those people who claim to be following these scholars, really, they need to think long and hard not just about this one issue, but in reality, much of their faith and
even aspects of their theology. They need to rethink through because they have broken away from the actual self and the mainstream scholars of Islam. This is the accusation that was made against them, it is somewhat true. But so my position is that it is allowed to gift, the Quran to the disease. All of that having been said, two points to conclude number one,
if you give the Quran excellent, but make sure you also do the things that are mentioned in the Hadith, Hajj, or Umrah dua, is still far sadhaka old here, building wealth, try to do all of those as well, and then do other things as well. And then point number two that I didn't discuss in this q&a, because we don't have time for that. The the issues that are surrounding the mechanisms of gifting, right, so the issue of you know, having particular customs or particular festivals, or congregational issues of everybody coming together, that opens up another gray area. And indeed, you know, we just quoted even Kodama who actually explicitly says that people would come together and
recite the Quran. So all of these that's another discussion altogether. I would say that the more specific we try to make these rituals, the more problematic it becomes, keep it generic, keep it open, keep it private is even better. But if people are coming together and gifting you know, the recitation of the Quran and of itself, it should not be made a big deal as even Kodama himself mentions that people would do this without any controversy. At the same time, the best method to follow is indeed, the method of the earliest generations. And we don't have any specific days or specific routines to do this. It is definitely safer and it will avoid any controversy. Nonetheless,
if a person a family that is grieving does have
The day that people are going to come to read the Quran without anything extravagant taking place without anything that is clearly under Slavic taking place, then this has been the practice and the custom of the bulk of the Ummah, as these scholars have said in all centuries and in all places, and it is something that in and of itself, even if I don't encourage it, I do not find any reason to problematize it as well. If it is done in a manner that is simply reading the Quran, and that's it, then we let his be and don't make any controversy. Well, if somebody's passed away, it's not the time to implement your version of what you think is the Sunnah. Nothing wrong is going on. At the
end of the day, people are coming together to read the Quran. I mean, subhanAllah I mean, even if you disagree, you don't have to go if you really feel that way, you don't have to go. But you don't have to cause a controversy at this point in time. Because, again, it's only a very, very, very small group of modern scholars who have problematize this otherwise, their own predecessors of the humbly tradition did not problematize this of the Maliki tradition of the Hanafi tradition. All of these great scholars, we find exquisite quotes in this regard. So those that are doing these Quran, readings for the disease, they have lots of precedents in early Islam, they have greater Allameh
that they are quoting and they have the practice of the Ummah, as even Kodama says, without any Nikhil, without any criticism, people in every asset and Mr. Every land in every club place are doing this, and it is the accepted customer who T says it is as if there is a drama on this issue, that it is permissible, so respect them. And if you have a different position, you may respect yourself and your own opinion by not participating in that matter and following your own position but understand that the positions of the aroma have been different than what you're adopting and agree to disagree in this regard. In the end of the day, Allah Subhana Allah knows best and we ask
Allah for hidayah and to feel and with that we come to the conclusion of today's q&a. I will see you in sha Allah Tada all next week was salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato. What Goro Lawler fee a yamming
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