Zakariyya Harnekar – Naseehah Hadith contagion and pandemics 14th March 2021
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The speaker discusses the importance of overpiatism and over adherence to ritual acts in Islam, as it is a natural way of life. They read a Hadith book on the issues of overemphasism and discuss the importance of acceptance of Islam's charity and concession. They emphasize the need to maintain a balance between pursuing Islam's dispensational rules and not sinning, and to learn from the book in shaping one's idea of living as a person. They also discuss the importance of fasting, delaying fasting, and shaping one's idea of living as a person.
AI: Summary ©
Once again,
welcome to the second years to, our
the best class again.
And
Which hadith did you discuss last week?
Was it this one?
No. I don't think we actually even got
into this, Harish.
Last week, we were discussing
I think we were discussing the importance
of,
you
know, having our ethical epistemology or how we
define good and bad
be directly related to
the sources of Islam, the Quran, and Sunnah.
We don't try to,
overstate
the role of our own intellect in that
process.
At least we,
in reality, be guided by our rather than
our,
rather than
our That that should we were discussing
last week, if I remember correctly.
What what I wanted to discuss
this week
is the idea of overpiatism.
What do I mean by that?
Is it possible
that a person can be too pious?
You tell me.
Yes,
Yes, Because
we have
We have a known we have a we
have a yes.
Like like,
we find in the other religions like these
monks that that just wants to go in
complete seclusion
and cut themselves off from the world. You
still have to engage with the dunya.
Right.
K. That's a good example. And I'm sure,
since the Saburo said no as a different
explanation.
That's exactly what I was gonna get to.
Depends on how depends on how you define
Pateo Taco.
What I'm speaking about here is,
maybe, the concept of
of over adherence to
ritual acts.
And so
I wanted to just touch on on on
this idea,
that
it is possible
to over overly emphasize
the ritual acts of worship,
and then become
hardened by that,
and think that that's piety.
But in reality,
that's not the case. And, look, I mean,
this book that we're taking is a hadith
from
a clean from fate to fate. It's a
hadith book. It's essentially a compilation of
of hadith.
It's a it's a compilation of hadith
that deal with
medicine,
pandemics,
taking precaution, and stuff like that.
So so how does this topic tie in
with that? The topic ties in in that
the topic ties in
in that
sometimes
people get the idea
that
we must have,
or we must live
against the means that Allah
created.
We must live against the means that Allah
created
in our expression
of, of our piety, and that is, in
fact, what Allah wants from us.
So
I must
I must give up everything
of the dunya
in in my attempt to be abstinent,
or I must,
I must just engage in a ritual acts
of worship.
There's this idea that that
there is this idea
that exists in the minds of people, and
it it it's actually one of the clues
of shaitan
to
stand the audine.
I see a a question.
Religiosity.
Is that asking
what the word religiosity
means? Or
Like,
the
is that the is that the question you're
asking? Religiosity would do translate in Arabic to
the word
like adherence to
to religion
or adherence
to aspects of religion.
Yes. No. I'm just above what I'm not
doing. I was thinking is is that overemphasis
on on rituals,
in the sense of religiosity
differing from,
piety?
Yes. Yes. You you you couldn't say so.
Yes. Like, it's a it's a over religiosity.
Or in Arabic, the word would be
There's a difference between
and Like, once the deen,
the way of life of Islam, the all
encompassing, the world view,
the,
the philosophy,
the law, the beliefs,
the the the ethics, all of that forms
part of the of of Al Islam. That
is
like the implementation
of that,
or the adherence of people to that. And
that's what what may
may define. There's so people making things wrong.
So
so I was still indicating, you know, why
is this chapter even, in this book? The
chapter is in the book because people sometimes,
they feel that you have to have a
that you have to have almost,
almost irrational
are
almost irrational
adherence to the
faith. And that's not what Islam calls for.
We never
the
have the idea that the Sharia never tells
you to do something that is irrational.
It may transcend
your rationality, but it's not irrational.
It doesn't go against rationality.
And and so when we understand that, we
understand that, you know, to love
whilst taking medicine,
whilst taking precautions,
you know, do things
systematically.
That's part of our deen. And and that's
all that Allah
really requires from us. We have a very
natural way of life.
We have a natural way of life. It
doesn't
overemphasize
one thing beyond its scope. The only you
know, there's few things
that there is that there should be, like,
an unfitted focus on. But those are actually
the forces that balance.
For example,
the remembrance of Allah, just as you were
speaking about, or belief in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala, cognizance of Allah. That's something you can
never have enough of.
You can never have enough of that.
Why? Because it is that consciousness of Allah,
that cognizance of Allah, that actually balances you,
that causes you to live according to the
Sharia, which brings about balance.
You can never get enough of that.
You you you can never get enough of,
of having the right will or the right
balance of of of sober and shukr.
There is no there is no such,
there is no such thing as a toxic
amount of good thought in all. Unless, obviously,
now you you are using that to to
justify sin.
But in retrospect, there isn't any there isn't
any,
amount of that that is that's too much.
So, yeah, we have some a hadith today.
Then what I'm gonna do here is, I'm
gonna read a few Hadith, and we will
discuss them later on.
So we first I have the first Hadith
here.
And when I command you with some command,
means to approach you, to come do something.
So he says,
come,
or come,
or bring from it, produce from it, do
from it. Do of it,
what you are
able to ma that which
is from the 10th verb
from the 10th verb, right?
The root is
and on the stethoscope, it means to have
ability,
to have capacity for something.
So what is what I also want to
say? When I prohibit you from something, stay
away from it. When I command you something
when I command you to do something, then
do what?
Do as much of it as you can.
This is not Rasool Islam is not saying
this for you to justify your laziness, right,
so that you can say, oh,
I can't make Churakash's attitude. It's too difficult
for me. No. No. No. You can do
that. You're justifying laziness.
Right?
But
when something is really beyond the pale of
your ability, then Allah doesn't expect it
from you. Allah doesn't expect it from you.
Allah doesn't expect us to read every one
of us to read a Khatam of Quran
everyday. Some people can do that. Very few
people can do
that. But Allah doesn't expect that from us.
For many peoples beyond the pale of the
ability.
So Rasool says, when I give you a
command, then do as much of it as
you are able to. And this is supported
by the Quranic ayah. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
says,
as much as you can.
In another hadith,
And this is actually what we're getting to.
This person,
he says
that I said to Omar,
right, I said to him
that the Quran is there. That's what part
of the hadith, but he's saying he's saying,
I said to him this verse, which is
a verse of Quran. What is the verse
say? There is no problem,
or there is no harm, there's no sin
upon you.
If you shorten the prayer,
if you fear
that those who disbelieve will attack you, place
you into a trial.
So the people
become safe on account of
Then Umar
tells, I became amazed by the same thing
that amazed you.
Right? I was amazed by this verse where
Allah says, if you fear that people are
gonna harm you,
then shorten your prayer.
If you fear that people are gonna harm
you, then there's no problem if you shorten
your prayer. Your salah, that most important thing.
Right? The first question or the first action
you're going to be asked about in the
grave. Allah says, if you fear that people
are gonna harm you,
then
shortly, you can shorten your prayers. No problem
with that.
And then people felt safe and they cut
it. Omar Adhan says,
the exact same thing that amazed you, oh,
You Allah, in that verse amazed me.
So I asked I asked Rasulullah salallahu alaihi
wa sallam and Dalek about it.
So Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam told me
That is a charity
that Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, gave to you.
So accept Allah's charity.
What he's saying? Allah made things light for
you.
Allah gave you a concession.
That's Allah's charity towards you. You're supposed to
give him 4 raka'at.
Allah says, it's okay. I'm writing I'm writing
off 2 of those raka'at. Accept Allah's charity.
There's difference of opinion amongst the whether you
have to accept a a dispensation
in the Sharia or concession.
When Allah when there's a standard rule,
and then Allah
creates a different rule in certain circumstances.
Is it better to follow the normal rule,
or to take the easier route?
A person with a mindset that no, I
have to,
you know, with with this this mindset of
overpythism,
they may think that I have to. They
may feel burdened, they have to do
more.
Usually, I make 4 rakat. How can I
make 2 rakat today?
The teaching of Rasulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was,
this is a charity
that Allah gave you. Accept Allah's charity.
You have to shorten your prayer.
In the in the Shaafi madam,
if you're traveling,
jama the Shaafi say you don't have to
make jama. There's difference of opinion, so
you don't have to make jammer. But as
for shorting the prayer, making your salah shorter,
it's most recommended
to shorten your prayer.
So what what is that saying?
It's saying it's better,
in that case, to make less salah, than
to make more salah.
It's better to make 2 raka'at,
instead of making 4 raka'at.
That's more pleasing to Allah.
Now, for many people that that may be
like counterintuitive, but I'm doing more, how can
it be better? No.
Piety isn't about
doing what you think you must do.
Piety is about maintaining the balance that Rasoolullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us.
Right? And that's extremely important. That's like, we're
going to the next
Allah loves
that his dispensations or his concessions are taken
just as he dislikes when you sin against
him.
Allah likes that so what's he saying? What's
his dispensation?
Is when Allah likens something or makes something
easier for you. Allah loves that you take
the easier route in that case.
Just as Allah detest that you sin against
him. You never, should never sin against Allah.
So similarly, you should take the dispensations that
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives to you.
Around the man, and there was shade covering
that man.
The man was being shaded by the by
the crowd.
Rasulullah said, what is this?
They said
he's a fasting person.
He's a fasting person. So you're on a
journey. Now because this one guy's fasting, everybody's,
like, traveling around him. Right?
They're shaded him.
Rasulullah What's this? They say it is
a passing person.
Rassulullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
It is not from piety
to fast while you are on travel.
It's not from piety
to fast while you are on travel.
Now, what's Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam saying? He's
telling you, this is beautiful, brilliant act of
worship.
There's details to this. Right? There's details to
this. If it's a fast, like,
where it's a specific day, like, for example,
the fast of Ashura.
That's a specific day with virtue, then you
can fast that day. But just a general
fast,
for the fast of Ramadan,
it's better to to delay you the fast.
What's the Rasoolullah
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam saying? He's telling you this
beautiful act of fasting. When you travel, don't
do
it. It's not it's not an act of
piety. It's a hadith from Bukhari.
If you think about all of these hadith
that we mentioned today,
it it for me, it's important in shaping
our idea of how we must live as
people.
Islam is not an unnatural way of life.
It's not an overburdensome
way of life.
Allah hasn't given us the Quran so that
we can become burdened,
that we can disape.
We
no. This Quran,
the sunnah of Rasulullah salallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Yes. There is a little bit of difficulty
to overcome the nafs to implement this deen,
but in reality, it's a easy deen.
It's a easy deen. Allah made the deen
easy for us.
Nobody makes this deen difficult except that he
it overpowers him. He becomes distant from it.
He dislikes it.
That's what Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us.
Nadine is easy. Nobody
makes the deen difficult
except that it overpowers him.
In another hadith, it's mentioned that Rasulullah wasalam,
he was never given 2 choices, except that
he chose the easy of those two choices.
It's not about seeking out difficulty.
Yes. There are times
when
in specific instances, where a person maybe has
a sickness, a sickness in,
and they need to to oppose that sickness
to remove it from themselves. For example, if
a person is miserly,
then for that person, it's good for him
to give a lot of charity.
It's good for him to give a lot
of charity. Now you may find that difficult,
but that's just to bring himself back to
an equilibrium,
to a point where he's neither miserly,
nor he's just wanting in spending his wealth.
But this deal is a gain of balance.
It's a gain,
not seeking out difficulty.
It's a natural way of life. So if
there's sickness, they take medicine. If there's harm,
they take precautions.
Allah doesn't expect more from you than that.
When there's concessions made, when Allah tells you
that the Mu'adhim must say it's raining too
hard, make salah at home.
Then make salah at home.
That's Allah making easy for you. Why would
you want to do something else? When Allah
says you're traveling, you don't have to fast.
Follow?
That is, in fact, piety.
That is, in fact, true piety.
When you recognize this natural balanced way of
life, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
make us truly appreciate this beautiful
natural way of life of, Alaihi Islam, that
Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
taught us and revealed to us in the
Quran. The Quran that guides us in every
way, that teaches us what is what is
natural, what is correct, and what is
it does not be like those
who try to make life difficult for themselves,
who try to complicate the deen,
and we were not able to fulfill that.
Allah mentions in the
Allah speaks about the monks.
And Allah says, you know,
they created this monasticism.
They
fabricated it from themselves, they made it up,
Allah didn't impose it upon them.
We did not prescribe it for them.
They did it seeking pleasure of Allah. They
had a good intention. They wanted to please
Allah, but they they decided to take a
cause that Allah didn't
impose upon them. They decided to
create this difficult path that Allah didn't prescribe
for them, and then Allah says,
They created that standard for themselves, and they
were not able to maintain it.
They were not able to fulfill its right.
May Allah
not make us like those people, rather
where people are gradually
progress, gradually,
improve ourselves. But we also realize that at
times,
it's time for fasting. At times, it's a
time for eating.
At times, it's a moment of praying the
night, and at times, it's a moment to
sleep in the night.
At times, it's a moment to be serious.
At times, it's a moment to be jolly
and jovial.
And inshallah, if we appreciate the natural way
of life, we will truly become
a people, a representative of a deen that
other people were inclined to. May Allah make
us that.
Question. Assalamu alaikum. I think I missed him.
I'll explain why these hadith, in this book
that is dealing with hadith and pandemic. Well,
the reason it's in this book is because
in the time of pandemic, there's certain dispensations
that come about. Like the fact,
or like the the idea was being promoted
of the fact that,
you you don't
have to stand
side by side with somebody in the prayer
when that's going to put your life in
danger. You don't have to attend the jama'a,
even when that's gonna pose some threat to
your life, then Allah
lightens the ruling.
So now, some people say, no.
When there's a harm when there's potential harm
in a place, the the shara'i ruling is
that I don't have to go and perform
jama'a salah. But they'll also say, no. But
we must we have to.
Rather, there is a dispensation there that Allah
gave you to salakah, so accept Allah salakah.
Don't try to be,
you know, don't become
like those people who prescribe for them themselves
that which Allah didn't prescribe for them. So
it was there to create a willingness
and an understanding
that when Allah creates these dispensations,
there is nothing wrong with taking them. In
fact, we should take them and appreciate them.
Right? I wanna pick up the old break,
so we're in there for now.