Anas bin Malik reported that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said delivered a Khutbah to us the like of which I had never heard from him before. He said,
"If you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much”.
Thereupon those present covered their faces and began sobbing. [Agreed upon]
What did the Prophet ﷺ mean?
In other words: If your knowledge regarding the facts related to Allah, the Day of Judgement, etc. reached the degree of certainty, it would affect your behavior. You would become a different person, and behave differently from the way you're behaving now.
E.g. If one knows that the Dunya is perishable, will come to an end, and all the enjoyment in it is deceiving and not real, how will he behave? Will he fight for this world? Will he make it his utmost goal? He would look at this world as if it were nothing. If he loses anything in it, he wouldn't feel upset.
But our problem is that our knowledge is weak and hasn't reached the level of certainty. It's just mere information in our heads.
We have to be able to distinguish between two matters:
1) المعرفة - This is just general information; superficial knowledge. Most people nowadays don't want to stay ignorant, and just want to have an idea about what's going on here and there, so they know about everything superficially. This isn't the kind of knowledge the Prophet ﷺ is referring to in the Hadith.
2) العلم - This is certain knowledge which is established in the heart.
E.g. Every Muslim knows they will die one day and meet Allah. But everyone's attitude regarding this fact differs, according to how much knowledge is established in his heart.
The person who believes with certainty feels like he is on a journey in this world, and that he's going to meet Allah one day. He doesn't waste his time and life, and takes every opportunity to come closer to Allah. He avoids sinning and yearns to meet Allah. He is not concerned about the people, what they say, and do. He focuses on himself. This is the result of knowledge reaching the degree of certainty in his heart.
E.g. People who attend the class say, "Allah is الرزاق. He is the One providing for me, the One who distributed the رزق amongst everyone before the creation of the heavens and earth"
This is very good speech. But when this person goes through a situation where Allah grants something he wants to someone else, he feels bad. Where is your speech about Allah الرزاق?
E.g. The teacher asked a question and both you and another student answered. Your teacher acknowledges the other student and not you. You feel bad. But even this is a رزق from Allah.
These are examples of simple, minor situations we go through in life. Allah is showing us that our belief in Allah, الرزاق, has not reached the level of certainty. You would have not felt envy, and if you did you would immediately rebuke yourself.
It's so easy to speak, but when we go through situations we realize that knowledge didn't reach the degree of certainty in our hearts.
E.g. We know Allah is الرحيم، الغفور.
But how many times do we ask Allah to forgive our sins per day? We make excuses for ourselves and think, "...I didn't commit a sin today, so I don't need to ask.."
Our إستغفار is weak. The Prophet ﷺ would ask Allah to forgive him a hundred times in one sitting, and we aren't better than him.
E.g. I know that Allah is الملك. He is the One who disposes the affairs of the whole universe. He is العليم، الحكيم.
But whenever I plan for something, and it doesn't go according to the way I wanted, I feel bad. If I truly believed in these names of Allah, I would feel content, because whatever Allah writes for me is the best. He knows what suits me.
E.g. I know that Allah is السميع، البصير. Nothing is hidden from Him. This should make me increase in remembering Allah and talking to him secretly. This should change my behaviour; it should reform me.
We say things but we're acting contrary to it. This indicates that we aren't truthful. The names of Allah haven't reached the degree of certainty in our heart.
You may attend a lecture and say that you already know what the lecturer is talking about, but your heart doesn't get affected. The problem isn't in the lecture or the lecturer, it's in the heart of the person. Your heart is busy being occupied with the Dunya, that's why there's no room for knowledge to affect you.
When the Prophet ﷺ said, "If you knew what I know, you would laugh little and weep much", what did he know?
He knew about three matters:
1) The Reality of the Dunya
He used to say "اللهم لا عيش الا عيش الآخرة"
2) The Unseen Matters
He knew about Allah, the Day of Judgement, the Angels, the Qadar. And the greatest of all unseen matters is Allah.
3) The Future
All of are going to face the agony of death, the trials of the grave, the judgement day, the questioning of Allah, Hell, Paradise.
How much do we know about it? How much did our knowledge reach the degree of certainty that it's as if we can see Paradise and the hereafter in front of our eyes?
It's important to note that whenever the Prophet ﷺ said, "If you know what I know, you'll laugh little and weep much" it doesn't mean we have to turn our life into misery and always be sad and frowning. Taking life seriously doesn't mean you can't smile. The Prophet ﷺ would always smile, and smiling is a charity. He ﷺ wouldn't laugh much - but would smile all the time.
So don't misunderstand the statement of the Prophet ﷺ. He means that we should deal with the Dunya differently and have knowledge which will help us reach that state.
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