بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
5-1-1438
The Prophet ﷺ informed us of the acts of worship of a group of people (The Khawarij) who would appear towards the end of time:
يَخْرُجُ فِيكُمْ قَوْمٌ تَحْقِرُونَ صَلاَتَكُمْ مَعَ صَلاَتِهِمْ، وَصِيَامَكُمْ مَعَ صِيَامِهِمْ، وَعَمَلَكُمْ مَعَ عَمَلِهِمْ، وَيَقْرَءُونَ الْقُرْآنَ لاَ يُجَاوِزُ حَنَاجِرَهُمْ، يَمْرُقُونَ مِنَ الدِّينَ كَمَا يَمْرُقُ السَّهْمُ مِنَ الرَّمِيَّةِ، يَنْظُرُ فِي النَّصْلِ فَلاَ يَرَى شَيْئًا، وَيَنْظُرُ فِي الْقِدْحِ فَلاَ يَرَى شَيْئًا، وَيَنْظُرُ فِي الرِّيشِ فَلاَ يَرَى شَيْئًا، وَيَتَمَارَى فِي الْفُوقِ ".
"There will appear some people among you whose prayer will make you look down upon yours, and whose fasting will make you look down upon yours, but they will recite the Qur'an which will not exceed their throats (they will not act on it) and they will go out of Islam as an arrow goes out through the game whereupon the archer would examine the arrowhead but see nothing, and look at the unfeathered arrow but see nothing, and look at the arrow feathers but see nothing, and finally he suspects to find something in the lower part of the arrow." [Bukhari]
They recite the Qur'an but it does not exceed their throats. They articulate the letters perfectly but it does not go past their throats such that it reaches their heart. They recite the Quran but there is no effect of the Qur'an on them. They are not trying to understand or act upon the Qur'an.
Allah mentioned this in Surah Sajdah.
In [32:9]:
"Then He fashioned him in due proportion, and breathed into him the soul (created by Allah for that person), and He gave you hearing (ears), sight (eyes) and hearts. Little is the thanks you give!"
Allah mentioned that He granted us hearing, sight, and hearts. We are expected to show gratitude for these blessings. But Allah ends the verse saying, "قليلا مَّا تشكرون" (Little is the thanks you give). We displayed our ungratefulness through not using these faculties for the purpose Allah created it for - to use these faculties to reach Him; to learn about Him, to love Him, etc. But our eyes, ears, and hearts are used in other than what they were created for.
Then, in Verse 12, Allah mentions what will happen on the Day of Judgement:
"And if you only could see when the Mujrimun (criminals, disbelievers, polytheists, sinners, etc.) shall hang their heads before their Lord (saying): "Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back (to the world), we will do righteous good deeds. Verily! We now believe with certainty."
Their hearing, seeing, and certainty will not benefit them on that day. Allah gave us these faculties to benefit from them in this Dunya.
At the end of the Surah, in Verses 26-27, Allah tells us what we should do with the hearing and eyesight He gave us in this world:
"Is it not a guidance for them, how many generations We have destroyed before them in whose dwellings they do walk about? Verily, therein indeed are signs. Would they not then listen?"
You hear about the dwellings of Thamud between Saudi Arabia and Jordan. You hear about the pyramids in Egypt. You hear about the Dead Sea. You have heard about all the nations Allah destroyed. Not all of us have seen, but we heard. We need to hear and take lessons from what we hear.
The Pyramids are one of the wonders of the world, engineers nowadays still do not know how they constructed it. The Pyramids are graves, and are constructed with such angles that only a certain amount of sun comes in so that the bodies are preserved. These nations had even more intelligence and power than people nowadays. Ask yourself: Where are they? Allah destroyed them. What did they do such that Allah destroyed them?
This is how you use your ears to analyze and explain things correctly.
"Have they not seen how We drive water (rain clouds) to the dry land without any vegetation, and therewith bring forth crops providing food for their cattle and themselves? Will they not then see?
This is what we see with our eyes. Use your eyes and ears to ponder over the signs of Allah in the Dunya in order that it leads you to believe in Allah alone.
The hearing and seeing are two passages to the heart. This is why the disbelievers said, "We have heard and seen....Verily now we believe with certainty.". What they heard and saw affected their hearts until they reached the degree of certainty.
Therefore, while we are in this Dunya we have to look and hear and explain and analyze what we see correctly in order to reach the conclusion that we are certain about Allah. No One provided for us except Allah. No One except Allah. لا اله الا الله.
يقين = Certain correct knowledge which reaches you from the unseen which reaches the degree where it makes you take an action. Your action indicates your certainty.
This is the aim behind the correct way of reciting the Quran - in order for us to take actions regardless if it is by our tongue, heart, or limbs. To reach Guidance and Certainty. And Guidance and Certainty make a person reach to what is called تزكية النفس.
تزكية comes from the word زكاة which linguistically means:
-> طهارة - Purification
-> نماء - Develop / Grow
-> زيادة - Increase
In the Shari'ah, تزكية النفس has two meanings:
a) To purify oneself from all bad things - (I.e. Shirk, Sins, Bad Manners, Sicknesses of the Heart, Bid'ah, etc.)
b) To develop the opposite it in oneself; to develop good characteristics, Eeman, Taqwa, etc.
When we read the Quran in a correct way, it should make us reach تزكية النفس. The Quran should purify us from all evil and develop good characteristics within us. Every time we recite the Quran we have to check if it had this effect on us or not.
Evidences:
-> In [91:7-9]:
"And by Nafs (Adam or a person or a soul, etc.), and Him Who perfected him in proportion;"
"Then He showed him what is wrong for him and what is right for him;"
Allah swears by the self which Allah created and perfected. When He created it, He inspired its piety and wickedness. Every human on earth has good and bad in him. No one is purely evil or purely good. Then Allah says:
"Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself"
As-Sa'di said, "By doing two things:
1) Who purifies himself from sins and defects
2) And softens his heart with Allahs obedience and elevates it with beneficial knowledge and righteous conduct.
If you do this, what will your reward be?
In [20:76]:
"'Adn (Edn) Paradise (everlasting Gardens), under which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever: such is the reward of those who purify themselves"
Allah created us in this life with good and bad characteristics. Allah asked us to purify ourselves, and if we do so, our reward will be Paradise.
The purification of our soul is our responsibility; we will benefit from it and no one else. In [35:18]:
"And no bearer of burdens shall bear another's burden, and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin. You (O Muhammad ﷺ) can warn only those who fear their Lord unseen, and perform As-Salat (IqamatasSalat). And he who purifies himself (from all kinds of sins), then he purifies only for the benefit of his ownself. And to Allah is the (final) Return (of all)."
What are the means to achieve تزكية?
Knowledge. You need to know the right from wrong; the good characteristics from the bad characteristics. You acquire knowledge from the Quran and Sunnah until you increase in knowledge, faith, certainty, and accordingly purification of the soul.
This is mentioned in many verses in the Quran.
E.g. In [2:129]:
""Our Lord! Send amongst them a Messenger of their own (and indeed Allah answered their invocation by sending Muhammad Peace be upon him ), who shall recite unto them Your Verses and instruct them in the Book (this Quran) and Al-Hikmah (full knowledge of the Islamic laws and jurisprudence or wisdom or Prophethood, etc.), and sanctify them. Verily! You are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise."
This was the invocation of Ibrahim عليه السلام and Ismaeel عليه السلام when they built the Ka'bah. They asked Allah to send a Messenger, in order to teach the people the Quran and the Sunnah, and to purify them. Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ and the Quran for this purpose; in order to teach us, and when we learn, to purify ourselves.
-> In [2:151]:
"Similarly (to complete My Blessings on you) We have sent among you a Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ) of your own, reciting to you Our Verses (the Quran) and sanctifying you, and teaching you the Book (the Quran) and the Hikmah (i.e. Sunnah, Islamic laws and Fiqh - jurisprudence), and teaching you that which you used not to know."
The Prophet ﷺ recites the verses to you, refines your manners, nurtures you on good characteristics and purifies you from Shirk.
عَنْ مَالِك أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ حُسْنَ الْأَخْلَاقِ
Malik reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “I have been sent to perfect good character.” [Muwatta]
-> In [3:164]:
"Indeed Allah conferred a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ) from among themselves, reciting unto them His Verses (the Quran), and purifying them (from sins by their following him), and instructing them (in) the Book (the Quran) and Al-Hikmah [the wisdom and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ (i.e. his legal ways, statements, acts of worship, etc.)], while before that they had been in manifest error."
-> In [62:2]:
"He it is Who sent among the unlettered ones a Messenger (Muhammad ﷺ) from among themselves, reciting to them His Verses, purifying them (from the filth of disbelief and polytheism), and teaching them the Book (this Quran, Islamic laws and Islamic jurisprudence) and Al-Hikmah (As-Sunnah: legal ways, orders, acts of worship, etc. of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ). And verily, they had been before in mainfest error;"
Allah repeated this from the beginning of the Quran until the end. This indicates that تزكية النفس is something that should concern us. Everytime we read the Quran we should check if it purified us.
In the Quran you find knowledge about Allah, His Names and Attributes, His Nurturing, His Managing of the Universe, how He dealt with the previous nations, etc. If we read the Quran with Ihsan we would see everything around us correctly, analyze everything correctly, think correctly.
Example of how to read the Quran in a way which purifies our Souls
The Quran will cure you from a sickness you have already or protect your heart from a sickness which could afflict you in the future.
In [21:78-80]:
"And (remember) Dawud (David) and Sulaiman (Solomon), when they gave judgement in the case of the field in which the sheep of certain people had pastured at night and We were witness to their judgement."
"And We made Sulaiman (Solomon) to understand (the case), and to each of them We gave Hukman (right judgement of the affairs and Prophethood) and knowledge. And We subjected the mountains and the birds to glorify Our Praises along with Dawud (David), And it was We Who were the doers (of all these things)."
Dawud and Sulayman عليهما السلام were Prophets. Dawud was the father, Sulayman was the son. Dawud was a judge and Sulayman was not. Allah made them both go through a test. Two men came to them: One of them had a field and another had a flock of sheep. The flock of sheep had ruined the field. They came seeking judgement from Dawud and Sulayman عليهما السلام, and Sulayman gave the more correct judgement.
In order for you not to think less of Dawud, Allah said that both of them had wisdom and knowledge.
How do we apply these verses to purify a sickness within us?
The Sickness of Pride.
Dawud was the father and Sulayman عليه السلام was the son. How many times have we gone through situations with our children where we decide and judge something and they interfere. We get irritated with them and ignore their opinion. Although, their opinion could be correct. Why did you not accept from your child although he may be correct? Because we see ourselves above them. We cannot see how one lesser than us in age or knowledge could give their opinion over ours. This indicates that we have something in our hearts; كبر - Pride.
Pride is both rejecting the truth because you did not say it or because of the person who said it. Stubbornness indicates Pride.
Dawud and Sulayman عليهما السلام were Prophets, and one was greater than the other. Allah made Sulayman understand, and Dawud accepted this. And this acceptance this did not lower the status of Dawud.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"وما تواضع أحد لله إلا رفعه الله عز وجل”
"...and one who displays humbleness towards another seeking the pleasure of Allah, Allah exalts him in ranks." [Muslim]
This could happen with worldly things and it could happen with religious matters.
A student could correct his teacher, and the teacher who has pride in his heart may ignore the students correction or even go on to defame that student.
Knowledgeable women may see themselves better than their husbands who do not have knowledge. Allah may make the husband say the good word at the right time, although he does not seek knowlege. This is a test for you; you need to accept the truth regardless who it comes from. And if you humble yourself, Allah will elevate you.
However, just because a person says the correct word, it does not mean he will always be right. This is test for you and him. You need to be able to distinguish between the right and wrong of what he says through the knowledge you have.
"ففهمناها" - (We made Sulayman Understand)
التفهيم is the action of Allah. Whenever you understand a verse, Hadith, or a worldly case, who made you understand it? Allah.
It is out of good manners with Allah to say "Allah made me understand such and such matter" and not, "I understood".
We solve something and think we are intelligent, not realizing it is Allah who made us understand. When you know this, you will not look at yourself above the people who did not understand. This is from Allah, so tell yourself that it is from Allah. No matter how intelligent a person is, they may face a situation where they do not understand. Allah gave Dawud عليه السلام wisdom and knowledge, but he did not give the right judgement in that situation. Do not be depressed if you do not understand nor feel with pride if you understand.
We have to practice Tawheed regarding the actions of Allah. Say "No one made me understand except Allah" - This is Tawheed ar-Ruboobiya.
Also, whenever you do not understand something, seek help from Allah. Show humility to Allah. Ask Allah: You are the only One who makes us understand, so make me understand.
If you fail to understand something do not attribute it to Evil Eye or Magic; it is a test from Allah. Your mind is blocked, so ask Allah الفتاح to open it. He is القابض الباسط - He is the One who extends and constricts.
Sometimes, due to our sins, we are deprived from the gifts of Allah. Because we did not thank Allah for the gift of understanding, sometimes our minds are blocked from the simplest things.
Allah, out of His mercy, does not allow us to always understand because it can make us feel pride and arrogance. Everyone may have understood except you. Because Allah knows you very well. If you always understand and answer, you may fall into a major sin: كبر - Pride.
One word in the Qur'an was a cause of purification of this sickness.
"And We taught him the making of metal coats of mail (for battles), to protect you in your fighting. Are you then grateful?"
"علّمناه" - Allah taught Dawud عليه السلام how to make Armour.
Allah is the One who teaches us. The action of التعليم is Allah's. It does not belong to the teacher. Allah is the One teaching you through your teachers, even in worldly matters. No One teaches the people their worldly or religious affairs except Allah.
Whenever we see any product coming from the east or west, whether made in China or America, then know that it is Allah who taught them to produce this product.
This cures a sickness in us: Inferiority Complex (حزيمة نفسية)
This is spread amongst the Muslim youth. They always say look at the West and East, look how far that went, and what these countries produce. Their hearts elevate them above their level, although who had taught them to produce this technology? Is it not Allah?
Allah taught Dawud عليه السلام the craft of making Armour specifically, and taught us everything else generally. We should attribute it to Allah in order not to be impressed or feel that the disbelievers are superior. Who taught them and gave them the ability to work and produce?
Had Allah not taught them, given them the ability, and the sources to work and produce, they would not be able to do anything. And Allah is able to remove the blessings from them. Did He not remove the blessings from Pharoah? So why do you feel inferior to the disbelievers?
We have to attribute these actions to Allah and no one else, in order to correct our Tawheed. The civilization around you is all from Allah.
And when you see products coming from the west and east do not allow it to make you think that Allah is pleased with them. Allah teaches whomever He wills - He teaches the believers and the disbelievers. He is the One benefitting us and teaching us and them, as a test for us and them. What will they think of themselves and what will you think of them and Allah? The understanding, teaching, and manufacturing is from Allah. Everything is from Allah.
Allah taught Nuh عليه السلام the construction of the Ship. Until now this has developed until you have Ships, airplanes, cars, trains. Allah is the One who gave this to us. In [16:8]:
"And (He has created) horses, mules and donkeys, for you to ride and as an adornment. And He creates (other) things of which you have no knowledge."
In [36:41-42]:
"And an Ayah (sign) for them is that We bore their offspring in the laden ship [of Nuh (Noah)]."
"And We have created for them of the like thereunto, so on them they ride"
Look at what has been manufactured of transportation and other than transportation. Allah is the One who created it to benefit humans by.
Every word in the Qur'an should purify our soul.
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