19 SEP 2022 · The Ill Effects of Seeking after status & wealth — Ustaadh Abu Inaayah Seif The poet said: I knew the evil, not for the evil itself, but in order to abstain from it. For the one who does not know evil from good, then he falls into it. Hudhayfah رضي الله عنه: The people used to ask the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم about the good. However, I used to ask him about the evil out of fear it may befall me. Two of the most prominent and widespread diseases plaguing the hearts in our societies are loving and chasing after wealth and status. •The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم warned us against these two affairs extensively: “Two hungry wolves that have been let loose amongst a flock of sheep - are no more harmful and destructive to those sheep - than a man’s desire and eagerness to acquire wealth and seeking status is destructive to his religion.” Ibn Rajab رحمه الله: The way the wolves let loose are destructive and a threat to the sheep; the same way the heart is corrupted by these destructive traits. •The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: Hasten in performing good deeds before you are overtaken by trials which will be like part of a dark night. A man would be a believer in the morning and a disbeliever in the evening. Or he would be a believer in the evening and disbeliever in the morning. He will sell his religion for a small portion of this Dunya. •“And you love wealth with immense love.” [Sūrah Fajr, 20] •Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return. [Sūrah āl-‘Imrān, 14] Ibn Rajab رحمه الله mentioned that love of wealth is of two types: 1)A severe love of wealth and a constant pursuit of seeking it - from its lawful means. 2)Seeking wealth from any means necessary. This is more severe as this individual denies all the rights that are due upon that wealth. •“And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful.” [Sūrah al-Hashr, 9] •The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: “Stinginess and Eemaan can never be combined in the heart of the servant ever.” •Abu Tha’labah came to Abu ‘Umayyah ash-Shābanī رضي الله عنهما to ask him about the āyah: “O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided.” [Sūrah al-Mā’idah, 105] He responded “By Allaah, you have asked someone who is well informed. For indeed I asked the Messenger of Allaah about this and he mentioned: ‘Rather you will command with the good and you will forbid the evil; until you see that wealth & miserliness being obeyed, desires being followed, dunya being given preference to, and every single self-amazed person being astounded by his opinion. So, upon you is to be concerned with your own self.’” This is what we see happening now. Opinionated youth are amazed at themselves and are taken away from their elders and their brothers upon Sunnah - this is from the tricks of the Shaytaan. When pursuit of wealth reaches such a degree - where it now becomes miserliness and acquiring it through whatever means necessary - an individual’s deen and Eemaan diminishes and weakens in a clear and noticeable way. What was once tamassuk (clinging firm to the religion of Allaah) now becomes struggling and this is because of his love of wealth. If he were to refrain from the obligations and indulge in prohibitions, his religion would diminish until nothing remained except very little. Ibn Rajab mentions that the seeking of status and fame is worse than seeking wealth. This is also of two types: 1)Seeking notability/status through gaining leadership and wealth and being exalted over the people: “That home of the Hereafter, We assign to those who do not desire exaltedness upon the earth or corruption. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous.” [Sūrah al-Qasas, 83] Being raised and debased is from Allaah. Many people are seeking to be raised, even if it means opposition to the truth. 2)Seeking notability and to be raised over the people in the affairs of the religion. Utilising affairs of the religion - such as knowledge, action and zuhd for status. This is far worse - more lewd, more repulsive, more destructive and detrimental. Sufyān ath-Thawrī رحمه الله: Knowledge is only virtuous if it is sought for Allaah. If that is not the case, then it is just like anything else. If this is worse, what about those who don’t even possess knowledge or zuhd? And they pretend they have something in order to gain status and wealth from the people. They are even worse. •Ibn Rajab رحمه الله: Why is the speech of Salaf more beneficial than our speech? They would speak for the honour of the religion, for the salvation of the souls and for the pleasure of ar-Rahmān. We speak to honour our ownselves, and in seeking after the dunya and in order to be accepted by the people. •In a narration, Mu’āwiyyah asked Ā’ishah رضي الله عنهما: “write to me a letter advising me and do not overburden me (make it short).” So she wrote back saying: “Salaamun ‘alayk, Indeed I heard the Messenger of Allaah say: ‘Whoever seeks the pleasure of Allaah through the anger and displeasure of the people, Allaah will suffice him from the harms of the people. Whoever seeks the pleasure of the people through the displeasure and anger of Allaah, Allaah will entrust him to the people.’” •The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: Whoever learns knowledge - by which the Face of Allaah should be sought - for the purpose of obtaining a portion of the Dunya, he will not smell the fragrance of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection. The one who will sell his religion for a portion of the dunya is selling his hereafter. •The hadīth of Anas رضي الله عنه in Tirmidhī mentions that whoever makes the hereafter his concern, Allaah will place richness in his heart. This means the heart will be content and pleased with decree of Allaah for him. Allaah will gather for him his affairs and his portion of the dunya will come to him, regardless of him not prioritising it. •Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله in al-Fawaaid: When morning and evening enter upon a person and his only concern is Allaah alone; Allaah will take care of all his affairs - He will remove all that which worries him and causes him to grief. He will free up his heart and tongue for his dhikr, and his limbs for obedience. However, when the dunya is his concern, Allaah will place all of his worries and griefs upon him and will entrust him to his own self as a punishment for him. And therefore, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would supplicate: ولا تكلني لنفسي طرفة عين Do not entrust me to my own self for the blink of an eye. So, his heart is preoccupied with love of creation rather than of Allaah. Limbs preoccupied with being in service to the people rather than being obedient to Allah. He is put to work and held captive as animals are kept captive, constantly in servitude of others. The Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned that whoever makes the dunya his concern, Allaah will place poverty between his two eyes (will see himself as poor as he does not feel content). His affairs will be in disarray. Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله mentioned that worries come about due to two reasons: 1)Being ardent upon obtaining the dunya. 2)Falling short in relation to righteous actions and acts of obedience to Allaah. The cure for the love of the dunya is to prioritise the hereafter. And to make the truth more beloved to us than anything else. The perfection and completeness of mankind revolves around two affairs: 1)Knowing and recognising the truth from falsehood. 2)To prioritise the truth above falsehood by acting upon it and calling to it. As the poet said: تعرف الحق ولكن لا ترى للحق حقا “You know the haqq (truth) but you don’t see that the haqq has a haqq (that the truth has the right of being followed).” Shaykh Rabee’ in his explanation of Hadith of ‘Irbād bin Saariyah: “O Muslim youth, the ship of salvation is to return our rulings and affairs back to obedience to Allaah and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. So flee to Allaah. Likewise, return to Allaah in those affairs of splitting. If someone is upon the truth, we accept his statement - not because of who he is but because the truth is with him. Likewise, we abandon the one who opposes and contradicts it regardless of who he may be - regardless of his knowledge, worship and piety. There are 4 types of people regarding knowing the truth and prioritising it above falsehood: 1)The one who knows the truth and gives it precedence over falsehood by acting upon it and calling to it. They are the best of the creation, and the most noble to Allaah. 2)The one who has no understanding and insight in his religion, has no desire for it or to prioritise it. He does not know the truth, nor does he want to know it. The worst type of people. 3)The one who has knowledge and understanding but is weak. He knows the truth but cannot prioritise it. This is the affair of the weak believer. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned that the strong believer is better and more beloved to Allaah than him. 4)The one who has strength and passion but lacks insight and understanding in religion. Wants to be upon truth and carry it out but does not have knowledge of it. The solution to cure the heart from all diseases to ensure it is pure and free from these ailments. A heart that is pure and sound is free from shirk, hatred, animosity, jealousy, miserliness, arrogance, love of dunya and leadership. It is free from every affair that will make it further away from Allaah.

19 SEP 2022

18 SEP 2022 · Ill effects of Jealousy and Envy — Ustaadh Abdul Hakeem Mitchell One of the illnesses that may afflict the heart is hasad (jealousy/envy). Ibn Taymiyyah made a distinction between “Hasad” and “Ghibtah”: • Hasad refers to hatred or dislike of good towards one who has a blessing. The one with hasad intends for that good to be removed from the one with the blessing. • Ghibtah refers to a person hoping for a blessing themselves without hoping for it to be removed from someone else. —————— Hasad can also be said to be of two types: 1.An envious person dislikes the blessing bestowed on someone else absolutely. They find happiness and enjoyment when that blessing is removed from another person, even though they themselves do not benefit from that blessing being removed. This is blameworthy. 2.An envious person dislikes that someone has something that is better than what they have. —————— The Hadīth of Ibn Umar mentions that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “There is no acceptable jealousy except in two affairs — a man who is given the Qurān such that he recites, by night and day, and a man who is given wealth such that he spends in charity, by night and day.” —————— Shaykh Fawzan حفظه الله تعالى: The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned “that the destructive illnesses of the nations who came before you has started to spread among you: envy and enmity.” Jealousy and envy first occurred amongst the Shaytaan when Allaah commanded him to prostrate towards Ādam عليه السلام. He refused due to his jealousy and so Allaah cursed him. — “So, the angels prostrated themselves, all of them together." (15:30) — "Except Iblees. he refused to be from those who prostrate" (7:11) — "He refused and was proud and was one of the disbelievers” (2:34) He claimed that he was better because he was created from fire whilst Ādam عليه السلام was created from clay. This is a false assumption as clay is better than fire - it brings about vegetation and many other good things whereas fire only destroys and ruins. So Allaah rejected Shaytaan, cursed him, distanced him, and sent him down from the heavens to the earth and made him leader of everything khabeeth (evil). All of that was a result of his hasad (jealousy). If he did not have hasad, he would have prostrated and so would have been upon nobility. —————— Another example of the effects of jealousy: — “And recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam [Hābil and Qābil] in truth; when each offered a sacrifice (to Allaah), it was accepted from the one but not from the other..” (5:27) Allaah accepted from one who was pious and not from one who was not. — “The latter [Qābil] said to the former: "I will surely kill you." (5:27) This was out of envy. — “The former [Hābil] said: ‘Verily, Allah accepts only from those who are Al-Muttaqun.’” (5:27) — “If you do stretch your hand against me to kill me, I shall never stretch my hand against you to kill you, for I fear Allaah; the Lord of the worlds.” (5:28) — “So, the Nafs (self) of the other [Qābil] encouraged him and made fair-seeming to him the murder of his brother; he murdered him and became one of the losers.” (5:30) Firstly, this led to the breaking of family ties. Secondly, he envied his own brother due to his brother’s sacrifice being accepted. —————— Another example is the affair of the Jews when Allaah sent the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم - the seal and best of the Prophets and Messengers - when they saw that he was from the offspring of Ismaeel عليه السلام, this caused them to envy. So, they envied the Messenger of Allaah صلى الله عليه وسلم as they wanted him to be from Banī Isrā’īl and they disbelieved in him even though they knew he was the Messenger of Allaah. — “Those to whom We gave the Scripture recognise him as they recognise their sons.” (2:146) —————— We can see how jealousy leads a person to killing. How it can lead to Kufr which is greater. Or how it can lead to the curse of Allaah like Iblees. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Do not be envious.” If a person sees a blessing for his brother, then he should not envy him, but rather ask Allaah to bless him. — “And wish not for the things in which Allaah has made some of you to excel others. For men there is reward for what they have earned, (and likewise) for women there is reward for what they have earned and ask Allaah of His Bounty. Surely, Allaah is Ever All-Knower of everything.” (4:32) Ask Allaah to give you the same blessing He gave to your brother. For Allaah is al-Jawwād, al Kareem (the Most Kind and Generous), and if you ask, He will give you. But to have envy and jealousy of your brother, this would be turning away from Allaah, and may lead to cutting the ties of kinship, or cutting ties between you and your brother. —————— So from the cures for hasad (jealousy) is: • To ask Allaah for His bounty as Allaah is واسع عليم (Expansive and All knowing) • For an individual to strengthen in knowledge and belief of the Qadr because your brother has only attained something by the permission of Allaah. Do not say that so-and-so is not deserving of something because Allaah knows best who is deserving of what. • To supplicate for your brother and his blessings, rather than to hope that it disappears from him. This does not harm you, rather it benefits you. • To exert yourself in attaining rizq (provisions) and taking the means in doing so. As for sitting down and being lazy while envying those who seek provisions, this is blameworthy. —————— The Hadeeth narrated by Ahmad and at-Tirmidhī mentions that "hasad takes from the good deeds, like fire eats away at firewood", so beware of this. Thus, seek refuge in Allaah from hasad, and ask Allaah for his bounty, hope for your brothers good and supplicate for their blessings. As Allaah mentions, “He gives it to whom he wills” (3:73) The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned: "None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself". Consider your brother upon the same station as yourself – empathise! If a person truly wants good for his brother, like he wants goodness for himself, he will not find himself in a situation where he wants removal of blessings from his brother. May Allaah protect us from hasad and make us from those who love for our brothers what we love for ourselves. Aameen.

18 SEP 2022 · Nature of Pride and Arrogance — Ustaadh Abu Rayhaana Yahya The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: Whoever Allaah wants good for, He grants him knowledge of the religion. Definition of Eemaan (faith): Eemaan comprises of statements and actions, it increases and decreases. The actions are of the heart and the limbs. It increases with obedience to Allaah and decreases with disobedience to Allaah. Another definition is: Statements of the tongue, beliefs of heart, and actions of limbs. It increases with obedience of ar-Rahman and decreases with obedience of ash-Shaytaan. A proof that actions are a part of Eemaan is the verse: •“And Allaah would never make your faith to be lost.” [Sūrah Baqarah, 143] The “faith” this verse is referring to is the prayer. Those who oppose Ahlus Sunnah in this belief (that actions are part of Eemaan) are the Murji’ah. —————— The famous Hadīth of Nu’mān bin Basheer رضي الله عنه mentions that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “Indeed, there is a morsel of flesh in the body which if it is sound, the whole body is sound and which if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt. Indeed, it is the heart.” Shaykh ‘Uthaymeen رحمه الله mentioned in his explanation of this Hadith that no heart will be of benefit to Allaah except a sound heart: •“The Day whereon neither wealth nor children will benefit. Except him who brings to Allah a sound heart.” [Sūrah ash-Shu’arā, 88+89] Imaam as-Sa’adī رحمه الله: The sound heart is the one free from shirk and sins. —————— Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzan حفظه الله تعالى: The heart is the master of body so if the master becomes rectified and upright, the flock likewise becomes rectified and upright. If the master becomes corrupted, then the flock likewise becomes corrupted. And so it is upon the Muslim to ask Allaah for rectification of his heart. If the heart becomes rectified, all of his affairs become rectified. And if his heart becomes corrupted, all of his affairs will likewise become corrupted. From the supplications authentically collected from Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم in this regard: يا مصرف القلوب صرف قلبي على طاعتك O turner of the hearts, turn my heart towards your obedience. —————— As well as supplication, one should take other means to rectify the heart such as worship and staying away from sins. Sins cause corruption and detriment to the heart. From the effects of sins upon the heart: 1.Hadīth in Ibn Mājah has mentioned that if the believer commits a sin, a black spot appears on his heart. If he repents, desists and seeks forgiveness, his heart will be polished and cleaned from this. If he increases, the black dot will increase. 2.Allaah has informed us that the hearts can become harder than rocks: •Then, after that, your hearts were hardened and became as stones or even worse in hardness. [Sūrah al-Baqarah, 74] 3.Well known lines of poetry by Ibn al-Mubarak: رأيـتُ الذنـوبَ تميتُ القلوب ويــتــبِـعُهـا الذلَّ إدمـانُهـا وتـركُ الذنـوب حياةُ القلوبِ وخــيــرٌ لنــفـسـكَ عـصـيـانُهـا I observed that sins kill the heart and addiction to them brings about disgrace. Abandonment of sins brings life to the hearts and so better for yourself is to turn away from them. 4.Allaah has informed us that the heart is the place where the intellect resides: •“Have they not travelled through the land, and have they hearts wherewith to understand and ears wherewith to hear? Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind.” [Sūrah Hajj, 46] —————— Sins and disobedience have a detrimental effect on the hearts. They vary in severity, the greatest of them to associate partners with Allaah: •“Joining others in worship with Allaah is a great oppression indeed.” [Sūrah Luqmān, 13] •"Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases." [Sūrah an-Nisā, 48] •“Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for the wrong-doers, there are no helpers.” [Sūrah al-Mā’idah, 72] —————— A sin which is from the major sins of the heart is al-Kibr (pride and arrogance). Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan حفظه الله تعالى: Indeed, arrogance is an inward characteristic of heart; its consequences and effects become apparent on the behaviour and conduct of a person. And it is from those sinful, lowly, dispraiseworthy characteristics that Allaah hates. Allaah made as its recompense, expulsion from His Mercy. It is frequently mentioned and rebuked within the Quraan; alongside those who possess it such as Iblees, Qaarun and Firawn. Arrogance is from the afflictions of heart, it is an extremely dangerous disease and few are those who escape it. The first sin that Allaah was disobeyed with was arrogance: So arrogance was originated by Iblees and characteristic of haughty disbelievers and not befitting of a believer. •Allaah said, "What prevented you from prostrating when I commanded you?" Shaytaan said, "I am better than him. You created me from fire and created him from clay." •Allaah said, "Descend from Paradise, for it is not for you to be arrogant therein. So get out; indeed, you are of the debased.” [Sūrah al-A’rāf, 12+13] —————— Sufyān Ibn ‘Uyaynah رحمه الله: Whoever’s disobedience was in relation to desire, then hope for him repentance. For indeed Ādam عليها لسلام disobeyed in relation to desire and so was forgiven when he repented. If the disobedience is in relation to arrogance, fear for him in being cursed (being distant from the mercy of Allaah). Iblees was disobedient out of arrogance and therefore he was cursed by Allaah. Al-Kibr was defined by the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم: •“He who has in his heart as much as a mustard seed of pride will not enter Paradise.” •So a man said: “Indeed a man from us likes to have his garment and shoes looking nice.” •So the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم responded: “Allaah is beautiful and loves beauty. Pride/arrogance is rejecting the truth and belittling or disparaging the people.” The scholars explained rejecting the truth to be leaving that which Allaah has commanded through arrogance. And belittling people to see oneself as better than the people. —————— Kibr can prevent a person from many affairs: 1.From accepting the truth when it comes to them. In return, a person may be afflicted with deviation in their heart: •“So when they turned away (from the Path of Allah), Allah turned their hearts away (from the Right Path).” [Sūrah al-Mumtahana, 5] It is feared their hearts will be sealed and they will not be able to accept the truth after that as a due punishment to them: •“And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away (from guidance), as they refused to believe therein for the first time.” [Sūrah al-An’ām, 141] •“I shall turn away from My Āyāt those who behave arrogantly on the earth, without a right, and (even) if they see all the Ayat they will not believe in them. 2.It may prevent a person from beneficial knowledge. It was narrated from Mujāhid رحمه الله: •Knowledge will not be gained from the one who is too shy to ask, nor from the one who is arrogant. 3.Arrogance can prevent a person from following the Sunnah: •The Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم told a man who ate with his left hand in his presence “eat with your right hand.” The man replied: “I am not able.” And so the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم mentioned that he was not prevented from eating with right hand except due to pride and arrogance. 4.It can prevent a person from calling upon Allaah: •“And your Lord said: ‘Invoke Me, I shall respond to you. Indeed those who are arrogant towards My worship they will surely enter Hell in humiliation!’" [Sūrah Ghāfir, 59] —————— From those 3 that Allaah will not speak to on the Day of Recompense is the عائل مستكبر (impoverished yet arrogant individual). He is from the poverty stricken people, has nothing to be arrogant about, but is so anyway. How can one not fear this destructive sin for themselves? Especially with the threat of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم that the one who has even a mustard seed of pride will not enter paradise. The believer should be far removed from this lowly and destructive trait of arrogance, haughtiness and pride. Rather, the believer should be humble with Allaah and with the creation. As it is said: كل من فوق التراب تراب Each person who is above the dirt is himself dirt. Meaning, the origin is dirt to it, they shall return. May Allaah save us from these destructive traits and guide us to his pleasure in this life and grant us Jannatul Firdaws in the Aakhirah.

18 SEP 2022 · Abu Humayd Saalim - ‘Come, look to your heart!’ From Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Nuʿmān bin Bashīr (raḍiyallāhu ʿanhumā) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allāh (ṣallallāhu alayhi wasallam) saying, "That which is lawful is clear and that which is unlawful is clear and between the two are ambiguous matters which many people do not know of. So whoever took caution regarding the ambiguous matters has absolved himself regarding his religion and his honour. And whoever fell into the doubtful matters has fallen into the unlawful, just like the shepherd who grazes his flock around the sanctuary (of a king), all but grazing therein. Indeed, every king has a sanctuary (that cannot be violated) and indeed the sanctuary of Allāh is his prohibitions. Indeed, there is a morsel of flesh in the body which if it is sound the whole body is sound and which if itis corrupt the whole body is corrupt. Indeed, it is the heart." ⁃ An individual is healthy in regards to his organs, but if he or the heart is sick (not physically but morally) then there is no benefit for him to be physically healthy ⁃ When iblees knew that the affair revolves around the heart then he comes to them with whispers of what he knows. This causes the actions of the individual will become corrupt likewise his heart and his religion. He tries to occupy them with doubts and gets them to fulfil their desires ⁃ That which comes to the heart after someone’s actions is disheartening (it increases the hardness of the heart up until it dies) ⁃ Sins encompass the heart until there is a seal/cover on the heart due to the which they earn ⁃ If the heart dies then their is no cure for it ⁃ The heart is the leader of the body and the rest of the organs, if it is sound then the rest of the body is sound ⁃ The heart is given life through revelation just as the earth is given life by a way of the rain ⁃ The heart of a kaffir is dark/inverted ⁃ The heart of a believer can have complete life with no sickness but could also be a heart full of sickness, this sickness is of 2 types: • the sickness of hypocrisy - it’s the sickness of kuffur and hypocrisy and Allah has granted such a person a painful torment • The sickness of disobedience/sinning - this can come upon a believer through desires, disobedience and doubts ⁃ If evil overpowers the rest of the heart then an individual too becomes evil ⁃ It is obligatory for a believer to be concerned about his heart more than being concerned about the body ⁃ Neither wealth nor children will avail a person but a heart that is ‘saleem’ ⁃ The second type of heart has no life in it; he doesn’t worship Allah or doesn’t seek to please him however he goes and seeks his desires even if that entails the anger of Allah ⁃ If the sickness of the heart overpowers an individual then it will eventually become hardened ⁃ If the soundness of the heart overpowers an individual then it will encompass the soundness