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06-05-2024
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Islamic creed- Miscellaneous topics- Lesson(17): The fundamentals of the religion (The role of reasoning in understanding Islam and staying within its limits)
   
 
 
In the Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, Most Merciful  
 

Islam is a reported Divine religion:

 Dear brother, it is good for man to have a discussion about the fundamentals of Islam (major issues) from time to time in addition to the minor issues of which he is in dire need. Bringing both together gives a comprehensive perception of this great religion.

 It is important to point out a very serious phenomenon in the Muslim World which is rationalizing the Sharia'ah texts. Some people wrongly think that their reasoning is an absolute standard according to which knowledge should be measured. This is definitely a misconception, so man should take into consideration some facts which I would like to discuss in order to make them an introduction to the major fact which indicates that originally Islam is a reported Divine religion, and the role of reasoning is limited to verifying the authentication of whatever is reported and comprehending it.

 Dear brother, man is created to be granted an everlasting happiness, to be granted Paradise and to be granted Allah's Mercy. Man is in a growing happiness for eternity, and he is but a breath of Allah's Soul, and a fistful of earth mud.

(( And they will cry: "O Malik (Keeper of Hell)! Let your Lord make an end of us." He will say: "Verily you shall abide forever." ))

[Az-Zukhruf, 77]

 Man's body is mortal unlike his soul which is immortal. He tastes the death but never dies.

 The first fact is that Paradise, which is as wide as heavens and earth, where there is what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, and where man can have an increasing and everlasting rejoice, has only one price in this worldly life. This price could be represented by many deeds, but all of them are paid for one thing only; the price could being discipline, being patient and being obedient to Allah and following the Divine Method.

 Lusts are installed by Allah in mankind even in the Prophets, may Allah have peace and blessings upon them. Had not Prophet Muhammad, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, been a human being, he wouldn't have been the Master of mankind. He, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him experienced fear and hunger, and he had desires like all human beings, but he overcame his worldly tendencies, by fulfilling the purpose of his existence, and so he was granted a Divine perfection. This is the main noble quality of the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him.

Contradiction between human nature and Divine assignment is the price for Paradise:

  What is the price for Paradise? Apparently, there is a contradiction between the human nature and the Divine assignment with which man is charged, and had they got along with one another, there would not have been Paradise.

 If man were allowed to do whatever gets along with his nature such as setting his gaze at women, earning money illegally, missing al-Fajr prayer because of oversleeping, eating all the time and having affairs with every woman he meets, what would be the purpose of Paradise? If all these things were permitted, what would man do to enter Paradise?
 Paradise which is prepared for man, and where there is what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived.. The price for this Paradise is to be discipline and to control desires, lusts and worldly tendencies. The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said:

((Behold! The deeds of Paradise are difficult to reach, for they are on top of a hill, while the deeds of the Fire are easy to find in the lowlands.))

[Ahmad by Ibn Abbas]

 The path to Paradise is full of obstacles, whereas the path to hell (fire) is full of desires. The path to hell (fire) is where you find nightclubs, food, wine, dancers, singers and money which is earned unlawfully. Such money is earned by making use of the interests of the bank, dealing in usury, cheating, blackmailing other people and fulfilling all man's desires:

((Behold! The deeds of Paradise are difficult to reach, for they are on top of a hill, while the deeds of the Fire are easy to find in the lowlands.))

[Ahmad by Ibn Abbas]

 Hence, there must be difficulties and obstacles in the path to Allah which are manifested by the contradiction between the human nature and the Divine assignment to mankind. Man may try to make Islam compatible with his desires or whatever he yearns for (although it is forbidden,) so you find him looking for whoever can give him weak fatawa(the plural of fatwa: the plural of fatwa: a legal opinion or ruling issued by an Islamic scholar). which allow him to do whatever he wants. Depending on weak fatawa to satisfy one's needs has become a common affliction. People may justify restoring to such fatawa by saying, "Allah will forgive us" or, "life is difficult, so we have no other choice." Whatever people do is justified. As a result, Islam has become hollowed; its content ceases to exist. It has become just like a gas which is able to penetrate everything and in all shapes.

 Glory be to Allah, what breaks the heart is that some fatawa in the Muslim World fall down to serve people's needs instead of uplifting them to the level of the great Shar'e. There is nothing impermissible any longer, such as usury, acting, singing…etc. Almost everything has become permissible.,. consequently, Islam has turned into symbols such like Masajid with Islamic architecture arcs and where you can find Islamic masterpieces and Islamic mosaic. It has become Islamic books, Islamic adornment and Islamic outward appearance with Islamic mottos, while the content is totally westernized. This is the effect of rationalizing the Sharia'ah texts, which is really a serious problem. People start raising questions about whatever is forbidden saying, why are so and so Haram? Questions like this one is widely spread nowadays.

One can't bring together his materialistic interests and Sharia'ah rulings:

 The first question: If you try to bring together your worldly prompt interests, nature tendencies and desires one the one hand with the Shar'i texts on the other, what is left in religion? Nothing. By doing this you are voiding religion and make it meaningless, whilst it is a method and a solid ground with a profound structure.

 The Muslim manifest his Islam clearly; in his words, in his celebrations, in his grieve, in earning money, in spending it and in his house. His Islam makes him different from other people, but if he is no more distinguished, his belonging to Islam becomes hollowed.

 There is a dangerous trend which tries to find a contemporary Islam. This happens when the rulings mentioned in the Noble Quran are made accorded with the contemporary materialistic needs, or when Islam is misunderstood in the light of the modern events. People justify these deeds by saying that modernizing Islam is inevitable, otherwise our Ummah will stay at the back. Such a misconception is an accusation that Almighty Allah has not taken into His consideration the contemporary needs, and so His Method is not applicable to the modern age. Religion is accused of being imperfect, while Allah the Almighty says:

(( This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion. ))

[Al-Ma'idah', 3]

 If you want to delete whatever you want from this religion, or add to it whatever you want, you are accusing it of being imperfect.

 Again, we should go back to the fundamentals of this religion, and we should stick to this solid structure. Also we should keep saying that Almighty Allah should be worshipped according to the Sharia'ah rulings. This is how our response should be to whoever tries to accord his worldly interests with the Sharia'ah rulings.

 If I am asked by someone, 'What do you think of that?' I will answer saying, ' would like me to give you a fatwa or give you my advice to keep the Taqwa (piety)? If you want a fatwa, then every sin can be justified by a fatwa. There is no problem about that, but if you want to keep your piety, turn a deaf ear to the fatawa given by scholars. This is what the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, advised Wabisah to do in the following Hadith:

((…Oh Wabisah! Righteousness (birr) is what the self finds repose/tranquility in and sin is what wavers within the heart and what you hate the people to know [or find out] about.))

[Addarami by Wabisah Ibn Ma'ed Al Asadi]

 That is how sin is recognized.

The main points of this lesson:

1- Having faith is to be patient, and being patient is to be discipline:

 The first point in this lesson is about the primary apparent contradiction between man's prompt interests and the Divine assignment with which he is charged. This contradiction can be solved by favoring obeying Allah over self interests, and this is the price for entering Paradise for which we were created.

 Man detests being charged with a mission, which may contradict his desires and interests, so he looks for fatawa to justify his sins. Whoever does that voids the religion form its content unintentionally. Islam will be merely meaningless rituals; moves, stills, mumbles and pointless readings of religious texts which we do in order to deceive ourselves that we are religiously committed Muslims. Hence having faith is to be patient and being patient is to be discipline; being discipline means to have control over one's desires and lusts. This is the first point in our lesson.

2- Reasoning is blind without revelation:

  The second point is that Allah the Almighty has given man two eyes, but no matter how sharp his sight is, he won't be able to see without light. When you ask two persons, one of them can see and the other is blind, to stay in a dark room, both of them will not be able to see anything They are both alike in the dark, because both sight and light are prerequisites to be able to see. Along with the same line, reasoning is blind without revelation, and the proof can be noticed in the western world, what is going on there?

 Their brilliant minds are detached from the Divine revelation. let The westerner satisfies all his lusts the way he chooses, with whoever he wishes and whenever he wants. Consequently, sexual deviation, incestuous affairs and family break up have prevailed. The president of the most powerful country in the world said, "We have four dangerous threats- I thought he would mention China, the European Union or Japan, but I was mistaken. He went on saying, "They are family break up, drug abuse, crime and sexual deviation." These are extremely dangerous threats. Westerners have minds without revelation, because they know no limits when it comes to satisfying their desires. When man is allowed to do whatever he wishes, he becomes the most miserable creature.

 You can notice how miserable people are over there, because they lack the Divine Method to act upon. There is nothing forbidden, there is nothing impermissible, there is no connection between them and Their Lord, nor is there a good deed by which they can be elevated high, so their life is meaningless.

Man without a purpose is a mind without reasoning:

 I was told a very touchy story when I visited a bridge in Istanbul, which is considered the second largest bridge in the world. It links both the eastern area of Istanbul to the western one, three hundred thousand cars cross that bridge daily, it is suspended and constructed in mountains and under it the largest ships pass. It was designed by one of the best five architects in the world who happened to be Japanese. Actually there is another bridge which looks like this one in Turkey, so there are two similar bridges.

 On the opening day, the mayor cut the silk tape, the architect of the bridge who was standing next to him jumped into the sea in the blink of an eye and died. Everybody rushed to his room in Sheraton Hotel, and they found a note by him written on it, "I have tasted everything in this life (he was the most famous architect among five top architects in the world, he designed the second largest bridge in the world, he was young and he satisfied all desires) but all what I have done were tasteless, hence I wanted to taste death." Whoever does not have an aim in his life has a mind without reasoning.
 With this story we come to the second point; the mind which is cut off from the Divine revelation is blind. If man tries to use his mind which is separated from the revelation, he will ask questions such as, "why should someone get married?" He will have ideas like these ones: After marriage one may have children, so an extra burden. Having a wife means commitment. Thus it is preferable to be with a new woman every day, and you will not be worried about having children. Most of the couples in the western world cohabit. About a year ago, there was a fight over passing the law of civil marriage in Lebanon. In America and Europe, on the other hand, they have no marriage, neither civil marriage, canonical marriage, religious marriage nor legal marriage. All what they have is cohabitation. The couple live with each other as husband and wife, but for a trivial reason, the man can kick the woman out of the house and their life together is over. This happens when the mind is detached from the Divine revelation.

 Believe me dear brother, in the Islamic countries we should thank Allah for the real happiness we have. We have family system, values in which we consider Haram and Halal, fear from Allah's wrath, social relations and congregational prayer. This religious gathering for this lecture is impossible to be found in other countries.

 When I visited Europe and America someone said to me: my neighbor who lived in the same building of mine for twenty five years has never knocked on my door. Everyone lives on his own, and 50% of the French women live by themselves. Do you have any idea about how many dogs are there in France? There are fifty nine million registered dogs; those dogs do the dirtiest duty towards women. This is a mind which doesn't consider Divine revelation.

Rationalizing Sharia'ah texts is unacceptable:

 Dear brother, again, a mind which doesn't consider the Divine revelation is blind; the western lifestyle can be a good evidence of this. Their physical outstanding is in contrast with their spiritual misery. You can notice how the westerner is a heedless and straying man.

Hence, when you rationalize Sharia'ah texts, try to find out the reason behind Allah's Orders and start to accepts some of His orders and refuse the sh3er, you will enter a ban-Zone by rationalizing religious rulings and being oblivion of the fact that this religion is originally a Divine reporting.
 The mind is incapable of comprehending the Divine wisdom behind every command. There is a great rule in Sharia'ah, "Making use of something doesn't entail knowing all about it". Let us assume that you are specialist in literature, but you have no idea whatsoever about the scientific fields, because you used to hate biology and physics. Yet you can enjoy the cold air of an AC by pushing a button without having the slightest knowledge about how it works. The same goes for thousands of devices like the computer you use; do you have any idea about programming? Do you know how can the hard disk drive read millions of information on it? Scientists have enabled it to read thousand million letters in one second. There are people who excel at using computer though they don't know the slightest idea about what is going on inside it.

 Hence making use of something does not entail knowing all about it. Along with the same line, when you implement Sharia'ah and reap its fruitful results, you are considered Abed (worshipper), whereas when you implement the Sharia'ah rulings, and you are knowledgeable about it, you are considered Alem (knowledgeable person). The benefits which are got from the Alem are many, whereas the ones which are got from the Abed are limited.

 When you know that a ruling in a religious text is Sahih whether from Quran or Sunnah, and you apply it without a precondition of knowing the wisdom behind it, you will be in a very high rank of worshipping. The worshipper who applies Allah's Orders without wondering about the Divine wisdom behind them, Allah rewards him by disclosing the Wisdom behind His Orders. As a result, the worshipper will be granted the wisdom behind Allah's Orders and the reward of his submission to Them. I repeat the point I have mentioned earlier: the human mind is incapable of comprehending the ultimate dimensions of the wisdom behind every Sharia'ah ruling.

 Nowadays, people in the Muslim world naively tend to rationalize Sharia'ah texts; they held seminars during which they say that cutting the hand of the thief is no more acceptable, so they have to look for another appropriate punishment.
 As if they say that Almighty Allah has overlooked that this punishment is inappropriate for this time and that it will be refused. How dares anyone question the validity of Sharia'ah which is ordained by the Creator of the universe?

 The second point is that the mind has two roles; one of them is before the Divine reporting, and the other is after it. Its first role is verifying the authentication of the reporting, whereas the second one is understanding the Divine reporting. It is forbidden for the mind to cancel Sharia'ah texts. In the Muslim world, there are a lot of attempts to cancel some of Sharia'ah rulings, using the pretext that some of them are incorrect, the other ones are unacceptable, some of them are inappropriate and sh3er indicate backwardness. In these claims lies Muslims' problem. When the Muslim is ashamed of Islam, and his argument is not strong enough to defend his religion, he will be weakened and gradually will turn away from religion. As a result, he will be deprived of reaping its fruits and for him religion will be merely meaningless rituals.

Sharia'ah Texts in which obligations are mentioned are nonnegotiable:

 Dear brother, I would like to draw your attention to an extremely important point, which is that man was created to have unchangeable traits and changeable issues. the durable traits were installed in him. For example:

((O David, remind my servants of my favors, for souls are molded to love those who favor them and to hate those who wrong them.))

[Qudsi Hadith by Al Baihaqi, by Umair Ibn Wahab]

 Also man was created weak, and will be pleased if he is supported by a powerful party:

(( And man was created weak (cannot be patient to leave sexual intercourse with woman). ))

[An-Nisa', 28]

((And man is ever hasty [i.e., if he is angry with somebody, he invokes (saying): "O Allah! Curse him, etc." and that one should not do, but one should be patient]. ))

[Al-Isra', 11]

 Furthermore, man was created very impatient:

(( Verily, man (disbeliever) was created very impatient; Irritable (discontented) when evil touches him; And niggardly when good touches him;- Except those devoted to Salat (prayers) ))

[Al-Ma'arij, 19-22]

 Hence, the characteristics of the human soul are durable.

 The Noble Quran is Allah's words and It includes crystal clear texts, so when you read them, you do not need to look for their interpretation in the books of Baidawi (an interpreter), Zamakhshari (an interpreter) or Qurtobit (an interpreter). Such texts are for all the world to see, and they bear only one meaning. Those texts are the ones in which obligatory acts of worship (the prerequisites for your safety and happiness) and impermissible matters (the main factors in destroying your happiness).
  Man can live without fruit if one month passes, and he can't afford it, but he can't live without air or water, for both are indispensable. Hence, there are basic needs in one's life without which he can't live, like air, water and food, but man can live without minor needs like fruit or a bouquet of roses. Man's happiness will not be affected without roses or fruit, while it will be affected without water and air. Similarly, his safety and happiness will be affected negatively without performing the obligatory acts of worship whose texts in which they are ordained are clear and evidence-based ones.

Money is man'a soul mate and man is installed to love money:

 Allah says:

(( Cut off (from the wrist joint) the (right) hand of the thief, male or female, ))

[Al-Ma'idah', 38]

 Material possession love is installed in man, and money is the soul mate. One of the privileges of love possession is looking after what you possess, isn't that true? You can notice how things which are collectively possessed, are neglected, while if they are individually possessed they will remain in a good condition.

 In some countries, the employee is given a car in exchange for very low price, but when he moves to another job, he has two choices; he either pays the price of the car in fullor sells the car to the employee who is going to occupy his position in the company. The selling price is determined by the good condition of the car. This process saves thousands of millions of expenditures, because when this employee knows that the car is his, he takes good care of it. Man is molded to love possessing, but when he transgresses other's properties, life loses its balance. Thus, Sharia'ah puts limits to act upon them.

 I would like to refer to the outcomes of acting according to the limits in an illiterate country which is categorized as backward. Do you believe that because the ruling of cutting the hand of the thief is applied, huge amounts of money stacked in sacks (employee's salaries) are transported safely from one city to another far distant ones in simple open trucks? Do you believe that in that county the money-changers can leave the store open behind with hundreds of thousands of money of all currencies in order to perform congregational prayer in the Masjid. Believe it or not, this is exactly what happens in the countries where the ruling of cutting the hand of the thief is applied. In contrast to this country, other countries went lenient in implementing the Sharia'ah rulings, so deviation prevailed. When the Sharia'ah rulings are implemented, you can observe incredible things.

3- Obligatory acts of worship are ordained in evidence-based texts:

 Dear brother, the third point is that obligatory acts of worship in Islam are ordained in evidence-based texts, so they do not need to be interpreted. For instance, when Almighty Allah says, "Allah loves those who are true" this Ayah is very clear.
 Also when Almighty Allah says:

((Then (at least) perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakat ))

[Al-Mujadilah, 13]

 He makes the Ayah obvious.

(( Neither backbite one another ))

[Al-Hujuraat, 12]

 Again this Ayah is clear. Thus, the evidence-based (Qat'ee Al Dalalah) texts have to do with the durable matters in man's life, whereas texts which bear multi meanings (Zann'ee Al Dalalah) have to do with the changeable matters in man's life. Since the conditions of life fluctuate, matters which are affected by this fluctuation and change accordingly are covered by the texts of Zann'ee Al Dalalah, just like when Allah says:

((Then (at least) perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) and give Zakat ))

[Al-Mujadilah, 13]

 Does the Nisab of Zakat mentioned? No, it is not. No specific rules are mentioned about it in the Noble Quran. However, the Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessing upon him, told us about it in details. What about Zakat on money? What about Zakat ontrading? What about Zakat on cattle? What about Zakat on Rikaz (This is ancient wealth found buried in land whose owner is unknown)? What about Zakat on agriculture? Hence, changeable matters are detailed in the Prophetic Sunnah since they bear multi meanings in the Quranic texts. It is out of Allah's Mercy upon His creations to make these texts bear many meanings and fit the different environments, characteristics, traditions and habits which are changeable.

 Concerning the neutral matters, such like the colors one wears, they have no rulings in Sharia'ah. Those matters do not draw man closer to Allah, nor do they drive him away from Him. Moreover, they were not overlooked, but rather it is out of Allah's Mercy upon us to keep them unmentioned in the religious texts. Allah does not oblige us to wear clothes of specific colors, so it is up to everyone of us to wear the color he likes. It may depend on the test of people in a particular country or the colors which are sold in markets and which people are familiar with. Therefore, there is no problem at all for someone to wear a shirt of whatever color, which he was given as a present. I repeat again these matters have nothing to do with getting you closer to Allah or turn you away from Him.

4- Piety is crucial in knowing apparent Haram from apparent Mutashabeh:

 We have come to the fourth point, but before I tackle it, let me give you a brief introduction about it.
Usually, when exam questions are written, those who are concerned with them write an easy question for all students to answer, even those whose level is weak. Such a question is given one third of the total mark Also, an average question is included, so that 50% of the average students can answer it. in addition to these two kinds of questions, a difficult and an accurate deep question is included, and only 20-30% of the students can answer it. Accordingly, if a student can answer only the first kind of the questions, then he is considered weak at the subject, and if he can answer the second kind of them, he is considered an average student, but if he can answer the third kind of the questions, then he is considered a very brilliant student.

 As for our point, which I would like to discuss in this paragraph, there are obvious major sins in Islam, like homicide, adultery and theft, also we have clear commands in Islam, like honesty, trustworthy, chastity, Salah (prayers), Sawm (fasting), Hajj (pilgrimage) and Zakat (alms-giving). The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said:

((Both the lawful (Halal) and the unlawful (Haram) things are obvious, and in between them are doubtful [Mushtabihat] matters.))

[Bukhari, by Annu'man Ibn Bashir]

 The Muslim's piety is manifested in refraining from those doubtful matters which sometimes they are considered Halal (permissible) and sometimes they are considered Haram (impermissible) according to weak proofs. These Mushtabihat (doubtful matters) are not known by most of the people; only some scholars know them…

((Both the lawful (Halal) and the unlawful (Haram) things are obvious, and in between them are doubtful [Mushtabihat] matters. Whoever forsakes those doubtful things lest he may commit a sin, will definitely avoid what is religiously illegal))

[Bukhari, by Annu'man Ibn Bashir]

 In the following Ayah Allah says:

(( Then of them are some who wrong their ownselves, and of them are some who follow a middle course, and of them are some who are, by Allah's Leave, foremost in good deeds. ))

[Fatir, 32]

 According to scholars "Allah has ordained commands, so whoever follows them sometimes, and neglect them other times, is considered Zalem (oppressor). Also Allah has forbid people from doing certain matters, so whoever refrains from doing them, but might not sometimes, is considered Zalem." Whoever does that is Zalem.

Man draws closer to Allah by performing Fara'ed (obligatory duties):

 Allah says:

((And of them are some who follow a middle course))

[Fatir, 32]

 The definition of whoever follows a middle course, is he who acts upon Allah's Orders and abstains from doing whatever is forbidden.

((And of them are some who are, by Allah's Leave, foremost in good deeds. ))

[Fatir, 32]

 "The foremost in good deeds" is whoever goes beyond following Allah's Orders and refraining from doing whatever is forbidden to move to a higher rank which is represented by avoiding the minor sins. He doesn't stop at this point, but rather he goes on to forsake the Mushtabihat. Then he moves on to stop doing some permissible deeds fearing that they may lead to impermissible deeds. For example, if someone plants grapes, but the whole corps may be made into wine, planting the grapes in this case is Haram. As long as the grapes you plant will not be made wine, planting it is not Haram. However, when you fear that the grapes are likely to be turned into wine, it is better for you to abstain from planting them. Another example, a businessman man may cancel a Halal deal, fearing that it may lead him to commit something Haram.

 Hence, who is the foremost in good deeds?

 He is the one who follows the commands, refrains from forbidden matters, forsakes the minor sins, stays away from Mushtabihat, leaves what is Halal fearing that it may lead to something Haram, and finally performs Nawafil (supererogatory acts of worship). Scholars say, "By performing the obligatory acts of worship man gets closer to Allah, but by performing the Nawafil he gains Allah's love."

((…"And the most beloved things with which My slave comes nearer to Me, is what I have enjoined (frD) upon him; and My slave keeps on coming closer to Me through performing nawâfil (praying or doing extra deeds besides what is obligatory) till I love him, so I become his sense of hearing with which he hears, and his sense of sight with which he sees, and his hand with which he grips, and his leg with which he walks; and if he asks Me, I will give him, and if he asks My protection (Refuge), I will protect him; (i.e. give him My Refuge.))

[Bukhari, by Abu Hurairah]

 The Halal and Haram things are obvious. Let us imagine that the obvious Halal things are just like a dry bank of a river where a person can safely walk, while the obvious Haram things are similar to falling into the river and getting drowned. Unlike the obvious Halal and Haram things, Mushtabihat can be compared to a slippery slant bank of a river where someone is most likely to slip and fall in the river. This is exactly the meaning of the following Hadith:

((Both the lawful (Halal) and the unlawful (Haram) things are obvious, and in between them are doubtful [Mushtabihat] matters. Whoever forsakes those doubtful things lest he may commit a sin, will definitely avoid what is clearly unlawful; and whoever indulges in these (suspicious) doubtful things carelessly, is likely to stumble into what is clearly unlawful. Sins are Allah's Hima (ie private pasture) and whoever pastures [his sheep] near it, is likely to get in it at any moment.'))

[Al Bukhari by Annu'man Ibn Bashir]

Allah decrees the best for us:

 Dear brother, as I have mentioned earlier in this lecture, nowadays fatawa aim at serve people's interests (because of the applied pressure) instead of elevating them high to reach the exalted rank of our great Shar'e. Most Haram matters are turned into permissible ones in one way or another by fatawa. Thus, Wara'a (piety) lies in adhering to the fundamentals of this religion.

 By the way, it is fine to use reasoning in finding out the wisdom behind a ruling, but it is a serious problem to use our reasoning in order to cancel a Sharia'ah ruling. There was an old orientation by the Mu'tazilah (MU'TAZILA, the name of a religious movement founded at Basra, in the first half of the 2nd/8th century by Wasil b. 'Ata') who tended to rationalize Sharia'ah texts.

 The mind is allowed to verify the authentication of reporting and to understand it, but it is not allowed to cancel it. Canceling it means that the mind is on an equal footing with the Musharre'e (legislator; in this context He is Almighty Allah.) and we will have two Musharre'e (Allah and the mind). Actually, the ability of the mind is limited, and people varies in comprehending the best for them. It is mentioned in some Aqidah books that "Allah the Almighty should always do the best."This phrase is not acceptable. It seems that who wrote it might mean something else, because we can't say "Allah should do the best." Let me repeat the same idea but I will use my own words, "Whatever Almighty Allah does is absolutely the best, but our minds are incapable of comprehending what is the best." The proof is in the following Ayah:

(( Say (O Muhammad): "O Allah! Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take the kingdom from whom You will, and You endue with honour whom You will, and You humiliate whom You will. In Your Hand is the good))

[Aal-'Imran, 26]

 Allah didn't say "and Shar (evil)," but He mentioned only the good. This indicates that good lies in whatever Allah does; there is good in granting the kingdom to whoever He wishes, in taking it from whom He wishes, in honoring whoever He wishes and in humiliating whoever He wishes. The following famous saying if understood well will be the solution for all man's problems:. It is said, ""Whatever happens is by Allah's decree and whatever Allah decrees, will happen, and Allah's will is based on the absolute wisdom which in turn is related to the absolute good." We can also add to this quote the following: "The absolute evil does not exist in the universe." A defect in one's creed affects negatively his behavior:
 Dear brother, this knowledge (i.e. Hadith) is the religion, so be careful whom you take your religion from:

((O Ibn Umar! Your din is your faith. Indeed it is but your flesh and blood (it is your life). Therefore, you should be very careful about whom you are receiving it from. Receive it from the pious and the steadfast and do not take it from those who are leaning astray.))

[Ibin Udai, by Ibn Umar]

 The Issue of Islam is a crucial one, because it is related to everyone's destiny. The worldly matters, on the other hand, are not that crucial. For instance, if your house does not suit you, you can sell it, and if there is a defect in its structure, you can leave it and look for a better one. Similarly, you can sell your car if there is something wrong with it and buy a new one. Your reaction is totally different when it comes to your religion. Yyour destiny is based on your religion; it may lead you to either eternal happiness or eternal misery. Thus, man should always make sure that people whom he takes his religious knowledge from are reliable. I wonder how every one says to you, "The ruling is so and so because that person said that" but who is that person to give himself the right to say whatever he wants?
  They said, "for us this isn’t permitted."
 Well, who are you to say "for us"

 Also some people give false fatwa to sh3er and tell them, "Do it, and I will be responsible for it." Well, this is nonsense. take Everyone of us should cleanse his mind form all delusions, corrupted decrees, lusts, unhealthy desires, weak Prophetic texts and wrong interpretations of Quran. I hope that every person take religious matters seriously, and make sure that all the information which is related to the creed is sound, because if there is something wrong in the creed, your behavior will be negatively affected.

 If your behavior will be affected by the defect in the creed, you can in whatever you want. However, whoever has false beliefs, his beliefs must be reflected by his behavior. Thus, man should seek the sound creed.

 The purpose of this lecture is to bring to light the non-Islamic culture of Muslims nowadays. Most of them rationalize Sharia'ah texts, and they tell you, "This Sharia'ah ruling is unacceptable" though it is supported by an evidence-based text from Sunnah. Allah the Almighty says about the infallible Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him:

(( Nor does he speak of (his own) desire.))

[An-Najm, 3]

 Also, Allah says:

(( And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it), ))

[Al-Hashr, 7]

Whosoever denies Sunnah actually denies Quran:

 One may wonder at how important scientific researches is based on a single Prophetic Hadith. A friend of mine attended a conference about Management Development which was held in Damascus, so when I met him, I asked him, "What was this conference about?" He said, "The recommendation in the conference was concise as follows: ' The success of the manger's administrative work is based on cancelling the barriers between him and people whom he is responsible for." That conference lasted for four days and at the end its members reached that recommendation." Our master Umar recommended his people saying, "Don’t close your door in their faces (people you rule) so that their powerful people won't oppress their weak ones." If the office of the manger in a hospital is open for all people, his employees will count to ten before oppressing one another, because they know the oppressed person will file a complaint at the manager desk.

 The scientific breakthroughs sometimes confirm the Prophecy of our Prophet Muhammad, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him. The latest geological findings have confirmed that the "the Empty Quarter" consists of inhabited cities, gardens, groves and rivers which have been covered with sands. The Prophet, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him, said:

((The Hour (of Resurrection/Judgment day) will not occur, until the land of the Arabs returns to being pastures and rivers.))

[From Tafseer Al Ma'thoor by Abu Hurairah]

 It means that the land of the Arabs used to be like that. This is one proof of the Prophecy of Muhammad, may Allah have peace and blessings upon him.

 Lots of assays, dissertations and books criticizes Sunnah by saying 'Quran is fair enough', but by saying so, one rejects the Quran Itself, but how? Almighty Allah says to you:

(( And whatsoever the Messenger (Muhammad) gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it), ))

[Al-Hashr, 7]

 He, who denies Sunnah is actually denying Quran.

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