Keeping Connected with the Qur'an
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Holding Ourselves Accountable | Qur'anic Reflections Episode 2
Tune in with Dr. Omar Suleiman, Sh. Abdullah Oduro, and Dr. Tahir Wyatt for the second episode of Qur'anic Reflections "Holding Ourselves Accountable".
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. by Fadhilatul Sheikh al-Doktor Tahir Wyatt. This is a source of guidance for all of us. Allahumma ameen. Of course we have our Sheikh Abdullah Adoro as well. Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen. With us Sheikh Abdullah, it's good to have you as always. Alhamdulillah. We have a great selection today, honestly. SubhanAllah. It comes before probably some of the most frequently recited verses of the Qur'an about the names and attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But there is a passage that comes before that that really sets it up so beautifully and I think helps us understand it. So inshallah ta'ala I'm going to invite Dr. Tahir Wyatt to start us off inshallah with a framework based on these ayat inshallah ta'ala for tonight. Alhamdulillah Rabbul Ameen. Wa ash'hadu an la ilaha illallah wa li'l salihin. Wa ash'hadu anna Muhammadan abduhu wa rasuluhu wa ba'duhu. Allahumma rahmatan lil'alameen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barik wa an'am ala nabina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'ina. Amma ba'd. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says towards the end of surat al-Hashr as you said these ayat that are oft recited in the Qur'an Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Ya ayyuhal ladheena aamanu taqool laaha Ya ayyuhal ladheena aamanu taqool laaha wal tanzur nafsum maa qaddamat lighadhi wa taqool laah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here is commanding us with taqwa. He says, O you who have iman, ittaqool laah.
And taqwa is often translated as God consciousness. I was talking with somebody the other day about how we used to translate it as the fear of Allah. And we honestly moved away from that because a lot of people don't really understand the fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in a broader framework of fear being a motivating factor to avoid those things which would displease Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So in any event, it is that reverent fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that makes us conscious of him at all times. Have taqwa of Allah. Interestingly enough, we're coming out of the month of taqwa, the month of Ramadan, the month where we were reminded to that the goal, in fact, of fasting, that the higher objective of fasting is to attain taqwa. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here is saying, yaa yuladheena imanu taqool laah. Then he says, wal tanzur nafsum maa qaddamat lighadhi And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow. Let each one of us be conscious of our actions and what it is that we are putting forth for the hereafter. And then Allah azawajal reminds us again with taqool laah. So sandwiched in between taqwa, right, these these commands of taqwa is that we are conscious of what we are putting forth for tomorrow and that we look to that. And this, as Al-Imam Abdul Rahman bin Nasir Al-Siddi Rahimah Allah ta'ala says, is hadhi al-ayatul kareema, he says that this noble ayat, aslum fil muhasaba, or fi muhasabatun nafs, that it is the foundation, it is a it is the primary proof for the obligation of muhasabatun nafs, that we take account of ourselves, literally, you know, we could say doing a self audit.
Right. So when a person has a company and you do your books and somebody else comes in and they audit, you know, they're looking at every little thing, you know, where this dollar came in and where that dollar went out. Right. So there's this process of auditing. And muhasabatun nafs is the process of auditing yourself, taking account of yourself, doing your self examination. And so Allah subhana wa ta'ala is commanding us to do this in this ayah, wal tamdul nafsum ma qaddamat li ghadin. Wal tamdul obviously is the command form of the verb. So Allah subhana wa ta'ala is commanding us to look forth to what we have or to look to what we have put forth for tomorrow. That being said, there are several. I mean, this theme throughout the Quran is is prevalent. And in the Sunnah of the Prophet, alaihi salatu was salam as well, there's an often mentioned hadith. And though the hadith has some weakness in it, the meaning is accepted across the board. The Prophet, alaihi salatu was salam, said al kayyisu man dana nafsahu. Al kayyisu man dana nafsahu wa amila lima ba'da almuqt. The intelligent one is the one who takes account of himself. Dana nafsahu means yani hasaba nafsahu. So he takes account of himself. He does a self examination wa amila lima ba'da almuqt. And he works for that which is after death. In other words, that his focus is on the hereafter. His focus is on pleasing Allah subhana wa ta'ala. And in that same regard is the is the famous statement of Omar ibn al-Khattab, radiallahu ta'ala anhu, which comes in the Kitab al-Zuhd by Imam Ahmed.
Radiallahu ta'ala anhu, he said hasibu anfusakum qabla antuhasibu. Take account of yourselves. Take account of yourselves before the day comes when you will be taken account of. Wazinu a'malikum qabla antuzanu. And weigh your deeds before the day comes when they will be weighed. And if we really think about this, this advice from Amir al-Mumineen Omar ibn al-Khattab radiallahu ta'ala anhu is profound because he's reminding us that the day will come. SubhanAllah, no matter how long you think that day is going to be away from you right now. Sometimes like it's like a person they know they have to take a test. The test might be two months away. You know that that test is two months away. Don't wait for the night before to start preparing. Right. You have to go to class. You're going to study. You're going to, you know, read outside because you're preparing for that test. Well, you know that the day is going to come when you have to stand before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Fahasibu anfusakum. So take account of yourselves before the day comes when you will be taken account of. The Prophet alaihi salatu was salam said in a very famous hadith that awwal ma yuhasabu al-abdu alayhi yawma al-qiyamah min amnihi salatuhu. That the first thing that a person will be held accountable for on the day of judgment from his actions is salat. Right. In other words, in the Prophet alaihi salam said yuhasab, that the servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will be held accountable for this and he will have to answer for that. Yuhasab, it's going to be taken into account. And so a person should take account of himself before the day comes when he will be taken account of by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And Hassan al-Basri rahimu Allah ta'ala says on this account that the intelligent person or the one who will have a light account on that day will be the one who takes a lot of, does a lot of self examination in this life. So it'll be easier for him in the next life. And the one who doesn't do any of that in this life, yushaku and yuhlak, he's going to put himself in a or subject himself to destruction. That being said, there's a lot that can be said on this topic of muhasabah and I don't want to go too far on laying the foundation, but I do think that is very important for us. A lot of times we think about ibadah. The first thing that comes to mind is salat or fasting or hajj and umrah. And we oftentimes neglect what we call al-ibadah al-qalbiya. So the the the worship of the heart. Right. Tawbah, for example, true repentance, feeling remorse for what you've done and having that firm determination not to turn back to it. That is an act of the heart and it's an act of ibadah that is beloved by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. At-tawakul, loving Allah, putting your trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, relying upon him. All of these are acts that are beloved to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and they are actions of the heart. Muhasabah is similar in the sense this self-examination is not something you're going to do with your hands or your limbs. It's something that is an action of the heart. And it's very important that we that we give it its due. One of the early tabi'in, Maimun ibn Mehran, rahimahullah ta'ala, who was actually from the students of ibn Abbas and ibn Omar and Aisha radiallahu ta'ala, he said a very famous statement related to muhasabah and I think it puts things in context. He says that a person will not be a taqi. We won't attain taqwa. Right.
He says you will not become a taqi. Hatta ya'kun li nafsihi ashadda muhasabatan minash shariq li shariqihi. And he won't become a person of taqwa until he is to himself more severe in overlooking or that oversight, making sure that things are done right. That he does this to himself more than a business partner would do to his business partner. And that is why they said and nafsu kashariq al khawwain, right, that the soul, that the self, if you will, is like a deceitful business partner. Right. He's your business partner, but he cheats you sometimes. In lam tu hasib hu dahaba binalik. If you don't take account of him, if you don't watch him, he's going to run away with your money. And so the same thing can be said about the soul. If we're not conscious and we're not looking at our actions, then it is very possible that or very likely, in fact, that the nafs al amal abisu, that part of ourselves that is whispering to us to do bad things is going to take over. So with that being said, I want to lay out some framework for how do we do this muhasabah? Because a lot of times we hear, OK, yeah, you're supposed to take account of yourself. What does that mean? Does that mean I got to sit in a dark room or I turn on a little light and then I start thinking about what I did during the day? What what how does that work? And so, inshallah, I'd like to lay out some framework that will help us, inshallah, on this path of muhasabah. And this comes directly from Iqatatul Ahsan by Ibn Qayyim, Rahim Allah, which is a very famous book dealing with the subject of well, it deals with a lot of the emrad al qalbiya and the the disease of the heart and also the ibadat of the heart. And so when he talks about muhasabah, he says that muhasabah is two broad types. All right.
So this is the first thing that we want to look at. The one is muhasabah ma qabla al amal. So taking account before you even do an action. And then the second broad category is after the action is done. So these are two categories before you even sit down, before you even do anything. You want to take account of yourself. All right. So then he goes on and he breaks that down into four more categories. All right. And so what you look at here is, number one, this action that you are intending to do. So he says that you stop at your at the first time that you're thinking about doing this, this amal, this action. The first time that you're desiring to do it, you stop there and you ask yourself, is this action within my ability? So that's the first question. Is this action within my ability to do and reasonably. Right. And this is very important for us to look at. A lot of us sometimes, you know, we may have a desire to do very grandiose things, but they may be outside of our ability. And the reason why I have no claim is talking about this is because you don't want to get frustrated in your bed of a loss of head or in any of your actions to the point that you stop doing them. OK, because this is also not something that is beloved to a loss of head or time. So here we go. First thing you do, you look at is it, you know, within my reasonable, reasonable ability to get this done? If the answer is yes, then the second question that you have to ask yourself is, is doing this action better for me than leaving it off? So a lot of times, yes, I can do it. But should I do it? Is the better question here after I've determined that I can do it.
So is it better for me to actually do this thing or is it better for me to leave it off? If your answer to that question is yes, this this act of a bad or this act in general is better for me to do it, then your third question that you ask yourself is what is my motivation for doing it? And this is where the whole concept of a class comes in. Is am I motivated to do this action solely for the pleasure of Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala and seeking his reward? Or is there something else motivating me? Am I seeking thanks from people? Am I seeking that they praise me for the action that I'm doing? Am I looking for validation from it, from an external source, for example? So Ibn al-Qayyim says that we have to look at all of these things. Am I looking for financial kickback? And this is also something that Ibn al-Qayyim mentioned. So this should be an act that is done for Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala. But I'm a person is only doing it for some financial gain. And here we have to stop because you don't want to get used to doing things for other than Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala. The easier it becomes for you to do things for other than Allah, the more difficult it will be for you to do things solely for Allah. And so you don't want to get in the habit, period. And this is even outside of Ibadah, like even mundane things that you might do. OK, and I'll just take a side note here. For example, you know, you might cook a meal for your wife. Right. Are you doing that just because you messed up and you're trying to get back in her good graces? Or are you doing that because you want to please Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala by doing things that are pleasing to his creation?
For example, I mean, it's just something to think about, meaning that we want to try to get to the point where everything that we do is for the pleasure of Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala. Obviously, when it comes to Ibadah that are only supposed to be solely for Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala, then it is not permissible to do that for other than Allah, a'zawajal. So our third question then is what is my motivation? And then the last question is. So once my once I've determined that I can do this action and I should do this action and it is for Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala, then the fourth question that I'm asking myself is, do I have the necessary help? Do I have the necessary resources to complete the action? Ibn Qayyim, rahim Allah ta'ala, here specifically referring to the human resources. Halal mar mu'anun alayh. And he doesn't have the help that is necessary to do this particular action. And so he gives us the example of the prophet, alaihi salatu wasalam, in Mecca. He says, if you don't have the people that are necessary to and the helpers that are necessary to complete that action, that would be solely for Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala. Even though you may be able to do it yourself, you know, you may be able to do this action by yourself, but it's not going to reach the conclusion that you are looking for. He says, then you fall back, then you stop the same way that the prophet, alaihi salatu wasalam, did not engage in jihad in Mecca because the numbers simply were not there. OK, so this is something that a person, you know, this is the framework that Ibn Qayyim uses before an action. And this is how we look at it. So, again, he says, you look at, is it possible?
Is it best to do? Is it done for Allah, subhana, huwa, ta'ala alone? And do you have the necessary resources to to complete the action? Moving to what is after the action, Ibn Qayyim, rahimahullah, ta'ala, goes on to say that after you have done an action. You're going to look at several areas. And the first of them is. And he said he almost, you know, he lays this out as mu'ataba, like in other words, like you're being very critical of yourself. And and I hope that Sheikh Omar, maybe, you know, one of our mental health professionals can perhaps talk a little bit about this in the future. We don't want to be so self-critical that we become self-defeating. Right. That you're so critical of your actions that you just stop doing actions. Right. Because this is also like, for example, a person is scared to, you know, or they feel like maybe I'm doing this to show off. You know, I'm doing this out of react. So I'm just not going to do anything. We don't want to get to that point either. But what he's saying is that after you do an action, you do want to be critical of yourself. And so you look at the following things. Number one, you look at your level of Iqlas. OK, because Iqlas is also levels. Right. And so how sincere were you in this action for a loss of Hamlet's? Was it purely for him? Did something creep in? And if something did creep in, how do you make sure that that doesn't happen in the future? You want to look at your Nisiha Lilla. And this is a little bit different from sincerity. This is the word Nisiha, which is often translated as as advice. Obviously, doesn't mean that as it relates to the Hakk of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the better translation for Nisiha in general is fidelity, that you are true to something.
And so as in like, you know, infidelity is when a person in a relationship is not being true to their partner. Right. So that fidelity that it is totally, you know, you know, done for the pleasure of a loss of Hamlet's from start to finish. You want to look at also what he says, Mutaba'atu Ar-Rasooli, salallahu alayhi wasalam. So in this action that I've done, have I done my best to do it the way that the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, prescribed for me to do it? And this is a lot of times where we fall short. We get accustomed to doing things a certain way. We watch somebody else do something a certain way. But are we truly aware of the Sunnah of the Prophet, alaihi salatu wasalam, as it relates to this particular action? And that is very important because it's not enough that we worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We need to worship Allah the way that he prescribed that we worship him. This is very important. And this is one of the things that has historically distinguished the Sunnah from those who leave the path of the Sunnah is that they're very keen on worshipping Allah the way that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala prescribed for himself to be worshipped. After that, Ibn Qayyim mentioned shuhuda al-ihsan. In other words, have you done your best in this action? Okay, have you reached the level of ihsan in this act that you have performed? And that's important, too, because and then it's tied directly to what comes after it and he says shuhuda al-taqseer, which is to also recognize your shortcoming in whatever act of ibadah that you've done. Right after Salat, immediately after you do salam, Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah for what? Because you just did something wrong. I mean, you just prayed Astaghfirullah because you always need Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's forgiveness, number one.
And number two, because you yourself recognize that even in that Salat, as short as it was, there was some shortcomings. Perhaps you weren't totally mindful the entire Salat, or perhaps there were some things that you could have done better that you didn't do. So recognizing your own faults and shortcomings in whatever action it is. And then he says, wa shuhuda al-shukr, i.e. witnessing the gratitude. In other words, that we are thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for having guided us to those acts of ibadah that we've done. And these are as it relates to acts of ibadah. If it is something that is haram, then Ibn Qayyim has a different framework that he uses for how we do muhaseba to nafs, and that is where a person is going to turn back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, repent to him, literally toba, right, means to turn around. So we're turning, we're changing our ways. We're turning from that act of disobedience and turning to the obedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and being critical in that way and looking at. And this is very important when it comes to acts of disobedience. Don't just look at the act itself. Look at what led up to the act, because you have to if you want to stop any act of disobedience to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you have to be able to stop the roads that lead to that disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, avoid the situations, the conditions, the scenarios that put you in that environment that made it easy for you to disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So these are things that you look at after an action. You take account of yourself. I'll give one example and then I'll finish here because I know I've taken a lot of time, but the example that I'm going to give is the example of Salat. All right. When it comes to, for example, a person who misses Salat al-Fajr. And then he says to himself, what is it that caused me to miss Salat al-Fajr? It's not that it's not just that the person missed Salat al-Fajr.
That's not that is a sin. But what is it? It was that I stayed up late with my friends the night before and I did not get enough sleep. OK, if that is the case, then a person who is truly, you know, repenting to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is going to realize the next time that I can't stay out that late with my friends. So you're actually thinking in advance. Right. So here we go again. Your friends call you. They say, hey, you know, we want to go. We're going to we're going to hang out together. We're going to read a book together. It's going to be nice. It's going to be full of Ibad and so on and so forth. But then he starts thinking. So he says, can I do this action? Right. Says, yes, I can do it. Number two, should I do this action? Hmm. When he starts to think about should I do it? And then he thinks that, wait a minute, if I do this, though, it may seem like it's a good thing, it's not really good for me because I need this amount of sleep to be able to get up for Salat al-Fajr. And so then he stops right there. He doesn't even get past that point because he realized realizes that leaving it off is actually better than doing it anyway. This is the framework that was provided by Ibn Qayyim. This topic of muhasabah is one that needs a lot of reflection. One lecture is not enough, but hopefully, inshallah, there's some benefit in what was said. Wallahu alaikum wa salamu alaikum. You just signed up for part two. You realize that's necessary when you say it's not enough for one lecture. And then you say, you know, there's more. Yes, very beneficial. So Sheikh Abdullah, I'll hand it off to you, inshallah, with some thoughts from your end. Jazakum Allah khayran. Mashallah. Bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala rasool Allah. Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Rabbish rahi sadri wa yasili amri.
Wahyul qadatan min lisani yafqahu qawli ya rabbal alameen. Jazakum Allah khayran. For the beautiful reminder on muhasabah and holding oneself accountable. And what I want to touch on is within this general framework of muhasabah. It's a certain aspect of muhasabah. When we talk about the word dhikr, and dhikr is remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The manifestation of that remembrance is obviously with the qalb, is with the heart, that one remembers Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in their heart, and they remember him by mentioning his name. It rejuvenates that feeling. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives different forms of dhikr in the Quran, he reminds you of the past, reminds you of the present, reminds you of the afterlife, you know, what is going on in the afterlife, what will happen in the future. And subhanAllah, you know, we know the general theme of the Quran is the worship of Allah and the recognition of Allah who is who he is not, and how one manifests that in their life. And subhanAllah, when we see that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the most important right is giving Allah his right. You know, as I give my parents their rights, I give my friends his rights, I give plants their rights, animals their rights. But the most important right is the right of the one that made you, your creator. And that's saying that he is not anything like a human being, not like a human being. He's not like his creation in any shape, form or fashion. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us many opportunities to understand that, to grasp that and to try our level best to exemplify that within our life on a daily basis. So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, as we know, as human beings, we go to work or we have any system in our household, if we want them to do something, we will say, OK, if you do this, you receive a reward. And if you do the opposite, there is some, we don't say punishment,
we would say accountability. You will be held accountable for that which you are negligent of and you will be held accountable as well, being rewarded for that which you have fulfilled. So in the chapter with Fusilat, verse number 19 to verse number 24, chapter number 41, Fusilat, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about the future or he talks about what will happen to those that openly and voluntarily deny him, meaning they deny the oneness of Allah within their actions, initially the actions of the heart, which is the actions of Tawheed, the actions of saying that God is one by himself, one that dies upon that and totally understands that message. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the level of accountability here. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, it's so beautiful, as when he says in the chapter of Fusilat here, before he talks about the tribe or the people of Ad and Thamud, you know, the people that deny the message from their prophets and they were arrogant. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions, فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَقَالُوا مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّهِ قُوَى They were arrogant on the earth. And they said, who is more stronger than us? Who has more might than us? أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَى Did they not see, re-rhetorical question, did they not see that Allah has more might than them? هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَى That He has much more strength than them. وَكَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ And they were with our verses very defiant. Then Allah mentions that أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا That we sent upon them a harsh wind في أَيَامِ النَّحِسَاتِ And in harsh days, and some scholars mention that the sound of the wind was like metal rubbing against rocks. And some say it was seven days continuous without any stopping. In any case, Allah gives this premise to give you examples of those
that disbelieved and died upon that disbelief, that ungratefulness to Allah. And when he starts off in this verse number 19, as Shaykh Tahir mentioned, the chapter of حَشَفْ, which means to be gathered. Allah ﷻ starts off in verse number 19, bringing the new subject matter of the event that actually takes place. And it's important for us to remember the beauty of the Qur'an that Allah ﷻ generalizes due to his علم and حكم, due to his knowledge, العليم, and his wisdom, الحكيم. He generalizes that in those generalizations may give us space to exemplify and act out whatever ruling it may be. But in some cases, he's very specific to remind you of the severity of the situation at hand. And here the severity is showing lack of gratitude to the one that has made you, created you, sustained you, and as well takes you off from this earth by his permission. SubhanAllah. He says, عَفْتَعُونُ بِالْعَالَىٰ مِنْ شَيْطَانَ رَجِيمٍ وَيَوْمَ يُحْشَرُوا أَعْدَاءُ اللَّهِ إِلَىٰ النَّارِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ And the day that the enemies of Allah will be gathered and they will be spread out. What's beautiful here is how Allah uses the passive tense of the verb. And just the fact that it is used in a passive tense shows that he has ultimate authority. The day, firstly, the day when they will be gathered, the enemies of Allah. That is the day of يوم القيامة. They will be gathered. The enemies of Allah will be gathered and they will be spread out. And Allah continues to mention here, حَتَّىٰ إِذَا مَا جَاءُوهَا شَهِدَ عَلَيْهِمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَأَبْصَارُهُمْ وَجُلُودُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ And this is where it gets really scary. The one that holds themselves accountable reads this verse and they immediately don't look at anyone else.
They immediately have a recollection upon themselves. As the Sheikh mentioned, you know, the stages of محاسبة for امن القيم. حفظ الله رحمه الله تعالى that one holds themselves accountable when they read this verse. Because he says here that when they will be gathered حَتَّىٰ إِذَا جَاءُوهَا That when Allah mentions that they will be gathered and they will be spread out in front of the fire. إِذَا النَّارِفَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ Then Allah says حَتَّىٰ إِذَا مَا جَاءُوهَا Until when they come to it, the fire. شَهِدَ عَلَيْهِمْ سَمْعُهُمْ That they're hearing. Their hearing, the senses of their hearing will witness against them. وَأَبُصَارُهُمْ And their sight. وَجُلُودُهُمْ And their skin will testify against them. In what? بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ For what they used to do. You know how sometimes if you tell someone, you know, I'm not afraid of fire. Many of us as youth, we probably challenged our friends something. And as soon as a situation comes forth, comes in front of them, they're like, okay, okay, okay, just relax, right? I'm not going to do it. It's okay, it's okay. Sorry. Right? You know, the real you comes out. So Allah's painting a picture for you. That when they're spread amongst the fire, and then حَتَّىٰ إِذَا مَا جَاءُوهَا When they come to it, their own, your own body parts will witness against you. And what's so beautiful here is that He mentions two senses and then an organ, which is actually the largest organ of the body. That it will witness against you for what you used to do. Just stopping here, one should look at this verse and at least tremble with fear. At least tremble with some kind of mindfulness. As Shaykh Tahir mentioned, the meaning of taqwa is that, you know, we have this mindfulness which leads to all the other exemplifications of ibadah, fear, love, honor, etc. And that serves as a means and a protection from doing something that, which is detrimental to your soul. Right?
So when looking here, Allah ﷻ says that these body parts will witness against them for what they used to do. Then Allah brings you the actual statement. وَقَالُوا لِجُلُودِهِمْ لِمَا شَهِدْتُمْ عَلَيْنَا And they, the inhabitants of these senses and organs of the skin, you and I, inshallah, we will not be from those people, that Allah says that they will say, لِمَا شَهِدْتُمْ عَلَيْنَا They're speaking to their own body parts. And subhanAllah, some of the scholars of, you know, the fuqaha mention the impermissibility of selling your body parts. وَرَأَ ذَلِكَ Their reasoning behind their legislation of impermissibility is because, look, you don't even own your own body parts. You're not the ultimate owner of your own body parts. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given it to you temporarily, and He can easily take it away. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying here that they will ask their body parts, why did you witness against us? قَالُوا أَنطَقَنَ اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ That the body parts will say, أَنطَقَنَ اللَّهُ Our own Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made us speak. And then He reminds Himself, the body parts remind Him, الَّذِي أَنطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ The One that causes everything to speak, reminding you that He has ultimate authority. And then He reminds you again, reminding all of us, the listeners and the readers, وَهُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرْرَةٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ SubhanAllah. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then He says here that He is the One that has created you from the very beginning, and to Him you will return. Just reminding you that you have no ultimate, ultimate authority and control,
which should leave one uncertain of their own existence and uncertain of what will happen to them in the next life. Just think about that. We already know that we don't know when we're going to die. So we should hold ourselves accountable during this life when reading or hearing these types of verses. And we do not know what will happen to us after we die. So we should hold ourselves accountable during this life to hopefully, when we go, where we go, that it is a place that is not as such. It is not to where we will stand in front of the fire and we will be held accountable. Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions وَمَا كُنتُمْ تَسْتَطِرُونَ أَن يَشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارَكُمْ وَلَا جُلُودُكُمْ Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, And you have not been hiding against yourselves, lest your ears, your eyes, and your skins testify against you. That all of this that is taking place, were you not aware that it is your body parts that will testify against you? One should automatically look at themselves, you know, look at their hands and look at what they're doing and be aware that you will be asked about these senses. How did you use them? You will be asked about this skin. How did you use it? You are the dweller inside of this largest organ of your body, your skin. What are you doing that shows gratitude to the one that has given it to you? And then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala continues to say here وَلَكِنْ ظُنَنْتُمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَعْلَمُ كَثِيرًا مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ That you thought that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala was not aware of all of what you do. And remember he mentions here مِمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ earlier that you think that you're not aware, that Allah is not aware of what you're doing on this earth. Allah gives you this small example of something that we cannot fathom. Your own body parts testify against you.
You know, wallahi, I'm on my way here to you, and I'm looking and I'm seeing, I'm blinking. You know, I'm asking myself, am I getting old? Is there something wrong with my left eye? And I'm saying to myself, you know what, I don't even have control over my own eyes. If something was to happen, I would go to the ophthalmologist, the optometrist, hoping that they can help me. And that shows that I have no ultimate control relying on someone else's knowledge that is also limited. The one that is not limited is shown his strength and power being that he has created you and he has given you these faculties. So here Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is creating that means of remembrance for you to understand that you have no ultimate control to where your own body parts will witness against you and what you used to do. And he's reminding you, do not be negligent on this earth by thinking that Allah is not aware of what you do with these body parts. Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala continues to say, وَذَلِكُمْ غَنَّكُمْ أَنَّذِي غَنَنْتُمْ بِرَبِّكُمْ أَرْضَاكُمْ That these thoughts, that these thoughts of yours which you thought about Allah has brought you to your own destruction. This type of understanding that you had about your Creator Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, thinking that He will not see you, that As-Sami'ah will not hear you, or being negligent to the degree to where that action of yours is consistent, could be the means to your own destruction. And this is why we say SubhanAllah that you are your worst enemy. That when you answer to the call of those desires by looking on the computer, online or offline, on things that you know you shouldn't be looking at, and you continue, you answer the call. You don't take those steps of muhasabah. You don't ask yourself, okay if I do this, what most likely would that lead to? Being responsible for your akhirah. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is not unaware of that.
دَلِكُمْ ظَنُّكُمُ الَّذِي ظَنَنْتُمْ بِرَبِّكُمْ أَرْضَاكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُم مِّنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ That is what was the means to your own destruction, and that was SubhanAllah, you have become on this day those who have utterly lost. Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the last verse, فَإِن يَصْبِرُوا فَالنَّارُ مَثْوَىٰ لَّهُمْ Then if it is, if they have patience, yet the fire will be a home for them if they beg to be excused. Because what will happen is, which shows, this is a proof of Allah's qadr, that they will ask to be excused, but then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions وَإِن يَسْتَعْتَبُوا فَمَا هُمْ مِّنَ الْمُعْتَبِينَ And if they were to, not, if they were to beg to be excused, basically if they were to ask or to admonish what they have done, being excused, فَمَا هُمْ مِّنَ الْمُعْتَبِينَ They are really not of those that do mu'atiba upon themselves. So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, being that He is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Maintainer, the One that has all knowledge of all of these things, He is well aware, and He is reminding you, when one reads these verses, one should immediately upon reading these verses in this subject matter of verse number 19 to verse number 24, a verse that makes one tremble, that they are not of those that do mu'atiba upon themselves. They should say, O Allah, please do not make me of those individuals. O Allah, please make me of the ones that believe in You and understand Your greatness, to where our skin, and Allah mentions in different verses that they will be asked about what they've done in this life. So that is a beautiful reminder that I want to, a beautiful verses that I want to remind all of us, starting with myself, that there will be a day that the unfathomable will happen. And there are many other examples here, and this is just one small example to where we hold ourselves accountable. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us of those that hold ourselves accountable in this life, to where we will face the joy and salam in the next. JazakAllah khair. JazakAllah khair, Sheikh Mahdi. And we've gone a lot longer tonight, but inshallah to Allah it's a benefit to everyone.
So forgive us for going a little bit longer, you know, and I'll just add just a few thoughts, you know, bringing it all back. It's from the mercy of Allah that He gives us these scenes so that we don't become the primary actors within them. We see it in the Quran so that we are not in it in the hereafter. And that's for us to actually take note of these things and to do the things that would cause us to be amongst those that are celebrating and celebrated on the day of judgment. There were just a few reflections that I would share from both of your beautiful reflections. The first one is the hadith of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, on the power of tomorrow. Hadith Abu Ayyub al-Ansari radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, it's narrated in Mujah and other places where the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, gave him three advices. He said that when you stand up to pray, fa-salli salatan muwadd'a, that you pray as if it is your last prayer. wa la takallam bi kalam ta'tathiru minhu ghaddan and don't say things today that you'll have to apologize for tomorrow. wa ajma' al-ya'sa mimma fi yadayn nas and lose hope in what other people have accumulated, have gathered in this world. And what that means is pray as if it's your last prayer. If you think about what distracts you, usually in your prayer, you're thinking about what comes after the prayer. And you need to think about this as the prayer today for the akhira tomorrow, that you're here after tomorrow, this is your last prayer. So freeze yourself in the moment. Don't think about the things that come after the prayer or that you expect to come after the prayer in the worldly sense. It's not there. So there is no tomorrow with your prayer. This is your last prayer. And don't say things today that you'll have to apologize for tomorrow. That's life advice. Like how many arguments do you have? And you try to say the most hurtful thing possible because you know, well, tomorrow I'll be able to fix this. And there is no tomorrow. Someone dies in a tragic car accident or a sudden heart attack, or something happens to where there is no conversation to follow up after that one, or the scars that are left from that conversation,
from that dispute are too deep to ever really be dealt with in this world. So don't try to say the most hurtful thing. Don't go to bed angry. Don't say things today that you'll have to say sorry for tomorrow, because you might not get to say sorry in this world. Wa ajma' liya'sa min ma fiyadiyan nas and then lose hope in what other people have. You know, a lot of people are distracted by this world because of what they have not yet accumulated of this world. And so I'm too busy trying to get that house and too busy trying to get that car and too busy trying to have this much money and too busy trying to have this much glamor and accumulate this and accumulate that. Al haakum wa takaafir hatta zurutumul maqabir. And then the abundance of this world completely is rendered entirely useless once you go to your grave. Hatta zurutumul maqabir, right? So all of it has to do with your relationship with Allah, your relationship with the people, your relationship with possessions of this world, things of this world, all have to do with this understanding of wal tanzur nafsun ma qaddamat bi ghad. Look at what you have put forth for the inevitable tomorrow, which is the hereafter. And subhanAllah at the end of this surah, which is surah al-Hashr, Allah azawajal has these beautiful verses about his names. And the way it starts off, huwa allahu alladhi la ilaha illa hu a'alimul ghayri wal shahad. Allah glorifies his knowledge of the heavens and the earth. And then at the end of that sequence, yusabbihu lahum ma fis sanawati wal ardi. Everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies him in ways that human beings cannot understand. So it's only Allah that knows everything of the heavens and the earth, that which is seen and unseen, major and minor, concealed or made public, and everything in the heavens and the earth glorifies Allah in some way. So fakun min al-sajideen. Be amongst those that are prostrating to Allah. Be amongst those that are doing tasbih of Allah, that are glorifying and praising Allah. And finally, Allah says in many parts of the Quran, this idea of everything disappearing, kullu man alayha fan.
Everything in this earth disappears. wa yabqa wajhu rabbika dhuljalali wal ikram. And that idea of only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being, at one point, the only being, being Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and everything else wiped out. You know, many of the ulama mentioned that one of the benefits of that ayah is that the only thing that stays, yabqa, the only thing that stays, other than of course Allah himself, is what was done for Allah sincerely. Everything else becomes useless, meaningless, ceases to exist except for accountability for it, except for the deeds that were done solely for the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, seeking his reward. Those stay, and that's where you have that accumulation of what you prepared today, tomorrow. So it's muhasaba and being more mindful of what you've put forth in terms of evil, but also being more patient with what you've put forth of good, that it will stay and that it will come back, binda Allah ta'ala. Suzzakum Allah khayran, dear masha'ikh. That was, I think, very beneficial for all of us. And I know it was longer today. I hope all of you appreciate, though, the various aspects and elements of this. And I wanna hand it off to Dr. Tahir, if you could sort of give us the final word on this all, inshallah, the subject all, inshallah, and then we'll send people off, inshallah. Sheikh Tahir, we can't hear you. I'll try to wrap up something very important right now to connect with what you said to what Sheikh Abdullah was mentioning. And that is the ayah where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and I'm just gonna translate the meaning, that those thoughts that you had about Allah, that dhan that you had about Allah is what led to your destruction, right? So it is very important when we see that, that we have the proper belief about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala about his names and his attributes. And so again, when you look at the end of Surah al-Hashr, and you see Allah azawajal introducing himself
to his servants, letting us know who he is, because if we know who he is subhanahu wa ta'ala, then we will love him. To know him is to love him, right? And we will love him subhanahu wa ta'ala, that will be the catalyst for us doing that which pleases him and we'll hope that he accepts those deeds from us and we'll fear that we may not have done enough to please him. And so those are the arkan of ibadah, right? Those are the pillars of worship, the love of Allah, hope in his reward, in fearing his punishment. And all of that stems from that true preparation for the hereafter. Again, if there's one last thing that I could say, because it's not something that we focused on in this particular thing, in this particular talk, but it is the importance of managing one's thoughts. So even taking muhasabah of what you think about and not just what you do, because every action starts with a thought, every good action starts with you thinking about doing something, and every evil action is the same way. And if you learn to control your thoughts and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blesses you to do muhasabah of the way you think, then that will ultimately lead to a better muhasabah of your deeds, because you'll stop a lot of the evil things in their tracks, you won't even allow it to become more than a fleeting thought. And so you don't allow that fleeting thought to circle around and swim around in your head until it becomes a desire, and that desire becomes a firm determination, and then that turns into action. So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to guide us and to make us from amongst the righteous and make us from amongst those who are constantly aware of him subhanahu wa ta'ala and who constantly examine ourselves. Wallahu alaimu sallahu wa sallam wa baraka anna nabiyyina Muhammad. Jazakumullah khair, Dr. Tahir. And to remind everyone inshallah, tomorrow night inshallah ta'ala we'll have Quranic themes.
So please make sure that you follow that on the Yaqeen platform inshallah ta'ala. We'll continue to do this every night, Monday through Friday inshallah, for the month of June, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, of keeping connected with the Quran. Tonight was a long one, but I personally found it very beneficial, so we appreciate everything. And we'll try to post actually the framework of Ibn al-Qayyim rahimallah summarized. We'll try to post that inshallah ta'ala on our social media platforms, bi-idhnillah. And Dr. Tahir is working on systematic theology, so a lot of that is the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So that's coming out of the team that you're directing, and we just actually had Al-Haleem. And so inshallah ta'ala we'll continue to see that introduction to Allah's names and attributes in a way that's beneficial to us through the work of the systematic theology framework that you all are working on. So jazakumullah khairan, wa salli alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.
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