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Layers of Misguidance | Daily Reminders

July 17, 2020Dr. Omar Suleiman

Allah mentions clear error (Dalalin Mubeen), distant error (Dalalin Ba’eed), and major error (Dalalin Kabee) in the Quran. What’s the difference between the three? And what are the signs of them?

Transcript

This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
Alright everyone, Salamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. A'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim. Bismillahir rahmanir raheem. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Wa la udhwani lillahi al-alameen. Wa ala aqibatu lilmuttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baraka aba abdika wa rasulika muhammadin salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim tasliman kathira. So, you know, we've been covering this verse in quite some detail and just reflecting on some of the components of it. But what I'd like to do, you know, Allah azawajal mentions at the end of this, Ulaika fee dhalalin ba'eed. That verily they are far, you know, they are in error. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala particularly uses ba'eed, which means they are far away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ulaika fee dhalalin ba'eed. They've gone far straight. Now obviously we spoke about the different components of this person, right? So this is a person who doesn't just love the world too much, but loves it so much that they would do anything for it, including ruining their own hereafter. And not only ruin their own hereafter, but they would divert others from this path as well. And not only that, but they would twist this path to make it less threatening to their worldly interests and to their intoxication with this dunya. And so ulaika fee dhalalin ba'eed, these are people that are far away from the truth and, you know, astray. Now there are different ways that Allah describes being astray in the Quran. And I want to talk about this and perhaps next week insha'Allah, we'll start by talking about dharika alfawz al-adheem, or dharika alfawz al-kabeer, or dharika alfawz al-mubeen. Allah talks about layers of success. Here Allah talks about layers of misguidance, how astray a person can be. And so you'll see dhalalin ba'eed, you'll see dhalalin mubeen, you'll see dhalalin kabeer. So I just wanted to reflect a bit on the difference between these three that the scholars have pointed out.
Ulaika fee dhalalin ba'eed refers to the distance a person is away from Allah on their path of misguidance. And this is important because, you know, one of the things that shaitan wants you to do in your temporary low point is enough to keep you there. And in order to keep you away from Allah, keep on drilling you down and down and down. Shatana is to dig your well, right? So to basically dig further and further and further away, distancing you from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You know, last week we were reflecting on the hadith of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, where, you know, he talked about the shaitan on the top of all of these divergent paths that call you away from the straight path. It doesn't matter which door you enter. The point is that you enter one of those doors that's not on the straight path back to Allah. And the goal is then to pull you as deep into that path as possible so that you don't come back. And the beauty of our Lord is that, you know, all you have to do is initiate the process of tawbah, initiate the process of turning back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then there is no distance that is too far away from him. As evidenced even by the hadith of that man that killed 99 people and asked someone, you know, asked a worshiper if he had a chance of being forgiven and the man told him, no, you killed 99 people and he killed that man too. He killed 100 people, goes to a scholar and the scholar tells him, who can stand between you and the mercy of Allah, the forgiveness of Allah? But you've got to change. You've got to actually, you know, make a change in your life. Not just seek forgiveness, but you have to start over. And he died on the way to that new land that he was going to settle. And that was enough for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive him, even if he was closer to the land that he left in actuality. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allowing the earth to shift for this person to actually be closer,
his body to be closer to the land that he was going to. Because that's how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is when a person turns back to him. And so the shaitan will pull you far away and then tell you you're too far to go back. You might as well not even try to turn around. Allah tells you if you just start turning around, then that is sufficient for tawbah, or at least for the process of tawbah to take place. And then a person finds himself in the favor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as soon as they start to turn back to him. So dhalal an ba'id is someone far away. Allah specifically though, when you look at the usages of dhalal an ba'id in the Quran, it refers to that person who is not just astray themselves, but they take others with them. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَصَدُّوا عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ قَدْ ضَلُّوا ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا That those who have disbelieved and then diverted people from the path of Allah, that they have gone astray, far astray, dhalal an ba'id. And so it's the lesser common usage of dhalal, of misguidance in the Quran. But it's someone who seeks it out and then seeks to lead others astray as well. Which is just a sign of not just disbelief, but really rebellion against God. And that a person is actively making themselves an opponent of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah protect us from that. Dhalal an mubeen is when a person, which means clear error. You are in clear error. It's something that we find used frequently in the Quran. So these words of dhalal an mubeen are frequently used in the Quran. And it's pretty self-explanatory. Mubeen means plain error. And so you'll see it with Ibrahim alayhi salam, for example, challenging his people on their idol worshipers, you know, or on their idol worship. That, you know, how is it that you're worshipping these things that don't bring you any benefit. They don't do any good for you. He's trying to call them using common sense.
He's using observable proofs, hujjahs, against them. And when they say that, you know, this is what we found our fathers upon. He said you and your fathers are fi dhalal an mubeen, in clear error, right? So dhalal an mubeen refers to clear error. Dhalal an kabeer, which means great error, usually is used in regards to the consequences of that error. So when someone is doing something that is harmful to themselves, but they don't see the harm of it because the harm is not worldly or present in this world, but it is a harm that awaits them in the hereafter. And so they belittle the consequences of their actions because they're belittling the consequences in the hereafter. And, you know, belittling the notion of a hereafter altogether. Then in antum illa fee dhalalin kabeer, right? So in Surat al-Mulk, for example, which we recite nightly, you know, when a person is being spoken to, you know, about the consequences of the hereafter for their kufr and tughyan and their dhulm, for their rejection, wickedness, and all of these things, in antum illa fee dhalalin kabeer, you know, you are in massive error here. So it's speaking to the consequences. So again, dhalal an ba'eed, dhalal an ba'eed is someone who seeks it out and leads, who seeks out misguidance and leads others astray as well. Dhalal an mubeen, which is the most common one, is clear error. So it's speaking to the arguments that are being put forth against faith as opposed to those that are being put forward and the observable proofs and dhalal an kabeer refers to the consequences, that a person is not considering the consequences of those actions, of those deeds as they do them. Why? Because they're too intoxicated with the love of this world to even start to see the hereafter, to understand the implications
of their actions and their deeds in this world in the hereafter, what they mean for them in the hereafter. And inshaAllah ta'ala, as I said, next week inshaAllah, we'll talk about fawz al-adheem, fawz al-mubeen, fawz al-kabeer, the different layers of success. But of course, all of these things refer to or they speak to the different realities of error and we pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guide us and keep us upon guidance, make us steadfast on the path of guidance and allow us to attain the goal of guidance being His pleasure and His paradise. Allahumma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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