What is the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And by time, indeed, mankind is in loss, except for those who have faith and do righteous deeds and enjoin upon one another truth and enjoin upon one another patience”?
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The questioner : What is the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-'Asr 103:1-3]?
The Shaykh : Its interpretation is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) swears by the era, which is the age, because the age is the time of various events and occurrences. Therefore, Allah swore by it, swearing that mankind is in loss. Here, “mankind” refers to the human species, so every human being is in loss, gaining nothing from his life and nothing from his era, except for those who gathered these four attributes:[Al-'Asr 103:3].
means: they believed in what must be believed in, with acceptance and submission. Thus, the legal concept of faith is not merely belief, but a specific belief that necessitates acceptance and submission.
means: they performed righteous deeds. Righteous deeds are those that gather two conditions: sincerity for Allah and following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). If one of the two conditions is lacking, it is not among the righteous deeds. If a person performs a deed that is in complete accordance with the Sunnah in its outward appearance, but he did not intend the Face of Allah with it, rather he did it for showing off and reputation, then his deed is not accepted and is not called righteous. In the Qudsi hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Sahih Muslim 2985. And if a person is sincere to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and seeks nothing but the Face of Allah, but he did not follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).
Not following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) occurs in two ways: either by not doing what is prescribed to be done, where its omission invalidates the worship, or by innovating something in the religion of Allah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prescribe.
An example of the first: if a man prays the midday prayer but intentionally omits the first tashahhud, we say that this deed is invalid because he did not follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in it, as he left the first tashahhud intentionally. Likewise, if he prays the midday prayer and omits one prostration from the prostrations or one bowing from the bowings, his deed is not valid because he was not following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in that.
And if he innovates in the religion of Allah what is not part of it, such as introducing specific forms of tasbih, takbir, or tahmid that the Shari'ah did not come with, or introducing specific forms of sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the Shari'ah did not come with, his deed is not righteous and not accepted, because he did not follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his deed.
Worship does not achieve following [the Prophet] unless it is in accordance with the Shari'ah in its cause, its type, its amount, its manner, its time, and its place. Or, if the conformity to the Shari'ah is realized in these six matters, then following is realized. If one of them is lacking, following is not realized.
So, the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: is: they performed the righteous deeds in which two conditions are realized, namely: sincerity for Allah and following His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The third matter: Truth is the opposite of falsehood, and everything that contradicts the Shari'ah is false, and everything that conforms to the Shari'ah is truth. Here, truth includes enjoining the doing of what is right and enjoining the leaving of what is wrong. That is, truth is doing what is right and leaving what is wrong, so they enjoin upon one another doing what is right and leaving what is wrong. Patience is restraining the self and burdening it. It is that every person who acts or calls to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) must face something that may weaken his resolve, so let him be patient. They enjoin upon one another patience, advising one another to be patient in faith, in righteous deeds, and in enjoining truth. Allah the Exalted commanded His servants to be patient in several places in the Qur'an, such as His saying: [Ali 'Imran 3:200] and His saying: [Al-Anfal 8:46] and His saying: [Az-Zumar 39:10]. The scholars mentioned that patience is divided into three categories: patience in obedience to Allah, patience against disobedience to Allah, and patience with the painful decrees of Allah. The highest is the first, then the second, then the third.
So, patience in obedience to Allah is restraining the self to accept the command of Allah and His Messenger, and to execute the command of Allah and His Messenger. It contains two things: restraining the self to accept it, and then executing it.
As for patience against disobedience to Allah, it is restraining the self from committing disobedience, and it contains only one thing, which is restraining the self from disobedience. For this reason, the first is more complete than it.
As for the third: it is patience with the painful decrees of Allah. Indeed, a person in this world is between hardship and ease, between fear and security, between narrowness and spaciousness, between poverty and wealth, and between health and illness. He needs patience for that. This patience is the least of the types in status, because in this patience, a person does not do the thing he is patient with by his own choice; rather, it befalls him without his will. It is as some of the Salaf said: either he is patient with the patience of the noble, or he is resigned with the resignation of beasts. Unlike the first two categories, for in them there is a type of choice, since if a person wills, he can refrain from a thing, and if he wills, he does not refrain; and if he wills, he can do a thing, and if he wills, he does not do it. Unlike the decrees of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), for they come to a person and befall him without his choice. For this reason, this category is less in status than the previous two categories.
The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you.
(1) By time, (2) Indeed, mankind is in loss, (3) Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.
وَالْعَصْرِ * إِنَّ الإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ * إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِThe Shaykh : Its interpretation is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) swears by the era, which is the age, because the age is the time of various events and occurrences. Therefore, Allah swore by it, swearing that mankind is in loss. Here, “mankind” refers to the human species, so every human being is in loss, gaining nothing from his life and nothing from his era, except for those who gathered these four attributes:
Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience.
إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِthey have faith
آمنواand do righteous deeds
وعملوا الصالحاتAllah the Most High and Exalted said: I am the One, One Who does not stand in need of a partner. If anyone does anything in which he associates anyone else with Me, I shall abandon him with one whom he associates with Allah.
أن الله قال: أنا أغنى الشركاء عن الشرك، من عمل عملاً أشرك فيه معي غيري تركته وشركهNot following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) occurs in two ways: either by not doing what is prescribed to be done, where its omission invalidates the worship, or by innovating something in the religion of Allah that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not prescribe.
An example of the first: if a man prays the midday prayer but intentionally omits the first tashahhud, we say that this deed is invalid because he did not follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in it, as he left the first tashahhud intentionally. Likewise, if he prays the midday prayer and omits one prostration from the prostrations or one bowing from the bowings, his deed is not valid because he was not following the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in that.
And if he innovates in the religion of Allah what is not part of it, such as introducing specific forms of tasbih, takbir, or tahmid that the Shari'ah did not come with, or introducing specific forms of sending blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that the Shari'ah did not come with, his deed is not righteous and not accepted, because he did not follow the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his deed.
Worship does not achieve following [the Prophet] unless it is in accordance with the Shari'ah in its cause, its type, its amount, its manner, its time, and its place. Or, if the conformity to the Shari'ah is realized in these six matters, then following is realized. If one of them is lacking, following is not realized.
So, the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and do righteous deeds
وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِThe third matter:
and enjoin upon one another truth
وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّand enjoin one another to patience
وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِO you who have believed, persevere and endure and remain stationed and fear Allah that you may be successful.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اصْبِرُوا وَصَابِرُوا وَرَابِطُوا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَand be patient. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.
وَاصْبِرُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَIndeed, the patient will be given their reward without account."
إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍSo, patience in obedience to Allah is restraining the self to accept the command of Allah and His Messenger, and to execute the command of Allah and His Messenger. It contains two things: restraining the self to accept it, and then executing it.
As for patience against disobedience to Allah, it is restraining the self from committing disobedience, and it contains only one thing, which is restraining the self from disobedience. For this reason, the first is more complete than it.
As for the third: it is patience with the painful decrees of Allah. Indeed, a person in this world is between hardship and ease, between fear and security, between narrowness and spaciousness, between poverty and wealth, and between health and illness. He needs patience for that. This patience is the least of the types in status, because in this patience, a person does not do the thing he is patient with by his own choice; rather, it befalls him without his will. It is as some of the Salaf said: either he is patient with the patience of the noble, or he is resigned with the resignation of beasts. Unlike the first two categories, for in them there is a type of choice, since if a person wills, he can refrain from a thing, and if he wills, he does not refrain; and if he wills, he can do a thing, and if he wills, he does not do it. Unlike the decrees of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), for they come to a person and befall him without his choice. For this reason, this category is less in status than the previous two categories.
The questioner : May Allah reward you and bless you.