Count yourself among the dead and remember Allah at every stone and every tree.

The Shaykh :
And the author (may Allah have mercy on him) says regarding the eighteenth hadith: It was narrated from Mu'adh that he said: I said, O Messenger of Allah, advise me. He said: Worship Allah
as if you are seeing Him, count yourself among the dead, and remember Allah at every stone and every tree. And if you commit an evil deed, then [seek forgiveness] for your sin
until... the secret [sin] with the secret [forgiveness] and the public [sin] with the public [forgiveness]. Al-Tabarani narrated it... except that there is a break in the chain between Abu Salama and Mu'adh in this
. This does not contradict... what the author (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned regarding the break in his Musnad, because we mean that until we look at other evidence
like the seventh hadith in the previous lesson, from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar. Here, Yahya ibn Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him)... the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
(peace and blessings be upon him) to advise him. So part of his advice to him was that he (peace and blessings be upon him) told him: Worship Allah as if you are seeing Him. This is the highest rank that
a servant can reach in remembering Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and fearing Him, such that he is always aware that he is seeing Him, because nothing is hidden from Allah (Mighty and Majestic)
in the earth or in the sky. And this hadith, or this portion of this hadith, is mentioned with a more authentic chain than
this one, in the third hadith in the two Sahihs, from the hadith of Abu Hurayrah... from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar, that well-known
of Jibril (peace be upon him) when he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a man whom none
of the Companions recognized, even though he did not have the signs of travel on him. He was wearing white clothes and was not disheveled or dusty, but they said
that none of us recognized him either. So he combined strange, contradictory descriptions, because if he were a stranger, the burdens of travel would have been apparent on him, such as
... and dust and... and the like. And if he were a resident, the Companions would have recognized him. So he was a man of strange appearance. The point is that in the hadith, and it is
a long hadith which we have mentioned more than once, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked about ihsan (excellence in worship), he said: Ihsan is that you worship Allah as if you
are seeing Him. If you are not seeing Him, then He is seeing you. This is the highest rank among the ranks of a Muslim's worship of his Lord (Mighty and Majestic). And likewise, the
first question of that strange man, who was a passerby as we mentioned based on the end of the hadith, asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
and his family (peace and blessings be upon him) about Islam. And Islam is practicing Islam outwardly, but this Islam does not benefit its owner unless
it is accompanied by faith. And here I, and others, say it does not benefit its owner unless it is accompanied by faith. We mean that he... in the Hereafter, or that
he is saved by his Islam which is accompanied by faith. So he does not benefit from Islam except when it is accompanied by faith. But if it is not accompanied
by faith, does it benefit its owner from his Islam in any way? ... It may benefit them, and this type is considered a hypocrite in the language of the Shari'ah, because he
displays Islam, but he is not a disbeliever because his faith was not accompanied by his Islam. So what does he benefit? He is saved in his person and his wealth, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said
in the authentic hadith: I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah.
So when they say it, their blood and their wealth are protected from me. So this is what is gained if their Islam is not accompanied by faith. So when they say it,
their blood and their wealth are protected from me, and their reckoning is with Allah. Perhaps they said it with their tongues and faith did not enter their hearts, or
they said it believing in it with their hearts. Their reckoning in that is with Allah. But as long as they have spoken the word of tawhid (the oneness of Allah), the ruling mentioned in the hadith applies to them, by his saying: their blood and their wealth are protected from me, and their reckoning is with Allah. The first rank... and
it may benefit its owner in this world, but it does not benefit him in the Hereafter. As for the one who benefits from his Islam in the Hereafter, it is when it is accompanied by the second rank
mentioned in the hadith of Jibril when he asked him: What is faith? He said: Faith is that you believe in Allah, and so on...
Then came the third rank, and there is no rank after it, which is the rank of ihsan (excellence in worship): that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him. If you are not seeing Him,
then He is seeing you. It is not possible... from the texts of the Sunnah, it is not possible for a person to see his Lord in this fleeting world. It is authentic from
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the long hadith of the Dajjal that when he described him to his Ummah, and that was from his kindness (peace and blessings be upon him) to his Ummah,
part of his description of him was that he said: He is one-eyed, and your Lord is not one-eyed. As he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And none of you will see his Lord
until he dies. So he mentioned descriptions of the Dajjal so that the Muslim would be certain, if he is tested by his emergence in his time, that this is the Dajjal and not
the one who is worshipped rightfully, for Allah is perfect in all His attributes, and this one is one-eyed. So this is a sign, and another sign is that you see him: And none of you
will see his Lord until he dies. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in explaining the rank of ihsan: that you worship Allah as if you are seeing Him, because you will not see Him
in this world. And we all know that Musa (peace be upon him), the intimate friend of Allah, when he asked his Lord to see Him,
He said: You will not see Me, but look at the mountain. If it remains in its place, then you will see Me.
And it is not established, even for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that he saw his Lord with his eyes. And this is a matter, and although it is disputed among the scholars of tawhid (the oneness of Allah)
and the scholars of the Qur'an, the majority of them mentioned that the creed is not established except by a text
that is definitive in its establishment and definitive in its meaning. And we do not find the probable text
whether in establishment... that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on the night of the Isra' (Night Journey) or other than that night. And therefore, it is
not possible for a person to see his Lord until he dies, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And within the hadith, and none of you will see
his Lord until he dies, the scholars discussed a principle in usul al-fiqh (the principles of jurisprudence), which is whether the speaker is included in the address he directs to his Ummah or
to others. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) in this hadith says: None of you will see his Lord until he dies. Do you see
whether he is included in this address or not? In this matter, there is disagreement among the scholars of usul (principles), and we are certain that he (peace and blessings be upon him)
is at least included in this serious address, because he was asked, as in the authentic hadith of Abu Dharr: Did you see your Lord? He said: Light. How could I see Him? There is a veil. And as it came in the hadith... his veil is light. So he (peace and blessings be upon him)
from the previous hadith of Abu Dharr, in response to the question
Did you see your Lord? He said: Light. How could I see Him? There is light that veils our Lord
from being seen by any of us. So, none of you will see his Lord until he dies also includes the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Not fromThe questioner : that this hadith itself is from the previously mentioned disagreement, but rather from Abu Dharr and others. If the matter is such that none of us will see his Lord in this world, then he must worship Him while being mindful and certain that his Lord is seeing him. So if you do not see Him, this does not
lead you, as long as you are a believer that Allah sees everything and knows everything, to disobey Him and
to contradict Him in His commands and prohibitions. For if you are not seeing Him, then He (Blessed and Exalted is He) is seeing you with certainty. This rank is the rank of
ihsan (excellence in worship), and it is, as you heard, the highest of the ranks of Islam and faith. And therefore, it is a grave error to transfer this high rank, which is special between the servant and his Lord, that he worships Allah as if he is seeing Him, to make a human servant, by any interpretation and by any justification, some people try to justify that the servant should monitor a servant of His servants during his remembrance of his Lord. They claimed that this servant whom the servant himself should monitor is one of those who are close to Allah, so he in turn kindles this servant who monitors him with him. And this is called in
some of the famous paths (tariqat) the rabita (spiritual connection), where the seeker (murid) connects his heart to the heart of his Shaykh, whom he does not see and does not know at all whether he is
remembering or heedless. This rememberer himself does not know anything about the state of his Shaykh either, whether he is remembering or heedless. And thus the matter becomes, in its contradiction to the Islamic Shari'ah, a fundamental contradiction, and the matter becomes absolutely illogical, because the one whom a person should monitor must be a monitor who believes in him that he knows this one who is being monitored, knows his need, his supplication, his request, and the like.
The special high status between the servant and his Lord is to worship Allah as if he sees Him. To make a human servant, by any interpretation and any justification, attempt to
Some people try to justify that the servant, while remembering his Lord, monitors a servant among His servants. They claim that this servant whom the servant himself should monitor is one of those who are devoted to Allah, so he in turn devotes the servant who monitors him to the same, and this is called in
Some of the famous paths "al-rabita" (the bond), where the seeker ties his heart to the heart of his Shaykh, whom he does not see and knows nothing about at all, whether he is
Remembering or heedless. This very one who is remembering does not know anything about the state of his Shaykh either, whether he is remembering or heedless, and thus the matter becomes,
In its contradiction to the Islamic Shari'ah, a fundamental contradiction, and the matter becomes absolutely illogical, because the one who should be monitored by the person must be a monitor who believes in him that he knows this one who is being monitored, knows his need, his supplication, his request, and the like.
The issue, in its contradiction of the Islamic Shari'ah, is a fundamental contradiction that makes the issue entirely illogical, because the one who should
be monitored by the person is the one in whom he believes that He knows what he is monitoring, knows his need, his supplication, his request, and so on.
Among the points of reform, how can it be conceivable that the worshipper watches over the worshipper, the ignorant over the ignorant, and the heedless over the heedless? What is this but as some
of the Sufis themselves said...
Calling upon a created being for aid is like calling upon a path for aid... So this servant who is watching is like this watcher; both of them
are in need of turning to Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and watching Him with true watchfulness. It is regrettable that this high
station among the stations of the journey of faith, which is the rank of ihsan (excellence in worship), where the servant faces and watches his Lord, is turned to this servant
watching a shaykh (scholar or teacher) of his. This is part of the regrettable deviation that has befallen some Muslims today. In this hadith and in the hadith
of al-Tirmidhi and similar hadiths, they encourage this innovated watchfulness. And the watchfulness prescribed by the Shari'ah is that the servant watches
his Lord only, and no one else, and that he watches Him in this state as if this watching servant sees Allah with his own eyes. If you do not see Him, He
sees you. This is a lesson from the lessons of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to his companion Mu'adh ibn Jabal. From that, he said, "Count yourself among the dead." A similar expression preceded this in the hadith of Ibn 'Umar: "Count yourself among the people of the graves," or as he said: Then
he said in the hadith of Mu'adh, "And remember Allah at every stone and at every stone." This means the servant's continuous
remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). So he is at every stone and at every tree. This means, first, that a person does not neglect the remembrance of his Lord (Mighty and Majestic) in all his states, even
if he is sitting or setting out to walk... Second, that the remembrance of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) commanded in the Sunnah, including this hadith, is to remember Allah
at every stone and at every tree. The meaning of this is that the servant's remembrance of his Lord does not require ceremonies, rituals, or gatherings
and circles of dhikr (the remembrance of Allah) called such, and the like of that, because it is... in Islam, because he says... "Remember Allah at every stone and tree," meaning
remember Allah... the recitation of blessings upon the Messenger at every stone and tree. It does not mean that you are restricted to specific conditions, even if
you face the qiblah (the direction of prayer). Some people may think that the remembrance of Allah, like the ritual prayer, must adopt the etiquettes and obligations that the one
who wants to pray performs. The answer is no. Nothing has come in the Sunnah, let alone the Qur'an, that makes dhikr obligatory... How is it that our Lord
(Mighty and Majestic) says: ... a type of His chosen, excellent servants, linked to His saying: "Those who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying on their sides." So if you sit
in a position that gives you rest... and you remember Allah in this state, there is absolutely no harm upon you religiously.
And even if this does not please some of those who belittle rulings in the religion without permission from the Lord of the worlds: that they
are partners who legislated for them from the religion what Allah has not permitted. So Allah (Mighty and Majestic) describes, as I said, a select group of His chosen,
excellent servants from the general people who remember Allah standing, sitting, and lying on their sides: meaning they remember Allah when they are standing,
they remember Allah when they are sitting, and they remember Allah when they are lying down. So our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) does not obligate us
to adhere to one of these three attributes, but rather as... the situation is, and it is as if this hadith or this part of this
is quoted from this verse: "Remember Allah at every stone and at every tree." It is not prescribed to adopt specific postures
and attributes and prostrations, and from that, a specific announcement after Muslims gather for the prayer for rain or the eclipse prayer.
These are among the acts of worship that you see very much on the tongue of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). So, unfortunately, they have become
forgotten and neglected. And one of the reasons for that is that people have taken their place and established in their stead acts of worship they invented from themselves. Why have you not heard
any of them announce in the past few years a prayer for rain, an eclipse prayer, or a lunar eclipse, ever? As for the prayer that
a Muslim can perform between himself and his Lord at any time he wishes or when it is easy for him, this is held specially. It is not from the Sunnah...
And when I say this, I know that people will watch and object... the Salaf (the earliest generations) in... the companions of the Messenger (peace be upon them)
and their plan in rejecting newly invented matters, even if these innovations were considered good by the majority, as 'Abdullah ibn
'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Every religious innovation is misguidance, even if people see it as good." He confronts them with the story of Ibn Mas'ud with
the people of the circles of dhikr, the special gatherings. It was reported in Sunan al-Darimi with a valid chain that Abu Musa al-Ash'ari
(may Allah be pleased with him) came to the house of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud one morning and found a group of people waiting for him. He said to them... the Most Merciful
meaning... Ibn Mas'ud. They said, "No." So he sat and waited for him. When he came out, he said, "O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, I entered the mosque just now and saw
people in it in circles, and in front of each man was a pebble with which he counted the tasbih (glorification), takbir (saying Allahu akbar), and tahmid (praise). And in the middle of each circle was a man
saying to those around him, 'Glorify thus, praise thus, say Allahu akbar thus.'" Ibn Mas'ud said, "Did you not disapprove of them?" He said, "No, I was waiting for your order
or waiting for..." He said, "Did you not order them to count their sins, and did I guarantee for them that nothing of their good deeds would be lost?" Then he returned to his house
and went out veiled so that he was not recognized until he entered the mosque and saw what was described to him of the circling and the counted dhikr. When
the matter became clear, he removed the veil from his face and said, "Woe to you! What is this that you are doing?" 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud... They said, "By Allah, O
Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, these are pebbles with which we count the tasbih, tahmid, and takbir." He said, "Count your sins, and I guarantee for you that nothing of your
good deeds will be lost. Woe to you! How quickly you will be destroyed! These are the garments of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and they have not worn out, and these are his vessels and they have not broken. By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad,
are you more guided than the Ummah of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), or are you holding on to a time of misguidance?" He did not say "holding on to misguidance" only, but "holding on to a time of misguidance." They said, "By Allah, O Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, we did not intend anything but good." And this answer
... is particularly for the followers among them. As for the leaders, the majority of them know and deviate for many purposes. Allah knows best what
is in their hearts. As for the followers, most of them follow their leaders with good intentions. They are depicted to them as this being dhikr, and that it is
a followed dhikr, so they follow them after that, exactly as the people said to Ibn Mas'ud, "By Allah, we did not intend anything but good." But the decisive meaning
of the appearance: the saying of Ibn Mas'ud, "How many are those who seek good but do not attain it." The door is that one of you kills the good: We said no,
it is not necessary that it be coupled with the meaning of killing the good. The path that he took in seeking good must also be good in itself, and it
will not be so unless it is the path of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), as Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said in the Qur'an: "And this is My path, so follow it, and do not follow the paths that diverge from His path." So this path, if the seeker of good
takes it, he is certainly in good. But if he takes another path, which is... good, he will not attain this good at all. And this is among the meanings of the saying
of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every religious innovation is misguidance, and every misguidance is in the Fire." And among the objectives of his other saying, "Whoever innovates in our matter what is not part of it, it is rejected." Therefore, Ibn Mas'ud said, "How many are those who seek good but do not attain it." And if you are seeking
good by a path other than the path of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), you will not attain this good. As the meaning of that appeared to them, for example, a hadith he heard
from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). He said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "There are people who recite the Qur'an, but it does not go beyond
their throats; it does not reach their hearts. It is only the movement of the tongue and a trade with the recitation of the Qur'an, as is the case in the end of time. It does not go beyond
their throats. They slip out of the religion as an arrow slips out of its quiver." Here ends the story of Ibn Mas'ud with the people of the
innovated paths. But the lesson is in the completion of the story, which its witness narrated. He said, "We saw those people, the people of the
unprescribed circles of dhikr, we saw them fighting us one day..." That is, the people of the circles of dhikr were among the Khawarij (an early sect that declared sinners disbelievers)
who rebelled against the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought them and eradicated... except for a few individuals.
The innovated schools of thought. But the lesson is in the entirety of the story as told by its witness. He said, "We saw the first of those groups, the people of the
Unprescribed circles of dhikr, we saw them fighting us one day..." That is, the people of the circles of dhikr were among the Khawarij
Who rebelled against the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, so 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought them and eradicated them... except for a few individuals.
Those who rebelled against the Commander of the Faithful, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) fought them and eradicated them... except for a few individuals.
Few of them were there, so their schools did not benefit them in any way. This is because they contradicted the Sunnah in this matter. This is evidence for the scholars' statement that minor innovations are a substitute for major ones.
[Regarding] major sins. I am quoting from their statement, so I say: the minor innovation is a substitute for the major innovation. This is the evidence that matches what
I am saying exactly: innovative gatherings where they remember Allah in a manner that is not... [which] led them to major innovation and rebellion against the Commander
of the Believers and fighting him. Therefore, we must stand by the limits of Allah and not presume upon Allah by directing our opinions and our minds
and our desires and our customs to something that is not... (peace and blessings be upon him). Rather, it is the opposite of that; it opens the field for us to
remember Allah however it suits us, without adopting a specific manner or form, and wherever it is easy, as he said in this hadith,
"And remember Allah at every stone and at every tree." So if you do a bad deed, do a good deed alongside it. The secret with the secret, and the public with the public.
The public with the public: This hadith is also an explanation of another hadith of Mu'adh, in which the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: "Follow the bad deed
with a good deed and it will erase it." This... He says: If you give your Lord [something] in public, you must follow that with a good word and a good deed in public. But if
you are afflicted with doing something in secret, do not expose yourself and do not announce your sin. Rather, repent to Allah the Exalted and Majestic with a good intention, and also
do good deeds in secret. That is further from you approaching showing off in completing this deed. But if you did a bad deed in public, then here
the public declaration of repentance from it... has... for the soul, and it is a subjugation of it and a humbling. Therefore, you find many people when they err in public
and a person comes and advises them that they erred and that they should announce their error to the people, they say to him, "I will not do that." And from here we know that the command
to enjoin good and forbid evil does not have a specific fixed system, as it appears to some people who are overcome by... in their calling
in their opinion. They think that, for example, if the preacher errs on the pulpit and recites a fabricated hadith with no basis, one of the
[people] stands up. And unfortunately, this is not found in the countries [other than Egypt], but in Egypt, much of this has occurred. The reason is that the Egyptian countries
have a more scholarly spirit than these countries. We know of many incidents where some of the attendees rebuke the
preacher for a hadith or an opinion he got right, and the preachers here... raise the microphone, and so on. The point is that if an error occurs in public,
it must be rebuked in public, and if it occurs in secret, it must be rebuked in secret. Because in the first case, as it pleases some people, as we said earlier,
to take this preacher aside after his sermon and after his prayer, and say to him, meaning, "May Allah bless you, your sermon was
how sweet and how beneficial, etc..." A new lecture, and so he can... the advice is brief for his Muslim brother, but in
his sermon there was a hadith... and this is a fabricated hadith... This style could have frightened [him]. This is from the perspective of preserving
the heart of this... because, unfortunately, souls have become... Pharaonic, arrogant, and do not accept advice except from whom Allah wills. It is
not possible to adopt this style in two circumstances, one of which is absolutely impossible to achieve, and the other may be possible. The first is to gather
all the people who he erred upon with his sermon, all of them, with a second sermon or a second gathering, and say, "I presented to you in the previous sermon
such and such a hadith, and it has become clear that this is a fabricated hadith." It is not possible to gather all these people if there
are, for example, a thousand people in the mosque, or fewer or more. In the second sermon, meaning in the following Friday, it is not reasonable that they
gather with their specific identities. Some may not attend, and other people may attend, and so on. So this is not guaranteed. If this person is told in secret
and it is announced, and this is very rare, then this announcement... in the following sermon, and the error is mentioned, must be rebuked. Even if it
was in public, it is rebuked in public, and if it was in secret, it is rebuked in secret, because there is no benefit here in the announcement except the exposure of the one who erred.
So here the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) admonishes each of us that whoever errs before the people should announce this error before the people,
and that I erred. The secret with the secret, and the public with the public.