Chapter on Encouraging Weeping out of Fear of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), Explanation of the Hadith of Ibn Abbas: (Two eyes that the Fire will not touch)

The Shaykh : We are now in the chapter on encouraging weeping out of fear of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He).
He says in the fourth hadith: And from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: . Al-Tirmidhi narrated it and said: It is a good, strange hadith.
This hadith clearly indicates the virtue of a person weeping, not out of sadness, pity, or greed for wealth or the loss of something dear to him, but rather his weeping is out of fear of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He); because such fear indicates the strength of the faith of its owner. Otherwise, many people do not know weeping except among people; this is the weeping of the hypocrites who feign and force themselves to weep, so they are not among those included in this hadith: .
Like the previous hadith in the earlier lesson, which contains: And it mentioned among them: . Alone, with no one present, so that it is thought, or even he weeps by the suggestion of Satan to him, and he does not sense or feel it, so that it is said: So-and-so is one of those who weep out of fear of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So this illusion or suggestion by Satan to a person to weep is absolutely inconceivable when the weeper is alone with no one present; therefore, among those seven whom Allah shades under His shade on the Day when there is no shade except His shade, was a man who remembered Allah alone and his eyes overflowed.
This weeping comes from the believer who fears Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He); otherwise, weeping is inconceivable except in a rare case where this weeping is joy. But as for the one who remembers Allah alone, the general rule is that his weeping is out of fear of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He), out of his fear of the punishment of his Lord. So if we notice this virtue of this weeper out of fear of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) while alone, we remember that there is nothing in Islam of what is reported about "Rabi'ah al-Adawiyyah" that she would converse with her Lord and say in her conversation with Him (Mighty and Majestic): "I did not worship You out of greed for Your Paradise, nor out of fear of Your Fire, but I worshipped You because You are worthy of worship." This is poetic, imaginary speech, its appearance is mercy and its reality is torment! Because the sincere believer, the stronger his faith, which includes his knowledge of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), the more he increases in fear of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) on one hand, and the more he increases in greed and desire for what is with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) of abiding bliss on the other hand. So a person in whom we imagine this strong faith cannot say "I do not worship You out of greed for Your Paradise, nor out of fear of Your punishment"; because this means that the speaker did not know his Lord, and faith necessitates knowledge, whereas knowledge does not necessitate faith.
Every believer is a knower, and this is a point that you must all pay attention to so that you are not influenced by many philosophical opinions that you may read in books or hear quoted from them. Every believer is a knower of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), but the reverse is not the case; not every knower is a believer. Therefore, one of the common errors is when they want to praise a righteous, pious man who believes in Allah (Mighty and Majestic) with true faith, they describe him as "the knower of Allah." Our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) described the disbelievers in many places with knowledge, but denied them faith. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said regarding the People of the Book and their knowledge of the truth of our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him): He said about them: , He did not say about them: they believe in him; because knowledge is one thing and faith is another. Every believer must have known what he believed in, but not everyone who knows something believes in it. So these are the Jews and the Christians who knew the Prophet (peace be upon him) and that he is the one who was promised in their books; and yet they lied about him, did not believe in him, and did not have faith in him.
Likewise: , this certainty is the very essence of knowledge, but it was not accompanied by faith, so it did not benefit them. So if the believer knows his Lord as the Forgiving, the Merciful, and the Severe in punishment, and this knowledge is a firm knowledge in which its owner has firm faith, this person cannot worship Allah without desiring what is with Him of bliss, and without fearing what is with Him of Hellfire. If an ordinary person lived under the rule of a human king, and this king was a tyrant who oppressed people, he must fear him and be afraid of him; because he sees constantly and eternally that he takes revenge on people without right; so by his knowledge of this reality, he takes his precautions and fears him. And conversely; if there were a noble, generous king who bestows his gifts on people without calculation and without questioning, a person cannot live under the banner of this king and not desire what is with him for free. The nature of man is like this; so what can be said regarding the Lord of the Worlds, the King of kings?! The hearts of all kings are in His hand (Blessed and Exalted is He). If we know that He is the Forgiving, the Merciful, and the Possessor of immense favor; how can we imagine that we believe in Him with true faith and yet do not desire what is with Him (Blessed and Exalted is He) of good, favor, reward, and a Paradise whose width is the heavens and the earth?! This is inconceivable except from a person who is either not a believer or heedless.
Likewise, if we know that He is the Mighty, the Avenger, and the Tyrant, how do we live worshipping Allah (Mighty and Majestic) without fearing Him and without being afraid of Him?! From here you understand the secret in the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in some authentic hadiths: , and from here you understand the secret in Allah's (Mighty and Majestic) description of some of His chosen, good servants by saying: "They worship Us out of desire." Is this the verse? .

Those present : ... .

The Shaykh : "They worship Us" ; they desire what is with Allah and fear what is with Allah. How can we imagine a person who fulfills the right of this servitude for which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) praised these chosen, good servants; how can we imagine that one of them says: "I did not worship You out of greed for Your Paradise, nor out of fear of Your punishment"?! This is nonsense, or the speech of an ignorant person, or one who does not believe in Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
The discussion of this is long, but there is a point: In the authentic hadiths, as an explanation of the saying of our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He): , it came in the authentic hadith in the explanation of: , he said (peace and blessings be upon him): , Paradise, meaning: seeing Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in the Hereafter. And it came in other hadiths that the believers in Paradise, when they look at their Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He), forget all the bliss they saw and felt in the Paradise of their Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He). At that time, how can we imagine a believer who is knowledgeable of such texts and others, knowing that in Paradise is the seeing of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)?! How can he say: "I did not worship You out of greed for Your Paradise" while he knows that there is no way to see Allah (Mighty and Majestic) except in Paradise?! For this, and this, and much that has not been mentioned, the true believer must fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) as came in this hadith: ; so this weeping is only the effect of this faith that dominates this weeper, and this does not happen except by his knowledge of his Lord (Mighty and Majestic) and his understanding of the attributes by which our Lord (Blessed and Exalted is He) is described.
It remains to give a simple explanation of the second sentence; which is his saying (peace be upon him): .
It is obligatory for us to remember that this phrase consists of a noun and its modifier. When this phrase is used in the Noble Qur'an and in authentic hadiths, it must be interpreted as referring to jihad in the cause of Allah; that is, fighting in the cause of Allah. I say this for several reasons. One of them is that this phrase sometimes carries a broader meaning than that. "In the cause of Allah" sometimes means more than fighting the disbelievers in the cause of Allah; it can mean that a person performs any deed for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), whatever that deed may be. Even if it is traveling on earth and journeying to earn his livelihood and the livelihood of his family and children through lawful means, this is also sometimes referred to in the Shari'ah as "in the cause of Allah." However, there must be a context indicating this, such as the hadith narrated by al-Tabarani and others, in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was sitting one day with his Companions around him when a young man passed by them who was strong, muscular, and vigorous. The Companions were impressed by him when they saw him, so they wished that this [strength] were in the cause of Allah. What did they mean by "in the cause of Allah"? The primary meaning is jihad in the cause of Allah. So he said to them (peace and blessings be upon him): This phrase clarified for us that the Messenger (peace be upon him) intended the general meaning of "in the cause of Allah" here. But because this context existed—the Prophet's response to the Companions, "If this were in the cause of Allah"—it clarified to us that he meant that this exertion in seeking provision for his parents, his children, and himself is also in the cause of Allah. We understood from this occasion that "in the cause of Allah" here means in the pleasure of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Thus, it has a broader meaning than what is usually intended in such a text and others, such as the statement of the Companions: "If this were in the cause of Allah."
So, when such a phrase reaches us or comes before us, what is the meaning we should derive from it? Is it the broader meaning or the specific meaning? The specific meaning of "in the cause of Allah" means in jihad; that is, in fighting the disbelievers in the cause of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). In fact, my aim behind this explanation is to draw attention to the interpretation of a hadith, or rather, to the interpretation of an innovation; that is, an innovation in interpreting the verse regarding the expenditures of zakah: to the end of the verse, and at its end: ; so how do we interpret this phrase? And how do we understand this expenditure "in the cause of Allah"? You know the rule when the phrase is used in its general sense; that is, in jihad in the cause of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). It is not permissible to generalize the meaning unless there is a context, such as the story of that strong, muscular young man, and so on.
Here, there is no context at all. In fact, the context is in the verse itself. In fact, there are contexts in the verse itself that confirm that His saying (the Exalted): here is according to the rule; that is, in jihad in the cause of Allah. Why? Because Allah (Mighty and Majestic) began these expenditures with His saying: , which is a tool of restriction, as if He is saying: The expenditures of zakah are restricted to these eight categories. Then He listed them one after another. If we interpreted the verse: with the general meaning, we would nullify this restriction, and there would be no benefit in counting one, two, three, four, eight. Because "the cause of Allah" would include this meaning if the intended meaning were the general, comprehensive one, encompassing the seven categories, the seventy, and seven hundred, whatever you wish; meaning that all paths of good would enter into "the cause of Allah." In that case, we would have disabled the eloquence and clarity of the Qur'an .
And when it was made attractive to some of the moderns today, by a matter we know, to interpret this text with the broader and more comprehensive meaning—whether they were aware of this prohibition that we have reminded them of or not—they did so to present Islam in a form that is pleasing to... the disbelievers, these Europeans, by whom many Muslim writers have been deceived. They became obsessed with studying their civilization and their modernity, and many of these Islamic writers were influenced by their civilization. They considered the Muslims to be truly backward. The disbelievers call us reactionaries, and they agree with them in a softer expression: "backward." In what are the Muslims backward? In what benefits them in this world, without a doubt. And when we criticize these people for calling Muslims backward and lagging, we do not mean that Muslims should remain like this. Rather, we mean that the greatest danger that has befallen Muslims today is not this European civilizational and modern backwardness, but rather the lagging in acting upon the Book of Allah and the hadith of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). This lagging, or this true backwardness, in acting upon the Shari'ah in light of the Book and the Sunnah is what opens the door for some Islamic writers to focus on the words and opinions of the Europeans regarding their religion, our Islam. What those [Europeans] find pleasing, these [writers] find pleasing. So, if they do not find an explicit text in what the disbelievers desire, they try to interpret a text that is not explicit in what they want, in order to show the Europeans: Look at our religion.
This verse has a close connection with what they call "social security" and "achieving social justice." They say: Here is Islam, which has prescribed a specific obligatory share, and whoever does not fulfill it commits a sin, to spend his money in all paths of good. For example, the school, which Islam undoubtedly encourages, but not at the expense of these eight expenditures. They included building schools, and a fortiori, they included building mosques. In fact, they included in this verse paving roads and building bridges and similar public facilities. All of this is to show people that Islam has commanded these things as a religious, devotional obligation. Islam undoubtedly commands this, but we do not want to mix the door of voluntary acts with the door of obligatory acts, and we do not want to interpret the Qur'an in a way that the righteous Salaf did not interpret it. So here, the phrase "in the cause of Allah" is like His saying (the Exalted): Like His saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in this hadith: .
And from here, attention is drawn to the fact that just as it is not appropriate to expand the interpretation of the previous verse regarding in the previous verse, as we have mentioned; so it is not appropriate to expand, as you heard from some of the young Muslims, the interpretation of in this hadith to mean that a group of young people, for example, from the scouts—as they have agreed upon today, and I do not see this term because it is foreign—went on a trip and planned to spend, for example, a few nights in the open. So, as a form of training—and there is no harm in this—on jihad, whose path has unfortunately been closed to all Muslims for known, not unknown reasons, they want to train themselves in such shallow, simple preliminaries that precede true jihad in the cause of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). They set up tents and establish guards. All of this is good, and let no one misunderstand my disapproval of that. But this guard who stands and guards his brothers as a form of this training does not fall under this hadith. It is good, it is training, it is preparation, like, for example, weightlifting and running and similar things. All of this is preliminaries to strengthen the body of the Muslim man so that he is as he should be when jihad in the cause of Allah is realized.
But this hadith: refers only to guarding in jihad in the cause of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - such as the guarding of that truly fighting Companion whom the Messenger - peace be upon him - entrusted with guarding the army, in which was the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him and his family -; when they descended into a valley after a battle in which they had fought a group of polytheists in their town, in their village, and they had taken a woman in their attack on the village whose husband was absent from the village. When he came and was informed that your husband was killed by the companions of Muhammad - peace and blessings be upon him - he tracked the traces of the Muslim army until he caught up with the army in the darkness of the evening in a valley, and they descended into it. So he - may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him - applied the system of night guard: ; who will guard us tonight? So two young men from the Ansar stood up, one from the Aws and the other from the Khazraj, and they said: We are, O Messenger of Allah. He said to them: a path in the mountain. So they set out, and it appears they agreed to guard in shifts; this one half of the night and the other the second half. So one of them lay down there, and the other stood up to guard. Then it occurred to him to add to his guarding in the cause of Allah another act of worship, perhaps of the type of ; so it seems he said: I am guarding, so I can combine my guarding with my worship and my prayer to my Lord. So he stood up straight to pray, and the polytheist, when he was tracking the trail, was waiting for an opportunity that would allow him to take revenge for his wife. And there he saw this noble Companion standing straight up praying. So what did he do but take a spear from his quiver and throw it at him, and he placed it in his leg.
This is how the narrator - who is Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah al-Ansari - expresses it; he says: and he placed it in his leg. This is an exaggeration of the precision of the shooting, as if he placed it there rather than shooting it. So what did this worshipping Companion do but take it and throw it to the ground, as if he were pulling a thorn from his body, and he continued to pray. When the polytheist saw that the target was still standing, he knew that he had not hit a fatal spot, so he threw the second one and placed it in his leg, and he threw it to the ground, and so on, three times with three spears, each time hitting him in a place on the leg. Finally: the narrator says: either his sleeping companion woke up, or he prayed two rak'ahs and woke him up. He was shocked by the wounds on his companion. He said: What is this? He said: I was in a surah that I was reciting, and by Him in whose hand is my soul, if it were not that I feared that I would neglect a post that the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - placed me to guard, my soul would have been in it.
This means that this man stood up to pray, and when he was hit and shot three times, he was wishing to continue in his prayer, and for the polytheist to continue shooting him until his death would be in this prayer, and he did not care about death for the sweetness of the conversation and the sweetness of his supplication and his standing before Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He - he did not care about death, but he remembered that the Messenger - peace be upon him - had appointed him to a duty of guarding the sleeping army returning from jihad, tired. And therefore, he did not want to neglect a duty that the Messenger of Allah - peace be upon him - ordered him to perform in order to satisfy what do we call this noble spiritual desire? Even if he would die and the polytheist would continue his shooting? No, he had to be content with the past portion of the sweetness of the conversation to remain alive until he performed the duty that the Messenger of Allah - peace be upon him - ordered him; therefore he said: if it were not that I feared that I would neglect a post that the Messenger of Allah - peace and blessings be upon him - placed me to guard, my soul - meaning: the destruction of my soul - would have been in this prayer. This is the guarding in the cause of Allah - Mighty and Majestic - which is the second type of the two types mentioned in the hadith of those whom the Fire will not touch: .
And even if it has passed us that we attain the second type of guarding in the cause of Allah in the true meaning that we explained earlier, let it not pass any of us that we attain the first type; which is weeping in seclusion from the fear of Allah - Blessed and Exalted is He -. We hope that Allah - Mighty and Majestic - will make us among the humble and sincere to the Lord of the worlds, and all praise is due to Allah alone, and prayers upon the one after whom there is no prophet.