Advice to the Youth Who Are Negligent in Their Acts of Obedience
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My honorable Shaykh! What is your advice to many of the young people who have fallen short in obeying Allah? We often see, during the times of prayer, some of the youth—may Allah guide them—playing football and doing stunts with their cars, thereby exposing themselves and others to destruction. We ask you to direct a beneficial word to such youth. May Allah benefit us through you and keep you in good health?
My advice to my Muslim brothers in general, and specifically to the youth whose condition you have described, is to fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and to know that this world is a place of work, not a place of permanent settlement. Yet, a person does not know when he will be removed from this world; he may live to see the morning and not the evening, or live to see the evening and not the morning. Therefore, it is obligatory to hasten with repentance and return to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Let the repentant person be glad that if he repents, Allah will erase from him whatever sin has preceded, no matter how great it is.
Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Furqan: 68] These are the major sins and the greatest of them: shirk (associating partners with Allah), killing the soul that Allah has forbidden except by right, and zina (unlawful sexual intercourse).
[Al-Furqan: 68-70] .
So my advice is, first to myself and second to my Muslim brothers, to hasten with repentance before the appointed time arrives; because when the appointed time arrives, repentance will be of no benefit.Allah the Exalted said: [An-Nisa: 18] This one has no repentance.
And this is the word of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and the evidence from reality is the story of Pharaoh,Allah the Exalted said: [Yunus: 90] It was said to him: [Yunus: 91] meaning: Do you repent now? [Yunus: 91] So the result is that I advise myself first and repent to Allah for what I have done, and then I advise my brothers second to hasten with repentance before the appointed time arrives, for then repentance will be of no benefit. How great is the regret at that moment! No one dies but that he regrets; if he was a wrongdoer, he regrets that he did not seek forgiveness, and if he was a doer of good, he regrets that he did not increase.Every person who dies regrets: [Al-Mu’minun: 99-100] .
So I advise the youth, whom Allah has blessed with the strength of youth, to utilize this strength and this youth in what pleases Allah (Mighty and Majestic). When they accustom themselves to obedience, it becomes easy for them, and indeed, leaving it becomes difficult for them. As for football, they can play it at another time. We do not forbid them football if they play it without neglecting the obligatory, without forbidden speech, and without exposing the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), because it provides some relaxation and strengthens the body. A person cannot always be in a state of seriousness, for the soul becomes bored.And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Indeed, your Lord has a right over you, and your soul has a right over you) .
My advice to my Muslim brothers in general, and specifically to the youth whose condition you have described, is to fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and to know that this world is a place of work, not a place of permanent settlement. Yet, a person does not know when he will be removed from this world; he may live to see the morning and not the evening, or live to see the evening and not the morning. Therefore, it is obligatory to hasten with repentance and return to Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Let the repentant person be glad that if he repents, Allah will erase from him whatever sin has preceded, no matter how great it is.
Allah the Exalted said:
And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse
وَالَّذِينَ لا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهاً آخَرَ وَلا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلا يَزْنُونَAnd whoever should do that will meet a penalty. (69) Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - (70) Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَاماً * يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَاناً * إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلاً صَالِحاً فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُوراً رَحِيماًSo my advice is, first to myself and second to my Muslim brothers, to hasten with repentance before the appointed time arrives; because when the appointed time arrives, repentance will be of no benefit.Allah the Exalted said:
But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now,"
وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَAnd this is the word of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and the evidence from reality is the story of Pharaoh,Allah the Exalted said:
until, when drowning overtook him, he said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of the Muslims."
حَتَّى إِذَا أَدْرَكَهُ الْغَرَقُ قَالَ آمَنْتُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرائيلَ وَأَنَا مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَNow?
آلْآنَAnd you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters?
وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنْتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَ(99) [For such is the state of the disbelievers], until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "My Lord, send me back (100) That I might do righteousness in that which I left behind." No! It is only a word he is saying; and behind them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected.
حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ * لَعَلِّي أَعْمَلُ صَالِحاً فِيمَا تَرَكْتُ كَلَّا إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَائِلُهَا وَمِنْ وَرَائِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَSo I advise the youth, whom Allah has blessed with the strength of youth, to utilize this strength and this youth in what pleases Allah (Mighty and Majestic). When they accustom themselves to obedience, it becomes easy for them, and indeed, leaving it becomes difficult for them. As for football, they can play it at another time. We do not forbid them football if they play it without neglecting the obligatory, without forbidden speech, and without exposing the 'awrah (the part of the body that must be covered), because it provides some relaxation and strengthens the body. A person cannot always be in a state of seriousness, for the soul becomes bored.And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Indeed, your Lord has a right over you, and your soul has a right over you) .