The Shaykh’s explanation of the prohibition of smoking and his advice to Muslims to fear Allah and seek lawful sustenance

[ExplanationThe Shaykh : of the prohibition of smoking and his advice to Muslims to fear Allah and seek lawful sustenance, along with a note on the fundamental cause that led to the weakness of Muslims and the aggression of disbelievers against them] Note: The fifth tape begins with a question: "In the name of Allah, it is well known that smoking is harmful, so what is its ruling in the Shari'ah? May Allah reward you with all good." Then this answer—which is here—comes after it, and the rest of the answer is completed there.

The Shaykh : Yes.

The questioner: The harmful smoking

The Shaykh: ... and it is harmful in terms of social relations. So, you board a bus or a train, and you are one of those whom Allah has spared from smoking, so you are afflicted by a person who smokes, and the bus and the room become filled with the foul-smelling smoke, and he oppresses the people around him and does not care. This foul smoke has become such that when one of the scholars speaks about it in some detail, it may take half an hour or sometimes an hour to establish proof after proof and evidence after evidence that smoking it is forbidden, with no difference in that between the rich and the poor. And then one of the indifferent people in the gathering says: "My brother, if it is forbidden, we burned it, and if it is lawful, we drank it." You hear this a lot.
Therefore, this word represents the reality of the Islamic world today, except for those whom Allah wills, and they are few. Most of them do not fear Allah in their acquisition of their earnings and sustenance, even though the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say: , As He the Exalted said: The "hour" in the verse: It is not the hour that is a part of twenty-four hours, no, the "hour" in the verse: the moment, meaning: they do not delay an hour, that is, a moment . The point is: With all these Shari'ah commands and divine guarantees that a person will receive his sustenance whether he wills it or not, we are so concerned with this sustenance that we do not ask: Is it forbidden or lawful? As for the purpose for which we were created, which is to worship our Lord, we have made it forgotten and neglected. So you find Muslims like disbelievers working day and night in the path of seeking what is guaranteed, and neglecting what they were created for, which is the worship of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And for that reason, many of the common Muslims, and even some of their elites, are ignorant of the true reason by which Muslims fell into this humiliation and this hostility and colonization by all disbelievers, and especially the Jews who occupied our lands. They do not know the reason except the divine decree and destiny, "This is what Allah has written for us," and many of them criticize and object to Allah, saying: "How are the Jews better than us? Aren't we Muslims? How did the Jews take our place in our lands?" That is due to their ignorance, because Allah the Glorious and Exalted has laws, regulations, and systems in this universe. Whoever takes them by hand reaches their goals, and whoever turns away from them lags behind, whether in religion or in this world. It is authentic from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: They said: "Are we few at that time, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: They said: "And what is weakness, O Messenger of Allah?" He said:
A man from the audience: May you apply this hadith, my master...

The Shaykh : Yes?

The questioner: Is it applied now?

The Shaykh: Is it applied? It is applied and that is it, and this confirms for you the second hadith: He (peace be upon him) said: ... . These Jews have occupied our lands—unfortunately—, what do they want from Muslims, more humiliation than being humiliated by the most humble people And here they are humiliating us, the Muslims. Have we been humiliated by the most humble people because we are noble, as our Lord the Glorious and Exalted said in the Qur'an: ? No, the news of Allah does not delay, But who are these believers? They are those who fear Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) and walk in His Shari'ah. So our calamity today is that we have turned away from the fundamental principle for which we were created, which is: the worship of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). So most of us do not worship Allah, and the few who worship Allah do not know how to worship Him. So among the things we have forgotten, which is preserved in the Qur'an, is that Allah the Glorious and Exalted bestowed upon us and said: So among what came in the Qur'an: This verse has become as if it was abrogated from the Qur'an, not written to be read by Muslims day and night, but what is the benefit of the Qur'an written in the mushafs and with which walls are decorated, while hearts are empty on their thrones? Was the Qur'an revealed to decorate our houses and to recite it over our dead and keep it away from our living in application and action? He the Exalted said: So the Qur'an was revealed for the living first, and not for the dead, and then it was revealed for the living to act upon it, not to decorate their houses and walls with it. So this is a verse of what came in the Qur'an, but most Muslims, especially those whom Allah has blessed with some wealth, strive to preserve it and fear its loss or that it will be stolen from them, especially these have forgotten this verse: This verse gives two very important things for one who fears Allah:
The first thing: If he falls into hardship, He will make for him a way out, and if his sustenance is restricted, He will provide for him from where he does not expect. We today, if we fall into hardship, perhaps one of us will disbelieve in Allah the Glorious and Exalted and not turn to Allah and not supplicate to Him and not seek nearness to Him by what He loves and is pleased with, as happened to some of those before us whom our Prophet (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) told us about, a story that happened to some of the nations that were before the mission of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), so our Prophet told us the story so that we take it as a lesson and do not forget, like the previous verse: The Messenger (may Allah's prayers and peace be upon him) said about them: بينما ثلاثة نفر ممن قبلكم يمشون إذ أخذهم المطر فلجئوا إلى غار في جبل - ما يجرهم المطر والسيل في الصحارى - فأووا إلى غار في جبل ، فانحطت على فم غارهم صخرة من الجبل ، فانطبقت عليهم - كانوا في مشكلة يخشونها و إذا بهم يواقعونها ، خايفين من المطر يشتد ويصير سيل ويروحوا مع السيل ، ولجئوا إلى الجبل يتحصنون به ، وإذا من أعلى الجبل تلك الصخرة الضخمة لا تزحزحها الآلات الحديثة اليوم ، وكأن الله وضعها في وجه الغار الذي هم فيه ، هم ثلاثة أشخاص فقال أحدهم : يا هؤلاء ، انظروا أعمالا عملتموها صالحة لله ، لعل الله يفرجها عنكم ، شافوا جبل انحط أمام وجهم و هم في الغار ، مين اللي بيزيح الجبل ؟ هو الذي أنزله ، رب العالمين سبحانه وتعالى ، لكن هذا الرجل رجل عاقل ورجل مؤمن تقي ، يقول لأصحابه : شوفوا أعمالاً عملتموها يوماً ما صالحة وقصدتم بها وجه الله ، فتوسلوا بها إلى الله ، لعل الله بيزيح الصخرة من وجه الغار هذا , فقام أحدهم وقال : اللهم إن كنت تعلم أنني كان لي أبوان شيخان كبيران وامرأتي وكان لي صبية صغار أرعى عليهم ، فإذا أرحت حلبت فبدأت بأبوي قبل بني ، فنأى بي ذات يوم الشجر فرجعت وقد أمسيت فحلبت كما كنت أحلب ، وجئت بالحِلاب إليهما ، و وجدتهما قد ناما متأخر - قال : فكرهت أن أوقظهما من نومهما ، وكرهت أن أسقي الصبية قبلهما ، والصبية يتضاغون من الجوع عند قدمي شو بيقول هذا الرجل ؟ يقول أنه كان عنده غنمات وله أبوين وزوجة وأولاد ، كل يوم الصبح بكير بيأخذ الغنمات وبيسرح يتطلب إيش ؟ الكلأ ، النبات ، كان يرعى الغنم ، الظاهر أنه قطع مسافة كبيرة ما وجدهم قريب ، ولما رجع ما وصل إلى البيت إلا وقد أمسى المساء ، وهو كعادته الطيبة اللي تدل على برِّه بأبويه ، يأخذ الوعاء اللي بيحلب فيه حليب ، بيمليه حليب وبيبدأ بأبويه قبل عائلته ، فحلب ، أول ما جاء من البرية لما رجع مساء ، وراح دخل عليهم وإذا بهم نايمين ، شو بيساوي هذا الرجل ؟ عنده عادة : بيبدأ بأبويه بالسقي قبل زوجته وأولاده ، الآن وقع في مشكلة ، أبوه وأمه نايمين ، وولاده الصغار صايحين من الجوع ، كل النهار ما جاء لعندهم ، قال : فوقفت عند رؤوسهما أكره أن أوقظهما من نومهما ، وأكره أن أسقي الصبية قبلهما ، والصبية يتضاغون من الجوع عند قدمي من الجوع ، يعني : بيصيحوا - لأنهم صغار - قال : فلم يزل ذلك دأبي ودأبهم حتى طلع الفجر ... While three men from before your time were walking, the rain caught them, so they took refuge in a cave in a mountain. The rain and the flood did not drive them through the open desert, so they sheltered in a cave in the mountain. Then a rock from the mountain slid down onto the mouth of their cave and closed over them. They were in a predicament they feared, and lo, they encountered it, afraid that the rain would intensify and become a flood and carry them away with it. They took refuge in the mountain to be protected by it, and lo, from the top of the mountain that huge rock, which modern machines today cannot move, as if Allah had placed it in front of the cave where they were. They were three men, so one of them said: "O you, look for good deeds you have done for Allah, perhaps Allah will remove it from you." He removed the mountain that had slid down in front of their faces while they were in the cave. Who is going to move the mountain? It is He who sent it down, the Lord of the worlds, Glorified and Exalted is He. But this man was a sensible man and a believing, pious man. He said to his companions: "Look for good deeds you did one day and intended by them the Face of Allah, and seek nearness to Allah through them, perhaps Allah will move the rock from the face of this cave." So one of them stood up and said: "O Allah, if You know that I had two old, aged parents and a wife, and I had small children whom I was tending. When I would return, I would milk and start with my parents before my children. One day the trees carried me far, so I returned and it was evening. I milked as I used to milk, and I brought the milk to them, and I found that they had fallen asleep late. I disliked waking them from their sleep, and I disliked giving the children drink before them, while the children were crying from hunger at my feet. What is this man saying? He says that he had sheep and had parents, a wife, and children. Every morning early, he would take the sheep and graze them, seeking what? The pasture, the plants. He was grazing the sheep. It appears he covered a long distance and did not find them nearby. And when he returned, he did not reach the house until it was evening. And as per his good habit that indicates his dutifulness to his parents, he would take the vessel in which he milks, fill it with milk, and start with his parents before his family. So he milked. As soon as he came from the wilderness and returned in the evening, he went in to them and found them sleeping. What does this man do? He has a habit: he starts with his parents in giving them drink before his wife and children. Now he faced a problem: his father and mother were sleeping, and his small children were crying from hunger. They had not come to him all day. He said: "So I stood at their heads, disliking to wake them from their sleep, and disliking to give the children drink before them, while the children were crying from hunger at my feet, from hunger, meaning: they were crying, because they were small. He said: 'So that remained my practice and their practice until dawn broke...'" . The rest of the speech is in the fifth tape, but it begins the answer from the beginning there.