The Shaykh’s clarification of the meaning of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And they prefer others over themselves,” and giving some examples that fall under this and some that do not.
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh: I have mentioned more than once the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Al-Hashr 59:9]. Many people expand in their understanding of it, and then in its application, to the point where it includes some acts of worship and obedience. Let us give a common, realistic example, and another example that occurs rarely, or which some people consider to be such. You are in the first row!
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: You see the Shaykh behind you, so you move back and let him move forward. You think that here you have not done anything selfish; on the contrary, it means:[Al-Hashr 59:9]. No, the verse does not apply here.
The questioner: Correct, it does not apply.
The Shaykh: Okay, so this situation that you created is the opposite of selfishness, because if there had been any selfishness here, you would have stayed in your place.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: But you preferred your companion with your position and your place. What do we call this? The opposite of selfishness. What do you see now? Let us give it a name?
The questioner: I mean, is it not suitable to call it selflessness? For example, generosity?
The Shaykh: We said: This is not selflessness.
The questioner: I mean, it is generosity on his part.
The Shaykh: It will be like the sun here now!
The questioner: Shaykh, regarding this, he mentioned its issue and then...
The Shaykh: It can only be described as: being careless with worship, because the virtue of the first row is:. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish in the matter of praiseworthy selflessness between pure material things, and between obedience and worship.
but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation
وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌThe questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: You see the Shaykh behind you, so you move back and let him move forward. You think that here you have not done anything selfish; on the contrary, it means:
but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation
وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌThe questioner: Correct, it does not apply.
The Shaykh: Okay, so this situation that you created is the opposite of selfishness, because if there had been any selfishness here, you would have stayed in your place.
The questioner: Yes.
The Shaykh: But you preferred your companion with your position and your place. What do we call this? The opposite of selfishness. What do you see now? Let us give it a name?
The questioner: I mean, is it not suitable to call it selflessness? For example, generosity?
The Shaykh: We said: This is not selflessness.
The questioner: I mean, it is generosity on his part.
The Shaykh: It will be like the sun here now!
The questioner: Shaykh, regarding this, he mentioned its issue and then...
The Shaykh: It can only be described as: being careless with worship, because the virtue of the first row is:
If they only knew what is in the first row, they would draw lots for it
لو كانوا يعلمون ما في الصَّفِّ الأول لَاستَهَمُوا عليه
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.