The Shaykh’s talk on the alienation of the righteous among the Muslims.

The student: O Shaykh, a word of guidance for our brothers, if Allah wills, to advise them. May Allah bless you.

The Shaykh: As for my advice, I think this is sufficient, if Allah wills: that you fear Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His commands and that you fear Him in His prohibitions. But here is a matter—also—that I must mention to you on the occasion of this request. It is reported in "Sahih Muslim" from the hadith of Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas (may Allah be pleased with him), who, as you know, if Allah wills, is one of the ten promised Paradise. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , . It is established among the majority of Muslims, let alone the specialists, that Islam began with Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) when Allah sent him as a bringer of good news and a warner. Then he began calling people to the oneness of Allah and to worshipping Him alone, having no partner. Those whom Allah had decreed to be among the foremost followed him. Khadijah, the mother of the believers, Abu Bakr, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Bilal the Abyssinian believed in him, and so Islam began to spread. But it began with one individual, namely the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Then the Muslims were afflicted in Mecca, and they were severely afflicted. Then the first migration to Abyssinia was legislated, then the migration to the blessed city of Madinah. Then Allah (Mighty and Majestic) began to establish Islam in the earth, until the end of what you know of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) establishing Islam in the lands, in the east and west of the earth. So he (peace be upon him) indicated that the matter would return to its beginning. . What is the meaning of the word "Tuba"? "Tuba" has a linguistic meaning and a legal meaning. "Tuba" means: congratulations. "Tuba to you" means: congratulations to you. In colloquial expression: "may it be yours." This is the linguistic meaning: congratulations to you. As for the legal meaning, it is something that does not come to mind, but rather it is believing in what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, which is his saying: . "Tuba" is a tree in Paradise. A rider traveling at full speed under its shade for a hundred years would not cross this shade. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) gives good news to the strangers that they have Paradise, because when he says to them "Tuba," it means: in Paradise. So whoever has "Tuba" has Paradise. If we know this virtue, and we are today, without a doubt, in the time of alienation. Alienation has multiple aspects. The alienation we live in today has multiple aspects, but the aspect I want to dwell on in this blessed evening, if Allah wills, is the alienation of the Muslim among the righteous Muslims. I do not want to speak about the alienation of the Muslim among the sinful Muslims, among those whose worldly life has occupied them from the Hereafter, so they do not fast and they do not pray, and they engage in usury and commit sins. No, I do not want the alienation among these, and that is certainly present. But I want the specific alienation, or rather, I specify the alienation: you live in a Muslim house, all of whose people are Muslims, and they pray and fast, and they are in the best of conditions. Yet you are a stranger among them. How is that? Listen now to the answer of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding this type of alienation. They said: O Messenger of Allah, who are the strangers? He said: . This is the alienation among the righteous, because you pray among the praying people, but your prayer is strange. Why? Because you try to obey the first of the three hadiths. I started you with the first hadith: . So when you pray, you become a stranger in your prayer among your family in your home, let alone outside the home. Why? Because the people of the home have lived according to a pattern of worship, and their state says: "This is how we found our fathers." But this Muslim, Allah has enabled for him someone who informed him of the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), so he obeys his saying: . He becomes a stranger in his fasting, he becomes a stranger in his Hajj, he becomes a stranger, and so on. Therefore, we advise that you, O you who pray, should be strangers of this high type. You should be those who revive the Sunnah that people have killed. I gave you an example earlier of a Sunnah that people have killed, which is following the imam with "Ameen." They opposed this by racing the imam with "Ameen." So you are a stranger among those who oppose his command (peace be upon him) and race the imams of the praying people. This is the high alienation. Below it is an alienation of which I gave you an example, namely the sinful Muslims, the transgressors among them. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) referred to them in another hadith, where it was said to him again: Who are the strangers, O Messenger of Allah? He said: . A man may have been married for years to a wife, and he lives with her a life of hell, constantly in open dispute. He wants her, for example, to cover herself and to wear the jilbab according to the Shari'ah, but she refuses him because she sees her neighbors or female neighbors do not wear the jilbab, but rather they display their adornment. So he is in conflict, so he is in struggle. So his description fits the second definition of the strangers in his saying (peace be upon him): In the name of Allah.