A speech by Shaykh Muhammad 'Ayd 'Abbasi on the importance of adhering to the authentic Sunnah, returning to the truth, and seeking the journey in the pursuit of knowledge.

The questioner : [Al-Anfal: 24], and life is the great life in the Hereafter. And O Allah, how good it is that we live in this world a good life if we respond to Allah and the Messenger when they call us to that which gives us life. O Muslims, responding to Allah means that we submit, yield, and comply with everything that came from Allah on the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and was recorded between the covers of the Qur'an. This is the religion that Allah has chosen for you as a system, and that Allah has chosen for you as a path, and that Allah has chosen for you as a way. So whoever deviates from it should not blame anyone but himself. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, after drawing a straight line and placing crooked lines to its right and left, , or as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And he recited the saying of the Exalted: [Al-An'am: 153]. So O Muslims, respond to Allah. Responding to Allah means that this journey, for example, is not a journey for pleasure, nor a journey for enjoyment in this worldly life, nor for leaning upon it, nor to strengthen ourselves, our children, and our women, and to take from the world a share in pleasures. No, responding to Allah has no obstacle in this; it has not been forbidden to us, but on the condition that it is intended for the face of Allah, and that it is intended for the pursuit of knowledge, and that it is intended like the Islamic conference where we get to know one another, and hearts are united, and one of us, from whatever side, gets to know the other party in such a society. Even if he is Pakistani, or Arab, or Turkish, or anyone, because Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) wants the Muslim bodies to be one body, calling to one another, a pillar for the other, and a limb for the other. Because O Muslims, if our coming was specific to the sea, corruption has appeared in the land and the sea, and we see, by Allah, nothing but what awakens us and awakens the Muslims in general, and awakens the angels in the sky, and awakens Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) from above His Throne. But it is upon us to enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, in the travel by car on the sea, in the journeys, and to get to know one another and unite, and to ... one another because.
... even if this deficiency varies among us, more in some and less in others. So may Allah bless you. It is supposed of us, O Muslims, to respond to Allah. Responding to Allah means that we do not act except with what Allah has prescribed, and we do not deem lawful except what Allah has made lawful, and we adhere to what Allah has prescribed. There are independent legal reasonings and there are errors, and all of humanity is built upon that. But when a Muslim sees the truth, he must yield and comply with it and make it his school of thought. And if he exercises independent legal reasoning and errs, if he has no ... except to seek the truth and he errs, he has a reward, and this is known to you. We presented it only for remembrance. So none of us should burden his brother if he is quick in issuing a ruling. It is obligatory for a person not to be stopped from any ruling, but he should strive to resolve any ruling, on the condition that he does not be definitive about it, and on the condition that he follows it up. If he finds that he is wrong, he returns in the ... . This is how the imams did, and this is how the righteous predecessors did, and even the independent legal reasonings of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him); when he saw otherwise, he returned from them. And no statement is established except the statement of Allah and the statement of His Messenger, and the statement that agrees with the statement of Allah and the statement of His Messenger is established by the establishment of the two statements upon which it relied or from which it derived the rulings. So may Allah bless you. The statement of Allah and the statement of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was sent to this Ummah, and he was eager for it, and he was merciful and compassionate to it. He conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, and advised the Ummah. May Allah reward us for him with good and gather us under his banner. So may Allah bless you. This Prophet ... himself and sacrificed himself to present to us this great good, and he did so (peace and blessings be upon him). So do not leave what the Prophet left in your hands. Yes, there is a Sunnah for the Caliphs, but this Sunnah agrees with the Sunnah of Allah and agrees with the obligations of Allah. If it contradicts them, it is not a Sunnah, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: , and in a narration: , an addition: . So holding fast to the guidance; no guidance on earth is considered guidance except the guidance of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him), and no direction is called guidance except the guidance of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him), for the guidance is in it and does not exceed it, and the truth is in it and does not surpass it.
So may Allah bless you. It is supposed of us, O Muslims, to comply and yield to what came from Allah and His Messenger in the Book and in the authentic Sunnah, upon which the people of the critique and vindication of narrators labored, and they clarified for us the ranks of the hadith, about twelve ranks or more. So it is obligatory for us to take what is authentic and act upon it, and to hold onto it firmly, and not to follow anyone, not even Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, except with a matter that was derived from the legal rulings and for which we did not find a contradiction from scholarly consensus.
So may Allah bless you. We said that it is supposed of us that our journey be for the face of Allah, and it is the pursuit of knowledge, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) says: . And do not be lazy, and do not be negligent in the pursuit of knowledge, for the pursuit of knowledge is an obligation, and it is not a collective obligation, but an individual obligation, even upon the woman, and even upon the child, and upon all individuals of the people. For no one escapes the Fire except a scholar, as reported in Sunan al-Tirmidhi from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , meaning the Book of Allah , that is, he revolved around it, judged by what is in it, loved what He loved, and stayed away from its prohibitions . So the man who is not among the people of the remembrance of Allah, and has no close friends of Allah, and is not a scholar, and has no gatherings of scholars to learn from their hands, is, as came from the Prophet, cursed on the tongue of the Chosen One (peace and blessings be upon him). And the cursed one here is the one expelled from the mercy of Allah. If one of us is expelled from the mercy of Allah, there is no benefit in having the earth and the whole world, from the east where the sun rises to the west where it sets, all in his name, all with deeds of ownership in his name. If he plunges into the Fire, by Allah, this is misery, and this is the clear loss. May Allah protect us and you from being lured by desires and souls, and we ask Allah to make the place of that the love of Allah, and the love of His Messenger, and the love of the Shari'ah that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) brought. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) says: . And he says: I have left you upon the white, clear path, its night like its day, no one deviates from it except one who is destroyed. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was eager for us with complete and correct eagerness. Allah testified to this, and the actions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) moved with this. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) called to the guidance, and Allah clarified: [Al-Anfal: 24]. So the people are dead except those who were given life under the title "There is no deity but Allah." Whoever was given this life is alive, awake, and discerning, and he is alive, taking pleasure and enjoying in a noble, high life without equal, because he is organized in a system that Allah wanted for him and decreed that he follow it. As for the people who follow desires, the world, the dirham, and the dinar, and love everything that comes and goes, and walk behind every caller and crier, and believe everything that is said, and narrate everything they heard, these have no equivalent except animals, and no equivalent except beasts, and no equivalent except the nations that did not purify themselves in the religion and did not cleanse their souls from the Fire. The foolish one is the one who has foolishly treated himself. So may Allah protect us and you from being lured by the soul and being carried away by the devils. [Al-Anfal: 24], , meaning to the Book of Allah, respond to the Messenger of Allah, meaning that we respond to the authentic Sunnah that came from the Messenger of Allah with an authentic chain.
[Al-Anfal:24], so life, my brothers, is truly in this world to live a good life. We said that a good life is for a person to be upright upon the noble Shari'ah, to be upright upon the commands, so that his conscience is at ease on one hand, and that he does not anger Allah on the other hand, and that he does not transgress against society and others, and that everything before him is by a known measure and reasonable limits. And truly, he is praised in this world and desired, even if his enemies love him. Our Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), I do not know of anyone who competed with him for position, or anyone as came [Al-Falaq:5], except an envious man like Abu Jahl and others, who knew that if he were martyred, he would testify that he was upon the truth. As came a report from the cursed one that he said, "By Allah, he is upon the truth, and by Allah, he is a Prophet, but we and Banu Hashim are like two rivals in a race. They fed us, so we were fed, and they gave us drink, so we were given drink, and they say a Prophet is from us. So where do we get a Prophet?" So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) possessed the hearts with love, and the world testifies that he is of good wing, of good side, and that what is before him of his work is good; he did nothing but good. So we are callers, and we have in the Messenger of Allah a good example, and we proceed upon this track and this methodology. So it is obligatory upon us to represent the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). It is possible that one of us can bear what the Messenger of Allah bore, except for the matters attached to the Messenger of Allah that only he could bear, and those are very few. As for the acts of worship, we are all able to bear that, except for the late-night prayer, which may be difficult for us.
So may Allah bless you. It is obligatory that we be a good example for the Messenger of Allah, and that we represent the Messenger of Allah, and that we present to people the image of what the Messenger of Allah was like. The Muslim is a caller, and he is silent; a caller to his neighbors, and he does not speak to them; a caller in his walking, a caller in his looking, a caller in his movements, being rational, well-mannered, and a believer. If he sees that he has erred, he returns and announces it; he does not feel shy and does not fear the blame of any blamer in Allah, as our righteous predecessors did. When a matter contrary to what they were upon was proven correct to them, they returned from it and announced it; they did not feel shy and did not fear except Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He). And desire and fear are worship, so we must desire this religion and fear all that leads us to what angers Allah. So [Al-Anfal:24]. This is evidence that a person will be held accountable on the Day of Resurrection for what he concealed and what he declared. And Allah holds us accountable for the inner self, even though the Shari'ah does not hold us accountable except for the outward appearance, and this is the limit of the Shari'ah regarding people. But Allah (Exalted is He) is greater in judgment, more noble, and more capable, and He is more knowledgeable about His servants. Yes [Al-Mulk:14]. So Allah holds us accountable for the secrets and what comes to the mind. So fear Allah with true fear, and watch Him as if you see Him. So, my Muslim brother, it is possible that one of us is prompted by his self to commit zina. What do you think if the woman's father or brother were present? Would he commit zina? No. Why? Because he is under surveillance. It is possible that one of us is prompted by his self to steal, but he may not steal. Why? If the owners of the wealth have their eyes fixed on the place, he cannot steal. The reason for that is that the surveillance he desires prevents him from doing it. So the surveillance from Allah is present in every state and time, in every time and place. He sees you when you stand and turns you over in prostration. So fear Allah, O servant of Allah. O servant of Allah, fear Allah. Allah sees you when you intend, even if you intend something that the onlookers and those who watch over their honor and wealth do not see what came to your mind. Yes, they see what you did, so do not move, but what came to your mind, they do not see it. But Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) is more severe in surveillance than them; He sees you in your movements and stillnesses and sees what came to your mind. So fear Allah, fear Allah, O servant of Allah. And O servant, Allah did not create you to enjoy this world and take sixty or seventy or eighty or ninety years of age, taking pleasure in this world, praying and supporting this religion and teaching your children some of it. But if you are harmed in Allah, you distance yourself from what harms you, and you avoid what you are exposed to, avoiding some worship so that you are not exposed to some of the destructive things or harm. No, it is not upon you, O my Muslim brother, O servant of Allah, except to perform your role for which you were created, and to perform what Allah has made obligatory upon you, and to take your role in this world, and to follow the example of the Messenger of Allah. And Paradise... who is it that comes and enters it? Paradise is as wide as the heavens and the earth, and the least of its inhabitants possesses as much as the world ten times over. It is not given to any man of you; it is not given except to a man who is truthful outwardly and inwardly, and works for what pleases Allah outwardly and inwardly, and does good and commands it, and enjoining good and forbidding evil. And it is obligatory upon him to apply this to himself, his kin, his family, his children, his neighbors, and those who obey him and those who accept his advice and call. So what is obligatory upon you is not to move according to what you see that you have worshipped, but to move according to what you can bear. It is obligatory upon the Muslim to move for the call according to what he can bear. Yes, but if your self is broad enough to strive night and day, and to write, and to speak, and to do good, and to spread in the earth, and to till, and to build in this world—what is the creed? It builds the hearts that are ruined and desolate due to the absence of the Qur'an in them and the absence of the fear of Allah and the fear of disobeying the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
So it is obligatory upon every Muslim among us to fear Allah and watch Him, and to calculate the account of the standing before Allah on the Day when people stand up to the Lord of the Worlds. And you will surely die as you sleep, and you will be gathered as you wake up, and this is very near, even if we see it as far. So Allah (Exalted is He) will fold the heavens like the folding of a scroll for books, and the earth in His Hand on the Day of Resurrection, and He will say, "I am the Compeller." And there must be an end to this world, and there must be our departure from this barzakh to the barzakh of the Hereafter and the standing before Allah. So we must fear Allah and be afraid of Him, and watch Him and not disobey Him. So it is obligatory upon us, O Muslims, to work according to what we can bear, and not according to what we see that we have performed the five prayers and performed the obligation of Ramadan and performed Hajj, and this is finished... we teach our children. No, it is not obligatory upon you; Allah will ask you on the Day of Resurrection according to what you can bear. If you spent some of this energy all on your wife, yes, she has a right, but this right does not exceed one-third. If you spent most of the time on pleasures, diversions, women, and air conditioners, you are responsible for that on the Day of Resurrection. This body was created by Allah to be used, and Allah created it for a purpose He wants, saying [Adh-Dhariyat:57]. So Allah wants you to enjoin good and forbid obscenity and evil, and to follow the example of those who came before you of the messengers, especially our Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), whom it is obligatory upon us to obey, and it is obligatory upon us to take his way as our methodology and take his path as our course, and not deviate from it by a hand's breadth. So whoever deviates from it, as came from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) , the meaning of the hadith of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), or they threw him into it.