All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the badness of our deeds.

The Shaykh : All praise is due to Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and seek His forgiveness, and we seek refuge in Allah from the evils of our souls and the badness of our deeds. Whoever Allah guides, no one can mislead, and whoever He misleads, no one can guide. And I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His messenger. As for what follows, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) says regarding the eighteenth hadith: "It was narrated from Mu'adh that he said: 'I said, O Messenger of Allah, advise me' He said: Al-Tabarani narrated it with a good chain, except that there is a break in the chain between Abu Salama and Mu'adh. This hadith does not contradict our grading of it as *hasan* (good), despite the break in its chain mentioned by the author (may Allah have mercy on him), because we mean that it is *hasan* due to other supporting narrations, like the previous hadith from Ibn 'Umar in the last lesson. Here, Mu'adh (may Allah be pleased with him) asked his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to advise him, and among his advice to him was his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): This is the highest rank a servant can attain in remembering Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and being conscious of Him: to remember Allah and be conscious of Him to the extent that he constantly feels he is being watched, because nothing is hidden from Allah (Mighty and Majestic), neither on earth nor in the heavens. This hadith, or this portion of this hadith, is famous with a more authentic chain than this one in the established hadith in the two *Sahih*s from Abu Hurayrah, and in *Sahih Muslim* alone from Ibn 'Umar. That is the well-known hadith of Jibril (peace be upon him), when he came to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the form of a man whom none of the Companions recognized, even though he did not have the signs of travel on him. He was wearing white clothes, and he was neither disheveled nor dusty, but they said, "None of us recognizes him either." So he combined strange, contradictory descriptions, because if he were a stranger, the signs of travel such as dust and dishevelment would have been apparent on him, and if he were a resident, the Companions would have known him. So he was a stranger. The point is that in this hadith, which is long and we have mentioned more than once, when he (peace and blessings be upon him) asked him about *ihsan* (excellence in worship), he said: This is the highest rank of the ranks of a Muslim's worship of his Lord (Mighty and Majestic). So in that hadith, the first question was that the man was a stranger, and he was Jibril, as we mentioned based on the end of the hadith. He asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about *Islam*, and *Islam* is the outward practice of *Islam*. But this *Islam* does not benefit its owner unless it is accompanied by *iman* (faith). And when I say, and others say, that it does not benefit its owner unless accompanied by *iman*, we mean the benefit in the Hereafter, meaning that he is saved by his *Islam* which is accompanied by *iman*. So he does not benefit from *Islam* except when it is accompanied by *iman*. But if it is not accompanied by *iman*, does his *Islam* benefit him in any way? The answer is that in this world, it may benefit him. This type is considered a *munafiq* (hypocrite) in the language of the Shari'ah, because he displays *Islam* but conceals *kufr* (disbelief), because his *Islam* was not accompanied by *iman*. So what does he benefit? He saves himself and his wealth, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the authentic, mass-transmitted hadith: So this is what they benefited from, if their *Islam* was not accompanied by *iman*. Do you think they said it with their tongues while *iman* did not enter their hearts, or did they say it believing in it with their hearts? Their reckoning in that matter is with Allah. But as long as they have spoken the word of *tawhid* (the oneness of Allah), the ruling applies to them. We say in the hadith, by his saying: So the first rank in the religion is *Islam*, and it may benefit its owner in this world but not in the Hereafter. As for the one who benefits from his *Islam* in the Hereafter, it is when it is accompanied by the second rank, as mentioned in the hadith of Jibril when he said to him: and so on. Then came the third rank, and there is no rank after it, which is the rank of *ihsan*. It does not appear from the texts of the Sunnah that it is possible for a person to see his Lord in this fleeting world. It is established from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the long hadith of the Dajjal that when he described him to his Ummah, and that was part of his (peace and blessings be upon him) advice to his Ummah, among his description of him was his saying: Then he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So he mentioned descriptions of the Dajjal so that the Muslim, if he is tested by his emergence in his time, can be certain that this is the Dajjal and not the God who is worshipped in truth, for Allah is perfect in all attributes, and this one is one-eyed. So this is a sign, and another sign is that you see him, and that none of you will see his Lord until he dies. Therefore, he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in explaining the rank of *ihsan*: Because you will not see Him in this world. And we all know that Musa (peace be upon him), the one who spoke to the Most Merciful, when he asked his Lord (Mighty and Majestic) to see Him, said: And it is not established, even for the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that he saw his Lord with his eyes. This is a matter, although it is disputed among scholars of *tawhid* and scholars of *kalam* (theology), that the majority of them mentioned that the creed is not established except by a text that is definitive in its establishment and definitive in its meaning. And we do not find a text that is probable, whether in its establishment or its meaning, that establishes that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) saw his Lord on the night of the Ascension or on any other night. Therefore, it is not possible for a person to see his Lord until he dies, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. And in this hadith: The scholars discussed a principle in *usul al-fiqh* (the principles of jurisprudence), which is whether the speaker is included in the address he directs to his Ummah or to others. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) says: Is he included in this address or not? There is disagreement among scholars of *usul* on this matter, and we are certain that he (peace and blessings be upon him) is at least included in this specific address, because he was asked, as in *Sahih Muslim* from the hadith of Abu Dharr: "Did you not see your Lord?" He said: Meaning there is a veil. And as came in the hadith of Abu Musa in *Sahih Muslim*: So he (peace and blessings be upon him) is indicating in the previous hadith of Abu Dharr, in answer to the questioner's question: "Did you see your Lord?" He said: There is light that veils our Lord from being seen by any of us. So also includes the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), not by the indication of this hadith itself from the previously mentioned disagreement, but by the indication of the hadith of Abu Dharr and others. Since the matter is such, and that none of us sees his Lord in this world, he must worship Him while being conscious of Him and certain that his Lord sees him. If you do not see Him, this does not lead you, as long as you believe that Allah sees everything and ... with everything, to disobey Him and contradict His commands and prohibitions, for if you do not see Him, He (Blessed and Exalted is He) sees you with certainty. This rank is the rank of *ihsan*, and as you heard, it is the highest of the ranks of *Islam* and *iman*.