Is the past time in a better state than the present time in terms of religious uprightness; since they, for example, used to pray in the mosques

The questioner : Do we need to go back to the second question? I asked a question...

The Shaykh: Go ahead.

The questioner : I believe that the Muslim society fifty years ago was undoubtedly better than the current situation. This is my personal belief; because when I was young, I would see that not a single person in our Nablus would not rush to prayer at every call to prayer. We, the young ones, used to go to the mosque. Of course, they agreed to... They used to go out to the cemetery every festival, they used to read the Qur'an, they used to gather in the family home for religious discussions, and none of this exists now. Now, these young people, each one is wandering and lost in his own way, lost according to this concept that I understand: Did they not understand the religion in the past?

The Shaykh : This is a very important question. I say: The past time, in terms of being far from moral decay, is better than now, but now is better than the past in terms of Islamic awareness. So there are two things that are exactly opposite. Your last question is indeed that they did not understand Islam; because I gave you an example of a farce, and with your sound fitrah, you quickly saw the issue of dropping the prayer... What do you think? Do the scholars, shaykhs, and imams of the mosques do this thing, and are they praised for it? No, they are not praised. But now, you—no offense—do not have a study of the Shari'ah... But general culture has opened your mind a bit so that you say, "By Allah, this is indeed a farce." Okay; did those who used to do this issue not understand it? They did not understand it. Does the verse we mentioned earlier apply to them completely: ? These gatherings you are mentioning; these gatherings are not prescribed; they are not following the Shari'ah. The appearance, for the one who does not know, is that... The legitimacy of these people is that they are holding on to the religion. Example: It still exists to this day, and every festival we see it. Perhaps you followed this view; we set out for the festival prayer in the open prayer ground, not in the mosques; because the Sunnah is that the festival prayer is in the open prayer ground, not in the mosque. You go to pray the festival and you see people going to the graves, and you see the blackness of the graves no longer visible from the blackness of the women and men. Where are these people going? In their minds, they are going to visit graves. This is prescribed, but they did not know that visiting graves does not have specific times. There are no seasons as they claim. If we took visiting graves alone, Doctor, we could write a book about this worship and what was innovated around it, dozens of religious innovations, while the Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—says in one hadith: .
Visiting graves was forbidden. Why? Because in ancient history, it was a cause for visitors to fall into associating partners with Allah. And when the Prophet of Islam came with Islam, he forbade them from connecting with the graves, cutting off every relationship between these living people and those dead people whom they used to call for aid besides Allah—Mighty and Majestic—until the oneness of Allah became established in their hearts, and they knew, as it is said, what belongs to Allah is for Allah, and what belongs to Caesar is for Caesar. He said to them: . Today, remembering the Hereafter by visiting graves... you find women and men sitting as if they are sitting in a coffee shop, and visiting graves happens in moments. And if you deliver this greeting... the words, you deliver this greeting that Allah prescribed on the tongue of Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—and if the shaykhs had held back, let alone those below them who do not know this greeting, one person would sit and read al-Fatihah, he would read it eleven times !! This is Qur'an, it is all Qur'an, but it has no basis in the Shari'ah. And this is the original, which is that the visitor says: . This is what you do not hear from anyone except very, very rarely. Why? Because they are strangers, .
These people who leave the festival prayer in the open prayer ground and in the mosque, and go to the graves; in their opinion, , but this is not worship. This is a double sin against Allah—Mighty and Majestic. First: because they do not visit for remembrance and taking a lesson. Second: they miss the obligatory prayer with this visit, which can be made up on any day of the year. Do you see? On all days of the year, you do not see a person coming to the cemetery to visit. All 365 days of the year, on the day of the festival, Fitr or Adha, the visit is necessary, women and men, and the one carrying the asy tree says it is a tree... and I don't know what; something like this does not benefit the dead at all. If we go back to... , what does the dead benefit from placing flowers and roses on the grave? Imitating the Christians. The Christians, you must have seen in your travels, decorate the graves. Now we are following this way. This is not the Shari'ah. Your previous statement that, by Allah, they used to, they thought!! , but today—what Allah willed!—there are young people who... to know the correct Islam and draw near to Allah—Mighty and Majestic—, and stay away from all these traditions and ceremonies that we inherited from our fathers and grandfathers; no doubt you will be with me on this point at least; knowledge today is more than before; do you have doubt about this?

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : You have no doubt.

The questioner: No.

The Shaykh : Good; and knowledge is the key to action. The person who does not know that this is wrong does not avoid it, and the one who does not know that this is right does not approach it; because he is ignorant. And therefore, now, as it is said in some magazines and newspapers, there is indeed an awakening now, but it is the beginning of it, not the end. This awakening needs follow-up and nourishment from the sincere Muslim scholars for the Lord of the Worlds, and not... from them.