A discourse on reliance upon Allah and an explanation of the hadith: “Seventy thousand will enter Paradise without reckoning or punishment… and they place their reliance upon their Lord.”

The Shaykh : I will mention a hadith here on this occasion that draws attention to some causes that a Muslim should not rely upon in the sense of placing complete, genuine reliance upon Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. It is narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said one day while he was in the mosque: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said this hadith and then entered his house, and you know that his house was next to his mosque. So his companions who had heard this hadith from him began to ask one another and speculate about who these seventy thousand would be. May they be blessed! They will enter Paradise with faces like the full moon on the night of the full moon, without reckoning or punishment. Some said, “These are us, the Muhajireen, who migrated from our homelands from Makkah to al-Madinah in the cause of Allah, Mighty and Majestic.” Others from the Ansar said, “No, rather it is us, the Ansar, who supported the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).” Others said, “No, neither you nor you; rather it is our sons who will come after us, whether we are from the Muhajireen or the Ansar, who will believe in the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) without having seen him.” There is no doubt that each of these groups has its merit, the Muhajireen, the Ansar, and the sons of the Muhajireen and Ansar, but they are different ranks. Then the Messenger (peace be upon him) came out to them to settle this dispute and disagreement, and he said: What does “they do not seek ruqyah” mean? It means they do not seek healing by recitation. That is, a patient who feels pain in his head, his hand, his shoulder, or any part of his body goes to a man in whom he believes there is knowledge or righteousness. In colloquial terms, he says, “Heal me” or “Perform ruqyah on me.” This is permissible in the Shari'ah; it is not forbidden. However, it is not the perfection of reliance upon Allah, because the Messenger (peace be upon him) described those seventy thousand—whom you know will enter Paradise without reckoning or punishment, with faces like the full moon on the night of the full moon—as not seeking ruqyah from the righteous man. Rather, they ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, to grant them health and cure them. Why? Because seeking ruqyah from this manThe Shaykh : or that righteous man is based on the assumption that his supplication will be answered for you, or that it is highly likely that his supplication will be answered for you when he prays. You should seek help from others in such matters and ask Allah alone, Blessed and Exalted is He. This is the first characteristic. Cauterization with fire is well known, especially among the Arabs and the Bedouin among them, as a successful treatment for many diseases. Indeed, it is mentioned in some authentic hadiths that it is among the best of what you treat yourselves with, namely cauterization with fire. But he (peace be upon him), in the context of , said: Why? Because even though it is among the best of what people have treated themselves with, it is torment by fire, and it is not befitting to be tormented by fire except by the Lord of the Fire. This is the second characteristic among the attributes of the seventy thousand. The third characteristic is: Tatayyur (taking an omen as a bad sign) means pessimism or ill-omen. Pessimism is known among all peoples and all nations, but these peoples and nations differ in the amount of their pessimism, some having more and some having less. As for the Muslim, he does not take omens at all. As for the Muslim who is weak in knowledge and faith, he may take omens. As for the disbeliever, all his omens are bad, one after another. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said that among the attributes of these seventy thousand is that they do not take omens, meaning they do not practice tatayyur. Tatayyur prevents people from their interests. The origin of the word tatayyur in the Arabic language is derived from birds. It was the custom of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, when they were sick in their hearts and minds—and that is sufficient proof of it—that they would worship stones which they carved with their own hands and then worship them instead of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. This is foolishness beyond foolishness and a lack of intellect beyond a lack of intellect. And of this nature is tatayyur, which is derived from birds. Why? Because when an Arab set out intending to travel, he would inevitably encounter a bird, whether he lived in a town, a city, a village, or the desert; he would inevitably encounter a bird. This bird has no reason, and this man has reason, yet he does not reason. Why? Because when he saw this bird, this small creature, if it flew to the right, he would take a good omen that his journey would be successful. And if it flew to the left, he would cancel his journey because the bird had flown to the left. Glory be to Allah! The bird itself does not know why it flew to the right or to the left. So how can it know whether this man’s journey will be successful or not? From here, tatayyur was derived. Tatayyur was derived, and he (peace be upon him) said in the attributes of those seventy thousand: Here is the point now: This phrase includes the three types. As for ruqyah and seeking it from others, you have learned that the requirement is to turn to Allah and place reliance upon Him. If He wills, He will grant you health, and if He wills, He will test you. As for cauterization with fire, you have learned the reason: it is torment by fire, so it is not befitting for a Muslim to torment himself with fire. He should also resort either to the Prophetic medicine, where he (peace and blessings be upon him) said in some of what was reported from him: meaning death, or he should use, if this disease for which he wants to perform cauterization with fire has a treatment from known material medicine, even if we benefit from the disbelievers, there is no harm in benefiting from their worldly matters as long as it does not conflict with our religion. This is what concerns cauterization with fire and what concerns tatayyur. It is more befitting for the Muslim not to pay attention to tatayyur if it surprises him. And as we said, the origin of tatayyur relates to birds, but tatayyur is pessimism, which is realized in many and very many forms. Sometimes it is inherited among people as one of the superstitions, and they give it weight. For example, some say that laundry is not permissible to wash on such-and-such a day, soap is not permissible to bring into the house on such-and-such a day, and so on. If a shoe is not hung behind the car, it will be afflicted. All of this contradicts reliance upon Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He. And of this pessimism is that a person may hear a word and take a bad omen from it, such as hearing a word from a person who is addressing another, not intending him at all. He is going out to travel and hears one person say to another, “May Allah not make you successful.” He hears this and is surprised by it, but he should place reliance upon Allah and not mind this word, because if he pays attention to it, his case will be like that of the person in the pre-Islamic age who paid attention to the bird when it flew to the left, not knowing why it flew to the right or to the left. This is the reliance upon which the Muslim should depend and turn away from other means that have not been legislated by explicit text, as came in this hadith, or have not been legislated by derivation from the evidence of the Book and the Sunnah, as we discussed earlier regarding the issue of riba, which is installment sales, and the issue of participating in insurance companies in their various forms and types. Finally, I say, you know that car insurance, for example, has a voluntary part and a compulsory part. What is compulsory is what is paid at the request of the state, like other taxes imposed on the people, and they must pay them, so there is no sin upon them for that. As for insurance or participation in the company for voluntary insurance, it is not befitting for a Muslim to ever agree to that if he finds a way to avoid it. And this is sufficient, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And I hope I have answered the brother regarding everything his question contained. I say this for fear that I might miss something.

The questioner : May Allah reward you with good and may Allah bless you for what you have clarified and graciously provided.

The Shaykh : And to you, if Allah wills. May Allah bless everyone.
Abu Layla : May Allah reward you with good, our Shaykh.
The Shaykh: Welcome.
Abu Layla : May Allah give you health.

The Shaykh : It is nine o’clock and nineteen minutes.