A word on the connection between the outward and the inward, in terms of rectitude and corruption.

The questioner : Our brother Abu Muhammad Adnan asked a question...

The Shaykh : He asked a question...

The questioner : He asked a question, and we paused to let him speak...

Another questioner : When I spoke about rectifying the outward and rectifying the inward...

The Shaykh: Yes.

Another questioner : And I thought you intended, from the hadith that preceded that, regarding the matter of the non-Arabs and the matter of the Companions praying behind the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), that the matter was naturally related to the outward aspects of things, in addition to... So I thought you wanted to expand on this: how the inward is rectified by rectifying the outward, and the necessity of rectifying the outward so that we can rectify the inward?

The Shaykh : It is the truth, our brother.Abu Layla : Even if he is busy with us, he does not like, I mean, I do not say he likes it much, but he should be alert to the fact that we are speaking on repeated topics. He wants the topics to be fresh, like that. I feel that he does not want it, and therefore I was not actually inclined to delve into this topic, because I felt that the ground was already occupied and that there are many, many recordings. If he has no objection to us speaking on such a topic as I proposed, then I am one of those who, if invited, responds! What do you think?
Abu Layla : By Allah, my Shaykh, I was... I did not hear the phone...

Another questioner : Rectifying the outward...

Another questioner : If it is repeated for Abu Layla, he has the right to turn off the device...

The Shaykh : ... .

Another questioner : ... So we truly want to learn, perhaps and maybe...
Abu Layla : In any case, I always say, always and forever, that my Shaykh, may Allah preserve him, if he speaks, even on the same topic, he brings many new things. So, my Shaykh, please proceed. May Allah reward you with good.

The Shaykh : Yes... I say that in reality, the connection between the rectitude of the outward and the rectitude of the inward, and the rectitude of the inward and the rectitude of the outward, is a psychological and legal reality in Islam. Islam has the first merit in uncovering and explaining this, followed by what is called today psychology, in its weakness and strength. They have indeed been able, through their continuous and successive efforts, to uncover a very small part of this topic, which Islam preceded them in. All the legal reasonings and all the philosophies, and I do not say religions, because these religions are not clear and have not reached us in complete form. I say that there are many, many hadiths that confirm this psychological phenomenon of the close connection between the heart and the body, between the inward and the outward. Among them is his saying (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of al-Nu'man ibn Bashir (may Allah be pleased with them both), where he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: So this hadith is very explicit in its latter part: Thus, the rectitude of the body, from the psychological and spiritual aspect... from the material and medical aspect, the rectitude of the body is through the rectitude of the heart, outwardly and inwardly. If the heart is rectified, the body is rectified, and if the body is rectified, that is also a cause for the rectitude of the heart. And therefore, in the hadith, there is a very strong warning that the Muslim should not be deluded by saying, "My faith is sound and safe, and my intention is good," but his action is not like the intention he claims to be good and pure. Because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) refutes him in this hadith when he says: Meaning that if the heart is rectified, as some people claim, its rectitude must surely manifest on his body and on his outward appearance, as the one who said:
"And whatever character a man has, *** Even if he thinks it is hidden from people, it will be made known." This confirms the meaning clarified by this hadith regarding the connection between the outward and the inward, and many other texts confirm this. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), as reported in more than one authentic hadith, when he stood for prayer, did not say the takbir until he had ordered the straightening of the rows, delaying those who were ahead and advancing those who were behind until the rows were straight like arrows or spears, a very straight line. And he would say to them, among other things he would say at times, and in a narration . This is another explicit text, because the difference among Muslims in their outward appearance and manifestations leads to a difference in their hearts and in their inward selves. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) made the difference among Muslims in straightening the rows a cause for a difference in their hearts. And we see today the negligence of Muslims in straightening these rows. If... in issuing a ruling on it, we would suffice in saying that it is obligatory, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) used to say, among other things he would say, as I mentioned earlier, . If we had limited ourselves to this hadith, we would say that Muslims are falling short in performing this obligation. How much more so, when we are in the process of explaining that their neglect of performing this religious obligation is a legitimate cause for the discord that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) makes the consequence of their shortcoming in implementing the command of their Prophet, that He will strike their hearts and cause division and disagreement among them. This is also a very great hadith, in which it links the rectification of the hearts of those who stand in the rows with their rectification of the rows, and that they do not neglect their organization and arrangement. And what also confirms this psychological and spiritual rule of the connection between the inward and the outward, and the outward and the inward, is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), in more than one authentic hadith and in various chapters of the Shari'ah, forbade (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) the Muslims from imitating others. This is because imitation creates affection and necessitates closeness between the imitator and the one being imitated. And since the disbelievers truly live in manifest error in their worldly life, let alone in their Hereafter, it was very obvious that the Wise Lawgiver would forbid the Ummah from imitating any of the customs of these disbelievers, because what they are upon is error upon error. I said that the hadiths regarding the prohibition are many, and very many, in more than forty hadiths in different chapters of the Shari'ah: in clothing, in appearance, in dwelling and mixing and free mixing, in fasting, in food, in Hajj, in all chapters of the Shari'ah, texts came to us ordering us to differ from the polytheists in their guidance, to differ from the guidance of the polytheists. And it is important in this that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said, . "Mixing" here means any kind of association. Whoever mixes, meaning whoever associates with the polytheist, i.e., whoever dwells with him, or neighbors him, or is close to him in his dwelling, and lives his life with him, is like him. And you know here, to avoid the objection that similarity does not necessitate or imply complete resemblance in all aspects, like what He (Blessed and Exalted is He) said when He warned the Muslims from the alliance of the polytheists, the Lord of the Worlds said, . That is, in this alliance, i.e., he is one of them in action. And this is another discussion: that disbelief and shirk (associating partners with Allah) is divided into two types: practical shirk and creedal shirk. So "he is one of them" means in action, not in creed. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade in more than one hadith from associating with the polytheists. Why? Because the outward affects the inward. And Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) has very beautiful words, saying that similarity in the outward creates a connection between hearts. He gives some examples, I will mention some of them. He says, for example, a stranger in a land, if he finds a stranger like him, he inclines toward him, because there is a regional compatibility, so he inclines toward him and befriends him more than those strangers among whom he lives. Similarly, he gives another example, saying, for example, a soldier wearing military clothes, when he sees another person wearing the same clothes, he also inclines toward him and relies on him and feels at ease with him, based on the saying "birds of a feather flock together." So if you see a Muslim imitating a disbeliever, associating with a disbeliever, it means that there is a spiritual compatibility between him and that disbeliever or polytheist. Therefore, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) warned the Muslim from associating with the polytheist and from dwelling with him with the strongest warning. He said in another hadith, other than the previous one, may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him, . He said in a third hadith, . Meaning, stay far away from the neighborhood of the polytheist, far, far away, according to their old custom that they used to light fires in front of the tents. The Muslim should be in his tent far from the tent of the polytheist, such that if they light their fires, the fire of this one does not appear to that one, and vice versa. All this is from his (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) preservation of the Muslim's heart from being affected by the guidance, customs, traditions, and morals of the polytheist. And this meaning confirms this rule: that the environment affects. The environment polluted with material diseases is a medical fact that doctors do not doubt, whether they are Muslims or disbelievers. As for the Muslims, first by their religion and second by their experience, that the environment affects in the material aspect, it is supported by the Prophetic hadiths, for example, the hadith of the plague, . This hadith, among other hadiths, confirms the medical truth called quarantine, and that the environment affects the healthy if it is polluted. Similarly, in the moral aspect, and... for this reason, he (peace be upon him) said what we mentioned earlier of the hadiths. Then he (may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him) narrated to us a hadith in which he expressed an incident that occurred among those who passed before us, clarifying to us the effect of the land polluted with bad morals, that it also affects those who dwell in it. He said, may the prayer and peace of Allah be upon him, There was among those who came before you a man who had killed ninety-nine souls, then he wanted to repent, so he asked about the most knowledgeable person on earth, and he was directed to a monk. He was not directed to a scholar for a wisdom that Allah intended, but rather to a worshipper who was ignorant. And according to what he was directed to, he went to him and said to him, "I have killed ninety-nine souls, is there repentance for me?" The ignorant man said to him, "You have killed ninety-nine souls and you ask if there is repentance for you? There is no repentance for you." So he killed him and completed the number of a hundred. And it appears from the context of the story that the man was sincere in his repentance or in his desire for repentance, but he wanted the way, so he also asked about a scholar and was directed to him. He came to him and said, "I have killed a hundred souls without right, is there repentance for me?" He said, "Yes, and who can stand between you and repentance? But you, and here is the point, but you are in a land of evil, so leave it and go to such-and-such a village whose people are righteous." So the man left the village whose people were oppressive to the village whose people were righteous, and on the way, his term of life came, and the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment disputed over him, so Allah sent a messenger to judge between them. He said, "Look at which of the two villages he is closer to, and assign him to its people." And he was closer to the village whose people were righteous, so the angels of mercy took charge of his death. And the hadith has a continuation. And from the completion of the previous hadith, I say that it is not hidden from all the attendees the truth contained in those legal texts, in that the environment has an effect, if it is righteous, then it is righteousness.
And if it is a long time, it is a long time. And for this reason, we see the young Muslim who lives for a period of time in lands of disbelief, open sinfulness, and lewdness—whether in Europe or America—returning to the lands of Islam and his people carrying an education from those disbelievers, an affection leaning toward them, and an appreciation and glorification of them. So much so that many of them, we hear, seem almost to disavow Islam and the Muslims because they have been captivated by their material civilization. People are affected by their environments; this is a matter that does not require long research, for reality supports this, in addition to the fact that the Shari'ah has affirmed this, as indicated by the aforementioned scriptural evidence. As they say, "If I forget, I will not forget the following story that happened to me when I was able to travel to Europe for the purpose of connecting with the Muslim communities there, especially in Britain. My journey ended in a country about one hundred and twenty kilometers from London, and I forgot its name. I was told that there was a good, righteous Muslim preacher there, so I went to him. It was Ramadan, and when we sat down at the iftar table, we sat in a Shari'ah-compliant manner on the ground. He was a Pakistani or Indian man—I no longer remember his appearance—he had a beard, but he was wearing a jacket and trousers, and on top of that, a tie. I was truly pleased with his demeanor, his manners, his logic, and to a great extent his understanding of Islam, but I was not pleased with his non-Islamic appearance. While we were at the iftar table, I spoke on a topic similar to the previous one, specifically regarding the prohibition by the Lawgiver of a Muslim imitating a disbeliever. I elaborated somewhat on the fact that imitation means various types, the worst of which is what is done merely to imitate the disbelievers and offers no benefit to the imitator. I cited the tie as an example. To the man's credit, he responded immediately; he untied the knot and threw it on the ground. I was very pleased with this quick response. But soon I was disturbed by his excuse for wearing the tie. He said, "We live here in Britain, and the British look at our Palestinian brothers with a special view. It is the custom of the Palestinians not to wear this tie, but to unbutton the shirt so that the chest is visible from above. The British hold a grudge against the Palestinians, and therefore—this is the meaning of his words—in order not to imitate the Palestinians who are despised by the British, he wore this tie." I said to him, "May Allah forgive you, I wish you had kept silent about this justification, because this justification is uglier than the act. You are concerned with the view of the disbelieving Europeans, these British, of our Muslim Palestinian brothers, a view of contempt due to the enmity between them, which is of course with our Palestinian brothers. So you are concerned with the opinion of these disbelievers, and therefore you do not want them to look at you as they look at your Muslim brothers. This is the greatest proof that the environment affects those who dwell in it and live with it. For this reason, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) prohibited the companionship of disbelievers, because their outward appearance affects the inner selves of Muslims, and affects their morals and their concepts."

Another questioner : What is the ruling on traveling to their lands without need?

The Shaykh : Yes?

Another questioner : Likewise, traveling to their lands without need

The Shaykh : If the travel is for a limited number of days and for a legitimate purpose, I see no obstacle to it, based on the saying of Allah the Exalted: قل سيروا في الأرض Say, "Travel through the land[Al-An'am 6:11]. Also, based on the fact that the Muslims used to travel during the time of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to the lands of the disbelievers and polytheists, and that was a customary and established matter. The story of Mu'adh ibn Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) is sufficient for you as evidence in this regard. When he was absent from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for a period, and then returned and his eyes fell upon the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), he intended to prostrate to him, but he (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade him. He said: "O Messenger of Allah, I traveled to Sham and saw the Christians prostrating to their priests and monks, and I saw that you are more deserving of prostration than they are." He (peace and blessings be upon him) said in the well-known hadith: لو كنت آمرا أحدا أن يسجد لأحد لأمرت الزوجة أن تسجد لزوجها لعظم حقه عليها If I were to command anyone to prostrate to anyone, I would command the wife to prostrate to her husband, because of the greatness of his right over her. لكن لا يصلح السجود إلاّ لله But prostration is not appropriate for anyone but Allah. as in some narrations. The trade of the Muslims, even after the pre-Islamic age of ignorance in which Allah granted them favor in the verse لإيلاف قريش إيلافهم رحلة الشتاء و الصيف Their accustomed security [in] the caravan of winter and summer -[Quraysh 106:2], their continuation in trade and the approval of the Wise Lawgiver for them allows us to say that traveling to the lands of disbelief is permissible, but not for settling there, rather for attending to their interests and then returning. However, in light of the corruption of both societies—the Muslim society today compared to the first Muslim society, and the corruption of the disbeliever society in terms of morality, open sinfulness, and lewdness compared to the first disbeliever society—I see that the one who wants to make this journey, which we have established as permissible, must be protected and must protect himself and others through marriage, so that he does not fall into temptation regarding himself. This is all I have in answer to this question, and with this the previously mentioned topic concludes, which was about the connection between the outward and the inward, in terms of rectitude and corruption. From this we arrive at pointing out a matter in which some young people, who are far, far away from Islam, fall when we see that they do not pray, do not fast, and do not perform any of the pillars of Islam. When they are reminded of this, they say, "My brother, the point is not the prayer, but the point is what is in the heart." And on this occasion, they may cite a hadith that has no basis: "Two things do not approach: shirk (associating partners with Allah) and harming people." No, that is not it. He tells you, "My dealings with people, I do not cheat, I do not steal, I do not do such and such. Look, so-and-so, what Allah willed, does not pray except in the first row and his beard is such and such, but he is a cheater, but such and such, etc." This is an excuse worse than a sin, because we say to this deviant: If so-and-so prays but cheats, then you take his good and leave his evil. Take his good: he prayed, so prayer is good. He cheats, and you, what Allah willed, do not cheat, so stick to your trustworthiness toward people and your lack of cheating, but do not forget the right of Allah upon you to worship Him and to submit to Him five times every day, and so on. Yes, and this leads us to mention to some of our good, earnest brothers who are with us in holding fast to the Shari'ah, that they should not be influenced by the general society, which is a legacy of the British who spread in these lands and elsewhere a misguidance that likens men to women, and that is by contradicting the saying of their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): حفوا الشارب و أعفوا اللحى و خالفوا اليهود و النصارى Trim the mustache and let the beard grow, and differ from the Jews and the Christians. حفوا الشارب Trim the mustache meaning, take from the edge و أعفوا اللحى And let the beard grow. meaning, leave it, do not shave it, in contradiction to the Jews and the Christians. The hadiths coming in this regard are many, and very many. Because we mention to our brothers afflicted with shaving the beard to remember with us a legal reality derived from such as the saying of He (Blessed and Exalted is He): ما ترى في خلق الرحمن من تفاوت Do you see in the creation of the Rahman any inequality?. The intention is not a material difference, because we see that: the woman does not have a beard and the man has a beard, and so on, the differences existing between the male and the female. But when Allah says: ما ترى في خلق الرحمن من تفاوت Do you see in the creation of the Rahman any inequality?, it means from disorder and from creation that should not have been created. So if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) bestows favor upon people by creating the male and the female, that means this creation and this difference between the male and the female is from the perfection of the creation of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and from the distinction of the man over the woman. So it is not befitting for the Muslim who truly believes in Allah and His Book to overlook this reality, which is that Allah (Mighty and Majestic), when He created the man with a beard and the woman without a beard, that this was not from Allah in vain. Otherwise, the tongue of the state of the one afflicted by contradicting this authentic hadith would say, "My Lord, You created me, so I did not perfect my creation," while the reality is that the Muslim says, as came in the authentic hadith: اللهم كما حسّنت خلقي فحسّن خُلُقي O Allah You have made my creation perfect, so make my moral characteristics also be the best.Bulugh al-Maram 16:101 "You perfected my creation as a man, so I should remain a man; You perfected my creation as a woman, so I should remain a woman." So there is no difference between a man who shaves his beard and a woman who takes a false beard in the manner of the English British lords. If a woman put on a false beard, like a wig, for example, no doubt that every person who sees her, male or female, would say, "This is imitating men, glory be to Allah." And why is it not said that the man who shaves his beard is imitating women, a fortiori? I say, a fortiori, because Allah spared him the burden of putting on a false beard by creating it and growing it and perfecting its growth. And therefore, I see that it is a very, very serious error for the Muslim to follow the society in which he lives and adorn himself by shaving his beard. And this sin increases in some occasions and in some years, let us say, in terms of age. As for the occasions, you hardly find a man afflicted with shaving the beard when he attends the festival, like the Friday festival every week, 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-Adha in the year, but he adorns himself with the forbidden, adorns himself with shaving the beard. This is in terms of what relates to the occasion. As for the years, meaning the accumulation of age, meaning the accumulation of life, the later the age of the person is while he is persisting in the contradiction, the more severe the disobedience becomes. And therefore, I say it and seize the opportunity, reminding و الذكرى تنفع المؤمنين and the reminder benefits the believers that the one who is afflicted with shaving the beard must hasten to repent to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and to let his beard grow. This is for those afflicted with shaving. And there is another advice that we must direct to those who were saved from shaving but were not saved from the prescribed letting grow. There are some of our brothers who were saved from the first stage, the first disobedience, which is shaving, but they are still in the short stubble, they are still in the very short length. So we ask Allah for those that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) will accept their repentance, and for these that Allah will bless them in their beards. And with this amount of sufficiency, and praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.