The Story of Adam's (peace be upon him) Repentance
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Listen to the story of Adam (peace be upon him). Adam, what do you call him, my son? Adam. Who is Adam? Let's see, the young boys.
The student: The father of mankind.
The Shaykh : The father of mankind. May Allah bless you. Perfect. Adam, the father of mankind, was created by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and He placed him in Paradise. He said to him and his wife, whose name was Hawwa (Eve): He said to both of them: What is the tree? Which tree? Do you know it? Come up.
The student: The tree of Zaqqum.
The Shaykh : The tree of Zaqqum? Wrong. Zaqqum is in the Fire, my son. The tree of Zaqqum is in the Fire. But you made a mistake this time, and next time you will get it right, if Allah wills. Good. The tree, meaning the student's answer, has a deep meaning because the tree mentioned in the covenant, and the tree mentioned in the Qur'an is the tree of Zaqqum. But in any case, this is a mistake, without a doubt. The tree is one that Allah left unspecified. Allah left it unspecified. He did not say it is a wheat tree, or an olive tree, or an orange tree, or anything else. It is a tree. And it is an overreach. Listen, my brother, to the rule: "It is an overreach to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if we are not obligated to do so". This is a rule I want our brothers, the students of knowledge, to understand. It is a waste and a burden on the mind and a killing of time to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if it is not necessary for us. The rule, the third time: "It is a waste and a burden on the mind and a squandering of time to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if it is not necessary for us". Repeat it for us. You.
The student: It is a waste to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if it is not obligatory upon us.
The Shaykh : Perfect. May Allah bless you. Good, because if there were a benefit for us in specifying it, Allah would have specified it, as Allah the Exalted said:[An-Nahl 16:89] What?
The student: Clarification.
The Shaykh : As for what is necessary for us, we must seek it, such as the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Establish prayer." We do not know how to establish it. If you were told, "Establish prayer," and you had not lived among the Muslims, you would ask, "How do I establish it?" You must ask how to establish it. So we say to our brothers, the students of knowledge: what comes in an unspecified manner in the Book and the Sunnah, if it is not necessary for us to know its specification, we should not burden ourselves. Especially, especially, especially in matters of the unseen. In matters of the unseen, what relates to the actions of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) or His attributes, or the Last Day. Leave the details in them. Leave the deep diving in them. By Allah, if you dive deep into the attributes of Allah the Exalted and try to ask about what the Companions did not ask about, you would be destroyed. Be silent about what Allah was silent about. The Companions are better than you; they did not dive deep into this. When the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) told the Companions Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3498Sahih (Darussalam), they understood the hadith, they understood the meaning. Did they say, "O Messenger of Allah, how does He descend?" Answer, everyone.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Answer. Hish, this is the answer. Answer.
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No, they did not say that. They did not say that. They said, "We believe and we affirm. Our Lord descends." But if someone said, "How is His descent?" we would say to him, as Imam Malik said: "The descent is known, and the how is unknown". This is the standard mentioned by Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him). It is a standard for all actions, even though someone before him said it, but it became famous from Malik. Good, so what is obligatory for us? What? That we do not, that we do not what? That we do not dive deep. The tree from which Allah forbade Adam to eat, do we have the right to ask what this tree is? Absolutely not. And it is not upon us to ask. If we were asked, we would say, "Allah knows best." Good. Allah forbade Adam to eat from the tree, he and his wife Hawwa. They ate from it through the whispering of Shaytan. Shaytan, may Allah protect me and you from him and keep him away from us and from him. Shaytan swore to them, meaning he swore a great oath to them that he was among the advisors to them. He said: "O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom that does not decay?" With these whispers, man is weak. And praise be to Allah that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) decreed this for Adam for great wisdoms. This is not the place to elaborate on them. They ate from it, and their private parts became apparent to them. And Allah the Exalted ordered them to descend to the earth from Paradise. And He informed them that Shaytan is an enemy to them. Adam repented to Allah. He repented a sincere repentance. So what happened to him after the repentance? You.
The student: Allah accepted his repentance, so he became better than before...
The Shaykh : No, give us something we know that he became better than before. No one speaks, everyone. Private talk. Private question. Are you with us or not? With us, heart and soul? Heart and soul. Rest. Good. What did Allah say about this? He said:[Taha 20:121-122] The selection. This is what happened before. So He forgave him and guided him. A person may be better after repentance than before, because he is broken before Allah, he is ashamed of Allah, he knows his own worth, and he is not struck by arrogance. Some people, when they thought they had not disobeyed Allah, were struck by arrogance and self-admiration. So a person may be better after sincere repentance than before. Let us return to repentance. We defined it a little while ago, and our brother will explain it for us. What is repentance?
The student: That one returns from the disobedience of Allah to the obedience of Allah.
The Shaykh : You did well. May Allah bless you. Repentance is that one returns to Allah from His disobedience to His obedience. Good.
The student: The father of mankind.
The Shaykh : The father of mankind. May Allah bless you. Perfect. Adam, the father of mankind, was created by Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and He placed him in Paradise. He said to him and his wife, whose name was Hawwa (Eve): He said to both of them:
Do not approach this tree
لا تقربا هذه الشجرةThe student: The tree of Zaqqum.
The Shaykh : The tree of Zaqqum? Wrong. Zaqqum is in the Fire, my son. The tree of Zaqqum is in the Fire. But you made a mistake this time, and next time you will get it right, if Allah wills. Good. The tree, meaning the student's answer, has a deep meaning because the tree mentioned in the covenant, and the tree mentioned in the Qur'an is the tree of Zaqqum. But in any case, this is a mistake, without a doubt. The tree is one that Allah left unspecified. Allah left it unspecified. He did not say it is a wheat tree, or an olive tree, or an orange tree, or anything else. It is a tree. And it is an overreach. Listen, my brother, to the rule: "It is an overreach to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if we are not obligated to do so". This is a rule I want our brothers, the students of knowledge, to understand. It is a waste and a burden on the mind and a killing of time to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if it is not necessary for us. The rule, the third time: "It is a waste and a burden on the mind and a squandering of time to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if it is not necessary for us". Repeat it for us. You.
The student: It is a waste to try to specify what Allah has left unspecified if it is not obligatory upon us.
The Shaykh : Perfect. May Allah bless you. Good, because if there were a benefit for us in specifying it, Allah would have specified it, as Allah the Exalted said:
And We have sent down to you the Book
ونزلنا عليك الكتابThe student: Clarification.
The Shaykh :
Clarification for everything
تبينانا لكل شيءAnd establish prayer
وأقيموا الصلاةThe pen with which Allah wrote the decree, when Allah said to it, "Write," it was unspecified. It said, "What shall I write?" He said, "Write what is to be until the Day of Resurrection."
القلم الذي كتب الله به القضاء لما قال الله له اكتب مبهم قال : ماذا أكتب؟ فقال : اكتب ما هو كائن إلى يوم القيامةOur Lord descends every night to the nearest heaven, until the last third of the night remains
أن الله ينزل إلى السماء الدنيا حين يبقى ثلث الليل الآخرThe student: ...
The Shaykh : Answer. Hish, this is the answer. Answer.
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No, they did not say that. They did not say that. They said, "We believe and we affirm. Our Lord descends." But if someone said, "How is His descent?" we would say to him, as Imam Malik said: "The descent is known, and the how is unknown". This is the standard mentioned by Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy on him). It is a standard for all actions, even though someone before him said it, but it became famous from Malik. Good, so what is obligatory for us? What? That we do not, that we do not what? That we do not dive deep. The tree from which Allah forbade Adam to eat, do we have the right to ask what this tree is? Absolutely not. And it is not upon us to ask. If we were asked, we would say, "Allah knows best." Good. Allah forbade Adam to eat from the tree, he and his wife Hawwa. They ate from it through the whispering of Shaytan. Shaytan, may Allah protect me and you from him and keep him away from us and from him. Shaytan swore to them, meaning he swore a great oath to them that he was among the advisors to them. He said: "O Adam, shall I direct you to the tree of immortality and a kingdom that does not decay?" With these whispers, man is weak. And praise be to Allah that Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) decreed this for Adam for great wisdoms. This is not the place to elaborate on them. They ate from it, and their private parts became apparent to them. And Allah the Exalted ordered them to descend to the earth from Paradise. And He informed them that Shaytan is an enemy to them. Adam repented to Allah. He repented a sincere repentance. So what happened to him after the repentance? You.
The student: Allah accepted his repentance, so he became better than before...
The Shaykh : No, give us something we know that he became better than before. No one speaks, everyone. Private talk. Private question. Are you with us or not? With us, heart and soul? Heart and soul. Rest. Good. What did Allah say about this? He said:
And Adam disobeyed his Lord and erred. (122) Then his Lord chose him and turned to him in forgiveness and guided [him].
وعصى آدم ربه فغوى ثم اجتباه ربه فتاب عليه وهدىThe student: That one returns from the disobedience of Allah to the obedience of Allah.
The Shaykh : You did well. May Allah bless you. Repentance is that one returns to Allah from His disobedience to His obedience. Good.