Continuation of the Description of Prayer, with Discussion on the Tashahhud, the Taslim, and the Dhikr after Prayer

The Shaykh : We praise Him, seek His help, seek His forgiveness, and turn to Him in repentance. We seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our own selves and from the evil of our deeds. Whomsoever Allah guides, none can misguide, and whomsoever He misguides, none can guide. 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. Allah the Exalted sent him with guidance and the religion of truth, so he conveyed the message, fulfilled the trust, advised the Ummah, and struggled in the cause of Allah with true struggle. He left his Ummah upon a clear, white path, from which none deviates except one who is destroyed. He taught his Ummah everything, even how to wipe after relieving oneself. He taught his Ummah how a person eats, how he drinks, how he sleeps, how he stands, how he relieves himself, how he purifies himself, and how he prays. He taught his Ummah everything they need. May the prayers and peace of Allah be upon him, and may He reward him for his Ummah with the best reward He has given any prophet for his Ummah. May Allah send prayers upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment. As for what follows: We spoke last night about the remainder of the description of prayer, until we reached the mention of the tashahhud and what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded regarding seeking refuge from it, which is four things. Please, go ahead.
The student: One seeks refuge from the punishment of Hellfire, the punishment of the grave, the trial of life and death, and the trial of the Dajjal.

The Shaykh : Yes, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded the person in the final tashahhud to seek refuge in Allah from four things: from the punishment of Hellfire, from the punishment of the grave, from the trial of life and death, and from the trial of the Dajjal. This is because of the magnitude of these four matters, so the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded that a person seek refuge from them at the end of his prayer. Is this command obligatory or recommended? Please, the one behind you. You. The one next to you.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Okay, who knows? Please, go ahead.
The student: It is recommended.

The Shaykh : It is recommended. Who shifted the command from being obligatory? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : So, okay. Yes.
The student: The scholars differed on this in two ways.

The Shaykh : In two opinions.
The student: In two opinions; some say it is recommended, and some say it is obligatory.

The Shaykh : Yes, well done, rest. We say: The scholars differed on whether it is obligatory or recommended, in two opinions. The majority of scholars hold that it is recommended, and the opinion that it is obligatory is a strong opinion, due to the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to do so, and because these matters are great; if a person is not protected from them, he is in danger. Is the punishment of the grave permanent or intermittent? And does it occur for both believers and disbelievers? These are two questions. Yes.
The student: It may be permanent, and it may be intermittent.

The Shaykh : In general?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : In any case, you mean?
The student: No, some are punished, for example, the polytheists are punished in their graves with a permanent punishment.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: And some of the open sinners, the disobedient among the believers, are punished as Allah wills to punish them.

The Shaykh : According to the measure of their sins.
The student: According to the measure of their sins.

The Shaykh : It may continue, and it may not continue. So, it includes the believer and the disbeliever, or the disobedient among the believers and the disbelievers, and it is either permanent or intermittent. What is the evidence that the disobedient among the believers may be punished in their graves? Yes, please, go ahead.
The student: The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) passed by two graves, so he stuck a palm branch in the ground, split it, and stuck it in.

The Shaykh : You did not bring the witness.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: As for the first, he did not ensure cleanliness from urine, and as for the other, he used to spread talebearing.

The Shaykh : Okay. What is the point of that?
The student: That they are being punished, and they are not being punished for a great matter.

The Shaykh : Okay, rest. And these are two Muslim graves, because the Messenger did not specify that they are being punished except for a matter that does not take one out of the religion. One did not ensure cleanliness from urine, and the other used to spread talebearing. Okay, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) took a fresh palm branch, split it in half, and stuck one in each grave. Is it prescribed for us to do that? Yes.
The student: No.

The Shaykh : It is not prescribed. Why?
The student: Because if we did this.

The Shaykh : A moment.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes. Because this is not possible for us, since the punishment of the grave was revealed to the Messenger, and it has not been revealed to us. That is one. Second, rest.
The student: Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do it for every grave.

The Shaykh : Because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) did not do that for every grave, and if it had been among the prescribed matters, he would have done it for every grave. Okay, there is also a concern.
The student: And because if we did it, it would be as if we are accusing the owner of the grave that he is a sinner.

The Shaykh : Correct, and because our doing this is a bad assumption about the owner of the grave, and that what? And that he is being punished.
The student: In some cases, it might be your father, your parent.

The Shaykh : Yes, a bad assumption about the owner of the grave that he is being punished. And if the owner of the grave is a father or a mother, that would be undutifulness to parents, and if it is a relative, that would be cutting off family ties. Is that clear? Okay. Among these four matters is that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) commanded us to seek refuge from the Dajjal. So, who is this Dajjal, when will he appear, and what is his trial? Please, go ahead. Yes.
The student: The Dajjal is a lying man.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us about him that he will come.

The Shaykh : In.
The student: At the end of time.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: And he will try people, and he will have a Paradise and he will have a Fire... he commands the clouds to rain, and all the believers see between his eyes the word "Kafir" (disbeliever) in separated letters.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: And these letters are not seen except by the believing reader among them, and the non-reader. As for the disbelievers or the open sinners whom Allah the Mighty and Majestic did not guide, even if they see him.

The Shaykh : So, his trial is great. Okay. If someone were to say: Does it not fall under the trial of life? Because people are tried by him in their lives. Yes.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Okay, so why was it specified?
The student: Because his calamity, his trial, is greater.

The Shaykh : Well done, may Allah bless you. So, Allah mentioned the trial of the Dajjal; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the trial of the Dajjal, even though it is part of the trial of life, because his trial is greater. So, it was specified, and its conjunction with the trial of life is from the category of specifying the particular with the general. Okay. Then we mentioned that he says the salam to his right: "Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you," and to his left likewise. Then he says what was transmitted in the Sunnah of dhikr. And we mentioned that the tasbih, tahmid, takbir, and tahlil were transmitted in four ways. Yes, the one who took it, no, yes, please, go ahead.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : How does he say it? But he says in this tasbih, meaning he says "Subhan Allah" (Glory be to Allah) by itself, alone.
The student: No.

The Shaykh : All of them: "Subhan Allah," "Alhamdulillah" (Praise be to Allah), and "Allahu Akbar" (Allah is the Greatest) thirty-three times each, and he completes the hundred with "La ilaha illa Allah wahdahu la sharika lah" (There is no deity but Allah alone, with no partner), or he says.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : This is one. The second.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : We said four ways. The second way. Yes, please, go ahead, rest.
The student: He says "Subhan Allah," "Subhan Allah."

The Shaykh : Stop, stop.
The student: He says "Subhan Allah," "Subhan Allah" thirty-three times.

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: "La ilaha illa Allah" likewise.

The Shaykh : No, "Alhamdulillah."
The student: "Alhamdulillah" thirty-three times, and "Allahu Akbar," "Allahu Akbar" thirty-three times.

The Shaykh : No, thirty-four times.
The student: Thirty-four times.

The Shaykh : Yes, but he does not say "La ilaha illa Allah."
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Because it would be one hundred: thirty-four and sixty-six, that is one hundred. Okay. Please, go ahead.
The student: You say "Subhan Allah," "Alhamdulillah," "Allahu Akbar," and "La ilaha illa Allah" twenty-five times.

The Shaykh : Well done, you say all of them.
The student: One hundred.

The Shaykh : "Subhan Allah," "Alhamdulillah," "La ilaha illa Allah," and "Allahu Akbar" make a total of one hundred. That is all. Each one took what they took, be patient, did you take what you took? Okay.
The student: He says: "Subhan Allah" and "Alhamdulillah" once, and "Allahu Akbar" once, and he concludes with "La ilaha illa Allah," each one thirty-three times, and he concludes with it.

The Shaykh : We are done with it. Yes.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : Yes, you.
The student: He says: "Subhan Allah" ten times.

The Shaykh : "Subhan Allah" ten times, "Alhamdulillah" ten times, and "Allahu Akbar" ten times. Okay. Rest.