Exegesis of Verse (7) of Surat al-Mujadilah.
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The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the thirty-third meeting after two hundred of the Open Door meetings, which take place every Thursday, and this Thursday is the twenty-second of the month of Muharram in the year 1421.
We begin this meeting with what has become customary, which is the exegesis of verses from the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Mujadila 58:7]
means: Do you not know? And the intended meaning is everyone to whom the address is directed, so everyone knows this except the one whom Allah has blinded in his insight. The hamza here is for affirmation, and likewise, whenever you find the hamza of interrogation entering upon: "lam", it is for affirmation. An example is: [Ash-Sharh 94:1] The meaning is: We have expanded for you your chest, [Ibrahim 14:19]
[Ali 'Imran 3:29] Whether small or large, He knows that before it occurs, Mighty and Majestic, and He knows that after it occurs. So Allah does not err and does not forget, Glorified and Exalted is He.
And know, O my Muslim brother, that Allah the Exalted has known everything in general and in detail before it was, knowing when it will be, where it will be, and how it will be.
Then He wrote in the Preserved Tablet—and it is a great, wide tablet—He wrote in it the measures of everything until the Hour. Pay attention, O my brother, to faith in the divine decree. So it proceeded in that hour with what is to be until the Day of Resurrection. So what is written for a person does not miss him, and what is not written for him does not befall him. The pens have dried up and the scrolls have been folded. If you believe in this, you will be at peace and settled, and you will not regret what has passed nor grieve over what is to come, because when a person believes in the divine decree, he is at peace, and there is no happy life except with faith in the divine decree. If a person traveled and was struck by an accident, and he was a complete believer in the divine decree, what would he do?
He would say: This is the decree of Allah, and he would be satisfied and submit, and he would say: Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we return, and he would be at peace and his chest would open. If he is struck by an illness, he knows that this is written for him, and then when he remembers the reward, it becomes easy for him, because the diseases and pains in this world end in their disappearance, and the reward remains. For this reason, some of the knowing women, when one of them was struck in her finger, did not grieve and did not speak of anything. It was said to her about this, and she said: "The sweetness of its reward made me forget the bitterness of its patience". Look at faith.
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, wrote in the Preserved Tablet what is to be until the Day of Resurrection. Then, does this that happens happen by the will of Allah or without the will of Allah?
The answer is: It happens by the will of Allah. Nothing happens except by the will of Allah. He is the One who willed it beforehand and willed it when it occurred. Then, is this that happened created for Allah, Mighty and Majestic? Everything is created for Allah, even the movements of a person are created for Allah, is that not so?
The actions of a person are created for Allah. My movements now and your movements are created for Allah. How is this?
Because this movement occurred from me by two things:
By will and power. Do you agree with me on this?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : By will and power. If I had not willed to move, I would not have moved, and if I had been incapable, I would not have moved. Who created this will and power?
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the One who placed the will in you and placed the power in you. So everything is created for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. If you know this, that Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth, and that everything is written, that obligates you to fear Allah in your secret and your public, because Allah knows even what your soul whispers, and nothing is hidden from Him.
O Allah, we ask You for Your fear in the unseen and the witnessed. Fear Allah in your secret and your witnessed, because Allah knows what is in your heart. O Allah, make our intentions sincere and rectify our deeds.
[Al-Mujadila 58:7]:
Four things: means: Three whispering, and by Allah, He is with them.
[Al-Mujadila 58:7]:
What is less than that?
What is less than that?
Two. More: seven or more, or six or more.[Al-Mujadila 58:7] Meaning: wherever they were.
And the companionship here is not companionship of indwelling, meaning that Allah indwells in our places with us. This is not the case, and the Salaf did not understand this understanding, and it is not possible for a person who attributes to Allah His true worth to imagine this false meaning. Is that clear?
Say: Yes, and not no!
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is clear. It is not that Allah is with us in the place here, so the meaning of:[Al-Mujadila 58:7] is that He is aware of them, encompassing them, hearing their words, seeing their actions, and having authority over them. This is the meaning.
And the meaning is not that He is in the places where we are. No, by Allah. Whoever claims that has attributed to Allah the greatest evil, may Allah grant us safety. Because this false, defective, and deniable understanding necessitates either that Allah is one, divided, some of Him here and some of Him there, or that He is multiple with the multiplication of places, because there are people here, and people in the mosque, and people in the market, and people in the sea. Is Allah divided? Is Allah multiple?
No, by Allah.
It necessitates the most vile consequence: that if you are in the bathroom, in the toilet, Allah is with you in the same place. Does anyone say this?
By Allah, no one says it except a person who does not know Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and does not attribute to Him His true worth. O, Glorified is Allah! How do you imagine that your Lord, the Most High, the Supreme, is with you in the toilet? May Allah grant us safety. No one imagines this ever, except a person who diminishes Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with the greatest diminishment.
So how do we interpret His saying:[Al-Mujadila 58:7]?
We interpret this by saying that companionship does not necessitate indwelling, it does not necessitate indwelling in the place. The Arabs say: We continued to travel and the moon was with us. And where is its place?
In the sky. They say: We continued to travel and Suhail was with us, and Suhail is in the sky. These are small creations in comparison to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and yet they are with the person while they are above. So Allah is with us while He is above everything, and nothing of our deeds is hidden from Him. You must believe this belief. If you die on the first belief: that Allah is with you in the place, I do not know if you die a disbeliever or a believer, because this is the ultimate diminishment of Allah the Exalted.
[Al-Mujadila 58:7]:
means: He informs them of what they did and affirms it with them. If he is a believer, may Allah make me and you among them, for Allah isolates him alone and affirms him with his sins, and says: You did such and such, and you did such and such, and you did such and such. So he says: Yes, O my Lord. So Allah the Exalted says: Sahih al-Bukhari 2441. O Allah, to You is praise. And how many sins Allah has concealed over us! How many sins we committed and Allah concealed them! If Allah had willed, He would have exposed them and clarified them and displayed them on the slips of the tongue and the faces. When a person among the Children of Israel committed a sin in the house, the sin would be written on his door in the morning, a disgrace and a shame. This Ummah, and praise be to Allah, has been covered by Allah's concealment. For this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . He called him one who openly commits sins, even though his action was in secret, because he exposed it himself. Some people do this, may Allah protect us, for boasting, especially those who travel during the holidays and commit zina there, and commit sodomy, and drink intoxicants. They come to their companions and say: By Allah, it was a journey of fun and joy, they did such and such, they committed zina with the house of a woman or more or less, they committed sodomy with such and such of the boys, they drank such and such of the intoxicants. These are those who openly commit sins, may Allah protect us, we ask Allah for safety.
So Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, isolates His believing servant on the Day of Resurrection and affirms him with his sins, then He says:Sahih al-Bukhari 2441.
As for the disbeliever, he is not reckoned with this reckoning, and Allah does not look at him, but his deeds are counted and exposed, and he is called out before the witnesses:[Hud 11:18].
And for this reason, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, did not say: Then He will punish them for what they did. He said:: And the informing may contain a type of punishment or it may not.
[Al-Baqarah 2:231]: O Allah, grant us faith in this and protect us from stumbling by it. You, O my brother, if you believe that Allah is All-Knowing of everything, even what is in your heart, you must fear Allah. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: [An-Nisa 4:108], so beware, beware that Allah knows from you what will be angering to Allah, Mighty and Majestic. And know that you have a watcher, no person is without a vigilant watcher: a watcher who observes and a vigilant one who is present. [Qaf 50:18]: It writes down everything he utters.
O Allah, we ask You for pardon and well-being in this world and the Hereafter, and we ask You that You do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and that You bestow upon us from You mercy, for You are the Bestower.
As for what follows:
This is the thirty-third meeting after two hundred of the Open Door meetings, which take place every Thursday, and this Thursday is the twenty-second of the month of Muharram in the year 1421.
We begin this meeting with what has become customary, which is the exegesis of verses from the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic:
Allah the Exalted said:
Have you not considered that Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth? There is in no private conversation three but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are
ألم تر أن الله يعلم ما في السماوات وما في الأرض ما يكون من نجوى ثلاثة إلا هو رابعهم ولا خمسة إلا هو سادسهم ولا أدنى من ذلك ولا أكثر إلا هو معهم أينما كانواHave you not seen
ألم ترDid We not expand for you, [O Muhammad], your breast?
ألم نشرح لك صدركHave you not seen that Allah
ألم تر أن اللهHe knows that which is in the heavens and that which is on the earth
يعلم ما في السماوات وما في الأرضAnd know, O my Muslim brother, that Allah the Exalted has known everything in general and in detail before it was, knowing when it will be, where it will be, and how it will be.
Then He wrote in the Preserved Tablet—and it is a great, wide tablet—He wrote in it the measures of everything until the Hour. Pay attention, O my brother, to faith in the divine decree.
When Allah created the Pen, He said to it: Write. It said: My Lord, what shall I write? He said: Write what is destined to happen until the Day of Resurrection.
لما خلق الله القلم قال له: اكتب، قال: رب وماذا أكتب؟ قال: اكتب ما هو كائن إلى يوم القيامةHe would say: This is the decree of Allah, and he would be satisfied and submit, and he would say: Indeed, to Allah we belong and to Him we return, and he would be at peace and his chest would open. If he is struck by an illness, he knows that this is written for him, and then when he remembers the reward, it becomes easy for him, because the diseases and pains in this world end in their disappearance, and the reward remains. For this reason, some of the knowing women, when one of them was struck in her finger, did not grieve and did not speak of anything. It was said to her about this, and she said: "The sweetness of its reward made me forget the bitterness of its patience". Look at faith.
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, wrote in the Preserved Tablet what is to be until the Day of Resurrection. Then, does this that happens happen by the will of Allah or without the will of Allah?
The answer is: It happens by the will of Allah. Nothing happens except by the will of Allah. He is the One who willed it beforehand and willed it when it occurred. Then, is this that happened created for Allah, Mighty and Majestic? Everything is created for Allah, even the movements of a person are created for Allah, is that not so?
The actions of a person are created for Allah. My movements now and your movements are created for Allah. How is this?
Because this movement occurred from me by two things:
By will and power. Do you agree with me on this?
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : By will and power. If I had not willed to move, I would not have moved, and if I had been incapable, I would not have moved. Who created this will and power?
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the One who placed the will in you and placed the power in you. So everything is created for Allah, Mighty and Majestic. If you know this, that Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth, and that everything is written, that obligates you to fear Allah in your secret and your public, because Allah knows even what your soul whispers, and nothing is hidden from Him.
O Allah, we ask You for Your fear in the unseen and the witnessed. Fear Allah in your secret and your witnessed, because Allah knows what is in your heart. O Allah, make our intentions sincere and rectify our deeds.
There is in no private conversation three but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them
ما يكون من نجوى ثلاثة إلا هو رابعهم ولا خمسة إلا هو سادسهم ولا أدنى من ذلك ولا أكثر إلا هو معهمFour things:
of a secret conversation of three
من نجوى ثلاثةHe is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them
هو رابعهم ولا خمسة إلا هو سادسهم ولا أدنى من ذلك ولا أكثر إلا هو معهمWhat is less than that?
What is less than that?
Two. More: seven or more, or six or more.
except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are
إلا هو معهم أينما كانواAnd the companionship here is not companionship of indwelling, meaning that Allah indwells in our places with us. This is not the case, and the Salaf did not understand this understanding, and it is not possible for a person who attributes to Allah His true worth to imagine this false meaning. Is that clear?
Say: Yes, and not no!
The questioner : Yes.
The Shaykh : It is clear. It is not that Allah is with us in the place here, so the meaning of:
except that He is with them
إلا هو معهمAnd the meaning is not that He is in the places where we are. No, by Allah. Whoever claims that has attributed to Allah the greatest evil, may Allah grant us safety. Because this false, defective, and deniable understanding necessitates either that Allah is one, divided, some of Him here and some of Him there, or that He is multiple with the multiplication of places, because there are people here, and people in the mosque, and people in the market, and people in the sea. Is Allah divided? Is Allah multiple?
No, by Allah.
It necessitates the most vile consequence: that if you are in the bathroom, in the toilet, Allah is with you in the same place. Does anyone say this?
By Allah, no one says it except a person who does not know Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and does not attribute to Him His true worth. O, Glorified is Allah! How do you imagine that your Lord, the Most High, the Supreme, is with you in the toilet? May Allah grant us safety. No one imagines this ever, except a person who diminishes Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with the greatest diminishment.
So how do we interpret His saying:
except that He is with them
إلا هو معهمWe interpret this by saying that companionship does not necessitate indwelling, it does not necessitate indwelling in the place. The Arabs say: We continued to travel and the moon was with us. And where is its place?
In the sky. They say: We continued to travel and Suhail was with us, and Suhail is in the sky. These are small creations in comparison to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, and yet they are with the person while they are above. So Allah is with us while He is above everything, and nothing of our deeds is hidden from Him. You must believe this belief. If you die on the first belief: that Allah is with you in the place, I do not know if you die a disbeliever or a believer, because this is the ultimate diminishment of Allah the Exalted.
except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are. Then He will inform them of what they did, on the Day of Resurrection
إلا هو معهم أينما كانوا ثم ينبئهم بما عملوا يوم القيامةinform them
ينبئهمI did screen your sins in the world and I forgive them for you today
إني سترتها عليك في الدنيا وأنا أغفرها لك اليومAll my Ummah are forgiven except those who commit sins openly. They said: Who are they? He said: The one who commits a sin in secret and then rises in the morning to talk about it to the people.
كل أمتي معافى إلا المجاهرون، قالوا من؟ قال: المجاهر الذي يعمل الذنب سراً ثم يصبح يتحدث به على الناسSo Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, isolates His believing servant on the Day of Resurrection and affirms him with his sins, then He says:
I did screen your sins in the world and I forgive them for you today
سترتها عليك في الدنيا وأنا أغفرها لك اليومAs for the disbeliever, he is not reckoned with this reckoning, and Allah does not look at him, but his deeds are counted and exposed, and he is called out before the witnesses:
These are the ones who lied against their Lord." Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.
هؤلاء الذين كذبوا على ربهم ألا لعنة الله على الظالمينAnd for this reason, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, did not say: Then He will punish them for what they did. He said:
He will inform them
ينبؤهمAllah is Knowing of all things.
إن الله بكل شيء عليمThey conceal [their evil intentions and deeds] from the people, but they cannot conceal [them] from Allah, and He is with them [in His knowledge] when they spend the night in such as He does not accept of speech. And ever is Allah, of what they do, encompassing.
يتسخفون من الناس ولا يستخفون من الله وهو معهم إذ يبيتون ما لا يرضى من القول وكان الله بما يعملون محيطاًMan does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record].
ما يلفظ من قول إلا لديه رقيب عتيدO Allah, we ask You for pardon and well-being in this world and the Hereafter, and we ask You that You do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and that You bestow upon us from You mercy, for You are the Bestower.