Exegesis of Verses (33 - 41) of Surat al-Najm.

The Shaykh : In this session, as usual, we begin by explaining part of the speech of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We have reached His saying: to the end of it.
The address in His saying: is to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), and it is permissible that it is intended for everyone to whom the address is directed. So, according to the first view, the meaning is: "Have you seen, O Muhammad?" And according to the second view, the meaning is: "Have you seen, O addressed one?" meaning: he turned away from the obedience of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and did not believe in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and did not spend what he was commanded to spend. This means that sometimes he gives, and when he gives, he gives a little, and sometimes he withholds, meaning: he prevents and gives nothing, because he does not spend money seeking the Face of Allah. Therefore, his state is between two things: either withholding or giving a little. They said: is derived from al-kudiyah, which is the hard rock that does not crumble except with pickaxes. This is the one who gave a little and withheld. He claims that if he is resurrected, he will be given a lot of money. And this is the custom of one who denies the resurrection, like the owner of the garden who said: So he thinks that he will be enjoyed in this world, and then enjoyed in the Hereafter more and more, if he believed in it. Allah the Exalted said: This is a question of denial, meaning negation. It means he does not have knowledge of the Unseen. He thinks that he will move to a better abode than the abode he is in. And on this basis, the sentence is a sentence of negation, not a sentence of affirmation, and not a sentence of inquiry, but a sentence of negation and denial, because no one has knowledge of the Unseen. And were it not for what Allah informed us of regarding the bliss for the people of Paradise and the Hellfire for the people of the Fire, we would not have known anything about it. The "Am" here is for emphasis, and the meaning is: "But he was not informed of what is in the scrolls of Musa." Musa is mentioned because Musa is the best of the prophets of the Children of Israel, and the Torah is the book upon which rests the foundation of what was revealed to the Children of Israel. The scrolls of Musa, the scrolls of Ibrahim, scrolls that Allah the Exalted revealed to Ibrahim, containing admonitions and rulings, but He did not clarify to us anything from them except that Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was upon tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and the straight religion, as Allah the Exalted said: And what is in these scrolls, He said: This is an explanation, meaning what is in the scrolls of Ibrahim and Musa: "No soul bears the burden of another." And His saying: meaning: and in what he was commanded. And the greatest of what he fulfilled was that he was commanded to slaughter his son, so he complied. He complied with the command of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and was resolute in executing it, until he laid him on his forehead to pass the knife over his neck, but the relief came from Allah. meaning: does not bear. meaning: a sinful one. meaning: another sin. It means that a person does not bear the sin of another, except that an exception is made for this if he is the owner of a sunnah (a recommended practice) that is sinful, then he bears its burden and the burden of whoever acts upon it until the Day of Resurrection. But the truth is that he did not bear the burden of another, because the other has sinned and committed a sin, but he bore the sin of what? The sunnah and initiating evil. So in reality, he did not bear the burden of another, but he bore a burden with his own burden. And Allah the Exalted refuted the saying of those who disbelieved to those who believed: So Allah the Exalted said: Even if someone said to you: "Do this sin, and the sin is on me," he would not be able to do this. And it is not possible for him to be able to do it. If the one who was told: "Do this, and the sin is on me," did it, on whom is the sin? On the doer. The sin is on the doer. Then, if the doer is one who is deceived by the saying and does not understand, then on the speaker is the sin of deception, meaning: he deceived and tricked him.
This means that a person has no reward except the reward of what he strived for, meaning: what he did. So it is not possible to give him the reward of another. It means it is not possible to take from the reward of Zayd and give it to 'Amr, ever. Just as it is not possible to take from the sins of Zayd and add them to the sins of 'Amr. This is not possible. So the person is bound by his earnings. It is not possible to take from his good deeds for another, nor to take from the burdens of others and place them on him. Some scholars have argued that it is not possible for a dead person to benefit from the reward of the deeds of another, because Allah said: And on this basis, if you prayed two rak'ahs for Zayd while he is dead, or fasted a day for Zayd while he is dead, it would not benefit him, due to the generality of His saying: When it was presented to them that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: They said: This is regarding the obligatory, because he said: and it is not regarding voluntary acts. And when it was presented to them that a man said: They said: This is an exception by explicit text, and it is not for us to contradict the text. And the general ruling allows the specification of its individuals with a contrary ruling. And when it was presented to them the saying of Sa'd ibn Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding his date palm, meaning: his palm tree that is being harvested, that he wanted to make it charity for his mother, and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) permitted it, they said: This has come by explicit text, and what has come by explicit text cannot be contradicted, because the Islamic Shari'ah, indeed, the texts of the Islamic Shari'ah came with the specification of the general, meaning by excluding some individuals of the general, and a contrary ruling is given to them. And on this basis, we say: It is not possible for a person to benefit from the deeds of another, whether alive or dead, except what has come in the Sunnah. And there is no doubt that this view has a strong perspective. But Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Any act of worship he performs and dedicates its reward to a dead or living Muslim, then it benefits him. And he said: What occurred were specific cases. Specific cases means that a man had an incident and asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) about it, and he permitted it. What is the specific case?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : The one we mentioned now, the man who said: "Do I give charity on behalf of my mother?" and Sa'd ibn Ubadah said: "These asked the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and he permitted it." If the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) permitted the genus of worship, even if it was financial, that indicates the permissibility of the genus, on the permissibility of all worship. And they also said: Fasting is not a financial worship, and yet he said: And when it is answered that this is regarding the obligatory, and the obligatory is necessary, it is like a debt, and a debt, if another person pays it on behalf of the debtor, it suffices. And in any case, meaning even if we say what Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) went to: that any act of worship a person performs and dedicates it to a Muslim, then what the people are doing today is contrary to the guidance of the Salaf. Because you find people today dedicating many righteous deeds to the dead. They always perform 'Umrah for the dead, they always fast voluntarily for them, they always sacrifice for them, and they do not sacrifice for themselves. All this is not from the practice of the Salaf. The Salaf follow the guidance of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and the general guidance of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is that he said: Supplication is more than supplication for the dead. But the fact that whenever you glorify Allah you say: "O Allah, make its reward for my father, for my mother," and whenever you perform 'Umrah you say: "O Allah, make its reward for my father or my mother or my grandfather or my maternal uncle or my paternal uncle," this is not correct. You are in need of the deed as they are in need of the deed, so do not make your deed for them. Make for them what the Messenger guided you to, which is supplication. As for the deed, reserve it for yourself.
His striving means his work. And is the intended meaning the reward of the striving seen in the Hereafter at the time of recompense, or is the striving itself seen in this world and known?
The answer is: This is general. It will be seen in this world and it will be seen in the Hereafter. What is seen in the Hereafter is
The student: Reward.

The Shaykh : The reward, and in this world it is the deed itself. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said: On this occasion, I would like to point out that some people, when they do a deed such as building a library, a mosque, or a building for the poor, or something similar, write This is not permissible; this is not permissible. Why? Because one of the three parties cannot see it. Who is it? The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) cannot see this deed. It is true that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) sees, and the believers at that time see, but the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) does not see it. Furthermore, this is regarding the hypocrites, and it is a threat to them, not praise of them. In any case, we say: a person’s effort will be seen, but Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) may conceal a servant’s sins out of His grace and favor. When He meets him in the Hereafter, He will be alone with Him (Glorified and Exalted is He) and will confront him with his sins, saying: But in principle, a person’s effort, what is it? It will be seen meaning that after it is seen, he will be recompensed for it that is: the most complete and the fullest. In good deeds, the increase in reward; and in evil deeds, justice, such that nothing is added to his evil deeds. Accordingly, "the fullest" is interpreted in two meanings: justice, and the second is increase. Justice in what?
The student: In the evil deed.

The Shaykh : In the evil deed, it is not possible for an evil deed to be increased. The favor is in the good deeds: a good deed is rewarded with ten times its like, up to seven hundred times, up to many times. And here ends what Allah intended for us to speak about regarding this noble verse. So let us spend the remaining time on questions, and we will start from the right. No, this one is married and is not a guest.