Exegesis of Surat al-Buruj, from the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Indeed, those who fitnah the believing men and believing women and then do not repent will have the punishment of Hell and they will have the punishment of the Burning."
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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 those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the third session, in the month of Jumada al-Thani, in the year 1414, which takes place every Thursday.
We ask Allah the Exalted to benefit us all with it, and to grant us and you beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds, and to cause us to die upon faith.
In our first sessions, we chose to speak on exegesis starting from Surat al-Naba, because this last part of the Noble Book is frequently recited, so we chose for people to be knowledgeable about it, because the benefit from the Qur'an is reflection and taking heed, as Allah the Exalted said:[Sad 38:29].
And we reached the saying of Allah the Exalted in Surat al-Buruj:[Al-Buruj 85:10]: "fitnah them" means: they burned them, according to the opinion of some scholars, because these criminals dug trenches, meaning: they cut tunnels in the earth, and they kindled fires in them, and they burned the believers in them, so the meaning of is: they burned the believers.
And it was said: "fitnah them" means: they turned them away from their religion, and the correct view is that the verse encompasses both meanings, because we should know that the meanings of the Qur'an are broader than our understandings, the meanings of the Qur'an are broader than our understandings, and that no matter how much intelligence and acumen we reach, we will not encompass it in knowledge, we only know of it what is made easy for us.
And the rule in the science of exegesis: "If a verse can be understood in two meanings that do not contradict each other, then it is attributed to both of them", so we say: they fitnah the believers by turning them away from the path of Allah, and they fitnah them by burning them as well.
But with this, Allah Mighty and Majestic says:[Al-Buruj 85:10]: so the noble verse indicated that if they had repented, Allah would have forgiven them, even if they had done to His awliya (close friends of Allah) what they did, for Allah repents upon them, because Allah says: [Ash-Shuraa 42:25].
[Al-Buruj 85:10] meaning: the punishment of the Fire, they are punished with it.
[Al-Buruj 85:10] they are burned in the Fire of Hell, we ask Allah for safety.
And in the verse is an indication that repentance demolishes what came before it, but my brothers, we must know that repentance does not become a sincere repentance accepted by Allah unless it includes five conditions:
The first: sincerity for Allah Mighty and Majestic, such that the one who drives the person to repentance is the fear of Allah Mighty and Majestic, and the hope for His reward, because a person may repent from a sin in order for people to praise him, or in order to ward off the blame of people for him, or in order to reach a status, or in order to obtain wealth, none of these people's repentance is accepted, why?
Because repentance must be pure, pure for Allah Mighty and Majestic.
And as for the one who seeks the worldly life with his deed, Allah the Exalted says in His Book:[Hud 11:15-16].
The second of the conditions for repentance to be sincere: regret for the sin that occurred, meaning: that the person not be as if he did not sin, not feeling remorse or sadness, he must regret, when he remembers the greatness of Allah he regrets, how can I disobey my Lord, He is the one who created me, provided for me, and guided me, so he regrets, just as if a person disobeys his father, he regrets.
The third: that he abandons the sin, so repentance is not valid with persistence in the sin, because the one who repents is the one who returns, so if a person says: I seek forgiveness from Allah and I repent to Him from eating riba (usury or interest), but he continues to engage in riba, is his repentance valid?
No, it is not valid.
If he said: I seek forgiveness from Allah for ghibah (backbiting), and ghibah is mentioning your brother with what he dislikes, but he backbites people in every gathering, is his repentance valid?
No, how can it be valid while he is persistent in disobedience, so he must abandon it.
If he repented from eating the wealth of people, and he stole from this one, and took the wealth of this one by deception and fraud, is his repentance valid?
No, until he returns it, until he returns what he took of the wealth of people to the people.
Suppose a person extended his boundaries into his neighbor's property and cut off a part of his land, and said: I am repentant, what do we say to him, what do we say to him?
Return the boundaries to their original limits, otherwise your repentance is not accepted, because it is necessary to abandon the sin from which he repented.
And the fourth condition: that he resolves with a complete resolution not to return to the sin, so if he repents while intending in his heart that if the opportunity arose he would return to the sin, then his repentance is not accepted, he must resolve with a firm resolution not to return.
And the fifth condition: that the repentance be in a time in which repentance is accepted, because there are times in which repentance is not accepted, pay attention to this last condition: there are times in which a person's repentance is not accepted, and that is in two cases:
The first case: when death approaches him, then his repentance is not accepted, due to the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:18]: after he has witnessed death and seen the punishment, he says: I repented, it does not benefit, and a real example of this issue is: when Pharaoh was overtaken by drowning, what did he say?
[Yunus 10:90] meaning: by Allah, and he did not say: I believed in Allah, in humiliation of himself, where he was fighting the Children of Israel over belief in Allah, and now he says: I believed in the One in whom they believed, so it is as if he made himself a follower of whom?
The Children of Israel, to this extent did his humiliation reach, and yet it was said to him:?
Meaning: do you repent now? Do you believe now in the One in whom the Children of Israel believed,[Yunus 10:91].
So if death approaches, then repentance is not accepted, and I ask each one of you: does he know when death will approach him?
No, so it is necessary to hasten with repentance, because you do not know at what time death will overtake you, did you not know that among people there is one who slept on his bed in health and well-being, then he was carried from his bed to his washing bed?
We know this and it has happened, or did you know that some people sat on their work chair working, then they were carried from their work chair to the washing bed, the washing, all of this is real, so it is obligatory for us to hasten with repentance, to hasten with it, we ask Allah to help me and you with that, hasten with repentance before the doors are closed, hasten.
He says, Exalted and Majestic is He:[Al-Buruj 85:10] We said: repentance is not accepted in two cases:
The first case: when death approaches him.
And the second case: when the sun rises from its west, for if the sun rises from its west and people see it, they will believe, but Allah says:[Al-An'am 6:158].
So the conditions for the acceptance of repentance are five, we ask Allah to help us and you to fulfill them.
Then Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Buruj 85:11]: when He mentioned the punishment of the criminals, He mentioned the reward of the believers, and this is the method followed in what is intended for encouragement and warning, and the Noble Qur'an, Allah the Exalted said that it is repetitions, in which opposite meanings are mentioned, in which the punishment of the people of the Fire is mentioned, and the bliss of the people of Paradise, the attributes of the believers and the attributes of the disbelievers, in order for the person to proceed to Allah the Exalted between fear and hope, and to know the blessing of Allah upon him with Islam, and to know the wisdom of Allah the Exalted in the existence of these disbelieving criminals.
[Al-Buruj 85:11], and we limit ourselves to this part, and we postpone the discussion of this verse, if Allah wills, to next week in order to obtain many answers to the questions, and we ask Allah for success, we start with the right, do you have a question?
The questioner : Shaykh, but I came for a visit.
The Shaykh : Okay, do you have a question? Yes.
As for what follows:
This is the third session, in the month of Jumada al-Thani, in the year 1414, which takes place every Thursday.
We ask Allah the Exalted to benefit us all with it, and to grant us and you beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds, and to cause us to die upon faith.
In our first sessions, we chose to speak on exegesis starting from Surat al-Naba, because this last part of the Noble Book is frequently recited, so we chose for people to be knowledgeable about it, because the benefit from the Qur'an is reflection and taking heed, as Allah the Exalted said:
[This is] a blessed Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that they might reflect upon its verses and that those of understanding would be reminded.
كِتَابٌ أَنْزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِAnd we reached the saying of Allah the Exalted in Surat al-Buruj:
Indeed, those who have tortured the believing men and believing women and then have not repented will have the punishment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ الْحَرِيقِThey fitnah the believers
فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَAnd it was said: "fitnah them" means: they turned them away from their religion, and the correct view is that the verse encompasses both meanings, because we should know that the meanings of the Qur'an are broader than our understandings, the meanings of the Qur'an are broader than our understandings, and that no matter how much intelligence and acumen we reach, we will not encompass it in knowledge, we only know of it what is made easy for us.
And the rule in the science of exegesis: "If a verse can be understood in two meanings that do not contradict each other, then it is attributed to both of them", so we say: they fitnah the believers by turning them away from the path of Allah, and they fitnah them by burning them as well.
But with this, Allah Mighty and Majestic says:
and then have not repented will have the punishment of Hell
ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَAnd it is He who accepts repentance from his servants and pardons misdeeds
وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَقْبَلُ التَّوبَةَ عَنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَعْفُو عَنِ السَّيِّئَاتِwill have the punishment of Hell
فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَand they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire.
وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ الْحَرِيقِAnd in the verse is an indication that repentance demolishes what came before it, but my brothers, we must know that repentance does not become a sincere repentance accepted by Allah unless it includes five conditions:
The first: sincerity for Allah Mighty and Majestic, such that the one who drives the person to repentance is the fear of Allah Mighty and Majestic, and the hope for His reward, because a person may repent from a sin in order for people to praise him, or in order to ward off the blame of people for him, or in order to reach a status, or in order to obtain wealth, none of these people's repentance is accepted, why?
Because repentance must be pure, pure for Allah Mighty and Majestic.
And as for the one who seeks the worldly life with his deed, Allah the Exalted says in His Book:
(15) Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments - We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein will not be deprived. (16) Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do.
مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا نُوَفِّ إِلَيْهِمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فِيهَا وَهُمْ فِيهَا لا يُبْخَسُونَ * أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ لَيْسَ لَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا النَّارُThe second of the conditions for repentance to be sincere: regret for the sin that occurred, meaning: that the person not be as if he did not sin, not feeling remorse or sadness, he must regret, when he remembers the greatness of Allah he regrets, how can I disobey my Lord, He is the one who created me, provided for me, and guided me, so he regrets, just as if a person disobeys his father, he regrets.
The third: that he abandons the sin, so repentance is not valid with persistence in the sin, because the one who repents is the one who returns, so if a person says: I seek forgiveness from Allah and I repent to Him from eating riba (usury or interest), but he continues to engage in riba, is his repentance valid?
No, it is not valid.
If he said: I seek forgiveness from Allah for ghibah (backbiting), and ghibah is mentioning your brother with what he dislikes, but he backbites people in every gathering, is his repentance valid?
No, how can it be valid while he is persistent in disobedience, so he must abandon it.
If he repented from eating the wealth of people, and he stole from this one, and took the wealth of this one by deception and fraud, is his repentance valid?
No, until he returns it, until he returns what he took of the wealth of people to the people.
Suppose a person extended his boundaries into his neighbor's property and cut off a part of his land, and said: I am repentant, what do we say to him, what do we say to him?
Return the boundaries to their original limits, otherwise your repentance is not accepted, because it is necessary to abandon the sin from which he repented.
And the fourth condition: that he resolves with a complete resolution not to return to the sin, so if he repents while intending in his heart that if the opportunity arose he would return to the sin, then his repentance is not accepted, he must resolve with a firm resolution not to return.
And the fifth condition: that the repentance be in a time in which repentance is accepted, because there are times in which repentance is not accepted, pay attention to this last condition: there are times in which a person's repentance is not accepted, and that is in two cases:
The first case: when death approaches him, then his repentance is not accepted, due to the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted:
But repentance is not [accepted] of those who [continue to] do evil deeds up until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "Indeed, I have repented now,"
وَلَيْسَتِ التَّوْبَةُ لِلَّذِينَ يَعْمَلُونَ السَّيِّئَاتِ حَتَّى إِذَا حَضَرَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ إِنِّي تُبْتُ الْآنَhe said, "I believe that there is no deity except that in whom the Children of Israel believe
قَالَ آمَنْتُ أَنَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلَّا الَّذِي آمَنَتْ بِهِ بَنُو إِسْرائيلَThe Children of Israel, to this extent did his humiliation reach, and yet it was said to him:
Now?
آلْآنَMeaning: do you repent now? Do you believe now in the One in whom the Children of Israel believed,
And you had disobeyed [Him] before and were of the corrupters?
وَقَدْ عَصَيْتَ قَبْلُ وَكُنْتَ مِنَ الْمُفْسِدِينَSo if death approaches, then repentance is not accepted, and I ask each one of you: does he know when death will approach him?
No, so it is necessary to hasten with repentance, because you do not know at what time death will overtake you, did you not know that among people there is one who slept on his bed in health and well-being, then he was carried from his bed to his washing bed?
We know this and it has happened, or did you know that some people sat on their work chair working, then they were carried from their work chair to the washing bed, the washing, all of this is real, so it is obligatory for us to hasten with repentance, to hasten with it, we ask Allah to help me and you with that, hasten with repentance before the doors are closed, hasten.
He says, Exalted and Majestic is He:
and then have not repented
ثم لم يتوبواThe first case: when death approaches him.
And the second case: when the sun rises from its west, for if the sun rises from its west and people see it, they will believe, but Allah says:
no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good
لا يَنْفَعُ نَفْساً إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْراًSo the conditions for the acceptance of repentance are five, we ask Allah to help us and you to fulfill them.
Then Allah the Exalted said:
Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرُIndeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرُThe questioner : Shaykh, but I came for a visit.
The Shaykh : Okay, do you have a question? Yes.