Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: [Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow] to His saying: [He does what He wills].

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace 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 final session of the month of Jumada al-Ula, in the year 1414, which takes place every Thursday of every week. We begin this session with what we used to begin with at first, which is the exegesis of the Noble Qur'an.
And we have reached the saying of the Exalted in Surat al-Buruj: :
"Those who believe": They are those who believed in Allah, His angels, His books, His messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree, its good and its evil. For this is faith, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained it when Jibril asked him about faith, and he said: .
As for His saying: , the meaning is: they did righteous deeds. And righteous deeds are those built upon sincerity to Allah and following the Shari'ah of Allah. So whoever does a deed in which he associates others with Allah, his deed is rejected, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) in what he narrated from his Lord, that He the Exalted said: .
As for following the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family), whoever does a deed that is not in accordance with the Shari'ah of Allah, it is invalid and rejected, due to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family): . Based on this, the worship of the one who shows off, who worships Allah but shows off to people, meaning: he displays the worship so that people see him and praise him, is not seeking to draw near to people, but rather he seeks to draw near to Allah, but he wants people to praise him for his drawing near to Allah and his worship of Allah. So this is a show-off, and his deed is also rejected.
Likewise, whoever speaks words of the Qur'an, or dhikr, and raises his voice so that people hear him and praise him for his remembrance of Allah, this is also a show-off, and his deed is rejected because he associated others with Allah in it, wanting people to praise him for his worship of Allah.
As for one who worships people, this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah), meaning, one who stands to pray before a person to honor him, not for Allah, and bows to the person and prostrates to the person, this is major shirk (associating partners with Allah) that takes one out of the religion.
Likewise, whoever innovates in the religion of Allah what is not part of it, such as arranging specific dhikr at a specific time, that is not accepted from him even if it is dhikr of Allah, even if it is tasbih or tahmid, or takbir or tahlil, but he arranged it in a way that the Sunnah did not come with, then that is not acceptable to Allah (Mighty and Majestic), because he did a deed that is not in accordance with the command of Allah and His Messenger. So the important thing is that Allah conditioned righteous deeds along with faith.
And by this we know that it is not befitting for us to always focus on 'aqidah (creed) and say: We are on an Islamic 'aqidah, and on such and such, and on such and such, and we do not mention the deeds, because mere 'aqidah is not sufficient. Deeds are necessary. When we mention that we are on the Islamic 'aqidah, we should say: and we do righteous deeds, because Allah always pairs faith, which includes 'aqidah, with righteous deeds, so that a person is not devoid of righteous deeds.
As for mere 'aqidah, it does not benefit. So if a person says: I believe in Allah, but he does not act, where is the faith in Allah? For this reason, the stronger opinion among the scholars' opinions is that the one who abandons prayer is a disbeliever with disbelief that takes him out of the religion. And we have explained the evidence for that in a small treatise of ours. Also, questions about this topic come to us in *Nur 'ala al-Darb*, and we explain the evidence in a way that makes it unnecessary to repeat them here.
"For them": means with Allah.
: And that is after the resurrection. So they enter these gardens in which is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has not occurred to the heart of any human being. For this reason, Allah the Exalted said: .
And Allah said in the Qudsi Hadith: , because in it is pleasure that a human being cannot imagine. And Allah the Exalted mentions in them, meaning in the gardens, dates, pomegranates, fruit, meat of birds, honey, milk, water, and wine. But do not think that the realities of these things are like the realities of what is in this world, never. Because if their realities were like the realities of what is in this world, we would know what has been hidden from us of this. But they are greater, and much greater, than what you imagine. So the pomegranate, even though we know the meaning of the pomegranate and know that it has a specific shape, a specific taste, and specific seeds, but the pomegranate in the Hereafter is not like this. It is much greater, not in terms of size, nor in terms of color, nor in terms of taste. But as Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: "There is nothing in this world of what is in Paradise except the names" only, as for the realities, they are not known.
And His saying: The scholars said: "Beneath them": means beneath their trees and their palaces. Otherwise, they are on the surface above. And these rivers, it came in the hadiths that they do not need digging, and they do not need the construction of a channel. And in this, Ibn al-Qayyim says in the al-Nuniyyah:
"Its rivers flow in no channel *** Glory to the One who holds them back from overflowing".
The rivers, it is known to us that they need digging or a channel to prevent the water from leaking to the right and left. But in Paradise, they do not need a channel. They flow where the person wills, meaning he directs them as he wills, without digging and without establishing a channel.
And the rivers here and in many verses are summarized, but they were detailed in Surat al-Qital, Surat Muhammad, he said: .
: : The reference is to the gardens and the pleasure in them.
means that by which is salvation from every feared thing and the attainment of every desired thing, because success is the attainment of the desired and the removal of the disliked. And Paradise is likewise; in it is every desired thing, and every feared thing has been removed from it. So they do not taste death in it, nor illness, nor sickness, nor worry, nor fatigue. We ask Allah to make us and you among its people.
Then He the Exalted said: :
"Severe grasp": means His taking of punishment is severe, as He the Exalted said: .
So the severe grasp of Allah means: His retribution and His taking is severe and great, but it is for whoever deserves that. As for whoever does not deserve that, then the mercy of Allah the Exalted is wider. How often Allah forgives sins! How often Allah covers defects! How often Allah averts calamities! And how often He bestows blessings! But if He takes the wrongdoer, He does not let him escape, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: , and he recited His saying the Exalted: , and based on this we say: , meaning: regarding whoever deserves the severe grasp. As for whoever does not deserve it, then Allah the Exalted treats him with mercy, and treats him with generosity, and treats him with bounty, and the mercy of Allah the Exalted preceded His anger.
means: that the command is His in the beginning and the return. And this is like His saying the Exalted: He is the One who began things, and to Him things end. Things are from Him and to Him in every matter. Creation is from Allah and to Him. The Shari'ahs are from Allah and to Him. All matters are from Allah and to Him. For this reason He said: and He did not mention what He begins, so its meaning is that He begins every thing and returns every thing. So all matters are in the hand of Him (Mighty and Majestic).
So you know your origin, where you are from, and that you began from non-existence, and know your end and your goal, and that your goal is to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
:
"And He is the Forgiver" means: the One possessing forgiveness. And forgiveness is: covering the sin and pardoning it. So forgiveness is not just covering the sin, but covering it and not holding one accountable for it, as came in the authentic hadith: .
Our sins are many: sins of the heart, sins of the tongue, and sins of action. How many they are! But Allah the Exalted, and praise be to Allah, covers them. And it is mentioned: "That the Children of Israel, when one of them committed a sin, found it written on the door of his house", as a disgrace and a shame, refuge with Allah. But we, praise be to Allah, Allah has covered for us. So we repent to Allah, and we seek forgiveness for the sins, so their effects are erased finally. For this reason He said: : meaning the One who covers the sins of His servants, and overlooks them.
: It is derived from *wudd* (affection), and *wudd* is pure love. So He, (Exalted and Majestic is He), is *Wadud* (the Most Loving). What does *Wadud* mean? Does it mean that He is loved, or that He loves?
The answer: It encompasses both meanings. Allah, (Blessed and Exalted is He), said: , so He, (Exalted and Majestic is He), is *Wadud* (the Most Loving); He loves deeds, He loves people, and He loves places.
And He is also loved, loved by His awliya (close friends of Allah): . So the more a person follows the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the more beloved he is to Allah. So He, (Exalted and Majestic is He), is *Wadud* (the Most Loving) and He is also *Mawduud* (the Most Loved), meaning: He loves and He is loved.
He, (Glorified and Exalted is He), loves deeds, He loves the doers, and He loves people, in the sense that the love of Allah may be attached to a specific person. For example, the saying of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) on the day of Khaybar: .
The point is his saying: : Here he affirmed that Allah loves this specific man, who is 'Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him).
And when he sent a man to lead a raid, that man used to recite for them in prayer and conclude his recitation with: . When they returned to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), they informed him of this, because this practice was not known; that a person, whenever he recites in prayer, makes the end of his recitation: , . Here you find that the love of Allah is attached to a specific person.
And the love of Allah may be attached to specific people by their descriptions, such as His saying, the Exalted: , , . This does not refer to a specific person, but to a person described by a characteristic.
Likewise, Allah, (Glorified and Exalted is He), loves places. The most beloved places to Allah are His mosques. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us: . So this love is attached to places.
So Allah the Exalted loves and is loved. For this reason He said: .
Then He explained His greatness and the completeness of His dominion by saying: : *Dhu al-'Arsh* means: the Owner of the Throne. And the Throne is that upon which Allah, (Mighty and Majestic), rose. It is the greatest of the created things, the largest and the widest. It has come in the athar (report): : So no one can estimate the width of the Footstool. And if we observe the great disparity in the sizes of the visible created things now, a man showed me an image of the sun, which was depicted, and an image of the earth. I found that the earth, in relation to this sun, is a small point in a vast, wide expanse, and that it is not comparable to the sun at all; it is nothing. If this is the case with the visible things that are perceived by the telescope and the like, what can be said about the things hidden from us? For what is hidden from us is greater than what we see. Allah the Exalted said: .
So the conclusion is that the Throne, which is the ceiling of all created things, is a great Throne. .
And His saying: has two recitations: *al-Majid* (the Majestic) and *al-Majid* (the Majestic).
So according to the first recitation, it is a description of the Throne, and according to the second, it is a description of the Lord, (Mighty and Majestic). Both are correct: the Throne is Majestic, and the Lord, (Mighty and Majestic), is Majestic. And we say in the tashahhud: You are Praiseworthy and Majestic.
: Whatever He wills, He does, (Mighty and Majestic), because He is complete in dominion; no one opposes Him, no one delays His judgment, and no one repels His decree: .
So whatever He wills, He does. But the kings of this world, however great their sovereignty, do not do everything they want. How often they want something and then find an obstacle that prevents it! But the Lord is the Owner of the greatest dominion, whom nothing repels from what He wills: . And in this is evidence that everything that occurs in the universe is by the will of Allah, (Mighty and Majestic), because Allah is the one who created it, so it occurs by His will.
But know that Allah does not will anything except for a wisdom. So everything that occurs of the actions of Allah is for a great wisdom, which we may know or we may not know.
We pause at this noble verse, and we ask Allah the Exalted to make us and you among those who recite His Book with true recitation, and to grant us understanding of it, and to help us to act upon it. Indeed, He is Generous and Noble. And now, to the questions in the remaining time.