Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: "He has succeeded who purifies himself and remembers the name of his Lord and prays" from Surat al-A'la.
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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 fifty-third session of the series known as the Open Door Meeting, and it is the fourth session in the month of Shawwal of the year 1414 AH. We will speak briefly about what remains of Surat al-A'la, which is His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He:[Al-A'la 87:14-15]
"Succeeded" is derived from "success." Success is a comprehensive term; it means attaining what is sought and being saved from what is feared. This is the meaning of success; it is a term that encompasses all good and repels all evil.
And His saying: is derived from purification. It is from this that zakah is called zakah, because it purifies a person from vile character traits, such as stinginess, as Allah the Exalted said: [At-Tawbah 9:103].
So "he purified himself" means: he purified himself. From what did he purify himself? First, he purifies himself from shirk (associating partners with Allah) in his dealings with Allah. He worships Allah with sincere devotion to Him, without showing off, without seeking to be heard, and without seeking status or leadership in what he worships Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with. Rather, he seeks by this the Face of Allah and the Hereafter. He purifies himself in following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) such that he does not innovate in his religion, neither a little nor a lot, neither in belief nor in words nor in actions. And this—I mean purification—regarding the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which is following him without innovation, does not fully apply except to the Salafi method, the method of the people of the Sunnah and the community, who believe in everything by which Allah described Himself in His Book or on the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) according to the Salafi method, who do not innovate anything in the verbal or physical acts of worship in the religion of Allah.
You will find them following what the Shari'ah brought, contrary to what some of the innovators do in the innovated dhikr (remembrance of Allah), either in its type, or in its manner and description, or in its performance, as some of the followers of the Sufi paths and others do.
Likewise, he purifies himself in his dealings with creation, such that he purifies his heart from resentment and hatred toward his Muslim brothers. You will find him always pure-hearted, loving for his brothers what he loves for himself, not being pleased for anyone to be touched by evil, but rather wishing that all people are safe from all evil and successful in all good. So purification has three connections: the first? You answer: in the right of Allah, the second: in the right of the Messenger, and the third: in the right of the general public.
In the right of Allah, he purifies himself from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and worships Allah with sincere devotion to Him.
In the right of the Messenger, he purifies himself from innovation and worships Allah in accordance with the Shari'ah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in belief, speech, and action.
In dealing with people, he purifies himself from resentment, hatred, enmity, and animosity, and everything that brings about such things. He avoids everything that brings about enmity and animosity among Muslims and does everything that contains affection and love. Among these is spreading the greeting of peace, about which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So the greeting of peace is one of the strongest causes that brings about love and affection among Muslims, and this is something observed. If a man passes by you and does not greet you, something arises in your heart, and if you do not greet him, something arises in his heart. But if you greet him, or he greets you, this becomes like a bond between you that necessitates affection and love. And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said about the greeting of peace: Sahih Muslim 39 Most people today, when they greet, greet those they know, but as for those they do not know, they do not greet them. And this is a mistake, because if you greet only those you know, the greeting is not pure for Allah. Greet those you know and those you do not know among the Muslims, so that you may attain thereby the love of the Muslims for one another, and the completion of faith, and the ultimate goal is entering Paradise. May Allah make us and you among its people.
And His saying:[Al-A'la 87:15] means: remembering the name of Allah the Exalted by worshipping Him, so he prayed. And included in remembering the name of Allah is, for example, wudu' (ablution), so wudu' is from remembering the name of Allah: First, because a person does not perform wudu' except in obedience to the command of Allah.
And second, because when he begins his wudu' he says: In the name of Allah, and when he finishes he says:Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah 1:25.
And from the remembrance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the Friday sermon, for the Friday sermon is from the remembrance of Allah, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Jumu'ah 62:9] And on this basis, His saying: [Al-A'la 87:15] means the preacher on Friday, and "so he prayed" means the Friday prayer. So this verse includes all prayers that are preceded by remembrance, and there is no prayer that is not preceded by remembrance in the majority of cases. Yes, a person may pray a prayer in which he had already performed wudu' previously, but the majority of the time, a person performs wudu' before the prayer, so he remembers the name of Allah and then prays.
Then we will remain with this amount from this surah until we accommodate a larger number for answering questions. Our custom is that we do not allow more than one question for each person, and we do not allow comments, so we will start first with the right side.
As for what follows:
This is the fifty-third session of the series known as the Open Door Meeting, and it is the fourth session in the month of Shawwal of the year 1414 AH. We will speak briefly about what remains of Surat al-A'la, which is His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He:
(14) He has certainly succeeded who purifies himself (15) And mentions the name of his Lord and prays.
قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ تَزَكَّى * وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى"Succeeded" is derived from "success." Success is a comprehensive term; it means attaining what is sought and being saved from what is feared. This is the meaning of success; it is a term that encompasses all good and repels all evil.
And His saying:
Who purifies himself
مَنْ تَزَكَّىTake, [O, Muhammad], from their wealth a charity by which you purify them
خُذْ مِنْ أَمْوَالِهِمْ صَدَقَةً تُطَهِّرُهُمْSo "he purified himself" means: he purified himself. From what did he purify himself? First, he purifies himself from shirk (associating partners with Allah) in his dealings with Allah. He worships Allah with sincere devotion to Him, without showing off, without seeking to be heard, and without seeking status or leadership in what he worships Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with. Rather, he seeks by this the Face of Allah and the Hereafter. He purifies himself in following the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) such that he does not innovate in his religion, neither a little nor a lot, neither in belief nor in words nor in actions. And this—I mean purification—regarding the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), which is following him without innovation, does not fully apply except to the Salafi method, the method of the people of the Sunnah and the community, who believe in everything by which Allah described Himself in His Book or on the tongue of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) according to the Salafi method, who do not innovate anything in the verbal or physical acts of worship in the religion of Allah.
You will find them following what the Shari'ah brought, contrary to what some of the innovators do in the innovated dhikr (remembrance of Allah), either in its type, or in its manner and description, or in its performance, as some of the followers of the Sufi paths and others do.
Likewise, he purifies himself in his dealings with creation, such that he purifies his heart from resentment and hatred toward his Muslim brothers. You will find him always pure-hearted, loving for his brothers what he loves for himself, not being pleased for anyone to be touched by evil, but rather wishing that all people are safe from all evil and successful in all good. So purification has three connections: the first? You answer: in the right of Allah, the second: in the right of the Messenger, and the third: in the right of the general public.
In the right of Allah, he purifies himself from shirk (associating partners with Allah) and worships Allah with sincere devotion to Him.
In the right of the Messenger, he purifies himself from innovation and worships Allah in accordance with the Shari'ah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in belief, speech, and action.
In dealing with people, he purifies himself from resentment, hatred, enmity, and animosity, and everything that brings about such things. He avoids everything that brings about enmity and animosity among Muslims and does everything that contains affection and love. Among these is spreading the greeting of peace, about which the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
By Allah, you will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Shall I inform you of something that, if you do it, you will love one another? Spread the greeting of peace among yourselves.
والله لا تدخلون الجنة حتى تؤمنوا، ولا تؤمنوا حتى تحابوا، أفلا أخبركم بشيء إذا فعلتموه تحاببتم؟ أفشوا السلام بينكمextend greetings to one whom you know or do not know
وتقرأ السلام على من عرفت ومن لم تعرفAnd His saying:
And mentions the name of his Lord and prays.
وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّىAnd second, because when he begins his wudu' he says: In the name of Allah, and when he finishes he says:
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His slave and His Messenger. O Allah, make me among those who repent and make me among those who purify themselves.
أشهد أن لا إله إلا الله، وأشهد أن محمداً عبده ورسوله، اللهم اجعلني من التوابين واجعلني من المتطهرينAnd from the remembrance of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the Friday sermon, for the Friday sermon is from the remembrance of Allah, by the saying of Allah the Exalted:
O you who have believed, when [the adhan] is called for the prayer on the day of Jumu'ah [Friday], then proceed to the remembrance of Allah and leave trade
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نُودِيَ لِلصَّلاةِ مِنْ يَوْمِ الْجُمُعَةِ فَاسَعَوْا إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَذَرُوا الْبَيْعَAnd mentions the name of his Lord
وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهThen we will remain with this amount from this surah until we accommodate a larger number for answering questions. Our custom is that we do not allow more than one question for each person, and we do not allow comments, so we will start first with the right side.