Continuation of the explanation of the verse: “Your fathers and your sons, you do not know which of them is closer to you in benefit. This is a decree from Allah. Indeed, Allah was Knowing and Wise.”

Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: When the Exalted and Glorious divided the shares according to what His wisdom required, He cut off the path of objection to this division, due to His saying: . If someone were to say: “The fathers are more deserving than the sons because dutifulness to them is obligatory?” and another said: “The sons are more deserving than the fathers because they are minors who generally need care?” We say: Behind all of this is the wisdom of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. So we do not know whether our fathers or our sons are closer to us in benefit. Is the intended meaning the preference between the two categories, i.e., between fathers and sons? We do not know if the sons are closer? Or the fathers? Or even between the sons themselves and between the fathers? Did you understand? Is the meaning that you do not know if the fathers are closer in benefit or the sons? Or that you do not know which of the sons is closer to you in benefit and which of the fathers is closer to you in benefit? The generality of the verse covers both meanings, meaning you do not know if the fathers are more beneficial to you or the sons, and you do not know if the eldest of the sons is the youngest or the eldest, and whether the closest of the fathers is the closest or the highest. Often, the grandfather is more affectionate and more merciful to his grandchildren than the father, and often the youngest son is more merciful than the eldest son. So in reality, we do not know if the fathers are more dutiful and more beneficial to us, or the sons, and whether among our sons the most dutiful is the eldest, the youngest, or the middle one, and likewise regarding the fathers, we do not know. Since we do not know, it is obligatory to entrust the matter to its Knower, who is Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Then He said: This is a verbal noun whose operator is omitted. It may be said that it is a verbal noun that has taken the place of its operator. The estimation in the first case is: “We have decreed that as a decree,” and in the second case, we make itself the operator, and it does not need an operator to attribute it to. Thus, it becomes an emphasis of what preceded, and they call this the verbal noun that emphasizes the sentence before it and does not need an operator. Ibn Malik said: “Like ‘You are truly my son’”, the word “truly” has no operator in it, but it emphasizes the sentence that preceded it. This also has no operator, but when He said: and restricted and estimated, this verbal noun became an emphasis of the sentence before it. And His saying: The word “fard” (decree) in language means share and cutting. For example, it is said: “The fard of the meat,” meaning its share, and “the fard of the stick,” meaning its cutting. But in the Shari'ah, it is what the Lawgiver has obligated. What the Lawgiver has obligated is a fard, and there is no difference, according to the correct view, between what is established by speculative evidence or by definitive evidence. Some scholars said: What is established by definitive evidence is a fard, and what is established by speculative evidence is a wajib (obligatory). The correct view is that there is no difference, as long as it has been established. So call it a fard or call it a wajib. And His saying: means issued from Him, not from anyone else. So no close king or sent prophet established it; rather, Allah alone is the One who took charge of decreeing it. Then He said: He was Knowing of who deserves it and of the amount they deserve, and Wise in placing the right in its proper place, in quantity and quality. So He, Mighty and Majestic, has complete knowledge and complete wisdom, and with knowledge and wisdom, matters are perfected. The cause of the failure of matters is one of two things: either ignorance or foolishness. What is the cause of the failure of matters? Two things: either ignorance, or foolishness. If knowledge is present, ignorance is removed, and if wisdom is present, foolishness is removed. So Allah, Exalted and Glorious, is Knowing of matters, of who deserves them, and of the amount they deserve, so He is Wise in placing things in their places. When knowledge and wisdom meet in His right, Exalted and Glorious, any objection that could be raised against the ruling is negated. Did you understand? For this reason, we find the ignorant person stumbling in the rulings. We find that the ignorant person stumbles in the rulings because he is ignorant. Even if he has good intention and good will, but he is ignorant, you will find him stumbling. And we find the knowledgeable fool who does not have wisdom to guide him to what is good; we find that he also stumbles. But the one who has knowledge and wisdom, He, Exalted and Glorious, is perfect in His rulings, and His rulings are complete. The Knowing and the Wise are among the names of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Knowledge is the perception of the known as it is. This is its definition. Knowledge is the perception of the known as it is. So by our saying “perception of the known”, we exclude the one who does not perceive, and this is an ignorant person, ignorant with simple ignorance. And by our saying “as it is”, we exclude the one who perceives the thing other than as it is, and this is an ignorant person, but his ignorance is compound. Which is worse, compound ignorance or simple ignorance? Simple is milder. And we give three examples now: A questioner asked about the Battle of Badr, and it was said to him: “In Ramadan, in the second year.” What do you say about this responder? This is a scholar. And another questioner asked: “When was the Battle of Badr, the expedition of Badr?” And he was answered that it was in the third year. This is an ignorant person with compound ignorance. And a questioner asked: “When was the expedition of Badr?” And he was answered: “I do not know.” This is an ignorant person with simple ignorance, and it is better than compound ignorance. And it is said that a man named Tuma claims wisdom and that he is a wise scholar,
So the donkey, the wise Tuma, said: “If the age were just, I would ride”
Because I am simply ignorant, and my companion is compoundly ignorant,
The donkey says, is the donkey ignorant or not ignorant? He is ignorant, but his ignorance is simple, and Tuma, whose companion is compoundly ignorant, and on this basis, another poet says:
And whoever seeks knowledge without a teacher will stray from the straight path
And the knowledge will become confused for him until he becomes more astray than the wise Tuma
He gives away daughters to men, seeking thereby the gardens of bliss,
This is Tuma, who started giving away women to scholars without anything, without a marriage contract. He says: “Do you want to give charity to you? Come, take it.” He wants thereby to draw near to Allah, meaning he gives away women to be fornicated with, and he thinks that that is drawing near to Allah and charity. This is compound ignorance. What is the definition of knowledge? The perception of the known as it is. is derived from “hukm” (judgment) and “hikmah” (wisdom). Among the names of Allah is al-Hakim (the Wise), and it is derived from hikmah and wisdom. So He, Mighty and Majestic, is a Judge and a Perfecter. So “Hakim” means “doer” if it is from “hukm,” and “Hakim” means “Perfecter” if it is from “hikmah.” Did you understand? And there remains a difficulty in “Hakim”: does it come to mean “Perfecter”? Yes, and from this is the saying of the poet:
Is it the fragrant breeze of the hearing caller that keeps me awake while my companions are asleep?
From the fragrant garden of the hearing caller, that is, the one who makes us hear, who keeps me and my companions awake while others sleep. We return a second time and say: if it is from the domain of ruling and perfecting, then we must know that the ruling — I mean the ruling of Allah — is divided into two categories: a cosmic ruling and a legal ruling. So when my brother Yusuf said: this is a cosmic ruling, and for this reason he did not say: "for me", meaning that it is decreed for me. And His saying in Surat al-Mumtahanah, when He mentioned the rulings concerning women, He said: this is a legal ruling. The ruling is divided into two categories: cosmic and legal. What is the difference between them? The difference between them approximates the difference between the two wills: the cosmic will and the legal will. As for what pertains to what He loves and what He hates, is it? Be patient, you did not understand what I mean. What pertains to what He loves, so He commanded it, or what He hates, so He prohibited it? That is legal. And what pertains to His decree, whether He loves it or does not love it, that is cosmic. The cosmic ruling must occur, while the legal ruling may be obeyed or may not be obeyed. Thus, it becomes clear that the ruling is close to the will in terms of division. As for the second aspect, regarding the Wise and the Decisive, we say: wisdom is placing things in their proper places, and it pertains to both the cosmic ruling and the legal ruling. Then, it is either wisdom with regard to the specific form, or wisdom with regard to the purpose. If you multiply two by two, it becomes four. Wisdom may pertain to the cosmic ruling in its specific form and its noble purpose. For example: the cosmic ruling, if Allah the Exalted decrees poverty, illness, earthquakes, and the like for people, this is a ruling that undoubtedly contains wisdom. Its occurrence in this manner is wisdom, and its purpose is noble; this is wisdom. He created man with this characteristic for a wisdom. He created him upright and balanced, while others are the opposite, because man has functions that are not completed except by being created in this manner. Man has functions: standing, bowing, and prostrating, which are not completed except in this manner. Therefore, Allah the Exalted created him upright and balanced, unlike the other animals. His being in this form is for a wisdom, and the purpose of it... performing the functions for which Allah has charged him, this is another wisdom. And so, reflect on the sun, the moon, the mountains, the rivers, and the like. In the Shari'ah as well, there is wisdom in the specific form and wisdom in the purpose. The Shari'ah being in this manner, the prayers are five, their times are distributed, and their number is such and such, this is undoubtedly in accordance with wisdom. For this reason, you will find that all the prayers are associated with the movement of the sun in the horizon: Fajr when it approaches, Maghrib and 'Isha' when it recedes, and Zuhr and 'Asr when it is at its zenith and begins to decline. There must be a reason. This is wisdom. What is the purpose of prayer? It is also wisdom. For this reason, I tell you now... it pertains to the cosmic and legal rulings in the form they are in and the intended purpose of them. Thus, there are four: wisdom in the cosmic ruling with regard to the form it is in, wisdom in the cosmic ruling with regard to its purpose, wisdom in the legal ruling with regard to the form it is in, and wisdom in the legal ruling with regard to the intended purpose. All these magnificent and great meanings are carried by His saying: So the names of Allah are a reality full of meanings, good ones as Allah the Exalted has described them. We now return to the benefits of the verse, and I think we have taken from it? We have not taken anything, at all? Fine.