And among the testimony by description is the testimony for every believer or every pious person.
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The Shaykh :"And among the testimony by description is the testimony for every believer or every pious person".
For every believer, we testify that he is in Paradise, and for every pious person, we testify that he is in Paradise. Allah the Exalted said regarding Paradise: So every pious person is in Paradise. But do we testify for a specific person whom we saw to be pious in his outward appearance that he is among the people of Paradise? No. Rather, we say: We hope that he is among the people of Paradise. As for testifying for him, we do not, because a man may do the deeds of the people of Paradise in what appears to people, yet he is among the people of the Fire. It is established from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) that he said: Sahih al-Bukhari 4207 The reason for this hadith is that a man was with the Messenger (peace be upon him) in a military expedition, and he was brave and bold, leaving no loose end or weak point for the enemy without dealing with it. So the Messenger (peace be upon him) said one day: Sahih al-Bukhari 6607 So where are we? Then one of the Companions said: And what does "I will keep him company" mean? It means I will follow him and stay with him. The end of the matter was that this brave man was hit by an arrow. You know that when a brave man is hit, it becomes, what? A great and serious matter for him. It was a great matter for him, so he panicked. He took his sword and drew it, then placed it on his chest and leaned on it until it came out of his back, may Allah protect us from that, and he killed himself. So the man went to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the morning and said: Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sahih al-Bukhari 4207 I ask Allah not to make us and you among them.
This is a serious issue, but be glad that Allah will never abandon His sincere servant, as long as a person is sincere to Allah and seeking His pleasure, He will not abandon him, because Allah is too generous to abandon His believing servant. And if Allah says:Sahih Muslim 2675h He cannot possibly abandon him. But there may be in the heart—may Allah protect us and you and shield us and you—a hidden, evil secret, such as hatred of the truth or part of the truth, or malice toward the believers, or rancor, or similar matters that cause him to fall into a deep place, may Allah protect us from that.
Therefore, I always repeat, I always repeat, that a person should focus on purifying the heart.[Al-Hashr 59:10] Purify your heart from shirk (associating partners with Allah), rancor, malice, and hatred of what Allah has revealed, even if it is in a simple matter. Never hate anything that Allah has prescribed, because it may be that a person is sealed—may Allah protect us and you—with a bad ending.
We say: As for the testimony, we do not testify to Paradise for a man whom we saw to be pious in appearance, but we say: We hope that he is among the people of Paradise.
Likewise, regarding martyrdom: if a man is killed in the ranks of the Muslims, killed by the disbelievers while he is a mujahid, do we testify that he is a martyr? No, never. Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) titled this issue in his Sahih with the heading: "Chapter: It is not said that so-and-so is a martyr", and he cited as evidence for this the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 1656Sahih (Darussalam) So he made the knowledge of that belong to whom? To Allah (Mighty and Majestic), not to the outward appearance. Mishkat al-Masabih 3802. And he mentioned in al-Fath a report from 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: meaning greed pure Is this general or specific?
The student : General.
The Shaykh : It is general. So say: Every person who is killed in the path of Allah is a martyr. But do not say: So-and-so is a martyr, because there may be in his heart that he is defending tribal pride or the like. But unfortunately, the word "martyr" today has become cheap, just as the word "shaykh" (scholar) has. Now, is the word "shaykh" cheap or not? How much is it sold for? Two riyals or for free? For nothing, meaning: it is said of a person who knows nothing, as we said last night, who does not know his elbow from his armpit, that he is a shaykh. But you find him sitting in a gathering full of common people, then he stands up and speaks eloquently and boldly, and they say: This is the scholar, this is the expert without equal, and he becomes the shaykh of shaykhs for them.
Likewise, the word "imam" has also become easy to use now. If a person writes a small book, the simplest and least of all, they say: This is an imam. Glory to Allah! An imam must be an expert, a great scholar, and one who is followed. Is every person who writes a book called an imam? Therefore, when concepts differ here, the titles become confusing. When you read a small book written by someone who says: "The imam so-and-so ibn so-and-so said," what does the listener assume? That he is an imam among the great scholars. And this is not permissible; we must not describe a person with what he does not deserve. This contains an element of lying.
All right. In any case, the word "martyr" has now become cheap, to the point that it is said of a person who kills himself that he is a martyr.
Those who place explosives in their bellies and die by them are called, by some people, what? A martyr.
And we say: He is punished with what he killed himself with in the Fire of Hell. But we do not specify him. We disavow to Allah of this. But we say: Every person who kills himself is punished with what he killed himself with in Hell. As for this man, we do not say this of this man, because he may have done it while interpreting the text, thinking that this is the truth, and Allah the Exalted does not punish him for that.
Have you seen Usamah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him)? He killed a polytheist after catching up with him while he was fleeing, and the polytheist said: "There is no god but Allah," so he killed him. Was he interpreting the text or not? He thought he said it as a refuge from being killed and out of fear of it. And if this had happened to us, we would have thought, as Usamah thought, that he said it as a refuge from being killed. But the Messenger rebuked him and said, repeating to him:Sahih al-Bukhari 6872 Until Usamah said: .
So the important thing, my brothers, the important thing is that testimony is a very important and serious matter. If a person does the deed of a believer and a pious person, say: I consider him to be so, and Allah is his accountant. I hope for him success, I hope for him Paradise, I hope for him reward, so that you are safe. And praise be to Allah, I tell you: Does it harm him if we do not testify that he is a martyr, if he is a martyr with Allah? No, it does not harm him. And does it benefit him if we testify for him and he is not a martyr with Allah? No. So what is the benefit of exposing ourselves to something forbidden for us in order to please some people? Yes.
For every believer, we testify that he is in Paradise, and for every pious person, we testify that he is in Paradise. Allah the Exalted said regarding Paradise:
prepared for the righteous
أعدت للمتقينA man may do what may seem to the people as the deeds of the dwellers of Paradise, but he is of the dwellers of the Hell-Fire
إن الرجل ليعمل بعمل أهل الجنة فيما يبدو للناس وهو من أهل النارhe belongs to the people of Fire
إنه من أهل النارBy Allah, I will keep close to him
والله لألزمنهO Messenger of Allah, I testify that you are the Messenger of Allah. He said: With what?
يا رسول الله أشهد أنك رسول الله. قال بم؟A man may do what may seem to the people as the deeds of the dwellers of Paradise, but he is of the dwellers of the Hell-Fire
إن الرجل ليعمل بعمل أهل الجنة فيما يبدو للناس وهو من أهل النارThis is a serious issue, but be glad that Allah will never abandon His sincere servant, as long as a person is sincere to Allah and seeking His pleasure, He will not abandon him, because Allah is too generous to abandon His believing servant. And if Allah says:
When he draws near Me by the span of his hand. I draw near him by the length of a cubit and when he draws near Me by the length of a cubit. I draw near him by the length of a fathom
من تقرب إلي شبرا تقربت إليه ذراعا، ومن تقرب إلي ذراعا تقربت إليه باعاTherefore, I always repeat, I always repeat, that a person should focus on purifying the heart.
Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed
ربنا اغفر لنا ولإخواننا الذين سبقونا بالإيمان ولا تجعل في قلوبنا غلا للذين آمنواWe say: As for the testimony, we do not testify to Paradise for a man whom we saw to be pious in appearance, but we say: We hope that he is among the people of Paradise.
Likewise, regarding martyrdom: if a man is killed in the ranks of the Muslims, killed by the disbelievers while he is a mujahid, do we testify that he is a martyr? No, never. Al-Bukhari (may Allah have mercy on him) titled this issue in his Sahih with the heading: "Chapter: It is not said that so-and-so is a martyr", and he cited as evidence for this the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
None is wounded in Allah's cause - and Allah knows better about who has been injured in His cause
ما من مكلوم يكلم في سبيل الله والله أعلم بمن يكلم في سبيلهwithout coming on the day of resurrection with his wound spouting blood, the colour being that of blood but the fragrance that of musk.
إلا جاء يوم القيامة وجرحه يثعب دما، اللون لون الدم والريح ريح المسكYou say, "So-and-so is a martyr, and so-and-so is a martyr," when perhaps he did such and such.
إنكم تقولون فلان شهيد وفلان شهيد ولعله أن يكون فعل كذا وكذاBut say: "Whoever dies or is killed in the cause of Allah is a martyr."
ولكن قولوا : من مات أو قتل في سبيل الله فهو شهيدWhoever dies
من ماتThe student : General.
The Shaykh : It is general. So say: Every person who is killed in the path of Allah is a martyr. But do not say: So-and-so is a martyr, because there may be in his heart that he is defending tribal pride or the like. But unfortunately, the word "martyr" today has become cheap, just as the word "shaykh" (scholar) has. Now, is the word "shaykh" cheap or not? How much is it sold for? Two riyals or for free? For nothing, meaning: it is said of a person who knows nothing, as we said last night, who does not know his elbow from his armpit, that he is a shaykh. But you find him sitting in a gathering full of common people, then he stands up and speaks eloquently and boldly, and they say: This is the scholar, this is the expert without equal, and he becomes the shaykh of shaykhs for them.
Likewise, the word "imam" has also become easy to use now. If a person writes a small book, the simplest and least of all, they say: This is an imam. Glory to Allah! An imam must be an expert, a great scholar, and one who is followed. Is every person who writes a book called an imam? Therefore, when concepts differ here, the titles become confusing. When you read a small book written by someone who says: "The imam so-and-so ibn so-and-so said," what does the listener assume? That he is an imam among the great scholars. And this is not permissible; we must not describe a person with what he does not deserve. This contains an element of lying.
All right. In any case, the word "martyr" has now become cheap, to the point that it is said of a person who kills himself that he is a martyr.
Those who place explosives in their bellies and die by them are called, by some people, what? A martyr.
And we say: He is punished with what he killed himself with in the Fire of Hell. But we do not specify him. We disavow to Allah of this. But we say: Every person who kills himself is punished with what he killed himself with in Hell. As for this man, we do not say this of this man, because he may have done it while interpreting the text, thinking that this is the truth, and Allah the Exalted does not punish him for that.
Have you seen Usamah ibn Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him)? He killed a polytheist after catching up with him while he was fleeing, and the polytheist said: "There is no god but Allah," so he killed him. Was he interpreting the text or not? He thought he said it as a refuge from being killed and out of fear of it. And if this had happened to us, we would have thought, as Usamah thought, that he said it as a refuge from being killed. But the Messenger rebuked him and said, repeating to him:
You killed him after he had said, 'None has the right to be worshipped but Allah."
أقتلته بعد أن قال لا إله إلا اللهI wished that I had not embraced Islam until this sin would be forgiven for me by Islam.
تمنيت أني لم أكن أسلمت حتى يكون هذا الذنب مما يغفر لي بالإسلامSo the important thing, my brothers, the important thing is that testimony is a very important and serious matter. If a person does the deed of a believer and a pious person, say: I consider him to be so, and Allah is his accountant. I hope for him success, I hope for him Paradise, I hope for him reward, so that you are safe. And praise be to Allah, I tell you: Does it harm him if we do not testify that he is a martyr, if he is a martyr with Allah? No, it does not harm him. And does it benefit him if we testify for him and he is not a martyr with Allah? No. So what is the benefit of exposing ourselves to something forbidden for us in order to please some people? Yes.