Continuation of the benefits of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “Or do they say, ‘He has fabricated a lie against Allah?’ If Allah wills, He will seal your heart and erase the falsehood and confirm the truth with His words.”

This is a criticism of the Qur'an, because in their claim, it is a fabricated speech from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). And they said: So Allah the Exalted said: , which is a criticism of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to place the most truthful of creation in the position of one who fabricates against whom? Against Allah. And fabricating against Allah is more severe than fabricating against anyone else. For this reason, He, the Mighty and Majestic, said: .
And among the benefits of the verse is the affirmation of the will of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, which is taken from His saying: . Is the will of Allah devoid of wisdom, or does He not will anything except for a wisdom? The second is the case, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: , so it is made clear that He, the Mighty and Majestic, has the complete will, and He followed that with His saying: , so that it becomes clear that the will of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is not a mere will of play, but rather for a wisdom.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is a creation of Allah, and He does with him what He wills, which is taken from: Yes.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is that the heart is the locus of perception, intellect, and action, due to His saying: , so this indicates that the entirety of action revolves around the heart.
And among the benefits of the noble verse is that sealing the heart is a punishment, whether it is sealing over knowledge or sealing over intention and will, for it is a punishment without doubt. For this reason, it was among the supplications of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): So a person must not rely on the certainty in his heart, for this may perhaps disappear. Rather, he must always ask Allah for steadfastness, which is taken from His saying: .
Among the benefits of the noble verse is the excellence of the evidence of the Noble Qur'an, where it argued with a clear matter regarding what these people claimed, which is that if Allah had willed for the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to fabricate a lie against Allah, He would have sealed his heart and made him forget what he had, then Allah would have erased the falsehood he fabricated and then confirmed the truth with His words.
And among the benefits of this noble verse is that Allah the Exalted does not approve of falsehood. Allah erases the falsehood, so it is not possible for Allah the Exalted to approve of falsehood. And branching from this benefit is a great benefit, which is:
What was done in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and we do not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) became aware of it, do we rule on its permissibility because Allah became aware of it and remained silent about it, or do we not rule on it until we know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) knew of it? The first is the case, because Allah does not approve of falsehood, and the revelation was still descending. For this reason, some scholars (may Allah have mercy on them) err when they argue with what occurred in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They say: “The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know of it.” We say: Suppose he did not know of it, then Allah knew of it. An example of this is that some people of knowledge said: It is not valid for the imam to be praying a voluntary prayer while the follower is praying alone, meaning it is not valid to pray the Fajr prayer behind someone who is praying a voluntary prayer. This is the school of thought for us. They were told: This is a refuted opinion, because Mu'adh ibn Jabal used to pray the 'Isha' prayer with the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), then he would go to his people and pray that prayer with them in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). They said: There is no proof in this, because we do not know that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) became aware of it. So the answer is: If he did not become aware of it, Allah became aware of it. And if it had been false in the sight of Allah, He would have clarified it, just as He clarified the state of those who spend the night with what He does not approve of of speech and conceal it from the people, so He said: .
If we refute the doubt of those who said: Perhaps the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know of it, by saying that Allah knew of it, and if it had been false, He would not have approved of it. However, we say: It is unlikely that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not know of it, and Mu'adh was complained to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that he lengthens the prayer. But we want to descend to the level of the opponent and say: Suppose the Prophet did not know of it, then Allah knew of it.
And among the benefits of the noble verse is that it is not possible for Allah the Exalted to enable a disbeliever with absolute enablement. Where do we take this from? Who knows?
The student: .

The Shaykh : Yes, we take it from: , so He does not enable you in falsehood. And our saying: “Absolute enablement” excludes what if Allah the Exalted enabled the disbeliever in a way that does not settle, as happened in the Battle of Uhud, where the polytheists defeated the Muslims, but it was not a settled defeat. Rather, it is from the wisdom of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, to enable the disbelievers so that they would be emboldened to fight the Muslims, and then the Muslims would prevail over them.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is that Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, when He erases the falsehood, He places the truth in its place, due to His saying: .
And among the benefits of the noble verse is the affirmation of the words for Allah, due to His saying: . And Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, speaks with true speech with letters and audible sounds, and dialogue between Him and whom He wills of His creation. And this is the school of thought of the righteous Salaf. And upon this occurred the great trial for the imams of the Muslims from the unjust and oppressive rulers and the bad scholars, where the Jahmiyyah and the Mu'tazilah innovated the saying that Allah does not speak, but rather He creates speech. So they said: Allah the Mighty and Majestic does not speak, but He creates speech, and His speech is created. It is said: If we said that the speech of Allah is created, the Shari'ah would be invalidated, because the matter of command, prohibition, information, inquiry, and stories would be equal. They would be equal because they are created, and some of them does not stand out from the others. So in terms of sound, it is like the rumble of thunder, and in terms of writing, it is like the engravings on a wall, because they are created. And at that time, there is no command, no prohibition, no information, no inquiry, and nothing. A group refined their stance but were not successful, and they said: The speech of Allah is not created, but His speech is the meaning that subsists in itself, and what is heard from Him is an expression of the speech of Allah, and it is created. So look how this group went astray until they became more astray than those who said that speech is created. What is the meaning of their speech? They say: The speech of Allah is the meaning that subsists in itself, just as if you in your self intended to speak a saying and then you spoke. They say: Allah the Exalted concealed the speech in Himself and then created sounds that indicate it. So what is in the mushaf is not the speech of Allah, but it is created, created by Allah to express what is in the soul of Allah. The Mu'tazilah say that what is in the mushafs is the speech of Allah, and it is created. And the Asha'irah say: It is not the speech of Allah, and it is created. So which is closer to the truth? The Mu'tazilah are closer. And these people claim to be the people of reason, I mean the Asha'irah, and that they tried to combine the rational and the transmitted, but they corrupted the transmitted and the rational. So we say: Allah speaks with audible speech and with consecutive letters. And Allah does what He wills: .
And among its benefits is the comprehensiveness of the knowledge of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and the depth of the knowledge of Allah, that it is a deep knowledge that reaches the most hidden thing. Where from? .
And among its benefits is the important practical benefit, which is that if a person knows that Allah the Exalted is Knowing of what is in his heart, then he will refrain from every bad intention and proceed with every good intention.
And among them is that it is obligatory for the servant to correct what is in his heart, because the matter revolves around it. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: .
Know, my brother, that the ruling in this world is based on the outward appearance, while the ruling in the Hereafter is based on the inner reality. So, will you improve your outward appearance so that you are judged in this world according to what that appearance warrants, or will you improve your inner reality so that you are judged on the Day of Resurrection according to what that reality warrants? Which is it? The latter. Therefore, do not be deceived by the abundance of bowing and prostrating, the weeping of the eyes, and the like. Rather, look at what is in the heart. Even if these actions I mentioned are signs of the heart's soundness, and even if faith is established in the heart, you must focus on rectifying the heart above all else. Plant in your heart the love of Allah and His Messenger, plant in your heart the love of the Shari'ah, even if it feels heavy to you, as Allah the Exalted said: [Surat al-Baqarah: 216]. Plant in your heart the love of the believers; do not hate any believer, even if he wrongs you. If a believer wrongs you, hate his wrongdoing, but do not hate him personally. Plant in your heart loyalty toward every Muslim and hostility toward every disbeliever, and so on. The important thing is that you care for the soundness of your heart, for it is the basis of the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection. Allah the Exalted said: meaning: the secrets are tested. O Allah, rectify our outward appearances and our inner realities, O Lord of the worlds.
Among the benefits of this noble verse is that the focus is on the hearts, and that they are in the chests. The hearts are in the chests, and with them is the intellect. Allah the Exalted said: Accordingly, it is obligatory for us to believe that the intellect is in the heart, because the verse is explicit or apparent in this regard. As for the statement of some that the intellect is in the brain, it is weak compared to the statement of the All-Knowing Creator, Mighty and Majestic. However, there is no doubt that if the brain is disordered, the person's behavior is disordered. The origin of the intellect is in the heart, without doubt. Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "The intellect is in the heart, and it has a connection to the brain". We narrate from our Shaykh 'Abd al-Rahman (may Allah have mercy on him) that one of the Mu'tazilah was sentenced to death while people were disagreeing about whether the intellect is in the brain or in the heart. He said to them: If you kill me, then cut off my head. Then, if the intellect is in my heart, I will move my hand—or he said: my finger—and if it is in the brain, it will go with the brain. So they did it. When they killed him, he moved the limb he had told them about in the manner he had described. This is a sensory proof, if the story is established, that the intellect is in the heart, because he moved his limb, whether his finger or his hand, in the manner he mentioned. This indicates that he mustered in his heart, after his head was cut off, what he had promised them, and he fulfilled it as he had promised. If this story is established, it is a sensory proof; if it is not established, we have an auditory proof. What is the auditory proof, my brothers? The auditory proof, according to the scholars, is what is established in the Book and the Sunnah.