Explanation of the Author's Statement: The Chapter on the Saying of Allah the Exalted: “Do they feel secure from the scheme of Allah? Then no one feels secure from the scheme of Allah except the people who lose.”

The Shaykh : The author (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Chapter on the Saying of Allah the Exalted

Then did they feel secure from the plan of Allah? But no one feels secure from the plan of Allah except the losing people.

أفأمنوا مكر الله فلا يأمن مكر الله إلا القوم الخاسرون

[Al-A'raf 7:99]

”.
His statement: The pronoun refers to the people of the villages, because the verses before it are verses Did they feel secure? No, did they? No, my intention is that they were sleeping. This circumstantial clause indicates that they felt secure in their lands? Yes, because the fearful one does not sleep. It also indicates complete security and prosperity and the absence of hardship, because if they had hardship in their livelihood, they would have gone seeking livelihood. They were not playing in the midday heat at the height of the day, so it indicates that they were in complete prosperity, sustenance, and abundance. They were not playing in the midday after that? . The interrogatives here are all for denial and wonder at the state of these people, for denial and wonder. They were sleeping in luxury and residing in the sins of Allah and play, mentioning their extravagance, heedless of the remembrance of their Creator. Therefore, at night there is sleep, and no tahajjud? Sleep, and during the day play. This is their state, may Allah protect us from it. So Allah Mighty and Majestic made clear that this is part of His scheme against them. Therefore He said: , and this, as I said, is for wonder and denial. Then He concluded the verse with His statement: , those who enjoy blessings, luxury, and extravagance think that he is a winner, but in reality? He is a loser. Therefore He said: So do not think that if Allah blesses you with blessings of everything you desire, feeds you from hunger, secures you from fear, and clothes you from nakedness, that you are a winner while you are persisting in His disobedience. Rather, you are a loser. Therefore He said: This is the meaning of the verse. And His statement: This exception is for what...? For what? For restriction, and that is because what came before it was emptied of its subject or not? The sentence before "except" did not complete its pillars. The sentence before "except" did not complete its pillars, ... in it? ... the doer, so "the people" is the doer and "the losers" is its description.
His statement, Exalted is He: What is the meaning of feeling secure from the scheme of Allah? Feeling secure from the scheme of Allah is persisting in His disobedience while His blessings are abundant. This is feeling secure from the scheme of Allah. If we apply this state to the state of many people today, if we apply this verse to many of the states of people today, we find it perfectly applicable. You find them, may Allah protect us from it, sleeping on their beds missing the Fajr prayer. You find them playing in their midday missing the remembrance of their Lord. Even the obligatory prayers, they do not perform them, may Allah protect us from it, they do not perform them. And I think I told you a story that reached me by telephone: that a family was, may Allah protect us from it, at the height of arrogance. And among them was a young man whom Allah made righteous, who established the prayer and walked with the people of good. They would warn him but he would not stop, because he had grown up and become an adult. As for the younger ones below him, they would drive them away when they prayed, and rebuke them for doing good. What did they do to this young man? So Satan made it attractive to them to send him to a non-Muslim foreign land. So they made it attractive to him and he set out, and he remained there for two years. When he came back, lo and behold, he had brought back a heart different from the one he left with, may Allah protect us from it. He had become a deviant, so they said, "This is what we wanted." These people say that this is what I heard: that they are among the wealthiest people in the country they are in—wealthy, rich. These people, without doubt, are included in the verse. They felt secure from the scheme of Allah, so they are losers, may Allah protect us from it. And so is everyone whom Allah has blessed with blessings while he is persisting in His disobedience; he has felt secure from the scheme of Allah, because Allah lured him from where he did not know, and gave him respite from where he did not know, and plotted against him from where he did not know. And in His statement, Exalted is He: there is evidence that Allah the Exalted has a scheme. What is the scheme? The scheme is: reaching the goal of causing the opponent to fall from where he is not aware. This is the scheme, did you understand? Reaching the goal of causing him to fall, meaning: by destroying him, harming him, diminishing him, or something similar. The important thing is that you cause him something from where he is not aware, because if he were aware, it would not be a scheme. And from this is what came in the hadith: , and it is said that when Ali ibn Abi Talib went out to duel Amr ibn Wad, and they met, Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) shouted at him and said: So Amr turned around thinking that a second person had come with him. When he turned around, Ali seized the opportunity and cut off his head. Is this a scheme or not? Yes, it is a scheme, but it is permissible. Meaning, this man did not go out except to kill him, so he wanted to deceive him and deceived him with this. So the result is that the scheme, in its origin, is causing what to fall? The opponent. Reaching the goal of causing the opponent to fall from where he is not aware.
So if someone says: How is Allah described with the scheme, while the scheme in its appearance is blameworthy?
The answer to that is to say: The scheme in its proper place is praiseworthy. It indicates the strength of the schemer, and that he is dominant over his opponent. So the scheme in its place is undoubtedly praiseworthy, and it is from the attributes of perfection. Therefore, it is not described with Allah the Exalted in an absolute sense. It is not permissible for you to say: "Allah is a schemer," nor is it permissible for you to say: "Among the names of Allah is 'The Schemer,' for example. So do not describe Him with the scheme in an absolute sense, and do not name Him 'The Schemer.' Rather, you mention this attribute in a context where it is praise, like His statement, Exalted is He: , and so is this verse like . And on this basis, the scheme is from the attributes with which Allah is not described in an absolute sense, nor is it denied of Him in an absolute sense. Rather, it is described with in the context where it is praise, and it is denied of Him in the context where it is not praise. Unlike betrayal; betrayal is not described with Allah in any absolute sense, because betrayal is blame in every case, since it is a scheme in the place of trust, and a scheme in the place of trust is blameworthy, not praiseworthy? Blameworthy. Therefore Allah the Exalted said: And what comes after it? And He did not say "so He betrayed them," . As for deception, He said . So the result is: The scheme is from the attributes with which Allah is not described in an absolute sense, nor is it denied of Him in an absolute sense. Rather, He is described with it where it is praise, and it is denied of Him where it is blame.
And His statement, Exalted and Glorious: The question now is: Is the scheme from the essential attributes or the action attributes? The action attributes, because it relates to His will.
It is derived from this noble verse—may Allah have mercy on you—to be cautious of the blessings that Allah brings to the servant so that they do not become a luring, because every blessing has a duty for Allah upon you in it. What is the duty?
The student: Gratitude.

The Shaykh : Gratitude, and it is performing the obedience of the Bestower. So if you do not perform the obedience of the Bestower while the blessings are abundant upon you, know that this is from the scheme of Allah, so beware. Yes, what is your question?
The student: ... Arrogance in the attributes of Allah is praiseworthy, and in other than Allah it is blameworthy.

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.
The student: What is the scheme like?

The Shaykh : No, the scheme is not like it, because the scheme occurs from the sons of Adam, whereas, yes?

The questioner : Is it praiseworthy even from the sons of Adam?

The Shaykh : Yes, it is praiseworthy from the sons of Adam if it is in its proper place. So, for example, what was mentioned about Ali ibn Abi Talib is considered?
The student: Praiseworthy.

The Shaykh : It is considered praiseworthy, without doubt. Everything that occurs is praiseworthy. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), when he wanted to go on an expedition, would feint in another direction, so that his enemies would not know about it, except in the expedition of Tabuk, as is well known.
So the result is that the scheme is an attribute of praise in its context.
The student: This is not considered a scheme.

The Shaykh : How is it not considered a scheme? If there are a group of rebels like these people, and they went out wanting them, but they did not inform anyone, saying, "We want, for example, another direction," because these people... that they will come to them, so it is a type of scheme. It is true that it is not... but it is a type of it.
The student: But who said that this is specific...

The Shaykh : Which one?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : ... He used to, when he wanted to go on an expedition, feint in another direction, except in Tabuk.
The student: Except in Tabuk.

The Shaykh : Yes, whereas in the expedition of the Conquest, the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) asked Allah, supplicating that Allah would blind the news about the Quraysh until He would ambush them in their land.
The student: Regarding...

The Shaykh : Yes.
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : No, all the sons of Adam, Allah entrusted them with the covenant. So the covenant that is between them and the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is without doubt a trust. So the original rule is that the one with whom we make a covenant, the original rule is that we trusted him with it, otherwise we would not have made a covenant with him. Therefore, even those with whom we made a covenant, if we fear betrayal from them, we throw their covenant to them .
The student: ...

The Shaykh : ... and for this reason, when He became able to deal with them, their betrayal of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is not a betrayal of Allah Himself, but a betrayal of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
The student: ... .

The Shaykh : We say that this betrayal, since it was a betrayal of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), was a betrayal of Allah, just as the pledge of allegiance of the Companions to the Messenger was a pledge of allegiance to Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
So, what happened in this verse is the prohibition of feeling secure from the stratagem of Allah. The aspect of indication is: that Allah the Exalted formulated this sentence in the form of a question indicating denial and wonder. This is one aspect. The second aspect is His saying: . So, what makes me know that these blessings are a stratagem or not a stratagem? And what makes me know that it is a stratagem or not a stratagem?
The student: If one does not perform its gratitude, one knows that it is a stratagem.

The Shaykh : Yes, correct. If one does not perform its gratitude, then it is a stratagem. If one performs its gratitude, then they are blessings and gifts.