Explanation of the author's statement: "And the consequence of His wisdom and praise, so let the wise, self-advising person take care of this, and let him repent to Allah, and seek His forgiveness for having thought of his Lord a bad thought."
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The Shaykh : And know the consequence of His wisdom. "Mawjib" means the necessitated result. There is a difference between "mawjib" (with kasrah) and "mawjub." "Mawjib" is the cause that necessitates a thing, meaning the necessitating factor. "Mawjub" is the effect resulting from the cause, meaning the necessitated result. The one who knows the consequence of Allah's wisdom and what wisdom necessitates can never think of Allah a bad thought. Look at the great wisdom that occurred for the Muslims in their defeat at Hunayn and in their defeat at Uhud. We cannot think of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) a bad thought in this, thinking that Allah intended to cause His Messenger and his party to fail. But we know that it was for great wisdoms that Allah mentioned in Surat al-Imran. If a person knows these wisdoms, he cannot think of Allah a bad thought. Likewise, everything in the universe: if Allah withholds the rain and withholds vegetation, do we think of Allah a bad thought? No, we know that this is for a wisdom. We know it is for a wisdom, and we do not think that Allah is stingy with His servants, for Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is the most generous of the generous. And so on. The author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "So let the wise, self-advising person take care of this". "Al-Labib" is a name on the pattern of fa'il, and its meaning is one who possesses "al-lub," and "al-lub" is the intellect. "Al-Labib" means the intelligent one, but it came in the form of the descriptive adjective (sifat mushabbahah) fa'il. "Al-Nasih li-nafsihi" (the one who advises himself) takes care of this. What is being referred to? It is the thought of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Let him take care of this so that he thinks of Allah a true thought, not a bad thought or a thought of ignorance.
"And let him repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness for having thought of his Lord a bad thought". "Yatub" means he returns to Allah, because repentance means returning from the disobedience of Allah to His obedience. "Wa li-ystaghfirhu" means he asks Him for forgiveness. The lam in both is the lam of command. Yes, let him repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness for having thought of his Lord a bad thought. Does such a thing come to your hearts? Do you sometimes think of Allah a bad thought?
The student: God forbid.
The Shaykh : Perhaps, perhaps it comes to the heart, but it does not go far. So in this case, a person must purify his heart from that, and know that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) does not decree anything and does not legislate anything except for great wisdoms. And we do not grasp all the wisdoms upon which Allah (the Exalted) carries out His cosmic rulings and His legislative rulings, because we are limited. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-Isra 17:85] Yes, the author (may Allah have mercy on him) says: "If you were to examine anyone you examined, you would find in them harshness toward the divine decree and blame for it". This means if you examine among the people, you would find in them blame, harshness toward the divine decree and blame for it. The decree of whom?
The student: The decree of Allah
The Shaykh : The decree of Allah. "And that it should have been such and such". If Allah decrees something, you find, for example, that a person is angry with the decree and blames the decree, saying it should have been that we won, it should have been that the rain came, it should have been that our provision was expanded, it should have been that we were not struck by calamities, and the like. And this is a type of thinking a bad thought of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). For Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) did not decree this thing except for a wisdom that you are unable to grasp.
He says: "So some do it to a small extent, and others to a great extent". "Mustaqil" (independent/alone), what is its grammatical parsing?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Is it a predicate for a deleted subject? And what is the implied meaning?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Or, is it "And among the people, some are independent and some are excessive"? Yes, let us pause for a little on the grammar. "And among them, some are independent and among them, some are excessive." How do you parse "mustakthir" (excessive)? The waw is a letter of conjunction. "Mustakthir"?
The student: Conjoined.
The Shaykh : No.
The student: Predicate for a subject.
The Shaykh : It is not a predicate. The subject is a predicate whose predicate is deleted, meaning "and among them, some are excessive." The parallel to that is His saying (the Exalted):[Hud 11:105] [Hud 11:105] Parse "and Sa'id." You say the waw is a letter of conjunction, and Sa'id is conjoined to Shaqi. That is not correct, because if you said "and among them, a Shaqi and a Sa'id," it would mean the two descriptions belong to one described person. But the implied meaning is "and among them, a Shaqi, and among them, a Sa'id." Yes, this is like that.
People, in their thought of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), some think of Allah a bad thought to a great extent, and some think of Him a bad thought to a small extent.
"And examine yourself: are you safe?" This should not be only in this matter, but in all matters. Whatever Allah has obligated upon you, examine yourself: are you safe from falling short in it? Whatever Allah has forbidden upon you, examine yourself: are you safe from falling into it? Yes, I think, by Allah, we are falling short. I think, by Allah, we are falling short in this matter. Are we holding ourselves accountable for the obligations? Have we performed them?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : Be honest with me.
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No, except what Allah wills. Are we holding ourselves accountable for the prohibitions? Have we avoided them? The answer: you can say, "I am... regarding myself, and I am heedless in this, and most of the people are in this state." We do not hold ourselves accountable, but when we deal with a person in money, yes, we give him dirhams, goods to sell and buy, do we hold him accountable?
The student: We hold him accountable.
The Shaykh : Or the one who gives us, we take it, and the one who does not give us, we say, "let him go"? Do we hold him accountable for the piastre and the half-piastre, as they say? Yes. Likewise, when food is served to us, yesterday the lunch served had three varieties, and today there are only two. What do we say to the household? We say, "Why didn't you bring what was there yesterday? Why didn't you bring this third variety?" We hold them accountable. But in matters of important affairs, which are deeds, we find ourselves heedless. We ask Allah to treat us with forgiveness. For this reason, the author says: "Examine yourself: are you safe?"
He says: "If you escape from it, you escape from something great" "If you escape from it, you escape from something great". "Escape from it" from what? From this characteristic, which is thinking a bad thought of Allah. "Escape from something great": the second "escape" and the first do not have a waw. Why? It was deleted for the jussive (juzm). The first is the verb of the condition, and the second is its response. And his saying "from something great" means from a matter of great magnitude, meaning a great calamity or the like. "And otherwise - if you escape - I do not think you will be saved". "Ikhalaaka" means I think you. And as far as I recall now, it is the only verb whose hamza is broken (kasrah). The present tense, do you know, is its hamza opened or not? "Azhun" (I think), "aqum" (I stand), and it is closed (dammah) in the quadriliteral, like "akram" (I honor). But this is "ikhalaaka," not "akhalaaka." "Ikhalaaka" means I think you, and it takes two objects: the first is the kaff, and the second is "najiya" (saved).
The words of Ibn al-Qayyim: If you are saved from this matter, you are saved from a great matter. And if you are not saved from it, you are not saved. And he spoke the truth (may Allah have mercy on him). So examine, my brother, yourself in this chapter and in others: are you safe? Do you need strengthening? A person changes his clothes every day or every week so that his clothes are clean, but when do you change the clothes of righteous deeds?
The student: Perhaps once a year.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is possible that once a year they change them, some people. So it is obligatory for a person to observe this matter. I am telling you this, and I am more sinful than you, may Allah grant us safety and well-being. But I hope from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that when I say this to you, I remember that I said it to you, so that it helps me in action. Yes, the result is that these matters require a person to hold himself accountable. And 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said—'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), whom some scholars consider one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and it is correct that he is one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—he said: "Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable""Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable". The author mentioned issues in it. Now, whoever has a question, let him ask.
The questioner : ...
"And let him repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness for having thought of his Lord a bad thought". "Yatub" means he returns to Allah, because repentance means returning from the disobedience of Allah to His obedience. "Wa li-ystaghfirhu" means he asks Him for forgiveness. The lam in both is the lam of command. Yes, let him repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness for having thought of his Lord a bad thought. Does such a thing come to your hearts? Do you sometimes think of Allah a bad thought?
The student: God forbid.
The Shaykh : Perhaps, perhaps it comes to the heart, but it does not go far. So in this case, a person must purify his heart from that, and know that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) does not decree anything and does not legislate anything except for great wisdoms. And we do not grasp all the wisdoms upon which Allah (the Exalted) carries out His cosmic rulings and His legislative rulings, because we are limited. Allah the Exalted said:
And they ask you, [O Muhammad], about the soul. Say, "The soul is of the affair of my Lord. And mankind have not been given of knowledge except a little."
ويسألونك عن الروح قل الروح من أمر ربي وما أوتيتم من العلم إلا قليلاThe student: The decree of Allah
The Shaykh : The decree of Allah. "And that it should have been such and such". If Allah decrees something, you find, for example, that a person is angry with the decree and blames the decree, saying it should have been that we won, it should have been that the rain came, it should have been that our provision was expanded, it should have been that we were not struck by calamities, and the like. And this is a type of thinking a bad thought of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). For Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) did not decree this thing except for a wisdom that you are unable to grasp.
He says: "So some do it to a small extent, and others to a great extent". "Mustaqil" (independent/alone), what is its grammatical parsing?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Is it a predicate for a deleted subject? And what is the implied meaning?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Or, is it "And among the people, some are independent and some are excessive"? Yes, let us pause for a little on the grammar. "And among them, some are independent and among them, some are excessive." How do you parse "mustakthir" (excessive)? The waw is a letter of conjunction. "Mustakthir"?
The student: Conjoined.
The Shaykh : No.
The student: Predicate for a subject.
The Shaykh : It is not a predicate. The subject is a predicate whose predicate is deleted, meaning "and among them, some are excessive." The parallel to that is His saying (the Exalted):
And among them will be the wretched and the prosperous.
فمنهم شقي وسعيدAnd among them will be the wretched and the prosperous.
فمنهم شقي وسعيدPeople, in their thought of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), some think of Allah a bad thought to a great extent, and some think of Him a bad thought to a small extent.
"And examine yourself: are you safe?" This should not be only in this matter, but in all matters. Whatever Allah has obligated upon you, examine yourself: are you safe from falling short in it? Whatever Allah has forbidden upon you, examine yourself: are you safe from falling into it? Yes, I think, by Allah, we are falling short. I think, by Allah, we are falling short in this matter. Are we holding ourselves accountable for the obligations? Have we performed them?
The student: No.
The Shaykh : Be honest with me.
The student: No.
The Shaykh : No, except what Allah wills. Are we holding ourselves accountable for the prohibitions? Have we avoided them? The answer: you can say, "I am... regarding myself, and I am heedless in this, and most of the people are in this state." We do not hold ourselves accountable, but when we deal with a person in money, yes, we give him dirhams, goods to sell and buy, do we hold him accountable?
The student: We hold him accountable.
The Shaykh : Or the one who gives us, we take it, and the one who does not give us, we say, "let him go"? Do we hold him accountable for the piastre and the half-piastre, as they say? Yes. Likewise, when food is served to us, yesterday the lunch served had three varieties, and today there are only two. What do we say to the household? We say, "Why didn't you bring what was there yesterday? Why didn't you bring this third variety?" We hold them accountable. But in matters of important affairs, which are deeds, we find ourselves heedless. We ask Allah to treat us with forgiveness. For this reason, the author says: "Examine yourself: are you safe?"
He says: "If you escape from it, you escape from something great" "If you escape from it, you escape from something great". "Escape from it" from what? From this characteristic, which is thinking a bad thought of Allah. "Escape from something great": the second "escape" and the first do not have a waw. Why? It was deleted for the jussive (juzm). The first is the verb of the condition, and the second is its response. And his saying "from something great" means from a matter of great magnitude, meaning a great calamity or the like. "And otherwise - if you escape - I do not think you will be saved". "Ikhalaaka" means I think you. And as far as I recall now, it is the only verb whose hamza is broken (kasrah). The present tense, do you know, is its hamza opened or not? "Azhun" (I think), "aqum" (I stand), and it is closed (dammah) in the quadriliteral, like "akram" (I honor). But this is "ikhalaaka," not "akhalaaka." "Ikhalaaka" means I think you, and it takes two objects: the first is the kaff, and the second is "najiya" (saved).
The words of Ibn al-Qayyim: If you are saved from this matter, you are saved from a great matter. And if you are not saved from it, you are not saved. And he spoke the truth (may Allah have mercy on him). So examine, my brother, yourself in this chapter and in others: are you safe? Do you need strengthening? A person changes his clothes every day or every week so that his clothes are clean, but when do you change the clothes of righteous deeds?
The student: Perhaps once a year.
The Shaykh : Yes, it is possible that once a year they change them, some people. So it is obligatory for a person to observe this matter. I am telling you this, and I am more sinful than you, may Allah grant us safety and well-being. But I hope from Allah (Mighty and Majestic) that when I say this to you, I remember that I said it to you, so that it helps me in action. Yes, the result is that these matters require a person to hold himself accountable. And 'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him) said—'Umar ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz (may Allah have mercy on him), whom some scholars consider one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs, and it is correct that he is one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—he said: "Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable""Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable". The author mentioned issues in it. Now, whoever has a question, let him ask.
The questioner : ...