Explanation of the Book of Tawhid-52

The Shaykh : The author says: "It is narrated from Jundub ibn 'Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:

Once someone said: 'By Allah! Allah will not forgive such and such (a person).'

قال رجل والله لا يغفر الله لفلان

Riyad as-Salihin 1576

" What is the matter... with so-and-so? What does this word indicate? Does it indicate that the person had a good opinion of Allah and showed mercy to the servants of Allah? No
The student: On the contrary.

The Shaykh : Never. Rather, it indicates the opposite: despair of the mercy of Allah. It also indicates looking down upon the servants of Allah. It includes this person's arrogance with himself, because if his state were like the state of this man in terms of sins, he would not have said this. If he had said this, he would have been testifying against himself that Allah does not forgive him. Rather, this indicates that the man who said it was on a high level of worship, and this man was on a high level of sins. For this reason, he said: And regarding forgiveness, we have mentioned previously that its meaning is covering the sin.
The student: And overlooking it.

The Shaykh : And overlooking it, yes. And its origin is from the *mighfar* (helmet) that covers the head, which is a sheet of iron that covers the head in war, providing protection and covering. So Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: This is a question word, and is omitted, and is the predicate of a subject which is a relative pronoun, the predicate of a subject, and means to swear. *Yata'alla* means to swear by Me that I will not forgive so-and-so, meaning: Who is this who hardens his heart against My bounty and My grace that I will not forgive one of My servants who has done wrong? The question clearly indicates what? It indicates negation. And the hadith was narrated in full in the narration of Abu Hurayrah: And this indicates that the man had a good opinion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Even though the man who was extravagant in his sins had a good opinion and hope in Allah. Perhaps he was committing the sin and repenting between himself and his Lord, because he said, "Let me be between me and my Lord." When a person commits a sin and then repents with sincere repentance, and then his self overcomes him and he does it again, does his first repentance become invalid? No, it does not. His first repentance is valid. So when he repents from the second time, his repentance is valid, because we say that a condition of repentance is to resolve not to return to it, and it is not a condition of repentance that one does not return to it, but that one resolves not to return to it. The important thing is that this man, may Allah protect us from that, uttered this word. And we know with certainty that this man whom Allah forgave had causes of forgiveness present in him, either through repentance, or that his sin was less than shirk (associating partners with Allah), so Allah favored him and forgave him. But if it had been shirk without repentance, it would not be forgiven, because Allah says: But either this sin was less than shirk and the grace of Allah is vast, so Allah overlooked it, or it was above shirk, meaning shirk, or it was shirk or disbelief, but Allah granted him repentance. And whatever the case, Allah said: It is clear because causes of forgiveness occurred from him. If his sin was of a type that does not fall under the will of Allah, or if Allah favored him with forgiveness if his sin was of a type that falls under the will of Allah. But This is what needs an answer, because a problem may arise from it. So what is the reason that Allah nullified his deed? Is the meaning his entire deed, as is apparent from the addition, or is the meaning the deed that he was boasting about to his companion? Yes.
The student: The second.

The Shaykh : The apparent meaning of the first hadith is the apparent meaning of the first hadith, because the original rule for a singular added noun is that it is general. So this is the apparent meaning of the hadith. And at that time, we must seek, according to our knowledge and understanding, what is the reason by which Allah, Glorified and Exalted, nullified the deed of this man. As for the second possibility, that he nullified the deed that he was boasting about to this man, the matter in this is easier and apparent. But the problem that arises is: what is the aspect of Allah nullifying the deed of this man in a general sense? According to our understanding, and knowledge is with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, this man was worshipping Allah, and in himself he had arrogance, arrogance with his deed, and boasting to Allah with what he did, as if he was bestowing a favor upon his Lord with his deed. And at that time, he lacks a great pillar of the pillars of worship, because worship is built upon what? Upon humility and submission, upon humility and submission. This man who says such a word, if he sees in himself arrogance and boasting to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, where is the humility and submission? You must be a slave to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with what you worship Him with and with what has reached you of His speech. And this last matter is a problem for many of those who worship Allah with what they worship Him with; they may not worship Him with His revelation. It may be difficult for them to return from their opinion when the error becomes clear to them from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, and they stick to their opinion and distort the texts for its sake. And this is a difficult matter, meaning you may find a man who is a worshipper, who establishes the prayers, gives the zakah, and fasts in the way he is able, and likewise Hajj, but he does not worship Allah regarding what has reached him of His revelation. And it is obligatory to be a humble slave to Allah in everything, even in what has reached you of His revelation, such that you submit to it with complete submission, yes, so that you realize servitude. So what appears, and Allah knows best, is that this man, my brothers, that this man was boasting to Allah with his deed and he lacked in himself the greatest pillar of worship, which is this humility and submission. And there is no doubt that if worship is not built upon humility and submission, it is not valid. If you do not feel that you are performing worship because you are a slave to Allah, a slave before Him, then your worship is deficient and may be invalid. This is its aspect, and Allah knows best. As for if we say that the meaning is the deed in which the wrongdoing occurred, the matter is clear and easy, because if wrongdoing occurs in the deed, it becomes invalid. A parallel to this, which may be general or specific, is the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the hadith of Buhayz ibn Hakim from his father from his grandfather, regarding the one who withholds zakah, he said: Is the meaning of "his wealth" all the wealth, or the wealth from which he withheld the zakah? For example, if he has twenty camels, and their zakah is how many sheep? How much is the zakah of twenty camels in sheep?
The student: Four.

The Shaykh : Four sheep. So if he withholds the zakah, do we take only the twenty camels, or if he has other wealth like cattle, sheep, and money, do we take half of all his wealth? The scholars differed on this. Some said that only half of his wealth in which the violation occurred is taken, and some said that all the wealth is taken. The stronger opinion is: that this returns to the opinion of the Imam. If he sees that it is in the public interest that half of all his wealth is taken, he takes it, or half of the wealth in which the violation occurred, he takes it. And this hadith returned... the place of discussion in it is: was it abrogated or did its ruling remain or not?

The questioner : Shaykh.

The Shaykh : Yes

The questioner : ...

The Shaykh : In the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, it is said that the one who said it was a man devoted to worship. And we have referred to this previously in the last lesson, that this man was eager for worship and established it, but he had delusion, or he had delusion in himself, may Allah protect us from that, and arrogance with his deed, so his deed was nullified by that. Abu Hurayrah said: Meaning "I destroyed." And from this is the hadith: Meaning "the destroyers." And his saying: As for the fact that it destroyed his Hereafter, the matter is apparent, because he was among the people of the Fire, may Allah protect us from that. But how did it destroy his worldly life? Because the worldly life of a person, in reality, is what he acquired with it a righteous deed. So if he did not acquire in it a righteous deed, it is a loss. And the proof of that is the saying of Allah, the Exalted: Every person And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, said: So the reality is that the one who was not successful in this worldly life in faith and righteous deed has lost it, may Allah protect us from that, and it has passed him by. Because this worldly life, however long it lasts for a person, however it is adorned for him, and however it comes to him as he wishes, its end is what? Perishing and vanishing. And this perishing and vanishing, when it occurs, is as if nothing happened to this man of pleasure and luxury. And consider that with your state today; everything that has happened to you, even until the recent past, is as if it was not.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Indeed, every person who is not granted success in this world for righteous deeds is a loser, because this world, whatever its outcome, is destined for perishment, and everything that perishes is like nothing. I said, consider what has happened to you previously; you will find it has passed by as if it never was. This is part of the wisdom of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in that a person’s state in this world is such, so that he does not rely upon it, for reliance upon this world is dangerous for a person in his Hereafter. And the statement of Abu Hurayrah: The hadith is narrated by Jundub ibn 'Abd Allah, but the author referred to another hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him).