Explanation of the Hadith: (Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him): ... and he recites three verses)
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Shall we speak briefly about the verses, or is that unnecessary?
He recites three verses, which are His saying:[Ali 'Imran 3:102] In this verse, Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) addresses the believers with the description of faith, and commands them to fear Allah with true taqwa, meaning: true taqwa. This is from the category of adding an attribute to the one it describes. True taqwa is built upon sincerity, not upon seeking reputation, because some people fear Allah out of showing off and seeking fame; they fear Allah in public but disobey Him in private. This is not fearing Allah with true taqwa. But fearing Allah with true taqwa is that one's taqwa is built upon sincerity to Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). And it forbids a person from dying except upon Islam: [Ali 'Imran 3:102].
If someone were to say: This prohibition is regarding what is not within one's power, because a person cannot help but die while being a Muslim? And how is that possible?
The answer is that Allah the Exalted does not prohibit anything whose leaving is not possible, nor does He command anything whose doing is not possible. How can a person be able to die except as a Muslim? He can do so by persevering in righteous deeds in his life. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is too generous to abandon a person who spent his life in obedience to Allah. If a person grows up in obedience to Allah and trains himself in obedience, then Allah will reward him by making his ending good and having him die upon Islam. Otherwise, it is known that a person is not able to die except as a Muslim, but he is able to perform deeds that will bring him a good what? A good ending through righteous deeds. This does not contradict what came in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him):Sahih al-Bukhari 3332 It does not contradict what we said. Why? Because the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud is restricted by what is established in Sahih al-Bukhari: Sahih al-Bukhari 4207 This is a blessing, and praise be to Allah, that a person is not abandoned if he is sincere with Allah, because Allah is more generous than His servant. If this man spent his life in obedience to Allah, let him be glad of the good: [Al-Baqarah 2:223] and after that is glad tidings for the person before the meeting occurs. As long as you are a believer, do not fear this meeting, because you have the glad tidings.
The second verse is:[An-Nisa 4:1]
[An-Nisa 4:1] It is the soul of Adam. [An-Nisa 4:1] His wife or his husband?
The student: His wife.
The Shaykh : The one created from it is female. We say: In the formal language, "al-zawj" (the spouse) is masculine, whether it refers to the female or the male. This is the formal language. But there is a colloquial usage for feminizing "al-zawj" when it refers to the female, and the jurists of inheritance (may Allah have mercy on them) adopted this in order to distinguish between cases. Because if you say: "A deceased man left behind a spouse, a daughter, and a mother," for example, a person would be confused about which spouse takes the quarter and which takes the eighth. So when it is specified as "al-zawj" (the wife), if the intended meaning is the female, the confusion is removed. For this reason, the jurists of inheritance (may Allah have mercy on them) adopted the use of the taa (feminine marker) when it is a female.
Yes, very well.[An-Nisa 4:1] Meaning a female, and she is Hawwa. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) named her Hawwa with a long dhammah, saying: Meaning: The flesh would not have ... if not for the Children of Israel, but they were punished, so the flesh began to spoil and remained like this. Very well, so regarding her husband, what is meant by "Khalid"?
The student: His wife.
The Shaykh : and it is?
The student: Hawwa.
The Shaykh : Hawwa.
Meaning: From these two spouses [An-Nisa 4:1] many men and women. Which is more numerous? - Do not joke - Which is more numerous?
The student: Men.
Another student: Women.
The Shaykh : Women. Many men and women. Yes.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, some scholars say, and the reality is that women are more numerous. Women among the descendants of Adam are more numerous than men. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) cited as evidence the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the women:Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2613Sahih (Darussalam), and that the people of the Fire among the descendants of Adam are nine hundred and ninety-nine out of a thousand. He said: This is evidence that women are more numerous. Very well, but His saying: [An-Nisa 4:1] describes men with multitude, not women, because the multitude of men is what is beneficial, whereas the multitude of women is nothing but a burden and wailing. If you want to know, look at who faces the hardships? Men. And women tear their cheeks, tear their clothes, and pull out their hair, and the like. For this reason, men are described with multitude because their multitude is the beneficial one.
[An-Nisa 4:1] Fear Allah and the relatives. Fear of Allah is through His obedience, as is well known. And fear of the relatives means: fearing the sin of severing the relatives if they are cut off. This means the command to maintain family ties. And who are the relatives? The relatives are the close kin. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Anfal 8:75].
The relatives are not what the common people recognize today, who are the in-laws. Because the relatives, according to the common people, are the relatives of the husband or the wife. But the Arabic language calls the relatives of the husband and wife "in-laws." Yes.
Very well.[An-Nisa 4:1] Be afraid of this phrase. Allah was a Watcher over you in all circumstances. If you wish not to fear Allah, do so, but there is a Watcher from Allah over you.
As for the third verse, it says:[Al-Ahzab 33:70-71].
In this verse, Allah commands the believers to fear Allah and to say a sound word, meaning a correct word that fills the gaps. What is the sound word? The sound word is any word that brings religious or worldly benefit; it is a sound word. This is similar to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):Jami` at-Tirmidhi 2500Sahih (Darussalam) Allah commanded two things and mentioned two rewards. [Al-Ahzab 33:70] The reward is: [Al-Ahzab 33:71] He will rectify your deeds in this world, whether the deeds are worldly or religious. If a person fears his Lord and says a sound word, then Allah the Exalted will rectify it. [Ali 'Imran 3:31] Then He said a general statement: [Al-Ahzab 33:71] [Al-Ahzab 33:71] And success is the attainment of what is desired and safety from what is feared. The evidence for this is His saying, the Exalted: [Ali 'Imran 3:185] So by being turned away from the Fire, what is obtained? The removal of what is disliked is obtained. And by being entered into Paradise, what is desired is obtained. So success is this: that you are saved from what is feared and you attain what is desired. [Al-Ahzab 33:71] It is not a low or small success, but it is a great success. [Al-Ahzab 33:71]
And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has lost. And in the same surah:[Al-Ahzab 33:36] So the disobedient person is lost in a clear loss, and the obedient person is successful in a great success. Look at which of the two paths you want? Yes, which one?
The student: ...
The Shaykh : The obedience by which there is great success in this world and the Hereafter.
He recites three verses, which are His saying:
O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should be feared
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله حق تقاتهand do not die except as Muslims [in submission to Him].
ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمونIf someone were to say: This prohibition is regarding what is not within one's power, because a person cannot help but die while being a Muslim? And how is that possible?
The answer is that Allah the Exalted does not prohibit anything whose leaving is not possible, nor does He command anything whose doing is not possible. How can a person be able to die except as a Muslim? He can do so by persevering in righteous deeds in his life. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) is too generous to abandon a person who spent his life in obedience to Allah. If a person grows up in obedience to Allah and trains himself in obedience, then Allah will reward him by making his ending good and having him die upon Islam. Otherwise, it is known that a person is not able to die except as a Muslim, but he is able to perform deeds that will bring him a good what? A good ending through righteous deeds. This does not contradict what came in the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him):
Similarly, a person may do deeds characteristic of the people of Paradise, so much so that there is only the distance of a cubit between him and it, and then what has been written (by the angel) surpasses, and he starts doing deeds of the people of the (Hell) Fire and enters the (Hell) Fire.
إن الرجل ليعمل بعمل أهل الجنة حتى ما يكون بينه وبينها إلا ذراع فيسبق عليه الكتاب فيعمل بعمل أهل النار فيدخلهاA 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 النارAnd fear Allah and know that you will meet Him
واتقوا الله واعلموا أنكم ملاقوهand give good news to the believers
وبشر المؤمنينThe second verse is:
O mankind, fear your Lord, who created you from one soul and created from it its mate and dispersed from both of them many men and women. And fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
يا أيها الناس اتقوا ربكم الذي خلقكم من نفس واحدة وخلق منها زوجها وبث منهما رجالاً كثيراً ونساءً واتقوا الله الذي تساءلون به والأرحام إن الله كان عليكم رقيباًcreated you from one soul
خلقكم من نفس واحدةand created from it its mate
وخلق منها زوجهاThe student: His wife.
The Shaykh : The one created from it is female. We say: In the formal language, "al-zawj" (the spouse) is masculine, whether it refers to the female or the male. This is the formal language. But there is a colloquial usage for feminizing "al-zawj" when it refers to the female, and the jurists of inheritance (may Allah have mercy on them) adopted this in order to distinguish between cases. Because if you say: "A deceased man left behind a spouse, a daughter, and a mother," for example, a person would be confused about which spouse takes the quarter and which takes the eighth. So when it is specified as "al-zawj" (the wife), if the intended meaning is the female, the confusion is removed. For this reason, the jurists of inheritance (may Allah have mercy on them) adopted the use of the taa (feminine marker) when it is a female.
Yes, very well.
and created from it its mate
وخلق منها زوجهاHad it not been for Eve, there would be no female spouse, and had it not been for the Children of Israel, meat would not have spoiled.
لولا حواء لم تكن أنثى زوجة، ولولا بنو إسرائيل لم يخنز اللحمThe student: His wife.
The Shaykh : and it is?
The student: Hawwa.
The Shaykh : Hawwa.
And He spread forth from them
وبث منهماmany men and women
رجالا كثيراً ونساءًThe student: Men.
Another student: Women.
The Shaykh : Women. Many men and women. Yes.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes, some scholars say, and the reality is that women are more numerous. Women among the descendants of Adam are more numerous than men. The Shaykh al-Islam (may Allah have mercy on him) cited as evidence the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to the women:
you are the majority of the people of the Fire
إنكن أكثر أهل النارmany men and women
رجالًا كثيرًا ونساءAnd fear Allah, through whom you ask one another, and the wombs. Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
واتقوا الله الذي تساءلون به والأرحام إن الله كان عليكم رقيباًBut those of [blood] relationship are more entitled
وأولو الأرحام بعضهم أولى ببعضThe relatives are not what the common people recognize today, who are the in-laws. Because the relatives, according to the common people, are the relatives of the husband or the wife. But the Arabic language calls the relatives of the husband and wife "in-laws." Yes.
Very well.
Indeed Allah is ever, over you, an Observer.
إن الله كان عليكم رقيباًAs for the third verse, it says:
(70) O you who have believed, fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice. (71) He will [then] amend for you your deeds
يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وقولوا قولاً سديداً يصلح لكم أعمالكمIn this verse, Allah commands the believers to fear Allah and to say a sound word, meaning a correct word that fills the gaps. What is the sound word? The sound word is any word that brings religious or worldly benefit; it is a sound word. This is similar to the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him):
And whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day, then let him say what is good or remain silent.
من كان يؤمن بالله واليوم الآخر فليقل خيراً أو ليصمتfear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice.
اتقوا الله وقولوا قولًا سديدًاHe will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins
يصلح لكم أعمالكم ويغفر لكم ذنوبكمand forgive you your sins
ويغفر لكم ذنوبكمAnd whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.
ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز قورا عظيماAnd whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.
ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزاً عظيماًSo he who is drawn away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise has attained [his desire]
فمن زحزح عن النار وأدخل الجنة فقد فازAnd whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly attained a great
ومن يطع الله ورسوله فقد فاز فوزاًhas certainly attained a great attainment.
فقد فاز فوزاً عظيماًAnd whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has lost. And in the same surah:
And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has certainly strayed into clear error.
ومن يعص الله ورسوله فقد ضل ضلالا مبيناًThe student: ...
The Shaykh : The obedience by which there is great success in this world and the Hereafter.