The Shaykh’s advice to a young man afflicted with the secret habit and the psychological and physical harms he suffered because of it.
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The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Hello.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Hello.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : How are you?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : I am calling from Kuwait, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome, yes?
The questioner : I say, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Go ahead!
The questioner : I have a message from someone who wants to send it to you so you can answer it?
The Shaykh : And we answer a message over the phone?
The questioner : Yes, because he...
The Shaykh : No, there is no room for such a long conversation; present the question briefly so we can answer it.
The questioner : Okay, he says: I am a young man, about 16 years old, and I fell into the sin of the secret habit, masturbation. He says: I practiced it for years, then I felt that it caused me psychological and physical harms as well, meaning a tremor in the body, and my mind became confused, he says, and this confusion is increasing with the days as I continue using it. He says he left it about a month ago, but, meaning he says he left it a month ago, he says: and its psychological and physical effects are still continuing with me. And he says he is very distressed by this matter, to the point that I cannot sit with any of the Salafi youth or, meaning, gather with them or attend their lessons.
The Shaykh : Answer: Listen to the answer, listen to the answer: That is because of what your hands have earned, and Allah is not unjust to His servants. And He, the Exalted, said:[Taha 20:124-126] Our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, has made clear in the Noble Book everything the community needs, including the protection of its individuals’ physical and spiritual health. Among this is that man was tested by a profound wisdom from Allah with the animalistic desire, but Allah, Mighty and Majestic, for that wisdom, did not make man like an animal; rather, He honored him, as He said in the Noble Qur’an: [Al-Isra 17:70] From this honor, He organized for them what is called gender, what is called today gender, meaning: marriage and the marriage contract. So He said: [An-Nisa 4:3], and He said in praising the sincere believers: [Al-Mu'minun 23:5-6], He, the Exalted, said, and here is the point: : This young man and his like are many today, unfortunately. They sought an unlawful means to divert the animalistic desire, so they sought, beyond the marriage that is largely facilitated today, the secret habit. Therefore, they are transgressors: meaning, aggressors, wrongdoers, and those who encroach upon themselves first, and consequently upon the Shari’ah ruling second. But our Lord, Mighty and Majestic, is Compassionate and Merciful, so He said in some verses describing the servants of the Merciful: [Al-Furqan 25:68-70], so the point is that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful; He forgives the greatest of major sins, which is associating partners with Allah, Mighty and Majestic, as you heard in this verse. Therefore, He forgives every young man who engaged in the secret habit, thereby harming his religion and his body at the same time. Therefore, he has already received the immediate consequence in this world: the weakness of his body and the confusion of his mind, and even as I said: he began to feel no comfort with people and withdrew and closed himself in on himself. Therefore, we tell him: First: that he repent to Allah with sincere repentance for what he did to himself and his religion. Second: that he resolve not to return, no matter how much his soul, which commands evil, urges him to return to the secret habit. Third and finally: that he increase in acts of obedience and worship so that he compensates for the good he missed because of the secret habit. Among these acts of obedience that concern his situation is: that he implement the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), which is his saying: Mishkat al-Masabih 3080, and when I mention this hadith to that young man and his like, I know and am aware by my experience that he will object that marriage is not currently feasible for him, and I say.
The questioner : Exactly.
The Shaykh : And I say: This is a baseless excuse, because if he cannot marry now, and thereby dispense with the secret habit, Allah has provided him an exit: to fast, because the Prophet mentioned in this hadith that fasting is a protection for it. Why do these young people leave the available treatment and object with a treatment they do not find?! Why do they not reverse this? Why do they not act and apply the available treatment, until Allah facilitates for them the difficult treatment? The available treatment is: fasting, and the difficult treatment for many young people is: marriage. So if he cannot marry, he must fast, for it is a protection for him. This is the answer. And if it has been long, I have seen it obligatory upon me to present this advice due to the many young people who are afflicted with the secret habit, with the note that this habit is contrary to the aforementioned Qur’anic text, and the other note: that they should not be deceived by some fatwas they may hear from some who have appointed themselves to issue fatwas without relying on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but rather by relying on some jurisprudential opinions that have no backbone and no bridle.
And in conclusion, I say: And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
The questioner : Hello.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner : Hello.
The Shaykh: Yes.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner: Peace be upon you.
The Shaykh: And upon you peace.
The questioner : How are you?
The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah.
The questioner : I am calling from Kuwait, Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Welcome, yes?
The questioner : I say, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : Go ahead!
The questioner : I have a message from someone who wants to send it to you so you can answer it?
The Shaykh : And we answer a message over the phone?
The questioner : Yes, because he...
The Shaykh : No, there is no room for such a long conversation; present the question briefly so we can answer it.
The questioner : Okay, he says: I am a young man, about 16 years old, and I fell into the sin of the secret habit, masturbation. He says: I practiced it for years, then I felt that it caused me psychological and physical harms as well, meaning a tremor in the body, and my mind became confused, he says, and this confusion is increasing with the days as I continue using it. He says he left it about a month ago, but, meaning he says he left it a month ago, he says: and its psychological and physical effects are still continuing with me. And he says he is very distressed by this matter, to the point that I cannot sit with any of the Salafi youth or, meaning, gather with them or attend their lessons.
The Shaykh : Answer: Listen to the answer, listen to the answer: That is because of what your hands have earned, and Allah is not unjust to His servants. And He, the Exalted, said:
(124) And whoever turns away from My remembrance - indeed, he will have a depressed life, and We will gather him on the Day of Resurrection blind." (125) He will say, "My Lord, why have you raised me blind while I was [once] seeing?" (126) [Allah] will say, "Thus did Our signs come to you, and you forgot them; and thus will you this Day be forgotten."
وَمَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِكْرِي فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِيشَةً ضَنْكًا وَنَحْشُرُهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ أَعْمَى * قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِي أَعْمَى وَقَدْ كُنْتُ بَصِيرًا * قَالَ كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَاتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذَلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنْسَىAnd We have certainly honored the children of Adam and carried them on the land and sea and provided for them of the good things and preferred them over much of what We have created, with [definite] preference.
وَلَقَدْ كَرَّمْنَا بَنِي آدَمَ وَحَمَلْنَاهُمْ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ وَرَزَقْنَاهُمْ مِنَ الطَّيِّبَاتِ وَفَضَّلْنَاهُمْ عَلَى كَثِيرٍ مِمَّنْ خَلَقْنَا تَفْضِيلًاthen marry those that please you of [other] women, two or three or four
فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ مَثْنَى وَثُلَاثَ وَرُبَاعَ(5) And they who guard their private parts (6) Except from their wives or those their right hands possess, for indeed, they will not be blamed -
وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ لِفُرُوجِهِمْ حَافِظُونَ * إِلَّا عَلَى أَزْوَاجِهِمْ أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ غَيْرُ مَلُومِينَBut whoever seeks beyond that, those are the transgressors.
فَمَنِ ابْتَغَى وَرَاءَ ذَلِكَ فَأُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْعَادُونَ(68) And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty. (69) Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated - (70) Except for those who repent, believe and do righteous work. For them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.
وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا * يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا * إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عملًا صالحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًاYoung man, those of you who can support a wife should marry, for it keeps you from looking at strange women and preserves you from immorality; but those who cannot should devote themselves to fasting, for it is a means of suppressing sexual desire.
يا معشر الشباب ، مَن استطاع منكم الباءة فليتزوَّجْ ؛ فإنه أغَضُّ للبصرِ ، وأحصَنُ للفرجِ ، ومن لم يستطِعْ فعليه بالصَّوم ؛ فإن له وجاءThe questioner : Exactly.
The Shaykh : And I say: This is a baseless excuse, because if he cannot marry now, and thereby dispense with the secret habit, Allah has provided him an exit: to fast, because the Prophet mentioned in this hadith that fasting is a protection for it. Why do these young people leave the available treatment and object with a treatment they do not find?! Why do they not reverse this? Why do they not act and apply the available treatment, until Allah facilitates for them the difficult treatment? The available treatment is: fasting, and the difficult treatment for many young people is: marriage. So if he cannot marry, he must fast, for it is a protection for him. This is the answer. And if it has been long, I have seen it obligatory upon me to present this advice due to the many young people who are afflicted with the secret habit, with the note that this habit is contrary to the aforementioned Qur’anic text, and the other note: that they should not be deceived by some fatwas they may hear from some who have appointed themselves to issue fatwas without relying on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), but rather by relying on some jurisprudential opinions that have no backbone and no bridle.
And in conclusion, I say: And upon you be peace and the mercy of Allah and His blessings.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.