Kitaab At Tawheed – Part 4 and 5 (Transcribed Class)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
We will begin by clarifying a doubt regarding the meaning of Tawheed Al Uloohiyyah توحيد الألوهية.
Uloohyyah الألوهية comes from the word Alahah أله , Ya’lah يأله, Ilahatanإلهة or Uluhatanألوهة . The linguistic meaning of Ya’lah is to worship with love (mahhabah محبة) and glorification(Ta’dheem تعظيم). So, the word Ya’lah linguistically it necessitates love and glorification. That’s why Ilaah means the one who is worshipped with love and glorification, because He has the Beautiful Names and Perfect Attributes by which He deserves to be worshipped with this love and glorification. This is the meaning of Ya’lah.
On the other hand, linguistically, the word Ibaadah may mean other than worship with love and glorification for example, being a slave for someone. Therefore, Ibaadah becomes the legislated worship only if it contains love and glorification. If it doesn’t, this is not the legislated ibaadah in the Shari’ah and the one which Allah loves.
Therefore we say: Allah ‘Hua al Ma’luh’ which means: Allah is the One who is worshipped with love and glorification. So that’s why they say “Al Uloohiyyah is worship … and more”, meaning it is more than just obeying and offer acts of worship, it is performing these acts of worship with love and glorification and this is the legislated “Uloohiyyah” which Allah loves.
Is there a difference between Tawheed Al Uloohiyyah and Tawheed al Ibaadah?
Tawheed Al Uloohiyyah and Tawheed al Ibaadah have the same meaning in the Islamic legislation (Shari’ah) which is: to worship Allah with love and glorification in the heart. There is not any difference between them in the Shari’ah.
However, the words Uloohiyyah and Ibaadah have a difference in their linguistic meaning. Some Arabic words in Shari’ah have both a linguistic meaning and a legislative meaning. For example the word ‘Salah’, linguistically it means du’a and in the Shari’ah it means the known act of worship; “praying”.
To continue with the explanation of the book…..
Allah stated in the Quran that He created mankind and Jinn for one aim which is to worship only Allah and to live upon Tawheed.
Allah says:
وَمَا خَلَقۡتُ ٱلۡجِنَّ وَٱلۡإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ (٥٦)
And I did not create the Jinn and mankind except to worship Me. [Surah Ad-Dhariyat :Verse 56]
According to scholars “except to worship Me “إِلَّا لِيَعۡبُدُونِ” has several meanings and all of them are correct. The most well known; ‘Ilaa Yuwahidoon” “إِلَّا لِيُوَحِّدُون” which means to single out Allah in worship. Allah commands and we obey Him. In order to worship Allah alone correctly, we must also free ourselves from worshipping the Taghut.
And Allah says:
وَلَقَدۡ بَعَثۡنَا فِى ڪُلِّ أُمَّةٍ۬ رَّسُولاً أَنِ ٱعۡبُدُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَٱجۡتَنِبُواْ ٱلطَّـٰغُوتَۖ
And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a Messenger (proclaiming): “Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût[] (all false deities, etc. i.e. do not worship Tâghût besides Allâh).” – [Surah An-Nahl – 36]
Allah sent a messenger to each and every nation telling them to worship Allah alone and to keep away from any Taghut, which means everything that it is worshipped besides Allah, i.e false deities. (*A much more detailed explanation regarding the Taghut will be available in further chapters of Kitaab At Tawheed In sha’ Allah)
Shaikh Abdur Rahman ibn Hassan (the author of Fath Al Majeed, the book we are using for this explanation) poses a question here; can anyone say: ‘if Allah willed then we would have never associated anyone with Him?’. Meaning that what we do is according to Allah’s will and Allah did not will for us to single Him out in worship. Is this statement a valid and sound proof (hujjah) and a justification for not worshipping Allah alone? So, how can we reply back to this statement?
Allah said He created us only to worship Him, so does this mean that each and every one of His creation will worship Allah? No!.
The scholars have said we need to understand the following:
There are two types of Allah’s will “Iradah إرادة ”.
First: The legislative Will “إرادة شرعية” and this is what Allah loves and what Allah commanded us with (as mentioned in the verse above of Surah Al-Israa). But this doesn’t have to happen, because Allah commanded us with what He loves yet He gave us the choice to either obey or disobey. So NOT everything Allah loves and commands will happen.
Example: Allah commanded us to act upon what He loves. For example, Allah loves monotheism, performing prayers, being good to parents, being truthful etc. Yet, not all the people will act upon this. Allah gave us the intellect to understand and the choice to accept or refuse His commands. Also, Allah made clear the result of accepting and the result of refusing His orders.
Second: The Universal will (“الإرادة الكونية”) which includes everything happening in this universe, it includes both: what Allah loves and commanded and what Allah hates and prohibited. It is also called “Al mashiah” “ المشيئة” because everything happening in this Universe is within the permission and will of Allah, no one can do anything against the will of Allah.
Example; The belief of a believer and the infidelity of a disbeliever, the sincerity of a truthful person and the lie of a liar, treating parents good and treating parents bad. All these acts are all included in the universal will of Allah, it includes both what Allah loves and commanded us to do and what Allah hates and forbade us to do.
Allah wills everyone to worship Him, this is a legislated will (Iradah Shariyyah) and not a Universal will, why? Because, if Allah willed that everyone worshipped Him alone with His Universal will then, it would surely happen according to Allah’s will. So Masheeah Kawniyyah (meaning the universal will “irada”) Allah might love it or hate it, He might be pleased or displeased with it.
So Allah told us what He loves and He made the Jannah as a reward for this and He told us what He hates and forbade and He made the Hellfire as a punishment for those who will disobey and refuse Allah’s command.
Allah says:
{ۖ فَمِنۡهُم مَّنۡ هَدَى ٱللَّهُ وَمِنۡهُم مَّنۡ حَقَّتۡ عَلَيۡهِ ٱلضَّلَـٰلَةُۚ}
Then of them were some whom Allâh guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified. [Surah An-Nahl: 36]
No one can be a kaafir except that it is within the will of Allah. For example, something which is very common today, when people are afflicted with Sihr (Black Magic), feel oppressed and they just blame the person who did that magic on them. Sihr is kufr (disbelief), extremely harmful and evil. However, the afflicted forget the fact that no one can perform Sihr on them without the permission and the will of Allah.
Allah says:
وَمَا هُم بِضَآرِّينَ بِهِۦ مِنۡ أَحَدٍ إِلَّا بِإِذۡنِ ٱللّه}
But they could not thus harm anyone except by Allâh’s Leave.
[Surah Al-Baqarah – 102]
Shaikh Al Uthaymeen said if someone says: ‘Why would Allah make this happen although Allah hates it and is not pleased with and does not accept it? Why was Shaytan created? Why this war against Islam and Muslims? Why this oppression against Muslims?’ There is wisdom behind it and as the Shaykh says; it is established that Allah allowed what He does not like, if someone says ‘how did Allah allow what He does not like?’ The response is; the desired things come in two forms:
- The first form is what Allah loves and desires due to the essence itself such as Tawheed (monotheism), the belief of the believers, truthfulness and justice.
- The second form is the desired due to other reasons. It may be detestable in itself but desired due to what it contains of wisdom and benefit. For example the drought, illness, poverty etc. Allah is Merciful, He does not like to harm His servants with any of that, however He preordains things like that due to the tremendous benefits that may result from them. For example, a person becomes ill, and this illness is the reason for him to stop and ponder about his life and how he needs Allah, so he repents and turns back to Allah, so this repentance is loved by Allah.
Allah says:
{ظَهَرَ الْفَسَادُ فِي الْبَرِّ وَالْبَحْرِ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِي النَّاسِ لِيُذِيقَهُم بَعْضَ الَّذِي عَمِلُوا لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْجِعُونَ}
Evil (sins and disobedience of Allah, etc.) has appeared on land and sea because of what the hands of men have earned (by oppression and evil deeds, etc.), that Allah may make them taste a part of that which they have done, in order that they may return (by repenting to Allah, and begging His Pardon). [Surah Ar-Rum 41]
If it is said how could something be desirable from one angle and be at the same time detestable from another angle?
It would be replied that a sick person would eagerly drink bitter medicine desiring to be cured. Furthermore, an ill person will eagerly undergo a painful surgery hoping to be cured. Therefore, this surgery is desirable from one angle and is detestable from another angle.
Allah’s most beloved person amongst the creation was Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم , yet Allah took away his son and daughters and he used to suffer from severe headache. Is this headache loved by Allah? No! But Allah wanted the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to reach the highest stage in the Jannah which no one else will reach. So these hardships such as illness, sickness, losing a dear one in itself, it is not because Allah likes to make us suffer rather, Allah likes to see our patience and to reward us immensely for this pain and our patience and grant us the Jannah. This pain we suffered can be a reason by which Allah will forgive our sins and a reason that we are going to return to Him, so there are benefits loved to Allah which will be the outcome of something which is detestable.
Hadith: ‘Ata’ bin Abu Rabah reported:
Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) asked him whether he would like that he should show him a woman who is from the people Jannah. When he replied that he certainly would, he said, “This black woman, who came to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, ‘I suffer from epilepsy and during fits my body is exposed, so make supplication to Allah for me.’ He (ﷺ) replied: ‘If you wish you endure it patiently and you be rewarded with Jannah, or if you wish, I shall make supplication to Allah to cure you?’ She said, ‘I shall endure it.’ Then she added: ‘But my body is exposed, so pray to Allah that it may not happen.’ He (Prophet (ﷺ)) then supplicated for her”.
[Al-Bukhari and Muslim]
This hadeeth teaches us that suffering from an illness and being patient is a reason for gaining rewards and for Allah to be pleased with you and forgive you all your sins. Thus, you are facilitating your way to Jannah, so there is wisdom behind it.
The next verse in the chapter:
Allah says:
وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعۡبُدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنًاۚ إِمَّا يَبۡلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ ٱلۡڪِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَوۡ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ} أُفٍّ۬ وَلَا تَنۡہَرۡهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوۡلاً۬ ڪَرِيمً۬ا (٢٣) وَٱخۡفِضۡ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحۡمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرۡحَمۡهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرً۬}ا
And your Lord has commanded that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents. If one of them or both of them attain old age in your life, say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour. And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: “My Lord! Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young.”
[Surah Al Isra : 23 – 24]
What is the type of command in this verse?
Is it a legislated Command or Iraadah (Iraadah Shariyyah)? If it was Universal then everyone would have worshipped Allah alone.
So this is what Allah commanded and what Allah is pleased with, and some will obey Allah and choose to be true slaves to Allah while others will refuse to abide by Allah’s command and insist on keeping away from Tawheed.
Allah commands Tawheed (to single out Allah with worship)and the next command is to always be good to parents.
If you want Tawheed to be firmly established in your heart, then you need to understand about Allah through His Perfect Names and Attributes. In order to establish love, hope, fear, glorification and reliance upon Allah, we have to understand about Allah through His Names and Attributes as well as through His Legislation and His Commands.
This is very important. Why? Because, as a result of knowing Allah, you will be able to; worship Him with love, appreciating and loving the fact that you are following the best of commands and perfect legislation, feeling so thankful and proud to be a Muslim. Love is the soul of every action we do for Allah’s sake and this can never be achieved without knowing Him.
Let’s understand the beauty of Allah ’s commands.
The command to “Be good to your Parents”
They do have rights upon you and this is to be good to our parents generally in every stage of their life.
As scholars say, being good towards parents depends upon knowing the character of the parent and knowing what pleases them. We need to understand and sympathise with the character of our mother and father in order to be good to them,while without disobeying and displeasing Allah. We also need to be gentle, kind and serve them willingly as long as they command us with what Allah has permitted.
We need to pay special attention as they get older (from 70 years onwards) when they are weak and are more deserving of your kindness. You have to be much more careful for each word you say and how you look at them every time. At this stage, our parents are very fragile and very sensitive, they feel they are a burden to everyone and are no longer useful. Therefore, it is extremely important to assure them that they are indeed still important to us. That we appreciate their opinion, we appreciate their presence in our lives, we love serving them, we love being by their side, we love listening to their tales and stories, even if we are bored. We need to assure our mother or father that we enjoy our time with them, that we do appreciate their presence in our lives and they are a blessing in our lives. Say often to them the dua’a :“May Allah preserve you”, this is extremely important.
That’s why one of the basic Qawa’id (fundamental principles) to understand the Quran is to appreciate how Allah gives special care to weak and fragile people such as orphans and elderly parents. Therefore, it is upon us to give them special care as they get older.
Then Allah says:
وَٱخۡفِضۡ لَهُمَا جَنَاحَ ٱلذُّلِّ مِنَ ٱلرَّحۡمَةِ وَقُل رَّبِّ ٱرۡحَمۡهُمَا كَمَا رَبَّيَانِى صَغِيرً۬ا (٢٤)
And lower unto them the wing of submission and humility through mercy, and say: “My Lord Bestow on them Your Mercy as they did bring me up when I was young”. [Surah Isra – Verse 24]
This does not mean that to lower yourself to them (your parents) out of humility rather out of mercy. For example, if my mother scolds me and shouts at me, she may even insult me out of her nervousness. How should I handle this situation? I should humble myself to her and because I am doing it out of mercy, this is not humiliation. This is just pure mercy and your honor is preserved. This will not contradict with your dignity. Never! This proves you do have mercy for them.
Tell them nice words “Ahsan Allahu Ilaiki Ya Ummi” (may Allah be good to you), smile at them, try to control yourself from showing any bad manners to them and make them feel at ease when dealing with you. This is very important. This is one of the greatest means of achieving the pleasure of Allah. Think about when you strive to study, memorise or travel hours to listen to a lecture. Although, these are all great acts of worship yet striving to please your parents is more important.
وَقَضَىٰ رَبُّكَ أَلَّا تَعۡبُدُوٓاْ إِلَّآ إِيَّاهُ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنًاۚ إِمَّا يَبۡلُغَنَّ عِندَكَ ٱلۡڪِبَرَ أَحَدُهُمَآ أَوۡ كِلَاهُمَا فَلَا تَقُل لَّهُمَآ أُفٍّ۬ وَلَا تَنۡہَرۡهُمَا وَقُل لَّهُمَا قَوۡلاً۬ ڪَرِيمً۬ا (٢٣)
Say not to them a word of disrespect, nor shout at them but address them in terms of honour. – [Surah Isra – Verse 23]
“Uff’ is showing that you are irritated with them or fed up with them. This is the least word of irritation. If just saying ‘Uff’ is not permitted then, what about people who are shouting at their parents or those who treat them like friends or colleagues?
So we don’t say ‘Uff’ or any voice or sound conveying our irritation or being fed up with them, nor scolding or shouting. Keep back your harm and bad words and be good to them. Say good words to them, “May Allah preserve you”, “May Allah reward you immensely for all the good you did to me”.
Sometimes, you might think you don’t need their opinion as it may not be that good, perhaps they haven’t experienced what you are talking about. Yet, out of mercy and out of trying to please Allah, try to take their opinion to show your care for them with your sayings and actions.
Our parents are our door to Jannah, one of the most important parts and ways to enter Jannah. Our intention is to please our Lord, so if this pleases Allah then I will do it.
The fourth verse.. Allah says:
أَلَّا تُشۡرِكُواْ بِهِۦ شَيۡـًٔ۬اۖ
Worship Allah alone and do not associate anything with Him. –
[Surah Anaam – Verse 151]
Shai’aa شَيۡـًٔ۬اۖ means ‘anything’. Shaikh Uthaymeen is saying a very important thing here. If you want to single out Allah in worship do not put anything above Allah in order of importance when taking decisions or weighing things. Your heart should have one aim: to please Allah. In order to single out Allah in worship, obedience and glorification then we should not associate with Allah absolutely anything.
This “Anything” includes associating the Prophets, the graves etc with Allah in worship. But as the Shaikh mentions, this “Anything” can also include things like money. They love Allah and they also love money, they choose money over Allah. Making money is more important for them than abiding by the commands of Allah. They care for money more than they care to please Allah.
Hadith: “Perish the slave of Dinar, the slave of Dirham”.
Whenever they have money they are content and if they lose money they are unhappy and show displeasure. Tawheed is not just to say “I’m going to pray to Allah alone and to supplicate to Allah alone”. No!
Tawheed is that your heart is not seeking the pleasure of anyone except the pleasure of Allah. To contemplate the rights of Allah upon you, say from your heart: no one deserves my worship except Allah and no one is dearer to me than Allah .
That’s why He says Anything (Shai’aa) is indefinite in the context of negation therefore it encompasses all things that are worshipped besides Allah. Some people worship prophets, angels or graves, some are slaves to money, jobs or omens. Therefore do not associate with Allah anything.
The first command is Tawheed and any other act of worship will not be accepted until you first establish your Tawheed. Therefore, Tawheed comes first.When your Tawheed is accepted then your prayers will be accepted and being good to your parents will be accepted and so on.
The Shaykh mentions another verse related to establishing Tawheed:
قُلۡ تَعَالَوۡاْ أَتۡلُ مَا حَرَّمَ رَبُّڪُمۡ عَلَيۡڪُمۡۖ أَلَّا تُشۡرِكُواْ بِهِۦ شَيۡـًٔ۬اۖ وَبِٱلۡوَٲلِدَيۡنِ إِحۡسَـٰنً۬اۖ وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوٓاْ أَوۡلَـٰدَڪُم مِّنۡ إِمۡلَـٰقٍ۬ۖ نَّحۡنُ نَرۡزُقُڪُمۡ وَإِيَّاهُمۡۖ وَلَا تَقۡرَبُواْ ٱلۡفَوَٲحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنۡهَا وَمَا بَطَنَۖ وَلَا تَقۡتُلُواْ ٱلنَّفۡسَ ٱلَّتِى حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ ذَٲلِكُمۡ وَصَّٮٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَعۡقِلُونَ (١٥١)
Say (O Muhammad saw): “Come, I will recite what your Lord has prohibited you from: Join not anything in worship with Him: be good and dutiful to your parents; kill not your children because of poverty – we provide sustenance for you and for them; come not near to Al-Fawahish (shameful sins, illegal sexual intercourse,) whether committed openly or secretly, and kill not anyone whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to Islamic law). This He has commanded you that you may understand.
[Surah Anaam – Verse 151]
Explanation of the verse above:
The first command in this verse is not to associate partners with Allah and the next command is to ‘be good to your parents’. Allah is ordering us not to kill our children out of poverty. How many Muslims today fear having more children due to poverty? They even undertake abortions fearing deprivation. Allah is assuring them “we will provide for you and for them”.
A man complained once to a scholar about having too many children and said: “how can I support all these children?!”. So the scholar said: “Any child whose provision is not upon Allah please, bring him or her to me and I will take him away from you “. The father was then convinced that he wasn’t himself the provider, rather Allah is Ar- Razzaq, the All Provider.
So do not kill them out of fear of poverty, each child comes with its own provision.
Also, having more children can be a way for your provision to increase. For example, a man who has already four children and struggles financially may find that his fifth child is a source of relief for his monetary situation.
If Allah decreed that this child will be created then Allah is the one who will support the child. Providing for this child is not our role. In these situations there are no calculations. A father is not required to calculate and see if the child is affordable or not. No! The provision is from Allah. Allah says “we will provide for you and your child.”
Then Allah says “do not go get near to Al Fawahish”. Fahisha (singular form of Al Fawahish) is any sin which a pure soul would feel disgusted by. Such as adultery, humiliating a father, telling lies and bad things to people, and so on. Allah is saying not to even go near these disgusting sins. Note that He did not say ‘do not don’t commit them’, rather He said not to go near them. Allah didn’t just prohibit adultery, you will find many commands which aim to prevent what might lead to adultery such as lowering your gaze, avoiding free mixing, and not to be alone with non-mahram.
“and kill not anyone whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause (according to Islamic law)”
Do not kill any soul except upon Haqq. This soul could be a Jew living in a Muslim country such as Egypt under the permission of the Egyptian government. Therefore, it is forbidden to kill any soul except with Haqq, What is Haqq? When is a muslim ruler allowed to kill? This is only allowed in the cases specified by Allah. For example, if someone killed an innocent person then killing this man (through the ruler) will be upon Haqq.
We need to ponder upon the commands of Allah and try to understand the wisdom and mercy behind them, and live upon these commands. Doing this will make us from those who understand and we will acquire sound thinking.
Allah says:
وَلَا تَقۡرَبُواْ مَالَ ٱلۡيَتِيمِ إِلَّا بِٱلَّتِى هِىَ أَحۡسَنُ حَتَّىٰ يَبۡلُغَ أَشُدَّهُ ۥۖ وَأَوۡفُواْ ٱلۡڪَيۡلَ وَٱلۡمِيزَانَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِۖ لَا نُكَلِّفُ نَفۡسًا إِلَّا وُسۡعَهَاۖ وَإِذَا قُلۡتُمۡ فَٱعۡدِلُواْ وَلَوۡ ڪَانَ ذَا قُرۡبَىٰۖ وَبِعَهۡدِ ٱللَّهِ أَوۡفُواْۚ ذَٲلِڪُمۡ وَصَّٮٰكُم بِهِۦ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَذَكَّرُونَ (١٥٢)
“And come not near to the orphan’s property, except to improve it, until he or she attains the age of full strength; and give full measure and full weight with justice. We burden not any person, but that which he can bear. And whenever you give your word (i.e. judge between men or give evidence), say the truth even if a near relative is concerned, and fulfil the Covenant of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى . This He commands you, that you may remember. [Surah Anaam – Verse 152]
The Quran teaches us how Allah cares for weak people, and commands us to be especially merciful with them. An orphan is one of the categories of weak people; the child is helpless and cannot fight for his rights, so you will find the verses of Allah threatening anyone who thinks of depriving the orphan from his rights. If you have authority upon this orphan then don’t come close to his money (don’t benefit from his money) and handle his money in the best way for him.
For example, if we have two ways to invest this money, low risk and high risk investments, then choose the low risk; if profitable and more profitable, then take the more profitable one. So the guardian should take by the means to protect the orphan’s inheritance until this orphan reaches maturity. Allah directed us how to know when the child has become mature enough and this is by testing him/her and see if he/she has wisdom to use the money wisely. if they do, then give him the money, but if he/she is not mature enough and he/she will misuse it then delay it and wait for him to understand the importance of this money, and will spend it wisely then give it back to him.
“and give full measure and full weight with justice”
Al Kail – meaning the tool that measures not by the weight but sort of a cup, this cup will be half a litre. Al Mizan – weighs half a kilo, 1 kilo etc.
One of the Salaf used to weigh for people, before he weighed he used to clean the scale in case the dirt or anything on the scale might affect the fairness of the scaling. He was so keen on applying the verse.
You will find in Muslim lands if someone is pious he makes sure that the scale of the goods he is weighing goes down. For example, he will put an extra orange to make sure.
While buying and selling try to be fair. Don’t play smart. This is not smartness. True smartness is to trade with Allah, to get rewarded by Allah, not just to save one or two dollars.
We need to be fair enough when dealing with people and fulfil the rights. Don’t just make sure to take your own rights, be sure to give the other person his rights and be fair.
Allah commanded us to be fair with the weighing and dealings of trading, yet Allah will not hold you responsible for something except what is within your ability. You will not be accounted for except what is within your ability. Why? Because not anyone can do it hundred percent right.
For example, if I want to sell my laptop the fair price might be 500 dollars, I may not know the correct resale price. So I bought it for 700 dollars, used it for 1 year then I want to sell it for 600 dollars, thinking that 600 dollars is fair. So you try to be fair, but if you weren’t able to price correctly Allah will not put you to account, because you didn’t know the fair price. So we just need to do our best to make sure that we deal fairly with people and Allah excuses any unintended error.
In this case Allah says “Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope.” [Surah Baqarah – Verse 286]
“And whenever you give your word (i.e. judge between men or give evidence), say the truth even if a near relative is concerned”
If you say a statement or judgement then be just and truthful. Say the truth even if the one you are going to witness against is a relative of yours. He might be a father or husband or son.
Shaikh Uthaymeen says that here Allah did not make an exception in this command by saying “Allah burdens not a person beyond his scope.” Why? When Allah says be just in weighing, pricings, dealings, it might not be easy to determine what is the just price or dealing. But when Allah commands that if you say a statement or judgement be just and truthful, saying the truth is within our control. We say what we know, it’s our choice. There is no error or hard to reach Haqq and justice. I am saying what I know and what I believe is true.
“and fulfil the Covenant of Allah ”
What is the Ahd (Covenant) of Allah ? To single out Allah in worship which includes obeying Allah’s command.
Allah said to the sons of Israel:
“I’m with you if you establish the prayers and pay the zakat and believe in my prophets and aid my prophets and you take and spend for the sake of Allah , I am going to forgive your sins and I’m going to make you enter Jannah under which rivers flow. And anyone after this Covenant becomes scattered again then he is astray”
So Allah will forgive us and include us in Jannah. This is the right of “La ilaha Illa Allah ”.
“This He commands you, that you may remember”
This is the commands of Allah so that we might be amongst the people of remembrance. Allah is giving us these beautiful commands, we need to ponder upon them and be aware of them and act upon them to be from the people of remembrance.
Then Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says:
وَأَنَّ هَذَا صِرَاطِي مُسْتَقِيمًا فَاتَّبِعُوهُ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ السُّبُلَ فَتَفَرَّقَ بِكُمْ عَن سَبِيلِهِ ذَلِكُمْ وَصَّاكُم بِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ – الأنعام 153
The Sirat (Path) here means to follow the commands of Allah through the Quran and the Sunnah.
Sometimes Allah attributes the Sirat “The Path” to Him, referring to it as “My Sirat” because Allah is the One who legislated it to us, and it is the only way to reach Allah, to the pleasure of Allah and gain reward of Allah.
The sirat is a straight path which anyone can follow, but there are barriers such as self desires. So, we need to ask Allah’s aid and try to free ourselves from any desires which will prevent us from following the path of Allah and to set one great goal to achieve which is to please Allah and attain His reward. Strive not to allow any worldly pleasure or desire to take you away from your goal and aim.
Nothing should stop me, I want to reach this goal. So make your Lord One, the One you are eager to please is One and your fear is from one, Allah.
This is the only way to be able to follow the straight path.
Hadith: It was narrated from Anas that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
“Every son of Adam commits sin, and the best of those who commit sin are those who repent.’”
Yet, no one is able to keep following the straight path constantly and in every situation. We are weak as humans and we do fall into sins. So I slip but I go back quickly; whenever we deviate from the straight path (by committing sins) we need to repent and go back again on the path because unless we go back the deviation will be greater and greater which will take us away from the path.
To be able to follow the correct path we need the guidance of Allah and we need to learn about Allah and the religion of Allah and the way of the prophet peace be upon him. We need to seek the Haqq and free our hearts from any personal desires, and free ourselves from hoping in people or fearing them.
We ask Allah to fill our heart with His love, to guide us to the truth wherever it is. When we know the Haqq, then we act upon this Haqq. If you do this then you will be guided to the straight path (Siratul Mustaqim) and will be preserved from going astray.
This is a edited transcribed class given by Zayneb al Kateb to her students. To join please visit (ONLY SISTERS)
