Speaker: Shaykh Saalim Baamihriz الشيخ سالم بن عبد الله بامحرز

Country of Speaker: Saudi Arabia المملكة العربية السعودية

Category:  'Aqeedah عقيدة

Download / Listen - 18.03.2019 - Class 01 [72:46 mins]

• Introduction of The Book : Al-Waṣiyyat Al-Ṣughrá (The Concise Advices)
• Shaykh ul Islām Ibn Taymiyyah’s Style of Writing

Text of The Book : The Question

Abul-'Aasim al-Qasim bin Yūsuf bin Muḥammad at-Tajībi as-Sabti al-Maghribī says, "I requested the Shaykh, Faqīh, respected Imām, `Ālim, last of the pious predecessors and leader of the later generations, inimitable, fascinating, possessor of great eloquence and clarity of expression, the most knowledgeable person I have met in the East or West, Taqi ad-Dīn Abul-`Abbās Aḥmad bin Taymiyyah, (may Allāh enable us to continue benefiting from him): to direct me towards what would set right my affairs of Dīn and Dunyā; to point me towards those books on which I might rely regarding knowledge of Ḥadīth, and similarly for other sciences of the Sharī`ah; to draw my attention towards the best of righteous actions after the compulsory duties; and to explain to me those goals which should outweigh all other aims; - all of this by way of concise guidelines. May Allāh safeguard him, and peace and Allāh’s blessings be on him."

[Points Covered by The Shaykh]

• The Importance of Giving Precedence To The Religion of Islām
• The Fruits In This Life & Next Due To Giving Precedence To The Religion of Islām
• The Trials Faced By Clinging On To The Religion
• The Importance of The Sunnah
• The Four Types of Advice
• The Significance of Seeking Knowledge

Text of The Book: The Answer

The Shaykh of Islām , Ocean of Knowledge, Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allāh bestow His mercy and pleasure on him, answered as follows: All Praise be to Allāh, Lord of the Worlds. To begin with the Waṣiyyah, in my opinion, there is no Waṣiyyah more beneficial than that of Allāh and His Messenger for whoever understands it and follows it.

The Waṣiyyah of Allāh, Mighty and Sublime. *

The Waṣiyyah of Allāh Exalted is mentioned in the following Āyah:

“Verily, We have directed the People of the Book before you, and you (O Muslims) to Fear Allāh” 

 The Messenger's ﷺ Waṣiyyah

 The Prophet ﷺ enjoined on Mu’ādh (Raḍi Allāhu 'anhu) when he sent him to Yemen as a judge, the following:

 ”O Mu’ādh, fear Allāh wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out, and behave well towards people."

[Points Covered by The Shaykh]

• The Definition of Praise
• The Two Main Pieces Found In Beneficial Advice
• The Prophet’s ﷺ Method of Advise
• The Relationship Between The Prophet ﷺ And Mu’ādh Ibn Jabal
• Examples of The Prophet’sﷺ Advice
• How To Benefit From Beneficial Advice
• Definition of Taqwá
• How To Protect Oneself From The Angry of Allāh
• Verses From The Qur’ān Regarding Taqwá

Download / Listen - 25.03.2019 - Class 02 [79:36 mins]

Text of The Book

The Messenger's ﷺ Waṣiyyah

The Prophet ﷺ enjoined on Mu’ādh (Raḍi Allāhu 'anhu) when he sent him to Yemen as a judge, the following:

"O Mu’ādh, fear Allāh wherever you are, and follow up a bad deed with a good one and it will wipe it out, and behave well towards people."

The Excellence of Mu’ādh bin Jabal

Mu’ādh had a high status in the eyes of the Prophet ﷺ who once said to him, " O Mu’ādh! By Allāh, truly I love you."

Sometimes, the Messenger would let Mu’ādh ride behind him on the same mount. It is also narrated about him that he is the most knowledgeable person in the Ummah about the (issues of) Ḥalāl and Ḥarām (Lawful and Prohibited) , and on the Day of Resurrection he will be raised up one step ahead of all the people of knowledge.

Also, part of Mu’ādh's excellence is that the Prophet sent him to the people of Yemen as a preacher on his behalf, a caller, a man of understanding in the Dīn, a giver of religious verdicts, and a judge.

He also used to compare Mu’ādh to Ibrāhīm ('alayhis-salaam) , the friend of Allāh and Imām of mankind. Also, Ibn Mas`ūd, used to say, "Verily, Mu’ādh is a leader of the people, he is Allāh’s obedient slave, and he is not of the polytheists" , thus comparing him to Ibrāhīm.

With all these qualities of Mu’ādh, the Prophet ﷺ bequeathed to him this Waṣiyyah, so we know that this Waṣiyyah is comprehensive, and whoever understands it will see that it is so. Furthermore, it is an explanation of the Qur’ānic Waṣiyyah.

The Reason for the Comprehensiveness of the Waṣiyyah

As for the explanation of the comprehensiveness of this legacy, it covers the fact that there are two rights over a human being:

(i) The responsibility towards Allāh, Mighty and Sublime;

(ii) The responsibility towards His servants.

Further, (the Waṣiyyah also covers the fact ) that there will always be a deficiency in each person's fufilling of this responsibility, e.g. by missing a duty or doing something forbidden: hence the Messenger ﷺ said, "Fear Allāh wherever you may be".

This statement is comprehensive and his words "wherever you are" confirm that the human being is in need of taqwá (piety, fear of Allāh) both secretly and in the open. He then said, "Follow up a bad deed with a good one, which will cancel it"

The example of this is that whenever a patient eats something bad for him, the doctor prescribes him to take something which will make him better.

Since it is definite that a human being will commit sin, the wise person is the one who is continuously doing good acts in order that the effects of his bad deeds are cancelled out.

In this ḥadīth, the phrase "bad deed" is used first because the purpose here is to wipe out bad deeds, rather than to do good deeds; hence, this saying is like his ﷺ saying about the bedouin's urine, "Pour over his urine a bucketful of water."

The types of actions by which sins can be forgiven

It is also most appropriate that the good deeds be of the same nature as the bad deeds, for that is most effective in cancellation. The recompense for sins can be averted through several things:

(i) Tawbah (repentance)

(ii) Istighfār (asking for forgiveness), even without repentance, for Allāh does forgive in answer to one's supplication even if he has not repented; however, if repentance and forgiveness are combined (i.e. a person stops sinning and petitions for forgiveness), then that is ideal.

(iii) good and correct actions which are Kaffārāt (expiating sins).

The Kaffārāt are of two types:

a) Specified Kaffārāt, i.e. in those actions for which the Sharī’ah has fixed an expiation. Examples of such Kaffārāt are those for commiting intercourse while fasting in Ramaḍān, for saying to one's wife, "you are like a mother to me", for violating certain prohibitions during Ḥajj or leaving some of its obligations, or for killing game in the Ḥarām; all these have established allotted ways to expiate the sins, of four types: sacrifice, freeing a slave, charity and fasting.

b) General Kaffārāt, as Hudhaifah radiAllahu 'anhu said to 'Umar radiAllahu 'anhu, "Fitna is caused to a man due to his family, wealth and children; so prayer, fasting, charity, enjoining goodness and forbiding evil wipe this out." Also on this point, the Qur’ān and saheeh aḥādīth prove that the five daily prayers, Friday Prayer, fasting, Ḥajj and other actions expiate sin, regarding which it is said, "Whoever says such-and-such or does such-and-such, then he is forgiven, or his previous sins are forgiven." There are many of these types of actions; whoever researches into the books of Ḥadīth will find them in abundance, particularly in those books compiled regarding the virtues of actions.”

[Points Covered by The Shaykh]

• The Prophet’s ﷺ Advise To Mu’ādh
• The Status of Mu’ādh To The Prophet ﷺ
• The Prophet’s ﷺ Love of Mu’ādh
• The Virtues of Mu’ādh
• The Definition & Explanation of Taqwá
• Statements Regarding Taqwá
• The Fruits of Having Taqwá
• The Deficiency Found In Every Person
• Steps To Be Take When One Has Fallen Short
• The Conditions of Repentance
• The Fruits of Returning Back To Allāh
• The Importance of Guarding One’s Chasity
• The Different Means To Erase One’s Sins & Shortcomings

Download / Listen - 01.04.2019 - Class 03 [63:33 mins]

Text of The Book:

Influence of the Habits of Ignorance, Especially of the Jews & Christians

It should be known that care regarding expiation of sins is one of the most important needs of a person, for otherwise one acquires habits similar to those of the Days of Ignorance, especially in this age and those ages where Revelation and Messengership has stopped. Even one who is brought up amongst people of Knowledge and Faith finds himself polluted by many aspects of Jahiliyah, so what about one who does not have that advantage?!

In the Ṣaḥīḥs of Bukhārī and Muslim, there is a hadeeth on the authority of Abu Sa`īd that the Messengerﷺ said, "You will certainly follow the ways of those nations who were before you, span by span and cubit by cubit, so much so that even if they entered a lizard's hole, you would follow them." They said, "O Messenger ! (Do you mean) the Jews and the Christians ?" He said, "Who else ?

This ḥadīth is supported by the Qur’ān: ... they had their enjoyment of their portion, and you have yours as did those before you, and you indulge in idle talk as they did ...

This ḥadīth is supported also by many ṣaḥīḥ and ḥasan narrations.

This matter does affect even the elite people who are attributed with the Faith, as several of the Salaf, e.g. Ibn `Uyainah, have said, "that some people attributed with Knowledge have become affected by many of the conditions of the Jews, and some of those attributed with Piety have been affected by many of the conditions of the Christians", as will be perceived by one who understands the reality of the deen of Islam, with which Allāh Ta'ala sent the Messenger , and compares with the situation of the people.

With the situation as it is, that person whose heart Allāh has made open, and is firm on the light that Allāh has given him, who was dead and then Allāh brought him to life and gave him light by which he could move among the people; for such a one, it is necessary to be aware of the conditions of Ignorance and the path of the two nations, "those who incurred (Allāh’s) anger" and "those astray" i.e. the Jews and Christians, so he may realise which things have affected him.

Hence, one of the most beneficial things for both the advanced and ordinary person is knowledge of what he can do to liberate himself from these pitfalls, and that is to follow up bad deeds with good ones, good deeds being the actions, manners and characteristics which Allāh has recommended on the tongue of the last Prophet ﷺ.

Another category of things which avert the consequences of sinning is "expiating misfortunes", i.e. whatever causes hardship or suffering, be it fear or sorrow, or harm to one's wealth, honour, body, etc.. However, of course, these misfortunes are not the work of the person himself.

Good Nature

Next, after the Messenger ﷺ had covered Allāh’s right in the first two clauses, i.e. to act righteously and to rectify any harm done, he said, "... and behave well towards the people", thus turning to the right of one's fellow worshippers.

The essence of being good-natured to people is that: he who cuts off relations with you, that you keep an association with him, giving him greetings, respecting him, supplicating for him, asking Allāh to forgive him, speaking of him in good terms and visiting him; he who deprives you of knowledge, benefit and wealth, you give them in return; and he who does an injustice to you regarding blood, wealth or honour, you forgive him. Some of these actions are obligatory and others are recommended.

As for the "great character" which Allāh described Muḥammad’s ﷺ way, it is no other than the complete Deen, comprising of everything that Allāh commanded him with, as explained by Mujāhid and other knowledgeable commentators; it is no other than the implementation of the Qur'aan, as ‘Ā’isha RadiAllahu 'Anhaa said, "His character was the Qur’ān", and the reality of it is an eagerness to put into practice those things that Allāh loves, with purity of soul and openness of heart.

[Points Covered By The Shaykh]

• The Three Obligations Upon A Person
• The Encouragement To Do Good Deeds
• The Best Ways To Draw Closer To Allāh
• Explanation of The Periods of Jāhiliyyah
• The Different Types of The Periods of Jāhiliyyah
• Example of Practices From The Periods of Jāhiliyyah Present in Today’s Day & Time
• The Virtues of Seeking Forgiveness
• The Virtues of Repentance
• The Virtues of Being Tested By Allāh
• Explanation of The Rights Over One Another
• Examples of The People’s Rights Over One Another
• The Importance of Having Good Character Towards The People