These are notes from Sheikh Abdul Mun’im Burkhes halaqa taken by my friend. The Shaikh explained Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's (rahimahullah) book al-Wabil as-Sayyib min Kalim at-Tayyib (Abundant Showers from the Good Word). This session was on the chapter: 'The 'Effects (and need) of Dhikr'.
Recap: Reminding us that a human being goes through 3 types of situations:
-enjoying with bounties and everything is fine. The human should offer thanks with the tongue, body parts and hearts
-going through hardships, difficulties, trials, means that a person should be patient in heart, tongue and body parts.
-when one falls into sin, the duty of the person is to repent and seek forgiveness from Allah SWT and turn back to Him
This is the way to establish ‘Ubudiya (servitude) based upon complete love and humility to Allah SWT. This entails that you will humble and love Allah SWT much before anyone else. You can’t achieve this without a straight and steadfast heart; the first way is to give precedence to loving Allah SWT over anything else and anything else. Also, to give respect to order and the prohibitions (i.e. complying to the standards). Therefore, giving due respect will show that you truly love Allah SWT.
He went on to clarify that one to give due respect it is that you do not oppose these orders/prohibitions and you don’t expose them of going overboard and transgress limits or being too lax and falling short of reaching the straight path. The object of Shaytan, is to get a servant out of the Straight Path and he doesn’t care how this will happen; he assesses a person’s character (i.e. strong and ambition) would make a person go overboard or if he is lazy (i.e. too easy-going) then he will make things so relaxed that the person would fall short of the Straight Path.
Thus, one should be careful of this and the following of the rules correctly. Therefore explanations shouldn’t be given to Allah SWT’s commands; you don’t philosophize Allah’s sayings-there is Wisdom behind these acts-following it is what is required.
A Hadith that talks about excellence and dhikr under Al-Harith Al-Ashari says as follows:
-5 words were said to Yahya AS, son of Zakariya AS by Allah SWT to the Children of Israel. Yahya AS was going to delay but Isa AS warned him-he said that either you command them, or I will command them. Yahya said that either I will be tormented if you do this before me or open the earth. He said to the people after gathering them:
1. Worship Allah-don’t associate any partners with Him. A man who bought a slave with his pure money and told the slave to work in the house and whatever fruits from the work should be given to the master. That slave used to work and used to give the benefit to other than the owner. The Prophet SAW warned against this..
2. Allah orders you to pray; do not turn your faces as surely Allah SWT turns his face as long as the person doesn’t turn his face.
3. Order you to fast; the parable of fasting is a man in a group with a bag full of musk. Everybody was amazed and wondering at this very nice scent. Surely, the Prophet SAW said the scent of the fasting person is better in the sight of Allah SWT than the fragrance of musk.
4. Order to give charity (Sadaqa); the example of that is the example of a person captivated by the enemy. They tied up his hands to his neck and brought him forward to chop of his neck. The prisoner said: I will save myself with whatever himself and was saved from the captivation of the enemy.
5. Remember Allah-the example of that is the example of that is the enemy who runs after a man very fast to a point that they came to a fortified fort and the escaper protected himself from him. The person only can protect himself from Shaytan through remembering Allah SWT.
Now, the Prophet SAW ordered with five more commandments:
1. Allah has commanded to perform Jihad, stick to Jam’ah: the one who drifts away from the group even a hand-span has basically abandoned Islam like taking off a garment except if he returns. The one who calls by the call of Jahiliyah, (e.g. chauvinism, fanaticism, tribalism, etc), then he is from the people of Jahanam. A man asked the Prophet SAW, even if the person prayed and fast-the Prophet SAW said that even if he claimed he is a Muslim thus he suggested to call by the call of Allah.
Explanation of the first part:
Tawheed: the Prophet SAW mentioned that every Muslim should memorize and understand in this great Hadith what protects/saves one from Shaytan-how the person would attain success and salvation in this life and the Next. Thus, he explained the parable of the Muwahhid and Mushrik. The Muwahhid is like the one who worked for his Master, and gave to his Master, the gain of what he has been employed for. As for the Mushriq, he is like the one who works for the master but gives the fruits and harvest of the work to other than his owner. This is the parable of the mushrik. He works for other than Allah SWT in the land that belongs to Allah SWT and draws closer to the enemy based on the bounties Allah SWT gave to him. If a slave would be like this on earth, he would be hated and expelled even because of his inconsiderate work and the master would be so angry will being a mere created being.
They are both bestowed by the bounties of Allah SWT so if this is the case, what about the Lord of the Worlds who no bounty on the face of the Earth gives good except Him and no one repels evil except Him and single-handedly created his servant, ran affairs of the servant, gave him sanctity from sickness, gave him provision.. So then, how is it fitting for a slave to give love to the same meaning to a servant of Allah than Allah? How can he swear by someone like this or treat someone other than Allah the same way? Or fear him? Or anything else that is from the Worship of Allah? This would be a very dangerous condition indeed and the situation of these people (mushrikeen) what you witness from their conditions, statements and actions, you will see as if they are saying that they love Allah’s rivals whether they are living or dead so he said their condition witnesses against them. This is a Shirk (association of partners with Allah) WHICH Allah Never Forgives. Surah Nisa: 48 affirms this-that Allah will never forgive for such an instance but Allah SWT may forgive for anything else to whoever He wills SWT.
Oppression/transgression/wrongdoing with Allah SWT has three categories:
-1. A category where Allah SWT will not forgive anything: that is Shirk.
-2. There is a second category where Allah doesn’t leave any of it-holding the human accountable for any condition where oppression by humans by other humans where Allah SWT will take the rights of the oppressed ones will get back the rights and justice is fully served.
-3. Allah SWT doesn’t give any weight/consideration to it: that is oppression that a human being commits against his ownself between himself and Allah SWT other than Shirk. Whatever else between you and Allah, the person will not give any weight to those sins. This category of oppression is the lightest of the types of oppression and the fastest of being erased by repentance and seeking forgiveness and doing good deeds that wash away the sins. Also, the sins that are between you and Allah can be washed through calamities that befall you-this would expiate the sins and washing it away to a point where even if a thorn pinches you, then there is reward in that (Hadith). Only a believer has this-if he goes through good, he is thankful, if he’s in bad, he is patient. This is the category Allah doesn’t give weight to because it can be erased so easily Inshallah. Unlike the categories above that contain Shirk, then it can’t be erased except by Tawhid and the category of sins/oppressions while the second type of oppressions, can’t be washed except by asking the people to forgive and pardon you for what you are done or giving them back there rights.
The Sheikh said since the Shirk in worship with Allah was the gravest of the three categories in Allah’s Sight, he prohibited Paradise for these peoples. None so who will enter Paradise if that soul had Shirk in it. Rather, the Paradise will only be for the people of Tawhid and this is the key to the door of Paradise. So the one who doesn’t have the key of tawheed, then he can’t enter because it’s door will not be opened. Likewise if one brought a key that has no teeth of it, is struck by the same problem; the one who comes with such can’t open the door-the teeth of the key are the pillars of Allah, Jihad, commanding good, forbidding evil, kindness to parents, joining kin, etc. SUBHANALLAH…
Thus the one who has a key with the teeth (commands of Allah), will come to the door and have it’s key to a door that can be opened except if the key is perfectly fitting. If there are evil deeds and big problems a person did, then the person would be jailed from Jannah till he is cleansed from these flaws, burdens. That will be if he is not cleansed by the Day of Judgment and all the hardships that people go through on it-a very hard day that doesn’t even start until an intercessor is found (the Prophet SAW). Thus if those sins were not even erased, then, he has to enter into the fire in order to cleanse the filth from the fire and then can be taken from it and enter to Paradise. For Paradise is the abode of good people unless if the people are fully pure. Allah SWT said that the ones who the Angels take their souls while they are good: Nahl: 32, Zumar:73 [And those who feared their Lord, were taken to Paradise in groups till their doors are opened and the guardians say “Salam Alaykum”. You have been pure so enter it to stay there perpetually-forever]. No one enters except if they are perfectly pure-even those with Tawhid if they have some filth by any means of cleansing, so that the filth or dirt and qualify for Paradise. As for the Fire, it is the abode of filth-statements, actions, food, drinks. It is the abode of the filthy people [Anfal: 37-So that Allah will distinguish the filthy from the pure and make the filth crammed together and put it in Jahanam-such are the losers]. Thus, there is nothing but Khabeeth.
Since the people are upon three degrees, some good are not marred by any filth, some filth that has no purity in it or some filth and some goodness in it; since people are like this, then the abode and homes of the next life are three… Homes for those who are completely good and pure and the other home is for those who are completely filthy-these two homes will never perish and they will remain forever. There is an abode for the one who has good and bad; this is the abode/home that will vanish, that is the home of the disobedient ones. No one of the sinners amongst those upon Tawhid never stays forever in Jahanam. They are punished to how much is deserved and they will be removed from the Fire and enter Paradise, entering only to a complete state. This part deals with the example on Tawhid.
Baseline: The Muwahhid is like the slave who works and delivers the harvest to the owner. Shirk is the worst sin ever that Allah doesn’t ever forgive.
"None of you truly believes (in Allah and in His religion) until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself"