Transcription
Your dominion, glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. O Allah, teach us what benefits us, and benefit us from what You have taught us, and increase us in knowledge. Grant us understanding in religion, and join us with the righteous, by Your mercy, O Most Merciful of the merciful. O Allah, teach us what we do not know, and make us understand what we do not comprehend, and guide us to the strongest path. And peace and blessings be upon our master Muhammad, the trustworthy Prophet, and upon his family and companions, and upon all who followed his path, called to his message, and followed his footsteps until the Day of Judgment. Brothers in faith, peace be upon you all, and the mercy of Allah and His blessings. We praise Allah that He has favored us with this gathering in this blessed house during these good days, asking Allah to make these sessions weigh heavily on the scales, which we will find on the day we meet Him. [Music] And after this, I want this session, based on what we hear here and there, especially on social media, from issues, to be titled "Provocation." And before delving into this topic, it would be good if we refer back to the previous session, the last lesson, titled "Spending in the Cause of Allah," to present another formulation, to add to the formulation that I might have mentioned in the last session, which numbers five or six, more or less. The other formulation in which Allah has encouraged or urged His servants to spend in His cause, and in various acts of righteousness, is that Allah, the Almighty, has made spending in His cause an indicator by which a person knows the extent of his attainment of the degree of piety, righteousness, and the desired servitude. Glory be to Allah, an indicator. So, if one of us finds himself, in the sense that he spends willingly in the cause of good, let him be reassured and gladden his heart, and say to himself, "Praise be to Allah, I have reached a level that is pleasing to Allah, God willing." And He is piety, righteousness, and servitude. The indicator is spending in the cause of Allah. Allah says in this regard, as a confirmation, after seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan: "The righteous are those who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them. Those are upon guidance from their Lord, and it is those who are the successful." So, the description of the righteous, as Allah said, among their characteristics is that they spend out of what Allah has provided for them, meaning they spend in the cause of Allah. So, whoever finds himself spending, let him say, "Praise be to Allah." This is a favor from Allah upon him, for all success that a person achieves is only by the grace of Allah, as Allah said through the tongue of our master Shu'ayb, peace be upon him: "And my success is not but through Allah." Likewise, Allah, the Almighty, says: "Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but [true] righteousness is [in] one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of his love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for the freeing of captives and keeps establishment of prayer and gives zakah. And [those who] fulfill their promise when they promise, and [those who] are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle. Those are the ones who have been true, and it is those who are the fearful of Allah." So, the one who spends in the cause of Allah in various acts of righteousness, brothers in faith, has reached a good level for which he should thank Allah and praise Him, and ask Him to sustain him in this righteousness and piety. "Beautified for people is the desire for things they want from women, children, hoarded treasures of gold and silver, branded horses, livestock, and fields. That is the enjoyment of [this] worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return. Say, 'Shall I inform you of something better than that?' For those who fear Allah will be with their Lord, gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding eternally therein, and purified companions and the pleasure of Allah. And Allah is seeing of [His] servants – Those who say, 'Our Lord, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire.' – The patient, the truthful, the obedient, those who spend [in the cause of Allah], and those who seek استغفار in the pre-dawn." So, the spenders, who spend in the cause of Allah, their action is a proof, a proof that they have reached the level of desired servitude, the degree of piety and righteousness. So, we ask Allah, all of us, brothers in faith, for steadfastness upon that good. We come to the topic of this session. It is mentioned in a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, narrated by Umm Salamah in Tirmidhi, and also by Ahmad, Nasa'i, Abu Dawud, and Al-Hakim, that when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, left his house, he would say: [Music] "In the name of Allah, I have relied upon Allah. O Allah, we seek refuge in You from being humiliated or causing humiliation, or going astray or causing others to go astray, or being wronged or wronging others, or being ignorant or being treated with ignorance." This hadith, which contains this supplication, [Music] shows, as we see, that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, teaches us, his Ummah, the Ummah of Muhammad, peace be upon him, the Ummah of the Quran, that we ask Allah to help us against ourselves, so that we do not attack anyone, provoke anyone, harm anyone, or bully anyone, or be bullied by anyone. We should remain as if we are always in a state of ritual purity, fearing that our purity might be broken, as if we are in a constant fast, fearing that our fast might be lost. The supplication is not just about asking Allah to protect me from those who harm me, but also from me harming people. A person harms others, whether he knows it or not. He asks Allah to help him against himself, so that he does not harm anyone. "We seek refuge in You from being humiliated or causing humiliation." It was said in the interpretation of the hadith, or in the meanings of the hadith, according to the scholars of hadith, that "al-zalal" is an unintentional mistake. You do not intend to offend someone, so you ask Allah, "O Allah, make me not offend anyone." "I seek refuge in You from being humiliated or causing humiliation." See how, I do not offend people intentionally or unintentionally, nor, O Lord, keep me from someone offending me and harming me in myself. Brothers in faith, rather, provocation [Music] I will address it from three aspects: provocation itself, in terms of its elements or what leads to provocation, the provoked person who is subjected to provocation, and the provocateur. The provoked person who is subjected to provocation, and the provocateur who provokes people. And provocation means that a person does an act that leads to harm in the psyche of another, affecting him and making him psychologically hurt by a word you said intentionally or unintentionally. You have provoked him here. There will be a reaction from him. He might respond to you with harsh words, or as you said, or he might complain about you, or pray against you, or do nothing, but he is hurt in his soul, and you will incur, God forbid, the sin of what you said. We will now proceed to clarification. Let's come to the first element. This, brothers in faith, as the wise say, "We seek refuge in You from being humiliated or causing humiliation." This should not be said only when you leave the house, but when you open your phone, before you open it, say, "In the name of Allah, I have relied upon Allah. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from harming." Why? Because your communication with people is not like before, only when you meet them face-to-face. Now you communicate with people while you are in your home, in your bedroom, communicating with the whole world. Therefore, seek refuge in Allah to protect you so that you do not harm or are harmed. This hadith, which the Messenger of Allah said, and this good supplication, now includes not only those who leave their homes, but also those who want to open their phones because they will communicate, they will communicate with people. Let's come to the first element. The first element, brothers in faith, what are the means of provocation from one person to another? Among them is what Allah, the Almighty, says: "O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin." We find these days and these periods, and always since this communication came, and before that, in face-to-face interactions between people, suspicion among them towards each other. Brothers in faith, suspicion is called by the scholars of creed as "acting as God." It is as if you have appointed yourself God instead of Allah. You know what is in a person's heart, and you judge him based on what you think you know, and you know nothing. Knowledge of the unseen belongs only to Allah. [Music] So, you have become arrogant towards Allah. Look at the seriousness of the matter. Look at judging a person who tweeted an innocent tweet or said an innocent word, and then, God forbid, may Allah protect us and you from such talk, we delve into the person's intentions and say, "This is what he meant, and this is what he intended, and this is what he did," leading us to pass judgments. [Music] What is the result? We provoked that person. We provoked that person. What provocation? I will come to the results, the worldly and otherworldly results of provocation later in the discussion. So, we must not suspect people, and if we suspect, we do not investigate, as the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said in a narration: "When you suspect, do not investigate." If the matter does not concern you, do not search for it, rather do not suspect, and seek good interpretations to excuse your brother for what he said and did. This is the upbringing of the Messenger of Allah, rather it is an order from Allah to us. Allah, the Almighty, says: "O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption." We are provoked by those we suspect and criticize them with just a passing word or something. Let's come to "And do not spy." Also, if you know something about a person, spying on him provokes him. "O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule another people; perhaps they may be better than them." And let not women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult each other and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Also, this is annoying. You give him a nickname he doesn't like. "Wretched is the name of unrighteousness after faith." Wretched is the characteristic of unrighteousness, to be a believer and then to be unrighteous. Allah called this unrighteousness, the one who attacks people and talks about them or about things that do not concern him. It does not concern you. People do not concern you. Why do you attack people? Fix your affairs. Strive to fix yourself so that you leave this life safe and come to Allah with a sound heart. You don't care about others. Leave others to their own affairs. So, also, "O you who have believed, O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption." We said, "Let not a people ridicule another people." The important thing is that a person, in the sense of always trying as much as possible not to harm others with a word, is safer for him. Let's come to what is the consequence of this. This thing, without us realizing it, you said a word that, to him, is like a slap on his face, and you are cool-headed. But it affects him psychologically. What is the sin incurred by the provoked person by the word he said or the action he did, like a neighbor attacking his neighbor? Provocation is also considered a colleague attacking a colleague. Provocation at work. Sometimes it's not verbal; it can extend to work. The consequence of this, brothers in faith, look, this is a great sin with Allah, the Almighty. This is a settled matter. Why? Because this person who is subjected to provocation might be delayed in sleep. You harmed him and made him think a lot at night and delay his sleep. He might miss the dawn prayer. This harm, regardless of whether he missed the prayer or not, and God willing, he will wake up, but delaying sleep because of a word will incur sin upon that provocateur for causing that person to delay his sleep. The psychological distress that occurs to him, he will incur sin for this distress. He will enter his home, and he is, so to speak, agitated. It might reach the point where he hits his children, attacks his wife at home because of a word he heard. No one in the house is calm. Someone caused him distress with a word. That person also has a share of the sin, God forbid. Doctors say that many organic diseases are caused by psychological diseases. So, if this word leads him to become organically ill, to have a disease in his body after being psychologically distressed, all that he loses in terms of money for treatment, and pain, that person who attacked him is feared to incur sin for what he did to him. The seriousness of a word. A word that you don't pay attention to, as mentioned in a hadith from the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, throws its owner into hellfire for seventy autumns. A word you say, you don't know, you don't care about it, but it has an effect. Just consider, if this person couldn't pray because of a word you said about him, see how sensitive people are. I read about this topic and researched it on websites and channels, and I found that people vary in their sensitivity to what they hear. So, when you cause him to miss his prayer, where are you from Allah? Where are you from Allah that you caused him harm to the extent that you distracted him from his prayer and all other acts of worship? Let's come to the worldly ruling. It is known. You go to court, and you are fined and imprisoned. The laws are known, regarding provocation and bullying, depending on the extent of the harm he suffered. But there is a higher court, the just court of Allah. It says that to the extent you harm people, Allah will harm you. Here is the danger. You harm people, and you will receive a share of harm, harm from Allah upon you because you harmed people in their souls. Therefore, you find people today saying, "Brother, I am upset. What will you do?" "I'll travel, I'll go abroad." "Why?" "To relax a bit." Tell him, "Go, travel. As long as you have harmed someone, you will not find peace. Wherever you go, fix yourself, as the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: 'Fix what is between you and Allah, and Allah will fix what is between you and people.'" Meaning, fix your relationship with Allah by not harming people, and Allah will fix your relationship with people, and your soul will be at ease, and your affairs will stabilize, God willing. You will not find peace, no matter what you do, no matter where you go. You will not find peace until you seek Allah's forgiveness and apologize for the harm you have caused. We will come to the evidence from the Quran. So, let's come now to this just court of Allah, brothers in faith. It is not about "So-and-so wronged me, I forgive you, but..." but rather "You wronged me for the sake of Allah." Here is the problem. You have wronged me for the sake of Allah. Allah will do with you as He wills. And you have entrusted yourself to Allah. Here is the danger. He remained silent, he did not respond to you, but he entrusted himself to Allah, and the Lord of all worlds, when He entrusts something, glory be to Him, He takes revenge for the oppressed. "Indeed, Allah defends those who have believed." Glory be to Him and His greatness. So, in essence, brothers in faith, so that we may have peace in our lives and our hearts may be at ease, and we may be happy and joyful every day, let us not darken the lives of people, nor utter words that may affect them. Do we want these good qualities in our lives and our relationships? Let's come now to the provocateur. What did Allah and His Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him, say to him? Provocation, brothers in faith, is a Quranic word. [Music] We say to the provocateur, the provocateur who causes harm to people psychologically, materially, and morally, we say to him that the characteristic of provocation is a satanic characteristic that Allah willed to be among the actions of Satan. So, do not follow the footsteps of Satan and do the work of devils, and harm people and provoke them. Allah, the Almighty, tells us about it when He said: "And incite whomever you can among them with your voice." Allah is speaking to Satan, not as a command to him, but in the sense that you will provoke people, but you will be held accountable on the Day of Judgment, of course, Satan is promised punishment on the Day of Judgment. So, this act of provocation is a satanic act. "And incite whomever you can among them with your voice." So, O so-and-so, do not do the work of devils by provoking people. Do the work of righteous people who say good to people, and speak good to people. This is what we say to him. We say to those we know, "O so-and-so, from you," and each person says a word and responds. Now people are governed by laws, but this is not a good characteristic. It is also the characteristic of criminals, not the characteristic of believers and the righteous. The characteristic of provocation is the characteristic of criminals. Allah, the Almighty, says: "Pharaoh intended to provoke them, so We drowned him and those with him, all together." He intended to provoke them. He wanted to take them out of their state, to the point where they would leave the country. The intensity of provocation sometimes makes you leave a company if you work in a company. You are late, you submit your resignation from the ministry, because you faced strong provocation from an official or something, and you leave. The departure of the provoked is dangerous for the provocateur. The departure of the provoked is dangerous for the provocateur. We will come, we will come with the Quranic text. It is also the characteristic of criminals, as I said, because the disbelievers of Quraysh, Allah says about them to the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him: "And indeed, they were about to provoke you from the land to expel you from it." So, this is the characteristic of the disbelievers. They were about to, rather they were provoking the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, in various ways of provocation, so that he would leave the city he was in. Let's come to the worldly punishment for the provocateur by the provoked. Allah said: "And indeed, they were about to provoke you from the land to expel you from it, and then they would not have remained after you, except for a little while." If you cause harm to a person, you drive him out of his state, and you cause him to leave, whether from a group, you harmed him and he left, or he left even from the entire country. He sold his house and left, went away, or said, "I won't stay here as long as the people there are always saying bad things." Allah will expel you from this country where you live, perhaps to a hospital, a clinic, or to the grave. Allah will expel you, just as He expelled the Children of Israel when Pharaoh and his people provoked the Children of Israel and Moses, peace be upon him. He immediately expelled them and drowned them. Allah drowned them. "He intended to provoke them, so We drowned him and those with him, all together." So, the punishment is immediate for whoever commits the sin of provocation against others. "And indeed, they were about to provoke you from the land to expel you from it, and then they would not have remained after you, except for a little while." Why did He say, "This is the Sunnah of those We had sent before you of Our messengers, and you will not find in Our Sunnah any change"? This is a law. [Music] The disbelievers of Quraysh expelled the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, from Mecca. Allah expelled them directly to Badr, and seventy of them were killed, the most stubborn and strong of the disbelievers who caused the expulsion of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him. "And if it were not for your people and my people, I would not have gone out." But they harmed him and expelled him. So, Allah expelled them. He did not just expel them from one place to another; He expelled them to hell. They were killed in Badr. The scholars of wisdom say in the interpretation of this verse: This is a divine law with Allah. Whoever causes harm to a person and expels him with words or actions, forcing him to leave, Allah will expel that provocateur. Allah will expel him, whether, as I mentioned, to such and such, or to such and such, from what I have mentioned. So, in essence, brothers in faith, the danger, the danger of a word. Before you write it on your phone, beware, beware of touching the dignity of a person, or of deceiving, of scratching, so to speak, the dignity of a creature of people through these means, because it will return to you sooner or later. You don't know the reason for what happened to you, but search yourself. What did you do? What did you do? Did you curse anyone? Did you accuse anyone? Did you talk about anyone? Did you hurt someone's feelings? Search, search, and seek Allah's forgiveness, and apologize if you find it. God willing, Allah will fix your affairs, and do not do it again. Let's come now to the provoked person, the one who was provoked. What did Allah and His Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him, say to him? "So be patient, indeed the promise of Allah is truth, and let not those who have no certainty make you restless." Restlessness here means provocation. So, be strong. Do not let every word affect you and bother you. Strengthen yourself. "The word is great." Be patient. "Indeed, the promise of Allah is truth." You will receive blows, but endure them, and let Allah defend you. This is what the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, did, as well as the previous prophets, peace be upon them all. They were patient and endured. If you can't bear it anymore, receive the words, endure them. Be the bigger person, as they say. Broaden your chest and your mind. "So be patient, indeed the promise of Allah is truth." What is Allah's promise to them? That Allah will take revenge on them. Allah will hold them accountable for their provocation and their making you restless, O Messenger of Allah, and this is a خطاب to all believers. "So be patient, indeed the promise of Allah is truth, and let not those who have no certainty make you restless." Likewise, we say to him that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "The best of people are those who mingle with people and are patient with their harm." So he says, "Brother, brother, they have destroyed me, they have provoked me. The creation, we do good, and we get evil from them." No, be patient. Be patient. "The best of people are those who mingle with people and are patient with their harm." Endure. "And We have made some of you [people] an اختبار for others." The world is like that. Allah has made the world such that there is give and take among people. In the home, endure. In the family, with spouses, with children, endure. The world is like that. Endure the words that come, the actions that come. Endure. Be the bigger person. Broaden your chest. Allah will reward you for this. What should I do? Say, "Goodness to people," and "Speak good to people." Allah, the Almighty, will arrange your affairs, and God willing, you will be rewarded for your endurance and patience, and the Lord of all worlds will take care of those who harm you. So, as we have seen, brothers in faith, the elements of provocation, meaning what leads to provocation, from what I have mentioned and what I have not mentioned from the many things you know, and the provocateur and the provoked, and we have seen the threat of Allah, the Almighty, to him, and His Messenger Muhammad, peace be upon him, and our command to seek refuge, to seek refuge from not harming others, so that we leave this life safe and sound, and come to Allah with a sound heart. I ask Allah, the Almighty, to grant us and you, brothers in faith, success in what He loves and is pleased with, and to guide our hands to all good and righteousness, and to keep us away from all evil and disliked things. And may Allah bless and grant peace upon our master Muhammad and his family and companions, and praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.