Sat 21 Sep 2019

Lesson 8: The Danger of Shirk

Recap of last lesson

• Story of Nūh (may peace be upon him)
• The prohibition of picture making

The Deception of Shaytan (Satan)

• Shaytan uses people’s emotions, ignorance and even sometimes goodwill against them so that they commit shirk
• How Shaytan used the People of Nūh’s love for their pious deceased to lead them to commit shirk
• Shaytan’s long term plan
• The statement of Ibnul Qayyim

Methods of Shaytan in calling people to commit Shirk

• Convincing people that they should commit shirk out of love and respect for the deceased pious person, this is the most common misguidance afflicting the Sufia
• Associating power with the celestial bodies such as the sun, moon and stars
• Attaching significance and worshipping various objects:
  • Fire
  • Water
  • Animals
  • Trees
  • Human beings (either alive or dead)
  • The Angels
• The great error of abandoning the worship of Allah alone and instead going to worship various things as Shaytan commands them
• What does Allah say in the Qur’an about this?
• What did the Prophet (ﷺ) say about this?
• Division among the grave worshippers, sufia and polytheists
• The sufi “shaykhs” who are made as lords by their followers (“mureeds”) and exaggerated, making their own rulings which Allah did not legislate. They do not have any evidence from the Qur’an or Sunnah, rather their Shaykh determine for them what to do
• This is how the shaytan (satan) has played around with Mankind and there is no salvation from this except by the Tawheed of Allah (Singling Him out for Worship) and following the Qur’an and Sunnah

Protect yourself from Shirk :

• You must stay away from the causes of Shirk and those things that lead to Shirk
• Shirk is the greatest of sins and Allah informed us that he will NOT forgive the one who does not repent from shirk and dies upon it
• Because Shirk is so severe, then every Muslim needs to have a great precaution and fear from it, no one should treat it lightly as it is the most evil and ugliest of matters
• Allah said: “And (remember) when Luqman said to his son when he was advising him: “O my son! Join not in worship others with Allah. Verily, Joining others in worship with Allah is a great Zulm (wrong) indeed”” [Surah Luqmān verse 13]
• Why is shirk so evil?
• The Prophet (ﷺ) warned the companions against shirk and closed and blocked all of the pathways leading to it
• The misguidance of those who fell into shirk

Q&A:

• Some people say that we should not focus on Tawheed or Shirk and rather we should speak about politics, wars, corruption, etc, is this correct?
• Many sufis chant “Allah” repeatedly in their circles, is there any evidence for this? Was this done by the Prophet (ﷺ)

Sat 21 Sep 2019

Abu Arwa Ali

Hadith

• On the authority of Abu Malik al-Harith bin Asim al-Asharee (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said, “Purification is half of iman (faith). ‘Al-hamdu lillah’ fills the scales, and ‘subhan-Allah and ‘Al-hamdulillah’ fill that which is between heaven and earth. And the Prayer is a Nuur (light), and charity is a proof, and patience is a Dhiyaa (light), and the Qur’an is a proof for you or against you. Every person starts his day as a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or destroying it.” [Muslim]
• The explanation of this hadith is split into 8 parts

Recap

• Previous lesson we covered (Parts 1-5)
  • The virtue of Praising Allah and Glorifying Allah
  • The importance and virtue of the Prayer
  • Charity
  • Patience

Part 6: “…and the Qur’an is a proof for you or against you”

• Why was the Qur’an revealed?
• The primary objective behind the Qur’an was not just to recite it, rather it requires one to understand its verses and act upon them
• To some Muslims, the Qur’an is just a decoration in the house or sometimes people recite it to commit innovation, this is incorrect
• Importance of acting upon the Qur’an
• What did the Prophet (ﷺ) mean by this statement?

Part 7: “Every person starts his day as a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or destroying it.”

• What does it mean that everybody starts their day as a vendor of their soul?
• How do you free you soul?
• How does one destroy his or her soul?

Part 8: Summary of Benefits

• 1. The virtue of Purification
• 2. The Prophet (ﷺ) highlighted the virtue of praising Allah and glorifying Him
• 3. Belief in the Scales on the Day of Judgement has been affirmed
• 4. The virtue of the Prayer
• 5. The virtue of Charity
• 6. The virtue of Patience
• 7.  Encouragement to give importance to the Qur’an
• 8. Cautioning against being neglectful concerning the Qur’an
• 9. An encouragement towards every righteous deed
• 10. A warning against every evil action

Hadith 24

• Abu Dharr Al-Ghifārī – may Allah be pleased with him -said: the Prophet (ﷺ) mentioned from what he narrates from his Lord the Mighty and Sublime- that He said: “O my servants, I have restrained Myself from oppression, and have made it prohibited amongst you; so, do not oppress one another. O my servants, all of you lack guidance except whom I guide: so, seek guidance of me and I shall guide you. O my servants, you are all hungry except whom I feed; so, seek food of me and I shall feed you. O my servants, you are all naked except whom I clothe; seek clothing of me and I shall clothe you. O my servants, you err in the night and day, and I forgive all sins; so, seek forgiveness of me and I shall forgive you. O my servants, you all are incapable of bringing harm to Me such that you may harm Me and you are incapable of benefitting Me such that you may provide Me benefit. O my servants were the first of you and the last of you; the men of you and the jinn of you to be as the heart of the most pious one amongst you; that will not increase anything of My kingdom. O my servants, were the first of you and the last of you, the men of you and the jinn of you to be as the heart of the worst one amongst you; that will not reduce anything from My kingdom. O my servants were the first of you and the last of you; the men of you and the jinn of you to stand on a plain and you all supplicate to me and I grant everyone what he has asked; that will not reduce anything from what I have except what reduces from the sea if a needle is dipped in it. O my servants, it is but your actions; I keep record of them for you, and then, I will recompense you with it as is due. So, whoever finds good should give thanks and praise to Allah; and whoever finds other than that, let him blame no one but himself.” [Muslim]
• The explanation of this hadith is split into  10 parts

Friday 20th Sep 2019

by Abu Muadh Taqweem

• No one knows when the Day of Judgement will occur except Allah
• Signs of the hour
• False Prophets & Messengers
• Loss of Knowledge
• The Earthquakes
• The shortness of time

Sat 14 Sep 2019

Lesson 7: Nullifying Tawhîdul-Ulūhiyyah by Committing Shirk

Why should we learn about Shirk?

• You cannot safeguard yourself from something which you do not know about
• Statement of Ibnul Qayyim
• What did Hudhaifah Ibn Al-Yamaan (may Allah be pleased with him) used to ask the Prophet (ﷺ) about?
• Ibrahim (may peace be upon him) sought Allah’s protection from shirk
• Importance of understanding and staying away from Shirk

Simple definition of Shirk

• Shirk is to redirect any act of worship to others besides than Allah
• Every act of worship should be purely and sincerely for the sake of Allah
• Examples of Shirk include, but are not limited to:
  • Making Dua (Supplication) to other than Allah
  • Sacrificing to other than Allah
  • Vowing Taking an oath by other than Allah
  • etc
• How is Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) defined?
• Tawheed is the default, innate predisposition of mankind

How Shirk first started

• Between Adam and Nūh (may peace be upon them both) there were ten generations and all of them were upon Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) 
• The story of the people of Nūh (may peace be upon him) and how they fell into worshipping idols over a period of time
• How Shaitan (satan) slowly corrupted the people step by step
• The effect of the idols throughout history
• The idols from the time of the people of Nūh (may peace be upon him) were destroyed by the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ)

Picture making and Photography