Tawheed, Zulm, And The Inevitable Accountability Of Judgment Day

Tawheed, Accountability, and the Day of Judgment

My dear respected brothers, respected elders, ulama, students, sisters in Islam — السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

One of the biggest solutions to all of our problems — in this dunya, in the qabar, in the akhirah — and an effort that we all need to continually be engaged in and remind ourselves of, and a belief that we need to instill in our children, is regarding the tawheed of Allah — the oneness of His being and His attributes.

The Two Categories of Zulm

All of the different forms of zulm and oppression that are taking place in this world — when we think about zulm, we think about tyranny and oppression on other people, and crimes committed against others: whether it's loss of life or honor, or pain that is inflicted at an individual level — within a family, between husband and wife, or parents and children — or within society, or depending on the position a person may have, on an entire country. The zulm and oppression the tyrannical ruler is subjecting the population to — at all levels, the zulm that is taking place on each other, and the zulm that is taking place upon oneself.

When we do not believe in Allah and do not fulfill our obligations — one is the zulm with respect to the huququ ibadillah, the rights of each other, and that's the first type of zulm that comes to our mind when we speak about zulm. But there is another zulm which is the zulm that we are doing to ourselves. We cannot do zulm on Allah, but when we are disobeying Allah — the huququ Allah, the rights of Allah — then we are doing zulm on our own selves.

Allah says:

Verily Allah does not commit zulm on anyone, but people are doing zulm on themselves.

So the obligations of the deen are divided into two categories: one is the rights of Allah — the huququ Allah — and one is the rights of each other — huququ ibadillah. So the zulm that takes place is of two categories. When we are disobeying Allah, we are doing zulm as well — but upon our own selves. And when we are not fulfilling the huququ ibadillah, then we are doing zulm on each other.

And this zulm will be zulumaat yawmal qiyamah — it will be a source of darkness on the Day of Judgment. Allah may give respite in this worldly life, but on the Day of Judgment He will definitely take a person to task. إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَأْخُذُ الظَّالِمَ — He will catch the zalim, and he will face the retribution.

So if you want to go back and think about what is the sabab — the causative factor, the illah — why is this zulm taking place? It is because of the lack of the sense of accountability, and not realizing that there is a yawmuddin — a Day of Retribution, a Day of Judgment — and there is a malik yawmuddin, a Master of that Day, and He is going to judge between His creation.

The Fear of the Day of Return

So this khauf of ma'ad — the fear of returning to Allah, the fear of that Day — that you will be presented in His court:

That Day you will be individually presented — and nothing will remain hidden, everything will be brought forward.

Allah does not need to provide any witnesses and He can make any judgment as He wishes, because He is عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ — He has the power to do whatever He wants — and لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ — no one will ask Him why He did what He did — وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ — He is going to ask everyone else.

But despite this, because of His sunnah that He has adopted — the way He has chosen — He will be establishing an elaborate, detailed system of justice on the Day of Judgment, ranging from witnesses coming to the witness stand from the earth where the sin was committed:

To the body parts testifying:

Allah will seal the tongues and the body parts will speak forth and they will testify. And a person will ask his body parts — Why are you testifying against me today? They will say: Allah has given us the ability to speak, that He gave you the ability to speak in the worldly life.

And the kiraman katibin — they are writing down:

Any statement you are uttering — it is being recorded. It will be presented. Whatever you are having in your closed-door meetings — Allah says:

Whenever there are three people in a meeting, He is the fourth. Whenever there are five, He is the sixth. Whether less or more — He is with them wherever they may be. Then He will inform everyone exactly what they did, what they said, what they planned, what they plotted. He is not only recording it — He will replay it. يُنَبِّئُهُم — like a call may be recorded for quality assurance they say in the world, for companies maintaining their quality. Every single thing is being recorded. Surveillance at all times.

He is witnessing every single thing.

The Importance of Continual Reminder

So this tawheed of Allah — this aqeedah — is something that we need to continually repeat. Sometimes we may have this objection, or we think: okay, been there done that, we know that, that is something we already learned a long time ago — la ilaha illallah. But the reality is that when we look at our actions — our own actions, and the actions of our children and our youth and the next generation — they very clearly demonstrate that this is a belief that is weak, that needs to be strengthened, that needs to be repeatedly spoken about.

So if we speak about the wujud of Allah — that Allah does exist, He is true — it may seem like: oh, tell me something new, of course I know Allah exists. Or we speak about the fact that Allah is سَمِيعٌ لِأَقْوَالِكُمْ بَصِيرٌ لِأَفْعَالِكُمْ — He is hearing everything you are saying, He is watching everything you are doing — إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعِي يَرَانِي وَيَسْمَعُ كَلَامِي — Allah is with me at all times, He hears what I am saying, He knows what I am doing. A lot of times the response is: oh, tell me something I don't know.

These are statements that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would be repeating at all times — every single time, in any khutbah he would begin with the same ayaat:

He would keep on reminding about the importance of taqwa. And the reality of taqwa is having the sense of accountability. Every single khutbah he would give, he would start with the same ayaat. So this is not only recommended — it is a requirement that we keep on reminding ourselves.

Ta'lim vs. Tathkir

And this is the difference between ta'lim and tathkir. Ta'lim is when there is a mu'allim — a teacher — and there is a muta'allim — a student — and the mu'allim, as a teacher, he is transferring knowledge to the muta'allim, to the student. So he literally has some knowledge and he is transferring that knowledge to his student. So if there is a teacher of math — algebra, trigonometry — he is not sitting there to teach it so that his yaqeen in the trigonometry increases, or his knowledge of calculus becomes stronger. That's a prerequisite requirement before he comes to teach the class — that he has to have passed the class, has a degree in math, masters in math and in education of math. So he is giving the knowledge of mathematics to his student. This is ta'lim.

And tathkir is when there is a reminder, and the purpose of the reminder is that we ourselves — who are in the reminding position — are strengthening our own yaqeen. If you look at the ayah, Allah says:

He didn't say مُخَاطَبِين — He didn't say remind, for the reminder is beneficial for those whom you are addressing. He said the reminder benefits the mu'mineen — and the speaker, he better be among the mu'mineen. So if he is one of the mu'mineen, then he should also be on the receiving end.

So at this moment — if I am speaking about the sifat of Allah — and when you go out and you talk to your children, talk to your wife, talk to your colleagues, talk to your friends and others, and when you speak about Allah and His dhat and His sifat, and remind ourselves about Him — or even when you sit and remind yourself — the purpose is so that your iman and my iman gets stronger. It's not that: hey, you didn't know about Allah, let me tell you something new. Rather, let this become an actual living reality. May it come from the back of our mind — from the subconscious mind — to our conscious mind, to the forefront of our thoughts, such that it is a guiding principle in every action we take. Such that we reach the level of ihsan:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 50; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 5 — Hadith of Jibril)

That you lead a life in such a condition that as if Allah is watching you.

Typically, in this Hadith of Jibril that is well known — everyone reads it or knows about it — it is translated as: when you perform salah, you perform salah in such a manner as if Allah is watching you. Because if you cannot reach that level of ma'rifah that you are seeing Allah, know that Allah is seeing you.

When Jibril alayhis salam came and asked the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: What is Islam? What is Iman? What is Ihsan? — the third question: What is ihsan? — this is how it is typically translated or understood. But if you go back and look at the words, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not say الإحسان أن تُصَلِّي — you perform salah — كَأَنَّكَ تَرَاهُ. He said أَنْ تَعْبُدَ اللَّهَ — that you are doing the ibadah of Allah. And whenever we are not doing the ibadah of Allah, we are always supposed to be engaged in the ibadah of Allah. We have not created jinn or ins except for My ibadah. So every aspect of our life is ibadah — fluctuating between two ibadah: ibadah li-aynihi and ibadah li-ghairihi — primary form of ibadah and secondary form of ibadah.

So the primary form of ibadah is salah, du'a, tilawah, zikr, hajj — mashAllah, just happened — sawm. These are ibadah li-aynihi, a direct form of ibadah. And ibadah li-ghairihi is when you are relaxing, when you are eating — you are eating so that you can fast, or you are sleeping so you can do qiyam.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1987; Sahih Muslim, Book 13, Hadith 259)

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: I eat and I break my fast — some days I fast, some days I break. Sometimes I sleep, sometimes I stand in prayer. Why am I sleeping? So I can gain strength for ibadah. Why am I eating? So I can gain strength for fasting. So all of the relaxation — the sleeping, the eating, the entertainment — all of that is ibadah li-ghairihi.

And what is ihsan? If you put that together — meaning every moment is an ibadah — and then we take the definition of ihsan: we are doing ibadah in such a condition that we know that we are seeing Allah, or Allah is seeing us. That means at all times we are supposed to be in that condition. So there is nothing left. That will give the concept of wahdat ash-shuhud — as if we are seeing Allah at all times. That is very, very far from us — but eventually, that is the objective.

So this is the objective of tathkir — we speak about Allah so that the reality comes into our own existence.

Da'wah vs. Da'wa

Another way of approaching it — the scholars mention — is the difference between da'wah and da'wa. When you make a da'wah, you are making a claim — like I am a mudda'i, I make a claim: oh, I have iman, my iman is strong, and you have weak iman, so I am coming here to give you that iman that I have, or teach you what iman is. That's to make a da'wah — a claim.

And da'wah — with a ta marbuta — is when you are inviting, but your intention is: look, I don't have the reality of iman either. Nor do all of us — the majority of us, we don't have it. But I am inviting with the intention that my iman becomes strong, your iman becomes strong, all of our iman needs to get strong.

The Example of Habib Najjar in Surah Ya-Sin

Like Habib Najjar — when he was a believer in the Nabi of the times in Surah Ya-Sin — when he was inviting his people, if you look at the words he used. He came from the edge of the city running, having accepted Islam on the hand of the anbiya. Allah sent two prophets to the town, then Allah sent a third one to support them and said: We have been sent for your guidance. And then the people rejected them, they disbelieved in the prophets. As a result of their disobedience, the drought came and the rain stopped and the people were starving. So they said: You are the evil omen — because of your presence this drought came. So the anbiya said: No, it is because of your rejection.

Then finally, they left and found that Habib Najjar had been thrown out of the city because he had a communicable disease — he had leprosy — people were afraid of him being contagious. And then they gave him da'wa and he accepted Islam. He said: I for years and years have been making dua to my idols to give me shifa from this. If your Allah can give me shifa, I will believe. They made dua, and Allah granted him immediate and complete shifa. He became a believer.

When they gathered the people of the city to kill the anbiya — killed them to death — as happened with the anbiya of Bani Israel: not only one or two, many of them were murdered by the Yahood, as they beheaded Yahya alayhis salam, sawed Zakariya alayhis salam in half, tried to kill Isa alayhis salam but he was uplifted by the malaika and Jibril alayhis salam. And there were multiple assassination attempts on our beloved Habibul Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. So over here they went to kill the anbiya as well. So he came to defend them.

He said: Follow these prophets — follow those who are not seeking any compensation from you and they are rightly guided. Then — this is at the first ayah of the 23rd juz — instead of saying: what is wrong with all of you that you do not worship the Allah who created you — addressing them in the second person — what did he say? He said: What would be wrong with me that I do not worship the Allah who created me? He addressed himself in the first person. In fact, first person singular — he didn't even use first person plural. What that means is: instead of saying we — we need to believe, we would be wrong if we disbelieve — he said: for a moment he forgot about the people too. He said: If you are so sensitive that you are being addressed — okay, I won't even talk about you, I'll talk about myself.

He could have said: What's wrong with us? Why should we not believe in that Allah who created us — He created us, He brought us into a state of existence from nonexistence without a blueprint, without a plan, without any raw material — bringing into existence from nonexistence? That's khaliq min adam. That's the Fatir — and without a mithal, without any model — that's the Fatir.

That is the beginning of Surah al-Fatir. Anyway — so over here he said: What's wrong with me? But then he has to remind them — shake them, wake them up. So he made iltifat — he turned from first person to second person. He said: Towards Him you are going to return, you are going to be brought back into His court. Then he brings it back to himself again:

If I were to assign partners besides Allah — if Allah wants to afflict me, then these gods will not come to my help. Their shafa'ah, their intercession, will be of no value and they will not be able to help me. So if I worship false gods, truly I at that time would be in clear misguidance.

He's reminding himself — and at the same time he's reminding them — but he's addressing himself: إِنِّي. He's saying: if you were worshipping gods, he should have said إِنَّكُمْ — you are in open error — but he said إِنِّي إِذًا لَّفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ.

And then he says:

He could have said إِنِّي آمَنتُ بِرَبِّي and stopped there — I believe in my Rabb — but he said إِنِّي آمَنتُ بِرَبِّكُمْ — I believe in my Rabb and your Rabb. So look — I am doing my job, I am believing. But it's not just my Rabb — it is also your Rabb. So if I am believing in your Rabb, what about you? What should you do — should you not believe in Him too?

So this is the etiquette of da'wah — that we are always addressing ourselves, we are always reminding ourselves. The reminder is beneficial — not just for those being addressed, but also for the one who is speaking, because it is beneficial for the mu'mineen. And the speaker — he better be among the mu'mineen. So if he is one of the mu'mineen, then he should also be on the receiving end. So we have to make the niyyah of benefiting ourselves when we give da'wah. And this is the way that our own iman will increase.

Reminding Oneself in Solitude

So we have to continually make mudhakara — continually remind ourselves about Allah and the sifat of Allah — and make it a living reality, something that's real. It's not something we just once in a while think about. Then, when we are by ourselves alone — what do we do? What did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam say in his du'a of Tahajjud?

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1120; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 200)

O Allah, You are the Truth, and Your promise is true, and the meeting with You is true, and Jannah is true, and the Fire is true, and the Hour is coming — there is no doubt in it — and You will resurrect those in the graves.

Who is he talking to? He's not on the minbar or the mihrab anymore. He's in solitude, in munajat, addressing Allah — reminding himself. He says: O Allah — أَنْتَ الْحَقُّ — You are the Truth. You are the ultimate truth. Not just حَقٌّ but الْحَقُّ — the Truth, the ultimate truth. And all of Your promises are true. لِقَاؤُكَ حَقٌّ — the meeting with You, the fact that you will have to be presented in Your court, is true.

He's coming near:

The time of reckoning has drawn near for the people, and they are still heedless, oblivious.

They think it is far, and I am saying it is near.

Be prepared for what you have to present tomorrow. It's coming. Tomorrow is near — and tomorrow is yaqini too. Both things — meaning: if today is Friday, I don't know if I will be alive till the end of the salah or till the evening or not. But I do know tomorrow is coming — for sure.

When you have the morning, do not be certain you will be there in the evening. And when you are in the evening, do not be certain you will be there in the morning.

But we do know tomorrow is coming. وَلْتَنظُرْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ لِغَدٍ — prepare for tomorrow — means the Day of Judgment is coming, just like tomorrow is coming. And the other meaning is — أَلَيْسَ الصُّبْحُ بِقَرِيبٍ — is not the morning near? Morning is not too far away. So likewise, the Day of Judgment is very near.

So tomorrow is yaqini — just like Khadija radiyallahu anha when she was giving the synopsis of those first six months. In the beginning of the wahi upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — awwalu ma budiya bihi Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is ru'ya sadiqah — the wahi started — Babu Bad'il Wahi in Sahih al-Bukhari — it started with dreams. So she said: whatever he saw in his dream would be the ultimate truth, would happen — just as we have the certainty that tomorrow the sun is going to rise. So in this tashbih, she made "tomorrow" as the mushabbah bihi — to express the level of conviction that the dream is going to come true. She gave the example that everyone accepts: the way tomorrow is going to happen, that is how the dream is going to come and be fulfilled.

So ghad — preparing for that Day. وَعْدُكَ الْحَقُّ، وَلِقَاؤُكَ حَقٌّ، وَالْجَنَّةُ حَقٌّ — Jannah and Jahannam are true. So if you say: oh, let's talk about Jannah — it's true — you're going to be like: come on, why do you need to talk about that? But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was talking about it all day. The Quran is talking about it all the time. Tawheed, risala, akhirah — these are the three principles of the Quran. It is talking about the akhirah all the time.

So when you talk about the akhirah, you say: oh, why do you want to talk about the akhirah? Tell me something new, breakthrough research, breaking news, some new concept — something so mind-blowing, intellectually stimulating, academically cutting-edge. No — we need to bring these realities. Because all the zulm that's happening — we talked about the two types of zulm — zulm in the huquq of Allah and zulm in the huquq of ibadillah. When you're doing zulm in the huquq of Allah, you're doing zulm on yourself. When you're doing zulm in the huquq of ibadillah — zulm on other people — whether it's a husband mistreating the wife, all the way to a dictator slaughtering thousands of people in his country — all the zulm that is taking place at every level is all because of lack of the sense of accountability — that there is an Allah and there is a yawmul hisab and we are going to be presented there, He is going to ask us.

And after this hisab — ثُمَّ الثَّوَابُ أَوِ الْعِقَابُ — there's thawab or iqab after hisab. So hisab is accountability, followed by thawab — the reward — or iqab — the punishment. That's what it boils down to — that is the crux of the matter.

And the only way to bring that reality is to keep on tawassi bil-haqq — repeating it, repeating it. Tawassi bil-haqq will help in the iman, and tawassi bis-sabr will help in the a'mal:

However you're going to have iman and a'mal salihah — tawassi bil-haqq will develop the iman, tawassi bis-sabr will develop the a'mal. Then we will be saved. Otherwise, the default is:

All mankind is headed towards extreme loss.

May Allah give us tawfiq to continue to strengthen our iman, to continue to engage in tazkiyah — in reminder — at the daily level, the hourly level. Every hour we cannot go by without giving da'wah. Because every hour we are receiving the da'wah of the material — the world. Not every hour — every second — we are being invited by the dunya. The Creator of this world said it is a means of deception. So we are all being deluded non-stop. And to counter it, we have to continually be on the offensive by speaking about Allah.

May Allah grant us iman kamilah wa yaqinan sadiqa.

Announcements

Please pass the donation boxes — please donate generously. Sadaqah on the day of Jumu'ah in particular is more greatly rewarded than any other day.

Please note that we should not be parking on the curbs.

Team Fajr is continuing Saturday mornings after Fajr. Iqama is at 4:45. We will have a tazkiyah program tomorrow morning, followed by breakfast.

Tafsir of Surah al-Hajj is continuing on Tuesdays after Maghrib.

There are many programs in the madrasah — in the seminary. The Tanweer Intensive Program is starting in July. The High School Program — classes begin August 14th. For more information please visit the website.

There is a students' gathering for the effort of da'wah on Sunday, July 9th — between Maghrib and Isha. This is very important — this is the same da'wa we were talking about: the importance of inviting towards Allah to develop our own yaqeen and make it strong. And this will protect all of us from disobeying Allah. All high school students, college students, and seminary students — everyone — are welcome to attend. Not only welcome but strongly encouraged to attend, insha'Allah.

There is a request for du'a of shifa for Sister Sa'ida Riza — she is going through a procedure.

Please fill in the gaps insha'Allah — stand shoulder to shoulder. Please do not leave any empty spaces in the back of the masjid, insha'Allah.