The Observable And Unobservable Universe: Two Systems Working In Parallel

The Observable and the Unobservable Universe

[The khutbah begins mid-discussion] ...condenses, and then you have precipitation. Lightning is a combination of certain particles, static electricity — together you'll see lightning. The sound of the thunder that comes after it — there's a whole explanation for that.

This is part of the universe that is observable to the human being, and that's what the human being sees. So when it rains, what does everyone say? Well, this is the phenomena, this is how it happens. Now when you look into the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ says in some narrations that the rain clouds are driven by mala'ika. The mala'ika drive the rain clouds. And the lightning is the sound of their whip. And in the Qur'an, Allah Ta'ala mentions about the thunder:

That the thunder is actually doing the tasbih of Allah. A person says, "I don't see — where are the mala'ika? I don't see any mala'ika. So what are you talking about? You're talking about fairy tales or something like that?"

Now look — the process of rain is this: water evaporates, water condenses, and you have precipitation. This is how lightning works, this is what the thunder is, etc. A child is born. A child within the mother's womb goes through stage after stage. Allah Ta'ala mentions those stages as well:

And then in the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ also mentions that at a certain stage within the development, Allah Ta'ala sends a mala'ika, and Allah Ta'ala tells the mala'ika: write down the rizq of this child, and write down whether this child will be shaqi or sa'eed — whether this child will be fortunate or wretched. If a person is looking through an ultrasound — well, where is that angel writing it down? That is part of the unobservable universe.

Allah Ta'ala says in the Qur'an:

In front of you and behind you are mala'ika who protect you. And it comes in the hadith that when the order of Allah Ta'ala comes — for example, sickness or illness is to come to a person — then the mala'ika move, they make way, and then that illness or that sickness or that fitna or that musibah comes.

If a person tries to look and says, "I don't see any of that. If I became sick, it's because so-and-so was sick. I was with so-and-so, so-and-so was sick, that's how I got sick. So-and-so had COVID, that's how I got COVID. I didn't quarantine." So we saw an observable part, but there's a whole other parallel, unobservable universe that's also working at the same time.

Two Systems Working in Parallel

The problem that we think is that these two negate each other — but they don't. They're working in parallel. So at one time, whatever is observable — yes, we don't deny it. Those who deny it, this is another extreme. Say, "Oh no, COVID is a myth, or we made it up, or somebody made it up," and you don't take your precautions. No.

In the hadith, the Prophet ﷺ says regarding leprosy — which was a very infectious disease:

Run from a person who has leprosy as you would run from a lion.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5707)

Does that mean that this is khilaf al-tawakkul? Of course not. Why? Because this is something observable. You can see the means; the means are in front of you. So based on the means that are available to you and the information available to you, act accordingly. But do recognize that there is another unobservable system also at play.

So for example, sometimes you'll hear individuals — if they become ill — "These are all shaitan. It's all shaitan doing it." And another person is saying, "No, no, no — it's a simple bacteria, a virus that's affecting you." No. Both things are happening in parallel. It's just that you and I are not able to observe the other one.

That's why sometimes Allah Ta'ala — in this ayah which I recited — takes an oath:

"I take an oath by what you can observe and by that which you cannot observe." This is all the creation of Allah.

Following the Commands of Allah Without Needing to Understand the Wisdom

The person is demanded — the person is ordered — whatever is within your means, and whatever is ordered by Allah, you have to do. Whether you are able to understand the wisdom behind the commandments of Allah or not. If it's a command of Allah, you have to do. If it's a prohibition of Allah Ta'ala, you have to stay away from.

We sometimes fall under this trap — that we are always trying to see what the wisdom behind something is, or what the reason behind something is, and we only do it if we can understand the wisdom. We're not saying that the ahkam of Allah Ta'ala don't have wisdom. The ahkam of Allah have wisdom, but sometimes they are beyond a person's understanding.

The five daily prayers — there is a wisdom of Allah as to why there are five. Allah knows. We can come up with ideas, but at the end of the day, you and I have to pray those five daily prayers. Why? It is the command of Allah.

The month of Ramadan — we have to fast. We're not going to wait and see, "Well, let me see what the benefits of fasting are. Let me see what the doctors say the benefits of fasting are. Oh, you know what? Now there's a trend — prolonged fasting is a trend now. So that's why I'm going to fast now." But then I'm going to say, "Hey, I'm doing it because it's part of my faith." We do it not because there are some sort of health advantages for us in it. We do it because it's the command of Allah. We don't say about prayer, "Hey, it's a good little bit of exercise, we get a stretch in, we go into sajdah and the blood flows to the brain." That's all there — that's wonderful. But you and I do it, why? Because we believe in Allah and we believe in the Hereafter.

And so that's why sometimes when it comes to some of these actions, we may not be aware of some of the benefits that they have, and some of the things that are happening in that parallel system of Allah. When the Muslims collectively fast, and the Muslims collectively come to pray, there are things happening in that parallel system that you and I are not aware of.

For example, it comes in the narrations that when people sit together and they remember Allah, mala'ika surround them. Now, can you see the mala'ika? No, you cannot see the mala'ika. But they're there. They're surrounding. We are here sitting, we are remembering Allah, we are here to observe the order of Allah — leave everything behind, the order of Allah has come. Now at that level, at that parallel realm — what's happening — we are not able to observe it. The Prophet ﷺ was able to observe it. The Prophet ﷺ informed us. Allah through the Qur'an informs us at different stages: when you do this, this happens. When you do this, this happens.

So you and I — we are expected to do whatever is within the physical realm that we understand, and it's within the realm of being permissible. And wherever the commands of Allah Ta'ala come, we do. And that's what tawakkul comes to.

True Tawakkul: Reliance on Allah with Action

Some people think that tawakkul means you simply rely on Allah but don't do anything. The ajeeb thing is that when it comes to our worldly matters, we don't have this type of approach. Most people don't have this approach. If we're hungry, do we simply sit down and say, "InshaAllah, I have tawakkul in Allah — somehow the food that's in my fridge is going to come in front of me and I'm going to be able to eat"? No. You get up, you're hungry, you open the fridge, you warm up the food and you eat. Do you ever think twice? No. Because you recognize: I'm hungry, I feel some hunger in my stomach, what do I have to do? I have to do something for it. I have to get up. If there's no food, let me cook some food or let me order food or whatever the case may be.

Similarly, when it comes to the aspect of the deen — a person can't simply say, "Allah is Ghafoorur Raheem, I believe in Allah and that's it, somehow I will just enter into Jannah." No. There are things that are demanded from you. You are ordered to do. That's why even within Jannah there are darajat. There are the muqarraboon. There are those people who follow the command of Allah and they go beyond. There are those individuals — for example, when the rest of the world is sleeping — there are people who leave their beds, remembering Allah out of love and devotion and fear. Allah says about them:

They sleep little at night — why? Because at the time of suhoor, they are engaged in istighfar: "Ya Allah, forgive us. Ya Allah, forgive us."

This is one aspect — one part that is unobservable to us. The statement of لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ:

The person who believes in Allah, truly believes in Allah, sincerely believes in Allah — that iman that's within his heart and what it produces: there are things that you may be able to see outwardly, and then there are things that a person isn't able to see. Both of them have to be there. Just like when it comes to our worldly matters — when it comes to food, when it comes to drink — we don't simply just sit and say it's going to come to us. No, we work. Same thing with our deen — we have to work. And that's how this whole nizam is there. You have the observable, you have the unobservable. You are accountable for that which is within your control.

Accountability Is According to One's Capacity

If something is not in a person's control, is beyond one's control, you're not accountable for that. A person who doesn't have the ability to see — he cannot see — will not be asked on the Day of Judgment, "What did you use your eyes for?" That ability was not given, so there's no question about that.

There is a hadith that mentions that the fuqara — the fuqara ul-mu'mineen, the fuqara ul-muhajireen — will enter into Jannah many years before the aghniya. What's the reason? Because the fuqara had nothing — they had no wealth. And some of the questions on the Day of Judgment are related to wealth:

The feet of the son of Adam will not move on the Day of Judgment until he is asked about five things.
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2416)

About his shabab — his youth — about his umar — his life. And about wealth:

Where did you acquire your wealth from, and where did you spend it?
(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2416)

Did you acquire it through lawful means or through unlawful means? And then where did you spend it? So two out of five of the questions are related to wealth. A faqeer — will he be asked two of those five questions? No, because he doesn't have it. So whatever is within your capacity, you are responsible for.

The Prophetic Example: Balancing Means and Reliance

And the Prophet ﷺ — you look at the Seerah and you see the balance between both of these. Where any battle takes place, you don't see the Prophet ﷺ simply say to the Muslims, "Everybody, let's only make dua, and that's it." No. You see the Prophet ﷺ engaged. In fact, in the Battle of Badr — where they were stationed — a sahabi came and said, "Ya Rasulullah, the place where we are — is this through revelation or through your ijtihad?" He said, "No, this is through my ijtihad — I believe this would be a good place to be." So that sahabi suggested, "Ya Rasulullah, it would be better if we are in this area," and gave his reasons for it. The Habib ﷺ said, "Yes, you're right. We'll move over there." There was a strategy; there was a plan.

When the Prophet ﷺ came to Madinah Munawwarah, there were three things that the Prophet ﷺ initially did, right from the beginning.

Number one was the establishment of Masjid al-Nabawi — the Masjid. Because this is the center for the Muslim; this is the heart of the Muslim community. You being connected to the Masjid means that your heart is connected. One of the people on the Day of Judgment who will be under the shade of Allah Ta'ala's throne is:

A man whose heart is attached to the masajid.
(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031)

So the first thing the Prophet ﷺ did was the construction of the Masjid.

Number two: you had the Ansar and you had the Muhajirun. The Prophet ﷺ developed a bond of ukhuwwah. He paired one Ansari with one Muhajir, so that each of them could take care of the other's matters. And it comes in the hadith that initially the connection was such that if one of them passed away, the other would inherit. Later on that hukm became mansukh — abrogated — and only your close relatives are allowed to inherit from you. But initially, that was the level of connection that Allah developed between the Muhajir and the Ansari. And Allah Ta'ala praises the Ansar:

They preferred others over themselves, even if they had to go through difficulty themselves. These were the Ansar.

And number three: the Prophet ﷺ had a peace treaty. He made a pact with the other non-Muslims who were living within Madinah — the Jewish tribes. He made a treaty with each one of them.

And Hudaybiyyah — what was Hudaybiyyah? In the beginning, Mecca and the Mushrikeen of Mecca were very hostile to the Muslims. The Muslims couldn't even go outside to pray, to worship Allah. But eventually, in the sixth year of Hijri, they came to terms — there was a whole peace treaty that took place.

The reason I mention all of this is — as I said — there are two things working at the same time. There are things that are within our control, and there are things that are not within our control.

Using the Means Available to Us

Just as a small example, and we'll finish with this. Sometimes we hear from people about voting — "SubhanAllah, what are you talking about? This is non-Islamic" — or all kinds of different things we hear. This is a strategy; this is a way. Allah has given us certain rights and we, alhamdulillah, by Allah's grace, are in a place that allows us and has given us certain rights. We have to use those rights; we have to plan.

Now at the same time, are we saying this is our only way? No. We will keep up with our salah, we will keep up with our siyam, we will keep up with our zakat, we will keep up with our dua, we will keep up with our tilawah. But just like when it comes to all of our affairs — we don't just sit down and say, "Well, somehow I will provide for my family." No, we work. We have to also plan for the future. Allah knows best what is to come. Only Allah knows. But from whatever is within our control — whether it's in our dini matters or dunyawi matters — whatever is within the parameters of being ja'iz, permissible, we have to adopt those means.

May Allah allow us to understand. May Allah rectify the affairs of the Muslims in this country and anywhere around the world. May Allah aid them. Barakallahu fikum.

Second Khutbah

الحمد لله، الحمد لله ربِّ العالمين. والصلاة والسلام على سيد الأنبياء والمرسلين، وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين. أما بعد:

يا أحباب الكرام، اتقوا الله حق تقاته، ولا تموتن إلا وأنتم مسلمون. واعلموا أنما الحياة الدنيا لعب ولهو وزينة وتفاخر بينكم وتكاثر في الأموال والأولاد.

يا أحباب الكرام، كونوا عباد الله. يا أحباب الكرام، كونوا أبناء الآخرة ولا تكونوا أبناء الدنيا، فإن الدنيا خُلقت لكم وإنكم خُلقتم للآخرة.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم ولسائر المسلمين، فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرحيم.

الحمد لله، نحمده ونستعينه ونستغفره ونؤمن به ونتوكل عليه، ونعوذ بالله من شرور أنفسنا ومن سيئات أعمالنا. من يهدِ الله فلا مضل له، ومن يضلله فلا هادي له. نشهد أن لا إله إلا الله، ونشهد أن سيدنا ومولانا محمداً عبده ورسوله.

وَلَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ تَعَالَى أَكْبَرُ، وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ. أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاة.

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And remember in your duas all the Muslims, our brothers and sisters in our community and around the world. May Allah aid them, help them, and ease whatever difficulties we are going through. Do not underestimate the power of dua. Allah Ta'ala loves dua. And so we should be engaged in dua:

Do not underestimate the power of dua. And on the other side, we recognize that whatever is within our capacity, we do. May Allah grant us tawfiq. Jazakumullah khair.