Distinguishing Beneficial Amusements From Misleading Distractions

Opening Praises and Salutations

السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

Amma ba'ad, ayyuha al-naas. Allah says in His Book, after seeking refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan, in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful:

And the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 1637; also reported in Sunan al-Nasā'ī and Musnad Aḥmad)

"Everything from the amusements of this world is vain and futile except for three things: your shooting with your bow, your training of your horse, and your playing with your family." Or as he ﷺ said.

The Greatness of Allah

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters, and honorable esteemed guests of Allah, let us start off with the glorification of Allah, as any talk, any kalam, any wa'dh remains incomplete without the glorification and without the dimension of the greatness of Allah.

اللَّهُمَّ يَا مَنْ لَا تَرَاهُ الْعُيُونُ — the eyes cannot see Allah. وَلَا يَصِفُهُ الْوَاصِفُونَ — anyone attempting to give an accurate description of Allah is unable to do so. وَلَا تُخَالِطُهُ الظُّنُونُ — and no one can fathom the greatness of Allah. لَا تُوَارِي مِنْهُ سَمَاءٌ سَمَاءً — nothing can remain hidden from the sight and the vision of Allah.

Say, O Muhammad ﷺ: if you were to give the command to all the trees that exist on this planet earth to be turned into pens, and all the water that exists in the oceans of the planet were to be turned into ink, and they were given the command to note down the greatness and the glorification of Allah — the pens will perish, the pens will finish, and the ink will also diminish, yet there is still more glorification of Allah to be noted down.

Surah Luqman: Two Types of People

Respected audience, the ayat that were recited are from the beginning of Surah Luqman, in which Allah describes two types of people. Surah Luqman is one of the famous surahs of the Qur'an. It is famous because within the surah is contained the advice of Luqman عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ given to his son. So at the very beginning of the surah, Allah starts off with the mention of the people that He is pleased with.

And He says:

These are the people who have pleased Allah and they are the ones who have tried their best to attain the pleasure of Allah. And then a description is given of those people:

These are the people who are steadfast on their salah — and they're not the people who only offer their salah, but they're the ones who are mindful of the approaching hour of salah. They prepare beforehand, they perform their wudu, and you'll find them in the masjid before the approaching hour of salah. So that is the aspect of إِقَامَةُ الصَّلَاةِ.

And يُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ — they're mindful of the obligations that are upon them, specifically the financial obligations that are upon them from Allah. So they make sure that they pay their dues when the time is there, when it's obligatory upon them.

And then lastly — something that many of the people, specifically the mushrikeen of Mecca of that time, were in doubt of — وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ — they are very firm on their belief of the afterlife.

Multiple times we've given a description of the people whom Rasulullah ﷺ was working with, and it's something that is quite apparent in this current day and age — where people are not ready to accept something that may not make sense to them, or you're not able to convey it in a sensible manner to them. So they say that this makes no sense whatsoever, hence I will not believe in it.

There are many things in this world that will make sense, and then there's a lot of things in this world which will not make sense to the son of Adam. Many a times a calamity strikes, a tragedy happens, and you're left standing there thinking, what has happened to me? You cannot make sense of it in any way or form. So the people of that time, specifically during the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, would say:

"O Muhammad ﷺ, this makes no sense to us. If we die and we turn to dust, how is it possible that we'll be resurrected in this shape and form once again?" So Allah said that the muhsineen are the ones that believe firmly in the afterlife, and they believe in the Day of Qiyamah.

And as is the uslub of the Qur'an — the way Allah communicates with His creation in His book — frequently after the mention of people who disobey Allah, or the ones who obey Allah, the opposite is also mentioned. So the ones who obey Allah can know: these are the things that we don't do, these are the don'ts. And the ones who disobey Allah realize: what we're doing is wrong, and we need to turn towards the do's, the things that we've been commanded by Allah.

The deen of Allah in a nutshell is the do's and the don'ts — the awamir, the commandments of Allah: أَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ — and the don'ts, the nawahi: لَا تَقْرَبُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَأَنتُمْ سُكَارَىٰ — the things that Allah has prohibited us from performing.

The Story of Nadhar ibn Harith

There were specific ayat which were revealed in the Qur'an, specifically in Surah Luqman, related to an incident of a person who was engaged in things which were of no use whatsoever. The name of this person was Nadhar ibn Harith, and he was a famous business person who resided in the city of Mecca. This was during the time when Rasulullah ﷺ was going out and calling people towards Allah, and he would frequently recite the ayat of the Qur'an. And the people who would hear the verses of the Qur'an being recited would fall into a trance.

There's a famous incident of Umar ibn Al-Khattab رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ in his pre-Islamic days. He says: I was listening — many of these people did not want to be publicly seen listening to the Qur'an or being in the near vicinity of the Prophet ﷺ, so they would hide. So Umar رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ says: I was hiding, and this was the nighttime, the time of the hajj, and Muhammad ﷺ was reciting his Qur'an during his salah in the haram. And I was listening to it very carefully, and I thought that this kalam, the words that are coming out of his mouth, they don't seem to be something that a person speaks on a normal day-to-day basis.

So he said: I started thinking, maybe he is a magician, because he is using his words to capture my attention, and I'm falling into a trance. So he said that Rasulullah ﷺ, at that given moment, recited the verses of the Qur'an:

Verily, the words that are being recited, the ayat of the Qur'an — they are not coming from a magician, but you do not understand. He says: and I started thinking, if not a magician, then maybe a soothsayer. This was a time when people would give top money to go to soothsayers to find out what the future is — something that people do nowadays as well. I heard recently that going to palmists is on the rise. A lot of people are going and trying to find out what their destiny is. It's a waste of money and a waste of time, and on top of that, it is kufr.

So he says: immediately the next ayah which came out of the mouth of Rasulullah ﷺ was:

Verily, these verses are not being recited by a soothsayer. These are the words and the kalam of Allah. So the people were being called towards Allah by the verses of the Qur'an. There are many people who only heard one or two verses of the Qur'an and they would immediately accept Islam.

So this individual, Nadhar ibn Harith, who was a bitter enemy of Islam, traveled — due to his business — frequently to the Roman lands and the Persian lands. And over there he would try to acquire their stories. As you know, the Persians are very famous for their generals and their war stories — the story of Bahram and Isfandar, and many other famous generals with their war stories. So this individual went and gathered those stories. And not only that, he went and purchased a slave girl that would sing those stories. He brought all of that back to Makkah al-Mukarramah.

And he said: "Listen to me, O people. On one side you have Muhammad ﷺ, who is calling you towards something which is very difficult." And it's something which is very familiar, isn't it? Nowadays this is a similar tactic being used by people who want to take people away from Islam. I cannot forget — I read a billboard in Atlanta, and then I read it in Houston as well. It said: "Ex-Muslims of America, come find peace with us after difficulty. If you've lived a difficult life in Islam, come find peace and ease outside the fold of Islam."

And there was a group of young people — later on we found out it was a young individual who was not even born and raised here. He had only been here for about seven or eight years, and he was a son of Pakistani immigrants. He fell into difficult times, his parents were maybe strict with him, and that is what led to what happened. And he's going around the country, calling people towards atheism.

So it's a similar tactic being used by people — that Islam is difficult, or the obligations that you have to fulfill in Islam are very difficult. So Nadhar ibn Harith would go around saying that the very beginning verses we recited from Surah Luqman — يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ يُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ وَهُمْ بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ — these people believe in Allah, they give their dues, and they believe in the hereafter — all of this is very difficult. Come to me. You have on one side Muhammad ﷺ who recites a kalam that is very beautiful, you are engaged with it immediately, but he is calling you towards something which is very difficult. I am going to narrate to you incidents which are quite entertaining. This slave girl is going to sing these stories to you, and you will be entertained.

So Allah revealed these verses in the Qur'an:

That amongst the people, there are those who sell their faith, who sell their iman — اپنے ایمان کا سودا کرتے ہیں — they sell their iman. And what do they get in return? Naturally when you're giving something away, when you're selling something, you expect something in return. So Allah mentioned that they sell their faith, their iman, and their success in this world and the hereafter — for what? The purpose behind all of that is their own doom, and the doom of everyone who falls into their immediate vicinity.

لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ — to take people away from the correct and straight path. And they themselves are going to land in the fire of Jahannam, and they want to take every single individual that they can with them.

Understanding Lahw (Vain Amusement)

Respected audience, the word used by Allah is something that we need to be frightened of. The word Allah uses is يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ. The word lahw — there have been multiple tafsirs given in the books of tafsir.

Some of the mufassirun stated that it encompasses everything that falls under the category of anything that takes your attention away from the obligations of Allah: كُلُّ مَا أَلْهَى عَنِ الْحَقِّ وَعَمَّا أَصْرَفَكَ عَمَّا يَعْنِي — everything that takes you away from the right path, from the correct path, takes you away from your concentration and devotion towards Allah, and diverts your attention to anything else. That falls under the category of lahw.

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ and Abdullah ibn Abbas رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمَا both stated that it includes everything — including musical instruments and anything else in the form of objects that we use to take our attention away from the obligations of Allah. It is a very broad statement. The reason why I repeated it multiple times is to capture our attention — that things exist within our lives that are fulfilling the same purpose.

Respected audience — at times when we feel like we're getting bored, many a times we don't even realize it, and we end up downloading games and other things on our phones. All of these things consume time that could be used to please Allah. Ever heard of the term "time pass"? It's a very old term. People use it for things they want to do to pass their time. But you realize that the passing time isn't bringing any good news — it's bringing the news of your death. And you're getting closer to Allah, and every passing second keeps on begging the question: what are you doing to please Allah?

Have you fulfilled — you know, if we fell under the category of the companions, the Sahabah رِضْوَانُ اللهِ تَعَالَى عَلَيْهِمْ أَجْمَعِينَ — about them it is said: رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ — Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Allah. If we fall under that category, that would warrant the satisfaction that we live our lives in. But in our current condition, we are satisfied with everything of the dunya, and we say that the akhirah will be so-and-so, and hopefully Allah will forgive us. No — it's something that we need to pay attention to.

So this "time pass" concept that we have in our lives specifically comes in the form of our phones. Back in the days, people had to do multiple things in order to attain one lahw. But now every single form of lahw is found in a single device — from downloading games to streaming videos, et cetera, et cetera, and the list goes on. There are many things that are not even appropriate to be mentioned in the masjid.

The Three Categories of Lahw

When it comes to lahw, it has been divided into three categories to make it easy for the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ to understand.

First Category: Kufr

The first category is the type of lahw that Nadhar ibn Harith engaged in — this type of lahw is actually kufr. It is something that takes a person out of the fold of Islam. Why? Because you are using things to take people away from the deen of Allah. His example was يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ — he went and bought those stories, and he bought someone who could narrate those stories, and his intention behind that was for people to stop listening to the word of Allah, to stop listening to the Qur'an, and to start paying attention to these stories instead.

And what is the outcome of that? Nothing — at the end of the story, people go home. Whereas when people listen to the verses of the Qur'an, they accept Islam and enter into its fold. So this is the first category of lahw, which is kufr itself — it makes a person exit the fold of Islam.

And here the mufassireen have specifically stated that this incident is not just confined to Nadhar ibn Harith — it is applicable to every single individual from the beginning of time till the end of time who uses similar resources to take people away from the deen. And many a times we come across Muslims who may, unknowingly, be doing the same thing. A person is going to the masjid, and someone says, "Why are you going to the masjid, man? Let us talk for a little bit and then we can go later on." Or: "We'll pray later on" — and nobody ends up praying. So when someone is about to fulfill the obligation of Allah, and even the thought crosses your mind of stopping them, be very careful of what you're about to do.

Second Category: Haram

The second category of lahw is haram. It falls under the premises of hurma — it is haram. This type of lahw is not kufr in itself. It is not taking people away from Islam itself, neither is it making them renounce their faith — but it distracts them from their obligations and duties towards Allah. This includes all forms of lahw prevalent in our lives in terms of social media, the videos we stream, and the things we listen to.

Here it is mentioned specifically in Ma'arif al-Qur'an, which is a tafsir of Mufti Shafi' رَحِمَهُ اللهُ. He cited the hadith of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنْهُ, narrated from Rasulullah ﷺ, that when a person starts to sing, two shayateen are deputed.

People argue the permissibility and prohibition of music and say that music is not haram — bring an ayah of the Qur'an. The hadith specifically states that when a person starts singing, two shayateen are deputed, sitting on his shoulders, and each one of them kicks him and continues to kick until he stops singing. Can you imagine shayateen kicking you? May Allah protect us. The societies we live in — no matter how much you try to protect yourself, somewhere you may end up listening to it, or you may be exposed to it in some way or form. May Allah protect us and our generations.

Third Category: Makruh

The third category is makruh. It covers everything we do — those little petty things that we do to keep ourselves away from being engaged in the dhikr of Allah. It could be the minor things that exist within our lives.

Conclusion: Accounting for Ourselves

Lastly, I would like to conclude with the hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ, in which he says that everything that exists in this world, and all the actions that we commit, all of them are lahw and batil — except those that engage us in the remembrance of Allah and those which keep us focused on the remembrance of Allah.

That is why we notice with the companions of Rasulullah — even though they would be engaged in their dunya at times, because as human beings we live our lives. When you look at the companions and Rasulullah ﷺ himself, they lived normal lives. This doesn't mean that you renounce everything, divorce your wives, forsake your children, and end up in the corner of a masjid. No, that's not what it means. But it means that a person should be mindful. That's the only thing it requires.

Those of us who may not be fulfilling the commandments of Allah should take this as a warning sign — that all of these things exist in our lives. Where is the place for the order and command of Allah in my life? If I were to sacrifice a few of these things, I may find that I have ample amount of time to fulfill the obligation and command of Allah.

And those of us who are fulfilling the commands of Allah, yet are using a lot of our time in things that go to waste — we should try to pull ourselves out. Remember, a person should check himself often and reflect on the actions and the things that exist in his life.

(Reported by Umar ibn Al-Khattab رضي الله عنه; cited in Jami' al-Tirmidhi and other collections)

"Take yourselves into account before you are taken into account" — before someone else checks you.

I conclude here. I ask Allah to give us the tawfiq to abstain from everything that falls in the category of lahw — myself first, and all the congregants here.

Announcements

Please pass the donation boxes from left to right, and donate generously. Sadaqah wards off calamities and draws the mercy of Allah. Rasulullah ﷺ said that sadaqah given on the day of Jumu'ah is greater in reward than any other day.

Parking: No curb parking. Do not park on the curbs behind the seminary building or the Swift Highway. We have additional parking spaces in the used car lot. Please do not park in the condo's parking lot.

Seerah Conference: Please save the date for the upcoming Seerah Conference from October 13th to the 14th, covering different aspects of the life of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Girls Youth Halaqah — Soulful Chats: Topic is "Dangers of Peer Pressure and How to Maintain Our Muslim Identity." Join us today with your friends for our bi-weekly Sisters Youth Halaqah, ages 13 to 21. It will take place in the Seminary Sisters Prayer Hall. Timing is 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

Weekly Programs:

Team Fajr will continue tomorrow, Saturday inshAllah. Fajr Iqamah is at 5:45 AM. Tafsir will continue on Tuesday after Maghrib Salah. Sunday school for boys and girls, ages 6 to 16 years — this program is designed for youth to learn the essentials of Islam in an environment that seeks to nurture and develop a deep love and connection to Allah and His beloved Rasulullah ﷺ. Classes have begun from September 10th. For more information on the programs, please visit Darul Salam's website.

Darul Salam Community Center has the following programs: Tuesday women's basketball, Wednesday men's volleyball, Thursday men's basketball, and Friday Jiu-Jitsu. Students gathering will be today between Maghrib and Isha. Gym will also be available for students from 5:30 PM onwards.

Du'a Maghfirah request: Brother Muhammad Nandolia has passed away. Also, one of our dear brothers, Nasir Baig, and one of our dear students, Hamza Baig — Brother Nasir Baig's mother, and grandmother of Hamza Baig, passed away tragically yesterday. We ask Allah to elevate her status in Jannatul Firdaus.

Iqamah and Salah

أَشْهَدُ أَن لَّا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 723; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 433)

"Straighten your rows, for straightening the rows is part of the completion of the prayer." Make sure your lines are straight; leave no gaps in between. Try to fill up the spots in the masjid first.