Fighting the Fitnah of Doubts - Mufti Minhajuddin

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, and all praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. And peace and blessings be upon the Master of the Messengers and the Seal of the Prophets, and upon his good and pure family, and those who follow the good of Allah, the Lord of the Day of Recompense, and beyond. And as Allah, the Exalted, said in the decisive revelation of his revelation, We seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan.

My dear respected brothers and elders, respected sisters and youngsters, As-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatu -llāhi wa barakātuh. As the summer vacation is coming to an end, many of our youngsters, our sons and daughters, will be returning to school shortly. And there are many back-to-school preparation plans that we have in place to prepare them for the new academic year.

And as we are preparing them to excel in their secular studies in school, we also have to have concern that what type of environment we are putting our children into, and what safeguards we have taken and put into place to preserve the most valuable commodity that they have, and that which is necessary for their salvation, Īmān itself. And we have to have an understanding of the great challenges that they are facing to preserve that Īmān. Especially those parents that have come from different countries, they cannot truly appreciate the level of challenges that our youth are undergoing.

One is the دَعْوَة إِلَىٰ الشَّهَوَات, فِتْنَة الشَّهَوَات, the invitation towards fulfilling all the passion desires, the desires of the nafs and passions, and the availability and accessibility of all of these forms of sin. Those parents that have some understanding of the deen are aware of this aspect of the challenge, and they try to reinforce the children and to keep them strong, to control themselves, and not to fall into these sins. زَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ.

Shaytan has beautified these sins, and particularly at the time of youth, when a person is overcome with different impulses and hormones at that time, to control oneself is becoming more and more difficult, and many of our youth are falling into grave sins. But another danger which is even more potent and more dangerous and can have worse outcomes than the فِتْنَة الشَّهَوَات is the فِتْنَة الشُّبُهَات. And that is when our youth begin to have doubts regarding the cardinal beliefs of Muslims, doubts regarding our عَقِيدَة and our belief in Allah, belief in the Qur'ān being the word of Allah.

They start having doubts regarding Muhammad ibn Abdullah, صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, being the prophet of Allah. So this is part of our educational system nowadays in this country, is that we are taught to question and doubt everything, and start demanding rational proofs for everything. Those things that we took for granted, maybe in our countries where we grew up and where we went to school, all of those ideas are now being challenged.

So, whatever knowledge of deen we had, and whatever we acquired from our parents, and that was sufficient for us to remain strong, may not be sufficient for the next generation. They would need to acquire more knowledge of deen, and the youth growing up today would need to have a stronger foundation and basis in their عَقِيدَة to be able to withstand these challenges. But the opposite is happening.

Sometimes we underestimate the effect of growing up in a Muslim community, but whether we are performing salāh five times a day in the masjid or not, the fact that we used to hear the adhān five times a day, we might have been playing cricket outside, but we were hearing the adhān. This has an effect on our rūḥ and our soul. That is why the children, babies, when they are born, they have no level of fáham, comprehension, understanding of what is going on, but we have been ordered, and this is sunnah of Rasūlullāh صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ, to call the adhān in the right ear and the iqāmah in the left ear.

The children who are born in this land, they are devoid of that. We are living in a society which is completely a godless society, which frowns upon belief in anything sacred or divine. It is an entirely materialistic society in which it is all about accumulation of worldly things, and the pursuit is of that only which is physical.

Any belief in something beyond the physical world which cannot be tested in a laboratory, which is not something tangible that you can touch and feel and see and taste and hear with the physical senses, any of the five physical senses, then it does not exist, they do not believe in it having any reality whatsoever. This is what everyone is being taught. So believing in Allah, آمَنْتُ بِاللَّهِ, wa malāikatihi, his angels, wa kutubih, his books, and his Rasuls, and the revelation that came upon the Rasuls, all of this is from the أُمُور غَيْبِيَّة, from the unseen realm, and all of these beliefs are now coming under attack.

So that īmān that we had was called إِيمَان تَقْلِيدِي, where we just took it for granted. This is what our parents said, this is what our elders said, this is what the imām in the masjid said, and we were happy with that. We were okay with it, we believed in it, and we continued on.

And that īmān inshāʾ-Allāh will also take us towards najāh, salvation. But we are living in a time where we will need more detailed knowledge than that. We cannot rest assured and think that what we learned is going to be sufficient for the next generation.

This would be a cardinal mistake on our part. Allah says, O those who believe, Allah is addressing the believers, Make sure you save yourselves and save your family members as well. From that fire, that fire of Jahannam, the fuel of which is men and stones.

And it will be guarded by angels, stern angels. Strong angels will be guarding the gates of Jahannam. There will be no escape from that.

These angels, they do not disobey Allah. Whatever Allah commands them, They do exactly as they are told. We have to realize that if our child excels in all the secular subjects, And he comes first place, he gets the top percentile in the nationwide exams.

He goes to the best college and the best university. He gets a noble prize for achievements in science. Or he becomes the first man to land on Mars.

All of those achievements will be of no avail if he loses his īmān. Will be absolutely of no avail. Will be of no benefit.

That day, neither wealth, nor riches, nor family, nor children will help. What will only help is a person who has his own heart. A heart with īmān.

And that person who is from a worldly perspective a failure, he may be in a drought-stricken area, suffering famine, and is dying from undernourishment, malnourishment, or dehydration, out in the desert. He dies on the sand because he does not have water to drink. From a worldly perspective, he is a failure.

But if he actually has īmān and belief in Allah and he dies as a mu'min, then this was a trial, a temporary trial that he has passed successfully. And he has قَدْ أَفْلَحَ بِرَبِّ الْكَعْبَةِ. He has attained success by the Lord of the Ka'bah. The one who has actually been cut into two pieces and is dying, his wife becomes a widow, his children become an orphan.

Among the Sahābah, we have this story that comes in the Seerah, in the stories of their campaigns. As he was being cut down, he said that, he said بِرَبِّ الْكَعْبَةِ. I swear by the Lord of the Ka'bah that I have attained success. This actually led to the one who took his life eventually accepting Islam.

As he began to ponder and question, how could it be? The dying man does not lie. As he is dying, he is saying he is achieving success. What success is he achieving? The success is to die with īmān.

You will realize the benefit of īmān and the great loss of īmān that this will become apparent on the Day of Judgment. The Day of Judgment is the day of retribution, the Day of Judgment. Allah says:

The one who is saved from the eternal fire of Jahannam and he is allowed to enter into Jannah, that one is the true successful one.

And the worldly life is but a deception. So we really have to take this seriously. And we have to see what steps have we taken.

Strengthening Aqīdah from a Young Age

First amongst them is that we have to strengthen the عَقِيدَة within the hearts of our children. This starts from a young age. We have to make this a priority.

عَقِيدَة and تَوْحِيد of Allah, لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ, and all the أُمُور غَيْبِيَّة, all of the unseen matters that we believe in. This Īmān has to be drilled from the beginning. And this is what we see Rasūlullāh صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ did.

This is what the Sahābah did and they taught us. ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, Sahābī of Rasūlullāh صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ who was a very young boy when Rasūlullāh صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ left this world, he was only around nine to eleven years old. He says that Rasūlullāh صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ one time when he was, he put him behind him on the same camel.

He was sitting behind him. كُنْتُ رِدْفَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ And Rasūlullāh صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ taught me عَقِيدَة. For a young boy, he said:

O young boy, احْفَظِ اللَّهَ يَحْفَظْكَ – That be punctual regarding the orders of Allah and Allah will protect you. When you seek help, seek help only from Allah. When you seek guidance, when you seek help, when you are in trouble, then do not turn to any of the creation. Turn to Allah.

And know that the creation is powerless. وَاعْلَمْ أَنَّ الإِنْسَ وَالْجِنَّ لَوْ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَىٰ أَن يَنفَعُوكَ بِشَيْءٍ – If all the human beings and all the jinn of the entire world get together to benefit you in the least. لَمْ يَنفَعُوكَ إِلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ لَكَ – They cannot benefit you in the least except for that which Allah has already decreed for you.

وَلَوْ اجْتَمَعُوا عَلَىٰ أَن يَضُرُّوكَ بِشَيْءٍ – And if they gather together to harm you in the least, they cannot harm you إِلَّا بِشَيْءٍ قَدْ كَتَبَهُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكَ – Except for that which Allah has decreed against you. رُفِعَتِ الْأَقْلَامُ وَجَفَّتِ الصُّحُفُ – Allah has written the taqdīr of that which is occurring. The pen that was writing that has been uplifted.

رُفِعَتِ الْأَقْلَامُ – The pen that Allah has created. It has been lifted from the parchment and the parchment has dried. It is set in stone.

Subḥānallāh. So this is teaching عَقِيدَة to a young boy. This is what Allah revealed the stories in the Qur'ān of the Anbiyāʾ. How they taught the عَقِيدَة to their children and the wise men of the past.

The Story of Luqmān and His Son

Luqmān the Wise. Allah revealed the whole سُورَة in the Qur'ān, سُورَة لُقْمَان. To show us the communication between the father and the son.

First before mentioning the story of Luqmān, Allah introduces him. Gives us a brief bio regarding him. Who is this individual that I am going to tell you about. He gives his qualification.

وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ – Listen. I am telling you the story of Luqmān. Who is this man? I am telling you that وَلَقَدْ آتَيْنَا لُقْمَانَ الْحِكْمَةَ – I had given him great wisdom. He was a very wise servant of mine.

And you should pay attention to his behavior, to his actions. Because فِعْلُ الْحَكِيمِ لَا يَخْلُو عَنِ الْحِكْمَةِ – The actions of the wise person are never devoid of wisdom. There will be wisdom for you in that story.

There is a lesson for those who have intelligence to take heed and pay attention. What does he say?

Remember when Luqmān was speaking to his son while he was advising him. Another issue is that we are not speaking enough to our own children.

Talking to them, communicating with them, developing relationships with them because we are in pursuit of the material dunyā. We don't have time to talk to our own children. Luqmān found time to talk to his son.

And he spoke to him in a very kind manner, in a loving manner, in a considerate manner. Giving him heartfelt advices. وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُ – He said:

O my dear son. لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ – Do not ever assign any partners unto Allah. إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ – Assigning partners unto Allah is the gravest form of injustice. It is the greatest form of oppression.

And then, this is the تَوْحِيد of Allah. That there is only one being, there are no two beings or three beings or multiple gods. Then there is the تَوْحِيد of the صِفَات of Allah. The attributes of Allah are also unique. He says:

He says, O my dear son. If you do any action, that if you give it a physical shape, it will be the small size of a mustard seed, which is one of the smallest seeds around.

And then that is hidden in the heavens of the earth or under a big rock. And you hide it away and you bury it. And you feel that no one is going to ever find it.

You are under this impression. You feel comfortable that no one will ever retrieve this. It is lost.

يَأْتِ بِهَا اللَّهُ – Allah will bring it forth in the Day of Judgment. Because Allah is لَطِيف and خَبِير. He is All-Knowing.

If this knowledge is imprinted in the hearts of the young children, right from the get-go, then they will never dare to disobey Allah. They will be always conscious.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعِي يَرَانِي وَيَسْمَعُ كَلَامِي – Allah is with me. He hears me and He sees my actions. He is سَمِيع بَصِير – He is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. سَمِيع بِأَقْوَالِكُمْ عَلِيم بِأَفْعَالِكُمْ – He hears what we say and He knows what we do.

This has to be embedded in the hearts at a young age. May Allah give us all the ability to preserve the īmān of our next generations and to preserve their عَقِيدَة and their belief and keep it steadfast in the face of the secular challenges of atheism that is becoming more and more prevalent and allow us to remain connected with ʿulama and those scholars that are teaching the true عَقِيدَة to our children so that inshāʾ-Allāh we could enter Jannah together. If we do the correct job, inshāʾ-Allāh, Allah says and we do our job well and preserve our īmān of our children.

They'll be entering the gardens of eternity in the company of their parents, their children, their spouses. And the angels will be entering upon them from every door and they'll be saying peace be upon you that you were perseverant and you remained steadfast in the face of the challenges. Now you have the eternal beautiful abode of Jannah.

And on the other hand, if we fail in our responsibility then Allah says the children will be cursing their parents. They will say:

We wish we obeyed Allah and the Rasūl. Oh, woe on us. We obeyed our parents and our teachers and our elders. They let us go astray.

Oh Allah, give them double the punishment that you're giving us. Send down a big curse upon them. This is the other outcome. May Allah protect us from that.

So just like our children are universally understood to be a blessing from Allah, then we have to understand:

Then you'll be asked on that day regarding the blessings. And Allah will ask us regarding these innocent children, did we allow them to be corrupted by the environment or did we take certain steps to ensure their īmān will be protected. Keeping them in the right company.

Keeping them connected to the masājid and the majālis of ʿIlm. Exposing them to that which will preserve their īmān. Keep it strong.

And if it requires to learn the īmān and عَقِيدَة ourselves to be able to teach our children to be in a better position to preserve their īmān. This has to be our greatest concern. This has to be our greatest worry.

We will all be asked about this on the Day of Judgment. May Allah allow us to awaken to these realities. وَآخِرُ دَعْوَانَا أَنِ الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ