Evils of Jahiliyyah - Shaykh Hafeezullah Khan

Khutbah Opening

The Farewell Sermon and the Warning Against Jahiliyyah

Dear brothers and sisters in Islam, the sermon which the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam delivered at the time of his farewell Hajj in Mina and Arafat to all his companions contained very important advice, some of which we discussed in the previous khutbah. In that sermon, the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned the word Jahiliyyah many times, saying that stay away from the evils of the Jahiliyyah era before Islam.

The question is: what evils of the time of Jahiliyyah did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mention in his sermon? Because if we don't recognize them and if we don't know them, then we will be doing many bad and evil deeds thinking they are part of our deen and are rewardable, whereas on the Day of Judgment they will have no value.

As Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) says: those people who are unaware of the evils from the era before Islam — their Islam crumbles bit by bit and is finished.

Evil #1 — Shirk: Associating Partners with Allah

So if we look at the period of Jahiliyyah before Islam, we find that there were many evil and bad deeds, but the most and worst of them was associating others with Allah in His worship, which is known as shirk. People used to worship Allah but at the same time they associated other deceased pious people, angels and idols with Allah in His worship. They believed that these would intercede for them with Allah.

As Allah says about them:

"And they worship besides Allah things that harm them not, nor benefit them, and they say: these are our intercessors with Allah."

In another place, Allah says what the mushrikeen used to say — that we worship the awliya, we worship the pious people, only that they may bring us nearer to Allah:

And when, as a trial, Allah would fulfill their needs, they would leave the worship of Allah and instead start worshipping them, thinking that their needs were fulfilled because of their intercession. They thought this was not shirk, whereas Allah clearly says to the mushrikeen that it is an act of shirk.

So the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam started his da'wah by trying to eliminate this shirk and continued this da'wah throughout his life. The Prophets before him all did the same and tried to eliminate shirk first, as Allah says:

"And We certainly sent into every nation a messenger saying: worship Allah and avoid taghoot — false objects of worship."

The question is: why has shirk been stated as a major sin in the Quran and Sunnah? The answer, brothers, is that if we have shirk within our action, within our aqeedah, then it destroys all our good deeds. As Allah says:

"Whoever associates others with Allah then Jannah will be made haram upon him and his destination will be the Hellfire."

And whoever is blessed with a sound creed and correct aqeedah has all the blessings of Allah in this world and the Hereafter. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says: Allah gives the world to those whom He loves and to those whom He does not love, but He only gives the deen — the deen of tawheed, the deen of correct aqeedah — to those whom He loves.

So if someone has gained all the worldly things but does not have a sound aqeedah and commits shirk in his action or his aqeedah, he should not think that Allah is pleased with him and that he is on the right path, because these worldly things have no value in the sight of Allah. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says in another hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2320)

"If the value of this world was equal to a mosquito's wing in the sight of Allah, the disbelievers would not be able to get even a sip of water."

The Mushrikeen of Mecca Also Believed in Allah

We might say: Alhamdulillah, we are Muslims, we are on the correct aqeedah, and all these issues being discussed are about the mushrikeen of Mecca who worshipped idols and made partners with Allah. No, my brothers and sisters. If we look at the faith of the mushrikeen of Mecca, they used to believe in the oneness of Allah too — but only in the oneness of lordship. As the Quran says:

"O Muhammad, if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will say: Allah."

In another place, Allah says: Ask them who is the master of everything and who is it whose refuge you seek and nobody can give refuge against Him — they will say: indeed it is Allah.

So the mushrikeen of Mecca believed in Allah. They performed prayers, they fasted, they did Hajj and other good deeds. But still the Quran says they were mushrikeen. Why? Because just having belief in the oneness of Allah is not enough to be a mu'min, to be a Muslim. All kinds of worship should be just for Allah, for the sake of Allah — including our prayers, our fasting, our sacrificing, tawaf of the House of Allah, our du'as, hope and fear — everything we should do for the sake of Allah.

And if someone claims to believe in Allah and says "I believe in the oneness of Allah," and at the same time he has believed that others will fulfill his needs and provide him rizq, and that others are knowers of the unseen and they have power of life or death, and that the universe is controlled by some other being rather than Allah, and that there are others who solve our problems — dear brothers and sisters, this is the shirk which the mushrikeen of Makkah were involved in.

So think: what is the difference between their actions and ours today? The difference is they had idols and we have graves. And this is the shirk which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came to eliminate, and he spent all his life for this cause. He left his homeland, he got stoned by people, he suffered hunger and much more for this. And what are we doing? We enjoy doing those very errors which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam struggled to save us from.

So in this time we have to assess our aqeedah, we have to assess our faith.

Following the Prophet's Sunnah

The second thing connected with our aqeedah is our believing in the Prophethood of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. How should we show our belief in our Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? Just by recitation, by citing the kalimah shahada — لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ? No, my brothers. We also need to act upon it. The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam should be the only and ideal example for us to follow throughout our life.

This is what the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned in his farewell sermon, and he said:

(Muwatta Imam Malik, Book 46, Hadith 3)

"I leave behind me two things — the Quran and my Sunnah. If you follow these, you will never go astray."

And Allah says:

"O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger, and do not waste your deeds."

And Allah also says in Surah al-Hashr:

"Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatever he forbids you, abstain from it."

And Allah also says about the benefit of obedience to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

"Whoever obeys Allah and whoever obeys the Messenger of Allah will be among those he has blessed — the messengers, the truthful, the witnesses, and the righteous. What excellent companions these are." It means that whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will not enter only Jannah but will be among the Prophets and companions.

And whoever knowingly goes against the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — what does Allah say about them?

"But if anyone opposes the Messenger after his guidance has become clear to him and follows a path other than that of the faithful, We shall let him pursue his chosen path and enter him into Hell — an evil destination." So whoever goes against the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam after it becomes clear to him, their destination will be the Hellfire.

So as a Muslim, as a mu'min, it is our duty that when we have an authentic hadith from the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, an authentic Sunnah, then we cannot compare it to any other opinion — of any other Prophet, Imams or scholars. For example, once Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and said: we sometimes hear things from the Jews which we like and they sound good, so can we note them? The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam became so angry, and he said to him: do you want to create doubts in your mind about your deen like the Jews and Christians did? Whereas the deen I have presented to you is clear and pure. If Musa (peace be upon him) was alive today he too would have followed me.

In another narration, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made it clear: if Musa was to come and you started following him rather than me, then you will go astray. In this hadith, dear brothers and sisters, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam gave an example of one of the greatest Prophets — Musa (peace be upon him) — to emphasize the importance of this point, that none other should be followed in comparison to his Sunnah.

Sunnah Includes What the Prophet Did Not Do

We must remember that the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is not just what he ordered us to do, but Sunnah is also leaving that which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not act upon. For example, if the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam refrained from doing something specific at a certain time, or place, or in a certain manner, then for us to do that thing will be against the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam regardless of how good we think that deed or action is.

In Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, some companions came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and asked him about worship. After that, one of them said: I will fast the whole year; another said: I will never marry; and another said: I will worship all night and I am not going to sleep. When the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam heard this, he told them:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 5063; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1401)

"This is not my Sunnah, and the one who does not follow my Sunnah is not from among us." Although these actions — fasting, worshipping — were good deeds, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam rejected them in this extreme form.

Many people do not understand this and hence they are led into activities of bid'ah. They question us: where did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam refrain us from doing such things? What they need to remember is that something which the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not do in the matter of deen is considered as prohibited, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam clearly said:

"Whoever invents in our matter something not from the deen, it is rejected."

Other Evils of Jahiliyyah Still Present Today

O brothers and sisters, besides shirk, there were some other evil deeds from the time of Jahiliyyah which unfortunately we still see in Muslim society, and we don't think badly of them.

Evil #2 — Judging Truth by Majority and Minority

One of them, for example: in the time of Jahiliyyah before Islam, they used to measure right and wrong, true and false, on the basis of majority and minority. Every group that was in the majority they would consider to be right and true. Whereas in Islam this is not the method to differentiate between right and wrong — rather it should be based on the truth and the rightful, even if it is one person standing for the truth.

As Allah mentioned in different places in the Quran that most people are not on the truth. And Allah clearly says to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

"If you listen to the views of the majority, they will surely mislead you from the path of Allah."

And on the Day of Judgment, the Prophets will come — some with one person following them, some with nobody following them. So does this mean that the Prophets were not on the truth? No doubt they were on the truth, but their followers were in small numbers. And today also we try to recognize truth and falsehood through how many people are supporting an issue, and this again is an action of the period of Jahiliyyah.

Evil #3 — Exaggeration in Venerating the Pious

The other thing: they used to exaggerate in respect of the pious people on the basis of their piety and cross limits. So they used to make the graves of the pious people, after their death, a place of worship. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mentioned in his hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 532)

"Those before you used to make the graves a place of worship, so be aware that you do not make graves a place of worship."

Wherever there was a grave of a pious person, they used to think it a sacred place and started worshipping there. Although they didn't worship the grave in the beginning, worshipping near the graves resulted in the worship of graves too — especially when graves are decorated and built up like buildings, lit up and covered with expensive cloths, with writing on them, with flowers placed on them. All these things bring exaggeration in the hearts of the people who respected those who are in that grave. That is why the hadiths refrain us strictly from all such things.

Evil #4 — Making Scholars into Lords

They used to make their scholars like lords beside Allah, before Islam. As Allah says:

"They took their rabbis and their monks to be their lords beside Allah" — by obeying them in things that they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires, without being ordered by Allah, and people followed them blindly.

Still today we see that people say it is obligatory to listen to the scholars. Yes, we agree — but when their opinions do not contradict the Quran and Sunnah. Otherwise, according to the authentic hadith, the saying of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 1098)

"Obeying someone in something which displeases Allah is not permitted."

The problem today is that we have made personalities our criteria for recognizing right and wrong, whereas we should recognize the personalities for their practices, actions and aqeedah according to the truth. One extreme is that some people blindly follow their scholars whatever they say. The other extreme is that some consider themselves as mufti and mujtahid as well, although they might not even recite the Quran properly — those who don't even like to look at the books of fiqh of the famous Imams, let alone study them.

There needs to be a balance: that we don't blindly follow any Imam or scholar, but we also do not distance ourselves from their knowledge, because we need from it that which is in line with the Quran and Sunnah. We take benefit from their esteemed knowledge and we also seek help from their knowledge to understand the Quran and Sunnah, and we believe their academic efforts are a treasure for the ummah.

Evil #5 — Believing in Bad Omens

They used to believe in bad omens. This was a routine of the mushrikeen: whenever they left for an important task, they used to make their decisions on the basis of arrows and birds to decide whether it would be good or bad for them. Whereas Islam teaches us that nothing is a bad omen in Islam. If we have doubts about any issue — whether it is good or bad for us — the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam has taught us to pray the salah and make du'a, rather than going to fortune tellers to know our future.

Evil #6 — Attributing Opinions to Allah Without Knowledge

Another thing was that they used to relate their own opinions to Allah without knowledge about it — which is a bigger sin than shirk. As Allah says:

"Say: the things that my Lord has indeed forbidden are great evil sins and unrighteous oppression, joining partners in worship with Allah for which He has given no authority, and saying things about Allah of which you have no knowledge."

So it is not allowed for anyone — for any scholar, for any person — to relate something to Allah, saying that Allah has made such and such thing haram, or Allah has made such and such thing halal, or Allah has made such and such thing makruh, and we start to give verdicts about it without knowledge. Allah says:

"Then who does more wrong than he who utters a lie against Allah and denies the truth — the Quran and the teaching of the Prophet and Islamic monotheism — when it comes to him? Is there not in Hell an abode for the disbelievers?"

Even if the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was asked about something on which he had not received any revelation, he would not give any reply on that matter. So if the Prophet used to be so careful in this matter, then how come we think we know all things and we start to give verdicts on every matter?

A person came to Imam Malik (may Allah have mercy upon him) and posed forty questions to him. He only replied to a few and said: I don't know about the majority of them. The person said: I have come from very far to ask you these questions. Imam Malik replied: go back to where you have come from and tell the people: I asked Imam Malik some questions, and Imam Malik said he has no answer for them.

If this was the state of the famous Imam, then it is strange that when we are asked a worldly matter, we often refer others to a specialist in that subject. But when we are asked a religious question, we are quick to give an answer even before the question is completed — thinking that we have knowledge about it, whereas we actually don't.

May Allah bless us all and guide us to the truth. Ameen.