Good, Evil and the End of Times (with British Sign Language) - Shaykh Wasim Kempson

Opening — Khutbah al-Hajah

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنَسْتَهْدِيهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّداً عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بَيْنَ يَدَيِ السَّاعَةِ بَشِيراً وَنَذِيراً وَدَاعِياً إِلَى اللَّهِ بِإِذْنِهِ وَسِرَاجاً مُنِيراً فَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى آلِهِ الطَّيِّبِينَ الطَّاهِرِينَ وَمَنْ سَارَ عَلَى نَهْجِهِمْ إِلَى يَوْمِ الدِّينِ

Indeed, all praise and thanks is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds. I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship except Allah alone, and that Muhammad is His final messenger.

The Conversation of Hudhaifah ibn al-Yaman with the Prophet

I want to mention a hadith — a conversation between Hudhaifah ibn al-Yaman and the Prophet ﷺ. It is a conversation I'm sure that many of us have read many a time or heard many a time. But I just want to reflect on how, in this modern day — the time that we are living in now — how things have changed.

So Hudhaifah رضي الله عنه says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3606; Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 6573)

"The people used to ask the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about all goodness. However, I used to ask him about that which was to be considered evil, out of fear that I would see it and that it may overcome me."

So the vast majority of the sahabah رضي الله عنهم would be asking the Messenger ﷺ about that which would bring them closer to Allah — all that was considered righteous. Of course, this was explained to us no doubt in the Book of Allah — what goes against that, what is not pleasing to Allah from shirk, from disobedience in all its forms. We were not left not knowing what those things were. But Hudhaifah رضي الله عنه wanted further information about those things which were to be considered harmful to one's deen, in fear that you may live amongst it and that it may then impact you. So the vast majority of what people were asking about was righteousness.

If we look in our time now — what is it that people are not necessarily asking about, but that which they themselves are indulging in, maybe without saying anything? The vast majority of what we are exposed to is evil, is wrongdoing. But the thing we should be fearful of is that we do not recognise that as being evil.

The Greatest Fitna — Inability to Distinguish Good from Evil

Now Hudhaifah رضي الله عنه, on another occasion — the first hadith of course contains a long conversation with the Prophet ﷺ explaining that there were times of good, then times of evil, then good which will be tainted, and then evil again, and then will be the end of times. But that conversation is of course for another time.

But Hudhaifah رضي الله عنه is also asked in another narration: "What do you see as the greatest fitna? What is the greatest tribulation that you see?" He says: "That good and evil is presented to any one of you, and that you are unable to distinguish between the two."

Imagine a person is placed in front of two situations — or more — but is unable to distinguish between that which is pleasing to Allah and that which displeases Allah. Of course there could be many reasons for that. It could be that person's ignorance — not knowing what is good and what is evil — so they may be blameworthy for their lack of knowledge. It could also be a situation where — and subhanAllah — this particular topic is a very important topic for us to understand. This khutbah is not an attempt to explain everything, but for us to reflect over the importance that every day Allah gives us as a Muslim: to be aware of what pleases Allah to the best of our knowledge, and that which displeases Allah, so that we can meet Him — وَهُوَ رَاضٍ عَنَّا — that He is pleased with us.

When Truth and Falsehood Are Confused

So imagine now that we are living in a time where, and what we are exposed to: the truthful person is seen as the liar, and the liar is seen as the truthful one. Now you may say, "Well, that's easy for me to distinguish." What about if you have masses of people — masses of people — and the information that you are exposing yourselves to, they are all saying the same thing: that what you see is kādhib, is false, is bāṭil? However, so many people are saying, "No, what they are saying is the truth, this is the reality."

An example — of course you all well know — social media: what you are exposed to. You take a video and the same video is used a hundred times in a hundred different ways, and the information that is attached to that video — how they explain that video — is different. You've seen the video before, however a video appears six months later and there's another ta'līq — another piece of information — and this video now: the causes and the reasons why this happened, all confusion. All confusion. That which you saw at one time as truthful is now being posed as false — it's not what you thought — and vice versa. And this is exactly what our Nabi ﷺ told us: that towards the end of times, a ṣādiq — the truthful one — would be seen as a kādhib, as a liar; and the kādhib would be seen as the ṣādiq, the liar would be seen as the truthful one.

Two Categories of Tribulation: Shubuhāt and Shahawāt

So the Muslim is fully aware of these situations. Now we can categorise all of these tribulations into two simple categories for us to understand: you have shubuhāt — doubts — and shahawāt — desirous matters. Doubtful matters and desirous matters.

These shubuhāt that come to you, that appear to be a particular way but are not — what is the makhraj, what is the way of getting out of these shubuhāt? Well, the Prophet ﷺ has told us: halāl is clear, harām is clear, and between them are matters which are doubtful — they are not clear to you. What are you supposed to do? The one who is fearful, who wants to protect themselves, will stay away from those doubtful matters. You protect your deen and your 'irḍ — you protect your honour. You stay away from those doubtful matters. You do not engage with those doubtful matters, even though they are so easily accessible on social media, or you see them on the television, or whatever — even in the street. You access these fitan and tribulations which may cause doubt; do not engage with that. Do not engage with these and protect yourself, because you do not know how you may react in these times of confusion.

Shaytan Renames the Harām

And also regarding these shahawāt — these desirous matters — they're all clear to us: what Allah has made clear, stay away from those. But we should realise that shaytan may try to change the reality of what the harām is, so it becomes something digestible for us — changing the names of what is clearly harām. But because it has a different name, somehow it changes its reality. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Book 30, Hadith 3385; also recorded by Imām Aḥmad in his Musnad)

"There will be people from my ummah who will drink alcohol, and they will call it by a name other than its name." Because it is given another name, somehow they have been deceived into falling into that.

So the Muslim must be fully aware of all of these things. Remember Iblis when he came to Adam عليه السلام — we know that Allah forbade Adam عليه السلام from eating from the tree. Did Iblis simply say: "Eat from the tree, disobey Allah"? No. He tried to bring about some confusion: "Eat from this tree, maybe you will become like two angels, or you will become from those who are immortal." And Adam عليه السلام was deceived by such an approach. And we know that Allah sent Adam عليه السلام and Shaytan to this earth for us to live. The point being — a shāhid — that Iblis came to deceive and to name things other than their reality.

Protecting Our Youth

Who are most at risk from our communities in such matters, where the world is changing so quickly? No doubt, it is our shabāb — our youth. They may understand the world — and for sure do understand the world — differently from us as parents. But it is the parent's responsibility to do what? To educate our children about the realities of what they are being exposed to, and not to allow them to be brought up by whatever tarbiyah they are receiving from outside the home to be the primary — if you like — the primary essence of what is going to bring them up.

The parent needs to be in place, at the forefront, in educating our next generation about how to break the world down in this simple way — in the way it was explained to us by Allah and Nabi ﷺ — to know about what these fitan are, from the shubuhāt and from the shahawāt, from doubts and desirous matters, and how to stay away from them and not to engage with them.

We ask Allah to guide us and our families and to protect us from the dalālah. All praise belongs to Allah, and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His final messenger, Muhammad ﷺ.

Second Part — The Hadith of Abū Hurayrah: Staying Still in Times of Fitna

Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrates that the Prophet ﷺ said that there will be a time of tribulations: the sitting person is in a better state than the one who is standing; and the one who is standing is better than the one who is walking; and the one who is walking is better than the one who is running.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3601; Sahih Muslim, Book 33, Hadith 6569)

Here the Prophet ﷺ is explaining: in times of fitan, the person who is not engaging and running towards the fitan is the one who is in a better state. A very important principle for us to understand. The nature of unfortunately — now for us — is to be drawn towards new things, interesting things, things which are new. Bearing in mind that the person is unable to distinguish — quite possibly — that which is good for them and that which is bad for them. As Hudhaifah رضي الله عنه said: that's the greatest fitna — that the person is unable to distinguish whether what they're engaging with is good for them or bad for them. They don't know. They wholehearted go into a situation and then halāk — they're destroyed by it.

Here the Prophet ﷺ is giving us a principle: these fitan, these tribulations which are full of confusion — stay away from them. Do not engage with them. "Did you hear about the latest mood, or the latest fashion, the latest trend?" No, I don't know about it. And to be honest with you, the majority of them are not interested — why? Because I don't know how it will impact my heart, how it will impact my family. So you protect yourself.

Start at Home — Protecting Yourself and Your Family

You remember what Allah told you: save yourself and your families from the Hellfire. This is the starting point. Every single Muslim will start from this point. Every single father here, every single mother here, will work on and focus on protecting themselves from the Hellfire — establishing the farā'iḍ, staying away from the harām, everything that displeases Allah — and those who are closest to them.

Now imagine every single Muslim family doing that — as opposed to most of us looking at everybody else's home and looking far beyond our homes and leaving our own homes metaphorically under fire. Unfortunately, too many people — too many Muslim families — are looking beyond their own homes and not looking at what is closest to them. If we start with this methodology as Allah told us, we will be in a far better place than we are in at the moment.

So how important it is for us to understand these important principles — to understand what these fitan are so we can avoid them — starting at home with ourselves and our families and those who are beloved to us, and then slowly working out. These principles will enable us, inshallah ta'ala, to gain strength in our communities, in our homes, preventing the harām which is really trying its best to enter our homes, to change our minds, our understanding of that which is good and that which is evil.

We ask Allah to guide us all. We ask Allah to protect our shabāb from those fitan — that which is apparent and that which is hidden.