JUSTICE IN ISLAM | Message In A Passage Ep.2 | Ustadh Mohamad Baajour

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Bismillah, alhamdulillah, salatu wassalamu ala rasoolillah. وَعَلِّمْنَا مَا يَنفَعُنَا وَانفَعْنَا بِمَا عَلَّمْتَنَا وَزِدْنَا عِلْمًا يَا رَحْمَٰنُ رَحِيمُ

We ask Allah azza wa jal to teach us what benefits us, benefit us from what he taught us and increase us in knowledge. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from the people at the end of the gathering. They will be taught, قُومُوا مَغْفُورًا لَكُمْ، قَدْ بُدِّلَتْ سَيِّئَاتُكُمْ حَسَنَاتٍ.

Introduction to Message in a Passage

So inshallah ta'ala this is our second episode from Message in a Passage where we take an ayah from the Quran and we explain the reason for the revelation and also what can we learn from this ayah or this series of ayat. The ayah is, if somebody would like to follow up, as a matter of fact there are nine ayahs but we're just going to take the story and then I will explain.

It's Surah An-Nisa'a from 105, Nisa'a 105.

The Story Behind the Revelation

Before, let's mention the story. There was a man, his name was Rifaa bin Zaid.

There was some shortage of food in Medina and there was a caravan that came in so he went and bought some food and he got a shield and he brought it back home. He hid it somewhere in the house and he woke up in the morning and he found that everything is gone. So he had a nephew called Qatada.

So he told Qatada what happened and they started doing their investigation. Who took the food and the shield? They were told that there was a man called Touma. Touma, he is from the Qabila of Ubayraq.

Ubayraq. And this Qabila, they were known to have some Nifaq in them, some hypocrisy. So he was told that Touma took and stole the shield and the food.

So Qatada suggested to his uncle, let's go to Rasulullah ﷺ and tell him what happened. They went to Rasulullah ﷺ and they told him, Ya Rasulullah, this is what happened, we really do not need the food, we just need the shield back. And the news spread in the Medina that Banu Ubayraq stole the shield.

So they assigned a man called Usaid bin Urwa, who was very well known to be extremely eloquent in his speech, to go and defend the tribe of Ubayraq in front of Rasulullah ﷺ. When one of the Ubayraq knew, the one who took the shield, when he found out that there was a lot of investigation going on and it got to Rasulullah ﷺ, he took the shield and he put it in a Jewish man's home. Setting him up, the Jewish guy.

Rasulullah ﷺ, when they presented this to him, especially that eloquent man, he felt that this Qabila was wronged. This tribe was wronged. Qutada and his uncle, they have no evidence, they just heard.

So he felt like they've been falsely accused. So he told Ya Qutada, you accused these people of stealing without any evidence.

Nine Verses Revealed for Justice

Wallahi, Ya Ikhwan, this is the importance of this kind of gathering. To be extremely proud that Allah honored me and you to be a Muslim. Nine ayat revealed to tell Rasulullah ﷺ that the Jewish man is innocent. Where are the Jews to listen to this? Nine ayat sent by Allah with the Jibreel to Rasulullah ﷺ.

Don't accuse this man, he did not do anything. Even though:

Even though Allah told us that the most, or the people who have the most severe enmity towards Muslims are Jews. But this has nothing to do with this. This is adl, the Islam is the deen of justice.

So the first ayah that was revealed:

Allah ﷻ told Rasulullah ﷺ, Indeed, we have sent this book to you in Haqq, so you can judge among people, not only Muslims, among people with truth and justice. And do not advocate for the خَائِنِين, plural of خَائِن. Do not advocate to the deceitful. Those people are deceitful. Even though they're claiming they are Muslims, do not defend them.

Allahu Akbar. And then what Allah ﷻ, what's the ayah right after that?

Ya Muhammad, وَاسْتَغْفِرِ اللَّهِ Ask for forgiveness. Allahu Akbar. Ask for forgiveness. Ask for forgiveness.

And then:

And do not advocate for those who wrong themselves, like this tribe. Surely Allah does not like those who are deceitful.

Allahu Akbar. And even though of course these ayat are talking about the story, but of course they apply to every single human being. They apply to all of us. Especially this ayah. يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ

Hiding from People, Not from Allah

You're hiding from people. And you're not hiding from Allah and He's with you. You're worried about what the people say and you're not worried what Allah is saying. You're worried about the people seeing you at that place where this woman with that thing doing this, attending this event. And you're not worried that Allah is seeing you.

First Lesson: Do Not Lie to Get a Fatwa

So, the first lesson here is do not lie to get a fatwa. Many people, they come to the Shaykh and they start presenting their case in a way to receive the custom-made fatwa. I present it in a way that the Shaykh can tell me what do I want to hear. Yes, brothers. This is not allowed.

As a matter of fact, Rasulullah ﷺ, he said, I'm gonna read the hadith in Arabic first. He said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2680)

He said, I am only a human being. Look at this, subhanAllah. I'm just a bashar. I'm a human being. And some of you might bring me a dispute and some of you might be more eloquent than the other guy who's coming with him.

So, I might believe him because of his eloquency. I might judge for him. I might give him the right because the way he presented his case. The other guy, maybe he's right, but he did not know how to present his case. So, I gave it to the guy who's very eloquent because this is the way you spoke to me. And listen to what he said at the end.

And whomsoever I, by my judgment, gave the undue share of the right of a Muslim, in fact, I gave him a portion of the hellfire. And the person feel he won the case. I was able to fool Rasulullah ﷺ with this statement, right? And he ruled for me. So, I look like I got him. I got the guy. But you actually got a piece of hell.

Because Rasulullah ﷺ, subhanAllah, He said, I am a bashar. I am a human being. You present the case to me. I'm gonna judge and I see who has more right and I'm gonna judge.

Present the Right Facts

So, when we go seek a fatwa, we have to really present the right facts that took place. If you are sincere in getting the truth. If you are sincere of getting the haqq, not just because sometimes we go with someone, our goal is to beat him, not to get to the truth. Our goal, because my ego cannot accept that someone is right and I am wrong. I cannot accept it.

So, I start beating around the bush and saying this and saying that, in order to make the other guy look bad in front of the mufti, in front of the judge. And then I won the case. And I'm very happy that I won a dunya matter and I lost my akhira.

Justice Even with Family

Now, sometimes this happen anytime you are assigned to judge between two people. Listen carefully, ya akhwan. It doesn't matter if that person is your son, is your father, is your cousin. You have to rule by the haqq.

Sometimes a mother knows that her son is no good. She raised him, but because she cannot speak about her son, so she blames the daughter-in-law. Your wife is no good. She is the one who is not good. Even though she knows, she raised him, she knows him. He is lazy, he is a bum. She raised him, she knows. She knows his faults.

I know that this guy who is working for me, he is amazing. And my son also works for me and he is no good. But how can I fire my son? How can I fire my son? My wife will kick me out of the house. So I have to judge in a way that is not fair in order to let things go. This is haram.

Ayat were revealed to Rasulallah ﷺ to tell him, even though the guy was not a cousin or a friend or a son, it was a Jew. But still, when it comes to the adl, there is no difference.

Ibn Taymiyyah's Wisdom on Justice

Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, he said that Allah will support the ummah that is kafir and just over the ummah that is muslima and unjust. Allah will support the kafir, if he is just, over the ummah that is muslima, but they are not just. Because justice is a huge thing.

You stand in court and you admit that you did something, you claim in order to win a case or to win this or to win that, but you know that you are lying, you are not telling the truth. So you can win this case or win that car or whatever issue. The divorce settlement, Allahi, subhanallah, there is another hadith, Rasulallah ﷺ said, listen carefully, I'm going to read it in Arabic for the people who understand Arabic first.

Whomsoever, in his intercession, intervenes as an obstacle to one of the punishments prescribed by Allah, he has opposed Allah. There is a hadith that has to be applied, and I interceded to stop the rule of Allah. I have opposed Allah. I used my authority to stop the ruling of Allah. Second, Allah protect us.

And if anyone disputes, he's arguing knowingly underlined, knowingly about something which is false. He remains in the anger of Allah until he fixes it. I know that I'm wrong. I know. It's me, I know. And I'm arguing and arguing, knowing that I'm wrong.

Because if I admit that I'm right, if I admit that they are right, it could cause me something bad for me. So I keep arguing that I am right, knowing that I'm wrong. The person will be under the wrath, the ghadab of Allah, until he fixes that problem.

How can we afford to be under the wrath of Allah for a fraction of a second? How about until you fix the issue? What if we died before we fix it? And the person thinks, leave it to me, I got it. He thinks he's shrewd. I know how to handle issues.

The Punishment for False Accusations

Listen to the last one. أَسْكَنَهُ اللَّهُ رَضْغَةَ الْخَبَالِ حَتَّى يَخْرُجَ مِمَّا قَالَ

And whomsoever... All this is in one hadith. And whomsoever makes a false accusation... Listen, ya akhwan, this is deen. And whomsoever makes a false accusation against a believer, he will be made to dwell, to live in رَضْغَةِ الْخَبَالِ

What is رَضْغَةِ الْخَبَالِ? The fuss, and the pus, and the dirt, and the disgusting fluid that comes from the people of hell. He will live in that until he goes back and cleans his brother's name. Allahu Akbar.

You know, this is an exaggeration. Because if he goes there, how he's going to come back and clean? It's over. رَضْغَةِ الْخَبَالِ is in يوم القيامة. It's not now. He's not going to go live there now.

Look at our deen, how much importance Allah ﷻ and Rasulullah ﷺ, they put in our social interactions. This guy could pray five times a day. Five times a day. Fasting Ramadan, giving zakat, he just came back from Umrah.

But these things have nothing to do with Allah ﷻ. This is between human beings, between the khalq. You have to take care of it. You have to clean it. Otherwise, Allah will punish severely.

A Personal Story About Justice

So, when it comes to the justice, I remember when we first came to the United States long, long time ago. Many of you are not even born yet. I spoke to a brother. And he said, I'm going to teach you a way to make quick money.

And you know when you come from overseas, you think that there's a lot of trees. All you have to know is just somebody tell you where is the tree to take all the money. So I said, how?

He said, you know, you open a credit card and you max it. And you buy stuff with it. And then you take that stuff and sell it 50% off and all the money is yours. So how about paying back the credit card?

I can tell brother that you're new. These are kuffar! You don't have to pay it back. Wallahi, you don't have to pay it back. These are kuffar. We are in Darul Harb. Where is your gun, brother? Darul Harb only when it comes to money, huh? La ilaha illallah.

So this is when it comes to justice, when it comes to anything. One thing is the person's Aqeedah, the person's Deen. And one thing is Zulm, and falsehood, and stealing, and causing any harm to another human being. This kuffar is between him and Allah.

But us, we have to treat with our Deen, with our akhlaq, with our manners. Nine ayat telling Rasulallah ﷺ to make sure that you prove the innocence of that Jewish man in front of everybody, of everyone.

Key Lessons

So, if we learn one thing tonight, is number one, make sure you are always just in everything, especially if you are put in a dispute, and one of the parties of the dispute is very close to you. This is a huge test. He's your father, he's your buddy, he's your best friend. But you have to judge with the Haqq, and you know that your buddy is wrong.

What did Rasulallah ﷺ said? If I know that Fatima stole, I will cut her arm. On the Day of Judgment, there's no kinship. Haqq is Haqq, batil is batil.

Raising Children with God-Consciousness

And second, please, always, when you hear this ayah, يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يَسْتَخْفُونَ مِنَ اللَّهِ

Many times we raise our children on what would people say. عِيب Shame on you. What would people say if they saw you? And we don't tell our children, what would Allah feel about what you're doing?

We always make them from a young age worry about people and not worry about Allah Azza wa Jal. I already messed up my kids' upbringing when I make them, all they worry about is people, what people say, what people, people. No.

Instill in your children that whatever we want to do, it has to be pleasing to Allah Azza wa Jal.

Conclusion

Tonight is the night of Thursday. Make a lot of Salat on Rasulallah ﷺ.