Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
To Him is all praise, all good, and all praise is due to the Most Beautiful. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger, and peace and blessings be upon him and his family and his companions, and those who follow them in good faith until the Day of Judgment.
I want to say to you guys, nasiha, inshallah, and I ask Allah to make me from the first to benefit from it.
Brothers, we are living in a time of fitan, trials and tribulations. We're living in times of fitan, times of trials and tribulations.
And this time, we're seeing Muslims who are weak in their iman, who are sick-hearted, and even hypocrites. At this particular time, we see them falling. Allah tells us in the Quran:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ عَلَى حَرْفٍ
There are those people who worship Allah on the edge, on the side.
فَإِنْ أَصَابَهُ خَيْرٌ إِطْمَأَنَّ بِهِ
If good comes his way, he's tranquil, he's happy, he doesn't question Allah, he says Islam is the religion for me.
فَإِنْ أَصَابَهُ خَيْرٌ إِطْمَأَنَّ بِهِ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ فِتْنَةٌ إِنْقَلَبَ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ
But when he's afflicted with fitna, trials and tribulations, what happens?
إِنْ قَلَبَ
He falls on his heels. Allah then says:
خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
He's lost in this world, and he's also lost in the Hereafter.
In another verse, Allah tells us in Surah Al-Ankabut:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ فَإِذَا أُوذِيَ فِي اللَّهِ
There are, from the people, those who worship Allah سبحانه وتعالى. And if they are put through calamities and hardship, if they are thrown into it:
فَإِذَا أُوذِيَ فِي اللَّهِ
Fitna, trials, tribulations—they go through it.
فَإِذَا أُوذِيَ فِي اللَّهِ جَعَلَ فِتْنَةَ النَّاسِ كَعَذَابِ اللَّهِ
They might make that trial and tribulation the cause of their deviation.
So fitna is what I want to talk to you about.
And the Prophet ﷺ told us 1400-something years ago that it is going to come. He said:
إِنَّ بَيْنَ يَدَي السَّاعَةِ
Before the Hour, there are
فِتَنًا كَقِطْعِ اللَّيْلِ الْمُظْلِمِ
There are going to come trials and tribulations. This is what this trial and tribulation is going to be like:
يُصْبِحُ الرَّجُلُ مُؤْمِنًا وَيُمْسِي كَافِرًا وَيُمْسِي مُؤْمِنًا وَيُصْبِحُ كَافِرًا
The believer will wake up in the morning, and in the evening, he is a believer. In the morning, he wakes up a believer, and in the evening, he is a disbeliever. Or in the evening, he is a believer, and in the morning, he is a disbeliever.
What has he done?
يَبِيعُ دِينَهُ بِعَرَضٍ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا
He has sold his religion for a portion of this dunya.
It's like the people:
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَعْبُدُ اللَّهَ
وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ فَإِذَا أُوذِيَ فِي اللَّهِ جَعَلَ فِتْنَةَ النَّاسِ جَعَذَابِ اللَّهِ
That's these people.
They sell the world. They sell what?
They sell their religion for a portion of this world.
Also, the Prophet told us there's going to come a time when the fitna is going to be so bad, so tough.
The Prophet, he said:
وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ
I swear by the Lord, my soul is in His hand—الله سبحانه وتعالى:
لَا تَذْهَبُ الدُّنْيَا
This world will not go:
حَتَّى يَمُرَّ الرَّجُلُ
Until a man goes by:
عَلَى قَبْرٍ
He goes by a grave.
فَيَتَمَرَّغُ عَلَيْهِ
And he scuffles over that grave. And then he says:
يَا لَيْتَنِي كُنْتُ مَكَانَهُ
I wish I was in the place of this person in this grave.
I wish.
And he's going to wish to leave this world. The fitna is going to become that much.
Now, my brothers and sisters, what are the fitnas that we're going to see?
That is what I want to mention.
What are the causes for it?
And as I'm mentioning the causes, I'm going to mention the solution with it, inshallah.
From the fitna that we are seeing is people expelling each other out of Islam.
A person is expelling people out of Islam. And he's taking them out, saying:
"Fulan is not a Muslim, he's a kafir."
"Fulan is a fitna."
The Prophet told us:
أَيُّمَا رَجُلٍ
Any man:
قَالَ لِأَخِيهِ
He says to his brother:
يَا كَافِر
He says to him, "You're a kafir."
فَقَدْ بَاءَ بِهَا أَحَدُهُمَا
This is going to come back to one of you. Either the person that you said kafir about is really a kafir, or it's going to come back to you.
And on social media, you see that.
"Kafir, kafir!"
Everybody.
This person is calling him kafir.
"You think I'm a kafir? Guess what? You're a three-star kafir!"
وهكذا
They're throwing these labels at each other.
Fitna.
It's a fitna, wallah.
Time of fitna.
2 - القَتْلُ (Killing)
You put on the news today, and you look at it, and you see the killing. The Muslims—this country, Muslims are fighting each other. That country, Muslims are fighting each other. Muslims are killing each other.
From the signs of the Hour, the Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ بَيْنَ يَدَي السَّاعَةِ
Before the Hour, there is al-harj.
Al-harj is said to be an Abyssinian word. It's lafdhun Habashi—the word al-harj is lafdhun Habashi, and it means al-qatl. It means al-qatl (killing).
The Prophet ﷺ said:
إِنَّ بَيْنَ يَدَي السَّاعَةِ
Before the Hour, there's al-harj.
The Sahabas, of course, said:
وَمَا الْحَرْجُ
And he said:
الْقَتْلُ
And then the Prophet ﷺ explained it. He said:
إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ بِقَاتِلِكُمُ الْمُشْرِكِينَ
It's not you killing the disbelievers.
وَلَكِن قَتْلُ بَعْضِكُمْ بَعْضًا
You're going to kill one another—Muslims killing Muslims.
حَتَّى يَقْتُلَ
Until a person kills:
جَارَهُ
His neighbor that he's known all his life.
They grew up together—neighbors—and people will be killing each other, people who knew each other.
A person will go to the house of his neighbor and kill his neighbor.
وَيَقْتُلُ أَخَاهُ
A person is going to kill his brother—his own brother.
Why is he going to kill his brother?
Because they share the same mother but not the same father. So they're from two different tribes, and they kill each other.
This one is in that camp of the tribe.
Same mother, but not the same father—so the fathers are from two different tribes.
This has happened in some countries, right?
Two brothers, same mother, different fathers—but they're killing each other.
Why?
Because this one is from this tribe, and that one is from that tribe.
إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ
وَيَقْتُلُ أَخَاهُ
He's killing his own brother.
وَيَقْتُلُ عَمَّهُ
He's killing his uncle.
وَيَقْتُلُ ابْنَ عَمِّهِ
And he's even killing his cousin.
The Prophet ﷺ said this is going to happen.
And this, my brothers and sisters, is Wallahi exactly what you're seeing.
You turn on the news.
You watch this country.
Look at what's taking place right now—as we speak—in Sudan.
Look at what's happening right now.
A blessed land.
Honorable people.
Sudanese people are some of the most relaxed, calm, and respectful people you'll meet.
Look at what's happening in their country.
تمام
And we are all together, brothers.
You put on the TV and you watch—
Name a Muslim country إِلَّا وَفِيهِ there is fitna or something going on, and only a few are safe from it.
3 - انقلاب الموازين (The Scales Are Upside Down)
The third fitna, my brothers and sisters, because you have to identify what fitna is—
The third type of fitna, my brothers, is انقلاب الموازين—the scales are upside down.
Meaning, as the Prophet ﷺ said:
سَيَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ سَنَوَاتٌ خَدَّاعَاتٌ
Years of deception are going to come.
What's going to happen?
يُصَدَّقُ فِيهَا الْكَاذِبُ
The liar will be trusted.
وَيُكَذَّبُ فِيهَا الصَّادِقُ
And the truthful person will not be believed.
وَيُؤْتَمَنُ فِيهَا الْخَائِنُ
The treacherous person will be trusted.
وَيُخَوَّنُ فِيهَا الْأَمِينُ
And the trustworthy person will be called treacherous.
وَيَنْطِقُ فِيهَا الرُّوَيْبِضَةُ
And the ruwaybidah will speak.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
There are going to come years of deception.
The years that are coming are years of deception.
A liar—كذّاب—will be trusted.
Which is 99.9% of the politicians—كذّابون—liars.
Just so they can get elected by the people, they lie.
People trust them.
Vote for them.
Meet with them.
Online—one person makes up a statement, and everybody is retweeting it.
Everyone is sharing it.
كذب—it's easy to do.
People believe in lies easily.
And guess what?
وَيُكَذَّبُ فِيهَا الصَّادِقُ
The truthful person now will be disbelieved.
He's telling the truth, but no one believes him.
وَيُؤْتَمَلُ فِيهَا الْخَائِنُ
The deceptive individual—the treacherous person—will be trusted.
وَيُخَوَّنُ فِيهَا الْأَمِينُ
And the person who is reliable, now he is treacherous.
Everybody stays away from this person—he's a مصلح.
And look at this point:
وَيَنْطِقُ فِيهَا الرُّوَيْبِضَةُ
The Prophet ﷺ said:
The ruwaybidah are going to speak.
The Sahabas said:
وَمَنْ الرُّوَيْبِضَةُ؟
Who are the ruwaybidah?
The Prophet ﷺ said:
الرَّجُلُ التَّافِهُ الَّذِي يَتَكَلَّمُ فِي أَمْرِ الْعَامَّةِ
An insignificant person—تافه—no value, no قيمة, insignificant.
Doesn't know his right hand from his left hand.
Doesn't know anything.
And he's talking about big issues.
If those issues were presented to Umar ibn al-Khattab, he would have called the people of Badr and said:
"What do you guys think regarding this issue?"
A man who is nothing—on social media—is debating.
So, you know when I realized that it's a joke, what's happening on social media?
When I realized that a brother was having a back-and-forth with another brother online—
And little did he know that the brother he was talking to was a 12-year-old!
Do you understand now?
It made me think—subhanAllah—who are you talking to on the other side?
Are we all together, brothers?
Who is it really that you're talking to?
You don't know.
So, it's become a source of deception.
The information on there—it's taken as truth.
We've been fooled a lot.
The fourth, inshallah, fitna that we are seeing in this time is fitna to du‘āt al-dalālah—the fitna of misguided callers who call people to misguidance.
The Prophet ﷺ said—this is a hadith of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman. The Prophet told Hudhayfah because Hudhayfah said:
كان الناس يسألون رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن الخير وكنت أسأله عن الشر مخافة
"The people used to ask the Prophet ﷺ about the khayr (good), and I, on the other hand, Hudhayfah, I would ask the Prophet ﷺ about the evil so that I could avoid and stay away from it."
So he said:
فقلت يا رسول الله
"I said, O Messenger of Allah,
إنا كنا في جاهلية وشر
As you know, O Messenger of Allah, we were upon misguidance, and we were upon ignorance and corruption.
فجاءنا الله بهذا الخير
And this good that you've brought to us has come our way. Allah has brought this to us, سبحانه وتعالى.
فهل بعد هذا الخير من شر
Is there going to be evil after this khayr that we're in right now?
The Prophet ﷺ said:
نعم
"Yes, there is."
Hudhayfah then said:
وهل بعد هذا الشر من خير
The evil that's going to come—will there be khayr after it?
Look what the Prophet ﷺ said:
نعم وفيه دخن
"Yes, there is going to be khayr after that evil, but it will contain دخن."
دخن means there's going to be smoke. The khayr here is not going to be clear khayr. It's going to be a tainted, dark, cloudy khayr.
Hudhayfah said:
وما دخنه يا رسول الله
"O Messenger of Allah, what is this دخن? What is this unclear thing? What does it mean?"
He said:
قوم يهدون بغير هدي ويستنون بغير سنتي
"There will come a people who will take guidance other than my guidance, and they will tread a path other than my path."
تعرف منهم وتنكر
"You will recognize some of their things as good, and some of their things you will reject."
He then said:
"Okay, after that khayr that you just mentioned, is there going to be evil again?"
وهل بعد هذا الخير من شر
That khayr that you just mentioned, which is dark and not clear—will there be shar after that?
He said:
نعم
"Yes."
دعاة على أبواب جهنم من أجابهم قذفوه فيها
"There will be callers standing at the doors of Jahannam. Whoever obeys them and listens to them, they will throw him into that Hellfire."
The Prophet ﷺ said:
دعاة
Callers.
على أبواب جهنم
They will be standing at the doors of Jahannam.
They're not callers to Jannah. They're callers to Jahannam.
دعاة على أبواب جهنم
Callers at the doors of Jahannam.
من أجابهم قذفوه فيها
Whoever obeys them, they will throw him into it.
Hudhayfah then said:
صفهم لنا يا رسول الله
"O Messenger of Allah, describe these people for us. Who are these people?"
The Prophet ﷺ said:
هم من جلدتنا ويتكلمون بألسنتنا
"They are from our own skin, and they will be speaking our language."
So it's not people from another world—aliens. No, no, no. It's people just like us.
They will speak Arabic.
They will read hadith.
Some of the scholars said that they will be Arabs.
And of course, they can be other than the Arabs.
Hudhayfah then said:
فما تأمرني إن أدركني ذلك
"If that time comes, what do you command me to do? What should I do in that situation?"
The Prophet ﷺ said:
تلزم جماعة المسلمين وإمامهم
"You stick with the Jama‘ah of the Muslims and their leader."
Hudhayfah is asking questions. He’s not just going to accept and stay silent. He wants to know every scenario.
He then said—which applies to you guys:
فإن لم يكن لهم جماعة ولا إمام
"What about if they don't have a Jama‘ah?
They live in the lands of the non-Muslims.
There's no Muslim leader for them.
What do they do in that situation?"
فإن لم يكن لهم جماعة ولا إمام
"They have no Jama‘ah.
They have no Muslim ruler.
None of that.
What do they do?"
The Prophet ﷺ said:
فاعتزل تلك الفرق كلها
"Stay away from all of the groups."
فاعتزل تلك الفرق كلها
"Stay away from all of the groups."
Don’t adhere to this Jama‘ah or that Jama‘ah.
فاعتزل
Abandon.
Leave all of the groups.
ولو أن تعض بأصل شجرة حتى يدركك الموت وأنت على ذلك
"Even if you have to hold onto the root of a tree and bite onto it, and you hold onto that, until death comes to you while you are in that state—then do that."
فاعتزل تلك الفرق كلها
"Stay away from all of these groups."
Groupism—where you have to be part of a group and you cannot be upon the truth unless you are affiliated with a specific group.
That is what the Prophet ﷺ warned against.
And that, my brothers and sisters, is some of the fitan we are seeing today.
Also from the fitan, my brothers and sisters, is fitnatul maal—the fitna of money.
Fitnatul maal is the fitna that we're all seeing.
Everybody online is showing their glamorous, glittering—يعني—shocking lifestyle.
"I have gone to Dubai."
"I am in a 7-star, 5-star, 6-star hotel."
"I am driving this car and that car."
"A private jet."
Maal.
Allah told us:
إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ
"Verily, your wealth and your children are a fitna, a trial and tribulation."
وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ
"And great reward is with Allah سبحانه وتعالى."
The Prophet ﷺ said in the hadith:
إِنَّ لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ فِتْنَةً وَفِتْنَةُ أُمَّتِي الْمَالُ
"Every nation has a fitna, and the fitna of my Ummah is money."
There you go.
Money is the fitna of this Ummah.
The Story in Surah At-Tawbah
Allah mentions the story of a man.
Some scholars say that they know who the man was and mention a specific story.
Other scholars say— which is the strongest opinion— that this is not about a particular individual, but rather, it's the concept of some people.
It’s more of a general issue.
وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّهَ لَئِنْ آتَانَا مِنْ فَضْلِهِ لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ
Allah is telling us the story of:
وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ عَاهَدَ اللَّهَ
A person who has made a covenant with Allah.
What did he say?
"Oh Allah, if You give me money, if You give me wealth, what am I going to do?"
لَنَصَّدَّقَنَّ
"I promise You, O Allah, I’m going to give this money in sadaqah."
"I'm going to worship You with this money."
وَلَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
"And I’m also going to be from the righteous people."
Then what happened?
فَلَمَّا
Allah says: As soon as he was given wealth...
فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ بَخِلُوا بِهِ وَتَوَلَّوْا وَهُمْ مُعْرِضُونَ
When Allah gave him the wealth, when Allah gave him the money, what did he do?
فَلَمَّا آتَاهُمْ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ
As soon as he received the blessing of Allah سبحانه وتعالى,
He turned away.
And he abandoned the promise that he made.
And that's what happens with wealth.
Few are truly grateful and obey Allah with the money they receive.
Don't Forget the Story of Qarun
إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ فَبَغَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْكُنُوزِ مَا إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْقُوَّةِ
Qarun had wealth—a lot of wealth.
And the wealth of Qarun had reached this level:
His treasures—the place where his money was stored—
Okay, don't even ask about how big that was!
The key to those storages...
Men of great strength had to pick it up.
The keys to it.
إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْقُوَّةِ
Men who were very strong had to put them on their shoulders and carry them.
The key was that big.
What do you think the storages were like?
Or the treasures inside?
Look what Allah said:
إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِنْ قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ فَبَغَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ وَآتَيْنَاهُ مِنَ الْكُنُوزِ مَا إِنَّ مَفَاتِحَهُ لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُو۟لِى ٱلْقُوَّةِ
Then Allah says:
إِذْ قَالَ لَهُ قَوْمُهُ لَا تَفْرَحْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْفَرِحِينَ
وَٱبْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَىٰكَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلدَّارَ ٱلْآخِرَةَ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَأَحْسِن كَمَا أَحْسَنَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَيْكَ وَلَا تَبْغِ ٱلْفَسَادَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ
Then Allah says:
قَالَ إِنَّمَا أُوتِيتُهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍ عِندِى
Now, what’s the story?
The people broke into two parties when it came to Qarun.
The first group of people:
فَخَرَجَ عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ فِى زِينَتِهِۦ
He came out on the Day of Beauty and he beautified himself.
فَخَرَجَ عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِۦ فِى زِينَتِهِۦ
Look what the people said:
قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ يُرِيدُونَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَا يَـٰلَيْتَ لَنَا مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِىَ قَـٰرُونُ إِنَّهُۥ لَذُو حَظٍّ عَظِيمٍ
When they saw what Qarun had—
That’s what happens to people.
When they see things online, on social media, what do they say?
"Oh, that’s what I want to be!"
And they forget about طلب العلم—seeking knowledge.
They said:
قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ يُرِيدُونَ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَا يَـٰلَيْتَ لَنَا مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِىَ قَـٰرُونُ
"Oh Allah, why can't we just have what Qarun was given?"
إِنَّهُۥ لَذُو حَظٍّ عَظِيمٍ
"He has received a great portion!"
"Look at the life he's living!"
"That’s the life I want!"
But look at the people of knowledge:
وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا ٱلْعِلْمَ وَيْلَكُمْ ثَوَابُ ٱللَّهِ خَيْرٌ
The people of knowledge spoke:
"Allah’s reward is better!"
"Don’t be fooled by this glamour!"
And what happened?
فَخَسَفْنَا بِهِۦ وَبِدَارِهِ ٱلْأَرْضَ
The earth swallowed Qarun and his wealth.
We destroyed him.
Wealth is a fitna, my brothers and sisters.
And always remember—if you're given wealth, will you obey Allah with it?
Maybe it’s better not to have it.
The Prophet mentioned the story of three men. Three men—one was bald, one was blind, and one had leprosy. And I'm sure you all know the story. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted to test them, all three of them. So He sent an angel. As the narrations show, Jibreel was the angel that was sent to them.
So he came to the one who had leprosy. He said to him, the angel said to this man: أَيُّ شَيءٍ أَحَبُّ إِلَيْكَ—"What is most beloved to you? What do you love the most?"
He's got leprosy, so he said: لَوْنٌ حَسَنٌ—"I wish I could have good skin." وَجِلْدٌ حَسَنٌ—"I want my skin to look nice. I want to have good skin, and I want whatever the people are shaming me for to go away. That's what I want."
فَمَسَحَهُ—The angel wiped him. فَذَهَبَ—The skin disease went away. Alhamdulillah, it was gone, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him good skin.
Then he was asked: فَأَيُّ الْمَالِ أَحَبُّ إِلَيْكَ—"What wealth is most beloved to you? What do you want the most?" He said: الْإِيبِلُ—"Camels." Or he said, "Cows." The narrator doubted it.
Then the angel came to the second one, the one who was bald, who had lost his hair. He said, "What is it that you want?"
The أَقْرَع said, "I want hair. I've lost my hair; I want to get my hair back."
So what did the angel do? He wiped him, and he got his hair back.
فَمَسَحَهُ—He wiped his head, and Allah gave him back his hair.
Then he asked him, in terms of wealth, "What do you want?"
He said, "I would like to have cows."
And he was given cows—pregnant cows, female cows—just like the previous one was given camels, female camels. The female camel is better than the male camel; she can have children.
Then he came to the third man. He was blind, and the angel said, "What do you want?"
He said, "I'm blind. I want my eyesight back. And I also want this suffering that I've been going through—this blindness—to go away."
So the angel wiped him, and his eyesight came back.
Then he said, "In terms of wealth, what is most beloved to you?"
He said, "Goats."
And he was given a valley of goats.
So all of them had valleys and a lot of wealth.
After a while, the angel came back and visited the first man who had leprosy. Now, he looked beautiful, amazing.
The angel came in the form of a poor man and said to him, "I am poor. I'm a traveler. I've lost my way, and I need help. I can't reach my destination unless I am given something. So is it possible for you to give me a camel?
I ask you by the Lord who fixed your skin and gave you this wealth—fulfill some rights towards what Allah gave you and give me a camel so I can reach my destination."
Look at what he said.
He said, "This wealth that you're talking about... I'm scared. This wealth that you see, I inherited from my father, and my father took it from his father. This has been in the family for a long time. Do you think I just made it yesterday?"
The angel then said to him, "If you're lying, and this is not the case, may Allah take you back to what you used to be."
And that's what happened. He went back to having leprosy, and he lost everything.
The same happened to the man who was bald. The angel said the same thing to him, and he also claimed, "I inherited this wealth from my father, and he inherited it from his father."
So the angel said, "If you're lying, may Allah take you back to how you used to be."
And it happened—he lost his hair again and lost everything.
But when the angel came to the blind man and told him the same thing, the blind man said, "Take whatever you want and leave whatever you want. By Allah, لا أجهدك اليوم بشيء—I will in no way, shape, or form fight with you for anything that you take."
Then he said, "Once upon a time, I was blind. I had nothing. And Allah gave me back my eyesight, and He gave me this wealth. So you are more than welcome to take whatever you want."
The angel then said to him, "Keep your wealth. I tested you and the other two men. Allah is pleased with you. As for them, Allah is angry with them."
Also, my brothers and sisters, from the things that are fitna is women. Women are fitna. Fitna to nisa. The Prophet, he said:
"There is no fitna I left behind, a fitna greater for the men than women."
The Prophet even said in a hadith:
The Prophet, he said:
"This dunya is green, green. Allah has made you governors over this earth. He's going to look at what you do as He makes you governors on this earth. Fear Allah when it comes to the dunya, and fear Allah when it comes to women, because the first fitna of the Bani Israel was women."
Women’s fitna is very serious. The first that was mentioned, the first thing that was mentioned was what? Women. Why?
Because the fitna of women, it's serious for men. And a woman, subhanAllah, is awrah. She's awrah in all aspects. The woman is awrah. She's an awrah. If the woman leaves the house, Shaytan beautifies her, makes her look beautiful. This woman will look ten times more beautiful because of what Shaytan is trying to bring to you. Fitna. He wants to cause fitna to you.
And subhanAllah, my brothers and sisters, if you look at Kutub Ahlul Ilm, you will see the fitna of women, what it's done to people.
And Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim, he mentions the story of a man in his kitab. He talks about obsession and love in that book. He mentions that a man climbed a—he’s a muezzin, so he used to climb the minaret, the minaret, okay? And he would do the adhan.
And one day, he climbed up to do the adhan:
فَنَظَرَ فِي بَيْتِ جَارِ الْمَسْجِدِ جَارِ الْمَسْجِدِ
He looked at the neighbor of the masjid, the house of the neighbors of the masjid. And the house was a house by a Christian family.
So he's on the minaret, he's doing adhan. He does adhan. He saw the daughter of the man—his daughter. When he saw her, beauty is what he saw—shocked, jaw dropped—how beautiful this girl was.
فَافْتَتَنَ بِهَا
And then, he was—and fitna happened to him.
وَتَعَلَّقَ بِهَا
And he became very obsessed over her.
He came down, and he knocked the door. And he said, "I want to marry your daughter."
He went to the girl and said, "I want to marry you."
She said, "Look:
أَنتَ مُسْلِمُ وَأَنَا نَصْرَانِيَّةُ
I'm a Muslim, and you're a Christian. How is that going to work? I'm a Muslim, sorry."
She said to him, "You're a Muslim."
She said to him, "You're a Muslim, and I'm a Christian. How is that going to work? You're a Muslim, and I'm a Christian. How is it going to work? How are we going to get married, both of us?"
He said, "What do you want from me then?"
مَا الْمَطْلُوبُ؟
What's the request?
She said:
تَنَصَّر
"The only way it's going to work is you leave your religion and become a Christian."
فَتَنَصَّرَ وَارْتَدَّ عَنْ دِينِهِ
He apostated. The man actually left his religion, and he became a Christian.
And some of the scholars mentioned, he said he left Islam, and he was on his way to get married to her. On the way to get married to her, he basically died on the way.
خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ
He lost his dunya, and he also lost the akhira.
Are we all together?
Another story:
A man took his wife. A young boy—when I say boy, he's a young man—just got married. But his wife was not dressed properly. And she wasn’t. And he dressed accordingly. Everything was out, public.
And she was with who? With her husband.
So they jumped into a taxi. Together, the both of them. The taxi driver can see the beauty of this woman. So what does he do?
He pulls over his car. And he asks the man to help him with the car. He comes out of the car—the man—to help the driver with the tire. He says, "Come help me with the tire of my car."
And when he does, the woman’s in the car. Of course, she's not going to come out to do the tire.
He goes back into the car of the driver and drives off. And he took his wife.
Are we all together, brothers?
Now he doesn’t know what to do.
Are we all together, brothers?
This, my brothers and sisters—where did it come from? Women are a fitna. What is it? A fitna.
And I'm sure you guys know much more stories.
Are we all together, brothers?
So, my brothers and sisters, remember:
"I have not left a fitna after me, a fitna greater for the men than women."
And a lot of women know that. They take advantage of that—especially women who are non-Muslims, who have nothing to—they have no morals, and they take advantage.
Are we all together, brothers?
I remember there was a case in the UK where a brother had zina with a woman. And she—and I’m only telling you this because of the aja’ib.
So, when they had zina, she said—this is a case that I brought to the masjid—she said, "Have zina with me in a rough way." Then he did. When he did, she recorded it.
And she said, "I'm going to use this as rape."
The brother had wealth. She said, "Unless you give me half a million, or nine years in prison. That’s all I'm going to say. I've got the recording. You need to bring the money here."
Are we all together?
So, even my brothers and sisters, if the case doesn’t—he wins in court. It wasn’t. And he proves that she’s bribing him, and she’s lying and all of that. But guess what? His name is always destroyed.
So why get yourself in that position in the first place?
Are we all together, brothers?
A brother used to work in an office. And in that office, there were a lot of women. And when the Me Too movement started, and women were saying, "Me too, me too," the brother who Allah saved was the one who never touched women.
The other ones, who hugged—things they thought was liberal, "It's not being extreme, come on, calm down"—they started to wish for what? That man who didn’t touch the woman.
Because every woman was saying, "You touched me in the wrong way. I felt very uncomfortable that day. When you hugged me, you looked at me in this way."
Are we all together, brothers?
So, my brothers and sisters—
It's sad to see brothers from social media outlets, and they're following what? Women. He's following a woman on social media. He’s watching her stuff and all of that.
Wallahi, this will flip your iman!
Also, also, which is the point I want to bring to your attention—the fitna of the disbelievers towards the believers.
You guys, all of you guys, are living in the lands of the non-Muslims. Is there anyone here from within you who's—so there's no one? All of you guys are living in the lands of the non-Muslims.
And this is a fitna. Living in the lands of the non-Muslims is a fitna. The reason is because every day you are going through, indirectly, directly, an attack on your deen. True or false?
Wallahi, Islam is being attacked—on news, online, at school—directly, indirectly.
Are we all together, brothers?
And this is a fitna.
Fitna so much so that it can make a person leave the fold of Islam. And people have.
What did they say?
That's always us. They drew Islam in the most barbaric, backwards lifestyle.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ
Those who tested the believers’ iman.
أَصْحَابُ ٱلْأُخْدُودِ
The people of the ditch.
Allah says:
ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا۟ فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ ٱلْحَرِيقِ
Then they did not repent, so for them is the punishment of Jahannam, and for them is the punishment of the burning fire.
Fitna to the Muslims’ iman.
So, my brothers and sisters, living in the lands of the non-Muslims is a fitna. As long as you're there.
And how long can you endure that fitna? Only Allah knows.
Sah?
And that's why I said in the beginning:
وَمِنَ ٱلنَّاسِ مَن يَعْبُدُ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ حَرْفٍۢ فَإِنْ أَصَابَهُۥ خَيْرٌ ٱطْمَأَنَّ بِهِۦ وَإِنْ أَصَابَتْهُ فِتْنَةٌ ٱنقَلَبَ عَلَىٰ وَجْهِهِۦ خَسِرَ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱلْـَٔاخِرَةَ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلْخُسْرَانُ ٱلْمُبِينُ
And from the people is he who worships Allah on an edge. If good befalls him, he is content with it; but if fitna befalls him, he turns on his face. He has lost the dunya and the akhira. That is the clear loss.
That's why there are a lot of Muslims leaving Islam.
Sah? In these countries.
Even though a lot of people are coming into Islam, there are also a lot of other people who are leaving Islam.
Are we all together, brothers?
It's because these lands—they are fitna.
I'm going to quickly go over things that you need to be careful of which cause fitna.
We spoke about the types of fitna, but what are the things that make fitna happen?
The first one is following desires.
People fall into fitna because they follow their desires, and they have very bad intentions.
They have maqsad sayyi’.
أَفَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ عِلْمٍۢ وَخَتَمَ عَلَىٰ سَمْعِهِۦ وَقَلْبِهِۦ وَجَعَلَ عَلَىٰ بَصَرِهِۦ غِشَـٰوَةًۭ فَمَن يَهْدِيهِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
So have you seen the one who takes his desires as his god? And Allah misguides him upon knowledge and seals his hearing and his heart and places a veil upon his sight. Who then will guide him after Allah? Will you not then take heed?
So he follows—his lord is what?
What's his lord?
His desires.
أَفَرَءَيْتَ مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ إِلَـٰهَهُۥ هَوَىٰهُ
Have you seen the one who takes his desires as his god?
His desires are his lord. And that's what he worships. He worships his desires.
That's the first one.
Number two:
The second thing that causes people to fall into fitna is when you're an extremist.
What is an extremist?
You're extreme in exaggeration, or you're extreme in negligence.
And Shaytan sniffs you.
He sniffs the person's heart.
And when he sniffs your heart, he will see what type of person you are.
Are you the type that likes to always go overboard in things? He will make you go overboard in what you do.
If he sniffs from you that you are a negligent person, you always take the easiest way, you're relaxing—what will he do to you?
He will take you to be what? Extreme negligence.
Ifrat or tafrīt.
And those are the two you need to be careful of when it comes to fitna.
Don't overdo things to yourself.
This religion is easy, it's simple. Don't overdo it.
Young brothers start practicing the deen. They see a hadith, and straight away, without knowing the way it's applied, the way it's done, how it's done—they don't understand all of that.
So they take these nusūs and apply them on their families.
Huh?
And then it causes a lot of problems.
Extreme exaggeration.
And then later, sometimes, if your family are not even Muslims, it becomes very hard to give them da’wah because you burned all the bridges—because you were in extreme exaggeration.
You didn't look at the method and the hikmah of how da’wah is given.
Are we all together, brothers?
Don't be extreme exaggeration.
And don't equate taking all the harshest views to being piety. That's not piety.
It was mentioned about our Prophet ﷺ—the Prophet was never given the choice between two things except that he took the easiest one, as long as it was not a sin.
He took the easiest one.
You're a traveler, for example, in a country.
Allah has given the rukhsah of shortening and combining, for example. Take that.
And then you're like, "No, I'm righteous. I'm going to pray every—"
And it's a rukhsah Allah gave you, Subhanahu wa Ta’ala.
Are we all together, brothers?
The Prophet ﷺ told us:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ تُؤْتَى رُخَصُهُ كَمَا يُحِبُّ أَنْ تُؤْتَى عَزَائِمُهُ
Indeed, Allah loves for His concessions to be taken just as He loves for His obligations to be followed.
Allah loves for you to come with the ease, the way He loves for you to come with the strong rulings that He has given you—like salat, this salat.
And when He gives you ease, Allah likes you to come with the ease—because He's the one who legislated both. And you're obeying Him in both situations.
Sah?
So stay away from being extreme.
There are some people, my brothers and sisters—and extremism, by the way, is two:
There is extreme in belief, and there is extreme in actions.
Sah?
Extreme in belief is that you're the only guided person, and everyone else is misguided.
And you are Firqah Nājiyah and Tā’ifah Mansūrah—you and a few of your friends.
And you believe that.
Or you believe you're the only Muslim and everyone else is kuffār and zanādiqah, and Allah only gave you Islam.
That's ghuluw i‘tiqādī.
And there's another type of ghuluw, which is ghuluw ‘amalī.
Ghuluw ‘amalī is when the person is extreme in acts of worship.
He overly does righteous deeds, to the extent that those righteous deeds he's doing make him abandon more important responsibilities.
Are we all together?
He's forsaken his wife.
He's forsaken his children.
He's forsaken the responsibilities that are upon him.
Uṣūliyyāt that are upon you.
You need to throw these responsibilities—taḍayya‘uhā, you forsake those responsibilities.
Sah, brothers?
Or your responsibility towards your parents, or responsibility towards your family.
You're leaving all of that, and you're saying what?
"I'm fasting Mondays and Thursdays."
Fasting Mondays and Thursdays—what's more important is that you have good akhlāq.
إِنَّمَا بُعِثْتُ لِأُتَمِّمَ مَكَارِمَ ٱلْأَخْلَاقِ
"I was only sent to perfect noble character."
So knowing the awlawiyyāt—what comes first, and then what's next, and what's next—and having that sequence is important.
And you know why I brought this up—why people fall into extreme exaggeration and extreme negligence?
Because, number one:
عَدَمُ فَهْمِ ٱلدِّينِ
There is no proper understanding of the religion.
They don't have understanding.
They don't understand the Qur’an and the Sunnah properly.
Are we all together, brothers?
That's one of the reasons why.
If you truly understood, one of the things you'd learn is what is known as awlawiyyāt.
Awlawiyyāt are what?
The sequence and the order of things.
Sah?
The sequence and the what?
The order of things.
A basic ṭālib al-‘ilm knows that between a good deed that is restricted to you and a deed that encompasses others, which one is better?
The others.
There are ‘ibādāt that are called qāṣirah—acts of worship that are restricted to you.
And there are ‘ibādāt that are muta‘addiyah—acts of worship that involve other people.
Which one is better?
The actions that are muta‘addiyah are better than the a‘māl that are qāṣirah.
So, saying qiyām al-layl—
And then saying—
I was praying qiyām al-layl, and some family members knocked on the door, but I carried on with my ṣalāh.
Are we all together?
This is not having an understanding of what?
Which one is greater?
Which one is better?
That you stop qiyām al-layl for that night and say:
"Listen, our family guests have come. I'm not going to pray tonight."
And you let them in, and you give them time, and you make them feel special, and you let them go.
Which one is better?
Are we all together?
I remember a brother—tough brother—practicing the dīn, reads an āyah from the Qur’an and directly acts upon it.
So he got married.
His wife complained.
She said:
"This guy—I don’t know where he came from, what galaxy he was sent from.
I can’t do this.
I can’t live this way.
I’m losing it."
I said:
"What happened?"
She said:
"Calm down."
I thought she was one of those feminists—who doesn’t like the āyāt and aḥādīth.
But I learned a lesson—not to judge.
At the end of that discussion, I was on the woman's side.
She said:
"My parents came and knocked on the door.
Was it after Ṣalāt al-‘Ishā or Dhuhr time—one of the times?
My parents came.
And then my husband looked and said:
'Don’t let them in.'"
I said:
"Why?"
She said:
"He said to me:
'Allah said in the Qur’an.'"
She said:
"What?"
"What did Allah say?"
She said:
"Allah ﷻ said:
ثَلَاثُ عَوْرَاتٍ لَكُمْ
'There are three times that you do not come to people's houses—before Fajr, Dhuhr time, and after ‘Ishā.'"
Which is true—the āyah does say that.
She said:
"My mom—it’s raining outside.
She’s at the door."
He said:
"Are we going to take Allah over your mom?"
Do you see what’s happening here?
She said:
"I literally watched my mom stand there."
And then he said to me:
"Go to her and tell her."
She said:
"Open the door?"
He said:
"No, go to her and tell her."
She said:
"I can’t tell my mom."
"I prefer she thinks that we’re not here."
He said:
"No, I command you."
Again, he used the ḥadīth:
"You have to obey your husband."
"So you have to go to the door and tell your mom—by your husband—go to your mom and tell her:
'Mum, my husband said you can't come this time. It’s not the right time to come.'"
She said:
"I was in tears.
I opened the door.
I said:
'Mum, it’s a bad time. You can’t come.'"
So Allah saved me—that my mother understood.
But what type of person am I dealing with?
He said:
"Muṣībah is what you’re dealing with."
But I said in my head:
"I don’t want to destroy this marriage."
But I was like:
"That person is going to make that sister hate Islam—the name Islam, the word Islam.
She’s going to hate every part of that word."
And he's thinking that—
قُلْ هَلْ نُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِالْأَخْسَرِينَ أَعْمَالًا الَّذِينَ ضَلَّ سَعْيُهُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ يَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ يُحْسِنُونَ صُنْعًا
He thinks he’s doing good.
This is ghuluw.
It’s not pleasing to Allah.
It angers Allah ﷻ
Where did it come from?
He didn’t understand the verse he was reading.
He hasn’t comprehended it.
And we tell the brothers—
These types of people, they are many.
And they burn out.
But the problem is—
If they only burnt out themselves, that would be one thing.
But they take other people with them as well.
And they destroy the image of Islam.
So don’t attribute to yourself—
Or don’t think to yourself—
That if a person is harsh, tough, and rough, then mā shā’ Allāh, he is ṣāḥib al-ḥaqq—the one upon the truth.
Or that he is min ahl al-khayr wa ahl al-taqwā, or baqiyyat al-salaf.
Are we all together?
The Prophet ﷺ told us in a ḥadīth—
Do you know what he said?
He said that the believer is what?
A person who is what?
Sahlun layyinun.
See that?
Did you see that, brothers?
What did the Prophet ﷺ say about the believer?
He said that the true believer is a person who is soft and approachable.
What is he?
He is soft and what?
Approachable.
It happened at the time of the Prophet ﷺ—
The women, they came to the Prophet ﷺ, and they were talking.
And they were talking in the presence of who?
The Prophet ﷺ.
Who entered?
‘Umar entered.
What happened to the women?
Yeah, they all ran away.
What was their reason?
What was their reason for running away?
"‘Umar scares us."
But ‘Umar was not like what these people are today.
Are we all together?
And what did the Prophet ﷺ say?
‘Umar was in no way like these people.
But the point I’m trying to show you from this story is—
The Prophet ﷺ was what?
Even when the āyah came down—
What’s the beginning of that verse?
What does it mean?
Some of the companions entered the Prophet’s house, and they overstayed.
Did they?
They overstayed.
And they stayed, and they didn’t leave.
And did the Prophet ﷺ tell them to leave?
Was he shy?
He was so shy to say to these people: "Please leave my house."
Are we all together, brothers?
So what did he do instead?
He went.
He came back.
They were still there.
They hadn’t left.
Then this āyah came down.
And Allah informed them of how to treat the Prophet’s house.
Allah said:
"If you are shy, Allah is not shy to say the truth."
And He told them—
That the Prophet’s house—
Do not enter it without permission.
And this situation caused the Prophet ﷺ harm.
That was the manners of the Prophet ﷺ.
He used to look after people’s feelings.
And I’m compiling right now—
I’m trying to put together something—
Which is observing people’s feelings.
The waqif of the Prophet’s life and the salaf—
To observe people’s feelings—
And how important that is in Islam.
Another reason why people fall into fitnah is—
There is no consistent methodology that the person follows.
There’s an absence of a correct methodology that you’re stemming from.
So then—
You’re always somewhere.
Today, you’re here.
He’s like, "Yeah, I am. All these scholars are [this]."
And then the next day—
He’s flipped to the other side.
And he’s like, "All of them! I take from everybody. I don’t leave anyone behind."
What is the problem?
Whichever view he takes—
There was no real methodology.
He wasn’t picking up from somewhere solid.
He’s not building from a manhaj.
In both situations—
He’s following nusus which are mutashābihah.
He’s following ambiguous verses.
What’s he following?
Ambiguous verses.
And so—
In the absence of a solid foundation—
You’ll see a person always in a state of fitnah.
Are we all together on this?
I’m just scribbling down ideas that I could think of today—
So just bear with me.
These are some of the things I can think of.
The next one is—
This is number four, right?
Hastiness.
And not being patient.
This also causes fitnah.
When people can’t wait for results—
"Why, why, why, Ustadh? Why is this happening? Why is this happening? I don’t understand— but why?"
They want results now.
And this does cause fitnah.
Because Allah told the Prophet ﷺ:
فَاصْبِرْ كَمَا صَبَرَ أُولُو الْعَزْمِ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ
We took that from Surah Al-Ahqaf.
Be patient.
Be patient.
But for some people, it’s like—
"Now. Now. The results— now."
And it’s gharīb.
A brother makes hijrah, leaves the land of the non-Muslims, comes to another land—
And after one week, he’s like, "I can’t stay here."
Why?
"I just can’t."
He’s shaking.
Why?
It’s only been a week.
"No, Shaykh, I can’t. This is not for me."
Or I remember—
I traveled with a brother.
We went to Egypt.
And we went to a neighborhood in Egypt that was a bit tough—
Allahumma barik.
And the water—
When it comes out for the first three minutes—
It’s a bit dark and different colors.
But what did we leave for?
What was our reason?
Ṭālib al-ʿilm, right?
So he saw the water—
He goes, "No. No, I can’t do this. This is not for me."
And Allahumma barik, I swear by Allah—
And I say this with conviction—
That brother had a brain.
Every class he went to—
His understanding was something else.
Lākin—
Istiʿjāl killed him.
Istiʿjāl.
Every time he would call, he’d say—
"Shaykh, please, I can’t do this. Look at this."
He’s complaining about everything.
And also in Egypt—
He went to KFC.
At least, "Let me find my food."
But the chicken—
You could whack somebody with it.
It’s like— hard.
So he went and he said—
"Look at this chicken! Look how hard it is!"
Istiʿjāl. Istiʿjāl.
Of course—
He’s from the upper class in the UK.
Upper class.
Money.
He comes from a family.
But he had ʿaql (intelligence).
His parents put him in a private school in the UK.
That’s expensive, right?
No one goes to private schools in the UK.
We go to public school.
So he’s smart like that—
Pen and paper— he’s good at that.
But what is it that destroyed him?
Istiʿjāl.
He couldn’t be patient.
He couldn’t wait.
That this is all gonna go.
So my brothers and sisters—
If you’re not patient—
It’s a fitnah for you.
Because everything has to be now.
Another thing that causes fitnah—
My brothers and sisters—
Is Muslims not helping each other.
It’s a fitnah for the people.
ʿAdam al-taʿāwun wa al-nuṣrah bayna al-Muslimīn.
When there’s no aiding—
And helping—
And supporting—
Between the Muslims.
Which is the fifth reason.
Some people say—
"I can’t be a Muslim anymore."
"Look at this— how the Muslims are all abandoning me!"
"Everyone has left me."
"Everyone’s turned their back on me!"
Are these reasons real?
Allah says in the Quran:
وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ إِلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ فِتْنَةٌ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ
In the ḥadīth:
تَكُنْ فِي الْأَرْضِ فِتْنَةٌ وَفَسَادٌ عَرِيضٌ
So—
The ukhuwwah īmāniyyah helps brothers and sisters.
ome people—
When they come into Islam that first day—
Everyone comes up to them and says:
"Takbīr!"
"Allāhu Akbar!"
"Takbīr!"
"Allāhu Akbar!"
And he feels—
"Oh, I’m part of a community."
The next day—
He’s walking by himself.
Everybody just left.
True or false?
And sometimes—
It gets bad.
It gets even worse.
Some people say—
"I think he’s a spy."
"I think this guy is a spy."
"I think he’s been planted among the Muslims."
"Everyone, stay away from him!"
Am I telling the truth?
Or a brother starts practicing.
He takes the dīn seriously.
He comes into the masjid.
The brothers know his jāhiliyyah.
The brother repented.
And a person who repents from sins—
It’s like he’s never done them before.
But guess what the brothers in the back are doing?
"Yeah, do you know this guy? Jāhiliyyah?
"He was the don on the streets."
"Killed. He’s got bodies on his name."
The brother in the masjid can hear people whispering about him.
I’m not making these things up.
I’ve seen it.
I was the imām of a masjid.
A sister—
She was in jāhiliyyah.
She took off her hijab.
Maybe she was in a lot of ḥarām relationships.
She fell off.
Dark days she was in.
Alḥamdulillāh—
She saw the light of Islam.
She came into the masjid.
She comes in—
And the sisters are talking about her.
"I wonder who’s going to get married to her."
Are we all together?
That sister might have tattoos.
Which happened in the masjid.
A sister came to me in the masjid.
She said:
"Shaykh, can I ask you a question?"
"I had a jāhiliyyah, a very dark jāhiliyyah."
"I repented."
"And I’m sincerely remorseful for what I did in my past."
"I wish I could go back in life and erase everything I did."
"There’s not a day that goes by,"
She said,
"Except that I cry because of what I did."
"But I can’t sit in the masjid for five minutes—"
"The looks that I get."
"The things people say."
And when I took the microphone—
I said:
"Sisters—"
"It’s not hard for Allāh to flip your heart—"
"And take you onto the streets—"
"And make you go through that darkness."
This unity—
This brotherhood—
Helping each other in khayr—
When it’s absent—
It’s a fitnah, my brothers and sisters.
The sixth reason for fitnah—
Is ghiyāb al-muṣliḥīn—
The absence of people who are sincere advisors.
When they go—
Who tries to fill that gap?
The people who fill the gap—
Are the evil ones.
And evil becomes even more prevalent—
When there are no muṣliḥīn—
Sincere people trying to fix things.
Are we all together?
They’re not there.
Are we all together?
Everybody has an agenda.
The dāʿī—
Who’s meant to be a muṣliḥ—
Who’s meant to be a caller to the dīn of Allāh—
He’s like—
"I’m not coming to this lecture until I get this hotel."
"Until I get paid this much money."
"I don’t take economy class."
"What do I do? Business."
And he says—
"By the way, you can’t talk to me."
"Why?"
I have a receptionist.
What's it called?
An assistant.
I have a private assistant.
"You can speak to my assistant."
"And my assistant is going to deal with your situation."
And you'll speak to the assistant—
He sends you a receipt.
Receipt.
In that receipt is what?
"You have to send—"
"Half of the money has to be—"
Is that a muṣliḥ?
That's not a muṣliḥ.
Are we all together?
What were they doing?
Yeah?
What were they doing?
"I don’t ask you for any reward for what I do for you guys."
Are we all together, brothers?
So ghiyāb al-muṣliḥīn—
The absence of muṣliḥīn—
People who are sincerely concerned about the problems of the ummah,
Who want khayr for everybody—
When they are absent—
The people of evil become very, very apparent.
And that's what the Prophet ﷺ told us.
He said—
The Prophet ﷺ did his fingers like this—
And he said—
The amount that was opened from what?
Okay, Zainab—
Then she said—
Zainab bint Jahsh—
She said—
His wife—
She said—
"Are we going to be destroyed even if among us are righteous people?"
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"Yes, if the evil becomes widespread."
So the muṣliḥūn are very few,
And the evil is much more.
Number seven, my brothers and sisters, is—
If you live in a time, in an era, where calling to the good and prohibiting the evil is seen as something bad—
That's a problem.
And that's what we're seeing nowadays—a lot.
"Mind your business!"
"What’s it got to do with you?"
"Why are you getting involved?"
Right?
When the brothers address women’s issues—
"Why are you talking about women's issues?"
Strange.
Where is this rule from—
That men cannot address women's issues?
And even women—
That they can't address men's issues?
Of course they can.
If a woman sees a munkar from a man,
She has to address that problem and warn against it.
The same as if a man does.
The next thing, brothers—
It's the eighth thing that causes a lot of fitan—
When sin, transgression, and oppression—
Are around every corner.
It's just everywhere now.
Allah says:
"Wa ẓahara al-fasādu fī al-barri wa al-baḥri bimā kasabat aydī an-nās..."
What’s happening here?
The people of evil are committing their sins—
And guess what?
It's dangerous.
I just want to mention one ḥadīth, and I’m going to conclude with that.
The Prophet ﷺ said:
"There are five things—if you are tested with them—and I seek refuge in Allah that you reach that time..."
The Prophet ﷺ said—
So it kind of seems like this is going to be at the end of times.
Which is our time.
"There is not a people who openly commit fāḥishah—"
Fāḥishah here means zinā.
Out in the open.
People are saying—
"This is my girlfriend."
"This is my boyfriend."
A ḥarām relationship—
Out in the open.
People are not even worried.
The sister is telling her friends—
"Yeah, I have a boyfriend."
"It’s fine."
Everyone is talking about it.
There is no—
It’s not a hidden issue.
It's public news.
Then guess what?
There is going to come—
AIDS.
HIV.
The Ṣaḥābah didn’t know HIV and AIDS.
Coronavirus.
All of these things.
Allah brings them.
Poverty.
There is going to be what?
Hunger.
Sicknesses—
Which were not present in the previous nations.
That’s the first thing.
So zinā is done publicly—
It's not private.
It's become public now.
Everybody is indulging in it.
It reminds me of an issue—
Where a brother, subḥānAllāh—
He wanted to marry a sister.
He wanted to what?
Marry a sister.
She wasn’t all that practicing.
He wanted to marry her.
This brother had never been in a ḥarām relationship.
So when he got married to her, she said to him—
"Tell me about your past."
He said—
"I haven’t had a past. I’ve been practicing all my life."
She said—
"You’ve never been in a ḥarām relationship?"
He said—
"No, I haven’t."
Then she clearly said to him—
"So you’re a virgin?"
He said—
"Yeah, of course. Of course, I’m a virgin."
She said—
"No, I don’t want to get married to you. You’re not experienced. You don’t know."
"So I’m not going to get married to you."
Imagine that.
Yeah, brothers.
That you have to be that—
Disturbed—
To say that statement.
So when you are living in a time like that—
You ask yourself—
Which one is better?
To live on the earth?
Or underneath the earth?
Yeah.
Yeah.
In some situations, it is better to live underneath the earth.
Because we do live under the earth, right?
Ḥayātul-Barzakh.
Some things—
It is better to live under the earth—
Than on top of the earth.
Because the ʿadhāb of Allah is going to come.
And when it comes—
It’s not going to be restricted to those evil-doers.
The second thing is—
The Prophet ﷺ said—
Look what he said:
"They do not become unjust in the scales and the way they measure things—"
Buying and selling.
You go to the market—
The guy is selling you broken things.
Lying.
And he is saying to you—
"Wallāhi, this is made in Australia!"
Kaḏḏāb!
It's made in China!
Zubair, why are you laughing? Is that what you do?
"I'd rather not say."
Are we all together?
You go to the market—
The guy is buying—
Guess what?
When they do that,
And they start playing around,
What Allah ﷻ does is—
He brings—
Droughts.
Rain does not come.
Is that all?
Oppressive leaders.
Leaders whose hearts are the hearts of wolves.
Bāṭil.
Does not care.
Has no mustard seed of mercy in him.
Just ripping into his society.
Nuking them when they do not listen to him.
Puts them in prison and forgets them in those prisons.
That is what comes.
Look at that.
"And they do not refuse to pay the zakāh on their wealth—"
Except that Allah stops the rain from the sky.
Are we all together?
And guess what?
Even the little rain that you see coming down—
It is only for the animals.
Not for you guys.
Because the animals didn't do anything wrong.
So Allah sends a little rain for them.
This little rain is for them.
"They do not break the covenant of Allah and the covenant of His Messenger—"
Except—
"What does Allah do? He sends to them an enemy from outside who will take what is in their hands."
"And when their rulers do not judge by the Book of Allah—"
And they bring man-made laws from France and England—
And other places—
And they use that.
They make it their system—
The constitution of the country is based on a man-made law.
When they do that—
"Illā jaʿalallāhu ba’sahum baynahum"
Except—
Allah makes the people and the ruler constantly fight.
He can't sit on that chair properly.
As soon as he sits—
Fights.
Wars.
Two tribes are fighting.
He has to stop the fight.
The people are uprising against him.
Protests.
This and that.
Why is that happening to him?
Because he refuses to judge by the Book of Allah.
My brothers and sisters—
All of this is what?
What our hands have done.
Before.
There are more asbāb—
More reasons.
But I will leave it there.
Those are the advices I wanted to share with all of you.
I hope that was of benefit for all of you.
And anything I said while I was here—
When I was speaking—
Anything I said that was wrong—
Is from me and Shayṭān.
And Allah and His Messenger are both free from it.
Subḥānakallāhumma wa biḥamdik,
ash-hadu an lā ilāha illā ant,
astaghfiruka wa atūbu ilayk.
