Foundational Hadith The Lawful is Clear and the Forbidden is Clear Al Maqasid – Ustadh Amjad T

This podcast has been brought to you by Seekers Guidance, the global Islamic seminary. Help us spread the light of prophetic guidance to millions around the world by becoming monthly supporter. Make small donation at seekersguidance.org/donate. For as little as $10 month, you can help people find life-changing guidance. All praise belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the sovereign, the overpowering, the all-knowing, the all-wise, Jalla Jalaluhu. We bear witness that there is nothing worthy of worship except our Lord, the one, the creator of the heavens and the earth, Subhana Wa Ta'ala. And we bear witness that our noble and beloved prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Ala Alihi Wa Sahbihi Wa Sallam, Allah's beloved and the seal of the prophets and messengers was his messenger and his servant, Salawatullahi Wa Salamuhu Alayhi. My beloved elders, community, remind myself and all of you to be mindful of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. And that mindfulness of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala is the currency of the Akhira. It is the provisions that we take when we meet Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. And with every passing day and with every passing moment, we come nearer to that reality. So, we must prepare for it with being mindful of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala and fulfilling his commandments and avoiding his prohibitions. And that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala says that his mercy is near those who act with excellence. So, may Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala make us people of Ihsan and make us of the Muhsineen. Amin Ya Rabbal Alameen. We're continuing to look at these foundational ahadith of the messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Ala Alihi Wa Sahbihi Wa Sallam and to realize as Imam Al-Ghazali says and that we've repeated in this series of khutbahs, that Imam Al-Ghazali says that every single word of Allah's messenger is an ocean from the oceans of wisdom. And if scholar, person of deep knowledge, contemplated them as they rightly deserve, he would continue studying one hadith and one word for the rest of his life and not come to all of the depths of its meaning. Not attain all of its realities. And we are in need of reconnecting with Allah's messenger. As we enter into the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, the month in which the messenger of Allah alayhi wa alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam was born, we are reminded of our covenants with Allah's messenger. We are reminded that we have no exemplar, no role model, except him salawatullahi wa salamuhu alayhi and those who follow in his footsteps. As the dunya and all of these various all of these various pulls, these gravitational pulls that pull us away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala spiritually, they pull us in different directions, we're reminded that our Imam is the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. We're reminded that the one who opens the gates of paradise is the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sallam. And that all other people on that day, if they were not following him, they will be mute. They will have nothing to say. So, we remind ourselves of that and we renew our covenants with him. And in our minds' eye and in our heart and in our intentions, we tell him sallallahu alayhi wa alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam that we prefer no one over you. You are the greatest of Allah's creation and it is blessing from Allah that he made us of your ummah. So, as we continue to look at these ahadith, we're studying another one of the foundational ahadith upon which the religion is built and the meanings of this deen stem from. And we looked so far at the hadith about intentions and its importance. And we talked about the hadith in the last khutbah on the subject, we talked about the hadith related to the excellence of person's Islam, leaving aside that which does not benefit them. The next Hadith, which is one of the foundational Hadith, is narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim. The Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said in Hadith narrated by Bukhari and Muslim, that which is lawful is clear. That which is halal is clear. And that which is forbidden is clear. And between the two of them are doubtful matters, about which not many people have knowledge. Whoever avoids the doubtful matters protects his religion and honor. But whoever falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is forbidden. Like shepherd whose flock grazes near restricted area. All but grazing therein. Truly, every king has restricted areas. And Allah's restricted areas are his prohibitions. Truly, in the body there is piece of flesh. If it is sound, the entire body is sound. But if it is corrupted, the entire body is corrupted. Truly, it is the heart. Truly, it is the heart. This Hadith, as Imam Abu Dawud and other said that all of the affair of Islam is built around this Hadith and other foundational from the messenger of Allah alayhi So the say that that which is halal is clear. Those things that are made lawful by Allah are clear, whether it relates to food or whether it relates to actions or whether it relates to intentions. And that which is haram, that which is forbidden is also clear. That there are actions that are very explicitly haram. And no one except very sick person tries to twist those things into permissible things. They're clear. Taking life without right is haram. Lying, lewd acts related to one's morality and one's behavior, those things are haram, they're forbidden by Allah. And then between the two of them are doubtful matters. And the they say that there are several understandings. What is doubtful matter? They say that it can be something that you know it's halal. But then you're doubtful whether some other aspect related to it became affected its lawfulness. And the say when it with relation to that, person goes with what they have certainty of, that they know for certain that it was halal, and they're uncertain about if some other aspect might have changed it. Or something that is haram. And then someone is unclear about whether that forbidden thing, something might have changed it into something that is permissible. They say the best in the best case scenario to avoid that. And then there are other things that person does not have knowledge of, which is why seeking knowledge is so important because when person has knowledge, the Shaitan cannot trip them up. When person knows what Allah is pleased with and knows what is forbidden, what is disliked, what is al-awla, what is goes against what is more preferred, what is sunnah, what is an obligation, that person has clarity on all things. Which is why seeking knowledge, the ulama, the people of righteousness, they dedicated themselves to seeking knowledge so that they would never be in position where they did not know how to obey Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. That they had clarity in every situation. And even then, when there was lack of clarity, when there was something doubtful, they had virtue, one of the greatest spiritual virtues, which is known as wara, which is known as scrupulousness. Is being extra careful. I'm not sure about this thing, so am going to avoid it. And that person who does does so, person who avoids the doubtful matters, protects his religion and his honor. person who avoids doubtful matters protects his religion and his honor. And even now in psychological studies in modern times, they show that people who are disciplined, people who are able to whether it's discipline with relation to what they eat or exercise or work ethic or whatever it may be, that those people who are disciplined, they actually have systems in their day-to-day life that minimizes their exposure to things that will distract them or cause them harm. So, you're so disciplined." No, you know, when go to the store, don't buy junk food. I'm not disciplined. like junk food as much as the next person, but actually have an extra barrier or boundary that prevents me from making it so accessible. So, you think that am disciplined, that have this superpower of being able to avoid those things, but actually just create rules and systems in my life that prevent me from falling into that thing that's harmful or that thing that don't want. So, the person appears to be disciplined. And if you see the Saliheen, that's why they have such focus on time management. And that they create environments of righteousness and goodness, and they're always on top of their prayers in Jama'ah. They They do their awrad together. Their entire life is organized in such way so that those things that distract them and take them away from Allah don't really enter into the equation. They don't enter into person's life. And by doing so, they're successful. And they maintain that, and they're steadfast upon that, and they become of the righteous. So, the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam teaches us, "Whoever avoids the doubtful matters protects his religion and his honor." That you have this system. If I'm not sure, avoid it until have clarity and know that it's pleasing to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. don't need it in my life. It's not something that I'm going to let my nafs have say in the conversation about. Then the Prophet Sallallahu alayhi wasallam says, "Na'am, wa man waqa'a fi shubuhaat waqa'a fi haraam. But whoever falls into doubtful matters falls into that which is forbidden." And Imam an-Nawawi, he says, "Yahtamilu wajhayn." This has two meanings possibly. That person who gets used to doubtful things, it's gray area, that eventually that person will do something haram even if they didn't mean to. Cuz they don't know that you're taking risk. When you're engaging in doubtful things, that person is taking risk, and when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says, "And whoever falls into doubtful things falls into the haram," means that eventually they'll do so even if they didn't mean to. Imam an-Nawawi says another meaning is that that he gets used to being lax. He gets used to cutting corners in his religion. So then he gets more and more comfortable with doubtful things until even the haram doesn't seem like that big of deal. So then they gradually will fall into the haram that way. Wa al-iyadhu billah. And this is why there's statement of the righteous. They say, that sins drive person towards disbelief. Because it's direction. It takes person in particular direction, and if they get used to that direction, it that's where it's going to lead them. Wa al-iyadhu billah. And if person gets used to the direction of goodness, then it leads them to salah. It leads them to righteousness. May Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala place us all on the path of the righteous. Na'am. So the hadith goes on that the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam says that this is like shepherd whose flock grazes near restricted area all but grazing therein. And Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala's prohibitions are his restricted areas. Someone is shepherd and they have sheep, and that there is boundary by king. And you know, especially in in the past, if there if someone violated the boundary of the king, the king would act with very swift punishment. So, it's like person who has sheep and they're grazing. If you know that that's the boundary, that's the restricted area set by the king. And that the king has every right to punish his subjects who go there. You're not going to say, "Okay, you're just like 6 in away. It's okay. The sheep hasn't And you know that it tends to get more and more comfortable in the direction that it goes, especially if you don't keep an eye on it. And that's like the nefs. The nefs likes to do its own thing and you feel like, "No, there's room." And before you know it, you're somewhere else. Which is why the Sahaba and they would avoid permissible things, 70 things that were permissible out of fear that it would lead them to something that is haram. It was something that in and of itself they already had clarity, but they were looking with very deep vision. What direction does this take me in? Even if it's permissible. Now, and then the prophet says, "And Allah's restricted areas are his prohibitions. Truly, Allah's restricted areas, these sanctuaries are the things that he has made forbidden. And the say, "Well, here and well and see the various kinds of sins. So, whoever enters it deserves punishment. shirk. there are some of those sins, or particularly one, shirk, that is unforgivable. And then there are other things other than shirk that if person asks Allah for forgiveness, it will be forgiven. But the point is that the prophet is telling us to be careful of these areas of the king that if we violate them, there is punishment. If we violate them, that Allah will hold us to account. And if we really thought deeply about it, who can withstand that? Who can withstand being questioned by the overpowering by the one even when he asks even Maryam and he Allah has more knowledge. When he asks even Maryam, Jesus the son of Mary, did you tell people to worship you as god besides me? That out of his awe of Allah, he will fall to his knees. And he is of the most beloved of servants to Allah. Who can withstand that account? So we have to see in our lives that there are things that really lead us in directions that are not in our benefit. And you can see how these three relate to one another. And then the prophet he tells us what it all returns back to. He tells us about the life of the heart. He tells us that if our hearts are rectified and we witness Allah's majesty and we are full of reverence and we have awareness that we will meet him and we know of the nature of the world and its illusions and delusions and we know of the tricks of the and we are seeking to fulfill the reality of our servitude to Allah and Allah. That this person will be safe. This person, everything else falls in order. Na'am. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Alihi Wasallam, then he says, "Ala wa inna fil jasadi mudghah. Truly, in the body, there is piece of flesh. Idha saluhat saluhal jasadu kulluhu. If it is rectified, then the entire body becomes rectified. Fal awwal, ay idha tanawwarat bil iman wal irfan wal iqan. If that this piece of flesh, and it really is referring to the spiritual heart, if it becomes illuminated with iman, if it becomes illuminated with irfan, with gnosis, direct experiential knowledge of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala's attributes, of nearness to Allah, of knowing Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala's rights over us, of tasting the sweetness of iman, dhaqa ta'mal iman man radiya billahi rabban wa bil Islam amina wa bi Muhammadin rasula Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Alihi Wasallam. person will taste the sweetness of iman whoever is pleased with Allah as their lord, Islam as their religion, and Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wa Alihi Wasallam as their messenger, wal iqan, and certitude, then their entire body, all of their limbs become rectified. And they become rectified through righteous actions and beautiful character and the experiencing of states. Wa idha fasadat, and if the heart is corrupted, or if this morsel of flesh is corrupted, idha talafat wa azlamat bil juhudi wash shakki wal kufran, if it becomes muddied and it becomes darkened through being stubborn and not submitting to Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala and having doubts and disbelief, the entire body becomes corrupted. through corrupt actions and disobedience. So, person has choice. person has choice and the prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam said that this piece of flesh is the heart. And the ulama say that the heart is like king and the limbs are like subjects. The heart is the core and the center, which is why the ulama, the people of inward spiritual realities, this is why sometimes people they get confused. Talk about the heart heart heart, purifying your heart. You know, that just seems so metaphysical. We got real problems in the world. The problems in the world are manifestations of the problems of the hearts. If you solve the problem at its root cause, everything else fixes itself. The heart is the king and the limbs are the subjects. So, when person has righteous heart, all of their limbs follow suit and the opposite is true. And this is why the prophet Sallallahu alaihi wa alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam he often made the dua, "Ya muqallibal qulub, thabbit qalbi ala dinik." turner of hearts, make my heart firm upon your religion. And you see even the messenger of Allah Sallallahu alaihi wa alihi wa sallam he had this great wara. He is the imam of the wari'een. He is the imam of the people of scrupulousness, but he once found date in his house and he said, "Lawla anni akhsha an takuna min as-sadaqati la akaltuha." Had not feared that this was intended as charity, would have eaten this date. And that he once saw his son, his grandson, believe it was Sayyidna al-Husayn or Sayyidna al-Hasan about to eat date that was on the floor and he pulled it from his mouth. Said, "Our family does not eat zakat. Showing even baby the value of what not allowing something that is doubtful enter into our bodies enter into our stomachs. And another beautiful story from the water of the companions. And how this scrupulousness this carefulness it opens doors of goodness. The story of Sayyidna Abdullah ibn Mas'ud radi allahu anhu was Islam is that he was young boy who used to take care of sheep. He was shepherd. He had flock. And the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam was outside of Mecca with Sayyidna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq. And he did not know that this was the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam just yet. He was young boy. And the Prophet asks him "Do any of the sheep with you or any of the animals with you? Are they Do they have milk? Are they producing any milk?" And he said, "Yes. But am only entrusted with them. They are not mine." In other words, can't give you the milk because these animals don't belong to me. And then the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, "Is there young animal that hasn't produced any milk?" And he said, "Yes." And then the Prophet said, "Give me that one." And he read on that animal and its udder filled with milk miraculously. Doesn't belong to anyone. Only belongs to Rasulullah alaihi wasallam. And he drank from it and Sayyidna Abu Bakr as-Siddiq drank from it. And then the Prophet rubbed it one more time and it went back to the way it was. It shrunk once again. And Sayyidna Abdullah ibn Mas'ud he told the Prophet he said, "Teach me from the words that you know. Teach me the Quran." And he said, "Innak ghulam mu'allam. You are an inspired young boy." And he learned 70 surahs of the Quran directly from the Prophet Sallallahu alaihi wasallam. But the point of the story is that he had water. He was careful even when he was asked, he said, am entrusted with this. It does not belong to me." So, we ask Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala to adorn us with this virtue. And to know that the safety and the health of our deen rests upon it. And that when we rectify the state of our hearts, and we rid our hearts of being stubborn and obstinate and selfish, and wanting things our way, and we submit to our Lord Subhana Wa Ta'ala, then we have access to true freedom. And we have access to true life. And then we can then graze in the pastures of divine remembrance and divine selection and exaltation and honor. A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ir-rajeem. Wa la takunu kalladhina qalu sami'na wa hum la yasma'un. Inna sharra ad-dawabbi 'indallahi as-summul bukmulladhina la ya'qilun. Wa law 'alima Allahu fihim khayran la'asma'ahum. Wa law asma'ahum latawallaw wa hum mu'ridun. Ya ayyuhalladhina amanu istajibu lillahi walirrasuli idhadha'akum lima Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala says, this one of the verses of this passage, you who believe, respond to Allah and His Messenger when He invites you, when He calls you to that which gives you life." And this is the life of the heart and the soul. And this is why the people of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala, they say that the day that was born is the day that came to know Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala. And this is why Sayyidna Ali he said, "The people of Allah they are alive and most of the people on the face of the earth, they're already encased in their graves while they're in their own bodies." This is the true life and know that Allah knows what rests between man and his heart. is the ultimate return. Amen. La ilaha illallah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Allah, we ask you most merciful that you increase us in guidance, and that you increase us in taqwa, and that you purify our hearts, and that you make our hearts place of light and iman and certitude and reflection and knowledge and nearness to you, ya arham ar-rahimeen. We ask you, ya Allah, as we approach the blessed month of the birth of your prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam that you grant every single one of us and our parents and our teachers and every member of the ummah of the prophet Muhammad sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam direct connection to him that is never severed neither in this life nor in the barzakh nor in the akhirah, ya arham ar-rahimeen. We ask you, ya Allah, that as your mercy and your light descend and spread that you hasten with the guidance of our brothers and sisters in humanity. You hasten with the guidance of our neighbors and our relatives and our friends and our co-workers. We ask you, ya Allah, that you fill their hearts with light. You fill their hearts with the light of Islam and that you take them from the darkness and the constriction of the dunya into the breadth and the light of iman and nearness to you and following the way of your messengers alayhim as-salam. Ya akram al-akrameen wa ya arham ar-rahimeen Thank you for listening. This podcast was brought to you by Seekers Guidance, the global Islamic seminary. Visit seekersguidance.org to access reliable Islamic knowledge taught by qualified teachers. We offer wide range of courses, podcasts, articles, and world-class answer service. Support us in spreading free, reliable Islamic knowledge to millions around the world by becoming monthly supporter. Visit seekersguidance.org/donate and make small monthly commitment today. Our beloved prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Whoever guides someone to goodness will have similar reward." So, don't forget to share this podcast and spread prophetic guidance.