Class 6 – Things The Prophet Warned Us Against
THINGS THE PROPHET ﷺ WARNED US AGAINST
The Warner
Allah sent Prophet Mohammed ﷺ as a mercy to mankind, this mercy is in shape of glad tidings and also warnings for us to stay away from things that Allah dislikes,
- “And We have not sent you (O Muhammad) except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all mankind, but most of men know not” [Saba’ 34:28]
- “Blessed be He Who sent down the criterion (of right and wrong, i.e. this Qur’aan) to His slave (Muhammad) that he may be a warner to the ‘Aalameen (mankind and jinn)” [al-Furqaan 25:1]
In today’s class we will study some of the things that the Prophet ﷺ warned us against but sadly are still very widespread amongst the Ummah today.
The 7 destructive Sins
The Prophet ﷺ explained the seven sins that doom a person to Hell in a saheeh hadeeth that was narrated by the two Shaykhs, al-Bukhaari and Muslim, in as-Saheehayn, in which it was narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: “Avoid the seven sins that doom a person to Hell.” We said: What are they, O Messenger of Allah? He ﷺ said: “Associating others with Allah (shirk); witchcraft; killing a soul whom Allah has forbidden us to kill, except in cases dictated by Islamic law; consuming orphans’ wealth; consuming riba; fleeing from the battlefield; and slandering chaste, innocent women.”
Shirk – The greatest of these sins is shirk (associating others with Allah), which leads to doom with no hope of redemption, and if a person dies in this state he will abide in Hell for all eternity.
Witchcraft – involves shirk because it is worshipping the jinn and is seeking the help of the jinn to misguide people.
Consuming riba – this refers to dealing with riba which Allah has prohibited. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says concerning it (interpretation of the meaning): “Allah has permitted trading and forbidden Riba” [al-Baqarah 2:275] “O you who believe! Fear Allah and give up what remains (due to you) from Ribaa (from now onward) if you are (really) believers. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger” [al-Baqarah 2:278]. Consuming riba is a major sin which it is essential to avoid.
It’s not Just Sunnah
Abû Hurayrah relates that he heard Allah’s Messenger ﷺ say:
“Whatever I prohibit you from doing, refrain from it, and whatever I command you to do, do of it what you are able. Those who came before you only perished on account of their excessive questioning and their disagreeing with their Prophets.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim]
This hadîth outlines some essential principles of Islamic Law. The most important of these is the fact that obedience to the Prophet (peace be upon him) in his commands and prohibitions is obligatory, regardless of whether or not those commands and prohibitions appear in the Qur’ân. This means that the Prophet’s Sunnah is an independent source of Islamic Law.
This principle is clearly established by many verses of the Qur’ân. Allah says:
“Whatever the Messenger gives you take it, and whatever he forbids you abstain from it.” [Sûrah al-Hashr: 7]
Excessive questioning
The Prophet ﷺ warned us that excessive questioning is one of the reasons why those who came before us met with destruction. The questions that are being referred to here are those pertaining to matters of religion. This is especially relevant to questions of the Unseen that cannot be answered except by direct textual evidence. It is wrong to delve into matters of faith that are not clearly and specifically addressed by the Qur’ân and Sunnah and that have no practical value whatsoever. Such questioning can only lead to misguidance, error and a loss of faith. It can cause a person to fall into the sin of speaking about Allah without knowledge. Allah says:
“And pursue not that of which you have no knowledge. Lo! the hearing and the sight and the heart – of each of these it will be asked.” [Sûrah al-Isrâ’: 36]
We should not speculate on matters pertaining to Allah’s nature and His attributes. We should not ask needless questions about the nature and the qualities of Paradise and Hell. We should have faith that Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him) have informed us about all that we need to know about these things.
Stick to how the Companions followed the Prophet
Ibn Mas’ud reported: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ drew a line with his hand and he ﷺ said, “This is the straight path of Allah.” Then the Prophet ﷺ drew lines to the right and left and he said, “These are other paths and there are no other paths but that a devil is upon it calling to its way.” Then the Prophet ﷺ recited the verse, “Verily, this is the straight path, so follow it and do not follow other paths.” (6:153) [Musnad Ahmad]
Allah Ta’ala says:
“And the former, the first from amongst the Muhajirun and the Ansar, and those who followed them in righteousness, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. And He has prepared for them gardens of which rivers flow below, abiding therein forever, that is great success.” (9:100)
Allah associated contradicting and opposing the messenger with following a way other than the believers’ path. So, He said:
“And whosoever contradicts and opposes the messenger after the right path has been clearly shown to him and follows other than the path of the believers, We shall keep him in the path he has chosen and burn him in Hell – what an evil destination”. [Sūrah al-Nisā’, 4:115]
Thus, Allah is unreservedly pleased with the Muhajirun and Ansar, and is pleased with those who follow them in righteousness. (i.e. The attainment of Allah’s pleasure for the companions is secure, whereas for those who come after them; this is not guaranteed, as it is dependent upon their adherence to the way of the companions in righteousness)
The messenger ﷺ emphasized this section of the noble verse: “…and follows other than the path of the believers”, He emphasized it in eloquent terms in more than one authentic prophetic Ḥadīth.
He ﷺ said, “The Jews had split up in to seventy-one sects, and the Christians had split up into seventy-two sects, and my nation will split up into seventy-three sects – all of whom will be in the fire except one”. The companions asked, “And which one is it, oh messenger of Allah?” He ﷺ replied: “What I am upon and my companions are upon.” (Related by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi, Imam Ahmad, and Ibn Majah)
Hence, the Prophet ﷺ encouraged his ummah to follow his sunnah and the sunnah of the rightly guided khalifahs after him at the appearance of splits and differences. So let us keep it simple, we do what is narrated in the Sunnah and the way the companions did it and we leave what they left. May Allah keep us on the straight path.
TAKFEER
Something the people of the Ummah of today has fallen into, people have taken the matter calling someone out of Islam so easily that they just go about doing it with ease without thinking twice.
The basic principle is that the one who appears outwardly to be a Muslim of good character is regarded as still being a Muslim of good character, until it is proven that this is no longer the case by means of evidence that is acceptable in sharee’ah. It is not permissible to take lightly the matter of judging someone to be a kaafir or faasiq, because that involves two very serious matters:
1 – It implies fabricating lies against Allaah with regard to this ruling, and fabricating lies against the one who is being judged.
2 – Falling into that which one accused one’s brother of, if he is free from that. In Saheeh al-Bukhaari (6104) and Saheeh Muslim (60) it is narrated from ‘Abd-Allaah ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet ﷺ said: “If a man declares his brother to be a kaafir, it will apply to one of them.” According to another report: “Either it is as he said, otherwise it will come back to him.”
SubhaanAllah the matter of takfeer is so serious, and mistakes therein are so grave, the seeker of knowledge, especially if he/she is a beginner, should refrain from indulging in that, and he/she should focus on acquiring beneficial knowledge that will set his/her own affairs straight in this world and the Hereafter.
Do not Exaggerate
The Messenger of Allah ﷺ, which the Prophet ﷺ warned us against and forbade us to do. He said: “Do not exaggerate about me as the Christians exaggerated about the son of Maryam, for I am no more than His slave, so say, the slave of Allah and His Messenger.” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari).
And the Prophet ﷺ warned us against following the Jews and Christians in that. He said during his final illness: “May the curse of Allah be upon the Jews and Christians, for they took the graves of their Prophets as places of worship.” He was warning against doing what they did. (Narrated by al-Bukhaari)
How many people do we see now that make Dua to the Prophet, they make Sujood to the graves of people and definitely would make Sujood to the grave of the Prophet if it was possible for them. Rather we are to Love him and follow him by adhering to his Sunnah as discussed in the previous classes.
Adding things to the Religion which is complete
Shaykh Muhammad ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said:
“According to sharee’ah, this means ‘Worshipping Allaah in ways that Allaah has not prescribed.’ If you wish you may say, ‘Worshipping Allaah in ways that are not those of the Prophet ﷺ or his rightly guided successors (al-khulafaa’ al-raashidoon).’”
The first definition is taken from the aayah (interpretation of the meaning):
“Or have they partners with Allaah (false gods) who have instituted for them a religion which Allaah has not ordained?” [al-Shooraa 42:21]
The second definition is taken from the hadeeth of the Prophet ﷺ, who said:
“I urge you to adhere to my way (Sunnah) and the way of the rightly-guided successors (al-khulafa’ al-raashidoon) who come after me. Hold fast to it and bite onto it with your eyeteeth [i.e., cling firmly to it], and beware of newly-invented matters.”
So everyone who worships Allaah in a manner that Allaah has not prescribed or in a manner that is not in accordance with the way of the Prophet ﷺ or his rightly-guided successors (al-khulafa’ al-raashidoon), is adding something to the religion which is complete.
With regard to ordinary matters of habit and custom, these are not called bid’ah (innovation) in Islam, even though they may be described as such in linguistic terms. But they are not innovations in the religious sense, and these are not the things that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was warning us against.
The Prophet ﷺ stated repeatedly that:
“Every newly-invented thing is a bid’ah (innovation), every bid’ah is a going astray, and every going astray will be in the Fire.” (Reported by al-Nisaa’I, Ahmad, Abu Dawud and Ibn Maajah).
The Prophet ﷺ used to say, when beginning a khutbah (sermon):
“…The best of speech is the Book of Allaah and the best of guidance is the guidance of Muhammad. The worst of things are those which are newly-invented, and every innovation is a going astray…” (reported by Muslim, no. 867)
And hence there is no such thing in Islam as bid’ah hasanah (good innovation).”
When a person innovates something and adds to the deen something that does not belong to it, he is implying a number of bad things, each worse than the last, for example:
That the religion is lacking, that Allaah did not complete and perfect it, and that there is room for improvement. This clearly contradicts the statement in the Qur'aan (interpretation of the meaning):
"… This day, I have perfected your religion for you, completed My favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion…" [al-Maa'idah 5:3]
That the religion remained imperfect from the time of the Prophet ﷺ until the time when this innovator came along and completed it with his own ideas.
That the Prophet ﷺ was "guilty" of either of two things: either he was ignorant of this "good innovation," or he knew about it but concealed it, thus letting his ummah down by not conveying it.
That the Prophet ﷺ, his Companions and the early generations missed out on the reward of this "good innovation" - until this innovator came along and earned it for himself, despite the fact that he should say to himself, "If it was truly good, they would have been the first to do it."
Opening the door to bid'ah leads to changing the deen (religion) and opens the way for personal whims and opinions, because every innovator implies that what he is introducing is something good, so whose opinion are we supposed to follow, and which of them should we take as a leader?
Following bid'ah leads to the cancelling out of sunnah practices and the ways of the Sahaba. Real life bears witness that whenever a bid'ah is followed, a sunnah practice dies out; the reverse is also true.
We ask Allaah to save us from the misguidance of personal whims and from all trials whether they are open or secret. And Allaah knows best.
SOME OTHER COMMONLY SPREAD SINS THAT THE PROPHET ﷺ HAD WARNED US AGAINST
Picture Making
“Those who will receive the most severe punishment from Allah on the Day of Resurrection will be painters (of living objects).” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim].
Women wearing Tight Clothes
‘There are two types of the people of the Hell-Fire who I have not seen, a people who have whips like cows’ tails with which they are hitting the people, and women who will be naked in spite of being dressed, who are seduced (to wrong paths) and seduce others, their heads will be high like a camel with humps they will not enter Paradise, nor will they find its fragrance, even though its fragrance can be found from travelling such and such distance.’ [Muslim and Ahmad]
Women tying their hair as a Camel Hump Same Hadeeth as above
Abandoning Salah
Salah is the second pillar of Islam after reciting the shahada. It is not possible for a person to be a Muslim if they abandon salah. The following hadiths explain further:
Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said, “Between a man (Muslim) and shirk and disbelief lies neglect of salah.” [Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Sunan Ibn Majah, An-Nasa’i, Ahmad]
Abdullah ibn Shaqiq Uqayli (RA) reported, saying “The companions of Muhummad ﷺ did not regard neglect of any of the deeds as disbelief as they did (neglect) of Salah.” [Sunan Tirmidhi (5/14) No. 2622 and Mustadrak al-Haakim (1/4 No. 12 who said it met the conditions of al-Bukhari and Muslim]
Delaying Hajj for no reason
Ali (RA) narrated that Allah’s Messenger ﷺ said: “He who possess enough food for the trip, a means of transportation to reach to Makkah, and yet does not perform Hajj, then he dies, he would then die as a Jew or a Christian…” [Sunan Tirmidhi & Bayhaqi]
Disobeying one’s Parents
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Shall I not tell you of the greatest of major sins?” – three times – and we said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allaah.” He ﷺ said: “Associating others in worship with Allaah, and disobeying one’s parents…..,” – and he was reclining, but he sat up and said, “And false speech and false witness.” Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 2654; Muslim, 126.
False Witness Same Hadeeth mentioned above
Severing Ties of Kinship
“No one who severs the ties of kinship will enter Paradise.” (Narrated by Muslim).
Do not Oppress or be unjust to your Brother
- “Beware of injustice, for oppression will be darkness on the Day of Resurrection; and beware of stinginess because it doomed those who were before you. It incited them to shed blood and treat the unlawful as lawful.” [Muslim]
- “Allah decrees the (Hell) Fire and debars Jannah for the one who usurps the rights of a believer by taking a false oath.” One man asked: “O Messenger of Allah! Even if it should be for an insignificant thing?” He said, “Even if it be a stick of the Arak tree (i.e., the tree from which Miswak sticks are taken)“. [Muslim].
Backbiting & Gossip
“They are being punished, but they are not being punished for anything that was difficult to avoid. One of them used to walk about spreading malicious gossip (nameemah)…” [al-Bukhaari, Muslim]
May Allah keep us away from all the things the Prophet ﷺ has warned us against and give us the Hidayah to follow the Sunnah as the Sahaba did.