The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Trust in God, but tie your camel.” [Tirmidhi]
There is a meaning behind this hadith which is that we cannot expect things to happen or not to happen without our own efforts first. If you put trust in Allah but sit back and do nothing, nothing will happen; similarly if you were to trust in Allah but not tie a camel, it will still run away.
We must act first, then put trust in Allah. This is especially important in the area of the religion. Many of us say we want to fix certain faults with our deen, yet we do not work for it. Let us remember:
“..Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves..” 13:11
Allah has shown us what will make us better worshippers. He has sent His perfected book and the perfect role model Muhammad (ﷺ) who has not left out even the slightest detail in the religion. Whatever we are struggling with in the deen, there are ways to work on it, yet many of us do not try enough, then we ask ourselves why we sin.
We tell Allah everyday in our Salah when reading Surat Al Fatiha:
“It is You we worship and You we ask for help.” [1:5]
The word used for asking for help is “nasta’een” which come from the word “‘oun” which is a very specific type of help; in basic terms it means when one is already trying then asks for help – we shall go through the entire Surah in detail in a future post if Allah wills.
These two things – our effort and Allah’s help – are extremely important in Islam and our daily lives in general.
In this post we will discuss what Allah says about impermissible forms of income.
Haram income does not only affect the sinner themselves but also the people around them. One can obtain money through haram means and feed one’s family with this income in turn affecting them too.
It is not merely limited to income through drugs/alcohol or gambling etc. but any income that is obtained because of an activity one engaged in that displeases Allah is considered haram. This could be lying, cheating, deceiving people – any haram action leading to any sort of income.
The severity of haram income is not to be taken lightly. Let’s take a major sin such as consuming alcohol. If one were to sell it, then they are committing double the treason; one for the act of selling it to a consumer and another is the money gained from it, which is worse than consumption – this works the same for drugs.
Similarly, acts committed in industries such as prostitution or pornography are major sins. For the people earning from it, they are gaining double the major sins, and for the people that own the companies they are gaining more than double; encouraging immorality and earning from the business.
These however are not as common within the Muslim community as acts such as lying to obtain a job or getting paid for work which one did not carry out. Faking certificates, lying in CV’s, seeking intercession for a job one knows that one is incapable of undertaking. These all fall into the category of haram acts which can then lead to haram income.
Even things like discounts or benefits which one lied to obtain. Gaining some sort of income – money or other – by bending the truth on a document or application to qualify for these benefits or others. There are many other forms of haram income that branch from what we discussed. They have become such a norm in the world even within our Ummah.
The prophet said: “A time will come upon the people when one will not care how one gains one’s money, legally or illegally.” [Bukhari]
We are living in these times now. We have become so greedy as to not even care or ask ourselves where we are gaining our income. These have effects on society both on the people obtaining the money and the people around them. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“O you who have believed, eat from the good things which We have provided for you and be grateful to Allah if it is [indeed] Him that you worship.” 2:172
“O messengers, eat from the good foods and work righteously. Indeed, I, of what you do, am Knowing.” 23:51
Allah is directly talking to the messengers for the people to understand that nothing will be accepted of us through consuming haram.
The effects of haram income is not only limited to the dunya but also our afterlife. We will discuss the punishments related to these acts in a future post if Allah wills.
Let us conclude with a hadith from the prophet on this matter; he said: “O people, Allah is Good and He therefore, accepts only that which is good. And Allah commanded the believers as He commanded the Messengers by saying: “O Messengers, eat of the good things, and do good deeds; verily I am aware of what you do” [23:51]. And He said: “O those who believe, eat of the good things that We gave you” [2:172]. He then made a mention of a person who travels widely, his hair dishevelled and covered with dust. He lifts his hand towards the sky (and thus makes the supplication): “O Lord, O Lord,” whereas his diet is haram, his drink is haram, and his clothes are haram and his nourishment is haram. How can then his supplication be accepted?” [Muslim]
Mankind today tend to worry all the time about the things in our possession. Allah reminds us in the Qur’an that these are not ours, but He has purchased it from us in return for paradise.
“Indeed, Allah has purchased from the believers their lives and their wealth [in exchange] for that they will have Paradise.” 9:111
This demonstrates Allah’s favour upon us; He provided us with these blessings and accepted it as a price from His faithful servant. What this means is that we spend our lives and our wealth in His path. We restrict what our lives in the dunya could be to please Him and spend our earnings for good in the name of Allah.
We misinterpret the idea of rizq in the way that many of us assume that it is merely within our own efforts. Sure, we as Muslims believe that everything comes from Allah, but do our attitudes to life prove the opposite? This has lead us to prioritise our work and other commitments above the commitments to Allah’s work.
Understanding how rizq truly works will lead one to realise that while seeking out rizq is important, it should not be of such importance that it involves spending the greatest time, energy and focus on to the exclusion of other obligations and duties. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Say, [O Muhammad], ‘If your fathers, your sons, your brothers, your wives, your relatives, wealth which you have obtained, commerce wherein you fear decline, and dwellings with which you are pleased are more beloved to you than Allah and His Messenger and jihad in His cause, then wait until Allah executes His command. And Allah does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.'” 9:24
Allah mentions the obligations we have in this world but also lets us know the consequences of putting them before Him and his messenger (ﷺ).
The most fundamental aspect is that we as Muslims internalise that rizq all comes from Allah. It is from one of His beautiful names “Al-Razaaq” – The Provider, The Supplier. Every penny we make, every breath we take, the time we have on earth, every relationship we have is given by Allah.
“Indeed, it is Allah who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength.” 51:58
Allah ascribes the power of provision to Him alone and also encourages us partake in what He has provided for us, but reminds us to keep our duty to Him:
“And eat of what Allah has provided for you [which is] lawful and good. And fear Allah, in whom you are believers.” 5:88
He connect the two subjects to warn us not allow the partaking in provision to transgress His other commands. Allah also connects taqwa (consciousness of Allah) with rizq:
And will provide for him from where he does not expect. And whoever relies upon Allah – then He is sufficient for him. Indeed, Allah will accomplish His purpose. Allah has already set for everything a [decreed] extent.” 65:3
This means that although we may think that we know where our salaries are coming from every month, there are times when we were provided at a time of need from a source we could not have imagined. Whether this was money or other provisions; it could be something as simple as food when we were hungry.
However, it is not only the people with taqwa are given their rizq. We see disbelievers and Muslims that are astray from us, many of which are seemingly very successful in their lives. We must understand that Allah provides for all His creation. From the humans to the animals to the plants and everything in between; everything has its share in the world.
“And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision, and He knows its place of dwelling and place of storage. All is in a clear register.” 11:6
The difference between the rizq to people with true taqwa and the people without is the baraka of Allah (the attachment of divine goodness) – which is a separate topic we shall discuss in the future if Allah wills. One thing to mention from this is the warning of Allah in the Qur’an:
“So when they forgot that by which they had been reminded, We opened to them the doors of every [good] thing until, when they rejoiced in that which they were given, We seized them suddenly, and they were [then] in despair.” 6:44
If all people start chasing is worldly provision, money, fame etc. then those doors will be opened by Allah. Every blessing of the world would be made abundant for these people such as wealth, children and all kinds of provision. Once everything is given to them and they are delighted/boastful of what they have earned, Allah will take them from the dunya.
What will our provisions do for us when the angel of death comes?
No matter how much we may feel that our provisions are from our own efforts, they are not. This is not to say however, that we should abandon our worldly duties and everything will fall into our laps as we do nothing. Rather we must plan our lives in the best way possible in seeking our rizq with fulfilling our other commitments to Allah and His messenger (ﷺ), and have firm belief in Al-Razzaq to provide for us.
A Muslim must always rely upon Allah – this pillar of belief gives the believer the strength to overcome difficulties. Someone with the correct understanding that his provision is from Allah will trust fully in Allah to provide for him especially when times are difficult.
“Allah extends provision for whom He wills and restricts [it]. And they rejoice in the worldly life, while the worldly life is not, compared to the Hereafter, except [brief] enjoyment.” 13:26
A common question that is usually asked is:
If rizq is from Allah then how does one interpret the provisions taken by let’s say, a thief? Someone steals something from someone else or someone obtains their wealth through haram means e.g. won the lottery?
We must first understand that no provision has been taken away from anyone except that Allah willed so. That person who stole, is only stealing from their own rizq – they would have been given equal to that item they stole in another way, in a halal manner; they are not playing with Allah’s system in any way.
Not only is there no baraka in what they stole but that person they stole from will be claiming back on the day of judgement in the form of good deeds. So if something is stolen from us out of greed, we should think of it as savings for our afterlife or simply as a way of forgiveness from Allah if we look past it.
The same applies to those who earn through prohibited methods. Had they not gone through the haram path, Allah would have given the same provision in a better way – remember, He provides us from places we do not expect.
Let us remember, our rizq is a test. Sometimes we may see our wealth dropping but that itself is a blessing from Allah. It could be an opportunity for us to come closer to Him through our actions – if we only see it that way.
Furthermore, nobody can take your decreed rizq from you. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And in the heaven is your provision and whatever you are promised.” 51:22
Our provisions are with Allah not with the people around us and He will give whatever he wills without question.
“…Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account.” 3:37
The sunnah of the prophet (ﷺ) is indivisible from the Qur’an. Narrations on what he (ﷺ) advised us and how he (ﷺ) lived his life is the living interpretation of the Qur’an.
The Qur’an contains the commands of Allah which cannot be understood and interpreted correctly without looking at the prophet’s (ﷺ) life. Let us take prayer as an example; Allah in the Qur’an commands the Muslims to pray:
“The believers, men and women, are protecting friends of one another; they enjoin good and forbid evil, and they establish Salah, and give Zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah will have His Mercy on them, and surely, Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.” 9:71
However, we cannot know how to pray and carry out these actions accurately if was not for the sunnah. The prophet (ﷺ) is Allah’s perfect role model, a mercy to the world.
“You have an excellent model in the Messenger of Allah, for all who put their hope in Allah and the Last Day and remember Allah much.” 33:21
“There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer; [he is] concerned over you and to the believers is kind and merciful.” 9:128
“Allah showed great kindness to the believers when He sent a Messenger to them from among themselves to recite His Signs to them, purify them and teach them the Book and Wisdom, even though before that they were clearly misguided.” 3:164
The Prophet’s (ﷺ) entire life reveals a seriousness, responsibility, and sensitivity of which not even the slightest detail is neglected.
Dangers of abandoning the Sunnah
“The loss of the religion starts with the abandonment of the Sunnah. Just as a rope breaks fibre by fibre, so does religion vanish bit by bit by abandoning the Sunnah.” [al-Darimi]
Not following the sunnah of the prophet (ﷺ) is what leads to different sects in Islam. Many have turned away from the sunnah fabricating their own hadith books and adopted un-islamic practices.
It was narrated from Anas bin Malik that the prophet (ﷺ) said: “The Children of Israel split into 72 sects, and my nation will split into 73, all of which will be in Hell apart from one, which is the main congregation (al jama’ah).” [Ibn Majah]
Abandoning the sunnah also forms false interpretations of the book of Allah. People claiming they read the Qur’an and interpret the meanings for themselves. This is why we see the rise of militant groups and other extremists claiming to be following the deen of Islam.
False interpretation not only results in wrongly following Allah’s commands but also the initiation of bid’a (innovation). The prophet (ﷺ) said: “Every innovation is going astray, and every going astray will be in the Fire.” [Muslim]
Bid’a is any religious act practiced outside the sunnah of the prophet (ﷺ).
The importance of following the prophet (ﷺ) is highlighted many times in the Qur’an, here are a few:
“Indeed, We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner
That you [people] may believe in Allah and His Messenger and honour him and respect the Prophet and exalt Allah morning and afternoon.
Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you, [O Muhammad] – they are actually pledging allegiance to Allah . The hand of Allah is over their hands. So he who breaks his word only breaks it to the detriment of himself. And he who fulfills that which he has promised Allah – He will give him a great reward.” 48:8-10
“He who obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah ; but those who turn away – We have not sent you over them as a guardian.” 4:80
“…And whatever the Messenger has given you – take; and what he has forbidden you – refrain from. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty.” 59:7
It is made very clear; in order for us to obey Allah, we must obey the prophet (ﷺ). The messenger of Allah (ﷺ) with Allah’s guidance may prohibit other things not specifically mentioned in the Qur’an. He (ﷺ) said: “Avoid that which I forbid you to do and do that which I command you to do to the best of your capacity.” [Muslim]
Allah warns us of abandoning the commands of the prophet (ﷺ):
“And whoever opposes the Messenger after guidance has become clear to him and follows other than the way of the believers – We will give him what he has taken and drive him into Hell, and evil it is as a destination.” 4:115
Not only does leaving the sunnah affect our deen it also affects the world around us. The prophet (ﷺ) taught us everything from how we run our businesses to how we deal with the people around us. The Islamic world’s political and economic status fragmented because the Muslims abandoned Allah’s book and the sunnah.
His roles included much more than a prophet: a head of state, an army commander, a soldier, a trader, a father, a husband, a friend.
We as Muslims can only truly fulfil our duties to Allah by following His appointed role model, His messenger Muhammad (ﷺ).
We hear today a great misconception that all sunnah is optional, when in fact within the sunnah there are both obligatory and optional actions, but the sunnah as whole is the only way of Islam.
To end, let us take heed of what Allah tells us in the Qur’an:
“Say, [O Muhammad to the people], ‘If you should love Allah, then follow me [the prophet], [so] Allah will love you and forgive you your sins. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.'” 3:31
“Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.” 21:35
This is a topic many of us try to forget or put to the side. It’s a reality we must remind ourselves of regularly. Allah says in the Qur’an:
“Say, ‘Indeed, the death from which you flee – indeed, it will meet you. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, and He will inform you about what you used to do.'” 62:8
No matter what we try to do, death is the only guarantee given to mankind and it can either be a huge torment or a great gift.
When death comes to the person they will be in the “agony (or intoxication) of death” (sakrat ul mout). This is a state when one will not be fully conscious of the surroundings. Allah says:
“And the intoxication of death will bring the truth; that is what you were trying to avoid.” 50:19
Once the moment comes Allah will remove the “veil” covering the eyes and one will see the previously unseen – angels.
There are many narrations regarding what happens after we pass away and the grave. The death of the mu’min, the true believer is explained in the following narration:
Imam Ahmad narrated that al-Bara’ ibn ‘Aazib (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
“Verily, when the believing slave is about to depart this world and enter the hereafter, angels from heaven with white faces will come down, faces as bright as the sun. They will bring with them one of the shrouds of Paradise and some of the perfume of Paradise. They will sit with the soul as far as the eye can see.
Then the Angel of Death comes to him and sits by his head and says, ‘O pure soul, come out to the forgiveness and pleasure of Allah.’ Then his soul comes flowing out like water flowing from a cup. Then he takes the soul, and no sooner does he seize it but the angels take it and place it in that shroud and perfume.
Then out of it comes the most excellent fragrance of musk to be found on the face of the earth. Then they ascend with it and they do not pass by any group of angels but the angels ask, ‘Who is this pure soul?’ and they reply, ‘It is so and so the son of so and so’ – using the best names by which he was known on earth.
Then they bring it to the lowest heaven, and ask for it to be opened, and it is opened for him. Those who are of high rank in each heaven accompany it until they approach the next heaven, and so it goes until it reaches the seventh heaven.
Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says: ‘Record the book of My slave in ‘Illiyoon (the highest heaven) and take him back to the earth, for I created them from it, and I shall return them to it, then I shall take them out from it again.’
Then his soul is returned to his body and two angels come and make him sit up.”
The soul of the disbeliever is narrated as follows:
“The soul of a non-Muslim or evil soul is removed like a multi-pointed skewer is removed from wet wool that causes the veins and nerves to sever”. [Abu Dawud]
Allah says in the Qur’an:
“And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in the overwhelming pangs of death while the angels extend their hands, [saying], “Discharge your souls! Today you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation for what you used to say against Allah other than the truth and [that] you were, toward His verses, being arrogant.” 6:93
Note that Allah here uses the word “mujrimun” meaning “wrongdoers” so this is not limited to disbelievers.
“And if you could but see when the angels take the souls of those who disbelieved… They are striking their faces and their backs and [saying], “Taste the punishment of the Burning Fire.” 8:50
The narration continues:
“Then the angels ascend with it and they do not pass by any group of angels but the angels ask, ‘Who is this evil soul?’ and they reply, ‘It is So and so the son of So and so’ – using the worst names by which he was known on earth. Then they bring it to the lowest heaven, and ask for it to be opened, and it is not opened for him.”
Then the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) recited (interpretation of the meaning):
“… For them the gates of heaven will not be opened, and they will not enter Paradise until the camel goes through the eye of the needle” 7:40
Then he said, “Then Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says: ‘Record the book of My slave in Sijjeen (the lowest Hell) in the lowest earth. Then his soul is cast down.” (some scholars mention the soul is dropped to the earth and the pain is felt).
Then he (ﷺ) recited (interpretation of the meaning):
“… and whoever assigns partners to Allah, it is as if he had fallen from the sky, and the birds had snatched him, or the wind had thrown him to a far off place.” 22:31
He said, “Then his soul is returned to his body and two angels come and make him sit up”. “
[Classed authentic by Sheikh al’Albaani].
The returning of the soul to the body is not as it is when the person is alive but in a different form. The stage between death and the day of resurrection is named “al barzakh” translating to “interval” or “barrier” between two things.
The two angels will then question the soul:
We must realise brothers and sisters, that on that day our tongues will only speak that which is in the heart. Whether we worshipped Allah in this world will determine what we say to these angels and will then determine our fate in the grave.
We will discuss specific narrations of the punishment and bliss in the grave in another post. For now, let remind ourselves of where we are inevitably going to end up. We must prepare ourselves for that moment from now.
Allah mentions the regret of the soul many times in the Qur’an – let us not be of one of them. These are a few:
“And spend [in the way of Allah ] from what We have provided you before death approaches one of you and he says, ‘My Lord, if only You would delay me for a brief term so I would give charity and be among the righteous.'” 63:10
“[For such is the state of the disbelievers and wrongdoers], until, when death comes to one of them, he says, ‘My Lord, send me back
That I might do righteousness in that which I left behind.’ No! It is only a word he is saying; and behind them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected.” 23:99-100
“If you could but see when the criminals are hanging their heads before their Lord, [saying], ‘Our Lord, we have seen and heard, so return us [to the world]; we will work righteousness. Indeed, we are [now] certain.'” 32:12
The fact that we are still in this world is a gift of Allah – let us never forget his mercy upon the people who turn back to Him in this life:
“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.'” 39:53
O you who have believed, let not a people ridicule [another] people; perhaps they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule [other] women; perhaps they may be better than them. And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one’s] faith. And whoever does not repent – then it is those who are the wrongdoers.
[49:11]
When Allah revealed the Qur’an, He mentions some of His most exquisite mercies and gifts, so He said: ‘Ar-Rahman, Al-amal Quran’. One of the points to ponder about these ayat in Surat Ar-Rahman is that He mentions not just a name that depicts His Mercy, that a name that depicts His extreme Mercy. Ar-Rahmaan, the unimaginably Merciful, the one being incredibly Merciful.
Al-amal Qur’an, He taught the Qur’an. The speech of Allah that when He revealed it, it’s supposed to be in our tongues, we’re suppose to remind each other with it, so the words we uttered from our mouths are suppose to actually be a means to penetrating somebody else’s heart. Then He says, ‘khalaqal Insaan’, He created the human being then He uses the same word ‘Al-amma’, which is amazing, He says ‘Al-amma hul Bayaan’, He taught the human beings speech.
Just like He said HE taught human beings Qur’an, He taught human beings speech. The ability to speak is an incredible gift from Allah and it’s an honour from Him and what we’re learning from those ayat is that, the best use of our speech is to remember Allah by the words He taught us. Our speech in any matter should be inspired by the speech Allah taught us, the one who honoured us with His Qur’an.
Now, we’re all humans and we make mistakes and we sometime don’t realise the value of things that we have, especially our tongues. We say things, we make comments and we know in social settings among family and friends etc sometimes things we say completely cross the line and we that we don’t realise the magnitude of that problem. Due to the fact that Allah takes the time to mention this particular problem in the Qur’an, it should make us appreciate that this is not a light matter.
In this regard, we will share a reminder from Surat Al-Hujurat, just one ayah, this is an ayah that is addressed to those who believe, and the first thing Allah says,’ Ya aiyuhal lazina aamanu la yaskhar khaw mumin khawmin’,:
Those of you who believe don’t let any group among you poke fun at any other. ‘Sakheera’ or ‘Suhkhriya’ in Arabic doesn’t just mean to poke fun because the word for that is ‘Istahza’ also, but the most comprehensive word in Arabic ‘Suhkhriya’ actually means to be sarcastic too. Don’t be sarcastic against each other. Now making fun of someone and being sarcastic against someone, at lot of times specially now a days it’s considered as a sign of Intelligence – ’that guy is really funny’ or ‘ that guy makes a lot of funny jokes’ or ‘he makes lot of sarcastic remarks that are like a rapid fire, they come out of him one after another, he’s such a joker’. When people around you laugh at our jokes, it’s pretty much an ego boost, so we come up with a next disc or a next sarcastic remark or the next inappropriate joke and we kind of feed off the laughter of others, and we get caught up with it.
Allah is telling us in this Surah that this is something that can take away the very fabric of brotherhood that we enjoy among each other. Allah says right before this ayah that believers are nothing but brothers among each other so make reconciliation among your brothers and have the ‘taqwa’ of Allah so you are shown Mercy. Be conscious, aware and in awe of Allah so you maybe shown Mercy.
The previous ayah talks about us making reconciliation among each other, and the very next ayah is saying watch the way you speak to each other. Don’t be sarcastic with each other. Don’t make insulting comments in the name of humour against each other. It has become very casual to say or talk about how short someone is or how ugly they are or how they dress or what kind of car they drive or what school they go to or what kind of job they have. It’s very easy to pick on someone’s flaws and make them on the point of ridicule.
Then Allah says,’ asayaa ayyakunu khairaan minhum’: may be the group made fun off is better than the group making fun. Now obviously, when you are making fun of someone there is an already underlined assumption, conscious or sub-conscious that we are better than them, that’s why we are making fun of them, they are the object of our ridicule. We wouldn’t take someone who we are convinced deserves more respect than we do or is above us in anyway, they wouldn’t be the point of ridicule for us, so obviously there is a sense of superiority that we have.
Allah here is saying that as far as He’s concerned, the group we are making fun of is better. Here just a note about our society in general, something that has become a part of comedy and entertainment, you know a comedian or a standup comedian, cracks a lot of jokes and things like that, one of their sellers is to mock another ethnicities and to imitate an accent, or make fun of what kind of food that ethnicity likes to eat, dress or what kind of weird things they say among each other, how they drive they cars or how cheap they are or how much they love spicy food or what kinda hot tempers they have etc. So they pick up some flaw of some ethnicity and make that the object of ridicule, which makes this ayah even more alive. ‘la yaskhar khawmun min khawmin’, not any group making fun of any other group, maybe the group you are making fun of is better than you as far as Allah is concerned that is to say. ‘wala nisaun wa min nisain’, which is interesting, neither should women be making fun of other women.
In other words, Allah mentions nations which include men and women but Allah specifically highlighted women doing so. So what is being told here, because of the word ‘suhkhriya’ is the way women do this is very different then the way men do it. So ‘wala nisaun min nisain aasaa ayyakunna khairaan min hunn ‘, So maybe the one’s made fun of are better than the one’s poking fun of them. Then He says, ‘wala talmizuu an fusakum’, this one ayah is about not violating the rights of our tongues – this beautiful thing Allah has given us.
‘Wala talmizu an fusakum’, ’lamz’ in Arabic could be criticising someone either by means of bodily gesture or by means of our eyes, like rolling our eyes or by sign, by taking a deep breath. Or by snicker or comment made under our breath, this is the definition of ancient lexicon telling us what ‘lamaz’ means, it’s a snicker or comment made under our breath just so the other person heard us say something but they don’t quite know what we said. Then when we are asked ‘what?’ We say ‘nothing, I didn’t say anything’, that subtle kind of criticism or undermining somebody’s speech or demeaning someone or condescending towards someone that’s not even captured in speech.
Sometimes we can insult someone without saying a single word and Allah knows that so he uses the word ‘wala talmizu an fusakum’ . What’s interesting is that among the many things that’s amazing about this ayah is that, Allah doesn’t says “don’t make this kind of sarcastic, condescending, critical type of gesture to others”. He says ‘anfusakum’, to yourself. In other words, if we do this to a believer, we are they and they are we – we are one people, we are one nation. So who we are really making fun of is actually our own selves and the other implication here is that when someone does this kind of thing, the only one they are successfully insulting is their own dignity. The only one they are really harming is their own sense of self worth.
Now a days another common thing is to send someone a text message about how stupid somebody sounds or how ugly they look or take a picture and post it up on a social media about how ridiculous somebody is, just an act of embarrassing them. In ancient times, the act of embarrassing someone could have been a gesture of a hand or with a rolling of an eye or just a deep breath or some remarks spread about them. Now it takes modern forms. Just because it’s taken a modern form doesn’t make it permissible, it’s the same crime.
So ‘wala talmizu an fusakum’ then he says, ‘wala tanabazu bilalkhaab’, and don’t call each other out by nicknames and ‘nabaza’ is used in Arabic meaning it’s to try to come up with artificial nicknames against each other, that we are trying to make it stick on them and we’re trying to make sure everybody around them calls them that and they themselves are hurt and insulted by it. So what happens is when we call someone with a nickname, in response they call you by a nickname, they’ll come up with something else for you and obviously they are doing this as an act of retaliation and even though we are “just friends” and even thought we don’t think it’s a big deal, but some kind of animosity is planted inside the heart.
There is some offence taken and maybe it won’t come out at the time, maybe the friend doesn’t want to let things get ugly between us, so he/she doesn’t say anything when we call them a nasty nickname or an insulting nickname, commenting about their weight or height or skin colour or accent or their intelligence even or whatever it maybe, but it will come out on judgement day. When that person is in deficiency of good deeds and they could use whatever they could get, they’ll come out after their best friends and say ‘you used to call me these nasty or hurtful nicknames, and for everything you used to call me I’ll like to get compensated.’
So why doesn’t he/she take away some sins of mine for each time they used that word against me, they might make that kind of deal, we need to watch out because they’re friends with us now, but that’s not the case on judgement day, when a mother forgets her child, we’re not going to remember our friends. The day Allah describes as a day a person runs away from his own brother, his wife he runs away from, that he would live with her forever and ever, he would never get away from her, he loved her, he’s running away from her on judgement day.
Do we think our friends are going care on that day that it might hurt our feelings? That they don’t want to take away from our good deeds. Now a days we might say that ‘I don’t want to say anything, it might hurt his feelings.’ That day we’re not going care about anybody’s feelings but our own. So we need watch out from making those offensive comments and those offensive gestures.
The ayah continues:‘ beesal ismu alfusukhu baadal emaan’, – Allah says,’ ismu alfusukh’, the horribly corrupt word, the word itself is utterly despicable – how terrible it is ‘badal imaan’, after you have faith. In other words when a person has Imane, then bad language, which all of this was describing – on top of that by using ‘beesal ismual fusukh’, Allah is now even including foul language, profanity and filthy language. All of this together, this speech, Allah says how terrible this can be, it’s an absolutely nasty thing to have, ‘once you have imane’. Once faith is there.
What this suggests is that if we’re people that don’t care that we curse, it just rolls out of our tongues and we don’t care if we make snickering comments about someone and filthy language whether spelled out exactly or as the bleeped out word it – we make a variation of the spelling – and say ‘no, no I didn’t use the bad word, I used the closely spelled word that sounds like it’ to play word games, even though our intent is clearly known. Then what that suggests is that faith isn’t there because once imane is there these things become ugly and despicable to us. We wouldn’t even want to go near them. ‘ beesal ismu alfusukhu baadal emaan’
In the end of this if we realise that maybe our faith is hurt, maybe we haven’t cried in salat in forever and maybe we haven’t remembered Allah and thanked Him and maybe we realised that our real disease is nothing but lack of controlling our tongue, the more filthy words we use the darker our heart gets and we can’t remember Allah in a healthy way; but maybe even if we realise it now, then now is the time we repent. Now is the time we say, ‘no, I’m not going to do this again. I’m going to watch my tongue. I’m going to become a better person.’
So Allah says in the end of this ayah, what an amazing ending: ‘wa mallum yatub faoolaaeka humuzzalimoon.’ – ‘And whoever didn’t repent, those in fact are the wrongdoers’. In other words, if we come at this point of the ayah where once we have faith, these things should be terrible to us and we should realise that this is a detriment to our faith itself, the natural consequence of this is that we should be repenting and walking away from these things and apologising to Allah and all those people we offended, this is part of our repentance. And what a time is to form our repentance – in the month of ramadan where the obstacles of the shaytan are withheld.
May Allah make us of those are able to watch our tongues in public and in private, and are able to stay away from offensive comments and remarks and are able to say things that instead spread love and unity and courtesy among each other.
