Shaykh Ubayd al-Jaabiree: An Explanation of the Verse ‘Those Who Believe and Do Not Mix Their Faith with Oppression’

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Shaykh Ubayd al-Jaabiree: An Explanation of the Verse ‘Those Who Believe and Do Not Mix

Shaykh Ubayd al-Jaabiree, from the Scholars of Tawhid and Sunnah from the city of al-Madeenah delivered a brief and concise lecture 28th Jumadah al-Oulaa, 1434H / 9th April 2013, after Salat al-Asr for the 10th Dawrah ‘Ilmiyyah in the city of al-Madeenah al-Nabawiyyah (organized by al-Maktabah al-Salafiyyah) on the meaning and explanation of the verse “Those who believe and do not mix their belief with oppression, they will have security and they are (the ones) who are guided.” (6:82) What follows is a presentation of the lecture’s content based upon notes made during the lecture.

The Shaykh, after praising Allaah and sending salat and salaam upon the Messenger of Allaah, stated:

The topic in front of us is the saying of Allaah, the Exalted: 

ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَلَمْ يَلْبِسُوٓا۟ إِيمَٰنَهُم بِظُلْمٍ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمُ ٱلْأَمْنُ وَهُم مُّهْتَدُونَ

 

Those who believe and do not mix their belief with oppression, they will have security and they are (the ones) who are guided. (6:82)

So what is the meaning of (يلبسوا), it means (يخلطوا), which is to mix (confuse), as occurs in Sahih al-Bukhari from Ibn Mas’ood (radiallaahu anhu), that when it was revealed it caused some confusion upon the Companions, so they said, “Which one of us does not have oppression (dhulm) in his eemaan (faith).” So the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, “It is not that (what you think), have you not heard the saying of the righteous servant (Luqmaan), ( إِنَّ ٱلشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ), “Indeed shirk (associating partners with Allaah) is a great oppression” (31:13).

So this story gives us two benefits:

The first is the intense and severe fear of the Companions (radiallaahu anhum) when this verse was revealed upon them. They feared for their faith, because they understood the (verse upon) the generality of its meaning, that the one whose eemaan is mixed with dhulm (oppression), he wil not have security (amn) on the Day of Judgement and he is not from the guided ones. In a like way, the Muslim is eager for his eeman (faith) from everything which negates it from (affairs of) shirk and kufr or which decrease it (and remove it from) perfection such as major sins.

The second benefit is that the Prophet (sallallau alayhi wasallam) explained the meaning of the oppression (ظلم) mentioned in the verse and that it was not what they understood for they understood it in a generalized sense involving major sins (such as cutting of ties and what is similar to that). So the Prophet (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) explained that the oppression mentioned in the verse is actually shirk (setting up partners in worship) with Allaah, and the intent (by ‘shirk’) is the major shirk alongside which eemaan will not benefit (at all) and no action will be of benefit in its presence, for every action alongside the presence of shirk is vain (invalidated).

There remains two further issues in the verse.

The first is regarding the types of oppression (dhulm) which are present amongst the people. Know O listeners from the Muslim men and women (present) that the oppression occurring amongst people is of three types:

 

1) The oppression which Allaah does not forgive except with repentance and whoever dies upon this type of oppression, he will remainin in the fire forever, forever absolutely, and this is the major shirk.2) The oppression which Allaah forgives when the wrong has been corrected, this is the oppression of the servants regarding that which occurrs between them. This oppression between the servants is not removed by repentance on its own, rather the right which has been taken or transgressed against must be returned to the person (in question). The Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, “Return the right to the one to whom it is due before the day when there is no deenaar or dirham (to offer as ransom).” The rights of the people (that have been transgressed against) are to be returned or rectified first then repentance is to be made.

3) The oppression of a person upon himself, (such as stealing, drinking), this is under Allaah’s will, He, the Exalted said, “Allaah does not forgive that partners should be associated with Him (in worship) but he forgives what is less than that to whomsover He wills” (4:48). If a person met Allaah without repenting, he is under the will (of Allaah), if Allaah wills He will forgive him and if He wills He will punish him and if He punishes him He will not leave him in the Fire forever. Hence, the muwahhid (monotheist) who met Allaah upon Tawheed his final destination is Paradise. He (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) said, “Whoever met Allaah not associating any partners with him in anything will enter Paradise and whoever met Allaah associating partners with him in anything, he will enter the Fire.“

The second issue is related to amn (security) and hidaayah (guidance).

Amn (security) is the opposite of khawf (fear). Know O gathering of Muslim men and women (present here) that security is of two types: a) security that is complete and b) security that is deficient.

The complete security is for the one who meets Allaah free of shirk and free of sins [due to repentance] and these are people who are secured from entering the Fire because they combined two matters, Tawheed and freedom of sins and they met Allah with these two matters. The incomplete (deficient) security, this is for the one who met Allaah with Tawheed but did not repent from the major sins, he fell into major sins in the world and died with out repentance so his security (from punishment) is deficient. How is this? It means that he will be secure from remaining in the Fire foreever, but not secure from entering it to begin with.

And know also that that hidaayah (guidance) is of two types (the complete guidance and the deficient guidance):

The complete guidance has as its fruit complete security, because this person was pleased with Allaah as his Lord and with Islaam as his deen and with the Muhammad as his Messenger, and venerated Allaah as he should be venerated and he met Him with Tawheed and was safe and secure from (committing) major sins. As for the deficient guidance, its fruit is a deficient security. He was upon Tawheed but he did not abandon major sins. He fell into something of them and so such a one, in the life of this world, is a believer due to his faith and a sinner due to his major sin and in the Hereafter he will be subject to the will of Allaah and will receive a deficient security. He will be secure form abiding in the Fire forever but will not be secure from having to enter it.

We ask Allaah to bestow us with complete guidance and to make us firm with a firm saying in this life in the next and may the salaat and salaam be upon the Messenger of Allaah, his family and all his companions.

The Prohibition of Hanging verses from the Quran…. – Shaykh Uthaymeen

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The Prohibition of hanging verses from the Quran and taking it as calligraphy – Explained by Shaykh Uthaymeen

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I want to warn against two affairs which are connected to the Noble Quran. One of them being:   Many people hang the noble verses (from the Quran); they hang them on the walls in places throughout their homes. This hanging (of the verses) is considered an innovation that did not appear among the Companions or from those who followed them in goodness. And I do not know why they hang these verses.

Do they hang them in an effort to exalt the Quran? (If this is the case) then they are not more diligent in exalting the Quran than the Companions of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم, and those that followed them in goodness; and it has not been narrated that they used to hang the verses of the Quran.

Do they hang these verses to repel from themselves evil? (If this is the case) then this is not the means by which to repel evil from them. Rather the method is for the individual to recite what has appeared in the Sunnah to repel evil. He reads that with his tongue.  As the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

Whoever recites Ayatul Kursi during the night, there will continue to be for him a protector from Allah, and no devil will come near him until the morning.

And it is the statement of the Exalted:

Allah! La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), the Ever Living, the One Who sustains and protects all that exists. Neither slumber, nor sleep overtakes Him. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on earth. Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission? He knows what happens to them (His creatures) in this world, and what will happen to them in the Hereafter. And they will never compass anything of His Knowledge except that which He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in guarding and preserving them. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.

Thus hanging this verse or any other verse will not avail them at all.

Or do they want to seek blessings by hanging the Quran upon the wall? (If this is the case) then seeking blessing with the Quran in this manner is not legislated, rather this is an innovated matter. And the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

Every innovation is misguidance.

Or do they want from that, for the person to remember the Quran when he raises he head towards it? But it you apply this affair to what really occurs you will find this has no effect. This is because in the gathering—all of them—you do not see anyone from those seated raising his head to recite this verse or (raising his head) so that he may reflect upon what it contains from the rulings and reports.

And the Salafi, may Allah be pleased with them, differed concerning the issue: Is it permissible for a sick person with a mental illness or a physical illness to hang something written from the Quran upon himself or not.

And the correct answer is that it is not permissible for a person to hang something on his chest or to place something beneath his pillow, from the verses of the Quran in an effort to be cured by way of it; because this method has not been narrated from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

Or do those who hang these noble verses aimlessly for décor? For verily it is not befitting that the Quran is taking without purpose and for décor, becoming merely a decoration. Verily the Quran has a loftier and greater status than to be taken as beautification and to decorate the walls.

For that reason I call upon all of our brothers who have hung it to remove it because all of the possibilities you have heard show that hanging (the verses) is something which is not befitting.

As for the second affair which I want to bring caution too specifically; it is the calligraphers, those who draw for the people on paper or other than that. They take from the noble verses and draw them in fonts other than the Uthmani script. They make these fonts according to the specialty of the texts. Such that I have heard that when some of them want to write the statement of the Exalted:

يُكَوِّرُ اللَّيْلَ عَلَى النَّهَارِ وَيُكَوِّرُ النَّهَارَ عَلَى اللَّيْلِ

He wraps the night over the day and wraps the day over the night (Soorah Az Zummar 39:5)

So he will write the letter wāw (الواو) as though it is wrapped. Thus he wants to sketch the Quran according to what the meaning indicates. And this is no doubt impermissible. For it is not befitting to draw the words of the noble Quran as shapes to indicate the genius of the calligrapher, or to attract the eyes by way of its inscription; because the Quran is not intended for decorations and art. And whoever has any of that then it is upon him to burn it and efface it, such that the verses of Allah are not taken as jest. And the scholars—may Allah have mercy upon them—have differed concerning the issue: Is it permissible to write the Quran in other than the Uthmani script, even for the children. The scholars differ, having different three statements concerning this issue.

But as for writing it with this type of inscription, then there is no doubt that it is not permissible. Therefore it is upon us O brothers to honor the Book of Allah and glorify it, and to utilize it for what it was sent down for; to serve as an admonition and a healing for what is in the hearts, and a guidance and mercy for the believers. Listen to the wisdom for it being sent down, which is found in the statement of the Exalted:

(This is) a Book (the Quran) which We have sent down to you, full of blessings that they may ponder over its Verses, and that men of understanding may remember. (Soorah Sad 39:29)

It was not sent down to be hung on the walls, and it was not sent down in order to use it as calligraphy. And there is another warning against hanging it on the walls, which I do not believe anyone can avoid. These gathering which have something from the Quran in the places of impermissible vain speech; perhaps backbiting will be heard there, perhaps lying and insulting will be heard there, and perhaps impermissible acts will be performed there. Thus this will be an act of mockery with the Book of Allah, because the verse will be above the heads of those present while the disobey Allah the Exalted in front of the verses from the Book of Allah.

Translated by Rasheed ibn Estes Barbee

Ayat Al Kursi explained

http://abdurrahman.org/qurantafseer/ayatulkursi.html