- TV Symposiums / ٠04 The Right Religion
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- The Right Religion - Turkey
Introduction:
Dr. Umar:
Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, a praise like the one offered by His dedicated grateful servants, and peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, the faithful and the honest.
Dear brothers, wherever you might be, As-Salam Aliakum wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatoh. This is the second season of our show "The Right Religion".
I am happy, as you are, to be with the eminent scholar Dr. Muhammad Rateb Al-Nabulsi, may Allah bless his lifespan so that he spends it in obeying Allah, and may Allah make us benefit from his knowledge on personal level as I sit next to him and on public level as you are watching him on TV, for he is a similar example of our righteous ancestors, so welcome in our first episode of the second season of our show "The Right Religion." On your behalf, allow me to welcome our eminent scholar: As-Salam Alaikum wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatoh.
Dr. Rateb:
Wa Alaikum As-Salam wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatoh. I am delighted to be with you, you are humble beyond belief.
Dr. Umar:
Dr. Rateb, people have worries, and they are tensed fearing that the worldly life will show them its ugly face. Everybody knows that people's problems are so many these days, and the world we live in is full of evil doings to such an extent that we are facing an evil that is equal to the evil of Quraish's infidels the early Muslims faced.
We and our children need to learn more about the topic "Being Content". How can someone be content while there are people plotting against him and causing him harm, and while there are only few people who encourage him to offer good deeds or to have psychological stability? The majority of us do not sense the substantial grace of life, and being content is far from most of us. How can we restore the essence of being content? Lead us Dr. Rateb to that gate, may Allah bless you.
Allah's Will is profoundly related to the absolute Wisdom:
Dr. Rateb:
I ask Allah for His Forgiveness, may Allah bless you and allow people to benefit from your knowledge, and may Allah upraise your rank. In fact, he, whose concern is the one worthy thing (i.e. the religion), will be sufficed (by Allah) with regard to all other concerns.
There is a statement related to Tawheed, and within it lies the solution for all our problems: "Whatever takes place in the five continents since the creation of Adam till the Day of Resurrection is decreed by Allah." This does not mean that Allah orders it or approves it, but rather He allows it. It is like the physician who got a beautiful son after ten years of his marriage, but he finds out that his son has appendicitis and that his appendix should be surgically removed. Though he does not like having his son anesthetized or being cut open, he allows it, so that his son gets better.
Similarly, whatever takes place in the five continents since the creation of Adam till the Day of Resurrection is decreed by Allah, and everything decreed by Allah shall take place, given Allah's Will is related to the absolute Wisdom. Hence, had things not taken place, Allah would have been blamed for lacking wisdom (Exalted be Allah above this assumption).
The absolute Wisdom is related to the absolute Goodness, whose existence refutes the existence of the absolute evil. Therefore, the absolute evil does not exist in the universe, because it contradicts the Existence of Allah. I repeat again, everything takes place due to Allah's Will, and everything decreed by Allah shall take place, given Allah's Will is related to the absolute Wisdom which is related to the absolute Goodness.
Dr. Umar:
This is the case whether I comprehend this wisdom or not, right?
Dr. Rateb:
If the believer could not realize the wisdom behind matters, he just submits to Allah the Almighty.
((By My Greatness and Exaltedness, I will not take my believing servant's soul (embracing him in my mercy), before afflicting him against every sin he committed in his life, either by illness in his body, shortage in his sustenance, or adversity in his wealth and kids, till I cover all his sins, and if there is any sin left, I will afflict him with agony before death, till he meets me as pure as he was on the day he was born))
Dr. Umar:
These blessings are for the believer only, because Allah loves him. In fact, whatever Allah afflicts him with is but means to purify his soul, so that he will be content with whatever Allah the Almighty decrees.
Dr. Rateb:
Suppose that two patients go to a doctor, one of them has an infection in his stomach, while the other has a spreading tumor in his stomach. If both of them ask the doctor what they should eat, the doctor will tell the first one that he should follow a strict diet program based on milk for a specific period of time, and his recovery will be guaranteed. On the other hand, the doctor will say to the second person, "Eat whatever you wish." Whose condition is better than the other? Though the first patient will be on a strict diet, he will recover and will be cured eventually, unlike the second patient whose illness is intractable. The same goes for the believer; though abiding by Allah's Orders might be tough, he will be admitted to Paradise eventually, and so he will miss no pleasure.
Dr. Umar:
Is being worried about tomorrow and being concerned about your children make man discontent with Allah's Will, or is "being content" something else?
Man's weakness is one of the main reasons that turns him to Allah:
Dr. Rateb:
Basically, man is created weak, but why is that? His weakness is what makes him turn to Allah the Almighty, and this brings about happiness. Had man been created powerful, he would have been satisfied with his power, and he would have gained misery thereupon (because he will not resort to Allah thinking that he can dispense with Him). Accordingly, man's weakness is one of the reasons behind turning to Allah the Almighty.
When man faces danger, he turns to Allah the Almighty seeking His Help, and after he does so, he will gain happiness in the worldly life and in the Hereafter.
Dr. Umar:
We are taught to say, "O Allah, honor us with being in need of You, and suffice us by turning to You, and do not make us self-sufficient, lest we become real poor."
Dr. Rateb:
The companions were the best among mankind, and when they sought Allah's Help in Badr Battle, Allah made them victorious, but when they (though the Prophet PBUH was with them) took pride in their number in Hunain Battle, they were defeated. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾And on the Day of Hunain (battle) when you rejoiced at your great number﴿
The servants of Allah have never learnt anything better than Tawheed.
Dr. Umar:
Besides me, my family, my neighbors and other people are eager to get to know great facts presented to them in the simple way you usually use. What you present is not only a dose of knowledge, but rather it is a feast of knowledge.
Dr. Rateb:
I am speechless.
Dr. Umar:
Give us a small dose of how we can be content.
He who forgives and reconciles with others will be rewarded by Allah:
Dr. Rateb:
Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ The recompense for an evil is an evil like thereof﴿
Pay attention to this part of the Ayah, please:
﴾But whoever forgives and makes reconciliation﴿
If you are almost sure that forgiving this person will please Allah the Almighty and make him reconcile with Him, then forgive him. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾ But whoever forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah.﴿
Dr. Umar:
Does this mean that the one who files a lawsuit against his brother in the court of law is far from the Garden of pleasing Allah?
Dr. Rateb:
This is true. When man forgives, he will exalt in the Sight of Allah and in the sight of people altogether:
﴾But whoever forgives and makes reconciliation﴿
If a reckless young man drove his father's car and has an accidents, he should not be forgiven, but rather he should be disciplined and should go through a painful experience (prison time) in order to learn his lesson. On the other hand, if someone is a good person, and he happens to be part of a problem he did not cause, he should be forgiven. Allah the Almighty says:
﴾But whoever forgives and makes reconciliation, his reward is due from Allah.﴿
Consider this simple example: A king asks a tutor to teach his son, and after a while, the teacher says to the king, "may I have my fees?" The king asks, "How much do you want?" To which the teacher answers, "I want 10.000", so the king gives him the 10.000, while in fact he intended to give him a house and a car. Because the teacher asked for this specific amount of money, he gave him only what he asked for. Much in the same line, when man leaves his matters to Allah the Almighty, he might get more than what he ever imagined.
Dr. Umar:
When the Lord of servants gives other (from His Bounties)
Do not ask about the reason, for Allah gives whoever He wills
So be polite towards His Wisdom
Dr. Rateb:
These are nice lines of poetry. When man puts his trust in Allah's Mercy, he sees all adversities as disguised mercy. The notable companions went through painful periods of time and through good periods of time, and they rejoiced both.
Dr. Umar:
We know that every good deed (on top of which is forgiving others) will make man content, though forgiving is hard to him, since he is not used to it, so the question is: Is forgiveness a virtue man naturally has or is it something he acquires?
Forgiveness is both natural and acquired:
Dr. Rateb:
It is both. A man once supplicated, "O Lord, are you pleased with me?" He was inspired in his heart Allah's Response, "O My servant, are you pleased with Me, so that I will be pleased with you?" The man asked again, "O Lord, how can I be pleased with You while I seek Your pleasure?" Then he was inspired Allah's Response in his heart, "If you are pleased in adversity the same way you are pleased in prosperity, then you are pleased with Allah."
Dr. Umar:
It is a very high rank of content; you mean he should be pleased in adversity the same way he is pleased in prosperity, isn't that right?
Dr. Rateb:
Well, being in adversity is something painful, but man's content in such a case is manifested in remaining patient. Thus, feeling pain does not nullify his endurance at all. Yet, it makes a big difference when he say, "O Lord, I am pleased with what You decreed", because this will elevate him to a high rank. Hence, feeling the pain of the adversity is natural, only the submissive servant sees that calamities come from a Merciful Hand (The Hand of Allah).
In order to make his point clear consider this example: if someone is beaten by a bat, he will be fool if he bears grudge against the bat, because he should be angry with the one who used the bat. However, when man believes beyond doubt that everything is in Allah's Hand, he should be tranquil and be in peace.
Conclusion:
Dr. Umar:
Talking about being content brings content to us, so may Allah reward you Dr. Rateb.
Dear brothers in faith, Dr. Rateb enlightened us briefly as he highlighted crucial points about being content with Allah the Almighty. I think that each one of you has noticed that "being content" is a garden from which the breeze of sincere trust in Allah the Almighty blows. Such "content" proves our honest response to what the Lord of mankind decrees whether we comprehend the wisdom behind matters or not.
I thank you all for being with us. May Allah include us and you among those whom He is pleased with and those who are pleased with Allah.
Please remember to include us in your supplication. I leave you under the Protection of Allah in Whose Hands trusts are never wasted.
As-Salam Alaikum wa Rahmatu Allah wa Barakatoh.
