776.    We should be careful not to make Takfeer of Muslims for sins they commit (even major sins) since this is the person’s right as an apparent outwardly Muslim (i.e., it is his right not to be anathematized solely due to sins), and also this practice is not part of Sunni ‘Aqeedah. This does not prevent us from speaking out against the very evil deeds some Muslims commit, even to the point of fighting them if necessary; even if they are killed, they would still be counted, treated, and buried as Muslims after death.

777.    Among the Adaab (proprieties) for greeting Muslims is to have a cheerful countenance, to send Salaam on the Prophet (ﷺ) and to make Dua’ for one another.

778.    (Something mentioned): The phrase ‘Al Baaqiyaat as-Saalihaat’ refers to the 5 Adhkaar containing Allah’s Majestic Name.

779.    We know that in many societies like America, so many young people end up in jail, but why? Some of it is definitely unjust yes, but some of it is due to not wanting to be humble, not wanting to listen to anyone; all this is foremost a Satanic trait.

780.    (As mentioned): Consider the story of the Bedouin who grabbed the Prophet’s (ﷺ) neck harshly – he (ﷺ) only told the Bedouin to release him, he did not retaliate because he (ﷺ) saw that this man was in stress and also that this man’s natural demeanor was rough. Not only this, but after the Prophet (ﷺ) gave him sufficient money, he was advised to publicly praise the Prophet (ﷺ) after he had praised him privately, so that the Companions (RAA) would think well of this Bedouin, after thinking bad of him for the previous rough action.

781.    The Bid’ahs which are religiously allowed, they are there to promote the greater objectives of Islam.

782.    There is Shar’i Bughd and Tabai Bughd. We hate the evil actions of people but the people themselves are to be treated with hope that they will change (i.e. we do not simply hate people divorced from their evil actions – like the doctor treating someone with cancer, even if he gives him medicines or chemotherapy which makes the person suffer, there is hope that the evil within the person will be removed).

783.    Some people have said that Allah sending Messengers to us would be frivolous, since all that they come with agrees with the mind. We say in response, it does agree with the mind and Prophets and Messengers (Alayhim as-Salaam) do indeed teach very important skills for this life (like writing, chain-mail armor, etc.); but they also inform us of the Ghayb (the Unseen), which we could never have stumbled upon by ourselves no matter how much we endeavored through rationality-only. At most we can establish the possibility of many of these points of belief, but not their absolute reality/occurrence.

784.    The terms Kufr and Iman (Disbelief and Belief) are in fact internal states, true; in outward matters we do use these terms for juridical rulings (marriage, burial, etc.) while the internal reality is for Allah to decide in the Hereafter. However, consider that saying “only Allah can judge me!” has connotations of both truth and misdirection at the same time – because no earthly Islamic judge is designating the person’s final abode to Heaven or Hellfire, but at the same time Allah through the revealed Shariah has allowed judges on this Earth to give verdicts connected to matters like permissibility of a person’s marriage or one’s burial place as they are connected with one’s Deen.

785.    The truth is that those who try to better the situation of Muslims worldwide by appealing exclusively to the current world-order and current zeitgeist are only perpetuating the problem for the Deen of Muslims. This current world-order does not at all favor Divine Legislation, or even the idea that God could possibly legislate on affairs of mankind. Thus, the abstract definitions of rights, responsibilities, etc., will be extremely warped when compared with proper Islamic definitions of these same terms, and some of the partial positive outcomes for Muslims that may have been achieved by actualizing the end-result of modern values will be more than thwarted by the negative effects these will have on the belief of Muslims at large.

786.    (It was mentioned): The proper analogy for (wanton) suicide bombing (of civilians) is in fact seen in the Hadith of the man who killed himself after battle due to the many wounds he had on his body, the Prophet (ﷺ) saying that this man was in Hellfire.

787.    There are many more terrorist activities in the modern developed world than those reported. For example, if there is a shooting of federal agents due to internal workplace disputes, this is terrorism as per the definition, yet it is passed off as another category, or as a normal workplace shooting.

788.    We acknowledge that for some of us, the spiritual journey to Allah is tough, but this is due to something missing within ourselves, not because the journey is actually difficult.

789.    With regards to miracles, one analogy given is that of the messenger of the King telling a doubting audience that if he truly is the King’s messenger, then the King will at this very instant rise from his chair and sit back down 3 times, totally out of habit. If the King does truly do this, then there is every reason to believe that he is the messenger of the King.

790.    While Islam is much more inclusive of the probabilistic value of current religions with true previous messages (in the sense that there was or might have been a link between the current religion and a true Divine message given in the past), yet we must be careful not to fall into perrenialist talk. Of course, the most straight-forward way to approach this issue is to have good fundamental knowledge of ‘Aqeedah and then see which of the statements of other religions/philosophies actually coincide with Islamic truths and which ones do not. Obviously this is something not every person can delve into properly, since it takes a long fundamental study of Islam plus tedious consideration and review of the non-Muslims’ works. Plus at the end, the acceptance of Muhammad (ﷺ) as the true Prophet of Allah is a non-negotiable part of Islam, regardless of how close to truth other religions’ Ilaahiyaat (theology or cosmology) are.

791.            This is a just a hypothesis, but it seems well-proven: Power structures replicate, from the home all the way to the highest seats of government. Democracy climbs up to democracy, dictatorship culminating in dictatorship, nepotism in nepotism, and so on. Even if we witness some protests against corruption in certain lands, if the status quo holds up again and again over many years with only minor disturbances, it could be due to most people being in fact happy that the situation is what it is, since this is what they are used to (i.e., they are used to broken government, corruption in their work lives, and so on, so they would be nervous and fidgety if things change, since their backdoor means to gain wealth, status, or power might be broken if things actually change).

792.    If one sees that people contract venereal diseases from adultery, etc., this is a sign that something is very wrong with this practice even from a biological viewpoint; but alas, many have lost their conscious or rational faculties even when the consequences are in front of them, and even when they claim to be materialists and materialist-only evidence is in front of them.

793.    The Mu’jiza of a Prophet (Alayhi as-Salaam) occurs invariably after the claim, not before it (since verification has to be established for the Prophetic claim).

794.    Jealousy (Hasad) is in its essence anger with Allah the Exalted at His present distribution of blessings, as if the person is an Iblis-type figure who could not bear to see others exalted above him. So we should be particularly careful as emotions like jealousy and arrogance are all interconnected.

795.    The Qur’an and the primary Islamic texts (more so the Qu’ran) have an ability to bring out the true character of a person: if they are filled with hate, arrogance, lust, or inveterate anger, they will see only that and deduce only this about Islam, the Sirah, etc. But if they have wisdom, love, and forbearance, they will see and reflect these characteristics of the Quran, the Sirah, the Ahadith, etc.

796.    (As mentioned): Why do we say ‘Dhikr of Allah?’ It is because of the initial Meethaq of Alust (Qur’anic Verse 7:172), meaning that we remember something we already know every time we engage in Dhikr.

797.    The point of the Prophet’s (ﷺ) life just before the Isra’ wal Miraj was at its outwardly ‘lowest’ in that he was rejected in Taif and had to ask for protection from one of the inhabitants of Makkah to re-enter his own city, in spite of the loftiness he (ﷺ) held in the eyes of all Makkans. Yet a gross materialist person’s perspective of the Prophet (ﷺ) at this stage would be totally at odds with the rank he (ﷺ) had with Allah, and how Allah was about to honor him (ﷺ) even more.

798.    (In connection to core Islamic disciplines, but also applicable beyond) We have to pay attention on whether the subject or class we are taking is fulfilling our needs, and if not, why not. Perhaps the hidden lessons were not communicated properly, or perhaps the science has a goal and a limit other than what one seeks or needs.

799.    People ask that why do Sunnis prefer tyranny rather than trying to quickly change the top of the polity to a religiously better situation, even if some violence is involved?

Considering this is not always the true Sunni position and the rulings may change from case to case, yet one general partial answer is: We see that in the first case [of tyranny] some people lose rights and there is erosion of laws, true.

But in the second case, everyone loses rights and all laws are thrown out and this may happen on a gross unimaginably terrible scale, people cannot even cross the street to work, pray, buy food, etc., for fear of dying. This is not mere rhetoric, this has been seen throughout history in the lands of the Muslims.

This is because the tyrant will (obviously) usually not give up on his power easily, or through persuasion, or negotiations, etc. Unless the force to make the situation change for the better is so overwhelming and so quick that a greater loss is averted, one can foresee a catastrophic situation descending on the land and for the Muslims, not only in their persons, but even for their Iman (belief).

Also of note is that many attempts to change tyranny are not Islamically-based to begin with but may be due to egoistic reasons, or based on competing yet non-Islamic principles, or narrow sectarian visions of what “Islam” ought to be, so the end result of the “end of tyranny” even if it comes to pass may perhaps be worse for normative, orthodox Muslims. All told then, it is difficult for the Sunni ‘Ulama to make a blanket statement to the effect that violent revolutions/overthrows are the proper way to improve the physical (and crucially) the belief of the Muslim Ummah whenever a tyrannical situation presents itself.

(Of course, there might be counter-arguments against this, but this is one opinion, and it is being shown as it was presented with some additional commentary).

800.   Is it not interesting, that we have people clamoring for social justice and human rights, while also calling for the end of ‘Oppressive Islam’? This is very weird, since both calls are in fact proceeding from one source, whether the clamorers realize it or not. (So it is suspicious that “justice” and “human rights” are often tied so closely with a call to end “oppressive Islam” or “very outwardly visible Islam” – this is true for all sides of the modern political spectrum, it is definitely not exclusive to the far-right).