الداء والدواء

May 5th 2016 - 3rd Sha’ban 1437

The difference between thinking good of Allah and deception

الفرُق بَيَْن ُحْسِن الظنِّ والُغروِر

Ar-Ghurur (الــــــــــــــــــغــرور) means deception. You are thinking yourself as good but you are deceiving yourself. The Qur’an describes the shaithan and duniya as .غرور يَا أَيَُّها النَّاُس اتَُّقوا َربَُّكْم َواْخَشْوا يَْوًما الَّ يَْجِزي َوالٌِد َعن َولَِدِه َوَال َمْولُوٌد ُهَو َجاٍز َعن َوالِِدِه َشيْئًا ۚ إِنَّ َوْعَد اللَِّه َحقٌّ

نْيَا َوَال يَُغرَّنَُّكم ِباللَِّه الَْغُروُر ۖ فََال تَُغرَّنَُّكُم الَْحيَاُة الدُّO mankind! Be afraid of your Lord (by keeping your duty to Him and avoiding all evil), and fear a

Day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail aught for his father. Verily, the Promise of Allah is true, let not then this (worldly) present life deceive you, nor let the chief

deceiver (Satan) deceive you about Allah. [Surah Luqman 31:33] َا تَُوفَّْوَن أُُجوَركُْم يَْوَم الِْقيَاَمِة ۖ فََمن زُْحِزَح َعِن النَّاِر َوأُْدِخَل الَْجنََّة فََقْد فَاَز ۗ َوَما الَْحيَاُة كُلُّ نَْفٍس َذائَِقُة الَْمْوِت ۗ َوإمِنَّ

نْيَا إِالَّ َمتَاُع الُْغُروِر الدُّEveryone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in

full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing).

[Surah Ale Imran 3:185] We need to learn about deception in the context of sickness and cure because if one is deceiving himself and thinking that he is not sick, then how can he be cured? كثيٌر مَن الجهَّاِل اعتمُدوا علَى رحمِة اللِه وعفِوه وكرِمه، وضيَُّعوا أمرَه ونهيَه، ونُسوا أنَّه شديُد العقاِب, وأنَّه ال

يردُّ بأُسه عن القوِم المجرميَن، ومِن اعتمَد على العفِو مَع اإلصراِر فهَو كالمعانِد.

Many of the ignorant rely on the mercy of Allah, His pardoning and His generosity and do not carry out His commands or abstain from His prohibitions forgetting that He is severe in punishment- (a punishment) which is not averted from the criminals. He relied on the pardoning of Allah with stubbornness.

To put it simply, الــــــــــــــــــغـرور is when one is sick and he knows he is sick but he is deceiving himself by thinking that he is fine while increasing in his sickness.

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The Sickness and The Cure

الداء والدواء

The one who does this is being stubborn because he is sinning and depending on the pardoning of Allah at the same time. This is from the characteristic of the hypocrites.

قاَل معروٌف: رجاُؤك لرحمِة مْن َال تطيُعه من الخذالِن والحمِق.

It is foolishness to disobey Allah and hope for His mercy at the same time.

Fear motivates us to abstain from sins and pushes us to do good. It is more effective than hope.

نيَا بغيِر توبٍة، يقوُل أحدهْم: ألنِّي أُحِسُن الظنَّ وكاَن يقوُل: إنَّ قوًما ألهتهْم أمانيُّ المغفرِة َحتَّى خرُجوا مَن الدُّ

بربِّي، وكذَب, لو أحسَن الظنَّ ألحسَن العمَل.

There are people who have been deluded by wishes for forgiveness till they leave duniya without tawbah. He is saying that he is thinking good of Allah but he is lying, if he was thinking good of Allah, he would have done good deeds.

Tawbah requires action but these people are driven by false wishes and they are not doing any action. It is as if they are day dreaming about tawbah till they leave the duniya without seeking repentance and forgiveness.

What is the difference between thinking good of Allah and being deceived? The one who is thinking good of Allah hopes from Allah and he does an action but the one who is deceived only has false wishes and does not do any action- he does not do tawbah, does not do good deeds. وعن أيب زيد أسامة بن زيد بن حارثة، ريض الله عنهام، قال: سمعت رسول الله، صىل الله عليه وسلم، يقول: "يؤىت

بالرجل يوم القيامة فيلقى يف النار فتندلق أقتاب بطنه فيدور بها كام يدور الحامر يف الرحى فيجتمع إليه أهل النار فيقولون: يا فالن ما لك ؟ أمل تك تأمر باملعروف وتنهى عن املنكر؟ فيقول: بىل، كنت آمر باملعروف وال آتيه،

وأنهى عن املنكر وآتيه" ((متفق عليه)) . Usamah bin Zaid (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: Messenger of Allah (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said, "A

man will be brought on the Day of Resurrection and will be cast into Hell, and his intestines will pour forth and he will go round them as a donkey goes round a millstone. The inmates of Hell will gather round him and say: 'What has happened to you, O so-and-so? Were you not enjoining us to do good and forbidding us to do evil?' He will reply: 'I was enjoining you to do good, but was not

doing it myself; and I was forbidding you to do evil, but was doing it myself". [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]. [Riyad As Salihin Book 1, Hadith 198]

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الداء والدواء

This is an example of people being deceived. He person is making dawah in his life- he told people to do good and abstain from bad but he didn't follow it himself. This is deception.

يَا أَيَُّها الَِّذيَن آَمُنوا لَِم تَُقولُوَن َما َال تَْفَعلُوَن(1) كَُربَ َمْقتًا ِعنَد اللَِّه أَن تَُقولُوا َما َال تَْفَعلُوَن(2) O you who believe! Why do you say that which you do not do? Most hateful it is with Allah that

you say that which you do not do. [Surah As Saff 61:2,3] We need to be careful when we speak to our children. We cannot advise them to do something and not follow it ourselves.

نوِب, فإنَّهنَّ يجتمْعَن عىل الرَّجِل حتَّى يهلكَنه رَاِت الذُّ يَّاكْم ومحقِّThe Prophet (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said: Beware of small sins and underestimating them because they will gather

and destroy a person املسند (1/402)

We should not ignore the small sins- they can build up and destroy a person.

وضرَب لهنَّ رسوُل اللِه ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص مثًال, كمثِل قوٍم نزلُوا أرَض فالٍة، فحضَر َصنيُع القْوِم, فجعَل الرَّجُل ينطلُِق ُجوا نارًا, فأنَضُجوا ما قََذفُوا ِفيها. فيجيُء بالُعوِد، والرجُل يَجيُء بالُعوِد، حتَّى جمُعوا سواًدا وأجَّ

The Prophet صــــــــــــــــــلـى اهلل عــــــــــــــــــلـيـه وســــــــــــــــــلـم gave an example of a group of people in the wilderness who want to cook. Each one brought a small stick and threw it, one piece at a time until a fire was kindled. The small sins which we overlook can burn the person- this is deception.

ِد بِْن ُد بُْن َسلََمَة، َعِن ابِْن إِْسَحاَق، َعْن ُمَحمَّ ثََنا ُمَحمَّ ُد بُْن أَْحَمَد الرَّقِّيُّ َحدَّ يَْداليَِنُّ، ُمَحمَّ ثََنا أَبُو يُوُسَف الصَّ َحدَّإِبْرَاِهيَم، َعْن أيَِب َسلََمَة، َعْن أيَِب ُهَريْرََة، قَاَل قَاَل رَُسوُل اللَِّه ـ صىل الله عليه وسلم ـ " إِنَّ الرَُّجَل لَيَتََكلَُّم ِبالَْكلَِمِة

ِمْن َسَخِط اللَِّه الَ يََرى ِبَها بَأًْسا فَيَْهِوي ِبَها ِيف نَاِر َجَهنََّم َسبِْعنَي َخِريًفا " . It was narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said:

“A man may speak a word that angers Allah and not see anything wrong with it, but it will cause him to sink down in Hell the depth of seventy autumns.” [Sunan Ibn Majah 3970]

He will burn in Hellfire for seventy years because of single word he said carelessly. Every word we utter is recorded by angels. Its so easy to utter words without thinking.

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الداء والدواء

ويف صحيِح البخاريِّ مْن حديِث أيب هريرَة عِن النَّبيِّ ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص: "َمْن كانْت عنَده ألخيِه مظْلمٌة ِيف ماٍل أو ِعرٍْض فليأتِه, فليستحلََّها مْنه قبَل أْن يؤخَذ وليَس عْنده ديناٌر وال ِدرْهٌم, فإْن كانْت لُه حسناٌت أُِخَذ من حسناتِه فأُْعطيَها هذا,

وإال أُِخَذ ِمْن سيِّئاِت َهذا فطُرَحْت عليِْه، ثُمَّ طُِرَح يف النَّاِر" Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah's Messenger (ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص) said, "Whoever has wronged his brother, should

ask for his pardon (before his death), as (in the Hereafter) there will be neither a Dinar nor a Dirham. (He should secure pardon in this life) before some of his good deeds are taken and paid to his brother, or, if he has done no good deeds, some of the bad deeds of his brother are taken to be

loaded on him (in the Hereafter). [Sahih Al Bukhari 6534] This is another kind of deception- he is doing good deeds on one side and on the other side he is oppressing people. There was a lady who was hurting her neighbour with her tongue though she was praying, fasting- she was doing good deeds but because of her oppression she was put in Hellfire. نيا وأنَّه ال يَُغيّر َما به, ويظنُّ ذلَك أنَّه من يَن علَى ما يرَى مْن نعِم اللِه عليِه في الدُّ وربَّما اتَّكل بعُض المغترِّ

محبَِّة اللِه لَُه, وأنَّه يعِطيه في اآلخرِة أفضَل مْن ذَلَِك، َوَهَذا ِمَن الُغُروِر. Some people rely on the blessings Allah gave them of the duniya- he measured the love of Allah based what he was given from the duniya. He deceived himself by thinking that whatever he has been given of the duniya is a sign of Allah's love towards him, and that he would be given better favours from Allah in the akhriah- this is deception.

All are these people have been deceived. They rely only on what he can ‘see’. It is a problem when one is sick but he feels that he is not sick. He thinks that Allah loves him because he has been given something of the duniya. the duniya is not a measure of the love of Allah. Allah gives the duniya to whom He loves and to those He doesn’t love but he gives the faith and religion only to those whom He loves. He feels he will get better in akhirah because he has been given something of the duniya. He doesn't go forward because he is cheating and fooling himself

The people of paradise don't think like this. They feel scared and they don't feel secure. Even if he is between his family, he feels scared. لَِف: إذَا رأيَت اللَه يتابُع عليَك نعمُه وأنَت ُمقيٌم علَى معاِصيه فاحَذرْه؛ فإنَّما ُهو استِْدراٌج ِمنه َوقاَل بعُض السَّ

يستْدرُِجك ِبه. لِف: رُبَّ مْستْدَرٍج بنعِم اللِه عليِه وهَو ال يعلَم, َوربَّ مغروٍر بستِْر اللِه عليِه وهَو ال يعلَم، ورُبَّ وقاَل بعُض السَّ

مفتوٍن بثناِء النَّاِس عليِْه وُهَو َال يعلَم.

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الداء والدواء

Some of the salaf said that if you see Allah is giving you blessings over blessings while you are on the sins and you know you are doing sins then you need to be careful because this is istidraj- step by step fall till destruction. Some of the salaf said that it is possible that one is on the path to destruction with the blessings of Allah over him and he doesn’t know. Or he is being deceived by the covering of Allah and he doesn’t know. Or he is being put to trial by the praise of the people and he doesn’t know.

We know ourselves- we need to ask ourselves- am I deceiving myself? All of us need a cure.

يَا أَيَُّها اْإلِنَساُن َما َغرََّك ِبَربَِّك الَْكِريِم

O man! What has made you careless concerning your Lord, the Most Generous? [Surah Al Infitar 82:6]

Allah is generous which is why He deals with us by His generosity- it is not because of myself, or because I deserve it. Sometimes a person is deceived by the covering of Allah- nobody knows about me and my sins so I must be fine. The person needs to confess to himself that I am sick and I need a cure. We always need a cure because sometimes we have sicknesses that are not exposed to us because Allah is covering it for us.

It is a big deception when a person has a severe sickness but no symptoms because Allah is covering him. He is deceived by praise of people. He is in fitnah. If we knew the reality of each other we wouldn’t want to even look at each other. Alhamdulillah, Allah is covering us. Even when you are praised don't be deceived - remind yourself that Allah is covering me. Shaithan reminds you of praise and not to remember your sins. When one thinks he is not sick then he will not seek cure through ruqyah. It is as if a mice looks at himself in the mirror and sees a lion as his reflection- he is only deceiving himself. We need to admit that I am a sinner, I am sick, I need Allah to cure me and to forgive me.

It is like photo filtering. We know what we actually look like- but if we believe that we are like the ‘photo filtered’ image of ourselves we are only deceiving ourselves. We know our faults and we need to admit our sins and ask Allah for the forgiveness and seek cure for our faults.

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الداء والدواء

The Worst of those who are deceived

أَْعظَُم النَّاِس ُغرورًا

أعظُم النَّاِس ُغرورًا َمن اغترَّ بالدنيَا وعاجلِها, فآثرََها على اآلخرِة, ورِضي ِبها ِمَن اآلخرَِة, حتَّى يقول بْعُض هؤالِء:

نْيَا نقٌد, واآلخرُة نسيئٌة، والنَّقُد أنفُع مَن النسيئِة. الدُّ

The greatest of people who have been fooled by themselves is when he is deceived by the duniya and what he sees ‘now’ and he is pleased with it more than the akhirah. Duniya you get it ‘now’ and akhirah is later.

This duniya is a place of deception. These people prefer this duniya over the akhirah. We have examples of such situations in life- sometimes we are hasty to buy something but as soon as we buy it we find something better. These are ayat to show us our hasty nature.

كَالَّ بَْل تُِحبُّوَن الَْعاِجلََة(20) َوتََذُروَن اْآلِخرََة (21)

Not [as you think, that you (mankind) will not be resurrected and recompensed for your deeds], but (you men) love the present life of this world, And leave (neglect) the Hereafter.

[Surah Al Qiyamah 75:20,21]

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