The Ghurabah - Islam, the Land and Mankind

Friday, January 23, 2026

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Those who attend Interfaith...

Those who attend interfaith or go to programs under the banner and platform of interfaith are one of two categories:

They are either ignorant people who may love Da’wah, but they are ignorant. They love to spread Islām and they think that is the proper way to do it. That is their ideal way of doing it or one of their ways of doing it. Those are the type of people who should temporarily withdraw from the Da’wah field and arena, and sit back and learn before they misguide and get sins instead of the deeds that they are expecting. We are pro-Da’wah and I said it many times. Our life roams around it. I said convey what you know of ‘Ilm, which is true solid ‘Ilm. No matter how much you know and even if it is a little bit, convey it. We spoke in this class on how to be kind and wise in conveying the Da’wah, so you can open the hearts and your message can reach them, but interfaith and Da’wah are two opposites.

So a group of those who promote this and attend these and their platforms are Islamically untaught. Their idea of Da’wah is a photo shoot sitting and standing with a priest and a rabbi, and then at the end of the day returning to their wives on a full meal, thinking they have accomplished something big in Da’wah. They have accomplished nothing more than getting the title of being total losers, as a declaration by Allah from on top of seven skies.

"Say: Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds."

Allah says to the Prophet (saws) shall We tell you the greatest of the losers? They are those whose efforts have been wasted in this life, while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds. They thought they were doing good deeds and acquiring good deeds, but in reality what they were doing was sins and they are losers. Allah said they are losers.

Intent behind Dhikr...

"Therefore, remember Me (by praying, glorifying, etc.). I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless Favours on you) and never be ungrateful to Me." [2:152]

The intent behind Dhikr is not merely to remember (Allah) with one’s tongue, rather it is remembrance with the heart and the tongue. Remembrance of Allah includes remembering Him by His Names and Attributes, His commandments, His prohibitions and His speech. This necessitates that a person should have knowledge and awareness of Allah, belief in Allah, belief in Allah’s Perfect and Lofty Attributes, as well as (constantly) praising Allah with various types of praise (i.e. based on what Allah has legislated in the authentic texts of the Shari’ah and not by way of biddah). And this cannot be accomplished except through Tawheed. True Remembrance of Allah necessitates all of this, as well as remembering the blessings and favours, which Allah has bestowed upon His creatures and His kindness towards them.

Struggle is an Interpretation of the Words

The establishment of Islamic Shari'ah is not like the teachings of the Sufis, doing dhikr thousands of times and then imagine all happens by itself. The establishment of Islamic Shari'ah needs sacrifices, drops of blood and sweat. The Islamic Shari'ah is also established not by those who still indulge in bid'ah (heresy) and the corruptness of the aqeedah. It was hatched out of the crystallization of tawheed in one's soul, and then that person fights and sacrifices with his soul to prove his words.

“The words, they could die,” Sayyid Qutb wrote, “The words will also be frozen, although written with beautiful or enthusiastic lyrics. The words will be like that when they do not come from the hearts of those who believe in what they say. And someone is unlikely to have a strong belief in what he says, unless he construes in himself what he says, and then becomes a real visualization of what he said.” Sayyid Qutb continued in his monumental literary work, the Fii Zilaalil Qur’aan.

This is the sunatullah of the struggle from the various kinds ideologies and beliefs. Let alone in struggling for Islam which has been made as the common enemy of the entire mankind, from those claiming to be Muslim, to the kafir and zindiq. This is the path of the Apostles which is travelled again by the proponents of tawheed, i.e. the path when major corruption comes, so Allah wants to perfect His Deen by testing those of His slaves, that they are absolutely confident with what are embedded in their hearts.

In a narration, Abdullah bin ‘Amr bin al-‘Aas said:
"When we were with him (saws) and he said ‘toobaa lil-Ghurabaa' (glad tidings for the Strangers)', we asked: 'who are they?' He (saws) replied: ‘They are the righteous people and are very few in number compared to the majority.’" [Can be found in Saheeh Muslim, Ibn Maajah, Musnad Imaam Ahmad, al-Bukhaari and at-Tirmidhi]

It was narrated on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (ra) that the Prophet (saws) said: “Allah, The Exalted, Says, ‘I am as My slave expects Me to be, and I am with him whenever he remembers Me. If he remembers Me to Himself, I remember him to Myself, and if he remembers Me in an assembly, I remember him in a better assembly (i.e., the assembly of angels). If he draws closer to Me by a hand span, I draw closer to him by an arm’s length. If he draws closer to Me by an arm’s length, I draw closer to him by a fathom’s length. And whoever comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed.’” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim]

Status of the Hadith:

This is one of the great Ahadith of hope that urge Muslims to have good expectations of Allah and to remember Him abundantly. It also underlines how Allah draws closer to His Slaves whenever they draw closer to Him by means of performing various acts of obedience.

Having Good Expectations of Allah:

The Hadith begins with calling the slave of Allah to have good expectations of his Lord at all times and in all states. In the Hadith, Allah explained that He is as His Slave expects Him to be, meaning that He treats him in accordance with his own expectation of His Lord and does for him what he expects of Him, be it good or bad. If a person has good expectations of Allah and hopes for His Reward, Allah will not fail him nor cause his deeds to be lost. Whenever he supplicates Allah, he expects Allah to answer his supplications. If he commits a sin and repents and seeks forgiveness, he expects Allah to accept his repentance, pardon his fault and forgive his sin. If he performs a good deed, he expects Allah to accept his deed and reward him handsomely. These are all examples of having good expectations of Allah. The Prophet (saws) said: “Supplicate Allah while certain that your supplication will be answered.” [At-Tirmithi]

Whispering of the Shayateen...

There is no doubt that the enmity between man and the devil is ancient. It started when Allah ordered the angels to prostrate to Adam and Shaytaan refused this in arrogance and declared war against the sons of Adam. Allah says about this: "(Iblees) said, “By Your might, I will surely mislead them all. Except, among them, Your chosen servants.”" [38:82-83] The devil is keen on seducing and misleading the sons of Adam and is also keen on pouring his poison into the Muslims’ hearts in order to rock the foundations of their belief in Allah in Might, the Praiseworthy. Moreover, the devil tries to throw doubt in our hearts regarding what Allah has told us about the Unseen. In a Hadith on the authority of Sabrah ibn Abu Faakih the Prophet (saws) said: The devil sat on all man’s paths. He waited for him on the path of Islam and said to him, “Will you revert and abandon the religion of your fathers and forefathers?” But the son of Adam disobeyed him and embraced Islam. Then, the devil sat for him on the path of Hijrah and said to him, “Will you emigrate and leave your homeland when a person in the lands to where he immigrates becomes like a tied horse?” But the son of Adam disobeyed him and emigrated. After that the devil waited for him on the path of Jihaad and said to him, “Will you fight in the cause of Allah and sacrifice yourself and your money? You would be killed and your wife would marry another man and your wealth would be distributed.” But the son of Adam disobeyed him and went for Jihaad. (The Prophet (saws) continued:) Allah will certainly let the one who does this enter Paradise, and He will certainly let the one who is killed, the one who is drowned and the one whose camel kills him by breaking his neck, enter Paradise.” [An-Nasaa’i - Hasan]

Out of His mercy for His slaves, Allah did not enable the devil to have authority over these slaves of His, as He says: "Indeed, My servants - no authority will you have over them, except those who follow you of the deviators." [15:42] Moreover, Allah describes the devil’s plot as being weak when He says: "Indeed, the plot of Shaytaan has ever been weak." [4:76] Hence, the devil resorts to whispering when he cannot find any other way to seduce the believers.

The Meaning of Whispering:

What is Pragmatism? It is defined as “the quality of dealing with a problem in a sensible way that suits the conditions that really exist, rather than following fixed theories, ideas or rules.”

Indeed, the above definition can be utilized for truth and falsehood, because if the words ‘sensible’, ‘ideas’ and ‘rules’ are not confined within the commands of Allah and His Messenger (saws) then definitely whatever is pursued in their name will cause harm. Shaykhul Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: “And even though there is something in the paths of analogical reasoning and reflection that will lead to knowledge, however sometimes it cannot give detail explanation in a dispute between the people of the earth due to the minute details and ambiguities (in that dispute), and at other times due to the fact the people differ when prioritizing necessities. Therefore, due to this Allah commanded (us) to return to the revelation in times of dispute. Allah said: "Mankind were one community (i.e. upon Tawheed and Allah’s Shari’ah) and Allah sent Prophets with glad tidings and warnings, and with them He sent the Scripture in truth to judge between people in matters wherein they differed." [2:213] Therefore, Allah designated the revealed Books (i.e. the Qur’an being the final of them) as the judge between the people in matters wherein they differ.” [Dar Ta’arud Al-Aql Wan-Naql]

If you say that the intellect is to be given precedence over the revelation, then which intellect should we follow? Are the intellects of the people combined in the intellect of one man or do they differ? There are intellects of the philosophers, the atheists, the heretics, the people of evil desires and those who confound truth with falsehood; and due to this one of the pious predecessors said, ‘Had the desires been one, it would have been considered to be the basis of truth’; therefore, we say, ‘Had the intellects been one, it would have been considered to be the basis of truth.’