Surah Al-Layl- Sadaqah only to please The Lord Almighty

In the name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful.

وَسَيُجَنَّبُهَا الاٌّتْقَى - الَّذِى يُؤْتِى مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّى - وَمَا لاًّحَدٍ عِندَهُ مِن نِّعْمَةٍ تُجْزَى - إِلاَّ ابْتِغَآءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِ الاٌّعْلَى - وَلَسَوْفَ يَرْضَى

17. And those with Taqwa will be far removed from it.
18. He who gives of his wealth for self-purification.
19. And who has (in mind) no favor from anyone to be paid back.
20. Except to seek the Face of his Lord, the Most High.
21. He, surely, will be pleased.
[Surah Al-Layl]

Lessons:

-When we give charity, it purifies our wealth and ourselves and whatever Allah has bestowed upon us of religion and worldly things. That is a big blessing.

-When we help someone by giving charity, it should be only to please Allah SWT, this is a sign of Taqwa. We should not wish for a return from that person.

-Sometimes, when we give sadaqah or gifts to someone, and the, he/she treats us badly or they don't show that they are thankful to us, we feel bad. "I did this for him/her, and still, this is how I am treated in return"- this thought crosses our mind. But if we think that what we did is only to seek the face of Our Lord, we will feel content and unaffected even if the person we helped treats us badly. If we expect them to feel grateful to us, how much should we be grateful to Our Lord?! And isn't it us who should be grateful to Allah for blessing us with that wealth so that we can spend in charity?!

-The Mufassireen say that these ayah were revealed about the virtues of Abu Bakr As-Siddeeque Radhiyallahu anh. He used spent all his wealth in the cause of Islam and to please Allah Azza Wajal. He used to free slaves who were physically weak and had become feeble due to torture from their disbelieving masters, in Makkah. People would tell him to free slaves and help those who could benefit him later on, and he would not like that. Whenever he helped anyone, he would never consider it a debt or that the person he had helped him, owed him back.

Wa Allahu A'lam.

Haram, Halal and what is in between/ purification of the heart

On the authority of Abu 'Abdullah al-Nu'man bin Bashir, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say: "Truly, what is lawful is evident, and what is unlawful is evident, and in between the two are matters which are doubtful which many people do not know. He who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and honour blameless, and he who indulges in doubtful things indulges in fact in unlawful things, just as a shepherd who pastures his flock round a preserve will soon pasture them in it. Beware, every king has a preserve, and the things Allah has declared unlawful are His preserves. Beware, in the body there is a flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart."

(Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Muslim)

Lessons:

- It is very important to stay away from doubtful matters, as one could fall into the forbidden, if he loiters in the grey area. We cannot justify by thinking and saying that since we are ignorant of the ruling, whether it is permissible or prohibited, we can practise it.

- Imam Bukhari Rahimahullah mentioned this hadeeth in the "Book of trade". When it comes to trading there are many matters that are doubtful, matters which existed then and even now, e.g. where cheating is done professionally. Therefore we have to be careful if the matter related to trading is clear and evident, permissible or not permissible, or if it is doubtful, in which case we have to avoid it.

- The relationship between the heart and the rest of the hadeeth: if one's heart is strong and firm in Tawheed, and sound with clear understanding and wisdom, then he will be able to stay away from doubtful matters from fear of falling into the prohibited area. But if the heart is not so firm in Tawheed, then he will take matters lightly, and thus, be more prone to slowly and gradually fall into the haram. So, the main issue of this hadeeth is the purification of the heart, which all of us need to keep working on.

Wa Allahu A'lam.

Dealing with Interest- Do we want to wage war with Allah?

Interest (Usury, Riba') is haram in Islam. Allah has made permissible for us things that benefit us and prohibited things that bring harm to us or our society. And time is proving this fact. Allah SWT prohibited dealing with Interest more than 1400 years ago; and now with the downfall and recession of the economy and the financial crisis all over the world, the economists have started realising that it was due to man-made laws of financial transactions and due to businesses being built upon imaginary funds etc. SubhanAllah....

Moreover, it is an unjust and unfair system where the rich get richer and the poor, poorer. It creates problems within families, friends and other ties. Riba', indeed is a social evil, and so it has been proved. It reduces the value of money, or rather the measure of the value of money, as money is exchanged, but in different amount. In Islam, riba' (or interest, usury) can be defined as an agreement for a specific recompense whose equivalence to the merchandise is unknown according to the standards of the Shari'ah (Islamic law), at the time of the transaction, or in which the exchange of the two properties transacted is delayed, or one of them is delayed. It is an unjust increment for one person, and this is unfair to the other, therefore making it an evil for the whole society.

Allah says in the Qur'an about the one who consumes riba' as being resurrected as a person inflicted with insanity and having seizures or as a person possessed by demons (may Allah keep us safe from that):

الَّذِينَ يَأْكُلُونَ الرِّبَواْ لاَ يَقُومُونَ إِلاَّ كَمَا يَقُومُ الَّذِى يَتَخَبَّطُهُ الشَّيْطَـنُ مِنَ الْمَسِّ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ إِنَّمَا الْبَيْعُ مِثْلُ الرِّبَواْ وَأَحَلَّ اللَّهُ الْبَيْعَ وَحَرَّمَ الرِّبَواْ فَمَن جَآءَهُ مَوْعِظَةٌ مِّنْ رَّبِّهِ فَانتَهَى فَلَهُ مَا سَلَفَ وَأَمْرُهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَمَنْ عَادَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ أَصْحَـبُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـلِدُونَ

Those who eat Riba will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaytan leading him to insanity. That is because they say: "Trading is only like Riba,'' whereas Allah has permitted trading and forbidden Riba. So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Riba, shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allah (to judge); but whoever returns (to Riba), such are the dwellers of the Fire ـ they will Abide therein. (Surah Al-Baqara: 275)

This ayah also shows the Mercy of Allah SWT, that if we repent and get out of it, Allah will forgive, but if one again goes back to this, then he will be among the dwellers of the fire. Someone in the class asked to our Sheikh: What if we already bought a house or a car, and is making payments on it which involves interest (mortgage or where a third party like the bank who has lent the loan is involved)? To this, our Sheikh (may Allah protect him) said: Just sell it off, and then rent etc, if you cannot purchase it with full funds, because nothing in this world is worth the punishment one will have to face in the Hereafter. It is the only sin that is mentioned in the Qur'an that Allah SWT gives notice of war:

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ وَذَرُواْ مَا بَقِىَ مِنَ الرِّبَواْ إِن كُنتُمْ مُّؤْمِنِين .فَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلُواْ فَأْذَنُواْ بِحَرْبٍ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ وَإِن تُبتُمْ فَلَكُمْ رُءُوسُ أَمْوَلِكُمْ لاَ تَظْلِمُونَ وَلاَ تُظْلَمُونَ

Oh you who believe! Have Taqwa of Allah and give up what remains from Riba, if you are (really) believers. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah and His Messenger but if you repent,you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly, and you shall not be dealt with unjustly. (Surah Al-Baqara: 278, 279)

And Allah says:

وَمَآ ءَاتَيْتُمْ مِّن رِّباً لِّيَرْبُوَاْ فِى أَمْوَالِ النَّاسِ فَلاَ يَرْبُواْ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَمَآ ءاتَيْتُمْ مِّن زَكَوةٍ تُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَ اللَّهِ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْمُضْعِفُونَ

And that which you give in Riba in order that it may increase from other people's property, has no increase with Allah; but that which you give in Zakah seeking Allah's Face, then those they shall have manifold increase. (Surah Ar-Rum: 39)

Narrated Samura bin Jundab Radhiyallahu anh:
The Prophet Sallallahu alihiwassalam said, "This night I dreamt that two men came and took me to a Holy land whence we proceeded on till we reached a river of blood, where a man was standing, and on its bank was standing another man with stones in his hands. The man in the middle of the river tried to come out, but the other threw a stone in his mouth and forced him to go back to his original place. So, whenever he tried to come out, the other man would throw a stone in his mouth and force him to go back to his former place. I asked, 'Who is this?' I was told, 'The person in the river was a Riba-eater." (Saheeh Al-Bukhari)

All of us see fornication (committing zina) as a major sin. And this is what riba has been compared to. Abdullah ibn Hanjalah related that the Prophet Sallallahu alihiwassalam said: A dirham of Riba (interest) knowingly taken by a man is a sin worse than committing Zina (Imam Ahmad).

Allah ceases to put Barakah in the money of one who deals with riba. So we lose the Blessings of Allah in this world along with the Blessings in The Aakhirah. This is as Allah says:

يَمْحَقُ اللَّهُ الْرِّبَواْ وَيُرْبِى الصَّدَقَـتِ وَاللَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ كُلَّ كَفَّارٍ أَثِيمٍ

Allah will deprive usury of all blessing, but will give increase for deeds of charity. (Surah Al-Baqara: 276)

One is prohibited from dealing with interest in any way; be it the one who takes, or gives, the one who writes it and being witnesses for such a transaction. It was narrated that Jaabir Ibn Abdullah Radhiyallahu anh said: “The Messenger of Allaah Sallallahu alihi wassalam cursed the one who consumes ribaa, the one who pays it, the one who writes it down and the two who witness it. He said they are all the same.” (Narrated by Muslim).

It is very clear from the above ayahs and ahaadeeth that dealing with interest is absolutely haram, and a Muslim should stay away from it as much as he can. Whoever is trapped in this big trap, should try to get out of it as soon as possible. Gaining anything in this world by means of interest is not at all worth forsaking our Hereafter. Wa Allahu A'lam.