WEBVTT 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:08.830 A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah. 00:00:08.830 --> 00:00:11.949 The meaning of fitnah (tribulation/trial). 00:00:11.949 --> 00:00:14.949 The term "fatana al-ma'din" (the metal was tested) implies a process of melting and refining. 00:00:14.949 --> 00:00:17.949 It refers to smelting it in fire to test its quality. 00:00:17.949 --> 00:00:19.949 And when one says "fatana fulanan" (he tested so-and-so). 00:00:19.949 --> 00:00:22.949 It means he tormented him to force him to abandon his religion. 00:00:22.949 --> 00:00:27.179 And "fatana-hu" means he cast him into hardship to test him. 00:00:27.179 --> 00:00:32.179 The comprehensive definition of fitnah, as stated by al-Azhari in his *Tahdhib al-Lughah*. 00:00:32.179 --> 00:00:34.179 Is that it signifies trial and examination. 00:00:34.179 --> 00:00:38.270 Fitnah appears in the Qur'an with many meanings. 00:00:38.270 --> 00:00:40.270 Among the most important of these: 00:00:40.270 --> 00:00:44.270 First: Fitnah in the sense of examination and testing. 00:00:44.270 --> 00:00:46.270 From this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:53.270 “Do men imagine that they will be left (at ease) because they say, We believe, and will not be tested with affliction?” (29:2) 00:00:53.270 --> 00:00:58.270 Included in this are the trials of women, positions of authority, and calamities. 00:00:58.270 --> 00:01:00.429 Second: 00:01:00.429 --> 00:01:03.429 Fitnah in the sense of polytheism (shirk) and disbelief (kufr). 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:05.430 From this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: 00:01:05.430 --> 00:01:12.430 “And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for Allah. But if they cease, then lo! Allah is Seer of what they do.” (8:39) 00:01:12.430 --> 00:01:14.430 And His saying, Almighty and Majestic is He: 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:17.590 “And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers.” (2:191) 00:01:17.590 --> 00:01:18.590 Third: 00:01:18.590 --> 00:01:21.590 Fitnah in the sense of torment. 00:01:21.590 --> 00:01:23.590 From this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:26.590 "The Day they are tormented [yuftanun] by the Fire." 00:01:26.590 --> 00:01:28.590 Fourth: 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:32.590 Fitnah in the sense of fighting and discord among people. 00:01:32.590 --> 00:01:37.590 This is mentioned in the warnings of the Prophet, peace be upon him. 00:01:37.590 --> 00:01:41.590 Among these is his saying, peace be upon him: 00:01:41.590 --> 00:01:47.590 "I see the sites of fitnah falling throughout your houses like the falling of rain." 00:01:47.590 --> 00:01:49.590 Agreed upon. 00:01:49.590 --> 00:01:52.590 And his saying, peace be upon him: 00:01:52.590 --> 00:01:54.590 "There will be tribulations." 00:01:54.590 --> 00:01:57.590 "The one who sits during them is better than the one who stands." 00:01:57.590 --> 00:01:59.590 The hadith. 00:01:59.590 --> 00:02:01.590 Agreed upon. 00:02:01.590 --> 00:02:03.909 Fifth: 00:02:03.909 --> 00:02:06.909 Fitnah in the sense of sin and misguidance. 00:02:06.909 --> 00:02:08.909 From this is the saying of Allah the Exalted: 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:11.909 “Ye cannot excite (anyone) against Him.” (37:162) 00:02:11.909 --> 00:02:14.909 “Save him who is to burn in hell.” (37:163) 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:19.099 If we contemplate the previous definitions and their types, 00:02:19.099 --> 00:02:24.099 We see that they are either a cause for falling into sin, 00:02:24.099 --> 00:02:26.099 Or they are the sin itself, 00:02:26.099 --> 00:02:29.099 Or they are the consequence of falling into sin, 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.099 Which is torment in this world and the Hereafter. 00:02:32.099 --> 00:02:34.099 The stance toward them: 00:02:34.099 --> 00:02:37.300 Abhorrence and caution against them. 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:39.300 Al-Raghib says: 00:02:39.300 --> 00:02:44.300 Fitnah is among the actions that originate from Allah the Exalted and from the servant. 00:02:44.300 --> 00:02:48.300 Such as affliction, calamity, killing, and torment, 00:02:48.300 --> 00:02:51.300 And other disagreeable actions. 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:53.300 Whenever it is from Allah the Exalted, 00:02:53.300 --> 00:02:55.300 It is according to His wisdom, 00:02:55.300 --> 00:02:58.300 And Allah the Exalted is praised for it. 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:02.300 And whenever it is from a human without the command of Allah the Exalted, 00:03:02.300 --> 00:03:04.300 It is blameworthy. 00:03:04.300 --> 00:03:09.840 Tribulations, in terms of those affected by them, are of three categories: 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:14.379 First: Private tribulations. 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:17.379 These are a man's trials regarding his family and wealth, 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:19.379 His children and his neighbor, 00:03:19.379 --> 00:03:22.379 And the individual calamities that befall him. 00:03:22.379 --> 00:03:25.479 Second: General tribulations. 00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:28.479 These are the ones that encompass all people, 00:03:28.479 --> 00:03:30.479 As in the saying of Allah the Exalted: 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:36.479 “And guard yourselves against a chastisement which cannot fall exclusively on those of you who are wrong-doers, and know that Allah is severe in punishment.” (8:25) 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:40.479 These are the ones described as surging like the waves of the sea, 00:03:40.479 --> 00:03:43.479 And like pieces of a dark night. 00:03:43.479 --> 00:03:45.479 This type of tribulation, 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:47.479 Has many forms. 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:49.479 Among the most important and dangerous of them: 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:53.479 The tribulation of division, disagreement, and infighting. 00:03:53.479 --> 00:03:56.479 Among them are the tribulations of the spread of sins and innovations (bid'ah). 00:03:56.479 --> 00:04:00.479 Among them are the tribulations of the disbelievers gaining power over the Muslims, 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:02.479 And rendering them weak. 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:05.539 Among them is the tribulation of Westernization and fascination, 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:07.539 With Western civilization. 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:11.539 Among them is the tribulation of tyrants gaining power over the Muslims, 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:15.539 And ruling them by other than the law of Allah, Almighty and Majestic is He. 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:18.540 Among them are the tribulations of doubts and desires, 00:04:18.540 --> 00:04:20.540 And the clothing of truth with falsehood, 00:04:20.540 --> 00:04:24.540 Which have reached their peak and zenith in our contemporary reality, 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:28.540 Following the emergence of the internet and smartphones. 00:04:28.540 --> 00:04:34.540 Among them are the tribulations of wealth through the consumption of usury (riba) and prohibited sales and contracts. 00:04:34.540 --> 00:04:39.540 Among them is the tribulation of women, their immodesty, and their intermingling with men, 00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:42.540 And other such general tribulations. 00:04:42.540 --> 00:04:44.740 Third: 00:04:44.740 --> 00:04:47.740 Tribulations that affect specific groups of people. 00:04:47.740 --> 00:04:51.740 These are tribulations between private and general ones, 00:04:51.740 --> 00:04:54.740 As they are not restricted to a single individual, 00:04:54.740 --> 00:04:56.740 Nor do they encompass all people, 00:04:56.740 --> 00:05:00.740 Rather, specific groups of people become involved in them. 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:03.740 The most prominent of these groups are three: 00:05:03.740 --> 00:05:06.740 The first: The Khawarij group, 00:05:06.740 --> 00:05:10.740 Who fell into the tribulation of declaring Muslims to be disbelievers (takfir), 00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:12.740 And deeming their blood permissible, 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:18.740 Claiming that they are fulfilling the duty of enjoining good and forbidding evil, 00:05:18.740 --> 00:05:22.860 So that there would be no "fitnah," according to their claim. 00:05:22.860 --> 00:05:23.860 The second: 00:05:23.860 --> 00:05:26.860 The Murji'ah group and the people of immorality, 00:05:26.860 --> 00:05:31.860 Who neglected the duty of enjoining good and forbidding evil and corruption, 00:05:31.860 --> 00:05:34.860 For fear of "fitnah," according to their claim. 00:05:34.860 --> 00:05:36.860 Among these today, 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:40.860 Are those who criticize the callers to Islam and the scholars of the Sunnah, 00:05:40.860 --> 00:05:41.860 For their speaking the truth openly, 00:05:41.860 --> 00:05:45.860 And their forbidding of evil and enjoining of good, 00:05:45.860 --> 00:05:48.860 Accusing them of rebelling against the rulers, 00:05:48.860 --> 00:05:51.860 Causing tribulations, and destabilizing security. 00:05:51.860 --> 00:05:57.860 They do not know that the true fitnah is abandoning the enjoining of good and forbidding of evil according to its legal guidelines. 00:05:57.860 --> 00:05:59.120 The third: 00:05:59.120 --> 00:06:03.120 The group that desires safety in the call to Islam, 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:08.120 A group that wants safety in the call and in striving (jihad) in the path of Allah, 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:13.120 And does not want to be afflicted with harm or annoyance in this path, 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:17.120 Claiming that they are avoiding falling into fitnah. 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:21.120 They do not know that being tested in the path of Allah the Exalted, 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:25.120 Is a fixed Sunnah among the Sunnahs of Allah, Almighty and Majestic is He, 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:29.120 And that abandoning the call and jihad under the pretext of avoiding the test, 00:06:29.120 --> 00:06:33.120 Is itself part of the fitnah they sought to escape, 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:35.120 So they fell into it. 00:06:36.220 --> 00:06:39.220 Allah the Exalted said regarding such people: 00:06:47.220 --> 00:06:51.220 And He, Glory be to Him, warned against those with this characteristic by saying: 00:07:05.250 --> 00:07:08.250 A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.