WEBVTT 00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:08.669 A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah. 00:00:08.669 --> 00:00:11.669 The characteristics of the Divine scale. 00:00:11.669 --> 00:00:16.379 Since the Divine scale originates from the Lord, 00:00:16.379 --> 00:00:20.379 it inevitably possesses fixed and just attributes, 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:23.379 being perfect, comprehensive, and balanced, 00:00:23.379 --> 00:00:26.379 because it comes from Allah, the Almighty and Exalted. 00:00:26.379 --> 00:00:32.380 “Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much incongruity.” (4:82) 00:00:32.380 --> 00:00:35.380 Among the most important of these characteristics: 00:00:35.380 --> 00:00:37.380 First: Tawhid (the Oneness of Allah). 00:00:37.380 --> 00:00:40.380 It is the core of the Divine scale, 00:00:40.380 --> 00:00:43.380 and it is a requirement of the Lordship of Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, 00:00:43.380 --> 00:00:46.380 to Whom belong the Most Beautiful Names, 00:00:46.380 --> 00:00:49.380 and Who alone is truly worthy of worship, 00:00:49.380 --> 00:00:52.380 with no partner beside Him. 00:00:52.380 --> 00:00:55.380 Thus, in proportion to the soundness of a servant’s Tawhid 00:00:55.380 --> 00:00:58.380 and the realization of his servitude to Allah the Exalted, 00:00:58.380 --> 00:01:01.380 his standards and his weighing of matters become sound. 00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:03.380 However, if Tawhid is compromised, 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:07.379 and any portion of worship is directed to other than Allah the Exalted, 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:11.379 then the scales become unbalanced, disordered, and distorted. 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:14.379 Indeed, Tawhid establishes in the heart and mind 00:01:14.379 --> 00:01:17.379 a state of discipline and steadfastness, 00:01:17.379 --> 00:01:19.379 through which perceptions do not waver, 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:22.379 values do not shake, 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:25.379 and neither concepts nor conduct become diluted. 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:29.379 It suffices to compare and weigh the monotheistic Muslim 00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:32.379 against others who hold polytheistic concepts 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:35.379 to see the difference between them in their scales, 00:01:35.379 --> 00:01:38.379 their judgments, and their stances. 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:41.540 Second: Steadfastness. 00:01:41.540 --> 00:01:44.540 Because the source of the scale is Divine, 00:01:44.540 --> 00:01:47.540 it carries the attribute of steadfastness. 00:01:47.540 --> 00:01:50.540 That scale remains consistent in the past, 00:01:50.540 --> 00:01:53.540 the present, and the future; 00:01:53.540 --> 00:01:56.540 it does not change with the changing of time or place, 00:01:56.540 --> 00:01:59.540 nor does it fluctuate or contradict itself. 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:02.540 The role of the human intellect remains 00:02:02.540 --> 00:02:05.540 one of reception, response, and application, 00:02:05.540 --> 00:02:08.539 and the development of life remains linked 00:02:08.539 --> 00:02:11.539 to this fixed axis, 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:14.539 revolving around it within a stable framework. 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:17.539 For there are two states of human life 00:02:17.539 --> 00:02:20.539 that are fixed in the scale of Allah, 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.539 never changing regardless of time or place: 00:02:23.539 --> 00:02:26.539 Third: The state of guidance, 00:02:26.539 --> 00:02:29.539 and the state of misguidance. 00:02:29.539 --> 00:02:32.539 No matter how varied the forms and means of misguidance may be, 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:35.539 “Such then is Allah, your rightful Lord. After the Truth what is there saving error? How then are ye turned away!” (10:32) 00:02:35.539 --> 00:02:38.699 then where are you being diverted? 00:02:38.699 --> 00:02:41.759 Third: Comprehensiveness and balance. 00:02:41.759 --> 00:02:44.759 Because it is Divine, 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:47.759 it has come comprehensive, perfect, balanced, and just, 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.759 covering all aspects of human existence 00:02:50.759 --> 00:02:53.759 and all aspects of life. 00:02:53.759 --> 00:02:56.759 It is a balanced and just comprehensiveness, 00:02:56.759 --> 00:02:59.759 where no single aspect overwhelms another, 00:02:59.759 --> 00:03:02.759 standing midway between excess and negligence, 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:05.759 because it is from the All-Knowing, the All-Aware, 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:08.759 the Wise, the Subtle, the Powerful, the Exalted. 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:11.759 It suffices to look at the scales of humanity— 00:03:11.759 --> 00:03:14.759 those unjust, ignorant scales— 00:03:14.759 --> 00:03:17.759 and their disorder and contradictions, 00:03:18.759 --> 00:03:21.759 to see the vast chasm between them. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:24.759 For goodness is made manifest by its opposite. 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:27.919 Fourth: 00:03:27.919 --> 00:03:30.919 Belief in the Last Day. 00:03:30.919 --> 00:03:33.919 This is one of the most prominent features of the Divine scale, 00:03:33.919 --> 00:03:36.919 due to the impact this creed has on weighing people, 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:39.919 weighing values, 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:42.919 and the discipline of judgments and stances. 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:45.919 As for those who are heedless of the Last Day, 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:49.919 their values and perceptions waver, 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:52.919 and they lose the correct perception 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.919 of life and its events, 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:58.919 its future, and its values. 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.919 Consequently, a person who believes in Allah 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:04.919 and the Last Day, and accounts for it, cannot meet 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:07.919 with another who lives for this world alone 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:10.949 and does not believe in what lies beyond it. 00:04:10.949 --> 00:04:13.949 They do not meet in any estimation, 00:04:13.949 --> 00:04:16.949 nor in a single scale regarding the affairs of life, 00:04:16.949 --> 00:04:19.949 nor in a single one of its many values, 00:04:19.949 --> 00:04:22.949 nor do they agree on a single judgment 00:04:22.949 --> 00:04:25.949 regarding an incident, a situation, 00:04:25.949 --> 00:04:28.949 or any matter whatsoever. 00:04:28.949 --> 00:04:31.949 For each of them has a scale, 00:04:31.949 --> 00:04:34.949 each has his own angle of vision, 00:04:34.949 --> 00:04:37.949 and each has a light by which he views 00:04:37.949 --> 00:04:41.560 things, events, values, and circumstances. 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:44.560 A summary of the concepts held by the Ahl al-Sunnah.