Words of Advice to the Muslims in the West
by Shaykh Abdul Azeez aal Shaykh حفظه الله
on Saturday, March 19, 2005

{The believers are nothing else than brothers.} [Al-Hujuraat 49:10]

{...and remember Allâh’s Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islâmic Faith)} [Aali-‘Imraan, 3:103]

WHY WE WERE CREATED

Dear brothers, it is an obligation upon each of us to know without any doubt, that Allaah سبحانه وتعالى created us to worship Him Alone. Allaah says:

Therefore, Allaah’s سبحانه وتعالى Wisdom concerning our creation, the creation of ath-thaqalayn i.e. the jinn and mankind, is to worship Him alone, and call to the Deen of Allaah with sincerity, and live on the earth in obedience to Allaah سبحانه وتعالى and attach our hearts to our Lord with love, fear and hope.


THE BEST ADVICE – HAVING TAQWAA OF ALLAAH

The best wasiyyah (advice) that a slave can advise himself and his brothers with, is the wasiyyah which Allaah سبحانه وتعالى has given to the creation from the first of them to the last of them. Allaah says:

So I advise you, my brothers and sisters in Islaam, with taqwaa of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. The reality of taqwaa is to uphold the obligations which Allaah سبحانه وتعالى has made mandatory upon you from the salawaat – upholding it in its time, in jamaa’ah (congregation) in the masaajid, and giving zakaat (the mandatory charity) and fasting the month of Ramadaan and making Hajj to the sacred House of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى.

All good deeds are structured upon achieving Tawheed of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى and practicing the Deen of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى sincerely for His sake.


ATTAINING TRUE EEMAAN

I advise you with holding on to this Deen upon knowledge and actions. Indeed true eemaan (belief) – the eemaan which benefits all, is when speech and actions come hand in hand and eemaan is manifested from the deeds you do openly as well as the deeds that you conceal in your heart. So this eemaan is a beneficial eemaan, the eemaan that has good results and brings forth the good, and calls to having excellent character, and wages war and fights against despicable and lowly traits and acts.


WORKING TOGETHER UPON RIGHTEOUSNESS

O my Muslim brothers, while you are in a large, expansive country, I advise you to be firm upon the Truth, having cooperation between yourselves – helping and working together between yourselves in order to protect your honor and dignity, and to stay upright and firm upon your Deen. Do not enter into issues where the outcome will reflect negatively upon you and upon the teachings of your religion, meaning that you or the Deen will be seen as something negative.

Have uprightness and firmness upon hudaa (guidance), and adhere to Islaam upholding the commands and staying away from the prohibitions. Let Islaam be apparent upon you in your actions and your dealings. It is the Deen of khayr (goodness) and the Deen of rahmah (mercy) and the Deen of joy and happiness in this world and the hereafter.


THINGS TO BE WARY OF

Be aware of being weak and watered down in any aspect or part of your religion. Be aware of being fooled from what you see of so-called modern civilization and advancement in life and wealth. I warn you from becoming weak in front of at-tahaddiyaat (تحديات) - the challenges. Be firm upon al-Haqq (the truth); be upright upon the Truth. Be helpers of one other upon obedience and righteousness. Be as one hand, one body; if a part of the body complains due to illness, the rest of the body reacts to it in fever and staying up, unable to sleep due to the aching part. Solve your problems dear brothers and sisters in Islaam; solve your problems between yourselves. Be aware of differing and disputing. Verily differing is evil; and do not dispute. Allaah سبحانه وتعالى said:

Have tawakkul (reliance) of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. Depend on Him and take every correct, beneficial means which brings benefit to you in your religion and your life. Then he quoted the ayah:


HAVE THE BEST MANNERS

Dear brothers and sisters in Islaam, I advise you to have taqwaa of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى by being dutiful to your parents, by raising your children upon the best of manners, and by cultivating them upon the highest morals and noble character. I call you to uphold and practice the correct manners of Islaam which call to the highest levels of virtue and righteousness, by way of helping each other and working together towards that which will bring forth and make a reality, the things which are means by which you may benefit in this life and in your Deen. Work together and do not open a door for arguments, disputes and splitting. Beware of splitting and disputes because it will not cause you to achieve your goal nor will it bring glory; but verily it weakens the fence and splits the world.


SEEK KNOWLEDGE

Hold on to your Deen, and ask in the affairs that you may not understand concerning matters of your Deen. Be serious and put forth great amounts of effort in beneficial actions and increase in learning the beneficial Sciences. Indeed knowledge is a blessing from Allaah سبحانه وتعالى on His slaves. So, my brothers, be men of knowledge, action and production; and beware of relying on, or depending on others. Beware of laziness and heedlessness. Be serious and put forth great efforts because you just might attain that which will be beneficial for you in your Deen and your life. Allaah سبحانه وتعالى said:


CONCLUDING REMARKS

Lastly, I advise you with the fear (taqwaa) of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. I advise you with that which will make your feet firm. I advise you to be wary and cautious of what can bring the enemies upon you. Do not throw yourself into affairs of which you have no need, and which you are sufficient without. Make the worship of Allaah the work which takes up your time and energy. Make the worship of Allaah your goal and put forth the good words, and be active in attaining a beneficial livelihood and working together towards good and stay far away from the prohibited matters in all forms and types. Behave upon the manners and morals of Islaam. Verily, the manners of Islaam are lofty and highly elevated manners. If the Muslim is able to hold on to them, he will call others to Islaam and inshaa’Allaah ta’alaa they will enter into the Deen of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. The manners of Islaam are the best manners and they are the most noble and complete. Hold onto your Deen truly for the sake of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى and thank Allaah سبحانه وتعالى for the blessing of this Deen – Islaam.

I ask Allaah سبحانه وتعالى for firmness on the Haqq (Truth) and that He does not make our hearts crooked and misguided after He has guided us; and I ask Allaah to grant us and you khayr (goodness) and that He blesses us and you to be from those who order with the truth, have patience upon it, and call to it. He is the Walee over that.






1. Question: We are about to establish a masjid upon the manhaj of the Salaf in the United States. Could you advise us?

Answer: These masaajid are houses from the Houses of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. They are meant for establishing and upholding the salaah and the remembrance of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. Allaah says:

فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ {36}‏ رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاء الزَّكَاةِ

{In houses (mosques) which Allâh has ordered to be raised (to be cleaned, and to be honoured), in them His Name is remembered [i.e. Adhân, Iqâmah, Salât (prayers), invocations, recitation of the Qur'ân]. Therein glorify Him (Allâh) in the mornings and in the afternoons or the evenings, Men whom neither trade nor sale (business) diverts from the remembrance of Allâh (with heart and tongue) nor from performing As-Salât (the prayers) nor from giving the Zakât (obligatory charity)…} [An-Noor 24:36-37]

If you are going to establish a masjid upon the methodology of the Salaf then you should seek to make the people love you and love this masjid so that they may benefit from the correct Aqeedah (belief) and Manhaj (methodology). This should be done with wisdom and in a good and proper manner, so that they may come to the correct belief of Islaam; so do good so that the people may love you.

Answer: The knowledge of tajweed, of reciting the Qur’aan with tajweed, is a knowledge which makes recitation of the Qur’aan better. A person should take as much of this knowledge as he needs to, and study it well, because this knowledge is good to learn. It even helps the person who is reciting the Qur’aan to understand the aayaat much better. Tajweed is good, but one should not let it take up all of his time. What is important it to make the recitation better, giving the letters their rights, such that the one reciting is well versed in recitation of the aayaat.

Answer: Circumcision is waajib upon the man unless it may cause him harm. For example, the man may be very old and the doctors see that if he goes ahead and gets circumcised at this time, it would cause him harm. In this case, circumcision is not waajib. If the person knows this will not harm him and he is able to do it, then it becomes obligatory upon him because our Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ordered us to circumcise and he صلى الله عليه وسلم said “the fitrah is five” and he began with circumcision.[1]

4. Question: A sister had an unlawful relationship with a man and due to this she became pregnant and then she went ahead and did an abortion after one month of pregnancy. Now she has repented to Allaah and asks what is upon her?

Answer: It is upon this sister to make repentance to Allaah سبحانه وتعالى and for her to have nadm (regret) about what occurred in the past, and that she has ‘azeema (عزيمة – determination) i.e. that she puts forth very great effort so that she will not return to this sin at all; and that she asks Allaah سبحانه وتعالى that He forgives her and accepts her repentance and that He changes her sins to good deeds as Allaah has said:

إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا فَأُولَئِكَ يُبَدِّلُ اللَّهُ سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ حَسَنَاتٍ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ غَفُورًا رَحِيمًا

{Except those who repent and believe (in Islâmic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allâh will change their sins into good deeds, and Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful} [Al-Furqaan 25:70]

References and Notes

[1] Reported in Saheeh al-Bukhaaree, Kitaab al-Libaas (The Book of Clothing), (#5552).