The Best Sinners

Section 1: The Repenting Muslims

By Sheikh Younus Kathrada
*Disclaimer: The note below was prepared by the School of Deen Team based on the audio lessons taught by
Sheikh Younus Kathrada

TOPIC NOTES
The Sinners “All the sons of Adam are sinners, but the best of sinners are those who repent
often.” (Related by At·Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah with a strong chain of narrators)

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon
him, said, “By Him in whose hand is my soul, if you did not sin, Allah would
replace you with people who would sin and they would seek forgiveness from
Allah and he would forgive them.” (Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2749)

Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon
him, said, “By Allah, I seek forgiveness from Allah and I repent to him more than
seventy times in a day.” (Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 5948)

 It is part of human nature to sin, but we should not persist upon those
sins. But rather we need to remind ourselves of our meeting with Allah.
 Allah didn't create us in vain, He created us to obey Him.
 We need to remind ourselves that although we can't see Allah, Allah
sees us. Not a second goes by without Allah being watchful over us.
 Al-Murakabah : Always being cautious and aware that Allah
subhanahutaa'la is always watchful on our moves
 The companions (such as Umar ibn Abdul A'ziz) were always being
cautious because they knew that Allah is always watching them

Belittling Sins Anas ibn Malik said to his people, “Indeed, you indulge in actions which are as
insignificant to you as a hair, while at the time of the Messenger of Allah, peace
be upon him, we considered them to be destructive sins.” [Sahih Bukhari, Book
76, Number 499]

 Committing sin is like breaching the law imposed by Allah

 In the long run, small sins can be compiled to become a mountain of sins
 We should not forget that there's always consequences for sins
 Our sin might affect others as well without us realising it
 However, we need to understand that Allah is not one who wants to
punish us but Allah is always please to accept our repentance

Mercy of Allah (Part 1) - "Abu Musa reported: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said,
The Prostitute Who “Verily, Allah Almighty stretches out his hand by night to accept the repentance
Repented of those who sin by day, and he stretches out his hand by day to accept the
repentance of those who sin by night, until the sun rises from the west.” Source:
Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2759"
 "Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do
not despair of the mercy of Allah . Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He
who is the Forgiving, the Merciful."[Az-Zumar:53]

 We can commit the worse of sins but Allah still love those who come
back in repentance

Mercy of Allah (Part 2) -  When the battle at al-Qaadisiyyah was over, Abu Mihjan went back and
The Drunk Man Who put his feet in the chains. The wife of Sa’d told him the wonderful story,
Went for Jihad so Sa’d admired this man and his care for Islam and his longing for jihad,
so he himself went to this wine-drinker, released the chains with his
own hands and said, “Get up, for by Allaah I will never flog you for
drinking wine again.” Abu Mihjan said, “By Allaah, I will never drink it
again.” (See al-Isaabah fi Tamyeez al-Sahaabah, 4/173-174; al-Bidaayah
wa’l-Nihaayah, 9/632-633)

"Abu Huraira reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon
him, said, “Our Lord descends to the lowest heaven in the last third of every
night, and he says: Who is calling upon me that I may answer him? Who is
asking from me that I may give him? Who is seeking my forgiveness that I
may forgive him?” (Source: Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 1094, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 758)

Remembering Death  There are so many people who are committing sins but Allah has
concealed those sins
 Ask ourselves - "How long are we going to live in this world? Have we
thought about how confident are we that we can attain Jannah?"
 We don't have to be extreme in worshipping but nowadays we are
extreme in being negligence
 Ask ourselves - "How many hours do we spend every day displeasing
Allah subhanahuta'ala?" (such as watching haram on the TV or on our
phone)
 Don't say that "I will start tomorrow". Never procrastinate.
 Always beg for Allah to forgive our sins and to always guide us to the
straight path
 Say istighfar not only with our lips but with our heart.
 The least thing we can do every night is to try to pray 2 rakaat before
sleeping

Section 2: The Seven People Under The Shade of Allah

By Sheikh Tariq Appleby

*Disclaimer: The note below was prepared by the School of Deen Team based on the audio lessons taught by
Sheikh Tariq Appleby

TOPIC NOTES
The "seven"  One is the best way to spend our time is to study the Sunnah of the
Rasulullah ‫ﷺ‬
 The Prophet ‫ ﷺ‬said:

There are seven whom Allah will shade in His Shade on the Day when there is no
shade except His Shade: a just ruler; a youth who grew up in the worship of
Allah, the Mighty and Majestic; a man whose heart is attached to the mosques;
two men who love each other for Allah’s sake, meeting for that and parting
upon that; a man who is called by a woman of beauty and position [for illegal
intercourse], but he says: ‘I fear Allah’, a man who gives in charity and hides it,
such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in charity; and a
man who remembered Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears. [Narrated by
Bukhari and Muslim]

 This hadith is one of the best hadiths because this hadith is very
comprehensive in merits and virtues
 In the Quran and Sunnah, Allah and the Rasulullah ‫ ﷺ‬has mentioned
the no. "7" many times
 This hadith applies to men and women as well
 However, this hadith doesn't imply that only these 7 of people will get
the shade of Allah; For example: 1) People who lend money sincerely for
Allah without asking for it back will get the shade of Allah, 2) People who
help those fighting in the cause of Allah
 Ibnu Hajar Asqalani and Imam Suyuti (may Allah has mercy upon these
two great scholars) has mentioned about 70 different characteristics
that will grant us the shade of Allah

The Just Ruler  Why do we need the shade of Allah? The sun will be so close to us
during the Day of Judgement; It will be much closer to us during the
judgement day than it is now.
 We need the protection of Allah during that day to be comfortable and
cool

"But when there comes the Deafening Blast - that Day a man will flee from his
brother, and his mother and his father, and his wife and his children. For each
one of them that Day will have enough preoccupations of his own. Some faces,
that Day, will be bright – laughing, rejoicing at good news. And other faces, that
Day, will have upon them dust. Blackness will cover them. Those are the
disbelievers, the wicked ones." (Quran 80: 33-42)

 On that day, no one can save us, not even the Prophets except
Muhammad because He will intercedes on our behalf.
 One of the principles in explaining a hadith or an ayah is we use the
Quran to explain the Quran and when it comes to the sunnah - one of
the principles is we collect and examine all the different narrations of
particular hadith
 The shade of Allah refers to the shade of Allah's throne
 The first category of people mentioned by Rasulullah is "The pious
Ruler" because when this person is pious and just, everything in that
country will run smoothly
 One of the main reasons for an empire to fall is because of their ruler
  He applied righteousness and trustworthiness in himself first then only
he applies it in the political affairs

The youth who grew up  Majority of scholars agree that youth ends at the age of 33 years old
in the worship of Allah  Manhaj (Methodology) of raising a youth that will worship Allah: 1)
& The Man Who's Heart Choosing your spouse based on his/her Deen and character, 2) Make
is Attached to the Du'a by asking Allah to protect your child from the Syaitan when you
Masjid consumate the marriage , 3) Choose the best of names for your child, 4)
Perform Aqiqah for them, 5) Mother and Father living their life in
pleasing Allah
 The youth of today will be our leaders in the future; We will not have
competent and just leaders if we are not investing in our youth now
 Thus, we need to nurture them
 The third person in this hadith is "the man whose heart is attached to
the masjid"
 Questions to ask ourselves: 1) Do we find comfort and tranquillity in our
Solat like how the great companions did?, 2) Are our hearts attached to
the Masjid so much so that we are eager to get back to it?

Two men who love each  The fourth person mentioned in this hadith is the two men Two men
other for Allah’s sake & who love each other for Allah’s sake
The man who is called  There are 4 reasons for loving someone: 1) That someone provide you
by a woman of beauty benefits, 2) They provide protection, 3) For their beauty, 4) For their
and position [for illegal character
intercourse], but he  Two persons who love one another for the sake of Allah love one
says: ‘I fear Allah another not because any of the 4 reasons
 The gathering also doesn't include disobedience to Allah
 No. 5 is a man who is being invited to commit zina but refuse her due to
his fear in Allah
 This woman, who's inviting him, is not only just beautiful but also high in
status/ authority.
 This person is able to overcome his strongest desire for the sake of
Allah.

The man who gives in  The sixth person mentioned is a man who gives in charity and hides it,
charity and hides it such that his left hand does not know what his right hand gives in
charity
 Human nature is such that we love praise; But this person overcomes
stinginess and the love of praise
 Today Allah has facilitated us the ways to do charity anonymously
 How to develop sincerity: 1) Performing Tahajjud, 2) Give charity
secretly, 3)
 Our family members deserve to get the charity first before other people

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Charity given
to a poor person is charity, but charity given to a relative is two things,
charity and upholding the ties of kinship.”
Narrated by al-Nasaa’i, 2581; al-Tirmidhi, 658; classed as saheeh by al-
Albaani in Saheeh al-Nasaa’i, 2420.
The man who  The last person mentioned in this hadith is the man who remembered
remembered Allah in Allah in private and so his eyes shed tears
private and so his eyes
shed tears. Ibn 'Abbas (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: I heard the
Messenger of Allah (‫ )ﷺ‬saying, "Two eyes will never be touched by the
fire of Hell; an eye which weeps out of Fear of Allah and an eye which spends
the night in guarding in the Cause of Allah ."[At-Tirmidhi].

 3 Themes that this hadith is teaching us : 1) Sincerity, 2)Overcoming

something for the sake of Allah, 3)All of this people wanted Allah to
protect them
 If you're under the shade of Allah on the Judgement day, then
everything else that will come after that will be easy