we write whatever traces they leave before

[ابوالوليد المسلم]

we write whatever traces they leave before
حسام بن عبدالعزيز الجبرين








we write whatever traces they leave before


















Praise belongs to Allah, the All-Mighty, the Ever-Forgiving, the One, the One who has ******* of all. And He bestowed this world upon His servants. And made it the place of trial and test. And promised gardens and rivers to obedient ones. And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone. He has no partner. the Ever accepting repentance, the Ever-Forgiving. and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His chosen Messenger, may God’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family as long as trees produce fruits and flowers blossom.










So, I advise you and myself to fear Allah, to strive against oneself, and to repent frequently " and fear Allah and be sure that Allah is with the God-fearing"[Al-Baqarah: 194].









Brothers in Islam,




Let us, today, ponder over a verse of the Quran. As the Holy Qur’an is mercy, guidance, exhortation and healing.










The Almighty says: "Surely We will give new life to the dead, and We are recording whatever (deeds) they send before them and whatever effects they leave behind. Everything is fully computed by Us in a manifest book of record". [Ya-Sin: 12].










In this noble verse, Allah the Almighty mentioned four things:




First: He revives the dead, emphasizing that He is speaking about Himself by using superlative wording.










The second: He records whatever they do in this world.










Third: He records their effects.










Fourth: He computes everything in a manifest book of record. (Adware Al-Bayan 6/654).










We will give special attention to the third one which is "the effects", and we will briefly present the rest.










The Almighty said: (Indeed, We revive the dead) Al-Saadi said: That is: We raise them after their death to reward them for deeds.










And in the next sentence, Ibn Jarir said: (And we write what effects they left behind ) means: what good and evil acts they did in this world.










And in His saying (and their effects) are two well-known sayings of scholars. Both of them are true and there is no contradiction between them, for each of them, there are evidences from the Qur’an and Sunnah.










The first interpretation is that Al-Hasan and Qatadah said: “And their traces” means: their footsteps. There is a hadith on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah, he said:There were some plots vacant around the mosque. Banu Salama decided to shift (to this land) and come near the mosque. This (news) reached the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and he said to them (Banu Salama): I have received (information) that you intend to shift near the mosque. They said: Yes, Messenger of Allah, we have taken this decision. Upon this, he (the Holy Prophet) said: O Banu Salama, live in your houses, for your footsteps are recorded; live in your houses,(Sahih Muslim:665).










And Allah’s saying about the Mujahideen (Muslim fighters)in the Qur'an testifies this meaning: "and whenever they cross a valley, is all written down for them". (Al-tauba:21).










If your footsteps are for good acts, I will write a reward for you, and if they are in disobedience, I will write a punishment for you.










Qatada said: "If Allah were to have neglected anything about you, O son of Adam, He would have neglected what the wind could remove of these footsteps.''But He takes into account the footsteps of the son of Adam and all his deeds; He even takes into account these footsteps and whether they are to obey Allah or disobey Him. So, whoever can have his footsteps recorded to obey Allah, let him do that.










The second interpretation: the traces of good and the traces of evil, so the person died, and the traces of his deeds that he did in his life, and what he started in his life remain. At times, he becomes a role model in this regard.










Al-Saadi said: and their traces. Means: their good traces and their evil traces – those things which came into existence because of them during their being alive and after their deaths whether they be statements, actions, or general conditions. So every good deed on which somebody acts because of this person’s knowledge, teaching or advice or enjoining the good and forbidding the evil acts or because of some knowledge which he entrusted to students or to books from which people benefited during his lifetime and after his death; or he did any good deeds like prayer, zakah, charity, or good behaviours and others took them as an example and imitated; or worked to build a masjid or any other type of place that people use and benefit from, or other similar things. These are part of his “traces” which will be recorded for him. And it is the same for evil deeds.










And it is said in "Adwaa al-Bayan": “And the meaning of their traces is: what they started in Islam, whether it good or bad, so these are traces which are acted upon after them.”.There is a hadith in Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Ibne Masud that Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "Whenever a person is murdered unjustly, there is a share from the burden of the crime on the first son of Adam for he was the first to start the tradition of murdering".









Imam Al-Nawawi said: “This hadith is one of the fundamentals of Islam, means: that whoever invents something of evil, he will have the burden of everyone who will follow him in that action as same as wrongdoer would be given until the Day of Resurrection. And like this, whoever invents something good, will have the same reward of everyone who will follow him in that action until the Day of Resurrection.” And what supports his interpretation is the Almighty’s saying:Hence, "they shall bear the full weight of their burdens on the Day of Judgment, and also some of the burdens of those whom they mislead without knowledge. Remember, evil is the burden they bear"[An-Nahl: 25].










This interpretation is also attested by the hadith “He who sets a good precedent in Islam, there is a reward for him for this (the act of goodness) and reward of that also who acted according to it subsequently, without any deduction from their rewards; and he who sets in Islam an evil precedent, there is upon him the burden of that, and the burden of him also who acted upon it subsequently, without any deduction from their burden".(Sahih Muslim: 1017).










There is also a hadith on this topic: When a man dies, his acts come to an end, but three, ongoing charity, or knowledge (by which people) benefit, or a pious son, who prays for him (for the deceased) (Sahih Muslim: 1631).









Dear friends in Islam,




The traces of man can be the great door to good acts as they can be a wide door to evil acts as well, and in the hadith: The Messenger of Allah said: "This goodness contains many treasures, and for those there are keys. So glad tidings to the one whom Allah makes a key to good and a lock for evil, and woe to the one whom Allah makes a key to evil and a lock to good. ("Sunan Ibn Majah:238).









Honourable people:




Let's see some examples of good and evil traces. (And we ask for soundness).










Everyone trades in search of sustenance, and his trade, sometimes whole trade and sometimes some parts of it. may have traces of good or evil acts.










Among the traces is the one who sells smoke. Hundreds and thousands of people smoke because of him. Then he will have a burden smaller to them.










Like this, selling obscene clothes of women and perhaps he does not realize that he will have the same burden of the one who will wear these clothes, even he will have a share of the one who will look at people with these clothes and would be fascinated by them! While the one who provides the covering clothing would be rewarded as he helps people to be modest. This also applies to importers and manufacturers.










And close to them are also the owners of publishing houses and libraries. So, books containing benefits and books containing harm are not equal.










The traces of a person may be due to a word he says or writes! Perhaps you know the reason why Al-Bukhari authored his Sahih book. Al-Bukhari said: I was with Ishaq bin Rahwayh, and he said: If you compile a brief authentic book of the Prophet's hadith (peace and blessings be upon him)it would be better. Imam Al-Bukhari said: It fell into my heart, so I began to author an authentic book of hadith.










Allah Akbar( Allah is the greatest) the words of Ishaq bin Rahawiyah yielded the most correct book after the Holy Qur’an, and how many great benefits it has achieved over the centuries!! We ask Allah to utilize us in His obedience, to guide us to His pleasure and to make us guided, not lost or misguided, and seek forgiveness from your Lord, then repent to Him.









Second sermon




Afterwards,




One of the easy and best things is the greatness of teaching Al-Fatihah and the shortest surahs to the child, for, if he memorizes them by your teaching to him, you will have, God willing, a reward similar to him whenever he will recite those surahs in salah or any other places. Like this, teaching the child salah and its remembrances( the things which are read in salah) has a great reward. The children of today are the men of tomorrow, so perhaps they will teach others, and you will have a reward of continuous charity. The Qur’an has been recorded in audio for the last more than fifty years, and songs have been recorded as well. How much reward for the people of the Qur’an and for those who taught them. How many burdens are owed to the people of singing and those who spread it!










when an infidel is guided because of you, you are a partner in the rewards of his worship, and in the reward of who would be guided because of him, a Filipino converted to Islam because of a booklet on monotheism and became a preacher, later on, more than ten thousand people embraced Islam at his hands! The reward will go to the author of that booklet." by Allah, if Allah gives guidance to somebody through you, it is better for you than possessing red camels."(Narrated by Muslim and Bukhari).










Sometimes, one dedicates a big book like Riyadh Al-Salihin or a booklet such as" Hisnul-Muslim" so he will have a share of the reward of those who learn and apply it in his life. you may know that " Hisnul-Muslim" is small in size but full of benefit and is sold for one riyal! Like this, sometimes, one dedicates the Holy Quran so, he will have a similar reward to the reward of the reader. These are doors of continuing charity. Allah is helpful.










Among the great and easy gates of goodness is to guide others to goodness "A man came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: My riding beast has been killed, so give me some animal to ride upon. He (the Holy Prophet) said: I have none with me. A man said: Messenger of Allah, I can guide him to one who will provide him with a riding beast. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: One who guides to something good has a reward similar to that of its doer"(Sahih Muslim:189).









Dear friends,




Today, social media occupies a large part of people’s lives, and some prosperous people get benefit from them from worldly and religious aspects, through which they spread knowledge or charity, so it becomes one of the enduring effects of ongoing goodness for the human being. And this social media is a burden on some people as they spread prohibited things on social media . so these prohibited things would be a continuous burden for them and they will find burdens of millions with their burden on the day judgement because of what they posted. And the number of video views on one of the famous sites is tens of millions. So congratulations to those who used them for good, and what a great loss for those who used them for evil!










You sometimes backbite a Muslim in a gathering, and someone of that gathering narrated your backbiting in another gathering. Then some people share it on social media. Their sins will be on you because they are the traces of your work! You sometimes give a person a nickname, and this nickname remains for generations. you cause yourself many sins. Those are the traces of your bad work!










One of the great doors of goodness in our time is to contribute to charitable endowments, which are many and varied. A Muslim should contribute even a little, to get a great deal of good. These endowments serve many purposes. some of them serve the massif of the Quran(those who should be given zakat or sadaqah in any form.), some of them invest in the interests of the poor and the needy, some of them spend in building mosques, some of them dedicate wells and water for needy people. Some of them arrange mess marriages. Some of them look after orphans, and some of them use charity to invite people towards Allah and to spread knowledge. A Muslim should contribute even a little, to get a great deal of goodness.










It is good news for farmers that the sower and the planter have a reward for what they produce, and it is one of the ongoing traces of goodness, Jabir b. Abdullah (Allah be pleased with them) reported: "Allah's Apostle (ﷺ) visited the orchard of Umm Ma'sud and said: Umm Ma'bad. he who has planted this tree, is he a Muslim or a non-Muslim? She said: Of course, he is a Muslim, whereupon he (the Holy Prophet) said: No Muslim who plants (trees) and from their fruits, the human beings or the beasts or birds eat, but that would be taken as an act of charity on the Day of Resurrection".(Sahih Muslim:1552).










Al-Nawawi said when explaining this hadith and the other hadiths that have a similar meaning: “In these hadiths, there is the virtue of planting, and cultivating of trees and he will get a reward who does that. And this reward will continue as long as the trees and what they produce exist till the Day of Resurrection.”









Dear friends,




:There are many groups of relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances on social media. and some people do not hesitate to send a clip in which an unveiled woman exists.










Scholars are agreed upon that looking at the opposite *** is haram(illegal) and worse than that, and more severe than those who publish obscene clips. How many burdens will they bear for those who watched it and who published it, and the consequences of those sins! We seek refuge in Allah from betrayal, Unfortunately, if a Muslim is afflicted by watching that, this does not allow him to spread it.









Honourable people:




It is highly recommended that a Muslim must avoid a sin that would continuous and he should be keen on what will benefit him after his death. Because traces remain and rewards continue. It is mentioned in hadith that"The Messenger of Allah said: 'The rewards of the good deeds that will reach a believer after his death are: Knowledge which he taught and spread; a righteous son whom he leaves behind; a copy of the Qur'an that he leaves as a legacy; a mosque that he built; a house that he built for welfare; a canal that he dug; or charity that he gave during his lifetime when he was in good health. These deeds will reach him after his death.'"(Sunan Ibn Majah:242).










And in the hadith, there is an explanation of Allah’s mercy on His believing servants, as He made some of their deeds continuous after death rather than made them ongoing as long as their traces remain. “Surely We will give new life to the dead, and We are recording whatever (deeds) they send before them and whatever effects they leave behind. Everything is fully computed by Us in a manifest book of record".(Yaseen:12).










Then send peace and salutations....