Do not trade the akhirah for the dunya
Towards the end of Surat al-A’raf, Allah talks about the knowledge He has sent down, and the types of people who receive it.
فَخَلَفَ مِنۢ بَعۡدِهِمۡ خَلۡفٞ وَرِثُواْ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ
يَأۡخُذُونَ عَرَضَ هَٰذَا ٱلۡأَدۡنَىٰ وَيَقُولُونَ
سَيُغۡفَرُ لَنَا وَإِن يَأۡتِهِمۡ عَرَضٞ مِّثۡلُهُۥ
يَأۡخُذُوهُۚ أَلَمۡ يُؤۡخَذۡ عَلَيۡهِم مِّيثَٰقُ ٱلۡكِتَٰبِ
أَن لَّا يَقُولُواْ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ إِلَّا ٱلۡحَقَّ
وَدَرَسُواْ مَا فِيهِۗ وَٱلدَّارُ
ٱلۡأٓخِرَةُ خَيۡرٞ لِّلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَۚ
أَفَلَا تَعۡقِلُونَ
And there followed them successors who inherited the Scripture [while] taking the commodities of this lower life and saying, “It will be forgiven for us.” And if an offer like it comes to them, they will [again] take it. Was not the covenant of the Scripture taken from them that they would not say about Allah except the truth, and they studied what was in it? And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah, so will you not use reason?
وَٱلَّذِينَ يُمَسِّكُونَ بِٱلۡكِتَٰبِ
وَأَقَامُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ إِنَّا لَا نُضِيعُ
أَجۡرَ ٱلۡمُصۡلِحِينَ
But those who hold fast to the Book and establish prayer – indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of the muslihoon (those who promote righteousnessness and justice). (7:169-170)
Responses to receiving knowledge from Allah
There are two types of people who respond. One type are willing to change the Book of Allah for money and worldly gains, essentially commercialising their knowledge. The other type hold fast to His Book and refuse to change it.
Going with the flow and changing Allah’s teachings comes with a very high cost. Even if you are paid millions of pounds in the dunya to issue a fatwa legitimising oppression, this will not save you on the Day of Judgement.
Every generation will have people who call back to the truth
These ayahs are referring to previous nations and Bani Israil, but they also apply to our ummah today. In the hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
قال رسول الله “صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم
يحمِلُ هذا العِلمَ من كلِّ خلَفٍ عدولُه، ينفونَ عنهُ تحريفَ الجاهِلينَ، وانتحالَ المبطلينَ، وتأويلَ الغالينَ
رواه أحمد
This knowledge will be carried by trustworthy individuals from every generation. They will remove from it the distortions of the ignorant, the misinterpretations of the falsifiers, and the deviations of the extremists. (Imam Ahmad)
Although we see certain people with big platforms distorting the truth on our screens, the beauty of the truth is that it is so bright, no one can obscure it. Allah has made it so clear that even children can recognise it.
You don’t need to be a scholar or a PhD to recognise that killing people is haram. No matter how many fatwas are issued to justify it, it does not change the truth.
Many people have tried to distort and falsify the religion, but no matter what, Allah will make truth prevail, and those people will be defeated and buried. Falsehood has been at the forefront for many years, but now people can see what is true.
We need to be careful not to fall on the wrong side by being willing to let go of the Book of Allah in exchange for worldly gains. Sometimes it can be very tempting, but be careful not to trade your akhirah for the dunya.
We ask Allah to keep us on the straight path and clinging to book of Allah.
Delivered by Shaykh Haytham Tamim 12th Ramadan 2025. Transcribed by H Khan.
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