Sh khudair Today, the hearts of people become ruthless and wretched, and to Allaah we complain‏

It was narrated on the authority of al-Irbaad bin Saariyah [May Allaah be Pleased with him] who said:

The Messenger of Allah [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] delivered an admonition that made our hearts fearful and our eyes tearful. We said, "O Messenger of Allah, it is as if this is a farewell sermon, so advise us." He said, "I enjoin you to have Taqwa of Allah [by doing what He has ordered and abandoning what he has prohibited] and that you listen and obey (to your rulers), even if a slave is made a ruler over you. He among you who lives long enough will see many differences. So upon you to cling to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the rightly guided successors after me, hold on to them with your molar teeth. Beware of newly-introduced matters, for every innovation (Bid'ah) is an error."

Reported by Ahmad, Abu Daawood (Eng. trans. 3/1294/no.4590), at-Tirmidhee (no. 2676), Ibn Maajah (no. 42), ad-Daarimee (no. 96) and Ibn Abee 'Aasim in as-Sunnah (no. 54). Shaikh al-Albaanee declares, "Its isnaad is saheeh, its narrators reliable"

Shaykh Abdul Kareem ibn Abdullah al-Khudayr [May Allaah Preserve him] said;

This speech shock the hearts of the companions, they were scared. However whose hearts were affected? Yes! The hearts of the Companions! Who can be compared or even be like them due to the light that Allaah had placed in their hearts;

"Whose hearts are filled with fear when Allah is mentioned" [Hajj 22:35]

Today, the hearts of people become ruthless and wretched, and to Allaah we complain. There has become no difference between the hearts of those who read the Quraan and the Authentic Sunnah and those who read newspapers and novels. There has become no difference between those who hear a story or listen to the news and those who hear a Hadeeth of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him]. As he [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] said about the effect the Quran had on his heart;

"Surah Hood and its sisters have made my hair grey". [Narrated by Tabaraanee in Kabeer 17/286-7, and a similar narration was narrated by al-Tirmidhi, 3297. classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albaani, al-Saheehah, 955]

This is wholly different from us to. He [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] told us about the effect it had on him but us, we read the Quran from Surah Yoonus to Surah Yusuf and don’t feel a thing. So you read these chapters of the Quran and what effect did reciting Surah Hood have on you? [Surah Hood is between Soorah Yoonus and Surah Yusuf]. Unfortunately, we can even find some of the students of knowledge behaving in this way. So did reciting the Quran have any impact on you? It is upon you to ask yourself and account yourself!

Ibn Awfaa was once walking and he heard the Imaam recite the ayah;

"Then, when the Trumpet is sounded (i.e. its second blowing)" [Mudathir 74: 8]

Upon hearing this ayah (due to the extreme fear he had) he fell unconscious. However some people will hear this and they will deny it.

There's no doubt that the Quran is extremely weighty and its effects on the heart amount to a great deal however the hearst vary. Some are extremely strong like that of the Prophet [Peace and Blessings of Allaah be upon him] and those Noble Companions accompanied him. Their hearts accepted this heavy message. This sturdy message needs a strong heart to carry it in, so it impacted them and their lives and they carried it on to the next generation. Those who came after them felt this great message as well, because this from the intensive Speech of Allaah, Exalted He is. However, the hearts that come after these early generations, they were weak. Most of them carried this message but it didn’t have the same impact on them. A lot of them didn’t feel, they just heard. So what happened to them, happened. Then after them, generations went past which were full of weak hearts. What I am saying is, that the difference between the strong and weak heart is the effects of the Quran that have on you, undoubtedly the hearts of the Muslims have become tarnished. Their hearts don’t feel anything so hearing this great message doesn’t affect them.

So how do we know that their hearts have become weak? We know by the way people think, if the slightest difficulty is afflicted upon them their attitude changes as if they have become possessed by a Jinn. Some people faint because of the weakness of their hearts, some resort to cheating and deceiving, as what is apparent in the markets today. Are these the kind of hearts that are strong or are they are hearts that have been affected by the Dunya? This is definitely not a strong heart. These hearts are not affected by the Quraan, despite the Quraan being great, strong, and heavy but they still don’t get affected by it. They are not affected by its greatness. But it affected the hearts and mind-set of the Companions and thus it had an impact on their deeds.

Taken from Sharh Muqadimmah Sunnan Ibn Maajah, Tape 6