Warning against Extravagance and Wastefulness
Khutbah Topic
His Eminence Sheikh Saleh Bin Abdullah Bin Humeed ‒may Allah protect him‒
delivered this week’s Friday Khutbah entitled: Warning against Extravagance and
Wastefulness. He spoke about the need for strengthening the economy and
rationalising consumption. He also warned against extravagance and wastefulness,
illustrating his idea with evidence of the prohibition of such practices in religion. He
also pointed out that the Ûmmah (Islamic nation) has to upgrade its intellectual
standards and set higher-order objectives in order to awaken from regression.
Part One
Praise be to Allah! Praise be to Allah, the Supreme, the Omnipotent! He has
inimitably conceived creation and minutely controlled its operation. May He be
exalted and gratified: The Forgiver of sin, the Acceptor of repentance,
the Severe in punishment, the Bestower (of favours). Lâ ilâha illâ
Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He), to Him is the
final return. [Ghâfir: 3]
I praise Him () and thank Him for His abundant bounties and profuse favours. I
bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, with no associate.
To Him alone belongs sovereignty and unto Him alone gratitude is due. He imparts
life into existence and retreats it thereof. He is totally capable of performing whatever
deeds He wishes. I also bear witness that our Master and Prophet Muhammad () is
Allah’s Servant and Messenger, heralding felicitous destiny for believers and
portending unfortunate fate for disbelievers. He is the guide illuminating believers’
path. May Allah send His Salat (Graces, Honours, and Mercy) and incessant Peace
onto him, his family, his wives, his Companions, and his tabi'în (the contemporaries
of the Companions of the Prophet [] after his death), and all those who have
followed them righteously and are treading the right path.
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Now then, O people! I advise you and myself to observe taqwa (fear of disobeying
Allah’s commands). Observe taǭwa ‒may Allah have His mercy on you. Whoever
observes taqwa will be protected by Allah; whoever initiates action in total reliance
on Allah’s assistance will need no external support; whoever thanks Him will be
rewarded with further bounties; and whoever invests for Allah’s sake will be
abundantly recompensed. So, make taqwa the pillar of your existence and the
purifying catalyst of your vision. As a rule, all action devoid of (good) intention is
literally null and void; none will be recompensed for good deeds which are not
intended to please Allah without any lucrative drive; straightforward reproach is better
than hidden feelings of resentment; and advice is better than flattery concealing
hatred: O you who believe [in Mûsâ (Moses) (i.e. Jews) and ‘Îsâ
(Jesus) (i.e. Christians)]! Fear Allâh, and believe in His Messenger
(Muhammad صلى ا عليه وسلم ), He will give you a double portion
of His Mercy, and He will give you a light by which you shall walk
(straight). And He will forgive you. And Allâh is Oft-Forgiving, Most
Merciful. [Al-Ĥadîd: 28]
O Muslims!
There is no merit to a nation to set tables full of different copious dishes, to possess
various types of luxurious vehicles, or to buy and wear a whole range of opulent lifestyle
garments. On the contrary, besides believing in Allah and declaring Him to be
one, the whole merit resides in the fact that the nation should have men with sound
health, lucid vision and mind, and unimpeded volition.
A nation can only be considered powerful if, besides believing in Allah and
declaring Him to be one, it has a strong economy; and its economy will not be
powerful unless its savings and reserves exceed what both its population and
government tend to consume, whether they be individuals or groups. This is mainly
because a nation’s savings and reserves in terms of its nutritional resources as well as
its total produce do represent its real power to be handed down to the future
generations.
The staple diet of your Prophet () and his Companions () used to be only dates
and water, although they had conquered immense non-Islamic territories (for
spreading the word of Allah). What is more, their military administration would
simply provide them with small sacks of dates and scanty amounts of drinking water.
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Yes, indeed may Allah guard you! A great nation w ‒ ill enjoy glory and immunity if
its people is characterised by a number of qualities, the most important of which are
moderate spending and consumption. By contrast, extravagance, wasting wealth and
excessive consumption indicate submission to capricious pleasures and instinctive
desires. They are indicators of submission to impulsive caprices which disregard
common good, miscalculate repercussions, abuse individual and communal integrity,
and fail to heed people’s rights.
Excessive consumption is the enemy of economising on riches and resources and
the short-cut to impoverishment and bankruptcy. Preserving one’s property and
resources means preserving one’s faith, good repute, and dignity. The ancient dictum
wisely states, “Whoever preserves his property will, by the same token, preserve the
two noble assets: religion and good repute.” Addressing his relatives, a wise man
said, “Spending the night starved but endowed with entitlements is much better than
spending the night satiated with nutriments but penniless.” In the same vein, Omar
Al-Farūq1 () says, “In my view, irrational spending is more risky for you than
poverty; for scarcity hardly inflicts someone endowed with common sense, and wealth
will generally dissipate if managed by corrupt minds; indeed, optimal management of
existing resources is better than half of one’s earnings.”
O Muslims!
Dissipation of wealth and a weak economy are due to extravagance, wasting
wealth and excessive consumption. Controlling the economy of the Ûmmah and
preserving its resources could only be achieved after restraining the irresponsible
behaviour of dissipaters of wealth and corrupters, be they organizations, institutions,
households, or individuals.
O servants of Allah!
Extravagance manifests itself in exceeding limits, going beyond recognised bounds
in terms of speech, action, and behaviour. Extravagance means ignorance of due
rights and lack of awareness of where and to whom they should be given.
Extravagance equally implies either unnecessary expenditure or pertinent and
necessary expenditure that exceeds the limits of necessity.
1 Al-Farūq ( الفاروق ) is the title of the second Caliph, Omar Ibn Al-Khattāb. He earned this title because
he was an expert jurist who was best known for his pious and just nature. Al-Faruq means the one
who “distinguishes between right and wrong.”
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When our religion permitted us pleasant things and when our Lord reminded us of
His permission for us to enjoy adornments of life, it has been conditioned by His
prohibition of extravagance: O Children of Adam! Take your adornment
(by wearing your clean clothes), while praying and going round
(the Tawâf of) the Ka‘bah, and eat and drink but waste not by
extravagance, certainly He (Allâh) likes not Al-Musrifûn (those who
waste by extravagance) [Al-A’râf: 31]. Wahb Bin Munabbih says, “It is a sort
of extravagance when someone eats and drinks that which he does not possess; and
whatever is beyond sufficiency is wastefulness.”
O Muslims!
Consider this Hadîth: ‘The Prophet () once hosted a disbeliever and asked that
a sheep be milked for him. The disbeliever drank all of its milk; then, the Prophet ()
ordered another sheep to be milked and he drank all of its milk. The disbeliever ended
by drinking the milk of seven sheep. The following day, the man embraced Islam. The
Prophet () had the first sheep milked for the Muslim convert, who drank its milk but
could not finish the milk of the second sheep. So, the Prophet () said, “The believer
ingests in a single intestine whereas the disbeliever ingests in seven intestines.”
[Narrated by Imam Muslim]
Al- afiz Ibn Rajab may Allah have mercy Ĥ ‒ on his soul‒ said, “While eating, the
believer abides by the propriety rules of religion; so, he ingests in one intestine;
however, the disbeliever ingests in seven intestines, as his ravenous appetite is
stimulated by great desire and greed.” Some Muslim scholars say, “When this man
was converted from the disbelief of Jahilîya (i.e. pre-Islamic mode of life) to the
enlightenment of Islam, he got acquainted with his Lord and with the religious rites
he had to perform. Consequently, his mind was more inclined to reckon up his destiny
on Doomsday. As his ambition to adopt a morally elevated lifestyle became
irresistible, he abstained from consuming the surplus of milk offered to him.”
Consider ‒may Allah bless you‒ this ‘seven-intestine’ concept. Look at how our
contemporaries are bound by materialistic drives and lavish spending habits. Sintainted
statistics on consumer behaviour report about what is daily thrown off in
garbage cans and junkyards. In this regard, developed as well as underdeveloped, big
and small countries behave in the same way. There is equally a huge gap between the
rich and the poor, which is mainly due to extravagance, wastefulness, and the ‘sevenintestine’
mode of life.
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In modern terminology, expenditure is referred to as consumption. Producer
countries seek to promote their products by enticing both domestic and foreign buyers
into further consumption. According to their economic principles and marketing rules
based on the ‘seven-intestine’ concept, the more people spend extravagantly, the more
these countries produce. How close this notion of consumption is to consumptive
pathology which has lethal effects!
The principles on which marketing practices and customer enticement into further
consumption are based require intervention on the part of wise men and governments
to protect people, contribute to consumer guidance and rationalisation.
What corrupters and extravagant people do is actually inspired by the ‘sevenintestine’
policy. Their actions include arms race, weapons of mass destruction,
policies of flooding markets, abusive homicide, destructive deforestation,
overgrazing, detrimental irrigation, and monopolising services and facilities. All such
acts represent horrifying instances of extravagance.
It is indeed for some good reason that Allah, Exalted may He be, said: And
follow not the command of Al-Musrifûn [i.e. their chiefs: leaders
who were polytheists, criminals and sinners] [Ash-Shu-arâ: 151]
Who make mischief in the land, and reform not. [Ash-Shu-arâ:
152]. He () also said: Then We fulfilled to them the promise. So We
saved them and those whom We willed, but We destroyed Al-
Musrifûn (i.e. disbelievers in Allah, in His Messengers, extravagants,
transgressors of Allâh’s limits by committing crimes, oppressions,
polytheism and sins). [Al-Anbiyâ: 9]. And He () again said: … and Al-
Musrifûn (i.e. polytheists and arrogants, those who commit great
sins, the transgressors of Allâh’s set limits): they shall be the
dwellers of the Fire! [Ghâfir: 43]
What is indeed most striking about contemporary generations is their relentless
extravagance. Wealthy people are maintaining their extravagant spending behaviour
while those suffering from tight budget are borrowing money in order to indulge in
extravagance and lavish spending on what they do not actually need.
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O Muslims!
Extravagance leads to poverty and neediness. There are many instances of
households which were ably managed by fathers who adopted a moderate strategy of
consumption but were succeeded by extravagant children who are overcome by
opulence. Thus, they gave free rein to their capricious desires until their households
collapsed and they were ruined.
Extravagance breeds low moral standards, such as cowardice, injustice, dishonesty,
and abstention from charitable acts. Strong attachment to the pleasures of life
strengthens one’s bonds with the herein and weakens one’s commitment to sacrifice
and benevolence.
Extravagance also affects health. Empirical evidence shows that overeaters do not
enjoy the same sound health conditions as moderate eaters do. In a Hadîth, we read
that “The worst receptacle one may fill is his own stomach; suffice it to eat a few
mouthfuls of food which would keep one’s metabolism functional; in extreme
cases, it would be enough to reserve one third (of one’s nutritional needs) for food,
one third for beverages, and one third for respiration.” Prophet Muhammad (),
Allah’s select Messenger, indeed spoke the truth. May my father and mother be made
his ransom!2
Extravagance incites people to perpetrate wrongdoing, as people submerged in
extravagance would exclusively seek to satiate their desires by whatever means,
extending their hands to other people’s property using all kinds of indirect and
suspicious methods. Extravagance urges extravagant people to refrain from doing and
serving communal good; for whoever becomes enslaved by the pleasures of life will
devote his whole attention to satisfying his own insatiable desires in terms of food,
clothes, vehicles, and furniture.
O Muslims!
2 This is an English translation of this common Arabic expression ( بأبي وأمي أنت –يا رسول ا ) said
to or about someone one loves very much, but it was especially used with the Prophet (). The
Companions used to say it to him very often.
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The distress and grief infesting families are generally initiated by boastfulness in
expenditure and the manifest, pretentious and shameful display of spending and
luxury. Such habits only result in the accumulation of debts, stress, and the spoiling of
one’s temperament. They could even lead to falling into haram (anything or act that is
Islamically unlawful), depravation and dereliction of one’s obligations vis-à-vis Allah.
Borrowing money for leisure traveling and for throwing such lavish parties is
prompted by nothing else but vanity and unbecoming habits. This has for so many
years –if not for a lifetime‒ burdened heads of families with heavy debts and
embittered their lives. Such negative outcomes are –by your Lord– only caused by
extravagance, wastefulness and the absence of rationalistic disposition.
Those households taking special interest in flatulence, satiety and ardent passion
for renovation and development in the areas of cooking, food and consumables in
general have nothing to offer down the path of righteousness nor do they possess the
will for sacrifice or giving.
Now then, dear brothers and sisters in Islam!
The following excerpts include constants and values pervading our Islamic culture
and venerable heritage; it is the ‘single-intestine’ culture:
Ibn Hubayra says: “When it comes to common sustenance a Muslim may not take
anything beyond what he needs as it is the livelihood of others as much as it is his
own. Equitable distribution of shares among Muslims may only be determined
through what is commonly approved of as tacit understanding of their needs. It
follows then that taking more than one’s share from common sustenance is considered
an infringement on the rights of others that is measured in proportion with the degree
of encroachment therein.”
Sumra Ibn Jundub () was once told: “Your son suffered indigestion from
overeating last night.” He replied: “Had he died because of this I would not have
prayed on him” Commenting on this incident, Sheikh al-Islam, Ibn Taymiyyah, says:
“This means that he would have been involved in taking his own life. Therefore, he
would be considered to have committed suicide.”
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Still in the same vein, Abu Ishaq al Nadhām says: ‘My neighbor, Al Marwazi, saw
me after I had sucked a bunch of sugar canes and picked them up to dispose of them.
He told me: “If you presently have no furnace or children, then give these sticks to
someone who does. Never get into this habit! For the time being you are still single
and at ease, but you never know how many children you may have in the future. Also
bear in mind that disposing of just a little is eventually conducive to much waste.”
Such extravagance is but a form of wastage, destruction, spoiling of the souls and
the environment and deprivation for the coming generations. An ummah (such as
ours) seeking to rise from its stumble must put an end to extravagance and wasteful
spending and invest along the line of righteousness and reform.
I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan: And it is He Who
produces gardens trellised and untrellised, and date-palms, and
crops of different shape and taste (their fruits and their seeds) and
olives, and pomegranates, similar (in kind) and different (in taste).
Eat of their fruit when they ripen, but pay the due thereof
(its Zakât according to Allâh’s Orders 1/10th or 1/20th) on the
day of its harvest, and waste not by extravagance[1]. Verily, He likes
not Al-Musrifûn (those who waste by extravagance). [Al Anaam: 141]
May Allah benefit me and you with the Great Qur'ān and the Guidance of
Muhammad (). I say this, and I ask Allah to forgive my sins, yours, and those of all
the Muslims, so ask Him for forgiveness from every sin, for He is the Forgiving, the
Merciful!
Part Two
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Praise be to Allah! Praise be to Allah Who causes the day and night to alternate
and Who commands the spheres within the universe to move around and Who
commands all that is ordained! Verily, in this is a lesson for those who
understand. (See Verse 8:44). (Tafsir At-Tabarî). [Al Omran: 13]. I
bear witness that there is no deity but Allah, The One, The Subduer. I also bear
witness that our Master and Prophet, Muhammad, is His servant and chosen
Messenger. May Allah send His Salat (Graces, Honours, and Mercy) and Peace upon
him, his family, wives and Companions, the tabi'īn (the contemporaries of the
Companions of the Prophet ‒‒ after his death) and those who follow their footsteps in
righteousness from among the fasting, the praying, and those seeking his pardon by
dawn.
O Muslims!
A Muslim must realize that the prohibition of extravagance and wastefulness and
the obligation to observe thriftiness are meant to help carry out great goals and
sublime objectives. Moderation is bound to yield imposing endeavors with high
ambitions for achievement in earnest and clear from all forms of amusement and base
gratification. Such endeavors are to address the Ummah’s concerns and affairs in this
life and the Hereafter.
O servants of Allah! In this context, it behoves every Muslim to set out with
serious intent and wholeheartedness for the rescue, relief and support of his brothers
and sisters in the Shām (Syria) as an act of Jihad 3 in the way of Allah with the view to
seeking His satisfaction. The Shām –Allah willing– shall not be a safe haven for
sectarianism and its despotic advocates. The truth must come out in the face of this
unjust aggression and brutal assault.
3 Jihad is commonly misunderstood as meaning only "Muslim Holy War" or "to spread Islam by the
sword", but its broad meaning is "to struggle in the way of Allah". Other words derived from its Arabic
root (J-H-D) include "effort," "labour," and "fatigue." Essentially Jihad is an effort to practice religion in
the face of oppression and persecution. The effort may come in fighting the evil in your own heart, or
in standing up to a dictator. Military effort is included as an option, but as a last resort and not as the
stereotype would have one believe.
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They wish for this Ummah to slip into the arena of civil bloodshed, ideological
conflict and abominable sectarian violence. Their goal is to inflict upon it all forms of
torture through killing, fighting, displacement , destruction, tearing and ripping. They
have forged Islamic values, spoiled brotherly relations and abused national bonds.
It fills the heart with grief indeed to see from time to time one of those so-called
leaders step forward to call out that the liberation of Palestine starts from this or that
place, pointing to an Islamic capital or nation with such an absurdity that no rational
human being –let alone a Muslim– can possibly fathom out. It is that type of absurdity
and savagery that makes of a Muslim a target and Islamism a pure inferno. This is
manifested in such a bloody attitude that is geared to tear the Islamic Ummah apart,
unmask the wickedness of the enemy and expose the treacherous within it. Verily, this
is one of those dubious undertakings being advanced under the umbrella of foreign
powers in order to draw them to Muslim lands.
Ask the Syrian people what those have done to them in violation of the bounds of
legality and the decent Islamic norms and laws; all this killing, destruction, torture
and displacement in an effort to drag the Ummah into an endless, devastating and
futile confrontation. These are but a handy tool to help carry out that ultimate plan of
deception where they would serve as potential death squads to destroy the believers
and the innocent among Muslims in such a gruesome and bloody procession.
Verily, the time has come to be honest with ourselves and to let the truth out in the
face of this unjust tyranny and outrageous aggression against our brothers and sisters
in Syria. These are wars openly waged against Islam and Muslims. Being aware of
these facts is instrumental in helping preserve for the nation its unity, solidarity,
stability and invincibility.
Scholars, intellectuals as well as opinion leaders, politicians and media institutions
are –across the board and without exception– called upon to assume their
responsibilities at all levels and make public their positions in this regard in order to
rally the Ummah, maintain its unity and protect its peoples. Carrying out
responsibility in this respect amounts to helping expose the reality on the ground in all
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clarity, protecting our brothers and sisters in Syria and saving them from destruction,
tyranny and displacement as an act of Jihad in the way of Allah with the view to
making His word the uppermost and supporting our oppressed brothers and sisters.
Now then,
We all know without a shadow of a doubt that those exercising oppression shall, in
the end, get a taste of their own medicine, and that evil shall never breed goodness.
No wonder, this is but a trial for the Ummah in order that Allâh may test
(or purify) the believers (from sins). [Al Omran: 141], distinguish the
wicked (disbelievers, polytheists and doers of evil deeds) from the
good (believers of Islâmic Monotheism and doers of righteous
deeds). [Al Anfal: 37], and make victorious the people of righteousness over those
of falsehood who have succumbed to the will of Satan who has made them
forget the remembrance of Allâh. They are the party
of Shaitân (Satan). Verily, it is the party ofShaitan (Satan) that will
be the losers! [Al Mujadalah: 19].\
O fear Allah –may Allah have mercy on you– and send your Salat and peace on the
Mercy and Blessing Allah bestowed on you, your Prophet Muhammad (), the
Messenger of Allah, as Your Lord commanded you to do in His wise Book where He
so truthfully and graciously said: Allâh sends His Salât (Graces, Honours,
Blessings, Mercy) on the Prophet (Muhammad لم ه وس لى ا علي ص), and
also His angels (ask Allâh to bless and forgive him). O you who
believe! Send your Salât[1] on (ask Allâh to bless) him (Muhammad
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صلى ا عليه وسلم ), and (you should) greet (salute) him with the Islâmic
way of greeting (salutation i.e. As-Salâmu ‘Alaikum. [Al Ahzab: 56]
O Allah! Send Your Salat (Graces, Honours and Mercy) and Peace upon Your
Servant and Messenger, our beloved and Your Chosen Prophet, his kind and virtuous
family, and his wives: the mothers of the believers. O Allah! Be pleased with the Four
Caliphs, Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Ali, all the Companions, the tabi’în and those
who righteously follow them till the Day of Judgment. O Allah! Be also pleased with
us all, along with them, by Your Pardon, Generosity and Bounty, O You, the Most
Generous and Bounteous of all!
O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and
Muslims! O Allah! Grant glory to Islam and Muslims! Humiliate polytheism and
polytheists (who associate partners with You) and fail the tyrants, atheists and all the
enemies of Muslims and Islam!
O Allah! Grant us security in our homelands! Make good our leaders and those
responsible for our affairs, and make our leadership from among those who fear You,
who guard taqwa (fear of Allah), and follow your acceptance, O You, Lord of
al-'ālamîn (the worlds)!
O Allah! Grant our Imam and leader a success of Your own! Honour him with Your
worshiping! Make through him Your word the uppermost! Make him an asset for
Islam and Muslims! Clothe him with the garments of good health! Prolong his life in
your obedience! O Allah! Grant him, his Deputies, his brothers and assistants success
to do whatever you love and accept and guide them to piety and righteousness!
O Allah! Guide those who are responsible for the Muslims’ affairs to work in
accordance with your Holy Book and the Sunnah of Your Prophet’s () and make
them a mercy for your believing servants! Gather them around Your Truth and
Guidance, O You, Lord of al-'ālamîn (the worlds)!
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O Allah! Foreordain for the nation of Islam a matter (an affair) of rationality
(guidance) where the people of piety are honoured, the people of sin are guided,
enjoining Al-Ma‘rûf (good deeds) is ordered, and Al-Munkar (bad deeds or evil) is
forbidden! O Allah! You are capable of doing everything!
O Allah, the Protector of believers, the Supporter of the defenseless, the Reliever
of those in need, the Ultimate Hope, the Refuge of the weak! Grant relief to our
brothers and sisters in Syria! O Allah! Grant rescue to our brothers and sisters in
Syria! Bring an end to their suffering! Grant them speedy relief and draw them closer
at heart! O Allah! Grant them an aid, a fighting power and a triumph of your own!
O Allah! We beseech You to grant them great victory, relief, mercy and
perseverance! O Allah! Make appropriate their counsel, agile their moves in combat
and strong their resolve, and unite their word! O Allah! Bestow Your mercy on those
nursing infants and kneeling (praying) elderly among them!
O Allah! Defeat the tyrants and oppressors in Syria and those who sympathize
and side with them! O Allah! Disperse their gathering, scatter their crowds, and tear
them apart! O Allah! Make their plotting to their own detriment!
O Allah! Destroy the usurpers and occupiers among the Jews for You are certainly
able to do so! O Allah! Inflict Your wrath which is so inevitably destined to strike the
people who are Mujrimûn (criminals, polytheists or sinners)! O Allah! We pray You to
drive them off to their own detriment and seek refuge in You from their evils!
O Allah! Guide us to the path of repentance to You and reliance on You and open
up for us the doors of acceptance and gratification! O Allah! We implore You to
accept our pious deeds and prayers. We implore You to make righteous our deeds,
expiate from us our wrongdoings, lead us to redemption, forgive our sins and bestow
on us Your mercy, You, the Most Merciful!
… Our Lord! Give us in this world that which is good and in the
Hereafter that which is good, and save us from the torment of the
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Fire! [Al-Baqarah: 201]. Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If
You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall
certainly be of the losers. [Al-A'raf: 23]
Glorified be Your Lord, the Lord of Honour and Power! You are free from what
they attribute unto You! May peace be upon all the messengers! And all praise be to
Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!
Translated by Al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University.
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