From `Abdul `Aziz Bin `Abdullah Ibn Baz to every Muslim who may see it. May Allah guide them and me to the path of His believing Servants! May Allah save them and me from the path of those who have incurred Allah's anger and those who have gone astray, Amen! May the peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah be upon you. I wrote these words to advise and remind Muslims according to Allah's, the Exalted, statement,
And remind (by preaching the Qur'ân, O Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳـﻠﻢ), for verily, the reminding profits the believers.
Help you one another in AlBirr and AtTaqwâ (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression.
By Al'Asr (the time). Verily, man is in loss, Except those who believe (in Islâmic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, and recommend one another to the truth [i.e. order one another to perform all kinds of good deeds (AlMa'ruf) which Allâh has ordained, and abstain from all kinds of sins and evil deeds (AlMunkar which Allâh has forbidden], and recommend one another to patience (for the sufferings, harms, and injuries which one may encounter in Allâh's Cause during preaching His religion of Islâmic Monotheism or Jihâd).
Religion is based on advising one another. Upon this, we said: For whom? He replied: For Allah, His Book, His Messenger, and for the leaders and the general Muslims.
These decisive Ayahs and the Noble Hadith clearly indicate that it is an Islamic obligation to remind, recommend, and advise each other to follow the right path. That is because advice benefits the Believers, directs the ignorant, guides those who are astray, awakens the negligent, reminds the forgetful, and encourages the learned
to act according to their knowledge, and many other benefits. Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) created the entire creation only to worship and obey Him. He sent down Messengers to remind them of this, bring them glad tidings, and warn them as Allah, the Exalted, states,
And I (Allâh) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone).
Obey Allâh, and obey the Messenger (Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ); but if you turn away, then the duty of Our Messenger is only to convey (the Message) clearly.
Messengers as bearers of good news as well as of warning in order that mankind should have no plea against Allâh after the (coming of) Messengers.
So remind them (O Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ) you are only one who reminds.
Every knowledgeable person should remind others, advise, and invite them to follow the Cause of Allah as much as he can to fulfill the Duty of Da`wah (calling to Islam), follow the example of the Noble Prophets (peace and blessing be upon them), and avoid committing the sin of concealment which Allah has warned against in the decisive Qur'anic verses. Allah, the Exalted, states,
Verily, those who conceal the clear proofs, evidence and the guidance, which We have sent down, after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, they are the ones cursed by Allâh and cursed by the cursers.
Whoever guides to something good, will have a reward similar to that of its doer.
If anyone calls others to follow right guidance, his reward will be equivalent to those who follow him (in righteousness) without their reward being diminished in any respect. And if anyone invites others to follow error, his sin will be equivalent to that of the people who follow him (in sinfulness) without their sins being diminished in any respect.
If you understand the above statement, I advise you and myself to have Taqwa (fearing Allah as He should be feared) secretly and in publicly, in distress and prosperity. This is truly the counsel of Allah and the counsel of
His Messenger (peace be upon him). Allah, the Exalted, states, And verily, We have recommended to the people of the Scripture before you, and to you (O Muslims) that you (all) fear Allâh The Prophet (peace be upon him), in his sermons, used to say, "I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to hear and obey..." Taqwa is a comprehensive word comprising all goodness. It is concisely defined as the performance of the ordinances of Allah and abstaining from His prohibitions out of loyalty to Him, eagerness, and desire to win His reward and fear of His punishment. Allah commands His Servants to fear Him, and in return He promises them to make their affairs easy for them, relieve their distresses, provide their livelihood, forgive their sins, and award them with Paradise. Allah, the Exalted, states,
O mankind! Fear your Lord and be dutiful to Him! Verily, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) is a terrible thing.
O you who believe! Fear Allâh and keep your duty to Him. And let every person look to what he has sent forth for the morrow, and fear Allâh. Verily, Allâh is AllAware of what you do.
And whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will make a way for him to get out (from every difficulty). And He will provide him from (sources) he never could imagine.
Verily, for the Muttaqûn (the pious See V.2:2) are Gardens of delight (Paradise) with their Lord.
and whosoever fears Allâh and keeps his duty to Him, He will expiate from him his sins, and will enlarge his reward. There are many Ayahs (Qur'anic verses) comprising this meaning.
O Muslims! Be mindful of Allah (in everything you do), employ Taqwa in all cases, and reproach yourselves for all your sayings, deeds, and dealings. Thus, you can do any permissible act according to Shari`ah (Islamic law) and abstain from any prohibited act according to Shari`ah even if you desire it badly, because the reward of Allah is better and will last forever. Whoever forsakes any act out of the fear of Allah,
Allah will compensate him with something better. Whenever the servants watch and fear Allah by doing what He enjoins and abstaining from what He prohibits, Allah, the Glorified, will grant them the reward of Taqwa including honor, success, abundant sustenance, a way out from distresses, happiness and survival in this life and in the Hereafter.
It is not hidden, for those endowed with good sense and insight, that hardheartedness and renunciation of the Hereafter, and neglect of the causes of salvation along with deep involvement in this life and assiduous pursuits to attain the worldly pleasures greedily paying no attention to the legal and the illegal afflicted the Muslims. Most Muslims continue to indulge in whims and different forms of diversion and negligence that happened as a consequence of the hearts' renunciation of the Hereafter and neglect of the Remembrance of Allah, having love for Him, or pondering over His bounties and blessings, and apparent and hidden miracles. This is because Muslims are not ready to meet Allah and do not remember that they will stand before Allah (on the Day of Resurrection) and after this awesome event they will be admitted into the Paradise or the Hellfire.
O Muslim people! Save yourselves, repent to your Lord, know more about your Deen, hasten to obey the ordinances of Allah, and abstain from His prohibitions to win honor, safety, guidance, and happiness in this life and in the Hereafter. Beware of being engrossed in the life of this world and preferring it to the Hereafter, for this really is an attribute of the enemies of Allah; the disbelievers and the hypocrite. It is one of the main reasons for torment in this life and in the Hereafter. Allah, the Exalted, describes His enemies stating,
Verily, these (disbelievers) love the present life of this world, and put behind them a heavy Day (that will be hard).
So let not their wealth nor their children amaze you (O Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ); in reality Allâh's Plan is to punish them with these things in the life of this world, and that their souls shall depart (die) while they are disbelievers.
You have not been created for the life of this world but for the Hereafter. Thus, you have been commanded to prepare for the Hereafter. This life was created for you to help you in the worship of Allah, the Creator, to facilitate your way to meet Him and earn His grace, honor, and be close to Him in the Gardens of pleasure (Paradise). It is unacceptable that a wise person abandons the worship of his Creator and Sustainer denying himself the honor that Allah has set for him. It is unacceptable to be preoccupied by the preference of one's lower desires and the greediness to attain the passing fancies of the life of this world. Allah has promised Muslims a greater status and noble reward in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. Every Muslim should beware of seduction by the majority who say, "People follow such and such and they used to do such and such, so I will do like them." This is really a great disaster which has brought about the perdition of many past generations. O wise person, be mindful, reproach yourself, and cling to AlHaqq (the Truth) even if people abandon it. Beware of every act prohibited by Allah, even if people do it. The truth should always be followed. Allah, the Exalted, says,
And if you obey most of those on the earth, they will mislead you far away from Allâh's Path.
And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.
I would like to conclude my admonition with five matters which comprise all goodness: First: Sincerity to Allah in all words and deeds of worship and abstinence from all types of Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship) whether minor or major. This is the most foremost duty