From `Abdul`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz to my fellow Muslims; may Allah guide them and me to walk in the path of His believing servants and to hold fast to the truth and correct knowledge of religion; and may Allah safeguard them and me from the path of those against whom He is angry and those who are astray Amen!
Assalamu `alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh (May Allah's Peace, Mercy, and Blessings be upon you!)
I render this advice and reminder to you as a duty ordained in the Qur'anic verse that reads: And remind (by preaching the Qur'ân, O Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ), for verily, the reminding profits the believers.
And in another Qur'anic verse in which Allah (Exalted be He) says: Help you one another in AlBirr and AtTaqwâ (virtue, righteousness and piety); but do not help one another in sin and transgression.
Also, the Prophet (peace be upon him) is reported to have said, Religion is advice. Upon this we said: For whom? He replied: For Allah, His Book, His Messenger and for the leaders and the general Muslims.
According to another Prophetic Hadith: A faithful believer to a faithful believer is like the bricks of a wall, enforcing each other. While saying so, the Prophet (peace be upon him) clasped his hands, by interlacing his fingers.
He is also reported in another Hadith to have said, The similitude of believers in regard to mutual love, affection, fellowfeeling is that of one body; when any limb of it aches, the whole body aches, because of fever and sleeplessness.
Everyone is familiar about the heedlessness and apathy that have befallen the Muslims toward the purpose for which they have been created, and the devotion of most of them to living this worldly life and enjoying its transient pleasures and spending all their time on its various means and activities. They, on the other hand, have forgotten the Hereafter and preparing for it. As a consequence, this has led them to split, have differences, and suffer enmity and feud among themselves. Furthermore, attitudes of allegiance and hostility have come to be based on the fleeting and transient interests of the worldly life, disregarding the Hereafter and the necessary provision for it.
This has resulted in a number of evils, one of which is that the hearts of those people have become diseased and many of them have even met their death. This is because the life and health of hearts can only be maintained through the Remembrance of Allah, preparing for the Meeting with Him, adhering to His Commands and having awe, love, and fear toward Him and hankering for the great rewards promised by Him. These meanings are related in the following Qur'anic verses that read:
O you who believe! Answer Allâh (by obeying Him) and (His) Messenger when he (ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ) calls you to that which will give you life
And thus We have sent to you (O Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭ ﺳﻠﻢ) Ruh (a Revelation, and a Mercy) of Our Command. You knew not what is the Book, nor what is Faith? But We have made it (this Qur'ân) a light wherewith We guide whosoever of Our slaves We will. And verily, you (O Muhammad ﺻﻠﻰ ﺍﷲ ﻋﻠﻴﻪ ﻭ ﺳﻠﻢ) are indeed guiding (mankind) to the Straight Path (i.e. Allâh's Religion of Islâmic Monotheism).
Is he who was dead (without Faith by ignorance and disbelief) and We gave him life (by knowledge and Faith) and set for him a light (of Belief) whereby he can walk amongst men ? like him who is in the darkness (of disbelief, polytheism and hypocrisy) from which he can never come out?
The life of a heart, its health, light, brightness, strength, and resolve is determined according to its faith in and love for Allah, its eagerness to meet Him and its obedience to Him and His Messenger. Conversely, when a heart is in unawareness of Allah and His right, is far away from showing obedience to Him and to His Messenger and does not remember his Lord or recite His Book, the heart becomes diseased, dark, and confused. In this way, Satan overcomes hearts and fills them with false promises and hopes. He sows in them harmful seeds that will end their lives, eliminate their light, and turn them away from every act of goodness and lead them to all evil.
And whosoever turns away blindly from the remembrance of the Most Gracious (Allâh) (i.e. this Qur'ân and worship of Allâh), We appoint for him Shaitan (Satan devil) to be a Qarîn (a companion) to him. And verily, they (Satans / devils) hinder them from the Path (of Allâh), but they think that they are guided aright!
That He (Allâh) may make what is thrown in by Shaitân (Satan) a trial for those in whose hearts is a disease (of hypocrisy and disbelief) and whose hearts are hardened. And certainly, the Zalimûn (polytheists and wrongdoers) are in an opposition faroff (from the truth against Allâh's Messenger and the believers).
Shaitân (Satan) threatens you with poverty and orders you to commit Fahshâ' (evil deeds, illegal sexual intercourse, sins)
and make promises to them." But Satan promises them nothing but deceit.
Hence, we all should turn to Almighty Allah in repentance and fill our hearts with love, awe, fear, hope and eagerness toward Him. Also, we have to show keenness to obey Him and His Messenger (peace be upon him), and on this our feelings of love and hatred ought to be based: We have to love the believers, be loyal to them, and support them regarding that which is right; in contrast, we should dislike the unbelievers and hypocrites and treat them as enemies. We have to be on our guard against their deceit and cunning and against being inclined to them or desirous of the fleeting worldly pleasures they enjoy.
"And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islâmic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him (in Islâm) before the torment comes upon you, (and) then you will not be helped. "And follow the best of that which is sent down to you from your Lord (i.e. this Qur'ân, do what it orders you to do and keep away from what it forbids), before the torment comes on you suddenly while you perceive not!" Lest a person should say: "Alas, my grief that I was undutiful to Allâh (i.e. I have not done what Allâh has ordered