The Obligation of Protecting Oneself and the Family from the Fire – Sheikh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez Bin ‘Abdillaah Bin ‘Abdir-Rahmaan Bin Baaz #islam

The Obligation of Protecting Oneself and the Family from the Fire
By Sheikh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez Bin ‘Abdillaah Bin ‘Abdir-Rahmaan Bin Baaz
Taken from Majmoo’ Fataawa Wa Maqaalaat Mutanawwia’ of Sheikh ‘Abdul-‘Azeez Bin ‘Abdillah Bin ‘Abdir-Rahmaan Bin Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) Vol.9, Pp. 136-141-239. 1

In the Name of Allah, and may peace and blessing be upon the Messenger of Allah. To Proceed:
Allah The Majestic and The Most High says in His noble Book:

“O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones, over which are (appointed) Angels stern (and) severe who do not disobey Allah in what He has ordered them with and they do that which they are commanded.” 2

Allah, free is He from all imperfection, orders His believing slaves to save themselves and their families from the punishment of Allah, and that is through having taqwa of Allah and enjoining it upon the family. So, protection from the fire happens by having taqwa of Allah and being upright upon His religion. And likewise with the family, you advise them to have taqwa of Allah and to be upright upon His religion, from the parents, the children, the brothers and all the close relatives, and that is by counselling with the truth and co-operating upon goodness and piety and advising and enjoining the good and forbidding the evil.

This is how the believer is with his family, his believing brothers and other than them. With the call to Allah, The Mighty and The Majestic, he moves quickly in protecting himself and protecting other than him from the punishment of Allah. And this affair requires patience, sincerity to Allah, truthfulness and continuation. And the most deserving of the people of your goodness and kindness are your family and your close relatives, as he (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) said:

“Every one of you is a guardian and every one of you will be asked about those under his care. And the ruler is a guardian and will be asked about his subjects, and the man is a guardian over his family and will be asked about those under his care.” 3

And the greatest guardianship is being concerned with that which is related to their salvation from the punishment of Allah, with you counselling them to have taqwa of Allah and with you enjoining upon them the command of Allah, warning them away from the prohibitions of Allah and continuing in this great good until you meet your lord, as Allah The Mighty and The Majestic says in His noble Book:

“And worship Allah and do not associate anything as a partner with Him…”

Then He, free is He from all imperfection, says:

“…and show kindness to the parents, the close relatives, the orphans and the poor…” 4

So He, free is He from all imperfection, after ordering with His right – and it is His tawheed and having sincerity for Him and abandoning associating partners with Him – He ordered after that goodness to the parents and the close relatives, and they are the people of your house.

So, it is obligatory upon every Muslim to give importance to this subject, and that he strives to become the cause of their salvation on the Day of Judgement because of his advice to them and his undertaking over them and his enjoining of the good upon them and forbidding them from evil.
And like this, it is obligatory upon the Muslim to be likewise with his Muslim brothers, and that he be an adviser with insight who directs to the good, hoping for the reward of Allah and fearing His punishment, as He, free is He from all imperfection says:

“And the believing men and the believing women, they are the allies of one another. They enjoin the good and forbid the evil…” 5

This is how the believers are between themselves and with their families. They establish that which is obligatory amongst their families and they establish that which is obligatory amongst their Muslim brothers, hoping for the reward of Allah and fearing the punishment of Allah.
And indeed, Allah has said to His Prophet, upon him be peace and blessing:

“And enjoin upon your family the prayer and be patient in offering them…”

And He, free is He from all imperfection mentioned about His Prophet and Messenger Ismaa’eel, upon him be peace and blessing, that he was true to what he promised and a Messenger and a Prophet, and he used to enjoin upon his family the prayer and the zakaat and his Lord was pleased with him. And that is in His Saying The Most High in Surah Maryam:

“And mention in the Book (the Qur’an) Ismaa’eel, indeed he was true to what he promised and he was a Messenger and a Prophet. And he used to enjoin upon his family the prayer and the zakaat and his lord was pleased with him.” 6

So, your family, your children and your close relatives are the most deserving of the people of your goodness and kindness and to move quickly in saving them from the fire, for this is from the greatest of acts of kindness to them in acting upon the previous verse, and it is:

“O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire..” 7

So, this great affair, is more important than you giving them dirhams and deenaars and what they need in the world, for moving quickly to save them from the punishment of Allah and their salvation from the anger of Allah on the Day of Judgement is an important and great matter. And being kind to them with acts of charity and spending (upon them) is from the generality of goodness which you are commanded with. However, more important than that is that you counsel them with the obedience of Allah and enjoin upon them that which Allah made obligatory upon them according to your capability, and that you prevent them from what Allah has made prohibited for them, and that you are upright upon that and that you become a good model and example (for them) in every act of goodness.

So, you start with yourself, until they take you as an example in every act of goodness. And from that, is to hasten to the prayer and to preserve it in the congregation, to preserve the tongue from that which is not appropriate, honouring the close relatives and the neighbours, enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, calling to Allah and other than that from the ways of goodness. You should be a good example to the people of your house, to those that you sit with, to your colleagues and to your neighbours. And this position requires patience and sincerity to Allah and truthfulness, for it is a great position, the position of calling, directing and advising, a position of moving quickly in saving yourself and your family from the fire, acting in accordance with the Saying of Allah, free is He from all imperfection:

“O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones…” 8

Allah, free is He from all imperfection, called them (the people in this verse) with the description of eemaan (belief) because eemaan orders them with this affair and calls them to it, despite the affair (of saving yourselves and your families) being obligatory upon everyone. So, it is obligatory upon all those who are (Islamically) responsible that they fear Allah and strive to save themselves and their families and all of the people from the punishment of Allah. So, every responsible person is ordered with that, however, the people of eemaan are more specific for this order and the obligation upon them is greater because they believed in Allah and knew what is obligatory upon and so the obligation upon them is greater. And due to this, He, free is He from all imperfection, addressed them with His Saying:

“O you who believe, save yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is men and stones…” 9

So beware of being from its fuel. Then He, free is He from all imperfection says:

“…over which are (appointed) Angels stern (and) severe who do not disobey Allah in what He has ordered them with and they do that which they are commanded.” 10

The meaning (of this) is that they (the Angels) carry out what they are ordered to do. They are not like the people of the world who may perhaps be treacherous and perhaps bribery may benefit them (from carrying out their orders). As for these Angels, then it is not possible for them to leave what they were ordered to do. Rather, they carry out what they are ordered with from entering you and other than you into the fire.

So beware of meeting your lord and you are upon a condition in which you anger Allah, free is He from all imperfection, and obligate your (own) entry into the fire. And it is imperative to have a continual concern for this matter, and truthfulness and sincerity, and to ask Allah The Magnificent and The Most High to aid you and to grant you success. And it is obligatory that you be a righteous example to your family so that they can see from you haste and racing towards good deeds until they take you as an example in acts of goodness. And it is imperative that they also see from you precaution against evil deeds and staying away from them until they take you as an example in abandoning evil. And this abode is the abode of struggle and the abode of patience and co- operation upon goodness and taqwa and mutually advising one another with the truth and patience upon it. As for the other abode, then it is the abode of recompense of that which you did from good or evil. And this abode, meaning the abode of the world, it is the abode of action and the abode of preparation. And due to this, He, free is He from all imperfection says:

“By time. Indeed mankind is in a state of loss, except for those who believe and who do righteous actions and who mutually advise one another with the truth and who mutually advise one another with patience.” 11

And He, free is He from all imperfection says:

“…and co-operate upon goodness and taqwa and do not co-operate upon sin and transgression.” 12

And the Prophet (sallalahu alaihi wa sallam) said:

“The religion is sincerity, the religion is sincerity, the religion is sincerity.” It was said: ‘To whom O’ Messenger of Allah?’

He said: “To Allah, to His Book, to His Messenger and to the leaders of the Muslims and their common people”. 13

So, it is imperative to mutually counsel one another with the truth and to advise one another and to have truthfulness and patience until you meet your lord and you are one who is patient, expecting a reward and one who strives hard. And due to this, He The Magnificent and The Most High says:

“And those who strive in our cause, We will for a surety guide them to Our Paths. And indeed Allah is with those that do good.” 14

So, the truthful one who strives hard for the sake of Allah, Allah guides him, aids him directs him. And His Saying:

“And those who strive in our cause…”

means: strive against your own selves and strive against the enemies of Allah, and strive against the shaytaan, and strive against the desires. And due to this, He – free is He from all imperfection – has made striving (jihaad) general in the aforementioned verse so that it covers (the different) types of striving. And He says:

“And those who strive in our cause…” i.e. for the sake of Allah “…We will for a surety guide them to Our Paths. And indeed Allah is with those that do good.”

So, work hard in the obedience of your lord and strive hard against your soul until you become upright. And strive hard for the one who is under your charge until he/she becomes upright, and Allah is with you:

“And those who strive in our cause, We will for a surety guide them to Our Paths. And indeed Allah is with those that do good.”

We ask Allah to make us and all the Muslims from those who strive hard in His path, and we ask Allah to make us all from amongst the callers to guidance and the supporters of truth, and that he grants us the success and haste towards every good and to beware of every evil, indeed He is The All-Hearing, The Near, and may peace and blessing be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his companions.’

1 Translator’s note: Daar-ul-Muayyid, Riyadh, 1st Edition, 1421/2000, compiled by Muhammad Bin Sa’d Ash-Shuwway’ir. This short talk was given by the Sheikh in Masjid-ul-Iftaa in Riyadh on Wednesday the 6th Jumaada Ath-Thaaneeyah 1415 Hijrah (as mentioned on page 136, footnote No.1).
2 Surah At-Tahreem, 6
3 Narrated by al-Bukhaaree in the chapter of Jum’ah, No. 844 and Muslim in the chapter of Al- Imaarah, No. 3408.
4 Surah An-Nisaa, 36
5 Surah At-Tawbah, 71
6 Surah Maryam, 45-46
7 Surah At-Tahreem, 6
8 Surah Tahreem, 6
9 Surah Tahreem, 6
10 Surah Tahreem, 6
11 Surah Al-‘Asr
12 Surah Al-Maaida, 2
13 [Translator’s note:] This narration has been authenticated (as saheeh) by Sheikh Al-Albaanee in Al-Irwa No.26
14 Surah Al-‘Ankaboot, 69
Narrated by At-Tirmidhee in Al-Birr Was-Sillat No.1849 and An-Nasaaeee in Al-Bay’ah No.4128.

Translated by: Abu Yusuf, Sagheer Ibn ‘Abdir-Rasheed Al-Kashmeeree