 عوذ بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم الحمد لله رب العالمين وصلى الله عليه وسيدنا وحبيب قلوبنا وشفيع نفوس أأب القاسم محمد وعلى آل بإنته الطيبين الطاهرين المعصومين لاسيما بقية الله روحي وأرواح العالمين اللي تراب مقدمه الفداب بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم رب الشرح ليصدري ويسل لي أمر وحل الأقدة من لساني يفقه قولي ومع بعد رسبكت السكوليين أصدرين وخائرين السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته أولاً أردت أن أردت أردت أردتنا أردتنا لأمام صاحب العصر والزمان على إمامنا الثلاثة إمام الصادق عليه أفضل الصلاة والسلام في which we have commemorated it إن شاء الله the first of three nights dedicated to the person that is the ocean of knowledge the man that was attributed to delivering and exploring the school of thought that we have today that's why we refer to it as a jafery school of thought and when we come forth and try to commemorate such a great man with the limited time that we have when we first look at this great man إمام جعفر الصادق when we look at this great character there's so many dimensions to his particular character we can explore on the first level we can look at إمام الصادق and say and look into his perspectives when the exploration of knowledge that's one aspect another aspect we can look at is how is it that he could and what managed to deliver the information which is the teachings of أهل البيت Furthermore, how did he act under the tyrant of his time and how can we act other people can come forth and say we can explore إمام الصادق's life by analyzing the debates that إمام الصادق had as in we know that إمام الصادق and we have a large collection of إمام الصادق's teachings and إمام الصادق's debates وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله in which he debates the atheists in which he debates the Christians in which he debates the Jews in which he debates other religions whether man-made or came from a particular book now taking that into perspective now there's many people that come forth and want to know إمام الصادق and إمام الصادق shouldn't be explored in three particular days إمام الصادق we need months to explore this great man but to deliver it Insha'Allah in these particular three nights I want to dissect three particular aspects of importance of إمام الصادق's life to our life trying to explore particular questions that have been asked in the past and especially for tonight's topic we want to explore إمام الصادق in one particular faculty in which he tries to allow us to understand الله سبحانه وتعالى and the way that he has given us this life what do I mean people may come forth and ask what is Allah's purpose for us some people may come forth and ask why has Allah created me what is the parameters that I can be within has Allah سبحانه وتعالى allowed me to do whatever I want has Allah already predestined everything for me has Allah already written when I am born that I will do A, B, C, and D and my مصير is either Hellfire or Heaven or do I have a freedom of choice is it one of the extremes or is it something in the middle what are the different ideas because when we look at إمام الصادق's life we can like we said there's many aspects we can analyze إمام الصادق's life but إمام الصادق سبحان الله every single إمام knows exactly what you're about to ask and they give you exact response that will suffice I'll give you an example before we start the topic for tonight there was a person I was reading today with إمام الصادق the person that knew that إمام الصادق was a great debater that's what he called him this person's name was عبد الملك the narration says that this person عبد الملك was wanting to know إمام الصادق and wanted to go towards إمام الصادق to debate him because he thought that he had a حجة he thought that he could have a chance debating the إمام إمام جعفر الصادق so he goes towards مدينة because everyone thought that what إمام جعفر الصادق usually in مدينة he goes it was what it was a hajj period they've told him إمام جعفر الصادق actually in hajj go towards إمام جعفر الصادق over there you'll find him and سبحان الله this person goes towards مكة and إمام جعفر الصادق this is how we want to analyze these people and how they had knowledge from الله سبحانه وتعالى instilled into them and how he knew exactly what that person came for what he wanted to know and how to respond to that particular person on the first level this person comes he doesn't know إمام صادق he doesn't know what he looks like who his companions are he goes around the كعبة while the people are circulating the كعبة إمام صادق is one of the people that are going around the كعبة and تواف he bumps shoulders with إمام إمام looks at him look at the perfection of the wording of the إمام the إمام looks at him says what's your name the person looks at إمام صادق he says they call me عبد الملك or my name is عبد الملك look at the response straight away of the إمام he says this ملك that you are a servant for is he a king of the earth or the king of the heavens straight away doesn't leave anything to chance doesn't leave him to ask his question straight away the man is thinking how on earth does he know that I wanted to ask this particular question does Allah exist or doesn't He so إمام looks at him whilst he is thinking he says let me finish my circle emulating and then I will come towards you and answer your question he finishes his تواف he goes to that man he comes towards him he says you have come to see me is that correct he says yes he says you have questions for me he says yes he says in regards to the Lord is it not the existence or the non-existence the man replies he says yes he says let me ask you look how the إمام replies before we go into the depth of the topic for today the إمام replies by saying have you gone to the very east of the world the man says no he says have you gone to the very west of the world he says no he says do you know that there are layers of this earth he says yes he says do you know if there's anything in these layers he says I'm not sure but I don't think so he says have you been to the heavens and seen the layers of the heavens he says no he says then how can you deny something not knowing if it exists in these places that you haven't explored how can you deny the essence of الله سبحانه وتعالى that there is a Creator that there might be signs that will lead you towards the Creator somewhere in this universe that's being created if you haven't even explored outside your premises or outside where you find comforting straight away your response the person doesn't even say anything he's responded before he's even started his argument that's the power of the إمام that's the aspect of knowledge taken from Allah سبحانه وتعالى that the essence of this topic for tonight is to look at in perspective of the person that we commemorate for tonight two particular aspects of the utmost importance in the modern day society and I'll tell you why it has the significance this aspect is balancing between predestination and free will now shall we explore the topic for today we want to look at the extremes to define it what is predestination or what is free will in its absolute what schools of thought agree with these concepts and what does the school of thought of جعفر صادق say about it what's the جعفر the school of thought say about the concept of predestination versus free will now let's take it into the concept we have one extreme known as free will they say this is an extreme of free will and this is the opinion of them at the lights group come forth and they say everything Allah has created and He's left there's a cycle in which Allah has created and He's left it you have absolute free will in whatever you want to do and that's how they come forth and say that yes this is why you will be given heaven or hell because you have absolute free will whatever you want to do you can do that's one opinion of the extreme that Allah سبحانه وتعالى doesn't have anything to do with your life once you're created the other extreme is the أشعرات what do they come forth and state أشعرات say no everything Allah has predestined if you go towards sin Allah has already predestined it if you go towards something which is righteous that will allow Allah سبحانه وتعالى to be happy with you with your actions that is predestined because Allah willed it then it will be these are the two extremes now what's the problems before we go to the third opinion if we take one of them the أشعرات they say everything's predestined أبو حنيفة was of the same opinion who goes towards Imam جعفر الصادق he waits at the door of Imam جعفر الصادق who comes out Imam الكابن 4 or 5 years of age he comes out أبو حنيفة wants to ask a question he says is your father home he says yes but he's busy can I assist you look at the أهل البيت never afraid to answer a question because they had the knowledge and they knew that they had the knowledge he says ask me maybe I can assist you أبو حنيفة is probably thinking to himself well I'm going to ask him he's going to go towards his father and bring an answer or something like that we're seeing how possibly can a 4 or 5 year old answer my question of Judas Prudence of theology of the existence of Allah why we are created such depth now he comes and he asks he says the sin look at how it intertwines with the topic for tonight he says a sin if someone sins is it because of the person is it because of Allah or is it because of Allah and the person that's sinning so 3 choices Imam looks and says straight away he says it can't be the first it can't be 2 of those options straight away they go towards nullification he says why he says well Allah سبحانه وتعالى has created the heaven and the hell hasn't he أبو حنيفة says yes he's created heaven and hell he says then it's not right that Allah سبحانه وتعالى is or you can say that Allah has a hand in this sin and he punishes you and he will Iyadub Allah is not punished because he has a hand in it because he said what it's either أبو حنيفة says it's either Allah by himself or does it the idea of predestination either Allah and the person or the person by himself so the Imam one word he said one word answers the question of the person that the other people take as a school of thought he says Allah doesn't have anything to do with your sin otherwise Allah سبحانه وتعالى should be also والإيادة بالله punished he says therefore it's only you that have sinned against Allah right away takes it into perspective and that's why when we have predestination and the argument of predestination the first and foremost is if Allah has predestined everything then where is the question of a heaven and the hell as in if Allah has predestined you to do something good or predestined you to do something bad why is it that he has sent 124,000 prophets to tell you do good do good someone come forth and say what that Allah has already made me do bad there is no need for prophets there is no need for someone to come tell me as a heaven and a hell if Allah has already written it to be isn't it that's the argument that comes into perspective but why has this argument been installed why has this argument come and taken its place in the Islamic books I'll give you one of the greatest responses to this now imagine a tyrant imagine a person that's in charge an Umayyad Khalifa or Abbasid Khalifa whoever came afterwards that took the خلافة of Ahle al-Bayt if someone comes forth and says this chair that you sit on belongs to the Ahle al-Bayt they can straight away come forth and say what they can straight away come forth and say well don't have an argument with me have an argument with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because he has already predestined it that's the argument that they say that's why it served them to have predestination as an idea to look into and that's why it's creeped into Islam that's one argument so the heaven and hell is a first contradiction to predestination the second of which is what it assists the Khalifa of the time on the other scale complete free will it's straight away it doesn't take any formation doesn't embody why because we can first and foremost reply did you ask Allah to be created as because they say everything's free will did you ask Allah to be created they'll say no it says do you know when you will die or can you ask Allah that he kills you on this particular day or it takes your life in this particular day did you ask Allah that you want to be born towards this particular parents did you ask Allah for these calamities in your life these blessings in your life straight away the answer is no therefore we have the opinion that's what neither complete predestination is correct neither complete free will is correct then where do we stand because Islamically we have to know how does Allah Subhanahu و تعالى view our actions how is it that Allah has placed us on this earth has Allah predestined everything is everything free will let's go to our imams what do they say and inshallah we want to explore it tonight and at the end of it we want to look at can our actions change something that is predetermined or not as in if Allah Subhanahu و تعالى has written that you died tomorrow is there something that you can do to extend your life by ease by months by days and on the reverse angle if Allah has written for your life to die in a hundred years inshallah is there something that you can do against Allah Subhanahu و تعالى that Allah will decrease your life that's what we want to explore tonight so on the first level we go to our imams when we want to look at the concept of predestination versus free will imam sadaq when they come towards and they say which one do we take because this argument arose in the time of imam sadaq and it was explored in the time of imam sadaq now some people came for to imam sadaq I said tell us what's your opinion is our imam sadaq and imam sadaq says look at the beauty of how he responded the examples that he gives us towards our intellect he says lift one leg one leg lifted so the person that's asking he lifts one leg he says okay I want you simultaneously that you have the one leg lifted to lift the other leg so the person says I'll I'll fall over that's impossible he says that's the example some things in your life Allah has predestined the others you have a free will as in Allah Subhanahu و تعالى hasn't asked you that do you want me to create you or not he's created you he hasn't asked you to what parents to be born to he has given you those parents he has given you towards those parents Allah Subhanahu و تعالى is not going to tell you well I'm going to take your life today or tomorrow and that's one of the biggest signs Ali ibn Abi Talib says it's enough that in the remembrance of death that you can reform yourself it's enough the remembrance of death to reform yourself to recalculate to return to Allah it's enough the knowledge of death so Oh Imam give us more examples how can we understand this concept in a more depth Abu Hanifa goes and he and he says this and so beautiful the predestination versus free will we know a person of the greatest of Imam صادق's companions that when Imam موسى الكاظم was in the jails and he was offered a position to be a judge in the خلافة of Harun Rashid he goes towards the Imam what do I do I don't want to be a judge towards these oppressors Imam writes him one letter writes him Jean he writes it to two other people everyone explained it in their own mana and did what they thought what the Imam meant to them بحلول takes the جيم and he took it as جيم جنون so he becomes or he pretends to be insane yet he still gets the message of أهل البيت across I'll give you an example from tonight in this particular topic of predestination أبو حنيف I had the opinion 3 opinions he said first and foremost I'm of the opinion that إبليس will not burn in Hellfire that's the first opinion of about is made of Hellfire he says what's your second opinion he says the second of opinion is الله سبحانه تعالى on the day of judgment we will see him why he says because everything that exists can be seen he says the 3rd what's your 3rd belief أبو حنيف he says the 3rd belief and my 3rd belief is that everything that is done is predestined everything that occurs has been predestined so بت increases he says is that this is what I said is is this is this is is is is is is is is is it it it it be it what it be what it it it كل ما يوجد can be seen كل ما يوجد can be seen He says, Abu Hanifa says He feels pain He says, can he show me pain Number one, everything that exists has to be seen Abu Hanifa says He says, I can't show you pain but I'm feeling it He says, that's number one He says, number two, what is it? He says, I've taken rock or clay I've thrown it at clay and clay got hurt He says, Iblis He says, he wants to be burnt in hellfire because he's made of fire He says, I've taken clay I've thrown it at clay and clay got hurt That's the second argument He says then, but you've still hit him He says, no Abu Hanifa says Everything that is done is already predestined Therefore, your argument is not with me the insane behlul He says, your arguments with Allah according to Abu Hanifa because Allah is already predestined for me to hit him That's the students of Imam Sada صلى الله عليه وسلم Therefore, we analyzed that the imams tell us that it's a notion of balance Allah predetermines aspects of our life and we have complete free will and other aspects of our life Everything that we are given a choice in life as if we choose the path to take which is God fearing or we choose the path that will be disobeying Allah Allah hasn't predetermined that That's already given with your free will to take that choice That's the fine aspect to have to take from tonight Allah سبحانه وتعالى is all knowing, yes He knows what you will do He knows what path you will take Some people may come forth and say that it's very hard I'll give you an example If we go towards let's say on another level and especially that we have youth here let's say we play PlayStation Let's say we play PlayStation Now I've got the youth's attention Let's play Xbox PlayStation Let's play FIFA for example We know if we play a particular opponent he's going to choose a particular team Is that analyzing the future? Is that knowing what decision you will make? No, but because he knows you so well He knows that you're going to choose for example Real Madrid or Barcelona If you go towards something where you go and eat Some people know that your preferences is not this, your preferences is that A normal human can tell you that you're going to choose this one Based on your actions Let's take it to another level Based on your actions Let's look at it in the reference point of Karbala The people's actions that led them towards Karbala when Imam Hussein when people look at Karbala Karbala is one of the most amazing glasses that we can look through because it defines every single point that we want to explore in religion and it applies in every single time and place Some people may come forth and say that Karbala happened 1400 years ago How does it apply nowadays? Let's look at it nowadays In the concept of predestination versus free will What did he do on the 10th of Muharram? Because some people come forth and say that Karbala Back then we say Every land is Karbala Every day is Ashura Every day we have to make the choice What did he say? He was the leader of that army that stopped Imam Hussein They came and saw him on the 10th of Muharram They asked him and said حر If someone asked us Who is the most valiant of our warriors We would not hesitate to mention you Why is it we've seen you in this state Where you are fearful What did حر reply? How can we apply what حر Responded to our lives now He says I He says I am differentiating myself I am making the choice Between Hell and Heaven That's the choice that we have nowadays He says I've brought Imam Hussein here But at my final moments I am deciphering Whether My actions will lead me towards Heaven Or will lead me toward Hell أماربنا ساعد Same issue He tells himself He tells people to say يقولون إن الله خلق جنة ونار وغل يديني He says فإن صدقوا فيما يقولون إني أتوبوا للرحمن إنسان يديني He says If they say that this is true Then I will Repent to Allah Someone may come forth And look at this particular person's life He's been bribed He's been given ملك الرأي Imam says You won't even reach that particular land Let's look at their lives If we look at their lives And the actions that they've taken Whether small or large If they've always been choosing the wrong path Can you tell me when they come to the next decision Allah سبحانه وتعالى already knows They've been choosing wrong all their life They haven't made an attempt to repent towards Allah They haven't made an attempt to go towards Allah سبحانه وتعالى You and I can look at it And say you know what He's going to choose wrong again Doesn't take a genius That's why Allah سبحانه وتعالى تفكير و تفكير That's the greatest and the biggest door After the door of Imam Hussein That's the door of Tawba The largest door To go towards Allah سبحانه وتعالى Even in your dying moments We can go towards Allah سبحانه وتعالى A bit of an off script But let's go back to this topic Of predestination versus free will Allah سبحانه وتعالى knows What you're going to do But he knows you do it with your free will That's the concept That's the dot point That we need to take from tonight He doesn't force you to go there He knows that you're going to go there With your free will Now to end tonight We want to mention two points Before we conclude for tonight The first of which Is there anything that we have In religion That may extend our life Allah سبحانه وتعالى That we die in a particular day Is there something that can extend our life Is there something that can decrease our life Now when we look at the books of Hadith We look at Imam Sajjad عليه أفضل صلاة والسلام When he is asked An incident happens Between two people He tells them And look at this beautiful narration He tells one of them Because of an incident that happened It's enjoining relations And breaking relations Someone when enjoining relations He said to the man Because you've enjoined relations Allah has increased your life By 30 years How many years? 30 years And he says to the other man Because you have dissociated With your blood relative Broken relations Allah has minimized your life By 30 years Therefore we can conclude That Because of our actions This is one of the actions that may occur Because of an action Allah may change that Is written Whether it be for the benefit Or the opposite of that Whether it's increasing our lifespan Or decreasing That's what we have to explore How do our deeds manifest How do our deeds affect our future The generations to come Because often More than often We say to ourselves We want to create a better place For our children to live in When we have to focus To build our children So they can live in that place They leave the children aside They leave all the youth aside Building However look at the beauty of How many children we have here tonight How many children are in the house Of Imam Hussein tonight That are remembering The person that distributed The knowledge of Ahlul Bayt Now someone may come forth And wants to ask How is it? Or what example can we give Or take That will allow us to Understand predestination Versus free will A lot better I've explored many different aspects Insha'Allah This particular example I've given it on many occasions But this particular example Allow us to really look At the complete scope Not in its entirety But the complete scope To our understanding But I need everyone's concentration I know I've taken much of your time Insha'Allah I'll conclude with this So when someone asks you Predestination versus free Will give them this example And I give myself this example First to allow me To understand it First and foremost I want to give you the example Of the tree The tree as you know When it first grows And which is the most vital Point of the tree The growth When it grows It doesn't begin to branch out When it grows It grows solid The roots come together And when it grows It grows in a single stem Then At a particular point It begins to branch out Now take that into account That Allah سبحانه وتعالى Rewards us Or writes a sin for us When we reach The sin of Belug Imagine the tree When it begins to branch out That's when Allah begins his tests That's when you have Different choices to make Different routes to take Take that example When we have this The tree You can imagine We have amazingly big trees Amazingly small trees Trees with only a few leaves Trees with an abundance of leaves Now imagine The length of that tree And the smallness of that tree Is in reference to the life spans That people may have Whether it be two or three years And die After Belug Or whether they live to 100 years Insha'Allah Everyone he lives That's the example Now Allah سبحانه وتعالى Look how many different avenues And how many branches they have How many different twigs That these branch out in And imagine Every single leaf On that tree Is an end point Which you can reach Everyone with me till now Every single leaf Is an end point In which a person can reach Now Allah سبحانه وتعالى Is every single leaf On that tree وما تسخط من ورقة إلا He has knowledge Of every single leaf that falls Allah has knowledge Now Allah has given us the choice Which branch to take Which leaf To go towards In which pleasing Allah سبحانه وتعالى You have the free will To go whichever branch you want That leaf that you end up in Is that leaf That leaf which Allah سبحانه وتعالى When it falls off the tree Will you go towards heaven Or that tree When that leaf falls And you reach that destination Will you go towards hellfire That's what we have to take from tonight Insha'Allah Brothers and sisters And I end on this note With this particular example And I want to pray to Allah سبحانه وتعالى To allow us to understand In more depth The essence of Ahl al-Bayt The essence of their teachings We want to take what they have taught And try as best as we can And as much as we can And not only to put it into our lives But also to distribute this knowledge To give it to our friends To our families To our siblings And allow them to come with us Be like how The Prophet of Islam says Be like water Purifying every single person Around you Gaining them Getting them closer Towards the Ahl al-Bayt Closer towards the message Of Allah We pray to Allah With a fatah But before it Three of your loudest Salawat على محمد وقال محمد