Abdul Rahman Chao - 1-24-25

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم one time in the night he got up and he was getting ready to go pray tahajjud and on his way he passed by the house of Ali bin Abi Talib and Ali bin Abi Talib's wife, the Prophet's daughter Fatima bint Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم and he stood outside their apartment, their house, by the door and all he said was are you going to pray qiyam al-layl?

So at that time they were sleeping so when the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم called out to them and he said are you going to pray qiyam al-layl Ali bin Abi Talib he woke up and his response was our souls are in the hands of Allah if Allah wants us to wake up, we will wake up our souls are in the hands of Allah Allah is in control of when we wake up.

The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم became upset from this answer but he didn't say anything he didn't say anything and as he walked away Ali bin Abi Talib who narrates this hadith himself in Bukhari he said I heard the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم hit his hand on his thigh and the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said that indeed humans, people وَكَانَ الْإِنسَانُ أَكْثَرَ شَيْءٍ جَدَلَ people are argumentative.

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم was definitely not pleased with the answer from Ali bin Abi Talib so when you look deeper into the story behind this the scholars make it very clear that it wasn't that what Ali bin Abi Talib said was wrong it's not that what he said was wrong it was that if you're saying that if Allah wants us to wake up we would wake up clearly you are awake so the more appropriate answer to the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم would have been yes.

So it wasn't done from maliciousness it wasn't done with an evil intention he was just thinking out loud that well if we wake up Allah is in control of our souls but that is not the part that I want you to focus on what I want you to focus on is how the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم did not engage in an argument he didn't say well how dare you speak to me in such a disrespectful way who do you think you are? I'm telling you to get up and pray qiyamah this is a good thing you should obey the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم no, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم simply walked away and he did not engage in a conversation.

The Human Nature of Argumentation

Brothers and sisters this story teaches us about the inseparable characteristic or the trait that humans are created with and that is humans like to argue except those whom Allah has blessed to not be argumentative and we see it we see it so much in our lives and we see how people are arguing on social media about the dumbest of things whether it is about political upheaval whether this is a conspiracy theory or whether this or that either about politics or about religion which is an even worse form of argumentation.

And psychologists they talk about why there are people out there who you will meet who are constantly argumentative and that is they say that their argumentative nature is resulting from their beliefs their feelings and their emotions and their world view is deeply tied to their own view of their self-worth and their egos and how if they are contradicted that means it's somehow an attack on them so as a result they have to constantly argue and get the last word in because they feel they are not being heard maybe this is caused by childhood trauma whatever it is.

And so brothers and sisters the Quran tells us about this and it says Allah says:

And humans they are very very argumentative in their nature and because when you are constantly arguing and nitpicking it kills communication it actually turns people off from wanting to talk to you why? because every time they talk to you it turns into some form of foolish debate everyone is angry everyone is flustered and the worst part is it doesn't lead to any sort of solution it's just arguing and when you argue too much you take your eyes off of what is important and that is action.

Argumentation During Hajj

And what does Allah tell us about hajj? Allah tells us that the hajj that is accepted is what:

The good accepted hajj is the hajj that is what? that a person does not break the state of ihram by indulging in intimate relation to their wife nor is there disobedience and nor is there argumentation.

Brothers and sisters the aspect of arguing and debating for the sake of debating is condemned especially if you look at the stories of the prophets of the past those people used to argue with their prophets not because they were trying to learn not because they were trying to clarify they were arguing as Allah says لِيُضْحِدُ بِهِ الْحَقِّ to obscure and to hide the truth and distort it and so that is why Allah warns us about it.

Brothers and sisters do not engage in unnecessary argumentation and debate with anyone and everyone as Imam al-Shafi'i he talks about you disgrace and humiliate knowledge when you debate with everyone and you argue with everyone why? because knowledge in the face of ignorant people is ignorance because they can't recognize it and ignorance when the people of knowledge see it they see it as ignorance itself.

Modern Day Religious Argumentation

This idea of people debating about the deen you see it more and more brazenly whether it's on Instagram whether it's on Facebook whether it's on social media whether it's in WhatsApp groups people just pulling any sort of opinion out there and they want to challenge 1400 plus years of scholarly consensus just for the sake of as they claim intellectual discourse that's not intellectual discourse that's called intellectual disrespect disrespecting the Quran disrespecting the sunnah of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.

In fact in another hadith of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that is authentic the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم warned us and he said those who take the Quran and the meaning is they twist the Quran and they're arguing using Quran to confuse other people the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم says:

To argue using the Quran in order to hide the truth that in and of itself is disbelief.

Aisha رضي الله عنها she warns us about this characteristic of excessive argumentation and dispute she said that the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he said:

The most detested disliked person in the eyes of Allah is the one who is very fierce the fiercest in their argumentation.

The Story of the Meccan Idolaters

Brothers and sisters during the time of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم a verse came down to warn the people of Mecca about their idolatry and how it will lead them to hell fire so Allah sent down this verse and he says:

You and what you worship those idols old pagan Meccans, idolaters you will all be firewood inside Jahannam so the pagan Meccans instead of learning from this verse they decided to come and debate with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم they said so you're saying that our gods and us are going to end up going to hell fire hmm so it's because these gods are worshipped other than Allah, right? yes so they said well Jesus is also worshipped as a god other than Allah by Christians therefore you're saying Jesus will also go to hell then so who's better?

Are gods better? or is Jesus better? so they were arguing not for the sake of understanding but they were trying to be obstructionist as Allah says in the Quran:

And when the son of Mary was presented as an example immediately your people, O Muhammad they laughed out loud and they said is our god better than Jesus?

Are our gods better than Jesus? They didn't come up with this analogy and this comparison except for argumentation. They are people who love to argue.

The Reward for Avoiding Arguments

Brothers and sisters the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم tells us that people who are argumentative one of the things that the way how Allah test them is what? he removes the knowledge from them and so they argue and they stopped doing the action all these people you see online arguing, arguing, arguing ask them did you get up early Fajr? when's the last time you read the Quran? crickets.

Brothers and sisters the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم promises a great reward for the people who leave argumentation even if they are in the right even if you are right the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم he says:

I am the guarantor for a palace I am the guarantor of a palace on the outskirts of Jannah I mean not outside of Jannah but it's on the outskirts of the gardens of paradise as a reward for what? for the one who leaves argumentation even if they are in the right.