Getting Rid of Old Baggage
A Call to Leaving the Evil Ways of One’s Past
The shaikh, Dr. ʿAbdullāh Al-Bukhārī, may Allāh protect him, said:
Here I’m going to take and seize [this] opportunity. Some brothers, may Allāh bless them—and this is something, regrettably, I’m saying after having dealt with many students’ and brothers’ situations, may Allāh guide them, and this is a piece of advice coming from one who’s concerned, and it’s a wake-up call to all those who want to wake up—some brothers, may Allāh align them [with all that pleases Him] and guide them to the Sunnah are from [the first two of the following three] categories:
- A category of those that used to be disbelievers, as is possibly [being referred to] in the question, or had fallen into disbelief in the past […] after which Allāh, Exalted is He and High above all, bestowed what upon him? Islam. He guided him to Islam. This is a blessing, isn’t that right?
- Another category [are] those that came from Muslim stock but were deep in sin and misguidance, falling short with regard to the rights of Allāh, Exalted is He and High above all. Then after that, Allāh guided [them] to what? To the Sunnah and to being upright;
- And a [third] category [are those] that grew up—and all praise is due to Allāh—upon all that’s good and safe from harm and evil, among the People of Sunnah. They took their character and manners from their character and manners, and they took their knowledge [of Islam] from their knowledge [of Islam]. Clear?
[Regarding] the first and second categories, there’s no doubt it is [the] greatest blessing that Allāh has bestowed Islam and the Sunnah upon [these brothers], a tremendous blessing whose value can never be estimated. But it is a tragic thing—I say: it is a tragic thing and something that draws tears to the eyes, and brings, in fact, grief to the heart—that there remain [in these brothers] deposits and residues of [their] past disbelief and the morals and manners of [that] disbelief, or the morals and manners of [that] sinfulness that they used to be upon in the past, [like] forming bad assumptions [about other Muslims without any cause to warrant that]; cheating; trickery and deception; lies; sowing discord; plotting and planning; and other than that from corrupt morals and manners.
[It is a tragic thing] that [these evils] remain [in a person] after his having attached himself to the Sunnah, while he’s not putting [at the same time] any effort into fixing them. And this is what causes disruptions, numerous and large; in fact, it’s a factor sometimes in putting off some people who were coming close to the Sunnah through traditional morals and manners. Isn’t that right?
Source: https://elbukhari.com/questions/