‹Is it for Our punishment that they are impatient?›: Do Not Hasten Allah's Punishment

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 12 October 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

And prayers and peace be upon the servant of Allah and His Messenger, our master and our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ, and upon his family and companions, with abundant peace, O Lord of the worlds. Our Lord, glory be to Him, the Exalted, says: ﴿أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ﴾ ("Is it for Our punishment that they are impatient?").^[1]

How does a person hasten Allah's punishment?

At the outset our Lord, glory be to Him, the Exalted, promised to run people's affairs in the best way they ought to be run, and to try whom He wills with what He wills, when He wills, where He wills, and however He wills, exalted is He on high. Yet many people hasten the punishment of Allah, blessed and exalted, in their own lives; one of them changes the substance of his life with his own hand and makes something new with his own hand.

So you see a person settled in his home and with his family, yet he hastens ruin by going astray. And you see a person whose money suffices him, and what comes to him suffices him and covers his needs, yet he smokes or drinks wine. And you see a person whose children are righteous, praise be to Allah, glory be to Him, Allah has guided them for him, and everything is fine, yet he wants to "be civilized" and be modern, so his daughters wear less and the boys are dressed in this and that, and so on.

Let us weigh our deeds on the scale of the Qur'an

And before we go on, we want to weigh our deeds on the scale of the Qur'an of Allah, blessed and exalted: Is it lawful or forbidden? And in utter simplicity: use your reason before you act, before you turn right or left, or go forward, or run the lights; then weigh it: Shall I take this step or not? And in our ordinary life they say: "Gauge for your foot its place before you step." You look where you will put your foot and where it will land; I might fall, and if I fall, no one will carry me.

And in the legislation of the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, the Exalted, messages like this come to us to warn us along the whole journey of life: Where are we heading? What are we doing? What consequences follow from it? And who will be with us? I ask Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, to protect us from what this verse warns against: ﴿أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ﴾ ("Is it for Our punishment that they are impatient?").

Do not hasten the punishment of Allah, blessed and exalted, but hasten the mercy of Allah, mighty and majestic: look for the places of righteous deeds and set out into them, and look for the places of evil deeds and keep far from them. I ask Allah for me and for you guidance, safety, freedom from blame and His good pleasure in His presence, glory be to Him, the Exalted, in this world.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The verse with this wording is in Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt (176) and in Sūrat al-Shuʿarā' (204); the speaker did not mention the surah in the transcript, so no particular location can be determined.