The Children of Israel After the Sea, and the Turning of Hearts
People's susceptibility to corruption, and that no one is above error or safe from having his faith taken away
Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 10 June 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — [Watch the original video on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jj63nwU_-s)
The verses recited to us in the Fajr prayer are opened by our Lord, Glory be to Him, with His saying: ﴿وَجَاوَزْنَا بِبَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ الْبَحْرَ﴾ (And We took the Children of Israel across the sea)[1], which is a very great blessing; for the dangers of the sea are well known, and their crossing it was not an ordinary crossing like that of other people, but a miracle in every sense and implication of the word, since Allah saved them and drowned others by the very same means and the very same cosmic elements; He took these across the sea and drowned Pharaoh at the same time.
A Faith Expected to Multiply, Yet Relapsing
The expectation is that their level of faith would multiply, and that they would be certain that the One who moves the whole universe with its causes and effects is Allah, Glorified and Exalted. Yet they came upon a people devoted to idols of theirs, and said: O Moses, ﴿اجْعَل لَّنَا إِلَٰهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ﴾ (Make for us a god just as they have gods). Here we ask: where is your God with whom you moved? Where is your God who convinced you by His miracles and signs at the hand of Moses, so that you submitted before Him? That God evaporated from their minds in less than a moment, when they saw a god being worshipped besides Allah, Blessed and Exalted.
People's Susceptibility to Corruption
The scene we want to recall together, or that comes to mind, is people's susceptibility to corruption. An imam usually speaks to a people for years and thinks they have reached a certain level of faith, yet hearts turn in less than a second. Thus Moses, peace be upon him, saw among his people those who had believed and submitted, and perhaps he thought that what they had in their hands was enough for them to be righteous.
Sometimes the admonition comes through the tongue, and sometimes through a situation. One person goes through a severe heart crisis, enters the hospital and undergoes surgical operations, and everyone around him says: Glory be to Allah, He gave him life after death! This happens often in our lives. So what is expected of this man who has just left the hospital, whom Allah saved from death by a miracle? What is expected is that he be mindful of Allah, grateful for His blessings, thankful to the Lord of Might, aware of Allah's right over him, fulfilling his zakāh and his prayer, aware of Paradise and the Fire, aware of Allah's decree and His power, Glory be to Him. Yet you may see him unrestrained! Then you say: how is this? It is the human soul, from which right comes forth and from which error comes forth.
The Lesson: No One Is Above Error
The lesson I learn, in brief, is that there is no one above error, and no one from whom it is impossible for faith to be taken away. The one you see as the most arrogant of the disbelievers may one day be the first of the believers in the row, and the one you see as the most God-fearing of the God-fearing, you may see him change in a certain moment. So I personally learn that I must monitor my conscience and my faith as much as I monitor the air that enters and leaves my nose every second: will there be some kind of turning or not? And I learn that in front of me there is no saint and no one immune from error, but only people; and in front of me there is no devil among human beings, but only people. This one may change, and that one may change.
It has been reported from the Prophet ﷺ that a man may enter the evening a believer and wake in the morning a disbeliever, we seek refuge in Allah[2]. How is that? "Enters the evening": that is, the evening came upon him while he was a believer, meaning that he practiced all the instruments of faith throughout his day. "And wakes in the morning a disbeliever"! Glory be to Allah, he spent his whole night with the full attributes of faith, yet he changes in a moment. Here the heart of the believer clings to one thing only, the name of Majesty; it clings to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, alone, in whose hand are the reins of all matters, and of whom it is reported that the hearts are between two fingers of the fingers of the Most Merciful, who turns them as He wills,[3] placing in them mercy and hardness.
Two Examples from the Society of the Companions
We have seen the society of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, and among them was one who committed a great error until the Companions began to rebuke him, yet the Prophet ﷺ told them that he had repented with a repentance that, if it were distributed among the people of Madinah, would suffice them.[4] And there was one who remained firm in his faith until people saw him as a miracle in giving, and they spoke about his achievements in battle, but the Prophet ﷺ said that he was among the people of the Fire.[5] So how do these equations work out? By nothing except that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is the One who permits the servant's faith to be completed, and the One who permits this faith to be breached so that its owner turns from faith to disbelief.
What We Take Away
If there is a lesson for us in the recitation we heard today, it is that a person should bite onto his faith with his molars, and strive to monitor the indicators of his heart as doctors do in emergency rooms, where they watch the screens second by second for fear that the heart may suddenly die. So be mindful of the good that Allah has entrusted to you, and ask Allah, Mighty and Majestic, for a complete life with faith; for the servant is weak, and all strength belongs to Allah, Glory be to Him.
--- [1]: Editor's documentation: Al-Aʿrāf: 138, and in the same verse is their request: ﴿اجْعَل لَّنَا إِلَٰهًا كَمَا لَهُمْ آلِهَةٌ﴾. [2]: Editor's documentation: The speaker cited the ḥadīth by meaning; it is in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (118) from the ḥadīth of Abū Hurayra (may Allah be pleased with him): «بادروا بالأعمال فتنًا كقطع الليل المظلم، يصبح الرجل مؤمنًا ويمسي كافرًا، أو يمسي مؤمنًا ويصبح كافرًا، يبيع دينه بعرض من الدنيا» ("Hasten to good deeds before trials like patches of dark night, when a man will wake a believer and reach evening a disbeliever, or reach evening a believer and wake a disbeliever, selling his religion for some worldly gain"). [3]: Editor's documentation: In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, from the ḥadīth of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr (may Allah be pleased with them both): «إن قلوب بني آدم كلها بين إصبعين من أصابع الرحمن كقلب واحد يصرّفه حيث يشاء» ("The hearts of the children of Adam are all between two fingers of the fingers of the Most Merciful, like a single heart, which He turns wherever He wills"); and in al-Tirmidhī (2140) and Ibn Mājah (3834) from the ḥadīth of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him): «إن القلوب بين إصبعين من أصابع الرحمن عز وجل يقلّبها» ("The hearts are between two fingers of the fingers of the Most Merciful, Mighty and Majestic, who turns them"), in Ibn Mājah's wording. [4]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not name the person. In Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim (1695), on the repentance of Māʿiz (may Allah be pleased with him): «لقد تاب توبة لو قُسمت بين أمة لوسعتهم» ("He has repented with a repentance that, if it were divided among a whole community, would suffice them"); and in it (1696), on the woman from Juhayna: «لقد تابت توبة لو قُسمت بين سبعين من أهل المدينة لوسعتهم» ("She has repented with a repentance that, if it were divided among seventy of the people of Madinah, would suffice them"). [5]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not name the person; the story is in the two Ṣaḥīḥs from the ḥadīth of Sahl ibn Saʿd (may Allah be pleased with him) (al-Bukhārī 2898; Muslim 112), about the man who fought fiercely and of whom the Prophet ﷺ said: «أما إنه من أهل النار» ("As for him, he is among the people of the Fire"), and who then took his own life.