Why People Really Reject Islam
The Real Reason People Reject Islam: Understanding the Implications of Faith
Summary
This lecture discusses the true reasons why people reject Islam and faith, using Quranic examples and analysis. The speaker emphasizes that disbelief among the Quraysh and others was not due to sincere confusion or genuine misunderstanding, but rather due to the implications that accepting Islam would have on their lives—such as loss of power, wealth, status, and worldly pleasures. Examples include Pharaoh, Abu Jahl, and Abdullah ibn Ubayy, who rejected Islam to preserve their positions of authority and influence. The speaker explains that people today similarly reject Islam not because it is unclear, but because of lifestyle implications. The lecture then transitions to Quranic descriptions of Saqar (one of the names of hellfire), detailing its severity, the 70,000 ropes with 70,000 angels pulling it, and the 19 angels commissioned to oversee the torment of the damned.
Note: This transcript was generated using YouTube's automatic captioning, with AI-assisted cleanup for readability. It may contain inaccuracies due to background noise, audio quality, or limitations of the transcription software — particularly during Arabic recitation. Listener discretion is advised; please refer to the original video for precise wording.
Nephews.
[Silence]
Alhamdulillah.
[Silence]
Allah subhanahu waala mentions to us as we have been listening to in the past few days. He mentions to us the incident when chose disbelief over belief. chose to turn away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala over accepting and embracing the Quran the prophet sallallahu alaii wasallam and the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone without any partners the question here a lot of times many of us we have a kind of lingering emotion that is often incorrect. It's a misconception. It's a misconception that many people have and that is the idea that those who disbelieved in the prophet sallall.aii alaihi wasallam especially during his lifetime that they disbelieve with a sincere intention. Meaning they disbelieve sincerely. Disbelieve sincerely. What does that mean? Meaning that they hear the Quran, they hear the sunnah of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam. They meet the prophet Muhammad sallall.aii wasallam and they genuinely in their heart of hearts believe that he is not a prophet and the Quran is not from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in their heart of hearts and this is incorrect. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says We would not punish any people before first sending to them a messenger. Meaning before they have the ability to make a conscious decision that they know the truth but instead insist upon disbelief. this occurrence happened here. And what do people if if it's not truly confusion or sincerity that drives people to disbelieve, what is it then? What is the leading cause? If we were to really boil it down, what is the reason that the people of Quraysh other people d throughout the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam's lifetime, those who have met him, those who disbelieved, those who fought against him, if we were to really boil it down, what was the reason that they disbelieved? In so many words, they did not reject necessarily the Quran but rejected its implications. They did not necessarily reject the Sunnah or Muhammad Sall. Wasam, but they rejected the implications. And even today, if you have met people that have been perhaps on the fence about becoming Muslim and you they know about Islam, but they reject it or or refuse to become Muslim. If you were to really ask them and get to the bottom of it, you'll find that it's not really the Quran, it's not really Islam that they're rejecting per se. They're rejecting the implications that this religion will have on their lives because a shan hyperfocuses on implications when he scares people away from believing in Islam. What do we mean by implications? Meaning if I become Muslim for instance with what were the implications? He knew in his heart of hearts that Musa was a messenger. Allah tells us that he knew that that they outwardly rejected it. But Pharaoh outwardly rejected it. But in his heart of hearts, he knew that it was the truth. Why did this happen? Again, because of the implications. What were the implications? , he's not going to be Pharaoh anymore. He's not going to be the pharaoh. He's not going to be rich. He can't do what he wants to do. He's not going to be able to or he won't have. This is why people turn away. You look at Abu Jah. What was the reason he turned away? Were the implications? The implications were if I accept Islam, I have to become a follower to Beni Hashim tribalism. And no way will I ever be become a follower to Beni Hashim me and my tribe. You look at Abdullahb the leader and spearhead of the hypocrites in Medina. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us about throughout the chapters that were revealed in Medina in the Medini era. He is similar in many ways in his enmity and his antagonism of the prophet sallall.aii wasallam and his enmity towards Islam. He is very similar to Abu Jah. He he could he could even be looked at as a kind of Abu Jah of Medina. What was the reason that he rejected? Because the companions tell us Zabit and others they tell us why did he reject? Because he was the chieftain and the leader of the Khaz tribe in Medina. and he was considered the be all and end all chieftain of Medina. Anything that happened people when they wanted to get married, they'd go to Abdullahb Sal. He was wealthy. people had disputes. They'd come to him to settle their disputes. Any gathering he sat in, he was, you know, highly respected and and honored. And so what happened here? This caused him to reject Islam. How did it cause him to reject Islam? He was supposed to be the king of Medina. He was supposed to be the king of Medina to the point that some companions said just before the prophet sallall.aii wasallam arrived at Medina, he was almost going to be crowned as the king of Medina, the king of.
[Arabic recitation]
Came and in his mind ruined all of that. It wasn't because he didn't believe the Quran was the words of Allah. A person who is genuinely confused and has sincerity and is seeking with their all and every fiber of their being to be guided but is genuinely misunderstanding. This person is not eligible for hell. Hellfire is a place you have to choose to go to. It's a place that you have to make a conscious decision to go to. Paradise, no. There are people that enter paradise that never made that decision merely from the grace and mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But the hellfire, no. You have to use your own free will and have the knowledge of what you're rejecting and consciously choose to reject and oftent times choose over and over and over and over again to reject until Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala finally punishes a person with damnation as we see in the story of as we see in the story of the people of L the people of Hoot the people of the people of Muhammad sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam the chieftains of Quraysh these people were not punished immediately for 13 long years they made the decision over and over and over again to reject why were the the implications and those implications you'll hear them in people's speech even to this day as we mentioned if you meet someone who's knows about Islam and maybe even says good things about Islam You say, "Well, why don't you become Muslim?" Well, you know, my family wouldn't like that. It's the implications. Why don't you become Muslim? Well, you know, this this would be something that is that is upsetting to my wife. I don't want to upset my wife. My wife won't let me become Muslim. Right? I've actually had people tell me that before. Or, "Why wouldn't you become Muslim? the the the diet, the Muslim diet is too much. They they really need their pork and bacon. Bacon is very important to their lives, right? Or they're they love to gamble and drink and and they love these things and they just can't leave it off, right? Or they're a big musician and they're a superstar and how am I going to turn that? What are my fans going to think? This is this is the reason people reject Islam. It's not cuz they're genuinely seeking the truth. and Islam is somehow unclear. From the first page of the Quran, it is incredibly clear. Even its translation is unlike anything you have ever heard or read anywhere else. And so Allah tells us of this choice and the implications in these verses of Mud. Before we move on to the descriptions of hell in this chapter, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us of what is what is going on tonight. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us of the rejection of those implications. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in regarding When he heard the Quran and he understood that this is from Allah and in his heart of hearts believed it, he started to think. Allah tells us he started to think and then weigh the implications of believing in this Quran. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then even gives us the the expressions on his face that tell us the exact moment when he rejected Islam. He says Another soften another. Now the implications came into his mind. Allah said he looked off into the distance thinking remembering those words he heard of the Quran and how incredible they were. He says, "And then he scrunched his brow and frowned." What is the scrunch of the brow and frowning? That facial expression. What is that? This is the facial expression of someone who is taken over by his ego and arrogance. What came into his mind when he thought that? How could I How could I be a follower to this man? I'm the one who should have been a prophet. He said that in, as we've mentioned before, I'm the richest man here. If anyone should have been a prophet, it should have been me. And second of all, if I follow this man, I'm going to lose my followers. Who am I going to be? He's going to take my place. He didn't work for this. He didn't earn what I earned. I pulled myself up from my bootstraps. I taught myself and learned and it's my children and mine and mine and mine and mine and mine and who is he to come now and ruin that. And then he turned away and embraced his arrogance. That was the moment. If you were to somehow go and ask, if you were to fish out of the bowels of hell where he is to current is to reside. If you were to fish him out of there and say, "Mention to me the moment you ended up here, it would be this moment." That would be that moment. The same moment Allah mentions about Pharaoh in surah in distract take questions after inshallah. Thank you. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in surah and other verses of the Quran, he gives us a very similar a very similar setup with Pharaoh as he did with very similar. This is the moment he chose to go to the hellfire. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, "Well, now that you've made that decision and committed to the idea that I have to reject this, not because it's not the truth, but I have to reject this because it is because of the implications." Now I have to answer. I mean, I can't just reject it. I have to explain where this Quran came from then. If he's not a prophet, where did it come from? He has to save face. I can't go out into public and tell people I don't re I reject Islam because I'm too arrogant to follow it. Not even could muster up such audacity. We have to come up with something, some facade to cloak this arrogance. So he says this is a type of magic that he is inheriting and taking from others. He's being taught it. He's bringing it to us. We haven't met these people or this jin or they're bringing him this magic. They're teaching it to him and we don't know. We haven't met these people or these are the words of of of human beings. These are not the words of Allah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then says and rebukes. He says for.
[Silence]
Abwab. forchech.
[Silence]
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says I will indeed I shall soon commit him to suffer. This word saka it is a name a proper name of the names of jahannam. It is also one of the names of one of the seven gates of hell. Hellfire has seven gates. One of the names of these seven gates is as mentioned by in his he says And and how can you come to know and visualize what is? He's speaking to the prophet sallall.aii meaning how it it is so immense. No amount of words could truly allow you to visualize vividly just how horrific is. He says it will be brought out on the day of judgment clear and in front of everyone. And Muslim said,.
[Silence]
He said that the hellfire will be dragged out of its place of concealment on the day of judgment, dragged out for people to see. Attached to it are 70,000 ropes. On each of these 70,000 ropes are 70,000 angels pulling its weight and its dread behind them. He says in its description, this place enough for you to know about it is that whoever is in it, it neither leaves them to die nor does it allow them to live. What a terrible existence. They merely exist. They're not allowed to live and they don't die. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in numerous places in the Quran, they will not be given the sweet, sweet death that they pray for at every moment. Nor will they be allowed to live a single moment in any kind of peace to where you could say this is alive. They merely exist in anguish and agony and terror that will continue to intensify the for the rest of eternity. He says and on it are 19 angels which are commissioned with overseeing the the tortures of the hellfire. Now these are 19 angels. Under them are many many angels that are commissioned but these are 19 that are the caretakers and the gatekeepers of the hellfire. We will get into their descriptions inshallah in our next gathering in the next few verses of this incredible surah. All subal. Allah subhanahu.
[Silence]
Alhamdulillah.