The 4 Decrees Written For You In Your Mother’s Womb | Anchored Ep. 3 | Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy

Summary

The lecture covers the fourth and fifth hadiths in Imam al-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith, focusing on divine decree, the state of the heart, and avoiding religious innovation.

Hadith 4: What Is Decreed in the Womb

• The four decrees: The lecturer explains that, according to the hadith narrated by Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, an angel records four matters for a person: their deeds, provision, lifespan, and whether they will ultimately be among the blessed or the wretched.
• Embryonic development and the narrations: The lecturer addresses an apparent conflict between the hadith’s descriptions of development and modern embryology. He cites variant narrations and a report referring to an angel’s activity after 42 nights, and argues that the stages described can occur within the first 40–42 days. He emphasizes that scholarly interpretations are not the same as revelation, and that neither an individual scholar nor a scientific interpretation is infallible.
• Ensoulment and abortion: The lecturer says that the soul is part of the unseen and cannot be determined by scientific observation. He presents the commonly cited 120-day point as significant in Islamic legal discussions, while noting that abortion rulings vary by stage and circumstance. In his account, abortion after ensoulment is prohibited except to save the mother’s life; from 40 to 120 days it is generally prohibited absent a serious need; and before 40 days some scholars allow more flexibility for a valid reason. He advises seeking case-specific guidance from qualified scholars.
• Destiny, supplication, and effort: The lecturer distinguishes the unchanging “Preserved Tablet” from other records of a person’s life, which he says may be altered by God’s will. He teaches that supplication and righteousness can affect what is decreed, while anxiety about one’s destiny does not. The practical lesson is to fulfill religious duties and make the afterlife one’s main concern rather than becoming consumed by worries over provision or the future.
• The importance of one’s ending: The hadith’s warning that someone may appear to be acting like the people of Paradise or the Fire before their final outcome becomes clear is explained as a warning not to judge by appearances. The lecturer says that hidden flaws in the heart may emerge near death, but stresses that this does not mean God wrongs people: people have agency and responsibility, and are accountable for what they could recognize and address.
• Four kinds of hearts: A narration attributed to Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri describes:
  1. A heart like a shining lamp, representing faith.
  2. A sealed heart, representing disbelief.
  3. An inverted heart, representing hypocrisy, in which truth is rejected.
  4. A heart pulled between faith and corruption, with whichever influence dominates shaping the person.

The lecturer urges listeners to guard against envy, insincerity, pride, resentment, and hostility toward Islam. He recommends regularly asking God to keep one’s heart firm upon the religion.

Hadith 5: Following the Sunnah and Avoiding Bid‘ah

• The hadith’s two wordings: The lecturer explains that one wording condemns introducing something into the religion that does not belong to it, while another condemns acting on something not commanded by the Prophet. In his explanation, both the originator and those who adopt an unsupported religious practice are warned against.
• Being a lifelong learner: Muslims should learn the Prophet’s teachings and respectfully ask whether a practice comes from the Sunnah or has entered religion through culture or later custom. Sincerity means seeking what God wants, not merely doing what feels personally meaningful.
• Definition and forms of bid‘ah: Drawing on al-Shatibi’s definition, the lecturer describes religious innovation as a practice presented as a way of drawing closer to God without a basis in the Prophet’s teachings.
  • A wholly invented practice: A religious ritual or way of life with no basis in Islam.
  • An altered act of worship: An established act of worship assigned a special time, form, or religious significance without evidence for that specification.

The lecturer distinguishes these from ordinary, nonreligious innovations and from doing a permissible act on a particular day simply for convenience.

• Why innovation is dangerous: The lecturer argues that religious innovation implies the religion was incomplete or that the Prophet failed to convey what God intended. It can also encourage disobedience to the Prophet, divide Muslims, and presume knowledge of what God approves without evidence. His guiding principle is that steady adherence to the Sunnah is better than strenuous devotion to an invented religious practice.
• Unity and the Sunnah: Shared adherence to the Prophet’s guidance, the lecturer says, gives Muslims a common religious foundation across cultures and places. He encourages listeners to value and preserve that shared practice.
• Supporting women’s scholarship: The lecture closes by calling for meaningful opportunities for Muslim women to grow in Islamic learning and share that knowledge, as Aisha and other women did in the early Muslim community.

Speakers and Sources Featured

• Main speaker: Sheikh Mohammad Elshinawy.
• Audience contribution: An unidentified woman briefly responds during the discussion of the two wordings of Hadith 5.
• Primary texts and collections cited: Imam al-Nawawi’s Forty Hadith; hadiths attributed to Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud, Aisha, Hudhayfa ibn Asid, Umm Salama, Sahl ibn Sa‘d, and Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri; Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim; and Quranic passages, including those concerning divine decree, creation, the completion of religion, and steadfastness.
• Scholars and historical figures cited: Ibn Rajab, Ibn al-Qayyim, Ibn Ata’illah al-Sakandari, al-Ghazali, al-Shatibi, Imam Malik, Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyab, Ibn Zamlakani, Abu Dharr, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, and Malik ibn Dinar.