An Expert in Everything

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Alhamdulillah, wasshalatu wassalamu ‘ala rasulillah…

Honorable juries,teachers, committees, and all the participants.

In the name of Allah,The Most Gracious,The Most Merciful.

All praises be to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala,The Lord of The World,The Master of The
Judgement Day,The Creator of universe.

Peace and salutation be upon our prophet Muhammad Shallallahu ‘Alaihi wa Sallam,who has
brought us from the darkness into the brightness,and guided us into the right way of life.

My fellow muslim brothers, Alhamdulillah…

Indeed,we have to thank Allah that has given us countless blessings and salvations,with
which we are able to gather here in a good condition.Really,this moment is a blessing that
we often take for granted.As Imam Asy-Syaf’i Rahimahullah beautifully said,” Health is a
crown that the healthy wear on their heads,but only the sick can see it.”

Of course,it goes without saying that we need to be grateful and preserve all this gift that
The Almighty has bestowed upon us.And the only way to do so is by carrying the orders
given by Him and by avoiding everything that He forbids.

My dear brothers in Islam…

One of the thing that Allah prohibit us to do – that we frequently underestimated – is to talk
about something that we don’t have knowledge of,something that is beyond our
competence.

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala said in surah Al-Isra verse 36:

“ً‫ان َع ْن ُه َمسْ ُئول‬ َ ‫ص َر َو ْالفَُؤ ا َد ُك ُّل ُأو ٰ َل‬

َ ‫ِئك َك‬ َ ‫ك ِب ِه عِ ْل ٌم ۚ ِإنَّ ال َّسم َْع َو ْال َب‬ َ ‫”واَل َت ْقفُ َما َلي‬
َ ‫ْس َل‬ َ
“And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge. Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and
the heart – about all those will be questioned.”

Ibnu Katsir Rahimahullah once said when he was explaining about this ayat:

“‫”أن هللا تعالى نهى عن القول بال علم بل بالظن الذي هو التوهم والخيال‬
“Allah ta'ala forbids to speak without knowledge, that is, to speak with mere guess which is
confusion and delusion.”
Well, the unlimited flow of information in this modern age has enabled us to know quite a lot.
We know what is happening anywhere, at any time. We know the newest government policy,
we know how bad the pandemic is on the other side of the world, and we even know what
happened to a football player. We know all these things in just a few clicks away!

But, do you realize that this knowledge has triggered us to talk too much beyond our
competence? We talked about the government, about the pandemic, and about the recent
cases and their controversies as if we knew everything about it.

Yes, we thought we knew everything, but we are too arrogant to realize that our knowledge
was just the tip of an iceberg! We do not realize that the government, the doctors, and the
police know what they are doing. It’s their job, their responsibility, and of course, they know
what to do about it. But still, we criticized and blamed them in public as if we knew more
than they do. As if we are the experts of everything!

My dear brothers…

Imagine with that little knowledge, you have to speak for hours with your friends. There is a
big chance that you will guess so often, relating that little knowledge with other facts that
you may know, unscientifically. Relating facts without any scientific or valid proof of their
relationship is just a suspicion.

Remember, Rasulullah ‫ ﷺ‬warns us in a hadith narrated by Bukhari & Muslim

‫ فإنَّ الظنَّ أكذب الحديث‬، َّ‫إياكم والظن‬

“Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tales”

So, what should we do to avoid wasting our precious time with this kind of talk?

First, as a consumer of news, whether the news is from television, social media,WhatsApp
group, or a public figure for that matter, we should be more careful. Make sure the news we
consume is written or spoken by someone competent in it. Remember, anyone can post
basically anything on the internet today. And when we give our trust to the wrong person
remember…

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala said in the Holy Qur’an:

َ ‫َيا َأ ُّي َها الَّذ‬

‫ِين َآ َم ُنوا ِإنْ َجا َء ُك ْم َفاسِ ٌق ِب َن َبٍإ َف َت َب َّي ُنوا‬
Syaikh ‘Abdurrahman bin Nashir As Sa’di when explaining this ayat said “Among the
manners of people knowledge is that when there is a news from an infidel, they will check it
first, not accept it out of hand.”

So, make sure you check the validity of anything you read, hear, or find.
The second thing that we should do to avoid discussing something beyond our competence
is, be patient. We might know something that went viral on social media. But that little
knowledge does not make us an expert who has the authority to discuss it in public or make
a statement for public consumption. Be aware of Rasulullah ‫ ﷺ‬hadith:

َ ‫َك َفى ِب ْال َمرْ ِء َك ِذبًا َأنْ ي َُح ِّد‬

‫ث ِب ُك ِّل َما َسم َِع‬
It is enough falsehood for a man to relate everything he hears. (Narrated by Muslim)

So, hold on, be patient. When you know something, it does not mean that you can discuss it
further as if you are an expert on it.

The conclusion is, be careful in consuming news and hold yourself from discussing it too
far beyond your competence.

May Allah protects our hearing, sight, and heart from anything He is not pleased with. Today,
and forever. Let’s enjoy this day, let’s talk about our future, about knowledge, about the
afterlife, and about anything that Allah is pleased with.

Remember, God gave us two ears and one mouth so that we speak less and listen more.

َ ‫ك َوَأ ُتوبُ إ َل ْي‬

‫ك‬ َ ‫ أسْ َت ْغفِ ُر‬، ‫ت‬ َ ‫ك اللَّ ُه َّم َو ِب َحمْ د‬
َ ‫ أ ْش َه ُد أنْ ال إل َه ِإالَّ أ ْن‬، ‫ِك‬ َ ‫ُسب َْحا َن‬