Hujjatul Islam Ustad Syed Jawad Naqvi
(Principal Jamia Orwatul Wuthqa – Lahore)
Delivered at: Masjid Baitul ul Ateeq
Lahore – Pakistan
Friday Sermon 14th November – 2025
Sermon 1: Taqwa in Sexual Affairs (15) – Nushuz is non-fulfillment of Sexual rights of husband by wife
Sermon 2: The Warning Against Ghulūw: Imam al-Riḍā’s Refutation of Extremism and Affirmation of the Servitude of Imām ‘Alī (a)”
ٱلرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلَى ٱلنِّسَآءِ بِمَا فَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍۢ وَبِمَآ أَنفَقُوا۟ مِنْ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ ۚ فَٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتُ قَانِتَٰتٌ حَافِظَٰتٌ لِّلْغَيْبِ بِمَا حَفِظَ ٱللَّهُ ۚ وَٱلَّٰتِى تَخَافُونَ نُشُوزَهُنَّ فَعِظُوهُنَّ وَٱهْجُرُوهُنَّ فِى ٱلْمَضَاجِعِ وَٱضْرِبُوهُنَّ ۖ فَإِنْ أَطَعْنَكُمْ فَلَا تَبْغُوا۟ عَلَيْهِنَّ سَبِيلًا ۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلِيًّا كَبِيرًا
“Men are the managers of women because of the advantage Allah has granted some of them over others, and by virtue of their spending out of their wealth. So righteous women are obedient, guarding the intimate areas in the absence (of their husbands), as Allah has guarded. And as for those (wives) whose rebellion (nushūz) you fear, admonish them, and keep away from them in the bed, and beat them. If they obey you, then do not seek any course of action against them. Indeed, Allah is All-exalted, All-great.”
1. Concept of Saaleh and Corrupt (Faasid)
The believers should be righteous. Saaleh is the word used against corrupt. If something, for example like food, is per the criteria of cooking then this is Saaleh food; else it is corrupt. During this season the atmosphere becomes corrupted due to pollution. This is measured against a standard up to which the particles can remain in air. If it exceeds, then this is corrupt. Similarly, the personality of a human being should be Saaleh — meaning his character and intellect should be the way Allah has expressed. If not, then this is a corrupt person. Then similarly in his acts Allah wants him to speak truth and act with sincerity. This is a Saaleh person.
2. Saaleh and Qaanit as Attributes for Wife Selection
As per this verse, the first character attribute of a wife is that she should be Saaleh and this should be decided at the time of spouse selection. These days we select corrupt women for wife; these are those girls who establish relationships with boys online or other places and then reach the stage of marriage. This girl is corrupt who established an illegitimate relationship with a man. When you are selecting a spouse, first she should be Qaa’ne, then Saaleh. As mentioned before, Qaanit means those who are mentally prepared for obedience. Hence the first condition is that she should be prepared to live in the house of her husband along with him. Then she should be Saaleh, but it does not mean all Saaleh women are prepared for obedience to husband. This specifically happens when family forcibly select the spouse and get children married. For marriage there is a condition that both boy and girl should accept the relation by heart and not just verbally.
3. Haafizatul Ghaib and the Concept of Nushuz
Then the third attribute is Haafizatul Ghaib — meaning safeguarding the home when the husband is not present. Then if the woman is Nasheza (Nushuz) — meaning she is disobedient in the sexual relationship with man. Quran has used this word two times in this context whereby Nushuz can be man and woman both. When this happens, how to manage the marital life? This Nushuz happens abundantly in our society. This happens because there is no Qunoot in marriage, which means they are not married with preparation. Every generation needs fostering the way Prophet (s) did for this Ummah. In our culture the fostering happens organically and their personality is made in a natural way subject to what they encounter. And specifically they become deviated in sexual affairs in most cases. Most of the children are indulged into sexual corruption but parents conceal it and try to remain silent. Instead of fostering them as per Quran we follow this trend.
4. Nushuz as Failure to Fulfill Marital Rights
This Nushuz is in every affair, whereby either man is Nashez or woman is, and they do not fulfill the rights of each other. The biggest right is the sexual relationship for both of them. In our society we are least concerned about rights, whereas in the west they are too focused on rights. In religion there are responsibilities, obligations and rights as well. Some scholars say that wherever there are responsibilities there would be rights also present along with. On one hand Allah has made man as Qayyam, that is manager of affairs, then at the same time woman has to be Qaanet to be prepared to obey. So if the woman is not Qaanet, Saaleh and does not deliver the rights of man, then she is Nashez.
5. Linguistic Explanation of Nushuz
In Arabic Nashaza means a hill that comes out above the plain land (and not in mountainous areas). Quran has used this word with its same meaning against Qaanet which means prepared. So one who is not prepared to take up some responsibility in a gathering, he stands up which means he disagrees. This is Nushuz, when someone stands up and goes with disagreement. The wife who does not fulfill the rights of man has stood up from delivering her responsibilities. Due to this she is termed as Naasheza. This means she is not delivering the rights of man either explicitly or makes some excuses. If there is a genuine reason like sickness then that is acceptable. If husband and wife both have some genuine reasons, it is fine, but if they are just making excuses in delivering rights then this is Nushuz. This is the actual foundation of problems in marital life, which means not delivering marital rights. A wife has to fulfill the rights of man, and foremost is the sexual rights of man which she should deliver.
6. Illegitimate Relationships and Emotional Infidelity
It is common that man and woman both have illegitimate relationships irrespective of being married or not married. A married man has relationship with some other woman. At times on the outward they pretend to be like brother and sister. Those who have such relationships spend more time in sexual talks and many times they do not even touch each other. In cousins they take pleasure by intermingling. All these methods of gaining pleasure by words and looks are meant to be done between husband and wife. The wife should behave like a stranger with man. She does not talk about such things or keeps such kind of relationships. In many cases they do not even talk properly with each other. They have cold relationships even though they live in the same house, dine together and sleep in the same bedroom. This is Nushuz which Quran says in this verse is started by wife, but in verse 128 Quran says that man can also do Nushuz.
7. Consequences of Nushuz and Marital Breakdown
Then what is the solution for this? This is expressed by Quran. When man misbehaves with woman, if she is from a modern family she will openly say do not come near me. But in most cases she won’t say out of shame but practically she will not deliver the rights. If this Nushuz gets developed between them specifically when wife does this, then do not expect that man will wait for her to normalize. He will look for other options. Man does not take time to go towards illegitimate things and slips very fast, and it takes time for woman due to modesty. Woman should not give this justification or opportunity to man. Woman should learn how man takes pleasure from other relationships and she should do that same in her legal relationship. Man in pre-marital relationships will take gifts for his girlfriend and use a soft, romantic language. So why don’t you do this between spouses? Husband and wife should talk romantically between them what they want to do with others.
8. Concept of Tamattu and Mutual Pleasure
There is another word used by Quran which is Tamattu for the relationship between man and woman. This means pleasure which is the rights of man and woman to provide each other. He has married the woman for Tamattu and the word Mut’ah has originated from here. Man and woman should provide a pleasurable atmosphere for each other. If they do not do, then naturally man needs pleasure so he will go on internet, neighborhood and other places.
SECOND SERMON
O servants of Allah, I advise you and myself to adopt the fear of Allah.
Fear Allah, for indeed the best provision is taqwa.
O servants of Allah, I advise you, and I advise myself, with the counsel of divine piety; I call you towards taqwa, and I emphasise that you should conduct your lives according to taqwa, live under its shade, and establish your order of life upon it. Allah has appointed taqwa as the protective arrangement for human life, and through this arrangement, He has granted protection to human life in this world and the Hereafter.
The source of taqwa is the Noble Qur’an, the noble Prophets, and the purified Imams (a). And the most prominent and elevated tower of taqwa is the Commander of the Faithful, Ali (a). His wisdom, governance, actions, and conduct are embodied taqwa. He explained every aspect for the protection of the ummah.
Among his sayings is the statement in Hikmah 117:
“Two people will perish because of me: the excessive lover, and the excessive hater.”
As mentioned, only the Commander of the Faithful can speak like this. No leader — Muslim or non-Muslim, political or religious — speaks like this. Usually leaders say: Our followers will be saved no matter what they do. But the Commander of the Faithful said: If you exaggerate in loving me, you can also be destroyed — just as those who hate me are destroyed. Exaggeration leads to destruction.
The Ahl al-Bayt (a) highlighted this danger clearly. Allāmah Majlisī (r) compiled in Bihār al-Anwār (vol. 25) a complete chapter on the ghulāt and the struggle of the Imams (a) against them, and how the Imams protected the Shia from this danger.
The narration under discussion is the 20th hadith, reported from Imam al-Ridha (a). Imam al-Ridha said that Amir al-Mu’minin (a) had said:
“Do not take me beyond the limit of servitude. Do not remove me from the boundary of being a servant (of Allah).”
Meaning: Do not raise me into divinity; do not mention me in a way that negates my servitude. But whatever virtues you mention which do not negate my servitude — mention them.Then a man stood and said to Imam al-Ridha (a):
“O son of the Messenger of Allah, describe Allah for us.”
Imam al-Ridha (a) described the attributes of Allah.
After listening, the man said:
“O son of the Messenger of Allah, among those who claim to be your followers, there are people who say that all the attributes you have just mentioned about Allah — these are the attributes of Ali. And they say that Ali is Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”
The narrator says:
When Imam al-Ridha (a) heard this, his shoulders trembled, and sweat appeared upon his blessed face.
He said:
“Glory be to Allah! Glory be to Allah! Exalted is Allah above what the wrongdoers and disbelievers say!”
Then he said:
“Was Ali (a) not one who ate food among those who eat?Did he not drink among those who drink?Did he not marry among those who marry?Did he not have children like those who have children?Did he not speak among those who speak?Did he not pray?Did he not bow?Did he not prostrate?Was he not submissive, humble, supplicating, and turning towards Allah?If eating, drinking, marrying, and performing human actions are acceptable for a god, then all of you could be gods — for you also eat, drink, and marry.”
The man said:
“O son of the Messenger of Allah, they say that when Ali (a) displayed miracles which no one but Allah can display, this proved that he is Allah.”
Imam al-Ridha (a) replied:
“The miracles that appeared from Ali were the actions of the Almighty — not the actions of a created being.When he displayed miracles, it was Allah’s act through him.”
He continued:
“When Ali (a) displayed human attributes, people doubted, and when miracles appeared, they exaggerated.They became confused because they did not distinguish between the action of Allah and the action of a created servant.”
Imam said:
“The prophets also displayed miracles — did people call them gods? No. The miracles were Allah’s actions, shown through His prophets.”
Then Imam al-Ridha (a) said:
“The extremists did not understand their own worth.Their ignorance led them to exaggeration.Their excessive admiration turned into deviation.”
He explained that Allah gave certain honors to Ali (a) so that people may recognise his rank, obey his command, and follow him. But this honor does not make him divine.
Then Imam al-Ridha (a) gave an analogy:
“A king sends an envoy ahead of him with a group and gifts.People see the envoy and his appearance, and they think he is the king.They honor him with the king’s honor.When the real king arrives, they turn away from him, because their hearts remain attached to the envoy.This is the state of those who attributed divinity to Ali.Allah is the true King.Ali is His honored servant.”
He continued:
“They saw what Allah gave Ali — his miracles, his courage, his knowledge — and they exaggerated.
They confused the one honored by Allah with Allah.”
Then Imam said:
“O people, tell me: If someone confuses the servant with the king, what is his punishment?”
They replied:
“He deserves punishment.”
Imam said:
“You have judged your own case.These people will face the punishment of Allah, because they treated His servant as His equal.”
Then Imam al-Ridha (a) said clearly:
“Ali and his children are honored servants.They are created.They are sustained.They do not possess any power except what Allah gives them.They do not control life, death, resurrection, constriction, expansion, movement, or stillness — except what Allah grants them.Whoever takes them as lords besides Allah is among the disbelievers.”
Then he said:
“But these people refused except stubbornness.They persisted in their rebellion. Their wishes failed.Their desires were ruined.They remained in painful punishment.”
Imam al-Ridha (a) said:
“O people! Ali and his descendants are servants — honored by Allah, not divine.They possess only what Allah has entrusted to them.Their Lord is exalted above the qualities of created beings.Whoever considers any of them as a god besides Allah is a disbeliever and has strayed.”
