in a place where he fails to remember Allah likewise incurs a liability from Allah.” Reported by Abu Dawud; we quoted it a short while ago and have already explained the word “liability” (tera) there.

Explanation

These three hadiths clarify the etiquette of gatherings. All of them show that when a person sits in an assembly he ought to make good use of the occasion by remembering Allah and invoking blessings upon the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him and his family peace. They teach that no people sit together without mentioning Allah and sending blessings upon the Prophet except that such a meeting becomes a liability from Allah against them—meaning estrangement and loss; if He wills, He will punish them, and if He wills, He will forgive them.

Remembrance of Allah in a gathering can take many forms. For example, if someone in the assembly speaks about one of Allah’s signs, that counts as remembering Allah. He might say, “These days we are enjoying warmth as though we were in spring, even though we are in the depths of winter during its coldest days; yet it feels like summer. This is one of Allah’s signs. Even if all created beings united to warm the weather during days that are normally freezing, they would never be able to do so.”