Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wassalatu wassalamu ala Rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in. We begin in the name of Allah, all praise and glory be to Allah, and may His finest peace and blessings be upon His Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ) and his family and his companions and all those who adhere to his guidance. Brothers and sisters, I ask Allah Azza wa Jal to make us among His cherished servants that are turning this Ramadan a new chapter, opening a new chapter in our relationship with the Qur'an. And I want to spend this evening, brothers and sisters, speaking a little bit about sincerity with the Qur'an. The other night we said that the Qur'an cannot be changed by anyone, but it can change anyone. But will it change everyone? No, it will not. You have Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (رضي الله عنه), and you have on the complete opposite side Abu Jahl, the archenemy of the Prophet (ﷺ). One of them was raised, elevated to the highest stations. The other one was doomed for eternity, even though they had equal mastery of the Arabic language. So what was the difference? It was sincerity. And between Abu Bakr and Abu Jahl, those two poles, there are billions of hashes on the spectrum. And we want to move ourselves further along the right side of the spectrum. Because Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said, وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا هُوَ شِفَاءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ And we send down of this Qur'an, that which is a healing, that which is a cure, and that which is a mercy for who? For the believers.
Those that accept to believe in it, and nourish their belief with it. Sincerely wanting to be guided by it. Ibn Al-Qayyim says, with respect to sincerity, there are three classes of people when it comes to the Qur'an. There are some that have no sincerity whatsoever. They've run from the truth they find in the Qur'an. They're averse to it. They're in denial about it. As Allah described them in the Qur'an, كَأَنَّهُمْ حُمُرٌ مُسْتَنْفِرَةٌ فَرَّتْ مِنْ قَسْوَرَةٍ As if a pack of donkeys that take flight because a lion is attacking them. And then the second class is a group of people, like Banu Israel, who accepted the burden of the book. Yes, okay, I'll accept it. I'll recite it. I'll repeat it. I'll chant it. Right? People who accept the burden of the book for some selfish reasons. To be part of the the elite class or so they think. For self-validation, I want to tell myself I have a certain tradition that I want to keep up so I can keep looking at myself as religious, right? And these people, Allah described them as what? كَمَثَلِ الْحِمَارِ يَحْمِلُ أَسْفَارًا It's like a donkey being weighed down by the burden of a library. And then there is a third class of people that come to the Qur'an thirsty for its guidance. Seeking its cure. And these are the ones he said that will be healed by it, will be quenched through it. May Allah make us of the third class and increase us further and further in that class. That is the idea. You know, لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ It is a shifa, cure, and rahma, mercy for the mu'mineen.
And this should follow what we said the other night. If you believe these are God's words, you stand down and say, okay God's words, direct my thoughts, dictate my actions, tell me what I need to do. Right? Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said in the Qur'an elsewhere to the same point, الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ يَتْلُونَهُ حَقَّ تِلَاوَتِهِ أُولَٰئِكَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِ It comes up again. Those we gave the book to, not just Banu Israel anymore, we're included now as well. They recite it as it deserves to be recited. They are the ones that actually believe in it. So what does that mean, to recite it as it deserves to be recited? Ibn Mas'ud says, وَالَّذِي نَفْسِي بِيَدِهِ I swear by the one whose hands is my soul, إِنَّ حَقَّ تِلَاوَتِهِ To recite it as it deserves. He said, أَن يُحِلَّ حَلَالَهُ وَيُحَرِّمَ حَرَامَهُ To consider halal and haram, whatever it says. Stand down. Your constitution is this book, right? He said, وَأَن يَقْرَأَهُ كَمَا أَنزَلَ اللَّهُ وَلَا يُحَرِّفَ الْكَلِمَ عَن مَوَاضِعِهِ And to recite it as Allah revealed it, meaning to study how to pronounce this book is also mandatory. He said, وَلَا يَتَأَوَّلَ شَيْئًا مِّنْهُ عَلَى غَيْرِ تَأْوِيلِهِ And to not interpret it in an unjustifiable way, in an unsubstantiated way, based on mere conjecture, mere opinion. If I believe in it, I'm going to treat it that way. Notice, that's what he said. These are the ones who believe in it. They do these things. What didn't Ibn Mas'ud say? (رضي الله عنه) He didn't say how much they recite it. Because that takes second place. It doesn't take first place. In fact, he himself, (رضي الله عنه) Ibn Mas'ud used to say, لَا تَهُذُّوا الْقُرْآنَ هَذَّ الشِّعْرِ
Do not race through Quran, the way you speed through poetry. وَلَا تَنْثُرُوهُ نَثْرَ الدَّقَلِ And don't rattle it off the way you rattle off dry dates. Cultural reference here. When the dates dry up on the branch, all you got to do is shake the branch, and they scatter on the ground real quick. They get rattled off. Meaning, don't just rattle off the ayat. He said, don't rattle it off the way you rattle off dry dates, the verses of the Quran. He said, قِفُوا عِندَ عَجَائِبِهِ Teach yourself to pause at its wonders, at its marvels. وَحَرِّكُوا بِهِ الْقُلُوبَ He said, and stir the hearts with it. Try to chisel some of the rust off. Stir the hearts with it. وَلَا يَكُونُ هَمُّ أَحَدِكُمْ آخِرَ السُّورَةِ And beware of one of you, their sole primary concern is the end of the surah. Let me just get to the end of the page, the end of the surah. The end of the page, the end of the surah. Brothers and sisters, we cannot stress this enough. Your greatest triumph this month is not how far you've gotten in the Quran. It's how far the Quran has gotten into you. This is the real way to measure it. In fact, the Prophet (ﷺ) said in many ahadith, يَخْرُجُ فِي آخِرِ الزَّمَانِ They will emerge at the end times. قَوْمٌ مِّنْ أُمَّتِي Groups from my ummah. يَقْرَأُونَ الْقُرْآنَ رَطْبًا In some narrations, he said they will recite the Quran moist. Meaning their tongue never gets dry from Quran. It's always recently reciting. Never dries up. He said, لَا يُجَاوِزُ حَنَاجِرَهُمْ But the recitation never passes their throat. Meaning it never gets in here to change them. Never gets into their hearts to transform them. How has the Quran changed you? Shaped your character? Helped you feel His presence, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala? His nearness? When you whisper to Him in private.
Other scholars also added the recitation does not pass their throats. They said, No, not just downward, but upward as well. Meaning the recitation is not accepted by Allah. Because you're not living by what you recite. So this is just token. This is just lip service. And they cited for proof of that the other ayah of the Quran, إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ Ascending to Allah are all pure words. And of course, the Quran is the purest of words. But then he says, وَالْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ يَرْفَعُهُ And good actions are what get those words lifted. In one interpretation. وَالْعَمَلُ الصَّالِحُ يَرْفَعُهُ It's what qualifies the word for being accepted. To begin with, أَبُو حَمْزَةَ رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ He came to Abdullah ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنهما) And he said to him, إِنِّي رَجُلٌ سَرِيعُ الْقُرْآنِ سَرِيعُ الْقِرَاءَةِ لَأَقْرَأُ الْقُرْآنَ فِي لَيْلَةٍ I'm a man that has the ability to recite quickly and can recite the whole Quran in one night. Meaning should I do it? Should I keep doing this? He said to him, لَأَنْ أَقْرَأَ سُورَةً أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ For me to recite one surah the whole night is more beloved to me. He said, فَإِن كُنْتَ فَاعِلًا But if you insist on reciting more, فَاقْرَأْ قِرَاءَةً يَسْمَعُهَا أُذُنَاكَ وَيَعِيهَا قَلْبُكَ Then at the very least, recite a recitation that your ears can hear, you're not melting the words into each other, and your heart can comprehend. You know what is more dangerous than not understanding the Quran? Thinking you understand the Quran. And that's what I want to shake up here tonight, right? If we are sincere with the Quran, we come like a blank slate. What is it actually saying? Do I have a superficial understanding of it? You know, my teacher, Dr. Hatim Al-Hajj, he says,
as he was talking about so many popular ideas among religious people that they assume are signed off on by the Quran when they're actually not. He says, when I reflect on the Quran, I find myself at times saying to the Quran, أَسْكَتُوهُ حَيْثُ نَطَقَ وَأَنْطَقُوهُ حَيْثُ سَكَتَ He said, they silenced this book when it was speaking. They're ignoring deliberately, right? One eyed. And they claim that it's speaking at times when it's actually being silent. Superficial understandings. This ummah has successfully rebuilt a culture, brothers and sisters, of reciting the Quran, memorizing the Quran. You see these glamorous Quran competitions, these seminaries and institutes around the globe. And this is a beautiful thing on one condition that it does not happen at the expense of acting on the Quran. And of course, the prerequisite is what? Understanding the Quran. You know why? Because Allah very explicitly in the Quran said to us that the previous ummah, Banu Israel, failed when they settled for recitation. وَمِنْهُمْ أُمِّيُّونَ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ الْكِتَابَ إِلَّا أَمَانِيَّ وَإِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا يَظُنُّونَ And among them were those who were oblivious, knew nothing about this book, إِلَّا أَمَانِيَّ إِلَّا تِرْدَادًا Except how to repeat it. How to recite it. And they do nothing but speculate, Allah says. Because when all you know how to do is recite it, you have no choice but to speculate on what it actually means. To guess. To assume. Because you're not putting in the work to sincerely find out. And this is why Al-Hassan Al-Basri used to say, أُنْزِلَ الْقُرْآنُ لِيُعْمَلَ بِهِ فَاتَّخَذُوا قِرَاءَتَهُ عَمَلًا
This Quran was sent down to be acted upon. To be lived by. And then they assumed that reciting it was the action. The very first action will be reflection. And that will be our reminder tomorrow night insha'Allah. But for action. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala make us of those that recite the Quran beautifully. And memorize the Quran meaningfully. And reflect on the Quran deeply. And act upon the Quran for the remainder of our lives. Allahumma ameen.
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