Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 3
15 / 30
Juz' 15 with Dr. Farah Islam and Dr. Omar Husain | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 3
Surah Al-Isra and Surah Al-Kahf offer something magnificent: a lens to see the world in its true reality, as Allah wishes us to see it. They are an exploration into divine decree, the transient nature of life, and the problem of evil. Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro are joined by Dr. Omar Husain and Dr. Farah Islam to discuss juz 15, the midpoint of the Qur'an, and as Dr. Farah reminds us, "The one who seeks Allah will find Him everywhere."
Download the new eBook "Qur’an 30for30: Seerah Edition" here.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Welcome to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen. We have a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful panel today. We have none other than Sheikh Abdullah Duru. Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen, of course, always, always alongside me and, and mashallah, inspiring us all. And then we have Dr. Farah Islam, who was our star from last year. She, Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen, came on last year, you came on and like you blew us away. And then we were like, okay, we need to get you to join the team. And Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen, not only did you join the team, but you're now a research director at Yaqeen, Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen, of the Psycho-Spirituality Department. Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen. And we have Dr. Omar Hussain, who I'm genuinely terrified of. I told him this before we got started because I make dad jokes. He makes bad jokes, but not in the like bad, like as in, as in like not good, but bad as in like he burns, he burns us. So I don't know a sheikh who roasts people better than him. So I'm actually afraid of you. I'll start off by just saying I think we should start with Dr. Farah. A few nights ago, Sheikh Abdullah Duru, we had a guest that wasn't able to make it, and he said that he would try to tolerate me for 30 minutes. I've been trying to forgive him. I'm having a hard time reconciling in my heart. So can you give some advice how I should forgive him? And then we can ask Dr. Omar Hussain. I'm having a hard time dealing with it. It felt it really hurt, you know, that I'm in. He suggested that I'm intolerable. I got to hang it out. We go way back, Sheikh. You got to settle it on the court. I don't know. On the court. Yeah. I mean, the ping pong table. He won't come to the football field. Oh, so. Oh, so. Sheikh, will you be there? Come on, I think people come play football this weekend.
Bismillah. I'm down, but if it's Sunday morning. Not see. All right. Never mind, Dr. Omar, what do you. Settle that out there. I work out faster, my brother. No, no, no, no, no. We're fast. Sheikh Omar, how's it going? I, alhamdulillah, all I got to say is mashallah with that, with the shirt that Sheikh Abdullah has, all is forgiven. I mean, he could have committed armed robbery, but it looks so good, mashallah, that it doesn't matter. So I think it's not an issue and we can just move on. Dr. Omar, what's your best dad joke? So I gave a a passionate lecture to my local community on how I don't like the term dad jokes. So I'm like totally getting serious here for a second and not giving you what you wanted, but I just feel like dad jokes are kind of like if you look behind it, it's kind of like, oh, there's dumb old dad, you know, like sitcom dad or whatever. So I don't really like the term dad jokes and I'm sorry to completely take the air out of the room and anything else. But so that's just kind of when you said dad jokes, you know, I get kind of. I get kind of excited, excited about that. All of you are watching. Please do not say dad jokes. Please don't refer to my jokes as dad jokes. And that's the. I'm so I'm the lot of I mean, so you're not going to roast. You're not going to roast me. You're going to leave me be today. I'm the mom. Well, that's unrelated to dad jokes. I don't see how roasting. He's got to leave it for slack. He always has his countdown, ladies and gentlemen. He always has like his top five, you know, roasting moments. I was always from a place of love. Well, we're going to go and get started in Charlotte. I know we have it. I'm the all four of us today. And I'm sure that's out of for that purpose. We're going to all be on our seven minute timer. But the nine to.
So now I'm going to know some are still now. I mean, he will be a woman. Why not? So we are now at Jews. Fifteen. May Allah allow us to have a conversation. May Allah allow us to have this recitation that we have done up to this point. Accepted our fasting and all of our deeds accepted and may Allah allow us to embark on a greater journey in the second half of Ramadan and accept all of our deeds and allow us to be amongst those who catch the other. I mean, this is a Jews that has two primary surahs. We have sort of a strong sort of calf and inshallah. I think the majority of what we're going to speak about is in regards to sort of calf. But there's something that I was reflecting on in regards to the nature of both of these surahs and how they relate to the concept of the Akhira and this idea of transcending the realm that we are currently in. And if you look at it, obviously, there are a lot of miracles that are spoken about within these few surahs. Surat al-Isra being the miracle of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, and what was given to him of the night journey. Surat al-Kahf full of different miracles. And then Surat Maryam, miracles of prophets, obviously, Maryam alayhi salam, Isa alayhi salam, Zakariya alayhi salam, and so on, so forth. Miracles of various prophets. So it is a you know, even though Surat Maryam is the next Jews, you have many miracles. However, there is something very specific in regards to the idea of Akhira here and hereafter, which is that when you talk about Surat al-Isra, it is elevation out of this realm. That Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is the doer. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala fa'alu nima yureed. Allah does as He pleases. Allah does as He wills.
And the ability to elevate someone outside of this realm, and that is, of course, the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, who Allah Azawajal took on this journey all in one night and time becomes irrelevant. Space becomes irrelevant because Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala willed that the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, would be elevated out of this realm. And then SubhanAllah, in Surat al-Kahf, you have a group of young men who are put to sleep within this realm, right, for an extended period of time that is beyond any human norm, beyond any expectation, and then brought out of that sleep after this long period of time. To show SubhanAllah, even within the realm, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is not subjected to any type of limitations that we have become accustomed to, and obviously, al-Kahf shows the expansion of possibilities in many different ways, in many different fashions, all out of the divine, perfect planning of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So again, SubhanAllah, this is something that I was thinking about, al-Isra being elevation out of this realm, al-Kahf, put to sleep within this realm, all of it that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who controls time and place, and of course this was a key objection that the mushrikeen used to have to the idea of a hereafter, is this idea that, you know, how is it that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will reassemble us after we have died, right? So once we become bones and dust, how is Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala going to resurrect us, seeming to suggest that once we are subjected to death with regards to our physical being, and time with regards to our limited life, we can't see anything beyond that, and Surah al-Kahf, Surah al-Isra and Surah al-Kahf take us out of that all together in a very beautiful way. Beyond that, SubhanAllah, the idea then of the precision of Allah's qadr, the precision of Allah's divine decree, compared to the precision of Allah's recording of the deeds.
This is something very, very subtle, but very powerful that you find within these two surahs, that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala pivots from the precision of his divine decree to the precision of his recording of deeds. And so Surah al-Isra in verses 13 through 15, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, كُلَّ إِنسَانٍ أَلزَّلْنَاهُ طَائِرَهُ فِي عُنِقِي وَنُخْرِجُ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَاهَةِ كِتَابًا يَلْقَاهُ مَنْشُورًا اِقْرَأْ كِتَابَكِ كَفَى بِنَفْسِكَ الْيَوْمَ عَلَيْكَ حَسِيبًا اقرأ كتابك, read your record, كفى بنفسك اليوم عليك حسيبا, you are enough of a witness upon yourself. You already know what you've put into these deeds, into these scrolls of deeds, because Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala will not confront you with a lawful mahful on the day of judgment, with his divine decree. Allah will confront you with the scrolls of your deeds. You know what you've been putting into those scrolls. And so read your book, it's all been recorded. And Allah Azawajal says, مَنَ اِهْتَدَ فَإِنَّمَا يَهْتَدِ لِنَفْسِي وَمَنْ ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضْلُّ عَلَيْهَا وَلَا تَزِلُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّى نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا Whoever chooses to be guided, then that is for their own good, and whoever chooses to go astray, that is for their own loss or to their own loss. So you're not being forced. You know, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is not using the supernatural to oppress you and to force you into misguidance. Here, whoever chooses to be guided, it's only for your own good. And whoever chooses to go astray, it is only to their own loss. And no soul is going to bear the burden of another. So your sin is your sin, your good deed is your good deed.
And Allah says, and we never punish a people until we sent a messenger to warn them. So you've been given sufficient warning, and you will be confronted only with your deeds on the Day of Judgment. Lastly, SubhanAllah, fast forward to Surah Al-Kahf, verse 49. So this was Surah Al-Isra, 13 to 15, and then compare it to the next surah, Surah Al-Kahf, verse 49. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, Wa Wudia'al Kitaab Fatara'al Mujrimina Mushfiqina Mimma Fihi, Wayaquluna Ya Wailatana Maani Hathal Kitaabi La Yughayiru Saghira Tan Wala Kabira Tan Illa Ahsaaha Wa Wajadu Ma'amilu Hadhira Wala Yazlimu Rabbuka Ahada And the record of deeds is laid open and you will see the wicked in fear of what is written in it, and they will cry, Woe to us! What kind of record is this? It has not left anything off the books. Everything was recorded and they will find everything live, present in front of them. Wala Yazlimu Rabbuka Ahada, but your Lord has not wronged anybody. Your Lord has not wronged anybody. So SubhanAllah, look at the way that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala takes us from this point of, yes, divine decree is being recorded precisely and miracles can happen within that divine decree because Allah is not subject to your limitations. But the recording of your deeds is what you really need to be concerned about because those are the scrolls that will be laid in front of you. And your Lord does not wrong you. Your Lord is not forcing you into misguidance. Your Lord is giving you an opportunity. He sends you messengers. He sends you a message. He gives you opportunities and you can't blame anyone else. No one can carry the blame of anyone else. And SubhanAllah, you find that in both of these surahs, the shaitan is mentioned, but at the same time, the shaitan is not blamed for the misguidance of anybody, right in the center of both of these surahs, that he carries his own burden. Everyone else carries their burden as well. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala protect us and guide us to that, which is best. Allahumma ameen.
Dr. Farah, I hand it off to you. Bismillah. Bismillah. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh everyone. I wanted to focus on Surah Al-Nikah in a particular passage of verses 45 to 49. I feel like a lot of us are overly familiar with Surah Al-Nikah, so I wanted to take some time to really appreciate it, inshallah. And particularly, it's the passage where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us about the life of this world. He paints this beautiful scene of a lush, you know, green garden thriving under abundant rain, and how quickly everything dies, withers away, and gets scattered in the wind. Allah is asking us, with his noble words, to consider the true reality of this life. He's asking us to take on the lens that he is presenting us with, to see reality as it is. You know, my favorite of the 40 hadith of An-Nawawi goes like this. Every person starts his day as a vendor of his soul, either freeing it or causing its ruin. Allah wants to present us with his lens, so we can live in this world and not become attached or shackled to this dunya. He wants our emancipation. He wants to free us from bondage. Allah is asking us to consider the true nature of this dunya as transient and ephemeral. The things we often concern ourselves with most are also part of the illusion. Allah tells us in verse 46, Al-manu wal-banu nazimsun hayati al-dunya That wealth and children are the glitter of this life. In the next verse, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us that these mighty mountains that we thought were immovable and indestructible will be crumbled to dust and blown away as if they were nothing. Everything that we hold is unshakable reality. Everything we concern ourselves with is really part of the illusion of this life.
The illusion that makes us believe that we're going to live forever, that we're invincible. The illusion that makes us believe like Yusuf Ameis and M's brothers that I will be good later. The YOLO illusion, you can call it, the idea that you only live once. And we can tell ourselves that intellectually we believe in the hereafter. But do we really believe it? You know, Sheikh Abdullah, you know, Mashallah, really asked us a really poignant question. And in the first episode of this series this year, he said, we say we all say we believe in Allah. But do we believe him? Do we believe Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala when he tells us that there is life after death? Because if we do, that should transform our lives. That should change everything that we do. You know, Ramadan is the month of the Quran. This beautiful book is supposed to move us, to transform us. And one of the most profound ways that Allah asks us over and over again to change is to shift our perspective, to shift our lens, and see this world for what it is. To see the illusion. What I find so wild is that we can all look up at the same scene before us and see something totally different. You know, when my son looks up at the clouds and says, you know, thank you Allah for the beautiful sky. He is seeing his creator. But another person can look up at the same sky and see nothing but clouds and sunshine. And they'll appreciate the beauty of it, but not appreciate the Rabb who created it. As believers, we see the creation and look beyond to see the creator. And that's wild. Like forget sci-fi movies or green screens or special effects or whatever, right? That's the same reality being warped in the same dimension, just in different minds or in different hearts. That's amazing, SubhanAllah.
You know, the other day, we were all sitting around the dinner table and my father-in-law was staying in Bengali. He said, The one who seeks Allah will find him everywhere. And then my sister-in-law quit back and she said, the one who does not seek Allah will never find him. It's the same dunya, the same scene, the same wondrous sky before us. While some of us just see clouds, some of us get the chance to see the divine. And this takes reflection, takes contemplation, deep thought to develop this lens. It takes what you're doing right now, watching this video or listening to this as you drive, because you want to develop a deep and personal connection with this beautiful book. And may Allah reward you for that. I mean, I was thinking about how my son does this funny thing. And maybe you've noticed this with the kids in your life as well. But when it comes to taking a walk, he just kind of falls apart. Right. He generally be on it. He wants to be on his bike or on his scooter. Anything else rather than walking, which is so blah, boring. Right. Except when it's a walk through the forest. And then he's bounding ahead, picking up sticks, chasing squirrels. He has the time of his life. Right. On the last take we went on, he stood on this, you know, looking out at this scene of rivulets and trees below him. And he said, this is even better than a painting. Allah makes the best paintings. Allah, what the. You know, but if I ask him to go for the same walk or let's say much shorter distance through a neighborhood on the sidewalk, ostensibly requiring, you know, the same effort, the same movement, my son will fall apart. You know, his legs will become jelly. He'll just disintegrate. He'll be like melting as he has a meltdown. And it's one of those weird parenting moments where you're like, what is going on?
And he just falls apart. And so you can ask then, well, why are those two walks so different? Although my son may be too young to articulate this, I'm going to argue that in one walk, he is only surrounded by the mundane. But in the other, he is reminded of the divine. And this makes all the difference. And this is true even for a child. To paraphrase Ibn Al-Qayyim, in our souls, there is a wahsha or an estrangement that can only be quieted when we near our Lord. It's the same scene, the same sky or the same walk. You can walk through this life and see the city, the neighborhood, the streetlights, the sunsets and think they are nothing more. Or you can walk through this life and see the garden that awaits you. Inshallah. As Ibn Al-Qayyim, Rahimahullah, tells us, in one walk, we bring near what is remote, which refers to the next world, which both Shaytan and illusions render seemingly distant. But for the servant who keeps to remembrance, it is as if he enters the next world and dwells there. Will you attach yourself to this life and fail to see it for what it is? Nothing but a way station on our way back, our journey back to our Creator. Will you free your soul today or will you cause its ruin? What walk will you choose? SubhanaAllahu wa ta'ala. Alhamdulillah. It's very hard to follow that. Alhamdulillah, I went before because I don't have to follow it. So it's all on Dr. Omar and Shaykh Abdullah now. But it's good. We've only had like Urdu spoken by Mufti Abdur-Rahman Waheed here. So it's good to finally bounce on some of that before he brings his poetry. By the way, he is coming on at some point, inshallah ta'ala.
But Jazakumullah khayran. Beautiful, beautiful reflections. Dr. Omar, I don't envy you, but you have to follow that. So bismillah. Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim wa bihinna asta'in wa ba'd. This would be a great time to claim technical difficulties. I just freeze in my frame. Jazakumullah khayran, Dr. Farah. Very, very touching reminder. I just want to speak very briefly about verse, starting at verse 65, the story of Musa'in Khidr. Now, Surat al-Kahf, I think most people here are reading it. Right? Every Friday. And we kind of read it. But the beauty of the Qur'an is it doesn't matter how many times you've read something. There's always something to uncover. And one of the takeaways from this particular story, and we'll go through it in a second, is it really solves a philosophical problem that people often have. And of course, we know the more philosophical one is, the more confused they are. Right? But it really does answer a question which kind of comes up over and over again. And we'll do it like Jeopardy, right? We'll give the question after we, at the end. Okay. So in this story, we have, of course, Musa'in Khidr, and he's going along. He's been told there's someone who's wise and to follow him and take from him. So they start walking. حَتَّى إِذَا رَكِبَ فِى السَّفِينَةِ خَرَقَهَا So let's just imagine, let's put ourselves in Musa'in's shoes. So he's walking, and he sees someone put a hole in a ship. Musa'in doesn't understand. Most of us would not understand. We would question, which is what Musa'in does. Why did you do this? Because it just doesn't make any sense that you would go and damage someone's property.
Now, of course, when I'm hanging out with Dr. Omar and Sheikh Abdullah, I question everything that they're doing, but I have valid reasons for that. But in this particular case, I think anybody would say, how could you possibly damage this ship? Right? So Khidr says, basically, I told you so. And I'm paraphrasing, of course, فَنْطَلَقَ So they keep walking. Now they go and they meet a boy. He sees a boy, right? And Khidr kills the boy. Now, how can we get beyond that? This is too much. And of course, Musa'in says the same thing. How could you do this? This doesn't make any sense. How do you kill an innocent soul? Khidr, alayhi salam, says, I told you this was going to happen. Okay, Musa'in, alayhi salam, says one more chance. This can be one more chance. Now they are walking. They desperately need some food. They need some housing. And in that time, it was custom that when you have people coming in from town, you really host them in our hospitable. And they find the exact opposite. No one is willing to host them. And what does Khidr, alayhi salam, do? He sees a wall and he puts it up. So basically, in the desperate situation they're in, he basically works for free. And Musa, alayhi salam, again, like any one of us, it just doesn't make any sense. We need something. We could have easily taken a wage. And this is where Khidr, alayhi salam, says, okay, this is it. So now let me tell you what happened. As for the ship, there was a tyrant king. Ya'khudhu kulla safinatin ghasba. He was basically snatching up all the ships. So to divert attention from the king by grounding the ship where it was, it didn't allow it to move forward and be completely ransacked.
So what happened? It was to damage the ship was not a big deal compared to losing everything on that ship. So now we think about this, oh, that makes a lot of sense. Okay, in the second case, killing a boy, how can that be justified? Well, that boy, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala knew he would grow up to be someone who would give his righteous parents a difficult time, who would be rebellious. And so Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala removed that difficulty from them. Now, very important to point out in the end of the story, Khidr alayhi salam does say that this was all done by a command of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Right. So I just want to definitely mention that. And then in the third case of taking wages or not taking wages when it was really justified, what was the reasoning? Because there was a treasure underneath that wall, which Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted to preserve for some orphan children. And so later on, they can come and claim their treasure. But if it wasn't covered, then of course, people would loot the treasure. So we think about this and we look at this and we say, well, that makes sense. It makes perfect sense. In fact, everything that happened in this makes sense. So what we just did in the story of Musa in Khidr is we saw what is the problem of evil or why do bad things happen? There are wonderful publications going into detail on this, which you can find at the website, on Yaqeen's website. But this is something we're reading every single Friday and we kind of read through it. And, you know, but this is something like something that deeply, deeply troubles people that they don't know how to answer this. They don't like they lose their iman because they don't know how to approach it.
But here Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is showing us how things often are not what they seem and what we classify as, quote unquote, good may not be. And what is apparent to us may not always be the best. And quite often it's not because Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who is all knowing and the one who is in charge and the one who makes plans. And a lot of times we will focus on things we've missed out on and really dwell on it. But many times we'll get something which is even better, but we don't look at it in the same light. Right. We kind of downplay it or don't even mention it at all. And that's a very serious matter because it's bordering on ingratitude. So this is, you know, the stories are given in the Quran because stories are fun. We like stories. They hold our attention. But there's just so much wisdom that can be taken out of it. And here we have one of these philosophical problems, which has been haunting man, you know, for thousands of years, which Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is helping to illustrate and show that he's in charge and things are not always as they seem. Jazakallahu khairan. Dr. Omar, mashallah, right on time. I think that was seven minutes. You managed to squeeze in that you wouldn't trust Shaykh Abdullah and I if you were with us. I'm still finished in seven minutes exactly. I'm very meticulous with my time. I see that. You know, honestly, like I see, Shaykh Abdullah, I go to the gym. I do. I work out. I know you don't believe it. But like if I went with you and you started like doing these things that I don't understand, the bar is supposed to pull ups. I don't know how you ended up getting over the bar and doing this over the bar. And, you know, if you start throwing weights through the windows and I'm just not going to understand. What kind of tips are you using there?
That's a real life situation. I just I would not be comfortable with your routine. Dr. Omar, don't downplay your efforts. Walking on a treadmill is working. I don't want you to feel bad about that. He's almost as good as Dr. Altaf, man. I need to have him and Dr. Altaf in a room. Those two, I don't know if I could stay in the room. We'd have to put a rating on YouTube. You know, at that point, but on a serious note, subhanAllah, so we've covered Surat Al Kahf here pretty, Alhamdulillah, just just a few of the highlights. Right. But subhanAllah, what Sheikh Omar is mentioning, you know, one thing, Dr. Omar, that I recognize and not me, but many of the Mufassereen pointed this out is the levels of outrage with Musa alayhi salam. You know, the first time, you know, with just destroying the ship, it was the Qajit al Shaytan, Imra. Like this is this is astounding. This doesn't make any sense. This is kind of strange. Why would you be doing that? But then he actually accused him the second time, the Qajit al Shaytan, Nukra. This is evil. What you've just done is an act of evil. Right. And obviously, you know, this is not something that any human being can do, which is why, you know, the Ulema mentioned that this is based on Nubuwa, on prophethood or beyond that. Well, not not beyond some of the mysteries and things that are associated to Al Khadr alayhi salam. But this idea that this is not he's not doing this from himself, but this is the way that divine decree works in the background. I think, subhanAllah, as we as we go through that, the lens, what Dr. Farah just spoke about, which is the lens that you have to life and seeing the beauty of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with things that are obviously beautiful, helps you to also come to terms with things that you can't understand because you're constantly thinking about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And I think one of the main problems is people immediately throw negativity right when something bad happens, they immediately go towards the blaming of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and divine decree and things seemingly being off. So JazakAllah khair, very profound. And Sheikh Abdullah is going to talk about the Quran, Alhamdulillah rabbal ameen, Surah al-Isra and and help us ground this once again in divine revelation. Sheikh Abdullah, if you have any thoughts as well as you're thinking about not just what you're going to share inshaAllah ta'ala your portion, but I think it's a profound enough topic and a deep enough topic inshaAllah. JazakAllah khair, salamualikoum wa rahmatullahi wa barakato. What's interesting is how you mentioned Musa in the beginning, he said, you know, that's strange. And it seems like subhanAllah, that's like the tadaruj of shubuhat, right? It's like, OK, in the beginning, shubuhat means misconceptions from that which resembles something, but in actuality, it's not or a doubt. You know, it may in the beginning be strange to a person. And then subhanAllah, if they continue on without seeking the knowledge or, you know, consulting with people of knowledge, then it becomes something that may even be evil with lowercase letters. And then it could get to something to where it's something that they may feel is a form of misguidance if they follow it. Right. So subhanAllah, it's interesting how that was mentioned. And then just the tadaruj of Musa and Khadr, you know, alayhim assalam with that is so many fawad and benefits. But we're reading all of this in the book that is the revelation from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And knowing that that is from knowing that that is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is a milestone of our existence. I could say of our faith, but of our existence, because with our existence, the faith shines and we need the faith to make sure that our existence is that which is purposeful, meaningful. We see many different, you know, people of of of humanities, particularly psychology in the past and present, trying to find what is the meaning of life.
Is it finding happiness or is it finding meaning in it of itself? When we look at the Quran al-Karim, we have to understand and take a step back, you know, and really look at, OK, God, who is he and what does he want to tell me? Right. We don't want to to make it very difficult. We want to understand that the Quran as a Muslim, we believe that it is the word of God and he's telling us something. How to live our lives, who first he introduces himself by saying who he is and who he is not. And then he tells us how to live our lives accordingly, accordingly, meaning that we live our lives according to the way that he has legislated within the Quran and within the actualization of the Quran being the prophets, all of them that came in a chronological order, the last of them being Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Hence, the Quran means that which was recited or that which was revealed or gathered together and revealed to the prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam, Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasallam. So when looking at this Quran, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in the chapter of al-Isra, verse number nine and ten, where he says wa ala al-mukhtibu illa min al-shaytaan al-rajim, inna hatha al-qur'ana yahdi lillatihi aqwam, wa yubashshiru al-mu'mineena allatheena ya'manoona as-salihati anna lahum ajran kabira, wa anna allatheena la yu'minoona bil-akhirati a'tadana lahum a'thaban alina Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here makes a very important statement and there's particularly one word that he uses that really hits home for our humanity and reality in this world. When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says inna hatha al-qur'ana yahdi lillatihi aqwam.
Now, translation. Indeed this Quran guides to that which is most, most suitable and gives glad tidings to the believers, those who do righteous deeds and they will have a great reward. The next verse, and those who do not believe in the hereafter, we have prepared for them a painful torment. SubhanAllah, when looking at this Quran, we have to understand that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us the, we can say the word religion, or we say the word deen. This way of life of practice with the deen of Islam, the religion, is a fadl, it's a virtue from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But sometimes when we look at the word religion, we look at it as, okay, it's a whole bunch of rules. But if you were to establish a business or establish any type of organization, they call it organization because you have to be organized in order to reach a particular goal. Because you're dealing with different people's personalities, experiences, there has to be some standards that are set. So we look at Islam as guidelines with objectives, guidelines with objectives, qawad that have usul or these basics or these rules or these maxims that have ultimate maqasid, objectives. When we look in the Quran and the Sunnah, they have some ultimate objectives that many scholars talk about that there are five and some say that there are six. We don't have a lot of time to go into them. But particularly one of them primarily is hifdh al-deen, is preservation of the religion and preservation of the soul or the self. Anything that we see in the Quran or in the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, we must understand that it is there for that primary objective to preserve these elements within the life of creation, within the lives of creation. So when Allah says he guides to that which is most suitable and upright, aqwam, aqwam, aqwam means that which is upright or standing as we say, iyaam or it comes from this basic jithr or root, morphologic makeup.
So it guides that which is the best. It is the most suitable situation. We may find people within a particular culture, they have things that are not immoral, Islamically, or not immoral when it comes to other human beings. But if Islam calls to something that may differ or something that is more preferable, we have to understand that it's important for us to try our best to understand and to accept the fact that the Quran calls to the best. It calls to the best in all aspects of life. In gender relations, when we're talking about marriage, for example, Islam mandates that we, if we have an interest in the opposite gender, then the best way is to marry. And that is the way that helps all of humanity, not you individually, but all of humanity. So when looking at the rulings of Islam, it's important for us to remember that it is guidelines and it guides you. yahdi lilati hiyaaqwam It guides you to that which is the most suitable. If you're being guided, it's taking you somewhere. ihdeena, where? To the sirat al mustaqeem. So if we want to go to the sirat al mustaqeem or to stay on the sirat al mustaqeem, it's important to take that which is aqwam. And from that, the ones that take that which is most upright, they are the mu'mineen. They are the ones that are the believers. And that's why he congratulates them right after that. wayyubashshirul mu'mineen He gives glad tidings to the mu'mineen. Who are they? allatheena yaAAmaloonas saalihaat anna lahum ajran kabeera They are the ones that do the righteous deeds, the deeds of the Quran that calls you to that which is most suitable. What is the reward? the ajran kabeera The great, great reward. And scholars mention that as jannah. But hold on, there's a flip side to that. There are those that don't believe. There are those that don't care to believe. There are those that would prefer other than the Quran, which was mentioned earlier, the lens. What lens do we view the world?
It's important for the Muslim to view through an Islamic worldview to where everything is weighed against Islam, not the opposite. When we say Islam, it is the word of Allah and the practice of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. So Allah Subhana wa ta'ala says, and those that who do not believe in the hereafter, we have prepared for them a painful punishment, realizing that there is a place of eternal bliss. But one has to work for it. And one has a choice to make. Are they choosing that which is beneficial for them? Are they choosing that which is the best? Whenever we go and buy any product and they put things in front of us, you know, different prices, different qualities, we want the best of them. If we had the opportunity with all the money that we have, we would want the best. What about the purpose of our existence? Do we not want the best in this life with our consciousness, with our values? What do we value to ultimately be with the one that we value the most, Allah Subhana wa ta'ala? In conclusion, Allah right after that mentions our reality. When he talks about the reality of human beings and saying that they are ajulan, when Allah Subhana wa ta'ala says that mankind is very hasteful and that they will be hasteful and they will call on the dua and make dua for good and dua for evil, because sometimes we are hasteful in what we want and in what we do. And that's why it's very important for us to understand when wanting this, which is akwam, sometimes you will, many times you will have to be patient with what Allah has predestined, be patient with the shariah, be patient with those guidelines. And with that, there is an eternal promise. And again, we believe in Allah, as the sister mentioned, mashaAllah, but do we believe, do we believe him when he says these things? The struggle is real on a daily basis for us to fight. It's you versus you. And we know that Allah Subhana wa ta'ala wants the best for you. So it's up to you. May Allah Subhana wa ta'ala bless us all inshaAllah. Jazakumullahu khair.
Dr. Farah, if you have anything to add for us. Shaykh Abdullah, I loved your point about this idea. When we read the Quran, we have to remember that it is primarily a book of guidance. And I think sometimes we take this different lens into it, that there is always a greater objective and Allah always wants the best for us, subhanaAllah. So I really love that, that point. Jazakumullahu khair. Dr. Farah, were you taking notes? I was. That's fantastic. That's such a great example for everybody. Taking notes, mashaAllah. MashaAllah, Allah bless you. Those are the posts online that light my heart the most are when people actually post notes, right? That they're taking notes. Because you can see that people are actually reflecting beyond what we are saying, which is the point of the Quran for tadawuf, right? For reflection. So people are not just capturing what they're hearing, but they're also putting on their extra notes. Dr. Omar, are you taking notes? Technical difficulties, we can't hear you. No notes at this particular moment. I just want to briefly, just going back to one point Sheikh Abdullah made about organizations. I get tired of seeing these viral clips about how great this organization was and how hard these people worked to build it and they slept in their office. It's like that is, everyone marvels at that when it comes to things that people achieve in this world.
But when that effort is moved over to like, you got to work in the deen, all of a sudden it's like, why is Islam so hard? Why is there so many rules? Is there something else we can do? Like embracing that struggle, like if that attitude, it's just an attitude shift, right? Reframing as we call it. Like enjoying that, like, yeah, I did lack sleep in Ramadan and I enjoyed every minute of it, right? But just, I just urge us to keep this in mind because you just get flooded with these clips and we're just like, oh yeah, like, this is so wonderful. But when it comes to the deen, it's like we just want the express route, but anything worth having in life takes effort and a lot of energy. So may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la allow us to transfer it to what matters the most. Honestly, really enjoyed having the both of you, Alhamdulillah, I think bringing that, those perspectives that both merge the religious perspective as well as, you know, your expertise beyond that. Alhamdulillah, with how people are thinking about these things is very important to us, Alhamdulillah. So this is a very beneficial session, Alhamdulillah, just so I can clear myself. We have retired the term dad jokes. Sheikh Omar, we're done with dad jokes. We're not using the term anymore. But so it's not backbiting. Mufti Abdur-Rahman Waheed, we love your Urdu poetry. Dr. Farah, we love that we got to show our Bengali family some love today. And Dr. Wattaf Hussain, it's not because of you that the age rating would be there. It would be because of Dr. Omar Hussain. So just so that we can put that there. But you're very restrained today, man. I appreciate it. JazakAllah khair. I'm a little worried about what happens after, but I appreciate you sparing us today. Oh, also, you have a series, Conversations with God. What was the name of the series? Did you forget it? Quranic Duas?
No, it was a playlist on Yaqeen. You did a beautiful series on Duas. You know, I think a lot of people have not gone through the old playlists that we have. So it's been a couple of years, but Conversing with God or How to Converse with God. But you did have a series. Forgive me for not looking that up prior, but you did have a series, mashallah. It was very beneficial. And some of the Duas from the Quran. So I encourage everyone to go through the playlist, see Dr. Omar Hussain's playlist, inshallah. Dr. Farah, we have to record a series with you. I was about to say when, not if. InshaAllah, ameen. I think Dr. Farah, I hope she has a good massage here because her back is probably tired from carrying this whole episode. Oh no, mashallah. She can relax, you know, while we're sitting over here. Too kind, Chuck. Jazakumullah khayran. Alright y'all, so with that, we will let you all go. Jazakumullah khayran for giving us a lighthearted but also very beneficial episode halfway through Ramadan. We pray that everyone has a blessed second half to their Ramadan. We'll look forward to being with you again tomorrow night, inshallah. Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. What is the status of our community today? Not so great. We have pretty bad PR, but we can find good PR on our prayer carpet at night. We can, through the worship of God, through deep worship of God, and even quick, even swift, even a couple of minutes before Fajr, worship of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, we can elevate not only our personal status with God,
not only our personal status with dunya, but the status of our ummah, as was the promise to Rasulullah Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
Welcome back!
Bookmark content
Download resources easily
Manage your donations
Track your spiritual growth
1 items
1 items
1 items
25 items
50 items
9 items
