Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 4
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Juz’ 8: Dr. Farah Islam | Guidance & Reviving Hearts
In many places in Surah al-Anaam and Surah al-Araaf, Allah describes those that are guided, and the nature of guidance. Some of these verses are directly speaking about some of the Companions of the Prophet (s), while others speak of the Might of Allah and His ability to resurrect what He pleases, including the hearts of those ignorant to faith.
Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro welcome Dr. Farah Islam to reflect on the themes of spiritual guidance in Juz 8.
0:00 Intro and dad joke of the day
3:32 Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on verses that describe who is a worthy recipient of the Revelation and applies it to the Seerah.
6:11 Why Allah compares ignorance to death and knowledge (of revelation) to life
9:17 The difference between Umar (RA) and Abu Jahl
10:58 Don’t assume that those that oppose Islam are all the same
13:48 Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflects on how we all need guidance to Islam
15:15 Allah nourishes our hearts with the Revelation — The parable of rain
20:45 Allah brings life to dead hearts
23:26 Dr. Farah Islam reflects on the marvel of the universe Allah has created
25:46 Allah is the only one in control
27:08 The concept of futility exercises
29:01 Embracing futility
33:41 Reflections
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, everyone. Welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wassalamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. We're blessed today, alhamdulillah, to be joined by Dr. Farah Islam, who alhamdulillah, is one of our research directors at Yaqeen focusing on psycho-spirituality, alhamdulillah. And, you know, actually we were introduced to you through Qur'an 30 for 30 a few years ago. You came on and then you gave like the greatest locker room speech of all time. Like, who is this lady? And then we recruited you, alhamdulillah, and now you're you're one of our esteemed research directors, alhamdulillah. So it's great to have you. And of course, Sheikh Abdullah, always good to see you. How are you holding up after a week of Ramadan? Alhamdulillah, I'm doing fine, alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. You haven't been traveling as much, it's been good to have you, have you in one place, alhamdulillah. Yeah, just from here, my house, and back, that's about it, alhamdulillah. Alright, so Sheikh, last time, so the first night of 30 for 30, I made a joke that people are still saying wrong, alright? I said, what do you call someone that's on a bike at the gym? And I said, a psychopath. People said a psychopath, right? And like, I've had to correct a few people along the way. This is a doctor for us here, using this joke. I'm trying to, I'm trying to redeem myself today. I'm trying to redeem myself today. Psychopath, oh my god. Okay, cycle. Excuse me, Dr. Farah. I'm making it, I'm making clear what it really meant, right? But I have one to redeem myself today, alright? You ready, Sheikh Abdullah? And it has to fit within psycho-spirituality and mental health, alright? Alright, so Sheikh Abdullah, you have to try to answer this, you ready? Alright, what did the ghost say to the psychiatrist?
What did the ghost say to the psychiatrist? I don't know, I'm full of the holy spirit. No, come on man, this is a Muslim show. No, no, no. What did the ghost say to the psychiatrist? Alright, so you give up, I assume. Or that was your answer, alright. I feel like I used to be somebody. Okay, no? Not good? Alright, okay. No. It's a half, half, alright. I feel like I used to be somebody. Yeah, I got that one off the internet, that's not an original. Oh no, I don't even do it. You gotta give credit. Cut it out, cut it out. I think it's a good one. Alright, Sheikh. We'll try again tomorrow, Inshallah. I guess I should just avoid all mental health related, you know, content in this part of the segment. Because that one wasn't any good, if tar is on you. There you go, okay, Mashallah, Mashallah, there you go. Alhamdulillah, there we go. Alright, Jazakumullah Khair. We are in Juz 8 today, Alhamdulillah. And Alhamdulillah, blessed to again be joined by Dr. Farahan. We have you know, SubhanAllah, a lot of gems to extract from this particular Juz. A'udhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajeem. Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem. Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen. Wa al-'udhwani illa ʿan al-ḍalimeen, wa al-ʿaqibatil al-muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa barak ala abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim, tasliman kathira. So Juz 8, we continue now with Surat Al-An'am and we transition from Surat Al-An'am to Surat Al-A'raf. And SubhanAllah, one of the things that I
noticed about this transition, Surat Al-An'am as we said is this powerful defense of Aqidah, this powerful defense of Islamic creed. It was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ in one shot in Mecca. Surat Al-A'raf also is very much so a defense of the creed and it has the story of the disobedience to Allah ﷻ. So Al-An'am is that call to obedience, Al-A'raf is really that story of disobedience and it goes very beautifully together even though they were not revealed at the same time. Now I wanted to focus on a very powerful section of this surah that has a seerah context to it, but SubhanAllah more than the seerah context that is assigned to it, you also have the concept of the worldview that we'll speak about and who is a worthy recipient of this revelation, who is the best of those who benefit and act upon this revelation. So to give a little bit of background, the ulema say that when Hamza radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu converted to Islam, because Hamza radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu was the first powerful person in Mecca to convert to Islam. It was a page that was turned in the history of the Muslims. Hamza radiAllahu Anhu brought a level of strength and public defense to the Prophet ﷺ that had not been seen before and Allah ﷻ reveals a verse in Fussilat according to many of the scholars, اِتْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنْ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيُّنْ حَمِيمٌ Respond to that which is evil with that which is better and you will find that the one between you and him there is enmity will become your close friend, will become like a close friend, a supportive friend to you. So many of the scholars say this was the celebration of Hamza radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu embracing Islam
and the glad tidings of Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu to come next right and these are really the two powerful figures of Mecca that will embrace Islam and that will serve as that first line of defense for the Prophet ﷺ literally in the face of great persecution. So that's the beginning when Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu converts to Islam this verse is revealed, اَوَ مَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِي النَّاسِ كَمَن مَثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says in this is verse 122 and I'll translate the first part, is the one who was dead and then brought back to life and then given a light by which he walks amongst the people like the one who is steeped in darkness لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا and it's as if that person cannot get out of that darkness كَذَلِكَ زُيِّنَ لِلْكَافِرِينَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ and this is the way in which the deeds of the disbelievers have been made appealing to them so it's a powerful analogy here Allah describes Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu as a man who was dead and brought back to life and then given a light by which he walks amongst the people and Allah is saying is he like the one who's steeped in darkness and stuck in that darkness and this is powerful in many ways because Allah Azawajal is likening ignorance to death and knowledge to life that the knowledge of revelation is life so we're not talking about grounds anymore we're not just talking about you know the examples and the analogies of the earth being brought back to life we're talking about a man's heart radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and Sayyidina Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and the prophets of Islam used to make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to guide the more beloved of the two Umars to him Umar bin Khattab radiAllahu Anhu or Amir bin Hisham who was Abu Jahl so oh Allah guide the more beloved of them
to you and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala guides Umar bin Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and makes Umar radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu a torchbearer of the deen you know one from whom we benefit from until today so that light by which he was walking amongst the people was not just felt in Mecca the day he became Muslim but it was felt in Medina it was felt in his khilafah when he spread that light of Islam all over the world until today the endless lessons and benefits that we get from the leadership of Umar bin Khattab radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and of course the dream of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam you know of seeing Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiAllahu Anhu drawing water from the well and then he said salAllahu alayhi wasalam there was a little bit of weakness in the drawing of the water now of course this refers to the circumstances of the khilafah of Abu Bakr radiAllahu Anhu and then Umar radiAllahu Anhu took the bucket from him and Umar radiAllahu Anhu was able to draw enough water for all of the people and even their animals now Abu Bakr radiAllahu Anhu was better than Umar radiAllahu Anhu but the fact that Umar radiAllahu Anhu was able to take this message so far inherit the khilafah from Abu Bakr radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu and take this message so far he's a man walking with a light amongst men and that light transcends even history subhanAllah and Allah says is he like the person who's steeped in darkness and cannot come out of their darkness now Allah subhana wa ta'ala describes at that point the difference in people here what's the difference between Umar radiAllahu Anhu and Abu Jahl Allah subhana wa ta'ala says wa idha ja'atum ayah qalu lannu'mina hatta nu'ta mithlama ootia rusulullah and Allah subhana wa ta'ala says that whenever the signs of Allah come to them they say we will not believe until we're given what was given to the messengers of Allah and Allah says Allahu a'lamu haythu yaj'alu risalata Allah knows best where to place his message and this is an interesting um you know uh comparison between Umar radiAllahu Anhu and Abu Jahl
Umar radiAllahu Anhu was objecting to Islam and this is hard for some people to maybe understand or comprehend so please don't misunderstand me but his opposition to Islam came from a seemingly noble place okay he saw the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as dividing a society and Umar radiAllahu Anhu was very proud of his society he's the flag bearer of Quraysh so his hatred of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is not because he's from Banu Adi and the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is from Banu Hashim and because Umar radiAllahu Anhu has an envy or a jealousy of him his hatred is because he's misinformed about who the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is what his message is and he's seeing the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam as someone who is pulling society apart and so Umar radiAllahu Anhu thinks he's defending something noble Abu Jahl knows what the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam stands for he's more familiar with the message of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam than Umar radiAllahu Anhu is in the beginning days but Abu Jahl's opposition is from the lowliest of places it's that he's from Banu Hashim and I'm from Banu Mahzum I deserve this message more than him I deserve this fadl this bounty more than him I can't give him that leverage over us and this is a powerful lesson for us don't assume that all of those who oppose Islam are the same this is hard for us to understand sometimes but they're not all the same the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam even said in the battle of Badr when he saw them approaching he said if there's any good in these people it's the one who's riding the red camel they're all fighting us in Badr but there's something different Umar radiAllahu Anhu's opposition was different that will help you in your da'wah when you're calling someone to Islam to not immediately assume that they're calling from a place of malice rather than a place of misinformation Umar radiAllahu Anhu was misinformed and he was staunch in his opposition from a seemingly noble place to him but once that was unveiled
once he saw the truth for what it was who was more dedicated to the truth than Umar radiAllahu Anhu and Abu Jahl no matter how much of the truth you showed to him his heart was incapable because he was a tribalist and all he thought about was position and power so I'll end with this here Faman yuridillahu an yahdiyahu yashrah sadarahu lil-islam Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says thus whoever Allah wishes to guide Allah opens his chest to Islam Waman yurid an yudhillahu yaj'al sadarahu dayiqan harajan ka'anama yassa'adu fissama and the one who Allah wishes to go astray Allah causes his chest to become constricted as if he was climbing into the sky or trying to climb into the sky imagine a person trying to climb into the sky with no stairs and no mechanism and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying katharika yaj'alullahu rijsa ala lathina la yuminoon that's how Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la puts the the the disgrace upon those who do not believe in Ibn Abbas radiAllahu Anhu actually says that ar-rijs here is actually shaitan Allah is actually talking about the shaitan Allah lets that person become assigned to the shaitan and Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la look at the difference Umar radiAllahu Anhu's dedication to Islam was so strong once he knew it was the truth that shaitan wouldn't even be seen on the same road as him Abu Jahl who had a similar personality to Umar radiAllahu Anhu but a different motivation a lowly motivation and obstructed the path to truth always Abu Jahl literally is sitting with the shaitan plotting with the shaitan about how to kill the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam he is subjected to the shaitan and so when you show Allah you want that revelation you want that Islam Allah will open your heart to it when you show Allah that you want shaitan Allah will assign you to the shaitan and put you at his mercy may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la protect us and that's going to change your worldview and your approach to the entire world around you may Allah make us like Umar radiAllahu Anhu and protect us
from falling to the diseases that consumed the likes of Abu Jahl Allahumma Ameen JazakumAllahu Khayran Bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'du and that's a beautiful segue into what I want to speak about as well being the guidance of Islam that all of us need a form of guidance to Islam some of us have been born Muslim and some of us embraced Islam as many of you are watching you converted to Islam and SubhanAllah as I mentioned many times we say those that even say that they may be they are Muslim they may have had a time in their life when they converted as well you know particularly when they probably went to college and they've had some probing questions about their faith that they weren't able to answer or they faced something in their life that they said you know what I believe that this is the truth I really do believe that this is the truth and I want to voluntarily practice my faith may have had a bad bad encounter with family members or their tribe or their culture some practices and thought that that was Islam and realized that it wasn't but they didn't totally leave the faith because they understood the first pillar of Islam which kept them in and keeps them going and keeps us strong inshallah and those that didn't believe in the oneness of Allah or never knew about the message of Islam as someone like myself never really knew what Islam was and as soon as I found out and started to study it was very much easy for me to accept the message of Islam and Allah you know we say that he wants guidance for you when you see that in front of you take that opportunity because it will change your life and in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being Al Hadi being the ultimate guide he is the one that nourishes the hearts with the wahi with the revelation we find in the Quran which is so beautiful how Allah throughout numerous verses makes a method or a comparison or a parable if you will he compares uh agriculture in particular and the system
the ecosystems particularly in the verse I want to talk about is that which deals with the water cycle when we talk about the water cycle we talk about the water that comes from the you know from the sea when the sun hits the sea then it evaporates and gets into a lighter form of gaseous it turns and goes into the clouds which forms condensation and droplets of water which eventually goes into the rain turns to the rain and precipitates the earth thus causing vegetation all of this is from Allah without our intervention subhanallah and we see all of this takes place with the greatness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala which is a manifestation of numerous names and attributes that he possesses subhanah glory to him because in each one of these names and attributes human beings nor any form of creation can compare rather they are part of the system they have no control over the system rather they are part of it so when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about in the verse in the chapter verse number 57 and 58 he says Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in verse number 57 and it is he who sends the winds forth and glad tidings in advance of his mercy in advance of his mercy he is the one that and Allah makes this qaid he makes this certain uh this this this particularity because he wants to show that the wind he sends it as a form of congratulations or glad tidings because the wind can be sent for other reasons than that opposite than that as we see with the people of Aad when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
Allah says and we sent a wind to the people of Aad uh and sarsar is like a whistling sound that's annoying you know when you hear the wind it is a whistling sound the scholars mentioned this was a loud sound some scholars say that it was for seven consecutive days and actually when they describe this whistling sound it was like metal on rocks that was the as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in another chapter in the Quran that this wind that was sent to the people of Aad that nothing was left except that it was rubble this wind destroyed everything and we know the dua of the prophet when there's wind you say oh Allah I ask you for the good of this wind and the good of what it contains I seek refuge in you Allah from this wind and the evil that it may contain or what may be within this wind from the aazab that it may contain the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam which is in hadith it's authentic that Aisha radiallahu anha she saw that the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam whenever the wind would blow that his face would change and Aisha radiallahu anhu asked him about that because she said the people would be happy that the wind was there because that is a sign of the coming of rain that there will be some water but the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam said he said what will save me from the punishment if it is the aazab of Allah and this is the prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam so when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shows his greatness and his power and his magnificence and his strength and his mercy he is the one that says we are the one that sends down the the wind
until and when they have carried a heavy laden cloud we drive it to dead land when we send this heavy laden cloud because the clouds when they have rain they become quote-unquote heavy and to release that pressure from the cloud rain comes out of it the water that's been built up in that cloud it empties it out which is what we know as rain therefore causing precipitation as we talked about before in the water cycle so here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that we send down this rain to dead barren land to dead barren land you notice how he says we send it because it was probably in an area that did not need it based on his knowledge subhanah but he sends it to an area that is because of his mercy and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says and we have caused everything all the fruits of every kind to come out from it Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says after that and for that we raise the dead that you may take heed so here Allah makes the comparison with the water cycle and how rain comes from the clouds and down rain comes from the clouds and further provides vegetation which we all need without our intervention you know having the organic quote-unquote food if you will Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in this way we bring the dead we raise the dead that you may take heed this is a clear proof of what we talked about other days the resurrection that we in Islam believe that there's a resurrection that we will all go back to him also as scholars have mentioned this is a proof as well that Allah brings life to the dead hearts the hearts there are hearts out there that are dead that are that are void of the remembrance of Allah of belief in Allah of mentioning Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but Allah is the one if the individual the individual makes the effort will bring that heart to life that's why the next verse Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala says well a bullet the table yahoo Jun about to who be in the ruby one of the hubbub la yahoo Juilla nakida today like an usurper ayati the Komi yes cool Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says as for the good land vegetation comes forth in abundance by the command of its Lord whereas from the bad land only poor vegetation comes forth thus we expound our signs in diverse ways for people who are grateful so those that may have the bad heart that may have a heart to where they don't want to hear the message of God they don't want to hear about the Quran when you to remind them about a loss point out and remind them about goodness they don't want to hear it and there may be some people that you are calling to the truth how many of my friends and family I've tried to call to the faith of Islam but I think that they're going to embrace and many of you out there from family members and friends but there's some reason that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not want it to happen yet and that's why what's so beautiful here that when he mentions as for the good land vegetation comes forth in abundance be if need not be you may be that person that wants to cause reconciliation between two people you have the you say that you say the right things at the right time and the right place but you didn't ask for the Taufiq from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that's what your Abe said well mad Taufiq II in Lebanon that my Taufiq is not except with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala my true success so remembering in this beautiful verses that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the comparison that he makes the next time you go out and you see barren land or look on your front lawn or garden with your children which I highly advise to see the creation of Allah that he has ultimate control and in his hands is the ultimate guidance in bringing life to the dead or bringing bringing us back to our faith and enriching us with this beautiful message of Islam may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us of those that choose the guidance and allow us to be in the guidance within as we ask him fist a lot in a dinosaur Thomas the king to keep us on the straight path in
the willy you that again that actually beautifully dovetails into my talk as well where we're going to be talking about the the marvels of the incredible universe that Allah subhanu wa ta'ala has created so beastly now when Hamdi Nina was so now to a sit-in there are nine verses in the Quran that have the beautiful phrase to bear with Allah or to bear it and maybe blessed is Allah or blessed is he and all these verses talk about things actions events that remind us of the majesty the might the power and the grandeur of our Creator the earliest mention in the Quran of the word Tabarak is in Surat an-A'raf in just eight where we are today where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says surely your Lord is Allah who created the heavens and the earth in six days and then he positioned himself on the throne he covers the day with the night that pursues it swiftly he created the Sun and the moon and the stars and subjugated them to his command and to him alone the long the creation and the command blessed is Allah Tabarak Allah Rabbul Alameen the Lord of the worlds it reminded me of this documentary that I watched with my son about this Inuit hunter who was up in the Arctic and in one scene you have these beautiful scapes of glaciers of ice and snow just raw and powerful rising out of the water dwarfing this man and the Inuit hunter says he feels overwhelmed when he's out there hunting he feels completely overpowered like he has no control and that's why he loves it he says that in relinquishing that need for control he finds complete freedom and I watched
that and I thought subhanAllah that's deep right we've been doing this fascinating research at Yaqeen looking at uncertainty and tolerance basically that's this idea that human beings are incredibly uncomfortable with the idea of not being in control and here you have this hunter who so beautifully is expressing that he loves being out in the wild because it reminds him that he's not in control when we look up at the stars when we drink in the immensity of that black velvet darkness that is the night sky we are reminded of our Rab that he is the only one who is in full control Tabarak ende biyatihin bunk. May blessed is he in whose hand lies all dominion. We're reminded of the sheer awe of our Creator. It's humbling and it's powerful. I remember reading this book years ago where I was talking about this mother who was driving her son home one day and she suddenly had a stroke and the boy saw his mother you can imagine he's at the back and he watches his mother go limp and the car starts to you know veer out of control and so the boy unfastens his seatbelt leans out into the front of the car and tries to overtake the steering wheel from his mom and what I find remarkable about this story are the boy's actions when he saw that he couldn't steer the car when he came to the realization that he couldn't control the vehicle he let go and he sat back in his seat fastened back his seatbelt and let the car go where it would and alhamdulillah because of his actions he saved his life like the Inuit hunter like that little boy we don't want to be in control and I know that sounds weird but all of us deep down doesn't matter what we believe in
we recognize that we don't have full control over our lives none of us do Gabor Matei who is this physician who does a lot of work in the field of trauma talks about this concept of futility exercises basically children for example need to accept that sometimes they're just not gonna get their way right your toddler can fight you all they want you know but not wanting to hold your hand but when it comes time to you know cross into that busy intersection your son's gonna have to hold your hand right that's there there are no there's no argument there you can have your tantrums you can cry it out whatever you need to do but when it comes time when we take that first step together you're gonna hold mom's hand right so children need these experiences where their frustration turns to futility and if they have for example caregivers that constantly indulge them in that in that moment for example give in to their demands or try to distract them away as in give them gifts or bribes in those moments so they don't have to deal with that frustration of that moment they don't go through this natural processing of these difficult emotions when things don't go their way and this stunts their resilience now forget about children adults need futility exercises and a lost kind of what the Anna trains us through them as well and of course there's this balance as well right we need moments where in order to adapt or adaptability we need to be able to have times where our actions matter and exercise our agency in our free will but we also need to have moments in our life where we eat some humble pie and know that sometimes our actions are indeed futile talking about futility have you ever watched a fly incessantly bang up against a window over and over again right and you wonder you know what's
going on right but in the same way as human beings often find ourselves trapped in the same patterns of behavior even when we know there is no way out sometimes you don't get to grow up to be a doctor sometimes words can't be unsaid sometimes we have to face the one who broke us sometimes the one you love walks away and never comes back sometimes we just have to do our best rely on Allah and course-correct banging up against that same window or white-knuckling that steering wheel when you know you can't drive will only destroy you there's this place that we love to go up north and I know what you're thinking what is it with these Canadians they go even further up north but yes alhamdulillah hear me out it is this beautiful place subhanAllah where the tallest greatest things that surround us are what Allah subhana wa ta'ala created the mountains the trees and I'm you know I'm a big I'm a big backyard astronomer right so barak alladhi ja'ala fissama'i buruja that's my favorite verse to say when I look up at the stars blessed is he who has placed constellations in the sky like the Inuit hunter I love being engulfed by the bigness of it all and let me tell you how surreal it is to drive back into the city and slowly watch as that concrete jungle overtakes us again like the buildings start to get larger and larger the lights get brighter and brighter until you don't see the mountains you don't see the trees and we stopped seeing the stars why do we do that and I mean this more than just the buildings that we build or the concrete boxes that we construct
around ourselves and imprison ourselves into what about the monuments and the walls that we build in here and in here in our hearts and in our minds why did we ever have the folly to believe that we could create something greater than Allah subhana wa ta'ala we build these walls not of concrete but of elaborate judgments dividers designed to shut people out we place our desires our passions our love our hate above our Rabb because we think we know better we get blinded and we forget we stop to forget to you know we forget to feel overwhelmed like that Inuit hunter out there engulfed by the glaciers and the ice flows around him instead we build these fragile fragile monuments of dust and dreams like Sheikh Omar was mentioning you know of using trying to climb up into the sky even without a ladder without anything and all of this makes us forget our Lord I find that so much of growing older is about unlearning and one thing I keep coming back to over and over again is this beautiful Hadith and I'm gonna paraphrase that here it says do not hate in excess and do not love in excess for the one you hate me one day become the one you love and the one you love may become the one you hate I have done bold and been broken by both our love and our hate need to be tempered think about how Prophet Ibrahim alaihissalam that one of the wisdoms behind that dream of asking him to sacrifice his son was to demonstrate that his love of Allah was greater than his love for anything else in this dunya even greater than the love for his child if what you love or who you love is taken from you it may be that Allah wanted to bring you closer to himself out of his
love for you and though that loss may destroy you it can also make you Islam means submission and the greatest surrender is to his will and this letting go is so powerful in relinquishing our illusion of control in that is the greatest reclamation of our power that is where we find our freedom oh Allah make us of those who hold you in awe make us of those who meet you with the sound and submitted heart Tabarak Allah Ameen Mashallah very powerful. Allah bless you and reward you. SubhanAllah, funny enough this past weekend some of you saw Ariel Shaykh Abdullah knows Ariel really well Ariel on the Jannah interviews so we went out to play football on Saturday after Taraweeh and we had a group of guys and we went out to the football field and then the lights all shut off and like this field out out there and you know while everyone's trying to figure out how to get the lights back on we ended up having like this long conversation about how beautiful the stars were like wow subhanAllah look at these stars Tabarak Allah because we you don't notice the stars with all the light pollution you really don't and so it was just amazing suddenly captured by the stars and you got guys pulling their phones that's like talk about like when they went to like this place in that place and they could see stars and this is reminding them of those days and it was a beautiful gift from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in that regard that you look up and you see them and what what stops us from seeing them light pollution the stars are there the whole time but it's light pollution so going out to see them and getting away from the pollution right and I think that that's a spiritually apt message as well that you have to get away from the pollution and make the effort to go see them and the way they're in that described that ayah that I spoke about where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions
يَسْلَاعَدُوا فِي السَّمَاءِ as if they're trying to cycle into the into the sky is that they're too small for this revelation subhanAllah like you'll see the ulama describe it like you're too small for this revelation like your heart is too small it's not it's not it's not big enough to encompass what Allah Azawajal is trying to give you from above and that is the effort that we have to make so subhanAllah that was a powerful message Dr. Farah I kind of wish I my beginning joke was about Canada you know I took the harder route I should have I should have took the Canada route it's pretty easy but we'll have other Canadians. Canadians are always the low blow, right? we got we got we got Dr. Nazer and we've got some other Canadians coming on we'll save it for we'll save it for them inshallah but um Jazakumullahu khair powerful message Sheikh Abdullah I want to give you a chance to share a reflection obviously before we close off. No, mashallah it was very very powerful very very eloquent as usual I was just think the whole time while she was talking I was just thinking I wanted to get my mic and just drop it it would have been too loud so you know it would have messed up so but it was very good just I just love how you just talk about how we have no ultimate control and I think it's very important for us as human beings to remember that and that really brings the is to slam right the submission and surrender and to know when to let go like you mentioned the example with the young boy in the car he is beautiful just just phenomenal example mashallah we need we need to know and to let go and to just put our seatbelt on you know mashallah Dr. Farah any last word? Jazakumullahu khair it's always beautiful alhamdulillah I was I was thinking about when you're you're talking mashallah like some quotes from al-Wabi al-Sayyid ibn Ibn al-Qayyim rahimahullah that some you know that you know basically of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala reviving the heart through wahi and there was just so many so many beautiful
so many beautiful gems and in what both of you said alhamdulillah that reminded me of that just Jazakumullahu khair Allah bless you and bless your family and all of our brothers and sisters in Canada as well inshallah we look forward to having you again soon in the night time. Jazakumullahu khair everyone we'll see you all tomorrow inshallah
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