Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 3
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Juz' 24 with Ust. Lobna Mulla and Sh. Furhan Zubairi | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 3
From the descriptions of angels who pray for your forgiveness at the throne of Allah, to the verses that remind us that no matter how much we have wronged ourselves, Allah forgives each and every sin, juz 24 echoes the theme of forgiveness over and over. Ustadha Lobna Mulla and Sh. Furhan Zubairi join Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro to marvel over the mercy of Allah.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu everyone. Welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen. We are now really getting into the middle of the last 10 nights. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept it from you all. May Allah azza wa jalla allow all of us to be amongst those that catch the day of Qadr. Allahumma ameen. And as we are going through these 10 nights, just a reminder inshaAllah ta'ala, we hope that you'll donate to Yaqeen bid'in Allah amongst the many other good projects that you're donating to inshaAllah ta'ala in these last 10 nights. Alhamdulillah, we have a treat, a treat today. I'm so excited for this session. Alhamdulillah Rabbul Ameen. First of all, we have Ustadh Al-Lubna, Alhamdulillah Rabbul Ameen, who of course beyond being one of our board members, is someone who mashaAllah brings a lot of positivity and just a lot of hope. And Shaykh Abdullah and I have been down on you all this year. Like it's been like a really like fear-based Qur'an 30 for 30. So we need hope to come in with Ustadh Al-Lubna inshaAllah ta'ala. So we're happy to have Ustadh Al-Lubna and we have a real Mufti. We have Mufti Farhan Zubairi. Shaykh, we had Mufti Abdur Rahman Waheed yesterday and we were like we need a proper Mufti because Mufti Abdur Rahman Waheed just he hijacked the program, it became about basketball and it just went all over the place. So we have a proper Mufti Farhan Zubairi who Alhamdulillah from IOK, Alhamdulillah, working on, Alhamdulillah finally working on a paper with us at Yaqeen. Can't wait to see its publication inshaAllah ta'ala, but also Institute of Knowledge, one of the most blessed institutions, Alhamdulillah, Rabbul Ameen, in North America. Your leadership, of course, under Shaykh Norman Beg and all of the Mashayikh that are out there, so proud of that institution and Mufti Farhan, dear beloved friend, the only Mufti who's ever taken me to Halal Korean barbecue, Alhamdulillah. Mufti Farhan, how are you? Alhamdulillah, Alhamdulillah, very good, honored to be with you today, inshaAllah. Allahumma barak to you. Have you ever met Mufti Abdur Rahman Waheed?
I have, a few times, Alhamdulillah. Have you ever bowled with him? No, not yet. Okay, you wear nicer shoes, nicer sneakers. I don't think he wants to see me on the court. Oh, mashAllah. Alright, Mufti Abdur Rahman, you heard it, that challenge sounded as serious as the contest. Shaykh, when did you start doing sneakers with the thawb, like those fly sneakers, that's kind of your thing. I think I'm the original. I think so too. I've been doing sneakers before they became like a thing. MashAllah, mashAllah, mashAllah. Mufti Sahib, how are things at IOK? Alhamdulillah, beautiful. It's been really busy and hectic, but busy and hectic in a good way, Alhamdulillah. Ustadha Libna, how are you? Alhamdulillah. Ustadha Libna, can you tell us about the pet iguanas? You know I was going to bring it up, you got forewarned because I asked you about it. So you have pet iguanas? We have one and it's a bearded dragon, super cute. He's named Chalubi. I don't know if you guys can reference the character from a Disney movie. Chalubi. It's pretty obscure. It's Monsters, Inc. Oh, okay, that's right. Okay, now I remember. I remember that, yeah. Wazowski walks in and says, Chalubi, baby. There you go. We had to name our bearded dragon after that. Bearded dragon? Yeah. He puffs up, you know, depending on if he's warm or cold or whether he feels threatened, he puffs up his beard, so to speak. So he's Muslim, real Muslim dude, mashAllah. MashAllah. Do you think he could take Shaykh Abdullah Durr? No, no, never. I mean, my bearded dragon has really sharp claws,
but other than that, he's really small, so Shaykh Abdullah can, you know. Shaykh Abdullah, would you run? Be honest. Would you run if that thing was, like, loose on you? Chalubi's not a fan. I don't want to offend Chalubi, right? Yeah, yeah. Would I run? No. If someone walked into the masjid and threw Chalubi at you, would you run? Or would you run? Nobody would run away from him. He's too cute, mashAllah. Okay, mashAllah. Cute bearded dragon. Cute bearded dragon sounds like oxymoron. No, no, no. It's the creation of Allah. There you go. That's true, true, true. InshaAllah, next time you can bring Chalubi on. Yes. Good. Alhamdulillah. Honestly, today's jizz, so first of all, I have to apologize again. I went to jizz ahead again. Second time I've done this this season. I promise you, inshaAllah ta'ala, I'll be more careful with the last few episodes. Shaykh Abdullah was really hard on me about this. But Surah Az-Zumar falls in this jizz as well as the previous jizz. I went ahead. However, alhamdulillah rabbal ameen, the reflections that we're going to have on Surah Az-Zumar today don't overlap. So inshaAllah ta'ala it will be enriching. So, bidunillahi ta'ala, we are now going to go into jizz 24, bidunillahi ta'ala. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim, alhamdulillah wa salat wasalamu ala rasulillah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. SubhanAllah, just a note actually, as we get into Surah Ghafir, this is the family of Hameen. And if you've been watching the Ramadan series, this is of course the garden of Ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala where he talks about that. When I come to this family of Hameen, I absolutely love to take my time with it, to smell all of its flowers, to benefit from all that it has to give to us, to be enriched by it. It is such a powerful set of surah that we have. And Shaykh Yasir Fahmi actually, I remember last year talked about, I know he was on this jizz because he talked about the family of Hameen last year as well.
So Surah Ghafir is the family of Hameen, the beginning of this family, and it goes into a beautiful pivot from what we end off with in Az-Zumar. And I talked about last time the angels, the mala'ika, and wa taral mala'ika tahafina min hawli al arsha. You have the angels celebrating around the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, glorifying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, saying alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. It is success. This is after we have entered into paradise biidhnillahi ta'ala. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from ahlul jannah. Allahumma ameen. Now if you go to Surah Ghafir verses 7-9, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, alladheena yahminoon al arsha wa min hawlihu yusabbihoon bihamdi rabbihim wa yu'minoon bihi wa yastaghfiroon lilladheena aamanoo rabbana wa sa'ata kulla shay'in rahmatan wa ilma fa khafir lilladheena ta'aboo wa tab'aoo sabeelaka wa wabihim a'dabil jaheem Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says those angels who are carrying the throne and those around it glorifying the praises of their Lord, they have belief in Him, they have faith in Him, and yastaghfiroon lilladheena aamanoo, subhanAllah, what are these angels doing as they carry the throne of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? They seek forgiveness for the believers. They're seeking forgiveness for the believers. And they are saying, rabbana wa sa'ata kulla shay'in rahmatan wa ilma, O our Lord, You encompass everything with Your mercy and with Your knowledge, so forgive those who repent and who follow Your way and protect them from the torment of the fire. You know, this is, of course, who created these angels? Right? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created these angels. Their rahma, or this seeking forgiveness, is because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has caused them to seek forgiveness for us. And so what merciful Lord do we have? SubhanAllah, subhanur rahman, what merciful Lord do we have? That He created the angels that are around His throne, and all they are doing is seeking forgiveness for us after they glorify His praises
and asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the best of al-firdaws. And then, rabbana wa adkhilhum jannati adnil illatih wa'attahum, wa man salaha min aba'ihim wa azwajihim wa dhuriyatihim, innaka antal azizul hakeem, Our Lord, admit them into gardens of eternity, which You have promised them, along with the righteous amongst their parents, their spouses, their offspring, You alone are truly the Almighty, the All-Wise. waqihimu al-sayyi'at, and protect them from the consequences of their sins, meaning it's inevitable that they still will have sins. wa man taqis sayyi'ati yawma idin faqad rahimta, And so whoever is protected from the evil of their sins on that day, then You have surely shown them mercy, wa thalika huwa alfawzul al-alim, and that is the mighty success. So I just want to talk really briefly about these throne bearers, the angels who are hamalat al-'absh, that bear the throne. The Prophet ﷺ told us, he said that I saw one of the angels that bears the throne of Allah ﷻ, and he said innama bayna shahmati uzunihi ila a'tiqihi, that the distance between the lobe of his ear and his shoulder is a journey of 700 years. SubhanAllah, just from the lobe of his ear to his shoulder, and of course even this Allah knows best is from the matters of the ghayb, right? You know, human perceptions and things that are completely out of our grasp, but the distance between the lobe of his ear and his shoulder is a journey of 700 years. And what exactly are they saying in this regard? There's a narration from Shahrub bin Hawshub radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, qala shahrub, he said hamalat al-'absh tamaniya, that the bearers of the throne are eight, arba'atun minhum yaquloon subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika lakil hamdu ala hilmika ba'da ilmika. Four of them are saying glory be to you O Allah, all praises are due to you for your forbearance after your knowledge, your hilm after your ilm, meaning the fact that Allah knows everything about us yet he still shows forbearance.
Allah knows more about us than we know about ourselves yet he still shows forbearance, and then he said arba'atun yaquloon subhanaka Allahumma wa bihamdika lakil hamdu ala afwika ba'da qudratika. Glory be to you and praise be to you for the forgiveness that you show, the afw that you show despite your qudra, despite your power over them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala still shows afw, he still shows us that pardon, that forgiveness, and this is profound because we're asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on the night in which the angels are coming in the most plentiful fashion, we're saying Allahumma innaka afoo wa intuhibbu al-afwa fa'afu anni. O Allah, you are al-afoo, you are the forgiver, you love to forgive, so forgive me. And the angels are carrying all of those du'as and that forgiveness, those pleas for forgiveness, and adding their pleas to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So the fact that Allah shows us Hilm despite his ilm, that Allah azawajal shows us forbearance despite his knowledge of all things, and despite the fact that Allah knows everything about us, and he still does not punish us for it, and the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has power over us, you can't force Allah to forgive. You don't get to impose your notions of mercy and forgiveness, but even if you were to try, his mercy and forgiveness are far more encompassing than anything that has been projected or imposed upon him subhanahu wa ta'ala. Rather, it is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, despite his qudrah, his power over everything and everyone, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses to forgive and chooses to pardon for those that seek it. So just think about this idea of the angels around the throne right now seeking forgiveness, and asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that we are protected from the consequences of our sins so that we enter into his paradise, and if we enter into his paradise, then surely Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would have shown us that mercy and that forgiveness,
and we pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us indeed to be in the presence of the angels, to be in the presence of the prophets and the righteous ones, and to be under his throne, and looking up at him subhanahu wa ta'ala and being rewarded by him consistently while eternally being neighbors of our prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Allahumma ameen. InshaAllah ta'ala with that I will pass it off to Sheikh Abdullah. JazakumAllahu khayran. Bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'du. When looking at subhanallah the akhira and how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about the angels and what Sheikh Omar mentioned, it's important to always remember that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is enough for us in regards to the fact that he tells us about the future, tells us about the present, about ourselves, our state, and then also while telling us about the past. So remembering that his ilm is Shaman Kaman, that it is comprehensive, that he knows what was, what will be, and what is currently now. But what I want to talk about subhanAllah is in the chapter of Zumar verses 34 to roughly 36 where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about the affairs of those that disbelieve and those that believe. But then he mentions a small little portion of an ayah that I really want to capitalize on for all of us as human beings. Firstly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala talks about those that are unjust and lie against Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and they lie against and they're unjust and lying or deceiving. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ كَذَبَ عَلَىٰ اللَّهِ وَكَذَّبَ بِالصِّدْقِ إِذْ جَاءَهُ أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ أَلَيْسَ فِي جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوَلِ لِلْمُتَكَفِرِينَ Allah says, and so who is more unjust than the one who lies about Allah and denies the truth? كَذَبَ عَلَىٰ اللَّهِ وَكَذَّبَ بِالصِّدْقِ
The one that lies about Allah and the one that denies the truth when it has come to him, is there not in hell a residence for the disbelieving individual? So those two characteristics, they كذب على الله, they deny Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and they, or excuse me, they lie about Allah and then they deny the truth. This is the ultimate, ultimate blasphemous act is that they don't believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala voluntarily and then they lie or deny the truth. This is the essence of what we call polytheism. This is the root of it, is that they deny the truth. And that's where the word كفر comes from, to disbelieve or deny or to be ungrateful linguistically, if you're just generically speaking. And that is a sign of the ungratefulness to totally deny and be lie, if you will. Then the next verse Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the opposite, يَلْتَفَتِ He turns and goes to the opposite characteristics in the different people. He says وَالَّذِي جَاءَ بِالصِّدْقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ Which is very interesting from a linguistic aspect which we don't have time to go into. كَذَبَ وَكَذَّبَ وَصِدْقَ وَصَدَّقَ So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says وَالَّذِي جَاءَ بِالصِّدْقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ Allah uses basically, I have to touch on a little, I just love it so much, the morphological makeup that Allah uses to touch on certain points by just showing you the language. He can use it how he wills and for you to just be encaptured by it if you allow yourself to be encaptured by it. So he says here, And the one who has brought the truth and they believed in it, those are the righteous. The one that has brought the truth and they believed in it, those are the righteous ones. As opposed to lying against Allah and be lying the truth. The truth has been brought to you and you believe in it. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions after that لَهُمَّا يَشَاءُونَ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ ذَلِكَ جِزَاءٌ مُحْسِنِينَ For those individuals that the truth was brought to them and they believed in it, they will have whatever they desire with their Lord.
Inshallah that is Jannah. May Allah make us from the inhabitants of Jannah. Then after that he says, That is a reward for the doers of good. ذَلِكَ جِزَاءٌ مُحْسِنِينَ And we talked about the Muhsin, the one that practices with excellence. You believe this is the truth and you have an allegiance with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to do your best. And Allah says after that the one that believes and does their best, what happens? لِيُكَفِّرَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَسْوَىٰ اللَّذِي عَمِلُوا۟ وَيَجَزِيَهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ الَّذِي كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ Allah says here and this is beautiful. That Allah may remove them from the worst of what they did. أسوى الذي عملوا Remove from the worst of what they did and reward them due to the best of what they used to do. So the worst of what you've done, Allah will remove that and He will reward you from the best of what you used to do. So seeing just because of this belief and allegiance to Allah and doing your best, He can remove the worst of what you used to do. If we sit and think about those sins that we remember, that we remember. The ones that we don't remember, inshaAllah Allah is العفو الغفور from those that we don't even remember as we've talked about. But the ones that you remember to where you sit and you hope that no one saw you, no one heard you. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى, you know that He heard you, He sees you, all of His beautiful names and attributes are encompassing. You hope that He forgives you. And He says that He will forgive you for the worst of what you used to do outside of the disbelief that we know, which was mentioned previously. But those sins Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى can easily forgive you of those shortcomings that you have. So that belief can be a means of expiation. The belief that you have can serve as a means of generic expiation for your sins. The tawhid with Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى. So any act that you do with the correct intention of tawhid is a means of expiation.
The salat, the salawat, as we know that the Prophet ﷺ mentioned that it is a kafara, that it is a kafara, it is an expiation from one salat to the next, jum'ah, from jum'ah to jum'ah. So many spiritual opportunities to be rejuvenated, renewed, purified. But what I want to capitalize on here for the last minute is the first portion of this last verse. أَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبِدَةٍ Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى says, Is Allah not sufficient enough for His servant? The context here is talking about how the Prophet ﷺ particularly, and the Muslims generally, how they were threatened by the mushrikun because of the gods that they used to worship. They would say, you are calling our gods out, we're going to summon our gods to punish you. And Ibrahim ﷺ was in the same situation, the prophets in general. But Allah says, is Allah not sufficient for you? You know His beautiful names and attributes. One of them, He is Al-Khariq, Al-Razi. He is the one that created these idols that they worship. He created these idols whether physically or something that is metaphorically speaking. He created all of these idols that they are threatening you with. I created them, Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala is reminding us throughout the Quran. So to rely on the one that created them, this is a perfection and richness in your tawhid. But generically speaking, we should ask ourselves the question, Is Allah enough for me in my life? Do I trust in Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala? When He gives a message of Islam or a guideline that has a mighty spiritual objective, do I trust in it? When I'm stressed, do I go to Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala and go to the ones that Allah has entrusted on this earth to be of those that He has given the faculties to help me? Is Allah sufficient enough? And wallahi this question we have to ask ourselves at least five times a day. Oh Allah, please make my heart firm on your religion. Thabbit qalbi ala deenik.
So when your heart is firm, you realize that Allah is enough for you. And it takes that spiritual renewal, it takes practicing this shari'ah in different ways that was implemented by the Prophet ﷺ, i.e. the sunnah. Is that enough for us? That's a question we have to ask ourselves consistently. And consistently ask Allah to make us of those that our hearts rely on Him and not on anything else. And that's the view from the Islamic lord-like lens. And not view it from any other lens of emotion or any other lens that can tamper with that beautiful tawhid. May Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala make us of those that say, Allah, Islamu yakfili, and Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala is enough for us. BarakAllahu feekum. Ameen. Wa feekum. Wa feekum. JazakAllah khair, Shaykh Abdullah. Ustadul Ubnah, Bismillah. JazakAllah khair. Ameen to your beautiful dua, Shaykh Abdullah. MashaAllah, it's beautiful. Bismillah wa salat wa salam ala Rasulullah. So I really wanted to focus on this ayah in Surat al-Zumar that gives so much hope. You know, we need to be reminded, alhamdulillah, of Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala's might and the fact that He will take us to account. But we also need this really huge concept of hope that Allah gives us so much in, especially in this ayah in Surat al-Zumar. And I'm not going to say the ayah just yet. I'm going to tease you a little bit first. Thawban reported that Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said I would not love to have the world or anything in it in exchange for this verse. And what is that verse? O my servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Verily Allah forgives all sins, for He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. Qul ya'ibadi alladhina asrafu ala anfusihim la taqanatu min rahmatillah inna Allah yaghfuru dhunuba jami'a innahu huwa laghfuru raheem Such a beautiful verse. So alhamdulillah, we're going to break that down and talk about it. Imagine that Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that he wouldn't give anything up for this verse. That's how powerful it is.
You know, when we start in the beginning of this ayah, just to kind of go into a little, you know, breaking down just some of the word choices Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala uses. Qul ya'ibadi, say Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, all my servants, how beautiful is it that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala has attached us to him, even in which state? alladhina asrafu ala anfusihim Those who have transgressed. It's not like you sinned a little bit. You have transgressed against yourself. You've sinned big. What about that? You're still the servant of Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala. So come back. How beautiful is it that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala still attaches us to him with that ya'ibadi, with that ya' at the end. We're connected to Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala, even though what? We have transgressed against ourselves. And SubhanAllah, it's interesting when you think about it. alladhina asrafu ala anfusihim When we sin, we're not harming Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala. This is just a kind of a nice reminder. You're transgressing against yourself. But even with that, Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala is so merciful. And then what's the next part of the ayah? la taqnatum min rahmatillah Don't despair. Don't despair in the mercy of Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala. Why? because innallaha yaghfurudhunuba jameeAA Why? Because don't despair in the mercy of Allah because Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala forgives all sins, jameeAA, all of it. Wait, wait, even shirk? I thought shirk, no, even shirk. But of course, what's the catch here? You have to make tawbah. Right? But how easy is that? How easy is it to make a sincere return to Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala? So, what do we have to lose? As Sheikh Abdullah was mentioning, make the salah, love Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala's shariah, love his deen, it's such a gift for us. So, return to Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala, go back to him. And just the last part of this ayah, innahu huwa alghafuroor raheem That Allah verily is the most forgiving, the most merciful.
And it's so amazing that in this verse, that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala mentions the sifah, or the description of rahmah twice, and forgiveness twice. Don't despair in the mercy of Allah, and then in the very end, because He's the most merciful, and also that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala forgives all sins, and that He is the most forgiving. SubhanAllah. If any of you are struggling, or you know somebody who's struggling, and you feel bad about yourself, Sheikh Abdullah, again, you were mentioning, I keep referring back to you, but you were mentioning those sins that you remember, they can haunt you. Right? And if you let it, shaytan can make muwaswasah. Oh wow, you really went far. How can you consider yourself religious now? Look what you did in the past. Those thoughts can creep in. Sometimes it's our own critical thinking of ourself that lets us come down on ourselves really hard. But Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala is reminding us, don't despair in the mercy of Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala. And just briefly, the next ayah, here's the condition part, wa aneebu ila rabbikum wa aslimu Right? So, turn to your Lord in repentance. Inaba is turning back to Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala. So that's the condition. Wait a minute, even shirk, even zina, even all of these unspeakable sins that I've transgressed against myself. Yes, what do you have to do? Just turn back to Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala. What is that turning back? It's repentance. It's that sincere remorse. It's a sincere intention that you're not going to go back and to do it again. And the effort to actually not go back and do it again. And asking Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala for that forgiveness. How merciful and how beautiful is Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala and how beautiful is our deen that as human beings Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala knows we're going to make mistakes but He gives us a path back to Him. It's totally amazing. So really briefly, I wanted to mention, I mentioned that shaitan wants to make wasawasa with us. Kind of try to convince us and mess with our minds and say, you know what, you've really messed up.
You can't go back. You're not religious. Who do you think you are? You know, imposter syndrome. Start putting that in your head. We do that to ourselves. We do that to ourselves. It's our own critical thinking. And sometimes, unfortunately, it's a type of thinking pattern we pick up from our families, from our culture, from society, from our loved ones around us, unfortunately. It's a style of maybe wanting to make you a better person, just kind of being hard on you. But, and when what ends up happening is that we internalize that and we start doing that to ourselves. And that's really dangerous. So if that starts happening, remember this ayah. No, Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala is the most merciful and I shouldn't despair. I shouldn't despair of His mercy. I wanted to just briefly close with this story. Very touching. I just had a week ago of this young lady who came up to me and she was telling me that she wanted to put on the hijab and she was struggling because she had different people, loved ones in her life that were pulling her in different directions. And then she also said that some people, subhanAllah, because she had made a big shift in her life, some people even say, you know, you're just faking all of this religiosity. You know, who do you think you are? And she looked at me, subhanAllah, it was a hot day in California. She's looking at me and she's telling me, subhanAllah, nobody could pay me or tell me anything that would make me want to go back to what I used to do or how I used to dress. And she started tearing up, subhanAllah. It's powerful. When that iman gets into your heart, nobody can take that away. So don't let other people's nonsense talk affect you. Don't let your own thoughts, your critical thoughts affect you. Don't let the waswasa of shaitan affect you. Your iman is yours and don't let anybody take your iman away from you. Your iman is buried in your heart and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows what's in your heart. So protect it and don't let anybody take it away from you. We're so blessed, alhamdulillah, in our religion to have so much hope.
And finally, if you are a mentor, a family member, a community member, don't be that person that makes others doubt the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Don't be that person that makes somebody think, am I really faking this? Am I really religious or am I just putting on a front? Be that person that supports everyone on their spiritual journey, on their faith journey. Be that person that reminds individuals of the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Don't take that away from anybody. Jazakumullah khayran. BarakAllahu feekum. Mashallah, what a powerful analogy. I'm going to pretend you didn't just complain about California weather though. That didn't happen, right? No, no, no, no, I love it. You're beautiful from SoCal. I was just saying we were fasting, our lips were dry, it was sunny, but it's beautiful. Allah hu akbar. Maybe it's like some serious taunting. Sheikh Jihad Safir, when he came on, he goes, he goes, or no, it was Mustafa Omar, he said 68 degree weather. Well, I think it was actually hot. It was actually 95 degrees. It was hot. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we were having this fluctuation like crazy. It was a little crazy. For the international audience, it's Fahrenheit, not Celsius. We're not, we're not, yeah. SubhanAllah, we've talked about angels. We've talked about the shaitan. We've talked about mercy, hope, fear, and balancing the two. And subhanAllah, you are in constant struggle to overcome the whisper of shaitan that tells you that you cannot have that lofty presence, the presence of the mana'ika that are glorifying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and seeking forgiveness for you. And I think Mufti Farhan has the perfect closing inshaAllah to our section for us all. So, tafadluluk Mufti Farhan. Bismillah, alhamdulillah, wa salatu wa salam, wa a'ala wa sunina wa ba'd. All thanks and praise are due to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And may His peace and blessings be upon his last and final messenger, his family, his companions, and those who follow him until the end of times.
You know, Sister Lubna, she spoke about this very beautiful verse that Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu refers to as the verse that gives us the most hope. And the verse that I'm going to speak about, he referred to as arkhasu ayatin fi kitabinna, the most gentle or the softest verse in the Quran. And this is verse number 30 up till 32 of surah Fussilat, where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us innallazeena qaloo rabbuna Allaho thumma astaqaoon Truly those who say, Our Lord is Allah, and then remain firm and steadfast upon Him. tatanazzanu alayhimul malaa'ikatu allatakhafu wala tahzanun The angels descend upon them saying, Do not fear nor grieve. wa abshiru biljannatin latee kuntum tuwa'doon Rather rejoice in the good news of paradise, which you have been promised. nahnu awliyaukum filhayati al-dunya wa fil-aam Our supporters, we are your guardians in this worldly life and in the hereafter. walakum feeha maa tashtahi anfusukum walakum feeha maa tadAAoon And there you will have whatever your souls desire, and there you will have whatever you ask for, nuzulam min ghafoori al-lahim as a welcoming gift from the most forgiving, the most merciful. You know, when I was studying, I always found this verse to be extremely beautiful, to be extremely eloquent, powerful, and profound. And in these verses, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, He's speaking about two very simple yet profound concepts and characteristics. Faith and steadfastness. Iman and istiqamah. And Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is telling us that if we have Iman, if we accept, acknowledge, and serve Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala as our Rabb, as our Lord, our Creator, our Cherisher, our Nourisher, our Sustainer, and then we remain steadfast upon that,
then we're guaranteed success in this life and salvation in the next. And the same exact message, it was echoed by the Prophet ﷺ, that one day a companion came to him and said, O Messenger of Allah, tell me something about Islam which I can ask of no one but you. Tell me something so comprehensive that I don't need to ask anyone any other questions regarding Islam. And the Prophet ﷺ told him, قُلْ آمَنْتُ بِاللَّهِ ثُمَّ اسْتَقِمْ Say, I have believed in Allah, and then remain firm and steadfast upon that. So istiqamah, which is translated as steadfastness, is this essential quality that all of us are supposed to nurture and develop within ourselves. And really the best description I can think of istiqamah is being Muslim in the truest sense of the word. That trying our best to be the best Muslims that we can. That throughout our daily lives, we put forth this sincere effort in being conscious, upright, moral, practicing, conserved Muslims. Whether we're alone, we're at home, with family, at work, at the gym, the grocery store, wherever we are, that we are trying our best to live our lives according to the guidance of Allah ﷻ and the example of the Prophet ﷺ. And this doesn't mean that we have to be perfect. As human beings, we are not required to be perfect. Perfection is an attribute of Allah and Allah alone. And we're also not angels. So what we are required to do is just put forth this sincere, honest effort. And doing so is a struggle. It requires sacrifice and hardship and difficulty and time and patience. But that is perhaps why the reward for istiqamah is so great. As Allah ﷻ tells us,
تَتَّنَزَّلُ عَنَيْهِمُ الْمَنَائِكَ That if we have iman, if we say Allah is our Lord with true conviction, and then we remain steadfast upon it, then the angels will descend upon us. And some of the commentators say they will descend upon us at the time of death. Others mention that this is going to be when we're in the grave. Others mention this is going to be on the Day of Judgment. And there's no contradiction between any of these. That the angels perhaps will descend upon us in all three of these circumstances. And they're going to say, أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا Do not be afraid and do not grieve. You have nothing to fear. That what's going to happen to you in the following steps in your grave on the Day of Judgment accountability, don't be afraid. Allah ﷻ will give you His pardon. He will give you His mercy. He will forgive your sins and overlook your faults. He will give you entry into Paradise. وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا And don't grieve. Don't worry about what you left behind in the life of this world. Don't worry about your family. Don't worry about your wife, your children, your friends, your relatives, anyone, any other relationship. Why? نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَأُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ Because we are your guardians, we are your protectors in this world as well as the next. That these angels that Shaykh Umar spoke about so beautifully, they are our guardians in this world. Protecting us and safeguarding us and bringing Allah's blessings and mercy into our lives and everything that we do. And they will also be our guardians when we leave this world. When we're placed in the grave. When we are brought back to life from our graves. When we're standing before Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And then they tell us the amazing reward. وَأَجْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنتُمْ تُعَدُونَ Rejoice in the paradise that you have been promised. And again Shaykh Umar mentioned that verse where the angels make dua.
That they say, وَأَدْخِنْهُمْ جَنَّاتِ عَدْنِ الَّتِي وَعْتَهُمْ That, O Allah, enter these believers who you have pardoned and forgiven into gardens beneath which rivers flow. And here the angels are reminding us of that promise. وَأَبْشِرُوا Rejoice, be happy with paradise that you have been promised. And then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala continues, وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِيْ أَنفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدْعُونَ That in this paradise, we can have whatever we want. You know, in this world, there are certain restrictions, there are certain limitations placed on us. That we cannot just follow our desires and chase after any type of comfort and luxury that we want. We have to live our lives within certain parameters. But in paradise, وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِيْ أَنفُسُكُمْ Whatever we want, it will be given to us, it will be granted to us. وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدْعُونَ Whatever we ask for, whatever our request, will be fulfilled. نُزُلًا مِّنْ غَفُورٍ رَّحِيمٍ As hospitality from the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. نُزُل is what a host prepares for their guest. So as believers, as people of Imaan and Istiqama, we are going to be the guests of Al-Ghafoor Ar-Raheem. We are going to be the guests of the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful. And that is just something absolutely beautiful. That is something absolutely amazing. Imagine being the guest of Al-Kareem, the absolutely most generous. And I will close off with this quote of Ibn Rajab, Rahimahullah, who mentions how to develop Istiqama. He says, the foundation of Istiqama is Istiqama of the heart upon the oneness of Allah. When the heart becomes steadfast upon the recognition of Allah, fearing Him, honoring Him, respecting Him, loving Him, wanting Him,
having hope in Him, asking Him, relying upon Him, and turning away from everyone else besides Him, then the limbs will be steadfast upon His obedience. The heart is the king of the limbs, and they are His army. If the ruler is steadfast and upright, then His army will also be steadfast and upright. And Al-Hasan Rahimahullah used to say, that Allahumma anta raquna farazuqna al-istiqama That O Allah, You are our Lord, so grant us steadfastness. BarakAllahu fiqh, Mufti Farhan. Beautiful, beautiful. I can tell there's something else, you had to skip something, didn't you? A few things. I don't know. I don't know, Shaif, is there one more minute, anything else? Listen, I can tell you got something you want to share with us, InshaAllah. Is there, Cem, something else that got you that... Myself? Yeah. Are we good? I felt bad, and I feel like you're being rushed. It's okay. No worries. SubhanAllah, Shaif, you know, when you go to Hajj or Umrah, and they say, Dhuyufur Rahman, the guests of Ar-Rahman, what is it like to be Dhuyufur Rahim? Al-akhirah, right? To be the guests of Ar-Rahim in the hereafter. That idea, like who prepared all this for you? By the way, you are Nuzulan min Ghafoorur Rahim. Al-Ghafoorur Rahim that you've been calling out to this whole time. He has something special for you. Like the angels are telling you, SubhanAllah, wait till you see what he has in store for you. Like you're leaving this dunya, but wait till you get into those accommodations, right? And building that excitement is really profound, really powerful. So may Allah SubhanAllah allow that to be our reality. Ajma'in, all of us. Allahumma ameen. And of course, the idea that this is connected to da'wah, that the one who calls to good will be called to good at their end as well. The one who calls to al-jannah will be called into al-jannah as soon as they leave this world.
May Allah make us people of da'wah, people who call others to Allah. And I think one of the things that Sheikh Abdullah always actually reminds us of, I've heard you say it several times, this idea like da'wah is not just reserved for, you know, the special group of people. You always remind us of that, that everyone is in a constant state of calling to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala with their deed and with their word. And hopefully, bid'na ta'ala what is the goodness of their dunya and their akhira for all of us as well. Allahumma ameen. It's an open floor, inshallah, we've got a couple of minutes. You know, I could make some more California jokes, but I feel like there's a lot of gems in this room. Ustad al-Lubna, anything that you heard? Sheikh Abdullah, anything that you'd like to share? Sort of a last take home. We're in the center now of the last 10 nights of Ramadan. I have a request from Sister Lubna. I've dealt with a number of converts and, you know, and sisters that have been Muslim as well, and them donning the veil, putting the hijab on, not making any judgment, but, you know, that's a huge step. I don't think we as brothers really realize that, you know, because a lot of times with the sisters that, you know, they've worked at a place for how many years? Then the next day, what's that veil? What is that? Who are you? Whether they say it or they may not say it, but it's indirectly implied. What advice do you have to those sisters and the young girls that are coming up, you know, and their moms telling them sometimes they're pressuring them, they don't see the reasoning behind it. What advice would you have for them? It's such an important question. I say, you know, if you keep the focus of the reason why you're doing it is Allah. Keep that as your focus and block out everything negative that you've ever heard. Islamophobic, you're never going to get a job. How are you going to get married? Oh, do it when you're older. All of the things that people tell us, our loved ones, our families tell us this stuff, right? Sometimes we have the aunties and the moms telling us to do it. And sometimes we have the moms and aunties telling us not to do it.
Keep all of that out of your mind. Focus that this is for Allah subhana wa ta'ala. And when you own it, and think like, wow, just how we've mentioned in this in all the Quran 3430, all the episodes, how beautiful Allah's sharia is. Allah's given me a command, I'm going to follow it and it's going to be good for me. So when you have that in your heart, you walk in and yeah, I have this on. You know, you walk in and you're proud. You're not looking to see who's looking at you. I look different. Yeah, you are different. And that's okay. So when you have that feeling in your heart, it guides you and then you don't really, it just falls to the wayside. And people see that confidence. They don't see you as somebody who's scared and like, why are you wearing that? They'll be like, Oh, what is that for? Yeah, this is a part of my religion. I'm doing it now. So when you have that confidence, it will show and Allah subhana wa ta'ala will reward you for that effort inshaAllah and really make you successful in all of your affairs inshaAllah. That's like a physical manifestation of qaloo rabbuna Allah thumma astaqam. SubhanAllah. It's also a physical manifestation of alaysa Allah bi kaafin abda. Allah is sufficient for us. JazakAllah khair. Allah Allah. Allah bless you all. May Allah subhana wa ta'ala bless you all. It's such a pleasure to have you both with us. May Allah bless you all. SoCal is so blessed. Southern California is so blessed to have you both in the institutions. May Allah protect that community and all the institutions and all of our leaders that are out there as well. JazakAllah khairan. InshaAllah ta'ala we hope to have you both again soon inshaAllah. Sheikh Abdullah, jazakAllah khair. Thanks for provoking that last set of gems as well. BarakAllah fi ghanim. InshaAllah ta'ala we will see you all later and inshaAllah hope you benefit from the content that's continuing to come out in these last 10. And again a reminder to please inshaAllah ta'ala donate to IOK, Antiaqeen, Bidinallahi ta'ala and to all the other great institutions that are out there inshaAllah. JazakAllah khairan. Assalamualaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.
Wa alaikumussalam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. What does being Muslim mean to you? Is it the part of you that you hide away? Or something you proudly wear on your sleeve? Is it the anchor weighing you down? Or the wind beneath your wings? Is it an identity you inherited from those before you? Or the path you choose to take? Does it drive your goals and dreams? Or is it the roadblock keeping you from achieving them? What does being Muslim mean to you? Is it a source of apathy or motivation? Oppression or empowerment? Shame or confidence? What does being Muslim mean to you? Are you who you are despite it or because of it? I'm gonna show you how great I am.
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