Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 4
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Juz 2: Dr. Tesneem Alkiek | Love, Devotion, & Sacrifice
While the actions of Bani Isra’il teach us about certain characteristics that are displeasing to Allah, the stories of Ibrahim (AS) showcase true devotion, love, and sacrifice. In fact, these qualities are key in this juz as it discusses the importance of community, and setting aside negative qualities such as envy, jealousy, and enmity.
Dr. Tesneem Alkiek joins Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro to discuss key themes in Juz 2 that help shape our worldview.
Download our FREE eBook “Qur’an 30for30: Judgment Day Edition”.
0:00 Introduction
2:44 - Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on (2:130)/The devotion of Ibrahim (AS)
13:52 - Dr. Tesneem Alkiek reflects on (2:245)/Sacrificing for the sake of Allah
22:02 - Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflects on (2:213)/Qualities that separate us
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. It is day two. We pray that you're getting off to a good start with Ramadan inshallah ta'ala. We hope that you're enjoying the Jannah series, the various forms of content, which by the way, Dr. Tasneem was a huge part of putting that all together. So if you go to the website, bimillahi ta'ala, you'll see all of the various forms of content that have been put together for you to benefit from throughout this month inshallah. And of course, all the live stuff. And we want to remind you all to donate bimillahi ta'ala, to sign up at the link to donate. And Alhamdulillah, I'm joined by my beloved co-host, Sheikh Abdullah Aduro. He's got a clean setup today, mashallah. And Dr. Tasneem Alqeed, who is our director of content strategy, Alhamdulillah, Al-Rahmeen, and always a favorite on Qur'an 30 for 30. Dr. Tasneem, how are you? Alhamdulillah, doing good. Excited to be here. Alhamdulillah, Sh. Abdullah, how's it going? Alhamdulillah, I'm good. I'm good, Alhamdulillah. So before we started recording, I don't know what you had for Suhoor, brother. I don't know what it was. But mashallah, you're excited today. Sheikh Abdullah has a tafsir of like every dad joke in the world. So you made fun of mine. You didn't like mine yesterday. So bismillah, just go ahead and shoot it at us. Yeah, just for starters, no one remembers your dad joke from yesterday. So that's one sign that shows that it was a granddad joke. But I have something that's much more probable. It's much better. There you go. Your phone, your phone ringing. Is that part of the joke? I wish it was. I wish it was. Why? Okay, you have to pay close attention. Why do you put your left shoe on last? Because you don't want it to be left behind. Oh, he got it. Did I get it? You didn't get it? No? No. No. Because it's the only one left.
Oh, come on. Comments. We have to do a comparison. I'll laugh with you. So those of you that are watching, you can grade my granddad joke versus Sheikh Abdullah. I don't know what to call that. It's like way back. You've gone. No, no, no. That was phenomenal. But you get credit for effort, Sheikh. I know you're storing one for Sheikh Tahir. You've got your Philly jokes. You've been preparing heavily for those. They just come like that. It's just natural. I'm a dad, so alhamdulilah bil alamin. It's an honor. Masallah. It's an honor. Allah ahmadulak shahi. I love you. So let's go ahead and get started. So alhamdulilah bil alamin. We're now in just two. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow us to get through the Quran with it penetrating our hearts with the light to Allah with deep reflection, introspection and connection. And subhanAllah, we spoke about the categorizations through the beginning of Surah Al Baqarah. So Allah gave us the categories of people, believers, disbelievers, hypocrites. Then Allah gave us on one page angels, jinn and human beings. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave us the manifestations of those behaviors and some of the specific stories. So we got to see the tyranny of Firaun that is a satanic manifestation of pride. We got to see the turning back of Bani Israel away from the command that was given to them. We got to see the sense of entitlement, which is also a manifestation that came from the shaitan, the behaviors of the shaitan. And of course, we see Musa alayhis salam and the righteous of Bani Israel turning back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and maintaining the covenant with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as it was given to them.
And I think Sheikh Tom beautifully spoke about yesterday this idea of it's about what you do, not necessarily what you say. And you shouldn't have the sense of identity and entitlement that takes you away from being accountable to the covenant that you've taken with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us these examples, both of individuals and of communities. So subhanAllah, look at the contrast that now happens when we go into the second juz. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us this imagery of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam looking up at the sky, looking towards which Qibla he should be directed towards. And of course, he was directed towards initially salallahu alayhi wa sallam, Al-Quds to Masjid al-Aqsa for 16, 17 months in Medina. And Allah turns him towards, I'm sorry, yes, in Medina, he was directed towards Al-Aqsa for 16, 17 months and then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala turns him towards the Qibla that he is pleased with salallahu alayhi wa sallam, which is of course, Baytullah al-Haram in Mecca. And Allah then tells us about why and what is it that made Ibrahim alayhi salam so special. And subhanAllah, you have to wonder how beloved Ibrahim alayhi salam is to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he is honored through every single element of our sharia, right? Every single act of worship that we have traces back to Ibrahim alayhi salam in some way, whether it is our Hajj or even our Salah, the mention of Ibrahim alayhi salam. And Allah azawajal takes us to this man, Ibrahim alayhi salam, who represents the complete opposite of everything that Bani Israel, which of course are his descendants, right? Through Ishaq alayhi salam, everything that Bani Israel, the wicked amongst them did, Ibrahim alayhi salam did the opposite of.
Allah commands Ibrahim alayhi salam to do something that is not immediately or obviously in his favor, nor does it necessarily make sense in the moment, right? So remember Bani Israel asked a lot of questions. They sought logical answers and they pretended to be seeking logical answers to get out of having to fulfill the command of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And they were really using this as a disguise for their unwillingness, for the hypocrisy, which was a matter of the heart. And as Sheikh Abdullah spoke about the stone heartedness, right? That didn't allow revelation to penetrate their hearts. Look at Ibrahim alayhi salam. Allah tells him to go to Mecca, to leave Ismail alayhi salam and Hajar alayhi salam, and then to go back and to build the Kaaba in this abandoned area, in this desert. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala promises Ibrahim alayhi salam that this will be in your favor. Now, here's the thing. Ibrahim alayhi salam does not need to see the worldly favor because he understands it's a command from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so this is the father of two nations, the father of Bani Israel and the father of Bani Ismail. And look at this subhanAllah transition. Allah is taking us from Bani Israel now to the revelation to Bani Ismail. To the children of Ismail alayhi salam through Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And here we have our father, right? And his attitude and what he would do. And Ibrahim alayhi salam lovingly obeys Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at every juncture. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, wa man yarghabu AAam millati Ibrahim illa man safiha nafsa wa laqad istafaynahu fid dunya wa innahu fil aakhirati la minas salihin. Who turns away from the way of Ibrahim alayhi salam. Right? And this really fits beautifully with what Tom was talking about yesterday, what Shaykh Tom was talking about yesterday.
Not the name of Ibrahim alayhi salam, the way of Ibrahim alayhi salam, except for one who disgraces themselves. And we have chosen him in this dunya and he will be from the righteous in the hereafter. SubhanAllah, he was seeking that ultimate elevation in the hereafter. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the one who said to Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam, wa rafa'na laka dhikrak, we have exalted your mention, exalted the mention of our father Ibrahim alayhi salam as well, through this very act of devotion that he performed in building the Kaaba as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala commanded him to do so. And Allah says, what is so special about Ibrahim alayhi salam? So what's the secret ingredient here? If qala lahu rabbuhu aslim qala aslamtu li rabbil alameen, when his Lord told him to submit, he would say immediately, I submit to the Lord of the worlds. Allah tells him submit, there is no wa qala or fa qala, it's just qala aslamtu li rabbil alameen, my Lord, I submit. Aslamtu li rabbil alameen, this ayah here is literally the manifestation at an individual level of the attitude of Samee'na wa ata'na, we hear and we obey. Okay, we hear and we obey is what Allah Azawajal is telling us as a community should be our attitude. And Allah is pointing us back to our father Ibrahim alayhi salam, the father of the prophets and says, look at how he responded, aslamtu li rabbil alameen, I submit to the Lord of the worlds, which is basically the same thing in function as Samee'na wa ata'na, we hear and we obey. So this is the attitude of Ibrahim alayhi salam, and you contrast that to the attitude of the followers of Musa alayhi salam, of Bani Israel and the followers of Musa alayhi salam, as they are trying to escape every single order that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala gives to them. Ibrahim's contrast is one of submission, one of sacrifice and one of loving devotion to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala,
no matter what, whether it makes sense or whether it provides an immediate benefit, Allah says to do it, I will do it. So you have here now Adam alayhi salam, so far if you just cover the worldview part of this, Adam alayhi salam is your example for tawbah when you slip. Adam is your example for tawbah, for repentance when you slip. Musa alayhi salam is your example of steadfastness when everyone else around you is slipping. And Ibrahim alayhi salam is your example for tawbah when you do good. And SubhanAllah, this is a profound concept we learned from our Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. Tawbah when you do good, Ibrahim alayhi salam when he builds the Kaaba as Allah commanded him to do so, exactly as he commanded him to do so, Ibrahim alayhi salam looks to Allah with what? Rabbana taqabbal minna, oh Allah accept. I fear deficiency. And the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam feared deficiency, so the istighfar, the tawbah subhanAllah was even after doing good. So with Adam alayhi salam you have an example of how to come back to Allah when you do bad. With Ibrahim alayhi salam you have an example of how to come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even when you do good. And I want to give you subhanAllah just one more tie into this, and I know it's just three, the beginning of just three, but I'll just mention it from now. Look at now how the Ummah of Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam responds. The end of Surah Al-Baqarah is what? Rabbana la tu'akhidna innasina wa akhtarna, Rabbana wa la tahmin alayna isran kama hamaltu wa'ala lathina min qablina, Rabbana wa la tuhammilna ma la taqata lana biha. It's the fear of Allah tasking us something that we feel like we won't be able to do justice by. Not that Allah is unjust, but that we're deficient, we're afraid, we won't be able to live by those tasks that Allah subhanAllah gives to us. It's the fear of not being able to obey Allah as he deserves to be obeyed. It's the fear of not being able to show proper gratitude to Allah subhanAllah.
So the contrast here that I want to give you, the believers fear deficiency, even in their thoughts. They're worried about if they're thinking about something sinful. They fear deficiency even with their thoughts and things that are completely out of their control, and while they're obeying Allah subhanAllah. Whereas the hypocrites, they do not fear deficiency, even as they're disobeying Allah subhanAllah, and they try to find their way to weasel out of the commands from Allah subhanAllah. The last incident I'll give you here, and I know I went over time, so I apologize, is an incident that Abdullah Masood radiAllahu ta'ala Anhu describes before the battle of Badr. He says, before the battle of Badr, shahidtu ma'al Miqdad ibn al-Aswad radiAllahu Anhu mashhada la'an akuna sahibahu ahabbu ilayya mimma u'dila bihi He said that I witnessed a moment with Miqdad ibn al-Aswad radiAllahu Anhu, with the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, that for me to have been the man that Miqdad was that day would have meant the entire world to me. It would have been more precious than the entire world. He said the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam was calling people to come forward for the battle of Badr, which is really I mean a chance for people to say, look, we're outnumbered. We didn't sign up for this. This isn't what we came for. Let's go back to Medina. You know, we're being ambushed. The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam is calling for people to come forward. And Miqdad stands up and says, la naqulu kama qala qawmu Musa idhhab anta warabbuka faqatila We're not going to say to you, oh Muhammad salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, what the people of Musa said to him, go forth you and your Lord and fight. walakinna nuqatilu an yameenika wa an shimarika wa bayna yadayika wa khalfak But we will be by your right, by your left, in front of you, behind you, we'll be fighting alongside you, a messenger of Allah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam qala far'aytu an nabiyya salAllahu alayhi wa sallam ashraqa wajhuhu wa sallahu So the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam lit up with joy when Miqdad said that. So Ibn Mas'ud was saying, I wish I could have been Miqdad that day.
Like he made the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam so happy to say, we will follow, we will obey, sam'i'na wa ata'na We hear, we obey, we're here by your side, O messenger of Allah salAllahu alayhi wa sallam So inshAllah ta'ala I'll pass it on to Dr. Tasneem now to continue on that theme of loving devotion and sacrifice. Jazakumullahu khayran. Salamu alaykum. So you know, you reflected on the verses that essentially talk about the community's willingness to think beyond themselves, really to be able to sacrifice and have that vision. What is it that Islam wants from them? What is it that the Quran is inviting them to do? And SubhanAllah, it's so ironically contradictory to what our society today tells us. Just earlier, I was working out and the instructor of the class, you know, sort of as a side note, workouts today, if you're taking a class, whether it's in person, online, physical instructors are so much more than people just telling you, okay, you know, do some squats or do some, you know, fix your posture. They've become life coaches. And so the things that they say in classes, it's interesting to pay attention to because they really reflect society's values. And so the instructor today was going, you know, was talking about how to warm up. You know, you inhale all of your confidence, you inhale sort of the things that make you who you are and true to yourself. And when you exhale, exhale any criticism, exhale any toxicity, anything that people are telling you that doesn't really vibe with who you are. And in so many different classes, I've heard this before, where the instructor will say, you know, don't let anyone get in your way. Be true to yourself. Live your life. You do you. And we know this in our society today as well, right? It's not just in workout classes, unfortunately. The song lyrics that are out there, the movies, our classrooms, therapy sessions,
everything our society today tells us is always about you be you at the cost of every single person around you, even if they're family, even if they're your own parents, right? And the Qur'an comes in, that the prophetic community, the Prophet peace be upon himself, comes in and really revolutionizes this type of thinking. We live in a world today that is entirely individualistic. It's about me, me, me, and it doesn't matter what that looks like in terms of the society as a whole. Now, Islam has a communal vision, it has a social vision. Who are we collectively? And the verse that I want to look at today is verse 245 from Surah Al-Baqarah. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says something incredible. He says, مَن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضٌ حَسَنًا Who here, he's inviting the companion directly into all of us throughout time. Who here is willing to sacrifice to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, to give a goodly loan? It's interesting Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la uses the word loan because if I'm loaning you something, that means that you're going to pay it back. So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is asking for us for a loan. He's going to not just take the loan, but he's going to reward us for it. So the verse continues, مَن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّهَ قَرْضٌ حَسَنًا فَيُوَ اللَّهِ فُو لَهُ الْغَافِن كَثِيرًا But who is going to give Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la a loan? Who is going to make a sacrifice for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la? Who's going to go out of their way to think beyond themselves, to think beyond their individual needs? Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is going to multiply your reward time and in time, multiple times, over and over again. Now the companion, the Ansari companion, Abu al-Dahdah hears this as the verse is being revealed and he says to the Prophet ﷺ, he says وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ الْيُوْرِيدَ مِنَّ الْقَرْضِ Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la wants a loan from us? Like Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la doesn't need anything from us. In fact, we have everything to give. But he recognizes the irony in this verse that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying,
listen, give me something and I'll give you more than you can imagine. So his first reaction, the companion, Abu al-Dahdah, his first reaction he says and the Prophet affirms, he answers the question, he says, yes, that's exactly what Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying. So that's like, okay, one plus one, this is easy math, right? He asked the Prophet ﷺ, give me your hand and pledges right then and there, he's like, you have my garden, my garden with 600 palm trees, date palm trees, they're yours, right? My wealth, all of it, for your sake, ya Allah. This is the attitude that the Qur'an cultivates. Now, and this really is the Qur'anic worldview. It's to recognize that me as an individual, I've been created and I've been created with a purpose. My purpose is to please my Creator. My purpose is to fulfill, to do as He commands and to refrain from what He asked us to refrain from. Now, if I'm telling you that the world we're living in today is saying, do whatever you want, pursue anything that makes you happy. And now I'm coming in and I'm telling you, Islam says the opposite. Islam says that, you know, it's not just about you, it's not just about your happiness. It's about the collective happiness. It's about pursuing what you're fulfilled for and sacrificing for others. It doesn't really sound very incentivizing, right? And that's what's so incredible about this verse, because Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, listen, you fulfill what you've been created for. You give me something and I'm not just giving you right back what you gave me. I'm going to multiply it over and over again. Something you can't even imagine. Wallahu yaqbudu wa yaqsud. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is the one who can increase and decrease. That despite the fact that our world today tells you to pursue everything that makes you happy at any cost, that does not give you happiness. That will never fill that void in our hearts. And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us, listen, I got what you need.
And you know what? Along the way, you're going to sacrifice. You're going to take time away from your own personal life to give to your families, to give to your communities, to give to me, right? Doing all of this stuff for the sake of, all of these sacrifices for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And Allah tells us, listen, I'm going to give you that and more. I'm going to fill that void in your heart in this world. I'm going to put barakah, I'm going to put blessing, I'm going to accept your actions in this world. So even if it's not material abundance, even if you don't see that, you know, that physical wealth in this world, you're going to have a sense of completion, a sense of fulfillment that nothing in this world can provide. And on top of it, you're going to get multiple rewards. On the day of judgment. And Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, the way that verse ends really gives us the advice. How do I constantly cultivate this attitude? How do I constantly remind myself that, you know what? There's a bigger picture. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, when I sacrifice, when I think beyond myself, that that reward is waiting for me, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala ends the ayah, wa ilayhi turuja'oon, and to him you shall return. In order to be able to really cultivate this mindset, it's a constant reminder, why am I here? I'm going back to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, that I'm going to stand before Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, that I want to build my home in Jannah. And if you're constantly thinking about why am I here? Where am I going with this? It's going to, you know, get you past, get that motivation you need. So I'm guilty as charged. After a long day, I'm stressed. I'm, you know, I've been working all day. Most of the days I'm not trying, you know, I want to just crawl into bed and read a good book. But to get myself out of that situation, I tell myself, you know what? I'm going to get up. I'm going to cook. I'm going to fulfill the rights of my family. I'm going to fulfill the rights of my community. And I can only do that with the strength of remembering the next life. Remembering where I'm going, what's the point? And when I do it, I get that sense of fulfillment that nothing has been able to give me in this world. I can chase everything I want. I can cancel everyone. I can name, you know, my whole, like my whole family toxic. That's not going to get me anywhere.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us, He reminds us, think beyond yourself. Think of your ultimate goal. Think of that purpose. And when you sacrifice for me, I'm going to fill that void in your heart. I'm going to give you that pleasure that everyone's so desperately trying to find in this world. And I'm going to reward you for it in the next life. And that really is our goal as Muslims. And that is the attitude that the Quran cultivates that we should think about throughout the rest of the month. Thinking about that one thing. The next time you really want to think just about yourself, encourage yourself to sacrifice, to think about others, to fulfill that collective vision that Islam calls for, for the sake of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala and for His reward. As-salamu alaykum wa khayran. Sheikh Abdullah presents here. Jazakum Allah khayran. Bismillah wa salatu wa salam ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'd. wa bishrahi sadri wa yasili amri wa ahli nuqadatan bil lisani yafqahu qawli ya rabbal a'aleen Exactly what you talked about is a way that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guides all of us, keeping us together, realizing our purpose of life. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala created all of us and brought us on this earth. But on top of that, He has given us messengers. But there was a time when all of us together were on one millah. We were on one deen. We were one ummah. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions this in the chapter of Baqarah, verse number 213. When He says after, audhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim kana an-nasu ummatan wahidatan faba'atallahu nabiyyin wa mubashshireen wa munzireen wa anzala ma'ahumul kitab bil haq liyahkum bayna an-nasi fee makhtalafu fee This is a portion of the verse. I want to pause here for a minute because Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala starts off by saying, kana an-nasu ummatan wahidatan that all of mankind was on one religion. One religion, one way, one faith, one understanding of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that was the understanding of worshiping Him by Himself because we as Muslims believe that Adam, all of the prophets, submitted and surrendered to Allah for means of peace in this life and salvation in the next. And that is the exact meaning of Islam. If we want to say translation,
it is submission and surrender to the creator of the heavens and the earth. The effect of that is peace in this life and salvation in the next. Adam was someone that was of that. All of the prophets were of that. So when we see the time of Adam Alayhi Salaam and those that came after him, they were all on one ummah until the time of Nuh Alayhi Salaam was the first one. This is where the individuals started to differ. But Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says here that mankind was ummatan wahidatan. Now there's different meanings of ummah that scholars mention. Of them is four, particularly whether it's a time frame or whether it's an imam, kana Ibrahim wa ummah, that Ibrahim was an ummah by himself, that he was an imam, a leader, or whether it is a certain ta'ifah, a people, or a ta'ifah. In this particular situation, in this verse, it's ta'ifah means group. In this particular situation, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that they were all one nation and they all believed in him. Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, faba'athallahu an-nabiyyin. What's understood here in the Quran, we have to understand that due to the eloquence and the richness of the Arabic language, there may be some things that are understood. And in Arabic, we call this muqaddar. It means something that is not mentioned. We don't want to say hidden, but it's a meaning that is understood here. So if we look at it, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says that mankind was on one ummah, then Allah sent messengers. But wait, why would he need to send messengers if everybody believed the same thing? What's understood is the scholars mentioned that it's really kaana nasu ummatan wahidatan, faba'athallahu an-nabiyyin mubashshireen. So mankind was all one nation and they started to differ. Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sent nabiyyin mubashshireen wa mundireen. Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala sent the prophets as bringers of good tidings and as warners. That all the prophets gave good tidings and they warned. Which is a small point for us to remember, that when we want to call people to good,
it may require us to congratulate as parents, as leaders, but at the same time to warn them to stay away, to avoid that which is not beneficial for them. Mubashshireena wa mundireena wa anzala ma'ahumul kitaaba bilhaqq. And then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says, we sent them as people that give glad tidings and to give glad tidings and to warn them. And he sent down a book bilhaqq. He sent down the book in truth. That this book is full of truth and it calls to truth. That Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, when he sent this book down with the messengers, not only the messengers, but the message itself was that book that they have been given to call people to return back to the ummatan wahidatan. To be that one nation and to ultimately be those that submit and surrender to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala by himself. Then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions after that, he says, wa anzala ma'ahumul kitaaba bilhaqqi liyahkum bayna an-nasi fee makhtalafu fee. To judge between mankind and that which they differ. So this is important for us to know. That the Quranic worldview and the worldview in Islam in general is that we use the Quran to be our ultimate judge. We use those that have been, that the Quran has been revealed to him, or the ones that had the scripture in their time to judge between us because it is not out of their whims. It is revelation in which they were inspired. So Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala after mentioning that, that they may have differed in belief because when they differed, they differed in who Allah was. They differed in their ways of worship. You know, there was some that worship on Saturday, some that worship on Sunday. We as Muslims worship on Friday. Understanding that there was difference now. But then the question remains, what caused the difference? What was the main reason they differed? I mean, we were all together. Why did we differ in the past? Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says here,
wa maqtalaf fihi illa allatheena ootoo min ba'di ma ja'atuhumulAAinmu baghyaan baynahum Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions here that they did not differ, except the ones that have been given the book. After that time, none differed over the scripture, except those who were given the book after the clear proofs came to them out of jealousy and animosity. Baghyaan baynahum. And this is very interesting. Allah mentions that they differed, but then he mentions here, baghyaan. And baghi can be to desire something. Ibtighaa amardhaatillah That you really desire the wajh of Allah, the face of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. But here the connection is interesting. They differed out of a desire to be better than someone else. They differed out of the desire just to differ with someone else. Now we have to look at ourselves. When we differ with someone, is it for the haq? And that is what Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is ultimately calling to. They differed baghyaan baynahum. And it was between them. And the scholars mention it wasn't that it was a difference from jahad. Because remember the knowledge came to, utuhu ilm, the knowledge came to them. After the knowledge and clear proof, baynaat came to them, they differed. This is what we mentioned yesterday with Bani Israel and Musa. Musa literally told them, slaughter a cow, take a piece of the cow, put it on the dead body, he will wake up and he will tell you who the killer was. After that, they still acted in an ignorant way. So here, when you see the clear proofs in front of you, you have a choice to make. When you disagree with your brother or sister and you see the clear proofs, there's a choice that you have to make. It could cause further separation or ultimately bring us together. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala ultimately says after that, fa hadha allahu ladheena aaminnu lima agtalafu feehim minal phakqi biithni. That Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guided those,
that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guided those after fa hadha allahu ladheena aaminnu lima agtalfu feehim minal phakqi biithni, Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala guided those after that there was the difference, minal phakqi biithni, from that khaqq, with His permission. Meaning, that those Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has guided, even though that difference was there, They were guided throughout that difference. Now this guidance, the scholars mention that there's two types. There's the guidance of being shown the way, and there's the guidance of actually going the way. The hidayah with irshad. Allah shows you the truth, but you have a choice to make. And that's where there's the tawfiq, the second type of guidance. We see this with the companions. We see this with the hurayyun, those that followed the prophets. Even though there was that difference, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's guidance was, is and always will be there with his permission. And this is important for us to understand that as Muslims, we may differ because some would say, okay, but we differ as Muslims. As long as the asil, the foundation is there that we believe in Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la by himself, we worship him by following those that worshiped him with the book, with the message, as long as we follow them and we have our ultimate aspirations to be like them, this is where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la guides us. We see throughout the seerah that the companions, Ridwanullahi alayhim, they differ. They argued, but what kept them together? Why did we say radhiAllahu anhum? Because they wanted to worship Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for the sake of staying together as an ummah. And that's how they ultimately gave the qardan hasan, right? As sister Tasneem mentioned, that they would give to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, they would give themselves. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, thoo fadhilin azeem. He is with great virtue, that fadhil is extra. He gives you more than you quote unquote think that we sometimes we think that we deserve. So ultimately, we're looking at this beautiful verse, we see that we were all together at a time, but what separated us? What separated us?
It was that enmity and envy and jealousy and enmity. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make us of those that, as Muslims, as those that come together, as those that are thinking about coming back to God, don't let the jealousy and enmity and envy stop you from the true guidance from our creator. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la bless us all and guide us to the Sirat al-Mustaqim, the straight path. BarakAllahu feekum. Beautiful reflections, man. JazakAllah khair. KaramakAllah, Shaykh. SubhanAllah, actually both of your reflections are profound and really tie in the worldview. You know, Shaykh Tahir Wyatt, who's gonna be joining us tomorrow with Nida'i Ta'ala, I think tomorrow or the day after. Shaykh Abdullah, you got it ready, right? He's tomorrow, right? Tomorrow. So, you know, he, SubhanAllah, he said something so beautiful a few weeks ago. He mentioned, you know, look, anyone who's trying to teach you a worldview where the akhira is not a part of it, the hereafter is not a part of it, has such an inherently flawed worldview. So it's kind of like the gym teacher, the life coach, if they don't believe in the next life, it's belief in Allah and belief in the hereafter. It's such an inherently flawed worldview. So the way that the reflection that I think, you know, I had, I'll just tie in between both your reflections in this regard. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon. It's the first time it shows up in the Quran. To Allah we belong and to Allah we return. Look how many times it shows up in the first two juz. The first two juz. huwa alladhi kayfa takfuruna billahi wa kuntum amwatan fa ahyaakum thumma yumitukum thumma yuhyikum thumma ilayhi turja'oon How could you disbelieve in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala when you were nothing, you were dead, and then you came to life, and then Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala took you once again. thumma ilayhi turja'oon And then you'll return back to him. And then those alladhina idha asabatu museeba qalu inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon Those people who, when they are struck by tragedy, they say to Allah we belong and to Allah we return. And man dhaladhi yuqrirullaha qardhan hasana fayudha'ifahu lah walahu ajrun kareem Right? This idea that you deposit into the hereafter. You're loaning something to Allah in the hereafter
and it will come back to you in the hereafter, right? When you return to him. So now you're actually depositing good deeds for that hereafter. And then subhanAllah, the community component of this, the community component of this is so profound because you know, and I've been in this situation a lot, Sheikh Abdullah, you know, I know you've been in this situation a lot too. We're trying to like reconcile between two parties, like two people that are like tearing up a community, tearing up a masjid. It's like you realize you're going to be buried in that graveyard. Likely you'll be buried in that same graveyard together. You know, think about the havoc you're wreaking on the community because of your egos and envy, which are again, satanic manifestations, right? Greed now playing out, not just on the individual level of shahwa and desire and hypocrisy, but greed that's leading to destruction of community. You realize you're both going to die and you're going to be in that graveyard. You know, subhanAllah, imagine if you're buried next to each other and you spent all this time fighting over dunya and now you left it and you're in the same place. And what did you earn? Nothing to meet Allah azawajal with except for sin because of the, you know, the hardship that you caused to others over what? Envy over this world. So death, the reminder that you're going back to Allah, kills your individual desires from or stops your individual desires from taking away from Allah azawajal and breeding hypocrisy in the heart and stops the community from getting divided over these different things. And the last reflection I had on that was charity, the notion of charity. The people before Islam used to give charity. Why did they used to give charity? So that they can boast about it and they could be celebrated for that charity. Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both. Who you mentioned so beautifully, Al-Khulafa Ar-Rashidun Al-Nahdiyun They're guided in action and guided in thought. When Umar radiAllahu anhu felt bad that he couldn't give as much as Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu. It wasn't because, now the people are going to say Abu Bakr gave more than me.
It's like SubhanAllah, Sabaqani Bil Khair, he beat me once again to good. It's because of Mandal Ladi Yuqridallaha Qardan Hasana Abu Bakr gave the better loan to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the hereafter. And so that orientation of Allah in the hereafter kept the community together and kept the individuals calibrated. So inshAllah, JazakAllah Khair, beautiful reflections. I'd love to hear one more reflection from each of you, then we'll go ahead and we'll close it off inshAllah. So whoever would like to share maybe a last word inshAllah with us. Hayran, you know one other verse that I think it relates to this idea of sacrifice and thinking about the community is in another juz'at where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says ma'indakum yanfidu wa ma'indullahi baq that listen, whatever you have, it's temporary, it's fleeting, it's not gonna last. So say what you have is this, you know, happiness, something is giving you pleasure but it's displeasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You can pursue it till the end of time, but at one point there's going to be that end. wa ma'indullahi baq But what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is promising in return, what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us to do, everything that we've been commanded to do is only going to benefit us. That even in our sacrifice, we gain worldly benefit. You know, there's the discipline that comes, there's materialistic benefits that come with your ibadah. So it's really just a win-win situation, but it doesn't just help us win in this life, it also helps us build our home in Jannah. And I think that's the theme of our month this Ramadan, so think about that. Think about where your sacrifices will lead you, how it will decorate your home in Jannah. Use that as motivation to really go out of your way to please others for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, even when it's uncomfortable for you. That's beautiful, subhanAllah, and that's the difference that you mentioned that Sheikh Tahir was mentioning. SubhanAllah, you know, it's interesting, Sheikh Tahir mentioned to me the other day when we were in Mecca, that you mentioned something to the group, subhanAllah, talking about the Umrah. And how when many of us, we go and make the Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, you know, we're always, you mentioned how you told them that we're always wondering,
okay, do I have to do this, do I have to do this correctly, do I have to do this correctly? What do I have to do here? What do I have to do here? I make sure I do this right. Let's just make sure that we do that in our lives in general, right? That's so profound, JazakAllah khair, Sheikh Omar, just really taking that element that we have in Umrah, and you know, and wanting to do everything right to the best of our ability, and making that transcend over to the rest of our lives, right? And that is ultimately the manifestation of living our purpose, because it connects to the next life. It has a connection to the next life, that what we're doing definitely is, as Ali bin Abi Tal, rajul Allah alaihi wa sallam said, to be those at abna al-akhirah, to be the children of the akhirah, to harvest for the akhirah, inshaAllah ta'ala. So let's just make sure that what we're doing in this life has much more of an intangible effect, inshaAllah, as Sister Tasneem mentioned, in Jannah. JazakAllah khair, Sheikh. By the way, it's my Jumaa khutbah, it's gonna be titled, your Ramadan ihram. It's actually my khutbah. Oh, nice, mashaAllah. Because of that notion, right? So it's actually for that reason, that's why we're putting the title on it. But I'm actually, you know, subhanAllah, that reflection really struck me this Ramadan in particular, man. Like subhanAllah, the way people are so like, did I get it right? Did I get it right? Did I get it right? May Allah azawajal allow us all to get it right. Alhamdulillah, jazakAllah khair, Dr. Tasneem for being with us and always sharing wonderful reflections. JazakAllah khair, Sheikh Abdullah, beautiful reflections today. See you all tomorrow, inshaAllah ta'ala. Sheikh Tahir, Sheikh Abdullah can't wait. We'll hear all of his Philly dad jokes, inshaAllah. Alhamdulillah.
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