Lecture
18 / 84
17
Social Justice
Islam, A Coherent Social Justice Tradition | Omar Suleiman | 16th MAS-ICNA Convention
22
Jurisprudence (fiqh)
Appreciating Scholarship: Intro to Islamic Law - Tesneem Alkiek | Yaqeen in NY
26
Islamophobia
How Yaqeen Heals Internalized Islamophobia - Dalia Mogahed | Making Principled Progress
29
Education
How Yaqeen is a Resource for Our Community - Sh. Omar Suleiman | Making Principled Progress
34
General Psychology
Spiritual Personality - Zohair Abdul-Rahman | 2018 Yaqeen/MAS Academic Conference
35
Social Justice
Conflict Resolution: The Line Between Justice and Peace - Sh. Omar Suleiman | Lecture
47
Identity
Keeping Masculinity from Trending Toxic - Dr. Jonathan Brown | Reframing the Gender Question
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful. Look into the Qur'an inshallah, one of the things that I was listening to, subhanallah, as we were reading from surat al-Baqarah, the story of Ibrahim, alayhis salam. The story of Ibrahim, alayhis salam, like the story of Musa, alayhis salam, like the story of each and every one of us human beings, in regards to the pursuit of something very important for us to feel safe in this dunya and in the akhira. Do you know what that is that we all look for in this world of jama'at? What is it that we are pursuing exactly? What is it? To give us that sense of safety in everything, what is it? Have you ever thought about it? The story of Ibrahim, alayhis salam, when he went in front of that tyrant and he debated with him about who Allah is. He told him Allah is the one who gives life and death and the man, he challenged that. But then Ibrahim gave him another example, the sun. It comes from the east, can you bring it from the west? But then later on, Ibrahim, alayhis salam, in the story, he asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala a very unique question. What was the question he asked Allah azza wa jal? He said, my lord, can I see how you bring the dead back to life? What was that question about? Like the story of Musa, alayhis salam, with Bani Israel. When Bani Israel worshipped the calf, they were supposed to be bringing 70 of their elite leaders to go and stand before Allah azza wa jal.
And there they need to bring their tawbah and repentance on behalf of Bani Israel. And as Musa, alayhis salam, was speaking with his lord subhanahu wa ta'ala without translator, without any turjaman or medium or middle person, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks to him directly, but people don't hear it. And Musa was conveying the message to the people of Bani Israel, the leaders. But they couldn't see and they couldn't hear. So what did they say to Musa, alayhis salam? Qalu lannu'mina laka hatta narallaha jahra. Like, you know what? We're not going to believe until we see Allah azza wa jal with our own eyes. Like, we don't know if you're talking to anybody or you're talking to someone else. We don't know. We don't see it. We need to see. So what happened to Bani Israel in that moment? The leaders of Bani Israel, what happened to them, ya jama'a? They were all taken by a shark that killed them. And Musa standing before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the middle of all these people dead. And he said, ya rab, la tu akhirna bima fa'alath sufaha'u minna. Don't take us accountable for what the sufaha', the losers, the ignorant have done amongst us, ya rabbi. Just like what's happening today to the ummah, ya jama'a. Allahumma musta'an. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accepted the dua and the plea of Musa alayhi salam and he brought them back to life. Allah says, wa antum tanzuroon, while you were watching with your own eyes how you were coming out from the dead. What did Musa alayhi salam do afterwards? Later on in his private meeting with Allah azza wa jal, again, he doesn't see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He just speaks to Allah azza wa jal. He says, qala rabbi, arini andhru ilayk. Can I see you? Like, forget about Bani Israel. Me, can I see you? What is it that Ibrahim alayhi salam, when he was challenged by that man, that tyrant,
and he went and he asked Allah, ya rabbi, arini kayfa tuhri almawtah. Let me see how you bring the dead back to life. And when Musa was asked by Bani Israel, we want to see Allah azza wa jal, Musa himself later on asked Allah, ya rabbi, can I see you then? What is it that we're looking for, jama'a, in all of this? Can you guys guess now? It's called yaqeen. Not the institute, though. It's tomorrow, insha'Allah. We're looking for yaqeen. We're looking for certainty. Certainty of what? The certainty of faith. The certainty of everything. When you're hungry, you go eat. What are you looking for? The certainty of what? Safety. That you can fill that stomach. And you can feel safe for the next day, probably. When you feel exhausted, you go to sleep. What are you looking for? The certainty of that safety, the ability to rest, and rejuvenate and come out afterwards. That's in physical matters. The same thing when it comes to the subject of faith. Our children, and that's why unfortunately in our time, a lot of our kids, they lose faith so quickly. They're young. Why is this happening? Because we were raised as children to believe in Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, to worship Allah, azza wa jal. And we loved our parents. Our parents were always our heroes until we hit puberty. Then what happens? Everything was being taken care of for us, so we had the certainty of everything through our parents. The moment you hit puberty, you start developing your personal identity, your personal freedom, your personal choice, which is why you become accountable. Which is why everything starts counting for you right now. And these young ones, they're looking for what? For certainty. That once their parents were taking care of everything for them, including their food and their clothes and their schooling and everything. Now suddenly they start wanting to develop their own personal identity, their independence from their parents. And this is why they start having all these questions in their mind.
They question everything you always taught them, even everything about faith becomes questionable. Why? Because that certainty right now is left for them to pursue. You need to pursue it, because that's your test right now. Your parents did their part. That's it. Now it's on you. Between you and Allah, azza wa jal. Which is why, what is the highest level of Ibadah, it's called Ihsan. And what is Ihsan? Perfection. Excellence. Which is the base of this creation, and the reason for this creation. In Surah Tabarak, Surah Tabarak, Who created life and death. Why? To try you and test you. For what? Who's going to be most excellent in their good deeds? So how do we define excellence? The way the Prophet ﷺ defined it in Hadith Jibreel, when he came to him in the form of a man, and he asked him about the three degrees of our faith. He said, what is al-Islam? What is al-iman? And what is what? Al-Ihsan. So he asked him about this. He gave the answer to Islam, he gave the answer to Iman, and then came the answer to Ihsan. What is Ihsan? The highest level of faith. He said, He said, That you worship Allah, as if you're certain that you see Him. That's called the certainty of sight. If you couldn't get that level of certainty, then you're so certain that He's watching you and He sees you. Two levels of yaqeen. And there are actually three levels of yaqeen. Three levels of certainty people pursue and look for.
Number one is called ilm al-yaqeen, the certainty of knowledge. They're all mentioned in Surat al-Takathur. Allah says, He says, How do we get that certainty of knowledge? From the information we get. From where? Reliable sources. If you're a believer, you trust the Qur'an. You trust the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. You trust the ulema around you. If you're someone looking for it on your own, you're going to have to have that experience to get that certainty. People look for that everywhere. And that's why they question the people around them, the reliability of the source. Like the beginning of the month of Ramadan this year, jama'at. We're looking for certainty through evidences of knowledge. So if someone comes from outside and says, Hey, it's raining outside. And if the person is known to be a prankster, do we believe him? No, we say, whatever. If the person who's coming from outside telling you that it's raining outside, and you trust that person, he's a reliable person, we believe him. We develop what, jama'at? The certainty of knowledge. But then some people, certainty of knowledge is not enough for them. What do they need? They need the certainty of sight. What do they do? Even though they believe that person who said it's raining outside, what do they do? They go to the door to see. Don't you go to the window to see, oh really, it's raining? Well, you believed him when he said that, but why do you need to have that ayn al yaqeen? It gives you that sense of security and safety and just like comfort. Like Ibrahim, alayhis salaam, when he says, I believe it. It's not going to change my belief in that Allah is able to bring the dead back to life. But it's my thing as a human being. I just need to see it, that's all. Not that I'm actually questioning it. I just want to see the lightning, how it works, that's all.
We need sometimes ayn al yaqeen to see that. And then what is higher than that? There's something higher than ayn al yaqeen. People come in, they say it's raining outside. Some people they go and they watch and they say, oh, it's really raining. Other people, that's not sufficient for them. What do they do, jama'ah? They get out. They want to touch the water first. Oh wow, it is raining, subhanallah. This is called haqq al yaqeen. That's the certainty of experience. As Allah says, If you truly have that certainty of knowledge, If you have the certainty of knowledge, you will have that sight of the mind. You're going to see jahannam in your mind, the eyes of your mind, not the eyes of your head, basically. That's the first thing, because of the knowledge. You bring that certainty. But if that's not enough for you, Allah says, And then you're going to see it, ayn al yaqeen. The day will come, you will be resurrected, and you will see it with your own eyes. And then what? And then the day will come when you're going to be asked about if you ever had any na'im. Which means, will you experience, may Allah protect us from jahannam, you're going to be asked, have you ever had any na'im before? So that you're going to have that experience. So when it comes to the certainty, that's what we're pursuing in this life. From the time you're born, or at least reach the age of puberty, all the way until we die, it is all about the pursuit of yaqeen, the pursuit of certainty. Some people, it's enough for them to develop what? Certainty of knowledge. I trust you, so that's it. Alhamdulillah, I'm happy with that. I'm happy that these people are the happiest people on earth. Because they trust the source, whatever you say, I'll take it insha'Allah.
Others, no. They want to be custom-made yaqeen. So they want to have ayn al-yaqeen, so they argue, they discuss, they want to see for themselves, they want to read for themselves. And then other people, that's not even enough for them. They want to take it to the next level. So if you trust the source, you have no problem with that. Look at Abu Bakr as-Siddiq radiallahu ta'ala. The highest man when it comes to the subject of faith in our deen, among the sahabah radiallahu ta'ala. Why is that? Because he trusted the source. No doubt about it. He knew his man. He was with him. They grew up together. He saw him, he followed him. Basically, he knew the inside and out from the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. He didn't need no extra information or evidence about the truthfulness of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. So when the people started talking about the journey of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, al-Israa wa al-Mi'raj, they came to Abu Bakr as-Siddiq and they said, Ya Abu Bakr, did you hear what your man is talking about now? He's saying a book comes to him from the heavens. That's fine, but to travel from Mecca to Jerusalem, to heaven and heaven, and come back again one night, do you believe that? What did he say? He said, la'in kaana qaalahu faqad sadaq. If this is true that he said that, I don't know if it's true or not yet, but if it's true that he said that, then I believe it. What is that, a-jama'a? That's ilm al-yaqeen. I don't need to see it, because I trust the source. If you have that trust in the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and the source of your deen, wallahi, you will be the happiest person on earth. We live in a time of confusion, and that's what the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said about the fitna that will happen before the Day of Judgment. Time will be so confusing that people in the world today will become believers, and by the end of the day, they lost it. At night, they are believers. Their yaqeen is so high. By the time they wake up, they lost it.
Why so? Because of the confusion that's happening around them. You need yaqeen? Go back to the source. We live in a time of Ramadan, the source of the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So let's go back again to that source inshallah. Get engaged more with the Quran, read more, listen to it more, study it more, learn about the meaning of it inshallah, and trust the source. Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
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