Taraweeh Reflections (2024)
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How Allah Speaks About Al-Aqsa | Taraweeh Reflections
What is the significance of the one mention of Masjid Al-Aqsa by name in the Qur’an? And where else is Al-Aqsa alluded to?
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. How many times does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mention Masjid al-Aqsa in the Qur'an? It's a question. 2, 3, what are the ayat? Surat al-Isra and what else then? Al-Baqarah? Okay, how many times does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mention Masjid al-Aqsa by name? Once. How many times does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mention the Masjid of the Prophet ﷺ, Masjid al-Nabawi, by name? It's not mentioned in the Qur'an. Alright. How many times does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mention any Masjid other than al-Masjid al-Haram by name in the Qur'an? Okay. The point that I'm getting to, dear brothers and sisters, before I even get started, is that can we make an equivalence between the amount of times something is mentioned by name in the Qur'an and its importance? No, we can't. Because the Masjid of the Prophet ﷺ, for example, is not mentioned by name in the Qur'an, even though we know that salah in the Masjid of the Prophet ﷺ is only rivaled by salah in al-Masjid al-Haram. We also know that even though Masjid Quba itself is not mentioned in the Qur'an, Masjid Quba, it's Masjid al-Ussisa al-Taqwa, a Masjid that was established on piety, right? But its importance is certainly of the greatest importance after the three Masjids that we speak about, al-Masjid al-Haram, the Masjid of the Prophet ﷺ, and al-Masjid al-Aqsa. Now with that being said, when you talk about al-Masjid al-Aqsa and the amount of times that it is actually central to the story, last year we spoke about al-Ard al-Muqaddasa, this idea of the Holy Land, that which Allah ﷻ says, Allah has blessed what is around it, Allah has put blessing within it,
and it is the land of Palestine, the land of Palestine, the land of Jerusalem, and that which surrounds it. May Allah ﷻ liberate it all. Allahumma ameen. But tonight I wanted to just focus a little bit on al-Masjid al-Aqsa and something that's very interesting about this. You're in a part of the Qur'an where al-Masjid al-Aqsa is central to almost every story that you are coming across. In fact, the du'a of Zakariya ﷺ which begins Surah Maryam, is made in the corner of al-Masjid al-Aqsa after he comes to check up on Maryam ﷺ in al-Masjid al-Aqsa. And then when Allah ﷻ mentions Maryam ﷺ, that she came to her people holding her son Isa ﷺ, Jesus the son of Mary, where did she come and approach them? It was in the courtyard of al-Masjid al-Aqsa that Isa ﷺ first spoke his words. And so it is actually in al-Masjid al-Aqsa that that takes place. And so al-Masjid al-Aqsa is central to many of the stories that you are coming across in this part of the Qur'an. And Allah ﷻ specifies it by name in Surah al-Isra. When Allah ﷻ mentions, سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى بِعَبَدِهِ All glory be to the one who took his servant on this journey. لَيْلًا مِنَ الْمَسْجِدِ الْحَرَامِ إِلَى الْمَسْجِدِ الْأَقْصَةِ Allah specified from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa. Some of the ulama said that the wisdom of those two masajid being the only praiseworthy masajid, because dhiraar does not count as an actual masjid. The only two masajid being used as an example here is because these are the only two qiblahs that the Muslims have had, that the believers have had, that we've ever faced in our direction of prayer. Some of the scholars also mentioned that the first masjid, as the Prophet ﷺ said, authentically in the hadith of Abu Dharr that was built was in Masjid al-Haram,
and then after that, al-Masjid al-Aqsa. And so the first two masajid that were built in the history of the world, and of course, the first two masajid, the only two masajid, that represent the direction of prayer for the Muslims. But here's something I want to bring back to you inshaAllah, something that I was reflecting on, subhanAllah, of the mentions of Masjid al-Aqsa, and of the times that it comes up. The very first mention that the Mufassirun mention of al-Aqsa, indirectly, because Allah ﷻ does not name al-Aqsa, just as Allah does not name the Masjid of the Prophet ﷺ in multiple places, in fact, not once in the Qur'an, Allah does not name al-Aqsa throughout the Qur'an except for once, but it is implied. The first time it is actually implied is the very first time that the concept of a masjid even comes up in the Qur'an. وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنْ مَنَعَ مَسَاجِدَ اللَّهِ أَن يُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ وَسَعَى فِي خَرَابِهَا When Allah ﷻ says in Surah al-Baqarah, and who is a greater oppressor than the one who forbids the name of Allah ﷻ to be mentioned in his masajid, and who exerts themselves in trying to destroy it, وَسَعَى فِي خَرَابِهَا who exerts themselves in trying to destroy that masjid, أُولَٰئِكَ مَا كَانَ لَهُمْ أَن يَدْخُلُوهَا إِلَّا خَائِفِينَ that for those people, for such people, it is not befitting except that they would enter such a place in fear, لَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا خِزْيٌّ وَلَهُمْ فِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ أَنِيمٌ Allah ﷻ says, in this dunya, in this world, they will be humiliated, and in the hereafter there will be great punishment for them. The Mufassirun, they differed over this ayah and what's implied. Most of them said that this is in fact referring to al-Masjid al-Aqsa and its destruction,
first and foremost at the hands of the Babylonians, and that this is the first mention of masajid in the Qur'an. Some of them said this is the people of Mecca, Quraysh, forbidding the Prophet ﷺ from praying within the Haram. Those from the first group, they respond and they say, وَسَعَى فِي خَرَابِهَا But the Quraysh of Mecca, even though they prevented the Prophet ﷺ from praying in the Haram, there is no evidence of their continuous attempts to try to destroy the Ka'bah. In fact, they honored it in their own jahili ways, right, in their ways of ignorance. And so it fits, the description fits most al-Masjid al-Aqsa that both simultaneously you will have the prevention of the name of Allah ﷻ mentioned and the continuous effort to destroy it. Some of the scholars say that it is masajid. It refers to both al-Aqsa and the Haram and it refers to masajid as a whole. Even if the primary meaning that's intended is al-Masjid al-Aqsa. Now when Allah ﷻ mentions that such people will have humiliation in this life, that's a bushra for the believers because khizyun lahum is bushra lana. Humiliation for them is a glad tidings for the oppressed, right? And so there is a worldly component to this as well, that their punishment will not just be delayed to the hereafter, rather it will transpire in this life as well and they will have the punishment in the hereafter as well. May Allah ﷻ punish the oppressors of al-Aqsa. And may Allah ﷻ give victory to the oppressed in Gaza and around Jerusalem all over. Allahumma ameen. Now dear brothers and sisters, here's what I want to bring home to you. Because I hear this sometimes and we're at that point now, it's that six-month juncture, you know, where someone says,
you know what, there are a lot of other oppressed Muslims too. There are a lot of other places too. Why are you singling out al-Aqsa? Why are you singling out Palestine? You know, it's not like there weren't hungry people before. It's not like there isn't zulm all over the world. And so you start to see Muslims cozying up to Zionist politicians again. You start to see the, you know, pushing things under the, brushing things under the rug. You know, let's stop talking about al-Aqsa and Palestine. We're not talking about the other stuff. And that stuff is just as important. You start to hear the sentiment. And I've heard the sentiment myself. And so I'm not exaggerating things. And I know that some of you have heard this as well. And I hope that none of you have spoken it. Why keep talking about al-Aqsa? Why keep talking about Palestine? Allah says, وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ أَيْ لَا أَحَدٌ أَظْلَمُ Who is a worse oppressor than the one who stops the name of Allah from being mentioned in that place? وَسَعَى فِي خَرَابِهَا سَعَى فِي خَرَابِهَا also implies, by the way, an extended period of trying to destroy it. And when we keep on saying that this didn't start in October. I remember, subhanAllah, in June. You know, because mashallah, we know how balanced the western media is. I started getting phone calls from the media in June when they started having the settler march where they go and they take their Israeli flags and they march through the masjid and they chant and they say that Muhammad ﷺ is dead. And they humiliate or they oppress, you know, spit on the Palestinians all around. They desecrate the masjid once a year. And oh, this is going to be a provocation. This might start a war. And of course, the most that you'll get from the liberals is, you know, don't do that. That's not nice. And it could provoke a war. And this is not bringing us closer to peace. Mashallah, this is not bringing us closer to peace. So I started, you know, do you have any comment? What if the Palestinians respond?
And I remember saying, you're asking the wrong question. You should be asking, why are they allowed to do this? Not what if the Palestinians respond. And are you afraid that this could lead to something terrible? It already is terrible. You see how backwards this all is? And the way that this propaganda has brainwashed even seemingly sensible people? Why is this okay in the first place? And to us, وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُوا۟ Allah is saying, there is no greater oppression. There is no greater transgression than the ones who would forbid the name of Allah ﷻ from being mentioned in His home and those that would continue وَسَعَىٰ فِي خَرَابِهَا How many attempts? How long? How many ways politically, culturally, socially, have they tried to remove Al-Aqsa from the Muslims? How much digging underneath? How much planning all around? How much of letting the settlers go loose? How much do they push the boundaries every single year and how they treat the worshippers in Al-Aqsa? How much is being stolen from around Al-Aqsa? وَسَعَىٰ فِي خَرَابِهَا سَعَوا فِي خَرَابِهَا They are constantly trying to destroy it. And so let this be a wake-up call for us when we're now six months in and you start hearing those sentiments of, you know, it is what it is, but there are a lot of other things as well. But there's nothing like this. Yes, there are a lot of other things as well. There is nothing like this. Not because I say so. The Qur'an says so. وَمَنْ أَظْلَمْ There is no greater oppression than to see the combination of desecration of the holiest site, one of the holiest sites in Islam, and murder, and starvation, and humiliation, all of that combined all in one place. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never allow us to be okay with that. And so we know all of the warnings
in our religion of being okay with dhulm and being sakit, being silent in the face of dhulm. And so dear brothers and sisters, remember that as that starts to spread now, that this is the greatest dhulm that is present right now in front of us. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us the sincerity, the steadfastness, the courage, the strategies, the unity to confront it. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant our brothers and sisters that are being oppressed in Palestine and all over. We ask Allah to grant them all victory. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to direct us to the means of victory. Allahumma ameen. BarakAllahu feekum. Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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