Qur'an 30 for 30
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Juz' 15 with Dr. Zohair Abdul-Rahman
Sh. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro, joined by special guest Dr. Zohair Abdul-Rahman, explore gems from the 15th Juz' of the Holy Quran.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Alright everyone, Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. I would ask the Ameer of the Shia College, Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, alhamdulillahi wa barakato. Wa la ilaha illa Allah wa barakato. Wa ala al-aqeebatu wa al-muttaqeen. Allahumma salli wa sallim wa baraka al-abdika wa rasulika Muhammadin salallahu alayhi wa sallam wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallim faslim min khatira. I'm hearing myself, Sheikh Abdullah or Brother Zaheer, maybe it's the Australian connection. So I was just about to say welcome our Canadian brother, Brother Zaheer, alhamdulillah, who's usually on a mountain somewhere. If you've ever watched his videos on Yaqeen, not just read his spiritual psychology stuff, he's usually on the mountain or off the tip of a boat or stealing a banana from a gorilla or fighting off a cow for something. I mean, it's just he's always fighting animals, punching a kangaroo. You know, alhamdulillah, we're glad to have him with us today. That just went totally like, started from semi-accurate to just like... Yes, I love it. Very happy to have you here. Alhamdulillah, of course, as always, alhamdulillah. InshaAllah ta'ala, just before I get started with the juz right away, I wanted to actually give everyone sort of a heads up inshaAllah that next week we're going to, of course, be doing our Finish Strong webinar inshaAllah ta'ala. It's an all-day telethon that you can tune into for a few hours. It'll end with a du'a inshaAllah ta'ala. It'll be just a great thing to have going on in the background inshaAllah on the 20th day, which will be May 13th inshaAllah ta'ala from 3pm to 8pm inshaAllah ta'ala. And I'm also going to be starting a late night PM reflections. And somehow I've been thinking about this. I know that there's a lot of content that's already out there.
But what I could do at 1am, usually, well, 2am Eastern, 1am Central Time, you know, usually, you know, every Ramadan we'd have late night reflections. So inshaAllah ta'ala this year at 2am Eastern on Facebook Live inshaAllah. I'm just going to log on and do a short reflection on one of the qualities of Ibadur-Rahman where Allah talks about the servants of the most merciful and He gives us 11 qualities in fact. So inshaAllah ta'ala we'll break those down over 10 nights inshaAllah ta'ala. And that'll be 2am Eastern on my Facebook page inshaAllah ta'ala starting on the 13th, May 13th night as in 14th. I know we have to orient that inshaAllah ta'ala. But after the telethon inshaAllah that night, which will be the 21st night of Ramadan b.a.t. So let's get into it inshaAllah ta'ala. We're at Juz 15 inshaAllah ta'ala. And the turning point in the life of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam was Surat al-Isra. Was al-Isra, the journey when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala called the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam to the heavens, allowed him to see so much of the unseen that he was calling the people to be mindful about, allowed the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam to lead the prophets in prayer. The Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam saw Jibdeel alayhi wasalam in his full form for a second time. The way that he saw him when he first received the revelation, the prescription of the salah, the prayer, so many different things. This was a turning point in the life of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam. And it's very important here to pay attention to two things. Number one, the nature of the next two surahs, which is Surat al-Kahf and Surat Maryam is really miracles. It's all miracles. Miracles that were happening in the lives of people, in the lives of prophets that came before, that showed the power of Allah, the decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It made things so manifest. And if you think about the beautiful placement of Surat al-Isra here, this is the miracle
of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam that resembles those miracles. When Allah takes him from Mecca to Jerusalem to the heavens and back all in one night, this is a miracle that resembles those wondrous miracles that you start to see in the next two surahs. These two surahs, Surat al-Isra and Surat al-Kahf go hand in hand. The first surah, which is al-Isra, starts off with tasbih, Subhanalladhi asra bi abdi. All glory be to the one. How perfect is he who took his servants on that wondrous journey. And the second surah, which is Surat al-Kahf, starts off with a verse about hamd. Alhamdulillah all praises be to Allah. And of course the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam said that the two light words on the tongue that are heavy on the scales and that are beloved to ar-Rahman, they are subhanallahi wabi hamdihi subhanallah al-azim. So subhanallahi wabi hamdihi is literally how these two surahs start. Glorifying the perfection of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and then praising Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for that. It also makes sense that it comes at this point in the life of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam as well as the Quran, because Allah tells us towards the end of the Quran, one of the last surahs that was revealed to the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasalam, idha ja'a nasrAllahi wal-fatih, when goodness and success comes to you, what's the way that you respond to success? Fasabbih bi hamdi rabbika wastaghfir. Okay, glorify the praises of your Lord. Tasbih and hamd and istighfar. This is how we respond to blessings when they come in our lives. And when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala opens for us after we think that everything has turned away from us. And obviously, in the case of the Prophets, the success and the opening that comes in the lives of the Prophets directly correlates with the destruction of the nations that rejected them.
And so there's the good side of this, which is that the Prophets are elevated and the Prophets are shown a new way out. And of course, the unfortunate side of this, the tragic side of it is that the people that reject their Prophet after all of this time, destruction comes upon them or punishment comes upon them. Verse 18 of Surah al-Isra is a response to the first verse of Surah an-Nahl. The first verse of Surah an-Nahl, which is the previous surah is, Ata amrullahi falatista'jiloo. That the command of Allah has come, so do not hasten towards it. Okay, do not hasten towards the punishment of Allah. It is coming. So don't challenge and provoke your Lord and say, when is the punishment of Allah going to come? In verse 18 of Surah al-Isra, man kana yureedu al-aajila, ajanna lahu feehaa man nasha'u liman nureed. That whoever desires for the hasty punishment to come to them, we will hasten it for them as we see fit. So verse 18 is a response to the previous surah, Surah an-Nahl, in the first ayah. Also, if you remember yesterday, Shaykh Abdullah beautifully elaborated on inna Allah ya'maru bil-adli wal-ihsan wa ita'idh al-qurba. That verily Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la commands you with justice and excellence and to spend and to show kindness and to show the best of yourself to your family, to your relatives. What does Allah give us here? Probably some of the most beautiful verses, honestly, if you took SubhanAllah and the whole Quran is beautiful. But Surah an-Nahl goes into the blessings of the blessing of the bee and those things that you don't usually take into consideration. Verse 23 to 26 of Surah al-Isra, what does Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la talk about? He talks about how you treat your parents and particularly how you treat your parents when they become old. Okay, so it's not just wa qada rabbuka alla ta'budu illa ya'u bil-walidayni ihsana,
which is common throughout the Quran, that your Lord has commanded that you worship Him alone and that you treat your parents with excellence. Allah putting them in that category, right, to elevate its importance. But Allah specifically mentions the time when they become old. Okay, one of them, aw kilahuma, one of your parents or both of them. Falaa taqullahuma uffin. Do not say to them even uff. Don't roll your eyes at them. Don't disrespect them. Wala tanharhuma, don't make them feel like they're repulsive. Don't treat your parents bad. What kind of a person can be incredible to the world around them, can treat people with such courtesy? And then their own parents who brought them into this world, they treat them with disgust and with repulsion, even though Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is giving them an opportunity to honor them in their old age. Wa qullahuma qawlan kareema, and say to them generous words, honorable words. Don't speak to your parents except with honorable words. And if you go through these ayat, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions, wa aati dhul-qurba haqqahu wal miskeena wabina as-sabeer. Then Allah starts to mention everybody, right, starting with dhul-qurba, the same words that are used in the previous surah, starting off with those that are closest to you, giving them their rights, wal miskeena wabina as-sabeer, and so on and so forth, mentioning the poor person, mentioning the homeless person, that you respond with ihsan. So show ihsan to your parents, okay, show ihsan to your family, and establish their huqook, establish their rights, and then let that be the structure from which you build all of your ihsan to society that is around you. So it's really a beautiful few verses here. In the middle of Surah Al-Isra, verse 61, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la once again gives us the story of shaytaan, of iblees, refusing to prostrate, but particularly points to his arrogance. a-asjudu li man khalaqt athina? Should I prostrate to the one that you created from dirt?
Why? Because that is the characteristic of the people that are destroyed in this surah, okay? The arrogance and the pride that they have. In Surah Al-Kahf, where Allah is clarifying creedal matters, Allah has the same story there, of iblees refusing to prostrate, but in Surah Al-Kahf, almost placed exactly in the same place, kaana minal jinni fa fasaqa AAan amri rabbih? Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la clarifies the nature of shaytaan, that he was not a fallen angel, that we should understand the creed, and we should understand the nature of the unseen, and how Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has created the unseen. Verse 65 is another declaration to shaytaan, laisa laka AAalayhim sultan, that you do not have any power over them. Allah Azawajal then goes on to talk about the Quran, in verse 82, subhanAllah, that he made it shifa'an warahmatun min al-mu'mineen, wa la yazidul dhalimeena illa khasara, that it heals the hearts of the believers, and it is a mercy to the believers. And last surah, of course, there was a lot of emphasis on the preservation of the Quran. And then I know that both Shaykh Abdullah and Zuhair, inshAllah, will both be talking, I think, Shaykh Abdullah, I don't know if you're talking about Surah Al-Kahf, or you're still in al-Isra, but I know that Zuhair will be talking about Al-Kahf, and we'll be going into it, inshAllah Ta'ala, tomorrow as well, because it's part of the Juz. But I think there's a really beautiful connection to the end of Surah Al-Isra, and the beginning of Surah Al-Kahf, and the end of Surah Al-Kahf, and I want to point to that. Who did the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, interact with most on the night of al-Isra? Musa Alayhi Salam, right? The conversations with Musa Alayhi Salam from the Prophets. Imagine how different the revelation of the Quran is to the Prophet, SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, now when Musa is mentioned, Alayhi Salam. And Musa Alayhi Salam is spoken about, Moses is spoken about at the end of the Surah in this way. Allah mentions the nine signs of Musa Alayhi Salam that have passed, and the punishment of Fir'aun, right?
And then, in the next Surah, Surah Al-Kahf, so Musa is explaining to Fir'aun why Allah has destroyed him, and why Allah has sent this punishment and this decree upon him. In the next Surah, the end of the Surah, is Musa Alayhi Salam not able to understand the decree of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la with people that are not like Fir'aun, right? So, Musa understands the suffering and the punishment of Fir'aun, this horrible person, in the end of this Surah, but in the next Surah, he's asking Al-Khadr, why are these good people being punished like this? Why are they suffering in this way? And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is clarifying that to him in the end of Surah Al-Kahf. And so, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, in the end of this Surah, Allah shows Musa his Qadr, in the sense of his power, with the people of Fir'aun, and in the end of Surah Al-Kahf, Allah shows Musa his Qadr, in the sense of his wisdom, through the workings of Al-Khadr. Finally, it ends with, Allah Azawajal ends the Surah with, Wa qulil hamdulillah allathee lam yatakhid waladan walam yakunnahu sharikun fil mulk and say, praise be to Allah, who has not taken a son and has no partner with him in his dominion. And Surah Al-Kahf begins with what? Alhamdulillah allathee anzala until the end of the ayah. So, Allah finishes Surah Al-Isra with commanding us to say hamd, and then to praise him, and then the beginning of Surah Al-Kahf is hamd, is the praise of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And inshaAllah Ta'ala with that, I'll hand it off to Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. Jazakumullahu khairan. Bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala rasoolillahi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa min walakum ma ba'd. Alhamdulillah, this chapter about Al-Isra, as he mentioned, is when the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, Asra bi abdihi, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, sent the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam up to the heavens. And we know that there was a legislation. From that legislation was the legislation of the salawat, of the salawat al-khams, the five prayers. And what I want to concentrate on here is a beautiful portion of this chapter in Al-Isra,
is verse number 78 through 80. Where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gives some imperative verbs. And it's important for us to remember two things. That when an imperative verb is there, the also, or the origin, or let's say the initiation of an imperative verb is obligation. And with that obligation, we should know automatically that Allah loves that action severely. Meaning that whenever Allah obliges you with something, let's say the five pillars, that is an action that Allah loves dearly. To where if you try your best to fulfill those, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la loves you. And saying that is important because we need to remember, when we look at the, I'll say, guidelines of Islam, right? Because every guideline has a maqsad shar'i, it has an objective. Instead of saying rules, we should say, you know, Islam has guidelines that have objectives. And the objective is only for our benefit. So here when we see this beautiful verse that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la tells the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan, he says, أقم الصلاة لدلوك الشمس إلى غسق الليل وقرآن الفجر إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُدًا Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions here, establish the prayer at the decline of the sun from its meridian until the darkness in the middle of the night and the recitation or the Quran of dawn. Indeed, the recitation or the Quran is whoever witnessed. Now, just to dissect in this verse just a little bit, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, أقم, to establish. And we know in Arabic there's, أداء الصلاة and إقامة الصلاة. And أداء meaning just perform, it's just to perform the actions to where it could be considered sound. But إقامة الصلاة, establishing the prayer, is within yourself and within other people.
But here Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is saying it to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam because he's starting something new, it's a new Sharia. It's a new Sharia, even though the belief with all of the other prophets is the same. لا إله إلا الله, there's no God but Allah. But we see that the Sharia, there may have been differences in that. From ours is five prayers a day, that's an obligation, for example. So here he says, establish the prayer لِدُلُوكِ الشَمْسِ at the decline of the sun until its darkness and of the night. Now here some of the scholars mention, when he mentions this time frame, this is comprising of the four salawat, of the four salawat, of Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha. So when Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is talking about this, some of the scholars say that it's these four prayers because it's that time span. And then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ Now, Qur'an comes from qara'ah, which means to read, and also comes from at-ta'leef, to join things together. So it's a compilation of chapters, if you will. But here some scholars, some people translate it, or let's say interpret it, to be recitation at the time of Fajr, which establishes the fifth time. Fajr prayer. So the Qur'an al-Fajr, and some scholars mention that the Qur'an should be recited in a long, you know, long ayat, as we see the sunnah of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُودًا That verily the recitation of the Qur'an, or the Qur'an in and of itself, is that which is witnessed. Now the scholars mention that that which is witnessed is the witnessing of the angels, that the angels will witness you. There is a hadith in the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam where he talks about the prayer being 25 times better in congregation than that of independently, by yourself. But then he mentions when reciting this Qur'an at this time, SubhanAllah, you will get the angels from the night and the angels from the beginning of the day. SubhanAllah.
So the angels will be witnessing you and watching you, as Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions here. And he mentions mashhoodan, meaning that the angels will witness, and also Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, shaheed, one of his names is ash-shaheed. So firstly, Allah saying in the Qur'an in Fajr shows the importance of what? Salatul Fajr. You know, this time now we're at home and sometimes we may be a little negligent of making Salatul Fajr on time, waking up with the sun in our faces, as which happened sometime with the companions, and they were very, very upset when they woke up and they saw the sun was in their face, meaning that the Salatul Fajr, the time has surpassed them. Okay? But in any case, when we look at the Salatul Fajr, it's something that we should cherish. You know, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam loved the raka'at al-Fajr. He loved the two raka'ats before Salatul Fajr, and he said, hatha khayru minad dunya wa ma feeha. It's better than the dunya and what it contains, better than this world and what it contains. So making that effort to understand the importance of the Salatul Fajr and that it's witnessed by the angels. Then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, wa minallayli fatahajjud beehi naafilatan lak, asaa an yaba'athaka rabbuka maqaman mahmudan. And then he says, and from the night, wa minallayli, and from the middle of the night, pray. Pray with the Quran, fatahajjud beehi. And tahajjud, tahajjud, as we know, the name is a prayer in the middle or the last third of the night. And that comes from hajjud, which means noam, it means sleep. But when you put it on this morphologic makeup, tafaa'al, tahajjud, means eezala. So tahajjud literally means relinquishing or eliminating noam, eliminating sleep. To do what? To get up and stand up and pray. Because that's the time when this, yaani, adAAa lil ikhlas. It's the time where it's the most anticipated time for you to have sincerity. And that is in order for Allah because Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la said, naafilatan lak an naafila, as we said with anfaal, means additional or extra.
So this is an extra obligation. You, as some scholars mentioned, that it's only an obligation for the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, but it's highly recommended and so virtuous for the Muslim to stand up at that time when everyone is asleep. And this, he said, and perhaps Allah will, you know, make for you or raise you to a maqam an mahmuda, which is a praiseworthy place. And that is what some scholars mentioned is the intercession of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam for the people on that day when there is no return. In any case, this last verse, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, adkhilni mudkhala sidqin wa akhrijni mukhraja sidqin wa ja'ali min ladunka sultanan nasira. Then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, and say, my Lord caused me to enter a sound entrance and to exit a sound exit and grant me from yourself a supporting authority. Here when we talk about mudkhala sidqin wa mukhraja sidq, ya'ni, meaning that when we enter and when we exit, it is something of sidq, of truthfulness, of veraciousness. And as some scholars mentioned, huwa billah wa lillah, wa fillah, meaning that when you do something, billah, like we say, bismillah, you are seeking the names and attributes of Allah to be showered upon you. That's why you say bismillah and you leave it empty. Because when you eat bismillah, you're thinking maybe al-hafidh, to preserve me, to protect me, to provide for me, al-raza, al-hafidh. So when you say coming in in a truthful manner and leaving in a truthful manner, we ask Allah, you're asking Allah to make you mubarak an-ayna makunt, to make you blessed wherever you are, when you do it, seeking the help of Allah, yaka nastaeen, seeking help of Allah, and for the sake of Allah. For the sake of Allah. And subhanAllah, with these prepositions, huruf al-jar does many, and they have many deep, deep meanings. As some scholars mentioned, that is the hardest aspect of the Arabic language, is using these prepositions, which may have different meanings and connotations.
Then Allah said, when you ask him to have a beautiful exit, a sound exit, and grant for me, from yourself, a supporting authority. There's so many beautiful gems, as Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, min ladunka, and doesn't say min indika. He says, min ladunka, is showing that his element, or the masdar, the source, is totally different than any other source of creation. So that help and assistance and support you receive, asking from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, to make you have a mukhraja sidq and a mudkhala sidq, to have a sound entrance and sound exit, can only come from Allah. And that's why you ask him. And preferably, when you're praying in the middle of the night, make this dua. Ask Allah to give you a sound entrance and a sound exit. And knowing that the ultimate authoritative help and assistance can only come from Allah. So in these days, at your home, and you're sleeping, try to wake up at least five minutes before the time of fajr comes in, or 10 minutes, get your suhoor, and at least make dua. And at least make dua with this dua. At least stand up and make one rak'ah, and witter, and ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for his bounties. And as we always mention, allow this month to be a catalyst for a new habit, not something that is seasonal. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la bless you all. Wassalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Wa alaikum salam. JazakAllah khair, shukr to Allah. Dr. Zaheer, take us away. Bismillah. Bismillah, JazakAllah khair. We start by praising and thanking Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and sending his peace and salutations upon the beloved messenger. I wanted to really focus on, as you mentioned, the story of Musa and Khidr. I really find it to be one of the most fascinating stories in the Quran, and the things that happened. There's basically three series of events, you can say, three events that Musa and Khidr adventure through. And there's so many different ways that you can kind of dissect the story and get benefit from it. It's so deep. And I'm sure that Insha'Allah Ta'ala
in the next broadcast as well tomorrow, there'll be some gems coming from it. But I wanted to really focus on just one aspect of the story that I found quite profound. And that's the theme of loss that you find, coping with loss in particular, and loss itself in the story of Musa and Khidr. When you look at the three events, you find that, for instance, the poor fisherman, he loses his boat, so there's loss there. And that's more in particular loss of property. He loses his boat and his livelihood as well, because that's, how else is he going to do what he's meant to be doing at the sea? And then the second event as well, the loss of a child, which is the loss of life. And in particular, one of the most difficult and painful tragedies that a person can go through in this world, which is losing the life of their own child, the innocent life of the child. And that's something that really affects a lot of people. People often ask when it comes to the problem of evil, for example, why does bad things happen in this world? In particular, what really hurts a lot of people is the suffering of children. And so this story goes through that kind of concept of dealing with loss of children. And then the third one is an interesting one. So at one aspect, it's about orphans. And so there's the loss of parents. And on the other aspect, there's Musa and Khidr, who also lost. What did they lose? They lost out on their hospitality for that evening. So no food and shelter for them from that town. And they lost out from an opportunity of payment as well. They did work-free labor and nobody paid them at all. There was no minimum wage there. And so there was loss kind of, you can see, throughout that last portion as well in that event. So you see this theme of loss throughout. And I wanna take us back, way back to Surah Al-Baqarah. And SubhanAllah, a very beautiful connection. We see that Allah guarantees us in the Quran, wa la nabaluwannakum bishay'in minal khawfi walju'i wa naqsim minal amwali wal-anfusi wal-thamarat that we will test you of fear and hunger.
And in particular, wa naqsim, and loss of what? wa naqsim minal amwali, of property, like the fisherman who lost his boat. wal-anfus, life, like the father who lost his child. wa thamarat, food, like Musa and Khidr, who didn't have that hospitality given to them and the food that they were able to be hosted with. And so these three categories that you see in the story of Musa and Khidr are almost like the archetypal categories of loss that people deal with in this world. Financial loss, loss of a person, a person that's dear to you, loss of food and famine and drought and these sorts of things, the loss of a home. So these are the kind of general themes of loss that people deal with in their own personal life as well. Now, in particular with loss, I wanted to then really reflect on in this story, what really comes across in the story, what's communicated very powerfully is al-Qadr, the belief in al-Qadr, and that's really demonstrated in a very practical way. And probably the most practical way you will see any religious book at all convey the deep message and meaning and wisdom behind Qadr, which is the belief in divine destiny and predestination and decree, and the belief that everything happens for a reason. That's the kind of general theme of the entire Surah. With loss is also everything happens for a reason. And in each instant, when a person lost, it was actually for the better outcome. And that's really what we learn here. And so I really wanted to focus on this aspect of Qadr, and it goes back again to Shaykh Abdullah, I believe, I mentioned a very profound point in the first episode of Quran 30 for 30, and it was in the third verse of Surah Al-Baqarah, allatheena yu'minuna bilghayb, those who believe in the unseen. And he mentioned very beautifully that when it comes to the unseen, one of the hardest things to believe about the unseen is actually al-Qadr, because it has to do with our future, it has to do with our vulnerabilities,
it has to do with the uncertainty that we face personally. And so it becomes very difficult for us to really internalize that belief in al-Qadr. And so I really wanted to connect through these examples. We can go back to that general principle of everything happens for a reason, and we can get the right interpretation of events in our life. Because interestingly, Qadr tells to Musa Alayhi Salaam, after it's all finished, sa'unabbi'uka bita'weeli ma lam tastatih alayhi sabra. I will inform you of the ta'weel, the interpretation of everything that happened. You were looking at it one way, you had one narrative, one interpretation of the events, I will show you what the true way of understanding these events is. What's the right frame of interpretation? And that's really what internalizing belief of al-Qadr is about. It's about internalizing a new frame of understanding the world. And in order to do that, again, I keep going to Baqarah, subhanAllah, Baqarah is full of treasures. There's a beautiful verse at the end, after Allah says, he's gonna test us with loss of life and wealth and property and fruit, then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, wabashshiris sabireen, and congratulations to those who are patient. And of course, then sabr is also a theme that's within the story of Musa and Khidr. Musa's claiming he will have sabr in the circumstances that he finds himself in. But of course, he's just sees that there's just too much outright dhulm that he can't help himself, but call that out. And that's of course the character of Musa Alayhi Salaam. In any case, then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, who are the sabiroon? alladheena idha asabatuhum maseeba Those who, when they are struck with calamity, SubhanAllah, it seems like I'm doing a Surah Baqarah 30, instead of Surah Isra. But in any case, those who, when calamity strikes them and disaster strikes them, they say, inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon. And this is the correct way of understanding our entire life. There's two components here.
To Allah we belong, and then the second is, to Allah we return. And this very short statement actually answers, in any situation, when a person's dealing with any loss, from the three that we see in the story of Musa Al-Khidr, any loss, there's four questions generally that a person asks. Number one, how did this happen? Number two, why did this happen? Number three, how can I have the strength to move on? And number four, what do I do with the pain that I have inside? These are the four general questions. Keep this in mind. We'll go through each one. And how this statement, and reflecting on this, can answer all these four for us. Number one, how did this happen? Inna lillahi. Everything belongs to Allah. And it is only by Allah's decree and permission. As Khidr says to Musa, wa ma fa'altuhu an amri. I didn't do any of that on my own accord. Hatha rahmatun min rabbik. This is a rahma from your Lord. This is Allah's rahma coming to this world. And so everything that happens is belonging to Allah and Allah's authority and Allah's decree and Allah's qadr. And Allah's qadr and decree, knowing this point brings such comfort to a person. When they're able to interpret their event and they say, this is the event. Okay, how did this happen? Why did it happen or how did it happen? Allah decreed it. And then when we know our belief about Allah, that Allah's will, as Sheikh Umar was mentioning, Allah's qadrah in Surah Al-Isra and then Allah's hikmah in Surah Al-Kahf, in the story of Musa and Khidr. And so Allah's qadr is always with his hikmah, his wisdom. And so knowing that there is wisdom behind it. And number two, rahma as well. As Fir'aun, sorry, na'udhubillah. As Khidr says to Musa Alayhi As-Salaam, hatha rahmatun min rabbik. Everything that happened was a rahma. Everything that Allah decrees, there is rahma there. As the angels say in Surah Al-Ghafir,
wasi'at kulla shayn rahmatan wa ilma. You encompass everything in rahma and knowledge. And so rahma is characterized by, Allah's will is characterized by his rahma. And so knowing this point that how something happened is from Allah's decree, and Allah's decree is necessarily from a place of hikmah and rahma. Now, that's easy to think in our mind. How do we internalize that into our heart? How do we take it from here and put it into our heart so we can deal with loss that we're going through, a tragedy that we're going through, or calamity or a difficult time that we're going through? And SubhanAllah, May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la ease the suffering of those all around the world. It's a difficult time all around the world, especially with what's happening with lockdowns and economic insecurity and whatnot. A lot of people may have experienced this aspect. So how do I go from that belief, inna lillah, in our mind, to get to the heart? The key to this, go back to Surah Ar-Ra'd. alaa bi dhikri Allahi tatma'innal quloob It is with dhikr of Allah, that is the mechanism by which what comes to here comes into the heart. There's a, and Allah says that through the remembrance of Allah, the hearts find peace and tranquility. Your beliefs can find its home and its resting place in the heart. And it's through that repetition of the dhikr. And so, and that's why you find in the morning adhkar, for instance, we repeat, hasbi Allah, hasbi Allah la ilaha illa hu. Allah is sufficient for us. We repeat, la ilaha illa Allah, la hul mulk walul hamd. He belongs, to him belongs everything, and to him belongs all perfection, right? And Imam Al-Ghazali mentions this beautiful point, la hul mulk and walul hamd are together because Allah, to Allah belongs dominion, but also to Allah is every praiseworthy thing. So Allah is in control, and the one who's in control is also the most praiseworthy from every angle. And so this is la hul mulk walul hamd. And this is that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, to him belongs everything. And so we can really internalize that through dhikr of Allah, by remembering Allah and bringing to our forefront his beautiful names and attributes and his praises. That's number one.
Number two, why did this happen? wa inna ilayhi raj'u And to him, we return. Why did it happen? For Allah's sake. How did it happen? From Allah. Why did it happen? For Allah. And so anything that happens in our life is for the sake of Allah. And so everything that happens is an opportunity for us to come closer to Allah and fulfill our purpose in life. And so calamities or dhulm that's done to us, or sins that we commit, or a blessing, whatever it is in our life, those are the general four things that will happen in our life. Whatever it is, it's for Allah's sake. So we respond to that calamity with patience. We respond to that dhulm with forgiveness. We respond to a sin with humility and repentance. We are strong with that blessing, with gratitude. Everything that happens in life is for Allah. As Shaykh Abdullah was mentioning, lillah, for the sake of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. How did this happen? From Allah, billah. For what? Why did this happen? For Allah, lillah. Okay, now the last two questions is, how do I get out of this? And what do I do with the pain? They're actually linked, and I've written all this down so that we don't get lost. I'll see if, okay, very good. I don't think it's flipped. I'm not sure if it's flipped. Is it flipped on the screen? No, it's good. It's good, okay, very good. And so you can see here that we have the how and we have the why. The how goes back to inna lillah, it's from Allah. And then the why is for Allah, right? illa wa inna ilayhi rajim, we're returning to Allah, and so we have to prepare for that. You see, I got the nice logo here, Quran 30 for 30. So here's the point. The third question, how do I find the strength? It links back to this point. It's from Allah, and so the strength comes from Allah. And that is through isti'ana. See this pattern that we're mentioning here, from Allah for Allah, billah lillah. It's throughout the Quran, and in fact, you find it first in Surah Al-Fatiha. iyaa kana abud wa iyaa kana isti'een.
To you we worship and to you we ask help. And so here, how do we get the strength? We ask help from the one who is in complete control. iyaa kana isti'een. And here, how can I deal with the pain? The pain is there. Look, when a person feels pain, it's something that's completely natural. It's not something that a person can actually, it's not that what is desired or the quality of virtue is that a person feels nothing in result of calamity. Ibn al-Qayyim mentions, this is neither desired nor possible. We're human beings. The point is that natural pain, whether it's fear in the face of uncertainty, whether it's grief when we've lost something, we wanna elevate that natural feeling to virtue because you cannot have patience if you didn't feel grief. You can have contentment if you didn't feel any sense of agitation. You can't have courage unless you felt fear. Otherwise, it's not really courageous or brave. You didn't really feel any fear to begin with. And so these quote unquote negative emotions are prerequisites to the virtue that we're meant to get. They're the first step. They're the first step. And so that pain, we wanna elevate it. How do we elevate it? It's through ibadah. It's through ibadah. That's the aspect there, that we worship Allah through that pain. That through that pain, we realize what does Allah want from me? What can I show and be pleased? What can I do within my being to make myself pleasing to Allah with what I'm feeling right now? That is ibadah, doing it for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's sake and bearing what we're able to bear, enduring what we need to endure and through the guidance of Islam. And so this is here. What do I do with the pain? Ibadah. And they all go back, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, they all connect, as you can see. And so there's four questions there. In any calamity, anything in life, really, you can even put blessing in here as well. Anything in life, this is the correct ta'weel. This is the correct way of interpreting it all together. You have the how, the why, what we go from here with this,
how do I get the strength to move forward? And how do I deal with any pain that's lingering on? And I just wanna end with the beautiful thing actually Shaykh Abdullah mentioned it, which is the prepositions that we see before Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's name. And this is something Ibadah Qayyib mentions as well, that we wanna be in a state where we are billah lillah fillah. So billah is with Allah's help and strength. So that goes back to this point here. Lillah is for Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la's sake. So that's ibadah, so that goes here. And then the last one is fillah, which is in Allah's path. And that's the guidance, the missing ingredient here. This is the state of a human being, of a natural fitrah-y human being. The third component is the guidance of the Quran. Fillah, in the path of Allah, knowing exactly where I wanna go, how I wanna get to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. That's my desired objective is for Allah. I will get there with Allah's strength and I will do it with the guidance that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la gave us. And so with that, inshallah ta'ala, we'll conclude. A lot of jumping around, but I hope it all came together with this diagram. There's a reason why you write spiritual psychology and you don't make our infographics at yaqeen. So I just wanna make that clear for the audience. Oh man. You know. That was a big burn, SubhanAllah. Oh man. You have crushed me. You have crushed me with such pain. How will I get out of this pain? How will I get out of this pain? How did this happen? Sheikh Omar said this to me. From Allah's will. For what reason? I will use that. I will use that pain and I will forgive you, Ya Sheikh. JazakAllah. I appreciate your forgiveness. And for everyone that's on, just please do check out the wonderful work in spiritual psychology that Dr. Zahir has written for us. So please go check out his papers at yaqeen. And we appreciate you being on with your enthusiasm and confining yourself to a room for a change.
I wasn't kidding with all of you that I've never actually seen Dr. Zahir indoors. He's always outdoors somewhere in some wilderness. So we're happy to have him indoors and have that with us as well. Sheikh Abdullah, as always, JazakAllah khair. May Allah reward you. May Allah reward all of you. InshaAllah ta'ala. We will see you tomorrow night for Quran 30 for 30. Wa salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
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