Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 4
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Juz’ 16: Sh. Ismail Kamdar | Alone with Allah
What did the best of people do when they found themselves subject to cruelty, abandonment, estrangement, or utter loneliness? Juz 16 is filled with examples of prophets and righteous people feeling completely alone—and not only taking advantage of those times, but also seeing good times for what they are too: tests from Allah.
In this episode, Sh. Ismail Kamdar joins Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro to learn about how we can change our view of our circumstances once we understand who Allah is through His attributes and through the lessons from the stories of the righteous.
0:00 - Intro
4:00 - Sh. Isamil Kamdar on Books at Yaqeen
5:30 - Dr. Omar Suleiman highlights a few points from juz 16
8:40 - When you’re alone and accused
10:02 - Generating iman and yaqeen in your alone time
12:38 - Sh. Ismail Kamdar reflects on the theme of two types of tests
14:23 - The good things in life are also tests
16:34 - How to pass the test of wealth
17:00 - How to pass the test of power
18:25 - How to pass the tests of family
20:30 - Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflects on the attribute Ar-Rahman
22:45 - God's response to those saying He has a son
27:23 - When is the Hour?
28:51 - Reflections
30:01 - How the Day of Judgment can help us deal with life here
32:40 - The importance of alone time with Allah
34:33 - The special place these surahs have in the Seerah
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh, everyone. Welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah Rabbil Ameen. We are now in Juz 16. Alhamdulillah, we've crossed the halfway mark. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to continue to maintain the esteem, bidunallahu ta'ala Ramadan, to recover what we've lost and to continue what we've been doing right, inshallah, and to cling closer to him in these last 10. Allahumma Ameen. Alhamdulillah, we're joined by our very beloved brother from South Africa, Sheikh Ismail Kamdar, Alhamdulillah. And, you know, I wasn't going to start with this, but I think it's important. It just occurred to me, you know, as Palestine is really on the minds of everyone right now and Al-Aqsa and what's happening in Palestine. The solidarity from South Africa is always just absolutely incredible. SubhanAllah, having witnessed apartheid there, it's always phenomenal. I think Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mashallah, is also, or his son or his grandson, who looks exactly like him, was like a Muslim. Now he converted to Islam. His grandson. He's always at these, you know, I was just watching him speak, subhanAllah, before we got on and just eloquently defending the Palestinian cause. So Jazakum Allah Khaira. We love our brothers and sisters in South Africa, Mashallah. They're always, always holding it down for us, Alhamdulillah, and trying to remind people about the reality of the situation of the Palestinians. Alhamdulillah, Sheikh Ismail, how's it going? Alhamdulillah, Shukr, we thank Allah in all times, good and bad. And Alhamdulillah, you know, South Africa loves you. Every week someone asks me when Sheikh Umar coming to South Africa. Jazakum Allah Khair, Sheikh. Sheikh Abdullah, how you doing? Alhamdulillah, I'm good. Alhamdulillah, I'm thankful. Your health and wealth, Alhamdulillah.
Sheikh Abdullah, do you know what Texas imported from South Africa? Do I know what Texas imported from South Africa? Elon Musk. It's actually true. It's not even a dad joke. It's just for real. I was looking up jokes on South Africa and they almost all have to do with Elon Musk. I was like, man, this guy lives a few hours south of us. Did you know he's from South Africa? I mean, I always forget. Now I do. Wow. Yeah. So, you know, when we talk about the good of South Africa, we got to weigh out the good and the bad and, you know, kafala to the north. Yeah. Anyone who gets famous from South Africa always ends up like, you know, like they moved to the USA and people forget they're from South Africa. It's like every famous person from South Africa that moves out, people forget they're from South Africa. Wow. Is that going to happen to you, Sheikh Ismail, if you move to Texas? Who said I'm moving to Texas? I'm going to hijack Darul Islam somewhere. Dallas is kind of in that realm, though. If you've been to Dallas, you know, Dallas is kind of in that realm. I'll come check it out and decipher myself. But we have to give it to Trevor Noah. He openly, you know, he holds it down. He claims it all the time. Sheikh Ismail, before we get started, mashallah, you are the product owner of books at Yaqeen. So all the books, alhamdulillah, including the Quran 30 for 30 books and summaries, Sheikh Ismail does all of that. So if you've been following along the Quran 30 for 30 book, you know, please make du'a for Sheikh Ismail, mashallah. That's largely his effort, and the many books, the trauma book, the multiple books at Yaqeen that are being published, Sheikh Ismail is doing that. And then somehow you find a way to publish like 2,000 books a day
on your personal capacity. I don't know how you have your productivity, but it's beautiful. But can you just talk really quickly about books at Yaqeen and then we'll get started with the juz inshallah. OK, alhamdulillah. So at this point with Yaqeen Institute, we have nine e-books available on our website and a variety of paperbacks that we have published through Qube. Our latest is the Quran 30 for 30 book 3, the Judgment Day edition. So the Quran 30 for 30 e-books summarize the previous season's video series. So if you want to catch up with the past three seasons and you don't want to watch 90 videos, download the three e-books instead. It's much shorter and easier and more accessible inshallah. So we have three books in the series already. The other two books that I really want to highlight is the Proofs of Prophethood book by Sheikh Mohammed Eshanawi and the Trauma book, right? These are some of the most important books we published in the past year. And yeah, they were free downloads. So just head off to the website and grab them right now. And on that note, everything at Yaqeen is free alhamdulillah. So I want to remind you all to donate inshallah and support the work at Yaqeen. No subscriptions, no firewalls, no ads. Just we're trying to benefit people. So please do inshallah donate. Especially if you're on YouTube, click the donate button on YouTube. It's very easy alhamdulillah. The campaign's been a little bit slow on YouTube. So let's grow it inshallah and continue to support these resources. JazakAllah khair Sheikh Ismail for doing that. Alhamdulillah, we're going to go ahead and get started inshallah. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So because this is a juz rich for discussion, I'm actually just going to spend a few minutes inshallah ta'ala highlighting a few points from my end in terms of what this juz is.
And then inshallah ta'ala we'll hear from Sheikh Ismail and Sheikh Abdullah and have a chance to actually discuss it. And I want to mention subhanAllah one thing. Allah Azza tells us in Surah Al-Isra in the previous juz of the ascent of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam from the blessed land of Palestine. And here you are actually still situated in Palestine. You're still situated in Palestine. It's important to remember that because a lot of times we just relegate it to this particular place. But it is actually in that same place that Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam led the prophets in prayer. That you also have Maryam Alayhi Salaam bringing forth Isa Alayhi Salaam and Isa Alayhi Salaam speaking to the people from the cradle. It's that same place that Zakariya Alayhi Salaam is calling upon Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. It's that same Al-Aqsa may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala liberate it. Allahumma ameen. So we're still situated in Palestine for so many of these stories. Of course we also have Musa Alayhi Salaam and his desire to fulfill the command of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to enter Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam. So many of these prophets stories still remain within the blessed land of Palestine. You'll also notice SubhanAllah the continuation of miracles and the continuation of the struggle as it goes forth. Musa Alayhi Salaam, SubhanAllah look at this transition. In the end of Surat Al-Kahf you see Musa Alayhi Salaam humbled as he's asking another inspired man, Al-Khadir Alayhi Salaam about the decree of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So Musa Alayhi Salaam as a student in the end of Surat Al-Kahf. And then you look at him in Surat Maryam and you have Musa Alayhi Salaam وَنَادَيْنَاهُ مِنْ جَانَبِ الْطُّورِ الْأَيْمَنِ وَقَرَّبْنَاهُ نَجِيًّا وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ أَخَاهُ هَارُونَ نَبِيًّا مِنْ رَحْمَتِنَاهُ أَخَاهُ هَارُونَ نَبِيًّا Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions that you know, we called Musa Alayhi Salaam forward
and as Musa Alayhi Salaam asked Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for support Allah Azawajal gave him his brother Harun as a prophet to go alongside him, right? So you have Musa Alayhi Salaam as a student in the end of Surat Al-Kahf then you have Musa Alayhi Salaam asking for support to have his brother Harun with him in Surah Maryam and then you go into Surah Taha and you have Musa Alayhi Salaam getting this training as he goes forth to speak to the tyrant Fir'aun and the miracles that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives to him as he is speaking to Fir'aun after having been spoken to by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala so it's really profound and you know, SubhanAllah even if you take this actually to the end of it in Surah Maryam, Musa Alayhi Salaam is asking for Harun Alayhi Salaam in the end of Surah Taha he's upset with Harun Alayhi Salaam so you're seeing just the story play out right? and the way that these circumstances changed for these Prophets of Allah and one thing that I want to point out in particular SubhanAllah it's one thing to be alone it's another thing to be alone and accused and you're seeing that in multiple Prophets' lives it started with Yusuf Alayhi Salaam right? when we were talking about Yusuf Alayhi Salaam it was one thing to be alone and to be estranged and to be away from his family and it's another thing to be accused of a crime that he did not commit this is also now the case of Maryam Alayhi Salaam she is alone and she's going to be accused of the worst of crimes the same crime that Yusuf Alayhi Salaam was accused of but in a different manifestation alone and accused and to have to face those two circumstances together can be absolutely devastating when you think about the most difficult forms of the Qadr of Allah to come to terms with the decree of Allah to come to terms with those two circumstances by themselves are very difficult but when they're actually combined then the compounded pain and what that brings out in terms of piety
from these people is deeply inspiring to us as we're going through their stories in the Quran right now and you'll also notice and I'll end with this InshaAllah because I really want to have a discussion at the end of this because I know we're all talking about the connection of the Prophets here one thing that really sticks out to me with this Juz in particular look at these Prophets generating this Iman, this Yaqeen from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in their alone time when you look at Surah Al-Kahf you're looking at the variations of Qadr the Qadr of Allah has various variations, it has various states, things that don't make sense at the onset, most of the time don't make sense at the onset, but Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is always decreeing perfectly so you're seeing the change of decree the change of the Qadr in Surah Al-Kahf what you're also seeing is that through varying circumstances each of these Prophets are facing very different forms of circumstances that all involve some form of cruelty, usually from the people that are closest to them and how are they connecting to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la? Alone right, so Zakariya Ali Islam is calling to Allah alone in his Dua it's those intense moments of devotion between Zakariya Ali Islam and Allah Azawajal alone that he's able to generate what is needed for the rest of the mission. Musa Ali Islam when he was alone in Madiya, he generated what was necessary in terms of that deep connection of Dua to get him through the changing circumstances and the cruelty from the people that were closest to him. Maryam Alayhi Salam in her alone moments of Dua she generated what was necessary of conviction to deal with the cruelty of the people closest to her. Ibrahim Alayhi Salam I have to leave you my dear father, my dear people, and I have to call upon my lord alone so that he may continue to find me amongst those that are under his favor. So Ibrahim Alayhi Salam is dealing with the cruelty of his father and the cruelty of those closest to him, but that conviction from
that closeness to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la alone is giving him the ability to deal with these changing circumstances and these evolving forms of cruelty. So it's just really profound Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that all of these prophets are not just dealing with like a natural disaster or something that's happening sort of in the background like Al-Khadr Alayhi Salam and some of those people's situations that he's dealing with, but direct cruelty right? Cruelty and evil and harm from people that are supposed to be close to you abandonment, estrangement and those circumstances would crush anyone except for someone who has that closeness to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la connection to Allah. So the call to really exert yourself in dua and private ibadah is very prominent in this juz and InshaAllah Ta'ala I'm sure we'll have a lot to discuss with them at the end. So Shaykh Ismail, how about you take us InshaAllah Ta'ala through your insights and reflections? Alhamdulillah, wa salatu wa salam wa ala rasoolillah. So the 16th juz is actually my favorite juz of the Quran along with the 27th, right? The 27th is with Al-Rahman Al-Waqia, but the 16th is like it's just my three favorite surahs, one after the other. Al-Kahf, Maryam and Taha. And they flow together very beautifully and they have many overlapping themes that really, you know there's always something new you can take from them. And one of the themes that flows throughout this juz is about life being a test that Allah will test us in a variety of ways. Now, very often when we talk about this we talk about the test of, you know, of difficulty of natural disasters, of losing a loved one. We talk about those kinds of tests. But what's fascinating in these surahs is that it covers both kinds of tests. There's the test of hardship and adversity
but there's also the test of ease and being gifted too much of this dunya. And this flows from surah Al-Kahf into surah Maryam that in surah Al-Kahf we have the story of the two men in the garden, which is a story of someone being tested with a lot of wealth. And then at the beginning of the 16th juz we have the story of Zul Qurnayn which is the test of having authority and power over other people which is a very difficult test to pass. And then when it flows into surah Maryam, we now see the variety of different tests related to family. Right? And what these things have in common is that wealth, power, family, many of us don't think of these things as tests. We think of these things as blessings. And if we have a wrong understanding of Islam we may misunderstand that if Allah gives me wealth and power, it must mean that He loves me. This is a misunderstanding some people have. That if I have wealth, if I have power then this means that Allah loves me. And we see this playing out in surah Al-Kahf where the man is tested with two gardens and he says that I don't believe there's an afterlife, but even if there is an afterlife I'll be okay, right? I'll get what I want there as well. You can see he has this entitlement, he has this delusion that his wealth is because he's special and so he expects special treatment in the afterlife while rejecting the afterlife. And so one of the lessons I want us to take from these surahs is that when life is going our way, when things are going well, when we are getting what we want, we should not be deluded by that.
We should not be distracted by that. We should recognize that this is also a test from Allah. And that the good things in our life are just as much a test as the bad things, if not more. It actually may be a harder test to pass because when you are in prison like Yusuf was, right? When you are being accused of something that you didn't do, when you've lost a loved one like the family in the story of Musa and Khidr, your only option is to turn to Allah and to ask Allah for help. But when you have wealth, when you have power, when you have everything you want in this world, then it's easier to fall into sin. It's easier to forget that you depend on Allah. And that makes it a much more difficult test. And so what we see in these stories is how to deal with each of these different types of tests. So in the story of the two men in the garden, we learn that if Allah gives you wealth, you pass that test by being grateful to Allah, recognizing your risk is from Allah, not from you, and spending it in the path of Allah. And if you don't do these things, Allah may take that wealth away from you in this world, or worse, He may save that punishment for the Day of Judgment. With the story of Zulkarnain, which basically opens this juice, we see how to pass the test of power. And this is a test many of us are not prepared for. You know, we tend to judge people who are in positions of power because we've never been tested with power. We don't realize just how much it can corrupt enough, perhaps more than money. And there's a very profound statement by Zulkarnain in this passage that shows you how to pass the test of power. Zulkarnain is asked like, are you going to be a tyrant over the people, or are you going to be
kind to them? And he gives a very wise reply. He says, I will punish the criminals and I will be kind to the others. So what he teaches us here is justice, that when you have power and authority over anyone, whether it's in the form of a family, or a business, or an organization, or perhaps even as a king or president, the way that you pass that test is by being just. It doesn't mean you be kind to everyone. You have to punish criminals, otherwise society falls apart. But you have to be just. And this is why the just ruler is one of those people who have the highest rewards in the afterlife, being amongst those who are under the shade of Allah's throne on the Day of Judgment. And then, transitioning into Surah Maryam, Surah Maryam highlights for us the Rahmah of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The name Ar-Rahman is used consistently in the Surah as a subject referring to Allah, the subject of the sentence. And Allah keeps talking about His Rahmah to the Prophets. But what you see in the stories of the Prophets in Surah Maryam is different ways in which we are tested with family. So we have the story of Zakariya and his wife, who have to deal with the test of not being able to have children. And that this test goes on until very late in their life. Yet they never lose hope in Allah's mercy and they continue to make du'a to Allah and eventually He blesses them with Yahya alayhi salam. And another story like this in Surah Maryam is the story of Ibrahim alayhi salam who is tested with a father or a father figure who does not follow the truth and does not appreciate the truth and who is willing to oppress him for believing in it. And what this shows us is that sometimes our own family, which is one of the biggest blessings we have in this world
sometimes they can be the biggest test we have in this world. And how do you deal with this? Again, if you look at the choice of words of Ibrahim alayhi salam in Surah Maryam I highly recommend reading the translation of this passage and see the way he talks to his father his choice of words he keeps referring to Allah as Ar-Rahman highlighting the compassion of Allah he keeps telling his father, ya abadi oh my beloved father. So he's teaching us to stand your ground for what you believe but at the same time to do it with kindness and compassion and wisdom. Not to be disrespectful to your parents when you disagree with them. So this is the side that I want to look at today that our blessings in this world are also a trial from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and these surahs teach us how to deal with those type of trials as well Jazakum Allah khayran Sheikh Ismail Jazakum Allah khayran Jazakum Allah khayran Alhamdulillahi wa sallallahu wa sallam wa barak ala nabiyyina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in amma ba'du As Sheikh Ismail mentioned that this chapter of Maryam is a chapter that's filled with the name Ar-Rahman in particular in the verses that I'm going to cover, it's mentioned four times in a matter of these verses and when we say Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim, just remember that the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is endless and that it is perfect, that what we may not see as merciful, it can ultimately be a mercy from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because His mercy is consistent, it never stops, but the mercy that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala issues is based on His wisdom as well, so when we look at the names and attributes of Allah, it's important to remember that they are all webbed within one another and some of them are couched within one another, so when we're looking at Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when we're reading Ar-Razzaq for example, He is the provider, He provides us
with the tangible things and those that are internal from our feelings and things of that nature, know that it is couched in Rahma, it is mercy, it is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala withholding that which is harmful for you and bringing you that which is beneficial for you, up to you to make the choice to benefit from it and use it in a way that's pleasing to Ar-Rahman, so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in this chapter of Maryam and as Shaykh Ismail mentioned, this is one of my favorite ajza'at of the Quran, mentioning the story of Musa alayhi salam and subhanAllah the examples of his masculinity and how he exemplified that and looking at Maryam and her femininity and how she exemplified that as well and how they both were pleased with the qadr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the predestination, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala acknowledges his oneness, we as Muslims being Islam means submission and surrender to the creator of the heavens and the earth, in this chapter Allah hones in on it by subhanAllah giving the name of the woman that some may attribute and give godly characteristics to, but in Islam we say that all of that is for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, meaning that He is the only one that is deserving of our ultimate worship, of our worship at all, is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives his stance in regards to those that may say that he has a characteristic of his creation, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he says وَقَالُوا تَخَذَ أَفْتَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ in verse number 88 at the end of the chapter of Maryam وَقَالُوا تَخَذَ الرَّحْمَنُ وَلَدًا لَقَدْ جِئْتُمْ شَيْئًا إِدًّا They claim that the most compassionate Lord has taken a son to Himself, verily they have come with a monstrous statement. Why is that the case? Because the mushrikun during the time of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, some of them said that the angels were banatullah, the daughters of Allah, and some of them had polytheistic practices saying that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was other than he claims himself to be,
than the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam would call him to be. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is showing here because the mushrikun as well did not acknowledge the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being Ar-Rahman, saying his name Ar-Rahman. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is affirming that name of Ar-Rahman here and confirming it throughout these verses. So then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shows the result, a part of the result of those saying that he has a son or he is like his creation. He says, تَكَادُ السَّمَاوَاتُ يَتَفَطَّرْنَ مِنْهُ وَتَنْشَقُ الْأَرْضُ وَتَخِرُّ الْجِبَالُ هَدًّا أَنْدَعُ لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدًا Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says it is such a monstrosity that the heavens might well nigh burst forth at it, that claim. The earth might be cleaved and the mountains would fall. To show the statement is something that is not taken lightly. And more importantly, this belief is something that is not taken lightly because the most important right is the right that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has established for himself and established on the earth being لا إله إلا الله, which is the first pillar of Islam, that there is no one worthy of worship except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that Muhammad is the last prophet, being all of the prophets called to no one being, no one worthy of worship except Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So calling to something against that, it shows the enormity of that statement and that it is something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is not exactly pleased with. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says أَنْ دَعَوْا لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدًا that he confirms it, that they say that ascribing a son to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that the compassionate, and you notice he says أَنْ دَعَوْا لِلرَّحْمَنِ وَلَدًا that they said that he has a son or he is like his creation وَمَا يَنْبَغِي لِلرَّحْمَنِ أَنْ يَتَّخِذَ وَلَدًا Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brings another قَعِدَ here, another rule and it is not befitting, it is not befitting for the most compassionate to take a son
He hones in on it over and over and over again and whenever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala repeats something whether it's the same statement or in different ways it shows the importance of that particular belief which he is talking about or that understanding or that position So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions right after that لَقَدْ أَحْصَاهُمْ إِنْ كُلُّ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ إِلَّا آتِ الرَّحْمَنِ عَبَدًا Showing that he has total authority and total strength and power He says here, there is no one in the heavens and the earth but he shall come to the most compassionate Lord, a servant that everything in the earth and the heavens is nothing but a servant and it will come to the Rahman as an عَبَد When we say عَبْدُ الله means servant of Allah So he's saying everything will come to Allah as a servant Make no mistake, when that time comes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is القَهَار He is the irresistible and everything other than him will come to him as a servant including the Prophets alayhimu s-salam Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says here لَقَدْ أَحْصَاهُمْ وَعَدَّهُمْ عَدَّ Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shows his authority, his magnificence that verily he encompasses them and has counted them all Just as was mentioned in other verses in the Quran in the chapter of Ibrahim for example when he mentions for those that try to count the blessings of Allah they will not be able to enumerate them or for those that try to enumerate the blessings of Allah they will not be able to encompass them تَعُدُّ وَتُحْصُو Allah mentions two different verbs here but for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he's showing here that each and every single object and form of creation he has enumerated it, he knows about it because he created it and he sustains it and he ultimately controls its affairs and we are included in that we are from the aalameen Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says at the very end
وَكُلُّهُمْ آتِيهِ يَوْمِنْ قِيَامَةِ فَرْدًا that all of these forms of creation on the day of resurrection will come to Allah alone so we have to remember that brothers and sisters what we do in this life we cannot point our finger at anyone if we are held accountable for our deeds if we are from those individuals that are held accountable for our deeds you will go in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone it will be the evaluation of your life as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was asked when is the sahih? each and every single one of us let's be honest when we're told there's a day of judgment as human beings it has come in our mind one time or another man, when will that be? but then after that what state will I be in? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that all of you are going to go in front of Him alone so just imagine you will have to answer for your deeds and that in and of itself should serve as a means for us to think about what we are doing in this life so when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam was asked when was the sa'ah? when was the hour? he asked him what have you prepared for it? so may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this month of Ramadan outside of the month of Ramadan allow it to be a catalyst for preparation to meet Al-Hasin the one that holds us accountable Ameen SubhanAllah so many things Shaykh that you just mentioned are powerful but again you came back to farda alone, right? being resurrected alone you're making du'a to Allah alone and it's no secret that these surahs were revealed to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam in his loneliest moments this is Makki Quran this is when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam is being persecuted this is when he's being humiliated and Al-Isra is actually after so Margam Taha chronologically come before Al-Isra and the revelation to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam because they're preparing the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
for his mission in the midst of these devastating moments Al-Isra is obviously after Allah Azawajal has shown the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam great signs and there's a wisdom in that this story has already played out as far as Allah Azawajal is concerned the decree is set your decree regarding me is just oh Allah it's already played out but how are you going to act in your story? how are you going to to show that pleasure with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in that story? how are you going to connect to Allah Azawajal throughout that entire story? and subhanAllah like I just I think about I always think about these Prophets and these righteous people and their loneliest moments as it's being documented in the Quran like if they knew that those words that they were saying that no one else could hear at the moment would become of the most recited scripture in the history of the world how much more strength would that have given them in the moment? like if Zakariya A.S. is calling out to Allah Azawajal in those moments and Khafiyah no one can hear him if he knew at those moments not only would Allah answer you but Allah would command billions of people to recite your dua in honor of you how much more strength would that give you? Maryam A.S. when she's calling out to Allah alone I mean like just think about it like she's she's a woman in childbirth a young woman in childbirth with no support driven to the tree trunk and she calls out like I wish I died before this and was completely forgotten and here we are reciting that now remembering her honoring her if she knew that at the moment what would it have meant? so it's just for us to go
to the day of judgment and then to look backwards start from the place of success that you want to be and then look backwards rather than see through the moment of trauma I think it's a very powerful lesson even the fact that Isra is placed here before Maryam A.S. right chronologically it happened backwards right but like the Prophet S.A.W. start from that place of you Imam Al-Mursaleen the leader of the prophets ascending through the heavens then everything else will fall into that and so as believers we all start from that place of the day of judgment we start from where we want to be there and that helps us deal with what we're going through here every single moment of the way SubhanAllah so it's I agree Shaykh Ismail this is as a juz this juz is definitely I think as a surah Surah Yusuf is special and Shaykh Bilal A.S. made it even more special honestly I've still gone back and watched that over and over again but this juz is probably the most beautiful and special to me as well SubhanAllah so I just want to hear your reflections Masha'ikh last points of reflection Insha'Allah Ta'ala and we'll call it a night but not Shaykh Abdullah you can go first Insha'Allah no I was just thinking about you know in this month of Ramadan let's not wait till the 27th to intensify our dua you know or those last 10 nights Insha'Allah you know even though there's there's no doubt about it that we should that we should look for that night of that night of Laylatul Qadr but also make it even today because we don't know when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will take us to make sure that you have your time alone you have your alone time you know especially you know the mothers particularly I've noticed in our communities in many communities SubhanAllah is that the mothers they don't find time alone because they're busy with the families you know husbands, children let your mothers have their time
alone with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala you know very important that we each have our time alone with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that we call on Him and that we you know say SubhanAllah you know as as in the chapter of was it As-Safat when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentioned the Prophet Yunus فَلْتَقَمُوا الْحُوْتُ وَهُو مُلِيمٌ فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُسَبِّحِينَ لَلَّبِثَ فِي بَطُنِهِ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ when he was in the the belly of the whale the mouth of the whale and Allah said if he would not have been from the Musabihin he would have stayed there until he was resurrected so remembering the importance of having that alone time the introspection to look at yourself to evaluate yourself and to hold yourself accountable as Imam Khattab used to say حَاسِبُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ قَبْلَ أَنتُ حَاسِبُوا hold yourselves accountable before you will be held accountable وَزِنُوا أَعْمَالَكُمْ قَبْلَ أَنْتُوْزَنَ and weigh your deeds before they will be weighed so just important جزاك الله خير reminding us that we have to spend time alone to make sure that we pour our hearts out and to be as vulnerable as we can in front of Allah سبحانه وتعالى yeah I'm just reflecting on you know we are finding these surahs so special today but even in the time of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم all three of these surahs had a special place in the seerah right like the makkans wanted to challenge him with questions that they thought he couldn't answer and we get surah Al-Kahf responding to those questions and then Najashi asks the sahaba right your ancestor Jafar رضي الله عنه about the you know recite for me some of what was revealed to your prophet and what does he recite surah Maryam and surah Maryam is so powerful that Najashi and his priest cried and he converged to Islam so the surah is not just beautiful to us it was beautiful to that first generation
and then surah Toha of course Umar رضي الله عنه sharing your name you can see the links everywhere I mean what's the passage that converted Umar رضي الله عنه to Islam the opening section of surah Toha and you know again you see the power of each of these surahs in the early makkan seerah and we realize that these aren't just special surahs to us historically they've always been special so subhanAllah surah Maryam converts and Najashi رضي الله عنه which allows for one victory for Islam in Abyssinia to have a place to settle the da'wah surah Toha converts Umar رضي الله عنه which was a day of great victory for Islam as Ibn Masud رضي الله عنه said in Mecca the first time that Islam can be proclaimed publicly by the Muslims all together so it's amazing subhanAllah I just mentioned that one gave sanctuary to the Muslims in Abyssinia through the heart of a convert the other gave sanctuary to the Muslims in Mecca through the heart of a convert and they're right next to each other subhanAllah amazing JazakAllah khair shaykh Ismail profound reflection JazakAllah khair shaykh Abdullah barakAllah fikum beautiful reflections as always and inshaAllah just a reminder to everyone download the books donate again if you're watching on the YouTube button whatever you're going to donate even if it's something small inshaAllah go ahead and donate bid'ah let's keep that number growing and also join us next week inshaAllah for the last 10 webathon which is going to be on Tuesday it'll be running for a few hours we do it every year and it's deeply valuable it's not just everyone coming on with you know support yaqeen no it's people coming on with very specific advice to get yourself ready for the last 10 so you can find information on our website as well sign up for that that's going to be on Tuesday inshaAllah ta'ala
starting at 2 or 3pm eastern I believe inshaAllah I'm getting confused between eastern and central time inshaAllah so please join us inshaAllah ta'ala for that you can sign up at the link below donate download the books make du'a for shaykh Ismail in South Africa as well JazakAllah Khair Assalamualaikum
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