Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 5
17 / 31
Juz 16: Why Your Future Is Hidden From You | Sh. Yaser Birjas
What's the most important thing to do when you want to come back to Allah? How do you deal with the unknown? How do you stop yourself from being held hostage by grief? Why don't you know your decree?
Join Sh. Yaser Birjas with hosts Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro as they reflect on Juz 16 of the Qur'an, discussing the story of Musa (as), how everything in life ties into the examples in the story of Khidr in Surah Kahf, the difference between qada and qadar, the power to change, the importance of knowledge plus the strength of iman, and submitting to God.
✨Test your knowledge of the Qur'an✨
What are two other names of Surat al-Isra?
A. Subhan & Bani Israel
B. Muqadasa & Tawakul
C. None of the above
Chapters:
0:00 - Highlights
📌 0:59 - Today's trivia and intro
📌 2:56 – Dr. Omar Suleiman reflects on verse 21 of Surah Maryam
4:10 - Qadar vs. qada'
📌 8:24 – Sh. Abdullah Oduro reflects on Surah Taha, verses 14-18
9:30 - Prayer
11:10 - Don't let anything take you away from Allah
11:45 - Allah is able to do all things
📌 14:41 – Sh. Yaser Birjas reflects on the story of Musa (as)
16:39 - Why qadar is hidden
17:55 - Dealing with the unknown
18:38 - Answers in Surah Kahf
📌 21:06 – Reflections
22:18 - Strength to move on
25:00 - Wishing to know qadar
Download the latest Qur'an 30 for 30 eBook: Qur’an 30 for 30: Thematic Tafsir.
Explore the daily juz questions and answers in the Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 5 Trivia.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. This is a beautiful statement. The one that keeps looking at the others is like the one that looks at the sun. You cannot fully understand that. And it could even be dangerous to you. So it's just, I had the taslim just submitting to Allah. And it's interesting because you keep talking about knowledge of the future. If Maryam knew that her name would be in Qur'an, a chapter named after her and the legend that would come after in those moments, it would have certainly made it a lot easier to go through that. So when she says, I wish I was forgotten. You mentioned, there's a whole chapter. Amazing. So knowing the future would definitely make it easier. But we know the one who knows the past, the present and the future and we trust him. So may Allah make us amongst those people. Ameen. May Allah make us amongst those people who submit themselves. And provoking, of course, so much insight. Everyone, we will see you all tomorrow. Ameen. And trust Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la with the consequences and the results. Wallahu Ana. Ameen. SubhanAllah, it's interesting because the whole is the qadar, right? You can't read the qadar based upon how overwhelming the qadar is, right? So you're so overwhelmed by the appearance of things and it's so dramatic, right? You're on a ship and it's drowning. There's a child dying. How can you possibly like even begin to read into the estimation of all of this and the qadar of this, right?
You can't come to terms with qadar if you don't trust the qadar, which is, of course, the ru'lahu fi khalqihi, right? The secret of Allah's prophet, peace be upon him. That requires, of course, a great amount of meaning, not necessarily knowledge. A great amount of meaning. Basically, what does that mean? Sometimes you'll find people have, mashallah, great degrees in Islamic studies, but in a moment of calamity, when the iman of al-qadar is very weak, that knowledge becomes nothing. But you have an average person who has no Islamic education whatsoever, but their iman in Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, gives them that meaning to everything they see. And I love to use the expression, subhanAllah, they see beauty in the middle of chaos. They see that beauty in the middle of that chaos. The parents that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, spoke about in the story of al-Qadar and Musa, he says, wakana abuwahu mu'mineen. The reason why these parents, they moved on, they did not stay holding themselves hostage to that moment of loss and grief, is because they knew that Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has a plan for them. That strength of iman made them move on. Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has hikmah and wisdom, which was revealed to us in the Quran, in the surah, that Allah was preparing a better child for them. That child could actually cause them pain, but another child would be better for them, and Allah did that for them, subhanahu wa ta'ala. They didn't know. But just the fact that they trusted Allah's judgment, subhanahu wa ta'ala, they were able to find beauty in the middle of this chaos, completely. That's amazing, subhanahu wa ta'ala. I mean, when you hear now, with the children that are dying, subhanahu wa ta'ala, in Al-Azhar right now, and when you're talking about meaning, I love how you mention that, because you find fulfillment in knowing, in that sakinah, in trust in Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, that you won't find anywhere else, because you can't rely, ultimately, on anything else. When Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, within the sharia, that the children will be in Jannah, inshallah.
Even with our reality as human beings, there's a time frame to mourn. Allah doesn't deny our humanity, but there still is a level of responsibility in regards to the grand scheme of things. And that's what makes it so beautiful, when the time of calamity comes, subhanahu wa ta'ala, when you have to take a step back, and really realize, okay, what matters? Okay, Al-Khaliq is the one that gave this child to me, and Allah says, inna lillah wa inna ilayhi raj'oon. That's a beautiful statement, when you think about it. You know what's amazing, is when you look at Musa, alaihi salam, his life, what a life, subhanAllah, what a life. How many twists and turns can a man have in his own life? So, he starts off, I mean, he wakes up to a reality where he's in the Nile River. What is a baby thinking in a river, looking around, like, what's happening here? In the middle of strangers. In the middle of strangers, in the Nile River. And then, how does his life end? He's prohibited from entering into Jerusalem, despite being Kaleemullah. And he, you know, the one Allah spoke to directly. And so, he dies, tahta kathib al-ahmar, right? He's buried just in the wilderness, right? In a random desert, right? Under a particular radu, and the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, mentions. Like, what a, like, it's always, like, this complete submission to Allah, subhanAllah wa ta'ala. Whether you like it or not, right? You have to submit to Allah, subhanAllah wa ta'ala. But, with that being said, you know, when the Prophet, sallAllahu alaihi wa sallam, mentions that we have more right to ask, you know, the way Ibrahim, alaihi wa sallam, asked Allah, subhanAllah wa ta'ala. When he asked Allah, subhanAllah wa ta'ala, to give him a sign, for ziyadat al-iman, for the increase in faith. That the Prophets before, there is this constant growth. Of course, Ibrahim did not go from a place of having no faith, to having faith. No, it was increasing his yaqeen, increasing his certainty, with the faith that was already there. With Musa, alaihi wa sallam, this whole thing with al-Khadr happens later in his life. This is after he's seen the snake. This is after he's seen the sign in his hands. This is after he's seen, you know,
the sea split, and take away this vicious tyrant. He's seen it all, right? And still, despite having seen it all, al-Khadr requires just a level of tasnim. It requires a level of just submission. Like, I just don't know, you know? So, I still can't, even at that point in his life, he's still growing, right? And, of course, he's at a level of infallibility, as a prophet of Allah before that, but he's still growing, subhanAllah, even in those moments, and that appreciation of Allah's qadr. You know, Sheikh, subhanAllah, adding to this issue is that, when Musa, alaihi wa sallam, of course, when Allah, subhanAllah, brought him first to the prophethood, it's not like every nabi has his own way, was introduced to the mission, right? Musa, alaihi wa sallam, came with this huge shock, obviously. He sees a fire in the desert, so he goes to check it out, and he wants to see some guidance there, and so on. Allah gave him divine guidance. And then, Allah, subhanAllah, told him to, first of all, when he started hearing the words of Allah, subhanAllah, speaking to him, he ran away, and Allah says, irja, come back, don't be afraid. nilaa yakhafu ladain musanoon. That my messages are not, shouldn't be scared like this. So, he came back, and he started speaking to his Lord, subhanAllah, and then Allah, alaihi wa sallam, is testing him. He says, look, what do you have in your hand? He saw the staff, he said, that's my staff. Okay, well, put your hand there, and see what's gonna come out of it. Allah gave him the proof, and the evidence, and the ultimate knowledge, that, look, you have miracles, you have power in your hand right now. But still, though, he never stopped desiring to know more. So, the moment, the moment he thought he had all the knowledge he needed, and he realized, now, no, there is someone who knows more than you. Yeah. Okay, now, that gives me a moment of, okay, of probably, as a human being, natural human being, it gave me an anxiety. Because now, I don't know, I don't know everything anymore. Suddenly, right now, I need to know more. So, he goes to that Al-Khadr, and he demands, I wanna learn from you. And Al-Khadr told him, like, look,
what I know, it's not gonna be beneficial to you. You have your thing to do, I have my thing to do. He goes, no, I wanna learn from you. And he tried, and I don't wanna say he failed in that, that actually, the three terms, but at least, we learned a huge lesson, that, subhanAllah, no matter how knowledgeable you are, we will always desire to know more. We always desire. The Prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, wished he was more patient. Absolutely. And he even said, alayhi as-salatu wa as-salam, because he would've got even more. We would've learned more, as well, too. So, we always desire to learn more, because we think that that knowledge is gonna give us that certainty, the ultimate certainty, that will put us at ease. But still, even Anbiya, they wanted to learn more. And even in the story of Maryam, when she was giving birth to Isa, alayhi as-salam, qalat, ya laytani mittu qabla hadha, I wish I was never there, that this never happened to me. Even though she's already been given the divine knowledge, that you are gonna be carrying a baby, and she did, without being touched by a man. So, this is miraculous. So, all of this, but still, we're human beings. That element of knowing more, put us at ease, and I think it is tied to al-qadr, because I wish I knew what my qadr is. And if Allah has given you all the answers already, then you would be living in Jannah, not here. Ma'a Allah, subhanAllah. Sheikh, you got any 30 second last words? This is a beautiful statement, al-kha'idu fil-qadri kanadri fis-shams. Naam, naam. Right, the one that keeps looking at the qadr, is like the one that looks at the sun. You cannot fully understand it, and it could even be dangerous to you. So, it's just, I had the taslim, just submitting to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And it's interesting, because you keep talking about knowledge of the future. If Maryam knew that her name would be in Quran, a chapter named after her, and the legend that would come after, in those moments, it would have certainly made it a lot easier to go through that. So, when she says, ya laytani mittu qabla hadha wa kuntu nasyan mansiyah. I wish I was forgotten. Allah's parents, wa dhkur fil kitabi, Maryam.
You mentioned Maryam. There's a whole chapter actually in the Quran. Amazing, so knowing the future would definitely make it easier, but alhamdulillah, we know the one who knows the past, the present, and the future, and we trust him. So, may Allah's parents make us amongst those people. BarakAllahu feekum. May Allah make us amongst those people who submit themselves. JazakAllah khair, Sheikh, for being with us, and provoking, of course, so much insight. Sheikh Abdullah, as always, jazakAllah khair. Everyone, we will see you all tomorrow, inshaAllah. Wa salaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
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