Qur’an 30 for 30 | Season 6
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Juz 23: Mocked for Being Muslim | Sh. Suleiman Hani
Ramadan is whirling by. Automate your donations for the last 10 nights.
What is true commitment to Allah’s cause? Is it worth all the mockery and sacrifice? What if the trials you face are blessings in disguise? How can deep reflection on the Qur'an increase the barakah in our lives?
Join Sh. Suleiman Hani with hosts Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro as they reflect on juz 23 of the Qur’an, exploring the importance of perseverance in Allah’s cause, and sharing practical tips for strengthening our connection with the Qur’an.
Download our Qur'an 30 for 30 Life Lessons Journal to record your own reflections as you watch this series.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Everyone welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah we're on the 23rd night, one of the odd nights of the last 10 nights of Ramadan. A blessed night which could be Laylatul Qadr. We want to remind you all bi'idhnillahi ta'ala to please donate to Yaqeen insha'Allah ta'ala. We need your support so that we can continue to reach people all over the world, wherever they are on their journey with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, with the Qur'an, with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And your donations help fuel this machine, walhamdulillah rabbil alameen, as everything we do is free. And this is a lasting sadaqah jariyah for you insha'Allah ta'ala. So please go ahead, if you want to donate for the rest of the night or donate tonight insha'Allah ta'ala. But let's continue to invest in this work bi'idhnillahi ta'ala so we can reach people wherever they are. We are blessed alhamdulillah rabbil alameen to be joined by Shaykh Suleiman Hani alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. Who is no stranger to Yaqeen who alhamdulillah rabbil alameen has done incredible work all around alhamdulillah rabbil alameen with Al-Maghrib Institute. And we've had a lot of instructors from Al-Maghrib and that's the spirit of unity that we want to have alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. One of the beautiful things that's happening these days is that many of the Al-Maghrib courses are using Yaqeen's research. And obviously there's a lot of overlap with the instructors and with the work that we're trying to do insha'Allah ta'ala. So greater sadaqah jariyah for those who support Yaqeen insha'Allah. Bi'idhnillahi ta'ala and of course to support Al-Maghrib as well. Shaykh Suleiman officially is the director of academics at Al-Maghrib and he takes the lead role in designing the institute's curriculum. Masha'Allah has attained numerous ijazat, teaches many courses in Quranic sciences, aqeedah, atheism, modern ideologies and currently is teaching a course on qadr alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. So we're talking about divine decree and why me. And someone by the way who alhamdulillah rabbil alameen beyond just being someone very beloved to me.
I've always seen Shaykh Suleiman, I don't want to say as a younger brother but just as a brother. Masha'Allah because it's been many years alhamdulillah rabbil alameen that I've gotten to see you through your journey of really going in depth. And one thing I've always appreciated is that you never stop at the surface level. You always go in depth alhamdulillah rabbil alameen. So may Allah increase you in barakah, increase you in knowledge, increase you in sincerity and steadfastness. Allahumma ameen. He's also Palestinian and from Michigan alhamdulillah. So he's got a little bit of that Michigan asabi in him. There's one thing about them though Shaykh, you've got to admit. Their food is on point. The best. Masha'Allah. Food's on point. You had a comment about the Yemenis. There was a saying that you had about Yemeni rice or something like that or Yemeni bread. You were just praising Yemeni food. That's my best cuisine, my favorite cuisine. Masha'Allah. We're going to get Shaykh Abdullah and move over to Michigan. It's too cold for Shaykh Abdullah. Climate change. Climate change. Listen, Shaykh Abdullah needs to be able to like pick up buildings and pick up cars. He's not going to do well in the snow. We have some good protein in Michigan. Some of the best protein options. Oh, the Yemeni food, masha'Allah. We have it all. It's protein, Shaykh. No, no, no. That's another kind of protein. Alhamdulillah. How are you doing Shaykh? Alhamdulillah. Six seasons. I think I've been on every season so far. Jazakumullah khairan. Masha'Allah. Masha'Allah. I think you've shown that connection to not just yourself, the entire Yaqeen team and Yaqeen as an institute. Alhamdulillah. I see that consistency and the growth. I noticed with the previous years of Quran 30 for 30, a lot of people may not notice the themes or the kind of accumulation of benefit. But it's very strategic. It's very intentional. And I really appreciate it. Jazakumullah khairan. Jazakumullah khairan. Jazakumullah khairan. Shaykh, speaking of your books, what book are you on now? I mean, you mentioned some of the titles. Alhamdulillah. I have three that are in publication, being published right now in some process.
One of them, the recent ones, was actually Fadha'il Ayat al-Suwar, a compilation of all the hadith that are either authentic or hasan for the chapters and the verses of the Quran that are authentic in terms of a reward, a protection, or the love of the Prophet, Allah willing, to recite them in certain instances. There's a few Tadabbur and Tafsir books, Alhamdulillah, so that people can internalize the Quran better. We actually taught a course together, Alhamdulillah, on the topic of Surah al-Mulk, Surah al-Sajdah. And some, inshallah ta'ala, that are in the area of Islamic leadership, which is relevant to any of the studies that I'm doing now, and the seerah of the Prophet, Allah willing. How old were you when you wrote your first book, the 114? I actually finished that when I was 20 or 19, when I went for an internship program in Turkey. And the program, for some reason, didn't work out. It got canceled. Only my program. Everybody else went to the program. I had six weeks sitting in an apartment, a dormitory, with nothing to do. I'm like, I'm finally going to write that book. So I finished it in a week, and I submitted it to IIPH at the time. And I told them I had the referral of Shaykh Umar al-Ashqar, rahimahullah. Rahimahullah. He had actually recommended getting the book published. And then, yeah, it took off from there, alhamdulillah. I enjoy writing and research a lot. 114 Tips to Help You Finally Memorize the Quran. The book is phenomenal, masha'Allah. Alhamdulillah, wa salatu wa salam wa rasool Allah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi man wala. We'll go ahead and get started, inshallah ta'ala. SubhanAllah, I was telling Shaykh Abdullah that the lesson from the previous juz, in multiple instances now, he speaks about something. And the lesson that I have for the juz after builds right on that. So in the last juz, you talked about blockages and haters and things along the way and not letting them stop you. The lesson that I want to focus on today is you aren't really committed to it if you're not willing to be mocked for it. You aren't really committed to it if you're not willing to be mocked for it. What do I mean by that? When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah Yasin,
يَا حَسْرَةً عَلَىٰ الْعِبَادِ مَا يَتِيهِم مِن رَسُولٍ إِلَّا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُونَ You know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says every single messenger that came to them, they mocked. يَا حَسْرَةً عَلَىٰ الْعِبَادِ What a shame. Every single messenger that came to them, they mocked. Here's the thing about mockery. Mockery is the most hurtful thing that could happen to someone that is serious about their mission. Right? Because you realize that you've been burdened with this heavy task. You're supposed to be out there bringing people to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You realize the depth of the mission, the urgency of the mission. And with all of that, people are not taking you seriously or not taking your message seriously. And this is of course in Surah Yasin, the idea that these messengers are coming to them and these messengers are saying to them, take this seriously. And they are insisting upon their people, please listen to this message. Take this message seriously. And then here you have these people that are mocking them, that are calling them names, that are mocking the message that they have. And with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, istihza, the mockery hurt the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Especially when you've been respected and loved and honored your entire life. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was always a sadiq al-ameen. He always was this honest, trustworthy one. The people loved him. The people honored him. And now they're making fun of him sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now they're calling him bad names alayhi salatu was salam. But here's the thing. Allah azza wa jal tested all of the Prophets with mockery. Right? The norm is that the Prophets have to be mocked. Because that's when you really know that you're committed to it. If you think about it, people seek wealth. They seek prestige. When you're being mocked, that means people don't take the content that you have seriously. They don't take you seriously. And so when we talk about al-izzah and where izzah comes from, where honor comes from, you have to really believe that honor comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to be willing to be mocked for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. To be willing to deal with the aza, the harm that people throw your way.
They question your character, question your integrity, question your senses, question your content. And you have to believe that you're doing this for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that honor truly only comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So it really builds on the last juz in this regard. And again, it's the idea of the norm. And we've highlighted this throughout the Quran. That Allah azza wa jal mentions a norm and then an exception. The norm here, the default, is that if you're trying to do something special, people are going to try to hold you down and they will mock you viciously. They will mock you viciously to stop you from doing that special thing. The believers have to embrace a very particular identity. Ghurba, al-ghurba, strangers. You have to be willing to be a stranger. Being a stranger means, by necessity, that you're probably going to be an outcast. It means by necessity that you're not going to fit in. It means by necessity that there's going to be some awkwardness. It means by necessity that people are going to mock your ways. It means by necessity that your priorities are going to be different from everybody else. And that's okay because that's also the sunnah of the messengers. The sunnah of the messengers was to be strangers in society. Like I always think about, subhanAllah, some of the people I want to meet on the Day of Judgment. May Allah azza wa jal allow us to enter with the prophets and the truthful ones and the martyrs and the righteous ones and count us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. I want to meet a prophet that didn't have any followers. Think about the life of a prophet. As the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, there will be anbiya, prophets, standing on the Day of Judgment with not a single follower. Imagine being sent to this earth with a risalah, with a message, and not leaving with a single follower. Leaving without any person that believes in you or believes in your message. How vicious, how harsh was that life. But then what is that honor like on the Day of Judgment, in the afterlife? So you aren't really committed to it if you're not willing to be mocked for it.
That shows that you are neither seeking people's honor, nor are you seeking their wealth, nor are you seeking their buy-in. You believe in what you have. And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to make us amongst those people. Allahumma ameen. Interestingly, Shaykh, the story of the man in Surah Yasin is unnamed. SubhanAllah. And it's actually emphasizing that point that it's not about your name, it's not about who you are, it's the message, it's the fact that it's true. And so you may go unnamed, you may have no influence or followers or anything at all, but your status is with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And he said, He's still sincere to his people. If only my people knew. And Allah is quoting him saying, if only my people knew. So all of us are knowing that he wanted his people to know. Look at the elevation of this man. Man, no one took me seriously. If only my people knew. They just killed me. If only they knew. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying, well, look at all these people who now know. Know about your plight. And again, what an amazing man. May Allah gather us with that righteous man and with all the righteous. As a scholar says, that your reward is contingent upon the intensity of the act. So going through those trials and being alone and people not following the message that you're passionate about. I mean, there's nothing like, you know, you coming to a family member about something you're passionate about. What more passionate thing to be your religion, God, like what life is about. And they just totally downplay it. They totally disregard it. They speak badly against you. But it's to know this is the process of the blessing. And as was said, is a blessing in disguise. Right. And that's what we call a ni'mah. So recognizing that all that trial that you go through for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is a blessing. And rather subhanAllah, you know, many of us have had times where we sit with people. And we thought that they would follow this way of life or just the path of goodness.
Right. You know, so for me, it was going to be some of the people that I talked to about this thing called Islam. When I heard about it. And I remember I was working at a tire shop and I used to pray downstairs. And, you know, I was telling some of my coworkers, like, what are they? What are you doing? So I'm praying. I'm a Muslim. And I remember I'll never forget one brother. He's from a country to where they were separated. They were Muslim and then became Muslim and Christian. He looked at me, said, you're a Muslim. I said, yeah, I'm Muslim. He said, why? I said, because I believe in Allah. And I never thought that my man, I never thought that he would have that response. But then when I look back, I say subhanAllah, it was a blessing because I could have easily went that path. We were really good friends and he was good manners. And that's what made it so surprising. Even more, his response, like he literally almost exploded. He said, you're a Muslim. So he probably looked back at how Islam was or whatever in his country. And then for you in America landed the free home of the brave to become a Muslim. Like why? Malcolm X, subhanAllah, you know, the scene in like the movie, he's like writing letters to like all these people. It's obviously with the nation of Islam and it's 1950s where he's writing letters and people are receiving letters and just laughing, bursting out loud into laughter. You know, he's lost his mind, right? Do you know, subhanAllah, this is just a crazy fact. The FBI started surveilling him because he wrote a letter to the president of the United States from prison, calling him to Islam at that point, which is of course nation of Islam at that point, because he was so serious about his own transformation that he was writing letters to everybody. And he wrote a letter to the president, you know, calling him to the nation of Islam at that time. SubhanAllah, like that's serious, right? So people were looking at him like you lost your mind. And he's like, no, I found my heart. I found it. I found what I'm looking for. And he's calling them to, again, the nation and Allah azza wa jal led him to Islam in its pure form. It's amazing, subhanAllah.
The idea here is like on the day of judgment, the people of paradise will be mocking the people of hell. It switches. We're talking about power dynamics and the switch. The people of paradise will be mocking the people of hell. Allah azza wa jal will make us from the people of paradise. And that's beautiful because that kind of ties in directly to what I want to talk about in the chapter of Saffat. Allah talks about the people of Jannah when he mentions that they will be across each other in reclining couches. And then one of them will say, you know what? I had a friend before, right? And this friend, he mentions him. And long story short, Allah gives him the opportunity and all of us to where he actually finds a friend. He looks down at him and he's in the hellfire. The friend who mocked him. The friend, yes. The friend that, you know, that they... You believe in that nonsense? No, no. SubhanAllah. He said, he saw that he was in the depths of hellfire. And subhanAllah, the response of the inhabitant of Jannah, when he looks down at his friend in the hellfire, he says, The fact that, you know, that was a friend of mine, a Qareen, like a partner, my man, right? If it wasn't for the blessings of Allah, I would have been from those that were placed in hell. And it's interesting, he says, That I would be put there. So it's so beautiful to understand that it's, as mentioned early in the earlier passages of the is of Allah, subhanAllah, is for Allah. And any guidance that we have is from the ni'mah of Allah, subhanAllah. It's the ni'mah. Once we think that it's with our own independent agency, that we are where we are from the goodness, or we are where we are from what Allah wants us to be. It's important to know that's the ni'mah and the blessings of Allah, subhanAllah, that enable you to make that choice. Yes, there is a small window to where you have to make that particular choice.
But know that from the blessings of Allah, he shows you the path. And then when you make that choice, he blesses you to be stronger and more intense on that path. And that's the ni'mah of Allah, subhanAllah. It's always important to remember that, subhanAllah, I am where I am today because of the blessings of Allah, subhanAllah. And what's so beautiful about the faith of Islam, the aqidah, the belief, is that we know that Allah, subhanAllah, shows us the way. We have a small responsibility and when we fulfill that responsibility, he blesses us because we made that right choice. But knowing that Allah, subhanAllah, with the blessings that he's given you, it's so profound for you to always remember that, to know that you can't do it by yourself. That Allah, subhanAllah, is the one that gives you the strength and rewards you for using that strength and the blessings in the right way. And that's why it's so important that with the friends that we have, we talked about another ajzab, sometimes it'll be our parents that may call us away from the truth. And it's important to remember that the blessings of Allah, subhanAllah, is what pulled you through. It was the blessings of Allah, subhanAllah, that caused you to take that turn, to say no to that influence, to say no to that family member, and being mocked in the process. And it was the blessings of Allah that caused you to wake up in the middle of the night and to call on him. And you never thought you would have woken up at four in the morning, you wake up at 11 in the morning. All of those are blessings from Allah, subhanAllah. It's from the blessings of Allah, subhanAllah, that you picked up the Quran in the month of Ramadan. You picked up the Quran six months after Ramadan. Like you still have a portion of the Quran that you read. You know, a lot of young guys have a program, it's like, look, if you can read four pages after every salah, you read a juz a day. If you can't, try to read one page, two pages, at least get something, at least you get a portion of a juz. And you do 10 pushups with it, 10 lunges, you're working on your physical, your mental, and your spiritual. All of that is a blessing, and it's acknowledging the blessings of Allah, subhanAllah, upon you.
And all of this, subhanAllah, particularly that of picking up the book of Allah, subhanAllah, and always reading what he is saying about these blessings. Reminding yourself about these blessings. Reminding yourself that there will be people that will try to stop you. And to know that the blessings of Allah, subhanAllah, is always there. And I think that brings a level of comfort because it shows that as long as I'm doing my best for the one that told me what is the best, that is where I'll reach the pinnacle of my potential, insha'Allah. Jazakum Allah khair. There is something interesting in that passage, Basically, you almost caused me to be ruined as well. He's saying to his friend in the hellfire. And one of the beautiful commentaries I remember reading about this is, don't just think of your actual friends, the influence that you have from people, but also think of everything that influences you, the books that you read, and more importantly today, the social media that you utilize, the media that you take in. So look at all types of influence and make sure you're not amongst those who are saying, I was ruined by this thing on the Day of Judgment. Because there will be people who say, I wish I didn't have that friend, I wish I didn't follow them. Helps us to think more about how influence works and what we allow into our lives. Yes, subhanAllah, beautiful, beautiful. When looking at the Quran and you look at other things that we may read and consume, like you mentioned the social media, how it has that effect on us. And one friend from social media could be someone on the other side of town or the side of the world. So with the emergence of social media it's very, very important. But you speaking about taking the Quran as your companion is going to be something that's very, very enlightening for us. Jazakum Allah khair, Shaykh. That's a perfect segue. So I chose Ayah 29 of Surah Saad, Surah 38, verse 29. And there's a remarkable deep context to it, but in short, this is also the summary for, in a way, Quran 30 for 30. And it's the saying of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, كِتَابٌ أَنزَلْنَاهُ إِلَيْكَ مُبَارَكٌ لِّيَدَّبَّرُوا آيَاتِهِ وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ The book that we reveal to you, O Prophet, is the Book of Allah.
So they may contemplate upon its verses, so they may contemplate upon its signs, and for the people of reason, the people of wisdom, some scholars say, so they may be reminded. So the short lesson here is maximize your barakah, your purpose, your clarity, your happiness, your success in life, by connecting to the Quran with a deep contemplation every time you interact with it. Some of the most interesting commentaries on this ayah is, if you look at the passage itself, the verse right before it seems to be cut off, it doesn't seem to be connected to it. أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ كَالْمُفْسِدِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَمْ نَجْعَلُ الْمُتَّقِينَ كَالْفُجَّارِ Some of the people of Quraysh would say, we're all going to be the same in the afterlife. So to transition from this talk on the afterlife, they would say, we're going to be the same as you guys. We have the same access, we have all this. And Allah is saying, do you want the believers to be treated like the people who spread corruption in the world? Do you want, okay, forget that as an example, do you want the best of people, the mu'mineen, to be treated, or the mutaqeen, to be treated like the worst of people, al-fujar? This is like the example of today, somebody saying, do you really assume that the IDF soldier who enters into the house and shoots up that family and kills that Ghazdan child, that person, the terrorist, is going to be the same as that young child? You expect, morally speaking, that on the Day of Judgment, everyone will be equal? You expect that people cease to exist? And so from a moral perspective here, a person may ask, okay, I'm looking for the definition of goodness. What does it mean to have something that is good or something that is evil? What determines that philosophically? And the next ayah is the answer. When you connect to the Qur'an, it's a revelation from Allah. So Allah is mentioning, first of all, this is a revelation. This is from Allah. This is truth with a capital T. So it's not a postmodern truth. It's not a watered-down truth. And the second thing is that it's mubarak. There's a blessing in it.
And a lot of people will pay thousands of dollars. You have a billion-dollar industry in terms of life hacks and productivity hacks and all that, which are useful sometimes as far as efficiency goes. But you can never actually reach your full potential without the barakah that you get from Allah. You're always going to be limited. And so the Qur'an is that access point. The Qur'an is that source. How? It gives you guidance. It gives you clarity. It reinforces what is correct. It helps you when you're struggling. It's a shifa. It's a healing. It's the thing that helps you with your personal challenges, and it's the thing that helps you with global challenges. Whether it's a genocide or it's any kind of structural injustice or violence or your own struggles. And additionally, you find in this ayah the emphasis that at the end of the day, the goal of revelation is contemplation. It's not to recite just on the tongue. It's not just to identify loosely as a Muslim. It's to ask, how can I actually understand what Allah is saying? What's the point of my life? So this entire passage of Surah Saad is about purpose of life and that clarity that's given to you. You want to distinguish between good and evil. You want to know that in the next life you are amongst the people of paradise mentioned in Surah Saad. You want to know that all the mission that you were propagating and facilitating and spreading to other people and you had that resilience and you were able to deal with the mockery of different people. There's some value in it, but that doesn't come without contemplation. So an example of this is actually statistically, there's a large percentage of people in Gaza who are connected to the Quran. They memorize the Quran. And it's known that a lot of people were... 55,000 Huffadh before the genocide. SubhanAllah, 55,000. I didn't know that statistic. So it's very prevalent there. And you see this in their responses. You see this in how millions of people are inspired by their resilience. How were they able to deal with all of that personally and emotionally and with all the hardship and we're not romanticizing it at all. It's very painful. It's through the Quran. So the objective of the Quran...
Contemplate its verses. Is it a one-time thing? No, it's a lifestyle. So what do you do in a very practical way? Number one, you cannot allow a day to go by without connecting to the Quran. If you know what it's giving you, you really understand its value. You know how much barakah, divine blessings you'll have in your time. Ironically, the very thing that people say they don't have for the Quran. Your time, your health, your wealth, your family, your mission, whatever you're doing with your life. The barakah comes from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The second, so the daily recitation. The second is the implementation through understanding. So the tafsir. So it's programs like this. It's the local tafsir classes you have in your communities. It's the Alhamdulillah, million and one resources that we have online in terms of tafsir. So understand what the Quran is and what you want to extract from it and apply it to your life. Alhamdulillah, we have Quran.com as a foundation. You have Quran Reflect. You have many institutions that are also very specialized with the Quran. Make sure you are maximizing those resources. Tarteel as well. I heard about it actually from you. Quranli. Quranli, that's the one I heard. You can shout out all of them, masha'Allah. Clear Quran. Sorry, Shaykh, I didn't mean to cut you off. No, no, yeah, there's so many resources. We want to shout out as many good resources as possible. We're brothers and sisters. The third I would say is to ensure that you have some memorization process. It doesn't have to be the entire Quran. It's not all or none. Start the journey of preserving it because in reality you're not preserving the Quran. It's preserving you and you'll find that it's going to be an upgrade, insha'Allah ta'ala, in the afterlife. And lastly, use it as a reference point in your everyday life. See the world through the Quran and that comes from studying the Quran and studying the religion. A few years ago I did a series in Ramadan called In Love with the Quran, with Al-Maghrib. And Alhamdulillah we got a lot of people messaging, like hundreds of messages, like how this benefited them. There's one message that stood out and it was a brother who said that he's in his 50s. He spent most of his life feeling like he was just chasing after money. Alhamdulillah, typical story. Allah SWT blessed him with a lot.
He's Muslim but he just felt that was his priority. He's chasing after wealth, wealth, wealth, wealth and it doesn't end with a nine to five. It's like how much more can I get? And then he said he started to study the Quran. He started to have a relationship with it. What does that look like? Daily recitation, listening often. A blessing that previous generations did not have. The fact that we can access millions of recordings today is a huge blessing from Allah SWT. So he said his life changed so quickly and drastically that he started to actually feel severe regret. It's like I wish I could give up all the extra money that I made to go back to my 20s and have that daily connection to the Quran. I can't go back but the fact that he felt so immensely moved by the new relationship that he found with the Quran is also a reminder for those who think that there will be a tomorrow or those who think they have more time or those who neglect it. They don't understand its value. One of the scholars gave this example. It's like someone receiving a message from someone they value. Just think of the person you value the most on earth or in history but then you can't access the message. Imagine you get a video message from the Prophet (ﷺ) but you can't download it. You don't have any data and you're just trying to find out what's in this message. So Imam Al-Qurtubi gives that example. The tafsir of the Quran and the daily connection to it is what will help you to stay alive. It's the nourishment that's more important for your soul than food is to your body. So those are just some simple practical advices. I would encourage people to have teachers, take classes, structured classes, use whatever accountability partners you need, habit tracking apps and so on and so forth but filter out the distractions as well. May Allah make us amongst the people of the Quran. So your main lesson is the Quran is to be contemplated. The Quran is to be contemplated. Quran has to be tadabbur ayat. You know what's amazing is one of the verses that you covered Shaykh. At every point you're in one of those gatherings where there's someone who's dhalimun li-nafsihi. We've talked about dhalimun li-nafsihi, wronging themselves. There's someone who's sabiqun bil khairat. Someone who's leading the way and there's someone who's muqtasid. Right in between.
So I think that it's really interesting because that interaction is very real. There's no such thing as a neutral gathering. There's no such thing as a neutral relationship. Every single one of them is yielding something and that's the timeless nature of the Quran that you could see like a very specific interaction between two friends and you could read it into every single situation in your life. And you'd be like, yep, I'm either that one or that one. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us amongst those that are mocked in this life, not mocking in this life and that are amongst the people of paradise in the next life. Allahumma ameen. And Shaykh, I like how you mentioned understanding what the Quran is. I mean we say the Quran, okay, it's the book for Muslims, a holy book for Muslims. But what is the Quran? I mean that answer, subhanAllah, can be experiential. Especially in these last 10 days, Ramadan, it's a huge opportunity for you to understand what the Quran is to you. And it's an endless experience. I mean you mentioned the people in Gaza and people that have any type of suffering. If you have what Allah said, you can immediately, this situation reminds me of this verse. If you just stop and think about it, what did God say about that? That when I became a Muslim, I said, look, everything else is secondary. If God is telling me something, I want to know what it is. Like it's just as simple as that. It's as simple as that. And once you understand it, and then the alfadh in it of itself, like what the words in it of itself, the structure, even the letters. I think Shaykh Fahd was mentioning that, how some of the letters that are easy, jannatin tajri min tahtiha al-anhar, as opposed to walo kunta fadhan ghalid al-qalbi lanfaddu min hawlik. Mentioning jannah and ease, but then mentioning roughness with rougher letters. All of that has,
it gives you an experience that you can't really totally understand initially. And even going through it, you will understand some of it, but there's still so many more treasures left over. And based on your experiences, you'd be like, wow, Allah mentioned this verse, subhanAllah. And that's what's so beautiful about the Quran. When you said that, it really hit me. Understanding what the Quran is, I think is a question we should always ask ourselves, what is the Quran to me? And that's so beautiful. Jazakallah khair. Jazakallah khair, Shaykh Suleiman. We appreciate you coming on. We're out of time, unfortunately, but you gave us all the imperative to contemplate upon the Quran. So we're telling our viewers, of course, the Quran 30 for 30 family. Reflect on the Quran. You don't need to be a scholar to reflect on the Quran. It's for all of you to reflect on the Quran in your own life situations. May Allah azza wa jal allow it to be a source of greatness for us in this life. And in the next. Allahumma ameen. BarakAllahu feekum. A reminder again to donate, to share, insha'Allah ta'ala, and to keep tuning in. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.
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