Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 3
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Juz' 23 with Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 3
Do you walk this earth as an ambassador or a tourist? Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed joins Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro to reflect on gems from juz 23, including personal accountability, pondering over the Qur’an, and living as an ambassador for Allah.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. For 30, Alhamdulillah Rabbil Ameen, we are in the last 10 nights, Alhamdulillah Rabbil Ameen, and as we're getting to the end of Ramadan, Mufti Abdur Rahman finally sighted the moon and decided to join everybody else in fasting. Mufti Abdur Rahman Waheed is finally here. Everyone's been asking about Mufti Saab, Mufti Saab, Mufti Saab. You know, you guys took your moon sighting thing to like next level. You even brought it to the webathon too. So you're like, you know, naked eye, I mean, you waited till you could see the moon in Detroit or wherever it is that you are right now, but Hamza, you're fine. You're fasting now, Alhamdulillah Rabbil Ameen. It's good to have you on, Sheikh. Like I'm getting hurt by those comments. Like, I'm sorry. Sheikh Abdullah comes on, my older brother comes on every, like the first night of Ramadan. He says, you sight the moon, you saw my face, start fasting tomorrow. It's like, you guys are still old school. Like he literally throws me under the bus. He throws me under the bus, Alhamdulillah, we started fasting the same day. Sheikh Omar, I know you're a secret moon sighter as well. I know that, I know that. Don't, don't try to tell me you're not. All on moon sighting. FaceTime your brother apparently. That's it. Sheikh Omar, I've been watching you guys much, I don't want to say that you guys have been doing a great job because who am I to tell you that, but I watched one episode specifically because, I mean, I don't know, I was on that day with Sheikh Sanawi and you brought up like, you know, when you see him with the big beard and you know, you say you bring up Sheikh Abdullah's workout ethic and then you brought him up with basketball. I have a video for you. Fawzi, you there in the background, could you put the video on please?
So I have no idea what just happened. Sheik Abdullah, we're being hijacked here, man. Our show's been taken from us. I didn't know that was going to happen. Are you in charge now? Do you have hosting abilities? Who have you recruited from Yakhin? Who works here? Everyone. I'm kind of nervous, man. I know you get funny with the djinn stuff sometimes. Is there something? What's going on here? Sheik Abdullah, you're the one that's all about form and stuff. Sheik Omar is all about form. You can acknowledge the form there. You know, the snap of the wrist and the bend of the knee, all that stuff. Don't do it, Sheik Abdullah. Don't do it. Don't do it, man. Don't do it. He's not your friend. He's not your friend, Sheik. I think it was a little flat as a pancake, Sheik. Oh my God. It went in. It went in. It doesn't have to be pretty. It just has to go in. You can watch the video afterwards and take lessons afterwards. Let's get into the fun. I think this was an indirect shot at Shonawi. They need to go one-on-one. That's what I think. Yeah, I'll pick Shonawi any day over you, man. I'm just saying. I'm walking by, I'm going to ball you up, man. But I'm not going to bring something up. Actually, I will bring it up. The time you forgot to pick me up from the hotel because you were playing basketball
all night and I had to take a taxi in Detroit to the masjid after fajr. I'll take your forgiveness. Please forgive me. I've taken your forgiveness many times now. Please let it go, man. Let it go. It's the last 10 nights. I'm sorry I had to play ball the whole night. I lost the first four games. I was not going to leave until I won a few. And that went all the way till fajr. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron James. I felt like LeBron that day with all these old guys on my team. That was my problem that day. It wasn't my fault. It was my GM's fault. He wasn't ready to trade the draft picks. I was late to this masjid. I was supposed to give a halaq after fajr. I'm getting phone calls. I couldn't find an Uber from someplace in Michigan they put me in. Mufti Ashab was supposed to pick me up. I'm at the front desk. This is all a true story. Let me call a cab. The cab comes. I'm his first customer in 50 years. There's a tire in the back seat that's hitting me in the back while we're riding. I get to the masjid after duha. They've been waiting for me. And anyone in Detroit can attest to this. I tried to pay. He doesn't take credit card. I had to go inside the masjid, get the cash, come back and pay him. Mufti Ashab woke up like an hour later. But you know what, Shaykh, I think I'm ready to forgive you. Jazakallah khair. I appreciate that, Shaykh. I appreciate that. I think I just had to share my trauma with Shaykh Abdullah Abduro and everybody else. I think I'm good now. And that means you're never going to mention again your life. We're not on Surah Yusuf today. Maybe next year in Quran 3430 you can come on Surah Yusuf and remind me about the same thing. InshaAllah. For sure. You can always replay it. But you know, no seriousness, Shaykh. Not bad. Not bad. You can ball. MashaAllah. Jazakallah khair. We're happy to have you, Mufti Ashab. We love the work that you guys do at Miftah. We love the work that you're doing.
And we appreciate you and love your brotherhood. Alhamdulillah. Biur Ameen. And I hope inshaAllah ta'ala the audience will be very happy to hear you. And we're looking forward to hearing your reflections on the Quran and your Urdu poetry, which I'm sure will come out at some point. Alhamdulillah, Biur Ameen. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salam wa rasool Allah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So Shaykh Abdullah, what juz are we in? I'm holding a mushaf. What juz are we in today? 23. 23. That's right. We're in 23. All right. I'm in Surah Az-Zumar. And this is actually obviously where you have Arja Ayah Fi Kitab Allah according to many of the companions of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. The most hopeful ayah in the book of Allah. But really, you know, two sections that SubhanAllah we can compare that are profoundly connected to this idea of preparation for the hereafter. And I'll actually start from this place where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in verse 45, Wa idha dhukirallahu wahdahu shma azzat qulubu allatheena la yu'minuna bil aakhira. That when the name of Allah is mentioned, then the hearts of those who don't believe in Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala don't believe in the akhira in particular. It's like they hate the mention of Allah. They do not like the mention of Allah. And that's because they don't believe in the hereafter. It's an interesting connection that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala makes here. Right? Like they don't like conversations about religion. They don't like mentions of the hereafter because they don't believe in the hereafter. And so when Allah is brought into the equation, when religion is brought up, it instantly causes people a sense of, you know, aversion. And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala then says, Wa idha dhukirallatheena min doonihi, idha hum yastabashiroon. And then suddenly when the others are mentioned, others than Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is mentioned, you see them celebrating. You see them rejoicing. Right? So this idea that they've been so deluded from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that the name
of Allah, the very mention of the hereafter, the very mention of reward and consequence, it doesn't resonate with them at all. And then SubhanAllah, you move on to Qul ya'ibadi allatheena asrafoo ala anfusihim. It's literally on the next page, verse 53. Qul ya'ibadi allatheena asrafoo ala anfusihim la taqnatoo min rahmatillah. InnaAllaha yakhfiru al-dhunuba jameeAAa inna huwa al-ghafoorun raheem. Say, O my servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair from the mercy of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allah forgives all sins. Verily, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is forgiving and merciful. Ghafoorun raheem. And this is the hopeful ayah, right, to remind you that Allah's mercy is encompassing enough to catch you no matter how far you've gone away from Him. However, wa aneebu ila rabbikum wa aslimoo lah, turn back to your Lord and submit to Him min qabli an ya'tiakumul a'zaboo thumma la tunsaroon. Before the punishment arrives at you. SubhanAllah, it's like the punishment is on its way to you, turn back to the mercy of Allah no matter how far you've gone away from Him, that mercy will be near to you because rahmatullahil qareeb, it is close to the believers. The mercy of Allah is close to the believers when you turn back. But you need to turn around. You need to turn around. Wa aslimoo lah, and submit yourself, min qabli an ya'tiakumul a'zaboo thumma la tunsaroon. Before the punishment comes to you and then you will not be helped. Wattabi'oo ahsana ma unziya ilaykum min rabbikum min qabli an ya'tiakumul a'zaboo baghtatan wa antumuna atash'uroon. So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, and follow the best of what has been given to you from your Lord before the punishment comes to you suddenly while you are unaware of it. So then Allah Azawajal takes us to the excuses that people make on the day of judgment. Antaquoo lanafsun ya hasrataAAala ma farratoo fee janbillah wa in kuntoo lamina sakhireen. So first Allah talks about the remorse that a person will say, oh how regretful I am. Hasra, ya hasrata.
SubhanAllah Surah Yasin, the ya hasrataAAala alibad, right? People that feel sorry, the believers that feel sorry, the messengers, the inheritors of the messengers that feel sorry for those that didn't turn back to Allah. Here you have this person screaming on the day of judgment, I wish I would have listened. So if you start paralleling this, right, or making this parallel, first Allah said come back to the mercy of Allah, you have a path back. And then here you have, I should have listened, and had I acted on my regret in the dunya, I would not be in the state of remorse in the akhirah. Okay? So that's the first thing here. Then Allah says, aw taqoola law anna Allaha hadani la kuntoo minal mutaqeem. Or that person would say, if Allah would have guided me, I would have been from the God conscious, meaning I would have abandoned sin. So here, this is a person that fails to take personal responsibility, right? And if you parallel it to the second verse in the sequence before, this is a person who Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, thumma la tunsaroon, don't wait for the punishment to come to you where you will not be helped. So this is the person who always looks to someone else for help. Okay? Which is a mindset, right? They're constantly failing to take personal accountability because they're always looking for someone to bail them out. Aw taqoola heena tara alAAadhaab law anna li karra faakoona minal muhsineen. Or that person would say, once they see the punishment, if only I had another chance, not only would I be from the mutaqeen, from the mu'mineen, from the believers, from the God conscious that abandons sin, I would have been from the muhsineen, the people of ihsan, I would have excelled. And SubhanAllah, this is the mindset. The third mindset that was addressed previously is the mindset of a person who waits for consequences, okay? In order to adjust. And so Allah mentioned, this is a person, min qabli an ya'tiakoon a'adhaaboo baghtatan, right? You wait until you can see the punishment.
And then you say, oh, wait, let me go back. Okay? And here, law anna li karra, if I had another chance, I would be from the people of ihsan, I'd be from the people of excellence, meaning I would have acted for jannah even further. Right? So people that fail to take personal accountability, people that wait for others to bail them out, and people that wait for consequences to adjust, which is a problem, right? Then SubhanAllah, you go on to some of the most powerful verses where Allah then fast forwards to the actual arrival at the gates of paradise and hellfire. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala make us from the group of those who arrive at the gates of paradise. Waseeqa allatheena kafaroo ila jahannama zoomaraa hattaa idha jaa'ooohaa futihaat abwaaboohaa wa qaala lahum khazanatoohaa alam ya'tikoon rusulun minkum? yatloona AAalaykum ayati rabbikum wa yundiroonakum liqaa yawmikum haadhaa? You know, Allah Azza wa Jalla says, they get to the gates of hellfire. And there is no wa futihaat, the wow. Wow that comes in the next verse in regards to the people of paradise, and the gates of paradise will open. The gates of paradise reveal paradise slowly. So paradise starts to reveal itself in this grand way. Whereas the gates of hellfire open suddenly and people are thrown into it. And here, qabli AAayatiyaakum alAAadhaaboo baaghtaa, the punishment comes to you so quickly, and at that point you have such great regret that you know, oh, sorry, I think I'm back on inshallah. Bismillah. Okay, sorry. Okay. Alhamdulillah. Can you all still hear me? Yes. Okay. Alhamdulillah. So these are the people that show up and they are thrown in hellfire and they say, oh wait, I should have thought differently. I should have prepared myself differently. Right.
So you don't have the wow, the slow unraveling of paradise that you have with hellfire. And the question from the angels is, didn't you have a chance? Like people came to you with guidance, so don't make that excuse. People came to you and told you, wake up and do what you need to do. And at that point, that person admits, you know, balaa, yes, walakin haqqat karimat alAAadhaabi AAalil kafireen, but at this point it's too late for us. We have certainly been given that opportunity, but at the same time we are now just in the state of desperation and punishment. And then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la mentions, wasiqa allatheena taqawu rabbahum ilal jannati zumara, and you know, give glad tidings to those people that are taken to paradise in these large groups. And Allah mentions particularly the quality of taqwa, the quality of God consciousness, which remember the people of the fire said, had Allah guided us, we would have been from the muttaqeen. So now you have the muttaqeen, may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make us amongst them. Allahumma ameen. And they are arriving at the gates of paradise. hatta idha ja'uha wa futihat abwabuha. And then once they get to it, the gates of paradise start to open slowly and they start to see paradise revealing its beauty, SubhanAllah, slowly. wa qala lahum khazanatuha salamun AAalaykum tibutum fadkhuluha khaarideen. And the gatekeepers of paradise say, peace be on to you, you have been purified, enter into it forever. Right? SubhanAllah, this is what you were working towards. And here's your affirmation from them. So the angels are telling the people of hellfire, wait, didn't warners come to you? And the angels are telling the people of paradise and affirming them, you listened and this is your reward. Right? And so the first words you sort of hear as you're entering into paradise versus the first words that the dwellers of the fire hear, may Allah protect us from being amongst them, Allahumma ameen.
It's very profound. And then finally, you know, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, wa qalul hamdulillahi lathee sadaqana wa'da wa awrathana al-ardha natabawa wa minal jannati haythun asha'a an-ni'ma ajaru al-aamileen. So they're praising Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, the inhabitants of paradise for entering into paradise and, you know, praising Allah for guiding them and saying, what a great reward. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, what a great reward for the good doers, those that put forth the deeds. And then the last ayah, wa tarajna la'ika tahaa feena min haqool da'osh. This is the last scene, SubhanAllah. You then see the angels, you know, barefoot around, they're celebrating around the throne of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, circling around the throne of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, min hawli al-arshi yusabbihuna bihamdi rabbihim, declaring his praise, declaring his perfection. wa qul ya baynahum bilhaq wa qeela alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. And they're saying alhamdulillah as well as they've seen this journey of the human being from start to finish. And they're seeing the inhabitants of paradise. You then see, wa tarajna la'ika, you see the angels glorifying Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la after congratulating the believers. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make us amongst those that hear their congratulations and their affirmations and that see them glorifying Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la around his throne and may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la place us as near to that throne as possible on the day of judgment. Allahumma ameen. InshaAllah ta'ala Sheikh Abdullah will hand it off to you. Fadlul shaykh Abdullah. SubhanAllah, jazakumullahu khayran. Bismillah wa salatu wa salam wa ala rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'd. What we just heard was the message from the Quran. The Quran is the statement of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And it's important for us to remember that. Many people, I included, when they embraced Islam, I remember they asked the question of what was the main reason that made you embrace Islam? I say, well, God is telling me something I want to know. I want to know what he's telling me and I want to try my best to follow it.
So when accepting the word of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la being the Quran and listening to the message and following the best of it, yastami'oon al-qawla fa yattabi'oon ahsana. So we're trying to listen to it and to follow the best of it inshaAllah ta'ala. What does that do in the heart of the listener, of the reader, of the Muslim, when they realize that this is God talking, like this is Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la telling me something. That would be the most important risalah or message that I should concern myself with on a general generic level. Meaning that whatever is in this Quran is perfect, it is intentional, it is pure, it is full of mercy, it's full of love, it's full of strength, it's full of all the names and attributes that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la talks about within this beautiful, beautiful message. So what I want to capitalize on is that it's important for us within these last 10 days, particularly the Ad nights, and in general, to have some type of relationship with the Quran. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said in a beautiful hadith, Ta'ahadu bilquran fa walladhi nafsi biyadi fa innahu ashadda tufallutan minal ibali fi uqliha. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said that to have a relationship with the Quran, ta'ahadu, have a connection with the Quran, I swear by the wind my soul is in his hands that verily it will leave you just as a camel leaves its barracks or where it is tied. So the Quran can be as such if one does not have a consistent relationship with it. Now when I say consistent relationship, it doesn't mean that you have to memorize every verse of the Quran and you're not from the people of the Quran. No, just trying your level best to recite the Quran. Those of you that are young and those of you that convert to Islam or those of you that
are Muslim and they're trying to do something good by opening the Quran and reading it, shaitan is going to play with you and say look you can't read this, why are you saying these phonetical sounds, what does it even really mean? You know, you're struggling. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is aware of that, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is aware of that and in the beautiful hadith that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam mentioned is mutafiqun alayya, it's agreed upon, where he said, alladhi yaqra quran wa huwa mahilun bihi ma'a kiram. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said the one that reads the Quran and he is an ex, he or she is an expert in it is with the noble angel scribes. walladhi yaqra ul quran wa huwa yatata' ta'u fihi wa huwa alayhi shaqa falahu ajran. The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam doesn't stop there, he continues on for the majority of us that are starting. He says, and the one that reads the Quran, wa huwa yatata' ta'u, yatata' ta'u is like to stutter, wa huwa alayhi shaqa, and it is hard upon him, it is stressful, they receive two rewards. So that effort from ash-shakur is not neglected, Allah is never neglectful of that. The verse that I want to talk about is the verse in the chapter of As-Sa'd, where it's verse number 29, where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, chapter number 38, verse number 29, where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says, afta'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim, kitabun anzalnahu ilayka mubarakun liyadabbaru ayatihi wa liyatadhakkara ulul alba. The book that we have sent down, i.e. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, anzalnahu ilayka, to you, the book we have sent down to you, mubarakun, a blessed book, for what reason? What's the reason we sent it down? Liyadabbaru ayatihi wa liyatadhakkara ulul alba.
So, the book was sent, this blessed book was sent down to you, O Muhammad, and ultimately to all of us, to ponder over it. And when we see the word liyadabbaru from daal baara, dabbara, it is to ponder over something to get to the end. Dubrushay is to get to the very end of it. What is the point? What is the overlying message? What are the beautiful ornaments or the linguistic makeup that brings us to this profound message of this verse, or of this word, of this ayah? So when we do that, that is the tadabbur. That is the husna tadabbur. We're pondering over the verses of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala with the ultimate goal to act on it. As Ibn Abbas ibn Mas'ud radiyallahu anhum said, Ahlul Qur'an huma allatheena ya'maloon bimuqtada ayatihi. The people of the Qur'an, they're the ones that act upon the implications of the verses. So they're acting upon it. As Aisha mentioned about the Prophet ﷺ, that he was a walking Qur'an as many of us know. So when looking at this, this is the first one, to ponder over it. wal yatadhakkara uloo albaab And what's interesting here, attadabbur fee athnaa ikkiraa The tadabbur, the pondering over the Qur'an is why you're reading it. You're reading it. yatadhakkar fee maa ba'da thalik So any days that you are facing something, do you remember a verse of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? Do you remember what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is saying? Do you remember, you know, SubhanAllah, when I think about this month of Ramadan and I think about the Qur'an, do I think, SubhanAllah, this verse in and of itself, okay the last 10 days are coming up, I want to read the book of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, kitabun anzid, the book that we have sent down for us to ponder over it. Oh Allah, allow me to ponder over this Qur'an. You think about an event in your life or something that's happening in your life, and if you can remember what Allah said about it, well there's nothing better than that.
How good do we feel when we hear, we think of a mentor that we had, certain events in our life. I remember when my father said this, he was a righteous man, my uncle, my grandfather, they said this and these words were made of dahab, you know, the beautiful words that have gotten me through. SubhanAllah, let's be honest, brothers and sisters, how many of us we hear, SubhanAllah, these rock stars or rappers or whatever the case may be, you say, we know what, your music got me through man, you know, it got me through the hard times. I've memorized it because I've listened to it so much. This was something that I was facing before I became Muslim, but then I had to make a choice. It's like, look, the word of Allah and the word of the creation of Allah. It's a choice, it's a struggle, وَكَانَ السَّعْيُكُمْ مَشْكُورًا It's a struggle, but Allah, Ash-Shukur, loves the struggle. I'm going to put away the iPod and I'm going to pick up the Quran. I'm going to put away this device that may have something that's from an individual and the stress and struggles they're going through, which I face at the same time. But I want to give the Quran more of a chance because I know once I do that, it will permeate my heart. Maybe not tonight when I expect it to, but after religion, remember, it's on Allah's terms. You do the work, continue, stutter as much as you can, and Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la will make it easy for you and give you rewards. And it's for us to remember that at the very end Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says وَلِيَتَذَكَّرَ أُولُوا الْأَلْبَابِ Al-Baab, Lubbush Shay, is the core. It's the people that use their intellect and they think, and they ponder over it. So when they ponder over the Quran, they're saying, what's the ultimate message of this? And how can I apply it in my life? That's the one that uses their intellect and thinks and ponders to the best of their ability because they know it's the creator of the heavens and the earth. So making that effort inshallah in these last 10 days, you know, make a plan with yourself, with your family, to read this book of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and just ponder over it.
It doesn't have to be the whole Quran, but a verse that impacts you. Even Al-Fatiha, when you say Alhamdulillah, think of all the things that Allah has praise for, which is everything, and making that effort to praise Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is what Allah loves. So may Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la make us people of the Quran, may He make us of those that act upon these beautiful verses, and allow these last 10 nights to be the strongest relationship we have, to serve as a catalyst, a beginning to a new relationship with the Quran. BarakAllahu feekum. Wa feekum barakAllahu. Beautiful Shaykh, JazakAllahu khair. May Allah bless you. Mufti Sahib, Bismillah, tafadhal. So, BismillahirRahmanirRahim. Thank you so much Shaykh Omar and Shaykh Abdullah, those powerful words. As I was looking through the 23rd Juz, we know that the first portion of the 23rd Juz is still the end of Surah Yaseen. And I was going through it thinking, what I'm going to speak about today, that's also a task for me to do because I just speak based on what my audience and what's coming to my mind. We have a mention of three messengers in Surah Yaseen, then a fourth one that Allah sent to support those three. Then we have mention of about eight prophets in Surah Safad, and then about nine in Surah Saad. Like, all together eight, nine in these Surahs. And it made me think about this verse where Allah concludes the entire Sufat. He says, وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لَعِبَادِنَا الْمُرْسَلِينَ إِنَّهُمْ لَهُمُ الْمَنْصُورُونَ وَإِنَّ جُنْدَنَا لَهُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ That this has already been established for the servants that I have sent. The servants that I have sent. I'm going to use that word a few times now. That these servants that I have sent are definitely going to be assisted and helped by Allah ﷻ. As I was reading this verse, my father, may Allah bless him and give him a long life, I remember one time I was sitting with him and he mentioned a few things. And he gave an example of being an ambassador versus a tourist. Like, if you're sent by a country as an ambassador to a country versus going there as a tourist, what are some of the differences?
I wrote down seven at that time as my dad was talking. I'll try to remember a few of them today and share with you. The first thing that, the first difference is the one who's being sent over here by Allah ﷻ and to know the fact that all of us, the prophets were sent with divine wahi, but we are, ثُمَّ أَوْرَثْنَا الْكِتَابِ لَذِي صَلَفَيْنَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا We have also been sent by Allah ﷻ. So all of us on this world are not tourists here. We have to change our mind frame. We are not just tourists come here, look around, see what's going on, maybe go explore the moon. No, that's not what we're here for. We are sent by Allah ﷻ. So all the help and all the requirements of being a messenger, being a khalifah of Allah ﷻ in this world are going to be with us. So what are some of the things that differentiate an ambassador versus a tourist? First of all, the one who's being sent by Allah ﷻ, he knows he has the full support of the qudrah of Allah ﷻ, the one who's sending him. That if anything happens to him, Allah ﷻ is going to be there for him. وَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ فَإِنَّكَ بِأَعْيُنِنَا Allah ﷻ tells His messengers, in this particular verse Allah ﷻ tells the Prophet, be patient because you're right in front of our eyes. You're right in front of us. And the fact that we know that, when Musa al-Islam was being surrounded by Fir'aun, what did he say? كَلَّا إِنَّ مَعِيَ رَبِّي سَهِدِينَ Allah is with me because this messenger of Allah knows the qudrah, the power, the help. Everything of Allah is with them. And if anyone wants to come to harm them, what happens then? Allah says in another surah, لا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا The Prophet is saying to Abu Bakr. Now in surah Yasin, Allah talks about Habib Najjar. When they're trying to, they hurt him, what did Allah say? وَمَا أَنزَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ مِن بَعْدِهِ مِن جُنْدٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ وَمَا كُنَّا مُنْزِلِينَ We didn't have to send a large army. Look, and when people hurt and cause difficulty to this messenger of Allah, he didn't send a large group of angels. إِن كَانْتِ لَّا صَيْحَةٌ It was just one loud scream. But compare that to the messengers,
the people who Allah sent to this world, who know we're sent by Allah. How did Allah aid them? He could have sent them one angel in Badr. But Allah says, أَن يُمِدَّكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ بِثَلَاثَةِ آلَافٍ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُنْزَلِينَ In another verse, He says, وَيَأْتُوكُمْ مِنْ فَوْرِكُمْ هَذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ مِنْ خَمْسَةِ آلَافٍ So the first thing an ambassador knows, the difference is that, that person is being sent and supported by the country that's sending him or her. And Allah is sending us, Allah's power, Allah's treasure is with us. The second thing that's the difference is, an ambassador's expenses are paid for. His travel, boarding, lodging, full responsibility of the one who's sending. In our case, it's the full responsibility of Allah. وَمَا مِنْ دَابَةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ اللَّهِ رِزْقُهَا It is the responsibility of Allah. Allah tells messengers, وَأْمُرْ أَهْلَكَ بِالصَّلَاةِ وَاسْطَبِرْ عَلَيْهَا لَا نَسْأَلُكَ رِزْقًا نَحْنُ نَرْزُقُكُ That's why the messengers say over and over again, لا أسألكم عليه مالا We don't want money. لا أسألكم عليه أجراء. We don't want your gratification. We don't want nothing. Because all this Allah will give us. So the second thing as we're going through this life of ours is to understand we're sent by Allah. Allah has taken responsibility because He's the one that sent us. So why are we worried? سَيَأْتِي بِهِ اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمِ بِفَضْلِهِ وَلَوْ لَمْ يَكُن مِنْ لِلْنِّسَانِ بِنَاطِقِهِ فَفِي أَيِّ شَيْن تَدْهَبُ النَّفْسُ حَسْرًا وَقَدْ قَسَّمَ الرَّحْمَنُ رِزْقَ الْخَلَائِقِ Why am I worrying about this? Allah has already distributed this. Allah has taken responsibility for it. Even if I don't ask for it, Allah is still going to give it to me. You don't have to ask for rizq. Allah will still give it to you because it was written for you. إِلَّمْ تَعْرِفْ عُنْوَانَ رِزْقِكَ فَلَا تَخَفْ لِأَنَّ رِزْقَكَ يَعْرِفُ عُنْوَانَكَ If you don't know the address to your job, to your rizq, don't worry. Rizq knows your address and it will reach you somehow, someway.
Another point that's mentioned is Allah has taken responsibility to train us and to teach us. Don't get overburdened, how Sheikh Abdullah just mentioned if you started reading Quran. Allah says, لَا تُحَرِّكْ لِسَانِكِ لِتَعْجَلَ بِهِ إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا جَمْعَهُ وَقُرْآنَ When someone's being sent by a country, they train them, they teach them. Same thing Allah is telling the Prophet of Allah. Don't try too hard, don't keep moving your tongue. It is our responsibility to teach you and to help you. So we're gonna be in America, in Canada, all over the world, facing all these different circumstances and situations. Some of these situations were not, Sahaba never faced. How are we gonna go through life? Allah will teach us. The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith, يَا بَادَر مَا زَهِدَ عَبْدٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا No person has ever absent from dunya إِلَّا أَنْبَتَ اللَّهُ الحِكْمَةَ فِي قَلْبِهِ Allah gives them wisdom in their heart. وَأَنطَقَ بِهَا لِسَانَهُ And Allah makes them speak that wisdom through their tongue. وَبَصَّرَهُ بِعْيُوبِ الدُّنْيَا وَدَائِهَا وَدَوَائِهَا وَأَخْرَجَهُ مِنْهَا سَالِمًا إِلَى دَارِ السَّلَامِ Allah shows them the vices, the problems of this world and also gives that person, inspires them with the solutions and the cure for the problems of this world. So you have this Allah, the other part of this what I was saying was Allah is the one who takes responsibility for training and Tarbiyah. So don't be too burdened by that. Then another point as I'm going through all of them is the one who's being sent always cares and is cautious about the غير. He has غير, that he does not do anything or she does not do anything that will paint a bad picture of the one who's sending him. So in this situation Allah sent us and we're representing the Prophet ﷺ. So we should always be cautious that if I do something wrong, it's going to reflect on the Prophet's character. It's going to reflect on the Deen of Islam. Iqbal says, تُغَنِي أَزْهَرَ دُعَالَم مَنْ فَقِيرٍ رَوزَ مَحْشَرْ عُزْرْهَا مَنْ بَزِيرٍ قَرْتُمِي بِنِ حِسَابَ مْنَا قُزِيرٍ أَزْنِقَاهِ مُصْطَفَىٰ بِنْهَا بَقِيرٍ One of his best poems, he says, Oh Allah, you're so غني and I'm so فقير.
You're independent, I'm so dependent. On the Day of Judgment, don't stop me and hold me accountable for my good deeds and bad deeds. But then he says, if you decide to take my accountability, I have one request. Don't take it in front of the Prophet ﷺ because I don't want to hurt his feelings. The غيرة of a person, the غيرة, we say in Arabic, that I don't want to embarrass the Prophet ﷺ. I don't want to misrepresent him. I remember I was driving really fast in my car and one average person, you know, not even a scholar from overseas, was sitting next to me and I was driving fast and not putting my blinkers on. He looked at me and said, if you're going to drive like this in this country, don't wear a turban. Because when someone looks at you, they can look at you, of course, they can think maybe there's a Sikh or he's a Muslim. But for sure, you know, most people will say this is a Muslim and that's going to reflect bad on Islam. So that's another thing we should think about as an ambassador. We're representing the Prophet ﷺ. We're representing Allah. Let our character not paint a bad picture on them. And finally, these guys are on the screen now again. Finally, it's a person who's being sent by Allah, who's being sent by Allah. You know, when you're being sent by a country and you're like high level, like Sheikh Umar's a high level guy, gets sent by and he's going somewhere, you have this direct communication with the people on top. You don't have to go through 5, 10, 15 different people. Similarly, we have been sent by Allah. We have this direct line of communication with Allah ﷻ. If you look in Surah Al-Anbiya, Allah talks about when Nuh ﷺ called upon Allah, فَاستَجَبْنَا لَهُ فَاستَجَبْنَا لَهُ فَاستَجَبْنَا لَهُ We answered their call. We answered their call. We answered their call. Four times in Surah Al-Anbiya, he mentions that. And similarly for us, وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِي عَنِّي فَإِنِّي قَرِيبٌ We have this direct line of communication with Allah because we have been sent by Allah. In Hadith Qudsi, Allah says, وَمَا مِنْ عَبْدٍ يُطِيعُنِي
Every time a person obeys Me, إِلَّا وَأَنَا مُعْطِيهِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَسْأَلَنِي I will give him before or her, before they even ask Me. Because I know what they need. وَمُسْتَجِيبٌ لَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَدُعَنِي I will answer their call before they even make dua. وَغَافِرُ لَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرَنِي And I will forgive them before they even ask for forgiveness. I conclude with this amazing poem of Iqbal. He says, تَرِي دُعَاءٍ سِي قَضَىٰ تُو بَدَلْ نَهِي سَكْتِي مَگَرْ هَا اِسْسِ يِي مُمْكِنْ كَي تُو بَدَلْ جَي It's possible that your dua does not have enough strength. That it will change the tides and change your destiny. But it's possible that this dua will change you. تَرِي دُعَاءٍ سِي قَضَىٰ تُو بَدَلْ سَكْتِي مَگَرْ هَا اِسْسِ يِي مُمْكِنْ كَي تُو بَدَلْ جَي He says, your wish is that all your wishes are fulfilled. And my wish is that your wishes and desires change. And you understand that you asked the right thing from Allah SWT. So Allah give us the understanding that we've been sent by Him. It's a very powerful feeling. Once you know you have Allah with you, you have direct line of communication, that's what gave the strength to the prophets of Allah. And that same strength we can have and we can navigate through life. And this is my message for all of you today. MashaAllah. Do I say it? Upon the conclusion I say it with TK. Is that how you do it? Wahwa. Wahwa. Wahwa. Wahwa. You say Wahwa. Rahwa. Rahwa. Rahwa. I can see Shaikh Abdullah was just flowing. Every time he started, he broke into Urdu poetry. I was looking at his face. I just told him I was looking at him. He was just like loving it, man. Yeah, man. He's coming, man. He speaks so sweet, MashaAllah. So sweet, so smooth, MashaAllah. MashaAllah. But I will say, I'm not going to let this one go. I can't let this one go. You said your Shaikh told you, if you're going to drive that way,
don't wear a turban because you'd embarrass, you'd be embarrassing to the Dean. Yeah. I hope you noticed that you didn't wear a turban when you were shooting those basketballs. Oh, Shaikh. Oh, shots fired. Oh, man. I hope you noticed the Palestinian slippers that I was wearing. Imagine I was wearing slippers in the shalwar and playing like that. Imagine if I had shoes on. Let's talk about that, too. We appreciate, as Muslims, we appreciate that you take your turban off when you play ball. I'm sorry, man. I'm sorry. No, that's okay. I love you. I love you a lot. No problem. This is brotherly banter. It's all good, man. I just couldn't help myself. I mean, you did hijack Yaqeen's software somehow. I don't even know who to trust anymore. You took Fozy. He's in the back over here. Chance is somewhere. I don't trust Chance anymore. I don't know. I trust Shaikh Abdullah. I can bribe him, too. No problem. It's not hard. Is that what's happening? Is there bribing going on here? If people start wearing turbans to work tomorrow, I'll be like, okay, this is what's happening. I was in a turban. I saw that. I was like, see that. I'm getting my headache because I'm laughing so much my head's hurting. So, Shaikh, make dua for me, man. Make dua for all of us. We'll see you soon, inshallah. Allah bless you and bless your brothers. Bless your family. Amen. Bless everyone, alhamdulillah, from the Miftah family as well. We love and appreciate you guys. Jazakallah khair for making time for us. We know how busy you are. We know how busy you are. Bless you, inshallah. I love coming on. Between classes and inviting people to go for 40 days and all that, man. MashaAllah, man. All the masjids you're hopping, hop in masjids. That's all I do, huh?
Jazakallah khair, man. May Allah bless you and reward your efforts, your khidmah fi sabiha Allah. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, honestly, you shared some gems today too, honestly. Some serious gems that I hope the audience, inshallah, will take home and ponder with, inshallah ta'ala. So, keep us in your dua, Shaikh, for the rest of the month, inshallah. Please don't be a stranger. We appreciate you. Jazakallah khair. Jazakallah khair, Shaikh Abdullah. InshaAllah we'll see you all tomorrow. BarakAllahu feekum. Salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah.
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