Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 2
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Juz' 25 with Sarah Sultan | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 2
Jealousy and envy, among other vices, led some Makkans who could have been companions of the Prophet ﷺ to become disbelievers. In light of those incidents, Dr. Omar Suleiman, Sh. Abdullah Oduro, and Sr. Sarah Sultan reflect upon Allah’s warning to the disbelievers, how understanding His blessed Names can benefit us, and how to overcome our negative desires and vices.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wasalamu ala rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Alhamdulillah wa ala albira ameen. Shaykh Abdullah and I have been having some issues. I've been, I told him I really wanted what he's wearing. I know he sports it better than I ever would, but but man, mashallah, I want one. You know, like I'm just saying, I want one. So, but anyway, we were having an argument, so we decided to bring a counselor, Sister Sara, to help us out. We're almost at the home stretch of Ramadan. It's 25th. We're almost there. And we just want to make sure we don't get into it prior to Eid. So welcome to the show, Sister Sara. Alhamdulillah. On a serious note, Sister Sara is no stranger, alhamdulillah, to anyone that follows Yaqeen's work. In fact, in the comment section, we had several episodes where, when are you bringing Sister Sara Sultan? So it's at a point now where there's protest if you don't show up. Alhamdulillah, as one of the authors of the trauma collection and so many other good works, alhamdulillah, as a regular on so much of our programs with very beneficial insights. So welcome back, Sister Sara. JazakAllah khairan. I've been so enjoying following Quran 30 for 30 this Ramadan, alhamdulillah. It's wonderful to be here, alhamdulillah. BarakAllahu fiqi. So we had a correction session that we're going to do right now. I'm going to correct myself, and Sheikh Abdullah wanted to. He said he wanted to correct himself on a serious note from a previous episode. But I'm going to start, and it fits perfectly, from the Meeting of Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam series. So just so everyone knows, what I'm planning to do this year, inshallah, is that after the series is over, after Eid, a week after, inshallah, probably, I'll do a Q&A, clarifications, certain things in the episode that maybe need a little bit more elaboration. So I'll do maybe one session, inshallah. But one of them that's going to come up, Sister Sara, Egyptian background, what do you call milk in Arabic? Laban. Laban, yes.
Only half Egyptian, but laban. Half Egyptian, that's right. So the half Egyptian side of you says laban, which is one of the times that fusha actually lines up with Masri, lahja. So like the fusha actually lines up with the Egyptian dialect here. So for those of you that are not familiar with the Shami dialect, the Palestinians in the Shamim call milk halib, and laban is yogurt. So I keep on messing up, and I hear it myself when I'm listening to an episode, and I'm calling laban yogurt drink. So if you're hearing me say yogurt drink, it's not literally that container of laban. Laban is milk, and I messed up, and I will do a clarification session. So I had to get that off of my chest. The Masris are right. Laban is milk. It's not yogurt drink. That's a Shami intervention innovation. So from the drinks of the Prophet, salallahu alaihi wasalam. So I asked one of my teachers, I said, man, like what do I do? He said, well, the Prophet, salallahu alaihi wasalam, they used to do a milk-based drink, so it was laban per se, but sometimes it often truly was like a labanish, a milk drink type, yogurt drink type, but anyway, that's an excuse. I'll have to correct it, inshallah. So from now on, if I mess up and I say laban as yogurt drink, you can correct me, inshallah ta'ala. It is milk, and the Masris are right, and I admit my fault in that regard. So all the Egyptians should feel vindicated now about their dialect. We do. We do. That's awesome. Shaykh Abdullah, on a serious note, you said right before we got started that you wanted to talk about something just in the previous episode. You just wanted to make a slight correction. Alhamdulillah. Jazakallah khair. It was speaking about Prophet Yunus, alaihi salam. I think it was a session that we had with Sister Aisha Prime, may Allah preserve her. I translated a portion of a verse, and the translation was incorrect because it could imply something that is not befitting when it comes to the understanding of the Prophets. When I was talking about the Prophet Yunus in the chapter of Sufat,
I used another verse as well to speak about the Prophet Yunus when he was leaving his people, and I used a verse in the chapter of Anbiya where Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala said, وَذَنّونَ إِذْ ذَهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَظَنَّ أَن لَنَّ قَدِرَ عَلَيْهِ فَنَادَ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ أَن لَا إِلَهَيْا الْآيَةِ Yunus, Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala said, and the companion of the fish, when he left off angrily. But then I translated and I said, and he thought that Allah would not overpower him. That's an incorrect translation. It's incorrect. وَذَنّونَ إِذْ ذَهَبَ مُغَاضِبًا فَفَلَنَّ أَن لَنَّ قَدِرَ عَلَيْهِ Because Qadr, as I'm almost sure it's been translated by Laylatul Qadr, mashallah, the examples, it has a number of meanings, but none of them could really be, in this particular context, overpowered. Because it's not befitting for a prophet to think that God would not overpower him. Rather, it was when he left angrily, he thought that he fulfilled his mission. He didn't think that anything would happen to him in regards to not fulfilling the mission. But it was never that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he thought that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would not overpower him. حَسْرُكَ لَّهِ That's never becoming of a prophet, and that's not what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would predestine. So I just wanted to correct that translation when it comes to نَقَدِرَ عَلَيْهِ It's rather, he didn't think that there would not be any decree upon him. Right? He thought that he fulfilled his mission. JazakAllah khair, Sheikh Abdullah. And I'm not going to say who, but one of the mashayikh texted you, and then you said, I really want to... So alhamdulillah, I think there is something on a light note, alhamdulillah, which is that every time someone comes on Quran 30 for 30, we've noticed, alhamdulillah, that even within our own yaqeen community, alhamdulillah, the scholars and teachers have been following. So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward all of them that are watching and that are keeping us on our toes, inshaAllah ta'ala, to make sure we are delivering to the best of our ability.
JazakAllah khair, Sheikh Abdullah, for wanting to share that, inshaAllah, for the record. Oh wait, you have one more. One other mistake. No, I'm just kidding. And just for the record, that's why I think, mashAllah, all of you that are in organizations, Islamic organizations, or any kind of teamwork, this tanaswa is very, very important. And those of you that may be giving comments and giving advice, subhanAllah, mashAllah, it's red with the team, again. And that's the word I want to capitalize on is the team. The presence is felt, mashAllah, when you have people that look out for each other and they give the advice. And that's something that is very, very important as Muslims in general. But if you're working together for a common cause, don't ever hesitate to give advice to your brother or sister because, as long as it's in good faith, inshaAllah, we have the right intention, it's only going to be a reward for everyone, inshaAllah ta'ala. So, mashAllah. JazakAllah khair. Sheikh, you might as well just go ahead and plug the fundraiser now. So support Yaqeen last ten nights. That's why he didn't know you. JazakAllah khair, Sheikh Abdullah. Bismillah. We had a lengthy introduction today, but let's go ahead and get started. Bid'ah ta'ala. BarakAllahu feekum. So we are now, even Khadijah is like, get it over with. I'm getting tired in the back over here. Hurry up and get started. So we are now, alhamdulillah, in Juz 25. May Allah grant us a good ending to this Ramadan. Allahuma Ameen. And Juz 25 is Mekkin Quran. It is still part of Fussilat. It goes into Surah Tashura, Zuhruf, Dukhan, Jathiyah. It has the same theme as we've spoken about previously that emphasizes the afterlife and emphasizes the purpose of life. And it actually is the reason why some of the ulama mention that there is such a punishing tone from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to the Mekkans in particular at this point is because the people in Mecca were overtaken by a famine.
And they asked the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam, because this was sort of in the middle stage of his Mekkan da'wah, if he truly is a prophet, to pray to Allah that Allah lift the famine. And so the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam, after being requested of that, and he made the dua that the famine be lifted, and it was lifted on the people of Mecca. They simply increased in their tughyaan. They increased in their rebelliousness towards Allah and in their oppression of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam. So it was sent down, Surah Zuhruf in particular, the ulama say was sent down in response to that. And the three surahs that come together, Dukhan and Jathiyah, sent down in the same sequence as an answer to the dua of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam or an answer to the dua of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam being answered, which was a clear sign of his prophethood, and hence a very harsh revelation of much warning to the people. However, there is one theme I'm going to spend a little bit of time on inshaAllah ta'ala, and inshaAllah I'm going to keep my part short because we have, alhamdulillah, we have Sister Sara and we have Sheikh Abdullah of course, and the introduction was a little longer today. But it's actually just one theme I want you to isolate inshaAllah ta'ala and pay attention that really does fit the seerah of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam and is one of the most relevant issues of our time, and that is the theme of envy and jealousy. Envy and jealousy. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in verse 31, Wa qalu lawla nuzila hadhal qur'an ala rajul minal qariyatayni azeem They said, how come this qur'an was not sent to one of the two great men of the two great cities? And this is, as the mufassirun mention, wa qalu lawla nuzila ala al-walid ibn al-mughira min ahli makka aw habib ibn al-amr al-thaqafi min ahli ta'if Had this qur'an been revealed to al-walid ibn al-mughira, which Sheikh Omar Hussain, we talked about, khalid ibn al-walid radiAllahu ta'ala anhu So had this been revealed on al-walid ibn al-mughira of Makka,
or of habib ibn al-amr of Ta'if, we would have been okay. But why him? Right? And so the envy that they had of the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam being at the root of this, at some point, that as they were considering this message and understanding the merits of this message, but fine, why him? Why did Allah choose him? Had Allah chosen one of us, maybe we would not have had this type of a resistance to the message. So you found the jealousy of Abu Jahl with his tribe, of Banu Maqsoom, and by the way, al-walid ibn al-mughira is also from the same tribe as Abu Jahl. So you have the jealousy of the tribe against Banu Hashim. Banu Hashim can't produce a prophet, and then we're left behind. And then you have the individual jealousy, like I should have been the leader, I should have been the one to be a prophet. And Allah says, do you get to distribute the mercy of your Lord? Do you get to distribute the revelation? You don't make those types of decisions. So the arrogance that was produced by that envy, and that produced a rebelliousness and an opposition to what they knew of being the truth, and subhanAllah, they could have been people of Jannah, they could have been companions of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and competed with other companions in khair, in good. But instead, because of their envy, what ended up happening to them? They ended up losing out on being sahaba, and they ended up in the process being complete losers, right? Complete losers in this life and in the hereafter. And there is a parallel, before I get to the other seerah implication of that, to the shaitan, to iblees. Iblees' objection to why Adam alayhis salam over me. Iblees was already elevated above the rest of the jinn, so in his rank, in his rank, and in his area where he could have excelled, he excelled to the maximum of rising above the jinn to even be in the company of the angels. But subhanAllah, his envy drove him to what? His pride, his envy drove him to what? To become an enemy of Allah subhanAllah ta'ala,
to become the worst enemy of Allah subhanAllah ta'ala. Had Iblees done sajda to Adam alayhis salam, he would have maintained his rank, and he would have even ascended in his rank, because it would have been another sign of obedience to Allah subhanAllah ta'ala. But we see what happened to him as a result of that. So the topic of envy comes up here, and particularly their degrading of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wa sallam, and what that led them to. Now the really interesting thing subhanAllah, is the other side of this, and I'm actually going to end with this inshAllah, just share this ayah and then we'll move on, because I'm really excited, or two more ayahs inshAllah, I'm really excited to hear the input. But Allah says in surah Ash-Shura, same juz, walaw basata allahu ar-risqa li'ibadihi labaghaw fil ardi walakin yunazzilu biqadarin ma yashaa innahu bi'ibadihi khabeerun baseer If Allah were to grant ample wealth to his servants, they might go about transgressing in the land, but instead he sends down in proportion whatever he wills of his sustenance, and surely Allah subhanAllah ta'ala is well acquainted in all seeing. He's well aware, he's khabeer, and he's baseer, he's all seeing when it comes to the matters that relate to his servants and otherwise. And Khabab ibn al-Arat radiAllahu ta'ala anhu says, this verse was revealed about us, the poor Muslims, who looked at the wealth of some of the disbelievers, in Madinah, Banu Qurayza being one of the tribes there, the wealthy tribes there, in Mecca looking to some of the rich, of some of the tribes like Banu Mahzum and others, but we were looking at some of those that had so much wealth, and that can feel like an injustice, right? Like why does that person have so much good when they're such bad people? And why am I deprived when I am a good person, when I'm believing and following the path? And subhanAllah, this is according to Khabab radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, a response from Allah subhanAllah ta'ala, not a condemnation, but Allah knows where he puts his Risala, where he puts his message, and Allah knows where he puts his money and his wealth, and Allah knows where he distributes power,
and Allah subhanAllah ta'ala knows what he's doing, and he's well acquainted and well aware, and it is ultimately for our own good. And so the poor believers were comforted by that, and in fact they sought out how to compete for good deeds, right? When they complained to the Prophet ﷺ about the rich Sahaba taking all of the good deeds in regards to their Sadaqah. But at the same time, human beings, sometimes that sense can overcome a person. And then Allah subhanAllah ta'ala says finally, responding to Abu Jahl, and this is also, this is now in Al-Jathiyah, verse 49, Thuq innaka anta al-Aziz wa al-Kareem Taste this punishment, you are a person who is Aziz, who is Kareem, who is mighty, and who is noble. Why did that ayah come down? SubhanAllah, one time the Prophet ﷺ met Abu Jahl, stops the Prophet ﷺ and says, Hey, you know, I am Al-Aziz al-Kareem. SubhanAllah, look at the arrogance. He just stops the Prophet ﷺ and says, You know who I am? I am the most powerful person on this earth. I am the one who is mighty. I am the one who is noble. And Allah subhanAllah ta'ala causes him to be killed at Badr, humiliated, and he is reviled, he is admonished with his own words. SubhanAllah, his own words. Thuq, go ahead, taste the punishment of the fire. You are Al-Aziz al-Kareem, aren't you? You are this person who says that you are mighty and noble. SubhanAllah, the tie-in here of envy is just very powerful. The envy of those without prophethood of the Prophet ﷺ and what that led to of their destruction, and Allah subhanAllah ta'ala comforting the companions not to look to those or feel jealousy towards those who had wealth, but instead understand that the apportioning of Allah subhanAllah ta'ala was perfect and with that inshaAllah ta'ala, Sister Sara, if you have any reflections, and then we'll move on to Sheikh Abdullah ibn Mahmoud.
JazakAllah khayran for the beautiful reminder, mashAllah. You know, a couple of thoughts came to mind as you were speaking about that, and the first one being, like the understanding of who Allah subhanAllah ta'ala is is so essential when we're working on jealousy, right? Because jealousy is a very normal human emotion to struggle with that. But knowing that Allah subhanAllah ta'ala is the most wise, that Allah subhanAllah ta'ala is the most just, and so that wherever he is spreading, you know, rizq in whatever form it is, you know, looking at the rizq in our own lives, not just materially, but also emotionally and socially and relationally and all of these things, and then, you know, realizing that goodness comes from Allah subhanAllah ta'ala, and it often comes in forms that we don't recognize. And so we look at what we think is goodness in other people's lives and think about what's lacking in ours. And that's what amplifies jealousy. So really knowing Allah subhanAllah ta'ala, and knowing, you know, the goodness that he provides and that he's the most just and the most wise is really tremendously powerful. And then the other thought that came to mind is something that a lot of people have been bringing up lately is the jealousy that comes with social media consumption, right? And so just one thing to keep in mind, especially with these last few days, is limiting our access to consumption that's going to yield jealous feelings within us because, again, natural human emotion, but it's such a stealer of joy subhanAllah. And so just trying to be very careful about what we're taking in and are we looking at those like the Prophet ﷺ says, like, look at those below you in terms of material wealth so that you don't belittle the blessings of Allah subhanAllah ta'ala. And so, you know, are we reflecting on it that way and are we limiting our consumption of media that might be yielding jealous feelings?
BarakAllahu fiki. Excellent. Sheikh Abdullah? Bismillah wa salatu wa salam ala rasool Allah wa ala aalihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'du. So when mentioning that subhanAllah, you know, when talking about, you know, of those mushrikun that were very arrogant, you see Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, you know, and there's a chapter devoted to speaking about him, Tabatidha Abi Lahab bin Wattab, you know, that he was very ridiculing of the Prophet ﷺ in the message. That is because, you know, the people that did not worship Allah subhanAllah, voluntarily disbelieved in him, they would look at the signs that Allah subhanAllah has put in front of them. But the response to those signs is that which was not befitting to them in this life and in the next life. And that's why even when speaking about jealousy and these emotions, they are natural that we may have them. But there is a level of responsibility that we as human beings have when that sign that we may see emanate from someone that could breed that jealousy, that natural response that we may have. What do we do with it? Do we allow it to continue on? And if it becomes a problem, do we seek the proper means in order to alleviate or relinquish that ailment that may take place internally, whether it's psychologically or spiritually, and even those intertwined within one another. So I want to talk about a verse in the Quran, and it's in the end of the chapter of Fusilat. It's one of my favorite verses subhanAllah in regards to just reminding me of the simplicity of the communication of Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala, but also how it's complex at the same time. What do I mean by that? You know, last year, subhanAllah, Sheikh Yasser Fahmy, he mentioned, he talked about the ayat of Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala, and it was very, very profound because I like what he said, that Allah speaks to you through His ayat.
And he mentioned the statement of Ghazali rahimAllah ta'ala, that when Allah subhanAllah wa ta'ala speaks to you through the wahy munazzal, but then He also speaks to you from that which is fee kitabillahi mastoor, that which is in the Quran, but also with the signs of the Lord, that which you see in front of you. Allah is speaking to you. Allah is speaking to you and telling you the manifestation or how His names and attributes are put forth in front of you. So when you have a child, one of the names amongst many of the names is al-Razzaq. One of the names amongst many of the names is al-Hafidh. Al-Razzaq is the provider. His provision will never be overpowered by anyone or anything else. When He wants it to happen, you call kun fayakoon, right? When Jesus was born, we believe Jesus was born in the womb of His mother Mary, and Allah said, be and it is, and Jesus was born, alayhi salam. So when looking at this, all of these are signs. All of these are signs of the greatness of Allah from different aspects of His majesty and His greatness and His honor, these names and attributes, which are very, very beautiful that we should learn and should try to understand in our lives. And then also it's signs for us as human beings. So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says in the beautiful verse, when He's speaking to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and He's telling him to tell the mushrikoon, the people that voluntarily disbelieved in Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and did not acknowledge those signs as they should be acknowledged, He says after Audhu Billahi Minash Shaitanir Rajim, Qul ar-ra'aytum in kaana min AAindi Allahi thumma kafartum bih man aballu min man huwa fee shiqaqim ba'eet This is verse number 52. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, say, have you considered if the Quran is from Allah and you disbelieved in it, who would be more astray than the one who is in extreme dissension? When you look at these signs and you realize that there is a creator, there is a maker, there is a sustainer, al-khalaq, al-razq, al-mudabbir, He has authority over everything,
what's most important for the human being is that when you see these characteristics of God or you see the actions of God, of lordship, what response does that engender? What does it bring forth from you? And that is the level of responsibility for the human being. When you see and realize that what is beyond my capabilities has been given to me or that sustains me from the air, from the sun, all of these elements of creation within the ecosystems that we see is there for you, Abdullah. It's there to provide for you, to sustain you at the same time. So then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, He told the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam to ask this question. If you think that this is from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, if you consider that this Quran is from Allah and you disbelieved in it, what do you think? What would happen? Then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la continues on and He brings a beautiful verse, Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, after those that disbelieve, after seeing those, the Abu Lahabs, the Abu Jahls, right? After seeing those signs from Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la and you voluntarily disbelieved in that, you have it in your heart, but you didn't make a choice because of something that you wanted to obtain and maintain within your status, your reputation. That was much more beneficial to you, aspects of the dunya. This is why Allah speaks about the dunya so many times in the Quran, of this worldly, mesmerizing life. It is ghuroor, it is deceitful, it is full of deception. Allah says after that, Sanurihim aayatina fil-aafaqi wa fee anfusihim hatta yatabayyan lahum anhu alhaq Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says here, we will surely show them our signs. Sanurihim aayatina we will show them our signs in two things, fil-aafaqi wa fee anfusihim and aafaq is like the horizons or anything that some scholars mentioned that takes place within the cosmos,
within our element, the cosmos unit. Aafaq, as they say, you could say it's horizons, but when we say anything that the horizon captures or what we can see within ourselves and outside of ourselves, particularly outside of ourselves, some scholars mentioned in this case. So when looking at the horizon, we look at the sun and we see how it rises and we see how it declines. We see what takes place on the earth and that's why some of the scholars, they say that fil-aafaqi, they talk about, some scholars say that it was the conquests of the different areas around Mecca. Wa fee anfusikum and in yourselves was the conquest of Mecca. Some scholars say it was Badr. But in any case, if we wanted to generalize it, we say everything external, everything outside of you is the aafaq. So looking at everything that takes place, as was mentioned, the ecosystems, how the seasons change and you have no ultimate control over it, but it's going to happen beyond your control and beyond whatever you wish and whatever you want. It's going to take place. There has to be an ultimate maker for it. There has to be a sonnet. There has to be a creator. There has to be a sustainer. That is Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. So Allah says, we're going to continuously show them our signs. And then fee anfusikum in your own selves. And when we talk about yourselves, many of us may think of the anatomy and the physiology. You know, the organs in your body, your eyes, and then what does that organ do? But it's much more than that. As you see, Mashallah, we have a therapist with us today. You know, psychologically, what takes place in your heart? How does that affect your mind? You know, these things that take place from the intangible aspects of our physical self, Allah is telling you to ponder over that as well. Ponder over all of these things. And that's why Allah is saying, we're going to show them all of this
over and over and over again until the truth comes clear to them. And that truth, some scholars say, the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the Quran, Islam, the meaning is one. It is, as they say, ihtilafah, to know it. It is something that is maybe different in what way we understand it, but it's all generally the same thing. Meaning that this truth of Islam, the truth of Allah being one, the truth of Him being the ultimate creator, and acknowledging what the Creator has brought in front of you should bring forth something in yourself. If you have that feeling, just as I did before I became a Muslim, I had those questions. Is this really the right thing to do? I see all these signs in front of me, and I know it has a deity, but my responsibility, have I fulfilled that ultimate responsibility, which was for me to acknowledge Him in my life and acknowledge the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So this is the ultimate call that was being given to those polytheists at that time. But in general, it's for all of creation to remember these signs and to answer that communication that Allah is giving you through these signs. And as a result, in gratitude and in shukr and thankfulness of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to Him and to all the creation. Allah knows best. JazakAllah khair. Beautiful reflections. Sister Sara, tafadhal. JazakAllah khairan for that beautiful reflection. Shukr Allah, I think it ties so beautifully into what I'm hoping to discuss. You know, SubhanAllah, the idea of being able to embrace and accept Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la as the one true deity, as the source of truth, as the one stable entity in our lives is at the core of what I'm hoping to discuss today. Which is, you know, that sometimes we struggle to embrace and accept the truth. Sometimes there are pieces of ourselves, you know, like Sheikh Hamad was discussing jealousy. Sometimes there are pieces of us that struggle,
our egos, our desires for temporary gratification. And so I wanted to talk about the verse in Surat Al-Jatiyah where Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, "'Have you seen,' to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, "'those who have taken their own desires as their God? "'And so Allah left them to stray knowingly, "'sealed their hearing and hearts "'and placed the cover on their sight. "'Who then can guide them after Allah? "'Will you all not then be mindful?' Right, and so, you know, I wanted to focus on this first part of this incredible verse. You know, "'Afa ra'ayta man ittaqadha ilaahun hawaa' And so, you know, this idea of have you seen those who have taken their own desires as their God? And so when we ask ourselves the idea of, you know, what's more important in our own lives? Is it that we prioritize Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la or that we prioritize our wants and desires? If we were to ask any of ourselves this, you know, we would say that we prioritize Allah, that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is first and foremost. But a lot of times our actions can really struggle to catch up with that value, with that prioritization. And so I know that, you know, during Ramadan, we all hope for this sense of upliftment, right? This spiritual, emotional upliftment as we strive to increase our worship during this month. But what about when that doesn't happen, right? What happens when it's really hard? What happens when we just don't feel it? When worship feels like a mountain that has to be climbed rather than a path that's filled with serenity? Most of our wants are typically neutral. They're not positive or negative, right? But what happens when our desires don't align with what's pleasing to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la? And this is a struggle that every single one of us faces. And we face it very often and that's okay, right? We're not held accountable, alhamdulillah, for our feelings, right?
We're held accountable for our actions. And that's why the reward for not choosing to take our wants as God's for us is so incredible, right? In Surah Al-Nasi'at, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la tells us that as for those who were in awe of standing before their Lord and restrained themselves from evil desires, paradise will certainly be their home, right? And so this idea of being able to restrain ourselves from our evil desires, of being able to control our actions despite, these are desires, which means that we naturally feel the want. The feeling is fine, but what we do with it will determine things, right? And so feeling something, having that desire is not the same as acting upon it. And so that feeling of something, wanting something and not acting upon it can actually be a path toward Jannah for us. Because when we do that, we are choosing Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la standard over our own. We're proclaiming that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is our Rabb, right? That he is our Lord, that he is Al-Khaliq, that he is our creator, that he is Al-'Aleem. He's the one who knows everything and we don't. That he is Al-Hadi, the one who guides us and leads us to the right path. That he is Al-Haq, right? The one who is the truth, the one whose essence is wisdom, justice and rightness, right? And so with this mindset, we can acknowledge that sometimes when we want something, right? Sometimes even when that thing feels right, that our emotions are not facts, right? And this is why the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam used to always repeat this du'a, Ya Muqallib al-Qulub, Thabbit Qalbi al-Adeenik, right? We're asking Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, Oh, Turner of hearts, keep my heart firm on your religion, on your faith, right? And so our emotions, they play an important role in our lives, it's important to pay attention to them, right?
They're signals, but they are not decision makers. Emotions are transient, they change constantly. But what is not transient, excuse me, but what is not transient, what is always permanent, what is always stable, is what Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la has told us, is the rope of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. It's his promise, his truth, and the commands that he has given us, right? So how do we do this? How do we, when we are struggling, how do we push through when our feelings are not aligned with what we know to be pleasing to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la when our desires are not aligned with that? And so there are three factors that I think are really important for us to consider. The first is reminding ourselves of our purpose and our values. The second is knowing for certain, having that certainty, that the long-term benefit of doing this, of worshiping Allah, of choosing, sometimes what's the harder path, knowing that the long-term benefit that comes with it is the best for us, right? Because it's much easier to choose what's best for us when we're fully certain that goodness is coming. And then the third is learning to sit with discomfort. And this is such an important skill, and one that we don't often hone, right? As human beings, we naturally try to escape discomfort, right, but most things that are worthwhile are not easy, right, whether it's choosing a healthy meal over one that looks more appealing, choosing to work out when you're not feeling it, waking up for Fajr when you're exhausted, apologizing to someone you've wronged, learning a new skill. I mean, the list goes on and on and on of all of these things that are really worthwhile in our lives, but take effort, and that are a lot of times difficult, and a lot of times something that we don't necessarily feel inclined to do, right? Which is why sometimes our feelings are, you know, that's not our decision maker, right? And so for our purpose and value, you know, asking ourselves, are you living your purpose? Are you living your values, right?
Because we live in a world that constantly presses us to make decisions that are not our own, right? And authenticity is like this collection of choices that we have to make every single day to live our values and our purpose. And when we don't do that, what happens is something called cognitive dissonance, which is when your values don't align with your actions, you feel a sense of discomfort. You feel anxiety, you feel sadness, you feel that pit in your stomach, right? And so when you're confronted with situations that contradict your beliefs and your ideals, then what we do as human beings is we try to find a way to resolve the contradiction, to get away from that sense of discomfort. And so when our wants, or our actions, or our desires contradict our faith, then how do we deal with that? We either change the behavior or we change the values, right? And so a lot of times the easier path is to, you know, just change your values, right? Just let go of the things that we know to be important because in that moment, that instant gratification of alleviating that negative feeling, that discomfort feels better. But if we choose to prioritize our values, right? And that comes with the second step of like knowing that goodness is coming, right? We seek the sense of upliftment in our worship. Like I was saying, you know, and it's something that we all want to attain, but it's really important to realize that that is not the ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is the pleasure of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, the worship of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, hoping to see the face of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. And I ask that everybody, you know, here and listening has that opportunity, Allahumma ameen, right? But the ultimate goal is submission to Allah, even when it's hard, right? Especially when it's hard. And so being able to truly trust that Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is the one who knows what's best for us,
that our perception of reality is limited, but Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la sees every single facet, right? That societal standards of happiness and living your best life and things like that, that those things are constantly changing, but that the true freedom, true filling of that void and yearning that we all have within us is on holding onto the rope of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la that is constantly stable, even when we don't feel it in the moment. And even when our perception of what's best for us differs from what we know truly to be what's best for us in the eyes of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, right? Because we've all probably made those decisions sometimes that we've regretted, right? They felt right in the moment, right? But in the end, we regretted them. But worshiping Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la is something that will never lead to a sense of regret, because it's dictated by the one who knows everything, right? We all have these things that we want, but Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la shows us what we need. And so the final point that I wanted to talk about with regards to this ayah, about being able to manage our desires rather than being from amongst those who take their desires as their God, right? Is about discomfort and sitting with the fact that, okay, I want this, I want to do this. This instant gratification is so difficult to resist. How do I resist it? Right, and I once heard a story shared by a rabbi about lobsters and how lobsters are very soft animals, but they live inside a rigid shell. And as they grow, the shell remains the same. And so they become very uncomfortable. They find the shell very confining. And so they cast off their shell and they produce a new one. And so, what happens to this lobster is its signal for growth was discomfort. And that's something that's really important
for us to realize is a lot of times, moments of discomfort and challenges are also times of growth. And there are opportunities for us to grow, discomfort isn't necessarily negative. It can actually be something positive depending on how we push forward and whether we are pushing forward toward our true purpose. And so I want to leave you with two final tips, practical tips about how to help us sit with this discomfort. And the first one is to realize that distress, discomfort, pain, it's all temporary, right? But the joy of choosing the hereafter is everlasting, right? And so if we think about the example of hunger, which is very appropriate for Ramadan, it's a very powerful example because, you can get very hungry and you've all probably experienced this, anybody who is able to fast, that if you can't get to food for a while, the hunger doesn't continue to grow and grow and grow and grow. At some point through the day, like it gets really hard and then all of a sudden it kind of plateaus, right? And then it might even start to go down. Discomfort is the same, right? Tolerating and when you're working towards something worthwhile, when you're doing something hard, it's important to realize that discomfort doesn't last forever. This pain, emotional pain, physical pain, any type of pain, it doesn't last forever, right? And so we remind ourselves that, the struggle is temporary, but the reward is eternal. And then there's a powerful exercise that I wanted to end with, which is something used in therapy for tolerating discomfort, which is using imagery. So I want you to think of something that you might be struggling with, that you know would really be the best for you to begin working on. That it might be hard, it might be uncomfortable, right?
It might be, if you're trying to pray your prayers this month, if you're trying to wear hijab, if you're trying to be patient with someone in your life, or trying to give up a negative habit, whatever way you're striving to worship Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la but you're really struggling with it, just put that in your mind. And then using imagery, right? Whenever it's time to do that thing, to pray, to walk out of your house in hijab, to not yell when you're frustrated, et cetera, right? Walk yourself through imagining something really profound, right? And I'm gonna go through it just in a second. Right? Because it triggers a different response in your mind, your brain and your body, right? And you can choose any visualization you'd like, but I'm choosing one based on a saying by Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu, where he said that, "'Verily good deeds bring brightness upon the face, "'a light in the heart, an expanse of provision, "'strength in the body, "'and love in the hearts of the creation.'" And so whenever you're picturing yourself, doing this act of worship that you're really battling within yourself, that's really, really hard, right? When you notice yourself battling these wants and you are reminding yourself that you are choosing Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la as your God and not your desires, picture yourself engaging in this act of worship that you're striving toward. And while you're picturing yourself engaging in this act of worship, imagine the light radiating from your face. Imagine your heart being showered with light. Imagine the strength entering your body. Picture the angel on your right shoulder actively writing down every single deed and knowing that this deed is being multiplied tremendously as you engage in this and as you strive toward this, right? And see how this shifts your ability to work toward this goal, inshallah. And I ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to make us from amongst those who are able to live our values through our words and actions, who are guided toward a path that brings us closer to Him
and to align what's pleasing to us with what's pleasing to Him, inshallah. Wa min Allah Tawfiq. Wa min Allah Tawfiq. Jazakum Allah Khair. SubhanAllah, very powerful exercise. Khadija loves it. She's like, this is great. Even as a two-year-old, she's like, I can get this. I can get on board with this. But the verse is verse 23 from Surat Al-Jathiyah, which you just covered. And I think, SubhanAllah, it actually fits that. We were talking about, we started off talking about people who were seeing the divine through their desires and not the opposite, right? So they wanted the divine to acquiesce to their desires. So I will appreciate the religion as long as it gives me what I want. And then here you're seeing, SubhanAllah, like Allah calling it out for what it is. Man atahad ila. So wait, you want the religion to follow your desires. So then your God is your desires. It's not the idol. It's what the idol gives you access to. It's not what else you're worshiping beside Allah. It is what that gives you access to of your desires to dictate your own terms on God and how you wanna live. In that regard. And SubhanAllah, Surat Al-Jathiyah is people being brought to their knees, literally on the day of judgment, in forced submission, right? Like all that they oppressed and rebelled and, you know, like, okay, now you're brought to your knees. And the believer is brought to their knees in submission in this life instead. And in that verse, you were talking about imagery. What does Allah say right after? Arayat man atahad ila hu hawa. Allah mentions the sealing of the hearts, the sealing of the eyes, the sealing of the ears, and just go about in your astray ways, right? That Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la lets them in their astray ways. And then the opposite of that, what you were talking about, the empowerment of submission, that a person feels the expanse in submission, not suffocated in submission, but liberated and expanded in submission to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. So Jazakum Allah khair for those beautiful reflections. Jazakum Allah khairan. Allah ibarak fikam.
InshaAllah ta'ala, we're at time. So I'm gonna go ahead and close it off for everyone else, but Sister Sara is going to help me and Sheikh Abdullah get over our beef so that we can end Ramadan strong with each other, inshaAllah. But we appreciate you, Sister Sara, and Sheikh Abdullah as always, and the ASL interpreter as always. May Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la bless you and bless all the volunteers and those behind the scenes and bless all the participants. Reminder to everyone, please tune in inshaAllah ta'ala to the nightly du'a now that Sheikh Suleyman Hani is doing. So we have like the nightly reflection at 1 a.m. central time and Sheikh Suleyman Hani's at 2.30 a.m. central, I believe, 3.30 a.m. I might be mixing up times at this point, but tune in inshaAllah ta'ala and engage in these last 10 nights with the night and all that we have with the regular programming. And please do go to yaqinastu.org slash Ramadan, and please do consider donating to Yaqin in these last 10 nights as well. Jazakum Allah khairan. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Waalaikumussalam warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. The mission of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was to impart knowledge, to speak truth and dispel falsehood, to bring hope in times of darkness, to build a confident people, to bring us together with compassion and in strength, and most of all, to instill everlasting faith in every aspect of our lives so that we can have stronger conviction, fuller hearts and a well-defined purpose. This is what motivates us every day, to inspire a world of faithful change makers who serve as ambassadors of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and as Yaqin strives to build on the final prophetic mission, we invite you to join us in these final 10 nights in realizing that goal.
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