Qur'an 30 for 30 | Season 2
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Juz' 27 with Ust. Zaynab Ansari | Qur'an 30 for 30 Season 2
Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro, joined by special guest Ust. Zaynab Ansari, explore the 27th juz' of the Holy Qur'an from the perspective of the Seerah.
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Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh everyone. Welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. To the blessed 27th juz inshallah ta'ala. We pray that everyone takes advantage of the blessed 27th night bithnillah ta'ala and all of the nights that are left of this blessed month. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. We are blessed with someone who is with us with the webathon. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. And someone that I have just so much respect for and I'm so happy that she finally joined us. Alhamdulillah. And I hope it will be a regular occurrence inshallah ta'ala. Ustada Zainab Ansari who is a scholar in residence at the Taisir Seminary in Tennessee. Please do check them out. An incredible institution, mashallah, that is cultivating some serious leaders bithnillah ta'ala at the Taisir Seminary. And we are very happy to have her inshallah ta'ala and hope to have her more regularly. Ustada Zainab, welcome to Qur'an 30 for 30. As-salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Thank you for having me. Alhamdulillah, it's my honor to be here this evening. BarakAllahu fiqi. Ustada Zainab, you're from New Orleans. Yes. Alhamdulillah. So that's something that very few people know. And we had Ustada Aisha Prime with us and Ustada Aisha Prime was very active in New Orleans at the time that I was there. But you were kind of raised in Atlanta for the most part. So you have more of an affinity towards Atlanta, which is forgiven inshallah ta'ala just because of the amount of years that you spent there. But what can you, have you ever been back to New Orleans? No, I have to confess. I have not Chef Omar. However, I was introduced to the cuisine through my dad. He made sure to take us to this restaurant in Atlanta that had shrimp po'boys. Masha'Allah. That's my connection right there. Alhamdulillah. Shrimp, so shrimp po'boys are my favorite food in the world actually. Seriously. I like shrimp po'boys more than any other cuisine and food in the world. So I crave them. I don't know. I don't know if they're really doing it right in Atlanta, but they do have a lot of people in Atlanta from New Orleans. Alhamdulillah.
I mean, so I'm going to have to get the restaurant inshallah ta'ala and we'll have to we'll have to go there. But there's no shrimp po'boys like the ones in New Orleans. So inshallah khair. Insha'Allah. My list of places to visit inshallah. Insha'Allah. Insha'Allah. Bi'itna'i ta'ala. JazakumAllah khair. We're very happy to have you. Sheikh Abdullah, how are you? I'm good. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Happy to be here. Alhamdulillah. May Allah bless you. So Sheikh Abdullah popped up at Fajr in my masjid. It was really, really happy to see you. MashaAllah. It was interesting to see you in the flesh because in Ramadan I'm seeing you every day. Alhamdulillah over the screens. But may Allah reward you. You've been working quite a bit out in Ka'bal masjid and balancing multiple responsibilities. I bless you and reward you. And we know it's jamiat. May Allah bless you. Inshallah. We're going to start with Juz 27 inshallah ta'ala. And we will be starting with, you know, truly something I think that fits the theme of angels and the themes of the mana'ika. Surah Al-Najm. And there are of course multiple surahs in this Quran that speak to the idea of the response and, you know, testifying to the truthfulness of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, but also the idea of the qabool, the response of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in the heavens and in the earth. And this is really a powerful notion that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam is being embraced as the messenger of Allah in the heavens and the earth by the angels, by the jinn, and by some of those who are human beings. And you see that throughout this particular Juz. And so for example, Surah Ar-Rahman is in this Juz. And Surah Ar-Rahman, when it is revealed, Then which of the favors of your Lord, O jinn and man, Okay, will you deny? And the jinn were responding to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam, the believing jinn as the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was reciting that and saying
Oh our Lord, we do not deny. Oh our Lord, we do not deny. So the response of the jinn, the response of the angels, the response of the early believers to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. But Surah An-Najm has a rich seerah background to it. This surah, as it was revealed, it speaks to the proof of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and it speaks to particularly the integrity of the message. And so it starts off, When Najm Itha Hawa, Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la swears by the Najm, the star when it sets. Ma dhala sahibukum wa ma ghawa, your companion has neither gone astray, nor is your companion delusional, meaning the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam wa ma yantiqu anil hawa, he never speaks out of his own desire. In huwa illa wahyun yuha, everything he says is revelation that is conveyed to him in one form or the other. And then Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, Allamahu shadeedul quwa, that the strong, the one who is severe in his power imparted it to him, taught him. Who is this speaking to or who is this speaking about? This is Jibreel alayhi salam, shadeedul quwa. Sometimes the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam would refer to him as such, by the way, shadeedul quwa. And why was Jibreel alayhi salam so strong? Because Jibreel alayhi salam would guard the revelation. He would receive it from the highest heaven and bring it down to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam. And the angels would surround Jibreel alayhi salam as he's coming down. The other beings would try to steal of the revelation or catch up the revelation, what they could, but Jibreel alayhi salam in his strength, carrying this powerful word, comes down to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam with the angels eagerly following to hear the revelation as it comes on the heart and the tongue of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam after Jibreel alayhi salam imparts it to him. Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la says, Thoo mirratin fastawa, that he is free from all flaws. That Jibreel alayhi salam is beautiful and free from flaw.
Fastawa, and so he came forth and he stood in full view of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam Wahuwa bil ufuk al a'la, and he was in the highest horizon. The Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam describes the time he saw Jibreel alayhi salam the first time. And he said Jibreel alayhi salam was sitting on a throne between the heavens and the earth and he took up the entirety of the horizon and he had 600 wings. He has 600 wings alayhi salam and out of those 600 wings the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam saw the gems and the pearls and the jewels falling from each of the wings of Jibreel alayhi salam. So this was a mighty sight. This is the first of two times that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam saw Jibreel alayhi salam in his pure form meaning in his full angelic form and this is not in Hira but this is in fact after the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was looking for an answer a follow-up to Hira and Jibreel alayhi salam appeared to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in the sky as he was in the mountain and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam looked up and saw him covering the entire horizon and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala describes sort of a you know a point by point stage by stage what happened next Thumma dana fatadalla that he draw near but he remained suspended in the air Fakaana qaaba qawsayni awadna This is so powerful. He came from the uppermost horizon and he came so close to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam that he was only about two bow lengths away from the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and we know in Al-Bukhari that Jibreel alayhi salam started to come so close to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam he fell to the ground and then the next revelation came to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam as he ran to the arms of Khadijah radiAllahu ta'ala anha once again and that was Ya ayyuhal muddathir kumfa amdum so Surah al-Muddathir was revealed to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam at that point Fa awha ina abdihi ma awha and he revealed to his servants that which he had to reveal Now then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
Ma kadhabal fu'adu ma ra'a that the heart of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam did not betray him like he was not just seeing things nor did it add any untruth to it so there is no exaggeration embellished or added from the vision of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam but instead he saw very clearly what he saw and received very clearly what he received and Allah azawajal says Afatu ma roonahu ala ma yara Are you then going to argue with him regarding that which he saw? and then Allah says Wala qad ra'aahu nazlatan ukhra inda sidratil muntaha inda hajannatil ma'wa Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says and then he saw him a second time and this is of course on the night of al-Isra wal-Miraj by the lot tree sidratil muntaha at the farthest boundary of the heavens and then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam saw the lot tree in all of its grand and glory that the boundary to the highest point ma zaga al basaru wa ma taga and I love this insha'Allah ta'ala and I'll end with these two ayat here laqad ra'a min ayati rabbihi al-kubra and he certainly saw ayati rabbihi al-kubra some of the greatest signs of his Lord subhanahu wa ta'ala and that could be a mistranslation but he saw some of the best, the grandest of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's signs so the point here is that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam when he got there ma zaga al basaru wa ma taga the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam kept his eyes focused Jibreel alayhi wasalam was in full view this time as he was getting to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at the top of the heavens so he's seeing Jibreel alayhi wasalam from top down whereas here he was seeing Jibreel alayhi wasalam from the vantage point of the earth and the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam remained focused he was not driven away, he was not distracted by anything that he was seeing but instead the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam was focused on what was ahead of him what was ahead of him, what stage was ahead of him, what was next, what was next and so the focus that Allah gave the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam on what was before him
so this is Surah al-Najm describing the first revelation and then of course the revelation or the sight of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam in al-Israa wa al-Mi'raj now what makes this, this Surah is just so powerful at the end of this Surah there is the ayah of Sajdah, okay Fasjudu lillahi wa abudu that you prostrate yourselves before Allah and you serve Him fully when the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam recited Surah al-Najm Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta'ala anhuma relates that everyone made sujood the Muslims, the mushrikeen, the jinn, the human beings everything around fell into Sajdah, okay except for Umayyah ibn Khalaf out of his arrogance who even he, he took some of the dirt from the ground and he rubbed it on his forehead because he didn't want to make sujood everybody else fell in sujood and that was how the news spread to the Muslims in Abyssinia that the mushrikeen had become Muslim, that they had repented and become Muslim and SubhanAllah this verse is so powerful that you know Imam Hanif rahimAllah ta'ala, Imam Shafri rahimAllah some of the scholars actually say it's obligatory, it's mandatory to do Sajdah in this verse whereas with other verses it is not mandatory to do the Sajdah it is voluntary to recommend it but with this verse because of the power of this verse and what it drove the people to as they heard it being recited SubhanAllah they were just overtaken by the moment of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam reciting that and of course we know that they returned back to their arrogant ways and their ignorant ways and they're disputing the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam so I'll end with this SubhanAllah that you find that this surah was so powerful it caused, the revelation was so powerful that it caused everyone to fall into Sajdah that which was seen and that which was not seen Surah Ar-Rahman you have the jinn responding to the revelation and Surah Tawr of course is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaking directly to Musa alayhi wasalam so just as Allah spoke directly to Musa alayhi wasalam
Allah spoke directly to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and just as the response was not grasped by everyone in this situation the response also was powerful and there were others that responded even when the mushrikeen rejected may Allah make us amongst those that always respond favorably to the revelation Allahumma ameen Ustada Zainab if you have anything to share inshallah ta'ala please do Bismillah Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillahi rabbil alamin wa sallallahu ala sayyidina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salam So Jazakumullahu khair Shaikh Omar for your reflections on Alhamdulillah this beautiful Juz 27 of the Quran I was going through the Juz and just kind of thinking about how the surahs kind of connect to each other and it's so interesting because you've got surahs that are named for a Najm and then you have Al-Qamar and then you have Al-Tur so you have surahs that are kind of named for these different sort of aspects of creation that convey just a sense of sort of inspires awe and rightly so in the human observer and kind of looking at the Juz as a whole it just really struck me that in the time of the Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam that the people at that time did not have all the distractions that we have you know they obviously were not encumbered by the things with which we're encumbered they lived in an environment that of course despite the fact that of course it's permitted by idolatry that I think that they were closer to being able to really appreciate the natural signs of Allah subhana wa ta'ala what with being able to perceive the skies and the patterns of these celestial bodies and the mountains I mean it's just a really interesting environment in which Islam is revealed to the Prophet alayhi salatu wasalam however despite that as you mentioned Sheikh Omar there's this arrogance
there's this intransigence that you see on the part of the Quraish and one of the things that I've often reflected upon is when the Prophet peace be upon him comes to them with this message I mean it's interesting in the sense that for all this time they've been really sort of there's a consensus that he is al-sadiq, he is al-amin, he is someone that they implicitly trust but then when he comes to warn them then all of a sudden there's all this hostility now they can't believe him, they're skeptical they're going to organize these campaigns of you know a ridicule, of mockery and as you mentioned in Sheikh Omar you have this incident where the mushrikeen actually do fall down in prostration, they try to cover it up they resort to all these different kind of machinations so that they don't listen to the Quran they will prevent others from listening to it and you really kind of have to wonder like what is going on with them is it a combination of sort of arrogance and intransigence and sort of just well this is the yetim of Banu Hashim, the orphan of Banu Hashim, we can't listen to him why does he have this status, you know, is it, are they really and truly that myopic are they just so attached to the status quo, what's really going on with them you know I don't, because subhanAllah when you kind of learn more about them you don't get the sense that, I mean you don't get the sense that they are all kind of uniformly people that are just completely ignorant that maybe there is some intelligence there but is it true intelligence because if they had just stopped for a moment to say subhanAllah that Allah Ta'ala has given after millennia of conferring nubuwwah upon Bani Israel now that has come to the Arabs, that this could change the world if we embrace this they are not able to see with that clear sight, that clear vision
that vision as you mentioned Shaf'Amar is given to the Prophet ﷺ during the beautiful experience of Isra' and Mi'raj one by the way which the Quraish of course are going to attempt to turn that against him until he actually recounts to them things that he witnesses on the Isra' and Mi'raj that only somebody could have known that was experiencing that kind of miracle so it's just really fascinating because when you read this surah and you look at the surahs in Juz'at 27 which are a combination of Meccan and Madani but mostly Meccan you know again you are just struck by the psychology of the Quraish in terms of what's wrong with them like all the signs are in front of them, the environment itself supports belief but time and time again they are going to reject the Prophet ﷺ to their detriment Jazakum Allah khair, subhanAllah very powerful reflections and you even have Al-Qamar right, the moon being split and that's just a sign, the hearts are sealed from what the eyes can see and what the heart can hear and it's just not working subhanAllah and that's the sealing of the heart, may Allah protect us Jazakum Allah khair for the powerful reflections, tawba Sheikh Abdullah Bismillah wa salatu wa salam ala Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba'd I like how you ended with reflections because it's very important that we reflect to connect that we reflect with Allah ﷻ, about Allah ﷻ, His beautiful names and attributes and what emanates from that and you know understanding as the scholars mentioned in regards to the names and attributes of Allah and ila tahtamil naqsan, they don't have any form of deficiency in any shape, form or fashion wa ajhiminul wujuh, we should know and have full conviction, yaqeen that there will be things, the intricacies, we may not know the minutiae of Allah's names and attributes but what's most important is that we believe in them
so for instance, we now are in the month of Ramadan and in the last 10 days searching, searching for Laylatul Qadr and how you Sheikh Omar, Dr. Omri, you mentioned the mala'ika the mala'ika has an appearance, mashaAllah, in regards to Laylatul Qadr as we know in the chapter of Qadr where Allah ﷻ says, tanazzalu al-mala'ika wa al-ruhu feeha bi-ibni rabbihim min kulli amr that the angels will descend down along with the Ruh, since Allah ﷻ said Jibreel in every situation, so the angels will come down in this beautiful night Allah ﷻ talks about Laylatul Qadr as well in the chapter of Dukhan when He says feeha yufraqu kullu amrin hakeem that this night everything will be established or mentioned and the scholars mentioned that the maqadir al-ashyaa lissana, that the predestination what is predestined for that year will be on this beautiful night so there are a lot of things that take place on this beautiful night to the degree that it is khayrun min alfi shahar that it is greater than a thousand months or equivalent to a thousand months but what's so beautiful about this is how when you, Shaykh Omar, were mentioning the angels we will not see them. The Prophet ﷺ has talked about them, has seen them but we as human beings don't see them, but we believe in them and that is a pillar of our iman and when we talk about iman, iman, generic meaning means faith but it is such a comprehensive meaning coming from the morphologic form of amina which means to have a sense of security or to believe in something so there's a connection with security, with belief, with being sadiqun amin, with being trustworthy when saying amin after we recite Fatiha it all has that realm of security with believing in something so when we believe in Allah ﷻ we are secure and feel safe with those beautiful names and attributes
in which we may not know the total manifestation in them but the initial belief in them and what He says about Him and other than Him we have full conviction in. That is very very important for the Muslim to have within their mind, body, and soul. Within their mind they understand that Allah ﷻ has authority over everything. It has control over everything and has the power and He is the repository and source of all things. So when looking at this beautiful verse in the chapter of Hadid verse number 52, verse number 22 and 23, chapter 57 Allah ﷻ establishes another pillar of our iman. When we talk about the pillars of iman the scholars have mentioned six. One of them is the belief in predestination. Now predestination may be something that is maybe hard to understand or to grasp but that is where SubhanAllah we as Muslims we understand that there is a level that we cannot pass. And transgressing that level goes into the realm of Lordship of Allah ﷻ. Why He withheld certain knowledge and realities from us. Him being al-'aleem He discloses some of those realities to us and He does not in the same time. So Allah ﷻ mentions the reason for qadr, one of the beautiful wisdom, the wisdom behind predestination as He says after Audhu Billahi min ash-shaitani r-rajim maa asaba min musibatin fil ardi wa la fee anfusikum illa fee kitabin min qabli an-nabra'ahaa inna thalika AAala Allahi yaseer Allah ﷻ says no misfortune can happen either on the earth or within yourselves except that it was set down in a writing, in a book, before we came into being. Verily that is easy for Allah ﷻ. So firstly He says maa asaba min musibatin, there is not any, any affliction.
And the word He uses in Arabic, musibatin nakira, He uses the infinite form to show that the generic musibat, any musibat, even if it is a thorn that pricks the believer, that pricks a person, you're walking and you're hit by a thorn, you're stuck by a thorn, that was written. So Allah ﷻ is showing you that He is muhiyat bi kulli shay, that He encompasses everything, and His knowledge encompasses everything because He knows what was, what is, and what will be. So Allah is just establishing here and reminding you that His knowledge is endless and that His knowledge is complete. From that, a prick that thorns, you know, affects a believer, if their attitude is correct, inshaAllah, their perception is right with Allah ﷻ, it can serve as an expiation. But in any case, Allah ﷻ shows here that anything that happens on the earth and within themselves, as we talked about in another verse, that Allah will show His signs, fil-afaqi wa fi-anfusikum, in the horizons and in yourself, external and internal. So now, any affliction that happens externally or internally, it has been written in the kitab, and the kitab is the preserved tablet, which is known as the lawh al-mahfood. Then Allah ﷻ says, inna dhalika alallahi yaseer. The fact of having knowledge of all of these things and it being written, and Allah ﷻ disclosing to the Prophet ﷺ that there will be one night on an odd night in the last ten nights of the best month of the year, all of this was written. What will take place with you, with the congregation, internally and externally, was written. There's a small window of choice that we have, and that leads to the next verse, likay la ta'asaw ala ma fatikum. So when Allah ﷻ says that all of this being written, it was easy, and then He says likay, yaani lam ta'aleel, so when Allah mentions some verbs in the Quran, He will mention the reason why, or one of the reasons why,
and that is a fadhl and a benefit for you to take heed. He's disclosing some classified knowledge, right, that is only with Him, and He's letting you know. So He's saying the reason that this is done, meaning that everything being written, which may be perplexing to you, and may be amazing, and it should be, Allah says why. likay la ta'asaw ala ma fatikum, so that you do not grieve, ta'asaw yaani tandam, that you do not grieve and have full regret, la tafrahoo bima aataakum, and you are not gloating over what you gain, tafrahoo bima aataakum, so you're happy to the degree to where it brings arrogance, what Allah has given you, aataakum, what has come to you, come to you from Allah ﷻ, and then Allah ﷻ says, wallahu layyuhibbu kulla muqtalin fakhoor, Allah ﷻ does not love the conceited nor boastful person. So here, Allah is disclosing to you that whatever He gives for you, or takes away, or whatever has been afflicted upon you, remember that job you received, the job you didn't receive, the sister that you wanted to marry, the brother you wanted to marry, you know that dua that you made and it wasn't answered, Allah ﷻ kind of went down a predestined for that to be taken away, or to be given to you, the main purpose, or one of the purposes, is so that you do not have full grief, so where the grief can lead to despair and giving up, we could say on Allah ﷻ but ultimately on yourself. And anything that you have been given, it does not get to the degree to where you look down upon people, that you belittle people, that you think they are lesser than you, rather, everything that you have been given, and everything that has been taken away, the middle response, the response of the ummah wasaf, of the person that does not go too far to the left or to the right, is to be as the Prophet ﷺ was.
As Aisha, his wife, mentioned that whenever the Prophet ﷺ, in every situation, he would say, Alhamdulillah ala kulliha, that praises to Allah ﷻ upon everything that has happened to me. Because when you realize that it's all taken care of, that it's all within the predestination of Allah, this ultimately, the goal of that knowledge that you have, is to bring a form of serenity, security, iman, to strengthen that iman with Allah ﷻ, and not to go too far off to the left or to the right, by totally being angry with what has happened to you, or boastful for what you have been given, not thanking Allah, or to be saddened to the level to where it brings grief, despair, depression, and totally giving up on Allah ﷻ. So may Allah ﷻ make us of those that search for this beautiful night of Laylatul Qadr, and may Allah ﷻ make us of those that believe in the beautiful predestination that He has furnished for us in this life, to where we'll be pleased with us in the next. JazakumAllahu khayran. JazakumAllahu khayran. SubhanAllah, we're celebrating, obviously looking for Laylatul Qadr, and the juz contains Jibreel al-Islam coming to the Prophet ﷺ and giving him that revelation, so we're searching for Allah, using that revelation, but also sometimes we forget the obvious, the decree itself, that this is the night in which the decree of the next year is to come. We ask Allah ﷻ for the best of it, and to enable us with the best of this life and the next. Tafadhaliyya ustadha Zainab. MashaAllah, there's just so much to reflect upon, but a couple of things. It's so interesting, the idea of qadr, and if you ask people today, what is the main obstacle in terms of their faith journey, what do they really struggle with the most, it is that kind of perennial question of why bad things happen to good people.
And subhanAllah, the answer is, it's in the Qur'an time and time again. That Allah ﷻ is telling us in these revelations, and of course, Hadith is a later revelation, a Madinah Surah, but there are themes that are certainly in earlier revelations, but Allah ﷻ is telling us this world was never intended to be an abode of ease. That this dunya was never intended to be a place where we would not have to struggle. And I'm reminded of a couple of things. One is that when we look at the example of the Prophet ﷺ, I think that sometimes, given our distance of 1400-some years, it's hard for us to picture and understand and visualize just the intransigence, the animosity, just the rebelliousness of the Quraysh, what kind of environment that must have been for the Prophet ﷺ. The Quraysh really wanted things very easy. And one of the things that the Qur'anic revelation is going to do, is it's going to tell them that in order for them to embrace this message wholeheartedly, they're going to have to put aside certain assumptions. Assumptions they make about Allah ﷻ, assumptions they make about the angels, assumptions that they really kind of make about the very nature of existence. So the Qur'an really kind of depicts this balance of that there is going to be trial and hardship, however, it's also going to be sort of intermixed with ease. Because Allah ﷻ tells us in Surat al-Qamar, and this is verse 32 from Zakhar, وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُتْدَكِرٍ
So again, this idea of things being easy on a certain level, that it is easy for Allah to write these different decrees. Allah has facilitated the Qur'an in terms of the ease of learning and memorization, however, the key to all of this is that the mindset has to be receptive. And of course, the Quraysh are not able to successfully change their mindset. i.e. when there is some kind of misfortune or whatever, they want to kind of put that on the doorstep of everybody else. And you also kind of see this trait echoed also with the Munafiqeen in Medina, to be honest. There is an ayah in one of the other surahs in the Juz' that is escaping me at this moment, which surah, I think it might be Al-Hadid, where there is this juxtaposition that is set up between the believers and the Munafiqeen, and how that light, that vision, is going to really kind of elude the Munafiqeen, because again, they are making the mistake of throwing in their lot with the disbelievers and wanting the things to come very easily to them. They don't want to sacrifice, they don't want to struggle, they don't want to be challenged, they don't want to rise to the occasion. So I think these ayat in the Qur'an are very reassuring in the sense that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling us that, again, there is variety in this dunya. There is hardship, there is ease, there is happiness and there is sadness. That these things are all written by Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala in a time that was preordained. And I think it gives us a lot of comfort to understand that the best way really that we can answer this question of why do bad things happen to good people, is that Allah Ta'ala never promised us that this dunya would be in a mode of constant ease. I mean, if the most beloved of creation to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, the Prophet Alaihi Salatu Wasalam, experienced hardship beyond that which we can imagine,
again, it's a very tough environment, right? What of the rest of us? So Alhamdulillah, there is just so much in this jiz'at that we can reflect upon. Just one last thing, very quickly, that I wanted to share. It's this ayah that I keep coming back to and it really kind of echoes what Sheikh Abdullah is saying here. This idea that, you know, if we become embittered by our circumstances, we are going to lose that ultimate refuge and that refuge is to Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And we have a very beautiful ayah, Fafirru ila Allahi inni lakum minhu nathirun mubeen. This is verse 50 of Al-Dhariyat, chapter 51, and it has echoes of Surah Al-Tawbah, where Allah Ta'ala describes the people that were left behind from the Battle of Tabuk. And we have this very beautiful ayah of, Alla malja'a minallahu illa ilayh, that there is no refuge from Allah except in Him. BarakAllahu Fiki Ustadh Zainab. So when you are talking about these hardships and you are talking about this idea of going towards something, you also are sort of indicating in our discussion the idea that there is something on the other side that we are not seeing as well. Like the Quran is sort of addressing the very observable side of this, that there is ease coming, that the power of revelation is being seen. If you look around, there is the power of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala working us through these hardships and bringing us to a place of ease and refuge. But what about the akhirah part of this, the hereafter part of this, and the other side of that working? Absolutely, that's why we can't make the mistake that the mushrikeen, that they make during the time of the Prophet, where they think this is the end all be all. They cannot see beyond what's immediately in front of them. Again, they don't have that vision. So there are beautiful ayat in chapter 52, Surah Tathur, that's named for Mount Sinai. I'll just give these few ayats here, I was really intrigued by them.
So the scenario is that these are the believers in paradise, enjoying the pleasures and the blessings of paradise. Sometimes when we think about the akhirah, we feel like this is really disconnected from, like these are two vastly different universes, there's no connection, it's like memories are wiped clean and the believers are in the akhirah and there's no sense of what they experienced in the dunya. What's so interesting is that here you have this ayah, after a'udhu billahi minash shaitanir rajim wa aqbala ba'duhum ala ba'dil mutasaa'aloon i.e. the believers will approach one another, and they'll actually initiate conversations, asking questions at each other. qalu inna kunna qablu fi ahlina mushrikeen They will say, indeed we were previously amongst our people, and we were mushrikeen, i.e. we were fearful of Allah's punishment, we were eager to please Allah, we were avid for that reward of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then this beautiful ayah here, the next one, this is ayah 27 of 52, thamanna Allahu AAalayna wa waqaana AAadhaabassamoon So Allah conferred favor upon us and protected us from the punishment of the scorching fire. inna kunna min qablu mad'uuhu innahu huwa albarra alraheem Indeed, we used to, so they're remembering their existence in the dunya, but now it's that trauma, that pain, they don't remember that. It's indeed we used to call upon Him alone, He is truly the most kind, the most merciful. And then I'll add to this, it's actually recorded in Sayyidah Aisha, thammasrookum Sayyidah Aisha rabbil'ahu anha, that when Sayyidah Aisha read this ayah, thamanna Allahu AAalayna wa waqaana AAadhaabassamoon she actually would make dua in her prayer, and she would say Allahumma bestow upon us and save us from the punishment of the scorching fire, verily you are the most kind and the most merciful. And that was from our mother Sayyidah Aisha.
SubhanAllah, so powerful, Allahu Akbar. You know the thing is, SubhanAllah, like the hadith of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam where yu'ta bi ashad din nasi AAadhaaban fil dunya ashad din nasi AAadhaaban, I mean a person who had the hardest life yughmasu fil na'imi ghamsa, is dipped in paradise one time and is told har ra'ayta bu'san qat, do you remember any sadness? And he says, what's sadness? I don't know what you're talking about. I don't remember the grief. So Allah wipes away the sadness, but not the memory. That's so powerful, SubhanAllah. So they still have sharp memory of the moments and the days and sort of the struggle, but the pain of the struggle is gone as you're saying. And that's, I think, Surah Rahman, right? There's a point in Surah Rahman where the imagery of paradise is so strong, but then it comes to when the people of paradise gather, what do they do? They remember the old days. And I think that's a mercy from Allah, SubhanAllah. So I imagine if like we leave this realm and we see our loved ones again and we don't remember each other and it's kind of like let's start this all over again. It doesn't work that way. We're reunited, the believers are reunited in Allah's felicity and righteousness. And then they remember their struggles and they remember how Allah powered them through it. SubhanAllah. Jazakumullah khair for that reflection, Sabah Zainab. Very, very, very powerful. Shaykh Abdullah, any final words or reflection? I could see him moving you. Yeah, SubhanAllah. Any of the Jannah monologues or dialogues is enough for me. It's like SubhanAllah, may Allah make us from them. It's just the power of dua. Inna kunna min qabl, nadu'uhu. Like they recall just like you mentioned, when they made, it shows the importance of dua. They remember the dua that they used to supplicate, SubhanAllah. And just being in Jannah, I love just reading what they say in Jannah. It's just may Allah make us from them, InshaAllah. Allahumma ameen.
May Allah gather us through the Daws al-'Ala with the Prophet ﷺ and the righteous ones. May Allah make us all amongst the righteous. May Allah forgive us for our shortcomings and accept our Laylatul Qadr, our Ramadan, our Siyam, our Qiyam. May Allah SubhanAllah forgive us for any of our shortcomings that would prohibit us from receiving His vast mercy, His unlimited mercy. Allahumma ameen. JazakumAllahu khayran wa salamu ala rabbina Muhammad wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma'in. This was a wonderful session, SubhanAllah. Astaghfirullah Zainab, we hope to have you back in the naaf. And always, always, always refreshed and benefit from your insights. BarakAllahu fiqhin. Abdullah as always. JazakumAllahu khayran. Thank you, Shaykh. Let me know when I can make a comment. Alright, we'll let the audience go, InshaAllah ta'ala. JazakumAllahu khayran everyone. yaqeenastude.org slash Ramadan. And by the way to everyone, 27th night, please do consider donating to Yaqeen amongst the other wonderful causes that are out there. InshaAllah it's a night of barak and a night of blessing. So please do, InshaAllah ta'ala, contribute. And we'll see you all tomorrow, InshaAllah. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Waalaikumussalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. 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 Yaqeen 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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