# Juz 8: Whose Validation Do You Need? | Sh. Shabbir Hassan

**Author:** Dr. Omar Suleiman
**Series:** Qur’an 30 for 30 | Season 7
**Published:** 2026-02-25
**YouTube:** https://youtu.be/JWSQ6IR98-c
**URL:** https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-8
**Topics:** Faith, Quran

## Summary
This episode of Quran 30 for 30 covers Juz 8, featuring Shaykh Shabbir Hassan alongside the host. The discussion centers on a profound thematic connection between Juz 7 and Juz 8, particularly around the verse from Surah Al-An'am: 'وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ' (Your Lord is self-sufficient, full of mercy). The scholars explore how Allah's name Al-Ghani (the Self-Sufficient) means He does not need human worship, praise, or belief — and yet, as Dhu al-Rahmah (Possessor of Mercy), He withholds punishment and continues to bestow blessings. A key theme is that believers — especially those engaged in da'wah, activism, or Islamic work — should not measure the value of their efforts by the outcomes or by how many people respond positively. Just as the prophets, including 'Isa (عليه السلام) and Nuh (عليه السلام), were rejected despite flawless efforts, Allah reassures them and us that rejection does not indicate failure. The Quran repeatedly notes that 'most people will not believe,' which is meant as indirect comfort to those striving for good. Shaykh Shabbir also discusses the du'a 'اللهم استعملنا ولا تستبدلنا' (O Allah, use us and do not replace us), reminding viewers that being chosen for any form of service to Allah is itself a mercy. The episode also touches on the Sunnah of optimism (husn al-dhann billah), the story of 'Umar (رضي الله عنه) hearing a man pray to be among 'the few' (referencing وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ), and the importance of maintaining a balanced spiritual state between hope (raja') and fear (khawf).

## Key Points
- Allah is Al-Ghani (Self-Sufficient) — He does not need human worship, praise, or belief, yet He is Dhu al-Rahmah (full of mercy), withholding punishment out of His generosity.
- The value of da'wah and good deeds should not be judged by outcomes; Allah alone controls whether hearts are guided, as stated in Surah Al-An'am: even if angels descended or the dead spoke, those who refuse to believe would still not believe.
- The prophets, including 'Isa (عليه السلام) and Nuh (عليه السلام), were rejected despite perfect efforts — this is Allah's way of comforting believers that rejection does not mean failure.
- Optimism (husn al-dhann billah) is a forgotten Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ); despair is a trait of those without faith, as Ya'qub (عليه السلام) said: 'None despairs of Allah's mercy except the disbelieving people' [Surah Yusuf 12:87].
- The Quran consistently mentions that 'most people' are ungrateful or ignorant — this is indirect comfort for those who strive sincerely but see little response.
- The du'a 'اللهم استعملنا ولا تستبدلنا' (O Allah, use us and do not replace us) reflects the understanding that being chosen for any service to Allah is itself a divine mercy.
- Walking away from Islamic work or worship does not harm Allah or others — it only harms oneself, since Allah is fully self-sufficient and can replace anyone.
- A balanced spiritual state requires neither excessive hope (leading to negligence) nor excessive fear (leading to despair), but a middle course between raja' and khawf.
- The name Al-Latif (the Subtle, the Gentle) reflects how Allah intricately and gently guides people through life's difficulties, as seen in the story of Yusuf (عليه السلام): 'إِنَّ رَبِّي لَطِيفٌ لِمَا يَشَاءُ' [Surah Yusuf 12:100].

## Chapters
- 0:00 The forgotten sunnah of optimism
- 3:34 Self-doubt in Islamic work
- 9:27 “And most of them…” in the Qur’an
- 12:00 Du’a: “O Allah, make me among the few”
- 15:00 What al-Ghani really means
- 21:10 3 Names of Allah combined
- 24:34 Don’t walk away from service

## Transcript
**[0:05]** ذو الرحمة. I am full of mercy. ذو الرحمة here means Allah is الحليم. Allah سبحانه وتعالى is الصبور. Allah سبحانه وتعالى is الستير. So He is full of mercy. He is forbearing. He's patient. So Allah doesn't need what's popular, and Allah doesn't judge truth by what's

**[0:23]** popular. Don't be so desperate for validation from other people. الله عز وجل is not looking for their belief in a way like He needs them to believe. There may be too much hope where you say, "الله غفور رحيم." You know, I don't pray in Ramadan, it's fine. Or you have khawf, you say, "Allah will

**[0:38]** never forgive me." No, be in the middle course. السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته, everyone. Welcome back to Quran 30 for 30. الحمد لله رب العالمين. We are in Juz 8, and we ask Allah سبحانه وتعالى to bless us as we're coming to the end

**[0:55]** of the first third of Ramadan, almost. May Allah الله عز وجل allow us to have an accepted Ramadan. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala see us through it, and may Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala guide us to that which is best. اللهم آمين. We're blessed, Alhamdulillah, to have with us for the first time on Quran 30 for 30, Shaykh Shabbir Hassan. الحمد لله رب

**[1:12]** العالمين. I remember you when IlmFeed was starting up. You know, one of the things that we're very big on is partnership at Yaqeen. Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. We love to partner with other organizations, other efforts, to uplift them. Tell us about IlmFeed, Shaykh. IlmFeed,

**[1:28]** mashallah, we set it up actually because we wanted to combat the— Yaqeen? No, that's a joke. No, just to get We just got to the point. To combat the, you know, the negative news of Muslims

**[1:45]** in the mainstream. So we wanted to just highlight literally the positive contributions of Muslims. We started with articles and things, and then it turned into videos, and then the podcast. Alhamdulillah, it's just been growing. Alhamdulillah. So I think Muslims just love a bit of positivity, right? I think when you get a bit of positivity,

**[2:01]** it changes everything. So Alhamdulillah. Mashallah, man. You have a lot of positivity, mashallah. I've noticed that. What would you say to someone that is discouraged? Like, I remember when you started, we did some things together, Alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen. Someone that's, like, just discouraged when they start Islamic projects, like, "I don't

**[2:18]** know. I don't know if this is going to go anywhere." What do you say to them? For me, Wallahi, Shaykh, بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم, I mean, one of the forgotten Sunnahs is optimism. You know, this is a Sunnah which, you know, we talk about Sunnah. We always say it's the clothing, the dress, even ibadah, it's

**[2:34]** important. But, you know, just adopting the positivity and the positive outlook of Rasulullah (ﷺ), I think that in and of itself is a Sunnah which is being forgotten. You look around the world and you see all of the things that are happening, and it's very easy as a Muslim, as a believer, to become

**[2:51]** dejected. And I always turn to Surah Yusuf where Ya'qub (عليه السلام) says, you know, إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِن رَّوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ You know, it's only the people who don't have faith and belief and conviction in Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala who really give up. They give up hope. So I think, you know, we

**[3:08]** should adopt this Sunnah of just having—because it comes from having a good perception of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, right? Optimism literally is to have husn al-dhann billah. So it's that relationship with Allah when you can figure that out that, look, I have the intention, I have the 'azm, I've done

**[3:24]** what I can. As for the outcome, it's not in my hands. The outcome is never in our hands. And I think a lot of us, we focus too much on the outcome and the, and, and you know, the result. That's not in our hands. And, you know, we just have to control the intention and the efforts and leave

**[3:39]** the rest to Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. Tayyib Shaykh, your favorite name of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala right now, what is it? Al-Latif. Al-Latif. Why? Always has to be. The way that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, He intricately plans things in our lives, and we don't

**[3:55]** understand why things are happening and the way they're happening. But Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, in a very subtle way, with lutf, in a very gentle way, guides us through. I think for me, this is one of my favorite names. And again, turning to Surah Yusuf, that's the name at the end that comes in, إِنَّ رَبِّي لَطِيفٌ

**[4:12]** لِمَا يَشَاءُ. Mashallah. It's a pleasure to have you, and I'm looking forward to the discussion. Inshallah. Jazakallah. Allah bless you all. Allah yubarak fikum. I want to give a quick overview of how this Juz builds on a theme in the previous Juz. And Subhanallah, you know, I can tell you love Surah

**[4:28]** Yusuf. And one of the things about the story of Yusuf is you immediately become very emotionally invested. And you have to think that when you're going through things, at some point you can start to think like, "What did I do?" Right? And is it me? Am I the problem? Am I a failure? Right? Could I have

**[4:44]** done something differently that would have changed the trajectory? You can imagine the Shaitan chipping away, especially, by the way, when people are in prison. Subhanallah, like, when I talk to people in prison, you can see how Shaitan attacks them in different ways.

**[5:01]** Can you think maybe like Shaitan probably came to Yusuf (عليه السلام) at some point and said, "You know, you shouldn't have done that with your brothers. Maybe you provoked this. You brought this upon yourself." You can actually internalize it into a place of self-hatred, not accountability. Accountability is good. Self-hatred, right, and despair.

**[5:18]** And there is a theme, something that I caught for the first time, Subhanallah, between Juz 7 and Juz 8. So I'll go back to Juz 7. We talked about this verse. يَوْمَ يَجْمَعُ اللَّهُ الرُّسُلَ The day that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala will gather all of the messengers. فَيَقُولُ مَاذَا أُجِبْتُمْ Allah 'Azza wa

**[5:34]** Jalla will say, "How did they respond to you?" قَالُوا لَا عِلْمَ لَنَا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ They would say, "We have no knowledge compared to you. You alone are indeed the All-Knowing of the unseen." And you have to think like, imagine being a prophet

**[5:50]** who was rejected constantly and you had no followers. What did I do wrong? Was it me? Could I have done the da'wah better? Could I have called them better? But Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is عَلَّامُ الْغُيُوبِ. Allah knows the unseen, intricate details of your da'wah, the

**[6:07]** unseen, intricate details of the one that you're giving da'wah to, their hearts, their minds, their thinking, the flaws, whether they're deserving or not. So Subhanallah, look what Allah 'Azza wa Jalla says in this Juz' now when you come into Al-An'am. وَلَوْ أَنَّنَا نَزَّلْنَا

**[6:24]** إِلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ وَكَلَّمَهُمْ That if we were to send the angels upon them, and who speaks to them? وَكَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَىٰ The dead were to speak to them. Actually, break this ayah up one by one. Let's say the angels came to them directly. That would not benefit

**[6:42]** them. Let's say كَلَّمَهُمُ الْمَوْتَى The dead were risen and they spoke to them. That would not work. وَحَشَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ قُبُلًا And we were to assemble before their own eyes every sign they demanded.

**[6:58]** That's three challenges that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala makes: the angels coming down, if the dead were to rise up and speak to them, or everything they asked from a sign, poof, it popped up right in front of them, right? Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, مَا كَانُوا لِيُؤْمِنُوا إِلَّا أَن يَشَاءَ اللَّهُ They would not

**[7:15]** believe unless Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala willed. وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَجْهَلُونَ But rather most of them are ignorant. So in this case, there are a few things that immediately stand out here. No matter how good your da'wah is, no matter how much you want to reach

**[7:32]** someone's heart, no matter how much you want to change somebody, if that person doesn't want to change, they will not change. And there is a validating factor here. You know, when we talked about Allah as the wali of the believers in the previous juz, that's a heavy theme in juz 7. In juz 8, like Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala

**[7:50]** comforting the prophets themselves, comforting 'Isa (عليه السلام). 'Isa had no flaw in his da'wah. I mean, what more do you want from Jesus, peace be upon him? As some of the 'ulama mention, that because he was the last prophet of Bani Isra'il, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala gave him all of the miracles of the prophets

**[8:07]** of Bani Isra'il. Like there were prophets of Bani Isra'il that raised the dead. There were prophets of Bani Isra'il that healed the leper and the blind. There were prophets of Bani Isra'il that did every one of the miracles of 'Isa (عليه السلام). But he has all these miracles, yet still look how he was rejected. Is it me? Was

**[8:25]** I the problem? No, you were not the problem, right? Allah 'Azza wa Jalla elevated you, raised you, established a proof through you. But you should not think that you failed because of the way humanity responded to you. Don't be so desperate for validation from humanity. And

**[8:42]** of course, the prophets are not desperate for validation from humanity. I'm saying for us, don't be so desperate for validation from other people. الله عز وجل is not looking for their belief in a way like He needs them to believe, سبحانه وتعالى. And we talked about الله عز وجل، الغني الحميد. So Allah

**[8:59]** 'Azza wa Jalla, being independent in this regard, الله does not need their praise. الله سبحانه وتعالى does not need their belief. But there's something deeply profound about that. And I'll stop there for a moment, إن شاء الله تعالى, because that's something that immediately catches my attention between these two ajza', between these two juz.

**[9:16]** الله سبحانه وتعالى saying to the prophets and to the messengers, "You did your jobs. This was not because of a flaw with your job, right? You would not have been able to do a better job. And even if you did a quote-unquote better job

**[9:33]** in terms of your estimation, it would not have changed the outcome because they were not going to be blessed with the gift of guidance and the gift of belief." Mm-hmm. Sometimes we get so attached to outcomes and we tie outcomes to our efforts in a way that actually

**[9:49]** becomes counterproductive and dangerous, right? To where we then go back and we retroactively judge the efforts in accordance with the outcomes. And الله عز وجل is telling you that there was a purpose for the effort and there was a purpose for the outcome. And don't mix those two things up. So I want

**[10:04]** to hear your thoughts, both of you, dear mashayikh, on this. And then we'll go to a very specific ayah, insha'Allah, that I'd love for Shaykh Shabbir to take us through, insha'Allah. Yeah, what's beautiful, I always remind myself, Bismillah, is, you know, constantly throughout the Quran, Allah says, وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ، وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ

**[10:20]** لَا، وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ. And most of them are not thankful. Most of them يَجْهَلُونَ. Most of them are very ignorant. And this is indirectly comforting for the one that gives 110% in effort, Bismillah, for the sake of Allah. So I like how you mentioned the effort and then the outcome. So the effort, as

**[10:36]** long as you're doing it for Allah, as you mentioned, Shaykh, you don't rely on the outcome, or the outcome doesn't shape the way that you act in the future. Because they didn't respond to me the way that I wanted, I have to sit back and say, "Allah wanted something else." And as a matter of fact, most of them

**[10:53]** won't anyway. So it brings an indirect level of comfort in Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. And what's beautiful about the names we're going to cover, وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ, which we're going to cover is that, you know, that you want to have غِنَى عَنِ النَّاس. You want to be self-sufficient from mankind and only seek sufficiency in

**[11:10]** Al-Ghani. So when you're dealing with people and you recognize that they're not responding, I mean, how many of us have talked to family members that we thought were going to come back this Ramadan, or they promised us something, or they said something, or non-Muslim family members, and then you've done everything? You sacrificed

**[11:27]** yourself, your money, your time, you know, your friendships, even, for that person not to respond in a way that you would expect. This is a huge opportunity for you to turn back to Allah and to be more vulnerable to Him and to rely on Him and to realize, "I have no ultimate control over this." And as

**[11:45]** a matter of fact, again, most of the people will not understand. They just won't. And what's most important and I'll end here is that it's not a condition for us to know why they don't. You know, and the battle that you will go through internally of trying to find out is human. But even

**[12:02]** within that battle, how will the battle end? Will it end in submission or will it end in an element of despair? Will it end in an element with an element of dissatisfaction of the results? That's the test. And that's what's important for us to recognize when we

**[12:18]** do tawfiq between our efforts and the outcomes, as mentioned. Both have mentioned. And سبحان الله, it's very comforting, you know, indirectly. And even say directly, when Allah mentions, "Most people will not. Most people will not do this. Most people will be like this." So even though I've commanded you to do this to help them change,

**[12:35]** most people won't anyway. Most people will have this characteristic that's not praiseworthy, but that's not your responsibility. Exactly. You know, that's what's so beautiful here. Yeah, absolutely. And this theme, Shaykh, that you mentioned about the majority, it's amazing because سبحان الله, it reminds me

**[12:52]** of the narration of in the time of 'Umar (رضي الله عنه), you know, he had this man who's walking in the streets and he's making this du'a: اللهم اجعلني مِنَ الْقَلِيلِ O Allah, make me from the few. O Allah, make me from the few. And 'Umar (رضي الله عنه), he hears this du'a and he's like, "What is this? I've never heard this du'a being made before."

**[13:08]** And سبحان الله, this man explains, "Look, Allah سبحانه وتعالى in the Quran, He says: وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنْ عِبَادِيَ الشَّكُورُ. Right? Anytime Allah سبحانه وتعالى in the Quran mentions the majority, actually He's condemning. It's the ignorant ones, the ones with no knowledge, the ones who are not grateful. Whereas when Allah

**[13:24]** سبحانه وتعالى praises the few, it's, you know, Nuh (عليه السلام), it was إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ except a few believers that were with him, despite his centuries of efforts. Like we're talking about the efforts versus the outcome. Nuh (عليه السلام), سبحان الله, I mean, it's the best example to

**[13:40]** use. Centuries of efforts, not years. And yet at the end of it, you know, one could say from the outside he had nothing to show for it. But Allah سبحانه وتعالى says, إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ and that قليل was enough, right? And Allah سبحانه وتعالى rescued the قليل. So this man responds by saying, "Allah says in the Quran, look, the قليل." So I'm asking Allah, the قليل

**[13:57]** are those, the few are those who are grateful. I'm asking Allah to make me from the few. And 'Umar (رضي الله عنه) starts, you know, in classical 'Umar (رضي الله عنه) fashion, you know, he starts crying and saying, "Everyone is more knowledgeable than you, O 'Umar." So it's this theme in the Quran of minority, majority,

**[14:12]** and yet tying it in with the outcomes, I think. And the messengers are the best examples of this where they made the effort, they did what they could, and on paper it didn't necessarily look like they achieved something. But سبحان الله, you know, they did. And this is a blueprint really for all

**[14:28]** of us to follow. So Allah doesn't need what's popular, and Allah doesn't judge truth by what's popular. Absolutely. And there's something that's in the verse that you're going to talk about, Shaykh, insha'Allah Ta'ala, where Allah 'Azza wa Jalla says, وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ that your Lord is self-sufficient and full of mercy. And Allah

**[14:46]** connects that too, that if He wanted to, He could simply replace you with another group of people. Like you don't have to be—He doesn't need the majority to be on His side, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, nor should you need the majority to accept you. That's a faulty way of judging

**[15:01]** truth. I want you to walk us through that ayah, but also how you have the pairing of Al-Ghani, dhu al-rahmah, because those two things, like, don't—they don't seem to match when we talk about human beings, right? Like Ghani: "I don't need you," yet dhu al-rahmah: "I

**[15:17]** give you so much mercy." Absolutely. Right? Usually you show mercy, you show sympathy, you show this because you want to get something, you want to provoke an emotion in return or something in return. So that's a need that would cause you to do so. But Allah 'Azza wa Jalla is Ghani; He is fully self-sufficient, yet

**[15:36]** shows mercy that is not matched by anyone else. So just take us through this ayah, insha'Allah Ta'ala, in Surah Al-An'am. Subhanallah, yes. So I mean, I remember when, you know, maybe the mashayikh can relate here, when you first start studying a little bit of Arabic, you come across a word like غني and you think, "Okay,

**[15:54]** this means, you know, rich," right? It's like the popular vocab, right? Right, right, yeah. غني، فقير. Rich, poor, right? And then you come across a verse in the Quran in which Allah mentions He's غني. And in the very early stages, you're thinking, "Allah is saying He's rich.

**[16:09]** Doesn't make sense, you know. He's saying we're فقير, you know." Like, and then you look at the verses deeper and you start to understand that غني has a particular meaning, as we've mentioned, of self-sufficiency. Like Imam Al-Shafi'i رحمه الله, he mentions غني is Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is غني بلا مال, you know,

**[16:25]** like there's no مال, there's no wealth involved here. There's something, there's something far greater. And that is when you see a person who is غني, like 'Uthman (رضي الله عنه), you say, "He's غني." Yeah, he's rich, but he's self-sufficient. He doesn't rely on anyone. And I think when you come across a verse like where Allah says in the Quran, وَاللَّهُ الْغَنِيُّ

**[16:40]** وَأَنْتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ. Allah is الغني and you are all فقراء, meaning you are all in need and you are all fully dependent on Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. You need Allah and Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala does not need you, your praise, your worship, and so on. I think when

**[16:56]** you begin to unwrap these verses, that's when you fully start to understand, okay, Ghani here is not about wealth, um, like we think it is. So when Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala in this verse, He's saying, وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ you know, and if you go back a few verses, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala literally says, ذَٰلِكَ أَن لَّمْ يَكُن رَّبُّكَ مُهْلِكَ الْقُرَىٰ بِظُلْمٍ

**[17:14]** وَأَهْلُهَا غَافِلُونَ Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, He would never punish a people, um, you know, despite their wrongdoings if they are unaware, meaning if the message hasn't been presented to them, you know, a messenger hasn't been sent to them, وَمَا كُنَّا مُعَذِّبِينَ حَتَّىٰ

**[17:29]** نَبْعَثَ رَسُولًا. We would never punish a nation until we've sent a messenger to them. That's fair, right? So Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is saying here, after mentioning that, uh, you know, these people, we could have punished them, right, but we didn't. Then Allah says, He is

**[17:45]** Al-Ghani, right? Just even if you turned away from me, right, even the majority, like we find in the stories of pretty much all of the messengers, right, that the majority turned away, Allah says, وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ He is fully self-sufficient, independent. He doesn't need your worship

**[18:00]** and praise. But then He adds, ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ. Again, like Shaykh Omar mentioned, you know, it doesn't make sense. A person who is self-sufficient, usually when you think of a person who's so rich and self-sufficient and doesn't need anything, doesn't really—isn't really the nicest person, the CEO of the company or, you know, the rich businessman

**[18:18]** or, you know, they're not really the nicest people to deal with. But Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala here is saying He is full of mercy. Why? Because going back to that verse, He could have punished if He wanted to. Allah 'Azza wa Jalla could have taken you to account, right? But here He's saying, no, look, I am fully independent.

**[18:36]** I am—and He reminds us, by the way, رَبُّكَ. He is your Lord, your Master. So He's established this relationship. At the end of the day, you're the servant and I'm the Master. And I could have punished you, but ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ, I am full of mercy. And Subhanallah, I mean, رَحْمَة encompasses all of these other beautiful

**[18:52]** names of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala. ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ here means Allah is Al-Halim. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is As-Sabur. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala is As-Sittir. So He is full of mercy. What does that mean? It means that He is forbearing. He's patient. If Allah

**[19:07]** wanted, like the previous nations—and Allah mentions this, uh, actually at the beginning of this juz as well—the trend you find is that Allah would punish the previous nations. And this is a mercy on our Ummah in particular, the Ummah of Muhammad (ﷺ) that we sin, we make a mistake. Can you imagine, like, our Prime Minister here or your President,

**[19:24]** you know, you have, like, an average citizen who commits crime after crime after crime every single day. One day it's theft, one day it's assault, one day it's murder. And they're just like, "Yeah, it's okay. Carry on." I mean, our President is a criminal. Yeah, I was going to say, I didn't want to, you know, I'm not—I'm not—he's

**[19:40]** not my President, so I left it. I left it to you. But can you imagine, like, you just let someone off every single day? It doesn't happen to an ordinary citizen, right? But yet here we are, ordinary servants of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, and we commit sins. Every time

**[19:56]** we gossip, we backbite, sins of the tongue, sins of the eyes on social media. You know, Allah is just letting us carry on. And this is the mercy aspect, the رَحْمَة aspect. But then Allah goes on to say, "If Allah wanted, then He could have replaced you fully." And this is a really scary ayah, to be

**[20:12]** honest with you. And there's many ayat like this in the Quran where Allah mentions, وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ you know, if you turn away, then Allah can just replace you. Here, replacement doesn't necessarily mean—I mean, one of the meanings is that, um, Allah completely wipes you off, you know, the land and

**[20:28]** brings a new people. And we said that that happened to previous generations. It's out of Allah's mercy. It doesn't happen to us. But I want to just end by mentioning something because, you know, sometimes as Muslims, we look at these verses and say, "Yeah, this applies to non-Muslims. It doesn't apply to us." It applies to us as Muslims because Allah replacing here could mean, for

**[20:46]** example, if Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has chosen you in His service, that Allah replaces you with someone else, um, who then, you know, is more than capable of doing what you were doing. But it's only out of Allah's mercy that He chose us to serve for His sake. Two of my favorite topics, subhanAllah, are the names of Allah

**[21:03]** and du'a. So just combining the two is a du'a that comes to mind when we talk about istibdal, istikhlaf. Yeah, um, اللهم استخدمنا ولا تستبدلنا ولا تستخلفنا you know, "O Allah,

**[21:18]** use us, continue to use us for Your khidmah, for Your service, and do not replace us." And what Allah is saying here is, "Look, if Allah wanted, He could have got rid of you and replaced you." So this is a du'a to internalize really, which is, "O Allah, look, if You've chosen us for some khayr," and there's

**[21:34]** many of you watching who you're thinking, "Yeah, but I'm not a community leader and I'm not influential." Trust me, you are doing khayr in your own capacity, and this is khidmah, this is service for Allah's sake. Keep asking Allah, "Ya Allah, do not replace me," because I promise you there are many people out there who could do much

**[21:49]** better than what we're doing. But Allah has chosen us for some khayr. So سبحان الله, so much to mention, but you tie, in fact, three names of Allah together: the Rabb, you know, Allah establishes that He is the Master, and then He is Al-Ghani. He doesn't need your

**[22:04]** worship specifically, but dhu al-rahmah, it is out of His mercy that He, uh, does not take you to account, does not hold you to account, does not punish you immediately for the sins and for our wrongdoings. But سبحان الله, so many names here that you could just really

**[22:20]** analyze a lot deeper. Yeah, it's so beautiful. I mean, you know, سبحان الله, I like how you mentioned the three names: وَرَبُّكَ الْغَنِيُّ ذُو الرَّحْمَةِ, you know, when you see Your Lord, who is He, from who He is, from lordship, as we would say rububiyyah, understanding His lordship and His authority and His divinity. From that emanates what? His self-sufficiency. And

**[22:38]** from that emanates Him being merciful. And from His mercy is that He made you Muslim even. You know, the fact that you made that small decision to stay a Muslim or the decision to become a Muslim, you know, that's from His mercy as well. So when we say, يعني الحمد لله رب العالمين الرحمن الرحيم رب العالمين

**[22:57]** that He is the Lord of all of creation because they know and they are aware of His lordship. And He is a Lord that is merciful as well. But never forget that He doesn't need you. And that's what's so important of the self-sufficiency piece, because even at the end of the verse, He mentions that يعني He

**[23:13]** that He will replace you just as He has brought you forth from the offspring of other people. أول مرة So it's showing you He's giving the example, like the fact that there's offspring, the fact that your older relatives will pass away and that you will soon pass away. Do you not see that this is تِلْكَ الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ these are the days that will

**[23:31]** just consistently propel and continue on between mankind, that there will be a day that you the fact that you know that you will pass away and you don't know is already scary in and of itself. And Allah is showing you that, look, you will go, you will leave this earth, I will remain. I

**[23:47]** am free from any need of you. You need me, but I'm not saying that in a fashion that is arrogant. I'm saying it in a fashion that is merciful because everything that is in front of you is a manifestation of My mercy. It requires you to make a

**[24:05]** small effort and just to look with the eyes that I've given you, that you see in color, that's mercy. Look with basirah, with your heart, by observing this verse, the month of Ramadan, you voluntarily coming to the masjid, that's a mercy because

**[24:23]** there are friends that are not right now. Literally, when you're watching this video now, it could be friends that don't even want to watch it, don't even want to try to become Muslim because whether they think that there is too much, they're in despair or they're taking it for granted. You know, there's too much as, you

**[24:38]** know, Ibn Al-Qayyim mentions that there's khawf and raja', that there's a fear and there's a hope, and the head of the bird is love, right? There may be too much hope to where you say الله غفور رحيم you know, I don't pray in Ramadan, it's fine, or you have khawf, you say, "Allah will never forgive me." No, be in the middle course. And with that reality, Allah is Ghani,

**[24:53]** but you are always faqir, you're always realizing the more that you remember that you're deprived, the more it pushes you to seek His mercy and to seek His forgiveness. So that's what this verse really reminds me of. And MashaAllah, as you mentioned, you know, earlier, the

**[25:09]** importance of understanding His freedom from all of creation is a means for us to push harder and to go harder, especially in this month of Ramadan. May Allah make us from them. بارك الله فيكم. You know, the last thing that I'll say here, سبحان الله, is like, don't ever think that you're punishing anyone, but yourself, when

**[25:25]** you walk away from what is good for your akhirah, good for your hereafter. Like, the prophets were the most honored people on earth, and they were being subjected to the most humiliation on earth in terms of people mocking them and beating them and treating them the way that we spoke about in the beginning of this episode, right? But when

**[25:43]** you say, "I'm not going to go to the masjid," like, they don't deserve me. I'm not going to do this Islamic work anymore. I'm not going to do this. Like, this is a message to the people of da'wah, the people of activism, the people of knowledge, the people who volunteer. Like, don't ever think that you walking away is hurting anyone but yourself, right?

**[25:59]** Because Allah doesn't need you. And the greatest honor is to be a part of the process. The greatest honor is to be a part of the process of what Allah سبحانه وتعالى commands on this earth. Embrace it. اللهم استعملنا ولا تستبدلنا. O Allah, use us and don't replace us. اللهم آمين. جزاكم الله خيراً Shaykh Shabbir, it's a

**[26:16]** pleasure to have you. بارك الله فيكم everyone. Shaykh Abdullah, as always, man, جزاك الله خير. إن شاء الله تعالى we'll see all of you tomorrow night. والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته.

## Other Episodes in "Qur’an 30 for 30 | Season 7"
- [Juz 30: Love Al-Razzaq More Than Rizq | Sh. Navaid Aziz](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-30.md)
- [Juz 29: Your Spiritual Report Card  | Dr. Nazir Khan](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-29.md)
- [Juz 28: How To Truly Be Conscious of Allah | Dr. Jinan Yousef](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-28.md)
- [Juz 27: The Night You Give Everything | Sh. Abu Bakr Zoud](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-27.md)
- [Juz 26: Don’t Run From Struggle | Sh. Mikaeel Smith](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-26.md)
- [Juz 25: God Is Not A Mystery | Sh. Ibrahim Hindy](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-25.md)
- [Juz 24: Candid Conversations with Allah | Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-24.md)
- [Juz 23: Facing Your Trials With Honor | Dr. Farah Islam](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-23.md)
- [Juz 22: Appreciating Muhammad ﷺ | Sh. Omar Hajjaj](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-22.md)
- [Juz 21: Allah Is The Author of History | Sr. Sarah Sultan](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-21.md)
- [Juz 20: Allah’s Loud and Silent Revelations | Sh. Hisham Abu Yusuf](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-20.md)
- [Juz 19: What Makes You Valuable to Allah? | Ust. Roohi Tahir](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-19.md)
- [Juz 18: The Qur’an Is A Cure | Dr. Tesneem Alkiek](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-18.md)
- [Juz 17: When Allah Chooses You, How Will You Respond? | Sh. Yousef Wahb](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-17.md)
- [Juz 16: Can You Be Patient With Allah? | Ust. Lobna Mulla](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-16.md)
- [Juz 15: Join the Heavens in Glorifying Allah | Sh. Mohamud Mohamed](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-15.md)
- [Juz 14: The Surah of Blessings | Ust. Taimiyyah Zubair](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-14.md)
- [Juz 13: What Is 1% of Allah’s Mercy? | Dr. Mohamed AbuTaleb](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-13.md)
- [Juz 12: Allah Is Not Far | Sh. Omar Hedroug](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-12.md)
- [Juz 11: Stop Playing Games | Dr. Ovamir Anjum](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-11.md)
- [Juz 10: When Allah Goes To War For You | Dr. Suleiman Hani](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-10.md)
- [Juz 9: How To Memorize Allah’s Names | Dr. Haifaa Younis](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-9.md)
- [Juz 7: They Know Al-Lateef in Gaza | Dr. Farhan Abdul Azeez](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-7.md)
- [Juz 6: Signs of A Hypocrite | Sh. Asim Khan](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-6.md)
- [Juz 5: You Can’t Fight Fire with Fire | Ust. Fatima Lette](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-5.md)
- [Juz 4: The Final Moments of This Life | Ahmad Hraichie ( The Muslim Undertaker)](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-4.md)
- [Juz 3: How The Qur’an Makes You Rich | Dr. Tahir Wyatt](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-3.md)
- [Juz 2: The Lord of Rituals | Mufti Menk](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-2.md)
- [Juz 1: Allah’s Names in the Qur’an | Sh. Mohammad Elshinawy](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-juz-1-mohammad-elshinawy.md)
- [TRAILER | Qur’an 30 for 30 Season 7 | Dr. Omar Suleiman and Sh. Abdullah Oduro](https://yaqeeninstitute.org/watch/series/quran-30-for-30-season-7/quran-30-for-30-season-7-trailer.md)