Taraweeh Reflections (2024)
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Should We Suppress Our Emotions? | Taraweeh Reflections
The way that the family of Ibrahim (as), Yaqub (as), and Yusuf (as) dealt with the pain inflicted upon them by others.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. One of the beautiful things about the family of Yusuf a.s. and Yaqub a.s. is that they stem from a similar spirit of Ibrahim a.s. And I wanted to actually stick for a moment with what precedes Surah Yusuf and Surah Hud. And then a common denominator that you find between these three people. Between the great-grandfather, the grandson, and the great-grandson. You know when we talk about Ibrahim a.s. as Abu'l-Anbiya, as the father of the prophets. Obviously that refers to the creed, the pure tawheed, the oneness of Allah that Ibrahim a.s. taught. And how that was transferred from generation to generation. But there is also the akhlaq of Ibrahim a.s. The character traits of Ibrahim a.s. And as you're reading about the twists and turns and the difficulties of Yaqub a.s. and Yusuf a.s. and how they're dealing with people. It's important to actually appreciate for a moment that there is a method to the way that they are dealing with these things. There's a methodology here. There's a manhaj. And that methodology comes from the great-grandfather, in the case of Yusuf a.s., the great-grandfather Ibrahim a.s. Now here's something I want you to pay attention to. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in these two surahs about how each one of them dealt with their emotions. So there's a question that I'll ask and I won't answer it right now. Is it good to suppress your emotions? Is it healthy to suppress your emotions? Yes or no? All the men said yes. All the women said no. Exactly what I thought would happen, right? Pay attention, subhanAllah, to something very beautiful about these three men. All three of them within the capacity of these two surahs.
And we often talk about a hot temper being transitioned from one to the next. But here you have a beautiful khuluq, a beautiful characteristic transition from one to the next. All three of them dealt with pain that was caused to them by one of their family members or some of their family members. In the case of Ibrahim a.s., he complains to Allah about the pain caused to him by who? His father. In the case of Yaqub a.s., he complains about who? His sons. In the case of Yusuf a.s., who? His brothers, right? So the parent, the child, the sibling. And the method here that you have in surah Hud, and remember that Yaqub lived to see his grandfather Ibrahim. And there's a beautiful lesson that transitions here. Allah describes Ibrahim a.s. with, إِنَّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ لَحَلِيمٌ أَوَّاهٌ مُنِيبٌ It's one of the most beautiful summaries of a man's character a.s. Ibrahim a.s. was haleem, he was very forbearing. He had to take a lot. He had to deal with a lot. The types of things that Ibrahim a.s. went through, the types of pain that he encountered, the types of hardships that were inflicted upon him by the same people that are supposed to give you comfort and love, were so much. The pain from his people, the pain from all circles and sectors of his society. When he's thrown into that fire and Ibrahim looks around, he doesn't have a friend amongst the human beings. His only supporter is his wife Sarah. Lut a.s. has already moved on before that. So he's looking around and he sees nothing but insult and hatred and pain being inflicted upon him. Haleem. He has to take a lot. But he was a wah. Allah describes him as someone who grieves. Right? So we're talking about the intensity of emotion in the khutbah. He had a lot inside. He had a soft heart. SubhanAllah, this is of the mission of the prophets.
They are a mercy in their prophethood. In the prophet, salallahu alayhi wa sallam, the last and final prophet is rahmatan lil'alameen, a mercy to the world. La'allaka bakhi'un nafsaka ala atharihim. It hurts him, salallahu alayhi wa sallam. What is said to him and then the fate of those that are saying these things to him. It hurts him. They have soft hearts. They are the softest hearted of people to ever walk the face of the earth. Because the softer your heart, the greater your rank in the sight of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Ibrahim a.s. used to take a lot from the people. And he had a tender heart. It was awwah. So how does he deal with that? He's munib. He's turned back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Frequently turning back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Like if I could give you a visual of this ayah. Think about the first part, la'halimun. You imagine the people hurting him, yelling at him and his ability to be patient with that. Awwah, when he's all alone and he's grieving and he's crying. And he's feeling the pain of what is being done. Munib. Turn back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and funneling all of that into his ibadah. Into his dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Into his supplication. Into his prayer. Into his worship. There's a method here. And you could see in Ya'qub a.s. that he's halimun awwahun munib. And you could see in Yusuf a.s. that he's halimun awwahun munib. All three of those characteristics are demonstrated in their story. In the case of Ya'qub a.s. You have to be extremely forbearing to be able to deal with the pain that is being caused to you by your sons. He's taking a lot from them. Not just that they kidnapped his son and threw him away. But that they also lie to him. And they're mocking him in his pain. And calling him a deluded old man, a delusional old man. Why can't you get over it? What does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say? That, وَبْيَضْلَتْ عَيْنَاهُمْ مِنَ الْحُزُنِ فَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ
He cried himself blind. إِنَّمَا أَشْكُوا بَثِّي وَحُزْنِي إِلَى اللَّهِ Crying to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Awwah. But ilallah. Munib. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, فَهُوَ كَظِيمٌ He swallowed it. He swallowed it. Right? وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظِ Those that swallow their pain. He swallowed his emotions. His pain. And he took it to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So you see the element of Forbearing. Grieving. Turned back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Forbearing. Grieving. Turned back to Allah. That's very interesting. Because then you come to Yusuf alayhi salam. The last one in this equation. In this sequence. Ishaq alayhi salam. We don't see any pain being caused to him in the Quran. Right? But Allah knows the life of a nabi always comes with its challenges. Right? The prophet always comes with its challenges. But Yusuf alayhi salam. When Yusuf is in front of his brothers. And he is in a position of power. And they don't know who he is. And they say إِن يَسْرِقْ If he steals. Right? If he stole. Meaning bin yamin. Then he had a brother that stole before. Just like him. Meaning they insulted Yusuf alayhi salam. Not realizing they were standing right in front of him. What does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say about Yusuf alayhi salam? فَأَسَرَّهَا يُوسُفُ فِي نَفْسِهِ Yusuf swallowed it to himself. Like he burned. Stings. And he said قَالَ أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا That you are in an evil place. وَاللَّهُ أَعْلُمُ بِمَا تَصِفُونَ And Allah knows what you are planning. Subhanallah. Think about how profound this is. So first of all you see again. أَوَّاه That he is halim. He is taking a lot. I mean for him to not just like take his brothers out in the moment. That takes a lot of patience. We always talk about Yusuf alayhi salam in the end. And his willingness to forgive them. Most of us. If you saw your brothers after all those years after they threw you in the well. The moment that you set your sight on them.
And you are in a position of power. You are going to say to the rest of the people in Egypt. I have some business to take care of. Come let's go to the Nile river. Right. You jump me into a well. It's time to get rid of you. Most of us would say alright revenge. Right away. As soon as we see them. Right. We would want to take our revenge back. Yusuf is holding it all in. He is being patient with them. And then they insulted him. He is still being patient with them. And Allah is showing us how he is أَوَّاه أَسَرَّهَا يُسُفٍ فِي نَفْسِهِ Like it was inside of him when they said that comment. And so much so. Subhanallah he was turned to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so much so that Allah recorded the words he said to himself. For us to recite today. Think about how profound this is. Subhanallah Yusuf a.s. said something to himself. قَالَ أَنْتُمْ شَرٌّ مَكَانًا وَاللَّهُ عَنُهُ مِمَا تَصِفُونَ What an evil position you all are in. And Allah knows what you are planning. He said it to himself. And imagine if there is like a microphone on the inside of the heart and amplifying it. What he said to himself in his pain is in the Quran. Meaning billions of people have recited out loud what a man said to himself in that pain. As he swallowed it for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That is so profound subhanallah. And it's one of the greatest ways that you can see validation. Like Allah a.s. showing Yusuf a.s. and showing us that the cry of the believer to himself is not lost. You might say to yourself here is how shaitan gets to you. Shaitan says are you gonna let that go? If you don't say anything then the record won't be straight.
You have to say this and you have to say that. Respond. Be louder than them. Be more aggressive than them. Do this, do this. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is showing just as he shows us with Zakariya a.s. in the corner of Al-Aqsa and these prophets as they made their silent du'as. Du'a khafiyah that even the inner thought of the believer when he swallows for the sake of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that Allah a.s. is recording that and that could be a source of great tremendous reward for that person. Now here's the thing, subhanallah, halimun awwahun muneem. Every single one of them you see this. And the question that I asked in the very beginning and it is an important question. Is it healthy to suppress your emotions? No. But it is prophetic to redirect your emotions. That's what you see in all three of these prophets. They had a method of redirect to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They took it from here and then they brought it to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here. Everything they took, yasbiru ala adhahum. Alladhi yukharitu nas wa yasbiru ala adhahum. Everything they took from the people, they took back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in ibadah. And that allowed them to be the amazing people that they were and to have that khuluq. To have that trait. Innamal ilmu bittahallum wa innamal hilmu bittahallum. Knowledge is through seeking knowledge and forbearance is through practicing it. And dear brothers and sisters, if you simply suppress your emotions and hold it in all the time and you don't talk to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with it, then at some point you're just gonna explode. At some point it's just gonna come out in the worst way. And that's the thing. So a lot of people they take, they take, they take and then eventually the balloon pops. And then it all breaks loose, right? The prophets always had that valve. Every single night. They had that valve with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Even subhanAllah the scholars mention when Yaqub a.s. says to his sons,
sawfa astaghfirulakum rabbi. After it all came to be, Yusuf a.s. said, I forgive you. Right? When the brothers said to their father after everything had been done, astaghfirulana, right? To seek forgiveness for us. He said, I will seek forgiveness for you. The ulama mention what? That Yaqub a.s. had a wird, he had a time where he would pray qiyam al-layl at waqt al-sahar, at the time right before fajr, the last third of the night. And so when he's saying sawfa astaghfirulakum rabbi, that I will seek forgiveness, he's saying in the last third when I wake up and I do my qiyam, I will ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive you. I'll take that sincerity because that's his release valve. So they didn't suppress their emotions. They redirected their emotions. That's why the prophets of Allah were able to endure the greatest trials because they had the greatest outlet with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's why the prophets were able to endure this mission because they knew who they were doing it for and they always turned back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us as he described Ibrahim a.s. Haleemun awwahun muneeb. May Allah azawajal allow us to embody these traits and allow us to be in the mold of our prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and then join with our prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam and the prophets and the martyrs and the righteous ones and the truthful ones. Allahumma ameen. BarakAllahu feekum.
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