Surah Kahf Recitation & Jumu'ah Khutbah | Mawlana Yousuf Ghouse | 10/31

Recitation of Surah Al-Kahf

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

All praise is due to Allah, Who has sent down the Book to His servant, and has not made it crooked — a warner of a severe punishment from Him, and gives good news to the believers who do righteous deeds, that they will have a good reward, abiding therein forever, and warns those who say, Allah has taken a son.

They have no knowledge of it, nor do their fathers. The greatest word that comes out of their mouths. They say nothing but a lie. So that you may cause yourself to weep over their traces, if they do not believe in this message.

We have made what is on the earth an adornment for them, that We may test them — which of them is best in deed. And indeed, We will make what is on it a barren ground.

Indeed, they were young men who believed in their Lord, and We increased them in guidance. And We fastened upon their hearts a seal, and they said: Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will not call upon any god other than Him.

And when you have withdrawn from them and they worship none but Allah, then go to the cave. Your Lord will spread out for you His mercy, and He will make easy for you your affair. And you will see the sun, when it rises, move away from their cave to the right, and when it sets, move away to the left, and they will be in an open space thereof. These are among the signs of Allah. Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the guided one, and whosoever He leaves astray, you will find for him no rightful guardian.

And you would think them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them to the right and to the left, and their dog stretched his forelegs at the threshold. If you had looked upon them, you would have fled from them, and you would have been filled with terror.

And thus did We raise them up that they might ask one another. One of them said: How long have you stayed? They said: We stayed a day, or part of a day. They said: Your Lord knows best how long you have stayed. So send one of you with this silver coin of yours to the city, and let him see which is the purest food, and bring you provision from it, and let him be careful. And let no one be aware of you. Verily, if they come to know of you, they will stone you or turn you back to their religion, and then you will never be successful.

And thus did We make their case known so that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that the Hour — there is no doubt about it. When they disputed among themselves their affair, they said: Build over them a structure. Their Lord knows them best. Those who prevailed over their affair said: We will surely build over them a mosque.

Some will say: They were three, their dog being the fourth among them. And some say: Five, the sixth being their dog — guessing at the unseen. And some say: Seven, and the eighth was their dog. Say: My Lord knows best their number. Only a few know them. So do not argue about them except with a clear argument, and do not ask anyone about them.

And never say of anything: I will do that tomorrow, except that Allah wills. And remember your Lord when you forget, and say: Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this to right conduct.

And they stayed in their cave three hundred years and increased by nine. Say: Allah knows best how long they stayed. To Him belongs the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How clearly He sees and how well He hears! They have no guardian besides Him, and He does not allow anyone to share in His judgment.

And be patient with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and in the evening, seeking His Face. And do not turn your eyes away from them, seeking the adornment of the life of this world. And do not obey him whose heart We have made heedless of Our Remembrance, and who follows his desires, and whose affair will be in vain.

And say: The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills, let him believe, and whoever wills, let him disbelieve. Verily, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds the faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.

Verily, those who believe and do righteous deeds — We do not waste the reward of one who does a good deed. They will have Gardens of Eternity under which rivers flow. Therein they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade, reclining on adorned couches. Blessed is the reward, and excellent is the resting place.

And set forth for them the parable of two men. We made for one of them two gardens of grapevines, and We surrounded them with date-palms, and We placed between them crops. Each of the two gardens yielded its produce and did not fall short thereof in anything. And We caused a river to flow through them. And he had fruit, so he said to his companion while conversing with him: I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in men. And he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. He said: I do not think that this will ever perish. And I do not think the Hour will occur. And even if I should be brought back to my Lord, I will surely find better than this as a return.

His companion said to him, while conversing with him: Do you disbelieve in Him who created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop, then made you into a man? But He is Allah, my Lord, and I associate no one with my Lord. And if you see me as less than you in wealth and children — it may be that my Lord will give me better than your garden and will send upon it a calamity from the sky, and it will become a barren ground. Or its water will become sunken into the earth, so that you will never be able to seek it.

And why did you not say, when you entered your garden: What Allah wills; there is no power except with Allah. And his fruits were encompassed by ruin, and he began to turn his hands about in anguish over what he had spent on it, while it had collapsed upon its trellises, and he was saying: I wish I had not associated anyone with my Lord. And he had no company to help him other than Allah, and he was unable to help himself.

There, authority is for Allah, the True. He is best in reward and best in outcome.

And give them the likeness of the life of this world: it is like water which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it, and then it becomes dry stubble which the winds scatter. And Allah is Powerful over all things.

Wealth and children are the adornment of the life of this world, but the enduring good deeds are better in the sight of your Lord as a reward and better as a hope.

And on the Day when We will move the mountains, and you will see the earth as a leveled plain, and We will gather them and not leave behind any one of them. And they will be presented before your Lord in rows, and He will say: You have come to Us as We created you the first time. But you claimed that We would never make for you an appointment.

And the Record will be placed, and you will see the criminals fearful of what is within it, and they will say: O woe to us! What is this Book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it? And they will find what they did present, and your Lord does not wrong anyone.

And when We said to the angels: Bow down to Adam, they bowed down — except Iblis. He was of the jinn, and he disobeyed the commandment of his Lord. Will you then take him and his progeny as protectors instead of Me, while they are to you an enemy? Evil is the exchange for the wrongdoers.

Nothing prevents people from believing when guidance has come to them, except that they ask for the custom of the former peoples to befall them, or that the punishment be brought upon them face to face. And We do not send the messengers except as bearers of good tidings and warners. And those who disbelieve argue with falsehood, to refute the truth thereby. And they take My signs and that by which they have been warned in ridicule.

And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the signs of his Lord but he turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears is deafness. And if you call them to guidance, they will never be guided. And your Lord is Forgiving, Owner of Mercy.

If He were to impose blame upon them for what they earned, He would have hastened for them the punishment. But they have an appointment from which they will never find an escape. And those cities — We destroyed them when they did wrong, and We made for their destruction an appointed time.

And when Musa said to his young companion: I will not cease until I reach the junction of the two seas, or I will spend a long period traveling. But when they reached the junction between them, they forgot their fish, and it took its course into the sea, slipping away. So when they had passed beyond, Musa said to his young companion: Bring us our morning meal. We have certainly suffered in this journey of ours much fatigue. He said: Did you see? When we retreated to the rock, I forgot the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan, that I should mention it. And it took its course into the sea amazingly. Musa said: That is what we were seeking. So they returned, following their footprints.

And they found a servant from among Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him from Us a certain knowledge. Musa said to him: May I follow you on the condition that you teach me from what you have been taught of right conduct? He said: Indeed, you will not be able to have patience with me. And how can you have patience for what you do not encompass in knowledge? Musa said: You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in any order. He said: Then if you follow me, do not ask me about anything until I make mention of it to you.

So they set out until, when they had embarked on the ship, he made a hole in it. Musa said: Have you made a hole in it to drown its people? You have certainly done a grave thing. He said: Did I not say that you would not be able to have patience with me? Musa said: Do not blame me for what I forgot and do not cover me in my matter with difficulty. So they set out until, when they met a boy, he killed him. Musa said: Have you killed a pure soul in other than for a soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing. He said: Did I not tell you that you would not be able to have patience with me? Musa said: If I should ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion. You have obtained from me an excuse.

So they set out until, when they came to the people of a town, they asked its people for food, but they refused to offer them hospitality. And they found therein a wall about to collapse, so he restored it. Musa said: If you wished, you could have taken for it a payment. He said: This is the parting between me and you. I will inform you of the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience.

As for the ship, it belonged to poor people working at sea. So I intended to cause defect in it as there was after them a king who seized every ship by force. And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy. And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. And I did not do it of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience.

And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say: I will recite to you about him a mention. Indeed, We established him upon the earth, and We gave him to everything a way. So he followed a way. Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of dark mud, and he found near it a people. We said: O Dhul-Qarnayn, either you punish them or else adopt among them a way of goodness. He said: As for one who wrongs, we will punish him. Then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with a terrible punishment. But as for one who believes and does righteousness, he will have a reward of the best, and we will speak to him from our command with ease.

Then he followed a way. Until, when he reached the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had not made against it any shield. Thus it was, and We had encompassed in knowledge all that he had. Then he followed a way. Until, when he reached the pass between two mountains, he found beside them a people who could hardly understand speech. They said: O Dhul-Qarnayn, indeed Gog and Magog are great corruptors in the land. So may we assign for you an expenditure that you might make between us and them a barrier? He said: That in which my Lord has established me is better, but assist me with strength; I will make between you and them a dam. Bring me sheets of iron. Until, when he had leveled between the two mountain walls, he said: Blow into your bellows. Until, when he had made it like fire, he said: Bring me, that I may pour over it molten copper. So they were unable to pass over it, nor were they able to penetrate it. He said: This is a mercy from my Lord; but when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and ever is the promise of my Lord true.

And We will leave them that day surging over each other, and the Trumpet will be blown, and We will assemble them in assembly. And We will present Hell that Day to the disbelievers, on display — those whose eyes had been within a cover removed from My remembrance, and they were not able to hear.

Then do those who disbelieve think that they can take My servants as allies besides Me? Indeed, We have prepared Hell for the disbelievers as a lodging. Say: Shall We inform you of the greatest losers as to their deeds? Those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work. Those are the ones who disbelieve in the signs of their Lord and in the meeting with Him, so their deeds have become worthless; and We will not assign to them on the Day of Resurrection any importance. That is their recompense — Hell — because they disbelieved and took My signs and My messengers in ridicule.

Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds — they will have the Gardens of Paradise as a lodging, wherein they abide eternally. They will not desire from it any transfer.

Say: If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like of it as a supplement.

Say: I am only a human being like you. It is revealed to me that your God is but one God. So whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone.

Khutbah: Lessons of Autumn — Reflections on Faith and the Season

So the first thing is — don't you see that tree? I said, yeah, what about it? He said, look, it's red. And honestly, I hadn't noticed it before that. Having been born and raised and spent my entire life in the Midwest, I didn't notice that at all. But then when he pointed it out — coming from a tropical area — and he pointed out that the leaves are changing color, then I started to notice it. So then after some time I realized that this time of year that we're currently in, the season of fall, the season of autumn, it's like a spiritual sort of refresher for us. There are many lessons that we can take from it.

So we'll take the next few minutes to reflect on some of the lessons that we can take from this season. And the way that we can remember these lessons is a simple word. The word is AUTUMN. Okay, so that's all we need to remember, insha'Allah.

A — Agent: Recognizing Allah as the Causing Agent

The first lesson that we take from this season is that we look around us and we see that some of the trees have green leaves, some of them have yellow, some of them have red, some of them a kind of gold, some of them different colors — some of them more purple. Some of them have different colors, an array of colors on a single tree.

So then we ask ourselves: who's directing all this traffic? If we walk into, let's say, the Art Institute, we'll see a beautiful painting and we'll say, whoever the artist is that painted this, he or she must have been very talented. Similarly, we're seeing this beautiful array of colors around us. So this couldn't have happened by chance without anyone directing this traffic or causing this change.

So when we see this change happening around us, then we realize that there is an agent — a causative agent — that's bringing about this change. So now the A in AUTUMN stands for Agent. And we recognize that it's not that this is happening at random, but rather Allah is the one who's bringing about this change.

Allah tells us in different places in the Quran that these colors that we see around us are a sign of Allah, and this array of colors is a means for us to develop fear of Allah. Allah says:

Do you not see that Allah sends down water from the sky? So Allah thereby causes fruits and vegetation to grow that are varying and differing in their colors. Allah talks about the mountains — mountains have different colors as well. Allah talks about people and animals having different colors as well. The theme in all of this is colors. Whether it's vegetation, or animals and plants and human beings around us, or the mountains — Allah is calling our attention to the fact that there are different colors. After all of that, Allah says: Indeed, it is those who are knowledgeable — who take lesson from these things, be it the sharia, zoology, or geology — they know about these things, they extract lessons from them, and then that leads to fear of Allah. Literally: indeed, it is the scholars who fear Allah.

So what Allah is calling our attention to is the fact that seeing this array of colors around us — this difference in color — is something that creates the fear of Allah. So we look around us and we realize that this cannot have come about by chance. Rather, there's an agent, the A in AUTUMN is Agent, that's causing all of this — and that is Allah. So that leads us to recognition of Allah, and recognizing that Allah is the one who is bringing about this change.

U — Unlimited Knowledge of Allah

The next thing — the U in AUTUMN. This stands for the Unlimited Knowledge of Allah. Allah says:

To Allah alone belong the keys of the unseen. A key — something is only locked up and has a key when it's very precious, and not many people can access it, or no one can access it. So it's saying: to Allah alone belongs this exclusive knowledge. Then — to bring it closer to home — Allah says: Allah knows everything that's in the land and everything that's in the sea. But even that might be too broad for us to really appreciate. So then Allah narrows it down for us even more: there is not a single leaf that falls except that Allah knows it.

So let's put this into perspective. Many of us probably have a tree in front of our homes. Now if we ask ourselves — or someone were to ask us — are the leaves falling from that tree? We'd say yes, because it's the season of fall. Now if someone were to ask: how many leaves have fallen from that tree? We'd say, I don't know. A lot. I don't know.

So if we think about it, who would know the answer to this question? The person best poised to answer it is the person who lives in that house — because they're the person who sees that tree more than anyone else. And if we ourselves don't even know the number of leaves that have fallen from the tree in front of our own homes, then who else is going to know it? No one. And if we don't even know that, we can ask ourselves: do I know the number of leaves that have fallen from the trees in the city of Lombard? No. Do I even know the number of trees in the city of Lombard? Probably not. What about the number of trees in the state of Illinois? Or the country of the United States? Or the entire world? No one even knows the number of trees in any of these, let alone the leaves on these trees, let alone the leaves that fall.

But now — Allah says: there is not a single leaf that falls except that Allah knows it. So every single time we see a leaf that's falling, we think to ourselves: I don't know that that fell. I don't know how many leaves have fallen. But there is someone who knows that. And that is Allah. It's not just this tree in front of me that Allah knows about. Allah knows about every single tree. And when we think about the magnitude of Allah's knowledge, we realize that we can never even come close to understanding it.

So every single time a leaf falls and we see that, then that's a reminder to us of the unlimited knowledge of Allah. So the U in AUTUMN stands for Unlimited Knowledge. And perhaps we, living here in the Midwest in a temperate climate, are better poised to understand this than even many of the Muslims living in the Muslim world — many of whom may live in tropical or dry regions where they're not really able to appreciate this the same way.

So Allah has put us in a situation where we're able to appreciate this on a yearly basis. And every single leaf that falls is a reminder for us to reflect on that ayah — that there's not a single leaf that falls except that Allah knows it. It's a reminder to be awed by the majesty, the grandeur of the unlimited knowledge of Allah. Allah also says:

To Allah alone belongs the knowledge of the Hour. And there is not a single fruit that emerges from its sheath. Nor a single female that conceives or delivers except that Allah knows it. Now if we think about this, Allah doesn't even say human female. Allah says female. There's not a single female that conceives. And Allah doesn't even say "deliver" first — Allah says "conceive." If you think about it, the knowledge of Allah is so complete that oftentimes the woman herself who has conceived a child won't even know that she has something growing inside of her. It'll take a few weeks for her to realize, she might say, oh, maybe I'm expecting. But she may not know right away. Whereas as soon as someone conceives, Allah already knows it.

So we appreciate the unlimited knowledge of Allah. The A is for reminding us that Allah is the Agent that effectuates this change. Number two, the U in AUTUMN is reminding us of the unlimited knowledge of Allah. So it's a chance for us to gain ma'rifah of Allah by having this yearly opportunity — and for us, at this point in the season, it's every single day — being able to reflect when we see these leaves falling and on the ground that the knowledge of Allah is so overarching and encompassing.

T — Taqwa: God-Consciousness

The T leads to Taqwa. Luqman — a name that perhaps all of us have heard — he gave his son some advice. He said:

It's kind of like a list of do's and don'ts: do this, pray, command towards good, forbid evil. He tells him what to do and not to do. Now this is something that many parents will do — they'll say, well, I'm telling my child to pray, I'm telling them to do different things, but they're not really receptive. May Allah make it easy for us all.

But Luqman did not start with that advice. He started by saying something else first. And if we think about it, his advices — pray, command towards good, forbid evil — all are very practical. You can almost check off saying, I'm doing this or I'm not doing this. Whereas the advice that precedes this is not really practical at all. He says:

O my beloved son, if there is so much as a speck on some rock — if there is so much as a tiny, microscopic speck, somewhere on some rock somewhere, maybe even somewhere in space on some asteroid — Allah knows about it, and Allah can bring it forth. So this is the first advice after staying away from shirk that Luqman gave to his son. If you look at this, it's not practical at all. But rather Luqman is teaching us that if we want our children to listen and be receptive and follow the commandments of Allah, then we have to inculcate taqwa of Allah — the fact that Allah is watching them and Allah is aware of them. So after first inculcating this, Luqman thereafter started with the practical advices.

So the idea is this: if we understand that Allah's knowledge is encompassing and overarching — that Allah knows even so much about every single speck — that creates taqwa for us. And then all the other actions — praying, fasting, being good to each other — those all come very easily. So now the lesson for us is the fact that every single leaf that falls, which we'll see as soon as we step outside, is a chance for us to gain taqwa. Because then we reflect on the fact that Allah is the one that caused this. Allah knows that this leaf fell. No one else knows it; only Allah knows it. So we appreciate the overarching knowledge of Allah and that leads to taqwa.

So A-U-T — the T stands for Taqwa.

U — Upliftment: Hope for Spiritual Revival

The next thing — the second U. The U stands for Upliftment. We see that the earth around us, the land around us, ostensibly dies. It seems like everything becomes dead. The grass becomes grey, the trees lose their leaves — it seems like everything is dead. But then thereafter, when spring rolls around, then everything seemingly comes to life again.

If we've ever felt that we're in a spiritual slump or a spiritual rut and we haven't been able to really climb out of it — or anyone that we know or love is in that — then it's like Allah is giving us a yearly reminder: look around you, everything is dead, and then Allah brings it to life again. Don't you think then that Allah can bring our hearts to life as well? Allah says:

Is it not time for those who believe — for a certain category of people — to reflect on what Allah has revealed, in that they take ibrah from it, they take the message from it, and their hearts start to become soft with the dhikr of Allah? Is it not time for that? And don't be like those people whose hearts became hard. So now we may read this ayah in Surah Hadid and say, oh, maybe that's me, maybe my heart is becoming hard. Right after that, Allah says:

Bear very well in mind — this is immediately following the mention that some people's hearts become hard; may Allah protect us — Allah says: know very well that Allah gives life to the earth after its apparent death. So similarly, the idea is this: if we have seemingly a spiritual slump that we're in, then Allah can give us life, and then the trees around us, the grass around us, is a testament to that.

The second U is for Upliftment. Just one more aspect of that — these leaves are green as we see them. Then the pigment chlorophyll starts to go away, and we start to see these other colors — caused by other pigments like carotenoids that are there. Some of these pigments are actually present in the leaf before, but they're not able to express themselves because they're dominated by the chlorophyll. But then once that goes away, they're able to express themselves.

Sometimes we may feel that we have some potential but we're not able to achieve certain things. But looking at the leaves around us — the fact that these leaves do change color and this brilliant display does put itself on a show every single year — when that other pigment goes away, the carotenoids are able to express themselves. So in all of us, maybe if we're not feeling that we're achieving our goals, perhaps that potential does lie within us insha'Allah. It may just be that there's some obstacle there. As soon as we remove that obstacle, then insha'Allah we will be able to express our beautiful colors. It's not that we're inherently incapable of achieving it — there may just be something there that's stopping us. As soon as that's removed, then we hope that Allah will allow us to achieve our potential.

M — Mortality: A Reminder of Death

Finally, the M. AUTUMN. The M is for Mortality. So this is a reminder to us that the land around us seems to die. So now every single autumn — October, November — we should bear in mind: I'm going to die one day too. So I should take some lesson from this and start acting accordingly and changing my life.

If we pass through every single autumn and we're living the same life, not changing ourselves at all, then we're not taking lesson from the world around us. Because we're seeing everything die seemingly, and then we're living the same life. We're not preparing for our own death. So the M stands for Mortality.

N — Nutrients: Allah is the Ultimate Provider

And finally the N. What the trees do is that they have nutrients within the leaves, and then when winter rolls around — or before it rolls around — the trees will draw these nutrients back inside. And then just a small amount of nutrients are left in the leaf, and then the leaves fall. So now: number one, Allah created this system to allow the tree to preserve its nutrients. Number two, once these leaves fall, they become food for the decomposing organisms like fungi on the forest floor.

So the idea is this: even something that's just a fungus — Allah provides for it. Allah provides for the tree by creating a system allowing it to retain its nutrients. If we're ever — may Allah protect us all — in a tough situation financially, we have to remember: autumn is a reminder for us that just as Allah provides for these fungi, just as Allah provides for these trees, Allah can definitely provide for us as well. The N is for Nutrients. There is not a single creature on the face of the earth except that Allah is providing for it, and that includes all of us as well.

Summary: The AUTUMN Acronym

Just to recap — we said that there are many lessons in the season around us. We can remember these through the acronym AUTUMN:

• A stands for Agent — Allah is the affecting agent.
• U stands for Unlimited Knowledge of Allah.
• T stands for Taqwa — it leads to God-consciousness.
• U stands for Upliftment — it uplifts us because we realize there is still hope for us.
• M stands for Mortality — it reminds us about our own death.
• N stands for Nutrients — Allah is the ultimate provider for us.

We ask Allah to give all of us tawfiq, insha'Allah, to reflect on the world around us.

Announcements

A few announcements. The first thing is that, as we all probably know, insha'Allah this weekend we'll be changing the clocks. So Jumu'ah timing, consequentially, will be changing from next week onwards. The Jumu'ah sessions will be at 12 o'clock with the first Jumu'ah and 1 o'clock with the second Jumu'ah. So please take note of that.

Also, of course, a humble request to pass the donation boxes from left to right. You can find them at the side of the rows.

Tonight insha'Allah will be our annual youth night for boys and girls ages 5 to 17. Please register at masjidds.org. It's from 5:15 to 7:30 tonight insha'Allah. There will be a lot of activities, games, some talks, and refreshments for the children. Please insha'Allah send your kids and register as well.

There is a program on Friday, November 7th — so a week from now — a Tablighi program for students specifically. So please take note of that.

Our annual winter intensive — Paths of Piety, Evolution of the Four Madhahib and Contemporary Approaches to Fiqh — will be taking place on December 20th, 21st, and 22nd. So insha'Allah please mark your calendars for that and try to clear your schedules to attend insha'Allah.

Mondays insha'Allah we have a new series called The Compass. It's a podcast-style conversation with Ustadh Mueen Ahmed and a different guest every week. There are a lot of very unique and valuable insights shared in that. So please do take note and try to attend insha'Allah.

On Tuesdays we have our Tuesday Tafsir. Thursdays is the Urdu program on Al-Shama'il al-Muhammadiyyah and Al-Salatu 'ala al-Nabi after Isha' for brothers and sisters in Urdu. And on Saturday insha'Allah we'll be having our weekly Team Fajr as well. Our series on Lives of the Companions will continue insha'Allah in Team Fajr. There's breakfast as well, so please come insha'Allah ready to eat.

There are many sisters' part-time classes: Riyadh al-Salihin on Wednesdays 12 to 1, part-time Hifz on Monday to Friday, and many other programs as well.

Beacon House Preparatory School is a new Islamic school in the Aurora, Naperville, Lisle community. They focus on inculcating beautiful character — the akhlaq of a Muslim — as well as meaningful extracurriculars. Alhamdulillah they are here today. They have a booth set up outside. Personally, I am from the same community, born and raised there, and I know about the dire need of an Islamic school in that area. Very few people are able to drive on a daily basis to the Lombard area for Islamic schools. So alhamdulillah they are filling a very important need within a very large community. Please insha'Allah support them with whatever you can.

Helping Hands is organizing a Clothing and Blanket Drive for Pakistan Flood Relief. That will be happening a week from now — Saturday, November 8th, 11:00 to 3:00 — here at Dar es Salaam.

Du'a Requests

15-year-old brother Abdullah Hassan will be undergoing open-heart surgery. May Allah make things easy for him. Please make du'a for him.

Brother Zakaullah Syed is suffering from a critical health condition. May Allah alleviate his suffering and grant him shifa. Please make du'a for him.

Du'a of shifa for Salma Mir for a quick recovery after surgery. May Allah grant her shifa.

And Abu Akhtar Muhyiddin is admitted in the hospital. May Allah grant him shifa.

And as we probably have heard, our Muslim brethren in Gaza continue to suffer. And more recently we may have heard that there is a crisis also going on in Sudan as well. So we should never underestimate the power of du'a. In a Hadith Qudsi, Allah says:

I will be with My slave as he or she thinks of Me. So if we make du'a thinking that maybe nothing is going to happen, then maybe nothing will happen. But if we think — we are confident — that Allah will respond to us, then definitely Allah will. So I request everybody to earnestly make du'a for the Muslims suffering in Sudan, in Gaza, and the Uyghur Muslims in East Turkestan, and all the other Muslims around the world. May Allah alleviate their suffering. May Allah remove their oppression. I request myself and all of us to continue making du'a for them, particularly in the late hours of the night insha'Allah, and after the fara'id.