Lessons from Surah Ad-Duha | Mufti Abdul Rahman Waheed | Knowledge Retreat 2024

Lessons from Surah Ad-Duha

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

This surah, brothers and sisters, is one of the most powerful surahs in the Qur'an. Of course the Qur'an is — and every verse and every surah of the Qur'an is timeless. It speaks to us individually, speaks to us collectively, in every era. Mentioning and reflecting over this surah, and the time and age that we're living in right now, is extremely important for us to have comfort and stability in our lives.

The Background of Surah Ad-Duha

Just to give you a background — we know the Prophet ﷺ was Habibullah. No doubt about it. He was the most beloved creation to Allah. But even Habibullah felt, before the surah was revealed, felt this period in his time where — maybe Allah has forgotten about me. Why am I going through what I'm going through? Why isn't my best friend, Jibril عليه السلام, coming to see me?

Like when you don't get a call from your mother — two nights ago on Thursday night I was in Vancouver, and I was going on the stage to interview Habib. And before I go on the stage I usually call my mom or my father, to make dua. And it was one of the first times in my life where I couldn't get in touch with my mom because she was on a plane. I couldn't talk to her to make dua for me. I couldn't get in touch with my dad. And I felt so helpless — I don't have the prayers of my parents with me.

But imagine the Prophet ﷺ. He couldn't get in touch with Jibreel. The one who always comforted him. The first one he saw in the cave of Hira. On his way back from Ta'if, here comes Jibreel — after his wife and uncle had passed away — saying, "I have a surprise for you. Let's go, we're going on a trip." Where? Isra and Mi'raj. We're going together.

But for these moments — when Jibreel finally came down — the Prophet said, "Oh Jibreel, I missed you so much. Why haven't you come down for so long?" And Jibreel said to the Prophet, "I missed you so much, but the verses revealed — we only descend from the heavens when Allah chooses so. We don't come on our own."

This is the background of Surah Ad-Duha.

What is the background of us sitting here today? Yes, we're sitting here in this beautiful hall listening to great lectures, trying to increase our Iman — while our brothers and sisters, their Iman is increasing in Gaza. For their children. While picking up body parts. Finding where their mother is, father is. Trying to see if one of their loved ones survived the last bombing.

You know, there's a stark contrast. But I'll tell you something — those people who are there, they're not asking where is Allah, because they know Allah is with them. They're asking, where are we? They know where Allah is. That's why when you see the voices and videos from there, they're just saying حَسْبُنَا اللَّهُ.

But for us who are sitting here — globally — where is Allah in this whole equation? Is Allah mad at us? Does He not love us? And then individually in our own lives, going through different challenges. Not just challenges — maybe going through spiritual challenges. Because inqita' al-wahy — the breaking of Wahy — is a spiritual challenge for the Prophet ﷺ. Maybe I'm not getting the same shiver down my spine when I hear the words of Allah. This is actually a challenge. What should I do? What are my next steps?

Surah Ad-Duha is the road map for this. And these were the circumstances in which Surah Ad-Duha was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ.

The Oath: By the Forenoon and the Still Night

In my lecture today I want to talk about some linguistic details, because this is an intensive — so you guys can note those down because they're interconnected.

Allah starts by taking an oath by Duha. Duha is different than Fajr. Fajr also means morning, but Fajr is early, early morning. And Duha is the forenoon — right after that portion of the morning.

This is the time — you can say the "rush hour" of the day. The sun is not scorching, but it's soothing. The light of the sun is not scorching like the midday. This is the early part of the morning where the sun is soothing. And there's a reason why this is mentioned here.

And then وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ — the night. But Allah uses the word Saja. Not وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَغْشَى and not وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا يَسْرِ. There are two other words Allah used earlier in the Juz to explain the night. Yaghsha means to completely cover. And Yasr means the night starts coming, the darkness is entering. But Saja means when the night has reached its darkness and there is no longer any movement in the darkness. It's still now. That's what Saja means.

So Saja refers to when the night becomes still in its darkness.

Why These Two Opposites?

Why are these two opposite things — the morning and the still night — being mentioned at the beginning of this road map of Surah Ad-Duha?

The majazi (metaphorical) meaning of the morning — of the sun — is Wahy. The majazi meaning of the morning is good times, happiness, joy, prosperity. When Allah mentions the day, and Layl refers to the moment where you're spiritually in darkness — Layl refers to when you are in struggle. Layl in this verse — this moment of darkness where there is no Wahy coming — because Wahy is the sunlight. And the absence of that sunlight is the darkness.

So Allah is taking an oath by these two things and mentioning that — just like how Allah is not going to take an oath by something if it's not important — the message over here is: just as all of us know how important happiness and prosperity is, the night also has its importance. Even in the Qur'an, Allah says that the night is there so you can take rest in it. But in reality, spiritual struggles also have benefits. In reality, pain also has benefits. If there was no pain, then there would be no such thing as the reward of patience. How can we ever get the reward of patience if we never went through pain? How many times does going through the struggle make us appreciate the gain once we get it back?

The Importance of Sleeping at Night

One of the most important side meanings of this is about the objective of night and daytime. If you're going through a struggle — especially a spiritual struggle — understand the objective of the night. The objective of the night is not so you stay up all night on Instagram. The objective of the night is not so that you're on YouTube all night. The objective of the night is so you sleep and you remain still, like وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا سَجَىٰ.

They say, "If you want to become a financial guru — it's all about how you wake up." No, it's all about how you sleep. If you don't sleep properly, you're not waking up.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 568; Sahih Muslim, Book 36, Hadith 6635 — reported on the authority of Abu Barzah al-Aslami رضي الله عنه)

There should not be any chitchat after Isha.

One of the first criticisms of the kuffar of Mecca that Allah revealed in the Qur'an — one of the first bad habits of the kuffar of Mecca that Allah highlighted in the Qur'an. They had many bad habits. Listen to this one — if Allah is mentioning this bad habit in the Qur'an, that means we better be careful:

Two things. First of all, these people feel so entitled — they are like the most worthy creation of God on the face of the earth. That's why they are around the Ka'bah and that's why they are chosen to be in Mecca. Doesn't that sound very similar to people right now? "This is our land." مُسْتَكْبِرِينَ بِهِ. And honestly, we all have a devil of entitlement — each one of us. We are not entitled to anything. We are blessed with everything. We don't deserve anything. We haven't earned anything. This is all the grace of Allah. We have to keep reminding ourselves of this.

These people feel they have a sense of entitlement and through that entitlement they are arrogant — "We are the best people. Why would Allah give us the Ka'bah? We are honored with this."

The second part of the verse: سَامِرًا تَهْجُرُونَ — these are people who stay up at night and chit-chat, talk, and waste time. This is about people who are burying their daughters alive, who are worshipping idols — but Allah chose to highlight this particular thing, because this Qur'an is for the Ummah. Allah knew there will be a time where if you brought an idol to the stage right now, people will all crush it. Allah knew. But what happens at the Knowledge Retreat after Isha? What happens at 8 o'clock in the morning when the first session happens?

Listen, brothers and sisters — I love you guys — but we are talking about real things in the Qur'an, and if you really want to make a change in your life, these things make a difference. So this is a reference to being still at night — and I had to mention it. Put everything away and go to sleep. And then when you wake up in the morning, the first thing you should not do is pick up your phone. That's not why you wake up in the morning. You wake up in the morning with no sounds of any bombs, no loved ones dying around you. First thing you should say is Alhamdulillah.

An Alternative Meaning: The Face and Hair of the Prophet ﷺ

One alternate meaning that Imam Razi mentions about Duha and Layl — he says one of the alternative meanings of this, because this surah is for the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, is that Allah is taking an oath by the beautiful face of the Prophet ﷺ, which was always glowing like Duha. His face was always glowing. And it was not like the scorching sun that you couldn't look at, but it was something that every time you looked at it, you felt comfort.

If the Prophet of Allah ﷺ never said a single word and all he did was just sit in front of you — just by looking at his beautiful face — you would accept Islam. A blind person came and he was guided to the Prophet ﷺ. He put his hands on the face of the Prophet of Allah and he accepted Islam. He said, "This face cannot be the face of a liar."

Another man intentionally did not want to listen to any words from the Prophet of Allah ﷺ. When he was in Mecca and everyone told him, "Don't listen to this man, this man is crazy" — he put cotton swabs in his ears. Three days later he is doing Tawaf of the Ka'bah. He sees this beautiful man praying Salah in front of the Ka'bah. Upon looking at his face he said, "Who is this man?" They said, "This is Muhammad." He takes the cotton swabs out of his ears and says, "Ya Muhammad, ma 'indak?" — O Prophet of Allah, what do you have to offer?

So his talks were not these seven-hour sessions. One time he sat down after Fajr all the way to Isha and never said a single word. He just sat down after every Salah, looked back, and all the Sahaba were just looking at him. All day — Fajr to Dhuhr, Dhuhr to Asr, Asr to Maghrib, Maghrib to Isha.

Brothers and sisters, I tell you something — in this era of attention deficit disorder that we have — I myself confidently believe that Allah's wisdom is that we were born in this era. Because if this same Abdul Rahman was born at that time, we would be sitting in front of the Prophet of Allah for like an hour — he isn't saying anything — and we would just leave. Because look at what we do when we hear the words of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.

Abdullah ibn Mubarak — he used to always go home and he had a very lavish life, always around big communities and gatherings, thousands of people. And all of a sudden, boom, he goes into a place where he's alone, in solitude, prays Salah, goes to his house. Someone said to him, "Don't you feel lonely?" He said, "How can I feel lonely when I'm always with the Prophet and his companions?" The person said, "You're crazy." He said, "I'm always with the Prophet when I read about his life. I'm always with his companions when I read about their lives. I'm literally chilling with them as if they're with me." That's the connection we have, that's the attachment we have to each other.

And Imam Razi also says that one meaning of Duha is the darkness of the hair of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ — and Allah is taking an oath by his hair, because every part of his body was blessed in the eyes of Allah.

Why a Portion of the Day but All of the Night?

One last thing I want to explain before we go to the next verse. Imam Razi says something very interesting — he asks: why did Allah only take an oath by a portion of the day (Duha), but when it came to the night, Allah mentioned the entire night? Do you understand the question? Duha is this one small portion of the day, and Layl is the entire night. Why did Allah decide to take an oath by just a portion of the day but the entire night?

He said because there is an indication — O brothers and sisters, O Muslims — there's an indication that happiness and joy will just be a small portion of dunya, and most of your life in dunya will be full of difficulties and hardship. So be prepared. Don't be shocked. It's not a big deal. This is dunya. Don't be surprised.

I remember when my youngest brother Sheikh Abdul Rahim passed away a few years ago. A few days after, all of his friends got together and decided to say a few words about him and they invited me. My older brother forced me to come. And one by one people were saying a few words. Then my older brother Sheikh Abdullah comes up to the mic and he looks at me and he says, "Abdurrahman, let me tell you something — you're wrong. That's not how life works. Islam is not about many moments of happiness and shukr. Rather, life is mostly about sabr, and then sprinkled in there are moments of shukr. So what are you talking about? Why are Muslims so deceived — that we are entitled to 99% moments of shukr and then 1% is sabr, and then when we have that moment we get despondent and hopeless of Allah? No." That's not the mentality of believers. Rather the mentality of believers is that even the reaction to hardships becomes shukr. Even the reaction to hard times becomes a mixture of gratitude and patience.

Ibn Kathir mentions a narration of an abid from Balkh meeting an abid from Basra. They meet each other and the abid from Balkh asks:

"How are the ones who worship Allah in your city? What is their state, what is the condition of their heart?" And he said, "These are people that when they are given good times, شَكَرُوا — they're grateful. And if they are أُصِيبُوا بِبَلِيَّةٍ صَبَرُوا — if they're given difficult times, they are patient."

You know what he said? He said:

"The condition you're describing is the condition of the dogs of our city. You give them something, they're happy. You don't give them food, they just be patient." He said, "But the ibad — the worshippers of God — in our city, when they're given something, a ni'mah — آثَرُوا — they prefer others with their resources. Allah gives them something, they give it to others. And وَإِذَا مُنِعُوا شَكَرُوا — when Allah prevents and holds back something, they're grateful to Allah, because Allah knows better. It's probably not good for me. Who knows more about us than ourselves? Allah knows more about us than ourselves." So when they're prevented from something, they're grateful at that time.

This is an ishara towards the fact that there are going to be hard times more in dunya than good times.

Allah says in Surah Yasin:

"And a sign for them is the night." What does that mean? You have seen this verse — the natural state of this dunya is darkness. That's the natural state — there are going to be difficulties, hardships, all of that. سَلَخَ means to skin an animal. A person works really, really hard and he skins the animal — then he gets to the meat. Similarly, you have to work really hard. There's going to be this skinning process throughout your life — difficulties, struggles — but at the end of the day the natural state of this world is going to be of darkness, of difficulty.

So Allah has also explained this to the Prophet ﷺ through these verses.

Your Lord Has Not Forsaken You

The next verse — Allah says, "Your Lord has not forsaken you." Actually, I'm not going to even use a translation, because "forsaken" is the wrong translation. In the Qur'an, وَدَّعَ is مُبَالَغَةٌ فِي الْوَدَاع — it is not just وَدَعَ. وَدَعَ is like bidding farewell; وَدَّعَ is the intensified form of that. And one important thing about this word وَدَّعَ — it is bidding farewell to someone you love. You never use the word وَدَّعَ for someone you don't like.

So Allah, even in the word choice, is telling the Prophet of Allah ﷺ — even out of love for you, O Prophet of Allah, I haven't bid you farewell. I haven't said goodbye to you. And even the word has an expression of love. Because Allah could have said مَا تَرَكَكَ, مَا هَجَرَكَ — "Allah did not forsake you, Allah did not leave you." But Allah said مَا وَدَّعَكَ رَبُّكَ — "How can He? He is your Rabb. He is your Lord. How can He bid you farewell?"

Allah did not say مَا وَدَّعَكَ اللَّهُ — He said رَبُّكَ. He is your Master. How can He bid you farewell?

وَمَا قَلَىٰ — and He is not displeased. SubhanAllah — the word قَلَى only comes once more in the entire Qur'an: قَالَ إِنِّي لِعَمَلِكُم مِّنَ الْقَالِينَ. It means to be displeased. This is a negative word.

Pay attention: وَدَّعَ is a positive word — and even in that word there is a love for the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, because when Allah uses this word, He attaches كَ — "He did not bid farewell to you." But when he uses the negative word قَلَى, Allah does not give the object. And "Allah is not displeased with you" — because out of respect for the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, you cannot even use these two words together in that way. It is impossible. They can never be together.

Out of the adab of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, throughout the entire Qur'an, Allah just mentions the Prophet's name four times — Muhammad, Muhammad, Muhammad — and one time Ahmad. And all five times he mentions it, it is not in direct address (khitab). He is not calling out to the Prophet of Allah. It is actually about something specific. For example:

Specific — you had to mention his name. But when it came to direct address (khitab), the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was called out and addressed in the Qur'an 15 different times. Thirteen times it was يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ and يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ — "O Prophet," "O Messenger." Not like other Prophets — يَا آدَمُ, يَا نُوحُ, يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ, يَا دَاوُودُ, يَا عِيسَى. Because in the Qur'an, Allah is showing us and demonstrating to us how we should have respect for the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.

So brothers and sisters, we should be very, very careful when addressing something that is attributed to the Prophet ﷺ. Be very careful. Because even Allah is selective with the words He chooses to use for His Habib. Does that make sense?

Miswak is something that people did 1,400 years ago — a piece of wood they would brush their teeth with. I'll tell you honestly on this stage: I don't do it. It's hard for me to do Miswak. But did the Prophet ﷺ use a piece of wood to brush his teeth? Yes, he did. So should we ever say that Miswak is something of the past? That is disrespect to the Prophet ﷺ. Does that make sense? Toothbrush is also Sunnah — please brush your teeth, use the best toothpaste, use the best toothbrush — but in the same statement don't ever dismiss the Miswak.

I was sitting on a plane and I was wearing a turban — not because I'm from Pakistan and people in Pakistan wear it. I'm wearing this turban because you read in the books of Sira that the Prophet ﷺ would tie a turban on his head. And there were Sahaba who would see the way the Prophet ﷺ combed his hair and want to comb their hair like the Prophet ﷺ. There were Sahaba who would count the Prophet's footsteps to the Masjid and then exactly count the same footsteps and go to the Masjid like that. There were Sahaba who saw the Prophet ﷺ ducking down on a path somewhere because there was a tree over there — and many years later they were going down the same path and there was no longer a tree — but at the exact same spot they bowed their head, because they saw the Prophet ﷺ doing it.

So how dare we — when we see someone wearing a turban, or someone covering their head — look at the sisters over here, MashaAllah — someone who doesn't cover their head, they're a servant of Allah, we still love them. But if someone is covering their head, they must be doing it because of the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Nothing else. At the same time — someone who's wearing a turban or covering their head — just that aspect of them should be honored. This is the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

The Hereafter is Better for You

"Surely the Hereafter is much better for you than the present life." There are two meanings of the word Akhira — haqiqi and majazi.

The Haqiqi (Literal) Meaning

Allah is telling all of us sitting here — and the people of Gaza, those who are leaving this world — the promise of Allah in Akhira is far better than anything you'll get in this world. Far better.

And Allah is telling the Prophet of Allah ﷺ — remember, whatever you're going through — the moment you leave this world...

That's why someone came to Ali ibn Abi Talib and said that Abdullah ibn Abbas was asked three questions and answered them in a certain way. And Ali ibn Abi Talib said, "Wallahi he answered correctly, and if you asked all the ulama of the world they would answer the same way — but I have a different answer." What were the three questions? The first question: what's the best day of the week? The second: what's the best month of the year? And the third: what is the best deed?

Abdullah ibn Abbas says: the best day is the day of Jumu'ah. The best month is the month of Ramadan. And the best deed is Salah.

Ali ibn Abi Talib says, "100% he's right — but my answer is a little bit different." The best month is the month in which you do sincere tawbah. The reason why Ramadan is known as the best month is because most people might do sincere tawbah in Ramadan — but it could be January, it could be February. The month where you decide, "I'm no longer living like this. I'm changing my life." That's the best month. You're going to always go back to that month and say, "That was the month." For me it was October of 2020 — that's when my brother passed away. That's the best month of my life. Not the day he was born. The day he passed away was the best month of my life, because of the lessons and the memories and the impact that he left behind for us.

What's the best deed? Ali ibn Abi Talib says: the best deed is the deed Allah accepts. It could be a smile. It could be picking up the chairs. It could be picking up garbage off the floor. Holding the door for somebody. Charity. The best deed is the deed Allah accepts.

And then he said — the best day. He said: the best day is the day you leave this world. Could there be a better day than the day you finally leave this world and you go back to Allah? You're reading about Imam Bukhari all day — his book, his book — and the moment a pious soul leaves this world, now you can see him. You can see the Sahaba. You're with these people now.

Think of the day you leave this world completely differently. That's what the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6507; Sahih Muslim, Book 51, Hadith 10)

A person who is excited — of course nobody is completely comfortable with the word death — but excitement to meet Allah? Excitement to meet the Prophet of Allah ﷺ? I see people's excitement when I was in Vancouver, people sitting in the hall going bananas to meet a person whose name is Habib. But imagine the real Habibullah. This guy just bears his name and has some of his qualities. Imagine the level of excitement the Sahaba have to finally be reunited with Habibullah. If that excitement is not always present in our lives, then something is wrong with us.

And people — mothers who have lost their children, like my mother — she is completely excited to meet her son. She just can't wait. And you want to tell those people fighting in that land that you're fighting with the wrong people. Literally you're fighting with people who are excited, looking forward to meeting their brothers and sisters who gave their blood way before them.

And when Abu Darda رضي الله عنه says — whenever they saw someone being buried in Baqi', as the Prophet ﷺ was laying people in Baqi', every single Sahabi — the first thought that came to their minds was:

"Wallahi, I wish I was in his place." Someone die on iman? Someone die as a hafidh? We think about it completely differently.

وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الْأُولَىٰ — that's why, brothers and sisters, by the end of this program, memorize the du'a that the Prophet ﷺ would frequently recite at the end of each gathering:

The portion I want to highlight: "Oh Allah, give me such conviction in Akhirah — وَمِنَ الْيَقِينِ مَا تُهَوِّنُ بِهِ عَلَيْنَا مَصَائِبَ الدُّنْيَا — give me such yaqeen that makes the difficulties of life, the struggles of life, easy for me." This is the yaqeen those people have in Gaza. So for them it's not hard anymore. It's not difficult because they have this yaqeen.

And this is what comes to my mind to share with you — that Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz رحمه الله one day loses his brother named Sahl. He loved his brother dearly. A few days later, before he was even relieved from the days of Aza, one of his favorite students, Muzahim, passes away. So now he goes to bury his student Muzahim. As he just buries him, someone tells him that his most beloved son, Abd al-Malik, is sick. So he rushes to his side. He says, "Oh my son, how are you feeling?" And he says:

"Dad, I'm dying." This is past stage four. A father is sitting next to his beloved son's bedside while he's telling him he's dying, in the most helpless situation — may Allah protect all of us. At this moment, what he had in his heart came on his tongue:

He says, "Oh my son — me living after you die, and getting the reward of patience, is more beloved to me than me dying before you and you getting the reward of patience." How much conviction did these people have in the reward — that they were willing to go through the suffering to get that reward, and that reward is more beloved to them. "I believe in the reward. I want that reward."

When Abu Dharr al-Ghifari رضي الله عنه was asked how he coped with the fact that all his children left this world — he didn't have any child to carry on his legacy — here we are, one mother and father cannot live on after one son passes away. He had such conviction in وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ. He says:

"All praises to Allah who takes them from us in this temporary world and preserves them for us in the everlasting Akhirah." In this world we're going to be together 15, 20, 30 years. وَلَلْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لَّكَ مِنَ الْأُولَىٰ.

The Majazi (Metaphorical) Meaning

The other meaning of Akhira — the majazi meaning — is that Allah will make the latter stages of your life in this world better. Meaning there are three things Allah is promising the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.

First — Allah will continue to give you more knowledge. This Wahy that's separate from you right now — don't worry, you're going to keep getting more and more and more. There will be progress in knowledge.

Second — nearness to Allah. Don't worry about your relationship with Allah. You feel like you're near right now? You're going to get even closer and closer and closer, till the day you leave this world you will be with Rafiq al-A'la in Akhirah.

And the third thing He's promising the Prophet of Allah ﷺ — there's going to be progress in the community around you. There will be great Sahaba coming. "You haven't seen them yet, Ya Rasulullah. They're going to come." So the condition that follows will be better than the condition right now.

And in other words, He's saying — that moment that you're in, is actually the moment Allah wants you to be in. The state that you're in, even that is a state that Allah wants you to be in.

Why Allah Sometimes Puts Us in a Low Spiritual State

So why is it that sometimes Allah chooses for us to be in a less spiritual state than we should be in? I'm going to share a few things that Hakim al-Ummah رحمه الله wrote. He gives reasons for spiritual constriction — and he calls this condition qabd, where you feel constricted. You're just in that state and you can't move forward, you're in a low state.

Number one — it is the effect of sins. The treatment is not just abandoning the sin, but abandoning the sinful environments and coming to the environments of dhikr — which all of you are doing here today. Say Alhamdulillah.

Number two — in that state, Allah wants to elevate your rank. Because deficiency in good actions results in a forced spiritual struggle, and this increases the spiritual status. You know — a person who can't cry in du'a, they're working even harder. That's actually a ni'ma of Allah that you have to work that much harder. So look at the ni'ma in that. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4937; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 1862)

A person who struggles to read the Qur'an gets double the reward. The spiritual struggle — go ahead, don't worry about it. You forgot to read it today? Read it tomorrow. The struggle is what is rewarding.

Number three — which is so beautiful — this spiritual low actually rectifies your akhlaq. Listen to what he writes: by observing one's imperfections there is a development of humbleness and humility. This cures many blameworthy morals like narcissism (ujub), arrogance (kibr), and hard-heartedness (qasawah). Imam Ghazali he says:

"I go to sleep at night and I don't wake up for tahajjud, and I wake up in the morning with regret — 'Oh Allah, I should have prayed tahajjud' — this state is far more beloved to me than praying all night and feeling like I did something." And this is something that even the greatest warriors of our time — the ones who gave the most to Allah — at the end of the day say, "I didn't do anything. Allah did everything." The Prophet of Allah ﷺ is sitting there distributing all this money and being so generous, and someone comes to him and says, "Ya Rasulullah, nobody has ever seen someone as generous as you," and they start complimenting him. The Prophet of Allah ﷺ has his head down like this. He says:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3117; Sahih Muslim, Book 12, Hadith 1037)

"Verily I am just the distributor. Allah is the Giver." And nobody appreciates the mailman who brings the IRS check — no one appreciates and thanks the delivery driver. That's all they're doing — delivering something. SubhanAllah.

So it rectifies the akhlaq. Three things so far.

Number four — which is a beautiful thing — it tests our love for Allah. To see if an individual does good deeds only while experiencing enjoyment, or does this individual continue with all actions when there's no good feeling at all. Because the second condition can only be due to the overwhelming love and reverence for Allah. Do we do good deeds only when it feels good?

The Muslim community in America is a beautiful community, but we all very much thrive off a vibe, right? "Oh the vibe was so good, oh my God the vibe was amazing!" When the vibe goes away, we go away. Maybe next year you're not going to have the same vibe when you come to Knowledge Retreat. Are we coming for the vibe or are we coming for the knowledge? Are we coming for the enjoyment, or are we coming truly to please Allah? Because sometimes you read the Qur'an and you don't get that vibe — and that's fine. But if you show Allah that you still do it, that's a beautiful thing. This is showing Allah: "Oh Allah, I love you even though I'm not enjoying this right now."

So write those down — four things.

And Your Lord Will Give You Until You Are Pleased

And Allah will give you so much that you'll be pleased. Even in the word choice of Allah in this surah — as I was telling you — there is so much love for the Prophet ﷺ. There's another way of saying "giving" which is يُؤْتِي. Like Allah says about Dawud عليه السلام:

But Allah did not use the word آتَى here. Because Imam Razi says:

In the word إِيتَاء there is no complete ownership — it's possible it will be taken back. But Allah used يُعْطِي here — because in the word عَطَاء:

There is this ownership — "Oh Prophet of Allah, I'm going to give you this and this will never be taken from you. It's yours."

And Allah did not use the same word choice as with Musa عليه السلام, who said:

"I came to you quickly, Oh Allah — لِتَرْضَى — so that You can be happy." Allah did not use that letter لِ here. Rather He said فَتَرْضَىٰ — because لِتَرْضَى has an indication that "if Allah doesn't give me, I won't be pleased." And is that what Islam is about — that if Allah doesn't give you, you won't be pleased? No. Allah said: "I will give you — فَتَرْضَىٰ — and you will be pleased." Not "so that you'll be pleased" — you will be pleased.

And then of course — the maf'ul thani is not mentioned here. وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ — "and you shall be given" — but what you will be given is not mentioned. It is mahdhuf. What will the Prophet ﷺ be given that will make him so happy? The Prophet of Allah ﷺ when he heard this verse said:

"Oh Allah, I will never be happy even if there's one person from my ummah in the fire of Jahannam."

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6304; Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 386)

"I have preserved my du'a, my intercession, for my ummah on the Day of Judgment."

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 382)

He cried and he cried. Allah said to Jibreel:

"O Jibreel, go to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ — and your Lord knows best — ask him what makes him cry." When he was asked, he told Jibreel — "I'm crying for my ummah." Allah sent Jibreel back to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and said, say to him:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 382)

"We will make you happy in the matters of your ummah and we will not embarrass you."

The question is — will we embarrass the Prophet of Allah ﷺ? That's the real question. Allah won't embarrass him. Do we have it in us that I can stand in front of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and he will be pleased with me, he won't be embarrassed by me? There are people who go to Medina Munawwara who can't even enter into the Masjid to say salam to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ because they know that if the Prophet ﷺ was alive today, they would be embarrassed to show their faces. So live your life in a way that Allah is promising — "We won't embarrass you" — but we should not do things that will embarrass the Prophet of Allah ﷺ.

And the Prophet of Allah ﷺ — I have to say this last thing. In Surah Az-Zumar Allah says:

In the first one about Jahannam there is no وَاو — people will be drawn to Jahannam and the doors will be opened. They will be thrown into Jahannam. Allah preserve us — say ameen.

The believers will be ushered to Jannah. When they get to Jannah:

Allah uses one letter — وَاو — to shift the focus here. And the doors will be opened. The mufassirun write: why is there a وَاو over here and not a وَاو over there? I was sitting with Shaykh Tariq Jameel in England and he was eating food, and I said, "Shaykh, what's this وَاو doing over here, what does it indicate?" He put his food down, spoke for 35 minutes, and then said, "That's what the وَاو is." He literally dropped the mic.

And it means that when the believers all get to Jannah, the Prophet ﷺ won't be there. He will still be running around in front of Allah, interceding for Muslims. يَا رَبِّ سَلِّمْ، يَا رَبِّ سَلِّمْ، يَا رَبِّ سَلِّمْ. You want to know where the Prophet ﷺ is? He will be next to the Mizan, next to the Sirat, next to where the Book of Deeds will be coming — running around on the Day of Judgment making this du'a: يَا رَبِّ سَلِّمْ.

Wallahi — there will be people from his ummah doing the same thing as him. Imagine how much love the Prophet ﷺ will have for those people. That's why the Prophet said: when you see Uways al-Qarani, say salam to him. People said, "Why?" Of course he was a person who respected his parents — but the Prophet ﷺ also said there is nobody in this Ummah whose intercession Allah will accept more than Uways al-Qarani. So basically he will be doing the Prophet's work with him. He will cause the Prophet ﷺ to run around a little bit less.

Imam Malik used to say: the competition is not to get to Paradise. The competition is to see who can take more people with them to Paradise.

And the doors of Jannah cannot open until the Prophet ﷺ comes. Because the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 44, Hadith 2278)

"I will be the first one to raise the flag on the Day of Judgment — and I say this without pride. I will be the first one to come out of my grave — and I say this without pride. I will be the first one to knock on the doors of Jannah — and I say this without pride." That's why the وَاو is there. You will wait for him to knock on the door. The door will be opened once he knocks.

وَلَسَوْفَ يُعْطِيكَ رَبُّكَ فَتَرْضَىٰ — may Allah make us among those who can make Allah happy and not embarrass the Prophet of Allah ﷺ in this world and the Hereafter.

I wish I could do the next few verses — you guys are a beautiful audience.

Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.