Friday Khutbah by Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed (1st) and Sheikh Sa'ad Quadri (2nd)

First Khutbah — Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

The Gap Between Outward Religiosity and Inner Character

That Muslim man and Muslim woman who's supposed to be reflective of the Prophet's صلى الله عليه وسلم seerah — they're on each other's throats. Business partners, horrific stories you want to hear. If you ask this crowd, I'm sure half of this crowd will share with you a heartbreaking, heart-wrenching story of doing business with a fellow Muslim. That's what it is. From a Muslim professional, to a Muslim businessman, to a contractor, to a service provider — you name it. So much deceit in our community. So much lying.

And then, لا إله إلا الله محمد رسول الله. And then, false claims of naray risalat, and God knows what other things. SubhanAllah — there's a mawlid happening here. There's a seerah jalsa happening here. There's a tasbih, durood sharif here. A thousand here, a thousand there. So much external, apparent religiosity present. But when it comes to anything beyond that, it's like a veneer. You remove that cheap veneer, and inside it's all rotten wood.

This is an example of myself and a big chunk of the ummah — that the seerah is not there. It's there for us to tell non-Muslims, "Hey, believe in Muhammad, he's a great person, صلى الله عليه وسلم." But when it comes to implementation within our own lives, we are sorely lacking. And no wonder we are in the situation we are in, across the globe.

Individually, Muslims are professionals. Individually, we are very successful. Individually, we are very wealthy. Individually, we have high positions. But collectively, we're zero. Collectively, we have no strength. You can have high-ranking, C-suite level Muslims in all sorts of Fortune 500 companies. But collectively, if you say one thing, you're out. It doesn't make a difference how far you've reached.

We've seen in the past 9, 10, 11 months what has happened. You go a little bit off the official narrative, you literally lose your job. There's no such thing as untouchable. There's no such thing as you're too high up and no one can get you. These past months have shown us — because collectively, there's no strength. Collectively, there's no power. Every man working for himself. Not even working at times for his parents, or his siblings, or his children. That is definitely not the prophetic method.

The Uswa of Rasulullah ﷺ

We cannot fix the world's problems. We cannot fix our neighbor's problems at times. We can't even fix our own children's problems. But the solution starts with myself — to say: I need to work on my own self. I need to become a proper representative of the Prophet عليه السلام. In my character, in my mu'amalat, in my financial dealings, in my social dealings. Of course, in my 'aqeedah and my 'ibadah as well, naturally. But usually, we don't have a problem with people coming and saying, "Jumu'ah — we want to pray 6 rak'ah, we want to pray 2." When it comes to 'ibadah, a big chunk of the ummah says, "Okay, there's only one way, which is the sunnah way." But when it comes to all the other things — the financial dealings, the social dealings, our character — people forget that there's a sunnah method of dealing. And they act as though there is no Day of Judgment.

And what does the Qur'an say?

Indeed, there is for you a beautiful example in the life of the Messenger of Allah — for whoever hopes to meet Allah and the Last Day and remembers Allah much.

Who's going to benefit? Whosoever expects and is hopeful of meeting Allah, and whoever is expecting and hoping for the Day of Judgment — he will find guidance in the sunnah. But the one who, deep down, has no hope and no excitement to meet Allah, and no expectation of the Day of Judgment — then Muhammadur Rasulullah is just lip service on the tongue. When it comes to implementation, zero implementation.

Because the realization that one day I'm going to stand in front of Allah:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2417 — graded Hasan Sahih)

No human being will be able to move his feet on the Day of Judgment until he answers four questions:

• Where did you earn your money, and where did you spend it?
• Where did you spend your life?
• Where did you spend your youthful years?
• And on the knowledge that you had — how much of it did you practice?

It is not sufficient to say, "I know, brother, I know." That will actually be used against us. The fact that you knew — then why did you do it? The fact that you knew this was wrong, incorrect, and haram — why were you doing it?

Start With Yourself

When we look at the world's problems, every day people are confused. They'll meet you in the parking lot: "Sheikh, we don't know what to do — we're getting depressed, we're worried. Why is Allah allowing this to happen?" But my dear friends, if you're looking at a macro level and not figuring it out, start looking at a micro level. Start with your own house. Start with your own wife, your husband, your son, your daughter, your grandson, your granddaughter. See what level of deen, what level of sunnah is present. And now take it to everywhere else.

Allah has no loyalty with names, no loyalty with ethnicities, no specific loyalty to a specific professional group or nationality. Allah's loyalty is with attributes. You have the attributes of His nabi, you have the attributes of His companions — you're successful no matter who you are. No matter how poor you may be, no matter how wealthy you may be, no matter what nationality you may have, no matter what the world may say about you, Allah will ensure that you will be successful.

And throughout the Qur'an, Allah has used the word nasr — assistance and help. When He uses that word, not with just general people — He uses it with the mu'mineen:

Indeed, most definitely We will help Our messengers and those who believe — in the life of this world, and on the Day when the witnesses will stand up.

رُسُلَنَا — our prophets — and right after that, وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — and those who believe. Meaning the assistance of Allah that came to the prophets — Allah in this verse of Surah Ghafir is saying it is also ready for the believers. The الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا are people who do not simply just share and forward nice hadiths on WhatsApp. Instead, they are people who may talk less, but actually implement whatever they know — in terms of their 'ibadah, 'aqeedah, social dealings, financial dealings, character. They are a beautiful representative of the Prophet ﷺ. That is الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا.

Iman means — how do you have faith? The proof is in the pudding. The pudding is the sunnah. The sunnah has to be in my life. And it's not only specific to the way a person dresses, or the way a person greets. It is much more than that.

وَيَوْمَ يَقُومُ الْأَشْهَادُ — Allah says: I promise We will help you in this world, and on the day when the witnesses will stand up. Meaning on the Day of Judgment, you and I will have Allah's assistance.

Daily Connection with the Seerah

My beloved brothers, when we study the seerah, understand that this is not only for sunni school students. Instead, our 'ulema and our teachers have told us that every single day, we should spend a few minutes with the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. All of us. No matter how many times we've read books cover to cover. What should be on the stool next to our bed — right before we go to sleep, or right when we wake up in the morning, or on the train — is the seerah. Read five to ten minutes of one aspect of the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. Throughout our lives, every day we have to be reconnecting with the seerah. Not just once a month, not once a year, not once in a lifetime.

And if you come with talab — with genuine zeal — saying: "Ya Allah, I'm confused." How many people sitting here have crises today? About job, about marriage, about children, about health, about wealth — national level, domestic level. Tons of things. All of us have things on us. How would the Prophet ﷺ deal with this? How does Allah want me to deal with this situation? The answer lies in the Qur'an and Sunnah.

When a person with zeal and talab as-sadiq — sincerity — opens up the book of Allah, opens up a book of tafsir, attends a gathering including this Jumu'ah, and opens up a book of seerah of the Prophet ﷺ, saying: "Ya Allah, I'm confused. I need You to guide me to an answer of how I should respond to this situation" — you will definitely find answers there.

If Allah did not put answers there, He would never have made the Qur'an and seerah of Rasulullah ﷺ a role model. The fact that He created those two as a role model — the fact that Rasulullah ﷺ left behind the Qur'an and the seerah and the sunnah — means it has the ability. It has to have the ability. Otherwise this is taklif ma la yutaq — expecting something from someone who cannot do it. That is nonsensical. You cannot expect Allah, the Most Wise, to ask us to do something which we cannot do. If Allah asks us to find solutions in the Qur'an and seerah, then the solutions must be there. But a person will only find it when he is looking for it.

The Power of the Tongue

My beloved brothers and sisters, if we want to start helping the ummah, we need to start helping ourselves. If we want to help our spouse, we need to start helping ourselves. If we want to help our children, we need to start with ourselves. Every one of us, if he and she takes this to heart — to say: "I'm going to make this year a year of truly recalibrating my internal compass, and making sure I'm in line, to the best of my ability, with the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ in every aspect of my life, every facet of my life. Let the Qur'an and Sunnah speak to me." Then you'll see — we'll have to make some massive changes. I have to make massive changes. All of us have to do it.

Is it going to happen overnight? It will not happen overnight. Repeatedly, again and again, you get it pounded: this is what I've got to change. And this is where a mentor helps. In everything out there, you have a mentor and a coach. How can we not have a mentor and a coach when it comes to the matters of deen?

I'm giving a general talk here. Every one of us requires special coaching on what to do in your own specific situation. Not one situation — you have 15, 20, 25 situations, in all different facets of your life. Inside the home, outside the home, in so many different dimensions. That cannot be given in a general talk. Instead, it has to be specially curated and adjusted for your specific needs. That requires humility.

When you are humble and you say: "I'm the best physician, but I'm stuck with a lawsuit, I have no idea how to handle this — so I'm going to find the best lawyer." Even within the medical field, the person may be the very best ophthalmologist, but he's dealing with a GI issue. He's not going to mess with that. He says, "Yes, I studied a little bit of medicine, but by no means am I an expert on this. I have to go stand in line, make a booking, make an appointment, wait three weeks, wait in the waiting room for my turn — even though every day I have 20 people waiting to meet me. Today, I'm going to stand behind 20 people to meet this physician." What does that require? That requires humility.

We might hit the age of 60 and 70, but in terms of our character, subhanAllah, we're stuck. No one got a chance to tell us that we're acting in a narcissistic manner. We're acting in an arrogant manner. We're acting in an absolutely unbefitting manner. And subhanAllah, all of us are getting closer to our grave. We don't know when we're going to be called back by Allah. How are we going to face Allah if we have broken people's hearts?

Recently, a brother came to me crying — a grown man with a beard, crying. And he said, "This man said something to me, hurt my feelings." Later on, I did a little investigation. I found out there were like 10 people — all grown men — who had actually cried because of the character of this one individual. Now, I know that individual. If you look at his salah, if you look at his smile, if you look at his handshake — if you're carrying something, he'll be the first one to carry it out of your car. He's very helpful. But what he doesn't realize is that he has a poisonous tongue. When he speaks to people, he ends up breaking their hearts. And unfortunately, it seems like no one has ever told him to his face.

I genuinely believe this man is a man of taqwa. He thinks about the akhirah. But he doesn't realize that he has a very dangerous tongue — that he hurts people's feelings, and grown men cry because of the way he talks to them. He has simply not reflected on the seerah. He's focusing on one aspect of the deen, but subhanAllah — is he focusing on the other aspects? Deen is not about being good at one thing. Deen is about bringing the sunnah into all aspects of our life.

The tongue is one of the most powerful things. We can use it to uplift ourselves and uplift others. And we can use it to dig our pit in Hellfire. I want to share with you a story about the power of the tongue.

A student came to study with me in our one-year program some years back. I asked him, "What's your story? How did you end up here?" He said, "SubhanAllah, I'm working in a hospital. I'm going through a life crisis, and I decided — that's it. I'm going to end my life. It was too much." He went to the parking garage of the hospital — fourth, fifth floor. It was a nice, beautiful, bright, sunny day, but he couldn't see that. For him, it was a dark, gloomy day. He looked over, peeped over the parking garage wall, literally deciding how his last seconds were going to be as he jumped off to his death.

He hears a voice behind him. A lady coming down from the stairwell of the hospital, entering the parking garage, looks at him — and has no idea that this man is about to jump to his death. Being a person of good character, she makes a comment to his back. She can't even see his face. She says, "Hey, what a beautiful bright sunny day, isn't it?" Because she thought he was admiring the beautiful weather and the landscape around the hospital.

He wasn't looking at that. He was looking at how he was going to die. That one comment — from someone whose face he didn't even see, who left to her car — subhanAllah, that man was sitting in front of me, studying the deen. That one comment changed his perspective. He said, "I was seconds away from jumping to my death. But her statement made me realize that the world is not as gloomy as I make it out to be. There are so many beautiful things completely missing from my perspective. I need to focus on the more beautiful aspects of the world and figure out solutions for my challenges." And alhamdulillah, he became a student of knowledge.

This is the power of the tongue — that you don't even realize you're breaking people's hearts and making people cry, whether working with you or meeting you in the masjid. Or on the other hand, you're going to your car and you say that one statement, and you literally save someone from committing suicide and make him a student of knowledge. SubhanAllah.

This is what the deen teaches us. How to use our tongue in the most productive manner. How to use our hands and feet, our eyes, our wealth, our resources, our intelligence — in the most productive manner.

I invite myself and all of us to truly take in the seerah and the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Let us use the month of Rabi' al-Awwal and all the seerah conferences that are happening here to say: "InshaAllah, I'm not just going to attend a talk, listen, and do Durood Sharif only — which is very important — but rather I am going to come as a talib, as a seeker. Ya Allah, I'm very sick. I'm top to bottom filled with flaws. I've come to cure myself. I've come to learn. The bayan is not for him, not for him — it's for me. I'm here; this book is written for me. Let me focus on improving myself." If I become improved, inshaAllah, so will my spouse, my children, my siblings, and everyone else around me.

I ask Allah that He allows all of us to make this firm resolve now — that inshaAllah, our lives will, from today onwards, start moving towards the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ in every aspect of our life. That by next year inshaAllah, we will become much, much more beautiful human beings. And wherever we go, people love us, we love them, and we are able to spread peace and goodness in our homes and outside the home.

Please attend all the programs that you can. I want to take this opportunity to invite you to our annual — 8th annual — Seerah Conference, happening at Masjid Darussalam, starting at Maghrib tonight. Sheikh Hassan Ali, from the UK — many of you know him — he's here for one night and he will be speaking at Darussalam. Please join us at Maghrib. We have a completely beautiful, special program catered for sisters by female scholars, males by male scholars, and we have an entire babysitting area as well as a youth seerah conference for kids. 18 year old-plus boys can do i'tikaf, and we have programs and a sleepover as well, inshallah. Please join us at Masjid Darussalam — pick up the flyer on the way out.

Second Khutbah — Sheikh Sa'ad Quadri

Allah says in the Holy Qur'an:

O you who have believed, fear Allah, and let every soul look to what it has put forth for the Day of Resurrection. And fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Aware of what you do.

The Ever-Changing Present Moment

One thing that we often struggle with. One thing that we often try to fight. And that is the present day. The present day changes. The present day when I was in high school versus the present day when I was in college, versus the present day when I taught here my first stint as a teacher, versus the present day in my second stint here as a teacher — that changes. The present day will always change. Every moment will change. And the moments when they change, they come with different circumstances.

My being here as a teacher in these last handful of years is different from my first time as a teacher. My first time here, I was just getting married — I wasn't married yet. Towards the end of my time here, I had gotten married. Whereas now, alhamdulillah, I've been married for quite a period of time — a couple of decades. When I was first here as a teacher, I had barely broken 20; I was 21. Now I'm 43. When I was first here as a teacher, I didn't have any children. Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed me with 5. When I was first here as a teacher, there was no masjid here. This Jumu'ah khutbah would be taking place in the gym right now, and Zuhr and the other prayers would take place in the cafeteria.

Every current moment has a circumstance. And they're always changing. To the extent that from when I started this khutbah till now, things have changed. Your cells are different. Your age is different. Your lifespan has decreased. Time has changed. Things are always changing. And as things change, it becomes our responsibility to adapt to that change. Because what happens, more often than not, is that we are comfortable with how things are. And when we're comfortable, we don't want to break out of that comfort.

Think for a moment — Fajr prayer is difficult. But what are the reasons why it's difficult? Timing, that's one. But along with timing, especially when it's cold, or the blanket is warm and comfortable — to break out of that blanket, to change circumstance and scenario, to put on cold water, and change all that comfort — it's not easy. No one here would say, "I don't like Fajr, I don't want to pray Fajr." No one would say that. But at that moment, to change that circumstance is difficult.

Circumstances are always changing. And when circumstances change and the environment changes, the people also change. There's that statement — some people reject it, some people accept it; it's not necessarily a hadith or anything — and it says: "Difficult times create strong people. And strong people create easy times. And easy times create weak people. And weak people create difficult times." And then it's circular, it's cyclical. Every person in any circumstance will be the recipient or the result of that circumstance.

The Constants: Maqasid al-Shariah

But what remains a constant in this world of variables? That is the deen. The deen doesn't change. And the expectation of the deen for us, for the most part, doesn't change. What is fard is still fard.

One of the things that from the very beginning we look to as a constant is known as the maqasid al-shariah — the higher objectives of Islamic law. The maqasid al-shariah are five — some scholars say six — constants that we must work to protect and preserve. The shariah, the Islamic law, has come to protect these five or six things.

One of them is Life. No matter what time frame we're in, we are always protecting life. Life is valuable:

Whoever saves one life, it is as if they saved all of humanity. So whether we're living in the 1200s, or 2024, or the 800s — life is valuable. We don't belittle the value of life. The shariah gives rules for protection of life for everyone — sinner, not a sinner, believer, disbeliever. They have rights of protection of life. We protect the rights of people and their lives.

Second, Wealth. Wealth is protected by the shariah. My children have a right over me when it comes to my wealth. If I pass away, I can't just write: "Once I die, give all my wealth to my best friend." It doesn't happen that way. There are inheritance laws:

There's a right that my wealth has. No one can just come and take it. It's protected.

Third, Deen — Religion. Religion is protected. Even the religion of non-Muslims is protected. If someone is a non-Muslim living in an Islamic land, and the conditions for protection are met, it's protected. We can't stop them from praying. They can go on Sunday to worship, they can go on Saturday to worship. It's protected.

Fourth, Health and Body. It's protected. This is why there are laws surrounding medication and healthcare, and much of the Prophet's guidance relates to this as well.

'Ird — The Protection of Reputation

And one in particular — something just came up, and I have to speak about this. 'Ird — Reputation — is protected.

Reputation is an intangible thing that Allah gives us, and it has so much value. That when the reputation of one of the Ummahatul Mu'mineen was — when they attempted to damage it — Allah revealed verses upon verses in the Qur'an:

That this band of individuals who gathered to come to you with this ifk — this accusation against Aisha — think not that it is bad for you. Nay, it is good for you.

Now, think — a lot of things went wrong in the time of the Prophet ﷺ. But Allah did not reveal revelation on everything that went wrong. Some things were handled in hadith, not in Qur'an. Some things were handled just amongst the community. But this incident was so important to our way of life that Allah revealed a set of verses.

All of us operate on trust. We drove here because we trust that the person in the far lane is not going to swerve into us and kill us. We drive on the highway because we have trust that the person going the opposite way will not jump the median and try to kill us. We live in a society of trust. And one of the things that we entrust to one another is our reputation. It's one of the things that's protected.

I'm not going to meet you, say salam, and then go to someone else and make up a fabrication regarding you to ruin your reputation — except that Allah will hold me accountable on the Day of Judgment, and prevent me from entering paradise until you are made happy by my paying you back. Because think for a moment what reputation does. Let's say you're an honest person, you did nothing wrong. If someone begins to spread rumors behind your back, now you go to make a business transaction — and business transactions are founded upon trust and reputation. If I hear a rumor about so-and-so, that's going to forever make me wonder: can I interact with this person? And now their right to have that financial business interaction with me is ruined because of the rumors that were spread.

Someone wants to get married. Reputation is key in marriage. You want someone who's pious, upright, righteous, and has integrity. And now, rumors begin to spread about that person. The parent of the recipient of the proposal turns to the child and says, "Look, I've heard things." Just by hearing the rumor, it puts doubt in the heart of a person.

I'll give an actual example from modern day that we can understand — Hamas. I'm going to say it openly. I don't know them. Most of us don't know them. We have two choices. Choice number one: their reputation has been run through the mud, and we accept what many people — who have ill intent towards that community — have to say. Or choice number two: we do what believers do. They're Muslim; I don't know the details. I suspend judgment, give the benefit of the doubt, until something becomes clear. And it may not become clear in my lifetime — I'll wait till the Day of Judgment. That latter way is how we're supposed to deal with people.

Now, the shariah cares so much about reputation. Think for a moment. There's an individual. This individual commits zina. Now, someone witnesses the zina happening and runs to the judge. The judge says: "Do you have any witnesses with you?" The person says no. The judge turns to that person and has them given 80 lashes of the whip — for casting a statement that ruined someone's reputation without proof. This even if the accused was guilty in their crime.

Two people witness it, both go to the judge — 80 lashes upon each of them because there's not enough proof. Three people witness it — 80 lashes upon every one of them. Four people witness it and all four go to the judge — the judge still lashes all four, unless there is such definitive proof that I am embarrassed to mention from this pulpit. Why? Even when they are probably guilty. Because:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2499; Ibn Mājah, Hadith 4251)

All the children of Adam sin — which doesn't mean I'm giving you a license to go ahead and sin. What I'm saying is: we begin to cast judgment. It's like throwing stones inside a glass house. The person outside may be hurt, but you're destroying your own home from the inside. The individuals who are sinning, they're making mistakes — they have the opportunity to do tawbah to Allah.

And I'll give you an example from authentic hadith. Ma'iz al-Aslami — he is a companion of the Prophet ﷺ. In sound and authentic, verified hadith, he committed zina. Now he goes to the Prophet ﷺ. It wasn't a witness, it wasn't two witnesses, it wasn't his community — he went himself to the Prophet ﷺ. "O Messenger of Allah, I committed zina." What does the Prophet do? Go stone him? No. He turns away. Ma'iz comes from the other angle. "O Messenger of Allah, I committed zina." Turns away. Two more times — four times he says this.

The Prophet ﷺ, having full witnessing of that person against himself, turns to the companion and doesn't accept it right away — the man is saying it himself. He says, "Check — is he inebriated? Maybe there are signs of alcohol upon him." "O Messenger of Allah, there is no sign of alcohol upon him." "Check — maybe he is known as the madman of his tribe." "O Messenger of Allah, we know him to be sound of mind." Then he says: "We have to enact the punishment."

When they go to start stoning him, and the first stone hits, he realizes the enormity of the punishment, and he begins to run. They chase after him. Eventually they catch up to him and stone him to death. When they come back to the Prophet ﷺ, what does he say? "You should have let him go and do tawbah to Allah."

What's my point? We don't cast judgments on people. We need to recognize that Islamic law has its place, and we accept it and we fulfill it. This country doesn't act on Islamic law, but we still believe it to be true — that's important. But we don't take matters into our own hands. "Oh, I heard about so-and-so — I'm here to protect the community." You would be Superman coming out to protect the community through rumors?

Destroyed is every person who finds fault in others and goes and spreads that fault.

Some people are struggling with something. Let that be the struggle between them and Allah. You don't know. I have struggles — if I mentioned them, you would not want to see me out here today. And you feel the same way about your own struggles. We cannot ruin the reputation of people.

The honor of people is so precious that Allah was more willing to protect the wrongly accused than to let the accusation stand. Eighty lashes of the whip for speaking without sufficient proof.

The Story of Aisha and the Ifk — Tribulation as Elevation

Now, when He mentions this in Surah An-Nur, what does Allah say to the recipients of this wrongdoing? "They come to you — this band of brigands — with this accusation upon you. And you think it is bad for you — but this is good for you." Understand that sometimes when you're the recipient of wrongdoing, there is benefit for you. Perhaps you will be exonerated in such a way that you don't know. And that's exactly what happened to Aisha.

When they spread the rumor that she had done something with Safwan that was not befitting her nor any believer — what happened? She doesn't even know about it initially. Eventually she falls ill. Her caretaker, Umm Mistaah, as she's taking her to the restroom, stubs her toe on something and curses her son. And Aisha says, "Why are you doing that to your son?" So Umm Mistaah realizes: "You don't know what's happening, do you?" She says, "No, I don't know what's happening." She says, "My son, and a couple of others, have spread this rumor about you."

This rumor affected Aisha so much that she sunk deeply into illness. She wept so much, it felt as though her liver would burst apart. It got so bad that the Prophet ﷺ went up to the pulpit and said: "Who will defend me against those who make accusations against my family?" — and that almost caused a war between the believers, because some of the hypocrites did things after that.

Then one day the Prophet ﷺ came to her — he was waiting for revelation, not permitted to act except by Allah's command — and she felt some distance between them. So he comes in to check on her and says: "If you're innocent, Allah will exonerate you. But if anything crossed your heart, just ask Allah for forgiveness." So she gets upset. She turns to her mother: "Defend me!" Her mother says, "What should I say? It's the Messenger of Allah." She turns to her father, Abu Bakr: "Defend me!" Abu Bakr is like, "What should I say? It's the Messenger of Allah."

So she was younger, and she said: "I can only say" — she wanted to reference Ya'qub but couldn't recall the name in her distress — "as the father of Yusuf said: صَبْرٌ جَمِيلٌ — beautiful patience." And she turned to her side, and she could not even weep anymore. Then Allah revealed the verses protecting her and exonerating her. And she said: "I never thought that I would be worth Allah revealing a verse. I knew I was innocent — I thought perhaps He would put it in the heart of the Prophet ﷺ. I never thought Allah would reveal verses about me." So it was actually good for her — she went through tribulation, and Allah raised her.

And if you're going through a tribulation, know there is goodness for you in it.

Those Who Witness Wrongdoing: Forgive and Don't Cut Off

What if you're witnessing the tribulation? Abu Bakr had been financially supporting Mistaah, who was like a distant cousin. And when he heard that Mistaah had done this, he said: "That's it, I'm not going to spend on him ever again." Then Allah reveals the verses:

Let not the people of grace and dignity and honor stop from spending and helping. Let them rather forgive and let it go. Would you not like Allah to do this for you?

Meaning, the people who are witnessing the wrong should step in and stop it — but should not go so against the perpetrator that they feel they have no hope. We are a religion of hope:

Do not despair of the mercy of Allah. We are a people — a genus of sinners — and we turn back and seek hope. We know we will slip; we do our best not to. But we make sure that we conceal the faults of each other — so that on the Day of Judgment, when we're standing in front of a gathering far larger than this one, Allah conceals our faults.

Closing Du'a

Indeed, Allah commands justice, excellence, and giving to relatives, and He forbids immorality, wrongdoing, and oppression. He admonishes you so that you may take heed. Establish the prayer.