Part 12 | Surah Maryam | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening & Gratitude to Allah

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O Allah, send blessings and peace upon our Master Muhammad and upon the family of our Master Muhammad. Blessings and peace be upon you.

O Allah, ease my heart and ease my affairs. And remove the knot from my tongue, so that they may understand my words.

Dear brothers and sisters and dear listeners, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. We thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, who has blessed us today, notwithstanding our weaknesses and sins of today and of the entire week, that even though we've done all of that, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala still did not deprive us from attending and did not deprive us from speaking, did not deprive us from participating.

As they say, one of the students mentioned to his teacher: how come we disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so much, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not punish us? And so the teacher responded by saying that you are being punished, but the punishment is such that you are not aware of it, you don't recognize it, you don't sense it. And that is, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala takes away the enjoyment of speaking to Him from you. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala deprives you of the enjoyment of du'a.

And there is absolutely no greater punishment and musiba that a person can suffer than tawfiq being snatched away from that individual — from the ability to do good, from suffering hard-heartedness. There is really nothing that could be regarded as a greater punishment than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala depriving a person of tawfiq. So we should always tell ourselves and tell Allah azza wa jal: Ya Allah, I'm so grateful to You, that no matter all that I have done this past entire week, from last Tuesday till this Tuesday, and from today, from the morning till now — so many things were such that it would be absolutely fine and acceptable for You to banish me from Your court and not allow me to come and sit and benefit. But Your mercy is so much and so encompassing, that You did not judge me based on my weakness and my sins, and You have allowed me to still come here.

So when this is a fact — we're not adding anything here, we're not being extra humble — this is the reality for myself and this is the reality for all of us. That every single second, so much ma'siyah and disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is taking place, and yet He allows us to come here.

The Danger of Ghaflah (Heedlessness)

We talked last week about ghaflah — heedlessness. And that itself is a big problem. When a person is in a state of heedlessness, he is disconnected from the remembrance of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — what other bigger sin can you see? A person may think that I'm not committing a sin. No — if you're not thinking about Allah at any given time, that's a problem. If our mind is not thinking about Allah, that's like the biggest thing.

Imagine, subhanAllah, you think about this. Imagine if a husband and wife are sitting on the day of their wedding, in a wedding hall. And the wife says something to the husband, and the husband just blanks out and says, "Yeah, what's going on? Where are we sitting right now? What's happening? Why are all these people here? Are you sure the nikah is done yet? Maybe we can still back out. Who am I getting married to here?" He's sitting in this place, there are hundreds of people sitting in front, they're sitting on tables and lights are on and whatnot. And he's asking: why are we sitting here?

If that is weird, then something that is beyond that — more weird and shocking — is a person lives in this world, eats Allah's food, drinks Allah's water, breathes Allah's air, takes shelter under Allah's sky, walks on Allah's earth, and enjoys Allah's blessings every second, and is not constantly thinking about Allah. How is it possible that a person is enjoying all of this, and yet he is suffering from what we call ghaflah? So it's dangerous. Ghaflah can take a person very far away from the deen. This itself is what we require istighfar for.

And as our ulama have mentioned in the past, our istighfar — may Allah forgive us — istighfāruna yaḥtāju ilal istighfār: our istighfar requires istighfar, because it's so weak. It's so weak, it doesn't deliver what it needs to deliver, because we're not focused when we're doing it. And we're not putting our full energy and resource into it. So hence our istighfar is also weak.

The Power of Dhikr

Many times a person says, "I've done so much dhikr, what's going on?" Dhikr is not about moving the beads. We are not a bead maker that sits there and counts how many beads before selling them to the customer. Moving the beads is not what counts — it's about, as we move these beads, what's the condition of the heart. Even when Allah's name is taken as such, if done properly, it will shake our heart and the heart of everyone who's present.

Nabi alayhis salatu wasallam said — and the ulama have explained that this is most likely towards the end of times — that Constantinople, i.e. Istanbul, when the Muslim army will be there waiting to attack and conquer that city, according to some this has already occurred, many others say this will happen later on. And Nabi alayhis salatu wasallam said it will be conquered through what? Through Allahu Akbar, through the dhikr of Allah. When the dhikr of Allah takes place, the walls will fall. It's not going to be conquered through catapults, through drones, or whatnot. The walls will fall through the dhikr of Allah.

When Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's name is taken with conviction and yaqeen, dear friends — if the walls of the enemy city can fall, don't you think the veils of blackness and darkness in our hearts can fall? That is the power of doing the dhikr of Allah. Taking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's name is the most powerful thing. So we should bring this into our life on a daily basis.

MashaAllah, one of our brothers here mentioned to me — and it made me very happy — that through the blessing of the gatherings that we do here in the masjid, alhamdulillah, and the encouragement that we should do dhikr at home, he mentioned that his small children at home also participate every night before they go to bed; they do dhikr collectively together. And alhamdulillah, the yaqeen of these beautiful, innocent little children is that through the dhikr of Allah, we get a peaceful sleep and an enjoyable sleep. So he said that one night they didn't do dhikr, and his children went to sleep and had a nightmare. The next morning, they themselves said, "Baba, subhanAllah — we didn't do the dhikr last night and we got the nightmare." So now the yaqeen is even more solidified: that if we want protection, we need to be doing our dhikr. So even when the father is traveling or not at home, alhamdulillah, the young children sit and they do the dhikr together. This is something we need to bring into our life.

When we have the collective du'a here, after salah for example, or in any other gathering, people will start wondering, "Brother, is this bid'ah or innovation?" My dear friends, you have to teach. If someone didn't teach us how to wash ourselves in the bathroom, we wouldn't know it till today. And there are people like that, whose fathers and mothers never taught them, and till today do not know how to use a restroom properly. So we don't want to become like that. We want to make sure that we and our children know everything — from that, all the way to learning how to do the dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That's what we learn from the masjid. That's what we learn from the mimbar. And you take it back to your homes. So definitely create the environment of dhikr in our homes. Saying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's name will remove the blackness and the veils of darkness on our hearts and from the hearts of our children, and it will build within their hearts a beautiful, powerful relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant all of us tawfiq.

Introduction to the New Section: Story of Ibrahim

Last week I had completed the ruku', but I did tell you that if possible, I would like to share some review over some points from the verses before we move on to the new ruku' and the new section. Let me first read the new section that we'll be covering today and read the translation of it, and then I'll go back and cover some of the verses that I wanted to cover.

And mention also in the book — O Prophet of Allah — the tiding of Ibrahim alayhis salam. Indeed he was ever truthful and an eminent prophet. Behold, he said to his father: "My dear father, why do you worship what can neither hear nor see, nor avail you in anything? My dear father, indeed revealed knowledge has come to me from God that has not reached you, so follow me and I shall guide you to a straight and even way. My dear father, do not worship shaytan — indeed shaytan is ever rebellious towards the All-Merciful. My dear father, I fear that a torment from the All-Merciful will strike you, and thus you will become a doomed patron of shaytan." He said: "Are you averse to my gods, O Ibrahim? Most surely, if you do not desist, I will myself stone you to death. Therefore depart from me now for a long duration." Ibrahim alayhis salam said: "Peace be with you. I shall ask my Lord to forgive you. Indeed He has been ever gracious to me."

Yawm al-Hasrah — The Day of Regret

So the last portion — as we concluded the story of Isa alayhis salam and his mother, the miraculous birth and beautiful lessons that we were able to cover in the past three to four weeks — we saw that towards the end there was a section where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was giving us advice about how people have been misled and have wrong ideas regarding Isa alayhis salam, attributing divinity to him, and how on the day of judgment they will be suffering a big loss.

And Allah jalla jalaluhu said: how well they shall hear and see — meaning right now, no matter how many proofs you give to them, they don't understand, but on the day of judgment they will be able to hear and they will be able to see. It's scary, it really is, that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chooses to switch off our ability to understand, then we will think 1 plus 1 is 11, not 2. It really is — sometimes these veils come over our heart and a person just cannot understand the very basics of deen. And you're going to see that in the story of Ibrahim and Azer as well. But there will be a day when you will be able to understand, but it will be too late.

So when a person doesn't understand something right now in this dunya, we should have humility and humbleness in front of Allah all the time. We ended last week's dars with this, didn't we? We said:

O Allah, allow me to see the truth as truth and inspire me to practice on it; and O Allah, allow me to see falsehood as falsehood and inspire me to stay away from it. This is something that we need to always be reciting — whether in English, Urdu, or Arabic — asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala: do not allow me to start thinking that I've got it all, with this arrogant type of mentality that if it doesn't make sense to me, it can't be true.

There are many things we may not understand. That's why we ask Allah for guidance:

O Allah, inspire me to the very best of my affairs. We don't understand perhaps, so don't say it's wrong. Say: O Allah, if this is correct, allow me to understand it. When you hear a speech, or you hear something that your elder is saying, your ustad is saying, your teacher is saying, your parents are saying, and it doesn't make sense to us — we should turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and not become dismissive. Say: O Allah, if this is true, allow me to understand this.

So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying: today you don't understand that Isa is not divine, but a day will come when you'll understand everything, you'll see everything — but it'll be of absolutely no benefit. What's that day? From the 24 names of the Day of Judgment, we did last week: Yawm al-Hasrah — the Day of Regret.

And warn them of the Day of Regret — when the matter will be decided while they are heedless and they do not believe.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is reminding us that a person, no matter what his situation will be, will definitely be saddened and regretting over what has happened. Allah jalla jalaluhu says in the 19th juz:

That when a person, due to his bad friendships and social circle that he or she kept, ends up not following the deen — then on the Day of Judgment this individual, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, will out of sadness and regret not simply be biting his nails as is customary today in this world, but instead will go beyond biting his nails — nay, he will end up chewing his entire arm out of frustration, sadness and remorse: how come I did not follow the truth and ended up doing what my friends were doing?

This is what it all is today. "This is what society says. That's what my family says. That's what people say. That's what the people in my neighborhood say." We're all about the society, all about the ones we hang around with. Today is deen — where does it stand? One brother comes to the masjid, he'll bring his friends. One friend goes to the club, he'll take them all over there. This is all it is. We go with the flow. And if you have this mentality that you go with the flow, then it's very dangerous, because the flow may be going in a very wrong direction. All of us have seen that in our lives — when the flow was going in a wrong direction and if you didn't have the guts to stand up and say "I'm done," then you end up flowing away with them.

Dear brothers, I say this very regularly because we have so many younger brothers and sisters attending alhamdulillah — until and unless we don't have the willpower and the strength to be able to put our foot down and say "I am going to do what's right, I will stand by the truth — not with my friends, not with my social circle; my allegiance is with the truth, my allegiance is with what's right" — otherwise if you're going to go with the friend's circle, one night you'll be in i'tikaf, the next night you'll be over alcohol. And I have seen this with my very own eyes. When I ask people who've spent great time in the masjid and then go to the complete opposite end, and I ask how — you were just here the other day, Ramadan you were just here — how does this happen? "I was going with friends and I just ended up this and that." That's how scary it is. If you sit here in the front row and you practice the deen and you're there for salah — there's no guarantee if you cannot cut yourself off from that friend's circle who takes you in the opposite direction.

Tahliyah and Tahliyah: Emptying Before Filling

So whenever we come to deeni gatherings and we are listening online or whatever the case may be, and we get this jazba — this desire: Ya Allah, I want to become Yours, I really want to dedicate my life to You — what you have to do, my friends: when you hear a non-Muslim giving shahadah, how do you give it? La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah. We do that. He becomes a Muslim. But usually when you hear the imam giving shahadah, what do we talk about? We look at his background — is he Christian, Jewish, Hindu, or what not — and then we explain to them that Islam is about believing that one Allah is the only deity, and that Isa is not divine, or so-and-so is not, or idols are not. We make sure we focus on the things he has to distance himself from.

And that is what la ilaha is about. Before you bring illallah, you have to bring la ilaha — there is no god. Clean out all the false idols from the heart, clean out all the false idols from the mind. And once you've made space, then there is only one space for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. In the terms of tazkiyah — or in spiritual rectification — it's called takhliyah and tahliyah. Takhliyah: empty it out. Then tahliyah: beautify yourself. Like I usually give an example: cleaning up the dust, removing the cobwebs, and getting rid of the old paint before you put on a fresh coat.

So that takhliyah has to take place. When we sit in gatherings like this, we have to make takhliyah from our bad influences — from the circle of friends that push us to places where we shouldn't be, or those social media apps and other things that are pulling us in another direction. Until we do not do takhliyah, you keep on adding milk into your glass — but you don't want to get rid of the filth at the bottom, all the dirt and mud in there — it's going to be no good. You can't drink any of that milk. You have to throw it away first. What benefit will there be in filling up your jar with milk when you have layers of filth at the bottom? It must be cleansed first before you start adding milk to it. This is what we're speaking about here: distance ourselves from bad company.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says this person would be chewing his entire arm off because of the fact that he was going towards Islam, but then because of a friend's pressure he ended up renouncing Islam. And of course on that day, everyone will be for himself — no one will be able to benefit each other. So the hasra will be great.

The Hadith of the Ram on the Day of Judgment

Nabi alayhis salatu wasallam said: the hasra will be even for a Muslim. The Prophet alayhis salatu wasallam said: any gathering in which the name of Allah is not taken, in which the salutations upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam are not recited:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3380)

It will become a source of misery and worry on the Day of Judgment. Let me repeat that: any type of sitting — you're sitting with a bunch of friends in any gathering, at a restaurant, at a banquet hall, on your couch on Saturday night, wherever it is — but if there is no dhikr of Allah and no salutations upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, then this entire duration that we sat there will be a source of misery on the Day of Judgment.

That is why, at the very least, whichever gathering we're sitting in, we should at least end with:

Or any other type of durood, salawat, and some dhikr. So that at least whatever the past two hours that we're sitting in any gathering does not become a source of misery on the Day of Judgment. So there are people who have done bad — of course they'll be worried about what's going to happen. And then people who do good — they will be saddened that why did they not do more.

You made a lot of money in the stock market, for example, and you sold and made $100,000. But you see a guy who sold the next day and made $200,000. MashaAllah you got $100,000 — but you'd never be happy if you know his friend, his brother, made $200,000. Why would he be happy? He'll lose all the enjoyment of the $100,000, because he knows someone else made more in that same duration — if only he had kept the money one more day extra. So imagine the hasra, the sadness, when a person sees that: why didn't I participate in some good deeds? Why didn't I do more for myself?

Nabi alayhis salatu wasallam has mentioned in a hadith regarding death on the Day of Judgment:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4730; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2849)

Death itself will be brought in the form of a ram. A caller will call out: "Oh, the people of Jannah!" They will wake up, they will get up out of their paradise and look. The caller will say: "Do you know what this ram is?" They say: "Yes, this is death." And all of them had seen it. Then the caller will call out: "Oh, the people of Hellfire!" They will look up. The caller will say: "Do you know what this is?" And they will say: "Yes, this is death." And all of them had seen it. Then the ram will be slaughtered. Then the caller will say: "Oh people of Paradise — eternity, and no death! And oh people of Hellfire — eternity, and no death!"

And at that time the Rasul sallallahu alayhi wasallam recited this ayah — the amount of regret the people of Hellfire will have at that time will be such that if death were still there, they would have died simply out of regret. Because the realization will sink in: this torture, this difficulty, this punishment we're going through — there's no end to it. All of us always look forward to: when is this going to end? Life is not forever. "This surgery will get over. This divorce will get over. This pain will get over." We always look at the light at the end of the tunnel — that's what keeps us alive. But imagine if you realize that there is no light at the end of the tunnel, and this tunnel is never ending — forever, forever, forever.

At least in this world we have something called death. Even if it was the most painful thing, in the most painful way, you have to die — but at the end you die. In the akhirah there is no such thing as death. There is nothing to look forward to.

After thousands of years of suffering, the people of Jahannam will turn — and since Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will not speak to them — they'll turn to the angel who is in charge of Jahannam, whose name is Malik. They'll say: "Oh Malik, please ask Allah to make a final judgment against us so that we die — we cannot handle this." And the answer will be: Innakum mākithoon — absolutely not. You're staying here, you're not going anywhere.

Thousands of years will go by. They'll be begging and beseeching Allah azza wa jal, and then Allah will respond and He will say:

"Keep quiet — you cannot speak to Me and you are not allowed to speak to Me." And their mouths will be sealed. So on top of the physical, unbelievable, unimaginable level of pain, there is a huge level of emotional pain as well — to see your own gods that you worshipped burning in hell, to see everyone who you thought was going to help you — gone. To see those who you believed to be your leaders also in hell. To see the friends that pushed you there saying, "I've got your back" — subhanAllah, they don't have their own back.

All the ones who said, "Come on man, don't worry about it." Those very same ones who told you, "Come with me; join in this. Then you can go write a donation to the masjid, and after 5% or 2%, your haram money will become clean. Just come." How many people are doing this outside — inviting us towards haram and telling their friends, "Tawbah baad mein kar lo" — you can repent afterwards, it's okay.

Imam al-Nataraji was mentioning regarding Junaid Jamshed rahmatullahi alayhi — that when he was suffering extreme poverty after giving up music and was going through extreme difficulty, literally not knowing how he was going to make ends meet, he got this massive multi-million dollar contract from Pepsi worth millions and crores of rupees. And he said, "No man, I'm not going to do this." The representatives told him: "Don't worry, just sing for us these 10 songs — give it to us — and after that you do your tawbah; you go back in Jamaat and do whatever you want to do." So they started playing the mawlana role, those representatives — "here we're giving you the fatwa for it, just sing it." There are actually a lot of people who do this type of stuff outside. A lot of people say, "Allah is Ghafoor Raheem — Allah will forgive you, just do this thing and move on." Because misery loves company. They feel awkward going towards hell alone. They say, "Come with me, and then we have something to do together."

So imagine the sorrow when a person sees all of those people with him burning in hell, and then on top of that to see that death is gone and there is no ending to this — it's going to be extremely painful.

The Story of Junaid Jamshed and the Walking Jamaat

I remember Junaid Jamshed rahmatullahi alayhi when he came here and did our fundraiser in 2012, and then we had a get-together with the volunteers at one of our brother's homes. And he spoke to the volunteers in a very nice, powerful talk mashallah. In that talk, he shared a story of a time in which he went out in nusrah for a jamaat. Nusrah is when you participate and join them for a few days. This jamaat in Pakistan was doing the one-year padal jamaat — the one-year walking jamaat. These are the most amazing individuals, usually much, much older than what you'd expect — in their 70s and 80s — very elderly people who are ready to give their life to the deen, and they end up travelling by foot from one end to the other end, whatever route they've been given, in Pakistan and other parts of the world as well.

So he went to join them for 10 days. Usually they're going through desert areas and extremely difficult areas of the country where average people don't go. So he went and joined them for 10 days, and after he came back from this very grueling trip, he came back to where Haji Abdul Wahab rahimahullahu rahmatan wasiy'ah was there and other ulama were there. And the gist of what he was saying — I don't want to misquote him — is that the elder at that time said: "Allah ki qasam — I swear by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — every single one of us, including myself, qiyamat ki din, Allah ki qasam hum pachtayenge." They're coming back from this most challenging, most difficult journey of their life — for the sake of Allah, to invite people towards a masjid, to invite people towards deen, nothing else — and on the way back, he says: "By Allah, every single one of us, including myself, on the Day of Judgment we're going to regret why we didn't do more." Don't allow this to get to your head — what you just did right now.

And so he was sharing with our volunteers as well: whatever work you do, don't ever think, "subhanAllah, I've done something big." Nothing. Whatever you have done, on the Day of Judgment you will regard it as insignificant. There is a statement of Ka'b al-Ahbar: he says on the Day of Judgment, if a person were to have the iman of 70 anbiya — 70 prophets — he will also think that he's not going to be able to save himself from hellfire. If he were to have the iman of 70 prophets, he will still think: "I'm destined to hell," because Allah is so, so, so mighty and hellfire is blazing right in front.

And there is a hadith of the Prophet ﷺ — listen to this attentively. He says that if a person were to fall into sujood since the time he is born till the time he dies — 70, 80 years, non-stop, 24 hours, 7 days, 365 days a year — were to be in sajdah: is that possible? Absolutely not possible. But hypothetically speaking, if you were to do such an amal — and what type of amal? There is no amal greater than sajdah:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 482)

The closest you can be to Allah is in the state of sujood. 70 years of non-stop sajdah — on the Day of Judgment, if you bring even something as heavy and as powerful as that, he says you will regard this amal as insignificant — haqeer — in front of Allah's jalal, in front of Allah's power. You say: "I've got nothing." What have you got? 70 years of non-stop sajdah. Do we, brothers, have a trillionth of that? No, we don't. So this is an important reminder for us to never become haughty over what we have done — always be humble, and always be thinking: "Man, I've got to do more."

The Parable of the Ice Seller

We literally have to be in the state of concern and worry — like the very beautiful example that our elders have given of a man who's selling ice. You've heard that in India and Pakistan they have the ice sellers — they carry big blocks of ice on a donkey cart, they go buy it from the factory, and they go around the town selling. People come buy a kilo of ice, they break it with a pickaxe or a hammer. Usually it's little kids who are selling this stuff. But this ice in 120-degree temperature doesn't last all day. You pick it up at 8 AM, you have to sell it by noon, otherwise it's going to melt. These people are literally living on less than a dollar a day — they don't even have money to buy the block of ice; they save up little profits and buy a block. If that ice melts without selling, they're in big trouble — they won't be able to bring even a loaf of bread home.

So the worry and the concern as the sun rises high — if his ice is not selling — how frantically he goes around trying to call people so that they buy his ice, so that at least his entire capital doesn't go to waste. That ice that's melting away is our life, our age. Every week that we come here, we've gotten a week closer to death. Every Ramadan, we've gotten one Ramadan closer to death. That's the reality. Our time, our capital, is melting away.

We have to have every night — we need to sleep with hasra, with regret: the way today should have been spent has not been spent like that. Thank Allah for what you have done, and regret for what you have not done. If we missed one salah with jama'ah, if we missed one salah, if we didn't do our dhikr after one of the salah, if we didn't recite Quran the whole day, if we didn't spend our time with our parents — then we go to bed with regret. And rather — regret today, when it helps. Because if a person is going to bed with regret and does istighfar, alhamdulillah it will make up for whatever losses he had. But tomorrow, on the Day of Judgment — the Day of Regret — that regret will be of absolutely no benefit.

Daily this fikr — concern — should be with us: what are you worried about? You're worried about how you're not spending your time in the best possible manner. And if you're kind of paranoid about this and always thinking, "Time is going, time is going, time is going" — just like they say time is money — for us, time is not money; time is life. Every day that we get closer to our death is a lost opportunity for us to get closer to Allah.

We are thinking: "I'm going to wait till I graduate from college, then I'll start focusing. I'm going to wait till I get married. I'm going to wait till I get my first child. I'm going to wait till I get my promotion, my job. I'm going to wait till I get my house paid off — then I'll start focusing." My friends, these are useless, false promises we're making for ourselves. The day our heart turns to Allah is the day we need to start focusing, because we don't know how many days we've got left. Every single day counts.

This is what Allah jalla jalaluhu is telling Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam:

Warn them, forewarn them of the Day of Regret — when it's too late, when their destiny has been decreed, while they are yet heedless; they're going to be going towards hellfire and today when you tell them, they're heedless, lost in their intoxication of wealth, intoxication of lust, intoxication of desires — and they do not believe.

Food takes us 10 minutes to eat, drink takes a few minutes, to wear clothes — what do we need more? My dear friends, this is not the maqsad, this is not the purpose. Marriage, clothing, cars — this is just our needs of life. If the entire effort is going to be put into just the clothing we wear, or the marriage we have, or the house we own, then these are the people who are going to suffer a huge regret on the Day of Judgment. That's not where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has created us for.

Why Ibrahim alayhis Salam is Mentioned Next in Surah Maryam

Let's move on to the next story. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the story of Yahya, then the story of Isa, and then this middle section moves on now to Ibrahim alayhis salam's story. Why Ibrahim? For a number of reasons:

Number one: Ibrahim alayhis salam is the one that the Christians, the Jews, the Muslims, and the mushrikeen of Mecca all agreed upon. The mushrikeen of Mecca didn't believe in other prophets — they didn't look up to them — but they definitely looked up to Ibrahim. They regarded him as their forefather. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala brings in his story. And since Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam is from the lineage of Ibrahim, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is bringing the story of Ibrahim alayhis salam. And since Ibrahim alayhis salam brought the principles that were agreed upon by all prophets, including Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, you will notice that Ibrahim alayhis salam's name starts off here, and then we're going to go through a number of prophets after the story of Ibrahim. It sets the foundation for the next prophets in the story of Surah Maryam: look at the message of all these prophets — if you study it, it's all the same as the Prophet alayhis salam's. So why are you ostracizing our prophet? Why are you looking down upon our prophet? Why do you have a hard time believing our prophet when his message is the exact same message of Ibrahim alayhis salam — whom you, O mushrikeen, also believe in and look up to?

Additionally, Ibrahim alayhis salam is mentioned because he had certain circumstances similar to that of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. That is: he had his very own close family and relatives who stood up against him, and he faced a lot of opposition. So Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam is facing a lot of opposition from his very own blood relatives, and they are the ones who have become the biggest thorns in his life and in his message. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the story of Ibrahim alayhis salam so that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam gets solace and comfort — to see how did Ibrahim alayhis salam handle this, and in that same manner I must handle this section as well.

Tafsir: "Mention in the Book the Story of Ibrahim"

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: "And mention in the book the story of Ibrahim." Because there are going to be many variations of any story — any biblical story, any historical story — will have many variations. Allah wants us to focus on the narration of the Quran. That's where hidayah is going to come. You want to read the historical analysis of a story for some interesting details — okay, fine. But the main crux of where guidance is going to come is from the version mentioned in the Quran. This is your cliff notes, if you want to call it that. The gist. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't mention unnecessary details. You have an exam tomorrow, you have to cover thousands of pages — this is not the time to get into small, minute details. You are focusing on the big things so that you can succeed on that exam. The Quran is preparing us for the exam of the grave — which may be tonight, might be tomorrow night, might be next year; we don't know when it's going to come.

(Three questions of the grave — Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1338)

Three questions of the grave: Who is your Lord? What is your religion? What do you say about this man — i.e., the Prophet? And the questions on the Day of Judgment. So in preparation for that, the Quran is very focal on the most important points.

Ibrahim alayhis Salam as Siddiq Nabiy

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: "Indeed he is ever truthful" — Siddiq. This is a hyperbolic form — Siddiq from Sadiq: very truthful. What does it mean? It means that he was willing to always accept any command of Allah. If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said: "Leave your spouse in the desert" — okay. "Leave your little child in the desert" — okay. "Do not give up your deen even if it means you are thrown into fire" — okay. "Put a knife to your son's throat" — Allahu Akbar.

We are so far away from submitting to the will of Allah that when this story is shared today, some people have an entire rebuttal: "No, this can't be, this doesn't make sense. How could you be asked to do a sacrifice like that?" What are you talking about? I didn't ask you to make that sacrifice — your Lord did. Your Lord can ask you to do anything. Whatever He asked you to do, you have to do it. Has anyone asked you to sacrifice your son right now? No one. The idea is to sacrifice your desires. You can't even fathom that Allah could ask someone to do something like that. Of course not — that's why He sent:

We ransomed your son and gave in his place a beautiful ram from Jannah.

You have proven your truthfulness and you have proven that you are Siddiq — and what you saw in the dream, you acted upon it. That's what the Quran is saying. Allah never wanted him to kill his son. The idea is to see: are you willing to make that sacrifice? Are you willing to put your soul and your son's soul in the palm of your hand and submit it to Allah? Are you willing to do that? That was the question.

Why do we sit here today and say that doesn't make sense? Because you know why — we have become abd al-hawa. That's what it is. We have become slaves of our desires and our lower self. This is how far we've gone — that we can't even fathom someone could love Allah to this level. We have become so materialized that in a khutbah, if someone says that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's love for the Quran was such that he would sometimes recite an entire surah in one raka'ah — in one instance where Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam stood up for Qiyam al-Layl, he recited Surah al-Baqarah in one raka'ah, and then the sahabi who joined him said: "Okay, this is a very long raka'ah." And then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam added Surah Aal-Imran to that, and then after that added Surah al-Nisa, and then he started Surah al-Ma'idah — he was on the sixth juz in the first raka'ah — and then the sahabi sat down and said he could not continue this salah.

When a person hears this, you're supposed to get inspired: mashallah, how great was Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's love for the Quran! There is a hafiz, an elderly hafiz in South Africa in Madrasa Arabia in Azaadville — apparently for decades he has been doing this — he does the first or second night of Ramadan doing the entire Quran in the first raka'ah of Tarawih, and there are people behind him. One raka'ah. Uthman radhiallahu anhu — this was his daily habit: he would recite the Quran in one raka'ah. How does that happen, my friend? There's something called Baraka. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala puts blessing in your time, Allah puts blessing in your ability to do things. We have to believe in this.

The Three Incidents and Ibrahim's Intercession

Why else is Siddiq mentioned here? Because there are people who may ascribe lies to him regarding the three incidents that took place in his life: when they came and asked "Who broke the idol?" — and what did he say? He pointed to the biggest one. And when Namrud had a bad intention with his wife, he said "She is my sister" to protect her. And similarly when he told his community "I am sick" as an excuse. So his fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is such that on the Day of Judgment — and this is what I'm going to tell you — it is mind-boggling:

Ibrahim alayhis salam — whom the Quran calls an Ummah, calls a whole community himself, calls the leader of everyone, the father of all the religions, the father of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam's lineage, the friend of Allah — when the people come to him on the Day of Judgment and say, "O Ibrahim, please can you intercede on our behalf so that the Day of Judgment begins?" — in the lengthy hadith of shafa'ah and intercession — what will Ibrahim alayhis salam say? He will say: "You're asking the wrong person. Me? I have no guts to speak to Allah today. You know what I have done? You don't know what I have done. I made these mistakes in three instances." He will narrate those on the Day of Judgment.

When I tell you about the fear that people have on the Day of Judgment — this is a real story — that Ibrahim alayhis salam, being the best of the best, will have so much fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on that day that he will feel he is not in a position to open his mouth and ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the process to move forward. So Allah is saying he is Siddiq — he didn't lie. And Nabiy — he is a prophet. Nabi comes from the word naba' — a very big, relevant, and important piece of news. So what does a Nabi come with? The Nabi's message is very important, very relevant. No matter what age we are in, the prophetic message will always be important and will always be relevant.

Ibrahim and His Father Azar: A Model of Dawah with Wisdom

Allah jalla jalaluhu says regarding Ibrahim alayhis salam: idh qala li-abihi — when he spoke to his father. Now, the majority of the companions and the tabi'oon — those who came after the companions — are of the opinion that this is the father named Azar. There is a minority opinion that who is referred to as abihi — "father" — is actually his uncle, that Azar was not his father but rather his uncle. But this is not the majority opinion. Some people get very riled up about this issue — this is not an issue to get riled up upon.

They argue that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam's lineage is pure — from pure backs to pure wombs — so how can there be a mushrik in there? This is taken in a majazi, metaphorical sense. The majority of Rasulullah's lineage is pure — people who have tawhid. If there is one person up there somewhere, then look: Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam's own beloved uncle Abu Talib, unfortunately, did not accept Islam. And of course Abu Lahab was a very harsh enemy. So you look at the prophets — Nabi Nuh's own son: from where did that son come? From the blood of the prophet. So what about the father's purity? But that's Allah — He does whatever He wishes. You can't ask Him about why He does what He does. This is not something for us to feel offended about.

"Ya Abati" — The Beauty of the Address

He spoke to Azar. What did he say? Ya abati — oh my dear father. Now, we know the word ab is father, abi is my father. Notice: the Quran doesn't say abi here — the Quran says abati. Where did this ta' come from? What's this ta' about? The scholars say that this ta' in Arabic is known as ta' ta'neeth — the ta' of femininity. And femininity embodies love. So by adding that ta' over here, abi was already "dear dad, dear father" — but by adding that ta' there, it adds another whole degree of love, of emotional love and attachment to the father. So here Ibrahim alayhis salam is speaking to his mushrik father — who is not only a disbeliever and a polytheist, but also an idol maker. He builds idols, constructs them, makes them and sells them. And how does he speak to him? He says: "Oh, my dear father."

This is a great example. If you come from a home in which you are motivated and someone took something to come — for example, on a drive out on a Tuesday night this late, and sit here — and maybe someone from your home is not as motivated: how are you supposed to handle that? How are you supposed to deal with situations in which maybe you are not very religious, but something took place in your life and you started going towards religion, and your parents still have not been motivated yet? How do you handle that? This is a very, very relevant topic.

He doesn't attack his father. And that's what happens today — it's so sad. I hear parents call me and say, "Mufti Sahib, is this true? This is what my son told me. He studies a little bit of deen — this is the fatwa he's giving at home." And I laugh — I'm like, "I can't believe this is what your son is saying. How do you tell your mom that? How do you tell your dad something like that?" You study something and you go sit there — what you're saying might even be right, but this is not the way you speak to your parents. This is not the way it's supposed to be done. What is your goal? What's your end goal? To pick a fight with your mom and dad? Then go ahead — you'll ruin your akhira as well, and it won't change anything. If you want to bring change, you have to be very humble and very nice in your presentation.

None of us are dealing, alhamdulillah, with a situation like this — where he's not just a non-Muslim, he's a polytheist, and not just a polytheist but an idol maker. And Ibrahim doesn't just say, "Okay, here are the car keys and a credit card, do whatever you want." No.

The Five Points of Ibrahim's Argument

First point: He doesn't quote high-level texts from usul al-fiqh books or usul al-hadith books, or verse upon verse in Arabic that the dad doesn't understand. Even if he's maybe reading his alif-ba-ta, you never know what he's reading unless you understand Arabic. So the idea is not to show superiority to our elders or to someone in the family that you're trying to bring towards deen — they will never turn like that. Why? Even if they want to, their ego will come in and say: "Why should I believe someone who speaks to me like that?" So use very simple, logical ways to explain. Don't give high-level five proofs first and foremost. Start at a very basic level. Speak about things they can relate to.

Like: "Okay, I understand you've got needs and you want to get them fulfilled. But you want to fulfill them in a manner that makes sense. Would you go speak to a random tree and say 'Can you please give me food'?" The man will say, "No." "Well then, understand that when you go speak to the idol — it's the same thing. That idol just came out of the mountain. Why don't you go do the same thing to the mountain? You don't find boulders on the street and just go speak to them. You yourself with your own hand created this idol — and now this idol can listen to you, can respond to you?" Simple, basic logic. And he used that with his father first.

Second point: And guess what — "he can't help you in anything. He can't hear, he can't listen, he can't see, and he can't give you anything. What has he given you so far in life?"

Third point — every sentence sugar-coated: "Oh my beloved father" — again and again. Akhlaq, character. "Indeed, revealed knowledge has come to me from Allah that has not reached you." There's a lot of emphasis here. What does that mean? I'm not saying you're stupid. I'm not saying you've been duped your whole life. I'm actually empathizing with you and understanding that you simply were unaware of the knowledge that alhamdulillah I have now. You simply didn't know — and I'm here to share it with you. It's not that you intentionally acted this way, or that you were foolish all along. No one wants to hear that they're foolish. No one wants to be told they've been duped. Look at it this way: you simply didn't know. Now I have the knowledge and I'm sharing it with you.

Like a person who knows his father is involved in haram business — people say, "My dad's involved in selling haram. How do I deal with that?" This is a very touchy topic, but it's got to be done with wisdom and hikmah. A person should say: "You know what — I didn't know any better. I was with you every day at the cashier, I used to give you business plans. But now I'm studying the deen and I realize it's not worth it. I didn't have this knowledge before." If you go tell your father, "I can't believe you've been feeding me haram all my life!" — what is he going to say? He's not going to want to repent. You have to present it in this manner.

So he says: "Indeed I've got knowledge that never came to you — I actually went and studied, I took a class. I want to share this knowledge with you. So please follow me; I will guide you to the straight way."

Fourth point: Now you're seeing his face is changing — he's probably frowning, getting mad, his eyes are getting red. So now the frustration levels increase a little bit — natural. And now he says, very pointedly: "Oh my dear father" — for the third time — "do not worship shaytan." Shaytan — even the polytheist doesn't like shaytan. So he's telling him: you are actually worshipping shaytan. Was he a Satanist? No. Why is he saying this? Because all the sin that we do, whenever we disobey Allah and we do things that go against Allah's will, in reality we are pledging our allegiance to shaytan. So when we listen to music, when we look at haram, we watch haram, we eat haram — in reality what are we doing? We're following shaytan, we're worshipping shaytan. So by doing idolatry also, we're worshipping shaytan. "And I know you don't like shaytan — so why are you doing this?"

Who is shaytan? Inna al-shaytan kana lil-Rahman asiyya — shaytan is ever rebellious, from isyan: very rebellious. And who is he rebellious towards? To the most powerful? He didn't use that word. What did he use? Al-Rahman — to the most merciful. Even if shaytan were to humble himself for one second, Allah would forgive him. If he were to humble himself for one second, Allah would forgive him. He knows that. But he's so arrogant, so stubborn, he refuses. So that Allah who is so merciful — shaytan is yet being so rebellious with Him. Why do you want to worship him?

Fifth point — the warning: "Ya abati" — fourth time — "oh my dear father, indeed I fear — I'm very afraid — that if you don't stop and desist, I fear that the All-Merciful will strike you, and then you will end up becoming a patron and companion of shaytan." What did he say? "The All-Merciful will strike you" — meaning Allah doesn't enjoy punishing you, oh my father. Allah does not want to see you in hell. He's merciful. He doesn't want to see you in hell. But if you really push the buttons and remain rebellious and don't want to listen, then some punishment will come — just a small amount. Not saying the whole world is going to fall apart on you, because then it will push them away. Some level of punishment will touch you. And you'll become a doomed patron of shaytan.

The Father's Angry Response

What is the response of the father? He's angry. He doesn't want to hear this. "Oh Ibrahim — are you really going to be turning away from my gods?" — araghibun anta an alihati ya Ibrahim — are you averse to my gods, O Ibrahim? "I can't believe it! If you do not stop inviting me towards your religion, I am most definitely going to stone you to death myself. Not just banish you — kill you. This is the father telling the son who spoke to him so nicely. "Get out of my life. Leave me for a long duration" — mahjar comes from the word hijrah, which means leave — leave me for a long time. Get out of my life.

What can Ibrahim do? With so much humility and humbleness — and obviously this was not just one conversation; he had this conversation for years with his dad — but now it came to the tipping point where the dad said, "Get out. I'm now done. I'm going to raise my hand and kill you if you do not leave right now." He didn't even give the option of staying at home and doing his own ibadah. He said, "You have to leave, otherwise I'll kill you."

Ibrahim's Farewell and Du'a for His Father

So Ibrahim said his salam and had to leave. He said salamun alaik — either this is salam al-wida', a farewell salam, or it means: "I'm going to be making du'a for you — peace for you." Sa-astaghfiru laka rabbi — I shall ask forgiveness from my Lord for you. He hasn't died yet — he's still alive, so he can make du'a for his forgiveness. He can make du'a that Allah guides his father to Islam. When they pass away and have died on kufr, we cannot make du'a for them. They can die with any major sin and we can make du'a — but if they died one hundred percent on disbelief, then unfortunately that's just the way Allah wills.

Anyone who has a non-Muslim parent who has passed away — this ayah is powerful. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: Ibrahim alayhis salam used to seek forgiveness for his dad because he was waiting, hoping that maybe he'll accept Islam. Falamma tabayyana lahu — but when it became apparent to Ibrahim that his dad was the enemy of Allah — meaning he died on kufr, he died on disbelief — tabarra'a minhu — he absolved himself from his father. Allah is saying: Ibrahim did make du'a for his father, but when it became apparent that his father died on disbelief, he absolved himself.

Imam al-Qurtubi's Narration on the Day of Judgment

Imam al-Qurtubi mentions this: on the Day of Judgment, Ibrahim alayhis salam will say to Allah: "Ya Allah — O Allah, everyone is here, billions and trillions of people are here, and they look up to me. I'm Ibrahim, known as Khalilullah. People look up to me. Ya Allah, I know that my father died as a non-Muslim and he has to go to hell, and I can't stand up and say anything. But Ya Allah, I requested You in the du'a in the Quran:"

"O Allah, do not embarrass me on the day the people will be raised up. I asked You: do not embarrass me in front of these people — to see my own father being dragged into hell."

So Imam al-Qurtubi mentions that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will take Ibrahim's father Azar and will transform him in the form of an animal, and that animal will be dragged and will be thrown into hell. No one on that plain will know that this animal is actually none other than Azar, who has been transformed — for the emotions of Ibrahim — into the form of an animal, and then thrown into hellfire. So that people don't see it. Allahu Akbar. La ilaha illallah. This is Aghna al-Aghniya', this is al-Samad, this is al-Mutakabbir, this is al-'Aliyy al-Muta'ali. No one can object — even Ibrahim has to stay quiet in front of Allah when his father is being thrown into hellfire. Allah doesn't need anyone. Allah doesn't need anyone. If anyone objects, he himself will become pushed away from the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So here we go — Ibrahim's response: "Yeah, I'm going to make du'a for you as long as I can. And guess what — you're pushing me out of my house. Allah is not like that."

Allah has been ever gracious and ever loving to me. Got it? You're pushing me out of my house — Allah will take care of me. And guess what: if you choose to turn to Allah, Allah will also take care of you. That's a final parting message. And inshallah we'll continue with some of the aspects of this ayah and the rest of the ayah next week, bi-idhnihi ta'ala.

Announcements

Couple of announcements inshallah before we end with the du'a.

This Thursday night is our monthly Khatm al-Quran night after Salat al-Maghrib. We'll have our Thursday night salawat program — 20 minutes reading salawat upon the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam — then a short talk and reminder of how we can start preparing to recite abundant Quran in the month of Ramadan and also preparing with the last two weeks before Ramadan. Then we have our monthly Khatm al-Quran du'a. Every month we do a khatm here alhamdulillah. It started from last Ramadan, and mashallah we made a goal of 1,000 khatms last Ramadan and alhamdulillah we exceeded that — we had about 1,400. This year we're going to make a bigger goal: 2,000. Let's double it up. So this would be the next Khatm al-Quran du'a at the end of Ramadan.

Our goal is to get every single person who's listening, and our family members, to do their own individual khatm and to encourage others. You can go to the website, post on the YouTube link for those of you who are here as well. You're going to make a pledge of how many khatms you're going to do for this month, and then when you fulfill it you mark it as fulfilled. I request you, inshallah tabarak wa ta'ala, to do that for the next month. Let's all work together to get our 2,000. If you're almost done with your khatm, try to read a few more ajza' extra and finish up by Thursday. Thursday night will be the Khatm al-Quran du'a — so participate virtually or on site.

The second program: Saturday, Sunday and Monday are the 13th, 14th and 15th of Sha'ban — the blessed nights and days of Sha'ban. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam would always fast on these three days — the 13th, 14th and 15th of the lunar month. So if you haven't been fasting till now, at the very least make niyyah of fasting Saturday, Sunday and Monday. And in preparation for Ramadan, on Sunday we will have a program here for the 15th night of Sha'ban — which has a lot of virtue for it in various ahadith. We'll have a program from Maghrib to Isha on the importance of seeking forgiveness from Allah and who are the people whom Allah will not forgive even on that night — a very important talk. Please come in great numbers and attend in person or virtually. There's no collective ibadah we're going to be doing; we're just going to speak about the virtues of the night, encourage people to make tawbah, and then make a collective du'a. After that, you have the night to make your own ibadah.

Those are the two main programs that are going to be taking place this week and next week, inshallah. Additionally, inshallah in Darussalam we're going to have full Tarawih — 20 raka'at — as well as shorter 7-day Tarawih, 10-day Tarawih, and maybe even a weekend Tarawih. This is an idea I've had for the past few years — for people who are traveling, who don't have time to come for Tarawih every night, just have a Friday night, Saturday night over 8 days and finish the Quran for those brothers. We'll offer a variety — a buffet of Tarawihs inshallah. We'll also have I'tikaf here — full I'tikaf. Those brothers who are working virtually and can take time off — this is an awesome year to do I'tikaf, to make up for last year. I've found out there are brothers traveling from overseas, from international countries, to come to I'tikaf here, and this is not the first time — alhamdulillah, this has happened many times.

So this year as well, the news has spread and people are coming — first come, first served. If you're planning to do I'tikaf, we'll have the link up soon on our website and you can register. With a show of hands: who's planning to do I'tikaf here? MashaAllah — those are 10 days. What about anyone shorter than 10 days — 5 days, 3 days? Alright, that's also an option. Alhamdulillah, so I'tikaf will be there as well. We'll have a Ramadan program and a bunch of other programs — just keep connected, keep coming, and we'll announce these programs inshallah in this gathering.

Regarding timing: Maghrib is at 7:18. Those who say we should move the tafsir class between Maghrib and Isha — it looks like the majority. And since Isha will be at 9pm from next week, we'll move inshallah to between Maghrib and Isha. AlhamdulillahMiracles will happen — your job shifts will change, everything will happen. Make niyyah and Allah will make it easy for you to be here by Maghrib inshallah. Brothers and sisters listening online — we'll do it after Maghrib inshallah.

Closing Du'a

Ya Allah, we ask You to accept our gathering. Ya Allah, accept the speakers and the listeners. O Allah, we ask You to grant us the ability to practice on whatever was shared. O Allah, grant us the ability to embody the teachings of the Quran. O Allah, make it easy for us to repent from all our major and minor, past and present sins. Ya Allah, close the doors of haram for us and open up the doors of halal for us. O Allah, all those brothers and sisters going through any type of emotional, spiritual, mental, financial, or physical difficulty — Ya Allah, through the barakah of the Quran, grant everyone shifa and grant all of our loved ones shifa. O Allah, allow us to overcome our spiritual, emotional, financial, and mental difficulties. Ya Allah, grant barakah in our sustenance, grant barakah in our rizq. O Allah, those who are suffering in their marriages — O Allah, remove their difficulties. O Allah, those who are suffering in getting married — O Allah, remove their difficulties. O Allah, those who are suffering from not having children, or having children, or in any other shape or form of domestic issues — Ya Allah, remove those difficulties from their lives.

Ya Allah, we ask You to grant all of us the ability to recite Quran abundantly. Allow us to recite Quran abundantly. All of us who have yet to begin reciting — allow us to be motivated through today's discussion to start reciting Quran. O Allah, those who have difficulty in reading Quran — allow every single one of us and our loved ones to connect with a teacher and start learning how to recite Quran from the basic alphabets, makhaarij, tajweed, so that we can become fluent reciters of the Quran. Ya Allah, save us from becoming heedless from learning how to recite the Quran. O Allah, grant all of us such parents, such children and siblings who will raise the voices of Quran in our homes. O Allah, allow our Quran to fill and buzz in our homes. Ya Allah, close the sound of music in our homes and allow the Quran to be recited.

Ya Allah, we ask You to close the doors of haram income and put barakah in our halal income. O Allah, we ask You to grant us the ability to make the best use of the remaining weeks till Ramadan, and allow us all to safely reach Ramadan with 'afiyah, with health, and allow us to welcome Ramadan and make this Ramadan the very best Ramadan we've ever had. Ya Allah, those brothers and sisters who made niyyah of reciting Quran — make it easy for them to do more than that. O Allah, allow us to complete our goal of 2,000 khatms. Ya Allah, allow us to read more Quran than we've ever done in our lives. Ya Allah, allow all the brothers who made niyyah of sunnah i'tikaf to participate — and those who made niyyah of nafl i'tikaf, allow them to participate. Allow our sisters to listen in to the entire i'tikaf program in the last 10 days of Ramadan as well.

Ya Allah, allow the masjid to become populated, allow the madrasa and the community campus to become populated. Ya Allah, allow the Muslims to start coming back and flocking back to the masajid. O Allah, whatever du'a request the brothers and sisters have — those who are listening, those who are here in person — whatever needs they have, You are well aware of the secrets of the heart, You are well aware of the worries. O Allah, we ask You to fulfill all their permissible desires and needs.