Reflect & Connect | Finale of Surah Taghabun - Ep.04 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 12/24

Reflect & Connect | Finale of Surah Taghabun — Episode 04

It's such a normal thing. Meaning, the fact that he is... He's not walking around with his shajarah. But we heard that he is from the family of the Prophet ﷺ. When he walks in, I will stand. I'm going to honor him. I'm not going to sit on top while he's sitting on the floor. This is what happened.

Where are the people who cursed out the Prophet ﷺ? Where are their kids? Where are their grandkids? Where are their palaces?

Whoever attacks the Prophet ﷺ — خَلَاص — you're never going to hear about him again. And about the Prophet ﷺ, we're going to hear all day, all night. Whether you like it or not, the whole world is speaking about Rasulullah ﷺ in every adhan, in every iqama, in every tashahhud.

So this is the beauty of this deen — that we will always have people who will attack it in every era. But we should not become disheartened by that. Maybe even take it as a sign that this is, insha'Allah, في خير — there's some good in it. Because if there was not, then maybe everyone would be supporting it. This is a test. Will I give up? Will I change my ways? Or will I continue to persevere?

Afflictions Come Only by the Permission of Allah

So we said this is — difficulties come for various reasons. That's what we talked about at the beginning of last week. And now here again, this verse is about a similar topic.

Not a single affliction strikes one, but that it is only by the permission of Allah. وَمَن يُؤْمِن بِاللَّهِ يَهْدِ قَلْبَهُ — And whoever believes in Allah, whoever has iman, Allah shall guide his heart. وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ — And Allah alone is all-knowing of things.

In this ayah, Allah Jalla Jalaluhu is mentioning to all of us: understand that an affliction cannot come upon you without the permission of Allah. So do not, in your being upset over the affliction, end up saying something which is disrespectful to Allah. The affliction could not have come without the permission of Allah.

Do you know the famous hadith of Rasulullah ﷺ? He was sitting with Abdullah ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) behind him on his camel. And the Prophet ﷺ was telling him:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 2669; also recorded in Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4699)

Understand that part of the fundamental beliefs of iman is that whatever afflicted you was never meant to miss you, and whatever missed you was never meant to afflict you. This is easier said than done. May Allah give us the yaqeen of this.

So when we are going through suffering — earlier today a brother was opening up, talking about how he was scammed, lost so much money. Alhamdulillah, he was saying — the fact that it's been a year or so, the enormous amount he lost — he says, "Now, sitting in front of you, what has this taught me? I see the benefit. This truly teaches me that only Allah got me through this year. I've never been in a more tight and difficult financial condition in my life than this. I thought I wouldn't survive, I thought I would be finished, I thought I would be on the street. But here I am sitting in front of you. How did I survive this? This has taught me conviction that Allah is the only provider — with and without money."

Abundance of money, you're relaxed. But when Allah takes it away like that, He's teaching you a lesson. That Allah Azza wa Jal — you're living because of Allah, not because of your investments, not because of your big paycheck. And sometimes we don't know that. So we have to lose our crutches to learn that we can walk on our own. Meaning, we have to lose our money to realize that money is not what makes us move — it's Allah who does.

The Value of Sujood

Now, this is a proper response to a difficulty that comes upon you: understand that this has come from Allah. We love Allah. Hence anything and everything that comes from Allah, we will also love it. So everything that is coming is coming through the qada and the qadar of Allah Azza wa Jal.

One person got into an accident. He said, "I benefited so much from my accident." SubhanAllah, what a perspective. I said, "How did you benefit?" He said, "I injured my knees, and because of that I had to perform salah on a chair." He said, "Until then — like myself and most of us here — do we understand the value of a sajda? We just prayed Isha. The value of putting your forehead on the ground. We're just so accustomed to it. What does it mean to put your forehead on the floor? We don't know the sweetness of it." But he said, "Now, the fact that I had to pray salah on a chair, I yearned and cried in my heart every day — Ya Allah, when is that chance going to come that I can put my head on the ground?" He said, "The accident was a blessing. It made me appreciate sujood."

And what is sujood?

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 482)

The closest a person is to Allah is when he is in a state of prostration.

Sometimes we have to lose to gain. And without losing that, we will not appreciate the blessings that we have. So being pleased with Allah's qadr and qada is super important.

Du'as for Times of Difficulty

Oh Allah, make us content with whatever You have provided us.

Oh Allah, reward me in this difficulty that I'm going through, and Oh Allah, replace everything that I'm missing with something better. Whatever I missed out — why are you going through difficulty? You lost money. You lost health. You lost a family member. Something is going wrong. Oh Allah, give me reward and strength in this difficulty I'm going through. And Oh Allah, replace whatever I lost with something greater.

These are beautiful prophetic du'as that you can find in books like Hizb al-A'zam and Munajat-e-Maqbool and things of that sort, which we ask Allah to give us the tawfiq to read on a regular basis. So you have all your bases covered when you're reading through this.

Guiding the Heart — يَهْدِ قَلْبَهُ

And then Allah says, whoever believes in Allah, يَهْدِ قَلْبَهُ — Allah will guide his heart. Meaning Allah will guide his heart to submit to His will. When you learn how to submit to Allah's will, then it's all in the perspective. SubhanAllah.

These concepts that we're speaking about here, we should learn them so well that when someone speaks to you from your family or friends — very depressed and very down — you have the tools to help them. Why are usually people super sad nowadays? Because they have an issue, but the issue is not the end of the world. They have made it into the end of the world. And you have to simply talk them through it. All of us should learn how to do this. Because they're walking around droopy-faced, super sad, depressed, locked in their room — and if you ask them what happened: "Oh, because I didn't marry this one," "because she married someone else," "because I'm going through a divorce," "because I didn't get my favourite college entrance," "I lost my job," "because I got this physical difficulty." The list goes on. It requires a perspective change. All of us should be able to learn these basic concepts to such a degree that we can properly change someone's framework. So that when they listen to us, subhanAllah, they're transformed. Honestly, try it. Learn it. To see someone crying, so sad — and then 15 minutes later: "You know what? I'm going to go for a jog right now. I feel fresh, excited." Because what happened? You just changed the perspective from pessimistic to optimistic. You've allowed them to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's there, they just don't see it.

Why did Allah say يَهْدِ قَلْبَهُ and not يَهْدِ everything else? Because the qalb is the main place. If the qalb — the heart — is in the right place, then everything else will fall into the right place. No matter what the situation may be, as long as your heart is connected to Allah, there is no difficulty that you and I cannot handle. We will not ask Allah for difficulty. But understand: if Allah gave it to us, we can handle it. Allah will not put upon us that which we cannot handle. But in order to handle that situation, the heart has to be in the right place.

Always focus on this. You and I may not be able to help someone out of a $100,000 debt. You and I may not be able to help someone who is struggling through some serious medical difficulty. But what we can do — before you leave the hospital, before you leave his home, before you depart from one another — speak to him or her to say something that will help get their heart in the right place. And if you can assist in bringing the heart in the right place, you have done something which giving them $100,000 would not have helped. Because once you give $100,000, is that the end of problems? Then you say, "Okay, I just paid off my debt, but now what do I do? How do I pay the rent? How do I pay this?" It never finishes. Paying the money is not the end of the world. The issue is: how am I supposed to deal with my situation at hand? That guidance has to come in the heart.

Oh Allah, guide us to the best route in our affairs — and protect us from the evil of our own nafs. Because the nafs comes and ruins it and makes us make wrong decisions. So asking Allah every day, multiple times a day — before you make any move, you're on a phone call, someone says, "Can you do this? Do you commit to this? Are you okay with this?" — you can mute the phone for a second and read this du'a. Ask Allah: Ya Allah, before I commit to this, what should I do? Ask Allah to guide you in that field.

So whoever believes in Allah Azza wa Jal, يَهْدِ قَلْبَهُ — Allah will guide his heart to be content. وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ — And Allah is all-knowing of things. Meaning, what your intentions are, and how are you handling the situation — all of those things, Allah is well aware of.

Obey Allah and Obey the Messenger

Thus you shall obey Allah Azza wa Jal, and you shall obey the Messenger. Yet if you turn away, then know that indeed what is incumbent upon our Messenger is only the clear conveyance. Allah Azza wa Jal is saying now: following the sharia — what is the sharia? Follow Allah, follow the Prophet ﷺ. The Qur'an says follow the Prophet ﷺ. That is why following the sunnah is part of the Qur'an. When we say — some people nowadays, Allah forbid, may say — why do we emphasize following the sunnah? Why do we emphasize following hadith? Now you understand from that. This is the Qur'an itself. Allah Jalla Jalaluhu Himself is saying: obey the Prophet ﷺ.

فَإِن تَوَلَّيْتُمْ — But if you choose to not listen to this command, if you choose to turn your back against Allah, if you choose to continue to do that which Allah has prohibited, then we're not going to blame the Prophets. فَإِنَّمَا عَلَىٰ رَسُولِنَا الْبَلَاغُ الْمُبِينُ — What is incumbent upon our Messenger is only the clear conveyance of this message.

This, my brothers, is pretty scary thinking about it. Many times people are trying to find a scapegoat for why they are in certain situations. Someone wants to blame their dad. Someone wants to blame their mom. Someone wants to blame their masjid. Someone wants to blame their Islamic school. Someone wants to blame their maqtab. Someone wants to blame their Sunday school. Someone wants to blame the environment. And this is not going to work in the akhirah. We cannot play the blame game. You're just finding a scapegoat and absolving yourself of the actual problem — saying, "I'm not going to take responsibility that I messed up."

Allah Himself is saying: the Prophets have been sent to guide you, but if you choose not to listen, our Prophets are not responsible for that. You can't blame them. The deen has now spread all across the globe. We know there are masajid. We know what is halal. We know what is haram. We know what the obligations are, my beloved friends. We cannot blame anyone besides ourselves if we are not learning the deen. We cannot blame anyone besides ourselves if we are not connected to the house of Allah. This is not how things are going to roll out in the akhirah.

Masajid — what should they do? What is left now, besides sending people to people's homes and grabbing them? How many announcements are made for everything? In every masjid you go to, the newsletter comes out at the beginning of the month, email comes out every week, WhatsApp messages, text messages, announcements by the imam. Everything is done. What else can a masjid do? If we do not respond to that, we cannot blame any masjid or blame anyone. We have to realize that our own priorities are pushing us elsewhere, away from the house of Allah Azza wa Jal.

My beloved brothers and sisters, all of us who have kids — usually having children becomes a very big motivation to change. Even after having children, young children or adult children, if we are not leading by example, then I don't know what will motivate us to bring change within ourselves. Usually dads will say, or moms will say, "Our children are watching us. We have to do what we don't want to do, but we know we need to do." Because otherwise, we will be teaching something wrong to our children.

All of us need to understand that the prophets have gone — there is no more prophet to come. What is right and what is wrong is in front of us. The impetus we have to take — we have to make the decision to say, insha'Allah, I am going to make every effort to connect myself and my children to the house of Allah. I am going to perform my daily salah in the masjid. I am going to attend some halaqah. I am going to work on my recitation of the Qur'an, my tajweed. These are decisions that once you and I take, life will change.

I think many times we are waiting for people to come get us. And we need to now be self-disciplined to say that I am working for my own akhira. If someone comes and gives me a nudge, alhamdulillah — but I cannot be banking on that. No one nudges you to go to work. No one nudges you to go to school. We know what we have to do. Because apparently our rizq is connected to that, apparently our dunya is connected to that — so there is motivation. But since we don't see the qabr, we don't see the akhira, we don't know about how the first night of the grave will be — that is why we need a nudge. But we cannot say, "If no one has nudged me, then I am not going to work."

So the prophets are gone. Allah is not going to hold them responsible. We have to hold ourselves responsible for our actions.

Tawakkul — Reliance Upon Allah Alone

Then Allah Azza wa Jal says: Allah! There is no God besides Him. That was the fundamental message of the prophets. That Allah is the sole provider for your needs — hence do not anger Him in order to please someone else. Do not upset Him in order to please someone else. Do not break His sharia to make extra money or to get ahead in life. Because you and I will never be able to get ahead in life while upsetting Allah Jalla Jalaluhu.

وَعَلَى اللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ — And only upon Allah alone should the believers rely. Notice here, Allah said عَلَى اللَّهِ first. So not even for a moment should a thought cross your mind that there is someone else you can depend on. Allah is telling us: there is no one you should depend on besides Me. That's why He says, only upon Allah should the believers have any sort of reliance.

And so when it comes to our issues of business, issues of family — all of these issues — we have to turn our attention to Allah. We just completed an outstanding, amazing winter intensive that was so beneficial, alhamdulillah, for all those who attended and listened. We benefited, we learned from each other. It was an amazing experience. Alhamdulillah, may Allah accept everyone's efforts. With all the learning and the teaching that goes on, the one theme that keeps on being emphasized is: you and I, when difficulties come in our home, we have to have reliance upon Allah. Don't rely upon anyone besides Him. Utilize all the means at your disposal to bring change within the home — but the turner of hearts, the one who will remove jealousy, hatred, anger, frustration, distance from one another — all of this is only known to Allah.

So imagine that household where every member says: "I am going to now stop talking to you about issues that make us upset, and I'm going to start talking to Allah." Husband and wife, siblings, parents, children — everyone dedicates four raka'ats, two raka'ats after Isha, after Dhuhr, whenever — Salatul Hajah — and now pours their heart out to Allah: "Ya Allah, I cannot handle this. I have no solutions to these never-ending problems in my home. Ya Allah, I put my reliance upon You, and I ask You to remove this difficulty and guide us to a proper solution."

That tawakkul — family issues will teach us tawakkul. If a person going through all these issues is still running around everywhere besides the musalla, then we're wasting our time. This is everyone's advice: bring your issues, before you bring them to the therapist and to the imam, number one — present your issues to Allah Azza wa Jal. "Ya Allah, solve this problem. And then Ya Allah, guide us to someone who can assist us in overcoming these issues." Alhamdulillah, we will never be let down.

Your Spouses and Children — A Warning and a Reminder

O believers, indeed amongst your spouses and amongst your children are those who are enemies to you — so beware of them. Yet if you pardon, and excuse, and forgive, then let it be known that indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-mercy-giving.

In this ayah, Allah gave us a powerful principle: our reliance has to be only on Allah, and the friendship with Allah triumphs every friendship that we have. And in the process of that, anyone who tries to come and get between you and Allah — understand that that's your enemy — even though he might be your business partner, your golfing partner, your Saturday night burger partner. And it might of course be your own husband, your own wife, your own beautiful grandchildren, or children. If they come between you and Allah, understand that they might be your enemy.

Like if someone were to say, "Your mother loves you more than anyone else," and then tries to make you hate your mother — that person is your enemy. Similarly, but to a much greater degree, anyone who comes between myself and my Allah cannot be my friend — even if it is my spouse, my kids, my grandkids, my siblings, whoever. Whoever comes between me and Allah, understand that this person is an adoo — an enemy.

What should you do with an enemy? You go stab him? No, no, no. فَاحْذَرُوهُمْ — just be wary around them, be careful. They're right in your home. What can you do if you can't expose them? Just be wary of them. Do not expose them. Do not attack them. But when they say things, you need to be logical and ask: is this really in my best interest? Just because someone who is next to you at home says you need to do something, do not necessarily listen to that. That's what we're learning from here. What an important point in our day and age.

Our own children and our own spouses many times — and including ourselves — we get affected by what we watch, what we hear, what we listen to, the type of people we're hanging out with. That influence comes into them, and from them it comes on to us. Someone may say, "You look really great" — and all of a sudden a spouse may say, "You look very good except for your beard. It makes you look like this and like that. I don't like that. Shave it off." So now a person says, "Okay, this person is saying it, maybe they don't like it. But how am I going to face my Nabi ﷺ and say I took off my facial hair to please my spouse?" Similarly, if a husband tells a wife, "You're so great, you're so beautiful — but this scarf ruins it all, this hijab ruins it all, this jilbab ruins it all. I want you to remove it." So now how is she going to face Allah ﷻ and say, "Yeah, just to please my husband I did it." SubhanAllah. There are hundreds of examples of such cases. When our spouse and our children may end up saying something to us that, if we were to listen to them, our akhirah will be destroyed, our dunya will be destroyed.

So we have to know how to navigate this properly — while not breaking down the house — but saying that there is a limit to how much I can take. And there's a limit to what things I can do and what things I cannot do.

My beloved friends, many times we use them as a scapegoat. We say, "My wife is like this, my kids are like that." This is a tough talk for men, for me, number one, and for all of us. Many times men will say, "My wife doesn't want to do it," or "I don't have support from her for following the deen." She is an adult — you cannot force her to do anything. You can't force anyone. You can't even force your kids to do things. But we have to live by example. If we at least start doing what we're supposed to do properly, and we start turning to Allah in dhikr and du'a and start creating a healthy, halal, good environment at home — it might take two years, it might take two months, it might take longer. But more than likely, if we do what we're supposed to do, change will happen within the home. But if we sit with them and watch three hours of some drama, how is change going to happen? And then we come and say, "Man, my environment at home is not good. Everyone just watches movies and dramas." As men, we have to take —

We have to be the imam, and then we have to make an effort that everyone in the family becomes a muttaqi. So if you're the imam of the muttaqeen, does your taqwa have to be less or more? It has to be more. We have to be the leader in taqwa. So the ball is in our court as men — we have to prepare ourselves. Those who are not married have to spiritually prepare themselves. If a person can barely keep himself away from haram, or barely watch his tongue, watch his eyes, how can he be imam of the muttaqeen?

I'm not saying delay your marriage for another ten years. I'm saying we need to say: while we're preparing for marriage — insha'Allah the date is set for six months from now — in that meantime, I need to start reading one juz a day of Quran. Performing two salah — Fajr and Isha — in the masjid. Spending five minutes after Fajr doing dhikr. I'm going to start taking an online class on fiqh in between work or school. I'm going to build myself up, so that in six months when I get married, I can become the imam of the muttaqeen. Because there's nothing more powerful than action. Guiding people through action. Speech is much less — actions are powerful.

If we as a community — husbands sitting here, soon-to-be, future husbands sitting here — if we say that insha'Allah we're going to work on our own ruhaniyyat, our own relationship with Allah Azza wa Jal, and our leadership skills, then insha'Allah things at home will change.

Yes, you have the example of Nuh (peace be upon him). Yes, you have the example of Lut (peace be upon him). With everything they did, still their children did not accept their message, still their wives did not accept their message. There's a reason why those stories are in the Qur'an — to teach us that at the end of the day, guidance is not in your hand. Guidance is in the hands of Allah Azza wa Jal. You can try. That's what we have to do. Allah will not punish us if we tried everything and yet they decided not to move forward.

So this is the idea — just a reminder for myself and everyone — because many times we are explaining that our whole environment is not good, it's not supportive, and we use that as an easy escape for why we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing. If you don't have support from your wife or your kids, look at this group of people. Why are a hundred-plus people sitting here on a Tuesday night? Because you have talab, you have desire. This is your group. Get to know people here. There are many regulars here. Come, talk to people besides your brother or your friend. Get to know people from your own neighborhood. Build connections.

You need a spiritual buddy. Find that spiritual buddy here. Find someone who, like you go for the gym — you're not going with your wife to the gym having her spot you as you're weight lifting. That doesn't happen. You have a separate person who you take to the gym. Similarly, when it comes to the deeni affairs, if we do not have support from home, we have to have our brothers who we can go to for Fajr club, Isha club — whatever. That's the type of friendship and brotherhood we have to create.

And on the flip side — women. They may say, "I have no support from my husband." For them also, the same thing. Number one: do your own part. It was a remarkable incident I encountered — children who had left Islam, in their 20s and 30s, who had become outright — I spoke to them for many hours — most blasphemous things I had to hear for three hours, from people who were born in Muslim homes with Muslim names, but just filled with vengeance against the deen. May Allah guide them and guide all those who are going through these problems.

And one of the things they mentioned was: "You know the only reason we are talking to you is because of our mom." I said, "Why?" "Because we see our mom waking up for tahajjud early in the morning, and we see her after every salah on the prayer mat, and we see how much she cries." SubhanAllah — that's the power of du'a. Someone so filled with rage against Allah... but hats off to that lady who had zero support — antagonism is the light word for what she had in her home — but that did not stop her from not only praying her five salah, but tahajjud also and crying. And then subhanAllah, what she told me was: "When the kids were young, I was not on deen. And had I been on deen when they were young, they probably would not have come out like this. And now when they are much older, and I'm much older too, Allah guided me to the deen — but I feel like it's very late."

So for those mothers and fathers, husbands and wives who do not have support — understand that. Find that support within your own selves, with maybe one other person. And keep in touch with each other. Navigate through life by connecting with Allah, but you need a spiritual buddy — sometimes your own spouse is not that. So find one sister, one brother. You have the female halaqat, the ta'leem circles. Don't give up. Because sometimes the enemy is within. But insha'Allah, if we practice the deen, preach less, and act more, then this will, if Allah wills, change the hearts of the people within the home eventually.

Pardon, Excuse, and Forgive

Now — these people may be an enemy, fine. But what should we do? Should we destroy them? No. وَإِن تَعْفُوا — if you pardon, excuse and forgive them, Allah will be forgiving to you.

One of the stories mentioned here is that there was a group of men who accepted Islam in Mecca and wanted to migrate to Medina. But their spouses and their children did not allow them to do so. When they eventually came to Medina, they saw that people had learned the deen — and where were they? So they thought, "Now we need to punish our spouses and our children for depriving us from hijrah." And some have said this is one of the backgrounds of this verse.

Sometimes our spouses and children simply don't understand. They don't have guidance. Guidance comes from Allah. Allah can pull away this guidance from you and I just like that. So let's not hate that spouse or hate those children who are not supportive in our deen and who are unfortunately far away from it. Hating them doesn't help. Lest Allah says, "You're acting arrogant — how about I take away the deen from you as well?" Then what are we going to do? We see that happening all around us. People who were in the deen last year are not in the deen now.

So, do not express anger at them. Instead, take that anger, turn it into du'a and sadness, and present it to Allah Azza wa Jal. Say, "Allah, please just give hidayah, just give hidayah." That du'a of a husband for his wife, or a wife for her husband — that's going to be very powerful. Ask ourselves: how many of those men who don't have supportive wives are spending half an hour, twenty minutes every day in du'a for their wives?

We have to stop and say, "I have to pray." We're travelling, it's a restaurant, wherever it may be — it's time for salah, I'm going to go pray in the parking lot. You all can sit, no problem. I'm not going to force anyone. But we cannot cave in to those around us, no matter who they are. That's the point. This requires strength. If we remain firm on our deen regardless of how challenging things may be at home, insha'Allah Allah will guide them.

These three words: تَعْفُو وَتَصْفَحُوا وَتَغْفِرُوا.

العَفْوُ means you do not respond to the harshness with something similar — عدم المقابلة بالمثل. الصَّفْح means to not engage in blaming, lamenting, getting angry and reprimanding someone — you just turn away. And المَغْفِرَة is سَتْرُ الذُّنُوبِ — to cover up the sin and not to expose the one who has done it. SubhanAllah.

So three things have been told to us: even with those who are pushing you away from your deen, you stay strong and be wary — but when dealing with them, forgive them, do not blame them, and do not expose them. Cover up their flaws and faults. SubhanAllah. Why should you do that? Because you and I are filled with flaws as well. We're all sinning — just in different ways. We only look at the sin of another person because it looks different from ours. And who knows which sin is bigger? Allah knows. We're not the ones to judge.

فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ — If you want Allah's forgiveness, then also learn how to forgive other people.

Wealth and Children as a Fitna

Moreover, know that indeed your wealth and your children are a cause of temptation for you. Yet Allah has with Him a magnificent reward.

Wealth and children. The previous ayah talked about spouses and children. Then you have now wealth and children. So three things basically — your contemporary, your equals, your spouse; your subordinates, your children; and then wealth. All three of them can be an enemy, and most definitely they are a fitna — a trial. So we love our children, we love our wealth, we love our women — but they're all a fitna. What does that mean? It's a cause of temptation — that in the face of money, in the face of children, in the face of our women, we end up making major compromises on our deen. We end up giving up our principles because we are afraid of losing our children, our wealth, or our wives. These are temptations because of our excessive love for these things.

So the love needs to be there, but it should not be misplaced. The love has to be under the garb of sharia. Every love has to have ikhlas in it. What does it mean to have ikhlas in the love? That you're loving them for the sake of Allah. How could you love someone for the sake of Allah and listen to everything they say, if they are making you turn against Allah? It doesn't make sense. You're going to love them for the sake of Allah, by fulfilling their rights, and say: "I'm going to love you in 99% of things. But in that one thing that you ask me to turn against Allah, I cannot obey you." That's ikhlas in that relationship.

Would you like a glass of water? Sure. I'll get you some tea. I'll take care of your needs. You need some money, you need a ride — I'll do everything. But when it comes to disobeying Allah, I'm sorry, I cannot cross that line. That's ikhlas. But that balance is very hard. Because we usually just throw the baby out with the bathwater. We say, "Oh, this one issue with you — it's a deen issue — and I'm done."

The Mufti of Darul Haqq, daamat barakatuh, would say: "Ba'z logon ko kilabi taqwa hota hai" — some people have the taqwa of a dog. The dog is the most najis thing. If he puts his mouth into a bowl of water, it's najis. But then when he urinates, he lifts his leg — like he has a lot of hygiene and cleanliness. So he would call this "kilabi taqwa" — that some people make major mistakes, but then there's one point they make a big deal out of. And on that one point, they fire everyone. People choose one aspect of the deen and they label everyone based on that. "No, this guy is fasiq. That one is fajir." Why? While what about the ten million things that you and I are involved in? How about we just focus on ourselves?

So sometimes this happens between husband and wife. A person says, "This is a waham of piety" — a delusion that I'm pious and now my wife is very unpious, so I want to separate from her because she is not religious enough. This is real and it happens a lot. "After five years, I realized my spouse is not as religious — so I want to part ways." Brother, nor were you. Why did you end up marrying this person? If you were religious, you wouldn't have. So now you're married — mashallah you've changed. You cannot just put a return label and send them back.

Imagine a prophet who lived with a non-Muslim spouse. That was wrong. And she didn't accept her husband as a prophet. But that did not affect the prophet's prophethood. You also have the example of Asiya (peace be upon her). How could you have a more terrible husband than Fir'awn? But subhanAllah, she stayed till the end, and she is honourably mentioned. So it's about that willpower that we have. It's not to say, "I need to divorce because she doesn't wake me up for tahajjud." People say, "All of a sudden, no, she's not pious enough." That's a separate issue. You should have thought about that ten years ago. Right now, your piety is learning how to make sabr in this situation. Unless there is some horrible situation — case by case, that's separate — but generally speaking, we should not make this the reason to separate. Insha'Allah, by spending time properly and leading by action, Allah Azza wa Jal will hopefully guide them.

So Allah Azza wa Jal says our wealth and our children are a fitna — a temptation — and we end up making major mistakes because of these two things. The Qur'an says:

Indeed the human being loves wealth intensely. And that love of money causes so many problems.

Wealth is such that most people do not know how to handle it. It's a very dangerous thing. You have to handle it with care. The abundance of it can be a massive source of khair. But the number of people who utilise money for khair without getting affected by it are very, very few. That is why we are taught this du'a:

Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from that amount of wealth and richness that will make me disobedient, that will make me stand up against You. And Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from that level of poverty which will make me forget You. So poverty is not good. Too much abundance of wealth may also not be good. We need the right amount. Who knows what the right amount is? Allah. You and I don't know how much we can handle.

When is that amount — that threshold — after which if you get one more promotion, you're not going to be seen in the masjid? One more promotion and you'll be so busy that you won't be with the kids. One more promotion and now your sadaqah drops because you're so focused and say, "All my resources need to go into this business. I need to stop giving sadaqah." This happens a lot. People say, "I want to make my business huge so that I can build hundreds of masajid and take care of thousands of orphans. So in order to do that, I need to stop my monthly sadaqahs and put it all into this." That person doesn't realize it, but you and I realize sitting here — that now this person is entering a threshold where this is harmful for them. The good they were doing, they stopped. With this idea that eventually in five years this business will take off, then I will give lots of sadaqah. Brother, who has seen five days? We have no idea whether we're going to live for the next five days.

So what is the exact amount that is acceptable? I don't know that. Allah knows. And that's why we have to ask Allah. Do not ask Allah for an abundance of wealth. Instead, what should we make du'a for? Oh Allah, put barakah in our wealth. Because if our wealth is mubarak, it can take care of everything. You want to be able to feed your family, take care of them. That happens not with the abundance of wealth but with barakah in it.

What is the definition of barakah that our Ustad Mufti Raza ul Haq (daamat barakatuh) says? He says: بِكَثْرَةِ الْمَنَافِعِ مَعَ قِلَّةِ الْأَسْبَابِ — the abundance of benefit while the means are less. Allahu Akbar! So barakah means there is less, but that less means more. We have to ask Allah for barakah in our wealth. Ya Allah, I have a hundred thousand income — allow me to take care of three hundred thousand worth of things. Not that I have three hundred thousand without barakah and Allah allows me to take care of only a hundred thousand of things — because this car accident, this thing leaking, that hospital bill, this lawyer bill — before you know it, nothing is left.

And not just abundance of children — barakah in our children. Nabi ﷺ did say that he will be proud of the abundance of his ummah, yes, that's there. But when it comes to, "I want a son only, I want a girl only" — instead we say: Ya Allah, whatever You provide for me, Ya Allah, put barakah in that child, so that that child becomes a means of khair and goodness for his parents, his grandparents, and the ummah in general.

And indeed Allah Azza wa Jal — with Him is a magnificent reward. Meaning, when you are going to be patient in front of this fitna, Allah Azza wa Jal will reward you handsomely for this effort.

Nabi ﷺ said in a hadith narrated by Ubadah ibn al-Samit (may Allah be pleased with him):

(Shu'ab al-Iman, al-Bayhaqi; related narrations in Musnad Ahmad)

Your enemy is not the one that if you kill him it would be victory for you, and if he kills you, you will enter paradise. That's not your real enemy. Rather, your enemy very well may be your child who came from your backbone. And then your greatest enemy for you is your wealth that is in your hands. SubhanAllah. Because sin happens with money. If we don't have money, where are we going to sin? And committing sin and having to bear the repercussions in Jahannam is by far much worse than being killed in a battlefield — in which case you go to Jannah.

So, our tarbiyah of our children — and young men and women sitting here — always remember that when you want to say, "I want to be successful in fifteen years, in ten years" — your definition of success has to be in line with the sharia. Definition of success does not mean seven figures only. Definition of success should be: if I pass away today, I know Allah will be insha'Allah pleased with me, and Jannah is waiting for me. And that the wealth and everything I had, I spent it in the proper manner. When we as parents, or as young men and women working towards our career paths, if our goal of success is purely materialistic, then we will unfortunately suffer greatly, both in this world and possibly in the hereafter, if Allah doesn't forgive us.

Fear Allah and Spend in His Cause

So fear Allah as much as you can, O believers. And obey His commands. And spend charitably on what is good — and what is good for your own souls. Whoever has been protected and safeguarded from the avarice of his own soul, from his deep greed — then it is these who are truly successful.

Allah Jalla Jalaluhu is saying: O believers, put your full effort to the best you can in following the orders of Allah and staying away from His prohibited things. And from amongst that taqwa is to fulfill the rights of your spouse and the rights of your children — on the condition that they do not make you heedless of the obligations towards Allah. So we are going to spend time with our family. But when Isha time comes, we have to go to the masjid. This is not the time to play with the baby. Similarly, when it comes time to recite our Quran — this is not the time to be taking care of the family. This fifteen minutes, this twenty minutes I have to recite Quran daily — nothing should come in between me and that. That's the balancing act we all need to learn how to do.

One of the hardest things for all of humanity — because wealth is a fitna — is to be able to give away wealth. The Qur'an says it's a fitna. We just covered it. So to be able to be open-handed and to give away in Allah's causes wherever you get a chance — and not wanting to hoard that money — is a great, great gift of Allah. This is a tawfiq. If we had wealthy people who could spend it in a proper manner, the world would be a whole different place. So this is why every morning and evening, one of the du'as that we all should be reading is:

Oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from grief and sorrow, from weakness and laziness, and from cowardice and stinginess. That's a du'a for morning and evening — asking and begging Allah to not make us stingy. Because most people who have money, unfortunately fall in love with it and they cannot part with it. Not realizing: I need this money as sadaqah on the Day of Judgment more than this man needs it right now. That is the understanding we need to beg Allah for.

Then Allah declares it: if Allah protects you from your own avarice, from your own unsatiable desire — then you are successful. So who is a successful person? Not the one making a lot of money. We have to change our vocabulary, because that's what is going to our heart and our mind. Our vocabulary is a reflection of what we believe. The successful person, right here in this ayah, is the one who is not greedy, who is not bound by his love for his wealth, who gives it away freely. He may have a lot or he may have less. But the money doesn't own him — he owns the money. That's successful.

But if the money owns us, we are a slave to it. That's why Nabi ﷺ said:

Destroyed is the slave of the gold coin. Destroyed is the slave of the silver coin. He called it slavery. عَبْدُ الدِّينَارِ، عَبْدُ الدِّرْهَمِ — he is not a free man. He is greedy over his wealth. And that wealth will make him do the unthinkable — leave his spouse, his children. A big cause for divorce is also because of money, because of money issues, financial problems, disagreement in financial expenditure.

Lending to Allah — The Best Investment

فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ — The one who has been protected from this avarice, Allah Azza wa Jal says, he is successful.

If you lend Allah a goodly loan — Allah calls it a loan. When you give a loan, what happens? You get it back. So Allah says: why are you so scared of giving in My name? I'm not going to take it. I'm asking for a loan. Of course Allah does not need a loan. He is only calling it a loan so that you understand that He is going to give it back to you. يُضَاعِفْهُ لَكُمْ — He will multiply it for you in its rewards. And He will forgive you.

Next time you hand someone money, write a check to an organisation, tap your card to give for a cause — remind yourself that this money is going right back to Allah, and Allah is going to bring it back to you. It's a mindset shift. I'm helping no one besides myself when I give. Giving sadaqah changes me, helps me. In this world there are so many benefits, and in the akhirah of course there are so many benefits.

Interesting — when it comes to giving money, many times people can't give. But as soon as you say "investment opportunity," money comes from under the bed, above the bed, in between the bed. All of a sudden you have a million, five hundred thousand, two hundred thousand. "Whoa, I thought you had no money. Where did this come from?" Because I heard something. I heard that I'm going to get something back. But when it comes to giving for Allah — Allah is saying: give it to Me and I'm going to multiply it.

وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ — Allah will increase multiple times for whoever He wishes. Give for Allah, and Allah Azza wa Jal will return it right back to you, hundreds of times more, based on your sincerity and based on how needy you were when you gave it. That's why the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1419; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1032)

The best sadaqah is that you give it when you are most in need — when you are healthy, when you desire wealth, when you are afraid of poverty — and then you give. This is far better than giving at the time of death, when that money no longer even belongs to you; it belongs to your heirs. The real sadaqah is to give when a person is desirous of money and is scared of poverty. That shows you have trust in Allah. And then Allah will give it back to us manifold on the Day of Judgment.

And what else do you get when you give for Allah? Forgiveness. Sadaqah gets our sins forgiven. When we commit a sin, give sadaqah. Give charity. That is one of the powerful means of tawbah. In Surah al-Baqarah, Allah says:

Shaytan promises you poverty and pushes you to spend your money in haram. On the other hand, Allah promises you: if you give sadaqah, He will forgive you. And Allah promises you that He will give you fadl — grace, increase — both in this world and the next. Yes, you heard it right. Sadaqah will give you returns in this world and the next.

I was speaking to someone earlier this week about the wealth found now in the younger generation. The older generation took fifty years to acquire that wealth. They went through so much hardship. And so that made them not only value wealth but also know what it means to be poor, what it means to go through difficulty, what it means to be praying in a basement after much hardship, everyone pulling their pennies and dollar bills together. They know what it means to have means because they've been without means. But this generation that is already born into money is now, subhanAllah, flooded at the age of twenty with hundreds of thousands — from Bitcoin to investments, to stocks, to online business, to IT. So much money to be made. And it's very scary, because money corrupts when you don't have deen.

If a person cannot even make it up for the fardh salah at the masjid, what is the level of deen he has? Now you take that and you add in, for a twenty-year-old, five hundred thousand or six hundred thousand. What are you going to do with that? It's scary, what is going to happen to the next generation. Because the amount of money that is coming — the youth are willing to put down enormous amounts for coffee, for snacks, for restaurants, for hotels. That older generation would think ten times before spending two dollars for tea. This one doesn't even think — nine dollars for a cup of coffee, no problem.

Because when this wealth comes without taqwa and without tarbiyah — the corruption will be immense. I remember my father, one day about twenty-five or thirty years ago, we read an article in Time magazine about how much money was being spent in a vacation — ten million dollars a day. And I remember my father said: "You know, it's easy for you to talk about it, but you don't have that type of money. Had you had that type of money, what makes you think you wouldn't be doing the same thing?" And that is so true. That money corrupts. We don't know what it feels like to have a seemingly unlimited amount of money.

So we have to as a community make lots of effort — yes, on creating wealth and wealthy people, that's great. But more importantly, the teaching of deen to this new generation. And I ask all of you: if you are within that circle of young men and women who are making a lot of money and you are sitting here listening to me, connect your young friends to the masjid, connect them to ulama, connect them to circles of knowledge. Otherwise, that wealth in ten years, in the hands of people who have no deen, is going to bring so much corruption to our community.

Yesterday I shared an article about churches being sold at such huge numbers — some church denominations having lost ninety to ninety-five churches in one year. Membership dwindled, they were not financially able to take care of the buildings. And the church leader, as he was selling it, was crying and making du'a — writing in the contract: "Please, you cannot use this church for anything that goes against God." And then the clip shows a church that has been fully converted into a nightclub. SubhanAllah. It felt like I was listening to my own bayan about what's going to happen in the Muslim community — but it was ABC News reporting on the churches. How is that not our trajectory? We are building institutions, but the next generation that's supposed to come and pray — we're not building them. We're not building people. The masajid will remain empty.

One of my students sent me a picture of his masjid for Dhuhr on a Saturday afternoon. He was the only one there. One person, praying Dhuhr. Big masjid. Where is the ummah? That same masjid, when I gave the Jummah, there was no place to stand. Completely packed. But where are the younger people for the daily prayers? This group of brothers sitting here — you give me hope, alhamdulillah. But we have to now convert this. You have to work on your own friend circle. You have this winter break — please work on your friends. The biggest effort you can make is start an Isha club. Just start praying Isha in the masjid. One salah a day. Play basketball before Isha, eat before Isha, whatever you need to do — but go to a masjid and pray Isha. I want all of you to please make this effort. Because otherwise, Allah forbid, what makes us think that our big beautiful masajid will not be sold in the next fifty to one hundred years to something else?

Unless we wake up and do something. And the base thing is that we have to work on the hearts of our own generation, my generation, your generation, and the younger generation. Make them accustomed to coming to the house of Allah. May Allah Azza wa Jal make this gathering of ours a means of revival of iman within the hearts of one and all, especially the youth. Ameen.

Allah's Beautiful Attributes — The Final Verse of Surah Taghabun

Allah Azza wa Jal — who is going to forgive us when we give wealth, who is going to increase our wealth when we give — has four attributes mentioned here. شَكُورٌ — He is thankful. حَلِيمٌ — Forbearing. عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ — He knows the realm of everything, of the unseen and the seen. And lastly, الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ — He is the Overpowering, the All-Wise.

Meaning: when a person gives wealth, understand that you're not giving to some random faqi or some scammer who is not going to be able to help you. The faqi will make du'a for you, fine. But Allah is the wealthiest, the richest, the most powerful. When you give to Him, He has got you. He is going to take care of all your needs.

شَكُورٌ — He appreciates. The thought counts. Someone shared a story of a sister — her father had advanced stage cancer, and she went to a local masjid fundraiser. She had only one hundred and eighty-six dollars in her account. That was all she had. She said, "I don't care. I need my father who's got advanced stage cancer." And she gave everything. The imam made du'a for her father's shifa, and everyone said Ameen. SubhanAllah — they went after surgery, they ran the tests, and they were so shocked that they had to run multiple tests and call the father back again and again. Because Allah Azza wa Jal had miraculously cured him. شَكُورٌ — Allah is watching. You only have one hundred and eighty-six dollars. What is that going to do for a five million dollar expansion? Not much. But Allah is not looking for amounts. Allah looks at what difficulty you are going through and that you are still giving. He is appreciative. He really cares about you. He sees what you do for Him. And He will pay you back in a manner that will baffle you.

حَلِيمٌ — Most Forbearing. Even though we make mistakes and we deserve to be thrown out, He looks the other way when we have our mistakes. When we do any good deed, He fully focuses on it. And when we do sins — okay, let it pass. حَلِيمٌ.

عَالِمُ الْغَيْبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ — And is there anyone who can escape from Allah's knowledge? No. Whatever is known in our heart and outside of the heart, in the world, in every room, everywhere — Allah is fully aware.

الْعَزِيزُ — He is All-Powerful. He can turn you in any direction. He can bring goodness from evil and evil from goodness. He can guide from being lost, and make a person get lost after being guided. الْحَكِيمُ — But remember, whatever He does, He doesn't do without a purpose and without wisdom. Every action that He does, you can trust Him. He is not going to harm you unless you want to be harmed. And even it may seem difficult — as a brother asked me yesterday, "How do I know I might not get misguided? What if I get misguided?" I said: brother, if you are sincere and humble in front of Allah, and you are always afraid of being misguided, and you keep on saying:

Have this good thought about Allah that He will never mislead you. Allah will not at the last minute deprive you of the kalimah, insha'Allah. Why would He? But you have to be humble, you have to be sincere, and you have to be open with Allah, saying: "Allah, there's nothing I want more than hidayah. I can take anything — but I cannot take misguidance. I cannot take Your anger."

May Allah accept our tafsir today, and for this year, alhamdulillah. As we said, we are just ending this session. Surah al-Taghabun ends this 2024 year, insha'Allah. And then we'll take a two-week break. After that, insha'Allah, we will be starting the next surah on Tuesday, January 14th. I will also be travelling for the next couple of weeks, so please make du'a for safe travels, and that whatever spiritual benefit I get from Umrah and the journey — visiting my teachers as well — Allah Azza wa Jal allows me not only to benefit from them properly, but also to bring back something I can share with all of you, insha'Allah.

Announcements

We have, alhamdulillah, Imam Zaid Shakir joining us this year for the annual no-tech retreat. This is taking place February 8th to February 9th for twenty-four hours. Please scan the QR code to register and join us for this event. Every year we cover a book. We leave our phones and digital things outside, and we dedicate ourselves to the masjid for twenty-four hours. So I encourage you to please scan the QR code and register today. I believe there is just a small cost for iftar, besides that alhamdulillah, this is an amazing life-changing program. It has the capacity to change your life within those twenty-four hours.

Then there is our Tafheem program, which is now in its eleventh year — eleventh year spring semester. Saturday tracks include: the Fiqh of Marriage and Divorce, Tajweed, and the Rightly-Guided Khalifahs. The Sunday track will have Fiqh of Halal and Haram, Misunderstood Verses, and the Heroes of Islam. We started this program in January 2014 — now we are in January 2025. Alhamdulillah, full ten years, the eleventh year. And this is the first time we will be offering on-site, live classes taught by female scholars for our sisters. I want all our sisters here to please support us now that we're doing this program. Please go to thedawahgroup.org/tafheem and sign up, and share the word. Misunderstood Verses is a really amazing class — all the verses of the Qur'an that usually get miscoded and misunderstood: Jihad, women, treatment of women, treatment of slaves, and things of that sort. The water cooler discussion becomes really uncomfortable when you don't know how to speak about it. The Heroes of Islam covers who the mujaddids are of each era — besides the Sahaba. These beautiful classes will be taught on-site. This class starts January 11th, insha'Allah, until May 24th of 2025. Details are on the website.

There is also the Ta'leem Online program. Alhamdulillah, we started it for the first time online in the fall semester. The next class will start January 6th, 2025, with ten courses being offered. Every semester we offer ten courses. The classes are taught during the day, approximately 10 AM to 4:15 PM, with a two-hour break in between. For those of you in college, while in college, log on to your computer and take a forty-five-minute class or two. Schedule your college classes around it, so that you can have deen and an environment of learning together. And if you are fully packed from eight to five, the classes are recorded. You can listen after work. Alhamdulillah.

Our Tanweer program for the one-year intensive class will start in August. The QR code is available for you to learn about the one-year intensive. And Team Fajr — this Saturday we will also have Team Fajr. If you want to sponsor this Saturday or any future Saturday, please scan the QR code, insha'Allah. We will have a talk on tazkiyah followed by breakfast.

May Allah Azza wa Jal make this gathering of ours a means of revival of iman within the hearts of one and all. If anyone has a question, please stay back and we can discuss over chai. Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.