Reflect & Connect: Surah Al-Mursalat - Ep.02 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 5/20

We ask almighty Allah through His choicest blessings that He allows us all to benefit from the dars of Quran immensely. We ask Allah that He allows all of us not to be deprived from the blessings of the Quran due to our own mistakes and sins. We ask Allah to make us all students of knowledge for the rest of our lives. We ask almighty Allah that He allows us always to find the answers of the questions of the world and the questions of our own personal lives in the tafsir and in the meanings and explanations of the Quran. We ask Allah to make us all people of yaqeen on every single verse of the Quran and allow us to lead a life in a manner that is pleasing to Him. Ameen, Rabb al-'Alamin.

Continuing from Surah Al-Mursalat — The Day of Decision

Continuing from — we did the first lesson, first dars of Mursalat last week — and the place where we stopped is where Allah asked the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم: Do you know what the day of the decision is? Do you have any idea, do you realize what the day of the decision is?

Allah is waiting for the time when all the messengers who had conveyed the message — they will be asked on that day — this is the time for you to give your debriefing, let us know what happened. As it comes in the ayah, in Surah An-Nisa:

As it comes in the narration, the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم began to cry when he was hearing this verse recited. He asked a companion to recite it to him, and when he was listening to the recitation — when the sahabi reached this verse, he began to cry — and the sahabi stopped when he saw the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم crying.

What will happen that day when we'll bring a witness from every single ummah to bear witness to what happened — did the prophet do his job or not? وَجِئْنَا بِكَ عَلَىٰ هَٰؤُلَاءِ شَهِيدًا — and O Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, we will bring you as a witness over all of these affairs.

Meaning, people will say — the nations will say — "Who said that the prophet came to us? We don't know any prophet." The prophet says, "Ya Allah, I did, I did come." But the nations will be lying. It's so easy to lie today — we see how easy it is to concoct things. So the nations will say that, and the prophet will say, "No, I did fulfill my job." Where's the proof? The proof will be the people from this ummah, who will say that we have the Book of Allah — the Quran — that gives us stories of the people of the past. And the Quran is the most truthful word of Allah, it's the most truthful speech. Allah is the most truthful, period. Hence, we know very well:

All these prophets were belied by their people. On the basis of that, we are giving this testimony. Well, where did you get the Quran from? We got it from Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم. The Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم is the final witness. So the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم began to cry as that verse was mentioned.

The Day Has Been Deferred — Yawm Al-Fasl

Everyone will have a day — a day to which everything has been deferred. You see, Allahu Akbar. All these signs of the hour that are coming through, even in a clearer fashion — it comes in one narration that decisions from the court will be sold. Meaning, decisions of the court will not be made on the basis of what's true; they will be made based on how much money is given by whom. And you will see cases are being dropped, cases are starting, and it makes no sense.

Before they used to say, "See you in court." Now you can't even say that because the court itself is rigged all over the world — in most places. Very few places still stand where you can actually get a fair hearing. But there's one place where you can wait, and that's the Day of Judgment, where you cannot rig the court. Because Allah is the Malik, the owner of that day. There's no judge besides Allah. Allah is not going to delegate this power to anyone. Allah keeps this power only to Himself — the ability to decide what's right and what's wrong.

So that day should give all of us a sense of sukoon, peace — that Alhamdulillah, the day is coming when I will have my chance to share my story in court. But what happens if we are on the receiving end on that day? Meaning, because we may be on the giving end here — Allah forbid — what if we were zalim in this world? Then also we should be afraid. What will happen on that day?

Our Actions Must Reflect Our Belief in the Akhirah

It's just so strange that we all believe in the Day of Judgment — all of us do, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting here — but our actions, my actions, and the actions of so many other people many times don't reflect that. If you actually believed in the Day of Judgment, how would it be possible for us to misuse our tongue? How would it be possible to say something that we know is incorrect, or pass on a lie, or a false accusation about someone? How do we verbalize a thought that we have — an evil thought?

A father said, "I'm so hurt, but I'm just sharing with you that my son told me — over something simple — 'don't come to my home.'" And he couldn't believe his son said that. So then the son deleted it. I said, this happens every day in every home. Sons and daughters say things that are inappropriate to their parents. Wives say inappropriate things to their husbands. Husbands say inappropriate things to their wives. But if you wrote it and you deleted it — maybe the person didn't see it — but Allah saw it. Or maybe they did see it, but before they could respond you deleted it. But it doesn't make a difference. Allah has seen it. And if Allah has seen it, it's too late. What's going to happen about that?

So how many times are you responsible for what you say? If the thought is in your mind, you are not responsible for that. But verbalizing it is a problem. Texting it is a problem. Typing it is a problem. So you need to learn — we all need to learn — how to absorb that inside. To say, "I'm right now angry at someone" — could be anyone. You're angry at your parents, you're angry at your spouse — and you need to now learn how to consume that anger.

Remedies for Anger and Waswasa

Do wudu, and the best thing you can do is do a fresh wudu and pray two raka'at salah. Recite some Quran. Sit down and read, maybe 50 times, 100 times — do istighfar. You'll see that the anger goes down. Do dhikr. Try different things. Do dhikr softly — الله الله — in your heart. Do dhikr out loud with the niyyah.

Just like when the shaytan is in the house you give the adhan to push the shaytan away, similarly you do لا إله إلا الله. And even some ulama say: give adhan while you're just sitting — الله أكبر، الله أكبر، الله أكبر — if you're feeling really shaitani, give adhan.

Many times they suggest that if you're just not feeling well — you're feeling down, depressed for no reason, just randomly don't feel like doing anything, or you feel upset and angry and irritated at people that you shouldn't be irritated at, or you're constantly out of nowhere just getting sick — some of the adhkar are reading the final verses of Surah Al-Hashr:

That last ruku of Surah Al-Hashr — read that seven times and blow on yourself. And another amal is to give the adhan while you're just sitting down — 21 times or more, up to 41 times. You don't have to scream it. Just sitting in your bed, your room, or the masjid — الله أكبر، الله أكبر — like this till the end. And after you finish doing it 21 times or more, blow on your hands and wipe over your body. You'll see the difference.

Because the shaytan is there creating within us these feelings of anger, frustration, depression, anxiety, and all sorts of other things. And you have to ward it off by doing the dhikr of Allah. But obviously, do you think the shaytan wants you to do dhikr? Of course not. He wants you to suffer. That's why he will make you remember every single thing under the sun except dhikr.

I remember in Pakistan in the madrasa when I was studying — all the students before they'd go to sleep, it was a tradition that you stay on your bed. We used to sleep outside under the sky — it's hot inside — and we used to sleep outside in the sahn. Some who had mosquito tents would sleep in the mosquito tents. But everyone — it's such a beautiful thing — the lights would be dimmed, and you'd see everyone doing their adhkar. The whole day you didn't get a chance to do it, but don't go to sleep before you do dhikr. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes — all your adhkar, do it. Do your personal du'a. And then you go to bed.

The shaytan does not want us to do that. Because by doing the dhikr of Allah, he has to run. The simple dhikr of saying bismillah when you enter your home — the shayateen have to run. Like when you turn on the lights or spray cockroach spray, they all run. When a person enters the house and says bismillah, that's how the shayateen run. And they say, لا مبيت — "Oh, we have no place to sleep here tonight, no place to eat." That is why the shaytan will try his best to make you forget — you'll be having every conversation under the sun, but stepping foot into the house with your right foot, saying bismillah, and saying السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته out loud — he will make you forget.

So, we're speaking about waswasa. We're talking about anger. We're talking about feelings, emotional upheaval in the mind. Control it through the dhikr of Allah. Don't write it. Don't text it. And definitely don't blurt it out. May Allah save us all.

Because there's a Day of Reckoning coming. That person may not have said anything right now — he's too hurt, she's too hurt, he or she is too upset. But لِأَيِّ يَوْمٍ أُجِّلَتْ — we're waiting. Allah says there's a delay, they are being deferred. And that day of deferment is going to come through — Yawm Al-Fasl — the Day of the Decision, where Allah will decide who deserves what.

Racism, Arrogance, and the Chosen Race Fallacy

There are so many issues of contention right now. Some say this race is better than that race. Some say this color is better than that color. Some say this society is better than that society. We know that, and we're seeing a resurgence of that today in this world — a resurgence right here, under our nose. A resurgence of pushing a certain bloodline, a certain color, a complexion, a certain culture. They say this is inherently superior to all other colors, all other cultures, all other backgrounds. Allah says:

The Yahud say, "We are the sons of Allah and His beloved. We're a chosen race." You hear that on the radio waves today — people on podcasts openly speaking about how they are the chosen people.

The Dangers Surrounding the Ummah Today

The New York Times — I was mentioning yesterday — has had, for the past few years, some very detailed research articles on the whole fahsh industry. Just yesterday there was a really detailed article as well. I definitely recommend you all to read that. There was a 2021 article — probably the first article on this that I read — and I gave a Jumu'ah khutbah about it right after reading it, because it was just something I couldn't believe. This is what the world is about. And I was probably one of the first khatibs, to my knowledge, from this area to openly speak about this from the minbar. But it was something I could not ignore.

So that author or journalist presented another article on this topic this past week. And what she said was pretty amazing — shocking. She said: "I've written about terrorists. I've written about gangsters. I've written about cartels. But nothing has brought this many threats to my life as the article I wrote in 2021 on this industry." Nothing brought about this many threats to her life than exposing this industry.

And it's something all of us should know about because it is everywhere — it runs the place, it runs the world. And what an evil place the world is. I don't think we realize how evil the world is until you read something like that. We're doing our own little work, but subhanAllah, everyone's got their phones, everyone's got their laptops — in every single home, multiple devices, multiple children with multiple devices. What's surrounding us, and how low can a human being fall?

You see it now — it's not only about how low you can fall by killing and bombing indiscriminately and targeting hospitals. That's one dimension of بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ — to be more astray than animals. That's one dimension of being subhuman. But this is definitely another very strong dimension of what it means to be subhuman.

I encourage you to please take some time and read it. I know most of us won't be able to get through the article because that's how bad it is. But at the same time, it's what your kids and the society is surrounded by. And to know how evil people are — that after all this harm that this is doing, they're acknowledging it, it's doing unbelievable harm — yet those people who are writing the articles or who are providing the research will say, "As a progressive, we can't say you're not allowed to do this. As a postmodernist, we're not going to say that this is ethically immoral, because we all worship the hawa. Our god is the desire. And if your desire says to do this, who am I to tell you no? You may follow your desire as you wish, even if it means doing something that is subhuman."

Now we see how the Day of Judgment will come. Now you see all the signs of the hour, how Nabi عليه الصلاة والسلام talks about the absolute lack of any shred of haya at the end of times — and yet the people will fulfill their lust openly the way donkeys do. He صلى الله عليه وسلم said, the most decent person alive at that time will say, "Hey, I'm walking — can you move over?" That's not going to happen out of thin air. Something is going to lead up to that, and you're seeing this industry is pushing it.

So this is why the Ummah cannot wake up and address the suffering, because this is where the mind is going, this is where the energy is going. How is it going to go to martial arts or anywhere else if it's going to go here? That's why everything is being destroyed, going down the drain. May Allah protect us all from this huge disease that's plaguing the Ummah. And whoever is diseased in it, may Allah grant them shifa. Make this a regular du'a — through the barakah of this du'a, hopefully Allah will keep you and your children protected. If you make du'a for those who are involved, those who are sick, those who are infected, we hope Allah — through the barakah of our care, our love, our empathy, our sympathy, and our du'a for others — will save us.

Do Not Be an Oppressor — Zalim or Mazloom

After all of that, there is a day when this decision is going to be made — of who is zalim and who is mazloom. No matter how much zulm is happening.

I started off this discussion by saying: when we talk about zalim, most of the time we say, "By zalim, qiyamah — there will be a day, all the oppressors are going to get caught on the Day of Judgment." Usually we are pointing fingers at others. "There's a Day of Judgment, brother, watch out!" But there is a Day of Judgment not only for him — it's for me too. Can we really say that we have never oppressed anyone? By our tongue, by our eyes, by our ears, by our hands, by our feet, by our money, by anything? How many of us can say we have a clean slate?

So this is where we are saying that our actions are different from our words. We say we believe in akhira, but when it comes to our actions, sometimes it doesn't look like it. Because the one who is truly afraid of the Day of Judgment — he has to watch his tongue, he has to watch his business dealings, he has to watch how he acts in public and in private. May Allah make us all people who not only say we believe in the Day of Judgment, but whose actions speak louder than our words. Say ameen.

Allah says: woe to all the beliers. All those people who say the Day of Judgment is not coming. Maybe we can say — those who say the Day of Judgment is not coming through their words and through their actions. None of us will say the Day of Judgment is not coming through our words — but what about our actions?

All those relatives that we may have done wrong to — we have to think about it. And I think the number one relationships are: parents and children, husbands and wives, and siblings. These three relationships, number one, we have to sort out. And in all of these three relationships — may Allah forgive us — we have to constantly remember that no matter what I am going through, I cannot, cannot, cannot be an oppressor towards my spouse, towards my parents, towards my children, towards my siblings — the immediate family. Because most of the zulm happens within the immediate family.

And that's why Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم says: the best amongst you is the one who is the best to his family. It's easy to smile outside. It's easy to be nice at office parties. It's easy to be the most jolly person at work. But what happens at home — with siblings, with parents, with spouse, with children? That's where the test comes. Everyone knows it. That's where the test is.

Hence, the one who is the best in his home — Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم is saying — he is the best amongst all of us. And then the Prophet himself said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3895)

"I am the one who treats my family the best." Family — everyone is included there, not just wife. All members of the household that a person has, he must treat them in the most beautiful manner, thinking about the fact that a day will come when it will all be decided — who is zalim and who is mazloom.

I've mentioned a statement of Mawlana Choksi Sahib many times. He would say: مَظْلُوم بَنْنَا ہے تو بَنْ جَاؤ، لَکِن ظَالِم ہَرْگِز نہ بَنْنَا — "If you end up becoming oppressed, then go ahead and allow it. But make sure you do not become an oppressor." Because the pain of oppression will end in this world, and the reward for being oppressed will never end in the Akhirah. The pain of the oppression is temporary, and the reward for being an oppressed person is everlasting. While the enjoyment — if I can call it that — of being an oppressor is short-lived, and the punishment for being an oppressor is never ending.

So we should give preference to that which is never ending, over that which is short-lived. What's the point of short-lived twisting someone's arm, and then suffering for the rest of eternity? Rather, suffer a little bit here and give in. Even if the other person is oppressing you — say, forget it, I'm not gonna take you to court, I'm gonna ignore it. But I'm going to have reward for it in the Akhirah.

The Power of Forgiveness

Sometimes people say, "I cannot forgive someone. How can I forgive someone?" Listen — if you forgive someone, what do you want? You want payment, right? You say, "I wish I could take him to court and get a million dollars." If you forgive that person — and of course I'm not giving statements for every single scenario, I'm giving a general reminder — if we give in and we forgive someone, the payment that we will get in the Akhirah is going to be way, way, way, way more than any one million dollars.

How long does a million dollars last anyway? If you don't know how to spend, it may last one week. When people win the lottery, subhanAllah, within months — weeks — everything's gone. A house from here costs seven, eight, nine hundred thousand dollars — so one million, even if a person were to get it, can be gone by tomorrow by signing on a house.

So if a person gives up and says, "I'm not gonna take you to court and I'm gonna forgive you for the sake of Allah" — don't worry. Don't think you're walking away cheated. What you are going to get from Allah's court is going to be far greater than any court of this dunya could ever give you. That's what we have to remind ourselves — forgive for the sake of Allah, I'll take from Allah.

So the key element, when we speak about the Day of Judgment, is to always think about it for ourselves — that I should not be the oppressor. If I end up becoming oppressed, I'm going to get my never-ending reward with Allah. That's my investment. That's what you call long-term investment. That's going to give you so many returns.

What is a long-term investment? Forgiving people. That's why the hadith mentions — the famous hadith when Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم faced the sahaba and said, "Who gave sadaqa last night?" Different sahaba raised their hands and shared what they gave. And Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "No, I'm not referring to your sadaqa — keep going." And Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "There is one person who gave sadaqa such that it hit the throne of Allah — it went straight up to the throne of Allah. That's how powerful and weighty this was."

They all mentioned what they did. Eventually the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, "Anyone else?" And one sahabi said, "Ya Rasulullah, last night before I went to bed, I was thinking what should I do — I want to give charity. I didn't have anything to give in charity." He had nothing — nothing in his house to give away. So he said, "Ya Allah — anyone who has upset me, anyone who has hurt me, anyone who has backbited me, anyone who has broken my heart — I forgive them for Your sake. And I'm not going to hold them accountable on the Day of Judgment."

That's a very big thing. Nabi صلى الله عليه وسلم said: this is the charity that actually shook the throne of Allah.

So we've done this exercise here before. Last year I said: let's all make niyyah — tonight, or even now in this gathering — you say: "Ya Allah, I forgive everyone who has hurt me, who has upset me, who has backbited me, who has carried tales about me, who has made fun of me in public or in private. Ya Allah, I forgive them for Your sake." Do you know everyone who went after you so far? What's the point of harboring grudges? You're not going to go after them. You're not going to file a court case. You can't do anything. Why don't you just say it?

That person — you say, "No, he has hurt me." He hurt you, now what? What are you doing with it? All you're doing is you're letting it rot inside you. And it makes you, every single day, more upset, more frustrated, more depressed, because you keep thinking about what she did and what he did. It doesn't make you a better person. But when you take it off of your chest and say, "I forgive you for the sake of Allah" — that's the garbage that you press eject on, and it comes out. And you feel so much lighter, so much cleaner, so much better, happier — because all that filth is out of your system. And most importantly, on the Day of Judgment, the ajar and the reward that you're going to get is just amazing.

So I ask all of you to make that niyyah now. And if you're feeling a little hesitation, ask Allah to give you the strength to say that.

Someone said, "If I say it and then after that I feel bad about it, can I take it back?" Brother, it's gone, khalas. Don't even ask me that question — that's a waswasa from shaytan. Why would you take it back? You ejected it, it's done, finished. For the sake of Allah, you have forgiven that person.

So if we keep forgiving people like this every single day, resetting — we hope that Allah will also keep resetting our book of deeds. We say: "Ya Allah, I am so bakheel, I am so stingy, I am such a small, teeny-tiny creation of Yours — yet I am forgiving people for Your sake. You are the Most Generous, Your treasures are the most expansive — how could You not forgive me when I'm forgiving people?" Yes, that's how we speak to Allah. We say: "Ya Allah, I'm a small, nothing. If I am forgiving people for Your sake, I really need You to forgive me."

And Allah Himself says:

This ayah is referring, of course, initially to Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, who was very upset that Mistah, may Allah be pleased with him, was part of the group of people that fabricated a horrible accusation against Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her — even though Mistah was being given stipends from Abu Bakr Siddiq and was his relative. Sometimes relatives bite you the hardest. And that's why there's a saying in Arabic: الأقارب كالعقارب — "Relatives are like scorpions." Sometimes it happens because of hasad. Hasad is a horrible thing. It destroys everything. You could be a very well-educated person, you could be a senior person — whoever you may be — but it will grab you. May Allah protect us from hasad, from being a hasid as well as being mahsud — from being jealous of someone, and from suffering due to other people's jealousy.

So what we're saying: Abu Bakr Siddiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said he was not going to give any more charity to Mistah. Allah revealed the verse:

It is not befitting for the people of honor, the people of greatness, the people of wealth — أُولُو الْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَالسَّعَةِ — to make an oath that they're not going to give their relatives money. And they should forgive and they should forget. أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ — "Do you not want Allah to forgive you?" So this ayah itself is telling us that Allah wants to make a deal with us: you forgive others, I'll forgive you.

Destruction of Previous Nations — A Warning for Today

"Did We not destroy their like from amongst the early generations?" Allah wants us to use His history — and as we travel across the globe and see how previous generations have been destroyed — Allah wants us to look at them and say: the way they were destroyed, why will not the Fir'awns of today also be destroyed?

"So too shall We cause the latter disbelieving generations to follow them in destruction." When you look at the might of today, but when you think about the Romans and the Persians and their immense power — they were not 200-year dynasties; they were very long-lived, generations upon generations of leadership and tyranny, and the amount of oppression that was done. People like the Christians being fed to the lions. Anyone who claimed to be a believer — how the oppression was done by the disbelievers to people of different faiths.

In the past, so much zulm and oppression was done, but those who were the biggest of oppressors — including Fir'awn — today you can find many artifacts of his palace still preserved in the museums, and his body being preserved. But it's something for us to reflect on. They would think they were never going to die. They claimed like that. So whatever happened to the Fir'awns, Hamans, and Qaroons of the past and their people — Allah is saying: I'm going to make sure it's going to continue to happen.

"For this is how We deal with the defiant disbelievers." So every single mujrim — and mujrim is not only a disbeliever, those who did kufr, those who did shirk, and then those who committed all sorts of sins on top of that. When a person does not have tawhid and belief in akhirah in his heart, there's no limit to what sin he can do. So Allah is reminding us: eventually, whatever came upon the previous nations will fall upon the mushrikeen of Makkah, as well as other disbelievers, and those who come afterwards.

If you look at Petra in Jordan, and you look at Al-'Ula, and all these other historic sites — you see huge houses, palaces, carved into the mountains. Twenty-foot-high doors, rooms, gardens. Allah Himself says:

That they carved their mansions and houses out of the mountains, happily. They had no bulldozers, no electronics, no machinery — just through their hands and homemade tools — how they were able to make things that would take us years. I mean, we can't even think of doing it with our hands. With all the machinery it's still, when you go look at it, hard to believe. People say, "These jinns did it." No, these are not jinns — jinns do their own things. Humans did this. That's sheer strength. And that's why they would say:

"Who is stronger than us? We can rip open a mountain and build a house in it." Allah says:

"Do they not see and think that the One who created them has to be more powerful than them? If He created you, He is more powerful than you."

You see in Petra — they built it so that it's hard to get in, with only one small entrance into the valley leading to the city, enclosed from all directions. With archers on top and soldiers at the bottom, there's no way anyone can get in. On top of that, no floods can come in, no wind — all sorts of things — they made it inside the mountains. But Allah still destroyed them — through a screech, through earthquakes, through whatever other natural powers.

You see what happened with these earthquakes and tornadoes this past week? Law enforcement people said, in an entire career of 50, 60 years, they've never seen anything like this. Every single Tuesday I bring out news of natural disasters. And every single week, you have a certain portion of the country affected. And just recently I read a headline: "Silicon Valley of India underwater." Simultaneously, Allah is sending down nature to bring destruction. But the Ummah is still not waking up. This will continue to increase as we get closer to the Day of Judgment.

So these powerful people who carved out mountains — Allah says:

They are now in their graves, in their pyramids. What is happening? They are faced with fire, morning and evening. We're not going to wait till Jahannam — right in this world, in this dunya, fire is coming to them day in and day out.

This ayah is repeated ten times in this surah: "Woe that day to all the beliers."

The Humble Origins of the Human Being

"Did We not create you human beings from a humble fluid? Which We then set firmly in a safe haven. For a known measure of time." Allah is reminding us that these Jababirah and Fara'inah — these huge, powerful human beings and their nations, and the ones of today — today they have announced a huge dome to cover a country, protected from any attack. Unheard-of things, new. This is a new space war. And you're seeing how that Ya'juj and Ma'juj era will come — where they will say they have killed everyone on the earth and now they must focus on the One in the heavens, and they'll shoot their arrows or missiles to kill God. And Allah will allow them to fall into this fitna — Allah will return their missiles back with blood on them, for the fools to think they have actually hit the target. Subhanallah. That day will come. The Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said it, and it shall happen. You see how that arrogance is being formed right now — the narcissism, the arrogance, the feeling of being God — all of that is slowly being developed in order to reach that level which Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم has warned us of.

So what is the haqiqah of the insan? Allah says: from a humble fluid — a male fluid and a female fluid. These are, at the end of the day, extremely humble. How humble — a person would feel dirty and impure if a portion of that were to fall on his clothes; he would take a bath, he would wash his clothes. That is the haqiqah of a human being. Literally, without exaggeration — every single most powerful prime minister, president, tyrant, leader, king — every single one's haqiqah and beginning is something that you can only see through a microscope. That's his haqiqah, that's the beginning.

And Allah — it's not even a one in a million chance — one in millions — how He allows these two to meet. And where do they meet? They go into a very safe haven where they're protected. Right smack in the middle of the body, from top to bottom, smack in the middle — in the most central portion of the entire length of the female body — Allah has put the rahm. Allah has put this safe haven, this place where these two are going to meet, and from there the greatest miracle in the world takes place, over a period of قَدَرٍ مَّعْلُومٍ — nine months, give or take.

This is nothing less than a miracle. Every single child that's born — if you study it, if you think about it, you should just fall into sujood saying Allahu Akbar. From the formation of an ear externally, the beauty that you find in a human being — as Allah says:

We went to the zoo with the kids, and you marvel at the lion, the tiger, the cheetah, the chimpanzee, the bear — everything is just beautiful and amazing. But then, subhanAllah — look at us. How honorable it is that Allah has made us so unique that we don't walk on all fours. We walk on our feet, with our back straight, with our head straight, reaching out to what we want. No matter how powerful that lion is, a person can ride it. That is what it means:

"Indeed We have honored the children of Adam." People have a chair made out of the foot of an elephant — I saw this once in someone's house. I said, what is this? Allah says: I am the One who subjugated them for you. You didn't do this. The fact that you can make a thing out of the hide of everything — who did that? Allah. When you see overseas the elephant being led by a ten-year-old kid barefoot with a little stick — hitting the elephant, making him move — how? How is a small kid doing that? What gave him that strength or audacity? The fact that he's a human being. He has something that Allah has not given that animal — a level of intellect that He has not given any animal.

So where is this mu'jiza taking place? In that safe haven — the mother's womb. Whenever a person thinks of himself to be something, he should focus on this ayah and say: I am nobody. As has been mentioned before — a khalifah asked a person to come give him advice. He was very harsh with the khalifah in his advice. The khalifah said, "Do you know who you're speaking to? Do you have any idea?" So the imam said, "Yes, I know who I'm speaking to." He said, "Who?" The imam said, "I'm speaking to the one whose beginning is a dirty drop, a fluid. And whose ending is a dead, stinking corpse. And in between these two states, he carries filth in his body."

Every inch of our body has blood, which is filth. The stomach is filled with filth. Our mouth — if we don't brush our teeth, what happens? If we don't put on deodorant, what happens? If we don't wash ourselves, what happens? If we don't wash our eyes, what happens? If we don't clean our ears? If we don't clean behind the ears? If we don't clean between our fingers and knuckles, what happens? On our heels? We are, from top to bottom, carrying dirt throughout our entire lives. External dirt and internal dirt. Beginning: a dirty drop. Ending: a stinking corpse. "So what are you proud about? What are you arrogant about?" That's why I'm being harsh with you — I know who I'm speaking to. He gave the business card of the king — and really, the business card of all of us. There is no reason for us to have arrogance. There is nothing we can stand on to justify arrogance.

Taqdeer — The Known Measure

In this ayah, Allah is speaking about all sorts of different taqdeers. Allah has set the time for how long the child will be in the womb, how long it will take to be born, what the child will look like, how it will be — all of those things Allah has included in taqdeer. Some recitations have فَقَدَّرْنَا — "We have decreed it" — and some have فَقَدَرْنَا — "We have measured in measure." Both are correct. And Allah says: فَنِعْمَ الْقَادِرُونَ — "How beautiful is Our power in determining what is good and what is the most appropriate measure for all of these things."

Woe to all those who belie the Day of Judgment, even after understanding how humble they are — how humble their beginnings are — yet they act in such an arrogant manner. The more a person should feel humbled when thinking about his beginning. When you think about how difficult life was as a child, how much poverty there may have been during your childhood, and now Allah has given you wealth — it's supposed to bring humility within us. Someone may say, "No, I grew up in wealth and health in a powerful home, so what am I supposed to think about?" No matter who you are or where you grew up, we all had the same مَاءٍ مَّهِينٍ as our beginning. And that is something which we should constantly reflect upon. Hopefully that will bring tawadu and humility within all of us.

The Earth as a Blessing — Gravity, Mountains, and Fresh Water

"Have We not made the earth accommodating — to the living and the dead — and set therein anchoring mountains towering overhead, and given you to drink fresh water?"

In this ayah, Allah is speaking about gravity. كِفَاتًا — one translation is "accommodating." كِفَاتًا يَكْفِتُ, كِفَاتًا means to attract, to bring towards itself, to gather. كَفَتَ الشَّيْءَ means something fell down quickly. So when we travel out of the earth's orbit and go towards space, towards the moon, we start realizing what it means to have gravity and what it means not to have gravity, and how life becomes so, so challenging and difficult without it. The presence of gravity itself is a huge blessing in the way Allah created us. So Allah has created this earth as a magnet pulling things towards itself. Hence you can build a house on top of it. Hence you can walk on top of it. Hence, even though the earth is moving at such a fast pace, Allah has put anchors for us to make us feel that it's not moving — but it's still moving.

Remember the verse of the Quran:

"You see the mountains — you think they are solid, yet they are passing like the passing of clouds." As we talked about last week, this ayah has two tafsirs. One is that right now, when we look at the mountains, they seem extremely powerful, huge, solid masses — but what we don't realize is that they are on the earth and the earth is rotating on its axis, so the mountains are also moving, but we're not able to sense that. Another meaning is that today the mountains are set in place, seeming to be the most immovable things. But a time will come when they will move — and not only move, but become like cotton wool.

Allah says elsewhere:

"Who is the one who has made the earth a place of sukoon, a place of rest?" It's moving so fast, yet it doesn't feel like it. If you think about it, all of these verses of the Quran actually have huge signs about the nature of things in this world. Today's science is making these discoveries — or in the past few centuries they've been made — but the Quran alludes to them thousands of years ago. And hopefully this will strengthen the faith of all of us in the fact that the Quran most definitely is the Book of Allah.

How is the earth accommodating and attracting to itself? Think about how houses are built. You have a mud brick made out of mud from the earth, baked, then placed with mortar. That mortar came from mud. Where is the cement coming from? From clay. Also coming from natural elements of the earth. Then you put a roof — where is the roof coming from? Bamboo sticks, pieces of wood — coming from trees, from the earth. You put on palm leaves or other leaves to cover the roof — again from the earth. So our entire existence is actually coming from the earth. Modern-day homes are the same — you see the amount of wood. When I was studying in Pakistan, my ustad used to say: "Houses are built from materials of the earth." Similarly, wood being used to build houses might surprise people abroad, but we all know how it is. The most expensive home — outside it may have beautiful stone and brick, but inside is all wood. Where did that come from? Straight from the earth.

So the earth is — what do you call it — the mother earth. It is giving from its depths, subhanAllah — like a rahm, not just for one thing but for everything we need. As the future verses of this surah will cover next week, all the food also comes from here. So our houses come from the earth, our food comes from the earth. That's why it's called mother earth. And at the end, you go right back to her. The Quran says the earth takes care of people whether they're alive or dead. In all situations, the earth is that mother. The creation of Allah.

Allah says in Surah An-Naba:

"Did We not make the earth a cradle?" The way a cradle takes care of a baby, the earth takes care of all of us. That's why we've been told:

Be kind to the mother earth. Don't stomp your feet when you're walking. Walk humbly on the earth. Be respectful.

Our deen is so beautiful, brothers. You're supposed to be respectful to your neighbor, your parents, your dad, your mom. You're supposed to be respectful to the earth. If we followed the akhlaaq of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم, we would not need a single pamphlet, not one billboard, not one anything — and we would not have the issue of even trying to win back our own people. All the people who leave the deen, most of the time it's because of character. Someone had bad character with them, and they were not able to differentiate Islam from Muslim. And they said, forget it. Shaytan makes them hate Islam instead of saying, this is a weak Muslim — let me not blame Islam for this person's bad character. May Allah make us all men and women of the character of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم.

"And set therein anchoring mountains towering overhead." When Allah spoke about how weak we are, then He spoke about how powerful these mountains are — that even these powerful mountains must come to an end. And even these powerful mountains are at your service. Even though you have such humble beginnings, imagine how beautiful and powerful Allah is, that He made these huge mountains subservient to you.

When we were in Africa and Malawi, we saw mountains completely deforested. What was happening? People using them for firewood — in the winter to cook, because they have no money to buy fuel. People go into the mountains for a week or two, cut, cut, cut, and then bring it down to sell. We would not be able to carry it from here to the door of the masjid — yet they bring it down entire mountains. This is unbelievable. And people buy that to cook, to wash their clothes, to boil water. So the mountain is also giving itself over to the human. The animals of the mountains, the firewood from the mountains, and the melting glaciers and the rivers that come down the mountains.

Allah sends down snow at the very top of these mountains. These mountains are some of the best sources of fresh, clean spring water. And that's what Allah refers to:

This مَاءً فُرَاتًا is coming from a very high place called the mountain. Allah in another place says in Surah Al-Furqan:

There are two types of water — very nice, soft, sweet water, easy to drink — and very salty, bitter water, difficult to drink. Both are the creation of Allah. Allah wants us to simply be appreciative of His blessings.

Shame on you! Woe that day to all those who belied. After listening to all of this, they're still not moved.

The People of Jahannam — Proceed to What You Denied

"Proceed to that which you used to deny. Proceed to a three-columned shadow. Neither shading nor availing against the flame. Indeed it hurls sparks as huge as castles. As if they were herds of stampeding yellow camels. Woe that day to all the beliers."

Look at the intensity and the power of these verses. Only a God Almighty can speak like this. Only Allah can speak in this powerful, intimidating manner. Allah is here making a form of sarcasm with the disbelievers. For example, He says elsewhere:

"Give them the glad tidings of a painful torment." بَشَّرَ means glad tidings — is there glad tidings here? No, it's sarcasm: "Welcome, come, come — we have something exciting waiting for you!" And similarly here, Allah says: انطَلِقُوا — "Let's go, let's go! You thought this was never going to happen. You all used to say, 'Eh, it's all lies.' Okay, no problem. Let's see who's lying and who's not lying."

So when they start coming, they see something black, something dark. What is it? Oh, at last — it looks like a nice shade. When heat comes, we all run to shade. But when the heat is at the level that the sun, as it comes in hadith, is only a mile away from our heads instead of 93 million miles — the only reason we'd still be alive is that death itself is dead, and Allah has not willed for us to die. Another explanation is that مِيل refers not to a unit of distance, but to the antimony stick used to apply surmah to the eyes — that is also called مِيل, which is about 2 inches. So the sun is either 2 inches away or over 5,000 feet away. Either way, even if it were 5 million miles away, we'd still be beyond dead, if it weren't for Allah destroying death itself.

So when they see shade, everyone will run — "Alhamdulillah, at last we can protect ourselves from this sun right above our heads!" They will see a dhil — a shadow — and think it's a place to run towards. However, when they come towards it, they will realize this is not a shade. Because a shade gives you sukoon, itminan, peace, contentment. But instead this is the opposite. It has three columns in three different directions. And this shade does not protect from the choking, melting fire of hell. There is no raha, no sukoon.

And why is it black? It's not a shadow like the shade of a tree. It is because, as it comes in hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2591)

The fire of Jahannam was ignited for a thousand years until it became red. Then it was ignited for another thousand years until it turned white. Then it was ignited for another thousand years until it became dark black. So today the fire of Jahannam is extremely dark and black. That is what we're speaking about. They're not walking towards a shade — it looks like a shade, it's dark — but it's actually the smoke of the fire of Jahannam that has risen there.

They're not even in the same resting spot as those headed towards Jannah. The people of Jannah will rest under the Throne of Allah while the Day of Judgment takes place — a VIP rest. While those headed towards Jahannam — their holding cell will be under this:

A three-columned shadow of the hellfire smoke. We're not even speaking about the fire yet — just the intensity of the smoke.

Neither does it give you any benefit of the shade, nor will it protect you from the huge flames that will be coming at the human beings there.

You can study the gases, what happens to them when they become extremely hot, and connect it with these ayahs to understand the depth of what it means when gases become super hot. What gas is this? It is the smoke and gas-like substance coming out of the extreme intensity of Jahannam. So when you study astronomy, it should not — astaghfirullah — make you become a disbeliever. It's a big thing: you become an astrophysicist and then you become an atheist. No, that's not the problem with the science — it's the problem with us. That we do not know how to harness our intellect in a manner that the intellect does not overtake us.

Just like if someone does an excessive amount of dhikr without eating, without drinking — a hundred thousand times in three days — they might lose their mind. Don't try it. But you wouldn't blame the dhikr of Allah — you'd blame the person. He had an eight-ounce vessel and put twelve ounces into it. Of course it overflows. A human being cannot handle that type of dhikr without the proper structure. Similarly, a person becoming an atheist after becoming an astrophysicist is not a problem of the science or Allah's creation — it's a problem with how we've been trained and how we harness the intellect.

So just think about what will happen to those who will actually be faced with Jahannam itself. This is just talking about the smoke and the clouds:

"Indeed it hurls sparks as huge as castles — as if they were herds of stampeding yellow camels." The sparks coming out of this fire — each one the size of a huge mansion, or according to another tafsir, like the massive trunks of large desert trees, which remain after the branches break and fall in winter. That is how these sparks will look.

And it will look like a large caravan of yellow camels spread out across a desert — one after another, one after another. The yellow flames will be hitting the people while they're waiting for the 50,000-year day to end. They're waiting in their waiting lounge, and that is what is going to be happening to them.

Think also about this ayah:

Think about the one who is going to use his face to protect himself from the blazing fire. His hands are tied around his neck —

He's got chains around his neck and his hands are tied, so he cannot protect his body with his hands. Now he's going to use his most honorable face — that will be presented first. And:

He's going to be walking on his face on the Day of Judgment. Imagine — potholes, rocks, stones, glass — and his skull is going over all of that. He was asked, "Ya Rasulullah, how is that possible? How do you walk on your face?" He said: "That Allah who made you walk on your feet today will allow you to walk on your face tomorrow." No question after that. Whatever you think is so natural — what does "natural" mean? Natural means Allah made it that way. If Allah wanted, naturally the nose would be in the back. If Allah wanted us to walk on all fours, that's what it would be. So whatever is natural in this world now, it will become natural in the hereafter. Don't ask how — it will happen.

Woe that day to all the beliers. Insha'Allah we have one more session of this. Next week we will be completing the surah. And then insha'Allah we will be going for Hajj. So the next two weeks possibly, and then we'll have another surah afterwards. Try your best to join us next week as we complete it.

Questions and Answers

What can I read before an interview to perform well?

Your typical things that you read whenever you have problems. Surah Yasin is there. Keep on reading:

From Surah Taha — keep on reading that. And give sadaqa. Sadaqa comes in many forms. There are a lot of people who are hungry. Have an animal slaughtered, cook it, and serve it — or give its meat elsewhere. There are so many places that you can serve food. And insha'Allah have those people make du'a for you.

How do you get out of laziness?

Ask Allah for protection morning and evening from laziness. Also remain in a state of wudu. Read أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ. Force yourself — if you're feeling lazy, at least do some dhikr while you're in bed or not feeling like doing anything. And of course the seven adhkar are always good to use for this as well.

How do I remove hatred towards my father due to oppression from him, though I feel that shaytan and nafs are also involved?

It's good that you're recognizing the shaytan and nafs. Hatred towards anyone is actually fueled by shaytan. We have oppression that's there — but if the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم could forgive Wahshi, then who are we? I would suggest asking Allah as it comes in various du'a:

"Oh Allah, remove the rancor in my heart." And also:

"Our Lord, do not put in our hearts rancor towards the believers." Also give sadaqa and dedicate the reward to all the people you feel angry towards.

Does suicide take you out of the fold of Islam?

No, it does not. Suicide is a major sin. It doesn't take a person out of the fold of Islam, unless a person said, "I don't care about major sins," — and how would you even know that? People are committing suicide and have committed it in the past. But it is a major sin — it does not mean that a person is outside the fold of Islam.

Additionally, there was a recent incident in our community, possibly a result of suicide — one that happened to make it into the news, because they initially thought it was something else. But you would be surprised how much of this is happening quietly. Many quiet janazahs, people who "passed away in their sleep," found passed away in their car or room — unfortunately, a lot of these are suicides. We don't need to investigate. Don't ask, don't tell. Sometimes the family will tell me, but naturally they don't want to tell anyone. The thing is, this is something we need to address, because our community is many times very averse to discussing mental health issues.

I remember many years ago, someone told me: "Bhai, if we take our daughter to the doctor, how will she get married?" I said: "Bhai, she won't live to get married. If you don't get her treatment, she'll kill herself, and you won't have to worry about marriage anyway." How foolish is it to not go to the doctor because someone may see her going into a psychiatric clinic? That is therapy — the first line of action. Don't jump into medication. Definitely reach out to therapists, reach out to your local imams and ulama, ask them for advice. Get some adhkar, bring deen into your life as well. And after that, escalate if needed. Share your problems with someone. There are more than enough people in this world who are still listening. Find people in the masjid or in the place of deen and say, "Can you connect me with someone?" There are also different organizations locally that focus on that.

How to help other friends stay connected to the masjid post-Ramadan?

First, stay connected yourself. Then message them — make a text message group (there are already too many WhatsApp groups) — and say, "Okay, we're going to push each other. I'll pick you up for 'Isha or for Maghrib." Regularly offer yourself to pick them up. You can take a break after three or four days of no response, and then try again. But don't only use the group for inviting them to the masjid. If they truly like and care about you and enjoy your company, many times they'll come to the masjid just because of you. So build the relationship with them too — not just invite them towards the masjid — because otherwise, you don't want to just be an invitation machine. Build a real friendship.

Why are there three columns of shadow?

There is tafsir of that — the fact that there are three layers or three columns — and there are more scientific discussions about that in some tafsirs. But to my knowledge, nothing specific was mentioned in the tafsirs I checked about why Allah chose three. I can look further into that insha'Allah.

How to stop being jealous of others' lives and blessings?

It's a disease of the heart. Acknowledge it's a disease and get its treatment. One of the best ways is to read about it — the books of tazkiyah and tasawwuf on the topic of jealousy. You'll find those at the bookstore at Darussalam or online. Read one book at a time and see how horrible this disease is. First understand how harmful it is — when you don't understand the harms, you won't give it up easily. Alhamdulillah, this is not a new problem; it's an old problem that has been addressed thoroughly by our ulema.

How do we keep the fear of the Day of Judgment in our hearts?

By constantly reflecting on the verses of the Day of Judgment and listening to talks about it. Also practice the etiquettes of passing a graveyard. When you pass a graveyard, say:

You give salam to the people of the graves and tell them: "You are our predecessors and we shall be joining you soon. We ask Allah for well-being for you and for us."

How to maintain confidence but not fall into arrogance?

Maintain confidence in Allah's-given abilities, not in your own abilities. Attribute your strengths only to Allah and be confident in those gifts. Do not attribute the greatness or good qualities or strengths to yourself.

If oppressors are not held accountable, won't they continue their crimes?

Of course they are supposed to be held accountable. But when you're holding onto something that happened 20 years ago and you're still holding on to it — that's what we're speaking about. "Forgive, but don't forget" means: forgive them, but don't do business with them again, or don't get yourself in the same situation again, forgetting the pain you suffered before. Let that pain of your past guide you in your future relationships so that you don't get stabbed in the back again. That's what it means. But that does not mean you keep thinking about it every single night.

Can Hajj Badal be performed for a person who died without specifying it?

No, it is not going to be called Hajj Badal in that case. We should do sadaqa on his behalf. We should do a Hajj on his behalf, hoping that Allah will accept that — especially since he did not explicitly mention it. So we should do it. The heirs can pool together the money and perform Hajj on behalf of someone who passed away without performing it. We hope Allah will accept that on his behalf.

Announcements

We will also have our Surah Al-Kahf recital after Salatul 'Isha insha'Allah.

Please ask something that is beneficial for the general community. More specific questions you can ask at Darul Ifta at masjidds.org/question insha'Allah.

Also insha'Allah we will be starting up our graduation Khatm al-Bukhari. Please join us in a few weeks — June 21st and June 22nd. June 21st is the graduation of our one-year students, and June 22nd will be the graduation of our seven-year students. Alhamdulillah, we have 12 ulama and alimat graduating this year. Please not only join us here to give them encouragement, but join to become encouraged yourself — and to encourage your family members to also become students of knowledge.

This is our summer program — please make note of it for boys and girls. 17+ and 13–17 starts June 25th — a three-week Islamic studies course. And July 23rd is a two-week Arabic intensive course. Dorms are available for out-of-state students. Classes are 7:45 AM to 4:15 PM, Monday through Friday — a full day. Alhamdulillah, we've been doing this since 2009, so it's a really established program. Join and benefit.

Our one-year program starts in August as well. Applications are ending soon, so please share the message for any boys and girls graduating from high school or undergrad who want to take a year off. This is a great, established program of 13 years. Alhamdulillah.

Every Thursday for brothers ages 18–30, we have Kalam and Coffee in the men's banquet hall. Ages 30–50 on Monday nights in the men's banquet hall.

If you'd like to sponsor our Team Fajr and invite people towards our Saturday morning breakfast and talk on the 99 Names of Allah, kindly take a screenshot. Alhamdulillah, invite people and host them here at Dar al-Salam. You have a free venue. Invite everyone at 4:45 AM Fajr, followed by the talk and then breakfast insha'Allah.

We request du'a for our brother Yaqub — our musalli and volunteer — whose mother passed away. I spoke about her last week. SubhanAllah, a very pious lady. Till the last day — she passed away while still waking up from her coma to pray her five daily prayers and her tahajjud. SubhanAllah. I spoke to her a few hours before she passed away. So:

And for brother Iqbal Hussain, whose aunt passed away this morning — we ask Allah to grant her Jannah. And for brother Ziya, whose mother is sick. And for all those who have requested special du'a for their parents and loved ones — may Allah grant them immense, complete, lasting, immediate shifa. Ameen.

Wassalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuhu.