Reflect & Connect | Surah Fussilat - Ep.08 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 10/29

Opening Supplications

Please be mindful of those who are praying and come forward. Let's sit as close as possible. If you have any questions, you can send them in right now.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. O Allah, send peace and blessings upon our master Muhammad and his family.

O Allah, ease my heart and ease my affairs. Remove the knot from my tongue and let my speech be understood. Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us.

O Allah, teach us what benefits us and benefit us with what You have taught us. And increase us in knowledge and action. O Allah, enlighten our hearts with Your knowledge and use our bodies for Your obedience. And grant us what You love and are pleased with — from speech, action, intention and guidance. O Allah, You are capable of everything.

O Wahhāb, O Wahhāb, O Wahhāb. O Fattāh, O Fattāh, O Fattāh. O Jabbār, O Jabbār, O Jabbār.

The Central Verse — Repelling Evil with Good

Allah, the Exalted, said:

Good deeds and evil deeds are not equal. Defend with that which is best — then behold, fa'idhā, all of a sudden, the one who had enmity for you and for whom you had enmity may become like the most intimate friend. And only those who are patient will receive it. And only those with a great share of goodness will receive it.

We ask Allah that He allows us to benefit from the words of Allah. We ask Allah that He allows us to find solutions to our problems in the Book of Allah. We ask Allah that He grants us conviction and yaqeen — that the solution to the world's problems and our own personal problems, be they related to this world or the next, lie only in the Book of Allah and the explanations of our beloved Habib Mustafa ﷺ. We ask Allah to allow us to leave this gathering with our sins forgiven, replaced with good deeds, enjoying the mercy and grace of Allah, and with the faith in our hearts being rejuvenated.

The Principle of Da'wah — Wisdom and Hikmah

This verse we discussed last week — Allah says: for not equal are the good deeds and the evil deeds, so repel their evildoing with that which is best in the sight of Allah. Then, behold, the one who had enmity for you may become like the most intimate friend.

Last week, the majority of the time was spent on da'wah — on the responsibility of da'wah that we all have as followers of the last Prophet ﷺ. Allah is explaining to us further that da'wah is the inheritance of the prophets. And da'wah requires a certain principle. If a person does not follow the principle, then many, many mistakes will happen.

Any logical person will agree that good and bad are not equal — and your intellect supports that. For example, if you find a person who is stealing, you ask him: "You're stealing from people, you're defrauding people — how would you like it if someone defrauded your mother, defrauded your father, defrauded you?" He'll say, "No, this is no good." His ʿaql will tell him that this doesn't make sense. Similarly, whatever the deen has asked us to stay away from, has made harām for us — it is harām for others to do to us as well. The deen has made it harām for us to steal, so it is harām for others to steal from us. The deen has made it harām for us to attack someone's honor, backbite someone, steal from someone — then it is harām for others to do the same with us.

The Prophet's ﷺ Example with the Man Who Asked Permission for Zinā

Nabī ﷺ gives us a powerful example of da'wah. A man comes to the Prophet ﷺ and says:

"Give me permission for zinā." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22211)

It is remarkable that this incident happened at all — the fact that the man could have just done it, but instead he came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked permission. And it is narrated, and we are listening to it 1,400 years later. There is so much blessing in it that we can learn these lessons.

So the man came and said, "Give me permission." The Prophet ﷺ could have gotten very upset, very angry, could have attacked him — "How dare you, you have no shame, you come to me and ask me for permission for this?" Imagine how any of us would respond. But the Prophet ﷺ, instead of getting angry, flipped it. He asked him: "Would you like someone to do this action with your relatives?" And the Prophet ﷺ started mentioning his relatives — his sister, his daughter, his mother, his wife. Would he mind if someone committed this sin with them? The man said, "Absolutely not." Because whatever you don't like for yourself, you won't like it for others — that is what the ʿaql says. And you are doing it to someone who is someone else's mother, someone else's sister, possibly someone else's wife, someone else's daughter.

So the Prophet ﷺ explained it. And this man got up, and said that the thing he now hated the most was zinā — because now anytime this thought came to him, he linked it to his own relatives, and that made him feel very disgusted. The Prophet ﷺ then said:

"Dislike what Allah has disliked, and love for your brother what you love for yourself." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22211)

The man understood. He said:

"If I ever intended to even look at anyone, I would immediately remember my own relatives — my mother, my sister, my wife." (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22211)

So the deen requires wisdom and hikmah.

The Masjid Must Welcome All — Including Children

Recently I was traveling somewhere, and after Jum'ah one of the brothers came to me. I was speaking about family, the importance and the role of the masjid, and the family, and so forth. The brother mentioned: "SubhānAllāh, this is a really pertinent talk, because our masjid is not open to kids. I have a three-year-old, and there are no programs for them. And if they come, immediately everyone gets upset that they're making noise."

Obviously, the kids are going to make noise. So we have to have a separate arrangement — a separate place for them to sit, a separate play area, or a separate prayer area for them. The masājid need to be aware of this: if we need children to fall in love with the masjid, we need their parents to bring them — but we also have to have a proper arrangement for them.

SubhānAllāh, if a person does not make people feel welcome, naturally they will leave the masjid. And there are a thousand other places that are trying to welcome people — that will say, "Come our side, we'll take care of you." So it is very important that, while we are protecting the sanctity of the masjid and the sanctity of the deen, we do it in a wise manner.

Imām al-Ghazālī on Shaytān Deceiving Through "Speaking the Truth"

Imām al-Ghazālī's book, Bidāyat al-Hidāyah, contains a beautiful statement. He says that sometimes shaytān is the one who motivates you, and says: أَظْهِرِ الْحَقَّ — "Speak the truth." But in reality, this truth is غَيْرُ مَحَلِّهِ — it is the wrong time and the wrong place. By speaking so-called the truth — "Hey kid, stay quiet! What's wrong with you? Get out from here!" — that may be the truth, but it might not be the appropriate time.

I heard a painful, painful, painful story of a born Muslim, a hāfiz al-Qur'ān, who had essentially left Islam. His wife was still Muslim and sent their child to a masjid for a Qur'ān class. The father had given the child a name that sounded non-Muslim. But it was a tug of war between the wife who was still Muslim and her hāfiz husband who was no longer Muslim. So the teacher — and this can happen to any of us — said something about the child's name. "What kind of ajeeb name is that?" The child started crying, went home, and told his father. The father said, "See? That's it. I told you there's no good in Islam." And the next day he never let his son come back.

I was just so heartbroken when I found out about this story. SubhānAllāh. How are you going to answer Allah on the Day of Judgment? The father had already left Islam. You had one chance — the kid came — and just because you didn't like how his name sounded, you made fun of him. He cried, went home, and that was it. He never came back to the masjid again. We don't even know where he is now. How many hundreds of cases like this must be happening?

So this is what Imām al-Ghazālī is talking about in Bidāyat al-Hidāyah — do not allow shaytān to deceive you in the name of speaking the truth. There is a place to speak the truth. And there is a way to speak the truth. If you speak at the wrong time, in the wrong place, with the wrong tone, instead of helping the cause, you will destroy it. The purpose was to connect that person to the house of Allah. And instead, they say, "I am never going to come back here again."

If we had a poll across the United States and beyond — in India, Pakistan, England, everywhere — I have met so many people who tell me their brother or sister is no longer a Muslim. It is such an unfortunate, common thing now. What happened? A bad experience in the masjid.

If you look at everyone who is hardcore feminist, hardcore modernist, hardcore progressive — everyone has got a story. The way they're acting is a response to something, some so-called trauma that happened. Now, that may not be traumatic for me or for you — alhamdulillāh, good for us. But everyone is built differently. It depends on their background.

When I was telling you about my journey overseas — if you were to see these young kids in orphanages and tents in the middle of the desert, they're built out of steel, built out of iron, built out of titanium. The smallest of those things — a thousand of what they go through would make our children go through depression. People cutting their wrists, people trying to commit suicide. "I didn't get the bicycle I wanted. My mom said this. My dad said this." WAllāhi, I'm not exaggerating — this is happening so much in our community. We have to accept it.

But if I go tell that kid: "Hey, you're cutting your wrist — shame on you! Look at that kid in the middle of the desert with a smile on his face — toughen up!" It doesn't work. It doesn't work. There is a way. Yes, in a general talk, we should be inspired by the level of fortitude and strength those people show. But I cannot speak to a patient in that manner. So there is a way we need to speak to people. People are not the same.

So Imām al-Ghazālī says: do not allow shaytān to mislead you in this frenzy to speak the truth. Because there is a place, a time, and a method for speaking the truth.

The Prophet's ﷺ Wisdom with the Bedouin in the Masjid

I remember a brother who got very excited. He was a born Muslim who became what they call "born again" — very gung-ho. He started giving fatwā all the time, though he was not a student of knowledge, had never studied the deen for even a week or a month. Every time: "Shaykh, this is harām, that's harām. Go after the imam. You should be here 45 minutes before Jum'ah." And in the middle of the khutbah, he would stand up and start giving fatāwā while the khātib was speaking. The justification? Adh-hir al-haqq — "Speak the truth." Later I found out: where is this brother? They said he had completely left the deen. This is what happens — shaytān riles you up, people push you away, you get kicked out of the masjid.

This is what we have to learn: the hikmah. There is no one who loves the masjid or the deen more than Rasūlullāh ﷺ. You cannot even be a Muslim if you don't believe that. The Prophet ﷺ saw a Bedouin urinating in the masjid. The masjid at that time was not clearly marked — no walls, no doors — and the man was an outsider who didn't know where the boundary of the masjid started and ended. So he began to relieve himself. The ṣaḥābah got very upset. But the Prophet ﷺ told the ṣaḥābah to let him finish — because if they made him stop mid-way, there would be urine all over the floor, and what benefit would that be? After he finished, instead of telling the ṣaḥābah to clean it up, the Prophet ﷺ himself picked up a bucket and went to clean the area. When the ṣaḥābah saw him, they ran to help. Look at the hikmah — there is no one who cares more about the sanctity of the masjid than the Prophet ﷺ, yet look at the wisdom with which he handled the situation. He then explained that the masjid is only for the dhikr of Allah and the remembrance of Allah. And what happened? That Bedouin became a diehard, ready to give his life for Rasūlullāh ﷺ.

This is an example of sayyi'ah — when a person is doing something wrong, repel it with something good, and a person's heart will melt. People have become accustomed to sin. It is like an addiction. Now you are asking them to leave that addiction. And if you do it in a very harsh manner, with a harsh tongue — leaving an addiction is already hard enough, and then you say it harshly — it is two difficulties together. It will be very difficult for him to leave that sin. This is the hikmah and wisdom we need to incorporate while giving da'wah.

Learning Wisdom — From the Scholars and Their Letters

Many times a person wants to give da'wah to a non-Muslim, and what happens — we rush it. SubhānAllāh, there was a brother who worked here as a janitor. An overexcited, zealous dā'ī took him and gave him the shahādah — the man really didn't know what he was doing, he just said it. The next day he was so perturbed and angry. He said, "What in the world happened? The guy just made me say the kalima!" So we had to calm him down. The point is: there is a proper uslūb for da'wah, and we cannot rush it. Being overly zealous in anything ruins it. It has to be with hikmah and wisdom.

Where do you learn hikmah from? I wish there was a tablet for it — there isn't. That is why the Qur'ān says:

Whoever has been given wisdom has been given immense goodness. And the opposite is true — you could have a lot of knowledge, but if you don't have wisdom, you are missing out big time. This is something we all need to ask Allah for: not just knowledge, but wisdom as well. Even with little knowledge, a wise person can do wonders.

First, ask Allah for wisdom. Second, learn wisdom by watching wise people, spending time with wise people, and reading the books of wise people. That is why there is a whole genre called مَكَاتِيب — letters. The letters of scholars. When students write to them with problems and the scholars respond. These are available: the letters of Mawlānā Ashraf ʿAlī Thānwī, the letters of Mawlānā Ilyās, the letters of Mawlānā Yūsuf, the letters of Mawlānā Amāl Ḥasan, the letters of Mawlānā Abul Ḥasan ʿAlī Nadwī, the letters of Qārī Ṭayyib Sāhib. So many scholars, their letters are saved — hundreds of them, more than enough. When you read them, you see how each scholar responded to a specific situation. It's like case studies in law school or medical school. All of us go through similar situations. If you read enough of these, you'll start getting a sense of how to deal with situations that arise in life.

So when you have a طَلَب — a desire for something — don't sit back and say, "I don't even know where to start from." Go to the masjid, the madrasah, the seminary, the mashāyikh, the ʿulamā — ask them. When you ask them, inshāAllāh, they will guide you to the right answer.

Repelling Evil with Goodness — Real-Life Stories

In your dealings with one another: if someone mistreats you, respond not in a similar manner but in a very soft and beautiful manner that will shock them. If someone at a gas station calls you names and starts swearing, and you instead respond with a big smile and say, "God bless you, I hope you have a beautiful day — whatever is stressing you out, I pray to the Almighty that He removes your stress" — they are just dumbfounded. They have no idea how to react. Because they were throwing insults, and you responded with something they never expected.

There are so many stories I can tell you of this. One brother, SubhānAllāh, told me his dad owned a convenience store. A regular customer would come for cigarettes, swear at his dad, and call him all sorts of names. The dad was so accustomed to it, he just gave him his cigarettes and took his money. The son couldn't take it. He sat down with the customer and said: "Why are you speaking to my dad like this? Why?" The man had misgivings from 9/11 and various other things. They started talking — for about four to five hours. At the end of the conversation, the man's mind was clean. His heart was clean. He realized: "Okay, these guys are not evil. There's something wrong with me."

A few weeks later — look at how barakah came — there was an armed robbery in that same store. The dad was there. And that very non-Muslim who used to swear at him happened to be there buying his cigarettes. When he saw the store being robbed, he jumped in and was able to overpower the aggressor and save this man's life. The son told me this story himself. SubhānAllāh — you realize the barakah of what the Qur'ān teaches us. That you repel evil with goodness, and right here in this world, this is what you call waliyyun ḥamīm. Allah made this disbeliever a waliyyun ḥamīm — a most intimate friend, ready to take a bullet — because if you're working against an armed robber, you have to be ready to get shot. That's what happened. Think about it: within a few weeks, Allah made this disbeliever a waliyyun ḥamīm for him.

Another brother told me: he was filling up gas, his wife went inside the station to get something. A guy pulls up, starts swearing at him and his wife. He felt unsafe, but said: "Okay, let me follow the deen." He walked over and said, "My friend, what's wrong? Why are you stressed out? People don't swear just like that — there's always a reason. How can I help you?" The man was shocked. Eventually he calmed down. He said, "I lost my job. I think it's because of you immigrants, you're taking our jobs." This type of narrative is being fueled from the highest levels. The level of hatred against immigrants and people of different backgrounds is unbelievable — the dehumanization of people. You have to expect a lot of people who are angry and looking for a scapegoat.

This brother told the man: "I'm a recruiter. Why don't you give me your resume? I'll get you a job." Imagine — this is happening at a gas station. SubhānAllāh, Allah turned this man's heart completely. This is the promise of the Qur'ān: when you repel evil with goodness, the most amazing things will happen.

Now, some of us might say: "Brother, I tried." If you're truly trying, you're not trying hard enough. Or you're not sincere enough. Or you haven't done it for long enough. But we must try. You should never give up. Take the high road: whoever spoke to me ill, I am going to be nice to them.

The Weekly Practice — Reciting the Three Quls as a Gift

Last week we talked about reciting the three quls — قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ — three times each, and making the intention: "Ya Allah, give the reward of this to that person with whom there is enmity between us." I said the best gift you can give to an enemy, or someone who has enmity against you, is ṣadaqah jāriyah — reward. Even if he is living.

One brother, jazāhullāhu khayran, texted me every single day from last Tuesday to this Tuesday, saying he read قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ three times. Every single day. This is what you need to do. All of you who heard it last week but forgot — find a spiritual buddy, and say every single day: "I'm going to message you. And if I don't, then you message me." How long does it take to recite it three times? One minute. And you can use that as a gift to all those who passed away from the ummah, your parents, and for people who you feel have enmity against you, or you against them. Through the barakah of that, inshāAllāh, you will see massive change.

Those Who Are Patient — Tafsīr of Āyah 35

Allah then says:

Yet none shall attain this but those who are patient in suffering. And none shall attain this but one endowed with a magnificent share of goodness.

Allah is saying: the ability to forgive, and forget, and then go further — to repel evil with goodness — is truly hard to do. Allah Himself is saying that. This quality of being able to forgive people who have hurt you and repel it with goodness is a gift from Allah. You have to ask Allah to make you from amongst those people who can do that. Because some of us forget our timetables, forget our wife's phone number, but we cannot forget grudges — 20-year-old grudges. That is a muṣībah. You have to learn how to overcome those grudges. The world is too short, as one of my teachers would say — we barely have time to love. I don't know how people find the time to harbor grudges, hatred, and jealousy. It has a big toll on you.

Why Is يُلَقَّاهَا Mentioned Twice?

Notice here that Allah mentions يُلَقَّاهَا twice. Wherever there is a word or verb repeated, there must be a reason — there is nothing extra or superfluous in the Qur'ān. For example, in Sūrah Yūsuf, Allah says:

"I saw eleven stars, and the sun and the moon — I saw them prostrating to me." Why did Allah mention رَأَيْتُ twice? The ʿulamā explain that the first time Yūsuf (peace be upon him) saw them, they were not prostrating — it was a normal scene. Then he saw them again, and they were prostrating. Just as he saw his family — his parents and brothers — and then many years later he saw them again, while he was on the throne, and they all prostrated to him.

So here as well, يُلَقَّاهَا is mentioned twice because there are two types of gifts. First, a person must be gifted with the ability to be patient on the initial abuse — the initial verbal attack, the initial insult. Then, he must be patient in controlling his inner self. Then, he must be patient against the attack of shaytān who says, "You need to fight back! How can you stay quiet? How dare you? You need to stand up and respond!" That inner struggle — not responding — is so hard. This is called قَمْعُ الْغَيْظ — to gulp down your anger.

I once saw a scene where someone was verbally abusing a young man. His other brother — a physically much stronger young man — started crying. I later realized: this was the first time I noticed that this crying was a reaction to قَمْعُ الْغَيْظ. He wasn't crying out of sadness. He was so physically strong he could have destroyed the abuser. But he was controlling himself, and in the process of controlling his anger, tears came — a byproduct I had never witnessed before. Tears of sadness, tears of happiness, tears of anger. While gulping down the anger, tears came out as a release. That was a very powerful thing to witness.

This is what the Prophet ﷺ said:

"The strong man is not the one who can wrestle people down. Indeed, the strong person is the one who controls himself in the fit of anger." (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6114; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2609)

All those husbands, all those wives, all the mothers, fathers, sons and daughters of the ummah — listen to this hadith. If you want to be strong, before you hit the gym, learn how to control your anger. If a person cannot control his anger, he is the weakest person — because he is literally being ridden by shaytān. Shaytān has taken him for a long joy ride. May Allah protect us all from being ridden by shaytān.

Anger, Shaytān, and the Antidote

Do not underestimate the role that shaytān has in erupting fights between people. Anytime you have anger issues — anger comes from shaytān, period. I am not saying there cannot be differences of opinion, or that we cannot have a slightly heated discussion about something. But to get angry, to say things that are not right, to verbally or physically attack someone — there is no place for that in our deen. When you feel that coming within you, immediately realize that this is shaytān playing with you. Run. Go away. Leave the house, leave the room, leave the area.

Drink a glass of water. Do wuḍū. All of these things will definitely assist a person. The hadith tells us: if you are standing, sit down. If you are sitting, lie down. This will help with your blood pressure and your anger. The Prophet ﷺ saw two people fighting and said: "I know something — if he were to say what I know, he would no longer feel what he is going through." They asked: "What is that, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3282; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2610)

Anger destroys everything — our homes, our institutions, our masājid, our organizations, our countries. Whatever situation we need to handle, we need to handle it calmly.

Here is a practical piece of advice: if someone really upsets you and you want to send a voice message or a text — record it and send it to yourself on WhatsApp. Email it to yourself. The next day, review it. Listen to that voice message again. Read that text message or email and ask yourself: do you want to send this or not?

One brother who runs events said something beautiful: "I don't accept any input from my volunteers or any feedback for three days after an event. It was a great event — I don't want to hear it. It was a bad event — I don't want to hear it. Nothing until three days." Because when you comment right after the event, your emotions are so high. You are seeing things through your emotions, not through your intellect, not through data. It is a knee-jerk reaction. Three to four days later, your whole perspective changes. Many times right after an event or a class, you have these emotions built up. Days later, your entire perspective shifts.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Hastiness is from shaytān, and patient deliberation is from Allah." (Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2012)

In anger and hastiness, we end up saying and doing things we later become extremely remorseful for. We destroy ourselves and the work we are doing. We must create calmness.

Dhikr as the Primary Cure for Anger and Spiritual Diseases

One of the best ways to get calmness and control anger is the dhikr of Allah. I encourage myself and all of you to make a habit of doing dhikr — "Allāh, Allāh, Allāh" — a thousand times a day. Have a tasbīḥ, have a counter. Without even moving your lips or tongue, make a habit of doing maybe a thousand, two thousand, or three thousand — start with a thousand. Walking down the hallways at work, sitting on the bus, on the train, waiting at a stoplight — keep your counter going and remember Allah in your heart. That will bring peace and calmness to you. People will say, "Wow, what happened to you? How come you're so calm?" This is the barakah of dhikr.

My ustādh mentions students who come to him with major anger issues, lust issues, and various other issues. He says he gives them, first and foremost, dhikr. Through the dhikr of Allah, automatically many of these spiritual diseases come under control. Because when we do not do dhikr of Allah, the heart becomes the domain of shaytān. The heart is either Allah's or shaytān's. If shaytān is in there, Allah says, "I have nothing to do with it." And if you kick shaytān out and bring Allah in, shaytān says, "I'm not messing with this — this heart belongs to Allah." So dhikr of Allah is very powerful in pushing away shaytān. Spiritual diseases of lust, gluttony, love of name and fame, jealousy, hatred, rancor — all of this comes from shaytān. He builds within the nafs these tendencies and instigates them.

The "Sevens" — A Prescription for Spiritual and Emotional Healing

I saw a brother who looked very angry. I didn't ask what his issue was, but I told him: "Why don't you just do the sevens?" Seven times Sūrah al-Fātiḥah, seven times Āyat al-Kursī, seven times Sūrah Quraysh, seven times the four quls (قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ), and seven times ṣalawāt upon the Prophet ﷺ at the beginning and seven at the end. Blow it into water and drink it, blow over your hands and wipe over your body. Do this three to five times a day. SubhānAllāh, the next day I asked him, "How are you feeling?" He said, "The same." I said, "You cannot be feeling the same — I can see your face is completely different from yesterday. Anger was dripping before, and now it's not." He said, "Actually, I don't feel angry anymore." Continue for a few more days. But you cannot discuss the problem when you are in a fit of rage.

Most of the time, anger toward a parent, a spouse, a child, a sibling, is misplaced. The actual issue may be one small thing that happened long ago. But you are still firing up about it 20 years later — getting bloodshot eyes, face going red — every single time you remember it. That is not acceptable for your own health. Something that happened 10, 15 years ago should not be able to set you off every time you recall it. For that, therapy may also be needed. But alongside that, try the sevens. By the third or fourth day, with the permission of Allah and with conviction, this problem will subside.

Anger, sadness, fear, embarrassment — these are natural human emotions. When shaytān comes, he overdoes them. Sleep is a normal biological need. Food is a normal biological need. Intimacy is a normal biological need. But when you overdose on any of these, that is shaytān at work. So even for normal biological needs — when they go beyond what is normal — the solution, among many solutions, is the dhikr of Allah and reading the Qur'ān. Āyat al-Kursī, Sūrah al-Fātiḥah, the four quls, and the verses of the Manzil — these have full connection with repelling shaytān.

Shaytān's Role in Emotions — Qur'ānic Evidence

Fear is a normal phenomenon. But too much fear — that is from shaytān. Allah says in the Qur'ān:

Shaytān promises you poverty and commands you toward evil. When you are asked to give in the path of Allah, shaytān makes you fear poverty — making you stare at your bank balance, afraid that if you give, you will lose everything. To be mindful of your spending is fine, but this level of paralyzing fear comes from shaytān.

I heard an inspiring story about a sister at a fundraiser. She had exactly one thousand dollars and eighty-six cents in her bank account. Her father had just been diagnosed with cancer and was in surgery that very day. The fundraiser called for donations of a thousand dollars on behalf of a loved one, with everyone making du'ā. She gave her entire thousand dollars and asked them to make du'ā for her father. Afterwards, the surgeons — needing a second and third set of eyes — could not believe how the cancer had disappeared. This was mentioned in front of thousands of people. SubhānAllāh. This is the power of ṣadaqah when given with yaqeen. On the other hand, a man with eleven million dollars may not be able to give a thousand if he does not trust in Allah. That is how shaytān works — "You have eleven million, but what if you get a lawsuit for twelve million?"

The Two Men — A Tale of Yaqeen and Fear of Dunya

I remember when I was teaching, many years ago, almost two decades ago. There were two kids. One was memorizing so well over the summer — I felt he was ready for a full-time ḥifẓ program. The other had all sorts of problems — couldn't memorize, not motivated. At the end of the summer, both their fathers came.

The first father was a high-level specialist, drove an expensive car, lived in a beautiful mansion. I told him: "Your son is doing excellent. He memorized so much this summer. Honestly, he is good material for ḥifẓ — within two years or less, inshāAllāh, he could finish." The father said: "No, no, no — I can't. If I put him into ḥifẓ, he's going to fall behind in school." I said: "Fall behind in what? Find me a ḥifẓ student who finishes ḥifẓ al-Qur'ān and falls three years behind — they go exactly into the same school year they are supposed to." But he kept saying, "But maybe, but maybe." What was the underlying fear? We are worried about his dunyā. We are afraid that if he falls behind because of studying Qur'ān for one year, he will lose out on money. I felt so sad for this kid. He didn't memorize the Qur'ān and left.

The next father came — his son really didn't want to study and was struggling to memorize. This father worked in a factory, earning eight or nine dollars an hour. He lived in a tiny house and drove a decades-old car. He asked, "How is my son doing?" I said, "Not really well — he's not interested." And the father said: "Listen, I don't care how he is doing. Please take him — make him a ḥāfiz, make him an ʿālim." I was taken aback. He then told me: "I work in a factory. I get paid minimum wage. My wife gets paid minimum wage. We live in a tiny house. We have little education. But alhamdulillāh, not a day goes by that we don't have food on the table — Allah is taking care of us. While we don't have much deen, Allah takes care of us. If my son becomes a ḥāfiz and ʿālim — is Allah going to let him starve? I have full conviction: Allah will take care of my son. Allah takes care of people who are not even following the deen. Why would Allah not take care of my son who is going to memorize and teach the Qur'ān?"

Look at the contrast. That man had everything but his heart was full of fear. This man had nothing but his heart was full of yaqeen. And that is what the Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever makes the dunya his primary concern, Allah will place poverty before his eyes, scatter his affairs, and he will not receive from the dunya except what was already written for him. But whoever makes the ākhirah his intention, Allah will place richness in his heart, bring his affairs together, and the dunya will come to him while it is subdued." (Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 4105; classified as ṣaḥīḥ)

Whoever's concern is the dunyā, Allah will put poverty right between his eyes. He may have a million in his bank account, but he is constantly thinking he is going to become poor. That is his punishment. He will always be chasing the dunyā and never have enough. Number two, Allah will scatter all his affairs. And number three, after all that running — from this business to that business, this investment to that investment — in the end, he will only get exactly what was already written for him. Not one grain extra.

On the flip side, whoever's intention is the ākhirah — three gifts. First: Allah will make richness dwell in his heart. Second: Allah will bring all his affairs together — his life will be organized, he has a mission and a purpose. Third: the dunyā will come to his feet, subdued and disgraced. He'll say, "Enough, I don't want it" — and the dunyā will beg to be taken. This is what you see with the mashāyikh: people constantly giving them gifts and money, and they take it and give it away. People gifting them expensive watches and pens, and they pass it along immediately. "What am I supposed to do with it? I only have space for one." The dunyā comes to them, and they keep sending it away.

Shaytān's Plans — Exposed by the Qur'ān

Now we come to understanding shaytān's role in messing with our emotions — fear, sadness, anger. These are natural human emotions, but overdoing them comes from shaytān. Another place in the Qur'ān, Allah says:

Shaytān uses his allies to intimidate you. That is exactly what is happening today — so many comments against Islam online, trying to instill fear into the hearts of Muslims across the globe. These are أَوْلِيَاءُ الشَّيْطَانِ — the allies of shaytān, inspired by him. Too much fear, too much anger, too much sadness — all of these come from shaytān. If you are emotionally distraught or imbalanced, the solution is the dhikr of Allah.

Shaytān made a bold claim to Allah:

"By Your honor, Ya Allah, most definitely I am going to mislead all human beings — except Your chosen servants. I cannot touch them." So Iblīs has shared his game plan with us. Allah is giving us a cheat sheet. He said:

"I will come at them from the front, from behind, from the right, and from the left — and You will find that most of them are not grateful." Notice he did not mention above or below. The ʿulamā explain: above is the direction from which Allah's mercy descends, where we raise our hands in du'ā — shaytān cannot attack from there. And below — the state of sujūd, when we place our head on the ground in prostration — that is the state where shaytān cannot attack us. But in every other state — from the front, the back, the right, the left — shaytān may get to us. So the state of du'ā with hands raised, and the state of sujūd — those are our greatest shields.

And the crux: وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَاكِرِينَ — "You will find that the majority of them are not grateful." The biggest weapon of shaytān is to make us ungrateful for our blessings. Because that is exactly what he himself did — he became ungrateful and went to hell. And he wants the rest of us to follow. Shukr is one of the greatest protections from shaytān.

This is something I witnessed on my recent trip overseas — the level of shukr these people showed, the constant الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ عَلَى كُلِّ حَالٍ — every boy, girl, orphan, widow kept repeating it. Even the lady who hadn't eaten for 12 hours, walking around with her severely autistic 26-year-old son, suffering multiple medical illnesses — even in that state, she was saying: "Ya Allah, You've been so kind. I'm not going to complain. You usually give me lunch and dinner. Today has just been a long, tough day." And when I was able to give her some food and money, she made shukr to Allah, saying: "Alhamdulillāh, Allah has given me money for dinner and something for medicine as well."

We realize who the losers are — we are the losers. We have every credit card in our wallets and still the level of ingratitude we show to Allah is immense. When you find yourself ungrateful for the blessings you have, understand that shaytān is taking you for a ride.

Shaytān Sits on the Straight Path

Then Iblīs told Allah:

"O Allah, I am going to sit to mislead them on the straight path." This is a very important āyah. It means that shaytān is not sitting in the bar, not sitting in the club — shaytān is sitting in the masjid. When you are not following the deen, he doesn't bother you. But when you intend to go to the masjid — he'll meet you at the garage. He'll meet you as you're grabbing your keys. At the stoplight. He'll meet you ten times to derail you from going to the masjid. When you arrive, he'll try to make you late for ṣalāh. During ṣalāh, he'll come a hundred times, making you remember things you'd never thought of before. After ṣalāh, he'll make you forget your dhikr and du'ā, get you involved in talking, forget to pray your sunnah and witr. Then he'll make you rush out instead of sitting in the dars.

People praying in the back row, rushing out, standing up — if you ask them where they're going, most of the time they don't have an answer. But the same person will sit for an hour joking and drinking chai. Shaytān wants us to come late to ṣalāh and rush out. Instead, we should come early, concentrate in our prayer, pray our sunnah and nawāfil, make up our qaḍā ṣalāh, sit in dhikr and du'ā.

Many students realize this — when you were not following the deen, life seemed easy. Then you started coming to study, and suddenly you have a whole bunch of new issues you never had before. Where did these new issues come from? When you were not following the deen, shaytān didn't bother — he figured you'd go to hell on your own. But now you're coming to the deen, and he's alarmed. So understand this: don't think it's a coincidence that every Tuesday something comes up to stop you. Allah already shared shaytān's game plan with us. He was foolish enough to reveal his strategy. Let us not be even greater fools and fall for it when we already know what it is.

The Command to Seek Refuge — Āyah 36

But should there be any insinuation by shaytān — instigating you to not forgive and forget, but instead to rebel, to get angry, to retaliate — then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, it is He who is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Shaytān is whispering in your ear to say this and say that. Understand that Allah can hear those whispers. Allah is aware of them. And Allah knows how you are responding. Make sure you respond in a positive manner.

The Signs of Allah — Night, Day, Sun, and Moon

Allah asks: what is shaytān? He is a makhlūq — a creation. He is not stronger than the Creator. We need to be more in awe of Allah than of shaytān. Allah is the One who created shaytān. And He wants us to seek His protection against shaytān, because shaytān is an enemy that cannot be killed, cannot be cut up, cannot be vanquished. There is no du'ā in the Qur'ān or hadith that asks Allah to destroy shaytān — because that is not meant to happen in this world. The only du'ā for shaytān is:

"Ya Allah, I cannot handle him. If You leave me at his mercy, he will destroy me in a thousand ways." Shaytān is an enemy you can only be protected from by hiding behind Allah — by seeking refuge in Allah.

I'm going to share a personal story. One morning I tried to read Sūrah Yāsīn. I read three portions, got distracted dropping off my kids to school, started again — two or three sections — didn't finish. At the madrasa preparing for class, started again — didn't finish. All the way until Ẓuhr I had not finished Sūrah Yāsīn. During my Ẓuhr sunnah I said, "That's it — four rakāts, I'm going to read it now." And I began Sūrah Yāsīn. After a few āyāt — I am in rukūʿ. Why did I make rukūʿ? I had full intention to complete the sūrah. Second rakāt — again, after a few āyāt, I'm in rukūʿ. I had to sit down with Allah and say, "Ya Allah, I'm sorry. I honestly cannot even read Sūrah Yāsīn without Your help. If You don't protect me from shaytān, I can't even read it after trying ten times today."

Allah was showing me — and all of us — that you cannot even say أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ unless Allah allows you to say it. That is the power. When you think of shaytān playing these tricks — distracting a sane human being who knows what he wants to do, 25 times over, to the point of going into rukūʿ for no reason — understand: imagine how powerful Allah is. Shaytān is one tiny creation of Allah. He's powerful in his own way, but he is nothing in front of Allah. Allah is going to send him to the deepest part of hell.

So we should not fear shaytān as much as we need to be in awe of Allah. And what does Allah want from us? To turn to Him and say: "Allah, I cannot lift a finger without Your permission. I cannot say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ without Your permission. I cannot perform ṣalāh without Your permission. I cannot give a dollar in ṣadaqah without Your permission." Allah wants us to become truly humble servants.

Think about how many things you and I want to do every day but are not able to do. There have been months when we haven't been able to do something we used to always do. That is a sign: you are not able to do any good deed of your own will. Whatever good deed you do, it is only because Allah is inspiring you and allowing you. And the day Allah chooses to take back His tawfīq, you won't be able to do a single thing. We stay away from any specific sin not because we are special, not because of our good upbringing. We stay away because Allah protects us. As soon as that protection is taken away, we would be the biggest sinners. This conviction has to settle into every one of us: we are 100% the most humble, smallest servants of Allah.

The Night, the Day, and Their Connection to Our Deen

So shaytān is one creation of Allah. Now look at the other creations — اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ — from amongst Allah's wondrous signs are the night, the daylight, the sun and the moon. Look at every sign of Allah and think about how powerful and beautiful He is. The fall colors, the foliage around us, every sunrise and sunset — these are massive signs of Allah pointing toward His greatness and that He is absolutely in control.

What's so unique today: scholars speak about Allah's greatness, the purpose being to make us fall in love with Allah. But instead we become fans of the scholar. The purpose of his talk was to make you a fan of Allah. Don't worship the sign — worship the Creator of the sign.

Night and day are very closely connected with our deen. Allah says:

"I swear by the night when it encompasses everything. I swear by the day when it spreads all across. And the fact that He created male and female. Indeed, your efforts are different." Look at the beautiful connection: night and day are two creations of Allah, and male and female are two creations of Allah. Night and day are two parts of a 24-hour cycle; man and woman are two parts of the human being's existence. But night and day are as different as — well — night and day. The night has a completely different waẓīfah. Allah says:

"Allah made the night a garment for you to rest in, and made the day a time for you to work." So too men and women are part of the same human race but vastly different in their responsibilities and what they provide. You will not keep comparing and pitting the night against the day. They each have their own role. And when the natural order is disrupted — through 24-hour electricity, overnight shifts, sleeping all day — it goes against the fiṭrah. Similarly, we should not force women to act like men or men to act like women. They have their own separate roles, and they should be allowed to excel in those roles that Allah has created for us — the gender roles that have been traditionally established in almost all cultures across the globe. This is the system of Allah.

Allah also says:

The early morning, the late morning — that time — and then the night of stillness. Allah is revealing this verse after the Prophet ﷺ did not receive revelation for some time. Allah says: "Your Lord has not forsaken you and does not dislike you." The pause in revelation was to give the Prophet ﷺ a period of rest, because the initial revelation was so intense. The Prophet ﷺ came back asking his wife to wrap a blanket around him — زَمِّلُونِي، دَثِّرُونِي. And you know the narration where a ṣaḥābī had a portion of his leg under the Prophet ﷺ's blessed body during revelation, and he said he felt as though an entire mountain had been placed on his leg. Imagine what the Prophet ﷺ himself experienced. Allah gave him time to recuperate, and in that time, the Prophet ﷺ began to miss and long for the Archangel Jibrīl — and for revelation. Morning and evening, work and rest — and the amazing connection between these forces of nature and the rhythm of revelation itself.

And Allah says:

Allah has made the night and the day two signs. He has made the sign of the night dim and the sign of the day visible, so that you may seek bounty from your Lord and know the count of years and the reckoning. Through the sun we keep track of the hours of the day — the sundial — and through the moon we keep track of the months. How much of our ibādah is connected to these two creations? As Allah says:

"They ask you about the new moons — say: they are fixed times for people and for Ḥajj." The crescent moon is used to calculate time for the people and for Ḥajj, for Ramaḍān, and for other aspects of the year. So the night, the day, the sun, and the moon are intrinsically connected with our ibādah. But that does not mean you worship the sun or the moon.

Even though they are so intrinsically connected with your deen, do not prostrate to the sun or the moon — instead, bow down to Allah who created them, if it is truly Him alone that you worship. We do not worship the Prophet ﷺ either, even though he is the greatest link between us and Allah. We worship Allah alone.

We ask Allah to grant us a deep level of appreciation and maʿrifah of Allah, to allow us to focus on His signs, and to be fully engrossed in His greatness. There is so much more that can be said — if Allah wills, we will add more next time. Otherwise, we will continue with the next āyāt.

Questions & Answers

What should we compromise when getting married?

Ideally, when getting married, do not compromise in values, principles, and beliefs. But if you are already married, you may have to cave in on certain things for the sake of the family. But for your own self, do not compromise. You cannot force another adult to change — but you yourself must remain strong in your deen.

Should the mahr be paid immediately?

You should ideally pay it immediately, because you do not want to be sleeping with a debt on your head. And that is why: do not take on a mahr that you cannot afford and cannot pay for ten years. Take on a mahr that you can pay soon.

If someone accidentally drops the Qur'ān, what is the etiquette?

The person kisses the Qur'ān, seeks forgiveness from Allah, and places it back in its appropriate place.

I've been forgetting which rakāt I'm in and what surah I've read. Any du'ās for memory?

If this recently started happening and you are young and have not always had this problem — you do not have a memory issue, you have an issue of waswasa from shaytān. Do the sevens.

You talked about anger coming from shaytān — what about righteous anger, for example over what is happening in Gaza?

Of course there is a place for righteous anger. But if you are translating that by getting angry at your wife, or at your kids, because you are angry about what is happening in Gaza — that is from shaytān. You have to know how to channel that anger appropriately and in its proper place.

Any tips for someone struggling with public speaking at work?

Keep on reading that. (Quran 20:25–28) And read: "Ya Allah, Ya Wahhāb, Ya Fattāh."

Can I keep a du'ā journal where I write my thoughts to Allah and record my du'ās?

Yes, that would be very beautiful. You should do that.

If my teacher is wrong, can I talk back to him?

Talking back to your teacher is definitley wrong, regardless. If you believe your teacher is making a mistake, the question itself needs to be reframed: how do I respectfully approach this? It depends on what the issue is. If a non-Muslim teacher says something against the deen while teaching you math — ignore it, say أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ, and move on. You are not taking your deen from them.

Is there a limit to tolerating other Muslims who are openly sinning?

We don't need to judge anyone. As they say: why do we look down upon others when the only difference is that we sin in a different manner? All of us sin. He is sinning like that, you are sinning like something else — that's it. What excuse do you have for your own sins? No one here can say they don't commit sins — and if you do say that, that itself is a sin. All of us commit sins every day, often without realizing it. So there is no reason to look down upon anyone. That itself is a sin. Your job is to judge yourself, not others.

Can I remove trees from the front and backyard of my house?

Ideally, we do not want to get rid of trees — they are good for the planet and for your home. But if there is a serious reason, then I would suggest at least giving the adhān a few times first, then proceed with bismillāh. There are cases where people within our own community cut trees and experienced strange problems afterwards, possibly related to jinn. So at least give some kind of announcement before proceeding.

Can the recitation of the three quls for removing enmity also be done for non-Muslims?

Yes — when you recite قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ, you can make the niyyah: "Ya Allah, through the barakah of this recitation, also remove the hatred that a non-Muslim may have against me." Through the barakah of the Qur'ān you are reciting, inshāAllāh.

What are the "sevens" exactly?

The sevens are: seven times ṣalawāt upon the Prophet ﷺ, seven times Sūrah al-Fātiḥah, seven times Āyat al-Kursī, seven times Sūrah Quraysh, seven times the four quls (قُلْ يَا أَيُّهَا الْكَافِرُونَ, قُلْ هُوَ اللَّهُ أَحَدٌ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ الْفَلَقِ, قُلْ أَعُوذُ بِرَبِّ النَّاسِ), and seven times ṣalāt upon the Prophet ﷺ at the end. After each of the seven recitations, blow on your hands and wipe your body. Blow on a bottle of water. Once you finish all nine things, that is one set. Drink the water, keep adding to it and blowing on it. Try to do three to five sets per day, for as many days as needed until the issue is resolved.

What du'ā can be recited for disobedient children?

(Quran 25:74) Recite this in every ṣalāh, after every ṣalāh.

How do you know if it's shaytān or your own nafs stopping you from good deeds?

It is usually a mixture of both. When you are constantly doing your dhikr, you are pushing back against shaytān and against your nafs simultaneously.

What does a good connection with the masjid look like in terms of prayer?

You try to pray as often as possible in the masjid — at least ʿIshā and Fajr. During the rest of the day when you are at work or school, try to pray your ṣalāh in jamāʿah.

How do you make the ākhirah your focus while still being ambitious in the dunya?

No one said you cannot achieve in the dunya. The goal of all the dunya that you have is to serve the ākhirah. Open ten stores if you wish — but in the process, your connection to the masjid, to the Book of Allah, to gatherings of knowledge and dhikr, your character, the time you spend with family — none of that has decreased one bit. Your ṣadaqah has only increased. And you have a specific goal — not just to make money, but to serve the deen. Being ambitious in the dunya is very good, as long as the niyyah is for the ākhirah.

On taking bay'ah with a shaykh

The purpose of bay'at tawbah is that a person chooses a mentor and says: "I want you to be my mentor. I'm your mentee. I want to repent at your hands and I want you to look after me." Just like you have a personal doctor — a murabbī is your spiritual physician. And this is, I would say, one of the biggest issues in our community — we have no mentor, no shaykh, no murabbī. So we do whatever we feel like. One day the whole night in ibādah, the next night the whole night in sin. There is no iʿtidāl, no moderation. When a person does not have a mentor, these major mistakes start happening — doing ibādah out of personal whim rather than proper guidance. This is not true ibādah.

Announcements

There is a program for reverts this Saturday at 11 a.m. for men and women — revert brothers and sisters. Please spread the word all across the Chicagoland area.

Additionally, one of our senior ʿulamā of South Africa passed away earlier today — Qārī Ismāʿīl Desai, raḥimahullāh. He was the principal of Madrasa Dawatul Haqq in Mzinto, South Africa — well known for its ḥifẓ program. He was from the awliyā of Allah. We ask Allah to illuminate his grave with nūr. We ask Allah not to test us and the ummah through the passing of these scholars. We ask Allah to protect us from any fitnah that we were protected from through the presence of such ʿulamā. May Allah not put us into fitnah after their passing. May Allah make his thousands of students a ṣadaqah jāriyah for him. And may Allah grant all of us a level of love, affection, and connection with the awliyā and the ʿulamā. Āmīn Rabbil ʿĀlamīn.

This Thursday, October 31st, we have our youth night — "Intellectual and Spiritual Identity." Open to boys and girls ages 5 to 17. Please register online at masjiddeas.org/youth-night and spread the word in your neighborhoods.

We are also excitedly looking forward to the Winter Intensive on marriage, raising children, and related topics — with amazing male and female speakers, alhamdulillāh. Please register at masjiddeas.org/winter. Do not wait — register today and spread the word.

Books available today include Healthy Muslim Marriage, When Hearing Becomes Listening, and With the Heart in Mind — on the emotional intelligence and prophetic listening of the Prophet ﷺ. The sisters' weekly tafsīr is happening on-site tomorrow, Thursday, at Ẓuhr ṣalāh. If you do not receive community messages on WhatsApp, please scan the QR code to stay connected with all programs.

Closing Du'ā

Oh Allah, we ask You to protect all of our intentions, protect all of our du'ās, protect all of our goals, and allow us to achieve much, much more than we have ambitions for. Make every one of us, Ya Allah, from amongst those who make long and beautiful du'ās at night. Oh Allah, make every one of us from amongst those who have the ability to pray with deep concentration and devotion. Oh Allah, make every one of us from amongst those who recite the Qur'ān beautifully, with full awareness that You are listening to our recitation. Ya Allah, improve our character at home and outside. Oh Allah, we ask You to grant us all the goodness that the Prophet ﷺ asked You of. We seek refuge in You from all the evil that the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge in You from.

Āmīn. Wa jazākumullāhu khayran. Wa-s-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh.