Reflect & Connect | Surah Fussilat - Ep.09 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 11/05

Opening: The Importance of Connecting to the Qur'an

Please come closer, insha'Allah, come forward. The last ayah that we covered, alhamdulillah, and just a quick little review of that — we ask Allah to allow us to benefit tremendously from this week's ayat. We ask Allah to allow us all, insha'Allah, to build our relationship, our personal relationship with this book.

May Allah allow us to fall in love with the book of Allah. May He make us amongst those who find answers to all of our societal problems and our issues in the book of Allah. Honestly, the answers are here — 100% — the answers are in the deen, but unfortunately we just do not have the ability to view it and see it.

That's why constantly people are asking, brother, what do you have to do about this? What is the solution to this societal issue and that societal issue? But the book of Allah has the answers, but a person has to have the lens to be able to see it. Like a non-Muslim who is completely blinded about tawhid, risalah, akhira — completely in shock — and you speak to him or her about it, and they are like, wow, I never imagined this perspective. This is such a unique perspective.

There is something called life in the hereafter — oh, I never thought about that. There is something called the Day of Judgment. There is something called pre-destiny. There is something called barzakh. There is something about paradise. You think about Shaytan, angels, the existence of one Allah — not two or multiple gods. All these things which, alhamdulillah, by the will of Allah, by the grace of Allah, have become something normal for us to believe in, but not necessarily normal for — of course not normal for — everyone else.

So similarly, when it comes to finding answers to tough questions of life in the book of Allah, this is not for everyone — not everyone has this. It is a gift of Allah that He gives to you, and then you will be able to find the answers in the book of Allah.

The Qur'an as a Source of Peace in Difficult Times

I remember the election that came the first time around — eight years ago, the first Trump election — and that time, not even now, but that time was even more, possibly even more, fear within the Muslim community. Everyone was very worried about what's going to happen. Tonight is an interesting night — we're discussing it as things are happening outside and votes are being counted.

I remember eight years ago, my condition when we saw people were very worried. I honestly also felt very uneasy — very uneasy — just sitting at home or at the masjid. I was feeling very uneasy. I was wondering what should I do. I don't have anything, nothing in my hands. So I decided to just do wudu, sit with a mushaf, and start reading Qur'an.

I remember that, eight years ago, when I started reading the book of Allah — I don't remember what page I opened or where I was reading — but I can tell you by the end of that session, I felt such a sense of calmness overtake me, and peace. One is the Qur'an itself — it is itmi'nan, a source of itmi'nan:

Verily, only through the remembrance of Allah will the hearts find contentment. And if you're looking properly, you will definitely find in any page you open — in that page, or the next page, or the third page after that — an answer to whatever you're going through.

This is it — this is the kalam of Allah. You will have to find something that will address your situation, on the condition that you and I are sincere. Allah will inspire you to read something that you will find answers in.

And so today here we are, sitting in the dars of tafsir — a great way to spend this one hour tonight, while they have watch parties taking place (which I don't know how that's going to help anything). This is a beautiful, honest way to spend this hour — these very critical hours — in the house of Allah, in the state of wudu, after performing Salatul Isha with jama'ah, and now sitting in a halaqah of dhikr, surrounded by angels, insha'Allah, till the Arsh.

And let's keep on reading the du'a:

O Allah, do not allow such an individual to overtake us or to be empowered over us — because of our sins — who does not fear You with regard to us, and who does not show mercy to us. O Allah, do not allow any such tyrant to rule us. Our deen teaches us everything.

The Importance of Perspective in Hardship

So when you sit, my beloved brothers — honestly, the importance of connecting to the Qur'an is that whatever type of worry and sorrow or difficulty you're going through, you'll find a solution. Today, the ummah, because of not being connected with the book of Allah — what's happening? A divorce is making a person want to take his life. A sickness is making a person want to take his life. A financial trouble is making a person want to take his life. Why are these things happening? It's because there is distance from the true meaning of the book of Allah.

Otherwise, no matter what situation comes your way, as a believer, we can never become so overwhelmed — khalas, I'm going to take my life, audhu billah — or feel like the world is coming to an end and have a fatalistic view. We cannot. We can never do this. Whatever difficulty Allah puts upon us, you roll up your sleeves and regard it as an opportunity to get closer to Him. That Allah is putting me through a difficulty so I can get close to Him. This is something you and I have to remind ourselves again and again.

The Du'a for Protection of One's Deen

Recently, a brother was getting sick a lot. So I told him this du'a:

O Allah, do not make our calamity befall our deen. That's the most important thing. He was getting ill, and I told him: I am sorry that you keep getting pains and aches, but thank Allah that it has not affected your deen — because I have still seen you praying salah here multiple times a day.

How many are they who don't suffer back pain, neck pain, head pain, foot pain — no financial difficulty, no divorce in the family, no disabled kids — but subhanAllah they've left the houses of Allah? And they don't even have an excuse. Just, "I never got around to it." That's called musiba fi deen. There are so many who had halal businesses and they've seen haram apparently making more money, riba making more money, and they turned their halal into haram. There are many, subhanAllah, whom Allah had blessed with a path to a halal spouse, and they decided to go haram. What is all this? This is musiba in deen.

So understand that the musiba in the dunya is the lightest of musibas compared to the musiba in deen. And if you have that perspective when you're going through difficulty, and you say: Have I stopped praying? No. Have I started eating haram? No. Have I started taking on haram investments? No. Do I have haram relationships? No. Allah knows that I don't listen to haram, I don't watch haram, I don't speak bad things, I don't curse, I don't backbite — man, alhamdulillah! Thank Allah for this little difficulty. Everyone has to go through difficulty. But the fact that Allah protected you from haram and allowed you to follow the Habib's sunnah — you're already so successful, you're already so blessed. Just ask Allah for istiqama.

So my point is: perspective will change when we sit with the book of Allah. Beloved brothers, Allah knows best what you all are going through in your own lives. But I implore you to — along with these Tuesday nights that we have — steadfastly hold the book.

Tadabbur: Reflecting Upon the Qur'an

Our madrasa students are sitting here. You sit — and those who are listening from home or wherever you are — understand that one thing is sitting in class and studying: today we have three pages of Qur'an tarjuma, or Tafsir al-Jalalayn, or al-Baydawi, or whatever. You're sitting in class doing your work, and insha'Allah you can benefit a lot. But what you can benefit separately is when you pick up a mushaf from the bookshelf and say: I've got a little bit of time between the adhan of Isha and the iqamah, let me open up the mushaf and read.

And when you're reading — because masha'Allah, you are students of the Arabic language — you are not just flying through it without thinking. You are stopping briefly and reciting with tadabbur, thinking about it. That is where the enjoyment will come — I promise you. When you take the book of Allah and say, Ya Allah, I've had a hard day, I'm going to look in the Qur'an and read now. Ask Allah to give you a message. This sounds maybe weird, but it's not weird, because the Qur'an — all of it — is a message for every single human being and every single jinn who goes through any type of situation.

The Qur'an is a message to all — trillions of them — in all the trillions of situations that they may find themselves in. That's what it is, because there is no other book coming after the book of Allah. So it is a risalah ila jami' al-'alamin — rahmat al-'alamin brought a message from the Lord of the worlds for the entire world. And that includes humans and jinn. Whatever situation they're going through, the Qur'an must address that situation. It has to. But we have to look at it from that lens. This is called tadabbur.

When you recite the Qur'an while reflecting on it, I promise you, it will hit you. We're blessed to have ulama who recite such beautiful tilawat — not just beautiful voices, but whose selections of what they recite in salah are many times exactly based on what's happening in the world. Those who listen and know what's being recited will make the connections. It's so beautiful.

A Story: The Morning Before Graduation in South Africa

I remember one of my final nights — the final week, the final days — I spent in South Africa in 2005. There was a horrible car accident the day before the graduation. And it was the night before the Khatm al-Bukhari, before the graduation. On that night, a horrible car accident occurred with some students who were coming to the madrasa. One of the boys was my ustad's son, my best friend's brother. He was going to graduate as first place the next day — in the morning, at 9am. And Saturday night, this accident happened.

We heard about it. I woke up to it — someone banging on my door, because I had a phone. They needed to call someone. They came banging on my door at around 3am. I got shocked. They said a car accident happened — so-and-so is hurt, one person had already passed away. SubhanAllah, between 3am and Fajr, around 5am, we started getting the news. Everyone gathered in the masjid. It was a very unique, unforgettable morning — the morning before the last day before I came back to America for good.

A half hour before Fajr, the whole masjid was packed with 600–700 people. The news was spreading, everyone was coming before Fajr salah. By that time, three people had passed away out of four. I remember Mawlana Amir — he led Fajr salah that morning. We were already shaken up, because our ustad's son had already died. I heard my ustad's wife — an elderly lady — screaming from her house. I was outside my ustad's home, and I could hear her just losing it. SubhanAllah. She couldn't believe her son died about 8 hours before he graduates as an alim.

My ustad fell down. He went to Mufti Radha al-Haqq, Mawlana al-'Uthmani — may Allah have mercy on him, who has also passed away now — and he literally collapsed in front of him. He just collapsed. He couldn't take it. SubhanAllah, Allah tested him in such a manner.

And we were in salah — and what did the Mawlana choose to recite? He was not a Mawlana at that time; he was just a madrasa student. He recited ayat from Surah Al 'Imran:

Allahu Akbar. These ayat — it's as though they were revealed for that moment. And 600 people — the whole crowd — whoever understood what was being recited, which was basically all the alim course students — everyone was just bawling, crying out loud. The masjid was filled with the echoes of ustads, staff members, people who work in the office, people who work in the kitchen, and of course all the students crying out loud.

Where Allah says: Muhammad, peace be upon him, is but a prophet — he has to go, everyone has to go. So if the Prophet, peace be upon him, has to go, then who is left? Those verses that he recited, it was just like — you knew it — whether you like it or not, you have to accept the truth. This is it. There is no bigger calamity than the loss of the Prophet, peace be upon him.

To the extent that he said — the Prophet, peace be upon him — whenever any of you go through a calamity, remember my death. He said this when he was alive. He said: when any of you go through a calamity, remember my death, because this ummah will never be afflicted by anything more challenging than my death. And if my ummah can get through my death, they'll get through anything.

The Prophet's death, peace be upon him, took place many hundreds of years ago. And now the ummah has gone through an unbelievable level of hardships after that. We are in the midst of a hardship, and Allah knows best what is yet to come. But it's important to reflect upon the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and how the ummah was able to overcome that. Because Allah, He is the one who gives you patience.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1469; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1053)

Whoever tries to remain patient, Allah will give him patience.

After Fajr salah finished, we read all of Surah Yasin, because over there everyone recites Yasin after Fajr. And then during the du'a, our honorable principal was making the du'a when someone came quickly to him and said: the fourth student has also passed away. SubhanAllah. What an incredible day. May Allah accept their martyrdom and shahada, and all those who have passed away from the ummah of Rasulullah, peace be upon him.

The reason I shared this story is this: whatever situation you're going through, please do not think that this is unprecedented. Do not think this has never happened. Do not think that you have been left in the dark as an orphan. As long as you have the book of Allah, the sunnah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and the statements of the righteous scholars — you're not an orphan. You are not left in the dark. You have solutions. You have answers.

Khair in Every Situation

I know we are in a very tough time today as election night is here, and there's so much concern and worry about which direction it goes. And Allah A'lam — honestly, it's one of those days when I genuinely feel that we don't know anything. But apparently no one sees khair anywhere. But there's got to be khair somewhere. There has to be. Khair is whatever situation Allah puts you in, for you to follow what Allah wants you to do. That's it.

Yusuf, peace be upon him, going to jail was khair for him. Yusuf, peace be upon him, going into the well was khair for him. Yusuf, peace be upon him, being accused of a relationship with the wife of al-Aziz was khair for him. Every single situation — any situation that Allah puts you through, even though it may seem the most difficult — understand there is khair in it. That's our expectation from Allah. Why? Because whatever situation Allah puts us in, it might not seem easy or good or nice. But the way you respond to that — that's what the khair is.

Imagine: someone gives you an exam. Ten people were given the same exam. And you say, this is horrible, this is crazy — I never studied this, I never heard about this. The exams are collected and you're so upset. But what happens — subhanAllah — you get one out of ten right. But the examiner says, alhamdulillah, you're successful. How? Because the goal was to throw you into deep-end material you were never taught, to see how you would solve it based on whatever little you know. And by getting one out of ten, you've actually passed — everyone else got zero. You got one out of ten. You're good to go.

All of you can think of real examples from your own lives — where you've been in a situation where you thought, subhanAllah, this is so sad. How many times you wanted to get married to someone and it didn't happen. And then afterwards you find out something about that person and you say, Allahu Akbar — I can't believe this, Allah saved me from that. How many times you wanted to go somewhere and you were not able to go, only to find out later that a car accident happened, a fire took place, a robbery took place. And you say, alhamdulillah, Allah saved me from that. This is what it is.

So my beloved brothers, don't say this is bad, that's bad. Do not curse the era. Do not curse zamana. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2246)

Allah says: Do not curse the era. For indeed I am the era. I change the night into the day and the day into the night. Let's not curse time.

We find fault in the era, while in reality the fault is in us. So let's be optimistic. Let's be positive. Whatever situation we have been placed in right now, we have to roll up our sleeves and work hard. Attach ourselves to the book of Allah and say, Ya Allah, give me the answers.

I want all of us who are sitting here — through your talab, through your desire, through your good intentions — Allah will inspire us to say beneficial things. Keep up that intention. But don't restrict it to here. Whenever you pick up the book of Allah, open it with a clear mind and say, Allah, guide me. Guide me to what I need to do in this situation.

Focusing on the Creator, Not the Creation

Allah says: focus on not the creation, but the Creator. Don't focus on the sun, don't focus on the moon, don't focus on the night, don't focus on the day, don't start worshipping them. Instead, focus on the One who created all of that. And this is the difference between a believer and a disbeliever — the believer gets infatuated by the Creator, and the disbeliever gets infatuated by the creation.

So if we love the outdoors, we should love nature. But if you just focus on taking pictures of nature and posting it — the kuffar do that too. They do it better than us. There are millions of them. They try to climb Mount Everest, they try to climb this and that. It doesn't get them anywhere. SubhanAllah, Allah is everywhere. You don't have to climb Mount Everest to find Allah. You can find Allah inside a cave too. But if you climbed a mountain and you didn't get closer to Allah, that's a problem — because you're focusing on the creation, not the Creator.

Pick up a leaf, pick up a flower, look through it, look at the seeds — how many millions of seeds. One small tiny seed in your palm. And from there, how does a 150-foot tree grow? How do you get 200 mangoes per season — the sweetest mangoes — coming out from one tiny seed? How is this happening? Where is this coming from? That's what it is. The focus is the Khaliq. Don't focus on the creation; focus on the Creator.

And if you want to look at man's creations — planes, jets, spaceships, spacecraft, buildings, technology — focus again on how Allah has given intelligence to human beings to develop such things. You have microchips, all sorts of different technologies coming out in every field. That should also force you to say, SubhanAllah, how amazing Allah is. That is the difference between a believer and a disbeliever.

Gratitude: The Du'as of the Prophet ﷺ After Eating

The Prophet, peace be upon him — when he would eat, what would he say?

All praise belongs to Allah who has fed me this food without any effort or struggle on my part. Allah is the one who fed me. And then it's reported in some narrations that when using the restroom, the following du'a would be read:

All praise belongs to Allah for three things. Number one — all praise belongs to Allah who made me taste the sweetness of this food. Number two —

وَأَبْقَى فِيَّ قُوَّتَهُ — He kept the nutrition in my body. Whatever the calories, the proteins, and so on — He kept it there. Number three —

وَدَفَعَ عَنِّي أَذَاهُ — And then Allah removed from me, through the restroom, whatever was harmful from it. Imagine if that were to stay inside — you would die. And imagine if you got no nutrition — you would also die.

Talking about tastiness — I was one day, fifteen years ago or so, down in Tennessee giving a khutbah. After the Jumu'ah talk, I was eating lunch in a masjid. A brother came up to me and he said, "Brother, thank Allah for this food — say alhamdulillah." So I said it. He says, "You don't understand." He said, "I have had some type of cancer or disease because of which surgery had to take place, and I have not been swallowing food for 20 years." He said: forget about the taste, the smell, the texture, the sweet and salty and spicy flavors. He said: I am dying to simply feel the movement of food down my throat. 20 years I have not felt that. How many of you thought about that?

You just had dinner. The gulping or the swallowing — is that something to think about? Literally, that's what the brother told me: it's been 20 years since I felt the feeling of swallowing something. I'm not even talking about taste buds right now — just that. And taste buds is another huge world. A huge, huge world. He's just talking about swallowing. So now you understand what it means:

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَذَاقَنِي لَذَّتَهُ — All praise belongs to Allah who allowed me to taste the sweetness — the sweetness of swallowing as well.

And that's what the Qur'an says about the food of Jahannam:

It does not fatten, nor does it avail against hunger. May Allah protect us from Jahannam and the food of Jahannam. Sometimes you eat unhealthy food that's not nutritious, but at least you don't feel hungry anymore. But for Jahannam — it says it's not nutritious, nor will it protect you from the pangs of hunger.

The Du'a Before Sleep

Another du'a — the Prophet, peace be upon him, would recite when going to bed:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2715)

All praise belongs to Allah who fed us, gave us drink, and sufficed us in all our needs. For how many are they who have no one to suffice for them and no one to give them shelter? Alhamdulillah, you and I have a shelter — and much, much more than a shelter.

Tawhid: Recognizing Allah as the True Doer

This is something we need to remind ourselves of — our aqidah. All blessings come to you through fellow human beings — that's the nature of dunya. You want water, a human being will give it to you. Of course, thank him. But thank Allah first — that Allah put it in his heart to look after me. That's what tawhid is. You're going to the doctor, alhamdulillah, you feel better now — as you're thanking him, first in your heart, thank Allah. Your lawyer took care of your work — as you're thanking him, thank Allah.

This is where our tawhid comes in — that all things we see happening through people, in your heart, negate it. They say people are just empty vessels; the Doer is only Allah. The Doer is only Allah. No one can lift a finger without the permission of Allah. No one can speak without the permission of Allah. Which politician can ruin my life or make my life besides Allah? Without His will, nothing can happen.

This is what you read in the stories of the ulama who were jailed in prisons — many in the past, and unfortunately, many today. Thousands have been jailed and thousands have been killed across the globe in recent times. May Allah grant freedom to those who have been unjustly jailed, and may Allah accept the shahada of those who have been killed. How did they get through these things? It is through their reliance upon Allah. Allah gave them strength. They realized that the reason I am in this jail is not because of this king. Allah just made him a vehicle to put me through a test. That's it. Whenever Allah wants me out of here, no one can stop me. Many ulama have written entire books and tafasir in jails — Allah inspired them to do that.

Tafsir: Surah Fussilat — The Signs of Allah

Angels Who Never Weary (Ayah with Sajdah)

However, if they continue to worship false gods and become arrogant against bowing to Allah alone, then they should know that those angels who are near your Lord give due exaltation to Him — non-stop, ceaselessly — by night and by day, and they never weary.

This is a reminder to all of us that Allah does not need our ibadah, does not need our tasbih. Do not ever think: I have prayed so much — how come Allah's help is not coming? Shaytan comes and tells you this. Brother, you've been praying Qunut al-Nazilah in the masjid for the past year — alhamdulillah, we have never stopped Qunut al-Nazilah for one day. Don't let Shaytan come and say, "Where is Allah's help?" Allah doesn't need you or me. This is an opportunity Allah is giving you and I to pray for our brothers and sisters and to praise Him. Allah is reminding us: if you try to make a big deal about it — guess what? I don't need you. I have angels who exalt me and praise me every single second — billions and trillions of them, whose numbers only Allah knows. And they never get tired no matter how much they do.

Some ulama mention that the introduction that Adam, peace be upon him, had with angels at the beginning was for this reason: the angels were being told that this is Prophet Adam, from whose descendants all of humanity will come, and you have to be with the believers as helpers. You need to know who these people are that you're going to be assisting.

These are angels that come in touch with us — around us. But there are, Allah knows how many — trillions of angels — who are not with us, who are not working with us in this world, who are not present in any gathering across the human globe. They are doing something else for Allah. They are doing tasbih, tahlil, tahmid. There is no interaction with the human race. Allah knows best how many they are. But the point is: Allah doesn't need me; doesn't need you. He has more than enough angels to take care of that.

This is a sajdah ayah, so insha'Allah after our tafsir we can all do sajdah together. And those who might be leaving early — please, if you heard this ayah, do the sajdah.

The Earth Coming Alive with Rain (Ayat 39–40)

From Allah's wondrous signs is that you see the land still — khashi'ah: lifeless, still. Like when you perform salah with khushu' — you are still. Allah is speaking about fall and winter: the earth is dead. Then when We send down upon it water, the earth begins to quiver and swells with life.

This is something you all see every single year, every single season — in spring, when that water comes down, you see something awakening. It's as though the earth is alive. Of course it's alive. Everything is alive. The plants are alive. SubhanAllah. The oceans are alive. The mountains are alive. There are so many living organisms everywhere. And there is hayat — life — in them.

We have made every living thing from water. So there's water, there's life in all of that. And then Allah says: I want you to look at the changing of the seasons and reflect upon it. Spring comes into fall, fall comes into spring — constantly happening across the globe. Constantly summer is coming, spring is coming, as the seasons change in the northern and southern hemispheres. Non-stop you'll see Allah's power and qudrah in action.

Indeed, the one who gives it life shall most surely give life to the dead. You think: when I die, how is Allah going to bring life back to me? Don't worry about it. Allah will bring life back to you just as He has brought the entire dead earth back to life. Think about your garden, how dead it becomes, and then it becomes a beautiful rose garden.

إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ — Indeed, He is powerful over all things.

Those Who Profane the Signs of Allah (Ayah 40)

As for those people who profane Our verses — they are not hidden from Us. لَا يَخْفَوْنَ عَلَيْنَا — they are not hidden from Us. This is a very important point to reflect upon.

Allah asks a rhetorical question: Is the one who shall be cast headlong into the fire of Hell better off — or the one who comes safe and secure on the Day of Judgment? اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ — do whatever you will in this world. إِنَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ — indeed, He is all-seeing of all that you do.

You've heard of a lahd in the grave — where a body is lowered in and covered up. So similarly, these people — they cover up the signs of Allah. Either they deny them outright, or they give absolutely incorrect explanations of them. For example, sometimes people interpret the verses of the Qur'an in such a manner that they try to establish a space or limbs — audhu billah — for Allah. Sometimes a person may attack the miracles of the prophets and say they are just magic. But there is a big difference — because magic plays with your eyes, it is trickery and deception:

It was made to appear to him that their ropes and staffs — by their magic — were moving. On the other hand, a mu'jizah — a miracle — is real. Something has actually changed in reality. That is why sihr can be repeated — multiple people can do similar sihr. But a miracle can never be repeated, even by the prophet himself, unless Allah wills. You are actually changing the reality of something.

And that is why the lifelong magicians at the time of Musa, peace be upon him — when they saw what he did, they immediately recognized: this is not sihr. This is something else. This is above sihr. That is also why Musa, peace be upon him, got scared when his staff became a real snake — because in reality it was not a fake snake:

Grab it and do not be afraid. As a human being, naturally, most of us don't enjoy spending time with massive pythons. And those people who do — subhanAllah — eventually we read in the news that they get bit and die. How many times have we read about this? The lion mauled him, the bear mauled him, the whale — everything. But this is a creation of Allah. They have a fitrah. You can play with it for some time, and after that one day, the reality will come out.

The Nafs: A Lesson from the Wild Animal

Just as you don't want to mess with a lion — this is exactly how the nafs is. The nafs, you can hammer it and think that you've tamed it. Why? Because masha'Allah, I've been coming to the masjid, I'm coming to madrasa, I've attained something. This is the beautiful example the ulama have given — that the nafs is like that wild animal that you think you've tamed. But that one day, when you're not looking properly, the reality of that animal comes back and mauls the owner.

The example they give is of a villager who went into the mountains and found what he thought was a dead snake. He brought it back to the village and showed everyone. But the snake was actually hibernating — it had frozen inside the snowy mountain peak throughout the winter. As he brought it down to a lower altitude and a warmer area, eventually the snake woke up and bit him and killed him in front of the entire crowd. He thought the snake had died, when all it was doing was sleeping, hibernating. As soon as the environment became more conducive, the snake came back to life.

Similarly is the nafs. You may think: I went for Umrah, I was in Ramadan, I took a class at some institution — masha'Allah, I've destroyed my nafs. But that's very unlikely. You've just made it docile. You've made it dormant. And the nafs looks for an opportunity when the environment is conducive, and then it attacks you. The fool is the one who thinks his nafs is dead. And when you think your nafs is dead, you say: "I can mix and mingle with anyone — people who are drinking, people of the opposite gender. I'm not a pervert. I don't think about that stuff." This is something people have told me, and honestly they are very naive, not understanding what they're dealing with. When you're dealing with the nafs and Shaytan, they will look for an opportunity when you are absolutely heedless.

This is how we all sin. And a person says, "I can't believe I sinned" — exactly. Because you put your guard down. As soon as you think you're not a sinner, that's when it happens. We are all sinners.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2499; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4251)

Every son of Adam is a sinner. Don't think you are better than someone just because you sin in a manner different from how they sin. We all sin. No one here doesn't sin — you'd be a liar to say otherwise. The other person also thinks he's better than you because he sins in a different manner. SubhanAllah.

The nafs is like that wild animal that you have to control. But you can never fully control it. Who is the only one who can control it? Allah. Just as the nature of a lion, a bear, or a whale — only Allah can truly control. That is why the du'a is:

O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the evil of ourselves and from the evil of Shaytan. These two enemies together destroy us. So Allah says: those people who mess with Our verses and try to mislead people — understand that you are not doing it outside of Allah's knowledge. Allah knows you very well. No one is hidden from Us.

Ilhad: Distorting the Meanings of the Qur'an

I saw something recently — ilhad in practice. From one of our prominent Middle Eastern countries, two days ago, I saw a TV broadcaster on public television. He was saying — I know this is a crowd insha'Allah that will not get confused, that's why I'm sharing this — he was saying: "Who said liquor and wine is haram? It's not haram." He says that Allah uses the word haram explicitly in certain places:

But when it comes to liquor and wine, he says, Allah didn't use the word haram. He used other expressions — like:

Don't come to prayer while you are drunk. So he says: the main thing is just not to pray while drunk. Drinking itself is not a problem, intoxication is not the problem — the problem is just praying while intoxicated. I can't believe I watched this. Even though the Qur'an clearly says:

O you who believe! Indeed, intoxicants, gambling, stone altars and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Shaytan, so avoid it — that you may be successful. This is the verse that establishes its prohibition. Allah mentions idols and drinking and gambling all together and commands us to avoid them. Since the broadcaster speaks Arabic and yet twists this — this is what you call يُلْحِدُونَ فِي آيَاتِنَا. This is ilhad right here. To come up with meanings of the Qur'an that are absolutely incorrect. To try to open the door and make something which Allah has made impermissible appear permissible.

Allah says: لَا يَخْفَوْنَ عَلَيْنَا — I know who you are. You are not hidden from Me. I am watching. If you mess with the Qur'an or with the signs of Allah, you are not hidden.

Allah then asks: do you want to come on the Day of Judgment thrown headlong into fire? Or would you like to come in a peaceful, good state — Allah is pleased with you and there is a beautiful seat waiting for you under His throne? Obviously we want Jannah. But then Allah says: well, you've got a few days left. You choose how you want to live your life. That is the golden principle for us to lead our lives.

The Hadith on Predestiny and Action

Sometimes people get confused about destiny. Someone says: if everything is predestined, why do I have to work? The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4949; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2647)

Do whatever you want — everyone will be facilitated to do what he has been created for. If you've been created for Jannah, you will find yourself doing the actions of the people of Jannah. And if you've been created for the Hellfire, you will find yourself doing the actions of the people of the Hellfire. The ball is in your court. What an amazing hadith. Stop talking about predestiny and asking philosophical questions. Ask yourself: how are you leading your life? Does your life match up with someone who goes to Jannah? Or does it match up with someone who goes to Jahannam?

How did you spend from Fajr till now? Did you pray your salah? Did you guard your gaze? Did you guard your tongue? Did you guard your ears? Did you guard your mind? Did you respect your parents? Did you take care of the rights of your spouse and your children? That's it. Straightforward. However you led your day is where you're headed.

Beloved brothers, keep that as your golden principle. اعْمَلُوا مَا شِئْتُمْ — do whatever you want. فَكُلٌّ مُيَسَّرٌ لِمَا خُلِقَ لَهُ — everyone is going to find themselves doing what they've been created for. Allah is watching. You can never hide from Allah. Be smart and do the actions that will make you amongst those who come safe and sound on the Day of Judgment.

May Allah accept from us and grant us the ability to become amongst those who do the actions of the people of Jannah. Amin, ya Rabb al-'Alamin.

Khushu' in Salah and the Remedy for Waswasah

A person needs to realize that I am standing in front of Allah. Why am I feeling like I need to scratch my feet and my back and move from side to side? By the way, for some of us, this happens more in salah than it ever happens outside of salah. Shaytan does that. Read أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ.

One man during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him, was doing something of this sort in salah. And the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: if his heart was properly placed — in the right place — then his limbs would also be properly placed. Meaning, if the heart is not focused upon Allah, that is why you feel itchy and scratchy and all the rest.

Look at the guards at Buckingham Palace and the White House — the Marines. They stand: snow, sleet, rain. You can try to make them laugh. They don't move. If for the sake of the dunya a person can train himself, why can we not train ourselves when we know we are standing in front of Allah? But we're not realizing that — that's the issue.

If distractions during salah happen to you quite often, then a person should read Ayatul Kursi:

Read it 3 times before you begin your salah. Dear students, dear musallin, dear people who are listening wherever you are — read Ayatul Kursi 3 times and make the intention: Ya Allah, through the barakah of this, allow me to be protected from any waswasah of Shaytan — from where I'm standing all the way to the Throne of Allah, and all the way below the earth. There is an aura of protection through the barakah of Ayatul Kursi. This is something my teacher mentioned to me.

Read Ayatul Kursi 3 times before you sit down to do any task — studying, your work at home, something important — whenever you can't concentrate and your mind keeps drifting away. Before you start, read Ayatul Kursi 3 times and make the intention: Ya Allah, allow an aura of protection to surround me. And we also mentioned reading Surah al-Ikhlas 3 times. This is the barakah of the Qur'an — that you can utilize it for so many beautiful blessings.

Questions & Answers

On Hijab: Covering the Neck

A neck is an important part of covering in hijab. If the neck is uncovered — and unfortunately this is extremely common — just covering the hair while the neck and nape are all exposed — this is not proper at all by any means. Covering the hair while leaving the neck exposed and wearing a nice, attractive dress is not hijab. This is something else.

On Having Barakah in One's Time

Barakah in time comes by not wasting it. If we chit-chat — dear students, how much time we sit and chit-chat. You came here to the madrasa, you're missing the tafsir, you're drinking chai — that's wasted time. That's why you don't have barakah in your time. When you waste time, six months later you feel, what did I gain? So the best way is to value your time. Just like you value your money, you'll get barakah in it. If you waste it — israf — you won't have barakah.

The way you count your money, count your minutes. If we value our time, we can read 30–40 pages easily every single day. I know scholars — professionals — raising their kids, who have full-time jobs, and they've gained so much knowledge just by taking one class after Fajr consistently, one class after Isha, one online class somewhere. And they have memorized the entire Qur'an. How, at the age of 45, 60, 65, did they memorize the entire Qur'an? It's because of valuing their time.

On Giving Da'wah in Non-Muslim Environments

I had a very beautiful experience this past week when I was coming back from one of my trips. There was a passenger — an old lady, maybe in her 70s — sitting next to me. Her book fell on the ground. I leaned over, picked it up, and gave it to her. That started a conversation. I asked if she was going home. She said no, she was visiting her sister. And subhanAllah, the entire flight was amazing — she had never met a Muslim, to my knowledge, and definitely never met an imam. She had zero idea about what Islam was about. Open-minded, but had no idea.

And what was so amazing was that because she was from a previous generation, our deen was so appealing to her. Because the things we spoke about are the traditional values that most Christians, Jews, and everyone else in this country once held on to — respect, modesty, bashfulness, chivalry, respect for elders, respect for parents. And I spoke about how Islam covers these topics. I told her what I have told you all: we are the last man standing. We don't just represent Islam — we represent every religion, because everyone else has given up.

I mentioned to her a medical student I had met, wearing a kufi with his scrubs, who told me that non-Muslim women and men were coming to him and saying: "Thank you for following your faith. We appreciate that in an era where everyone has given up faith, you are still following yours." That's my point. It just takes one small action to start up a conversation. She looked at a photo of the masjid I showed her and said: "This looks so peaceful." I said: yes, it's called Darussalam — the house of peace. It's supposed to be a source of peace. I gave her the address and invited her to come visit.

Did she accept Islam right then and there? No — I never even initiated that. But I can definitely say she walked away with an unbelievable level of appreciation of our faith, and an understanding that Muslims have far more in common with the rest of the world than it seems. We want to save our families, raise good children, have healthy and good jobs, a good education. Who doesn't want that? But the way we get there — the process the deen teaches us — is through morals, ethics, and values. That is it.

On Reciting Loudly During Jama'ah

You should not recite out loud during jama'ah, because it makes it very hard for the person next to you to focus. When praying fardh salah, don't do that — it is extremely difficult for everyone around you to concentrate.

On Sisters Praying in Rows Together

We should announce this again and again for the sisters as well. Our method of performing salah is to stand shoulder to shoulder in one row — there is no difference here between men and women. Women who are performing salah absolutely should not be sitting and praying separately. When we pray, we stand shoulder to shoulder. And when we sit in a dars as well, we should be sitting together.

Closing: Dhikr and Sajdat al-Tilawah

We will now do a few minutes of dhikr, insha'Allah.

Please make your Sajdat al-Tilawah before leaving. Go straight into sajdah, do istighfar, and that's it.