Reflect & Connect | Surah Fussilat - Ep.10 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 11/12

Allah in the last ayah that we covered, mentioned regarding those people who Allah says that whatever actions they are doing, it's in front of Him. And they are not able to escape Allah's knowledge. Allah mentioned the fact that these are the people who are trying to misrepresent the verses of the Qur'an.

We talked about that, examples of that. How they misinterpret, misrepresent verses of the Qur'an with meanings that subhanAllah, they deep down know it's all false and fake. But it's part of the tahrif, part of the effort of repackaging and then completely representing — Allah forbid — a new version of Islam.

And something what Nabi ﷺ said:

A time will come that there will be nothing remaining of Islam except for its name, and nothing will be remaining from the Qur'an except for its text, the writing. Every single thing will be void. (Reported by al-Bayhaqi in Shu'ab al-Iman)

How can that happen overnight? That effort happens from beforehand, at the hands of such people who mix and mingle the Qur'an to meanings that are absolutely not what Allah intended. Allah is warning them: what are you looking for? Are you looking towards Paradise in the akhirah? Or are you looking forward to being — Allah forbid — dragged towards Hellfire? And then Allah says, do whatever you want. Everything is in the eyes of Allah, everything is in the knowledge of Allah.

So this is a beautiful ayah:

It's such an amazing reminder for all of us that whatever zulm and oppression is happening in the world against innocent people, or whatever distortion of Islam is happening by people — all of these things, this makkarah, this plotting, this conniving, these efforts to destroy Islam from internally, externally, and through other various types of efforts — subhanAllah — to make holes within the deen, this is all in the knowledge of Allah. Allah says: go ahead and do — as we'd say — be my guest, do whatever you want. Allah is watching all of this.

And so each one of us should be reminded of the fact that just because punishment doesn't happen immediately for our sins does not mean that we are not being watched by Allah. Just because someone can oppress someone at home, in a marriage, or in a relationship, or in a business — someone can cheat and deceive someone, and they don't get caught immediately by the court of law, they don't get punished — this does not mean that Allah is unaware of what they're doing. Instead, Allah has kept a time and a place for them to be dealt with, and that is of course the akhirah.

Sometimes the justice is meted out here in the dunya, but otherwise, Allah many times has kept this in the akhirah. This is part of the big test.

The Next Ayah: Those Who Disbelieve in the Dhikr

Now in this next ayah, Allah says:

Indeed, those people who disbelieved in the remembrance of this Qur'an — lammā jā'ahum — when it came to them. When it came to them, they disbelieved in the remembrance. Allah didn't give the khabar here — this is the subject. Those people who disbelieved in the remembrance of Allah when it came to them, what happened to them? They have lost their souls, both in this world and the hereafter.

This is the khabar of the predicate — that's why it's in brackets, because it's not mentioned clearly in the Qur'an but it's understood — that they disbelieved in the remembrance of Allah, خَسِرُوا الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةَ — they've lost their souls both in this world and the hereafter.

وَإِنَّهُ لَكِتَابٌ عَزِيزٌ — For indeed, it is most surely an overpowering, heavenly book. You can deny it all you want. The book of Allah, you can reject it. But your rejection — or someone's rejection — of the book of Allah does not take away from it.

You know the efforts — have you seen certain individuals out there who've got massive followings on YouTube, and they are out there, non-Muslims, trying to distort Islam, trying to misrepresent verses of the Qur'an? And sometimes, innocent, uneducated Muslims unfortunately fall for this as well. So bring on the whole million — you can have a million followers. And try to deny the Qur'an, and misrepresent the Qur'an, and mislead people.

وَإِنَّهُ لَكِتَابٌ عَزِيزٌ — Allah's book is most surely an overpowering heavenly book. It does not require everyone to believe in it. It still is what it is. They say:

Will the barking of dogs harm the sun?

If the dogs sit there and bark at the sun all day, the sun is still the sun. If you spit at the sun, what happens? The spit comes right back on your face. The saliva doesn't go onto the sun. That's what the Qur'an is. That's what Islam is. Spit upon it all you want. Bark at it all you want. This does not affect the beauty and the power of this amazing, amazing book of Allah.

The Meaning of Kufr and Fitrah

So إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا is mentioned here. What is kufr? Kufr means to cover. And so a kafir is someone who is covering up belief. He's covering up iman. He's covering up the blessings of Allah. And the opposite of that is obviously iman.

Iman is a person's fitrah, right? A person's innate nature is to believe in Allah, to believe in at least one Creator, to believe in the fact that there has to be a Day of Judgment, to believe in the akhlaq and characteristics of Islam. And that's why we say that the ahkam and the teachings of deen — a lot of them are such that you can understand them through pure logic. Logically, if your mind is not corrupted by desires, you can understand that this is how we should live our life. And then, mashallah, you have wahi and revelation that comes and adds more light to it.

Islam as the Last Man Standing

The teachings of Islam are such... I was mentioning that on a recent trip, on the way back on the flight, I was speaking to an old lady who was next to me. And subhanAllah, we were talking about Islam and whatnot. She was maybe 70 years old. But as she was listening to me, she was just completely taken aback by the fact that such people like us exist — that we have such a beautiful deen that focuses on akhlaq, that focuses on adab, that focuses on etiquette, that focuses on harmony in the home, harmony outside. And she wanted to know how we live with our wives, how we live with our kids, what's our structure, and all these types of things. And she was dumbfounded, because she had no interaction with Muslims in the past.

And I told her, I said — what do you think? She said, this is amazing. I said, doesn't it remind you of your childhood? Like the world that you were born in, and your mom and dad raised you. Doesn't this remind you of all of that? She was born in a time when the gender roles were very specific. She was mentioning how men used to take care of the outside chores, and the women would take care of the inside home, and the men would be earning all day and bringing the bread home, and the women would be raising amazing children, and so forth. All these interesting things that we talk about — people gawk at us like, wow, what are you talking about? But that is the lifestyle that they had.

I was mentioning to her that we had a teacher during childhood who would say that her childhood was such that if she ever used a bad word, then her mom — and we're talking about the early 1900s — would use soap to put in her mouth, because you've dirtied your mouth, because you swore. And when I said that to her, she said, oh wow, yeah, I'm remembering that too — I think it happened once at my home too, she was saying. So I said, what do you think? Islam is honestly that beautiful deen which everyone has neglected. It's part of the golden heritage of the world. The teachings of Islam is something that Puritans and Amish people and Christians, Catholics, Protestants a hundred years ago could appreciate. Now everyone has so-called moved on. And alhamdulillah, we still have this deen that is holding on to those beautiful teachings that were commonly appreciated, commonly accepted across cultures. And she agreed to that — that this is something so beautiful, that if people would only look towards it, they will remember the past.

Haya, Modesty, and Bashfulness

When you talk about appreciation of dressing nicely — I was going through an elevator to a doctor's appointment with my daughter. She was five years old at that time. And there was an old lady being helped by her son who was also maybe in his fifties or sixties. She said hi, you know. And my daughter, wearing her scarf and her long dress — she looked at her and said, "Oh, how sweet. She's so bashful." And I was thinking, subhanAllah. This young generation, this new generation would never say something like that. They'd say, she probably needs to go see a psychologist or therapist. She's too introverted. She's got inhibition issues. She's not able to express and expose herself, and so forth.

But the fact that she called it bashful, and then praised that — that's something that was known previously. But today, no one knows what the word bashful means. Bashfulness, modesty, haya — these are things that are looked down upon. Why are you not being aggressive? Why are you not standing up for yourself? Why don't you speak for yourself? This is the mindset that we find within Muslims unfortunately. So what are you gonna talk about with non-Muslims? Muslims are raising their kids to be like this as well.

From childhood, if a person is taught to raise his voice and demand his rights, what do you expect is going to happen in marriage 20 years later? That's exactly what's going to happen. Someone who is taught from day one to be super aggressive and demanding — then in marriage, be it the husband or the wife, there's always going to be issues. This is one very big reason why we have such a massive and continuously increasing divorce rate. It's because there's no concept of humility and humbleness with someone else. From day one, we're being pushed: go, go, don't worry about what this one says. Express yourself. Share whatever you have to share. SubhanAllah.

The Hierarchy of Adab — A Lesson from the Prophet ﷺ

There's so much hikmah in this. Just today in class, we were reading a hadith in which a whole group came and complained to the Prophet ﷺ about some issue they were going through — a case of murder; someone had been killed. And the Prophet ﷺ told the one who was speaking, "You don't speak — let the elders speak." Even though he was the brother of the deceased, he was the younger one. The cousins were older. The Prophet ﷺ asked the brother not to speak and told the older cousins to speak, because this is the hierarchy that Islam teaches us — that your elders have a say more than youngsters.

Even the issue of murder. You're coming to the Prophet ﷺ seeking justice, but this is what Rasulullah ﷺ is highlighting: okay, this is a very emotional issue. We have to make sure we hear it from those who are calm and collected, the elders. Let's hear it from them. SubhanAllah. That's the deen, right? It's not a desi deen, it's not a village-from-India deen. This is Nabi ﷺ's deen that he taught us — that there is this hierarchy and this adab that we have to keep in mind. So this comes from the haya.

So what we're saying is that this is the fitrah of Islam. I always say this to my congregation: we're part of the last man standing. We're representing all religions. Because one after another, everyone is just cowered down, everyone has just left, everyone has just changed. And the only ones trying their best to remain firm — alhamdulillah — are a group of Muslims who are saying, no, we don't care where the world is going. We're going to remain steadfast. This is the way you used to do it, but you all forgot.

A Pragmatic and Realistic Deen

Look at the issue of marriage. Because the fact is that Islam is not based on our desires — Islam is based on Allah's commands that keep the anatomy, physiology, psychology, and emotions of human beings in front, of all humans. Hence it is a very pragmatic deen. It's a very realistic deen. It's a very logical deen. It's something that can easily be practiced.

Now if you have a religion that says you can't get married, and that you have to take vows of celibacy — how long is that going to last? A hundred years, five hundred years. Then what's going to happen? Look where we're at now. Not only are they throwing out the vows of celibacy, not only are they saying, do whatever you want — but now they're saying you don't even have to marry someone of the opposite gender. And not only that, if you're one of those people, you can still lead the church. You can be a prayer leader. You can be a priest. Because at the end of the day, what justifies what's right and what's wrong is your desire, not God. This is what happens when you have an impractical deen.

Allah says in the Qur'an:

Allah says, living in a monastery as a monk — مَا كَتَبْنَاهَا عَلَيْهِمُ ابْتَدَعُوهَا — this is a bid'ah. You started this. I never told you to do this. I never told Isa A.S. to do this. We did not obligate this upon them. You created this problem yourself.

So you will see that all the issues in religion that people attack — Christianity, Judaism, or maybe Islam at times — deep down, this is man-made. A lot of culture. It has nothing to do with the pure, beautiful sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ.

Beloved brothers, every aspect of society that you see is getting hit today. Give me a problem, and within the first 30 seconds you will realize which command of Islam was abolished, which sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ was abandoned, because of which this problem has arisen. Any issue — economic, financial, domestic, national, international, akhlāqi — whatever issue it may be, you will see that definitely some command of Allah was neglected, because of which you have this issue at hand. This is the yaqeen we have to have. But I'm not asking you to have blind yaqeen. Just think of a problem. And if you can't figure it out, come ask the teachers and the ulema here.

The deen has come to bring peace, and deen has come to bring goodness to all people — not to a certain group of people who are in power, but to all people. And this is something that, no matter if you accept it or don't:

Allah says, this is an overpowering heavenly book. If you don't want to accept it, no one's going to force you. But deep down you know this is the truth. The Qur'an never claimed that it's going to force everyone to accept it. That's not the purpose. Allah says:

If Allah willed, He could have forced everyone to become guided. Allah could have guided everyone. But this is not a place where you're being forced to do anything. This is a test. There are many verses like this in the Qur'an, where Allah is saying that if Allah willed, He would have made you أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً — one nation, all Muslims.

On Apostasy and Lā Ikrāha fī al-Dīn

The fact that we have so many groups, and we try so hard to get someone towards Islam, and then three days later the person has left Islam — it hurts. But understand that this is the test. And so those people who attack Islam say, one of the many attacks being, that you have قَتْلُ الْمُرْتَدِّ — that someone who's an apostate is to be killed. How is that? Did we sneak this ruling on someone? It's mentioned from day one. Don't accept Islam.

Whoever wants may believe, and whoever wants may disbelieve. You don't need to. You're allowed to live as a non-Muslim under Muslim rule. You all know that. I was reading the letter of Umar رضي الله عنه that he signed with the monks of Baitul Maqdis when he took over the keys of the city. Written there, clearly: we're not going to mess with your churches, we're not going to mess with your synagogues, we're not going to mess with any of you. You want to stay here peacefully, just pay your taxes and you can stay here. We don't touch you. And if you choose to move, we'll help you move safely to wherever you want to go. This is the adl and justice of Islam.

So the idea that if someone is not a Muslim they will be killed — no. This is announced from day one: no one is asking you to become a Muslim. But if you choose to sign up, you better stick with it. Think about the army when there's no draft. You're not forced to join the army. But if a person joins the army, and in the middle of the battlefield he deserts and puts on the uniform of the enemy, what's going to happen to him? No one asked you to join the army. But once you're in, you have to stay within. And you definitely better not switch sides, because then there's going to be nothing besides death for a traitor.

Similarly, Islam — everyone is informed from before. All of you know this ayah:

There's no compulsion in deen. What does that mean? لَا إِكْرَاهَ فِي دُخُولِ الدِّينِ — there's no compulsion in entering into deen. You can go check out all the different posters on various religions, read all the books you want. No one's going to force you at gunpoint to become a Muslim. They can't. Even if they put a gun and say لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ, that doesn't count. It has to come from within your heart. But after you've done the research and then accepted Islam — then sorry, this is it. You signed up for it. So now you better stick to it. That's how the world works in so many other things.

That's all of us sitting here — we have signed up to Islam. So now we don't have a choice. Once we're in, we have to make sure we follow through. And now we have to start understanding that subhanAllah, if I don't follow through, what are the various types of repercussions I'm going to face from Allah.

The Various Meanings of Dhikr in the Qur'an

The word dhikr has been used here, and it means the Qur'an. Indeed, those who disbelieve in the Remembrance. The word dhikr comes in many meanings. Allah says:

Indeed, We have revealed the dhikr, the reminder, and indeed We are its protectors. What does the dhikr here mean? This also refers to the Qur'an. Also, dhikr means the previous books. I'm going to go through examples of what dhikr means in the Qur'an — a whole bunch of different meanings.

In Surah An-Nahl, Ayah 43, Allah says, ask the people of dhikr if you don't know. Ahl al-dhikr is talking about the scholars of the previous scriptures. So dhikr is used for previous scriptures as well. Then it also means status. In Ayah 44 of Surah Az-Zukhruf, Allah says:

The Qur'an is a reminder for you — it's going to give you status. The Qur'an is a source of giving this ummah status, and for the Prophet ﷺ. And also dhikr means tasbih. Allah says:

That Shaytan tries to stop you from the remembrance of Allah, i.e. tasbih and salah. Dhikr also means obedience of Allah.

This means: obey Me, and أَذْكُرْكُمْ — I will remember you — means I will forgive you. So: obey Me and I'll forgive you. أَطِيعُونِي أَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ. The first dhikr here comes in the meaning of obedience. And أَذْكُرْكُمْ — Allah says, I'm going to remember you — how does Allah remember us? By Allah forgiving us.

The Meaning of 'Azīz — Valuable and Overpowering

وَإِنَّهُ لَكِتَابٌ عَزِيزٌ — this also has a few meanings. One meaning: 'azīz means النَّادِرُ الثَّمِينُ — something which is very valuable and something which is very rare. So this is a book that is very valuable and very rare to find anything equivalent to it in the world. Another meaning of 'azīz is الْغَالِبُ الَّذِي لَا يُغْلَبُ — that overpowering book which cannot be overtaken, which has no equivalent. Allah mentions for example:

Allah is 'azīz — meaning Allah is ghālib, all-overpowering. ذُو انتِقَامٍ — He is the one who can fully avenge, who can take revenge. So the Qur'an is both extremely valuable and rare, and number two, it cannot be overpowered.

Benefiting from the Qur'an — A Pure Heart is Required

Now, my beloved brothers and sisters, in order for a person to benefit from the book of Allah, it's important that he has a heart that is pure of the intoxication of desires. If a person is intoxicated with desires, a person cannot benefit from the Qur'an. He cannot benefit from a tafsir, cannot benefit from dhikr.

Sometimes people say, I do dhikr, my life is not changing. No — you're not doing dhikr, you're doing something else. You're not focused. It is impossible. Wallahi, it's impossible. You sit there and take Allah's name. If someone calls you a donkey, someone swears at your face — look at how quickly your face will turn red, how you'll get enraged, how you'll want to attack the person. This is the power of words. Using the word donkey, dog, and swear words — what does it do? It brings an immediate change to your face. It brings an immediate change to your heart. How can taking Allah's name not affect your heart? When a swear word affects us, how can "Allah, Allah" not affect us? Because we're not doing the dhikr properly. We're not focused on it.

And subhanAllah, this was the practice of our elders, of our pious predecessors — doing dhikr at home. I remember my grandmother, rahimahallah, would have a whole bag of date seeds. And many of your grandmothers and granddads probably had that. The tasbih that you have of a hundred is not sufficient — they would have a bag of date seeds: a thousand, two thousand, five thousand — Allahu alam. And this goes exactly back to the time of the Prophet ﷺ. One of his wives would sit with date pits for dhikr. So this is not a bid'ah.

And just today one of the brothers was telling me — he said on big nights like Laylatul Qadr and whatnot, we were raised by our dad, rahimahullah. He said that as a young high school or junior high student back overseas, on a big night, we would start praying Nafl Salah. How many nafl raka'ats, brothers? A hundred raka'ats. A hundred raka'ats a night. And he said, I've done it so many times. That was the environment at home — imagine what an amazing household, father and children spending the night in a hundred raka'ats of nafl. And he said, ever since forty years I've come to America, I've never seen this type of environment where people are spending the night like this, even in Ramadan nights.

You know how weak we are. We have to have chai twice, and then we have our candlelight conversations, if that. Just to say, alhamdulillah, we spent some time doing ibadah. But a hundred raka'ats — subhanAllah. Even twenty raka'ats we went down to eight, and nowadays mashallah it's gone down to four. And then some places they start reading the khatm in 'Isha. So after four raka'ats, people are saying, alhamdulillah, I'm done for my tarawih, because the Imam read from the Qur'an in the 'Isha namaz. I've seen this — people leaving after fard, four raka'ats, saying alhamdulillah, tarawih done, qiyam al-layl done. And no one's going to sleep, by the way — it's being spent somewhere else.

Building the Stamina of Worship

So this is the point: when dhikr is done properly, when nawafil are done properly, it has to have an effect. Beloved brothers, may Allah give me tawfiq and all of us. When a person trains himself — look at the marines, look at the Buckingham Palace guards, how they stand outside still. No matter what happens — you try to make them laugh, try to make them sneeze — they won't move. Whether it's raining, sleet, or snow — they don't move. That's the training they have gone through for their job.

So when a believer performs twenty raka'ats of nafl salah, or qada salah at night, with the goal that I'm going to take each raka'at at least two minutes — I'm not going to pray four raka'at salah in less than four minutes minimum on a daily basis like normal sunnah. And if I'm trying to train myself more, like a workout, then I'm going to pray two raka'at salah over eight minutes. And I'm going to make sure each raka'at is slow, and I'm going to do my tasbihat slow, and ruku' and sajdah slow. One of the best ways to do that is Salat al-Tasbih. It's a great way to force yourself to slow down.

When a person goes through that process, it's going to create within you stamina. It's going to create within you the ability to make lengthy ruku's and lengthy sajdahs. I've shared with you before here — I had a classmate of mine whose regular sajdah was 45 minutes every night. 45 minutes, one sajdah. Try that, just try it tonight. Within four minutes your hands will hurt, your nose will hurt, the blood rushing to your brain — you're going to black out. But this was normal for him. Rahimahullah, he passed away a few years ago. But this is something which I saw in madrasah. These are people who've actually worked on this. It's just like a muscle — someone is bench pressing 200 pounds through daily exercise bit by bit, and then he builds that stamina.

May Allah give us the tawfiq to make long raka'ats of nafl, and long dua, and long sujood. This is the time — we've entered a time of immense fitna. And unless you and I don't have this within ourselves, and within our next generation, we're going to be in big, big trouble. This is the arms that we need. The ability to perform long raka'ats of nafl salah, and long sajdah, and long dua — that is one of the greatest things. سِلَاحُ الْمُؤْمِنِ الدُّعَاءُ — The weapon of a believer is dua. That is one of the greatest things that we require now.

The Heart Must Be Free from Nafs

So a person who wants to listen to the Qur'an and says, I want the Qur'an to change me — it will change you. But brothers and sisters, a person has to listen to it with a clean, unadulterated heart that is not involved in following the nafs. If a person is involved in following the nafs, then no verse of the Qur'an, no dars of the Qur'an will make any sense to him. You have a glass — Allah says:

Allah has not put two hearts in the chest. So you have one heart, similar to one glass — it's either filled with milk or filled with gasoline. Either filled with Qur'an, or filled with kufr and shirk and nifaq and hawa and desires. So we have to ensure that we empty it out.

That is why the first verse of Surah Al-Baqarah is الم — from the wisdom of which Allah knows best what it means — put all your knowledge to one side, and then ذَٰلِكَ الْكِتَابُ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهِ — that book, there is absolutely no doubt.

When we address the book of Allah, someone was telling me, "oh my friends, they don't believe in jinns." This is just the beginning of the end, honestly. Brother, jinn is mentioned all over the Qur'an — what are you going to do? You're not going to believe in Shaytan? It's mentioned all over the Qur'an. "I've never seen it," or "this makes no sense" — throw that out. If you and I are going to use our intellect as the deciding factor of what's right and what's wrong, we're going to be in big trouble. Because all of these movements — the LGBTQ and everything else that comes out of that, transgender movements, etc. — all these things, from a pure logical perspective, someone says, I will choose — it's my right, my freedom to choose who I want to live my life with. How are you going to give a rebuttal for that? Aql is not the way to do it. Sooner or later you're going to find that if you use what anyone else is using, you'll have a hard time trying to dismantle it, because they use what we call distorted aql — intelligence that has been messed around with.

The same aql that today's genocide is being legitimized with — a'udhu billahi min al-Shaytan al-Rajim — that a two-year-old... you've seen it — a two-year-old. But why are you killing a two-year-old? Why are you arresting a five-year-old? "Because he's a future terrorist." That's the logic. Dehumanize them, say they're going to become a terrorist, so kill them right now. So this is what you call logic — but it's a completely shaitani logic.

Seeking Refuge from the Evil of Our Nafs

So when we want to benefit from the book of Allah, we have to ask Allah. That's why you hear the ulama and the mashayikh when they start their durus — what do they say?

Oh Allah, we seek refuge in You from the evil of our nafs, and from the evil of our actions. Not the evil of the guy next to me, my wife, my husband — no. Number one, the biggest evil is within ourselves. مِن شُرُورِ أَنفُسِنَا. Oh Allah, my nafs, my nafs. If our nafs comes in, we will not understand Qur'an and Sunnah. We will not understand the deen. We have to seek refuge in Allah from the evil of our nafs. And what's the next thing? وَمِن سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا — from the evil of our sins.

The Toxic Residue of Sins

Someone might say: I have an issue. My spouse is like this, or I'm like this. Is there some sihr involved? And before sihr — look at your own sins, brother. These sins are their own sihr. Because every sin has its own effect. And when a person commits a major sin, it has a toxic residue at the very least, if not a full-scale infection from that sin. And that's going to be stuck in your bloodstream. It's going to be stuck in your mind — as an evil effect of that sin — unless a person repents.

Like a person who — Allah forbid, protect us — drinks alcohol or takes drugs. What happens? It's not a puff that's over, or a drink that's over. The sukr, the intoxication, stays with that person. Sometimes for twelve hours, sometimes for two hours, sometimes more, sometimes less. Similarly, there is almost like an intoxication of sin. When a person commits a sin — involves in riba, involves in zina, involves in drinking, involves in backbiting, involves in eating haram, consuming haram — there is no doubt there is an evil effect. Watching haram — very important. A person says: I'm not feeling enjoyment in my salah. I don't feel this, I don't feel that. I'm having arguments. It very well might be the evil effects and remnants of a person's past — or not even the past, of this very morning.

When a person commits a sin, the shayateen of that sin descend upon a person. When you smoke, doesn't that give you a foul smell in your mouth? You come for salah and everyone around you can smell it. So similarly, when a person commits these sins, even if it's in the darkness of the night, it will throw upon us such shayateen that will not allow us to do what we want to do.

How many times does it happen that a person, as soon as he sits in a dars of deen, it's like a tranquilizer — as soon as the dhikr begins, out cold. Any talk of deen happens, out cold. In the middle of the day, 3pm, he knocks out. As soon as someone starts talking about the deen. At 9pm, 8pm, 7pm, a person can do anything else — but as soon as he starts talking about the deen, he's out. This is not normal. This could be the evil effects of his sins. And until a person does not make sincere tawbah and cry to Allah: ya Allah, I seek refuge in You from that sin, because of which I'm being deprived of listening to the talk of deen, being deprived of raising my hands in dua without falling asleep, being deprived of opening the mushaf without falling asleep — this is mahrumiyah. This is a person being deprived. Why are we being deprived? What have we done because of which we're being deprived?

There are many evil effects of sin — that's a talk for another night. So a lot of what we're facing in difficulties in our life — Nabi ﷺ has said, a person may be deprived of rizq. It doesn't have to be nazar all the time, it doesn't have to be evil eye every time a job falls apart or every contract falls apart. Nabi ﷺ said:

A man at times is deprived of sustenance because of a sin he has committed. (Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 4022)

And Allah shuts the door of rizq on him. So that's why this constant fiqh — a person needs to be asking: what have I done because of which maybe Allah is removing these things from me?

Otherwise, what is the power of the deen? The Qur'an is so powerful — it can change a person literally within the same majlis. The best example is Umar al-Khattab رضي الله عنه. In jahiliyyah, he's not just your average person. He is about to commit the worst, most heinous crime under the sun — to go kill the Prophet ﷺ. And what happens? But even though he was about to commit that, there was something in him, that genuineness, that met the Qur'an, or the Qur'an met his genuineness. The Qur'an met that ikhlas. And when he heard Surah Taha being recited, his heart melted. And he said, I got to read this, I got to check this out. Thus within minutes, the man who was about to commit the worst crime under the sun ends up becoming — subhanAllah — the person about whom the Prophet ﷺ said:

If there were to be a prophet after me, it would have been Umar. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3686)

That indeed Allah reveals on Umar's tongue the truth. And many, many beautiful virtues of Umar رضي الله عنه. What happened? There was a sincerity that met the Qur'an.

Do Not Overdo in the Deen

The Prophet ﷺ said:

No one makes the deen difficult upon himself except that it overcomes him. (Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 39)

Don't mess with the deen. The deen is so powerful. If you try to be gung-ho and overly harsh on yourself in following the deen, the deen will overpower you. Take the deen easy. Let it marinate within you. Enjoy it. Let it come in. Do not be so harsh on yourself. Because what will happen? There will eventually be burnout. Think about some of this generation that has left the deen — if you see, they've come from homes that were very harsh in implementation of the deen, and unfortunately that resulted in nothing but their children leaving the deen completely. It doesn't work.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

Indeed this deen is strong, so engage in it gently. And do not make the worship of Allah hateful to yourself. For the one who pushes his mount too hard covers no ground and leaves himself with no mount. (Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 12107; also reported in similar wording in Sahih al-Bukhari)

That indeed this deen is super strong, so get involved in it with ease, kindly, softly. Do not make Allah's worship dislikable to yourself by overdoing it. Because that munbatt — that animal that has been overworked while transporting — when you have an overworked animal that's about to die or is too weak to move, the Prophet ﷺ says: لَا أَرْضًا قَطَعَ — you haven't traversed anywhere, you're not even halfway to your destination. وَلَا ظَهْرًا أَبْقَى — and you don't even have a healthy animal left anymore. You've killed your animal and you have not even covered the distance. Because you OD'd on deen. You overdid it.

This is very important. You don't overdo in the practice of deen such that your person is not following, and then you say, now I'm going to do all mustahabbat overnight — not just fara'id but also sunan and mustahabbat. Everything I'm going to do. And I'm going to say that whoever doesn't do it is also not a true believer. Then eventually, guess what's going to happen? Allah said: I'm not going to get tired — you're going to get tired — and then you're going to sign out. A'udhu billah.

So this is such a beautiful thing that we learn from Nabi ﷺ — take things easy. We have a marathon to run. It's a long marathon. So enjoy every moment that you have, subhanAllah, with the deen. What amazing advice Nabi ﷺ has given us.

The Clean Heart of Umm Musa Accepts Revelation

Allah tells us that Umm Musa — Allah informed her and encouraged her to put the child, Musa, in a box and throw him into the river. This seems so counterintuitive. But what happened? She had a beautiful clean heart. When the beautiful clean heart receives revelation, it accepts it — even if it seems counterintuitive. This is what we need: we have to fix ourselves first.

If you find that the verses of the Qur'an — I know certain individuals say, this hadith doesn't make sense, this Islamic aspect of marriage doesn't make sense, this is the role of the wife, this is the role of the husband, doesn't make sense — if I were to open this discussion, subhanAllah, till tomorrow you'd see the type of wasawis people are having today. Many times even in our classes, people ask such questions, and I say, honestly, this question probably no commentator has ever responded to. Because this is a modern day question. Is it because you became smart? No. Because you have fallen to your desires. That's why you're asking this question.

Like someone who looks at his dad and says, just because you were born 30 years before me, why do I have to respect you? How do you even answer that? You say, may Allah guide you. He's become addicted to his nafs, and his mind has become completely clouded by modern day chit-chat. So now he says these types of things.

So those people who are criticizing — sometimes after Jummah salah, I get a question from a brother who might even be wearing a thawb and a kufi. And I promise you, when I hear the question, I ask myself: is this Islam even intact in him? How could he ask such a question about the basics? We just prayed Jummah together. And then he's asking such a question. That's the degree to which the mind has been so polluted by modern day isms.

One of our students is living now overseas in one of the Muslim countries. We asked him, how is it living in a Muslim country with your kids? And he said: one thing is that my kids would ask me questions while I was putting them to bed — all sorts of questions, Baba, this and that. He said he didn't even know how to answer them, because these are questions that commentators don't respond to or speak about, because these weren't questions before. These are new questions that have come out of the shahawat of today. He said, moving to a Muslim country, listening to the adhan, praying five times daily salah in the masjid — one big benefit he got is that these questions just, subhanAllah, disappeared. His kids don't ask these questions anymore.

Of course, everyone living in a Muslim country is not going to have the same experience — we know that. These people made hijrah for the deen, they went sincerely. And if a person is sincere, then automatically these wasawis will go away. When these wasawis go away, these questions will not arise.

So my dear brothers, if you have a friend who is asking a lot of questions — instead of getting so worked up trying to answer them, you should be trying to guide them towards some ruhaniyat. Because you're going to answer one, tomorrow he'll come with two questions. You're going to answer two, tomorrow he'll come with three more. All these wasawis and doubts that people have today are not because people are more well-read or educated. It's because their shahawat and desires have increased. Their minds have been affected by the isms of today.

So what's the solution to a flurry of questions? Not writing ten emails a day to a scholar. Instead, say: Ya Allah, I'm going to turn to You. Do ta'awwudh, do wudu, pray two raka'ats of salah, and cry to Allah: Ya Allah, I'm going through a crisis right now. And recite:

O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the insinuations of Shaytan. And O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the shayateen coming to me. This is the dua that we need to recite on a regular basis, amongst other duas. And insha'Allah, these types of doubts, insha'Allah ta'ala, will go away.

Why the Qur'an is Kitābun 'Azīz — Protected from All Falsehood

Allah speaks about this Qur'an and why it is kitābun 'azīz, and why it's so powerful in changing you — because no falsehood can reach it, before it nor after it. Meaning, the Qur'an is coming with the highest level and degree of security. When it's revealed — by whom? From Allah. Who is bringing it down? The most powerful angel of Allah, Jibreel. Where is it coming? Not on a mountain, not on an ocean, not on some barren land — it's coming into the most honorable place:

It's coming onto the heart of the Prophet ﷺ. So from beginning to end, in all cases, the Qur'an is absolutely protected in its revelation. And once it comes here as well, you will see that all the effort being done to give wrong meanings of the Qur'an, wrong tafsirs, and manipulate it with YouTube videos and everything else — mashallah, how many millions have memorized the Qur'an? And even if the Qur'an were to be manipulated, alhamdulillah, the tafsir of the Qur'an is being taught in institutions of 'ilm across the globe, and people are getting a proper understanding of it. Those who want to search for it — those who don't want to look for it, of course they're going to be misled.

So this is tanzeel — a revelation sent down from an all-wise and all-praised Lord. Since it is tanzeel, being revealed from someone great — Allah Azza wa Jal — that's why it's protected. What are the two attributes of Allah mentioned? Hakim — all-wise. So every verse of the Qur'an is based on pure wisdom that will make it applicable to all eras, because Allah is all-wise. It is not subject to a certain community or a certain era. And number two, Hamid — worthy of all praise.

Something beautiful the ulama have written here: Allah — if He were to tell us, you need to praise Me, and He left that open — imagine the praise of an eloquent poet, and imagine a man who never went to school, a villager, a farmer. There would be such a massive difference in the way they praise Allah. Instead of leaving it up to us, Allah has given us the actual method of praising Him. And what is that? Alhamdulillah. Just say Alhamdulillah. You could be the most eloquent person, you could be the nabi of Allah. Or you could be the person who just accepted Islam today and has no educational background in Islam. All of you say Alhamdulillah.

So now when you pick up any dua book, any app, you will see that almost all the duas there for different occasions of the night and day — what do they all begin with? Alhamdulillah. This is something that Allah gave us so we don't have to sit and scratch our heads thinking, how am I supposed to praise Allah? And then Rasul ﷺ taught us a dua:

O Allah, I cannot encompass Your praise — You are as You have praised Yourself. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 486)

Glory be to You, Ya Allah. We cannot encompass Your greatness. You are the way You have praised Yourself. How did He praise Himself? Alhamdulillah — all praise belongs to Allah, past, present, future.

Aisha's Narration — The Prophet ﷺ in Sujood

Aisha رضي الله عنها says: one day I saw the Prophet ﷺ was not next to me in my bedding. So I began to look for him. There were no lights, there's nothing — she can't see anything. SubhanAllah. And she's wondering: where did he go? And her hand touched the bottom of the sole of the Prophet ﷺ's feet. Why? Because he was in sujood and his feet were up, his toes were pointing towards the qiblah. So then she leaned over and she heard him saying:

O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger. I seek refuge in Your granting me well-being from Your punishment. And I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot possibly encompass Your praises — You are as You have praised Yourself. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 486)

Oh Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger. Oh Allah, I seek refuge in Your granting me well-being from Your punishment. And oh Allah, I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot possibly encompass Your praises. Indeed You are the way You have praised Yourself. This is the fact that Allah has given us even the method of how to praise Him — He has made it so easy for us.

Beloved brothers, if Allah were to say اِحْمَدُ اللَّهَ — praise Allah — someone could say, I want to or I don't want to. But Allah didn't give us a choice — Allah said it: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. All praise belongs to Allah. I'm not asking you to say it — it is what it is. You want to say it, say it. You don't want to say it, don't say it. But this is the truth. It's a jumla khabariyya — Allah is informing us that the entire world praises Allah. Name anything, you're going to have to link it back to Allah.

What Was Said to You Was Said to All Prophets Before

Whatever has been said to you, O Rasulullah, to belay you, to malign you — what has been said by the ungodly to all messengers before you — إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ — indeed your Lord alone is the possessor of forgiveness. وَذُو عِقَابٍ أَلِيمٍ — and the possessor of painful punishment.

Two things are being mentioned here. Allah is telling Rasulullah ﷺ that you are given the guarantee that every prophet was given. What is that guarantee?

Indeed, our statement has already been ordained for our messengers who have been sent before — that indeed they will be assisted. And the second meaning is: whatever has been said to you to belay and malign you — what other nations told their prophets in hurtful insults — this is to make Rasulullah ﷺ feel that he's not alone. Don't worry — you're not the only one being rejected, you're not the only one being spoken to so harshly.

When I went to pray Salat al-Fajr on that one trip overseas in Aqsa — just the harshness with which I was spoken to — it was traumatizing if I could say, just for two minutes. Imagine, as a prophet of Allah in your own nation, all day, all night they speak to you like this. And then while you're in sujood, they take intestines and throw them on you, they take a bladder of animals and throw it on you. They shout at you and spit on your face. And you are the Nabi of Allah — the most honorable. Imagine how hard that must be for Rasulullah ﷺ. That's why he said:

I have been harmed in the path of Allah in a way that no one else has been harmed. (Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2472)

So Allah is saying: the previous prophets as well had to go through a lot of difficulty. Do not become overly saddened. Do not be overburdened by this. Their time is coming. And there are going to be two people — either those who lead a life worthy of earning Allah's forgiveness, إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ — they will be forgiven. وَذُو عِقَابٍ أَلِيمٍ — and those who have chosen to bring on Allah's wrath — there is no one who possesses a more painful punishment than Allah.

The Ummah Under Oppression — Stay Aware and Make Dua

I'm just thinking of what we're watching — the genocide taking place in front of our eyes. Please don't become blind to it, don't become emotionless, don't become heartless. Every single day, spend a couple of minutes updating yourself on what exactly is happening today in Lebanon, in Palestine, and other parts of the globe, and especially in the Sham region. Just because it's been over a year does not mean that it has stopped. And Allah forbid, the last thing you want is to meet Allah and have Allah say that you never even cared, or that you never spent even a few minutes shedding a few tears, or that your heart never became emotional watching what's happening. Make sure that doesn't happen. Because that would be a really rock bottom for us — if we reach that state where most of this beautiful ummah is being killed and a person says, I don't have time to watch that.

Just look at it just enough to put things into perspective — not to sit there and read all night. You don't want to lead yourself into depression. You want to take the dose that is required to motivate you to make dua, to shed a tear or two, to pray extra two raka'ats of salah, to motivate you to fast the 13th, 14th, and 15th of the month — the Ayyam al-Bid. Friday, Saturday, Sunday. The middle three days of the month that the Prophet ﷺ used to fast. You have very short fasts — it's almost 12 hours now. Very short. You won't even know it. Just get up for suhoor. Let's all make niyyah to fast this week insha'Allah, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. And then make dua. Make dua for Gaza. Make dua for the people who are suffering.

If you're not motivated, watch a couple of things tonight before you go home. And say, ya Allah, look at these people — they're dying, they're literally starving to death. Majority of the population is starving. They don't have food. Watch the videos of bread being given to them and how people are literally risking their lives to get bread. And you can say: I can subhanAllah, not eat for 11 hours for three days. I can do that. But we need motivation. Watch that — that's good watching. That's beneficial to create within us some desire to do something.

But if you wonder: ya Allah, where are You? I'm just thinking about the anbiya. Imagine a nabi — not a wali, not a sahabi, not an imam — a nabi is something super, super special. Allah speaks to them. They're receiving revelation. Extremely special people. But imagine a nabi who's being caught by his nation, some of the Bani Israel themselves, and being chopped in half with an axe, and he can't do anything. Or being beheaded. Or being tied to a tree and being killed. Not one, but multiple. A bloodbath of prophets happening in one day. A bloodbath not of imams or huffaz of the Qur'an or pious sisters — of prophets. But Allah runs this world the way He wants. You and I can't object to it. He's got His system.

We have to remind ourselves: how would it be for a prophet to watch that very nation he was sent to guide — to save them from Jahannam — come with an axe and behead him. That same nation. Allahu Akbar. So I know we are feeling the pain, but just read and reflect on what has happened throughout history to people who are far more pious than anyone alive today, to people who were far closer to Allah than anyone alive now — these were the chosen prophets of Allah. But Allah has a system. And in that system, things like this happen. The Qur'an speaks about that. Sometimes some of the prophets had not a single follower, or just one follower. This is the method Allah rules this world with. But there's something called the Day of Judgment.

Are we going to say those anbiya were lost? Are we going to say those anbiya were not victorious? No. Their shahada is their victory. What a painful death they had to endure at the hands of their own nations — that is going to take them to the highest levels that we can't even imagine. So we have to learn how to put these things in perspective.

Allah is telling Rasulullah ﷺ: whatever guarantee I gave the previous prophets, you get that — and of course your status is the greatest, so you're going to have even more. The second meaning is: whatever hurtful things and insults other nations told their prophets — this is mentioned to make Rasulullah ﷺ feel that he's not alone. Don't worry, you're not the only one being rejected, you're not the only one being spoken to so harshly.

The Story of Wahshi — Allah's Door of Forgiveness is Always Open

Allah reminds us that ذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ — Allah keeps His doors open. He's a possessor of forgiveness. He doesn't just forgive — He's a possessor of forgiveness. All forgiveness that can ever exist in this world is a teeny tiny insignificant amount of the treasures He has of forgiveness. So no matter how much sin a person has committed — someone told me, how can I feel empathy for someone who's committed XYZ crime?

I said, brother, look at the Prophet ﷺ. He's standing and he sees Wahshi — the man who killed Hamza رضي الله عنه and then butchered him. And that person, who has done so much harm, comes and says, I want to become a Muslim. Nabi ﷺ's heart is in pain, but he says: I can't come between you and Allah. I can't say Allah can't forgive you. You and I are not God, no matter who does what. Allah says, I'm the one who can forgive.

Yes, it is reported in some narrations that Nabi ﷺ would say to Wahshi: please cover your face. Because when I see you, my pain becomes renewed. I start remembering the vicious way my uncle was killed. And naturally, I'm a human — I may, Allah forbid, have ill feelings towards you. And Wahshi, there's no way you're going to get to Jannah if your Prophet has ill feelings towards you. So in order to keep my heart clean for you, please cover your face when you come, so I don't have to see you. Look at the extent to which Rasulullah ﷺ is accommodating him. Because it's not in the hands of the Prophet ﷺ to forgive or not to forgive — that is Allah's prerogative. When it's not even in the hands of the Prophet ﷺ, how can you and I say, oh, someone did this hideous crime — please stop playing God. You're not God. And Allah forbid, when we start playing God, Allah may throw us into a horrible place more than anyone else.

So this is ذُو مَغْفِرَةٍ — Allah keeps His doors open. I'm the one who possesses all forgiveness. And the carrot and the stick: وَذُو عِقَابٍ أَلِيمٍ — and I'm the possessor of painful punishment as well if someone does not obey.

We ask Allah to grant us the deep understanding of what we have covered today. And we ask Allah to make us amongst those who do such actions that will lead us to Allah's forgiveness.

Announcements

Before we go into Q&A — please do stay till the end of the dua. We will not take 20-30 minutes, we'll be done in 5-7 minutes insha'Allah.

We have a very important monthly seminar happening this Friday night called The Dark Side of Digital — the impact of digital media technologies on our brains, bodies, and souls. Please, brothers and sisters, try your best to join us this Friday after 'Isha. Dr. Ahmed Haweedi is coming all the way from Fort Lauderdale. He's an expert in this and brings a background of tazkiyah as well. He'll be bringing aspects of spirituality and modern-day knowledge on these topics, with his co-speaker Arfan Qureshi insha'Allah. He'll be speaking about how this affects our children and how to have balanced tech use.

The recent issues that have come about in the community — allegations of extremely horrible things that have happened — can immediately be linked back to the misuse of technology, the misuse of phones, the misuse of websites. That is the elephant in the room that we're not addressing enough within our homes. So I ask all of you to please become ambassadors of this Friday night's program. Come please — it's probably going to be about one hour. Dr. Ahmed has written an amazing book on this topic — you'll be able to get your book as well and attend his workshop. This Friday night insha'Allah, spread the word. I want especially young parents, and parents of teenagers, and those with children in elementary school to share this flyer. And yes, it will be livestreamed for those out of state — but those of us who are local, please come in person.

December 21 to 23, we have our amazing Harmony Within Winter Intensive — a full three-day workshop. We have a completely parallel sisters' retreat taking place, with female scholars flying in from different parts of the country, alhamdulillah. And then we have our male scholars — Dr. Shadi, Sheikh Uthman Akhtar, and many other ulama, alhamdulillah — and a psychologist coming from Khalil Center. It will be an outstanding program for the entire community. Topics include: how to get married, how to stay married, how to overcome conflicts within marriage, how to raise righteous children in a modern age of technology, and then the very relevant topics of secret marriages, intimacy, and all these contemporary issues that cannot usually be addressed in a general gathering. You can't speak about this in Jummah — you have to have a workshop for this.

Our sisters' Urdu Tafsir happens on-site on Thursdays — please spread the word for that. Alhamdulillah, every Saturday we're covering two of the 99 names of Allah with different ulama — please join us insha'Allah. Every Thursday we have an Urdu program in Sirah, a class that Sheikh Moulana Abdul Basit is teaching. The slides are in English so you can follow along. If you're joining us for the first time and do not receive messages for any of these things, please take a scan of this insha'Allah so that you receive updates for all the programs.

Q&A Responses

What type of toxic residue do sins leave? One of the toxic residues is that the desire for good deeds disappears from a person. A person doesn't enjoy doing good. This is one of the evil effects of sin.

How do I repair my fitrah? Repairing our fitrah is through genuine istighfar. Lots and lots of tawbah. Wash the heart with tears. If you can't cry actual tears, then show Allah the face of one who looks like he's crying — imitate the one who cries. And lots of istighfar — a thousand times. Nabi ﷺ is making istighfar a hundred times in some narrations, and more than 70 times in other narrations. Allahu Akbar. How much istighfar do you and I need to make? Abundance of istighfar. And when you're doing it, you have to show Allah genuine remorse — not just looking the other way and saying "I'm sorry." You have to show Allah Azza wa Jal real remorse.

The dua someone posted in the group chat from Aisha رضي الله عنها:

O Allah, I seek refuge in Your pleasure from Your anger, and in Your pardon from Your punishment, and I seek refuge in You from You. I cannot encompass Your praises — You are as You have praised Yourself. (Sahih Muslim, Hadith 486)

What are your thoughts on the election results? I never knew who was going to win, and now we know who won. At the end of the day, all complete qudra is in Allah's hands. Allah is 'Aziz. Allah is Qadir. These people who are in elected office — they cannot blink an eye without Allah's permission. They cannot go to a bathroom and relieve themselves without Allah's permission. They cannot swallow a morsel of food, cannot drink a gulp of water without Allah's permission. Whatever they're going to be doing now is through Allah's permission, and it was like that in the past, it is like that today, and shall be like that in the future. We need to focus on resorting our attention towards Allah Azza wa Jal, begging Him for His mercy to bring good results from this. And of course involving ourselves in whatever advocacy we can — both things: dua, amal, and advocacy as much as possible.

What are your thoughts on hijrah to a Muslim land? Again, if someone moves to a Muslim area, finds a good neighborhood, and their desire is to be connected to the deen — insha'Allah it could be good for them. But if we don't learn how to protect ourselves or our children from fitna, for example the cell phone — everywhere you go there's a mobile phone, everywhere there's internet, everywhere there's this fitna. If you're trying to run away from it, that's not going to work. If a person does not learn how to protect himself or his children from these fitna, no matter where they go, this is going to create an issue.

Janazah Notice

إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ — we have a janazah notice. One of the ulema, Sheikh Mawlana Ahmad al-Ansari, who had moved from New Jersey some years ago. He was one of the scholars who graduated from India, from Saharanpur, and was a principal of one of the schools in the New Jersey / Piscataway area. He then joined here in Chicago to be a principal of one of the Islamic schools. SubhanAllah, Allah had willed — he became ill for many years. And subhanAllah, just a few hours ago he passed away. He leaves behind students of knowledge; his children are all, mashallah, students of knowledge and ulema. The janazah will take place here tomorrow at Zuhr Salat. Ghusl will be tomorrow morning, and then the janazah will be here. The burial will be at the American Muslim Cemetery.

Let us recite Surah Al-Ikhlas three times, making niyyah of isal al-thawab for him and all those who are deceased of the ummah.

Closing Dua

Oh Allah, we ask You to accept this gathering. Oh Allah, through the barakah of the Qur'an that was recited, shared, and explained, and through the barakah of the angels here, and through the barakah of the innocent ones amongst us, and the barakah of the elders sitting amongst us, and the barakah of the sick people amongst us — we ask You, Allah, to grant all of us forgiveness. We ask You to grant forgiveness to the deceased Mawlana, and we ask You to grant forgiveness to our parents, to our elders, to our teachers, and all those who have passed away from the ummah.

We ask You Allah to change the direction of our hearts from the creation towards You. Oh Allah, please save us from leading a life of following the nafs. Oh Allah, remove the veils from our eyes and remove the veils from our hearts. Oh Allah, all of us who are trying to get closer to You but find obstacles and walls between us and You, between us and the masjid, between us and halaqat of knowledge and dhikr — Oh Allah, please break those walls, remove those veils. Oh Allah, allow us to find it easy to walk towards You, make it easy to walk towards the masjid, to come towards the Qur'an, to come towards the deen.

Oh Allah, make dhikr and dua our second nature. Allow us to enjoy making long dua in seclusion. Make it easy for us to make long nawafil salah. Oh Allah, make it easy for us to perform our fard salah in the masjid. Oh Allah, make it easy and enjoyable for us to at least fast in the winter months. Oh Allah, make it easy for us to enjoy the recitation of the Qur'an. Allow us to focus as we recite, allow us to ponder as we recite, allow us to recite with tajweed. Oh Allah, allow us to learn about all the aspects of Islam relevant to our life and to understand the fiqh related to that.

Oh Allah, we ask You to grant us the ability to lead a life according to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ in all aspects. Oh Allah, accept the dua of all those who are in Haramayn al-Sharifayn and all those who are planning to go in the upcoming breaks. Oh Allah, accept all their journeys, make it easy for them, and make everyone's umrah and ziyarah of Rasulullah ﷺ accepted. Ya Allah, accept the duas being made there on behalf of themselves and on behalf of the entire ummah.

Oh Allah, help our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Oh Allah, help our brothers and sisters in Lebanon. Oh Allah, make us amongst those who actually do something. Oh Allah, please save us from being amongst those who do not do anything and do not feel the pain. Ya Allah, make every one of us amongst those who feel the pain and do that which needs to be done. Ya Allah.

Oh Allah, in this time and age when so many people are being misguided and have such misunderstandings about the deen and about the way forward in this world — Oh Allah, save us from being misguided. Oh Allah, allow us to see the truth as the truth and enable us to follow it. Allow us to see falsehood as falsehood and enable us to stay away from it.

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ

Wa jazakumullahu khayran. Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.