Reflect & Connect: Surah Insan - Ep.02 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 04/15

Opening Supplications

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon our Master Muhammad and upon the family of our Master Muhammad, may his peace and blessings be upon him. O Allah, open my heart, ease my affairs, and release the knot from my tongue, so that my speech may be understood.

Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what You have taught us. O Allah, teach us what benefits us, and benefit us with what You have taught us. And increase us in knowledge and action.

O Allah, fill our hearts with Your knowledge, and use our bodies for Your obedience. And guide us to what You love and are pleased with, in speech, action, intention, and guidance. You are capable of everything.

O Allah, O Wahhab, O Fattah.

Continuing from Surah Al-Insan (Al-Dahr)

God willing, we will continue from going over some of the verses again that we covered last week, in a little bit more detail, from Surah Al-Dahr. Allah Azza wa Jalla says:

This Surah Al-Dahr, Surah Al-Insan — a big chunk of it deals with paradise. It talks about the different luxuries and the blessings that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has prepared in Jannah. Majority of the Surah deals with that. However, every single place, wherever there's mention of paradise, Allah also mentions a little bit or more about hellfire. And wherever there's mention of hellfire in detail, Allah will definitely mention something about paradise. You're not going to find three or four pages straight just about Jahannam, or just about Jannah.

It is a reminder for all of us that no matter how far a person may be away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and he really deserves Jahannam — but however, if he chooses to repent, there is paradise available. And similarly, no matter how righteous a person may be, if a person is seemingly apparently going towards paradise, he should not forget that it is possible that if he messes up, then he could end up going elsewhere.

So the doors of hope are always open for every disbeliever. And the doors of fear of hellfire are also open for every believer. As it comes in one narration:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6469; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2755)

If every believer were to know what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has in terms of punishment, he would never feel content, never feel safe. If every believer knew how much Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala can punish — how much punishment Allah has, the capacity — then he would never feel safe. And the flip side of it: if every disbeliever knew how much mercy Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has, then he would never lose hope in paradise. What a beautiful hadith. Every disbeliever, if he were to know how much mercy Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has, and the treasures of mercy, then he would never lose hope. We're talking about a very bad disbeliever. But if he knew what is the capacity Allah has to forgive, he would also be hopeful. SubhanAllah.

So this is why for a believer, it's so important to remain in the right state of hope and fear all the time — multiple times a day. You're switching gears between hope and fear, hope and fear. And that's what keeps us going.

The Verse on the Disbelievers — Chains, Yokes, and Fire

Since majority of this surah is speaking about paradise, Allah Azza wa Jal just mentioned one verse here about Jahannam. That's it. After that, the whole topic changes and goes back to paradise. So there is, in the dunya, as parents, as teachers or whatever, whoever — maybe people in positions of authority — we can never close the door shut on anyone. Allah never closed the door shut on us; how can we close the door shut upon anyone? Always remember that. Allah never closes the door, as long as there is the chance of repentance through life. Once a person dies, then there's no chance. Once a person passes away, then there's no chance. Besides that, there's always a chance to seek repentance. So when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala keeps the doors open, we also need to keep the door open.

So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

إِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَافِرِينَ — Indeed, it is we alone who have prepared for the disbelievers. سَلَاسِل — Chains that go around the hands and the feet. أَغْلَال — Yokes that go around the neck. وَسَعِيرًا — And a flaming fire of hell.

The Logic of Divine Justice

The idea that a human being can ever think that this world is temporary and will come to an end, and that's it — after that, there are no repercussions for the one who cheated and the one who is honest; the one who went out of his way to assist others and the one who usurped everyone else's wealth; the one who saved the lives of innocent people and the one who took the lives of innocent people — that they're all going to have the same outcome. So this is not fair. This goes against logic.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in Surah Al-Qiyamah, the surah right before this one:

Does a human being think that he will be left without any purpose? Does a human being think that he has no purpose, that he's left alone, just like that?

Another place Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Do you all think that we have created you without any purpose and that you will not be returning back to us?

So Allah Azza wa Jal is asking us in multiple places: do you really think it's logically feasible for a person to lead his entire life — eat, drink, earn, spend, build, get married, get his children married and so forth — and life will end, and you can still be in the same situation as someone who didn't have any of these opportunities, who suffered loss of health and wealth, whose children and everyone in his family passed away one after the other, who went through so many problems? How is it possible that you're both going to be the same?

I think this discussion is so important for us right now — that it is not possible logically. It would make no sense in a classroom, at home, anywhere else, at work. We always say, "This is not fair." How is it that someone who is following all the rules, and someone who breaks every single rule, they're both in the exact same position? That just simply goes against the logic of human beings. Allah is Most Wise. How could He have created a system in which no matter what you do, you're always successful? That just doesn't add up. Why should we be motivated to do anything good? And what stops us from doing something wrong, if at the end it's all the same?

So for a human being to think — for a disbeliever to think, for a believer to think, whoever it may be — that I can go through life cheating, lying, deceiving, usurping people's wealth, and at the end it will all be forgiven, it will all be as though nothing happened? Muhal. Not gonna happen.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in Surah Ibrahim says:

Do not think that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is unaware of that which the oppressors are doing. Indeed, He is giving them respite, for such a day to come in which the eyes will become wide open — shock, wide open eyes.

Perspective: We Are at the Tail End of History

One thing I need to remind myself and all of us: we are at the tail end of this whole saga. We're at the tail end of this whole massive, extremely long history of existence — four and a half billion years, five billion years. We're at the very end of this. And from amongst the human beings, we are also the very last ummah. So as many crazy things as we're witnessing today, the earth has seen many crazy things in the past. The sky has seen many crazy things in the past. And the earth is probably telling us — been there, done that, seen it all. Four and a half billion years old. Really. The creation of Allah. And you are the smallest and the most recent kid on the block — only 40, 60, 70 years old. But we've been around for billions. Imagine the angels, how long they've been around. Imagine the jinn, many of them, how long they've been. Imagine, of course, even the shayateen — so long.

So the verses of the Qur'an and the stories of the Qur'an are so important to reflect upon — what Qawm 'Aad and Qawm Thamud did, what Qawm Lut did, what Qawm Shu'ayb did, and many other nations. They were all intoxicated with power. And Allah mentions their statements in the Qur'an, where they would say:

Who could possibly be stronger than us?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala quotes Fir'aun, who didn't mince his words but rather very explicitly and clearly said:

I am your supreme God. He's not just saying I'm your king — he says, I'm your Rabb, I own it. And then not only does he say that, he also tells his minister to build a tower so high into the sky:

So that I may go look at the God of Musa. He's making fun of it. He's being sarcastic — saying, Musa says there's a God up there, so let me go check him out. He says: وَإِنِّي لَأَظُنُّهُ كَاذِبًا — I definitely think he is a liar.

And moving forward thousands of years later, there's a group of people called Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) who will be coming. And it has been mentioned that Ya'juj and Ma'juj will say: we have killed every single person on the earth, now we will turn our direction to the heavens and kill the ones who are in the heavens. And it comes in hadith that they will shoot arrows into the sky — you could say some high-level missiles, whatever the case may be. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will send down those arrows back to them, stained with blood. That will give them the full conviction that they definitely killed whoever was up there. Look — we got blood on it.

Allah says:

Allah is going to allow them to continue to go deeper and deeper into this hole of ignorance, disobedience, and being completely lost. يَعْمَهُونَ. You know how you let a fishing line keep on going — the more you tug it, you let it go, let it go. Allah lets the disbelievers, who He does not want to guide, and who have pretty much said we don't want guidance, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows them to keep on going further and further, until they will be completely convinced that either God doesn't exist or, if He was there, we killed Him.

The Oral Exam Analogy — Learning from Previous Nations

So we see the verses and stories of the Qur'an repeating themselves. And it's so beautiful — when you have an oral exam, the ones who like to go first go quickly and leave. But a lot of other students say, let me go a little bit later. If you go later, you might find out what was on the exam — if proper arrangements have not been made to separate the students, the later ones can find out what questions were asked. Similarly, we as the Ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ, we're the luckiest of people. We have all the examples of the past nations. We just got to study the oral exam papers — just see what went right, what went wrong, what you're not supposed to do, and what you are supposed to do. And you don't have to wait for the akhirah to see it all. You see it right here in this dunya — how did the other previous nations fare?

A brother told me he was on campus somewhere, and a Christian was giving da'wah. A Muslim brother was there too. An atheist came by the booth and said to the Christian: "So you're telling me God can do anything?" The Christian said yes. The atheist said, "Okay, so can God throw a stone on me right now?" He literally looked up at the heavens and challenged God to throw down a stone on him. The Christian who had the booth ran for his life. The Muslim brother also ran the other way.

What was so shocking for me listening to this story was — this is straight from the Qur'an. Allah says, the disbelievers, when they challenged the Prophet ﷺ, could have asked for anything good. But instead they said:

We want stones — have a rain of stones upon us, or bring about a painful torment. Look how history repeats itself. Instead of asking something good, they're asking for the very worst thing. Because they don't believe it in the first place — they think it's all a joke.

So we're seeing today that the pharaohs of the past have always been there, and continuously new pharaohs are created. New Namruds are created. New Hamans are created. And all of this is new fuel for who? For Jahannam. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is constantly creating new fuel for the hellfire.

In Surah Al-Hijr, Allah says:

فَوَرَبِّكَ — Allah takes an oath on the Lord of Muhammad ﷺ. لَنَسْأَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ — Most definitely I am going to ask them all. I'm going to take all of them to task and put them in the hot seat. عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ — About what they used to do. So there is no way that we are going to be let loose and no one is going to catch us. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala most definitely will hold us accountable.

The Warning of Imam Al-Ghazali

Imam Al-Ghazali, it is reported that one day he was addressing his own self and said: "O nafs, if a doctor were to warn you from eating something which you enjoy — whether it's salty things, sweet things, oily things, or whatever else — and told you it was harmful to your health, would you not stop eating that?" And the answer is of course yes. And he then says to himself: "How is it that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala warns you to stay away from certain things, yet you continue to do so? Is it that the warning of a doctor is more weighty and more valuable in your eyes than the warning of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?"

And so a believer should constantly be thinking about these situations: how is it that I'm going to meet Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and I'm not preparing for that?

The Day of Judgment Must Be Part of Our Daily Formula

My beloved brothers, we as believers in لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ and believers in the Day of Judgment — not a day should go by without us preparing for that day, by including that day in our daily schedule. Our yearly planning, our monthly planning, our daily schedule, our hourly movements — dear boys and girls, dear friends — the Day of Judgment needs to be part of the formula.

What do I mean by that? When I'm doing something — whether it might be permissible or impermissible — I need to ask myself: in the long run, how is this going to harm me or benefit me on the Day of Judgment? This statement I uttered from my mouth, this gesture I made with my hand — let all of us brothers sitting here listening ask ourselves: how many things have we done since morning to our spouse, to our parents, to our siblings, to our business partners, to our roommates, classmates — did we ask ourselves, right now in the fit of anger or the fit of emotions, I'm saying something or doing something, what will the repercussions be of this on the Day of Judgment? That's the difference between a believer and a disbeliever. He is constantly thinking about the big picture.

All of that zulm that you see happening today across the globe is literally at the hands of people who have not added this into their formula. The one who thinks about the Day of Judgment even for a few minutes will not be able to do what others are doing. He won't be able to oppress anyone.

Accountability for Every Living Creature

A person who killed a bird intentionally without the purpose of eating it — he's not hunting, he just killed it — that bird may very well on the Day of Judgment be given a life and will ask, in front of Allah: Ya Allah, why did this person kill me? Who gave him the right? How do we get a right to kill randomly an animal that we're not using for our purpose? Yes, you're slaughtering an animal to eat — that's a different thing. But just like that, since when have we become the lord of the world that we can sit there and kill anything we want? Allah created these things for our service, but that does not give us a right, a license, to destroy things.

Allah says:

When a girl who was buried alive will be asked on the Day of Judgment: what sin, O my dear girl, what sin have you done because of which you were buried alive by your father? And all those innocent boys and girls who are being killed every single day — all will have their day in court. And Allah will ask them: what sin did you do, O one-and-a-half-year-old, O six-month-old, O newborn, O the one who's still in the mother's womb — what did you do? Why did you deserve this death sentence? And the answer will be: Ya Allah, I didn't deserve anything. This was an oppression done against me. And you can only imagine when that answer is given, how that person at that time will most definitely wish he had not committed the act of oppression.

The hadith mentions a lady who locked up a cat and did not allow the cat to go free to hunt for itself, nor did she feed it. And the Prophet ﷺ said:

She will enter the hellfire because of this. A believing lady — a practicing, observant lady, observant of her religious obligations — but not this one. Imagine if a lady will go to hellfire for allowing one cat to die, what about all the other oppression that's happening against one another?

And before we take the attention of the word "oppression" to outsiders, I want myself and all of us to reflect on our own oppression. Because every man will be on his own. Every oppressor will have to deal with Allah on his own. And whatever oppressors overseas or in this country are doing — that's there. But we have to make sure that we don't become the oppressor.

So if a cat is sufficient to get a lady who is an observant Muslimah into hellfire, then imagine what will happen to someone who has to face a husband on the Day of Judgment, where the husband says he tried his best to keep her happy but she chose otherwise. Or that husband who, for no reason — just out of a fit of anger, or some other external pressure — chose to divorce his wife in the middle of the night, kicked her out of the house in the middle of the night, after she had given birth to so many of his children, and decided to cut ties because he found someone younger. How will he answer to that lady on the Day of Judgment?

And for all those parents who will ask on the Day of Judgment: Ya Allah, what did I do to deserve that none of my children speak with me? I mean, this is such a normal thing — people calling and saying I've got three kids, four kids, and none of them speak with me. They're now in their 30s and 40s. I live in a simple, small one-bedroom apartment. All my children are earning six or seven figures. And I don't know what I did, but none of my children will speak.

SubhanAllah, one person told me: my son who hasn't spoken to his mother for this many years — he grows a beard, prays his Fardh Salah, reads Qur'an, observes the fast, but he doesn't talk to his parents, and he says, "If you want me to talk to you, you need to pack up and leave this country and go back to where you migrated from." Such people exist in our midst.

So these are people who have completely forgotten — I don't even know why they pray, I don't know why they fast. You pray and you fast because you think there's something called the Day of Judgment. What happened to the concept of the Day of Judgment when you mistreat your parents like this? What happens to the concept of the Day of Judgment when you mistreat your wife like that? When you mistreat your husband like that? When you mistreat your kids like that? When you mistreat your business partner?

How much zulm is happening in business — people cheating each other out of millions and hundreds of thousands. And they say, "It was in the fine print," or "I never signed a document, where's my signature?" That's the zulm we should think about. Don't just think about zulm overseas. Think about the zulm that's happening within our own homes. That, Allah forbid, we ourselves may be those zalimeen.

Allah says in Surah As-Sajdah:

Do you think the believer and a transgressor are going to be the same? Do you think they're going to be in the same position? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: لَّا يَسْتَوُونَ — they are not equal.

One Verse Is Sufficient — The Story of the Bedouin

My beloved friends, it doesn't take too many verses of the Qur'an to get guidance. It doesn't. One tafsir that you end up attending, ten minutes of hearing something properly, could be more than sufficient for guidance. And we can attend front row every single day, or we could be the one actually delivering the lecture. But SubhanAllah, if it doesn't hit the heart — if it just hits the ears and just the tongue — then it's not going to take us anywhere.

A man — a Bedouin. He's not a scholar, not a student of knowledge. He comes to the Prophet ﷺ and says:

Give me advice and make it short.

If someone would tell me that, I'd probably get upset. But he says this to the Prophet ﷺ — look at the akhlaaq. The Prophet ﷺ said, okay. He recited to him one verse:

Whoever does an iota of good deed shall see its reward. And whoever does an iota of evil shall see its punishment. We all have heard it. It's one of the surahs read in Salah quite often. And you know what the Bedouin said? He said: this suffices me. Enough. Thank you, I'm going. He didn't even know the beginning of this surah. He definitely didn't know all the rest of the surahs. He got from the Prophet ﷺ two ayats. This is sufficient.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

The man has become learned. The man has become intelligent. Just one verse of the Qur'an — he took it to heart and it is sufficient.

I remember Mawlana Tariq in one of his talks had quoted some saying of one of the scholars. He said: the most intimidating verse of the entire Qur'an — أَخْوَفُ آيَةٍ فِي الْقُرْآنِ — is:

Whoever does an iota of evil shall see it. ذَرَّة is basically the smallest, most minute amount of anything — an atom. And if anything less than that, then that's what a ذَرَّة is. So the smallest form of disobedience, Allah Azza wa Jal says, you're going to see it.

Further Verses on Divine Awareness

In Surah Al-Ghafir, Allah says:

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows the khiyanah (treachery) of the eyes. Allah knows how the eyes are misused — when you look at something you're not supposed to look at, looking at someone's phone, looking at someone's screen, someone's private documents, or obviously illicit material online. All of that, Allah says, I know about it. وَمَا تُخْفِي الصُّدُورُ — and I also know all those thoughts that are crossing in your heart. So when a person thinks about that, how could that not make you freeze in your daily life right there and say, oh my God, Allah is watching me. You don't need AI or "big brother" to be afraid of what you do — you have Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's verse right here in the Qur'an saying that I already know how anything and everything you do is misused.

Another verse, in Surah Al-Haqqah, Allah says:

That is a day when all of you will be presented to Allah. It's presentation day. لَا تَخْفَىٰ مِنكُمْ خَافِيَةٌ — no hidden thing from amongst any of you, none of your assets, none of your actions, none of your gestures, nothing of yours will be hidden from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Seeking Knowledge After Ramadan

Beloved friends, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us an opportunity to seek knowledge. And the more knowledge we seek about our deen, the better our ability to guide ourselves in this life. If you don't know about the horrors of the Day of Judgment, you cannot make a proper effort to protect yourself. If you do not know the luxuries of Jannah, you will not make the proper effort required to get to Paradise.

So this is where, after Ramadan, where we're going through a lull mode right now — one month, three weeks in, everyone is still trying to get back into the groove. We need to make a commitment for seeking knowledge. Listening to the talks and short reminders after Salah — that is great. But even this dars of tafsir is for you and I to get the gist of the Qur'an. If you want to deep dive, then a person needs to obviously become a student of knowledge.

So all of our young college students, high school students, and those fathers and mothers who have kids in college — alhamdulillah, this is an opportunity that you have post-Ramadan to make some decisions. Let me encourage my daughter and my son to take time off in the evenings, to do some after-school program, to do some in-school program during college — an hour during the day — or take a gap year to study the deen. Without seeking knowledge, it will be very difficult for us to have a proper perspective in our life.

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He allows us to understand the depth of this verse as well that we're studying, and every verse that we're studying. Allah has already prepared for all those who disbelieve in the Day of Judgment — who disbelieve in the fact that there is justice — chains, yokes, and a flaming fire of hell. Why? Because the one who disbelieves in it will then lead a life based on his own whims and desires. So much for the law and order that we hear about in this dunya. The courts in this world unfortunately cannot, SubhanAllah, give justice.

One of the signs of the hour is the idea that justice will be bought and sold. The most truthful one will be called the biggest liar, and the biggest liar will be called the most truthful. Everything will be switched. North will become South, South will become North. Read the signs of the hour — not just for excitement, but for the sake of your sanity. Because when you see the oppression that's happening across the globe, if you read through the signs of the hour, you will realize that all of this has been prophesized by the Prophet ﷺ. So this oppression will only make you a stronger believer. And you will also realize that in this chaos and anarchy, the hidden hand of Allah is still in control.

The Story of Ya'juj and Ma'juj — A Lesson in Hope

Just think about the example of Ya'juj and Ma'juj throwing arrows into the sky. Even in that day and age, the Muslims will be living through a very hard time — having pretty much been killed across the earth, except for a small number hiding on a specific mountain top. Can you imagine how tough it will be for those believers? How powerless they will feel. And then these enemies will take an arrow and shoot into the sky, and arrows come back with blood on them, and they say: "We killed God." Imagine how hopeless that feeling is. It is a million times worse than anything now — there is no comparison.

But imagine: even when those arrows come back with blood, that is also by the permission and will of Allah. And the one who knows these hadiths at that time will not give up and will not lose hope, because he will know that whatever is happening, it's because Allah willed it. You see now how important it is for us to be connected with sacred knowledge? How important it is for us to become students of hadith and Qur'an, both — so that in the years to come, when things become even more difficult, you can get inspiration and strength from the knowledge that you have.

The Abrar — The Virtuous Ones

This is the only verse in this whole surah about the disbelievers and their abode in hellfire. Now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the virtuous people:

Who are the Abrar? The one who recognized Allah and obeyed Him — أَعْرَفَ رَبَّهُ فَأَطَاعَهُ. He is the Abrar. The one who recognized Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and obeyed Him.

Let's talk about their drinks. The Quraysh of Mecca were extremely passionate about their liquor and their wines — they had literally hundreds of words for various types of alcohol. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, speaking to us, says: think about what you all like. You like wine and you like mixtures. So I'm going to give you an amazing mixture of camphor — which doesn't make sense from the dunya perspective. How is that mixed into wine? What kind of smell is that going to be?

The answer to that is: all the descriptions of Jannah and Jahannam in the Qur'an — the only resemblance between those descriptions and what we see in this world is the resemblance of words. The actual manifestation of that, you can't even bring it into this world. The physical and chemical properties of the elements of this world do not allow any beauty of Jannah or any horror of Jahannam to be manifested here. That is a whole different set of principles and laws that govern the world of the hereafter.

So when we talk about the trees, the cups, the vessels, the children, the gold, the silver, the rivers — all of those are words for us to start thinking about what it might be like. But in reality, none of us can actually imagine what awaits all of us, insha'Allah, in Paradise.

That's why the Qur'an talks about the rivers of Jannah. Allah says:

A river of milk whose taste will never change — find us a river of milk that never goes bad. A river of honey that is pure. A river of wine that is enjoyment for those who drink. And of that wine:

You will never get a headache after drinking that. And you will never speak rubbish after drinking that. There is no intoxication. Find us an alcohol that you can gulp down and drink without intoxication, without after-effects, headaches, or any other disgusting things. That is something we as believers, alhamdulillah, have never had to deal with. To Allah belongs all praise and favor.

The Reality of Jannah — Beyond All Description

I talked about Sri Lanka and the tea plantations — so beautiful, so deep green and lush — words can't describe it. And when I'm looking at it, the first thing I'm thinking is: this is the reason why the word Jannah has been used for the gardens of paradise. The word Jannah means a garden. If this is the Jannah of the dunya, can you imagine the Jannah of the akhirah?

If you imagine a beautiful night sky with stars, or a beautiful moonlit sky — how can we understand what it must look like sitting all together and then Allah removing a veil between us and Him? Allah says:

There will be faces, brightly lit, looking at Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There are no words that can describe that. And so the reason these things have been mentioned in the Qur'an is for us to just reflect — that this world does not have the capacity to reward the truthful people for their patience. There is another place for it.

The Vision of the Palestinian Man

I saw recently a short clip from Shaykh Omar, which was very moving. He had an excerpt from an interview of a Palestinian man who was wounded badly and was in a hospital for about 40 days. His eye was blown out. He was in bad shape. And he was asked, how are you doing? And he said: my best days of my life are those 40 days that I spent in the hospital.

They asked: what are you enjoying? And he said — SubhanAllah — I had a vision when I was in the hospital. I was taken to a beautiful place that had a beautiful spread — such food, such enjoyable things that I've never seen. And while I was there, someone placed some specific food on his lips. He woke up — it was only a few seconds. But till now, he is tasting the sweetness of that. And it's so sweet that he doesn't want to eat anything lest he lose that taste. And that one vision is so powerful that no matter how much physical pain he may have been put through, everything is completely forgotten.

When you hear about the Sahaba, radhiallahu anhum, at Uhud and so many other instances, where they say: we smell the fragrance of Jannah behind Uhud. Why are we going to waste time eating a meal? This is when Allah opens up — even a tiny crack into the next world — and you see things that make all the difficulties of this world become insignificant.

The Hadith of the Single Dip in Paradise

I want to share with you a beautiful hadith. On the Day of Judgment, from all the people going to paradise, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will find the one who had the most painful, most difficult life on earth. And it comes in a hadith:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2807)

Allah will dip the man who had the most difficult life into Jannah — the way you dip a cookie. And that one dip — then Allah will call him out and say: come here, my servant. هَلْ رَأَيْتَ شِدَّةً قَطُّ؟ — Did you ever witness any difficulty in your life? And the Prophet ﷺ says that the man will look at Allah and say: I swear by God, I have no idea what You're talking about. I have never experienced any difficulty, never experienced any type of challenge.

My friends, he hasn't seen the vessels of Jannah. He hasn't seen his palace. He hasn't had his first sip from the rivers of Jannah. He hasn't met his wife in Jannah. He hasn't sat with his children in Jannah yet. Allahu Akbar — he just got a dip. And that one dip is more than sufficient to make him forget every difficulty of this life. And we're talking about the person who, from every single person who ever went to Jannah — from Adam to the last man to die on this earth — had the most difficult life. Imagine the story of everyone else. All the difficulties of this world will become absolutely insignificant in the big picture — and, if I may add, actually worth it. Because you don't get those highest levels of paradise without a lot of pain, suffering, and sabr. The more sabr you do, the higher the level.

The Story of Haram ibn Milhan and the Killer Who Became Muslim

There was an incident in which a companion of the Prophet ﷺ was killed in battle. A disbeliever came to the Prophet ﷺ afterward and said he wanted to become a Muslim — he wanted to take his shahada. He was asked: you're a disbeliever who fought against the Muslims in so many battles — why do you want to take the shahada? He said: because of an incident that happened on the battlefield. I was able to take down one believer, and I was on top of him, about to kill him. And as he was dying, he said:

I swear by the Lord of the Ka'bah — I have now become successful. The man who killed him was so shocked. He said: I should be the one saying I'm successful. But this man is dying and he is saying he is successful? It's not just belief in the unseen — when you reach those levels, Allah makes some of the unseen, seen. At that time of death, you see who is taking your soul. And so that companion saw the beautiful angels of Jannah coming for his soul. And so the Prophet ﷺ remarked about this: what a strange incident — the killer and the killed, القَاتِلُ وَالمَقْتُولُ, both are in paradise. One became a martyr, and the other accepted Islam. SubhanAllah.

The Last Words of Sa'd ibn Rabi' — Radhiallahu Anhu

Another companion of the Prophet ﷺ, Sa'd ibn Rabi' رضي الله عنه, was missing among the men. The Prophet ﷺ said, go look for him. They found him about to die. They asked him:

Are you with the living or with the dead? Meaning: are you going to make it or not? And SubhanAllah, he said: I'm with the dead ones. Then the companion told him: the Prophet ﷺ sent me to convey his salam to you. So SubhanAllah, with his last breath, he told this messenger:

O Rasulullah, may Allah reward you better than any Prophet has been rewarded on behalf of his nation. And then he told this messenger — tell the rest of the companions:

(Reported in Seerah literature, including Ibn Hisham's Al-Sirah Al-Nabawiyyah)

You will have no excuse on the Day of Judgment in front of Allah if anyone from the enemy is able to reach the Prophet ﷺ as long as there is one eye blinking within you. These are his last parting words to his fellow companions. These are amazing stories of people who actually saw that day coming — and when you think about the Day of Judgment and prepare for it, your life is going to be completely different.

The Believers' Spring — Their Qualities

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions that these believers will have a spring that will follow them wherever they go, gushing forth at their command. Not just water — honey, milk, wine, and whatever other beautiful things Allah will create for them, pouring out. What was the beautiful attribute of these believers?

They fulfilled their vows. My dear friends, a believer never lies. Being poor is not a problem. Being uneducated is not a problem. Being at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder is not something to be ashamed of. But what is unacceptable and something to be ashamed of is a person who does not fulfill his promises, who does not care about the word he's given to someone. That is not befitting a Muslim.

(Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu'jam Al-Kabir; referenced in works on Islamic character)

A believer cannot lie. No matter who it is, where it is — if he's asked something, he has to speak the truth. If he's taken responsibility for something, he has to fulfill it. If this man is so conscious about fulfilling what he has made obligatory upon himself, imagine how conscious he is of those things that Allah has made obligatory upon him.

And he is so afraid of a day — again, that same Day of Judgment we're talking about — كَانَ شَرُّهُ مُسْتَطِيرًا — whose evil is not limited. You cannot escape the horror of the Day of Judgment. مُسْتَطِيرًا — it's like when you have a chemical plant blowing up and a chemical reaction taking place all over, and pollution spreading, and not an inch is safe. Think about the Day of Judgment — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying these people are afraid of that day that will spare no one.

Ka'b Al-Ahbar says: if a person were to have the faith of 70 prophets, he would also think he's not going to make it. Seventy prophets — and he will be afraid he will not be able to make it.

Closing Du'a

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to fear Allah more than we fear any creation. May Allah allow us to fear the Day of Judgment more than we fear any day of this world. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow our actions — more than our words — speak of the faith that we hold in our heart. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow all of us to become a means of invitation towards this beautiful deen, through our actions.

Recitation of Surah Al-Kahf and Collective Du'as

As we did last week, we will recite Surah Al-Kahf together — the last verses — as a protection from Dajjal and the fitnah of Dajjal. As a reminder, the entire Surah Al-Kahf should be recited at least once a week on Fridays for protection from Dajjal. Our teachers are recommending that we recite the entire surah — for those who can, every day. And if you cannot, then at least the first 10 and the last 10 verses, insha'Allah.

Similarly, as we said last week, these are the two du'as that have been shared with us — one from the Qur'an, one from the hadith — one for our protection, and one for the protection of all those across the globe who are being oppressed. Let us recite this together:

O Allah, cover up our flaws, faults, and weaknesses. And give us protection from where we are in fear.

This has been recommended that we recite this du'a 21 times a day, either in one sitting or divided up. Additionally, as much as we can — whether 11 times, 3 times, or more — in odd numbers.

This du'a from the Qur'an — from the fifth juz' — let us recite this together as well:

Our Lord, take us out from this town whose people are oppressors. And appoint for us from Yourself a protector, and appoint for us from Yourself a helper.

Du'a Requests

There are a few du'a requests. We have one of our front-row musallees — a member of our community who has been with us since the masjid opened — who is in very critical condition right now. He is in hospice at the moment. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for His special, special mercy on him. I'm sure every one of you who comes to Salah here has seen him. So make lots of du'a for him.

And one other elder member of our community just passed away this morning at Fajr Salah during the adhan time — SubhanAllah. Brother Yusuf Muyaddin Qadiri — his janazah already took place today. There was also another revert brother whose janazah took place this afternoon — SubhanAllah. The students got a chance to participate in the washing, SubhanAllah, because he had no relatives with him. So let us make du'a for the entire Ummah and for these individuals as well.

O Allah, forgive our living and our dead, those present and those absent, our young and our old, our men and our women. O Allah, whoever among us You keep alive, keep him alive upon Islam; and whoever among us You take in death, take him in death upon Iman. O Allah, forgive them, have mercy on them, grant them well-being, pardon them, and admit them into Jannah. Cleanse us of our sins as white cloth is cleansed of impurity. O Allah, make their graves gardens from the gardens of Jannah and do not make them pits from the pits of hellfire. O Allah, cure us and cure our sick and the sick of the Muslims, and have mercy on our deceased and the deceased of the Muslims.

Al-Fatihah.