Reflect & Connect: Surah Insan - Ep.04 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 04/29

Opening Supplications

We ask Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, that He allows us all to become beneficiaries of the Qur'an — or rather, students of the Qur'an. May Allah allow us all to continue to increase in our muhabba and love for the Book of Allah. As this month has passed and Dhul Qa'da has entered — Ashhur al-Hajj have entered — we ask Allah that He allows us all to feel attached to the symbols of Islam.

May Allah allow all of our questions and needs to be fulfilled through studying the Book of Allah. May Allah allow this dars to become beneficial for me and all those who are present and those who are listening afterwards. We ask Allah to allow our coming here to become a means of every one of us increasing in our connection with Almighty Allah and the Book of Allah. May Allah not allow a single day to go by without us spending some quality time with the Book of Allah. We ask Allah that He allows all of us to be able to reflect on the verses that are being shared, and allow us to see how we can find solutions to our daily problems in the Book of Allah.

Continuing from Last Week: The Descriptions of Jannah

The descriptions of Jannah is what was shared last week. We'll continue insha'Allah from there. Allah spoke about the fact that the rivers of Jannah and the drink of Jannah contains Zanzabil — ginger. Each one of these things, entire books have been written about their benefits.

We know that every blessing of dunya and every blessing of the Akhirah are unique — meaning the words may be the same, but the reality of that word in Jannah is far greater than anything we can understand. Nonetheless, there must be some benefit and wisdom in Allah using the word Zanzabil. Whether it's Teen wa Zaytoon, whether it is Zanzabil, or whether it is Fawaki — the different words: asal (honey), ginger, figs, and olives mentioned in the Qur'an — we definitely recognize and believe that these words, although their real manifestation in Jannah is something beyond our understanding in this dunya, still carry immense benefit.

That's why today you see doctors who study the Qur'anic words and the hadith sharing the amazing similarities they find — when they look at the properties of medications and see similar types of ingredients found within the ingredients of these medicines. That is why the whole aspect of natural medicine, and Qur'anic and Sunnah-based medicine, is something that we should also take hand in hand, appreciate, and take full benefit from, alongside all the other things a person may be utilizing.

Connecting Knowledge to the Creator

This is a small point — there is so much hidden in the Book of Allah. Those of us, mashaAllah, who are going into the medical field: it is so important for all of us to also study the deen and study the Book of Allah for at least a few years. Through the barakah of that studying, we hope insha'Allah that as you move forward in your studies of other things — at university or in school — you'll start being able to connect much of what you have studied outside. You'll find examples of that in the Book of Allah. You'll find the Qur'an alluding to those amazing discoveries of modern-day scientists. This is so important to keep our deen intact.

If we do not have that knowledge of the Qur'an, we'll walk away impressed with the latest advancements in technology, while our being impressed with the Book of Allah will diminish. It's not supposed to be either or. You're not supposed to be either impressed with the Qur'an or impressed with modern science. Either impressed with the Qur'an or impressed with technology.

I was reading today about the new chips now coming out of Microsoft and Nvidia and other chip makers — supercomputers, subhanAllah, 70 trillion processes per second. Just the number 70 trillion — it's like takthir, and that also in the palm of your hand. It's ajeeb things we're seeing.

Now think about all the things that Allah talks about regarding the Day of Judgment — He talks about Sari' al-Hisab, the swiftness of reckoning. Think about the computational power needed to account for every single person's book of deeds. How many actions have we done? One of the brothers was mentioning that on a daily basis a person has about 75,000 to 80,000 thoughts that go through their mind. Thousands and thousands of thoughts.

And Allah says He knows:

Whatever waswas comes into your mind, Allah knows that. So the amount of knowledge Allah has — for every single human being, every single animal, every single living creature, what types of thoughts they're going through at any given second. All of us are listening here, but we're not just listening. There's so much going on subconsciously and consciously.

What number can we put to the thoughts crossing the minds of everyone listening right now? Billions. For Allah to be aware of all of that, and to hold us accountable — to reward or punish us for those thoughts. This man did husn al-dhann. There is su' al-dhann. Instantaneously. Can you think how deep that is?

When Allah says سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ — Allah is very swift. كَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيبًا — Allah is sufficient as the One taking people to task, keeping tabs and accounts on everyone. When you see the computational power that human beings now are being given, and we're just at the start of this race — 30 to 40 years ago the average consumer started having access to this. Where is this going to go? It's amazing for us to study these things and then reflect on the grand power of Allah.

When we don't make this connection, we'll walk away impressed with the makhluq and not get impressed with Allah. Imagine if your spouse made some amazing cake and an amazing dinner, and you sit there literally kissing the cake, taking pictures of it, spending the next 30 minutes speaking about it, while she's waiting on the side. No appreciation, no salam, nothing. How would that be? That is our example if we focus on the creation of Allah and forget the Creator.

Allah created you and what you do. So every invention, every creation, is most definitely the creation of Allah. It's supposed to make us feel even more indebted to Allah, more grateful towards Allah. It took us thousands and thousands of years of human existence to get to a supercomputer of this sort — and we're still not there. How many more thousands of years will it take to even do a trillionth of a trillionth of a trillionth of what Allah is doing every second? These inventions help us realize how helpless and weak we are, and how insignificant we are in front of Allah's immense, infinite power.

That is why, when Allah says:

Indeed, the ones who truly fear Allah are only those who are the ulama. That alim is the one who has ilm about himself — who has ilm of the creation, who has ilm of the Creator, and who has ilm of deen. A person — a scholar of deen — who does not know who he is in front of Allah, and who doesn't even think about Allah's greatness, is not going to be afraid of Allah.

It's like a student taking an aqeedah exam — about the Names of Allah, the attributes of Allah, the qualities of Allah — and in the exam he is cheating. So what was the point? Can you call that person an alim? On the other hand, there was that lady who told her daughter to mix milk and water, saying no one will find out, Umar is not here. And the daughter replied: but what about the Lord of Umar? Now this young girl never went to a madrasah, never studied any book of aqeedah. But she definitely knows more about Allah than a person who studied for years and then cheats.

A Call to College Students and Parents

Dear college students — boys and girls, men and women, fathers of college students — along with all of our degrees that we're studying, we must spend some time, in this day and age especially, to study the Book of Allah. With the niyyah that we understand who Allah is, and that our studies at university should only make us closer to Allah, not — Allah forbid — atheists.

The head of AI at Microsoft — I was reading his background. He was Muslim. But then he went to Oxford, and he says, "Thankfully, very soon I became an atheist." Who said that if you go to a good university, if you become smart, you need to become an atheist? SubhanAllah. Where is that technology being used today? إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ It didn't have to be like that. There are mistakes in the tarbiyah. If we made sure that all of our children from the very beginning were grounded in the deen — grounded in the Book of Allah — then our studies at university would have made us even more inspired, made us fall even more in love with Allah, impressed by Allah, impressed by His power.

Summer is coming, right around the corner. Colleges are getting off — in the next week or two. I implore all the college students: please use this time this summer to study the Book of Allah. Study Qur'anic Arabic. Study tafsir of the Qur'an. Just two to three months until your next semester starts — so much you will gain. It will literally change your whole perception of Allah, your perception of the world. You'll have a whole new appreciation of the deen of Allah.

More than the college students, my appeal is to the parents. If parents were to make this part of the children's educational system — that when summer comes, instead of just vacation or internship — this time we should dedicate to learning the Book of Allah. If you cannot do it all the time, you can do 8 to 1, or 7pm to 10pm at night — two to three hours a day, Monday through Saturday. And after that you do whatever you have to do. Insha'Allah there will be so much khair in this.

All of this came out of Zanzabil — ginger! One of the mashayikh here in Chicago, mashaAllah, told me he has worked on this — soon to be published, 800 pages on Juz 'Amma. He said he took each and every single word, went to its etymology, and did a full deep dive from eight tafsirs, all insha'Allah to be translated into English soon. That is exactly how deep the Book of Allah is. 800 pages on Juz 'Amma alone — and if he had a team, he could have written 8,000. No doubt about it.

I want all of us to study that, and to walk away inspired, saying: Oh my God, this Qur'an is so deep. Then don't stop there. Say: SubhanAllah, in the Qur'an most certainly lies the constitution of the world. In it lie the keys to success. So I will not make any moves without first consulting the Book of Allah, as explained to us through the Sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. May Allah give us tawfiq to connect ourselves and our children to the Book of Allah. Ameen.

Wildan Mukhalladun — The Immortal Youths of Jannah

What is the description that Allah now gives of Jannah? We talked about the drinks. Allah says, going around serving them these drinks, are immortal youths. Wildan means children. Mukhalladun — immortal, who will live forever. Idha ra'aytahum — if you were to see them, you would think them to be scattered pearls. Lu'lu' is pearls. Manthur — spread out.

Allah is speaking about the optics and external beauty. When you have great food, but that same great food is served in beautiful crystal dishes with high-end silverware, it all of a sudden has that special sparkle. The chai in a styrofoam cup never really tastes the same. Then you have that same chai in a nice mug — subhanAllah, it tastes so much different.

Our Honorable Ustadh, Hazrat Musleh ud-Din Sahab, someone had gifted him a small bowl made out of soil from Medina, in exactly the shape of the bowl that Rasulullah ﷺ used to drink from. You can find that in Medina — if you're going, let me know, I'll connect you with the people who actually make them. He was saying, from all the gifts he had received, this was the most beloved. It's literally a mitti ka piyala — a small earthen cup. Kids would probably think it's where you put the scrubber and soap by the wash basin. He said, whatever juice or water it is, he wants to drink from it because it's from the soil of Medina and it resembles what Rasulullah ﷺ drank from.

So the optics and how everything is presented matters. And one of the most important things is who is serving it. There's something about the innocence of little children — that energy, that cuteness — it's just such a beautiful trait. Innocence itself is something you cannot find in adults.

Today I went to the park. The youngest one wanted to feed the geese — the little babies were there. He said, "Baba, the geese are hungry, we need to give them food." I asked, "How did you find out?" He said, "They told me — they're making noise, they're saying they're hungry." It was just such a beautiful, innocent statement. SubhanAllah.

So those who are serving in Jannah — these innocent cute kids — after they grow older in dunya, they don't remain cute. But Allah speaks about the cute kids of Jannah that will remain in that state — مُخَلَّدُونَ — forever. And if you think of them, they look like actual gems and pearls. Since they're all over the place serving your needs, it's as if someone took a whole bag of diamonds and pearls and scattered them on the ground. At every corner, at every single place, there is a khadim waiting for you.

What makes a five-star or seven-star hotel special? Customer service. Before you say anything, it's done. Before you ask for it, it's done. They understand your needs. This is your customer service right here in Jannah. Allah has put thousands, millions — Allah knows how many — of these amazing young creation of Allah:

Thamm and the Grandeur of Jannah

Allah then says to the Prophet ﷺ:

Note the difference between ثُمَّ and ثَمَّ. ثُمَّ means "then." ثَمَّ means "there." So: O Rasulullah, if you were to look there — in Jannah — what would you see? رَأَيْتَ نَعِيمًا — you would see pure delight. وَمُلْكًا كَبِيرًا — and a great kingdom.

A person can have a house, a mansion, a castle. But the person who has six continents of the world, multiple mansions, private islands, a fleet of private jets, yachts — that's not a mansion or castle. That's a kingdom. But of course that kingdom must come to an end. Every single king of the past and every king of today must die and leave behind that kingdom to someone else.

This is what Allah is saying — if you were to simply look at a jannati's life, all you're going to see is pure delight. There is no mixture, no tint or hint of any sadness. I recently had to share words of condolence to someone whose son or daughter got married, and within 24 hours his father passed away. So I had a mixed message.

Allah is the One who makes you laugh, who makes you cry, who gives life, who gives death. This is dunya. In dunya there is no such thing as enjoyment forever, and no such thing as sadness forever. Dunya is a place where sadness and happiness are mixed together. May Allah forgive his father and bring happy life to the newlyweds. Only Jannah is a place where there is no such thing as sadness, anger, or anxiety — it's pure, pure delight. And the luxury there — مُلْكٌ كَبِيرٌ — it's not a house, it's actually an entire kingdom.

What is the price to get this? Allah has not made our life impossible. Rather, Allah has made it simple — just have sabr. You can eat and drink, but stay away from certain things. Besides khamar, everything else is halal. Besides khinzeer and improperly slaughtered meat, you can eat whatever you want. Thousands and thousands of items a person can eat and drink.

Five times a day salah, once a year zakah, once in a lifetime Hajj if you can afford it — these are fara'id. Spend some time reading Qur'an, take care of your family — everyone would agree you should take care of your family. These basic things a person has to do. This is the thaman — the price a person has to pay for Jannah.

And Nabi ﷺ spoke about the Ansar:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3793; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1061)

As for the Ansar, they fulfilled whatever was obligated upon them, and what remains is what is owed to them. The Ansar fulfilled whatever they had to do. Now they're just waiting to get paid. Allah is going to take care of them. SubhanAllah, what an honor! You've already taken care of everything you need to — now you're just waiting for the cash out.

Uthman radiyAllahu 'anhu — similarly, Nabi ﷺ was with the money, the golden coins that Uthman donated for the Battle of Tabuk. He brought it in the bag, and the Prophet ﷺ put it in his lap and was placing coins one by one. And he said: O Uthman, nothing can harm you after this. Because the sacrifice you've made is so immense. You've paid for your package to Jannah. And now it's time for you to go.

There are people like that all the time in the world who are paying for their packages in Jannah. All those brothers and sisters who are being mercilessly killed across the world — whether in India, whether in Palestine, or somewhere else — insha'Allah, these people have all paid in full. And they are simply awaiting. This is the only way any one of us can calm ourselves when we see images of savagery and barbaric, inhumane methods of killing innocent children, men, and women. We don't have the ability to watch things like that. All we can say is that this is a one-time payment. Sometimes you have to make multiple payments over 60, 70, 80, 90 years. Allah is taking the payment from these people in one shot — one cash payment for 70 years' worth, within one year, some within six months, some within minutes. And insha'Allah, before their blood reaches the ground, they've already started enjoying the na'im and the enjoyment of Jannah.

We ask Allah to accept their shahada. We ask Allah to grant shifa to those who are wounded. We ask Allah to make way for those who have been innocently imprisoned. We ask Allah to grant sabr jameel to their loved ones. We ask Allah to allow their suffering and the du'as they're making to become accepted, and to allow their suffering and their du'as to become a means of giving hidayah to the rest of the world. Ameen.

Dunya Is Fleeting — The Akhirah Is Everlasting

Allah mentions regarding Ibrahim alayhissalam, where Ibrahim said: O Allah, make Makkah al-Mukarrama a protected city, and grant its people the fruits — whoever believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment, may Allah allow them to live with peace and security. And those who disbelieve:

I am going to give them time to enjoy this world for a little bit. Then I am going to force them towards the punishment of the fire. Meaning, the life of this dunya, no matter how much a person wants to enjoy it, is qaleel — very little. Imagine someone comes to you and says: I'll give you a bicycle for life, or a car for half an hour. Which would you take? Everyone would agree: bicycle for life. Now flip it: a bicycle for half an hour, or a $100,000 car forever. Can anyone say they'd choose the bicycle? That's the example of dunya and akhira. Dunya is far lower in quality in every sense of the word than the akhira, and it's not even half an hour — it's one second — compared to the akhira. That's why the Qur'an says:

The hereafter is far better and it is everlasting. Where is the logic in giving preference to having a good life in this world over having a good life in the akhira? It just doesn't make sense. This life is so short-lived, and the quality — you cannot even drink coffee without adding milk, sugar — and if you run out of sugar or milk, forget the coffee. Look how muhtaj we are just to drink one cup of coffee.

In Jannah, you see a bird flying, you think about it — it's mashwi, already grilled with all the different spices, in your mouth within less than a second. You taste it, you spit it out, the bird flies away. There's no ingestion, no using the restroom, no bad breath, no stomach ache — just pure, pure enjoyment. Non-stop. And you can keep changing the flavor as much as you like. You know those fountain soda machines — the kids get excited: oh, you can choose six flavors — vanilla, cherry, orange. Think about what Jannah is going to be like. Without all the calories, without all the high fructose corn syrup, and all the other things. None of that. And even the wine — we talked about last week:

It's not going to give you a headache. A person is not going to be speaking trashy things. Nothing. Pure, clean. Every single thing of the akhira — there is no concept of anything harmful, no baggage. Every single thing is amazing.

What does Allah want us to do? Just pay the price. And that price is sabr. Sabr from sins. Sabr on good deeds. And sabr on difficulties. Allah mentions in another place:

Say: the enjoyment of this world is very little. And the Day of Judgment is far greater, far better for anyone who has taqwa. And on the Day of Judgment you will not be oppressed in the least. How many times have you been cheated in this dunya? You deserved a job, a raise, something — but you didn't get it. That's dunya. Allah says: وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا — on the Day of Judgment, there will not be even the tiniest amount of dhulm. فَتِيلًا and نَقِيرًا — these are the words used in the Qur'an, referring to the thin white cover on a date pit, and the extremely thin white thread in between. Allah is saying, not even that amount of dhulm will occur.

One type of dhulm is being punished for an action you didn't do. Allah says that's not going to happen. If you didn't do it, you're not going to get punished for it. The second is that whatever good deeds you did do, you will definitely get noticed and get paid for. Not possible that a person did a good deed and it goes unnoticed. In dunya it happens all the time — we miss out on being appreciated, on being awarded. But Allah negates that type of dhulm. He says that's not going to happen.

Connecting the Blessings of Dunya to the Akhirah

There is a beautiful dua:

O Allah, connect the blessings of this dunya with the blessings of the akhira. Meaning — whatever blessing I have: alhamdulillah, a spouse, children, health, wealth, a home, safety — O Allah, allow it to become continuous into the akhira. That the blessing of children, spouse, family, house, money, health does not become a liability, but actually becomes the reason I got the blessings in the akhira.

Because a lot of times these blessings become liabilities — a person becomes so indulged in them, or becomes so arrogant because of them, astaghfirullah, that he ends up losing out in the akhira. But if these blessings are connected — the reason we're in Jannah is because we had an amazing spouse; the reason we're in Jannah is because we had amazing parents; the reason we're in Jannah is because we had such a comfortable home — how is that possible? Because you used these blessings to build your akhira. SubhanAllah.

One brother was telling me about another person — an imam of a masjid — whose wife called and said it was time for delivery. He said, okay, but it's time for Isha — I'm going to lead the salah first and then come. And the wife said, okay, go lead the Isha salah and then come. He led Isha and then went to the hospital, and mashallah, Allah had destined it at just the right time. Look at this pairing — the husband who says I'm not going to miss my salah, and the wife who says no problem, I'm not going to stop you either. This type of relationship is insha'Allah one of the many reasons why they get to Jannah. Everyone should desire such blessings in this world.

Thiyab al-Sundus: The Robes of Jannah

Enrobing the heavenly inhabitants shall be thiyab al-sundus. Sundus is a thin type of silk, and istabraq is a very heavy, rich type of silk. Khudhr describes these robes as green. Different types of cloth have been used — the brocade is different, the inner part of the robe is different. Now, silk is haram in the dunya for males. But Allah is saying: protect yourself from the desire of having this. Khamar is haram here. More than four spouses is haram. Wine is haram. All of these things are being made halal — you just have to stay away for a few years, and then for eternity a person can enjoy them.

And they shall be adorned therein with bracelets of silver. And thus their Lord shall give them to drink a pure drink. Allahu Akbar.

Regarding the idea of gold and silver — someone once made an objection: I'm not attracted to this stuff. I'm not attracted to wearing this type of robe. And sometimes people ask: what if I'm not attracted to the opposite gender? Remember — the maqsad of Jannah is to keep you happy beyond measure. If death were still around, you would have died out of happiness. But death itself will be killed. So why would Allah do something that doesn't please you? The goal is that Allah is your host. And every single possible thing you can imagine — and cannot imagine — what we cannot imagine is far more than what we can imagine, and it has already been prepared.

It's already been prepared. Just waiting for us to unveil it and see it. So if someone tells you they don't desire those things, tell them: you will get what you desire. We've all been kids before — you bring the most amazing food and they say, no, I want cereal. But Allah will make sure you will get what you want in Jannah. Because:

No nafs knows what has been prepared to keep it happy — qurrat al-'ayn, the coolness of the eye. That you just look at it, your jaw drops, and you are so, so happy that words cannot describe. Allah says that's what you're going to get.

And Allah will also cleanse us entirely. As Allah said in the Qur'an:

Allah will remove any and all animosity from the heart. Have you seen a grumpy rich man? He's sitting in his $350,000 car, looking at you with dirty looks. What's the point? You're not even enjoying the massage on your chair because you're screaming. Hatred, anger, arrogance, jealousy — these are spiritual diseases that do not allow a person to enjoy his life. Jealousy destroys you. You can have a $100 million yacht but you're jealous of the guy next to you with a $102 million yacht. You're a beggar. Jealousy doesn't just destroy the akhira, it destroys this dunya.

Imagine sitting in Jannah with mulkan kabira, a huge kingdom, and then seeing someone who has even more — and suddenly becoming jealous. How could we enjoy our Jannah then? That's why Allah will remove all of this. We will be brothers, sitting on couches facing one another, just having a nice chat, social hour, all day social life. SubhanAllah.

The Greatest Blessing: Allah Serves the People of Jannah

Thus their Lord shall give them to drink a pure drink. The wildan — the innocent children — walking around serving. The Hur have been mentioned in other places. But now the biggest blessing is mentioned: Allah Himself is serving. The love that a person has for Allah — a man, a person, will sacrifice, will enjoy sacrificing, will enjoy pain, for the sake of Allah. He'll enjoy hunger in fasting. He'll enjoy so much tahajjud that his feet are hurting. That's called love.

The Hayatus Sahaba, for those of you who were not here during the retreat — mashaAllah, tabarak wa ta'ala, we were very blessed to have such an amazing gathering, with people from all over the country as well as senior ulema, this past weekend. Truly it was a spiritually uplifting and life-changing experience for so many people. These talks are available on Apple Podcast and on the Masjid Darus Salam YouTube channel. Please take some time and listen to a speech a day while you're going to work or working out.

We announced that a new copy of Hayatus Sahaba has come out — a translation of the stories of the Sahaba. I encourage all of you: please ask for it outside, if they still have copies. Read the stories of the Sahaba and their love for Allah. We all model someone — we need to model the Sahaba in their love for Allah.

So now when you read that Allah is giving you sharaban tahura — a pure drink — how must that feel? Allah says elsewhere:

The pleasure of Allah is the greatest blessing. After counting all the blessings of Jannah, Allah says: the pleasure of Allah is the greatest. And in another place:

They will get in Paradise whatever they want, and We have something more. What is more? Seeing Allah. Allah says in another place:

There will be faces that are radiant, and they will be looking towards Allah. So this is what this ayah is conveying — being given sharab tahur and a pure drink from Allah is something we are all insha'Allah looking forward to as the greatest blessing.

Inna Hadha Kana Lakum Jaza'an — Your Striving Has Been Appreciated

It shall be said: Indeed all of this is for you in reward. For your lifetime of striving has been graciously accepted. SubhanAllah. What does mashkoor mean? Appreciated. Allah calls Himself شَاكِرٌ عَلِيمٌ — grateful and all-knowing — in another place. Allah says you are mashkoor, and I am shakir. Shakir means thankful, grateful. Allah is calling Himself appreciative of His servant's good deeds. That is such a huge thing for us to ponder over. No good deed of ours goes by unnoticed. That's why it's worth it to have ikhlas.

The most important thing is: the boss is watching. If the boss sees what you're doing — the one who writes the check — who cares whether the customers appreciate you or not? The cameras are on and your boss was watching you. And the next day he comes in and says: I'm so appreciative you helped out in a time of need. Here's your bonus. That's what ikhlas is. Allah's eyes are upon all of us. As long as Allah knows, that's what counts. And it should not make any difference whether people know it or not. Allah Himself calls Himself shakir and appreciative, and He calls your efforts and mine mashkoor.

On top of that, it is mentioned that whoever tries his best to remain sincere — eventually Allah will allow that good deed to become known. Even if you hide it, eventually it will become known. So alhamdulillah you got both — you got Allah's happiness, you got the reward, and people get to know as well. So my beloved friends, we should try our best to hope our actions remain under the radar. Because when people become aware and come and praise us, it becomes even harder to remain sincere.

The Virtue of Hiding Good Deeds and Seeking Ikhlas

We should make dua: ya Allah, allow my good deeds not to be known. Rather, ya Allah, allow me to accomplish amazing things, but allow all the credit to go to someone else. So that I can stay sincere. And after I'm dead, then ya Allah, let the whole world talk about it — so that they can make dua for me.

Ibrahim alayhissalam is making dua: ya Allah, allow truthful speech to be fi al-akhirin — in latter people. He didn't say now. He said in the people who come after me. Now Hajj season is here. You'll be hearing workshops and talks on Hazrat Ibrahim alayhissalam and his family. What's the Arafat khutbah going to talk about? We're going to talk about Ibrahim alayhissalam. You can't escape. Everywhere you go, you'll hear Hazrat Ibrahim's story, Hazrat Ismail's story. Allah accepted this dua on his behalf — now latter generations are speaking about him.

So we can also make this dua: ya Allah, allow latter generations to speak highly about me. Let me leave such an impact in this world that after I'm gone, people are always remembering me and making dua for me. We want people to make dua for us. We want people to dedicate reward for us. And that's going to happen, insha'Allah, when we put such beautiful seeds into the ground now.

So this is a very beautiful ayah for us to think about. Whenever you're going through a difficult day at work, a difficult day at home, a difficult day in marriage, just remember Allah is going to tell you:

All of this is for you in reward. Allah watched every single tear drop of yours. Allah watched every single frown of yours. Every single "ouch." Every single blood drop. And it was all being accounted, accepted, and appreciated.

Closing Supplications and Announcements

This dua is to be recited 21 times with the niyyah of protection for ourselves: O Allah, cover up our flaws, our weak points, and protect us from the places we are afraid of.

O our Lord, rescue us from this town whose affluent and influential people are oppressors, and appoint for us some guardian from Your presence and make someone our helper from Your presence. This niyyah we make for all those brothers and sisters across the globe going through difficulty — in Palestine, in Kashmir, and in all other parts. SubhanAllah.

Q&A: On Dealing with Praise and Kibr

Question: Although we should try not to get noticed for our work, but in the case we do, how should we react, considering one may get feelings of pride and kibr?

There are two things. When you get noticed, one approach is pushing back — "Brother, no, really, you don't have to say that." But by saying all of that, you get even more noticed. When someone says it, just shrug it off and act like you didn't hear it. Move on. Because internally, when you hear praise, if you start engaging — "Oh, did you really say that? Did you really say I did an amazing job?" — and then go on and give a bayan of how humble you are, now the other person thinks: this is the Hasan al-Basri of our time! So it's even a problem. The nafs is one bad character — the nafs is horrible in how it deals with misleading us. Even downplaying praise can itself become a problem.

Sheikh Yusuf Talal de Lorenzo, who joined us this past weekend — Allahu Akbar — it would take you three to five minutes to go over his bio. The type of achievements he has in America over the past 50 years. Downstairs, during the ulama session, my brother was reading out some of his accomplishments for two to three minutes and said: I don't know how to do justice to this. And Sheikh Yusuf simply said: mashaAllah, you said all this — this has nothing to do with me. This is simply how Allah willed for my life to be. Then he mentioned Ibn Ata'illah al-Iskandari's statement: some people wake up thinking, "What am I going to do today?" while others wake up thinking, "What will Allah make me do today?" He said: that's my life. I have nothing. I'm being pushed to do whatever you just said.

Isn't that true for all of us? But we don't think of it like that. If you're being pushed to it, why are you even blushing? It literally is not me. I'm just a delivery man. All we do is manifest Allah's qudra in this world. We're just conduits of Allah. Allah uses us as a mazhar — a place to express and show His greatness. When you really know Allah and know your own weakness, insha'Allah, kibr will not come into us.

Q&A: On Jannah and the Fitrah

Question: Do women get multiple husbands in Jannah the same way men get multiple wives?

Remember what I said about fitrah. The fitrah of a woman — ask any woman born before this new era — she would be disgusted by this type of question. This is a product of modern day fitnah and fasad and the masking of the fitrah. The fitrah has been destroyed. That's why such questions arise.

The answer is that Jannah is based on the fitrah. For a lady to desire multiple husbands is against the fitrah. And the aspect of a lady's desires for intimacy is something so hidden — so full of haya — that it is absolutely not befitting for the Prophet ﷺ or for Allah's Qur'an to address it openly. That aspect of a lady is meant to be deeply hidden. From childbirth to everything before and after — it's something so, so hidden.

Consider: when a proposal is happening, it is mentioned in hadith that a girl's smiling, or her silence, is equated to her happiness. She smiles or stays quiet — yes. She cries — no. Why? Because women are supposed to have haya. This is not some village uncle saying this — this is the Prophet ﷺ speaking about this. That there's haya in women. The women of that time, if they simply smiled or stayed quiet, it was understood she liked him. But she could not express it in words because of the abundance of haya.

And you've heard, if you listen to tafsir of Surah al-Rahman and Surah al-Waqi'ah — whenever the Hur and the women of Jannah are described, they are described about how hidden they are. Allah speaks about how they look down. No man or jinn has ever touched them. They've never seen anyone else. They are surrounded and protected in beautiful tents that no one has ever entered. Wherever the Hur al-'Ayn are spoken about in Jannah, the most salient feature is their haya, their modesty. So how can the Qur'an and hadith address women's intimate desires openly? There is no place for that.

Going back to my original answer: you will get what you want in Jannah. But what you want in Jannah may be very different from what you want today. You will get whatever you want in Jannah. And below my breath, I will say: you won't get anything against your fitrah — we'll go back to the proper fitrah in the akhira. I hope that answers any and all such questions of this sort.

Announcements

Last but not least, please my dear friends, we need some sponsors for Team Fajr for the next months. Between now and Dhul Hijjah, if we can get sponsors for breakfast — it costs $500 for two people, $250 each. Please scan the QR code. We're looking insha'Allah for the next eight weeks to get it all taken care of. And remember, it's not just paying for $500 — more importantly, you tell your friends: this Saturday the da'wah is mine. Instead of inviting you to my house or a restaurant, I'm inviting you for Salatul Fajr at Darus Salam at 5:15 AM, followed by Bayan and breakfast. We want you to invite your family and friends and be the host, insha'Allah.

Also, every single Thursday, our Seerah program is taking place in Urdu — the only Urdu program that happens once a week, with Mawlana Abdul Basit Sahab. Please do join us every single Thursday.

With summer coming around, please start planning your children's and college students' summer program. We have the Arabic Intensive, the Deen Intensive, as well as Tarbiyah for little children, and summer camp: 8 AM to 12, and 12 to 4, for all ages — about ten to twelve different classes based on age group and gender. A lot of times people come at the last minute and it's all booked out. So quickly, please spread the message and reach out to see what classes are available. The summer Arabic and Islamic Studies program insha'Allah starts June 17 and runs through July 12, for college students, high school students, both men and women — local as well as out-of-state. Dorms will be available for out-of-state brothers 17 and above.

And especially, as I had alluded to earlier — the college students and high school students, boys and girls — along with whatever else you are studying, please take time out insha'Allah to study the Qur'an this summer. JazakAllah khair.