Reflect & Connect | Surah Taghabun - Ep.02 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 12/10

Opening Invocations

أَمَّا بَعْدُ — Honorable brothers and sisters, dear listeners, dear guests of the house of Allah, and all those who are listening from their homes — السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

We ask Almighty Allah to not deprive us from the blessings of the book of Allah. We ask Allah to make all of us amongst those who are deeply connected to His words. We ask Allah to make all of us amongst those whose hearts are touched by every single verse of the Qur'an. We ask Allah to make all of us amongst those whose actions display the teachings of the Qur'an, reflect the teachings of the Qur'an. We ask Allah that He make us amongst those who are gifted to be able to recite the Qur'an on a daily basis with much enjoyment, with much pondering, and who are able to recite it at night and day, practice it at day and night. And we ask Allah to make all of us amongst those who find the solutions to our problems in His book. آمين يا رب العالمين

Coming as a Seeker — the Purpose of Attending These Gatherings

Last week I asked you to attend the gathering with your notebooks — those that were handed out by our gracious brother here, or your own notebook — and that we take notes in it. We start off each dars with three points: three issues in our life that we want answers for. There's every week, mashallah, new people coming in, so I'm repeating this again for those who may not have heard it last week.

All of us, ideally, should write down three different issues that you are dealing with in your life at the moment and that you want Allah's assistance, guidance, and help in. Then you and I should sit as we speak and as we hear and say: Ya Allah, allow such things to be mentioned that will become the means of answering my question, that will become a means of giving me direction in my life.

This is not just for this dars, but rather anywhere we attend a gathering in which the words of Allah and the words of Rasulullah ﷺ are being explained. This should be the goal that we have — that ya Allah, I've come here as a طالب, I've come here as someone who is desirous of You. You are مطلوب, You are my goal. Ya Allah, please remove any and all obstacles from me getting closer to You and allow me to hear such things that will become a means of شفاء for the heart.

The Sickness of the Heart

Brothers and sisters, the reality is that all of us are extremely sick. We're very sick, and there's not much we're doing to grant ourselves شفاء. As soon as a person starts getting a cold or a cough, immediately everyone in the family will say: "Did you take this? Did you take that?" We're so worried about the physical health of an individual — which is natural, we should be — but what we don't realize is how many of us are on the verge of losing our soul. We are so spiritually sick, and if we do not treat ourselves honestly, we will have a dead heart. And then to revive that dead heart will become extremely challenging — it may never be able to be revived.

So this is something that rarely people speak about. The issue at hand is that the hearts are not taking effect from the book of Allah and the Sunnah of Nabi ﷺ. And because of that we see so much corruption happening in homes and everywhere.

Just as I was preparing tonight's lesson, just from Maghrib to Isha, it's so sad to see how many people have texted me and WhatsApp'd me — just in this past two hours — of their marriages falling apart. Literally, I am not exaggerating: multiple families from different parts of the country, different parts of the community. Many of them had been married for 30 years, 20 years, etc. And you wonder — what's going on? What's happening?

Whatever these issues are, it all comes back to the same thing: when truly Allah and His Rasul ﷺ are not the most important thing in your life, then a person can do the unthinkable.

Lessons from Syria — What Happens When We Leave the Deen

As we are slowly realizing the extent of the oppression that happened in Syria for the past 60–70 years, even up to just till Saturday — the question is: how can a person do this? How could you do that to a human being? A person should never be able to do this to an animal. How would you do that to a human being? A Muslim human being? A fellow citizen from the same country, maybe even from the same general tribes? How can you do something like that?

And it's very unsettling that when a man falls to this level — obviously, if that can happen, then marriages can fall apart. If that can happen, then people can be abusive. If that can happen, then people can ask for a divorce only because they are materialistic and they want to chase after money. And the list goes on. When a person comes out of the manhaj and the teachings of Allah and His Rasul ﷺ, then there is nothing off the table. Anything can happen. The worst possible crime that you can imagine — it can happen. We as human beings can do anything and everything when we leave the deen.

That's something we need to learn. That should be one of the many points that we can pluck and take from this past week and this week's incidents in Syria. When you want to know what happens when you don't follow the deen — these people show up for Eid Salah. They may even show up for Jumu'ah, maybe. But they definitely show up for Eid, for the cameras. They use Assalamu Alaikum, Mashallah, Alhamdulillah. They know Surah Ikhlas. I'm sure they know maybe Surah Fatiha. But boy, they are doing things that you'd think Iblis would feel ashamed of — torturing someone like this. SubhanAllah.

Allah is showing us that acting like a Muslim is one thing. Talking like a Muslim is one thing. Dressing up like a Muslim is one thing. Participating in Muslim cultural events is one thing. Eating Muslim Arabic foods — or desi foods — is one thing. But being a true believer is something else. And just because someone looks like a Muslim, acts like a Muslim with other people in terms of figures of speech and statements does not mean anything.

So let's put that onto our own selves and say: how many times have I thought I am a practicing Muslim because I say Mashallah? Because I say Alhamdulillah? Because I say Assalamu Alaikum? Because I show up for Eid or for Jumu'ah? Or I say, "Hey, I try to eat Halal" — which nowadays Halal is a weird thing. It's like a cuisine. The guy who's selling it, he also has no idea what it is. Allah knows — it's just a label you throw around.

A person may say that he's actually a practicing Muslim, because his understanding of practice — you think all those people over there, all these torturers, if you ask them what's their identity, they would probably say they're Muslim too. A lot of them. Some of them outright may just say that they are atheists, but how many would simply say that they are Muslims? So calling yourself a Muslim does not make you a Muslim. Instead, it's our actions that speak louder than our words. To what degree is Islam coming into my life?

My brothers, this is why we're sitting with the book of Allah — so that how can these verses come into my life? If all of us were genuinely acting like Muslims, we would not have the corruption — not only in Syria but the corruption within our own homes, the corruption within our businesses, the corruption between parents and children, the corruption between spouses, the corruption in the youth, men and women. All of that corruption comes because the genuine belief — that I'm going to face Allah and Allah will ask me about every single thing that I did and didn't do, that all of those things are going to come in front of me — that fear, that recognition, is not present. Nor is the love of Allah and the desire of Jannah present.

So if you don't have it — if a person does not have the desire of Jannah, nor fear of Jahannam, nor love of Allah, nor fear of Allah's punishment — then how can he move forward? You have to have something. There's got to be something that motivates you. It's got to be both, or one or the other. But if a person crosses out both of them, then unfortunately it will be very difficult to bring change.

Ajeeb — multiple cases of people again this week. I'm telling you — divorces happen. Three divorces. And the husband says, "Ah, who cares, man. Just come back, let's go speak to a scholar." "No, I am not speaking to a scholar." What makes a person say that? You obviously are a person that has no fear of Allah, no realization that there's something called deen, there's something called nikah and there's something called zina. I can't just do whatever I want. But the fact that he won't even sit with a scholar and discuss whether divorce happened or not — these are the root causes of all the fasad and the corruption at every level of society. What is it? It's because we are not practicing the deen of Allah and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

Islam Will Survive — But Will You?

I just came across a speech of Qadi Mujahidul Islam rahimahullah, who was the chief scholar of the entire Fiqh Council of India — a massive fiqh council of the whole of India. He was giving a talk in Dubai in the '90s, and in it he is talking about a very simple, powerful message that's relevant to all of us and forever — that remember, if you want to succeed, the issue is not about Islam's survival. He said the issue is about your survival. Do you want to survive or not?

Islam will survive because Allah has chosen it to survive till the very last moment when He has intended to destroy this world. The day Islam gets lifted off this earth — game over.

As it comes in the hadith: لا تقوم الساعة حتى يُقال في الأرض: الله الله — the Day of Judgment shall not come until Allah's name is taken on this earth. When the last man who says "Allah, Allah" dies — he might not even know the entire Kalimah, of course he wouldn't know, he's not going to be praying — the very last person who knew Allah, who heard his grandparents praying, who heard something called fasting even though he never did it in his life — when that last person dies, literally all hell will break loose. Everything will happen. The whole world will fall apart.

So Allah has taken responsibility of preserving Islam till the very last moment. There's no doubt about that. You and I have nothing to worry about — just like Abdul Muttalib speaking to Allah when Abraha came: "Ya Allah, I took care of my camels. When it comes to the Ka'bah — that's Yours, You gotta take care of it." That's true. When it comes to the preservation of Islam, that will happen. We don't have to be focused on that as much as we have to be focused on what? Ourselves. Our preservation. Are we going to make it or not?

And so this is what he said: you have a choice. Either you can focus on your buildings and structures and homes — but guess what, in no time you will be out of deen and no effects of yours will remain. Or otherwise, if you say no, I care about survival, then our focus must be on the preservation of Islam within our kids and our generations.

So as much as the world is now attacking the deen, I want us to understand, my brothers, that Islam — 100% — Al-Islamu ya'lu wa la yu'la 'alayh — Islam will always remain dominant. It will never be the underdog. However, weak Muslims will be the underdogs, or fake Muslims will be the underdogs, or people who claim to be Muslims with all their cultural elements but do not have Iman inside their heart — they may unfortunately become the most oppressed people on Earth. And we should blame no one besides ourselves for that, because we have the capacity to become the leaders, and unfortunately we lose that out.

And this is what, SubhanAllah, one of the great poets of the past — Iqbal — also mentioned the same type of concept. In his work called Iblis ki Majlis-e-Shura, it talks about Iblis having his consultation — he's speaking on behalf of Iblis — what are the things that make Iblis happy, what are the things that make him angry. And so he says Iblis is sitting there, and honestly the only one he's scared of is a Muslim. Because the rest of them he's not worried about — he knows they're actually going to be with him and assist him. The only ones that are a thorn in Iblis' path are true believers.

So in reality, my friends, it is an honor for me and an honor for all of us to be the biggest enemy of Iblis. Your presence here tonight gives him the shivers. Your presence here, listening with the intention of practicing and propagating, shakes up his throne. It makes him upset. It's making him sweat. He says: everyone else is following exactly what I want them to do across the globe, but look at this group of 100 plus, 200 people, brothers and sisters online, on site, on a random Tuesday night, every week, coming together from different parts of the city to listen to the book of Allah — to bring change within their lives. And the effort I have done on them and their parents for the past decades, within one hour they undo all of that by repenting to Allah, by seeking forgiveness from Allah. That is a massive setback to Iblis.

So honestly, believe in yourself. You don't need to look at others. We don't need to feel an inferiority complex. We don't need to allow the news of Gaza and Syria and Kashmir and Sudan to destroy our ambitions, our hopes, and our self-respect. Don't ever allow that to get to your head. Always tell yourself — and tell your kids, and tell your friends, and tell your siblings — that remember, we're the only ones, alhamdulillah, who are holding the flag down against Iblis. And Iblis genuinely is scared when he looks at all of us as practicing Muslims, bi'idhnillah ta'ala.

We hope Allah makes us and chooses us to be from amongst those who are practicing in His court and allows us to die on that path. There are only two paths: Hizbullah and Hizb ash-Shaytan. We should not allow the incidents of this week and the previous year to weigh down upon us. Instead, use that as a means of strengthening ourselves and say: Ya Allah, I am going to find the solutions in the book of Allah and I am going to bring a massive change within myself and within the community. I ask Allah to make this a reality. آمين يا رب العالمين

Surah At-Taghabun — Verse 3: Creation with Purpose

Allah mentions, after the first two verses that we spoke about last week, that He is the one who created the heavens and the earth for a purpose — bil haqq — and He shaped you in the womb, perfecting your form, and to Him is the final return.

We talked about last week His attributes, His grandeur, and His greatness. And in order to truly understand His grandeur and greatness, a person needs to look at Allah's creation. When you look at the amazing pictures of the galaxies, the skies, the heavens, the sunrise, the sunset — all of those things that Allah has created — He says bil haqq: I've created with a purpose.

It's a natural fitrah of a human being that when we look at a palace we think about the person who built it. We look at a beautiful car, we think about the engineers who built it. We think about the genius of the individuals who built an amazing jet. Allah wants us to look at the heavens and the earth and say:

"Glory be to You, O Allah. You have not created all of this in vain." That should be on our tongue every time we attend an astronomy class, a biology class, a zoology class, a chemistry class, a physics class — whatever we're studying. If we're reading any National Geographic magazine, what should be on our tongue? Subhanak, glory be to You, Ya Allah — ma khalaqta hadha batila — You definitely did not create this in vain. You created it for a purpose. Faqina 'adhaban naar.

The aqalmand — the intelligent person — what does he do? He looks at what Allah has created and he starts thinking about how beautiful and how magnificent Allah must be.

Honestly, one of the beautiful things — if you go on vacation in the winter, or somewhere you're traveling to a warm place or a cold place even, and you see waterfalls, mountains, coral reef, beautiful beaches — what should we be thinking? Even a snowflake — why is it so beautiful? Why is a frozen icicle that's coming down your roof, why is a frozen tree in the morning with frost on it or snow on it — take a look and reflect on the beauty of each flake. Take a moment and reflect on the beauty of each icicle, how it's formed, how it looks, just frozen in mid-air. And start going on a deep dive into the Qudra and the power of Allah.

All that has been taking place in order for that to happen — whether it's a morsel of food that you just ate, the thousands of people that worked on bringing that morsel of food to your plate, to the thousands of continuous efforts of various cells in your body from the time you and I smelled the food, touched it, till the time nutrition is extracted and non-nutritious things are excreted — the millions of processes that are taking place within the body. Bil haqq — it's happening with a purpose. And the main purpose is that you and I reflect on that and become genuine servants of Allah. That's it. Mission is successful.

You know, moms and dads who do so much for their kids, as our ustad Mawlana Shabbir Sahib and others say — we are ready to put your shoes on our head, we are ready to serve and fulfill every need of the madrasa student, but we want one thing from you: study. Just study. Don't waste your time. Don't get yourself into things you're not supposed to be doing. Focus on your study and we are here to serve you.

And the same thing parents say — we will take care of all your financial needs, all your physical needs, but just do what you are supposed to do. You are supposed to study, then study. You are supposed to rest, then rest. We serve you, but you take care of your purpose.

Allah, most kind, most merciful — similarly is telling us: I have created everything on the earth to serve you. I have subjugated everything in the heavens and the earth for you. They all have been created to serve you. You have been created to serve Me.

And then SubhanAllah — Allah could have made us into any ugly form, but instead He shaped us, in the three layers of darkness in the mother's womb, in a form that the engineers of today put together in a lab will never be able to create. How, in the darkness upon darkness upon darkness, does Allah — from a dirty drop, from a najis drop — bring something that is so detailed, so perfect? There is no hashu, nothing extra. Every single minute inch of an inch on our body has a role, a specific place, a specific job. This is all bil haqq.

That's why the Qur'an says, as we did last surah:

"We shall soon show them Our signs in the horizons, in the corners of the sky, and within their own selves." Allah says: look at your body and see Me. We're supposed to recognize Allah every minute that we breathe, inhale, exhale. Every time we use the restroom, every time we eat, every time we cough, every time we sneeze, every time we close our eyes and rest, every time we wake up — all of those things are all signs towards the powers of Allah.

And if you don't believe it — wa ilayhi al-masir — to Him is the final return. Time is of essence. We've got a few years that we can use to reflect and then turn back to Allah.

The Prisoner Who Only Remembered La Hawla

Yesterday I saw a clip of a person who's been in prison for so long — he hadn't seen sunlight for decades probably — and he's been beaten so badly. Many of you may have seen the clip. They're asking him what his name is. He has no idea. He's probably in his 50s or 60s. He has no idea. He's just looking at them, shocked. Demented from the torture of decades. As I mentioned, some of them thought that this was the era of Hafez al-Assad, the father. Some of them thought Saddam Hussein is the one who sent the army to liberate them. They have no idea what's going on. They think they're in the '80s. Some of them think they're in the '70s. Many of them have not seen sunlight for months or years. And the torture is unbelievable.

So he was being asked: your family is outside, we can connect you with your family. Please give us your name and what town are you from. What a scene. He's speechless, just looking. And you know what he says after that?

Allahu Akbar. That's the one dhikr he didn't forget. No power and no strength but the power and the strength that comes from Allah. Imagine — this is the only thing that kept them alive. This connection with Allah. Because otherwise, honestly, there's no way a person can survive this level of torture.

They uncovered the morgues where you just see lines of bodies, all tortured, as recent as last week — fresh — piled up. And the stories are just so disturbing of what happened. How does a person get through all of this? It is only through the relationship with Allah. To be able to see Allah in everything — that this is Allah's Qudra and Allah's hidden hand behind everything. Behind someone going to lock doors in jails, behind someone coming out, and what happens all in between — it's all the Qudra of Allah.

Surah At-Taghabun — Verse 4: Allah's All-Encompassing Knowledge

A very powerful ayah. This ayah has the word يَعْلَمُ three times. This ayah is speaking about the knowledge and the ilm of Allah.

First Level of Knowledge: Everything in the Heavens and the Earth

Starting off from the very top — Allah knows whatever is in the heavens. We know the heavens, from the human perspective, are infinite — because we don't know where they finish. For all we know, it's just constantly expanding and we cannot even fathom where the edge of the universe is. That doesn't even make sense. So Allah is calling all that samawat wal-ardh. Every single speck in this entire seemingly never-ending galaxies upon galaxies and super-galaxies — Allah knows every inch of what movement is happening, what's out there.

And al-ardh — anywhere on the earth. To us it seems infinite. Of course, in front of Allah it's nothing — it's all finite. Whatever we know is all part of the first heaven. And the first heaven compared to the second heaven — as it comes in hadith:

(Referenced in Sahih Ibn Hibban and other collections; see also Musnad Ahmad)

It's like a ring in a massive, empty — you could say a football field, a falat, a big massive open expanse. What's a ring in a huge football field? That's what the known universe is in front of the second heaven. And the second heaven is like a ring in a huge open field compared to the third heaven. And the third compared to the fourth is like a ring in a falat again. And the fourth to the fifth, and the fifth to the sixth, and the sixth to the seventh. And the seventh to the Kursi. And the Kursi to the 'Arsh of Allah is also like a ring in a massive field. And the Kursi and everything underneath it is all a simple creation of Allah.

Allah doesn't need the Kursi. Allah does not need the 'Arsh. Every single thing — Allah was before the creation of the 'Arsh and everything below it, and Allah shall remain after everything is destroyed, and Allah shall remain when everything is resurrected, whatever He chooses to resurrect. We can't even — as I just said — what does that even mean? We can't fathom it. If we were to start truly thinking, our head would burst. We wouldn't be able to understand what was just said. That's the depth of these words of Rasulullah ﷺ.

So ma fi as-samawati wal-ardh — everything. You remember last week we talked about this? This is Qur'anic terminology for what? Everything other than Allah. Everything besides Allah — that is the Qur'anic terminology. So here Allah says He knows everything — everything that exists, Allah has the knowledge of it.

Second Level: What You Conceal and What You Reveal

وَيَعْلَمُ مَا تُسِرُّونَ وَمَا تُعْلِنُونَ — all human beings, all these billions that have existed, billions that are there today, and the billions to come, and the trillions probably of jinns and angels that are out there — Allah knows all that. What they conceal and what they reveal. All the open discussions that happen within the jinns, the angels, and us — and all the secrets that we keep. That we say: "I better not let my spouse find out. I better not let my kids find out. I better not let my parents find out. I better not let my so-and-so find out." Well guess what — Allah already knows that. Allah knows it before even you uttered it. When you had it in your mind, Allah knew it.

The emotions of the people who were suffering for 40 years — Allah knows that. The emotions and the pleas of the people who were beaten to death, who were butchered, who were stabbed, who were electrocuted — all of those people, what they spoke in their last words, we don't have those words. They burnt the registers. You can see videos of all the names of the prisoners having been burnt, files being burnt, so that no one can even know. You and I don't understand what it means to at least know that your son or your brother or your sister is dead — that is a very big blessing.

Remember I told you brothers — there was a doctor who was sharing his stories from Gaza and Lebanon. He was helping a sister, her four-year-old or eight-year-old whose knee had been completely destroyed. He was getting that eight-year-old surgery in America. And SubhanAllah, at the airport in New York when they landed, she lit up and was so happy. He asked her, "Everything okay? What's going on?" She said, "Alhamdulillah, I just found out that they have been able to locate the grave of my husband and all my other dead children. This is such a big blessing. As soon as my daughter's surgery is done I can go back to Gaza and go to the grave of my kids and my husband and make du'a there." And he said — the fact that I thought something bigger had happened but no — she's so happy they found the grave. You and I can't understand what this means: to know that your beloved relative's grave has been found, or that their body is somewhere. Allahu Akbar. That is a blessing.

And so these people — they didn't even want this small sense of closure to happen for the relatives. They burnt the registers. So what last final words and pleas were being made? Guess what — none of us heard it. It's gone, lost. But ya'lamu — Allah knows. And at that time those evil people who were killing them — the actual torturers are honestly godless people — what type of statements were they saying? These are recorded statements of those who survived these horrific tortures of what they used to hear. Guess what — we don't have the recording of it. But Allah says ya'lam — Allah has full knowledge.

This ayah gives hope to the oppressed ones and to the families of those who've lost their relatives — not only in this genocide but all others, in all other circumstances — that your loved ones' final statements may not be recorded by you, but they're recorded by Allah. And the murderer, what he said in the final moments — that's not recorded anywhere by you and I, but it's recorded by Allah.

So when Allah knows it — Allah doesn't have knowledge for the sake of it. What does it mean when Allah says:

No one can inform you the way Al-Khabir can inform you. What does Allah mean by informing? Information means I'm gonna treat you based on the information I have of you. You're gonna get reward for the good you have done and punishment for the sin you have done. So when Allah knows what all of humanity is doing, the rewards and punishments will be at that level.

Third Level: What Lies Within the Hearts

وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ — Allah is fully aware of what lies in the hearts. Now Allah is speaking to all of us individually. At an individual level — what thoughts do you have about the brother or sister sitting next to you? What thoughts do you have about your spouse, your kids, your grandparents, your parents, your business partner? How many people are just waiting for the right moment to stab — materialistically speaking, not physically, or maybe even physically — "I wanna take this guy out of the partnership. I'm waiting for the company to become so big, and after that I'm going to play him." Allah knows who's playing who.

Allah knows all of those divorce cases when people are intentionally doing it for the sake of money, intentionally doing it for the sake of a passport or immigration or whatnot. You may deny it all you want. I may deny it. We might not know the reality of it. But Allah knows.

So my brothers, if Allah knows it, then no matter how much we try to cover our tracks, eventually the truth will come to light. It may take 40 years. It may take the akhira.

"Today the truth has become apparent." I just came across a documentary on this main prison — what's the name of it? Saydnaya. In Sham. It was a documentary from eight years ago, and SubhanAllah they did a whole 3D rendering of it, a detailed 3D rendering, based on what prisoners who came out were saying. They said this is the most notorious butcher house for humans in the world and no one has ever entered it and we have no idea what happens inside there. But they were piecing together certain things. Look — eight years later, who would have ever thought that this is gonna happen? You see what I'm trying to say? The truth will come out.

We should look at what's happened now and think: how can I lead a double life? There are so many people who think they can get away with cheating people, or leading lives in which they are not faithful to their spouses, not faithful to their business partners — and they lead a life of deception. But eventually the word gets out. You can't run away from it. This is the system of Allah — that Haqq must come to light all the time. It has to. But Allah has a set schedule for it.

The gist of what Nabi ﷺ said in hadith — if a person does a good deed and he hides it in the middle of the night, in the darkness of the night, in the most dark of circumstances — say, in a jungle or in a cave — but if he does it with sincerity, Allah will bring it to light. You don't need to make an effort of telling people the good things you have done. As they say: do it and throw it into the river. Act like you never did it.

(Referenced in Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031 — on the seven who are shaded by Allah, one of whom gives charity so secretly his left hand does not know what his right hand spends)

Every good deed should be done with such a level of sincerity and subtlety that you yourself don't sit there and brood — or gloat over your own good deeds, thinking: "Wow, I'm something." No — you just do it and move on. Act like it never happened. You thank Allah for it and you move on. Because when you start rethinking about the good things you've done, there's a chance of falling into ujub, a chance of falling into self-conceitedness — a person begins to think he's something.

And you say, "But I want people to know. Or I would love it if people knew. Or it will be encouraging to people." Guess what — if you hide the action and do it inside a cave, a time will come when Allah will allow that news to come out. So why ruin the reward? Just do it quietly, and the reward will come out.

Similarly, on the flip side — if a person does a sin and tries very hard to cover it up and continues to lead a life of sin, saying "I hope no one knows I'm leading two lives" — we know, unfortunately, I'm being very honest, of people who had mistresses and they're in their 60s, and eventually it got out. And what a day when you have to face your own kids — grown married kids. Imagine the wrath of your own daughter, the wrath of your own married son. "Tough luck — who told you to do this? You thought you'd be — I mean, how long you gonna run with it?" Eventually the news will come out. This is the system of Allah in this dunya — that if not in this world, definitely in the hereafter. The secrets of a person will come out.

Clean Hearts — Husn adh-Dhann and the Danger of Waswasa

So my brothers and sisters, it's a very powerful point here that we need to realize: having bad thoughts about one another is horrible. Do not have bad thoughts about each other. Do not have bad thoughts about Allah. Do not think Allah is oppressive, Allah is after you, Allah is trying to be hard on you, Allah is making your life difficult. And do not have bad thoughts about one another.

Ahsinu adh-dhanna billah — have good thoughts about Allah. And have good thoughts about fellow Muslims. My beloved friends, if we suffer from having a lot of waswasa and bad thoughts — "this guy is looking at me like this, that person is looking at me like that, he's probably out there to destroy me" — ask Allah protection:

Because Shaytan — what does he do? The Qur'an constantly says our enemy — how does he attack us?

Indeed Shaytan creates avenues of hatred and enmity within you.

Indeed Shaytan is the open enemy — the open enemy whose enmity is obvious. Why don't you get it?

So if a thought comes about your wife — a person reached out and said: "I could not stand my husband, I could not even stand in his vicinity." And then alhamdulillah, through the barakah of these programs, she started doing a'mal, reading Qur'an, reading adhkar, became very particular — mashallah, an amazing regiment. And after so many years she says: "Unbelievable how everything changed. No external forces. I just started doing a'mal and adhkar, bringing Sunnah into my life, deen into my life, reading the Qur'an. And all of a sudden that hatred that was there — gone." Think about that.

When a person says "I hate my spouse" — and for all those out there who are going through divorce, or who know someone going through divorce — this is a message to you: understand that you are making Shaytan's day beyond your expectation. He's having a field day every single day. And who's paying for the bill? The Muslims. Every Muslim marriage, every Muslim household that's falling apart — you are allowing Iblis to have a field day.

If you feel overcome with animosity towards your spouse, overcome with hatred towards your spouse — understand that this is coming from Shaytan. If you feel overcome by hatred for your sibling, or your nephew or niece, or uncle or aunt, or anyone else — turn to Allah. Allah Himself says in multiple places in the Qur'an:

If Shaytan comes and injects you — with a waswasa, with a thought usually of hatred or anger — then seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Shaytan. And what will happen? Allah will change the hearts. Allah will change the animosity into love and kindness. But we need to understand that by us saying "I refuse — I refuse to forgive him, I refuse to forgive her, I refuse to change my position" — can you not just pray two rakat salah and say: Ya Allah, You are the controller of the hearts. Forget about him, forget about her. This is my heart. I don't want to have a nasty heart. I don't want to have a heart that is filthy, a heart that's carrying all this burden in it. Can You please give me a qalbun salim?

Nabi ﷺ — you know what he would say? "I don't want any of you to come and complain to me about my companions." He's telling the Sahabah: "Don't come and whisper to me things about each other." Sometimes a person comes and whispers, "You know that guy next to you — you're gonna see him tomorrow — he's like this." The Prophet ﷺ says: "Don't come and tell me things about my companions. Why? Because there may be issues — we're all human beings, there may be issues — but I would like to come out to my Sahabah and meet them with a clean heart. I want to have a salib as-sadr — a clean chest — about them. I don't want to be thinking I'm sitting amongst a bunch of hypocrites here, this guy's trying after me, this guy's gonna destroy me, this guy's trying to steal from me." That's not a nice life.

There are people who live in this constant state of paranoia: "Who's after me? Who's out to destroy me? This guy probably put nazar on me. That one did hasad against me. That one probably did something else. That one probably plotted against me." These people — honestly — you're making yourself sick. This is not life.

No one can have jealousy, no one's jealousy can harm you — without the permission of Allah. No one can do so-called nazar on you without the permission of Allah. No one can shoot you without the permission of Allah. Have your reliance upon Allah. Do your adhkar, do your a'mal, and trust Allah. Why are we constantly thinking about who's out there to destroy me? Not everyone thinks like this, but some of us do. This type of mindset is crippling. It doesn't allow you to progress forward.

Do what you gotta do, and have this conviction that Allah is fully in control. A leaf cannot fall — how can I lose all my money? How can I lose my health? How can my family be destroyed by some random person just looking at me? Does nazar, ayin, happen? Yes it does — we have different talks on that — but understand it happens only when Allah wills. Just like: can bullets kill people? Of course. Can cancer kill someone? Of course. But with the permission of Allah. So instead of constantly living under the fear of other people's plots and plans, we need to live under the protection of Allah — while playing our cards right.

No one said be a fool. Nabi ﷺ himself said:

(Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat, Al-Tabarani; also referenced by Al-Haythami in Majma' az-Zawa'id)

"Fulfill your needs by adopting secrecy in your life, for indeed every blessed person is envied." So be smart. Don't post up your new car. Don't post up your vacation picture between you and your spouse. That's foolishness. Then if something bad happens — well, you played your cards wrong. You made a huge mistake. So the hadith tells us: do not share and broadcast your blessings with everyone, because you cannot expect that every single person is excited about you.

Going back to the original point: we have to have a clean heart about one another. Have trust in Allah. Do not allow the wasawis to come about our spouse, our kids, and so forth. And when we are suffering and filled with anger and rage — perform wudu and hit the musalla. Go into a quiet room separate from the rest of the family. Come to the masjid. If it's late at night and the masjids are closed, then go to your basement or whatnot — and share your feelings in front of Allah. Allah already knows it, but He still wants to hear it.

Allah wants you to say: Ya Allah, You are the controller of my heart. Please remove this anger and frustration from my heart. I feel like I never want to forgive this person, but I hate this feeling. This is not how I should feel. Because guess what — I have wronged You a thousand times more than he has wronged me. I have wronged You a thousand times more than she has wronged me. If I say I will never forgive them, what are You going to do with me? If You start treating me the way I'm treating others, I'm going to be in big trouble. But I find it very hard to forgive them. So Ya Allah — cleanse my heart and make it easy for me to be able to relieve this.

You know when a person has constipation — is that enjoyable? When a person has a bloated stomach — is that enjoyable? It's horrible. That's what a sick heart is. A sick heart filled with hatred, jealousy, anger, frustration is like a constipated stomach, a bloated stomach. The difference is the one who is suffering from that stomach problem recognizes he has a problem and goes and gets medication. But the one who is suffering this horrible disease of hatred and jealousy in his heart doesn't realize how sick his heart is.

Tazkiyat an-Nafs — The Forgotten Obligation

My brothers — let me tell you one thing. No matter — you could be praying Fajr every day in the masjid behind the Imam. You could be the one leading the Fajr salah. But your heart could be sick. These are two separate things. Many people don't realize this. They think: "If I pray salah, my heart becomes automatically clean. If I become a hafidh of Qur'an, my heart becomes clean. If I study the deen and become a scholar, my heart becomes clean." No. It's not like that. That is a separate effort called tazkiyah.

Just today one student was telling me how he interacted with someone who was studying Islam in academia, and he commented on the level of arrogance that person showed — sharing about amazing things he'd done, etc. He said, "Man, that guy was so arrogant." I said: "Yeah, he might have been arrogant. But remember — this is not an issue of academia. This is an issue of knowledge. You could be in the madrasa as well. You could study, study, study and memorize thousands of hadith and verses of the Qur'an. But if you do not make the separate effort of purifying the heart, you and I can also be filled with all of these diseases."

The problem is the world unfortunately no longer focuses on this issue, which is tazkiyat an-nafs — the purification of the soul and the cleansing of it from all of these diseases. There are circles of halaqah of tajwid. A few attend halaqas of fiqh. A few may attend what you call fireside chats and random Q&A sessions. But how many places are we attending specifically to say: "I'm going to cleanse my heart. I have to free it of all the diseases that exist there."

If you and I at least start making the niyyah — every single time you attend Salat al-Jumu'ah khutbah, first of all please come at the beginning of the khutbah — and when we attend that we should say: "Ya Allah, I'm here to cleanse my heart," no matter who the khatib is. If you are sincere, insha'Allah you will hear something that will be so beneficial. You'll realize: "This is a mistake I'm making. I need to watch myself. I need to make tawbah from this sin." And even a weekly Jumu'ah khutbah can become a means of purification of the soul. But what does it require? Niyyah, intention, focus. You have to have that focus.

Surah At-Taghabun — Verses 5–6: Stories of the Previous Nations

"Have the stories of those who disbelieved before not reached you, O pagans of Mecca? They tasted the evil consequences of their doings and they will suffer a painful punishment. That was because their messengers used to come to them with clear proofs, but they would mockingly say: 'How can humans be our guides? We need angels to guide us, not humans.' So they persisted in their disbelief and turned away. And Allah was not in need of their faith — Allah did not get hurt by them being disbelievers or mocking the deen or mocking the Prophets. And Allah is All-Sufficient, Praiseworthy."

Learning from the Sunnan of Allah — Two Ways to Understand His Laws

Powerful verses that we can reflect on and apply to our condition today. My friends, we can learn from either the verses of the Qur'an or the actions of Allah — either from ayatullah or af'alullah. The ahkam and the qawanin of Allah — either you can study the verses of the Qur'an, or you can study the actions of Allah to understand what system and rules Allah has established on this earth.

For example, a new student walks into class. He doesn't know much of the rules. He's watching. He sees that the 8 o'clock class starts, he walks in five minutes early. He doesn't know the rules because he came after the semester had begun. He sees everyone walk in — majority of students are there by 7:59. The teacher starts class at 8. Students who walk in at 8:01, 8:02 — automatically they place their bag on the floor and stand up. Every student who comes after 8 is standing. He's watching. He doesn't know what the rules of the classroom are, but he's seen that anyone who comes after 8 is standing. He can safely deduce: the rule of this classroom is if you come after 8 when the teacher has begun class, you stand.

Similarly, we can study the verses of the Qur'an and understand the laws and rules that Allah has established — the Sunnah of Allah — or else we can look outside at the world, at current events, past events, history, and take lessons from there and see: okay, this is how Allah runs the world.

Allah says:

"Go ahead and travel across the earth, then look at the end result of those who belied Allah."

Allah also says in another place:

"Whoever does a good deed, be it male or female, as long as they're a believer — most definitely We shall give them a beautiful life, a good life. And most definitely We'll reward them with the best of the actions that they used to do."

What does that mean? You saw two different things. Allah is saying: travel around and you'll see anyone who belied Me — their ending is going to be terrible. That's it. The ending. Look at the Arab Spring — honestly, those of you who remember it — and see the fall of the various leaders. The fall of people who were godlike in terms of what people thought of them, whether leader of Iraq, whether leader of Libya, or other countries. You'll see they died in some of the most horrific manners. These people who ruled with an iron fist — if anyone spoke against them or they even heard a rumor that someone spoke against them, they would cut their tongue off. SubhanAllah. Sometimes having their own children or a relative do it to them. Yes — such people. But they died such a pitiful death in front of the whole world.

Allah is showing us — you can watch how Stalin died, how Hitler died, how any of these tyrants who killed 20 million, 15 million, 24 million — it's crazy, it's unbelievable — these are numbers, statistics. One of these crazy tyrants actually said: "If you kill one, it's a murder. You kill a million, it's a statistic." And it's exactly true. But every one of them — there are documentaries on it, you can read it in the books — died a pitiful death. Lonely, depressed. Sometimes committing suicide themselves. Sometimes dying out of paranoia that someone's going to take away what they had. Ajeeb. After everything you've done, this is the pitiful death you have.

That's what Allah is showing us. This is the Sunnah of Allah: that a person's sins catch up to him. You cannot run away from it.

The Sunnah of Allah Regarding Riba and Sadaqah

Allah destroys riba and increases sadaqah. The ribawi system must fail. The ribawi system must bring dimaar and destruction. The countries that indulge in riba — no matter how much their production is — they will never be able to truly prosper. Such that their entire humanity — all those living in that country — are happy, safe, everyone getting a decent earning, everyone having decent care. Be it a Muslim country, be it a non-Muslim country — once a person starts dealing in riba and becomes indebted to those who deal in riba, Allah will destroy them.

So you can accept it as a rule, or you can go visit — I've shared this story multiple times because it's so powerful. Down the street there's a person who we spoke with, because his family used to own this land that we're sitting on right now. He owns an exotic car dealership. The man himself, who owns inventory in the millions — Maybachs, Lamborghinis, Ferraris all lined up there. We heard it with our own ears where he said: "People look at me and they think I've got a life, I'm living it up, I'm surrounded by exotic cars that the rest of us can simply maybe want to take a picture next to." But he's sitting as the owner of that dealership and his words are: "I live in prison as a slave to the banks." He said: "Any single month that I'm not able to sell enough cars to make the payments to the bank, I lose everything." He said: "I don't live an enjoyable, enviable lifestyle, although you may think that. I live in a modern-day prison." That is what riba does to you. That's the whole maqsad of it. Allah shows it — that's what a ribawi system does.

And Allah increases sadaqah. So recently I visited a restaurant somewhere. The brother — I said, "Mashallah, great food." He told me: "Alhamdulillah, great. I've got three restaurants. Make du'a — I want to have hundreds all over the country, in the world. I've got the best recipe." And he was sharing his frustration with me. I said, "What happened?" He said, "Man, these guys — they hate the Muslims." I said, "Who?" He said, "The bankers." I said, "Why?" He said, "I've been trying to get a line of credit and I can't. Some random person comes in and they give him three credit cards, give him $50,000 without even asking. I have such a successful business — three restaurants — and I have all the bills and I'm making so much, super packed. And these guys are denying me." He was very upset.

So I told him: "Brother, listen. Let me tell you a story." I shared this ayah, I shared this story, and then I said — when I was in Pakistan studying in 2001, I remember one day an uncle — a neighbor of Mawlana Tariq Jameel, literally his house is next to Mawlana's house — he gave me a ride back to the madrasa from Mawlana's house. I was visiting Mawlana Tariq Jameel Sahib and he gave me a ride back. I was a 16-year-old young boy. On the way back he said, "I want to stop at my factory for a minute — you don't mind?" I said, "Sure, no problem." So we went to his biscuit factory — cookies, biscuits, exported all over. He said, "Try this as a sample." And after that he started talking to me.

He said he has five factories. And then he told me — if he wanted, he could have much more. He said in Faisalabad — those of you from Pakistan know Faisalabad is known for its clothing mills, very wealthy businessmen there — all of these people had been asking him to do business with them and to partner up. But he never partnered up with anyone. He's got his five factories and he's happy with them. Because all of them deal with riba. Anyone who has asked him to do business — he would not, because they deal with riba. He said: "I don't have a cent of riba. Not a cent. Everything is cash that I've built up myself." And he said: "Alhamdulillah, Allah has given me a happy life."

Now I want to tell you the barakah of not having riba. He's not poor by any means, by any stretch of the imagination. But look what happened: Allah made him a neighbor of Mawlana Tariq Jameel. Number two — he told me himself: "I have a house with 70 rooms. And I've dedicated my house to any scholar who comes with all of his students — they can stay here for as long as they want. Whichever sheikh is coming and would like to visit — he can come and stay in my house. Do all the programs. Food, lodging — everything is on me."

And as though that was not enough, he then built an entire madrasah — which was, at that time when I studied, five-star compared to anything around the entire area. That's the only way I survived even a year. But it was a really nice — way above anything else in terms of madrasah, as far as the eye could see. I promise you — I couldn't even drink the water of the other madrasahs. I would go visit them and we had to go buy a water bottle. It was so bad, so salty from the wells or whatever it was. And the housing and the food — we had mashallah wedding chefs that Mawlana had hired. He said the students need to get the best food. And mashallah, the carpets, marble floors, fans, AC.

He was very smart about that. He wanted to attract a different category of people. So you had college students who were on the way to Oxford — they gave up Oxford and came to study. All kinds of amazing, intelligent men who were going somewhere else and who would maybe never have come to a traditional place, and they ended up coming there. But the point is — this man, A to Z, the entire madrasah, all the expenses — he was taking care of it.

Now can you — do you think if you're involved in riba Allah will allow you to do stuff like this? That's what I'm trying to say.

Allah increases it. And I witnessed this uncle. He would sit and listen to Mawlana's bayans on Friday — sitting right in front, all the talks. He would sit and weep like a child. I heard the bayan — it was powerful. But then I look at uncle, and I'm like: wow. He's just crying. Where does all this come from? This is the barakah of halal money.

There's a rule: Allah says يَمْحَقُ اللَّهُ الرِّبَا وَيُرْبِي الصَّدَقَاتِ. But if you don't believe the verse — go see it. Whatever riba, no matter how much it is — it will all have to fall apart. All those empires. You'll see a father and son will fight, brothers will fight, husbands and wives will fight. Forget about the masjid being built — we know too many stories. But if you want to know, come talk to me afterwards. Lots of stories I have of people who had millions that honestly every masjid and madrasa in America could get built by next year — that's how much money Allah gave them. But it didn't benefit nobody. And most importantly, it didn't even benefit them.

When you have riba, Allah will not allow that money to be used. Because what did Allah say?

Allah is not in need of you or your money. Allah doesn't need your faith. Allah does not want haram money. If you earn haram, you're not going to be able to give it. And if a person even gives haram money thinking he's gonna get reward — that's almost an act of kufr, because it's haram and you're saying, "Oh I give sadaqah." You can't do that. Haram money has to be given away — meaning you give it in charity, but you cannot expect a reward for it. If you simply don't get punished for it, you're lucky. That's what it is.

A person doesn't pay taxes and says, "Okay, I want an award for this." You say: "Just please — I'm late. Please forgive me. Last year's taxes, I pay it now. Penalty — okay, fine. But just don't get me in jail." Similarly, if we have haram money, we've got to take it out. But don't say: "Oh, Allah is taking great work from me because I built a bunch of water fountains through haram money in Punjab. Alhamdulillah." People say that. Or: "I built the bathrooms of the masjid — alhamdulillah — look at these bathrooms. I used all my interest money for it." What are you talking about? This is something that you give — you throw it in the donation box and you just hope no one sees it. Khalas. Ya Allah, just do not punish me for going to war against You. That's all. That's what haram money is supposed to do.

The End of the Oppressors — Allah's Justice Is Guaranteed

This is what Allah is asking us in this verse — to go and look at what has happened to all of those who have disbelieved Allah in the past. What happened to them? They all tasted the evil consequences of what they did. Every single tyrant had to taste this evil consequence — and will continue to taste in the grave and in the hereafter. All the tyrants of today, of yesterday, all of them. Go look at all the people from the '70s and the '80s and the '90s — all those war criminals. Check them up on Wikipedia. See how they died, what type of horrible deaths they had.

Every single day and night in the grave, Fir'awn and his whole entourage — the fire of the grave is being presented and pushed in front of them. And on the Day of Judgment they will be thrown into hellfire, which is of far greater intensity than what happened in the grave.

So this ayah is beautiful because it tells us: do not become disenfranchised, do not become depressed over the stories of oppression that you are witnessing today, live. Every oppressor and every oppressed person — every oppressor will definitely have to stand in front of Allah. The oppressed one will have his day in court, and Allah will not let him go until he is happy.

Allah will not let him go — to the extent that even an animal, a horned animal — as in an authentic hadith of Bukhari — a horned goat that hit a non-horned goat: Allah will bring them back to life and ask the non-horned goat to avenge herself. And after that is done, Allah will make them into dust and say: go. Ajeeb. If He's just going to make them into dust, what was the purpose? Because Allah is Adil. Allah is just. Allah made a specific time and place to ensure justice will be met — and that's called the Day of Judgment.

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2582 — on the complete execution of justice on the Day of Resurrection, even between animals)

This court, the law, the courts of this country, the courts of this world — honestly are too weak, too meager, too short, too small to give a proper reward or punishment. The type of crimes that are happening today — one life is not enough to punish them. There are not enough methods in this world to be able to punish the oppressors of today or the past. There's another place for that. And that's called the everlasting punishment of the hereafter.

You have to tell yourself — because many times people nowadays, when they see this, they start doubting themselves and doubting the deen. That's a waswasa from Shaytan. What Allah is saying: don't look at what's happening now. Look at what has happened in the past. As this past century — at the beginning of this century as well — see how those people who had the blood of millions on their hands: what has happened to them? They're all finished. They had a horrible death.

So we have to believe in the justice of Allah. The justice of Allah is such that He will bring back to life that animal — which He's going to turn into dust the next second — just so that it can avenge itself. Do you not think Allah will give all these oppressed people — Muslims and whoever they may be — an opportunity to avenge themselves? Of course they will.

Allah is Ghaniyy Hamid — Self-Sufficient and Praiseworthy

And so this is the action of the kuffar — they simply made fun of the deen and they said: "How can a human being guide us?" All of those people who make fun of Islam today — they may not do it by their words, but they do it by their actions. Be it Muslims, those who claim to be Muslims, or those who don't claim to be Muslims — understand Allah is not in need of them.

For all those people who think they're harming Islam by leaving Islam — no, you don't. All those youth who think they can harm their parents by leaving Islam — you don't. You don't harm your teachers by leaving Islam. You harm nobody besides yourself. So this crazy thought — like you know what, "I'm angry, I'm gonna kill myself, I'm gonna harm someone" — SubhanAllah — you just ruined your whole life. For what?

So by leaving Islam you're not harming anyone besides yourself. This is a message we need to send out, because there are so many youth out there who honestly think that this is a way to get back at their parents — astaghfirullah — by leaving their deen. Allah says: I don't need you.

Wallahu Ghaniyyun Hamid — Allah is All-Self-Sufficient and Praiseworthy. What's so beautiful here is the fact that Allah — even though He is self-sufficient, even though He doesn't need us — He doesn't act like that. Because if I don't need you, I'm going to let you know I don't need you if you're mistreating me. Allah never treats us as though He doesn't need us. He continues to shower blessings upon the person who denies His existence. He continues to give shifa and cure to those who disobey Him. He continues to provide sustenance to those who ascribe partners to Him. That is Allah — Who, no matter what you do, Allah's doors are open.

We ask Allah that He makes us amongst those who appreciate our Lord Almighty. We ask Allah to make us amongst those who benefit from Allah's mercy. We ask Allah that He saves us from not taking lessons from the Qur'an, from not taking lessons from the teachings and actions of Allah.

Next week I will begin by revisiting this ayah — and remind me, insha'Allah, if I don't — that there are four things, four ways that Allah blesses us when difficulty comes our way. When you go through a problem, there are four different ways that becomes a blessing. We'll address that next week insha'Allah.

Q&A Highlights

Posting professional successes on LinkedIn

Of course it can result in something like ayn or whatnot, but you have to read your du'a, read your manzil, read your ma'widhatain, and say: Ya Allah, I'm not doing this to show off. I'm doing it simply so that I can get more leads, more links, etc. That's the purpose you're doing it for. If it's necessary for your business, that's an insha'Allah legitimate need.

Can you pray Sunnah or Nafl if you have Qada prayers to make up?

Yes — your Sunnah Mu'akkadah you have to pray, even if you have qada to make up.

How to pray Salat al-Istikhara?

Two rakat, with a focused wudu and focused salah. After you recite whatever you want in it, raise your hands and make du'a — praise Allah, send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ, seek forgiveness for yourself and your ummah, and then recite the du'a of istikhara:

If you're in the one-year class, you'll have an exam on this soon so I hope you've memorized it by now. If you're not in the one-year program, intend to join it insha'Allah soon, or at least memorize the du'a, because it's a very powerful one. Then complete it with salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ.

You do not have to have a dream afterward. Sometimes people think this has to be a dream — not necessarily. Sometimes Allah shows a dream, but just constantly be making this du'a, and you can make it after every salah. Allah will automatically open up the doors in the direction He wants to take you.

Someone says: "I did istikhara and now I'm ending in a divorce." Yes — that's what I want to talk about next week. The idea is that divorce — you don't know how much khair was in it. If it wasn't for that divorce, you would not be happy where you are right now. I know, for example — recently I asked someone who got divorced. I said, "Did you get married?" He said, "I got married to someone who also got divorced." And now he says, "Oh my god, we appreciate each other so much. We never appreciated our previous spouses before. But we went through so much unfortunate problems in the first marriage — both of us. Alhamdulillah, now there's so much appreciation." What I'm trying to say is: what Allah wants to give you through that — you don't understand. So don't ever allow Shaytan to put this waswasa in your mind: "I did istikhara — how come it didn't happen like this?" Because you and I don't have the big picture in front of us.

What du'a should you say in a state of rage?

And perform wudu. That's a very important thing.

How important is it to unplug from social media?

This is a very important thing. We have a no-tech retreat coming up on February 8th — our annual no-tech retreat. This year we have Imam Zaid Shakir, alhamdulillah, who will be joining us for the i'tikaf program. But that's a yearly thing and it's not enough. I would say at least half an hour to an hour a day where we just put our phone away.

When it comes to social media — if you come here regularly, you know my stance on it. Unless you actually have to be on it, there's honestly no benefit in it. The harm far supersedes the benefit. If you're using it to communicate, use text message, use WhatsApp, call people. Get back to the old style of actually using a phone for what it was created for — calling people. When a person uses social media, you're exposed to so many unnecessary things, especially seeing, watching, and hearing things that are absolutely harmful. May Allah make it easy.

What if a person hates their father?

You have to ask yourself why. What happened? I would ask you to reach out to a scholar or a therapist with your issue. What is the reason for that? There might be some things — maybe you feel he's hurt you immensely. Well then we have to figure out how to deal with that, how to work through it. Imagine the Syrians who are liberating Syria right now — what are they saying? "No one is going to be killed. No one is going to be looted. We're not going to destroy any buildings. Everyone is safe. We want an established order." Imagine — after everything you suffered, the desire for vengeance you would have. How do you do that? Because you have to move forward. You've got to heal.

None of us have gone through what they have gone through. There are certain things which happened in the past, maybe our parents didn't do right, certain things which are inappropriate. We have to know how to handle that. And that's where a scholar or a therapist can come in and benefit.

Regarding an online Qur'an teacher who has been accused of inappropriate behavior

It's not online or on-site — this is part of being human. What did I just talk about today? When you don't follow the deen, you can become subhuman. Similarly, when a person is exposed to filthy things on the phone or the laptop and starts watching that — that's what you become. It's not an issue of a scholar. It's not an issue of online. It's not an issue of on-site. It's an issue of being involved in this addiction.

The take-home point is: you have to watch that you don't fall into this horrible sin. Watch your phones. Put locks on your phones. And mashallah, brother Ali has been working with the students over here — he's created a resource:

halalfocus.netlify.app — the name will be changed very soon, but this is the current link. Please make a note of it and share it. Use it yourself. Next week we'll have a QR code up for it insha'Allah.

No matter how senior you become, no matter if you're a Qur'an teacher or whatever you are — if you understand the power of the nafs and Shaytan and you don't control yourself, you can fall below. May Allah protect us all.

Du'a request — Quitting nicotine vaping

A brother says: "I just tossed my nicotine vape walking in here. Please make du'a I don't go back to that addiction." May Allah allow all those who are suffering from various types of addictions to be given the willpower to overcome them. And all those who are suffering — may Allah allow them to recognize that they're suffering and allow them to kick this habit. I would suggest starting the "sevens" that I speak about a lot — you can ask any of the regulars what those are. That will make it easier insha'Allah to overcome this addiction.

Closing Du'a

Ya Allah, we ask You to accept this gathering. O Allah, allow us to leave this gathering in a state that our sins have been completely forgiven, our sins replaced with good deeds. O Allah, our desires for sin are removed and the desire of goodness comes into our life. O Allah, that our mission and vision in life is exactly in line with the Prophet's ﷺ mission and vision. O Allah, that our purpose in life is that which You want it to be. O Allah, that our desires are that which Your Rasul ﷺ taught us to have.

O Allah, we ask You protection from the evil desires of our nafs and the evil insinuations of Iblis and Shaytan and the armies of Shaytan. Ya Allah, we seek refuge in You from suffering spiritual diseases, physical diseases, emotional and mental diseases. O Allah, from financial difficulty. O Allah, protect us from all sorts of setbacks. O Allah, we ask You to allow us to continue to grow in every aspect of our life — in goodness, in our deen, in our dunya.

O Allah, do not make us amongst those who think ourselves to be righteous, practicing Muslims but in reality our actions are far away from it. O Allah, instead make us amongst those whose actions genuinely portray the true image of Islam, genuinely portray the true teachings of the Qur'an and Sunnah. O Allah, we ask You to improve our character at home, our character with those who are close to us and near to us. O Allah, save us from becoming an oppressor in any aspect of life against anyone. O Allah, save us from becoming oppressed as well in any aspect of our life. Those who have already been oppressed — grant them, Ya Allah, the highest levels of patience, forgiveness, and resiliency. O Allah, allow them to overcome their difficulties, allow them to heal from their pain.

O Allah, put muhabba and love in all our families — between parents and children, between siblings, between husbands and wives. O Allah, all those who are going through marital discord or suffering broken relationships with their parents — allow them all to focus on improving those relationships. Allow both parties to follow the deen, come closer to You and come closer to one another.

O Allah, we ask You to allow this upcoming winter intensive to become a game changer in the lives of thousands of people. Allow it genuinely to turn around the lives of thousands of young and old men and women. O Allah, allow the barakah and the blessing of it to spread across the globe. O Allah, we ask You — whatever khair and good has been shared today or in the past, it's only been from You. O Allah, we ask You to allow the power and the noor of those words to emanate from here and spread across the entire globe. O Allah, allow it to bring khair wherever Ya Allah You wish. O Allah, whatever mistakes have been made, we seek Your protection from the evil of that and we ask Your forgiveness for it.

Ya Allah, allow this new Salam Collective to become a means of reviving the masjid community, similar to the community of the Prophet ﷺ while he was alive in Madinat al-Munawwarah. O Allah, allow it to become a gold standard, an amazing role model in every sense, and allow it to be replicated across the globe. O Allah, allow it to become an amazing means of connecting all those who are disconnected from the masjid back to the masjid. Allow people to be able to get all their spiritual as well as non-spiritual basic needs of their life and livelihood fulfilled from the masjid. O Allah, allow all of our spouses, our children, and every member of our household to be attached to Your house.

O Allah, those who are going through surgeries this week, those who are going through procedures, those who have been hospitalized, those who are sick — Ya Allah, grant them all shifa. Those who passed away from the ummah — fill their qabr with noor. Become pleased with them, Ya Allah. O Allah, grant protection to the madrasa, to the masjid, and to every musalli, every volunteer, every attendee, all those who are well-wishers of this place across the globe. O Allah, grant victory to the Muslims in whichever country, wherever they may be — in their struggles to establish the deen, in their struggles to simply protect their homes and protect their identity. O Allah, grant victory to our brothers and sisters in Gaza, in Lebanon, Ya Allah, in Sham, in Sudan, and various parts of India, and across the globe wherever they may be going through difficulty.

O Allah, we ask You to reward our tanwir students and all the other takmil students who have been serving diligently in the tafsir program since the beginning of the year. This is the week of their exams and they are still serving. O Allah, allow all the students who are doing khidmah — Ya Allah, grant them immense success in their exams. O Allah, allow them success in this dunya, in the grave, and in the akhira. O Allah, we ask You to remove spiritual, emotional, and financial difficulties from all of our students and staff members as well.

We request you insha'Allah to enjoy the snacks and speak with one another. Please do not make this into a drive-through — spend some time, connect with new people, talk to people who you don't know. This will insha'Allah help build our community. JazakumAllah khairan. Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.