Surah Al-Kahf | Part 1 Ayahs 1-4 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | Weekly Tafsir

Opening Remarks: The Importance of Consistency in Seeking Knowledge

I just want to remind all of us here that, alhamdulillah, the past couple of weeks ago we started trying to make this environment of the tafsir session a little bit more intimate for all those who have a habit of attending, and wanted to make sure that we all can be part of it, get a classroom feel so we can register for it, and then that way you can share feedback if there are polls asked, if you have questions, you can also anonymously or with your email ask things related to the tafsir. So I request all those who have already registered — there'll be a check-in, there'll be a clipboard that'll be passed around so you can just check in, insha'Allah — and then those who are coming here tonight for the first time and have not registered, if you can just take a minute, please, in the lobby, just do register there, they'll appreciate that, insha'Allah.

The goal — one of the other goals I've had — is that people, we love to be appreciated and acknowledged when we're there, and to also feel missed when we're not there. But when you have a continuous group of people every single week in and out coming through — and this is what I've noticed — I always have a good group of brothers and sisters coming, but there's always change; they're not the same group of people. And we want to make sure that we can continue to grow, but at the same time, those who've come once can continue to be encouraged to come as well.

So I hope one day we can reach that level where you can receive a personalized message, insha'Allah, when you're not present — a reminder that we missed you today — because we do miss our attendees and we do miss our students when they are not present. And the biggest ingredient, one of the biggest ingredients for barakah in any ilm is consistency. If we're consistent with even something simple and small, it will eventually lead up to something great. But if we are one-off — a couple of weeks we attend one program, then the next two or three months we disappear — this type of inconsistency in any type of work of deen will not allow us to grow. It may seem like we're growing: we're taking two steps ahead, three steps back, two steps ahead, three steps back. Net loss over time doesn't really get us anywhere.

So we should all make niyyah, insha'Allah, for istiqamah — take hold of one program. We're not saying attend ten programs a week or ten programs a month. Take a couple of programs that you can manage, maybe a program a week, and say that this is insha'Allah something I am going to attend with my family every single week, no matter what. Snow, sleet, sunshine — in all states — I will not give this up. And that level of istiqamah is such that even if it's a twenty-minute program or a half-hour program, you will gain great ilm, the nur of ilm, and closeness to Allah through that istiqamah.

The most beloved actions in the eyes of Allah are those that are done on a continuous basis, even if they may be a small amount — even if minute — but done continuously, they can give you something.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 6464; Sahih Muslim, Book 6, Hadith 215)

Our teachers have taught us that one class — one day of class — that a student misses, he is deprived of barakah for the next forty days. This is something they ingrained within us. They said no matter what happens, never ever miss class.

And you see that — I tell this to the full-time students. Those who have missed one, I say, okay, that's it, you missed one. Shaytan will tell you: now you've already missed one, it's okay, you can miss a second one and a third one. Before you know it, you're missing one day a week. And then subhanAllah, a whole year goes by and you've missed three weeks' worth of ilm. How is the barakah going to come in there? Especially with the winter coming up, for our full-time students, it's important to remember that in no case should we miss class, unless it is an extreme situation where we have a contagious disease — fine.

We've been taught that even if you are throwing up, you have to go to the bathroom regularly — come to class. The bathrooms are available. You can sit in the back of the classroom. But don't miss class. Because what you will be deprived of is barakah. And barakah cannot be quantified. Barakah cannot be felt with your hands. But it is one of the most powerful things that we have.

Someone recently told me — when a scholar was telling Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, he told him — Imam Siraj was saying this — he said that we need to start thinking like a Muslim, or we need to have a Muslim way of thinking. So what's a Muslim's thinking? He said the difference between a Muslim and a kafir — a Muslim and a disbeliever — is that a Muslim believes in barakah, while non-Muslims don't have that concept. We believe in barakah. That's huge. Barakah in wealth, barakah in ilm, barakah in everything.

So, my beloved brothers and sisters — those who are listening online and on-site — barakah will come through consistency. So I ask myself, I ask Allah to keep me consistent, I ask all of you to make du'a for yourself: Ya Allah, I've started something simple and small — allow me to be consistent.

Beginning the Tafsir of Surah Al-Kahf

So here we are, starting the tafsir of Surah Al-Kahf. I hope, at the end of this series — it might be four or five months — we will have covered the entire surah together. The last one we did was twenty sessions on Surah Al-Ahzab, so that was about five months or more. Here we are — we can expect the same or more for Surah Al-Kahf.

Let us make niyyah, at least, that insha'Allah we will not miss a single session. Say insha'Allah. When at the end of this semester — whenever that may be — we ask: brothers, let's raise our hands, who has not missed a single session? We want to be able to see a large number of hands of brothers and sisters who say, alhamdulillah, I've never missed it.

Masha'Allah — when we graduated from the Alam program after seven years, they gave certificates and awards to students who had never missed a single day in those seven years. Not a single period in seven years. Imagine — all sorts of things happen in your life over a period of seven years. But subhanAllah, these individuals were consistent.

Mawlana Abdul Hameed, the principal of Darul Uloom Zakariyya in South Africa — one of the great leading ulama of South Africa — he has a habit of doing tafsir after Salatul Fajr: a seven-minute tafsir. Like we here have a five or seven minute tafsir after Salatul Maghrib, which was inspired by that same practice I had seen in South Africa. Seven-minute tafsir after Salatul Fajr, every single day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

And subhanAllah, I happened to be studying there when they had their graduation of the tafsir class — they had completed the entire Qur'an in eleven years. The entire Qur'an. And there were about 3,000 people there for the graduation. It was an amazing environment. They actually handed out certificates and acknowledged the people who had attended consistently. And then there were many whose sons came and took the certificates because their fathers had passed away in between — it's eleven years. SubhanAllah. And their sons came and took the certificates on behalf of their fathers.

So what can consistency do? It's wondrous. And the lack of it also causes great harm. A person is fifty years old and still hasn't achieved much in his life, even though he has attended tens of programs. Why? Because he was never consistent. Started studying Arabic for one week, then left it. Started studying Fiqh for two weeks, then left that. Started attending a tafsir session for three weeks, then left that. Now a person is in his fifties saying, man, I haven't achieved anything. Why is that? It's because we're not consistent. Had we just taken one class a week and not given it up for the past two decades, we'd have achieved something tangible.

I don't want to demotivate anyone. No — I want to motivate you to take it to the next level. Alhamdulillah, what you're doing is great. But let's make a niyyah. We're never going to be consistent if we don't regard this as important. That's the issue. Why? Because it's just an open majlis. No one's going to notice if I'm here or not. I'll come one day, I will not show up the next day — what difference does it make? That inconsistency translates to no value. We're not valuing what we're getting. And if you don't value what you're getting, why will Allah value your presence? Simple as that.

If we value our presence here — because we value not me, but the majlis of ilm, the majlis of tafsir, the majlis of angels in the house of Allah — then you will achieve such gifts from Allah that are mind-boggling. So the niyyah has to be made within ourselves: Ya Allah, I am a student of knowledge. I'm not just a random person, a drive-by student. No — I'm a student. I'm a Tuesday night class student. That's it. And I'm going to be here to my level best. Unless I'm traveling out of town, I'm going to be here every single Tuesday. And when you make that niyyah, then Allah will make it easy for you to fulfill it.

So the first step is niyyah — that I will never miss a class unless it is beyond my means — and then you ask Allah for istiqamah. And, my dear friends, like we say at the beginning of every dars: when you come for a dars of tafsir, or you're listening online, you begin the dars with this niyyah: Ya Allah, this is — I am an abd, a servant, and the one who is speaking is an abd. You are our Lord, You are the Lord of this Book, You are the Lord of all of us. Ya Allah, inspire the speaker to share those words that will be meaningful to me in my life — that will give answers to the questions I'm going through right now, that will remove doubts I'm going through right now, that will become a source of inspiration for me so that I can overcome any type of emotional or spiritual difficulty I'm going through.

Every single Tuesday, make this niyyah. And I want all of you right now to make this niyyah in your heart. Turn to Allah and say: Ya Allah, allow us to hear what we need to hear. Allow us to hear that which will become a means of our islah — our rectification. And allow us to find the answers that we're looking for. And insha'Allah, that is exactly what will happen.

The Virtues and Importance of Surah Al-Kahf

This surah, my beloved brothers and sisters and dear listeners, is one of my favorite surahs. And definitely something that, insha'Allah, I pray Allah will allow you and I to spend the rest of our lives with. This is a really important surah. And I'm so happy that many of you — most of you, actually — when I asked what is your next surah that you want to cover, a majority of you asked for Surah Al-Kahf. And I'm happy, alhamdulillah — we're on the right track. The fact that we are starting to realize the importance of Surah Al-Kahf.

I shared with my teachers — may Allah reward them and grant them long life and health, and allow us to benefit from them — some of the work that I'm involved in, the programs I do when I'm traveling and so forth. Alhamdulillah, they made lots of du'a and were very happy. And they reiterated — I mean, I've always told you that my teachers say: attach yourself to Surah Al-Kahf. But this was completely separate. Another teacher who usually doesn't say that told me: I want you to make sure you hold on to Surah Al-Kahf regularly. Read it every single day, and this will assist you in doing the work you're doing — which is warning people from the fitan of today, that most people may be completely oblivious to. He said, Surah Al-Kahf will give you that light by which you will continue to be able to see right from wrong, to see darkness from light, to distinguish those things which the majority are not able to distinguish.

This is not something specific for me — this is for all of us. So I'm passing on the message of my asatidh — my teachers — to you: make a habit of reading Surah Al-Kahf. Attach yourself to Surah Al-Kahf. Make it a focus of your study. Listen to this tafsir and all other tafsirs you have access to. Read the books that have been written on Surah Al-Kahf. If you read Arabic or Urdu, you have so many resources available. In English as well — of course, Ma'arif al-Qur'an is there, Tafsir Ibn Kathir is there, Fi Dhilal al-Qur'an is there. There are a number of tafsirs written by traditional ulama — from the Arab world, from the South Asian world — that have been translated into English which you can access and read.

But I'm saying Surah Al-Kahf should definitely be something we make a habit of reading regularly. I know a good number of us already recite it on Jumu'ah. But we have to take it to the next level. We have to not just read the first ten and last ten, but make a habit of reading the entire surah. And then it's not sufficient like that — we need to make a habit of reading it regularly. When I say regularly, what my teachers are asking us to do is every day.

And you say, how am I supposed to do that every day? One of the best things, my beloved brothers and sisters, is to make niyyah right now. Between now and Ramadan we have a lot of time — six months. Rabi'ul Awwal started last Friday. We have exactly six months from last Friday. It is definitely sufficient — I think so — for any one of us, even those who are not very good at memorizing, to utilize the next six months to memorize Surah Al-Kahf. It's very possible. And you can do it alongside the tafsir — memorizing five ayahs a week, six ayahs a week.

One of the brothers, right before I started my dars — before Salatul Isha — he sent me a message. He said: I want to share my story. Maybe it will be an inspiration to others. He said: I am in my mid-fifties, and I have been an average student all my life in academics — not necessarily excelling in various sciences. But alhamdulillah, with the mercy of Allah, Allah has allowed me to memorize Surah Al-Kahf. And insha'Allah, if I have been allowed to memorize it, I think everyone else can do so. He said: this is an encouragement for everyone who has not done so — say bismillah and make niyyah now, that insha'Allah on this blessed day we are going to begin our journey of memorizing Surah Al-Kahf.

Say insha'Allah. Raise your hand and make niyyah. All of you at home also who have not memorized it — make niyyah insha'Allah that you will join us in this journey. Our goal will be till next Ramadan. Make this resolution — that if you have not memorized it, you will. And those of you who are so blessed, like myself, who have alhamdulillah already memorized it — now you have a bigger responsibility. What is that? Recite it every day. It will take you fifteen minutes, twelve minutes, twenty minutes — whatever it may be. But you are blessed. Ask the person next to you who is trying to memorize it — he'll say, my God, I wish I knew it. If I knew it, wallahi, I would not leave the masjid until I had read it every single day.

So make this niyyah now: you will not allow a day to go by without reading it. And insha'Allah, I promise you — within weeks you will message me to say you've already started feeling the difference. Within days you will start seeing the difference, if you make a habit of reading Surah Al-Kahf.

I am so happy, alhamdulillah, that there are many brothers — and possibly sisters as well — who have told me that they heard in previous tafasir about the importance of reading Surah Al-Kahf daily, and alhamdulillah, they have been doing that for a year or two years. They've made it a daily wird. Like we read Surah Yasin every day, alhamdulillah, they made a wird of reading Surah Al-Kahf every day. So let's all make this niyyah today.

Surah Al-Kahf as a Shield Against the Fitna of Dajjal

My dear friends — you say this is challenging. What do you think? To save yourself from Dajjal is going to be a piece of cake? I ask you: for anything you say is challenging, what are you thinking you're up against? What type of fitna? What type of enemy? Do you even recognize and realize where we're headed?

If you're not willing to work, if you're not willing to excel, if you're not willing to push yourself — then we're in very bad shape. Not the human physical death — that's not so bad. I'm talking about the spiritual death. And when a person dies spiritually, he's headed to hellfire. So why put the nail in the coffin and say, I'm a sinner but I'm not even going to attempt? We're all sinners. But just start with this — even if you're a hafidh al-Qur'an and you have a habit of listening to music, looking at haram, missing your prayers, giving back answers to your parents, using foul language, being impressed by materialistic things, having wrong value systems — no matter what those sins we may be involved in, just start with this.

Just start with Surah Al-Kahf and say: Allah, I can't change overnight, but I can take one medicine. And that medicine is called Surah Al-Kahf. And I'm going to read this medicine — read this surah — with the niyyah that all of these evil thoughts that are in my mind will be addressed. Because that's what it is: our mindset has become shaitani. It all starts off with that.

Why are people listening to haram, looking at haram, dressing in ways contrary to the deen? Because the mentality has changed. The view of life has changed. This is what we're struggling with. This is our jihad — to change the way we think. It's not just about the way we dress, the way we eat, the way we sit. More fundamental than that is the way we think. That has become completely anti-Islamic, against the Shari'ah, against the ways of Rasulullah ﷺ. And we are more impressed with the ways of others than with the ways of Rasulullah ﷺ. How do we get that germ out of our brain? That is something we have to submit to Allah and beg: Ya Allah, through the barakah of Surah Al-Kahf, remove this virus from me.

You know, when you see a certain type of haircut, a certain type of dressing — women or men — following influencers, where is this coming from? Our moms and dads never heard of this. Where is this style coming from? Where are these ideas coming from? And moms and dads are scared. They say: we sent them to madrasah, we sent them to hifz school, we sent them to alim school, we sent them to Sunday school, we sent them to Islamic school — where is he learning this? It's in the air. No matter where you send them, you cannot avoid this. It's in the air, it's in the water. This is the dajjali era we're in. It changes the way you think.

You can wear a turban, you can wear a niqab, you can wear gloves, you can wear a big thawb — but subhanAllah, it does not make you immune to this style of thinking. And that style of thinking is so dangerous that it will eventually come out. It may manifest itself in a change of hairstyle. It may manifest itself in a change of the way we speak. It may manifest itself in showing non-appreciation or disinterest in religious gatherings. And eventually, this wrong mentality and approach can lead all the way to kufr. And this is what worries me — the various types of isms that are on the rise on a daily basis.

أَيْنَ الْمَفَرُّ؟ Where do we run to? There is no place that is safe anymore. A brother messaged me — called me for a masa'lah — a real story from a few weeks ago. I answered his question and then I said, where are you right now? He said, I'm in Turkey. I said, what are you doing in Turkey? I know he's not a person who can afford vacations. He said, I ran to safety with my family. I said, what happened? My daughter, who went to Muslim school and whatnot — we raised her in a very beautiful, conservative home — and now she has LGBTQ ideas and is going in that direction. We're so scared, we have no idea what to do. We packed up our bags overnight and left the country.

I said, going to a different country is not going to save you from this problem. Because whatever fitna you have over here is exactly the fitna in the entire world. The internet is everywhere. Instagram is everywhere. Facebook is everywhere. YouTube is everywhere. Reddit is everywhere. That mentality is spreading like wildfire — not through actual interactions with humans, but through a virtual world. It's what we call الشَّبَكَةُ الْعَالَمِيَّة — the worldwide web. It's called a web because it catches you inside it. You can't avoid it. You can't run away from it. شَبَكَة means a web. These ideas are constantly being pushed through popular culture, videos, music videos, video games, and things of that sort.

I told him, I said: you should have made hijrah to Darussalam. Because what you need is scholars and ulama who understand where she's coming from and can address this issue. We have, alhamdulillah, medical experts within our community. We have psychologists within our community that we deal with on a regular basis. And then we have, mashAllah, great ulama here who deal with this on a regular basis. This is what we need to do — have an environment where our sons and daughters, if they start slipping and falling, are not shunned away, not told "you've really lost your mind," not treated harshly. Instead, they need to be dealt with in a very delicate manner — in a welcoming, loving way.

People who are on the verge of leaving Islam, or who have completely unorthodox, un-Islamic ideas — they have to be dealt with in a very delicate manner. SubhanAllah, the family from which that call came is one of the most conservative, practicing, religious, loving, caring families I know of in the entire area. So I'm saying: if that is the situation in one home, what I'm speaking about is not some stray, weird situation. This fire is raging within all the homes. It's just a matter of time when it will come to my home or your home. May Allah protect us.

One of the ways of protecting ourselves is reading and analyzing Surah Al-Kahf. Allahu Akbar. We know the hadith about Ayatul Kursi — that whoever recites it after every obligatory prayer, between him and Jannah is only death. Similarly, we know the story of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who was given the responsibility of guarding the wealth of Zakat. A thief came — three times — and on the third time he said: I'll give you something, I'll tell you something if you let me go. He said: if you read Ayatul Kursi before you go to bed, you'll be protected from Shaytan. Abu Hurayrah mentioned this to the Prophet ﷺ the next day, and the Prophet ﷺ said: he was a liar, but what he said was true — that was indeed Shaytan himself who was coming each night. But he ended up giving him that piece of knowledge just to get away.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2311)

So how foolish it would be for you and I, after listening to this, to not make a habit of reading Ayatul Kursi after every salah and before we go to bed. And number two, to make sure every single member of our household does the same. The boys and the girls, the husband and the wife — make sure everyone recites Ayatul Kursi.

Similarly is the case for Surah Al-Kahf. You may ask: but what is the relationship between Surah Al-Kahf and the fitna of Dajjal? The first answer is: Rasulullah ﷺ said so, so it is. The second answer — why Surah Al-Kahf is connected and a means of protection from Dajjal — is insha'Allah what the next five or six months will answer. This surah comprises stories that if a person understands and ponders over, he will be able to differentiate between right and wrong, no matter what the era may be.

Allahu Akbar. Dajjal is such a big fitna that the Prophet ﷺ said: no prophet has left this world without warning his nation from Dajjal. No prophet. We're talking about Nabi Nuh, Nabi Idrees, Nabi Ibrahim, Nabi Musa, Nabi Isa, Nabi Dawood, Nabi Sulaiman — those prophets who came thousands of years before Dajjal will come, yet they warned their nations. Because it's just such a big fitna. Forget about when it's going to come — they are just warning you from it. That's how enormous this fitna is.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3338; Sahih Muslim, Book 54, Hadith 119)

The Prophet ﷺ explained to us that there is no fitna, no trial, no tribulation, that was ever faced by any ummah — not just the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ but any ummah — that is harsher, harder, and more difficult to pass than the test and trial of Dajjal. Every single aspect of it is a test. If I say there's a really hard test, you can imagine that the questions are not going to be very straightforward. Even a multiple choice test — the questions are such trick questions that you really, really have to know your material to answer properly.

What is Dajjal itself? Dajjal means tamwih — misrepresentation, camouflage, saying and seeing that which is not there. So every aspect of it involves deception. The test questions are not going to be straightforward if it's that hard. Similarly, the solution to the fitna of Dajjal is also not going to be immediately obvious.

This happened — a real story not too far from here. I gave a khutbah on Dajjal over a decade ago. Right after the khutbah was over, as I was walking out of the masjid, an uncle came mockingly and asked me: which surah of the Qur'an is Dajjal mentioned in? He said it in a very mocking manner because he basically rejects the existence and the coming of Dajjal as a fitna.

And subhanAllah, in my eyes it was just so clear — right there. The Qur'an says: don't worry about falling into fitna — you've already fallen into the fitna. If you say, "where's Dajjal mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf, hence there's no Dajjal" — you've already fallen. Dajjal isn't here yet, but you've unfortunately already fallen into the pre-Dajjali fitna.

Mawlana Shabir Sahib, our ustad, asked us this question: how come Dajjal is not clearly mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf? We went and searched and looked for answers. But the ultimate real answer he gave, which really settled well with us, was this: if Dajjal's name were mentioned clearly in Surah Al-Kahf, then it would be too easy of an antidote — too easy of a cure. The whole point is: do you have an unbelievable level of faith in the unseen, or not? That's the question.

Do you believe in hadith or not? There are so many rejecters of hadith today — they've already fallen to the fitna of Dajjal. They say: you're just making us afraid of a boogeyman. How many people today in our community say things like this? This is exactly the fitna we're speaking about. Many individuals find it below their dignity, below their intellectual level, to hear a talk on Dajjal. They say: that's for those kids who get excited about things. I've got a PhD, MD, JD — I'm a successful business owner — I have to listen to this? That concept right there is how Dajjal works. Every single aspect is misrepresentation, is confusion. The solution is right there in front of you, but people are not seeing it. And what's the solution? The solution is in Surah Al-Kahf.

What is the reason that Surah Al-Kahf does not explicitly mention Dajjal? First: because Allah says so, and Rasulullah ﷺ says so, and we believe it — period. But besides that, the second reason is: this is to increase the test for all of us. If you don't believe in hadith, if you are going to use logic alone, you will never be able to get out of this mess. There it is, my friends. If you've heard this point, you've understood the maqsad of Surah Al-Kahf.

You cannot become what we call aql-parast — a slave of your intelligence. That's the problem. Everyone says: I'm smart, and I have a smarter phone than myself — why do I need hadith for guidance? Why do I need the ulama? Why do I need books and ilm for guidance? The one who follows only his aql — and certainly the one who follows his hawa, his desires — will most definitely fall into the fitna of Dajjal.

No one is saying don't be intelligent. But in front of Allah, you cannot act like a smart aleck. When the Qur'an says something, when the hadith says something, you say:

We hear and we obey. Show your intelligence in the lab, in your business — but in front of the Qur'an and hadith, be the most humble, simple person you've ever been. I know nothing. And that's what the Qur'an wants you to acknowledge.

Alif Lam Meem. What is the meaning of it? You don't know. You have a PhD in Arabic sciences — no, I don't know. You're a mufti who has done ifta work for twenty years — I don't know what it means.

Allah knows best what it means. That is the humility and humbleness the Qur'an is demanding from us when we approach it. And that is exactly what Surah Al-Kahf is teaching us through its stories. From the very beginning, the very reason why Dajjal's name is not mentioned in it is the first and most important lesson: learn how to put reins around your aql. There is a place to use your aql — not everywhere. If you use aql everywhere, you will have a very serious problem. They say that dhulm is وَضْعُ الشَّيْءِ فِي غَيْرِ مَحَلِّهِ — to put something in a place where it doesn't belong. Similarly, putting the intellect in front of Allah and in front of the commands of Allah is dhulm. And this is what the dajjali fitna is about — becoming worshippers of your nafs, a hedonistic life.

Ahadith on the Virtues of Surah Al-Kahf

Whoever memorizes ten ayahs from the beginning of Surah Al-Kahf will be protected from the fitna of Dajjal. And in the narration of Sahih Muslim: مِنْ آخِرِ الْكَهْفِ — from the end of Surah Al-Kahf.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 54, Hadith 126)

Whoever recites the first three verses of Surah Al-Kahf will be protected from the fitna of Dajjal.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2886; classified as Hasan)

So if we're going to start, I would say the first thing we should all do is memorize the first ten and last ten immediately. Once you finish with that lesson, then you move on from the beginning — from the eleventh verse. But the first thing we should do is the first ten verses and the last ten verses.

Background and Overview of Surah Al-Kahf

This surah was revealed in Makkah al-Mukarramah. And the Prophet ﷺ named it Al-Kahf. This surah was revealed after Surah Al-Ghashiyah and before Surah Ash-Shura. So we should know that the way the Qur'an is ordered is not the way it was revealed. The Qur'an was revealed — what we call تَنْزِيل — meaning the revelation of the Qur'an based on need over a period of twenty-three years. That's the beauty of the Qur'an. It wasn't that there's a funeral taking place and the Qur'an is being revealed about being happy. Whenever Rasulullah ﷺ or the Sahaba needed to hear a message, that's when they received that revelation.

That's why, my beloved brothers and sisters, no matter what type of emotional state you're going through, you will find a solution to it in the Qur'an. No matter what type of difficulty or happiness you're going through — how to handle that — the Qur'an will teach you. So that you don't become too haughty and arrogant over your achievements, and so that you and I don't become too depressed, too down, and too anxious over our difficulties. Whichever situation of life you and I are in, no matter what crossroads we're at, the Qur'an has the answer. Because the ulama call it كِتَابٌ حَيٌّ — it is a living book. It's interactive, تَفَاعُل. It's really alive, it's speaking to you.

This is called تَنْزِيل — to be revealed over twenty-three years in sections, in verses, in surahs, as needed. And then إِنزَال:

This refers to when the entire Qur'an was revealed in one night — the night of Qadr — from the sacred لَوْحٌ مَحْفُوظ, the Preserved Tablet, to the first heaven. That took place in one night. But then from the first heaven to Rasulullah ﷺ, and thereby to the Sahaba, happened over a period of time.

And when it came to the تَرْتِيب — we say that the arrangement of the Qur'an is تَوْقِيفِيّ. The Qur'an was revealed at different times, but the way it is arranged — Surah Al-Fatiha, Al-Baqarah, Al-Imran, Al-Nisa, Al-Ma'idah, etc. — all of this is something the Sahaba received from Rasulullah ﷺ. The kuttab al-wahy, those who were writing the revelation, were taught by Rasulullah ﷺ, and the Sahaba were inspired, and they laid it out in a manner chosen by Allah. That is our belief.

So Surah Al-Kahf was chosen to be right in the middle of the Qur'an — although it was not revealed in the middle. It was revealed in Makkah, after Surah Al-Ghashiyah in the 30th juz, and before Surah Ash-Shura in the 25th juz. But it's placed right in the middle. And also, there is a letter in Surah Al-Kahf that marks exactly half of the Qur'an. Many of us have the thirteen-line Qur'an, and you'll see وَلْيَتَلَطَّفْ written there on the side. Some books have noted that the letter Ta of وَلْيَتَلَطَّفْ is exactly the halfway point. Others have mentioned it is instead towards the end of the fifteenth juz — the Ta of لَقَدْ جِئْتَ شَيْئًا نُّكْرًا. SubhanAllah — look at the meticulousness with which every single letter has been counted, from the hamzah of Alhamdulillah all the way to the sin of Al-Nas. And this was all done way before artificial intelligence and computers. They counted how many hamzahs there are, how many hamzah wasl, how many hamzah qata', how many sins, how many shins, how many dotted letters, how many non-dotted letters. It's amazing how Allah has used this ummah to serve the Qur'an in every single aspect — including counting its letters to the most minute detail.

Nazm al-Durar and the Connections Between Verses

There is a huge tafsir that we have in our library here. It is called:

It's about thirty volumes. الدُّرَر are pearls. نَظْم means to be able to place pearls beautifully — the way a poem is called a poem because each stanza and each beautiful word is chosen and placed appropriately by the poet. You cannot mix it around. So similarly, Nazm al-Durar is a tafsir that talks about the placement of the pearls — referring to the Qur'anic verses and surahs — فِي تَنَاسُبِ الْآيَاتِ وَالسُّوَر — with regards to the connection of the surahs and each verse. This thirty-volume tafsir by Allama al-Biqa'i rahimahullah details the connection between every single verse and the next one. Why is this verse here? Why is the next verse there? Why didn't that come thirty verses later? It's amazing — how much ilm Allah has given this ummah.

A Story of Barakah: Ziyarah of Scholars and Books

My brothers and sisters, come visit the library. Our teachers used to say — the way you come to visit mashayikh and ulama, such as Shaykh Effendi, damat barakatuhum, one of the most senior ulama in the entire world — subhanAllah, he has thousands and thousands of students. I think when he performed Umrah — you can see it on YouTube, five, six, maybe ten years ago — there were about 50,000 people. The whole Masjid al-Nabawi was just his students. It's an amazing sight. Alhamdulillah, we had the opportunity to go visit him when we visited Turkey with our students a few years back.

We didn't know what was going to happen. They said it's not easy at all. But Allah made it easy, alhamdulillah. We went in — and literally, he's in his late nineties, perhaps a hundred years old — he was just sitting on a chair with a shawl, with his tasbih, sitting there quietly in a room. And they have this thick glass wall. Literally, you just come and stand in front of the wall and make ziyarah. He's alive, of course, alhamdulillah. He's sitting there doing his dhikr. You just sit and look at him for a few minutes. Ziyarah. People from far and wide try to come and see him. May Allah grant him long life and health and allow the ummah to continue to benefit from those of his status.

This is called ziyarah of ulama. How many of us have said: let's go sightseeing of religious institutions? How about we go sightseeing of madrasas? How about we go make ziyarah of ulama? This is part of Islamic tourism — that you go see scholars, that you go see institutions of knowledge.

I learned from my teachers — one day I was sitting in front of Mawlana Muhammad Dudhaat Sahib, adama Allahu fuyudahu, may Allah give him a long life — one of my teachers. He was saying a story about, I think, Mufti Mahmud al-Hasan. And then he asked: did you ever meet him? And I had literally missed him by maybe a year, or two or three years. He is buried in South Africa — he was the Mufti of Darul Uloom Deoband for fifty years, one of the great ulama. He passed away while visiting South Africa, and his wasiyyah was that he should be buried amongst children. So literally, alhamdulillah, I had a chance to visit his grave. He is buried in a section of the Muslim graveyard amongst the children — newborns who have passed away. He said: on the Day of Judgment, I can be raised amongst the masoom — the innocent children. If I'm amongst those who are forgiven, how would Allah put me somewhere else? Insha'Allah, you go with them. Allahu Akbar.

This person who was the Mufti for fifty years of the most notable institution in the entire subcontinent said: I want to die and be buried amongst the children. May Allah allow us also to be granted a beautiful death and a beautiful resting place. Ameen ya Rabbil Alameen.

My teacher then said to me — after I expressed my sadness over not having met him — he corrected me immediately. He said: the one who is alive, you're not benefiting from them — you're only making afsos, lamenting over those who have passed away. What benefit is that? You have living teachers in front of you — benefit from them. On point. Another time with the same teacher, I was again making afsos over not meeting some scholar, and he said: your example is like the one who is at night crying over the fact that there's no sun, but refuses to turn on the light. Of course there's no sun now — you're in the night. But we have a replacement. Although it's not as bright as the sun, it does the job. That's called your lantern, your lamp, your light. So benefit from those ulama that are still alive before they will also be taken away. And you'll be in complete darkness.

So, what I was saying — the way you're supposed to make ziyarah of scholars, you should also go make ziyarah of libraries and books. I want you to go next time — you're more than welcome to come, visit the library, brothers and sisters. You can make an appointment and come. See, okay, what did the ulama pick up? You might not be able to read a single line of Arabic — no problem. But just pick up a book and appreciate what ulama have done for the Qur'an, and how Allah has protected every single aspect of this Qur'an. Insha'Allah there will be barakah in that as well.

A Touching Story: The Convert and His Qur'an

Mawlana Yunus Palampuri, the son of Mawlana Umar Palampuri — who has Aaj Ka Sabaq, the daily lesson he records and sends — I heard this story from him live. He mentioned that in California, while traveling with a jama'at some long time ago, he visited a certain masjid. When he arrived, he remembered that there had been a convert who used to be present in that masjid. He asked: where is that convert brother? They said: oh, from last time? He said: yes. They said: he passed away. But now that you mention him, Mawlana Sahib, we want to share something about him.

His story was that he was an elderly person who had accepted Islam, but he could not read the Qur'an in Arabic. He was perhaps in his sixties, and it was very hard for him to learn. But he did not give up. Every single day, he was still attached to the Qur'an. When he passed away, the community members told Mawlana Yunus: when he passed away and we buried him, for a very long time we smelled a beautiful fragrance coming from the soil of his grave — here in California. And we knew: إِنَّ لَهُ شَأْنًا — he definitely has a status with Allah. This is not normal.

So we went to his house, to his widow, and asked: can you please tell us about your late husband? There must be something he was doing because of which Allah gave him this status. What did he do? She said: my husband — a simple man — after Salatul Fajr he would come home, pick up the Mus'haf, and although he could not read Arabic, he would put his finger on the page and move it from one side to the other, saying: O Allah, I believe in this. O Allah, I believe in this. O Allah, I believe in this. Page after page, for ten or twenty minutes, however long — he would sit there and "read" in his own manner, simply saying: O Allah, I'm too old to learn the Arabic language. I wish I could. But I will tell you what I can say — I believe in every single word of this.

Allahu Akbar. SubhanAllah — how much hope there is with Allah. No matter how old we are, no matter how far behind we may feel, if you are sincere in your relationship with Allah, Allah will give you a status that even the most well-known people will envy on the Day of Judgment. So it starts with going and showing your humility to Allah: I am jahil, O Allah. I have every degree outside, but in front of the Qur'an I know nothing. I'm just going to sit there and pick up these books and kiss them.

I tell you — when I was studying at Darul Uloom Zakariyya, there was once a Tunisian businessman who happened to be walking through the madrasa. I was on a lunch break. I saw them and said: where did you come from? He said they were there for a date fair in Johannesburg. They were just flabbergasted by the environment of the Darul Uloom — a twenty-five-acre campus filled with students. They were overwhelmed, and being obviously very wealthy people, they asked: can we donate? How can we help?

So I took them for a tour. And then — I still remember this scene — the students had just finished eating lunch. They were coming out of the dining hall, their hands still a little messy from the food. And this big businessman, wearing an expensive suit, went to stand there and greet them. I tried to say: please, just say salam, don't shake hands, these kids just ate. And I remember seeing — man — the humility in this person. He was saying: I am nobody. If I can just get the leftover salam from this hifz student's hands — that's barakah for me. Because that's the closest I'm going to get to the Qur'an right now.

It was such a powerful image from eighteen or twenty years ago, but I still remember it. SubhanAllah — there are people outside of formal Islamic study, and I promise you: the dedication, the love you have for the people of the Qur'an, for the books of Allah, for the scholars — that may end up getting you way ahead of the students themselves. That may get you way ahead of the ulama themselves. It comes down to respect and love from the heart. So we need to, insha'Allah, ask Allah to grant us this same connection with the Qur'an that our Salaf had.

Tafsir of Surah Al-Kahf — Ayahs 1–4

Recommended Resource: Faith vs. Materialism

One of the tafsirs I will be reading through — and I encourage all of you to benefit from — is a book written by Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali al-Nadawi rahimahullah. One of the ground-breaking books, and something I want all of you to benefit from. It has been translated into English as well. It is called Faith vs. Materialism. In Urdu it is called Qur'ani Ifadat. I have the PDF in Urdu, in English, and in Arabic. It's an eighty-page book that you can find online — Faith vs. Materialism by Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali al-Nadawi. It's a very dense read — eighty pages, but it has what eight thousand pages may not have. He will tell you why Surah Al-Kahf is the most important surah for all of us right now to be focusing on. He wrote this book probably about forty years ago. But in 2021, post-COVID, this book is even more relevant. And its relevancy will continue to increase insha'Allah.

The Four Stories and Four Fitnas of Surah Al-Kahf

This surah is divided into four stories. First, the story of the People of the Cave. Number two, the story of the People of the Two Gardens. Number three, the story of Musa and Khadr. And lastly, the story of Dhul-Qarnayn. These four stories combined together give you the khulasah and the gist of this surah. And each of these stories represents a different fitna:

1. The Fitna of Power and Kingship — the fitna of rulers, the ruling class, and government. This is in the story of the People of the Cave.

2. The Fitna of Wealth — exemplified in the story of the People of the Two Gardens.

3. The Fitna of Knowledge — having the wrong knowledge and missing out on the right knowledge. This is the story of Musa and Khadr.

4. The Fitna of Means and Resources — when a person gets so engrossed with means that he stops thinking he needs Allah. When you can get whatever you want delivered in the next five hours, you start to feel: I don't need God in my life. This is the fitna of asbab. That is in the story of Dhul-Qarnayn.

Ayah 1: Alhamdulillah — All Praise Belongs to Allah

All praise belongs to Allah. We are all benefiting — believers and disbelievers alike. But the disbeliever attributes success to himself, or to his educational system, or to the country he lives in. We attribute our success only and solely to Allah. Although Allah may have made our education a means, Allah may have made our parents a means, Allah may have made the country we live in a means — but the actual one worthy of all praise is none other than Allah.

That's why Allah says الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. Allah doesn't say: "Praise Allah." Allah doesn't say: "I am asking you to praise me." He didn't say احْمَدُوا, or حَمِدُوا, or تَحْمَدُونَ. He says الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ. This is what we call a jumla khabariyya, not a jumla insha'iyya. It is a nominal sentence that informs us: whether you like it or not, whether you accept it or not, whether you believe it or not — all praise belongs to Allah. The reality is that whenever you praise anyone, the actual one receiving that praise is Allah, because all praise only belongs to Him.

Five surahs have begun with the word Alhamdulillah. SubhanAllah:

1. Surah Al-Fatiha — you are thanking Allah for being your Rabb, your caretaker, nourisher, and provider.
2. Surah Al-An'am — you thank Allah who created the heavens and the earth.
3. Surah Al-Kahf — right in the middle — you praise Allah for revealing the Qur'an.
4. Surah Saba — all praise belongs to Allah to whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth.
5. Surah Fatir — all praise belongs to Allah, فَاطِرِ السَّمَاوَاتِ, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

I read that one of the ulama said something so beautiful: that Allah has made the creation of the heavens and the earth, the creation of day and night — these are reasons for praise. But the revelation of the Qur'an is equally — or even more so — a reason for praise. Meaning the revelation of the Qur'an is a greater blessing than the creation of the heavens and the earth.

Let's look at Surah Al-Rahman:

The Most Merciful — what did He do? He taught the Qur'an. Then He mentions: He created the human being. Meaning the creation of a human being is a secondary blessing, and the first blessing is the fact that you are a Muslim and you have received the Qur'an. The ulama say: if you were created and you were not given the Qur'an, or you didn't follow the Qur'an, then wallahi — your not being created would be an infinite number of times better than being created without the Qur'an in your life. The fact that we have the Qur'an in our life, and we're reciting it tonight and every day, is a blessing that far supersedes the creation of the heavens and the earth.

So Allah created a manual before He created the machine, if you want to understand it like that. The ulama say: the bigger the machine, the greater the benefit — and the greater the harm if it's used inappropriately. A fork used inappropriately can cause limited harm. A knife — the benefit is great, but the harm if used improperly is greater. A bulldozer — the benefit is unbelievable, but the harm if misused is unmatched. There is no bigger machine than the human being. If a human being comes right, the benefit he will give to the entire creation — including the fish in the sea, the angels, the plants, the earth — will be unmatched. And on the flip side, if the human being does not have the Qur'an in his life — wallahi al-'azim — the harm he brings upon this earth is unparalleled. No dinosaur, no whale, no jinn can bring that level of havoc the way a human being can. And that is what we see today.

Look at the pollution. Look at where global warming is going. Look at how many species are going extinct. Look at the pollution in the seas — deforestation, plastic in the ocean. What a horrible way we are dealing with the earth. Who did this? We as a human race. When the human race does not have deen, when the human race does not have connection to the Qur'an — then this bulldozer of a being operates without guidance.

Ayah 1 Continued: "And He placed no crookedness therein"

You know, when you have an introduction to a book, it says: if any mistakes are made, kindly overlook them and contact the publisher so we can correct it in the next edition. Either we mean it, or we're just saying it so people will buy our book. The Qur'an has no such disclaimer. There is nothing wrong in here. There is no phone number to call to report a mistake. There is no punctuation mistake, no grammatical mistake, no contradiction — there is none, my friend. There's something wrong with your brain if you think you found one. The Qur'an is unapologetically telling us: وَلَمْ يَجْعَل لَّهُ عِوَجًا — there is no crookedness in it. Only a true King can say this.

Look at the challenge of Allah:

Say: if all humans and jinn gathered together and became one great army working together to bring something similar to this Qur'an, I guarantee they will never be able to do so. This challenge has stood for 1,500 years and beyond. Bring it on — and no one can. So today, for a person who feels that going to college and taking a philosophy of religions class has enlightened him to the point where he can challenge the Qur'an — Allah forbid — that is not enlightenment. That is simply shaitaniyyah. It's like a person who says: I have a way to see the sun at night. Go see a psychiatrist.

Ayah 2: Qayyiman — The Qur'an Is Upright

It is upright. The purpose of the Qur'an is twofold: first, to warn the disbelievers — to forewarn those who need to be warned of a mighty punishment from Allah Himself. And second, to give glad tidings of everlasting delight in paradise to the believers who do righteous deeds. For them there is an excellent reward awaiting — Allah is calling it excellent, so you may imagine how excellent it will be.

Sometimes something appears straight but on closer inspection you realize it's not. That's why you need a measuring device to check whether tiles are laid flat or beams are straight. That's why the Qur'an adds emphasis here — it's not just that Allah placed no crookedness in it, but it's قَيِّمًا — it is upright. This is an added layer of emphasis: there is absolutely no crookedness whatsoever.

One of the ulama mentioned something beautiful. He said: we know that a straight line is the quickest way to get from point A to point B. Similarly, the quickest way to get from here to Jannah is the Qur'an. Because the Qur'an is the صِرَاطُ الْمُسْتَقِيم — the straight path.

Another way to understand this: we live in a world where we are all interdependent. The doctor depends on the engineer, the engineer depends on the lawyer, the lawyer depends on the landscaper, and so forth. It's like traffic on a street — all sorts of cars going back and forth, right and left, in all directions. If you do not have traffic signals and traffic rules, you will have accidents upon accidents. So we live in a world of competing needs and competing desires. If we do not have the Qur'an — which is the traffic law — then most definitely we're going to have a huge clash. Why is the husband and wife fighting today? Why is the mother fighting with her son, the son with his dad, the business partner with his partner? Simple reason: the Qur'an is not in their lives. If the Qur'an is in the life, these interactions become much more beautiful and enjoyable. We're not meant to be living as an uphill battle, fighting everyone. We will learn how to handle life through the barakah of the Qur'an.

Ayah 3: Makathinina Feehi Abadan — They Shall Remain Forever

The benefits of this dunya — no matter how amazing a vacation any of us may take — will last for one week, and that's it. But the reward of the hereafter is not like that. It's there forever. You did a temporary good deed and you get your wage — but only as long as you work. After you stop, why would you keep receiving it? The hereafter is not like that. It's there forever.

Someone may say: won't people in paradise get tired or bored? But Allah clearly mentions in the Qur'an:

The people of Jannah will never be asked to leave. And they will always be getting new things — never bored — with continuous تَنَوُّع, continuous change and variety, so that they continuously enjoy their stay in paradise. We ask Allah to allow us all to become worthy of His mercy, whereby we would be allowed to enter into Jannah.

Ayah 4: Warning Those Who Attribute a Son to Allah

Moreover, Allah forewarns those who say Allah has taken for Himself offspring. So basically, assigning a son to Allah is a bigger sin than the normal sin — that is why it is mentioned separately. The Qur'an forewarns those who say Allah has taken for Himself offspring. And where will the chastisement come? It may not come in this world, but it will definitely come in the hereafter — and it will come from Allah Himself.

Closing Remarks and Announcements

So our take-home lesson for all of us, insha'Allah, is to start memorizing. Don't say: oh, we only did four ayahs. Because sometimes — especially when we get to the story of the cave — we're going to have long ayahs and I might cover a page or two. So we should pace ourselves. I would say about three or four lines a day. I would like one person to help us — someone who will become the coordinator for the memorization of Surah Al-Kahf — so we can come up with a weekly target and a systematic way of tracking progress. Insha'Allah, Omar has volunteered — JazakAllahu khairan. We'll come up with some intuitive way to track where we all are and keep each other motivated.

If you are listening online, kindly please register so we have your phone number and email, so that I can send resources to you — links of talks, PDFs of books, and anything else I've come across. And if any of you have something you want to add, please share with me and I'll share with the class.

One of the tafsirs I'll be drawing from throughout this series is Faith vs. Materialism by Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali al-Nadawi rahimahullah — also known as Qur'ani Ifadat in Urdu. It's an eighty-page book available as a PDF in Urdu, English, and Arabic. Please make a point of reading it alongside this tafsir series.

Additionally, I'm very excited to announce that alhamdulillah we're going to be starting a new program — a Friday night program at Darussalam with our teachers. So many of you have been asking to benefit from the asatidh of Darussalam. We have an amazing group of talented ulama that most of us who are not seminary students are unaware of. By rotation, insha'Allah, scholars of our seminary will be covering various topics and books on Friday nights. We'll be starting — not this Friday, but the following Friday, insha'Allah, the 22nd of October — with Mufti ibn Hajj, who will be beginning a once-a-month dars on Sahih al-Bukhari. This will be an amazing opportunity for non-seminary students to benefit from the most authentic book after the Book of Allah. We have the Book of Allah on Tuesday nights, and we'll have the most authentic book after that on Friday nights.

Additionally, November 11th and 12th will be our annual Seerah Conference, insha'Allah.

Closing Du'a

Oh Allah, we ask You to grant acceptance and qubuliyyah to all of those who made effort to invite people today for this program, for tonight's tafsir. Oh Allah, many students made great effort to personally invite people and personally make du'a for the success of this. Oh Allah, we ask You to grant all of those who had any share in organizing tonight's program — those who made the PowerPoint slides, those who made the chai, those who made anything and everything, ya Allah — grant them the full ajr of this tafsir. And oh Allah, grant all of us qubuliyyah and ikhlas. Grant the speaker ikhlas, grant the listeners ikhlas.

Oh Allah, we ask You to make this a sadaqah jariyyah for our parents and our teachers, ya Allah. Oh Allah, whatever permissible desires and needs any one of us has — fulfill our permissible desires and needs. Whatever issues any one of us is going through — allow us to find shifa for our physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional problems, and allow us to find solutions through the barakah of the Qur'an.

Oh Allah, allow all of us who are sitting here listening — allow us to become steadfast in this dars. Oh Allah, remove all obstacles from our steadfastness. Grant us conviction and yaqeen in the Qur'an. Grant us conviction and yaqeen in the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ. Oh Allah, those who made niyyah to memorize — make it easy. Make it easy.

Indeed, You have said: the Qur'an has been made easy for taking heed from. Allow it to be easy for all of us — not only to take heed from Surah Al-Kahf but to memorize it. And oh Allah, those who have memorized it — allow us all to become reciters of it daily, ya Allah. Indeed, the one for whom You make it easy — it becomes easy. Oh Allah, make it easy for all of us to become reciters of Surah Al-Kahf, and make us lifelong students of Surah Al-Kahf, ya Allah.

Oh Allah, we ask You to protect our youngsters and our adults from falling into the trials and fitna of today. Oh Allah, save the young minds and the innocent minds from falling prey to all the various new isms out there, ya Allah. Allow all of the youngsters and the adults to be able to differentiate between right and wrong. Grant us the nur of iman to be able to see in these days of darkness, ya Allah.

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

Wassalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.