Surah Al-Kahf | Part 15 Ayahs 78-82 | Mufti Azeemuddin | Weekly Tafsir

Surah Al-Kahf | Part 15 | Ayahs 78–82 | The Story of Musa and Khidr — Conclusion

Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem.

Ya Rabb al-'alamin. Respected listeners, dear brothers and sisters, dear students, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. We thank Almighty Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful, who has allowed us to come here despite our weakness — despite our spiritual weaknesses and physical weaknesses — and has granted all of us the ability to gather here tonight in the tafsir of Surah al-Kahf, in the last session of the story of Musa and Khidr.

We ask Allah the way He brought us here, out of His kindness and grace upon all of us, that He grant all of us the ability to practice on whatever is being shared, has been shared, and will be shared — and allows the speaker and the listeners to put into practice whatever good is being shared. And we ask Allah to use every one of us and our loved ones for the spreading of the deen, for the spreading of the gems of the Qur'an amongst others as well.

We renew our niyyah that we're here to benefit ourselves primarily. Number one, each one of us should say — reminding himself or herself — that he or she is most in need of the hidayah, the guidance of the Qur'an. And insha'Allah, when we make that niyyah, we add to that: ya Allah, allow me to find the solutions to all my problems in the Qur'an. Allow me to find the answers to my questions in the Qur'an. And specifically in this dars that I'm attending, whatever situation I am in at the moment, ya Allah, through Your grace and fadl, allow me to see and hear that which I'm most in need of. Ameen ya Rabb al-'alamin.

Recitation of Surah Al-Kahf — First Ten and Last Ten Verses

We have about maybe three or maximum four durus left for Surah al-Kahf. We've been encouraging everyone to make an effort to memorize Surah al-Kahf — alhamdulillah, some of us are, insha'Allah. And we've also encouraged everyone to make a habit of reciting Surah al-Kahf, if not the entire surah daily, then at least the first ten and the last ten verses of it daily, and then the entire surah at least on Friday.

As we said, this is one of the greatest gifts that Allah has given us to protect us from the fitna of Dajjal. And it's not just about the actual Dajjal — it's about the fitna that comes prior to that, in preparation for Dajjal. All the confusion that is coming right now. Insha'Allah, by reciting this with conviction every week, Allah will give us the strength and the nur of iman to be able to distinguish right from wrong.

Alhamdulillah — that took us about 4 minutes to recite at a slow pace, so insha'Allah it shouldn't take more than that every single day. If we recite it, we will see the great benefits immediately in our lives. I ask Allah tawfiq for myself and all of us here and our loved ones to be able to be amongst those who recite this daily. Ameen ya Rabb al-'alamin.

The Parting of Musa and Khidr — Ayah 78

Last week we ended on the separation. That is what we said — that now it's time to break our majlis and meet next week. The ayah هَٰذَا فِرَاقُ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنِكَ — this is where Khidr told Musa that it's time for us to part ways, because it seems like he couldn't follow the conditions that had been placed at the beginning. So he said, let's part ways.

"However, I'm not going to let you go just like that. I will share with you the interpretations and the explanations of why I did what I did."

This is an important point right here — we may not always get along with one another, and that doesn't mean that one party has to be bad. You could both be great. Be it two spouses, husband and wife; be it two business partners; be it a student and a teacher — but there is something called just not being the right fit for one another. And not being the right fit does not mean, and does not necessitate, that one of them has to be evil.

Sometimes people don't understand this point. When you have a husband and wife coming together for arbitration, for counseling, and you start off by trying to say, "Mashallah, there are great qualities in you and great qualities in the other person," immediately one will stand up and say, "No, no — you're getting this all wrong. There's nothing good in the other person." The fact that you even highlight the goodness in their partner — sometimes the anger doesn't allow us to recognize that. The person thinks that simply highlighting the goodness in their partner means you're not understanding them, you haven't heard them.

Those complaints are valid in their own place, but we have to also acknowledge that there's goodness in everyone. Just because it's not a match — you have a certain type of plug that doesn't fit into the outlet wall — that's fine. That doesn't mean there's something wrong with the outlet. It doesn't mean there's something wrong with the plug. They just aren't fit for one another. You've got to find another plug or find an adapter.

What we learn from here is that if we have to part ways, there is something called parting in a nice manner — just acknowledging that things haven't worked out. This is what our deen teaches us, including the very painful separation between spouses. Allah Azzawajal says:

تَسْرِيحٌ بِإِحْسَانٍ — if you choose to part ways, then do it in a nice manner. Part ways hoping the best for one another. Allah Azzawajal also says:

If both parties — be it husband and wife or anyone else — genuinely want goodness for one another, want rectification, want khayr, want things to work out, then يُوَفِّقِ اللَّهُ بَيْنَهُمَا — Allah will bring tawfiq and will bring them together.

Tawfiq is an interesting word. Tawfiq and muwafaqah — it means to get along, and it also means Allah inspiring you to be able to achieve things. When Allah wants to facilitate something good for any one of us, He will put the pavers in front of us. You have to cross over a big area of dirt, sand, or snow — how are you supposed to get there? Tawfiq is that Allah Azzawajal will put pavers for you — small stepping stones, one after another. Every time you take a step — now what? — just relax, the next one is coming. And before you know it, you're on the other end. But many times these steps are not laid out for you from the beginning; they come about only after you take the first step. So you have to have reliance upon Allah.

That's why one of the ulama used to say regarding our rizq: الْأَيْدِي تَعْمَلُ وَتَكْسِبُ وَالْقَلْبُ يَرْتَاحُ — the hands are working and earning while the heart is content and relaxed. That is the balance between tawakkul and working for your rizq. You are working hard, but not for a single moment does it enter your heart that you are in big trouble. Allah took responsibility of me when I was in the womb of my mother — through layers upon layers of darkness Allah provided. That same Allah who provided then, and who will provide in the akhira, is going to provide for me now too. That doesn't mean I sit back and relax, but it means the heart should be at peace.

And going back to what I just mentioned — in order for us to have healthy relationships, we must be able to see the good in others, no matter how difficult times may come. As soon as we start seeing only evil in another person, you should know you are now drunk with hatred. Until that wears off, you will not get anywhere. It is an intoxication of hatred, an intoxication of misunderstanding. It is not possible — not possible — that your spouse or your business partner has no good in them. If it was like that, Allah would never give them لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللهِ. And they have much more than that — they pray, they recite Qur'an, they do dhikr, they fast. How can we say they are only filled with evil? Absolutely not. Even the worst tyrants out there, if they have لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ in their heart, there's got to be some good in them.

At the same time, there are times when we have to accept the reality that it might not work. The Prophet said:

Souls are like a vast army gathered together. Some of them got along in the realm of souls and some of them did not. The ones who got along in the realm of souls before we came here — they are the same ones who look at each other and say, "It's like love at first sight — it's like I've known you for 20 years!" And then there are others who were perhaps a little in the corner in the realm of souls, who don't necessarily feel a connection with anyone here. That's okay. If you don't feel a connection with someone, that doesn't mean you need to hate them or dislike them. Say salam to everyone, smile at everyone, be kind with everyone. Strong relationships — yes — can be with a few.

Umar ibn al-Khattab — what advice was he giving long ago? He said:

Hold on to a righteous, pious friend — and rarely will you ever find one like him. He was saying this 1,400 years ago, that it is very hard to find a righteous person who is also willing to be your friend, whose path crosses yours and you become friends. If you find someone who is righteous and pious, don't let him go.

Many times I remind you and I that we are sitting here tonight because of our friends — 30, 40, 50 years ago that friend came into our life, or today we're here because of a friend. So finding good company is the most important thing. Once you find that person, don't let him go.

Subhanallah — this is what Khidr was demonstrating. Just because they are going to part ways doesn't mean they're parting on a bad note. He says: I'm going to explain to you everything. What I want you to understand is that Allah did not mislead you by sending you to me. Allah has a plan. Subhanallah — when Allah brings you to the masjid, when Allah brings you to the Haramayn, when Allah takes you to the madrasa, to a khanqah or zawiyah, to a place of a shaykh — a person should never think, "What a waste of time." You don't realize it: it might just be one smallest thing. Not the talk, not the salah — you never know. One small instance, one small meeting, one thing your eyes fall upon — life changes. We have to have hope in this.

I came across a beautiful statement today. Mawlana Ilyas rahimahullah was writing a response to someone who had shared some issues with him. He said — and I'll translate to the best of my ability — that when you look at the statements of the awliya and the elders, there are unique aspects of Allah's qudra hidden inside them. There is unique aspects of Allah's power, His immense overwhelming power, hidden inside those statements. You don't know what type of medicine is hidden inside those statements. Do not deny the benefit of these statements. Do not deny the effectiveness of this medication. Instead, simply make niyyah that you are going to follow that piece of advice, and respect the statement.

So when your elder, your mother, father, grandfather, or shaykh says something that doesn't make sense to you — instead, have this hope and this yaqeen that if this person is a true wali and salih, there's got to be some wisdom in it which I don't understand now. Simply make niyyah that you're going to follow through. Those of us who have done this before know exactly what I'm speaking about — that sometimes our mothers and fathers will tell us things we really don't understand the benefit of, but over time we realize: subhanallah, there was so much hikmah and wisdom in that.

So Musa عليه السلام — Allah is telling Khidr to tell him everything. He shouldn't think this was a waste. This was the learning experience he needed. What did he learn from here? He learned that he doesn't know everything. That's all. If a person was arrogant and attended a dars of a shaykh where everything went above his head, he actually gained something huge today — he realized he doesn't know everything. He realized he should respect scholars of Islam. Just because he has an XYZ degree in some field does not mean he has a right to give a fatwa on every single Islamic matter. Walking away with our ego broken, walking away humbled — what is greater than that?

You cannot enter the classroom with an ego. The ego must be broken. It's like shoes — you don't come into the classroom with boots full of snow. You have to take them off before you come in. The ego is something you must leave outside the classroom if you want to gain anything from the teacher. Arrogance must be left outside before you enter. So if it sometimes happens that a dars goes over your head, understand: this is my ego breaker. And insha'Allah I'll benefit from something else — but this is a huge achievement right now.

Explanation of the Three Incidents — Ayahs 79–82

Then Khidr says: let me explain the reality of what I did.

Notice here in the first instance: تَسْتَطِعَ عَلَيْهِ صَبْرًا — the word istataa'a means capable. There is a تَ and a طَ. When the same phrase appears at the end — تَسْطِعَ — it has one letter less. The wisdom of that I will share shortly.

The First Incident: The Ship

"As for the ship, it belonged to indigent people working at sea. Thus I intended only to slightly impair it, for I knew that behind them was a disbelieving king seizing every seaworthy ship by force."

The ulama speak about the difference between a faqir and a miskin. A faqir is someone who has absolutely nothing — مَنْ لَا يَمْلِكُ شَيْئًا. A miskin is someone who has something but it is not sufficient for him. Because they are called masakin, yet they own a ship — so that means you can be a miskin while owning something.

Then he says these masakin were working at sea, and waraa' — in front of them — was this king. The word waraa' is interesting. For the students of the Qur'an, waraa' comes in many meanings. It comes in the meaning of "behind" — فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ, "they threw it behind their backs." It comes in the meaning of "front." It comes in the meaning of "afterwards." And it comes in the meaning of ghayr — something beyond or different — as in وَأُحِلَّ لَكُم مَّا وَرَاءَ ذَٰلِكُمْ, "everything beyond that has been made lawful for you." In this case, waraa' means in front — the king is in front, seizing any good ship.

So I decided to make a small dent in it — remove one plank. These people are sailors, they know how to fix it themselves. It is better to have a damaged ship than no ship at all. So tell me — is this good or bad? O Musa, think about it. You are upset that I am causing damage to the property of people who showed ihsan to me. But in reality, who is doing the real ihsan here?

That's what sometimes children don't understand with their parents. The parents may be harsh in something, and the person says, "Where is the ihsan? Where is the kindness?" But doesn't realize this is actually kindness — like the kindness of a physician who gives an injection or performs a surgery which is painful, but he is doing ihsan toward you by addressing the issue. Not every ihsan comes in the form of sweet candies. Ihsan comes sometimes in the form of painful things. We have to understand this.

So here Musa is being taught — and all of us are being taught through him — do not jump to conclusions. Sometimes even apparent harm is actually of great benefit.

Now let me just share a few words of Arabic for depth. There are a few words in Arabic for taking someone's wealth unlawfully:

Sariqah — أَخْذُ الْمَالِ مِنْ حِرْزِهِ خُفْيَةً — to take someone else's wealth from a protected place secretly, without them being aware.

Ghasb — أَخْذُ مَالِ الْغَيْرِ بِالْقُوَّةِ وَتَحْتَ سَمْعِهِ وَبَصَرِهِ — to take something forcefully from someone else while he is present, watching, and fully aware. Broad daylight robbery. This is what the king was doing — غَصْبًا.

Khatf — أَخْذُ مَالِ الْغَيْرِ عَلَانِيَةً وَلَكِنْ بِحِيلَةٍ — to take someone's wealth openly, in public, but in a very sly and quick manner — like a pickpocket.

Ikhtilas — أَخْذُ مَالِ الْغَيْرِ وَأَنْتَ مُؤْتَمَنٌ عَلَيْهِ — to take someone's wealth while that person actually entrusted you with it. He gave you the keys and said "keep this with you" — and you ended up stealing from the safe. This is the depth of the Arabic language, and you understand why Allah chose Arabic to be the language of the Qur'an.

The Second Incident: The Boy — Ayah 80

"And as for the child — his parents were true believers. We feared that he would oppress them with transgression and disbelief. Thus we desired that their Lord should grant them instead another son far better than him in the purity of his heart and closer to them in loving mercy."

Here we have a ghulam — a child who has not yet reached the age of maturity, meaning nothing is fard upon him. He is innocent. As long as he is innocent, he hasn't committed any sins because his book of deeds is still closed. If he dies, he is going to go to Jannah.

In essence, Allah's knowledge was that this child was going to become a disbeliever. So Allah decided to take his life early — out of love for that child — because it would be better for this child to die young and go to paradise than to grow up, and due to the influences around him, end up becoming a disbeliever.

This reminds us of the hadith of the Prophet:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1358; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2658)

"Every child is born with the innate nature of Islam. It is his parents who make him into a Jew, or make him into a Christian, or make him into a fire worshiper." Otherwise, every child is born with the fitrah of Islam.

As for the parents — they were good, pious Muslims. But this child was going to become a great fitnah, a test for them. And because he was going to become a disbeliever, and these parents loved this child — out of that love they may have ended up losing their own deen, losing their own religion, because of trying to appease this child, trying to take care of his needs. He might have actually forced them to leave Islam.

This reminds us of the verse of the Qur'an:

"O Believers! Indeed, some of your spouses and your children are your enemies — so beware of them." The verse is very clear — Ayah 14 of Surah Taghabun — that sometimes the greatest test comes from those closest to us. It could be in the form of a husband, a wife, or a child.

What most of us don't realize — as long as you realize that your child is a disbeliever or disconnected from Islam, or your spouse doesn't care about Allah, you understand the situation. Now, does it mean you don't fulfill the rights of that child or that spouse? No. It simply means: in the process of fulfilling the needs and desires of my spouse or my children, I need to ensure I don't lose my relationship with Allah. Otherwise, he is drowning and is taking me with him. It's like a person who cannot swim going into a tide trying to save someone else who is drowning — it's not going to work. He's going to take you down. He doesn't even realize he's taking you down.

If we have a spouse or a child not in the deen — as long as we understand this is an imtihan from Allah, and I need to fulfill the rights but not ruin my hereafter out of love for them — this is the issue. Very serious. How many of us, subhanallah, are ruining our akhira due to someone else?

Rasulullah said — and from the gist of the hadith — that the greatest fool is the one who ruins his akhira because of someone else's dunya. You ruin your akhira to please someone else's dunya. All of us are going to go into our own graves separately and be raised up separately. Why should we ruin our chances of paradise to please our spouse?

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 1095; authenticated by al-Albani)

There is no obedience to the creation if it entails disobedience to the Creator. We cannot disobey Allah just to obey people.

Muawiyah ibn Abi Sufyan wrote a letter to Aisha — may Allah be pleased with her — saying: O Aisha, please give me some advice, and keep it short and sweet. So she told him — and the gist of what she said is: whoever searches for Allah's pleasure, even if it entails people becoming angry, will get both — he will get Allah's happiness and he will get the people's happiness. And whoever seeks out the people's happiness even though it entails Allah's anger will lose both. It makes no sense to please people while displeasing Allah, because you will lose the people eventually — 100%. They will always turn against you, 100%. If they don't turn against you in this world, 100% they will turn against you in the akhira.

That's what the Qur'an says:

A man will run away from his brother, from his mother and his father, from his wife and his children. Every person will be overwhelmed with their own affairs.

Allah says friends — khalil means a really close friend — will be enemies to one another on the Day of Judgment. Each friend will hate the other. "You're the one who took me to the hookah lounge. You're the one who got me onto this drug. You introduced this haram to me." Because we did it as friends. As soon as they get to the Day of Judgment, they'll realize they got into this pit because of their friend — and that is when they will hate each other so much. إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ — except for those who had taqwa. Their friendships were based on good reasons and they will enjoy their friendship in the Hereafter as well. Those who reminded each other to do good — alhamdulillah — they'll enjoy this friendship in the akhira too. But all other friendships will fall apart.

So this child was going to become a fitnah. This is why we must ask Allah at all times:

"O Allah, allow me to enjoy the coolness of my eyes — the happiness of my heart and peace — through my spouse and my children." Because children themselves are not automatically a blessing. They could be a massive, massive test.

Someone I met recently said it beautifully in Arabic. He said: we are enjoying life like we never had before. We came from places where we had nothing and Allah gave us so much. Almost all of us who are immigrants can share the same experience — from where our parents were born to where we are now, it's an amazing change. But always, when you go and enjoy things, the bill comes. You go fill up your car — you have to pay the bill. So he said: we are going to pay the tax and the bill in the form of our children. That really sums it all up. We will lose our kids — this is the price we have unfortunately signed up for, for most people.

Why are you living in this neighborhood? Why do you have this type of job? Why are you working so much? And he will say: for the love of my kids. I remember being in India with a very wealthy but very righteous, pious, and down-to-earth person. He was so humble — he came and sat with us during our time in the path of Allah Azzawajal. He was telling me, matter of factly: "I have so many trucks carrying goods — I literally have no idea of the count. Sometimes I get a call from one of my areas that we lost two trucks. By the next day, alhamdulillah, they were found." He was just noting how much barakah Allah had given him. A simple, simple person — didn't even have a smartphone, just a basic phone.

Then he told me he wanted me to come and make dua at his new house that was being built. When we walked by I could see it in the distance from the masjid — subhanallah, it was not a house, it was a castle. Acres upon acres, huge. He said: we would love for you to come and recite Qur'an and make dua. I said: you're about 65–70 years old. Who are you building this for? He said: for my kids.

Now, his kids came and spent time with us too — and they were very different from the dad. Very different. They grew up in that type of wealth. And I told him — and I'm just a young man compared to this elderly businessman — "SubhanAllah, I just don't understand what you are doing. You don't realize that this ni'mah that you have is in the simplicity that you have. And you are going to lose everything once you move into that place. Your grandkids are going to go there. You are literally oppressing your grandkids. Your kids are not even going to remain the same once you move into that place — because it's way too much. Their whole lifestyle will change. The people they're going to come hang out with — at 11pm in a masjid, I don't think so."

Why are all these types of decisions made by parents, in what you call upgrading and living this lifestyle? Most people I know are very simple and they do it all because of their kids. But what they don't realize is this is the most counterproductive thing you are doing. When we make decisions that move us away from the masjid — we get into a place surrounded by non-Muslims with no good Muslim neighborhood, the local masjid is 15 minutes away — seriously, are we raising children who are going to sit in a car and drive 15 minutes through the snow to get to the masjid? How many of us have children like that? How many of us are raising daughters and sons who are going to drive 15–20 minutes through the snow because we wanted to find a bigger place that isn't near the masjid?

Simple things like this — people make decisions mostly because of their kids, not because of themselves. They grew up six brothers and sisters sleeping in one little bedroom, 12 people sharing one bathroom. It's because of the love of the children that they do this. And this is where bad decisions are made. What type of college are we going to send them to? Why that place that has no strong Muslim community? Why so far away from home where we can't keep regular tabs on them? All those mistakes that parents have made in this country in the past 3–4 decades — they are paying the price for it now. And more mistakes we continue to make; and if we don't wake up, the price is going to be greater.

A simple guy throws a $200,000–$300,000 wedding. "How did you do this?" "Oh, because of my daughter. I love my daughter." There you go. And with that kind of money, obviously a lot of other haram things going on too. Out of the love for kids, my dear brothers and sisters. If we cannot make our children have Jannah — okay, which we should try — at least try yourself to have Jannah for yourself. Don't allow the love of your kids to make such foolish decisions that you ruin your akhira. Allah is watching where the money trail is coming from.

That's why Umar ibn Abdulaziz — when he was told to leave money behind for his kids while he was Khalifa — he said: "No." "Why not?" "Because this is not my money. This is the money of the Baitul Mal. The Baitul Mal didn't tell me I can have a pension fund and a children's college fund. This is the money of the Muslims. If I were earning by selling bread or something else with my own hands, I have no problem saving and investing and giving to them. But this money is coming from where? The Baitul Mal. I cannot give this to my children."

He said: "I give them something better than that. I taught them Surah al-Waqi'ah. I taught them how to take from Allah's treasures. I'm confident that after I die I've given them enough a'mal and good deeds and Surah al-Waqi'ah that they can fend for themselves. And if they choose not to, then I would rather not leave my money to them — because they will use it to commit haram, which I'll have to pay the price for."

Did you hear what he said? If they're not going to follow the deen, if they're not going to use the Qur'an and a'mal and dhikr and dua to get their needs fulfilled, and instead they fall into haram, then I want nothing to do with it. I don't want my money being used for haram that I then have to pay the price for in the grave and in Jahannam.

So as we leave money for our generations, we must also leave a manual. If we didn't leave the manual of how to use it in the right manner, you'd rather not leave the money. Imagine you leave a gun without training, without a license. What's going to happen? He goes out trying that thing and hurts himself. Leaving behind wealth, education, homes without the proper spiritual training of how to handle this double-edged sword is potentially the worst thing we could be doing — not only to them but to ourselves.

They say the largest transfer of wealth that has ever happened in history is going to happen now. But what about the transfer of ilm and tarbiyah and tazkiyah? Is there any transfer of that? Our teacher Mawlana Munasir ul-Muluk says: many times parents say, "I wish, my dear son, my dear daughter, I want to give you a childhood I didn't have. I want to give you those things we couldn't afford when I was a little kid." Then he says: how about you start giving them the things that you were blessed to have — which was starting off a day with Yasin, going for Salatul Fajr in the masjid, people waking up early, ending the day with everyone eating together, ending the day with du'as, beginning the day with reading the du'as as you leave the home, beginning and ending the day with halal income — although maybe little, but it was halal income.

Those are the things our parents gave us — adab, tarbiyah, dhikr, dua, a'mal. When are we going to start giving our generations the things that we did enjoy? Is this really the most elite generation? Have we reached the pinnacle of righteousness? Absolutely not. As we look around the world and read social media, we realize we have debased ourselves as humanity. We have lost our value, our akhlaq.

Look at the type of dialogue within this country — look at how people are speaking, over the mask, over COVID, over the vaccine. We have lost basic etiquette and akhlaq. I just read an article today talking about the Supreme Court justices — once considered mu'azzaz, mukarram, honorable people — and one of the chief justices mentioned that the only reason the Supreme Court's laws are enforceable is because people have respect for them. "Besides that, we cannot enforce anything. The fact that they respect us and our decisions is the main currency we have." And today there is open infighting in a manner that hasn't been seen before. This is just the type of world we're living in.

So — stop thinking that you have a better generation than your mom and dad's generation. Stop thinking things are way better because we have more luxury and comfort. Start thinking and thank Allah for what your parents gave you. And then try our best to replicate that.

Ahadith on Children Who Pass Away Early

When a person hears about the loss of a child, we feel — oh my god, that is the worst thing possible. That's what the atheists talk about all the time: "Where was God?" But you see, only Islam will give you something to look forward to.

Abu Hassan says: I mentioned to Abu Huraira — may Allah be pleased with him — "Two sons of mine have died. Can you please tell me a hadith from Rasulullah that will make us feel a little relieved?" So he said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2635)

The young children who die are called da'amis al-jannah — da'amis is the plural of da'moos, the one who gets his nose into everything. These little kids will get into everyone's home, everyone's palace, everyone's dinner in Jannah. No one is going to stop them. They will roam around paradise freely. They can go anywhere they want — sit with the Sahabah, sit with the Prophet, go all over the place. And then one of them will grab his father by his shirt — the way I am grabbing your shirt, Abu Huraira demonstrated — and he will not let go until Allah allows both him and his father to enter Jannah.

One of my classmates from Mozambique, Mawlana Taqdir — mashallah, great ulama doing great work there — just lost his three-year-old son in a swimming pool accident. إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ. I ask Allah Azzawajal to make this child an ajr and a dhukhr and a shafa'ah for his parents, and grant him and his wife sabr jameel. Ameen ya Rabb al-'alamin. And all those who've lost their children — this is something where only Islam gives you something to look forward to. For the atheist, after this incident, you've got nothing. Alhamdulillah, we have the promise of Allah.

According to some narrations, after the child who was killed, Allah then granted those parents a child who married and grew elderly — and through their generation, Allah blessed them with seven prophets. One child was gone and in lieu of that Allah brought seven prophets in their generation.

The Third Incident: The Wall — Ayah 82

"And as for the wall — it belonged to two orphan boys in the city. Beneath it was a treasure for them. Their father was a righteous man. Your Lord intended that they should reach full maturity and bring forth their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. And I did not do any of it of my own accord. That is the interpretation of those deeds for which you could not be patient."

It belonged to two orphan boys. And they were orphans. Beneath the wall was a treasure hidden for them. What was this treasure? Some have said it was probably money — silver and gold that their father had left behind before he died. Others have said this was actually ilm — knowledge — that was left behind. Specifically, it was a lawh — a plaque — left behind there. And on that plaque was written the following. Let me read it and then translate:

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

First: Amazing and shocking is the situation of a person who believes in qadar (destiny) — yet how could he despair? When you believe in destiny, why do you lose hope?

Second: Amazing is the person who believes that Allah is the sponsor of all his sustenance and rizq — still, why would he consume himself in striving for more than he needs? Why does he become depressed and worried about his finances while he knows Allah has taken responsibility for it? Like I just said — the heart is content and relaxed while the hands are working. You're pedaling on a stationary bike — you're not going to hit a rock. Yes, you're exercising, your heartbeat's gone up, you're sweating — but you know nothing is going to harm you. Similarly, you're making effort for rizq, but you know everything has already been carved out. Whatever's meant to reach us will reach us; whatever's not meant for us, we'll never get.

Third: Amazing is the person who believes in death — yet how could he remain arrogant and heedlessly happy all the time? There's nothing wrong with being happy — the issue is a happiness that creates heedlessness. That level of just excitement all the time — "sugar happy" — not concerned that you just missed your salah, your dhikr, didn't say salam, didn't give sadaqah. That type of happiness is the problem.

Fourth: Amazing is the person who believes in the reckoning of the hereafter — how could he still afford to be heedless?

Fifth: Amazing and shocking is the person who knows the world and how it continuously changes — one becomes a millionaire, one becomes a pauper overnight — yet he decides to sit relaxed and content, holding on to this dunya. It's like holding on to a block of ice thinking it's going to last 10 years. It's melting. By tomorrow morning it's gone. That is exactly how the dunya is.

And the last line: لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللهِ. There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. This is what some say was written on that tablet.

The Key Lesson: وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا — Their Father Was Righteous

Then Allah says: وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا — "their father was a righteous man." This is the key thing that the ulama write about extensively. Allah didn't have to say this, but every portion of an ayah in the Qur'an is there for a very strong reason. There weren't just any orphans — these were orphans whose father was pious. The piety of the parents is one of the greatest gifts to the children, even if we die early and leave them as little orphans. The piety of the parents will not go to waste. SubhanAllah.

What did أَشُدَّهُمَا mean here? It doesn't just mean reaching puberty at 14 or 15. Ashuddahuma means they become physically and mentally strong enough to defend themselves and their treasure. These were the type of people — the people around them would not give them water, not give them food, not let them stay — so if they tried to go and bring the wealth from beneath the ground, they would be attacked. So they needed to become physically and emotionally mature enough to defend their treasure chest.

What is so interesting is that Allah inspired Nabi Khidr to build the wall with such precision — based on the knowledge he had of exactly how many years it would take for these boys to become physically and emotionally mature — so that at that specific given time, this wall would start falling apart again and uncover the hidden treasure beneath it. This is the type of precision with which that wall was built. This is what some of the ulama have written in the tafasir.

The Eloquence and Adab of Khidr

Now, notice here the final phrase: ذَٰلِكَ تَأْوِيلُ مَا لَمْ تَسْطِعْ عَّلَيْهِ صَبْرًا. Before, it was تَسْتَطِعَ — with an extra تَ. Now it is تَسْطِعَ — one letter less. كَثْرَةُ الْمَبَانِي تَدُلُّ عَلَى كَثْرَةِ الْمَعَانِي — more letters means greater meaning. When Musa did not yet have the answers, it was really hard for him to swallow what he had seen — so one extra letter was added: تَسْتَطِعَ — "you have absolutely no capacity to handle this." Now, at the end, after Khidr has explained everything, Musa's level of patience has increased, his anxiety has decreased — hence the decrease of one letter: تَسْطِعَ. This is the eloquence you find throughout the Qur'an.

Now, what else do we learn here? The respect and adab of Khidr with Allah. When it comes to good things — for example, فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا — "Your Lord intended that they should reach full maturity." فَأَرَدْنَا أَن يُبْدِلَهُمَا رَبُّهُمَا — "Your Lord wanted to replace the son with a more obedient son." All the good is attributed to Allah. But when it comes to the ship: فَأَرَدتُّ أَنْ أَعِيبَهَا — "I intended to impair it." He attributed it to himself. He did not say "Your Lord wanted to make a hole in the ship." This is the adab with Allah Azzawajal — we do not attribute evil toward Allah, although everything happens with His will, because no evil is actually purely evil. Behind everything apparently evil there is some hidden wisdom.

We see this in the incident of Ibrahim عليه السلام. When he is asked, "Who is Allah?" — he says:

"When I fall ill, He cures me. He is the one who gives me death and then gives me life. And He is the one I hope will forgive me." When it comes to giving food and drink, life and death, forgiveness, healing — all attributed to Allah. But when it comes to falling ill — he says, "When I fall ill," not "When Allah makes me sick." That is the adab with Allah Azzawajal.

Another thing we learn is the tawadu and humility of Nabi Khidr. He says: وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِي — "I did not do any of these things out of my own authority." O Nabi Musa, you and I both report to the same Allah. Your knowledge and my knowledge come from the same Allah. I'm not greater than you in any way. Allah ordered me to do it and that is why I did it. This is the humility and humbleness of Nabi Khidr.

The Core Lesson: Belief in Qadar

What this beautiful story can be summed up in is the importance of believing in qada' wal-qadar. Whatever is meant to happen will happen. Behind every apparent evil there is a hidden wisdom of Allah that we simply do not understand. Remember — Nabi Musa could not understand the wisdom of what was going on. So do not expect yourself to understand the wisdom behind things going wrong in your life.

"Why me? Why? I want to get closer to Allah — why do I keep sleeping through my prayers? Why do I keep falling? Why can't I find a job? Why can't I find a spouse? Why can't I get my kids into this? Why is my child not being cured from this sickness?" On and on and on — we don't have the answers. We have to just have this trust that there must be some hidden benefit that Allah has. The Qur'an says:

"Allah showers upon you His blessings — apparent and hidden." The ulama mention that apparent blessings are what we all know — health, iman, wealth, family. And hidden blessings? Difficulties. Difficulties for a believer are what you call hidden blessings. The word in Arabic for blessing is minhah — a gift. Just switch the ن and the ح and it becomes mihnah — challenge and difficulty. They say: الْمِحْنَةُ مِنْحَةٌ خَفِيَّةٌ — a challenge and a difficulty is a hidden gift from Allah. That's all it is.

وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا — The Lasting Power of a Parent's Righteousness

I want to end with one final important note: وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا. Allah said there were orphans and they had wealth hidden under this wall and Khidr came and fixed it — that is a good enough story. But Allah added: their father was pious. The scholars write extensively on this — that the piety of the parents is one of the greatest gifts to the children, even if the parents die early and leave them as little orphans. The piety of the parents will not go to waste.

Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir — one of the great, pious awliya of the past — says to his son: "Wallahi ya bunayya, inni la-azidu fi salati ibtigha'a salahika" — "O my dear son, I swear by Allah, indeed I increase the length of my prayers, I increase the quality of my prayers, desiring that you become righteous." Meaning: if I make my prayers longer and more beautiful, if I recite Qur'an longer and more beautifully, if I do extensive dhikr and give sadaqah in larger amounts — what is the goal? That my children will become righteous and pious. The more pious I become, the more righteous they will become.

It's not just about earning the money that we give to our kids. It's about earning the hasanat and gifting that to your kids. "Today I did one thousand salawat, one thousand istighfar — and I did this out of love for my one daughter, my one son." As you want to gift them a gift card, as you want to give them a thousand-dollar gift, give them that and also gift them something from your a'mal.

I was telling my children about my own experience — that I remember my father would come back from a trip, and I was the youngest one, so I'd still be awake while the older ones were sleeping. I remember once asking him, "What did you bring?" And I remember him clearly saying: "I brought lots of dua for you." This is something we need to share with our children. "I'm praying two raka'at of salatul hajah for you. I'm fasting on a Monday or Thursday for you. I went to the masjid and donated X amount — for you." And here's your gift, here's also your dinner, whatever else. But on top of that, I gave sadaqah — a hundred dollars — for you.

Whenever we give sadaqah in the masjid or anywhere else, make niyyah on behalf of our spouses, on behalf of our children: "Ya Allah, through the barakah of this sadaqah, through the barakah of the dhikr, through the barakah of me sitting here for the past hour and a half in the masjid — allow my children to become righteous."

Abdullah ibn Mubarak — the ustad of Imam al-Bukhari and the student of Imam Abu Hanifah, the most agreed-upon scholar of hadith about whom there are no two opinions — his father was a slave working in a garden. One day the master told him to go get some pomegranates — nice, sweet ones. He went and brought a bunch. When the master cut them open and started eating, every single one was bitter. He got angry and said: "I told you to bring me sweet ones! Why did you bring me all bitter ones?" The father said: "Did you ever give me permission to taste? How would I even know which one is sweet and which is bitter?" The master couldn't believe it. He asked the other slaves and the neighbors — and they confirmed: this slave has worked in this garden for years and truly has never eaten a single fruit without explicit permission.

The master was shocked. He said: "I free you for the sake of Allah, and I have a daughter — I want to marry her to you." The master asked: "What are you looking for?" And the father said: "The Yahud look for wealth. The Nasara look more for beauty. And the believers look for taqwa." Then he said: "Well, guess what — there's no one I know at this moment who has more taqwa than you. So I definitely want my daughter to marry you." And he got married. Allah blessed him with Abdullah ibn Mubarak. The piety prior to marriage and in marriage is what led to this beautiful child being born.

And Abu al-Ma'ali al-Juwayni — he used to earn money by copying manuscripts. He would take that money and spend it on his wife and his young nursing child. He told his wife: "Make sure you do not allow anyone else to nurse this child." One day he came home and saw that one of the neighbors had taken his baby and nursed him a little. As soon as he saw this, he took that child and put his finger in his mouth and kept doing it until that young baby vomited out everything he had drunk. And then he said: يَسْهُلُ عَلَيَّ أَنْ يَمُوتَ وَلَا يَفْسُدَ طَبْعُهُ بِشُرْبِ لَبَنِ غَيْرِ أُمِّهِ — "It is easier for me to see my child die with a proper nature and good iman than for him to drink the milk of someone other than his mother. I know his mother — she is my righteous, pious wife. I know what fuel I'm putting into this child. I do not trust anyone else's milk."

Subhanallah — look at how protective we are over a $40,000–$60,000 car, putting in premium or ultimate fuel. But one car accident and in 30 seconds it's gone. What about that child? Our food is our fuel — whatever goes in is what is going to come out. The type of halal food that goes into our body is exactly what will translate into good actions. The Prophet said: eat halal and then do good deeds, for eating pure halal food is what leads to the doing of good deeds.

Someone mentioned to me recently: "We talk about where are the mashayikh, where are the ulama, we need amazing female leadership, male leadership." Brother and sister, these type of leaders, these type of generals, these type of God-conscious physicians, lawyers, journalists, programmers — they are not going to fall from the sky. They are going to come from righteous, pious mothers and fathers. So before we start trying to bring this type of leadership into the world, we have to first become amazing moms and dads. Until we don't become amazing moms and dads, don't have any hope for the future — it's going to be as bleak as it is now.

How many fathers are driving 30–40 minutes to drop kids off at Islamic school, Sunday school, maktab, Qur'an class, Arabic class — spending thousands of dollars and hours of traffic — for what? None of this is really going to matter in the way we hope if our own piety is not there. That's what goes in. Just like our genes are sent to our kids — our kids have our genes, we have our parents' genes — similarly the piety of ours is what's going to be passed down.

That's why the Prophet said:

(Reported in various sources; cf. Ibn Majah)

"When you are getting married, get married in a righteous, pious vein." 'Irq means vein — look for a pious lineage. Look at the mother, not just the daughter. Look at the mother, grandmother if she's alive, khala, sisters — look at the whole family before you choose the wife. And similarly for the boy — look at the whole family. What type of father, what type of mother, what type of siblings? Is there deen in this house? Don't just say, "Oh, she seems pious" or "He seems pious." We need to know where they're coming from, because they all have the same genes. It might be dormant in some and not in others — but the key is that if we want to have righteous children, we need righteous lineage.

I'll end with this. A son was oppressing his father. When he came to Umar ibn al-Khattab, Umar said: "In my khilafah, how dare someone have the audacity to oppress their father while I'm alive?! Bring my durra!" He told the son: "Come over here." So the son said: "Before you whip me, can I speak?" Umar said yes. He said: "Is my father the only one who has rights upon me? Don't I have rights upon my father?" Umar said: "Of course — this is a two-way street. We have rights for one another." He said: "What are my rights?" Umar said: "Well, your right is that your father should have married a good mother for you." The son said: "No — my mother is such and such a slave who has absolutely no concept of deen." Umar paused.

"Second," said the son, "he should have given you a proper name with a good meaning." The son said: "No — he gave me a horrible name." "Third," said the son, "he should have given you an Islamic upbringing when you were little." The son said: "My dad never taught me anything about the deen." So Umar told the father: "Before he oppressed you, you oppressed him. You should be the one that should be whipped, because you made all three mistakes. You never fulfilled any of those rights."

So to all the youth who are listening — and to all of us — let's not make these mistakes on our children. Don't oppress your little ones. For Allah's sake, make sure you marry in the right place. I tell the boys who come for advice: don't look at her first as a wife — look at her as your children's mother. And to the girls as well — look at the whole picture. Your dad and mom did not just go searching on looks and pick up anyone off the street, subhanallah. They came with beautiful characteristics and qualities and gave us all that. So whatever your parents did for you, you need to do the same thing for your kids — and that is ensure you choose the right person to marry, on the basis of deen.

May Allah make this a reality for all of us. This is a very tough and heavy subject that is extremely relevant to me and to all of us. I pray to Allah Almighty that He makes all the fathers and mothers who are currently parents, and the future fathers and mothers, truly take this to heart. Allow us to become salih — pious and righteous. Allow us to become exemplary examples for our kids. Allow us to do such good deeds that will be passed down to our children. And through the barakah of the good deeds that we do, may Allah protect our generations to come.

We are leaving them in a very uncertain world with the rise of every kind of fitna right now. We have no idea what the next 20, 30, 50 years is going to look like. The thing that we can hope to save them with, my beloved friends, is good deeds. One of the ulama said: through the barakah of the righteousness of the father, Allah protects the children, and the children's children, and the children's children — to the extent that Allah protects the houses of the children through the piety of the elders.

We have no option. If you care about your generations, we need to ourselves start focusing on our own piety. Instead of just saying, "Let's worry about the youth" — let's worry about ourselves along with the youth.

May Allah bring these words to reality in my life and your life. Ameen ya Rabb al-'alamin.

We also have a request for dua: Hafiz Tawfiq's elder, Ronaq Othman, is sick in Minnesota with COVID — along with all those brothers and sisters from our community who are themselves sick, or whose children are sick. May Allah grant them all shifa and aafiyah. Ameen.