Surah Furqan Ep 6 Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Beloved elders and brothers, mothers and sisters, dear listeners — Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

We ask Allah Azza wa Jal that He not deprive us from the blessings of the Qur'an because of our sins. We ask Allah Azza wa Jal that He, out of His immense mercy and grace, allows us all to be connected with the words of the Qur'an, with the meanings of the Qur'an, with the injunctions of the Qur'an. And may He allow us all to benefit from its blessings in every sense of the word. And may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us every time we sit with the Qur'an to find solace, comfort, and solutions to our problems. May Allah Azza wa Jal allow us all to enjoy the company of the blessed Qur'an. Ameen, Rabbil Alameen.

We are, inshallah, starting here in the 19th Juz from Surah Al-Furqan, Ayah number 25.

Recap: The People of Jannah and the Day of Judgment

Last week we ended on the note of how the people of Jannah will have a much better place to rest during the day and rest during the night — in this world, from the worldly sense, you have a place to take a siesta (if you remember, maqila), and then mustaqar is your long-term residence where you reside with your family, while maqila is usually on your own. So, Allah Azza wa Jal — we ended on that positive note after mentioning the harshness, the ending of those who did not have faith, and those who did actions without Iman, how everything will become dust.

Now, Allah Azza wa Jal mentions the Day of Judgment and then some scenes from it.

The Heavens Split Asunder (Ayah 25)

وَيَوْمَ تَشَقَّقُ السَّمَاءُ — The Day of Hereafter. What day is that? The Day of Judgment. تَشَقَّقَ السَّمَاءُ — when the Heaven splits asunder. بِالْغَمَامِ — in the midst of clouds. وَنُزِّلَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ تَنزِيلًا — and the angels are sent down in descending waves.

The disbelievers had asked to be able to witness and see angels — they were very excited about that. Allah Azza wa Jal says: you will see angels, but you will see them on My terms. You will see angels at a time and a place of My wish. And at that time, when you see them, you will wish you had never had to see them. This will be the time when the Day of Judgment is coming, the trumpet will be blown, and everything above us will be falling apart and everything below us will be falling apart.

سَمَاء is referring to what is above us — كُلُّ مَا فَوْقَكَ، كُلُّ مَا عَلَاكَ — whatever is above us is the سَمَاء. We see that Allah Azza wa Jal what He has built above us — there are no gaps in it, there are no flaws in it, as Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in Surah Mulk:

You'll see no difference, no flaw in the creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ كَرَّتَيْنِ — maybe you think you missed it on the first glance, go ahead and take another glance. When someone shows you something they could be very quick in how they present it to you, so you say maybe this is a trick and I'm not really able to grab and grasp exactly what you're showing. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: we're not in any hurry, go ahead and look again at the sky. Focus, try to find a fault in it. يَنقَلِبْ إِلَيْكَ الْبَصَرُ خَاسِئًا — you'll get tired, your eyes will hurt. You'll realize a whole day was spent without having achieved anything — you're not going to find flaws in it.

SubhanAllah — amazing! Who else besides Allah can say that? No human being, never, never can a human being ever say something like this — that I've made something 100% flawless, that there is no possibility of any mistake to be found in it now, nor in the future. This is only Allah Azza wa Jal, Al-Khaliq, Al-Bari, who has the ability to say something of that sort.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions regarding the heavens and the earth in Surah Fatir:

Indeed, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is holding up the heavens and the earth from falling. And if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala were to allow them to fall and come out of place — إِنْ أَمْسَكَهُمَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّن بَعْدِهِ — who besides Allah can put them back into place?

If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows the universe to spin out of control, who can really put it back? When Allah for a moment allows the waves to rise high, when Allah for a moment allows the earth to shake — we're not talking about minutes, we're not talking about hours, we're talking about seconds — look at the path of destruction, how we are reeling from the floods and earthquakes of just two weeks or ten days prior. Thousands and thousands have passed away. For how long did this happen? A matter of seconds.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows a part of the earth to shake, allows a portion of the earth's floor upon which the oceans lie to shake — it triggers a whole tsunami, and no man-made structure can handle that, no matter how strong you make it. It just depends how much Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cranks it up. But if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala just cranks it even a little bit, no human-made structure can handle that.

This is what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying: if the heavens and earth are running in the way they do because I have asked them to do so, and if I allow them to spin out of control — then who has the ability to bring them back? No one does.

Then what's happening? How come, the vast majority of the time, the vast majority of countries and their citizens live in relative peace with nature? Because indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is forbearing and forgiving — that is why He does not take us to task for what we deserve, but instead keeps on letting it slip, letting it slide. In another place, in Surah Al-Hajj, Allah says He is holding up the heavens from falling upon the earth.

Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

When the heavens will split asunder — and they will listen. أَذِنَتْ means to listen. The heaven, the sky — the heavens will listen to their Lord. What does that mean? أَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا simply means the heaven has to hear the hukm of Allah and immediately it will go into action. You don't need to tell the heavens twice, you don't need to jolt them, you don't need to cajole them — it's simply: I want this to happen now, and done. Because the only reason the heavens are in their place is because Allah asked, and as soon as He says move, the heavens say: okay, we'll move.

So here Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: a day will come when the heavens will split, and what will become apparent — what will happen — in the midst of clouds, the whole sky will split, and then you will see نُزِّلَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ تَنزِيلًا — large groups of angels descending.

Why are they descending? Because this is — you know, when the show is over, what happens? When the show is over, everyone rushes in. You go to a wedding or any other event, when the show is over all the employees of the banquet hall come in and start wrapping things up. Within 15–20 minutes it doesn't look like there was an event at all. So the angels are coming — now we're going to set up the Day of Judgment. We are going to actively be involved in setting up the place of judgment in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

True Dominion Belongs to the All-Merciful (Ayah 26)

True dominion on that day belongs to the All-Merciful alone. And thus shall it be for all the disbelievers — an exceedingly hard day.

In this world, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made us somewhat in charge of our affairs. And that is why it says here "true dominion" — because today, yesterday, and tomorrow also belong to Allah. However, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has allowed us to fall into deception, thinking: I am in control of my home, I am in control of my business, I am in control of my country, I am in control of my affairs, I am in control of the affairs of my children.

In reality, none of us are in control of anything. Honestly speaking — we're not. We don't have control. If the car wants to die on us, it will. When something in the house stops working, what can you do? No matter how expensive a home or how expensive a car you have — the day something needs to break down, it will break down. And no matter how much love you have raised your child with, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows that child to become a backstabber, no one can stop that, no one can rectify the child — no matter how much you beg and remind them of all the blessings you have showered upon them. It falls on deaf ears, unless Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wills otherwise.

There is no control — really, there's no control. We don't have control over our stomach. When do we have a stomachache? When do we have constipation? No control. When is your eye going to hurt? When is your ear going to hurt? We don't know.

It's amazing to think about how these multi-billion dollar medical universities run, how these multi-billion dollar research hospitals run, how many billion dollar pharmaceuticals run, how these multi-million dollar libraries of medical books run, and the thousands and thousands of research institutions and companies — think about all the salaries of all the nurses and all the medical care staff, of all the physicians and all the specialists. SubhanAllah! So much economy, so much wealth is being created and shared — on the basis of what? Of this one small human body.

This one ear provides so much money in the world. This one small eye provides so many thousands of jobs, so many billions of dollars — coming through the barakah of one eye that possibly has this problem or that problem. Similarly, every single part — from the nails to the skin, to different types of blood cells — every single portion, the hair, the absence of it, the presence of it — all of that creates a massive industry. This is the power of Allah: how He has created one human being, and with that, from before the child is born all the way till after death, a massive business is running.

The whole world is running on that. So with all that, it makes us realize how dependent we are on one another. If we had control, why do we need anyone to look at our eye or our ears or hands or feet? We should take care of it ourselves. But we know how it is — even the eye doctor, if he's got pain in his eye, will have to go to another doctor. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this world has allowed us to think that we have power. But a time and place is coming — called the Day of Judgment — when it will become quite apparent to every single person, believer or disbeliever, that truly all power and might belongs only to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

We recited in Surah Al-Kahf:

Over there it will become apparent that absolute power and wilaya belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala alone.

One example you can think of: in this world, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is allowing us to think that we're running the world — as though a child who's sitting in his father's lap, his hands on the steering wheel, allowed to think that in the cul-de-sac or in the driveway he is driving the car. Or a father and son who are flying a kite — as they're flying the kite, the little toddler is holding on to the thread and thinking that his small little hands are controlling that 500-feet-high kite. But all he is doing is holding on to the string, while the father is the one who's actually guiding it.

So this dunya is like that. Allah Azza wa Jal has allowed us to hold on to the steering wheel, and we think we're running our affairs. But the brake pedal and the acceleration — our little teeny tiny feet don't even reach that. We don't even understand how to put the car into proper gear. The Day of Judgment is a place where it will all become apparent that only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has control. Hence Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Say: O Allah, the King of all kingdoms — you choose to give kingdom to whoever you wish, and you choose to snatch away kingdom from whomsoever you wish. You give honor to whomsoever you wish, and you disgrace whomsoever you wish. Indeed, in Your hands is all goodness. Indeed, You are all-powerful over everything.

So in this dunya, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us some power. However, there is a distinction: one is مِلْك and one is مُلْك. مُلْك is to own something properly — every single thing which you fully own and which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives is called مُلْك. مِلْك is what you have for a little bit — like your clothes, your pen — that's مِلْكِيَّة. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when it comes to مُلْك, is the one who spreads it, gives it out in this dunya, and snatches it away from whomsoever He wishes.

Hence He mentions in Surah Ghafir:

You've heard this ayah many times being recited — لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ. Allah, after completely destroying and annihilating every single thing that we are aware of and what we are not aware of, what we can see and what we cannot see, the heavens and the earth — it will be absolute silence. Just imagine when a room grows silent right now, with 20 people in it — it becomes eerie and awkward. Imagine with all the trillions upon trillions of مخلوقات, the creations of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when all will be destroyed. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will call out: لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ — to whom does the kingdom belong today?

And there will be no response, because there is no one there to respond. Allah will ask into empty vast space: to whom does the kingdom belong? You know when they say who is going to have the last laugh — SubhanAllah, seriously — who is the one who is going to have the last say besides Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?

لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ — since no one is answering, I guess we will answer ourselves. To Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — the One, the All-Powerful. That's it. That's the answer. No one else has the ability. If he had the ability to answer, this is the time — come up right now and say it's me. But there is no مُعارِض, no one who is going to stand up in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to say I have some share in this.

My beloved listeners — if this is the case, then what is the point of us disobeying Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to please someone else? When you know at the end of the day the absolute owner of this entire world and whatever it contains is Allah — why do we find ourselves making mistakes, making major mistakes, in order to please the people of the world at the cost of displeasing Allah? It's not a very smart move, is it? When at the end, it's only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that you and I have to face, and everyone else will come to an end.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is mentioning to us here: الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ — what does al-haqq mean? Haqq means something which is thabit, something which is firm, something which doesn't change — that's called haqq. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is mentioning here that the true dominion, which will never come to an end — not like today I'm winning and tomorrow you might win — no, it doesn't work like that. The true dominion is in the hands of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and He will never give it up. He never gave it up — it only seemed like that, because this dunya — you see the oppressors becoming more powerful and the oppressed ones suffering even more.

Doesn't that happen? Do we see that every single day? Look at the suffering of the Muslims within the communities — all these people are suffering. And it seems like if you are oppressed, they don't even give you permission to make noise. They say: just die quietly, don't even make a noise. You know — like you're slaughtering an animal and the person gets mad at the animal because the blood came upon their clothes. That's the condition of the ummah today. That's the condition of the people who are on the haqq — we will chop you up from all sides, but make sure you go down quietly. Don't even splash any blood of yours upon us, or else we're going to blame you for that and charge you, and you have to pay for the next 20 years.

That's the dunya right now. So when a person sees that and says — where's Allah? Isn't that the question? When is the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala coming? Why is this happening?

Well, the answer is: Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has made this place a Dar al-Imtihan — a place of examination. If all the people who are righteous are always winning and the people of falsehood are always losing, then who would choose to be from the group of falsehood? There would be no examination. To remind yourself that Allah is there, Allah is watching, Allah is all-hearing — Wallahi, He is. That's why you exist and I exist. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has His plan.

When a police car pulls up — you know, when they choose to go after someone — what happens? As soon as you make an infraction or break a traffic law, they don't necessarily pull you over. They're running your plates, they're adding up a whole bunch of different things, depending on the situation. They've got a whole dossier against you now. And then they pull you over. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not pull a person over on the first mistake. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sees how far you go. He's right behind you, right in front, center, right, left, above — everywhere.

No one knows the army of Allah. The road is the army of Allah. The car is the army of Allah. The stoplight is the army of Allah. Every single plant and every single blade of grass you're passing by is the army of Allah. All the cars around you are the army of Allah. Every single thing is part of the army of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and all are watching. In this example, the only reason a person is not being pulled over is because we are counting — how many infractions, how many mistakes, how many laws he breaks — and then eventually when he is pulled over, there's no running, there's nowhere to hide, no way to defend yourself. You can defend yourself against one case, two cases — but if you've got 200, 300 different things a person has committed, you know you're going to get caught on one thing or the other.

This is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

Indeed Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is waiting. Mirsad is a place where you wait in ambush. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is waiting, looking. Just because someone doesn't get in trouble, don't think he missed Allah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was not going to let him slip. All is being very meticulously watched and recorded. As Allah says:

أَحْصَاهُ اللَّهُ وَنَسُوهُ — your Lord doesn't forget, is never misled. Allah remembers everything. وَنَسُوهُ — but people have forgotten. Allah remembers what mistakes you and I made at the age of 16, 18, 19. Which prayer did we miss, at what day, what time? When did we listen to something we shouldn't have? Eavesdrop somewhere? Backbite someone? Look at something we should not have? Say something we should not have? Take something that we should not have? Who remembers that? Honestly speaking, who amongst you remembers for the past 25 years what mistakes you have committed? We can't remember from this morning, can't remember from last night. أَحْصَاهُ اللَّهُ وَنَسُوهُ — Allah doesn't forget. Allah says: I remember all of that, although you may have forgotten it. So that's all being added up against us.

And that is haqq — that's what we're talking about. The kingdom of haqq belongs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala; the kingdom will never be taken away from Allah. It always was there and it always will be for Him.

وَكَانَ يَوْمًا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ عَسِيرًا — and this will be a very, exceedingly hard day for the disbelievers.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says something so beautiful: true dominion that day belongs to who? He could have used any one of the hundreds of names of Allah — even more than the 99. But look what He uses here: الرَّحْمَٰنِ. Isn't this amazing? To give hope — today you feel like no one's listening to you, you are screaming: please listen to me, I am on haqq, I am being marginalized, I am being ridiculed, I am being falsely accused, this is all fake and false — and no one wants to listen. No one has the time. No one wants to pay attention. No one feels that you have any moral standing. It happens all the time in the dunya.

Allah Azza wa Jal is telling those people: الرَّحْمَٰنِ — you have an appointment with Al-Rahman today. No one's listening to you, no one cares for you — don't worry about it. The Most Merciful — you will have your day in court with the Most Merciful. This is a beautiful ayah for every single person who is oppressed today, whose mom and dad were oppressed, whose siblings were oppressed, whose children have been oppressed, whose spouse has been oppressed. It's solace and comfort that a day ultimate dominion will belong to Allah. No one will come and mess with the courts. No one can bribe the judges. No one can fire the judge right before he's about to make a judgment. That's what happens today — everything is bought and sold at some price. But there is a time and place:

There's no buying and selling, no friendship, and no intercession. It will only be Allah.

Even Munkar and Nakir, the angels of the grave — they don't know anyone and no one knows them. They say: we don't even try to do any icebreakers with us, we don't know you, you don't know us. That's their name — Munkar, Nakir: unknown, the most unfriendly, the most unknown. They have nothing to do with their client. Usually you try to break the ice by saying something like: oh, you probably know my dad, you probably know so-and-so. Munkar and Nakir: no, we don't need to know anyone. مَنْ رَبُّكَ؟ مَا دِينُكَ؟ وَمَا تَقُولُ فِي هَذَا الرَّجُلِ؟ — let's talk about this. May Allah make that day easy for all of us and may He inspire us to answer those questions properly.

But SubhanAllah — there is a الرَّحْمَٰنِ who will come on the Day of Judgment, and all those who suffered will have their opportunity to receive their jaza', their reward back. And then whenever we have mercy we also have the aspect of Allah being just and willing to punish when He needs to — that's also mentioned in the same verse: وَكَانَ يَوْمًا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ عَسِيرًا. Just because Allah is الرَّحْمَٰنِ doesn't mean He's going to let the disbelievers slide. It's part of the rahma of Allah that the disbelievers be punished, because then what's the point for the believers? If you follow all the laws and rules, you watch what you ate, where you sat, where you slept, who you communicated with, how you were so careful — and another person didn't do any of that — and both of you have the same Akhira? That's not fair to you. That is not merciful to you. So it's part of Allah's mercy upon the believers that those who disbelieve in Him and those who broke those rules will have to face the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Wrongdoer Bites His Hands (Ayahs 27–29)

A day when the godless wrongdoer shall bite his very hands in regret, saying: يَا لَيْتَنِي — Oh! اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا — if only I had taken a sabila, a path towards salvation, مَعَ الرَّسُولِ — with the messenger.

This is the day when the sky will split asunder and the angels will be descending. This is the day that you'll have your day in court with Allah the Most Merciful. He will fully own and make it very apparent that He owns the entire worlds. It's a day that will be very difficult for the disbelievers. And it's also a day when the wrongdoers shall bite their very own hands in regret. And what else will they say?

يَا وَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا — oh, woe to me! If only I had not taken such a one for an intimate friend. Khalilan — intimate friend. Fulan — that guy, that person, we don't even want to say his name, that's how angry we are. But who was he? He was a disbeliever. He was a sinful person. I only wish I had not taken this person as my friend.

What did he do? لَقَدْ أَضَلَّنِي عَنِ الذِّكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَاءَنِي — very truly, he has misled me from al-dhikr — the remembrance, referring to the Qur'an, referring to Rasulullah ﷺ — after idh ja'ani, after it had come to me. The message of Rasulullah ﷺ was in my hands, and then he forced me to let it go.

وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِلْإِنسَانِ خَذُولًا — and indeed Shaytan has ever been deserting of humankind. Khadhul — to be the biggest backstabber, to run away right at the moment of need. Shaytan is the one who always deserts human beings whenever they are in a difficult situation — he runs away.

The Devastating Power of Guilt and Remorse

Let's focus on these ayahs. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is mentioning here: remember that day — a day when a man will go through such levels of pain and suffering, psychological and physical suffering. The psychological suffering is the sense of guilt. Any of us who have gone through an emotion of guilt know how bad that is. It's so bad that many times people end up taking their own life — that's how powerful the emotion of guilt is. Because it gnaws at you, it eats you up alive. You're sitting right here and no one can see what you're going through, but inside you're on fire. It's like someone is shredding your body into pieces.

That's how powerful nadama can be. We don't need to give examples — you can all think of examples from your own life, or horrific scenarios where something has happened and now you feel guilty. You feel remorse. No one can understand those emotions besides the one who is actually going through them. Everyone says: "It's okay, come on, you look fine" — and he's not okay. He's about to literally break down, about to take his life, about to lose his mind, out of the intensity of nadama — remorse.

And that's why the Qur'an calls the Day of Judgment the Day of Remorse. Allah Azza wa Jal says:

What powerful words — وَأَنذِرْهُمْ يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَةِ — warn them, forewarn them of the day of absolute remorse. This is the name of the Day of Judgment — the Day of Remorse. إِذْ قُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ — when the decision will have been made final.

Look what happens when someone says: you're rejected from this college, you're rejected from this job, you're rejected from this marriage proposal. You see the signs of sadness overtaking a person. But there's always a chance: okay, let me call this one, let me try this way. On the Day of Judgment, you cannot go back and approach Allah again to say: could you reconsider? There's no reconsidering. There's no changing of anything.

قُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ — the decision has been made.

Nothing will change in My court — what has been said will never change.

You will never find the sunnah of Allah Azza wa Jal to be changing. And the sunnah of Allah is: once you decree something, it's set. There's nothing in the world that can ever change that destiny. So if a person is destined to go to Jannah, or a person is destined — Allah forbid — to go to Jahannam, that cannot change. So when that will happen, when a person will realize that his destiny Allah forbid is set towards hellfire, at that time he will feel so much remorse that the world cannot explain. If death was still around, he would die — definitively — out of remorse alone, without anything else. That's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala calls this the Day of Remorse.

Something to really think about. This is the day when a man — usually when you're nervous you bite your fingernails — a person is not going to be biting on his fingernails. He will not be biting on his fingertips. He will be biting both hands. He will be chewing both hands because he'll have no realization of what he's doing. He could care less if his hands are chewed up. What is he looking at? He's looking at hellfire.

You see people when they're given a sentence of death, a sentence of life imprisonment — what happens? The face changes. Realization. But in front of وَبُرِّزَتِ الْجَحِيمُ لِلْغَاوِينَ — when Jahannam is brought right in front and a person knows exactly where he's headed forever — by denying the veracity of the Qur'an, by denying the prophethood of Rasulullah ﷺ — there's no bigger zulm than that:

Who can be a bigger oppressor than the one who, when he was reminded of Allah's signs and Allah's verses, أَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا — he turned away from them, he gave his back to the verse of the Qur'an — وَنَسِيَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ — and he forgot all those deeds that he had sent forth.

So there is no greater evil than ignoring the verses of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and not spending time learning the deen of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and at the same time having false hopes that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive me.

The Danger of False Hope and Preferring Desires Over the Shari'ah

My brothers and sisters: the one who gives preference to his desires over the Shari'ah, who gives preference to this world over the next, who gives preference to the enjoyments of this dunya over the enjoyments of the Akhira, who gives preference to the comforts of this world over what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala actually wants from him — he is a zalim, he is an oppressor. And then, on top of that, not preparing for the Akhira.

The Prophet ﷺ has mentioned in hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2459; also narrated by Ibn Majah, Hadith 4260)

The intelligent one is the one who keeps his nafs in check, and prepares for what is coming after death. And the fool is the one who follows his whims and desires — whatever his nafs says, he says okay — and then when you tell him: brother, ittaqillah, fear Allah, come on let's change — وَتَمَنَّى عَلَى اللَّهِ الْأَمَانِيَّ — he has all these false hopes regarding Allah: I'm a Muslim, of course I'm going to get forgiven. I come from a Muslim country, born in a Muslim country, my father was such a pious person, my mother was so righteous — how can I not be forgiven?

So what is happening? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — Rasulullah ﷺ calls such a person a fool — one who continues to lead a life of sin while having this expectation that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala must forgive him.

Beloved brothers and sisters, a beautiful statement of Ma'ruf al-Karkhi rahimahullah where he says:

He says: to seek paradise without any action worthy of paradise is actually a sin. To seek paradise without performing any good deeds which are worthy of gaining the mercy of Allah, which would be worthy of getting us into paradise, is a sin from amongst sins. Similarly, we could say: expecting and hoping to be forgiven and be safe from the fire of hell without leaving those sins that will take us to hellfire is also another sin. Because in reality, it's like a mockery of Allah — that I will do whatever I want to do and then I expect you to forgive me.

Just try that — if you're a teacher, if you're a parent — have one of your students, your own son or daughter, do that with you. When you're giving them work, giving them something to do, and they say: no, I'm going to expect — teacher, you're such a great teacher — and smiling, here's a homework, I'm going to rip it and throw it in the garbage, but of course I'm going to expect a hundred from you because you're such a nice person. Imagine how upsetting that would be — for someone to disrespect your orders and then on top of that have the audacity to smile at you and say: of course you're going to give me a hundred, right? I'm your favorite, right?

Well, that's what we're doing when we say اللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ — that's it, my actions, don't worry about it, we'll figure it out. We have to understand that this is actually extremely disrespectful to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It is showing disregard to His promises. It is showing the fact that we are not intimidated or scared of Jahannam or His anger, and nor are we truly desirous of Jannah. Because if we were properly desirous of Jannah, we would have some self-control. If we were truly afraid of hellfire, we would also have some self-control. But this individual unfortunately doesn't, because deep down the yaqeen and the conviction in these verses of the Qur'an and the attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — and what He has created for us on the Day of Judgment, in the Akhira — is something that a person is not fully understanding.

Yalatani — If Only I Had…

يَا لَيْتَنِي is translated as: "Oh!" — when the time for something passes and you are wishing you would have done something. Like there's a sale that ended — an amazing sale — and you say: يَا لَيْتَنِي اشْتَرَيْتُهُ — I wish I had bought that. Or you wanted to catch the last flight for Hajj and you simply made a mistake, were lazy, and didn't. So imagine you'd say the same thing: يَا لَيْتَنِي — I wish I had booked my ticket and gone on that flight.

So here, a person will be saying after the fact: يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا — I wish I had taken a path to salvation together with the messenger.

Background of Revelation: 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt

Notice here: مَعَ الرَّسُولِ — with the messenger. Before I go further, these two ayahs we're going to explain in a general sense, but there is also a background of the revelation. Some tafseers don't even mention that — they just focus on taking these verses and applying them to our life. But I do also want to mention the famous incident that's mentioned in the books of tafseer.

'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt — Rasulullah ﷺ had interacted with him. He was a generous man who used to like to invite people to food at his house. He invited the Prophet ﷺ once in Makkah al-Mukarramah, and the Prophet ﷺ said: I'm sorry, I won't be able to make it — he excused himself — unless you are willing to accept Islam and say أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُولُ اللَّهِ. Then I will come.

So he said, sure, and this man was so desirous of having Rasulullah ﷺ over that he said the kalima. The Prophet ﷺ went. Now, 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt had another friend — Umayyah ibn Khalaf. When he heard this, he became extremely angry: how dare you accept Islam! لَقَدْ صَبَوْتَ — you've become a traitor, you've become a sabi', you've gone against your nation.

He was afraid of breaking the friendship. Isn't that what's happening today? People just don't want to break up friendships, so they'll do whatever. You started growing out your beard — a friend says: come on man, what's wrong with you, you're not in your 80s yet. اللَّهُ خَلَاصٌ — and then the next friend says the same thing. You say: Rabi' al-Awwal is coming, let me bring one sunnah into my life, start growing out a beard. Two, three friends say something — done. He can't handle it anymore.

Anything you start — you start doing the miswak, you start wearing a kufi, you start coming to the masjid more often — people start making fun of you. Because, as we've spoken about in the past, people who are involved in sin have to see you sin as well. Misery loves company. They feel very awkward, they feel very bad, they feel very guilty inside: why is this guy improving, why is this person following the deen and I'm not?

Have you ever had experience with a classmate who didn't prepare for exams? What did they do the night before? Many times some of them repent and say: please help me. But then there are others who say: I'm not going to study, and I'm not going to let you study either. Let's go — let's go have a barbecue, let's go eat out. They don't study, but they can't see you study either, because they feel bad that they're going to be the only one who fails. Misery loves company. At least if I can get you to fail — if I can get you to score 30–40 points less — I don't feel so bad at the bottom.

The reality is that many times when people are not following the deen, it's one thing to say: my own weakness. But this is worse — he says: not only am I not going to follow the deen, I'm also not going to allow you to do it. I'm going to make fun of you. This is the reality many of us are stuck in — surrounded by unfortunate company who do not allow us to progress spiritually.

And sisters know exactly what I'm speaking about too — very common among sisters as well. They're trying to progress and then someone will say: what are you talking about? Imagine — you have a dars of tafseer here. How many other programs happen on a Tuesday night? That's why we have Tuesday night — but there is always someone pulling you in another direction. Let's go here, let's go there. And that's why it's very hard to be committed, because you're being pulled — not by some major event — but just by one or two friends, or one or two family members who simply do not understand how important it is for you to attend regularly. This is something you've taken upon yourself. This is your lifeline. This is what you need.

Just let me do it. You don't want to come — don't stop me. I would rather you come, but if you don't want to come, please do not become an obstacle between me and my growth — my academic, my spiritual growth.

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says — and in this story what happened — 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt said to Umayyah ibn Khalaf:

The only reason I said that was simply to get him to eat the way other people eat — I just wanted him to eat, that's it. I didn't really mean it. And Umayyah responded: the only way I'm going to accept this from you is if you go to Muhammad at Dar al-Nadwa and — I seek refuge with Allah — spit in his face.

Hold on — who are you to say that to me? You're nobody. You're not even my father. That's the thing — we just can't say that to our friends, can we? All of us sitting here — think about how many people in our lives have ruined us simply because they have this so-called awe upon us, that we can't simply say: I don't care what you say. You say: I'm not going to be your friend anymore? We're not little preschool kids, we're adults. If you choose not to befriend me, I think I would actually benefit from that, inshallah. When you're ready to become friends again, we can meet up. But right now, this is a toxic relationship. I don't get anything out of this besides being pushed further away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

He didn't do that. He simply said: okay, I have to have you as a friend. And Umayyah said: okay, I'm not going to let you live like this — go to Rasulullah ﷺ and spit in his face — I seek refuge with Allah. And 'Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt went ahead and did that — because relationships matter. Everyone talks about relationships today. But at what cost?

A brother is selling a product that's haram, or a product that is not acceptable by law. But it's a relationship — he's asked me to peddle it, he's asked me to say a few words about it. So I'm knowingly going to promote something because I've been asked by someone? When will our morals, ethics, and values come in — to say: I'm sorry, I cannot do that. I cannot do something which is illegal by law, or illegal in the eyes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Your friendship is in its place, I value that — but there is a limit. If you ask me to break my friendship with Allah, no, I'm sorry. It's not worth that much. I don't value a friendship to the level greater than what I have with Allah Azza wa Jal.

The Price of Following the Deen

This is the very bitter pill that we have to be willing to swallow if we want to follow the deen, especially now when all around us we have people pushing us in a different direction. You want to follow the deen, you want to follow the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — get ready to take heat. Get ready to be yelled at. Get ready to be called names. Get ready to be ostracized — by who? By your own family, by your own close friends. And if you're not ready, then you're not willing to pay the price.

As they say — you know, this watch is $10,000 and above — oh come on, no. You don't have to sit there and make fun of it. If you have that type of money, you walk out. This is the deen. What we're asking for — which is unwavering allegiance and loyalty to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala at all cost, whatever He asks — you've got to put it down. And if you're not willing to do it, then the door is out. Simple as that.

And as time gets closer to the Day of Judgment, closer to the fitna of Dajjal, that price keeps going up and up and up. It's not just the inflation you see outside — the cost of deen, the cost of Jannah, Allah Azza wa Jal is raising it higher, and the people around us willing to pay that price are fewer. So when you go ahead and buy something that is ten times the price of what other people are willing to pay, what are they going to tell you? They're going to say you're crazy, you're insane. But you know what you want, you know what you're getting, so you buy it at all cost.

We know what we want — it's Jannah. So our children will be made fun of in school, our wives will be made fun of outside, we will be made fun of at work — so be it. And if you're not willing to take that, I'm sorry, we're in the wrong business. It doesn't work like that. The deen of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is more valuable than anything else. Each and every Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is more valuable than everything else. It's worth giving up everything for one Sunnah — there's more value in that than anything else. But we have to tell this to ourselves. We have to buy into this. We have to have our children buy into this. We have to have our spouses buy into this.

We cannot get affected by someone's relative saying something to us at a wedding: look at how why are you dressing so modestly? Why are you making your daughter wear a scarf? These are things people say — oh, she's only 6, why are you making her wear a scarf? Why are you making her wear long sleeves? SubhanAllah — we should be the ones giving da'wah. Why is it that we get affected?

I remember when I was growing up, people would say: oh, you're only a little kid, don't you think you should shave that? This is the type of pressure — moms and dads will get it. Your son wears a kufi, your daughter wears modest clothing, she covers her hair at a young age — you have got nothing to feel ashamed about. You should feel proud. You should feel: alhamdulillah, we are people of haya. We will live by example. We will not look at others — instead we will want others to be inspired by the way our children dress, the way we dress, the way our women dress. We do not need to feel like we are the underdog. That is your own inferiority complex — your lack of trust in the Sunnah, your lack of trust in the deen, your lack of understanding of the deen.

If you truly understand the deen, truly understand the value of the deen — read Hayatus Sahaba, read the stories of the Sahaba and Sahabiyat and the sacrifices they made. What happens? I promise you, each one of us will think: ya Allah, I am so thankful I never have to come face to face with a Sahabi — because he would literally think I am a hypocrite, nothing less, nothing more. When you read the stories of the Sahaba you will realize we are hypocrites in front of them.

And how would we ever face the Prophet ﷺ? Think about that. If the Prophet ﷺ could, could you invite him over for dinner? Could you invite him over for lunch? The way we have our homes, the way things are set up in our homes, the way our children are, what our daily schedule is — could you invite the Prophet ﷺ to your house? We talk about great events — weddings and so forth — people are making intizam and preparations to invite the whole town. Ask yourself: in that gathering, would you be capable and willing to invite the Prophet ﷺ? And would he accept that invitation? Where would you make him sit?

Put yourself in this situation and you will get an answer for what you and I are doing — whether it is correct or incorrect. Your own fitrah inside will say: wait, hold on — this is giving me goosebumps. Yeah, exactly. Well then you don't need a fatwa. But so-and-so gave a fatwa — remember, for every single sin out there, a person will find a fatwa. For every single sin, a person may find a fatwa. But SubhanAllah — when a person says: I'm not looking for what my nafs wants, I'm looking for the truth — then you will find that Allah will give you such sweetness in that haqq that you will never find that sweetness in any falsehood.

The Importance of a Guide: Lessons from the Tafseer

This is something I get asked about a lot. I have Tafseer al-Sha'rawi right here in front of me, and Tafseer al-Nabulusi here as well — Sheikh al-Sha'rawi from Egypt and Dr. al-Nabulusi from Syria. What I like about these two tafseers is that they were delivered in the masjid — these are not reference tafseers which we use to prepare for classroom discussions. These are tafseers delivered by these mashaykh in their masajid, so they are practical. A lot of what I say is literally based on what I've prepared — what the sheikh said under that ayah.

And SubhanAllah — the point that Dr. al-Nabulusi mentions on this ayah is powerful. He says: look, the disbeliever will say number one — why didn't I take a path with my messenger? Number one: the Qur'an mentions first — messenger, then path. Dr. al-Nabulusi focuses entirely on the application rather than the background of revelation under this. He says: the most important thing is having a guide in your life — that's why it's mentioned first: with the messenger. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ is not here physically, but his message is here. The scholars are here — God-fearing scholars, the mashaykh. Those are the people you have to hold on to.

If a person holds on to a genuine, God-fearing scholar, by the will of Allah, he will be led on the right path. Gatherings of knowledge and dhikr, gatherings of the Qur'an — why are they so important? Because many times we come to gatherings with a certain mindset of what we think should be halal and what we think should be haram — all based on our own thinking, based on what we have randomly read and heard online. But then when we come to a gathering of this sort, we meet other people, we attend where scholars are present, we're sharing notes, asking questions, having follow-up discussions with the speaker. What happens? Things start becoming clearer.

We start realizing the mistakes we were making. That's why SubhanAllah — misguidance comes when you're disconnected from gatherings of knowledge. It's so important for us to get refinement, to realign our moral compass and our ilmi compass and our fiqh, by attending these gatherings. I feel the same 100% when I attend gatherings and listen — many times it has happened that I will go confused about some issue, and although the speech is not supposed to focus on that, alhamdulillah Allah Azza wa Jal makes the speaker address that exact issue and I get the answer I was looking for. This is the barakah of angels and ulama and pious people who attend gatherings of this sort.

This is about مَعَ الرَّسُولِ — making sure that we have a guide in our lives. Beloved brothers and sisters, youngsters, adults — it is so important for all of us to find a guide, find a murabbiy, find a mentor, find a scholar that you know, in the heart of all hearts, you have this belief: on the Day of Judgment I can close my eyes, hold his hand, and he will lead me to the Prophet ﷺ. That this man is not only an 'ashiq and a lover of the Prophet ﷺ — he is a true follower of the Prophet ﷺ.

My beloved brothers and sisters — please do not find people who say to you what you want to hear. Find people who will tell you what you need to hear. Major mistake: as soon as we hear someone saying "you can keep the status quo, you don't need to change your life" — we love that. We like to have late-night sessions and morning sessions and anything for that. We like to travel with that person. Why? Because he keeps on telling us: you are fine as is, no change needed.

But look at our hypocrisy and double standards — no one wants a math tutor who tells you: you have an ACT in one week, you got 30% right, but mashallah, just don't worry about it, you're fine, there's more to life than math and ACT. You don't want a doctor who looks at your blood test results — all off the charts, all messed up — but says: brother, there is only one life, go ahead and enjoy, here you go, give me your $100. Imagine if a doctor did that to you — you'd want to sue him! What kind of doctor misled me?

We want a doctor that will tell us what we need to hear. Everyone wants to hear: you have a clean bill of health, you've got no problems. But how much we appreciate a physician who charges us and then tells us: these are all the problems you have, and these are all the ways you have to change — your diet, your sleeping habits, your eating habits. We say: thank you, doctor, thank you.

What about the scholar who tells us: brother, look at what's happening with you — the way you are walking, talking, dressing, eating, your income, this and that. If I look at this... On the other hand, if someone says: everything you are doing is sunnah, don't worry, we are in America, this is 2023, this is not India or Pakistan or South Africa or England, this is a new era — and so now we follow: "when in Rome, do as the Romans do." This is the biggest hadith that people quote. Every single thing must now conform to this.

They'll take that clip and repeat it. One person may have said that — I understand — but look at 999 other ulama who have spoken against it. In the heart of all hearts, ask yourself: are you looking for the truth, or are you looking to find anything that confirms your bias and your nafs?

This is the difficult era we are living in right now. I've told some friends honestly: you know what you need? If your wife doesn't wear hijab — you need a scholar who will sit down with you and say: look, mashallah, we enjoyed coffee together, but how can we help get your wife into hijab? Who has said that to you? No one. Well, that's a problem. You are hanging out, you think you're getting deen, but you're not getting deen.

Your son comes walking in with chains, he comes vaping in — and you need someone to say, after he leaves: okay, look, what do we do? Someone's daughter is walking around missing her salah, going out with friends — you need a scholar or a friend not just to sit there and chill and enjoy a barbecue together. That doesn't help me or him. The type of friend who, when he sees my flaws, comes home and says: you know what, I'm here to help. How can I help? With my flaws, my spouse's flaws, my children's flaws — whoever it is in my lifestyle — that's the type of friend we need.

And that's the type of scholarly circles we need to attend. Those are the type of mashaykh we need to go to — who will put us on the spot and say: okay, it's all great, but what is the condition of your personal amal? I've shared stories with my students many times and with all of you here as well — our teachers wouldn't mess around or beat around the bush. They'd go right to the point: what is the condition of your nightly amal? How much Qur'an are you reciting? How much dhikr are you doing? With all the other things going on in my life — I'll say, for example: alhamdulillah I'm doing this and that. They'd say: oh mashallah, very nice. Okay, that's great — now let's get to the meat.

It shouldn't happen that you are doing so-called great work of deen but along with that you are completely losing out on your personal relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — indulging in your private life in sins that will not be forgiven due to your public life's virtue. We need people like that who can literally grab us by the ear and put us in our place. Who needs that? We all do.

So go find someone like that in your life. Go find a scholar — ideally someone who is muttaqi, who is an 'ashiq of Allah and an 'ashiq of Rasulullah ﷺ. He loves Allah and the Prophet ﷺ, and it's not just that he claims to — because some people do that: they say I love Allah and the Rasul but I want to do whatever I feel like. There are people who do bid'ah and all sorts of innovations, they'll cry at Rasulullah's ﷺ name, but unfortunately their life is not according to the Sunnah — missing their prayers, missing out on the Sunnah.

How do you know who to follow? The gold standard — it's not confusing. It's Sunnah, Sunnah, Sunnah. That is why this seerah conference we are having in three weeks' time is going to be very important. We're going to be speaking about the miracles of Rasulullah ﷺ, but along with that the last discussion — which we're going to have with three muftis, inshallah, a panel discussion — is about Sunnah today. Because there is so much confusion. People are being told: whatever you're doing is Sunnah, just stick to it. Why do you have to change? Why do you have to go against the status quo for no reason? Don't try to become overzealous, fundamentalist, over-pious, over-righteous — just live and let live. They don't exactly say it like that, but that's kind of what it comes out to be.

Now people say: okay, fine, I don't have to change. But my dear beloved students and brothers and sisters — the one who is asking you to change truly loves you more than anyone else. That's true love. Who tells us that? Our moms and dads. They say: beta, this is not acceptable, come on please. Other people in the world won't tell us that. It's our moms and dads who will say: come on, get your act together and change. Similarly, we all need to be in the sohbah of such people who will guide us and who will hold our hands.

I want all of you to say inshallah that you will look for this guide. You will ask after Isha right now, and after Fajr tomorrow, and every day: ya Allah, allow me to find the sohbah and the companionship of ahlullah — the people of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the awliya' of Allah.

We are so blessed, alhamdulillah. In the next couple of weeks we have different mashaykh coming. Two Sundays from now, October 1st, we have Mufti Ibrahim Pandor, damad barakatuh, who will be coming inshallah. We think of him as going to be one of the awliya' of the era, of this time. First time in America, inshallah, coming here. Sunday October 1st — after Salatul Fajr will be a majlis of dhikr, attend that. And then after Asr he will be addressing the ulama, and after Maghrib inshallah for the general community. October 1st, Sunday — please make sure you're here. He's going to be speaking at Makki Masjid as well, Majlis Uthman, etc. We'll be sharing on the WhatsApp groups — hopefully you're already on it.

My point is: those are people you want to connect with. And how do you find them — I repeat for the tenth time: you don't want people who keep affirming your lifestyle, saying everything is fine. No! Tell me: how do I become a healthier person? I'm wheezing, I've got this problem, I'm bleeding from here and there — don't just tell me everything is fine. It's not fine. Don't worry about my feelings. I'd rather be healthy than be happy over a fake clean bill of health. That's what you want.

You have to ask the ulama: I want to hear it, tell me how do I improve, what should I do, these are my mistakes, these are my flaws — open up, share your issues with someone. But the nafs — nafs is so bad — for anything else in the world we'll humble ourselves, we'll run after people. But when it comes to our own Islam, we feel it's below our dignity to humble ourselves.

No one is God. The doctor is not God either — you don't just sit there and kiss his feet because he helped — Allah put shifa in his hands. Similarly, every single person may sin and falter. Even the person giving you good advice — the physician might be a smoker himself, but he'll tell you: hey, don't smoke, you're going to get lung cancer. He may have his own flaw. Does that mean we stop taking advice from him? If his advice is correct according to what medical norms teach us, we'll take it, and we're not going to look at his contradicting actions. Similarly, if a scholar — a person may say: no one's infallible. I'm the first person to tell you no one's infallible. Never ever have blind trust in anyone besides Allah and His Rasul, and those who have passed away from the Sahaba and Awliya' — because:

(A well-known saying of the scholars, based on narrations regarding the fitnah of the living)

For whoever is alive, they can always fall into fitna — including me and you and anyone else. So that's why when we open up and share our problems with someone, or have a mentor, we have to have it in moderation. We share, we say this is what it is — but this doesn't mean if they say jump, you just say how high and it's done.

The era of Muhlisin — I'm repeating what my teachers have told me, I'm repeating to you what my elders have told me — the era of the sincere is coming to an end. So now you cannot just blindly follow anyone. Instead, look at their statements, look at their advice, and read the biographies and the seerah of the people of the past. That's inspiring. If you want to live a life, live like the mutaqaddimun, those who have passed on. Even those from the earlier part of this century — you say: okay, this is how you're supposed to live. But when it comes to getting immediate advice on your personal issue, it's not going to happen if you don't have someone to share with.

The Path to Jannah: Sabila

This was all under the discussion of مَعَ الرَّسُولِ — much more is in the books under that heading. First thing you need is a guide. A majlis of ilm like this, a majlis of dhikr like this, and any other one that takes place — that is your rasul, a path to your original guide.

Then you have to take a sabila — a path — to get to paradise. My brothers, to get to medical school, to get to law school, to get to Harvard — there is a path, what we call a career path. There is a certain way you're going to spend your summers if you want to get to Harvard. There is a certain way you're going to spend your winter break if you want to get into a very elite program in the country. That is a lifestyle you have to choose as a youngster to be able to make it there.

Similarly, to get to Jannah there is a lifestyle. To get to paradise there is a certain lifestyle. You cannot be looking at the lifestyles of others and say: if they're doing it, we can do it. No — everyone has a different destination in mind. If your destination is not only Jannah but to be:

To be in the company of the prophets, the righteous ones, the martyrs, the pious — then there has to be the path of the pious as well. It cannot be that I'm leading the path of one and claiming I want to be like the other. And we find that we appease ourselves, we massage our own ego by saying: inshallah I want to be like this, I want to be like that, I want to be like him, make dua I'll be with him in Jannah, make dua I'll be with Rasulullah ﷺ. Okay — where is the action?

A Sahabi asked Rasulullah ﷺ — after doing khidmah of Rasulullah ﷺ — Rasulullah ﷺ asked him: ask me for a dua, what do you want? He said: I want to be with you in Jannah. Allahu Akbar — this is the Nabi ﷺ. No man has a more powerful dua than his. But he didn't say: okay, you did so much khidmah for me, ya Allah, just give him Jannah. He said: I need your help. I'll make the dua, but I need your help. You cannot just rely on dua — you need medication. What do I need? Your help. I need you to prostrate extensively — meaning I need you to perform a lot of nawafil prayers, increase your prayers. And inshallah I'll make dua, and hopefully we'll see you there.

That's how it is. So if we want to be in paradise, then my beloved friends, our actions also have to speak louder than our words.

Inshallah I will continue on this discussion next week — we haven't completely finished, so inshallah we'll do so. Whatever we did share, there's a lot of food for thought that was discussed, and I need it, and hopefully we all need it, and I pray Allah allows us to internalize that, inshallah.

Q&A Session

Question: Whenever I say to my friends to participate in salah with me, they say "don't be a maulvi, be cool."

Yeah, exactly — that's what I'm speaking about. Either you'll be able to change them, and if you notice that you're not able to change them but they're changing you, then you need to depart ways. You have to pray salah. Don't hang out with people who don't pray, because naturally if a person is a smoker you can smell smoke off of him. Imagine if a person never prays salah — you don't think there's nuhusa and evil around him? And if you spend hours with that, you don't think it's going to rub off? For business, in and out — yes. But to spend leisure time in the company of people who don't pray, and who rather make fun of people who pray — it's very dangerous.

Question: Can you please explain why the era of Muhlisin is ending?

It's because as we get closer to the era of Dajjal and the end of times, following the deen is becoming harder and harder, and people will be following the nafs more and more — and that's what's happening right now. These are the signs of the Hour, where people will begin to worship the nafs. And so when you have people who worship the nafs, ikhlas will become extremely difficult to find.

Question: What is a du'a from the Qur'an for the removal of bad habits?

One is that a person asks Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala generally — ya Allah, get rid of these things. Number two: Munajat Maqbul — a collection of prophetic duas with 200 duas of the Prophet ﷺ. You can read one section of that every day. You can get it from the bookstore outside, and downstairs as well. Or Al-Hizbul A'zam. And I have mentioned in many tafseers in the past and shared in many groups as well — the seven: Surah Al-Fatiha, Ayatul Kursi, and the last four qul — that is also very effective in helping get rid of bad habits, inshallah.

Please inshallah — immediately after Salatul Isha, before the Sunnah, we will have Qari Ibrahim Qaisi, inshallah, who is one of the chief qurra' of Pakistan, visiting the Chicagoland area in the United States for the first time. So please honor the Qur'an and honor him — be patient and join in the listening to the recitation inshallah, immediately after Salatul Isha, and then afterwards you can pray your Sunnah and have snacks outside inshallah.

Jazakallah khayran.