The Sadaqah of Time

I ask Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ to accept all of your efforts for coming here tonight, and all those who are listening online — may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى reward you for your time. This is a sadaqah of your time that you're giving to the deen of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى to seek knowledge. And when a person gives charity, we know what happens — when you give money, you expect ten times in return, you expect what we call بَرَكَة in our wealth. And the same thing goes when you give time to the deen. When you give time to the deen, Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى puts بَرَكَة in the rest of your time.

So this is the يَقِين and conviction we should have — that this one hour I give to understanding the Quran on a weekly basis, although I may have conflicting things. Students here think: I have to do homework, I have to do this. Another worker says: I just came back from my office, I've got so many other things lined up. If you give one hour to the deen of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى for the Quran every single week — with this niyyah, that "Ya Allah, through the بَرَكَة of my time that I'm giving to You and to understand Your word, allow me to have the 23 hours, nay the remaining 24 hours of the whole week — allow me to do what a person can do in three weeks' time, four weeks' time." And then you will actually see it.

We talk about in donation fundraising time, we talk about بَرَكَة in wealth, and mashallah those who give, they know exactly — it's like, this is crazy. I was recently traveling somewhere and a brother came up to me, a maulana came up to me and said, "Oh, you know your dua — I got your dua." I was like, "What are you talking about?" I didn't understand what he was referring to. I thought I had taught him something or mentioned something. And then he said: "A few years ago you came to my masjid, or came to a town where I was — I happened to attend your talk at a small masjid, probably if I now remember correctly, after Asr. It was literally an after-Asr talk, maybe four or five years ago in Ramadan, pre-COVID time. We were fundraising for the madrasa, the seminary. At that time you asked who can give $500, and I literally had nothing besides $500. It was after Asr in Ramadan. I said, 'Bismillah, let me just give it.' After I gave that, you made all the du'as that we usually make for anyone who is in this type of situation."

He said: "Honestly, whatever du'as you made at that time — it was Ramadan, it was after Asr, it was a sadaqah — Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ has given me everything and much, much more. I cannot tell you how — not only did I get married, I have kids, and now, SubhanAllah, I didn't even have a business, I just had $500. Allah put so much barakah that I cannot tell you how much I'm making now." He became an entrepreneur selling something. Alhamdulillah. It has nothing to do with my dua — it has to do with his sadaqah and his sincerity.

So we see that those people who give in Allah's name, they see that all the time. But something we perhaps don't speak about too often is the sadaqah of time — that when you give time to the deen of Allah by learning عِلْم, by studying عِلْم, by teaching عِلْم to people, or by giving time to clean the masjid, giving time to invite people to the masjid, giving time to feed the people — whatever it is — you're giving time to Allah. And then that donation of time is so powerful that through the barakah of it, you are able to do so much more outside of that time, that all the people who didn't show up will never be able to do that much. But you won't just do that much — you will do way beyond that.

A Story from the Madrasa Days

I remember during madrasa days on weekends, some of my older classmates at the madrasa would say, "Why don't you come with us in jamaat over the weekend?" — خُرُوج فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّه. Madrasa students would ask me sometimes, and I'd say, "I have to study, man. Weekend, I gotta study." So then they would come back on Sunday — 12 hours, 20 hours, whatever it was — and they would say, "Oh, so mashallah, how much did you study? How many pages did you cover?" And you know — the laundry's still sitting there, nothing's been cooked, nothing's been reviewed either. Just here and there.

So then I realised that this is a big deception of Shaytan — that this whole idea of "I can't do the work of deen, extra, because I have so many chores" — when you leave that effort of deen, many times your chores don't happen either, and you miss out on a huge opportunity. And those brothers who would tell me about this — they would be number one in class. They'd go on the weekend also and still be number one. They'd be such amazing, studious students.

What would happen? One of them — the night before an exam, exams were starting on Monday — after Asr on a Sunday, there was an area about a mile and a half away from our madrasa in South Africa where all the local indigenous people used to live. These were immigrants from a nearby country — from Malawi specifically. These people were labourers, paid very little, and their living conditions were beyond horrible. Unbelievable.

So there was a whole group of them who used to live about a mile and a half away from the madrasa, on a mountain. Allah rewarded this student — he used to go on his own, on Sundays, after Asr, and walk all the way up. Sometimes if you could borrow someone's bike, you'd take the bike — though honestly, I'd rather walk than ride the bike up. He would carry with him soap, towels, kurtas, shirts, sometimes even a bucket. And he would call these brothers together — all of them had names of prophets: Musa, Isa, Ibrahim, all of these names.

Most people, I will tell you, would not even be able to enter the house — that's how bad it would be. The stench, the dirt and filth — you would not be able to handle it. But he would go, this madrasa student, and they'd say, "Oh, you're here today!" He'd say, "Yeah, come, come, come — let's go. Call your friend, call your friend." And they would all come together, and he would give them some encouraging words, and then say, "Okay, let's pray." People would immediately say, "Oh, I'm not clean, I have to make wudu." He'd say, "Do wudu — no problem, wudu is here." "Oh no, I have to take ghusl." That was a big tactic — maybe it was real, Allah knows — and he would say, "I'm prepared. I brought a towel, brought soap, brought a bucket, brought kurtas." He would sit there and wait for groups of them to take showers, make wudu, come out of janabah, SubhanAllah — and then guide them in performing salah.

These are born Muslims — generations of born Muslims — but completely neglected. Many of them, honestly, would be working in our madrasa: in the laundry, in the kitchen, as guards at the gate. This is an effort that no one appreciates, no one will even know, no one cares. Who is going to care about these forgotten workers? Who cares about their deen? No one cares about their dunya, of course, and no one cares about their deen either — even though they're born and raised Muslims. And this is happening where? In a centre of learning.

He would go sometimes alone, sometimes he would take me. I had the opportunity of going with him a few times, or more than a few times. But sometimes Monday would be the semester exam, and this brother is telling me, "Let's go." I said, "Listen, tomorrow morning 7am is our first paper, and you're going to go now, on Sunday evening?" He said something powerful to me that day. He said, "Who are we doing this for? The madrasa doesn't even know we're doing this — they don't ask for it, they don't pay for it. The people on top of the mountain are not calling us. Who are we doing this for?"

I said, "Well, it's for Allah." He said, "If you're doing it for Allah, and Allah has full knowledge of the past, present, and future — yes or no?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Tomorrow is the exam. Do you think Allah knows what's going to be on the exam tomorrow? Of course He does. Now when you come back after Maghrib and you open up your books and you have, mashallah, a thousand pages to go — there's no way you can prepare for every single thing that's due tomorrow. But do you not think Allah, if you do something sincerely for Him, will put barakah in your time — that from Maghrib to Isha, and maybe an hour after Isha, when you flip through the hundreds of pages to study, Allah will allow you to study those sections that are going to come tomorrow on the exam?"

I said, "Yeah, you know, that actually can happen." He said, "Khalas — done. You have to have يَقِين in the قُدْرَة of Allah." And honestly, there were certain students — he was, as I told you, a topper, three or four years senior to me — who, the night before the exam, Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ would allow them to see in a dream what the exam was going to be on. They were such simple people. Sometimes they said it, and then the whole class would be surrounding them the next night asking, "Did you see anything? Did you see anything?"

The way Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى works is very unique, brothers. If you're asking for miracles and you want to see Allah's miraculous workings all around you — you do not have to have a massive, huge crisis in the world to see a miracle. Miracles can happen right under your nose, and all of you can be recipients of this help of Allah from places you cannot imagine. But it requires you to work in a sincere manner.

The Importance of Consistency in Seeking Knowledge

I wanted to remind myself and all of us to please make the niyyah of istiqamah. You attend once a week — don't attend once a week only. Make this a set thing. That no matter what happens — as I began my last week's dars on the same topic — we need to have a group of 50, 60, 100 brothers, then we can hope something is happening. Right now what happens? We have a revolving door — every week a new group of people, and the last group is gone. We don't get anywhere. We need to create a group of people who can attract the mercy of Allah. We need to create a group of learned men and women. We need to create generations of generals. That's not going to happen by showing up once in six months.

It will happen with anything that you remain consistent in — and you'll see that within four or five years, your knowledge and your فَهْم of deen will go to the next level. Anything you do consistently, you will grow. So I implore all of you — make this dars, or any dars that you choose in any masjid — whatever it is, stick to it. Just say: "Whatever happens, I will drag my feet and I'll come if I have to, but I will not miss it — at all cost, no matter how many obstacles come my way." Then you see another friend of yours who's come here — create that same level of seriousness with him.

We need to start taking the deen seriously. We cannot do it just once in a while when we feel like it, when it's comfortable, when it's easy for us. The real بَرَكَة will come when it hurts. When does it hurt? When you have conflicting things — someone is pulling you in one direction, someone is pulling you to a party, someone is inviting you for something else — and you say, "No. This is Tuesday night. Don't mess with me. This is my set thing." That mujahadah — saying no to people, saying no to your own family because you committed to Tuesdays — through that mujahadah, you will see barakah that you have never seen before.

Honestly, barakah comes through sacrifice, and mujahadah will come when there is conflict. If there's no conflict — "I've got nothing better to do, that's why I'm here" — then you're not going to really gain much.

Sometimes people say the work of deen is for people who have a lot of free time, that they should go to the masjid. Who should come here? All retired people? Who should go to the masjid? People who've got one foot dangling in the grave? No. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said the opposite. He said the best sadaqah that you can give is to give when you are sahih — meaning: you are healthy, you are young, you are ambitious, you have an entrepreneurial type of attitude, you have a type-A personality, you want to work, work, work — you're afraid of poverty. You're scared that if you stop working, you'll lose it all. You're in that type of mindset, hoping for wealth. At that time, to give sadaqah — that is so much, much, much more rewarding than to give sadaqah when you have lost everything, or you're old, you've stopped working, you're about to pass away.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 1419; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1032)

The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said — what's the point of giving when it doesn't even belong to you anymore? It belongs to your heirs. A person is in the hospital, they've been told three days left to survive — now you're giving away money that doesn't belong to you anymore. It actually belongs to your heirs, because it belonged to you when you were in a situation where you could actually spend it and use it. So similarly, beloved youth and young adults and working adults — this effort and sacrifice you make in a busy schedule — I know some of you, all of you actually, come straight from work. Some of you have not even had dinner, alhamdulillah, and you're here. Honestly, this is going to pay off. You'll see the barakah of that.

Create this attitude within our communities: deen is not for bums. Deen is not for people who lost their jobs. Deen is not for people who've got nothing better to do. Deen is not for people who just retired. No — deen is for the people who've got the busiest schedules, who make $500 an hour. Yes — give that sacrifice, give that hour off and come to the masjid. And you'll see that due to that sacrifice, Allah will give you and your children such things that your money can never buy, that position and degrees can never buy. May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى grant us a deeper understanding of this. Ameen, Rabbil Alameen.

Recap of the Previous Ayah — The Likeness of Livestock

The last ayah we ended at last week — Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى mentioned that of those human beings:

"Or do you think that most of them listen and understand? They are only like livestock — nay, they are more astray in their path." Why are they more astray than livestock? Because the livestock was never required to worship Allah. But this human being took upon himself — "I am ready to worship Allah" — and then after taking on that responsibility, he chooses to turn a blind eye to it. He's supposed to be a leader on this earth, but instead he starts acting like an animal. What is an animal? For an animal, شَهْوَة becomes غَالِب over عَقْل — the desire is what controls them. They see green grass on the other side, that's where they'll go. Period. Whether it's my owner's pasture or someone else's pasture, I don't care — it's green, I'm going over there. This is what drives them: their own biological, physical needs, constantly.

So when a human being begins to become a slave to his desire instead of to revelation, instead of to intelligence — what happens? They've become worse than an animal, because Allah has given them an عَقْل that He did not give to animals. Why have they not used their عَقْل? This is why they've become worse.

The Hadith of the Gathering Without Dhikr

The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said in a hadith:

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 4855; also reported in Musnad Ahmad)

"There is never a group of people who sit in a gathering in which Allah's name is not taken and then stand up from that gathering — except that they have stood up from the likes of جِيفَةِ حِمَارٍ — the corpse, the leftover decaying body of a donkey — and it will be a source of remorse for them."

Think about it — your last chai مَجْلِس, your last Sunday or Saturday get-together at someone's house, the last walima party, a wedding — whatever it is. A group of people, ten, twelve, fifteen people, eating, enjoying a five-course meal, talking about anything and everything in the world except for Allah, except for the deen. If we are ever part of this gathering, Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ says: as soon as you stand up, remember — you have not stood up after eating a ten-course meal at an expensive restaurant. If Allah's name was not taken, then you have stood up from the likes of the dead and decaying corpse of a donkey. Just think how full of stench that would be, how full of germs that would be, how disgusting a sight. Who would sit — twenty people — around a corpse of a donkey, sit there and sip their tea?

The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is saying: if you sit in a gathering in which Allah's name is not taken — that's exactly what you've done. It was as useless of your time. And Allah says: warn them of the Day of Remorse — وَأَنذِرْهُمْ يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَةِ — the Day of Judgment is called the Day of Remorse.

The Hadith of the Gathering With Dhikr

Now let's take the flip side:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2700)

"There is never a group of people sitting and remembering Allah — be it at your home, be it in your backyard, be it in a retreat somewhere, or be it in your local masjid — except that the angels are surrounding them, and Allah's mercy is descending upon them, and Allah's tranquility is descending upon them, and Allah is remembering them in front of those who are with Him."

Allahu Akbar! Can you imagine — all of you, I don't know everyone's names here, but imagine every single one of your names is being taken right now as we speak. We have to have this يَقِين, this conviction. Our name is being taken by who? By Allah, in front of the angels. Allah is mentioning my name. Allah is mentioning your name. Because you are sitting in a gathering of dhikr, and you are surrounded not just by humans but — Allahu Alam — by how many millions of angels.

How can a person ever miss out on a gathering like that? All you've got to do, beloved brothers, is bring in some discussion of Allah. So all of you please make this niyyah — whenever you sit with Muslims, somehow or another find a way to bring in Allah, bring in some dhikr. Just as simple as SubhanAllah. "I'm watching the leaves changing — subhanAllah, how beautiful is the power and the قُدْرَة of Allah! How they were green, and now every single tree seems to have a different colour." You've got Allah in there.

You don't have to know your audience. You don't have to immediately say, "Come, get up and pray Dhuhr right now." Maybe he hasn't prayed Jumu'ah for months — that might not be the best move right now. But bring in Allah somehow or another, for him to start reflecting. We have to strategically bring in the name of Allah and the name of Rasul صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ in every single gathering. Let's make niyyah and say: insha'Allah, we will begin to do this.

Three Ways to Increase Your Love and Yaqeen in Allah

Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ wants us to feel His greatness in our hearts. How do you feel that greatness — by reflecting on the realities of life. There are quickly three ways to increase your understanding, your love, your يَقِين and conviction in Allah:

Number one is to focus on the آيَات of the Quran. Number two is to focus on nature. Number three is to focus on the happenings in the world.

In Arabic it is called آيَاتٌ قُرْآنِيَّة, آيَاتٌ كَوْنِيَّة, and آيَاتٌ تَكْوِينِيَّة. Three آيَات: آيَاتٌ قُرْآنِيَّة obviously means Quranic verses. آيَاتٌ كَوْنِيَّة means nature. And آيَاتٌ تَكْوِينِيَّة means focusing on the incidents and events of the world — تَكْوِين means the hidden hand of Allah that's making things happen all around us.

Tafsir of Surah Al-Furqan: The Shade, the Night, and the Wind

Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى in these next few ayat wants us to focus on آيَاتٌ كَوْنِيَّة — He wants us to focus on nature. He says: "Have you not seen how your Lord spreads the shade?" The هَمْزَة is for اسْتِفْهَام — for questioning. However, there are more than twenty different applications and meanings for this هَمْزَة. Here in this case it's called اسْتِفْهَام طَلَبِي — where you're asking someone to do something. أَلَمْ تَرَ — "Did you not see?" — it means: look. So when Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says, "Did you not see what Allah did to the people of the elephants, Abraha and his army?" — how can we see? We weren't there. Even the Prophet himself, upon whom the Quran was revealed, wasn't there. But the idea is: I want you to reflect and look with your heart.

Allah says: look and reflect on the shade. In the Arab world, in the Arabian Peninsula, shade was meant to allude to رَحْمَة and mercy — because it is so hot there. You have to go there to see it. 125-degree temperature and you're walking — honestly, if you find a tree with shade, what a relief. Think about Arafat. Those who've been there, trying to find shade — even the trees don't have shade because there are no leaves. Any little shade you get: Alhamdulillah. مُظِلَّة, the one who gives you shade — shade means a lot of mercy. What does Nabi صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ tell us? Seven types of people that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى will place in His shade — on a day when there will be no shade besides His shade.

So the movement of the shade — what is that telling us? It tells us that the sun is moving or the earth is moving. Otherwise, how is the shade moving? Think about that. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is saying: if He willed, He would have made it still — a still shade means the sun isn't moving. If the sun is not going to move, the area of the earth that is under sunlight — 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — will be finished, fried, done. And the other side of the earth that doesn't get the sun will obviously also perish without sun. So if Allah willed He could have made it still — basically, if Allah willed He could have ended all of you. The fact that the shade is moving tells us the earth is also moving. So many aspects of nature and science we can understand simply by studying the shade.

Additionally, the fact that the shade slowly increases and slowly decreases tells us the earth is a round sphere and not a box, not flat — otherwise, there would be a time when the shade would be long and all of a sudden shut down, because as soon as it goes over the edge it's finished. But it doesn't work like that. You'll see how it slowly increases and slowly decreases. That's another beautiful thing we understand from studying the shade.

ثُمَّ جَعَلْنَا الشَّمْسَ عَلَيْهِ دَلِيلًا — "We have made the sun a guide for it." ثُمَّ قَبَضْنَاهُ إِلَيْنَا قَبْضًا يَسِيرًا — "Then We draw it in towards Us with an easy drawing." When you look at Dhuhr time, at زَوَال time, there's no shade, and then it increases. The increasing and decreasing happen very subtly — if you look at it you won't see it, but if you're sitting in one corner of your home and after one hour you come back, you'll see how the shade has extended closer to the end of the day.

The Night as a Mantle

"And He is the one who has made the night for you as a mantle" — لِبَاس. MashAllah. Think about a shawl, a چَادَر — something that we use to cover ourselves. ظَلَيْل, what a beautiful way to express this. Think about this world — it's like a baby. And now when you put a shawl or a blanket over the baby's cradle, Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has put the night as a blanket over all of us. And just like the baby is crying and you tap it to sleep and then put the blanket over it — it falls asleep. No matter what's going on, when nightfall comes upon all of us, we just become so much more relaxed. The traffic stops, the stores become less populated, the streets become less populated, the lights shut off in the homes — there's just a relaxed feeling in the night. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has brought this لِبَاس for us.

The Blessing of Sleep

وَالنَّوْمَ سُبَاتًا — "And sleep as a repose." Sleep is one of the greatest blessings of Allah. SubhanAllah. You know who realises this? Those who've been tested by insomnia. Those who've been punished in jails and tortured through deprivation of sleep — where they force them to stay awake. Allahu Akbar. It's torture. What a torture — making them hang by their hands, beating them, blaring loud music, putting on bright lights. This is one of the quickest ways, they say, to make a person break — because when you don't have sleep, you just can't take it. Your mind just breaks down. Allahu Akbar. May Allah save us from ever being tested like that, and those who've been wrongly imprisoned may Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ make ways for them to gain their freedom. Ameen, Rabbil Alameen.

But sleep — this is one of the greatest blessings. It gives you such a recharge. And Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى on the night of Badr — everyone was worried. This was the first big battle. They were outnumbered. They had nothing compared to this strong army. How were they going to handle this? First time from Madinah, big battle, Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is also there. What does Allah say?

Allah says: غَشِيَ يُغَشِّي means to overwhelm, like you put a blanket over yourself. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى blanketed the army with نُعَاس — they just started falling asleep. Who falls asleep when you have an enemy in front of you? أَمَنَةً مِّنْهُ — as a source of peace from Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى. You need your sleep before you go into battle. SubhanAllah. Physically you're not going to be able to fall asleep out of fear and worry and concern — but Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى put barakah in that sleep. That little sleep they got was a very blessed sleep. And Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى also sent down rain, and that became a huge blessing.

So we understand that before we do any big thing, we have to be well rested. If we're not well rested, it will affect our decision-making process. Sleep is also one of the مَخْلُوق of Allah. And Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى, if He so wishes, can put barakah in it. That's why we've been taught the Tasbeeh Fatimi — 33 times سُبْحَانَ اللَّه, 33 times الْحَمْدُ لِلَّه, 34 times اللَّهُ أَكْبَر — before we go to bed.

This is a مُجَرَّب practice. I don't need to say this — it's a sunnah — but I'm telling you from experience of myself and my colleagues during madrasa days and, alhamdulillah, after madrasa days as well. Before the nights of exams, sometimes we'd have just two hours left before Fajr. But we'd always tell people: just recite this تَسْبِيح and go to sleep. Say, "Ya Allah, You set the dial — 6 hours, 7 hours — ya Allah, I'm going to sleep for 2 hours, but I want the barakah of 8." You ask Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى for how much you want, and you go to sleep. And honestly, I've seen this so many times — and I'm sure most of you have tried it — that within a few hours of sleep, if you read these adhkar with conviction and يَقِين, you will see that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى puts barakah in that sleep.

Another big blessing of sleep — besides becoming fresh and charged and ready to make good decisions — is that when you're not feeling it, when you've got the blues, when you're angry and upset, a big piece of advice for any married person: if you're in a bad mood, go to sleep. When a person wakes up, insha'Allah the storm has passed. That anger has cooled off. That desire to commit sin that was there — insha'Allah it has cooled off. So when people say, "I slept through the weekend," I say: if you have nothing better to do than sleep, even if you sleep 12 hours — because 12 hours of sleep is better than 6 hours of sin: listening to haram, watching haram, talking haram. The best thing is to go to sleep. Maybe not productive, yes — but it's way better than sinning. It's like the power-off button on the phone and the computer — it resets a lot of your problems.

Night Shifts and the Disruption of Natural Order

Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى connects نَوْم with لَيْل, because night is the time when sleep comes naturally. The same has been mentioned in Surah An-Naba':

Beloved brothers and sisters — the graveyard shift, the industrial revolution that has brought this 24-hour working of stores, companies, and factories — it is unnatural. It completely messes up the life cycle. A dad who has to work at night — how is he ever going to spend time with his children and raise his kids? How is he ever going to spend time with his wife? إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُون.

SubhanAllah. This is the secret to bring down a society. Think about what happened at Uhud. You're supposed to stay there and take care of the back entrance. Do not leave your post no matter what happens. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: even if you see vultures eating from the bodies, do not descend. Even if you see the game is over and everyone seems to have won and they're taking the loot — don't come down until I tell you. But some of them descended from Jabal al-Rumat, saying, "Game over." And so the house has to be guarded at all times. If the house doesn't have a guard — where your kids are — game over. Shaytan is coming from every direction: gadgets, cell phones, laptops, games, and everything else — and friends, neighbours, Muslim and non-Muslim.

If mom and dad are both outside of the house — whether in the day or the night — and especially if the mother has also left her position to earn an extra income, then how can we expect, SubhanAllah, that these children will survive the fitnah they are dealing with? Ask any doctor, psychiatrist, therapist — one brother told me he said, "I don't ask anymore about family history — it's so depressing." The family structure is done. You look at mass shooters — studies have shown that the vast majority come from broken single-parent homes. Are we better off financially? The average person is struggling more than ever. Double income — what has that done? Now we have separate families, and that fitnah has come into our Muslim community as well.

If everyone is worried about the tuition of the child, who is going to worry about the أَدَب of the child? Who is going to worry about the actual education — which does not happen in school but happens at home — the تَرْبِيَة? We have left our homes unattended, everyone focused outside — "the good is out there" — and we leave our homes unguarded, and we're losing our homes.

The divorce rate is now over 33% in our Muslim community. A lawyer I was speaking to recently told me that every single day of every single week, he does eight new divorce consultations — and all of them are Muslim. This is here, in our community. The money is coming — but what is that leading to? Where is the level of happiness?

And many of these cases — people are spending 30, 40, 50, 60,000 dollars each on lawyer fees and court fees. Collectively, at least 100,000 to 150,000. Some get even more expensive. One brother said 400,000 — that was about 600,000 dollars combined. On what? On a divorce. La ilaha illallah.

We used to talk about the simplicity of weddings — now I have to speak about the simplicity of divorces. Honestly. The Quran says: when you want to let go, let go. If it doesn't work, fine — but do it in a nice manner, amicably. Part ways nicely, سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُم. It didn't work out, yalla — we move on. May Allah give you someone good, and may Allah give me someone good. The Quran acknowledges it's not always going to work — it can happen — although it is أَبْغَضُ الْحَلَال, the most hated halal. If you absolutely must — okay. But why 500,000? Why 200,000? A non-Muslim lawyer noted that his Muslim clients by far have more costly divorces, and by far more nasty and long-lasting ones, than his non-Muslim clients.

I said: we used to speak about the simplicity of nikah, now I have to speak about the simplicity of طَلَاق. Make it simple. This grudge — "I'm going to make you lose everything you have" — this is not part of our deen. We see people who are coming from religious backgrounds, who studied the deen, went to madrasas, went to the masjid — when religious people want to get divorced, they also forget the deen. "See you in court." Brother, it can all be taken care of within 50 dollars — figure out what the deen says and take care of everything. Why must we drag it into the courts? But now the lawyers are telling us that we're not just like the non-Muslims — unfortunately we are worse than them in terms of how long it drags on, how nasty, how much filth and anger and frustration. May Allah guide us.

The Natural Cycle of Day and Night

Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى has created the night for us to sleep, and there is barakah in it that you can never find in the day. Allah mentions in Surah Al-Qasas:

"Say: Have you considered — if Allah were to make the night endless for you till the Day of Judgment, what god besides Allah could bring you light? Do you not listen? Say: Have you considered — if Allah were to make the day endless for you till the Day of Judgment, what god besides Allah could bring you a night in which you could rest? Do you not see?"

Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ is telling us: the shift of the night and the day is powerful. It's needed for the existence of human beings. And it's not just the shift of the night and the day — it's what you do at night and what you do at day. You work during the day, and you sleep at night.

This is why the shayateen work extra hard at night. As soon as the Maghrib adhan is called, the shayateen are rushing — like how we rush in the morning to work at 6am. Night time is when they work. So beloved brothers and sisters, sleeping on time is a whole talk in itself — on the importance of sleeping early, as per the sunnah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. He would prohibit any type of discussions after Isha — سَمَر, sitting and speaking at night. This is something which has been prohibited in our deen.

For the college students — the night-owl schedule is horrible. Madrasa students, for you as well — do not sit there and study at night. We spoke about this before. If you want to study, wake up before Fajr. Put your alarm at 3:30, 4am. No one's going to stop you. But to sit and say, "Let me study from 11:30 to 1:30 with my study group" — this is foolish. There's no barakah in that. The real barakah will come before Salatul Fajr. Any study you want to do — try that out. Whether it's medical studies, عِلْم studies, anything — before Fajr is Tahajjud time. The angels are descending, Allah is accepting du'as, and the activity of the shayateen insha'Allah will be less.

"And We have made the daylight a time of نُشُور" — resurrection, people coming together, meaning morning time. Don't sit there and sleep. This is our problem — our background, our desi culture too. Allah forgive us. The weddings and the شَادِيَان get started at 11pm overseas. By the time they finish at 3am, Isha is gone, Fajr is gone, people wake up at 11am. You call anyone at 8 o'clock and no one's going to pick up. Absolutely un-Islamic تَرْتِيب.

The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: Allah has put barakah in the بُكُور — the early portion of the day — of this ummah.

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 2606; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1212; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 2236)

Look at the opposite of what we're doing. Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ is saying: Allah has put special barakah in the early morning hours for this ummah. If you start your work after Fajr, within five hours you'll get done what might not happen if you start at 11 and go all the way to 11. So pray your Fajr, and even before Fajr you can get started — if you're working online or whatever your business is.

And then there is قَيْلُولَة — you wake up early, and then before Salatul Dhuhr you sleep for a little bit: 20 minutes, 30 minutes, sunnah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ. This will assist you to wake up at night for Tahajjud. So if all of us try to use our lunch hour — go to our car or anywhere else available — put on an eye patch and say, "I'm going to revive the sunnah of Rasulullah صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ starting from tomorrow." You have a lunch hour? 20 minutes, 15 minutes — just do it because it's a sunnah, and you will see such barakah that you haven't seen.

I know one brother who moved from Pakistan to here — he was a physician. He moved back to Pakistan. I said, "Why did you move back?" He said, "I was missing my قَيْلُولَة. I said I can't stay in this work style — I'll go back to Pakistan." MashAllah. So we can bring it wherever we are — where there's a will, there's a way.

Also, I remember in madrasa there was one young man — my classmate — who, ten minutes before Salatul Fajr, would lie down in the masjid. The masjid was full of 500 students. I said, "What are you doing, man?" He said, "This is a sunnah of the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ — that the Prophet would get up very early before Fajr and pray extended Tahajjud, and then before Fajr he would lie down — just to, as they say, straighten the back, just stretch out — not sleep, that would break his wudu — just lie down, get fresh for Salatul Fajr." So he used to do this for the sake of reviving the sunnah. If you're going to do it here, please do it in the side hall. And if you break your wudu, make sure you do wudu before you come to Salatul Jama'ah.

The Morning Routine and Home Tarteeb

May Allah enable all of us — now fathers — to do what our fathers did with us. Our fathers didn't allow us to sleep after Fajr. There's no concept of that. After Salatul Fajr would be a time to read Surah Yasin, sometimes Surah Al-Baqarah, read our manzil, get to work, and have breakfast after we recited Quran — always breakfast after half an hour of reciting Quran after Fajr. No concept of sleeping.

But unfortunately this generation — I don't know if we're really lagging behind on this, but a big chunk of us are. So we have to work on this. And the moms who are listening to me — I think you have to take charge of this. That's it. Khalas. You're going to start hearing pots and pans in the kitchen making the chai and the eggs right after Fajr. There's no such thing as 9am. Everyone is up, breakfast is served 20 minutes after Salatul Fajr. You pray, you do your morning du'as, you read your Surah Yasin, and then we have breakfast.

Our ustad used to tell us: keep the same تَرْتِيب even Saturday and Sunday. You want to sleep in on Saturday or Sunday? Fine — but sleep in after إِشْرَاق. Create a set time that between Fajr and after sunrise we are never going to sleep — no matter what — 7 days a week, the same تَرْتِيب. Our mind should know: after Fajr, no matter what day it is, I'm not sleeping right now. Get to that تَرْتِيب right now so that insha'Allah when spring time comes, we are sticking to it.

Who has to start? The moms and dads — those of us who are married — we have to start first. Then our children will follow suit. We have to set an example. Those youth who are living with friends — you start. Honestly, if you start, your mom and dad will look at you and be very impressed. Every father and mother will be so impressed. Create an environment, and you'll see how much barakah there is in reciting Quran out loud at home.

Those of us who have a habit of sitting in the masjid — this is great — but please do not forget your home as well. When you do ibadah in the masjid, that's nice. But also spend some time with your children at home in the morning — if possible, or at some other time of the day — to recite the Quran and do dhikr at home.

The Wind and the Rain — Signs of Allah's Mercy

Again, Allah says: that same Allah who is behind all of this natural phenomena — He is the one who sends the winds, رِيَاح. When رِيَاح comes in the plural sense, this means the wind of mercy. When رِيح comes in the singular, this means a harsh tornado, a harsh storm. The singular form is used for punishment, and the plural form is used for mercy. Allah says: He's the one who sends the winds bearing glad tidings before the showers of His mercy.

وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً طَهُورًا — "And thus do We send down from the sky purifying water." What is this telling us? That we live in artificially regulated homes and masajid — the weather and the temperature is completely artificially regulated. You don't even need to open the window for fresh air. So we don't have the concept of all of this. But if you live outside without air conditioning and heating — when you get a cool breeze coming in on a hot summer day, what is that signal? Rainfall. The clouds are coming.

I've had the honour of listening to this beautiful ayah being recited in the Haram Sharif in Makkah al-Mukarramah. As the Imam is reciting mashAllah, I'm getting drenched with the rain — and it's beautiful. It's a hot summer day in Makkah, and then after Asr or after Maghrib, you feel the breeze. You start your Tawaf or your Maghrib Salah, the cool breeze is hitting you, and you're like, "Man, this is nice." And then the Imam starts reading this — before he even finishes the ruku', mashAllah, you start getting wet and drenched in the rain.

For those who live in environments that are not regulated like ours — appreciate this ayah. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is letting them know: I am the one who sends down these beautiful winds that are glad tidings of رَحْمَة. What is رَحْمَة? Honestly, we cannot understand this ayah. Ask the people in Somalia. Ask the people in other parts of the world who have suffered drought. SubhanAllah. Thousands have died already this year due to droughts. So what is water? Water is one of the greatest رَحْمَت of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى.

And then Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says مَاءً طَهُورًا — you can have water that is dirty, you can have water that is clean but cannot purify, but Allah did not give us either of those two types of water. Allah gave us water that is pure — طَاهِر — and that can purify other things — مُطَهِّر. So now mashAllah we can do our laundry, dishes, showers, everything.

Beloved brothers — we don't know what it means not to have clean water available to wash your dishes, wash your clothes, wash your body. Just go see what's happening to large chunks of the world across the Muslim world who do not have access to any clean water. Allahu Akbar. May Allah not test us in that manner, and may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى save us from being ungrateful for these blessings.

One doctor who had gone to the Burmese refugee camp in Bangladesh — Cox's Bazar — told me: "After I came back, for one full week I simply could not take a shower. I had to use a bucket and I could not use hot water. I felt so guilty after having seen with my own eyes what is happening in the refugee camp." A million-plus people in that area — no running water, forget about hot water — for years. How many other places are suffering like that?

We have to go and see. Many of you fathers and mothers who are wondering how to help your son or daughter — their heart doesn't seem to be softening, you can't get them to follow the deen — in my opinion, try taking them for a humanitarian mission. Go travel. I myself, when I go, may Allah make it easy for me to go for my own heart to soften. I want to go and see these places. There's nothing like seeing it yourself. I think we all need it, because we're all so spoiled.

What did Nabi صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ say? — and I speak to you knowing very well that I am most in need of what I'm saying — do not waste water while doing wudu, even if you're sitting on the banks of a river. The Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ said: do not waste water, because there are people who don't have a river in front of them.

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 425; Musnad Ahmad)

We have lots of water here, alhamdulillah — but it doesn't give us the right to waste it. I encourage all of you to figure out, try your best, to visit a place where they are suffering. Take money from here, take means from here, join one of the many organisations that do so, and go visit for a week. Take your sons with you. Our Asatidha have shared this with me. Take your sons and daughters to places that do not have what you have in your country, because the reason there is so much disobedience to parents and to Allah is because you have been spoiled by luxuries. If you want to bring change within yourself, you need to go a notch down for at least a week.

And when you go for Umrah, what happens? We stay in a luxurious hotel that we never stayed in in America. We have food that we have never eaten here before — that's how much food we have. So going for Umrah and Hajj does not give us the mujahadah. Mujahadah must come by travelling elsewhere, to places where you really feel that you're at ground zero.

I ask Allah عَزَّ وَجَلَّ to facilitate that for all of us and to soften our hearts. May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى allow us to become grateful for the blessings we have. May He not test us by removing these blessings from us. May He not hold us accountable —

May He not hold us accountable for the ungratefulness that we have. May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى save us from being ungrateful to Him, and may Allah جَلَّ جَلَالُهُ raise us amongst the شَاكِرِين. Ameen, Rabbil Alameen.

Du'a for Our Brothers and Sisters Across the Globe

Please make an effort to memorize this du'a, which we should be reciting after every single salah — especially for our brothers and sisters across the globe who are suffering, and especially in Gaza:

"O Allah, guide us among those whom You have guided, and grant us wellbeing among those whom You have granted wellbeing, and take us under Your care among those whom You have taken under Your care. Bless us in what You have given us, and protect us and ward off from us the evil of what You have decreed. Verily You decree, and none can decree over You. Indeed, he is not humiliated whom You befriend, nor is he honoured who is Your enemy. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted. We seek Your forgiveness and repent to You."

Q&A Session

How to Deal with a Disobedient Spouse

SubhanAllah — and the same question goes the other way: how to deal with a disobedient husband. The wives will ask that too, and I'll answer the same thing. The hearts of the sons and daughters of Ibn Adam are in the hands of Allah. That's the first thing we have to do — do not underestimate the power of Allah. If we are asking Allah to bring an end to the suffering in Gaza, can we not ask Allah to bring a change in our home? How much du'a are we making? How much time have we spent crying, saying, "Ya Allah, change the heart of my wife, change the heart of my husband"?

Stop bickering and fighting — no one is going to change like that. You spend time speaking to Allah and asking Allah. Read Surah Yasin and Surah Rahman every day, and make niyyah: "By Allah, through the barakah of these two surahs, soften the heart of my spouse." Additionally, reading the ayat of مَحَبَّة — the ayat of mercy and love between spouses — read these ayat regularly after every salah with the niyyah of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى joining the hearts. And then have honest, real discussions — after you've done that — about what exactly is the issue.

You have an arbitrator who wants to make it work out — but first start off with du'a. Start off with reading Surah Yasin and Rahman. Before you spend a thousand dollars on mentoring, therapists, and of course before you spend 55,000 or 85,000 on lawyers — first use أَعْمَال. "She won't listen. He will never listen." Who do you think you are? The children, the hearts of the Bani Adam, are between the fingers of Allah — He may turn them in any direction. Who are you to say she will never change, he will never change? Honestly, this is the biggest problem — we haven't made enough du'a and dhikr and begging Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى on these issues.

Is It Okay to Have Dual Income Prior to Having Children?

The thing is — just make sure your deen is not lost. It should not happen that you're both so tired that you come back home and no one is praying their salah, no one is able to push anyone to the masjid, no one is saying "we're not going to sleep until we do our witr and two rakats of salah, until we read our daily wird." If there is a need for dual income, fine — but make sure the bigger need, which is your spiritual need and then the spiritual needs of your children, is not lost.

On Vaping

Brothers — stop asking what's haram and what's not haram. Is it harmful? Of course it is — harmful to your health and harmful to your deen. And now marijuana is unfortunately being made available like chewing gum, everywhere. Astaghfirullah. I don't know what's going to happen to this generation. I ask the parents to be very vigilant — if a kid is vaping, e-cigarettes and marijuana are going to be within the next month, within the next few weeks, without doubt. Stay away from this.

How to Preserve Barakah — Nikah and Long Engagements

Engagement doesn't mean anything. Anything can happen after engagement. The way to solidify a marriage is through nikah. We should try our best to speak to the family. My message to all moms, dads, and youth: please make nikah easy. Please, please, please make nikah easy. You're paying $80,000–$100,000 in tuition for your sons and daughters in school — quietly just paying for it. Just do a $2,000 nikah. Less than that. You give some sweets and nikah is done. If you want to do walima, you don't have to do it until later, or do it when you consummate the marriage. What is walima? You serve chai and biscuits — "next Tuesday your walima is done." Do it. I challenge you.

I'll say it — I thank Allah — this is exactly what happened. My walima was biryani that was served in Masjid Noor when the اجْتِمَاع was taking place. At the end of it was biryani — that was my walima. Done. It was a program happening on Sunday after Dhuhr, and we said we'd like to serve food to all the people who were present. Alhamdulillah, I'm sitting in front of you. I haven't lost my life, I haven't lost my honour — it's 13 years now, alhamdulillah, with the will of Allah. Because of the simplicity. The more barakah will come when you spend less. Make things easy for your kids.

Is It Haram for Men to Work Night Shifts to Facilitate Salah?

We won't say it's haram if that's the only thing available — fine. But it's unnatural. You're missing out on a lot of things by staying away from home at night, and you're also putting yourself in harm's way, because a lot of stuff happens at night.

How to See the Prophet in a Dream

There is no guaranteed way of doing that. However, sending abundant صَلَوَات upon the Prophet صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ will help. The more sunnah you have in your life and the more abundant salawat — insha'Allah, by the will and permission of Allah, it will help.

Does Allah's Hand Actively Change the Colors of the Leaves in Real Time?

"Allah's invisible hand" is a figure of speech. What does that mean? Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى's أَمْر — كُن — every single thing is happening in real time. It's called تَكْوِين. Study that in عَقِيدَة. Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is constantly —

Non-stop, Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى in real time is doing things. But Allah is above time — you can't even put Him in time per se — it's above and beyond time. Non-stop with the أَمْر, and as soon as Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى says stop, it stops — whenever He wants. That is our يَقِين. When the morsel goes into my mouth — it's not going to go down my throat without Allah's permission. Every single movement is by the will of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى.

How Do I Build and Improve My Yaqeen?

One of the ways is by attending gatherings like this. Number two — speak about Allah more often. Not only do dhikr of Allah — لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّه, أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّه — but speak about Allah all the time. Attribute all good and all bad, whatever is happening, back to Allah. Keep reminding yourself that Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى is in control.

How to Convince a Spouse Who Pushes Towards Divorce

Divorce — we have to say enough is enough. We need to create communities that say: no to divorce. We're not going to allow it. Every single day, for the most petty and foolish reasons, people are divorcing. This is one of the biggest challenges we are facing — because if loving, caring, religious-minded moms and dads cannot keep their kids on the deen, what do you think is going to happen when you have divorced parents?

Almost all the time, in divorced parents, I see one of them starts leaving the deen. How many women I know of — wearing niqab, hijab, everything — and as soon as the divorce proceedings started, it's like something just flipped. All sense of حَيَاء, all sense of modesty gone, clothes changed, the way they speak changed — everything changes. What happened? And I've seen this in many women, that's why I'm saying it. This is why I strongly believe that these divorces are not just for natural reasons — it's a very strong supernatural presence. What do I mean? Shaytan. Shaytan is working extra hard to create these divorces, because the more divorces happen, the easier it will be for shaytan to attack the children and get them away from the deen.

This is why I warn all moms, dads, fathers, brothers, and sisters: please take this issue seriously. Listen — don't jump to divorce. Your wife and your husband are not your enemy. Shaytan has made it seem like that. That's my first question when people come to me. I say: "How long has he or she been acting like this?" If you say, "The first three months we were great, the first three years were great, then this happened" — that's not normal. That means something happened externally. If you were walking completely fine and all of a sudden you start limping, that means you fell somewhere, something happened. So let's fix it — go to a doctor. Similarly, if the marriage turned after some amount of time of being fine, there is more than likely an external influence. This is where doing adhkar, going to a scholar, taking advice will help.

May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى save all of our marriages. May Allah save the marriages of our parents. May Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى allow those who are not yet married to find the very best of spouses. Those who are looking for their children — may Allah make it easy for them to find someone for their kids. Those who are previously married — may Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى make it easy for them to find as well.

Closing Du'a

O Allah, those brothers whose relatives are very sick — O Allah, whose names You know — grant complete شِفَاء to those sick relatives. O Allah, grant complete shifa to all those brothers and sisters who are terminally ill, in critical conditions, in hospitals or at home — O Allah, grant them shifa, grant them shifa.

O Allah, our honourable ustad, Hazrat Muhammad Doodat Sahib, دَامَتْ بَرَكَاتُهُم, who is in critical condition in South Africa — O Allah, we ask You to grant him complete shifa. Make this sickness of his, and the sickness of all those who are suffering, a means of every one of them getting closer to You.

O Allah, our brothers and sisters in Palestine and in all different parts across the globe who are suffering — we ask You, O Allah, to grant those who have passed away an accepted shahada. Grant all of them an accepted shahada. For those who have been spared — O Allah, grant them all صَبْرٌ جَمِيل. Allow them to have conviction that their children, their innocent kids, their spouses, their parents, and their siblings have attained shahada. O Allah, grant all of these people who have been left behind strength. They are going through, O Allah, the most difficult of circumstances. Grant them Your special protection.

O Allah, allow all of us in the entire ummah to collectively repent for our sins — because of which the ummah is being afflicted through so many difficulties. O Allah, allow us all — we seek forgiveness now in this gathering — from any and all major sins we have done as a group and as the ummah, collectively or individually: from sins of looking at haram, listening to haram, eating haram, indulging in haram, buying haram, selling haram, thinking about haram, walking towards haram, holding haram — any and all haram that we have done, any and all فَرْض that we have neglected — we ask You, O Allah, forgiveness for that, collectively and individually.

O Allah, we ask You to grant victory to the believers wherever they may be. O Allah, grant us all protection from the plots and ploys of shaytan, and the plots and ploys of our nafs. O Allah, save our marriages. Save our homes. O Allah, grant us the ability to see the plots and plans of shaytan, and protect us from the plans of Dajjal, and from the shayateen from among the humans and the jinn.

O Allah, protect all of our masajid, all of our madaris, all of our deen institutions, all of our Muslim brothers and sisters — their homes, their iman, their children, their businesses, their interests. O Allah, whatever blessing You have given us — allow it to be protected and preserved. O Allah, grant long life and health to our parents and grandparents. Those who have passed away — grant them Jannatul Firdaws. Whoever is requesting a du'a from us — O Allah, grant them better than what they are expecting from You.

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ