Surah Furqan - Ep.13 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

يَا وَهَّابُ، يَا وَهَّابُ، يَا وَهَّابُ۔ يَا فَتَّاحُ، يَا فَتَّاحُ، يَا فَتَّاحُ۔ يَا جَبَّارُ، يَا جَبَّارُ، يَا جَبَّارُ۔

Allah says in the Quran:

صَدَقَ اللَّهُ الْعَظِيمُ

Introduction: The Purpose of Gathering

Beloved brothers and sisters, we ask Allah to accept all of your coming here tonight, and may He make it a means of our salvation, and make it a means of us all being reconnected with the blessed Qur'an, and may Allah open up the meanings of the Qur'an upon our hearts, and may He enable us all to practice on it and propagate it.

May Allah allow every one of us to become beautiful representations of the teachings of the Qur'an, in our character with one another, in our dealings, in our buying and selling, in all our conduct. May our akhlaaq be a reflection of the Qur'an. And whatever we've come with tonight to the masjid, or listening online, whatever issues and problems we're going through, we ask Allah to allow us all to find the solutions in the verses that we will be covering tonight.

As always, we should be sincere in our talab — in our desire — for why we're sitting here. And if we become humble in front of Allah, then this is the key to every single thing that a person could ever dream of. The way to take from Allah's treasures is through humility. A person can never get from Allah through arrogance and through self-righteousness. A person will only get further from Allah through those sins. But when a person is humble, when a person is down to earth, when a person feels himself to be insignificant in front of Allah, then through this sifah of tawadu' and humility, a person attains that which he will never be able to attain through any other means.

So these are the attributes and the qualities we should be working on, and increasing within ourselves every time we attend a halaqa of dhikr and ilm. Additionally, halaqat of knowledge and dhikr are a beautiful rinse for our hearts. A person should sit here with this intention: Ya Allah, Your nur that is descending on this gathering, and the angels that are present here, through the blessing of all of these righteous servants of Yours — those we see and those we cannot see — in their sohbah and their presence, allow my filthy heart to become purified. Allow my filthy thoughts to become clean. Allow my dirty eyes to become purified. And allow every portion of my body and my soul to become blessed and munawwar and enlightened through the barakah of those who we are sitting with.

There is something called second-hand smoke. A person sitting with a smoker inhales that — it destroys him, it kills him. And at the very least, you will smell like a smoker if you're sitting next to someone who is smoking. If that is the case with evil, then imagine — it must similarly be the case — when a person sits with those people who have nur, when a person sits with those people who are blessed souls. Just by simply sitting in their company — sitting with innocent children, sitting with elderly people, sitting with students of knowledge — what a person can get is something we know no bounds of. By ourselves, we're nobody. By ourselves, we are nothing. But when we sit here with other amazing souls, then we are hoping that their goodness will rub off onto us.

Just like Nabi ﷺ has given the example of nafikh al-kir — the one who is blowing into an oven and a furnace — what will happen? He will get the heat upon his body; it may outright burn him. And if it doesn't burn him, it might burn his clothes. If it doesn't burn his clothes, at least the ash and the smoke of that furnace will affect him. And similarly, someone who is selling itr — either you purchase the itr and you have your own, but if you don't purchase your own and you are sitting next to him, some of that goodness will rub off. So these are some of the various intentions we should make when we attend any gathering of dhikr and ilm: Ya Allah, I do not know which wali of Yours is sitting here. I'm not the wali, but there are awliya and there are angels present, and through me sitting in their company, I hope insha'Allah some of this will rub off onto me.

Review: The Qualities of 'Ibad al-Rahman

Last week, Mufti Hassan covered for me, and alhamdulillah, it seems like we need substitutes once in a while to come in to get us moving. And now we've already begun the discussion of 'Ibad al-Rahman. This is an amazing selection — 13 verses of Surah al-Furqan. Some of you have already studied this, heard tafasir on it — powerful, amazing verses of Surah al-Furqan, the closing 13 verses approximately, in which Allah speaks about the qualities of His special servants.

So we had covered:

Quality One:

They walk on the earth humbly.

Quality Two:

When ignorant people — people who are hostile, who are just picking a fight — try to speak to them and instigate them, they don't get instigated. They just say salam and move on.

Quality Three:

They are the ones who spend a portion of their night either in sajda or in qiyam. Why sajda or qiyam? SubhanAllah, the ulama of tafsir say: some people enjoy sajda, some people enjoy qiyam. Some people just love to read Qur'an — one juz, two juz, three juz, four juz in one rakah. There are people like that till today, subhanAllah, who read four or five juz per rakah.

One of my classmates, whose father passed away — رَحِمَهُ اللَّهُ رَحْمَةً وَاسِعَةً — was telling me: my mom and dad, every single night for decades, right here in America, would wake up for tahajjud. My mom would join my father, and my father would read about eight juz in tahajjud salah. Just imagine such people — alive today, in this country — husband and wife, standing together in tahajjud, the wife standing behind the husband as he reads eight or nine juz. Allahu Akbar.

So, as much as we hear about the bad, we need to focus also on the good. There's a lot of good that's happening. There are a lot of righteous, amazing people around, right under our nose. You don't have to go hiking into the mountains of Africa to find pious people. There are people right around you who lead very inspiring lives. And many times, we do not find out about their good deeds except after they are gone. Then we hear about what they used to do from their family and their relatives.

May Allah make us from amongst those of either qiyam or sajda.

I remember a classmate of mine — I've mentioned his name here many times — he passed away also, subhanAllah, last year: Mawlana Uthman. His sajda, on a daily basis, would be so long — between 30 to 40 minutes would be his sajda. There were times we would be studying during taqrar — revision time — and I would pass through the masjid to use the restroom. I would see him in sujood. And there were many times where I thought it's now 11:45 at night and the man has been in sajda. I thought he must have fallen asleep, because students of knowledge are deprived of sleep — anywhere you go, you can fall asleep. It is very possible to fall asleep in sajda as well.

I remember after Salatul Fajr, Surah Yasin would be recited. After Fajr, a big chunk of the students would be — as they say in South Africa — "catching fish." Because you'd look and see the head fallen down, back and forth, like someone with a fishing rod. These are students of knowledge — sleep deprived because they're studying.

On Thursday nights, we used to do salawat, like we do over here — we got this from our darul uloom, Zakariyya, where every Thursday night they do salawat. There was one occasion when, at breakfast time, our honorable ustadh, Hazrat Mufti Radha-ul-Haqq damat barakatuh, said: I want to share with you something that happened last night. He said: I was sitting in the saf of the masjid while students were reading salawat. After all the students finished reading the forty salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ, I made dua. One student, in the same row, a few spots down, had fallen asleep.

Afterwards, that student came and said: While I was reading salawat in the masjid, I fell asleep. And in that sleep, I had a vision of the Prophet ﷺ. And the Prophet ﷺ asked me to convey his salam to you.

So Hazrat Mufti Sahib — a person who holds his emotions very well — cried. At the breakfast table, sharing this news, he became teary-eyed. And he was very good at deflection. He would always deflect praise that came to him. He said: Look, it's not about that. Subhan'Allah, mashallah, there are people who see the Prophet ﷺ. But to receive a salam like this — this is just something else. But immediately he attributed it to the piety of the youngster and said: How pious are our students. How blessed are our students. That even wherever they are, even if they fall asleep while sitting in the masjid reading salawat, alhamdulillah, they are blessed with the vision of Rasulullah ﷺ.

So as I was saying — there were a number of times I tapped Mawlana Uthman, thinking he may have fallen asleep in sajda. But all he would do is يَرْفَعُ صَوْتَهُ بِالْبُكَاءِ — he would raise his voice and allow me to hear him crying. That he's not asleep; rather he is crying in his du'a.

There are people in this world who seem too good for it. The fitna keeps on going, and Allah has this du'a of the Prophet ﷺ:

Whenever You intend to put a people into fitna, whenever You intend to put my nation into fitna, then pull me back in a state that I am not falling into any fitna. This is one of the du'as of the Prophet ﷺ — take me back, call me back, in a state that I am not going through any fitna.

SubhanAllah — Mawlana Uthman was coming back from a dini gathering and had a car accident. Him, his wife, and about three children all passed away. Only one child remained. And what was he doing in Malawi? He was actually working in an orphanage — subhanAllah — and Allah left one child of his as an orphan. But alhamdulillah, we expect only great things from Allah for Mawlana Uthman.

But my point is: there are certain people who enjoy sajda, and there are certain people who enjoy qiyam. And that's why Allah mentions that they spend the night in sajda or qiyam.

A Shortcut for the Rest of Us: Praying After 'Isha

Now the weak people like myself, we say: Oh brother, we cannot do 45 minutes sajda, we cannot do 45 minutes qiyam. What do we do? Very interesting — there's always something for all of us.

There is a hadith mentioned here, attributed to Imam al-Mundhiri in Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib, and Imam al-Tabarani has mentioned it in Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir:

(Al-Tabarani, Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir; cited by Imam al-Mundhiri in Al-Targhib wa al-Tarhib)

Whoever performs Salatul Isha in jama'ah — like all of you have done — and then performs four raka'at before leaving the masjid, he will get the reward as though he is standing up in Laylatul Qadr. You say: What? That's too good. Exactly — because how many people are actually going to do it?

There was a reward Rasulullah ﷺ mentioned about tasbih after every Salat — SubhanAllah, walhamdulillah, la ilaha illallah, wa Allahu akbar, Ayatul Kursi, and some other adhkar. The Nabi ﷺ mentioned unbelievably high rewards for that. The Sahaba said: Ya Rasulullah, this is too easy. So much reward for so little effort — why? And the Prophet ﷺ responded and said: Because very few will do it.

Now why will very few do it? Let's look. After Asr, there's nowhere we're rushing. After Fajr, where are you rushing to? Besides those who have to go to work — let's leave them aside — but the rest of us, who is waiting? No one. But a person feels like: I gotta run. Where am I running to?

And then the Prophet ﷺ mentioned that shaytan comes to one of us. In salah itself — before we even finish — he begins to say:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 608; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 389)

He tells the person to start remembering this and that — things he was not thinking about before salah. And then, as soon as salah finishes, shaytan comes in full force: Someone's waiting for you in the parking lot. What if I got a missed call? What if my boss is waiting? What if my wife is upset? All of these what-ifs happen just to get you out of your spot. And as soon as you get out of the spot, you might end up sitting in the lobby drinking chai for 10 minutes, 20 minutes in the parking lot speaking about the stock market, sitting in the car listening to the radio for another 15 minutes. Shaytan — mission accomplished. He got you out of your spot.

The ajr for these adhkar is when you sit in the spot and do that. Now someone who is constantly sitting in the spot doing dhikr but genuinely has an emergency — he has to go to the bathroom, or go to an appointment — insha'Allah, no problem. You carry on doing the dhikr as you go. But the actual sunnah is that after salah, we sit down. For those salah that have sunnah — like Maghrib, Isha, Dhuhr — we stand up after the fard salah quickly, pray our sunnah, and then sit down. After our sunnah mu'akkadah, we sit down for some minutes and engage in dhikr and dua.

The reason I mention this is that it's so easy to do tasbih: SubhanAllah 33 times, Alhamdulillah 33 times, Allahu Akbar 34 times, Ayatul Kursi once, and then:

And the rewards are too numerous to count. The reason we don't do it is because shaytan comes to us and pushes us away. So a person needs to understand that Allah is so merciful — He opens up the doors of mercy for all of us and says: You can stand up all night, no problem. But I'll give you an easy shortcut: pray four raka'at before you leave the masjid.

Allama Alusi, rahmatullahi alayhi, mentions in Ruh al-Ma'ani that a person who performs a nafl salah after Isha before going to bed will, insha'Allah, get the reward of tahajjud. Those of you who know Hakim Akhtar rahmatullahi alayhi from Karachi — he would always mention this point in all his bayans, always quoting Imam Alusi.

Yes, the best, highest level of tahajjud is called salah bayna al-nawmayn — salah between two sleeps — meaning you go to sleep, then wake up at 3 or 3:30 AM, perform tahajjud, then go back to sleep before waking for Fajr. That is hard — and that's why it is the most rewarding. After that, the one who performs salah in the last third of the night; or if not the last third, the last sixth of the night, even closer to Fajr. If we can do that, alhamdulillah. If not, at least perform salah before we go to bed.

Allah wants from His servant — who has enjoyed His blessings all day — to reflect upon what he enjoyed before going to bed. Like when you burp, at least thank the host who gave you the meal. Think about all of us sitting here with our families. You've got three, four children comfortably tucked up in their beds. You've got your parents, alhamdulillah, alive. You've got your spouse next to you. You've got a warm home. You just had a nice full dinner. And then think about what people in Palestine are going through today. Which decisions some parents are being forced to make. Subhanallah.

So we need, before going to bed, a few moments of reflection. When everything is done for the day — may Allah give myself and all of us tawfiq — spend some quality time on the musalla. Make niyyah today: Ya Allah, I'm going to try to do this. I'm going to at least pray two raka'at salah. Those of us who have qadha salah to make up — the most virtuous thing for us is to make up our qadha salah in these occasions. And of course make du'a to Allah.

Mawlana Salim Durat damat barakatuh from England mentioned in one of his talks — among the many things we should be doing for Palestine, he said: give sadaqah every single day. Give sadaqah every day and make niyyah for the brothers and sisters of Palestine. Because through sadaqah, the help of Allah comes. Give that sadaqah directly to them — that's the best. If you can't give it directly, then anywhere else to people in need. But make the niyyah: Ya Allah, through the barakah of this sadaqah, allow Your hidden help to come.

Quality Four: Seeking Protection from the Fire of Hell

O Allah, keep the punishment of hell away from us. For its punishment is indeed unrelenting. It is certainly an evil place to settle in, and to reside.

What's very interesting here is that Allah talks about the du'a they're making for protection from Jahannam — after doing what? After spending a good portion of the night in qiyam or sajda. This is what you call Ibadullah. Ibadur Rahman do not do istighfar after spending the night in sin. Ibadur Rahman do istighfar and seek Allah's protection after doing ibadah, because they're scared their ibadah is not going to be accepted.

The one who truly cares brings something for you and says: I hope you like it. A believer, when he does a good deed, doesn't just dump it in the court of Allah and say: Go on. No — he sits there saying: Ya Allah, how do You like it? Is this acceptable to You? I know it's not the way You probably wanted it, but I tried.

I remember one time when I was a little child, I made chai for my parents and wanted to make it special. I said, Let me put cardamom in it. But I didn't know my spices well enough, so I ended up putting garam masala. I was probably 7 years old. My parents didn't get upset about that. It was like, well — you tried. You climbed up onto the countertop, opened up the spice cabinet, and tried to put spice in the tea for your parents. That's pretty cute. You made a mistake — but that's how it is with Allah. Ya Allah, I tried. I probably missed out some sunnah. I hope You like it. I know it's not worthy of acceptance, but if You would be so kind as to just let it pass, I would be very obliged. What is Allah going to say? Allah has more love than a mother or father have for their child. When Allah loves this humility and humbleness, of course He is going to take it.

That's why we say:

Those of you in Arabic studies — you studied the characteristics of the abwab. You learned the word tafa'ala. One of the specialties of this scale is called takalluf — something done with hardship, with difficulty, even though one may not want to do it. قَبِلَ يَقْبَلُ means to accept. But when that same verb is put on the scale of tafa'ala and you say تَقَبَّلَ يَتَقَبَّلُ, it doesn't simply mean to accept. What does it mean? As we say in Urdu: ba takalluf qabool kar lijiye — Ya Allah, accept this while overlooking all the flaws in it, because it is not worthy of acceptance. That is what is ingrained in the meaning of رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا. Subhanallah — look at how deep this beautiful language of Arabic is, and why Allah chose it to be the language of the Qur'an.

So when a person spends his night in ibadah and then turns to Allah and says: Ya Allah, I want You to please protect me from hell — this is exactly how a believer acts. Let's focus on another verse we covered in Surah al-Mu'minun:

Aisha radiallahu anha asked Rasulullah ﷺ about these people — are they those who spend the night in zina, or in drinking, or in thievery? He said: No, no, no. These are the people who actually spend their nights in qiyam, spend their days in fasting, yet they are afraid their deeds are not going to be accepted.

So their fear — the fear that the Sahaba and the Tabi'een had regarding their deeds not being accepted — was greater than our fear over our sins. The fear that they had for their deeds not being accepted far exceeds the fear any one of us has even after committing major mistakes. Why? It's because they knew Allah in a manner that you and I don't know Him. When you know someone and you know their capabilities and their strengths, you are careful around them.

Why does a small child want to put a knife or fork or scissors into an electrical socket? Is it really because he is courageous? No. It is because he is ignorant — he doesn't know what he's doing. Similarly, when a person stands up against Allah by sinning, it's not out of audacity or courage. No — it's because he is ignorant. He doesn't know who he's messing with. The Sahaba radiallahu anhum and the awliya knew Allah. And that's why they were scared: If these deeds don't get accepted, we'll be in big trouble.

So here — in every tashahhud — we say:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 834; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2705 — narrated by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq radiallahu anhu)

O Allah, indeed I — with the utmost emphasis — have oppressed myself, an immense oppression. No one can forgive sins except You. So forgive me with a special forgiveness that comes directly from You. And have mercy upon me. Indeed, You are the Most Forgiving, the Most Merciful.

How many people did you rob, cheat, or harm before you said this du'a? None — you just prayed Isha salah with the imam. This is what we're supposed to recite. Think about this: every single day, in our tashahhud, we have been taught to recite this du'a — narrated by Abu Bakr al-Siddiq radiallahu anhu — after our fard salah. After doing the most noble action in Islam, salah, we are being asked to ask Allah's forgiveness in this powerful, most humbling manner.

Beloved friends, this is what deen is about. You keep working hard and hard, but then always be afraid that it might not get accepted. It's not about exchanging gifts. Imagine you're going with a presidential delegation overseas, going to be received by an official governmental level delegation, and you've been tasked to give a gift representing your country. You cannot just grab something that someone gave you last week sitting in your closet. You're going to be thinking a month in advance: What can I give that will be acceptable?

My beloved brothers — we are giving our deeds to Allah. We are presenting in His court. Allah doesn't need my salah. And that's why the fear is about quality, quality, quality. So what we see here is that these believers are constantly seeking forgiveness from Allah and saying: Allah, turn Jahannam away from us.

What does غَرَام mean? غَرَام, غَرِيم — غَرِيم means something that is attached to you. That's why in Arabic, the one to whom we owe money is called غَرِيم — because he's going to be always chasing us down: Where's my money? He is called غَرِيم. So Allah is mentioning here that these people are seeking protection from Jahannam and saying: Ya Allah, Jahannam's punishment is something that is going to be forever — it is غَرَام, it will never detach itself from the disbelievers.

It is certainly an evil place to settle in, and to reside. Two words have been used here: مُسْتَقَرّ is a place to settle; مَقَام is a place to reside. Both refer to a non-stop, eternal place in Jahannam. Some ulama have explained that مُسْتَقَرّ refers to a temporary place, and مَقَام refers to a long-term place — meaning those believers who sinned and did not repent, or whose repentance was not accepted, may Allah protect us — these people may go into Jahannam as well, but for them it will be مُسْتَقَرّ: short-lived, for however many years Allah wills, and then eventually Allah will pull them out. And those who died without iman — for them the hellfire will be مَقَام.

A moment of reflection: when the magicians of Fir'aun decided to turn their backs against him due to the miracle they saw at the hands of Musa alayhissalam, he threatened to cut off their hands and their feet and then crucify them. What did they tell him? As we read in Surah Ta-Ha:

Do whatever you want. Because all you can do is harm our worldly life. You have no control beyond that. As soon as a soul comes out, you can chop our bodies to a million pieces — it doesn't make a difference. Whatever torture you want to give us is only for as long as we're alive. After that, you have no jurisdiction. And if we choose to follow you and disobey Prophet Musa, then whenever we die — 50 years from now, whatever — that death, even if it's painful, is just the beginning of the non-stop punishment of the hereafter. Subhanallah.

So it's important — as we think about what's happening overseas and we see the believers passing away — to understand that insha'Allah, Allah will not make them feel that pain as a shaheed. But even if they have to go through that pain, it will only be to elevate their status in Jannah. And as soon as that pulse dies, their souls are in paradise — enjoying that which no one can even imagine. Small punishment of this dunya is like a broken leg that can get fixed. عَذَابُهَا غَرَامًا — that is an amputated leg. The fire of Jahannam will never detach itself from the disbelievers.

Quality Five: Moderate Spending

And those people — when they spend, they do not spend wastefully, and they are not stingy, but are moderate in between.

This is amazing. 'Ibad al-Rahman are not only focused on ibadah. They're not only focused on tahajjud and qiyam al-layl. 'Ibad al-Rahman are holistic, complete human beings. Their approach to life is very pragmatic. They prepare for the hereafter, but they know they have to live in this world. So they live in this world in a manner that is not only beneficial for them in the hereafter, but is also beneficial for them in this world. That is why a Muslim, subhanAllah, is the most successful — a true Muslim will be the most successful in everything: in his career, in his business, in anything he puts his hand to, if he follows the principles of deen.

This is something we should be proud about. Our deen does not teach us to be hermits. Our deen doesn't just teach us to be the mats of the masjid. Instead, our deen teaches us to take our deen into all spheres of life. Many times one of the most famous questions is: How do you balance deen and dunya? And the answer is: a believer brings his deen into the dunya, and so his dunya also becomes deen. And a disbeliever or a fasiq brings his dunya into his deen, so even his deen doesn't remain deen.

As Allah says in the Qur'an:

Their ibadah around the House of Allah, the Ka'bah, was just play, clapping, and noises. Look at what happens today in various places of worship — where is the real humility, and humbleness, and begging in front of Allah for their sins, asking for guidance? Instead, it's all performance — nonstop random things: singing, music, feel-good type of stuff. That's what the Quran says. When you don't have proper deen, then the deen becomes dunya. And when you have proper deen, the dunya becomes deen.

So here we are being taught how should a person handle his books — how to budget. For a believer, a person needs to ensure that he takes a life of moderation. Nahas said:

(Al-Nahas, Tafsir Ma'ani al-Qur'an)

He said: one of the best tafsirs of this ayah is that whoever spends his wealth in the disobedience of Allah — that is called israf. Even if you spend one dollar in haram, that's israf. And iqtar — stinginess — is any time you hold your hand back from an obedience of Allah, from a good place of spending. And قِوَام is spending whatever you can in Allah's path — on your spouse, your children, your local masjid, on the orphans, on building a school, a water plant, whatever it is — any obedience of Allah.

Ibn Abbas radiallahu anhu mentions:

(Cited in various tafsir works under Quran 25:67)

Whoever spends one hundred thousand in a good project or avenue — he has not committed extravagance. And whoever spends even one coin in a place where he should not have — he has committed israf. And whoever withholds money from a fulfillment of a right that was obligated upon him — like taking care of his parents, his spouse, his children, those under his responsibility — that is qatar, that is stinginess.

So the question of today is: how do we have barakah in our spending? How do we bring barakah to our bank balance? This is what is being taught here — that when it comes to your expenses, make sure you lead a life of moderation. Do not spend more than you can afford. This is our biggest problem in this country. Why are credit cards flooding everyone? Even seven-year-olds receive credit card offers. There is a constant push to buy more — consumerism, Black Friday, Prime Day, and so on. What happens is: people purchase what they do not need, with money that they do not have, to achieve what they will never get — happiness.

This has destroyed our Muslim community. It's very sad, subhanAllah, how people are living in poverty. The top 1% is becoming trillionaires, and the gap between the average person and the wealthier class is becoming larger and larger across the globe. And a big chunk of it is because of our spending habits.

How many of us live in a home that we cannot afford — a home we don't actually need to be that large — with money we've borrowed, 20 years in, and still haven't paid off? If you're involved in riba, of course there's going to be no barakah. If you're involved in extravagance, of course there's going to be no barakah. So people are earning so much, but at the end of the month they say: I don't know where my money went.

And why is that? Because of israf — people are spending in places where they should not, or way, way beyond what they can afford. And what happens? They're just looking at the person down the street. He has a house like this, how can I have a house smaller than that? My sibling moved into such a neighborhood, how can I not live there? And so forth. We have a very bad habit of spending beyond our means.

Hazrat Qari Ayub Da'ud damat barakatuh — our ustadh — gave us marriage advice back in 2002 or 2003. He told us: You get married, you're so excited, mashallah you've got this amazing wife, you stayed away from haram your whole life, and now every single day you go out to eat — four-star restaurant, three-star restaurant. The bill comes to hundreds. She's thinking, mashallah, I guess my husband has a side business I'm not aware of.

He said: Now, seven days later, you look at your salary and your bill — how is it going to happen? So the next week, all of a sudden: dear, we're going to have dinner at home — I've got some tuna fish and mayonnaise, let's make a sandwich. And by the third day, when things have changed at home, the flowers have dried up and gone black, the wife says: oh my God, my husband doesn't like me anymore. And she's crying. And he said: The problem is, your husband doesn't hate you — he simply can't afford this lifestyle.

He said: Young Mulvis — don't start up your married life with such a high-end style that you can't keep up with it. When the next month comes around and you look at the budget, you're like: I can't afford this anymore. And you do a nosedive. And that causes a nosedive in your relationship. This advice is not for ulama only — it's for everyone. We all need to learn how to spend in moderation.

And in our excitement — whether over a son or daughter getting married, mashallah mubarak — it does not make sense to spend 80% of your assets. There are people who have themselves told me they sold their passed-down plots — land their father left them overseas — for their daughter's wedding. That land is gold — something your kids can have in the future. This israf is going to hurt you. And then the same people say: I don't have money for this, I don't have money for that. Why? Because we're not following the deen. The economic teaching of the deen is that you stay away from going to extremes.

The Answer of 'Umar ibn 'Abdul 'Aziz

Abdul Malik ibn Marwan was one of the earliest and most powerful Umayyad khalifas. It was during his time that the dots were placed on the letters of the Qur'an, and he was the first to place an Arabic emblem on the coins. His daughter Fatima bint Abdul Malik ibn Marwan was intended to be married to Umar ibn Abdul Aziz, known as the fifth rightly-guided khalifah. Abdul Malik asked him: What are your expenses? How do you handle the expenses of your home? Look at the answer:

My way of dealing with expenses is a good deed between two sins. What was he referring to? Right here — لَمْ يُسْرِفُوا وَلَمْ يَقْتُرُوا وَكَانَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ قَوَامًا. The قِوَام is a hasanah between two sins. What are the two sins? Wastefulness and stinginess. Look at how he was communicating with his future father-in-law, the Ameer al-Mu'mineen. He said: I'm going to have a lifestyle of a good deed between two sins. How can anyone oppose that?

The Qur'an mentions in Surah al-Isra:

Do not take your hands and make them like a shackle around your neck — meaning stinginess — and do not open up your hands fully either. Otherwise you will be suffering a life of lament — people will be blaming you for mismanagement of money — and you will be feeling regret and sadness because you have no money left.

Look at how beautiful our deen is, that it teaches us how to balance our books and lead a financially stable life. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 5736; cited by various scholars of hadith)

Whoever leads a life of moderation in spending will never become poor.

And of course we have our reading of Surah al-Waqi'ah every single day for protection from poverty. We should give sadaqah for the protection from poverty. Stay away from haram and riba for the barakah in our business. But we have to teach ourselves, our children, and our spouses how to ensure that we spend only in proper places, and in a manner that is appropriate.

Now someone may say: what about Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu, when Rasulullah ﷺ asked him — not what did you bring? but:

And he said: أَبْقَيْتُ لَهُمُ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ — I have left for them Allah and His Rasul. Well — you're not Abu Bakr. Even the other Sahaba were not Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu. That is why when people would want to give out all their money to Rasulullah ﷺ, would he accept it? No. He would not accept it. Today you are excited and moved and want to give everything. Tomorrow you are going to be standing on the footpath begging for money. The third day you're going to say: Look what the deen of Muhammad ﷺ did to me — I lost everything. That is why Nabi ﷺ would not take money from everyone — especially not all of it. He would take based on how much they could handle.

So we are not at the level of Abu Bakr radiallahu anhu. We should give in good places to a degree that we can handle. And of course, make sure the fara'id are taken care of first. What is qiwama?

The Story of Abu Ubayda and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab

Umar ibn al-Khattab radiallahu anhu, when he came to Sham — to Damascus — said to Abu Ubayda radiallahu anhu, the leader of the entire Syrian front:

I'm here — I want to come check out your house. He said: وَمَا تَصْنَعُ بِمَنْزِلِي؟ — What are you going to do with my home? Umar said: اذْهَبْ بِنَا إِلَيْهِ — Just take me, I want to see it. Abu Ubayda said: مَا تُرِيدُ إِلَّا أَنْ تَعْصِرَ عَيْنَيْكَ عَلَيَّ — It seems like you just want to spy on me and look into every nook and corner of my house to see my lifestyle.

So Umar radiallahu anhu entered the house of Abu Ubayda. فَلَمْ يَرَ شَيْئًا — he didn't see anything. Empty. Completely empty. Umar said: أَيْنَ مَتَاعُكَ؟ فَإِنِّي لَا أَرَى إِلَّا لِبْدًا وَشَنًّا وَصَحْفَةً وَأَنْتَ أَمِيرٌ. عِنْدَكَ طَعَامٌ؟ — Oh Abu Ubayda, where is all your furniture? I only see a basic mat, a water bowl, and that's it. Where is your food? You are the emir!

So Abu Ubayda stood up to a corner and brought a few broken, crumbled pieces of bread. فَبَكَى عُمَرُ — Umar radiallahu anhu began to cry. Abu Ubayda said: I told you so — I told you that you would cry if you came here. And then he said: يَكْفِيكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا مَا بَلَّغَكَ الْمَقِيلَ — It is sufficient to take from the dunya that which will get you to your resting spot. We just need barely enough to get to the other side.

Umar radiallahu anhu, crying, said: غَيَّرَتْنَا الدُّنْيَا كُلَّنَا غَيْرَكَ يَا أَبَا عُبَيْدَةَ — Dunya has changed all of us, except for you, O Abu Ubayda. You have not been changed.

Beloved brothers and sisters, there is a whole genre of tazkiyah — a whole subject called al-Zuhd. There is a book, the Kitab al-Zuhd of Abdullah ibn Mubarak — it is important for us to read the lifestyle of the Sahaba, the lifestyle of Rasulullah ﷺ, and the lifestyle of the pious predecessors of simplicity. The purpose is not to say that we are going to emulate that exactly. Not to say we are going to give everything away and eat crumbs tonight. But if it can at least stop us from spending an extra thousand dollars in unnecessary expenses, that's a mission accomplished. And using that thousand to give to those who don't have simple food and water today — this is why it's important for us to keep in our reading and constantly read stories and hadith regarding Zuhd — asceticism.

When a person reads books on Zuhd or stories of Zuhd, he will feel as though he is a hypocrite. And that's a good feeling — you're going to want to go to bed in a state where you feel guilty over being ungrateful to Allah, and feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for all the blessings Allah has given, and making a decision that the wealth which is an amanah from Allah will be spent in the most righteous manner.

Don't get me wrong — I'm not saying to sell your home, your car, your shoes. The point is simply the issue of the heart. If a person has all of this but his heart is disconnected from it, that's fine. But the problem is when our heart is in constant greed for more and more — this is the issue, and this is what we are supposed to be refraining from.

The Advice of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab to His Son

Umar radiallahu anhu gave advice to his son Asim — the grandfather of Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz. He told him:

O my son, eat only to half your full. Do not throw away any clothing until you have used it excessively and made it old. And do not be with that group of people who exclusively take Allah's rizq and spend it on their stomach and on their bodies.

And that is why it is mentioned about one of the Tabi'een — that he saw Umar radiallahu anhu giving a khutbah, and as he was standing giving the khutbah, he had 12 to 13 patches on his clothes. Ameer al-Mu'mineen, giving the khutbah, with 12 to 13 patches on his clothes. If a person cannot wear patched clothes, at least make sure that we give away our clothes to those who are in need. Do not keep unnecessary extra clothes in your home. Go through the wardrobe, give away extra clothes to poor people who need it. There are so many people who would love it — all over, even in this country and beyond.

By reading the stories of Zuhd, we realize how our hearts are supposed to be disconnected from these material things. May Allah bring the reality of this into my heart and into your hearts. And may He not make these simple words that we hear, but allow us to implement it into our lives and to lead by example. Ameen Rabbil Alameen.

Questions and Answers

Is It Permissible to Listen to Music?

It is not okay to listen to music — while studying, while exercising, while in the masjid, or whatever you are doing.

Is It Riba to Purchase a Home Through Islamic Financing?

The best option is obviously to go through no banks at all — through schemes we can create within ourselves. For example, someone who has $300,000 to invest says: There's a house for $250,000. I'll buy this house for $250,000 and sell it to you for $275,000, and you pay me every month. That would just be between two brothers — alhamdulillah. If not, Islamic banking is obviously going to be a better option. We will be addressing this in detail at our winter intensive, where one of the topics is going to be Islamic finance and riba in a non-Muslim country.

What Do I Tell My Friends About Movie Theaters?

Just think about the music a person is exposed to going to a movie theater. Think about the environment you're sitting in. Then think about all the inappropriate images a person sees. For a Muslim, nudity is not what non-Muslims think it is — it could be PG-13 for them. But if someone's hair is exposed, someone's chest is exposed, someone's neck or nape is exposed, this is all haram for us to look at. And besides that, subhanAllah — what is the amount of time wasted? Three hours sitting there watching this while the ummah is being slaughtered. Is this really the best way to spend one's time?

One person came up to me and said: Subhanallah, this actually works. He said: Every time a temptation of shaytan comes to me to do something I should not do, I actually think about that. I go online and check what's coming out of the past hour, and I say: oh my God, this is what those brothers and sisters are getting tested with. How dare I sit there and disobey Allah.

How Do You Get Out of Debt and Riba If Already Deeply Involved?

Number one — read Surah al-Waqi'ah. Number two — read this du'a:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 3563)

O Allah, make Your halal sufficient for me so I do not need Your haram. And make me self-sufficient through Your grace from anyone besides You. So I only need You — I don't need a loan officer from the bank. This du'a is very powerful for the fulfillment of debts. Du'a after every salah, giving sadaqah of some amount for this — and then honestly just making a decision: I am done with riba.

And it's going to be painful — like giving up cigarette smoking, or drinking. No one said it's painless. But you go through that pain because you know it is the right thing to do. To get out of riba, it may be painful initially. You may lose money in the first month or the first year. But it is definitely less painful than going to war with Allah.

I can tell you of many brothers who were involved in riba — and the day they made tawbah and went to their loan officer and said I'm done — the VP of the bank ran into his office: Please, are you crazy? We'll lower your interest rate, we'll give you a higher line of credit. This is the deception of shaytan. He said: No, I don't care. And the first month, he thought: I'm going to lose everything. And then — Allahu Akbar — within two months, more than 100% of the previous income came in. The business went from hundreds of thousands into millions. That first month, Allah wanted to test him. But after that, it was just unbelievable.

There are many brothers who can share similar stories. You need to hear success stories of people who gave up riba. Fighting between husband and wife comes to an end. Disobedient children — that comes to an end. Infighting in the house — that comes to an end. So much more ability to give sadaqah. Why? Because you stopped warring with Allah.

If you are firm in your intention, pray two raka'at Salatul Hajah and Salatul Tawbah every night: Ya Allah, I'm seeking forgiveness from going to war with You. At the same time, I'm not happy about it — I hate it. And I'm asking You to help me get out of it.

As a Student With Future College Tuition to Pay, Should I Donate or Save to Avoid Loans?

Understand that sadaqah is one of your expenses. If you've got money to buy bubble tea, you should have money to give sadaqah. If you've got money to go skiing to the mountains, you should definitely have money to give sadaqah. People — as soon as you say sadaqah, they say: I've got loans. But what about all the other expenses you're doing? This is the deception of shaytan.

I see so many young professionals who say: I've got $400,000 to pay back in loans — that's why I can't give sadaqah. But they just came back from a vacation trip, and next month they're going on another. If you want to pay back all your loans, then put everything toward that — ride the bike, save on gas. By all means, if someone has that level of determination, do it. But what scares me is the nonchalant way — people are just relaxed: Yeah, insha'Allah, 20 years, Shaykh, I'm ready to donate after 20 years. You really trust yourself to be living after 20 years? We have to get out of this habit of thinking nothing is going to happen.

How Can I Get Shifa From a Chronic Illness After Many Years and No Answers?

I spoke to two physicians today — experts in their field. Their daughter is very sick and they've been going to every top-notch clinic in this country. The doctor said: I've pretty much given up on Western medicine — it has nothing more to offer us for our daughter. I'm now looking for metaphysical cures. I gave him certain things and connected him with certain people.

For those of you suffering from a chronic illness and cannot seem to get treatment — you need to look to the metaphysical realm: adhkar, ruqya shar'iyyah, sadaqah, hijama, and tibb al-nabawi — using medical treatments mentioned in the sunnah: black seed, honey, and all those other things. There are people who are experts in that, and you can, insha'Allah, benefit from those things.

A New Shahada

Alhamdulillah, we will end with a very beautiful moment tonight — we have a brother who has decided to take the shahada. Takbeer!

The brother shared: My background — I was born and raised Catholic. But for various reasons, I kind of lost my faith and was a little lost throughout life. But there was always something that called me to Islam. I reached out, found a website, and Brother Ya'qub was kind enough to contact me back. Through a series of conversations, here I am. I thank you for the insight. I look forward to the next chapters.

I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah. And I bear witness that Muhammad, may peace and blessings be upon him, is Allah's servant and messenger.

Takbeer! Takbeer! Takbeer! Alhamdulillah — within the past week, this is the third shahada, alhamdulillah. And it's amazing — as the brother mentioned, among those who helped guide him were Grant and Mitchell, who are mashallah converts themselves. And Brother Ya'qub here, mashallah, has been leading this effort. This is a huge gift of Allah. As we know, Islam wipes out the sins that a person has done in the past. This is an appropriate gathering for us to engage in du'a, and ask Allah for help.

Closing Du'a

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

O Allah, You are Peace, and You are the Source of peace. O Allah, all praise is due to You and all thanks is due to You. O Allah, we do not want to disobey You. O Allah, the Ever-Living, the Ever-Sustaining. We have wronged ourselves, and if You do not forgive us and have mercy upon us, we will surely be among the losers. O Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. O Creator of the heavens and the earth.

O Allah, our Lord, do not let our hearts deviate after You have guided us, and bestow upon us mercy from Yourself. Indeed, You are the Bestower.

O Allah, have mercy on the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. O Allah, do not leave the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ to their own devices. O Allah, help the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ. O Allah, honor the Ummah of Muhammad ﷺ.

O Allah, preserve Islam and the Muslims. O Allah, help those who helped the religion of Muhammad ﷺ, and make us of them. O Allah, forsake those who forsake the religion of Muhammad ﷺ, and do not make us with them.

O Allah, guide us among those whom You have guided, and heal us among those whom You have healed, and take care of us among those whom You have taken care of, and bless us in what You have given us, and protect us and avert from us the evil of what You have decreed. Indeed, You decree and none can decree against You. Indeed, He whom You befriend is never humiliated, and he whom You oppose is never honored. Blessed are You, our Lord, and Exalted are You.

We seek forgiveness from You, O Allah, from all our sins, and we repent to You. O Allah, we ask You to accept this gathering. O Allah, we ask You to bless this gathering.

O Allah, through the barakah of this brother being gifted with shahada and iman — that which all the prophets strived for, that every single prophet gave his whole life for — O Allah, such a huge gift You have bestowed upon our beloved brother here. O Allah, this is a sign of not only Your pleasure with him but insha'Allah Your pleasure with this gathering.

O Allah, we ask You to allow this gathering to become one filled with forgiveness, filled with mercy. O Allah, let us not leave this gathering except that our sins have been forgiven, have been switched with good deeds. O Allah, allow us to leave this gathering in a state that we have rejuvenated our faith, and we have a firm determination to lead a life according to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

O Allah, all these attributes and qualities of Your servants that we have been studying — O Allah, make each and every one of these qualities manifest within ourselves, in our spouses, in our children's lives, in our parents' lives, in our siblings' lives.

O Allah, we ask You to remove any and all forbidden things from our lives, any and all innovations from our lives. O Allah, we ask You to grant us and our children and our spouses special protection from all the evil that exists out there — that which we can see and that which we cannot see. O Allah, please save us from being misled. Save us from having a misunderstanding about what is right and wrong, about virtue and vice. O Allah, keep us all on the right path. Keep us surrounded by righteous, good friends. O Allah, allow us to remove toxic relationships from our lives and allow us to replace them with good, righteous relationships that will bring us closer to You.

O Allah, we ask You that the ummah that is going through extreme difficulty now — O Allah, have special mercy upon them. Grant them patience, grant them forgiveness. Those who lost their lives — grant all those thousands shahada across the globe. Those who are living — grant them patience. O Allah, grant cure and shifa to those who are wounded. O Allah, provide places for them to sleep, places for them to stay. O Allah, remove fear from their hearts, remove anxiety from their hearts, remove worry from their hearts, and fill their hearts with inspiration and strength. O Allah, put fear into the hearts of their enemies.

O Allah, protect them through Your invisible ways — protect every single one of them, O Allah, through Your invisible ways. O Allah, grant victory to the truth over falsehood across the globe. O Allah, grant victory to those who are standing up for what is right over those who are trying to spread chaos across the globe. O Allah, we ask You to make us all from amongst those who stand by the truth, who invite towards the truth, who live by the truth, and who pass away in the truth.

O Allah, we ask You to protect our progeny from losing our faith and from having doubt about our faith. O Allah, we ask You to protect this masjid, this madrasa and seminary, the students, the musallis, the patrons, the well-wishers, those who attend any and all programs, the family members of all of our students, the family members of all of our patrons. O Allah, we ask You to protect our homes, our iman, our health, our wealth, our physical health, our spiritual health, our emotional health, our mental health, our finances — O Allah, protect them all from any and all attacks of shaytan and nafs, from the enemy that we see and the enemy that we do not see.

O Allah, grant us all the good that Rasulullah ﷺ asked of You. And we seek refuge in You from all that evil that the Prophet ﷺ sought refuge in You from.

Was-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.