Surah Furqan - Ep.6 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Surah Al-Furqan – Episode 6

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

The Heavens Held in Place — and Their Coming Collapse

Another place is Surah Al-Hajj. Allah says:

He is holding up the heavens from falling upon the earth except by His permission.

Then Allah says in Surah Al-Inshiqaq:

"When the heavens will split asunder, and they will listen to their Lord — and rightly so."

أَذِنَتْ — to listen. This heaven, the sky, the heavens, will listen to their Lord. What does that mean? أَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا means simply the heaven, the sky, has only to hear the hukm of Allah, and immediately it will go into action. You don't need to tell the heavens twice. You don't need to jolt it. You don't need to cajole it. Simply: I want this to happen now. And done. Because the only reason the heavens are in their place is because Allah asked. And when Allah says "Move," the heavens say, "Okay, we'll move."

So here Allah says: a day will come when the heavens will split. And what will become apparent? In the midst of clouds, the whole sky will split, and then you will see:

Large groups of angels descending. Why are they descending? Because the show is over. You know what happens when a show is over? Everyone rushes in. You go to a wedding, or any other event — when the show is over, all the employees of the banquet hall come in and they start wrapping things up. Within 15–20 minutes, it doesn't look like an event ever took place there. The workers come at the end and clean up everything. So the angels are coming — now we're going to set up the Day of Judgment. They will actively be involved in setting up the place of judgment in front of Allah.

True Dominion Belongs to Al-Rahman

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

In this world, Allah has made us somewhat in charge of our affairs. And that is why it says here, "true dominion that day" — true dominion today, yesterday, and tomorrow also belongs to Allah. However, Allah has allowed us to fall into the deception of thinking: I am in control of my home, my business, my country, my children's affairs. In reality, none of us are in control of anything.

When the car wants to die out, it'll die on us. When something wants to stop working in our home — no matter how expensive the home or the car — the day something needs to break down, it'll break down. And no matter how much love with which you have raised your child, when Allah allows that child to become a backstabber, no one can stop it. No one can rectify the child, no matter how much you beg and remind them of all the blessings you showered upon them — it falls on deaf ears. Unless Allah wants otherwise.

There's no control. Really, there's no control over anything we have. We don't have control over our own stomachs — when do we have a stomachache? When do we have constipation? When do we have diarrhea? No control. When is your eye going to hurt? When is your ear going to hurt? We don't know.

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

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

With all that dependence, a person realizes how dependent we are on one another. If we had control, why would we need anyone to look at our eye, our ears, our hands, our feet? Even the eye doctor, if he has pain in his eye, he'll have to go to another doctor. So Allah in this world has allowed us to think that we have power, but a time and place is coming — called the Day of Judgment — when it will become quite apparent to every single person, believer or disbeliever, that truly all power and might belongs only to Allah.

We discussed in Surah Al-Kahf:

Over there it will become apparent that absolute power and wilayah belongs to Allah alone, the true Allah.

One example you can think of: in this world, Allah is allowing us to think that we're running the world — like a child sitting in his father's lap with his hands on the steering wheel, thinking he's driving the car in the cul-de-sac or in the driveway. Or a father and son flying a kite, and the little toddler is holding on to the thread thinking that his small little hands are controlling a kite 500 feet in the air — but all he's doing is holding on to the string, while the father is the one actually guiding it. This dunya is like that. Allah has allowed us to hold on to the steering wheel, and we think we're running our affairs, but the brake pedal and the acceleration — our little feet don't even reach those. We don't even understand how to put the car into proper gear.

The Day of Judgment is the place where it will become all apparent that only Allah has control. Hence Allah says:

"Say: O Allah, Owner of all sovereignty — You give sovereignty to whom You will, and You take sovereignty from whom You will, and You exalt whom You will, and You humble whom You will. In Your hand is all goodness. Indeed, You are over all things competent."

So in this dunya, Allah has given us some power. But there is a difference — one is milk and one is mulk. Mulk is to fully and properly own something — that is what Allah gives and snatches away from whomsoever He wishes. Milk is what you hold for a little while — like your clothes, your pen — that is called milkiyyah. When it comes to both, Allah is the One who spreads it and distributes it in this dunya, and snatches it away from whomsoever He wishes.

لِمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ — To Whom Does the Kingdom Belong Today?

Hence He mentions in Surah Ghafir:

You've heard this ayah many times. After completely destroying and annihilating every single thing — what we are aware of and what we are not, what we can see and what we cannot, the heavens and the earth and everything between — it will be absolute silence. Just imagine: if a room grows silent right now with 20 people in it, it feels so eerie and awkward. Imagine with all the trillions upon trillions of makhluqat and creations of Allah, when all will be destroyed — and then Allah will call out:

"To whom does the kingdom belong today?"

And there will be no response, because there is no one there to respond. Allah will ask into empty vast space. Who is going to have the last say? SubhanAllah. Since no one is answering, Allah answers Himself:

"To Allah, the One, the All-Powerful."

That's it. That's the answer. No one else has the ability. If anyone had the ability to answer, this is the time — come up right now and say, "It's me." But there is no mu'arid, no one who is going to stand up in front of Allah and say, "I have some say, some share in this."

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

Allah says: الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ. What does الْحَقُّ mean? Haqq means something which is thabit — something firm, something which doesn't change. That is called haqq. So Allah is mentioning to us here that the true dominion will never come to an end — not like today I'm winning and tomorrow you might win. No. The true dominion in the hands of Allah that He has always had, and He never actually gave it up. It only seemed that way.

Because this dunya — what happens? You see the oppressors become more powerful and the oppressed ones suffer even more. We see that every single day. Look at the suffering of the Muslims within communities around the world. People are suffering, and it seems like they are not even given permission to make noise. They are told: just die quietly. Don't even make a noise. Like you are slaughtering an animal, and then getting mad at the animal for why the blood came upon your clothes. That's the condition of the ummah today. We will chop you up from all sides, but make sure you go down quietly — don't even splash any blood upon us, or else we're going to blame you for that and charge you for the next 20 years.

That's the dunya right now. And when a person sees that, the question naturally arises: where is Allah? When is the help of Allah coming? Why is this happening? The answer is: Allah has made this place a dar ul-imtihan — a place of trial. If all the righteous people were always winning and the people of falsehood were always losing, there would be no imtihan. The trial demands that you remind yourself: Allah is there, Allah is watching, Allah is all-hearing. And that is why you and I exist.

Allah's Watchful Patience — إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَبِالْمِرْصَادِ

When a police car is running your plates, they don't necessarily pull you over on the first infraction. They're adding things up — building a dossier — and then they pull you over. Allah does not pull a person over on the first mistake. He lets him go, lets him go, lets him go. See how far you go. He is right behind you, right in front, center, right, left, above — everywhere.

No one knows the army of Allah. The road is the army of Allah. The car is the army of Allah. The stoplight is the army of Allah. Every single plant and blade of grass is the army of Allah. All the cars around you are the army of Allah. Every single thing is part of the army of Allah, and all are watching. So the only reason a person is not being pulled over is because the count is being kept — how many infractions, how many mistakes, how many laws broken. And then eventually, when this pull-over comes, there is no running, nowhere to hide, nowhere to run, no way to defend yourself.

"Indeed, your Lord is in wait." Mirsad is a place where you wait in ambush. Allah is waiting, looking. Just because someone doesn't get in trouble, don't think he escaped Allah. That is not going to happen. All is being very meticulously watched and recorded. As Allah says:

"My Lord is never mistaken nor does He forget." "Allah has enumerated it all, while they have forgotten it."

Allah remembers. What mistakes have you and I made at the age of 16, 18, 19? Which salah did we miss and at what time? When did we eavesdrop? When did we backbite? What did we look at that we should not have? What did we say that we should not have? What did we take that we should not have? Who remembers that? Honestly speaking, who amongst us can remember for the past 25 years what mistakes we committed? We can't remember from this morning, can't remember from last night. أَحْصَاهُ اللَّهُ وَنَسُوهُ — Allah does not forget. Allah says: I remember all of that, although you may have forgotten it. It is all being added up against us.

And that is haqq — that is what we are talking about. The kingdom of haqq belongs to Allah; it always was there and it always will be.

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

Notice something beautiful here. Allah says true dominion that day belongs to who? Out of the hundreds of names of Allah — there are more than 99 — He could have used any name. But look at what He uses here: Al-Rahman. Isn't this amazing? To give hope. Today you feel like no one is listening to you. You are screaming, "Please listen to me, I am on haqq, I am being marginalized, I am being ridiculed, I am being falsely accused." And no one wants to listen, no one pays attention. Allah is telling those people: Al-Rahman — you have an appointment with the Most Merciful. Today no one cares for you. Don't worry about it. The Most Merciful — you will have your day in court with the Most Merciful.

This is a beautiful ayah for every single person who is oppressed today — whose parents were oppressed, whose siblings were oppressed, whose children have been oppressed, whose spouse has been oppressed. It is solace and comfort. That a day will come when ultimate dominion will belong to Allah. No one will come and corrupt the courts. No one can bribe the judges. No one can fire the judge before he is about to deliver a verdict. Everything today is bought and sold at some price, but there is a time and place where:

There is no buying and selling, no friendship, and no intercession. And it will only be Allah.

Even the Munkar and Nakir — the angels in the grave — they don't know anyone and no one knows them. They say: don't even try to do any icebreakers with us. We don't know you, you don't know us. That's their name: Munkar wa Nakir — unknown, the most unfamiliar, having nothing to do with their client. They go right to it:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4753; Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1071)

"Who is your Lord? What is your religion? What do you say about this man?" May Allah make that day easy for all of us, and may He inspire us to answer those questions properly. Ameen ya Rabbal 'Alamin.

Al-Rahman will come on the Day of Judgment, and all those who suffered will have their opportunity to get their jaza' — their reward — back. And then, whenever we speak of mercy, we also have the aspect of Allah being just and willing to punish when He needs to. That is also mentioned in the same verse: وَكَانَ يَوْمًا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ عَسِيرًا. Just because Allah is Al-Rahman does not mean He will let the disbelievers slide. It is actually part of the rahma of Allah that the disbelievers be punished. Because if you followed all the laws and rules, were so careful in what you ate, where you sat, where you slept, who you communicated with and how — you put yourself through so much difficulty — and another person did none of that, and both of you have the same akhirah, that is not just for you. It is part of Allah's mercy upon the believers that those who disbelieved in Him and broke those rules face the punishment of Allah.

The Wrongdoer Bites His Hands in Regret

"A day when the godless wrongdoer shall bite his very hands in regret, saying: if only I had taken a path of salvation with the Messenger."

This is the day when the sky will split asunder, angels will be descending. This is the day you will have your day in court with Allah, the Most Merciful, who fully owns and will make very apparent that He owns the entire worlds. It is a day that will be very difficult for the disbelievers — and also a day when the wrongdoers shall bite their very own hands in regret.

"O woe to me! If only I had not taken such-and-such one for an intimate friend. Indeed, he led me astray from the remembrance after it had come to me. And ever is Shaytan, to man, a deserter."

Khalilan — an intimate friend. Fulan — that guy, that person. We don't even want to say his name, that is how angry we are. But who was he? He was a disbeliever, a sinful person. I wish I had not taken this person as my friend.

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

Then Allah adds — and this is not the statement of the disbeliever, this is Allah's statement: وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِلْإِنسَانِ خَذُولًا — "And indeed, Shaytan has ever been deserting of humankind." Khadhlan is to be the biggest backstabber — right at the moment of need, to run away. Shaytan is the one who always deserts human beings whenever they are in a difficult situation.

The Day of Remorse — يَوْمَ الْحَسْرَةِ

Let's focus on these ayat. Allah is mentioning that day — when a man will go through multiple levels of pain: physical suffering, and the psychological suffering of guilt. Any of us who have gone through the emotion of guilt knows how terrible it is. It gnaws at you, it eats you up alive. You can be sitting right here — no one can see what you're going through — but inside you're on fire. It's as though someone is shredding your body into pieces. That's how powerful nadama — remorse — can be. That's why the Qur'an calls the Day of Judgment the Day of Remorse:

"And warn them of the Day of Remorse, when the matter will have been decided." What a powerful verse. Warn them, forewarn them of the day of absolute remorse — this is one of the names of the Day of Judgment. إِذْ قُضِيَ الْأَمْرُ — when the decision will have been made final.

When someone says "you are rejected" — from a college, a job, a marriage proposal — you see the signs of sadness overtake that person. But there's always a chance: let me call this one, let me try that way. On the Day of Judgment, you cannot go back and forth. There is no reconsidering:

"What has been said will never change in My court." "And you will never find in the sunnah of Allah any change, and you will never find in the sunnah of Allah any alteration." The sunnah of Allah is: once He has decreed something, it is set. Nothing in the world can ever change that destiny. So if a person realizes — Allah forbid — that his destiny is set toward hellfire, the remorse he will feel in that moment is beyond all description. If death were still around, he would die out of remorse alone. That is why Allah calls this the Day of Remorse.

So this is that day — when a man who is usually nervous bites his fingernails will not be biting his fingertips. He will not be biting one hand — he will be chewing both hands, with no realization of what he is even doing. He could care less if his hands were fed into a shredder. What is he looking at? He is looking at hellfire.

You see people who are given a sentence of death or life imprisonment — you see their face change. Realization. And when:

"And Hellfire will be brought forth for those who went astray." When Jahannam is brought right in front of a person and he knows exactly where he is headed — forever — words cannot describe the remorse and the feeling of anxiety that this man, may Allah protect us from being in that situation, will have to face.

So Allah describes this powerful scene — the day when the wrongdoer shall bite both his hands. Who is the zalim? What did he do? The biggest zalim is the one who makes zulm upon himself — by denying the existence of Allah, by disbelieving in Allah, by denying the veracity of the Qur'an, by denying the prophethood of Rasulullah ﷺ. There is no bigger zulm than that.

"And who is more unjust than one who, when reminded of the verses of his Lord, turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth?" There is no greater evil than ignoring the verses of Allah, not spending time learning the deen of Allah, and at the same time holding onto false hopes that Allah will simply forgive you.

My brothers and sisters — the one who gives preference to his desires over the shari'a, who gives preference to this world over the next, who gives preference to the enjoyments of this dunya over the akhirah, who gives preference to the comforts of this world over what Allah actually wants from him — he is a zalim. He is an oppressor. And not preparing for the akhirah on top of that. The Prophet ﷺ has mentioned in a hadith:

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

"The intelligent one is the one who keeps his nafs in check and works for what comes after death. And the incapable one is the one who follows his whims and desires, and then has vain hopes regarding Allah."

Whatever his nafs says, he says okay. And when you tell him: fear Allah, come on, let's change — he has all these false hopes. "I'm a Muslim, of course I'm going to get forgiven. I come from a Muslim country. My father was such a pious person. My mother was so righteous. How can I not be forgiven?" Rasulullah ﷺ calls such a person a fool — continuing to lead a life of sin, while expecting that Allah must forgive him.

Beloved brothers and sisters — a beautiful statement of Ma'ruf al-Karkhi, may Allah have mercy on him:

He says: to seek paradise without any action worthy of paradise is actually a sin — a sin from amongst sins. Similarly, we could say: expecting to be forgiven and safe from the fire of hell without leaving those sins that will take us there is also a sin. Because in reality, it is a mockery of Allah. "I will do whatever I want, and I expect You to forgive me." Just try that with a teacher, a parent — have one of your students or your own son or daughter do that with you. When you give them work and they rip it up and throw it in the garbage, but smile and say, "Of course you're going to give me a hundred, right? You're such a nice person." Imagine how upsetting that would be — to disrespect your orders, and then have the audacity to smile and say, "Of course you'll give me a hundred."

That is what we are doing when we say, "Allah is Ghafoor, Raheem" — and think our actions don't matter. We have to understand that this is actually extremely disrespectful to Allah. It is showing disregard for His promises. It is showing that we are not intimidated by or scared of Jahannam or His anger. Nor are we truly desirous of Jannah. Because if we were properly desirous of Jannah, we would have some self-control. If we were truly afraid of hellfire, we would also have some self-control. Deep down, the yaqeen and conviction on these verses of the Qur'an, and the attributes of Allah, and what He has prepared for us in the akhirah — is something a person is not fully internalizing.

يَا لَيْتَنِي — If Only I Had...

يَا لَيْتَنِي is translated as: when the time for something has passed and you wish you had done something. Like a sale ended and you say, يَا لَيْتَنِي اشْتَرَيْتُهُ — "I wish I had bought that." Or you missed the last flight for Hajj out of laziness, and you say the same thing. So here, a person will be saying after the fact: يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا — "I wish I had taken a path of salvation together with the Messenger."

Notice here: مَعَ الرَّسُولِ — with the Messenger. Before going further, there is a background of revelation that some tafaseer mention — the famous incident of Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt. Rasulullah ﷺ interacted with him — he was a generous man who liked to invite people to his home for food. He invited the Prophet ﷺ once in Makkah al-Mukarramah, and the Prophet ﷺ said: "I won't be able to come unless you are willing to accept Islam and say the shahada." So this man, so desirous of having Rasulullah ﷺ over, said the kalima, and the Prophet ﷺ came.

Now Uqbah had another friend — Umayyah ibn Khalaf. When he heard this, he became extremely angry and said: "How dare you accept Islam! Laqad sabawta — you have become a traitor, you have gone against your nation." He did not want to break the friendship. Isn't that what's happening today? People just don't want to break up friendships, so they'll do whatever. You start growing out your beard, and a friend says, "Come on man, what's wrong with you? You're not in your 80s yet." Then the next friend says the same thing. You said, it's Rabi' al-Awwal, let me revive one sunnah in my life. Two or three friends mock you — and he can't handle it anymore.

You start using the miswak, wearing a kufi, coming to the masjid more often — and people start making fun of you. Why? Because people who are involved in sin have to see you sin as well. Misery loves company. They feel awkward, they feel guilty inside. "Why is this guy studying the deen and I'm not?" It's like the classmate who didn't prepare for exams — some of them make tawbah the night before, but others say, "I'm not gonna study, and I'm not gonna let you study either." Misery loves company.

So this is the reality. One is a person who says, "My own weakness." But there is worse — the person who says, "I'm not going to follow the deen, and I'm not going to allow you to either — I'm going to make fun of you." Many of us are stuck in our lives because we are surrounded by such unfortunate company, who do not allow us to progress spiritually. And sisters know exactly what I'm speaking about too — very common among sisters as well. They are trying to progress, and someone says, "What are you talking about?" Imagine having a dars of tafsir here — there's always someone pulling you in another direction. That's why it is very hard to be committed.

So Allah mentions, and in this story — what happened? Uqbah said to Umayyah:

"The only reason I said the kalima was to simply get him to eat — the way other people eat, I just wanted him to eat. I didn't really mean it." And Umayyah responded:

A'udhu billah — he said: "The only way I will let you go is if you go to Muhammad ﷺ and spit in his face." Something as crazy as that. And Uqbah went ahead and did it — because relationships matter, and he could not bring himself to break the friendship.

Isn't that what's happening today? In business: "It's all about relationships." At what cost? What is your relationship with Allah? A brother is selling a product that is haram, illegal, not acceptable. But it's "a relationship" — he's asking me to peddle it, to say a few words about it, to move it along. Will I knowingly promote something because someone asked me? When will our morals and ethics and values come in? To say: "I am sorry, I cannot do that. I cannot do something that is illegal by law, or illegal in the eyes of Allah. Your friendship has its place and I value that, but there is a limit. If you are asking me to break my friendship with Allah, no — I'm sorry, it is not worth it. I do not value a friendship greater than the one I have with Allah."

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

This is the deen. You bring the price that is being asked for — which is unwavering allegiance and loyalty to Allah at all cost. Whatever He asks, you put it down. And as time gets closer to the Day of Judgment, closer to the fitnah of Dajjal, that price keeps going up and up and up. It is not just the inflation you see outside. The cost of deen — the cost of Jannah — Allah is raising it higher. And the people around us willing to pay that price are fewer.

So when you go ahead and buy something at 10 times the price others are willing to pay, what are they going to tell you? They will say you are crazy, you are insane. But you know what you want. You know what you are getting. So you buy it at all cost. We know what we want: Jannah. So our children will be made fun of in school. Our wives will be made fun of outside. We will be made fun of at work. So be it. And if you are not willing to take that, I am sorry — we are in the wrong business. The deen of Allah is more valuable than anything else. Each and every sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is worth giving up everything for. There is more value to that than anything else.

We cannot get affected by someone's relative saying something to us at a wedding: "Why is your daughter wearing a scarf? She's only 6, why do you make her wear long sleeves?" We should be the ones giving da'wah. Why is it that we get affected? Your son wears a kufi, your daughter wears modest clothing and covers her hair at a young age — you have nothing to feel ashamed about. You should feel proud. You should feel: alhamdulillah, we are people of haya. We will live by example. We will not look at others — instead, we will want others to be inspired by the way we dress, the way our women dress. We do not need to feel like the underdog. That is your own inferiority complex, your lack of trust in the sunnah, your lack of understanding of the deen.

If you truly understand the value of the deen, pick up Hayat al-Sahaba. Read the stories of the sahaba and sahabiyyat and the sacrifices they made. I promise you, each one of us will think: Ya Allah, I am so thankful I never have to come face to face with a sahabi. Because literally he would think I am a hypocrite — nothing less, nothing more.

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

Put yourself in this situation and you will get an answer. Your own fitrah will say: "Wait, hold on — this is giving me goosebumps." Exactly. Well, then you don't need a fatwa. Remember: for every single sin out there, a person will find a fatwa. You'll find it for riba, for khamr, for gambling — somewhere. And the way things are going right now, the way online algorithms work, soon all of that stuff gets pushed to the front anyway.

When a person says, "I'm not looking for what my nafs wants — I'm looking for the truth," then Allah will give you such sweetness in that haqq that you will never find the same sweetness in any falsehood.

The Importance of a Guide — مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا

I have before me Tafsir al-Sha'rawi and Tafsir al-Nabulusi. What I like about these two tafaseer is that they were given in the masjid — not purely academic reference works, but practical lessons from Shaykh al-Sha'rawi and Dr. al-Nabulusi delivered to their congregations. That is why everything in them is practical.

Dr. al-Nabulusi points out something powerful under this ayah. He says: notice what the Qur'an mentions first — مَعَ الرَّسُولِ, with the Messenger — and then سَبِيلًا, a path. The most important thing is having a guide in your life. That's why it's mentioned first: مَعَ الرَّسُولِ. Rasulullah ﷺ is not here, but his inheritors are — the scholars, the God-fearing ulama and mashayikh. Those are the people you have to hold on to. If a person holds on to a genuine God-fearing scholar, bi-idhnillah ta'ala, he will be led on the right path.

Majalis of knowledge and dhikr, and majalis of the Qur'an — why are they so important? Because many times we attend gatherings with a certain mindset of what we think should be halal and haram, all based on what we have randomly read and heard online. But when we come to a gathering of this sort — meet other people, attend where scholars are present, share notes, ask follow-up questions — things start becoming more clear. We start realizing: what mistake did I make? That is why misguidance comes when you are disconnected from gatherings of knowledge. It is so important for us to get refinement, to realign our moral compass and our ilmi compass and our fiqh, by attending these gatherings.

I feel this myself, 100%. When I attend gatherings and listen, many times I have gone confused about some issue — and although the speech was not supposed to focus on that, alhamdulillah, Allah makes the speaker address that exact issue. And you get the answer you were looking for. You wouldn't have thought you would find it — you're just sitting there thinking, "This is bothering me," and here the speaker addresses it. This is the barakah of angels and ulama, and pious people who attend gatherings of this sort — innocent children, elderly people — we don't know who they are.

Finding a Guide — Your Murabbi

Making sure that we have a guide in our lives — beloved brothers and sisters, youngsters, adults — it is so important for all of us to find a guide. Find a murabbi, find a mentor, find a scholar that you know — in your heart of all hearts — that on the Day of Judgment you can close your eyes, hold his hand, and he will lead you to the Prophet ﷺ. That this man is not only a lover of the Prophet ﷺ, he is a true follower of the Prophet ﷺ.

My beloved brothers and sisters — please do not find people who say to you what you want to hear. Find people who will tell you what you need to hear. As soon as we hear someone say, "You don't need to change your life, you're fine as is" — we love that. We're willing to stay up for late-night sessions with that person. We like to travel with that person. Why? Because he keeps telling us: "You are fine as is, no change needed."

Look at our hypocrisy and double standards. No one wants a math tutor who says, "You have your ACT in one week, you've only got 30% right, but don't worry about it — there's more to life than math." You don't want a doctor who looks at your blood test results — all off the charts — and says, "Brother, there's only one life. Go ahead and enjoy." You would want to sue that doctor. "What kind of doctor misled me?" We want a doctor who charges us and then tells us all the problems we have and all the ways we need to change. We say, "Thank you, Doctor." What about the scholar who will tell us: "Look at the way you are walking, talking, dressed, your income, this, that"? They'll say, "Why should we sit and listen to this scholar?" On the other hand, someone who says, "Everything you're doing is sunnah, don't worry — we're in America, this is 2023" — we'll take clips of that and repeat them everywhere.

Ask yourself: are you looking for the truth, or are you looking for anything that confirms your bias and your nafs? This is the difficult era we are living in. If your wife doesn't wear hijab, do you need a scholar who sits down and enjoys coffee with you, or do you need one who says: "Let's think about how we can help your wife get to hijab"? Your son comes walking in vaping — do you need someone to just chill at a barbecue with you, or someone to say, "Okay, what do we do with this brother?"

That's the type of friend and the type of scholarly circles we need — those who will put us on the spot and say: "It's all great, but what is the condition of your personal a'mal?" Our teachers — SubhanAllah — wouldn't mess around. They would go right to the point: "What is the condition of your nightly a'mal? How much Qur'an are you reciting? How much dhikr are you doing?" It shouldn't happen that you are doing so-called great public work of deen, but completely losing out on your personal relationship with Allah, indulging in private sins that will not be forgiven due to your public life's virtue. We need people who can grab us by the ear and put us in our place.

Go find someone like that in your life. Find a scholar — ideally a muttaqi, someone who is a lover of Allah and Rasulullah ﷺ, and then whose love is expressed through sunnah. Because if someone says "I love Allah and His Rasul" but wants to do whatever he feels like, doing bid'at and innovations, crying at Rasulullah's name while his life is not according to the sunnah — how do you know who to follow? The gold standard is: sunnah, sunnah, sunnah.

There is so much confusion today. People are being told: "Whatever you're doing now — that's sunnah. Why do you have to change? Why do you have to go against the status quo? Don't try to become overzealous, fundamentalist, overpious. Just live and let live. That's sunnah." They don't exactly say it like that, but that's what it comes out to be. But my dear beloved brothers and sisters — the one who is asking you to change truly loves you more than anyone else. That is true love. Our moms and dads are the ones who say, "Come on, please — get your act together." Other people don't mind you making foolish decisions. It is our mom and dad who will get upset, who will say, "What are you doing?"

We all need to be in the sohbah of people who will guide us and hold our hands. I want all of you — say insha'Allah — that you will look for this guide. You will ask after Isha tonight and after Fajr tomorrow: "Ya Allah, allow me to find the sohbah and companionship of ahlullah — the people of Allah, the awliya' Allah."

The Sahabi's Request and the Prophet's Answer ﷺ

A sahabi asked Rasulullah ﷺ, after performing great khidmah for him. The Prophet ﷺ said, "Ask me for a du'a — what do you want?" He said:

"I want to be with you in Jannah." Allahu Akbar — this is the Nabi ﷺ. No man has a more powerful du'a than his. He did not simply say: "You've done so much khidmah for me — ya Allah, just give him Jannah." He said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 489)

"Help me by prostrating extensively" — meaning: increase your prayers, perform a lot of nawafil. "And insha'Allah I will make the du'a, and hopefully we will see you there." That is how it is. Du'a alone does not work — we need the medicine too. You cannot just make du'a; you need the medication alongside it. The medication here: kathrat al-sujud — abundant prostration.

So if we want to be in paradise, our actions must also speak louder than our words. Insha'Allah, I will continue this discussion next week. Whatever we shared today — there is a lot of food for thought there. I need it, and hopefully we all need it. I pray Allah allows us to internalize it.

Questions & Answers

Question: Can Darul Islam help us find a mentor?

Yes — please email us, insha'Allah. We'll figure out what your situation is and guide you accordingly.

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

That's exactly what I was speaking about. Either you'll be able to change them — and if you notice that you're not changing them but they're changing you — then you need to depart ways. You have to pray your salah before you come, because if a person never prays, don't think there is no nuhusa and evil around him. If you spend hours with someone like that, it will rub off. For business purposes — in and out, yes. But spending leisure time in the company of people who don't pray and who make fun of people who do pray is very dangerous.

Question: Can you expand on why the era of the mukhleseen — the sincere ones — is coming to an end?

It's because as we get closer to the era of Dajjal and the end of times, following the deen is becoming harder and harder. People will follow the nafs more and more. These are the signs of the Hour — people will begin to worship the nafs. And when people worship the nafs, ikhlas will become extremely difficult to find. That is why my teachers told me: the era of sincere people is coming to an end, and so we cannot blindly follow just anyone. Instead, look at their statements, look at their advice, and read the biographies of the people of the past.

Question: What Quranic du'a or adhkar can help remove bad habits?

Number one — ask Allah generally: Ya Allah, remove these things from me. Number two — Hizbul A'zam or Munajat Maqbul, which contain a collection of over 200 Prophetic du'as. You can read one section daily — these are available at the bookstore outside and downstairs. Additionally, the "seven" I have mentioned in many previous lessons: Surah al-Fatihah, Ayat al-Kursi, and the last four Qul surahs. Those are also very effective in helping remove bad habits.

Closing

We have immediately after Salat al-Isha, before the sunnah, Qari Ibrahim Qaisi — one of the chief qurra' of Pakistan, visiting the Chicagoland area and the United States for the first time. Please honor the Qur'an and honor him. Be patient and join in the listening to the recitation immediately after Salat al-Isha. Afterwards you can pray your sunnah and have the snacks outside, insha'Allah.

Jazakallah khair.