Surah Furqan - Final Session | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Surah Al-Furqan — Final Session

Please be mindful of those who are completing the Salah and move forward, sit as close as possible. And the sisters as well, insha'Allah, we can all sit as close as possible. Be mindful of those who are completing their Sunnah and Nawafil.

We ask Allah to accept all of our attendance here tonight, and the past 12 sessions, and tonight being the 13th session. We ask Allah to accept all of these past, present, and future sessions of the tafsir, and whatever issues any one of us is going through as we attend and listen. We ask Allah through the barakah of these beautiful verses of the Qur'an that He allows us to come out of our difficulties, both spiritual and emotional, and beyond that, may Allah allow us to find answers to our questions, may Allah allow us to find a way out of the most challenging of things that we might be facing in our lives, through the dars of the Qur'an. Ameen.

We will insha'Allah continue from ayah 68 of Surah al-Furqan.

Continuing on from the verses of the attributes of the servants of Allah. Last week we talked about the economic aspects of a believer — the financial aspects of a believer, how he handles those with moderation, and how dealing with our finances is part of our faith. Economically being prudent, and financially being strong, as a government and as an individual both. It is the responsibility of believers to take care of those things, because Allah has made wealth — qiwamah — the wealth and business and things of that sort, as a means of running this world, and a means of also building our akhira. So it is part and parcel of our faith that we take care of this. And this is in line with the beauty of our deen, which is very encompassing and holistic in every sense.

The Three Great Prohibitions: Shirk, Murder, and Zina

Now Allah says:

The believers are those people who do not invoke any other god besides Allah — that is number one. Number two, وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ — nor do they take a human life which Allah has made sacred, إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ — except with a legal right. And وَلَا يَزْنُونَ — nor do they commit fornication. And whoever does any of this will face the penalty.

Notice one thing here — these three things: Allah has not said that these people should not engage in these three things. That is called نَهْي — prohibition. Allah did not prohibit the believers from indulging in these three things. Rather, He has used نَفْي — Allah has negated these three things from a believer. One is you tell someone "don't do something," and one is you say "he doesn't do those things." And that is a stronger way of actually stopping someone.

When speaking to our children, youth, or whoever it may be — when we are trying to teach them that certain things are not to be engaged in — one way is to say "don't do this," and one way is to say, "Obviously, mashallah, you are an intelligent young person, you know better — of course it would never even cross your mind to do something like that." This is actually a more effective way of dealing with things.

One person shared a story about a friend of his who was a very young, handsome, athletic young man — on the football team, etc. One day he asked his friend: "What protects you from falling into sin? When you have the looks, the charisma, the grades, all of this — what protects you?" SubhanAllah, what a powerful response he gave. He said, "Every single time a temptation comes to me, I always think about how disappointing it will be for my father, who raised me with such love and care and attention — if he were to find out, how it would break his heart. And that is what keeps me away." SubhanAllah, imagine how beautiful a tarbiyah that must have been — not a tarbiyah based on fear, but a tarbiyah based on love, based on true prophetic teachings. So you can imagine that father would say, "Of course you don't do things of this sort" — not "don't do this," but "it is absolutely not befitting that you would be doing something like that."

Shirk al-Khafi: The Hidden Shirk

So Allah negates these three things from the believers. Now, the question is: why are we speaking about not committing shirk after being halfway through the attributes? So the ulama have explained that what is intended here is shirk al-khafi — the hidden shirk. Shirk al-jali, the obvious open shirk — well, those who practice it would never be in the category of Ibadur Rahman in the first place. We are not talking about that here. We are talking about the more hidden shirk. And that hidden shirk is something we need to all ask ourselves right now — are we involved in this?

It is when a person says, for example — just this past week, someone said to me in Urdu: "Bhai, bas aap hi pe hamara bharosa hai" — "I have trust only in you. As long as you are with me, it is sufficient." I said, "What are you talking about? This is not words of praise — this is wrong, this is unacceptable, that you say something like that. You have to say, Allah is sufficient." And not "Allah is sufficient, but you know..." — no. You are not supposed to even say "I trust upon Allah and you" as though they are equal.

We do not say:

"I trust upon Allah and you." Rather, we say:

"I trust in Allah, then I put my trust in you." You cannot use وَاو — the وَاو of conjunction — here. You have to use ثُمَّ, which denotes sequence and hierarchy. You cannot put yourself or anyone else in the same sentence with Allah as equals. It must be: I trust in Allah, and then, in the realm of means, I trust you.

Sometimes people say:

"This part is on me and the rest is for Allah." Although I understand the intention — that when it comes to means, I will do this and leave the outcome to Allah — even so, the ulama have preferred we do not use words like this. Instead, the preferred du'a is:

"Here is the effort, and upon You alone do I rely, O Allah." My job is simply to do what You have asked me to do. And in reality, I would not even do that if You had not asked me to. The only reason I even use means in this world is because You commanded me to. But if it were not Your command and the sunnah of Your Prophet ﷺ, I would not have even used the means, because what ultimately does it is Allah.

What does the Qur'an say about the Prophet ﷺ at the Battle of Badr?

"You did not throw when you threw, but it was Allah who threw." What an amazing ayah. The second portion of the verse negates the first. وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ — "You did not throw when you threw" — meaning your throwing by itself is without effect. If the Prophet ﷺ's action by itself is without power, then where do you and I belong? Usually when you throw dust, a thousand people do not get blinded. How is it that when the Prophet ﷺ threw that dust, it got into everyone's eyes and became like a smoke screen? This powerful effect of a very simple action is because Allah put the power into that action. And so that is why we are being taught tawhid: get shirk al-khafi out completely.

Shirk al-khafi — hidden shirk — has got to come out. Are you telling me one little tablet can give you health? Nothing in this world can give you or I health, can extend our life, can protect us from anything. It is only Allah who chooses to put shifa in some medications, and chooses to take shifa out of that same medication for someone else. We have been told that when a person eats a morsel, an angel asks Allah's permission: "Ya Allah, this morsel — would You like it to be a means of this person getting nourishment, or a means of this person choking? Or going into his stomach and causing pain and harm?" All of you who have suffered a stomach flu, stomach infection, upset stomach — that same burger from the same place that you have eaten three times before, one time it causes pain, a lot of pain. What is that? It is Allah who makes food beneficial as well as harmful.

Shirk al-khafi is when a person begins to attribute benefit and harm to things of this world. And who among us honestly is not involved in this to some degree? The tongue speaks, and if it is on your tongue, it is a reflection of what is in the heart.

If a person just comes out of a successful court case, he says, "I want to give a huge thanks and a big gift to my lawyer — if it wasn't for him, I'd be in trouble." Or someone just got out of the hospital: "I want to thank the doctors — if it wasn't for them, you wouldn't see me standing here." These are normal sentiments we have. No one is saying you should not appreciate the doctors, lawyers, engineers, and everyone else. Whoever does not thank people can never truly thank Allah — that is established. But, my dear brother and sister, as you walk out safely from the hospital or from the courthouse, first and foremost, thank Allah.

This reminds me of the story of the false accusation — waqi'at al-ifk — against Aisha radiallahu anha. Long story — insha'Allah one day in Surah An-Nur we will cover it fully. However, when the Prophet ﷺ received revelation declaring her innocence — a whole ruku' of Surah An-Nur was revealed, around 13 verses, cementing her innocence — as soon as he recited those verses, of course he was overjoyed. Her parents said, "Go, go back to your husband." But you know the response she gave. After all, she is not just any lady — she is the wife of the Prophet ﷺ. She said, "No. Absolutely not. I am only going to thank Allah. He is the one who came to my rescue." SubhanAllah. The emotions of a wife. But this is the point — a believer has this level of true faith that no one else can help in any form besides Allah.

The Thermostat of Divine Help

I was just reading a statement of Imam Ghazali that someone shared — a powerful statement. He says: when haq and batil come together, when falsehood and truth have a battle, and when it becomes so bad that falsehood is on the verge of almost winning, and truth is falling and faltering and failing — and then the people of truth literally say, "Ya Allah, we give up on our means. We literally give up on ourselves. We have no one besides You who can help us. That is it. We tried. We did whatever we needed to do. We fought. We are done. We will continue, but we have conviction that our efforts alone are no good. It is only You." When the level of conviction reaches this boiling point — that is when Allah comes and tips the scale.

Other ulama have explained it like a thermostat. Say you have temperature set at 72. No matter how cold it may feel — you are sitting right there by a window, there is a draft, it is cold. But until the thermostat reads 72, the heat will not kick in. As soon as it hits 72, you will all of a sudden hear the rumbling of the furnaces starting up. Allah has a set thermostat — a set meter — upon which His help will come. No matter what happens, if the ummah's sacrifice does not reach that temperature, Allah's help does not descend. You might be almost there. But it has to be exact. So sometimes you think, "I am almost there" — but maybe you are 0.001% away from that number. So you might have so much loss of life, so much loss of wealth, so much loss of property — but until it hasn't hit a certain amount of true sacrifice for the sake of Allah, His help will not come.

This is very important to think about in the current era we are in. If we want Allah's help, we all have to collectively start making sacrifice. We have to start filling up the masajid. We have to start fasting. We have to start making excessive du'a and dhikr. And along with that, continue to use the means available. We cannot just bank on this. We must use the means. But as we call our congressman, as we call our senators, as we try to demand a ceasefire — while you are making that phone call, in between calls, you need to be doing dhikr. And you have to tell yourself: my phone call alone will do no good. My marching will do no good. My chanting will do no good without the help of Allah. I am doing what I am doing simply to show Allah that at least I tried. But my doing by itself is of no use. The goal is to get Allah to help.

You know, sometimes when you want to get help, you need to make a move. Like a young child who wants something, told you a million times, and now he actually starts trying to pick up something huge that he clearly cannot lift. Then you put down whatever you are doing and go help him. We are similarly in the court of Allah. Say, "Ya Allah, I tried. I know this protest, these calls, me going to work, me studying in college — none of this will do me any good without Your help. I could get a PhD and be suffering unemployed. I could be a high school dropout and have a very successful business." So this is where staying away from shirk al-khafi becomes crucial.

On the topic of protests — Mawlana Yusuf Mutala, the rector and senior of Darul Uloom Bury, rahimahullah rahmatan wasi'ah — it was mentioned in a talk of Mawlana Abdul Rahim Limbada that Mawlana Yusuf once sent students out to a protest in England. One of the things he said: go together, keep your identity as Muslim young men, be punctual about your salah, do not miss your salah, and remain busy in the dhikr of Allah — that is where it will be effective. Do you know, those of us who went for Hajj — how powerful that talbiyah is when you are walking? When you are doing tawaf and your dhikr, it is powerful. When you are doing sa'i and dhikr, it is powerful. This is what people need to hear.

Imagine five thousand strong, engaged in the dhikr of Allah. Then the protest may not be the hollow effort it would be by itself — it is the tawajjuh and the attention of the protestors towards Allah, that rahmah of Allah coupled with your humble effort, that brings results. And so this is where the deen needs to be brought into every aspect of our life. People run for campaigns and say, "Sheikh, make du'a." I say, listen — as part of your campaign, you need to have a dhikr jama'ah. Every single foot soldier of yours who goes out handing flyers needs to be doing dhikr. Because otherwise you are like the rest. Why should you expect any help from Allah? If you want to be treated differently by Allah, you must act differently.

Whether it is a campaign, running for office, protesting, or trying to get a job — we are not like others. We have something called faith. And our faith must not be restricted to the house of Allah. Our faith must be found wherever we go. And people should look at us and say, "Wow, these are men and women of faith." We do not dictate results nor demand from Allah. We say, "Ya Allah, I did the effort and I leave the rest up to You." And when a person is free from this type of shirk al-khafi, his business endeavor, his family issue, his health issue — whatever it is — he will start seeing results he had never seen before. May Allah create within all of us the amazing level of tawhid that the Sahabah radiallahu anhum had. Ameen.

Tawhid: The Central Attribute

So this is the reason why Allah mentions this right in the middle of all the attributes. Tawhid is the central attribute — there are about five or six before it and five or six after it, from all the attributes mentioned of the Ibadur Rahman. If you have this, alhamdulillah, then you can work on everything else right and left. But if you are missing the middle one, you are missing the most central part.

The way to achieve this is: constantly do dhikr of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ with your tongue. Number two, do dhikr with the heart — think about what you are saying. When someone says, "This is hopeless, there is no hope for me" — you say, "Relax. Who said so? Allah is in control of your life." Despondency is a horrible, horrible sin. Never give up. You have to have reliance upon Allah.

This is where we constantly need to correct our speech. Your speech is a reflection of what is in your heart. If you find yourself, your spouse, or your children saying something which does not go in line with tawhid, correct them right then and there. Say, "No, Allah can do anything." — "Oh, this marriage is never going to be saved." — Never say never. Have faith in Allah.

A Story of Hope: Never Say Never

I remember about two years ago, someone was going through a very bitter divorce. And there are many people here today, or listening online from across the country, who are going through that same type of predicament. And the sad part is, it makes no sense why the divorce is happening. Especially when the man is begging to remain married, never intentionally caused any problem, but the wife decides to file for divorce and go to court. There were many who dealt with that case and said, "This is gone. This will never, ever turn around." And my advice to them and to every couple going through anything, including your children or siblings — do not ever say never. Never say never. Have faith in Allah.

Turn to Allah. Use all the means available — including arbitration, getting the sheikh involved, getting your elders involved, and along with that using ruqya for your marriage. Some say, "Ah, what is ruqya going to help against?" The A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytan ar-rajim is good enough to protect you from Iblees himself. If the ayat of the Qur'an can protect from Iblees, what about whatever issues a husband or wife might be going through?

So I am here, alhamdulillah, two years later to share the beautiful news of something which all the parties involved pretty much gave up on — and Allah brought the day that they came back together. Which is honestly a miracle, but it is truly a manifestation of the qudra and the power of Allah. When you have faith in Allah and you use the means, you will see Allah will take care of things.

A Reflection on Justice and Oppression

What we see in the case of the current zulm and genocide taking place — historians and big experts have said this is the first time that an occupier, an oppressor, an aggressor can come in and commit the worst types of war crimes and then try to convince you that they are the ones who are oppressed. Recently I heard a clip of a previous prime minister of Israel saying, "We will never forgive the Palestinians for forcing us to kill their children." You heard that right. Never in history has this happened — that you kill someone and you claim to be the victim.

La ilaha illallah. So what we see here is a very unique situation: a person is doing zulm and then on top of that claiming to be mazlum. As horrific as this is — and I am not taking anything away from that conflict — I want to take one simple point and apply it to our marriages today.

In marriages, there was a time when you would have aggressive, oppressive men — perhaps physically abusive towards their spouse. That happens, and it may definitely be happening today as well. When that case comes to the arbitrator, no sensible man or woman in the community would side with a physically abusive husband. But this is not the only scenario. We now also see women abusing their husbands — and the whole community, the in-laws, the parents, law enforcement, and the courts continuously siding with the oppressor. Many, many cases — in the tens — where the man is begging to remain married, begging to stay. The wife is physically abusing the man — throwing pots and pans, pushing him down the stairs, attacking him — but who gets handcuffed? The man. Again and again.

Your credit card is being maxed out. You are kicked out of your own home. You are living in a hotel. Your accounts are being emptied out. And you are being told, "You are the oppressor." Those of you who have seen this know exactly what I am talking about. May Allah guide both our men and our women, and may Allah remove the evil influence of nafs, shaitan, and every dajjali fitna that has taken over our homes. I know I am speaking on behalf of thousands of men who do not have a voice, because if they speak, no one will believe them.

And just as the entire world sees the bodies of 15,000 innocent killed in Gaza and still cannot recognize the mazlum — that is exactly what shaitan has done to our marriages. So I implore those who can save marriages: please knock some sense into people. Arbitration may sometimes feel like you are speaking to a wall. You need to turn to Allah, pray every single day two raka'at of Salatul Hajah.

A Special Du'a for Difficult Times

From the many thousands of adhkar and du'as, I will share one that I have experienced to be very beneficial. This is not an established sunnah from the Prophet ﷺ — I tell you clearly. Salatul Hajah is sunnah. But one of the things shared to me by my teacher was that a student of his from the family of the Prophet ﷺ was going through a great many problems that were not being solved. Eventually, after excessive crying and du'a every night, he was visited by the Prophet ﷺ in a dream. The Prophet ﷺ told him to pray two raka'at of salah after Salatul Isha, before Witr. In the first raka'at, recite Surah Al-Kawthar 41 times. In the second raka'at, recite Surah Al-Kawthar 40 times. Then after that, make du'a for your needs.

Now, Surah Al-Kawthar is about the Prophet ﷺ — it is about Allah's gifts to the Prophet ﷺ. So this is a huge isal al-thawab for the Prophet ﷺ. You are making this 81 times as a gift to Rasulullah ﷺ. And one of the greatest ways to attract the mercy of Allah is through salawat — through making du'a for Allah's beloved. All the billions of people put together cannot equal one Prophet ﷺ. If you want to attract Allah's mercy, show love to His Prophet, because His Prophet is most beloved. That is why when you want your du'a accepted, you do salawat before and after — and your du'a gets accepted.

The Prophet ﷺ told that student in the dream: "Go tell your sheikh so he can share it with his students." So it was shared with me, and I am sharing it with you. Alhamdulillah, in the marriage I was speaking about, this was one of the things they used, on a daily basis. It took time. But as they say in Urdu: there is sometimes delay in the court of Allah, but there is never darkness. There is always the silver lining. There is always light at the end of the tunnel. But you have to have patience.

Shaitan's Greatest Achievement: Breaking Marriages

Imam Bukhari has mentioned in Kitab al-Adab al-Mufrad that every single day, Iblis places his throne upon the oceans. He asks all his little cronies and the small shayateen to come and tell him what they did that day. He listens to each one — go, next, next — until a shaytan comes and says, "O my master, I saw a married husband and wife and I attacked them, and I continued to create animosity, hatred, and misunderstandings between them. And I did not leave until the man ended up divorcing her. Then I left them." And when he shares this with Iblis, Iblis says, "Come forward!" He makes him sit up front and says, "This is the man of the hour. This is the one who has done the real work."

This is the gist of a hadith mentioned by Imam Bukhari in Kitab al-Adab al-Mufrad. Think about how that applies today. As soon as the divorce papers are sent to the lawyers — he is done. He moves on to the next one.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Hadith indicating that divorce will become rampant — referenced in collections of signs of the Last Hour)

Talaq will become rampant. We need to look out for each other — our husbands and wives, our mothers and daughters. If we see anyone going through this trouble, exhort them towards Allah. Towards the remembrance of Allah. Bring Surah al-Baqarah in the house. Bring dhikr into the heart. Bring tilawat of the Qur'an into the home. Sunnah, sunnah, sunnah — the more sunnah we have in our houses, the more shaitan will run away.

May Allah grant us true trust in Him. Ameen.

The Second and Third Gravest Sins: Murder and Zina

The second thing you will not see the believers involved in: they will not commit murder. And the third, right after that: they will not commit zina. Look — shirk, murder, and zina. According to Allah, these are the three gravest sins. The biggest sin: shirk. Second gravest: murder. Third gravest: zina.

Allah has mentioned this in Surah Al-Isra as well:

Over there, where does Allah bring it? He brings zina before murder:

The ulama say that zina is actually a form of murder. When a person falls into this sin and wants to ensure that a lineage is not created from it, he will indulge in that which prevents a soul from coming into this world. So there are two types of murder: one is taking the life of a soul that is already in this world, and one is — in a sense — the prevention of a soul that could have come through the proper means of nikah, but you have created obstacles for that. This is also a form of qatal. Allahu Akbar. What a grave sin. And this has become the most common thing in our society across all sectors of our community. When deen is not followed, this will happen. And the biggest source of this sin becoming common in our communities is the mobile phone, and not following the deen, becoming free with one another, crossing boundaries, not worrying about hijab, falling into khalwah with those one should not be with, getting too close to non-mahram relatives at the office or at school. All of this, my beloved brothers and sisters, ends up being a means of this mess. May Allah close the doors of zina upon our community and open the doors of nikah. Ameen.

The Punishment and Multiplied Consequences

وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذَٰلِكَ — whoever does any of these things will face the atham. Atham means sin — they will come face to face with sin. Imagine if the sin were given a shape and form — it would be right there in front of your eyes, personified, مُجَسَّمَة. How can you deny it then? Then:

The punishment will be multiplied on the Day of Judgment, and they will remain in it forever in disgrace. But I thought you only receive punishment for as much as you did — why multiplied? Because of:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 34, Hadith 6466)

Whoever starts a bad trend will get the sin of his own act plus the sin of everyone who was inspired by his act — without their sin being reduced at all. Like Qabil committing murder — he will get the sin of every murder that happened after that. Allah says in Surah Al-Ankabut:

They will definitely carry their own burden, and along with that the burden of others — those whom they inspired with their action. That is why before we commit any sin openly, remember: if you start a bad trend, no matter how many millions of people follow it, you will unfortunately get the sin of all of it.

And note that the word مُهَانَة — disgrace — has been used here. Elsewhere punishment is described as عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ or عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ — painful torment. Here it is disgrace — psychological punishment. Some people, if you hit them, they will not care. But if you shame them in front of others, that is far more painful. So Jahannam has both: some will receive physical punishment, and along with that, psychological punishment. May Allah protect us from any and all forms of punishment.

The Door of Tawbah Is Always Open

Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds — Allah will substitute their misdeeds with good deeds, and ever is He All-Forgiving, All-Merciful. What is going on here? Allah is mentioning repentance in the middle of speaking about Ibadur Rahman. Why are we hearing about aman here?

And whoever repents after sinning and works righteousness — indeed such a person has repented to Allah with a worthy repentance. Notice the difference between these two verses: the first one says آمَنَ — believes. The second one does not say آمَنَ — it simply says repent.

Some ulama have said these two verses speak about different types of sins. The first verse speaks of people who committed such a sin that they actually left Islam — either a non-Muslim who repents and becomes Muslim, or a Muslim who did something that almost took them out of the fold of Islam. The second verse speaks of a Muslim sinner who committed a sin and is repenting from it. Another explanation is that the first ayah refers to believers whose sin was so grave that it stripped the nur of iman from their heart — they must come back fully and essentially renew their iman. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2475; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 57)

A fornicator does not fornicate while he is a believer. And he does not drink liquor while he is a believer. Meaning: the sin of drinking and the sin of fornication are so horrible that when a person is indulged in them, the nur of iman has been lifted away. Just imagine if someone dies in that state. Because it is not possible for one who truly believes in Allah, believes in Jahannam, and believes in punishment to fall for this. Why do people commit these sins? Because their conviction in Allah and in His punishment becomes weak. Then they end up having the so-called audacity to do such sins. This is what we call extreme weakness of iman.

Beloved friends, when a person has sinned, and at home a son or daughter, a sibling or spouse has really crossed the lines — if you and I simply judge them for that and continuously treat them only with anger and frustration, what happens? They say, "I've already done so many wrong things, I don't care anymore." They become even more disobedient, thinking, "If there's really no chance of me ever being forgiven or regaining respect, then forget it — I might as well just do the craziest things."

It is amazing how shaitan works. Just today someone mentioned things he thought he would never do in his life, and then said the reason he did them was because he was angry at his parents — because they did not give him something he wanted. So out of anger, he committed the most hideous of sins. Who does that? That is shaitan. Your mom and dad are not going to be in your grave — you have your own grave. Why would you do something so foolish as to say, "I'm going to commit sin because I'm angry at my parents"? That is how shaitan actually works — he creates frustration within children.

Understand, my beloved brothers and sisters: your enemy is not your mom, your enemy is not your dad, your enemy is not your son, your enemy is not your daughter, your enemy is not your wife, your enemy is not your husband. Your enemy — my enemy — is our nafs and shaitan. For Allah's sake, stop fighting with one another. Focus on the real enemy in front of us. But all we are doing is breaking our relationships with our children, children breaking relationships with their parents, spouses with one another. And who is having a party? Shaitan.

Make this niyyah right now that insha'Allah we will work on the common enemy together — shaitan and the nafs. And we will not allow them to ruin our relationship with our children or our parents. Dear parents: shaitan may come and say, "Be harsh with your kids, scream at them, never accept their apology, always be judgmental." Please do not fall for that — that is not proper tarbiyah, that is not deen. Read أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ, ask Allah to remove the anger from your heart.

And dear children of parents: do not allow anger to overtake you. Do not allow your parents' mistakes to consume you. There is no one who loves you, after Allah, more than them. But just like you have a shaitan, so do they. They are not prophets, they are not ma'sum, they are as human as you are. So be forgiving, be understanding, make du'a for your parents. Ask Allah to remove whatever problems you are going through, and to remove any hatred or anger you might be suffering from. Because the worst burden you could carry is hatred towards your parents. The worst burden. This relationship between parents and children is sacred, blessed, and beautiful — do not allow shaitan to destroy it.

There is a du'a:

Ya Allah, remove anger from my heart. You might have that emotion — I do not deny it. You might be going through it. But at that moment, understand you are under attack from shaitan. You cannot walk around hating on your parents. You cannot walk around hating on your kids. You cannot continuously use foul language with your children. And similarly, children cannot just be completely disobedient and think it is justified because their parents made mistakes.

This is also like what shaitan does when someone misses Fajr — he says, "You already missed Fajr, so you might as well miss Dhuhr, Asr, Maghrib, and Isha too." Or if someone slipped and watched or listened to something haram: "You already did that — let me just ruin the rest of the day." That is shaitan, shaitan, shaitan. Do not fall for it.

That is why Allah always brings tawbah in the Qur'an again and again — to say, "Listen, I am not going to treat you like the most evil person on earth. Because if I treat you like that, you will become even worse. Rather, I will always keep the door of tawbah open. So anytime you want to turn around, the door is open." Allah will never nag you no matter what sin you have committed. But you have to use that opening you have.

The door of tawbah is open until the death rattle begins — مَا لَمْ يُغَرْغِرْ. This is for all of us. If we have abused anyone financially, with our tongue, or through neglecting the sunnah or breaking the commands of Allah — whatever it may be — the doors of tawbah are open.

Not Bearing False Witness and Avoiding Gatherings of Sin

Those servants of Allah — لَا يَشْهَدُونَ الزُّورَ — they do not bear false witness. There are two meanings. One is to give a false testimony — you say someone committed a crime when they did not. The Prophet ﷺ was once asked what the biggest sin is. He was sitting, and someone said: "What is the biggest sin?"

"Shall I not tell you what are the greatest of major sins? Number one: shirk — committing shirk. Number two: عُقُوقُ الْوَالِدَيْنِ — disrespect to parents." I just finished speaking about parents. My brothers, this tafsir is not going to help you if you and I are disrespecting our parents. This tafsir will help you if you decide to change today. If we make our mom and dad angry and then go for 25 hajjs — it is not going to help. We have to work on this. And if you feel like you need motivation, go speak this week to someone who has lost their parents. Tell them you are really angry at your mom or dad. And you will hear a much more powerful talk than I can ever give.

Then the Prophet ﷺ said: شَهَادَةُ الزُّورِ — to give false testimony or to speak a lie. And the Prophet ﷺ was leaning against a wall, and he sat upright and began to repeat it, repeat it, repeat it. False testimony, false testimony, false testimony — because this is how big of a sin it is.

The second meaning of يَشْهَدُونَ زُورًا is to attend a gathering of falsehood. Any type of sin — propaganda, backbiting, plotting to harm someone, a gathering of music, a gathering of zina, watching something haram, listening to something haram, backbiting the scholars, speaking ill about the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ — all of this is شَهَادَةُ الزُّورِ. The Ibadur Rahman do not attend that.

Passing by Vain Speech with Dignity

Whenever they pass by those who are uttering vile talk, they pass by honorably. لَغْو means بَاطِل — useless things which are harmful, مَعْصِيَة — things which are not going to benefit you in this dunya or akhira. Many times you are in class and there are a bunch of guys saying inappropriate jokes. What do you do? You do not just politely smile. You take your bag and you walk out. You put in your earphones. You do not participate. There is no such thing as courtesy when people are trash talking, cursing, or telling filthy jokes. That is not where Ibadur Rahman are found.

Similarly those gatherings — marriages or any other celebrations — in which batil is there: music, dancing, mixed gatherings. You will not find Ibadur Rahman there. Those are people who when they arrive say, "SubhanAllah, what is going on here?" مَرُّوا بِاللَّغْوِ مَرُّوا كِرَامًا — they look down, they give their gift, and they move on. Our Ustad Mawlana Moinuddin, rahimahullah rahmatan wasi'ah, would explain musamaha — just looking the other way — using an example from Muzdalifah, where people would have to use the open areas for istinja. He said: when you see someone going for istinja, you do not stare at them. You simply look down. That is musamaha. When you see someone doing something inappropriate, you do not give a second glance. You look down and you walk. As believers surrounded by an environment of sin, we should never be caught giving a second glance to something which is haram. This is what it means to be an honorable Muslim.

Responding to the Verses of Allah with Humility

And whenever they are reminded of the revealed verses of Allah, they do not act deaf and dumb in front of it. You have heard the categorization of ayaat before — آيَاتٌ قَوْنِيَّة (signs of nature), آيَاتٌ تَكْوِينِيَّة (signs from events and happenings), and آيَاتٌ قُرْآنِيَّة (verses of the Qur'an). Here the mufassir says this refers primarily to Qur'anic verses — they do not fall deaf and blind.

When someone sends you a verse of the Qur'an while you are angry in an issue — "But Allah says this" — you do not say, "Keep quiet, do not talk about the Qur'an to me." That is what a non-Ibadur-Rahman does — the Qur'an only applies when it fits his purpose, and when it comes against him, he says, "Ah brother, this is 2023, leave the Qur'an out." Why? Because the Qur'an is now being presented against him. He does not like it. Now Ibadur Rahman, if you recite to them a verse of the Qur'an, they zip up. They do not openly contradict it. They may seek clarification of the verse afterwards, but they do not fight back against the word of Allah.

I remember a statement of one scholar: someone said, "The Prophet ﷺ used to love squash — يُحِبُّ الدُّبَّاءَ," and the person immediately responded, "I don't like squash." And the scholar said that this statement, uttered right at that moment, could take a person out of the fold of Islam. Because if you say "I don't like squash" at any other time — fine. But the fact that you said it right after it was mentioned that the Prophet ﷺ liked it means you are going straight up against the Prophet ﷺ's wishes. And that cannot be an act of a believer. So take this to heart — when you hear something about Rasulullah ﷺ, do not immediately say anything that contradicts it. There is a place and a maqam for expressing your emotions. Right now, when we are talking about what the Prophet ﷺ liked, just keep quiet and listen. And if you can, ask Allah: "Ya Allah, my Prophet liked this — I want to also like this."

People always ask: "Is this sunnah? Is this fard? Is this wajib, mu'akkadah, ghayr mu'akkadah?" Brother, even when it comes to the preferences of the Prophet ﷺ, we should try our best to implement them — because we love him. When people love a basketball or football player, they want to wear the exact same jersey number, the exact same shoe. That's called love. Where is the love for Rasulullah ﷺ? Why is it always "Is it wajib? Is it fard?" That is not how a lover speaks. A lover says: "If my Prophet has anything to do with it, it has got to be in my life." May Allah grant myself and all of us that love of the Prophet ﷺ. Ameen.

The Du'a for Righteous Spouses and Children

These are the believers who not only make effort in the tarbiyah of their children but also of their spouses. The husband is responsible not only for the children — he is responsible for his wife as well. That is his job. When guys say, "I want to get married," I say, "Okay — are you ready to be the sheikh of your home?" You are the sheikh of your wife. Your life and actions should be such that your wife is impressed — not by how cool you are outside, but by how you are in the musallah. By your akhlaq, your character, how you treat your parents and her parents, how you act in the masjid, your general demeanor. Such that she says, "SubhanAllah, I am blessed to be married to a wali of Allah." That is what we all need to make an effort on. Lead by example. Tarbiyah happens when you lead by example.

What did the Prophet ﷺ say?

(Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1308; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 1336)

May Allah have mercy on that man who gets up in the night for Tahajjud and then wakes up his wife for salah — and if she does not wake up, he sprinkles water on her face. And may Allah have mercy on that wife who gets up in the night for Tahajjud, prays, and then wakes up her husband — and if he refuses, she sprinkles water on his face. May Allah make you and I such spouses for each other, and may Allah grant such spouses for those who are not yet married. Ameen.

My beloved husbands and husbands-to-be: our responsibility of tarbiyah at home is not only of the children, it is of the spouse as well. And tarbiyah is not through screaming and yelling — it must be done methodically. Bring them to gatherings like these, ilm and dhikr. Come up with different ways to create an environment where your family gets good exposure. And for those of you thinking of taking your families for Umrah — going for Umrah without a scholar who can guide you and unveil the spirituality hidden there is not the best idea. Without proper guidance, it can just become a family vacation, and the nur and the anwarat of that place may never really be absorbed.

So after making that effort of tarbiyah, they make du'a — هَبْ لَنَا يَا اللَّهُ, "Grant us, O Allah." أَزْوَاج is the plural of زَوْج — spouses — so both men and women should be making this du'a. "Grant in our spouses and our children — قُرَّةَ أَعْيُنٍ — the joy of our eyes."

قُرَّة has two meanings. One is coolness — the Arabs used coolness of the eyes to mean happiness and joy, and warmth or hotness of the eyes to mean pain. The second meaning is something stationary, something fixed. So this du'a means: "Ya Allah, allow my spouse and children to be so amazing and so loving that my eyes are fixed on them, and I will never look at any other for comparison." The husband will never compare his wife to anyone else, and the wife will never compare her husband to anyone else. Because they have the very best.

وَاجْعَلْنَا لِلْمُتَّقِينَ إِمَامًا — "And make us an exemplar for the God-fearing." We do not just want to become muttaqi — we want to become the lead muttaqi in our homes. Every father should aspire to be the muttaqi leader of all his children and spouse at home. Every mother should desire to be the most muttaqi in her home. Make this du'a every single day.

The Reward: Al-Ghurfah — The High Chambers of Jannah

We are done with the attributes — alhamdulillah, all the attributes come to a conclusion here. Allah says: such people, أُولَٰئِكَ — these are the people who will be rewarded with الْغُرْفَة, the high chamber of heaven — like a penthouse. The highest chambers of the heavens will be given to such people. بِمَا صَبَرُوا — for what they endured patiently in life. Because to be an Ibadur Rahman and to remain an Ibadur Rahman is not easy. You might be motivated today, but to have this till next week, next month, next year, until your death — that is where the hard part is.

The ulama say:

Steadfastness is more important and more powerful than a thousand miracles. You do not need to fly in the air or cure people with a touch. What you need is: if you have your Fajr sunnah, never miss it. If you have Fajr jama'ah, never miss it. Yesterday I gave a khatira after Salatul Isha about a dear member of our community — Brother Abu Adam — who would be sitting right here, often right in front of me. He passed away, rahimahullah rahmatan wasi'ah, this past Sunday. And even the day right before he went to the hospital, he was here for Fajr. A few hours after that he fell down, and two or three days later he passed away. But every regular member of this community knows: he never caught a second or third raka'ah — he was always behind the imam from the start. No matter what the weather, he always made his way to the masjid. That is called istiqamah. Abu Adam, rahimahullah, was a pillar of istiqamah. May Allah elevate his status, make his grave a garden from the gardens of Jannah, give patience to his family, and allow all of us to follow in his footsteps of istiqamah. Ameen.

And therein — in Jannah — they shall be met with a welcoming salutation and peace. Salaam from three groups: salaam from the angels, salaam from the people of Al-A'raf, and the greatest salaam — from Allah:

They shall abide therein forever — حَسُنَتْ مُسْتَقَرًّا وَمُقَامًا — a most excellent residence and station. مُسْتَقَر is temporary — there are so many magnificent stations in Jannah that a person will think he has arrived, but he will be told, "No, no — this is one trillionth of your day. Let us take you to the next garden, the next room, the next scene." And مُقَام is the long-term abiding. So Jannah has both — marvels that keep unfolding, and an eternal abiding therein. There are narrations that a jannati will be sitting at the door of Jannah thinking he has already arrived — for what seems like decades — and then someone says, "What are you doing?" He says, "I am in Jannah." And the reply: "This is not Jannah — this is simply the door of Jannah." Allahu Akbar. May Allah allow all those who have passed from the ummah — especially our shuhadah from Gaza and Palestine — to be already at the door of Jannah. Ameen.

The Closing Verse: Allah Has No Need for the Heedless

O Prophet ﷺ, say: مَا يَعْبَأُ بِكُمْ — "Never would my Lord even care for you, O people, لَوْلَا دُعَاؤُكُمْ — were it not for your calling upon Him in worship and need. فَقَدْ كَذَّبْتُمْ — but truly you disbelievers have denied the faith. فَسَوْفَ يَكُونُ لِزَامًا — thus your punishment shall soon become inescapable."

Allah is saying: My help to you, in this world and the hereafter, is contingent on your ibadah and du'a to Me. But if you, O disbelievers, have chosen to turn your back, not worship Me, not call upon Me — do not expect any help. Instead, the way your kufr is inseparable from you, My punishment shall be inseparable from you forever in the hellfire.

And some ulama have explained this verse from another angle: if Allah had not created you to give you a good life, and had not invited you to His mercy and to His Jannah, He would not have shown any care at all. Meaning — the very fact that Allah is inviting you through His prophets, the way this Qur'an opens up to you all the avenues of paradise — it is a sign that Allah cares about you. So care back. Follow it. And if you choose not to, do not expect any care from Allah — because He has already explained everything to you.

The Closing Hadith Qudsi

Let me end with a powerful Hadith Qudsi. The Prophet ﷺ said that Allah says:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2577)

"O My servants, you will never be able to harm Me, and you will never be able to benefit Me. Whatever you do is for your own benefit or harm. O My servants, if the first of you and the last of you, your humans and your jinn, were all upon the heart of the most sinful person among you, that would not decrease from My kingdom in the least. And if they were all upon the heart of the most pious person, that would not increase from My kingdom in the least. O My servants, if all of you were to stand in one open plain and ask Me for whatever you need, and I were to give every single one everything they ask, that would not decrease from what I have — except what a needle decreases from the ocean when it is dipped in. O My servants, it is only your deeds that I am counting and keeping record of, then I will give it back to you. Whoever finds good in his Book of Deeds, let him thank Allah. And whoever finds other than that, let him blame no one but himself."

This is it. On the Day of Judgment, you will get exactly what you did — nothing more, nothing less. And this is what قُلْ مَا يَعْبَأُ بِكُمْ is telling us. Allah does not need you, Allah does not need me. He is watching what we are doing and He is going to give it back. Based on whatever is written in the Book, you will be rewarded or punished. So the ball is in my court. The ball is in your court. Allah has said what He needs to say. The Prophet ﷺ has done whatever effort he needs to do. The ulama have done whatever they need to do. Now it is our turn to begin and put this into practice.

SubhanAllah — how much we have covered in 13 sessions. Allahu Akbar. So much. I ask Allah not to make all of this speech — what we heard and what we said — a proof against us, but rather to make it a proof for us. May He make you and I amongst those who, more than just listening, immediately put things into practice.

Announcements and Closing

Beloved brothers and sisters, make this niyyah today that insha'Allah we will try our level best — whatever khair we heard, we will not only put it into practice, but share it with others as well. For those who are here for the first time, or who have not come in a while — all our sessions are recorded from the very first day. Go to the Masjid Darus Salaam YouTube channel, go to the playlist, and they are all available there. You can also find us on iTunes, Spotify, and other platforms. Scan the WhatsApp group if you have not already done so, and you will stay connected with links to all our tafsirs.

Additionally, insha'Allah next week we will be starting Surah al-Qasas — the surah of the stories. It starts with the story of Musa alayhi salam and Fir'awn, and given what we are dealing with in the world right now, I think it will be a beautiful lesson we can derive. This is also the du'a we should be reciting after every salah — join us for Salatul Fajr here at 6 a.m. when we recite this du'a every single day to assist our brothers and sisters going through difficulty wherever in the world, especially in Palestine:

Please try your best to memorize this du'a, or at least memorize the translation. You can find the transliteration online as well.

Our annual dinner is insha'Allah about three weeks from now — December 9th. Please ensure on the way out that you purchase your ticket. This is for your institution — the place you benefit from every day, every week, every month, or through the livestream. It is December 9th at 5 PM, marking 10 years of Darus Salaam opening. We will have an amazing lineup of programs featuring our students and graduates who are serving in different parts of the country, sharing what they are involved in. You will get a chance to see where your efforts, donations, and du'as have been going for the past 10 years and more.

We are also looking for sponsorships. If you have a halal Muslim business, or know one, this is a once-a-year opportunity to show the Muslim community that we are not only telling people to divest from certain businesses, but also providing an alternative — keeping money invested within the Muslim community. Sponsors will get coverage at the dinner in front of approximately 1,200 people, and we will also be running those ads through our WhatsApp group of thousands of people on a regular basis. If you are looking for a barber, a plumber, a doctor, a restaurant — look to the businesses that support Darus Salaam. Please reach out to the office and become a sponsor at any level.

We have our weekly Saturday Fajr program at 6 AM, followed by a talk and a big breakfast. And every Thursday, there is a khatira after Salatul Isha about the Prophet ﷺ's life and sacrifices, followed by a salawat program — sending salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ.

Closing Du'a

Oh Allah, we ask You to fill our hearts with Your love, the love of Rasulullah ﷺ, the love of the Qur'an, the love of the Sahabah, the love of the Awliya, the love of the ulama, the love of the pious ones. Oh Allah, we are not pious, but allow us to love the pious, and through our love for the pious, make us pious, Ya Allah.

Oh Allah, fill our hearts with Taqwa. Oh Allah, grant all of us righteous, pious spouses and children. Oh Allah, those who are not married — grant them the very best of spouses. Oh Allah, grant them muhabba and love in their marriages. Oh Allah, do not allow shaitan and nafs to have a share in their marriages. Oh Allah, those who do not have children — grant them healthy, pious, righteous children. Those who have children — Ya Allah, make them such children that they will become a means of happiness for their parents both in this world and the next.

Oh Allah, we ask You for those who are struggling to come to the masjid, struggling to sit in the programs, struggling to volunteer. Oh Allah, I beg You in this beautiful occasion, with so many young and old, women and men and children listening online and on-site — through the barakah of the pious gathered here, You know who they are. Oh Allah, we ask You to remove all the obstacles from anyone and everyone who wants to come to the masjid but is not able to do so. All those who try every day or every week but are not able to. All the past volunteers who want to help and be a part of the masjid. All those musallis who used to pray in the masajid but for some reason have been pushed away. Ya Allah, break those shackles, break those barriers, break those walls between anyone who wants to come to Your house, between anyone who wants to come to You — but finds their path blocked. Ya Allah, break those barriers through the tears and blood of our brothers and sisters.

Oh Allah, bring a revival within the ummah. Bring a revival within our leaders. Bring a revival within the ulama. Bring a revival within the youth. Ya Allah, bring a revival within the women. Oh Allah, let the ending of all the suffering be beautiful — not only in the hereafter, but in this world as well. Oh Allah, let the ending be great.

Oh Allah, protect this masjid and all the other masajid. Protect this madrasa and seminary, and all the other seminaries and madrasas across the globe. Oh Allah, protect all dini efforts from internal and external fitnahs. Oh Allah, protect them from hasad, evil eye, sihr, and the evil plots of shaitan. Oh Allah, allow all of us to be protected from the evil plots of shaitan and nafs. Oh Allah, protect us from the seeing enemy and the unseen enemy.

Oh Allah, grant all of us a life of taqwa, death on taqwa, righteousness on taqwa, under the banner of the Prophet ﷺ. Oh Allah, allow us to leave this world in a state that You are happy with us and we are excited to receive the rewards You have prepared for us in Jannah. Allow us to leave this world with the kalimah لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ on our tongues, with conviction and yaqeen, in a state that all our sins have been forgiven. Oh Allah, allow our graves to be gardens from the gardens of Jannah.

Oh Allah, we ask You to make the graves of our parents, our elders, our teachers, and all those who passed away from this ummah — and in this community, our brother Abu Adam, and all those who passed away previously from our community and beyond — especially from among the well-wishers, donors, and patrons of this masjid. Oh Allah, fill their graves with nur, and allow them all to attain the rewards and sadaqah jariyah of everything that happens here, including this majlis. Allow the rewards of this gathering and any good deed that comes out of it to be presented to the souls of those who have passed away.

Oh Allah, we ask You the way You have gathered us here today, gather us many more times in this world, and gather us under Your banner, under the banner of Rasulullah ﷺ, and under Your Throne on the Day of Judgment.

May Allah reward all of you immensely for your patience. There is also a request for du'a for the grandfather of brother Zaid Sayyid, Muhammad Abdus Salim, who is on a ventilator. Please remember him in your du'as.

Wassalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.