Surah Fussilat - Ep.01 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 09/10

Opening Du'a and Welcome

Ya Wahab, Ya Fattah, Ya Fattah, Ya Fattah, Ya Jabbar, Ya Jabbar, Ya Jabbar.

Honorable respected brothers and sisters, dear friends, dear youngsters — peace and blessings of Allah be upon you. We are now embarking on the beginning of a new chapter of the Qur'an: Surah Fussilat — Surah Fussilat or Surah Hameem Sajdah — the surah that comes right after Surah Al-Ghafir and Surah Al-Mu'min, that we were just able to complete last week over 16 sessions, alhamdulillah.

And when we sit here, beginning to remind ourselves of some of the basic things that we should keep in front of us when we sit in the masjid — in the house of Allah — or anywhere, wherever we're listening: remember the fact that this is a gathering of knowledge and a gathering of remembrance of Allah. And based on the intention we have, Allah will grant us gifts equivalent to that. The loftier the intention, the greater the gift from Allah. And the more talib al-sadiq — sincerity — we have in our seeking of help from Allah, Allah will inspire all of us to be able to say things which are most beneficial, and to be able to hear things which are most beneficial, and then to be able to practice on what we hear.

Hence we all pray to Allah: Ya Allah, allow us to benefit from this majlis. Allow us to say and hear that which we need. And whatever khair and good we hear, Ya Allah, do not allow it to become a proof against us, but make it a proof for us. And inspire us to practice it. Ameen.

The Hadith of the Gathering

A hadith that I shared with you today is the hadith of the Prophet ﷺ, related by Abu Hurairah radiyallahu anhu, from Sahih Muslim and Sunan Abi Dawud:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 35, Hadith 6518; Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 8, Hadith 1455)

He says: there is never a group of people that gather together in the house of Allah, and that they would discuss amongst themselves the book of Allah — whenever they gather in the house of Allah to discuss and study the book of Allah — what is going to happen? Allah will ensure that peace (sakinah) descends upon that group of people, and Allah's mercy overwhelms them, surrounds them. From top to bottom they are overtaken by the mercy of Allah. And the angels will surround them. And Allah mentions them in front of those who are with Him — meaning the angels.

So imagine how many things we're getting here by sitting here in this dars. We are getting, insha'Allah, the sakinah from Allah. That's why many times a person is going through a lot of problems, he comes to the masjid — all of a sudden you feel a relief, a stress-lift.

Now one thing I must say: sakinah does not mean you start falling asleep. Some people misunderstand sakinah — they think, "I go to the tafsir and I sleep nicely, this is sakinah." No, this is not sakinah. This is shaytan putting you to sleep so that you don't listen and benefit from what is being said. And it comes in hadith that to fall asleep during advice, during reminder, during the bayan — this is from shaytan. So that's why you have tea, that's why you have water, that's why we do wudu. Anytime we fall asleep, don't just say "let me enjoy it" — go and wash your face and do wudu. And we understand everyone had a busy day — students and community members — but sakinah is where you feel your heart's content.

This anxiety — half or more of the ummah is going through anxiety, so much stress. Sometimes you don't even know what you're stressed about. You just feel uneasy, frustrated, and you don't exactly know why. "Why are you frustrated?" "I don't know, I just feel it." "Why do you feel uneasy?" "I don't know, I just feel like that." This is the lack of sakinah.

When sakinah comes in, then a person is pleased with the decisions of Allah, no matter what situation he's going through. He's cool, calm, collected. You can actually make good decisions when you're collected. If you have to fight back, if you have to defend your honor, if you have to defend your family, if you have to defend your life — that requires you to be collected. If you are anxiety-prone, at that time you might make wrong decisions. So we all need sakinah in our life, and that is what you get when you come to the masjid to discuss and read the book of Allah.

Number two: Rahmah — Allah's mercy surrounds us. Allahu Akbar, how amazing that is. The third thing is Haffatun Malika — the angels are surrounding you and I. You and I will never become angels — people may say it but we can't, we're not angels, we never will be. But there are angels who are present and they are in gatherings of this sort — haffat, they're surrounding us. And lastly, what an amazing honor: Allah mentions your name in front of those creations of Allah that are with Him, that are closer than us to Him. And Allah is mentioning our name in front of them. I don't know what could be something more special than this.

Gratitude and Steadfastness

So alhamdulillah, Allah is giving us this. And we will get the tawfiq if we are two things. One is: we're grateful to Allah. The more grateful you and I are to Allah for good opportunities, the more Allah will give us those opportunities. But if we take it lightly and don't say alhamdulillah — that Allah gave me the tawfiq to pray Maghrib with jama'ah, Isha with jama'ah, and to sit in His house in the state of wudu from Maghrib to Isha listening and participating and taking notes of dars of tafsir — if we don't do shukr of this, what are you going to do shukr of?

The more grateful we are to Allah, the more Allah will increase us in our blessings. So one way to get the tawfiq — to continue to be inspired to do good things — is to be grateful.

And the next thing is Istiqamah — steadfastness. When a person makes a commitment that "I will, insha'Allah, be steadfast," then Allah's help comes with it:

We're going to do this ayah in this surah. Indeed those people who say Allah is our Lord, and then they remain steadfast. Steadfastness is the key. To say Allah is our Rabb only in Ramadan doesn't work. To say only Allah is our Rabb in Hajj is not sufficient. To say Allah is our Rabb only when you go through difficulty doesn't work. Istaqamu — to be consistent in this dedication towards Allah. Then such people: tatanazzalu 'alayhimul mala'ikah — at the time of death, the angels will be receiving them.

Not only on a Tuesday night surrounded by angels — but masha'Allah, insha'Allah, the day you and I leave this world, angels are present to receive our soul. And what will they be consoling us with?

"Alla takhafoo" — don't be afraid, it's okay. You're coming, you're coming to your own home.

You're coming back to a place that you came from in the first place. Coming back home. Wa la tahzanu — and do not grieve. Don't worry about what's going on in the world. Over — leave the stress, move on, don't worry. Whoever you left, you leave them. This account, that bank balance, this house I was building, that investment, that college fund, that son's or daughter's education — don't worry about it, move on. La tahzanu — do not grieve over what you have left. Wa la takhafoo — do not be afraid of what's waiting for you.

Wa abshiru bil jannati allati kuntum tu'adoon — and take the glad tidings of Paradise which you had always been promised. Nahnu awliya'ukum fil hayatid dunya — we are your friends in this world — wa fil akhirah — and in the Hereafter. Wa lakum fiha ma tashtahi anfusukum — and you will get whatever your heart desires, whatever your nafs desires. Wa lakum fiha ma tadda'oon — and you will get whatever you demand — on-demand service.

Today we had a very interesting discussion in our Tanweer class about what are the types of things you can get in Jannah. People are asking — someone says, "Can you get this, can you get that?" The Quran says it: wa lakum fiha ma tashtahi anfusukum — you'll get whatever your nafs desires. However, the jannati's nafs will not desire haram. The jannati's nafs will not desire something which is against the fitrah. When we get into Jannah we will be in a beautiful form, in the highest level of purity and cleanliness. And so those things which are filthy, which are dirty, which are disliked by Allah, which Allah has made haram — a nafs of a jannati would never desire that. So don't even ask that question: "Will I get this, will I get that?" If it's haram, if it's khilaf al-fitrah, against nature — you will not only not get it, but you will not even desire it.

Nuzulan min ghafurir rahim — this sums it up. This is an ayah we're going to cover in the next few weeks, insha'Allah, in the surah. What an amazing way to top it off. Allah says: this entire Jannah — all of you are being hosted by Me. I am your host, you are My guest. Nuzul is what you give a guest. So why are you worried about what you're going to get, what you're not going to get? "Is my wife going to get this? Am I going to get this? My sister going to get this? My brother going to get this?" Allah is your host and you're the guest — that's all that matters. Why will Allah, when He's giving you His word — you're going to get whatever you ask, whatever you demand, whatever you desire — and on top of that, Ghafurir Rahim. He is the one who is forgiving.

You and I don't even deserve to see the door of Jannah. We don't even deserve to come close to Paradise. He's saying: "If I got you in here, as Ghafurir Rahim, as Forgiving and Merciful — why won't I give you whatever you want?" Just coming into Paradise itself is a massive feat. How did you get there? Through Allah's mercy. That's it. So when Allah is the host, we've got nothing to worry about. And I think this is something we need to remind ourselves and others about — this aspect that Allah is waiting to host you and I. We just gotta do our job.

Beginning Surah Fussilat — A New Commitment

Time is flying. We're not getting any younger — every single week, every single day, every single month, time is flying and we're getting closer to our death. We just have to make sure we play our cards right to make ourselves worthy of Allah's mercy and hopefully get us into Paradise. Once we're there, everything will be in its place.

So my dear friends, we said istiqamah. This is a new surah starting, so let us make niyyah to Allah: "Ya Allah, I have come for tafsir for three years, four years, two years, but I've never attended cover to cover one surah." Make the intention: "I will not miss any session." Say insha'Allah.

And my dear brothers, my dear students — please make a habit of taking notes. Everything we're saying, insha'Allah, a day will come when your own son will ask you questions, your daughter will ask you, your wife will ask you, your husband will ask you. Alhamdulillah, something you might hear in the book of Allah you will be able to share.

Dhikr Before the Tafsir

We will begin now. Before we begin the surah, let us begin with the dhikr of Allah — otherwise it gets left at the end. So we'll do that, insha'Allah: La ilaha illallah, and then istighfar, and then salawat upon the Prophet ﷺ.

When we're saying la ilaha illallah, a reminder: whenever the shaytan — if someone is possessed — one of the ways that you remove the shaytan from the person is to give adhan in their ears. If a house — you feel like there's a presence of shaytan in a house or a place — one of the ways to address that is to give adhan. It comes in hadith: when adhan is called, what happens? The shaytan runs. And part of the adhan is La ilaha illallah — Ashhadu an la ilaha illallah, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar. Shaytan hates that, he hates it.

So when you say la ilaha illallah, focus on all the effects of shaytan and Iblis being pushed out of your heart, pushed out of your mind — all those terrible wasawis, whispers of shaytan, inclinations, all barriers, obstacles between you and deen — all that the shaytan is putting on you. Through the barakah of la ilaha illallah, it's a sword that you are chiseling off all that filth from yourself.

And then number two: we send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ, hoping that for every time we say salawat, Allah is sending ten salawat upon us, Allah is giving us ten rewards, Allah is increasing us in ten levels in Jannah, and Allah is forgiving ten sins — every salawat. And lastly, with utmost remorse in our heart, we seek forgiveness from Allah.

Introduction to Surah Fussilat

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Surah Fussilat:

This surah — Hameem — is from the seven Hawameem, the surahs that begin with حم, which are found towards the end of the Quran. They are also known as the Ma'in. The Prophet ﷺ has mentioned various virtues of this surah and of those that begin with حم.

The Incident of 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah

The hadith books mention an incident that took place earlier on during the Meccan era, where the kuffar were attacking Islam from every direction they possibly could and were trying to discredit the Prophet ﷺ. It is mentioned that Ibn Abi Shaykh Ibn Hakim mentioned on the authority of Jabir ibn Abdillah radiyallahu 'anhuma that the Quraysh one day gathered:

They said: "Go and look in Quraysh — who is the one who is most knowledgeable of sorcery, magic, fortune-telling, and poetry? Let's get the very best we have, and they need to go speak to this man" — referring to the Prophet ﷺ. Translating it feels so bad — imagine the type of conversation, how heartlessly these people spoke. They said: "Go to this man who has caused disunity amongst us — wa shattata amrana — and he has made our affairs disorganized."

One point here before I even continue: the Prophet ﷺ was accused of causing disunity, even though he was the greatest uniting force. Because unity is not the end-all, is it? Right now the whole world is united against the Muslims — they're united. The munafiqeen, the kuffar, all are united. So unity means nothing. What are you united on is the question. Unity by itself is not desired — unity on the truth is desired. And so the Prophet ﷺ invited people towards unity, of course, on the truth. And they were united on kufr, so when the Prophet came with the truth, they accused him of disuniting them.

It's very interesting that the same history repeats itself today within the Muslim community as well. Those who speak the truth and who are trying to unite people on the deen — on the deen that Rasulullah ﷺ left behind — those are the same people that get accused of disuniting the people. Because anyone who speaks the truth — "What are you doing? You're causing disunity!" No, we're not haters. Instead, we have to do amr bil ma'ruf wa nahy 'an al-munkar — that is a responsibility. So the Prophet ﷺ was also accused of causing friction within the people.

And they said: "Go to this man who is finding fault in our religion, and go look at whatever answer Muhammad ﷺ gives." They said: "Ma na'lamu ahadan ghayra 'Utbata ibn Rabi'ah" — "We know no one who is more capable than 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah for this job." Very eloquent, he knows what he's talking about, he's a senior within their ranks, and he can figure this person out and talk to him.

They said: "You, O Abul Walid!" — Abul Walid is the kunya of 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah. So 'Utbah came to the Prophet ﷺ. Look at the first question: "Anta khayrun am Abdullah?" — "Are you better or is your father 'Abdullah better?" That's the first question — this is how he starts off the discussion. The Prophet ﷺ stayed quiet. Then he said: "Anta khayrun am 'Abd al-Muttalib?" — "Are you better or is your grandfather better?" The Prophet ﷺ stayed silent.

Then Abul Walid responded: "In kunta taz'umu anna awliya'aka khayr minka" — "If you claim that your father, grandfather, and the elders of Quraysh are better than you, then remember — faqad 'abaduth alihata allati 'ibtaha — they were worshipping the very idols that you are finding fault in. And if you seriously think that you are better than them — fatakallam — then speak, let's speak — hatta nasma' qawlak — so we can hear what you've got to say."

He said: "Inna wallahi ma ra'ayna sakhlah" — using a derogatory term, "we haven't seen any little animal" — 'awdhu billah, this is a derogatory term — "that caused more musibah and pain to his nation than you have, ash'am 'ala qawmi minka, because you have destroyed our unity, you have made our affairs disorganized, you have found fault in our religion — wa fadhahtana fil 'Arab — and you have made a fool out of us amongst the Arabs. Do you know what people are saying? They are saying the news has spread that there is a magician amongst the Quraysh, and that there is a fortune teller amongst the Quraysh."

He continued: "What are you waiting for? The way you have caused so much friction — it's just a matter of time that a massive war will break out, there will be no more Quraysh left, everyone is going to kill us, we are going to kill them, it will be just bloodshed, everything is going to fall apart."

Then he made offers: "In kana innama bika al-ba'ah" — "If you want to get married — fakhtarna ayya nisa'i Quraysh — get married to any of the women of Quraysh, wa nuzawwijuka 'ashran." "And if you need money — jama'na laka hatta takuna aghniya Qurayshi rajulan wahidan — you will have more wealth, as one person, more than all the separate wealthy people combined — you will be wealthier than everyone."

The Prophet ﷺ said: "Bas? Afaraghta?" — "Done? Are you finished with your speech?" He said: "Yes." So the Prophet ﷺ recited what I just recited in front of you — but a few more ayahs — another whole ruku'. I read one ruku'; the Prophet ﷺ recited two ruku' — until he arrived at the ayah:

Which means: if they choose not to listen to you, then just tell them: "I warned you of a horrible punishment and a strike — the way the 'Ad and Thamud were struck."

'Utbah — what did he say? "Hasbuk, hasbuk" — "Enough, enough!" He couldn't take it anymore. He said: "Ma 'indaka ghayra hadha?" — "Do you have anything besides this?" The Prophet ﷺ said: "No." So 'Utbah came back to Quraysh. They said: "Ma wara'ak?" — "What happened? How was your meeting?" He said: "Ma taraktu shay'an ara annakum tukallimunahu bihi" — "I used every trick in the book against Muhammad ﷺ." They said: "Did he respond to you?" He said: "Yes." "So what did he say?" He said: "Fama fahimtu shay'an mimma qala ghayra annahu andhirakum sa'iqatan mithla sa'iqati 'Adin wa Thamud" — "I didn't understand anything he said except the last ayah, in which he said, 'I warn you like a punishment that came down upon 'Ad and Thamud.'"

They said: "Waylaka! Yukallimuka rajulun bil 'arabiyyati la tadri ma qal?" — "A man speaks to you in Arabic and you're the most eloquent of people — what language was he speaking? He was speaking in Arabic! How can you say you never understood?" He said: "La wallahi, ma fahimtu shay'an mimma qala ghayra dhikril sa'iqah" — "I swear by Allah, I didn't understand anything he said except the mention of the punishment."

So this is an incident with many lessons. Let's just go through the translation and then you can see how things happen.

Tafsir of Surah Fussilat: Ayahs 1–7

Ayah 1: Hameem

Allah knows best what that means.

Ayah 2: A Revelation from the All-Merciful

This is a revelation sent down from the All-Merciful, the Mercy-Giving.

Ayah 3: A Book Whose Verses Are Made Clear

A book — fussilat ayatuhu — whose verses of heavenly guidance have been made lucidly distinct. Fussilat means being very distinct and clear — fasl, separated. This is a fasl, like in a book you have fasl awwal, fasl thani — chapter, chapter. Why are chapters called fasl? Because they're separated — fasila, in Urdu, means distance. So fussilat ayatuhu — whose verses have been made very clear and lucid. Qur'anan 'Arabiyyan — as an Arabic Qur'an. Liqawmin ya'lamoon — for a people who would know — who would know the Arabic language, or who would know the lesson and give heed to the lesson.

Ayah 4: A Bearer of Glad Tidings and a Warner

It is a heavenly recitation — the Qur'an is a heavenly recitation — that is bashiran, a bearer of glad tidings. What does the Qur'an give glad tidings for? Of good life and everlasting reward. Wa nadhiran — and it's also a forewarner: of what? Of Allah's nearing judgment. Fa a'rada aktharuhum — yet most of them turn away when the Qur'an is recited. Fahum la yasma'oon — for they do not truly hear its message.

If you really heard the Qur'an, how could you turn away? Look at Walid — he sat there. He says, "I swear, he was sitting there" — he didn't hear it. Sitting there is not sufficient. Your mind has to be, and your heart has to be, focused towards it. He sat there as one of the most eloquent of Arabs and said, "I don't know what's going on."

So it is that we as Muslims cannot be people who merely read the Qur'an, who merely listen to the Qur'an — we have to be people who understand the Qur'an. And understanding does not mean you just read through the translation. The greatest academics of the Qur'an in the universities are non-Muslims. Some of the most prolific writers on different aspects of the Qur'an — those scholars doing PhDs here in Chicago and beyond — if you ask them, "Who is your mentor, who is your supervisor?" — some random orientalist. SubhanAllah. I was speaking to one of the sheikhs who did his PhD on Tafsir al-Razi, and masha'Allah, tabarakallah, he read the whole Tafsir al-Razi — those students of knowledge know how hard that is. It's such a difficult tafsir, filled with kalam and falsafa and everything of Islamic philosophy — read cover to cover. Who's the supervisor? One of the main supervisors is a non-Muslim.

So people sometimes say, "Brother, I want to understand the Qur'an." Okay — understanding is not sufficient. You're not going to understand more than likely, as a 40 or 50-year-old who comes once a week and takes an Arabic class in the evening for two hours, more than someone who's been teaching a PhD program for two and a half or three decades. And yet they never got Islam. So understanding the Qur'an is something different — going through the translation, going through the etymology of the words is something — and then for the Qur'an to speak to you and for your life to be molded the way Allah wants us to live is something else. Sometimes you get both. Let's hope Allah gives us both. But if you have to choose, obviously you want that fahm and that understanding that makes you live the way Allah wants us to live.

So anyway — the majority of the people don't listen. They turn their face away when it's recited; hence they don't listen. Notice here: Allah says they turned away first, hence they don't listen. If you don't turn away, you'll be able to hear it. How many times have you met a revert brother, honestly, maybe outside of the masjid or somewhere else, and the conversations you have with them fill your heart with iman? The brother accepted Islam a week ago, and when you read a verse like even these verses, he'll tell you points and gems from it and you're like, "I never thought about that." What's going on? He's listening, he's focused. And so Allah allows him to interact with the Qur'an. It's not Allah who makes you deaf — it is us who say, "I don't have time for this, I don't want my heart to listen." When you do that with the Qur'an, obviously then we won't be able to hear anything.

Ayah 5: Hearts Sealed, Ears Blocked

What do they say? "Qulubuna fi akinnatin" — "Our hearts are in akinnah." Kinnah is like a sheath you put the sword in, or a quiver of an arrow. "Our hearts are vacuum-packed" — you know, do they have bulletproof? This is wahi-proof! Wahi can't get to this. "Min ma tad'una ilayh" — against what you are calling us to. "Fi kinnah" — with that covering. "Min ma tad'una ilayh" — from that which you are calling us to, we don't understand it. It's like a great wall between our hearts and what you're saying.

"Wa fi adhanina waqr" — and in our ears, waqr. It's like you put huge blocks — a metal inside our ears. Moreover there is utter deafness to it. Waqr — there is a blockage. Imagine a massive earplug that is wahi-proof.

Ajeeb — the level of audacity and stubbornness of these people. We shouldn't get shocked at what we see today. Just come back to this ayah. Many times we do get shocked: "Really? Has the world ever seen crazy people like this?" You're speaking to the Prophet ﷺ! You see the Prophet, you see the Qur'an being revealed in front of the Ka'bah, and yet look at this — they say: "We're not gonna listen because our hearts are in this wahi-proof bag, and we've got big massive corks in our ears."

"Wa min baynina wa baynika hijab" — and there is an impenetrable veil between us and you. Then: "Fa'mal innana 'amiloon" — "So do as you will!" They're telling the Prophet ﷺ: "Try your best. Try your best to change us. Try it out." They are saying: "You do whatever you want — we are not going to accept whatever you have to say."

Ayahs 6–7: The Prophet's Response and Woe to the Polytheists

What is the Prophet ﷺ supposed to say in response? Say to them: "Indeed I am only a human being like you. Listen — you're asking me for things. I can only give you a miracle if Allah gives it to me. I cannot give you anything beyond that. I am a human being just like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is but one Allah. Therefore seek, for your own souls, a straight way to Him — and moreover, seek His forgiveness." Wa waylun lil mushrikeen — woe to the polytheists, woe to those who associate gods with Allah. Alladhina la yu'tunal zakah — those who do not give zakah. Wa hum bil akhirati hum kafirun — and those who are disbelievers in the Hereafter.

Interesting — the first description of the mushrikeen mentioned here: la yu'tunal zakah. Very interesting — not even salah. This is one of very few places where zakah has been mentioned separately, not with salah.

What was trying to be said is — look at the fact of what Walid said: "I don't understand." Well, how can you understand? Exactly. Because you have chosen — you've gone to fight, you've gone to argue with the Prophet ﷺ, you've gone to try to disprove him. When that is our intention, we won't benefit. That is why our teachers would always say: "Brother, those who object — we can answer. We don't answer those who merely object. We will answer someone who has a question. But someone who has a useless objection — there is no answer for that objection." Why are you asking? Because you just want to argue. If people want to argue with you, my dear brothers, there is no response. There is no way we can help them.

This is something we should always ask ourselves whenever someone — a non-Muslim — asks us a question. Ask him: "Brother, are you just trying to pick a fight with someone? I'm sorry, man, I don't have the energy for that. But if you are actually trying to learn something — no problem, I'm ready to help." Ask yourself: save yourself the trouble of engaging with people who are simply troublemakers. So 'Utbah was a troublemaker — he was trying to discredit. So why will he get hidayah? Allah does not give hidayah to people who are out there objecting for the sake of objecting.

This is a very important thing I'm saying here: the one who objects on the deen will get more and more confused. There are so many places to get confused nowadays, so many YouTube channels whose maqsad is to steer you away from the haqq, from the truth. Those types of people who watch them and then come back confused — come to the masjid. "Hold your horses — are you trying to find the truth or are you trying to object?" If you are trying to object, more than likely you are not going to find the truth. But if you are genuinely confused and seeking for the truth, then Allah is al-Hadi. Allah will give hidayah. But Allah will not give hidayah to people who are not seeking it.

Allah says: "Do you expect Me to shove it down your throat — wa antum laha karihoon — while you deep down don't want it?" That's not going to happen. If you don't want it, guess what — I don't want you to understand either. If you don't want Me, why should I want you?

So this is a very important point. We say: "My son needs hidayah. I need my son and daughter to get hidayah. I need my wife to get hidayah. I need my husband to get hidayah." My dear brother — hidayah will come to the one who wants hidayah. If I want it and you don't want it, it's not going to help. Each man and woman has to have talab for hidayah. That is the du'a we should be making: "Ya Allah, not only give me hidayah, but also give all of my loved ones the talab and the desire for hidayah." When a person desires hidayah, hidayah is just right there.

Allah chooses whoever He wishes and guides whoever turns to Him. If we turn towards Allah, no matter how tough our situation is, no matter how far we've fallen away from Allah — we'll come back. And if we do not have talab for hidayah, desire for hidayah — if we don't have that humility — this is the biggest issue right now. There is no humility left. People are not willing to say, "Ya Allah, I'm sinful, please forgive me." That's why du'a is becoming uncommon.

Look — after Isha, how people will run. People feel awkward about making du'a after salah. Because making du'a is you're begging Allah, and in order to beg Allah you have to have humility — and people don't have that humility now. Shaytan comes and makes them forget. After salah is the time for du'a to get accepted, and he makes you miss out on that time. May Allah make me and all of us amongst those who profusely make du'a and who use our time especially after fard salah to make du'a.

So this is what Allah is mentioning here: that these people said, "You do whatever you want, we're not going to change." And the Nabi ﷺ then — this is the response Allah tells him to give — wa waylun lil mushrikeen, woe to those who associate gods with Allah. Alladhina la yu'tunal zakah — interesting, the first characteristic of the mushrikeen has been mentioned: la yu'tunal zakah — very interesting here, not even salah. This is one of few places where zakah has been mentioned separately, not with salah. And those who are disbelievers in the Hereafter.

Virtues of the Surah and the Hawameem

Let's go back to the beginning. One of the virtues of this surah is that it is the surah which the Nabi ﷺ read, and it really hit the mushrikeen big time. The Prophet ﷺ said in a hadith:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22765; also related in Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

The Prophet ﷺ said: "In place of the Torah I was given the seven long surahs that come at the beginning of the Qur'an, and in place of the Zabur I was given the Ma'in — the 200-ayah ones." And so this is one of the surahs that the Nabi ﷺ was given in place of the Zabur.

Topics Covered in Surah Fussilat

What are some of the topics covered in this surah?

Number one: Praises of the Qur'an, its honor and its status.
Number two: The stance of the kuffar in relation to the Qur'an.
Number three: Some of the great signs of Allah's qudra and power.
Number four: Warning the mushrikeen who are ignoring the Qur'an — wake up and look at what happened to the nations prior to you.
Number five: Scenes from the Hereafter — some horrible scenes. We're going to talk about how even the limbs will testify against the person, and also the beautiful condition of the believers.
Number six: The virtue of invitation towards Allah — da'wah ilallah — and when you do da'wah ilallah, shaytan is going to instigate people to start hating you. Anytime you try — even within your own class, within the madrasah — anytime you start trying to give da'wah: "Hey brothers, let's fast on Mondays and Thursdays, let's come early to the masjid" — you'll see all of a sudden people talking. No matter where you go, when you start speaking about something beneficial about the deen, shaytan will instigate people to turn against you. The goal is to make you lose your passion for speaking the truth — and you just gotta move on.
Number seven: Consoling the Prophet ﷺ.
Number eight: Proofs that the Qur'an is from Allah.
Number nine: The description of Allah's vastness of knowledge.
Number ten: How human beings act differently in times of ease versus times of difficulty.
And lastly: The surah ends with Allah's wisdom demanding that a human being should always be aware of Allah's greatness wherever he sees. He should see Allah's greatness — it could be looking at the heavens, it could be looking at a sunset or sunrise, it could be looking at his own body. Wherever he is, he will find the greatness of Allah.

So that gives us a little rundown of the gist of this beautiful surah.

The Huruf al-Muqatta'at

This surah begins with حم, which is known as the huruf al-muqatta'at. We've discussed this many times. As a reminder: the huruf al-muqatta'at are the broken letters whose meaning — what does it mean? One way to say it is: Allah knows best what it means. The Qur'an is made up of these letters: حَا, مِيمْ, عَيْن, سِيْن, قَاف, طَا, سِيْن, مِيْم. The Qur'an is made of these letters. So what is the message? Allah knows best.

Or it could mean that حم are the names of Allah, referring to the names of Allah through a symbol. Or it could mean that these are the names of the Prophet ﷺ through symbols — like حَا would be ya Hamid, and مِيمْ could be ya Mahmud. So it could be the names of Allah, it could be the names of Rasulullah ﷺ. It could have many other meanings. This is a secret between Allah and His Rasul ﷺ.

And when it comes to tafsir, as long as we are keeping the rules of language in front of us, the rules of aqeedah in front of us, the purpose of the shari'ah in front of us, and the statements of the Sahabah — the earliest generation of commentators of the Qur'an — in front of us, there is leeway for a student of knowledge, for an advanced scholar, to be able to share some possible and plausible explanations of that verse. Not from your hawa, not from your desire. This is the system: Allah inspires people when you have the established rules of language, established rules of aqeedah, established rules of the maqasid al-shari'ah, established principles of tafsir, and you look at the tafsir of the earliest scholars, including the Sahabah, radiyallahu 'anhum. Then Allah, based on a person's taqwa and iman and tahara, opens up things.

It was just an interesting thing I came across — apparently a qadi, a judge, said to a lady: "O lady, would you like me to decide based on hal aqdi bi kitabillah — the book of Allah — or bi qawli al-Shafi'i — by the statement of Imam Shafi'i?" So she said: "Bal bi qawli al-Shafi'i" — "Rather, the statement of Imam Shafi'i." Why? She said: "Because I trust his understanding of the book of Allah more than I trust your understanding of the book of Allah." That's the reality of it. When you say "I'm going to make a decision from the book of Allah," what do you mean? You're making a decision based on your attempted, feeble effort of understanding the Qur'an — and you have someone like Imam Shafi'i, who has far more knowledge, far more taqwa, far more relationship with Allah, far closer to the Prophet ﷺ in the best era — whose students have developed his school for centuries. I would rather trust that.

So this is kalimatul haqqi yurad bihal batil — sometimes people say things like this: "Oh, you want to follow this, or you want to follow the book of Allah?" They were following the Torah, the Zabur, some other thing — they were following the book of Allah too. You're actually pitting yourself against Imam Shafi'i or Imam Abu Hanifah, and I would definitely rather go with them. So when people say, "I don't follow an imam," I say: you're lying. Of course you follow an imam. Either you follow the imam of your masjid, who may not even have any degree in any Islamic science — he just happens to have a nice voice, or he happens to know how to sing some nasheeds, or he happens to be eloquent in English, or he happens to have a nice suit — and then they make him an imam. So a person says, "I don't follow any imam," when we are following not one person but an entire established school of thought that has been developing, been researched and developed, over centuries upon centuries. So these are the various different meanings of حم.

Multiple Dimensions of the Qur'an

The beautiful thing is that the Qur'an has multiple different sides to it. Like any verse of the Qur'an — in the past and now today — I was telling the students something that I heard one of the ulama say. It was so beautiful, regarding gender. Some of you who come here to tafsir have heard it before:

Allah has created you from male and female. So Allah talks about embryology in the Qur'an — what is that? It's all khabar. Allah is informing you. So what are you supposed to do with that? You're supposed to believe it.

The verse "wa annahu khalaqal zawjayni al-dhakara wal-untha" — "Allah created you from male and female" — was, from among the ayat al-akhbar — it was previously classified from the verses of khabar. But now in this day and age, this moves on — you can move it on to ayat al-ahkam — verses related to injunctions. What does that mean? Because there are people who say there are many genders — not two, but tens of them. So they're coming with a stance, and now the Qur'an has a stance: Allah created you from male and female. So this is beautiful, isn't it? — that a verse that previously was just informing us of how humanity was created is now actually coming with an injunction, because the times have changed. That same verse is now putting the foot down: "Stop saying there are 10, 15, 20 genders — there are two: dhakar wa untha." SubhanAllah. So the Qur'an has multiple different aspects to it.

And so the ulama have mentioned that the truth usually revolves around — it stays within — four lines. One is khatt al-'aql — the line of intelligence. Number two: khatt al-naql — the line of passed-down tradition. Number three: khatt al-fitrah — the line of nature. And lastly: khatt al-waqi' — the line of the current real situation.

So: number one is 'aql — intelligence. Number two is naql — tradition, passed-down tradition. Number three: fitrah — nature. Number four: waqi' — the current real situation. If we believe something is to be true, then that must always be in line with the fitrah. The truth always lines up with the fitrah. It's not possible that something is true and the fitrah doesn't accept it. Fitrah means its original state. So the fitrah has to align with the truth, and the truth has to be in line with the fitrah. Truth and fitrah go hand in hand. And number two — it has to also match up with what's going on in the world. Number three — it has to match up with our intelligence. And number four — it has to also match up with what's been passed down — with our tradition. So look for a dalil, a proof, from your 'aql, a proof from the current situation, a proof from fitrah, and a proof from your tradition — put it all together, and you will see the haqq insha'Allah will be there.

Okay, so if you think about it — the Islam that we have is such a blessing. We don't appreciate this Islam and this deen. We had, masha'Allah, about six or seven reverts in our one-year program this year. This past weekend we had our annual camping trip for the students — different talent shows, skits, etc. And the night around the campfire, masha'Allah, we had a session for the revert brothers and we asked them to share their story. Many of them shared their beautiful, powerful stories — what led them to Islam.

And one of the brothers who was questioning them asked a very good question: "What thing do you wish your fellow Muslims would know and appreciate, that you as a revert appreciate but see a lot of them don't?" And so SubhanAllah, the things they were mentioning — the akhlaq, the good character, the power of a smile, the power of welcoming one another, the impact that has, the power of knowing that you're on the truth — the power of having a truth that matches your intelligence, matches your fitrah, matches tradition, and makes sense with the outside world. That's Islam.

Because what happens? It's so bad — people spend 20 years in Catholicism, then five years in Buddhism and Hinduism, then another five years in something else, then agnosticism, then atheism — and then SubhanAllah, sometimes they come to Islam. But they had to do a lot of running around. Like Salman Al-Farsi radiyallahu 'anhu — his beautiful long story of how he accepted Islam. Of course this was before even the bi'thah of Rasulullah ﷺ. He had to go through so many different religions. So we who are born into this deen do not simply appreciate what we have. This was something they were saying as well: "Appreciate the blessing of Islam."

And what we see with Islam is that no matter what era we're living in, no matter how times change, our deen doesn't change. Now look at how much the LGBTQ movement and all the other things happening have forced all the religions nowadays to change. Judaism, Christianity — all had to put adapters in. They've got to start changing rules, start changing laws based on egalitarianism, based on feminism, based on everything else. So much change has to happen. So where were you all these years? All these generations? What are you going to say about your forefathers? They're all baal mudill — they're all astray? Alhamdulillah, the deen of Islam says: our deen was on the haqq until today, and we're on the haqq.

One of the imams was saying that a journalist was asking him about some modern-day issues, so he gave the Islamic stance. She was shocked. She said: "Really? Islam hasn't adapted yet? Wow — every other religion has changed. I'm surprised you guys haven't caved in yet." So this is true — we're the last man standing. Islam is the last man standing. It will stand till the very end, till Allah decides for this world to fall apart.

But a lot of people say: "Islam is becoming a little bit too uncomfortable for me to stick around because you're taking a stance that makes the whole world against you on these issues." Islam is increasing the heat now on those Muslims. Anyway — are you willing to take that stance and say unapologetically: "Yes, this is what our deen teaches us — and guess what, this is what your deen taught you too, but you all changed it." So this is the proof that haqq is with Islam — the four things I just told you. It makes so much sense. It goes with your fitrah. The traditional proofs, the passed-on proofs match it. And it goes hand in hand with whatever the world shows us around the globe. SubhanAllah.

Tanzeel — Revealed from Al-Rahman Al-Rahim

Allah says tanzeel — this has been revealed. What has been revealed? From Rahman and Rahim. Some ulama have said it is حم that has been revealed from Rahman and Rahim. Some other ulama have said of course this is referring to the entire Qur'an — the entire Qur'an has been revealed from Rahman and Rahim. Others have said حم has been revealed from Rahman and Rahim.

Proof for that: the Qur'an has been revealed from Rahman and Rahim — All-Merciful and Mercy-Giving. He would never want to put you through any difficulty. Every single command of the Qur'an is for our own benefit.

Hence, what is the difference between Al-Rahman and Al-Rahim? One of the ulama has said — Allahu Akbar — Al-Rahman is fi dhatihi, in Allah's being. Al-Rahim is fi af'alihi — that Allah is merciful in His actions. So after Fajr we have the 99 Names of Allah discussion for Team Fajr that started about three weeks ago. There was a whole dedicated discussion on Al-Rahman and Al-Rahim, and I would encourage you to listen to that — we're not going to go into that level of detail here. We're covering the names of Allah one after the other, masha'Allah — the ism of Allah, then Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim, Al-Malik, Al-Quddus, Al-Salam — so the next one insha'Allah is going to be Al-Mu'min and Al-Muhaymin.

So just one small difference: Al-Rahman is Allah being merciful in His being; Al-Rahim is Allah being merciful in His actions. Now one question is: a person may say, "It seems like Allah has left the Muslims to fend for themselves. Where's Allah?" And a lot of these types of questions come: "Where's Allah? How come there's no mercy that I can see?"

My dear friends, the simple answer for this is that if we want to look at Allah's actions and try to see Allah's mercy in every action — it's not going to work. You cannot look at Allah's actions separately from Allah's being and say, "I want to know how does this action contain mercy?" It will get confusing. You and I cannot understand Allah's being — how are we going to understand every single action? Why did Allah allow this person to die at this time? Why did Allah allow this accident to happen there? Why did Allah allow this horrible thing to happen? You see what I mean? These actions are things that we cannot fully understand the wisdom of. Instead, we have to just focus on Allah's attributes — focus that the Allah whose reality is hidden from us, similarly the hikmah and wisdom of every action of His cannot become obvious to us. Instead, we have to believe in Allah the way He has described Himself to us: most gracious, most merciful, most loving, most kind. And the wisdom behind those actions of what He does is something that we as human beings simply cannot fathom. Insha'Allah.

The Qur'an: Fussilat and the Arabic Language

So yeah — a couple more minutes. Allah mentions that this Book of Allah is fussilat ayatuhu: Allah Himself has made them clear. That's one. And then number two — these verses make what's right and wrong clear for you. Allah made them clear. And then by Nabi ﷺ sharing these verses with you and I, it has made clear for us what's right and what's wrong. And all of this is in the beautiful Arabic language — for a group of people who know this language.

Any first group of Arabs — what's so interesting, dear friends, is that the Arabs were absolutely not united. They were warring nations. Look at today — if it wasn't for the Book of Allah, nothing would unite the Arabs. They're so different, so different — cultures are different. Even after Islam as well, but if deen is not present, you'll see there'll be war with each other. If it wasn't for the Qur'an, the language would never have been the same — they wouldn't be able to communicate with one another if it wasn't for the Book of Allah.

The Book of Allah, SubhanAllah, is what allows them to communicate. So what's so interesting is Allah chose a group of people who are extremely tribal — who are, for lack of a better word, of a rough and unruly nature — people don't want to rule over them, they were fighting for hundreds of years over petty issues, absolutely not united. And the Book of Allah, SubhanAllah — Islam came and took such a group of unruly people and brought nizam into them, brought tarteeb into them, brought unity into them. Not only did they get united — they conquered lands, changed the language, changed the culture, and made them join their ranks. This is a miracle. This is the power of the Book of Allah, SubhanAllah. When you place it in its proper place — into the bodies and minds and hearts of people — amazing changes happen.

You cannot say they were already united and it was a powerful dynasty and the Qur'an came and became the constitution and took over the world — no, it wasn't. It was absolutely nothing like that. They were absolutely fragmented. No one would ever have imagined them doing whatever happened during the time of Abu Bakr and the time of Rasulullah ﷺ. The conquests that took place — this is the i'jaz of the Qur'an, the miraculous nature of the Qur'an — that it brought such a powerful united force and brought change within the ummah.

Announcements

Insha'Allah we'll end here. A few announcements, alhamdulillah:

Every Tuesday we have the chai stall, and we also have beautiful books available on different topics. Today we're going to be focusing on a few topics: one is the explanation of the divine names and attributes — a whole book on the names of Allah. Another: an introduction to the Arabic sciences, Qur'anic sciences (uloom al-Qur'an) — how the Qur'an is impeccable. And then a beautiful book on the lives of the Sahabah — a three-volume set.

This weekend is our annual Seerah Conference — the Prophet ﷺ's family, the Ahlul Bayt, in the Sunni tradition. Please note: it starts after Maghrib — not after Isha as stated on the old flyer. After Maghrib on Friday, it will continue after Isha. Then on Saturday, class starts at 10 AM all the way through after Isha. The schedule has been released on WhatsApp.

We'll also have a parallel women's retreat with female speakers, plus children's programs for the youth and babysitting. Please bring your sisters, wives, and daughters. We have dinner and lunch available for sale — please book your tickets beforehand so that getting your meals during the retreat will be easy.

Sheikh Hassan Ali from the UK — the founder of Safar Academy — will be joining us. Those of you who remember, masha'Allah, he did a powerful talk years ago. There will be dhikr and du'a sessions as well, so I think it will be a very special Friday and Saturday night. Please come for both nights and both days.

Last week I mentioned alhamdulillah we're starting a new program — our first-time offering of an online program for Islamic studies. There will be 10 classes you can choose from, starting from Monday. Classes will be offered during the day, all will be recorded, and they're taught by the very same teachers who teach the Alim program here. If you're interested in taking online classes, please scan the QR code — it will take you to the group dealing with all questions for the online program. It's called the Ta'lim Online Program.

We have Shama'il of the Prophet ﷺ, Tafsir classes, Arabic classes. There's a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule and a Tuesday-Thursday schedule. Classes are from 10:00–10:45, 10:45–11:30, 11:30–12:15, 2:45–3:30, and 3:30–4:15. You can take any one class or all of the classes, insha'Allah. Please share this message with as many people as you can across the globe — you can join in from wherever you may be.

The Tafheem Program is continuing — onsite and online — on Saturday and Sunday. Weekly Urdu Tafsir has started onsite, alhamdulillah. Now every Thursday at 1:30 PM there is a sisters' weekly Urdu Tafsir.

Our Annual Benefit Banquet is Saturday, October 5th. Dr. Hussain Sattar will be our guest speaker. Please purchase your tickets — students have them available for sale. Please try your best to support the masjid in our annual dinner, insha'Allah.

If you do not receive messages of Darul Salam's programs and you're here visiting for the first time, please scan the WhatsApp group QR code, insha'Allah, and you will begin receiving messages.

I wanted to ask the brothers who are present here just a quick poll: Isha is going to change to 8:30 PM from Monday. From next week, would you all prefer to have the tafsir after Isha or would you like to still continue after Maghrib? The overwhelming vote was to continue after Maghrib. So insha'Allah, we will wait — once we get to around 8:00–8:15 PM, insha'Allah, we will then switch it over to after Isha.