Surah Ghafir - Ep.16 - Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed | 09/03

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

Respected brothers and sisters, dear listeners, assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

We ask Allah Azza wa Jal to make this gathering a huge blessing for myself and all of us, our family members, our loved ones. May Allah Azza wa Jal grant us all attachment to the Book of Allah. And may He make us amongst those who are blessed to understand its lessons and implement it and share it with others. We ask Allah Azza wa Jal that He allows all of our needs to be fulfilled through our desire of attending and participating in gatherings of knowledge and dhikr. We ask Allah Azza wa Jal to revive our dead hearts and rejuvenate our iman. We ask Allah Azza wa Jal that whatever solutions we are looking for, for our problems, may Allah through our sincerity, grant us through our sincerity to search for answers. May Allah grant us those answers here as we sit and listen to the Book of Allah.

Review of the Previous Āyah — The People of Jahannam

So this was the last āyah I recited last week. And I said insha'Allah I'll go one more time and go through some of the aspects of it.

Allah Azza wa Jal speaks about how the people of Jahannam will be thrown into hellfire. They will have yokes on their necks, they'll have chains on their feet, and they'll be dragged towards hellfire into scalding fluid. And Allah will ask them, where are your partners? And they'll have no one to show, no one will show up for them because their partners themselves will be in big trouble — the associates of Allah that they made. And they'll find that no one is there to assist them.

And Allah says, why is all this happening? All this 'azāb that you are suffering, and all these problems?

Because of you who disbelieved, you used to exult in the land without any right. بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ — you have no right to do that. And because you used to be elated by your worldly indulgence. So we learn from here that happiness for the wrong reason, and being elated for the wrong reason, can actually be a cause for serious destruction.

The Meaning of True Happiness — الفَرَح

There is an aspect of being happy for rightful reasons. There is an aspect of being happy for wrong reasons. What are those good reasons and what are those wrong reasons?

الفَرَح — happiness — as it's been explained:

For you to feel lighthearted, for you to feel happy — الفَرَح is for you to feel that there is an opening. Difficulty has been removed. Burden has been removed. Because of something that you see that makes you pleased. But not just any happiness is good or sensible. Real happiness is that when you see something that assists you in ensuring that you get to your final purpose.

Say a person is lost. He is in the middle of the night, walking around somewhere trying to find his way, but completely lost in a tough part of the neighborhood. A person comes to him and offers him a lollipop — that is a source of maybe happiness. But really, what does that do? You are in the middle of the city, completely lost in the darkness of the night. How can a lollipop help?

Then you have another person who doesn't offer you that lollipop, but he says, "Hey, what are you doing out here this late at night?" You say you are lost. And he gives you directions. A third person says, "Jump into my car and I will drop you off where you need to." So all of those people are offering you something, but they are completely different things. A fool is the one who gets so excited by a lollipop — even a full meal — but that's not what I need right now. An intelligent one is the one who gets happy when he sees something that will actually assist him to get to his destination.

Our destination is the ākhirah and the pleasure of Allah. That's what we need to get to. So when a person finds a good company, is blessed to find a good friend who can take him towards ākhirah, finds a good gathering, finds a righteous spouse — all of those things should make a person extremely happy. Because he's finding something that's going to take him to where he needs to go.

The Four Praiseworthy Forms of Happiness in the Qur'an

Allah Azza wa Jal speaks about the happiness that He likes — that is worthwhile and good.

First: For example, in āyah 169–170 of Sūrah Āl-'Imrān, Allah says:

Do not think those who've been killed in Allah's path are dead. Rather they are alive. They are being provided by their Lord. فَرِحِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّهُ — They are happy over what Allah is giving them from His grace.

This farh is of course amazing, because the soul has already reached عَالَمُ الْبَرْزَخِ — the next world. They are enjoying the blessings of the next world while their body is here. And not only are they happy, وَيَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَلْحَقُوا بِهِم مِّنْ خَلْفِهِمْ — they are excitedly awaiting those family members who have not joined them yet. They're waiting: "We're enjoying, but we're missing you. When are you going to join us?"

Just imagine all those families that are being killed right now, for the past ten months. Entire extended families, sometimes in one minute, an entire building is collapsed. Sometimes people are having their Eid get-together, sometimes having dinner, sometimes preparing for breakfast. All of those, as heartbreaking and horrific as they are — we can be confident that Allah Azza wa Jal is taking them all together, so they'll have a full family — not a reunion, but a continuous family enjoyment until Yawm al-Qiyāmah, and what happens after ākhirah is even beyond that. Their souls are enjoying each other.

So the martyr is not only happy, but he is excitedly awaiting his family members to join. A true believer, when they lose their family to shahādah, there is a natural, tabī'ī sadness. But then there is this excitement of saying, "Oh, I want to go there quickly." Like that lady I mentioned a few weeks ago, who lost four of her children — four young men. And the reporters are asking, "How are you feeling?" And she's crying, but she's saying, "Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah." They said, "You seem to have mixed feelings." She kept on saying, "Alhamdulillah — Allah has made me a mother of four martyrs. And insha'Allah I'm going to be joining them soon."

Just like Khansā' radiyallahu anhā in the famous incident during the time of the Sahāba, who lost four of her own sons in battle. But she would proudly say, "I am the mother of four shuhadā'." And you see these amazing stories today in that region of the world. As many have explained beautifully, it is the largest corridor of shuhadā' going up — a jannah corridor, insha'Allah. All these souls constantly being lifted up.

Like the incident of 'Uthmān radiyallahu anhu — the night before he became shaheed in his own compound in Madīnah al-Munawwarah, he was fasting. And he saw a vision of the Prophet ﷺ in his dream. And the Prophet ﷺ told him, "Uthmān, you will be having iftār with us. You will be breaking your fast with us. Just stay calm." The Prophet ﷺ had already told him that there would be a group of people who would try to pull off his shirt from him — meaning they would try to take away the khilāfah from him — and not to give it to them. And so he died in that state. This is the relationship between the shuhadā' and their families and their friends — that they are waiting for one another.

Second: Another place, in Sūrah Yūnus, Allah says in āyah 58:

Say, O Rasulullah ﷺ, say to your ummah, say to the people — look at the grace of Allah and look at the mercy of Allah. فَبِذَٰلِكَ فَلْيَفْرَحُوا — they should be happy and elated and excited about this. هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ — it is far better than what they are amassing.

In this āyah, Allah is mentioning two things as the ulamā have explained. فَضْلِ اللَّهِ — the grace of Allah — that is the Qur'an. We should be happy and excited that we have the Book of Allah. And وَبِرَحْمَتِهِ — the mercy of Allah — that is referring to the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. We should be so happy that Allah Azza wa Jal has gifted us Qur'an and Sunnah.

That is why it is mentioned in certain narrations that a hāfidh of Qur'an — the one who has the Book of Allah — if he is impressed by anyone else, if he regards others to have something special, thinking that he doesn't have that, he has been extremely ungrateful to Allah. Because there is nothing that you should be more excited about than the fact that we have the Book of Allah.

So let me add to this here. When a person says, "I've memorized the Qur'an," or "my son has memorized the Qur'an," or "my daughter has — but now we need to get back to the real life, we need to get to the real education" — we need to watch how we speak about this. Similarly, if we truly love the Qur'an and we're so honored that our son or daughter became a hāfidh, then our goal should be the preservation of the Qur'an in that child's heart — meaning through amal, through practice. If amal is not there, then the mere words — "you got that, throw that in the back, let's move forward, let's do something else" — that is not appreciation of the Qur'an.

We don't all have to be huffādh of the entire Qur'an. Whatever portion we have memorized, we need to be excited about that. "Alhamdulillah, Allah has given me ten sūrahs. Allah has given me one juz'. Allah has given me the ability to recite and read" — while thousands, majority of the ummah, don't believe in the Qur'an, have never read it. Those who are Muslims also, unfortunately, may not have ever had the opportunity to pick up a mushaf and read through it. So if we have the Book of Allah, we should be so happy and so thankful.

هُوَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ — Allah says, this is far better than what they are amassing. The gift of Qur'an is the greatest gift that we have as Muslims. And we should teach ourselves, and teach our children and our spouses, to be extremely elated at the fact that we have this — and not feel that if we lose out on dunya, that we have suffered. If we have Qur'an with us, and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, no matter how little the material wealth may be, it doesn't make a difference. We have what it takes to be extremely successful.

Third: Another place Allah speaks about happiness in a good sense — in Sūrah ar-Ra'd, āyah 36:

The people who we have given the Book — meaning certain people from the past nations who were given scripture — يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَا أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ — they become happy at what has been revealed to you. They say, "This is amazing! The Qur'an is proving to us that the Tawrāh and Injīl that we have is also, in its original form, true, and it comes from the same prophets." So it is nice to know that you've been right, that your parents were on the right path. This is, again, good happiness.

Fourth: Another place of good happiness is in Sūrah ar-Rūm, āyahs 3–5. Allah says:

The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land. And after their defeat, they will soon be victorious. The tables will turn, and they'll become victorious against the Persians. This was a prophecy that became a big thing, because no one would ever have guessed that these superpowers would change positions like this. And Allah Azza wa Jal says, to Allah belongs all affairs مِن قَبْلُ وَمِن بَعْدُ — before and after, everything. وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ بِنَصْرِ اللَّهِ — And on that day, the believers will be happy by the help of Allah. So when you see the help of Allah coming to you in your personal life, or coming to the Muslims, and you read about Allah's help in the past — to become happy is natural, and it is something good.

So those are four instances the Qur'an mentions happiness in a good sense: from Sūrah Āl-'Imrān — of the shuhadā', happy themselves and waiting for their family members; from Sūrah Yūnus — happiness and rejoicing over Qur'an and Sunnah; from Sūrah ar-Ra'd — happiness over the fact that the Qur'an corroborates what was revealed to those who were previously Christian or Jewish; and from Sūrah ar-Rūm — happiness with the assistance of Allah.

The Nine Blameworthy Forms of Happiness in the Qur'an

Now, beyond that, nine other places the Qur'an also uses the word farh — happiness — but in these places it is mentioned in a madhmūm, blameworthy sense.

For example, Allah Azza wa Jal says:

If any good thing happens to you, it hurts them. The disbelievers and the hypocrites get upset and hurt when you are enjoying yourselves. And if you go through difficult times, يَفْرَحُوا بِهَا — they become happy. What type of character is this? When a family member or friend is going through good times and you're not happy about that — that is a serious issue. And you need to recognize it.

This past week someone came and said, "I couldn't sleep last night." I said, "What happened?" He said, "I'm this certain age, and I'm thinking about all my friends of that age who already got married, and I'm not married. And I'm missing out in life. And I feel bad to say it, but I was almost upset over their fate" — so upset that he couldn't fall asleep. He said, "Is this a spiritual disease?" I said, "Of course this is a spiritual disease. It's a big problem. This is not how a believer is supposed to be. You're supposed to be happy over how Allah is giving other people."

This is a really important lesson for myself and all of us. Train ourselves to be happy over the blessings of Allah upon other people. You have to train yourself for that. And if we're not happy over what others are going through, then this is a serious issue. Our heart is not clean. We have a diseased heart if we cannot be happy over other people's achievements.

Jealousy is there. Sometimes we have wholesale jealousy — meaning just anyone besides me who's having a good time, I need to be grumpy about that. That's not going to help your cause with Allah. Imagine how upset Allah will be. Try that at home — you give one child something and the other child makes a face. How excited are you going to be to give to the other? "What's wrong with you? I just gave him a slice of cake or gave him a hundred dollars for Eid and you're making a face. But your turn is coming too — and now the fact that I just saw that, I don't feel like giving you anything." So how happy will Allah be with you and me when we show displeasure that other people's stuff is getting done and we become angry about that?

That's not going to push your file forward. If you want to push your file forward, show happiness to Allah for other people's things that you're not getting yourself. Say, "Allah, alhamdulillah, I'm happy. You're the distributor — we're happy."

We are happy with Allah's decree — whatever Allah's destiny — we're happy with that. But we're waiting for our turn. We're patiently waiting for our turn to come. I hope from Allah that this good deed will become weighty in our scales — that look, this man, I'm testing him, I'm not giving him. It's hard. You have a healthy son, you have an unhealthy son or daughter, and you see someone else who's got healthy. You see someone who's not able to get into college while someone else gets the best college. That's the time where it's a test for yourself — how do you control your emotions?

The Heart of 'Abdullāh ibn 'Abbās

'Abdullāh ibn 'Abbās radiyallahu anhu said, there are three things that show the state of the heart. He said:

"Anytime I see a rain cloud coming over someone's plantation and garden, I become happy — even though I have no investment and no percentage of ownership in that garden. But just to see someone's garden flourish because the rain cloud is there, alhamdulillah. I look at that and I get happy.

"Second: when I see someone's case being presented in court, and I know that the judge is honest and will make a good, appropriate decision based on the truth — even though I have nothing to do with that case — I am extremely happy that alhamdulillah, today at last someone is getting their justice in court.

"Third: everything I know about any verse of the Qur'an — and you all know he is known as the Mufassir of Qur'an, 'Abdullāh ibn 'Abbās — he said, 'Everything I know about any verse of the Qur'an, I have a desire that every single person in the world should know that much about that verse.'"

The world tries to keep knowledge to itself. He is saying: no, everyone must know about the Book of Allah as much as I know. This is what you call the heart of a believer — that there is absolutely no percentage of jealousy, no desire for exclusivity. But instead you genuinely love everyone, care for everyone, and want good for everyone. May Allah grant us hearts like this.

So Allah Azza wa Jal says in Sūrah Āl-'Imrān, the kuffār are such that if Rasulullah ﷺ is going through good times, they hate it. And if he goes through difficult times, يَفْرَحُوا بِهَا — they become happy. Allah Azza wa Jal tells the Prophet ﷺ:

If you remain patient and you have taqwā, their plotting and planning will not harm you in the least. إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطٌ — Allah's knowledge is surrounding everything they are doing. It is such an important āyah for us. Because that's how the world is today. No one wants to see the Muslims thrive. Everyone wants to see the Muslims go down. Anytime something good happens to us, people are upset about it.

Right now in Afghanistan, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah — relatively, after decades, there is some calm. But people are not happy. Why? "There must be something going on." And of course whenever there is some difficulty, people rejoice. We need to know this. This is how the Qur'an says it — this is the norm, this is what you should expect. وَإِن تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا — Allah is watching.

Another place, Allah Azza wa Jal says about blameworthy happiness:

When they forgot what they had been reminded about, We opened up upon them the doors of everything. Blessings — blessings in disguise. They're not blessings, they're punishment in disguise. Allah Azza wa Jal says that when they had ghafla and heedlessness, then Allah gave them all sorts of different things. حَتَّىٰ إِذَا فَرِحُوا بِمَا أُوتُوا — until they became happy over what they had been given, أَخَذْنَاهُم بَغْتَةً — We seized them suddenly. Today you are seeing that the more wealth is coming, we're becoming more happy across the globe. And this is leading not to connection with Allah, but backwards. Some people are just arrogant about what they have.

And there are nine places that Allah Azza wa Jal mentions happiness that is not acceptable. Four places where happiness is acceptable. And the last of the nine is right here in this very āyah we began with — because you used to exult in the land without any right, Allah Azza wa Jal brought Jahannam upon you.

Enter the gates of hell wherein you shall abide forever. A most woeful dwelling it is for the insolently arrogant. This is what will be told to them in the ākhirah. Jahannam specifically is for all kuffār. But Allah — one of the things that He hates most is kibr, arrogance. That's why specifically Allah Azza wa Jal says Jahannam is waiting for those who have arrogance.

What is Arrogance?

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 265)

It is to deny the truth and to look down upon people. What does denying the truth mean? If someone says you're doing something wrong, and you know you're doing something wrong, but you give an excuse for it — that is arrogance. How often does that happen? Maybe in our own selves, our spouse, our parents, our siblings, our teachers. Someone may correct us and we end up coming up with an excuse — "actually it was like that." This is arrogance. And this is the definition of arrogance. Don't keep denying the truth. Just say, "I'm wrong, I made a mistake, and I'll change." Otherwise that is arrogance. And number two, غَمْطُ النَّاسِ — looking down upon people.

The Command to the Prophet ﷺ — Patience in Da'wah

Now Rasulullah ﷺ is being told, being reminded, that you will face a lot of difficulty in your effort of da'wah. Anyone who does the work of da'wah now faces the same test. It's a test of your sincerity. Because it will seem that when you're not doing dīnī effort and you're just doing your own little Islam — small, one percent — life seems easy. When you start practicing Islam and trying to revive Islam, trying to bring people onto Islam, all of a sudden you have a thousand enemies.

Try to correct someone who's doing something wrong. I was on one WhatsApp group, and someone posted a musical instrument available for free — in a Muslim group. So someone corrected them and said, "This is a Muslim group, we shouldn't be advertising musical instruments." And the response — the idea that this concept here — was: "Why are we being judgmental? The main component of Islam is compassion and mercy." This was the state of things.

But Islam being about compassion and mercy does not mean there is no munkar. How am I neglecting that part? I care about you, I love you for the sake of Allah. According to my opinion, according to the scholars I follow, this is harām. And I don't want you to become a means of spreading harām because I care about your ākhirah. This is not a lack of compassion — this is exactly what compassion entails. If I see you going towards fire, I have to stop you.

Unfortunately, the concept of compassion today is misunderstood. Compassion has become: "بھئی جو چاہے کر لو" — do whatever you want, I'm not going to say anything. That is not what compassion is. Compassion really is that you look out for the best interest of everyone. And if they're doing something incorrect, we go out of our way — even though no one asked us — and try to correct them.

All that filth that is happening in our youth, in our adults — کیوں ہو رہا ہے؟ Why is it happening? Because no one is prohibiting anyone. You hear me say this time and again: create a culture. The importance of culture — create a culture in our madrasah, in our masjid, and in society of deen. The vast majority of people will follow it.

Look at how when people come to this masjid, they tell me themselves: "When I'm coming, I throw on a thawb in the car." You create a culture, and people automatically want to fit in. I was doing a parenting talk this weekend in Tulsa, Oklahoma — a beautiful community, mashallah, my first time out there. And I was explaining to the parents that whatever you want in the home, you have to create a culture for it. You can't blame the kids if you don't create that culture.

I said, I had a talk after Jumu'ah in the MSA there. A bunch of college students were all leaning against the wall, just finished eating lunch, sitting with their feet extended, relaxing. So I said, "Bismillāhirrahmānirrahīm — housekeeping rule number one: everyone get off the wall and come sit here." Before I said anything else, 100% of them immediately got off the wall and came and sat nicely. No grudges, no upset — because you set the tone, this is how it's going to be. And then mashallah, we had an amazing session with Q&A for almost two hours.

The issue of why you don't see deen being followed — and it's getting worse in our new generation — you have to blame the top brass of leadership: parents, scholars, community leaders. We have become so permissive, we're letting people do whatever they want.

There was recently a video shared with me of a nikāh happening in a masjid. The bride and her friends — who were not wearing scarves or hijāb, completely dressed as they would be in the women's section of a wedding hall — came into the masjid. And after the nikāh was performed, the bride and groom literally kissed each other on the lips in front of the entire crowd. A video was made with a Bollywood song in the background and shared publicly.

أبی کس کا قصور؟ — Whose fault is that? Just imagine that happening thirty years ago — even any elder would have said, "Whatever you want to do, go do it outside, but this is the house of Allah, you better respect this place." When Muslims lose the sanctity of their own place of worship, what do you expect? We've lost it. I don't blame the kids for it. I don't blame this bride and groom. I blame the parents. I blame the leadership. I blame the community that allows these kinds of things. Because the more you let people go, the more they will run. You give them a finger, they take a hand. You have to put your foot down.

It's just like walking down an aisle, with a backdrop that looks like an altar, using exact wording from a Christian ceremony with only Bismillāhirrahmānirrahīm inserted. I've seen this in certain cities, in certain places.

وَإِلَى اللَّهِ الْمُشْتَكَى — to Allah we complain, to Allah we ask for help. May He open up the eyes of our parents, our leadership, our ulamā, our imāms, our community leaders to be able to put their foot down — nicely, with wisdom. You don't have to scream at anyone. Like Nabī ﷺ did not scream at people when they made mistakes. He would guide them. You nicely speak to them, or kindly lead them out. It should not create an antagonistic environment. Something is wrong — we have to nicely correct it.

But then there are certain things that are public sins that must be publicly corrected. Private life — do not go into anyone's private life, don't speak about that, don't take pictures and videos of someone's private life and post them somewhere. لَا يَجُوزُ — that's wrong. If they did one wrong, you did ten wrongs. But something that is happening publicly and shamelessly, with a video being made to show the whole world — that broke my heart. And I hope it hurts you as well, to see where we're headed.

You have masājid in Gaza — لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ — 70-80% broken, where Jumu'ah khutbah is taking place with the minaret gone, the top floor gone, concrete broken. And this Friday just past, there was a masjid established for I don't know how many decades — for the first time in its history, because it has been so demolished and the majority of the community is dead, Jumu'ah did not take place there. That's happening on one side of the world. And this is happening on this side. So as youngsters sitting here, as fathers and mothers, we need to understand that speaking against falsehood does not make you a hater. Instead, all the ahādīth about fitan — when the ummah will be thrown into difficulty — you will see a massive connection with leaving amr bil ma'rūf and nahy 'an al-munkar. When the ummah stops encouraging good and stops forbidding evil, then Allah's wrath will come down.

And what does the hadith say? Allah will send down such tyrants upon you that you will beg Allah for help, and fa lā yustajāb — Allah will not accept your du'ā. You will ask Allah's assistance against those tyrants and Allah will not assist you. Read the last section of Fadā'il al-A'māl — Fadā'il ad-Da'wah, the last forty ahādīth on just the importance of da'wah. Collected by Shaykh 'Abdullāh ibn Zayd. How amr bil ma'rūf and nahy 'an al-munkar is connected — that when it is not done, Allah's punishment will come. Allah will send down such enemies that will destroy and kill — your young ones, your women, your men — and then at that time you'll start begging Allah for help, and Allah will not help you. Because before Allah allowed the kuffār to go after you, you — with your own hands — destroyed Allah's deen.

Allah loves His deen the most. Allah's loyalty is with His deen the most. Allah's loyalty is with Rasulullah ﷺ's Sunnah. So that qawm, that nation that doesn't care about Allah's deen, and doesn't care about Rasulullah ﷺ's Sunnah — Allah does not care about them. Exactly what we see today — you'll see a reflection, a manifestation of those ahādīth of the Prophet ﷺ.

So may Allah make the young men and women — the way we are protesting against the atrocities and the pro-Palestine marches, alhamdulillah, there is jazbah there — that similar jazbah needs to be found across all sectors of society, against our own oppression against the deen, against our own oppression against the Sunnah. There has to be an uproar if you find that sin is being committed in your own home, in your own family. But of course you do it with wisdom. That is why this is the role of leadership — because leadership has been appointed to guide. At home, you as a father are the leader, so you cannot become permissive either.

This all started with the idea: when I start doing nahy 'an al-munkar, are people going to like me? Honestly, they're not going to like you. They'll say, "Islam is about compassion, what's wrong with you?" and blast you on a WhatsApp group. So kudos to those people who proudly take a stand against munkar and speak against it. It takes a lion's heart to do that. Because as soon as you do that, you will definitely be attacked. And who was attacked? Rasulullah ﷺ.

فَاصْبِرْ — that's what Allah says to Rasulullah ﷺ: be patient. You will be attacked when you speak the truth. Allah beautifully says this in Sūrah al-'Asr:

Invite one another towards the truth — and as soon as He says that, He says: invite one another towards patience. Because as soon as you start speaking about the truth, people shall attack you.

O Rasulullah ﷺ, إِنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقٌّ — indeed Allah's promise is ever true. You shall win. You shall succeed. Your message shall become victorious. But you have to make sabr. One is my promise, one is your promise, one is Allah's promise. I can promise things and not deliver — people do that every day. But Allah's promise not being delivered? Impossible.

فَإِمَّا نُرِيَنَّكَ — We may show you some of the affliction that We have promised these disbelievers and these munāfiqūn in this life. Or We may choose, نَتَوَفَّيَنَّكَ — We may take your soul first to Us. And then, فَإِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ — at the end anyway, where are they going to run? إِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ — all of them are coming back right to Us. So either you'll get a chance to see their punishment in this world, and if you don't get to see it here, then don't worry, you will definitely be able to witness it in the hereafter.

Similarly for all of us: for us, there may be nothing in this dunya. We must make sabr in this dunya. You are speaking about Allah — watch your words. Emotion that makes you angry at Allah is useless. You say you're caring about innocent Muslims, but what is the point if it makes you angry at Allah? Your sympathy and concern is useless and will take you to hell. Allah doesn't need this level of sympathy. No one wants this type of empathy for the Muslim that makes you criticize Allah. That is a serious spiritual issue.

Yes, it may well be that you don't see a response right here in this dunya — that's a system of Allah. How many times do you start doing something halāl and life becomes more difficult? How many times do you see the person leading a righteous life, whose life is much more difficult than the brother doing all sorts of sins? If dunya was about getting what you deserve immediately, everyone would be following the deen right away — there would be no test. The fact that you don't get what you deserve, and it often goes the opposite way — the criminals are getting power — look at what's happening in this country's political spectrum. This is exactly part of the signs of the Hour that Nabī ﷺ spoke about.

The one who speaks the truth will be singled out, pushed out. The one who speaks falsehood — the more you speak falsehood, the higher you get up. This is true. Proving to us that you do not in this dunya get what you deserve. Then what's happening? There's got to be a place where you get what you deserve. That's called ākhirah. إِلَيْنَا يُرْجَعُونَ — they are all coming back to Us.

The Messengers Before and the Qur'an's Completeness

Truly We have sent mortal messengers to their own people before you. Many prophets have come before you — thousands, hundreds of thousands of prophets. مِنْهُم مَّن قَصَصْنَا عَلَيْكَ — some of them, We have related their accounts to you. وَمِنْهُم مَّن لَّمْ نَقْصُصْ عَلَيْكَ — and amongst them are those whose accounts We have not related to you. Meaning the Qur'an does not need to have everything included. The Qur'an talks about risālah — prophethood — and that is sufficient. Every single name of every prophet does not need to be mentioned in the Qur'an.

If it's not in the Qur'an, does that mean it doesn't exist? If Allah did not mention the name of certain prophets, do we still have to believe in them? Yes. So what else did Allah not mention that we have to believe in? Dajjāl. Allah did not mention his name anywhere in the Qur'an. But people have become munkir al-hadīth — rejecters of hadith — and they say, "There's no such thing as Dajjāl." You have to believe in not just 25 prophets mentioned in the Qur'an, but all of them — approximately 124,000. Similarly, Dajjāl's name not being mentioned in the Qur'an should not be a reason to say he doesn't exist, because you have hadīth upon hadīth upon hadīth regarding Dajjāl.

I just came across a book this weekend — Allāmah Maqdisī rahmatullāhi alayhi's book, on eighty ahādīth on Dajjāl, with a beautiful English translation, apparently available from the UK. That would definitely be something worth reading and going through.

The Prophet ﷺ Cannot Bring Miracles on His Own

The problem with the kuffār was that they wanted everything on demand — Amazon Prime, immediate. "I want this miracle now." Allah Azza wa Jal doesn't need you. Stop demanding from Islam whatever you want. Stop demanding from the Qur'an. You want to believe? You can believe. You don't want to believe? Be my guest.

Allah Azza wa Jal is telling the Prophet ﷺ and telling the kuffār: the Prophet ﷺ cannot bring a miracle on his own. إِلَّا بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ — he can only do so with the permission of Allah. So do not demand from him things that he cannot do.

فَإِذَا جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ قُضِيَ بِالْحَقِّ — when the command of Allah comes to bring judgment upon a people, it is decreed with decisive truth. When Allah's decision of destruction comes, no one can turn that decision around. وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ — and right then and there, the real propagators of falsehood will lose everything. Today, the more fitna and fasād you cause, the higher your ratings go in the dunya. But at that time, it will become apparent — هُنَالِكَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ — those people who cause chaos will be the ones losing everything.

It is mentioned in Ibn Hishām rahmatullāhi alayhi's Sīrah an-Nabawiyyah that the kuffār told Rasulullah ﷺ:

"We want you to bring down a portion of the sky, the way you claim. If your Lord wants us to believe in Him, He needs to bring down a portion of the sky — otherwise we're not going to believe in you." The Prophet ﷺ said, "That is not in my hands. إِن شَاءَ أَن يَفْعَلَهُ بِكُمْ فَعَلَ — if He wants to do that to you, He will do it, but I cannot." So look at the audacity and disrespect of the next statement they said:

"Your Lord did not know we were going to sit with you today at this time? And that we're going to ask you what we just asked? Wouldn't He have taken a step early and taught you how to respond to us? Shouldn't He have informed you beforehand of what's going to happen?" Didn't Allah know that you were going to sit with us and ask these questions? Shouldn't He have come prepared? Why are you saying it's all in the hands of Allah? We're not going to accept this.

Then they said: "We've heard there's a man in al-Yamāmah whose name is ar-Rahmān and he is the one who teaches you all this stuff. Wallāhi, we're not going to believe in this so-called Rahmān. And wallāhi, we will not leave you — either we will destroy you, or you will destroy us."

So Allah Azza wa Jal mentioned this over here — that look, it's not in the hands of a prophet. This is the proof that the Qur'an is the Book of Allah. Because if you wanted to back up your prophet, you would say, "And then he brought something that just overwhelmed the whole community, and whatever they asked he overwhelmed them with a miracle." That would sound nice. But instead the Qur'an is saying the opposite — he wasn't able to give what they're asking, because it's not in his hands. It's in Allah's hands. Who writes a book like that, saying "this is not in my hand, it's in someone else's hand"? If you wanted to be in power? This is the proof that this is not man-made. Why would you give credit to someone else? Why would you say "my hands are tied"? Allah is the One fully in control.

The Blessings of Cattle and Ships

Allah is the One who has made for you all types of cattle, so that you may ride upon some, and from some that you may eat. Allah is now speaking about the blessings He has given humanity. An'ām is referring to camels, cows, sheep, goats, and all of those. Some of them you ride — لِتَرْكَبُوا مِنْهَا — and some of those you eat — وَمِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ.

I was telling the students: there is no such thing as mindless eating, mindless doing anything — even enjoying a burger or steak or sālan or rotī, whatever. We are supposed to be thinking about all the processes that have happened before this. Some cow — who is a mother, or father, or son, or daughter — gave up their life, screaming, with blood gushing out, so that you could enjoy your smash burger. All these animals, the fur jacket, the woolen bedsheet — someone is continuously giving their life for us. And let's not talk about the poor chickens. So this is what we're supposed to reflect upon: if all of these are giving up their lives for us, who am I supposed to give my life for? Allah. Allah made all these for me.

وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَنَافِعُ — And therein are other benefits for you. وَلِتَبْلُغُوا عَلَيْهَا حَاجَةً فِي صُدُورِكُمْ — Moreover, by means of them you may attain to some other far-reaching need within your breast. وَعَلَيْهَا وَعَلَى الْفُلْكِ تُحْمَلُونَ — for upon them and upon ships you are carried through the land and sea.

Allah here is speaking about the fact that there are many other benefits from these animals beyond just food. Now you have medication — how many things does today's industry use from every single portion of an animal? There is nothing thrown away. Everything can be used for something. And Allah left it open-ended — وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَنَافِعُ — more research will happen, more things will come out, till the Day of Judgment. Now you have cloning, stem cells — subhānAllah, endless manāfi' coming from these animals.

And then you are able to fulfill a desire — I want to go for Hajj, I want to travel for business far away, I don't have the means, well, you use a camel. And then you're able to travel upon them, وَعَلَى الْفُلْكِ — and upon the ships.

An interesting point the ulamā have written: when Allah speaks about the story of Nūh alayhi as-salām, Allah says:

We said: place in the ship the animals. But here, this āyah speaks about being carried on the ship. The ulamā noted this is speaking about the advancements and inventions in the development of ships. Previously it was just one floor — a large ship but one floor — and you ride in them. Then as humanity started constructing different types of ships, they became multi-layered. When can you say on the ship? When you have layers — first layer, second layer, third layer. And did Nabī ﷺ himself go on the sea? No. Did he ride a ship? No. Yet Allah speaks about this in Sūrah ar-Rahmān:

To Allah belong these massive ships that are as big as mountains. What is a mountain? It starts off wide at the bottom and has a peak at the top. And so these ships have a wide base, multi-layered, slowly getting narrower as they get to the top. These massive steamships — today's large aircraft carriers, cruise ships, and all these other types — were not found during the time of the Prophet ﷺ. But this is the i'jāz of the Qur'an — the Qur'an speaks about things that will happen in the future.

For example, Allah says in another sūrah:

If it wasn't for the fear that the whole of humanity would become kāfir, I would have given the kuffār so much money, so much wealth, so much luxury — that their roofs would be built of pure silver. وَمَعَارِجَ — and then they would have stairways and steps that they climb in their multi-story houses. You have escalators and elevators today — this is probably alluding to that. And of course they'd have gold and jewelry beyond measure. I just read of a yacht worth billions, with 10,000 pounds of gold in it. You have coffee shops in Dubai now serving 200-dollar cups of tea, ice cream for 150, steaks for 300 or 400, gold-plated or with shavings of gold. Of course these are TikTok sensations, and Muslims try it too — held in Muslim countries, run by Muslims many times. Why would we not get taken to account when we're doing such frivolous things? SubhānAllāh. And people think this is an action item — "Let me go, let me take a picture." That money could literally give a family food for a week right now in these devastated areas.

So Allah says, if it wasn't for the fear that everyone would become a kāfir, I would have given the kuffār all this. So the Qur'an, mashallah, has so much i'jāz in it — so many things that can only be from Allah.

Which of Allah's Signs Will You Reject?

He shows you His signs — then which of Allah's signs would you reject? Allah is saying: what's wrong with you? Everywhere you see Allah's signs — why are you rejecting?

We were blessed yesterday — the students and some of the MSA folks — we had Fajr on the beach. Subhānallāh, what an amazing experience. Go to the beach and try to pray Fajr, sit down, do dhikr, du'ā. We had Fajr, then morning adhkār, then a half-hour talk, then we did loud collective dhikr, then du'ā, and then we prayed Ishrāq. There was a wind coming, and the whole top layer of sand was just blowing — majestic. You hear the crashing of the waves, and behind you slowly the preparation for sunrise. And then when eventually the sun rises — subhānAllāh.

فَأَيَّ آيَاتِ اللَّهِ تُنكِرُونَ — which sign of Allah are you going to reject? That's why in Sūrah ar-Rahmān, after every āyah:

Which of Allah's blessings are you going to belie? Nabī ﷺ said to the Sahāba:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhī, Hadith 3291)

"I read Sūrah ar-Rahmān to your brothers from the jinn, and they were more responsive than you. Whenever I read to them فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ, all the jinn responded by saying: 'Ya Allah, we are not going to belie any of Your signs.'" They were actively engaging. So we should also say: Ya Allah, we're not going to reject any of Your āyahs, none of Your signs.

Have They Not Journeyed Through the Earth?

Have they not then journeyed through the earth to see how the end came of those who belied Allah's messenger before them? The people came before you — they were more numerous than the Quraysh. They were superior in power. And far greater in the traces they left on the earth as a legacy. Yet all that they earned never availed them against the judgment of Allah.

This is still true. No matter all the technology we have, we cannot recreate Petra. We cannot recreate Madā'in Sālih. Without a caterpillar, without a bulldozer, without anything — how do you carve a house out of rock, with a door fifty or sixty feet high? Go see it — it's unbelievable. But the purpose of going there is not to go party. Today these places have been made into resorts, places for New Year's parties — Allah protect the ummah. It's like we're literally telling Allah, "Please bring on the ākhirah quickly, bring on Your 'azāb." We are running faster than we need to towards all of these things.

Allah wants us to reflect and think about how He destroyed them. Today you don't find a single bone, a single name of 'Ād and Thamūd:

No one was created that strong ever. Allah says — they're gone. Where are they? Bring them on. They're nowhere to be seen. The same thing will happen to you. If you think about the most recent traitors and dictators of this past century — the communists and so forth, where are they? You look within the Arab dynasties too — those who did dhulm, where are they? They would cut off people's tongues if they spoke against them. Today no one speaks about them. They're finished.

So this is a reflection. How long are you going to continue this arrogance? You're not going to be remembered. فَمَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — all that you earned, all your entire armies will not be able to protect you from Allah.

They Exulted in Their Own Knowledge

For when their messengers came to them with clear and miraculous proofs, they exulted in what trifling knowledge they had. And the very punishment they used to mock at whelmed them from every side.

Today a Muslim — sometimes you warn him, "Brother, this is harām." And it becomes a mockery. Today many people want to understand the Qur'an from their 'aql, their own intelligence, and they will make fun of what you say. "Who says I have to stand shoulder to shoulder in salāh?" I said, "From hadīth." He said, "No, this is not relevant anymore. Before they were far apart. Today people don't feel comfortable standing next to each other. Since COVID time, I got accustomed to space." Everyone wants to interpret the Qur'an with their own 'aql. "Who cares about fiqh? Who cares about hadīth? I'll explain it myself." Allah says — whatever they used to make a mockery out of, eventually a day came, and it has already happened to the disbelievers, that they got surrounded by the very things they disbelieved in and were destroyed by that.

Now, as for nahy 'an al-munkar — let me say this: it has to be done through stages. If you just grab someone's hand and say, "Stop it!" they might just say, "No, I don't care about you. Which sharī'ah says I can't do this?" We're trying to change people. Change will come, like the effort of da'wah focuses on — amr bil ma'rūf: bring them towards goodness. Bring them to the dars here, to a tazkiyah talk, to a tafsīr program. When the person's heart becomes enlightened, when they do dhikr, automatically when the filth gets out of the heart, that person will start recognizing that what they're doing is wrong. You don't even need to tell them. So that's a smart way of doing it. That's why we work with hikmah and wisdom — to bring people into good, powerful environments.

Tawbah at the Last Moment

Then when they at last saw the deadly affliction, the kuffār began to frantically say: آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ — we believe in Allah alone. وَكَفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِكِينَ — and we disbelieve in all that we used to associate as gods with Him. Please forgive us, we're going to make tawbah now.

This is like Fir'awn — at the time of death, that is exactly what he said: آمَنتُ بِرَبِّ مُوسَىٰ وَهَارُونَ — I believe in the Lord of Mūsā and Hārūn. But it was too late. It was told: "Now?" So we should not be waiting for tawbah at the last minute. At the last minute everyone is going to do tawbah, and that doesn't count. Nor should we wait to give sadaqah at the time of death — everyone will wish to give at that time, and it won't count then either. All the good deeds we have to do when we're healthy, alive, and young. These are the times we should push ourselves towards goodness.

Their sudden faith, when at last they saw Our deadly affliction, did not benefit them in the least — when they began to say آمَنَّا after they had started seeing the punishment. سُنَّتَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي قَدْ خَلَتْ فِي عِبَادِهِ — this is exactly the way of Allah, the way that has been decreed for His servants. The same system: follow the Prophet ﷺ and you'll be successful; don't follow the Prophet ﷺ and you will be destroyed. And at that time — not in the ākhirah — in this very world you will realize you were wrong. But it will be too late. وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْكَافِرُونَ — and right then and there, the disbelievers will become losers.

The Surah of the Believer — A Surah of Da'wah

The name of this sūrah is Sūrat al-Mu'min, Sūrat Ghāfir — Allah is the Forgiver. The مُؤْمِن — the believer — remember this? The entire sūrah, مُؤْمِن آلِ فِرْعَوْن — the believer from the family of Fir'awn — was spoken about so highly. Because he stood up against error even though he was a lone man. He said, "I don't care, I have to speak up." And Allah named the entire sūrah after him.

So the goal is: not only do we need to have īmān and be strong in our deen, but dearest brothers, dearest sisters, dearest listeners — the ummah badly needs people who stand up for the truth. Alhamdulillah, as much as falsehood is going on in the world today, there is still so much khayr. When we went for Fajr on the beach yesterday, there were people jogging who stopped and watched and listened — naturally attracted by the beauty of the deen.

Another interesting thing that happened in one of my talks this past week in Texas — a young 13 or 14-year-old boy came up to me and said, "Sheikh, can you give me some tips for da'wah to non-Muslims? Alhamdulillah, two people have accepted Islam on my hand so far." I felt like saying, I need tips from you! You're 13 or 14 years old and two people have already accepted Islam — mashallah, there is so much khayr happening.

I don't want you to think it's all bleak. What we need is people to practice the truth and without any fear invite towards the truth. Instead of saying "Oh, how sad," do something about it. If it's in your family, in your community, on your WhatsApp group, in your masjid — wherever you are, if you see something wrong, don't turn a blind eye. Privately message the person, try to meet them, say "Brother, stop, come back." Whatever you do, do it privately, don't do it publicly — unless it's a public sin happening publicly. We cannot as a community just turn a blind eye. There is still so much chance.

Our blessed city of Chicago — alhamdulillah, there is lots of great stuff here. But if we don't do nahy 'an al-munkar, it will also be lost. مُؤْمِن آلِ فِرْعَوْن — this entire sūrah honestly is a sūrah of da'wah.

Mawlānā Farooq Makkī, one day when he visited us at Dār-ul-Zakariyyā — he is originally from Karachi but has lived in Makkah al-Mukarramah for decades — he did tafsīr of the entire Sūrah al-Mu'min in about an hour and a half or two hours, around 2000–2001. And he basically explained the usūl of da'wah from every single āyah of the same sūrah. Anyone here attended that? It was powerful. From Sūrah al-Mu'min, he analyzed all the asālīb of da'wah — all the usūl and the principles of da'wah.

I'm not exaggerating: this sūrah gives us the strength to say — we're not only going to follow the truth, but we're going to become du'āt, inviters towards the truth. And we're going to establish the truth.

Alhamdulillah, with the will of Allah, we have completed the sūrah. This was of course a brief run-over — we should continue to study and read on our own. I think today was the 13th or 14th session. The next sūrah we'll be doing is the one immediately after — Hāmīm as-Sajdah. It has a beautiful connection to this sūrah. Insha'Allah we'll start that from next week. Try your best to attend, and if you've missed out, you can catch up on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, and all the different platforms — everything is uploaded.

Announcements

A few announcements for our brothers and sisters here. Since we are in Rabī' al-Awwal, we have books on sīrah available at the book stall outside. As you enjoy your tea after 'Ishā, please stop by.

Our Ta'fīm weekend online track has begun. This weekend there was no class because of the long weekend — you have not fallen behind. If you want to take online classes on the weekend only, alhamdulillah, these courses are being offered. They are great for high school students, college students, people from home, working, or from across the country and the world — they're recorded as well.

Next weekend, insha'Allah, please become inviters to the Sīrah Conference. The topic is "Ahlul Bayt — the Family of the Prophet ﷺ in the Sunnī Tradition", on Friday, September 13th and 14th. The event is free, but please RSVP and book your meals in advance. We'll also have a parallel sisters' event — a separate women's sīrah conference on Saturday, presented by sisters and 'ālimāt. Please come out in huge numbers.

And great news — after many years, Shaykh Hasan Ali from the UK will be joining us, insha'Allah, for this event. He'll be here Friday, September 13th, speaking that evening in Chicago.

Bear with me for one more minute — I also want to announce that alhamdulillah, we are very pleased to announce a brand new program: the Ta'līm Program. We have the Takheem, the Tanweer, the Takmeel, the Tahfeedh, the Tajweed, the Tartīl — and now we're starting, I believe our eighth or ninth program, called the Ta'līm Program. This is the first time Dār-us-Salām is offering daily online classes throughout the entire week.

We have always focused on on-site learning, but the number of people who have been asking us — pushing us — to offer daily online classes has increased from across the country and across the globe. Alhamdulillah. So, right after the Sīrah Conference, on Monday, September 15th, we will be launching the Ta'līm Program, which will include Sīrah, Arabic, Fiqh, Qur'an, Hadīth, 'Aqīdah, and Spirituality.

It will be a semester-based system. Five classes per day, Monday through Friday. About three and a half hours a day, all live — recorded as well for those who miss. For those in Chicago or Central Standard Time, the morning session will be 10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Then a big break for lunch, Dhuhr, work, college, house chores. Then the evening session: 2:45 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. You do not need to take all five classes — you can take any one of the five. This first semester starts in the next week or two and will end in December. The following semester will start in January.

This first year we'll be focusing on non-Arabic subjects, since Arabic is tough to teach online for students. We'll be covering selected chapters of Riyādh-us-Sāliheen parts one and two; a class on the Shamā'il of the Prophet ﷺ; a class on the stories and lessons learned from the lives of the Sahāba; and detailed fiqh sessions. These are 45 minutes per day — a lot can be covered. Plus, you'll have access to an English-speaking scholar you can reach out to after class, build a relationship with, and ask questions.

Alhamdulillah — these are not off-site ulamā. These are scholars and ulamā who are in Dār-us-Salām, teaching on-site classes. But for one period, they will go online. So the same quality and top-notch level of education offered here — insha'Allah, bi-idhnillāhi ta'ālā — you'll be getting it online as well. Of course, there is no replacement for the suhbah and companionship of being on-site. But when it comes to the actual knowledge and 'ilm from the scholars, insha'Allah, we'll try our best to keep that consistent.

I encourage you all to please not only benefit from this, but share it with your family and friends across the globe. Insha'Allah.

Wa assalāmu 'alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh.