Surah Ghafir - Ep.8 - Mawlana Ammar Ahmed

Surah Ghafir — Episode 8

Speaker: Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds. And the end is due to the righteous. And peace and blessings be upon the most honored of the prophets and messengers — our prophet, our beloved, our support, and our master Muhammad. And upon his family and his companions all.

After that, Allah Almighty said in the Glorious Qur'an — I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan:

"And certainly did Yusuf come to you before with clear proofs, but you were still in doubt as to what he had brought to you. Until, when he was destroyed, you said, Allah will not resurrect a messenger after him. Thus does Allah mislead those who are transgressors, in doubt — those who dispute in the signs of Allah without any authority that has come to them. Great is the punishment in the sight of Allah and in the sight of the believers. Thus does Allah seal every heart — arrogant, tyrant."

"And Pharaoh said, O Haman, build me a tower, that I may reach the means of the heavens. Then I will look to the God of Moses. And indeed, I think he is a liar. And thus did Pharaoh make beautiful to him the evil of his work, and he was barred from the way. And the plan of Pharaoh was not but in ruin."

"And he who believed said, O my people, follow me, I will guide you to the right path. O my people, this life of the world is only enjoyment, and indeed the Hereafter is the abode of determination. Whoever does an evil deed will not be recompensed except for its like. And whoever does good, whether male or female, and is a believer — they will enter Paradise, and will be provided therein without account."

Connecting with the Qur'an

Let us tune into ourselves and understand the reason for why we have come here today. We have come here for the sole purpose of connecting with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The closest way we can connect with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is by reading His speech, by reading His dictates which He has given to us in the form of the Qur'an.

These are the direct addresses of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala towards us — all of us sitting here. The lessons in the Qur'an are not for any other individual; rather these directives and these advices are solely for ourselves. And so when we come and attend these gatherings, the purpose should be solely to connect with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, to take lesson, to see how these ayat can apply in our lives.

Every single one of these ayat are timeless — meaning that for every generation, from the beginning of mankind until our generation today, and even for those to come afterwards, every single ayah in the Qur'an will provide some form of benefit, will give some lesson to anyone who reads it with an open heart.

The Effects of Iman and Ghayrah Diniyyah

Previously we had been discussing the effects of iman. That when one has true iman in their heart, then there is no question regarding that iman, because it will manifest itself — some situation will occur where that iman will manifest itself.

And so many will claim, "I have iman, I am a believer, you just don't see it." But the nature of iman is that it produces a level of ghayrah within an individual — a level of ghayrah diniyyah. What is ghayrah diniyyah? It is such a quality that when one sees the commands of Allah ta'ala being broken, when one sees the disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala taking place on the earth, when one sees corruption, then they seek to stop it.

So one can claim that I have iman, I am a mu'min. We spoke about this last week. Everyone likes to say, "I am a believer, I am a servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala." But what we say means very little. What really matters is that all of us sitting here become a mu'min, become a servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in His court — such that the court of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when the registers are pulled out, says: "This was a believer, this was a true servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala."

And regardless of what we say right now, a person can say "I am a believer" a hundred times, a thousand times, a million times. But if it is not accepted in the court of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then all those claims mean nothing. In this world a person can spend a lifetime claiming to be a believer and saying, "I am a Muslim, I am a mu'min, I am an 'Abdullah. I am a true servant of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I am a righteous person." But if that is not accepted by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then it means nothing.

Three Responses to Evil

And so one way we can see for ourselves if we have that quality — if these claims we make are true, if when we say mu'min it is true — one way we can see it is when these situations occur: what is our response? Are we quiet? Do we keep to ourselves? Do we say, "This is none of my business, I do not need to involve myself in this matter"? Or when we see the disobedience of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala take place, do we try to find a way — some solution, even the smallest way — to make a change?

That is why Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — we have all heard of this hadith — where he sallallahu alayhi wa sallam advised us and prescribed that whoever sees any form of evil, he should try to change it with his hands. And if not, he should try to change it with his tongue. And if not, he should try to change it with his heart. And that is the lowest level of iman. Why? Because iman is such that it will manifest. And if a person's iman is weak, it will not manifest.

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 186)

And so now we need to see what is our response to these situations. When we see there are Muslims in our workplace who are not praying salah, when we see that such and such acts of corruption are taking place, someone is stealing, these individuals are cheating — what is our response? One will have one of three responses. Two of which need reformation, and one is a good sign.

The first is that an individual sees some sort of corruption, some evil, and he leaves it. He says, "I have nothing to do with this, I do not need to put my hands in this." That is something we always tell one another — if you see something bad taking place, just don't get involved. Why do you need to get involved? It is none of your business. But as Muslims, this is our responsibility. Our ghayrah diniyyah, our iman from within, should be such that we try to make a difference — whatever that may be. Even the smallest amount is that we can at least make some du'a for it. So one is that an individual leaves it. He says, "I have nothing to do with it." And of course, that is a sign that a person's iman is weak.

The second is that not only do they leave it, but now they begin name-calling, they begin backbiting, they begin speaking ill. "I have nothing to do with it" — and 30 minutes later: "Oh, did you see that person? Oh, did you hear about this individual? Do you know this business, they're cheating? Do you know this business, they're doing tax fraud? Do you know this business, they're ripping off everyone else? Do you know the owner of this business? He does X, Y, and Z things — he's actually an alcoholic." And so a person sees some form of corruption and what does he do? He adds corruption to that. One saw some zulm, some oppression, some darkness, and he just leaves it. Another sees darkness, sees corruption, and his response is that he adds corruption on top of that. And so of course, this is another individual — we need to look into our own lives to see if we fit this model, and we need to bring some change.

And then the third — lastly — is a person who has iman. And we see this in the situation of Musa alayhis salaam. How one saw a nabi of Allah alayhis salaam being oppressed, being abused, his life was on the line — and his iman came in. His ghayrah diniyyah came in and said: "That's it, I cannot allow this to go on and proceed any further. I have to make some change, I have to speak up over here." And so now that person's iman is strong, and it leads to a'mal.

Iman Must Be Cultivated

So now a person can claim, "I have faith, but I just don't pray salah." What is that a sign of? A sign of weak iman. Is iman there? Yes, it's there. But the iman is weak. And so effort has to be made on iman, so that it will lead to a'mal. A person has to go and give da'wah to that individual. A person has to go and make some sort of rectification within themselves. A person has to ponder upon the signs of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. A person has to leave their environment and go into the environment where individuals are working on one another. And what happens? Their iman becomes reformed, their iman is corrected.

And what does that lead to? We talk about da'wah, we talk about tabligh — what is the purpose of tabligh? To reform our own iman and the iman of all the Muslims, but beyond that to reform the a'mal also. Because if the iman is correct, a'mal will automatically follow. But if there is no iman, then the a'mal will be very shallow. If the iman is weak, then in good times we will be coming to the masjid, we will be giving sadaqah, we will do this action and that form of righteousness. But now if the iman is weak and situations get difficult — any sort of musibah — instead of becoming an opportunity to connect back with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, a person turns away from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That is when the iman is weak. And that is why effort has to be made on the iman.

And if one works on his iman, eventually he will reach a state where Allah ta'ala will attest to his iman. And over here we see an individual whose iman was strong — Allah ta'ala called him a mu'min:

And so effort has to be made. A person cannot sit around and act as though one day he will wake up and the iman will be within him. No — there has to be some form of sacrifice. Allah ta'ala on countless occasions in the Qur'an calls us towards sacrifice, because when there is sacrifice, then there will be fruits.

Just like the farmer has to plant the seed, and he has to water it, and he has to make sure that it is protected from various things — and after all that effort, after seasons worth of efforts, then he will be able to pick the apple from the tree. Similarly, iman is like that tree. A person, when he says the kalimah, he plants the seed. And now he has to water it. He has to make sure that the soil is proper and conducive for the growth of the plant, the growth of the tree — that it is in the proper environment. And then he has to make effort on it. And eventually, after many months and many years, then he will be able to pluck the fruit off the tree. That is how iman is.

A constant effort has to be made. If a person leaves vegetation for a day, for a week, for a month — ask the farmers what will happen if you just take a day off. They will tell you all the difficulties they go through, just because of one missed day. And so the effort of iman is not an effort for a day. It is not an effort for a week. It is not an effort for a month. It is an effort of a lifetime. And one missed day can set you back months, years. That is what the effort of iman is.

The Believing Man from the Family of Fir'aun

Anyway, moving forward — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions in this ayah. In fact, if we go an ayah back, Allah ta'ala was mentioning and showing us the discussion of this believing individual from the family of Fir'aun. He mentions:

"O my people! I fear for you a day in which people will call one another." And this will be a day where people will turn their back on their heels — no one will have any form of protection from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now it is very easy to say this, but for one who has iman, he believes it. These words have meaning behind them.

Then he goes on and mentions that if you are disbelieving in Musa alayhis salaam, in fact this is something which was done by your predecessors — your fathers did it also:

And Yusuf alayhis salaam — remember, Fir'aun and the Coptic people, where were they situated? They were located in Egypt. Which nabi was also located in Egypt? Yusuf alayhis salaam. He lived somewhere else, and eventually after some time he relocated to Egypt — as well as his entire family, Banu Israel, who migrated to Egypt. And so now he mentions: your forefather Yusuf alayhis salaam came before, بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ — he came with many clear proofs.

Bayyinah — we mentioned this is an undeniable truth, an undeniable proof. Something that no one can deny. If one comes with a clean heart, they will understand. But if one comes with spiritual illnesses, his heart is not clean — then no matter how strong the proof is, they will never accept it. No matter how convincing you are, they will not accept it. No matter how much you show they are in the wrong, they will always act as though they were in the right. They will always have an "if", they will always have a "but", they will always have to say, "But you don't understand, look from my perspective."

The Disease of Kibr (Arrogance)

That is the nature of kibr — that you will constantly deny the truth. Fingers will be pointed at you rightly. A person will come and advise you: "Look, brother or sister, such and such thing happened — I am just looking out for you." And the reply is: "Who are you to tell me this?" Even if what they are saying is true, the kibr within an individual will make him flat out deny it.

That is why one advice that Imam al-Ghazali rahimahullah gave us is:

Look at what is being said — not at who said it. Look at the statement, not at the speaker. Because a person's kibr will automatically make one deny it. "Oh, you are younger than me. Oh, you haven't lived as long as I have. Oh, you are from the old generation." So when the elders are being told something, what do they say? "I have lived on this earth and I have seen much more than you have ever seen. I have lived two times your lifespan."

And I'm not pointing fingers at anyone — I'm just saying this is a common trend. Individuals who may be known to give good advice, the elderly and the wise of our community, will like to tell everyone else and say, "I am sincerely telling you, I have no kibr within myself." These are things that we will tell one another — "I'm not saying this because I think I'm better than you." But then what happens? We will tell them this and we will tell them that, and we will have a long list of issues they are involved in. But in the moment they pull even one small thing on us, all that "I don't think I'm better than you" disappears. It becomes: "Oh no, no, no, no, no — there's something else." And in our mind we'll think: "He has this issue, and he steals, and they drink, and now they're telling me that I'm not praying my salah correctly." What is that? That is the kibr manifesting in the individual.

These qualities which reside in the heart will manifest one way or another. They are not dormant within an individual — they are there, they are hidden. All it takes is that one instant and automatically they come out. Just as when one has iman, this individual from the family of Fir'aun — it came out when the situation presented itself. Similarly, when one has a spiritual malady, a spiritual illness, automatically when the situation comes, it will manifest itself.

And so now this individual is telling Fir'aun and the people: if you are disbelieving in Musa alayhis salaam, then know that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Know that your forefathers had Yusuf alayhis salaam come to them. And even at that moment, a prophet came to them. Right now what is happening? A prophet has come to you. Musa alayhis salaam has come to you. Yusuf alayhis salaam came to your forefathers. Were the proofs the same? No, they were not exactly the same. But the nature of them was such that they were undeniable.

Yusuf alayhis salaam was interpreting dreams for the king. He protected the entire kingdom from poverty — when there was a famine, he made Egypt the most thriving nation. Musa alayhis salaam presented this miracle and that miracle. Yusuf alayhis salaam cured the blindness of his father Yaqub alayhis salaam. Both of them came with different proofs — things which modern-day science perhaps could not cure, could perhaps not provide a solution for. But thousands of years ago, they found a solution through the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Now when these proofs are presented in front of them — anyone would say, how can you deny them? A clear proof has come to you, you are seeing it with your own eyes. Forget hearing about it — for us, these are just stories, but for them this was real life, this was reality. And what happened? They denied it.

"You remained in suspicion about what He brought to you."

There is an undeniable reality — everyone, every human being will leave this world. And so now when Yusuf alayhis salaam left this world, you said, "Allah will never send a messenger after him."

The Pattern of Banu Israel's Denial

Typically, we see a common trend in Banu Israel — they would constantly deny their messengers. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent prophet after prophet, miracle after miracle, but they did not believe. They denied it. To the point that when Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came to them, what was their response? They denied it. Why? Did it not make sense to them? Was the proof not strong enough? No — the proof was as strong as could be. But the reason they did not accept was not because of an issue in the mind, but because of an issue in the heart.

And from ages ago, we see that Banu Israel, one of the most common spiritual illnesses in them was this trait of kibr. Whether it was from the time of Yusuf alayhis salaam, or the time of Musa alayhis salaam, or at the time of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — what was their issue? "We are from Banu Israel. We had lineages of prophets. We had a prophet who was a son of a prophet who was a son of a prophet who was a son of a prophet. And we had countless anbiya alayhimus salaam in our generations. So our bloodline is sacred, our bloodline is honored."

But the reality was that all of this was for them merely a claim so that they could take the honor for it. True honor comes in what? In ittiba' — in following the ways of the anbiya alayhimus salaam. Honor is not in the way of innovation. Nowadays, what are we taught? That if you are innovative, if you come up with a new methodology, then you will be honored. People will revere you, people will look up to you, because you did something which no one else could do before you. But in the matters of deen, we are not asked to come up with some new methodology, we are not asked to come up with new forms and new innovations. Rather, in ittiba' of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, in following the way of the anbiya alayhimus salaam — there is honor, there is success.

We are taught: don't put your head down for anyone, don't follow anyone, keep your head high, make up a new way, find your own path. But the path has already been highlighted for us from generations ago. That if one just removes this kibr from their heart and follows the way which has been shown to them, you don't have to do anything else. Everything has been laid out for you. Allah ta'ala has sent this deen and He has sent it with complete proofs and a proper way, a methodology, and a lifestyle which fits everyone. You can be a desert nomad or you can be from the highest class of individuals — you can be the king of the world or you can be a desert nomad — but the deen will always fit your lifestyle and accommodate it in such a way which will lead you to paradise.

But everyone wants to change the deen. Instead of changing themselves for the deen, they want to change the deen for themselves. Find some loophole. Find something to change. "O Maulana Sahib, can you give me some fatwa for this? Can you change this?" And if they're told it's impermissible: "No, no, you're not seeing it right. You don't understand it properly. No, no, this isn't your field. I've been in this field for years — there must be something you're not seeing."

But we don't understand that the way of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the way to success, is in following — by removing the kibr, by just putting our head down in submission. Islam itself means what? Submission. That we hand over all our affairs to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He is in control of everything. So why don't I just put my head down, remove this arrogance from myself, and just submit — because Allah ta'ala is my creator. And if He has set a way for me and informed me that this will take care of my needs, this will be my way to success, then why don't I just follow it? He has laid it out for me.

Beyond that, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has shown us individuals who follow this model, and they receive success. Their needs were taken care of. They didn't have a single worry in this world, and in the akhirah they did not have a single worry either.

Valuing the Scholars and Righteous Among Us

And so Banu Israel were shown the prophets. All they had to do was listen, all they had to do was obey. The prophet was in front of them. Nowadays the story of the prophet is read to you — they had the prophet in front of them. But still, that wasn't enough for them. Their arrogance did not allow them to believe.

And so nowadays, we do not have the prophets with us. However, if we look at mankind and every single one of his actions and his needs, it is always associated with someone else. If a person has an issue and a need in his body, he will go to the doctor. If a person has some need in regards to his hair, he'll go to the barber. If a person has some need in regards to food, he will go to the marketplace. If a person has some need with his car, he'll go to the mechanic. Every single one of our needs, from birth until death, is always associated with another individual.

However, once a person passes away, there is a cut-off from all these individuals. The doctor, the mechanic, the tailor — all these connections are cut off. But there is only one connection which remains. And that is a person, when he has a need for his akhirah, connecting himself with the right individual.

Now, who is this individual? Allah ta'ala says in Surah an-Nisa:

Now Allah ta'ala over here in Surah an-Nisa mentions: obey Allah ta'ala, obey the Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and obey those who hold authority amongst you. Who are those? These are the inheritors of the scholars of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — these are the scholars, these are the righteous individuals. One connects with them for the matters of his akhirah.

Now why does that connection not cut off? Why does the connection with the scholars, the ulama, the sulaha — why does that not cut off in the akhirah? Because the benefits of those relationships are felt not only in this world but also in the akhirah. So that connection never cuts off. The fruits of those efforts, the fruits of that relationship, are found in the grave, are found in the akhirah. And the ultimate fruit is that this individual receives jannah — and jannah is something which will be everlasting, it will never end. Once one enters jannah, he will never be taken out. And so the benefits of that relationship will remain forever.

Another thing we see from this ayah is that we need to start taking advantage of and having value for what we have in front of us. Yusuf alayhis salaam came, and the people said, "No, no, no, it doesn't make sense. I'm not fully convinced, I just need some more time." After he passed away, then they said:

"Allah will never send a messenger after this." And so what happens? We have the big scholars of our times — we have this individual and that individual, these pious people. And when they're in front of us, and we have the chance to meet them, and they're visiting our communities, then we'll say, "I'll just come another time." We don't properly value them. After they pass away, someone is writing their biography, and they are compiling their virtues, and we are reading them and saying, "SubhanAllah, we have lost another giant in our world. A great wali of Allah has left and returned back to Him. And now we have lost him and the world will never be the same." But when they were in this world and they were with us, we did not value them.

When Yusuf alayhis salaam was with Banu Israel, they remained in doubt. But now that he has left, they said, "Oh no, Allah will never send another messenger." And so let us look into our lives, let us value what we have, let us look at the different gems we have in our communities, let us look at the different efforts of deen which are taking place, and make it a point that we stay connected. Because these relationships, these connections will not get cut off when we pass away — rather the fruits and benefits of these connections will remain even in the akhirah.

Israf, Doubt, and Disputing in Allah's Verses

"That is how Allah lets go astray anyone who crosses the limits and lives in doubt." Musrif — one who does israf, he goes beyond the limits, he exceeds the bounds. Murtab — he lives in doubt, always doubting this and always doubting that. Now, sometimes individuals have questions — and that is fine, something doesn't make sense to someone, that is fine, that is why the scholars are here to answer the questions. But there are people who are what we call skeptics — they are always skeptical and actively trying to poke holes in everything they hear. That is also something we shouldn't have. If we have any doubts, we should try to get them cleared, because knowledge is satiating — if one has a doubt and they gain knowledge, that doubt will be cleared.

But these are people who actively try to poke holes in whatever they see. They are given advice and they try to find some hole in it. And Allah ta'ala says this is how He leads them astray, by losing value for what they had. The proof was in front of them, the nabi was in front of them, but still they had to find some issue with it. Musrif — these people go beyond the bounds. They can never be content with what they have. They had a prophet, but they were never content.

And as a continuation, Allah ta'ala says:

"Those who quarrel in Allah ta'ala's verses without any authority having reached them." So now whenever there is an ayah of the Qur'an, or there is some hadith, or some mas'alah comes up, then what happens? They like to say, "Oh, I think it means this. You know, I've heard a few things, and if I put two and two together, I think in this situation this should be halal, or this should be haram. Or I think this ayah means this. Or this hadith — no, no, no, it is not referring to that, rather I think it refers to this thing." Allah ta'ala is saying these individuals are quarreling in His verses, disputing with them, arguing with them بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَانٍ أَتَاهُمْ — without any authority.

The Qur'an is the ultimate form of knowledge. It is the highest source of knowledge. Nothing can go against it. If one tries to find some contradiction in the Qur'an, or uses some sort of human observation that can never override what the Qur'an mentions. Allah ta'ala is the all-knowing. His knowledge exceeds far beyond our knowledge. What we have is very limited. What Allah ta'ala has is unlimited. Our wisdom is very small. The wisdom of Allah ta'ala is unlimited.

And so now there are ayat which one will read, or ahadith which one will read, and one with their very limited knowledge will start to think, "This doesn't make sense." Individuals will read the ahadith of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — we seek refuge with Allah, may Allah ta'ala protect us, may Allah ta'ala allow us to preserve the sunnah and the ahadith of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — but what will happen? They'll read a hadith and say, "This doesn't make sense, this can't be a hadith," and they'll throw it out. And if it just doesn't make sense to them, it can't be a hadith. But who are you in front of the Messenger of Allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam? Who are you in front of Allah ta'ala?

The one who knows everything. The one who is the ruler of all kingdoms. The one who owns the heavens and the earth. And so an important principle all of us need to take home today is that ignorance does not equate to non-existence. Just because we don't know something does not mean it does not exist. Ignorance does not mean that something has to be wrong — we are simply ignorant of it.

Every single day we say, "I learn something new every single day." These same individuals, if you ask them, "Do you learn something every single day?" — I doubt they will say, "No, I've learned everything there is to learn." They'll say, "No, I'm constantly learning." But then as soon as some matter in deen comes that does not make sense to them, they throw it out. Why? Because now they have put themselves on a pedestal — not just beyond the ulama, not just beyond the Rasul sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — but beyond Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Himself. Innately, what are they doing? They are claiming they have more wisdom and more knowledge than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

You ask them, they'll say, "No, no, no, I don't do that, I don't dare to do that." But their actions are showing the complete opposite — that they claim their wisdom is far beyond the wisdom of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That they know what is more befitting for the deen of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. When Allah ta'ala said:

Allah ta'ala, in the final hajj of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, on the day of Arafah, revealed this ayah: "Today I have completed your religion, and I have perfected My favor upon you, and I am pleased and content with Islam as your religion." Allah ta'ala is claiming this. And now they will say, "No, this aspect of shari'ah is completely inapplicable to us." Salah is too difficult? "You don't need to pray anymore." Zakah is becoming too difficult? "It's okay, you don't have to give zakah."

"How can you tell someone that when they work 9 to 5, they have to pray Salatul Zuhr and Salatul Asr? How can you tell someone that in a majority non-Muslim workplace, they should be representing the deen of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? How can you tell someone that they can't hide their deen in the workplace? How can you tell someone that when they are at a party at work, they cannot drink wine or eat something haram? How can you tell someone living in America, in a majority non-Muslim land, that they have to make sure their meat is slaughtered properly?" And so every single ruling which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given us is a lifestyle which will lead us to paradise.

But now what is happening is that, instead of going straight, they say, "You can turn right, you can turn left." Now if a person has to go straight on North Avenue and will reach Dar es Salaam, but now you tell him, "No, actually on Gary Road you have to turn right, and then when you get to Lake Street you have to turn left, and then keep going until you hit Barrington Road and then turn right" — will you ever reach Dar es Salaam? No. We'll say, "But there's less traffic on Gary Road instead of North Avenue, so it's easier." Is it easier to follow that path? Yes, it's much easier. But will it ever lead you to your destination? It will never lead you there. Although there may be some difficulty on North Avenue at 7 AM — you're going to hit traffic — but eventually you will reach your goal. But if you try to take shortcuts without knowledge, بِغَيْرِ سُلْطَانٍ — no authority, no knowledge — you will never reach your destination.

And in deen, and only deen, a person can find himself reaching the destination which is Jannatul Firdaus. May Allah ta'ala grant it to all of us.

And so nowadays, everyone likes to speak regarding matters of deen without any knowledge, and tries to find this shortcut and that shortcut. And because they have no knowledge and are not befitting to speak about these matters, what happens?

"It is terribly hateful with Allah ta'ala, and with those who believe."

"That is how Allah ta'ala stamps a seal on every arrogant, tyrannical heart." This all comes from what? Kibr. We are seeing time and time again in this Surah, Allah ta'ala is showing us the ill effects of kibr and what it can result in. Jabbar — one who is a tyrant. He is committing a violent oppression on who? Not on anyone else — in fact, on his own self.

The Prophecy Regarding Rejecting the Hadith

And in fact, this concept of speaking regarding matters of deen when one has no authority — Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam prophesied this years ago. He said that later you will find people who will be leaning on couches and will say, "Why do we need the hadith? We have the book of Allah ta'ala in front of us. Why do we need the hadith of Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam?"

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Book 42, Hadith 4604; also narrated in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2663)

Now we are hearing this and saying, "AstaghfirAllah." But there are people in our communities — hundreds of people, thousands of people — who fall under this prophecy. And why are they saying this? Not because they are trying to reach the truth, but because they have fallen into their own ignorance, their desires have overcome them. And now bit by bit, Shaitan is fulfilling and achieving his plan by pulling us away from the shari'ah.

And so it starts — a person will start becoming skeptical. He will say, "If a hadith is not sahih, I need to reject it," and so now one category of hadith is rejected. And then he will start rejecting hadith altogether. And what happens? Slowly, slowly, a person will find themselves on this trajectory. They will reject hadith altogether. And then later on, they will say, "Okay, if I reject hadith, how can I even believe the Qur'an is real?" And so now they will reject the Qur'an. And slowly, slowly, they will even reject Allah ta'ala — we seek refuge with Allah, may Allah ta'ala protect all of us. But this is the plotting of Shaitan.

And even before all of this, what will happen? They will start denying who are the people of knowledge in their areas. This arrogance will make them deny and stop accepting the people of knowledge. Then they will stop accepting the sources of knowledge. And then they will stop acknowledging their own Lord, their own creator. May Allah ta'ala protect all of us.

And so now we have to be very careful when speaking regarding the matters of deen. The matters of deen are not to be taken lightly. Are we all Muslims? Yes. But just as we all work jobs, do we speak from the president of a company's perspective if we are not the president? We will not try to override him — "Oh, I know he said this, but I am saying this now." You say that, you'll get fired. But alhamdulillah, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is so merciful that individuals will do this — speak regarding the deen of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — and He will still keep them in the deen, He will still give them opportunities.

The people of Banu Israel constantly denied the messengers. But Allah ta'ala is so merciful that He continuously sent messenger after messenger after messenger. And He has sent us the lessons of the Qur'an. He has sent us the greatest of all prophets, alayhimussalatu wassalam. And He has sent us story after story after story. Do we outwardly and blatantly deny them? No. But inwardly — is the belief there? If the iman is built, if the lessons are taken and internalized from these stories, then they will not be repeated. But what do we see? These same illnesses which were found in the generations before us are found today. Why? Because the Qur'an is something which people read, whether the text or the translation, but it does not go beyond their collarbones. It is just something read from the mouth, the lessons go from one ear and out the other, or come out from the mouth, but nothing is in the heart.

How will it resonate in the heart? How will it stay in the heart? When one reads every single one of these ayat and says, "I have this issue." Whether they can see it or not, they tell themselves, "I have this issue." They humble themselves. They look into themselves and say, "I have this fault, that fault." They remove this kibr from within them.

Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — in fact we mentioned this before — he said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 1, Hadith 265)

Kibr is that one denies the truth. No matter how strong the proofs are, they will deny it. Now one will read these ayat with kibr and say, "It doesn't apply to me. I don't have anything to do with this ayah. I am not Fir'aun. I am not Haman. I am not the people of Banu Israel. I don't have this issue." And so this was a lesson for them. But what happens is we turn the Qur'an into a book of history. In reality, these lessons are for us. It is not a storybook just for those people — that this was what happened to them and that was their outcome. Rather it is looking to ourselves: these qualities will remain within the people, these qualities will remain within you and I. What efforts are we making to remove these spiritual illnesses from our hearts?

And if one remains in this kibr, Allah ta'ala has already mentioned — if one tries to tamper with His perfect, pure and pristine deen — a point will come where Allah ta'ala will put a stamp on their hearts. May Allah ta'ala protect us. This is a reality and a scary reality, that if a person constantly turns away from the work of deen, a person constantly turns away from rectification, they will reach a point of no return. And the first step, Allah ta'ala mentions over here, starts with kibr.

Fir'aun's Tower: The Epitome of Kibr

Allah ta'ala then brings another example. He shows us Fir'aun's kibr — how he reached the epitome of kibr. Fir'aun is saying: "O Musa alayhis salaam, you brought me this miracle and you claim that Allah ta'ala is my lord, your lord, He is the lord of the heavens and the earth, He is the lord of the east and the west. I won't believe your claim. I don't believe your testimony. I have to see it with my own eyes."

And what happens? When an Imam Sahib will mention a hadith, a person will say, "Oh no, that's not a hadith, or this hadith is not acceptable." And then they'll say, "Show it to me, I need to see it with my own eyes." What is Fir'aun saying? "You claim to me Allah ta'ala exists — let me see it with my own eyes."

He calls on to his right-hand man, his trusted confidant:

"O Haman, make a tower for me, and allow it to be so high — allow it to reach the heavens, so that I can reach أَسْبَابَ السَّمَاوَاتِ — the staircase to the heavens — and I will peek towards the Lord of Musa alayhis salaam. And indeed I think he is lying." And he says: "I am not doing this for my own selfish reasons, I am doing this for you people." If Allah is there, "I will tell you. If He is not there, then Musa alayhis salaam's claim will be false, and we will have also seen with our own eyes."

"That is how his evil deeds were made attractive to Fir'aun, and how he was held back from the way — and the evil plot and evil design of Fir'aun was to end in nothing but ruin."

Now I'll ask all of you here — is this a smart plan? We all say no. Nowadays, people are building, trying to build the tallest building. Just a couple of years ago, there was a project planned to be taller than the Burj Khalifa, but eventually that project had to be stopped because they just couldn't go further. And now Fir'aun, he came up with this plan: let's build the world's tallest building, let's try to reach the Lord of Musa alayhis salaam. And Allah ta'ala mentioned that it ended in ruin.

Some say there was some storm and this project was completely destroyed. However, Mufti Shafi'i rahimahullah mentions that his teacher, when discussing this ayah, said: if you look at the nature of the world, if you want to make a building, the foundation has to be very strong. The system of this dunya is such that no matter how deep your foundation is, there will reach a point where the building will collapse. They thought that they had built a strong enough foundation to hold a structure tall enough to reach the Lord of Musa alayhis salaam. But no matter how deep your foundation is, you will not even reach an ounce of the heavens which Allah ta'ala has created. And eventually a point came where the entire tower collapsed. And Allah ta'ala humiliated Fir'aun not through some supernatural calamity, but from the laws of this world itself — from his own work, his own foundation collapsed on him.

When Evil Deeds Are Beautified

زُيِّنَ لِفِرْعَوْنَ سُوءُ عَمَلِهِ — this is a very scary ayah for everyone. Sometimes Allah ta'ala will beautify an action for someone. They will think they are doing something very good, they are doing righteous actions, they are doing the work of deen. But in fact, Allah ta'ala is enticing it for them. And they think they are doing something so great and so wonderful: "I am mentioning this ishkal, I am bringing up this objection, I am causing this commotion in the masjid — and I am doing something very good, I am helping correct the masjid." But in reality, their own most horrible and disgusting actions are being seen as beautiful, being seen as commendable — while in reality, these are the same actions which are leading them to their own destruction.

Mawlana Ilyas rahimahullah, the one who revived the effort of tabligh — on his deathbed, when hundreds and thousands and millions of people had changed their lives through his work — what did he say? He said to Mawlana Ibrahim Balyawi rahimahullah, while crying: "I fear that my own actions had become beautified for me." This is who? This is not you and I. This is not the average person. In the recent century, one of the most influential Muslims, one of the most influential scholars — just seeing him make du'a would be enough to change our lives. That is the type of righteousness he reached. But he is saying: "Perhaps my actions became beautified for me, and this was all a plan to deceive me — so I would continue, and I'll be working and building my way towards Jahannam." How sad is it that people will be thinking they are building their jannah, but in reality they are building their own pit in the hellfire. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us.

But what will change us? What will save us? What will be that furqan — that criterion — to distinguish if we are doing something right or wrong? It is if one has tawadu', humility, to go to other individuals, find a shaykh, find a scholar, find a righteous individual, and ask him: "Hey, I'm doing this — is this the right thing to do?" To make mashwarah.

One common trait which was found amongst the Muslims — a civilizational trait found in the Sahaba which we don't find today — is this concept of making mashwarah. Everyone thinks they know what they're doing, they think they know what is right and wrong. "I spent this many years in Sunday school, so I know what is good for deen. I went to maktab, I went to madrasa for this amount of years." But in reality, if we don't have someone above us — a wise individual who has connected with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala — then we could be building our own pits in the hellfire. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us.

The Believing Man Calls His People — Usool of Da'wah

This next ayah begins another discussion regarding the mu'min, the believer from the family of Fir'aun, how he starts calling on to the people of Banu Israel and bringing change into the community. The usool of da'wah are found in these ayat. And so this is a good place to stop, because the next discussion will proceed for another few ayat.

Du'a and Closing

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He rids us of our kibr. We ask that Allah ta'ala allows us to see the faults within ourselves. We ask that Allah ta'ala grants us the ability to learn and take lesson from the Qur'an.

Announcements

As always, there are some refreshments outside in the lobby of the masjid for those who have attended. The adhan for Salatul Isha will begin shortly.

Additionally, an event which we would like to invite everyone — whether you are attending in person or online — is that Mawlana Abul Qasim Nu'mani hafizahullah, the president and Shaykhul Hadith of Darul Uloom Deoband, will be visiting Dar es Salaam on Sunday, July 14th, and will be speaking to us after Salatul Zuhr. He is a scholar to whom hundreds and thousands come, and he teaches thousands of students in Darul Uloom Deoband every single year — a very pious individual. When he is coming to our community, we should make it a point to attend. Just as we mentioned from the ayat, there are many giants in our communities and in our world — but when they come, we say, "I have this issue, I have this thing to take care of." Let us free our schedules and honor this visiting guest by attending his program and sitting attentively. Whether we can make it in person or online, let us make the effort insha'Allah.

Also, the Institute of Islamic Education (IAE), Ma'had at-Ta'aleem al-Islami, the masjid in Elgin which is the oldest madrasa in Chicago, will be having their graduation — Khatmul Bukhari — on Saturday at 12pm. Another batch of ulama graduating, alhamdulillah, just as every year we have ulama coming out from this institution. Hazrat hafizahullah will also be attending this graduation as chief guest, so we should attend that program as well.

And on Saturday after Maghrib, he will also be at MSI. So again, this is a world-renowned scholar — we should make an effort to attend all of his programs. To summarize: Saturday at 12pm at IAE, after Maghrib at MSI, and insha'Allah Dar es Salaam after Salatul Zuhr on Sunday. Jazakumullah khair.

Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.