Beloved brothers and sisters, dear listeners, students, As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He allows us to always understand the truth, to speak the truth, and hear the truth, invite towards the truth, and live by the truth, and eventually pass away on the truth. Ameen.

And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that He allows us to all be enveloped in the mercy of His and the nur of the Qur'an. May Allah azza wa jalla allow it to penetrate the deepest parts of our hearts. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us all to find the solutions to our problems in His book.

And may He increase us all in our conviction, in our yaqeen, in the fact that this is the only solution, the Qur'an, within it lies the only solution. If humanity accepts, we'll gain salvation. And if humanity rejects, we'll suffer.

No matter how much material gains they may make, but without the dustur and without the teachings of the kitabullah, success is impossible. And whatever issues and difficulty anyone of us is going through, may Allah azza wa jalla allow us to find the answers for that also, in the book of Allah. Ameen.

So let us renew our intentions. We're here only to please Allah azza wa jalla. We're here listening with the intention of practicing. We're here listening with the intention of propagating. We've come with sincerity and humility in front of the book of Allah. We've come as talibeen. We've come to learn. We regard ourselves to be the most in need of the hidayah and the nur of the Qur'an. And we say, Ya Allah, You are the mu'ti, You are the one who gives. So allow us to find what we need, inshallah, tonight.

Recap: Al-Walaa wal-Baraa

We read the beginning of these ayat and went through the tafsir of this whole surah — the background of Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah and the story related to that. Please, if you missed it, go ahead and listen to the recording, inshallah, afterwards, because there is definitely continuity here.

One of the key words that we learned last week was al-walaa wal-baraa — having affinity and loyalty with those who are people of Allah, and al-baraa, to absolve ourselves and distance ourselves from those who have distanced themselves from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

This is an extremely important discussion because we're talking about alliances. We're talking about who do you have as an ally. A believer has an ally in a believer. And in terms of strategic interest, if someone chooses to have allies that happen to be non-Muslims or people of different faiths — okay. But not against our own people. That is a very important thing. A person cannot ally with those who deny the existence of Allah, against those who believe in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

So the common ground is there —

"Come to that which we agree upon, between you and I." We should tell the disbelievers: let's agree upon certain things, let's discuss certain things that we all agree upon. That's fine. That is part of our deen. But when it comes to alliances in which a person is ganging up against his own believing friend, that's where the problem happens. And of course you see that happening readily all over the world.

The Hatib ibn Abi Balta'ah story was just a reason of revelation, but as the teaching of the scholars of tafsir, the reason of revelation is in its place — the Qur'anic verse is not constricted and restricted to that story. Rather, we take lessons from it and apply it throughout.

Allah Addresses the Believers

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا — Allah azza wa jalla is speaking to the believers once again, that you are my prize product, you are my prize creation, and I wish for you the best. When a father speaks to his son, or a mother to her daughter or kids — as a parent, you love your child the most. And you sacrifice so much for that child. However, the child may not understand that, and many times chooses to disobey or harm you. Then it hurts.

Any father or mother knows, Allah forbid, when a child turns their back towards them and does something really hurtful — you know how that hurts. That is why it is mentioned in hadith that there are three people whose du'a is not rejected, and one of them is a father's curse against his son. Because it's not easy to curse your child. A person loves his children more than he loves himself. A person will take the pain, suffer physical harm, financial harm, in order to save his kids. But for a person to raise his hand and curse his son — or for that matter his daughter — means things must have really, really gotten out of hand. And then those people are cursed by Allah Himself. Astaghfirullah, may Allah protect us from that.

Now, how often do we think about our relationship with Allah? Our Allah loves us more than any father or mother can love their child. And our Allah has done more than any father or mother has done for their child — including Allah being the one who put our love into our parents' hearts. So everything that our parents do for us, or have done for us, is because of Allah giving them the wealth, the strength, the ability, and the love to motivate them to do that.

So, imagine how disrespectful — I won't say hurtful, because you cannot hurt Allah — but how disrespectful it is to Allah azza wa jal when a person disobeys Him after Allah has done so much for us. You can understand that when you are in a situation where you've done ihsan and been kind to someone and they backstab you — and it hurts so much, it stings. Then you think about the relationship you and I have with Allah, which is far greater and stronger than between us and any other creation.

And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants the best for us. And so He says, based on that desire for good for you: do not take My enemy and your enemy as friends. Because an enemy can never be a friend.

عَدُوّ — this word is used for singular, plural, and dual. Allah azza wa jalla says:

The idols are all enemies. فَإِنَّهُمْ is plural, yet عَدُوّ is used — not أَعْدَاء. So عَدُوّ is used for singular, plural, and dual.

And Allah azza wa jalla says, in Surah Aal-Imran, Ayah 28:

The believers should not take the disbelievers as friends besides the believers. You know when you're playing and siblings have a fight outside — if a person gangs up with someone else against his own sibling, it hurts a lot more. "I can't believe it — instead of standing up for me, you decided to partner up with someone else against me." This is a normal occurrence and it hurts far more. If someone else oppresses and bullies us, that's bad. But when your own people gang up with someone else and oppress you, that hurts a lot more.

Allah azza wa jalla says: do not take the disbelievers as awliya against the believers. That's the worst thing — you gang up with the disbelievers against the believers.

Whoever does so — you've got nothing to do with Allah. This is what happens every day, all around us, across the globe, and in our own local area. Muslim with non-Muslim against Muslim.

إِلَّا أَن تَتَّقُوا مِنْهُمْ تُقَاةً — If at times you are in a position of weakness, and in order to gain some footing you have to make some alliances to protect yourself from a disbeliever's harm, then you have to do what you have to do.

وَيُحَذِّرُكُمُ اللَّهُ نَفْسَهُ — And Allah warns you from Himself. Very powerful words. Meaning: ensure that in the process of compromising because you are in an extremely difficult situation, do not forget that Allah is watching you. Allah is warning you from Himself. Do not tilt it more than you need to. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is watching.

The Danger of Taqiyyah

Otherwise, the whole concept of taqiyyah shows up — where a person starts covering up his beliefs for his own maf'adah and personal benefit. In the 4th century, this became almost a Shia doctrine: that a person cannot be a true believer until he has taqiyyah. That a person must lie about their erroneous beliefs about the Sahabah. This became part of their deen to the extent that they say:

"There is no iman for the one who does not do taqiyyah."

And the Qur'an addresses the munafiqin in a similar vein:

When they meet the believers, they say, "We are believers." And when they walk away from the believers and spend time in seclusion with their shayateen, they say, "We're with you actually. We were just joking. We're not with the believers." إِنَّمَا نَحْنُ مُسْتَهْزِئُونَ. Allah will have the last laugh.

They call this مُشَاكَلَة — Allah uses the same word. They made fun of you? Allah says, I will make fun of them. Allah doesn't need to make fun of them — Allah can destroy them. But it's the word used to show the connection.

And Allah is going to let them keep going deeper and deeper into their rebellious nature — يَعْمَهُونَ — as they are blindly lost in the rebellion.

Allah's Divine Reckoning

What we see today — the oppressors don't seem to be stopping, and it's only getting worse by the day. Now you understand this verse. These people, how they're making fun of the believers, and Allah azza wa jalla يَمُدُّهُمْ فِي طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ — Allah is allowing them to continue to grow in their rebelliousness. Because at the end of the day, they have to pay the price.

When you want to catch a gangster, a drug dealer, a bank robber, or a scammer — you don't catch him on the first dollar. You wait until you pile up the evidence and you want to grab him when he is at the height of his career. Then you can level the charges against him the most. You'll have a middleman act as an intelligence agent, as an accomplice, as a confidant — providing support, providing military hardware — so that this action can take place. Why? Because you want to catch him in action in something huge, so the case can be built much larger. Instead of one or two years in prison, now you can ask for sixty years, or the death penalty.

Allah azza wa jalla does the same:

Allah azza wa jalla allows the disbeliever to go deeper and deeper in his rebelliousness, in his oppression. And every day the zulm increases, the level of charges against that oppressor keep on increasing — and as those charges increase, so will the punishment.

This is how you need to understand what's happening today, and what has happened in the past. Don't think Allah is not watching.

Allah is not unaware. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is absolutely aware. But He chooses to strike later on, whenever He wants, in a manner He wishes to.

These type of godly statements of the Qur'an — the disbelievers have the audacity to repeat and use for themselves. When these are words of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you cannot lift a finger without the permission of Allah. You cannot blink an eye without the permission of Allah. You cannot swallow a morsel of food without the permission of Allah. How dare you think you can attack whenever you want, however you want?

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala destroys every single thing, levels it to the ground the way He did to the nation of Salih alayhis salam — فَسَوَّاهَا — leveled it. وَلَا يَخَافُ عُقْبَاهَا — and Allah azza wa jalla does not have to be afraid of any repercussion. Who can say that? No one besides Allah.

Every single person out there is afraid of repercussion — that is why they have all the security detail, sitting in bunkers, with 40 to 60 cars around them. Who is the only one who is not afraid? Allah. وَلَا يَخَافُ عُقْبَاهَا. That is Allah azza wa jalla.

Do Not Take Disbelievers as Bosom Friends

In another ayah — Surah Aal-Imran, Ayah 118 — Allah says:

O believers, do not take as your bosom friends from besides yourselves those disbelievers. بِطَانَة is your inner friend who knows all your innermost secrets — like your undershirt, next to your skin, next to your بَطْن. So بِطَانَة are those close, close friends who know you inside and out.

Allah says: do not take your close confidants, your razdaan — the one who knows all your secrets — from the disbelievers. لَا يَأْلُونَكُمْ خَبَالًا — they will not leave any stone unturned in destroying you and causing you pain. وَدُّوا مَا عَنِتُّمْ — they wish to see you in pain.

قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاءُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ — enmity is oozing out of their lips, just pouring out. Look at the speech, look at the words. As they say: كُلُّ إِنَاءٍ يَتَرَشَّحُ بِمَا فِيهِ — every vessel pours out what is in it. That anger, that unbelievable, vile language — where is it coming from? From a heart filled with insane amounts of hatred.

Allah says: قَدْ بَدَتِ الْبَغْضَاءُ مِنْ أَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَمَا تُخْفِي صُدُورُهُمْ أَكْبَرُ — what is actually hidden inside their hearts and has not yet been expressed is far greater than what you hear. What you hear is bad, really bad. But what is inside the heart is far greater.

قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ — We have already explained to you everything, the signs. If you use your intellect, understand, reflect. This is all in the Qur'an.

Look at you all — you love them, but they don't love you. You're kissing up to them, but there is no reciprocation at all. They don't believe in the book. When they meet you, they say, "Oh mashallah, we're the same, we're believers." And when they leave you — they bite their fingers out of anger and hatred. SubhanAllah.

The Root Cause of the Hatred

Dear brothers and sisters, there is a system in this dunya — it's an old system. A system of kufr, of shirk. A system of being defiant against the prophets. Every prophet, if I can call it, is a rebel — coming with something that those in power are not used to. The sanadid, the big shots, those who are sitting on thrones passed down from generation to generation, are accustomed to a system of law and rule and order where everyone follows them. And now you have this prophet who says:

You're not the king. I'm not the king. You're a slave. I'm a slave. رَبِّي وَرَبُّكَ اللَّهُ — My Lord and your Lord is Allah. That rattles the whole hierarchy. It rattles the whole system. Someone else is calling the shots — not even the prophet; he's just telling people, "It's Allah who is calling the shots. You don't realize it. This king, this kafir, this disbeliever is duping you all."

So Islam provides a system that is obviously divine — hence it is not according to man-made systems. It's above and beyond, much much better, a perfect system far above the man-made systems. So those who are around start feeling an inferiority complex, to say the least. They feel challenged. And so they try to suppress it. Because kufr is not used to anyone challenging its authority.

Get everyone thinking alike. Get them all into haram — alcohol, drugs, great way to control the people. Get them into all this khaishat and shahwat. Great way to control the masses. Now you have a deen that comes along and says, "No, this is haram, that is haram. Put your foot down on your nafs. We are not people who worship ourselves. We are not people who worship our nafs. We don't worship trends. We worship Allah."

This is a challenge. So now you see this post-modernism — one type of world order. And the only thorn in this world order is deen. Deen al-Islam. This is that great thorn that says, "No, we're not bowing down to anyone. We're not asking anyone to bow down to us. No — we're nobody. We're servants of Allah. We're ibadullah. Let's bow down to Allah together."

That is something that people don't like. And that's why many non-Muslims who revert to Islam are moved at the fact that — for the first time — they genuinely feel this is freedom. Many revert brothers sitting here can attest to that. They actually genuinely, for the first time, feel that this is freedom. Until now, they did things not because they wanted to, but because they were tricked into doing it. But now they understand that the nafs has to be suppressed. And when you say "just do it, follow your nafs" — that is not freedom. That is slavery. We've been duped into thinking that's freedom.

SubhanAllah. They say you're a free man and a free woman. You have unlimited choices. No, you don't. Because you're going to pay the price. Think about it — if you ever went to a hotel room and they have a refrigerator with different snacks and drinks. Your kid goes in the first time: "Baba, this is amazing!" Starts opening cans, snicker bars, M&Ms, nuts. You say, "What are you guys doing?" "We're having a party!" But you know what? This is not free. Whatever you have in this fridge is four to six times what you'd find outside. And when you see the bill, you realize — this is not freedom. You're going to pay. Nothing is free.

When you say "I've got freedom — at last, freedom, the shackles of the sharia have been thrown away, we can do whatever we want!" — that's not freedom, my friend. You're going to have to pay the real price. You look where you're not supposed to, you're going to pay. You listen to what you're not supposed to, you're going to pay. You speak what you're not supposed to, you're going to pay. And it's not in dollars and bills. This is the azab of qadr. Before you even get to the azab of the akhirah — in the form of scorpions, in the form of snakes:

In the form of the axes and hammers of the angels of azab. So a person should think and realize that this "freedom" is fake. People say it's real — this is fake. This is slavery of the nafs.

So Islam is that thorn in the path of kufr. And this is why there is so much animosity. What did they tell you? "You hate our freedoms." Brother, who wants to be a slave, my friend? What do you mean we hate your freedoms? This is what I explained in Surah Taha — because Fir'aun used the same tactic. He said:

This Musa and Harun — they're very bad. They want to take away your honorable, beautiful lifestyle. Better hate them. Look at the same tactic: "Hey brother, forget about freedom. Let's talk about the facts." تَوْحِيد، رِسَالَة، آخِرَة — come on, let's talk about that. Fir'aun wasn't interested in that. He played the tricks of propaganda for the average Coptic Egyptian. He told them: these guys are after your honorable, refined lifestyle. So anyone who feels his lifestyle is under attack says, "I hate you."

It's like grabbing someone's shirt — the nicest person will react defensively. But if you say to him, "Brother, I'm not grabbing your shirt. There is a scorpion on your shirt. I'm trying to save you." — Listen, why would I come after your shirt? The reason I'm grabbing your shirt is to make sure the scorpion falls off so it doesn't go inside. So a believer is not after anyone's freedom. He wants to give you freedom.

The Mission of Islam: Rabi'i ibn Amir Before Rustam

This is what Rabi'i ibn Amir radiyallahu anhu demonstrated when he came into Rustam's court — the most famous of Persian generals. Rustam asked him: "Why did you come here? How can we help you?" And Rabi'i ibn Amir radiyallahu anhu replied: "We wouldn't come to you ourselves. We've been sent."

Look at the self-confidence. When you have the true nur of iman, you'll be the most self-confident person. The issue today with our youth and adults is that we lack self-confidence. We go into the airport and the topi comes off. We go to the mall and something else changes. Right after Ramadan, a person goes to the barber and says, "Now Ramadan is over, kind of shave the beard a little bit..."

These are all examples — and I don't want to give a blanket statement. There are certainly circumstances. I had ulama, classmates, muftis, who'd go to Uzbekistan or other places, and when they'd come back to the madrasah they'd wear a scarf for two months, ashamed. But what could they do? They were forced to shave their beards; otherwise their whole family would be in jail. So there are obviously circumstances. But a lot of times, a person is not willing to take a stance and say: "I am proud to be a believer."

Rabi'i ibn Amir radiyallahu anhu went in and said:

(Al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, Ibn Kathir; also reported in Al-Mustadrak of al-Hakim)

"Indeed, Allah has sent us to take slaves out of the slavery of slaves, to the worship of the Lord of all slaves. And from the constrictiveness of this world to its expansiveness. And from the oppression of all religions to the justice of Islam."

Three things: slavery of fellow humans to the slavery of the Lord of all humans. From the constrictiveness of this world towards the expansiveness of this world. And third, from the oppression of all isms and religions towards the justice of Islam.

All of these people doing sajdah to the king — they're all slaves, and he's a slave too. We're all slaves. Allah sent us to you; we didn't come on our own. What have you got to give us? That was the attitude of the early Muslims. We came here to teach you. Islam came to teach how to clean yourself after using the bathroom. Islam came to teach how to have children. Islam came to teach how you are supposed to act with your mom and dad. These akhlaq, this character — from inside and outside — how to do business dealings, how to act with one another, Muslim and non-Muslim, people of different faiths, in terms of tolerance and forgiveness. Who taught us? Islam taught us. We were as lost as you were. Islam taught us, and we came to teach you.

The True Expansiveness of This World

You know the story of the man who was fishing on a simple small boat, alone, catching fish early in the morning. A large, beautiful yacht — worth millions — passes by. The owner calls him over and says, "What are you doing out here?" He says, "I'm fishing, sir. Trying to earn a living, go home and feed my wife and kids." The owner says, "Why don't you hire another guy? Then you'll catch double the fish, get to the market quicker, make more money." He says, "Why would I want to do that?" "Well, then you'll hire a third and a fourth person, and eventually you'll have two boats, then three, then many." "And what would I do after that?" "You'll make lots of money and eventually you won't need to work — you'll be sitting on your own yacht, just like me, relaxing." He said, "Well, we're both doing the same thing. You're sitting on your yacht, I'm sitting on my boat. We're both relaxing. Why would I go through that whole roundabout to end up in the same spot?"

What does that mean? The true happiness is the happiness of the heart. Sometimes you have a hundred stores and you don't have that. And many times you have one store and you've got the happiness that a man with a hundred stores doesn't have. He said: "You're sitting on your yacht and I'm sitting on my small boat. But at the end of the day, my wife is happy with me, my kids love me, and I've got sukoon — nothing to worry about, no overhead. Relaxed." This is what you call si'at al-dunya. The dunya itself has a very expansive dimension to it — but you have to understand that dimension. By the way, you could also enjoy that expansive dimension even with wealth — if you have deen. But most people who have that type of wealth don't have deen, and so they don't enjoy it.

Another person gave an example: rizq is like a bucket. You put 2 or 3 liters of water in a bucket and make a hole. You can make 1 hole or you can drill 30 holes. The number of liters in the bucket is not going to change. 2 liters will remain 2 liters — it's just going to come out from 20 spots instead of 1. That is your rizq. Whatever is meant for you, you'll get. That doesn't mean you don't try — of course it doesn't mean you don't try. But understand: whatever is meant for you, no one can take it from you. And whatever is not meant for you, you will never be able to get it.

So it's not worth it to cut the line. Not worth it to cheat. Not worth it to deceive. Not worth it to lie. Not worth it to indulge in riba and interest — to go to war with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and say, "I'm going to get more rizq." At the end of all this running around, you're going to find you only got what was meant for you — and now you've got an angry Allah. You've warred against Him. What was the point? There was no point. If you had just stood in line and followed the rules, you'd have gotten the rizq that would keep you happy, keep your wife happy, keep your kids happy. SubhanAllah.

You love them, and they don't love you. You believe in the entire book. Whenever they meet you, they say, "We believe in you." And when they leave you, they bite their fingers out of anger — they hate you. Why are they angry? Because: how can we not control you? We're controlling the whole world. How can we not control the Muslims? The Muslim says, "I'm a free man. I'm not up for sale, my friend. There is no 'for sale' sign here." Look at our brothers and sisters in Palestine, right around Masjid al-Aqsa especially. They say, "Brother, you want to kill me? Maybe I can't stop that. But I'm not selling you my land." Where else do you see this?

Many times people don't understand the sacredness of it. This is أَرْضٌ مُقَدَّسَة — sanctified land. It's like someone living in Mecca and a disbeliever says, "Sell me your lot next to the Ka'bah." He says, "What are you talking about? Over my dead body." For them, this is not just "my grandfather was here" or "I miss his olive tree." It is about sanctity.

And let me tell you one thing. If someone dies protecting his own land — even non-sacred land:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4772; also in Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1421)

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: "Whoever is killed defending his land, he is a shaheed. Whoever is killed defending his wealth, he is a shaheed. Whoever is killed defending his family, he is a shaheed." So let's get that right, because many brothers who are not from that region don't understand this and say, "Well, this is a fight over land." We should be careful when we pass these types of judgments and statements.

So Allah azza wa jalla says:

"Go die with your anger. I don't care. You're angry at us? Get lost." إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is well aware of the secrets of the heart. He knows exactly who is feeling what.

If any success comes to you, it hurts them. And if any difficulty befalls you, they are elated. And if you remain patient and have taqwa, their plotting and conniving will not harm you at all. لَا يَضُرُّكُمْ كَيْدُهُمْ شَيْئًا — you will not be harmed. But we say, "Things are happening!" This is just the initial work. When you go to a dentist, is it pain-free? You pay thousands of dollars and it's super painful. But at the end of the day, you're doing it so that you can have something better. So Allah azza wa jalla is saying: you're going through pain right now — this is initial pain, like the dentist's pain. But the end result will be a beautiful set of teeth. Just be patient.

Surah Al-Ma'idah: Do Not Befriend Those Who Mock the Deen

Another place — since we're talking about al-walaa wal-baraa — is Surah Al-Ma'idah, Ayah 57. Allah azza wa jalla says:

O believers! Do not take as awliya those people who have made your religion into a joke — those Christians and Jews who make a mockery of your deen, and the other disbelievers, the Buddhists, the Hindus, whoever else. Have fear of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala if you are believers.

Why is it mentioned in so many places in the Qur'an? Because this is such an important part of the deen. Like a parent — half the time the emphasis is not just "stay in good company" but "stay away from bad company." "No good. No good." Allah azza wa jalla is saying: you need to ensure that your alliances are 100% halal and kosher. Because whoever you make an alliance with, eventually they will dictate how you think and the moves you will make. Whoever you've shaken hands with, you will be forced to act in a manner that they want you to act, because you have signed an agreement.

And just look at what's happening on the globe right now. How can these verses not explain why we're in this pitiful state today? Because of the continuous selling out of our own countries, our own deen, our own people for one man's personal share. One man's share and the whole nation is sold out. One man's share and the whole deen is sold out. May Allah protect us. May Allah keep us on the straight path. May Allah allow us to distinguish between the munafiqin and the true believers.

The Prohibition of Mudahanah

Allah gives a reason:

How dare you offer genuine love to them? — Remember the letter from last week's discussion. And yet these people have disbelieved in the revelation of the truth that has come to you in the Qur'an. The reason you should not have this deep loyalty with them is not because of their skin color or their language. It is because they don't care about Allah; they disbelieve in Allah. So you cannot show that level of genuine love — and we are not talking about the love of "hello" and "goodbye." We are talking about a case where you are watering down your deen to please them. This is called mudahanah.

مُدَاهَنَة — dahn means oil, grease. You say "buttering someone up." Mudahanah is when you are putting butter upon someone, kissing up to them, and watering down your deen to make someone happy. That is what is being spoken about here. Mudahanah is not permissible. This is the deen. You like it — you take it. You don't like it — Bismillah.

One youngster said to me: "Sheikh, our MSA — alhamdulillah, we have classes, evening classes, Jumu'ah with great attendance, lots of great things happening. But ever since we've become more conservative, we've lost a lot of people. They won't show up for the classes." I asked what the issue was. He was hinting towards mixed gatherings. He said: "As soon as the MSA stopped having mixed gatherings, we lost a lot of these people. I think we should bring them back just to get these people in the door."

And I said: listen, you cannot do mudahanah. To say, "In order to get people in the door, I'm going to do something haram" — not allowed. I gave him an example. Imagine a person says this gathering has become a "weed-free zone" for its halaqas, and someone says, "You're discriminating against me because I always come high, and I feel excluded." So now we say, "Brothers, we'll keep some out there so people can stay fresh, alert, and no one feels discriminated against." Would you agree with that? Of course not. Because we cannot allow haram to happen just to get you in the door.

Obviously, if you wanted to draw people in with something haram, people might come — but you're asking, how can you do haram to get people in the door? Why are we feeling guilty when we have a gathering according to the deen? If you want to do a social event, that's for someone else to organize. But as an Islamic event, there must be no compromise. Otherwise — don't do it. We have to be principled. If you do it, do it right. Otherwise, don't do it.

So when Allah azza wa jalla says, "How dare you show any love to them when قَدْ كَفَرُوا بِمَا جَاءَكُمُ الْحَقُّ — they have absolutely denied the Qur'an, the truth that has come to you." And not only that:

They expelled the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and you all from Makkah — you forgot? Why did they expel you? Not because of race, color, or tribe. أَن تُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ رَبِّكُمْ — because you believed in one Allah, your Lord alone. The hatred goes back to the fact that Islam provides an alternative to the dominant system. And a person who accepts Islam becomes a free mind and a free heart that can no longer be controlled.

If you truly came forth striving in My path and seeking My good pleasure — you left Makkah to Madinah because you were seeking My pleasure — then how dare you divulge the believers' secrets to them out of love? It makes no sense. You say you came to Madinah out of love for Allah, and now you're backstabbing the Muslims by sharing the secret that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is on his way to Makkah — so that you could have protection for your wife and your kids, hoping the Meccans would go easy on them.

The reason why the animosity exists is only because you're a Muslim. That's exactly what's happening today — the same thing. Allah azza wa jalla says in the 24th Juz, Surah Ghafir:

Are you killing a man just because he said, "My Lord is Allah"? That's the only reason you're killing him? Yes, that's what they're doing today.

أَنَا أَعْلَمُ بِمَا أَخْفَيْتُمْ وَمَا أَعْلَنتُمْ — I am the most knowing of all that you conceal and all that you reveal. You may try to do secret handshakes under the table and sell your faith — but you cannot hide from Allah. You can hide from the cameras, you can hide from the Muslim world, but Allah azza wa jalla knows who is selling out the deen.

Whoever amongst you has done this has truly strayed from the straight path. سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ is the level straight path that will get you to your final destination — like the path between mountains in Makkah, where you walk right in the middle to avoid rolling rocks and ditches. Whoever does this has strayed away from that straight path. When you go off the straight path, where are you going to end up? You'll harm yourself, definitely.

Ayah 2: If They Gain Ascendancy Over You

إِن يَثْقَفُوكُمْ — if they should gain ascendancy over you, meaning if anytime they have the upper hand over you, which can happen instantaneously — يَكُونُوا لَكُمْ أَعْدَاءً — they will become treacherous enemies to you. You're seeing this. It's like today's news. Allah is saying: if you continue to become sleeping partners with these people — I wish our Ummah would learn. As much as our leaders kiss up to them, the more they fall in the esteem of the disbelievers, the more they get made fun of. The more they throw their millions to show off, the more they lose respect. And everyone is laughing — how foolish are these people?

Allah azza wa jalla is speaking about this. The only reason they're making a handshake with you is for their strategic interest. And once that interest is served — like in chess — the pawn that no longer serves a purpose gets knocked out. Allah azza wa jalla says: if they gain ascendancy over you one day, they will become your treacherous enemies. وَيَبْسُطُوا إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ — they'll stretch out their hands to harm you. وَأَلْسِنَتَهُم بِالسُّوءِ — and their tongues against you. وَوَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ — and they wish that you would leave your faith.

That's all. Leave your Islam so that you can become part of the greater culture — a consumer of their brand. Their brand must be the only supreme brand, and any brand that opposes that brand upsets them. They want a monopoly. And they will keep squeezing until the other guy sells. That's what's happening. Once you understand the psychology of kufr, things start falling into place.

Your Relatives Will Not Help You on the Day of Judgment

Allah says: why did Hatib write that letter? Because he wanted to save his family. But — لَن تَنفَعَكُمْ أَرْحَامُكُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ — neither your relatives nor your disbelieving children will benefit you on the Day of Judgment. You sold out the Muslims to save your family. Guess what? Your family themselves will be of no benefit. If you disobey Allah, your own family will turn against you.

This is a good example — not only for that, but for all the rest of us who break the orders of Allah to please our uncle and our aunt, to please our spouse, to please our children. How many thousands of people do that — they break knowingly the orders of Allah simply to say, "I've got to keep peace at home." Not worrying about keeping peace in their own grave or on the Day of Judgment. So either you bring change in the home, or a person realizes: I care about my akhirah and my qabr more than anything else. Every man has to have that attitude.

The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said: the biggest fool is the one who harms his akhirah for someone else's dunya. The boy is crying, the daughter is crying, the spouse is crying — "I want a bigger house, a bigger car." So in order to appease his family, a person ends up committing haram. And the hadith says there is no bigger fool — because the price for this haram, who has to pay? You have to pay in the grave. You can't pass that invoice to your kids. You signed off on it. As a bread-earner of our home, as the ameer of our household, whatever we are enabling, we will have to pay the price for. It makes no sense to earn Allah's wrath in order to please the creation.

That's why Allah says:

A man on that Day will run away from his brother, from his mother — wow! From all human relationships, the closest is between a mother and her child. Allah says: no, a person will not be able to look at his mother. He knows she will say, "My dear son, my dear daughter — you know how much I did for you. Today I am asking for one hasanah. Please, just one." And he can't give it. So he has to run. He can't face her. Because he can't say no to his own mother, but he has nothing to give.

Usually, when people are in difficulty, they run to their mothers even as grown men. But on that Day, a person will not go to their mother because the mother will also be in desperate need of hasanat, just like him. لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ شَأْنٌ يُغْنِيهِ — every person on that Day will be in their own world, so overwhelmed by their own affairs as to be completely oblivious of everyone around them.

As it comes in hadith, people will be raised naked the way they were born. Aisha radiyallahu anha was shocked and asked: "Ya Rasulullah, how will this be? The people being naked — how?" And the Prophet alayhis salam responded by saying that the scene of the Hereafter will be far more horrific than anyone having the opportunity or chance to even think of looking left or right. You will be completely overwhelmed and in your own distress. Being raised naked is tough and barefoot — but the answer he gave was that no one will even be able to look at anyone else because everyone will be worried about one thing only: how will I fare with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?

Yawm al-Fasl: The Day of Separation

يَفْصِلُ بَيْنَكُمْ — He is the one who shall separate amongst the righteous and the evil ones amongst you. Today in this dunya, evil doers and righteous people do tawaf together. The biggest backstabber and the biggest wali stand in the same Eid salah. The one who has eaten millions in riba and the one who says "I'll stay hungry before I touch riba" stand next to each other. The one who has missed countless decades of Fajr and the one who hasn't missed a single tahajjud eat their Eid meal together. That's how this dunya is — Allah allows us to live together. But a day will come when we will all be separated.

As Allah says in Surah Yasin:

"O absolute transgressors and sinners — today is your day of separation. You have to separate yourself from the rest. You've enjoyed the company of the believers all too long and hid under their shadows. Today, the day of separation has come."

Imam Abu Hanifah rahmatullahi alayhi would repeat this verse — sometimes the entire night in tahajjud — shaking, trembling, and crying. Thinking about what would happen on the Day of Judgment when this announcement is made. What if Abu Hanifah, in front of millions and billions of people, in front of his parents, his teachers, and his Nabi sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is plucked out from the crowd and told: "Go — you are a mujrim." That Abu Hanifah, whom billions across 1,200 years have benefited from through his fiqh — yet look at the absolute level of fear he had. May Allah give us true fear of Him, and true hope in Him.

Allah calls the Day of Judgment Yawm al-Fasl — the Day of Separation. So let's not fall into the deception of this dunya — thinking that the one who prays and the one who doesn't pray, the one who covers and the one who doesn't, all have the same life. No, they don't. This is part of the fitna, this is part of the test. Allah azza wa jalla allows them to mix and mingle together, like a proper study case being conducted. You want to see people in their own environments. You don't want to separate them — otherwise the test will be compromised. That's how it is.

وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ — Allah is all-seeing of all that you do.

Ibrahim Alayhis Salam: The Beautiful Example

There is truly an excellent model for you in Ibrahim and those who are with him. Allahu Akbar. Allah called Ibrahim alayhis salam:

Indeed Ibrahim alayhis salam is like a whole nation himself. My dear beloved brothers and sisters — Allah has given all human beings different beautiful traits, spread out amongst them. Every single person in this crowd has something the person next to him does not have. All of us have some special characteristic that the person next to us lacks. This is the beauty. However, Ibrahim alayhis salam was different — Allah gathered for him all different types of beautiful characteristics and put them all into him. He was a combination of thousands of different beautiful qualities instead of just one.

So now Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: you are to follow him. He is a beautiful example for you. Now, in what way?

When they said to the idolatrous people: "We are free of association with you and with all that you worship apart from Allah. We have disbelieved in your ungodly ways. Thus, open enmity and hostility has commenced between us and you forever — until you believe in Allah alone." That's all we're asking. You believe in this deen? Then we have no issue. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: this is the method of Ibrahim alayhis salam and the believers.

What is so striking? Qur'an is saying that Ibrahim alayhis salam was a man of amazing principles. He laid it all out. He just said it straight: you're with me or against me. This is my deen. This is what I came with.

Ibrahim alayhis salam was not Jewish, not Christian. He was a true hanif, a Muslim. And he was definitely not a mushrik. How amazingly Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about Ibrahim alayhis salam's stance on this issue — very clear, unambiguous: بَدَا بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ الْعَدَاوَةُ — we can't work together. We have open hostility until you believe in one Allah.

And now look at how his name has been completely re-presented. You may have heard of the Abrahamic Accords — if you haven't, go read about it tonight. It is named after Ibrahim alayhis salam. أعوذ بالله. In which so much mudahanah, so much kissing up, a person is just desperate — "I'll do anything for you. I'll give up all my stance, all my positions, as long as you accept me." And this is at a very international level. A super famous document signed by many people. The irony is — you could call it the Lut Accords or the Nuh Accords, but you chose to call it the Abrahamic Accords. Fine, he is the father of the three Abrahamic faiths. But what did that man actually say? You just read it from the Qur'an. He made it very clear: إِنَّا بُرَآءُ مِنكُمْ — "We have nothing to do with you, if you are not following the deen." SubhanAllah.

The One Exception: Ibrahim's Statement to His Father

Allah says: follow Ibrahim alayhis salam in everything — except for one thing. Can you imagine? Allah is highlighting a statement of Ibrahim alayhis salam in the Qur'an as something we should not emulate. What is that one thing, Ya Allah, that you are pointing out?

Except for Ibrahim alayhis salam's statement to his father: "I shall seek forgiveness for you" — even though his father was dying in kufr. He should not have said that. For all that Ibrahim alayhis salam is Khalilullah, and the father of all the Abrahamic faiths, and all of that — this one statement is mentioned in the Qur'an as something we should know he should not have said. وَمَا أَمْلِكُ لَكَ مِنَ اللَّهِ مِن شَيْءٍ — "Yet I have no control to help you with anything against Allah." That's what Ibrahim alayhis salam said.

It also comes in Surah Tawbah itself — Allah jalla jalaluhu says:

Ibrahim alayhis salam sought forgiveness for his father only because of a promise he had made to him. And let me note: there is an opinion that Azar was actually the brother or uncle of Ibrahim's father — not his father himself. فَلَمَّا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُ أَنَّهُ عَدُوٌّ لِّلَّهِ تَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُ — when it became apparent to him that his father or Azar was an enemy of Allah, he immediately absolved himself from him.

The Du'as of Ibrahim Alayhis Salam

"O Allah, on You alone do we rely. And to You alone do we turn. And to You alone is the ultimate destiny." Tawakkul is the action of the heart. We do our actions through our limbs, and then the action of the heart kicks in — which is tawakkul.

(Quran 60:5)

"O Allah, please do not subject us to a trial for those who disbelieve — do not make us a cause that exalts them in their unbelief. And forgive us, our Lord. Indeed You are the Almighty, the All-Wise." You've heard this ayah many times. What does it mean? A few meanings:

First: If the believers lose in battle in front of the disbelievers, the disbelievers may now have the audacity to say, "Where's your God? If you are on the truth, you should have gained victory — but you didn't. So your loss is a sign of your incorrectness." That's a fitna. Do not make us a fitna for the disbelievers means: do not allow us to be defeated in the battlefield or in any other arena where people can say, "Ha! You're not on the truth — that's why you lost." So essentially we are asking Allah for victory in any field.

Second: O Allah, do not allow the Muslims to do such abnormal, horrible, sinful actions that the disbeliever will look at and say, "I can't believe it. You call yourself a Muslim? You want me to be like you? Look at yourself." I went to one masjid in Sunday school once, and a community member pointed out a father who brings his three children every week but does not pray himself. He said: "He brings his kids because they're Muslim, but he says he simply cannot get himself to accept Islam because of bad experiences he's had with the character of Muslims in business dealings." How many revert brothers have said: "Alhamdulillah that we got introduced to Islam before we got introduced to Muslims. Because had we seen the Muslims first, we would never have chosen Islam."

So we think about how many people we've had a positive influence upon — how many shahadahs were taken because of us. But how often do we think about how many people we have turned away from the deen because of our actions? If you cut someone off on the road, backstab someone, steal from someone, didn't pay proper dues — the list goes on. Why would that person ever come to Islam? That's the sad part — that Muslims today have become a fitna for the kuffar, and that's why Imam Malik rahmatullahi alayhi said:

"The last portion of this ummah can never come right until they do what the first portion of this ummah did." Meaning: you have to go back to the basics.

Third explanation: O Allah, I don't want to become bait for the disbeliever. Like an entrapment operation — where law enforcement impersonates a sympathetic partner to catch someone in action and build a huge charge against them. We're saying: Ya Allah, do not use us to become a source of entrapment for the disbelievers. Do not make us the bait through whose suffering the disbelievers go deeper and deeper into hell — because that would mean we have to suffer in this dunya.

SubhanAllah — how many different beautiful ways to understand this one ayah. May Allah accept this du'a on our behalf and on behalf of our children.

Questions and Answers

On Asking About Someone's Past Before Marriage

If you're trying to get married, you should know the person on a basic level. Of course not every single sin of their past needs to be known. Try to find families that you don't have to look too deeply into. A lot of these things get resolved when you find people from good families.

On Visiting Masjid Al-Aqsa

Most definitely we should visit if we have the ability to do so. What the situation is right now, I don't know — so of course one has to check whether they are still allowing people to visit.

Does Working for a Non-Muslim Boss Mean You've Made Them Your Awliya?

No, it does not. This is not talking about business dealings, buying and selling, or working for a company. We are talking about where you have a personal, heart-to-heart commitment with a disbeliever that causes you to backstab your own believing brother, give preference to that relationship over your deen, water down your deen to appease them, or gang up with them against a believer.

On Being a Fair and Principled Muslim Manager

As a manager, you must make sure your employees know you are not bringing personal grudges — because you're not allowed to. You judge based on actual work ethic. Make it very clear: "I can have tea with you, but I judge you based on your performance. And I am a manager — I don't even own the company. I owe it to my bosses to work on behalf of the company and ensure we are doing the most efficient and correct job." That's the principled approach.

On Friends Who Negatively Affect Your Prayer

You said it yourself — when you hang out with such people, you become less concerned about your prayers. That is a big problem. If you have a relationship where you are able to positively influence them, that would be something else. But as long as you don't have that capacity of influence, you need to be careful about that friendship.

Can a Good Devout Muslim Reach High Standing in Paradise Without Severe Hardships?

Yes, it could be so. There is the door of shukr and the door of sabr — many doors to paradise. One way to be tested is simply through self-restraint, staying away from sin. That's a huge test in itself — it doesn't have to come in the form of loss of life, loss of wealth, or loss of a marriage. Simply staying away from sin is tough.

On Being Involved in Riba: What to Do in the Meantime

In the meantime: first, make tawbah and istighfar — seek forgiveness from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Second, pray two rakat salatul hajah every day — "Ya Allah, get me out of this mess and provide for me an alternative." Third, actually start looking for an alternative.

On a Nikah Where the Couple Will Not Live Together Right Away

A person can get married, and once they are married, they are married — finish. Whether they are immediately living together or in different countries waiting on immigration, this does not invalidate the marriage in any way.

On Free Will and Pre-Destiny

This is a topic that requires much more time, and there are detailed books on it. There is an article on Ilmgate — the six benefits of believing in free will by Maulana Shabbir Ahmad al-Uthmani, translated into English. The simple point is: Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows, based on His complete knowledge, where a person will end up. At the end of the day, you go ahead and do your actions. The example they give is of a teacher who, after a full semester of teaching, can assess roughly where each student will end up before the final exam. And then the exams confirm exactly that. Would you say the teacher messed with the grades? No — they've been assessing the students all along based on their knowledge of them. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't have knowledge of just one year — Allah has knowledge of the full extent of a human being's life.

Also: you can't use this argument only for jahannam. If people should not be accountable for hell because of pre-destiny, then people should not receive credit for jannah either. That doesn't make sense. You see how hard it is to do good deeds — and people are still doing them. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4949; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2647)

"Keep working hard — every single person will be facilitated to do what they have been created for." He said: don't get into this discussion. Just work. If you see yourself in the masjid regularly, that's good. If you see yourself being kind to your parents, that's good. If you see yourself being oppressive, that's bad. Ask yourself: from Fajr until now, have I led a day the way a jannati would, or a jahannami would? The way you force yourself to go to work, force yourself to come to salah. Simple as that.

Announcements

We've completed five ayat today, inshallah, and we'll continue from here next time.

Just two weeks left until our May 10th Annual Retreat — this is the largest and most important event of the year. Three days: Friday night to Sunday night. Dear sisters, dear brothers, dear listeners from across the country — please make your way, inshallah. Friday Maghrib to Sunday Asr. We have a group of male and female scholars, AI scientists, muftis, youth coordinators, and ones who are running their own startups. Lots of amazing different scholars attending.

This is not meant just for techy people, and it is not a tech workshop. This is meant for every Muslim and Muslimah, young and old, to understand what this age of artificial intelligence holds in terms of challenges and opportunities, and how we use the ethics and values of Islam to protect ourselves from the manipulation and control of the mind — which I've been speaking about throughout this past hour. If you thought kufr was doing this, just watch what AI is. AI is a very powerful hand that can be used to manipulate. Now you can use that hand for your own side and make it an Islamic hand. That's what we'll be discussing that weekend. I encourage everyone to please register for this free event. We have hotels nearby with special rates on our website.

Every Thursday we have a Mini Muslims Program at 10 to 11 AM — ages 0 to 5 with their mothers. The Arabic Intensive and Deen Intensive registration is open on our website as well.

Please stop by the bookstore on your way out. We are highlighting three books today:

1. Bidayat al-Usul fi Tafdil al-Rasul — a whole book by Ibn Abd al-Aziz ibn Abd al-Salam on the virtue of Rasulullah ﷺ over everyone else.

2. Mufti Muhammad Taqi al-Uthmani's translation of the Qur'an.

3. A beautiful biography of one of the revivers of Islam and one of the freedom fighters of India — Sheikh Muhammad Husain Ahmad Madani rahimahullah — called Naqsh-e-Hayat. More than likely, if you read it, you will tear up and cry just seeing what kind of people Allah had in this world not so long ago — and how they brought together knowledge, taqwa, tazkiyah, and political activism. If you're interested in political activism, this is a must.

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.