Surah Mumtahinah - Ep.3 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Please move forward and come close together. Sit as close as possible. And let us renew our niyyah.

We're here to please Allah. We're here to take benefit from the Book of Allah. We're here as humble servants of Allah, hoping through the barakah of this dars, that our needs of this world and the next get fulfilled, and our questions get answered, our doubts are removed.

And we are filled at the end of this dars with immense love for Allah, love for the Qur'an, love for the deen, love for His Habib Mustafa sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And insha'Allah, we'll listen with the niyyah of practicing and propagating as well. Ameen.

Recap: The Theme of Surah Al-Mumtahinah

Surah Al-Mumtahinah, Verse 3 — Allah said, after I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Shaytan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The last ayah that we stopped at last week was:

We explained this — asking Allah to not make us a subject of trial for the disbelievers. Asking Allah to forgive us. And declaring that Allah is all-powerful, all-wise.

This surah that we are discussing — alhamdulillah we completed two sessions. And in both of them, we learned that the theme of the surah, from the beginning, is going to keep on going even till today. Two words, known as al-walā' wa al-barā'. Ensuring that we keep our loyalty with those who are loyal with Allah. And barā' — we distance ourselves from those who have chosen to go up against Allah. This is a very fundamental part of this surah, and it is an extremely important part of our deen.

It is about where our loyalty lies. That's the question. You can understand that today in the push for ensuring justice is met, oppressors are held accountable. There is such a push about divesting our investments from certain companies, from certain countries, from certain places that are deemed to be oppressive. And naturally that's good. But when a person doesn't do that, what do we say? A person who feels like this person doesn't stand for justice. And how dare you continue to do business, continue to travel in certain places, continue to invest your money in such places. This is what al-walā' wal-barā' is about — that a person feels that my wealth, my time, my resources, all of this gift from Allah, I need to invest it in places with those who are connected with Allah, or at least not at war with Allah. And those who are, we gotta stay away from that.

So this is what Allah has been speaking about here in the past four verses. In this ayah, just as a recap from last week:

Oh Allah, do not make us into a fitna for the disbelievers.

Three Explanations of "Do Not Make Us a Fitna"

You remember we mentioned a number of ways a person can become a fitna. One of them was that when believers keep on losing the battle, the disbelievers begin to think that Muslims are useless and no good, and the reason they are losing is because they're not on the truth — and we're on the truth, that's why we're winning. So do not make it such that we keep on losing, because otherwise this will embolden them.

Another explanation was: when disbelievers begin to see believers making major mistakes, flaws and sins — and their character and buying and selling is horrible — then they will begin to say, what's the point of being a Muslim when this is what you do? There's no difference between us and yourself. So basically this second explanation of this ayah is that: ya Allah, do not allow the Muslims to commit major sins that become a means of turning non-Muslims away from Islam.

It's such an important thing. This one ayah, we've got to remember — at work, while we're driving, while we're interacting with non-Muslims, while we're traveling. Always think about this: what action am I doing that may end up making a non-Muslim look down upon me? And it's not about me, it's about Islam. That's what's at stake. Islam is at stake. Everything that you and I do is going to be reflected back on our deen. It should never happen that Islam gets a bad name because of what I'm doing. This should be the genuine fear that we have.

Many times we think about how many people, alhamdulillah, we spoke to or did something with — mashallah — they connected to the masjid or accepted Islam. But rarely do we think about how many people, because of our actions, have left the masjid or left the deen. That's something to really reflect upon. We become a source of fitna. It's sad, honestly it's very sad.

Stories of People Pushed Away from the Masjid

The smallest of actions — one small mistake — can do tremendous harm. You tell someone who is speaking out of line, or who lay down on the floor in the masjid at a strange time while people are praying. Whatever the situation, you yelled at him. We don't know his situation. A person comes wearing his t-shirt — from his days of jahiliyyah, he's got tattoos. It's not something you just stick in and out; it's stuck with him. Now a person says, "What's wrong with you? Why are you wearing this?" A person makes fun of or passes judgment against another brother or sister who's in the masjid. This becomes the first — and maybe the last — time that person comes back. To that masjid, and many times to all masjids.

So Shaytan is working overtime right now. He's always been, and I've shared this in previous talks as well, that we're coming closer to the end of times. And Shaytan knows he's got limited hours left. Honestly, that's what it is. From the history of humanity, the history of the world — where are we? We're at the very tail end of all of this. When the Prophet ﷺ saw this dunya like an old lady. That was 1,500 years ago. We're definitely much closer now. So Shaytan knows that his time is up soon. He's trying extra hard to ensure he gets as many people misled as possible. He will make us do sometimes foolish things. We become unfortunately a tool of Shaytan — ending up misleading someone — even in the masjid, while doing our dhikr and du'a. We're acting all pious, trying to be pious, but Shaytan has actually harnessed us and used us to push a person away from the house of Allah.

When you see people nowadays who might be going to places besides the masjid and gathering together, and they won't want to come to a masjid for a dars — if you ask them, "Brother, why do you have this animosity? What's wrong?" — they will have a story. "You don't know, man, what I went through." And when you hear it: "I went to a masjid, and I was just parking, and someone came running and said, 'This is the wrong place to park.' I was running — it was my first day, I said I'm going to come to the masjid, I didn't want to miss the takbīr al-ūlā. I got late, I threw my shoes, and I ran. Then I got berated by someone who said, 'How dare you leave your shoes?'" Which is wrong, yes, you're right. But subhanAllah, we're berating this guy, we don't know his situation.

Now he takes that — one time that someone yelled at him, or told him about his shoes, or his lying on the floor, or his parking, or his clothing, or his tattoo, or his breath after smoking coming to the masjid — Shaytan will now use that to say: "Look, that's what happens when you go to the masjid. The masjid is filled with a bunch of self-righteous, judgmental people who are absolutely not welcoming." Now he can't get that out of his mind. That brother needs to understand that was Shaytan playing tricks.

The Story of the Bathroom Line

I witnessed something. I worked on someone many years ago to get him to a program. He was at the front part of the congregation. Alhamdulillah, after building weeks of relationship with him, he came to a program. I was very happy, very excited. Halfway through, in the middle of the program, he texted me: "I'm sorry I had to leave. I'm really upset." And he had driven like an hour to be in that program. I was shocked — why would this guy leave? Later on, I went and met him in the masjid and asked him, "But what's wrong? Why did you leave?" He said, "I was in the bathroom line downstairs. It happens when you have i'tikāf and big events — a bathroom line." And some person, an elder uncle in his late 70s, was really about to relieve himself right there — he couldn't hold himself. So when the door of the bathroom opened, this elder from the back just ran and went in, because he honestly had to. So this brother in line said, "How dare he cut the line." He didn't even finish using the bathroom. He did not do wudu. He left before Asr Salah, got in the car, drove an hour back, and prayed Asr probably right before the time finished in his own area. And he never came back to the program and never came back to the masjid. SubhanAllah. I tried to reason with him, to make him realize: "Look, you're being played. This person had to go to the bathroom. But the fact that you're using that to leave the masjid — why were you in the masjid? You're there for your own sake. What does that have to do with it?" But no.

Imam Al-Ghazali's Warning: Shaytan Leads Through What Looks Good

Today in Bidāyat al-Hidāyah — a beautiful book by Imam al-Ghazali that I teach in the first year — he says how Shaytan sometimes comes to a person and says:

"Speak the truth and do not be soft about it. Don't mellow." And he says, that is not speaking the truth — that is Shaytan. When you know that standing up to speak right now, at this moment, is the wrong time.

Imam al-Ghazali says:

Shaytan pulls a person towards evil through something that looks like goodness. For example, a brother thinks he's speaking the truth — you've seen this in masājid, during the Jumu'ah khutbah, people standing up and screaming: "How dare you encourage people to vote? This is haram!" And they'll make a big deal right there in the midst of the khutbah. "Anyone who voted is a kāfir!" — this actually happened, I heard recently. So he thinks, Shaytan tells him, that this is the time for him to speak. In the midst of the Jumu'ah, when the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 934; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 851)

"Whoever tells his companion to keep quiet during the khutbah has committed a vain act." — you have forfeited your reward. Imagine a full refutation of the khutbah is being given. So Shaytan misleads us through something that looks righteous.

The brother is smoking coming to the masjid — we have to stop this. The brother is parking in a handicapped spot — we have to stop this. The brother is not putting his shoes in the right spot — we have to stop this. The brother is not wearing a kufi — we have to stop this. We become what they call the "haram police." And Shaytan tells us, "Mashallah, this is what you've got to do. You're upholding the shari'ah." But what we don't understand is that we're actually breaking the hearts of people, and now this person will never come back to the masjid.

Shaytan Plants People to Cause Disruption

Look at what happened in this past week in pro-Palestinian protests. Al Jazeera reported — and others have reported as well — where there were people who were not pro-Palestinian at all, who literally hijacked the protest and started saying very inflammatory remarks. Outsiders, probably throwing on a Palestinian flag, screaming things. 60 people get arrested. They're planting people. They're planting people within the protest to do something illegal and shut down the whole thing. We have that same problem within the masjid. We have practicing Muslims, or traditionally educated Muslims, who say things that will infuriate the non-practicing Muslims, the non-traditional Muslims, the non-masjid-going Muslims. And it becomes a means of pushing people away.

The Story of the Unclean Kitchen

Another brother I worked on for a long time to get him to a program — just one night program, this was 15 years ago. Eventually, alhamdulillah, he came. It happened that I was giving the talk, and I really wanted this brother, who was very far from the deen, but I used to get my hair cut with him, and I was working on him slowly. So I said, "Come, man, just come." So I was giving the talk and the brother walks in. I was like, subhanAllah, very happy that this person came to this type of talk. But he didn't sit in the talk — he walked around. He went and checked out the kitchen. The kitchen was not in the most hygienic state. He went back home, an hour away, and then messaged me: "Those people who cannot keep the masjid clean or the kitchen clean — I have no reason to ever sit with such a group of people."

My point in telling you these stories is that there's not one — there are thousands of these stories. I promise you, thousands. For every single ex-Muslim out there, there have to be 10 stories. Every ex-Muslim will tell you: "This is what my hifz teacher did. This is what the imam did. This is what this bearded guy at the masjid did." Or she will say: "This is what some auntie in the masjid did." And you listen to all these stories and you think: "You know what? I've been through 10 times worse than that." How come you're not a non-Muslim? The reality is, Shaytan sees who is a weakling, and he sets it up such that this person comes to the masjid — the one day he comes — and something weird happens, someone does something self-righteous, and that one chance he gave to the house of Allah, that's what he got from there.

Take-Home Lessons

Lesson One: Watch Your Character

All of us have to be extremely careful in how we act — not only with non-Muslims, but with Muslims. If you cannot guide many people, at least do not become a means of misguiding people. And the number one reason for misguiding people is character. The Prophet ﷺ said:

"Whoever believes in Allah and the Last Day should speak good or remain silent." That's what it is with all of us. When someone walks into the masjid — you might just be a first-time person who showed up for tafsir today — the other person who showed up for the first time doesn't know that. He might think you're the board member, the imam of the masjid. Anyone nowadays who has a little beard, everyone thinks he's a mufti. So whatever you do, the other person is looking at you thinking you represent the masjid. Hence if you do something wrong, that's it — he's never going back there.

A Du'a to Make

"O Allah, guide us, and use us to guide others, and make us a means of guidance for others, and do not make us the means and reason for someone else being misguided."

Now, whoever is going to be guided or misguided is already written in the books of Allah. The key thing is you just want to get the commission for the guidance, and you don't want to get the blame for the misguidance. Already, who's going to be misguided is written. But I don't want to become the means of that. That's what رَبَّنَا لَا تَجْعَلْنَا فِتْنَةً لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا means. Ya Allah, the kāfir is doing his kufr. But I don't want to become the person blamed for his kufr. And we can take it with a more general meaning: not only the alladhīna kafarū, but also those who have transgressed against Allah, who have left coming to the masjid. I don't want to become a means of that either.

Lesson Two: Reach Out to Those Who Have Left

When you start seeing people who feel very hesitant to go to a masjid — a specific masjid or any masjid — we should try our best to talk to them. Let's not be judgmental, let's not be condescending. If a person walked away from the masjid for three years, it means there is a problem. It might be emotional — some trauma. It might not be traumatizing to you, but this person might be traumatized by something seemingly small. People are different. Just because something is not traumatizing to you does not mean it is not traumatizing to someone else. So we have to listen to these people.

Regarding the "third space" phenomenon that is increasing all around: one big reason people will say is, "Masājid are unwelcoming." Now, there's one option — you just destroy all the masājid and start from a new place called a "third space" that isn't called a masjid. Another option is we say: no, we have a problem, let's fix it. Let's go fix the issue. If we're not welcoming enough, we need to address it. If our kitchens and bathrooms are not clean enough, we need to address it — instead of going somewhere else.

So ask people who don't want to come to the masjid: who did what to you? What can I do to get you back? Do you want that person to apologize? Let me find out who he is and talk to him. And then, after that, you have to make people understand that you cannot equate one person with Islam. You're going to sit with your non-Muslim colleagues and explain to them: if planes got hijacked on 9/11, well, guess what? Islam also got hijacked. That doesn't represent our deen. So the same applies here. You cannot take someone who cut you off in the parking lot, who spoke harshly to you, and equate him to all of Islam.

So this is a homework for all of us. By next week, I want you to work on someone who has not come to the masjid anymore. See why they're not coming, and try to bridge the gap. The reward you'll get will be unbelievable — because you've taken a runaway slave of Allah back to the masjid. Imagine how happy a father or mother would be whose son or daughter has run away from home and you somehow counsel them and convince them to come back. Cannot imagine the happiness of Allah when you work on one of His servants and bring him back.

Think of one person you don't see in the tafsir, one person you don't see in your local masjid, and say: "Let me reach out and figure out what's going on." I've heard people say, "I stopped coming and no one asked me where I was." That means they feel unwanted. So, as the Prophet ﷺ said: do not assist Shaytan against your brother. Shaytan is already taking him away from the masjid. If you then say two more harsh things to him, he's never going to come back.

And the third tafsīr, which I mentioned last week, was that the kuffār are already destined for punishment in Jahannam. What level do they go? How deep? I don't want to become a means of pulling them even deeper. So the purpose of this ayah is to seek protection in Allah from punishment at the hands of the kuffār.

Ayah 6: Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba as Our Role Models

And then Allah says: truly there is an excellent model for you believers in them — for whoever longs for Allah and for salvation in the Last Day.

But whoever turns away — تَوَلَّىٰ means to turn away — indeed, Allah alone, al-Ghanī, is self-sufficient, all-praised.

In this ayah, Allah speaks about someone besides Ibrahim ﷺ as an example. Ibrahim ﷺ is an example. And now you are being told that Rasulullah ﷺ as well as the Sahaba are all great examples. Sometimes when you tell someone to do something, they say, "Brother, I'm not a prophet." No one said you're a prophet. But that doesn't mean you're not supposed to follow him. If we're not supposed to follow him, then why did Allah send prophets in the first place? That would make sending prophets purposeless — al-'iyadhu billah. The purpose He sent prophets is for them to be followed. And so here we're reminded that Rasulullah ﷺ, along with Ibrahim ﷺ, are beautiful examples for us to follow.

And not everyone will follow them. Who will? The one who believes, who has hope in meeting Allah, and who has hope in the Day of Judgment. Allah says in another place in the Qur'an:

"Indeed you have, within the Prophet of Allah, a beautiful example — for whoever has hope in Allah and the Last Day, and remembers Allah abundantly." That's from Surah al-Ahzāb, Ayah 21. Very similar ayah. Not everyone will emulate the Prophet ﷺ or the Sahaba. Who will? The one who believes in Allah, who hopes for the Day of Judgment, وَذَكَرَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا — and who remembers Allah abundantly.

Who Do You Want to Become?

My dear friends, you today on this Tuesday night — you and I are at a certain level in our life. You have your age, your accomplishments, your strengths, your weaknesses, your ambitions. You are a شَخصِيَّة — a personality — today on this day. But there is a personality that you want to become in the future. There is no person here who doesn't want to become something. The question is: what does that future you look like? Where do you want to see yourself 10 years, 20 years from now? Life is moving so quickly.

The one who wants to be with Rasulullah ﷺ, who wants to be with the Sahaba, who wants to be raised with them — he will be the one who truly believes in Allah and truly believes he will meet Allah on the Day of Judgment. Otherwise, a person will be looking at soccer players, basketball players, artists, extremely wealthy and successful people in his field. That's it — that's his goal. Because the belief in the ākhirah, unfortunately, is weak. So we are being taught here that our goal needs to be Rasulullah ﷺ.

Allah says: وَهُوَ بِالْأُفُقِ الْأَعْلَىٰ — the Prophet ﷺ is in the highest stratum of the heavens. What stratum are you in? Where are you headed? It's not about where you are right now — it's about where you want to be. Allah will judge you based on that. We could be right now أَسفَلَ السَّافِلِينَ — the lowest of the low — in terms of our deeds. But in our heart, our desire is to become something amazing. We want to become a wali of Allah. We want to become a true follower of the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ. If that's what we want, then that is beautiful. Even if a person is at the bottom of the barrel, insha'Allah his future is going to be bright, because of what he wants to become and the intention he has.

And if a person, Allah gave him a beautiful home, a beautiful family, all kinds of blessings — but he's not happy, he's always looking at haram. He has amazing health and rizq, but his mind is always caught up in haram. As he's sitting in halal, he's thinking about haram. Unfortunately, that person's future is very, very bleak.

The Story of a Man Who Envied Another's Sin

I'll tell you an incident of a person who had a very righteous life and then went downhill — honestly أَسفَلَ السَّافِلِينَ, like the lowest of the low. After many sessions of counseling and reflection, I asked him: "When did the turning point come? You had such a high status in the community, such knowledge, such connection with people. Look at how you ended up in this state." He did some deep introspection. He had fallen into major, major sins, the likes of which he himself could never have imagined a few years prior. At the end, he came to a conclusion. He said: "It was one day in college. A roommate in medical school came back after committing a major sin and mentioned it in the room. I was pure and free from such sins. But as I was sitting there listening to his story, a desire came into my heart — 'I wish I had these opportunities of committing sin.' And reflecting over my life, I feel that thought became so displeasing to Allah that I fell from His grace and went into the gutters."

Think about this: how dare you be envious of someone in sin, when Allah protected you from that. You want sin? Allah said: "Okay. Let me throw you in the deep end. I'll make you worse than an animal." That's exactly what happened — because he became envious of someone falling into sin. It's not about what you are now. What is your future thought process? Where do you want to be?

On the other hand, a person is a sinner. He's done the biggest sins. But he comes and sits in a righteous gathering and looks at everyone and says, "I'm nobody. I don't even deserve to be here, a hundred meters from this gathering." Because of his level of humility and his desire to change, Allah propels him to a degree he could never imagine. So the question is: where do you want to be?

Ayah 6 Continued: Allah Is Al-Ghanī, Al-Ḥamīd

Allah says: if you don't listen and you still go towards your own ways — continuing to befriend those who hate Allah and turning your back to those who love Allah — then indeed, Allah does not need you. He doesn't need your walā' and barā'. He doesn't need your knowledge, your deeds, your sujūd, your fasts, any aspect of you. Don't think you're harming Allah by befriending His enemies and turning your back to His friends. We're seeing that happen today — locally, globally.

And when you turn your back to Allah, al-Ḥamīd — He's going to continue to treat you in a manner that is worthy of praise. You won't even realize He is super upset at you. He'll give you more money than you can ever imagine. More ease, more prosperity, more connections, more love from the people. You'll keep on increasing and say, "My God has been so great to me!" No, my friend — this is called istidraj. You're going down. If He had pinched you, you might have woken up. But many of us only turn towards Allah when things start going wrong in our lives. Difficulty, in essence, is a blessing from Allah. Having no difficulty in your life while continuing to sin is a big musībah.

That's why you'll see some of the biggest sinners and backstabbers among the Muslims — life is going very well for them. No problems. Allah is letting them enjoy life. This is what you call istidraj — where Allah allows them to fall deeper and deeper into their fitna.

Walā' and Barā' Among Muslims

Now when we talk about walā' and barā', I want to talk about one more thing — about practicing and non-practicing Muslims. It's really important. My dear brothers and sisters, you cannot have your feet on both sides. It just doesn't work. You cannot say, "I'm at war with this country," and then have lunch with their generals. Then stop the war. What does it mean?

When you would love to invite people to your home who openly disobey Allah — openly and shamelessly — and then you say, "Alhamdulillah, I haven't missed Tahajjud in four years," I don't understand this. Where is your walā' and barā'? Someone who is sinning — drinking, committing zina, openly involved in lottery, openly backbiting, attacking the 'ulamā, attacking deen institutions, involved in fraud. Why are you inviting that person to your home? Why are you going out to lunch with that person? There has to be this sense that: no, I cannot sit with those who have angered Allah. Because Allah says in the Qur'an:

"Do not obey the one whose heart We have turned away from Our remembrance, who follows his desires." Ya Rasulullah, don't sit with such people. Don't obey such people who follow their desires. Rasulullah ﷺ is being told this — be careful who you sit with. Not that he ﷺ was going to be affected, but the idea is that people will say, "I was just with him, I was just with the imam of the masjid, we went out to eat together." They'll use that as proof to promote their vice and continue in major sins. We cannot allow our presence to become a means of promoting vice.

That's why the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 3764; authenticated by al-Albānī)

"Do not allow anyone to eat your food except a person of taqwā." What does that mean? You're going to ask people, "Are you muttaqī or not?" before handing out food? No — you can hand out food to kuffār, to animals. This hadith means: don't spend time over a meal with someone except a man of taqwā. Don't invite a person to your house except a muttaqī. Don't go to a person's house except for a muttaqī. People say, "Oh, look at this." Brothers and sisters, if you care about your faith and your relationship with Allah, you have to ensure that you sit and spend time with people who are beneficial for you and not harmful.

We're not talking about a lunch meeting at work surrounded by disbelievers. We're talking about leisure time, after hours. I promise you, this is one of the major reasons why many of us go up during Ramadan, during tafsir — and then right after, we go back down. Two or three years and we haven't moved. It is because of the company we don't want to give up. When we're at Darussalam, we do as Darussalam people do. Then we leave and go back to a completely different lifestyle. Deen is not only for the masjid — deen is something inside the masjid and outside. Whether it's a wedding, a janāzah, any other event. You have to make sure deen is followed everywhere.

Why are we not able to do that? Because we have chosen to stick in the company of people who are not masjid-going, or who are masjid-going but selectively follow the deen.

They follow a certain portion of the deen and leave out another portion. My beloved brothers, if you wonder why you are not moving forward in life, I can assure you that this continuous association with people who are distant from the deen is one of the main reasons.

Allah says in multiple places, do not sit with such people who do not remember Allah. And then Allah says:

"If you sit with them, then indeed you will be treated just like them."

"When you see people attacking Our verses, turn away from them." Even among Muslims today, there will be people saying there's no such thing as hadith, the Sahaba are like this, the Qur'an is not applicable right now, we need something new, reading Qur'an without understanding is a waste of time — completely heretical views. And you're sitting there sipping your chai and listening. "Hmm, interesting." No, you can't do that.

If someone says something about your daughter, wife, husband, mother, father — I hope you can't take it. How can you and I sit there while Allah and His Rasul ﷺ are being attacked by our own Muslims? Where is your ghayrah? So the way Shaytan does it is very smart — he uses the issue of mixed gatherings. Tafsir al-Nābulusī by Dr. Rātib al-Nābulusī, a Syrian scholar — and he quotes extensively from Tafsir al-Sha'rāwī — both of these Arab scholars speak about mixed gatherings. Both of them. This is not a Deobandi thing, not a Hanafi thing, not an Indian thing. Both Arab scholars bring it up here. They say the gatherings that you have to apply walā' and barā' from include such mixed, heedless gatherings.

You see one foot inside a gathering like this and one foot in another mixed gathering — that's why you're not moving anywhere. You're exactly where you are. It's like going between extreme heat and freezing cold — you'll get sick. Many of us are doing that to ourselves. Walā' and barā' — it's not about me or you. It's about Allah and His Rasul ﷺ. Ask yourself: if Rasulullah ﷺ were here, and music is happening, dancing is happening, people are inappropriately mixing — would he be there? How many masājid we go to where young guys and girls are sitting in corners, joking and laughing, giving high fives, in the house of Allah? Who are we fooling besides ourselves?

So a person has to have his loyalty in one place. You cannot mess around with Allah. The people you hang out with need to be people who are ahead of you in the deen. I'm not saying shun everyone — but the gatherings you choose for leisure and friendship must be with people connected to the deen.

The Story After Arafah

Real story — in Hajj, it happened with my brother many years ago. After Arafah — the most amazing day of your entire life — he was back in Mina, and five or six brothers came to him and said: "Sheikh, you're the imam of our Hajj group. We need you to address a serious problem of the Muslim community." He asked what it was. They said: "We have a big issue. Muslims don't accept invitations to parties where wine is served. Where's the concept of accepting the invitation of a Muslim brother? When a Muslim brother invites you to his house, you have to go. Now they have this self-righteousness thing — just because they don't want to drink, they say, 'If alcohol is served at the wedding, I'm not showing up.' This is a big problem." All six of these brothers, after just finishing Arafah, were saying that alcohol is not haram. That Allah says you can stay away from it, but it doesn't mean it's actually prohibited. And they weren't even making tawbah from drinking. Their problem was: "You better show up when I invite you."

These are not fringe views. There are many people with absolutely mistaken ideas about the deen. And many of us sitting here have such friends and acquaintances, and we sit with them, and we invite them over. That's one big reason our hearts can't seem to get cleansed.

Choosing the Right Company for Our Children

We have to create a culture. People say, "How is my child going to find friends?" Your children need to find friends from families who are practicing the deen — who have similar ethics, morals, expectations, and similar tarbiyah at home. Many parents are trying to keep their children away from cell phones as much as possible — and then they go hang out with someone's five-year-old who has two phones. Your son and daughter will look at that and naturally be affected. We have to make sure our wives have women who are similar in their approach to deen, our husbands have friends with a similar approach, and our children have friends with similar values.

This is partly why Islamic schools are having a very hard time with character development. There is no common baseline of family values. As long as you pass the exam or pay the tuition, that's it. These five fingers are not the same — by no means are all Muslim families the same in terms of their values and priorities. You're putting your child in a school called Islamic, but many of those children are coming from homes with very different priorities. No matter what you do in that school, they'll go back to that environment every single day and bring it back to school. This is why Islamic school principals and teachers are pulling their hair out wondering why character development isn't working. One of many reasons is the lack of a shared values baseline.

So what's the solution? We need many more schools, and schools where people agree on basic shared expectations — like a co-op. A group of people who say: "Number one in my life is deen, following the fard, following the sunnah. Are you in?" And those who are, come together — let your children study together, even in a basement or a living room. That's way better than being in a huge school with no shared values. Masājid have to come up with ways to use their empty space throughout the week to accommodate such arrangements. When our children have like-minded friends with similar priorities, they will become positive peer pressure towards goodness.

Ayah 7: Glad Tidings — Hearts Can Change

Now Allah says — and this ayah is actually bishārah, glad tidings, pointing towards the Fath of Makkah: "It may be that Allah will establish genuine mutual love between you and those with whom you had enmity." When Allah says عَسَى — "maybe" — when it comes from Allah, it means for certain. They would have love because they would accept Islam.

So Ikramah ibn Abi Jahl — the son of Abu Jahl — who caused so much harm to the Muslims, and Abu Sufyan ibn Harb — who caused so much harm — when they accepted Islam, Allah made the Muslims love them and them love the Muslims. Ikramah said, "I'm not staying in Makkah. I'm going to the hardest, furthest borders of the Muslim lands, and I'm not coming back. I'm going to die there. I have done so much to harm Islam — I have to repay." Abu Sufyan said, "Ya Rasulullah, I'm accepting Islam today. Make three duas for me." One of them: "Make dua that Allah allows me to fight the disbelievers the way I fought the believers. I feel so guilty. I need to make up for that."

It is mentioned about Ikramah that one day he got off his horse and jumped into the thick of battle. Khalid ibn al-Walid said, "Ya Ikramah, where are you going?" He replied, "Khalid, please leave me. I have the blood of Muslims on my hands. I am trying to make up for it." And during the time of Umar ibn al-Khattab, when he was sitting in his small court receiving guests — the poor Sahaba like Bilal were sitting in front — and when Ikramah ibn Abi Jahl, Suhail ibn 'Amr, and other noble men of Quraysh came in but found no place to sit, there was some murmuring at the back: "We're people of status — why are we sitting in the back?" Ikramah turned and said, "We came late to Islam — that's why we're sitting in the back. You're worried about this? Tell me what's going to happen on the Day of Judgment, when we'll be in the back of the line. If we don't have space in the court of Umar, how will we get space in the court of Allah?" And he said, "I'm gone. Give me a horse. I'm out. I'm going to pass away in the path of Allah, fighting until my last breath. It's bad enough to taste being in the back of the line here — I definitely don't want to be in the back of the line tomorrow." SubhanAllah.

So this is the idea — those people you fought with, things can change. وَاللَّهُ قَدِيرٌ — don't worry about it, Allah is all-powerful. Allah can change hearts. Don't ever judge anyone. This ayah is not only for that era — it's for today too. We have seen people in Europe and America who had extreme enmity against Islam, who made Islamophobic movies, who ran on platforms against Islam. When Allah sends the rays of imān into a person's heart, a person can't say no.

So we learn from here: do not pass judgment upon anyone. Anyone, at any time, can change. Our enmity is not for a person — it is for an action. When that action of kufr is gone, then we have love for them.

Ayah 8: Being Just With Those Who Have Not Harmed You

"Allah does not forbid you from those who have not fought you over your religion and have not expelled you from your dwellings — from being kind to them and dealing justly with them. Indeed, Allah loves those who are just."

Sometimes people say Islam uses the word kāfir, everyone is going to hell, Islam is like this and like that. This is a very beautiful ayah to show them. The Qur'an is saying that those disbelievers who do not harbor enmity against us, who haven't done oppression, there is nothing wrong with you being nice with them — not only nice with them, but just with them. Remember this ayah. Allah is speaking about those disbelievers who are not coming after your faith and religion — you can definitely have good akhlāq with them. Not to the degree that you side with them against the people of Islam, but beyond that, a person should have a clean heart and be just with them.

It is mentioned in a hadith related by Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Al-Mustadrak 'alā al-Ṣaḥīḥayn of al-Hākim, reported on the authority of Abū Hurayrah)

"You will never be able to win people over through your wealth. Instead, you win them over through a smiling face and good character." SubhanAllah. So whether Muslims or non-Muslims — the way to win hearts is through good character and a smiling face. All of us should have smiling faces. When someone comes to Darussalam, every single person should be smiling at them. Even if you don't feel like smiling, do it for the sake of Allah. Your smile may bring so much happiness to a man who just had a big fight at home, a big fight at work, who is depressed — and then he sees a smiling face at the masjid. One of the greatest good deeds you can do is to bring happiness to a Muslim brother's heart.

Another incident is mentioned: one of the companions went to collect the jizyah from a group of non-Muslims, and they tried to bribe him. He got upset. He said, "I hate having to come here, I have no love for this relationship. But I am a Muslim and I have to be just. I'm here simply to collect the jizyah — the tax. I cannot be unjust." He could have pocketed the gifts or collected more than owed, but he didn't. Their response was:

"It is because of this justice of yours that the heavens and the earth are in place."

Today, we as Muslims have unfortunately become the sellouts on justice. And as any honest historian will concur: anytime the enemies of Allah and His Rasul ﷺ have ever hurt the Muslims or conquered anything — it only happened because our own people backstabbed. There has never been an incident where we were all united, strong, just, and honest, and someone was able to break through those ranks. We are only as strong as our weakest link. And unfortunately, nowadays, we have too many weak links that can be bought out in seconds. Don't blame the non-Muslims. As Sheikh Omar mentioned on Saturday at the Fajr program: when you're talking about boycotts and staying away from certain companies or countries, also think about those so-called Muslim countries. If you have ghayrah, you can't go on vacation in a place that is so obviously hurting the Muslims. When your own people hurt you and disable you, you should actually feel more upset than when outsiders do it.

Sheikh Yunus Daya, rahimahullāh, recently passed away — one of the awliyā' of South Africa. I was sitting with him and my students at his house some years ago. He said — and this was five or six years ago — "Even going for Umrah, there are certain countries I will never fly the airline of, and I will never fly a route that goes over them." Now, how is an old man going to hurt a multi-trillion dollar economy? He can't. But that's not what you're responsible for, my friends. You're responsible to show Allah your ghayrah. You're responsible to show Allah your walā' and barā'. Don't worry about harming or not harming. It's about: ya Allah, this is what I can do. Like the ant — النملة — of Sulaiman ﷺ that spoke up. What could that ant do against the army of Sulaiman? But Allah loved that it had fikr — concern. So when we have that fikr, to say, "I'm not going to buy this, I'm not going to invest here, I'm going to skip that vacation spot" — that three or four thousand dollars might not dent anyone else's economy, but it is more than enough to insha'Allah reduce your sins and bring khair into your life.

It is mentioned regarding Asmā', may Allah be pleased with her, that her mother came to Madinah while she was not yet a Muslim and wanted to stay in her daughter's home. Asmā' said, "I'm sorry, I can't let you in until I ask the Prophet ﷺ." And the Prophet ﷺ said, "No problem, go ahead." And this is considered possibly among the reasons for the revelation of this ayah.

Ayah 9: Those You Must Not Befriend

"Indeed, Allah only forbids you from befriending those who have fought you over your religion, expelled you from your dwellings, and aided others in expelling you. Be wary of befriending such people. And whoever befriends them — it is they who are the wrongdoers."

It's not only the people who have exiled you, but those who have assisted those who exiled you. Not just openly disbelieving enemies — it includes hypocrites who act like believers but help the disbelievers. Allah is saying in this ayah: Allah prohibits you from making alliances with them.

وَمَن يَتَوَلَّهُمْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ — and if you still choose to befriend them, it is they who are the wrongdoers. Don't blame Allah when He sends down punishment. You have punished yourself. You have made yourself worthy of Allah's punishment in the first place.

Closing

We ask Allah that He allows us to have a deep understanding of all the concepts that we covered today. Anything that was beneficial — I thank Allah for that. Anything mistaken — may Allah forgive me and all of us. May Allah allow us to truly have the understanding of the Qur'an the way He wants us to understand it and the way it's meant to be understood. The Qur'an, as you can see, is a very living book that has its application at all times. It is not something to be merely read and put away. I hope today's dars, with all the various points we covered, was connected to the Book of Allah in a way that is beneficial.

A few announcements for those listening online: insha'Allah we have just about 10 days left for our annual retreat, May 10th to May 12th — Friday at Asr Salah to Sunday Asr Salah. The full schedule will be released soon. We have tens of speakers from across the country and some from international locations joining us for the Islam and Artificial Intelligence retreat — for both 'ulamā, scholars, academics, and people in the tech industry. This retreat is not only for techies, it is for anyone and everyone. Please try your best to attend, insha'Allah.

We also have this Saturday, a Convert Muslims Luncheon taking place at 11:30am for men and women, brothers and sisters. Please spread the word across the Chicagoland area — 11:30am to 2:00pm this Saturday, insha'Allah.

Our Summer Intensive and One Year Program applications are open. Please visit the website to learn about the various programs — the Deen Intensive, the Arabic Intensive, and the One Year Program.

If you are joining us here for the first time and do not receive our messages, please scan the QR code — one for sisters, one for brothers — and you will insha'Allah receive updates for all programs, including today's recording.

Today insha'Allah we'll have books available outside for purchase in the bookstore. One is about the Remembrance of Allah by the classical scholar Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali. The second is the biography of Shaykh Abul Hasan Ali al-Nadawi — The Revivers of Islam. And the third is The Path to Perfection — Introduction to the Science of Tazkiyah by Shaykh Masihullah Khan, translated into English. Those and many other books are available in the bookstore in the lobby. Enjoy that with your tea on your way out.

سُبحَانَ اللَّهِ وَبِحَمدِهِ، سُبحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمدِكَ

Assalāmu 'alaykum wa rahmatullāhi wa barakātuh.