Surah Qasas - Ep. 5 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening Supplications

أَمَّا بَعْدُ

The Verses of Sūrah al-Qaṣaṣ Under Study

Introduction: A Brief Recap

Beloved brothers and sisters, dear listeners, and guests of the house of Allah — assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. We are now in our fifth dars of Sūrah al-Qaṣaṣ. Last week we discussed how Musa alayhis salam, after a mistake was committed while trying to assist a fellow Israelite, ended up becoming a means of one of the Copts dying. Fear spread in his heart that they would come after him and kill him. Then someone came and actually told him: they are plotting to kill you, so you should run.

In the last few minutes of our dars last week, I spoke about how Musa alayhis salam took heed from the advice of this individual who came and told him that he should leave, that it is not safe for him to stay. He did not say, "I haven't done anything wrong, so why should I leave?" Instead, he realized that if he wants to do what he is meant to do — which is the work of Allah, connecting people with Allah, and living a successful life both in this world and the next — then he has to make a decision that is reasonable and smart. And right now, the most reasonable decision is that he needs to pack up and leave.

The Lesson of Prudent Wisdom Over Righteous Pride

So many times, we will be in situations where we are not wrong, but the prudent thing is to simply walk away — instead of demanding, "I want to make sure it should be like this, it should be like that." One common mistake we see nowadays: when there are traffic stops, there have been way too many cases where a simple traffic stop ends up becoming a means of someone losing their life. It is so heartbreaking. You will see sometimes that a person will simply say, "I never did anything wrong — by Allah, I don't have to do this, by Allah, I don't have to do that." He may be correct. But this type of so-called sticking to the law — "I know my rights" — may end up costing a person's life. And it is seriously not worth it.

For most people, if you have nothing to hide at that moment, just say, okay, let me be cordial and let's make this thing quick and easy. Do I have a right to say I don't want to show my license, I don't need to come out? You may have a right to all of that. But things may escalate, and that escalation may end up in the long run becoming very harmful. So that's a lesson: we need to learn how to de-escalate the situation and do things which are, in the long term, more prudent, instead of acting on our knee-jerk reaction and saying, "Well, it's my right." That might not necessarily be the smartest move.

Musa alayhis salam could have said, "It's my right — this is my town, why should I leave from here? I was raised in the palace of Pharaoh. I didn't do anything wrong. This man asked me for help, I assisted him, he was weak and he ended up dying, I didn't kill him." But we know that in that era, Fir'awn was out there to try to kill everyone. He was a super oppressive regime. He would use this excuse to lock you up at the least, or more than likely, also kill him. So Musa alayhis salam took that advice and moved on.

It was just a matter of years, but Allah brought him back as a victor, and he was able to bring nur, guidance, and light to the palace of Pharaoh. Some chose not to accept it — that's up to them. But Musa alayhis salam brought it back.

Verse: Musa Sets Off Towards Madyan

"And when he turned his face towards the land of Madyan" — this is all the way in the north of the Arabian Peninsula, far away from Egypt. According to some, it is almost 2,500 kilometres from the area where Musa alayhis salam was, all the way to the north of the Arabian Peninsula.

Musa alayhis salam was not planning to walk straight through the desert, because that would be fatal for him — hundreds or thousands of kilometres through the desert with no towns along the way. He wanted to walk on the sides of the River Nile, which made the journey even longer. And what was in Madyan? All the way up north, that far, Fir'awn's kingdom did not reach. The idea was to run away from the control and jurisdiction of Fir'awn. SubhanAllah — that is how this world works. Even if you are the Fir'awn, your jurisdiction ends somewhere.

The Magicians of Pharaoh: A Lesson in Seeking the Truth

This reminds us of the story from Sūrah Ṭāhā, where the magicians who worked for Pharaoh — when they saw the miracle of Musa alayhis salam's staff turning into a massive serpent and swallowing up all the small fake snakes — immediately renounced their belief in Fir'awn and said, "We believe in the Lord of Musa and Harun." This was a mutiny, and Fir'awn was not going to take it lightly. He warned them and said:

"And you will most definitely know who has the capacity of giving a punishment that is more severe and longer lasting" — is it the so-called god of Musa, or myself? That is what he threatened them with. And these were not empty threats. This was a man with a proven record of killing thousands. As soon as he says it, it happens. Who would know this better than the people who had been working for him for years?

They knew what they were going for. They knew that if they remained steadfast on this faith, they were gone — and it was not going to be a quick death, but a very painful and torturous one. Look at the answer the magicians gave:

"We will never give you preference over that which Musa has brought to us in terms of clear signs." How could they deny it? Musa alayhis salam had just had his serpent eat up all of their serpents. They were experts in the field — they were in the trenches — and they knew that what he brought was not sorcery. It was something far superior to anything they had ever seen. It was definitely truth, because they knew they were faking it. They were experts at falsehood; they knew their product. And what he brought was not fake.

So that is bayyināt — clear proof. After seeing clear proof, how could they ever listen to Fir'awn? No matter how many threats he gave, they would never disregard what Musa alayhis salam had brought, because they were seekers of the truth. And that is something may Allah give all of us — that we need to be seekers of the truth, no matter who we are or where we are.

That is why in this horrible situation we have seen happening in Palestine, you see so many people accepting Islam as well. Who are they? Many of them were actually very much against the plight of the Palestinians before. But they were seekers of the truth. Once they started reading, once they started removing the lens and veil from their eyes that had been placed, they started saying, "No, no, no — this doesn't make sense, it doesn't add up." So we are seeing all over the world, SubhanAllah, so many people accepting Islam. When a person is seeking the truth, sooner or later, insha'Allah, he will find it. But if a person is dead-set on his ways and says, "Whether it is truth or falsehood, I don't care — this is my lifestyle," then unfortunately the chance of guidance for that person is less.

So they said to Fir'awn: "Do whatever you want." Why were they so confident? This is what I was talking about — the jurisdiction of even the biggest Pharaoh in the world is not only limited by land mass or other things, but also limited in terms of duration. That duration is only as long as you have the soul in your body.

"All you can do is make decisions that affect us in this worldly life." But what about as soon as we die — then what? All of Fir'awn's jurisdiction is done. And the jurisdiction of Allah al-Wāḥid al-Qahhār — the One and All-Powerful — remains:

Over there — in the Day of Judgment, in the life of the Hereafter, in the life of the barzakh — it will become absolutely apparent that no one is in charge besides Allah. So why would they give preference to what Fir'awn was telling them, over the Lord who has full control over the life of the Hereafter as well as the life immediately after the soul departs?

What an amazing lesson for all of us — that every single oppression and injustice we see in this world, and all the so-called superpowers of the past, present, and future, are only allowed by Allah to control certain portions of the world, certain portions of the sea. And as technology, satellites, drones, AI, and everything else becomes stronger and stronger, yes — when the Dajjāl comes, he will take over the world. The future will be that superpowers will have full control of the globe,

— except whoever, by the mercy of Allah, is allowed to be under the radar. But generally speaking, whoever is on the internet, whoever has a phone, whoever has a bank account, whoever has any of these things will be part of that one system. It will be very hard to live off the grid. Besides that, everyone else will start to think in a certain manner, act in a certain manner, talk in a certain manner.

You see that happening right now. Just the akhlāq, the character, has changed within the past generation — across the board, across all cultures. Wherever there is internet, you will see the way children treat their parents is vastly different from the previous generation. The way husbands treat their wives, wives treat their husbands — vastly different from the previous generation. Everything has changed. Without us realising it, we are breathing in a new culture. We are watching, accepting, and absorbing a new culture which doesn't differentiate between Muslim and non-Muslim. Across the globe, people are changing without realising it. That is part of the new world culture — the Dajjāli culture — that has come and is being further built upon.

So in that time, the lesson we have to remember is: you can control everything about me — my phone, my bank account, my wallet, my car. Time will come when you will be able to shut off everything. If you don't listen to us — shut, shut, shut everything off. Last year there was a protest that truckers did in Canada. They were unhappy about certain wages and things of that sort and did a protest. And what happened? The bank accounts — they froze their bank accounts. That happened just last year in the land of the free. SubhanAllah. So this is what lies ahead.

But what we have to remember is: you freeze my bank account, you freeze my phone, you freeze my garage — you freeze everything around me — but everything you manipulate is only of this world. As soon as my soul comes out, you have no control. That is why I have to always make sure of the absolute King who will show His Kingship. He is King here too, but He does not show it in the fullest manner — He allows other people to act as though they are in power and in control.

I give the example of this: when you go for a drive with your little child — say you have a small child and you want to give him a little drive in the cul-de-sac — you let him hold on to the steering wheel. Of course you have one foot on the accelerator, one foot on the brake, and your finger on the steering wheel. But that three- or four-year-old thinks he is actually driving. He comes back home and says, "Mum, today I drove around, it was so nice, Baba let me drive the car!" And Baba didn't let him drive the car at all — he just went around the cul-de-sac and had some fun. But the child thinks he's driving. Well, that is how it is today. Allah has allowed people to think they run the world, when they are not even in control of their own destiny. What they are doing is digging their pit in Hell deeper and deeper by the second — that is all they are doing. Their entire existence on this earth is to make their pit in the Hellfire deeper and deeper, and they think they have world dominance. Why don't you take care of your grave first, before you talk about world dominance?

That is such an important point for all of us to remind ourselves: no matter what bāṭil and falsehood is doing against the believers, remember that their ability to affect your life is only limited to the life on earth. We have to give preference to the everlasting life of the Hereafter and make decisions that will be beneficial for us in the long run.

Musa's Supplication and the Du'ā of Travel

So Musa alayhis salam decided to leave Fir'awn's jurisdiction and move on to Madyan. According to some, he did not exactly know which spot he was going to go to — he just started going up north. That is why he made the du'ā:

"I hope that my Lord will guide me upon the most even way" — meaning, I hope Allah will guide me to the right destination. So this is why whenever we leave our homes, we should be making du'ā as well — the du'ā of safar, when travelling. One of the beautiful masnoon du'ās when you leave your home, besides the famous du'ā when you get in the car, is:

"O Allah, I ask You for righteousness and piety in this journey of mine, and I ask You to inspire me to do those deeds and actions on this journey which are pleasing to You. O Allah, make this journey of mine easy for me, and shorten the distance. O Allah, You are my companion on this journey and You are simultaneously taking care of my household. O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the burdens and difficulties of this journey, from seeing evil scenes, and I seek refuge in You from having a bad return — in terms of my wealth, my family, and my children."

What a beautiful, comprehensive du'ā! Every time you go on a journey, this comprehensive nature is directly inspiration from Allah. This type of du'ā — we cannot even think of it ourselves. And when you arrive at a certain town, one of the du'ās you are supposed to make is:

"O Allah, I ask You the good of this village and the good of what is inside it. I seek refuge from the evil of this village and the evil within it. O Allah, make me beloved to the people of this village, and make the pious people of this town beloved to me." My Allah, what beautiful Islam we have — so comprehensive in nature, that every simple one-hour trip, every quick two-hour flight across the country, everything becomes deen if you bring the Sunnah and the prophetic method of reading these du'ās into your journey. The entire journey becomes a source of reward, becomes a blessing. May Allah give us tawfīq to bring deen 100% into our lives.

Musa Arrives at the Wells of Madyan

After thousands of kilometres of travel, Musa alayhis salam arrived at last at the water wells of Madyan. Allah knows how tired and sick he must have been, how hungry he must have been, day and night without food and drink.

He found there a large group of people drawing water. Ummah means a large group of people. He found them at the well drawing water for their animals, their herds. And he found, standing apart from them, two women holding back their flock. Tadhūdāni means to hold back — to hold back your animals, to hold something back. So these two women were not standing with the rest. They were to the side, trying their best to ensure that their sheep did not run towards the well and drink with the rest. It is like when you have a bunch of your own kids at a playground and you are trying to hold them back. If it is tough with three or four kids, imagine with a flock of sheep — when one goes, the rest follow, and you cannot stop that.

A Believer Is Always a Source of Help

Musa alayhis salam was tired — not just tired from a long day's work on a Tuesday evening, but he had been travelling through the desert for Allah knows how many months. He was hungry, afraid, worried that Fir'awn might find out. Yet his concern was: I need to be a source of help. There should be no day that goes by without us being a means of assisting someone.

That is what a believer is all about — always seeing how you can become a means of opening up the doors of goodness for someone. Can you connect a good young man and a good young woman from two families? Can you get two people who have similar business interests connected so their business can flourish? Someone is trying to buy a house, someone is trying to sell a house — just connect them. Your commission is with Allah. The goal is: if I can become a means of some goodness coming into this world, that is sufficient.

People may regularly ask you: "What's in it for you? Why are you wasting your time helping XYZ? What's your interest?" And your interest is that you are a believer who believes in the Day of Judgment, and you expect your reward from Allah. Why does every single thing have to be a paycheck now? Why have we become people so focused on "what's in it for me"?

I remember long ago when we were raising funds for the original construction of the masjid, people would come and say, "People are not going to give." I said, "Really? Why?" He said, "You have to give them back something — give them a T-shirt, give them a mug, you have to give them recognition." I was shocked. I said: this is what you are doing it for? You pay $100 to get a mug? If you're already getting a mug and a T-shirt and tickets to this and that, then what have you got left in the Ākhirah? A person's attitude should be: SubhanAllah, I never had this money — this money came to me from Allah. I am lucky if Allah even allows me to give it, and after that, I don't even know if He is going to accept it or not. That should be the fear.

But I saw an environment where people have begun to treat Islamic institutions like they do with NPR or any other organisation — donate and we'll give you free tickets to this, we'll give you that. That is the issue. Realise that Muslims — we follow everyone else. And that's what the Prophet ﷺ said would happen. We have a beautiful deen. How many other faiths have these du'ās? How many faiths have prophetic prayers? I promise you — go get a book on prophetic narrations and prayers, ask around the street, see any faith, any group, that has such outstanding prayers which are 100% divinely inspired. You could sit here 100 years and not think of such du'ās.

We have to lead the way. But instead, we say whatever everyone else is doing, we have to do the same thing. My beloved friends — as soon as we start using the methods of others, which may seem very convenient because they have become common in our culture, our deen is gone. Remember: success does not lie in customs. Success lies in Sunnah. Success is not in riwāj — that is just customs. Success lies in the Sunnah, the prophetic method. That is our belief. We have a problem if we do not have issues with the statement I just made.

The Hadith: A Key to Goodness

(Sunan Ibn Mājah, Hadith 237)

"Glad tidings to that servant whom Allah has made a key to open the doors of goodness and a lock to close the doors of evil." So you are lucky — wherever you go, you patch up a father and son who are fighting, a mother and daughter who are fighting, a husband and wife — you say, "Come, let's sit down, let's sort it out." That is what all of us should become: that wherever we go, if we can help someone change their tyre, charge up their battery, help with a few dollars, drop someone off at the masjid, pick their son up from school — whatever it is — we create an environment like it was in Madinah al-Munawwarah, where everyone is available to assist and help one another.

But what has happened is we have created so many walls between us that direct siblings and blood relatives are not able to talk to each other anymore, not able to seek assistance from one another. This is the norm today. That is why you have people who have siblings, parents, and spouses, yet they are clinically depressed. In this era of connectivity, in the information age, we are so disconnected from our own — and that has led to so many issues within the home, including extremely high levels of unhappiness and depression. A lot of it simply comes down to being able to express yourself to someone and share your issues. May Allah rectify the condition of our homes and place love between every member of the household.

Musa's Question: Mā Khaṭbukumā?

مَا خَطْبُكُمَا — what a beautiful word. The كُمَا refers to two, so he is addressing the two women. He says to them: "What is it that makes you do this?" — meaning, what is going on? Why are you sitting here on the side? Is it because these people are mean to you? Is it because there is no one to assist you?

This shows us the level of communication that is permissible between a man and a female who is not related to him: skip the pleasantries, skip the hi and bye and the weather and commenting on everything else — get to the point. This is how communication is supposed to be between males and females who are not related to one another: to the point, focused, with absolutely no sign that this conversation can go anywhere else. What we call absolute, pure, professional business.

They responded: "We cannot water our flock, until the shepherds move away and drive away their animals. We cannot go and be shoulder to shoulder with these men at the well, because that is not what we do. It is not befitting for us to be in the midst of men and their animals trying to fit our way in."

This is a genuine need of the household — it is not entertainment. The question is implicitly there: why are you women taking care of this outdoor work? Where are the men of your house? And then the response comes, without him even asking:

"Our father is an aged man." The tafsīr of that is: we are the only ones who can help him; we have no other male siblings; there is no one else in the home to assist with this outdoor work.

Lessons on Gender Roles and Hayā

So here we learn multiple lessons from this interaction. Number one: communication between males and females who are not related to one another must be to the point. Number two: they are explaining that it is not befitting for a female to be shoulder to shoulder competing with men at the well. Unfortunately, the absence of this understanding leads to situations like what we sometimes witness at the Ḥaram — where men and women are pushing one another near the Hajarul Aswad, which is heartbreaking. The amount of sin incurred there is far more than any benefit sought through such pushing and shoving. That is what happens when you don't have knowledge and you just have excitement — jazbah, josh. Deen is not about doing what you want to do; deen is about doing what you are supposed to do.

Here the daughters of Shu'ayb — and according to some, these were indeed the daughters of Shu'ayb alayhis salam — are demonstrating that a lot of things which are outdoor work are supposed to be delegated to men. A person who has true manliness and masculinity will regard it below his dignity not to do such work, and will regard it against his honour to put the females of his household out there to do what the man of the household is supposed to be taking care of.

That is why Allah says in the fifth juz:

"Men are the caretakers of women, by what Allah has given some of them over others, and by what they spend of their wealth." So why is the man called the amīr of the house, the leader? Not just because he is a man, but because of his role — he is a caretaker of his home. And because he spends from his money on all her needs, all of his children's needs, and all the needs of the home — this is the added reason for him to be regarded as a leader and given that respect.

Today we see both things not happening: men are not fulfilling their responsibility, and women are consequently saying there is no reason to respect a man who does not fulfil his role. So now you have the whole flipping of gender roles — and a father sitting there trying to raise his three-year-old is definitely not going to produce the same result as the mother. This goes against the fiṭrah, the nature Allah has created men and women with.

Allah says in the Quran:

"And We have not sent before you except men." The scholars of tafsīr write that one of the reasons why women have never been a prophet is because of what is required from a prophet: to be up front and centre, to be the general on the battlefield, the caretaker, the peacemaker, the educator, the one carrying the responsibilities of the entire nation, and to be physically present in front of the people. The scholars of tafsīr write — in books hundreds of years old — that this type of outwardly prominent public presence is not befitting for women. I know people have an issue with that. So be it. The reality is that the Quran and Sunnah are clear, and you have 1,500 years of scholarship on this.

There is a great irony when you see that 5,000 to 10,000 innocent girls and women in Palestine are being mutilated, killed, and bulldozed — with sick people lying outside a destroyed hospital, and a bulldozer comes and kills them while they are still alive — and no one cares about women's rights. Yet there will be a cover story every single day on the front page of the world's largest news outlets about girls' education in Afghanistan. If you were genuinely caring about Muslim women, I would have some faith in your empathy. But this is clearly a different agenda — to take liberal values and shove them down the throats of everyone else, to ensure that no one lives off the grid, that everyone thinks in a post-modern, liberal method. That is part of the Dajjāli era.

And today, it is not only certain non-Muslims who have this issue — it is our own Muslims from our own community who will be pro-LGBTQ, pro-transgender, pro-feminism. Now regarding feminism — there is no doubt that the flag-bearers of the rights of women have always been Muslims. 1,500 years ago, the Prophet ﷺ brought the charter of rights not only for animals, but for women as well, at a time of absolute darkness. Our Prophet ﷺ spoke about the rights of cats, dogs, nature, natural resources including water and trees — and then of course in so many instances, right up to his last khutbah, the last words that uttered from his mouth before he passed away were: "Take care of those who are subordinates to you." So no one can tell us that Islam is suppressive to women. But SubhanAllah — what has happened is that batil and falsehood has played such a trick that our own children tell us, "Islam is misogynistic, the Quran is sexist, anti-women." We have lost our own — they have been infected. These are topics that are very hard to swallow because we've been infected by this narrative.

This is the idea of gender roles that I am speaking about as well. The double-income household — let us study it honestly. How has it actually helped our homes? Right now, credit card debt in America is at an all-time high — in the trillions. People find it more difficult than ever to take care of themselves, although both are earning, sometimes both earning six figures. Life has not become easy. It hasn't brought peace in the home. Money doesn't bring happiness, my friend. There is no deen, no Sunnah — you are never going to be happy.

The disconnect between parents and children — you say you are earning money to give your children a good life. But when you are never there for them and the mother is not there for them either, and they just have ready-made frozen sandwiches and take care of themselves — those children, I promise you, would have much preferred a two-bedroom apartment where they got time, love, and attention, over a four-bedroom house where they have everything material but nothing of the heart.

Someone may say: both parents are working, but their kids got into medical school and law school. But who said that is the criterion of success? If they don't pray, if they don't fast, if they don't know how to ask from Allah, if they can't guard their gaze from harām, if they can't keep themselves away from zinā, from drinking, from disrespecting their parents — how is that success? We have completely conflated the definition of success. Everything in our community comes down to money. As long as money is made, you are successful. That is the honest truth of our community now.

We are supposed to be different. We are supposed to lead by example. We are supposed to show people that our homes are different — that we prioritise family over everything, that we prioritise the children's emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being above everything else. That needs to be the key. We've been duped — just like the exploitation of women in the entertainment and other industries was done by the most evil of men who convinced innocent girls and women that they were doing them a favour, claiming it was all about "my body, my right." Similarly, there is this whole effort to say that your success and worth are only based on how much money you make, that until you become a CEO or CFO or an extremely high-paying professional, you are worthless.

I want all of us to take this as food for thought — sit back and ask yourselves: how did society end up here? Why am I thinking in this certain manner? Do a psychoanalysis of yourself. Why do you think differently from your parents or grandparents? Why was it that pious, righteous children were the criterion of success? Someone had God-fearing, obedient children and said, "Alhamdulillah, I am so indebted to my wife." That was it, before. But now, piety is not even on the agenda — it is just: "Can they earn money?"

And that is what Nabi ﷺ said — from one of the signs of the Hour:

(Narrated in collections of signs of the Hour; see Musnad Aḥmad)

"The children will become a source of rage for their parents." Based on what we feed them and the way they are being treated, children are becoming absolutely disobedient and parents do not know how to handle that.

So the goal of a believer, now more than ever — you may not have the ideal masjid in your community, you may not have the ideal seminary or madrasa or Islamic school, and honestly most of us do not. But our responsibility is to create, to the best of our ability, the ideal environment at home. You control your 2,000 square feet. That is where your jurisdiction is as husbands and wives. We are going to ensure that our children thrive — spiritually, academically, physically, and mentally — and that they are able to handle situations outside. We are not going to allow the chatter of the outside world to influence the way we think we should raise our kids.

We need to end the disrespect between husbands and wives. All those men who do not take care of the responsibilities of the family — we need to wake up. And all those women who disrespect their husbands — you are fooling yourself, thinking you are going to get somewhere with Allah with that. It does not work like that. As a general principle, whoever does not thank people can never truly thank Allah. That is why the Prophet ﷺ mentioned:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 3895)

"The best from amongst you is the one who treats his family in the best possible manner." And your family is not just your wife — it is your wife, your children, and your parents. Many people think this only means the wife. They say, "I can disrespect my mother as long as I take care of my wife, so I'm the best person." That is wrong.

Additionally, the wife has been told: if a lady performs her five daily prayers, keeps her fasts, gives her zakāh, performs her Hajj if obligatory upon her, and obeys and takes care of her husband — she may enter from whichever door of Jannah she wishes. This was said to a lady who came and said: "Ya Rasulallah, the men are participating in all these expeditions, going out and about, being on the battlefield — how come we don't have that opportunity?" So the Prophet ﷺ gave this answer. It is not about what you want to do — it is about what you need to do. Deen is not about what you want to do.

So we have to honestly be real with ourselves — to see how we can improve at home. Forget the world; the world is going in its direction. Take care of your home.

The Verse of Modest Speech: Sūrah al-Aḥzāb

This ayah is a fundamental verse on communication between men and women who are unrelated. Allah also speaks about this in the 22nd juz, Sūrah al-Aḥzāb, the first page — which we covered last year or two years ago. Allah tells the wives of the Prophet:

"O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not speak in a soft, submissive way lest someone in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire, but speak in an appropriate manner." Khuḍūʿ means a soft, yielding tone. Allah is saying: do not speak in a manner that is seductive or soft. Because then a person in whose heart is a sickness — marad, this level of lust is a sickness — may have lustful thoughts. And this is being said about the wives of the Prophet ﷺ, who are the mothers of the believers, whom it is forbidden to marry after the Prophet ﷺ. They are mothers! Yet Allah is still warning about this in the era of the Sahaba, while the Quran is still being revealed, while the Prophet ﷺ is still alive in Madinah. How all of a sudden can anyone today think they are more pious than the Sahaba, or that a female is more pious than the wives of the Prophet ﷺ?

Allah also commands that when the Sahaba need to ask the wives of the Prophet something, they should do so from behind a curtain:

These are your mothers! Allah knows the nafs, Allah knows Shayṭān, and that is why He has made this beautiful safety net of all these interactions. So when we go to a store, or have some business discussion between a male and a female, men and women should ensure that they do not say anything that would give the other person a chance to prolong the conversation. It should be very direct — it may even sound curt, but short and to the point, and then move on. That is what we learn from this interaction.

Musa Waters Their Flock and Makes Du'ā

So Musa alayhis salam said, "Go — I'll take care of this. While I am around, it is not befitting that a man watches a bunch of women doing labour work." He took their flock, and according to some narrations, given how broad and amazingly strong he was, the rest of the people made way and moved aside. According to some narrations, he actually dug a new well immediately, some feet away, right then and there, and gave the animals water. No lingering, no chit-chatting — he did his job. Then he turned aside to the shade of a tree. He was a wayfarer — hungry, starving, thirsty, dead tired. He took shelter under the tree in the scorching heat, and what did he say?

"My Lord, indeed I am most needful of whatever good You may send down to me." This is such a profound du'ā. If Musa alayhis salam — a prophet of Allah — is faqīr, then what about you and I? How faqīr are we?

"O people, you are the ones in need of Allah. And Allah — He is the Free of Need, the Praiseworthy." Part of our faqr is that we are needy of good deeds. That is why none of us should have a day go by in which we have not amassed some goodness. Do something — on your way out, give some ṣadaqah, share some good words with someone, help someone out, recite some extra Quran. Do something. And a big chunk of that goodness is being a source of help for someone else every single day. We should have some hidden deed that no one besides us and Allah knows — quietly, under the table, assisting people without them even knowing. Without them even knowing you are helping them. That is the real ikhlāṣ — when you don't let people know you are helping them, and hence you don't receive appreciation. Or they know but they don't care to appreciate you — how do you feel about it? Does it make you angry? Does it make you upset? If you say: "That's it, I'm never going to help him again" — then where was our ikhlāṣ? The test of sincerity is that we keep on doing things without being recognised and appreciated. That is a tough pill. May Allah make it easy for us.

The scholars say this du'ā of Musa alayhis salam — رَبِّ إِنِّي لِمَا أَنزَلْتَ إِلَيَّ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَقِيرٌ — is very beneficial for anyone who is looking for two things: anyone looking for a job, for sustenance and rizq, and anyone looking to get married. Allah accepted it for Musa alayhis salam. Let us see how.

One of the Women Returns — Walking with Hayā

One of the two women came back to him, and Allah — who does not have a single extra letter in the Quran — specifically mentions her walk. Why? ʿalā istiḥyāʾ — istiḥyāʾ is the root word for hayā, bashfulness. It is as though you took bashfulness and placed it in a huge jar, and she is walking on top of it. She had the most bashful walk possible.

This is such an important point: modesty and bashfulness are not just in the scarf. They are not just in the shalwar kameeez or jilbāb. People think that bashfulness and modesty in hijab is only in specific clothing. Of course clothing is part of it, but clothing is just a part of it. Bashfulness is a lifestyle.

I was in an elevator at a doctor's office with my young daughter, may Allah protect her, and an elderly Caucasian lady, perhaps in her eighties or nineties, was there with her son. She greeted my daughter, who hid a little behind me, and the old lady said: "Oh, she's so bashful." I thought: I want to actually thank her for that. I haven't heard that word in a long time. People today would say "she's being timid" or "she's being shy." But the word bashful — this hayā — is something you will not hear this generation say. But this elderly lady from the past generation recognised it immediately as a good quality. Not being social does not mean not being confident — it means having that inner sense of modesty.

One father said to me: "Mufti Sahab, I have an eight-year-old daughter — which Quran class should I put her in? Ḥifẓ class, Tajweed class, Arabic class, Islamic school?" I said: "My advice to you is — protect your daughter from modern feminism. That is the number one thing. Everything else comes after." And he said: "Oh boy, I can't even bring that topic up at home." I said: well then, you've already lost the battle.

Part of modern feminism is the idea that the less hayā a female has, the more beautiful and attractive she is. India and Pakistan were known for their culture of hayā. I cannot believe what is coming out of late-night shows there now. Our elders would turn from side to side in their graves if they saw what is happening on public television. Even in the Bollywood films of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s — within the Hindu community — there was such a strong concept of hayā and modesty in the interaction between men and women. The beauty of a man is in his chivalry, and the beauty of a woman is in her hayā.

Hayā in the Description of the Women of Jannah

I want to share something amazing from Sūrah al-Raḥmān. Allah speaks about Jannah and mentions two higher gardens and two lower gardens in Paradise. Wherever Allah speaks about the damsels of Jannah — the ḥūr — that men aspire to, what does He speak about? He does not speak about the beauty of their skin, or seductive voices, or jewellery on their necks. He consistently — in Sūrah al-Raḥmān, Sūrah al-Wāqiʿah, and other Sūrahs — speaks about how bashful they are, how protected they are, how no man has ever touched them. Because that is what a normal human being is genuinely attracted to — a female who is bashful.

One group of Jannah will have such women who are maqṣūrāt — protected in their tents. Not the tents of this world, but outstanding, amazing, beautiful tents made of one massive pearl. They are within — no man is coming inside them; they are waiting for their husbands from the dunyā. That is one level of Jannah.

Then the next, higher level of Jannah — Allah speaks about the ḥūr of that Jannah:

"In those gardens will be such ḥūr who have their gazes lowered of their own accord." The scholars of tafsīr say: the one who has been protected inside the tent cannot be compared to the one who willingly lowers her gaze. The one who is maqṣūrāt — she is inside. But the one who is qāṣirāt al-ṭarf — she herself, out of her own intrinsic hayā, keeps her gaze lowered. There are no men in Jannah right now, yet it is intrinsic to her that she lowers her gaze perpetually. SubhanAllah — may Allah give us the understanding of this. The hayā — where has it gone? It has gone to the extent that anyone who speaks about hayā gets attacked — not only by certain men, but unfortunately the first to attack him will often be others saying, "Why are you always obsessed with women?" No — this is over 50% of the world, and the responsibility of a scholar is to address all issues of society.

Hijab Is More Than a Piece of Cloth

I asked the girls: I have an inkling that hijab is completely misunderstood — that they think it is just a piece of cloth. You will see a huge chunk of people who will throw on a dupatta or scarf with one-fourth or half of the head showing and consider that they are wearing a scarf. This is not a scarf — that may protect you from the cold, but it has nothing to do with the hijab of Islam.

"And let them draw their scarves over their bosoms." Juyūbihinna means their chest, their bosom. The scarf should not be something just tied around the neck while the chest is exposed. Rather the Quran explicitly says the scarf needs to be so large and so big that it must fall upon the chest, covering it from the gaze of others. It is not only about the hair — it is also about extending downward.

Exposing the hair is ḥarām — there is no two opinions about it. You will not find any opinion across all schools of thought that says the hair is not part of the satr. And we cannot sit there and enable people to continue down a path of sin by saying, "She's on her journey." For a born Muslim who has come from a Muslim home — if she has reached maturity, there is no such thing as a journey. It is either ḥalāl or ḥarām. If I have to sit and explain this, I'm not blaming the girls — I'm blaming the parents and the environment that has allowed this so-called journey to happen.

We also have to address the fact that Muslim organisations across America have, for the past decade, been putting out billboards, magazines, and social media content with pictures of women with their hair uncovered to promote their programmes. I cannot see how, in any school of thought, there could be any scope of permissibility for taking a picture of something absolutely ḥarām and using it for marketing purposes. We have to refrain from this.

And to all my mothers and sisters who say "I'm not wearing hijab" — by Allah, I am in no way near perfect. I am filled with flaws; all of us are filled with flaws. Maybe the way we sin is different, but we all sin. I am on my own so-called journey as well. But being on my journey, I am not going to sit there and say I have a right to commit ḥarām. If I am making a mistake, I have to acknowledge it and say: "I am wrong, please make du'ā for me, insha'Allah I will rectify this mistake." That is the attitude we all have to have.

Musa Meets Shu'ayb and Is Offered Employment and Marriage

So when Musa alayhis salam arrived, the father — Shu'ayb alayhis salam according to most narrations — said to him:

"Have no fear. You have been delivered from the people of the oppressors." After Musa alayhis salam shared and narrated to the father the whole story of how he ran away from Egypt, the father reassured him. And then one of the two daughters said:

"O my father, hire him. Indeed, the best man you could hire is the one who is strong and trustworthy." These are two qualities that we as men must have: number one — be physically and emotionally capable of your work; do not take on what you cannot do. Number two — al-amīn: you must be trustworthy; you cannot be cheating or cutting corners. If any of us has an employee with these two attributes, we have the best employee imaginable.

How did she figure this out? According to some narrations, he picked up the cover of the well — which would normally take a whole group of men — by himself. They saw he was physically very strong. And secondly, he was amīn — trustworthy. He did not mess around with them at all. He guarded his gaze, guarded his tongue, did not indulge in anything that could be deemed scandalous.

Some say that the daughter was actually alluding to the fact that he might be an appropriate spouse. But being a female with hayā, it would seem inappropriate for a girl to outright tell her father "I like this guy." The fiqh books mention that a female's sukūt — her silence — at the time of a marriage proposal is a sign of her approval. That if there is a proposal and she simply stays quiet or smiles, it is a sign of her being pleased. If she cries or shows distress, that is a sign of refusal. Not to say she is not allowed to speak up — but this is where the internal hayā of a female would naturally hold her back from explicitly saying "I like him." That is actually written in our books of fiqh for over a thousand years.

So by saying "hire him," she may well have been indicating her desire for marriage. And the father did not let the moment pass — he took the initiative:

"I wish to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine, provided you hire yourself out to me for eight years. If you complete ten years, that is from your own free will. I do not want to put you under hardship. You shall find me, if Allah wills, to be of the righteous."

Here we learn that it is not against etiquette for a father-in-law to propose to a future son-in-law. In some cultures, there is this attitude that the proposal must always come to you — "I've got the girl, they have to come to me." But it is completely permissible. Whoever sees something good should jump for it. Go for it. We misplace our hayā — where there is no need for hayā, we have it; and where hayā is actually needed, we don't have it. If you see a nice young man, there is nothing wrong with saying: "I have a daughter. I am impressed with you — the way you pray, the way you act, your character. Let us sit down and figure out if this would be a good match."

Then Musa alayhis salam replied:

"That is agreed upon between me and you. Whichever of the two terms I fulfil, I shall not come under any duress. And Allah is a guardian over all that we say." Most scholars of tafsīr say he actually completed the full ten years. And the witness is Allah — if I don't fulfil my end of the deal, Allah is going to hold me accountable. If you don't fulfil your end, Allah is going to hold you accountable. That is how it should be.

Making Marriage Easy

One important thing you hear here: during the marriage process, try to make things easy. Do not make your son-in-law's life miserable by demanding a hundred thousand in mahr. In many parts of the Muslim world, the dowry has been made so expensive that men have simply given up getting married. I have spoken to taxi drivers in the Middle East who say, "This is crazy — there is no way I can come up with two hundred thousand dirhams." Our job should be to safeguard our daughter and someone else's son from sin. Someone else's daughter is my daughter; someone else's son is my son. Let us treat other people's children like our own and not put them into hardship.

It is not just the mahr — it is all the conditions attached: "He must have this degree, that bank account, this status." By piling on all these conditions, SubhanAllah, the children end up committing so many sins along the way that mum and dad have absolutely no knowledge about. By delaying marriage, parents are forcing their children into undue hardship and sin. Most parents have no idea what their children are going through. A father may assume everything is fine with his son in his 6th year of university, while out there it is surrounded by sin on every side.

I implore the mothers and fathers to make marriage easy for their children. And I implore the young people to start speaking about it at home and to say: "I refuse to live a life of sin." You can get married and the husband lives in his house, the wife lives in hers — at least the nikāh is done. She can continue her college, he can continue his — that is fine. It is not against the Sharī'ah. But let us make the nikāh simple and easy. May Allah grant us the tawfīq for this.

Closing Du'ā

I ask Allah that He grant myself and all of us the deep understanding of all the topics we covered today. If anything was correct, may Allah allow us to truly embody it. If mistakes were made, may Allah forgive us and allow us to have a proper understanding. May Allah make every one of us a propagator of the truth and allow us to keep our foundations at home upon the foundations of the Sunnah. No matter what direction the world may go, may Allah allow us all to remain steadfast in the Sunnah — even if the number of people following the Sunnah decreases day by day. May Allah never allow us to become disheartened by how few the people are who are following the Sunnah. Ameen Rabb al-ʿĀlamīn.

Wa jazakumullahu khayran. Wa assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.

Insha'Allah, the speaker will be travelling for Umrah next week. Please make du'ā for a successful and accepted Umrah. Please continue to attend Tafsīr for the next two weeks insha'Allah. Jazakumullahu khayran.