Surah Qasas - Ep. 9 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Surah Qasas – Episode 9

Please move, come closer insha'Allah. There are no gaps in between — come forward, being mindful of those who are completing the salah, sisters as well. Those who are in the prayer hall, we ask you to sit as close as possible. May Allah reward all of you who braved the weather and have come, and may He allow you all to take back from here more than you expect. Ameen.

The Verses Being Covered Today

Allah says, after seeking refuge:

Recap of Last Week

Last week, the first verse that we covered was wherein Allah mentions that the disbelievers would say:

The disbelievers — the Meccans — would say: "If we were to follow guidance with you, we will be plucked from the earth, we will be pulled out, we will be abducted." And Allah then responds to them by saying: why are you saying things like this? Do you not see that we have provided for you a very safe haven, a protected place — and not only is it safe, not only is it sacred, haram, but يُجْبَىٰ إِلَيْهِ ثَمَرَاتُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ — the fruits of everything are brought forth to you there. I explained that "fruits" means the fruits that we eat, as well as the fruits of labor — meaning all the products that are manufactured today, all being brought to Makkah al-Mukarramah. رِزْقًا مِّن لَّدُنَّا — they are provided as a sustenance from our end. وَلَٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ — the majority of people do not understand this.

So Allah, through six ways, is refuting the statement of the disbelievers who said that if we believe in the deen, we will suffer. If we follow Islam, we will have a very difficult time. And that is the message that people think till today — that Islam will bring difficulty for us, and ease and comfort will come through not following the deen.

Following the Deen Does Not Mean a Trouble-Free Life

Now, one thing we want to make sure and understand is that when we say this is not true — that the deen will lead to destruction, or that deen will lead to being killed, or being plucked out of your land — no one should misunderstand this refutation and start thinking that following the deen will always just bring ease.

This is the interesting thing. Because following the deen comes with difficulty, as the very famous hadith: the Prophet said:

(Sahih Muslim, Book 40, Hadith 6778)

Jannah has been surrounded by difficult things, and Jahannam has been surrounded by things that the nafs likes.

So Allah refuted what they said — that if we become Muslim, we will suffer. Allah is saying: do you not already see how blessed you are in Makkah? Everything is being provided for you. But this does not mean that automatically, as soon as a person begins to obey Allah, he will start tasting the sweets and fruits of Jannah here. No. Many times we will see that when a person decides to come towards Islam, his heart insha'Allah will feel different. He will find contentment and peace in his heart. But that does not mean that his life will become easy. To the contrary, his life may actually become more difficult.

As was very clearly seen in the lives of the likes of Ammar ibn Yasir radiyallahu anhuma and his parents, and even the like of Umar al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu, and of course Bilal al-Habashi and the rest of them as well. As soon as they became Muslim, all of a sudden things just went 180 degrees and changed. Including Umar radiyallahu anhu — a man whom people would have so much respect and awe for — was being physically beaten in a sack, tied up in a sack by his uncle, on the basis of what? Because he said:

And Ammar ibn Yasir's mother, Sumayyah radiyallahu anha, becomes the first shaheed. She is one of the first ones who gave her life in the path of Allah. And the Prophet ﷺ would pass by their house, see them being tortured and punished, and he would simply tell them:

"Oh family of Yasir, I encourage you to remain patient. I promise you, the place where you and I are going to meet is going to be paradise." You have to learn how to swallow this huge difficult pill and the very challenging life that you are going through. But understand that your place is Jannah.

The Danger of Misinterpreting Our Difficulties

You know how quickly we have su' al-zann — Allah forgive me and forgive all of us — for having bad thoughts about Allah. Whenever life goes a little bit challenging, the first thing that comes out of many brothers' and sisters' mouths is: "Well, I guess this is a punishment from Allah. I guess Allah doesn't like me." These are tests. These are tests from Allah.

If there is some issue with your spouse, or some issue she or he has with you, or your parents have with you, we should be careful before we label these things as punishment. Because punishment is a very harsh word. If Allah is punishing you, that means Allah — who is most just — would never punish you without reason. If we say "this is a punishment," that means we're acknowledging that we deserve punishment. Why say that? Why bring this upon yourself? Why not simply say: this is my gateway to Jannah?

I'm just reflecting over a certain individual who reached out to me not too long ago talking about marital issues, and said: "I have no love for my spouse." No specific emotional attachment. And since there's no emotional attachment, he wanted to divorce — with three, four, or five children, and married for so many years. SubhanAllah, how ajeeb. I said: this is Shaytan's deception, that you want to leave a marriage simply because you feel emotionally unattached.

But isn't life supposed to be about love? No, life is not supposed to be about that alone. It is about do's and don'ts. Emotional attachment is secondary. That is where ikhlas comes in. Ikhlas is that you are fulfilling the rights of your spouse without being emotionally attached. Because when you are emotionally attached, it becomes also part of your shahwa — the fulfillment of your desire. The first few weeks of marriage, of course, people are not just fulfilling rights — they are doing ihsan, going 100 yards more than they need to. But that is not ikhlas. That is just the beginning phase of marriage.

Ikhlas comes in when you have difficulty, when you have ups and downs, when you start seeing things in your spouse you never expected — Allah forbid — things you never realized at the beginning. And now you hold yourself back, you do not get upset, you do not get angry, you do not try to end it. You try to be calm, collected, and deal with it in a mature manner. That is ikhlas. Because you say: this is my share. Allah decided it for me.

You heard the story of Umar radiyallahu anhu as well, where someone came knocking on his door. After a few minutes, he left. Umar went after him and said: "Did you come? Why did you not enter?" He said: "My issue got taken care of." He said: "What happened?" He said: "I have an issue with my wife. She was screaming at me, all these issues I'm having at home. So I came knocking at the door of Umar to see how you can help. But then I heard inside your home — your wife is also raising her voice." So he said: "If this is the issue at Umar's house, then I guess I've got to figure out my own home."

But the idea is — subhanAllah — this is not a license for women to disrespect their husbands. Rather, this is encouragement for the men: there are times when a wife who does so much for her husband has weaknesses, just as men have weaknesses. Some weaknesses of a woman is that she becomes emotional, and when she becomes emotional, she ends up saying things which she doesn't really want or mean to say.

All of us who are blessed to be sitting here and who have mothers — you can for sure think about all those instances when your mother said something she never meant. That is why there is a warning to mothers to be careful about not cursing their children. Because when they get angry, they may say something that may hit sa'at al-ijabah — that time when Allah accepts the du'a. "May your feet break," someone says to her son out of anger — that might hit sa'at al-ijabah, and then that du'a gets accepted. And as you all know about mothers, the child won't cry as much as the mother will cry to see her son's broken legs.

So do not call marital difficulty a punishment. This is simply our imtihan in life. Allah says:

We covered that in Surah Furqan in detail — the last verse of the eighteenth juz. Allah says: "We have made some of you a fitna for some of you." Atasbiroona — will you be patient? Or will you not be patient? What are you going to do? Wa kana rabbuka basira — Allah is watching what you will do.

So what we are saying here is that Allah has put in deen the sukoon and itmi'nan of the heart. But understand that with it comes challenge and difficulty. The difference is: if a person is angry and upset about the difficulty, that is a bigger issue than the difficulty itself. When you tell your child to take care of something — something small, like taking the garbage out — but they respond with a hump and a grumpy sound, frowning and upset, that will make you upset as a parent. Something simple and small like this, and you are making a big deal about it.

So imagine when Allah puts a little bit of burden upon us and then we start making a big deal about it. As Allah says:

In Surah al-Ma'arij, Allah says: this human being is such that when Allah gives him goodness, wealth, health, etc., مَنُوعًا — he becomes stingy. He won't give it to anyone. And when a little bit of difficulty comes, جَزُوعًا — he starts screaming, making a big deal out of it, acting as though the world has come to an end.

Allah does not like that when He chooses to send some difficulty our way, we act like we have never seen ease in our life. And Allah does not like that when He chooses to bless us, that we forget the whole world and think we need to use those blessings only upon ourselves.

Sacrifice Is the Price of Love

We also spoke last week about tadhiyah — sacrifice — when speaking about the story of Ibrahim, Ismail, and Hajar alayhimus-salatu wa s-salam. They made sacrifice. And it is upon the foundations of that family that we stand today. Because of the sacrifices that they and the subsequent generations made, we are all reciters of لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ اللَّهِ. Because of which we are sitting here studying the Qur'an, and not something else.

So understand that there is a price of love that a person has to pay. If a person claims to love Allah, then a person must be willing to pay that price. Do not think that obedience will harm you, and do not think that disobedience will benefit you. But also understand that obedience may bring about a test from Allah, and disobedience will bring about things that are mula'im — agreeable to what your nafs desires.

That is why to allow your gaze to roam around is easy — إِطْلَاقُ الْبَصَرِ سَهْلٌ — but to lower the gaze, غَضُّ الْبَصَرِ, is difficult. To allow the tongue to be involved in gheeba is easy; to hold the tongue back from gheeba is difficult. To be honest in business is difficult; to lie is very easy.

So following the deen requires a person to bite the bullet again and again and again. Let us not misunderstand this idea and think that following the deen is super simple and easy. It will be easy — as they say — for the one whom Allah makes it easy for. And what does that mean? Allah will make it easy for you to handle the sacrifice. Remember that. When Allah makes deen easy for someone, He facilitates and makes it easy to handle sacrifice. It is always going to be filled with sacrifice.

To earn halal is not easy and never will be easy. To spend only in halal is not going to be easy. To watch your gaze, to watch your ears — all of these things are difficult. But when Allah makes you muwaffaq and gives you tawfiq, then tahammul al-shada'id — handling difficulty for the sake of Allah — will become easy. Like the sahaba — many of the companions say they looked forward to the winter nights and the summer days. Winter nights so they could spend hours and hours in tahajjud, and the summer days so they could spend hours and hours fasting. We want the opposite. We love winter nights so we can sleep. That is the difference. When Allah makes it easy for someone, handling difficulty becomes easy.

Someone mentioned: today, for the sake of dunya, if a person is making good money as a professional and has to work a 16, 17, or 18-hour shift, and someone says "please cut down your hours," he says: "No, why should I? I'm earning $300, $400, $500 an hour. I am going to try to do it seven days a week now." Because he loves the money. So when it comes to dunya, people not only make so much sacrifice — they don't even want to hear someone sympathizing with them. But when it comes to matters of deen, subhanAllah, a person starts making such a big deal for a little bit of sacrifice he does. The way a person works hard for the dunya — that same level of sacrifice a person needs to bring into the deen, like the sahaba radiyallahu anhum.

Tafsir: Verse 63 — The Leaders of Misguidance Disavow Their Followers

So Allah continues to answer the objections of the disbelievers:

حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلُ — the qawl is the word; haqqa means it came to pass. As it comes in another place: وَإِذَا وَقَعَ الْقَوْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ — "when the statement fell upon them." This statement is Allah's statement and decree that this group is going to Jahannam. So when that word of doom becomes apparent upon these leaders of unbelief:

Remember that on the Day of Judgment, Allah will call out to them: أَيْنَ شُرَكَائِي؟ — "Where are my associate gods that you alleged I have?" The ulama say this calling out from far away is to show distance — how far away Allah is from this group of absolutely disgraced sinners who are headed to hell. They will be asked: "Where are those false gods you ascribed to me? Where are they?"

So we learn from here that the 'adhab of the Akhirah is not only physical torment — there is psychological torment as well. The psychological torment is to know that you are alone, that you have no one with you. Imagine a young person enticed by a smuggler who says: "Join my gang, I'll make you rich. The police chief is bought out, the airport police are bought out — don't worry." Within the first few days things are going well. But eventually he gets caught. And when he goes there, he finds out that his boss is already in jail and being beaten. That is exactly what is happening here. The followers thought the leaders would get them out of the mess — Iblis and his cronies. But on the Day of Judgment, when Allah asks where are they, they are nowhere to be seen. Instead, they are in a very bad situation.

So Allah will speak to this group of leaders. They will speak about those who followed them: رَبَّنَا هَٰؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ أَغْوَيْنَا — "O our Lord, those whom we deluded." But they mean those who claim we deluded them. أَغْوَيْنَاهُمْ كَمَا غَوَيْنَا — "We deluded them only because we ourselves are deluded." Then: تَبَرَّأْنَا إِلَيْكَ — "We disavow before You their claims." مَا كَانُوا إِيَّانَا يَعْبُدُونَ — "It was not us who they were worshiping."

So in this ayah, Allah is mentioning that the leaders will be distancing themselves from those who followed them and saying: "We did not intentionally mislead them. What happened is we gave them an offer, and our offer coincided with their own bad desires." It is like someone who was walking around and another comes up and says: "Hey, you want to rob a bank?" And the guy says: "You know what, that's not a bad idea." He was not forced — he was only offered. He joined as an accomplice of his own volition. There were a hundred other people who did not take the bait. Why did you decide to take it?

No One Can Truly Forcefully Mislead Another

From here we understand that in this world, no one can actually forcefully mislead anyone else. Instead, they can simply provide options and opportunities. But all of us are going to be judged based on our own ikhtiyar — our own choice.

Imagine a person has been given a small device that allows you to distinguish between counterfeit money and real money. He is a sales clerk at a cash register. At the end of the day, the bank finds counterfeit money in the till. The boss will not only be upset at the thief who used the counterfeit bill — he will be more upset at the teller: "You have a machine. You're supposed to check every $100 bill before you put it in the till. Why did you not use it?" So he will probably fire him.

Allah has given all of us a machine to detect the counterfeit from the real. What is that? Our intellect — our aql. It is our job to listen, to ask questions, to ponder, to reflect, and then to make a proper decision. That is why Allah says continuously:

"Do they not ponder? Do they not reflect? Do they not think? Where is your intellect?" When it comes to your job, money, car, and home, you do not blindly follow others — you sit and do all the research. But when it comes to matters of deen, why do you just turn on YouTube and follow the first person you see? When it comes to a simple oil change, so much research is done. The way Allah has given us our aql, we have to use it to figure out who is right and what is wrong.

I am remembering a story of a business owner who told me that one day his clerk came to him and said: "Boss, I made a really good deal today." He said: "What happened?" He said: "I got 50 iPads — brand new, in the box — for only $100 each." The boss picked one up. Felt like an iPad. Opened the nice packaging. And it was a white tile. He opened the next box: another white tile. All 50 boxes — white tiles in Apple boxes. أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ — where is your aql? You are buying from someone on the street who jumps out of a random SUV holding 50 iPads selling them for one-fifth of the price. This is a real story, by the way.

All the musicians today, all those Instagrammers and social media influencers — they are misleading the masses. But not only are they misleading them — it is the fools who actually follow them. This K-pop and South Korean music — what a big fitna this is. All you fathers, go speak to your daughters about this. All you brothers, go speak to your sisters. Billions of times their songs have been downloaded. And many of our girls are very excited about this filth, unfortunately — dancing to this type of content all day and all night, in their bathrooms, in their classrooms, and wherever else.

This is not sufficient to say: "Oh, he just got lost." Allah gave you and me aql. And on top of that, we have alhamdulillah the nur of wahi — divine revelation — which allows us to figure out what is going on. We are supposed to be using it. If we are not using it, then that is a problem.

Shaytan's Own Admission — Surah Ibrahim

The human being is mukhayyar — given a choice. Surah Ibrahim, ayah 22 — Allah mentions that Shaytan will give a khutbah, a speech, on the Day of Judgment:

When the decision will have been made — who is going to paradise and who is going to hell — Iblis la'een will say: "Indeed Allah promised you a true promise, and I promised you and I broke my promise. I had no authority over you. I could not force you. Don't blame me. It is just that I invited you towards the path of sin, and you chose to accept my call. So do not blame me today — blame yourself. I cannot save you, nor can you save me." And then: إِنِّي كَفَرْتُ بِمَا أَشْرَكْتُمُونِ مِن قَبْلُ — "I disown all that friendship you showed to me in the world."

All the Satanists will be in for a surprise. All those who build temples for Shaytan, and all those who lead a life of sin — they are also worshippers of Shaytan. They will all be in shock. Man, imagine how wretched Shaytan is — he knows his whole khutbah is already in the Qur'an. What exactly he is going to say. The fact that he is going to hell and will acknowledge it — it is already in the Qur'an, Allahu Akbar! Yet he chooses to remain more stubborn than anyone can imagine. This is what you call shaqawa — absolute wretchedness. What could be worse than that?

So Allah is saying that on that day, beyond the physical punishment that people of Jahannam will be receiving, there is the psychological punishment — that their leaders are not going to be able to assist them in the least.

Stop Blaming Others — Take Responsibility

If we think someone is completely responsible for misguiding someone else, understand that this is not 100% true. I remember one person telling me: "My brother is in his mid-thirties, completely off track, so many mistakes, very far from the deen. But till today my father blames his classmates from high school — 20-plus years ago." The father still says: "You were such a good kid, and your classmates ruined you." But why is it that one son chose to take the bad path and others did not? Stop blaming the company. When you blame the company, you are not allowing yourself or your son or daughter to take responsibility for the mistakes that have been made. If you do not take responsibility, you cannot address the issue.

Others have offered an opportunity for sin — and this person's internal compass was off. Some people seem predisposed to always gravitating towards the worst of two options rather than the better. If you see your young brother, sister, or child always gravitating towards the worst of the two individuals or options, you need to wake up. You cannot create a vacuum in the world where there is only good company — not possible. Anywhere, including in front of the Ka'bah al-Musharrafah, you will find good company and bad company. So we need to make lots of du'a to Allah and try to have heart-to-heart talks with this individual.

It is these types of people who many times end up becoming addicted to alcohol, gambling, or various types of drugs. And these are very big problems in our community. Gambling is a very big problem. Lives are being ruined, families are falling apart, silently — because you cannot tell a gambler when he comes to the masjid. But there are people who ask for help: "We are silently suffering because our dad is a gambler. Everything is being wasted away." The father starts off scratching a one-dollar thing at the convenience store and eventually gets completely addicted. Before you know it, everything is up for sale.

There are many Muslim brothers who appear practicing — they come to the masjid, they pray — but they have slipped into this. So be careful. If you know someone who gravitates towards the wrong company and does not use their aql — someone comes and says "you're going to get rich by playing the lottery" and they fall for it — please, get to it before it is too late.

So Allah says: those people who claim we deluded them — the only reason we may have seemed like we deluded them is because we ourselves are deluded. We just met each other at a deluded place. And then we disavow everything they claim. مَا كَانُوا إِيَّانَا يَعْبُدُونَ — "They were not truly following us." Everyone will say this when they get caught — even in this dunya, in prison everyone says: "I have nothing to do with this."

The Internal Mizan — Our Moral Compass

Allah says in the Qur'an: وَالسَّمَاءَ رَفَعَهَا وَوَضَعَ الْمِيزَانَ — "The heavens Allah has raised, and Allah has placed the scale — the mizan." That mizan is in the heart of all of us.

My dear fathers and mothers, we have to teach our children to hold the mizan tight. Teach them that the madrasa will not always be there, Islamic school will not always be there, mom and dad will not always be there. But they have to have their own internal moral compass — their own internal mizan. I believe that if every one of us can teach our children to recognize this internal mizan and learn how to utilize it, that will be very successful tarbiyah. Because we cannot ensure that they are always going to be surrounded by the best people. But we have to teach them how to use this mizan. May Allah grant parents the wisdom to teach their children, and may Allah grant their children fahm and deep understanding as well.

Tafsir: Verse 64 — Calling Upon False Gods Who Cannot Respond

Then it shall be said to all of them: ادْعُوا شُرَكَاءَكُمْ — "Cry out to your associate gods for help." So they shall cry out: "Come, come to our help! This is your chance. Remember you told us you would be available." فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا لَهُمْ — but there is nowhere to answer them. Of course, they themselves are in hell. وَرَأَوُا الْعَذَابَ — and then they shall see the hell's torment looming in front of them. لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَهْتَدُونَ — if only they had been rightly guided.

This is a very tough situation for the followers. And Allah is warning us: if we keep on going with what society says — what culture says, what community says, what cousins say — we will follow others off a cliff. FOMO, the fear of missing out — that is the biggest driving force towards sin today. "Why did you try this drug?" "Because all of them were doing it. I didn't want to be the one left out." This is how TikTok nonsense goes viral — because one tries it and says: "Come on, do it." If it means jumping off a roof, that is what they will do. If it means jumping off a moving car, that is what they will do. It is crazy how social media has created so much fitna in the world.

That is why anything and everything — from the style of a child's haircut, to the chain they are wearing, to the type of watch they want, to the shoes they want — all of it is a reflection of the influence they are taking in. If our children are very prone to taking influence from their surroundings — which most are — then today they take influence from one person, and tomorrow they will take influence from someone much worse.

That is why as moms and dads we need to be very careful of the changes we notice in our children. We should not take it lightly. Because every new change is a symptom of something they are taking in. If a student is in madrasa memorizing Qur'an, you will see how his haircut is. You will see how he wants to wear a turban, carry a miswak, wear a thobe all the time. But the same child — you send him to public school — and within three weeks his haircut has changed completely, he does not want to wear a topi even when praying, his walk is changing, the type of jokes he is making is changing, the type of places he wants to hang out is not the masjid anymore.

That should ring the alarm bell. What will happen on this trajectory by the time he reaches college? You have to quickly intervene. You have to teach him: وَلَا تَكُونُوا إِمَّعَةً — "Do not be wishy-washy." You have to be a person of principles. We are committed to principles. We do not go with the flow.

That same person you are trying to act cool with — talk about these verses of the Qur'an. Allah says in Surah Saba:

Allah says: if only you could see when the oppressors will be made to stand in front of their Lord — going back and forth at each other. The followers — the weaklings — will say to the leaders: "If it were not for you, we would have definitely become people of iman. You misled us. If it wasn't for your music, your dances, your concerts, we would not have been misled." The leaders — the influencers — will say to the followers: "Did we actually forcefully stop you from guidance after guidance came to you? بَلْ كُنتُم مُّجْرِمِينَ — rather, you are the transgressors yourselves."

The weaklings and followers will tell the influencers: "But rather — you used to plot by day and night! When you used to encourage us and push us to disobey Allah and ascribe partners to Him." وَأَسَرُّوا النَّدَامَةَ لَمَّا رَأَوُا الْعَذَابَ — subhanAllah. Asarra means to make something a sirr, a secret. Nadama means remorse. Allah says what are they going to do? They are going to take the remorse and just hide it inside — swallow it. They have no option now. It is done, it is over. When they see the punishment of Allah coming, they will hide their remorse. What a striking image Allah paints — they are going to suck up their own remorse once their eyes fall upon the 'adhab. May Allah protect us.

A lot of what is happening in the Muslim world today — the changes, the fasad and fitna, the concerts and music and clubs — naturally people point fingers at leaders. But if you think about it, all the leaders did was open up what was covered. The population, they have brains. They have their aql. They were born in Muslim countries, grew up in Muslim homes, grew up in the land of the Qur'an. Just because someone said there is a rave — who told you to run after that? Just because someone opened a mixed venue — who told you to run there? This tells you that the population had lost their ruhaniyat — spirituality — and a big chunk of their iman long ago. It was like the termites eating up a tree from inside. Then someone took an axe and hit it with one shot and the whole tree fell down. That one shot with the axe did not bring the tree down. The tree was already completely hollow from inside. And that is the Muslim society of today — not only in certain countries, but across the globe.

The Muslim society has become absolutely hollow — khali, empty. What you see is just external appearance. Internally, the iman is extremely weak. And this is why salah with jama'ah is where it is. Staying away from riba — I asked a Muslim institution that deals with halal home financing what percentage of Muslims are going through Islamic banking for their homes. I was shocked: 6%. Ninety-four percent go through a conventional riba-based loan. So we need to think about the eating of halal, the earning of halal, and leading a halal life. We are absolutely hollow and empty. Allah is just covering up our flaws from one another. Otherwise the situation of the Ummah is very tough.

So Allah is saying here that the leaders will tell the followers: "Did we stop you? Did we grab Islam out of your heart? No. بَلْ كُنتُم مُّجْرِمِينَ — you are the transgressors." And the followers will say: "But you used to plot by day and night, ordering us to disobey Allah." وَأَسَرُّوا النَّدَامَةَ لَمَّا رَأَوُا الْعَذَابَ — and they will swallow their remorse once they see the punishment. Then Allah will say: enough talking, done, time is up. And at that time they will hide their nadama. May Allah protect us.

Tafsir: Verse 65 — What Did You Respond to the Messengers?

Remember that day — اذكر — remember that day where Allah will call upon the people on the Day of Judgment, and He will say: مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ — "What did you respond? What answer did you return to the messengers I sent you?"

This is a very tough ayah for all of us. Allah will ask on the Day of Judgment: "You received so many messages from me. So many reminders, in the form of Qur'an, Sunnah, hadith, circles of dhikr, circles of knowledge, Jumu'ah khutbahs." How many Jumu'ah khutbahs have we all attended? How many khatiras, how many lectures, talks, jalsas, programs, retreats, and conferences? How many books have our eyes fallen upon? How many righteous and pious people have we met in our lives — our uncles, our aunts, our grandparents, our siblings, our parents, the musallis of the masjid? We have received so many reminders from so many people. And Allah is going to ask: "So what did you do? What steps did you take for me? What sacrifice did you do for my deen?"

And the question is: what answer will you and I give to Allah? What have we actually done for the deen? What moves have we taken for the sake of Allah? It is not sufficient that we take the mushaf and kiss it from six sides if there is no Qur'an in the life. It does not help that once a year we go perform Umrah and then take a picture in front of the Ka'bah to post on social media — that does not help. If there is no hijab in our life, no haya in our life, no halal income in my life, no salah with jama'ah or salah on time in my life — what are we doing? It is a big show. We are deceiving ourselves by thinking that by performing this ritual or that ritual, by attending this program or that program, we have somehow done our responsibility. That is not going to be our answer to Allah. Buying 50 Qur'ans and donating them to a masjid — that does not cut it. Kissing the Qur'an, keeping three tasbihs in our pocket, one in the car, one in the home — that does not count, if there is haram in our life and we are not repenting.

It is like the simple example we all hear: if someone says "I love and respect my parents," but any little thing they ask — take this dish, take the garbage out, give me a glass of water — the answer is "nope," then what respect are you claiming? Similarly, if I say I am a Muslim and the Qur'an is my dastur and the Prophet ﷺ is my mahbub, but not one sunnah is in my life — then why are we deceiving ourselves? We are in a fool's paradise. We cannot think that Allah is going to forgive us simply because of these empty, false, and useless claims. My dear friends, this does not work like that. We have to pay the price for our Jannah. And that is through sacrifice. Deen must come into our life fully. And if it is not there yet, then at least keep on constantly repenting, and make a goal that one day it will come. Our commitment needs to be to the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. If sunnah is not in our life, nothing else is going to work. May Allah give us all understanding.

All of us have chosen some little thing of deen and said: "This is my gateway to Jannah." Some of us love orphanages. Others love halfway houses. Others love humanitarian work, feeding the war-torn. Other people love donating chairs to the masjid, donating Qur'ans, supporting Hifz Madrasas, going for Umrah, going for Islamic religious tourism to Spain, Turkey, Bayt al-Maqdis. Everyone has chosen some little thing of deen. And they say: "This is it. This is my set."

It does not work like that. You do not get to choose your gateway to Jannah. You do not get to say: "Oh, I think this part of deen my nafs likes, so I am just going to do this. The rest — no." You can do all of these things. But if you do not fulfill the fara'idh and stay away from the haram, it does not count. That is where Allah wants us to pay attention. The fara'idh have to be there. The mustahabbat are great. The sunnah are great. But if the fara'idh are not present, and the haram is not out of our life, my dear friends, we are deceiving ourselves.

Deen is not about passion. Deen is not about what excites you. Deen is about what Allah and His Rasul ﷺ want from us. And that is what Allah is going to ask: مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ؟ — "What was your response when the prophets invited you?" The Qur'an says who to get married to. The Qur'an says who not to get married to. The Qur'an says how to stay away from riba. The Qur'an speaks about the establishment of salah. All of these commandments keep coming to us. When we heard these talks, did we let them pass from one year to the next? What did we do?

Recently, while going for Umrah, I saw something that really perturbed me. On the journey, I saw many Muslims — many women not wearing hijab at all. And then I saw the same people boarding the flight to Medina. And all the way on the flight to Medina, same — everyone in shirts and jeans, hair exposed. I said: we are going to the city of the Prophet ﷺ. Where is our etiquette? This is not a mustahab thing. This is haram. There are no two opinions about it. And if someone says "I'm not ready, I'm involved in sin" — but then why are you making this extra unnecessary trip? Umrah is not fard. First, take care of your fara'idh. Take care of your salah. Take care of your hijab. And if you say you want motivation — well then, you are on the flight to Umrah, so make sure you are dressed appropriately. Make sure you are praying your salah at the airport. If you are not going to pray on the way to Mecca and Medina, when are you going to pray? If you are not going to dress appropriately now, when?

This is what I am talking about — how we have been deluded. We have to bring this awareness to people. My beloved brothers and sisters, we appreciate that you want to go for Umrah and Hajj. But there are steps you need to take first. Most important: haram has to come out of our life. Not wearing hijab is haram. There are no two opinions about it. Being involved in riba — haram. Eating and consuming haram food — haram. Missing obligatory prayers regularly — haram. Listening to music — haram. Watching indecent content — haram. A person needs to get this out of their system.

Yes, going for Umrah can help bring your imaniyat to a stronger level where you can cry and beg Allah for forgiveness. If a person says: "I am going on this journey to repent from these sins" — alhamdulillah, that is okay. Write it down beforehand: "Ya Allah, on this journey I am going to ask forgiveness for these sins and I am going to try to get these things out of my system." Allah's doors are open. But deen is not about emotions. Deen is not about what you like to do. Deen is about what you have to do. And that is what Allah will ask: مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ؟

Tafsir: Verse 66 — Struck Blind, Unable to Answer

Yet because they belied the messengers, all tidings and answers on that day shall be blotted out from their minds. 'Amiyat means to be blinded. Allah is saying they will be afflicted with such blindness that they will be completely separated from the rest of the world on the Day of Judgment. They will have no idea what is going on. They will be speechless. فَهُمْ لَا يَتَسَاءَلُونَ — they shall not even be able to ask one another for answers.

Really scary. When they realize they had an opportunity to be in Jannah, but because they did not use their aql, did not benefit from wahi, and followed their nafs — now they will be in khasara, loss: خَسِرَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةَ — forever, for eternity, خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا. That is just too harsh a reality to accept. So they will be lost.

In this dunya, no matter how much you suffer a loss, there is always some recourse. We always say "that's not the end of the world" — because it is true. But in the Akhirah, it is the end of the world, and I wish it could mean death. The people of Jahannam will beg the guardian of hell — the angel whose name is Malik — saying:

"Please ask your Lord to kill us. We cannot take this punishment." And they will only be able to speak to Malik after thousands of years of screaming — no one responding. Then, just to create more ihana and dhilla — psychological punishment — Malik will say: "What do you want?" They will beg him to ask Allah to end their lives. And the answer will be: إِنَّكُم مَّاكِثُونَ — "Absolutely not. You are going to stay here forever." And then: اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ — "Stay quiet and do not speak to me." Their mouths will be sealed shut. All that emotion — they cannot even share it or vent it. Because venting helps. There is no venting. They have to allow it all to just boil inside. May Allah protect us all.

Tafsir: Verse 67 — The Flip Side: Those Who Repent

As for those who ever repent in this life, truly believe in what Allah asked them to believe, and then did righteous deeds — فَعَسَىٰ أَن يَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُفْلِحِينَ — it may well be that such people shall be truly successful in this life and in the Akhirah. On the flip side, those who do tawbah and lead a righteous life — insha'Allah they will be successful.

But Allah says عَسَىٰ — "may well be." Why? Because it depends on ikhlas. If there is no ikhlas, then iman and righteous deeds are not going to help. Sincerity is necessary for any action to be accepted and for a person to be among those gaining paradise.

Our status with Allah is equivalent to the status of our good deeds. The more good deeds, the more you can expect appreciation from Allah, as long as they are done with ikhlas. And this is something the sahaba radiyallahu anhum had in abundance.

The Companion Who Cried Because He Had Nothing to Give

A sahabi came and said: "Ya Rasulullah, I want to participate in an expedition with you." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Okay, come." He said: "Ya Rasulullah, I do not have a means of joining you. I do not have a sword, a horse, a camel — I have nothing." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Okay, what do you want?" He said: "Can you give me an animal to ride so I can participate and give my life?" The Prophet ﷺ said: "I am sorry, I do not have anything to give you." So now this person turned around — and he began to cry. Allah loved his crying so much that He mentioned it in the Qur'an, in Surah at-Tawbah:

"There is no blame on those who came to you, Ya Rasulullah, so that you could give them some conveyance, and then you told them: I do not have anything to give you. Then they turned away — وَّأَعْيُنُهُمْ تَفِيضُ مِنَ الدَّمْعِ — and their eyes were flowing with tears." Allah says their eyes, not their tears, were flowing. This is mubalagha — to show how much they cried. It is as though the eye itself was flowing. حَزَنًا أَلَّا يَجِدُوا مَا يُنفِقُونَ — out of sadness that they did not have that which they could spend.

SubhanAllah — it is not about how much you have given. It is about the condition of your heart. Not everyone is going to have money to give. But do you feel pain when you do not have money to give? Honestly speaking, we all have the means — perhaps not for huge amounts, but we all have the means for something. But unfortunately we do not give, and when we do not give, we do not feel sad about it. How often have we felt pain after missing an opportunity to give sadaqa and said: "SubhanAllah, that was an opportunity I missed. Let me try to make up for it." But the sahaba were on a whole different level. They realized their status with Allah is based on the good deeds they have. And they did not want to miss an opportunity.

The Greatest Sadaqa — Forgiving One's Honor

Another instance: the Prophet ﷺ, one morning after Fajr salah, gathered his sahaba. He turned around after praying Fajr, spoke with them, heard their dreams, answered their questions. Then the Prophet ﷺ said: "Last night — who gave such a sadaqa that it shook the Throne of Allah?" One person said: "Ya Rasulullah, I gave this." The Prophet ﷺ said: "No, not you." Another person said: "Ya Rasulullah, I was able to give this." He said: "No, not this. Who else?" Keep on. At the very end, one person said:

"Ya Rasulullah, since you keep on asking — last night I wanted to give sadaqa before I went to bed. But I looked and I had literally nothing. Not a dime, not a cent. So I did not want to go to sleep without giving sadaqa. I sat there thinking: what should I do? And I said:

'I will give my honor in charity.' Anyone who curses me, backbites me, says evil things about me, is jealous of me, or hurts me in any way — I have already forgiven them for Your sake. So that on the Day of Judgment, I will not hold them accountable.'"

If you think about it, that is by far the biggest sadaqa. Because if you hold them accountable on the Day of Judgment, you can get them into hell and get yourself into Jannah — because all their good deeds get transferred to you. And everyone will be wanting every single good deed. But now this person is writing it all off and saying: "You can swear at me, backbite me — I'm already forgiving you. I'm not going to hold you accountable." The Prophet ﷺ said: "It is this sadaqa that shook the Throne of Allah." Not what everyone else had done.

These are the sahaba — who do not have the means, but they are worried about their status with Allah, and they are making it happen. They are our role models. Always focused on how they can please Allah with whatever they have. You do not need money, political power, or financial strength to please Allah. Whatever situation you are in, make an effort to see: how can I please Allah and do something for the deen?

What a beautiful thing if we all could do this tonight. What a beautiful thing if we all made this intention in this gathering: "Ya Allah, whoever has hurt me, whoever has backbited me, whoever has insulted me — I have forgiven them for Your sake. And I will not hold them accountable." If you can do that, my dear friends, honestly we will walk away from this gathering as people who have donated enormously. And if done sincerely, insha'Allah this could be very sufficient for our own forgiveness. May Allah give you and me the willpower and strength to do this every night — to forgive those who have hurt us, and to use that as a means of gaining Allah's pleasure.

You saw that video that became viral about ten years ago — that father, subhanAllah, who came face to face with his son's killer in court in Missouri. I actually met that brother at an airport randomly overseas. He was there and I met him. I said: "Wait, are you not that brother?" And he said yes. If you have not seen it, go search for it and watch it. That speech the father gave — Allahu Akbar, it will make you cry. A father speaking to the murderer of his son — his son was delivering pizza and was killed to steal from him. And the way that father forgave him for the sake of Allah is something extraordinary. These are giants. May Allah reward the father immensely, may Allah grant shahada to the son, and through this painful thing, may Allah remove all difficulties from their family. Ameen Rabbil Alameen.

This is an inspiration for us — these things happen even till today, that people are inspired to make such bold decisions. So this sadaqa — forgiving your honor — is something we can all do.

Tafsir: Verse 68 — Allah Creates and Chooses; None Can Choose for Him

This is the sixth and final answer for those who said: "If we become believers, we are going to get plucked from Makkah." Allah says: رَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ — "Your Lord alone is the one who creates whatever He so wills." Your actions are also created by Allah. If you are afraid of people — this is shirk. Don't be afraid of people. You have become a believer — do not keep on saying "if we become a believer we will get abducted or killed." Have faith that Allah will not let you down.

Shaykh Nablusi writes a story. He says: one day I was traveling in someone's car. All of a sudden I randomly asked him a question — which I usually do not do. I said: "Mashallah, when did you buy this car?" He said: "What should I tell you?" He said: "I was going through a difficult situation and I ended up buying a lottery ticket — something like that available in Syria. I had that ticket in my pocket and I came to the masjid. And it so happened that the khateeb spoke about how this gambling and such income is haram. So I thought: مَاذَا أَجَبْتُمُ الْمُرْسَلِينَ؟ — I heard the message. How can I be carrying this around? I picked up that piece of paper and tore it. Done." And just a few weeks later, Allah opened up the doors of rizq, and he received a high-paying job, way beyond his expectations, that gave him the ability to purchase this car.

So the Shaykh reflected: "Allah proved it to you. You gave up haram as soon as you heard about it from the minbar. Why would Allah put you through even more difficulty after that? You gave up a door of haram because you felt it would anger Allah. رَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ — Allah creates whatever He wills. Allah creates difficulty for you, and Allah also creates openings for you. Allah creates ease and comfort as well."

But when you come to the masjid and the khateeb speaks about something you are doing that is haram — or you are in a halaqa and the scholar speaks about it — how do you respond? Do you say: "Man, these guys are narrow-minded. Don't they know it's 2024?" Or do you say: "Wallahi, this is true. I have got to give this thing up. I know it has been 40 years, 50 years, but I am done with it. How long is Allah going to keep giving me this chance? Let me change now." When Allah sends that message to you through a scholar, through a khateeb, through a book — what is your response?

مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ — never is it for any of them who disbelieve to choose for Allah. None of the disbelievers — neither the followers nor the followed — have any option to choose what Allah shall do, or where Allah shall send them in the Akhirah. سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ وَتَعَالَىٰ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ — Most High is He, far above all those they associate as gods with Him.

So this is the final answer to the thought that if we follow the deen, we will all fall apart. Remember the hadith of Abdullah ibn Abbas. He narrates that one day he sat behind the Prophet ﷺ, and the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2516)

"O young boy! I am going to teach you some things. Protect the commands of Allah — Allah will protect you. Protect the commands of Allah — you will find Allah at your side. When you ever ask, ask only Allah. Whenever you seek assistance, seek assistance only from Allah. And know very well: if the entire Ummah were to gather together to benefit you, they would not benefit you in the least except for what has already been written and destined for you. And if the entire Ummah gathered together to harm you, they would not harm you in the least except for that which Allah had already decreed. The pens have been lifted and the papers have dried."

That is where our aqeedah has to be. That is where our iman has to be. If I am going to follow the deen, I do not care who says what — no one is going to be able to harm me in the least. When this iman becomes weak, then you have sixty Muslim countries that cannot do anything, and 1.2 billion Muslims who cannot do anything. Because this aqeedah that Abdullah ibn Abbas was being taught by the Prophet ﷺ has become weak. We are always looking at others. We think that harm and benefit lie in the hands of the creation. But in reality it only lies in the hands of Allah. If the creation is going to harm us, it is only by the permission of Allah.

May Allah grant us all complete tawheed — the yaqeen and tawheed. Tawheed al-af'al, tawheed al-sifat, tawheed al-dhat — believing in One Allah, believing that only Allah's actions are the true actions, and that no one can partner with Allah in any of His actions. May Allah strengthen our iman. May Allah have mercy upon our brothers and sisters in Palestine, in Sudan, in Yemen, and all over the globe wherever the Ummah is suffering. May Allah bring ease and comfort. May Allah allow us to speak the truth, act upon the truth, and invite to the truth no matter what the consequences may be. May Allah grant us the conviction that the only one worthy of pleasing is Allah, and not the creation of Allah. Ameen.

Q&A Session

How to dispose of a Mus'haf that is in very bad condition?

Furqan Foundation Bolingbrook has a recycling service for these types of books and Mus'hafs as well.

How does a person deal with long-lasting guilt of sin?

A person needs to ensure that the long-lasting guilt does not inhibit them from focusing on their growth and becoming spiritually stronger. If it constantly gnaws at a person in a manner that makes them incapable of functioning, then this is not good. A person should have a firm resolve — rather, a firm expectation — that insha'Allah Allah has forgiven their sins.

A person gave up a haram relationship for the sake of Allah — what can they expect?

A person who gives up haram for the sake of Allah — yes, insha'Allah Allah will give them something greater, including the sweetness of iman and the sweetness of du'a. And insha'Allah new doors and avenues will definitely open up.

Is it bid'ah to only make du'a after completing salah?

No. Making du'a after salah is something the Prophet ﷺ did — it is his sunnah. Doing du'a loudly and collectively after every prayer all the time — that is not established. But to make du'a after salah is something the Prophet ﷺ mentioned: that is when du'a gets accepted, especially after every obligatory prayer and in the last portion of the night.

How does a person increase their sincerity?

Keep telling yourself: "I am doing this only for Allah." Say it one, two, three — as many times as you need to. And anytime you feel some insincerity has crept in, repeat: "I am doing this only for the sake of Allah," and absolve yourself of any wrong intention.

Can masah over the head be done with one hand under the scarf?

Yes, one hand is sufficient.

It is getting hard to forgive my siblings because they always hurt me.

Think of them as sick — spiritually ill — like a person who is mentally or emotionally unwell and says things that are absolutely unacceptable. Just as you would not hold a person who is bipolar, clinically depressed, or schizophrenic fully accountable for things said in one of those phases, you should think that your siblings who say hurtful things are spiritually ill and need help. Try to help them through du'a and other means, rather than sitting there thinking "how can I forgive them." That is one way you can frame it for yourself to make it easier.

Is the one-year program directed towards women of the community as well?

Yes, female teachers actually teach the classes. So you will get full attention from them. Besides one class I teach on their insistence, female teachers teach the entire program.

My heart aches when I sin and I regret it — but I keep going back to it. Help.

The fact that your heart aches when you sin is a good sign — it is a sign of iman. The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 22103)

"If your good deed makes you happy and your bad deed makes you sad, then you are a believer." Why do you keep falling into sin? Because it is addiction — a bad habit. A person is just caught in it. Resort to asking help from a specific mentor or a sheikh, and see how you can get out of that bad habit. That is all it is. You need to reach out for help — and sometimes within five, ten, or fifteen minutes you will find an answer on how to break that habit. Do not think that the fact that you keep going back to sin means you are not sincere. You are sincere — you feel guilty, you cry about it — but then you go back because you are addicted. Keep on seeking forgiveness. And do not allow that to become a barrier between you and Allah.

Does advocating for gay rights make a person a kafir?

Making someone a kafir is a very big issue — it is not something to be taken lightly, and it is not in my hands or your hands to do. Ulama are extremely careful in labeling someone a kafir. We will try to find every avenue to keep a person within the fold of Islam, because it does not help our cause to declare people kafir. If someone is confused about this matter, we see how they can be explained and enlightened about it. Is advocating for these rights something we would encourage? Absolutely not. But there are ways to look at a situation that do not necessarily take a person out of the fold of Islam. What I can say clearly is that this is something we would not do, nor encourage others to do.

If a person's business partners are involved in riba, should we continue doing business with them?

No. We should try our best to ensure that our business is 100% riba-free. If our business partners are involved in it, then that filth comes on to our end as well.

How do I make my family more religious?

Number one: du'a. Number two: your own good character. Number three: try to bring some athkar and good deeds into the home. Reading Qur'an aloud at home. Doing dhikr — if possible, aloud. Praying salah with jama'ah at home when you cannot go to the masjid. Doing ta'lim at home. Ta'lim is very beneficial. Hayat al-Sahaba by Shaykh Yusuf al-Kandhlawi is a very beautiful book to read. Any book of hadith with good explanation — reading that at home — the barakah will come into the house, insha'Allah. And without you even directly speaking to your family members, through the barakah of ta'lim, goodness will spread in the house.

Is it disrespectful to joke with your teacher?

Imam al-Ghazali actually writes about this in his Bidayat al-Hidayah — about the etiquette with the teacher. Everything has a place and a maqam. Even the sahaba joked with the Prophet ﷺ at times. There are limits and a proper method. As long as a person knows those limits, it is acceptable.

Closing Du'a