Surah Qasas - Final Session - Ep. 12 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Surah Al-Qasas — Final Session: The Story of Qarun, the Perspective of Knowledge, and the Path to the Akhirah

This is the final section of Surah Al-Qasas, the Surah of Stories, and this is the final story of the man who has been tested by — or we can say, in this case, punished by — wealth in this world. And we wouldn't use the word "blessed," because you see how it brought him down and destroyed him. So Allah in this section here is not only speaking about how wealth destroys — how wealth, when not coupled with proper deen and iman, can destroy a person.

And in the story of Fir'aun, how immense power can destroy a person, creating such arrogance within him. In the story of Haman, how being close to the king, being a powerful general in the army of Fir'aun, having his own troops under his command, and being a minister did not help him. Instead, the one and only Musa عليه السلام — with his knowledge and with his iman — became victorious.

So that's one very obvious point that is being shown here. But another really beautiful and important point that's going to become quite apparent for all of us, insha'Allah, is the matter of perspective. A person who has the knowledge of deen is given a unique perspective. Allah gives him basira, Allah gives him foresight, Allah gives him light in his heart, whereby he is able to see things in a manner that the person next to him will not see. And we'll get to that in the next ayah.

Qarun Comes Forth in His Pomp

So here we have:

He came forth to his people in all his pomp and show, and he had a huge entourage. Such a large entourage that just carrying — he needed a strong group of between about three to ten people, just to carry the keys to open up his treasures. That's how much wealth he had.

The Danger of Materialism — A Call for Self-Assessment

So all of a sudden, those people who are materialistic — now if you think about it, this is scary. All of us should honestly assess our own selves. Do we fall into this category of materialism? Do we desire wealth over akhirah? Do we desire dunya over jannah? Do we desire tawfiq to be able to worship Allah? Or do we desire abundance in material things?

If you remember one of the du'as that we read last week:

O Allah, when you grant happiness and contentment to the people of the dunya with their dunya, then grant me contentment with Your worship. So there are two types of people. What makes you happy? What makes you content? What is your heart's desire?

So when you ask yourself these tough questions — if you were to read, for example, Imam Ghazali's Arba'een, and if you were to read Fada'il as-Sadaqat of Shaykh Zakariya al-Kandhlawi, may Allah have mercy on him — and any of these books, the Kitab al-Zuhd. A person, honestly I tell you, will feel like a hypocrite. When you read that, you'll feel so guilty. You'll feel like, oh, how am I going to face Allah عز وجل? Reading this makes me feel not doubt, but rather certainty that I am a hypocrite. That I have nothing — nowhere am I where I need to be. Rather, my heart is absolutely filled with the love of material things. And I have deceived not only other people, but I have deceived myself, into thinking that I'm a man of God, that I'm a man of Allah, that I'm a man of the Qur'an, a man of the Sunnah.

And that's the sad part — when you realize that you deceived yourself. When reading these books, it is so important for you and I to constantly keep one of these books by our bed and read through them. The Kitab al-Zuhd — there are so many different ones — but this whole section of zuhd is something that is so important for us to read. I give you the example of the Arba'een of Imam Ghazali, which is taught here in the weekend program as well. It will give you the main rules and main principles by which you live your life. When you go into the section on Tazkiyat al-Nafs — what are the main pitfalls of the human being? And how does his nafs overtake him? Reading that will make us realize that we need to work on ourselves. And that self-assessment, which is very hard, can become a little bit possible when you start reading these types of things.

The People of the Dunya: Desiring What Qarun Had

I was just saying — who is the materialistic person? Who is the "dog of the dunya"? As it is mentioned in hadith — who is the dog of the dunya? No one likes to be called the dog of the dunya. No one wants to regard himself as materialistic. Allah says, the materialistic person, when he sees someone with a lot of wealth, says:

"Oh, how I wish we would have what Qarun was given. Indeed, he is of magnificent fortune." Now, if all these people knew what was going to happen to Qarun, of course they wouldn't have said that. So you can say — maybe you're sitting here listening to this, and you say, "Oh, you know what, brother, I would never desire what Qarun has." Yeah, you know what? You actually know what happened to Qarun — that's why you're saying that. The whole story is there.

But just say, you don't know what's going to happen — like the people who said this, they don't know what's going to happen to him the next day. And all those people that social media promotes, and that society promotes — this whole industry of luxury, luxury, luxury and dunya — these influencers and all that stuff that show: if you have jewelry, if you have cars, if you have a phone, if you have X, Y, Z, business class — then you're living it up, you're enjoying life. This continuous, continuous vlogging of people's lives.

And unfortunately I must add also — people who have turned towards deen from being away from deen. SubhanAllah. But then they use the deen now to vlog about the luxurious life, which I think is honestly very disgusting. Because you're trying to bring people to the deen by continuously showing off your materialistic lifestyle. What happened to the poor youth, and the average man or woman, who's so amazed at this person — this rock star, this sports star, this whatever — who has changed his life? Focus on deen, focus on sunnah, but do not bring people's attention towards your own test, which is your wealth and your prominence.

But this is how shaytan gets to us. He's thinking — or she's thinking — I'm doing the work of deen by showing you my five-star hotel, by showing you my business class seat, by showing you this beautiful car that I'm driving in. How is this the effort of deen? How does this have anything to do with deen? Instead, it makes people — whatever they have — ungrateful for the blessings of Allah. Be mindful. Do not fall into this trap of watching and listening to these types of things, in which, through subtle images and in a very subtle manner, dunya is being promoted.

The Simplicity of the Prophet ﷺ

Let me tell you — the opposite of this is Rasulullah ﷺ. Look at our beloved Nabi — how simple his clothing, how simple his dressing, how simple his food. As one time someone asked Haji Shaykh Zakariya رحمه الله — what was the sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ? Did he used to eat sweet before the meal or sweet after the meal? For example, in Gujarati culture, the sweet is presented first — halwa, suji is presented first. So maybe that was the reason. So he said, what is the sunnah method? Did Rasulullah ﷺ eat sweet first or sweet afterward?

He said — what are you saying? The sunnah of Huzoor was fasting. He said, what type of question is this? The sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ is al-ju' — hunger. That is the sunnah. The sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ is to continuously have — from months upon months — no food being cooked at home. That is the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. Here you are asking whether he had a first course, second course, third course, when did he get dessert? So far away from the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ.

So Nabi ﷺ didn't have material things. One day someone gifted him a very nice piece of cloth — a nice qamees or shawl of some sort. And so Nabi ﷺ was wearing it. Now imagine, if I were to also wear a nice new jacket, everyone would say, mashaAllah. At least my students would say, "Mufti Sahab, mashaAllah, nice topi, nice this, that." So Nabi ﷺ is wearing this qamees, and the Sahaba رضي الله عنهم are attracted to the beauty of it — mashaAllah. No one's being jealous. This is your Nabi. You're so happy that your Nabi looks so amazing.

He notices that the Sahaba are looking at him. Immediately the Prophet ﷺ did not like the fact that they're paying attention to his clothes. What happened? Instead the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2475; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2468 — on the virtue of Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and his status in Paradise)

Listen — Sa'd has already passed away, become shaheed, he's in Jannah. If only you were to know: the handkerchief of Sa'd in Jannah is far superior than the whole world or whatever it contains. Why are you sitting there looking at my shirt? For one moment's sake, he did not want his Sahaba to be focused on anything of this dunya. Even if it means his own beautiful clothing that someone had gifted. No — why are you looking at me? I want you to think about the akhirah. Don't fall for this. When you get to Jannah, even your handkerchief — that in this dunya you would use to clean your nose — is better than the entire world and whatever it contains.

So my dear friends, we have to be very careful. Do not allow ourselves to fall into the trap of people who apparently represent Islam with their names and with their positions, but who may be very subtly putting into our hearts the muhabbat of dunya. And you have to know about that. You have to see through the lines. And you have to ask Allah for protection from falling into that trap, and ask for hidayah for those who have already fallen into this trap.

Signs of Being a Person of the Dunya

So now — how do you know if you are a person of dunya? This is the question. Allah says that the people of the dunya, the people who are materialistic, when they look at people who have wealth, they wish and desire the same. That's it. How many of us have not already fallen into this category? Think about it. How many of us, when we see someone who's got dunya, say: "Man, mashallah, I wish I had that car, I wish I had that home, I wish I had this, I wish I had that." These wishes.

And at the same time, when we see someone who's giving in the name of Allah, or who is performing salah regularly, or we hear about someone who is attentive to the sunnah — what happens? Do we have the same desire? "Ya Allah, allow me to be from amongst those who do miswak regularly." We say, "Man, you're stuck on this wood stick? What's wrong with you? Look at these things. You guys are so superficial." Instead of being inspired by someone who follows even the smallest details of how did the Prophet ﷺ wear his shoes — he would put his foot into the left shoe, then wear the right shoe, then the left; and when removing them, first take out the right foot, then the left.

Someone was recently telling me about one of the ulema of the recent past, and he attributed this story to Mawlana Ilyas al-Kandhlawi, may Allah have mercy on him. He said that towards the end of his life, he was on a stretcher of some sort, being brought to the masjid, lying down — very, very weak. But when his stretcher was brought to the masjid, even as he was lying down, he made sure that he brought in his left foot and kept his right foot out on the stretcher. And when leaving on the stretcher, he brought his right foot in and kept the left foot out. Through ishara — to simply symbolize that if he were walking, he would put his left foot first when leaving the masjid, and his right foot first when entering. These people, who love Rasulullah ﷺ — the average person today will say, "He's crazy. What's wrong? Look at the big picture." My friend, there is no bigger picture than this. This is it.

If you want to follow someone, follow someone who follows the sunnah to the T. Every single thing. And if you want to become someone, there is no one you can become greater than by following Rasulullah ﷺ. And whatever Allah عز وجل says:

There is a beautiful example for you in the life of the Prophet ﷺ. He didn't say, "There is a very powerful speaker, a great orator, a great scholar." The Prophet ﷺ lived a practical life. That practical life is what we have to follow. Although shaytan is misleading us to think that there is something greater than the sunnah. There is nothing greater than the sunnah. And there is no such thing as a small sunnah. If it is of the Prophet ﷺ, it is huge. If it is not of the Prophet ﷺ, then even their vision is useless. The Prophet's ﷺ vision is the greatest vision. And the Prophet's ﷺ method of sleeping is the greatest way to sleep. Every aspect of the Prophet ﷺ is the only way — the only way — that a human being can attain success in this world and the next. And if a person doesn't believe that, his iman is incomplete.

Materialism in Marriage Choices

So here Allah is saying, the people of the dunya are those who desire the dunya regardless of how someone is getting it. You heard someone cheated the system and became a millionaire during COVID. You heard of another person who cheated through some other way and became a millionaire overnight. We hear about this all the time. How often does a person say:

"May Allah save me from this type of disgusting haram wealth. This 'adhab, this musiba is going to destroy my home. I would never want a dime of that." And how often does a person look at that and say, "Can you figure out how we can get in on this?" People also want to get into the whole scoop. Where do we get in? How do we buy in? What's the latest way to get in? My dear friends, if we think like this, if we desire like this, then we are like the same group of people — that we don't care where the money comes from; it's just got to come. Whether halal or haram, it's just got to come. This is what we're speaking about: the people of the dunya.

Allah says: إِنَّهُ لَذُو حَظٍّ عَظِيمٍ — "Indeed, he is of magnificent fortune." The people of dunya are the ones that when they look at someone who's got dunya, they say, "This man is one lucky man." Apply the Qur'an to today. You're getting a chance — you've got two or three proposals for your daughter. What are you choosing? What did the Prophet ﷺ say? For both — for the wife and for the husband, for the family of the girl, for the family of the groom — both hadiths speak about choosing the person of deen.

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1084)

"If someone comes to you whose deen and character you are pleased with, then marry him. If you do not do so, there will be immense chaos on the earth and widespread corruption." That's what's going to happen. The doors of zina are just going to be wide open. Everything else will be falling apart. Because people's reasons for marriage will be dunya. We ask Allah عز وجل to protect us from this type of mindset.

The Perspective of the People of Knowledge

Allah سبحانه وتعالى says on the flip side of it:

"And those who were given knowledge said: Woe to you! The reward of Allah is far better for the one who believes and does righteousness. Yet none shall receive it except for those who are patient."

Notice here, Allah is speaking about ru'ya — the worldview has changed. This is what I was saying — one of the key takeaway points from the tafsir of these ayahs. You have two world views. One is the worldview of the average materialistic person, who says: if it's money, that's all good, that's all we care about. The other — going against the grain of society — are the people who have ilm. And these people say: no, no, no, no. First figure out where did this money come from. And is this money leading them to deen or leading them away from deen? If it's leading them away from akhirah, we want nothing — nothing — to do with this. If it's, mashallah, helping them in their akhirah, then by all means — that's something enviable.

What Is the Knowledge Referred to in the Qur'an?

What knowledge will allow you to see the big picture of the akhirah? What knowledge will allow you to look right through the bling, through the flashy cars, and flashy jewelry, and flashy material things? Many brothers and sisters have a misunderstanding of the word ilm from the Qur'an and hadith. They think that anywhere the virtue of knowledge is mentioned, that refers to knowledge of dunya. Just get a degree from a university or college, and then you will become a talib al-ilm in the eyes of Allah, and all the virtues of talib al-ilm will apply to you. Do we not hear this? Yes, this is the norm.

Now you tell me — if someone has even a double PhD from MIT, Oxford, and Harvard, do you think he will have this worldview? Do you think he will be able to see through the wealth of the people of dunya and say, ثَوَابُ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ — "The reward of Allah is far better than all of this dunya?" Will he have that view? Of course not. Because that worldly knowledge we're gaining, of course it helps you get a job, but it just does not allow you to see the big picture of the akhirah at all. Instead, the purpose of that education is for us to become good, obedient workers in the capitalistic system. And that's it. Earn, spend, enjoy yourself — rat race until you die.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى says:

Only the ulama can fear Allah properly. No one else can have fear of Allah besides ulama. Again I ask you — can that word ulama there mean an average person who goes through college and university, who without studying the deen, not once ever attended a halaqah of ilm, not once ever attended a class of ilm, and has got every degree you can imagine? You're telling me, because the Qur'an can't be wrong — Allah is the most truthful — Allah says there's no one who's more afraid of Allah than the ulama. How can this verse apply to that? This ayah proves to us that the word ilm in the Qur'an and sunnah is not referring to ways of earning money, which is pretty much what sums up the worldly world. Yes, one third of the Qur'an is about nature, about the qudra of Allah. But unfortunately that's not how sciences are taught today.

So many years of education in the sciences do not unfortunately infuse within a child the true love of Allah and His Rasul ﷺ. Because the methodology of teaching is incorrect, and the deen of the instructor themselves is weak. So it's something we have to reflect upon — how our educational system is. We wonder why we are losing our children. Because our children, for the vast majority of their time, are not at home. They are going through the educational system. But if the educational system itself is poisoning our kids, how do you expect a clean child with a clean mindset to come out at the end of it? It's not going to happen.

The Purpose of Islamic Education — An Islamic Worldview

So what we need to do, then? If we want to have the proper vision, we all have to seek ilm of deen. Many times I get asked about our Tanweer program, or our summer intensive — what are the goals? What are you trying to achieve? And beyond all the sheets and flyers, the purpose of any of these programs is to give you an Islamic worldview. This is it. You might forget your Arabic after six or eight years. You might forget the seerah after reading it once. But insha'Allah, if you walk away with the proper Islamic worldview — whether you end up at the helm of a Fortune 500 company, as a judge, as a secretary of a governmental body, as an entrepreneur, or as a head of a medical department — alhamdulillah, if you have the proper Islamic worldview, you will be able to get the best out of that position and serve Islam the best through it.

But if you do not have an Islamic worldview, then all the money that you earn and all the positions that you have will not give any level of success to Islam. And we see that today. Walk around and you see Muslims in very high positions, especially in hospital systems and medical schools, mashallah. You'll see names of Muslims all over. But subhanallah, what benefit have we seen for the vast majority? Because the Islamic worldview is missing. And when that's missing, a person will just merely become a slave of the dunya. We do not want to create our sons and daughters as slaves of this dunya. We want the dunya to be their slave. We want the dunya to serve the akhirah through them.

The Statement of 'Ali رضي الله عنه on Knowledge vs. Wealth

When Allah loves someone:

(Referenced in classical works of zuhd and tazkiyah; attributed to various narrations)

When someone is beloved to Allah, Allah grants them knowledge. We notice a very famous and beautiful statement of 'Ali رضي الله عنه. He compares wealth and knowledge and says:

First: Ilm will protect you while you have to protect wealth. Second: Wealth decreases when you spend it, while knowledge increases the more you spend it — meaning, the more you teach, the more you get. Third: The custodians of wealth — their hearts have died while they're still alive; they're soulless people. And the ulama live as long as the world lives. Their bodies may go away, yet their memories remain firm in the hearts of the people.

MashaAllah. Who is sitting there lamenting over the loss of a wealthy person a thousand years ago? But subhanAllah, the ulama — they're gone, but look at the libraries. They've left so much khayr for us. We're sitting here reading about 'Ali رضي الله عنه وأرضاه right now.

The Four Categories — Become One of Them

A person needs to understand that our children need to have that level of ilm by which they can differentiate right from wrong. One hadith is mentioned:

(Referenced in classical works; similar wording attributed to Ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه and reported in al-Mu'jam al-Kabir of al-Tabarani)

Become a scholar, or become a student of knowledge, or become someone who listens attentively, or become someone who loves knowledge and the ulama. And do not become from the fifth category — otherwise you will be destroyed. What is that fifth category? أَنْ تُبْغِضَ الْعِلْمَ وَأَهْلَ الْعِلْمِ — to harbor hatred and grudges against knowledge and the people of knowledge.

May Allah protect us. To sit there and say, "The problems of the world are because of the scholars." Are there no bad apples? Of course — in every profession there are bad apples. And there are definitely bad apples within the scholarly class. They're insincere people, they're materialistic people. At the end of the day, they're humans, and they are as prone — if not more — to attacks of the nafs and shaytan as anyone else. But through the mistakes of one scholar, a person should never make a disparaging remark against the entire class of ulama. Because this hatred for ilm and ulama may become the reason — according to the hadith — that a person is destroyed.

We have only four options: become a full-time scholar, become a full-time student of knowledge, become someone who attends classes regularly and listens attentively, or become someone who loves them and supports them. As a Muslim community we have to decide — if we want our future generation to survive, we have no option but to ensure they are Islamically educated. And that education requires not only teaching on a board, but education through mahol and environment. So much a person learns through osmosis. Until and unless we do not give our children a good environment, no matter how many facts they memorize, the true mizaj and temperament of deen they will not be able to gain.

The Destruction of Qarun — A Lesson for the Earth

Allah says next:

Then We caused the earth to swallow him up, along with his home. He had no company to help him apart from Allah, nor was he one of those who could help themselves.

Allah explains to us that once in a while, He brings the punishment right here in this dunya for people to learn the lesson. If all punishment was deferred to the akhirah, it would be very hard for us. But alhamdulillah, we have cases like these where people can learn a lesson in this dunya as well. Every time you read a story where someone who became a thorn to the Muslims, and Allah destroyed him — that becomes a place of ibra, a lesson. Those who disobeyed Allah, if they had a bad ending, a person who witnesses that will say: may Allah protect us from this. That's why, once in a while, Allah does that — He brings their ending right in front of us.

The Accusation Against Musa عليه السلام — A Timeless Trap of Shaytan

If you remember from last week — Qarun had accused Musa عليه السلام of zina, just to make him lose his face in front of the community. This is the old trick. We have to be really careful. This Me Too era, in one sense, was a wake-up call. That's why all of us are supposed to be watchful. Someone was telling me that one mufti sahab was giving advice to his students, saying: when any sister asks for consultation, write an email and give them a time that if they need to call you, they can call at this time. But never initiate the call yourself. Because it's in writing that you gave the appointment and they called. This is the basira of our ulama — the foresight to protect themselves from mawadi' al-tuhmah, places of accusation.

It's mentioned: اتَّقُوا مَوَاضِعَ التُّهَمِ — stay away from places of accusation. It's our responsibility. We are living in an era where anyone can claim anything. For all our interactions with the opposite gender, make sure you are in as public and as safe a location as possible, with cameras, with witnesses. Less someone stands up and accuses you of something.

This is the old trick of shaytan — to accuse people of deen and people of leadership in deen, to get them to fall into some sort of mess, and thereby mislead the masses and make people lose trust in scholarship. So Allah in front of everyone brought down Qarun with all that wealth, and all the wealth of this world was not able to save him.

Those Who Had Desired His Place Now Reflect

Thus by morning, all those people who had longed greatly to be in his place — those who were saying "Oh, we wish we had the money of Qarun" — they now said: "Ah, indeed it is Allah alone who expands the sustenance for whomsoever He wishes, and He restricts it for whomsoever He wishes. Alhamdulillah, Allah did not give us that type of money, because if we had that type of money, more than likely we would not have this level of taqwa — this even teeny bit of iman — because wealth corrupts. Wealth corrupts. And that type of wealth coupled with taqwa and iman is very, very, very rare." The disbelievers will never become successful.

My dear friends, our soft bed makes it hard for us to make it for Fajr — just that one small little thing. Nabi ﷺ — what did he do? He would get upset at Hafsa رضي الله عنها when she took his simple leather mat and folded it double, just so it would have a little more thickness. And the Prophet ﷺ got upset — why are you doing that? Because it makes it challenging for a person to wake up in the night. Now imagine if a person is surrounded with countless billions, with hundreds of people waiting to fulfill his every wish, with governments listening to whatever he says. How hard is it at that time to follow the deen? Today, just a little bigger home, a little more distance from the masjid, a little promotion at work — it's hard to come to the masjid. Can you imagine what it means to have the wealth of Qarun? How hard it is? The Qaruns of today — how hard it is for them. So it's not something enviable by any means.

The Abode of the Hereafter — For the Humble and the God-Fearing

Such is the abode of the Hereafter — We have made it only for those who do not desire exaltation in the land, nor corruption. 'Uluw means exaltation. Fasad means corruption. Those who do not want exaltation on the earth nor corruption — those are the people who will have the akhirah. And the ultimate successful outcome is for those who have taqwa within their hearts.

Why is that تِلْكَ — "that" (far away)? That is to show the greatness of the akhirah. Allah is trying to show the lofty status of the akhirah. And where Rasulullah ﷺ says — that Allah says:

I have prepared for My dutiful servants what no eye has ever seen, what no ear has ever heard, and what no heart has ever imagined. SubhanAllah. Whatever you think Jannah is — it cannot be. Because Rasulullah ﷺ himself is saying: I created Jannah in such a manner that no human being has ever imagined it. So whatever is going through your mind is not what Jannah is. Jannah is something far superior to that.

No soul can ever know what Allah has prepared for him that will become a source of coolness and contentment for the eyes — أُخْفِيَ — it's been hidden in this world. It is not known.

So Allah is mentioning here that humility is the key to the akhirah. If you want success in the akhirah — humility. When a person has this type of arrogance — kibr — he can only have exaltation here or in the akhirah. If you want to cash out here, you're not going to get the high status in the akhirah. But whoever humbles himself for Allah:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2588)

Allah will elevate him in the akhirah.

The Prophet ﷺ Chopping Firewood

It is mentioned that once Rasulullah ﷺ was traveling with the Sahaba. They needed to have their meals, so the Prophet ﷺ gathered them together and said, let's distribute the khidmah responsibilities. One companion said, عَلَيَّ ذِبْحُ الشَّاةِ — "I will take responsibility of slaughtering the animal." Another said, عَلَيَّ سَلْخُهَا — "I will take responsibility of skinning the animal." Another said, عَلَيَّ طَبْخُهَا — "I will take responsibility of cooking it." The Prophet ﷺ said:

"I will take responsibility of gathering the firewood." The Sahaba said, يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ نَحْنُ نَكْفِيكَ — "We are here, we will suffice you, please relax." The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Referenced in Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' and works of seerah)

"I know you all are there to help me and you will suffice me. However, I dislike to have a special aura around myself. I do not want to make myself stand out from the rest of you. Indeed, Allah dislikes from His servant to see him stand out amongst his companions." La ilaha illa Allah. And in one narration, the Prophet ﷺ told the Sahaba two things: "You are not physically stronger than I am, nor am I any less in need of reward than you are."

Why should we regard it below our dignity to do khidmah? Khidmah in the masjid, khidmah at home, khidmah for an old lady in a parking lot. You should never think that you are beyond this. And as soon as a person starts feeling this, that's where the real issue arises — the nafs has become too big.

The Definition of Arrogance

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 91)

A person who has an iota of arrogance cannot enter Paradise. So a man said, "Ya Rasulullah, what about someone who likes to have good clothing and good shoes?" The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 91)

Yes, of course — Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. However, the arrogance I am speaking about is: batar al-haqq — to deny the truth when you know you're wrong and someone else is on the truth, but the ego comes in — "How dare you correct me? I am XYZ." And ghamt al-nas — to look down upon people, to despise people. The sign of arrogance is when a person cannot accept that he is wrong. And number two, when he looks down upon others.

The Sunnah at the Table — Humility in Eating

The Prophet ﷺ — his habit was, when he would eat food from a container, he would lick it clean with his fingers. Now think about that. In our culture, you cannot finish up the plate — you have to leave food in the plate. What are people going to say? The sunnah is that you lick it clean, nothing left, and then lick your fingers clean before washing them. Nothing gets washed away.

This reminds me of the story of Hudhayfa رضي الله عنه when he was sitting with a delegation at the table of the Persians. They served food, and a morsel fell to the ground. Hudhayfa رضي الله عنه picked it up, cleaned it, and ate it. His companions looked at him as if to say, "Not here, not in front of these people." So he said:

Do you expect me to leave the sunnah of my beloved for these fools? Anyone who doesn't have a sunnah in his life is a fool. I don't care who you are. So they're miskeen. Why should I leave the sunnah of my Habib ﷺ to impress someone? Look at what has happened to Muslims today — so much inferiority complex. Colonized minds and hearts. People are ashamed of following the sunnah. They would much rather follow the table manners of XYZ, but not the table manners of the Nabi ﷺ.

And you know what, my friends — they say: what is the antidote to Dajjal, besides Surah Al-Kahf? What is it generally speaking? Sunnah. That's the antidote to Dajjal. As long as a person is following the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ, insha'Allah he'll be protected.

The Abode of the Akhirah — For Those Who Avoid 'Uluw and Fasad

So now when you have fights in homes, fights in the masjid, fights in communities — make sure you're from the category of those who say: I don't want 'uluw on the earth, and I don't want fasad. I want nothing. I want exaltation in the akhirah. So even though I may be right, let me stay silent sometimes. Because sometimes speaking up doesn't help. A person says, "Fine." A person can be smeared left and right, but eventually حَصْحَصَ الْحَقُّ — through time, the truth becomes apparent. It might not happen overnight, but it takes time.

So Allah عز وجل tells us — things may move on in life. Today dhulm is happening, dhulm is happening, dhulm is happening. Unbelievable oppression. The strong are becoming stronger, the weak are becoming weaker. It's going to go on and on. الْعَاقِبَةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ — don't worry. At the end, the final result is going to be for the people of taqwa. You just have to wait. You got on the road to get to work. There's a heavy traffic jam on your side. The other side — going in the opposite direction — is completely empty. How many of us would be tempted to go the wrong way? Who cares how open it is? You have to get to work in the north — why would you go south? So the path of the truth, the path of sunnah, no matter how difficult it may look — this is the only path.

Fortifying Our Iman for the Trials Ahead

My dear friends, we need next-level resilience. Next-level iman. Otherwise we are not going to handle it, I promise you. No one's going to handle it. They're going to say, "I'm done with this." Today, they're coming after people's jobs, their scholarships, their livelihoods for saying one or two things. That never happened before. This is a new phenomenon.

I'm not trying to scare you. I'm trying to tell you the storm is coming. The best thing is to learn how to fortify yourself, to protect yourself from the storm. If we do not teach ourselves and our children next-level strong iman, strong identity, belief in the akhirah — our generations will not last. Because the price you will have to pay to remain a believer will be so high. You have to understand what is at stake. And then only then will you be willing to pay that price.

That's why Nabi ﷺ said — a time will come that a man will pass by a graveyard and say:

(Referenced in Musnad Ahmad and other collections)

"I wish, Ya Allah, I could be in place of this dead man inside his grave, and we could switch spots." Because it will be so hard to remain a Muslim — a person will be scared that though he's a Muslim today, by nightfall he might not remain one, because of how challenging the pressures are. Can you understand what I just said? A person is so worried that he won't be able to remain a Muslim, he's wishing he could switch spots with someone who already died as a believer.

So this is the du'a that we should remember:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 23286)

"O Allah, when You intend to put a nation into fitna, then pull me back to You being protected from fitna." If we do not start making an effort at home, we don't know what's going to happen. Things are changing so rapidly. Let's fortify ourselves.

Continuation of the Surah — Whoever Comes with a Good Deed

Whoever comes forth having done a good deed — sustaining true faith in Allah alone — then he shall have far better than it as a reward in Paradise. And whoever comes forth with an evil deed, then let it be known that those who do the evil deed shall not be recompensed for other than all the evil they were doing in this life.

In this ayah, a few beautiful points. This is the honor of Allah, this is the justice of Allah, this is the generosity of Allah. No matter how great of a good deed you do, the reward will always be greater. No matter how great a deed — if you spent all your money, all your time, all your life, all your blood for the service of deen and Muslims and humanity — the ajar and reward waiting for you will far supersede whatever you have given. Because al-'ata' binisbat al-mu'ti — the gift is based on the one who is giving, not the one who is receiving.

Who are we dealing with? When we are doing a good deed, we are dealing with the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the sun and the moon, of all seasons — the One who controls all of our heartbeats, all of our lungs, all of our organs. That all-powerful Allah — Qahhar, Jabbar, Al-Ghalib — we are dealing with Him and doing good deeds for Him. So imagine when He wants to reward us, what type of ajar are we looking for?

This is what is mentioned by Akhtham ibn Sayfi, known as the wise sage of the Arabs. He says: خَيْرٌ مِنَ الْخَيْرِ مُعْطِيهِ وَشَرٌّ مِنَ الشَّرِّ فَاعِلُهُ — The reward for any good deed will always be better for the one who did it than the actual good deed. And if someone causes corruption, fasad, oppression — no matter how much he has oppressed, the level of punishment that will come to him in the Hereafter will far supersede whatever he has done to others. So the Qur'an is telling us: no matter how much evil any zalim has spread on this earth, the punishment that individual or group will receive in the Hereafter will far exceed any type of evil they spread here.

This, my dear friends, should motivate you and I to become amongst those who do good. What did Nabi ﷺ say?

If Allah were to guide one person through you, it is better for you than red camels — the most precious commodity of that time.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2892; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1883)

A morning or an evening spent in the path of Allah is better than the entire world and whatever it contains. You are sitting in the masjid right now for the past hour, half hour, twenty minutes, two hours — whatever it is. Literally, you have to believe — I have to believe — in the words of Allah and His Rasul: this is better than all the trillions of this world.

It is mentioned in the story that Sulayman عليه السلام was on his magnificent throne, with hundreds of leaders of the jinn and of the humans and his viziers. And he was flying — as mentioned in the Qur'an — غُدُوُّهَا شَهْرٌ وَرَوَاحُهَا شَهْرٌ — a morning journey of a month, and an evening journey of a month. There was one farmer doing his work. All of a sudden he saw Sulayman's عليه السلام throne going overhead — just imagine, a throne flying over you. Before he knew it, the throne landed on his farm. Out comes Sulayman عليه السلام. He says, "What did you say?" The farmer was scared. He said, "Ya Nabi Sulayman, nothing — I looked at your throne and I just praised Allah. I said SubhanAllah, SubhanAllah." He said, "That's it." He said, "Your one SubhanAllah — I came here to tell you — is far superior in the Hereafter than everything that Sulayman owns in this dunya."

And that is true. Because Sulayman عليه السلام passed away and his kingdom is gone. His wealth is gone. But that one farmer's SubhanAllah is still there and will always be there, with rewards waiting for him in the akhirah. So we are sitting here — this is extremely weighty. That's the type of mentality we're supposed to have. If you brought someone here tonight, or encouraged someone — whether the person came or not — you made fikr for someone's deen: my dear friends, what ajr you're going to get from Allah is worth it.

The Ummah Needs Sincere Lovers — Not Slaves of Dunya

Today, everywhere — masajid, madrasas, schools — we cannot find people who are capable. More than saying "we don't have people with degrees" — we cannot find people who love the ummah. You need people who, without any strings attached, love their students. Love the ummah of Rasulullah — not even "my student" or "your student" — love the ummah of Rasulullah ﷺ. How can I get this person connected to Allah? Staying awake at night thinking: how can this person's life change? How can he give up these sins? How can he become closer to You, Ya Allah? Those people who love the ummah for the sake of Allah — when you have even one such person, the whole place brightens up. Everything falls into place.

Deen has become materialistic. Deen has become a means of earning dunya. That's it. As long as the money is there, you'll see one face. When the money is not there, a different person emerges. What is that? That's not the foundation of this ummah. The ummah's foundation — this wealth is not supposed to be connected with deen in the first place. There's another place to make money. But deen is supposed to be a place where there has to be sincerity. Because if you made effort on bringing someone here tonight, you're going to expect a payout? Is that what this is about? This is not how it works.

My dear Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 660; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 1031 — from the seven shaded under the Throne on the Day of Judgment)

Two people who meet one another only for the sake of Allah, and then depart from one another only for the sake of Allah — that one action is so beloved that it will guarantee a place under the Throne of Allah on the Day of Judgment. Go visit your business partner just to say salam, see how he's doing. Call your mechanic, your dentist, your doctor, your lawyer — see how they're doing. Pick up the phone and check on people. You may speak to someone at a moment when he is losing hope in Allah and His Rasul, losing hope in Islam. And your message will arrive and completely change his life. I have seen this myself, honestly. I have witnessed this with my own eyes. That's why I'm telling you — you don't know how many people are waiting for someone to message them, call them, check on them, and say: "Enough about business. How are you doing? How's life?"

That fikr is just not present. And we need to do that. That's why the ummah is suffering. We talk about unity — let's start. Become a bonding unit. Try to rope in people and bring them to the masjid, bring them to the deen. And when they connect themselves with Allah, your job is done. Connect them to Allah. Once they find Allah in their life, they don't have to turn back and thank you — that's not your job. You don't need a thank you. If you don't get a thank you, that's even better. Alhamdulillah, connect them with Allah and move on. That's the way the Prophets did it.

The System of Divine Justice — Good Deeds and Sins

Allah عز وجل says: whoever does a sin — He does not say what will happen to that person in a manner that exceeds the sin. He says فَلَا يُجْزَى الَّذِينَ عَمِلُوا السَّيِّئَاتِ إِلَّا مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ — those will only be recompensed based on exactly what they did. Meaning — for every niyyah of a good deed, a person gets a good deed recorded. And when you actually follow through the good deed, you get ten good deeds. For every niyyah of a sin, a person gets no sin. When a person finishes and does the sin — Allah forbid — he gets one sin. And if a person backs away from the sin out of the fear of Allah, he actually gets a good deed. SubhanAllah. And then every time a person remembers a past sin and feels remorse for it, and says Ya Allah please forgive me — every single time that happens, he gets a good deed. So one sin can potentially give you thousands of good deeds. Ajeeb — the system of Allah. The mercy of Allah, the wisdom of Allah. This type of math we've never seen anywhere else. This is purely the grace of Allah.

Allah Who Gave You the Qur'an Will Return You to Your Place of Return

Indeed, He who has made adhering to and conveying the Qur'an binding upon you — most surely He will return you back to your ma'ad, your place of return. There's a famous book called Zad al-Ma'ad — zad means provision, ma'ad is the place of return. Where are we returning to? The akhirah. So similarly here — Allah who gave you the Qur'an, O Muhammad ﷺ, will return you back to your place of return that your heart is longing for.

Allah gives us three tafsirs here. Number one: the One who has made recitation of the Qur'an necessary, pondering of the Qur'an necessary — Allah is going to give you a status that no one besides Allah fully knows. And what is that status? It is Maqam al-Mahmood. It's mentioned in a hadith — the Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 384)

When you hear the Mu'adhin, repeat whatever he says. Then send salawat upon me. Then ask Allah to grant me al-wasilah — it is such a high status in Paradise that it is not befitting for any servant except one servant from the servants of Allah. And I hope that I am that one servant. Whoever asks Allah to grant me the wasilah — the shafa'ah will be made lawful for him. One of the ulama mentioned a beautiful point here: shafa'ah is already written for Rasulullah ﷺ — is there any doubt? Of course not. But why this whole thing? This is a way for the ummah to get a share of the reward. You making du'a for him to receive what he was already going to receive will allow you to enjoy his intercession on the Day of Judgment. How again merciful is Allah, and how again merciful is His Nabi with us.

Number two: إِنَّ الَّذِي فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ means: the Being who has obligated upon you the responsibility of tabligh, of propagation of this Qur'an — He is going to place you back. This tells us about the responsibility that you and I have as inviters towards the deen. We're learning here that the responsibility is dual — when a person speaks about haqq, he has to also walk the walk. A person has to ensure that we follow what we are preaching. That's why one of the prophetic du'as is:

O Allah, make my internal life, my hidden life, my private life far superior than my external and public life. And make my public life also respectable, righteous, and pious.

Number three — the most famous explanation that most of you have probably heard — is that this was revealed as Rasulullah ﷺ was departing Makkah for hijrah, and he arrived at the area of Juhfah. This was an area where the Prophet ﷺ could no longer see Makkah as he was leaving. And he looked at Makkah and said — as mentioned in the famous hadith — "O Makkah, you are indeed the most beloved portion of the earth to me. And were it not for your people who exiled me, I would have never left you." Imagine the pain — Allahu Akbar — imagine the pain of Rasulullah ﷺ being literally exiled, turned into a refugee, in the midst of darkness of the night, hiding. He came as a sun to the world, as a guidance — and now he's being forced out like this. How it must have hurt him. He came to help them. Imagine: you are the one who came to tell the people that their house is on fire — leave! — and the same people attack you.

So at that time, Rasulullah ﷺ is being consoled by Allah: indeed, that same Allah who gave you the Qur'an — He promises you that you're going to come back to Makkah one day. And not only did this become a source of consolation for Rasulullah ﷺ at that time, but it was also confirmed when Fath Makkah took place. And then when Surah Al-Nasr was revealed:

People were excited — alhamdulillah, the nusra is coming, Muslims are coming, mashallah, things are going to come right. And Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه was crying. Abdullah ibn Abbas رضي الله عنهما understood. This means that the time of Rasulullah ﷺ on this earth is now very limited. Why? Because real, truly successful people come for work, do their work, and leave. They don't sit there and just chill. The Prophet ﷺ came here with one purpose — to guide the people, to give the Qur'an to the people, to be a living example of the Qur'an, and to leave behind a huge group of outstanding Sahaba. He did that. Now, what enjoyment of dunya is there compared to akhirah?

So this ayah is telling us that once Rasulullah ﷺ comes back to Makkah as a conqueror — لَرَادُّكَ إِلَى مَعَادٍ — this will eventually also mean: your place of return to Makkah, which you desired, will signal that your time to return to the actual ma'ad of the akhirah has come near. Coming back to Makkah will signal that your time to come to the akhirah has drawn close. Allahu Akbar.

So some brothers and ulama, they recite this verse when leaving Makkah, with the niyyah: Ya Allah, please ensure that I come back here. I want to come back alive again and again to the city of Makkah and Madinah. So insha'Allah if we recite this with this conviction and with this hope, this can be accepted as a du'a — that Allah brings us back to those blessed lands time and again.

Say: My Lord is most knowledgeable about who has come to humanity with the guidance, and who is utterly lost in clear misguidance.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى is telling the Prophet ﷺ: tell the people — all those who are belying you and exiling you out of Makkah — tell them: a day will come. You all don't believe me, but my Lord knows whether I'm rightly guided or not. Of course Rasulullah ﷺ is rightly guided, and the kuffar are not.

Now I want to connect this with our society. You have many times a young man or a young girl in a family who wants to change his or her life. She starts dressing differently, starts performing salah, he starts staying away from music and dancing and mixed gatherings, wants to start reading Qur'an more, wants to start following the sunnah. What happens? The whole family attacks him. The mom and the dad — "What happened to him? He's become too pious, too rigid." The whole family begins to attack this poor person. And now, because there's so much haram going on in the house, he says, "This is disgusting." He's sitting there in his room, crying. And they say, "He needs to go see the psychiatrist." — You all need a spiritual doctor! The fact that subhanAllah you're all committing sin — it hurts him, he can't take it. So he goes into his room and cries. He says, Ya Allah, the least I can do is distance myself from this and beg You to give them hidayah.

So, dear students, dear brothers, dear sisters — those of you who are trying to change your lives even though your family doesn't support you — and not only doesn't support you, but vehemently opposes you — remember this ayah. Say in your heart of all hearts: my Lord knows who's right and who's wrong. No matter how much oppression or ostracization you're going through, no matter how much you're not being invited to family gatherings, being told "you're a fitna" — stay patient. Do not cave in to the pressure. Just like we tell kids, don't cave in to peer pressure at school — the same goes for us. When you get pressured from around you to leave the deen, do you think the Prophets had it easy? Do you think the Sahaba had it easy? Alhamdulillah, no one is physically torturing you today. Look at what is happening with the Uyghurs right now. If we were to just talk about Muslim oppression, there would not be a single space on the front page of any news website that would not have an article on it. So we should have shame upon ourselves if we say, "I'm going to cave in because of this."

The Final Ayahs — Do Not Support the Disbelievers

You did not even hope, O Prophet ﷺ, for the Book of Allah to be conferred upon you — yet it was revealed to you as a mercy from your Lord. So do not ever be an upholder of the disbelievers.

Allah سبحانه وتعالى is saying: the Prophet ﷺ was not one from amongst those who was playing his cards right, building his status up slowly to become a prophet. No — Allah Himself is saying: you never even knew that Allah was going to make you a prophet. Allah gave this to you out of His mercy. Now that you have this prophethood, make sure you do not support any of the disbelievers.

The Prophet ﷺ mentioned in a hadith:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 2259; Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 17344)

There will be rulers after me. Whoever goes to those rulers, visits them in their palaces, affirms their lies, and assists them in their oppression — he is not from amongst me, and I have nothing to do with him, and he will not come to me at the Hawd. And whoever does not affirm their lies and does not assist them in their oppression — he is from my group, and I am from his group, and he will come to me at the Hawd.

My dear friends, even one word in support of an oppressor will get us into sin. We cannot support oppression. If a person does not have the ability to speak, then cry and walk out. But we should be careful not to smile, not to laugh, not to make light of it when Muslims are being made fun of — just because we don't want to lose our job. Because what? We don't want to be next? So we need to make sure that we do not say even one word that will be used as a source of strength for an oppressor.

The second meaning of فَلَا تَكُونَنَّ ظَهِيرًا لِّلْكَافِرِينَ is: لَا تَكُونَنَّ بَيْنَ ظَهْرَانَيْهِمْ — do not be amidst the disbelievers. Meaning your circle of friends and the people you connect with should be people of iman. Because we are the product of our community. If outside of work we are always spending time with people who have disbelief in Allah and His Rasul, it is just a matter of time before that enters our heart. And when I was speaking about all of us reading books of zuhd and feeling like hypocrites — we don't realize how un-Islamic we have become in our mindset. Why are our youth saying certain things? It's because, unfortunately — ظَهِيرًا لِلْكَافِرِينَ — they're sitting amongst those who disbelieve in Allah all day and night. And that has affected their mentality. May Allah save us.

Thus you shall not let them bar you from conveying the verses of Allah after they have been sent down to you from Him. And rather call humanity to the worship of one Allah. And never be from among those who associate gods with Allah.

Allah is telling the Prophet ﷺ: do not give up the effort of tabligh. No matter how much pressure they put against you — you've got one life, make the most of it. That is the message to all of us. Don't worry about the opposition. Keep it going. Anytime you and I speak the truth, one hundred percent you will face opposition. Luqman Hakim, what did he tell his son?

Encourage people to do good, forbid them from evil, and be prepared — when you will be afflicted with difficulty, you must be patient. My dear friends, if you love the ummah, you have to speak the truth. If you love the people, you have to protect them from what is harmful. And when people around you try to stop you — don't worry about it. That's a sign that you're doing right.

But please do not take this out of context. You judge people by the truth — not the truth by the people. Meaning: you don't decide that because this person is great, whatever he does is the truth. No. You find the truth, and then whoever has the truth, you follow him. Not the other way around.

And that's why one of the statements attributed to Malik رضي الله عنه and to Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله عنه:

Follow the ones who have already passed away. For as long as someone is alive, you can never be sure — he may fall into a fitna. Allah has given you 'aql, Allah has given you the sources of knowledge. Go study and then see — is this correct or is this wrong?

The Final Ayahs — Everything is Perishing

Thus you shall not call upon any other god with Allah. Because of course there is no god but Him. كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ — everything is perishing. إِلَّا وَجْهَهُ — except His countenance. لَهُ الْحُكْمُ — to Him alone does all judgment belong. وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ — and to Him alone you are all returning. What a beautiful way to finish the surah.

الله أكبر — كُلُّ شَيْءٍ هَالِكٌ — every single thing is going to be destroyed. All this throwing people under the bus, slandering, accusing the people of the truth — how long is this going to last? Soon, everything is going to come to an end. And Allah will decide who is right and who is wrong. Similarly, all good deeds and all bad deeds will come to an end, and the ajar of that is going to be waiting in the akhirah. Similarly, no matter what empire a person builds in this world, or whether he doesn't even have a place to sleep — whatever type of lifestyle you have — all will definitely come to an end. The only thing that will last forever is Allah, and to please Him should be the goal.

لَهُ الْحُكْمُ — the sole judge will be none other than Allah. And He will decide amongst us who has done the right thing and who has done the wrong thing. When a person looks at the news of today and the dhulm of today, remember this: the oppressor will die and the oppressed one will die. The demolisher will die and the demolished one will die. All of it is going to come to an end soon, sooner or later. وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ — and Allah is going to decide regarding all of these oppressions that are taking place.

Closing Reflections

May Allah سبحانه وتعالى allow myself and all of you to be raised up on the right side of the truth. And may Allah give us all the basira and the nur of ilm to be able to distinguish right from wrong. So much has been covered in these past thirteen sessions. Allahu Akbar. May Allah جل جلاله allow all of us to truly fall in love with the Qur'an, fall in love with the tafsir of the Qur'an. And may He make each and every one of us such that we become lovers of the Qur'an — and our actions, most importantly our actions, begin to reflect the Qur'anic teachings as explained to us by Rasulullah ﷺ and the earliest of the Sahaba.

Insha'Allah next week we will start Surah Al-Tahrim, and we'll try to finish that by the end of Sha'ban, before Ramadan starts.

Du'a

O Allah, save us from becoming so hard-hearted that things do not affect us. O Allah, save us from losing our conscience. O Allah, allow us to feel the pain of the ummah that is suffering — both physically and spiritually. O Allah, make every one of us from amongst those who stay awake at night worried about the ummah. O Allah, allow us to think of solutions to help the ummah. O Allah, use every one of us and our children and our progeny to revive the ummah.

O Allah, grant protection to all of our masajid, all of our madrasas, to all of our deen institutions, to all of our Muslim leaders, to all of our ulema, all the khuddam of deen. O Allah, protect all deeni efforts from internal and external strife, from internal and external fitna. Protect us from the hidden enemy and from the known enemy. Protect us from the munafiqoon. O Allah, protect us from the shayateen — from the human shayateen and from the jinn.

O Allah, we ask You to protect us from all the evil that we are aware of and the evil that we are not aware of. O Allah, we ask You to grant us righteous good friends that will keep us always on the right track and push us towards the right direction. O Allah, grant our children righteous friends. Grant our spouses righteous friends. O Allah, we ask You — all those from our family who are leaving the deen — bring them full force back to the deen. O Allah, grant all of us the wisdom and hikmah to be able to bring them properly back to the deen.

O Allah, we have just forty days and less than forty days left for the blessed month of Ramadan. O Allah, allow every single one of us and our extended family members to witness the blessed month of Ramadan. O Allah, allow us to use this month and all the programs that are happening at Darussalam or in our local masajid to prepare for the blessed month. O Allah, allow every single program that happens here to be absolutely successful. Make it a means of changing the lives of thousands and thousands of people. Allow the nur from this place to penetrate across the globe and across the layers of darkness that surround us, Ya Allah.

O Allah, allow the true sunnah of Rasulullah ﷺ to emanate from here. Allow the true deen of Rasulullah ﷺ that he left behind to emanate from here. O Allah, allow the revival of the ummah to take place from this small place across the globe, Ya Allah. O Allah, whatever qualities the Sahaba had — grant all of us those qualities. The way You used the Sahaba to do the work of deen, grant us the ability to do the work of deen like that.

O Allah, we ask You to protect all of our staff members, all of our students, all of their family members, all of our musallis, all of our attendees of all the programs and their extended families. O Allah, protect all those well-wishers across the globe and those who are beneficiaries from across the globe. O Allah, protect every aspect of this madrasa and this masjid from any and all strife, from any and all fitna — that we are aware of and that we are unaware of, that is apparent and that is hidden. O Allah, we ask You to send your choicest and the strongest of Your angels for the protection of this place, and all those who are connected to this place.

O Allah, all those who used to come to the masjid and for some reason are no longer able to — O Allah, remove all the obstacles between them and the masjid. O Allah, we ask You to grant all of us the ability to dedicate our children and ourselves for the khidmah and service of deen. O Allah, whatever good Rasulullah ﷺ had asked You of — grant us that good. Whatever evil the Prophet ﷺ had sought refuge from — grant us refuge from all of that.

O Allah, O Allah, many came specifically for the du'a. O Allah, whatever is bothering them, whatever is worrying them, whatever is on their minds — You know it more than anyone else. We beg You, Ya Allah — through the barakah of this khatm, through the barakah of this beautiful gathering — fulfill all of our permissible desires and needs. O Allah, whatever keeps us awake at night — remove the sources of those worries. O Allah, put barakah in our sustenance. Grant us halal rizq and halal sustenance. Those who are suffering from disobedient children — make them righteous and pious, Ya Allah. Those who are suffering from issues at home — remove those issues and misunderstandings. Those who are in debt — make it easy for them to get out of debt. Those who do not have jobs — make it easy for them to find halal, good jobs.

O Allah, most importantly — our greatest need is hidayah. Our greatest need is Your pleasure. O Allah, grant all of us hidayah. Grant all of us Your pleasure, Ya Allah. Become pleased with us, Ya Allah. O Allah, grant sadaqah jariah to our parents, to our teachers, and all those who became a means of the deen reaching us, Ya Allah.