Surah Qasas - First Session | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Introduction & Opening Du'a

Please kindly move forward, make sure there's no gaps in between. Be mindful of those who are completing their sunnah, sisters as well, in your spots. Kindly move forward and sit together in the prayer hall.

Let's try our best to sit with absolute talab and respect through the words of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And the more humility and humbleness we have in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's book, the more we will be able to walk away with. Alhamdulillah, we begin today a new chapter, a new surah.

And we ask Allah azza wa jalla to allow it to become a new chapter in our lives. Whatever we heard in the past 14 sessions, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow us to put that into practice. And now that we are beginning a new series here, Surah al-Qasas, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allow this as well to bring a massive change within us. Ameen.

Let us all renew our intentions as we sit in front of the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Ya Allah, we are thirsty, we are hungry for your deen, we are hungry for your hidayah. Ya Allah, this Qur'an is the ultimate source of all guidance. Ya Allah, allow the Qur'an and the words of yours to become a means of guiding us in all the affairs that we are confused in, in all the affairs that we don't know what to do. Ya Allah, allow us to find the nur of the Qur'an and the nur of iman, allow us to be led by that.

And all of us should also make this intention that — Ya Allah, what exactly do I need in my life and what are the pitfalls that I am going through and the difficulties I am going through. The solution — my problem as well as the solution — is in your knowledge. Ya Allah, allow me to hear and share such things today that will be a treatment for my own spiritual diseases. And that will be a treatment and an answer to any and all difficulties that I may be going through in my life.

Due to the level and comparable to the level of sincerity we have in our du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, Allah azza wa jalla will then allow us to really truly benefit immensely.

Introduction to Surah al-Qasas

The surah that we will insha'Allah begin with is Surah al-Qasas. This surah is mentioned in the Qur'an with 88 verses. All of it is revealed in Makkah, except for one ayah which was revealed on the way out — between Makkah and Madinah in an area called Juhfah — when Rasulullah ﷺ was leaving Makkah. And he was very sad at his departure. And Allah revealed the verse that, indeed the Lord who has revealed to you and obligated and given you the Qur'an, He is going to bring you back here at an appointed time. So that verse was revealed outside of Makkah. But besides that, this surah was revealed in Makkah.

And it is a surah that is mentioned in the Qur'an after Surah al-Naml in the order — after Surah al-Naml, which we covered last year. And so not only is it in the Mus'haf after Surah al-Naml, but also in terms of revelation, the order of revelation, it was revealed after Surah al-Naml and before Surah al-Isra'.

This surah was revealed at a time when Rasulullah ﷺ and the Muslims were going through a lot of difficulty in Makkah al-Mukarramah. And they were going through oppression at the hands of the Mushrikeen. And the spirits at times would get low. People would get tired of the stress and the punishment and the torture — physical, spiritual, mental, whatever you want to call it. Every single type of torture that the Mushrikeen would put the Muslims through. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would reveal verses from time to time to console them and to give them strength.

And this is why I said we chose to start our journey with Surah al-Qasas. Because I think this is the time when a portion of the Ummah is definitely going through the most horrific of crimes and the most horrific of torture — physically and emotionally and in every other sense, financially of course, being pushed to the brinks. But the rest of us, although we have the comfort of our homes, alhamdulillah, and peace and everything else, but simply listening to this news and watching certain things is also taking a toll on a Muslim who cares about the well-being of other Muslims.

Those who don't care, let's leave them. But all of us, alhamdulillah, who care about the well-being of humans and the well-being of Muslims, it definitely takes a toll when you watch and listen and hear all that that's going on. So we are also in need of bishara. We are also in need of hearing glad tidings. We are also in need of hearing things that will strengthen us. So what better time than now to start the study of Surah al-Qasas — which is exactly just for that. An antidote to the feeling of being overwhelmed, the feeling of sadness, the feeling of being fatigued.

This surah, when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala revealed it — as I said, was on the heart of the Prophet ﷺ — to serve as a tasalli, to serve as a means of easing the suffering that Muslims and the Prophet ﷺ were going through at that time at the hands of the disbelievers.

The Two Main Stories of the Surah

There are two main stories in the surah. One is the story of Musa and Fir'aun. And one is the story of Musa and Qarun. Fir'aun is a representative of sultan — power, political power, political might. That's what Fir'aun represents. And Musa's ﷺ meeting with Qarun is the amplifying and manifestation of wealth — the power of money, the power of material things.

So you have political power and financial power — two big powers that exist still today. And here you have a ma'rika and a battle between Musa, the embodiment of truth, the embodiment of justice, the embodiment of the right side of history, the embodiment of rights and virtue in this world as a prophet of Allah, up against two major forces: a corrupt force of political power and a corrupt force of financial power.

And what is the khulasa and the gist of this entire surah? That there is only one true power in this world. There is only one true superpower in this world. And of course that superpower and haqiqi strength is the strength of iman in Allah. There is only one true standard, and that is a standard of good character. There is one and only one true power, and that is the power of a dayyan, malikul mulk — the King of all kings — the one to whom you and I all have to return one day.

So the gist of it is: if Allah is with you, who can harm you? And if Allah is against you, who can come and save you?

If Allah is ma'ak — with you — faman 'alayk — who could possibly ever cause you harm? And if Allah is against you, then who could possibly come to your assistance?

The Battle Between the Strongest and the Weakest

So here Allah in this surah brought a fight in the cage between not two equals — not two people who are of similar weight, and not two people who come from a similar strength background — but from the strongest in the cage with the weakest put together. You wouldn't expect them to be facing off. But here they are, right in each other's faces literally.

What are these two powers? The power of the greatest king of that time, whose strength and power made him so arrogant that he dared to claim divinity. That's the strength we're speaking about. And face to face with whom? A newborn baby. A newborn baby — what power could be weaker than that? What human could be weaker than a brand new, one-week-old baby? And they are now face to face, eyes meeting eyes — Asiya holding him, Nabi Musa, and saying, please, can we adopt him? And imagine Fir'aun is looking at him, right in his eyes, trying to figure out: is this the force I should be afraid of? Is this possibly the interpretation of the dreams? He's looking at this baby, and honestly that's the beginning of the fight that lasts for decades.

Little does anyone know how this story will end — before it ended. That this young baby will one day actually grow up to be a young man, for decades will be taken care of by the same greatest powerful force. And then he'll return — once back, leave, and then return once back — to invite him towards hidayah and Islam. And then this man, this king, this most powerful force of the world, will choose to turn his back to the message of the Prophet, to the message of this young baby, once upon a time. And then a showdown will happen. Many different layers of showdowns will happen — between the magicians and so forth.

It's a long, powerful, beautiful story. But what will it end with? It will end with one day, this Prophet — this young baby who has now become a great Prophet — running with his nation, and coming across a sea that will miraculously turn into sand and land. And he will cross over. And then miraculously once again, it will turn back into water — but not until Fir'aun and his army are deep inside it.

They will all drown. Who would have ever thought that this is how this saga would end? This is the powerful story of a fight that takes place over many decades — between the most powerful force and the weakest force — that of one simple, tiny, one-week-old baby. And put up against the most powerful force of that time, whose name till today we speak of, whose dead body and mummy people still travel thousands of miles to go visit and see.

And so what an amazing story Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses to manifest this haqiqa and reality. That if Allah is with you, then honestly — believe it or not — none can overcome you. It may take time for you to see victory. It may take time to see the light at the end of the tunnel, because the tunnel may be very long. And it may take twists and turns. So you may not be able to see the light at the end of it. But have the conviction that there has to be light at the end of the tunnel, because Allah said so. Because Allah created that tunnel, and Allah created that light, and Allah created you. It's not possible that what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says doesn't come through. The whole world can fall apart ten times, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's words can never fall apart. That's the conviction we have.

That is the conviction we see on the lips of the children of Gaza, and the children and the women and the men of Palestine today. What is that? It is this unbelievable, unexplainable conviction — honestly, I cannot imagine the terror those words must create in the hearts and minds of the oppressors. When they see: how can we intimidate these people? What is it with these people? That in front of them, all it is is the stench of death, body upon body — and yet their faith doesn't end. Their strength doesn't end. Psychologically they are far superior and far stronger than the aggressor.

It reminds me of Bilal al-Habshi رضي الله عنه — when he comes in the books of Sira — that he would get tortured and beaten and whipped by the Meccans. The people who were whipping him would get tired of whipping him, but Bilal رضي الله عنه would only say: Ahad, Ahad, Ahad. He would never give up. He would be dragged on the sands of Makkah, and the people who were whipping him — the abusers and the Mushrikeen — would get physically tired and fatigued from hitting and whipping him. But he would not get fatigued from all of that. Because what he had was the aqeedah of Islam.

When the true aqeedah of Islam comes into the heart — and that's what the disbelievers don't realize — and guess what? The disbelievers don't realize it, and who else doesn't realize it? We all sitting here don't fully realize it either. When iman comes into you, honestly nothing can stand a chance. Nothing can stand a chance. That is the power of iman that the Sahaba had, and you're seeing today that being manifested. It's unbelievable. It is something that is truly given to a person only from Allah. Nothing else can give that.

And you'll see, subhanAllah, the people in the comfort of their homes — from the aggressors — are sitting there crying, worried about their own safety. While those, subhanAllah, who are on the receiving end every single minute, their trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, after everything that has happened, has not decreased. What is that? That is because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has given them the greatest strength and power in the world — and that is iman.

The Linguistic Root of "Qasas"

Surah al-Qasas — it is the plural of the word qissa. Qissa is a story, qasas is the plural. Qassa al-athar is when a person goes and follows the footsteps of someone. In the Arab world, in prehistoric times, there were people who were qassas — storytellers, but more specifically, trackers. They would look at footsteps and figure out where a person had run away to. If they were looking for a runaway criminal, a runaway slave, a runaway animal. There were people who would look at the footsteps and recognize — who does this footstep belong to? What type of person? An unbelievable level of intelligence. Just like people look at forensics today. They would use their intelligence to figure out from the footstep who and what and where went through here. So in order to get to the individual they were trying to track down, they would have to walk back and follow the footsteps. That's called qassal athar.

So similarly a storyteller goes back in time and narrates, and walks you through the view of someone — the narrator or whoever — and replays for you a story that has happened in the past. That's why stories are called qissa. Because you're going back in time. And so the stories of the Qur'an are not just mere stories for fun or fairy tales. Instead they are stories that are filled with meaning. And beyond that, they are one hundred percent absolutely true. This is not allegorical. This is not metaphor. This is haqiqa. This is the truth. This is exactly the way it is. There is no exaggeration in here. There is nothing added just for excitement, just for detail.

That's why the Qur'an doesn't get into unnecessary details. Because that's not the purpose. It's not meant to be a lullaby. It's not meant to be an interesting story that you go to sleep to. It's meant to be an inspiring story that's filled with endless lessons. But Allah wants you to get the lessons from where you need to. Don't delve into things that are not needed. Focus on what is most important. That's what a qissa is.

So Allah azza wa jalla says:

We are going to share with you the best of stories. The Surah Yusuf story is called the best of stories. And the Qur'an, all of it is bil-haqq:

We are going to narrate to you stories in the most truthful manner. So this is what this surah is about — it's about stories.

Now, regarding where the word qasas came from in the context of this surah — Shu'ayb's ﷺ daughter, when she came back after meeting Musa ﷺ — which we will come to insha'Allah in the future of the surah — she came back to her father, and eventually brought Musa with her, and Musa ﷺ had a meeting with his future father-in-law, Shu'ayb. What happened?

Shu'ayb ﷺ said: where did you come from, Musa? Who are you? What happened? How did you end up here? And Nabi Musa ﷺ shared with him all the stories of his past life. This was the interview between father-in-law and son-in-law, right? And so in that interview, Nabi Musa ﷺ shared with him all the stories of his past life. That's why that word qassa 'alayhi al-qasas has been used to name this surah as well.

The Eternal Battle Between Truth and Falsehood

Another thing, my beloved friends, is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, as He speaks about this outstanding and amazing battle that took place between the forces of falsehood and the force — notice without the S — the force of truth. This battle that took place in the past, and this battle that has happened from day one rather. From the time of Nabi Adam and Shaytan. And then from there, Habil and Qabil. And from there onwards, we see there's always been a Hizbullah and a Hizb al-Shaytan — a party of Allah and a party of Shaytan. There's always been a:

A war and a battle between forces of truth and forces of falsehood. This is not an age-old story — it's from the very beginning of time. From the very beginning of time, this is how it's been. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose to bring that battle between the forces of good and forces of falsehood — presented that ma'raka and that battle in the form of a story.

And we learn from here that one of the best ways to explain something is through a story. Honestly, when you and I hear stories — including tonight, as you sit here and listen, and I sit here and share — there will be many moments tonight that you will listen and you say: man, that is exactly what I'm going through. That is exactly what my sibling, my mom, my dad, my wife, my husband, my child, my business partner is going through. We see ourselves or our friends or our relatives — a reflection of ourselves — in stories. That's the power of stories.

Instead of writing something on a board and just giving facts, when you present something in the form of a story, it really allows the crowd and the audience to relate to it. And so this is the methodology of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Qur'an when it comes to teaching. Hence, similarly, Rasulullah ﷺ — who is the best teacher — al-Nabiyy al-Mu'allim is actually the name of a book. Al-Nabiyy al-Mu'allim — the teaching Nabi. Because he was for sure the most excellent of teachers. You will see that he used parables, he used examples, he used stories. Just like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala used parables and stories in the Qur'an.

And so as fathers, as mothers, and as educators, we should also utilize this method when teaching our little ones and our elder ones as well. If you want to get something across, instead of scolding someone and instead of yelling at someone, a much better way is to share the story of what happened at the neighbor's house. You share what happened on the road. If you see your son or daughter, or anyone else for that matter, driving in a very unsafe manner, you can sit there and scold them. Or you can actually just tell them what happened an hour ago on the street when you were coming back from work, and narrate: hey, you know what I just saw? I saw this. And these are pictures of it — go check online. That has a more powerful effect of delivering the message without breaking the bridges, without burning the bridges, without ruining the relationship.

So we are taught that if we want to be effective communicators and we want to deliver a message, one of the best ways to do that is through qissa, through stories. Hence we will see in this story, as well as in many other surahs of the Qur'an, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala discusses some of the most intricate and most important aspects of our faith. And most important teachings of the Qur'an, He teaches and shares with us in the form of a qissa.

We ask Allah azza wa jalla that He allows us to understand the true wisdoms behind these stories, and that He allow us always to apply them to ourselves. And may He save us from becoming from among such people who, when a verse of the Qur'an is shared or a hadith is shared, look back thinking that this must be applying to the person behind me, rather than thinking that this is exactly for me.

That is something we have to ask Allah for. That: ya Allah, save me from always thinking that this is not for me. You remember we covered that the Ibad al-Rahman are such people that when the verses of the Qur'an are recited, they do not fall deaf and dumb — blind and dumb and deaf. But rather they actually listen attentively, and they apply whatever they're hearing to themselves.

Allah says in Surah Yusuf:

Indeed there are signs in their stories — for whom? Li-ulil albab — for intelligent people. So there are many non-Muslims today, alhamdulillah, who are accepting Islam. Who are such people? They are ulul albab. There are many people who have left the masjid, many people who've left the Qur'an for the past many years, and now they're coming back. Who are they? They are ulul albab. They are intelligent people who are waking up and saying: you know what, time's up. Enough is enough — I need to come back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And this is where we will see that hopefully Surah al-Qasas similarly will have that type of effect upon all of us.

Historical Context: Nabi Musa in Egypt

One of the things additionally we're going to learn from the story of Nabi Musa is that Nabi Musa was in Egypt. How did he land in Egypt? Because Nabi Yusuf migrated — from Bilad al-Sham, from Palestine, to Egypt. And then over time they ended up staying there. They procreated, they had children, they lived. But although they lived in that environment of Egypt, they had a separate identity — they retained their identity.

The Bani Israel who had come from the area of Masjid al-Aqsa or Palestine — Quds. And it comes in narrations that Fir'aun had seen a dream. That a nur is coming — a light coming from Bayt al-Maqdis — and it is completely affecting and destroying Fir'aun and his entire army and everyone, except for Bani Israel. The Bani Israel are saved. And so the fortune tellers and the ones who interpret dreams told him: this means that someone will come from that area, and your kingdom will come to an end.

And so when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala plans to do something, you can try and kick your feet as much as you want, scream and yell as much as you want. What is meant to happen:

Nothing can avert Allah's decision. Nothing, nothing, nothing can avert Allah's decision. Whatever He has decided — so this is what this surah teaches us.

The Huruf al-Muqatta'at: طسم

These are called the broken letters — huruf al-muqatta'at. And they come sometimes in singular form, like Qaf and Nun. Sometimes they come in dual forms — Ta-Sin, Ha-Mim. Sometimes they come in three letters — Alif-Lam-Mim and Ta-Sin-Mim, like you see over here. Sometimes they come in four — Alif-Lam-Mim-Ra. Sometimes they come in five — Ha-Mim-'Ayn-Sin-Qaf and Kaf-Ha-Ya-'Ayn-Sad.

So these are broken letters, and we say Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala knows their meaning best. Definitely they are revealed for a reason. There is a secret behind them. Some say these are alluding to the names of Allah. Some say they are alluding to the names of the Prophet ﷺ. Some say this is a secret between Allah and His Nabi. But the main thing is: we don't know. That's all that matters. We don't know with certainty. We can give an educated guess — meaning not you and I, but the Sahaba and some of them, based on various things, gave some possible explanations. And that's it.

A Warning About Fitna

For some it will be a test. And on that point, something very important comes to mind. There are many times you hear about people who come to a masjid. Then they have a bad experience in the parking lot. And they will go write a bad Google review and say: we will never come back to a masjid or this masjid. There are people who have a bad experience in the shoe rack area — their slippers went missing, someone accidentally switched with theirs — and they will say: we will never come back to a masjid or this specific masjid. Sometimes a person may use the bathroom and finds it to be dirty. He gets angry. Sometimes a person may come to the masjid and someone tells him: hey, you know what, next time you come without smoking in the masjid, please use some cologne. He gets upset. Someone says: cover up properly. He gets upset. A sister comes in, something may be said — completely correct, or maybe incorrect — but what happens? They get upset.

And they say: I'm done with Islam. I'm done with the masjid. I'm done with deen. Does this happen often? Yes, it does. It happens all the time. People's visits to Umrah, visits to Islamic countries, visits to their mom and dad's house, visits to the local madrasa, masjid — you name it. And they say: I'm angry, I'm upset, I had a bad experience. And they decide to turn their back to the deen.

We all hear about these stories of ex-Muslims all over the world, and in America especially. Why did you leave Islam? Because my teacher 15 years ago hit me when I was memorizing the Qur'an. What? We all got hit. Whoever memorized 20 years ago — we got hit. But subhanAllah, have you got hit any more than the people of Gaza and Afghanistan? What is that supposed to mean?

But now you look at all these examples of people blaming their disobedience towards Allah — they like to blame it on the masjid. They like to blame it on Muslims. They like to blame it on the Qur'an. They like to blame it on the ulema. This reminds me of an incident that happened during the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, when revelation was descending upon him. It's related to the first page of Surah al-Mu'minun:

This is the embryology that Allah is speaking about — about how the fetus is formed — in the first page of Surah al-Mu'minun. And then there was a person who was writing the revelation as Rasulullah ﷺ was reading out the revelation. He was receiving revelation, and the man next to Rasulullah ﷺ was writing. So then after going through the stages of how the embryo is formed, the man who was writing the wahi was amazed. So he blurted out:

How blessed is Allah, the best of creators. He just said it. And the Prophet ﷺ said: write that. Because that's exactly what the last portion of that ayah is. It just so happened that these exact words came to him at that time, and it coincided with the revelation of exactly the same portion of the verse.

As soon as that happened, what did this man say? He said: oh, you tell me to write this? This is what you probably do all the time — you hear random stuff from different people, and then the next day you say: I received revelation. And you tell people to write it. Because Rasulullah ﷺ had multiple people who would write wahi, not only one person. So he said: really? And he said: that's it, I can't believe in this stuff anymore.

This was not just some bystander born and raised in Makkah. He was, my friends, a person who took the kalima, took shahada, accepted Islam — apparently at least. And he was not just someone who had witnessed the wahi from afar. No, no, no. He was one of the chosen few who was blessed — or I should say tested — with writing the revelation, sitting next to the Prophet ﷺ as he was receiving it. He was among the very first people to hear that verse. And yet that became the means of him leaving Islam.

This is what you call fitna. Remember this story. Because we see people falling into fitna left and right. And you wonder: what can I do? How can I save this person? Maybe we could do things better, honestly, at times. But sometimes, no, we couldn't do things better. If someone comes and says something like: why can't we change up the style of how we sit in the masjid? Or why can't we change the way the khutbah is given? Change the way the salah is said and performed? Brother, this is how it is. What is that supposed to mean? Okay, I'm done with Islam.

I'm sorry that that's upsetting to you. But we can't change the deen to appease you. You cannot sit and blame the masjid for making you leave the fold of Islam. Instead, this is your own fitna. So whatever has happened outside has happened. There are so many people who have left the deen today — so many, within your circle of friends and my circle of friends and acquaintances — who no longer come to the masjid, who no longer at times even go to any masjid, because of some so-called bad experience they had.

But I want you to understand, as moms and dads and all of us here, sometimes we just blame ourselves too much. And sometimes we don't blame ourselves enough. But sometimes we also blame ourselves too much. Number two: be wary and careful about yourself. Do not walk through life with blinders on, thinking: I'm a Muslim, I'll always be a Muslim. I go regularly to the masjid. You don't know, my beloved brothers, how quickly you can get turned away. I can think of so many instances of people who were front-row, serving the masjid, serving in a madrasa, involved in the effort of da'wah and tabligh, involved with their shaykh, in suluk, in tazkiyah. The top ranking people. And something happens and they flip. And they flip to such a degree that you would never imagine this person ever saw a masjid in his life.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:

They have fallen into fitna. This is how Shaytan works. Ego is so dangerous. How dare he said that to me? I can't believe it. I was sitting there and he made fun of me in front of others. He didn't accept my opinion. I was a volunteer and he dared override my opinion as an ameer. I've been serving the community for 10 years. What is that? You've not been serving the community — you've been serving your ego. If you're serving Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then what difference does it make whether your opinion is taken or not? If you serve Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then you will get ajr whether your opinion is taken or not.

So I want to remind myself and all of us: be wary of this fitna. Because too many people are falling into this. And they're ending up leaving the masjid, and leaving deen institutions, and at times leaving Islam, because they have been so-called insulted, hurt, heartbroken, affected, upset, angry. And remember:

Whoever chooses to turn his back against Allah, he shall never harm Allah in the least. You can never harm the deen, no matter how much you decide to go on the other side. No one can harm the deen. All the ex-Muslims put together, who have started their organizations and invested so much money into various programs to try to pull weak Muslims towards themselves — what do they think? Islam never needed them. For every one of these people who wants to leave Islam, guess what? Islam doesn't need you. Allah never needed you. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give hidayah to ten better ones.

Allah azza wa jalla says:

If you choose to turn away, then I will replace you with another nation — and then they will not be like you. So this is a message to all those thinking of leaving Islam. As much as we would love for you to stay in Islam, honestly, you do no harm to Islam by leaving. May Allah protect us from the evil plots and plans of Shaytan. And may Allah strengthen our iman. And may Allah guide all of those people who have fallen to the trappings of Shaytan and nafs to get out of that mess. Ameen, Rabbi al-Alameen.

The Filtering Purpose of Ta-Sin-Mim

This is Ta-Sin-Mim. Why did I say this? Because this simple three-letter combination can also become a fitna. And has become a fitna. How can the surah begin with letters that we say we don't know, and only Allah knows best? What's that supposed to mean? So that's why some of the ulema say that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, in starting the Qur'an with Alif-Lam-Mim and letters like these, has presented an interview process of some sorts — a filtering process — that asks: are you willing to accept that there are things in life and in Islam that you don't know and you will never know?

Because today we have become worshipers of our nafs and our 'aql. We worship our ego and worship our intelligence. And if we cannot comprehend something, we get upset and say: it can't be right. I can't comprehend that. I don't understand that. How can I accept that? Well, this is where the message comes. That you have to put your foot on your ego, and you also have to accept that certain things you will not be able to understand. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the creator of all these things. Certain things He has wanted us to understand, and He Himself says in the Qur'an:

There are verses of the Qur'an that are solid in their nature, in their meaning, in their application — umm al-kitab — they are the mother of the book, the most important ones. And then there are others that are mutashabihat — ambiguous in nature. Who said that? Allah is saying that. Allah is saying: I have placed verses in the Qur'an that are ambiguous in their meaning. Indeed those people who have a crookedness in their heart, they only go after those verses that are ambiguous. Why? Ibtighaa al-fitna — because they want to cause chaos. They are searching for chaos. And they are trying to find the meaning of something which Allah has already hidden from them. And no one knows the proper interpretation of those verses except for Allah.

Allah Himself is saying that this is a fitna. So those people who go into issues of qadar, go into issues of predestiny, try to find the most complicated hadith, and then sit in every party and walima and aqiqa and birthday party — saying: hey, did you think about this hadith? Brother, did you think about showing up for Fajr first? Then we'll talk about the rest. Look what you did last night — sitting playing video games all night, watching haram, listening to haram. And then you come and say: what does the hadith mean? Okay, you're not searching for the truth. You are a mischief-maker.

Misery loves company. They are people who ruined their akhira, and they want to ruin yours. And people — subhanAllah — some come and ask all these questions, and then you ask them: where are you getting these questions from? Well, every night I spend time reading Reddit groups dedicated to ex-Muslims. I'm reading Islamophobe websites. Why would you do that? Why would you burn yourself and then go to the urgent care and say: I burned myself? Eventually they're going to say: you don't need urgent care, you need a psychiatric ward.

So similarly, people who tend to read all this filth and then get confused — understand that you are actually hurting yourself more than ever. Just like reading the Qur'an and reading hadith brings nur to your heart, by Allah, reading this type of trash brings darkness to your heart. And then of course you won't feel like getting up for Fajr. Of course you won't feel like reading the Qur'an. Of course you won't feel like coming to the masjid. Whose fault is that? That's your fault. Why did you pick and choose things that will destroy your soul?

So this is a warning for all of us — there's fitna all over. And who said that? The Qur'an said that. Allah Himself is saying that. Ta-Sin-Mim is one of those obstacles that are part of the obstacle course, to ensure that only the most sincere people make it through.

The Opening Verses of Surah al-Qasas

Ayah 1–2: Ta-Sin-Mim and Kitab al-Mubeen

These are the revealed verses of the book. What book is this? It is al-Mubeen — it's clear. The book is very clear, meaning that the verses of this book are very clear. Now look at this connection. I just told you about mutashabihat — right here — and the Qur'an, Allah calls it what? Clear. So someone might say: hey, that doesn't make sense. Focus on what you need to focus on. Kitab al-Mubeen — Allah is saying: what you need to understand is more than clear. What you don't need to understand, He kept it that way on purpose. Why are you going there? That's not for you to focus on.

Ayah 3: The Great Tidings of Musa and Fir'aun

Allah says: We are reciting to you. Allahu Akbar — Allah is reciting to us. Natluu — we recite to you. How can you and I not listen when the reciter is Allah? Nahnu naqussu 'alayk — We are sharing a story with you. If Allah is the storyteller, how can we not listen to His story? He said: We recite to you in truth. Bil-haqq means in truth. 'Alayka — upon you, something of — min, a portion of — naba'i Musa — the tidings. And note: naba' is not just daily news. Naba' means something which is great — great tidings. Of Musa and Fir'aun. Li-qawmin yu'minun — for a people who would believe in divine revelation.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying: I am going to share with you now a story of Musa and Fir'aun. This is, as I have explained in detail, a very important story that I need you to pay attention to. But it's not just any story — it's naba', a very important news for you. Just as Allah says elsewhere:

They are asking about the big news — the news of the coming of the Hour. So here, similarly, the story of Musa and Fir'aun is a big news for all of us. Who is going to benefit from this? Li-qawmin yu'minun — for a people who believe in divine revelation. Anyone who doesn't believe in divine revelation will not benefit from it.

Ayah 4: Fir'aun's Tyranny

Allah says: Indeed, the Pharaoh exalted himself with lawless insolence in the land of Egypt. 'Ala is a verb which means to be on top, to be exalted. And from this comes al-'Aliyy — the Most Exalted — one of the names of Allah. So indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself with lawless insolence fi al-ard — in the land of Egypt.

And then what did he do? Wa ja'ala ahlaha shiya'an — he used an old tactic. What's that called? Divide and rule. Divide and conquer. Shiya' is a plural of shi'a, which means a group. He segregated its people into factions. So he got the Coptics, and he got the Bani Israel, and others. He started making them fight with one another.

This is exactly what's happening today. You create nation-states, you create borders, you go to every region and cut a line right through the center of multiple towns. And you have people with the same lineage, same heritage, same language, same skin color, same food — but now on opposite borders — and they will spend 50% and 60% of their budget on so-called defense from one another. And that line is an artificial line that was just placed 50 years ago, 100 years ago. SubhanAllah. This is how you do it. You create groups and you make them fight with one another. This is what the colonialists did in the past 150 to 200 years in different parts of the world. And this is exactly what we see happening today as well, right in front of our eyes.

Then what did he do? Yastadh'ifu ta'ifatan minhum — he began to oppress a group from amongst the groups. How did he oppress them? Yudhabbihu abna'ahum — he actually slaughtered, slaying their sons. Wayastahyi nisa'ahum — and letting their womenfolk alive in bondage, as slaves. Innahu kana min al-mufsideen — indeed, he was of those who sowed corruption on the earth.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks here of Fir'aun as an extremely arrogant person who worshipped himself — the most narcissistic person you can imagine. And that narcissism is what led him, amongst many other things, to claim divinity. And if you look at all the tyrants of today, look at how Mussolini died, look at how Hitler died, look at how Lenin died — read their stories, watch their final documentaries about their last moments. Pitiful deaths, every single one of them. And you realize every single one of them was the most empty, lost soul you can imagine. They took 20 million lives, 24 million lives. But subhanAllah, they had nothing — they were never happy with themselves, always empty.

Some of these tyrants had very strange psychologies — like a serial killer has their own weird psychology that makes them do those things. Similarly these tyrants of today had weird insecurities. And it's that insecurity, amongst many other things, and the worship of themselves, that leads them to commit the most horrific of crimes. Very empty and hollow people.

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions this aspect of the punishment of the people of Bani Israel in multiple places in the Qur'an. Right here in Surah al-Qasas:

In another place, in Surah al-Baqarah, Allah says:

He was giving you all sorts of different types of punishment, and was slaughtering your sons and letting your women stay alive. And in Surah Ibrahim, Nabi Musa says:

Remember Allah's blessing upon you, when Allah saved you from the people and army of Fir'aun, who were punishing you in various ways, and were slaughtering your sons.

The ulema of Tafsir go to such intricate points that we would never imagine. Three places, Fir'aun's killing and slaughtering of the Bani Israel is mentioned. Two places, Allah is speaking. And in one place, Nabi Musa is speaking to his nation. Now when it comes to the word yudhabbihu — slaughtering — only in one place has the letter waw been added — wa-yudhabbihu. What does waw mean? And. So they say: what is the wisdom behind that?

That and slaughtering is mentioned when Musa speaks to his nation. But when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks, He doesn't add it. Interesting. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is speaking about the most important things — what He protected or delivered Bani Israel from. So He talks about the crux: I saved you from a group of people who was killing you all. That's it. When Nabi Musa is speaking to his nation, he's actually counting out the favors of Allah — listing them. So as he goes through the process of listing them, he adds the waw, giving more detail, as if to say: A, B, C. It's not just killing — but then after that, how did they kill? They slaughtered.

And just for a moment, I want us to think about, subhanAllah, what used to happen to Bani Israel. They don't have bullets. They don't have bombs. It was really manually each and every single person. Zibah, brothers — you know what zibah means — slaughtering. It's unbelievable. Every single person, thousands of young boys, brought and slaughtered. Wa-yuqattilun — choked to death — one by one, manually. Not through a bullet, dying instantaneously. Just imagine watching or even hearing the slaughtering of a man or a child. That's what the Bani Israel were put through.

The word yasumunahum — as mentioned in Surah al-A'raf — that Fir'aun gave them all different types of punishment. Sa'ima is an animal that goes and grazes on its own — it chooses whatever it wants to eat. You let it free. Allahu Akbar — that is the word that's been used for the type of punishment Fir'aun gave. That his army freely tested and tried different ways of punishing Bani Israel — free range. No one could stop them. Like the way today, they're using different types of newly created bombs and chemical warfare, trying different things.

But people forget their history. People forget what they went through. Allah says Fir'aun put them through various types of 'adhab, where they chose whatever they wanted in order to punish them in that manner.

And then the fear that Fir'aun had was that the men will stand up — that one man will stand up and bring an end to his kingdom. So he decided to kill off the boys. But he wasn't afraid of the women bringing down his kingdom. Allahu Akbar — and actually who brought down his kingdom? His wife, right? It was Asiya. And I will insha'Allah get into that detail when that verse comes. But it is what I call the soft power of women — when used properly, it can be amazing; and when used improperly, it can be horrible. She used that soft power to force her husband to keep Nabi Musa.

So it was actually these two — Asiya and Nabi Musa — who worked together by Allah's will and brought down the whole kingdom. SubhanAllah. The one he thought he should fear — he knocked out all the men. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allowed one boy to survive — and that's the boy who brought him down. And he said: a woman won't harm me. And it was a woman who, subhanAllah, brought him down. So he used them as slaves, and they served him and his people. Innahu kana min al-mufsideen — indeed, he was from amongst those who caused chaos.

Ayah 5–6: Allah's Plan for the Oppressed

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala now mentions four — or five — great things:

Watch — when We want to do something, no one can stop Us. What did We want to do? We intended to confer Our favor. Wa-nurid — We wanted to send our special favor. Allah doesn't say Bani Israel here. What does He say? Alladhina istud'ifu fi al-ard — the people who have been oppressed in the land. You know, the people you've all been killing for so long, the ones you've destroyed? Allah doesn't say Bani Israel. He says: the most despicable, horrible, murdered people that no one wants to do anything with. Allah said: you didn't want to do anything with them, but I wanted to elevate their status.

And Allah talks about four or five things:

Number one: Namunn — We wanted to confer favor upon them.

Number two: Naj'alahum a'immatan — We didn't want to just get them out and stop. No — ceasefire? No. Allah says: no, no — I'm going to do much, much more than that. We are going to make them leaders, imams — not only in deen, but in dunya. They will become the kings.

Number three: Wa-naj'alahumul warithin — And We will make them inheritors. They will inherit and take over whatever the oppressors had. They will inherit their palaces. They will inherit their wealth. That's one tafsir. Or, they will be inheriting Allah's commandments — meaning they will be inheriting the deen.

Number four: Wa-numakkina lahum fi al-ard — And We wanted to establish them securely in the land. These are the most downtrodden people who had no place — they were treated as worse than slaves. Allah said: now We want to give you your own spot. We will give the people of the deen their own place.

Number five: Wa-nuriya Fir'awna wa-Hamana wa-junudahuma minhum ma kanu yahdharun — And We will show the Pharaoh and Haman and their armies and their hosts, by means of them, the very thing they feared the most — the fulfillment of the very fear that they were so vigilantly guarding against. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala made their worst fears come true.

This is the story we will be covering, insha'Allah, for many weeks and months — the story of how this happened. How did the most downtrodden and the most oppressed people end up enjoying the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala? And the five things that followed: namunn — Allah conferred His favor. Naj'alahum a'immatan — He made them leaders. Naj'alahum al-waritheen — He made them inheritors. Numakkina lahum fi al-ard — He established them in the land. Wa-nuriya Fir'awna wa-Hamana — and He showed Fir'aun and Haman and their armies the very thing they feared.

We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant you and I the deep understanding of what was covered today. May He increase our aqeedah and trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May He make us from amongst those who, no matter how tough the challenge may be, will never allow our eyes to focus on anyone besides Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Questions & Answers

On Dream Interpretation

A question about dream interpretation: is this something that can be learned by non-Muslims? The question references how Fir'aun made a huge decision based on a dream interpreted by an astrologer, while Yusuf ﷺ was given, through revelation, the ability to interpret dreams. So is interpretation of dreams something that a human being can learn, or is it purely a God-given gift?

Usually we'll say that certain people — Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala opens it up upon them. Like for some people, it comes to them naturally. Hence they write books on it, and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allows them to start making connections that is just beyond us for a person who is not in that field. It's called 'alam al-mithal — the world of representations, or a world of manifestation of dreams. Mithal means representation. So this is something that usually Allah opens up upon someone. But a person who studies and spends time in the suhba — in the company of people whom Allah has opened it up upon — can also learn. So if you get into this field and read, you slowly start seeing patterns. It's like a language — like a coding language. Once a person spends time reading it and understanding it, then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will allow a person to start understanding that language.

Does it mean you're always going to be right? That's the thing — when you're dealing with dreams, it's not yaqeen, it's not something that is 100% without doubt. It could be dhann — your conjecture, your educated guess, with regards to what you are sharing. And a non-Muslim could possibly have that ability as well.

On the Contrast Between Ta-Sin-Mim and Kitab al-Mubeen

A person is asking: can we explain the first two ayahs of Surah al-Qasas again, because the contrast of Ta-Sin-Mim is not clear, but ayah 2 says the Qur'an is a book of clarity. The answer: some verses are clear, some verses are ambiguous. Who said that? Allah said that in Surah Al 'Imran — not some scholar of Tafsir — Allah Himself said that in the Qur'an. So the surahs begin at times with letters whose meanings are ambiguous. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says: don't focus on that. The Qur'an is a clear book. What you need to learn is very clear. Whatever is not clear, you don't need to worry about it. All you need to say is: this is the true revelation, even though I don't understand it.

On Joining the Army of Imam Mahdi

How can we prepare ourselves to join Imam Mahdi's army? When it comes to Imam Mahdi, more than likely he is not coming anytime soon. So stop waiting for that. You need to actually work on yourself, on standing on your own feet. Whether Imam Mahdi is here or not, the key thing is we need to have strong faith to be able to stand with the truth against falsehood. And it's not going to get easier — it's only going to get more difficult. So focus on creating taqwa within your life. Focus on creating sunnah within your life.

The measure and the standard of righteousness and piety is not what the community says. Your measure of goodness and success is related back to the golden era of the Sahaba and the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. To what degree did I wake up today on sunnah? In my interactions with my parents and my spouse — sunnah. My business dealings — according to sunnah. My prayer — according to sunnah. The way I eat — according to sunnah. That's it. That is the antidote to the Dajjalic fitna. The more sunnah we have in our life, the more you and I will be protected from the fitna of Dajjal.

On Feeling Obligated to Join the Fight Against Oppressors

As more people get killed, I feel like I'm obligated to go join the fight against the oppressors. The thing is, this type of desire a person has when you see people getting killed anywhere — if someone is mercilessly being beaten on the street, you should not look the other way. You should feel pain for it. But if it is six or eight people with guns beating up one person, what would you do? More likely you're going to call the police. You would videotape it, you'd call the police to report it. Because you know you don't stand a chance against them.

When a person gets angry and hurt when you see oppression in the world, that is the proper response. Be it Muslim against Muslim, Christian against Muslim, Muslim against Christian, Jew against Muslim, Muslim against Jewish — whatever it is. Oppression of any sort is not acceptable. But when a person sees that, you might not always be able to do something directly. But at the least, you need to feel upset and angry about it. And then you need to channel that in the appropriate direction.

Part of that is, of course, political involvement — making phone calls, writing letters, putting pressure on people who actually can do things. Calling the Muslim ambassadors of Muslim countries, and calling our own representatives in the government. A thousand, two thousand, five thousand phone calls. We can do that. Number two, is raising awareness — not just with politicians, but with influential people at work, influential people in the business community, people who donate to different campaigns. Letting them hear the other side of the story, which they absolutely don't know.

I was very pleased to hear from a professor at COD that they had a symposium on the current crisis. And it was very well attended. And there were four panelists — all four were Jewish. And he said, subhanAllah, all four of them spoke with such wisdom and such proper understanding of the situation on behalf of the Palestinian side. So you're seeing this — the tide is changing. People are actually standing up and seeing these things.

And you want to know what to do? Start coming for Fajr and Isha. Start coming — fill up the masjid. If we can't fill up the masjid for salah, honestly, what are you going to do? The key thing is to start coming to the masjid. We haven't increased a single saf for Fajr yet. We haven't increased a single saf for Isha in the past five weeks. We are where we are. That stagnation has to end. And I promise you — you're never going to be part of Mahdi's army if you can't make it to salah. I guarantee you that.

Make a start of coming to the masjid regularly. If you come for Fajr and your work starts a little bit later, please stay for 10 minutes — read Qur'an, do some dhikr, make du'a. If your work starts immediately, then stay back after Isha — stay for 10 minutes, stay for 5 minutes, do some dhikr, pray two extra rak'at, Salat al-Haja. Fast on Mondays and Thursdays — fasts are the shortest they're going to ever be in the entire year right now, about 12 hours. And at the end, at iftar time, make du'a. Read Qur'an. Give sadaqah. And dedicate the reward to the people of Palestine and all those who are oppressed across the globe.

Use this opportunity to say: ya Allah, I'm going to give up riba for the people of Gaza. I want the reward of me stopping watching haram and listening to music to go to the people of Gaza. I want the reward of me getting out of a haram relationship to go to the people of Gaza. Like that — we repent from major sins and minor sins that we may be involved in. Dedicate ourselves to the ibadah and worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then give this reward to them as isa al-thawab. You'll get the ajr yourself — but it will be a sadaqah jariyah for them as well.

On Living in a Country Where Taxes Fund Oppression

Is it moral to live in a country where our taxes are funding the genocide of our brothers and sisters of Gaza? If everyone is financially able, should we move? The answer to that is — there are a lot of oppressive things tied to taxes everywhere. Honestly, my beloved brothers, what hurts us here hurts us. But think about our own Muslim lands, our own Muslim countries — while all of this is happening, the parties are on. Nothing. Business as usual. To the extent that in one country, they partnered up with a specific restaurant receiving the backlash of boycotts — paying for buy-one-get-one promotions — because, as they said, we feel bad for the losses you're incurring due to the boycott.

I don't know about you, but I would feel more anger about living in a country that calls itself Muslim and is doing these types of things. Here we have our taxes — yes, our taxes are not doing something haram today that they haven't been doing in other ways for the past three decades. Where have we been in the past two decades? Every single thing that has happened overseas.

But look at the bigger picture — the level of deen that you and I can practice. Can I sit like this — an open gathering of knowledge — in many Muslim countries? You know the answer. The freedom of practicing deen that we have here, may Allah keep it like this. Say ameen. And that's why we are firm believers that insha'Allah, deen will rise from here and go to the east. The people of this land will accept Islam insha'Allah and spread the deen like they have in the past.

I think we are in a very good position here to practice deen. But if we stay here and still do not use these freedoms to practice our deen, then there's no one to blame besides ourselves.

On Celebrating Thanksgiving

On celebrating Thanksgiving: if it's a family get-together, everyone's together, spending time together — then that's fine. More than Halloween, more than Christmas — those are very strongly religiously rooted holidays, as opposed to Thanksgiving. But even if it's a cultural thing, subhanAllah, there are differences of opinion of course in everything. The middle ground I would say is that we have our own things that we celebrate. We want to make sure we highlight our own days. We don't want to give respect to our mom or dad only on a specific day — we should reflect and appreciate every day.

So it's better that you simply don't call it a Thanksgiving get-together, but simply a family get-together that happens on a fall break. And it's not impermissible to eat turkey at such a gathering. But if you want to maintain our identity — because you know what happened to the Muslim culture in Pakistan and India when it comes to our marriages and everything else — that's why we should be careful. If you want to keep our identity, you can have your family get-together on Friday night, for example, so our children see: hey, we have our own specific identity. It's very important to give our children their own identity.

Announcements

Please make note of the following upcoming events:

Friday, December 1st — we have, alhamdulillah, our first monthly seminar after a long time. This is a really important seminar for all brothers and sisters who have money — all of us who have a job — who are trying to make sure their wealth is properly planned. You're worried about paying your yearly taxes — but what about what you leave after your death? Your business and your assets. Because of not properly planning it out, many people leave 30% of their assets in taxes. Because of not having their wills written out properly and because of their estate going to probate court, millions of dollars are going in taxes.

This seminar is aimed at teaching all attendees how to plan our wills before sudden death comes, in such a manner that it is more profitable and beneficial for our children and the ones we leave behind. It helps us save taxes. It reduces the chance of our wealth going to probate court. And additionally, it allows us to leave a sadaqah jariyah as a legacy by supporting institutions of all sorts.

We see the Jewish community has done a great job — we should learn from them, in how they've been able, with a small percentage, to become so financially strong. We have to learn how to make money and then retain that money. So please attend this seminar. Hafiz Yasser is an estate planning lawyer who has written a book on this topic that is used by lawyers across the country. He will also be speaking the next morning, December 2nd, on a follow-up discussion with Q&A on wills. He is an imam in Arizona and a hafidh of Qur'an as well.

Winter Intensive — December 23rd to 25th over Christmas weekend. This is for the entire community — men, women, children, youth, college students — from across the country are all welcome to join us. This year's topic is on contemporary fiqh questions, including:

Spousal support and child custody. Muslim encounters with European modernity. Historical origins of controversies. Bid'ah versus sunnah. Theological exploration of takfir — how far is too far? When does a person actually become a disbeliever and when does he not? Islam in the workplace — medicine as a case study. Shari'ah-compliant earning, financing, and investing. Riba in contemporary times — halal or haram. United Eid in the United States — challenges and solutions. Communal consideration — a path to overcoming differences in Muslim America. Significance of halal consumption — uncovering the meat industry and the need for zabiha certification.

All sorts of topics that most people discuss at different gatherings but unfortunately don't have much knowledge about. Please immediately put in your calendars: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday during the holidays. Invite your family and friends from across the country. We have two Muslim-owned hotels across the street where you can get a special discounted rate. We are looking forward to receiving students from different parts of the country insha'Allah.

Annual Banquet — approximately 20 days from now. We're looking for Muslim businesses to partner with. If you know a Muslim business — a plumber, a dentist, a carpet cleaner, a fabric maker, a laundromat, whatever it is — please reach out. This is the once-a-year opportunity where we partner up with Muslim businesses to become sponsors of our event. Besides showcasing your business at the dinner in front of 1,250 individuals from across the Chicagoland area, we will be sharing the booklet on a periodic basis through WhatsApp, email, and our website throughout the entire year. So please reach out to us.

Please also purchase your family tickets on the way out. This year's projects: supporting our endowment fund to help take care of the overhead at Darussalam — alhamdulillah, over 100 part-time and full-time staff members, 550 students studying here every single day, and approximately three quarters of a million dollars given out in scholarship every single year, with a policy of no child — and no adult — left behind. And the capital project for this year: redoing the entire parking lot — going from approximately 425 official parking spots to insha'Allah about 1,100 official parking spots — almost tripling our capacity, which is very much needed for Jumu'ah, workshops, seminars, retreats, and Ramadan.

Additionally, there are some selected books outside — please do visit the bookstall. A Downpour of Blessings is a book I would promote for each one of you to bring to your houses. Purchase that book and start reading at home with your wife and your kids. It is a beautiful selection of ahadith, with very nice translation and explanation and take-home points — nothing complicated. It is very comprehensive, just came out a few months ago, available in two volumes.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept everyone's patience and everyone sitting here. May Allah reward all those who generously donate food and tea and their khidmah here. May Allah allow all our tafsir listeners to benefit, and may Allah put it in their book of deeds. All those who are volunteering here and supporting this program every single week — may Allah accept from all of you. Ameen.