Surah Ta-Ha - Ep.10 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Opening Du'a and Intentions

Let's all make du'a to Allah that He makes our coming into this gathering of knowledge and dhikr a means of our forgiveness, a means of our salvation, a means of rejuvenating our iman in our hearts, and a means of us gaining that sixth sense whereby we can differentiate between right and wrong, and where we can easily understand the plots and the plans of shaytan and our nafs against us. And then may He inspire us to be able to protect ourselves and take the proper steps to protect ourselves from these plots and plans. Ameen.

Also, let us renew our intention that we're here to only please Allah, and to be able to gain so much 'ilm and do so much dhikr that this will become a means of us gaining Allah's pleasure, and then we will propagate this to others. And let us also make niyyah that, ya Allah, whatever issues and difficulties this week I'm going through, through the barakah of this gathering, may He remove those obstacles and difficulties from our life. Ameen.

Continuing from Surah Ta-Ha — Fir'aun's Response to the Magicians

We are going to, insha'Allah, continue from the ayah:

Fir'aun said to the magicians — as you remember, they all fell into prostration. It was as though they were being forced by the power of the truth to fall into sujood. And they said, all in one voice, that we believed in the Rabb of Musa and Harun.

Why the Magicians Accepted Islam So Quickly

In the Tafsir of Jalalain, it's mentioned in the hashiyah there — these are wisdoms and hikam that scholars have written. Last week we spoke about how quickly these people accepted Islam. And one of the things, if you remember, was that they were searching for the truth. That's what it was. They were experts of what they were doing, and they immediately saw that this is not magic. This is something else. And they wanted the truth. So they were sincere. Even though they were magicians, and they were magicians of Fir'aun, but they were sincere people wanting the truth. And so Allah granted them that.

We talked about that extensively — the fact that if a person is seeking the truth, no matter what his situation is, Allah will guide him to that.

The Story of Mawlana Yunus Palanpuri and the Evangelical Priest

So it reminds me of a story of Mawlana Yunus Palanpuri. Some of you know him — he has a very famous daily lesson he shares, recording a clip in Urdu broadcasted on various applications. One time I was sitting in a talk of his and he mentioned that he was traveling to Africa for an ijtima' for da'wah. In the plane, he was sitting next to an Evangelical Christian priest, or a church leader. And they were speaking — a long conversation on the flight to Africa.

He asked what he was going for, and he said he was going to various parts of Africa to spread Christianity — usually they go out into very difficult areas. So Mawlana Sahib said, I'm also going to Africa to spread the deen. So they had a conversation about Islam and Christianity and so forth. A long conversation about all of these things. And they got along quite well.

As the Prophet ﷺ said:

Souls are like an army that has been gathered together — those that recognized each other come together, and those that did not recognize each other differ. There are some souls that get along and some souls that don't get along.

So sometimes you say — I was telling the students today — "love at first sight." It's actually not love at first sight, it's love at second sight. The first sight happened where? In the realm of souls. You saw each other there and you connected. You don't remember that. But that's the reason when you look at someone, you feel, oh my God, this person — it's just like, I have to be with this person. Or, we get along so well — have we met before? It seems like we're brothers. It seems like we know each other from years. That's because the souls met in the realm of souls and they got along over there. And then when you meet up again here, you just hit off on the right note immediately.

And the flip side — there are some that didn't get along over there. So now when they see each other, from the very get-go, they just don't get along. Always irritated by one another.

So, this scholar of Islam, sitting with this Christian Evangelical priest on the same flight, going to Africa, both doing different things — to give da'wah to people, one towards Islam, one towards Christianity. The journey ends now in Africa and they're parting ways. So Mawlana Yunus tells this priest: "Listen, we have enjoyed our conversation. I want to tell you one thing. Can I ask you to do one thing?" He said, "Yes, what is that?" He said, "You go ahead, do whatever you think you're doing — fine, I can't stop you. But I request you, every single day, take out a few special moments — before you go to bed or otherwise — raise your hands and pray to God, pray to the Almighty, pray to the Divine Power: 'God, guide me to what's right. Whatever is right, just guide me to that.' Make this earnest prayer and du'a every single day. Can you do this? I'm not asking you to accept Islam, I'm not inviting you to Islam. I just said, ask God to guide you to what's right."

And he said, "Okay, I'll do this." SubhanAllah — I'm hearing from the man himself, Mawlana Yunus, in his talk — he said years later he received a handwritten letter. When he opened it, it was from that same person, that same priest. He told him he's writing the letter from a flight, from an airplane. And where is he headed? To Africa. And for what? To spread Islam! He had accepted Islam, and he said, "I'm going right back to the areas I had gone to, and Allah has blessed me with Islam and with the Nur of Islam, and I'm going right back to those areas to spread this deen." SubhanAllah.

Where does this come back to? It comes down to sincerity. When a person is sincere and wanting Allah, no matter how challenging the circumstances may be, Allah will make a way for him.

The Example of Asiya, the Wife of Fir'aun

What did Asiya have — the wife of Fir'aun? It was sincerity. She had, you say, difficult circumstances. Some women who are listening may say, "I have a difficult husband." Yes. Some husbands may say, "I have a difficult wife." Yes. But who can say they have a more difficult spouse than Fir'aun, the Pharaoh himself? "I am your Supreme God." My husband thinks he's to be God. No, he didn't think — he actually proclaimed it. He said, "I am God. I am your Supreme Lord." That's what he would say. He told everyone. He acted like God. He wanted to kill whoever he wanted, did whatever he wanted. He oppressed the Israelites for years.

So that's your husband. How challenging it must be to have him in your life and you want to remain a Muslim. Allahu Akbar. Most difficult. But she remained a Muslim — even though he warned her, intimidated her, "I'm going to burn you to death, I'm going to boil you to death." And nothing shook her faith. She remained firm, and she died in that state eventually. But her name is mentioned — her reference is mentioned in the Qur'an:

"O Allah, please build for me a palace by You in paradise — by You in paradise. I did all this for You, not for paradise. I did this for You. I want to be next to You, I want to be near You, as much as it could possibly be in the next world. And save me from Fir'aun and from his horrible actions. And save me from the oppressive nation." She's mentioned in Surah Tahrim.

What could Fir'aun do? He couldn't burn her a second time. He couldn't torture her a second time. That painful five or ten minutes were definitely painful. That's it. He only got one life. He couldn't do it again, as much as he wanted to.

So that is what you get from sincerity — that if you're sincere, then no matter what type of circumstances you find yourself in, you will be able to practice Islam and the deen. And if we're not sincere — may Allah forgive and protect us — then you could be born in Mecca, you could be born in Medina, your father and mother could be servants of the Haram, cleaning and taking care of it, you could be the imam of the Haram — it makes no difference. If a person is not sincere, then the proximity to these sacred places will make no difference. He will still remain far away from Islam.

Fir'aun's Threats and the Magicians' Courageous Response

So Fir'aun said to these magicians:

"Have you believed in him before I have permitted you to do so? How dare — every single thing — I'm supposed to be completely in control of every movement of yours, including your emotions, including your faith. How dare can you believe in Musa before you take permission from me? Indeed, he is certainly your master sorcerer who has taught you sorcery."

So now, when you don't have a proper answer, this is what you do. Instead of sitting down and speaking to his own people who had forsaken him — "Why did you all do this? All hundreds of you have left me to go with Musa? Even though you know I'm going to kill you, and I promised you all sorts of rewards if you win?" — but when a person follows his ego, is narcissistic, narcissism blinds you from the truth. May Allah protect us from narcissism. May Allah make us from those who are always searching and seeking for the truth, even if it means it's against us. Because we want to be on the truth. We want to die on the right side of the fence.

So stubbornness is a very big bimari — a big disease. We should seek refuge in Allah from being stubborn. Yes, be firm on the truth — don't be wishy-washy. But when it comes to general things, we should be open-minded to say, if I am wrong, I am willing to accept my wrong. And I'm not going to say "my way or the highway."

So instead of learning and thinking about the truth, Fir'aun immediately said, "Musa is actually your teacher, your biggest magician." And now — "What am I going to do to all of you?" The lam and the nun mushaddad in the Arabic is for emphasis. La-uqatti'anna — "Most definitely, indeed, I shall cut your hands and feet from the opposite sides." Right hand, left foot; left hand, right foot. And not stopping there: wa-la-usallibannakum — "Most surely, I shall crucify you." جِذْعُ النَّخْلِ — the trunks of date palm trees. "I'm going to crucify you on the trunks of date palms so that everyone can see what happens if you leave Fir'aun's religion and follow the deen of Musa."

Now, the magicians — they know Fir'aun. They know he means business. They've been working for him for years. So they know, like those who work for cartel leaders — ruthless people — that when he says something, he's not bluffing. And then he doesn't stop there. He says, "You will know who amongst us is more severe in inflicting torment and making pain more everlasting." Who is he comparing himself to? He's comparing himself to the Rabb of Musa. "You're going to have to learn the hard way who has greater power in inflicting torment — is it the Rabb of Musa or is it Fir'aun? And whose punishment is more everlasting?"

The Magicians' Magnificent Answer

What an amazing answer! We're talking about people who accepted Islam how long ago? They accepted Islam like five minutes ago. And what are they telling Fir'aun?

Lan nu'thirak — "We will never prefer submission to you." Ala ma ja'ana minal bayyinat — "Over all those clear and miraculous proofs of Allah that have come to us, meaning that Musa has brought to us." Walladhi fatarana — "And over the One who has originated us. So you just came out of nowhere — there's a God who created you and I. Why would we run towards you and leave the One who created us?"

Like this satellite imagery that is coming in — people are sitting there amazed, getting emotional, crying. And they say, "Look what science has shown us." Brother, science didn't create a star. Science didn't create a galaxy. Science didn't create anything that's out there. Science, wallahi, is just a tool for us to see Allah's power. How sad that no matter how powerful a ten-billion-dollar satellite is, and no matter how crystal clear the lens of those satellites are — if the lens of the heart is cloudy, you still won't see Allah after seeing all this. People are getting emotional at the pictures, but they can't think about who is the One who created all of this.

If this is so beautiful and overwhelming, imagine how beautiful and overwhelming must be the One who created all this. And Allah says:

What an amazing ayah! Sanuriyhim ayatina fil afaq — "Soon We shall show them Our signs in the distant corners of the horizon." Wa fi anfusihim — "And We will show them Our signs within their own selves." Their own lives, their own bodies, their own anatomy, their own psychology, their own biology — will be an amazing manifestation of My signs. Hatta yatabayyana annahul haqq — "Until it will become completely apparent that Allah is the Absolute Truth." Now you don't want to accept it — that's up to you. But this will be absolutely established. Awa lam yakfi birabbika annahu ala kulli shay'in shahid — "Isn't it sufficient that your Lord is a witness to all of these things?"

We don't look down upon anyone. We simply thank Allah countless times that we don't have to understand and see satellite imagery to understand He exists. We see Allah everywhere — in the way your day began, in the way your day is ending, in the way you're sitting here today. Because Allah has allowed us to see Him. You have to have that lens. If you want to see a 3D presentation, you're not going to be able to see it without wearing those 3D lenses. Similarly, if we're missing the lens of guidance — the lens of hidayah from Allah — then even the greatest of things will just not make sense to us. So we ask Allah that He always keeps our lens clean and gives us those lenses where we can see guidance and see Allah's hidden hand behind everything.

The Demand for Proof and the Spread of Atheism

These new Muslims who accepted Islam five minutes ago — what are they saying? "We will not prefer submitting to you over the clear proofs that Allah has brought to us. Where are your proofs? You haven't brought proofs." People say, "I'm very logical." Well, guess what — why don't they use that logic properly? If you're very logical, where's the proof?

One scholar recently told me about a 15 or 16-year-old from a Muslim community who had become an atheist. He shows up to weekly youth meetups and all he does is create doubt and confusion amongst all the kids. So the imam said, "Why are you picking on little kids? Come talk to me." So he called him into the office and said, "What's your problem? What are you confused about? Let's talk." So he mentioned objection after objection and the imam started answering him one by one. Until he had answered everything, this young man had nothing to say. He just looks at the translation of the Qur'an behind the imam on his desk and says, "I just don't believe that stuff — it's all fake." What is that statement supposed to mean? Don't just say it's all fake. Where's the proof? I'm here to answer it. I've answered all your objections, broken all your fallacies — bring something. He has nothing to bring.

Because they're not being logical. They have actually become slaves of their desires. When a person becomes a slave of his desire, then it's very hard to acknowledge there's a Creator — because acknowledging an all-powerful Creator means you have to be humble and you have to follow the rules. People don't like to follow the rules today.

You want to know the real reason why atheism is spreading like wildfire? Because people have become slaves of their nafs. They don't want to listen to their parents, their teachers, their mentors, their elders. They want to be completely in control of themselves. "I just feel like it." This generation hates following rules. They get so upset at anything you tell them. Because the past 10–15 years they have become so accustomed to following their desires. And that's exactly what shaytan is doing right now.

SubhanAllah — I'm telling you, forget outsiders, people of knowledge who studied the deen are acting like this today. People who studied Qur'an for years, became huffadh of Qur'an, studied 'ilm — you tell them today, "Do you have a mentor? Do you have someone you make mashwarah with?" "No, I don't need to." How many imams of this country have a mentor? How many ulama have mentors? How many of them humble themselves in front of someone and say, "I need to sit down and talk to someone. I'm always giving lectures and talks — but where do I get to purify myself? If I'm a tanker giving gas to everyone else, when do I fill up my own tank?"

The Importance of Having an Elder and a Mentor

I met one elderly scholar in this country — once we were in his masjid, he was so humble. He told me to lead salah. I said, "No, you're the elder imam." He said, "No, I want you to lead." Afterwards, he sat me down. He came to this country in the 60s or 70s, very senior. And he told me, "Do you know what is the biggest problem in this country? We don't have an elder. Because of which, everything is ruined."

Generally speaking, people do not have high regards for anyone. Who do you humble yourself in front of? That's the whole point. Whoever doesn't have an elder — his elder is shaytan. Whoever doesn't have an ameer, whoever doesn't have a mentor, whoever doesn't have a shaykh — his mentor is shaytan. Remember that. You cannot function in life without having someone you speak with and take mashwarah from.

And the reason why this is not happening today is because slowly the entire world is going towards following the nafs and the desires. And that's exactly — give it a little bit more time — that's when Dajjal will show up. Because he will be the perfect thing to fill up that vacuum. People will no longer be believing in a Divine. You will see how artificial intelligence and all of these other things will gather together, and Dajjal will come about at just the perfect right time. Whenever that is — may Allah save us and take us away well before that time. Ameen.

The Prophet ﷺ said:

(Sunan Abi Dawud, Hadith 4811; Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1954)

The one who cannot thank the people cannot thank Allah. If someone cannot be thankful to his parents or to his teachers, how can he ever be thankful to Allah?

If people of knowledge don't have a shaykh, don't have a mentor — that's exactly why you see the deviation in the people of knowledge today. There's no anchor anymore. If you have an anchor, it stops you from going too far off. But if you're not anchored to anything, you just go with the flow. Like you put a boat in the middle of the water without an anchor — the winds will just take it away. Before you know it, it's on the other end of the river. But if you're anchored, then even the winds will come, the waves will come, and you'll stay strong.

What is your anchor? Your anchor is your teachers. Your anchor are your mentors. Your anchor are your shuyukh. Your anchor are your parents — who are all obviously anchored to someone else. Get connected to the connected. Otherwise you will become, as our teachers would say, a kati patang — a kite that's been cut. When the thread is cut from the kite and the kite is already at 300–400 feet, it flies all over. MashaAllah, look, it's going higher and higher! How long will it last? A few minutes. And after that, it falls into the pond, into the tree, into the ditch — done.

So our teachers would say, if you graduate from the madrasa — and for that matter, for anyone — and you don't keep yourself anchored to your teachers, you will be the kati patang. You'll say, "My teachers hold me down, my mentors and parents hold me down — I want to grow!" And you'll grow and grow. You'll get a big followership online, you'll become famous. You're growing, growing, growing. But if you're cut, it's just a matter of time before you fall — spiritually bankrupt, flying without gas. It's just a show. But internally, you won't be able to benefit people. And most importantly, you won't be able to benefit yourself.

The Example of Mufti Taqi Uthmani

Mufti Taqi Uthmani — as you know, one of the most notable scholars of the world, top two or three from the 500 list of most influential and well-known Muslims across the globe. As a student, he took bay'ah to his father. His father is Mufti Shafi', the Mufti of Pakistan. But he said, father and son — it's hard sometimes for children to benefit from their dads, no matter who your father is. So he connected him with different mashayekh, and he ended up getting bay'ah and taking a pledge of tawbah and tarbiyah under Dr. Abdul Hayy Arifi, rahimahullah, who was a doctor and a hakim as well.

Dr. Abdul Hayy Arifi told him — you can imagine Mufti Taqi in his twenties, bubbling with knowledge and excitement — he said, "For ten years, you are not going to go on the pulpit. No bay'ahs for you. Ten years. You simply focus on what I'm going to tell you to focus on." Imagine — the son of the Grand Mufti of the country, himself so advanced in his knowledge, and a shaykh says "Shh, no more talks." And he says: سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا — I listen and obey. However great you were, you became a hundred times greater at that moment. For you to be able to put your nafs down and say, "I'm doing this for Allah. If my elders tell me no, then it's a no. Because I'm not doing it for myself, I'm doing it for Allah."

And so that's why when you go sit with such people — may Allah give long life and barakah to Mufti Taqi Uthmani — you will not for one instant smell arrogance. Even though they are mountains of knowledge. You have prime ministers, presidents, multi-millionaires, billionaires coming for advice. And yet they are as approachable, as down to earth as possible. Why is that? Through the tarbiyah they received for years under their mentors and shuyukh.

So it is the responsibility of the fathers and mothers — and the youngsters who have some understanding — to create this disposition and temperament within your sons and daughters. Keep on asking as you move forward. Don't try to do things without asking. Find someone and have someone to make mashwarah with. When it comes to which university, to which investment, to which career path, to which spouse — all of those things — make a habit of asking. May Allah make it easy for me to practice on what I just shared and allow all of us to practice on this as well.

Continuing the Tafsir — The Magicians' Defiance of Fir'aun

Faqdi ma anta qad — "Make any decree you want. Do whatever you want." As we would say in Urdu: jo chahiye karlo, jo ji mein aaye karlo, hum to Islam nahi chhodne wale — do whatever you want, make any decision you want. We're not leaving Islam. Within a few minutes, they reached this level of iman.

"Oh, you said you're going to crucify us? Okay. You're going to cut our hands and feet from opposite sides? Okay. You want to do something else? Do it." SubhanAllah, what an answer!

Innama taqdi hadhihil hayatad dunya — "You can only decree what happens in this world. Your judgment of killing, crucifixion, or any other type of torture will only affect us as long as the soul is in the body. And as soon as the soul leaves — whether it takes 3 minutes or 30 minutes — your jurisdiction is over, Fir'aun. Done."

What an amazing answer. This ayah is so important for us, because we are faced with difficulties at work, at school, in society — where society is pushing us to leave Islam, leave the deen, leave the sunnah. And we are trying our best as a small community to remain firm. The opposition keeps on getting greater numbers. To the extent that our spouses, our children, our parents, our co-workers and employers are joining the opposite ranks. It's getting very difficult to follow the deen in this country.

And if you want to see more difficulty, look at what's happening in other parts of the world — people getting arrested for praying salah. If you're praying in a train station, in a mall, they're getting arrested and tortured for simply praying salah. SubhanAllah. Many of us are from that region of the world — ask yourself, if this type of rule were to happen, what are you going to do about your salah?

The world is becoming more challenging, more difficult. During Dajjal's time, what will happen? The ahadith are there — Dajjal will say, "Follow me, otherwise you're dead." He's going to have full vertical control over livestock, the electric grid, food, everything from A to Z. If you follow him, everything will flourish. If you don't follow him, everything will fall apart. Of course, he's not God. Allah has made him as a test. So this ayah is asking you to reflect — are you ready to say to those who cause obstruction in your deen: faqdi ma anta qad — "You can decree whatever you want, I'm not changing"?

A Wisdom from Tafsir al-Jalalain — Dressing Like the Righteous

Now, I mentioned Tafsir al-Jalalain earlier and I didn't say what was written there. It's mentioned there that one of the possible wisdoms why hidayah came so quickly to the magicians was that they were dressed in robes similar to the robe of Musa alayhis salam. And they say that this external similarity with Musa alayhis salam became a means of hidayah coming towards them more quickly.

And so based on this they would say, even if a person is not necessarily the most pious person and the most sunnah-following person, but if you dress according to the salaf — dress the way the scholars would dress — then hidayah will insha'Allah come to us as well. You don't have to say, "I'm very weak, so why should I dress in a certain manner? Why should I wear a turban, why should I wear a kufi?" These are all sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. You can say, "O Allah, I'm going to adorn my exterior, and You adorn my interior — because I have no control of my interior, You have control of my interior. I have control over my wardrobe, I don't have control over my heart."

Dress in a manner of the pious, and in a manner that will protect you from provocations from the people of falsehood. Dress in a manner that will keep you protected from invitations towards sin. For the youth — college boys and girls, high school boys and girls — dress in a manner that the opposite gender is moving away from you rather than towards you. If we keep this in mind, insha'Allah, you'll be able to follow the deen with a lot of ease and comfort.

The Magicians' Declaration of Faith

"As for us, O Fir'aun, we have believed in our Lord so that He may forgive us our misdeeds. Why did we believe in Allah? We want Allah to forgive us. And for whatever sorcery you forced upon us — we never wanted to follow sorcery. You forced us to work for you, and we didn't know any better. O Allah, forgive us for our sins and for the fact that we were involved in sorcery and magic due to Fir'aun forcing it upon us."

WaAllahu khayrun wa abqa — "For Allah is the best in reward and everlasting." Khayrun means best, abqa means everlasting. Do you see what this is connected to? Fir'aun said: ashaddu adhaban wa abqa — "We're going to find out who can give a longer lasting and more severe punishment." And what did they answer? Allahu khayrun wa abqa — "It's not you. It's Allah who is best in His reward and everlasting in His punishment." Because once I die, you have no control over me — but Allah has control over me in the dunya, in the grave, when He resurrects me, and in the Hereafter.

Descriptions of Jahannam and Jannah

Look at the iman — how quickly! "Indeed, whoever comes to his Lord as a defiant unbeliever — for him will be hellfire. Wherein he shall neither die nor live." A very important description of Jahannam — a place where you don't live nor do you die. You can't call that life. It's the worst possible thing. We can't even imagine how horrible Jahannam is.

Death will be brought in the form of a ram, and the people of Jannah and the people of Jahannam will be told to come and watch. Allah will bring a ram and say, "This is death." And then the ram will be slaughtered. If death was not dead at that time, the people of paradise would have died out of happiness. And the people of hellfire would have died out of sadness — realizing there is no way out of this place.

"And whoever comes to Him as a believer having done righteous deeds — then it is for these that they have the highest ranks. Gardens of 'Adn, beneath which rivers flow, wherein they shall abide forever and ever. And such is the reward of whoever purifies himself."

Jaza'un means recompense. Allah is saying, this is the recompense of the person who does tazkiyah — to attain purity of the heart. And that's what we're talking about — what a shaykh or mentor does. That's what coming to gatherings like this is supposed to do. That's what reading books and tazkiyah does. That's what having a daily regiment of dhikr does — to purify the filth from the heart: arrogance, narcissism, love for material things, lustful desires, ostentation and show, jealousy, malice and hatred, gluttony. These evil diseases of the heart have to be cleansed out.

One filter you don't clean in your car, one filter you don't clean in the AC — how many things we have to clean every day! From the toilet to the sink, to the kitchen, to the dishes, every single thing in the home has to be washed, rinsed, power washed, swept. That's the dunya. So we are spending so much time cleaning all the cobwebs everywhere, but we have forgotten to clean the heart. How often have we thought, "I haven't cleansed my heart, I haven't even seen what's inside there." We've got the deodorants, the toothpaste, the colognes, the shampoos and the conditioners. When are we going to attend to our hearts?

Allah says:

Indeed, he who purifies the soul has become successful. These are multiple verses in the Qur'an that speak about the same thing. So this is a discussion we have to have with ourselves — I need to work on the purification of my soul. Beloved fathers and mothers — when was the last time we worried about the spiritual state of our children? When you see evil traits, do you look the other way and say, "As long as son, daughter, you've got the good grades, I'm not worried"? We have to see what is the condition of their spirituality.

Musa alayhis salam and the Crossing of the Sea

"Thus We revealed to Musa alayhis salam: set out by night with My servants — My servants referring to the children of Israel — then strike for them a dry passage through the sea." Yabasan means dry. Darban means to strike.

You know this story — Fir'aun and his army are coming behind, and Musa alayhis salam and the Bani Israel are moving forward. Now they say inna lamudrakun — "We're caught. Behind us we have Fir'aun and his army, and in front of us we have the sea."

Allah said, "O Musa, strike! Take that stick that you just used to eat up all the other fake sorcery and magic." It is what I want it to be. We talked about that last week — it is what I want it to be. So what do I want it to be right now? Right now I want to make this stick into something that makes water into land. And then after that, that same stick will make hard stone into gushing water:

The Bani Israel said, "We need water." Allah said, "Take that same stick and hit the stone." And as soon as he hit the boulder, 12 different streams began to flow from there. That same stick — a little while before that — struck the sea and it turned into land. And a little bit before that, thrown on the floor, it became the biggest snake and ate up all the other snakes.

So we learn that whatever Allah has given us, it is what He wants it to be — it's not what we think of it to be. Whatever we own is what Allah wants it to be. That's why I ask Allah to make every resource you have beneficial. You don't know what's going to turn against you. Don't ever put your hope upon anyone or anything. Have hope upon Allah only.

As Ali ibn Abi Talib said:

(Attributed to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib; referenced in Jami' al-Tirmidhi, Hadith 1997)

"Love your friend with moderation — it could happen one day that he may turn against you and become your enemy, and will use every secret you had shared with him to destroy your life. And hate your enemy also with moderation — because it could happen that one day this enemy of yours may become your friend. And if you've done too much harm to the relationship, it may never be able to return to a place of kindness and understanding."

What a beautiful statement. So don't over-trust anyone. Instead trust Allah and say, "O Allah, make my spouse, my children, my grandchildren, my money, my home, my car, my business, my partners — make these all means of khair and goodness for me, and do not allow them to become a means of fitnah and test for me."

"Do not fear being overtaken" — you're looking behind them, saying inna lamudrakun — "We're caught, O Musa!" And where did Musa respond? In the 19th juz:

"Never! My Lord is with me — He will guide me." Never, never, never. Relax. When you follow the deen, stop thinking the deen will lead you to your destruction. When you follow the Prophet ﷺ's sunnah, I promise you, you will not be thrown off the cliff. Deen is where success is. But Allah tests us. We have to stay invested.

When we are following the deen, following the sunnah, Allah will test us. And our job is to say, "Ya Allah, I love You, and I love the deen, and I'm not going anywhere, no matter what comes my way." You open up a halal business and you're losing money — relax. I've had people tell me this: "In my haram business, I was making so much money. Now I'm in a halal business and I'm losing money." So what? This is a test from Allah. If Allah got you out of haram, that in itself is a mercy. Stay firm. Don't run away.

The Destruction of Fir'aun and His Army

They went in, and shortly right after them, Fir'aun followed them with his forces. Fa-ghashiyahum minal yammi ma ghashiyahum — they were overwhelmed by the sea, and what an overwhelming it was! This is such a beautiful ayah. Allah doesn't say a great big wave came and overtook them. Allah says they were overwhelmed by what was overwhelming. Allah doesn't even call it a wave. He doesn't even explain how big it was — it's like saying, it was just so huge, I can't even tell you. This is the ta'bir used here in the Qur'an — the figure of speech. What overtook them was just something unbelievable.

Wa adalla fir'awnu qawmahu wa ma hada — "Thus, Fir'aun ended up leading his people astray, even though he said, 'Follow me — I'm the one who will guide you.'" This is what you call a murder-suicide. He took everyone to hellfire and took himself to hellfire.

The story of Musa and Fir'aun will move on to a new chapter insha'Allah from next week. But the idea here is: every single pharaoh must come to an end similar to this. And all the followers of every pharaoh will also have a similar ending. That's why Allah mentioned this story in the Qur'an — for us to understand. Don't follow the pharaohs of your time. Follow the Musas of your time. Even though it may seem difficult and life is challenging, you will win the race. You will have the last laugh. We talked about that last week too — how the believers will be the ones having the last laugh on the Day of Judgment.

May Allah grant you and I the ability to remain steadfast on our deen. And may Allah allow us to have the basirah — the understanding — to stay away from all the forces of evil.

Q&A Session

How to remove an unknown weight from the chest?

If you're talking about a sin, the way to lift that weight from the chest is to cry in front of Allah. If you cannot shed tears, then at least pour your heart out and make du'a to Allah — that's the best way. And the dhikr of Allah is very beautiful. Three things: take Allah's name, send salutations upon the Prophet ﷺ, and do istighfar. That is a very great way to make your mind and heart feel refreshed. Praying two raka'at of salah, pouring your heart out, asking Allah for forgiveness, and doing dhikr is great.

How do I stop falling into the same sin again and again?

This is where, just as you don't try to figure out a persistent medical illness by yourself — you go visit a doctor — you need to reach out to a mentor, a shaykh, or a scholar. Alhamdulillah we have a lot of resources here at Darussalam. The basic thing for general sins is that a person needs to leave the environment and the friend circle. If it's connected to a device or a place, there's no rocket science required — as long as they've got those devices around them, as long as they're in that environment, they're going to keep falling into sin. So we have to remove ourselves from those places where sins are happening, including keeping ourselves away from cell phone devices — which is the one biggest thing.

Do sins block your du'a from being answered?

If a person does not repent from sins and continues to lead a life of insolence where he doesn't care what Allah thinks, then yes, this could be a reason why his ibadah might not be accepted, depending on what type of sin it is. The first du'a you want to make is: "Ya Allah, forgive me for what I've done, major and minor sins." Make that du'a first and then move on to everything else.

How do you know when it's time to stop trying for a career or for marriage?

You need to have a career, and you need to get married too — there's no such thing as it being "over." You have to keep on trying. There might be some obstacles specifically that you're faced with, some that you don't see or sense. You need to reach out to a scholar and ask specifically about your situation.

Are men allowed to wear neck chains, rings, etc.?

No. The only thing men are permitted to wear is a silver ring — specifically as the Prophet ﷺ used it for stamping, as his signature. Adornment and beautification through jewelry is not for men in this world. The akhirah would be something else.

How does one overcome mental illness and feeling alone?

There are two aspects — the spiritual and the psychological or psychiatric. For the spiritual, I usually recommend the following regiment:

After finishing each set of seven, blow on your hands, wipe over your body, and blow onto some water. At the end, drink this water. Do this regiment 3 to 5 times a day. Insha'Allah, whatever addiction you're suffering from, mental illness, or spiritual ailment — if it's connected to a spiritual cause — insha'Allah you'll find cure. If it requires medical intervention, continue with that as well. Reading Manzil — the 30 verses of the Qur'an — is also recommended. Do this for 7, 14, 21, or 41 days — an odd number of days — with conviction and clear niyyah. Insha'Allah you will find a lot of benefit. Please also reach out to the masjid — we have great resources here and we will do our best to help.

We ask Allah to accept all of you who came here. All those whose questions did not get answered — may Allah answer your questions in the quickest and best manner. And whatever issues and difficulties any one of us are going through, may Allah grant us salvation from that.

Announcements — New Staff Members at Darussalam

Alhamdulillah, any effort of deen that happens doesn't happen in a vacuum — it requires a lot of different efforts put together. Whatever you see here — mashaAllah, 10 safs today for salah — is a beautiful combination of hundreds of people's efforts over the past two to three decades. Today I want to introduce four new staff members who will be joining us and whom you will be interacting with:

Mufti Tahmid is joining our Hifz program. We currently have approximately 96 students in the boys' section and about 50 in the girls' section — approximately 9 to 10 hifz classes for boys and 4 to 5 for the girls. Mufti Tahmid joins us from Queens, New York. He began his journey of memorizing Qur'an at the age of 11, completed his hifz, moved on to the 7-year 'alim program, and then furthered his education by completing the iftaa' or mufti course under Mufti Brar here at the Darul Iftaa Chicago. Welcome to Mufti Tahmid, the newest addition to the Hifz teaching staff at Darussalam!

Ahmed Salim — many of you have seen him serving the chai; you may not know that he is also the one who makes it. He is being introduced in his new position as Director of Masjid Operations. He graduated from Broward College of Nursing in 2018 and began his career as a registered nurse. A year later he was promoted to a charge nurse position, and during the pandemic he switched to the pandemic response travel nursing unit, responding to a crisis assignment near Darussalam. While working on COVID patients, he began visiting Darussalam, fell in love with the students, teachers, and programs, and soon enrolled in the Tanweer program. He graduated from Tanweer last month in June and has now joined as a part-time takmeel student of the 'alim program while taking on the Director of Masjid Operations position. He will be taking care of all our events, masjid events, retreats, workshops, larger fundraisers, and the annual Divine Reality workshop. What's remarkable is that despite being approached with many proposals from engineers, doctors, and lawyers for his upcoming marriage insha'Allah, the girl's family said: the fact that you are giving up that career to come study the deen — that is what we want for our daughter. When you give preference to the deen, it doesn't mean you're going to be left on the street — Allah gives you more than everyone else!

Wasim Kalim — also many of you have seen him. He was raised in New York, studied finance and accounting, was an advisor at Tesla, and then worked for a private firm on Wall Street. Last year he quit his job to pursue the Tanweer program. Ahmad and Wasim together served as the older brothers for the whole student body — taking the Umrah group of 75+ students, handling day-to-day affairs, always available to listen to students going through a rough time. They have now both joined our staff and Wasim is the new Director of Seminary Operations. He has moved from New York to serve this community. May Allah reward him!

Ali Siddiqui is the new Director of the Tadrees Program — the integrated 'alim and high school program. He was born and raised in Miami, Florida, completed his BBA in Marketing and International Business in 1997, followed by an MBA in 2000. He worked in various industry positions and then in 2008 moved to Saudi Arabia to teach at Yanbu University College in the School of Management Sciences. In 2012 he returned to serve the deen, joining the Islamic School of Miami (ISOM) when it was just starting its full-time school with only 13 students. Under his leadership it grew to a student body of 120 students, transitioned to data-driven instruction, and in the 2021-22 academic year achieved the coveted Cognia accreditation for K-12 — with the highest marks in the country according to the Islamic School League, rated at the 97th percentile. He has made the huge sacrifice of leaving his elderly parents in Miami — may Allah grant them health and shifa and allow them to join him here as well. We are so excited that he is joining our team to bring life to the Tadrees integrated high school program!

We don't have enough words of appreciation for all these brothers and these ulama for what they are doing for this community. We simply ask Allah to reward them in the highest manner.

Announcement — The Divine Reality Workshop

This weekend, alhamdulillah, the Divine Reality Workshop is taking place — God, Islam, and the Mirage of Atheism. Here is the schedule:

Friday, 8pm–10pm: The definition of atheism and implications of atheism — life without God, what does that mean?

Saturday, 2pm–Maghrib: (1) Self-evident — why atheism is unnatural. (2) The divine link — the argument from dependency. (3) Has science disproven God? Deconstructing false atheist assumptions.

Sunday, 10am–Dhuhr: (1) A universe from nothing — the Qur'an's argument for God. (2) God's testimony — the divine authorship of the Qur'an. (3) The free slave — the intuitive need to worship and why God is worthy of that worship.

The book The Divine Reality will be available on Amazon and for purchase at the event as well. This is a must for every single young adult and parent to attend — to learn how to protect our children from the face of this enemy. This is the first time, to my knowledge, in this entire region that a program like this is taking place for a full weekend. This is not a luxury, this is not a vitamin — this is what I call a painkiller. We have to be prepared to address these issues when our children ask these questions. If you wing it improperly, Allah forbid, your child may lose their faith.

I request everyone insha'Allah to please register for the program and invite everyone to join us here Friday evening. Ustaz Fahad Taslim insha'Allah will be delivering these programs, giving the Jumu'ah khutbah, and spending the day with the seminary students as well.

May Allah accept all of your patience and your sitting here. Please enjoy the brownies and sweets outside in the courtyard. Jazakumullah Khayran.