Surah Ta-Ha - Ep.8 | Mufti Azeemuddin Ahmed

Surah Ta-Ha – Episode 8

Let us all try our best to come close together. Sisters who are here as well, if we can, in our sisters' hall, try our best to sit together and ensure that there are not too many gaps. The Rahmah of Allah is waiting for us to envelope us and let us show our desire to this Rahmah of Allah.

And this is the beauty of the gathering here. Alhamdulillah, every time we encourage people to come together because of the continuous reminders, masha'Allah, everyone always does so and they are insha'Allah going to be rewarded handsomely for this, for their efforts in trying to be close to Allah.

As always, let us renew our niyyah that we're here to please Allah. We're here to get close to Allah. We're here to hopefully build a relationship with Allah, and based on the sincerity of our niyyah, Allah will give us more than we can expect, more than we can imagine. So let us all have great hopes with Allah.

Secondly, let us all make this niyyah — Ya Allah, through the dars of Quran that we are doing right now, allow me to hear that which I need to hear in my life. Allow the dars to run in a way that it will answer some of my questions, remove some of my doubts, and rejuvenate my faith — and that it is catered to my own needs. All those who are listening online, wherever we are listening from, if we make this niyyah, insha'Allah, we will see great benefits of this.

I make du'a for Allah to accept Mawlana Sahil and Mawlana Junaid who covered three weeks in our absence, and then we had an Eid break. Although Mawlana did cover a portion of Surah Taha, I'm going to go quickly over some of the ayat starting off from where I left off. MashaAllah, we covered some aspects of fadail and the virtues of Eid and the first ten days of Dhul Hijjah. So those are some of the fiqhi topics that were covered also on Tuesdays. The last ayat was actually verse 55 where we had left off, and insha'Allah we'll see if we can go through some of these verses again.

Ayah 55 — We Came From the Earth and We Return to It

This is the very famous verse where a person recites this when we are burying our dead. It is a reminder — this ayah is a very powerful reminder — that the reality of everything is the ground, the earth. We've come from the earth, we will go back into the earth, and we will come back once again from the earth.

It's interesting because it reminds us to remain humble. We are all, you know, ibn turab — we're all children of the soil. No matter how lofty we become, how high, how powerful, how wealthy, and how well-connected we become, our haqiqa and reality will always be the same — that we've come from the ground.

Additionally, this reminds us of the fact that all of us came from the ground. Hence, in that sense, we're all equal in front of Allah. There's no difference. All of us have the same elements, and so since we came from there, it's only natural that we'll be put back into the same ground.

Now this one — the obvious point — is that we came from the ground and we're going back into the ground. True. But it also reminds us of the narration that a person will be buried in the soil from which he was created. So the soil that was used to create him, that's exactly where we're going to go back. We don't know right now which soil has been used in our creation, but we will definitely find out the day we are buried — that this is where we came from.

That's why the Prophets are very clearly mentioned that they should be buried exactly where they passed away. And it is a Sunnah also to be buried in the same area, in the same city. For all of us as well — to be buried in the same city. One should not be traveling long distances, and that is against the Sunnah.

And just on the topic of Prophets, the Prophet ﷺ also mentioned that the earth has been made haram on the bodies of the Prophets — meaning the earth cannot consume their bodies. So when we put the body back into the ground, we are reminded that this is where it all ends. All of the pomp, the show, fun, enjoyment, the bank balances, the stocks, the immense intoxicating power that tyrants, rulers, ministers, and presidents have — it all comes down to this final moment when everyone is laid into the ground.

It's so amazing — one of the UAE governors, Khalifa, he passed away. SubhanAllah, there was a picture that started with the Burj Khalifa — the tallest building in the world, almost a kilometer high. And the one after whose name this building is named, what happens to that individual? He's not able to stay tall very long. He also has to come down. And there was a picture of his grave, subhanAllah, right next to it. So this is for all of us. All of us have to realize that this is where we are headed.

But it doesn't stop there. There's a beautiful saying:

"If life were such that once we die, we are simply left alone — turikna — then death would be the source of comfort for every living person." People also think: let me just take my life. Life is becoming very difficult. Suicide is the way out. If death were the end of everything, then everyone going through difficulty should probably take their life — it's over, no more worrying.

But that's not how it is. "Once we die, we will be raised up — bu'ithna — and we will be asked about every single thing we have done and have not done." So the worst is yet to come. If someone says they're having a challenging life here, don't think that by taking your life you're running away from that. It's like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. It's going to get much worse.

There are very strong hadiths on this. Imam al-Qurtubi mentions in his book al-Tadhkirah regarding all the various punishments promised for those who take their own life — they are very horrific. One of them, for example, is that a person who takes his life, whatever method he used, he will be given that experience back again in 'alam al-barzakh — the life between this dunya and the akhira — and continuously, on replay, he will be repeating that action till the Day of Judgment. Whatever it may be, this is his punishment. That this 'adhab will be placed upon him continuously until the Day of Judgment.

So وَمِنْهَا نُخْرِجُكُمْ تَارَةً أُخْرَى is a reminder that it's not over. This body we're laying here, we're walking away from, but guess what — he's coming out from here again.

On the Day of Judgment, people will say: "Who woke us up from our sleep?" Thousands of years — they thought it was over. The answer will be: "This is exactly what Allah had promised you. And the Prophets had spoken the truth."

Ayah 56 — The Signs Shown to Fir'aun

"Indeed, We have shown Fir'aun Our miraculous signs — all of them. But he chose to belie and resist faith." What signs? Signs from the Tawrah. Signs from the creation all around, from nature. We talked about three types of signs before:

آيَةٌ كَوْنِيَّة — signs in nature. آيَةٌ تَكْوِينِيَّة — signs in the creation of nature and in the events and happenings of the world. And آيَةٌ قُرْآنِيَّة — signs in the text, in the Quran. Each verse of the Quran is itself an amazing sign. So Allah says: We showed him all Our signs. But فَكَذَّبَ وَأَبَى — he chose to belie and resist.

Here, Allah demonstrates what we call Iqamatul Hujjah — establishing the proof. Some people ask: if Allah knows everything that's going to happen, and who's going to go to Jannah and Jahannam, then what's the point? One answer is: the entire life on earth is so that on the Day of Judgment, the human being cannot complain. Because he himself knows how he spent his day. On the Day of Judgment, if Allah is putting someone into hellfire, that person really can't say much — he knows exactly where he went wrong. Allah will say: "Here's your book of deeds. What have you got to say about this? On such-and-such day, such-and-such night, you did this and this and this. What do you expect?"

So this entire life on earth is like a proof against us. You and I are either building our palace in paradise or digging our pit in hellfire — every single day. We don't need to blame anyone else. We need to look at ourselves and say: how have I spent my day, my month, my year, my life?

We like to sometimes blame people, blame environments, blame other things instead of taking responsibility for what we have done. This is another very effective way Shaitan stops us from changing — he keeps us blaming external factors and not taking responsibility to say: this is who I am, this is horrible, and I must change. I'm like this because of my wife, my husband, my parents, my children, my job, my stress. These are excuses that are really not acceptable for the most part. The better approach is: I acknowledge these weaknesses and mistakes, and let me work on improving them. Let me ask Allah to help me change and overcome these difficulties in my life. Allah is watchful and will forgive us, insha'Allah, if He sees that we are genuinely sincere and want to become better people.

The Tactics of Falsehood — Fir'aun's Response to Musa

Fir'aun said: "Have you come to oust us, to kick us out from our land, with your magic, O Musa?" The story of Musa and Fir'aun is so important for us to study because these are the same tactics that falsehood uses throughout all times, including today.

Musa came not for himself. He is already a Prophet — Kaleemullah, headed to paradise. He cares for the nation. He cares even for Fir'aun. Allah cared to establish the da'wah for Fir'aun, and Allah told Musa to go and to speak gently:

Speak nicely and softly — hopefully he will understand. So what is Fir'aun's response? He blames Musa and points fingers at the intention of Musa. Falsehood will always try to find holes — which are not even there — in the intentions of the people of goodness. Instead of saying: this person is possibly very sincere, he genuinely cares for me and is inviting me to the truth — falsehood will peddle a whole propaganda. They'll say: these people actually have a very bad intention. They want to take over your land, your kingdom, your wealth and power. Are you going to allow that to happen? Of course not, right? So you need to fight back.

They are very good at creating a false representation of the intentions of the people of Haqq and presenting it in a very negative way. So that a person listening doesn't understand that the people of truth are actually well-wishers — they care for you as much as they care for their own children. They want guidance for you, they want khair and goodness for you.

Fir'aun utilized the same tactic: attack the intentions and make people afraid of the loss of their material things. Because people love their material things — their houses, their cars, their land, their money. So if you tell them that this person is coming to take and snatch that away from you, they're not going to like that. They'll fight back. If you say these people are coming to take away your kufr and shirk, no one's going to be intimidated. But if you say they're coming to snatch away your land, they're not going to like that. So that's what happens.

Fir'aun said: "Most surely we will confront you with a sorcery like it." Musa never said it was sorcery, and it obviously never really was. But Fir'aun intentionally misrepresented what Musa had — painting it as magic. And he told the people: this is all magic, and we are far superior in our magic. We have experts. This was the height of sorcery and magic at that time.

Just as during the time of Rasulullah ﷺ, the Arabs were known for their excellence in Arabic language — they drank it and dreamed it. So the Quran came down as an amazing, powerful challenge to their language. It used their language to overwhelm them in such an outstanding manner that they were not able to rise up and say anything similar to it.

"You will never be able to bring anything similar to the Quran, even if you assist one another." And elsewhere, Allah says:

"Why don't you just bring one surah like any of the surahs of the Quran?" You can't. You cannot bring a verse, you cannot bring a surah, and you definitely cannot bring the whole Quran. This is the whole science of i'jaz al-Quran — the non-replicability of the Quran. Every word is just beyond our comprehension of how could this be human. And that's the whole point — it's not human. No one can be a better wordsmith than Allah. The choice of words, the order of words, where every word is placed — all of this is part of the Quran being non-replicable. This is a huge science with many books written on it.

So Fir'aun called it sihr and set up an appointed time and place: مَعِدٌ — an appointed place or time. لَا نُخْلِفُهُ — which neither you nor I will miss. A set time and place, announced and advertised to everyone.

مَكَانًا سُوًى — a level place. Suwa means something flat, open, where everyone can see what's happening. Also, mutawassit — right in between the area of Bani Israel and the Coptics. Right in the center of town, convenient for both sides.

Yawm al-Zinah — The Day of the Festival

Musa said: "Your appointed time is a day of festival." What is that Yawm al-Zinah? It was a day when people would celebrate — like their Eid, or a marketplace day, like a flea market day. A day of the week for worship or business, where people enjoy wearing the best of clothes and are in a festive, carnival mood. Let us use Yawm al-Zinah. And the time — specifically in the morning, during duha — around 9, 10, 11 a.m. The sun is bright, affairs are obvious and clear. People have had good rest and breakfast. Their minds are fresh, they're not tired, and the place is clear — not too bright, not dark. Everyone will be able to see well. So this is why they appointed such a time and place.

Fir'aun turned away, concocted his scheme, then came forth. Notice it is called kayd — a plot done in a hidden manner to create deception. He went and gathered all the magicians from around the town and promised them great gifts. He said to them: if you win, you will become muqarrabun — very close to me. You'll have your hands in my treasure chest, you can take whatever you want. I'm guaranteeing you proximity, closeness, and my loyalty — if you win. Because he really needed them to win.

So what does batil do? Batil loves and lives off materialism. The people who work for batil work only for money. Whoever pays the higher price, wherever they are outbid — that is where they go. Because they have no greater purpose in life besides money. That's why the way you win them over is through money.

And that's why we say in deeni work, money is there for the sake of fulfillment of your needs, but it is not the most motivating thing for a believer. Just imagine the level of sacrifice that the Sahabah made for Rasulullah ﷺ and for the deen. Is there any highest-paid soldier, any highest-paid security guard in the world who would defend their VIP in the manner that the Sahabah defended Rasulullah ﷺ? You have mothers coming and presenting their newborns: "This is a gift for you. Utilize him. If nothing else, use him as a shield." Which mother would say something like that? This is not a cult — this is actual genuine love for Allah. You love Allah more than you love yourself.

I've given the example of lights — the headlights of a car. When headlights come in front of the eyes of an animal, it freezes. It can't see anything. Similarly, when police lights are put into the eyes of someone being investigated — you literally cannot see anything. You can't even see your own hand, let alone who's holding the light. SubhanAllah. When a person sees the light and the nur of Allah, it becomes so blinding that he can't even see himself. All he sees is the nur. All he sees is the love of Allah. All he sees is the commands of Allah. This is what happens to people who get a very high understanding, ma'rifah, of Allah — they don't flinch in front of anything or anyone. Nothing can make them scared, nothing can make them move.

When Iman Entered the Hearts of the Magicians

Fir'aun wound them over through money. But when iman came into the hearts of these magicians, money meant nothing to them. Not only did money not mean anything, the biggest threat — of crucifying them, of cutting off one hand then one leg, a very painful death — did not faze them. They said: not only are we going to lose the money, we're going to lose our life, and we're going to go down with a very painful death. Because when the truth enters, you will be willing to stand up for it at all cost, and money becomes insignificant.

So this is the quality of iman — people of iman are not enticed by money. When you see people being bought out in the history of Islam, or now as well, by money — what do you see? These are hypocrites. Money becomes a means of exposing them, which in one way is good. You see who is a hypocrite.

"Indeed, the hypocrites are in the lowest depths of the Fire." They won't be able to protest on the Day of Judgment because the whole world has seen their hypocrisy with their own eyes. Dressed like a Muslim, acting like a Muslim, speaking like a Muslim, having a Muslim name — but their actions are 100% against Islam and 100% detrimental to the Ummah. Why? On the basis of alliances and money. Who makes decisions that are absolutely harmful to the deen of the Muslims and to the akhira of the Muslims? Only someone who doesn't believe in the akhira. What do you call that? A kafir. But then they acted like Muslims — so you call them munafiq. And munafiq are far worse than kafir. That's why they've been promised a much deeper place in hellfire.

Money exposes who the hypocrites are. If a person can be bought and sold, they are not a true believer. True believers can never be bought and sold. Remember that. Only a hypocrite is one who can be bought and sold. SubhanAllah. May Allah save you and I from such hypocrisy. May Allah save you and I from ever giving up on our principles regardless of what price is being offered — just like the Sahabah, radiyallahu 'anhum wa jami'in, were so strong, no matter how they were enticed.

Allah's Respite — The Trap Being Set

You've probably heard the story of the mukhalafin al-thalatha — the three Sahabah who stayed behind in the Battle of Tabuk. Allah ordered a social boycott that lasted for 50 days. These were not hypocrites. The rest who didn't go were hypocrites — but these three were genuinely good Muslims who got caught up: love of family, trying to harvest crops, and before they knew it the army had returned and they had not participated. So they felt really guilty.

But Allah wanted to show something amazing. That hypocrites in this world will be let loose — Allah will not necessarily always send a bolt of lightning to strike them immediately. The hypocrites would harm the Ummah and Allah may give them respite — as Allah Himself says in the Quran:

Allahu Akbar — "Indeed, I give them respite. Indeed, My planning and My scheming is very strong." SubhanAllah, what an ayah. Any disbeliever, any sinful person who is enjoying life even though he is disobedient to Allah, should remember this verse. Just because you are enjoying life does not mean you have the love or the mercy of Allah. This is all part of the plan.

Think about a law enforcement setup trying to catch a drug dealer in the act. Informants are placed, an officer comes and tries to make the deal. The dealer thinks: wow, I got such a big deal I haven't gotten for so long. Everything seems too good to be true — because that's exactly what it is. And exactly the moment when the transfer happens, that's when they all descend. This setup is what Allah is speaking about.

Just because money is flowing in, contracts are going through, everything is falling into place — if all of that is happening while disobedience of Allah is happening, then this is not the rahma and mercy of Allah. This is the makar and the kayd of Allah. This is the plot of Allah to bring this person down. Because if Allah strikes immediately, he will only be caught with a small sin. But Allah says: if you disobey Me and you're going to go down, it's going to be a big scene. We'll wait until there are now a hundred charges against you — that's when I will strike.

As Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4686; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2583)

"Indeed, Allah gives respite to an oppressor. But when He chooses to grab him, He will not let him go." Once He grabs a person, He will not let him go. But if He is letting you go, this is not a good sign.

That's why I tell some youth and students who get caught doing something wrong: you're lucky you got caught. "But Sheikh, this is the first time." I say: Allah loves you — that's why you got caught the first time. And the people who are not in good standing — they become 70 years old and they don't get caught. The person who is lucky gets caught the first time, so it becomes a learning lesson and he never has to go back to that sin in his life. Being caught by your parents, your teachers, your family — is actually a blessing of Allah that will stop a person from continuing down that path.

A person who is not caught and is able to lead a double life for decades — if he dies without repenting, that is a horrible thing. One thing is to remain unexposed but repent before you die — that's okay. But if a person remains unexposed, no one knows about him, and yet he never once thought "I'm doing something wrong" and never made tawbah — then we have a very serious issue. Because all those decades of sin will be presented against him on the Day of Judgment.

So we should not ask Allah to have us caught. Rather, we should say: Ya Allah, save me from ever doing a sin that would bring me misery and disgrace in this world or the next. But we should also recognize — if a person has a habit of doing something wrong, I've seen sometimes elders, subhanAllah, doing something absolutely inappropriate. And I give this example to students: you're young right now, in madrasa right now — this is the time to improve your spirituality, your akhlaq, yourself as a human being. If you don't do it, you'll become a grandfather and be stuck with these social ills. It's so sad. Who's going to tell a senior citizen that these are the major flaws you have, that this is how you've ruined people's lives and your own life, and now you're about to die and you're still involved in this? No one will say that. The time of rectification ideally is when we are young, when people can speak up.

So we should make this du'a: Ya Allah, allow all my faults to be taken care of. Allow me to have the foresight to recognize my own weakness — like a self-diagnostic system that the new technology has in most appliances. We also have to ask Allah to grant us the ability to have a self-diagnostic system where we can recognize what mistakes and sins we are making. And secondly, we should ask Allah to grant us the company of well-wishing, sincere, knowledgeable mentors, teachers, and parents who will be able to see our mistakes and correct them.

A teacher or shaykh not seeing our mistake is as bad as going to a doctor who orders a bunch of tests but you come out without your disease being diagnosed. Are you going to pray that the doctor doesn't catch the real sickness you have? No. You say: Ya Allah, give my doctor the basira and foresight that when I walk in, he should quickly figure out what's wrong with me.

One physician, masha'Allah, told me: "I made this du'a in Hajj — Ya Allah, whenever a patient comes to me, allow me to very quickly figure out what the problem is." And he was telling me, it's been ten-plus years, this du'a has been accepted. He'll be with a bunch of residents or fellow physicians, and Allah allows him to get to the bottom of something so quickly that the rest figure it out maybe hours or days later. But Allah immediately puts in his heart what it is — while others even disagree — but after tests they'll say: you know what, you're right.

This is an interesting thing for all of us to make such du'as. Whatever field you're in — whether you fix ACs, do plumbing, are a doctor or a lawyer — Ya Allah, give me the ability to figure out the problem quickly and correctly. Similarly, when a person walks into me asking for help, may Allah grant me the ability to have that sixth sense to figure out exactly what this individual's issue is and to prescribe what is needed at that moment.

Musa's Warning to the Sorcerers

Musa said: "Woe to you. Do not forge a lie against Allah. Don't say what He hasn't said. Don't claim that He has partners. Don't lie against Allah. Otherwise, He will destroy you with a torment. And whoever forges such lies against Him has forever failed."

Eventually it will happen. In the dunya, it may not happen immediately — the munafiq may not be punished immediately, the kafir may not be punished immediately. But at the time of death, the punishment will definitely begin. And what waits for them in the akhira is obviously much worse. Al-muftari la yuflihu abada — the one who lies against Allah will never ultimately succeed.

Then the sorcerers quarreled between themselves about their affair. They started wondering: what should they do? They had a huddle — a pre-game huddle. How do we handle Musa? What's the game plan? And they kept their counsel secret. They made sure their plots and plans were not known to anyone. They communicated amongst themselves quietly, because you don't want the enemy to figure out what's happening.

The Propaganda of Falsehood

"Indeed, these are two sorcerers who desire to oust you from your own land with their sorcery and to do away with the ideal of your way of life." This is how they framed the whole thing. "You all are good people. These people are out to destroy you. They're coming to take away your amazing, sublime way of life. You have a very high standard of living, a very refined culture — far superior in every sense — and these people, they don't like that. They're jealous of your lifestyle. They're coming here to take it away."

SubhanAllah — you're really saying you have the best? Kufr cannot be the best. When you don't have iman, you're not going to have akhlaq, you don't have adab, you don't have a vision or a mission in life. The young don't care about the old, the old don't care about the young. Brothers and sisters don't care about each other. It's all about me, myself, and I. It's all about money at all costs. How can you call that a refined life? How can you call that a good life when all our decisions are based on our own nafs and our ego?

And how can kufr be good when even morals and ethics and values become subjective? What is morally right and wrong is thrown up in the air. Nothing is absolutely wrong, nothing is absolutely haram — everything is based on your personal desires. Whatever you desire, you say it should be like this, and so, go ahead. Be yourself. You're free. So the criteria of truth and falsehood becomes your personal desire. Whereas in a God-sent religion, the criteria of what's right and wrong is wahi. Obviously, wahi is going to be innumerably more superior than a million individual desires. If you have a million people, there are a million people who think in a million ways — that is going to be a mess. Everyone is going to have their own subjective truth.

That truth cannot be based on people's desires because we're all different. It has to be based on revelation — which is one and only one, which comes down for everyone regardless of color, ethnicity, background, or wealth. There is such calmness in knowing that you have wahi. There is such relaxation in knowing that who is right and who is wrong is not going to be decided by you and I — it's going to be decided by Allah and through His revelation.

Think of when siblings or partners fight — they go to a higher authority: a parent, an older person. Why? Because both sides are equal and each is saying something based on their own desires. The truth forward has to be only one way. So they go to an older, more experienced person. But in all these cases, you're still going to another human being who is bound by human weaknesses. No matter how experienced a judge may be, he is still human. You cannot expect perfection from humans. Especially when they're not using revelation — it's going to be definitely flawed.

So anyone who says we live a sublime life in which we follow our desires and do whatever we want — they're living. And anyone who claims that those who follow revelation are out to take away their good life — there could be nothing further from the truth. Because this is exactly the dirty trick from the playbook being played today. Anyone who speaks the truth, anyone who wants to invite you towards a righteous, pious, God-fearing life — in which parents and children live in harmony, in kindness, in goodness with your neighbors, your animals, your plants — what is this called today? "You hate our freedom."

Who wants to be a slave? We actually hate your slavery to yourself. And we want you to become free like us — where we are not a slave to our nafs, not a slave to customs, and not a slave to fellow human beings.

Rabi' ibn 'Amir and the Three Purposes of Da'wah

This is exactly what the Sahabi Rabi' ibn 'Amir radiyallahu 'anhu said when he came face to face with the Persian general Rustam. He came to his court on his donkey. They said: get off the donkey, walk. He said: no, I'm not going to walk. I've come with a letter from the Amir al-Mu'minin to the general. They said: give it to us, we'll deliver. He said: no, I was told to deliver it to him directly.

Rustam is sitting on his throne with velvet cushions all around, all his viziers and army soldiers standing ready to prostrate before him. And this Rabi' ibn 'Amir walks in dragging through the velvet flooring, right up to the king. Rustam asked: okay, what do you all need? You're poor, small in number. What do you want? You want to sign a truce? Are you scared?

He responded:

(Al-Bidayah wa'l-Nihayah of Ibn Kathir, account of the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah)

"Indeed, Allah sent us to you. To take humanity out from the slavery of other humans to the slavery of the Lord of all humans. And from the narrowness of this world to its vastness. And from the oppression of all isms and ways of life to the justice of Islam."

He's saying all of this as all of Rustam's slaves are standing there — because the soldiers and wazirs would make sujood to the general, to the Persian emperor, to Kisra. And here he says: I have come to take humanity out of the slavery of humans. So actually, we are the ones who live the most free life. Those who live as 'ibadullah are the ones enjoying true freedom.

May Allah give you the idea and understanding of this statement. We are the most free people. We don't have shackles in our life. Wallahi al-'azim, this is something so deep — and today Muslims are the ones who don't even understand this statement. How do you expect others to understand? What do we understand Islam to be about? Difficulties. Challenges. This is haram, you can't do this, you can't do that. So many rules. In reality, Islam is giving you freedom from following all the other customs.

You think social media is not slavery? I was traveling overseas and this completely solidifies the point that social media and the internet has taken over the whole world. This is exactly how Dajjal is going to rule the world — through these latest forms of technology. An old bus with no AC stopped at the rest stop where I had stopped. Only people without means would travel on such a bus in such heat. People were getting off to use the rest area. As I'm sitting there, I see two girls, maybe 12 or 13 years old, walk out. This is not a fancy restaurant — it's a very cheap place on the side of the road. We had stopped to pray Maghrib and grab something to eat.

One of the girls pulls out a smartphone. The first thing she does is take a picture of this run-down rest stop. You're not looking at the Sears Tower. This is not something exciting. You're a local person — this is just your local life. But she took a picture and started posting on all these different social media platforms. Right behind her, another girl of similar age pulls out her phone and does the exact same thing. I said: there you go. The world has become robots. Whether you are an MIT student or a villager in India, everyone is robotically being controlled by social media, by smartphone, by the internet — to think in the exact same manner. Our youth act this same way. That's how it is everywhere now — no difference. It's shocking.

This is slavery. Why did you just do that? Go to any restaurant overseas — as soon as you sit down, everyone has to take pictures, everyone has to check in, everyone has to take a selfie. All this has never happened before. Everyone is conditioned to think in the same manner. Slavery to status online. Slavery to social media. And that's just one part of slavery — there are so many other forms out there.

So he said: we've come here to take people out from the slavery of fellow human beings. Why do youth today want to dress in a certain clothing, certain jersey, certain shoes, certain hairstyle? Everything. Because so-and-so wore that, so-and-so has such-and-such haircut. Every single thing they want to emulate. The walk of their favorite cricket player, basketball player, baseball player. This youth today — Muslim and non-Muslim — so infatuated with artists and musicians.

Who has the highest following on social media? No president or prime minister can even come close to the following of artists and musicians — the small dajjals of this world, who actually run the show. Your sons and daughters don't listen to their imam, don't listen to their parents or grandparents. But they listen to these artists. Continuously listening to their filthy songs day in and day out. And those songs are making them think in exactly the way these artists want them to think. You lose your child while they're still in your home, still wearing the clothes you pay for, eating the food you pay for, living in the same house. But you have actually lost them. It's weird — when you lose a child, before you know it you bury them. But today you lose your child without even knowing it. And the money is still being spent on college tuition — hundreds of thousands of dollars — when he doesn't even belong to you anymore.

So this is the same old trick from the playbook. Instead of saying "listen to what they have to say, give them a chance," falsehood says they hate your freedoms and they're after you. Just listen. Give them a chance to hear the beautiful lifestyle they're inviting towards — a lifestyle of actual freedom.

So Rabi' ibn 'Amir gave three purposes: first, to take people from the slavery of mankind to the slavery of the Lord of all mankind. Second, to take people from the narrowness of this world to its vastness. Not just the vastness of the hereafter — even in this world, a believer will have a much more comfortable and expansive life.

What is the constricted life? "If you don't make money, you're a loser." That's what everyone believes. If you don't land a high-paying job, you're a loser. If you don't get to America, you're a loser. If you don't have a huge suburban home, you're a loser. Based on that, 99% of the Ummah is a loser — the top 1% wins and the rest suffer. That's a very cheap, constricted, difficult way of leading a life.

Instead, the deen says: no matter who you are, how rich or poor, how healthy or sick, how well-known or unknown in society — your value is based on your character and your individual qualities. If you have those qualities, Allah loves you and will honor you both in this world and the next, no matter who says what. No matter if no one knows you, you will be the most known on the Day of Judgment. You don't need to die for people's attention. You need only to live for Allah's attention. I don't need insane amounts of money or education to be successful — because my success is not based on what some big shot says. Your success lies in your lap. Stand up and become a good person with great qualities — there you go, success is yours. The pie is large enough for all of us to have a big piece. We all can be successful.

Wallahi subhanAllah — speaking to many Muslims, you realize how many of them are innocent, they just need to hear our version. Because they've never heard our world view. It's so amazing:

"All praise belongs to Allah who guided us to Islam. And if it wasn't for Allah, we would have never been guided to this path." Wallahi, the best gift you and I can ever have is the world view that Islam gives us. In the bleakest moments of your life, you only see the silver lining. Others who don't have this world view cannot be hopeful — and that's why they resort to suicide, drugs, and other things.

Why did Muslims used to have a very low suicide rate and drug rate? Because their iman was strong. The iman would tell them: no matter what the situation, Allah is watching you and you're going to get ajr for this. Your sabr is going to be the biggest ticket to Jannah. The weaker the iman of a believer becomes, the more quickly he will resort to these intoxicants and horrible ways. Because he thinks: what's the point? He doesn't have a world view that tells him that even in this difficult situation, you are beloved to Allah — and in this difficulty you're closer to Allah than those who seem to be having an easy time. That's the beauty of all this.

Fir'aun Commands the Sorcerers

Fir'aun said: "Come together to accomplish your scheme. Then come forth resolved in a united rank. And whoever prevails today has truly succeeded." Today is the Yawm al-Furqan — the day that if you win, you win forever. Whoever has the upper hand will change the course of history. And that part of Fir'aun's statement was right — because Musa won, and that became the end of Fir'aun. Everything changed after that.

They said: "O Musa, either you throw your staff first, or we shall be the first to throw." They said: we don't know what we're going to face. So they gave him an option — one against, you know, 70 or 100. Let's at least give him something.

Musa said: "Rather, you throw. You go first." Why did he say that? Haqq doesn't flinch. When you know you're on the truth, you're not scared. No matter what the odds are. My beloved friends, we just have to ensure that we are moving with the truth. Wherever the truth goes, we run with it. As long as you're attached to the truth — which is like a rope — then you can close your eyes and go to sleep, because you know the truth will always succeed. Success may not always appear to succeed in this world, but most definitely it will succeed — and that success becomes very apparent as soon as the soul departs the body.

All of a sudden, behold — idha, for mufaja'ah, for suddenness — their ropes and staffs appeared to him, due to their sorcery, as though they were moving. This could have been like what we call hypnosis, or an optical illusion — the magic tricks you see today where there's always a secret behind it. Some say they had mercury: they took mercury, the element, put it inside hollow staffs, colored it like a snake, heated it, and brought it out. The ground was scorching hot. When the staffs were thrown, the mercury started flowing with multi-colored patterns, making it appear as though the ropes and staffs were moving. Allahu a'lam, whatever it was — the idea is they used their means to trick the people.

Musa conceived a fear within himself. Now, awjasa is an interesting word. Awjasa means when the fear is such that you only feel it inside — it doesn't become apparent on the face, no trembling, no sweating, no dry mouth. Other words are used when fear becomes apparent outwardly. Awjasa is when the fear is simply inside you. And Allah says فِي نَفْسِهِ — in himself. The word khifah here is used as nakirah, without the definite article — which could indicate li'l-tasghir, belittling how much fear he had. The fear was very little.

What was the fear? One interpretation is the fear of the snake — there's nothing wrong with that. But there is also an alternative tafsir: the fear was that this is a pretty powerful trick. It's a trick, but it's a powerful one. I hope the Bani Israel and the Copts who are watching are not going to be swayed by this before they even get a chance to see my mu'jizah. The fear was: are people going to be so impressed that they won't even wait to see what I've got to show?

We will stop at this ayah. Allah said: "Don't be afraid. It is you who shall be the uppermost." This is not just for Musa. This is for anyone who follows the truth. Allah says: indeed, the believers will always be on top — if they are true believers. So this is a beautiful reminder for you and I that our allegiance has to be with the truth, no matter how few people are on the side of truth. Don't follow the numbers game. Don't look at what the rest of the people are doing. Instead, look at what's right. And insha'Allah, if we are committed to what's right, then Allah will grant us success.

Questions and Answers

Is every calamity a consequence of sin?

No. Just look at the life of Rasulullah ﷺ — it was the most challenging life. He himself said: I went through more challenges than anyone else for the sake of Allah. So every difficulty is not a consequence of sin. Instead, you can gauge where a difficulty is taking you by looking at your reaction. If the reaction brings you closer to Allah, then you know that difficulty was actually a blessing in disguise.

How do you avoid being too picky when finding a spouse?

Ask Allah for guidance. Don't follow your nafs. The deen says — both for the girl's side and the boy's side — choose deen as your number one priority. As Nabi ﷺ said: then wealth, then beauty, then lineage. For a wife looking for a husband, Nabi ﷺ said two things: look for deen and look for akhlaq. If you like the deen and the akhlaq, get them married. That doesn't mean he shouldn't have a job — the idea is these are the two main things. If he has tons of money but no deen and no character, it is going to be hell. That's the key.

How does one get closer to Allah?

You get closer to Allah through: good friends and good company, connecting to the masjid, staying in good gatherings, making a habit of reciting Quran daily, doing dhikr daily, giving sadaqa daily, reading books that mention the stories of the Sahabah and the pious people. Reading those will be very inspiring for you.

How do you check the deen of a future spouse?

You can only judge a person based on the zahir — externally. See to what degree this person practices Islam. Look for Sunnah. The more Sunnah they have in their life, that is the sign of piety. What is a Sunnah way of life? Is that found in them or not? May Allah create the Sunnah life in me and you and all of us. That is the criteria of piety.

How does one practice gratitude, and how do you get over the fear that blessings can be taken away?

All blessings are a test to see whether you're grateful or not. And they can all be taken away at any time. That is why Rasulullah ﷺ said:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2739)

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the removal of Your blessings, from the changing of Your well-being granted to me, from a sudden punishment, and from any and all forms of Your anger."

When waiting for an important decision, how do we ask Allah for it to go our way?

You don't ask for it to go your way. You say: Ya Allah, make what is good for me happen.

"O Allah, make the ending in all my affairs to be good." And for specific decisions, perform salat al-istikhara. The du'a of istikhara says: Ya Allah, if there is good in this, then make it happen and make me desire it. And if there is not good in it, then don't make it happen, remove my desire for it, and take me to desire what is actually good for me.

How do you make sure your salah is for the sake of Allah and how do you avoid hypocrisy?

By renewing your niyyah again and again. As you stand up, say in your own language or in your heart:

"Ya Allah, I am praying only for You." And every time you can, in every posture, remind yourself: I am in the presence of Allah and I am praying only for Him.

If parents disapprove of a decision, is that a sign that Allah disapproves as well?

It depends on the situation. We should definitely involve and include our parents in our decisions. Depending on who you are, how old you are, where you are in life, and what the issue is — one cannot give a blanket statement. But we should try our best to explain our viewpoint to them and then try our best to obey them, unless they are openly asking us to disobey Allah — in that case, not. Besides that, we should try our best to obey them and listen to them. If they're not understanding, explain your position, or have someone else explain it to them.

I have a Muslim friend who doesn't practice the deen. How do I approach her?

The best way is to have casual conversations and invite her to a social gathering — your home or somewhere comfortable. After that, happen to stop by the masjid. It just happens to be a Tuesday night. Then you just happen to enjoy some tea and snacks. Figure out how you can connect her to the house of Allah and gatherings like this. Start off with something easy — a social gathering. That's how you begin.

Announcements

Today, alhamdulillah, we concluded the Deen Intensive. MashaAllah we had students from across the country who attended — maybe 80 or 90 or so. I was so inspired by the fact that we had a 75-year-old sister, subhanAllah — a researcher and a scientist — who came from another part of the country, stayed at the hotel, and attended all the classes. When I heard about that, I was so inspired. SubhanAllah — this is the beautiful deen of Allah. May Allah increase her in her raqabah and her 'izzah and grant her barakah. And all the students who came — many are here as well — may Allah accept your sacrifices.

The Arabic Essentials program will be beginning on Monday. This program is offered online as well. For those of you out of state or out of area who are listening — the Arabic Essentials three-week Arabic intensive program is offered for brothers online virtually and on-site for both brothers and sisters. Please benefit from this three-week program. And three weeks after that, insha'Allah on August 15th, our one-year program will begin. Details will be shared in the coming talks as well.

Dhikr and Closing