Surah Kahf Recitation & Jumu'ah Khutbah | Mufti Hassan Sheikh | 6/20

Recitation of Surah Al-Kahf

In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, who has sent down the Book to His servant, and has not made it crooked, so that He may warn of a severe punishment from Him, and give good news to the believers who do righteous deeds, that they will have a good reward. They will not remain in it ever, and He will warn those who say, Allah has taken a son.

And thus did We send them that they might ask one another. A speaker among them said, "How long have you stayed?" They said, "We stayed a day or a part of a day." They said, "Your Lord knows best how long you have stayed. So send one of you with this document to the city, so that he may see which is the purest food, so that he may bring you sustenance from it, and let him be gentle and let not one of you be perceived. Verily, if they come out against you, they will stone you, or turn you back to their religion, and you will never be successful."

And thus did We make their case known that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that the Hour is without doubt — when they dispute among themselves as to what is theirs. So they said, "Build over them a building. Their Lord knows best about them." Those who overcame their affair said, "We will surely build over them a masjid." They will say, "Three," and their dog was the fourth; and they will say, "Five," and their dog was the sixth — guessing at the unseen; and they will say, "Seven," and their dog was the eighth. Say, "My Lord knows best their number. He knows them but a few." So do not argue about them except with a clear argument, and do not inquire of any of them about them.

And never say of anything, "I will do that tomorrow," except if Allah wills. And remember your Lord when you forget, and say, "Perhaps my Lord will guide me to what is nearer than this in right conduct." And they stayed in their cave for three hundred years, and increased by nine.

Say, "Allah knows best how long they remained. His is the unseen of the heavens and the earth. How Seeing is He and how Hearing! They have no guardian apart from Him, and He does not share His governance with anyone." And recite what has been revealed to you from the Book of your Lord. There is no altering His words, and you will find no refuge besides Him.

And be patient yourself with those who call upon their Lord morning and afternoon, seeking His face. And do not let your eyes pass beyond them, desiring the adornments of the worldly life. And do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever in neglect.

And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills — let him believe; and whoever wills — let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a Fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds the faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.

Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds — indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds. Those will have gardens of perpetual residence; beneath them rivers will flow. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of fine silk and brocade, reclining therein on adorned couches. Excellent is the reward, and good is the resting place.

And present to them an example of two men: We granted to one of them two gardens of grapevines, and We bordered them with palm trees and placed between them fields. Each of the two gardens produced its fruit and did not fall short thereof in anything. And We caused to gush forth within them a river. And he had fruit, so he said to his companion while he was conversing with him, "I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in numbers of men."

And he entered his garden while he was unjust to himself. He said, "I do not think that this will perish — ever. And I do not think the Hour will occur. And even if I should be brought back to my Lord, I will surely find better than this as a return."

His companion said to him while he was conversing with him, "Have you disbelieved in He who created you from dust and then from a sperm-drop and then proportioned you as a man? But He is Allah, my Lord, and I do not associate with my Lord anyone. And if you see me as less than you in wealth and children — then perhaps my Lord will give me something better than your garden and will send upon it a calamity from the sky, and it will become a smooth, dusty ground. Or its water will become sunken into the earth, so you would never be able to seek it."

And his fruits were engulfed, so he began to turn his hands in dismay over what he had spent on it, while it had collapsed upon its trellises, and said, "Oh, I wish I had not associated with my Lord anyone." And there was for him no company to aid him other than Allah, nor could he defend himself. There the authority is for Allah, the Truth. He is best in reward and best in outcome.

And present to them the example of the life of this world: it is like rain which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it and then it becomes dry remnants, scattered by the winds. And Allah is ever, over all things, Perfect in Ability.

Wealth and children are the adornment of worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for hope.

And the Day We will remove the mountains and you will see the earth prominent, and We will gather them and not leave behind from them anyone. And they will be presented before your Lord in rows, with the announcement, "You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time. But you claimed that We would never make for you an appointment."

And the record of deeds will be placed, and you will see the criminals fearful of that within it, and they will say, "Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?" And they will find what they did present before them. And your Lord does injustice to no one.

And when We said to the angels, "Prostrate to Adam," and they prostrated, except for Iblees. He was of the jinn and departed from the command of his Lord. So will you take him and his descendants as allies other than Me while they are enemies to you? Wretched it is for the wrongdoers as an exchange.

I did not make them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth or the creation of themselves, and I would not have taken the misguiders as assistants.

And the Day He will say, "Call 'My partners' whom you claimed," and they will invoke them, but they will not respond to them. And We will put between them a barrier of destruction. And the criminals will see the Fire and will be certain that they are to fall therein. And they will find no way to avoid it.

And We have certainly diversified in this Qur'an for the people every kind of example. But man has ever been, most of anything, prone to dispute. And nothing has prevented people from believing when guidance came to them and from asking forgiveness of their Lord except that there must come to them the way of the former peoples or that the punishment should come directly before them.

And We send not the messengers except as bringers of good tidings and warners. And those who disbelieve dispute with falsehood to refute thereby the truth, and they have taken My verses and that of which they are warned in ridicule.

And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if you invite them to guidance — they will never be guided, then — ever. And your Lord is the Forgiving, Full of Mercy. If He were to impose blame upon them for what they earned, He would have hastened for them the punishment. Rather, for them is an appointment from which they will never find an escape.

And those cities — We destroyed them when they wronged, and We made for their destruction an appointed time.

And when Moses said to his boy, "I will not cease until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for a long period." But when they reached the junction between them, they forgot their fish, and it took its course into the sea, slipping away. And when they had passed beyond, he said to his boy, "Bring us our morning meal. We have certainly suffered in this journey of ours much fatigue." He said, "Did you see when we retired to the rock? Indeed, I forgot the fish. And none made me forget it except Satan — that I should mention it. And it took its course into the sea amazingly." He said, "That is what we were seeking!" So they returned, following their footprints.

And they found a servant from among Our servants to whom We had given mercy from Us and had taught him from Us a certain knowledge. Moses said to him, "May I follow you on the condition that you teach me from what you have been taught of sound judgment?" He said, "Indeed, with me you will never be able to have patience. And how can you have patience for what you do not encompass in knowledge?" He said, "You will find me, if Allah wills, patient, and I will not disobey you in any order."

So they set out, until when they had embarked on the ship, he made a hole in it. He said, "Have you made a hole in it to drown its people? You have certainly done a grave thing." He said, "Did I not say that with me you would never be able to have patience?" He said, "Do not blame me for what I forgot and do not cover me in my matter with difficulty."

So they set out until they met a boy, and he killed him. He said, "Have you killed a pure soul for other than having killed a soul? You have certainly done a deplorable thing." He said, "Did I not tell you that with me you would never be able to have patience?" He said, "If I should ask you about anything after this, then do not keep me as a companion. You have obtained from me an excuse."

So they set out until they came to the people of a town. They asked its people for food, but they refused to offer them hospitality. And they found therein a wall about to collapse, so he restored it. He said, "If you wished, you could have taken for it a payment." He said, "This is the separation between me and you. I will inform you of the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience."

"As for the ship, it belonged to poor people working at sea. So I intended to cause defect in it as there was after them a king who seized every good ship by force. As for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. So we intended that their Lord should substitute for them one better than him in purity and nearer to mercy. And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure as a mercy from your Lord. And I did not do it of my own accord. That is the interpretation of that about which you could not have patience."

And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say, "I will recite to you an account of him." Indeed, We established him upon the earth, and We gave him of everything a way. So he followed a way. Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it setting in a spring of dark mud, and he found near it a people. We said, "O Dhul-Qarnayn, either you punish or you take them in goodness." He said, "As for one who wrongs, we will punish him. Then he will be returned to his Lord, and He will punish him with a terrible punishment. But as for one who believes and does righteousness, he will have a reward of the best, and we will speak to him from our command with ease."

Then he followed a way. Until, when he came to the rising of the sun, he found it rising on a people for whom We had not made against it any shield. Thus. And We had encompassed in knowledge what he had.

Then he followed a way. Until, when he reached between two mountains, he found beside them a people who could hardly understand speech. They said, "O Dhul-Qarnayn, indeed Gog and Magog are great corrupters in the land. So may we assign for you an expenditure so that you might make between us and them a barrier?" He said, "That in which my Lord has established me is better, but assist me with strength; I will make between you and them a dam. Bring me sheets of iron." — until, when he had leveled between the two mountain walls, he said, "Blow with bellows," — until, when he had made it fire, he said, "Bring me, that I may pour over it molten copper." So they were unable to pass over it, nor were they able to effect in it any penetration.

He said, "This is a mercy from my Lord. But when the promise of my Lord comes, He will make it level, and ever is the promise of my Lord true."

And We will leave them that day surging over each other, and the Horn will be blown, and We will assemble them in assembly. And We will present Hell that Day to the disbelievers, on display — those whose eyes had been within a cover removed from My remembrance, and they were not able to hear.

Then do those who disbelieve think that they can take My servants instead of Me as allies? Indeed, We have prepared Hell for the disbelievers as a lodging.

Say, "Shall We inform you of the greatest losers as to their deeds? Those whose effort is lost in worldly life, while they think that they are doing well in work." Those are the ones who disbelieve in the signs of their Lord and in the meeting with Him, so their deeds have become worthless; and We will not assign to them on the Day of Resurrection any weight. That is their recompense — Hell — for what they denied and for what they took My signs and My messengers in ridicule.

Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds — they will have the Gardens of Paradise as a lodging, wherein they abide eternally. They will not desire from it any transfer.

Say, "If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like of it as a supplement."

Say, "I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord — let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."

Khutbah: Patience and Hope in Times of Trial

Opening Praise and Glorification

Let us start off the khutbah with the glorification of Allah. As any sermon, any khutbah devoid of the mention of the greatness of Allah remains incomplete.

O Allah, the eyes are not able to see You. And thoughts are not able to comprehend You. And anyone attempting a description of Allah is unable to do so. He knows the weight of the weightiest mountains. And the depths of the deepest oceans. Nothing remains hidden from the sight and vision of Allah. He is all-hearing, all-seeing, and all-capable.

Then we send peace and blessings and salawat upon Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — the best of the creation.

As the sha'ir of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, when describing the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stated:

The eyes have not seen anything as beautiful as Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And the women have not birthed anyone as beautiful as Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. You have been created devoid of all defects. It is as if you were given the choice by Allah of how you would want your physical appearance to be.

The Reality of Difficulty for the Ummah

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters, we are no strangers to the concept of difficulty. And it seems as if it is one difficulty after another. Whenever we seem to get some relief, and it may seem as if the calamity or the disaster that strikes on a collective is behind us, we find ourselves once again knee-deep in another disaster, in another calamity, in another difficulty.

Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam foretold these trying and troubling times. He told us:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhī, Hadith 2630)

A time will come that you proclaiming yourself as a Muslim will be as difficult as walking with a burning coal on the palm of your hand. And so these difficulties have been foretold by Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and hence that is no surprise for the ummah.

We see that the earlier faction or the earlier portion of this ummah was tried. They also had to go through troubling times, and they had to prove their worth in the court of Allah. They had to prove themselves in the service of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. We know the difficulties that they underwent. They lived in an environment which was very difficult to survive in — an environment which went against the values and the basics of our deen and Islam.

Islam arrived in the heart of kufr and shirk. The hujjaj are returning back, and if you were to ask them, "Did you see any remains of kufr and shirk?" they would say, "Astaghfirullah, na'udhu billah, what are you talking about?" But there was a time, 1,400 plus years ago, when Makkah was the center of kufr and shirk.

"Has he made the gods into one God? Indeed, this is a strange thing" — this was the slogan of the mushrikin of Makkah when they were called towards Islam. "What are you speaking about, Muhammad? The message that you give us is a strange one. You want us to combine all entities into a single one. This makes absolutely no sense." This was that complete lack of understanding, and that complete clash with the deen of Allah. They were polar opposites.

And you will see Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam stating:

(Sahih Muslim, Hadith 145)

These were the glad tidings that he gave to the companions — "Oh companions, oh sahaba, do not think that you being associated with weirdness is something bad. There is nothing negative about it. Because Islam started off, and people thought that it was weird and strange."

The reaction of the people at that time was that you have to ensure that you crush them in completion. Hence you will see slogans like "get rid of Muhammad." There is a famous statement that they made — they said, wathbatu rajulin wahid — "jump him." Who? Jump Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — the jumping of a single man. Meaning that they were scared of the family of the Prophet, because they were powerful people. Banu Hashim was nobility. They were prominent people. And they were scared that if one of us gets accused of striking Muhammad, then the wrath of the entire Banu Hashim will descend. Hence they decided, "Let us strike as a collective. Let us take him out in a moment." And so we see that difficulty, calamities, and tests are no foreign concept to the ummah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Allah says: Do the people think that they can get up and proclaim the deen of Allah, and that they will not be tested and tried? And We have certainly tried those before them, so Allah will surely make evident those who are truthful, and He will surely make evident the liars. This is how we test the ummah. This is how we see how firm they are in their iman. What is the strength of their shahada:

The Hadith of the Ummah Being Devoured

Respected audience, dear brothers and sisters, we see in the hadith of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in which he talks about the global scene. He says:

(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4297)

A time will come upon you — you will see that the global scene will be such that the entire world and the powerful people of the world will be inviting each other to come and partake from food. What is strange here is that the food will not be food. What they are inviting towards will be the different pieces of the ummah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And so they will say, "Come and descend on this ma'idah, descend on this table and take your piece." Someone will rip the arm off, someone will rip the head off, someone will take the leg. And they will feast on the ummah of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

But again, Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not just explain something and not provide a solution to the problem. He pointed towards the problem itself. So the sahaba asked:

"Is that because we will be few in number, O Messenger of Allah?" The reason why they asked that is because when Islam started off initially, two, three, four, six, seven — these were the numbers. And so they would associate weakness with small numbers, because they never saw the weakness of iman. When you read the stories of the sahaba, you will see that they were subjected to the most brutal of tortures. Yet the weakness of iman was a foreign concept to them.

But Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will reply:

(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4297)

"No, that will not be the case. Rather, you will be abundant in number. You will be large and massive. Your numbers will stretch to the horizon." Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world. And so Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says: "No, you will not be small in number. Your abundance will be as abundant as the foam on top of the ocean."

And there is a slight message Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is giving here. Usually you can take the ocean water and boil it, and you still have some benefit. As for the foam and the froth on top — it is completely useless. Nobody goes to the ocean or the beach and gathers that foam and brings it home and admires it. And so Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is saying that you will be as useless as the foam on top of the oceans — large in number, a person who sees it from a distance sees that endless foam, but there is no benefit whatsoever.

And then Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam will say:

That Allah will take away your awe — your awe will be removed from the hearts of the non-Muslims and the disbelievers. Meaning that Islam for a certain time commands some respect. Anyone who sees a sahib al-iman, someone who has iman — that is why the sahaba: their enemies did not necessarily have to come face to face with them. The ru'ab, or the awe of the approaching Muslim armies, would precede them. Before they would even get to a city, usually the city would have already been conquered. But Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam states that that ru'ab and that mahaba will be taken out of the hearts of your enemies. And you will just be like the air and the wind, which has no impact whatsoever.

Then the sahaba asked, "O Rasulullah, what is wahan?" Because Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam had mentioned it in the hadith. And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam replied:

(Sunan Abī Dāwūd, Hadith 4297)

It is your dislike for death and your intense and immense love for the dunya. That is the root cause of all the problem. As Allah says:

It is that competition. And you will be so lost in that competition that you will not be able to bear to even familiarize yourself with a concept in which that wealth may not be with you anymore. That is something you do not even want to think about. We know how quickly circumstances can change. And sometimes it is the most difficult thing to think about — that all this that I have created after years and years of effort could be taken away from me at a moment's notice.

The Story of Ta'if: A Lesson in Hope and Perseverance

And so I wanted to connect the present situation of the ummah with a situation that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam faced. This is a situation in which Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam did not give up. It is a story of hope and perseverance.

So it so happened that Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, when he grew hopeless from the people of Makkah, he decided to approach the people of Ta'if. The hopelessness did not render the results that shaytan wanted it to render. Normally what happens to us — when you hear about bad news or when you hear about something negative — shaytan specifically channels that negativity towards you realizing that you cannot do anything. Here we see the example of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam: when he realizes that these people are not going to accept Islam, he diverts his attention to something else. That is the essence of the believer — that he will find strength in his deen and in his iman, and in the propagation of his deen, in any situation. Regardless of what the circumstances are, he will find a way to make sure that his deen remains alive in his life.

And so Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam proceeded to Ta'if with one single companion accompanying him. He was hoping that the people of Ta'if — who disliked the people of Makkah and had their reasons for it — would embrace the message of Islam. They were further away from idol worship. Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam approached them and called their leaders towards Islam. What was their reaction?

This is a story that we have heard multiple times. One of them said, "If you are a liar, I don't even want to pay attention to what you have to say." The other one said sarcastically, "Oh, did Allah not see anyone else besides you?" And the third said, "If you are a prophet, then if I reject your message, I don't want to take the weight of that calamity on my back." And so they avoided Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.

Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam made one request: "Okay, why don't you do me a favor and not let my enemy — your enemy as well — know that I approached you calling you towards Islam?" Did they agree? No. Right at that very moment, they dispatched someone to go and inform the Makkans about what happened there and the fact that they had rejected him.

And so Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam decided to leave that city. They did not leave it at that. They did not rest. They put their younger people — specifically the rabble and the lower class of the city — behind the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They were jeering and yelling and throwing rocks at Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam until his feet were bloodied. He started to bleed.

And then he sought refuge in the garden of a mushrik — Umayyah ibn Khalaf, known as one of the most bitter enemies of Islam. He never accepted Islam. But even he, when he saw the condition of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he took pity on him and sent some grapes and some water with his slave, Addas.

But what I wanted to focus on is the reaction of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in this situation. Yes, that incident is an incident of sacrifice. But how does Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam behave in its aftermath? What does he do? Does he say, "O Allah, this is enough. I've had enough. I've tried so much. I can't go any further." No. He could have said that. Because it is difficulty after difficulty. There is not even a moment of peace. And Allah is watching all of that occur. And that is a lesson for the ummah — that you will have to go through these trying and troubling times as well.

And Allah sent an angel who approached Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and asked him, "If you want, I can bring together these two surrounding mountains." And what would happen as a result? The people of Ta'if would be crushed in between. And Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said, "No. I hope — this is Rahmatulil Alameen sallallahu alayhi wa sallam — I hope that in their progeny, people are going to accept Islam."

The Du'a of Rasulullah at Ta'if

But the thing I wanted to focus on, as a concluding point, is the du'a of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He said:

He does not say, "O Allah, I tried my best and I leave the rest to You." Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says, "O Allah, I complain to You of my weakness and my shortcomings." So even after such intense difficulty, where he is bleeding from top to bottom — it takes a certain amount of blood for your shoes to be bloodied as well; your blood has to be truly flowing — and Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, in the aftermath of that, says, "O Allah, I complain to You of my weakness."

And then he says, "O Allah, if You are happy with me, then I have no care and concern in the world. All I need is Your happiness." The people can say whatever they want to say. They could call names. They could say sahir, majnoon, kadhdhab. They can say terrorist. They can say whatever they want to say. But if You are happy with me, then I have no care in the world.

And then he says:

"I seek my needs — the fulfillment of my needs — through that radiant and brilliant light of Your Face that can illuminate anything." What a beautiful way of making du'a.

And so this is a du'a that we can take heed and lesson from. The believer needs to be happy with the decree of Allah, regardless of the circumstances and conditions. رَضِينَا بِقَضَاءِ اللَّهِ وَقَدَرِهِ should be the slogan of the believer — "I am happy with the decree of Allah, regardless of it being in my favor or going against me." The believer will always find his way. He will find his way out of that disaster and calamity, and he will find his strength in his iman.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَـٰذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Announcements

Please join us this weekend, June 21st and 22nd, for Darussalam's graduation ceremonies. June 21st opens with Tahfidh — these are the Hifz students who have completed the memorization of the Qur'an — which will be followed by Tanweer. The Tanweer program is a one-year Islamic studies intensive; students come from all over the country. This will then be followed by the Sanatain graduations. June 22nd opens with our 5th annual Khatm of Sahih al-Bukhari, followed by Tartil, Ijazah, and Taqmil graduations. This is where you will witness seven years in the making of a scholar — when an entire community and entire board of teachers come together and work on individuals who are going to go all over the country and serve in different capacities for the deen of Allah.

We have the Tarbiyah for Tots program for boys and girls ages 4 to 5. You can register at masjids.org/TforT. Quran, Islamic Studies, and Sports Camp for boys and girls ages 6 to 13. The Tamheed program for brothers and sisters ages 14 and up.

Among our weekly programs: the Tuesday Tafsir — "Reflect and Connect" weekly Tafsir with Mufti Azimuddin; the Thursday Salawat and Urdu Seerah Dars, which covers the Seerah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam; and the weekly team Fajr program, where we are covering the 99 Names of Allah, followed by breakfast.

We have the Chicago World Ijtema coming up. The effort of Da'wah and Tabligh is an effort which has touched almost every individual — even the masjid that we are sitting in, all the teachers, and myself personally. It is an effort that has invested in hundreds and thousands of people across the world, and it is a global movement. The Ijtema is happening June 27th, 28th, and 29th at the Rosemont Convention Center. We have elders coming from India and from all across the world. This is an opportunity that each and every one of us should avail.

In the past you had to travel all the way to benefit from the mashayikh. Here you are getting the opportunity that they are only 30 to 40 minutes away. Even if we are not able to make it for the entire time, the intention should be to go for the full duration — that is where you get the most khair and barakah. Thousands of people doing i'tikaf in the masjid, engaged in a'mal. And even if we are going through any difficulties in life, this is the place to go where you cry in front of Allah, and the rahma of Allah is descending upon the entire crowd and entire gathering. So insha'Allah we go there, perform i'tikaf, and fully benefit. And if we are not able to make it for the full time, then insha'Allah make the intention for two days, one day, a few hours — whoever can make it, insha'Allah.

Du'a Requests

There is a du'a request for brother Ibrahim Muhammad, who is the father of Ismail Muhammad. There is also a du'a request for 8-year-old Zoya after a car accident — she is in the ICU. Please remember Gosar Jahan, who is suffering from stage 4 liver cancer. Also make du'a for the Muslims in Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and the entirety of the Muslim Ummah.

O Allah, heal our sick and the sick of the Muslims, and have mercy on our dead and the dead of the Muslims. O Allah, help our brothers who are wounded in every place, O Lord of the worlds. O Allah, forgive us, our parents, our teachers, the believers, the Muslims — the living and the dead among them. Indeed You are the All-Hearing, All-Near, Answerer of supplications.

سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ ۝ وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ ۝ وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ