Light (Nur)

Light (Nur)

إِنَّ الْحَمْدَ لِلَّهِ، نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ، وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا، مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ، وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ، وَأَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَرَسُولُهُ.

أَمَّا بَعْد: فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ، وَأَحْسَنَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، وَشَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا، وَكُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ، وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ، وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ.

Brothers and sisters in Islam, our khutbah today is about nur. It is about light. And we'll begin with a simple dictionary definition of light.

It is the natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. Everyone knows what light is. It is not something requiring a definition.

And everyone knows that in our life, we need physical light. Because without light, you either hurt yourself or you hurt others. Just like if we take the example — you come home and your wife rearranged the furniture. And in the pitch darkness, you either hurt yourself — you hurt your foot against the table — or you break something else. You touch or you push over a vase and it breaks, or you step on your cat. The point is that you either injure yourself or you injure others.

The Sun and the Source of All Light

And because of our need for physical light, Allah created a magnificent source of light, and that is the sun. But when the sun goes down, we turn to artificial sources of light. We upgrade as light upgrades. So they started off with candles, and then lanterns, and then the filament lamp was invented, and then neon lamps, and then the LEDs. But when the sun comes up, what does everyone do? They turn off every artificial source of light because Allah's source outshines everything else.

And imagine now after the Jumu'ah khutbah, you're trying to make it out to your car, the sun is up, and then someone comes with a candle trying to show you your way to your car. You will tell them, I don't need another source of light alongside Allah's powerful source of light.

Now in the same way we need this physical light, we need the light of guidance from Allah. The light that illuminates the heart, and guides the soul, and leads a person to paradise. And without it, we will do injustice to ourselves, or we will oppress others. Without nur, a person is lost.

Allah is the Light of the Heavens and the Earth

Allah says in the Qur'an in Surah An-Nur:

Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth. The Mufassirun explain that Allah is the one who illuminates the heavens and the earth, the one who guides whom He wills to iman, to righteousness, and to the truth. So Allah is the source of guidance for everyone.

And then Allah refers to His revelation itself as light. In Surah An-Nisa, Allah says:

O mankind, there has come to you a proof from your Lord, and We have sent down to you a clear light. So Allah called the revelation a light. So the Qur'an is light, tawheed is light, iman is light, and guidance is light.

Darknesses (Plural) and Light (Singular)

In Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah says:

Allah is the ally of those who believe. He brings them out of darknesses — ظُلُمَات — into light. Notice, ظُلُمَات is plural, so it's darknesses. Because every human being walks through some kind of darkness — the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of sin, darkness of doubts, desires, trials, hardships. So falsehoods are many, confusions are many, desires are many. But light was singular. Because there's one light, one path, one Sirat.

At least 17 times a day we say:

Have any of you ever heard of the plural form of the word Sirat? You've never heard it in your life. Because there's one path to Allah. And the Prophet ﷺ even one time gave us a visual aid to explain this. He drew one long straight line in the sand, and he said:

(Musnad Ahmad, Hadith 4142; also recorded by al-Nasa'i and al-Darimi on the authority of 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud)

This is the straight path of Allah, just one. And then the other paths — the many — he said that at the head of each one is a shaytan, calling people to the hellfire. One straight path to Allah, and many other paths leading to falsehood. That's why Allah mentions ظُلُمَات, plural, and نُور, singular.

A person can have education and still live in darkness. They can have intelligence and still destroy themselves. They can have technology and still not know why he exists. Nur is information. Nur is when Allah allows you to see reality correctly.

And as we said, the world is full of artificial light. And people chase every kind of light except the light of Allah. The light of fame, the light of screens, trying to find enlightenment by meditating, traveling. But all these lights only blind. And the greatest source of light is the Qur'an.

The Qur'an: A Light and a Clear Book

Allah mentions in Surah Al-Ma'idah:

There has come to you from Allah a light and a clear book. So the Qur'an is not merely recited — it revives the hearts. And how many people do we know who were changed by one ayah.

'Umar ibn al-Khattab and the Power of the Qur'an

'Umar ibn al-Khattab radiyallahu anhu comes enraged into the house of his sister, and then hears the ayat — and he leaves transformed by the Qur'an.

Jubayr ibn Mut'im and the Verses That Moved His Heart

Jubayr ibn Mut'im radiyallahu anhu, before he became Muslim, came to Al-Madinah as a non-Muslim while the Prophet ﷺ was leading the salah. And he heard the verses:

He heard these verses and he said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 4854)

My heart was going to fly — my heart was going to jump out of my chest when I heard these verses. And he became Muslim. The Qur'an enters places that other speech cannot enter. And this is why the shaytan fights hardest to disconnect people from the Qur'an. The Qur'an creates clarity, and the clarity threatens the shaytan.

The Light That Guides Through Darkness

The only thing that can guide a person through the different darknesses is the light that comes from Allah. In Surah Al-An'am, Allah says:

Is the one who was dead, and We gave him life, and made for him a light by which he walks amongst the people. So the more a servant recites, reflects upon, and acts upon the Qur'an, the greater his or her light becomes.

But the problem, brothers and sisters, is that we belittle the Qur'an. We belittle the effects of the Qur'an. Youth who are either on their way out — they're leaving Islam, or they have left Islam — they'll come and sit with me in that office in the back of this masjid. And they will sit with me and give me their tough questions. And their tough questions are basic things that the Qur'an answered 1,400 years ago. People will come with problems in their lives, and the answers are all in the Qur'an.

One young man had a problem, and his friends were trying to convince him to speak to the imam. And he said, "I don't want to, because the imam will just tell me to read the Qur'an." This sentence — just tell me to read the Qur'an. "There is no solution there. That's all he's gonna throw at me — read the Qur'an — and it's not really going to help me." But then the imam sat with him, and all his problems were actually basic things answered in the Qur'an.

People seeking artificial forms of light. One young man that I sat with wanted answers to life's questions. What did he do? He would watch nine hours a week of videos on atheism. Nine hours of lectures from atheists — that's how he wants to find answers. That's how he wants to hold a candle when the sun is out.

The Qur'an is More Accessible Than Ever

So to gain nur is the Qur'an — and it's not merely recitation, but reflection. By Allah, brothers and sisters, in this day and age when someone says, "Yes, but I don't understand the Qur'an" — I don't understand the Qur'an, said the engineer. I don't understand the Qur'an, said the neuroscientist. There's never been a time in human history when it was more possible and realistic that you can learn the Qur'an and see what it's saying. You can click word by word and get a breakdown and definition. You can get the translation in every language. You can get the full tafsir in English. And people still say, "But I don't understand it when I'm reading it."

The Light of the Believers on the Day of Judgment

Not only do we need the light of Allah in this life, but we also need it in the afterlife. Allah says in Surah Al-Hadid:

On the day when you will see the believing men and the believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right. The scholars explain this is actual, real light that Allah gives the believers on the Day of Judgment to guide them through the darkness so they can cross the Sirat and make it into paradise.

Ibn Kathir says that when people are crossing over the Sirat, they will be given light according to their deeds. The believer's light will run ahead of them and on their right side, guiding them to paradise. Imam At-Tabari says that the light is a reward from Allah for their iman and for their righteous deeds, and it will illuminate their path as they proceed towards paradise. Some of the early Muslims said their light is according to their deeds.

The Cry of the Hypocrites

But immediately after this verse, Allah describes the hypocrites. And the hypocrites will yell out to the believers:

Wait for us so that we can borrow some of your light, use some of your light. Imagine you and someone — you're in a pitch-black forest — but the person with you has a flashlight. He illuminates his way and he's walking quickly. When he walks ahead of you, you can't see anymore. So you tell him, slow down. That's what it means — انظُرُونَا — slow down, wait for us, so we can use your light as well, so we can see with your light. And the scholars say this shows that the light is not symbolic only, but it is visible and real. Because the hypocrites see that light and desperately ask for some of it.

This is what we need — the light of Allah to navigate our lives here on this earth, and we still need it in the next life as well. And the best source of that light is the Qur'an, the book of Allah that He described as light that He sent down.

أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ مِنْ جَمِيعِ الذُّنُوبِ فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ، فَيَا فَوْزَ الْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ. Ask Allah for His forgiveness. Indeed, those who ask for His forgiveness shall prosper.

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، وَالصَّلَاةُ وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْأَمِينِ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ، أَمَّا بَعْد.

How the Light of the Heart Is Extinguished

Just as light increases, it can also diminish. And there are things that extinguish light. Sins extinguish the light of the heart — persistent sin, looking at the haram, constant distraction, neglecting salah, abandoning the Qur'an. And then the sins accumulate until the heart is darkened — but it's darkened gradually, not overnight. It's darkened one compromise at a time, one glance at a time, one click at a time, one excuse at a time, and one delayed tawbah at a time until the heart becomes hard.

And that's why Allah says in Surah Al-Mutaffifin:

No, rather a covering has covered their hearts because of what they used to earn. But Allah's mercy is vast, and repentance restores the light of the heart and repolishes it, as the Prophet ﷺ indicated.

A Practical Reminder: One Page Every Night

Brothers and sisters in Islam, this khutbah is really about the Qur'an. It's a reminder to myself and to you to make sure that our eyes fall upon the pages of the Qur'an — the pages of the mushaf — every single night. And the busiest person in the room can do the following: put a mushaf on your nightstand. And before you go to bed, just read one page. A lot of times people try to be heroes — "I'll read three juz, I'll read a juz." Realistically, you're not going to read a juz every night. One page. If you want to add, add. And then put your bookmark, and tomorrow read another page. But at least every day and every night, your eyes are falling upon the pages of the Qur'an. And you'll not be of those who are heedless or have abandoned the book of Allah.

And like we've said before, this is the only book on the planet that you can benefit from even if you don't know what it's saying. Pick any book, in any topic, in any language — that you can benefit from even if you don't understand what it's saying. There's no such thing, except for the Qur'an. But the highest form is to reflect and understand what Allah is telling you. And if you're not doing the highest form, then the lower forms are also great. Because every letter is 10 rewards, as you know. And as you're reading it, you're getting shifa, and you're getting barakah, and you're getting other benefits from Allah.

Du'a

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُمَّ وَبَارِكْ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا الْمَبْعُوثِ رَحْمَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ، وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ. وَقُومُوا إِلَى صَلَاتِكُمْ وَرَحِمَكُمُ اللَّهُ.