What Do You Want in Jannah? | Ep 11 | Ustadh Mohamad Baajour | EPIC Masjid

The Hidden Rewards of Qiyam al-Layl

So we are still in the process of making tafsir of Surat al-Sajdah. And we spoke last week about the importance of Qiyam al-Layl and the reward of Qiyam al-Layl and how it is of an amazing ibadah to introduce to your daily ibadat. We remind ourselves at least of one hadith where Rasulallah ﷺ said the best salat, the best salat after fard is the salat of Qiyam.

Before we start inshallah ta'ala, I just want everybody to make dua for our brother Marwan as we heard what happened to him. Please, I beg you in your Qiyam, in your tahajjud, just ask Allah azza wa jal to release him soon. And ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to help us help him. Because this is exactly where we show our support to each other. Otherwise, hugging and habibi and then when these things happen, we do not stand with each other. And the least we could do these days is a dua. Subhanallah, I just heard that the facility that he is in, you do not wish it to your worst enemy. Imagine we are living in the luxury of our homes and all that and all of a sudden you do not move to a motel, no. You move to a facility like this. Subhanallah, may Allah give his family the patience also. Ameen.

The Balance of Hope and Fear

So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, We said that this ayah is about Qiyam. What are they doing? They are making dua to Allah khawfan wa tama'an. What does khawfan wa tama'an mean? Khawfan, they are out of fear that their a'mal is not accepted. Out of fear of the hellfire, wa tama'an, and hoping that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will accept. This is what their dua is. Hope and fear, hope and fear. And we all know this is the way we are supposed to run our life. With hope and fear. Not hope all the time, not fear all the time. Right?

And then, subhanallah, that hope and fear, what did it lead to? That ibadah of Qiyam, that ibadah of dua, led to, When we do our ihsan with the khaliq, it automatically facilitates the ihsan to the makhluq. What was the result?

And from what we, always, subhanallah ya akhwan, This is, you know, you're used to hearing these ayat in fundraising. Oh ya shabab, Allah said this is from what I have provided for you. Subhanallah ya akhwan. Wallahi, every fundraising, every brother who stands up here and asks for any help for any country, Whether it's Bangladesh, India, Yemen, Syria, anywhere. Wallahi, we will be questioned if we did not help. I'm talking about the one who can help and did not help. And it's not about the quantity. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is reminding us all the time, وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ From what I have given you.

That money in your pocket, that app that you have and you check your account and you have this, May Allah increase the zeros before the first number, after the first number. All these are not yours. Wallahi, it's not yours. And the biggest dalil, what's the biggest dalil that's not yours? Do you take anything with you when you leave? You leave it here. You don't take none. So it's not yours. Like Rasulallah ﷺ said, all the money that you're leaving, the money that you have, You're leaving it for the people who are inheriting it. Right?

Invest in Your Akhirah

So use it like I always remind myself and I remind you. And listen carefully. Please, make a sadaqah jariah for yourself. Do not wait for your children to make a sadaqah jariah for you. If they did, that's a bonus. It's a bonus. Do not depend on them. May Allah make all our children righteous. May Allah make them all themselves as a sadaqah jariah for us. But you know you have a hundred thousand dollars, you have two million dollars, you have all this money. And you say, I'm gonna leave it for them. And then they took that money. This guy bought a house, this guy bought a car, this guy got married. Habibi, sadaqah jariah for me. Baba, I love you. I know how you love me. Do something for me. So just to be on the safe side, wallahi. Dig a well for yourself. Build a masjid for yourself. Open an orphanage for yourself. Sponsor a widow for yourself. Wallahi, I'm very serious.

Because, you know, I want to do something for myself. As I'm six feet under, my odometer of hasanat did not stop. I don't want it to stop. You know, this is the smart, you know. How do you know if you are successful in business? You're making money while you're sleeping. Right? The money is working for you. You don't have to actively work. When you reach a point that you're making money while you're sleeping, Alhamdulillah, you're doing good. So I want to make hasanat while I'm sleeping. Six feet under. And I'm not going to depend on anyone, not even my child to do it for me. I'm going to do it for myself. Okay?

The Hidden Delights of Paradise

Now, we keep, last time we stayed two weeks with one ayah. So I want to move a little bit.

Right after the ayat of qiyam, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, No soul can imagine what delights, what luxuries are kept in store for them, hidden. أُخْفِيَ, from خَفَاء, hide. خَافِيَ, hidden. No soul can imagine what has been hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.

Now listen what the scholars said. They said, subhanallah, this ayah came right after the ayat of qiyam. What is so special about qiyam? What's so special about qiyam? Exactly, it's hidden. So when you hid your ibadah, Allah hid the reward. What does it mean hiding the reward? That means the reward is with this human earth brain, you cannot handle it. You can't. And one of the recitations, One of the qiraat is, No soul will know what I hid for them. Subhanallah.

Meaning, If I said, Zakariya is giving you a gift, you would think he's going to give you something, $10. If I say Nasser is giving you a gift, you say maybe $100, $200. If I say Iqbal is giving you a gift, maybe $1,000. But if I say the king is giving you a gift, it becomes, you know, more expectation. How about if the king of kings hid the gift? So you pray qiyam, I have something hidden for you. I have something hidden for you. لا تعلم. When Allah said لا تعلم, it means لا تعلم. Allah said you do not know, that means you will never know what I hid for you.

You know, like Rasulullah ﷺ said, The things in Jannah are only similar to the things in dunya with, by, names. That's names. So like I was telling the children today in the half school. When Rasulullah ﷺ said the houses or the mansions in Jannah are one brick of gold and one brick of silver. So the minute I say the word brick, Ahmed, what came to your mind? A rectangular piece? That's not it. That's not it. This is the brick of dunya. How is the brick of the akhira looks like? No one knows.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3244)

Rasulullah ﷺ said that Allah said, I have prepared for my righteous ibad what no eye has ever seen, what no ear has ever heard, and no brain ever conceived, perceived. He cannot, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran, what he kept on saying,

The example of the, I cannot, you're not gonna understand when I say what's in the Jannah. So I'm gonna give you an example.

And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala start bringing it close to this brain. In it there are four rivers. One river of water that does not get ruined. Another river of milk that does not expire. Another river of wine that does not give you hangover. Another river of honey that is pure. So مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ

What Would You Ask For in Paradise?

You know, let me ask you this question. Raise your hand. If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decreed, and I beg Allah in this blessed night of Jumu'ah to make us all from the people of Al-A'la. If Allah decreed that you are from the people of Jannah, what would you ask Allah for? Raise your hand. Khalid. Stand up, Khalid. Stand up, Habibi. So Khalid, repeat your answer. Sit down, Khalid. Sit down, Habibi. Allahu Akbar. That's a boy who grew up in a righteous home. Nobody at 10 years old will answer this question. When I ask the question to a 10 years old, I want to be Spiderman. I want to be Superman. Aftab. Aftab wants to see Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make us all from the people who see him.

What else? Anybody? Let me tell you one of the most creative answers I've ever heard from a 10 year old about or answering this question. When I asked this question, a young boy, he raised his hand. I still remember his name was Junaid. I said, Junaid, what do you want? He said, I'm going to ask Allah for a theater size screen, huge screen. And I'm going to ask him, I would like to watch the Battle of Badr live. Wallahi, it will never cross my mind. Not only think about it. It will never cross my mind to watch the Battle of Badr live. Where did you get this stuff from? Allahu Akbar. Subhanallah, by the way, he gave me an idea. I'm going to ask for that, by the way, if Allah made me from the people of Jannah.

So, whatever you dream about, whatever you think about, one young boy, 12 years old, he said, I want to have my house under the ocean. And my helicopter is flying under the ocean. This guy is a scuba diver. After he finished, I told him, listen, this is not it. You know why? Because he was able to imagine it. If you're able to imagine it, that's not it. If you're able to imagine it, that's not it.

The Importance of Hidden Deeds

So, Ya Akhwan, remember the hadith of the three men in the cave? Everybody knows the hadith. Three men were stuck in the cave and they asked each other, make a dua with the best thing, the most sincere thing you've ever done for this rock to move from the exit so they can leave. And the first one made a dua, it moved a little bit. The second one made a dua, it moved a little bit more. And then the third one made a dua and it was completely out and they were able to exit. And every single one of them made dua with the most sincere ibadah that no one knows about. No one. No one. If you look at all three of them, the ibadah that they did, no one knows about.

Now the question is, I have a lecture online, it's called, What if I was the fourth guy? And what if I was with them in the cave? Would they be still stuck there because I do not have a secret amal? So the question is, between you and yourself, Allah, please, because we're talking about hidden stuff. Do you have a amal that no one knows except Allah? No one, no one. Not your wife, not your husband, not your child, not your parents. No one knows except Allah.

A two rakah in the middle of the night while nobody knows. An orphan back in India or in Sudan that I'm sponsoring, no one knows. I dug a well, no one knows. I memorized the Quran, no one knows. There's a brother who used to come to New York. He used to come only for a week or two on a job. And every time he comes, he used to lead us. And every time I ask him, Are you Hafiz? I memorized. Because one day he reads Ma'idah, one day he reads An'am, one day he reads, you know, everywhere. So are you Hafiz? He said, I memorized whatever I can from the Quran. Is that a Hafiz? SubhanAllah, he wants to hide his Hafiz.

Now, how many of us go to Umrah and everyone on earth knows that they went to Umrah? I'm making dua for your brother. It takes like ten dollars. He deserves some help, so I'm helping him. Make dua. Wallahi, nothing is hidden anymore. And we all know. It's not a hidden thing. That the more the Ibadah is hidden, the more the reward.

The Hidden Treasures of Jannah

So here, I want to stop at the word. Where was this used in another place? What does it mean? The word is from the verb. What does it mean? Settle. Settle. So, I am... Allah is saying, I have hidden for them something. When their vision is looking and they see it, their vision is going to settle on that thing because of its beauty. That's why we ask Allah to make our children and our spouses are the coolness of our eyes. Where our eyes don't want to move from my wife or from my child. This is how much I love to be with them. So Allah used the same term for whatever is hidden for us in the Jannah.

Now, He said at the end, so this Jannah and this hidden stuff is for them because of what they used to do. I mentioned this before. Let me see who remembers. Allah is saying this and it's all over the Quran. What they used to do, what they used to do. How can I reconcile with what they used to do? And Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam saying, "You will not enter the Jannah with your amal. You will only enter the Jannah with the Rahma of Allah." How can I reconcile both? Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam saying, "You will not enter the Jannah with the amal." And Allah is saying, "The reward because of what they used to do." And Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said, "You're not going to enter because of what you used to do. You'll only enter with the Rahma of Allah."

The Entrance vs. The Level in Jannah

Abu Mahmood. Okay, very good. Mahboob. Okay, very good. The entrance to the Jannah... Listen carefully. The entrance to the Jannah with the Rahma of Allah. There's nothing we can do in this dunya that will make me deserve going to Jannah forever. Maybe I lived 50 years, I died at 50, I go to Jannah for 50 years. Wallahi this is the utmost justice. And we throw another 50, 100 years. That's extra justice. But to live forever for this, what are we doing to deserve it forever?

So the entrance to the Jannah is only with the Rahma of Allah. Where is your location in Jannah, is according to your amal. Because the Jannah is different levels. So I don't want to hear, we hear it all the time, "Ya akhi, I just want to enter Jannah." No. By the way, I'm not the one who's saying that. Who said that? Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam, He said, "When you ask, ask for the Firdaws Al-A'la. Ask for the Firdaws," ya'ni be ambitious.

Don't just... You don't say, in this dunya, would you say, "Ya akhi, just give me any house, anywhere. Downtown Dallas, downtown Harlem." You would never say that. No, you want to live in Plano, and Murphy, and whatever, Garden City. The entrance to Jannah with Rahma, and the level. That's why I have to accumulate as much as I can, so I can get a really good level.

The Believer and the Fasiq Are Not Equal

Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said:

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, look at the style. Is it possible that the believer is equal to the fasiq? Are they equal? No way. They will never be equal. A person that is fearing Allah azza wa jal is a believer. And the fasiq, now here's a question. What does the fasiq mean? Or what does fisq mean?

Fisq, it means in general, it means coming out. Leaving something and coming out of it. It is said that the seed fasaqat from the shell. So it left the shell. This is what fasaqa means. So when it comes to ibadah, He left. He came out of the order of Allah. So a fasiq is a person that rejected the order of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

Now listen to this question. Can a fasiq be a Muslim? Yes or no? No? Yes? Yes. Because fisq is of two kinds. The Shaykh just recited that the kafireen are the fasiqeen. Fisq are of two kinds. Either the fisq that you completely rejected everything from Allah and you're a kafir. Or you're a Muslim, but you are rejecting the orders of Allah azza wa jal. You are committing major sins. You're gambling, you're drinking alcohol, you're committing zina. You're doing them on a regular basis. You're a fasiq. This person is a fasiq. He have left, came out. Referring to deviation from Allah's commands. Deviation from Allah's commands. He's called a fasiq.

Who's gonna give me an ayah in the Quran that a fasiq is a Muslim? We'll read. Here the fasiq here, who's he talking about? One of the companions. Do you know the story? We'll talk about it later. It's a story about a companion. He's called a fasiq.

Fisq here, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala:

It's impossible that they are equal. How could they be equal?

Impossible for them to be equal. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala detailed:

We will explain that next week inshallah ta'ala.