When “THANKS” is A Bonus (A Must Watch) | Tafseer Surah Al-Insan | Ep 03 | Ustadh Mohamad Baajour

الحمد لله رب العالمين، we are so grateful to Allah to give us another night where we sit down in His house and study His book and try very hard to come close to Him and earn His رضا. May Allah make us from the people at the end of the gathering they are told:

آمين رب العالمين.

We are still in the tafsir of Surah Al-Insan which will be recited tomorrow in Fajr insha'Allah, if Allah kept us alive. SubhanAllah, like we mentioned in the beginning of every class, there has to be a reason why Rasulullah ﷺ chose those two surahs to be recited on the best salat of the week. Tomorrow's morning salat, Fajr of Jumu'ah, is the most beloved salat to Allah عز وجل, and for Rasulullah ﷺ to choose these two surahs, there has to be a reason because the one who chose them is the wisest.

The Two Categories of People

So we explained that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala first said:

Either a person is grateful or he is ungrateful. And then He said:

We explained that last week. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala started telling us what did the people of the reward, the people who are أبرار, what they used to do.

The Qualities of the Abrar

Then Allah mentioned a few things. كَانُوا - they used to:

They fulfill the vow that they made. And we explained that the نذر is different kinds of نذر, right? You remember, right? يُوفُونَ بِالنَّذْرِ - this is one thing that they did.

And they're very scared from that day where the شر of that day, the evil of that day مستطير. Who remembers? What does مستطير mean? Expanded, right? Spread all over.

A Critical Question for All of Us

I want you to make sure that you're here with your heart and brain and looking at me and understanding, not just sitting there and shaking your heads and then I come next week and ask a question, you have no clue what's happening.

Let me ask you a question. Really think about this: Why are you here? What are you doing here? To learn, right? These people - they were learning and they were applying because they were so scared of يوم كان شره مستطير, because they were so scared about that day.

What are we doing with this learning? That is the question. It's not a question that we come here and we sit and we benefit and we get all this reward promised. What are we doing with this علم? علم that is not followed by عمل, wallahi, it's a burden on the Day of Judgment.

"I finished the book so-and-so. I memorized the book so-and-so. I finished the عقيدة this. I finished the course of so-and-so." And then what? What change happened to you? From before you finished the book of عقيدة and you memorized it and after - are you the same guy? If you are the same guy, then what are we doing? We're memorizing books and we're sitting in classes and then what?

Wallahi, I swear by Allah, me and you - and I'm on the top of the list - we will be questioned about these gatherings. We will be questioned about these gatherings. What did you do? Because we all know and we all believe and we have no speck of doubt that me and you are only here because Allah wants us to be here, right?

So what are we doing with this علم that we are learning? What are we doing with it? What's the plan? "Oh, I know Surat Al-Insan now and alhamdulillahi we finished Surah As-Sajdah." Tayyib, and what? Then what? What's the plan? What are we doing about it?

This is the mentality we should come with when we are sitting in these kind of حلقات. Wallahi, because I love you for the sake of Allah, you come with the mentality: "Ya Allah, make me from the people who listen and apply." Otherwise, listening only...

You tell me: "I memorized the book, the best book in عقيدة, the best book, no better book." And then I ask you: "What's in that book?" You recited the whole book. Did you apply anything in that book?

A Powerful Story

Sometimes you see... One time a sheikh said, wallahi, one of the people in the gathering, the people who sit down just regular people just like all of us - I saw him in the market on a Monday during ظهر time. I said, "Why don't you come, let's have a cup of coffee?" The sheikh told the guy, "Let's have a cup of coffee."

So the guy, simple man just like all of us, he said, "Sheikh, every week you tell us fast Monday and Thursday. I'm fasting."

So the sheikh is telling me, "I became like this big. I know all the أحكام of fasting Monday and Thursday, all the hadith. Bukhari, you name a book, I'll tell you all the hadith of the benefit of fasting Monday and Thursday. Ask me about قيام, I'll narrate ten hadith right now, right now, instantly. Do you perform قيام? Any hadith with the سند, which book, sahih, da'if, hasan, kullahu hadir."

This is dangerous. This is very dangerous.

Same thing for us, ya ikhwan. We come here and wallahi, if the whole goal is just to fill up some time or to run away from your wife - I know some of you, this is their intention: "Yeah sheikh, anything, but please I don't want to go..." No, may Allah fill our homes with love and mercy.

So this is what we're supposed to have. SubhanAllah, if the علم did not bring you any خير, what's better than that علم is you stay ignorant, right? Because now I will be questioned: "What did you do with this علم that you know?" Before that, I did not know anything.

A Du'a to Add to Your Collection

SubhanAllah, one of the du'a that you should add to your du'a bank:

Repeat after me: اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنِي مِنَ الْعَالِمِينَ الْعَامِلِين - the one who knows and then applies, puts it into عمل. Otherwise, علم degrees - my whole wall is full - and show me عمل.

آمنوا only in the Quran. يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا only, وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَات، وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَات، وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَات. SubhanAllah.

They Feed Others Despite Their Love for Food

So let's go to... So the first thing they do: يُوفُونَ بِالنَّذْرِ. Second: يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا كَانَ شَرُّهُ مُسْتَطِيرًا. What else do they do? Listen carefully:

These people, beside that they fulfill their vow and beside that they are so scared and worried about that day, they also feed - يُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ - they feed, they offer the food, they give the food عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ.

Here, الحُبِّهِ - the ه in حُبِّهِ goes to who? Goes back to who? The scholars said some scholars said it goes back to the food, and some scholars said it goes back to Allah.

يُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ - let's take them one by one. They feed others even though they love that food, but they still they are feeding مِسْكِين - a poor person, an orphan, and أَسِير - a prisoner of war.

Let me repeat. I want to comprehend what kind of people are we talking about here. We want to be among them. These are the أبرار. These are the أبرار. These are the elite.

They feed others even though they love that food. They feed the مِسْكِين and the يَتِيم and the أَسِير. They love the food. Why do they love the food? Because of us foodies, they love gourmet food? No! Why do they love the food? Because of its scarcity. It's not available. That's why they love it.

It's not like "because this is my favorite dish" - no, no, no. It's not about favorite dish and "this is makloubeh and this is biryani" - no! They love it because there's no food. And on top of that, they desire it. They desire it. And then when it becomes available for them to fulfill their desire, they feed others with it.

This is extraordinary. These are different kind of people. They love that food, they are desperate to have that food, they haven't eaten for a while, and the food comes to them, and then they give it to the مِسْكِين and they give it to the يَتِيم.

SubhanAllah, what kind of people are these? What kind of people?

They Don't Give Leftovers

They do not feed others like we do - from the leftover. "This food, my kids do not like, give it away." No! "My favorite dish - I have been craving this dish for a long time, and then Samir came and said, 'I have a surprise for you, Sheikh.' He opened the box - Allahu akbar! The dish is right there, and then I'm about to eat and five, six people said, 'Wallahi ya Sheikh, we have not eaten for five days.' I don't give them a 'sit down and eat with me' - take the food! This is what they do. Take it! Take it! It's all yours! All yours!"

Understanding the Three Categories

Now, subhanAllah, I understand the مِسْكِين - he's a مِسْكِين, فقير, poor. I understand the يَتِيم - the يَتِيم is a person that lost his father and he is under the age of puberty.

But an أَسِير? أَسِير most of the time - because it could possibly be أَسِير could be a Muslim, any person who's in jail because he committed a crime, but in general أَسِير is a kafir. Is a kafir! This man, أَسِير, prisoner of war. A few days ago, if he had opportunity to kill me, he would have killed me. And today I'm feeding him - not just the food to survive, I'm giving him my favorite food and my only food to survive!

This is extraordinary, this is amazing! These people, that's why one of the youth said, "I can be like the Sahaba."

Sahaba min, ya habibi? Sahaba min? What Sahaba are you talking about? You're gonna be like... You cannot give up some popcorn to your brother, you're gonna give your only food?

And if they are starving! SubhanAllah, what a level!

How to Train Ourselves

That's why we see, like for example, this is a lesson to learn from: How do I train myself to become like this? There's a very simple formula that I want to teach myself and you, and insha'Allah we beg Allah to help us apply it. Ready?

Before I give something away, I tell myself or I remind myself of what Aisha radiallahu anha said. She said: "Remember that your صدقة falls in the hand of Allah before the hand of the فقير."

So it's not about who am I giving it to - it's going to Allah first. It's going to Allah first.

So when I think like this, how can I give the leftover? "Whatever... Sheikh, we need a t-shirt." "Honey, go see in the closet which shirt has the most holes, most stains. Give it to me so we can give it to brother Iqbal because he needs a shirt." No! Where is the shirt we bought yesterday?

When we reach that level, Allah... our life will change!

This is Our Deen

This is our deen. Established 1400 years ago, they are teaching these things now in colleges and universities: how to improve your أخلاق. This is our deen! This is how we are trained. This is how the Sahaba behaved. They were not taught this - this came with the package of Islam, because their main goal is the pleasure of Allah. Their main goal is the pleasure of Allah.

Aisha radiallahu anha said: "Remember that your صدقة falls in the hand of Allah before it falls in the hand of that فقير." And she took it from the hadith of Rasulullah صلى الله عليه وسلم that he told us that when you give a صدقة, Allah will take it with His right hand and He will grow it for you. So she took it from there.