Adnan Rajeh – Quranic Reflections #15 Surat Al-Kahf 27 – Surat Taha 89
AI: Summary ©
The importance of carrying the message of Islam in Surah is discussed, emphasizing the need for individuals to have a strong understanding of the message and build a strong family unit to achieve prosperity. The message is not designed to make one miserable, but rather to allow them to deal with difficulties and fulfill their dreams. The speaker advises against following footsteps and not giving people a whim with their actions, emphasizing the importance of learning about Islam and community involvement in bringing about change. The importance of crossings in the Middle East is also emphasized, and the speaker warns of the need for people to make clear decisions and not allow anyone to do anything without a clear understanding of the message.
AI: Summary ©
So the, the cluster that we're in, we're
gonna be in for a while, and it's,
it's gonna be a couple of nights until
we finish, Surah and Namal.
And this group of Surah are the 4th
cluster of Surah from Isra until Namal
talks about carrying the message.
And it talks about the elements are required
to do so. What that means and what
do you need to do it and
what obstacles will you find? And it just
goes through it just talks about the concept
of carrying the message from a number of
different angles. And carrying the message is probably,
Yani, one of the most important things for
us to consider as Muslims living in the
west because that is to a certain degree
our role,
as minorities in in in non Muslim countries.
We're we're surrounded by people who aren't Muslim,
who have not been, fortunate enough to be
exposed to to to the light,
of, of the of the prophet
was was was given by Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. So carrying that message is really how
that occurs. It's not this is not just
dawah. Dawah is gonna be talked about in
the last, at the end of the Quran,
you know,
specifically dawah. But spreading the message or carrying
the message is is is a bit is
a bit more
broad of a term than just, which is
just trying to to, you know, to take,
get people or or to accept Islam or
listen to Islam. Spreading the message is bigger
than that. It's it's carrying it upon for
yourself, making sure that it's established appropriately, that
it's practiced correctly, that the right attitudes and
mentalities and perspectives are surrounding it so that
it's so it actually gets to be practiced
appropriately. And that you're you're you're utilizing all
the tools that are surrounding you to strengthen
it, to grant it its, means for for,
for for
for preservation
and for and for its prosperity.
And that's what these Suras talk about. And
there are there are there are wide spectrum
of Suras, and they talk about it from
different because they're really interesting. I love I
love this group. It's long. I've never done
full tafsir of it in English yet because
it's just very long. You know, we did,
I I take smaller clusters and it takes
I think I did,
we started with Surat Kaaf when we first
opened this place, and we're still, Yani, far
far away
from from even coming close to
to getting to getting to the end of
the Quran.
It just takes a long time. You've slowed
the. It just takes a long time, so
I have to choose what surahs I want
to talk about so that I don't end
up spending, like, 15 years trying to cover
trying to cover, like, a couple of, issues.
If there was more frequency, we could probably
get through more, but do it once a
week. Usually, it just takes a very long
time. So I'm I'm I'm I'm kinda mindful
of choosing stuff like that. I did do,
however, a number of years ago, in 2,000
and, I wanna say, 16 or 17 back
in
LMM.
That's the only that I've covered probably from
within this cluster. I don't think I've done
I want to. You were there? Yeah. I
think it's it's actually that was years ago.
I don't think I've done anything.
See, I have a witness. I did it.
I was not I'm not lying.
I actually did it. Yeah.
Yeah. But that was with me for a
long time, but he's like, I'm looking. I
don't think I I don't think I've done
any other Suraj within this cluster,
at all. So it's, it's one it's one
that I'm I'm I think I'll I'll probably
start, choosing more Surahs from for Ramadan,
weekend
and maybe even throughout the the year, Sunday,
once we're done the, you know, the the
the the the final 4 jus. So
Surah talks about basically, it announces that you
are the ones who are carrying the message.
That's what it does. It announces that Muslims
are carrying the message from now on, and
it's gonna happen through the Quran. Carrying the
message is not going to come from some
other external source. The message is the Quran.
That's what you're going to do it, by.
Gives
us the 4 elements that are required to,
for this message to, have stability
and prosperity.
And without these 4 elements, then fitna will
occur, which is what we have right now.
So,
we recite every week for a reason, for
a really good reason
because we we have to remind it every
week that this is what you need. If
you don't have if the if the idea
is not clear, which is the story of
Alkaf, if you don't have wealth, if you
don't have proper implementable knowledge, and if you
don't have,
the structure of power or
censored power, you don't have these four things,
then you won't have a nation. You won't
have a civilization. You won't have prosperity, and
fitna will just spread amongst you like wildfire,
which is what we're seeing today as Muslims.
It's just it's fitna everywhere. It's it's problems
and it's death and it's it's destruction, it's
persecution, it's oppression. There's there's not one good
example of a Muslim country. Ever thought about
that? It's it's a it's a it's a
miracle that Muslims still hold on to their
faith. There's not one good example of a
Muslim country. Maybe maybe, I mean, I mean,
maybe,
if if you want to argue, I mean,
the the South
the Indonesia or maybe place maybe if you
want to argue, but I don't know if
that's even arguable, honestly, once I talk to
people actually come from those countries. I don't
think it's aside from that, there's not one
Muslim country that has a a good model
in terms of governance, a good model of
of education, a good model. It's it's it's
just it's not there. So it's very difficult
in my mind for people to hold on
to something when they don't see a good
example of it. We are we are strictly
holding on to Islam based on the historic
precedents of it. Like, of of the historical
examples that we have of its beauty and
his ability to of his prosperity. But we
have nothing that is that that, you know,
at least to my knowledge, maybe maybe maybe
this is exaggeration, but that's that's that's what
I feel. Again, I've lived in the Middle
East with the majority of my life. I
don't have I don't have a good example
to to give of, Muslim countries or
any Muslim nations.
But we but it's possible. And that's why
Surat Kahf is a weekly thing. You read
it every week because it tells you. It
reminds you every week of what it what
exactly it is that you need to do.
You have to figure out which of these
4 which which of these 4 fields are
more interesting to you, which one which which
of these 4 fields you're gonna be focusing
on. Is it the strength of the idea
and and making sure that education on that
is going to occur and people have awareness?
Is it the wealth and and building that,
making sure that there's for the Muslim, that
there's proper,
financial setups and that that people are able
to they have owned they have ownership and
they have and they have cash flow and
they have businesses and they have say in
the financial world, the financial system, or it's
or it's academic
knowledge and the understanding of the world and
the build and and what that brings forward.
Or is it power politics? And
I don't know. You you make a choice.
It doesn't really make a difference. Yeah. We
do need people in each of these 4
fields. And if one of these fields is
empty, then we're going to be in a
big big trouble. Like, if everyone focused on
one thing,
and if you look at it, we have
a lot to when it comes to what,
to Dawa, Yeah. The message idea, which is
what I'm doing. There's a lot of people
doing that honestly around the globe. There's no
shortage of it. Academics, there's a lot of
people in research and academics in the Muslim
world as well that are, you know,
we wealth, it's it's,
wealth is questionable. There's a lot of money
amongst Muslims. It's just not properly, I mean,
utilized, and and those who care about this
don't necessarily have a lot of it. We
lack politics. We lack power and strength, which
is important for advocacy, which is important for
long term planning.
But these are all yeah. These are the
4 elements of Surat Al Kahf. And each
one of these elements is is addressed through
a story followed by commentary. That's it. That's
all Surat Al Kahf it is. Surat Al
Kahf is just 4 stories that are not
repeated in the Quran anywhere else. I'm not
sure if you if you noticed that. So
the story of al Kahf is nowhere aside
from Surat al Kahf. The story of the
2 men and their and and the and
their orchard, nowhere else. Musa Al Khadr,
nowhere else. Musa is everywhere in the Quran,
but not this story. This is the only
place you'll find it. And Zul Qurnayn, the
only place he's talked about where his name
comes up in Surah Al Khabr. So that's
the uniqueness of the Surah. That's 4 stories
you find them nowhere else aside from the
Surah itself, and you have to read it
every week. And I think there's a message
there for all of us to, again, to
contemplate because, yeah, we don't what other Surah
do you have to read every week?
Right? What other Surah has that, culture or
that had tradition attached to it? Nothing. But
Surah Gharav does because it explains to you
the 4 things you need to have prosperity
as a nation and to avoid fitna. Surat
Mariam afterwards,
it talks about the importance of family in
terms of carrying this message. That the unit
through through which this message is going to
spread is the family. And it looks at
all these different types of families. It looks
like a, it looks at a father and
a son. It looks like a mother as
a son. And it looks like a mother,
a father, and a son. Yahia Zakaria and
his, and and and the and the mother.
Looks like a mother and her son, Mariam
and Asa. No father. It looks like a
father and a son, Ibrahim and his dad.
No mother. It look it looks at all
these different types of families.
The
basic unit
through which this message is going to spread
and going to prosper is going to be
the family. And families will come in different,
in in different flavors. Not the ones that
they're being for that they're being forced down
the throats of children and and the schools,
but in different flavors. And sometimes there will,
there'll be a divorce. So there'll be or
someone who is deceased. So There'll be there'll
be issues in families and there'll be separations.
But the family continues to be the unit.
And it's through making sure that this message
is handed down from one generation to the
other through families is how it's going to
continue to to survive. That's how it's always
been and that's how it will always be.
And the moment that stops being the case,
Islam will fizzle out.
It's not difficult to phase out a an
ideology.
You just have to make sure that it
stops becoming a part of the family tradition.
It's all you have to do. If you
wanna get rid of an ideology, any form
of thought or any idea, you just have
to phase it out of the family tradition.
Just remove it. Remove it. Don't you make
sure that that's why when you look at
Christianity today,
the rulings are still exist in their books.
It's just they're not really practiced because it's
been phased out of their of their family
traditions. It's not something that family holds on
to, at least not for the majority of
people who, Yani, who belong to these faiths.
Obviously, there are groups who still do that,
Yani. That's for sure. But the majority of
them don't have that because it was phased
out. The same for us, that is that's
why it's so important as Muslims that you
build your unit. You get married, you have
kids, and you make sure that you're under
you're they understand
and they are committed, to Islam more than
you are. That you make sure that they
turn out to be better Muslims than you
are. You give them what you have and
you make sure that you bring upon them
that which you didn't get when you were
younger. So that so that the baton continues
to not only be handed down from one
generation to the other, but it gets it
gets stronger. And the grip on it becomes
a little bit more firm. And that and
that's what Surah Al Nahyan is it's a
beautiful Surah, We love it. We all love
this is doing it. But that's what the
underlying message is. It's that family dynamic. It
gives you all these examples of families,
different different relationships within a family. It's through
that that Islam will continue to to exist.
And without that, it won't,
it'll fade out. And that's what the Surat
Mariam teaches us. That's why we love it.
It it reminds us of the beauty of
the family, the strength of the family, and
it is the unit through which this message
is going to be going to spread. And
that's why I love this cluster because it
just talks about the message from the it's
it's a little bit of a curve ball.
Yeah. In the midst of it, it sounds
like it's very you're carrying the message here
that the elements you're required to do it,
and then in the middle of it, family.
It's going to happen through family. It's going
to happen through these relationships.
The prophet
handed it down to his children,
and and they did that as well.
They handed it down to their children. They
made sure that their kids that when you
study hadith, by the way, you under you
understand this a little bit more. Sometimes if
you don't say hadith, you lose this piece.
It's funny. You're studying hadith to learn what
he's had to say
but we'll end up learning who their narrators
are. When you read who the narrators are,
you find that they're all
For example, you have, Amr ibn Shoaib.
Abdi Allah ibn Abra Abdul As. So you
study Amr ibn Shoaib as one of the
narrators.
Amr ibn Shoaib is just a name, and
then you find out he's the he's the
great grandson of Abdulah ibn Abdulah ibn Abdulah.
That's why he's that's why he's famous. Right?
You find the same thing. Mohammed ibn Qasim.
The
grandson of
and so on and so forth. You find
you find all these that these people handed
down the faith, and the people who narrated
the faith to us are people who descend
from these from these figures. And that's how
this works. It happens to families. And then
Surah Taha Surah
Taha,
it talks about the fact that this message
that you carry is not designed to make
you miserable.
It's a message that's not the point of
it is not for you to always be
persecuted and oppressed and unhappy. The message is
designed to bring you happiness, to bring you
satisfaction, to bring you serenity.
It's going to allow you to deal with
the difficulties in a way that is productive,
in a way that is meaningful. But it's
not designed for you to be upset.
Like, that's not why it's there. Allah's rulings
are not there so that you are always
tired and fatigued
and and everything is not working for you
because no. That's not that's not why the
Quran is there. That's not why his rulings
are there. They're for the opposite
reason. They're there to to bring you to
bring you happiness, to bring you clarity, to
bring the serenity, to bring you fulfillment.
Yeah. Whether things are easier or difficult, especially
when you're facing oppression or persecution, this faith
will grant you the ability to,
to prosper.
It will grant you the ability to be
successful. That's what it's there for. That's why
it begins.
We didn't give you the Quran so that
you're miserable for the rest of your life.
That's not why we sent this. And then
the Surah continues to explain that specifically through
the story of Musa alaihis salaam. That this
faith is designed to grant you success
and prosperity
and allow you to be fulfilled and satisfied
and accept and deal with difficulties as they
come to you in a way that is
meaningful and productive. And that's what this faith
is designed to do. And that's what Su'at
Taha basic talks about. So
we'll we'll start inshallah with, with some of
these verses. Let's go let me see here.
What what what do we have here?
Go and order the.
No. I'll I'll I'll I'll just take a
look here and I'll choose. Let's do let's
do, 28
of Sudhakar. I'll do it based on voting,
but I'll I'll just do it myself. 28
of Suratakah.
So we'll start
with this, with this beautiful verse in Surah
Al Kahr.
And hold yourself it's like
perseverance, obviously.
It means
hold yourself down on doing something that is
a little bit difficult to do. It's like
hold hold it hold hold on hold on
to it. As difficult as it may be,
persevere by holding on to doing this one
thing, holding yourself down to doing it. What
is it that I what you want supposed
to do?
This is this is the commentary on the
story of Ahl al Khaf. The commentary on
the story of Ahlqaaf, these young people who
didn't believe that they would have and they
did what they had to do. They did
the best they could do. They wrote down
their principles. They they planned things out. They
executed for a couple of years. They they
spread as much as possible, but they didn't
believe they could make a difference, and they
did. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala designed it so
that for them to see the difference they
could make and that goes for you as
well. So what is the first piece of
advice that he gives after the story? Hold
yourself down. Yeah?
With what?
In the companionship of those who supplicate their
lord.
In the morning and the evening. I mean,
people who are constantly in in the in
in the, the process of of supplicating and
speaking to their lord and invocating Allah
Their intentions is that they want his satisfaction.
They're not doing it for some other hidden
secondary gain or they have some other intention
that they want something self serving. No. They're
doing what they think of Allah.
And
may your eyes not wander away from them
at all.
Like, hold yourself down to the companionship of
people who are sincere and who love who
love their lord and work for him
and and and spread his message. And don't
let your eyes may your eyes never wander
away to see something else.
You want people who are a bit cooler,
a bit wealthier,
people who have more of in their hands.
It can offer you more
of Don't don't don't do that.
Well, don't follow in the
footsteps. Those whom we have made their hearts
in a state of indifference and oblivious of
the truth.
Has followed his whims and desires.
And their manner at the end
is going to be completely
disassociate.
It's going to be completely disconnected. There's gonna
be nothing. Yeah. There's no no substance to
what they did whatsoever. It's all gonna be
it'll be all over the place and be
meaningless.
This is timeless.
It doesn't matter where if you would have
to give a somewhere
and you don't know the people you're speaking
to, you can never go wrong with it.
Sometimes other verses you have to know your
audience,
know exactly who they are and what their
struggles are. If you don't, you can say
something that may not be relevant. This Aya
here,
it's it's it's timeless. Wherever you are, whoever
you're speaking to, this Aya is meaningful. This
Aya is meaningful.
Companionship, whether you're 5, 15,
50, or 85 makes no difference. You need
good companionship.
And Allah
is giving you this first piece of advice
after the story. If you find people,
who call upon their lord
day and night with sincerity,
then you hold yourself down to their companionship.
If they if they're boring,
even if they're not the most enjoyable people
to spend time with, even if you have
personal differences with them, even if you you
don't always get along with them, it doesn't
matter. Did you find people who love Allah
that way? Who call upon him? Who care
for him
sincerely they do, then you hold on.
You hold, you sit down. It's like if
you're in pain,
you sit there and just hold on. It's
it's painful. Even if it's painful, you do
that. And do not allow your eyes to
even for a moment get distracted.
Don't wander and see something else. And then
say, oh, that group, they're cooler. They're more
they're wealthier. They have more because
If you are doormants of this don't don't
don't don't allow that. Focus. You're lucky. You
found you found the jackpot.
You found people who love Allah
and sincere. They're gonna take you closer. You
you hold yourself down to that. Especially my
younger brothers and sisters who go to school.
Peer pressure in school is probably the worst
you'll see it. It doesn't go away though,
just just as an FYI. It doesn't it
doesn't actually go away when you get older.
When you're in high school, university, the workplace,
it's always there. It's always that urge to
be with the group that is more popular.
Rarely is the group that is more popular
better. Rarely. It happens every once in a
while. Actually, that's the that's the culture change
that we should be looking towards as Muslims.
That culture change where it's cool to be
a, a committed Muslim. It's it's cool to
be someone who comes and prays
and and and and refuses
haram.
It that's the culture change we should be
aiming for. We don't it doesn't always have
to be that the the the cool group,
the popular group at school are the ones
who are doing all the other stuff that
are wrong. It doesn't have to be like
that. It could be different. I've seen it
change before.
I I I've seen it. I was when
I was in university in medical school,
the smartest students, the most organized students were
the one the were the they were called
the.
I was in a tent. We used we
had to go, every, every year, we have
to go for a a month of, military
training. That's fun. You spend, 10 months in
medical school, and then for a full month,
you're, you're out some somewhere in the desert.
So I was in a tent with 8
people.
8 of them have fought, all of them.
Everyone in that tent, the tent beside us,
same thing. All 8 of us. I still
we're still in touch. There's someone. They're all
over the place now. One of them is
a, ICU physician over in Detroit that I
go visit every once in a while.
This would be
in the the coolest group. I wasn't cool,
but they they were. So I, like, I
was I was with them.
I benefited from from their
organized, intelligent, got really good marks, very well
put so it it can happen.
It's not I'm not saying it always does,
but it can. But if it isn't, in
your case, and it can be can you
like that? You've been in school and people
aren't also a bit enough sec to hold
yourself down with those who are good, those
who know how sincere intention to love their
lord, hold yourself with them. Don't get distracted
with your don't wander with your eyes to
those who are doing something different that you
know is wrong, but that seems a bit
cool. Don't don't waste your time.
It's just a little bit of dunya that's
going to follow off very quickly. Don't follow
the footsteps of those whose hearts are oblivious
to Allah. They follow their whims and desires,
and they have no substance to their life.
Don't follow them. Don't be like them. Don't
stick yourself with them. The biggest, yeah, the
most valuable thing that you're gonna find in
life is a good friend.
Honestly,
there's not there's not enough money on the
planet
that should ever,
allow you to consider losing a good friend.
When I say a good friend, someone who
brings you closer to Allah
Someone who have the same understanding of life,
you're working towards a goal of of of
of serving this for the sake of Allah,
and they are too, and you guys help
each other on the way. There is nothing
that is more valuable than that because it's
so rare. Allah is very rare. You have
no idea how rare is you're gonna find
this in your life. It's it's just a
it doesn't happen very often. So when you
run into it, it's, you just held that
that's the most valuable thing. Hold on to
it. That's what the idea is saying. Hold
on to it. Because, Yani, once you lose
it, you'll know. And if you lose someone
like that in your life, you'll know. You'll
look back and say that that was
a that was a that's a regret that
I would like to take back.
May Allah grant us good companionship inshallah in
our lives. Let's do aya number,
68 of 94 of Surakah. 94. Sorry. I
changed my mind.
94.
So in this very intriguing and beautiful story
in the Quran that I don't have enough
time to tell you the whole the details
of it, even though I think it's worth,
sharing at some point in the future, maybe
after the maybe the, post Fajr,
Sunday, Maybe I'll tell this story, Yani, but
the story
of the. So because because there's a lot
of difference of opinion who he is, historically,
Yani. And, I'm not gonna get into that.
But but this gentleman
who had who had an army. So this
gentleman at the end of the story, it
talks about the 4th element, which is power.
But he had all 4. Like, the focus
is on his power, but he had a
he had the proper idea. He was someone
who was pious. He had the knowledge as
he as as,
Yani, established in this in this verse here,
and he had he had the wealth. So
he had all 4. It's an example of
someone who had had everything was able to
do. So he came upon a people who
were very lost, who were weak and did
not have the ability to defend themselves from
another neighboring
tribes called
who continued to raid them and take their
wealth
and slaughter them and cause a lot of
pain.
So they told
they
they they spread corruption on earth.
Can we give you can we pay you?
So that you may put maybe a barrier
between us, a dam, or some form of
barrier that does not allow them to access
us. Now reading these stories,
there's a couple of reasons why I put
this amongst the, and I I I can
see why people voted it in. It tells
me things about.
We are obsessed.
Again, if you if you noticed this year
because we did voting, I I usually never
talk about,
issues of, of Armageddon and and the apocalypse
and all that. I never knew. But
I I put, like, maybe 7 verses in
the whole thing, and they all got voted
in as the highest number of people, because
they wanna hear about these things.
To me, it's a that that on its
own is a problem. This this ongoing obsession
about
the the the the prophecies of the of
the far future or the prophecies of the
end of time and our and and what
it does for us. I find that people
are spending way too much time,
thinking about this, talking about it, discussing it,
looking into it when when it's really not
that a bigger part of our deen. Yeah.
And
the Quran are talked about twice.
Here and at in at the end
of That's it. They're not talking about again.
There's very little details about them in the
Quran.
The that which is one of the signs
at the end of the days of judgment.
It's talking about the Quran once in Surat
Al Namin. That's it. Only once.
The return of Ace Al Islam is not
directly talked about it talked about at all.
There's one verse that could be understood
in
that that's what it means, but it's a
figure of speech, meaning it's an interpretation
of the verse. It's not actually the clear
meaning of the verse.
Which happens on the day of judgment is
talked about once. So you take these larger
occurrences
at the end of time, they are not
they what what space of the Quran do
they take?
Less than less than 1%.
Less way less than 1%. Altogether, 6 verses
maybe in the entirety and the totality of
the Quran.
That tells you something about the importance. However,
the commands and the message and the commitment
to that and the adherence to the laws,
and that is in abundance of the Quran.
The stories of the ambia in abundance in
the Quran.
So be careful getting obsessed with something that
the Quran did not give a lot of,
a lot of room for to begin with.
But, yeah, in
the Quran
are referred to as the symbol of chaos
at the end of time.
The chaos that will occur at the end
of time that will cause blood shed, that
will cause disruption of order, that will cause
war.
That's how they're symbolized. And that's what this
store this verse specifically points out.
They spread they spread corruption.
Whether they are a specific tribe,
Gog and Magog as as you find in
the old testament. Whether that's what is being
referred to here as one of the
descendants of Nuh alaihi salaam, or whether it's
just a symbol of people who are uncivilized,
who
will cause chaos on the day towards the
day of judgment. Most likely lack to their
poverty or lack to their lack of education
or lack for them for their accepting of
Allah
commands is unclear. But this is what the
we're we're told. At some point, there will
be chaos unless we prevent
it through spreading of this message through which
is why this is in Suratuka, through education,
through the through through social
equity and equality across the world, then at
at one point, chaos will break loose and
people will be harmed. And Dhul Qurnayn here
is protecting one group of people from the
transgressions of another group of people.
And that's what this story is teaching us.
That when you have when there's someone who
is successful, a Muslim, when they become when
Muslim becomes successful, and they have the right
idea and they have wealth and they have
knowledge and they have power, they will use
that to protect those who are oppressed from
those who are oppressing,
even if they are not Muslim. In this
story, these people aren't necessarily Muslim.
Read the story again when you go back
home today.
We have no evidence that these people specifically
are followers of of of of the truth.
They're just people who ask for help and
offered
them that help, regardless of whether they were
going to become a part of his of
his faith and creed or if they were
not.
And that's what Muslims do. And that's what
we're taught as Muslims to do. That whenever
you have power, that power will be utilized
for the well-being
of people on this planet to stop oppression,
to stop persecution, to stop
inequality.
And that's what this ayam, yani, is is
is talking about. Okay.
Let's do, ayam number
7 of Surat Maryam.
Or actually, 3 because it has more reports.
Let's do 3. That's alright. So I'm not,
be completely ignoring people.
3.
In the story of Zakariyah alaihi salaam.
Zakariyah alaihi salaam
was the
was the great priest or the great,
caretaker
of of Al Masih al Aqsa. And, of
course, he was a a prophet on his
on his own account. But he was the
caregiver of of.
And what he was worried about is that
there was he didn't see he didn't see
the next generation of people who are going
to do what he's doing.
It's a very common problem, and it's something
that, you know, we it's it's good for
us to contemplate. Because like I said, this
this faith is spread through families.
Families require youth. Without youth, there's no family.
There's no there's no sec sec you have
to have second generation. We're an that takes
pride in in our families, in the size
of our families, and the way that we
care for our families.
So did not have children. You and
his wife did not give birth.
And
his problem was that he was noticing that
he he was getting older
and he could not see the succession
of the caretaking of
of. He couldn't see it. Like, who's going
to take care of this after I go?
I don't see I don't see, the variety
of of young people who have the knowledge
and have the willingness, have the commitment to
do this. So he's getting very he's getting
very concerned.
And then he called upon Allah
secretively,
quietly.
It was something between him. It's like it's
it's like he had a specific concern that
he was he was a bit scared or
uncomfortable to say in front of people as
I am doing right now.
He said he he he was concerned about
it on his own accord be
and what he said was
I'm scared
of the succession of this after me. I
don't see how this is going to happen.
So he says,
So grant me from your mercy, from your
compassion,
grant me a an ally, someone who I
can give this to. He wasn't asking necessarily
for a son. He just wanted someone who
can pick it up. The he he he
can he can hand the baton to. When
he passes away, someone can continue to do
this. He was worried that who's going to
do it. It's the same worry that we
have as Muslims today. Who is going to
continue to carry this message? Who Who is
going to continue to spread it and hold
it and defend it and speak out for
it and care about its future and its
present? Who's going to do this? It's the
next generation. So if we don't have Mawali,
if we don't have people who are going
to allies who are gonna pick it up
after us, you get worried.
When you sit around and the messian is
empty and there's no children and there's no
Shabab, you should be worried. You should be
very worried. If you go to a message,
it's empty, there's no no children and no
youth, go to the knock on the door
of the this is very worrisome.
Where is your next where is where is
the group that's going to carry this when
you're dead?
Usually, the person who runs the board is
50 or 60. You're gonna be dead in
a couple of in a couple of years.
We all are. Who's going to carry this?
You have no one where's where's the succession
plan? Show me the Shabab.
A masjid that is not loud with children
is a masjid that is that that should
be very worried and concerned about their future.
If If they don't have them the people
inside, then they should be worried. Who's gonna
do this later? We're only here for a
short period of time. We're gonna lose you
want it quiet? Tell us, keep it quiet
throughout your life. And don't worry, it'll continue
to be quiet after you're dead too. It'll
be nice and quiet. It'll be very quiet,
library style quiet.
That's not how this works. Masaijid have always
been busy,
filled with life,
filled with youth, those who are going to
to carry the baton after us, Those who
are being trained and taught and educated
and empowered
and raised. And it takes it takes a
lot of work if you're going to take
a generation and allow them to grow and
allow them to learn the din and love
the din and have the knowledge to spread
it and have the
the clarity to practice it, you think that's
going to happen easily? You think 1 or
2 people are going to do it? The
whole community has to participate in this on
an ongoing basis to make sure it happens.
And Zakaria was the poor guy who was
running the show on his own and no
one cared during his time.
And he couldn't find a successor.
So quietly
Someone who can inherit this knowledge, inherit this
this cause
for from me and from the the the
descendants of Yaqub. Because Yaqub alaihi salam was
the, yeah, I mean, the the godfather of
of of of of the of the of
of this understanding of of carrying the taking
care of Masjid Al Aqsa.
So he's granted a son.
He was granted a son. He didn't know
he was gonna be a son. He didn't
necessarily want a son, but it was a
son for a reason of reminding that it's
through family. It's through family that this faith
will survive. It's through our families.
You have a you have a kid, you
have kids, you make sure that they are
better Muslims than you are. You spend whatever
time is required to teach them and educate
them. And You make sure that they understand
that their kids have to be better than
them.
And that they will tell their kids that
their kids have to be better than them,
and this has to be an ongoing process
that this baton is
handed down from one generation to the other.
Only getting stronger, only getting more getting more
committed.
Did that why are we where we are
right now? Because for a while that stopped
happening.
Many of you don't know what the life
was like, for Muslims in the seventies.
You don't know. Go ask your parents.
Ask them how Islam was practiced in the
seventies in the Middle East.
Ask them about the adherence to Islamic law.
Ask them. They won't answer you, by the
way. They they they won't they won't be
comfortable telling you how it was.
There was a time after colonialism where things
fell off and that family unit and carrying
Islam,
it
went through a a rough patch.
It's today better than it was then. I
can attest to that. I can attest that
today. It is better than it was 40
40 years ago or 50 years ago, easily.
It's 50 now.
We're getting older.
But it's far from where it needs to
be.
Alright. Let's do,
let's do 70 1. Mariam, 71. Yeah. If
you're okay with, taking a jump.
Found it? Okay.
With this very scary verse, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala tells us a piece of information that
is of extreme importance to all of us
to know. We all have to know this
and you have to know it well. He
says
meaning there is no one amongst you except
going to be in a specific position.
Means that all of you with no exception
are going to be in a specific situation.
What is the situation?
Means you're going to come
meaning the the when the camels, they come
to the water to the water,
to the pond. So what is when you
come to something is when you come to
something. Doesn't necessarily mean you enter it. No.
The the camels don't enter into the water.
They come to the pond. They don't actually
go into it. So is not entering to
a place. It's actually coming to its footsteps.
It's coming to its footsteps. That's what it
means in Arabic. And that's why it's used
to describe the presence or the coming of
of livestock to
a body of water, because they don't enter
into it, they just stand at the footsteps,
they drink, and then they leave. So
there is none amongst you except they are
going to come to the footsteps of it.
Of it.
Referring
Referring
to Jahannam. This
This upon your Lord has been a decree
that is distinct, that is decisive, that is
all across the board and there are no
exceptions to it. Everyone is going to come
to the footsteps of Jahannam. Why? Because that's
where the lies.
Because in order for you to make it
to
you have to cross over this barrier. It
is symbolic in nature, meaning you don't have
to
go to the gym and start
practicing,
you know, walking tight rope. Right? So so
that you're more skilled, Yom Kiyama, to get
over it. You don't have to go and
start, and have a some trainer train you
how to hold on to something and and
make your way across. No. The crossing over
is going to be symbolic. Meaning, it's going
to happen, but it's going to be based
on the path that you walked in dunya.
It's going to be that based on the
that you walked throughout this life and the
choices that you made throughout this life. So
some people,
they're going to come to it and then
they're on they're on the other side. They
blinked. They're on the other side. Some people
will be like a lightning bolt. Some people
will be like the wind. Some people will
be riding on horseback. It'll be they'll be
and some people will be running, and some
people will be walking and some people will
be crawling.
All of us, each and every one of
us
will come and stand in front of Jahannam.
We'll be there.
We're not from the people of that place.
But even if you get tonight, even if
Allah and I ask Allah to grant you
and myself
But if you get it tonight, it doesn't
mean that that moment is not going to
occur. You're going to come. You're gonna stand.
You're gonna see what would have been had
you chosen differently. You're going to see that
which you are be warned of, that maybe
you didn't take seriously.
You're going to see that which what Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala talked about and made sure
that he sent the Quran to tell you
that it's there. So be very careful. The
choices that you make may not take it
to Jannah, but it can take you there
and you don't wanna be there.
You'll be anywhere but not there and you'll
stand in front of it. And you have
to cross
upon a path that some scholar some hadith
referred to be being extremely
narrow,
not very inviting or welcoming. It's not easy
to navigate.
The at the end of it are the
gates of paradise.
At the end of it are and they're
open, and they're waiting for those who will
make it across.
But you have to make it across.
You have to ask him
so you walk it in this dunya so
you can cross
over it. Because if you fall in dunya
off this then you'll fall
of that one.
It
doesn't mean that people have to everyone no.
Not everyone's going to go to Jahanam.
No. But you have to cross.
And if you work really hard, you can
your crossing will be will be painless.
It will be just you're there and now
you're not there anymore. Oh, it's over. It's
over. Or it can be something different.
You have to crawl across.
Upon this are all these
hooks
and
and
and and now
all these
horrific this horrifically described things that will eat
into your flesh
And they're holding on and slowly just taking
one step at a time. They can't see
a thing. They'll ask the believers who are
soaring above them
with their light.
Wait.
Just just like these lines with. Can we
just see? We want we can't see. We
we don't know how far it is, but
they can't. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does not
grant them. Either you have light or you
don't. And if you don't have light yourself,
you don't get to use someone else's.
So they and they spend
an eternity
getting across this.
And just before they put their hands on
the other side, they fall.
That's what happens to.
Just be when they they made across
the yeah. The the the the depth of
the hellfire.
Watching and hearing and seeing and smelling and
the whole thing. It took them an eternity,
years upon years.
A millennium of of them they're trying to
and when they finally make it, just before
they put their hands on the safe side,
they fall.
Because that's what they did.
Here's Islam. Here.
Okay.
Sure. Later.
Later.
Here, you have it. You know you know
the language. You know the deen. You know
Muhammad alayhi salatu saying you're born into a
family. Here, take it. Yeah. Inshallah, maybe late
later. I I don't have time.
There are people who are not give given
this at all. They that's you were someone
was given it and they refused to take
it.
It was given to you time and time
again. You knew it. You knew about it.
You didn't follow it.
Alright.
Oh, we have no more time. No. Look
at that. So we'll,
We'll do, parts of Surataha inshallah. Tomorrow
Just hold on.