Adnan Rajeh – Seerah Halaqa #21
AI: Summary ©
The importance of learning and showing excellence in personal growth is emphasized, with persecution and embarrassment being highlighted. The need to be humble and arrogant is emphasized, along with avoiding distractions and wasting time in discussing deeds and setting priorities. The importance of understanding the Bible and avoiding distractions is also emphasized, along with persecution and embarrassment for showing weaknesses and weaknesses in certain language. The sadness of people who don't appreciate the Bible is also highlighted, including the feeling of loved and the sadness of people who don't appreciate the words.
AI: Summary ©
We we continue from where we left off
last week in the seerah of the prophet
alayhi salatu wasalam.
And we're in these, in a period called
the negotiation period, and this is
basically year
5, 6, and 7.
A lot of the things that occur within
the within
the 1st 13 years,
there's a lot of overlap. So I'll talk
to you about phases. The phases don't,
it's not a clean-cut transition. So, like, this
ends the start. No. Things were happening at
the same time, but I
divide them into these phases just so it's
easier for us to kinda understand what was
going on in the backgrounds because it's almost
important impossible for me to point out that
these things this this happened at the exact
same time as this. We don't know these.
We we still have that information.
We don't have that clarity. But we do
have the Quran, the Makdi Quran that explains
all of the topics that I'm sharing with
you. And we within a reasonable
range of time, I can tell you that
this
So the negotiation period is a very is
a is a very fun time,
time to kind of share these stories. Because
even though the prophet alaihi salatu wa sallam
is lacking numbers,
he's lacking support, he's lacking,
arms, he's lacking wealth, he's lacking status, he's
lacking a lot of things Alaihi Salam to
build yet they were coming to him and
compromising their own values.
If you can call what they had values.
But they were compromising whatever it is that
they had to try and negotiate something where
he didn't
basically
rip the fabric of their existence
from the roots,
which is what they were scared of. And
people who are bankrupt
intellectually, bankrupt from a from a from a
from an idea from an ideological perspective, I
mean, they don't have they don't have good
ideas,
they
are willing
to negotiate anything, just not
lose all that they have.
A good idea threatens a bad idea.
It threatens it in an existent existential
way. Right?
This is something that you should kinda think
about a little bit in your life.
Strong ideas
threaten bad ideas
to go extinct.
The bad ideas in in those who stand
by are scared that what they have will
completely go away.
Even though they may have a lot of
high buildings and huge armies and a lot
of tech and and and and wealth and
strength.
But if they're build if they built it
all on a bad idea,
one good idea,
will threaten the the extinction of all of
this, which is what what Qaysh was dealing
with. The fear of losing everything.
Of losing
absolutely everything because of what the prophet alaihi
sallahu alaihi wasalam brought. He brought the idea
of Islam and Islam was just superior to
any other thought process that existed at that
time. They didn't have anything to they they
didn't have anything.
And that was threatening their existence
as the leaders, as the power the first
the highest power within, within
any of the land.
It threatened their status. It threatened their relationships.
And today,
things aren't very different than they were back
then. It's still the same thing.
Islam is still
a power that others are scared of because
it threatens their existence.
Because their their ideas are so weak and
they're hollow. They're empty.
They're bankrupt
ethically and morally. So when Islam comes along
and it's clear and the clarity that it
brings and the ethical
high ground that it offers people and the
moral
ease that it brings to the hearts of
those who accept it, it threatens everything else.
And and people struggle. And they either ex
either they they submit to Allah
clear path, which is what we're supposed to
do, which is why we're Muslims. We submit
to Allah
clear path and his will, or
or you you fight back. And when you
fight back for your existence, you fight back
viciously.
When you push back for your own existence,
when you when you fear extinction,
you fight back back viciously, which is why
when you see how Muslims are treated across
the globe, it's so different than how every
other group
every other group on the planet when they
are mistreated or oppressed or
they just end up with way more support
globally. But then
if it's Muslims, it's a different it's a
different story to tell. It's a different story
to tell.
And the the amount of support is different.
And the way that the world just seems
to ignore it and act like it's not
there because
because there's this underlying fear
of what our thought process brings forward.
Now with that, I think it's important for
a few things to happen. First of all,
for Muslims to realize the strength that they
carry with between the the two covers of
that book
and what that means in terms of their
identity and their confidence. And number 2, a
piece of of what we should be doing
with with our dawah is bringing those around
us who don't have who don't follow it
some degree of ease.
Meaning, to help get rid of the fear
that there's nothing to fear here. This is
not coming to ruin your life and take
things away from you. It's here to give
you things that you didn't have. It's here
to grant you true strength and true
status and true closeness.
And I think that's an important piece that
maybe we, from our dawah perspective, need to
think about. And the prophet would tell them,
He would say that
you will be the kings of the Arabs
and and and and and and others.
Say it and you will become the power
to be reckoned with. So I think maybe
that's a part of our dawah that we
have to bring back. Let's say accepting this
ideology does not threaten your existence or threaten
your culture or threaten your no. It'll it'll
offer you nothing but strength and but but
in your life.
Something worth, contemplating.
During this period of negotiation, obviously, and I'll
and I do this every as we go
through the Mekki period, every time we go
from through from one period to the other,
I do a pause and I point out
that, things were happening during Al Arkam. The
prophet alayhis salatu throughout this whole time was
continuously
educating Muslims and bringing them into the into
the the house of Al Arkam. Before Al
Arkam, it was happening elsewhere in his home
in other people's homes. Once Al Arkam offered
his house, that became that became the the
center for the Muslims. And the prophet throughout
the period of persecution, throughout the period of
negotiation,
he continued to educate. He continued to treat
to teach, teach the Sahaba. And it's the
lessons that they learned with him
in Dar Al Arkam that lived with him
with them for the rest of their lives.
It's what allowed them to become who they
became. It's what allowed the Muslims to actually
the early Muslims in. And when you talk
about Ubakar and Omar
and Uthman Ali and Talhan Zubayr, you talk
about these individuals in Sadas, Saidin, Fatima, Khadija.
These individuals,
they sat with him
in that
an exclusive
group. And I don't like maybe the word
exclusive is not the correct one, but it
was a small group of teaching. Like, a
small teaching group. He didn't it wasn't he
wasn't talking to, yeah, any hundreds of people.
He was talking to
a couple of dozen
at a time.
And they had that closeness to him
and they had access to him. And they
got to learn early Islamic knowledge. The Quran
as it was being revealed to him
he was he was explaining it. They're memorizing
the Surahs and their understanding why the Surah
was revealed so they could live by the
teachings of the Surah, which is which is
one of the
main and major
differences in in in how we,
deal with the Quran. One of the, you
know, major differences between us and the is
that
they would receive the revelation from the prophet
will be very relevant
to what they were living in. So they
got the lesson immediately. They learned the ethical
or moral lesson right then and there and
they lived by what the teaching of the
of the Surah. So they memorized it and
they lived by it. We memorize it. The
living by it piece is, you know, and
is a hit or miss, honestly. It's hit
or miss. It may happen. It may never
happen. That has to be we have to
figure out ways to to to fix that.
So the was revealed to the prophet
within this period,
year number, 6 and 7.
He takes 11 oaths.
11 oath.
It's like if I came to you and
I said
and I stood there and I said it
11 times in a row.
And if you didn't know I was a
joker, you would and you you were forced
to take me seriously.
You'll be very, very concerned at the end
of it.
If someone is make takes one oath, then
you're interested to hear. If he takes it
2 or 3 times, you become, yeah, I
need mesmerized by what's coming next. Imagine if
someone does that and what walks away.
Just come up
to and then he walk away.
11 oaths.
He takes an oath by everything that he
created that you have no ability to change,
except one at the end,
except the last one. And then he attaches
all of these oaths to that last one.
He said
the one who purifies themselves
will be successful in this life and the
hereafter. And the one that does not purify
themselves and lets it leaves them leaves their
nafs to do whatever it wants and go
as as low as it wants to go.
They'll be very disappointed.
It's disappointment.
It's disappointment. Why? Because
you think you did well, but you didn't.
You didn't because most of your deeds were
not accepted
because all of your intentions were wrong.
Because all of the diseases of the heart
took over and nothing you did actually was
genuine or sincere or real. So none of
it counted.
So you're not gonna get anything for any
of it. Imagine
the disappointment in someone who actually spent their
life trying to do things but didn't take
time to actually look up their nafs and
make sure that they were doing it for
the right reason, in the right attitude, in
the right method.
The one who purifies themselves will be. He
took 11 oath to say this.
Never in the Quran do you have anything
even close.
The most is 5.
The most outside of this surah is 5.
This is more than twice the amount of
both.
I swear by the sun. And I swear
by the most bright moment of the sun
and the sun and the sky.
And I swear
by the moon and I swear by this
the day and I swear by the night
and I swear by the cosmos and I
swear by everything that went into creating it.
And I swear by the earth and everything
that went into creating it. And I swear
by the nafs and everything that went into
creating it.
The ones who purify themselves will be successful.
And those who let who don't will be
disappointed.
And this was a this is the yeah.
This was a big deal.
They had heard this before. They got they
had they had heard
before. The ones who who take the time
to focus on purity,
on on the the health of their hearts
will be will will do well. But this
is this will, like, change things.
This is what I made it very clear.
This is what you're going to be evaluated
according to.
This is what this is the standard you're
gonna be held to,
and and that changed how they view things.
The Sahaba lived differently after they listened to
this. And the prophet explained
things differently, and the focus was very different.
The focus was on the state status of
the heart. The focus was on how they
viewed themselves, what perspectives they carried, the attitudes
that they had, how they viewed other people,
the intentions that were on the inside. They
took interest in these things. It wasn't enough
just to do the deed. You had to
make sure you were doing it with the
right degree of excellence that comes from within.
So this turned the interest of these individuals
inwards a little bit to focus on themselves
and and improving who they were.
And this is a big part of Islam.
The concept of tazgiyah, which is one of
the three pillars,
this is established obviously heavily throughout the Quran.
It's not this is the the only ayah
or Surah that talks about it. The Quran
talks about this heavily. But the prophet alaihis
salatu wa sallam when he had the the
famous hadith
when, in early Madinah
days when Jibreel came to him in the
form of a man and he sat with
him. You know, the hadith of Jibreel that
you know when he put his his knees,
he stuck his knees to the knees of
the prophet alaihis salatu wa sallam, put his
hands on the prophet
thighs and asked him what is Islam.
He asked him what is iman. He also
asked him what is Islam.
Islam is built on 33
pillars.
We call the
the 5 pillars. It's just a,
a a a a a figure of speech.
Like, the prophet alaihi sallam never called them
that. It's just that's how we we interpret,
which is fine. So it's a very reasonable
interpretation. But these are the pillars or these
are the this is what Islam as in
the practice of Islam is built upon, the
practice. But then aside from the practice,
the things that you do, you have the
theology
to believe
And that piece of what is iman. So
you have to know who Allah is. You
have to understand.
You have to understand the prophets. You have
to accept their books. You have to accept
their this is a theology piece. But there's
a 3rd piece.
There is an equal third piece.
It's equal.
It didn't come in and then later no.
He he asked him 3 questions before he
asked him what and
all the other stuff. But Islam is 3
things.
There's the practice, there's the theology behind it,
and then there is a spiritual aspect of
it. The Balkan, the Hasan,
the peace where under you understand that everything
that you do, there's an inner peace to
it. Everything that you do. Whatever it is
that you do, there's an inner peace to
it that you have to take as much
care of as you take care of the
external piece. Just like you perfect your wudu
and you study fiqh, you learn, you teach
fiqh here. Every semester there's a fiqh here,
of course being taught in some madhub. So
you can learn how to make your wudu
and how to perform your salah appropriately, how
to give your zakah. But equally to that,
equally to that, equally to aqidu, which is
understanding who Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is and
why it is that there's the issue of
tazkiyah.
There's the issue of understanding why you're doing
it, and what status of mind and heart
you have to be in when you do
it in order for what you do to
be accepted.
So it's accepted.
What if it's not accepted?
Does that not bother you or worry you
at all? And if it doesn't, you understand
how
foolish that is for you not to worry
about acceptance when nothing you do in this
life will ever be guaranteed to be accepted?
Nothing. Think about this. You're going to live
a long life. You're going to do a
lot of good deeds. None of them are
guaranteed acceptance. Not one.
Not one. There's no way for you to
guarantee. You can have signs, but no guarantee
ever. So how do you know?
If this is not concerning to you, then
you haven't thought this through very well. You
haven't thought about this yet. If it's not
something concerning to you, well, how do you
make sure that they're accepted? You have to
make sure you do them the way the
prophet did
them. And that's learning tahq. So we follow
the
the the Quran and the sunnah. But then
there's also doing it
internally the way the prophet
would want did it.
And how Allah internally wants you to do
it. What are you thinking of? How are
you feeling about it? What is your intention?
Are you humble when you do it? Are
you arrogant? Are you vain? Are you ostentatious?
Are you envious? Are you indifferent? Are you
greedy? Are you lazy? Are you hateful? Are
you
what what is it? What's going on on
the inside? How do you see people? How
do you see yourself?
It's a big deal.
It's a big deal. Our deen
gives this a third of the focus.
Islam is 3 thirds. One third is the
practice. One third is theology. And 1 third
one third
of Islam
is understanding
the,
understanding the heart, understanding the nafs and what
to do and how to deal with what
you feel and what you think
and to make sure that what you're doing
is done with excellence the way Allah wants
it to be done.
There are so many narrations from the
in the Quran
that talk about people who come and what
they what they did is not accepted and
is thrown back at them and is given
back. Keep it.
Keep it. We don't want it.
I did it. I did what you yeah.
I know. I don't want it.
It never benefited me to begin with. You
didn't do it the way I want you
to do it, so keep it. Keep your
salah. Keep it. Yours.
Tells
us,
Some people, their salah, will be presented to
them on the day of judgment when they're
as
a well
washed, ironed piece of clothing
for them to cover themselves and to wear
with beauty. Others, it will be scuffed up
and and and and dirty and thrown in
their faces.
They'll take it back. Take it back. We
don't we don't want it.
You know, people in Yom Kippur will come
and find a lot of deeds in their
scale, but it's not the the scale is
sitting
up there,
not moving.
The scale of is
is is situated downwards with a couple of
or whatever the number is. And the scale
of is filling up but it's just sitting
up there.
It's sitting on top
because they're empty. Because the deeds, they're empty.
They have no weight. Because there's there was
nothing inside. Yes. It was a skeleton. You
stood there. You did the movements but there's
nothing inside. It was it was it was
meaningless. It was completely empty. So you'll have
the deed but it's empty. There's no weight.
You blow our hand, it goes flying. There's
nothing.
Did I tell you about the biggest losers
of the day of judgment?
The ones who ended up deviating in their
life and they thought they were doing well.
They thought they were doing well but they'll
be disappointed because they were. And they didn't
take time to learn what they had to
learn. And they didn't focus on the aspect
of their deeds that they had to focus
on, which is why this surah was revealed
during this time. It was revealed during the
midst of persecution and difficulty. It didn't come
later on as a luxury.
Didn't come later on as a luxury. Here,
talk about your Surah al Shams will come
at the end of the life after you've,
persevered and after the persecution is over. Now
that you have a country and you're safe,
we can focus on the internal peace. No.
It came the midst of persecution.
In the midst of difficulty and oppression, you're
going to learn to fix what's going on
on the inside because it doesn't matter. It's
not a luxury. It's an essential.
It's an essential aspect of being a being
a Muslim.
Talked about priorities
and we've talked about this before.
You're going to be distracted. You have to
make sure you have your priorities
set appropriately.
Because if you don't have them set right
and if you if you're distracted by things
that are less important, from things that are
more important, like I was talking today in
Jumuah, if you're focused on stuff that don't
matter,
things that right now we don't we shouldn't
be talking about, we shouldn't be arguing about,
we shouldn't be wasting time discussing in our
community because we don't have the luxury to
talk about any of these things. We should
be focused on the problems that are on
hand. We're
held accountable.
What you were arguing? What were you arguing?
Some thing that you didn't agree with another
person about? Some
in tertiary or tertiary that,
that has more than one opinion that you
don't like one of the opinions. When when
you have a community of people when when
our community is has an has an a
pandemic
of drug use,
you know, of, of of people dropping out
of schools, of violence. We have we have
we have
that are being dying under we're talking about
you don't have time to talk about this.
Leave this for later. You see, when Abu
Hanifa and Imam Malik would sit down and
they would
they would discuss issues
of, they had a, it was a different,
it was a different time.
The kirafa was established and
Muslims had dignity and integrity. They were protected.
They had that that intellectual luxury, the academic
luxury to sit down and discuss
details of. We don't want to.
Good Quraysh.
Shame on you for taking something. Oh, shame
on you for taking something for for for
for granted.
Shame on you for taking what we gave
you for granted.
You will sleep.
You you you have these 2,
caravans in the in the summer and the
winter.
North and south and you're well taken care
of people around you don't have as much
wealth and you take it for granted. Shame
on you.
You should not do that. And this, this
surah just remove Quraysh and add add add
your
name. Put your name instead.
Shame on you for taking for granted what
we gave you. You lacked you lacked
gratitude.
Go back to the one who gave you
what what it is that you have and
serve him appropriately.
The one who gave you the basics. You
don't need to be thankful for I I
to be thankful, you don't need a lot.
Are you hungry? Are you starving? You can't
find food?
Are you scared for your life? No. I
have enough food and not scared for my
life. Then you have plenty to be thankful
for. You have plenty to be thankful for.
You don't need to sit down and try
to figure something out to be thankful for.
You you already have way more than what
you need to be thankful and to be
grateful and to and to serve.
Once you're living in a position where you're
scared for your life because you're in a
war zone and you're starving,
then maybe maybe we'll let we'll let it
slide. Maybe Allah that that point will let
it slide if you don't, do exactly what
you should be doing.
Reminding the people of,
reminding the Muslims that Allah Subhanahu Wa'ala does
whatever he wants, whenever he wants. Don't be
preoccupied by why why Allah didn't do this
or why why Allah does that. Be preoccupied
with your role.
He took out, an army with elephants with
a few birds. He can do whatever he
wants. Anytime he says. Any anytime he will
Easy. I don't tell like, hey, but do
you not see how he did?
And he took him out in a moment.
So why are you preoccupied? Why God doesn't
do this and why isn't it? That's rude.
Don't you're not we're not here to judge
god. We are here for Allah to judge
us. Do your part. Do your part. He
can change things anytime he wants. Do your
part. That's what you're here for.
Human harm.
This is the this is the,
the surah that talks about human harm. It
makes it very easy, especially for my younger
brothers and sisters. I want you to know
this surah well.
Is a word that means I warn of
severe punishment. That's what it means.
For for
every.
It's unseen,
unheard mockery.
And that's what hamz and lamz is. One
is with the eyes, another one the other
one's with the tongue.
Hamz and lamz is when you make fun
of someone without them knowing about it, so
they never got upset with it because they
didn't know it happened.
If someone walking through the room, I look
at my brother here
and he and I just
exchange a smirk
because he looks goofy.
He looked goofy. So we looked at each
other and we laughed. We didn't say anything.
He didn't even notice. He was so goofy
he didn't even notice. He walked in, didn't
even see us doing it. And he and
I just ex exchanged a moment.
I gave him a little bit of an
elbow.
That's
it.
I warrant of severe punishment for someone who
does something like that. Didn't do anything.
The the guy
wasn't offended because he didn't even feel it,
didn't even see it, didn't affect him. Just
a moment that you and I had quick
just a smile. You understood.
We understood why we were smiling to one
another.
Something someone did say. They didn't even know
about it. And we meant to mock them.
I mean, the goal and we should have
close friends and, you know, you roast your
friends. That's different, by the way. I'm not
talking about
and if you have a close friend and
this is the nature of your relationship and
you guys are always kind of joking around.
I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about
actual mockery.
And this happens in schools a lot, and
it happens in workplace
Imagine that's the standard.
An act
where you didn't actually say anything.
Didn't even say anything. Didn't do anything. The
person didn't even know about it. They weren't
hurt by it.
And yet that level of harm,
What's gonna happen?
They're gonna be thrown into a part of
called. From
or something could be destroyed
from the destroyer.
Do you know what is in is a
rhetorical question? Because no, we don't.
The kindled fire of Allah.
The fire that goes after the consciousness.
Not after the skin.
Not after the the flesh and the bone
which is what fire usually burns. No. This
one goes after the consciousness.
Because when you mock someone at that level,
it doesn't hurt their bodies. It hurt their
feelings.
It hurts their feelings. Right? But you didn't
believe it's just a moment of mockery.
It didn't hurt their flesh. It didn't hurt
their pockets. Didn't take it just hurt their
feelings. But if they if they found out
about it, it didn't hurt their feelings. So
the the punishment of the day of judgement
is a is a place in Jahannam that
the fire goes after an afida, the consciousness,
the place where you feel.
Because no degree of human harm this is
the red line.
Do not harm people. Do not harm people.
And if you do,
I'll make it easier for you.
I don't know. You have a question for
me? How do I I don't know. What
should I I don't know.
Can I get I don't know?
Once you harm people, you're on your own.
How do I get rid of this shit?
How do I fix it? How do I
repent? I don't know. I don't know. Good
luck.
Good luck. When you when you when you
disobey Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I can give
you answers. Easy. I can tell you, repent
like this, you go like that, Allah
will be forgiven. You harm someone else, people
are not go for Rahim.
People are not forgiving and they're not merciful.
And people are very difficult to get to
yeah, honey, to to forgive you for a
mistake. You have to figure out a way
to make the person that you harmed forgive
you. And figure it out a way to
make up to them what it is that
you did to them. Find a way that
for Allah to
be so pleased with you that he helps
you get the other person satisfied.
Or else you'll pay with your hasanat, which
is more
valuable than your blood.
You'll pay with hasanat
because you harm someone. Because you didn't understand
that this line, you don't cross that line.
The prophet
says this, the hadith Muslim, he said, Who's
the bankrupt?
And they said,
The one who has no dirham or dinar.
No no money. He said, many mufilis. He
asked again another group. They say, someone
has no money. No. No. He asked again
the same question. Same answer.
He counts all 4.
He counts all the 4.
He counts them all. You come. You you
have prayer. And you have you paid your
zakah. And you did your and
you performed your Hajj.
He comes
and he hit this person. And he cursed
out this person. And he took the wealth
of that person. And he demeaned and was
arrogant towards this person. And he belittled this
person. He took away the integrity of another
person.
And they all
come standing in line taking from their taking
from their until he has no
left. And then they when there's no left
and there's no exchange, then the exchanges instead
of taking his here's
our and then he after they throw their
That's
why Allah protect us.
Forget about hitting people or oppressing people or
murdering people.
Just a wink
or a smile.
A way that they would not
approve.
In a way that they wouldn't approve. If
they if they agree if they witness that
they wouldn't approve it, it would have would
have hurt their feelings. They wouldn't like it.
These are the lessons, the Sahaba we're learning
in the midst of this timing. I am
trying to tell you these lessons in the
midst of these stories so you understand.
Just because the were being persecuted and they
were hungry and they were poor and they
were tired, they were not given
a free ticket to behave in whatever way
they wanted. They weren't given,
Yani. They weren't cut slack saying, oh, you
guys are having a hard time. It's okay
if your ethics aren't great. It's okay if
your salawat aren't great. No. You're going to
understand that without tazkiyah, everything you do is
rejected. You're going to understand that if you
harm someone even the slightest amount, then you're
going to be punished, Yomul Qiyamah.
In the midst of being persecuted, these verses
did not wait until they were in a
good position where maybe you think is the
right way to do it.
You're you're tired right now. It's hard for
me? Okay. I'll wait. I'll teach you how
to behave and how to think once you're
doing better. Once you have more no. No.
Now You're gonna do this now. You're going
to improve now. But I we are poor
you Rasool Allah. And we are tired and
people are oppressing us and transgressing against us
and treason and discriminating against us. That doesn't
matter. You're still going to take time and
fix your heart. But you're also a lie.
Can't even doesn't matter.
You're telling me not to harm someone with
the movement of my eye
and others are taking away our homes
and they are kicking us out and they
are enslaving us and they are murdering us
and you're telling us we shouldn't we shouldn't
mock someone even with the movement of our
eye.
Why
Because this is what Islam is about. I'm
not talking to them. They're not Muslim. They
could they'll do whatever they're going to do
and they'll be Allah
will hold them accountable in the way that
he sees fit. You accept
the come here now and learn. This is
how you're going to live.
This is how you're going to behave. The
standard we hold ourselves to as Muslims is
not the same standard that others hold themselves
to. Don't expect them to be. Don't expect
a non Muslim to hold themselves to the
same standard. And don't ask me to point
out their mistakes. I don't speak to them.
I don't sit here or stand on that
member to speak to them on Muslim people
and how they should behave. No. That's not
my job. They don't even listen to me.
They're not Muslim. They don't care about what
I have to say. You do. You're here.
You said
You listen and you have to improve. And
don't tell me, well, they don't do that.
They are all savages. They don't care. They
Yani, they mistreat and they oppress. I don't
care what they do. They're not you're Muslim
and you don't do that. You can't say,
well, yeah. They're doing it so I no.
No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.
No. No. No. No. Never. Never does the
behavior of someone else
rationalize or or or or make the be
make the reciprocal
behavior acceptable.
Never.
It never has it. It never will.
You mistreat me? That does not give me
a, a free a free card to mistreat
you back. No.
You mistreated me. That's your ethical
compass. That's your moral compass. That's your
ethical code. Then I will going to treat
you with the way
in the way that expresses my values. Right?
The story of I
love it. I always tell it.
I think it's just really beautiful.
Or I was walking with one of his
apostles.
I like this story because I don't have
a lot of stories
about the Quran, so it's nice to hear
1 or 2 of them. He was walking
with his one of his apostles.
Jesus.
And the, person and they were walking, and
a person from far starts to call upon
Ace Alaihi Salam, start to call upon him
in bad names using bad words, calling him
a.
Right? Calling calling out his mother, calling out
people that, if saying horrible things to
and
would turn to him and say
he started to make du offering. May Allah
bless you and grant So the apostle
says, oh,
or oh spirit of Allah.
The word of Allah.
Maybe you didn't hear what he was saying.
He wasn't, he wasn't giving salaams and saying
that. He was like he was like cursing
you out. Maybe you just misheard.
No. I heard.
Everyone produces that which they have on the
inside.
Everyone produces that which they have on the
inside. That's what they have on the inside.
This is what I have on my mind.
Mine. Why would I reciprocate?
Why? Don't be dragged into the mud by
someone who lacks
harm that you perform your you'll be held
accountable for. Even if someone else oppressed you
all your life, but you don't think they're
gonna be held accountable? They'll be held accountable.
Being oppressed and being mistreated does not mean
that you you're allowed to go and oppress
and mistreat. That somehow you'll be forgiven for
that. No. They'll be held accountable as well.
The prophet alaihis salatu wa sallam, he makes
a an initiative. Right? All these all these
negotiation all these negotiation period, they would come
to him with an offer, a compromise. Here,
take this, give us this. How about you?
And he said no to he shot them
all down. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Why? Because I'm not compromising anything about my
deen. Here's I do accept it as it
is or you leave it. So they got
very frustrated. So the prophet
he made an initiative. He said something. He
sat he stood in the in front of
the Kaaba and he and he said this,
He said I was once I attended once
a treaty. And this treaty we talked about
many months ago. We were talking about his,
his his young early years
when he learned the art of peace. He
attempt he he
attended a treaty in the house of This
is before Islam. Where they got in, they
said that they will not allow to happen
in Mecca. Like all of this the powerful,
the nobles of Mecca, they they they gathered
and they said no will occur in Mecca.
No one will be oppressed. Anyone who's oppressed,
we will go to the oppressor. We will
take away the haqq of that oppressed and
no one everyone will be treated fairly equally.
And he was there
for that and he shook on it. And
of course they broke that treaty later on.
So he said,
I once attended this beautiful hilf back in
Jahiliya with Abdullah bin Jar'an.
In the hilf,
we become better neighbors to one another and
we treat each other more, civilly as family.
We treat each other better better. They want
if I were to be called to something
like that, I would go. If Quraysh will
come and agree to something like that, where
we're you're not persecuting people, We're not transgress
you're not harming Muslims. You're not harming individuals.
You show people respect. I will come and
I'll shake my I'll shake on that. Again,
as we did before. And and they said
and and they they didn't want that. Because
that's not what Quraish wants. Quraish, again, like
I told you, Quraish is scared of.
The idea is way too strong.
It's going to crumble their world.
If the they can't accept it as it
is, they have to negotiate or compromise something
of it to keep some integrity for themselves.
So anything that allows the prophet to
speak openly,
allows people to accept accept Islam freely is
not something they're interested
in. So they refused. But he offered to
us
some form
of
so he went back to persecution.
The focus in this period
became on women.
These names up there, if you can go
look them up, and they're great ladies.
Many of them were enslaved. Some of them
found their freedom later and some of them
did not.
And all of them were ladies who were
enslaved before Islam, who kept in Islam, and
were mistreated and persecuted by their owners, by
their masters. Some of them made themselves with
their way out and lived for years later,
And some of them did
not. The story is that,
was
was hit so hard by Abu Jahal that
she lost her eyesight.
And she went
blind. Some narrations point out that it was
temporary blindness. There she was blind for a
couple of years and the prophet
made dua and the barakah of his dua
alaihi sallam she saw again.
And they thought she was dead and he
and they almost buried her before she woke
up. Same thing. These stories for all these
ladies. The focus became on women. And because
the focus became on women, the prophet
started thinking of a different
started thinking about a solution.
He started thinking, okay, we have to figure
we have to figure something out. This is
not this is not
it's not healthy anymore. Because he couldn't he
couldn't depend them
He didn't have some. Men and you can
if a a lot of these ladies were
weak. They couldn't they couldn't do anything about
it. They had to and and some of
them were were being
killed. Continue to be persecuted to the same
degree. And it always it always start to
cut down a little bit when
when
when he bought him out of of,
of slavery and he freed him.
There was no one who had better clothing
or who looked more luxurious
than
You'll be a few few blocks away and
you can scent you can smell his fragrance.
He didn't wear any local clothing.
Did not wear local clothing. Everything he wore
was was imported.
It was all from the from Yemen. Even
the fragrance. He was very very rich. His
mother was a rich lady. He accepted Islam
So she put him
he tied him, with,
with chains
in his room. And for 3 years, he
was not able to leave and see the
prophet
He was taught the Quran from the window
in his room.
The sahab would come and recite him the
Quran from the window in his room. And
for 3 years, he was not able to
actually go see the prophet
during this period
and never said a word.
He never once said one bad word to
his mother. This part of the persecution has
a has a theme.
I it's not it's not a theme that
I,
patched up. It's just a theme that exists
in the books of Siva. Whether I like
it or not, these are the stories that
come in this period and all the stories
have a have a have a common thread.
Musa was was persecuted by his own mother.
For 3 years, she would not let him
out.
Until he finally and he waited. And he
did not
He refused to go against his mother's will.
He could have broken out out out out
the chains, but he didn't. He wanted to
stay hoping that his mother would accept Islam.
And by after 3 years of being deprived
of being with the prophet alaihis salatu wa
sama, he broke loose. And he left
Literally broke. He had nothing but whatever clothing
he had left because she took away even
his clothing. He sent him in a bag.
And the Sahaba had to give him something
to wear. He was wearing clothing of Arab.
He he would he would be clothed like
the Bedouins, you know, very very low socioeconomic
status. And he would stay like that
by the way, all his life. Like, things
never got better for him. This is an
important piece I want to I want you
to think about this.
Sometimes you sacrifice for the sake of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. You do something do something
beautiful for the sake of Allah. You give
up something that you like. You're deprived something
that you want.
Make sure that in your mind, you are
not allowing yourself to say,
I did this, now I expect Allah subhanahu
to give me something in return in duniya.
That I expect something in return in duniya.
That that can put you at risk.
That can put you at risk.
Allah
will 100% give you something for what you
took what was taken away from you.
But sometimes you're going to get it.
You have to be okay with that. You
have to be okay with the fact that
what was taken from you in dunya, you
may not go get something back
for it within
He lost everything for the sake of Allah.
He lost everything. He lost
all that he owned. He was he went
from being one of the richest people
As we'll continue the story, he's gonna be
sent to Medina to represent the prophet alayhis
salatu wa sama. He's going to be the
reason that the people of Medina accept Islam
altogether.
And still,
he lived a life of of poverty.
And he died that way, young, with nothing.
They couldn't cover him when he died. They
couldn't cover him. He didn't own a piece
of clothing big enough to cover his head
and his feet at the same time.
So if you offer something for the sake
of Allah if you offer something for the
sake of Allah, be okay with the fact
that you will be paid back most likely
That
should be okay with. And if it isn't,
then then rethink it.
For your own sake. For your own for
your own well-being.
Because if you give something, like, I expect
now the red carpet, please.
I gave up all of this for you.
I want the
I want something for it. I want the
red carpet to be rolled in front of
me. Nah. Doesn't work that way.
Sometimes Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will give you
an and sometimes you will
sometimes you'll be waiting for you.
One of the early Muslims.
He came to the prophet, alayhis salaam. Some
narrations say he was like the 4th or
5th Muslim. That's how early
was.
He is,
Amr ibn al-'Al's nephew.
Right? He's he's his his his nephew.
You don't worship aside from Allah or serve
aside from Allah, a rock or an idol
that here is nothing, That can do
nothing. That offers no harm nor benefit.
And his father found
out. So his father kicked him out of
the house.
And after he kicked him out of the
house, he sent behind him or his grandfather.
Sent after him all of the family and
they brought him. And they beat him.
His his grandfather beat him with a a
stick until he broke the stick on his
head.
He he called him a name and he
told him that I will I will make
sure that you will never have wealth again.
That not only will I not give you
anything from my own, I will make sure
no one in all of Quraysh ever hires
you anything, that you can stay poor for
the rest of your life.
So the provider is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He didn't say a word to his father
nor his grandfather
Another example,
same thing.
Accepted
Islam
and his mother was a very wealthy lady.
So she had her servants take him, tie
him up,
and put him on a donkey set seated
backwards and walk around Mecca as they hit
him and demanded that he perform shirk.
And he is sitting there quietly,
And in the narration, he see that they've
been to find this in the one of
the books of
And his mother is doing this to him.
Why are you sitting there quietly? Why is
he not responding to what she is saying?
Because he would walk behind him and she
would throw stones at him and she would,
you know, he curse him and and he
would sit there.
His faith does not allow him to say
anything to his mother.
The esteem of of,
Muslims who are oppressed by their parents.
This is this is this is commonly found
in the early times of the prophet
life.
Muslims who accept people accepted Islam then were
oppressed by their parents.
By his mother. Musaad by his mother.
By his father and grandfather.
They're oppressed by their parents.
Think about how blessed we all are. If
you become a good Muslim, that's how your
parents will be happy with you. Like the
more the better Muslim you are, the more
pleased with you your parents are going to
be. The higher they'll hold you in higher
regards, the better Muslim you are. Imagine if
it was the opposite. Imagine if you were
trying to come to a masjid and they
were they were actively working against you. And
they were coming after you and pulling you
out by the hair and forcing you to
stay at home and taking away your allowance
and kicking you out of the house for
being Muslim.
There are people in this community who actually
have that problem.
I have brothers and sisters who come and
convert and they have this problem.
Where they want to come to the masjid
to learn and to benefit and their and
their parents will take that away from them.
I have to tell them the stories of
these individuals.
I tell them just like the Sahaba before
you persevere.
And continue to be their best companion in
this life.
Till the best of your ability.
If they force you to leave your faith
or perform shaydah, then don't listen.
Don't listen to that peace. That peace don't
change your faith for it. But continue to
be the best son and the best daughter
that you can be be for them.
Even though when they oppress you and they
take away your rights to do things.
Not an open invitation for abuse, by the
way. That's not what I'm saying. But I'm
trying to emphasize for my younger brothers and
sisters the importance of
The importance of this part of the deen.
Being being of showing excellence with your parents.
Showing excellence with your parents.
Now for us to be fair,
I have to talk about this both ways.
And I will. There's an example coming up
in Seattle where I'll talk about it both
ways.
Where we talk about what the rights are
of the parents upon you. What your independent
rights are as well as a as a
human being. We talk about to the parents.
We're not talking about peep your parents choosing
for you your profession.
Choosing for you where you live. Choosing for
you that's not what they're this is this
is that's not what Deir el Bediq is
about. And as a parent, don't leverage that.
Don't leverage such things by saying, I'm going
to choose this person for you to marry.
If you don't marry them, I'll
I'll be able to no. That's not that's
not acceptable. For a parent to say that,
you can you can obviously yeah. I need
to encourage them to see someone that you
think is reasonable. That's fine. But to use
the this card of
on their personal choices in life, that's not
what is. You you basically cheapen
when you do that to your child. You
make it hard for someone like me to
explain to them the importance of actually continuing
to to be to show to the parents
because you're using something you're you're using the
card where it's not you're misusing it. You're
abusing this card of Bil Walidayn ihsan.
And as a parent, let me just point
something out to you. It's not healthy for
you to use that card ever.
Is something that you should use upon yourself
in relate in regarding your relationship with your
parents.
Don't use it on your kids. No. Let
us do that. Let someone like me remind
your children of the importance
of But don't don't use that card. It's
cheap.
To use the deen
in a selfish
way for for your own benefit. It's not
it's not healthy. Don't do it. It doesn't
look it's not a good look. Just for
your own sake. Kids don't like it. Kids
actually, they they lose respect
for the demon and for what you have
to say when you use that card. So
I'm just saying.
And I've been doing this for a long
time with with younger people so I I
I would like to believe that I know
what I'm talking about regarding this. Don't don't
use it.
I I look at my younger brother and
say that you you respect your parents. They
look at a parent and I say also
respect your parents.
That's that's what we all have to do.
We all have to show our parents the
excellence that we have.
You owe your parents. You owe your parents
the comfort that they need that is personal.
You owe to make sure if they are
hungry, then you must feed them.
If they are poor, you must give them
from your wealth.
If they are sick, you must attend to
their disease. If they are lonely, you must
comfort them with your presence.
That's what the means. You are there for
them personally. To take care of them personally.
To the to the extent that you can.
To the extent that you're able. No one's
telling people Islam does not tell you to
lose your job or ruin your marriage to
do this. No. But you offer all that
you can offer.
Is not regarding oh, you're not allowed to
go and live somewhere. You're you found a
job somewhere and you no. No. You can
you can wherever
your takes you, you go. And then to
the best of your ability, wherever you are,
you make sure you show a bit of
a while to your parents from from where
you are.
This was happening in the Sahaba.
Is being paraded around Mecca,
called names, humiliated, and is telling him is
telling him
telling him. You have to be you have
to live to the standard. But look at
me. I'm I'm I'm handcuffed on a donkey
being being ridiculed by my own mother. It's
okay.
It's a phase. It'll it'll end. Well, how
would see better days?
You'll see better days. He's
he's talked about till this day.
People named their killed children after him.
He saw better days afterwards.
But this was the persecution that he was
going through in the Sahaba were going through.
Was was persecuted to the point
where he and he he was commanded
to say
something.
He he would be told, you know, curse
Mohammed.
Claim associates with Allah.
Praise the or
the difference
and he wouldn't
but then they would beat him so
hard that he would he would tell him,
say some say this so he would say
it. And once they would say it, they
would leave him.
They let him go. And of course, he
he saw his mother being murdered. So he
was he was he was specifically vulnerable.
So he came to the prophet his mother,
of course,
the first martyr
to Islam he said and he was in
tears.
General they they told me to say something
and I said it. So So he said,
what did they tell you to say? And
he wouldn't say it. He was so embarrassed
of it because they told him to curse
the prophet alaihi sallam.
So he said what they wanted to say.
And he was sitting there ashamed and embarrassed
and the prophet Alaihi Salam was asking what
what they thought you to say?
They said, say this about him. And I
said,
how do you find your heart?
My heart is filled with iman. I am
comfortable with my iman.
If they do this again to you, then
go ahead.
What you're coerced to say doesn't matter.
Now some of the took this and some
of them didn't.
Amar, especially vulnerable after witnessing the murder of
both his parents.
Didn't.
He didn't.
The more they persecuted,
the more he's
he pushed back.
The more they demanded him to say what
they wanted, the less he said it. He
mocked them.
He mocked them. They would take him out
into with him him and other of the
servants. They would tie him down onto the,
scorching,
desert
sand and then they would put rocks on
him or boulders so it would be hard
for him to breathe and they would lash.
And they would demand that he say,
or something like something of the sort. And
he would
say,
my tongue is a foreign tongue. I don't
Arabic is not my first language. I don't
know how to say that word. But I
don't I can't say it. Out of mockery
because he he speaks Arabic perfectly but he's
just mocking them.
And they would beat him and they would
say
until they
and if he'll, in the the books of
until they got bored of him. They got
tired of him. He wouldn't, he wouldn't he
wouldn't
The more they they persecuted him and tortured
him, the more he he he mocked them.
My tongue is is foreign. It can't say
this word. But my tongue can say, uhad.
Uhad. Is that good for you? Is that
does that will help? Is that is that
something you want to hear? They hated the
word
Just because of how
much whom yeah. The one and only.
The one and only. It was their it
was on their banner on the day of
Badr.
They to to honor him
on the day of Badr, they wrote a
the slogan,
of the motto of, the battle of Badr
was to honor as
he as he persevered under the persecution.
But it got bad.
It was getting bad. People were dying.
After negotiation period failed, after they weren't able
to get anything from him alaihi salatu wa
sallam, they went back, they came back with
a vengeance. And they started going after Muslims.
They're much more brutal, much more physical. When
you can't win the
intellectual argument, then you become physical.
Right? When you're when you're bankrupt, you use
your fists.
When When you don't have an idea that
you can argue, you don't you you can't
win with with the argument, with the with
the debate, then you bring in your fists.
So they brought their fists this time hard.
But now people were dying. People were were
suffering. Do we have a, a hoop?
No way. Good. Good. So I wanna continue
with
oh, good. Good. But in the midst of
all of this,
this is because this is my favorite story.
I was hoping I would tell it.
The prophet
because he couldn't pray in front of the
Kaaba. He wasn't allowed. He would pray in
his backyard.
Homes back in the Middle East, usually if
you have a backyard, you have a hush,
it's it's walled. I mean, there's a wall.
So it's not open for as it is
here. It's it's walled. So he had a
little in his backyard, and
he would do his
out there.
And he would stand stand there and recite
the Quran
Right? Reciting in the middle of the night
Imagine his voice
and then
these early
and
reciting
and
reciting
and reciting.
And one day,
Busafian,
because he's the one who tells us the
story. Bahram,
the known leader of of Mecca.
That they thought what he had to say
was intriguing. They were just too proud to
do it. It's like you I don't want
you or what you bring but but, you
know, but my god, is what you're saying
interesting? I would love to listen to it
a little bit more. Is there some way
that I get access to what you're saying
but I don't have to actually follow any
of it? It wasn't that wasn't available. So
the best thing they could do is they
would go and they would sit he would
go and he would he would sit in
amongst the bushes at night where he wouldn't
be seen to hear the prophet
It's it's dark. It's pitch dark in the
middle of the night. He's doing at 2
o'clock in the morning. Everything is dark There's
no electricity. So he's sitting there losing the
prophet
Now he's kind of, picking him up. He
bumps into someone.
Is someone there?
The guy says,
who are you? Who are you?
It turns
out one of the known, yeah, the leaders
of Mecca is sitting there.
Abu Sufyan, what are you doing here? I
don't know. What are you doing here? As
they're talking back and forth, how could you
be here? They bump into a third person.
Who are you? It's
what are you doing here? What are you
doing here? I don't know. What are you
doing here?
They wanted to listen.
So they sat there and said, if people
find us out, if people are to see
us sitting here like
like rabbits. Yeah. And outside of his wall
listening to him read.
All of our credibility is going to be
lost. We've been telling people do not listen
to him. Do not follow him. He is
a he is a. Yeah. He is a
sorcerer. He is a they don't listen to
anything he has to say. We we're going
to lose our credibility. So they sat together
and they and they swore and they made,
you know, strong oaths that they would never
do this again.
And each of them said
to himself, the other 2 will for sure
after all of these oath not come back
tomorrow.
And the next day came and all 3
of them were sitting in the same spot.
And they stood there. What did we say?
I don't know. What did we say? Why
you're here too. It's not like, you know,
I was just here to see if you're
gonna come here. I was here for that
same reason. They couldn't help it.
They wanted to hear what he was reciting.
They wanted to hear what the latest Quran
was. Didn't have access to it because they
they they prohibited him from reciting it in
front of the Kaaba. He would come out
of his salah to recite it, recite it
in front of Kaaba. So he gave them
access to it for free And they prohibited.
No. You're not allowed to do this anymore.
So he stopped doing it. And now they're
like, well, we don't know what's what else
is coming.
And we don't know what the next revelation
is. You know, we're we're not gonna accept
it but we would like to know what
it is. It's really the Quran is mesmerizing.
If you understand Arabic, it's it's beyond beautiful.
It's beyond it's beyond profound.
Like, it's not you can't really describe it
as profound because it's way beyond that. Once
you start actually understanding the Quran, the amount
of of of knowledge that is being
transmitted within one verse is is is more
way more than it can be summarized in
a lesson. And I struggle when I do
tafsir to try and and focus my tafsir
on just an aspect of what's being said,
so that the person listening to me does
not get lost.
Because it's really easy to start going after
every aspect of it and then in one
verse takes 3 3 or 4 sessions and
people get bored and they stop coming.
Because they they attended 3 times and you
went through 1 and this is means that
Quran will take 55,000
years and it's not worth doing this. It's
very hard because of what of of of
how
how perfectly everything fits in the words of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and just and it
all takes a little bit of understanding of
the language and the context and it's just
very beautiful.
And they and they knew that.
So they just they they stood there again
and said we can't do this again.
Guys, we're running a very this is very
risky.
So
they made their oaths again. They wouldn't do
this again.
And they left
that
night.
And in the heart of each and every
one of them, the other they were thinking
the other 2 won't come back.
In the 3rd night, all three were there
again.
This is not going to work. We're all
lying to each other and telling that we
have to stop doing this.
So they started to watch each other and
and spy on each other. Like the only
way to do this is that I'm watching
you.
I go home and you go home. So
we don't have us do this
Because when he
read it unlike we do, he read it
with,
he understood it. So it came across. You
see something that comes from the heart be
reaches the heart and something that is said
and there's no conviction in it. It doesn't
go very far. When he recited alayhis salatu
al salam, it came, he understood what was
being said. He felt it. And the and
the and the not just the
even the non even the kufar Quresh, they
could feel as being said. They got used
to that high.
It's a high.
When you when you see hear something that
is profound and meaningful
and it's real, like it's genuine, the person
who was saying it actually feels it, It's
a high. You feel this high it's this
it's this feeling in your heart that's hard
to describe, but it gives you this a
little bit of goosebumps, a little bit of
this spiritual high that you get addicted to,
that you love. That's why people love Ramadan.
Even though you're fasting and that's, you know,
that's that's very difficult, There's this aspect of
when you pray sometimes that you get get
the spiritual hide that is just so addicting.
It's so beautiful. You want more and more
and more of it. So they wanted more
of what they were hearing from the prophet
alaihis salat with them despite they didn't believe
in what he was saying. Despite they wouldn't
say
they were still getting that that spiritual high
of the beauty of what's being said. So
they wanted more of it. So they came
maybe they thought themselves, okay, this is how
it works. I will fight him during the
day then I'll get my my my fix
at night by sitting, just listening and don't
read
When he when he recited alayhi
wasalam, ever put a pot on
on on fire? And before it starts to
to to,
to boil, we start hearing these sounds coming
from the water just before it boils. That's
called Aziz. It's like it it it makes
a the prophet alaihis salaam's inside his chest,
you can hear these sounds as he represses
alaihis salaam his tears. As he controls his
emotions when he reciting.
He was trying to keep it to keep
it,
you know, to keep it clear so you're
gonna so you could hear what he was
saying. He wouldn't let himself go
so you would you would hear this Aziz.
This this controlled boiling happening on the inside
that he would keep a lid on so
that he could recite the words appropriately so
people could hear what he was saying.
Couldn't.
He
was someone who was very emotionally he couldn't
help it. He couldn't he couldn't control it.
When he recited the Quran, he couldn't hear
a word or understand a a single letter.
All you heard was someone's
sobbing. Whether he did it alone at his
house or he did it in Jemaah, it
made no difference. He couldn't help himself.
They loved what they heard
because they they felt it. They understood it.
It meant something to them. This is what
you this is how you're supposed to enjoy
the book of Allah.
That's how
that's how we're supposed to be we're supposed
to love this. We're supposed to enjoy it.
It's supposed to touch our hearts.
It'd be nice if, I feel bad for
those who don't yeah. It's
it's sad if you you go through your
life and you don't
and you don't learn to appreciate and enjoy
the beauty of of of the words of
If the people of if the if
the person who died fighting him
will sneak at night till hear him recite
And what would someone who actually loves the
book? Yeah. He's supposed to do.