Fatima Lette – Exploring The Quran For Women Surah Yusuf #07
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AI: Transcript ©
We'll never do X, Y, and Z.
And you have a kid, and you realize
children are not make-a-bears, you know,
workshop.
You don't just get a prototype and then
decide that you get to mold and make
it into your own thing.
That people, human beings are human beings and
they have their own mind.
And you have to kind of deal with
what God has given you.
You have to be nice and kind and
figure it out and like manage and all
these different things.
So today, inshallah, the verses that we're gonna,
actually take a step back and go to
the verse in which after Yusuf, alayhi salam,
is being seduced by someone who he's supposed
to, that's supposed to take care of him,
the response of the community is very interesting.
So you have here that Allah swt says
in verse number 30, we'll call a niswatun
fil madina, that a group of women from
the city, they say, imra'atu aziz, the
wife of the aziz, turawidu fataha an-nafsi.
She tried to seduce the kid who, or
the assistant that was inside of her home.
Qadr shagafa ha-hukba.
That she became engulfed in love.
Wa inna naraha fil dhalalin mubeenin.
And we surely see that she was in
the wrong.
Now, sometimes we see things on the surface
and it seems like one thing, and I'm
not excusing her action, but I am saying
that you cannot be a person to cast
blame on someone in a way that's so
public and judgment in a way that's so
public as if you yourself are perfect, right?
We see wrong and we say that's wrong.
Halas, you see wrong, you should say that
that is wrong.
But if someone makes a mistake, someone does
something wrong, to go out and blast their
wrong, not having the details.
Were these people a part of the investigation?
No.
Were these people in the home?
No.
Were these people there?
Did they even have proper information about what
happened?
No.
Now, someone may say, well, we're in a
time where people are trying to hide the
wrongs of others and what they've done and
all these things.
There's a difference, right?
There's a difference between someone's actions not being
taken care of because what did they do?
They had this entire trial situation where they
say, okay, let's figure out who's in the
wrong.
And they were able to figure out who's
in the wrong.
Make sense?
So they already dealt with it.
Now these people are coming out like TMZ,
okay, and they have this level of suspicion.
And after having the suspicion, they wanna confirm
that suspicion.
And after confirming it, then they decide, okay,
now everybody needs to know this information.
That's not how it works.
So Allah SWT tells us in Surah Al
-Hujurat, Ya ayyuha alladhina aamanu, O you who
believe, Ijtanibu katheeran minal dhan.
Stay away from having a lot of suspicions
and assumptions.
What's interesting about assumption is that it's kind
of like, you know, you have people who
are super observant by a fault, like maybe
even naturally.
I'm a natural observant human, to the point
where I just turn my brain off when
I'm walking around because I don't wanna see
nothing I'm not supposed to see.
And it can be something as simple as
someone like, reprimanding their child, you know, with
like a side eye.
And I'm like, that kid's in trouble.
You know, there was no words.
Technically, there was not much emotion that was
given.
It's just I happened to catch that side
eye.
I don't wanna catch no more side eyes.
I don't, I really don't.
I don't wanna be in no one's business.
So you kind of walk away.
But Allah SWT says that a person has
this level of dhan.
Dhan is where you kind of suspect a
little bit.
You know, sometimes somebody sees like, oh, this
person's not posting their spouse anymore.
I wonder what's going on.
Why are you wondering?
Why?
Is that your marriage?
Are you the one who's gonna help them
get back together if they're not together?
Does it benefit you in any way?
Does it take away from you in any
way?
Are you contributing to this person's household in
any way?
And imagine you were in that situation and
someone's wishing something like that upon you when
that's not even the case.
Perhaps you just decided to become a private
person out of nowhere.
That's your business and your prerogative.
But then Allah SWT says, inna ba'da dhanni
ithim, that remember that after you have this
level of suspicion, come sin.
Why?
Because when someone has a thought in their
head that they let linger, they then wanna
go and confirm it, right?
So then Allah SWT says, wala tajassasu.
Then don't go out and start to investigate.
Oh, let me go back to see when's
the last time she posted.
That's being nosy.
That is someone spying on somebody.
That is investigating.
Now when you confirm your suspicion, what is
the next thing you're gonna do?
Can't keep this information to yourself.
You're gonna go and tell somebody.
So then Allah SWT says, wala yawta ba'dukum
ba'da.
And don't go and talk badly about each
other.
Don't go and speak and backbite about one
another.
And then Allah SWT gives one of the
most vile examples in the Quran.
He says, ayuhibbu ahadukum, do any of you
love?
in ya'kula lahma ahihi maytan, to eat
the dead flesh of your brother or sister.
And essentially what Allah SWT is saying is
that just like it would be terrible for
someone to walk out and be a cannibal.
That's how disgusting it is to talk about
somebody in a way that just all started
from a rumor.
It started from a suspicion that you had.
It started from a fleeting thought that you
had in your mind.
And Allah SWT says, fakarikhtumuhu, but you would
have hated it.
You would have hated to do that.
So essentially, they were in this situation where
they kind of heard something and then they
had this suspicion.
And after having it, they started to say
like, oh, she's such a terrible person.
How could she do such a thing?
This person was there to help her.
And granted the action that she did was
wrong, but they were not the judge and
the jury to be able to bring that
forward.
So then Allah SWT gives us the next
detail of what happened.
Falamna sami'at bimakrihinna.
So when she heard of what they schemed,
not what they said, it is as if
they were getting to little like circles and
spreading these things about her.
Arsalat ilayhinna.
She then sent an invitation for them.
Wa'atadat lahunna muttaka'an.
And then she presented or prepared for them
like a dinner.
So she said, everybody come out.
Now you think it's cute to go to
your little dinners and make like a little
bouquets and stuff like that.
Listen, the wife of the Isis have plans
way before you.
So she prepares a little banquet, but this
was a everybody come here and cook your
own food thing.
Okay, hibachi before hibachi was a thing.
Right, homemade hibachi.
So she says, it says, wa'atad kulla
wahidatin minhuna sikkinan.
And she gave each of them a knife.
Wa qala tikhruj alayhinna.
And then she told Yusuf alayhissalam to come
out.
Falamna ra'aynahu.
When they saw him, akbaranahu waqata'ana aydiyahunna.
They were taken aback by his beauty and
they cut their hands.
Now some people say maybe it was like
a little cut.
Some of the mufassirun actually say that the
type of meal she gave them, what she
gave them to like pill was something that
was really hard.
So they weren't realizing that they were actually
cutting their hand because they were taken aback
by his beauty.
And then they said, wa kulla hasha lillah.
They said, oh, how perfect is Allah.
Ma hadha basharan in hadha illa malakun kareemun.
That this is not a human, can't be.
This has to be an angel, an angel.
The Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam narrates that
when he went for Isra' ul-Miraj, he
went to the third level of heaven.
And he went there and he says, he
saw Yusuf alayhi salam.
And his response was, fa idha huwaqada ooteeta
shatra lil husn.
That Yusuf alayhi salam was given a half
of the beauty of the entire world.
So like things that you find to be
beautiful in this world, all of that together
is considered to be half.
And Yusuf alayhi salam was given half of
the beauty of the world.
So for them, they see this and they
find themselves to be in awe of Yusuf
alayhi salam.
But it doesn't stop there.
Qalat, she then looked at them and she
said, fa thalikunna alladhi lumtunnani fee.
This is what you guys blame me for.
So you were out there running your mouth
and you didn't realize what I was dealing
with.
Doesn't make it okay.
It doesn't make it okay, though.
Her point, accurate.
Don't talk about something you have no idea
about.
But the way she went about it, what
she accused them of, and what she was
accused of was wrong.
It was wrong.
What she did was wrong.
She committed a wrong act and she should
have stepped trial for that wrong act.
But instead, she invites this woman over and
she has Yusuf alayhi salam come out to
them.
And then it says, walaqad rawatuhu an-nafsi
fasda'asam.
She says, I did try to seduce him,
but he refused.
But she doesn't even just say he refused.
She almost says like, he firmly disobeyed me.
Like he really went the other direction.
wala in lam yaf'al ma'amuruhu la
yuzjananna wala yakoonan minal saagireen.
He then says, they then said, if he
will not do what I ordered him to
do, then he will surely be imprisoned and
he will be amongst those who have no
value.
Like I'm gonna actually ruin him or he
should act in this way.
Now, Yusuf alayhi salam is now faced in
this situation again.
First time, fine.
We'll say it's the first time.
And what did the Aziz tell him?
He says, Yusuf alayhi salam.
Just turn away, let it go, keep it
pushing.
The Aziz then turned to his wife.
And he says to her that you should
seek forgiveness from God.
That is your responsibility.
Tawbah is a powerful thing.
Tawbah is a powerful thing.
Why?
Because it allows a person to not keep
falling into the same trap that they have
been falling into.
When you realize that you're doing something wrong,
it is still hard to not do it.
But at least in your head, you're doing
something wrong.
Does that make sense?
At least in your head, you know I'm
doing something wrong.
So you will feel bad.
Maybe you even have some type of shame
for other people to know the wrong that
you've done.
Maybe you even hide your feelings.
Maybe you even retreat into yourself.
You would do something else, even if you
are committing that sin still, that doesn't make
it seem like it's okay.
But when she calls these women over, she
is proving a point to them.
And she's proving to them that if you
were in my situation, you would have done
the same thing.
But that's kind of justifying her action.
It doesn't seem like she's in complete disregard.
She's in complete sadness for what she had
done.
In fact, she doubles down.
If he doesn't do what I asked him
to do, then it's gonna be a problem.
And in some of the narrations, you find
that they then say that, yeah, you better
do what she's asking you to do.
As if all of these women start to
gang up on Yusuf, alayhis salam.
But now look at where they're at.
Because they were high and mighty.
They were so holier than thou.
They were the, I would never be in
that situation.
You cannot catch me red-handed in anything.
I would be caught dead before I do
X, Y, and Z.
But guess what?
You're alive, and you're still doing it wrong.
And it's so important for us that when
we see something that is not good, and
someone does something that is wrong, and though
we may feel like we may never be
that person, we ask Allah to protect us.
Because what we are able to have a
level of control over of our nafs is
not because of our own ability.
It really isn't.
We cannot resist food sometimes.
What makes you think you can resist big
temptation?
Sometimes the simplest thing, you're tired, you know
you should go to sleep, and you can't
resist being on your phone.
But you think that if you get tested
with a big test, all of a sudden
you have like these really good, this really
good handle on your nafs?
Doesn't work like that.
What we are able to accomplish, and what
we're able to push through, we're able to
accomplish it and push through it by the
help of Allah.
And the little effort that we make, the
little effort that we make in control of
our nafs, the little effort that we put
forward in trying to build good character, the
little effort that we put forward in trying
to have good habits, Allah SWT puts barakah
in that.
And that is why we're able to see
results in our life.
That is why we're able to say, okay,
this time I'm not gonna do this again.
That's why toba is powerful.
Because with toba, you're recognizing who's in charge.
Allah is in charge.
You're turning back to Allah.
You're reminding yourself that I cannot do this
without the help and the guidance of Allah.
You ever wonder why the 12 steps that
an addict has to really talk about in
order for them, when they go to AA,
is God-centric?
Literally one of the statements is, I cannot
get through this without the power of God.
And if someone does not believe in God,
then they say, without the power of some
higher authority.
God.
Okay?
Why?
Because the only thing that's gonna overcome this
is iman.
The only thing that's gonna overcome this mind
of yours is your faith.
Sometimes you wake up, and you're so dead
set convinced on the wrong thing.
Convinced on it.
This is the way of life.
This is the path.
And sometimes we're really willing to sacrifice relationships
because of it.
We're willing to say, actually this person doesn't
know anything.
If they truly knew, they would be on
my side.
And it just takes Allah SWT giving us
one little perspective switch.
Sometimes it takes Allah SWT giving us one
little experience.
Sometimes it takes Allah SWT giving us one
little conversation.
And all of a sudden we feel enlightened.
No, that was the guidance, the hidayah of
Allah.
That is why you now have clarity in
how you're thinking.
But when a person thinks of themselves as
too big and too far above anything, then
that guidance is really hard to enter into.
Why, because it takes humility.
It takes humbling oneself and saying, you know
what, I am not above any sin.
It is very possible that today I'm very
good with my prayers, and tomorrow I may
not be that great.
It's very possible that fasting is the best
thing and I love it so much today.
And I've loved it my entire life, but
maybe this year's not that great.
It's very possible for that to happen to
me.
And because it's possible, I need to make
sure that I have a strong relationship with
Allah.
That even when I'm not feeling it, I
have the discipline to still do the right
thing.
Because that is what God wants from us.
Yes, He wants us to have a close
relationship with Him that we feel.
But even if you don't feel it, you
still have to submit to Allah.
And for them, they're seeing something that is
so beautiful, but Allah SWT is the one
who created it.
Allah SWT is the one who created Yusuf
AS.
And God is telling you that this is
not okay.
And Allah SWT is the one who determines
our morals and our values.
And with God being the one telling you
don't do this, but you're like, well, I
can't help myself.
Well, of course you're not gonna be able
to help yourself because you're giving yourself excuses.
There was in no way, shape or form
did they make any effort to even stop
what they were doing.
In fact, they kept going and pushing forward.
So there's that one aspect of it where
we cannot see something that happens and someone
that does something bad and think of ourselves
to be above it.
We need to make dua to Allah that
Allah does not put us in that situation.
The seven o'clock alarm is back.
The second aspect of it though is what
is the reaction of Yusuf AS?
Because imagine Yusuf AS comes from a household
that his brothers are extremely jealous of him.
He's already gone through a lot of difficulty.
He's thrown into a well.
He ends up in a home of people
he does not know.
He gets comfortable in that home, grows up
there, gets this level of maturity, now can
think forward as a young man, is probably
ready to move on with his life.
And the one person who was supposed to
be his safe space is trying to seduce
him.
That gets cleared up.
He says, you know what, it's fine.
We'll avoid each other.
I'll go my way, she goes her way.
Now he's in a situation where not just
one woman is approaching him, multiple women are
approaching him, and they're telling him like you
either do this or you go to jail.
Now, maybe a well is not a jail
cell, but it feels a lot like an
imprisonment because he doesn't know when he's gonna
get out of there even though Allah SWT
tells him you're gonna be okay.
That's amazing, yes, but Allah SWT does not
give him a timeline.
He didn't tell him somebody's gonna come pick
you up today.
So it could have been like, you're gonna
be okay.
You'll get out of here.
You'll be malnourished, broken down a little bit,
but you'll get out of here.
Sure, Yusuf, at least I would have been
grateful.
So now he's in the depths of this
well.
He has no food, has no one around
him.
Imagine you grew up in a house full
of boys and now all of a sudden
you're in the depths of quiet.
That's shocking for any person, for any person,
by himself.
So now years later, someone's telling him either
you commit this wrong act and you do
this or that imprisonment that I once saved
you from, I'm gonna take you back there,
but now as an adult and you will
have no freedom.
You will have nothing to you.
Yusuf's response, he says, call the Rabbi.
He says, oh my Lord, right?
He calls upon Allah, but he doesn't just
call upon Allah by saying Allahuma, oh Allah.
Even though the name Allah, Lafadl Jalala, it
is inclusive of all of God's characteristics.
It is inclusive of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa
Ta-A'la being ever so merciful.
It is inclusive of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa
Ta-A'la being ever so compassionate, of
Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la being
al-Razzaq, the provider, al-Wahhab, the one
who gives gifts, as-Salam, the source of
peace.
It's inclusive of everything.
But using the word Rabb is very different.
It's almost acknowledging a specific type of characteristic
of Allah towards you.
And that is the characteristic of someone who's
always taking care of you.
So Yusuf, alayhis salaam, calls upon Allah by
saying, ya Rabbi, oh, call the Rabbi, my
Lord, oh, the one who has always taken
care of me.
I've been in multiple situations.
There's been things that have happened.
There have been less than ideal situations.
I've been literally abandoned by my family.
But you have been constant.
You have been the one to be there,
to nourish me, to give me every single
thing that I've needed.
Then he says, as-sijnu, prison, ahabbu ilayya
mimma yad'onani ilayya.
Prison is more beloved to me.
He didn't say, I would prefer prison, okay?
He said, prison is more beloved to me
than what they are calling me towards.
He didn't say, if the option is prison
or do this, I guess I have to
go with the option of prison.
That's not what he said.
He said, it's more beloved to me.
Why?
Because what is the most beloved to Yusuf,
alayhis salaam, is being where?
Where Allah wants him to be.
That is what's most beloved to him.
What is most beloved to Yusuf, alayhis salaam,
is doing what Allah has asked him to
do.
We have to ask ourselves, do we have
that dedication to our faith?
Are we capable and able to not commit
and do the things that Allah swt has
forbidden us from doing by putting aside our
nafs and putting Allah swt for it first?
That's the question.
It's as if Yusuf, alayhis salaam, didn't even
have to think about it.
You wanna lock me up, let's go.
Because what you're trying to ask me to
do, that's like a different ball game.
I'm not playing with Allah.
And if anybody tries to come between him
and Allah, he is showing that that is
not gonna happen.
This is a hard line.
Now what's interesting is that we spend years
making people comfortable with getting in between our
relationship between us and God.
And we do it in the name of,
well, I don't wanna offend them.
I don't really, I'm just gonna dress like
this because I don't know what they're gonna
say.
I don't wanna scare them off.
Who told you guidance was in your hands?
And who asked you to make that your
responsibility?
Your responsibility is when you turn up to
Allah, you come before God.
And he asks you, did you dress how
I asked you to dress?
Did you speak in the way I asked
you to speak?
Did you pray in the way I asked
you to pray?
Did you carry yourself in the way I
asked you to carry yourself?
That you're able to say, yeah, Allah, I
tried my best.
Not I was perfect.
Not, oh, Allah, I didn't make any mistakes
in life.
No, I tried my best.
But if you stand there and you say,
well, so-and-so really wanted me to
do X, Y, and Z, guess what, it's
not gonna get you very far.
It's not gonna get you very far.
So Yusuf alaihissalam is willing to be in
a less than ideal, even worse than less
than ideal situation.
He's willing to reopen his trauma and deal
with that than to commit such an egregious
sin and wrong that would be something that
would get in between his relationship between him
and God.
And then he brings something very powerful.
He says, wa illa tasrif anni kaydahunna.
If you do not turn their plot away
from me, asbu ilayhinna, I'm afraid that I
can incline towards them.
And what is powerful about that is that
Yusuf alaihissalam is a prophet.
Prophets do not sin, they do not sin.
They do not make these egregious wrongs.
They don't do that.
They're considered to have this level of protection
from Allah.
But Yusuf alaihissalam doesn't take that and say,
I'm good.
I can actually stay in this situation over
and over again and nothing will happen.
He doesn't do that, why?
Because the protection he has is from who?
It's from Allah.
The protection he has is from Allah.
He's like, Allah, I don't wanna be compromised.
There's something bigger.
There's something better.
There's a mission at stake.
And at this point, Yusuf alaihissalam has not
been appointed as a prophet.
At this point, he has not been appointed
as a prophet.
But Allah swt says he's given him what,
maturity?
And he's given him wisdom and he's given
him knowledge.
The second thing that is really important here
is that Yusuf alaihissalam tells Allah swt that
this is an entire plan.
Sometimes people plot against you.
They really do.
Haters are real out there.
But to be a person that's obsessed with
what someone else is doing also is a
little weird.
It is, because can you control somebody else's
action?
You really can't.
Can you control what someone else is doing?
You really can't.
So Yusuf alaihissalam doesn't try to control what
they're doing.
He doesn't.
Why?
Because he sees that these people are gung
-ho and stuck on what they want to
do.
And because they're stuck on doing this action
and this wrong, he says, Allah, you have
to turn this plan away from me.
And then he says, wa-an akum minal
jahileen.
And I could become of those who are
ignorant.
Now, jahiliyya, most times people understand it as
a time before the enlightenment of Islam, where
a person may have done some things or
engaged in some things that they didn't know
was impermissible.
But here, does Yusuf alaihissalam know this is
impermissible?
Yeah?
It's also giving the understanding that the woman
also knew this was wrong.
But he still says that this is like
jahiliyya.
You know why?
Because it's actually the absence of faith.
It is the absence of the light of
iman.
When you have a heart that allows your
faith to shine through, your limbs follow through.
This is what the Prophet says.
He says that there is a morsel of
flesh in the body of a human.
And if that thing is, if it's sound,
if it's free of disease, right?
If it's good, then the entire body follows
through.
But if it's corrupt, if it's diseased, and
if it's something that is poorly taken care
of, then the entire body follows through.
Why?
Because you, what you have in your heart
is what determines how you speak to people.
What determines how you interact.
It determines what your transactions are like.
It determines what you watch.
It determines what you read.
It determines what you listen to.
It determines how you raise your kids.
It determines what you go to school for.
It determines your intentionality behind life.
It determines how you dress, how you wake
up, how you eat, how you put on
your shoes.
every single aspect of your life is now
led by this little morsel of flesh in
your body.
And if that morsel of flesh cannot allow
the light to shine through because it's been
covered up with so much disease, so much
corruption, so much haram, then guess what?
You start to walk around in the most
ignorant manner.
When someone sees someone acting ignorantly, it's as
if they have no morals, it's as if
they have no values, it's as if they
have no manners, it's as if they have
no character.
But what does our Deen teach us?
Morals, values, character, manners, how we are as
a person.
So Yusuf alayhis salaam says that this act,
what they're calling towards, their plan, it's not
just about the one act.
It's about changing the trajectory of who I
am as a person.
These types of things that Allah SWT talks
about in the Quran, be it alcohol drinking,
be it gambling, be it zina, they're a
lifestyle.
It takes a lifestyle to maintain it.
This is why Allah SWT says, stay far
away from it.
He doesn't just say that it's a sin.
He doesn't just say it's a sin.
He says what?
When he talks about khamat, he says, why?
Because it is a filth.
It is something that infiltrates your entire life.
It changes who you are as a person.
It is as if that moral that you
had or those values that you once stood
on mean nothing to you anymore.
So much so that your mind is now
switched.
And all of a sudden, it's something that
is promoted.
You ever think about why the most popular
shows are vile and disgusting?
The most popular songs are vile and disgusting?
The most popular books are even more disgusting?
Why?
Because this is a lifestyle.
The most popular podcasts are dumb.
For lack of a better word, they're very
uneducated people.
You can have a master's degree in all
the million things you want but have a
zero morality.
Then you're not very smart.
But these are things that people are listening
to.
Why?
Because it calls you to, it calls a
person towards their nafs, the part of them
that doesn't want to do good.
And that part of you then takes over
and now this is the entire lifestyle.
So Yusuf a.s. says, oh my Lord,
just I don't want any of it.
I don't want the lifestyle.
I don't want the plan.
I don't want the littlest of the plan.
I would rather be in prison.
I will rather you lock me up.
There's no time limit on this prison.
There's no understanding if you will ever get
out.
Now there are narrations of the Prophecy Synod
where the Prophecy Synod says that listen, a
situation occurs, then ask for afiyah, right?
Ask Allah SWT for things that are good,
wellness.
Ask Allah SWT to give you a good
heart.
Ask Allah SWT to take you out the
situation.
You don't have to, you guys here, zero
to a hundred, ask for the worst thing.
You're faced with a trial, something hard.
You're like, Allah put me in the depths
of the earth.
No, okay, don't do that.
Yusuf a.s. was a prophet and he's
in a dire situation.
But the Prophecy Synod teaches us, we ask
for what?
Afiyah, well-being, for sure.
But the reason why Allah SWT shows us
this level of desperation that Yusuf a.s.
asked for is for us to also know
that even though he has the protection of
God, he too recognized that this is a
very human thing.
And if I don't protect myself and ask
Allah SWT for his protection, I don't know
if I'm gonna make it through.
And then Allah SWT says, that his Lord
then responded to him.
And Allah SWT turned their plan away from
him.
Because truly Allah is the one who's all
-hearing.
Yusuf a.s. made a dua, and Allah
SWT says, Causation, consequential.
He made a dua, Allah answered his dua.
That's the first thing.
The second thing is Allah SWT gave himself
two characteristics.
He's all-hearing of what the dua that
Yusuf a.s. made.
Al-'aleem, how this is gonna end up.
He's all-knowing.
He's aware of what happened, what they did.
He's aware of where their plan was going
to end up or where they wanted it
to end up.
He's also all-knowing of how long Yusuf
a.s. is going to be in prison.
He's also all-knowing of what this means
for Yusuf a.s. And then Allah SWT
says, That then it appeared to them, after
they had seen the signs, that the Aziz
will surely imprison him for some time.
It became known that Yusuf a.s. was
gonna go to prison.
As in, he didn't actually give them an
answer.
He didn't give them an answer.
He immediately went and made dua to Allah.
He didn't turn to them and say, I'd
rather die than look at your face.
No.
Because that wasn't gonna change their plan.
They were still gonna try to convince him.
Yusuf a.s. went and he turned to
the one that could help him, and that
is Allah.
Allah SWT says in Surah Al-Ma'arij,
That indeed mankind was created and they're created
in a way of like angst.
Like always jumping to things.
And when evil touches them in the least
bit, they become impatient and they become judgmental
and they become this way of like, well
why this and why that?
But when good comes to them, then they
want to withhold it.
They want to withhold it.
They want to hold it close.
Well, I'm great.
I'm amazing.
This person's this.
That person's that.
And then Allah SWT says, The only way
that a person does not be this way
is by praying.
Because prayer is humbling.
Prayer is humbling.
You're going to sajda and you're saying, How
perfect is the one who is ever so
high, elevated.
While you're in the lowest place that you
can be.
When you're going to ruku, you're saying, How
perfect is the one who is ever so
mighty and so strong.
While you're in a compromising position.
Imagine a kid comes like a bowling ball
to hit you.
You're gone.
Especially if you're like above 30.
You're out.
He's gonna count you out real quick, right?
But you're starting the prayer and you're saying,
Allah is greater than.
Allah is greater than my problems.
Allah is greater than this thing that tried
to take me away from prayer.
Allah is greater than my issues.
Allah is greater than whatever it is.
Allah is greater than.
So your salah is humbling.
It allows you to know that you're only
human.
Okay?
You're just a girl.
You're only human.
You can make mistakes.
Allah is the one who forgives.
Allah is the one who gives power.
Allah is the one who gives a person
the ability to have this level of control.
And it's you turning to Allah.
But you don't just pray one time.
Yes, prayer is a cure.
Absolutely.
Someone stands up to pray.
They say, I don't feel it.
Take your antibiotics one time and go back
to the doctor and let me know what
the doctor said.
She's gonna call you crazy.
You say, you have to keep taking it.
So what does Allah say?
That they're the ones, when it comes to
their prayer, they're consistent.
They're consistent and they're persistent.
When something is important to you, you make
it an important part of your life.
You plan your day around it.
You make sure that people don't interrupt it.
You ever get on a point and call
and someone's talking to you and you're like,
do you not see what's happening right now?
How dare you have a conversation with me?
That's your salah.
Don't interrupt it.
Why?
Because there's a lot riding on that prayer
actually.
It is not just my check-in with
Allah.
It is my recentering of my being and
who I am.
It is not just a simple conversation with
God, even though that in and of itself
is amazing.
But it is the strength that you get
through your days and get through who you
are as a person.
It is not just a mini workout and
stretch, okay?
It's not that.
It is actually your livelihood in terms of
your relationship with God.
It has everything to do with how you
are as a believer and as a person
who exists in this world.
Allah then says in Surah Rahman, and we'll
stop here.
I mean in Surah Furqan, we'll stop here
because prayer times.
He says, وَإِبَادُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ
حَوْنًا That the beloved servants of God.
Ibadur Rahman is so beautiful.
When Allah swt really loves someone, he calls
them his beloved servant.
So for instance, when Allah swt talks about
bringing the Quran down to the Prophet ﷺ,
he typically talks about it by saying, عَبْدَهُ,
his servant, right?
And when we hear that, we think, oh
this, that, like we bring all our anxieties
into this conversation.
Put them to the side.
Put them to the side.
If Allah swt is referring to you as
his beloved servant, he is saying that you
have abided by the things that he's asked
you to.
Therefore, he's excited to reward you.
Therefore, Allah swt is excited to give you
Jannah.
Allah swt is excited to be able to
increase you in whatever it is that you
want.
Allah swt is excited to answer your du
'as.
Allah swt is excited for you to come
closer to him.
Allah swt is excited to put khair in
your life.
That's what Allah swt is saying.
So when he says my beloved servant or
what Ibadur Rahman, the beloved servants of the
most merciful, الَّذِينَ يَمْشُونَ عَلَى الْأَرْضِ حَوْنًا They're
the ones who, when they are in this
earth, they walk very humbly.
Now walking humbly doesn't mean that you put
your back over.
In fact, Omar bin Khattab r.a, he
once saw a young man walking like he
was broken.
And he asked him, are you hurt?
And he said, no I'm walking humbly.
Omar bin Khattab punched him in the chest.
He said, what is wrong with you?
Stand up straight.
The Prophet s.a.w. walked with stature,
like he had a long stride.
He did not rush nor did he walk
slowly.
That was who the Prophet s.a.w.
was.
He walked like a man on a mission,
a man with a purpose.
And Omar bin Khattab was like, you're like
a little kid over here pretending.
This is not what humbly means.
But rather, humble, so interesting because typically this
is the second, this will be described as
the second characteristic.
But Allah s.w.t. says right after
this, وَإِذَا خَاطَبَهُمُ الْجَاهِلُونَ قَالُوا سَلَامًا When someone
who has no type of understanding, they're ignorant,
their ignorance speaks to them, they respond with
peace.
Now some say, respond with words of peace,
while others say, respond with the exiting of
peace, as in like As-salamu alaykum, like
this is not for me.
If you want to have this conversation, that's
great.
You can have it with the wall.
I'm gonna go.
You know why I think this is so
powerful?
Because when we talk about humility, a lot
of times we're exploring it from the aspect
of, okay, I'm just nothing and like this
and I actually am not that great and
I'm not that this and I'm not that
that.
What happens when you're in a situation where
you actually know something?
You know something.
Someone's telling you, talking to you in a
way that is like, I don't know, not
that great.
Yusuf a.s. is in a situation, right?
He knows that this is wrong.
Does he stand there and give them a
lecture?
Well, let me tell you all the reasons
why this is haram.
No.
What did he do?
He exited.
Why?
Because part of being humble is recognizing that
I cannot get myself in a situation.
So when someone comes to you, and remember
we talked about the word jahil, it actually
has an understanding of being void of faith.
You're void of this light, this nur.
And someone's acting very ignorantly and they truly
know right and wrong.
But for them, they're convinced that wrong is
the right way.
And you're standing there trying to have a
conversation with them about this wrong that they're
convinced on.
Do you know who looks like the ignorant
person now?
You do.
All because you couldn't humble yourself.
All because you couldn't just walk away from
the conversation.
And now you're in a compromising situation.
What I'm saying, don't compromise yourself.
It's not worth it.
Submit to God.
Be consistent with your prayers.
Make sincere dua.
Avoid judgment.
Avoid judgment.
Sincere dua.
Consistent with your prayers.
Submit to God.
Avoid judgment.
I pray that Allah allows us to benefit
from everything that we've heard here today.
I pray that Allah swt forgives us of
our shortcomings.
That Allah swt allows us to be people
who are always on the right side of
history.
I pray that Allah swt forgives us of
all the wrongs that we've done in our
life.
That those of us who have family members
who have passed away, that Allah swt fills
their grave with light.
I pray that Allah swt provides mercy and
compassion to those who are being oppressed around
the world.
And that he destroys the oppressors that are
around the world.
That Allah swt brings to light the wrongs
that cannot be forgiven.
And that Allah swt allows us to see
a free Palestine in our lifetime.
I pray that Allah swt allows us to
see those of our brothers and sisters who
are being harmed around the world.
That they are freed of that harm and
that oppression.
That we are able to gather in the
gathering much better than this and drink from
the blessed hands of the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam.
Subhanak Allah wa bihamdika nashaguna la ilaha illa
anta nasafiruna wa atubu ilayk.
Jazakallah khairan.
Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah.
We don't have time for questions today unfortunately.
But Maghrib is right now.
Assalamu alaikum.