Ismail Kamdar – Shaping Social Character Through Surah al-Nur

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you the look for the hottie llama but
		

			continuing on our team of refining our o'clock our character. In our previous chutzpah, we look at
Surah Al puja rot, right the chapter of the rooms where Allah subhana wa Taala lays down for us some
of the primary characteristics of the believer that we are supposed to be people who verify
information. We abstain from Gossip we abstain from name calling for mocking we abstain from racism,
we are united brotherhood. We say that Sura forms the foundation of Islamic character. Another
student that plays an important role in shaping our character is Surah annuel. And today inshallah
we'll begin looking at Surah anew and some of the lessons of o'clock and character development that
		

			we can take from the surah. Now Surah Anouar is much longer than Surah Al gerat. So we might not be
able to cover all of the lessons in a single codebase but we will do as much as we can
		

			to begin sure a noodle is a Medina and Surah. And they are very clear reasons for revelation. In
fact, the longest Hadith in Sahih al Bukhari is the reason for revelation of the surah right where
the full story is mentioned by Aisha Radi Allahu anha. So this story we know when it was revealed,
we know why it was revealed. And we know about whom it was revealed that there is a long story
behind it. And we'll go into that story in a different chutzpah, because that story itself will take
up an entire football, right, it is literally perhaps the longest story in the entire sahih al
Bukhari. But nonetheless, just to summarize it, that there was a scandal in that some of the
		

			hypocrites had spread a slander against one of the wives of the Prophet salAllahu alayhi wasallam.
And people were starting to begin to people were beginning to believe the slander. So Allah revealed
the surah we're number one, he clarified her chastity that she is an innocent woman, and the people
were slandering her. And number two, Allah revealed for us a set of rules to follow that if we
follow these rules, a we won't fall into sin b, no one will be able to slander us, right? These are
social rules for how to live with others in a way where you protect yourself from all sides when it
comes to these kinds of evil. That is the evil of committing the sins that people were slandered
		

			off, and also the evil of being slandered, right, we avoid situations where people can slander us.
So this is a very comprehensive surah. And it covers very important aspects of our social etiquette,
specifically in dealing with the opposite gender, and we're dealing with family. And this Shura is
so important that some of the Sahaba would recommend that you teach the surah to your daughters when
they around the age of puberty, right when they get to the age of puberty that day, you sit with
them and explain to them the teachings of surah and noon, because these are very important social
elements of our religion, that if we follow them, we will live lives that are pleasing to Allah
		

			subhana wa taala. So Surah, a new reader to get its name from a NOR is taken from the most famous
verse in the Surah. Right, the verse we ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala describes his guidance as a light,
right, the famous verse, Allah Who knew somehow it was out. Allah is the Light of the heavens and
earth. This verse is the most famous metaphor in the entire Quran. There is more commentary on this
metaphor than any others. And that too, will have to take up a separate Kappa, just like the reason
for revelation, because that verse really there is layers upon layers of meaning to it. But just to
give a simple meaning related to our topic, Allah subhanho wa Taala is telling us in this verse
		

			through a metaphor, that his guidance the Quran and Sunnah are like Light upon light neurons are
neurons. These lights they light up your life, they tracery, the darkness of sin, the tracery, the
darkness of ignorance, and the light the way to Paradise. So you must follow the guidance of Allah
subhanho wa taala. And so it's calling upon us to follow the guidance of the surah and of the Quran
and Sunnah in general. So let's go through some of the social aspects, aspects that are covered in
this sutra and how we can relate them to our daily lives. Now, the opening sections of the sutra
deal with the two main prohibitionists that the surah came down with right first is the prohibition
		

			of Zina. I'm sure every adult here knows what Xena is, right and every child do when they are the
right age, the parents should teach them what Xena is, but Zina is clearly prohibited. It is a major
sin and industry Surah eight, a penalty is laid down for Zina and actual
		

			Physical penalty of 100 lashes. So it shows the severity of the sin in the sight of Allah subhanho
wa taala. It's important for us to talk about that, because we live in a time and a place where this
sin has been so normalized that people don't even think of it as a sin anymore. So we have to
emphasize it's not just a sin, it is one of the major sins, it is right up there with the top top
three major sins after Schilke and murder, the third greatest sin is enough. So it's a major major
sin we have to remind ourselves in our communities of that, then it switches over to the other
gradation the other side, just like it is a major sin to commit Zina. It is also a major sin to
		

			accuse others of sin. It is a major sin, to slander to gossip, to spread rumors about people, and a
penalty is laid down for those who slander and gossip and spread rumors about people as well. And of
course, this this set of verses is directly related to the incident for the reason for revelation
that the hypocrites of Medina had spread a slander against our mother Aisha radiAllahu anha. And
because of the slander Allah reveals a surah, right clarifying her chastity clarifying her purity
her her piety, at the same time laying down these laws, that if people had to slander, this is the
punishment in this world what the punishment is, and in the next world, as well. So again, we stop
		

			there and think about this, right? Stop and think about is how quick are we to spread slander today.
		

			It's like, we live in a day and age where people are guilty until proven innocent. That's how the
world has become. Anyone can post anything about somebody else on social media, and the whole world
believes it before it even goes to court. This is a very dangerous mindset. Understand that one of
the fundamental principles of our religion that the rest of the world Adapted after us is a people
are innocent until proven guilty. This is a fundamental principle of our religion, people are
innocent until proven guilty. So be very careful when people are sending around WhatsApp messages,
or tick tock videos or tweets accusing this person of that sin and somebody else have another sin.
		

			Don't join the gossip circles. Keep your tongue safe from gossiping about others. Over the past few
years, we have seen hundreds of people's lives ruined by slander, complete slander things that have
been completely false without an inch of truth, just because somebody else wanted to take them down
or ruin their careers or get revenge on them for something. So as believers, we have to be very
careful to not join gossip circles. Do not listen to what people are talking about others do not go
around slandering people. It is better to focus on oneself and avoid looking into other people's
sins at all. And there's a variety of verses in the Surah related to the evils of gossip or the
		

			evils of slander and the evils of enjoying this that's an interesting point that Allah brings up
there's some people enjoy this. They get joy in gossip and slander and learning about the latest
drama. It's as if he's he's describing modern society as if he's describing the social media
phenomenon, where all the people are just gossiping about each other on social media and sharing all
kinds of rumors Allah says in the Latina you he buena Anta she Alpha Asia to Villa Xena Amanu Lima
dunya. Well, there are those who love to see this, this these trials amongst the believers, there's
immorality amongst the believers, they love to see it spreading amongst the believers, they will
		

			have a painful punishment in this world. And the next to Allah is warning that if you take joy in
seeing immorality spread, if you take joy in hearing about the downfall of others, and the gossip
and slander of others, then you will have a punishment in this world and the next. So what is the
solution? Stay quiet. Avoid getting involved in other people's drama. It goes back to what you
mentioned last week from Surah hoogenraad. Right. You have Hussein or Dawn of others. And while at
the Justice who don't pry into other people's private affairs, rather focus on your own self, then
we are given a very fundamental principle link to all of the topics in the shura, which is your
		

			leadin Manu lead the wo watershape. On all you who believe do not follow the footsteps of shaytaan
what are the footsteps of shaytan it is those little things that the devil makes us do that lead to
bigger things. You see, the devil doesn't just walk up to a righteous person and tell them to commit
a major sin. No, he starts off with small things, little clumps, little footsteps, you do those
small things it leads to something else it leads to something else and eventually you find yourself
in major sins. So to cut yourself off from any major sin. Allah says don't follow the footsteps of
sheet and open the doors for evil. And the Allah lays down for us how to avoid these what seem to be
		

			small things that lead to big things. A lot of the rules in the Shura. If you don't understand the
context, in the wisdom, they may sound trivial. They may sound very, very minor
		

			But when you understand the context of this verse, they are very important. They are closing the
doors to the footsteps of St Mark.
		

			So there are many verses in the Surah, about the
		

			about certain aspects of etiquette and manners that are there to stop us from having any kinds of
problematic problems in our social life. The next verse is very interesting because Allah subhanho
wa Taala in this verse is actually addressing Abu Bakr RadiAllahu directly. It's very interesting
story. Right, so the story behind this next verse is that when I shall Raja was landed, one of the
people spread spreading the slander about her was her own cousin. And this cousin was financially
supported by her father Abu Bakr. So when the news came out that his his nephew is slandering his
daughter, he promised never to give money to his nephew ever again. So very human and understandable
		

			reaction, right? But Allah expects better than that from the righteous. Allah expects the righteous
to be on a higher level. And so a verse was revealed directly for Abu Bakr RadiAllahu that all of us
can apply. When Allah says Wallah, you finally mean Come was Sati a your only Alma Sakina. Well
Maharaj Deena visa vie de la while you often will use for who Allah to he buena young Pharaoh La La
comme Walla who are photo Rahim. He said Let not the wealthy and people of status amongst you,
meaning Abu Bakr, he's wealthy and the person of status, let them not deprive their close relatives
who are poor immigrants from wealth, do not do not deprive your poor immigrant relatives, referring
		

			to his nephew who was a immigrant, for and a close relative. In say, Allah says, For a year for one
yes for who forgiven, overlook, forgive and overlook a fundamental principle of family relationships
in Islam. Forgiven overlook why? Why should you forgive and overlook something so major from a
family member? slandering your own daughter? Why should you forgive that? Not for them? For
yourself? What did Allah say next? Allah to he buena, young Pharaoh, Allah Hanako Don't you want
Allah to forgive you?
		

			Don't you want Allah to forgive you? If you want Allah to forgive you forgive your family members
who have wronged you. That is the message of this verse, a very important social etiquette that
again, is forgotten in our times. Many of us don't realize this, but the breaking of family ties is
a major sin. And that's why when Abu Bakr was going to do this, Allah revealed a verse specifically
for him, saying that yes, in your case, you have good reason. But it's still better to forgive and
overlook. It is still righteousness to forgive and overlook and the rewards of giving a family
member when you know they are wrong and when they are definitely wrong, and they have definitely
		

			caused you harm. The reward for still forgiving them and maintaining family ties is that Allah will
forgive you for your sense. So there's a strong incentive there to uphold family ties.
		

			Then Allah subhanaw taala warns us that anyone who slanders righteous woman, they are cursed in this
world and the next cursed in this world and the next Allah Subhana Allah says in Allah Xena your
Munna, Wasana De La Villa to me not low enough dunya was wala whom as soon as in those who, those
who slander, chaste, innocent, believing woman, they will be cursed in this world and the next and
we'll have a painful punishment is really interesting the the choice of adjectives used to describe
the believing woman and more particular Aisha Raja Mozart means that they have never committed a sin
and a related to in this area of sin. They have never committed a sin when it comes to these things.
		

			But hopefully that is even stronger. A coffee lot which is often translated in the English
Translation of the Quran as ignorant. It There's no word coffee, that means hopefully that means
that the thought of these things don't even cross our mind. shouldn't even think about these things.
The thought of committing a sin in this area won't even cross her mind. She has such pure hearts,
it's pure thoughts. And Allah is telling us that this is the benchmark of femininity that a woman
should aim to be someone who is mostly not and Horfield out that she's not just chased by the stones
don't even cross her mind that she has a pure heart that focuses only on the pleasure of Allah
		

			subhanaw taala that is the standard to aim for. That was the standard of Aisha Radi Allahu anha.
Allah has seen people who accused woman like that of evil, those people are cursed in both worlds,
they are cursed in both worlds.
		

			The Surah then goes into the more social aspects, right? It then switches gears from talking about
these prohibitions to what seems to be very trivial social laws, but which are actually very
important and forgotten in our times, beginning with a very simple rule that we forget. And that is,
if you're going to somebody else's home, do not enter the home without permission.
		

			You know, the idea that this is in the Quran, why is the Quran telling us do not enter somebody
else's home without permission? Because a lot of people some
		

			Please don't do don't follow this rule, even though it may be common sense to many of us. But there
are people who don't follow this rule. There are people who just walk in and out of other people's
homes, right? Did they feel like oh, he's my neighbor, they're like family to me, and they just walk
into somebody else's home, and then they end up might sing something inappropriate or seeing
somebody dressed inappropriately, it could cause problems, right? So Allah reveals this again, the
point here is, let the who or the watershed don't do not follow the footsteps of shaytaan. Anything
that could open the doors to following the footsteps of shaytaan is prohibited in this in the Surah
		

			including just entering somebody's home without permission, that you and someone else may be best
friends, but if you enter his home without permission, his wife could be in the house not dressed
properly, his daughter could be in the house not dressed properly, and that can cause all kinds of
problems. So something as simple as this is mentioned in the Quran and emphasizing the Quran. Allah
says yeah, you hola Xena, Manu, lead the Decodable youth and avoid Abu TiECon had that as the
initial what to suddenly move up look how specific it is Oh you who believe to not enter homes that
are not your own without seeking permission and greeting it's the people inside two things seeking
		

			permission and greeting them seeking permission you you ask can I come inside and greeting them you
yup who is inside the house and they know who is outside the house before letting you in? Right the
the greeting is there.
		

			And then Allah goes further. You see we're in lambda GDP ha ha then follow that the Holo Hatha Yoga
calm. He said, If you don't find anybody home, don't enter it. Don't enter somebody else's home
without permission. Don't enter it until you are given permission. Don't enter somebody else's home
without permission. And really, when you go into the additional ruling is even more stronger. Not
only you're allowed to enter somebody else's home without permission, you're not even allowed to
look into the homes without permission. You're not even allowed to peek into somebody else's door or
Windows without the permission. This is a violation of their privacy. One of the things you learn
		

			from Surah Noor Islam is very strong on privacy laws. Everyone has the right to their own being a
private place where what goes on in the home is nobody else's business. You're not allowed to look
inside, you're not allowed to enter without permission, you're allowed to spy on them. people's
homes should be the safe place. And so these rules are made very explicit in the Surah May Allah
guide us to practice it and to follow it. Super Hannah robic Robin is at Yama yesI Boone was Salam
wa mousseline Al hamdu lillahi rabbil, Alameen.
		

			Hamdu lillahi, wa wa Salatu was Salam ala mon Lana Ba ba ba inner circle Hadith Nikita Bula. Okay,
you heard you heard him Hamid in Salah Allahu alayhi wa sallam was Sharon morning was the third to
how Colombo desert in Colombia attended Allah.
		

			He said the suit is very comprehensive, and we'll probably split it over two or three hood paths.
But the next two verses are very important, very, very important aspects of how we interact with the
opposite gender. And these verses, you know, what we find in our communities, people either go to an
extreme and understanding them, or they ignore them completely. But we need to understand them the
way that the early Muslims did. So the next verse, Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us call me Nina,
you're good to absorb him. Well, yeah, for Zulu, Jehovah. Tell the believing men to lower their gaze
and to protect their chastity Valley God as gala whom this is pure, pure, pure for them. In the
		

			local economy, my yes known, Allah is aware of everything that you do. So in this verse, Allah
subhana, wa taala, lays down two commands for the Muslim man, right? And this makes the pot of
manliness to follow these commands to be a real good Muslim man, the kind of man and woman want to
marry. Right then what are these commands, number one, you protect your chastity, that you are
chaste Muslim, and you don't do things outside of what is halal. And number two, you lower your
gaze. Now this is the part of the verse where there's a lot of difference of opinion on what it
means. And there's a lot of misunderstanding of it. So to put things simply, what does lower the
		

			gaze mean? Lower the gaze means you do not look at someone in a lustful manner. You don't look at
them in a way that incites your lust. Now, the kids won't understand what I'm talking about. When
you hit puberty, you understand? Right? No one No need to explain it to you. But some people would
every adult knows what it means to look at someone in a lustful manner. Right? And what is simply
means is don't look at people like that. Meaning if you are looking at someone because you are
teaching them or you're doing a business deal with them, or because you you know you have some
genuine interaction with them. That's not problematic. That's not wrong. That's not necessarily a
		

			sin. But if there is this lust that enters the heart, if there is this wrong thoughts at entering
the heart, then you should not be looking at them and this special kind of state that men have,
right, that is the last footstep everyone knows it. Everyone knows what kind of state that is. So
men should not be looking at woman in that way. But the next verse says, also, the woman should be
dressing in a way that men don't look at them like that. And again, there's two sides and very often
you only focus on one side, we have some communities that only focus on how the woman should dress
and some focus company
		

			is only focused on the men lowering the case by our religions realistic, it covers both sides. It
helps the men to lower their gaze, but it also tells women not to dress in a provocative manner. And
again, people have forgotten this in the modern era, that when we tell Muslim woman to dress in a
way that is appropriate you have these ideas of you can't tell me what to do a man can't tell me how
to dress. But this is not for me. This is not from a man this is from Allah. The next verse, Allah
Himself tells women how to dress a washed up how does didn't touch the woman were calling me
naughty, yada, yada, I mean, absorbing, absorbing he now we're gonna tell the believing woman to
		

			lower their gaze and to protect protect the chastity right? It's interesting, Allah tells the men to
lower the gaze, and he tells the woman to lower the gaze. Why are these two mentioned separately?
Number one, because there is a stronger emphasis on men lowering the gaze, because men tend to be
the ones who use their eyes incorrectly. Right? But then the demand is there for the woman as well
because sometimes women also fall into this, right, especially in the modern day and age with me
sort with the way the media is portraying men and woman, you know, in these very lustful ways that
even women fall into the into the sin of staring at men. lustfully. So the prime minister, Allah is
		

			saying even though this is more emphasized, for men, it's still there for woman woman's will also
have to control their gaze and make sure they don't look at men in that way. Right. And obviously,
they also have to protect the chastity but then there's an extra command in this verse for a woman
that's not there for me. So this is in the Quran, Allah says Allah you Dina Xena, Tahuna, in Lama
Zahara, minha, and they should not expose the beauty except what is necessary, they should not
expose the beauty except what is necessary. And of course, there are different opinions amongst the
older man as to what this means. But again, we have the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa
		

			sallam, where when he spoke to his sister in law, asthma, he told her that when a woman reaches
puberty, nothing should be seen of her, besides her face and hands. So that Hadees gives you the
explanation of this verse. What is necessary? The hadith says facing hands is fine, right? So if I'm
gay, we get this opinion that a woman should cover everything except her face, it has an interesting
point and Dawn. Nowadays, we call that a job. Right? And the argument that the other side make, who
told them and you don't need to justify that the argument they make is they say that hijab is not
mentioned in the Quran is what they say. Now, there's a technicality here with a technically right,
		

			you know why they technically right? Because calling that hijab is a modern idea. It's only in the
past 100 years, we start calling that hijab. Before that we just call it covering your aura, we just
call the dressing Islamically or dressing modestly. We never had a word for it. So the Quran tells
women cover everything except what is necessary and the prophets or Islam said what what what is
necessary, you can allow to show off your face show your face enhance, right so this is established
in the Quran and Sunnah. They just never use this word for it. They never use the word he dropped
weight. So when someone says hijab is not in the Quran, you see the concept is in the Quran, it's
		

			just the word is not there, that using this word in this context is a modern usage. Because the word
hijab comes in the Quran, for example, to describe ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala they did the job between
him and the creation, there is a barrier between him and the creation. That's the context that word
comes in. So again, this is people playing around with words that yes technically that the usage of
the word industry is a modern usage, but the concept is there from the beginning. The Quran has this
concept the Hadees has this concept every month has this concept and this has been part of our
religion from the beginning. They just never used a specific word for it. So if people think that
		

			this word hijab is not granted Okay, fine, but the concept of a woman covering everything besides a
face enhance is in the Quran, and it is in the Hadees and in each ma on this amongst the hola Ma, so
we should follow it, we must follow it. Whether you want to call it hijab or not is not important.
The name is not important, the word is not important. The concept is important. Following the Quran
and Sunnah is important. You shouldn't get caught up in names and labeled let's focus more on what
does Allah say, what is the prophecy and as follows that, we will stop on that note, and we'll
continue with the Tafseer of the surah. Next week, we will go into the next set of verses which
		

			continue to discuss some of the rulings and etiquette related to homes and visiting others and how
we interact with members of the opposite gender. So very, very important. Surah which helps to shape
our social character. We ask Allah to guide us to understand these tools properly, to apply them
properly and to live by them. superhydrophobic Robin is at your mercy foon was salam saline for
Hamdu lillahi rabbil aalameen How can we solve that