Ismail Kamdar – Tafseer Of Surah Takaathur
AI: Summary ©
The "immateriality of the culture" is seen as distraction from the "immateriality of the culture" and is becoming a distraction from the "immateriality of the culture". The "immateriality of the culture" is seen as a distraction from the "immateriality of the culture" and is becoming a distraction from the "immateriality of the culture". The importance of understanding one's beliefs and actions to avoid distraction and finding out who is good and evil is emphasized. The speaker also emphasizes the need to practice Islam and learn the material to change one's life.
AI: Summary ©
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh This is the divine connection, understanding the Quran
Alhamdulillah we are back on another program looking at the Tafseer of the commonly recite the students of the Quran. And Nasheed we just heard was Al Quran by Whitehead and Wahid are performing at the soup this year, which is on right until the first of January. So if you're looking for some holiday entertainment during the next few days, you can get down to the soup inshallah. So, today, I have chosen to do Tafseer of a surah, which I feel is very
crucial to the time that we are living in, or rather, the Tafseer that we are going to be looking at today is very crucial to the period of the holidays that we are in, because we are currently in the week, between Christmas and New Year's. It is the time of the year when everybody's having fun. And many of us forget about Allah subhanho wa Taala. During this time, many of us get caught up in this world, there are so many things around us to distract us and to divert us from Allah subhanho wa Taala. There is so much going on in our lives, that they often we forget about our purpose. So today inshallah, as a reminder to myself, and to everybody else who is listening, we are going to look at
the Tafseer of surah castle. The castle is a surah, which many of us recite often in our solar.
But many of us don't know the translation of the meaning of the sutra. And it is such a powerful surah with such a powerful message about life, and our purpose, and about waking up before we die.
You see, if we look at the world around us today, the world has become a world of distraction. People get distracted in different ways. Some people spend the entire life just chasing after money, wanting to get richer and richer.
But shaden always has poverty before their eyes. So they may have 2 million. But he worried what happens if I lose the 2 million, they may have 1 billion, but the crying over the other 1 billion which they have lost. And so we have this
competition going on amongst people, they just want more and more and more out of life and never feeling satisfied.
And then besides those who are chasing after World, their jobs, what those who are chasing after other things in this world, some are chasing after a degree hoping that a degree will make him happy. Not that there's anything wrong with the degree. But if you're looking at it as the only source of happiness, then you you're going to end up disappointment or disappointed.
And then there are those who are chasing after the after the opposite gender, those who are chasing after thrills, those who are chasing after experiences, chasing after everything looking for wanting happiness. This is what we are looking for. This is what every human wants happiness. The problem today is that we are looking for it in the wrong places. We are looking for happiness everywhere, except where happiness can be found.
And everywhere we go. They are distraction to divert us from that which leads us to happiness.
We live in a time and a place and specifically in a week, where all around us is a commercialized materialistic lifestyle. Everything's about money. Everything's about wealth. Everything's about buying this buying that it's all about the dunya it's very, very easy for us during this time, to get lost, to get caught up and to forget why we exist.
And when I look around, during this week, I only think of one verse of the Quran. That's the opening verse of Surah takasaki we are learning to handle what Allah says.
Allah Hakuna Matata,
Hakuna Taka,
the competition. Listen to the translation of these words, the competition to pile up the things of this world has distracted you.
The word used the attacker stole from the word cassara. cassara means something to be a lot. The console means to $1 to pile up a lot to compete to get a lot. The castle has that emphasis on doing it with others. So the castle is where people are competing with each other to pile up more and more things. That's what this one word means. It's just one word in Arabic. But the meaning in English is like five or six words, the competition to pile up the things of this world. That entire phrase, which I just mentioned is the English translation. Probably the best English translation of this one Arabic word, the gospel.
This is part of the miracle of the Quran that Allah subhanho wa Taala chooses the most shortlist of words, to have the most powerful meanings. We saw there was too little after that those one and a half lines, those three short verses of struggle. So they give us such a powerful meaning and such a powerful tafsir, which can change your lives. Yours an example of one word, which has so much meaning the gospel, we could have translated the gospel as abundance, as it is in some of the translations. You could have translated as plenty.
But that doesn't give away the real meaning of what this verse is trying to tell us. This verse, Allah subhanaw taala is telling us that in the world we are living in, in the lifestyle that we are living, we are distracted by a competition, a competition to pile up the good things of this world. Allah calls them good things Yes, they are good things in this world. Unless you want other refers to them in other places higher into the idea which is just to shoot as before this, Allah subhana wa tada refers to weld as Hail. Hail means good. Although hunter tells us in that same verse, in the insanity hope Bill Haley studied, that mankind is too severe in his love and greed, for wealth for
that which is good. So let's have a handle on one verse is telling us that wealth is good. But the problem is that we are greedy for that wealth. And that greed is what distracts us from the purpose of life.
So aloha kimitaka. So this competition, whether you're competing with someone to get a better house than them, whether you're competing somewhere to have a bigger wedding than them, whether you're competing with people to get better cars than them, or to have more shops and and whatever it is this competition to pile up the beautiful things of this world.
It has a haka. It has distracted you. It has distracted us.
The question is from what what have we been distracted from? If we don't know what we are being distracted from, then we only able to remove the destruction.
And according to the seal of the surah we have been distracted from the purpose of life. We have been distracted from Allah subhanho wa Taala and our obligations towards him. Allah subhanho wa Taala has informed us elsewhere in the Quran. Well, mahalo, Gina will insert Ilya boon. I did not create humans or gene, except to worship me.
Are we fulfilling that? Are we living our life such that we can see that I am trying my best to worship Allah to every action, that my work is a form of worship, because I'm earning halaal, to please Allah and spending it on holidays, that my sleep is a form of worship, because I go to bed at night with the intention to recharge my energy, so I can worship Allah more in the morning
is my eating a form of worship that I say Bismillah and eat with my right hand, and I tried to follow the suit not to the best of my ability and not overeat. For the sake of pleasing Allah?
Are we living lives of worship.
So when we look at the lifestyle that we live, especially at this time of the year, how many parts of Islam have violated Islam teaches us not to overeat? I think we all give most of us, myself included are guilty of overeating in this time of the year. Islam teaches us to go to bed early and to wake up early and to spend the day productively. When you first go to bed late, wake up late sometimes even missing out fudger salah and end up spending your days in a lazy manner, not being productive.
How far have we been distracted? And how long will we be distracted for? You see, there's two types of people. There are those who read the verse and the introspect and to evaluate and say Hold on. I've been distracted. I need to wake up. I need to get with the flu I need to get on the program I need to start worshipping Allah subhanho wa Taala I need to start fulfilling my purpose in life. And then there are those who Allah subhanaw taala mentioned in the surah and he says a Hakuna Matata had the rural Tamil macabre that this competition to pile up the things of this world has distracted you until you visit the graves. What is meant by visit the graves. There are two pieces of this verse.
The first is that when you visit the graves of people literally it reminds us of debt.
And that wakes people up and gets them to start practicing Islam again. As in the Hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and he said that I used to prohibit you from going to the grapes. But now you may go to the graves to remember that. And so we should be going to the graveyard
To remember that we should be looking, going to funeral funerals to remember that we should remember that and it should wake us up. But the stronger Tafseer of this verse is that until you visit the graves is actually a metaphor. It is metaphorical. And it means until you die.
That means the fear of this versus that for many people, the competition to pile up the things of this world has distracted them from the purpose of life, until death. until death, do we want to be from that group who gets so caught up in this world so busy, so busy wanting to earn more and more, and buy newer and newer things and bigger and better things that have all kinds of different experiences completely forgetting about our stroller completely forgetting about the rights of people that we have violated completely forgetting to make sure our wealth is halaal, that we earned it in a halal way. And we spent it in a Halloween, forgetting all of this, while we are distracted
by this world, until we die.
What happens when we die?
There's two types of things that happen when you die. If we are good,
then the angels come and give good news. And the soul is removed gently. And it's taken up and the gates of Paradise open.
And the angels at every level of Paradise want to welcome that soul into them. And Allah wants to meet that soul, and the soul has a beautiful smell.
But if we are evil, if we are bad, then our soul will be dirty. Our soul will be swelling, our soul will be ripped out of our body forcefully and the gates of Paradise will be closed and nobody will want to meet it and it will be punished.
So what state do we want to be in? We are going to take a short break. When we return we'll continue with it and see it of a Salaam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh we spoke about the opening verses of surah Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us Hakuna Matata castle He wants us and he says that this competition to pile up the things of this world has distracted you Hatters Dora Toma Cabell until you visit the graves, meaning until you die
less of a hunter then goes on with a very strict warning. And he says to those who chose to remain ignorant to those who chose to turn a blind eye to the reminders to those of us who chose to ignore the warnings. He says color so photographer mode, no, on that day you will come to know
some colors over the moon again, know that on that day, you will come to know
what do we come to know God Allah Allah, Allah Mona ilma Yaki, on that day, you will come to know with certain knowledge with Yaki and why certain knowledge
because on that day later when Elijah him you shall see the hellfire. You see the big difference between belief and certainty?
Allah subhanaw taala saying that those of us who choose to ignore the warnings in this world who choose to stay away from doing the right thing and to indulge in the wrong things in the grave, we will see the Hellfire and then we will have certain knowledge, not knowledge which is
based on belief or knowledge based on information but knowledge based on sight, that you will actually see the * of it and then what, what can we possibly do then it's too late
sumatera wanna enter Yaki analysis, then you will see it with your own eyes, you will see to the eyes of certainty.
Picture yourself on that day, which ourselves in a day in the grave
waiting judgment. And we see the Hellfire with our own eyes. And then what will we be asked on that day shamala to aluna Yama is in an in an aim.
Then on that day,
you shall be asked about the good things which you are given.
So this is the short translation of surah Taka so let's get back to going into details analyzing each verse inshallah for the full message. So we said that the surah starts by
telling us about the competition to pile up the things of this world.
And that's what this world is this world is just a competition, lots of 100 Allah tells us that another part of the of the Quran that this world is only a competition in wealth and children and you know, it's all about having more. If you look at our culture today, it's all about showing face. But what will the people say? What do people see that I don't have a better car than that guy. What do the people save? Our wedding is small and simple.
And the reading is big and beautiful. What will the people say? We worry so much about what the people will see. Do we ever stop to think and wonder what what will Allah say?
Who made the people important? Who made the people's opinions of us important?
Why do we spend so much money on things that we don't need to impress people who we don't like, and won't even like us? We have. We spent millions on lavish weddings, to impress people. And the people still complain that the Mariani was burnt, that the food came late. This will go into complain, even if you have a lavish wedding, it's not going to make a difference.
But we still do it. Why? Where did these mentality come from? This is not from Islam, this mindset of wanting to please all the people of wanting to show face of wanting to waste so much of money on things of this world which are not important to us or to anybody else, just said we can look good in the eyes of people. This is not from Islam. In fact, this is against Islam. This is against the teachings of Islam.
Islam teaches us to focus on what matters, to focus on pleasing Allah, even if people are displeased with us. And allow us to handle what Allah has informed us in the Prophet Muhammad Ali. Sam has informed us that if we focus on the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala Yes, we will be tested with people being displeased with us, Allah will put us through that test. But in the end, those people who matter those people who are righteous, Allah will put the the love of us in the hearts. This is found in the books of Hadees that allow us to behind our data will put into the hearts of the believers.
Love for those who try to please Him.
So
what are we going to do with our lives? Are we going to continue competing in the things of this world
are we going to make a difference and we're going to change our lives and start doing that which is pleasing to Allah subhanho wa Taala.
My brothers and sisters, this is a very, very severe warning. So many of us decide you know Salah without even batting an eyelid out even knowing what we are talking about. But this is a very severe warning to those of us who are distracted. It's very easy to be distracted.
And another Hades the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam informed us about the beginning of creation. We allow us to handle what other created paradise and help
unless you have a handle created paradise. He sent the angel Gabriel de la he said I'm to inspect paradise. And the algebra is concluded that nobody who hears about this
will not enter it. Everybody who hears about paradise will make sure they do what it takes to get into this place. And then you send them to inspect the Hellfire and derails it. And nobody who hears about this place will ever enter it. Because if people know what help is about the going to make sure they do everything to stay away from it.
But then, Allah subhana wa tada hit paradise, and did the trials of life under the test of life. Allah subhanho wa Taala hit the Hellfire and the temptations under the competition to pile up the things of this world.
And the distractions.
And when Jupiter saw that, he said, I'm afraid nobody will be able to enter Paradise, and nobody will be able to escape the hellfire.
Well, that's 100 A has given us the way out. He has given us the way to escape. He has given us the Quran, he has given us the sooner he has given us the way of life, which leads to paradise.
Life is just about choices. At the end of the day, everything we do is a choice to do the right thing or to do the wrong thing. That's what it comes down to. We all have a choice. We can choose right now to change our lives. Yes, it's the middle of the holidays. But there's no holiday from Islam. There's no holiday from Salah there's no holiday for Allah subhanho wa Taala if we had to die this week,
as Muslims who are celebrating Christmas and New Years, how will we answer to Allah subhanho wa Taala for that?
Think about it. If you have to die at a Christmas party or New Year's Eve party. How will we ever answered Allah subhanaw taala for that
we need to think about these things. Because there is no holiday for Allah.
I chose the surah specifically for this week, because I know that this is the week where many of us forget. We forget why we exist. It's one line the past few weeks I've been hearing so many stories of young Muslims dying in places that a Muslim should never even go to
doing things that the Muslim should never even do. But we doing this in the holidays because we forget
About our purpose in life, or maybe we don't know about the purpose in life, maybe some of these youngsters we never thought about it.
Do we teach our children about the purpose of life? Do we first show it in our own actions?
We need to consider this first think about this verse carefully. Think about these verses every day. Make it a point of introspection am I from those who Allah subhanaw taala speaks about when he says aloha como takato had to makabe the competition to pile up the things of this world has distracted you until you visit degraves. Unless you're 100 tells us that you will come to know that in the grades, you will come to know and this is repeated twice. And it starts with the word color. Now these words color indicate that this is a makansutra that the surah was revealed in the early days of Makkah, because only the Moroccan sutras have the word color in it. Color is a word of emphasis.
To bring the attention of the reader towards about what Allah subhanaw taala is about to say. It's a point of emphasis. You can translate it as no color No. So for the Alamo, no, you will definitely come to know. So it's a point of emphasis and you only find it in the mock consumers. So Sue at the castle is definitely a mock consumer. It has all the qualities of a mock consumer. It talks about the afterlife. It talks about the purpose of life. It's short, it's it rhymes. It has words like color, all of these are signs of the mark consumers. Why is it important to know the difference between the makan and the Medina and sutras? Because they both have different themes. The Medina and
sutras focus more on Fiq and the Muslim sutras focus more on our beliefs and our motivations to be practicing Muslims.
We find that a Shara has informed us that she said if the first verses to be revealed with the verses prohibiting alcohol and Xena people would not have listened. But the first sutras to be revealed where she was talking about the afterlife. And once that became settled and firming people's hearts, they revealed the halal and haram and people followed it. So it's important for those of us who need motivation to start practicing Islam to start by studying the Tafseer of the McCune turas because those students are just two people like us, and into those who now have that desire to follow Islam completely, and we're ready to go deeper into the religion. Then we move on
to the Medina and sutras and start studying the detailed laws of Islam and how we can put them into practice. As these this is the order in which the sutras revealed. So so at the castle is one of the early sutras in the Quran.
And Allah 100 talks about knowledge, he says, Then you shall come to know the question we need to ask ourselves is it really from those people who want to wait until we see the Hellfire with our own eyes? Before we know the truth?
Or do we rather make the choice to learn the trick now to learn the Quran to learn the sooner to learn to follow the right way now and to put that into practice, so that we don't have to see the scene.
We don't have to see the scene we don't have to see the hellfire. We don't have to see this Horus. We can live a righteous life and earn the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala be under the shade of his throne on the last day and be from those who enter Paradise without intercession without
having to account for the deeds. We can be from these types of people if we just make the choice to practice Islam here and now to change our lives.
Unless one of them says that no one that you shall come to know again, know that on that day you shall come to know there are many points of emphasis. The Arabic of these verses is very powerful. Allah subhanaw taala uses emphasis upon emphasis color, Summa Kalla again, Godzilla for the third time, emphasis upon emphasis if you understood Arabic, you know that Allah is emphasizing the point over Allah Angela is driving home a point over here that if you don't know now, on that day, you will know the El milia in with conviction, because you will see it with your own eyes.
Do we really want to see the alpha with our own eyes?
Remember that for those of us who choose to be righteous, when we pass away, inshallah, Allah accepts our deeds, then we will be in our graves in the garden of paradise. A window will open showing us paradise, but if we choose to be unrighteous, and this will be Allah. Then we'll have a window to help so we will see how fire with our own eyes. Would that we need to take another short break. When we return we'll continue with the conceit of the surah Salaam walakum wa warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. We continuing today with the Tafseer of serrata Castle, which we began about earlier.
What's euro castle? It's a very heavy surah. It's a very
wanting style surah you see the surah of the Quran of different types. There are students which talk about paradise sutras we talk about the Hellfire sutras which teach her stories, sutras about fake, and pseudos, which have a variety of themes, so that the gospel falls into the warning category. It's a sutra, which is meant to hit our hearts and hit it hard, and to wake us up from sleep, to wake us up from our dream. And from our state of ignorance, if we are in such states.
This is the surah, which was revealed in the early days of Makkah, if you go back and look at it historically, the early days of Makkah, were such that
people did not want to hear the Quran. Remember, the majority of people of Makkah, we're not only not Muslims, but they were against Islam, they did not want to hear the revelation of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So the sutras revealed in that time was short and powerful to hit the hearts. And so for those of us today, who find ourselves, not wanting to use a lot of God and not wanting to follow Islam now to be loved, whatever the case may be, these tours are meant to hit our hearts as well. They are meant to soften the hearts of people to make us realize that life is short, and we need to make a change. That's why the sutra is so heavy and powerful in his content. And we should not shy
away from such sources.
We should talk about all the suitors of the Quran. You know, I mean, in the past few years, there's been a lot of emphasis on the heavier surah Yes, on the sutras talking about how bio, and then there was a shift to only talking about paradise. But Islam is a balance between the two. And Islam, we need to talk about both, we need to talk about both the evil ending if we choose to do wrong, so we know what the consequences will be, and the good ending if we choose to do righteousness. So we know what other rewards for doing good. We need to have this balance between hoping Allah's mercy and fee of his punishment. And so we need to discuss both types of suitors. So we should discuss and we
should introspect, and we should think about schools like serrata Castle, because they are meant to get into our hearts and to change our lives. Because it is very, very easy for us to be distracted by the things of this world. It is very, very easy to fall into the rat race, and into the competition, to pile up the things of this world for our entire lives to go and just chasing after this world without ever being able to get it. How many people
live their entire lives like this.
They spent their childhood, going to school, so that they can graduate and go to university. So they can graduate and get a job so that they can earn experience and get a better job. So they can earn experience and get a better job so that you can earn even more money so they can buy a better car so they can buy a better house so that they can retire when they're old and die and leave everything behind and did nothing for the after.
Are we in that category. Or even that category of people who got so much focus on saving and saving and saving our wealth, and the one day we die and we leave it all behind?
The Prophet Muhammad Ali some has warned us that the only wealth which is really saved is that which will give him sadaqa that we give in charity that we spend, which we spend in the cause of Allah subhanho wa Taala when we spend our wealth in the cause of Allah subhanho wa Taala then it is saved in the afterlife for us. It is saved upstairs. So when we die, and we go up,
inshallah, on the day of judgment, our wealth is there and our scale of good deeds that this is the world that He gave, and he spent on certain people. This is the world that he or she spent on their family. This is what they spent on the community on the poor people wish they knew on the Islamic projects, which they were aware of on the masjids. This is the world which will help us in the afterlife.
Are we doing that? Are we balancing, enjoying the * out of this world with investing in the afterlife, or be forgotten voting going after the harm?
We really need to think about these things. Because at the end of the day, when you pass away, we are going to be asked amongst the five questions, which we're going to be asked include about our wealth. We can be asked to things about ourselves, we not going to be asked how much did you learn? What was your salary? How much savings do you have? Not unless don't ask us about that. I don't even ask you two things. How did you earn it? And how did you spend it? You see how much you're going to earn is already written in our document it's already written in order. Allah subhanho wa Taala is already decided for every human being how much we are going to earn in our entire lifetime. We have
no control over that.
That's a reality that's something which is clearly stated in the books of Hades.
All we have to decide is how do we earn it?
Do we earn it in a Halloween? Or in Harare? Do we spend it in a holiday? Or in a Harambee? This choice? This decision is what we'll be asked about in the Day of Judgment. That Yes, you have a million Rand,
did you earn that million yen to Riba to interest? Or did you earn it through something Hello.
So we need to think about this. Let's not get caught up. Let's not be from do's Allah subhanaw taala talks about in the surah. When we read the sutras, we should read it with the mindset Oh Allah save me from being from these types of people.
We should make this dua hakama Taka, Toma COVID. This is a very, very powerful sutra.
It should make us cry if you actually caught up in this world. It really hit our hearts and make us cry. That the competition to pile up the things that this world has distracted us until we die.
How many people do we know like this?
How many people in the world today
have committed suicide overwhelmed? You know, what's the funny thing in the world today?
in the world that we live in, the funny thing is, is the rich people who are committing suicide, not the poor people. Many of the poor people that have been in the rich people who go to the wealthier countries, and you find more depression.
You find more sadness, you find more fear, more obesity, and more suicide.
Why? Because the wealth is not earned in a way which is pleasing to Allah and he's not spending away which is pleasing to Allah. So there is no Baraka in the world and there is no peace in the heart.
We started off today talking about happiness, that everybody's searching for happiness. But we searching for it in the wrong places.
Go out there and ask those people who have converted to Islam. pacifically asked those celebrities who converted to Islam. Why did they leave their fancy lifestyles, their rich lifestyles, their famous lifestyles? Why do they give all of that up to become Muslims. And you know what they'll tell you. They'll tell you, they weren't happy. They tell you they had no peace in their heart. They had no happiness in their lives. Their lives were empty. When you saw them on stage, when you saw them on magazine covers when you saw them on TV, just up in the coolest of fashions with a big smile on their face. They will tell you they were lying. to smile was a phony It was a fake smile, to keep
the fans to please the fans. But deep down on the inside, they said unhappiness. I'm not saying this for my own sake. I'm seeing this from interviews, which I have seen of celebrities who have converted to Islam, when they were asked they all said the same thing. That they were unhappy
that their money, the cars, the houses, the woman, whatever it was from this dunya that they were chasing, it never brought them happiness. They only found happiness in Allah.
And many of us, we have a low we have a connection to Allah but we are not taking it we are going after that which they ran away from. We are going towards the sources of harm and the source of love and happiness.
So we need to take one more break. When we return we'll conclude with our top of the soil Assalamu alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh we talking about the distractions of this world Sugata Castile, Hakuna Matata. So let me quickly for those who joined us go through the translation of the surah one more time, and then conclude with my final words of advice and message from the surah there's a lot of things we can see. And a lot more deeper can go into the surah. But we want to focus today on getting out of this distraction, getting out of this competition, getting out of this rat race and focusing on our purpose in life, getting back in touch and getting back in connection with Allah
subhanho wa Taala. Before we went for the break, we are talking about how many people who had everything in this world.
Many of them committed suicide because you were unhappy. And other than hamdulillah discovered Islam and converted to Islam instead and gave up things of this world. Because they realized that other music related
is only in the remembrance of Allah. It's only when you're connected to Allah only when you think about Allah, that your heart will find peace.
And then you will find peace and happiness even in the worst of situations.
So
so at the castle, Allah Subhana Allah says smilla rahmanir rahim Allah Hakuna Matata. So the competition to pile up the things of this world has distracted you had to move the body until you visit the graves meaning until you die gala su Fatah moon no
Then you will come to know Michael so
again No.
Soon you will come to know God Allah Allah Allah Muna l Amalia in
know,
if you had known with certain knowledge, that there are when l j m. You will certainly see the help prior to Muladhara, when, in eliakim and you will see it with your own eyes with the certainty of your own eyesight, similar to aluna yoma is in an in aim. And on that day, you shall be asked about the things of this world which you are given about the Naeem about the bounties of Allah subhanho wa Taala, which he has blessed us with.
Let's look at the final verse of the surah. Allah subhanaw taala says on the Day of Judgment, when we are questioned, Allah is going to question us about him, what is not him, not him all the good things which Allah has given us in this world.
It is everything he has provided us with our risk, it is referring to our wealth, yes, but also our health, our lifespan, our youth, our energy, our strength, our resources, everything which Allah has given us, our intellect, our memories, our knowledge, all of this is part of our aim. It's all part of the good things which Allah has given us. It's not just limited to our wealth, anything good, which Allah has given us fall into the category of nothing. The thing is, with each of these things which Allah has given us, which in of themselves are good, which in of themselves are bounties. Each of them can be misused and abused to do evil.
Our knowledge can be used for evil, our minds can be used for evil, our wealth can be used for evil, our bodies, our strength, our youth, our lives can be used for evil, but all of these things can be used for good as well. So Allah is not going to ask us well, how strongly we're going to ask us what did we do with the strength that he gave us? Allah is not going to ask us how much money did you earn? What is your salary? Allah is going to ask you, what did you do with your money? And how did you earn it? If you earn it in a hostile way? Did you spend it in the right way? Allah is not going to ask us about why you grew old? No, he grows old. I was going to ask us about what we did with our
youth. Did we spend our young years serving our Deen so we can be under the throne of Allah on the day of judgment?
Or did we spend it, this will be in Allah.
Allah is not going to ask us for how long we lived. We have no control over our date of birth or date of death literally said Allah. Allah is going to ask us about our lives. And how did we spend it?
That's what it comes down to is our choices. We don't choose how long we live. We don't choose how long we are young. We don't choose how long we have strength we don't choose how much wealth we have, how intelligent we are, due to how much knowledge we have.
Each of these things Allah is going to ask us how, what choice did you make in spending the gifts that Allah has given you? Allah has given you an idea, his gifts. And on that day, Allah is going to ask us, so much alumina, Yama, even a ninja him. Then on that day, Yama is in means on that day that use aluna You shall be asked, if you understood Arabic, this is a very, very powerful statement. But Allah says Duma, which is emphasis then law, again, another point of emphasis to Alou, you shall be asked, and then under a point of emphasis, meaning, which as needed, as you shall be asked, but we didn't translate the Summa the law. And now, all three of these which idea for emphasis.
mean there's a triple emphasis on the word being asked? Allah is saying, if you have to give it, you know, there's no way in English to explain this. It's Arabic. It's a it's a strong point of Arabic, which has no comparison in English. But if we had to put it in English, it's like saying that on that day, you shall definitely, definitely, definitely be asked about what you were given.
It's a triple emphasis. It's like us driving home the point that yes, you have all these things.
You can use these things to get distracted by this world. And you get caught up in the competition of this world. But you can use all these things for good as well. Think about the any gift which Allah has given us that can't be useful good. Is there any skill which Allah has given you that can't be used for good? No, everything we have can be used for good or evil.
We will be asked about it on the Day of Judgment.
It was just drive back home the importance of learning Arabic because there's so many things in the Quran, which just can't be translated into English. It's only when you read the Arabic that you get the full message, but at least this much that we get. This level that we understand should affect our hearts and change.
Our lives, we ask Allah to help us to follow the teachings of the Quran. So this is not a castle. And this is what the sutra is about. It's the entire sutra is one simple message, that this world, it's very easy to get distracted. It's very easy to get caught up in this competition, it's very easy to get caught up in the rat race. It's very easy to use the resources which Allah has given us for evil, or even not for evil before wasting our lives, wasting our lives, which in Islam is evil.
I mean, think about this, are we living? Are we just existing?
Think about that question for what are we living? Are we just existing? Are we just going through the motions, and then when we die, we'll have no impact in this world. We didn't do anything good, anything beneficial? Are we truly living lives, which are beneficial to us and others who are around us.
This is what is meant by the surah. That this world in this life is one big competition. It's one big rat race, full of distractions, full of dangers, full of hardships,
full of problems.
But we need to focus on our goal. Focus on gender focus, less pleasure, and we can get through everything we can bypass everything.
So today, we spoke about this. And you also mentioned that one of the reasons specifically in our community, one of the reasons why we get so caught up in this competition, is because we're always worried about what people will see. So if we had to shift our mindset, from pleasing the people to pleasing Allah subhanaw taala, that will be a major step in the right direction. And it would be a major step towards getting ourselves out of this competition.
Because once your life is focused on pleasing Allah,
you no longer worried about having a bigger wedding and somebody else having a better car than somebody else having a better house than somebody else. These things become insignificant.
These beings become things which you don't even think about know, your worry, and your focus then isn't a lot happy with me.
Am I earning my wealth in the right way? am I spending my wealth in the right way? Am I living my life in a way that's pleasing to Allah subhanho wa Taala. So my brothers and sisters,
it is the holidays. It is the week between Christmas and New Year's, it is the week of the year where the most sins happen.
Even amongst Muslims, this is the time of the year where the majority of sins take place. And we shaytan seem to have the strongest grip on the world. But if you're listening to this, it means Allah subhanho wa Taala wants what's best for us, the loss of Allah is giving us an opportunity to escape from all of this, to escape from this lifestyle in this circle of hardship and hurt and harm. Which leads us down here.
And I want you to go back and think about this. Think about this. Why is it that so many people who had everything in this world ended up committing suicide or going into depression?
And why is it that those who have embraced Islam, like the converts and reverts out there,
and those who have chosen to understand and to follow and practice Islam completely? Why they can be happy, even if they don't have anything on this world?
Why does this happen?
It's because happiness and peace lies in getting out of the competition. Getting out of the rat lives and focusing on the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala if you do that your life will be much easier. Life will be easier. You know many, many times reading Islam is difficult. No. Allah subhanaw taala informs us of the purpose of Islam in the Quran, you read the law become a user, whether you need to become an author in total Baqarah that Allah intends to make things easy for you. He does not intend to make things difficult for you. The Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam told us in the DNA user, definitely the religion is easy.
right he said he told the scholars when you're talking to the people just see Lola to make things easy for the people don't make it difficult for them. How do we make things easy for the people? Allah subhanaw taala has prohibited alcohol is prohibited drugs is prohibited Zina he has prohibited these things because they make life difficult. You don't believe me research these things. These things make life difficult. So the only things which are prohibited are the things which make life difficult. So if we stay away from what's Haram, our life becomes easier.
Many of us never thought about that perspective that we were just thinking this thing is haram. It's making life difficult for me. No, it's the opposite. It's really the opposite. You don't believe me? Go speak to someone who's addicted to drugs or someone's addicted to alcohol and see how much more difficult their life is.
Right? So Allah subhanaw taala wants to make life easy for us. And that's why he has sent us the Quran and said that's what he has sent us the guidance and that's why he has sent us the suit and he has sent us the Lord
Hello, Mr. Harun that if you stay away from the Haram and we enjoy what is halal, and we fulfill our purpose of life, we will have easier lives.
We'll have more beautiful lives, we have happiness and peace in our hearts. So with that inshallah we come to a conclusion of another episode of the Divine connection, understanding the Quran.
I hope that the feel of the surah has been of benefit to you.
This is smile calm down the head tutorial assistant of the Islamic online university and your host every Wednesday between 9am and 10am for the divine connection, signing off without the fear of Stratocaster, please don't ever forget to Surah and let it change your lives let the surah change your life let it affect our hearts at Hakuna Matata. makabe
the competition to pile up the things of this world has distracted you until you die.
Learn the surah with translation. ponder over it. And let the guidance of Allah change our hearts. We ask Allah subhana wa tada to protect us from the evils and the temptations of this world and to guide each and every one of us to follow him even at the times of the year at the time of our lives when it's most difficult to do so. And to always follow His guidance and to be with the righteous on the day of judgment and to enter Paradise with the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala We ask Allah subhanaw taala to give us the understanding of the Quran and to help us to practice and follow it in every aspect of our lives. We ask Allah subhanaw taala to have all the youth during this holiday
season to stay away from the Haram and to only enjoy that which is halal and to help us and to give us more avenues and alternatives to have fun the halal way. So with that we will close off for today I will see you next week in sha Allah. Allah hi Rhonda Ramadan
alameen wa Salam alaykum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh