Karim Abuzaid – Unlocking the Qurans Dynamism – Transforming Sacred Words into Living Guidance
AI: Summary ©
The Quran is the source of guidance for the day of judgment and is used for personal gain. It is a blessing for individuals to recite and reflect upon the Bible's historical significance. The importance of understanding the Bible and acting upon it for remedy and arbitration is emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the need for faith and avoiding negative behavior, as it is linked to risk of deficiency in Islam's belief system. The importance of practicing Islam and avoiding negative behavior is emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
Brothers, you can do better than that.
Finally, you've come alive. If I could request
all the brothers that they're back to inshallah,
make the,
makes come forward inshallah,
following the sunnah of our prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
Alhamdulillah, it gives me great pleasure
to be sitting here with our sheikh and
to be hosting him
here in our masjid here in Redink, Cumberland
Red Masjid.
Our dear sheikh,
Kareem Abu Zaid
and I'm sure a lot of us know
who the sheikh is, but just to quickly
introduce him. He is currently
a PhD
candidate at the Islamic University
of Minnesota.
His studies are concentrated on fundamentals of Islam
and the Quranic and hadith sciences.
The sheikh has also authored a number of
books.
He has also he has authored a number,
of books which,
you are able to buy and we are
able to benefit from. And we ask Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala that all this work that
the Sheikh is doing, that he puts on
his mizan of hasanat
on yomulqiama.
And insha Allah, I don't take any more
of the sheikh's time. So without any further
ado, Falaat Fadal Mashgura.
My dear respected brothers and
I don't know if we have sisters or
not. We do have sisters.
For the kind invitation,
the Quran
and me.
Let me,
begin by,
saying
Allah
blessed
the previous
nations
with the
presence
of living
messengers
and prophets amongst them.
Again,
before sending prophet Muhammad
the nations before us,
they would have living
prophets and messengers
to guide their ways.
And this is indeed a significant element
because we know
that messengers and prophets are normally supported with
some sort of divine
miracle,
which
substantiate
their connection with divine.
Now
with the sending of prophet Muhammad
and labeling
him
to be the last of the messengers,
obviously,
we're not gonna have that privilege.
You agree?
We don't have living messengers amongst us, do
we?
Do we have here?
No? Right?
We don't have any.
The only
way for you
really to find guidance
is at the hands of individuals
like myself
who
take on the podium and teach.
And Allah knows best.
You know, we're teaching something today
what we'll be teaching tomorrow.
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud
radiallahu anhu
had a very
profound statement
when he said,
If you want to
follow someone,
make sure that you follow someone who died
because the living
is not
immune from
fitna.
It becomes very testy,
especially these days when we have the virtual
world.
People very easy can go online and post
stuff.
And unfortunately,
the culture
is not very helpful.
People like quick things and and so forth.
So Ishaidur the important thing is
we
are
bound
to
the Quran.
Because like Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala privileged
the previous nations
with the presence of prophets and messengers amongst
them.
He
privileged us with something
that is unique also,
which is the preservation
of our guidance,
the preservation
of our revelation.
You see the previous nations,
their guidance was not protected,
was not preserved.
Of course Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala commanded them
to preserve it
but they didn't succeed in doing so
because the command of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
in this particular case is what we call
shara'i command,
Meaning you have a choice.
But when it comes to the Quran
in
This
is
a command of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah
is telling you I will preserve
this
revelation.
No one can come near it.
You as a Muslim,
any Muslim who question
or doubt the authenticity
of the Quran
goes out of the fold of Islam.
Whoever belies one letter
from the Quran goes out of the fold
of Islam.
Because Allah
is the one who bledched
to
protect that revelation.
And, you know, sometimes we get these brothers,
unfortunately, who say there is a hole in
the narrative and all that stuff. You see,
for you as a Muslim,
you do not need a scenario of how
the Quran was
preserved. It's it would be nice. It would
be good. It will help you. It will
help you to explain to non Muslims, but
you as a Muslim, no.
You believe this Quran is preserved. And you
see it in practicality.
Children who are under the age of 10
memorize it. They are not even Arab.
They they don't some of these children do
not even know what they memorize.
For the Quran is memorized is is preserved.
The point I'm trying to make here, all
this talk, I'm trying to wake you up
and engage you,
that
the only way for you to find
reliable
guidance is if you go back to the
revelation to the Quran.
And of course when I say the Quran
Ikhwa, I say the Quran and the Sunnah
and what explains the Quran?
We know that the Sunnah of the Prophet
explains the Quran.
And when the scholars
identified
the means to explain the Quran,
following the evidence based
methodology,
which they call it
that you use the author to explain. They
said the Quran explains the Quran.
2,
the prophet or the sunnah or the hadith
explains the Quran.
3, the Sahabi explains the Quran.
4, the
predecessor
explains the Quran then you can go to
the Arabic language.
But you cannot override
one of these steps.
You have to look for the Quran for
an explanation for the verse.
If you don't then the one who received
the Quran who used to study the Quran
every year, sallallahu alaihi salam,
every year
Jibril Alaihi Salam would come and
That's your source of guidance, simply.
Unfortunately,
many of us have these hurdles, have these
barriers between us and the Quran.
We know that we can engage with the
Quran,
5 ways.
And
I'm
using Ibn Al Qayim analogy of Hajrul Quran.
You can engage the Quran by listening to
it.
Listening to the Quran.
And we know Rasulullah
at one time he actually requested
from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud to recite the Quran
to him.
You're aware of that hadith?
No?
You are?
You're not aware of it?
Man, see, I so I need to come
down a little bit.
One day,
the prophet actually
went to
Abdullah He said to him
recite the Quran to me.
He said, You Rasulullah, O Messenger of Allah,
how in the world I'm gonna recite it
to you when it was revealed upon
you? He said
I love to hear it recite it to
me from others.
He started Surat An Nisa
until he reached the verse
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam broke in tears.
And we know in multiple occasions the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would walk
around his companions at night as they observe
the Hajjood
and he would hear them reciting salah
in the Hajjood.
One day he said to Avi Musa al
Ashari
You were given one of the instrument. Your
voice is so beautiful.
Abdullah ibn
Abu Musa Al Ashari said, You Rasulullah would
I have known that you listen to me
Love listening to the Quran.
The second is reciting it.
Reciting it, there is a great reward.
Is actually a source of great has a
number of hasanat. Imagine
the prophet
says
every letter that you recite from the Quran
you receive
for every letter, for each letter.
And I'm not saying
is 1 letter.
No. Alif is one letter. Lam is 2
letters, 3 letters.
How many hasanas in there?
A 190.
A 100 and 90 Hasan.
And this is if you have more sincerity,
Allah will multiply more for you.
Reciting the Quran
is
a blessing
Recite the Quran
as it will come to intercede on your
behalf of on the day of judgment.
You know in the day of judgment
people run away from one another, even family
members. Right?
Family members run away from you.
The Quran comes
in a form in a physical form, actually.
The Quran will be transformed into a physical
form
to intercede on your behalf in the day
of judgment.
The
Quran and fasting intercedes on behalf of
those who used to fast and those who
used to
resided in on the day of judgment. The
Quran will say what I
my lord
I deprive him from sleeping at night.
For reciting the Quran is a blessing.
Many of us, alhamdulillah,
we go as far as that.
We go as far as that. We achieve
that. Alhamdulillah.
Many Muslims,
they listen
and they recite.
But here is the biggest hurdle.
The third is
comprehending,
is learning it,
what it means.
A lot of us stop there,
and that's a problem.
Imagine
having a map
which supposed to guide you,
and you don't know how to read it.
I know we have the GPSs now and,
you know, the
phones, but imagine that you don't know how
to read it.
The Quran is there actually the entire
objective behind the revelation of the Quran
is for you to understand it, reflect upon
it, and then act.
Because the other the last two steps which
is
acting upon it and using it for remedy
and using it for,
arbitration
is really contingent upon you understanding it.
So that step here is
detrimental
regarding your relationship with the Quran.
A lot of Muslims, unfortunately, they look at
the Quran like a historic book.
Oh, this book came and guided the
the Arabs 1450
years ago and
no, The Quran is a book of guidance
until the day of judgment.
The Quran is to guide us until the
day of judgment.
The famous approach of the Quran, the mystic
approach.
You know, many times we we find these
weak
fabricated hadith
if you recite a
1000 times.
Yeah you're gonna feel good,
Yeah, you're gonna feel high.
But what did you get from it?
What did you learn from it?
You see,
that's the issue here that we're having with
the Quran.
I wanna share with you
an incident
which really the first
fitna,
the first test. When I say fitna, I
mean what?
Test.
See, you guys gotta communicate with me a
little bit, you know. First of all, I
speak an American accent, and I don't know
if it is understood or not. And I'm
not an American even. I'm Egyptian,
and you guys are British.
So you're looking at me like I'm coming
from the moon. I don't know if you're
understanding me
or if I'm
I'm communicating with you or no?
I'm getting there
because it doesn't I mean, it doesn't make
any, you know, no benefit to me or
to you if I'm not.
So we're good.
But show me some love here.
Show me show me some
okay.
But you the first
fitna
well, let me ask you.
What is the first
test the Muslims
came across or encountered
after the death of the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam?
Raise your hand.
No collective answers. Name 1. Yes.
Zakah.
Yes. I'm asking for the first ever. Can
I take my quote off?
Alright. The first ever.
Choosing the successor?
Disunity.
Actually, the death of the prophet
was the first fitna,
accepting that he died.
Can you imagine,
Omer,
someone the prophet
said about him, if there is a prophet
after me would be who?
Took a sword and he said whoever says
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam died, I'll kill
him.
He did like Musa, he went
to meet Allah and he will be back.
Anas ibn Malik
described the conditions of the Muslims
in a very profound way when he said,
most of them
sat down
so chilling,
so quiet
to the extent
that birds
could land on their heads. You know, when
you sit down and bird land on your
head, that means what?
You're very peaceful.
You don't move.
A state of a shock.
As if they never expected this to happen.
SubhanAllah.
Who was out of town? Abu Bakr Sadiq
radiAllahu an. Based on the author, he was
in a suburb of Medina called the Sun.
So when he came back,
he saw the companions
of the prophet
in that state.
He entered
into the room of his daughter
And he saw that the prophet
is
laying there dead.
He kissed his forehead.
And he said
and he came out
and he looked at his companions and he
looked at his,
Yani, his the companions of the prophet
and he addressed them in a very
confident manner.
What did he say?
Whoever worships Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
Muhammad is dead.
Whoever worships Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is ever living and
he doesn't die.
And he recited the verse which really
given him that understanding,
the verse in Surat Al Amran chapter 3,
I think 143, if I'm not mistaken.
Muhammad
is
a messenger who came in a chain of
messengers
like the previous messengers. Now if he is
to die or to be killed
you're gonna stop working for Allah now?
You're not gonna do anything for the religion
anymore?
If you do that, you're the losers.
You're not gonna harm Allah as a thing.
The companions of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam said as if we hear that verse
for the first time.
They said that.
One verse
rectified
the condition of the ummah.
One verse
treated the situation.
Now I wanna ask you the following question,
test your knowledge when this verse was revealed.
When was it revealed?
JazakAllahu Khair in the battle of Uhad 8
years back.
So this verse is in the Mus'haf
for 8 years.
You're not gonna tell me that it was
revealed Abu Abu Bakr, right? Abu Bakr
doesn't receive revelation.
Right?
Right? It was already in the Mus'haf.
It is there in the Mus'haf.
Abu Bakr why Abu Bakr
called that verse to treat that situation?
Because of the parallels
between the two situations.
The
similarity
between the present
and the time it was revealed.
We somehow
had
an understanding
or presented an understanding
of the present,
let's see the situation
when this verse was initially revealed.
The battle of
Uhud. Go back 80 years.
Muslims
defeated
the disbelievers.
Their heads, their chiefs were killed.
Disgraced in the Arabian Peninsula for them, for
Quraish.
300 men
defeated 1,000,
killed their leaders,
So they came back a year later for
vengeance.
The prophet
held
Ashura
council,
Shura.
He asked the people, what should we do?
Should we go out
to fight them?
Or should we
wait for them in Medina?
Of course, the numbers
of the disbelievers
was close to 3,000.
If you count the number of Muslims at
the time, doesn't even mount to that,
doesn't reach that.
So Rasul
was
actually off the opinion
of waiting for them inside Madinah.
So that maybe
the street fight, you know, that
it's a little bit different than an open
field.
But some of the companions
who are,
very enthusiastic
and very motivated
because,
many of them missed on Badr.
Why did they miss on Badr? Because Badr
was initially
no battle. Bedir was what?
Was an expedition.
They are just trying to take over a
caravan
guarded by 40
individuals,
horsemen.
So Rasool Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam did not make
it a condition
that they have to come out for better.
He said whoever is ready let's go, if
you're not ready no problem just stay.
But we know that better turned at the
end to be what?
A fight, a big fight.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
planned it to be this way,
to send the message to the Ummah
that
it doesn't matter
your numbers,
it doesn't matter your resources,
What matters is you are obedient.
You you obey Allah and his messenger.
And you're sincere, and you do your best.
I'll give you victory.
Even if they are 3 times your numbers,
better equipped than you
Because victory
comes from Allah.
Allah is the one who gives Nasr.
These companions who are motivated, they said, you
Rasool Allah, let's go out and meet them.
Let's show them that we're ready for them.
So they went to the
mountain of Uhud.
Rasul salallahu alaihi wasallam looked at the battleground.
He saw that the terrain of Uhud could
be
a good protection to their back.
So they're gonna have the mountain of Uhud
in their back, but there is a gap
between
a hill
and the mountain of Ohad, which is they
call it the archers, the the Jabal Aruma,
the hill of of the archers.
So he commanded
50 archers
led by a companion by the name of
Abdullah ibn Jubair
to stand on the top of that hill
with their arrows.
Make sure that the disbelievers do not attack
them from behind.
The disbelievers
somehow
planned
to actually attack the Muslims from behind.
They had 2 flanks,
1 was led by Khalid ibn Walid who
was not a Muslim at the time
and the other was led by Ikrima
ibn Abi Jah
was not a Muslim at the time
waiting
for
the archers
to make that mistake.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam giving the
archers
crystal
clear
instructions
that
has no ground whatsoever
for any interpretation.
What we call in Islam, mohcam,
crystal.
No 2 can differ on understanding.
He said to them, listen.
If you see us defeating them and chasing
them back to Mecca,
do not
abandon.
Leave your position
until I command you.
And if you see them defeating us and
chasing us into Medina,
likewise,
don't move until I tell you.
No ground for what?
You know, like the prophet at one time,
he said to the companions what? None of
you should pray Asar but where?
When
you right? You heard that hadith before?
Right?
You heard that hadith before?
Right?
None of you should pray Asr but in
a place called.
This is there is a ground for interpretation.
Maybe you know what the prophet meant? He
meant,
you know, just hurry
up. So we're talking
about on time because
and some people talk it what? Literally.
That means the command has what?
A ground for what?
Here and there, but this one know.
When the battle started,
everybody is obeying Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
The promise of Allah came down.
This is in Al Imran.
Allah fulfilled his covenant
because you were obedient,
you were victorious at the very beginning.
Actually, the disbelievers themselves
ran out of the battlefield.
The Muslims chased them. Here is the fitna
right
here. When the disbelievers
ran out
being chased by the Muslims, they left behind
them
very precious shields and what we call
or.
Now the archers
decided to come down and desert their posts.
Not all of them, by the way. In
some narration,
40,
their leader and 109
beside him refused to come down. And he
kept calling upon them, and they were actually
killed on the top of that hill.
But the rest, they came down collecting what?
Disobeying who?
There is a huge debate,
amongst the Muslims.
If you read the seer,
did the were the Muslims really defeated in
Uhud
or no?
Because if you look at the
the the strategic
victory, there was no strategic victory. These believers
didn't really achieve a lot.
What did they do? They just killed 70
of the Muslims and they went back to
Madinah. They went back to,
Makkah. They didn't really do a whole lot.
And actually themselves they realized that. Right? Didn't
you want to come back?
Halfway?
You're familiar with that. Right?
They wanted to come back because what did
we achieve?
We should have gone to Medina and finish
these guys off.
And
it's correct,
but, here's a a better way of putting
this
On the day of Uhud,
in
The principles of Islam were victorious,
were triumphant.
The principles.
But the Muslims were defeated.
Why the principles of Islam were triumphant on
this day?
That you cannot disobey Allah, his Messenger and
win.
You can't.
Can you imagine Muslims actually winning this battle?
Uhud.
What is the message here that will be
sent to us?
That the prophet can command you to do
certain things and you disregard them and you're
gonna
no.
No.
See, battle was different. You're outnumbered,
weak, ill equipment,
ill equipped.
Your enemy is strong, came to fight actually,
marching,
well equipped,
but you had the means of victory which
is what Taqwa,
obedience of Allah and his messenger.
Ishaid,
when the,
disbelievers,
the the two flanks,
Khalid and Akrimah, realize that the Muslims made
that mistake. They attacked the Muslims from behind.
Those who are chased out, they came back.
They got the Muslims in between.
They started killing them.
The prophet salallahu alayhi salam himself
was life,
was threatened that day.
Abu Dujana and all of those and
and protected him. Some of them shield him
like this.
Is Shaheed, the important thing is, the point
of reference here, all of this is just
to come to this point,
A rumor
went out in the battlefield that the prophet
was killed.
Now when the Muslims
heard that,
some of them
deserted the battlefield.
They left the battlefield and and sit they
sat down.
Where do we find this?
1 of the companions,
and and they say this verse was revealed
regarding
He missed on better.
And when he, Rassulullah, was holding that shura
council,
he said to the prophet,
if you give me a chance and ohrud,
I will do and I will do. And
he was truthful.
He wasn't freaking it.
So he was walking into the battlefield.
He's the one who said what? I smell
Jannah.
You heard that you heard that said, I
smell Jannah behind Uhud. He said
that. I can smell the scent of Jannah
behind Uhud.
But he was walking into the battlefield and
he saw some companions sitting down.
Said, what are you doing?
Why are you sitting like that? He said,
matter Rasool Allah.
The prophet was killed.
Stand up and die for what he died
for. Why are you sitting down?
And the verse was revealed right here.
Again, I don't want you to be
absorbed into the details here, but you know
the point I'm trying to draw here.
You see
you have
to turn the Quran
into a dynamic
text
Abu Bakr Sadiq, why Abu Bakr Sadiq chose
that verse in particular?
Because of what?
The similarity
between the criterias.
And that gets you to an area that
for you to understand and comprehend the Quran.
You need to master the
because listen the Quran
is different from any other book that was
revealed before.
All the books revealed before came down what?
One time
the Quran was revealed in how many years?
23 years 2 months to be accurate.
And most of the Quran was revealed
interacting with the community.
They would do something and the Quran comes
down
what? To address the issue, to treat the
issue.
For you
to be able to
equate
your present
day condition
with
the reasons why
these verses were revealed is you must master
what? Asbab al Nuzul, the reason for the
revelation,
the sunnah, and all of that.
This is what can break that
gateway,
that
barrier between you and the Quran that you
are. You end
up not only understanding
it,
but knowing what Allah wants you to do
by it.
Well, listen. Reflecting upon the Quran does not
mean just understanding it. It requires reflecting upon
the Quran means that you know what Allah
wants from you. What the what does Allah
mean by that?
I'll give you an example.
During the time of Omar,
Omar would insist to include Abdullah ibn Abbas
in his Shura Council.
Abdullah ibn Abbas was young.
We know who's Abdullah ibn Abbas, right?
A very special
companion of the Prophet and he's what?
Prophet's cousin, not uncle, cousin. He's the son
of Abbas.
He's his cousin.
And Abdullah ibn Abbas in particular the Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam made a very special dua
for him. What was the dua that he
made for him?
Oh Allah teach him the interpretation of the
Quran.
Omar
always brought Abdullah ibn Abbas near him.
But some of the seniors of the Sahaba,
who are members of the Surah Council of
Omar,
would actually rebuke Omar for doing that. Why
do you include this young man, youngsters, amongst
us?
And,
so Omar wanted to show them why.
So one day,
as they were sitting,
Umar
recited
Please explain this for me.
Everyone explain the meanings.
When Allah, his victory is here,
and people are coming to you in delegations
to accept Islam,
Glorify and exalt Allah his name and seek
forgiveness.
Indeed Allah is
the oft
forgiving.
So they explained what?
The meanings.
What do you say about it?
You know what Abna Abbas said?
Allah is telling the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam, quit treaty you're about to die.
And it is true, Rasool alaihi wa sallam
actually died 20 days after this.
Based on what Abdullah ibn Abbas concluded that,
Omar by the way, looked at him and
I said, to Allah by Allah nothing more
I can say about it but what you
said.
That's how I understand.
But based on what?
Abdullah ibn Abbas.
People are coming to Medina to accept Islam.
That means their mission is what?
Before the prophet actually would need to go
to them
to bring Islam to them, people are coming
not in not individually.
And delegations.
Also, there is another variable there
that normally
when you complete an act,
what do we do after completing this act?
This is the salah. Right?
What do we say after that?
The first.
Well, Allah forgive me for this salah. It
doesn't even qualify
and befit you.
Always.
Look
When you come down from Arafah,
this is a day on which actually you
receive a new birth certificate basically based on
the hadith
But Allah is asking you to ask for
forgiveness.
For Rasul
was asked to ask for forgiveness because that's
you completed your mission. That's what you should
do. This is how Abdullah ibn Abbas
produced what?
This meaning.
It took him understanding
certain understanding.
First of all, the circumstances of the revelation
and so forth. That this is what is
meant here, that you you're able
to recite
the Quran
and reflect upon it so you can treat
present day issues. So the Quran becomes dynamic,
not static, not some dead text in your
lives.
How long I still have?
I know you're gonna tell me as much
as I want, but tell me the truth.
How long I still have?
25 minutes. I'm gonna attempt
right now
to treat a present day issue
using the Quran. I'm gonna apply Abu Bakr
methodology.
Okay? And we try that.
No one can deny
that we live
in societies
which not
faith centered.
You know what that means, right, when I
say faith centered.
Right?
Religion,
faith is not what
is not primary thing.
Actually, it's becoming personal. It's becoming like a
taboo.
If you guys know what that means. Right?
You can't even talk to people about faith
anymore
because they consider to be what?
You're you're invading
my privacy.
That's my personal thing. Don't talk to me
about that.
In the past, actually, you could you could
have you could talk about faith to people.
You could give them dawah.
The the society where we live or the
ideologies
where we live,
although we're Muslims,
but yet
we are
totally
influenced
by these ideologies,
by these societies,
by what they teach.
And they control the setting.
You turn the TV on,
you learn, you hear what they what they
want you to hear,
not what you want to hear.
The radio on, likewise.
Events, likewise.
We call it the brainstorming
machine.
Be rich.
Money.
Money. Isn't that you guys are British? Money.
They say money. We say money there in
America.
Money. Make money.
Be rich, house, Tesla.
Tesla. Tesla is a car.
Tesla. My my son says it's Tesla. He
says Tesla.
Like, Bob, I wanna drive Tesla. I said,
okay. So so in Jannah Insha Allah.
So
the in and the out.
Oh,
there is a a saying,
When something is repeated all the time, somehow
it resonates.
Even if you don't understand it, you just
start repeating it.
I read in one of the books
that one of the people was standing up
and holding a dung of a camel. I
know it's a little bit disgusting, but
it drives the point across. You know what
a dung of a camel is. Right?
You know, normally, it looks like a date.
So the people passing went, nice date.
So the second one,
man, that's a very ripe date. Where did
you get that from?
You know what he did?
He ate it. He believed them.
That's the influence.
Why the prophet
tells you that
the likeness
of a good companion
is like what?
What is the parable the prophet used?
What was the parable?
Why? Why?
Because the influence of that person will transcend
you without you even recognizing it. You go
and sit next to him, you just smell
good. You go home, you're in trouble. Your
wife is gonna ask you where you've been.
Smell good.
Even without buying or you're just gonna smell
good?
That's
even the place, even I wanna tell you,
even the place can affect you, can affect
your faith.
Even the place.
Some of you may have heard that hadith
before but hear it now in the context
of what I'm saying.
When the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam and
his companions were returning from Khayyubar
and it was late at night
and they were extremely tired.
So they had to sleep in the desert.
The prophet
went to Bilal.
He said, make sure that you wake us
for for Fajiriyah Bilal.
What happened to Bilal?
Until the sun, what,
rose?
What happened Abila? What made you sleep? Made
me sleep?
Some of you may not hear this but
in a wording of this hadith which is
authentic.
When you miss Fajr and you wake up
and the sun is already out, what should
you do?
Right away.
You know what the prophet said to his
companions?
Let's move out of that place first.
That place is not good.
A place where
heedlessness
inflicted you, don't stay there.
So not only the person, the people affect
you, the place.
Who heard the the story of the Muslims
returning from Tabuk,
and they needed drinking water
and they stopped by the ruins of Salih.
Right? Samut?
Jibril comes down.
Get out of there.
This is a place where people wrong themselves.
Don't stay there.
We're talking about the ruins of a nation
that was
passed.
We have the man who killed 100 souls.
What was the advice of the scholar? Not
the the one who acted like a scholar.
What was?
What's the criteria?
The place is bad? The people are what?
Go where?
Because of the place and what?
That's, appearing the true right in fact.
But when when when you live in that
environment
and and they tell you brothers and sisters
in Islam,
normally,
in that environment where we live,
the system who controls,
you know, everything, who controls the brainstorming
machines,
whether they are the media,
the education outlet, the social, the financials,
They make sure that there are 3 things
absent from your life.
That you hardly hear about them.
Number 1, a creator.
That's why they introduced to our kids in
the school there, evolution or chimpanzees
or all that stuff.
Imagine you send your kids to the public
school system whether it is American curriculum or
British curriculum,
God doesn't exist there.
Imagine that. For 12 years, you guys have
k to 12 here.
No? K to 12. 12 years, you send
your child
you can be happy without God.
You can be successful without God.
That's the public school system,
isn't it?
No mention of God.
No mention.
Day in and day out.
So this is number 1.
What is number 2?
No curriculum. No religion.
You're free. You're liberal. And they teach you
that
Come on. Don't stone.
Don't follow the
gonna follow that? Do as you please. You're
a liberal man.
Do not need a religion to teach you
how to go to the bathroom,
how to wash after you come out of
the bathroom,
how to eat with your right
when the etiquette that you hold the knife
with with your right and and
the the what is the other thing called?
Fork.
Come on. Be modern.
Be civilized.
Ladies first, have the lady walk in front
of you so you can look at her.
Leave that. You're liberal.
That's how they actually convince you of these
things.
Oh, don't you like fashion?
Don't you admire a woman
dressed,
but she's not dressed?
Don't you like spiritual things? Makes you high?
That's how Shaitan does things.
So no curriculum.
What is the most important one? No finals.
Imagine you go to a university
and the professor comes to you and say,
guys, no curriculum.
Study whatever you want and you know what?
I cancelled the finals.
No exam.
No day of judgment.
No day of judgment. That means what?
Imagine if there is no accountability on the
day of judgment.
Say,
no.
Free.
No. They have judgment.
That's what they do. The 3. They call
they call them the 3 dimensions.
And those are fundamentals
in faith
that you must believe in Allah.
SubhanAllah,
who heard this
Which is really normally part of a verse.
Who heard that before for Quran?
Yeah. What does it mean?
They have not given value. They're perfect. They
have not
given
respect to Allah the way that he walked.
SubhanAllah.
This line was repeated 3 times
in the Quran in association
with 1 with with these 3.
Only 3 times in the Quran.
One of them about
Allah the creator Surah Al Hajj.
The second is about the revelation,
Surah Al An'am.
The third is about the day of judgment,
Surah Al Zumr.
Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why are you insulting Allah
when you say that? Why?
Why? Because you're you're saying Allah created something
without what?
What are you gonna accuse me of?
That's exactly when you say that, when Allah
created the creation for know what?
When when
when
look at the the levels of
Knowledge.
Writing of that knowledge.
Divine will and creation.
So before the creation came up, Allah knew.
Allah wrote
Allah willed for this to happen.
The important thing, the point that I'm trying
to make here
is we're living
in a society where they want you to
forget Allah.
They want you to forget about
religion.
They want you to forget about
the hereafter.
They don't want that.
They do not want that.
Now imagine
the Sharia of Islam.
The religion of Islam
confronted that in a very practical way.
There is a chapter
in the Quran
that you must recite
at least at least if you're a Muslim.
Yeah, there's
a 17 times a day.
What chapter is that?
Al Fatiha.
17
times a day. This is what? The basic
if you're a Muslim.
Listen. There is a question mark regarding people
who do not pray, at least according to
Hanabiullah.
They don't differentiate between whether he's not praying
out of laziness
or out
of jahood,
intentionally not praying. We know that the the
3 other Madahab, they
they they check the person out,
Yeah? Whether he's doing this out of
this or out of that. The shadow the
important thing here is what?
Every day you must recite that chapter at
least 17 times. Let's count them. 2 Fajr,
4 Duhur,
4 Asir. How many?
3 Maghrib.
4
70.
Now if you wanna have a a house
in Jannah and you do the 12 fracas,
which is what? 2 before fajr?
4 before,
2 after, that is 8, 2 after Maghreb,
and
2 after Asia.
And 1 at least.
1.
That is 30 times a day.
So here they are. Forget about the hereafter.
Forget about the akhirah. Forget about the deen.
Here is Allah is equipping you with what?
With this chapter.
Imagine
this chapter is centered around those 3, to
remind you of those 3.
Who's this?
What is the means?
Therefore,
I wanna worship you.
But, unfortunately,
we
don't treat
in this manner.
I wanna tell you, I mean, I I
face the same thing. You know, sometimes I
pray. I wanna tell you that. And
subhanallah as I'm reciting the Quran, did I
read it
Fatiha?
Subhanallah.
We we we don't look at al Fatiha
in that manner. We don't take it in
that manner.
Brothers and sisters in Islam is the mother
of the Quran.
Imagine
every letter that came after
explains
an essence of the Quran. Sayed ibn Musayev
had a very profound statement. I'm gonna finish
it in a couple of minutes. He
said, Allah revealed
a 123,000 books.
Allah consolidated them in
5.
The Quran,
and and then 3. I'm sorry. And
Allah consolidated those 3 books in the Quran.
And Allah consolidated the entire Quran in Al
Fatiha.
And Allah consolidated the entire
But we don't treat this way.
Who heard about the book called?
And
originally,
but it's about this book.
We do not treat
in this man.
Sometimes we we will pray behind imams, bless
them with a beautiful voice,
as he is reciting,
how we get occupied with what is he
gonna recite from the Quran and we even
forget about Al Fatiha.
Imagine Al Fatiha
is a conversation between you and Allah.
There is a
hadith
The prophet said, Allah said, I divided salah
between me and my slave into 2 halves.
Imagine when you
say
You know what Allah says?
That's why by the way the sunnah when
you recite al Fatiha for the Imams.
That's what? You recite it individually and you
leave a little?
Act like you're hearing the the ears of
your hearts are hearing Allah
and responding to you.
This is between me and my slave, and
I know what he wants. I'll help him.
See that? You see how
Allah
wants to protect us
from
being dissolved,
being sucked
into a material world.
Here they are day in and day out
reminding you of duniya,
of money.
Success is here, and Allah is telling you
what? No. Success is there.
Success is there.
You just have to what? Pay attention to
it.
I rest my case,
That's it. That's all I have to say
about that.
Did we understand something?
Did you get the concert here?
Alhamdulillah,
I started,
you know,
a project called
pursuing the higher aims of the Quran,
which I decided to call the where
I go after each chapter and actually come
up with
an aim that can treat an issue. So
far I've done until in Nisa.
And
these books are available for free.
The I heard the imam saying sale, you
can buy them from Amazon but I have
them pdf on my website for free.
You can actually download them for free.
I did already,
actually
the last weekend I was in Green Lane,
I did the road map to Al Baqarah
Al Imran explained people enjoyed it a lot.
You know,
we we got to break these
boundaries between us and the Quran. If you
want to enjoy Islam.
If you want to be guided.
If you want to place your salvation in
the hands of someone that you know whether
he's gonna be okay tomorrow or whether he's
gonna go astray.
You know we we we don't believe in
those individuals
you know, because we we believe that only
infallibility,
exclusive to messengers and prophets. Me could go
astray. Anybody can go
astray. Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Oh Allah teach us the Quran
and oh Allah make us amongst those who
act upon it. Whatever you wanna do with
me, I'm ready to go Insha'Allah.
Question answers,
stop, stop. Whatever you want to do with
me, I hear and I obey.
Right. Jazakumullah kir to Shaykh for that very
beneficial
reminder. And I'm sure that every one of
us can take away much benefit from it.
And on the topic of the Quran and
how important the Quran
really is. I want
to remind you of the lessons that we
have here in the masjid. Where we go
through the Tajweed and the makharaj
of Juz'am and Surat Al Fatiha. And you
have a chance in perfecting,
your Surat Al Fatiha which as the Sheikh
mentioned is a very important part
of our lives and a very important part
of the prayers. And that lesson takes place
every Wednesday
Friday after the Maghrib Salah. So I advise
every one of you to come and benefit
from that, where you can come and,
improve your recitation of Surat Al Fatiha
and Juz'am.
And with that, inshallah,
I think the sheikhs wouldn't take any questions.
So if you have any questions, you can
raise your hands, and the sisters,
they can send them to they can write
them.
They can write them down and send them
down inshallah.
Any questions?
Okay, Sheikh Al okay.
Bad luck?
Oh, I see.
Lati Rafi'i Islam, the prophet,
mentioned. So the brother, just for the, others
who may not have heard the question, he's
asking about,
not eating,
certain food
or not waiting or driving certain cars.
I
I assume that food has to be with
being veggie or something. Right? Or or also
bad luck?
Oh, I see. So that it's all about
the colors. Right? Yeah. So,
in Islam,
there is no such a thing in Islam.
You
see,
Allah
is the one
who brings the good and permits
the bad
according to you
to take place.
And
this is jahiliyah.
This is a practice of Islam.
They actually used to do that.
They used to, like, get a bird if
a bird flies this way and this way.
We don't do that in Islam.
We believe that,
any harm
or any benefit
has to do with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
and nothing can trigger it
or prevented it
from taking place except Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
That's why we rely upon Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala with our hearts,
but we do not believe in these superstitious
elements.
We take the means, you know, I don't
if I don't want to get harmed then
I just make sure that I eat healthy
food. You know, if I don't,
you know, feel
if I want to be dressed properly, I
dress properly.
So but these superstitions
is a sign of
deficiency
in the belief system of the individual.
I
I think the whole thing,
here is
the people
influence the place.
Why the place is bad? What is the
best place on the face of this earth?
Why did the prophet was
leaving it?
Why did he leave it? Because of the
place or because of the people?
I think the whole thing has to do
with the people, not
the place. The people mess up the place.
When the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam came, he
was
departing Mecca, he looked back and he said,
by Allah, I know that you're the most
beloved place in earth to Allah.
And because of your people, I'm leaving.
Again, when I say people, the people who
work on you
day in and day out
to make you forget why you're here,
why Allah created you,
what is gonna happen after you die.
The entire system is tuned to that to
make you forget that.
When do you hear about Achera out there
unless you come where?
When?
That is why it's a very dangerous thing,
the environment where you allow yourself in.
That's why
Islam interfered with your choice of a spouse.
Don't just go and marry somebody.
Marry someone who gonna remind you with akhira,
pray with you.
Right?
Interfere with your choice
of masjid. Don't go to a masjid where
they practice,
the beddah.
Find a masjid where the sunnah is established.
Don't go to a masjid where they do
shirk. They go and worship the graves.
That is gonna get to you.
School.
You gotta work on that environment.
Make sure that environment is sound.
Yeah.
You know, there is one piece left which
is the broader community.
You know, that's what I love about being
an imam. I don't have to engage much
in that, you know.
So I just sit in my room and
that's it. But you guys are faced with
that challenge. You have to go out there
and
and hear some funny things.
Sure.
Okay. You're asking about the ruling on living
in the west.
Let's put it this way. Yeah.
Listen. Right at this time, right at this
age,
right at this stage,
it's extremely difficult
to define the land of Islam and the
land of war.
Even in our I mean, I come from
Egypt. I just flown from Egypt.
Fitan out there is is day in and
day out. Yeah. There is certainly, there is
some,
you know,
wellness there.
But,
you know, there are 4 verses,
and I advise you to go tonight,
connect with the Quran,
chapter 4. What chapter 4 is?
In this
read verses 97 until 100
to understand them.
One of the predecessors,
his name is Abu Aliyah,
he said these verses he he made that
statement. These verses were revealed
or are revealed to address
Muslims
who choose to live
in a broad dominant
non Muslim community until the day of judgment.
That you choose to live amongst the kuffar.
Amongst the disbelievers.
What these verses say?
The people when they die, they die on
a state
of transgression,
wronging themselves.
So the angels are there to prepare them
for the angel of death.
The angels will say to them,
why did you die like that?
Why did you allow yourself to neglect your
religion and die like this?
What's wrong with you?
So the people will say to the angels,
we're outnumbered.
We couldn't face that canons of
out there. We couldn't
we're influenced by the
Why did you stay?
Why did you stay? So that means you
could stay if you're able what?
To
stand, which we do. That's why we find
the reason why for us to be in
the West that we're standing, Alhamdulillah, I look
like a Muslim.
I dress like a Muslim.
I talk like a Muslim.
Yeah. There is an issue here if you're
Mohammed and and then Mohammed miraculously turns into
moo,
like the Musa Law thing,
you know,
that's an issue.
If you have inferiority
to hide your identity, we have an issue.
If you shy away from
presenting yourself as a Muslim,
then you have an issue.
But if you can practice the religion
and also those who live under your custodianship,
your guardianship, your wife, your family, your friends,
your your your children, I'm sorry,
are practicing their religion.
Stay here.
Practice.
Listen. Somebody gotta bring Islam to those people.
In the past, it used to be one
type of jihad which they called jihad or
talab.
That you go out there, we can't even
do that anymore.
You can't even do the defensive one.
So that's why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala put
buffer tea in our lands
so that
we run away from it.
We'll go out for the dunya, but some
of us wake up.
Let's you know,
Allah brought me here to England,
to readings,
to teach Islam, to share Islam with the
people. I'm not here just to make the
money,
to make the pounds.
Right? Alright.
Did you get the point?
Yeah.
Both.
The the salaf used to have a,
a share of this.
One
round for contemplation
and one round for recitation
and one round for reading.
You can actually break it down this way.
But, you know, contemplation here doesn't mean that
you sit and do like that, by the
way.
Be careful here.
We don't do that.
Contemplation that you what?
That you find the sources that explain that
verse
and you try to connect it with your
present day, issues. Right? Hopefully, that's what contemplation
is according to you. Okay. Because
I'm not into that stuff, man.
Alright.
No. What else is the website?
Kareemabuzeid.com.
My name, kareemabuzaed.combooks/books.
Alhamdulillah. I have 12 books out there,
authors.
They are all for free. I'm not selling
books here. All for free.
I mean, you can buy them from Amazon,
UK, but they are out there for you
inshallah.
The question was for the sisters that what
books should we have to study the seer
of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam?
I can't
I can't
I can't go by without the sealed nectar,
Mubarak Fori. This is the best piece of
work,
in my opinion.
The best work done on Sira is in
Mubarak Fori.
The you know that you're guys familiar with
the sealed nectar. Right? It's actually a PDF
all over the place. Right?
That's a beautiful
that's a masterpiece in my opinion.
Of course, there are other. I I wrote
a book called the, that just
Sierra in contemporary context. Actually, I'm reading the
Sierra in light of today.
But I only did one part, so I'm
it's still way to go. It's also available
in my website.
But you have other people who wrote
good books in Sierra,
depending on the language it is you speak.
But one of the
English.
Yeah. One of the books, I think it's
been translated to,
called
But not the old Ghazali,
recent Ghazali, Egyptian one.
I think it was translated and Sheikh Albani,
actually
verified, examined
the hadith he used.
Examined meaning he authenticated them or weakened them.
So,
there is a wealth of
I mean, anybody who wishes to write, he
would write the serum. You know, that's a
easy kinda
take. But really, what we need to do
is not to look at the Seera as
a storytelling.
Is to actually read beyond
the scenes, the events.
Yeah?
Any more questions?
Do
you recommend,
for the Guinness?
Beautiful. Tafirasal. Yeah. It's the best.
But I would,
quite frankly, in my opinion, and I I
said this,
the Quran explains the Quran.
The Sunnah explains the Quran. In that sequence,
by the way, you can't override this.
The Sahabi, they explains the Quran, the companion.
Then the
second best generation
and the 3rd best generation. The students and
the students of the students of the Sahab,
then the Arabic language.
Who followed that methodology?
And I mean, if I ask you right
now,
please without thinking, name a book of tafsir
without thinking. What?
Ibn Kathir.
SubhanAllah, when you open up blue Kathir and
read him, read his tafsir. He follows that
method.
He would quote the verse, then he will
bring another verse from the Quran, could be
in some other
that explains it, and he
explains the relevance,
then he would bring a hadith
that as a hobby
if
the Nabi says he followed that methodology.
And that's why,
yeah, and he put acceptance of his work
in the hearts of Muslims.
Add to this,
hadith. He's an expert of hadith.
But
technically,
the master or or the, you know, the
the leader of the fafsir in the Muslim
world is known if Njeri E Tabari. Even
Luka Thir took his work from Njeri E.
I mean, but Abu Jairi has all these
senate, all these chains.
He basically told you that, listen, go and
verify the authenticity of it if you wanna.
So you could be reading a hadith in
a pejorative tabari that is weak
because he didn't label
that Ibn Kathir,
did some work on that.
Yeah. But the Sadia Sadia for a quick
kind
of meanings, you know.
But to to to do the analytic, you
see, there is there are different ways to
approach the Quran. There is the analytic.
It's sadly more of subjective.
He he makes a subject out of the
verses.
There is also the
the
pursuing of the hiring. Yeah.
No. Any more questions?
Okay. We've got 6 minutes till the jamar.
The done time has already been. So
Once again, I'd like to thank the sheikh
for coming down and benefiting us, and also
you guys for coming and listening, to the
Sheikh.