Tafseer of Surah Ar-Ra’ad at the Abu Huraira Center.
May 27, 2017.
versus ideally I will be dealing with
sort of what sort of funder sort of employ him then we'll hedge often
with these inshallah
but before this
I want to conclude something that I started in the fly the hotbar and I find this to be a profound kind of
meaning that is in the verses that have to do with the Ramadan and and fasting
and this has to do with the endings of reverses what.
So Allah subhanaw taala starts the, the verses that talk about Ramadan and fasting with concluding them with the word Toba or the word taqwa. So last year, you're looking at ballet como su mo kamakoti ballerina publikum la quinta taco. So the main theme behind fasting is Duckworth achieved achieve this kind of taqwa and I will explain again although explained it in
and the hotbar
is the normal lighting band for the recording
of this.
So last ones, first and foremost, prescribed fasting and made it obligatory, so that we may attain taqwa. And taqwa is a growth process. Tough what is the growth process if you think about taqwa, as something you gain overnight,
that you'd be fooling yourself to what is the journey is a journey. And as human beings as Muslims, our goal and our mission is actually to grow into our day in and day out. So when the day comes that we leave this world and meet our last panel to add, we would have reached the highest level possible of taqwa that we were capable of. This is the challenge of every believer to grow into. And I explained that taqwa is not only what the surface meaning indicates, which is basically making a shield or protection between yourself and the punishment of Allah. That's true. But that's not the whole meaning. That's not the whole meaning. And there is something that you will find often
in the Arabic language and you will find it in the Quran, you will find in the teachings of the prophet SAW Selim, you even find it in every language in every kind of communication. There are things that are taken for granted. There are things that are already mentioned. So you don't need to mention them every time you know, you may make a statement about them every time for example, and Allah Subhana Allah says Allah Haile Coco de la, Holly Coco, Alicia, and this issue is brought us all along Holly kokichi Allah is the Creator of everything. What is the creator of everything? Now a question is a lot of things are not
what do you think? Is a lot of thing can we refer to a lot as shape thing?
Know
what does it say in the Quran?
Lisa, can you see the shape but that doesn't refer to Allah. There's nothing like Allah. Yeah.
Can we refer to Allah as she as something or as a thing?
Does I think mean it's created
in Arabic.
Okay, it seems there's one opinion and no opposition. Okay, what about the verse salts
are usually in a bottle Shahada will Illa shahidan beginning with
a usually in say, what is a thing that is the best kind of witness between me and you or judge between you and me, I think then the verse says,
will allow shahidan being said Allah is the witness or the judge between you and me. So a lot of first to to to the judge or to the witness as thing. Then he says the witness is Allah.
So this argument is non essential. And the scholars are agreed that you can refer to Allah as a thing.
Or a up in a bottle Shahada only
shahidan by any means. So the scholars have assumed there's almost a consensus that yes, you can refer to Allah as shape.
Because if something, or
if what we're talking about is not a thing, it's nothing. So we have thing or nothing. That's the issue in Arabic shake or lashing. That's the issue. So now, the thing is a lot of banter that says, Allahu Haile pacolet. Allah is the Creator of everything. Does this include a lot? Because you say everything cliche.
Did Allah create himself? No, Allah is not created.
So what is it a lot harder to make a disclaimer? What does he explain?
because these things are understood, you don't need to mention that. It's already obvious. Again, another argument, Allah Samantha says in the Koran, about the wind that he sent on, on the punishments he sent on either intermode
Allah says to them, miroku leshy in the embryo of Bihar, it destroys the wind destroys everything by the command of its Lord.
Now the question destroys everything, did it destroy everything really?
destroy everything. Now, the mountains are still there. The earth is still there. So what does this mean? There's a context. Why doesn't Why does a lie, general term, cliche, everything destroys everything. But it does not really destroy everything in the literal sense. It destroys everything that could, that is usually destroyed by strong wind. That's what it means there is a context. This context is implied is understood. Every sane human being understands this. There's no need to make a disclaimer at the end of every statement. So again, when taqwa is mentioned, the scholar sate of what is to protect yourself or makeup protection or a shield between you and the punishment of Allah
subhanaw taala somebody says, that's what's up. What is anything else is not taqwa.
Now, this is extreme literalism. taqwa the true reality of taqwa is that at the heart of it is the same meanings, the same meanings that you have in worship and worshiping Allah until right is the same thing that you have in a bill. For example, the meaning the essential, the central meaning of Bill, taqwa, worship, and naseeha, same thing, same thing, you all talking about, being dutiful to Allah, being authentic to Allah. And at the heart of this is love of Allah xpanel to Allah combined with fear. And that's the meaning of worship. That's the meaning of a bad. So what is taqwa? That what is basically that you live in a state of love of Allah and fear of his punishment. And it
manifests itself most as a taqwa as a specific term, by protecting yourself from the punishment of Allah. And I said in the hotbar, the biggest punishment that the people of the Hellfire will ever get is that they will be denied. Seeing a las panatela and meeting him. That's the severest punishment, the most painful punishment. So when you protect yourself from this and you have Taqwa, or we are here, from this, from this, you're basically you are getting to the love of Allah, you will get to see Allah, you will get to meet a last panel Atlanta. And that's what's up what is. So again, what is fasting about fasting is about helping you grow in your love for Allah, and in your
fear of Allah subhanho wa Taala and in the actions, the consequential acts, actions that fall from this, so when you develop this state of love of Allah, and fear of the punishment of Allah, this is going to have consequences on your attitude on your actions. So when you when you are faced with a sin, you see that it violates your love for Allah and it might weaken it. And it subjects you or, or makes you, more vulnerable to the punishment of Allah, more liable to the punishment of Allah subhanaw taala. So, practically you withdraw from it, or you place a shield between you and the sin or the disobedience to Allah subhanaw taala. That's the specific side of the meaning of taqwa.
That's why, when the scholars explained, they explain the side, and they automatically assume that you understand what the heart of taqwa is what the real meaning of it is. Now, that's what siyam what fasting is all about. And if you look at the fact that you fast you basically you desire, food you desire drink, especially when it's when it's long days, and you desire sexual intimacy as a man or as a woman, but you refrain from this. You refrain from this during the time that they are usually held on for you. But during Ramadan, you are not allowed to do this during the daytime.
You're not allowed to approach these, although your desires are requesting these things. But why do you do this because you know, a lot more
wants you to do that. Allah wants you to go against your desires. So you give precedence to Allah will over your own desire.
And when you do this,
for the love of Allah, you grow in love.
When you do this, you realize that you have control that your desires do not control you. And that you have a say over your actions, this also helps you grow into one. So that's why when you fast you actually grow
in your inner life and your life. So you grow in your love for Allah, fear of Allah subhanaw taala. And you also grow in the tools that you can control yourself, that you can, you are in the driver's seat that your desires, even though they are there, you don't have to respond to them. You don't have to be at their mercy, you are in control. And you can choose to avoid the desires is Allah Subhana Allah says,
a moment half an icon or B, one and nafsa. And in our for in agenda here now as to the one who fears That's the meaning of taqwa as to the one who fears the great standing of his load of Allah subhanaw taala. And he fears the greatness of allowing the punishment of Allah when a hand left Sinaloa, and he prohibited himself from following its desires. So the desires are their righteous people.
It's not like they don't have desires, they have desires like everyone else. Sometimes that is also even more.
But what's the difference? They choose not to be slaves to their desires. That's it. They have desire for food during the days of Ramadan, they have desire for sexual intimacy, they have desires, others desires for things that are Haram, they have these, but they chose not to follow these desires. And they chose to put their attention on other things. So they cause these desires to be subdued and lessened and have less control over their lives. So so well, matter of decision that's what's up what is 100 f seven in our in agenda here, in general, will be there about or will be there living, living place. So first and foremost. That's what fasting gives us taqwa. And I want
you to see the sequence in these verses. Then after that Allah Allah says, Hmm, I do that for a few for some days and number of days, for men can have been committed on our LSF and infrared determined aim and those who are traveling those who are sick, then they can make up the days later on. While the nuclear bomb mosquitoes who can handle fasting with extreme hardship, they can make up a video. When we said later on, this was abrogated
lambskin woman Tupperware.
And those who volunteered I mean to do feed more. That's good for them. We'll enter Sumo. Hi, Ron, welcome in contempt Allah, Allah here gives a very important piece of information that if you fast, it is better for you.
Fasting is better than feeding, although, you know, in Islam, what we call a higher limit at the high Iran mineral highly less than any kind of act of worship, or any kind of act that you do, which helps others and benefits others is greater in Islam that things than things that benefits you.
That's the general principle. Yet with fasting, there's an exception. Allah subhanaw taala says that you fast is better for you is better than you pay fpds and feed a poor person. Why? Because there's something special about fasting. And Allah says, once a sumo Hara come in contact Allah mode. So Allah is giving us a piece of information he wants us to learn it that fasting is better for you. And is why the prophet SAW Selim said in the Hadith, when one of his one of the companions asked him dulany Allah ma nutrional
tell me about an act of worship that will make me into paradise, the prophet sauce and then it says la Cava slome. Lamictal, Allah, hold on to fasting, there is nothing like it. That's similar that resonates with diverse will enter Sumo hierarchical in quantum Tyler mode. So if you fast it is better for you. So there is nothing that rivals fasting in that sense. So Allah is giving us a piece of information. So imagine Allah is Allah wants to build Tuckwell in us first, then he's giving us now knowledge that fasting is better for you. Now he's preparing us for something even higher.
And this higher thing is actually a combination of things. So Allah mentioned some of the law talks about Ramadan shadow Ramadan and the demons he revealed on the month of Ramadan in which the Quran was revealed. Who then the nasty will be in a minute who they will focus on there is guidance there are signs for mankind for the guidance of mankind in there are lots of Allah says those who are sick those who are traveling they can make up the days later on. Then I lost my analysis you read a lot will be common use for what I read to be commercial allowance ease for you a lot is in one hardship. A lot could have said easily. You read the law who became a loser
And it makes complete sense allowance is for you. But a lot emphasized, you read a lot will be como nuestra whether you read to be homeowners allowance is for you, and a lot doesn't want hardship.
This is a profound emphasis. This is a profound emphasis in the Quran, there is no repetition, even the meanings, there's no repetition any new meaning that is, seems to be a repetition gives a different shadow of meaning, or a different sense, or a deeper meaning. So Allah wants ease for you, and he doesn't want hardship for you. So Allah did not like only limit the statement allowance is for you, which is obvious and clear. But last thing also do not even think, no, don't ever think that Allah would want to bring hardship, or Allah is actually bringing hardship upon you. Now we have to understand the concept of ease and hardship because we humans, we have to understand that
the way we relate to things is relativity. relativity, I can ask a simple question, there was a video on YouTube and it became I think it went viral. Very simple. Someone said, what you think is a professor at the university? And he said,
this cup of water?
If I carry it empty, Is it heavy?
They said no.
He said, If I fill it, half, I'll make it I pour water in half full. And I carry it. Is it heavy?
Some said a little bit. Some said no. He said if I fill the cup completely,
and I carry it, Is it heavy or not? Some said yeah, it's heavy. Some said no.
He said none of these answers is correct. If I hold this cup, for 10 seconds, it's light. It's not a big deal. But what if I hold it for five hours?
Will it be heavy? After five hours? Absolutely try to just you know, put your hand up like this for three minutes.
Towards the end of the three minutes, you will struggle to keep your hand there it becomes your hand becomes extremely heavy. So how do we define heavy unlight? It's relative. Depending on the time, depending what you're talking about. And this is something about humans, by the way, there's something
that we should understand. We as Muslims today should really understand because this is something the media plays on. And this is something that helps us as well see how other people view us Muslims and why we sometimes you have people who are racist, people have some prejudice against Muslims, people. Some of these people are innocent. Some of these people are so naive, and they don't understand. But you need to see that humans think in different ways.
There is something called
cognitive bias, mental bias, mental bias. We humans, we humans have bias have some kind of bias. If I offer you something to buy, like something that I'm buying that you sell a, I'm selling it, you buy it. So I say I'm selling this product, it's in a box.
If I say I'm selling it for $100.
I say but I will give it to you, for 50.
You will actually see it as cheap, as cheap as cheap.
This is how he registers in your mind. But if I tell you
this is actually worth 50. But I'm going to sell it to you for 100
you're going to see it as expensive. And your mind will process it completely different. There's something very funny as well about pricing. Do you know how people how companies make pricing? There are tricks that there are tricks. And there is a very interesting experiment where they brought a product and they brought some people. And they said How much do you think this, this is actually worth this product is worth. And they gave people interestingly, and they made people first they put them in a waiting room, and there was a screen. So there were three groups of people and three screens. Some people, the screens showed random numbers. One of the screenshots, something like 801
of the screens showed something like 301 of the screens showed something like 30 just random numbers around these numbers. So then, people were admitted into the experiment, and they were shown the same product. How much do you think this is actually worth?
And you'll be surprised that the group that saw the 800 they gave prices around the 800
people who saw
The numbers around 300, they actually give prices around the 300. Same product, people who saw numbers around 3020 or 30, the gift prices are at this for the same product.
And all of them think they are logical.
These are logical conclusions, but we don't know how things actually impact us. These are things that the media uses, in marketing, they use them to play around with our minds with our heads. So this is why I broke this just to explain the concept of difficulty, or hardship and ease. Sometimes, you know, when you live in Athlone life, the bite of a mosquito is very painful.
You live a very easy life. I'm telling you, a bite of a mosquito could ruin your day
could ruin your day. But if you live a hard life, even a wasp bite or a snake bite, forget about it, I don't have time to do with it. Why? Because of the level of intensity or the intensity of difficulty in your life. So everything is relative. So when a loss mentalist says allowance is for you, it doesn't want to. Sometimes when fasting is hard for you have a heart for some people, they say, Oh, it's hard is difficult, that's too much days are long, and so on and so forth. You have to realize it's relative. But if you put that in context, Allah subhanaw taala is giving us a challenging act of worship. It's not that easy. Yes, there is a level of difficulty. But the ease
that it brings about later on,
is incomparable to the hardship. So when you see the ease that comes about, you can see this is easy, actually, this is easy because of the benefit that it brings. So Allah subhanaw taala, is making this clear. And this is how we should see anything in Islam. Anything in Islam, people who criticize things about Islam, about the legislation in Islam, they say, this is harsh, this is difficult, this is too demanding, and so on, so forth. Like the other day someone told me
it's actually a Muslim Student, she's a girl in the school. I don't know what and she was fasting. And
and basically, I think, one of the teachers and the head and the principal, they sat with him, she she basically passed out. And they said, Why do you have? Are you forced to fast by your parents? She said, No, I said, Okay, I want to ask you a question as well. Do you pray five times a day? That's the principal.
She said, Yes. She says, Are they forcing you? Because it's hard. I've praying five times a day. That doesn't make any sense. It's so hard. Like you have to come out of your way and make a prayer five times a day, there's too much.
She's coming from her own world. She doesn't see the value of these five daily prayers, the consequences of these they raise the meaning the connection behind these five daily prayers. She's coming from a small mind or maybe some other ulterior motives as well. But this is where she's coming from. And for her, it's hard but for a Muslim, they actually a good Muslim is looking forward to the next prayer. I want to pray what is the next prayer because I want to connect with Allah. And if there were more prayers, I will do even more. This is why people in Ramadan even pray to Allah we and people are praying there Sooners, in Ramadan, and outside Ramadan. Some people pray extra as
well outside of Ramadan. Why? Because they want a more, they want more prayers.
So it's all about this kind of relativity. So last month, Allah wants ease for us and he says he doesn't want hardship. And our last month, Allah says, The reason that you have to make up the days when he took me to the end, and that you complete completely the numbers. Now there is something spiritual or spiritual about numbers, numbers in terms of accounts, in terms of money in terms of wealth is not spiritual, doesn't have the spiritual dimension, but there are those that actually have some spiritual depth to them.
There is something like this. So this is why for example, you will find
the prophets or sudden preferring odd numbers
135 This shows that there is some kind of spiritual merit for odd numbers and the professor explained it he said in a law with Ron Kimball with Allah subhanaw taala is singular and one is an odd number and Allah is what Allah loves, odd numbers. So there is a preference for odd numbers of other numbers. So this shows some spiritual side there. So with Ramadan, Allah wants us to complete the number of days the number of days and Ramadan, we have to complete it. Well, it took me two days to come to LA. So that Rifai Allah,
why? Because of because because of the fact that he
wanted to come to LA Alam allameh document so that you glorify a lot because of the game he offered you and him as well as the school so that you may be grateful
You may be thankful. Now again, this is another ending. So if you look at this sequence, a lot starts with
the horn. And he says in quantum Tyler moon, so he wants us to learn something. And unless Montana moves on to
Allah come to school, so that you are grateful to Allah. So you think of Masada, and this is a sequence. This is a sequence that
will help you get to the level of sugar, the level of gratefulness, or gratitude or loss penalty. And we noticed the scholars a quoted a few times,
some of the scholars of Islam that say, a dino, nice fan, nice, fun shukran honest from the reality of Islam is divided into two things.
Part of it is gratitude, thankfulness to Allah, the other half of Islam is patience. If you look at everything in Islam and everything in this life, it's all about these two things. It's all about these two things. And by the way, any,
any situation in life, why do you fall in, in this life, places a demand on you.
And this demand is the challenge according to which you will be
questioned by along the Day of Judgment. And the situation you go through in life,
actually, every second in your life are faced with this kind of demand that life places on you. And how you respond will decide whether you end up in paradise or the hellfire.
Because situations, either demand of you patience, so it's hardship or you need to be patient, or it demands of you.
Gratitude, sugar. So it's a blessing from Allah subhana wa Tada. And you have to be thankful for it.
Or it places upon you an obligation that you have to fulfill. And if you look at any time, any moment in your life, you must find at least one of these being active in Milan
Federal Bureau where Mr. Padilla on photography rally, we're in Manhattan fetish koralia. This is what life offers you. One of these things at least, it's either a command that you have to follow or obey or a trial that you have to be patient with. Or an ease and blessing that you have to be thankful for any moment in your life. You have to be in one of those at least in one of those. So this is why taqwa and knowledge will lead us to a higher level of gratitude being fat, loss power to Allah.
And most people when we say gratitude, they always think about blessings. Allah has offered so many blessings. So we are thankful to Allah. Allah has given me wealth. I'm thankful to Allah, Allah gave me family. I'm thankful to Allah login, because I'm going to be thankful to Allah. Allah gave me how Allah gave me card. I'm going to be thankful a login, man, good job, I'm going to be thankful to Allah. Allah gave me a good day, I'll be thankful to Allah. But there is a higher level, high level of thankfulness. When you stand for a higher level of gift, a high level of blessing, which is guidance,
guidance.
So you thank Allah for the Koran. You thank Allah for making you a Muslim. You thank Allah for you to follow the truth. All of these are great blessings from Allah. So fast, elevates you spiritually to a level can be thankful to Allah subhana wa tada when I look into school, and when you reach the level of thankfulness or a good state of thankfulness, now your heart is going to open up to something greater and this is what a last minute follows up with with the verse that says we'll either allocate the need for in near Peri urban water
and if I asked you about me, I am near
me and I responded
of the person who calls upon me for the StG Budi, will you mean ob la la Mia? So answering the door are many people say I've asked and I call upon Allah but I never got the answer and you have not qualified yet. You have not qualified yet.
And you qualify. by growing in taqwa, growing in knowledge, growing business, only then when you make dua is going to come from your heart. And when it comes from your heart, with a state of certainty, that's when Allah responds to it.
That's what I'm lost when Tyler responds to it. So this is what Allah says. And if they ask you about me, because the moment you develop in these words, knowledge and thankfulness, actually
Your heart starts moving towards a law you want to know more about Allah, you want to get closer to Allah. So you're going to start searching for Allah subhana wa Tada. So this is what the last one kind of says. And if they ask you about me, if my servants asked you about me I am near
would want to die either. And I'll respond to the call of the person who calls upon me. This is not only about the app, by the way, it's not only about the main point and this verse is the neatness of Allah. Is
the newness of Allah subhanaw taala? And do you know what's the name of Allah that possesses or the harvest of the spinning of a bottle or the newness?
What is the name of Allah? That actually harbors the meaning of a poem? Or newness? What is it?
Is it a curry born of the names of Allah? Do you say Abdul Karim?
Mooji was the one who responds.
Semin is the one who hears listens. But still, I mean, it's relevant but it's not.
As the merciful
alkhoury shows the or, or the shows the newness of Allah, what's the name
abelton
Alibaba,
a va hero, Alibaba,
the manifest. Hello Barton, sometimes it's trial as the hidden or the subtle, but the meaning the other meaning of albertan is the near
is near is so near to everyone. So it's found in the name of Allah and above.
for India periurban ijebu. Karim is one of the attributes of a lot of his close to his
sevens. But it's not one of the names of Allah. So we don't say abdulkareem there's no name like I'm gonna call it.
Oh, gee, Buddha said they're either gonna respond to the court who calls upon me if they call upon me, truthfully, truthfully. And this is why oftentimes people ask like I've made the app but I haven't got haven't got the answer. I've been calling on my channel at the same time. Put the person in a state of fitna.
Like a few times I've received questions of someone says, For years have been calling upon Allah, and he doesn't seem to be responding. I really am having a crisis in crisis in my faith. And
this is a very common situation. But hamdulillah most people don't go through this faith crisis. But some people are desperate, or they actually experienced this kind of thing. But the problem is with how we teach,
how we teach drop, so oftentimes, we just say, okay, you just call upon Allah and you get it. But when you ask of a loss penalty, you have to ask when you are in a state of belief in a law, when you are in a state, I would say in a state of congruence, what does congruence mean? Okay, well, I use these big words. It's just, you are in a state of alignment with Allah subhanho wa Taala. So when you ask Allah your tongue is asking, your heart is asking.
And your mind is asking, but your heart is at peace that Allah subhanaw taala will take care of you.
But most of us when we ask Allah, Allah, we asking, in a sense of testing Allah, whether he's going to respond or not, and it's happened with one of the turban in, if I'm not mistaken, was an apostle, he and he,
and he spoke about the Baraka that Allah gives when a person gives for the sake of Allah, Allah is going to give them back
and explained Monica sama, lumen Sadako, Manasa kotomi manda sada will not decrease your money or your wealth. So hassle, mostly, if it was him. He said I would give for the sake of Allah and Allah would give me back manifold. The other person said, but it doesn't happen with me.
I'm gonna see. So over the next period of time, a few weeks or a few months, he said I gave and gave and gave and gave and it never came back to me. He went by has the masses but during this period I gave and I got even more.
So the other man said to why does Allah give you back but he doesn't give me back? He said
the N ne and fiocco forgotten
Tiburon because I spent out of trust in Allah, Allah. I know it's gonna come back. I have not I don't have like, I don't worry about this. I have no, like, no questions, no doubts about it. It's gonna come back. I know. Allah is gonna give me back
But when you gave your gift test Allah out, you want to see if Allah is going to give you back or not.
And that's why the prophet SAW Selim said, a law unto Moti Luna will call upon Allah, when you are in a state of certainty that Allah will answer you.
So it's not only your verbalization of the drama that gets you that answered, but it's the state of your heart. It's the state of your heart. And this is why
it's famous statement, and we need to reflect on these things and benefit from them. Because these are not just entertainment. These are not just stories there. These are this is a real thing. It has consequences. I'm upset in Neela, Milan ijazah. What are kidney amadora? for either or him to do in Asia tomorrow? He says, I do not worry about the answer of my day, is like I have no doubt it's gonna happen.
But what I really worry about is my daughter, is it a real drought or not? Am I making drought in the right state or not?
In the right manner or not. That's the big deal. Then he explains, he says, for either all him to do, if I am inspired to be to make the right door and in the right state and the right manner, then the answer of this door comes with it. As soon as you your lips start moving, the answer is there is given.
It's something we have to understand.
So the state of your heart when you are making drought, so people say I call upon a lion, I mean, grand Libra. Now that's not called Dora.
If you don't call upon Allah, in a state of what I call alignment is basically in the state of belief that Allah is going to give you
and trust in the last one, you have no doubt and no question about it. And like you're not going to think about it is not going to answer my dryer or not. That's what I was gonna ask you.
So the Prophet says, So Salaam says, allow me to
call upon Allah or ask of him when you are in a state of certainty
that Allah would answer you.
There are losses for the StG for you.
Without a doubt, either the answer the SDG buli. So let them respond to me. How do you respond to Allah,
so allow me to call. So Allah initiated this relationship between you and him. It's not like you're initiating something with Allah, he initiated that for you. He initiated that for you. And this initiation is by saying, Come on, call upon me.
And we know the Hadith of the Prophet sallallaahu Bukhari that kind of threw for legal assets and the lions in Indonesia, for your whole alien for Halloween Rastafarian for fear Allah elementa, even to bury in the last third last part of the night, a Lost Planet Allah descends to the nearest heaven in a way that fits his majesty or minds cannot understand this, but our hearts know it a lot it sends to the lowest heaven. And he says, who's there to seek forgiveness and I will grant him forgiveness, who's there to repentant I will accept his repentance, who is there to make a door and I will grant a granted. So you're not even initiating a last month Allah is making an offer. He's
initiate he's taking the first step. He's initiating this kind of state. He's saying call upon me. So that's the st. Jabba that's the response to Allah. Allah Subhana Allah says and so on and so on. You Yeah, you under the chairman of GE Budi law, he will not law school he either only my econ or you who believe respond stage he will respond. Answer means reciprocate with Allah
and to his messenger when they call you to that which gives you life.
So we need to be in a state of St. Java and the state of responds to a lot of state of responsiveness to Allah reciprocity with Allah. Oftentimes we are heedless, we have this Koffler about Allah subhanaw taala and we only think about Allah when I need something Allah Please help me.
But when you are conscious of Allah and Allah is always opening the door for you to make dua and you don't see yourself as initiating the first step I call upon Allah know you see that Allah is there is he saying to you call upon me so you respond to him by making a donation that's when it is most likely to be accepted for the StG body then respond to me when you mean ob la la mia should let them believe in me that they believe in me so that they may attain or they may become a marshy Don't rush you don't we usually translated and qualify Russia doing the rightly guided, rightly guided Russia doing is the highest level of being guided, highest level of guidance of rushed or rushed
So, a rush it or rushed is someone
who has reached a high level of taqwa
and a high level of understanding knowledge, and a high level of thankfulness. That's what I should do is, I should is a person who walks on Earth. The body is here on Earth. His heart is
in the heavens with a loss. palitana is a person whose life should they have an insight into things, they have this maturity, they have this depth that came with a man that came with taqwa that came with knowledge that came with thankfulness to Las panatela. And it came with this connection to Allah because when you connect to Allah, Allah opens your heart, you're gonna see things other people don't see. And this word rushed, a lot of the rush comes from, it comes from the insight from Alba Sierra, that is given through a light that Allah offers you. So any person they connect to a lot of Allah is going to open their mind. A lot is going to open their mind they will start to see
and realize things other people fail to see.
That alone he or she don't see this is the highest, this is a higher level. So you see the sequence taqwa knowledge,
then thankfulness gratitude, and then you move on to a higher level which is a rushed to be Rashid Allah.
Then Allah subhanaw taala talks about some of the rulings that pertain to fasting or Hillel accom. Let me refer to Elon, he said, Come on alabaster, LA, come on, don't leave us alone. It has been made halaal for you permissible for you to
have sexual intimacy with your wives. In the nights of fasting on the nights of Ramadan during the night from Maghreb. Till fudger, it's allowed to have sexual intimacy with one's wife. It's handled. Previously, it was held up. At the beginning, people were not allowed to approach their wives for the whole month of Ramadan, day and night. But then later on, this was abrogated, and allow me that Helen,
to approach the wives during the nights of Ramadan, a little later, same as lawful, in any secondary bathroom,
or entamoeba. salon, they are a garment for you, and you are a garment for them. And there is that's a beautiful metaphor, beautiful metaphor. And it shows that with marriage, and with a happy marriage, happy relationship.
The wife covers a lot of the shortcomings and the weaknesses of her husband. And the husband covers a lot of the weaknesses of his wife, the wife is a beautification for her husband, and the husband is a beautification for his wife, how, because we complement each other.
We complement each other. It's difficult for a man to live by himself. And this is a common experience if a person marries the right person, if a man marries the right woman, usually after marriage, they say, Sorry, I'm gonna use a statement that was said to me, actually, recently by a brother who got married,
allows that. It's, it's not necessarily a very good language, but that's what he said, but it's very expressive. Like I asked him how his married life, how's married life, he said, We he said, like, I was living like a dog. And now I know what life really is, is it I really don't know how I was living before. So this is like, when a person marries the right woman, I'm telling you, that's their experience, like what was I doing in my life.
So
the the wife complements her husband.
So a lot of the shortcomings, she coffees that she completes that.
And, obviously, the man has a need, emotional needs, physical needs, even social needs relational needs, you need a companion. So the wife and she's a good wife, and she satisfies these needs and the husband, he grows as a person.
He grows. So a lot of the issues and the gaps that he has, she covers that. And he doesn't have to deal with a lot of weaknesses that he had previously. Because she covers that. The same applies to the husband, a good husband, towards his wife.
And also, when a man and a woman marry, they protect themselves, so they are less likely to fall into Zina and into something else and that's why the prophets of Salaam says yeah Mashallah Shabaab minister bombing Komal Beretta family, it is a wedge or young men whoever is able to get married, let them do so for in Vasari, wasana research, it is more likely to protect your gaze your eyes from
looking at things that are held on and protects your private parts, that means you don't, you're less likely to look at things that are held on for you. And you're less likely to engage in how long relationships why, because you're satisfied with the * on
this sexual desire, you managed to give it a Halloween outlet or a way to vent out that is legal. So you don't you have less tendency to start looking at things that are haram or to express that desire is something that is held that is held on. So that's part of the beauty of this wonderful metaphor. Who Nelly bass, Hola, como entamoeba salon, they are a garment for you, your garment for you, because the garment, it covers your, your hour. And they beautifies you and it completes you and it adds beauty to you.
So that shows that you know you know marriage is a very important aspect in our lives. And this is why we should take it seriously. We should take it seriously. Hoon alabaster la comunidad de la la la la la come content afternoon and fusa comfortabele.
Allah knows that in the past some of you although it was haram to approach your wives in the nights of Ramadan, some of you did.
Because
sometimes when the sexual desire overwhelms the person they lose control. They lose control, people sometimes lose control.
So last month Allah says Allah knew that some of you went against that ruling so allies forgiving you for that for an eventual or no observable marketable Lola calm. So now you engage with them sexually with your spouse's sexually and secret Allah has written for you which is basically having children of the market of Allah Hola, como aku, washable, hetalia tambien Allah como hypo via domina, heighten as William Alfredo and eat and drink so you can have sexual intimacy, eat and drink until the white thread is clear from the
Atlantic
until the white thread is clear and distinct from the black or the dark thread. That's the time for fudger. I said previously, that Virgil is like a white thread that very clear, very definite that spreads across the horizon. And above it, you will find a black, the darkness of the night as another thread a thicker thread
on top of it. That's the clear sign professor. So a lot smarter is saying, eat and drink until you see that until this becomes apparent, which is the sign for pleasure. Now, at the beginning some of the companions they understood this verse literally. So what they did they on their toes, they tied two
threads, one was white and one was black. And they would still eat and they would like obviously probably they were outside. They still eat and drink until they could tell the difference. Probably that was after for them because it must be bright, to be able to see this tell the difference.
And mind their time there was not there was no electricity. There was not this kind of light pollution, right. So there was a lot of darkness at night.
So but when they spoke with the prophets of Salaam he clarified that what it means is the white thread on the horizon and that's what you need to pay attention to. So basically eat and drink and engage in sexual intimacy until time for pleasure comes until time for fudge comes for Kurosawa Tatyana lachemann Viola fatale as William ineffectual through Matthew masuria merrily after that, start your fast until night.
Night means sunset sunset, that's when you open your first
Muslim
whether to be tabash Oh no and Tamaki for nothing, massage it and never approach your wives or even engage in foreplay with them when you are making it to calf in the mustard. Or when you are in the mustard. Mustard is not for intimacy
to go do the lie, further. ferrata karabo these are the
the the sort of these are the the borders, these are the borders that Allah says don't cross over them. They belong to Allah don't cross. So respect the message is not for this don't engage in any kind of intimacy in the masjid. And these are the the lines that are lost Montana has drawn for you so do not cross over them karateka up you know,
come to life at Aqaba karateka
dedicated being allowed at NASA nanometer and thus allotment data shows and manifests is signs for for people so that they may
have Taqwa they may have Taqwa. So this, the verses of fasting Ramadan, Allah started them with taqwa. And he concludes them with taqwa again. Just to show you Ramadan is all about having this taqwa. So it took a while, as we said again, it's about building. So once you go through this journey of Tacoma first
of Chihuahua, then knowledge and then thankfulness and then rushed which is more maturity and growth in Eman And then you come back to Tacoma again and the cycle keeps going on and on as an upward, upward spiral, where you keep growing as a Muslim and as a believer. So Jocko here is mentioned in more specific terms in more practical terms, that you need to control your desires.
More have some kind of self control. This is the practical, the outward side of town. So Allah started with the deepest side of taqwa, which is something in the heart fasting is about to grow your email and your sense of taqwa new heart. And towards the end, Allah talks about the practical sense of taqwa, that these are the limits of Allah subhanaw taala do not cross over them. Be careful. So observe you acts, do not engage in sexual intimacy. During the days of Ramadan, do not engage in sexual intimacy in the massage in the houses of Allah.
and observe the conditions of fasting and so on and so forth. These are practicalities and they need some kind of self discipline which is part of, of taqwa. So again, if you can see, all of this is a sequence nothing in the Quran is random. By the way, nothing in the Quran is random. So in all of this last month, Allah is telling us about fasting and how profound
it is.
Does anyone have any questions about something we said, before we change the topic?
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is a very good question. Allah Subhana. Allah says, you just okay. Call respond to me and call upon me, that will answer the door. All right.
And we find from this call, as many conditions being put there, so where did the conditions come from?
The same thing applies everywhere.
Like tawheed, La Ilaha. Illallah is in the Quran? There's no conditions, right? There's no conditions, there is no specifications, what are the scholars come up with conditions?
Right.
There are so many things that you will find the scholars have come up with clarifications and conditions. Because these things at the time of the prophet SAW, Selim were obvious, when you said
it meant that you are in a state of the state we described. That's what it means. But then things get watered down, things get watered down. Let's say for example, you know, when and this happens a lot, for example, in business,
when a new company or a startup
is established, and people start putting the time and they create some kind of a process,
they create some kind of a process. Why because that's the process they followed, it came from the heart from experimentation, they put a process in place and it worked. Then they start these people went through the, you know, the early stages of it, and they experienced, they saw how it started from nothing, and then they built a whole process a whole system around it, and it was working fine. Then they get new employees and the new employees are straightaway trained into this kind of process and system, but they never saw how we grew from, from scratch.
So as soon as they learn these, the system, they start finding ways around it, they start cutting corners,
they start making it, you know, finding shortcuts around it. And no one can catch them making mistakes. But apparently they're doing what they what they're supposed to do, but they will be you know, destroying it from within by having following these shortcuts, you know, cutting corners and compromising on things without basically fooling the system.
Just look at for example, the welfare system welfare system is designed to help the poor people, but you will find people who actually can meet the conditions and they are not really in need.
Originally, it was okay. But when people start cheating or people start losing, people start learning something. And that's the problem with spoon feeding. When it comes to knowledge, people do not go through the experience, they get something,
you know, baked, completely baked and offered to them on a silver plate. People don't appreciate the process behind it. So they start watering it down cutting corners. So when people started making there are people thought I was just okay say with your tongue, you need to say, or what you want. And that's it. But at the time of the prophet SAW send them
when they made,
he was a complete state. And people knew it was like a rule of thumb, there was no need to explain it. But it was watered down the scholars needed to say, Oh, no, this is not what is meant. You're just trying to hold the shell of it. Well, now it's an empty shell, but you have compromised the very principle of it.
So that's what was called as give conditions, the conditions are just some kind of pointers to help us appreciate the original state of the original concept. Because over time, it has been watered down, it has been compromised, it has been violated. There's been a lot of, you know, cheating in the process.
And I've been told by some people
in the 70s 60s 70s, as by people, like in the UK, they said if you were on the train, and you didn't have a ticket
the what's the person who comes and checks, the officer who comes and checks was tickets or not?
Anyway, regardless, so the guy checks your tickets. So if you didn't have a ticket,
he would say, where's your ticket? See, I don't have changed, you don't have money. And that time, credit cards were not so common. So I don't have I don't have money.
They won't issue like now a ticket or a fine. basically said, Okay, so when can you pay it? I can pay when I go home.
Okay, just send the payment later on.
And it was built on trust. So people will get on the train or the bus. They don't have change. But people would still pay it. People would still pay. It's until people started coming and cheating on the system, they had to put a new system in place. But still there are people who can still cheat, and so on and so forth. So that's you can you can find this everywhere in life, everywhere in life. Same thing with prayer, prayer, when when you said prayer,
praying, I mean, Salah, Salah in Islam, when you make Salah.
It's a profound word of connection and profound state. So this is why you find the prophets of Salaam.
When he, when he talks about Salah, he just says praise us, as you saw me pray.
But later on when people took the shell and immediate empty, Salah has no spirit, the scholars started to offer things to draw your attention to things that you have missed, and so on and so forth. So that's usually where the conditions come from. So a lot of the knowledge is basically to point to things that we have missed. Because unfortunately,
people have lost the reality in the spirit of the concepts that we're dealing with. So when we say Dora originally, what that means is that you truly call upon Allah from the bottom of your heart. But people started making to her without really any kind of connection to a loss.
So this is why these conditions needed to be mentioned. So that people just go back to the drawing board. That's it. Because with a lot of these compromises, people have gone below the zero point. And all what these conditions are doing, they're just taking us back to the zero point by back to the drawing board, where we can start to see things you know for what they are. I hope this clarifies it.
Yeah, sure. So even if you have all the
fulfill all the conditions
and
fulfill all the condition but say because of my shortcoming.
condition
is
absolutely yes. And that's, that's, sometimes that's what responding is. Sometimes responding is not necessarily giving you what you want, but giving you what's better. And that's when we say you have to
trust in Allah that He will respond, part of this trust that you trust, our last choice for you.
You trust even our last choice for you, this will be tolerable. They allow and
he said, he said, We're too competitive, remember who they were, they were. And one of them said, I, I call upon Allah to give me this. One one of them asked for to be rich. Second one asked to be poor.
So they asked honkala they asked me what I would you ask Allah for, he said, I don't have the guts like you to decide a richness or poverty is good for me. But what I call upon Allah, that he chooses for me what's best. So part of this response or believing in Allah response and trusting it is basically trusting that if Allah doesn't give you what you want, he's going to take care of your affairs, he's going to give you what is better than that, based on his own knowledge, rather than our own knowledge.
And this is why usually these, some of the scholars say don't take
don't take the delays for a no.
Sometimes Allah subhanaw taala doesn't give you what you want, at the time you want it. But Allah is going to give it to you at the time, he knows is best for you. And it might not be what you asked for. Maybe it's something else, and how often, like we asked for something, we really want something badly, and it doesn't happen. We feel bad, we're devastated. We're troubled, we're traumatized. But afterwards, like a few years later, we look back and we say hamdulillah didn't happen.
Because I was blinded at the time, I could not really see the reality of things. So it's that trust, and this is what Allah gives the most. Yeah.
Any other questions?
So I'll show
the
method.
Okay, and now, it's supposed to be the sun rises now. So at least let's give it 1015 minutes. And
I find this concept fascinating.
When
Bob said,
in the Masha, either Islam
either will either fail Islam, emanuela Merrifield,
I fear for Islam, I feel for Islam, when
within Islam, there are newborns. Muslims, who have never seen cover
have never seen before.
So what he's saying basically, when people grow in the luxury of Islam and the beauty of Islam, and they have not seen the darkness of cobalt, and the pain of and the filth of Kufa, they have not seen it. They don't appreciate it. They don't appreciate Islam as much as someone who's come from that kind of experience, and they have come to see the light of Islam. So that's what I'm all hyped up. This was one of his concerns. And this is again,
why usually think, you know, if you notice that this is something that happens in religion happens in in societies and happens in politics, it's, it happens in business happens everywhere, you find someone who comes up with a successful formula, then a few other people start to follow that formula. But they start making compromises on it, they start to follow the external outline, but they miss out on the spirit of it.
So this is why sometimes the clues that successful people leave, don't work with everyone. They don't work with everyone. So that's the same thing why Salah was there. And it was understood by the companions, most of them. But later on, people started now doing what people started just doing the Salah, physically memorizing the Koran.
And that's a very good example of it some of the prophets of Salaam
elkaar. Someone who has memorized the Quran, understood its meanings and was a person of knowledge. A person of a beautiful character, that's what aura is a card of color or half. Now we have found shortcuts. That's basically memorize. You know if any person truly if they put their willpower within a year can rise. If you say I'm gonna have nothing to do this year, except memorizer call on regardless of your age
and you really put your heart in it.
Most likely you will be able most people will be able to do it.
And then we have taken this, okay, I've memorized the Koran, you will find people saying that's it. That's the end of knowledge for me. I've reached what took me 18 years to achieve, right?
I've taken like some of some people have memorized the Quran over a life of a lifetime. So you find someone memorize the Quran within one year and say, that's it. I've achieved in one year, what other people what it took other people 2030 years. That's just the beginning. That's just the beginning. So instead of us taking the whole spirit of memorizing the Quran, which means understanding its meanings, understanding the stuff co living by the Koran, and making it our way of life, and it becomes the guidance. And basically, everything about you becomes Hold on, that we have taken it only to memorize the words. That's it. That's it.
If you can see this even ethics
in this sense,
let's talk about justice.
There are people who will know how to use justice for their own benefit.
They're going to use ethical principles, they're going to use it for their own ends, to serve them, and they know how to violate it in a way you cannot catch them.
Do we blame principles? No? Do we need to blame justice? No, we blame how these people manipulate, with everything in life, by the way, with everything in life. And that's why this there's a sense of responsibility, the heart of Islam, or one of the most important aspects in Islam is the sense of responsibility. I mean, you can give people the process, but there's no guarantee unless people put their heart and they take a sense of responsibility over the thing. That what makes things pay off it same thing in Islam, and studying Islam, and praying, or in education. In a family. There are people who are very intelligent and very manipulative, and you can't catch them making a mistake.
But they would be violating every ethical principle you know of.
Because for everything, there is a surface, and there is a deep end.
So without you having the full thing, it doesn't work. So the problem is that people hold on to the surface, which is the facade, which is the external structure, which is what we call the system.
But they do not hold on to the principles of it.
And that's why people go wrong. This is why scholars, teachers, and specialists and start putting conditions you have to make this you have to make that when we say a marriage, okay, it's obvious, it should have all the elements of a good marriage. But now you have to put conditions you have to do this, you have to do that. Why? Because people are violating the very principle of what marriage means they just make a contract, and they don't hold any responsibility in that position.
So this is a very fascinating principle because you can fall for
for the surface structure of something and miss the heart of it.
As well that's what the hypocrites do. Even with the prophet SAW Selim. They prayed they fasted. They made Vicar there were some times in the first line in the masjid. Many of the companions didn't know who the hypocrites were. So they seem to be following Islam externally. But the heart of Islam was not with them. They violated everything about Islam. So,
I mean, I think this will always be there with humanity, this will always be there with humanity, people will take the surface and they will miss out on the deepest structure of of that thing. Okay, Any more questions?
Any more democracies. Okay. This is the seal class and the
reflections on Iran. And the wonderful Maverick they will be in Sharla.
On Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, Wednesday, on Thursday inshallah after mohareb, we have show how to lock in quick or before before Maghreb Shahab locking equip will be giving his halaqa every Thursday in shalonda MOBA so welcome Africans
are seldom a few wait for a few minutes inshallah, before you pray question.
I'm going to say
Tafseer of Surah Ar-Ra’ad at the Abu Huraira Center.
May 27, 2017.