Taraweeh Lecture at Masjidul Quds Gatesville Cape Town
Date : 6th June 2017
Topic : Save Ourselves Part 2
Speaker : Mufti Ismail Menk
Mufti Menk – Ramadan 2017 – Save Yourself – Part 2 – Episode 12
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss the importance of respecting older people and avoiding harms in public spaces. They stress the need for respect and acceptance in public spaces and urge people to be aware of their actions. They also emphasize the importance of not giving up on promises and being careful with words. The segment emphasizes the need for acceptance and being liked, as well as avoiding harms and the need to be mindful of people pressured to do so.
AI: Summary ©
Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato.
Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim In the name of Allah subhanho wa Taala Most Gracious, Most Merciful Alhamdulillah or praise is indeed due to Allah subhanho wa Taala wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah Allah Allah He was happy as many
blessings and salutations upon Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam his companions, his household May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless them all. And may Allah subhanho wa Taala bless every one of us. May Allah bless our offspring, those who come after us, May Allah keep them all steadfast on the deen And may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us all genital Pharaohs, I mean, my brothers and sisters, many times we find that younger people advise older people, and we've spoken about this. But we find that sometimes because of the age, the older people feel that the younger ones do not have the right to correct them. As a result, they don't learn and as a result, they brush off sometimes that which is
very, very important. Now the example given of Ibrahim alayhi salatu was Salam is a brilliant example in the Quran. And Allah subhanho wa Taala has spaced it out in many places in the Quran, in Surah to shuara which is the 26th surah of the Quran. Allah subhanho wa Taala in verse number 69 makes mention of how Ibrahim alayhi salatu was Salam was direct and very blunt, with his father and with his people, his people, meaning those whom he grew up with, he was still a young man, Allah subhanho wa Taala says, What's new I
overheard sallallahu alayhi wa sallam read for them, read for the rich read for those who will listen to this for on the story with truth of Ibrahim alayhi salatu was Salam. Now this means that the version that the Quran has is a V accurate version. It comes from Allah subhanho wa Taala. And Allah is telling Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to tell the people about the story of Ibrahim alayhi salatu was Salam. What about the story? Obviously, there must be some aspect about it that Allah wants us to know. So Allah says, His call Ali Abbey, he told me he met Abu when he asked his father and his people, what are you worshiping? He was a young man seeing them worshipping stones,
worshipping idols, worshipping sticks, worshipping materialistic items, and he had questions. And these questions. The sad reality is when we are asked difficult questions by our children, or by those who are younger than us, we brush them aside. Don't do that. Save yourselves by answering these questions, one of two things will happen either you will be able to convince the child that what you are saying is correct. Or the child might be able to convince you or make you think or as a result, the studies that perhaps were caused by this question would then make you enlightened as to what is right and wrong. So don't be too embarrassed. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala is addressing a
problem that was at the time of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And that problem continues and shall continue right up to the end. What is the problem? Sometimes we learn something, we learn it wrong, and we do it wrong, and we continue doing it wrong. For generations, we keep on teaching our children that which is wrong. And then there comes a time when someone says hang on guys, have you thought about what you're doing? You know, I give you a simple example. Culture is something very good. If a person is cultured, they are supposed to be well mannered. But sometimes culture comes with baggage from before that is wrong. For example, the abuse of a daughter in law happens to
exist in a lot of cultures. A lot of cultures think that when a son gets married, that's a maid that is coming to the house, and she must take charge and do absolutely everything. And then we can sit back relax and dish out instructions, no matter who we are. That is a dirty, unacceptable culture. It is filthy, and we need to get rid of it. But the sad reality we are so comfortable in it, that when someone tells us that look, this woman has a right She is also a queen of the home, she has the right to her own abode, etc. We tend to say No way. We're not going to take that this is nonsense. If you leave the house we excommunicating you this is what people say, because they are in a comfort
zone. It is very important to fulfill family rights and family ties and to serve your parents and to serve your in laws. But it has to happen with mutual respect and with understanding with happiness. I through so many years of experience that I have as a counselor who helps people sometimes in their crises, I have found that those who live further away from their parents, in actual fact have more love than those who live
within the home, and this has happened in most cases. So if you were to help your children to actually live in an apartment across the road, or somewhere in the suburb in another part of the suburb or in another part of the city or somewhere else, perhaps the love that you will have may be much more than if you were to be in the same home throughout dishing instructions to one another, and perhaps trampling on the toes of one another because you are independent people who think independently, and you're trying, after so many years to force this person to come into your rule, when that really does not happen. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us understanding. So the point
being raised is that which our forefathers have been doing, a lot of it is very good. But some of it might be unacceptable. We need to ask ourselves the question when our children ask ourselves, or even within ourselves, if we go through a problem or an issue, we revisit this whole matter. And we try and look into it and explain to the older people, look, we're not breaking the home here, we are actually making it what is the point of physical togetherness when we are so disunited, I'd rather be physically far apart one in Australia and one in New Zealand and one perhaps in Hawaii, and the other one, perhaps, you know, in Greenland, but they love each other, they get along with each
other. They can't wait to see each other than people who live in the same home and they cannot wait to get away from each other. May Allah subhanahu wa taala bestow upon us the common logic and the sense I'm not at all encouraging that we just abandon our parents, but my parents, I have a very, very serious statement for you this evening.
If you want your children or your in laws to respect you, you need to deserve the respect. Don't abuse them. When you abuse you don't deserve respect. Never did Allah say that you have to be obeyed when you are wrong. Many parents say you know what I need to be obeyed. Look at this man. He was the father of Ibrahim, did he have to be obeyed? Not when he was wrong, no way. When he was wrong, you don't obey. There is no obedience for anyone when they are wrong, whether it's your father or mother, no way, they cannot justify their misbehavior. There are bad words, the swear words that come out of the mouths of some of the older people, the mothers and the fathers out hoping that you
would never believe and they expect the sun to come his wife down to say, Listen, I'm your father, I'm your mother, her you can divorce me you'll never be able to replace, stop blackmailing your son, no way you were wrong. If you want to be respected, you need to earn that respect. Live with respect. This is someone's child, it is going to be the mother of your grandchildren. Remember, my beloved parents don't use the issue of Allah, having told us that we need to serve our parents to get gender for you. to abuse those children. You don't use that to abuse them. You cannot. If you want to get the gender, you also need to be a decent person. go out of your way to make life easy
for people, then voila, you will be respected. It will be a home filled with harmony and peace. Because you know, you know what, I am also a human being. I also Oh Allah subhanho wa Taala my acts of worship, and I owe the rest of human beings, the rest of humankind starting with my own family, kindness. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help us so Ibrahim Alayhi Salam asked his his father and his people, what are you worshiping? It was blunt, it was straight. What did they say? They had a clear cut answer for him. Call una Budo
Fernando la que viene. They said that we are worshipping idols, what's the big deal in worshipping idols? We will remain on these idols. We will remain worshipping the idols What's wrong? So he asks them a question, Hey, you know what helenius Mona come into their own our
own account or your own. To these things hear you when you call out to them. They hear you. Now they're getting agitated. Stop asking questions. Why? I need an answer. Give me an answer. We do sometimes silly things and we have no answers. And then when people ask us the question, we get irritated, agitated, and we become like violent, or we want to start threatening. So he says can they hear you?
When you call out to these stones? Do they hear you? Oh, you're gonna come alone, or have they ever benefited you or do they ever harm? Do they control anything? So they quickly answered callooh Bella Jana.
Anna, Cara Anika follow on. They said no. We saw our forefathers doing this. So we will do it. We saw our father's forefathers doing this. We will do it here. I have obviously drawn the lesson to say we need to save ourselves by asking ourselves a question all the time. Remember, it is not bad to ask a question.
If you really want to know you've got to ask they will be an answer. keep on asking until you get a satisfactory answer. keep on searching because you live on Earth, Allah has sent the answers onto this earth, you will search for the answers inshallah you will find them. And that is how you will earn your agenda to those. That is how you will go into paradise. But if you were too scared to ask questions you may never know. And the truth might have been right next to you. It was simple to ask someone you know, I'm a bit confused about this, he might not know ask the next person, the next person three, four or five people down the line, you might get an answer, one of the answers might
confuse you a little bit, you might want to still keep on asking a little bit, they will be one that stands out because revelation supports it. If it is an act of worship, then that is your answer. And if it is something to do with your general norms, then you've got to see what was the life of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam and how you as a Muslim should be living and then you choose the way accordingly May Allah subhanho wa Taala guide us and help us so thereafter. Ibrahim alayhi salatu wa sallam What did he say?
He made the dua.
He asks Allah subhanho wa Taala so many things, and my brothers and sisters when we want to save ourselves from ignorance, seek from Allah. ask Allah subhanho wa Taala. Don't think that you are too intelligent, that you know you're going to do it all on your own together with your effort. ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah. So Ibrahim alayhi salatu wa sallam, he spoke about how bad all of this is. He says, I cannot worship these sticks and stones. And I cannot do as you are doing all of this is enemy. It is wrong. It is foreign to me. The only one I worship is He who made me verse number 78. He says, I lovingly call upon if I had been young men, young men, teaching his people, he says I
will only worship He who has made me He will guide me, the one who made me whoever made me I will worship Him. One levy Who are you Tony Mooney, who is king and the one who feeds me and who quenches my thirst Subhana Allah look at the conviction. Brothers and sisters, we save ourselves from attachment to materialistic items by attaching to Allah subhanho wa Taala. When you attach to Allah, you are distanced from material items. The more you detach from Allah, the more you will be attached to everything else. So this is why remember, who feeds you, Allah subhanho wa Taala. I remember one youngster asked me a few years ago, when I when we were talking about Allah subhanho wa Taala. And I
mentioned something of this nature. Later on a young boy, he came to me and he told me, You know what, but my daddy feeds me.
Now that's a common answer, because he's young. I said, and who feeds your daddy says he works hard, and he gets a salary. I said, Where does the salary come from his boss? Where does his boss get the money from? He said, they do business. Look at how intelligent the children are, right? Then I told him, okay, who gave you a boss and your father and you the eyes and the ears and the capacity and the strength to go, I want to show you so many people in the hospitals they are, they were better looking and more strong than your own father, and then all your boss and his boss and everybody put together but today they can't do anything. They are in bed. So who gave your dad this energy?
He says the food he ate.
And he says he goes to the gym, and so on. So to explain now, this is a question I cannot get upset because if I get cross with him, it's over. I need to explain to him Mashallah, in no time Did he realize that ultimately it went back to Allah? Where did the food come from the ground? Who put it in the ground? The rain came? Where did the name come from? I'm stuck.
I'm stuck. Right? The rain came from Allah subhanho wa Taala. He caused the plants to grow. Your father ate the food. Subhana Allah. However, whatever happened, he had the energy and so on. And this chain goes back all the way. It means you to take time with the children to explain to them that you know what it is Allah, ultimately in total control. If he wants, he can stop it right now. Subhana Allah, he can stop it right now. Every one of us and I'm sure the whole country is watching us because we've all heard about this huge gale force that is supposed to be hitting Cape Town. May Allah safeguard us. I think when we were reading taraweeh this evening, wouldn't you agree with me
it was one of the most calm evenings we've had up to today. Look, everyone's nodding their heads. We bear witness. Nobody can tell you what Allah is definitely going to do. Yes, we take precautions and we will but we will call out to Allah. Oh Allah divert the worst of it from us. Let it go around Allahumma Hauer Elena Elena, that is a DA O Allah subhanho wa Taala. Let this rain and whatever is beneficial come around us, not necessarily on us. It's supposed to come on to the, for example, the plantations and so on. I mean, if the rain hits me on my head, it's not like I'm going to grow. But what would happen is if it were to go to the right places, then definitely that is what is more
beneficial. So we ask Allah for that.
I remember just as I was driving here, someone sent an image, an image claiming that it is Lambert's Bay, and it was Subhanallah, the Gale Force had already started and so on. Now we normally like to verify these things. Moments later I discovered that picture was actually 2005, the Hurricane Katrina in Florida. They took it and they said, Look, let's hit Cape Town already. We were here, there was nothing like that that happened. Be careful my brothers and sisters, it is called a tactic. It is called authentication no matter what you see today, even if it is a video authenticated, it could just be totally false fabricated photoshopped. And you could be looking like
a fool forwarding into the rest of the globe when nothing like that even happened. Now imagine if that is to do with Jr. What about Dean? What about Dean What about your religion? Imagine if dunya people are ready to deceive. You think shaytan is not prepared to deceive regarding religion. He will beautify things that are not in your deen for you to feel that this is my faith. But Allah subhanho wa Taala says go back verify. Ask questions. keep on asking questions, you will find the answers may Allah subhanho wa Taala make it very very easy for us. So he made the dua to Allah to Allah subhanho wa Taala and he told the people I worship the one whom when I am sick, he kills me.
were either married to faraway Ashwin while letting you meet Tony.
In the one whom, when I he will cause my death and he will resurrect me. Whoever he is, I'm worshiping Him him alone. That's it as for these things, I don't understand them. They are not a part of me. So Subhana Allah, He then says one laddie Acoma
filani hottie it be the one whom I have hope in that he will forgive my son on the Day of Judgment. him I wish him you know, as muslimeen we say, the term Rob means the one who created me nareesha cherishes sustainer provider protect Akira, the one in absolute control of every aspect of existence is called Rob Boone. When we go out in when we go down in frustration, we say Subhana Allah, Allah, we are praising, glorifying he who made me who is the highest so I am saying, Oh, you who made me and glorifying you, I'm praising you, you are the highest. Where am I right now while I My head is on the ground for you. I'm on the lowest position. Subhana Allah,
Who did I worship? Whoever made me and whoever I'm going to return to owe you whom I'm going to return to have mercy upon me when I returned to you Subhana Allah, this is worshipping Allah and Allah alone. May Allah subhanho wa Taala protect us from the punishment of the Day of Judgment. May Allah subhanho wa Taala save us all May we be from among those who appreciate what the sujood is all about. And may we be from those who prostrate constantly for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala so then he says to Allah subhanho wa Taala something very, very powerful. While at Zinio, mmabatho Whoa, Oh Allah, do not embarrass me on the day that you will resurrect me. Don't embarrass me.
Imagine the embarrassment on that day. All of us have done things in our lives that are wrong. Every one of us we have committed sin, different levels of sin, but we would be embarrassed if that was laid bare for the whole world and everyone to see what we did. So we say one or two Zinio mobifone Oh Allah, do not embarrass us on the day that you will resurrect us. May Allah forgive our sins such that they are wiped out completely. I mean, you know, when you engage in repentance, even the angels are made to forget what has happened. So this is why my brothers and sisters engage in constant repentance Don't lose hope in the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So this was a dua that Rahim
alayhi salaatu wa Salaam actually made thereafter. The verses and obviously the story that is here is make making mention of what I've just said. Now, later on, the story does not complete it completes in other places in the Quran. But here, Allah subhanho wa Taala says, in a fee that he can,
indeed in all of this, in all of this, there is a lesson for those are there are signs for whom those were intellect obviously, indeed in this, there is a sign. But Allah says warmer ganache.
Meaning, but most of them will not believe this. Take a look at Ibrahim alayhi salatu salam, the Prophet Ibrahim Alayhi Salam was one of the highest ranking prophets of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And nobody accepted his message initially, nobody, a young boy known as Luke alayhi salatu was Salam. The Prophet lat May peace be on him, accepted the deal. His wife accepted the deal. That's it. He had two people when he went away, he went to heaven, another area outside so Allah
Who are they? They were just a few people, two, three people walking together. That was him and he's oma Subhana Allah. Yet when you think about it Subhan Allah, he was one of the greatest of prophets. Allah loved him so much that after him all the messengers who came after him, they were from his offspring. Did you know that from his offspring, the amount of hours that were made by Ibrahim alayhis salam need to be studied, my brothers, my sisters, we need to go through the Quran. And look at the hours of Ibrahim alayhi salam, he used to make dua for his children, for his offspring, not just himself. When Allah says we will bless you, he says, Oh Allah, what about my offspring? Subhana
Allah, Allah, Allah Wa,
t immediately say, Oh Allah, what about midoriya? What about my progeny? How many of us make up for ourselves, let alone our progeny for the deep? We are quick to say, Well, my son started a business, let it be successful. Let him be a millionaire. So at least you can buy me a car. Let him be this so that at least you can do that. But what about the law? Allah grant my child steadfastness. Oh Allah, keep him on the path of Allah make him a person who earns Jenna or Allah make him a means of my entry into Jenna Subhana Allah. I remember one young man,
he kept making it to Allah make my children the means of my entry into gender and one of his sons passed away in a car crash. And he came to me and said, You know, I used to make this up. I told him Allah has answered your drive. He said, What do you mean? I said, the supper that you will now endure because Allah took your child away in sha Allah, it can be a means of your entry into Jelena Subhana Allah so who said no, so he says, So was that a bad da? Because obviously, if you're saying Allah make him a means of my entry into Jenna, and then Allah took him away. So I said, No, he's date of death and time was written down, it's over. You cannot change it. But Allah subhanho wa
Taala blessed you by making the dua. Allah gave you an opportunity to think about the summer because many people become depressed when they lose their children. May Allah subhanho wa Taala help those who have lost their children. It is a challenge. It is big, you will never understand what it's like unless you've been through it yourself. So we can keep on telling people but we won't know what they have had to endure. So be careful when you address people when you talk to them. Be careful. May Allah subhanho wa Taala Have mercy on us. May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us genital Pharaohs. So Allah subhanho wa Taala then says we're in Arabic Allah who will Aziz Rahim we spoke about that
yesterday when we spoke about the ISA and the Rama of Allah, the power and the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala that Allah forgives, even though he can punish. And this is the height of the mercy of Allah horrible is that he will gentle thereafter we have a beautiful story of No, Allah is Salatu was Salam. And I'm not going to go into every detail of the stories because obviously we need to move on to the next agenda. inshallah, we're catching up with our recitation of the taraweeh to where I am. So inshallah we hope to be moving in sync at a certain point. Know, Allah has salatu salam you and I know that he too, was a messenger of Allah subhanho wa Taala, who worked very hard,
he did not give up. He worked with his people for 950 years. He worked with him he lived for longer than that, but he called them for 950 years. How many people accepted his message? Do you know? Well, there are some narrations, some say 11 in 900 years, 950 years,
and some narrations take it all the way to 80. At the maximum. So if 80 people accepted his message, it means every 100 years, less than 10 that's the average every 100 years, less than 10 Subhan Allah May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless him, and May Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us agenda to fulfill those May we meet all these people who sacrificed for Allah subhanho wa Taala they worked hard imagine and they did not lose hope. So one of the points that is being raised in this surah is very important you see with us in the masjid you look around us today, we have white and black and tall and short and rich and poor. We are all seated together. We don't even know which nationalities we
are. We might look at each other. We might take a guess maybe but we don't know because it's irrelevant. Cologne, Amina de la de momento. And we are all from Adam. Adam is from the dust. So it's, it's not my business to actually know where you are from before I respect you. I respect you no matter where you are from because you are my brother. You are my sister indeed. And this is why we are being warned by stories like these. Today you're going to look at the story of no Halle salon from a different aspect, a different angle. I tell you, we've always known about the flood. But let's go before the flood. The people told him you know what, no. We are ready to accept your
message. We are ready to accept but how can we accept your message when the poor people have accepted your message? We are wealthy. We are powerful.
Society look at those around you they are cheap people man. Carlo Mineola tabernacle
was number 111 of surah to Shara. They said to him, oh no. How can we accept when the lowest from amongst us those who work the working class and below they are the ones who've accepted you followed you? How can we now follow you? Now remember when guidance and mercy of Allah comes, it comes to anyone who is genuine. When you are too attached to materialistic items, sometimes what did we say? You become detached from Allah. If Allah has blessed you with materialistic items, your test is to humble yourself and still to attach yourself to Allah related to Allah subhanho wa Taala. So imagine he answered them, and he told him, do you know what? I cannot do anything about this? I'm sorry, it
is something I will not compromise.
Imagine if it was Subhan Allah May Allah forgive us. You're moving with someone and you want to go for a big meeting and then you look at the guy next to you and you say, you know, this guy's wearing tattered clothing, you know, let's tell him you know, please can you remain here let me go and see what's going on inside there. Just because he's not dressed appropriately or something. This is the dean you cannot do that when it comes to the deen because with the dean who is judging us is Allah and He will judge based on the heart in Allah to Allah Allah Allah Allah. Allah. Allah does not look at your bodies. Allah does not look at your your your wealth, Allah does not look at your physical
features. He looks at your kulu and you're our man he looks at your hearts and your deeds. That does not mean I must wear dirty clothing because as a Muslim, I'm taught to a neat, clean clothing neat and clean but sometimes I might wear cheap clothing it might have a few tatty, you know portions on it. And it might not be looking that Grand i might not have had an opportunity to iron my clothing like everybody else, you know, a crispy beak on top of your scarf and so on. It might not happen but may Allah subhanho wa Taala grant us the ability to love one another no matter what. So he answers them. You know what he said was number 113. In a sir boom Illa Allah bellota Sharon on
an avatar, meaning their account is with Allah subhanho wa Taala. Do you realize their account is with Allah, how can I chase them away? Now for your information, the kuffaar of Quraysh told the same thing to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. They said that how can we accept the message when Bilaal if naraba is a follower of yours, the people who are our slaves, followers of yours, so Allah subhanho wa Taala responded to Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to give them a response. And Allah has given the story in order to comfort Muhammad Sallallahu Sallam to say, you know what, it happened to those before you as well. It's not something new. It happened to them. So Allah
subhanho wa Taala then says that no, Allah is Salam says warmer and a bit a little more meaning I'm never going to chase those who believe away No matter who they are. This is why it is a sign of a good Muslim, to embrace the others. No matter what color they are, no matter what financial condition they are in, no matter what standing in society they are in, to embrace them for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala May Allah subhanahu wa taala grant us all blessing. So remember this, my brothers and sisters, when Allah has written guidance for someone, he didn't look at the image, he didn't look at where they came from, what nationality I have told you, and in the past and I'm
telling you again, I have visited some West African nations that blew me away with their dedication to the deen and I always thought Subhana Allah, that you know what, Mashallah we have massages that we have failed and so on in our countries until I visited those, and I saw them to be more dedicated than some of the holiest places that we may be having. May Allah subhanho wa Taala. Grant us all genital shadows. You never know who you will see in Ghana. If you even get there. You will be surprised Subhan Allah, those whom you didn't even imagine, would be there. This is why most men should not even imagine and what men should be worried about himself. Am I going to go there or not?
If you get there, don't worry about Who else is there for as long as you are there? Alhamdulillah you are fine. May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us all. Now they threatened Allah He salatu wa sallam, what did they say to him? They said that in Lambton?
dahiya No hola de coonan amin El Mirage Rumi, if you're not going to stop calling us towards worshiping one God, we are going to stone you. We will stone you.
What did he say? Now he's helpless because up to now he was calling them after 900 years 950 odd years. They are starting to threaten him. Now was the time when he raised his hands to Allah. And I want to end off by saying my brothers and sisters when we hire us people. Let's save ourselves from harassing people. When we travel people when we had us people, they may not make a difference.
against us. If they are patient, they will forgive you once they will forgive you twice, they will forgive you three times after that. Be careful of them raising their hands because the Hadith says that
for him the holy Sabina ouabain Allah He job, you should fear you should fear the DA made against you by he or she whom you have oppressed for there is no barrier between the DA and Allah, Allah will answer it immediately and inflict the people with that punishment. Be careful. So save yourself from oppressing people, protect yourself from a DA made against you by those whom you may have wronged apologize to them, make peace with them, it is better for us better for you inshallah, we will continue tomorrow akuto kolyada masala Allahu wa salam ala nabina Muhammad Subhan Allah Subhana Allah homopolymeric Chateau La ilaha illa Anta Furukawa tabula