Musleh Khan – Lessons From Surah Al-Kahf – Summer Inspirations
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AI: Transcript ©
This past year
and even recently, we've seen, so much happening
around the world.
And, we've also seen horrific carnage. We've seen
political unrest. We have seen
all of this stuff happening in front of
us and in front of our very eyes.
And this story in Suratul Kahf is really
tiny
because it talks about
what we believe in
and standing up for what we believe in
and what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give
us when we do that.
I
Thank you all for being here.
How is everyone?
Do you like the idea of just being
here at this moment?
Yeah. Me too. You know, it's it's it
is a
not only a need but
there is a certain
spiritual experience just coming to the masjid even
if nothing is going on. And that is
part of the environment, part of the barakah,
the angels that surround us and what
places like this represent.
So, I pray first and foremost that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala keep us close to the
Masajid, Aina maqun wherever you and I may
be.
I'm going to jump right into
tonight's subject because I got a lot to
cover. So
the goal is to speak to you for
about maybe half hour and then
for 15, 20 minutes Insha'Allah,
you can ask whatever you want.
Okay? And so I really encourage you if
you have questions regarding the topic or anything
else, just ask and we'll do our best
to address them, inshallah. Does that sound good?
Oh, yeah.
So we're talking about the young people of
the cave.
So a little bit of background
and this actually will take us into the
first lesson.
So, my goal is to share with you
a number of lessons
from this whole story of Oshab ul Kaf.
We're not gonna go through the story. We're
not gonna go through every ayat of the
story,
but what we will do is 2 things
inshallah.
All of the lessons will either be
a reminder
for you personally as an individual, as a
Muslim regardless of your age, and then some
of the reminders are for young people.
Okay? So, you'll see both sides of it
Insha'Allah.
So,
Ashab ul Kaf is a group of young
men.
Some narrations say that for the most part,
and this is the most authentic opinion, is
that they were Christians
who followed the original teachings of Isa alaihis
salam. Okay?
And
as time went on, one narration the Prophet
alaihis salatu wasalam mentions
that
when they exited this cave,
the first thing that they wanted to do
was to get something to eat. They were
all hungry because
if you've been sleeping for 309
years or so, you get a little hungry.
So, they came out, 1
amongst the group assigned another, go out there,
grab something, but be,
try to blend in,
try to
not stand out, let nobody recognize you because
it's safe to assume the little things that
you won't read about the story. Their clothing
is really, really, really old fashioned.
Maybe the language has changed, the culture has
changed, the currency has changed. So, there is
a very, very strong chance that something could
happen and they're recognized, wait a minute, you
guys are not from here. Some of the
Ulema say that that actually
is where a lot of
what has happened after the cave and that
the lessons of this whole story,
it started after that incident. So once they
came out of the cave, then you start
hearing about the lessons,
why Allah put this in the Surah, what
you're supposed to learn from it, why we
recite Surah Al Kahf every Friday. We're going
to touch on some of those things.
Next thing, so the first lesson is this,
you have young men who are not educated.
They're just regular,
dormant
people living real mesquite.
They have no wealth, they have no education,
they have no knowledge,
nothing.
Yet, Allah says this about them,
Okay, let's just pause there.
Pause there.
Allah talks to the prophet alaihis salatu wa
sallam,
Have you
thought about
when we entered or placed in this cave
a group of companions, a group of young
people?
Remember what I told you, these young people,
no education, no background, they didn't have status,
nothing. This is the first lesson.
You don't need to have anything to serve
a al Azdine
except one thing, a sincere heart.
You don't have to have a degree,
you don't have to be popular and recognized.
You have a sincere heart,
you want to serve Allah's Deen,
you are very much qualified to participate and
find your place
where you belong in this deen and serve
it. So,
I want you to keep this in mind
because like we said, they're not sahadas, they're
not prophets.
When we think about examples of people that
should serve the deen, what do we usually
think about? We usually think about somebody who
is great, powerful, scholar, etcetera, right? Which is
important,
but it's not a criteria
for everyone.
Everybody has
a place in this Umma and this comes
from another verse, the surah before it.
You've heard this word before or the excuse
me this ayah before?
Say to them that every single one of
you should act based on your predisposition,
what Allah gifted you with. You know, some
students are really good at speaking,
but they can never lead a Salah.
Right? Their recitation is really weak.
Some are the opposite.
Masters at recitation
can never give a Khutba, can never teach
a class. Others can teach a class, others
are really good at writing, others can research,
and, and, and the list goes on.
This example of Allah using
day to day regular people, young people, young
men
also reminds us
these people in the cave
are the same as the young people today.
Think about it. They're exactly the same, and
I find that truly truly
amazing.
One of the things that I pointed out
or I wrote here is,
you don't have to be what society deems
to be important.
Society is the one that labels
that, you know, you have to have a
certain level of qualification, or you have to
have a certain level of status, and things
like that.
Allah's only requirement is
that you have a sincere heart
and just have faith in him, period. So
this is lesson number 1. I'm just gonna
keep zooming through because there's quite a bit
that I have here.
Lesson number 2, Allah continues so and tells
us so
Allah then says
that, have you seen that
is like a plaque?
So it was said that they're in front
of this cave that they,
stayed in.
Their names or the number of people that
can be in this cave was carved out
somewhere on the outside. In other words, Allah
allowed that to happen or Allah placed this
to happen so that they knew exactly where
they needed to go. Okay?
There perhaps may have been many other places
that they could have gone but this is
the one that Allah has chosen for them.
Allah then says this,
There was another group, another creation that used
the same word, ajaba, to describe the Quran.
Does anybody know what that group is? Just
shout it out.
As a matter of fact, when the atmosphere
is really like this quiet
it hints to the answer.
The jinns.
The jinns, the first a in Surat a
jinn, what did they say?
They
said, What is the ayah guys?
When they heard Quran from the prophet alaihis
salatu wasalam, 1 jinn, he ran back to
his group
said, you guys gotta listen to what I
just heard. Inna,
we all just heard
something.
Samirna, Quran and Ajaba. We heard Quran and
it's Ajaba. You know what Ajaba is? Ajaba
comes from the word ajeeb. Right? And the
plural, excuse me, the, root verb Ajaba, 3
letters. This is what it means. Now, if
you look at something and you can't describe
it but you're like, my God, you have
to see this thing I just saw. I
can't describe it to you, you have to
see it for yourself. That's called,
Something really unusual, strange,
it stands out and you cannot find the
words to describe.
That's what Jin said about the Quran
and Allah uses the same word to describe
that
this story is so important and so profound
that it is amongst
our Ayat that are Ajaba truly miraculous, you
wouldn't be able to describe.
Keep in
mind, Christians and Jews, they already knew about
this story before Muslims
and they have their own versions of this.
So one narration states that,
some of the Jews came to the prophet
alaihis salatu wasalam and asked him, Tell us
about Ashab ul Kahf
in order to
prove that he was a prophet.
So, Allah tells us and you'll see this
coming up shortly
is
Listen to this, it's one of my favorite
of this story.
Allah says,
We already talked about fitiyeh. If you were
here for my chotla, I explained what fitiyeh
is but we'll do it very briefly. Okay?
1st and foremost, it's time to go into
the cave. So all it's been said and
done, now they're going into this cave.
Awa
is that Allah had chosen a spot for
them
and created an atmosphere that felt like home.
So, it's Awal fitiya to Ilal kaf.
2nd word,
fitiyeh from Fatin, which is what we said,
is usually
young people in particular
that
are very
engrossed and attached and distracted to worldly things
that they forget their priorities. They forget their
religion, they forget their parents, They forget the
things that are important.
Fittyan or Fata
was also
the insult
that was used against prophets and messengers.
Yusuf 'alayhi salam was
called this when he was in the palace.
They referred to him with this term simply
because,
you know, you gotta remember, he's kind of
like a slave
slash caretaker
slash, and I hate to use these words,
but sort of like subhuman almost, like they
didn't consider him complete. That's how they treated
him. So, they refer to him as this
person who's lost his mind, he's just distracted
and he's messed up. He's not thinking about
anything. Ibrahim alayhis salam was called the exact
same
was labeled the exact same thing.
When they figured out, the people in the
community saw that all these idols were destroyed,
a man stood up, or a group of
them stood up and said,
Fatem Yookal lahu Ibrahim.
There's
this kid,
careless kid, not really doesn't know what's important
in life. People say, they didn't even say,
Ismuhu Ibrahim.
They said, You call Ulaahu Ibrahim.
Like, people just call him this thing called
Ibrahim.
So just
like making reference to him was also degrading.
So this ayam, why does Allah use this
word?
Is of course to bring honor to these
young people
even if society and culture has written them
off as useless.
To Allah,
these individuals and their story
deserves to be part of the Ayat of
Allah and the Quran.
The lesson behind that is really simple. It's
one thing that I touched on the Khutba
so I won't spend much time on it
but it's really simple. When you give young
people a chance
and you do it sincerely to serve the
dean,
you
will be shockingly surprised that more often
they will excel.
They will excel.
The Summerfest
that we just had here, how many of
you were here for that?
Those of you who weren't, Astaghfirullah,
but you should have been here, right? It
was fantastic.
And young people, young adults in the community,
they're the ones that put all of that
together.
It's incredible
sometimes as adults, we lose sight of that
and we will label or think that this
culture of just they love to waste time,
have fun and never take things seriously, sometimes
overtakes us and clouds our judgment. So Allah
reminds us, I'm going to choose Faitan
and I'm gonna put them in a cave.
Let's go into the cave now.
Let's go into the cave. The word that's
used for the cave is kef.
Let me ask you, is a cave a
comfortable place to relax?
Would you get like some good sleep in
a cave?
Not really, it's dark,
spooky,
maybe there are insects and scorpions all over
the place,
that's where Allah put them.
Why? Here's one lesson,
here's one reflection.
Sometimes the environment, so this is especially for
the young people,
the environment
may not be as comfortable and as convenient
for you as you'd like it to be.
Oh, I don't like to go to that
Masjid because everybody's so strict. Oh, I don't
like to go to that community center because
everybody bosses me around. Maybe it's not ideal.
Maybe it's really tough and it's inconvenient.
But you have no idea when you walk
in there with faith and a good heart,
how Allah will take what seems to be
an uncomfortable place,
a place that's more beautiful and more comfortable
than your own home.
That's what happens to places like this.
If you get yourself attached to Masajid and
Islamic institutes or places where at the end
of the day you're serving a lazdeem,
One of the promises that you learn from
this Surah is Allah will take a place
that looks like a dirty abandoned cave
and turn it
to the most important beloved sacred place of
your life. In a spiritual sense, of course.
Now, do we have an example of this
from the prophet alaihis salatu wasalam?
Yes, absolutely.
Why did Allah
send him on top of a mountain
and then
it was like a bit of like a
crevice that's open, it looks like a cave,
Put him there before sending the angel Jibril
alaihis salam and,
give him the first revelation.
Why not just be sitting at home under
a nice beautiful tent
where the Sahabas are all surrounding you and
the Ayyat are giving to you then. This
is indirectly
teaching us, don't judge the environment,
just ensure that you
have a sincere heart for the sake of
Allah.
You know, just a couple days ago, I
met a student from Medina University who was
here. So, I asked him, how's it going?
It's the first thing he said, he's McMahon,
the showers, it's
really bad.
And he said, The insects are always here,
the cats are coming into my pillowcase,
and
yeah, that's the price you pay
to seek this knowledge. Allah will put you
through a grind if you really want this
deen. That's why the Salaf, they would say,
When you're ready to serve or when you're
ready to learn this Deen, put on your
metal shoes. Right? Obviously, it's expression,
be ready for some pain and hardship.
So, they are in this dark spooky cave
and Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
allows
that this cave now becomes the most comfortable
peaceful place
in existence for them at that time. Here's
the next part of the Ayam.
Allah says,
All these young people
began to make du'a.
Oh Allah, give all of us
from your secret
vault of mercy.
This word ladun,
don't forget this word because it's found in
a few places in Quran
and this word Ladun is one of the
most beautiful words of the entire Quran.
Like talk about a 3 letter word and
Quran has a lot of these that really
has a profound effect on your iman and
encourages you in a way it's very difficult
to describe.
Ladun
is in reference or it means a secret
vault
or a, an area or a room
where you keep your most
valuable and prized
possessions.
You know, that's the place maybe in your
home where you have like, you know, a
secret lock,
you know, you have a code, nobody can
access it, you choose who can see what's
there, that's what ladun is.
Allah
has a ladun
that in it there is rahma.
Now, 2 types of rahma then you're seeing.
You have rahma that is given to everyone,
all of mankind.
Then there's actually 3. There's a second type
of rahma
that is given only to the believers.
The 3rd type of rahma is ladun.
Is that amongst the believers there are those
superstars.
It's them.
Let me give you a real quick example.
Somebody who,
prays and does all the basics, right? Do
all the basics of the religion.
But
amongst them, there is that 1 or 2
that are waking up for tahajjud every night,
that are fasting every other day. They're doing
all of these extra deeds that they don't
necessarily have to do
but they're attached. They want and they're only
thinking about pleasing Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So Allah guarantees for them
that he will allow access to the special
vault of mercy that is prepared and reserved.
The Uleman, they say some interesting things about
this vault.
Some of the scholars, they say that in
this vault there is no hisab.
In other words, this access to the special
mercy of Allah is Allah will not judge
you,
will enter you
in Jannah immediately without judgment, without any process.
So other scholars say that it's access to
Jannah Tull Firdaus.
So this individual is not going to any
other level of Jannah, straight to the highest
level, al Firdaus.
Another opinion states that
this vault will give you access to upgrade
your family members that are in other parts
of Jannah and you want them to come
to Al Firdaus Al A'la,
which is pretty awesome. It's like you have
hookups with Allah.
Right? Oh Allah, my mom, my dad or
my brother, my sister, my wife or my
husband or whatever,
they're in the 3rd level of Jannah. I'm
in the 6th and the 7th O'Al Firdaus,
O Allah, can you reunite? Bring them, let
them be with me. This could also be
from Ladun Qarrahma.
Now, here's the lesson for Al Saba Al
Kaf.
Think of this example.
You have a young student, a teenager. Right?
You buy him a car. Okay? You as
the parent, you purchase a car.
And you go shopping now, say, look, let's
go see what kind of car you like.
Poor,
you know, kid will start looking at all
the Lexuses and the BMWs
and the Ferraris and he's like, okay, dad,
I want that Ferrari over there.
What's your immediate reaction? This is his first
car ever.
He's 16 years old, just got his license
and he's like, Dad, I don't want to
drive.
I'll get back pain if I drive anything
lower than a Ferrari. So this is what
I want. What would you say to this?
You'll say to him,
you're spoiled, like, what do you what? Don't
be so greedy.
These young people
entered the cave and the first thing they
asked for was not Allah's Rahma, they asked
for
Ladun
Rahma.
It's the complete opposite.
Scholars took from this,
it's one thing in the dunya life you
go through a slow gradual process and earn,
not with Allah.
You have a sincere heart,
you can have access to everything from Allah,
which I think is really,
really truly beautiful. Because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
that is just out of his love and
mercy.
That because you are young
and you're alone
and you're being persecuted so it's scary for
you, but you still have faith, you still
held on,
you are special.
So if you ask me
for the fruits
without planting anything in the ground, I will
give it to you.
So how do we learn? It sounds beautiful.
Okay. Great lesson. So what does that mean
now for young people?
It means that the scholars they say that,
don't hold back from the blessings and the
rizq from Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala to ask
him for whatever you want.
I meet students all the time, they say,
Sheikh, I don't want to drive like a
brand new car, you know, I just
my car, you know, the duct tape is
holding up the bumper really well so sha
Allah khayr, you know, I don't need a
windshield. I can still see where like, you
know, and they're like, you know, plus on
top of that I don't want to be
attached to this dunya.
It's a very very strange
outlook on things
because Allah tells us he wants you
to ask in the famous hadith of Abi
Hurayrah radiAllahu an, I mentioned this a lot
when the prophet alaihi wasallam says when you
ask for Jannah,
don't just ask for Jannah but ask for
Jannah tul firdausal a'ala.
Allah loves to give,
so ask and he shall give, right? So
this is another lesson,
let's continue, next lesson, okay?
Next lesson.
So,
fast forward now.
They are in the cave
and now
there's a sun.
And then it continues with the left and
and so on. There's
the sun, the cave is situated in such
a way that the sun will pierce itself
directly and illuminate the entire cave.
So it's basically sleeping with all the lights
on in the bedroom, right?
In your room, it's uncomfortable, it's difficult,
So it will be an added layer of
hardship for them.
Here's
again,
really beautiful.
Allah goes into great detail. It's one of
the longest ayat in the entire Surah,
that how he allowed this sun
to now shift in a way
that it will strike the cave
and it appears it will illuminate but it
won't go directly on their faces.
And then at some point during the day
Allah will shift it then to the left,
then shift it back to the right. The
same ayah also says, you know when you're
sleeping on one side, eventually after some time,
a few minutes, for a few hours, what
do you have to do?
You have to turn over now to the
other side.
Allah says in the same and we turn
them to the left and we turn them
to the right.
What does all of that mean for you
and I?
Listen to this.
One of the reasons
why we are taught
to recite this Surah
on Fridays
is of course, as you know, Friday is
a day,
Dua is emphasized
blessing and Baraka is given, right? It's a
more blessed it is the most blessed day
of the entire week.
You recite the Surah on Friday. One of
the reasons why
is Allah
will, depending on our sincerity,
cause
instead of us trying to find ways to
adjust and live
and to facilitate
our faith in this world, Allah will cause
the planet to serve you instead.
What I mean by that is this,
this sun that's piercing into the cave, it's
really
inconvenient.
But it's not like the these young young
men were in there and just said, you
know what, man? We got to go find
another cave.
They instead because of their faith, the scholars
they said,
Allah
took the sun,
shifted it that it won't pierce on their
faces or on their bodies. So in essence,
it's as if Allah caused now the sun
to submit and serve them
instead of the other way around? You're serving
the creator of the sun, now the sun
is like, okay, whatever Allah tells me to
do with you guys, I'm gonna go ahead
and do it. It's absolutely
remarkable. The lesson behind this is very simple.
You know, the environment that we live in,
it seems like everything is against us. All
the numbers, the money, the power, the political,
strength,
everything, resources,
you name it, unity,
everything seems to be so powerful and overwhelming
and it's against us.
But still,
these individuals in the cave, because of their
faith,
Allah took what was impossible
and made it possible.
And I believe and Allah knows best that
is one of the greatest wisdoms why
despite how difficult it is out there,
holding onto our faith now is more important
than ever.
That perhaps maybe
as a result
of our persistence
and determination
to still hold
on, Allah makes
the entire world and everything around it see
now and now start to be useful and
helpful to us instead of the other way
around.
So
the reason why I bring this up is
that
for us not to take
these lessons and these signs for granted.
One of the biggest mistakes that Muslims make
when they read Surat Al Kaf is when
you come across Ayat like this, you're like,
oh, okay, wow, Sunday, Sunday and they move
on to the next verse.
Every single Ayat, every single verse
has something that you can connect to, has
something that you can relate to.
Next lesson,
I'm just going to go back to verse
number 11.
So Allah struck their ears
and basically plugged their ears
for many many years, for many many years.
For many many years. What's this all about?
So, this is actually explained in other Suras
as well.
Some of the scholars they say this plugging
that happened
is a plugging from something called Wakarah.
Wakarah is like something that's dirty. It's it's
useless. It's filthy.
You don't want it,
you don't want it near you.
The lesson behind this is that
these young men, for them to find the
fruits and purpose of being in this cave
is that they had to sift out
and plug their ears
from any useless information and useless things out
there. And as you and I know, there's
a lot of things that we hear and
see that are very distracting to our dean.
Right? You'll be praying, lots of things will
come to mind. You'll be anywhere, you'll hear
and see a whole ton of
things. Why does Allah tell us that he
struck their ears when they were in this
cave?
This is the only way
that you can find sweetness in the Deen.
The more you eliminate,
extinguish,
and abstain
from things in life that are of no
use to you,
that's when and that's how you start to
taste and find value and sweetness into this
deen.
Scholars, they tell us, this is one way
you can test if your faith and your
iman is on the right track, is how
you feel,
whether it's in salah or doing any act
of worship, any ritual. How do you feel
after that? So, if the feeling is like,
oh, hamdulillah, I just finished Surah Al Kef,
you want to go grab a burger after
Jumar?'
If that's the only thing that's here on
your end, it's a sign that okay,
there's something blocking
the barakah and the lesson
thirst to feed your iman. It's not being
fed properly. There's a spiritual blockage somewhere.
Another area that I like to use is
this,
in Surat Al Hashar,
Allah tells us
that
for those
do not forget Allah because Allah
says don't forget Allah for the ones who
forget Allah
Allah will cause them to forget themselves
These are the people that are inherently corrupt.
What does all of this mean when you
forget Allah? It means that you're so distracted
you You might only appreciate them when you're
in a masjid, but not when you're outside.
You can only appreciate them when you're amongst
other Muslims, but not when you're away from
them.
All of this is captured in Fadar bana'ala
athanihim
filkaafisiniinaradal.
So for the young students here,
one thing and I think I'm going to
take a chance and speak on behalf of
all the parents.
Right? When your parents tell you, Look, okay,
shut off the TV. Okay, get off your
phone now. You've been on it for too
long.
Right? Or even little kids, you know, Okay,
enough of the video games now.
Go find something. Go read. Go do something.
All of that are training tools
so that you start to develop a sense
of purpose.
You start to understand why you're here and
what you can do not just for yourself
and your family but for the deen as
well.
The Sahab is one of the strongest qualities
they had is that every single night when
they go to bed, there are several stories
of them just thinking about what else can
I do? What's the next thing that I
can do to serve the deen?
So that's a mindset
all of us are capable of, all of
us can do. And if you're doing it
already, those are things that just continue to
improve and get stronger and become more reaffirmed.
Let's go on to the next lesson.
The next lesson
is in verse number 12.
So
Allah
says, then we
raise them so we may show which of
these two groups
would make a better estimation of length of
their stay. So here's what happened.
In the cave, there was a split.
Group A and group B.
It seems as though
that prior to this these Eyet are hinting
that there was an argument or something
they started
how long? 300. How long? 100 years. 75,
1,000. And they couldn't agree. So there was
like this
split amongst them, which is very typical
when young people in particular talk about anything,
right? Who's the GOAT, LeBron or Jordan? Right?
So
it's very typical that that will happen. It's
the same thing. Now, why does Allah highlight
that for you and I?
There's going to be conflict.
Young people in particular, they're gonna argue, they're
gonna lose their temper, they're gonna get frustrated.
All of it is gonna happen.
This part of the story really,
itches me the wrong way.
We all know
that,
let's just say, you know, we're at a
lecture event or something, right?
There's a group of students in the corner,
they're on the phone or just just talking.
Do you ever see a lot of times
how
some Muslims will correct
young people?
Well, what do you think? You're in a
farm? What are you doing?
That kind of, that kind of talk, that
kind of nasih. Remember, you're trying to get
them to do the right thing. What's wrong
with you? Are you guys crazy? You think
this is a gym or a basketball game
right now? We're gonna get ready for salah
and and and the list goes on. You
hear it, I hear it all the time.
That's really, really unnecessary.
It's really unnecessary.
And the fact that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
highlights for here, that despite that these 2
had split,
there isn't a single,
single
reference
of any animosity
or hatred or any of that
that they,
said
or uttered to one another. There were no
phrases, nobody insulted or put down the other
because they had a different opinion than the
other. Does this sound familiar?
Yeah,
we can learn a lot. You don't have
to be a young adult to learn from
Ashab ul Kaif. You can take a lot
from every single ayah. So these are just
some of the things that I wanted to,
to highlight sort of tickle your appetite for
the story, for the story especially for those
of you that have never studied the story.
This is just something for you to have
a glimpse that the
the Surah sounds very simple. It's talking about
sun. It's talking about the hunger. It's talking
about shade, it's talking about food, it's talking
about young people, it's talking about clothing and
and and and and really simple day to
day things. But Allah
caused that this is the Surah that we
should repeat once a week
for that one very reason.
The closer you attach yourself to Surah Al
Kahf and start to understand what it represents,
why it exists and its lessons, Allah will
cause the world to serve you.
Instead of you figuring out to find your
place. Everything around you will just be of
benefit to you. When you need that shade
the most, when you need that security the
most, when you need that peace the most,
when you need that help the most,
it will come from places you would have
never thought twice that that's where it's coming
from. And we're seeing that today. You see
the conflict in Palestine,
the flip side of it is subhanAllah, I
made a lot of them of non Muslims
getting curious.
It goes back to the same things whenever
there's like a major incident that affects the
Ummah,
it starts to put the deen, the Quran
and Muslims
in the forefront, headline news, people seeing day
after day. The haters will always be there.
They never went away. They were there during
the time of the prophet alaihis salatu wasalam.
They're still here.
But amongst them, Allah will cause that one
person
or that one group of people to show
interest. Some may accept Islam, some may not.
But you know what will happen? Is that
the word of Allah and the Muslims and
who they are, what we represent will continue
to flourish Insha'Allah.
And I think that that is,
truly remarkable.
Hold on to our faith.
Never let go regardless of the circumstance.
That is the ultimate lesson of Ashaab ul
kef. Hold on. If you are in a
cave alone, no matter how uncomfortable it is,
no matter how difficult your environment is, hold
on. Number 2,
these young men had nothing.
So if you have nothing, you don't know
how to recite properly, you can't lead a
salah, you can't do a khutbah, you can't
teach a class but Allah blessed you
that you know how to tailor outfits
so you can make some really beautiful designs.
Allah
gifted you that you're really good with wisdom
and insight. You give great advice. Allah gifted
you that when you open a book you
can find the littlest things that people will
lose track of or never find. Research.
Allah gave you certain skills.
Hold on to those skills and that's also
one of the most important lessons we get
from this story. So, I pray that Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala continue to increase us and
may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala keep us close
to him. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala cause
us to continue to learn and benefit from
the Surah.
It is going to be inshaAllah in a
few minutes, salatulmagrib.
So, obviously after magrib, it's your time whether
you do it today or tomorrow to recite
the Surah.
Please, please take it upon yourself
to recite it.
If you have it memorized Surah Al Ikaf,
just read it every week In Sha'a Allah
and you will.
Scholars, they say it takes about 30 to
60 times
for a person to recite a Surah
and never reviewing it, never sitting and going
through each ayah 1 by 1 and repeating
it over and over. You don't do that,
let's say you don't have the time, but
just the fact that you're in a routine
of once a week reading
it, after about 30 times or so, don't
be surprised that the entire Surah is memorized.
You know, it's the blessing of repetition. Okay?
So if you haven't InshaAllah, I pray that
Allah gives you this Surah and preserve it
in your hearts and also
if your desire is to go further, may
Allah give it to you, InshaAllah.
Okay. So,
you want to ask Allah and we mentioned
this concept of Ladoon Kar Rahmah, right? That
you ask Allah
for the best and the most. Have access
to the special vault of his mercy and
his blessings.
How do we,
do that, but at the same time abstain
or protect ourselves from feeling ungrateful
or asking for too much because many around
the world have nothing.
So, how do we balance the 2?
The scholars have actually talked about this
forever really.
So some of the things that they advise
us is number 1, you are accountable for
yourself first and foremost.
Ask.
Allah didn't put a stipulation and say, okay,
ask but only during these times,
this time of the day or during these
circumstances.
Ask and just keep on asking.
One of the ways So that's the first
thing. You have every right to ask for
whatever you want at any time from Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Number 2, remember that Allah
chooses
when and how to give.
So, you can ask, that's one thing, but
it certainly doesn't mean that you're going to
receive that because Allah
will decide,
okay, this is not the right time for
you to receive this.
So you may have thought to yourself, well
I can ask
what if others will think that I'm ungrateful?
What if I'm labeled that I'm asking
for too much? Listen, that's Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala's territory. He will decide what to give
you, when to give you, and how much
of it, and if it's good
for you or not.
3rd thing that scholars they say is that,
one of the signs of dua being accepted
is that you monitor your heart that you're
not
ungrateful for what you already have. So when
you're asking but you all your heart is
filled with gratitude,
but you're just asking Allah and you want
more from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. This is
something our Prophet alaihi salatu wasalam encouraged.
Ask Allah famous hadith of Aisha radiAllahu ask
Allah even if it's for a shoelace,
right? So ask Allah for anything and everything
and part of you
being in a situation or in a state
where you have the highest chances of your
duas being accepted is that you're asking
with so much gratitude of everything you do
have in life.
So, if this is a struggle, the last
thing I'll say is that on the one
hand, if you have this problem of just
being grateful in general that's a separate thing
from dua.
Okay?
And that's something that, you know, it would
be another topic but that's something that is
addressed and it's looked at and it's worked
on differently.
But it's so beautiful that dua,
even if you feel that you're truly ungrateful,
you make dua
to bless you with
gratitude and being grateful. So, you still have
to go back to dua to even repair
that. So InshaAllah, my best advice to you
is just to continue to ask. Allah will
decide what is best for you anyway.
Okay. Great question. Thank you.
Can you speak up a little bit? Yeah.
Okay.
Say the last part there.
Is this the part where when they stood
their ground? Okay. So,
that will go back
is the part where they stood their ground.
So very quickly,
means to wrap, tie down and secure.
Allah gifted them with this ability to do
so, to be very firm in their deen
because of the previous
ayah.
Because they still had faith in Allah. I
think that that is one of the most
important verses to be reminded of every single
day in 2024
is that
no matter how impossible it seems to hold
on to your faith, And secondly, you're holding
on but you don't see the fruits of
it. Just the fact that you still have
that faith, Allah says don't worry. That firmness
and that stability and that increase and all
of those things that we need to survive,
Allah will gift that to you. But the
starting for you to qualify and receive that
firmness
is
just have faith.
Nahum Amenu, hold on to Amen. No matter
how little it is.
Oh, we're still? Sorry, brothers. Sadaqah Al Al
Adim for you guys. Okay?
Since you're but to attain the level of
since you're
extremely difficult. I come every 5 times every
day.
It's extremely difficult. Allah says in the Quran,
and only those who have knowledge will fear.
So
Well, I would politely
disagree simply because of this. Okay?
If you're talking about attaining a level of
sincerity,
like scholars and prophets and messengers,
That's a whole different level. Perhaps that is
impossible for most of us.
But just remember this one hadith. Okay? It
puts it into perspective.
And you know what? Before I give you
the Hadith, the famous scholar, Al Imam al
Zuhri Rahimahullah. Right? He had attained the level
of Bukhari and above in terms of his
knowledge, specifically with hadith.
He once said,
for
I've been battling
with my sincerity
for 25
years and I still haven't grasped it. I
still haven't perfected it. 25 years. We're talking
about great great scholar.
So my advice to you is very simple.
Prophet alaihis salatu wasallam said,
This entire dunya is cursed. Everything in it
is cursed,
except three things. Number 1,
the remembrance of Allah. Number 2, the thing
that helps you to remember Allah.
And number 3,
And this comes to your question,
the scholar or the student of knowledge.
Most of us will never be scholars.
All of us are students of knowledge.
So, the fact that you're here sitting and
just listening to a reminder and coming to
the Masjid on a regular basis,
but maybe
in getting engrossed into like an intense study
of a subject is perhaps something that's difficult
for you or for someone else.
To Allah,
that is a sign of sincerity.
May not feel like the sincerity of Imam
Azuhi or anybody else, but this hadith tells
you just the fact that you're a student
willing to learn and willing to better yourself,
you are exempted from all the awful things
and the curses of this world. Scholars, they
say that is a sign of acceptance and
that is certainly a sign that sincerity
is there and InshaAllah is accepted. So, I
would just say to you, just keep keep
with the process and keep working inshaAllah.
What are some of the benefits of reciting
Surat Al Kahf?
We should all know this. So can I
get your help
with that?
What's some of the benefits of reciting to
Sur Al Kahf?
You will be saved from the Dajjal.
So, great. That's the perfect one to begin
with. Okay?
You will be protected from the dajjal. Anything
else?
Yes. Allah will bless you with Nour and
Barakah from 1 Jumar to another. Sisters, what's
another one?
Okay.
Allah A'Sawajal
Prophet
told us a very long hadith with several
benefits of it.
But, another one is that
your minor sins are forgiven from 1 Jum'ah
to another.
Okay?
And Surat Al Kaf is also when it's
recited during
the timing of Jum'ah day. So from after
Maghrib tonight until Maghrib time tomorrow.
Surat Al Jum'ah is when it's recited and
it's done properly and it's done sincerely.
That Insha'Allah Hu Ta'ala,
Jum'as are accepted. Your Jum'ah, that week that
you recite, that Friday is accepted from Allah.
So, there's tons of benefit. The, all of
the animals
and insects, all of the creatures
on the planet will make dua of istighfar
and forgiveness for you. Another important blessing,
for reciting Surat Al Kahf. The scholars also
say it is makru, disliked for you to
recite any other Surah on Jumu' Adai. So,
what I like to do is I like
to review
a few Suras,
but when it comes to Jumay Day, start
with a Surat Al Kaf
and focus on that Surah first. Put aside
the rest of the Quran and do that.
When they say that it's disliked to do
that, what they're saying to you is that
if you want more blessing and reward, Surah
Al Kahf takes priority
and the time and place for that is
on Jumr. So Insha'Allah,
when you follow that same method that Allah
has outlined for us, the result is always
going to be an acceptance Insha'Allah and just
coming closer to him.
Or more,
over an hour and a half,
on Islamic subjects.
And, Sheikh Haslai had actually done, I believe,
2 courses,
or 2 semesters
on our education portal. You can just go
Islam dot CA,
slash education, and you will see, you know,
the list of courses that we have.
So I