Nouman Ali Khan – A Quranic Lesson in Religious Psychology

			I'd be shocked if suddenly we are silly MD, Mila, Sania Coco de la COVID-19 de la de la ilaha illa
Allah Jimena de la mano y mano solly heart whatever. So, what are some sub miniato but I mean, I
have two agendas for the hook. But today, one I wanted to talk about an idea that belongs to certain
Bukhara for a very particular reason, given the occasion of Ramadan. But before that, I wanted to
share with you just a small bit of encouragement, as the month of Ramadan comes to a close, two
thirds of it is already over, we are approaching the last 10 nights. And I wanted to actually, first
of all acknowledge that there are two kinds of audiences in the Jamaat and also at large in the
		

			Muslim community, there are those that are very motivated to do worship, they take extra measures to
make the most of Ramadan, and even they start running out of energy, you know, 20 days in and the
the kind of enthusiasm that was there to make it to the machine to pray, to pray in Jamal or to
recite more Koran, it starts to get the fuel starts running out a little bit. And that's
understandable. And a lot of times to encourage that group of people, we're told of the philosophy
of Ramadan, how the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, encouraged these extra acts of worship, how
we're supposed to find the last, you know, little cuddle in the last 10 nights and all of these
		

			things, which are all very valid and powerful and beautiful things. But there's another audience,
there's another audience of Muslims, a very large population of Muslims, that is so far from the
religion of Allah, that for them to even give up alcohol in the month of Ramadan is a big deal.
There are that far away from Allah azza wa jal, and many of those people belong in your families.
Many of those people are cousins or friends of yours that are just really really far from the deen
of Allah. This is the month that a lot of revealed a word of his that transformed the entire world.
So don't underestimate the power of change that the Quran is capable of and that is capable that is
		

			possible inside of this month. So as we approach these last 10 days, the one thing I want to remind
all of you of those of you that are eager to make the most of it, yes, inshallah Allah do increase
your recitation, do increase your acts of worship, make more during these last 10 days, try to find
the energy and motivate yourself. But equally important, reach out to people in your own circles
that have been that you know, have been far away from Dean and even if you're not going to preach to
them or give them a hug Bower, Whatsapp them a video or something, just to have a kind word with
them, just to invite them over for enough time just once and just to just to have them see you pray,
		

			even if you don't tell them to pray, just the fact that they got to see you pray. That's a
responsibility we have as Muslims is to actually soften the hearts of other Muslims, instead of
increasing our harshness towards them, or our frustration towards them, or worse yet, just to give
up on them, this is the time where Allah azza wa jal would not give up on people that were lost in
ship for 1000s of years that had taken his karma and surrounded by idols. And Allah has hoping then
Allah has hoping them two thirds of the Quran is revealed on to them directly the courage and most
of them haven't even budged from their position. As a matter of fact, they've become more aggressive
		

			in their position. And yet Allah does not punish them yet, he still gives them more opportunity. So
this is a book and this is a master, this is a rub, who is extremely merciful. When he says, Man or
woman Quran, we learned that the sharing of the Quran is actually inspired by one of the most
powerful Names of Allah, the name that is full of love, mercy and care. And that's what we're
supposed to do. We're supposed to be able to be ambassadors of this loving, caring God, this this
man to others, especially starting with our own Muslim families, our own cousins, our own extended,
you know, relatives, you know, friends, colleagues, people like that. So this is a time for you to
		

			do that inshallah hotel and I pray that Allah azza wa jal softens the hearts of the Muslims and
brings them back towards his book and the Sunnah of His Messenger sallallahu wasallam. In any case,
Ramadan is a time also where Allah azza wa jal decided to reveal some very timeless guidance, that
will, that is relevant, especially for a religious community, you know, people who follow our
practice or religion, they have their own kind of psychology. As a matter of fact, it's even studied
in western universities, under the title of religious psychology now, and there is quite a bit of
religious psychology in the Quran, especially highlighting the behavior of the nation that was given
		

			religion for millennia for 1000s of years before us, the Israelites, the children of Israel, he
alasa describes a lot of the different diseases that they suffered from psychological, spiritual,
intellectual diseases. And we're told about those diseases, so we avoid them. One such disease that
I want to highlight to you that we're supposed to be mindful of, is that a person can be very
religious in their rituals. So they're extremely practicing when it comes to their prayer. When it
comes to their recitation when it comes to their fasting. When it comes to their observance of
Halloween food and around food. They're extremely, extremely strict, and they're very observing. But
		

			when it comes to financial matters, business dealings, when it comes to loans when it comes to you
know,
		

			partnerships. These are the kinds of things in which you find a completely different personality,
the same guy, the same woman who's extremely observing in many rituals of worship, they're extremely
religious from the appearance of things, and from the ariba that side of things, but when you look
at their Mama, their dealings with people, especially financial dealings, it's a completely
different story. It's the same guy who's reciting Koran with perfect edge read and then the guy who
he owes money to is calling him and he's sending them to voicemail. right there's a there's a kind
of a schizophrenia going on here. There's a dual personality going on, in which you observe the law
		

			and you want to please Allah through you know, worship, and you want to please Allah through
Ramadan. But you don't want to please Allah by fixing your money matters. And so what Allah does in
certain Baccarat as these six Ayah these are seven even IOD from like 180 to 186 this passage that's
dedicated to the Ramadan, the immediate next instruction right after Ramadan. After all the Ramadan
are done. The immediate next instruction is the ayah I recited before you, Allah azza wa jal says
Well, hello and welcome
		

			to the Luba elcon nittaku. For a minute while in Nashville isn't one from Tyler moon, a rough
translation is difficult, but I'll try anyway. Don't allow us to the Muslim community don't consume
your monies among each other. Using falsehood or without purpose. There's two implications there
will about what to do we have to come and don't use these monies to draw in and to reel in using
those monies, the rulers, meaning judges and things like that don't corrupt them using your money.
That's one implication Lita kulu funny come in Amman in Nashville, hmm. So you end up consuming a
huge chunk a separate chunk from among the people's money public funds, if you will. sinfully will
		

			enter into the moon and you will know this I actually has a progression of corruption. It starts
with some basic level of corruption. And it progresses and progresses until it gets to a level of
corruption that can even destroy an entire society. So I wanted to actually highlight this to you
because in the sequence of the ayat of the Quran, first Allah talked about Ramadan, then there's the
strange Ayah this talks about finances out of nowhere. And then the next is actually about hedge
aluna and
		

			Alibaba ketola nasci. Well, hedge, it's actually about to hedge. So two of the major pillars of our
religion, Ramadan, and Hajj are there and in between them is this thing about take care of your
money matters? Why is that important? The first of all, understand the sequencing some things about
the sequencing. Ramadan is supposed to build a new a consciousness of Allah, a presence of a lie in
your life. That's what Ramadan is supposed to do. And if you recognize that taqwa of Allah, you
protect yourself from making Allah and happy, then you won't just have Taqwa of Allah when you're
fasting. Or when you're, you know, when you're praying or when you're inside the machine. You will
		

			have Taqwa of Allah when you do business. That is what will actually extend just like our fasting
extends to everything you do throughout the day. It's actually a training that that consciousness of
Allah just like that hunger and that thirst extends the entire day. That taqwa of Allah should
extend the entire all of all of your activities, especially financial ones. And then as you've
cleaned up your money, and you're no longer consuming or spending corrupt money, now it's time to
talk for you to talk about going to hedge because you shouldn't be going to hedge with corrupt
money. And by the way, that's another psychological disease. There are people who have no shame
		

			earning shady money, and then going to hedge every year.
		

			They have no shame, making money out of clearly hom sources, or swindling other people or holding
back from making their payments or whatever else and then they want to wipe the slate clean by going
to Hajj Allah azza wa jal is commenting on this corruption, and he's saying Ramadan is supposed to
transform you in every sense, not just the spiritual sense. It's supposed to transform you in the
ethical sense in the moral sense. Now a little little dig a deeper dig inside of this ayah lotta
kulu Amala combinar Campbell bottom. There's a duality that Mr. schue remember, Ozzy others also
recognized about this ayah because when it literally translates, don't consume your own monies.
		

			Don't eat your own monies. First of all with money you don't think about eating you think about
spending now don't feel unwelcome. Right, but Allah says that Taku Amala Komal aka no this this a
visitor should be here. There's actually a an imagery being drawn here. And it picks up from what we
just heard the IRS right before I just told you all about what Ramadan in which we don't eat. And so
speaking of not eating, don't eat each other's monies either. Just like you're not eating as I tell
you not to eat. It's time for you not to eat each other's monies. And by the way, eating is only
done when you have an appetite. So the idea of greed being parallel with hunger, like human beings
		

			want more money for themselves. And actually the desire for money and greed is actually even more
powerful than hunger. Because people want more money even when their stomach is full.
		

			Even when they have a house even when they have a car even when everything is taken care of you
still want more, the house doesn't stop, the greed doesn't stop. So let compares it to an
unsaturated, unfulfilled kind of hunger. And then he says I'm wanna comb your own monies. This is a
very powerful statement, because it has again, a duality meeting a lot could be talking about my own
money, the money I have in my bank, or the money that I have in my savings or my property, you can
be talking to me about my own funds. And he's also talking about the money that we share as a
community. Meaning just like you are protective of your own wealth, you're supposed to be protective
		

			of the wealth of others as well, because this oma this believing oma is actually omitted. wahida
It's one single Alma Sula. salamu describe it adjusted like a single body. So when you think about
cheating somebody else out of their money, it's like you're cheating yourself. It's like cheating
yourself. And that's why it was used. For example, when Muslims find each other. The verbiage used
in the Quran is they're finding themselves stuck. It's as stupid as fighting yourself. So cheating
and other believers literally cheating yourself. That's the mentality we're supposed to develop.
We're supposed to be as protective of the wealth of the other as we are of our own wealth. And
		

			that's the expression on why Lacan being a chameleon Banting now among you using false and let's
understand that, the word bottle can mean two things. bottle is the opposite of the Arabic word Huck
could mean falsehood. So jack was talking about it in the bottle or can as a hookah Quran uses the
word bottle in the sense of lies or falsehood. But the Quran also uses How can bottle in the sense
of purpose and lack of purpose. So halakha sumati will, will help Allah created the skies and the
earth with purpose the word use there is about it. As a matter of fact, when the believer realizes
that the entire universe has been created for purpose, the believer turns to align the Quran and
		

			says Allah Maha kochava bottom, you didn't create this purposely. So the word bottle refers to two
things. On the one hand, it refers to falsehood. On the other hand, it refers to purposelessness,
uselessness. Now, let's look at both implications. The first implication is don't eat each other's
money, using lies, falsehood, corruption, cheating, don't tell someone, you will deliver the product
and you have no intention of delivering the product, don't get don't agree to this price, and then
not pay that price. Don't become a contractor and say, Yeah, I can finish this house or I can finish
this room. This is the budget, no problem, it will be done in two weeks, and then it will be done in
		

			six months. And you know, there were some things I didn't realize that the price has quadrupled.
This is nothing. This is you know, this is corruption. But there's another dimension that's obvious,
right? Don't be corrupt with each other in your dealings and don't eat each other's money using
false. So this this kind of thing I've spoken to you especially in this congregation about before,
but the other implication of vaulting is purposelessness. Don't eat up each other's monies, on
things that have no purpose. don't squander and waste wealth. That's actually also a great source of
corruption in society. The nutrafin in the Koran, the people of excessive wealth are described as
		

			having a spending on things that have no purpose. And you know, when a society makes money above the
beer sustenance level, like they make more money than they need to survive, and they have extra
savings, then the mind starts spinning, what more can I spend on right, and you start spending on
frivolous things, useless things. At the top of that list is things like entertainment, you start
spending more and more money on entertaining yourself, like people going to expensive concerts or
like, you know, going to like, you know, exotic theme parks and things like that, or whatever it is,
right? Or I want to go on a trip to Disney World, or I want to see Hollywood myself or whatever, you
		

			know, these kinds of things. Or you're just addicted to movie after movie or just paying, you know,
money on on top of money on top of money to watch more and more and more and more. Now, when that
happens. You You think all what's the big deal, I'm just entertaining myself, but actually, you're
supporting an entire industry, that creates corruption, right? That creates purposelessness and
feeds purposelessness to the rest of society, you actually become part of that industry, as a
consumer of that industry. And as a heavy consumer of that industry, I would add, that you're
actually a supporter of that industry, you become part of that industry. And that creates battle in
		

			society, also in society, if our young kids, for example, are spending 16 hours, you know, 810 16
hours on a video game immersed completely, you know, they get lost in that world. And that you know,
the mind is a is a is a crazy thing, especially a young mind when they're immersed in that kind of
entertainment all the time. This is the kind of young mind that has no time to think
		

			about the land, my robe, you didn't create this without purpose. They don't look at the sky in the
tree outside and ponder and reflect. They're no longer capable of that because all of their
intellectual capacity is spent on getting 100% synchronization in some game or earning a trophy or
being ranked number one online or whatever it is. That's where all the all the capacity goes. So
there's two implications here one, don't be corrupt.
		

			And eat each other's money. And two is don't spend money wastefully and these two things are
actually hand in hand. Because when enough of a society becomes absorbed in wasteful spending, that
actually means they're self absorbed, they're self absorbed. And when enough of a society is self
absorbed, then corruption can happen all around them, and they won't raise a finger. They won't ever
raise their voice because they've already been turned into zombies, these two things actually go
hand in hand. So you'll find horrible levels of political, economic and social corruption taking
place in our society. You might even get the news feed or you might get people saying sign this
		

			petition or this or that or the other, but then you're like, ah, but I was watching a video with
cats playing a piano. So I'm going to go back to that. your your your, you can't, you can't invest
yourself now in standing up for help because you're too engrossed involved in purposelessness. So,
you know, falsehood spreads, when purposelessness spreads, these two things are interconnected
anyway allows me to now take to the next level, what's the next level of corruption that takes place
in a society it's such a such a progressive is Aparna La La Taku. Amara combina COVID Baffin were to
the newly hired procom. And in doing so, the second light is not mentioned. So it becomes a kind of
		

			a an. So today, I will explain the Arabic word for two first and it law in Arabic is actually from
done, that means a bucket. And a bucket is filled with water, and it's slowly pulled up. And buckets
were also used for, you know, trapping animals. So you put a carrot or something inside a bucket,
you've got a rope and the animal comes close to it, and you slowly pull the bucket and the animals
kind of really moving from its position. This is the imagery of trapping someone or getting someone
to move from their position, drawing them and attracting them. Allah says don't use these false
monies, these wasted monies, and also these monies earned from corrupt means to draw in rulers to
		

			leave behind and have come Don't use these monies, you know, by means of them. You draw closer to
the rulers, and procom. Now what is this rulers, it's not just referring to governors and judges,
even though that's the case.
		

			Okay, it's think things are okay, now. That's okay. That's okay. Be patient.
		

			So Alhamdulillah, by the way, just on a side note, children are going to cry, that's a normal part
of life. So don't be angry at the parent, or for them to be here. Rasulullah sallallahu Sallam used
to hear children cry while he was leading the prayer, and he used to shorten his prayer, instead of
get and then he didn't finish the prayer and give a hug, but about keep your children at home. He
didn't do that. So it's okay. And we shouldn't get upset at kids when they cry, or when they make
noise. And so we should all learn to be patient about that. And that's from the son of our
messenger. Some of them are names of them. In any case, what will be her procom don't draw rulers in
		

			meaning, don't use money to seduce those who are going to judge over you sometimes that judge is not
just a Supreme Court judge or a civil court judge or a trial judge or something. Sometimes this is
also a family member who's going to make judgment between people. He's a hockey team. Also,
sometimes somebody is going to do an arbitration between two parties. He's a hockey team also. And
you kind of butter him up from the side a little bit. Or he says, Well, I have to make a judgment.
You know, two brothers are having an argument. One of them is a millionaire. And the other one works
on minimum wage, and you're supposed to make the the judgment between them. They're like, I don't
		

			think I should go against a millionaire because I was hoping he'd helped me out later. If I go
against him, then later on, he's not gonna like me very much. And he's gonna actually invite you
over for dinner and say, Hey, so you know, what are you thinking? And you're eating at his expensive
dining table, and you're eating the exotic food and thinking I probably shouldn't mess with this
guy. The other guy, I mean, you know, what's he gonna do? You know, so you when you're in a position
of even passing your opinion, you sometimes just you're giving your opinion, you're in a position of
a hacking, but at the highest levels, this can be this can be meant for governments, you know,
		

			rulers. That's why even in the United States, you have laws about lobbyists, right, and how they
can't there's only so much they can do and how many politicians get in trouble for gifts they
receive. This is literally the expression in the Quran, to the loo vihara ll calm you just draw in
rulers towards yourselves, reel them in towards yourselves using money the ultimate form of
corruption. Lita kulu farrakhan Meanwhile in us, oh strange language in the Quran beautifully
strange, he says so you can consume if a broken off faction a broken off piece from the monies of
people. A lot could have said hello Meanwhile in Nashville Siva Mina Molina's, you know, just an
		

			Minamata NASA portion has many words in Arabic. Allah chose the word funny. nittaku recombinant
Melinda's belief in the word suggests something that is, you know, separated completely. In other
words, using policy using government using judgment using the law, you manipulate those who can't
help themselves and you completely cut them off from the money that they were entitled to, so that
they can't ever touch it again. It's actually a no brainer money.
		

			We leave the UK EU for a minimum while it does. And this is the monies of the people suggesting that
the corruption isn't just about two people having an argument. Eventually this thing grows enough
that you have corrupt businesses that can then seduce governments. And then by seducing the
governments, they can get discounts subsidiaries, they can get tax advantages and things, those tax
advantages, those savings that these billion dollar corporations get, who are they taking the money
from, they're taking the money from the people, they're actually bleeding the people, that's what
they're doing, and nobody sees it. It's all done behind closed doors. But it's actually people that
		

			are being bled dry their tax monies are being taken. And so this what seems like a very basic
statement from 1000s of years ago in the Koran is still extremely applicable, the Taku family come
in, and what a nasty bill if I'm using using, you know, in sinful ways, if I'm actually from a
thought means a penalty, meaning they're doing so in a way that will cost them a great penalty. And
this is worthy of a terrible penalty. If Tyler moon and you very well known, you're very well aware
of what you're doing. In this one brief IRA, Allah azza wa jal has actually given us a very powerful
set of instructions. And so I want to, on the one hand, not just bash corrupt businesses and
		

			governments that are in the billions, I want to start with ourselves, ourselves, we have issues, we
number one, we have to, you know, change the way we do business with each other, we have to change
the way we conduct our money matters. With those of you that have jobs that are being paid to
provide a particular service, be honest at your job, provide the service, you promised that you'll
provide. Those of you that are in businesses like the construction business, or you run a car
mechanic thing or whatever else, you are a constant, you constantly have an opportunity to
shortchange your customer, to tell them they need a new transmission when they all they needed was
		

			an oil change, to tell them that their entire you know, their their houses foundation is gone, you
need a new foundation, well, all they needed was a new plank of wood on the side, you can do that
because they'll believe you, they'll believe you, you're constantly in a position to eat people's
money using Colson. That's the first thing that we have to now become aware of. Because if you
haven't learned that, then there was no point to this Ramadan, there was no point in praying and
fasting and making dua to alone, nothing about the way your greed hasn't been taken away, you could
control your hunger, you can control your thirst, which you couldn't control your hunger for money,
		

			you know, and then what's the point, then that's the graduation into the next phase. That's what
we're supposed to learn to do. So that's the first bit of advice that comes out of these ions. The
second bit of advice, and the underscore of these ions, and particularly this phrase, well, that's a
good one, while a combiner can be a bad thing. It's actually to be mindful of the fact that when we
spend money, there are people in our own families, there are people in our circles, there are people
in our communities that are worthy of assistance, they need help. I'm not saying you shouldn't buy
new clothes for yourselves. I'm not saying you should never entertain yourself. That's not what I'm
		

			saying. But I am saying be mindful of the fact that there are people in need around you, and very
close to you and have to look very far to find people in need. And when you spend money on things
that don't really have a purpose, then actually think about the fact that according to Allah, that
was their money. You know, I'm one of the most powerful expressions I've ever read, it just changed
my thinking about how the Quran talks about spending on people in need, is when I have time in
miskeen, malaria.
		

			skin, you know, it's incredible, because a lot as always, I didn't say what I
		

			mean, whiskey miskeen
		

			Swami mysskin, you will translate, he doesn't encourage feeding the poor. He doesn't encourage
feeding the poor, but Allah said when I met miskeen, that means the food not feeding. In other
words, if you say I don't encourage feeding, you're going out of your way to feed somebody else. But
if you say he doesn't encourage to give the food of the poor, when you say food of the poor, it
actually is their food. It's theirs. It's not yours, you're not feeding them, you're giving them
what is actually already theirs. This is how could Malou moto current calls are unknown, right? A
declared right that they already have. So being mindful of that within our own families, especially
		

			whether your families here or there abroad, whether you have people in your in your circles, and
it's just not limited to family, even friends, some of your friends have lost a job, they're in
trouble. You know, they're having a hard time paying their rent, they're not saying anything to you.
You ask every once in a while, hey, how's the job hunt going? They say I'm still looking? Well, they
don't, they're not going to say I can't pay the rent, they're not going to come to you and say that
you should have this sensitivity to just write a check, sign it and leave it under the plate when
you go for a thought or something and just don't bring it up again, just do it for them, that kind
		

			of thing. So to develop that sensitivity to the people around us, that will remove
		

			from us the the false hood in spending the wastefulness in spending and consuming our money among
each other. And by the way, we know from the last implication of it that I'd like to share with you
my use of the phrase vehicle. A powerful implication that comes from it is that we encourage each
other on the wrong thing, too. We create a culture in which one group of people spends wastefully
and then the other says, Hey, they did it. We got to do it, too. Now, they got that we should get it
to they got a new car, what are we gonna get a new car, you know? And then with corruption, also, if
you do corruption, why can't we do corruption? Everybody does it. And people develop this mentality
		

			that they lean on each other, and say, it's okay for me to do the wrong thing. Because there are
plenty of other people doing it, too. It's not like I'm the root of the problem. There's plenty of
other people already doing it. I'm just one drop in a moving river, right? So you can't hold me
responsible. This is exactly what I was pointing to. You don't create this culture among yourselves.
And if you're the only one that's going to stand straight, so be it you'll be the only one you'll be
the odd one out. But be that and that's the that's the lesson of Ramadan that we should come out
with Mila as always you'll accept our fasting and make us of those who make the most of this month
		

			whatever is left of this month. May Allah azzawajal overlook our shortcomings in this month. And as
always, I'll accept the risk that we earn as hard and play as as permissible and good and pure for
ourselves and our families. And lives always make us of those who don't have hesitation in spending
on others, and make us of those who keep away from using their money for purposeless things. Monica
lovely welcome Phil Coronel Hakeem when a funny way, for me it was a good hockey.
		

			Hungry la casa wa Salatu was Salam O Allah de Latinos la Posada of letting him go hot, Amina been
Mohamed el amin where Allah alayhi wa sahbihi Ashbury
		

			got a lot more
		

			than a Buddha below him in a condo regime in the lahoma Nikita who you soluna and in the media you
handed in LA he was illegal to Lima Allahumma salli ala Muhammad Ali Mohammed comma Salim
		

			Ali Ibrahim al al Ameen in the middle Majeed Allahumma barik ala Mohammed Ali Mohammed Ibrahim
Ibrahim al al amin in the middle Majid about Allah Rahim Allah Allah in the La Jolla.
		

			Korba when he will will come with a decree Allah akbar Allahu Allah level metals now are going to
solder in the salata cabinet, mini Nikita makuta