Nouman Ali Khan – The Solution to Escape Hardship
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
The Prophet ﷺ is being told, even if
you're going through the most darkest of times,
though humanity was in much darker times, and
this Qur'an came.
So don't worry, when you commit to the
Qur'an at Fajr time, no matter what
dark times you're going through, light is on
the horizon.
In today's khutbah, I'd like to share with
you that the purpose of these few minutes
that I have with you is to try
and share some lessons about one single prayer
that Allah teaches us in the Qur'an.
And of the ayat that I recited from
the 17th surah, surah al-Isra, that was
the last of them.
وَقُلْ رَبِّي أَدْخِلْنِي مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَأَخْرِجْنِي مُصْلَجَ صِدْقٍ
وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنْ لَدُنْكَ سُلْطَانًا نَسِيرًا It's a very
powerful and beautiful prayer that can benefit believers
throughout their lives.
But the purpose of this khutbah is to
get to that prayer by the end.
I wanna give you some background and some
history that you can appreciate where this prayer
came from and how it benefited first and
foremost our Messenger ﷺ.
And by extension it benefits all of us.
Because the first thing that Muslims understand, believers
understand, is the purpose of prayer is that
they connect with their Master and their Master
helps them through their prayer.
All of our prayers in one way or
the other, every single supplication that we have
in one way or the other benefits us
in our life in some way.
It helps us in some way.
So I wanna begin with this surah, the
beginning of this surah.
This surah starts with a very unique incident
in the life of our Prophet ﷺ, where
he was taken by the angel, from the
city of Mecca, through a divine journey all
the way to Jerusalem.
And then he prayed there, and then he
was taken up a journey in the seventh
heavens, and was brought back to Mecca all
in the course of what we consider in
the worldly sense not even a matter of
a second, but what took an elaborate amount
of time for him.
Because time, the way it works in this
world, is not the way it works in
the unseen.
So when this journey was told about, when
the Prophet ﷺ described to the companions that
he had gone on this night journey, the
Arabic word for a night journey being Isra,
and that's the first ayah, سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي أَسْرَى
بِعَبْدِهِ لَيْلًا How perfect is the one who
took his slave in the middle of the
night for that journey.
That's how this surah begins.
So when he describes this journey, of course
believers like Abu Bakr as-Siddiq are immediately
confirming that that is what happened.
As unbelievable as it sounds, that in the
middle of the night, this man traveled from
here, from Mecca to Jerusalem, up the seventh
heavens and then back, and met all of
these previous Prophets and prayed with them, and
saw all these scenes of the afterlife, and
then came back.
All of it sounded so unbelievable, it became
a joke to those who disbelieved.
It actually became something to mock and to
make fun of across Mecca for everybody else.
They would even come to the Muslims and
say, you really believe he did that?
You seriously believe he traveled on some flying
horse and went all the way to Jerusalem,
and then he went up the skies and
did intergalactic travel?
You really honestly believe that this man, what
he even says that?
And believers would say, yes, we do.
And they wouldn't have any doubt about it.
Their faith was unshaken.
Why?
Because the foundation of this faith, this is
not the foundation of their faith.
The foundation of their faith was already laid.
They had already been convinced that this Qur
'an is the word of God, it's the
word of Allah, and this is the messenger
of Allah.
And once they believed that, they understood what
Allah is capable of.
And when Allah can do something for us,
what He will do for us in our
afterlife is much more remarkable, when He will
resurrect all human beings from their graves.
So how hard is it for them to
believe that Allah will take His messenger on
a journey like that one?
In any case, this is also a surah
around the time when things were getting very
difficult for the Prophet and for the companions.
Not only were they being ridiculed by this
time now, things were getting physical.
So Muslims were now starting to get tortured,
beat, threatened.
There were even plans to either kill the
Prophet عليه الصلاة والسلام, or at the very
least expel him from Makkah.
وَإِن كَادُوا لَيَسْتَفِزُونَكَ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ لِيُخْرِجُوكَ مِنْهَا So
they can kick you out of the land,
they wanna terrorize you, instill fear in you.
This is what Allah is commenting on in
this surah as well.
So in light of these things, what I
wanted to share with you is that when
Allah took His messenger to Jerusalem, and He
said Himself, مِنُ رِيَغُ مِنْ آيَاتِنَا So we
could show Him our miraculous signs.
Allah wants Him to ponder over the history
of Jerusalem.
But our Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم
is not a historian of Jewish history.
He doesn't know a lot about their tradition.
He doesn't know a lot about that region
except what Allah will reveal to him.
So what does Allah reveal to him in
this surah?
He tells him that they used to be,
this used to be the house of Allah,
the masjid, and this was actually violated a
couple of times.
And the people were expelled, and they were
taken as slaves.
And this is talked about in the very
beginning.
This is important for the Prophet to learn
at this time صلى الله عليه وسلم because
he's also on the verge of being expelled
from Makkah.
So now he's going to learn about a
history of people that were expelled from the
house of worship, and the masjid was even
destroyed.
Alhamdulillah, the Ka'bah was not destroyed, but
it was certainly violated.
It was, you know, surrounded by idols.
And its legacy was certainly tarnished.
And then the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم
is being told on this journey, that this
journey first of all should tell you that
what you're going through is not something new.
This has happened before.
This is a legacy of Allah with Prophets.
And you're supposed to be a part of
that legacy.
So don't be saddened by what is about
to come.
This is the first thing that connects these
two legacies together.
The second is, when you travel from this
earth to all the way to the seventh
heaven, then leaving the city of Makkah to
travel to the city of Medina is not
going to be a big deal anymore.
It's going to be easy for you to
handle that this is not a long journey.
We can do this.
If Allah can guard me and safeguard me
through that incredible journey, then this other journey
that's on the horizon is not going to
be a big deal.
So now Allah عز و جل says, and
even if they did kick you out, even
if the people of Makkah did expel you,
وَإِذَا لَا يَلْبَثُونَ خِلَافَكَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا Even if
they did get you out, they're not going
to stay behind you and stay in power
for much longer.
In other words, even if I let you
go, and even if you leave the city
of Makkah, it's pretty soon that you're going
to be coming back.
It's pretty soon that you're going to get
victory again.
Which was completely unimaginable for Muslims who had
no authority, no control, absolutely no respect in
that society.
They were the object of ridicule everywhere they
turned.
They themselves are taking the beatings, and now
they're being told, oh, don't worry, if you
get kicked out of Makkah, you'll be coming
back because they're not going to last.
These Makkans that are in control, they're not
going to last, subhanAllah.
This is the picture that's painted for our
Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم.
But then in the middle of all of
this, the subject changes.
And this is where things get really interesting.
The subject almost becomes a completely different one.
How do you prepare for a journey?
How do you prepare for a different transition?
This is the most difficult, one of the
most difficult moments in the Prophet's life صلى
الله عليه وسلم.
Despite the counsel that Allah has given him,
our Messenger had a lot of love for
the Ka'bah.
He had a lot of love for the
Ka'bah because it was built by his
father Ibrahim.
And he knew, he recognized that.
So his affinity to that house was much
stronger than, you know, for anybody to leave
their home and leave their homeland, and the
place of their birth is difficult.
But for our Prophet there were these reasons
of lineage, but also spiritual reasons for him
not to want to leave.
And so even before, a lot of people
don't know this, but even before we were
commanded to pray in the direction of the
Ka'bah, the Muslims were actually instructed to
pray in the direction of Jerusalem.
We were supposed to pray towards Al-Masjid
Al-Aqsa.
So what the Prophet used to do while
he resided in Mecca, is he used to,
because you could go any way, any direction
you want around the Ka'bah, so he
used to align himself in a way, so
he's praying with the Ka'bah in front
of him, and Jerusalem is lined up.
So he would be able to do that.
So he'd be able to show respect to
the house that his father Ibrahim built, and
also, alayhis salaam, and also be able to
abide by the regulations of prayer that still
haven't changed, we still prayed in the direction
of Jerusalem, right?
Which by the way also teaches you and
mean the importance of the Prophet going to
that Masjid, because that was the original Qimla.
So he's actually going, you could say in
a sense it's a Umrah, that was assigned
by Allah for him to do, because that's
the original Qimla.
You know, before this one, at least in
the Seerah of the Prophet alayhis salaam.
Now the Prophet's gonna migrate to Medina.
But when he migrates to Medina, and if
he want, because he has to face Jerusalem
again to pray, but this time if he's
gonna face Jerusalem, his back is gonna be
to Mecca.
He can't line both of them up together
anymore, because Medina is on the way to
Jerusalem.
So if you're gonna face it, your back
is gonna have to be towards Mecca, and
that hurts his feelings.
Even the fact that there are narrations about
the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam turning to
the Kaaba and crying, and talking to it
as he's leaving.
Like a mother, like a mother that he's
parting from.
Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
This is a very, very painful journey for
the Prophet.
But you know, and not only is it
a painful journey, you should all know that
this is also a dangerous journey.
There are scouts from Mecca that are ready
to...
whose only assignment is to trace his steps,
find him, and kill him.
That's their job.
They know that he's planning an escape, or
this is the night that's come, or they're
thinking he might have escaped, and they're gonna
scout him out, and find him, and kill
him.
And they got to the point where they
were almost killed.
That's gonna be described much later on in
the Qur'an, in Surah Tawbah that was
revealed much later, when the scouts were virtually
at their feet.
And they're literally in a ditch in the
ground, it's night time, it's just a matter
of these guys looking down.
If they look down, they'll find the Prophet
and Abu Bakr hiding.
They could see them.
And that's the point where the Prophet was,
you know, given revelation.
Abu Bakr as-Siddiq was worried, and he
said, the Prophet turned to him and said,
لَا تَحْزَنَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا Don't be sad,
Allah is with us.
It's amazing that even at that point, he
didn't say, don't be afraid, Allah is with
us.
He said, don't be sad, Allah is with
us.
Abu Bakr wasn't afraid.
He was just sad that if this happens,
the truth will die here.
The truth will no longer spread.
That was a sadness that was killing him,
not the fear of death.
So no reason to say, لَا تَخَفْ إِنَّ
اللَّهَ مَعَنَا But rather, لَا تَحْزَنَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ
مَعَنَا Don't be sad, Allah is with us.
But in any case, this journey is gonna
be an extremely difficult one, it's an extremely
sad one, it's an extremely painful one.
And in considering all of that, now Allah
is going to give the Prophet salallahu alayhi
wa sallam the proper provisions.
How are you supposed to prepare for this
journey?
You know, this is something Allah does all
the time.
When you prepare for a difficult journey, He
gives instruction.
For example, when we go to hajj, Allah
says, وَتَزَوَّذُ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ زَادَ التَّقْوَانَ When you're
gonna go to hajj, which is a tough
journey, Allah says, make sure you take precautions,
make sure you pack properly, make sure you
have your passport in order, make sure you
have enough savings, make sure you take a
safe road, make sure you don't talk to
strangers.
All of that's captured inside, تَزَوَّذُ فَإِنَّ خَيْرَ
زَادَ التَّقْوَانَ The best of all provisions you
can have is your consciousness of Allah, and
caution when you travel, be careful when you
travel.
This is what Allah says when you travel.
So how is Allah going to prepare the
Prophet ﷺ for this journey?
What does He say?
You'd be surprised.
He says, أَقِنِ الصَّلَاةَ لِلْغُنُوكِ الشَّمْسِ إِلَىٰ غَسَقِ
اللَّيْلِ وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ He says, establish the prayer
from the time the sun comes up to
the time the night becomes really deep and
dark, and especially the Qur'an of Fajr,
the Qur'an of the Fajr prayer.
You wanna prepare for this journey?
Pray.
You wanna prepare for this journey?
And the Prophet ﷺ already committed to prayer.
It's not like this ayah came and now
he started praying.
Now he's being told, in order to meet...
Now you're gonna be disconnected from your people.
You're gonna be disconnected from your motherland.
وَأَنتَ حِلٌّ بِهَذَا الْبَلَدِ This land that you're
gonna be leaving.
But you know what?
One connection will remain.
And that connection has to be strengthened like
never before.
That's the connection with Allah.
And that ultimate connection, by the way, the
Arabic word for connection is Salah.
From Salah.
Salah, which is prayer itself.
And so Allah is telling him, no matter
how much you get severed from this place,
you will never get severed from Allah.
And of all those prayers, those five prayers,
the one that will truly connect you to
Allah is gonna be the Qur'an of
Fajr.
He didn't even call it the prayer of
Fajr.
Notice he called it the Qur'an of
Fajr, Qur'an al-Fajr.
Actually Qur'an is not made idafah for
Arabic students.
It's not made idafah other than to al
-Fajr.
It's incredible.
The word Qur'an in the Qur'an
is never connected to anything in it the
way it is to the word al-Fajr.
It's a remarkable thing.
So Allah is telling our Messenger sallallahu alayhi
wa sallam, especially that break of dawn, when
darkness ends and light begins.
At that time, that is the time to
recite the Qur'an.
Why is that significant?
For many reasons, in this khutbah I'll share
a couple of them with you.
You know the era between the departure of
Jesus, of Isa alayhi salam, and the coming
of our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, is
this long period of darkness.
It's like a night.
And then finally the light of revelation came,
which is like the morning.
That's like the morning.
The Qur'an recited at Fajr is actually,
it symbolizes the end of the age of
darkness, and the beginning of revelation.
The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is being
told, even if you're going through the most
darkest of times, though humanity was in much
darker times, and this Qur'an came.
So don't worry, when you commit to the
Qur'an at Fajr time, no matter what
dark times you're going through, light is on
the horizon.
Just like the light of the sun comes
out, it is the light of revelation that
will brighten the rest of your life, the
rest of your day.
Wa Qur'an al-Fajr.
What an incredible statement for the Prophet alayhi
salatu wasalam.
Don't be depressed, brighter days are ahead.
Brightness is ahead.
And the best way to prepare is Qur
'an al-Fajr.
He says, إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُدًا The
Qur'an of Fajr has always been witnessed.
Now the question is, who is witnessing it?
Kana mashhooda, has always been witnessed.
And then this is an isha maf'ool
which suggests that there are those that are
witnessing it, but the witnesses aren't mentioned.
You know what that means?
Allah is especially witness to the Qur'an
recited at Fajr.
He's also mentioning that there are angels whose
only task is to witness the Qur'an
recited at Fajr.
So Imam Razi would go on to say,
but in this ayah there's also an indication
that believers should encourage each other to pray
Fajr together so they can witness each other.
So they can be, you know, each of
you becomes mashhood for the rest.
You become shabashahidin wa mashhood.
That's what happens.
So this idea of the Qur'an preparing
you at Fajr and preparing you for the
migration that's coming.
And then he says, for the Prophet himself
particularly, salallahu alayhi wasalam, وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِمْ
نَافِلَةً لَكَ And from in the middle of
the night, some part of the night, make
sure that you particularly make tahajjud, additional like
prayers.
Additional for you.
نَافِلَةً لَكَ Telling the Prophet.
Why?
Because when his followers would hear that, they
might think that this is mandatory on them.
So Allah made it clear immediately.
No, no, نَافِلَةً لَكَ It's additional for you.
An extra thing for you.
Not for them.
I've given you an extra half.
So some would even extrapolate from this that
the night prayer, the additional prayer after Isha
and before Fajr is actually mandatory for the
Prophet.
An additional responsibility on him, not on us.
We're encouraged to do so, but he's obligated
to do so.
Why?
And Allah tells us why.
He says, عَسَىٰ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا
Perhaps your master is going to raise you
and elevate you to a place, a station
that is praised.
مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا I have a few minutes left,
but I got to get this out to
you somehow.
The Prophet ﷺ is being told that if
you pray in the middle of the night,
there's an optimistic chance that you are going
to be placed on a praiseworthy station.
مَقَامًا مَحْمُودًا This is not an accidental term.
What does it mean a praiseworthy station?
The Prophet himself would describe المقام المحمود the
place that is praised.
It is a reference to something that will
happen on the Day of Judgment.
On the Day of Judgment, all humanity will
be gathered.
يَوْمَ نَدْعُوا كُلَّ أُنَاسٍ بِإِمَامِهِمْ No accident, that
ayah is also in this surah.
When we call all people by their leaders.
And this ummah, these Muslims are going to
be called by their leader, the Prophet ﷺ.
Nobody will be speaking on that day.
لَا يَتَكَنْدَ مُنَا إِنَّ مَنْ أَذِنَ لَهُ الرَّحْمَٰنِ
Nobody will say a word, except the one
who Allah gives, the Ar-Rahman gives permission
to, Allah gives permission to.
And the only one He gives permission to
on Judgment Day is the Prophet ﷺ.
Humanity, all of it, the sea of humanity
is in one field, and one man starts
elevating above the rest.
And everybody can see this one man rising.
And then he's given permission to speak.
And then he says, I will praise Allah
with words of praise that I don't even
know yet.
That Allah will give me then that no
one's ever heard before.
And that's how the Prophet will start speaking
to Allah on Judgment Day.
That is the station worthy of praise.
And so you appreciate what Allah says in
the next ayah as I conclude, وَقُلْ جَاءَ
الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلِ إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا And
just declare after that that the truth has
arrived and falsehood has dissipated, it's withered away.
When you can do that, then don't worry
about any falsehood that comes in your life,
anybody who gives you trouble.
All of that will disappear if you can
commit yourself to Allah.
May Allah عز و جل make us of
those who can truly hold on to Him.
Because all of us falter, all of us
have weaknesses, some of us have very bad
sleep habits, we don't get up for Fajr,
or we barely get up for Fajr, or
even when we're praying Fajr, we're still sleeping.
That happens too, you know.
May Allah make us of those who can
better our sleeping habits and take advantage of
the Qur'an of Fajr that can be
witnessed, that can become our aid.
And then one day we can additionally even
stand in the middle of the night before
Allah, so He can take us out of
whatever situation we're in and put us in
a مُدْخَن صِدْق.
He can put us in a place that
is good for us, is true for us,
and it strengthens our own truthfulness.
بارك الله لي ولكم في القرآن الحكيم ونفعني
وإياكم بالآيات وذكر الحكيم.
I hope you guys enjoyed that video clip.
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