Riyad Nadwi – 0.7 Actionable Tafsir Dars 7
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To anything that tries to interject
and cast that shadow and distracts you from
focusing on the name of Allah. And that
is the path to Allah. He's saying,
This is the path to Allah. Through recognizing
his name
and staying focused
with the heart,
mind on the name.
Because if naming and branding is owning,
as we saw earlier, naming and branding is
owning,
then no.
No for certainty.
No certainly that you belong to Allah.
I repeat that. If naming and branding is
owning, then know that you belong to Allah,
and his name must reign supreme in your
soul, heart,
Brothers and sisters,
Welcome to our 7th session in
this Tafsir series in which
we're pondering verses of the Quran
with a view towards
purifying our hearts and minds
and beautifying our conduct and character.
And I will start, as usual, with a
quick summary of the points we covered last
session
in order to maintain, of course, the flow
of progress, both
consolidation in the memory
and reinforcement
in your practice. So this is, as we
said,
tafsir b'aynil amal. It is tafsir
with the eye of seeking action.
Tafsir to put into practice, not mere
muting for intellectual
amusement
or entertainment.
So point number 1, and this was this
goes all back to the beginning. This book
this book of guidance, the Quran, was not
sent
on its own
without an interpreter,
And neither is to see or a free
for all exercise.
It has usool.
It has well established normative principles
that are essential to linking
with the established legacy of interpretive traditions,
starting with the prophet
and then
the Sahaba and then the Tabiheen
and then the Musasilin
throughout the ages coming all the way down
to where we are at the moment now.
So point number 2 was
being
speakers of a language, that's for all of
a better word,
a language that traps our perception and cognition
into distinct patterns of functioning,
we are in need of
help
to bridge that gap of time and that
gap of language
that separates us from the earlier generations of
interpreters of the Quran.
Point number 3 is that there is a
need to shift away from the material
brain centric view of human beings
and to move more towards the soul centric
view,
for it is the soul that makes human
beings unique among the creation.
Point number 4 was that the absence
of terms or the absence of words for
a certain
thing or for certain things
in one's language
will often impede one's ability to perceive and
think about those things.
We gave you the examples of numbers, of
colors,
of concepts, etcetera.
Point number 5 was that the more words,
the more labels, the more terms you have
for something in your language,
it is the more salient and profound
your mental engagement with those things will be.
Point number 6 is that Allah
has blessed us with access to
99
of his beautiful names
through which remembrance, dhikr, consciousness,
gratitude, reliance,
etcetera, etcetera,
are aided and made easy for us.
And number 7 was reflecting on
the 25 names of the greatest Surah, Surah
al Fatiha.
Allah
has
caused this Surah to be revealed to the
prophet
uniquely. There isn't a Surah like this in
any other revealed text.
And for it, there are 25 names
which offers an enhancement of our mental engagement
with the Surah.
Number 8 was the,
that, of course, the action point where we
said that the
opportunity to reflect on the name of this
Surah, As Salah,
for Allah named it Salah in in the
Hadith
in response
to Allah
responding to our reciting of this of of
the Surah.
It
it will help us to
avoid falling into this time gap experience, the
the gap experience where we begin the salah
and start with the Fatiha
and have no recollection of actually read reading
it. No recollection whatsoever. We we say
and we
we we we lose track of what we're
reciting.
So by reflecting on the name of salah
and the conversation that happens between when Allah
speaks to the angel and saying that he,
oh, my servant has praised me, it has,
has glorified me, etcetera, etcetera,
is an opportunity to by reflecting on that,
it's an opportunity
to build your concentration, your khushur,
your experience in salah here.
Number 9 was the first language acquisition is
dependent on being exposed
to the language in your infancy. The language
you speak is a result as as mother
tongue. The language you speak as your mother
tongue is a result of being exposed to
it in your infancy.
And
I gave you the example. I we know
this for certain because feral children
or children who are severely isolated or deaf
children
do not learn to speak,
because,
we we hear we all learn to speak
from hearing our our parents speak,
and they in turn learned from their parents
and so on and on and on. So
follow the logic upwards and see where you
end up.
Then point number 10
was that there's a historic claim
that the first human language, the Adamic metalanguage,
was Hebrew, and this claim is made on
the basis
of the name Eve.
The Hebrew scholars argue that it makes sense
that the name Eve only makes sense in
Hebrew,
as in,
Shaba and Hawa, meaning life and living.
But we said that
in Arabic, the name Hawa has even have
has greater
meaning and significance
than the Hebrew because it is
it's not just living life and living, but
it carries the meaning of of a place
where the multitude is gathered, multitude as in
the eggs of the eggs of humanity.
And also, it also it it it carries
the meaning of enkibal, which is the characteristic
of shyness, to recoil, to to coil up
And then point number 11 was that
inquiry
in into the origins of language was banned
in 18/66
by the the Linguistic Society of Paris. But
in the last 40 years, there's been a
resurgence of interest in this area.
And languages that were that were thought to
be isolated from the language families of the
world, such as the Basque language,
has been found to have
deep linkages
with certain features of Arabic.
And also,
large numbers of major languages of the world
are found to be traceable to Arabic, but
we'll come to this more in in later
in the series.
Then number 12 was that reflecting
reflecting on the first half, the the first
letter of the Quran, the
b as in Bismillah,
through the 13 different meanings in which it
is used in the Quran
is an effective way
towards enhancing
our mental engagement because we are talking about
if you have many hooks to hook on
mental hooks, each each mental word, each word,
each meaning is a mental hook. So you're
you're putting your placing greater
pegs into the mind to connect.
And we'll talk more about that later on.
It
it it it enhances the mental engagement with
the with the text. And also, it's a
way of increasing our appreciation for the richness
of the language
and the beauty of its concise and succinct
nature.
To discover and ponder 13 different meanings
packed into a single phoneme. Bi
is an extraordinary and astonishing thing. So that
in itself
is
something to be,
to ponder and to marvel over that, look,
this is the beauty of this text. This
is the beauty of the words of Allah.
And we are
how much we would discover,
we will all it will always be limited
compared to what it will be on the
day of judgement. It will arrive on the
day of judgement as if it hasn't hadn't
been read yet, the amount the the amount
of meaning and, and blessings that are packed
into each letter of this word of of
this book.
Now today, I want to move on in
the in this same, the first sentence in
the Quran. We are reading it and,
Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim, which is,
and my aim tonight is to dive into,
the second word,
because,
after b comes ism,
and ism. And how do we rate to
this,
which we briefly touched on last week? We
we said that it is it is a
word found at the start of the training
of Adam
when Allah said, Allah has informed us in
the Quran.
And he, Allah
taught Adam all the names. So according to
the Quran, human language began
with instructions about ism, about names, or Asma'ah.
That is where human language begins.
This is a word that is also found
in the beginning of the actual revelation.
As in the first revelation to the prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
by the angel Gabriel, Jibreel alaihi wasalam, who
said,
The name is comes there again.
Read in the name in the name of
your Lord who created created man from a
flock.
And then again, of course, the word is
found at the beginning of the text when
you open the written text.
So from the very inception, attention is being
drawn towards the notion of name, the notion
of Ism.
Therefore, the beginning of every journey into understanding
guidance in the Quran
requires
some reflection on the word ism. What does
it mean,
and why is that important?
As for importance,
we can
gleam that from the Hadith in which Rasool
Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is quoted to
have said,
that
a a verse has been revealed onto me
and to
Solomon Suleiman
Suleiman alaihis salam and no one else, and
that is Bismillahir Rahman al Rahim.
That
and here again, like, that's what we learned
about Surah Fatihah. This verse was also revealed
with protocols
of great honor and moment as a momentous
event in the history of the world.
I'm Javed ibn Abdillahir
Rahim
that when Bismillahir Rahim was revealed,
that the clouds were all dispersed into the
to the to the east. They're all moved
away. This this bus was being revealed, and
the clouds on the on the earth were
were made to move in in one direction.
And all the all the winds, all the
the trade winds that we have around the
world, all of those were made to stop.
But there's something momentous is about to happen
that all of that happened.
And the
That the and the sea was tossed aside
but kept. The the the sea was,
the raging sea was tossed, and then the
a all the animals were made to remain
quiet.
With their with their
with their sounds and sounds that they make.
They were all made to to be to
be quiet now. This verse is being revealed.
And
and and the and the shayateen, the devils,
were pelted, in other word, chased away
because the because of this momentous event. Wa
Harafa, Wa Harafa Allahu Ta'ala and Allah swore,
he said,
that with with his honor and his majesty,
he swore he swore and said,
that that no name, that no one will
use this name
on anything except that he will bless it.
Now, this comes back to our earlier discussion
on the importance of having names for things
in our linguistic repertoire.
Names are what languages are made of.
If you do not have names in your
language for things, then perceiving those things can
be difficult.
So what is Ism?
And Ism,
The name is a noun,
a word that indicates to a meaning
without any temporal component
as opposed to a verb that carries a
time factor. When you say, you're saying he
has done something in the past, present, or
future.
But there's no time factor in in in
this. So ism, that's the word we're dealing
with tonight.
And how do we relate to name? The
word noun, name. How how do how do
human beings function with names?
And ISM would be pronounced ism in English,
which is the suffix we use,
to,
describe
we add to create categories of abstract nouns,
so such as, you know, nouns of actions
and doctrines like alcoholism
and hypnotism
and communism
and all of that.
And the the root of that
is in the etymology is often linked to
Greek and Latin, but
if you look deeper, you might find a
link to Arabic.
Which is quite close to ism in Arabic.
The word which is derived from
samru,
sin, mim, wau or or the Greek letter
samru, meaning elevation because of the name raises
the profile of the name in the mind
and facilitates the mentioning and remembering of the
name.
But they say,
because it it raises the profile and and
and and and and facilitates
praise. But there's another opinion. The other opinion,
and they say that and that it's also
from that
it's derived from.
And
you might might have known those of you
who know Arabic will know, WASM
is a sign
a indication of a
sign
a a a sign a a a a
a some sort of some sort of some
sort
of
thing through which things are identified.
But, and this is the difference what I
mentioned last week about the difference between the
grammarians of the Basra and the Gramerians of
Kufa, the Basraein and the Kufiyin.
And in this one, I think the Basraein
has it because they are they their their
argument, they've they've what they did is that
they dismissed it on the basis, and I'm
I'm gonna say this for explain this for
for the benefit of those of you who
are studying Arabic, you will appreciate this.
In Arabic when you have Tasdir,
when you have the form of Tasdir, which
is the diminutive,
form,
it always goes back to the original letters.
Whenever you create a diminutive
you know what the diminutive is. The like,
a a word like book, booklet,
kitab, utayib, like that. That's a diminutive.
So whenever you create one of those in
Arabic, it goes back to the original. So
if you do that with the word
Samu, with the word ism, you end up
with Sami with Sumay. You
do not end up with Usain.
And on that basis, they've,
ruled that the first opinion is correct, that
it it is actually from some.
Okay. Now, also, in terms of meaning,
there are lively debates and discussions to be
found among the, like, among the legacy of
scholarship
throughout the ages as to what is a
name?
What is a name in relation to the
named?
What is the relationship between the reference and
the referent?
Is the name different from the thing it
names or is it the same?
Now the scholars deal with this question in
different ways, but I think the best answer
is, you know, Ghazali's,
analysis of it. And what he says here,
he says that,
that we
what we
say in regard to the meaning, the definition
and the the reality of the word of
ism
is
that.
The things
have existence in reality,
an existence in our mind, and an existence
on our tongue.
As for the existence in the reality
in reality, that is
the
original and the real. That's the that's where
things really exist. The original and the real
existence. And then there's an existence in the
imaginative knowledge of people,
right, in the mind, basically.
And then the existence
on the tongue in an indicative word
he has. And and and then they give
an example. They say, take the example of
the sky,
The sky, the sama has has an existence
in reality, but also an existence in people's
minds,
because of what they perceive. Now, if the
sky were to disappear and we were to
remain,
the idea of a sky will remain in
our minds
and so would the existence of the word
sky in our tongues.
And therefore, these three forms of existences
are differentiated from one another. And I want
you to keep this as mind that this
will be important for all the later discussions
that we're gonna have is that these three
existences of meanings of what we mean is,
is really important. Ism is not the same
as that which it denotes. That's the point.
The when when we say when we say
the loved
that these are sounds combined with 4 separate
sounds, sama as as a seen, a meem,
alif, and a hamza, which indicates
to the image of of of sky in
the mind that represents the existence of sky
in the real world, but they are not
the same.
Right. So and then the discussion goes on.
But,
a name is that which it is placed
for the indication, for reference,
for denotation.
That's the point.
And this is, of course, a very modern
cognitive science discussion. I mean, the the
the that discussion that I've just read to
you now is,
those sorts of discussion
are thoroughly modern,
that are a 1000 years old. But if
you if if I if I were to
translate that in cognitive science speak, you would
think that it's someone speaking,
from sciences today, even though those that discussion
that I've just read, that's from a book
that's nearly a 1000 years old.
Now in recent times, there have been several
discoveries in the field of cognitive science that
are pertinent also to the
discussion, but more on that later.
The point we need to focus on is
that how does naming
relate to us in the modern world? And
how does that relate to when we say
Bismillah
with the name?
Because this ism
is where we're called is not Bismillah, it's
Bismillah,
a name goes there. Now some scholars say
that
the name is placed there to avoid it,
to to separate it from it being Qasam,
it being being a an oath. Because if
you say Billahi, that is a Qasam. But
if you say Bismillahi, it is not. That
is one explanation. But, there is definitely
a a need to focus on the idea
of
name, the use the the function of name
in our lives, the function of names in
our lives.
Now in our day to day lives,
we seldom use the sentence in the name
of so and so. You know, we don't
say, oh, in the name of the king,
open the door. We don't say those kinds
of things.
The well, at least not anymore.
To do something in the name of someone
seems somewhat dated for us. You know, it's
like in the old days, people used to
say those things,
but it's dated. Whereas in the Jahiliyyah period,
in the period before the pre Islamic period
in Arabia, it was common practice for people
to begin anything of significance
with the name of their idols, the name
of their gods who they worshipped.
For example, they would say, you know, Bismizlat,
Uzza,
in the name of Lat and Uzza,
as as a way of seeking blessing or
as a way of seeking prestige and honor
for,
through the mere mention of the names of
the of the idols. That's how they used
to do it. Now, Islam came to show
people
the futility of seeking blessings and honor from
idols to show to show them how useless
this was,
to mention the mentioning of the names is
nothing. Idols that are unable to help themselves
cannot be beneficial through the mention of their
names in any shape, way, or form.
And
therefore, the Quran explains in Surat Al Hajj
verse 73,
Allah
says,
That O people, here's an illustration, here's an
example.
Pay attention, pay attention.
That surely those whom you invoke
other than Allah
cannot create even a fly.
They cannot create even a fly, and, waayin
yasluhu mutdubaabushayan,
laiastakidullah.
Then even and if even if they were
all combined together they will not be able
to create a fly, and if the fly
should * away something from them, they would
be unable to retrieve it. If the fly
if you have food and fly comes and
takes it, you cannot take the food back
away from the fly.
Both are indeed both, it said,
that both are indeed weak,
the seeker and that and and the sought.
And in contrast, the believers here
are called
to use
the the divine names for blessings, for honor,
and for benefit
in 6 different ways. This is how the
Quran addresses this.
The first is where Allah
exposes the arbitrary nature of names we
invent
and venerate
compared to the names He
reveals to us. He says to us in
Surat
that all those you worship instead of him
are mere names
you and your forefathers have invented.
Sultan,
That he always you to worship
none but him, and this is the true
faith,
though most people do not realize it. So
the first is the dismissing of the names
we invent, these things that we call the
the and then we venerate the names that
we
Then the second instruction is where Allah
reminds us
of the beautiful,
reminds the believers of the of of his
beautiful names. And this is Surah Al Aaraf,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, verse 1 18, Allah
says, that
Allah is the most beautiful, that Allah is
the most excellent, the most beautiful names.
And leave those and and and, keep away
from those who distort his names, who distort
these names. So you disown American, we are
madoon, and they will just shall be requisite.
They'll be they will they will get their
repaid for what they do.
So if it is excellence and beauty that
attracts you to names, then know that Allah
has the most excellent, the most beautiful of
names.
Then the 3rd, the 3rd instruction is to
indulge
in the mentioning, in the remembering
the name of your Lord with Tabatul,
which we will explain later.
As Allah says in Surat Muzammil,
verse 8,
mention, remember, the name of your lord and
devote yourselves to him wholeheartedly.
And then the 4th instruction here also
is mentioned the remember of the name with
regularity
and punctuality.
This is in,
Surat Al Insan
verse 25.
And said, mention, remember the name of your
lord morning and evening. Not something you do
just once or a few times, but to
do it every morning evening. You're you're told
with Khurisma rabbika. Remember your name. Remember,
mention the name.
Then
the the 5th instruction is where attention is
drawn towards
the value of this practice of Dhikr, practice
of mentioning and remembering.
This practice of mentioning his name. It is
a name that carries
the highest value, beauty, excellence and value as
well.
The value that we seek, should you know
that it is in the name of Allah
and so
glorify the name. Here we have
here again, Allah, your lord the most high.
And this is reinforced again in Surat Al
Watiya.
Glorify
the the name of your lord, the supreme.
And then again in Surah Rahmah and in
Surah Rahmah,
blessed be your lord's name,
so is glory and majesty.
And finally, in the 6th instruction,
and here this brings it home to our
relationship,
which is
with practice,
Allah
establishes
a rule for food you eat. In Surat
Al An'am verse 118, he says,
that eat then only that over which
Allah's name has been pronounced
If you truly believe in his revelation.
Now,
although as I said earlier, we're not in
the habit nowadays of saying in the name
of so and so, you know, in the
name of the king, open the door. We
don't say those things.
Here in this last guidance, in this last
instruction,
the mention of the name is what
distinguishes
hadal from haram in the meat we eat.
The mention of the name is what distinguishes
it. Yes. If a person
the door
is the door the name is the door
to halal.
You're not allowed to do
to eat that piece of meat on your
plate If someone while slaughtering the animal mentioned
forgets to mention the name, he doesn't mention
the name of Allah saying, Bismillahi Allahu Akbar,
then that meat is no longer halal for
you. It's not possible for you to eat.
Now this is something we seldom reflect on
just as we are oblivious
to the whole process of the life of
the animal and the slaughtering.
And this is because we obtain our meat
nowadays from, you know, prepared and sanitized shops.
Similarly, we are oblivious to the power of
the name of Allah that makes our meat
possible to eat.
Although we accept the rule and in practice
abide by it by purchasing halal food,
but
we seldom remember the fact that our meals
are allowable to us only on account of
the name of Allah being mentioned. That is
how it is being made by the Allah,
allowable to us.
This is for every Muslim, a place where
the name and the naming plays a major
role
in a mundane aspect of your life.
Every in your every time you eat meat,
it is the name that plays that role
in it, the name of Allah mentioning it.
Now, of course, we don't
say that, you know, oh, in the name
of so and so, give me x, y,
zed.
But this is
something
that the the use the the power of
name
is something that is active in our lives,
even in the modern world.
We don't use those constructs, but this should
not lead us into some superiority complex. You
know, earlier I said that this was something
dated, you know, to say, oh, in the
name of the king, open the door or
in the name of the this is something.
We saw that as backward. But if you
look at our
life today, if you look at modern society,
we should not be led into some superiority
complex over earlier generations when it comes to
names.
Thinking that that was a feature of, you
know, medieval culture or something like that,
because nowadays,
it's
as any if you take a closer look
at modern life,
you will find that it is saturated with
the use of names
like no society before it before it in
all of history.
Yes. You heard me right.
Modern society
is saturated like no society before it in
history
with the use of names.
Yes.
Of course, we're not repeating names of idols
anymore.
Our idols have become celebrities nowadays. But, if
you take a closer look at the role
of names, of brands
in our lives,
we find that our choices are are governed
by brand names.
Our perceptions of what is beneficial and what
is harmful
are controlled
by the brand names we internalize.
Brand names influence
what we see as desirable and
valuable,
irrespective of the product or services attached to
it.
The name alone evokes
value in our minds. It is as though
the brand names the brand
is,
it it is as though the the brand
owns us. That's it. And,
in fact, the word the main this word
branding,
do you know where it comes from?
Where does the word branding comes
from?
This is this comes
from
the practice of cattle owners
used
to heat
iron prods, iron with their names on it,
and brand the animal with the hot poker,
in order
to establish ownership. They would own people. They
would own the cow. They would own the
the cattle.
And nowadays, the branding is not via that
hot iron product on the skin,
but the names
of companies and the names of producers
are singed into our brains
through multiple
exposure.
Multiple exposure is the way it singed into
our brains.
Now apart from the value we see in
names of designer labels and fashion brands,
we are highly influenced in our day to
day choice choices
purely on the basis of exposure
to names of brands presented to us in
a variety of ways,
ranging from large billboards on on the roads
to tiny adverts on our devices.
The average person in the world today
will see
how many adverts every day. Those not the
people who were here last year,
but
of the freshness. Who can tell me? Do
you know how many adverts you've seen
today? 100.
100. Yes.
Yes.
Well, it's between 4 to 10000.
Yes. We see every
day. And each, of course, for only a
fraction of a second, a second, you see
this. You don't consciously see it, but on
average, between 4 to 10000
every single day.
And,
but the speed with which you see it
doesn't allow you to register, but it is
causing an effect in your brain. It the
the speed is you you say, between a
180 to 200 milliseconds.
That is faster than a wink.
It it flashes into your eyes and into
into your mind,
with that speed, which is faster than a
wink.
A wink is between a 100 to 400
milliseconds, but
this
you pick up a,
an advert in these milliseconds and mostly below
the threshold of consciousness.
And but the effect is deep and profound.
So when you suddenly find yourself grabbing a
branded item off the shelf in the supermarket
without really knowing why you did it, it
is probably because of the saliency
of the sale of that brand in your
mind
together with all the associated emotional content linked
to it. It's not just recognition of the
name of the brand, but also
emotional responses that are linked to it.
And we know this because there's
a big difference between the cortical reactions,
reactions in the brain. When people see familiar
brands,
they
there's there's an associated set of responses in
the brain of positive emotional responses. You when
you show people unfamiliar brands, it stimulates negative
emotional responses. This this study was conducted a
few years ago.
Emotional responses.
This
this study was conducted a few years ago
in Munich in Germany.
It was one of the first, functional magnetic
resonance
imaging,
test
examining,
the power of brands on the skin,
the power of brand in in the brain.
The results showed that
strongly familiar brands activated networks of cortical areas
involved in positive emotional processing
and also associated with self identification
and rewards. You you you actively feeling that,
you're you're getting a reward.
And whereas
brands that were and and the brain didn't
have to do a lot of effort. There
was less effort in the brain to to
identify
these these products.
But when you have low familiarity brands,
it
it has high level activation
in the working memory but negative emotional response.
That's what happens. So
how does this name, this brand such,
secure
such deep place in your brain? Of course,
by exposure.
By repeated exposure, and it is not anything
intrinsic to the product, just the name.
The name alone
does the job.
Researchers have found that, you know, there's
a expectation,
influences the the experience you have. Not just
the,
if you have a brand and you have
certain expectations with that brand, then
you will your experience, your lived, your actual
your actual experience
will live up to that brand, to what
you expect in that brand. And there's an
interesting set of research about the drink known
as Horlicks. Horlicks. You know Horlicks? Horlicks, the
drink.
Horlicks. Have you ever seen it advertised here?
It's it's a drink with wheat and malt.
You drink, you when it's advertised in
in Europe, in Britain here, it's advertised as
something,
to put you to sleep. If you see
people in pajamas drinking it and, and you
go to sleep. And that's what Ehrlich means
here.
And in India, it's advertised as a energy
drink.
Yeah. That you, you know, you'll be good.
You'll
be running and doing
skateboarding and all the other things. And in
EAT, and you're not allowed to
market a product
that does not
produce the the effects that you're saying it
does.
So and
exactly the same product is being pro is
being marketed here in Britain for
putting you to sleep, and the same product
is being marketed in India
for energizing. It's it's the biggest energy drink
in India. Yeah. So
know, people drink it and then go running
and go doing all sorts of things,
and that's the effect of it.
And so it is the expectation
that feeds the
the
experience.
And and that is with the name. That
is what what they see with the name.
And there've been all sorts of, you know,
very interesting experiments,
with with with brands, the way these names
affect human beings.
People who claim, you know, Pepsi is better
and Cola, I don't like. I favor Pepsi
and I favor one one one thing over
another, one brand over another. But then when
you take the labels off and mix them
all up and give it to them, they
end up praising the things that they criticize.
They they can make no difference of it.
The interesting one I saw was they,
gave people,
2 bowls of ice cream,
and they labeled 1
low fat and the other full fat. And
they asked them, you know, to,
to
taste it a group of people to to
taste them all, taste both, and tell you
what you think about them. And when it
came to the the the one that was
labeled full fat,
they people were saying, oh, well, it's creamy.
It's luxurious. It's
tasty and satisfying.
And when it when it came to the
the one with the,
that was labeled low fat, they said, oh,
it was, it was sandy. It, I can
feel the sand in my mouth. And it's
it was soapy. It was dry, you know.
Yeah. It wasn't that good. And this is
the person who has tasted both, saying everything.
And then later on, they were told that
the ice cream were identical.
Both of them were full fat.
So,
so so we it's it's your expectation.
The name, this is the important
point I'm making here, the the name.
Nowadays, they're using technology and on big data
and invented something called neuromarketing,
in which marketing,
which is effectively marketing on steroids, where they
get you to,
exploit your weaknesses
to buy things that you do not need.
And at the heart of all of this
is is the power of names,
the power of labels, the power of give
of control, power of changing your perception with
names.
Names of, you know,
You invent names. These are all these invented
names, but they don't really have any value,
any intrinsic value in them. Now in light
of all of these findings,
let us reflect on our own own familiarity
with the names that really matter to us.
Let us reflect on that.
Of course, our own name matters to us.
Imagine if your parents
did not give you a name.
How lost would you be in the world?
First off, you wouldn't be able to tell
people who you are.
So the point is that names play significant
role in our lives from self identification
to language,
to perception, to recognition,
to orientation,
sense of value, and so much more that
are all based on names.
Now, when it comes to
the most
important name
in your life
as a Muslim,
the name of your creator,
Ismallahu alaihi a zawajal,
we must pay special attention
and seek to place
it uppermost in our minds. This is the
thing that we've got all these other names
floating around, but since, you know, 10,000 names
are being singed into our minds. So which
name should be uppermost and salient in our
minds?
So for our action point
on this,
we must come back to the third
instruction, which was in Surat al Muzambil where
Allah
called us to indulge in mentioning of his
name with Tabatul.
This is the word. You have to remember
this word, Tabatul.
Allah is repeating the word twice.
Now Tabatul has two meanings.
1 is praiseworthy
and the other is blameworthy.
The blameworthy one is the meaning of celibacy,
which is
discouraged in Islam because Allah
says in Surat Al Hadid, verse 27.
That we did not prescribe monasticism
for them.
That was their own innovation by which they
sought to please God. So we don't have
monasticism in Islam.
We don't ignore the world. We live in
the world.
As when the prophet
heard that some sahaba said that, oh, we
wouldn't eat. Oh, I would fast every day
and I wouldn't sleep, and I would go,
I would not get married. He said to
them, no. He said, listen,
that I I I fast, and I eat,
and I sleep, and I I marry.
So
and whosoever
was discarding willfully discard
the the the,
discarding my sunnah, then that person is not
from above me.
And then, of course, the the verse in,
the it it it tells us,
that when you are free, then strive hard.
In.
Once you are free from your work, from
to fulfill
the needs of your life. Now there's a
big difference between need,
the
limit of need and then the extent of
greed.
That drawing that distinction between need and greed
is a difficult thing that you have to
draw a very,
wise decision between need and greed. They say
once you fulfill your needs,
then strive hard in the remembering of Allah
remembering the name.
This is about striking the right balance. As
Muslims, we don't become monks practicing celibacy
and we also don't become drunks on pleasure,
intoxicated with constant worldly pursuits of entertainment.
And
the the the tabatul that is required. The
second one is,
which means, it means in this verse is
disconnecting,
cutting off from distractions of the world
and to focus the heart
towards Allah alone. Cutting away from the things
that distract you
from the remembrance of Allah.
And this is what they the scholars say
or.
It's it's focusing on Allah and then turning
away from others, from things that are other.
That this is what the is.
Is avoiding
the bleeding of your worldly pursuits into your
remembrance of Allah.
When we are repeating the name of Allah
in our tongues, but our hearts and minds
are occupied with worry about worldly pursuits and,
you know, entertainment.
And that's, and we remain
oblivious to the name that is on our
tongue. We're saying SubhanAllah, but our our hearts
are not with it. Like, as we said,
with reciting Surah Fatihah
in prayer,
while our thoughts revolve around, oh, what will
I have for dinner tonight? That should not
be the case.
You know, instead of pondering on the enormous
favor that Allah is granting us in allowing
us to utter his pure
and blessed name and words with our sinful
tongues. Imagine if Allah said that you have
committed sin with your tongue, so you can't
mention my name.
But Allah in his mercy
is allowing us. He's allowing us to do
that.
So the severing, this is what the the
tabatul is is the severing is achieved by
training our focus
on the name of Allah.
It is like switching the lights on in
a room, in a dark room.
One does not have to
remove the darkness from the room before adding
the light.
The mere presence of the light will push
the darkness away as long as there's nothing
in front of the light to cast a
dark shadow in the room, which is what
we tend to have in terms
of worldly thoughts bleeding into our consciousness.
Lots of dark shadows in our rooms of
Dhikhar and Salah.
So the effort therefore
is to enlighten one's heart with the names
of Allah,
which is achieved
through 2 components.
2 things. They said,
that it is
consistency in Dhikm of Allah because what we
have is consistency of other names being poured
into our minds and singed into our brains.
So we want consistency. This is this is
the,
it's a question of volume,
volume,
Volume.
You know, I talk about the volume, the
VTE,
volume of time effect.
That if you,
and and the example I gave about the
dog, you know, I bring,
I bring an ugly dog,
you know, that
and say to you, I want you to
love this dog,
then you will tell me that I don't
like dogs and I don't want I will
not love this dog. But if I ask
you to take care of the dog for
6 weeks,
to take it for a walk and feed
it for 6 weeks, when I come to
collect the dog, what will happen?
You will ask me if I can come
and play with the dog because the dog
would have become your pet.
Time is the fact is the factor here.
Time will will change you.
The the love of the dog will enter
into your heart if you're engaging if you're
engaging with it. So that is it. So
consistency with the dhikr with dhikr of Allah,
the name of Allah and resistance. The mukhala
fatoo is the resistance
to anything that tries to interject
and cast that shadow and distracts you from
focusing on the name of Allah. And that
is the path to Allah. He's saying,
This is the path to Allah. Through recognizing
his name
and staying focused
with the heart, mind
on the name.
Because if naming and branding is owning,
as we saw earlier, naming and branding is
owning,
then no.
No for certainty.
No certainly that you belong to Allah.
I repeat that. If naming and branding is
owning, then know that you belong to Allah,
and his name must reign supreme
in your soul, heart, and brain,
not the names of brands, celebrity, and fame.
Allah's name should reign supreme.
This comes
with regular practice
of zikr,
regular practice of of mentioning Allah's
name because
we are affected by regularity.
Regular practice of dhikr of on the tongue
with a focus in the heart on the
name, the name of Allah Azza wa Jal.
Now towards achieving this,
let us start by learning to recite the
following dua,
which is
based on hadith reported by Imam Bukhari in
his Adab al Mufrad.
And Abayn ibn Uthman al Khali Samyatul Uthman
al Khali
Samyatul Nabiq
Uthman
says that he heard the prophet
saying,
Whoever says in the morning,
and in the in the evening of every
every night,
salafam 3 times, 3 times,
The one who says
in his name. In the name of Allah,
by whose name nothing
on in the Earth.
Nothing in the Earth and nothing in the
heaven can cause harm.
Nothing.
That in the name of Allah by whose
name nothing in the earth and nothing in
the heaven can harm you.
And he is all hearing and all knowing.
This is, of course,
protection for you,
saying it 3 times. Whoever says this, and
this is the adidas, a person will not
be harmed by anything if he says this
in the morning and the evening 3 times
each. 3 times in the morning and 3
times in the evening.
I'm gonna ask the brothers to share this
dua,
on on on the chats.
This is, of course,
a protection for you with emphasis on the
power of the name. Allah is
will protect us. This is what the Hadith
is saying. Rasoolallah
is emphasizing.
It's
ism ism twice mentioned
in the power of the name of Allah,
protection for you with the emphasis of the
power of the name, the name of Allah.
With his with him, nothing can harm you.
Now, in relation to time, and
I stress the point that the the the
reason why
all these other names are singed into our
brains is is is because of volume,
volume of exposure,
volume of repeated exposure
will singe names into our minds, and then
we have to deal with it. So how
does a Muslim deal with this
onslaught? How how do we manage this? The
Sahaba
also
worried about the effect of the dunya, the
effect of their
mundane lives on their deen and on their
hearts and on their iman. They they wanted
this. And there's a beautiful story
of a Sahaba of a Sahabi.
No. His name was Hamdullah.
He Abu Bakr radiAllahuhan who saw him walking
in
in in looking disturbed. And he said, oh,
well, what's wrong with what's wrong? And he
said, no. Fuck a Hamdullah. He said that,
Hanzala has become a hypocrite.
And
Abu Bakr
said to him, what are you saying?
You are Muslim. Why would you or what
are you saying? You have become a hypocrite.
He said,
that when we are in with with Rasool
Allah SAW, when we're sitting with the prophet
SAW,
that he speaks to us about Jannah, Nar
and that
he's when he speaks to us about the
fire of * and Jannah and all these
things, it is as if it is in
front of us. When he mentioned the names
of these things, they appear it is as
if they are right in front of us.
But then when we go to our children,
when we go into our worldly things,
nasina kasiram. That we we lose that. We
don't see it. We are seeing dunya. We
are seeing other things. So and this change
bothered him to the extent that he then
made the verdict on himself that he was
a munafiq, that that he was a hypocrite.
He had become a hypocrite.
He said that to him. And what and
Abu Bakr
who was
the most knowledgeable Sahaba,
he knew
the details of the Quran. He knew he
was the closest to the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam, and he didn't say, oh, no.
No. No. You're you're wrong. This man. He
he said,
But, yeah, I find the same thing that,
oh, I I think I'm in the same
block problem. This is Abu Bakr
Said I'm fine.
We'll find this. Let's go to Rasool
Allah and tell him now. So we don't
end up destroying our deen and destroying our
akhirah. Let's go. Let's go and speak to
him. So they go and they ask Rasool
Allah, and they said that this is what
happens. You know, we're finding that we are
losing this consciousness, that we are losing that
saliency,
the the words of what you say when
we go and enjoy dunya.
And then, mrsula, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam
comforted them both and said that
that's not what is expected. That, yes, you
will fluctuate,
but you must. He said that if you
if you were to remain on that, then
there'll be no difference between you and an
angel. Angels will shake your hand in the
street. That's you. You'll be like an angel.
But we are human beings, and we have
to interact with the world.
So
when you finish from your your worldly things,
you have to come back.
So the the prescription he gave them, he
says,
That's this is this was what Rasulullah
said that hour by hour or moment by
moment is that if you
spend
10 hours being
bombarded with all this duniya stuff, then try
and find hours, 10 hours somewhere to
recuperate,
compensatory
hours. You spend an hour being lost in
Dunia
doing all sorts of strange things on the
Internet or on your phone. Then remember that
you have to you need your brains, your
your heart needs company compensatory
time. And that's why I'm stressing this idea
of volume of time effect. Remember my example
about the dog is that you will fall
you will fall in love with it. It's
that this volume of time is a very
powerful factor
in the way your heart will be focused.
So if you find that
you are, you know, spending
all your time changing and chasing Dunia And
then so at the moment, it's, for most
people,
it's not Sa'at and Wa'at and Sa'at and
Wa'at and Wa'at and Wa'at and Wa'at.
It's
1 hour and then 7 days, and you
come late for the Khutba and then leave
early.
So so have 40 minutes and and that's
it a week. No. We need to have
balance every day, and
your salah, your daily salah, your Quran, all
of that is part of this is part
of this reinforcing in this world in which
we live, where we're bombarded, where where our
brains have been singed, as I said, with
the names of everything else. And the name
that is supposed to be supreme
in your heart is the name of Allah.
That name has to be
the the the prominence, the of that name
has to be raised. And for that saliency
to raise, it's time,
time over and over,
focus on volume of the
the the VTE,
which is the volume of time effect
that I I need. This is what the
said.
That's okay. If you if you're you have
to go for your dunya. You have to
take care of your of your needs, but
when you but it has to be balanced.
You have to look for a way to
balance it. Look for and if you can't
balance
it equally, then at least try the best
that you can so that it is that
the aspects, the concerns, and the worries of
the dunya doesn't bleed into
your Salah and bleed into your Dhikr, bleed
into your reading of Quran. All of that
has to be dealt with in
a responsible way. And with those,
if you have that and the key is
the name. Here, Allah is giving us the
key now is that My name, use My
name. Say My
name.
Remember My name. Say My name.
Speak about My name. Have have have
that name uppermost in your heart. Be connected
with My name. Bismillah. And this is the
Tafsir. This is what if you want to
go away with one
key message from Bism
is that I have to be with it.
Bismill Bismill means that I must be with
it. That was it. I must be with
it always. I must have it with me.
It must be with me. Bism must be
with me. The name of Allah must be
with me. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
replace the dominance of worldliness
and branding in our hearts with the zikr
of his blessed name
and keep our hearts focused
on them.
Let us pray.
Allah
O
Allah, cleanse our souls, o Allah.
Cleanse our souls
with the dhikr of your beautiful names.
Grant us refuge
and protect us from the designs of evil.
Oh, Allah,
these young people have come here today seeking
your guidance,
seeking your mercy,
asking for your forgiveness.
They are repenting from all sins, knowing
they did knowingly and unknowingly.
They are trying to turn a new page,
oh, Allah.
They are trying to return to you. They
are seeking your love and your grace
with hands raised as beggars do.
We are all beggars, oh, Allah,
begging of you, your kindness, your love, your
mercy. Oh Allah,
you are the most kind. You are the
most merciful.
Do not turn us away empty handed.
Oh Allah,
If you were to turn us away, we
will have no one to turn to. We
have no one but you. You are our
only hope. You are Iyirk and Abu Duwah
Iyirk and Iskain.
We have no protector. We have no helper
except you. Protect us and protect our brothers
and sisters
suffering
all around the world and in the land
of Masjid al Aslah. Our
brothers, our sisters, our innocent children, our mothers
and our fathers,
our elderly, our sick
are suffering.
Tremendous pain and depression at the hands of
those who have lost our sense of humanity
and mercy.
With these feeble hands and painful hearts,
we beseech you and beg you. Have mercy
on them, oh, Allah. Oh, Allah, protect them.
Oh, Allah. Help them and forgive them. And
enter those who have returned to you into.
Oh, Allah.
You are the merciful.
You are the compassionate.