Your Prayer Is Comfort… Quran Reflection [9-103]

Bismillah Alhamdulillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah Allah Allah He was so heavy on wala salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatu. Today we are in just number 11. Just number 11 covers, SOTA tober, verses 93, to the end, sort of the unit, all of it and sort of hood from the beginning until verse number five. So the verse that we picked for today is sort of a Toba verse number 103. So in this verse, Allah who's panelized to Allah says, hook them in unwisely, him sadhaka that take from their wealth, charity, now this instruction has been given to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. In general, this has a specific application and a general application as well. For us, we're

going to look at the general application. So and that is the purpose and the instruction given to the prophets, I send them regarding charity and what purpose it serves for us. So Allah instructed the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, to collect charity or to take charity, from the companions from the Muslims. And now Allah tells us the purpose of that charity, the law, Hero hunt, number one, to purify them. And what this really means is purification from our sins, from our faults or flaws, that this is a means for means of purification for us that when we give charity we give for the sake of Allah, to Allah, when we help other people, it helps cleanse us It helps purify us from

our sins. And then Allah uses another word similar, but not exactly the same. Allah says what is the key him behalf, so to the hero whom what is the key him via that they may be purified? And we can say cleansed with it cleanse, cleanse, with what cleanse with or cleanse by giving that charity, and in the translation that I posted, it says, bless them, so to purify them and to bless them, bless the the the outcome of being blessed.

Well, that is the outcome. So the purification here is a CA or zecca, you know, or Tez, kiya, they all go back to the same meaning and that is cleansing, purification. Also, there's the aspect of increase and to grow. And so what does what does charity do, it helps cleanse us and helps purify us, it helps increase us in the goodness that we have. And if we're talking about wealth, then obviously we know that charity increases wealth as the Hadith of the Prophet itself. I'm sure many of you have heard in all the fundraisers across the world, that charity never decreases from wealth, rather, it only increases it. So there's that aspect as well. But I want to take a little bit more

of a look at in terms of our our spirituality and our relationship with Allah has kind of data, how the monetary has an effect on our spiritual lives, that by giving and even the giving I know, it's, I don't actually really want to say monetary, because monetary giving it just one type of giving. Giving can be in any way. What I'd really like for us to think about is helping people helping those people that are in need. So this is what we're talking about here. So giving helps us grow in our goodness and our piety or taqwa our relationship with Allah to Allah, our charity, what it does is, it makes up for any shortcomings that we may have, when it comes to the rest of our relationship

with Allah to Allah to Allah. And that is why charity is a necessary part of our faith. And we would actually say that without charity, our faith is not complete. We all know that zeca the obligatory charity is one of the pillars of Islam. The Pillars of Islam are very, very important because they complete our faith. And then we take it beyond just the obligatory charity, we talk about South Africa, which is, you know, charity that we give that it's not a requirement for us, but we give to increase in our Deen and strengthen our connection with Allah who's kind of data. And you know, there's

these days, there's a lot of talk about about happiness. And you know, there's a whole topic called The Science of Happiness, and all these studies being done into, you know, what really makes us happy. And, you know, a lot of these studies, they tell us a lot of different things. But one of the findings from these studies is that doing things for other people, makes us happy. You know, when we think about happiness, a lot of times there's a focus on on ourselves, right? I want to be happy, how can I make my life happy? How can I make, you know, it's all about me, me, me, when the reality is if we really look at where happiness comes from, or what really contributes to our happiness, a

lot of it has to do with other people, and how we can affect other people's lives and how we can help other people. And that is a change in paradigm. I would say for a lot of people but for believers, it shouldn't be because for believers for Muslims, we should understand that it is part of

face, that helping other people makes us feel good about ourselves. And that's why one of my favorite Hadeeth is, these were the were the companions. Some of them they came in, they complained to the profits that I civilize them about being poor. And you would think that, you know, it sounds a little strange, like, you know, the companion is the best of generation, you know, would they really complain about being poor? Well, you have to listen to the whole Hadeeth the whole story to understand what they were actually complaining about. So they what they're complaining about is that they're not able to get rewarded by Allah, they're not able to grow in their spirituality, the way

those people who are wealthy are able to grow. So what did they say? They say that but i disagree with Joe, they said, Those who are wealthy have taken all of the reward. They've taken all of the agenda, the spirituality, that the spiritual reward, it's, it's taken by those who are wealthy. And they said, Your son, Luna Come on Sunday, they said, you know, those who are wealthy, they pray, just like we pray, we also moon Come on a song, they say they said, they fast, just like we fast. However, they said, we get their son corner before slowly unwinding him. However, they're able to give charity from the extra wealth that they have. And so they're not complaining about being poor

as an O Messenger of Allah wish I had more money, and I wish I lived a more comfortable life. They're complaining about not having more to give. And that once again, if you look at you know, we're talking about changing paradigm, it's about taking it away from ourselves and making it about other people. And this is something that companions were very much they were deeply concerned about that that are we losing out on spiritual reward by not having wealth, and then the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa send them he replied to them, and he said, la SEPA Allah Allahu la cometa said upon the prophets I send them said that hasn't Allah made a way for you to give charity as well. And

then the Prophet says lm gave examples that they can they can apply as charity, the prophets I send them he said in me, could lead us behind sadaqa he said, Every time you make disappear every time you say Subhana Allah, that is charity. Now, what is the charity? What does charity mean here what is actually meant is reward meaning you are rewarded by Allah who's peddling to Allah, every time you say Subhana Allah, so just like those people who have wealth, and they give charity and they're rewarded for that wealth. Likewise, when you say Subhana, Allah, you're giving charity because as in, you're being rewarded by Allah subhanaw taala. Well, kalita could be rotten, so that every time

you say Allahu Akbar, that is said that we are kalita. Hamid, that in South Africa, every time you say Alhamdulillah, that is sadaqa. We're completely that in South Africa. Every time you say, in the hell Allah, this is South Africa. So this is a thicker right, this is making thicker of Allah. But still, that is sadaqa. As in that is reward for us. And then the prophets, I send them said, Well, I'm going to be marrow sadaqa when the United Mancha saga I said, to enjoy goodness, to encourage people to do good, that is a southern that is charity in the sense that that is reward from Allah, to discourage people from doing bad or to put a stop to evil. That is sadaqa. And then the prophets,

I send them set something which seems to take a left turn, it seems that he's changing topic here. But it is actually very, very applicable. The prophet SAW I send them he said, what, what we build there, I had the concern. And you know, I've thought about this translation a lot. And I, you know, thought about how these sessions we're trying to keep them keep them PG, because I know there's a lot of kids here and stuff. So so this is not an exact translation. Just keep that in mind. But I think the grown ups are the adults will know what I'm talking about Providence, I send them instead of what we build there. I had to come sadaqa he said with every act of spousal intimacy. There is

charity. Y'all got me right. You know what I'm talking about? Yes, yes. All right. Cool. So he said, Would every spouse act of spousal intimacy with spousal as you know, keep it hidden? It is a charity as in it is, it is real, you're rewarded for that. And then they companions are surprised, because as I said, it seems like probably cinemas changing topics here. What does that have to do with reward? And how are we rewarded for something like that? The Companions, they said, O Messenger of Allah, how is it? How is it possible that we're doing something to satisfy our own desires? And then there's charity in that there's a job there's reward in that, and the prophets I send them he said,

Don't you see that if you were to fulfill your or try to satisfy your desires in an impermissible way, and they held on way that you would be sinful for that? They said, Yes. And so the Prophet said him said, likewise, when you fulfill your desires, satisfy your desires and they held alway in a way that Allah has made permissible, then there's reward for you in that. So this is amazing because now what has happened here

The prophesy centum is telling the companions that look, wealth, we started this whole thing talking about wealth, right? So the competitors are saying those who are wealthy have taken all the reward and the promises profits instead and reminds them that it's not about the wealth. It's about your intention. It's about your relationship with what you have and what you do with what Allah has given to you. And then it goes all the way to the point that even fulfilling our desires. As long as our intention is correct, our intention is I'm going to Fulfill my desires in a way. And that can be something completely for our own enjoyment. But it becomes an act of worship when our intention is

to do it for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala. To do it, within the boundaries of what Allah has made permissible, that act of enjoyment for ourselves, becomes an act of charity, meaning here an act of reward. And so once again, that we take something that is, you know, we find personal enjoyment with personal enjoyment from, and also we expand the parameters of it of Look, this is something that I'm doing out of submission to Allah has Penner data, even though I find personal enjoyment in it. And that is why if we look at charity, and helping people, we can be completely selfish about it, we can say, look, I enjoy, like, I go, I go out, and I enjoy helping people. But

I'm rewarded, because this is something that is also an act of worship, that I'm doing something that is pleasing to Allah, who's panda data, even though I find personal enjoyment in it, and I know people and I've spoken to people who have become addicted to helping others. And I know that sounds strange, it sounds weird. But there are people who have gone out, you know, I know people that don't, that will, you know, they go, they'll go go to the homeless shelters, and they'll go, like, here in where I live, Maryland, I'm very close to DC. You know, we have a lot of homeless people in DC, there's, there's some homeless shelters, but going out, and you can literally go every day,

every evening to DC, downtown DC, and you can go find homeless, you can help them. And I know brothers and sisters that are like, you know, that's part of their spirituality. So in order to feel happy and fulfilled, they're like, I need to help people. And yet others will will will volunteer with other charity organizations, whatever it may be. And there comes a point in their life where they're like, I'm addicted to it. Because the type of enjoyment the type of fulfillment I get out of helping other people, I just don't find that in other places. Yeah, getting an Amazon package in the mail is great for like five minutes, right? Until you're bored of it, and then you're like, get back

on Amazon. Yeah, then we order something else. And you keep chasing that we keep chasing that high, right? And that's why it's kind of like from a business perspective, Amazon is such a brilliant business in terms of making money, because it's not, it's not really about us buying stuff that it's not, it's not just about convenience, right? Yeah, obviously, that's a that's a part of it. But it's more about or I should say a lot of it has to do with how we feel when we press like order now. And then we'd retracting the package. And we see like, Oh, it's two days away. And then it's and now I don't know if you guys know this, but on Amazon, it'll tell you like, Oh, it's five stops away. And

it's like two stops away. And you got a little map and you know that you know, someone said the dopamine, right? Yeah, the surge of dopamine in our brain. Like with every stop, it feels good. And the package comes. And even kind of opening the package. There's, there's a certain amount of pleasure that goes into opening the package and taking the packaging out, and you take it out, and you finally hold in your hands. And you're like, Okay, awesome, cool. But how long does that last? Right? It's that temporary, fleeting enjoyment, and it's not really fulfilling, and we get deceived into thinking that I need to do it again, and I need to do it again, I do it again, this is sustain

that high. And it's really impossible to sustain that high. Because the reality is, you know, as human beings, the way our the way we are the way our brains are wired. And the way we are, is that we get used to things very quickly. So you can go out and buy something that you thought is going to be the most amazing, enjoyable thing in the world. But the thing is, we as human beings, we adapt very quickly, so you can go out and I know a lot of people if I were to ask you right now, what is like your dream purchase out there? You know, some people would say, I don't know, some people say a house or a car. I don't know, whatever it is, for me, I would probably I don't know, I probably

mentioned a car, you know, I'm into cars and motorcycles and things like that. I would say, I don't know, a certain type of car would be my dream purchase. Well, the reality is that it might it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be amazing. Insha Allah, right. But how long is that going to last? How long before I adapt to that feeling? And I'm done with it. And I need something more than that. And this is why the prophets I said, he told us that if the child of Adam was given a valley full of gold, what would they do? Y'all know this, they would ask for they would desire a nother Valley full of gold. And if they were given two valleys full of cold they would ask for a third Valley full of

gold and then the prophets I said if you said nothing will fill this

stomach of the child of Adam except for dirt. And one of the meanings is until you until one dies until we were buried in the ground, you know, we're going to keep, keep seeking more and more of this world because it's never going to be fulfilling for us. But once we try to seek our fulfillment in our spiritual fulfillment, in helping others and you know, that's that's the that's the, that's one of the key points of consumerism, right consumerism in a consumer society, we seek Fulfillment by consuming by buying more stuff. And even sometimes it reaches a spiritual level where even when we feel a spiritual void, we try to fulfill that spiritual void by consuming, and that's great for

business. And that's great for the economy. And it's great for all of that, it might be great for even the workforce, but on a personal level, on a spiritual level on when it comes to our wealth, our spiritual and even our emotional and psychological well being, it can be terrible. And that is why and I'm not here to say that it's wrong to buy stuff and all that. And it's not, that's not the point here. The point here is that there are certain voids in our life that can only be fulfilled in certain ways that our spiritual void can only be fulfilled through our spirituality. And that is why when we look at r&d and the dino Lux, outer we look at, you know, how many ways we worship Allah,

how many ways we draw nearer to Allah, there is you know, physical acts of worship, there's there's our salon, there are you know, things that are a monetary acts of worship, there is, you know, is a charity, there are, there's so we're so very, are acts of worship, because it's not only our our, our worship is just not one thing, even if you remember when one of our earliest reflection circles, we talked about, you know, good character, how good characters important to our spirituality, because that is how we feel completely fulfilled, right? We need all of this stuff. And this is what Allah has held on to Allah is telling the prophets I send them reminding the Prophet is that I'm

here in this Hadeeth. So in this area, that, you know, take from them because and there's an aspect here, one of the reflections I had upon this was that Allah said, one take from them, meaning not everyone wants to give it it's not going to be there's going to people who don't want to give it freely, that if we left it up to human beings, like you know, you just give charity, whenever you feel like it, we'd be like, maybe I'll give it maybe I'll not, and you can, and how would we behave the way we behave at like Michigan fundraisers and stuff like that? Some people give? And sometimes, you know, a lot of people give but does everyone get known everyone doesn't get because there's

aspect of our of our, of our desire for this world and you know, worldly things, and we, you know, we think only in monetary terms, we think I have this much money, and when I give it away, then I'm gonna have this much less money. And so everyone's not going to give and then what happens, then we won't be purified. We won't draw nearer to Allah subhanaw taala through this amazing act of worship, so Allah said, hood, take from them. And so this is why our scholars mentioned that the first meaning of this verses is the zecca is the obligatory charity. Likewise, you could fill in this blank, you know, we're talking about charity right now you can fill in that blank with any other act

of worship solo, if we left it up to human beings to pray, if every prayer was considered a Sunnah or an effin prayer, how many of us would pray Our prayers, we may we may get one prayer in a day. And you know, we may end of the day be like, I'm really feeling like I need to pray, you know, pop into an archives or something at the end of the day, we How much would we do and so Allah made as a bit of bare minimum obligatory upon us not for Allah's benefit. Look, this is a principle that we need to know understand. Allah doesn't need us to worship. Allah does not benefit from our worship one, it makes no difference to Allah, whether we pray zero prayers or, you know, 100 prayers,

whether we give $0 in charity, or we give millions of dollars, it makes no difference. So lots of data. First and foremost, it is for our benefit, because we need that. And so you know, salam, Allah has made a bare minimum cm what we're doing right now, and I know a lot of you are fasting right now. You know, this is obligated upon us. But look at how amazing it feels to fulfill this obligation. That's one of the blessings of the month affordable bond, that even though it's an obligation, and you know, it's, it's once you get into Ramadan, you need to really feel the spiritual implications of the month of Ramadan. We're grateful for the month of Ramadan. And

likewise, when we get involved in these acts of worship, we understand that we need them right. They're part of our, our spiritual needs. And and that's, you know, and that's, that's why it's also important to us, that we begin to really enjoy these acts of worship, and that's where we want to be. That's where we ask Allah Subhana Allah to take us to a level where it's not just Yes, it's an obligation that is our first intention that we're feeling an obligation, but also that we find enjoyment in these acts of worship, Allah I mean, so. So that is take from the from, take from them charity. And then the second part of this verse, Allah Subhana, Allah says, and pray for them,

meaning make to offer them meaning seek forgiveness for them, and

By the way, this was a common practice of the prophets I send them specifically when it came to charity and a sadhaka that the province SLM would make the offer someone who would give charity we have the Hadeeth mentioned insight and body the hadith of Abdullah even be an offer in which he said Canada sort of Allah He said a lot I said, let me the EU to be South Africa. So that by The Omen son de la him that when a people would bring their charity to the prophets, I send them he would make the offer them he would pray for them. He said, my father came with his charity. And the Prophet said, a lot of send them he said a lot more Sunday, allama, Sunday, either early me over he said, a

lot, bless the family of alofa. Right, he made the offer them, he prayed for them. This was the habit of the prophets, I send them to to pray for those who gave charity and our scholars mentioned that this is not just charity, but any good deed any goodness that someone does, we should always pray for them, we should make the offer them we thought we should ask for Allah's blessings. For those who do good deeds. And one of my one of the personal reflections that I had for myself, and this is a little bit personal for me, but I think about, you know, my kids, and those of you who've been doing these chronic reflections with us, raising my kids, one, that six one, that one, one,

that's two, and I'm constantly thinking about how to raise them as good Muslims and, and teach them that which is right. And so when I see some good behavior from you know, it's mostly late because Sophia is too and he's just like, he doesn't know what's going on right now. But like, he's, he's six, and he is understanding things and all that. So when he does something good, there's a tendency to say, thank you so much, I appreciate it, which I still think is good. But because of this practice of the prophets, I send them the sooner prophecies tell them and also what has mentioned this area, I've started to incorporate making the offer him at the very least to say jazak Allahu

Allah, which is something that I know a lot of us say anyway, that may Allah reward you with goodness, but also, you know, to say Bartok, Allahu Allah, may Allah bless you and to make other the offer them and a lot of times what our kids when I encourage a lot of my family friends is it's good to make that in Arabic And that's excellent but if your kid doesn't speak Arabic or if you don't really speak Arabic, start to make the offer them in English or whatever other language you speak as well. So your child understands that part of thinking someone is making to offer them right this is this beautiful, some of the profits that I send them, why do we do that? Well, Allah has kind of a

data says in this verse in Asana attack a second, that your Salah your your prayer for them, is a source of comfort for them. Imagine Subhana Allah how the companions felt, when the prophet SAW I send them who receives a ye from Allah who received a revelation from Allah would say, oh, Allah, have mercy on this person. Oh, Allah bless this person. You know, the prophets I send them for we know that I've been one of the USB ports are made for up to one over the law and his bark, Alona Kofi Malik, what is your take what Alec May Allah bless you in your wealth and your business in your family? Imagine hearing that from the lips, the blessing lips of the prophets of Allah, who was

sending them how that would fill the companions, with comfort, with with ease with satisfaction that the Prophet of Allah is making to offer them. And likewise, I'm sure some of you have experienced this before. And this is something you can reflect upon how when someone makes to offer you how you feel, when you know that someone's got your back, one of the things that I always do a source of comfort for me, one of my teachers Subhanallah, I, you know, when I was studying in Medina, I was close to graduating. And I was like, you know, I and you know, even when I was a student, in Medina, I would give lectures and talks in the summertime that I would come home, but to do it, like full

time, like, I did have a little bit of anxiety associated with that. And I was asking my teacher for some advice, you know, like, you know, how do I, you know, how do I, how do I get over that? How do I deal with that anxiety of, you know, it's a big responsibility, having to teach all these people and, you know, buy in, at the end of my studies, I was already hired by teaching these seminars and all that kind of stuff. And I was like, of course, success comes from Allah Subhana Allah, but like, how am I gonna, you know, I felt the weight of that, you know, how am I going to go from being a student, to now teaching all these people and so on and so forth? And, you know, there's, there's a

lot of things my teacher could have said, but he mentioned something that I, that I didn't think of, and he, I'm sure he knew that I probably wouldn't thought of it. He said, you know what I do? He said, he said, he said, Every time I have to give a how, but I said, Every time I have to give a lecture or a talk, he said I call my mom and I asked her to make the offer me. And I'm like, really, I'm like, You're like a big cheer for whatever. Like, I'm not in my mom imagined like calling up his mom and being like, Yo, I have to I have to go to you know, give give, give a lecture in the machine of the profit instead of you make the offer me like your big check or whatever. He's like, No, you

know that. That's what I do.

And from that day if I'm if I'm ever anxious about anything and especially if I teach a new class or something, I always call it caught my mom and I love preserve her and preserve all of our print parents and have mercy upon them and bless them Aloma, I mean, but I always call her up. And if I if I, if I, if I noticed that I have some more anxiety than usual about about a talk or something like that, or a lecture or a project I'm taking on. I know it's because I haven't called my mom yet. And I know like it says, I call my mom and I've asked her to make document like, Okay, I'm dilemma, mom's got my back, she's gonna make the art for me, you know, and then so I just it feels it fills

me with it with a sense of relief and comfort. And I can only imagine what it would feel like to have the profits of I send them make the offer they for the companions. And so this is the instruction that is given to the prophets, I send them that certainly your prayer your to offer them your Salah upon them, or for them, gives them comfort, right. So we one of my reflections for this is not only do we seek that comfort, but we want to be that source of comfort for our loved ones and the ones around us as well. And then Allah says will love Semyon Aileen Allah is all hearing and all knowing, meaning have no doubt that Allah will listen to your prayers. Allah knows exactly who is in

need of what Allah knows who deserves what, and Allah can fulfill all of that Allah hears all of your prayers. One more piece of reflection. I know I you know, wanted to keep it short today. But um, you know, I don't know, when I'm passionate about a topic. I do want to like kind of, you know, mentioned, especially personal reflections. One of the personal reflections I had about this was how it is important for us to care about people's feelings. And I know that sounds kind of like, all like mushy, and you know, all like, soft or whatever, like, you know, dude's talking about feelings and all that kind of stuff. Which is like that's old school stuff, man. We're gonna get that sexy

stuff out of here. Right? We should all care about people's feelings and it's part of our Deen SubhanAllah. to care about people's feelings. gear, Allah is telling the prophets I said to them, that it gives the companions it gives fills them with with relief and comfort, meaning the promises of them should care about people's feelings and and well life, our setup did care about people's feelings. He very much cared about how people's how people felt. And the example I usually like to give I'm sure you've heard this example, not just the elder companions, and so on and so forth. But even children, the Prophet says that I'm cared about how children were feeling, the famous

narration, we have an SRT, Allah, and who mentioned how the Prophet says that I went to his brother, and asked about his pet bird, about omega Matha noise. Oh, man, what happened with a new head, I know VEDA was the name of his pet bird. And I'm always like, Subhana, Allah, the leader of the Allah, messenger of Allah sunlife, send them, he's at all these responsibilities. And he goes to a little child, and he says, Hey, what happened to your bird. And you know, one of the interpretations of this is that his bird died, something happened his bird, and the Prophet says that I went to go console, this young child, about his bird. And you would think, like, as an adult, whatever,

sometimes I think about my kids, and, you know, I try to give importance to what my kids find to be important. But you know, when your kids like four, or five, or whatever, everything is important. It's really hard to sometimes, you know, dad, like, check this out, and check that out. And check this out and check this out. And I'm not I try to be like, try to like, think about how the process would have been, and to give and to give that full attention. Be like, this is not important to me, but to you. It's important, should it be so it should be important to me. So I know that your feelings are important are these are your feelings and they should be important to me as well. And

as you know, a parenting tip. Try to think about that. That's not about what's important to us, but what's important to our children. So yeah, I'll leave it at that inshallah. Tada.