Safi Khan – Soul Food 05 January 2024
AI: Summary ©
The speakers emphasize the cultural significance of visiting the Prophet's area during a prayer session and the cultivating character series of the Quran. They stress the importance of educating oneself on forgiveness, knowing God and avoiding false accusations, and working at Dunkin' Donuts. They also encourage strong self expression and avoiding things that are bad, particularly in challenging environments. The speakers stress the importance of testing one's heart and forgiveness as a reward for those who do not commit a sin, and encourage people to enjoy the tests and trial, stay strong, and avoid things that are bad.
AI: Summary ©
Alrighty.
Alright.
Assalamu alaikum, everyone. How's everyone doing?
It's been a minute.
We obviously
took a little bit of a break,
these past 2 weeks.
Asad Murphy and I are both rocking the
bald cuts. Alhamdulillah.
We got back from Umraj just this past
weekend actually
and,
just took a really special trip. I'm sure
he shared some of his thoughts,
on Monday after heart work about how his
experience was and the holy cities and,
I don't know. There was just something very
special about this armulah that we we went
on this past week.
Alhamdulillah, Allah has blessed
me with the the the blessing of being
able to go to Mecca and Medina multiple
times in my life. And,
there are certain experiences that you can't really
capture by words,
when you describe them.
When you go
to Mecca and Medina, how many of y'all
have been
to Mecca and Medina before in your life?
Okay.
Everyone, inshallah, make a collective dua. Allah,
allow us to revisit Mecca and Medina. Everyone
say amen.
There there is nothing in this world like
being in those cities.
Medina,
you know, the only way to describe Medina
I can share with you guys quite honestly
is
every person who lives there,
every person who you run into there,
you can see a little bit of the
prophet
in them. It's incredible. I don't know I
don't know what it is. 1500
years have passed by, but this man's
sunnah
is a part of every single person who
lives and breathes there.
The the the people who are walking in
the streets, the people who are, you know,
interacting with you in the masjid, the people
who are even inside of, like, the the
stores. I mean, they all just kind of
have this air about them that they're like
inheritors of the prophet salallahu alayhi for them.
It's it's just an incredible feeling when you're
there. And, you know, when you walk to
the masjid there, I mean,
just an incredible incredible
just atmosphere about that entire city just has
so much to do with the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasalam's, you know barakah that he left
in this dunya.
And then when you go to Mecca, you
know,
I I think a lot of people misunderstand
Mecca because so many people love Medina. So
they think that Mecca is, like, not as
tranquil and chill as Medina is, but I
can tell you right now,
there is no place in the world like
that city. There's no place in the world
like Mecca.
Mecca
has always been
a very busy place, right, even in in
in in historical times. Even at the time
of the prophet, it was a very busy
city. Right? It's almost like Muslim New York.
It's weird. Like, you look outside of your
hotel room and you see, like,
waves of people
walking around, and no one cares about who's
next to them. Everyone's just walking around each
other, trying to figure out where they're going.
But
the moment that you glance upon the Kaaba,
it's like nothing in the world in in
the rest of the world matters. Right? Everyone
in the world complains about that giant clock
tower that's there that every Saudi is, like,
proud of. Masha'allah. It's amazing. It's the largest
front facing clock of all time. Like, who
cares, dude? When when you see the Kaaba,
it all disappears. There's nothing else in the
world that matters. It's literally the epicenter of
Tawhid. It's a city that literally embodies the
tradition of Ibrahim alayhis salam,
and the oneness of Allah. It's it's an
incredible place. So we were able to,
see and visit a lot of really special
places. I'm gonna gonna tell you guys a
story actually tonight inshallah in our session,
about a moment that I had there.
Me and Usa and Murphy, we actually shared
together this time when we were there.
Anyone has heard of this place inside the
Prophet's masjid called the Raudah?
Basically, it is the place,
that was the original masjid. So like if
you guys imagine, you know, when you see
the big masjid now, like the masjid nava
where you see it in pictures and in
videos,
that entire masjid, it's like a mega masjid.
Right? When you see that entire masjid, that
actually is or was what entire city of
Medina was back at the time of the
prophet. Okay?
So, like, you know, at any given moment
where you're praying, you could be praying in,
like, the house of a sahabi.
Right? You you think about it. It's really
trippy.
You could just be, you know, doing your
sajdah, and you could be praying inside, like,
the living room of, like, Abdul Rahman ibn
A'ouf. You could be praying and making sajdah
in the living room of, like, arthman ibn
Affan. It's like a very interesting thought to
kind of, you know, cross your mind.
But there's this place called the rouda, which
is originally the prophets of allahu alaihi wasalam's
masjid.
It is in between
the
courtyard of Aisha radiallahu anha, the wife of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam, and his pulpit,
right, where he used to, you know, give
sermons on Fridays, and he used to lead
prayer,
when he was alive.
And that entire area
is Very different than the rest of the
masjid
that area has different colors
the ottomans when they came and they kind
of like, you know influenced the city of
medina They come they like redid the colors
of the the ralda. So it's a little
bit different looking but also I mean there
is just something very, very just
moving,
knowing that you're praying in a place of
the prophets.
It's it's uncanny that feeling and
You know, we were
we were really lucky
Now with, like, post covid,
there's so many restrictions about going there and
praying in the ralda and you have, like
go through this like app and you have
to book your spot like you're in some
sort of like TSA PreCheck situation
and,
we, alhamdulillah,
got in me and and and Ustad Murphy,
and we got in right at the time.
Ironically, we didn't even plan this out. This
is why, like, believing in Qadr is such
an imperative part about this religion because you
believe that Allah plans better than you can
ever plan.
And
the time that we were
planning to go to roda
was actually way before a prayer time and
we got delayed because of an unforeseen
situation
And because of that delay,
we got into raudah
ironically right at the time of Isha.
And so the amount of time that the
average person spends in the Rola just because
of the crowds because the guards continue to
kind of like let people in in 10
minutes and move people on, it's about like
10 to 15 minutes. You don't spend more
than 10 minutes inside of Rola. Me and
Saad Murphy. We actually got to spend about
45 minutes inside that place
we got to pray isha. We saw the
mo'ad then called the adhan from the pulpit
Just a surreal, surreal experience. So,
inshallah, there's not like a plug, but if
you're ever thinking about going to Umrah, come
with us inshallah next winter. It's a great
time. Madinah is like 50 degrees in the
morning, by the way. So it's like light
jacket weather.
And then during the day, it's like 75
degrees. It's just an incredible, incredible,
experience in the atmosphere. Alhamdulillah. So inshallah, we
make du'a that Allah allows us to all
visit the holy cities of Mecca and Medina
continuously over and over again. I mean,
we are
about 2 months away from from Ramadan.
Everyone let that sink in. Ramadan is supposed
to start in the beginning of March.
It is the beginning of January.
We are barely 2 months out.
And in preparation for Ramadan,
I was sitting, you know, for the past,
like, 10 you know, 7 to 10 days,
ever since we finished our last session here
at Soul Food. And I was thinking, what
can we do? What can we talk about?
What can
we reflect on? What can we
share discussion with,
that would benefit us when it comes to
Ramadan?
And I thought I was like, you know
what? We could do the classic, you know,
talk about topics that are related to Ramadan
in preparation for Ramadan, talk about fasting, talk
about taqwa, talk about, you know, sincerity.
But then
a thought dawned upon me, and I said
to myself,
why not just let the Quran do what
it does, which is
just blow us away every single time we
read it. And so,
this series that we're gonna be doing,
we're gonna be starting it today, and we're
gonna aim to finish it right before Ramadan
starts. And it's a series that we decided
to to title cultivating character.
And
cultivating character
through
the reflections and the wisdoms
of the 49th chapter of the Quran.
Okay?
Surat.
Just to kinda give you guys a brief
description.
This surah
is a Surah
that encompasses
what it means to be a Muslim
inwardly and outwardly.
How you feel about Allah, how you feel
about his messenger,
how you feel about the people around you,
it quite literally in 18 verses.
It's
short, not very long. 18.
In 18 verses,
it covers
every single relationship that you can think about
in your life and how we should behave
with those relationships. Right? And I thought, what
a greater way
to kind of get into the zone of
Ramadan
than to, a, open up the Quran every
Thursday,
read through it together, reflect over its meanings,
and become better people by the time that
Ramadan comes around. You know, a lot of
times when Ramadan comes around, we're almost like
playing catch up. Like, this is a really
weird game of, like, oh, I don't know
if I'm ready yet. Like, do I have
my duas ready? Do I have this in
line and that in line?
By the time that Ramadan comes around, hopefully,
you have in your memory that every Thursday
for 2 months, I open the Quran,
and I read it, and I reflected on
it, and I tried to implement those lessons
that I learned from it.
This is gonna be the goal of this
series. So we're going to be going through
Surat Al Hujurat
together. Okay?
Now
Surat Al Hujurat,
it begins
and I'm, the the screen you guys see
up here, we're gonna kinda go through each
aya together. We're only gonna have time to
go over the first, like, 2 to 3
aya today.
But
begins
and by the way, it's a it's a
surah.
Anyone know what that means? Surah, what does
it mean? It means that it was not
only revealed in Medina, but it was revealed
after the prophet made migration. Okay?
And I'll tell you guys something interesting. You
know, in certain stages of your life,
certain lessons are really, like, like, relatable and
relevant to you. So for example, like, when
you may be in high school, school, there
are certain things that are very relevant to
you, but then when you pass through your
college years, those lessons are no longer that
relatable because you kinda pass through that stage
in your life. Right?
So when Allah revealed surahs to the prophet
in Makkah,
a lot of the lessons behind those surahs
were about being like new Muslims. Right? Like,
what does it mean to pray? What does
it mean to believe in God? What does
it mean to believe in a heaven and
a *? What does it mean to,
you know, be be be be upon, like,
this truth and deny, like, the falsehood of,
like, worshiping other than Allah? Okay?
Then when the prophet moved to Medina,
there started to kind of come through the
Quran
lessons that were a little bit more intricate
in detail,
like how to deal with your neighbors. Right?
Because now we all agree that there's only
one god. Right? So now that we all
agree that there's one god, how can I
take that foundational knowledge of 1 god and
now translate that to my behavior with my
neighbors, my parents, my siblings? Right? How can
I avoid things like hypocrisy and backbiting and
slander and lying?
How can I,
how can I kind of institute the ideas
of justice amongst people? Like, this is what
Madani Surahs were all about. And Surat,
it's so detailed because you'll see in a
few weeks when we go through certain ayaat,
you're like,
wow.
How is the Quran so detailed about certain
topics that quite literally sometimes people don't even
think about religiously?
Right? Like backbiting
backbiting. I mean, when you look at certain,
like, religious doctrines outside of Islam, when you
look at, like, the Bible or the Torah
and you look at other scriptures and whatnot,
like, they'll tell you about, like, believing in
God and stuff like that. But,
before they turned to Allah. Right? So, like,
back in this dude's life, he was known
as, like, this particular nickname.
And now that he became closer to Allah,
he wants to kinda shed that reputation. He
wants to leave it behind. So now, Islamically,
you shouldn't address him like that because he
left that life back in the day. Right?
This is how detailed the Quran is. This
is how detailed it is. And you think
about it. This is stuff that we think
about on a daily basis. Right? Like, 4
years ago, I was a different person.
Right? 4 years ago, I may have been
known to do x, y, and z, but
now I'm trying to turn a new leaf.
I don't wanna be like that anymore.
And Allah cares enough about you
to educate the people around you to appreciate
that decision that you made.
What an incredible religion that we're all a
part of. Everyone say that you're Muslim. I
mean, this is this is uncanny.
This is this is, you know, stuff that
you can't make up. You know? And so
is
so beautifully detailed in regards to all of
these,
you know, little pieces in in our lives.
So
Allahi begins, and we'll we'll dive right into
it.
Allah, he begins and he says,
Anyone know what that means? What does that
mean?
Those of you who have belief. Okay? We
all kind of read the translation, and we
say, okay. You know what?
It means, those of you who believe,
listen to the following. Okay?
I want you guys from now on when
you read
you're gonna get a different translation in your
head from now on. Ready? This is what
it actually means. It means
those of you who claim to believe,
see if the following is something that you
do.
You get you get that? You feel that?
There's a difference of attitude there. Right?
Sometimes when people read,
you're like,
it's me. Right? It's about me. I'm a
Muslim. I gotta dive right in here. No.
No.
No.
Is actually a challenge.
Is hey. You call yourself Muslim.
In your Instagram bio, you have, like, your
name in Arabic, you little weird, like, cool
Arabic guy. Like, you're you you you claim
to be all these things. Right? You claim
to be a Muslim. You claim to be
a follower of Islam.
So check yourself and see if the following
line is something that you do.
Because if you claim to be something as
big as a Muslim I want you guys
to think about that.
You are claiming to be a worshiper of
Allah the way that he deserves to be
worshiped. That's a great title.
That's not something just to be tossed around.
A Muslim
is someone who, on the day of judgment,
is deserving of Allah's
mercy.
Okay?
To have that title is a big deal,
so check if the following is applicable to
you.
So Allah, he says,
So he says here,
oh, you who claim to believe,
are you people
who
do not proceed
ahead
of Allah and his messenger?
And do you fear God in your life?
Are you aware of Allah in your life?
Indeed, Allah is all hearing, and he is
all knowing. So check this out.
This
actually
was a really interesting
verse because it was revealed
because of a story that happened in the
life of the prophet.
Everyone know who Amun and Abu Bakr Sadiq
were? 2 of the closest friends of the
prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Okay? And I
want you guys to appreciate this story
because it really humanizes a lot of people
that
are definitely
I mean, ranks and leagues ahead of us.
But sometimes, like, we
attribute certain kind of expectations to them that
are almost, like, unattainable to us. Right?
Like, I'll never ever be like Aisha radiallahu
anha. I will never ever be like Abu
Bakr Siddiq radiallahu anha. And, of course, like,
you'll never be them,
but
don't sell yourself short of at least trying.
Right? I mean, so many Muslims, they write
themselves off as people that they can never
be good Muslims ever in their life. Right?
Oh, like, oh, I'm I'm such a harami,
like I've done so many bad things in
my life. How can I ever be a
good Muslim? I've done so many things that
are wrong.
Don't sell yourself short like that. Don't ever
sell yourself short like that. Allah
has a lot of love for you. Allah
created you in front of the malaika,
and the angels themselves, they said, you, Allah.
Why would you create this creation?
These the this creation, these people. They're going
to spill blood. They're going to cause, like,
all this, you know, facade, this corruption upon
the earth. And Allah, you know what he
says to the angels about you and me?
Allah says, there are things about them that
you do not know,
that I know.
And that's code for,
I have given them ability
that I have not even given you.
And that's why some of the scholars, they
actually say that when human beings
when human beings
fulfill their potential,
they can be better than any other creation
of all time.
They can be better than angels.
They can reach levels that are higher than
even the.
So don't sell yourself short,
because the angels are created to be, like,
almost, you know,
immediately obedient of God.
And we'll talk about this in a second
because people who have the choice,
they have the choice to disobey,
and they choose to obey.
They willingly obey Allah, oh, there's a whole
another rank for those people.
Because they had all the temptation in the
world to say, yeah, Allah, no. I'm good.
But they turned to Allah humbly, and they
said, yeah, Allah, yes.
I will submit to you.
I've I'm I have submitted.
And so
there's a story here. Abu Bakr and Umrah,
they
were
close.
You all know friends who are, like, super
super close, so they argue sometimes. Right? Sometimes,
like, their love and their passion for,
you know, one
direction, one, you know, one one unified path.
You know, sometimes, like, you know, like
emotions get heated. Right? And so in Medina,
when the prophet
was kind of, like, inviting people to Islam,
there were a lot of people who were
accepting from different tribes all around the area.
And so there was a particular tribe that
was interested in Islam, and they wanted to
accept Islam.
And they were trying to decide, Abu Bakr,
Umar
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, they're trying
to sit there and decide who will be,
like, their main person that will basically teach
them the different moving pieces about Islam. Who's
gonna teach them how to pray? Who's gonna
teach them how to give us a cup?
Who's gonna teach them how to how to
fast in Ramadan? Who's gonna teach them how
to pray ati amulil? Like all these different
things that you and I kind of already,
like, by the way, this is like a
big kind of knock to us in terms
of gratitude that, you know, if you know
these basic things, things that we call basic,
because this is not just like a given
knowledge. Right? You knowing how to fasten Ramadan,
it's a big deal.
Okay? And so the prophet and them were
trying to decide, who should we assign to
teach these people about Islam? And so, Umar
ibn Khattab radiallahu an, he's like, you know
what? I think it should be this person.
I think it should be this person. And
Abu Bakr as Siddiq, he goes, no. No.
No. I think it should be another person.
I think it should be that person. And
Omar Omar specifically, he mentioned a person by
the name of Aqra bin Haddis. Okay? And
Abu Bakr, he mentioned another person's name. And
so they kind of like started going back
and forth, you know, at each other. And
again, like, they're both had arguments. Right? They
both had, you know, their their their point
of view that was rightful, but they both
started to to talk loudly.
They got passionate about it. And at that
moment,
the prophet
became quiet.
And I want you guys to just kind
of imagine that scene in your head. You're
arguing.
You're talking to a friend,
and you're talking so loudly
that you drown out the voice of another
friend.
And in this particular situation,
that other friend happens to be the prophet
And at that moment Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
reveals Quran and he says,
O you who believe,
don't you dare
put yourself
ahead
of Allah and His Messenger.
If Allah and his Messenger
have said something
about certain things,
don't be like, no, no, no, I get
you, but I know better.
Know, like, when we get into the heat
of an argument, we just kind of, like,
think that our opinion's, like, the highest thing.
It's the highest matter. This is what matters
right now. But Allah is reminding us when
it comes down to it and I want
you all to think about this. What does
it mean to not put yourself ahead of
Allah and his messenger? Anybody have any thoughts?
What does it mean?
What does it mean to not put yourself
ahead? By the way,
is it's an interesting kind of statement in
Arabic because
literally means, like, between the two hands. Right?
But in Arabic, in nuance, it means, like,
not to put yourself in front of. Okay?
So what do you think it means to
not put yourself in front of Allah and
his messenger? What mentality
do you think that involves? Anybody wanna share?
What do you guys think?
Yes.
Don't get ahead of yourself, okay? Okay. In
a way. Alright. Yes.
Have humility.
Have humility. Okay. Good. Good. Good. Good. Anyone
else?
Anyone else? What else?
What else? There's something that you guys are
missing here that is super, super important.
Anyone? So humility,
don't wanna get ahead of yourself. Yes?
Pride and ego.
Pride and ego. Very good. Beautiful. Beautiful. Very
good. There's one last thing that I wanted
to see if anybody can mention. Yeah?
Okay.
Now we're getting there. He said, stay within
the limits that Allah has has has has
written for you.
I'll kind of amend that a little bit.
This verse
for us,
it means
every decision you make in your life, is
there a little bit of thought of Allah
and his messenger when you make that decision?
Like, when I take a job,
when I get a job,
when I move to a certain neighborhood,
when I
befriend a person in my life,
is there a part of me that asks
the question like, I wonder what Allah would
think about this?
I wonder how Allah would feel about this,
that I'm making this decision.
I always tell this famous story. You know,
there's there's, like, 17 year old kid one
time came up to me and he was
like, you know, is it okay for me
to work at Dunkin' Donuts? I said, Dunkin'
Donuts is nasty, bro.
But he but he was, like, asking, like,
just kinda like he was like, you know,
it's okay for me to work at Dunkin'
Donuts. I was like, what do you mean?
Like, why wouldn't it be okay for you
to work at Dunkin' Donuts? He says, no.
You know, like, I'm not gonna be, like,
you know, I'm I was like, like, as
far as I know, like, there's no, like,
there's no, like, alcohol, like, sold at Dunkin'
no one's, like, getting, like, no one's getting,
like, plastered at Dunkin' Donuts. Right? Like, it's
just, like, like, just gross donuts. Right? Like,
this that's what you're doing. He's like, yeah.
But, you know, I I wonder, like, you
know, there there there are certain breakfast items
that, like, sell, like sausages and pork and
this and that, all that stuff. So, like,
I've actually went out of my way to
tell my manager that I can't, like, sell
those items. I can only sell donuts. Like,
he it's like, is that okay, or should
I just, like, avoid having that job in
the first place? And you know what I
told him before I even, like, explained the
detail? Because I can see he had a
little anxiety. I told him I said, may
Allah reward you exponentially for thinking about him.
Just thinking about him. How many of y'all
have ever connected Allah and Dunkin' Donuts together?
They're usually far apart. It's like, Shaitan Dunkin'
Donuts.
A law over here. I'm just kidding. I
don't know why I'm hating on Dunkin' Donuts,
but
no. Like, seriously. Right? Like, you don't really
I mean, it's such like a far fetched
thing.
Right? Well, I'm going to this mechanic to
get my tire changed.
I wonder what Allah would think about this.
Right? You're like, that's it it doesn't, like,
make sense.
Those two things are not normally tied together.
What does Allah have to do with me
going to, like, the tire shop?
But a person who's going to the tire
shop, they may be checking, hey. How long
is it gonna take? Because I don't wanna
miss my Asir.
Right? Like, maybe I should go to the
other tire shop because I saw the reviews
that they get you out of there pretty
quickly,
because Assur is important for me. Right?
Like, where do I live? Right? Do I
do I move to this apartment,
or do I move to that apartment?
Yeah. Like, that that apartment might be, like,
5 minutes closer to my job, but I'm
now, like, 25 minutes away from the masjid.
And if I actually went to the other
apartment,
I would have been, like, 10 minutes away
from the masjid and maybe a 5 minute
further drive to my job. Which one do
I prioritize more?
Right?
I mean, this is how you think about
Allah and his messenger
in everything you do.
You think about it, the way that you
eat. Anyone ever researched how the prophet, sallallahu
alaihi wasallam, ate?
He used to eat. I mean, I'll give
you guys an example of this. When the
prophet, sallallahu alaihi wasallam, used to eat, there
are hadith that mentioned that he wouldn't reach
across the table to grab food from the
other side.
You know? And and and, again, he would
eat together in, like, in jama'at with people.
Right? The prophet very seldom ate by himself.
It's another tradition of prophets, by the way.
Ibrahim alaihis salam, there's a famous statement that
Ibrahim alaihis salam never ate one meal by
himself.
If he found food, he would find somebody
else to eat it with.
The prophet,
if he ever ate, he would find people
to eat with, and he would never reach
over the table to, like, you know, grab
food from the other side. He would just
eat from his own area, and he would
if there was something that interested him from
the other side, he would ask somebody to
pass it over.
Has anybody ever thought of that?
Like, yeah, like, I might be a junglee
and I might, like, reach over everybody else
in my life, but, like, because the prophet
used to eat from his side, maybe, like,
I'll try to do that today.
Right? Anyone ever read the narration that the
prophet, the sallallahu alaihi wasallam, used to eat
with, you know, these two fingers and the
thumb?
And we think of it, we're like, oh,
yeah. Like, what's the big deal? That's just
like a that's just like a random sunnah.
Right? It's not like sunnah prayer. That's just
something that he happened to do. But how
many people can be like, wow. Like, you
know what? Like, I wanna do that
because the prophet used to do it. I
wanna try that. Right? Now Not everyone's gonna
go home and eat, like, their Doritos, like,
at at, like, midnight with these 2 fingers
and thumb. Right? They're, like, every bite. Like,
you know what? And so but but think
about that. Like, how blessed of a of
an experience is that?
And and on the day of judgment, you
go up to Allah and you say, yeah,
Allah, I may not have, like, eaten the
same foods as the prophet,
but I ate the way that he ate.
This is what it means to not put
yourself ahead of Allah and his messenger. Think
about Allah and his messenger in every step
that you take. Right?
And
the scholars, they, you know, they they they
speak exponentially about this. Right?
And this also, by the way, like, means
don't
when the prophet's name is mentioned, sallallahu alaihi
wasallam, first and foremost, when we say that
statement, you know, subhanAllah, everyone should utter that
either, like, internally or at least externally to
a certain degree. But also, like, whenever we
speak about him,
whenever we speak about him, we don't like
talk over his statements. Right?
And you think about that, we, you know,
the same the culture that we created around
the Quran, By the way,
Ali this is a the the family member
of the prophet. He said when the prophet
died, he said, I went home and I
began to write, like, every statement that I
ever remember the prophet said to me,
because I wanted to remember him.
I wanted to think about what he used
to tell us and teach us. That's how
near and dear his statements were to me.
Right? Are they just random things, or are
they do we take it to heart? Because,
yeah, the Quran it teaches us that you
should pray, but the Quran doesn't teach us
how to pray.
Right?
The Quran tells you that you should fasten
Ramadan, the Quran doesn't tell you how to
fasten Ramadan, that was all the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam
because there was a link between him and
Allah. And you wanna know something mind blowing
here? This is and I don't know. I
mean, this is not like the the the
most authentic in terms of, like, you know,
the the substance,
virtue from this.
Means between 2 hands. Right? So Allah
says Don't put yourself ahead of Allah and
His Messenger.
But the direct translation is between the two
hands.
One scholar, he wrote that
don't put yourself
between two hands. Like, don't put yourself between
Allah and his messenger because their word is
complementary.
Allah says something, you know that the Prophet
said
almost the exact same thing.
Because again, because the Prophet obeyed Allah.
And if the prophet obeyed Allah to a
t, you know that whatever he said was
something that you should probably pay attention to
as well. So don't put yourself in between
Allah and his messenger. They were that close
to one another.
They were that tight with one another. Right?
SubhanAllah.
And so now we move on to verse
number 2.
Verse number 2, Allah, he says,
Now here we go. We're gonna get kinda
interesting here. Ready?
So he says, oh believers,
oh, those of you who claim to be
Muslim,
do not raise your voices
above the voice of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam.
And don't speak loudly to him like you
would speak to each other.
Now we're gonna pause here for a second
because I want everyone to kinda engage with
each other for, like, 2 minutes to discuss
with one another, something that's really important.
Here, Allah addresses
the
characteristic
of being loud.
How many of you guys would be like,
y'all y'all already smiling because you know that
you are that person.
Okay? The loud person. Right? Like, they're like
you know, it's like it's like your mother
calling overseas at 10 AM on a Saturday
loud. Right?
And so
I want you guys to discuss with one
another something really important.
The question is,
what
are some
of the setbacks
of speaking too loudly?
Like, what are some of the setbacks? What
are some of the vices,
the cons
of speaking too loudly or being too loud
in your volume, in your mannerisms? What are
some of the vices of that? I want
you guys to turn to the person next
to you inshallah, talk about this, and we're
gonna share it together inshallah in just another
minute or 2. So I'll give you guys
I'll give you guys 2 minutes to talk
to each other about this inshallah and then
we'll share them with the entire in the
entire group in just a second.
Alright. What do we got inshallah? Here we
go.
Alright.
What are some of the the the cons
or the the vices of being too loud
in our in our in our nature? Anyone
wanna share? Listen to that. Go ahead. This
by the way, sorry. I'm gonna make a
this is where all the introverts are just
gonna relish this moment right now. It's like,
I told you there'll come a day where
we're gonna relish this moment of being quiet
all the time. Go ahead. Sorry.
This happened to you recently, didn't it? I'm
just kidding. I was kidding. I was just
kidding. I was just like, he went on,
like, a rant right there. I was like,
no. No. He's right. He's right. Right? Like,
it could be interpreted in, like, a very
aggressive manner possibly. Right?
Something that,
may have been interpreted in a more gentle
manner if if it was said a little
bit kind of, you know, quieter, a little
bit lighter. It was interpreted in the wrong
way because it was said, you know, a
little bit louder. Very good. Okay. Good. Anybody
else wanna share? Yes.
You're about to make me cry.
She goes, maybe maybe maybe this person wasn't
hurt as a child.
Are you like a child psychologist?
No. No. That was deep. That was deep.
That was deep, though. That was deep. That
was good. I appreciate that. Okay.
Very good. Very, very good. Alright. Anybody else?
Yes?
Yeah. How many times that happened to us?
Right? You're like, I just wanna say
They're It's so loud that you're like, yeah.
You know what? Like, it's okay. I'm good.
I I don't think my opinion matters anyway.
Right? Because you you again, you're just not
that type of person that's gonna insert yourself
like that. Right? I mean, you're hearing these
2 people go at it or these, you
know, few people talking, and you're just kinda
like, you know what? It's okay if they
feel so passionately about what they're talking about.
It's okay. I'll just just kinda stay aside
and be quiet. Okay. Good.
Anybody else?
Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. You're trying to get
your point across with, like, just power, like,
sheer power. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Very good. Very,
very good. Yes.
Yeah. Yeah. You wanna be the loudest. You
know, you wanna be the most memorable person.
Right? You wanna leave a mark. Right? Very
good. Very, very good.
Yes?
Yeah.
And and and and she's right. Sometimes loudness
is synonymous with, you know, heated emotions. Right?
Anger. Right? And sometimes you say certain things
in those moments that you end up regretting
later on, and you didn't even realize that
you said it. One of the tricks of
Shay thought. Right? Very good. Very, very good.
Anybody else?
Anybody else before we move on?
Yes?
Yeah.
Absolutely. Absolutely. And by the way, there there's
there's a there's a hadith, right, that mentions
that the prophet
was a a person who was a rafiq.
He was he he's he's very,
very gentle, right, in the way that he
spoke to people. Okay? And so, again, this
ayah came down as a response to Abu
Bakr and Umar because they kept on raising
their voices and drowning out the voice of
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. And so Allah,
he revealed this ayah to them to remind
them, hey. Don't raise your voice above the
voice of the messenger because
he definitely knows better than you do, but
you're not giving him a chance to actually
state what he what he knows,
nor should you speak too loudly to him
as you would to one another. I'm gonna
share a very beautiful principle here to you
guys.
There needs to be a very fundamental understanding
that not all relationships are the same. Do
you guys understand that? Like, there's this, like,
wave of culture that now claims that if
you're not the same person in front of
everybody in your life, then you're like a
fake person. And this is absolutely not true
because I'll ask that person who thinks that
way, well, would you treat your grandmother the
same way that you treat your siblings?
Would you say the same things to your
mother that you would to, like, a close
friend of yours?
And not meaning, like, switch up your morals
and your ethics, but just the mannerisms of
how you speak. I don't dare speak to
my 93 year old grandmother the same way
that I speak to my sibling who's, like,
5 years younger than me. Right? It doesn't
mean that I'm a fake person. It's because
I have such reverence and respect for her
that I wouldn't say the same thing the
same way to her that I would to
my sibling that's much closer to my age.
Right? And that's why Allah, he mentions, he
says, don't
Don't talk to the prophet the same way
that you talk to each other because know
that the prophet is much closer to Allah.
And I can guarantee you that every single
person in here,
every person in here has that one person
in their life that when they walk into
a room, they kind of, like, get a
little bit, like, more straightened up. Right?
Just like Islamic. Like, oh, no. No. You
know, like, no. They're so close to Allah.
I can't be like this jungle person in
front of
them. Right? There's a really funny story of
the prophet
I mean, you know, he was laying down
in his in his home, and the story
shares that, basically, he was laying down to
the point where, like, a part of his,
like, calf was exposed. He was laying down
in a very, very relaxed manner. And so
Abu Bakr, he knocks at the door and
he comes in. The prophet wasalam just kind
of chilling with him. And then Umar radiallahu
an, he knocks at the door and the
prophet's like, who is it? And he says,
it's me or Umar. And the prophet says,
come in. And they're all all 3 of
them are just kinda hanging out chilling with
each
other. And then another knock comes at the
door, the 3rd knock, and the prophet says,
who is it? And
behind the door, he says, Arthman, it's me.
It's me, Arthman.
And the prophet he
gets up and he kind of straightens up
his shawl a little bit, and he kind
of, like, you know, just gets himself a
little bit more put together.
And he says,
come in. And so after this was over,
Omar radiallahu an, he went up to the
prophet and says, yeah. You're so low. Like,
what's up with that, man? Like,
like, what's that?
Why? Why him? Right? Like, why did you
get all, like, special in front of him?
And the prophet, he dropped a line that
was incredible. He says, should I not be
shy in front of the one that even
the angels are shy in front of?
Meaning that, no, it it doesn't mean that
he thinks Uthman is better. It doesn't mean
that he's closer to Uthman. No. No. He's
saying that there's a there's a there's a
level of shyness that I have with Uthman
that I don't have with you 2.
Doesn't make you worse or better than him.
It just makes it different. Right?
And, you know,
people who are confident in the relationships they
have with one another, they don't have a
problem with stuff like this. You know what
I'm saying? They don't have a problem with
stuff like that because they know that it's
not about who's better than who. It's about
that this relationship's a little bit more formal.
It's a little bit more kind of like
it's a little bit more respectful.
Right? You and I are just like kind
of chilling. Like we're just we're we're we're
we're boys. Right?
But with him, like, there's a little bit
of, you know, there's a little bit of,
you know, manners, and there's a little bit
of, of of of of of etiquette here
that I wanna kind of observe. Right? A
little decorum that I wanna display here with
this person because, you know, we're we're a
little bit more shy in front of him.
Right? And so when this verse was revealed,
you know,
there were a couple of sahabi that actually
mentioned they said that when I heard allah,
Abu Bakr specifically, he said that when I
heard this verse being revealed, he says, wallahi,
I
will never speak to the prophet
unless I'm whispering to him.
Like, I'm so afraid, right, after Allah revealed
this verse that every time I speak to
the prophet, they're like, hey,
Okay. Cool. I just wanna make sure that
you're okay now. Right? Like,
Umar he said that that Umar's voice got
so quiet after this that it was said
that the prophet kept on having to ask
Umar to speak louder. He's like, Umar, what
did you say again?
And because everyone was so afraid that,
oh, I don't I don't wanna be reprimanded
by Allah for being disrespectful to the prophet
That's how to heart they took this advice
from Allah. Right?
And then something really incredible happened. There was
a Sahabi
by
the name of Fabbet
and
just like the introverts just kind of had
like a field day right here, all the
extroverted people who are like loud,
now y'all are gonna get your fill. Okay?
He was a louder Sahabi.
He was a person who used to kinda,
like you know, they talk, like, in a
normal, like, room volume indoor volume, but it's,
like, on their own speakerphone. Right? Like, they're
just loud people naturally.
Allah just gave them, like, an extra vocal
cord.
So Thabed radiallahu an, when he heard this,
he,
like, ran away because he was afraid.
He was like, what do I do? I'm
just a loud person. I can't help myself.
Every time I open my mouth, it's like
it's like I'm on, like, megaphone mode. Right?
Like, what do I do? I'm just gonna
go away. I'm just gonna go hide.
And the prophet, he noticed
that Thabit was missing.
So the prophet
he's asking people. He said, where's Thabit bin
Qais?
Where'd he go? I haven't seen him in
a couple of days. And a man said,
oh Messenger of Allah, let me go see
where he's at. I'll go find him for
you.
And so that man he went to find
and he found him sitting in his home
by himself with his head lowered to the
ground And he asked him he said what's
the matter? What's going on? Why are you
so upset?
And thabit bin kaisi says I'm really afraid
and he says why he said that
I'm afraid
that If you know
I used to raise my voice above the
raise of the above the voice of the
prophet
So, I feared that
this verse was about me.
So, I feared that I became a person
of hellfire because I used to disrespect the
prophet
like
that. And so the man, he went back
to the prophet and he says, you Rasoolallah,
this is what said
to me.
And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam he said
he went to Thabit,
he says,
he says tell him you're not a person
of hellfire, you're a person of paradise actually
meaning
that if you're naturally loud
it doesn't mean that, like, you're a bad
person.
It's only wrong
when you speak above the messenger sallallahu alaihi
wasallam.
You see, Muslims, sometimes we take, like, small,
you know, little lessons, and we kind of
make them too big. Right?
Don't raise your voice above the voice of
the prophet, so now all loud people are
bad.
That's not what the Quran is saying. The
Quran is actually saying that if you're quiet,
Allah has made you like that. If you're
allowed,
Allah has made you like that. Everybody struggles
in their own way. Somebody who's quiet may
actually have their own problems. We talked about
the problems of a person who's too loud,
but think about the problem of a person
who's too quiet.
They may
have beautiful things to say and share with
people, but no one can hear them because
they're too quiet, they're too shy.
Being too shy is actually a problem as
well.
It's just like being too loud.
Right? Because we know that Islam is always
in the middle. Islam is the religion that's
always in the middle of 2 extremes.
That's why Allah says,
We made you a balanced nation. So don't
be too far to the left or too
far to the right. So the prophet he
reinforced,
he says, no. No. You're not a person
of hellfire. You're actually a person of paradise.
You, just being a loud person, just have
to keep in mind when it's okay to
be loud and when we need to understand
to lower the voice a little bit. Okay?
And then the final ver part of this
verse is very powerful. I'll share this with
you guys. He's Allah Ta'ala, he says here
he says,
lest your deeds will become void
when you are completely unaware.
Meaning
that a person
who overspeaks
or disrespects the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam,
their deeds
may become nullified
because of them disrespecting
someone that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala loves so
much.
And this is proof, by the way, that
deeds
that you do
can sometimes be affected by other things that
you do in your life.
Right?
And we talk about this by the way
when it comes to like dua.
Like how do you strengthen your dua?
You strengthen your dua
by doing things that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
loves for you to do.
I made dua, but I also gave a
little bit of sadaqa that day.
I made dua, but I also stay away
from things that are haram, and I try
to do things that are permissible.
Right? And I'll tell you guys a story
about why this is so true,
that deeds are you know, things that seemingly
don't seem related
can actually be related. I'll share with you
something really important.
There was a story in my life I
remember very specifically.
There were 2 people that got into an
argument in a masjid, and I remember this
very vividly
because we had this uncle, you know, masjid
uncle,
He used to be like that one, you
know, person who used to always say to
Double handshake. Right? Because that's full respect, not
half respect by one hand. He used to
go on to everybody. He says to everybody.
He says to everybody. He says to everybody.
He says to everybody. He says to everybody.
He says to everybody. He says to everybody.
He says to everybody. He says to everybody.
He says to everybody. He says to everybody.
He says to everybody. He says to everybody.
He used to go out and say salaam
to every single person. One day, these two
people were arguing with each other inside the
prayer hall.
Very strange, because he would, you know, have
a lot of people, were arguing with each
other inside the prayer hall. And ever since
that uncle witnessed those 2 guys arguing with
each other in the prayer hall, for days
after,
he actually avoided them.
Very strange because he would say salaam to
everybody every day.
And so one of those 2 guys who
got into the argument, they noticed this, and
they actually went up to him and they
said,
like, are you mad at us?
Are you angry with us?
Are you, you know, are are you
upset disappointed? What? Why why are you not
giving us your setup?
And he says I'm not angry at you.
He says on the on the contrary
I saw you 2 fighting with each other
so
much
that I was afraid that if I were
to speak to you this week, that I
would also be someone who incurred your wrath.
Subhanallah
They just thought that they were fighting with
each other,
but they didn't realize that their argumentation
affected his salaam.
You see,
your deeds affect much more than what you
think is direct.
The way that you speak to 1 person
I'll give you an example. The way that
you the the way if I'm speaking to
Taymor in a rude way, a person who
may be standing right there and kind of,
like, just witnessing and observing, they're like, yeah.
I don't wanna talk to him anymore.
I just saw the way that he spoke
to him.
I don't wanna I don't wanna be a
person who's, like, next in line for that.
Y'all ever been, like, to a cash like,
a like a grocery store? Cashier's in, like,
a bad mood. You're, like, 2nd person in
line. You're just trying to check out, like,
some, like, you know, like, some, like, halal
gummy bears. You're out here trying to buy
your Sour Patch for the week, then, like,
you're next in line, and this this person
at the register is, like, just having a
horrible date. And you're like, yeah. You know
what? I think I'll just do, like, self
checkout. Like, I don't I don't I don't
wanna be the next person in line for
this this woman's wrath. You know what I'm
saying? Like, your
behavior
affects much more than you think.
So Allah mentions here
that don't raise your voice above the voice
of the prophet and don't speak loudly to
him because the prophet doesn't like loudness.
He likes gentleness.
Allah loves gentleness.
And I'll tell you, wallahi,
there is something about being gentle
that being rough and tough will never accomplish.
There is something about a gentle person that
a rough and tough person can never ever
accomplish
Because gentleness will always win over the hearts
of people.
How many of y'all have read stories of
the prophet, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, and you
fell in love with his character because of
how soft he was with people.
The man who urinated in the corner of
his own masjid,
the Sahaba, they jumped up and they're ready
to, like, tackle this guy. What did the
prophet say?
Let him finish.
Who does that?
Who does that? Like, your local, like, masjid
board would be, like, the first people that
would throw that dude out, like, jazz from
Fresh Prince style. Like, launch him out the
front door.
Urinating in the masjid, are you kidding me?
People gotten thrown out for doing a lot
less.
But the prophet said to that, no. Let
him finish.
Why? Because if we come down on him
so hard here, he might never wanna come
back ever again.
Right?
Like, if we reprimand that one kid for,
like,
wearing, like, shorts, like, up here,
I get it brothers. I know. I get
it. You're like, oh, this is disrespectful. Get
us. No love for Allah. Right? Wearing, like,
7 inch inseam shorts. Like, who does this
kid think he is?
And I'm like, if you, like, if you're
rude to that kid, yeah, maybe, like, he's
not dressed appropriately for prayer. Yeah. But guess
what, man? If you kindly just be like,
hey, Sonika, man. Like like, you know, I
got you. Next time, I'm gonna bring a
thobe for you. Can you can you imagine
what that will do for that kid next
time he comes to the Masjid?
Instead of being like, Haram. How dare you?
Does your mother not buy you better clothes
than that? Like,
that kid's like, yeah. I don't Forget about
being in the masjid, man. Islam might not
be for me.
Right? Think about how many people have been
turned away from,
oh, sister, your hijab.
That statement, well, like, gives me anxiety.
When a person says that statement, gives me
anxiety as a man.
Like, I feel for the sister. Like,
sister, your hijab. I'm like, oh my god.
Please, for the love of god, please, yeah,
Allah, please allow her to be Muslim tomorrow.
Right?
Like like so how do I because those
those statements can completely
ruin a person.
It can drive a person away from Allah
when Allah would be so gentle with that
person.
But because you are so rough and you
have an inability in your heart to be
soft with people like the prophet was,
you turned away a person from the most
beautiful deen
in this world.
So when it comes to taking the path
of gentleness versus the taking the path of
roughness, always take the path of gentleness.
And I know there are certain people who
will say, no. No. No. There are certain
times where we need to be strong. And,
absolutely, you're right. There are moments where you
do need to be strong, but you can
never
ever begin a relationship by being rough with
someone.
Being strong with somebody has to be built
over time,
because they can handle it. After you've opened
up the doors of welcome,
then you can be a little bit strong
when it needs to be, when you need
to be. But you can't be like that
right away.
You can't be like that right away. It's
like those, like, clips that you watch on
TikTok, those Muslim speakers
yelling at the camera at midnight for some
reason.
Bravas. I was kidding. British Muslims. I'm just
kidding.
I'm kidding. I love them. May Allah may
Allah accept from them.
And then we'll, inshallah, finish with this last
one here,
because we gotta
break for Isha soon. This last ayah, Allah
Ta'ala, he mentions he says,
He says, indeed
those who lower their voices in the presence
of the Prophet
are the ones who Allah
has tested their hearts
and has given them taqwa.
Allah has tested their hearts
and
allowed Taqwa to take over.
For them is forgiveness.
A great reward,
and I'll share this incredible incredible hadith and
the statement with you guys here
By the way
that story I wanted to share with you
guys
when we're in ralda
Me and, me and me and a sudden
murphy
this past week
You know, there was like a different vibe
in Rolda in terms of like peace and
quiet Like the rest of masjid Nabawi is
already quiet.
But when you when you're in roda, it's
like ping drop silence
Like no one's even like hey assalam man
Like would you go like jul bake earlier
today or like what chicken nuggets like would
you like everyone's just like quiet?
Because they know 100 feet to the left
of you is the resting place of the
prophets.
I
can't speak about anything right now.
I just think and reflect over how Allah
has blessed me to be in the presence
of his beloved.
It's incredible. It's an incredible moving moment.
And so
when Allah here, he says that we have
tested
their hearts. Right?
There was a very beautiful statement here where,
a person
wrote to Umar ibn Khattab
He wrote to Umar ibn Khattab, and he
says, oh, leader of the faithful,
Who is
better? A person who does not feel the
desire to commit a sin and does not
commit that sin or a person who feels
the desire to commit a sin, but they
withhold and they don't commit that sin and
umar radiAllahu anhu says absolutely without a shadow
of a doubt, of course it is the
one who feels the desire to commit that
sin but they end up obeying Allah and
they don't commit it
and so what this right here it means
is that that word right here you see,
I'll highlight it for you guys,
it comes from the word
means like trial, like a test, like an
exam.
And what it means
is that
a person
who tries
they try. You're not perfect.
No Muslim on the face of the planet
is perfect.
You have probably made more mistakes today than
you can think about in your own head,
but you tried. And
you tried your best to stay away from
things that Allah told you to stay away
from, and you tried your best to do
things that Allah loves for you,
and you tried,
it says here that
Allah has put in their hearts
Taqwa,
God consciousness, because it means that you care
about him.
It means you care about him.
So if you were a perfect person and
you went around this dunya and nothing ever
bothered you, you had no desires, you had
no shahala, you had no temptations at all
whatsoever, and you withheld from everything that was
haram,
you did good. You stayed away from things
that are bad. But
Allah
loves a person more who
are tempted by certain things, but because of
their mindfulness of Allah, they're able to stay
away from it
because they love Allah and his Messenger too
much.
That I know one of my biggest weaknesses
is
this one desire that I have.
One of my biggest weaknesses is
this one, just, you know, impulse that I
may have in my life.
But because I love Allah and his messenger
so much, I try my best to stay
away from it. And for these people, Allah
has written for them God consciousness within their
hearts, and the reward of that is
forgiveness.
So whenever they raise their hands to Allah
and say, oh, Allah, I messed up.
I messed up.
I failed today.
I slipped up today.
I fell into the trap today, you Allah.
I I I I had a moment of
weakness, you Allah. Allah has already written for
this person.
Whenever they raise their hands, Allah said, forgive
them. Why? Because they try every day so
hard.
And the reward is?
It's not regular. It's not normal.
And this goes back to, like, that that
that hadith. Y'all ever read that hadith of
the prophet tells? He says that a person
who reads the Quran
easily,
like, with easy fluency, no trouble whatsoever,
they'll be rewarded for their reading. But the
person who opens up the Quran and they're
struggling with each and every letter, Allah gives
them so much more reward. Why? Because they're
struggling with it.
So the final advice today is,
don't be a Muslim who shies away from
the struggle.
Don't be a Muslim who shies away from
being tested.
Enjoy the tests.
Enjoy the trial because the trial means that
you care about it.
One of my teachers taught us that if
you
didn't really kind of, like, care about any
of the
the the the the the struggles you're going
through in your life,
it wouldn't matter to you.
The fact that you know your heart is
beating is because some of the trials in
your life are testing you.
Trials would not be trials if they didn't
bother you. Trials are trials because they bother
you, they test you, they sometimes irritate you,
but that means that your heart is beating
and it's working. As long as you choose
Allah, that you know that you've made the
right decision.
So continue to work towards
Allah We ask Allah
to put barakah in our session today. We
ask Allah
to allow us to benefit from the Quran.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow
us to be people who are frequent with
the word of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We
ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to never allow
the Quran to be foreign to us and
we ask Allah
to allow us to be better people each
and every single time we pick up His
book.
Everybody. I'm so excited to be doing this
session every single Thursday with you guys. We'll
see y'all
next Thursday.