Safi Khan – Soul Food Surah ‘Adiyaat
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AI: Transcript ©
Alright.
Welcome to Soul Food.
Welcome back to, Roots.
For those of you who are obviously returning
here, welcome back. For those of you who
are new here,
welcome for the first time.
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Okay. Awesome.
Very good. Thank you. Perfect. So
we are obviously, last week, we started this,
new series. Right?
The the week before,
we ended,
a series on
the 40 hadith of a scholar by the
name of Shah,
who was an Indian scholar,
and he compiled a really amazing
kind of 40 hadith collection of very short
statements of the prophet
And so last week, we began,
kind of like a different direction because I
thought it would be really, really beneficial to
kind of, like,
go a different route,
because obviously for an entire year, we almost,
like, did the,
the the the very calculated,
organized study of statements with the profit. And
so the only kind of way to to
to kind of balance that out now is
by doing some, you know, reflections and some,
you know, wisdoms from the Quran itself.
And I gave some kind of examples of,
you know, the the the the the importance
of what we're doing here. Right?
I don't think a lot of people sometimes,
you know, the things that the problem is
that when we're so used to, you know,
being immersed in a in a Muslim culture,
you sometimes don't realize the blessings that you
have within your hands. Right?
There's a verse in Surah to use. So
for Allah says,
and he's telling the prophet
that these
are are are are miracles. Right? That they're
within your grasp. He used the word tilka,
which means, like, these right here. They're in
front of you. They're not far. They're they're
they're they're not far from you. They're right
within your grasp,
and you have them to to to look
over, to read, to benefit from.
And sometimes, you know, being born Muslim, being,
just kind of, you know, immersed in the
Muslim culture like I said, sometimes people kind
of lose this,
this this, you know, feeling of just gratitude
towards the miracle of the Quran that they
have it, you know, just within their grasp
and they have it within their their their
lives. And so, we wanted to kind of
like in the in the in the name
of that tradition, we wanted to kinda revive
our appreciation for the Quran,
with these, with this series.
Specifically, our task for this series is actually
to go over some of the shorter Surah
in the Quran.
And the benefit of that is that,
you know, we to be honest with you,
we recite these short Suraj constantly.
I mean,
I I I would love to do, like,
a social experiment to see, like, what what
Surah's most of us recite in our in
our prayers.
And I can guarantee you the majority of
us are not reciting things like Surah Al
Imran.
Most of us are not reciting things like
Surah Al Baqarah or Sultan Nisa. Right?
Majority of people jump straight to the 30th
section,
and their best friends are called Al Kothar
and Alikhlas, Anas, Al Falak, Wal Asar. Right?
These are everyone's, like, BFFs, like, while they're
reciting in in in their in their prayers.
And,
you know, not not not condoning that and
not saying that, like, everyone should just kind
of, like, go towards that. And but by
the same time, I'm not negating it either.
Right? By saying that those are not important,
that you should just kinda focus on the
longer would also not be correct.
But if we are going to recite some
of the shorter, you know, Suraj of of
the Quran,
then it becomes very, very important for us
to understand,
what these chapters are are talking about. Because,
you know, the the shorter chapters in the
Quran,
are much, much more rich in their language.
Right?
There are verses are there words that are
used in some of these ayats that are
not used in any other portions of the
Quran? For example,
I'll give you guys a very easy evidence
of this. Right?
The word samad,
you know, Allah Samad, that word is not
used in any other part of the Quran
besides that one part.
Right? And and what does that mean? It
just means that Allah has used very specific
language with these portions of the Quran. You
know, if if a Surah has 3 verses,
if a Surah has 4 verses, like, those
verses gotta be, like,
really, really amazing language. Right?
200 plus verses. You know, Surah Imran 200
plus verses. I mean, these Surah's have a
little bit more length in them, so it's
easier to kind of explain things over, like,
a span of these these these 100 plus
verses. But when you have 3, 4,
you know, the language has got to be
that much deeper. And so that's our that's
our challenge. Right? Everyone's automatically thinks like, oh,
it's just.
Right? Jazama is easy. I memorize, like, all
these Suras or half of these Suras. Like,
I I I know them really well. But,
you know, the the those same people that
say that may not really understand the gravity
of the the the language being used in
the Suraj that they've memorized. Right? In which
I would dare say is even scarier that
we're reciting things that we don't even understand.
You know, on the day of judgment, Allah's
gonna ask us, like, well, you you you
did this quite often. Right? You recited all
these or these verses often, but you never
made an effort to really understand them.
And that's problematic.
Alright? So
the the the the intention of this series
is to kind of really bring bring bring
light to that. So
last week, we covered a Surah called
which is all about ironically, you know, I
know sheikh Mikael teaches a a Wednesday night,
you know,
series on the journey. Right? It's called the
journey,
talking about the journey of death, the journey
to the hereafter, the whole life in the
in in in the next life.
And, we began last week's series with which
is all about the final day. Right? The
final day, what's gonna gonna what's gonna happen
on that day? What's it gonna look like?
What's our attitude gonna be that day? What's
our mindset gonna be like that day?
All of those different kind of lessons we
we extracted from.
This
week,
we are
exploring
a Surah, which is the 100th Surah in
the Quran,
which is a Surah called Surah Al Adiyat.
Okay?
This Surah is very poetic.
Right?
There are chapters of the Quran that are
like poetry. I mean, it's not I mean,
I don't even wanna say that because it's
an insult to the Quran. But it to
us, to our understanding, it has, like, a
poetic vibe to it. Right? How many y'all
are friends of poetry? Anyone?
Anyone, like, nerd poetry nerds? Sort of, kind
of. Right? Yeah. No? Some of you? Okay.
I don't know if people read anymore. Right?
It was just people just repost things.
Well, this Surah particularly has, like, a very
poetic
kind of,
atmosphere around it. Right?
The first five verses of the Surah,
Allah just swears by,
like, this very incredible thing in in in
in that he refers to in the in
the dunya.
And then by, like, verse 5, 6, you
start learning about the subject of that oath.
Alright?
And then Allah jumps to the conversation on
people being ungrateful. Then Allah jumps to the
conversation of,
people being obsessed with their wealth and their
dunya. Right? Kind of being just,
completely
immersed by their love for everything they see
around them, so they forget that there's something
else other than that that's important.
And then the Surah ends
with Allah telling you that, you know, you're
you're gonna end up in, you know, your
your your your
grave. And then finally, at the very last
moment, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala refers to the
idea of, you know, finally when when you're
in the grave, everything will start to kinda
sort of come out. You know, your your
your true intentions, your your true,
nature, your, you know, what you live and
die by, it's all going to come out.
You know, once you die, you can't hide,
you know, your your yourself anymore, really. You
know, some people unfortunately
live in this world hiding their true self
the entire way. Right? And we see this,
by the way, all the time on social
media. People portray themselves in a certain way.
People, you know, give off the impression of
themselves in a certain way, and, you know,
they they do their best to kind of,
like,
tell people that, like, well, this is who
I am. When in reality behind closed doors,
they're completely different. Right? I mean, how many
people have we just kind of and just
think about this. It's like a really easy
exercise to do. How many of you guys
follow people on social media where you where
you've already made assumptions about them? You've never
met them in your life. Right? They're, like,
personalities or celebrities or whatever they are, and
you kinda assume that this person is this
way because this isn't what they post about.
Or that person is that way because this
is what they post about. But, you know,
you never been inside their home. You never
seen how they treat their family. You never
seen how they handle themselves in difficult situations.
Right?
The these all all these contents come out,
you know, once a person's in the grave,
and it's a very, very serious conversation. Right?
So
this Surah is is is very, very interesting.
And so,
we'll kind of break it down, a little
bit at a time. So what I'm gonna
ask you guys to do actually, because this
is gonna I usually you know, when we're
in the roots hall, we're we we, we
just kind of allowed the the the there's
a a dual program going on while soul
food's happening this this Thursday.
It's a it's like a woman's only program
called empower. And so, usually, while we're over
there,
we always, use the the screens on the
back of the prayer hall to kind of,
you know, read along together.
So I'm gonna ask everyone to do, if
you guys can, kindly do this. Just open
up your phones,
or your iPad, whatever you have on you,
and open up, like, you know, Quran.com
or, like, your Quran app or something like
that so you guys can kinda just keep
up with the the the verses that we're
going over because it'll just make it that
much more interactive and that much more real
first.
So,
we're gonna go ahead and
and, begin with verse number 1. So the
Surah, by the way,
Surah Al Adiyat was revealed at Mecca. Okay?
And there's a difference of opinion on exactly
where it was revealed. So,
Abdullah ibn Mas'ud and Hassan al Basri and
and some of these other scholars, they say
that it was revealed in in Mecca.
That means it was revealed pre hijra. Right?
It was before the prophet migrated. And some
people like, Abdul ibn Abbas, unasypneumatic,
they say that it was revealed in Medina.
And so there's a little bit of a
difference of opinion on where it was revealed,
but nonetheless,
obviously, you know, there's there's lessons in in
in both of those factors. Right?
So we're gonna go ahead, inshallah, and jump
into the first ayah of this Surah. So
the first aya, I'm gonna recite it inshallah,
and I'll I'll ask one of you guys
inshallah if you can translate it for me.
The first aya, he
says,
Alright? Can someone go ahead and translate that
first number 1, verse for me?
Yeah. Go ahead,
By the
racers. Okay. Very good.
Means by those who run and they're, like,
panting.
So
everyone this is by the way, this is
why it's important to, like, study Quran,
specifically Quran
with, you know, people who have learned it,
who have studied it themselves under their teachers
because this is where you know, people who,
like, do their own,
like, their own interpretations,
this is where it can go wild. Right?
This is where, like, you know, literalists or,
like, people who are just super, you know,
metaphorical, they can just jump the gun and
go wild places with this stuff. Right? They're
like, oh, I pant when I run.
This is about me. Right? Like, no. Relax,
brother. It's not. Alright? So
is describing Allah
First and foremost, we know that this is
an oath that Allah is is is making.
Right? Allah is making an oath. He's starting
the Surah with an oath because the Surah
begins with a wa. Right? Right?
It's like, you know, when Allah
says any other, you know, statement that begins
with the letter wow,
in the in the beginning of Surah, it
it most likely denotes that it's a it's
an oath. It's a. So Allah is saying
by
those that run and they pant while they
run. And the scholars, they say that Allah
is describing a horse. Okay?
A horse that runs,
Okay?
And
this
horse that Allah is describing is really interesting.
It's not just any regular horse. It's not
any regular horse. There's actually a specific hadith
that's really interesting. The prophet said, I gotta
look up this hadith and kind of,
just kind
of peel back the the wisdoms behind it.
But the prophet, one time he told his
companion, he goes, if you if you are
looking to buy a horse, seek a horse
that is that that's colored black, and it
has, like, a white stripe going over the
top of its head, and it has white
on the bottom of its feet. He goes,
those are the most, like, effective horses.
And Allah and and the prophet he's specifically
talking about, like, war horses, like, horses that
are, like, functional. Right? Because if you think
about it, like, horses at that time were
used very purposefully.
And, you know, this is why, you know,
y'all ever heard of, like, Arabian horses. They're
they're the most beautiful,
the most, like, you know, the the the
fastest, the most agile, the most, like, the
the the most, what's the word I'm looking
for? It's like, they they they are the
most, like, easy on the eyes in terms
of, like, you know, the the type and
the breed of horse they are. And so
Allah
is describing these horses that were literally,
used for, like, function. Right? They were not
like pets. They were very functional creatures.
So Allah is saying
by the the one who runs, the horse
that runs very fast
and
comes from the word which basically means,
that makes noise as they run. Like, they're
running so fast that they're making noises. Right?
It's not even like it's not it's not
a horse that's just kind of, like, trotting
very peacefully. It's a horse that's running. It's
a horse that's functional. It's a horse that
is literally just like, you know, it's it's
doing work as we say. Right? So
that's the first thing Allah
swears by to describe this animal in the
Quran. The second ayah Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
he mentions, he says,
somebody translate that for me verse number 2.
Anyone?
Sara, go ahead.
I missed the.
Mhmm. Go ahead.
So this one says, and it produces of
sparks, white, and striped
Very, very good.
Well, he says
Right?
In in in in Arabic means,
one that strikes,
like, the ground
when they're running. Right?
I want you almost to kinda, like, picture,
like, your your your you know, man, how
do I describe this, like, imagery?
It's almost like you know, like, the the
the spark that comes off of, like, a
like a like a match and a matchbox?
Like, that's moody out.
Like, someone's, like, striking something so hard, there's
so much heat coming off of it that
it actually sparks. There's, like, a spark coming
off of it. And it's also kind of,
like, denoting how fast something is. Right? I
mean, like, if I just, like, do this,
like, there's no there's no fire coming off
of my fingertip onto the the the table
here. But if I take, like, you know,
if I'm going fast enough and if I
strike, like, the right material against the right
material, you'll see sparks being created. Right? That's
Muriati Qadha.
Right? The Allah is saying that these horses
are so fast. They're so majestic
that when they run, it's like they're leaving,
like, fire on the ground when they're running.
Do you see, like, the poetry of the
Quran?
It's like it's beautiful. It's it's it's it's
incredible. Like, the the this is why, by
the way, the Quran is for the people
for the people who ponder and think. But
the Quran is not just like some a,
b, c, d, you know, like, you know
you know you know, green eggs and ham
book. Right? Like, it's it's it's it's not
for, like it is easy to understand. That's
I'm not I'm not saying that. I'm I'm
not saying that the Quran is, like, some,
like, deep, intricate, un like, you know, misunderstood
book that's, like, really impossible to understand when
you read it. The Quran is clear. You
know? It's
called in several different parts.
But along with that clarity, there's a lot
of beauty. That's very hard to do. Y'all
ever read poetry that, like, you have no
idea what it's saying? Right? You're like, I
have no clue what this dude is talking
about at all. Right? He might be intoxicated.
I'm not sure. Right?
But, you know, there's other pieces of work
that are so elementary that they're just boring
reads. Right? You're like, oh, man. Like, this
is, like, so, like, it's just isn't like
it it doesn't interest me. Right? The Quran
is, like, the perfect harmony between the 2.
It's poetic in its way. It's beautiful. It's
amazing in his language, but at the same
time, it doesn't leave a reader confused.
And to be quite honest with you, the
only the only way that you can explain
that is that it's divine.
It's not human made. Right? This is a
this is this is a word. This is.
Right? Like, this is the speech of God.
It's himself. Right?
So
right? It it it it strikes
fire
when when when when when it's running. Right?
And then Allah says,
in the verse number 3,
somebody translate that for me? Who wants to
go? Go ahead.
So comes from the word which basically means
to attack something. Right? To to to go
forward and, like, you know, pose and attack.
Anyone know what means?
Anyone?
Morning. Morning. Very good. Like dawn.
Right? It it's it's in the early mornings.
It's.
And you know, what this this this right
here is referring to. So Allah is still
describing what, guys?
What's Allah describing in these in in this
ayah still?
The horses. The horses. Right? Allah still focused
on this analogy of the horses.
And Allah is saying that these horses,
they they, they
they're attacking.
So.
Right?
There's, by the way, a lot of etiquette
in this. The prophet
would actually say, it is very, very
ill manner.
And, and and this you know, I I
need everyone to understand this that a part
of Islamic history,
there's literally chapters of Islamic history on on
the etiquettes of warfare
because that was a reality. You know? I
I a lot of people get, like, weirded
out by that because nowadays, like, every war
is bad usually because, like, they probably are,
honestly, because because wars that are fought nowadays
are over, like, human, you know you know,
Right? Desires and, you know, peep things that
people want against other people and, you know,
people are willing to kill people for this
stuff, and it's always related. It's oil. It's
resources, it's gas, it's this and money and
all that stuff. But but but but the
the the battles that were fought
in in in in in times like that
were and especially with the prophet
and and and the ummah here, were to
basically defend the ummah, right, against people who
are trying to harass and harm it. People
who are trying to literally, you know, strip,
you know, Muslims away from their faith. This
is literally what they they resorted to. But
even then even then,
there were etiquettes in in in that entire
thing. Y'all y'all ever read the famous stories
of the prophet during the battle of Badr,
you know, giving food to the enemies at
nighttime? Y'all ever read those those descriptions? It's
unbelievable.
Like, the that doesn't happen. Like, what what
what other,
you know, human history book have you ever
read
where, like, the the one one side
is supposed to, like, oppose this other side
during the daytime, and at night, they're, like,
hosting them for, like, Nahari.
Like, what? Like, that's that's just it's not
normal. It doesn't happen.
But in Islam, it does.
Why? Because you don't believe that, like, oh,
you know, this is we're out here just
to kill each other at every single point
that we get. And in fact, the the
the the the the Arabs at that time,
they would actually the the whole culture of
Arabia at that time would actually consider it,
like, cowardly
to attack somebody at nighttime. Why? Anyone?
Why is it cowardly? Yeah. Right? Because the
woman, so they should be resting.
Yeah. Like, you you're you're basically,
you know, telling somebody by attacking them at
night that, you know, we're just gonna kind
of, like, come at you when, like, you're
you're you're you're resting and the woman and
children are kind of, like, taking you know,
they're getting rest and sleep, and y'all are
probably not prepared.
That that that's just not something that the
that that the Arabs believed in. That if
we're gonna actually, you know, do this thing.
Right? Like, we're actually gonna go and and
and and and kind of oppose one another.
We're gonna do it where both of us
are kind of, like, at our best. You
know? And this is why, you know, there
is really interesting,
just random traditions that you read in Islam,
you know, that, there was a the the
Arabic term is fleeing my mind.
There is a there is a concept of
basically where,
the battles they used to fight back then,
they used to allow,
like, the 3
best,
like,
warriors from each army
to come forward and, like, battle each other
before the rest of the army fought.
Wow. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Very good. Very good.
So
they used to do that.
And and that was like, you know, it's
like a fair thing. Right? Like, I'm not
we're not gonna, like, run up from behind
you and attack you. We're not gonna do
this. We're gonna, like, literally show you that
we're here. Right?
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, well,
And these horses,
they would attack at dawn.
They're not they're not horses that were used
for, like, you know, sly trickery. They're not
horses that were used to, like, sneak up
and and attack people when they weren't expecting.
Like, these are honorable horses. Right? These are
horses that are that are that are very,
very straightforward and honorable, and they they they
they don't, you know, they no. They don't
play any games with people. Right? The next
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says,
Anyone wanna wanna translate that for me real
quick inshallah?
That's what I go ahead in the back.
They produce a lot of dust in the
morning. Okay. Very good. They produce or they
raise a lot of
dust. Okay?
Dust
literally
means, it comes from which
means to, like, raise up.
To raise up, and means, like, dust.
Means dust. So these horses, when they would,
like, run, not only would they produce sparks,
but when they're on the ground like dirt
and sand, they would, like, raise dust. Right?
Like, it's like a like an entire, like,
army is coming at you because these horses
are so powerful. Right?
And then
the verse number 5,
Allah says,
just wanna go ahead. You had your hand
raised a little while ago. Yeah. So verse
number 5. Go for it. Penetrating into the
heart of enemy arms. Very good. This just
alludes the bravery.
These horses,
they would penetrate,
into, like, the middle of the battle.
They're not gonna go around. They're not gonna,
you know, just kind of figure out, like,
which way they can sneak in and no.
No.
They're they're they're going right in with the
least degree of fear. And some of the
scholars, by the way, they actually say that,
like, this is almost like a description of
Muslims should be. Like, Muslims shouldn't be fearful
of, like, things in their life. Right? Like,
when you have a challenge ahead of you,
attack that thing head on. Right? Like, get
your get your feet wet as they say.
Like, don't, like, dip your toe in and
then take it out and all these no.
No. No. Like, if you're afraid of something
in terms of just, like, I don't know
if I I want I, like, you know,
like, I'm I'm nervous about it. Ask Allah
for his help and then go straight in.
And this is, by the way, like, an
example of of prophet Musa alayhis salam. When
Musa alayhis salam felt fear in his heart
from when Allah told him to go and
address pharaoh,
Musa alaihi salam was, you know, he there
was there was some fear in his heart.
Right? And it's not wrong to to to
have fear as an emotion. That's you know,
I I want everyone to understand that as
well. Like, Islam does not, you know, look
down upon natural human emotions.
I think this is a a very blatant
misunderstanding that a lot of Muslims have that,
like, oh, anger is haram. Fear is haram.
Right? These that's not true. Anger in and
of itself is not haram for actually you
need anger in your life to accomplish certain
things. Right? Like, you need anger in your
life to feel for certain things. I mean,
if you weren't if you never used to
get angry or if you never got angry
within your heart at times, you wouldn't you
you would be, like, spineless in certain situations
in your life. Somebody comes and, you know,
does something horrible to your family, and you
basically misunderstood the hadith of the so you
sit on your couch and say, don't get
angry. Like, it's not that's not what Islam
is telling you to do. Islam is telling
you no. No. No.
Appropriately
express your anger.
Don't let your anger control you. You control
your anger.
And I that that's a that's a really
big lesson. Controlling anger. A lot of people
automatically define controlling anger as, like, don't be
angry. No. No. No. Controlling anger means literally
control it.
Like, don't let it run you. You run
it.
You tell you you tell your anger what's
okay and what's not okay. Okay. Sometimes your
anger will get the best of you just
like any other emotion in your life. Do
do do you all do you all agree
that happiness can sometimes be harmful?
Absolutely, you can.
Absolutely, you can. Have you all ever seen
people do stupid things when they're happy?
Sure.
Right? They're, like, in this euphoric state of
of mind, and they go out and do
something dumb, and now they're not so happy
anymore.
Right? Like, it's it's it's it's any extreme
of human emotion
can be harmful for a person. And this
is why we talked about it in in
soul food, like, you know, a month back
when it came to the Halitam balance. Right?
That that every,
every
sought after trait has 2 blame worthy polls.
Scholar once said that.
That every sought after trait of a human
being has 2 blame worthy pulls. There's some
specific examples that that scholar gave and he
said that, you know, bravery
bravery
is in the middle of recklessness
and,
cowardice.
That, like, bravery is the perfect balance between
those 2. Because if you're if if if
you're just kind of, like, going out there
and just, like, closing your eyes and jumping
in without knowing how to swim, then Habibi,
I'm Janaz is tomorrow. Right? Like, let's be
let's be real here. Like, Allah said,
right? I'm
gonna jump into a pool. Do you know
how to swim? No. Like, what? That's also
just that's just called dumb.
Right? You're just dumb. You're a dummy. Okay?
But at the same time,
just because, like, you don't know how to
swim doesn't mean you shouldn't learn.
You guys understand that analogy?
Just because you don't have swim, you shouldn't
it doesn't mean you shouldn't help know how
to learn. No. Learn how to swim and
then jump in. Right? It's it's important. Right?
So
these these horses were, they had the least
degree of fear,
but also they backed that that that courageous
that courageous nature of theirs up with skill.
They were built like that. Right? And I'll
tell you guys something crazy.
This next verse, by the way,
verse number 6,
Allah gets to the the the the subject
of his oaths. Okay? Because Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala does that
And then finally he gets to the actual,
like, basis of why he's making these oats.
So now we're gonna get to the reason
why Allah is making all of these kind
of, like, oaths in the first place. So
in verse number 6, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he drops and he says,
can someone translate that for me? Miss Bella,
anyone?
Go ahead. Right there.
Very good.
So after 5 lines
of Allah describing things that he's swearing by
and by the way, Allah can describe Allah
can swear by anything because why? There's, like,
a very, very, you know, easy principle to
to to memorize. Why can he swear by
anything? Because he?
Very good. He created it.
He is.
We are makhluk. We're the created. Right? So
Allah can throw about anything we can't because
we didn't create those things. Allah knows the
nature of those things we just don't. And
there's actually a really interesting,
you know, a point here that Imam, he
he brings up. He's a very famous scholar
of of of, Quran commentary of tafsir. He
says, you know, one of the beauties and
the reasons why Allah swears by these horses
is because
these horses are loyal to human beings.
Right?
All these different characteristics that these horses display,
they're loyal to you. Why do they run
into the middle of a battle? Because they're
loyal to you. Why are they running so
fast? Because they're because you tell them to
run.
Why are they why are they sparking up
sparks under their hooves? Because they're loyal to
you. They're doing all that to you because
they're loyal to you. But you know what
says?
Oh, man. Drops some some bars, you know,
sometimes in his. He says, imagine how how
loyal they are to you,
but you are not actually the owner of
any of their sustenance.
Like, even the food that you feed those
horses, you didn't make it.
Is that weird to think about? Anyone here
have, like, you know, like like, anyone you
know, obviously, nobody here probably has kids. Right?
No. Okay. Oh, you okay. Okay. So
I'm thinking about even my daughter. Right? Like,
and you have a you have a little
one yourself.
Even, like, the formula or the food that
you feed your child
is not something that you produce.
Like, it's interesting to think about it like
that. Right? Like, you're you're you're thinking, like,
oh, yeah. I'm gonna go out and buy
my kids some food. Like, well, that food,
you didn't make it.
You didn't you didn't grow it. You didn't
cause the rain to fall from the sky
to to nourish these plants and to to
to to grow this food and all these
different things. You didn't do anything.
The the the and he's talking about the
people that are that that are owners of
these horses. You feed your horses these these
feed and you you put them in your
farm and you kind of let them sleep
in in in the in these large areas
of land. You need to own any of
that stuff, but these horses would die for
you.
Look at it.
They they they run into the middle of
the battle because they trust you.
And then Allah says in verse number 6,
But to the one who
really owns everything,
right? To Allah, to the one who's actually
Allah,
you're super ungrateful,
and he's the one that gave you everything.
So y'all see the analogy here? Allah is
giving the analogy
of the horses
to the horses owners, and then to us
and to our owner Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Like, the horses that you raise, the the
the things that you have in your life,
and I just want you guys to think
as, like, students or, you know, young employees
or young professionals, whatever it is. You know,
we work. We have responsibilities.
We own cars, and we own homes. And,
actually, nobody owns a home anymore. It's so
expensive. We,
we, you know, we we we take care
of certain, you know, elements of our lives,
and we try to do the best to
it, and we take care of it and
all these different things. And those things are
loyal to us. Right? They depend on us.
But to Allah, Allah does everything for us.
You wake up in the morning, and Allah
allows you to breathe. You wake up in
the morning, Allah allows you to eat. You
wake up in the morning, Allah allows you
to walk and speak and talk and all
of these different things. But
that surely
human beings
to
his lord or her lord
and and and and and and and
also really amazing.
Is a,
a tabiri,
which means that, he he's not of the
companions of the prophet,
but he is of this generation after the
Sahaba. Okay? So Hasan al Basri, he has
a really amazing definition of. Y'all ready for
this one? It's gonna blow y'all's mind because
doesn't just mean ungrateful.
We that that's, like, kind of, like, a
lack of sugar. Right? That that that's what
we decide they kinda define as ungrateful.
Actually says, it refers to a 1 to
a person
who counts the calamities that befall them and
forgets the favors.
That's deep.
It's not just being ungrateful,
it's actively
remembering
the calamities and the difficulties,
but always forgetting the blessings.
He's saying these this trait right here starts
developing
when someone starts showing ingratitude.
You know, ingratitude is a very vast word.
You know? There's a lot of different forms
of ingratitude.
Is when you're specifically so focused in on
all the bad times that you forget about
the good things Allah gave you.
Right? And, you know, it's it's it's interesting.
There's another,
or not companions, another scholar. He's a a
book of.
He says that kanud
is the one who spends the bounties of
Allah for sinful purposes.
There's another definition of.
One who takes the blessings of Allah
and uses them for things that Allah is
displeased by.
So your wealth, you spend it in ways
that that that that Allah is displeased with.
Your family, you know, and mistreating and abusing
them.
Your intellect and misusing it. Your heart and
abusing it. So the bounties that Allah gave
you, a person who is is is is
is is falling under this description of,
they're a person who number 1 just remembers
all the difficulties.
Right? They always remember the bad times. Oh,
man. Like, woe is me. Right? Like, I
I couldn't get into the school that I
want to get into. Oh, man. Like, I
didn't get the job that I interviewed for.
Oh, man. I didn't,
you know, I'm I'm I'm making, you know,
50,000
and not 60,000. Oh, man. I'm making only
this or, oh, man. I'm only doing that.
Oh, man. I didn't get the food that
I wanted today. Like
and and by the way,
this is a, you know, a trait of
humanity
where for some reason,
the the the the the moments of struggle
stake out like a sore thumb.
And the moments of happiness actually, like, can
really be lost
if not if not actively identified.
You know? Like, people forget people forget good
things so quickly. Y'all agree with that?
Like, people forget good things so fast.
Remember that, like, one time, like, that you
you you you you you you had that
amazing moment with your mom or dad or,
like, you had that really amazing moment with
your siblings or whatever. You only remember that
fight.
And that fight is the thing that's gonna
kind of cause you to avoid that person
for the next week.
We don't remember that one beautiful moment, that
that one meal you shared with them.
That didn't result in anything. That was just
like, oh, that was good. Right? But the
moment of of of of conflict is like,
oh, I hate this guy. Right?
Because it just just stuck out more for
me.
This is.
You see? This is according to.
And
said that,
is the one who looks at the blessings
and not
at the one who gave those blessings.
Man, these scholars I I this is why
this is why the way, like, Arabic is
amazing. Like, there there's no language in the
world that's like this. If Anurmendi,
he says that Kanud
is a person
who looks at blessings but forgets who gave
it.
Like, they look at their paycheck, and they're
like, it's cool.
They don't say.
Right?
Kanud is a person who looks at, you
know, their just you know, they go outside
and they see beautiful weather, and they're just
like, let's go in the park. And not
for a moment do they think, like,
Right? Kanu is a person who, you know,
is is filled with blessings in their life,
but they just forget to think.
That's the person who is described as according
to Imam Tirmidhi.
So Allah says,
human beings will forever be challenged
by this lack of gratitude.
Right? Let's go inshallah for time purposes, go
on to the next one
Somebody translate that for me? You have somebody
have their hand raise over here for you.
Go ahead.
Indeed he is to that a witness.
And there's 2 interpretations of this. The first
one is that human beings,
they know they're ungrateful.
They know it. It's not like they're just
like, oh, man. I just totally caught got
caught off guard. They know it.
They know they're ungrateful sometimes. They know that
it gets lost their gratitude in the in
in in the that
that that that they that they understand that
sometimes like this this feeling of ingratitude,
they catch themselves at times. And even then
it's good because you're at least catching yourself.
The other one is worse.
The other one is worse is which is
that they will be a witness to it
later on in their life
when it's too late.
So the first kind of at least is
good because at least, like, they'll realize it.
They'll catch themselves that moment. This is why,
by the way, that feeling of, like, guilt
and remorse after a sin is good. Why?
Because you're catching yourself
before it's too late.
The other type of shahid, the other type
of witness is that person who only realizes
when it's
it's too late.
Right?
So what we try to strive for is
to be the type of person who realize
it
sooner rather than later.
Somebody?
Verse number
8.
Yes.
And there are too many extremes in our
mouth of work.
Very good.
The word here, by the way, doesn't mean
good, it means wealth. There's, just kind of
like the just like the nuanced Arabic language.
Obviously, linguistically means, like, good, any sort of
good, but Khayr in this context means wealth.
Right? So Allah is saying that people
that when it comes to their wealth, they're
obsessed with it. They're obsessed with their wealth.
They cannot stop
thinking about their wealth.
They're immersed into it. And by the way,
this is it's it's funny because the past
2 ayats were talking about gratitude, and this
ayat is talking about wealth. So you do
the math. Wealth and gratitude. It will either
make you or it will break you.
Right? Your wealth can lead you into remembering
Allah every day of your life, or your
wealth can be a witness against you on
the day of judgment in terms of your
gratitude.
That this person made so much money,
so much wealth.
You know what means? He's like intense.
Intense.
It's like severe,
extreme.
They're they they live and die by it.
You know, there's actually a very beautiful poem,
by by Rumi. Y'all wanna hear it. It's
amazing. When I read this, I was like,
dang, subhanAllah.
So Rumi, he actually says that wealth is
like the example of a person who's in
a boat or in a ship. As long
as the water remains underneath the boat, it
helps the boat sail and stay afloat. But
if the water enters the boat, it sinks
it because wealth is like that. Wealth, once
it's contained,
it can cause you to live very well
and very happily.
But when wealth enters the heart, it can
cause the heart to fail.
So it's like water in an ocean. You're
you're sailing on it. That water can be
your source of of life or it can
be your source of death. You you call
it.
You ask. What do you want it to
be? Right?
Somebody go ahead first 9. Yeah. Sarah, go
ahead.
Do they not know that, like, the content
of the
Okay. Very good. This is what I talked
about earlier. Like your wealth and your your
your worldly gain and all these different things
will will suffice you in this dunya until
this one moment
and this is a rhetorical question.
Do you not know
That at one point in your life, you
know, the the whatever is in the grave
is going to be raised, and we talked
about this last week, by the way.
Right?
The earth will spill out its burdens.
Then at one point, the grave will spill
you out,
and everything that you thought was hidden will
be out in the open. And that's the
fear of the day of judgment. Right, guys?
Everyone's like, yeah. I got this hidden. I
got this hidden. I got this taken care
of. Nobody knows about that, and nobody know,
you know, that specific detail about my life.
Now imagine if that, like, literally, like, surfaces
up to the top. Like, you know, like,
after a flood, you know, like, when when
all the contents of the flood start to
kinda, like, surface after the water starts going
down. Imagine that
For the sake of time, I'll just go
ahead. And that which is in the chest
will be made apparent.
And whatever is in your heart, it will
show.
There's no hiding
it. There's no hiding whatever you are anymore.
Like I told you guys in the beginning,
people will try to convince other people that
I'm like this and I'm like that. Well,
my Instagram bio says this, and I say
that I'm like that, and I donate to
this cause, and I give to that, and
I come to the masjid for that. And
then all it's like the hadith of the
prophet where he said that there were 3
people. Right? One of them was like a
a a a, you know, a a very
generous person. He said, why did you give
you I gave for the sake of all
lies. No. You didn't. You gave for the
for the sake of showing off. And by
the way, this is why the prophet he
said that I don't fear, you know, shirk
Al Kabir for my ummah. You know what
that means? Like the the the the great
shirk,
the more like apparent one. What did he
say? I fear shirk as saree. You know
what that means? The minor shirk. Anyone know
what the minor shirk is? He actually defined
it with one word.
This is
showing off.
That's what I fear. So I don't fear
that people in in in Dallas, Texas are
gonna be like, yeah. I'm gonna worship, like,
you know,
Jesus Christ all of a sudden. Like, he
was like the problem is like, I'm not
afraid about that. That's not that's not that's
not my fear. My fear is people will
say that I believe in Allah, but really
they say that just to show other people
that
I'm religious
or to show other people that I'm, like,
pious or I show other people that I'm,
like, this deep, profound human being.
Right?
And then Allah ends the Surah by saying,
He says, surely,
their lord on that day is all aware.
He he knows everything on that day. There's
nothing that you can hide from Allah
that day. So there you know, one of
the scholars actually say, there's no way that's
why human beings at that point will not
even worry about hiding it.
Like, at that point, you imagine you're in
front of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah
is like, well, you know, you believe in
this.
You really you really believe in this. You
said that you believe in something else, but
you actually believe in this. And on that
day, there's no arguing with Allah.
Like, you know you know when you get
caught in a lie, you know, like that
attitude that you have, you just look down
and just kinda kick the rock underneath your
feet.
That's it, bro.
That's it.
Like, the on that day, like, there's no
turning around. You'll be looking left and right,
any sort of exit route, any sort of,
like, little small hole that you can squeeze
out of it. There's nowhere we can go.
So this Surah
is profound in its in its meaning, but
I think the actionable items from the Surah,
namely
are kind of just alluding to the the
whole concept of us just understanding
what who we owe our loyalty to. And
not only who we owe our loyalty to
in terms of faith, but how do we
manifest that into action?
Right? Because if it's just like, oh, yeah.
Like, I believe in this. I believe in
this. I believe in this. And that doesn't
translate down to action, then what are we
doing?
Right? I mean, some of these guys say
no. I moved to Kamani. He says this
every single time in class. He goes, if
if you don't
translate that that that that knowledge
into action, if you don't do things with
it, then it's gonna be a against you
on the day of judgment.
It's gonna be a proof against you on
the day of judgment and not for you.
Right? And so it's just something really important
to think about, especially as, like, college students,
you know, things that can get away from
us really, really fast in terms of just
kind of, like, you know, the the the
the just like the what we call, like,
the the floweriness of this world. Right? You
know, we think everyone everything starts and ends
with an Instagram post and, like, you know,
my faith depends on my Instagram bio, you
know, if I say I'm Muslim and whatever.
Like, no, dude.
Like, that that stuff is that stuff is
all surface level. That stuff is all shallow
stuff.
What really matters is, man, like, how we
function when no one's looking at us and
also how we function when times are tough.
Right? Those those are the moments that make
you or break you. And and also understand,
especially as college students, man, that that I
about wealth, you
know, that people are obsessed with their wealth
as college students. This is one of the
things that y'all are, like, forced to kind
of, like, just believe nowadays is that, like,
everything. Your success measure is all done by,
like, your your your salary
and, like, what you bring home. It's such
a bogus thing.
Take it from a guy who, alhamdulillah, is,
like, at least, like, settled that portion of
my life earlier.
Dude,
I don't care, like, what you're making. Like,
this this this this in your life is
not gonna be decided by your salary.
I won't tell you that much. Straight up.
You can be making, like, $150,000
a year and have the most miserable life
of all time.
Wallahi, I'll I'll attest to that.
And I've met some of the most happy
people in my life, the most content people
in my life, and they're, like, nowhere near
the measure of success
that, like, the average, like, TED talk tells
them about.
You know what I'm saying?
So, you know, let let's think about some
of the stuff inshallah. These lessons first and
foremost are from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. So
anybody who talks about them afterwards, they get
that that inspiration from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
himself. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
allow us to benefit from his Quran, and
we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to allow
us to use the Quran as a as
a means of bettering ourselves and as a
means of of of making us closer to
Allah
and to the example of the prophet
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to forgive
us for all of our shortcomings and all
of our,
mistakes, whether they are, you know, known or
unknown to us. We ask Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala to wipe our sins clean. We ask
Allah
to, give us a very, very easy accountants
on the day of judgment. Inshallah, we ask
Allah to shower his mercy upon us.