Shakiel Humayun – Unlock Your Potential 31st Sermon
AI: Summary ©
The importance of seeking knowledge and being a student in the context of one's life is emphasized, particularly in the context of seeking the Quran and Sunatera of the Prophet Muhammad sallal. It is crucial to dedicate time to these areas to rise in status and build a strong Christian community. The speaker uses various language and core beliefs to emphasize the importance of learning the Arabic language, understanding the Arabic language, and being a student in order to pursue knowledge and become a student.
AI: Summary ©
When Allah Subhanahu Waqqana
mentioned that he created Adam alaihis salam,
the very first thing he mentioned
after his creation
was that
after the creation of Adam
Allah gave Adam alayhis salam knowledge
of the names of every single thing.
So the first thing that Allah
did after his creation
is to give knowledge
to Adam
alayhi
salaam.
And that is because
knowledge is the essence
of our being.
And such when it came to reveal the
Quran
out of all the words
that Allah subhanahu could have chosen
to reveal first,
Allah subhanahu chose to reveal the word
which means to recite or to read,
a command instructing us
to be a nation that is amongst the
most knowledgeable.
And knowledge meaning all kinds of sciences,
all fields of knowledge
that our communities, our societies should have
immense amount of knowledge.
And on top and the most honorable form
of knowledge
is the knowledge of the Quran and the
Sunnah of the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
And as such
when Allah Subhanahu
revealed the Quran to the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam,
He said,
He said as such we have revealed
to you O Muhammad Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
a rooh,
a spirit,
a soul.
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala called the Quran
a soul, a spirit
because it gives life
to the souls,
it gives life
to the hearts,
It gives us knowledge.
And this is why right after that Allah
subhanahu wa'anahu said,
That you did not know,
you did not have knowledge
about what the book
is.
The Quran,
you did not have knowledge about what Iman
was, what is Iman?
But this Quran
filled with these dhikr,
filled with knowledge and remembrance
is that ruh,
is that soul
that will give your heart
and your soul life.
Just like our bodies need nutrition,
our souls,
our enoughs,
our our
hearts
crave for nutrition.
And sometimes
this nutrition,
if it's starved from the heart and the
soul,
it has detrimental effects
on the human being.
And so that nutrition for the soul and
the body is knowledge.
Knowledge of the Quran, knowledge of the hadith
of the prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
You may experience that every time you read
the Quran,
even though you may not necessarily understand every
single verse, but when you read the Quran
and get some kind of understanding.
Or when you understand the verse you feel
this enlightenment,
you get this understanding of the Quran, you
feel better.
You feel better because the soul and the
heart has just been nourished
with energy,
has just received nutrition.
And so Allah subhanahu tells
us,
That Allah subhanahu
raises those who believe amongst you
and those who have been given knowledge in
degrees.
So what knowledge does to us is that
it unlocks
our potential.
Knowledge brings out the hidden strengths within us.
It is through this this knowledge and this
development
that we become better human beings.
And so
if we want
to have a better life, the first step
is to dedicate some time to seek knowledge
about the Quran and the sunnah of the
Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
If we're having problems in our families at
home,
the first step is to dedicate
some time to this sacred knowledge.
If we want our communities to rise in
status,
then let
us engage in seeking knowledge.
As Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala said, he will
raise the ranks in Durajat
in degrees
for those who are seeking knowledge.
And these degrees, when we are being raised
higher and higher, this is how our potential
gets unlocked.
So my dear brothers and sisters,
the most important element
for an individual,
for a family,
for a community
is to be engaged in knowledge. It's impossible
for a community to survive.
We want
our Muslim communities to survive, not just during
our lifetime,
but for our children and their grandchildren.
It's impossible for that to happen if a
community is not engaged
actively
in seeking knowledge.
Sometimes we say, I know God is 1.
I know we have to pray 5 times
a day.
I know there's an.
I know there's a hereafter.
I know it. I don't need knowledge.
But that's the trap of shaytan.
How many times we hear
of a person who comes across a verse
of the Quran who could cannot understand it?
Or he thinks
that a hadith is contradicting the Quran, or
one verse of the Quran is contradicting the
Quran, or a verse of the Quran
is contradicting science.
And because of that one thought,
the person apostates,
the person leaves Islam,
that one doubt
destroys that person.
If only that person knew the principle in
the Surah Al Thakk,
or only if that person understood the methodology
of tafsir,
or only if that person understood the rule
in the Arabic language
that would have explained that verse so he
could understand it properly
that perhaps
perhaps that person would not have
left the fold of Islam.
So Shaitan's weapon is to say to you,
you know
about Islam.
Where's Allah subhanahu
giving us tools and the method of defense
by saying, Iqra,
read,
seek knowledge.
And this is why Allah subhanahu didn't send
the prophet Muhammad salallahu alaihi wa sallam
just to recite the Quran.
He said,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala said He sent the
messenger Muhammad Sallallahu Wa Ta'ala Wa Salam
in that community
to do what? To recite the Ayat,
to purify them
and to teach them
the Quran
and the sunnah, the hadith.
Why?
Because without it,
before that,
they were in error
even though if they thought they were being
guided.
So if the prophet,
the main function is to be a,
to teach
that these are Sabah where exemplary
students seeking knowledge.
So my dear brothers and sisters,
the ailments,
the difficulties,
the challenges,
the problems that we face,
a lot of that can be simply eradicated
if we change our lifestyle
and dedicate
time to seek knowledge.
And I'm not saying we all have to
become
or become scholars who give fadsuwah. No. We
have to have some minimum
standard
of dedicating ourselves to seek knowledge.
Number 1,
knowing the Arabic language, the fus'a,
the actual Quranic Arabic.
Number 2,
understanding
what our core beliefs are with the ability
to understand and respond to misconceptions.
That if someone comes to you and says,
why does God want you to give Him
thanks? Does He need your thanks? What's the
answer?
Why did God create evil
and then make you accountable for it? What's
the answer?
This basic core of knowledge
to know our belief system,
our beliefs and be able to understand
the attacks
and the questions
that come about our creator and our beliefs.
Number 3,
understand the basic core fiqh.
What does it mean to be a Muslim?
What am I supposed to do in practicality?
That's what fiqh tells us. What we're supposed
to do, what not supposed to do. How
do I dress?
How do what do I eat?
How do I communicate with my neighbors?
What is all the aham, the rules and
regulations behind this?
Basic minimum things
that we
as a community should be dedicated learning.
The Arabic word for a student
is Talbul El,
and that word is very special
because in English you can't tell
the true meaning behind it.
The Arabic word for student,
the word means
literally means seeker.
So a student in Arabic means
a seeker of knowledge.
This is what he does.
He seeks knowledge
and so
the prophet mentioned
that seeking knowledge
is
Farb, an obligation on every Muslim. The knowledge
of the Quran and so on. This is
Farb,
on every single Muslim to know
these issues that we were talking about earlier.
And so the prophet
used the word to seek, meaning it has
to be active.
Yes. We're living
in the post pandemic era. We're used to
YouTube.
We're used to Zoom
and all that.
We can benefit from lectures, we can benefit
from all that. That's all great.
But the word itself to seek to to
be a student requires
a person to be active to get out
of the house to engage with others.
And so the prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam said,
Let me not find any one of you
sitting
on his couch,
reclining
on his couch.
And a commandment or a prohibition
comes from me to you
and he says, I don't know.
Meaning, I don't know the hadith.
Whatever I find in the Quran, I will
follow.
This is misguidance.
Even though the words are correct that whatever
I find in the Quran, I will follow.
It's actually misguidance.
This person thinks he's guided.
But the prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam is saying
that this is misguided.
Because you have to also follow the hadith
and the sunnah, be aware of the aham
and the rules and regulations in that.
But what's interesting here
is that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam described
the lifestyle of this person,
that he is reclining and sitting on his
couch.
He's a couch potato.
So the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is discouraging
the passive form
of seeking knowledge
and trying to replace that with the active
form of actually going out to seek knowledge.
The
Prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
said,
What is between my house?
And my member of the pulpit
is a garden from amongst the gardens of
paradise.
Now what the prophet just described that distance
between his house and his pulpit,
at that time was the size
of his mosque.
It was the size of Al Masjid al
Nabawi.
And he called it a garden
amongst the gardens of paradise.
This doesn't mean literally that that piece of
earth fell from paradise
as some people
mistakenly
think.
As Ibn Uqayim
and other scholars mentioned
that a garden from amongst the gardens of
paradise means,
why did the prophet
called it garden of paradise?
Because
that is where the prophet
used to teach the Quran,
teach the sunnah, teach fit, teach tafsir,
teach knowledge.
And such it was called the garden of
paradise.
And remember, the prophet said it's a garden
amongst the gardens of paradise.
Meaning there are other places that are gardens
of paradise. So wherever there is knowledge
of the Quran
and the hadith being taught, you are in
a garden of paradise.
And when you're doing that,
While you're in the garden of paradise, the
prophet
mentioned for the student of knowledge
that the angels
for the student of knowledge, the angels lower
their wings
being pleased
by what this student of knowledge is doing.
So the angels come,
put their wings, lower their wings over us
because you're seeking
this sacred knowledge.
And so the prophet
Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
said, Whoever walks, again, it's active form,
walks
to a path of knowledge.
Allah makes the path of paradise easy for
him.
So you have gardens of paradise,
where you seek knowledge, where then Allah will
make the paths of paradise
easy for us.
Some of us will say maybe tomorrow, maybe
the next day.
Believe it or not, days past, weeks past,
months past, years past.
And before we know
it's time to go.
And as Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala said,
and when that time comes Allah will never
delay the time of a soul when the
time has come.
And sometimes knowledge is available only a certain
period of time. Those who benefited from the
for
example when he was alive
captured a lot of knowledge.
Those who waited
and he passed away, the knowledge that he
had, the wealth of knowledge
disappeared,
left with him.
So the time and the opportunity
and if we want our generations to continue
having this beautiful deen of Islam,
let us be that great society, that community
that is dedicated in seeking knowledge. So Allah
raises our ranks and unlocks our potential.
I ask Allah to make us amongst those
who are
for his sake
and to make us amongst