Suhaib Webb – Juz Journey (Part One)
AI: Summary ©
The importance of guidance in Islam is discussed, with emphasis on those who know and put it in action. The three types of people to be aware of, including those who believe in what they know and those who don't, is also discussed. The challenges faced by the pandemic, including lack of clarity and alignment, need for clarity in guidance, and desire for personal independence are also emphasized. The importance of guidance and finding ways to be independent and not become attached to popular culture is emphasized, along with the challenges of the datch and existential themes.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah Alhamdulillah, Wassalaat, Wassalaamuwalah
Rasulillah.
A few important points about the first jiz
of the Quran, which we are going to
be reading tonight, and many of us maybe
tomorrow,
a major theme,
and that is the theme of guidance.
Allah
teaches us that guidance is solely from Him,
qul inalhuda
In the first juz, this first part of
the Quran, we find the verse in Surat
Al Baqarah saying that guidance
is only the guidance of Allah.
And that's why surat al fatiha is called
al fatiha, which actually means, according to many,
maftuha
is not the opener, it's what was opened
for you. So, every single time you and
I engage Surat Baqarah, we are reminded that
Allah has favored us, brought us near to
him, opened a door for us to have
a meaningful relationship with him because he has
opened the door of guidance
to us
by looking, SubhanAllah,
as Surat Fatiha, Allahu Akbar.
The second important factor when we talk about
guidance, and this is actually the theme of
this part of the Quran,
is knowledge, how we interpret it, and how
we put it into practice.
And that's why Surat al Fatiha begins in
the first the third person, praising Allah, recognizing
Allah, and then switches to the first person,
as if to say, after you know that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is robbed, after you
know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is that he is rahman, that he is
raheem, that he is madic, now you have
the right to admit who are you, who
am I? Here is Ibad. Na abodu,
You alone worship.
SubhanAllah.
And then what's the first thing that those
people who know ask?
Ihdina Guide us. They understand the importance of
guidance. At the end of Surat of Fatiha,
Allah
creates 3 types of people that we should
pay attention to those who know and act
on what they know, and amta alayhim
those who
know and don't act on what they know,
maldoo bi a'layhim and those who are astray
abbali. They don't know when they try to
act. And that's why in the beginning of
Surat Al Baqarah,
Allah builds on these three types of people
when he says Hudal lil muttaqeen. The
Quran is a guidance for the people of
Taqwa.
Those who believe some ulama, as mentioned by
al Qadi Abu Bakr, say yukminoona bil ghayb,
they believe what the unseen means, they believe
what they are, and this is the next
point, sincerity.
Their heart. Bil ghayb abiqullubihim
bi ikhlasiim
bisirrim
Ma'Allahu
are those who have affirmed this knowledge in
their hearts and translated it into action wanyuklimuna
salata waminmaalazaqonayum
nafikun.
Then Allah talks about those people who don't
believe here, nor do they believe with their
actions, the kuffar,
inalladhinah
kafa'usawahunarayim,
and the next are the hypocrites who do
not believe here but claim to believe here.
Yaqulu nabi athwa hihim ali Safiyequlubihim.
So the first, Anamta'alayim,
the second, ardbaalim,
the third, mardubihi alayhim, the hypocrites.
Then the chapter continues, mashaAllah, Surat Baqarah in
this first part of the Quran,
and we find, subhanAllah, knowledge mentioned again
Those who believe, they say this is the
truth from Allah. Those who disbelieve, they reject
this. See, inspala, this theme, over and over
and over and over and over again.
We continue on our journey through the 1st
juz, insha'Allah, we find that there are some
other serious challenges to our dunya
excuse me to our iman
and to our guidance, and that is a
dunya.
Allah
teaches us the danger of following
unhealthy desires.
Shaitan wa'anha. The chapter continues, so to Baqarah,
in this part, the shaitan caused them to
slip.
The next challenge to the iman we find
is a community that
does not have a strong,
really, confidence
and set of priorities,
so it finds itself caught in secondary issues,
unable to calibrate
answers to the serious issues or even implement
the serious issues. Allah mentions Saydna Musa saying
to his people, Inna Allah haya murukum
Allah has commanded you to slaughter
a cow. All they had to do was
slaughter a cow, but they get caught up
in secondary issues. All we have to do
is be 1 ummah. All we have to
do is unite as a community, but we're
caught up in how many numbers of rakats
of tarawee,
this, this, this, fiqh issue, this side, the
issue where there is allowable differences, we've turned
them into major issues and we are incapable
and unable
to answer the major questions that the world
needs answered today climate change, economic disparity, the
racial problems, you name it.
We're unable to address those issues, and we
simply follow others and their problems.
We can't be independent even in calibrating
our own answers to problems we recognize
because we're so busy in the secondary issues
like those people who follow Sayyidina Musa, we
ask Allah balaafiya.
The next is related to what's popular, and
just because something's popular doesn't necessarily make it
right.
And Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, notes how communities
can be lost if they allow themselves to
be influenced by unhealthy influencers.
We find in the story of Soleiman
alayhi salatu salam
in nama nahnu fitnatumufalaatak4
magic.
And those people are told, we are a
trial for you. Don't learn this knowledge. Don't
acquire this unhealthy knowledge should not be acted
on. SubhanAllah, the theme again. Don't acquire this
knowledge, because if you do, it's a fitna,
it's a trial.
But they went for what was popular
and forgot the religious mandate
that Allah had placed in their hearts. And
that can happen to us as an ummah.
If we get too caught up with what's
popular around us
and too lost and blinded by the shine
of the world around us, we may forget
the divine guidance
and sing through the light that Allah
has given us, we ask Allah ta'arab al
afire.
The next quality is imitating, and this is
sort of tied into this theme, things which
are unhealthy,
communities which are unhealthy, in order to gain
utility.
Allah says to them, don't say ra'ina. Even
though ra'ina is permissible,
don't say it because
this is a statement which was used by
people to chastise the Messenger of Allah and
his community. So don't say this, say something
else. Do not emulate everything
people who are not upon guidance are doing
around you just because, again, it may be
popular or it may be poppin'.
Finally, as we finish this first part of
the Quran, we return again to kind of
the challenges of the dunya and the existential.
We find Allah
mentions that Satan Ibrahim is tested with trauma,
tested with difficulty, and this is one of
the greatest challenges to iman
understanding why bad things happen.
And remember when Ibrahim was tested
by his Lord
and he completed this test.
In order to understand
and do tafwid
to submit and surrender to the difficulties that
Allah has placed on the minus of our
life,
this is the step towards being an imam.
Allah says in Shultz that
those people became ima himi's leaders, not like
imam in the mosque, meaning leaders for humanity.
Leaders are those who are able to understand
and appreciate and grapple with
and acquire the nuance
and balance
and temperance that can only be taught through
going through tests and trials.
May Allah make it easy for us.
And finally, our children.
Our offspring.
These can be an incredible challenge to our
guidance.
Were you there when Ya'qub was dying and
he said to his kids
matah budoonamimbadi?
What are you going to worship after me?
So sometimes our children in the
meh,
your spouses and your kids, can draw you
away, can draw you a fitna for us,
if we allow them to take us away
from guidance. So you can see there is
a plethora
of themes found in this first part of
the Quran
related to how we understand guidance
and what can impact
positively
or negatively
the guidance that Allah
has placed
in our hearts. We ask Allah, yazidna huda
yarobil aarameen. Barakallahu fiqim, inshaAllah. I'll try to
do my best to do this as much
as I can to give people I know
people are busy, people have a lot going
on to give you one theme
to think about as you study this first
part of the Quran, and I hope you
can engage and share with me where have
you seen this theme in the part of
the Quran that we're discussing
which is Zakamullah khairam wasallallahu salamu
alaykum