Suhaib Webb – Juz Journey (Part One)

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