Suhaib Webb – Seven Ways Sura alDhariyat Teaches Us How To Improve Our Islam
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We praise Allah We
send
an abundant
peace and blessings upon our beloved messenger, Muhammad
upon his family and his companions and those
who follow them until the end of time.
Brothers and sisters,
I hope that each and every one of
you is doing amazing and I ask Allah
to fulfill you
and to allow us to experience a complete
sense of faith
and growth in Iman.
Today's short Friday reminder here at the ICNYU
is going to center around a question that
a lot of people ask,
and that is, how can I become a
better Muslim?
And this is actually a very beautiful question,
Oftentimes,
it's in our most vulnerable moments
that we are our greatest
selves.
So the ability to be able to ask
that question
is incredibly profound.
It's not something someone should be embarrassed about.
How can I become a better Muslim? You're
not asking and I'm not asking how can
I be or maintain being a bad Muslim?
That's what I should be
concerned about, but I'm actually asking, how can
I improve my faith?
How can I improve my Islam?
The prophet
said,
whoever
whoever improves his or her Islam,
from that point forward,
any good they will do will be amplified
infinitely.
Allah
amplify the good that they've done.
Another narration based, of course, on the verse
clearly states that a person's sins will be
exchanged for good. So, like, whoever truly comes
back to Allah
and tries to improve his or her Islam,
all of the drama
that they have done in the past,
all of the sin that they may have
engaged in previously
will be exchanged,
alhamdulillah,
for hasanat.
So this is a powerful question,
and that's why some of our scholars used
to say,
That there is nothing more difficult
and more
bothersome
to shaitan
than a believer
who revives his or her faith
and comes back to Allah
In order to talk about this, we should
go to the Quran.
The Quran is the book, the manual on
how to be Muslim,
and the prophet
is the is the is the model of
that manual.
And what I would like you to do,
if you have it near you, if you
have it on your phone, is open up
to the 51st chapter of the Quran.
Is very important. It was sent to say
to Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in Mecca.
And we know that, you know, Mecca is
a preparatory period.
Prophet
and his fledgling humidity
are being prepared for greatness.
And here we find,
that Allah
after mentioning his power
at the beginning
of the chapter, especially with regards to the
natural world.
And then at the end of the chapter,
again, mentioning his power,
that between that, we find the stories of
certain prophets.
We find the story of Sayna Ibrahim alayhi
salatu salaam.
Then we find the story of Sayna
Musa,
alayhi.
And then we find the story of, of
Ad.
And at the end, we find the story
of Sayedan Nuh.
Why?
Because Allah
sandwiches
between the reality of his power, starts the
chapter with his power,
ends the chapter with his transcendent power. In
the middle,
you find different type of trials.
The first was Sayedna Ibrahim or personal trials,
not being able to have children.
But Allah
shows him that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
is the one that has the power all
over all of the natural world, then don't
worry. If Allah chooses, insha'Allah,
you will be blessed with children.
The second is Musa
because Musa has to take on oppression.
The third is ad.
An ad has to take on oppression. It's
interesting that of the challenges of of the
prophets mentioned in Surat Dhiret,
2 of those challenges are mentioned twice,
and that is the challenge of being brave
enough and bold enough to stand
against
powerful evil,
Firaun
and Ad.
And then Sayidna Nur,
his story is mentioned
because Sayidna Nur is about how do you
locate yourself in society.
A prophetic person is not more concerned about
likes they get on Instagram
and Facebook
than the likes they will get in the
heavens.
The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said there
is not a space between your fingers,
the fingers, except there's an angel there. So
if you're really liked,
all of those angels as mentioned in Surat
Al Ghafir are gonna like you,
are going to make du'a for you,
seeking the forgiveness
for you.
So Sayidna Nuh
allows us to understand
social challenges.
So personal challenges
in the home, Sayidna Ibrahim.
Political and structural challenges,
Sayna Musa,
Sayna,
and then the people of Ad.
And then
popular culture and how you are viewed in
society, maybe you're the object of ridicule.
Sayidnaluha.
Why?
Because on the path of improving our Islam,
we are going to encounter one of those
kind of challenges,
one of those kind of threats in ourselves,
with power,
and in society.
So Allah
sandwiches those stories
between his transcendent power
and ends the chapter by saying,
I've only created you to worship me,
so don't worry about these things.
How can we
improve our Islam
based on the teachings of Surat Dariyat,
the first I just talked about? How do
we engage the internal and external challenges as
we find in the stories of these prophets?
And then after mentioning the stories of these
prophets,
Allah
says very beautifully on the 40 in the
47th verse.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, and it's interesting that
this wow goes all the way back to
the beginning of the chapter.
Some said, no, this wow doesn't was samaah,
it goes to something closer.
But the point is that it is linked
back to the power of Allah, Azzawajal.
If you feel threatened by these things,
by the concerns you have in your life
and the anxiety that you have by political
power and the challenges of political power and
being able to find the capacity to stand
for justice and what's right and to call
to Tawhid and to invite to the good
and to forbid the evil.
And if you're worried about people making fun
of you and not being your friends, we
built the heavens.
We made the universe.
And, of course, we in Arabic, it's called
doesn't mean plural. It means Allah
And what's interesting here is the word universe
is the active participle, which, of course, now
agrees with what science has discovered, that the
universe is constantly being expanded.
This was mentioned in the Quran, masha'Allah,
by say at the time of Sayna Muhammad
when these things were unknown.
So
We made these heavens,
and Allah has made these heavens, and
Allah is causing the universe to constantly expand.
And the earth, Allah
spread it out for you. And the word
spread out is like has the feeling of
a bed or a couch, like, made comfortable
for you.
And
how well have we spread it out? How
well have we prepared it for you? Like,
when you lay down in a perfect bed,
how you feel? This is how the earth
has been prepared for you. There's
2 here.
Both have the same meaning.
We created all things in pairs so that
you can reflect.
So the first the first step on improving
our Islam
is to compare any of the things that
may intimidate us
and any of the things that may cause
us to
diminish the light of faith in our life
because we are intimidated,
because we are made to feel scared,
because we are made to feel anxious by
those things,
when I reflect that with the grand
power of and when I when I think
about that
in comparison to the grand power of Allah
and the sultan of Allah
I'm able to dissipate
that fear and that anxiety.
So when I compare the power of Firaun
to the power of God, there's no comparison.
When I compare my worries, I can't have
this. I can't have this. Well, you can't
give it to yourself in the first place.
I cannot give what I want to myself.
Imam Al Razi says the proof that you're
not in control is you don't know the
outcome of what you're going to do.
You can bake the cake, but you still
worry if it's going to taste right. All
of that is indicative that there is a
creator and a sustainer
and an all knower
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So when I realized that
that true knowledge, true power,
all things
are from Allah,
and that my internal and personal concerns,
the systemic and political challenges I face,
the social concerns I have, all of that
means nothing,
then the only place that I can
flee to is to Allah. And that's why
I look at verse 50. Fafirru,
il Allah.
The word,
if you notice, it starts the verse starts
with a fa,
which is called fa al fasaha,
And the translation here is a little bit
off. And what that means is,
so if you know this, if you know
and you come to the conclusion
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created all things
and has shaped all things
and made the earth for you and everything
pales in comparison to his power. At that
moment, you've arrived to ma'rifah.
At that moment, you've arrived to to knowledge.
And what is the fruit of knowledge?
It's to flee to Allah.
So that's the second quality. So the first
is pondering, thinking.
The second
is to turn husnu to wudjulillah,
to turn my being to a life of
worship and obedience.
And what does that mean? Allah defines it
very beautifully. He says,
And do not associate partners with Allah.
The ummah of the prophet
will never commit shirk.
This is one of the great fitness of
this age that started,
you know, 200 years ago
when people started to accuse their fellow Muslims
of shirk.
But the prophet
said that Allah
promised to protect his ulna from shirk. The
prophet is not a liar.
And now the first person,
I am to you a warner.
So flee to Allah
and do not associate partners with Allah.
Then after this,
the first two qualities,
pondering and thinking about the universe and understanding
Allah's power through the creation of Allah Azzawajal.
Number 2
is the awakening
and the turning to where there is security.
That's why it's called iman.
Why is it called iman? Iman is from
security where I actually can find a place
to rest my head. So many people don't
have a place to rest their soul, man.
That's why they're unsatisfied.
But Iman is, I found safety.
The dunya is thin ice.
The anchor is faith in this life and
the next.
So once I realize that I'm going to
race to that source of security,
and that is Allah Azzawajal
Tawhid.
The third is once that happens and I've
learned and I've I've acquired some knowledge and
and the passion of the awakening has subsided,
and now I'm starting, you know, because Imam
Waddidi Mohammed
has a great, great analogy for people when
they first become religious. He compares it to
alcohol.
You know? Because if someone drinks too too
much alcohol, their their faculties become compromised. And
sometimes the beginning of religious moments, whether it's
through conversion
or someone comes back to faith, they're actually
compromised. They're a little bit too
caught up
in that religious moment. They're not able to
see with wisdom.
We talk about that on Tuesdays.
But the next responsibility is what?
And Allah says, likewise, no messenger came before
them, meaning the Quraish, but
they said what? They said he's a magician.
He's crazy,
And that is the 3rd
component that we need to think about in
becoming better Muslims is resilience.
One of the biggest challenges of a post
9 11 community
is that 9 11
posited our community in a way that forced
us to to measure
our success by being accepted by others,
because we spent the greater part of
post 911 telling people what we're not. We
didn't get to show them what we are,
and we began to habituate this. This became
a pattern.
Right? This is not who we are. This
is not who we are. This is not
who we are. We're not this. We're not
this. We're not this. To the point that
we've come out of it, we don't even
know who we are. We know what we're
not, but we don't know who we are.
So
Allah
brilliantly and beautifully
expresses that
to follow the way of the prophets means
you're going to be ridiculed.
To follow the way of
of of of of Sayna Muhammad
meant to live a life of principle,
people may think you're crazy.
I remember when I first converted, I had
a relative
who literally asked me if I was crazy
because I didn't do what I used to
do before.
Then Allah says,
Baluhum Aumum Tahu, like, is that what they
say to each other?
He says, these are rebellious people, so don't
get caught up in the glitz. Don't get
caught caught up in the glamour.
So these next verses talk about how you
carry yourself in a social setting.
So first was contemplation.
The second was to to to to
turn to Allah and establish worship in our
lives.
The third is resilience in the face of
opposition.
Islamophobia
is the commodified opposition
to Muslims being able to express themselves
religiously.
It's commodified. It's commodified hate.
So what does Allah say? Don't worry about
it. I know this even with Muslims.
Muslims who weren't that good, suddenly they start
to become better Muslims, and their own family
members will make fun of them. Don't you
remember how you used to be? You used
to be like this. You used to act
like this.
Used to be like this. How what? I
had a friend, his family used to call
him, oh, now so now you're a a
maulana.
Like like, now you're a sheikh.
It's like, no. I'm just trying to be
better.
Sister wanna put on hijab,
and a scene where family members will tell
her, but you did last last week, you
were out at the club.
Now you wanna wear hijab?
Of course.
Allah has
given me an awakening.
And and oftentimes, it's it's it's with our
family members that we need the greatest sense
of resilience. That's why,
in the end of the Quran,
reminds us that sometimes the greatest social opposition
you will find is within your family. You
gotta be wise. You gotta be kind, of
course. You gotta be smart with them. You
don't want to be react.
But Allah says, like, turn away from it.
Don't don't let
that don't let that take you out.
And Allah says in the in in the
context of the Quraysh, just turn away from
them, oh, Muhammad.
And this is very important, establishing borders.
And that's the 4th quality.
You want to be able to have certain
barriers in your life that protect you.
It's not a bad thing.
And Allah says,
turn away from them.
Turn away from them.
You're not blamed for that. If you turn
away from them, you're not being blamed for
it.
Why? Because to be nearer to them brings
greater harm.
To try to bring good to them brings
you greater harm.
So it is very normal, and in fact,
it is the sign of a mature, well
thought out life that you have certain
points in your life that are no goals
for people.
That's not selfish.
That's intelligent.
So now Surat al Zari'at
is telling us engage in contemplation of Allah's
great signs.
When you realize that the only anchor you
have is Allah flee to Allah and worship
him,
that's going to come with a
a price socially
that is going to come to to to
to to to you're not gonna be popular.
You know? You're you're not necessarily, not everyone's
gonna like you.
The 4th,
create
barriers when needed.
The 5th, Allah says,
You have to remind others.
Remind yourself
and remind others.
And that's hard. That's dua.
To spread the message, to spread the light
with wisdom, of course,
in a way, alhamdulillah, that bring benefit to
people.
Then Allah completes
this beautiful chapter
by
saying
and this is the 5th.
You have to know your purpose.
You have to know your purpose.
This is how people get caught up.
What is my purpose?
So contemplation,
realization,
fleeing to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
being prepared to pay a social price for
this.
So resiliency,
creating healthy borders,
reminding others and myself
what's the 6th.
The 6th is know your purpose.
Know where you're headed.
Allah says, I did not create you except
to worship.
That's why it's called deviance.
Whenever I use my limbs
for other than what is
their purpose,
it's like trying to, you know,
it's trying to, like, put biryani in the
car as gasoline and put gasoline in the
pot to make biryani.
It's not gonna work.
So I'm actually using
this vessel that Allah has given me on
loan. This is a loan. We all check
this out. This is not ours. We don't
own this.
This is containing our,
and if I use this vessel in a
way
other than what it was created for,
that's a problem.
At the end, Allah
reminds
us of one of the greatest challenges to
living a life of faith,
and that is worrying about income
and thinking about
how
I'm gonna do this.
How am I going to live a life
of faith?
And, usually, that comes to, like, what career
choice we choose.
You know what's really sad?
Most people don't choose their career because they
love it. They choose it because they wanna
get paid,
and that's why they they're not happy.
And sometimes as parents I'm a parent. I
have 2 older children and 1 baby.
We don't encourage our children
and our young adults
to be what they want to be.
We look for the money.
So Allah
says,
Don't think I need you to worship me.
I don't need you to worship me. Allah
doesn't need our worship.
So he says, I have not created you
except to worship, and I don't need anything
from you, and I don't need you to
feed me.
I am
I am no. I became Muslim on a
college campus. Someone's asking if I became Muslim.
So Allah
says
that Allah is the best provider. Al Razaq,
the one that provides and never tires.
The true source of strength.
And the chapter ends
with the 7th quality,
and that is to keep your eyes on
the hereafter. So how can we improve our
Islam quickly? So we finish now 30 minute
mark.
We said that the prophet
said,
whoever, you know, consistently
and this is not once, but consistently throughout
their life,
renews their Islam.
Allah
will amplify their deeds
in an infinite way.
Another narration says that their sins will be
changed to good.
Then we talked about how we could think
about this in light of the 51st chapter.
You should take this chapter for the next
week, and you should just, like, live with
it and think about what we've talked about
and build an understanding and a relationship with
a chapter.
Yeah. It's interesting. People are asking me actually
if I'm Muslim. I guess they they can't
believe there's such a thing as a white
Muslim. Maybe they should they should go to
Bosnia.
Man,
this racial stuff is nuts in America, man.
May Allah protect us.
Allah doesn't look at your colors and your
shapes.
Allah looks at your hearts and your deeds.
So,
we said Surat Adriyet
locates Allah's transcendent power between
the story of Abraham,
the story of Musa, the story of Ad,
and the story of Nuh. Why? Because Abraham
involves, like, personal challenges, not being able to
have children.
Saydna Musa and the ad remind us of
political power and oppression. That's why it's mentioned
twice, because it's one of the greatest challenges,
one of the greatest challenges.
And then the 4th, noah, reminds us of
social difficulty. You're not gonna be liked by
people. Even within a Muslim community, you won't
be liked if you say the haqq. If
you say the haqq,
you won't be liked. Like, for example, now
the person who asked a
question if I'm from if I accepted Islam
in prison.
First of all, we should never use prison
as a pejorative. There's another chat happening also
along with Zoom. Some of the greatest people
in history came from prison. Said that Yusuf
was in prison.
And in fact, every battle Adam is in
prison because if you're a believer, the dunya
is a prison. This is not our we're
not free here.
We'll be free in the hereafter.
And then 3rd, of course,
how many great Muslim brothers and sisters across
the country, especially here in America, who are
contributing in profound ways to nonprofits
or in prison.
And, of course, Malcolm X.
That's why the word penitentiary is from pentance.
Pentance is a religious term, which means toba.
We don't need to buy into the dominant
narrative in America about what prison means. This
is our problem. Race, prison,
you see the comments, people are infected
by noncoranic
understanding.
So Surat Dhiret reminds
us, and the prison system in America, sorry,
this took me to another discussion, forgive me,
It's the most corrupt, unjust.
If you don't believe me, go into a
prison and compare the color structure of the
prison.
Go into the prison and tell me that
justice was served.
Look at the ratio between whites who are
imprisoned and black folks who are imprisoned. There
we can use racial analysis
because that's injustice.
So don't don't come into my comments box,
man, and reflect on some, like,
neoliberal, neosocial value system,
man. Get in touch with the Quran.
Be a just person.
Yeah. Exactly. Non Quranic understanding.
And that's why in the sunnah it's not
allowed to ask somebody where they came from.
From the sunnah, min aynajit.
In the sunnah, you're not allowed to ask
someone where they came from because they may
have just came from somewhere bad, and they
came to make toba.
They came to become better people. So Surat
Adarayat places Allah's transcendent power between
personal challenges, political challenges, and social challenges. And
then we identified 7 qualities towards the end
of the chapter that help us, alhamdulillah,
improve.
Yeah. That's a clown question for sure.
Improve
our
Islam. Number 1 is to think about this
beautiful creation around us,
to ponder on creation too. If you can't
go out and see it, you can read
about it. You can watch planet Earth, whatever,
and allow that to dissipate the fears I
have of personal challenges, political challenges, or social
challenges.
Number 2, when I realize that Allah is
the only true source of security,
then I flee to Allah, and I worship
him alone, and I follow the sunnah of
Sayna Muhammad
The
third we said is that's the that that
is going to come with some social zakat.
Right? The zakat of becoming Muslim is not
necessarily to find social acceptability.
People are gonna make fun of you. People
are gonna tease you. People are gonna come
after you, even your own family. So the
3rd quality was resilience
was resilience.
The 4th quality,
that we said is to understand
your purpose.
It's the 4th quality is is dua.
The 5th
is to know your purpose.
The 6th is not to worry about your
livelihood.
Work hard, but
do something that's gonna make the world a
better place, not just get line those pockets.
And then the 7th, we said,
is what is is to have a strong
connection to the hereafter.
So ask Allah