Suhaib Webb – Tafsir For Teens
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AI: Transcript ©
I wanna
be the best teacher to you I can
be.
Right? I I wanna be a good teacher,
and I I I wanna keep growing I
wanna be
as a teacher.
So the question was,
what
are the most important qualities
that an educator should have who's teaching
you
Islam to make you excited about Islam. Who's
gonna go first?
Who's gonna start? And everyone, please feel free
to take off your videos. Let's see people.
Yes,
Mehmet.
I am representing
room 2, room 2.
Awesome. Some of the ideas that we came
up with
for
an Islamic teacher is, 1,
creative
and fun. Create a fun environment
for the
students
to listen to every question and answer it
thoroughly,
3, to be innovative and unique with assignments,
and 4, communicate that this is a safe
safe environment
safe place. Communicate what? Communicate that this is
a communicate that the classroom is a safe
place to be.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Love that. Thank you. Who else
is Mohammed Ali, the champion,
is back.
Yes, sir.
So my group, we talked about how an
Islamic studies teacher should be knowledgeable so that
we'd want to learn from them.
We talked about how they should be patient
so that they can take questions from us,
how they should be friendly so that we're
not intimidated by them. And then
then that's about it, I'd say.
That's really good, man.
So
knowledgeable, friendly,
patient.
Ahmed was talking about being a good listener.
Right? People don't realize listening is an investment.
Right? Listening isn't just something we do. Listening
is something that we have to be determined
about. And then I like also the idea
of
a teacher can facilitate a safe space, but
we all invest in making
the space safe.
And one of the great things I've loved
about teaching you guys is how you've really
been so welcoming
and caring to people.
Like, that's super, super important.
Esma, please feel free to jump in.
I was in room 1,
and we talked about how an academic teacher
should have patience and should be able to
communicate correctly with their student.
Amazing. Thank you. And Farhana,
ending up on room 3,
tolerance for mistakes, relatability,
and have interactive
lessons.
Amazing. Thank you, Farhana, for doing that. Today,
we're going to continue our second discussion
around sot of Fatiha.
And
sot of Fatiha, as we said, really is
a treasure
that just never ends.
I'm going to bring up, I personally and,
again, I wanna say it one more time.
If you guys email me, I have 3
boxes. I got some emails from some people,
forgive me,
of these translations of Quran I can send
you that we officially use at Swiss,
published by the Furqan
Institute, and this is the translation of doctor
Mostafa Khabab.
We'll send you that along with our Swiss
survivor packages that we're making for people,
especially during COVID and needing mask and so
on and so forth, we will get those
out. I will share my email in
the chat room
now
in the chat. Sorry.
Alright.
So let's talk about sot of Fatiha. I
said to you last week that sot of
Fatiha
addresses 3 important components
of our faith.
Right? The first is worship it is it
is
knowing who Allah is.
If I were to tell you to go
somewhere,
the first question you would ask me is
where am I going?
And the Quran asks after
the Quran says
Where are you headed?
And that's a very important
and I wanna put on my dad hat
now.
It's very important, even in this young age,
that you start to think about where you're
headed.
What are you living for?
What do you find true happiness in?
What are the things that motivate you?
So you
you wanna think about this now, and that's
a question that you wanna ask yourself
is,
where are you headed?
One of the ways that we can answer
that question
is to know
Allah
When we make
Allah our
focus,
when we make faith our focus,
it gives us perspective. You know how when
you when you draw something, if you draw
with perspective, you have to kind of have
everything
lead to a point.
Well, having perspective in life is having that
point that you're focused on.
And what you wanna think about is what
is that focus? There could be things that
come between you and that focus that's fine
on your on on the way to get
there,
But I can't
worship
and I can't travel
if I don't know my destination.
Allah
says everything is returning back to
Allah. Everything is gonna perish.
So what you wanna start to think about
and what uncompromisingly
makes you ask yourself is,
where are you headed?
And we're headed as faithful people in our
relationship. What gives us perspective
are 3 important things.
Allah's
and knowing Allah,
prophethood,
and seeing prophets
as
guides
on that journey,
and the akhira,
the hereafter,
as something which allows us to stay disciplined
on that journey, on that perspective.
So number 1 is
marifa to Allah. The word marifa
means to know God, and it implies two
things,
knowing him through
texts like Quran
and teachings of the prophet
and experiences.
And it's really interesting. The word is translated
as knowledge, but you lose something here. It's
kinda like playing a PS 2 versus a
PS 5.
That is the the word
actually is from the word means
to smell.
I'm smelling something.
Is a nice smell
because it's through your experiences
coupled with what you've learned in the Quran
and through the teachings of the prophet in
classes like this that allow you to come
to the proper conclusion. Are you smelling this,
or are you smelling that?
Does Allah exist? Allah doesn't exist. What does
Allah want?
Allah is helping me in my life. All
that comes together
for the word.
And you know what that means? That means
that your entire life,
every moment of your life
is an opportunity
to experience a relationship with Allah.
If it's in moments of success,
you express gratitude.
If there are moments that you fail and
you will fail in life, we all fail
in life,
then you experience moments of seeking his forgiveness.
So the first thing that Surat al Fatiha
teaches us
is the centerpiece
of where we're headed.
That's why Sayidina Musa says
I'm racing to my lord.
So that's one question you wanna start to
ask yourself.
This doesn't mean that you don't have your
career or you don't wanna go to of
course, all that is in this process
because those things are gonna help you.
If you have a good job, if you
have a good career, if you have a
good income, which is halal, you can help
people.
You can help yourself. You can help your
family. All that's gonna help you on that
destination.
The second thing that teaches
about as far as the journey
is prophethood
and the importance of prophethood.
Because Allah says
the one that is going to be the
master and judge on that day.
How's he gonna judge you if he hasn't
sent someone to teach you?
That's why
Allah says about prophets,
We sent messengers
so no one has an excuse.
And he says in the 17th chapter of
the Quran,
We don't punish people till we send prophets
to them. Allah is just. And, actually, you
can combine 2 things in here on the
journey.
Two things that you need to pack in
your backpack
as you climb the mountain of dunya
is the book, the Quran,
and the sunnah.
And there,
What am I gonna be what's gonna be
the criterion that judges me?
Is the Quran and
the prophet
Allah is so gracious and so merciful from
his blessings and his generosity.
He sent prophets to teach us and books
to tell us about himself.
The third important component of the journey is
belief in the hereafter. So we said three
things. Right?
Knowing Allah,
prophethood and Naboo,
and the third is the hereafter.
Satan, I'm out. He said, if you if
there was no day of judgment, people would
do whatever they wanted to do. How many
of us in our lives,
we were about to do something wrong
and remembering
the hereafter stopped us? It happened to me
a lot
in my life. So these are the three
foundations
of the first part of the chapter.
Knowing
Allah,
we have a class that's which you can
take. Essentials of Islamic Faith,
I go through that.
The importance of centrality of books and prophets,
I also teach that.
And then, finally, the hereafter as a means
of discipline
and creating
the capacity to continue to work hard.
I also talk about that in that class,
essentials of Islamic faith.
So we begin.
Allah says
How do you know Allah? The basmalah, wallahi,
just in that phrase.
Is everything you need to know about Allah
in Islam.
And in fact,
the bat
itself
teaches you almost everything you need to know.
Because that word bad doesn't mean in. This
translation, it's not easy to translate.
The word bad means with.
Why do you think
the first verse of the Quran
the first verse of the Quran
is saying to you
with Allah
with Allah. I can hear my daughter screaming
in his nap time.
With Allah.
Why is that important?
To show exactly Muhammad Ali
the chant
that Allah is always with you.
And what do you think that means to
someone who feels alone, man?
What do you think that means to someone
who feels depressed and sad
or tired of social is isolation,
or they feel that they've been defeated by
sins, or they're going through some difficulties at
home. When they open up the Quran and
they feel broken and isolated,
the first thing their eyes and heart sees
is with Allah because you're always with Allah
by his knowledge, of course,
and his awareness. How do you think that
makes people feel?
If if somebody is really successful
with Allah, you didn't do it on your
own?
You didn't do it.
Allah did it.
Or for the sinner with Allah, when you
need to repent, repent with Allah.
So that first verse is telling you as
young teenagers that
Allah has your back, man, that no matter
what situation you find yourself in at school,
with your friends,
at the park,
in the mall, on Instagram,
on TikTok,
TikTok, wherever you are,
lives with you.
That's very powerful.
That's why I have problems with that translation.
The word means
al with
Bismillah.
The word Allah
is a unique word that has no root
in the Arabic language
because there's nothing like Allah.
It's powerful. Right? His name is Allah,
and there's nothing like there's nothing similar to
his name. So how could there be a
root that his name comes from? Because
And there should be a colon here, actually,
not a comma,
a colon.
With the names
of Allah,
most importantly,
the gracious, the merciful.
Al Rahman is the one who's so merciful,
so merciful that even those who reject him
and disbelieve in him, he still gives them
oxygen, man.
Have you ever got so angry at someone
that you just gave up on him?
That you turned your back on them?
Allah
even
even the worst of the worst,
he didn't charge him for the sun. Can
you imagine at the end of the month
if you got a bill for oxygen and
said, if you don't pay this bill,
halas.
It's done.
Arrahiem
is the one
who is especially
merciful
to the believers,
to you guys.
That's why the prophet
in
he taught us to say
special prayers for those who struggle to be
righteous.
So the first verse teaches us something about
Allah
That Allah is with you wherever you are.
If you feel like you're gonna sin, fear
Allah.
If you like you feel if you feel
like you're being defeated,
turn to Allah.
If you experience success,
express gratitude to Allah.
If you experience failure,
ask Allah for support.
Everything is in the letter ba.
Man. Imagine everything that we just talked about,
one letter.
And then after that, you may say to
yourself, like,
how do I show
gratitude for all this?
The
word
is different than thankfulness.
Means that you recognize something is so amazing,
you just praise it.
The word rub actually
is not lord, man.
And this is kind of the influence of,
say, European culture, you know, in the minds
of Muslims.
But the word rub is the one that
cherishes you and sustains you and nourishes you
and looks after you and provides for you
and gives you everything.
The word rub is from a word which
means to grow,
Like, I I caused
that person to grow. That's what Allah says
about Sayed and Mariam,
Yeah. Like caretaker. That's a better translation.
But not only the caretaker, but the one
that brought you into existence
and took care of you and gave you
everything you need. That's the.
Landlord is not a good translation. We say
right? The the the the owner or the
caretaker of the home,
but the word lord is a little bit
challenging because lord doesn't lord carries with it
a different kind of set of optics. Right?
But here, it's like benevolence.
It's
like
care.
It's the one who brought you from nothing,
gave you
eyes and ears.
The one that brought you from nothing.
SubhanAllah.
So the word rub
is the one that provides you step by
step everything you need in life.
So Allah is the sole provider,
the sole caretaker,
the sole cherisher
of.
Here, for those of you who are concerned
about environmental activism, I'm gonna show you something
really cool
just to give you a short idea about
the Quran and how the Quran you can
really go deep.
The word
is from the word Adam.
Who knows in this group what the word
Alem means? You see Adam
Adam Mosk, Adam Falstein,
Adam Pakistan.
Not Eileen.
Adam.
Good.
A flag.
Adam. Nice job,
Adam. Why? Because a flag, it directs you
to the existence. No.
Is knowledge. Good try, though, but this is
with.
Good job, though.
They there's a relationship between the two because
the
flag teaches you about something.
When you see the flag, it tells you,
oh, that's that country. Oh, that's that state.
Oh, that's that team. Oh, that's that army.
Why would Allah
say the lord of if you wanted to
literally translate this,
the signs
or the flags.
What do those signs and flags direct you
to?
So just like if I hold up a
Boston Celtics flag, it shows you
I'm a fan,
that team.
So when you see the trees
and the mountains,
stones, and the rivers,
and human beings,
success,
failure,
all of those are signs
that something created them,
that something made them,
that something brought them into existence.
Who is that grump?
So this is actually very cool. You can
see what you lose in English here.
Exactly, Muhammad Ali. Everything is a flag to
tell you,
I am created.
And if I am created, then there has
to be a what?
There has to be a creator.
So for those of you involved in environmental
activism,
you can see now while we have to
appreciate and respect
and see the environment as something sacred
because everything around us
That can be
somewhat frightening. So then Allah reminds you of
Rahmah and Rahim. Why would he mention these
names twice, man?
Why would the Quran start with it and
then mention it again
to settle you?
Allah is all powerful
in control of all things,
but in
his power
and in his control
his wisdom and justice.
Reminds us that Allah
is going to hold us accountable for how
we use our life, man.
And right now, you young brothers and sisters,
this is this is the golden age for
you. This is the time to cash in.
Prophet said, a young person who's good in
their youth, who
serves Allah in their youth.
This is that time, man.
The second thing that teaches
us
after teaching us about Allah is worship.
Actually is the object of the verb.
But the verb
is placed after the object
to show exclusivity.
You
only
we worship.
You
only
we seek for help.
What does that mean?
Number 1, that's tawheed.
That we don't worship any partners with Allah
We don't call on anything with Allah
We don't pray to anything
except Allah
And the word, nah, voodoo implies
consistency. Like, we always worship you. It's not
like one day, one day on, one day
off.
Right? For those of you who speak Arabic,
this form of a verb means constantly.
So I'm constantly trying to worship you. What
is worship? Worship has two meanings.
The first is general worship, everything Allah loves.
2nd is specific worship, to pray, to fast,
to make Hajj,
to pay Zakat,
to be good to others, to honor our
fathers and mothers,
to be honest,
to be a person of piety.
All all this is the word. The word
is from a word which means to smooth
something out. Because
when we worship Allah,
we smooth out our nafs.
We smooth out our
heart. We smooth out our character.
Quran says prayer keeps you away from Eid.
Hajj In Hajj, We're not allowed to argue
and fight.
Fasting.
So Tawbah
zakah is to purify us.
So we see every act of worship from
the 5 pillars of Islam
is directly related to impacting our character.
That's why if I worship Allah and
my character doesn't improve, then there's something wrong
with my worship.
We always like to, why hasn't god guided
me? Why hasn't god changed me? Why don't
you change yourself?
My daughter is 2 years old.
If she potties her pants, I change her
diapers.
But I'm a grown man.
If I need to use the restroom, do
I wait for someone to come change my
diapers,
or do I go to the restroom?
Oh, man. I wish Muhammad Ali would come
and change my diapers for me.
Why do we have that kind of relationship?
I wish Allah will guide me. What are
you talking about? Get up and change yourself.
Allah says in the 39th chapter of the
Quran.
Or if you say, you know, if only
Allah would guide me, I'll be right.
You and I have to be responsible.
And you alone, we seek for help.
And what does that help in everything? That
doesn't mean it's not allowed to ask other
people or of course not. It's talking about
dua,
help in worship,
help in guidance, like when the prophet
said If you ask a doubt,
When you make dua, make dua to Allah.
And as we finish Surat of Atiha,
I wanna remind you that Surat of Atiha
actually was revealed twice.
The only chapter of the Quran
revealed
2 times,
one time in Mecca
and one time in Medina.
Question is why.
Because in Mecca, you have faith
and character.
Faith and you don't have any halal and
haram in Mecca.
There's no halal and haram in Mecca,
just faith and character.
But in Medina, you have the permissible and
the impermissible.
Eat this, don't eat this. Do this, don't
do this.
Because if we look at religion,
we see people sometimes, they get off balance.
They think religion is just like
spirituality,
character,
faith. Like, people say, like, you know, I
just, like, pray in my heart. You pray
your heart, you have cardiac arrest, man.
You know,
I I fast in my mind.
The heck is wrong with you, man?
On the other hand, we find people
haram haram haram haram haram haram haram.
Everything's haram. Imam Al Ghazadi said,
there are some people
who they made everything haram
to the extent that the only thing people
can do is eat grass.
Only thing we could go out in the
yard and eat some grass, man.
Everything's haram,
but
both are important.
Both are worship.
So
in Mecca to say
is spirituality
and character and faith,
and sent in Medina for the hadith of
Sayidina Anas and Nomadic from Imam Muslim
to tell us also that the permissible
and the impermissible
are part of faith, so we bring both
together.
Balance.
As we finish Surat Al Fatihab,
there's a third part of Surat Al Fatihab.
So we talked about
issues of faith,
Allah,
prophets, and the hereafter
as giving us perspective,
allowing us to draw the portrait of our
life,
then worship.
Worship is everything Allah loves, being a lawyer,
being an influencer,
being an athlete,
being an engineer,
being good at math, being a tutor,
being a house husband or housewife.
Then there's the
specific worship,
prayers, zakah, fasting Hajj, being good to people,
and the last is character. You know how
important character is? The prophet
Muhammad said the closest of you to me
in the hereafter
The prophet said, the closest of you
the closest of you to me, the prophet,
in the hereafter
is not the one with the most likes
on Instagram
or the most followers on TikTok.
The closest of you to me
are those who have good character.
So at the end of,
you find people are divided into 3 groups
in relationship
to Islam.
Number 1, those who know
and do what they know as best they
can.
Number 2, those
who know
but refuse to do it.
And number 3, those who don't know
and try to do a lot.
So we see something here, the importance of
knowledge,
and the importance
of application.
The straight path.
Who are those?
Generally, those who know and practice what they
know from the truth.
Those who earned,
and here, it should be someone's anger, those
who earned anger.
For those whom there is anger, it's a
great translation.
It's the passive participant.
What
about lean in those who went astray?
Those who don't know,
but
try to
act. And you live in an age now,
man, so much information online,
you actually have to, like, be careful that
what you're learning isn't ignorance.
There's a lot of stuff out there that's
crazy.
So we finish today.
I'm gonna send you the text for this
soon.
I'll send some of the questions in that
text that you can, look over as discussion
questions with your parents.
If you wanna answer them or with your
friends.
But what is Surat Al Fatihah have for
you is the GPS to Jannah.
It teaches you about Allah.
It teaches you about worship,
and it teaches you about character. You have
any questions? If not,
see you guys in about 15 minutes for
our section on the life of the prophet.
The Google Classroom, we're we're thinking either to
keep one Google Classroom for all these teen
courses or to make a new one.
So we will let you know. I'll share
the homework from last week when we open
up that Google Classroom.
If you need the Google so the Google
Classroom link is not open yet for this
course,
but you can email me here
for a translation of the Quran as well
as our Swiss
survivor
package.
Bilal,
not Bella.
Actually, I have a Bella in my other
class, though.
Though.
So how are you guys feeling about?
Who can tell me something that you heard
or learned that really impacted you differently?
Let's hear from some people.
You can also type it in the chat
box.