Yousuf Raza – Ramadan Conversations Episode 15 An exit of Truth… Surah AlIsra 7884
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Okay, bismillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah.
As-salatu was-salamu ala rasulillah wa ala
alihi wa ashabihi ajma'in.
Qala tabaraka wa ta'ala fi kitabihi alkarim,
ba'da an akul, a'udhu billahi minash shaitanir
rajim, bismillahir rahmanir rahim.
Aqim as-salata li duluki ash-shamsi ila
ghusaqil layli wa qur'ana al-fajri inna
qur'ana al-fajri kana mashhooda wa minal
layli fatahajjad bihi naafilatan lak, asaa an yaba
'athaka rabbuka maqaman mahmooda wa qul rabbi adkhilni
mudkhala sidqin wa afrijni mukhraja sidqin wa ja
'alli min ladunka sultanan naseera wa qul jaa
'al haqq wa zahaqa albaatil, inna albaatila kana
zahuqa wa nunazzilu minal qur'ani ma huwa
shifa'u wa rahmatu lil mu'minin wa la
yazidu al-zalimin illa khasara wa idha an
'amna ala al-insani a'araba wa na
'a bijanibih wa idha masfahu ash-sharru kana
ya'usa qul kullu ya'malu ala shakilatih
fa rabbukum a'alamu biman huwa ahda sabila
Sadaqallahul Azeem Rabbi ishraq li sadri wa yassir
li amri wakhla luqtatan min lisani yafqahul qawli
Allahumma anfa'ana bima a'allamtana wa a
'allimna ma yanfa'una wa zidna ilma Allahumma
arina haqiqata al-ashsha'i kamahi Allahumma arina
al-haqqa haqqa wa marzuqna attiba'a wa
arina albaatila baatila wa marzuqna ijtinaba Ameen, Ya
Rabb al-Aalameen As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi
wa barakatuhu Everybody watching, and those who are
going to be watching the recordings, we're back
on time.
This is the originally scheduled time.
For the past five days, I wasn't able
to make it at this time.
But from here on in, towards the very
end of this program, inshallah, we should be
going live right around this time.
So my apologies for the erratic schedule that
we had over the past few days.
And hopefully we are over that.
Some people who care do reach out and
say that, you know, we need one fixed
time and we need to be on time.
And that's the thing about people who care
that they're very annoying, but they set you
right.
But here we are.
Anyway, so we're at that.
We spoke in the last episode about Rasulullah
ﷺ and his experience of Mi'raj.
And so much that that journey holds for
us.
And of course, there's so much that we
weren't able to talk about.
We did touch upon how much of an
achievement it was, not only for Rasulullah ﷺ,
but for humanity.
And what it means for humanity that a
human being is given that status, that maqam.
And how this journey of Mi'raj symbolizes.
سبق یہ ملا ہے مِرَاجِ مُسْتَفَاسِ مُجھے Now
I forgot the rest of it, but something
about how the human being has the constellations,
the Gardoon, the universe is in the grasp,
control of the human being.
That there is so much power that Allah
has given potentially to the human being.
Now of course, that particular power, that particular
honor isn't just automatically given.
It is realized, it is actualized after a
lot of painful struggle.
I'm still trying to forget, remember, but I
can't.
Anyways, it's in human potential.
It is so powerful.
It is so much that there is so
much that we can do.
There is so much honor that is in
store for the human being.
And how the way the prayers are negotiated,
the way the pen is still writing, everything.
The ayahs that Rasulullah ﷺ brings, what it
holds for him, what it holds for the
Sahaba, what it holds for the future generations
including us.
There is so much there.
And then it is in continuation of that,
the situation is not getting easier.
Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba are suffering as
much.
Their position in Mecca is as fragile as
it was before.
It is at any time that the Quraysh
are going to find a way around their
own traditions to eradicate Rasulullah ﷺ for good.
That is what they're planning on doing.
Although one of the chiefs on Rasulullah ﷺ's
return from Qa'if does extend protection to
him and sends him with his sons under
their cover so that everyone knows that he
is now under my protection.
And Rasulullah ﷺ honored that for times to
come even though he did not embrace Islam,
that particular Quraysh Rasulullah ﷺ had immense respect
for him and he for Rasulullah ﷺ.
That no way is this the way to
treat a noble of Quraysh.
No way is this the way to treat
Muhammad Rasulullah ﷺ.
Rasulullah ﷺ is given that protection, but again,
it is only a matter of time.
And we know in retrospect that they got
together and they said, okay, if each and
every one of us comes together and does
this, that we have one member from each
tribe, sub-tribe attacking Rasulullah ﷺ at the
same time and we get this over and
done with, what are they going to do?
Are they going to fight all of us?
They won't be able to do that.
So that was their ultimate plan.
Of course Rasulullah ﷺ realizes that it's any
moment now and we are not safe in
Makkah.
And so the campaigning picks up more pace.
The vulnerability is there, the weakness, the political
social weakness that Rasulullah ﷺ is faced with,
that the Sahaba are faced with is still
there.
They've bought time, but only so much.
The change, the difference as a result of
this mi'raj and these experiences is for
the most part internal.
That when there are so many external obstacles,
impenetrable, so many things that you cannot do
that's outside of your control, Rasulullah ﷺ turns
inwards and finds this incredible world of spirituality
and the strength that it has to offer
and that he reaches the zenith of that
spiritual world which is depicted, which is experienced
in no less than the experience of mi
'raj itself.
That Allah empowers Rasulullah ﷺ and humanity thus.
External situation, pretty much minimal change.
Internal situation is revolutionized.
And it was necessary for that internal experience
to take place for the environment or for
the obstacles to be as incredibly huge as
they were, as impervious as they were.
For the situation to have been really that
difficult that Rasulullah ﷺ had literally no options.
That's when the internal experience was as incredible
as it was to the level of mi
'raj, that ascension, that journey of Rasulullah ﷺ.
And so he returns from that journey.
And the return from that journey, the motivation,
the certification, the commitment to now up the
efforts even more.
Even if you find a foot in the
door, get that foot in.
And it is from these efforts that Rasulullah
ﷺ comes across who are then going to
become Ansar.
So there are these tribes from Medina.
It's not called Medina at that time, it's
called Yathrib.
The people of Aus and Khazraj, they are
visiting their own pilgrimage.
Rasulullah ﷺ is introduced to them.
Now these people are not entirely alien to
the phenomena of prophethood.
And also not to the coming of the
last and final messenger.
Rasulullah ﷺ, they have heard, because they're situated
in Yathrib and there's tribes of Jewish people
here.
The Jewish people when they had their little
battles with them, they've threatened the people of
Aus and Khazraj by saying that we have
our last and final messenger who is about
to come.
This is the time for him coming.
And when we rally around underneath his banner,
in his leadership, then we'll show you.
Then you won't have any place to hide
from us.
So they're anticipating the coming of Rasulullah ﷺ
and they have leveled these threats against the
Aus and Khazraj.
Also the Aus and Khazraj are a war
-torn people.
They've experienced an incredible amount of strife and
infighting to the point that their top leadership,
their elders, they've killed each other off.
They're literally on the brink of destruction.
And for them, for these broken people, and
you can well imagine that this journey of
pilgrimage that they're taking towards Mecca, they're looking
for something.
A lot of the well-meaning people in
there want to do something.
They have some, what you call a patriotic
sense.
What is going on?
Why are people dying?
Why have we practically destroyed ourselves?
There are tribal values that they hold.
There is a tribal affiliation.
There is this ghayrah that they have for
where they come from and they want to
preserve themselves and where they come from and
what they belong to.
And so they're looking for something as well.
They're not people who are completely content with
who they are, with where they're at politically,
socially.
They have questions too.
They're searching.
And so when Rasulullah ﷺ crosses paths with
them, it is like a match made in
heaven.
They're both sets of people, the Muhajireen and
Ansar, Rasulullah ﷺ and these handful of people
initially in Aus and Khazraj, they're meant to
be.
They've been in the background.
These preparations were being made.
If we look in the Qur'anic context,
the people who were supposed to be the
Ansar were the Jewish tribes.
That's why they've settled in around Yathrib.
They're waiting for their messenger.
They were supposed to be the Ansar.
If the Quraysh had rejected Rasulullah ﷺ, the
reinforcements would have come from the Jewish tribes.
Now there's separate issues there.
The Ansars, they're not welcome.
They're not welcoming to Rasulullah ﷺ, although they
are welcome.
Rasulullah ﷺ does invite them, but their issue
with him not being a Jew or them
not being of the Bani Israel.
He is from the Bani Ismail.
Wrong brother.
And they had a deep issue with that.
And so the Aus and Khazraj take precedence.
So they jump at the opportunity.
They need it for themselves.
It makes sense to them what Rasulullah ﷺ
is saying.
They respond in the affirmative.
The first pledge of Aqaba takes place.
Next year they bring more people.
Second pledge of Aqaba takes place.
Around that time or between that time, Mus
'ab bin Umair has been sent to teach
the people of Yathrib Qur'an.
And they're responding.
Younger lot, not a lot of old guard.
The old guard's been wiped out in the
battles.
More responsive, more open, less rigid, more optimistic,
more trusting, even more desperate, have very little
to lose.
Very committed to what they hear.
They see that as the opportunity that they
were looking for, the liberation that they were
looking for that the Qur'an offers them.
And so next year, a whole lot more
people come and join Rasulullah ﷺ and give
him that pledge.
And it is at that time that preparations
begin for migration.
Surah Bani Israel is right around that time.
Surah Al-Isra, two names for this one
surah.
This is right around that time.
Also around that time is Surah Nahl, which
is right before this in the sequence in
the Qur'an.
It is right before the surah.
In that surah, the permission to migration is
given to the Sahaba.
Rasulullah ﷺ himself cannot migrate without explicit permission
from Allah.
And it is very beautiful the words with
which that permission is granted to Rasulullah ﷺ.
And so the passage begins.
This is the ninth ruku of Surah Bani
Israel.
Again, a lot of the groups or people
in pairs or individuals have migrated to Medina.
What is going to be Medina.
Rasulullah ﷺ and a few people are left
in Makkah.
Rasulullah ﷺ is waiting for permission.
Yunus ﷺ left his people without permission.
He had to pay the price for it
in the belly of the whale for a
long time, repenting.
A prophet cannot leave his people prematurely.
He has a responsibility.
Rasulullah ﷺ for that reason is not leaving.
I cannot leave until I get from Allah
a permission that absolves me that I've done
my part.
I could not do anymore.
I could not do anymore.
I can't leave with regrets.
In a sense, it's something of a divorce
taking place that it's not working out.
You guys are not responding.
Okay, fine.
Let's call it quits.
But for that permission is necessary for the
prophet from Allah.
And so the way it is given أعوذ
بالله من الشيطان الرجيم أقم الصلاة لدلوق الشمس
إلى غسق الليل Establish the prayer from the
decline of the sun to the darkness of
the night.
So these are the times of four prayers
Zahar, Asr, Maghrib, Isha.
Again, prior to Mi'raj there are no
five daily prayers.
There is prayer.
Salah is there.
Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba pray.
What is the prayer?
The prayer is the night prayer.
It is Qiyamul Layl.
The very second revelation that we spoke وَقُبَرْكُمِ
اللَّيْلَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا And that practice is for
Rasulullah ﷺ and the Sahaba the small band
of believers at that time.
It is a compound of what we have
right now as Salah and Saum.
So we have the month of fasting in
Ramadan and we have the five daily prayers.
And the Taraweeh or the night prayer is
optional.
For the Sahaba in Mecca in the first
ten years or so for them there were
no five daily prayers.
There was the night prayer and the element
of discipline or self-control.
The impulse that they were called on to
control was sleep.
So one third of the night, half of
the night, two thirds of the night.
That was because their challenge was greater.
So their training was heavier.
Because what they were faced with, what they
were up against was much more difficult than
anything that the subsequent groups of believers are
going to face.
And we saw that within the last two
ayat of Surah Baqarah as well.
And so for that reason, for them Siyam
and Salah are combined in Qayam ul-Layl.
That both ends are achieved through this practice
of Qayam ul-Layl for the believers in
subsequent times to come starting Medina.
First, the five daily prayers are instituted.
So the Salah is taken away from the
night and distributed through the day.
One in the morning, afternoon, Asr, Maghrib, Isha,
evening prayers.
And then, of course, during this time, the
challenge or the struggles that they have to
go through are going to be the struggles
of migration itself.
So instituting a replacement for the impulse control,
the renunciation part is not even necessary.
So Qayam ul-Layl is not replaced just
as yet.
Yes, when the migration is complete, the settlement
has taken place, then Ramadan and Siyam of
Ramadan.
Ramadan is instituted as the month of Siyam,
the month of fasting.
That's where now that self-control is going
to be developed, garnered.
Anyway, so أقم الصلاة لدلوق الشمس إلى غسق
الليل وقرآن الفجر and the recitation of Qur
'an at Fajr.
The Qur'an being an essential component of
Qayam ul-Layl, yes, being an essential component
of the five daily prayers and, of course,
being an essential component of Ramadan as well,
especially associated with Fajr.
Why?
That's the beginning of your day.
For that reason, some of the imam at
masajid would lead a relatively longer Fajr prayer
for reciting more Qur'an in it because
Qur'an is associated with Fajr in this
particular ayah as we see.
Also, the tradition of reciting Qur'an after
Fajr prayer, how you're setting yourself up for
the day with this conversation with Allah, with
this receiving of inspiration from Allah.
وَقُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُدًا And
for sure, the recitation of the Qur'an
is specially witnessed.
Of course, everything that you do is witnessed
by Allah, but the witnessing of, you have
an audience, a special audience with Allah, with
the angels at the time of Fajr.
Again, this is retaining something of that control
over your sleep because you gotta admit that
the kind of sweetness of sleep that you
feel like you're gonna get right around Fajr
time, it's quite a lot to give up
for a lot of people.
So, إِنَّ قُرْآنَ الْفَجْرِ كَانَ مَشْهُدًا So the
initial, the additional incentive, it is specially witnessed.
وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ And the
night prayer, the Tahajjud at night is an
additional prayer.
It is Nafl now, it is not Fard.
It is not obligatory, it is an additional
effort.
For you, يا رسول الله عَسَىٰ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ
رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَحْمُدًا It may well be that
your Rabb raises you to the station of
praise and glory.
The maqam of Mahmood promised to Rasulullah ﷺ
that he is the praised one, the ultimately
praised one among the creation of Allah ﷻ.
Allah Himself is Hamid.
Allah Himself has these Asma associated with praise.
الحمد لله رب العالمين And Rasulullah ﷺ is
Muhammad.
And what he's being offered is the maqam
al-Mahmood.
The maqam, the station, the place with Allah
ﷻ which is of incredible praise and glory.
So the elevation that Allah ﷻ promises through
these activities, we cannot downplay.
We have this habit, especially the more intellectual
we suppose ourselves to become, we undermine the
importance, the significance of salawat, of prayers, of
adhkar, of tahajjud, of Qur'an.
We think we're above them.
We think we're beyond them.
But Rasulullah ﷺ maqam al-Mahmood is associated
with these meaningful engagements in salawat, in prayer.
وَقُلْ أَنْ سَيْ So it's beautiful the way
the permission is granted, it is granted in
the form of a du'a.
And say, Ya Rasulullah, رَبِّ أَدْخِلْنِي مُدْخَلَ صِدْقِيُّنَ
My Rabb, enter me, an entrance of truth,
that I am going to Madinah.
I'm going to make that Madinah, a community
of believers.
How is the permission being given?
Ask Allah for it.
A decision to migrate, to leave a people,
to leave something for something else, for that
decision to be made as a process of
du'a, with du'a accompanying it, that
in itself indicates how much of a dialogical
process life is.
The choices that you make, the most significant
choices that you make, how much of a
back and forth between you and Allah it
is.
So you're asking Allah, exhibiting your tawakkul, رَبِّ
أَدْخِلْنِي My Rabb, enter me, an entrance of
truth.
And in this asking is also a commitment
that I'll play my part as well.
It is a commitment of whatever it takes
from my end to make this entrance truthful,
that when I enter, it is for the
sake of truth, that truth prevails.
وَأَخْرِجْنِي مُخْرَجَ صِدْقِنُ And bring me an exit
of truth.
Entrance and exit in and of themselves do
not have any values attached to them.
Absolutely.
That leaving a city is absolutely bad.
Coming to a city is absolutely good.
No.
It is what reasons, what purpose, what meaning
is associated with that entrance and exit, with
that coming and going, with that migration, with
that leaving something and attaining something or getting
something or going to something.
Rasulullah ﷺ is not escaping Makkah for the
sake of, he's not running away from something.
There is something that he is running towards
and that is truth.
And so for the sake of that truth
is that exit and for the sake of
that truth is that entry.
And so to ask Allah is also to
depict a humility that as far as this
truthfulness is concerned and my commitment to it,
I do my best but there is so
much about my own self that I don't
know, that I don't know, which is why
I'm asking you.
As far as I'm concerned I'm going to
be doing it for the sake of truth
but what do I know?
What goes on in my own self?
My intention as far as I can consciously
understand it is truthful.
What if it's deviant?
It may well be.
It may well be.
And so this humility with which you turn
to Allah and ask depicting that suspicion of
your own motivation.
I don't know.
I need your help.
I'm going to do my best to Allah.
Once you're, once you have exhibited that suspiciousness,
that humility in dua, once you're outside of
that dua and you're on ground making that
action then you're fully committed and determined.
Whatever is doubtful remains inside that remains between
you and Allah.
As far as your action is concerned that
you go all out.
Full commitment.
And an exit, an exit of truth.
And make for me especially from yourself a
supportive authority.
I need help here and I need incredible
help.
Not just regular help.
Especially from you.
In a situation bleak, not very good.
And so Allah teaches Rasulullah ﷺ the words,
the words that Rasulullah ﷺ is going to
bring into reality.
Asking Allah special help and it was special
help.
Whatever took place the Quraysh had plotted to
kill Rasulullah ﷺ.
They come, he's not there.
It's Ali رضي الله عنه that they find.
Can't kill him.
That wasn't the pact.
That wasn't the understanding.
Taken by shock.
Everyone's searching for him.
Everyone's after him.
The one person who almost catches up to
Rasulullah ﷺ and he's, the price on Rasulullah
ﷺ's head and his camel starts sinking
and Rasulullah ﷺ finding the cave and then
the people just, they only have to look.
Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه said they only
have to look at their feet and they'll
see us.
مَا بَنَّكَ يَا أَبَابَكْرِ Rasulullah ﷺ said at
that point.
What do you think Abu Bakr of the
two.
ثالثهم الله عن اثنين ثالثهم الله About the
two people the third of whom was Allah.
That this confirmation, this affirmation that Rasulullah ﷺ
has developed over these this decade in Makkah
that Allah is with me truly.
وَقُلْ أَنْ سَيْ جَاءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَاطِلِ That
truth has come and falsehood has perished.
إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا For definitely falsehood is
bound by its nature to perish.
What's going on here?
Rasulullah ﷺ has to pretty much for himself
and the Sahaba and the message that he's
carrying get away from Makkah.
What is Allah saying?
Truth has come falsehood has perished.
This is it.
This is what we were waiting for.
Really we have no idea what's going to
happen from here on in.
I mean we know because we're reading it
as history in retrospect but what is actually
going to happen it's a whole lot of
trust.
A whole lot of trust.
But the commitment that comes from Allah that
this is as good as done.
You migrating to Medina?
You're migrating away from Makkah?
This is the coming of truth.
That means these people are about to perish.
They're about to face the Azaab of Allah.
Once the Prophet leaves the deal is done.
No more chances for them.
إِنَّ الْبَاطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ مَا
هُوَ شِفَاءً And we send the Qur'an
stage by stage, step by step.
مَا هُوَ شِفَاءً That which is a cure.
وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ And a mercy for the believers.
It offers this healing.
This healing is a bringing to wholeness.
And so a commitment with the Qur'an,
a journey with the Qur'an, a life
lived with the Qur'an is a journey
of healing, is a journey of becoming whole
again in new ways.
وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ And a mercy for believers.
Because when you are hurt and then you
heal, then you reattain the health that you
had before, but in a new way.
You become whole more so than what you
had before.
So the hurt and the healing, the hurt
and the healing, this process is a process
of growth.
Painful, but that's how growth works.
And a mercy for the believers.
وَلَا يَزِيدُ الظَّالِمِينَ إِلَّا خَسَارًا And this Qur
'an does not add anything to the people
who are unjust, nothing except loss.
They increase in loss.
وَإِذَا أَنْعَمْنَ عَلَىٰ الْإِنسَانِ أَعْرَضَ وَنَآبِ جَانِبِهِ And
when we bestow our favors upon man, he
turns his back and drifts to his side.
He looks at that one moment of goodness,
of greatness as, I got it, I made
it, yes!
A reminder at that time, no.
Remember that this too will pass.
You have to make the most of it
while you have it.
وَإِذَا مَسْلَهُ الشَّرْقِ And when he is inflicted
by an affliction, by a suffering, قَانَ يَؤُسَى
He becomes despairing.
This impulsivity in a human being that he
thinks of what he has to be everything
in a persistent state.
But what it means to be truly a
spiritual human in touch with the shifa that
the Qur'an offers, what is that shifa
is that it allows for you to transcend
that situation from the difficulty and the good
to be able to see that there is
something meaningful that is situated that is available
in both these situations and that's how it
heals.
So you don't, the goodness doesn't get to
you, the suffering doesn't get to you.
You're not overwhelmed and you're able to do
whatever it is necessary for you to do
for the goals that you've identified, for the
Sidq, for the truth that you live for.
قُلْ كُلُّ يَعْمَلُ عَلَى شَاكِلَتِهِ And say, that
everybody is going to act according to his
disposition.
There are limitations that people have naturally beyond
which they cannot go no matter what they
do and those limitations have to be acknowledged.
They have to be taken into consideration.
We cannot continue to compare ourselves with absolute
bests in every domain and feel bad about
ourselves.
We have our own shakila and we have
our own journeys within that with that.
We have opportunities because of it.
That's what makes us unique.
But we have limitations because of those as
well.
فَرَبُّكُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنْهُ وَأَهْدَى سَبِيلَ Your Rabb knows
best.
Who is the most rightly guided?
Because of this uniqueness of each individual, everyone's
guidance looks different.
There may be similarities of course, but everyone's
guidance, everyone's way, no one is going to
have the exact same path to Allah as
somebody else.
And to attempt to replicate that, to create
these clones and zombies in the image of
one great leader is an insult to the
uniqueness with which Allah has created each individual,
to the uniqueness that Allah Himself prides Himself
over.