Zia Sheikh – Ramadan 2015 Khatira Day 16
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The importance of bringing in certain verses to change one's life and achieve success is emphasized, along with avoiding distractions and false expectations. The Prophet's teachings, including the rule of forgiveness, are also discussed, emphasizing the importance of listening to the Prophet's teachings and moments in the Qurator. The phrase "medestones" and "medestones" are also mentioned, with the latter meaning similarities, but the latter meaning similarities. The importance of listening to the Prophet's teachings and moments in the Qurator is emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
An ayah from Surah Yunus and then a
couple of ayahs from Surah Hud, Inshallah.
In Surah Yunus, Allah SWT describes how the
Kuffar of Quraysh, they came to the Prophet
ﷺ and they said, okay this Quran that
you brought that's all fine and well but
we need some kind of revelation that kind
of fits in with the lifestyle and the
things that we already have.
And we're practicing.
For example, we worship Allah, Al-Uzza and
we have certain habits.
So if you could bring verses which agree
with what we are doing, then we'll accept
the message that you're bringing.
And this is mentioned in this verse, They
said, Allah SWT says that when our verses
are recited upon them, those people that do
not have any hope of meeting us, meaning
on the Day of Judgment, they have no
hope, they don't think that there's going to
be a hereafter.
What do they say?
Bring a Quran other than this or in
addition to this.
Either you bring another Quran, an additional Quran
or you change this one.
Allah SWT said to the Prophet ﷺ that,
I only follow what Allah SWT has revealed
to me.
That's all I can do.
There's no changing the religion.
And this is the difference between our religion
and the previous religions.
Although we believe that the previous scriptures that
came down to the Prophets ﷺ were true
scriptures and they were teachings of Allah SWT,
but the people who were supposed to follow
those scriptures, they succumbed to their desires and
they change the wording of those scriptures to
suit themselves.
And that's why we believe that the previous
scriptures have all been tampered with.
The only thing that remains is the Quran,
which is intact and it will remain intact.
And that's the difference between our book and
the previous scriptures.
So, the religion of Islam is such that
it stays and it's not changed.
That's why the Prophet ﷺ said, Halal is
bayyin, it's clear.
Haram is bayyin, it's clear.
There are some doubtful things that are in
the middle that you have to try to
avoid as much as possible.
Whoever falls into those doubtful things, then he's
also, the next step will be that he's
going to fall into the harm.
And there's a very beautiful example that the
same hadith gives that the example of a
person falling into doubtful things is that when
he takes his flock of sheep right next
to the boundary of the king.
Okay, so you have your own land which
borders onto the boundary of the king's land
and you take your sheep right to the
edge.
The sheep are going to just wander over
into the land of the king.
Okay, basically and you're going to commit a
crime.
This is the example that the hadith gives
of falling into doubtful things.
So, what are you supposed to do?
You're supposed to stay away from that border.
You're supposed to stay away from the boundary
and that's why the hadith says that Alaa
innahimallahi maharimuh.
The boundary of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
are his maharim, the things that he has
forbidden.
So, straying next to the boundary is going
to enter the doubtful things.
Other than that, halal and haram have been
made clear for us and we cannot change
that.
So, what the previous people used to do,
they used to go to their rabbis, they
used to go to their priests and tell
them, okay, we need a fatwa from you.
We need a ruling from you that coincides
with what we want to do.
So, the people, they used to take bribes
and they used to change the fatwas according
to what the people wanted, which Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala has mentioned many times in
the Quran.
They changed the wording of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and they sold it for a
meagre price.
So, what Islam is, it is clear and
it can never be changed.
Fatwas can never be given to the whims
and desires of the people and this is
what we learn from these verses.
The Prophet a.s.w. didn't change so
that people become Muslim.
The ayaat, they remained exactly as they were.
The next story is a story that is
mentioned about some verses which were revealed in
Surah Hud.
A person who came to the Prophet a
.s.w. and he started confessing to a
sin that he had committed.
He said to the Prophet a.s., there
was a woman that I liked and I
met with her in private and adultery didn't
take place, but I met with her in
privacy and I touched her inappropriately and I
really want forgiveness for my sin.
So, he was very sorry and upset and
he came to the Prophet a.s.w.
kind of making a confession of his sin.
As he was saying this, Umar a.s
.w., ever the person who gives the wisest
advice, he said that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala hid this sin from you, from the
people, why do you have to come and
expose it?
And this is exactly what the ruling is
in Islam.
There's no concept of confession that you go
to the Imam and you confess your sin
to him and that sin gets forgiven.
Okay, if a person commits the sin, he
has to turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, repent, cry in front of him, be
remorseful and that sin inshallah will be forgiven.
A person has to have firm conviction that
when I'm asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
for forgiveness, then Allah will forgive that sin
from me.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive me.
So, this is the rule that we learn
from this story, but also we learn that
when we are committing sins, at the same
time as believers, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
has given us certain things that we do
on a day-to-day basis.
Okay, on an annual basis, like in the
case of Ramadan, or we go to Mecca
to perform Umrah or Hajj.
So, all of these actions that we do,
there's a hadith that says, Ramadan to Ramadan
and Jumu'ah to Jumu'ah, and Umrah
to Umrah, and the Salat to the Salat,
it is it is a forgiveness for whatever
occurs in between them, as long as the
Kabair and the major sins are avoided.
So, this is a real mercy from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Many of us, we commit sins without even
realizing.
Okay, we have, we live in such a
society that you go out of your house
or even in the house, you know, you
put this TV on, immediately you're exposed to
sin.
Okay, you put your computer screen on, you
even go to seemingly innocent websites to read
the news, but there's a sidebar of an
ad which has, you know, a semi-*
picture on it.
Okay, so we commit sins day in and
day out, and we don't even realize that
we're committing sins.
So, the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala has given us these avenues through which
He forgives the sins, this is indeed a
mercy for us.
And that is in addition to that hadith
that I've just mentioned, that these actions Ramadan
to Ramadan, Jumu'ah to Jumu'ah, and
Umrah to Umrah, the ayat was revealed.
Establish the Salat on both ends of the
day and a portion of the night.
Basically, the Salat that has been ordained upon
us, the night-time prayers, the day-time
prayers, we pray them on time.
This is the command of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Because, the good deeds, they get rid of
the sayyidat.
Do the good deed, basically, it, of course,
your good deeds are increasing, but at the
same time, the bad deeds are being forgiven
automatically as a side effect of the good
deeds that we are doing.
So, again, there's a mercy of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala that we should appreciate.
And finally, the last verse that I want
to talk about, this month that we have,
this is the month of the Qur'an,
and the listening to the recitation of the
Qur'an and pondering over it, and thinking
over it, contemplating over it, it actually is
supposed to soften the heart.
And that is why, you know, at the
beginning of Ramadan, maybe we have a harder
heart, but we come to the masjid, we
listen to the taraweeh that are being recited
every single night, and we ourselves recite the
Qur'an all the time, and the long
-term effect of that should be that our
hearts get softened.
And that's why our recitation of the Qur
'an should not be as limited to Ramadan
itself.
We have to continue after Ramadan too.
So, what does Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
say about this revelation of the Qur'an?
Some sahaba came to the Prophet ﷺ and
said, Ya Rasulullah, we want to listen to
a hadith from you, and Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala revealed a verse that the best
of the hadith is the word of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala itself.
Of course, the Prophet ﷺ's sayings and teachings,
they are good too, but the best.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, He revealed the
best of the hadith, the best of the
hadith.
It is a book that is mutashabih.
Mutashabih means there are similarities throughout the Qur
'an, which are found, and that's why sometimes
the hufadh, you know, they kind of stutter,
because there are similar verses throughout the Qur
'an, that they are just a wording changed
here or there, but, you know, if a
person is not paying attention, he will immediately
slip up, and he will go to another
juice, or all that, you know, you know,
at the other end of the Qur'an.
So, the word here is mutashabih.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reveals similar verses
throughout the Qur'an, and mithani, repetitive verses.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has brought repetitive
verses.
Why?
As a constant reminder to us.
How many times in the Qur'an do
we have in allaha ghafoorur raheem?
How many times do we have in allaha
ala kulli shay'in qadeer?
How many times do we have the mention
of Jannah?
How many times do we have the mention
of Jahannam?
How many times do we have the mention
of Musa alayhi salam, of Isa alayhi salam,
and other prophets alayhi salatu wa salam, how
Fir'aun was destroyed, the fact that shaytan
refused to prostrate in front of Adam alayhi
salatu wa salam.
It's repeated again and again.
So, the purpose of that is so that
we, that the message behind the story gets
instilled.
The message behind the words gets instilled into
us.
If we listen again and again to in
allaha ghafoorur raheem, won't we start believing that
Allah is indeed ghafoorur raheem?
He is forgiving and merciful.
So, that's why the wording is mithani.
So, when a person he hears this and
he hears the wording again and again, the
next step is taqsha'iru minhu juloodu allatheena
yakhshauna rabbahum.
When those people that have the khashiyah of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in their hearts,
they hear these verses of the Quran being
recited, their hair stands on end.
Taqsha'iru, yakhsha'irar, it means the hair
standing on end and a person getting goosebumps.
And this truly it happens when a person
understands the meaning of the Quran that is
being recited.
And that's why it's so important to actually
know what the what the Arabic language and
learn the Arabic language and that, you know,
it's of course that you will get the
reward for listening to the Quran and you
will get the same reward as everybody else,
but this feeling of knowing what Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala is saying to you and
being having the hair stand on end and
having goosebumps and having tears coming out of
your eyes.
That can only happen when you truly realize
the wording that is being recited.
So, taqsha'iru minhu juloodu allatheena yakhshauna rabbahum,
thumma taleenu julooduhum wa quloobuhum ila dhikri Allah.
And then finally after a person exposes himself
to this recitation, hearing of the Quran and
crying in front of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala, then the heart is softened at the
end.
The skin and the hearts of the person
are softened and he becomes more closer to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through this recitation
of the Quran and the hearing of the
Quran.
So that's actually the purpose of the Quran,
okay?
And if that's not being achieved, then we
are falling a little bit short.
So it doesn't mean that we, you know,
if I'm not getting that feeling, I need
to stop coming to taraweeh.
No, that's not what I'm saying.
What it means is that we still need
to work on ourselves, to improve ourselves in
trying to achieve this feeling that Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala is mentioning about the Quran
so that we can, you know, get the
objective of the recitation of the Quran, which
is the softening of the heart and through
the softening of the heart, becoming more obedient
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
I pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
gives us the strength to understand and practice
what has been said and heard.
Al-Fatiha.