[SPEAKER_00]: The next Surat al-Qahaf is, of course, a very, very well known Surah.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are commanded to read Surat al-Qahaf every single week, where the Prophet ﷺ encouraged us to read it every week and one hadith.
[SPEAKER_00]: He said, whoever reads it every Friday, shall have a light shining from him to the next Friday.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we are also told.
[SPEAKER_00]: that whoever memorizes the first 10 verses of Surat al-Qahaf, they will act as a protection from the jahal or the anti-Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as I mentioned, Surat al-Qahaf is one of the earliest revelations.
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, we can say maybe around the third or the fourth year of the preaching of Islam.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's one of the earliest revelations.
[SPEAKER_00]: And free plug here that my latest book that has come out is, in fact, the lessons from Suratil Khav.
[SPEAKER_00]: This came out, I think, two, three months ago, and is published by Kubey publication.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's just being sold right now in the market.
[SPEAKER_00]: So this whole lecture is just to summary of this book, which is I also have an online series about Suratil Khav as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: So a quick summary of Suratil Khav.
[SPEAKER_00]: Suratil Khav is
[SPEAKER_00]: called to it al-Qahab because of the cave, the story of the cave.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, to it al-Qahab has four stories in it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And all of these four stories, they revolve around a theme or around a persecution.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first of these four stories is the persecution for the sake of religion.
[SPEAKER_00]: That a group of young men were persecuted by their peoples and they found shelter in a cave.
[SPEAKER_00]: And hence, this surahab,
[SPEAKER_00]: It is like the shelter that we turn to when we are being persecuted.
[SPEAKER_00]: The entire Sura is about protection from persecution.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first protection is protection that when you're being persecuted for the sake of religion.
[SPEAKER_00]: The second is the fitness or the temptation of money.
[SPEAKER_00]: What to do when we are being tempted with money?
[SPEAKER_00]: The third is the potential problem of knowledge when it does not
[SPEAKER_00]: have a positive impact and knowledge that should cause us to be humble and so the fitness of knowledge and then the fourth is the fitness or the test or the protection from power and we are given role models and examples and we are told about all of these four things so the fitness for the sake of religious persecution.
[SPEAKER_00]: the fitna of wealth, the fitna of knowledge, and the fitna of power.
[SPEAKER_00]: And whoever is tested with any of these four should overcome it by entering the cave of Surat al-Qahaf.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is why the jar will come and the jar will have all of these things.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he will be testing and inflicting trials and therefore by reciting Surat al-Qahaf.
[SPEAKER_00]: who will be protected from the Fithana of the Judd.
[SPEAKER_00]: Therefore, dear Muslims, before I move on, make sure that you memorize the first 10 verses of Surat Al-Qahaf because you want to be protected from the Judd.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our Prophet ﷺ said that
[SPEAKER_00]: whoever amongst you sees the Jad, may Allah protect us with, we don't want to see him, the anti-Christ, let him recite the first 10 verses of Surat al-Qahaf and he shall be protected from at the Jad.
[SPEAKER_00]: So go ahead and memorize this literally one paragraph one and a half paragraphs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Memorize the first 10 verses of Surat al-Qahaf so that acts as a protection for us against the Jad.
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, once you start, go ahead and finish up the Surat as well and share Allah with Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let's now summarize this Surat al-Qahaf.
[SPEAKER_00]: The first story is, of course, the famous story of the seven sleepers of the cave.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of legends about where they are, they say it is Ephesus in the modern land of Turkey.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't really matter.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we have to be also careful here that listen.
[SPEAKER_00]: linking these ancient Quranic stories to particular geographic locations.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, it's maybe inquisitively fun or curious or what not, but our e-maren should not be based upon these legends where they are found.
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't matter if somebody says, oh, I have it here.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, our e-maren is based on what the Quran says.
[SPEAKER_00]: Not on historical legends that might be true.
[SPEAKER_00]: If somebody says, oh, there's a place in Jordan.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know this is, oh, there's a place in Iraq.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know this is, oh, there's a place in Turkey.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know what?
[SPEAKER_00]: Allah knows where it is.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are not 100% certain.
[SPEAKER_00]: What is more important is that we know it happened, the Qur'an tells us it happened, and to link the location or not Allah knows best.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anywhere it is or not most likely, by the way, these were seven Christians who believed in Jesus Christ and they were being persecuted by the pagans of their timeframe.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you know your Christian history, so Christianity spreads slowly, especially in the first 400 years of the after Jesus Christ.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so these seven converts to Christianity, they were the only converts and their peoples were pagan.
[SPEAKER_00]: So they entered the cave, and then after 300 years, they were sleeping as the story says, and I'm assuming you've read through the Gahav for today's lecture.
[SPEAKER_00]: When they come outside, their people have all converted to Christianity, and so they are no longer being persecuted, and so they discovered that they have slept for 300 years.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now in this story,
[SPEAKER_00]: And again, I'm assuming all of you have read Surat Al-Qaeda, so I'm going to be extracting lessons like we did for Surat Yusuf.
[SPEAKER_00]: In this story, we learn that when people become religious, when people turn to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, generally speaking, there is a cost to be paid in terms of this world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Generally speaking, religiosity comes with some negativity in society.
[SPEAKER_00]: People, at the very least, will make fun of you, will find you to be strange, maybe worse than this in some lands.
[SPEAKER_00]: People are very Islamophobic and other lands, they're actually made by Allah protect all the Muslims, but they're trying to kill or they're trying to ban or doing other things of this nature.
[SPEAKER_00]: People are being forced to flee.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this shows us as well that,
[SPEAKER_00]: fleeing for the sake of Allah, migrating for the sake of Allah is something that is very praiseworthy.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, our books of Islamic law mentioned that it becomes obligatory if two conditions are met.
[SPEAKER_00]: That firstly, you cannot fulfill your basic requirements of prayer and of rituals and of avoiding major sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're forced to not pray.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're forced to do commit harem.
[SPEAKER_00]: And secondly, you have the means and the freedom and the capacity.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the financial means to migrate from one land to another where you can worship Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Sometimes people don't have those freedoms to even leave their lands.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're literally being persecuted and being locked up in chain.
[SPEAKER_00]: We ask Allah to protect them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if either of these two conditions is not met, then...
[SPEAKER_00]: It is not obligatory to migrate to another land, however, if both of these conditions are met, I.E.
[SPEAKER_00]: physical persecution in the first category and the second category, the means, both political and economic to go to another land.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then it is not allowed to remain in a place where people are forcing you to worship other than a law.
[SPEAKER_00]: Where people are forcing you to commit major sins.
[SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise, if these two are not medinities allowed to live anywhere in the world, if you're allowed to practice your faith, and that's another longer topic.
[SPEAKER_00]: So these seven young men, they were fleeing for their lives, they were being persecuted by their peoples, and they took shelter in a cave.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, of course, they woke up after 300 years alive, they were blessed with a very, very long sleep to protect them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, even a lot of blessing with sleep can be a means of protection and miracle.
[SPEAKER_00]: Within the story as well, by the way,
[SPEAKER_00]: is a very interesting warning and that warning is to not speak without knowledge, to not discuss matters that are frivolous in nature.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Allah says, Fala-Tumadi, Fihim, il-Lamara, al-Al-Vahirah, that don't debate what number were they in how many years they live, don't debate with other people about these frivolous issues because there is no benefit.
[SPEAKER_00]: of debating that which is of no value to you and this is an indication for us that the Muslim is wise in what he chooses to discuss and what he chooses to debate and frankly how much of our social interaction and how much of our conversations are really just a waste of time and Allah is telling our Prophetism don't waste your time engaging in these discussions.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, in this section, we learn some of the etiquettes of speech.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, for example, Allah says, don't say that if you're going to do something tomorrow, don't just say, I am going to do that tomorrow without saying, in Lanyahu al-Allam, that adding on to it, that insha'Allah, who ta'ala, I'm going to do something tomorrow.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is a very simple etiquette that actually has a huge theological,
[SPEAKER_00]: linkage and that is that we should be cognizant of every word that we say and we need to be careful that anything that we say does not infringe on the Rubibia or the power of Allah Subhanahu Ata'ala we should always be monitoring what we are saying and there are many examples of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when I say I'm going to do something tomorrow
[SPEAKER_00]: How do I know that that's going to happen?
[SPEAKER_00]: We should be optimistic and we should be humble.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we should say, I will do that tomorrow in Shah-e-Lahu Talah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I will take up that project next month in Shah-e-Lahu Talah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anything to do with the future of this world, that we have a plan that we're going to do, we should say, if Allah wills, then that will happen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also,
[SPEAKER_00]: There are many other examples of this nature, by the way, as well about monitoring your phrases.
[SPEAKER_00]: For example, one of the Sahaba, it is authentically narrated that he was teaching us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the gist of this goes back to our Prophet ﷺ.
[SPEAKER_00]: But what I'm about to tell you is coming from a companion that he told us to monitor what we say about about describing independent power to other than Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So for example, phrases like, oh, I was sick.
[SPEAKER_00]: and I want to the doctor and he cured me.
[SPEAKER_00]: We should not say that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is not, I mean obviously it's, I'm not saying it's like Haram but it goes against the etiquette of the Muslim to say the doctor cured me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Rather we should say I will sick, I visit to the doctor and then Allah
[SPEAKER_00]: bless me to be cured, you know, by, you know, the prescription that the Dr. gave me.
[SPEAKER_00]: So you link the cure to Allah and then you say, yes, you know, the doctor's knowledge and whatnot, Allah blessed me to benefit from that, but it was Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who cured.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we just, the phrases that we use, we have to be careful, and this verse in the Quran, it reminds us of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And all of this goes back by the way to the concept of Islam, of being conscious of Allah constantly.
[SPEAKER_00]: This story finishes with a beautiful reminder.
[SPEAKER_00]: that persecution should never be done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Verse 29, that Allah as the Wajah says, Waqul al-Hakkum al-Raghbikum, the truth is from Allah, whoever wants to believe can believe and whoever wants to reject can reject, but their consequences for rejecting and their rewards for believing.
[SPEAKER_00]: So after talking about some Muslims being persecuted, Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta Al-Ali says, Look, truth is clear from error.
[SPEAKER_00]: and whoever wants to believe, you cannot force people into believing.
[SPEAKER_00]: You cannot, you know, shove Islam down people's throats, you just have to preach and teach.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the rest is up to them, and Allah Azza wa Jalla will then decide, and each person has to be responsible for the decisions that they make.
[SPEAKER_00]: The next story is the story of the man with two gardens and the brother or the companion and some say there were two brothers and some say there were two cousins, some say there were two friends that one of them was righteous and he didn't have that much wealth and the other one was not righteous and he had plenty of wealth and again so many benefits versus 32 to 45.
[SPEAKER_00]: of the benefits of this story.
[SPEAKER_00]: We see the dangers of pride, the dangers of self-conceit, and look how shallow this person sounds, that when he enters his garden, and he's boasting an arrogant and a loss of Hanoi to add a describes him, whether Khaled Jannette Hu,
[SPEAKER_00]: Wahoo Al-Halim, Wal-Dinefse.
[SPEAKER_00]: He entered his garden, and he thought he's all high and mighty in reality, he is doing volume, he is doing injustice to himself.
[SPEAKER_00]: Do you think O arrogant one that you have actually established your nobility by your narcissistic boasts, by your grandiors of delusion,
[SPEAKER_00]: You're only wronging yourself, how vain, how narcissistic, and so panola, you know one thing that even people who don't, or they're not Muslims who don't have faith, it doesn't matter when a person is boastful of their wealth, society cringes.
[SPEAKER_00]: When a person is flaunting what they have, even a person, it's not about, or it's a matter of just common sense and dignity, a person does not like this arrogance and pride, and a lust of Hanoatala says that he entered his garden,
[SPEAKER_00]: doing injustice to himself and another problem that happened is that his wealth blinded him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He fell in love with his wealth and his world and this world so much that he lost track that there's going to be here after and he said, one of the Nusatah, Ima, I don't think that there will be a day of judgment that I don't think this is ever going to finish.
[SPEAKER_00]: Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima, Ima,
[SPEAKER_00]: In the pleasures of what you have, you get caught up in the moment so much so that in your arrogance, you're like, Who needs to hear after?
[SPEAKER_00]: There is no point.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Manala, have you lost track of reality that nobody lives forever?
[SPEAKER_00]: Have you lost track of the reality of death?
[SPEAKER_00]: that not a single soul shall live forever, every single entity is going to die.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so this person, he became so diluted in the pleasures of that one moment to see his massive garden, and he probably had a beautiful house and all of the treasures that he had that were there, and he became so confident that he said, well, he's a hero after, and then he may be at another problem.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's...
[SPEAKER_00]: Once he felt that he had so much wealth, he thought that this blessing indicated that Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala was happy at him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we already mentioned earlier in this episode that this world is given to both those whom Allah loves and those whom Allah does not love.
[SPEAKER_00]: We already mentioned this, but he felt,
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the icing on the cake of his pompousness, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: He felt one erroger to Ilaba, be even if I shall go back to Allah, I will find something even better with Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: He assumed that because he was blessed with wealth, that Allah was happy with him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is another major error that this person made.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, in and of itself does not indicate Allah's happiness.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's what you do with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you treat it, if you earn it through Hala and you spend it on Hala, then yes indeed, wealth is one of the best gifts of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala.
[SPEAKER_00]: However,
[SPEAKER_00]: If you earn it through Haram or you spend it on Haram, then go to you and then again, go to you.
[SPEAKER_00]: So be careful about assuming this if a person has wealth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also, we learn here that not being thankful to Allah is the seed that sprouts the evil fruit of Qufr.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because his companion said to him, Aqafar Tabilati Khalakat, have you committed Qufr with the one who created you?
[SPEAKER_00]: Even though he did not deny Allah's existence.
[SPEAKER_00]: But...
[SPEAKER_00]: Go for here means ungrateful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you that ungrateful to Allah that you will not even thank Allah?
[SPEAKER_00]: He felt that he didn't need to humble himself in front of Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we learn from this Surah as well that one of the main ways to thank Allah as the Muslim said to this American person, why didn't you say, when you entered your garden, Masha Allah lakwata illa billah?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why didn't you first and foremost, ascribed this to Allah?
[SPEAKER_00]: This is from Allah's Messiah, Allah's will.
[SPEAKER_00]: I did, this isn't from me that I got it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Allah gave it to me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laqawata illa billah.
[SPEAKER_00]: There is no power that could have given me this other than Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala and SubhanAllah again.
[SPEAKER_00]: We really see this that at the end of the story, all of his wealth is destroyed in a millisecond.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just in a minute, he sees everything destroyed and he is ringing his hands in shame and in completely agast.
[SPEAKER_00]: What can I do now?
[SPEAKER_00]: And Subhanallah is there not a lesson for us in this pandemic in this COVID crisis that within a day everything can shut down as Allah did to this person as well.
[SPEAKER_00]: So we need to be thankful to Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: We need to be humbling ourselves in front of Allah, Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala and not take what we have for granted like that person in the story did.
[SPEAKER_00]: And at the end of the story, we are reminded both of the temporary nature of this world and the accountability that we will have in the next world where all of our deeds will be presented back to us in a book.
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the way, both of Israel and Syraqqah have they mentioned this book by the very interesting.
[SPEAKER_00]: that the book is going to be brought out and the sinners will see in Surat Al-Qahab.
[SPEAKER_00]: The sinners will see every single deed that they have ever done and they will cry out, what is what type of book is this?
[SPEAKER_00]: Not a single deed, large or small, except that the book has recorded it and in this section as well verse 45 to 46, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions again, Wadrub-Lahum-Metheral Hayatid dunya.
[SPEAKER_00]: give them the example of this world.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is like rain water that comes down and the plants of the earth absorb it, but then within a while it becomes like debris, like hay, like the dust scattered by the wind, and indeed Allah has power over everything, verse 46.
[SPEAKER_00]: Al-Malu, Welfanuna, Zinnatul, Hayatidunya, Welf and children, they are the beauty of this world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody's denying that.
[SPEAKER_00]: It makes life living, it makes life worth living, Welf and family.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's so peaceful to have, it's so great to have.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in and of itself, it is nothing wrong to enjoy and to benefit.
[SPEAKER_00]: But then Allah says,
[SPEAKER_00]: Wal-Bakayat, O Salihatu, Khairun, and Darabbika Thawaban.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the good deeds that last forever, money does not last forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: Children do not last forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: What lasts forever?
[SPEAKER_00]: The good deeds that you last forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: One of the companions said, you know what those good deeds are?
[SPEAKER_00]: Subhanallah is one of those good deeds.
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words, simply saying Subhanallah, it is more beneficial than all the money you have, because once Subhanallah will last forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: And no matter how much money you have,
[SPEAKER_00]: It will be given to somebody as soon as you die.
[SPEAKER_00]: You will not have it forever.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Allah is saying, wealth and family are good.
[SPEAKER_00]: They make life beautiful.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nothing wrong with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But you really know what is the best thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is the good deeds that you do.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if you use your wealth and money to do those good deeds, well, then Subhanallah, what better can you want?
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is the goal of the Muslim.
[SPEAKER_00]: What a beautiful religion we have.
[SPEAKER_00]: there's nothing wrong with being wealthy.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing wrong with having a a large and loving family intact.
[SPEAKER_00]: We should have large and loving families.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's nothing wrong with it, but we link these things to the worship of Allah and we utilize these blessings for the worship and also we use them to come closer to Allah with what He has given us.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so in this
[SPEAKER_00]: verse we are once again told of the reality of the pleasures of this world and of the blessings that Allah SWT gives us firewealth and via children.
[SPEAKER_00]: From the next section we get to the story of Musa and Hiddhar from verse 60 to 82 Musa and Hiddhar.
[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of legends, by the way, about Hiddhar and a lot of mythical tales that really we just have to nip in the bud.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hiddhar is not some superhuman ghost that comes here and there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hiddhar is a mortal.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is a human being.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is, he was a prophet whom Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala sent to another nation and he lived and he died.
[SPEAKER_00]: This notion that Hiddhar is still around and people see him on and off.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, our religion is not based upon these mythical fable tales.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our religion is based upon the Qur'an and what our Prophet SAW wa Aleyhi wa Salam.
[SPEAKER_00]: told us and ridd it from what we learned from the text, and we derived it from the text, ridd it was a prophet of Allah, contemporaneous to Musa.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had knowledge and Musa had knowledge.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had a status and Musa had a status and Musa.
[SPEAKER_00]: Spend some time with Hiddler and the story of Hiddler only occurs in this section of the Quran.
[SPEAKER_00]: He is not reference anywhere else in the Quran.
[SPEAKER_00]: So what are some of the wisdoms we can extract from this story of Musa and Hiddler?
[SPEAKER_00]: A number of things.
[SPEAKER_00]: First and foremost, the humility of Musa.
[SPEAKER_00]: Musa, despite the fact that he was the one whom Allah spoke with, that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala chose him, that Allah Subhanu wa Ta'ala granted him so many miracles, despite all of that, when he found out that there was another person who knew something he did not know, so he asked Allah permission, can I go and accompany him?
[SPEAKER_00]: And this shows us that, to gain knowledge, you really must accompany somebody because knowledge is not just found in books and in online lectures.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, it is,
[SPEAKER_00]: And when there's no alternative, then obviously we will read and we will study online and what not.
[SPEAKER_00]: But to really become a bona fide scholar, to become an actual atom, really you need to study at the feet of another atom, because knowledge isn't just what is found in the books, it is also in the accompanying
[SPEAKER_00]: a person and seeing the adab and the etiquette and moussa did this with Khiddhar.
[SPEAKER_00]: We also see you have to have humility, the humility of moussa to learn from another person, even though he was so blessed by Allah, the shows us, dear Muslim, no one should ever be too arrogant to learn something new from anyone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every single person whom you meet has something to teach you.
[SPEAKER_00]: every human being can benefit you in some way if you are humble enough to listen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine how knowledgeable you would become if you benefited from every person you ever encountered?
[SPEAKER_00]: So Subhanallah, we learn this from Mosa Alaihi, Salaam.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in the three stories of Musa and Hiddhar, again, there's so much wisdom we just have to quickly summarize this, that of the blessings that we gain of the three encounters of Musa and Hiddhar.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of the blessings is that a temporary calamity is always a blessing in disguise if you have faith in Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: The fishermen's boat was
[SPEAKER_00]: bored with a hole that Hiddler put a hole in the boat and the fishermen were irritated.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were frustrated and yet because of that it was a calamity because of that they were saved from a much larger calamity and that is the confiscation of the boats by the king.
[SPEAKER_00]: We also learn in these three stories, the story of the boy that when Allah Azduwajah takes someone or something away.
[SPEAKER_00]: that Allah substitutes someone or something better in its place.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this is again very explicit in the Quran.
[SPEAKER_00]: That Allah is the one that substitutes.
[SPEAKER_00]: So when Allah takes something away and you are patient, Allah will give you something or someone, either a concept or an idea or an entity or a person or some blessing that is better for you, even if you don't see it or don't recognize it, then what has been taken away.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we also learn from these three stories.
[SPEAKER_00]: that when our doaz are delayed, when we don't get what we want, that there is divine wisdom in that delay.
[SPEAKER_00]: Imagine the orphans with their widowed mother.
[SPEAKER_00]: Their mother is all alone.
[SPEAKER_00]: She has orphans, and the treasure is buried under the wall, as the story says.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they were not given that treasure right then and there.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was delayed another decade or two until these young orphans became young men.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Subhanallah, then they got to the money.
[SPEAKER_00]: Can you imagine the lady, the widow, is making dua to Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: I need money or a line-in money or a line-in, she's not getting any money.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if she had gotten the money at that stage, these evil towns people who didn't even give moussa and khid at a glass of water, do you think that they would have allowed the orphans to get their money?
[SPEAKER_00]: No, Allah gave them what they needed.
[SPEAKER_00]: when they needed it.
[SPEAKER_00]: We learn from the story that a loss of Hanoata Alano's when to give us what we need.
[SPEAKER_00]: We might think we need something right now and a law knows now is not the time for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: So yes, we make dua.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't stop making dua.
[SPEAKER_00]: We make dua.
[SPEAKER_00]: But deep down inside, we also recognize and know that look, there must be a divine wisdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever is happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: is happening for a higher purpose.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the next story, the final story of this surah is the story of Velkarnayn, from verse 83 to 100, the story of Velkarnayn.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the story of Velkarnayn, of course, a lot of discussion who is Velkarnayn and what is his reality in?
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, I mean, there are theories out there, some say Alexander, but
[SPEAKER_00]: academically speaking, it does not seem to be Alexander the Great, because Alexander was a person who was not a Muslim, and the local name was a righteous king.
[SPEAKER_00]: Others have posited a king by the name of Darius, and there seems to be some
[SPEAKER_00]: some possibilities that it might be Darious and Allah knows best.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the end of the day, you know, it's interesting and no problem.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have a nice discussion and going to details, but in the end of the day, we really don't know who this person was and that's not the point of the story that we link into a particular historical character.
[SPEAKER_00]: The point of the story is to extract the moral blessings and the wisdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the story of the Karnayne as a powerful king who acted in a just manner.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was tested with multiple responsibilities and he had the opportunity to act unjustly, but he did not act unjustly.
[SPEAKER_00]: So, when he lived up to his responsibilities, when he acted in an ethical fashion, when he acted with justice, Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala blessed and honored him, and Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala allowed him to trap the evil tribes of Yajuj and Mejuj, and he was forever people, forever grateful and thankful to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this shows us that.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we live up to now, maybe we are not going to be kings in this lifetime, but every one of us without exception, we have a role of responsibility.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have people that were in charge of.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have people that, you know, we are in charge of their affairs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whether it's even taking care of our children, whatever it is, and what we learn from this, when we act justly.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we recognize that Allah as the word is going to hold us accountable for what we do,
[SPEAKER_00]: Then Allah Azzaugil will bless us in what we have done and he will give us opportunities to shine.
[SPEAKER_00]: So do Qarnayin, when he acted in a just manner, Allah Subhanu Wa Ta'ala bless him with something that he was remembered for for many, many generations and then the Quran came to praise him for.
[SPEAKER_00]: And this entire surah, surat al-Khaaf, it reminds us that life is a test, and that we shall be tested in many different ways, and that in order to pass this test, we're going to have to face up to different types of challenges.
[SPEAKER_00]: And of those challenges, as we've already mentioned, sometimes we'll be persecuted for our religion.
[SPEAKER_00]: And whoever is made fun of for the religion, whoever is persecuted physically for the religion, realize that you are walking on a very noble path.
[SPEAKER_00]: That is the path of the prophets, that Allah has chosen you to follow the paths of the prophets.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so make sure you start acting as much as you can, the way that the prophets taught you to act.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people are tested with wealth.
[SPEAKER_00]: and that is one of the biggest tests of this world.
[SPEAKER_00]: Our Prophet ﷺ said, every umma has one test that they are especially tested with and the fitna or the testing of my umma shall primarily be through money, through wealth.
[SPEAKER_00]: So wealth is a major test for us and how many are the people who will fail that test.
[SPEAKER_00]: We don't want to be amongst those people.
[SPEAKER_00]: The story of the garden, the mind with the two gardens is a stark wake-up call that we should not let our wealth delude us.
[SPEAKER_00]: We should not be dazzled by this world and all that it has to offer.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is but a temporary
[SPEAKER_00]: fleeting pleasure and the real Bakia to Salihat with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
[SPEAKER_00]: Some people are tested with knowledge and some people sometimes their knowledge are makes them act in an arrogant fashion, makes them act in a manner that is not befitting and we seek refuge in that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Other people are tested with power and they might do things that are unethical, that are immoral, that will be abusive to people because of their power.
[SPEAKER_00]: And as I said this applies in every situation where you have authority over another person.
[SPEAKER_00]: So all of this life is a test and through the Khafri Minesas, that we need to thank Allah for our blessings, humble ourselves in front of him, that there is accountability, there's going to be a day of judgment, there's going to be a book that mentions all of this.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we need to appreciate and say Masha Allah al-Lakhawat al-Labila and seek refuge in Allah any time we are faced with such issues and trials.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the Surah concludes on with some very powerful verses, verse 1, 7 to 1, 10.
[SPEAKER_00]: in the Ladine Amin, Wa minus al-Hat, those who believe and they do righteous deeds.
[SPEAKER_00]: So that can't let them jennat or Ferdouzi, Nuzula.
[SPEAKER_00]: They shall have not just any jennat, the highest jennat of Ferdouz.
[SPEAKER_00]: The highest jennat as a place of abode, Khalidine Fihah.
[SPEAKER_00]: They shall be in Ferdouz forever and ever and ever.
[SPEAKER_00]: Laya runa anha hewala.
[SPEAKER_00]: They will have no desire to leave.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you're in fordose, why would you want to leave?
[SPEAKER_00]: We want to aim for fordose, and Allah is reminding us of that fordose.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then Allah says, cool, lo kind of behind me that, then he can he might rob me.
[SPEAKER_00]: Say, if the ocean were ink for the words of Allah, then the ocean would run out and dry before the words of Allah finish meaning the knowledge of Allah and the speech of Allah is infinite.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even if we added a whole other oceans to it, it will still run out.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then, so let's take a look at this.
[SPEAKER_00]: ends with one of the most simplest and profound verses in the whole Qur'an, really it summarizes everything.
[SPEAKER_00]: Qul, in Nama anabesh Aro Mithlukum, say Aro Sula Allah announced to mankind, I am but a human like all of you, I am not superhuman, I am not divine, I am not an angel, I am a human like all of you, Faman Kana Yerjul iqar Arabihi, whoever wants to meet
[SPEAKER_00]: their Lord, whoever wants to meet Allah and be happy at that meeting, then Fahlia, excuse me, I forgot the phrase, you Haley and Amayla, I have been inspired that your God is one.
[SPEAKER_00]: So let me go back, I am a human liken to you, I have been inspired that your God is one.
[SPEAKER_00]: So whoever wants to meet his Lord, let him work good deeds, Fahlia, Amal, Amal and Salihan, Wala, Yushtik, Biribadi, Thirabhi, Ahadah,
[SPEAKER_00]: and let him not associate any partner with Allah Subhanahu Wa'Tala.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look at this verse, read it, and look at the miracle of the Quran, this simple phrase it combines in the most elegant fashion.
[SPEAKER_00]: Tohid Risala ahirah.
[SPEAKER_00]: and Shariha.
[SPEAKER_00]: What a beautiful verse this is, all of it is summarized here and added as well as the class or sincerity to Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: This is the entire religion.
[SPEAKER_00]: Toheed, I have been inspired La ilaha illa ilaha illa, there's no God except Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Risala, I am a man like you that has been inspired by Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the ahirah, whoever wants to meet His Lord, make an ayur-jul-khara-be.
[SPEAKER_00]: What should He do?
[SPEAKER_00]: Faliya-am-mala-am-al-an-salah, that is our Shariah, that is our ethical norms and our values, that is how we live our life and also be sincere to Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let him not worship, let him not want to desire to show off or do things for other than Allah Subhanahu Wa'Tala, the simple verse.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is just so profound, no human could ever have uttered it.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's elegance and simplicity, the entire religion,
[SPEAKER_00]: not just so that they have the entire religion is summarized in this verse.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so let us remember our Prophet ﷺ as they were chosen by Allah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us worship Allah, Subhanahu wa t-ta'ala with sincerity, let us follow to the best of our ability, this divine book that he has been gifted with and through him we have been gifted with until then, Jazakim Allah, Salamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa rahmatullahi wa.