In the name of Allah, the most Gracious, the most Merciful. Alhamdulillah, O Lord of the worlds. As-salatu was-salamu ala as-shaytani wa-l-anbiyai wa-l-mursaleen Muhammad wa-r-rasulullah wa-sallallahu alayhi wa-alaihi wa-sallam, tassaleen wa-l-kasleen wa-l-kasaleen. Fama Badu, very beautiful question, which my brother asked. I have been reading Quran for a long time. Alhamdulillah, he is Muslim, so he will… from the time he was a little boy, he learnt it and said… But he said, but I do not find any change in myself. What is the meaning of that? And what should I do? So first and foremost, let me give you the good news. That the meaning of this is that you are, Alhamdulillah, you are a person who has Taqwa. You are a person who has Iman. Now, why do I say that? Because the consciousness that you have, that there is no effect. Is a sign of Taqwa. Because you know that there should be an effect. And you are concerned that there is no effect. So what must you do? Thank Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Because this comes from Allah. So this doubt is a sign that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves you and Allah wants to draw you close to Him. So therefore Allah puts this doubt in your heart. You go ask yourself, you have been reading Quran for so many years, why is there no change in yourself? So say, Alhamdulillah, that this doubt came in your mind. Very important, understand this. This doubt is not a bad thing. This doubt is a very good thing. Because there are millions of people who just read Quran, nothing. They don’t have this doubt also. Their lives are going the same way. Whatever they were doing, good, bad, ugly, right? But they don’t have you getting doubt. So Alhamdulillah, this getting of this doubt. Like for example, I came along with Jose Ramchur Ali. He said the one who Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves, he makes him remember his sins over and over again. And think about that. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, you ask me forgiveness, I will forgive you. bin Allah, yappur, zulm, jamia, I make tawba, my sin is forgiven. Alhamdulillah, it’s over. So why do I need to remember it again? Why do I need to, am I doubting the forgiveness of Allah? No, I’m not. If Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala promised to forgive, Allah will forgive, we have no doubt about it. All I need to concentrate on, did I make tawba? Yes, I made tawba, istighfar, I made istighfar. I turned my life back to the right path inshallah. I made tawba and a specific tawba for the particular thing which I did wrong. I did all the, Alhamdulillah, inshallah, Allah has forgiven me, there is no doubt about that. But remembering the sin is a safety net. Because it reminds me that I did the right thing. Because it reminds me that I did that, which means that it can happen again, which means let me keep away from this. What is it that led me to that situation in the first place? So let me avoid all such situations and so on. So the remembering of your sins is a sign that Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala loves you and Allah wants to keep you safe. Remembering of the good that you did, this is a bad sign. Because if you do something good and remember it, then it brings about arrogance. So do good and forget about it. Forget completely, totally wipe it out of your mind. Whatever good you did, some charity you gave, you were nice to somebody, you did something, forget about it, completely wipe it out of your mind. Allah knows, it’s recorded. Nobody can take that away from you. You don’t have to remember it. But sin is remembered. So in your case, Alhamdulillah, you have been reading Quran for a long time and you say, well, it has not brought any change in my life. So as I said, this is a good sign that this concern is there and I wish I had the same concern. I wish this concern for all of us because all of us are in the same boat. So first and foremost, understand, you are not alone. I wish you were alone, but you are not. Second thing is, now remember, change does not come from reading Quran. Change comes from reflecting on the Quran, which means understanding the Quran. Then change comes by changing your life. That’s why Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said, Allah did not say, why don’t they read the Quran? Allah said, why don’t they? Is it that they do not reflect on the Quran? Tadabbur ala kalam illa hi ta’ala. Right? No, qadhatu kalam. Tadabbur ala kalam. Do they not reflect on the Quran or are their hearts locked? Do they have khufr? Locks on the hearts, right? So the key and the requirement is to focus on wali kusra, focus on the kalam of Allah and to reflect on it. So for that obviously, you know, it’s a given that if I am going to reflect on something, then I should understand it. I cannot reflect on something I don’t understand. So to the question that Miraj asked was, I have been reading Quran for a long time, but there is no change in my life. Why? So I am talking about that. So I said, change comes from understanding and tadabbur ala kalam illa. Not simply for reading. So important for us to understand what we are reading and then to reflect on it. Right? Sivayat, which I read, listen now. Afa ala yataadabur anal quran I am ala qulubi naqfadwa Allah said, is it that they don’t reflect on the khala or are their hearts locked? Now you understand me? So what to do? Ask yourself, does it apply to me? No? It does not apply to you. If it applies, what must I do? Read the meaning. Understand the meaning, right? Learn the Arabic language. Believe me, there is no translation in the world which can do justice to the Arabic otukharam. Okay. This is more or less true for any language. If I recite for you some poetry in Urdu and you do English translation, it’s like slaughtering that poetry. Right? You neither get the sweetness of it nor the understanding of it or nothing. Translation is okay. I don’t know what must I do. Okay, so I read translation. It’s like a, you know, sift in it kind of thing. But ideally, learn the language. Don’t worry about is it difficult, easy or not. Everything is difficult until you do it. So do it. The most difficult thing in the world is marriage. Yeah, really. Don’t you want to get married? So? So, I remind myself with you, let us focus on the Kalamakala and remember and understand it and reflect on it. Then apply it to your own life. Treat the Kalamakala Sumanathara like a template. Yeah. So put yourself on the template. Am I fitting this template? If I’m fitting the template, andhula, then remains steadfast. Stay there. Because life is changed. Life keeps on changing. So, I may fit the template today, but, you know, month from now, year from now, life change, no. That’s why I’ll ask my mother to give us a dua. Arubana la tuji kulubana baadai sadheetana. Abana namiladum karahma innaka anthalva hab. Ola, don’t let my heart change after I get Hidaya. Because the heart, the kalm is something which changes. So after we get Hidaya, is it possible to be a Straya? Yes. That’s why, you know, Asudh Radhila Anu, he said the only safe people, he said, follow those who are dead. He said, follow those. What does it mean? Follow those who were on the Siratul Mustaqeem and who died on that with Islam. Not for any dead. Why follow them? Follow them meaning what? He’s not saying go to the Kabir and make, you know, Ibad, you know. Follow mean, do what they did. Why follow them? Because for them, they are safe. If I lived on the Siratul Mustaqeem and I died on the Siratul Mustaqeem, Alhamdulillah, I am safe. Because now I can’t do anything wrong. I’m dead, finished. My amal are over. And if my amal were good, and if I died, if I had Khatimah-ul-Khair, which I ask for all of us, inshallah, and all Muslims, then Alhamdulillah, I am safe before Allah, inshallah, and I am hopeful of Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, mercy and forgiveness. But somebody who’s alive, so, mashaAllah, this Sheikh, no problem. Alhamdulillah, today he is this. Tomorrow we don’t know what will happen because Allah is Allah and human is human, shaitan is shaitan. So we don’t know the biggest suyukh. And there are many stories, if you read this story, history of Islam, many stories like this of people who were both sides, of people who are the worst of the worst. And we changed and became the best of the best. On the other hand, people who were the best of the best, who changed and who lost Islam, lost Deen, something, and they died on Kofor and Shirk, both stories are there. May Allah save us from that. So may Allah make us among those who are only on a upward journey towards Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, be the best of the best. Right, so keep making tawbah and istighfar, Alhamdulillah, and keep on making the effort. Reading in Arabic is very important because the kalam is in Arabic. Only the Arabic is kalamullah. Anything else is translation. So the salat, the hadith of the sallallahu alaihi wasallam, where he said that Allah will give ten hasanahs, ten good deeds, top one. For every letter of the Quran, right? And then he said, I do not say the Alif, Laam, Mim is one letter. He said, Alif is one letter, Laam is one letter, Mim is one letter. So somebody said Alif, Laam, Mim, she’s got thirty hasanahs. The value of one hasanah can be the difference between jannah and jannah. It’s not the difference between the two. It’s the difference between the two. It’s the difference between jannah and jannah. You’re getting thirty just by saying Alif, Laam, Mim. Right? So the kalam of Allah, read the Arabic. The Arabic has a special place, a special position which cannot be compared to anything else. But it’s the same to having read the Arabic, then, as I said, first and foremost, understand Arabic so you don’t have to read translation. But if until then, read the translation, then reflect on that, and then use that as a template for yourself to say, do I fit this or not? For example, we say Alhamdulillahirrabbilalamin. Right? All praise and all glory and all majesty and all thanks are for Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala Rabbilalamin. So we read Alhamdulillahirrabbilalamin in Arabic. You try, read the translation which I just mentioned to you. Now what is the reflection on this? What is the reflection? I would say gratitude as part of it. Meaning, am I thanking Allah or not? It’s like Allah. Yeah? So when I say put yourself on the… What’s the template? It’s all praise, all gratitude. Am I doing it? Am I praising Allah? How much dhikr do I do outside of my salah? Zero. Then? So not living by what I… I’m not living, exactly. Am I thankful to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala? Alhamdulillah, I go outside, I take a deep breath. Somebody sent me a thing in Bangalore, in India, the Obra Hotel, it advertising and saying that inside the hotel we have atmosphere control systems which are cleaning the air so inside the hotel you can breathe air which is not polluted. Can you imagine? Here you walk around anywhere, you’re breathing pure air, absolutely zero pollution. Should we not thank somebody for it? In Obra Hotel you’re paying 100,000 rupees a day for the room. Who goes inside the hotel? Do we thank that? I try to do… I stay out in the house, I think. I’m from India, I know the… I know the situation, I know how bad it is. So Alhamdulillah. Especially in the winter. Because they burn the crops and all, it was very difficult. And the smoke… It was uncomfortable. Similarly, I don’t want to sort of take this too long, but… Even okay, Ramatul Ali said, Suhatul Fatiha is Tawbah, the whole surah. And this is the way he explained it, that first of all thanking Allah and dhikr of Allah and thanking Allah. And then the whole rest of it, this is the whole surah is Tawbah. Because you are remembering Allah SWT, Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim. Then think about all the stuff which I did, which Alhamdulillah, Allah SWT forgives. Maliki Omiddin, I’m going to start before Allah SWT, what will happen to me? The owner of the… Again, yeah. To again… Again… I’m saying this by doing it. Am I worshipping only… Worship is… Brother, worship is also… Not only Obudiya, worship is also Ittahat. Worship is not only worship as in sala, but also it is obedience. So when I say I am… I only you, we worship. So, but in my obedience, am I obeying only Allah or somebody else? For example, Allah SWT made certain things halal, am I following this? Am I playing games with that? Right? Earning, eating, whatnot, whatnot, relationships, so on and so on. Am I following that? Am I playing games? Am I trying to… Who am I trying to fool? See also what happens with a lot of Arabs, let’s see. They don’t speak Fusa. They speak the lahjats. The dialects of the place, right? Like Morocco, Darija, they speak Darija, which is… Morocco, yeah, I understand. I know because a lot of you go and study and you do all this, but generally, yeah. But generally, a lot of the Moroccans, they speak the Darija, which is the dialect of Arabic. In Syria, they speak Syria. In Egypt, they speak, you know, the Arabic dialect. In Egypt, they speak, you know, Masri. So… No one speaks Darija. Actually, Buddha, yeah. Very difficult. What people do, even today, Alhamdulillah. For example, Khudbat. The Khudbat is in Fusa. Especially if you are delivering a paper in the university or something, you will write it in Fusa, you will speak. Unless there is a reason. Otherwise, normally, it’s Fusa. But the Quranic Arabic is not only Fusa, it is classical Arabic. The very… It’s a… That is the standard of Arabic. The literature is taken from there. Yeah. So, it is important to study and study the language, Alhamdulillah. That’s why the message of the Quran is alive all the time. You know, there is something in it for you throughout. So, it’s important to keep that in mind.
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