Auto-generated transcript:
Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Alhamdulillahi Rabbil Alameen.
Wa salatu wa salamu ala ashrafil anbiya wal mursaleen.
Muhammadur Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa sallam.
Tasliman kathiran kathira.
From Abadu, my brothers and sisters,
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala asked us a rhetorical question.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said,
Afala yathadhabbaruna al-Qur’ana am ala qulubin akfaluhah.
In Surah Muhammad, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala asked this question.
Allah said, do they not reflect on the Qur’an?
Or are there locks on their hearts?
Tadabbur is translated as reflection.
Now reflection can have different meanings.
One meaning of reflection is to simply think about something,
even in depth.
But in the Qur’an, the purpose of tadabbur,
the purpose of reflection,
is for it to become the motivation for action.
It is not just thinking for the sake of thinking.
The thinking must create positive action.
The rhetorical quality of the question is saying,
do they not reflect on the Qur’an?
Meaning, if they had reflected, they would have believed.
And obeyed.
And changed their lives by the Qur’an.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gave us a meter
to check if our hearts are locked or not.
Because if Allah is saying,
Afala yathadhabbaruna al-Qur’ana am ala qulubin akfaluhah.
Then we should check to see whether there is a qufl,
whether there is a lock on my heart or not.
How do I check that?
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala showed us,
in Surah Al-Anfal,
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said,
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala said,
The real believers are those,
are only those whose hearts tremble at the remembrance of Allah.
The heart is responsive.
Something happens,
when Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala’s name is mentioned,
something happens to the heart.
The hearts tremble at the remembrance of Allah.
And their faith increases
when the ayat of Allah are recited before them.
Or recited to them, or they recite.
And they put their trust in their Rabb.
So the consequence of a responsive heart is
that your Iman increases
and our trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala,
increases.
The purpose of the Nuzul of the Quran is
so that it may be reflected upon
and acted upon in our lives.
The Quran didn’t come merely to be enjoyed
for the melodious quality of the recitation
or the beauty of the art of its calligraphy
or for people to write articles and papers
not on one ayah,
not even on one word,
but on one letter,
on one harf.
As many have done on the
different huruf al-muqattaat,
even though Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
said that nobody knows their meaning
except Allah.
The Quran al-Kareem is the living word,
the speech of al-hayyul-qayyum,
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala.
It speaks to us,
but only if we approach it
in the right way.
And that’s the meaning of the Quran.
and that is why the method of approaching of the Quran
is so critical. Imam al-Shafi’i
said this very beautifully
he said
I will inform you
about its details
in my statement
Zakat
and care
and hard work
and diligence
and companionship
are required
and are required
and are required
and care
keenness
diligence
diligence
effort
just minimal resources
to survive and study
the company of a teacher
and a long time
you do not learn this deen through
tick tock
and through YouTube shots
and through Samkhatira
or through Khutbah
or through Bayan
you want to learn this deen
you have to spend time
you have to make effort
you have to learn this deen
you have to spend time
you have to make effort
you have to make effort
You have to cry tears in the night.
It’s very important.
There’s a very famous story about three of the Tabirin,
three young men.
They went in search of learning knowledge.
And they were in Baghdad.
And they were at this Ustadz.
And three of them studying, day and night studying.
But they have to eat.
So what to do?
So they got to a stage now where they ran out of money.
They had nothing.
There was no food.
And they decided, and all of them were,
today we say, have this Quran.
In the classical methodology of teaching,
haves of Quran is a given.
They won’t even look at you if you are not
a have this Quran.
It begins with the haves of the Quran.
Right?
Today, because we have gone to such a stage
where we cannot even recite Surat al-Fatiha correctly.
So we say, mashallah, mashallah, hafiz.
Alhamdulillah, it’s good.
But in our traditional teaching and learning of Islam,
haves of the Quran was a basic fundamental condition.
If you were not a hafiz of the Quran,
the Ustadz will not even allow you into the class.
You make haves first, then come back.
Because everything is connected.
Everything is connected to the Quran.
Now, if you don’t know the Quran, how can I teach you?
So you go learn the Quran.
Go memorize the Quran, then come and sit here.
That was the method.
So these people were, of course, of hafiz, and they were ulema themselves.
Now they’re learning higher knowledge.
So they got to a stage where they can’t do anything.
Hungry, three days, no food.
So then they made mashallah, and they said that, alhamdulillah, we have reached a stage
where to ask, to make suwal.
To beg for food is now halal for us because there is no other way.
So they said, one of us, two of us will go to the class.
One of us can go and try to ask some people for some food, and get the food, and then
we can all share the food.
So one person, it was his turn.
The other two went to the class.
This man said, he made two rakahs of salah.
He said, I’m going to make two rakahs of salah.
He said, I’m going to make two rakahs of salah.
And he said, Ya Rabb, we have come to the conclusion that it is jais for us to beg.
Jais for us to beg suwal, for food.
He said, who is the best one to ask?
Ajeeb.
The ways of the people of Allah are different.
He said, who is the best one?
Why should I go to the street?
Why should I ask Zaid and Bakar and Muhammad?
No.
Who is the best one to ask?
Ar-Razzaqud al-quwwatil-matik.
So he made two rakahs of salah.
He said, Ya Allah, you give me.
I’m asking you.
I never asked you for food, I asked you for knowledge, I asked you for zakah, and asked
you for khashiyah, and asked you for this.
Today I’m asking for food.
Ya Allah, give me food.
He is inside the house.
I will not go.
I will not go.
I will not go in front of another human being.
I will ask Allah, because Allah is the one to give.
There is a knock on the road.
He opens the door, there is a soldier standing outside.
He said, I’m looking for so and so.
He says his name.
I’m looking for Fulad bin Fulad.
He said, I’m the man.
He said, I’ve come from the king, from the governor of Baghdad.
He has sent this pouch of gold, coins, and he said, this is to be given to you.
And when you finish this, we will come back with more.
So the man said, how do you find me?
What is this gold?
He said, the governor had a dream last night where he was commanded and he was given your
name and said, go and give this to these people who have come here to study the deen of Allah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
This is Allah.
You have to make manna.
So let me complete by reflecting on just two ayats of one of the greatest surahs of this
Qalam, Surah Al-Mulk.
Allah said, Tabaraka allathee biyadeehi al-mulk, wa huwa alaa kulli shayyin qadeer, allathee
ayats, al loom, allahr��in dhak, włil Al-hulay時間u asr.
Ilayhi shmos,ahayt sergayat, ack
dikul kh momencie malak.
falta habrCome main nafwa al それ Shahid-ul Ar-Rahman.
Eish o Al-Kh twistword.
Allah�ن Said.
O The Only One who is the Dominant.
On whom with His Hand is dominion.
Allahgreen is the One opp Erin bestowed His Heaven.
There is a Jalal, there is a Azama.
And he controls everything.
Everything is in his control.
So that he may test you to see which one of you does the best deeds.
Wahua al-Aziz al-Ghafoor.
And he is al-Aziz.
He is the all-powerful.
And he is al-Ghafoor.
He forgives everything.
In these two ayat, there are three fundamental questions that are answered.
First question, who is Allah?
Second question, what is the purpose of my creation?
Why am I here on this earth?
And third question, what must I remember as I navigate my way through life?
In the words of,
Thomas Keat, who wrote a whole poem on Surah Al-Mulk,
first part of it, he calls it the night firewall.
The Surah opens with sovereignty, with solta, with control.
The Surah opens with sovereignty, not yours, his.
Blessed is the one in whose hand is dominion.
Tawaraka alladhi bi adhi al-mulk.
This is not poetic reassurance.
It is operational hierarchy.
Dominion is jurisdiction.
You exist inside it.
Recorded, logged, weighed.
There is no autonomy.
Only loyalty or exposure.
Remember always that it is Allah, subhanahu wa ta’ala, who is the true ruler.
It is he who owns the world and all that it contains.
Including me and you.
We belong to him.
We are his creatures.
We are his possession.
And it is he who controls everything.
Think of this when you see mere humans who cannot even control their own bowel movements,
posturing as if they are all powerful.
We are reminded that our beginning was non-existence.
Khalaq al-mawta wal hayata.
Al-mawt qabr al-hayat.
Qabr al-hayat.
Qabr al-mawta wal hayata.
We are reminded that our beginning was non-existence.
We began as nothing.
Allah said in Surah Al-Insan,
هَلْ أَتَىٰ عَلَىٰ الْإِنسَانِ حَيْنٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُنْ شَيًّا مَذْكُورًا
Has human being forgotten that there was a time when he was not even a thing mentioned.
He did not exist.
His name did not exist.
Even his mention did not exist.
Life is a test.
Life is a test.
And Allah gave us existence to test us.
It’s not a pleasure garden of self-indulgence,
but time to prepare for our akhirah.
The test is not a choice between doing good or evil,
but between choosing to do the best of deeds.
Death is mentioned before life to emphasize the reality of death
and the importance of preparing for it,
as well as to highlight the transient nature of life
and the consequences of our deeds in the afterlife.
Finally, when the test is complete and we die,
we will stand before the one who is
Al-Aziz wa Al-Ghafoor,
the Almighty and the All-Forgiving.
So see which of his qualities Allah chose to mention and in what order.
He forgives despite being able to extract retribution.
He will forgive though we deserve to be punished and He can punish us.
Therefore, we are reminded that,
therefore we are reminded to be grateful,
to live a life of piety,
trying to please the one before whom we will be brought
and to whom we will answer.
The key to success is to be among those who fear their Rabb,
who is unperceivable, in the unseen.
Indeed, those who fear their Rabb without seeing Him will have forgiveness,
and among them will be forgiveness.
And the reward is to be among those who fear their Rabb without seeing Him.
And Allah will reward us with forgiveness,
and He will reward us with forgiveness and He will reward us with a mighty reward.
I ask Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala,
this for all of us,
to put His khashiyah and His nur and His barakah and His haybah in our hearts
and to keep our lives in a way
and help us to lead our lives in a way which pleases Him.
Wa sallAllahu ala nabeel kareem wa ala alihi wa sahbihi ajma’in bi rahmatika arhu mar raheem.
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