QUR'AN for Young Adults - (Surah Taghabun) - Nouman Ali Khan - Ramadaan 2014 Day 9

64:1

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Sahih International

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth is exalting Allah . To Him belongs dominion, and to Him belongs [all] praise, and He is over all things competent.

64:2

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Sahih International

It is He who created you, and among you is the disbeliever, and among you is the believer. And Allah , of what you do, is Seeing.

64:3

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Sahih International

He created the heavens and earth in truth and formed you and perfected your forms; and to Him is the [final] destination.

64:4

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Sahih International

He knows what is within the heavens and earth and knows what you conceal and what you declare. And Allah is Knowing of that within the breasts.

64:5

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Sahih International

Has there not come to you the news of those who disbelieved before? So they tasted the bad consequence of their affair, and they will have a painful punishment.

64:6

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Sahih International

That is because their messengers used to come to them with clear evidences, but they said, "Shall human beings guide us?" and disbelieved and turned away. And Allah dispensed [with them]; and Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.

64:7

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Sahih International

Those who disbelieve have claimed that they will never be resurrected. Say, "Yes, by my Lord, you will surely be resurrected; then you will surely be informed of what you did. And that, for Allah , is easy."

64:8

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Sahih International

So believe in Allah and His Messenger and the Qur'an which We have sent down. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do.

64:9

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Sahih International

The Day He will assemble you for the Day of Assembly - that is the Day of Deprivation. And whoever believes in Allah and does righteousness - He will remove from him his misdeeds and admit him to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.

64:10

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Sahih International

But the ones who disbelieved and denied Our verses - those are the companions of the Fire, abiding eternally therein; and wretched is the destination.

64:11

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Sahih International

No disaster strikes except by permission of Allah . And whoever believes in Allah - He will guide his heart. And Allah is Knowing of all things.

64:12

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Sahih International

And obey Allah and obey the Messenger; but if you turn away - then upon Our Messenger is only [the duty of] clear notification.

64:13

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Sahih International

Allah - there is no deity except Him. And upon Allah let the believers rely.

64:14

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Sahih International

O you who have believed, indeed, among your wives and your children are enemies to you, so beware of them. But if you pardon and overlook and forgive - then indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

64:15

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Sahih International

Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and Allah has with Him a great reward.

64:16

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Sahih International

So fear Allah as much as you are able and listen and obey and spend [in the way of Allah ]; it is better for your selves. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful.

64:17

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Sahih International

If you loan Allah a goodly loan, He will multiply it for you and forgive you. And Allah is Most Appreciative and Forbearing.

64:18

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Sahih International

Knower of the unseen and the witnessed, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

This Surah is Madni, after the state of Madinah was established. Some of the people of Madinah did not realize the challenges they would face after becoming Muslim. The makkans had been through A LOT after accepting Islam so they fully knew the value of Islam. But new muslims had a different perspective of Islam.
Its just like people who were born into Islam and who converted to Islam, they have different perspectives of Islam.

These Surahs were revaled to refresh the faith of Muslims and remind them of their true purpose.

Everything in the world and every atom declares Allahs perfection. Evem the subatomic particles are doing Tawaf. Everything is doing their own form of tasbeeh. It is a reminder for US to do tasbeeh, looking at the creation should remind us to do Tasbeeh.

There is a comparison between us and the dunya. According to Allah we are the best creation, yet the Universe is constantly doing what Allah asked it to do. But we the perfect ones are the only creature not doing what Allah asked from us.All of the creation and WE most importantly are Allahs craft. We need to appreciate the way Allah made us. Allah is PROUD of the way he made us. But the world teaches us to be unhappy with our appearance.Allah teaches us to be HAPPY with ourselves.

Allah compares the Universe with US repeatedly. Why? All the creation who is LESS amazing than you does all these things, Why dont you do it who is the most perfect of all creation?

Allah knows EVERYTHING in the heavens and the Earth. NOTHING escapes Him. Dont think you can hide things from Allah.

Why to praise Allah and accept Him? Because Messengers came with clear proofs about Allah. Humans cannot stand authority and they dont like the fact that the Messenger came from among them. They dont like to listen to other people like themselves. But dont forget, the Prophet SAWW may be a human being but he speaks on behalf of Allah! It is easy for us to belief in the Prophet SAWW because for us, his sunnah and his life is preserved as a consitution. But for people in that time it was really difficult to believe because for 40 years, he led a NORMAL life and was just a regular human being. And then he suddenly claimed to be a Prophet. His friends and family could not believe it or accept it or obey him blindly. Imagine if your friend or nephew or husband etc claim to be a Prophet, wont it be difficult to accept? They had to change the way they looked at him, and accept and obey him as the MESSENGER of Allah.Allah says here that turning away from Prophets means turning away from Allah. If you turn away from the Prophets, Allah says He does NOT need you. This Surah is about having the right attitudes.

The fact that I have a Master, is proof that I will be raised. Just like in this world if our master asks us to do something it necessarily means that a time will come when he will ask us if we finished our work.

Believe in the light we sent down, the light of Quran and the light within us (Its Anzalnaa, not Anzalnaahu, so its tawassau fil maani and not just limited to light of Quran). So its light upon light.

Day of gathering- Tagaabun( when people will find what winning means and what losing means, and Tagaabun means losing and winning go hand in hand, So we are supposed to help one another. Even Firaun was a means for Musa AS to gain Jannah). For us everything is supposed to be an opportunity. Good and bad people both are opportunities for us.

Saua means a corpse, so bad deeds are like a corpse with a stench. And Allah will bury that away from us if we obey Him.

The disbeliever says Why do bad things happen.
Museeba=the arrow that hit bulls eye(hit exactly its target).Allah describes museebat as something that is absolutely meant to happen. It was never meant to miss you. Allah never misses his target. Everything that happens to us is supposed to happen to us. Muslims are never supposed to say, I wish that never happened. And whoever truly believes Allah, Allah will guide His heart. He will be at ease and heart will be at rest no matter what the situation. We will only be rattled temporarily. We will be FINE. Allah lets us move on.
e.g. theres a story of one my teachers. They had only one son and he was graduating and while he was coming back for graduation, his son had an accident and died. And the mother and father were at home waiting for Him and had invited guests over and then they received this news and were shattered. For few months, they could not speak to each other normally. our faith was rattled.Allah gave us this beautiful toy and let us play with it 18 years and then He took it back as it was his, and now we are complaining. We should be grateful that Allah gave us this beautiful toy.
 Thats the attitude of the believer. Because of Allah, they will be able to bear anything.

The Prophet SAWW used to get sad when people did not accept faith. So Allah tells him your job is only to convey the message. Now its their responsbility to act.True believers should only and only trust Allah. They should not question Allah but trust Him.

From within your spouses and children, there may be enemies. Something within your wives and children can become an enemy for you. So far Allah has talked about believing Him and trusting and obeying Him. If our wives and children take us away from this, they become enemies. e.g. A family lives in an apartment and the father earns decent money, If his wife and children and inlaws etc force him to get them a house although he cannot afford it. What will he need to do? He will take loan and interest. Now his family is an enemy for him. He builds a house here but he loses a house in Jannah. This animosity will not be apparent in this world but will actually show on Day of Judgement when you will blame them for leading you to the wrong path. On judgement day, we will be more selfish than anything we can imagine. If you dont give in and stand up for whats right, they will thank you in the Hereafter. Even if your family says terrible things to you in return, cover for them and forgive them.

Both money and children are a fitna. A person relies on both for the future, they are the retirement plan. Allah says watch out, they are a fitna for us.We think our money and children will help us in future years. But Allah is teaching us that we need to take care of our eternal years. So we need to invest our money for Jannah and we need to raise our children such that they become a Sadaqah Jariyah for us.Kids will only give us what we give them. We will be humiliated because of our children on Day of Judgement if we did not raise them properly.

Then Allah says just do as much as you can. Just give your best. Just like when we are given an assignment and we do a half baked effort because you were too lazy, our teacher who cares about us says Is is the best you can do, because I know you can do much more? Allah knows us better than we know ourselves. We cant fool Allah into thinking we did our best.

Spend not just out of your money but also out of your time, your talents, your energies.
Shuh means the disease of greed and want inside ourselves. That urge that keeps us way from good deeds. Inability to control urges.
Lend Allah a loan, give Him your youth, your time,your life, your money, and Allah will multiply it unimaginable for you.And I will cover for you your faults. And Allah is extremely appreciative of your effortss. Haleem means someone who knows what you are going through and sympathises..

QUR'AN for Young Adults - (Surah Nur 35-40) - Nouman Ali Khan - Ramadaan 2014 Day 8 & 9

Sahih International

Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The example of His light is like a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is within glass, the glass as if it were a pearly [white] star lit from [the oil of] a blessed olive tree, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil would almost glow even if untouched by fire. Light upon light. Allah guides to His light whom He wills. And Allah presents examples for the people, and Allah is Knowing of all things.

24:36

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Sahih International

[Such niches are] in mosques which Allah has ordered to be raised and that His name be mentioned therein; exalting Him within them in the morning and the evenings

24:37

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Sahih International

[Are] men whom neither commerce nor sale distracts from the remembrance of Allah and performance of prayer and giving of zakah. They fear a Day in which the hearts and eyes will [fearfully] turn about -

Sahih International

That Allah may reward them [according to] the best of what they did and increase them from His bounty. And Allah gives provision to whom He wills without account.

24:39

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Sahih International

But those who disbelieved - their deeds are like a mirage in a lowland which a thirsty one thinks is water until, when he comes to it, he finds it is nothing but finds Allah before Him, and He will pay him in full his due; and Allah is swift in account.

24:40

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Sahih International

Or [they are] like darknesses within an unfathomable sea which is covered by waves, upon which are waves, over which are clouds - darknesses, some of them upon others. When one puts out his hand [therein], he can hardly see it. And he to whom Allah has not granted light - for him there is no light.

This passage is a parable.  Allah uses the example of a lamp to make it easy for us to understand it.

Light is of 2 kinds:

1-Physical light e.g. light of the sun

2-Spiritual light e.g. light of the Quran, or when Allah says he brings people out of darkness into light, angels are made of spiritual light, Ruh is light

Allah is the light of the heavens and the Earth, means that Allah is the source of all light. Allahs physical lamp for this planet is the sun.

In order to have vision, we need eyes and light around us to see. So we need both a light inside and a light outside. In Arabic, ability to see is also called having light.

Suppose we have the ability to see but Allah takes away the Sun, we wont be able to see anymore.

Allah revealed the light of Quran from above for human beings.

There are 2 kinds of human beings: Spiritually blind are those whose hearts are closed and they are unable to see and appreciate the light of Quran.

The other kind of people are those who are spiritually able to see.

Hazrat Ali says that there are 2 kinds of minds, a mind we were born with and a mind we built over time.So Hazrat Ali means that the Ruh is fully mature even before it came into our bodies and it was mature whenAllah took the oath alastu birabbikum. The Ruh is separated from Allah when its sent to the world in a mothers belly. And a baby cries when its born, so its given an Azaan to calm him. We are given Azaan when we are born and Namaz Janaza will be prayed on us when we die, so this life is just similar to the gap between Azan and Iqamah. Thats how brief it is. Do something good in between Azan and Iqamah as its precious.

If you stop respecting the intellect, the Ruh, the spiritual heart given to you as a child,your physical mind is of no use. Just like the light of the sun is no good if the light of the eyes is missing. 

Physical light is the source of light on the planet. Without spiritual light, there can be no spiritual life, and the hearts become dead, and the eyes do not see.
When Allahs physical light is there then our lights pretty much become useless as Allahs light is enough. At night, we need our lights to be turned on. But even if we turn on all our lights they cannot compete with Allahs lamp. There is absolutely no comparison between our light and Allahs light. Our light is so limited.
Allahs light gives life but our light cannot give anything life.

Our ideas may be good but it is nothing compared to Allahs ideas. But when Allah reveals His light, it completes us and we can see so much and appreciate so many things that were hidden without Allahs light. Our heart opens to so many things. For example when our plane is landing somewhere at night, we cant appreciate any scenery but when it lands at day we are overawed by  everything we see. Just like there is difference between night and the day, Allahs light makes so much difference.

Niche is similar to the shape of a ribcage, lamp is similar to our heart. When the light hits the niche, it lights you up and you can even from the outside that the light is on.
When does the difference become clear between a light that is on and a light that is off? at NIGHT! Light becomes prominent when their is darkness around us, spiritual darkness around us.

Misbaah is an Ism aala..Subh means morning.. Misbaah is a tool that tries to replicate the morning. It tries to replicate the morning. Just like our Ruh when it was with its Lord it was fullly in light but when it was brought to Earth it felt deprived of that light and then Allah gave us Misbaah so it tried to mimic that morning light.

Lamp is surrounded by a glass. Why? because lamp needs protection so that its not easily blown out by the wind. So spiritually, our heart is protected by the glass from waswasa of shetaan who also blows.

We remember Allah and do Zikr and think of Allah to CLEAN the dirt which gathers on the glass, so if we are surrounded by constant dirt we need to clean ourselves constantly, Allah asks us to clean the glass at least 5 times a day through Salaah. Our heart is delicate just like a glass is delicate. If the glass is clean, you can right through it, similarly a person with a clean glass is honest and their zaahir and baatin are the same, they are transparent.

This glass is like a brilliant shining star. Stars can be seen at night time. Its compared with a shining brilliant star because we have gotten our light from outside this world. We came from Allah with this light.

Fuel is important. Pure fuel lasts longer and burns better.The fuel for this lamp comes from an outside source, a tree Mubaarak which produces so much more beyond our expectations. Which means that the Ruh is capable of becoming better and better and drawing closer and closer to Allah and theres no limit to it.

Allama Iqbal and Shaykh abdullah adhimi are 2 scholars who had some remarkable thoughts about this.
Human beings produce and manufacture a lot of things. And we have a lot of creativity. For example, the phone first developed was old fashioned. Now we have wireless, internet, bluetooth etc. We have modified our clothes with time.We improved everything! Furniture, crockery, buildings etc. We have the desire of perfection so we keep striving more and more and try to improve. We improve everything we are passionate about. This spirit is not found in animals and no other specie.

Our Ruh was in the company of Allah, the company of the perfect, and our Ruh is now constantly searching for perfection and beauty. This desire is because we were in the company of perfection. This pursuit for perfection is a SPIRITUAL trait. We don't even realize it.
The heart is never satisfied, our light is never enough, until we experience something thats perfect i.e. Allahs light.

Whats the Arab word for oil? Zaiyt. Because there is no other Zaiyt but Zaitoon, means that for Arabs the epic oil is Zaitoon oil/Olive tree. There is a lone olive tree, imagine it. The sun rises and it bakes it from the Eastern Side and when the sun sets, the sun beams on its western side. Such trees grow best because they get to have all the light.Allah says here that the olive tree is neither Eastern nor Western. Its been sunbathed constantly so it produces the purest oil. Our Ruh was in the constant present of Allah. Allah created our Ruh at the same time when he created Adam AS. So we have been baking in the light of Allah for a long time and we have only been on Earth for a limited time. After being with Allah, the oil is put in the lamp and put it in our ribcage on Earth.

The oil wants to catch fire again although the fire even hasnt touched it. This oil does not even need fire! This lamp does not even need fire to lit up!
Then it hears the call of the caller calling it to the light of Allah. And we say this is exactly what we were looking for. This can complete my light.LIGHT UPON LIGHT.
Allah guides ALL the way to His light whoever He wills. It means Allah will continue to guide you until you are standing with Allah again.

Allah will do it for whoever wants it and whoever Allah wants.
And Allah knows everything. Allah is just giving this example for you as a teacher. Allah does not need examples.

Baata=place where you spend the night, or talk the night, or plan the night etc.. so its fitting because the lamp shines brightest in the night
Daara is another word for home, it means the place you keep circling or going back to

Zakara does not mean just to remember, but to speak out,Zikr means both to mention something and remember something.
Imam Raazi said that the people of the Earth look at the sky at the twinkling stars, and the people of the sky are looking at the Earth,at the homes where Zikr is being done and they are shining spiritually.

Fajr, Maghrib, Isha, the common thing between these 3 prayers is darkness. These are the 3 prayers in which we mention the name of Allah loudly in Salaah. Mentioning Allahs name is equivalent to spreading Allahs light. When there is more darkness and more ignorance, we need to go out of the way to spread Allahs light and remove the darkness. When the light is already there, we do not need to speak out loud as in Zuhr and Asr.

His name is mentioned in morning and evening (i.e. Fajr, and Maghrib Isha). Since Rijaal or men are mentioned, it can also refer to Masaajid which young men need to fill and that will be the day we will become different people, especially at these times of darkness. Fajr and Isha at the Masjid is part of becoming real men.

There are people whom sale and commerce does not distract from Allah. Imagine its Jumma time and he gets a customer at the time of Jummah prayer and he usually doesnt get many customers. Does he serve the customer and enjoy his sale or go remember Allah? Thats the temptation

Zakaat is mentioned here for a reason. Its a spiritual tax. And it only applies to Halaal earning. So Allah here wants to say that you can only be clean and purified if you make clean money and give out of that to purify our money. Even the disbelievers used to have this sense to rebuild Kaabah only out of pure money, not out of money from gambling or prostitution etc Nowadays we have lost that sense of making Halaal money and choosing the right career. We take huge loans based on interest just to get some status symbols. You only become a real man if you are productive and contributing to the society.

They fear a day on which the hearts and eyes are going to be turned over. Why hearts and eyes? because the entire parable had to do with eyes and heart(physical and spiritual light).
Did you ever hear a teacher who said that I will take multiple exams and add your highest 5 scores and average them to the rest even if you do badly in the remaining. So Allah here just does that. He says Allah will take the BEST of what we did and compensate us based on that. And grade us according to that. So Allah will really really count some particular deeds and pass us based on that. And he will add some more points out of his own favour, if your best was not that good. Allah provides whoever he wants without any limits.

A pure heart naturally becomes concerned with giving others. Thats another reason why Allah mentioned Zakaat. Zakaat is the spirit of caring for others. It can be thought of metaphorically. It makes you a purer person. It helps you. Your attitude to others tells a lot about your relationship with Allah. You become soft with everyone. When you love Allah, you begin to love Allahs creation.

Those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a low land
Or its like multiple shades of darkness(lujjaaj implies persistence and turbulence) in the middle of an ocean, then a wave comes and covers him, above this wave there is another bigger wave and above and beyond that there are clouds, its a dark night. If he took out his own hand, he wont even be able to see it. Then whoever Allah does not give light, they cannot possibly have any light
Both these examples have to do with the inability to see.

The first case of the mirage is of one who thinks they are doing good deeds but its just a mirage and their deeds amount to nothing. A mirage looks good but it has no reality. Some people even think that what they are doing is good but its not good for Allah because they are showing off or not doing it for Allah purely or they are doing it the wrong way. e.g. some people rob a bank but are very kind to the poor. Some become a part of unjust wars and think they are serving their country. Some people earn from a haraam source but give a lot of charity. They are all living in a delusion. Some people think they can make up for their bad deeds by doing a good deed. Its true that good deeds wipe away bad deeds but that happens when you do sincere tawbah from a bad deed and replace it with good deeds. Suppose you work at a company and you keep piling up your work and keep promising the boss I will put extra hours and make up for it  later. How long will the boss let you do it? He will fire you. Some people unfortunately ignore the things that are very important for Allah and are a big deal and compensate it by doing things which are just for extra credit e.g. going for umrah praying taraweeh or not fasting and just paying for those missed fasts without a genuine excuse etc. and in their mind they think that this will balance the equation.
It as is they are trying to bribe Allah through these shortcuts. We need to check our niyyah again and again. Are we truly doing what we are doing for Allah or are we doing it just to make a show of it?
Some people say that at least they are not in the depths of the ocean, they are doing something, some good deeds, so they are happy with the mirage by saying that at least they are not a bad person. But they forget that both of them are blindness.

The 2nd is of the person who is surrounded by bad company and is in darkness of sins. They have completely blocked access to any good influence. When someone is in darkness for a long time, they become really agitated by light. So they become really agitated by good advice. Its going to be a painful difficult struggle initially for them to find light again.If he took his hands out he wont be able to see it. Hands are a symbol of deeds, so it shows that he is not even able to see the reality of his deeds.

Whoever Allah might not have given light, for him there is no light. It shows that Allah GAVE everyone light within themselves, in their inside, even if there is no light on their outside.

Even for Firaun who was the epitome of evil,Allah even said for him that remind him maybe it will benefit him. So it shows that the possibility exists.

People try to busy themselvess in drug and rock and roll to escape reality so that they do not have to THINK about it. They just want to become blind to reality. They may have everything but they are still not happy. They are drowned in darkness. And a lot of such people commit suicide.
e.g. There was a woman who decided to become an actress, and they told her you would have to let go completely and let go of your beliefs and morals to mould yourself into every character just like an empty vessel. In other words, they asked her to kill her light. She did it for 2 years but then she could not bear it. Then she joined a circus. But there too after a while she began to feel the clothing is inappropriate. Then she came across a muslim there who was praying and after talking to him, she accepted Islam. They both left the circus and got married and mashaaAllah now have children who are Huffaaz.

QUR'AN for Young Adults - (Surah Al-Imran 190-195) - Nouman Ali Khan - Ramadaan 2014 Day 7 & 8

Sahih International

Indeed, in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day are signs for those of understanding.

3:191

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Sahih International

Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire.

3:192

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Sahih International

Our Lord, indeed whoever You admit to the Fire - You have disgraced him, and for the wrongdoers there are no helpers.

3:193

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Sahih International

Our Lord, indeed we have heard a caller calling to faith, [saying], 'Believe in your Lord,' and we have believed. Our Lord, so forgive us our sins and remove from us our misdeeds and cause us to die with the righteous.

3:194

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Sahih International

Our Lord, and grant us what You promised us through Your messengers and do not disgrace us on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed, You do not fail in [Your] promise."

3:195

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Sahih International

And their Lord responded to them, "Never will I allow to be lost the work of [any] worker among you, whether male or female; you are of one another. So those who emigrated or were evicted from their homes or were harmed in My cause or fought or were killed - I will surely remove from them their misdeeds, and I will surely admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow as reward from Allah , and Allah has with Him the best reward."

The Prophet SAWW used to receive revelation in different ways. Sometimes it was through an angel and sometimes it was direct. Once he was lying down next to his wife sleeping and Quran began to be relieved to him. Then he turned to Hazrat Ayesha RA and said, if you give me permission I would like to pray. That shows how amazing his manners are, although he is a Prophet and he doesnt need permission. The Prophet SAWW made wuzu and began to pray and reciting ayaat aloud. He started crying as he recited this and his entire beard was soaked. Then he stayed in Sajdah and kept crying until there was a puddle where he was making Sajda, until Fajr started. The companions are waiting for the Prophet to lead prayer but he is not coming out. The Prophet then finished prayer and said that how can you call me away from Allah when Allah has revealed this ayah. This comes in a Hadith narration.

In this passage, in the first part the person was searching for Allah, in the 2nd part they ask their Rabb for something, and in the third part, their Rabb responds.

The Sahaba used to miss the Prophet and used to go to Hazrat Ayesha RA after his death and ask stories about the Prophet. Hazrat Ayesha would be on one side of the curtain and the sahaba would be on the other side of the curtain. Hazrat Ayesha would say that everything about him was amazing. And she would tell one of the stories. BUT there are a lot of stories and moments that are not recorded but we will learn about them at Al Kauthar, the fountain when we sit there with the Prophet SAWW InshaaAllah.

Who are Oolul Albaab?The people of sound,clean minds? There are ayaat in the alternation of Day and night for clean minds.
Some people become incredible knowledge when they put their mind to it and they learnt enormous amount of data. Some people are obsessed with sports, some with politics,some with TV shows, some with gadgets, and they know so much about them. So some people are super smart but hey spend their mind on things that are not useful.
So Allah says here that there are some people who have pure minds who did not waste their minds on such useless things but thought about skies and the night and day . We would consider such a person very weird who thinks about such things these days. But Allah tells us to think about these.

When you go out you feel a breeze, a wind, which is actually a delivery system of life on planet as wind carries clouds and pollen etc.If there is no wind , plant cannot grow so animals cannot survive, and we cannot survive. Trees exhale Oxygen which we are breathing and which enables us to live.Everything is working in association with one another. Think about the night and the day.  Each have a purpose and they enable us to lead a happy,balanced life. Places where there is lack of sunlight, people have developed emotional issues according to research. We are using everything on Earth for our technology and survival. We are just using the resources Allah has given us, we have not created any raw material. We just worked with the pieces we were given.

Ayaah=means something valuable
Something that has purpose or meaning
Every ayah is distinct and has value.
It also means sign. e.g. wind is a sign that life is being delivered, If life is being taken care of it is a sign that somebody is providing for me.
So everything is a clue
But If peoples minds are filled with useless facts they will not be able to see the bigger picture and the grand scheme of things. Its like somebody is holding a Quran and they learn nothing about the Quran but learn about the paper from which Quran is made. How will that benefit him? It wont! We have become focused on the wrong things, we have forgotten to think about the right things.

If you eat a lot of junk food and eat a fruit once in a while, it wont be enough because our GIT is consumed by useless things and one fruit wont be of any benefit. Similarly we have filled our mind with lagwiyaat, its a tragedy of human mind, a waste. At least cut down the lagwiyaat, to allow your mind to open. Firaun did not want the youth to rise and rebel so every other year he would kill all the baby boys. Why not every year? because he still needed some population for his slaves. Now these days the policy is to keep boys from turning into men by giving them gadgets too many blessings and not allow them to mature and grow, get a job,study or do something. They do nothing with their life. Such boys are not a threat to any wrong in the society. Entertainment is so infinite, our lifetime will end but entertainment opportunities will NEVER be exhausted, so our entire life can be wasted in environment.

The Quran talks to both the mind and the heart

The heart is the seat of the Ruh. The heart remembers, it gets excited,motivated,happy etc so the emotions are associated with the heart on a spiritual level
The mind has to do with intellect and thinking and processing information and memorizing and reasoning.

Some speeches appeal only to the mind,some only to the heart, some to both in our daily life. Human beings are both rational and emotional creatures.

There are some people who become so emotional that they close the door to thinking and some do the opposite. But Allah says that people of sound minds are those who remember Allah and who THINK, both things go hand in hand. In fact, the heart is given priority and mentioned first. So Allah says successful people will come to judgement day with a CLEAN heart(qalb e saleem)
If your heart is not conquered yet, your mind will go on the wrong track. Your heart decides in which direction your mind will be focused. For example, your heart desires that you want to be a doctor,so your mind works in that direction. When we have clarity about what we want then everything becomes clear.

Then when they think,they reach the conclusion that there is no way all of this does not have meaning. Having meaning means AYAH so basically we realize that everything around us is an Ayah which has meaning
He not only speaks for himself but also for others because he has a good heart and he wants good for everyone.

Allah uses nature to develop our morals and beliefs. The Quran trains us to think that everything around us is and has a lesson. Everything is valuable.

In games, we get a sense of accomplishment when we win a game or get to another level. Why do trophies give us such a sense of acievement? In this life, there are no rules, some people work hard and get nothing and some dont work hard and get a lot. So life isnt that fair. But games are relatively fair because it gives us immediate self satisfaction. We love to immerse ourselves in a world which gives us instant gratification for our efforts. And what does Allah say? This life is nothing but a game. What do we do? We earn points, we win trophies. So we dont have much interest in those little games because we are involved in a bigger game with higher stakes. Some people when they lose a sense of purpose and meaning, they commit suicide or become depressed. They lose interest in this game because they dont see any point.

Protect us from the fire, in other words dont let us lose in this game of life. Now that he has realized that there is a purpose, he is seeking the purpose.

Humans are a very dignified creation in this world. The only slavery that liberates us from all other forms of slavery is slavery to Allah. And it dignifies us.People these days are enslaved to trends and enslaved to certain fashions. People think if they dont follow them they will be left out or humiliated or will feel like the odd one out. I remember, in schools where there are uniforms, people didnt look at clothes to judge people but focused more on their personality but where there was no uniform, people were judged first on appearances and later on personality. We ususally associate dignity with how people think of us. But in reality, dignity is from Allah and no human can take it away. Dignity will be taken away when Allah throws someone in the fire. Islamic mannerisms are extremely dignified and such morals and manners increase our dignity.

Wrongdoers in Arabic means=putting something where it doesnt belong=Zalimeen

Master, we have heard the call of somebody calling people to belief and faith, and it lines up with what is in my heart and what I was thinking about on my own after looking at ayaat about there being a Creator, so Lord forgive our mistakes, now this person is ready to die because he knows there is an afterlife ahead.
These ayaat tell the story of those who discovered Islam themselves. But we who were born and raised as muslims dont feel it this way because we never had to search for it.
BUT faith cannot be inherited. We have to reach our own conviction. If we are only muslim because our parents our muslim we will have the weakest of faiths. Our Prophet SAWW said I call to people with my eyes open. Our faith does not have to be BLIND, we reach to the conclusion driven by our heart and mind. Our eyes should only be closed when it comes to Allahs laws.There is no intellect involved when it comes to laws. Because when we believe that Allah is our creator and is perfect and we have reached the conclusion we need to trust Allah and follow Him and not question His laws. We just follow the social and spiritual laws because ALLAH said so.
We heard the call of A caller, it means we dont even know who the person is, so we first judge the idea, then we investigate who is saying it, and when after investigation you realize that the person is very decent you ask further and are interested. But if there character is opposite to their words then they are no longer attracted and they turn back. To respond to the call, we have to move closer to the source. So the sahaaba moved closer to the Prophet SAWW, and so discovered him to be amazing.

E.g. there is a story of a woman in Alabama who had a dream about the Kaabah, she searched for the cube thing on google and searched for Islam and went to a Mosque to search 100 miles away but got a negative response so came back crying, but then she got a dream AGAIN after 2 weeks and she searched again and then she stumbled upon Shaykh omer suleman fortunately.
e.g. there was a woman who was a trainer at a gym and she accepted islam only because a muslim man lowered his gaze
Such people can make a case against us muslims because we became a source of misguidance for them by having characters opposite to our religion.

When we lead a good life, we become prepared for death. Tawaffanaa means to take us away. Its not death. It means to take us from this life to the next life.

In Ayah 9 the dua says truly Allah does not break promise. But now the believer says YOU dont take your promise. This shows that Allah is closer to us now as we have progressed through the Surah thats why we have used this tense.

Fastajaaba= means immediately their master responded or therefore their master responsed

Ijaaba means that the request is accepted right away and we can see it e.g. a letter
fastajaaba means that the request is responded but we may not see it right away ..so we have to be patient and believe that Allah has responded.
Most duas in Quran are not about changing the reality,rather they are about dealing with the reality and dealing with pain and dealing with situations. People who are happy with whatever Allah decrees and ask Allah for strength then Allah actually does change reality for them, although they are not really asking for a change in reality. E.g. in Badr, the muslims said plant our feet and aid us against believers(dont makes us cowards), and they asked for sabar but Allah sent an army of angels
e.g. people of Ashaab e kahf only asked for help and patience but Allah changed the laws of nature for them

Now Allahs first response is that I wont waste your actions, so lets see what you have got, so Allah emphasises on actions here. Dua needs to be followed by actions to show that you are actually serious

Allah mentioned both men and women because women are dignified here. Women and men are absolutely equal when it comes to relation with Allah. Even when women are in periods, they are still getting sawaab because they are following Allahs command and its also an ibadah.
Allah also highlited them separately because their relationships with Allah has some differences as they are psychologically different.

Then Allah says you are from each other

Now Allah mentions migration. Migration can be from one place to another, and also migration can be from sins and it leads to improvement.
There was an Imam in Vietnam, their village was invaded by some disbelieving rebels. They asked the Imam to eat pork and beer in front of the whole village to demoralize everyone and degrade Allahs laws. He said Fear Allah and not the people. And they shot him in the head and buried him in some unknown spot in the jungle. His brother went searching and found his grave as a rectangle with no leaves and light falling their directly. Its like Allah brought his grave from darkness to light. SubhanAllah..people gave such amazing sacrifices for Islam.
Allah says he will bury the sins of those who give such amazing sacrifices.
When Allah buries the sins then nobody can even tell there was something there to begin with. So there is no trace left.Allah swears to it that he will bury it and make them enter multiple gardens(multiple jannahs) with waterfalls and rivers flowing beneath them

As human beings, we lied to be paid back instantly and get immediate reward for efforts. Allah asks for a lot of restrictions and self restraint and sacrifices and promises Jannah which we cannot even see and we have to DIE before we actually see it. And Allah does not ask us to do amaal for few months or years. Its lifetime submission UNTIL you die, you have to die in a state of imaan! lifetime work with just the guarantee of Allahs promise, it needs a LOT of faith. Belief in the unseen.
The only guarantee we have is the Quran and the Messenger. Allah promises that I will not let you get underpaid, I will record every step, and if you are patient I will reward you infinitely

Every time we are tempted to do something wrong is because the joy comes immediately, its a cash deal, Satan does not offer something for the future but he offers instant gratification. Allah gives us a choice. And just like every plan we make in college for our future has some consequences and decides the end, the same happens here. The decision we make affects our afterlife.