The Most Eye Opening 60 Minutes Of Your Life | Nouman Ali Khan
The Most Eye Opening 60 Minutes Of Your Life | Nouman Ali Khan
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00:00Allah chose a nation since the time of Musa Alayhi Salaam.
00:06He chose a nation to be the carriers of his word.
00:10That was the sons of Israel.
00:12He chose them and he gave them his book, Al-Tawrat.
00:15And they were chosen and given preference over all other nations in the world.
00:20This is what the Quran itself tells us.
00:22Okay?
00:23وَفَضَّلْنَاكُمْ عَلَىٰ ٱلْعَالَمِينَ
00:25We gave you preference over all other nations.
00:28No other nation had this many prophets.
00:30No other nation had this many chances to live by and demonstrate the truth of Allah's book.
00:36Over time, not all the Israelites, but a group among them
00:40developed a certain kind of superiority complex.
00:44Okay?
00:45Now this is really important.
00:46We hate it when somebody quotes something from the Quran
00:51and says all these Muslims, this is what they believe.
00:54You see?
00:55It says like some of our, you know, back home.
00:58Ah, these Muslims.
01:00Look at what it says in their Quran.
01:02It says, kill them wherever you find them.
01:05This is what they believe.
01:07They want to kill you wherever they find you.
01:10It says it right here in your book.
01:12We hate that because we know that you're taking it out of context.
01:17You don't know what that means.
01:19And you could have just asked one of us,
01:21but you would rather quote something out of place.
01:24And then we get really offended.
01:26We shouldn't do that to their books.
01:29Because we hate it ourselves.
01:32We shouldn't take one quote from the Bible here,
01:34one quote from the Bible there.
01:35Look at what these people believe.
01:37Look at what's in their book.
01:38Look at...
01:39No, no, that's not fair.
01:40That's not fair.
01:42And when some Muslims do something bad,
01:45and they say all Muslims are like this,
01:48we hate it.
01:49But if some Jews or some Christians do something wrong,
01:54and we take the some and say what?
01:57All Christians are like this.
01:59We hate it.
02:00Is that justice?
02:02Is that fair?
02:03Is that a double standard?
02:05We should be people of justice.
02:07The Quran is actually extremely just
02:10in the way it deals with the Christians and the Jews.
02:13And our relationship with the Jews,
02:15and our relationship with the Christians
02:17is very interesting in the Quran.
02:19It's not one relationship.
02:20It's multiple relationships.
02:22It's not one relationship.
02:24On the one hand,
02:25one of the audiences of the Quran
02:27are the rabbis and the priests.
02:30That's one specific audience.
02:32They're called Ahlul Kitab in the Quran.
02:35Allah talks to them and says what?
02:36Ahlul Kitab.
02:38And that's referring not to all Christians and all Jews.
02:41Who's it referring to?
02:42The rabbis and the priests.
02:44Our religion, the book,
02:46targeted the most knowledgeable people in their religion
02:49and had a conversation with them.
02:51That's number one.
02:53Another audience in the Quran
02:55is the historical Jews
02:57and the historical Christians,
02:59some of them who made some very serious mistakes.
03:03And he criticizes the some of them
03:05that made very serious mistakes.
03:06By the way,
03:07in Islamic history since the Prophet ﷺ,
03:09are there some Muslims and Muslim nations and governments
03:12that made very serious mistakes?
03:14Yeah.
03:15Now, what we like to do
03:17when we talk about Islamic history,
03:18we talk about Salah ad-Din.
03:21We talk about Rasul ﷺ, Abu Bakr, Umar,
03:24Uthman, Ali.
03:26Okay, golden years.
03:27Fast forward, Salah ad-Din.
03:29Fast forward right now.
03:31And all the chapters of Islamic history
03:34that are not so glorious,
03:36where we did not so nice things,
03:38where we may have committed some part of genocide,
03:41or we may have colluded and done something wrong.
03:43We kind of skip those chapters and say,
03:46The Ummah was so powerful,
03:49was so beautiful.
03:50I have to get the Ummah back.
03:53And you're like,
03:54Yes, Ummah.
03:56Even though you don't...
03:57Can you tell me the history of the Ummah
03:59in the last 200 years,
04:00300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800 years?
04:03Can you tell me?
04:05Can you tell me what the rule was like?
04:06Can you tell me what...
04:08No, no, no, but overall we were good.
04:10Overall, they were bad.
04:12Overall, we were good.
04:14You know what that is?
04:15That's delusional thinking.
04:17And that's dishonesty.
04:18That's intellectual dishonesty.
04:20The Israelites had an issue.
04:24Some of them.
04:25They looked at their history
04:26and only focused on the good parts.
04:30Oh, look.
04:31We are the people of Ibrahim.
04:32We're the people of Musa.
04:33We're the people of this.
04:34We're the people of this.
04:35Allah spoke to us on the mountain.
04:36We're so special because of this reason.
04:38This reason, this reason, this reason.
04:40And what did they skip?
04:43The embarrassing parts of their history.
04:45They skipped those parts.
04:46Not all of them did this,
04:48but some of them did this.
04:49By the way, does that sound like a familiar disease?
04:52The Muslims have selective citation of history?
04:55Did we develop our psychology
04:56based on selective chapters of history?
04:58Yeah.
05:00Why is the Prophet telling us
05:01you're gonna become like them?
05:04And then what does Allah do in the Quran?
05:07Especially in Surah Al-Baqarah.
05:08He highlights a part of their history
05:11that they don't like to talk about.
05:14He highlighted the ugly chapters
05:16of Israelite history.
05:17And then he even said,
05:18وَيَعْفُوا عَن كَثِيرٍ
05:20By the way, there's a lot that I'm skipping.
05:23There's a lot more,
05:24but this should be enough for you to get the point.
05:27There's a lot more dirty laundry.
05:30But why was Allah doing this?
05:32It was not to humiliate the Israelites.
05:34It was actually to teach Muslims something,
05:37which is what?
05:38Be honest with yourselves.
05:40And then the other part
05:42of the Israelite history in the Quran.
05:43So we've got the rabbis
05:45and the priests being talked to,
05:46selective history being addressed
05:49among some of them.
05:50The third, there are heroes
05:52in Israelite history
05:54that are our heroes,
05:56not just their prophets.
05:58وَكَأَيِّم مِّن نَّبِيِّن قَاتَلَ مَعَهُ رِبِّيُّونَ كَثِيرٌ
06:02When Muslims were about
06:03to go into the battle of Uhud,
06:04you know who their inspiration was in the Quran?
06:07Those who fought
06:08alongside the Israelite prophets.
06:10Who were they?
06:11The Israelites.
06:13These were the Jews of that time.
06:15They were reconsidered
06:16than the Muslims of that time.
06:18And they are our inspiration in the Quran,
06:20actually.
06:22So what I'm saying is,
06:23we think that the Quran paints
06:25one stroke, one picture
06:27of who the Jews are,
06:29one picture of who the Christians are in the Quran.
06:31That is absolutely not the case.
06:34In some places of certain groups,
06:36highly critical.
06:37In some places of certain groups,
06:39praising.
06:40And in the current times,
06:42the Muslims would be like,
06:44okay, we know something
06:45about the historical Jews.
06:47Some of them were praiseworthy,
06:48some of them were criticism worthy.
06:50But what about the Jews we're living with in Medina?
06:52What about them?
06:53Allah says,
06:54وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ إِنْتَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنْطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ
06:57وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ إِنْتَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنْطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ
07:01Our people, if you trusted them
07:03with piles and piles of wealth,
07:06they will give it back to you 100%.
07:09And among them, there are those,
07:11if you give them even one penny,
07:13they will not give it back to you.
07:16And the second group,
07:18so the first one,
07:19and by the way,
07:20he mentioned the honest ones first.
07:22He prioritized the honest ones.
07:25He even said about them,
07:26وَمَا يَفْعَلُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلَنْ يُكْفَرُوهُ
07:28The good deeds they do,
07:29they will not be denied of them.
07:31Is this Quran?
07:34And then he said,
07:35and the ones that will not even give you back one penny,
07:37he said one thing about them.
07:39He said, ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُوا لَيْسَ عَلَيْنَا فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ
07:41السَّبِيلِ
07:42That's because they said,
07:43when it comes to the...
07:44الْأُمِّيِّينَ
07:46You heard the word,
07:47الْأُمِّيِّينَ
07:48لَيْسَ عَلَيْنَا فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ
07:49السَّبِيلِ
07:50Among...
07:51When it comes to these uneducated people,
07:54these unblessed people,
07:57we don't owe them anything.
07:59So among them,
08:00an extreme group came,
08:02not all of them,
08:03but an extreme group came within them,
08:05and what beliefs did they develop?
08:07They developed a belief that if you steal from...
08:09They considered the rest of the world impure.
08:12نَجَس
08:13Okay, the ones that were pure are the Israelites,
08:15everybody else is نَجَس.
08:17And since they're نَجَس,
08:18if a نَجَس steals from me,
08:21if an impure one steals from me,
08:23they better pay me back.
08:24But if I steal from them,
08:26I don't have to pay them back.
08:28And they developed that mentality.
08:29And the Qur'an came and what?
08:31Attacked that mentality.
08:33Those are the ones that can't be trusted.
08:35Now, fast forward.
08:38I'm in Europe,
08:39fun place,
08:41in a country that shall not be named.
08:45And I met a brother,
08:46I was like,
08:47mashallah, I'm...
08:49I have one son,
08:50his name is Muhammad.
08:51I was like, beautiful name.
08:52I was like, yeah,
08:53but I told the government I have four sons,
08:55spelled Muhammad M-U-H-A,
08:57M-O-H-A, M-O-U-H-A,
09:00with a double M, with a single M.
09:02And I get benefits for four sons.
09:05I collect four checks from the kuffar.
09:09Mashallah.
09:11I don't even pay rent.
09:13Alhamdulillah.
09:16I was like, cool.
09:18لَيْسَ عَلَيْنَا فِي الْأُمِّيِّنَ سَبِيدٌ
09:21I've heard this, I've seen this before.
09:23You can steal from them because,
09:25they're what?
09:27The kuffar, they're lettuce.
09:28You can steal from them.
09:30This was something that we,
09:32the Qur'an criticized this about a group of people before,
09:36but whose behavior is this?
09:39This is now, not all Muslims,
09:41but some Muslims,
09:42absolutely.
09:43Absolutely their behavior.
09:46So, this mentality,
09:48this mindset,
09:49is actually what the Qur'an criticizes.
09:52However, now,
09:53among them were those who said,
09:55these Ummiyyin are less.
09:57Then they developed other narratives.
09:59Abraham had two children.
10:01The children of,
10:03the lineages,
10:04the children of Isaac,
10:05and the children of Ishmael.
10:06Ishaq and Isma'il.
10:08And they developed an entire literature,
10:10how Isma'il is not even legitimate,
10:12which is according to the Bible not true.
10:15He is legitimate in the Bible.
10:17Oh, Isma'il is not really his son.
10:19Or Isma'il is the cursed son.
10:21So, all of his children are going to be what?
10:24They're gonna be cursed, right?
10:26The cursed line of Ishma'il.
10:28I've even heard sermons in churches about that.
10:30The cursed line of Ishma'il.
10:32Then they developed,
10:33some of them developed this concept of the non-Jews
10:37being Goyem.
10:38Goyem is their word for Ummi.
10:40Uneducated, unlettered,
10:41they don't know what the Wahy is.
10:43But they became so extreme,
10:45some of them became so extreme,
10:46even the Jews among them
10:48that did not belong to their elite class,
10:51they were also called Goyem.
10:53Also called Ummiyeen.
10:56So they get even more exclusive.
10:57Now, of course, Muslims don't do this.
10:59Muslims don't have some group that says,
11:01we're the right ones,
11:03everybody else is going to Jahannam.
11:05And then eventually they say,
11:06we're the only few Muslims that are right,
11:08and all the other Muslims, 72 sects,
11:10are all going to burn in Jahannam.
11:12Thank God I belong to the special golden club.
11:15Mutahhar club, right?
11:17Because everybody else is just najas.
11:19I don't know,
11:20I don't even know if I should pray next to these people.
11:22I don't even know if I can say salam to them or...
11:25So forget their condescending view
11:28of the rest of humanity,
11:30they even developed a condescending view
11:32of fellow believers.
11:34And this is not new,
11:36this happened already in what history?
11:38In Israelite history.
11:39And our Prophet told us,
11:40لَذَا اتَّبِعُنَّا سُنَا لَذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ
11:43You will end up following the ways
11:44of the people who came before you.
11:47Allah says in this ayah,
11:49He sent a messenger,
11:50He raised them among who?
11:52The ummiyyin,
11:54the people that the Israelites considered what?
11:57Najas.
11:59The people that were unworthy.
12:01The people from the cursed line of Ismail.
12:04In the previous ayah,
12:05He used the word al-Quddus,
12:06the holy, the pure.
12:08And the Israelites believed because of that name.
12:10Who did He make pure?
12:12Them.
12:13Some of them even developed this fatwa
12:15that whoever stood under the mountain,
12:18and their children are forever pure.
12:20And whoever was not under the mountain,
12:22their children are forever impure.
12:25Cool.
12:27So now Allah takes this concept of superiority
12:29and says,
12:30by the way,
12:31I'm gonna send a messenger
12:32and whom I'm gonna send it among?
12:34The ummiyyin.
12:36Ummi, by the way,
12:37really cool word.
12:39Really epic word.
12:40Ummi has couple of meanings.
12:42One, belonging to a certain nation
12:44from ummah.
12:46So these were nationalistic people
12:48or ethnic peoples.
12:50But ummah also means,
12:52كأنه خرج من أمي
12:54as if he knows nothing
12:56like the day he came out of his mother.
12:58Umm means mother, right?
12:59Ummi means so uneducated,
13:01so unknowledgeable about the work,
13:03about the revelation,
13:04about God, about prophets,
13:06as if he just came out of his mother.
13:08No background,
13:09no history,
13:10no intellectual scholarly history,
13:12nothing.
13:14Allah decided to send a messenger
13:16among these people.
13:18Could Allah have sent a messenger
13:19among the Roman Empire?
13:21Among the Greeks
13:22who have a history of philosophy?
13:24Among the Chinese
13:25who have poetry, literature?
13:27Among the Indians
13:28who have the Sanskrit philosophies?
13:30And they were...
13:31The Persians,
13:32there were so many civilizations
13:34in the world that have
13:35long-standing intellectual histories,
13:37and empires, and civilizations.
13:39And the one place in the world
13:41that was forgotten
13:42that nobody knows about,
13:43nobody cares,
13:44is what?
13:45That Arabian desert, man.
13:47There's a Roman Empire
13:49on this side,
13:50there's a Persian Empire
13:51on that side,
13:52there's the Abyssinian Empire
13:53on that side,
13:54and even they don't care
13:55that you're in the middle
13:56because this is sand.
13:58They don't want to expand
13:59into this territory.
14:00Let them be.
14:01Let these shepherds do their thing.
14:03Let these camel herders
14:04do their thing.
14:05Who cares about them?
14:06They are a forgotten chapter of history.
14:08When you go across the Khalij,
14:10when you go across the desert
14:11of Hijaz,
14:13did you see ancient palaces?
14:15Did you see the ruins
14:16of great civilizations?
14:18Did you see it?
14:19Nothing.
14:20These people have no education,
14:21no background.
14:23And they just go
14:24and they go towards Syria,
14:26and they go towards Yemen,
14:28and they do their little trade.
14:29Sometimes they end up
14:30in Roman territory near Syria.
14:32Sometimes they go towards the Africa
14:33and do a little bit,
14:34make a little bit of money here,
14:35make a little bit of money there.
14:37And their great city
14:38is a city that happens
14:39to have a well.
14:41That's like,
14:42oh my God, you're in Mecca?
14:43Mecca is nice.
14:44You got a well.
14:47It's got a burnt rock.
14:50It's got insanely hot temperature.
14:51How many people been to Mecca?
14:53Does it look like a tourist attraction
14:54if it wasn't for the Haram?
14:55Would you have,
14:56would a human being
14:57have any reason
14:58to go to Mecca
14:59if it wasn't for the Kaaba?
15:02Like what?
15:04When you go there,
15:05you're like...
15:07Zohar Salah,
15:08you would rather...
15:09People walk,
15:10people get up late for Zohar Salah
15:11so they end up praying inside the mall,
15:13so they don't have to pray.
15:16Because the beating sun man,
15:18the beating...
15:19And among them,
15:20Allah sent a messenger?
15:22Among them?
15:24First he describes
15:25he's the ultimate king of all kings,
15:27and then he takes the most forgotten,
15:29the most like,
15:32kind of unimportant part
15:34of the world map.
15:36You know,
15:38the insignificant part of the world map
15:40and says,
15:41yep, right here.
15:42Why?
15:43Because thousands of years before,
15:45there was a man named Ibrahim Alayhi Salaam
15:47who built his house
15:48in this unknown desert
15:50and made a dua thousands of years ago,
15:53Ya Allah send a messenger
15:54among these people.
15:56And bring people's hearts
15:57towards this hot desert
15:58where nobody's heart would wanna go.
16:00People would rather go to Hawaii,
16:02they would rather go to California,
16:03they would rather go to Switzerland,
16:05they would rather go to New Zealand,
16:06they would rather go anywhere else,
16:07not here.
16:09But Ya Allah,
16:10bring people's hearts here.
16:11And give them,
16:12send them a messenger here.
16:14Thousands of years ago,
16:15there was no recorder at the time,
16:17there was no microphone,
16:18there was no camera that recorded this,
16:19there was no writer who wrote this down,
16:21it was just him and God talking.
16:23Ya Allah send a messenger
16:24among these people
16:25that are gonna settle here.
16:26That's this dua.
16:27And thousands of years after that,
16:30what does Allah do?
16:31He decides to send
16:32among these people
16:33who have been pagan for...
16:34And by the way,
16:35the house that Ibrahim built
16:36is surrounded by what?
16:38Idols for centuries.
16:39These are pagan people.
16:40Even if we lived at the time,
16:42we're like,
16:43Oh! Mushrikoon,
16:44the Mushrikoon are najas,
16:45they're filthy.
16:46That's what the Qur'an describes,
16:47the people of shirk are dirty.
16:49Because spiritual dirt is on them.
16:51So the Israelites consider them unworthy,
16:53dirty.
16:54Look, they're pagans.
16:55They're idol worshippers.
16:57Look at what they believe,
16:58these false religions.
17:00And among them,
17:01Allah decides to send a messenger.
17:04SubhanAllah.
17:05What a decision Allah made.
17:07The king of all kings.
17:08And the way he's gonna describe that decision,
17:11that he let them...
17:12It's not even...
17:13And I know it's time.
17:14He could have been an Arab
17:17from among them,
17:18but he was raised among the Romans.
17:21So he knows higher society, you know?
17:23Or he was raised among the Greek,
17:25or he was raised among the Persian,
17:26so he gets to know what royalty is like.
17:28You know like Musa Alayhi Salaam
17:29was among the Israelites,
17:30but he was raised where?
17:32He was raised in the palace.
17:34So Allah could have raised the Prophet Alayhi Salaam
17:36in a palace somewhere.
17:37And then he can come and
17:38bring higher education to his people.
17:41No, he was raised within them.
17:43He's from them and he's within them.
17:45The highest education the human being,
17:48humanity ever received
17:49is the word of Allah.
17:50And it came in a place
17:52that was the least educated arguably on earth.
17:55That's where it began.
17:57From absolute zero.
17:59From absolute zero.
18:00And from there,
18:01today you and I are sitting here.
18:03SubhanAllah.
18:04In ayah number two of Surah Al-Jumu'ah,
18:06Allah will not just introduce us
18:08where and how he raised this messenger
18:10which we talked about in the last session.
18:12Allah will introduce us to four things
18:14that the messenger is going to do.
18:16His mission is being summarized
18:18as four tasks, okay?
18:21And this is almost as if
18:23there's what he's supposed to do,
18:26what his goal is,
18:27is actually mentioned in Surah Al-Saff.
18:30In the previous Surah, Allah mentioned
18:31what is the goal of sending the messenger.
18:34But every time you have a goal,
18:36you have to have a method
18:37so you can reach that goal.
18:39Right?
18:40You have to have a formula,
18:41a practice to reach that goal.
18:42Like to make it super simple,
18:43if somebody says,
18:44I want you to become good enough
18:46so you can join the team, right?
18:48And they have to have a training program,
18:50some kind of formula they have to follow,
18:52then they can get there.
18:53What is the regimen that he's going to follow?
18:55This ayah is about the method,
18:58the process of the Prophet ﷺ.
19:02And before we get into that process,
19:04I just want you to know
19:05that this process is forever true.
19:08Like this isn't just,
19:09it was started by the Prophet ﷺ
19:12and then it was passed down
19:14until Judgment Day
19:16for the Ummah to learn
19:17that this is the process to do what?
19:19This is the process to bring about change.
19:21Now there are two kinds of change.
19:23There's change inside a person
19:25and there's change inside society.
19:27You see around you someone
19:29who was not praying,
19:31they were drinking alcohol,
19:32they were basically kind of
19:34practically not a Muslim
19:35and then something changed
19:37and they became
19:38a completely different person.
19:40The way the people they hang out with,
19:41the way they spend their time,
19:42their prayers,
19:43their drinking and eating habits,
19:45everything changed.
19:46There was a revolution inside them
19:48and they became
19:49a completely different individual, right?
19:51That's personal change.
19:53And then because of that one person,
19:55maybe their friends,
19:56some of them started changing,
19:57maybe their community started changing
19:59a little bit, right?
20:00And those kinds of changes
20:01happen every day.
20:02There are people that experience
20:04these amazing transformations.
20:06So many of you have come up to me
20:07and told me,
20:08hey, I wasn't even praying
20:09five months ago
20:10or I wasn't even wearing hijab a year ago
20:12or four months ago
20:13or five months ago, etc.
20:14There are changes happening
20:15even in this room
20:16and some of you are
20:17and it's not like the change is complete,
20:19you're still changing,
20:20you're still on the road to change.
20:22The problem happens is
20:23when we see the world
20:26and we see that it's getting worse,
20:29right?
20:30And disobedience to Allah is increasing
20:32and chaos is increasing
20:34and shamelessness is increasing
20:35and disbelief is increasing
20:37and confusion is increasing.
20:39We get depressed
20:41because we see the big picture
20:43looks worse and worse and worse.
20:45And when you look at the big picture,
20:46it does look pretty depressing.
20:48And what that does is
20:49it makes you blind
20:50to the individual changes
20:52because it feels like
20:54the individual changes are not enough
20:56because real change
20:58is when it happens on a very large scale.
21:01If you think about the life of the Prophet
21:03ﷺ,
21:04if Allah wanted big change to happen
21:06from the beginning,
21:07Allah would have sent the Prophet ﷺ
21:09to the economic or the political capitals
21:12or centers of the world.
21:14But Allah sent the Prophet ﷺ
21:16to a place that was not an economic player,
21:19not a political player,
21:20not a social player,
21:21not a cultural player,
21:22not an educational center.
21:23It was not a contributor to the world.
21:26You could say about the Chinese
21:27they were contributing silk
21:29or they were contributing other fine goods
21:31or arts to the world.
21:32You could say things about the Romans,
21:34the Persians,
21:35other civilizations were players
21:37on the world scene, right?
21:39In trade, in craft,
21:40in civilization,
21:41in empire building,
21:42all of it.
21:43What were the ancient Arabs doing
21:45in the desert?
21:46Like they had some empires back in the day,
21:48some large stretches of empire
21:49but that was gone for centuries and centuries.
21:51Right?
21:52They were not players on the world stage.
21:54So, and even the changes
21:56that the Prophet ﷺ brought
21:58and the Qur'an that kept teaching this message,
22:01what are some of the Qur'an's greatest heroes?
22:05There are people like Nuh ﷺ.
22:07And if you study the life of Nuh ﷺ
22:08and you say,
22:09I want to see the big change
22:10that was brought by Nuh ﷺ.
22:12Like what's his progress report
22:13after 10 years?
22:14And what's the, you know,
22:15because you're in your company
22:16you have to have a progress report, right?
22:18And how much more did your sphere of influence grow
22:21after 50 years?
22:22100? 200? 300? 400? 500?
22:24950 years!
22:26Where's the progress?
22:28You didn't even make progress
22:29with your own son?
22:30What is this?
22:32You don't call this progress,
22:33but they are heroes in the Qur'an.
22:36And Ibrahim ﷺ,
22:37this is called the religion of Ibrahim ﷺ,
22:39couldn't even convince his own dad,
22:41could he?
22:42And Yaqub ﷺ
22:43couldn't convince his own sons
22:44for a long time.
22:45He couldn't do that.
22:46Rasulullah ﷺ was sent to the Quraysh
22:50and the vast majority of them
22:51for the first 13 years,
22:52did they believe or not?
22:54No, vast majority of them didn't believe.
22:56But the few people that did believe,
22:59the few people that did believe
23:00are actually the reason we're Muslim today.
23:04Those few people.
23:05What is the Qur'an teaching us about change?
23:08Change does not come
23:09at the hands of the millions.
23:11Change comes at the hands of the few.
23:15It is actually individual transformation
23:17that is vital,
23:18that is the most important objective.
23:21Actually the victory from Allah
23:23and the millions of people accepting Islam
23:26and all that stuff,
23:27that's in the hands of Allah.
23:29That's in the hands of Allah.
23:31But individuals have to experience
23:33and the missions of the prophets
23:35is actually to bring about
23:36an individual transformation.
23:38These ayat are about the process
23:41of an individual transformation.
23:44How does a person transform?
23:46And when we learn that properly,
23:48then you could see
23:50how a family might transform.
23:52And when you learn that enough,
23:53then you could see
23:54how a community might transform.
23:56And so this is actually,
23:58it starts like a pebble
23:59when you throw it in the water.
24:00It's one pebble
24:01but it has ripples and ripples
24:02and ripples and ripples.
24:03But the first thing
24:04is actually the individual transformation,
24:06isn't it?
24:07And that's what this ayah is actually about.
24:09How did this transformation
24:11actually takes place
24:12in the hearts of these individuals?
24:14And it's gonna be based on four steps.
24:16These are the four steps
24:17of the Prophet ﷺ
24:18bringing about this transformation
24:20that Allah gave him.
24:21So if you think about the,
24:24especially the last name of Allah,
24:26al-Hakim, in his wisdom,
24:27he decided that this should be
24:29the strategy to bring about
24:30consistent change.
24:32So it begins with
24:33يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ أَيَاتِهِ
24:35He reads onto them his ayat.
24:38And this is probably where
24:39we're gonna take our discussion today
24:41this far.
24:42And then we'll do the other
24:43three steps tomorrow,
24:44InshaAllah, and complete this ayah.
24:45Read...
24:46So,
24:47تَلَى يَتْلُو يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ
24:49We say he narrates the ayat
24:51or he reads the ayat onto them.
24:53التِلْو
24:54is used for young animals
24:56which follow their mother.
24:57وَلَدُ الْحِمَار وَلَدُ الْنَعْقَة
24:59They're called تِلْو
25:00meaning wherever the mom goes
25:01the baby follows.
25:02You know, some babies are difficult
25:05like Afghan babies, right?
25:07They run away from their parents.
25:09But some babies are very clingy.
25:11So, wherever the mom goes
25:12مَمَة مَمَة مَمَة مَمَة
25:13Like, they just kind of...
25:15You don't even have to put
25:16a tracker on them or nothing.
25:17There's just
25:18automatic magnetic field, right?
25:20And some kids,
25:21you have to literally tie them up
25:23with a...
25:24Now, they come with baby leashes.
25:25I've seen those things now, right?
25:27So that the kid doesn't, you know,
25:29disappear.
25:30But when certain animals,
25:32they know that if they stray away
25:33from the mother,
25:34they're gonna get killed.
25:35So, they just stick
25:36very close to the mother.
25:37They follow her step by step.
25:39Those kinds of animals are called تِلْو
25:41التُلَاوَة is the remainder of a thing
25:43meaning what follows behind a thing.
25:45بَقِيَةُ الشَيْءِ عَمَّةً
25:47تَتَلَّى is to follow something
25:49closely or repeatedly.
25:50تَتَبَّعُهُ
25:52Allah even says
25:53وَالشَّمْسِ إِذَا دُحَاهَا
25:54وَالقَمَرِ إِذَا تَلَى
25:56تَلَى in Arabic
25:57when the moon
25:58follows the sun.
26:00The moon follows.
26:01So, the word following
26:03is تَلَى
26:04So, what is this word
26:05have to do with reading?
26:06When someone's reading something,
26:08their eyes are following
26:09to the next word.
26:10You're pronouncing this word
26:12but your eyes are already on
26:13the next word.
26:14You're following
26:15and following and following
26:16and your fingers and your eyes
26:17are following the text.
26:19And that's actually called
26:20تِلَاوَة
26:21to follow.
26:22And Allah used this word
26:23really interestingly
26:24because it's actually a contradiction.
26:27أُمِّيِّين
26:28means people that were
26:29as uneducated and unlettered
26:31as when they came out
26:32of their mothers.
26:33And he's actually a prophet
26:34that's among the أمِّيِّين.
26:36So, how is he reciting something?
26:38How is he reading something?
26:40Allah has given this messenger
26:42the ability to read
26:43the word of Allah
26:44in a غَيْبِي sense.
26:46Meaning that this is not reading
26:48from literally a scripture.
26:50It's reading from the angel
26:52is teaching him how to read.
26:54An angel is making him read.
26:56And he's actually
26:57instead of following
26:58a piece of paper
26:59or a piece of leather
27:00following it,
27:01he's actually following
27:02the instructions of who?
27:05Jibreel عليه السلام.
27:07So, he's actually still following.
27:09Which is a really powerful expression
27:11يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ
27:12But what is he reciting?
27:14Now, if those of you
27:15that are a little bit familiar
27:16with Arabic,
27:17it's actually
27:18يَتْلُو آيَاتِهِ عَلَيْهِمْ
27:19The مَفْعُول بِهِ comes first.
27:21The جَارَ مَجْرُور
27:22مُتَعَلِّك بِالفِعِل
27:23comes second.
27:24But this is مُقَدَّم.
27:25Now I'll speak in human.
27:26What that means is
27:27Allah is saying
27:29he especially on these people
27:31these أميين he recites.
27:33Meaning the Qur'an came
27:35especially first targeting
27:38these audience.
27:40So the Qur'an will use expressions
27:43that are used in Arabic
27:45by these people in their culture.
27:47It'll use sayings
27:48that they're used to.
27:50It'll use examples
27:51that they're used to.
27:52It'll use language
27:53that they're used to.
27:54It's not going to use
27:55some high level language.
27:56It's going to use
27:57the people's language
27:58because he's going to recite
27:59especially for them.
28:01Allah, the owner of all wisdom.
28:03Allah has all knowledge.
28:04There's no knowledge of physics
28:06or chemistry or biology
28:07or history or anthropology.
28:08Any science in the world
28:10or beyond the world.
28:11There's no knowledge
28:12that Allah doesn't have.
28:13And you know the more someone knows
28:15the more complicated
28:16their speech becomes.
28:17Have you ever tried talking to a PhD?
28:18It's not a normal conversation
28:20because their vocabulary
28:22causes headaches, right?
28:24When they speak
28:25it's just really hard
28:26because they don't know
28:27how to come down
28:29to the rest of us peasants, right?
28:31They stay up here, right?
28:34Well, Allah,
28:36knower of all things,
28:37you would expect
28:38will speak in the most complicated ways
28:41because he's the knower of all things.
28:43But what did he do?
28:44He decided to speak
28:45to the least educated people
28:46in the world.
28:47And then he decided to speak to them
28:49in a way that they can understand.
28:51And so he sent a messenger
28:53whose accent,
28:55whose cultural expressions,
28:57whose upbringing
28:58they're familiar with.
28:59So first he chose the teacher
29:01that will be the most familiar to them.
29:03And then he chose his words
29:04that would be the easiest
29:05for them to understand.
29:06Why is this important?
29:08Because as you will see
29:09in the next ayah tomorrow,
29:10inshallah,
29:11Allah's plan was
29:13nobody should say
29:14my words are too complicated.
29:16I don't get it.
29:18Nobody should have that excuse
29:20because this wasn't sent to scholars.
29:22It was sent to who?
29:24Ummiyeen.
29:25The Ummiyeen, you see?
29:27So it was meant for everybody.
29:29If Ummiyeen can handle it,
29:30anybody can handle it.
29:32If they can understand it,
29:33what excuse you got left?
29:34You see?
29:35And what did the Israelites do
29:37with their book?
29:38No, no, no, no, no.
29:39They told the average follower
29:40among the Israelites,
29:41you can't read the book.
29:42No, no, no, it's not for you.
29:43You're gonna get misguided.
29:44Let us read it.
29:45We'll tell you what it says
29:47because if you read it
29:49then you're just gonna go to hell.
29:51It's not for you.
29:52Alhamdulillah,
29:53Muslims didn't do that.
29:56Tell the average Muslim,
29:57no, no, no, don't read the Quran.
29:59It's not for you.
30:00This is for the scholars.
30:02They read it
30:03and they'll tell you what it says.
30:05Don't try to read it on your own.
30:06It's better for you
30:07to just listen to some recitation.
30:09Put it on YouTube
30:10and cook your food.
30:11Okay?
30:12That's for you.
30:13Understanding the book,
30:14that's just for the scholars.
30:16This was something the Israelites did
30:18and Alhamdulillah,
30:19the Muslims don't even ever think about that.
30:21Okay.
30:23Anyway.
30:25Now I'll tell you something amazing.
30:26What did I tell you about the Israelites?
30:28Some Israelites,
30:29they started believing they are special
30:32and everybody else is goyim,
30:33everybody else is ummi.
30:35Okay?
30:36I'm gonna tell you something.
30:37Every time I read these ayat,
30:38I feel like it's the first time I'm reading them.
30:40This is a long set of ayat.
30:41I'm just gonna read them
30:42and translate them for you
30:43and just appreciate what Allah says.
30:45This is from Surah Al-A'raf.
30:46وَاخْتَارَ مُوسَىٰ قَوْمَهُ سَبْعِينَ رَجُلًۢ لِمِيقَاتِنَا
30:51Musa Alayhis Salaam chose his people,
30:54chose 70 people from his people,
30:5770 leaders,
30:58to meet with us.
31:00So now Musa Alayhis Salaam,
31:01you remember the story
31:02when they worshipped the calf?
31:04Right?
31:05Musa Alayhis Salaam left
31:06and then behind him,
31:07they just ended up worshipping the golden calf, right?
31:09Now when they did that,
31:10Allah wanted to hold them responsible.
31:13So Allah said,
31:14bring your leaders to me,
31:16I will speak to them directly.
31:18So now he used to speak to who directly before?
31:21Musa.
31:22But Allah says, no,
31:23I want to speak to your tribe leaders,
31:26the elders.
31:27So Musa Alayhis Salaam chose how many leaders?
31:3070 to meet with Allah.
31:32لِمِيقَاتِنَا for our meeting.
31:34فَلَمَّا أَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةِ So they came to the mountain to meet with Allah.
31:38Then the mountain started shaking.
31:41فَلَمَّا أَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةِ
31:43When the earthquake started rumbling,
31:45and they're all shaking,
31:46Musa is there,
31:4770 leaders are there,
31:48they think they're about to die,
31:49boulders are falling from the mountain.
31:51Musa Alayhis Salaam spoke,
31:52قَالَ رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْدَتَهُمْ
31:55Ya my master,
31:56if you wanted,
31:57had you wanted,
31:58you would have killed them already.
31:59مِن قَبْلُ وَإِيَّا
32:01Before we ever came here,
32:02you would have killed everybody,
32:03you would have killed me too.
32:05Why are you shaking it like this?
32:06أَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ سُفَهَاؤُ مِنَّا
32:09Are you killing us
32:10because of what the fools did among us?
32:12Is that what you're doing Ya Rab?
32:14He's in shock and he's asking Allah,
32:16إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا فِتْنَةُكِ
32:18He goes, no, no, no,
32:19this is nothing but a trial,
32:20this is nothing but a test
32:21that you're doing with us.
32:23تُضِلُّ بِهَا مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَهْدِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ
32:26You will test,
32:27you will allow whoever you want
32:30to be misguided because of this test,
32:33and you will allow whoever to be guided
32:35because of this test.
32:36So one of the lessons here, side lesson is,
32:39when Allah shakes your life up,
32:41it will either misguide you or guide you.
32:43Some people, their life shakes up
32:45and they say, you know what,
32:46I used to be a Muslim
32:47but Allah shook my life up,
32:48that's it, I don't pray anymore.
32:50What's the point?
32:51Allah shook my life up, you see?
32:53And other people,
32:54Allah shakes their life up
32:55and they weren't praying before
32:56and all of a sudden,
32:57they're in sajda, right?
32:59تُضِلُّ بِهَا مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَهْدِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ
33:02With what? With the shaking, right?
33:04أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا
33:05You are our protecting friend.
33:07فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا
33:09Forgive us,
33:10show us your love and care.
33:11وَأَنتَ خَيْرُ الْغَافِرِينَ
33:13And you are the best of those who forgives.
33:15Who's speaking right now?
33:17Musa is speaking,
33:18the mountain is shaking,
33:20the 70 leaders are with him,
33:21he's speaking to Allah.
33:22And he keeps speaking.
33:23وَاكْتُبْ لَنَا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنًا
33:26Please guarantee for us,
33:27right for us,
33:28in this life, beautiful things.
33:30وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ
33:31And in the next life.
33:32إِنَّا هُدْنَا إِلَيْكَ
33:34I'll come back to this tomorrow.
33:36We turn back to you.
33:37هَذَا يَهُودُ
33:38means to turn back.
33:39We turn back to you.
33:41Meaning we're making tawbah to you.
33:42We came here asking for forgiveness,
33:44me and these 70 leaders.
33:46Now Allah will respond.
33:48I want you to remember
33:49where this is happening.
33:50This is Musa,
33:51and 70 leaders of the Israelites,
33:54and they have come under the mountain.
33:56And later on some groups of them believed
33:58whoever was under the mountain with Musa
34:01is forever what?
34:03Forever pure everybody else is?
34:05Impure, that's the belief they developed.
34:07Now this is the Quran's version of the same story.
34:10The Quran retelling the story.
34:11Listen, now Allah will respond.
34:13Allah says,
34:14قَالَ عَذَابِي أُصِيبُ بِهِ مَنْ أَشَاءُ
34:17My punishment, I will strike it
34:20to whoever I want.
34:22I'll strike my punishment to
34:25whoever I want.
34:26Did he say you're protected from my punishment?
34:28No, he said no.
34:29I will strike my punishment down to,
34:31but
34:32وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
34:34But my loving care extends to everything.
34:38So my punishment is targeted,
34:41but my rahma is everywhere.
34:44My rahma doesn't have to be targeted
34:46because it's already everywhere,
34:48but my punishment is targeted.
34:49You see the difference in language?
34:50وَرَحْمَتِي وَسِعَتْ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ
34:52فَسَأَكْتُبُهَا لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ
34:55Then I will guarantee my rahma,
34:58my loving care,
34:59for people who have taqwa,
35:01who are mindful.
35:02وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةِ
35:04And they give, you know the words,
35:05وَيُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةِ
35:06They give what?
35:07They give zakat.
35:08وَالَّذِينَ هُمْ بِآيَاتِنَا يُؤْبِنُونَ
35:11And those who believe in our ayats.
35:14Those who believe in our revelations,
35:16our ayat.
35:17Listen to this.
35:18Who are these people?
35:19Allah is still talking on the mountain.
35:21الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الْأُمِّيِّ
35:25Those who are going to follow the messenger,
35:28who's the prophet,
35:29who is unlettered.
35:31الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِنْدَهُمْ
35:34The one they find written with them,
35:37فِي التَّوْرَاتِ وَالْإِنْجِيلِ
35:39In the Torah and in the Injil.
35:42Meaning Allah is telling them on the mountain,
35:44right now you have Torah,
35:46and later on there will be a prophet
35:48who will give you another book called what?
35:50Injil.
35:51And in both of these books,
35:52you will find that there is a prophet coming.
35:55He's a prophet,
35:56he's a messenger,
35:57he's unlettered,
35:58and he's mentioned in both of these scriptures.
36:00And I will guarantee my mercy for you,
36:02if you follow him.
36:04Under the mountain.
36:07يَأْمُرُهُمْ بِالْبَعْرُوفِ
36:09وَيَنْهَاهُمْ عَنِ الْمُنْكَرِ
36:11That messenger will come,
36:12he will tell them to do the right thing,
36:14and he will stop them from doing the wrong thing.
36:16وَيُحِلُ لَهُمُ الطَّيِّبَاتِ
36:18And he will make good and pure things halal for them.
36:21وَيُحَرِّمُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْخَبَائِثِ
36:23And he will make filthy things impermissibleble for them.
36:26وَيَضَعُ عَنْهُمْ إِصْرَاهُمْ
36:28And he will remove from them their burdens.
36:31وَالْأَغْلَالَ
36:32And their chains
36:33الَّتِي كَانَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ
36:34That used to be on them.
36:36Meaning Allah is already telling them,
36:37you will have a life of burdens and chains.
36:40And those burdens and chains will be removed by who?
36:43By the Prophet who will come.
36:45He will come.
36:46And he will remove those burdens and chains.
36:48فَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِهِ
36:50Then those who believe in him.
36:52In who?
36:53Who's the him here?
36:55Rasulullah ﷺ.
36:57وَعَزَّرُوهُ
36:59And they support him.
37:00وَنَصَرُوهُ
37:02And they aid him.
37:03And they honor him and they aid him.
37:04وَاتَّبَعُوا النُّورَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ مَعَهُ
37:07And they follow the light that will be sent down with him.
37:11What's the light that is sent down with him?
37:13In Qur'an.
37:15أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُفْلِحُونَ
37:17Those are the people that are successful.
37:20This is a conversation
37:22about the النبي الأمي
37:26that was had first
37:28with Musa and his 70 followers.
37:31One of the earliest teachings
37:34to the followers of Musa ﷺ,
37:36the Bani Israel.
37:37And then it was reinforced in which book?
37:40It wasn't just in Torah, it's where else.
37:43Injil was given to who?
37:45That's why Isa says in the Qur'an
37:47وَمُبَشِّرًا بِرَسُولٍ يَأْتِي مِنْ بَعْدِ اسْمُهُ أَحْمَدٍ
37:50I have come to give you good news
37:52of a messenger who's coming after me
37:54whose name is Ahmed.
37:55Which is in the previous surah.
37:57Okay, this is in Surah As-Saff.
38:00So Musa is telling of the coming
38:03of Muhammad ﷺ
38:05and Isa ﷺ is telling of the coming
38:07of Muhammad ﷺ.
38:09So according to that,
38:10both the Christian and the Jewish peoples
38:12in their scripture,
38:13the ones who know among them
38:15will know that Muhammad is the messenger
38:17of Allah ﷺ.
38:20So when he says he sent among the Ummiyeen
38:22a messenger,
38:23people who were loyal to the scripture
38:25would say,
38:26among the Ummiyeen?
38:29Hey wait, among the Ummiyeen?
38:31Every generation of the Israelites
38:33from Musa ﷺ,
38:35Harun ﷺ,
38:37later on in their prophets,
38:38like all the Israelites,
38:40Suleyman, Dawud,
38:41every one of them follow Torah.
38:43And that means every one of them
38:44knows who's coming.
38:46Muhammad ﷺ is coming,
38:47they're waiting, they're waiting,
38:48they're waiting, they're waiting,
38:49all these generations they're waiting.
38:51And Allah even says in Surah Al-Baqarah
38:52that the Israelites who lived in the region,
38:55sometimes they would get into a fight
38:56with the Mushrikun of Makkah.
38:58And the Mushrikun of Makkah
38:59were better fighters.
39:00So they would win.
39:02And when they would win,
39:03you know what they would say?
39:04وَكَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ يَسْتَفْتِعُونَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ كَفُورُوا
39:06Whenever they would get beat up,
39:07they would say,
39:08oh yeah, you won this time.
39:10But we've been studying.
39:12The last prophet is coming
39:14any day now.
39:15And once he comes,
39:17we're going to get you so good.
39:19They used to say this
39:20whenever they lost a fight.
39:21It's in the Quran, Surah Al-Baqarah.
39:24And then when Allah says,
39:25فَلَمَّا جَاءَهُمْ مَعَرَفُوا
39:27And when whatever they already knew came,
39:29كَفَرُوا بِهِ
39:30They denied it.
39:32They denied it.
39:33So they actually used to use
39:35استفتاح of the coming of the prophet
39:37ﷺ to the Quraysh.
39:40They used to say to them, by the way,
39:42all the signs are here.
39:43Oh, he's coming.
39:45Our ulama give khutbah nowadays.
39:47Anytime now.
39:48He's so coming right now.
39:50And then he came.
39:52Now this is يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ
39:54Now يَتْلُو
39:56What do we learn from يَتْلُو?
39:57This is really important.
39:59You know the Bible will tell us
40:01of the prophet ﷺ,
40:02whatever is left of it,
40:03that Allah says about him,
40:05and what's left of the Bible,
40:07I will put my words in his mouth.
40:09See the Torah,
40:11the Torah is a collection
40:13of divine teachings,
40:14but it's not precisely the word of God,
40:16not even according to the rabbis.
40:18It's a collection of memories and teachings.
40:20The closest thing that we have to that
40:22is something like some hadith,
40:24or some opinions.
40:25In fact, Torah is a combination
40:27of what they consider the word of Allah,
40:29and hadith, and tafsir, and fiqh,
40:32and history all in one.
40:34You know how in a tafsir of a Qur'an
40:36you have the ayah
40:37and then you have the commentary?
40:39In Torah, where does the ayah end
40:40and where does the commentary begin?
40:42They don't make a distinction.
40:43So they can't tell.
40:44They can't tell.
40:45That's what happened over time.
40:46Maybe after, I gotta finish my train of thought,
40:48I'll take your question.
40:50But then Allah gave,
40:51and this is why Allah says,
40:53لِمَا بَيْنَ يَدَيَّ مِنَ الْتَوْرَاتِ
40:55Or, مُصَدِّقًا لِمَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِهِمْ
40:57The Qur'an confirms what they have in front of them,
40:59because what they have in front of them
41:00is a huge tradition.
41:01The Mishnah, the Torah,
41:02it's a massive tradition.
41:04And then the Talmud,
41:05it's all mixed together.
41:06And this is not because they made changes
41:07to the word of Allah,
41:08that's a separate problem.
41:09Allah did not give them a word
41:11that was memorized the way
41:12that the Qur'an is memorized.
41:13But they knew a prophet is coming
41:15who about him it is said,
41:16I will put my words in his mouth.
41:18Meaning, it won't even be his own words.
41:20He'll be following the words
41:21that are given to him.
41:23يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ أَيَاتِهِ
41:25Okay, so now,
41:27if I'm speaking to you right now,
41:30imagine, so,
41:32I mean, I can't give you a German example
41:33because I don't know any German,
41:35except for,
41:37and schnell.
41:39But,
41:43it works in many situations.
41:47You're stuck in traffic?
41:48Schnell.
41:53Anyway,
41:55so,
41:56what was I saying?
41:57Okay, so if your child,
41:59sitting at dinner,
42:01your child,
42:02memorized some poetry in German
42:05and sat there
42:06and started reciting that poetry,
42:09would you believe
42:10that that's your own child's words?
42:11Even though there's no paper
42:12in front of them?
42:14Can you tell that's not your child's words?
42:16Because you know how your child speaks.
42:18In fact, even if your parents
42:19started doing that,
42:20you'd be like,
42:21where did you get this?
42:23Why did you do this?
42:25And if you really think
42:26that's them speaking,
42:27then you contact the imam
42:28because there's a jinn possession
42:29or something.
42:31Because,
42:32when someone speaks
42:33out of their normal,
42:35you can tell they're not really
42:37speaking,
42:38they're reading.
42:40The Prophet ﷺ
42:41has lived among them
42:42so they know how he speaks.
42:44But now,
42:45he's not speaking,
42:47he is what?
42:48Reciting.
42:49Following words
42:50that are given to him.
42:52Can they tell this is a
42:53clear distinction
42:54between his speech
42:56and the words that are
42:57coming out of his mouth
42:58are clearly not his?
43:00This is why they said,
43:01why is he talking like this?
43:03What is this?
43:05Is this,
43:06this is being dictated to him?
43:08Where did you get these words from?
43:09Is this poetry?
43:11What is that?
43:12Is that mad?
43:13Man, it has such an effect on me.
43:14Is this some kind of magic
43:15or something?
43:17Whoever,
43:18whoever listens to this
43:19feels like they got possessed.
43:20So maybe he's possessed too.
43:23They came up with all these theories
43:24because they knew
43:25this is clearly not
43:26his own speech.
43:27There's an author
43:28by the name of Basim Sayeh,
43:29whose books
43:30have also been translated
43:31into English,
43:32who did a thorough study
43:34of thousands and thousands
43:36of hadith
43:37of the Prophet ﷺ,
43:38and the speech pattern
43:39in hadith.
43:40Because everybody has
43:41a speech pattern.
43:42If you listen to my speeches
43:43and you transcribe them,
43:44there's going to be a lot of
43:45right, right, right.
43:47So it's a lot of rights in my,
43:48not enough left,
43:49a lot of right.
43:51But that's just my speech pattern.
43:53And the Prophet himself
43:54also has a what?
43:56A speech pattern.
43:57And they did an analysis
43:58of the speech pattern
43:59of all the hadith
44:00and the speech pattern
44:01of the Qur'an,
44:02and it's clearly
44:03two distinct speakers.
44:05They're not the same speaker.
44:06Just from a speech pattern
44:07point of view.
44:08Right?
44:09So يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ عَيَاتِهِ
44:10The wording is not his,
44:11it is extremely precise.
44:13Also means there's no compromise
44:14in the meaning.
44:15You know, if I'm talking to you,
44:17I look first at how old you are,
44:19or what your question is,
44:21and how many people are listening,
44:22is this being recorded or not,
44:24should I completely go off,
44:25or should I just kind of
44:26keep my answer contained?
44:27I have to read the situation
44:28before I open my mouth.
44:30We're aware of
44:31who we're talking to.
44:33But the Prophet ﷺ
44:34is talking to enemies
44:35that hate him,
44:36and he's not,
44:37he cannot consider
44:38how to speak to them
44:39because the words are not his.
44:40The words are coming from
44:42Allah, and they may be
44:43even more offensive
44:44to the person standing
44:45in front of them,
44:46but it doesn't matter,
44:47he's gonna say them
44:48because they are being
44:49dictated to him.
44:50يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ عَيَاتِهِ
44:51The messenger ﷺ
44:53is actually humble.
44:54He's في الأميين
44:56He comes from a humble beginning.
44:58And he's a slave of Allah.
45:00But the words
45:01are the words of a king.
45:02So there's an immediate contrast.
45:04The speaker
45:05is at the lowest level
45:06of humility,
45:07but the words
45:08are in the highest level
45:09of pride
45:10because they are the words
45:11of Allah,
45:12the owner of all pride.
45:13He's المتكبر.
45:15المتكبر is a terrible
45:16quality for a person.
45:18But المتكبر
45:19is one of the attributes
45:20of Allah
45:21because he deserves it.
45:22He is the Great One.
45:23He speaks from the perspective
45:24of being great.
45:25So the humility of the messenger
45:27is combined with the greatness
45:28of the word of Allah,
45:29which is an amazing thing
45:30because we have to present
45:32the word of Allah
45:33with its greatness,
45:35but we still have to carry
45:36ourselves with humility.
45:38The problem happens
45:39when we speak about
45:40the word of Allah with greatness
45:41and we start thinking
45:42because of that
45:43we're kind of great also.
45:44We're not.
45:45We're still slaves of Allah.
45:46Okay?
45:47Then it is meant to be heard
45:49like a royal decree actually.
45:51It's being recited
45:52word for word from the king
45:53so you get this appreciation
45:54that it's coming from
45:56a higher source.
45:57And then of course
45:58it's an open pronouncement.
45:59This is the most encouraging thing
46:00actually in these ayat.
46:02And that is that
46:03this is an open announcement
46:04to even the least learned.
46:06In other words,
46:07it's الأميين.
46:09And Allah decided
46:10to give his revelations
46:12to the أميين first
46:14to open up this invitation
46:16so no one gets to say
46:18this is not for me.
46:20Because it's for them
46:21but then everybody's above that.
46:23So it's for everyone.
46:24The Qur'an was meant
46:25to be accessible by everyone.
46:27You know one of the common words
46:28for the Qur'an is
46:29انزال.
46:30أنزل القرآن.
46:31Right?
46:32So إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةِ الْقَدْرِ
46:34نزول in Arabic
46:35doesn't just mean to come down.
46:37انزال also means
46:38to make something accessible.
46:39And for centuries
46:40the Bible wasn't accessible.
46:42For most of the Israelites
46:43the Torah wasn't accessible.
46:44Religious teachings
46:45weren't accessible.
46:46The teachings of
46:47Ibrahim Alayhis Salaam
46:48were lost to history
46:49and they were not accessible.
46:50The truth about the people
46:51of the cave
46:52was no longer accessible.
46:54The stories had been changed.
46:56Human beings didn't have access to it.
46:58And Allah made the Qur'an
46:59by definition
47:00accessible.
47:01Everybody can access it.
47:02Everybody can engage
47:03with an open invitation.
47:05It was one of the most
47:06revolutionary features
47:07of the Qur'an.
47:08And before I leave you
47:09I'm gonna tell you
47:10my favorite part
47:11because we need to finish
47:12this part of the discussion.
47:13And then I'll open it up
47:14for Q&A inshallah.
47:15And that is
47:16what does آيَة mean?
47:17يَطْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
47:18They translate
47:19He reads on to them
47:20his verses
47:21or his revelations
47:22which is okay.
47:23But let's dig into the word
47:25آيَة a little bit.
47:26I really want you to appreciate
47:27what the word آيَة is
47:28because it's one of the most
47:29important terms in the Qur'an.
47:31And I'll explain
47:32what I've written here.
47:33آيَة means the specificness
47:36of something.
47:37So from its origin
47:39آيَة الرَّجُل
47:40I'm talking exactly
47:41about that person.
47:42So something that's very exact
47:43can also mean آيَة.
47:45So Allah is not speaking
47:46in ambiguous terms.
47:47Allah is speaking in very
47:48exact, precise terms.
47:50تَأَيَّةُ
47:51or تَأَيَّتهُ
47:52to direct a course.
47:53Meaning تَأَيَّة
47:54or تَأَيَّة actually
47:55it's coming later
47:56means قَصَدَة
47:57something that has a purpose.
47:58Like if I head towards that door
48:00my body turns towards that door
48:02I keep taking steps
48:03تَأَيَّةِ
48:04تَأَيَّ البَابِ
48:05He headed towards the door
48:07he intended to get to the door.
48:08The آيَات aren't just interesting
48:10in bits of information
48:11they are leading you in a direction.
48:13They have a purpose.
48:15So it's driven by a purpose.
48:17Then the word آيَة comes from
48:19خَرَجَ الْقَوْمُ بِآيَتِهِمْ
48:21When the Arabs used to travel
48:23in the desert
48:24and they would
48:25start a little fire
48:27and cook some food
48:28and then when they're done
48:29they pick up their plates
48:30and their forks
48:31and whatever they eat with the meat
48:33they leave the bones
48:35they leave the burnt wood
48:36they leave the ashes
48:37and they pick up all the valuable things
48:39and they leave.
48:40But when somebody else comes
48:41they just see the burnt wood
48:42and the ashes
48:43but they don't see anything valuable.
48:45So they say
48:46خَرَجَ الْقَوْمُ بِآيَتِهِمْ
48:48The people before
48:49they left with all the valuable things.
48:51They left nothing of value behind.
48:53What is an آيَة?
48:54Something of value.
48:56Something that Allah
48:57He's reciting valuable things to them.
49:00And by the way
49:01Allah says there's an آيَة in the mountain
49:03there's an آيَة inside you
49:04there's an آيَة inside the sky
49:05there's an آيَة in the bird.
49:07What does that tell you about everything?
49:09Everything according to this deen has what?
49:11Everything has value.
49:13Nothing is purposeless.
49:14Everything has meaning.
49:15It's not a meaningless existence.
49:17You know.
49:18الاستفهام
49:20The word آي
49:21actually means what?
49:22What kind?
49:23Curiosity.
49:24The word آيَة actually
49:26in it embeds the meaning of something
49:28that inspires curiosity.
49:30That you should hear the آيَة and say
49:32I wonder what I can learn from that.
49:34I wonder what it means.
49:36And آي is actually for التعجّب
49:38which Jiha already covered in Qasad.
49:40So التعجّب means amazement.
49:41The Arabs used to say
49:42أي رجل
49:44or أي ولد
49:46or أي مرأة
49:47which means what a man!
49:49What a child!
49:50What a woman!
49:51أي كتاب!
49:52What an amazing book!
49:53So آي was used as an expression of
49:56amazement.
49:57And the آيات are supposed to bring about
50:00an amazement.
50:01Like what an amazing thing Allah has said.
50:03النداء والتنبيه للقريب دون البعيد
50:06آي is also used for
50:08it's actually similar to English.
50:09Hey man!
50:10Hey!
50:11Hey you!
50:12When you say hey,
50:13what are you actually doing?
50:15You're calling someone close.
50:17And أي was actually used.
50:18أي رجل was also used for
50:19يا رجل
50:20meaning come here.
50:21For closeness.
50:22Meaning the آيات are also calling you.
50:25They're also Allah calling you
50:27close to yourself.
50:28Then it's an علامة.
50:30علامة means it's a sign for something.
50:32And that's a very common transition
50:34آيات are signs, right?
50:36Now the purpose of a sign is what?
50:38The purpose of a sign is to give you direction.
50:40The sign says take this exit for this street.
50:43That tells you here's the sign,
50:44here's the exit, right?
50:46So the purpose of a sign is to guide you
50:48to a destination.
50:49When Allah says He recites the آيات,
50:51He gives you the signs
50:53that guide you to your destination.
50:56And what's that destination?
50:57أَنَّا إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ الْمُنْتَحَىٰ
50:59The final destination is towards your Rabb.
51:01You're gonna meet with Allah,
51:02whether you like it or not.
51:04Whether you intend to or not,
51:05you're gonna meet with Allah.
51:06But if you wanna meet Him the right way,
51:07this is the right way.
51:09This is the right way to meet with Allah.
51:11And then
51:12إِيَّ النَّبْتِ وَإِيَاءُهُ حُسْنُهُ وَزَهْرُهُ
51:17This is actually really cool.
51:19إِيَّ in Arabic comes from the same word as آيَة
51:22actually means beauty and blooming.
51:25Like when a flower blossoms,
51:27it's actually called إِيَاءُ النَّبْتِ
51:29إِيَاء
51:30So the آيات are actually something beautiful.
51:33And the more you ponder them,
51:34the more they blossom,
51:35their lessons blossom.
51:36That's inside of the word آيَة.
51:38And إِي
51:39I didn't mention إِي
51:40إِي is actually نَعْم
51:42In Arabic,
51:43you have heard of the word نَعْم before?
51:46نَعْم means what?
51:48يَعْم
51:49Okay, good.
51:51نَعْم
51:52There's another word in Arabic for yes,
51:53which is إِي
51:55إِي
51:56So if somebody says,
51:57Hey, you know,
51:58Did you go to this program?
52:00إِي
52:01إِي is the same as نَعْم
52:03But it's a stronger إِي
52:04Absolutely yes.
52:06Which means it is the yes of conviction.
52:09The آيَة will lead to conviction.
52:12The آيَة leads to absolute certainty.
52:14يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
52:16And then,
52:17المُعْتَادَنْ يَكُونَ قَائِمًا
52:19Anything that comes from this root
52:20is actually supposed to be something that stays,
52:22it's permanent.
52:23It's not a fad.
52:24It's not, it doesn't go away.
52:26It's not like Allah will send His آيَات
52:28and they will disappear.
52:29They are to remain.
52:30They are permanent decrees from Allah.
52:32It's all inside the word آيَة.
52:34Allah gave us something of meaning,
52:36something of purpose,
52:37something of wonder,
52:38something that calls us directly,
52:40something that inspires curiosity,
52:42something that gives us conviction,
52:43something that is beautiful,
52:44something that blossoms.
52:45And the Messenger will recite this onto the people
52:47and it will open up their mind.
52:49It will make them thoughtful, beautiful people.
52:52يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
52:53That's the first step.
52:55And to end this part of it,
52:58if you were just listening to something,
53:01like if you just change radio stations
53:03or you open up a random TikTok video or whatever,
53:06you're listening to something,
53:07does it necessarily mean
53:09that you are seriously learning?
53:12No, it just means you're exposed.
53:15If you overhear something,
53:16you got exposed,
53:17but that doesn't mean you're sitting there taking notes.
53:20You just overheard.
53:22يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
53:24is actually not education.
53:26He's just reading onto,
53:28he's sitting, he's standing in a marketplace
53:29reading the آيَات.
53:30Is everybody paying attention?
53:32No.
53:33He's speaking to the Quraysh,
53:34reciting the آيَات.
53:35Is everybody's like,
53:36let me listen carefully?
53:37No.
53:38They're being exposed
53:40even though they're not paying attention
53:42or learning or whatever.
53:44Some people started listening,
53:45some people became interested,
53:47some people barely heard anything,
53:48some people heard it and got annoyed,
53:50but everybody hears it.
53:52Right?
53:53The first step
53:54that was given to the Prophet ﷺ
53:56is make sure
53:57every one of these people hears it.
54:00Just read it onto them.
54:02Expose them to it.
54:03Let them react to it.
54:04Let them react to it with hate.
54:06Let them react to it with ignorance.
54:08Let them react to it with dismissing.
54:10Let them react to it with curiosity.
54:12That's not up to you.
54:13Your first job is what?
54:14يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
54:16This is the part that makes me mad.
54:19It makes me mad
54:20because born and raised in a Muslim family
54:23in much of the Muslim world,
54:25when I started learning about the Qur'an,
54:28actually understanding
54:29even at a basic level what it says,
54:31I was 19 years old.
54:32And it made me really angry.
54:34How come I was Muslim for 19 years
54:38and nobody told me what the Qur'an says?
54:43Like, I'm Muslim.
54:46I should know.
54:48At least I should know what it says
54:50from the beginning to the end.
54:52I should know what it says.
54:53Nobody did.
54:54يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
54:56مَا تَلَىٰ عَلَيَّ آيَةَ أَحَدٍ
54:58Nobody read the ayahs to me.
54:59Like, I didn't know.
55:01Then I felt like,
55:02do other people?
55:03Am I the only one who like,
55:05nobody read the ayahs?
55:07Let me ask around.
55:08One of the most sad surveys you can do,
55:10go to any Muslim country,
55:11any Muslim community
55:12and ask the average Muslim,
55:13how much of the Qur'an have you...
55:15forget read,
55:16because reading is extra work.
55:18How much of the Qur'an was read to you
55:21so that you can understand it?
55:23Because if you say,
55:24have you read,
55:25then you have to do the work.
55:26But here, who's doing the work?
55:27The Prophets doing the work.
55:28And people who inherited from the Prophets,
55:30they're supposed to.
55:31The ones who know,
55:32should read it to the ones who don't know,
55:33isn't it?
55:35So, and if we don't know,
55:37then we become the ummiyeen.
55:39And the ones who know,
55:40have to follow the sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ
55:42and do what?
55:43يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
55:45So I ask,
55:46so how many of you heard the Qur'an
55:47being explained like,
55:48even at a basic level?
55:50Like, Baqarah, I don't know,
55:52Al-Imran, Nisa, Maida,
55:54An'am, Araf maybe, Tawbah,
55:56Anfal, Tawbah, Yunus, Hud, Yusuf,
55:59anything?
56:00Anything?
56:01And you're like,
56:02nobody,
56:03nobody read the ayahs to me.
56:05Nobody talked me through the ayahs.
56:08I didn't hear it.
56:09Isn't this something that's supposed to be heard?
56:11يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
56:13Right?
56:14Is this saying,
56:15they should read the Qur'an
56:16or they should hear the Qur'an?
56:18This is about hearing, right?
56:21And this feels to me like
56:24disappeared from the Ummah.
56:26This disappeared.
56:27You know what took its place?
56:29The recitation of the Qur'an
56:30in beautiful voices.
56:32Millions and millions and millions
56:33of listeners around the world
56:35are listening to it.
56:37But is that يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ?
56:40No,
56:41because you're not listening to it and saying,
56:43this is giving me direction.
56:45You're not wondering about it.
56:46You're not being brought close.
56:47You're not reaching conviction.
56:49It's not making you think
56:50there's a direction here.
56:51This is a sign towards something.
56:53It's beautiful divine sounds for barakah.
56:57And those beautiful sounds
56:58were supposed to mean something.
57:00That would have been يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
57:04This is our first failure.
57:05When we say,
57:06Oh, the Ummah is going in a bad direction.
57:08What do we do?
57:09Well, the Prophet was given a formula.
57:11Here's step one.
57:12But I want step 17.
57:14No.
57:15Step one.
57:16يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
57:20Just that.
57:21I would imagine,
57:22if I can leave a contribution behind,
57:25my contribution would be
57:26that any of you that have been listening to my work,
57:29that I've been trying to do
57:30for the last 20 or so years,
57:33that you become people that do this.
57:37Even if you do it among your friends,
57:39or among your siblings,
57:41or just among your children,
57:42but you become the continuation
57:45of what the Prophet started
57:46when Allah said,
57:47يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
57:49Just that.
57:50Just that.
57:51At least expose them.
57:53At least they should hear what Allah says.
57:56At least that much.
57:57And then we take the next steps after that.
58:00So I'm going to end our session for today here
58:03at يَطْلُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
58:04and talk about the next steps tomorrow.
58:06Inshallah.