A Wake Up Call for The Ummah | Friday Khutbah | Nouman Ali Khan
A Wake Up Call for The Ummah | Friday Khutbah | Nouman Ali Khan
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00:00This is a wake-up call for this book is a wake-up call for humanity but this
00:04crisis I pray is a wake-up call for the ummah and for every single one of us
00:08that we we see ourselves aligned with a very particular agenda with a very
00:14particular focus simultaneously and if enough of us have that awakening if
00:19enough of us have that consciousness wallahi al-azim we are far too many
00:23to think ourselves as weak or far too many
01:23we seek his forgiveness and we believe in him and we trust in him and we seek refuge in him from the evils of our souls and from the evils of our deeds
01:30whoever Allah guides is not misguided and whoever He misguides is not guided
01:34and we bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant of Allah and His messenger
01:40Allah Almighty sent him as a guide and the religion of truth to show him on the religion of all
01:45and Allah is sufficient as a witness
01:47Allah Almighty sent him as a guide and the religion of truth to show him on the religion of all
01:52and Allah is sufficient as a witness
01:54and the religion of truth to show him on the religion of all
01:56and Allah is sufficient as a witness
01:58and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:00and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:02and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:04and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:06and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:08and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:10and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:12and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:14and Allah is sufficient as a witness
02:17And hold fast to the rope of Allah, all of you, and be not divided.
02:19And remember the favor of Allah upon you, as you were enemies.
02:22Then He brought together your hearts, and you became, by His favor, brothers.
02:26And you were on the edge of a pit of fire, and He saved you from it.
02:30Thus does Allah make clear to you His signs, that you may be guided.
02:34And let there be among you a nation that invites to goodness, and enjoins what is right, and forbids what is wrong.
02:40And those are the successful.
02:42وَلَنْزَقُونُكَ الَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاخْتَلَفُوا مِنْ بَعْدِهِ مِنْ جَرَأٍ وَالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَأُولَىٰ لَئِكَ لَهُمُ عَبَادٌ عَظِيمٌ
02:50رَبِّ شَحْرِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْنِي أَمْرِي وَأَحْلُوا الْعُقْتَةَ مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَحُوا الْقَوْلِ
02:54وَاللَّهُمَّ ثَبِّتْنَا عَنْدَ الْمَمْتِ بِلَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَاللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنَا مِنَ الَّذِينَ آمَلًا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَسَىٰ بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَسَىٰ بِالصَّطْرِ
03:02أمين يا رب العالمين
03:04وما بعد
03:05I was requested this Friday to speak about the situation in Gaza.
03:09And I'll be as honest with you as I can be.
03:13When I made such a request, I feel paralyzed.
03:16I feel paralyzed because
03:18I don't think my feelings towards what's happening in Gaza
03:21are any different from any Muslim
03:23or actually any decent human being,
03:25but more so any Muslim.
03:27And every time I look at my own child,
03:29I can't help but think of
03:31the unbearable pictures of those children
03:34that are suffering,
03:35the calculus that have already suffered
03:36and the calculus that are suffering
03:38and their parents and the bereaved.
03:40And it is,
03:42it quite literally is paralyzing.
03:45And then I step back
03:48and I realize that our deen,
03:50one of its fundamental requirements
03:54is that one has to have control over their emotions
03:57before they speak.
03:59You have to have composure.
04:01And you cannot think
04:03and you cannot act on this deen
04:05unless you have such composure.
04:07In fact, one of the fundamental teachings of our religion
04:10that our success depends on
04:13is the word sabr.
04:15In Surah Al-Asr for instance.
04:17When Allah Azza wa Jalla says,
04:19إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ
04:21وَتَوَصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ
04:23Part of the meaning of what was sabr is
04:25we're going to lose patience.
04:27We're going to lose our composure.
04:29And we have to be there for each other
04:31to give each other composure,
04:32to keep us on track.
04:34That's part of the agenda.
04:36I also think about how easy it is
04:39given that I have public speaking background
04:41and I know how to raise my voice and lower it.
04:43And I have an understanding of communal
04:46and social psychology
04:50that I can give lakhut
04:51by the end of which there's going to be a very loud takbir.
04:54There's going to be a lot of excitement
04:56and the hearts will be at ease
04:58that I heard something that felt good.
05:01But I actually stop myself from doing that.
05:03I stop myself from doing it because
05:06I feel that that has almost become
05:10a pacifying drug.
05:12At least we heard something that felt good.
05:15At least, okay, that eased our pain a little bit.
05:18Or that gave us some comfort.
05:21You know, and every time there's a crisis
05:23we turn to what are our scholars saying?
05:25You know, my heart is hurting.
05:27I need to hear something from our scholars,
05:28our dua, our speakers.
05:30They need to say something.
05:32And it's in a sense,
05:34I almost feel like I'm betraying this trust
05:36because I'm just giving someone something they want
05:38not what they need.
05:39That's what it feels like to me.
05:41And so when that request is made,
05:44I actually went through quite a bit of a few stages
05:48since I heard that request.
05:50I casually said yes, but it's not easy for me.
05:52Because I do take that as an amanah.
05:55And after a lot of thinking
05:58and a lot of talking with friends and colleagues
06:00and mentors through last night
06:02just on what to do
06:04because I'm not any different than any of you,
06:07like I said, those emotions are mine too.
06:09And if I step back and I try to seek
06:12what it is that Allah wants from the ummah
06:14in this hour.
06:16What does He expect from us?
06:18I come away with two things.
06:20The reason, what's on all of our minds
06:23is that we're powerless.
06:25That's what's on our minds.
06:26This frustration is not
06:28the zalim, the shayateen,
06:31you know, the killers, the murderers,
06:34the massacres of children,
06:38the genocidal maniacs, the shayateen.
06:40It's not, they're gonna do what they're gonna do.
06:43They're just doing what they're supposed to.
06:45The real frustration is not with them.
06:47The real frustration is with ourselves.
06:49Why are we so powerless?
06:50Why is this happening in front of our eyes?
06:52We're making all this noise and it's going on.
06:54So actually if you step back and think about it,
06:57the real problem is ourselves.
06:59Because, you know,
07:01you can't get angry at shaytan.
07:03Shaytan's job is to do what he does.
07:06We're supposed to be,
07:08and the enemies of Islam,
07:10they're going to do what they're going to do.
07:12And Rasulullah ﷺ,
07:14his entire seerah is about one thing.
07:16It's about him having his agenda
07:18as much as they anger him.
07:21They anger him all the time.
07:23And they anger the believers all the time.
07:25The kuffar anger believers all the time.
07:27But he has, Allah has put him on a track.
07:30And the objective of that track is,
07:32to me, one of the objectives is really straightforward.
07:35And the objective is,
07:37if you get off track,
07:38you're never going to build the power
07:40you need to build to put a stop to them.
07:43You're never going to build that power.
07:45In fact, giving in to your emotions
07:48will take you off track.
07:50And even though you'll feel like
07:52you released some hot air,
07:55you didn't even make steps towards
07:57ending that problem.
07:59Because today, for instance,
08:01if we do, you know,
08:02somehow this crisis comes to an end,
08:04the damage is already done.
08:06For generations, the damage is done.
08:09And tomorrow it might be another country.
08:11And tomorrow it might be another vocation.
08:13And already we know the ummah is on fire
08:15in multiple places around the world.
08:17So the real question is, what is that track?
08:20What's the pathway the ummah is supposed to be on?
08:22It's easy to say, we're not united.
08:24Our leaders are corrupt.
08:26It's, you know, this one,
08:27so when is the ummah going to wake up?
08:29What in the world does that mean?
08:30When is the ummah going to wake up?
08:32Unless you and I have a clear agenda in front of us,
08:36here's what I need me to do.
08:38Here's what I need you to do.
08:40There's supposed to be some level of clarity
08:43on an agenda, on a unified agenda.
08:46Then it shouldn't be difficult
08:48for 20% of the world's population
08:51to exert their influence
08:53and to flex their muscle.
08:55Because we are that.
08:56We're not a small population.
08:58So something has to be there.
09:01And in order to try to,
09:02I'm not claiming that I have the answer to that question,
09:05but I think I have somewhat of the right direction.
09:07And I want to share that with you with this khutba.
09:10In the Qur'an, Allah has given us essentially
09:13two problems, two responsibilities.
09:17One responsibility faces inward
09:20and the other faces outward.
09:22So a great place to look at for these two directions
09:26is what I recited to you from Surah Ali'Imran.
09:29In fact, even Surah Al-Asr is the same thing.
09:32It's inward and outward.
09:34When you think of,
09:35إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ
09:37It's inwards.
09:38And when you think of,
09:39وَتَوَصَلُوا الْحَقْتِ وَتَوَصَلُوا الصَّبْرِ
09:41It is outward.
09:42So there's always these two things.
09:44The same thing Allah says in,
09:46وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا التَّقُّوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ
09:48وَلَا تَبُطُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
09:51That's inwards.
09:52That's my taqwa.
09:53I have to die in a state of Islam.
09:55I have to be in surrender to Allah.
09:57So let's stop at inwards for a second.
09:59There are those of us
10:01who will feel,
10:02well, we're not doing the inward.
10:04We're not really people of taqwa.
10:06We don't really have the right kind of iman.
10:08And if we just have the right kind of iman,
10:10then the problem of the ummah would be solved.
10:13The world would look different.
10:14We wouldn't have this oppression anymore.
10:16But that's only half the equation.
10:18So we have to address that.
10:20But while we're addressing that,
10:21if you look at the very next ayah,
10:23Allah says,
10:25وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا
10:29There's another step right after that.
10:31Don't fall into division with each other.
10:33Now, we're already taking a step upwards.
10:35It's not just about my taqwa now anymore.
10:37It's about unification.
10:39So first is my own reform.
10:42Step two is steps towards unification.
10:46And then step three,
10:47وَلْتَكُمْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَا إِلَى الْخَيْرِ
10:50Now you're calling to something good.
10:52But you're calling as a unified force
10:55to something good.
10:56And calling someone da'wa
10:58is something even Nuh alayhis salaam did, right?
11:01Nuh alayhis salaam did da'wa.
11:03You know, Salih alayhis salaam did da'wa.
11:05But you as a group,
11:06you won't just make da'wa.
11:07You will then build enough momentum behind you
11:10that you will go from da'wa to,
11:11يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَإِنْ هَوْنَ عَدِ الْمُلْكَةِ
11:14You're gonna go, you're gonna take bigger steps.
11:16This is gonna get bigger and bigger.
11:18There's a development here.
11:20One, two, three, four.
11:22Here's what you have to do, right?
11:24So now let's look at one for a second
11:26and understand something.
11:27I'm gonna talk first for a few minutes
11:29just about the inward.
11:30What is Allah saying about the inward?
11:32Allah has given us
11:34a pretty detailed description
11:36of the Israelites in the Qur'an,
11:38of the new Israel.
11:40And Allah has described
11:42how Allah had given them a religion
11:43that they should have surrendered to.
11:45They are in fact also descendants
11:47of our father Ibrahim a.s.
11:49The religion of
11:50اِذْ قَالَ لَهُ رَبُّهُ أَسْلِمْ
11:52قَالَ أَسْلَمْتُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
11:54They are a religion that,
11:55they follow that same religion.
11:56نَعْبُدُ إِلَهَكَ وَإِلَهَ آبَيْكَ
11:59إِبْرَهِيمًا وَإِسْمَعِيلًا وَإِسْحَاقًا
12:02وَنَحْنُ لَهُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ
12:03They declared Islam for themselves too.
12:05The sons of Ya'qub,
12:06the sons of Israel.
12:07And Allah will describe elaborately
12:09how they played with Allah's law.
12:12How they manipulated
12:14what Allah had revealed.
12:15How they used it
12:17to generate power for themselves
12:19and wealth for themselves.
12:20So they had these classes
12:21of not just rabbis,
12:22but also priests
12:24that you couldn't be purified
12:26unless you went through them.
12:27Your sacrifices would be accepted,
12:29your worship would be accepted
12:30unless you went through a priest.
12:32And unless you paid these kinds of money.
12:34The same thing the Catholic Church did with the Pope,
12:36the Israelites were doing.
12:38And they were playing with the law of Allah.
12:40Taking the haram and making it haram.
12:42Taking the haram and making it haram.
12:43Adding things to the sharia
12:44that had nothing to do with the sharia.
12:46They were doing these kinds of things.
12:47They were playing these kinds of games
12:49with Allah's rules.
12:50And clearly the things Allah had made haram,
12:52they were openly violating them.
12:54Now, Allah gave us that example
12:56not just so we can look back at them and say,
12:58look at these people,
12:59look at how they mess with Allah.
13:01Allah gave us that
13:02because the first instruction was,
13:03if you want to fix things,
13:04اتقوا الله حق تقاته
13:06ولا تموتمنا إلا وأنتم مسلمون
13:08And by the way,
13:09at the end of that very passage,
13:10Allah will say,
13:11ولا تكونوا كالذين أوتوا الكتاب
13:13Don't become like them.
13:15Because they didn't observe taqwa
13:18and they didn't come into Islam completely.
13:20So the first honest look,
13:23and I'm just giving this like a,
13:25you know, a rhetorical speech
13:27we all have to have taqwa.
13:28You've heard about taqwa a billion times.
13:30I'm not just saying that.
13:32I'm saying,
13:33I have to look at my family,
13:35you have to look at your family,
13:37we have to look at our community,
13:38we have to look at our culture
13:39and say, how much of the book of Allah
13:41do we actually apply in our personal lives
13:43before we talk about anybody else?
13:45How much of it are we actually living by?
13:47So for example,
13:48much of the Qur'an,
13:50much of the book of Allah
13:51has to do with financial regulations.
13:55Inheritance law is financial regulation.
13:57The mahr in marriage is financial regulation.
14:00Child support is financial regulation.
14:02Zakat is financial regulation.
14:04Earning halal money is financial regulation.
14:07Staying away from riba is financial regulation.
14:10Right?
14:11So money matters are a huge chunk
14:14of the sharia.
14:15And another huge,
14:16and by the way, all of us have money issues.
14:18So that's one part of the equation
14:20where we could say,
14:21if you want to see,
14:22I want to see for myself,
14:23am I living by the word of Allah?
14:25Am I observing taqwa of Allah
14:28outside of my basic worship,
14:30my five prayers, Ramadan, hajj?
14:33The first litmus test,
14:34easy litmus test is money matters.
14:37Am I involved in riba?
14:39Am I giving the inheritance share?
14:41Did I shortchange my sister
14:45or my mother or my whoever else
14:48on the inheritance?
14:49Did I give the mahr?
14:50Am I providing the support
14:51I'm supposed to provide?
14:52The finances that I owe?
14:54Am I giving the zakat?
14:55Am I paying the loan back?
14:57Right?
14:58These are all.
15:00That's easy litmus test.
15:02And the way the state of the ummah is,
15:06I've been in business for some time
15:08other than education.
15:10And one of the hardest lessons
15:12I learned in business is
15:14it's hard to do business with Muslims.
15:17It was an ugly lesson
15:19because these are my brothers.
15:21These are the people I learn deen with.
15:23I pray with them.
15:24I do dawah work with them.
15:27I discuss Islam with them, etc.
15:29When it comes to money though,
15:30I don't know, something happens.
15:32Something happens.
15:34And you know what?
15:36That is psychosis.
15:39So I can look like I have taqwa.
15:41I can pray like I have taqwa.
15:43I can talk like I have taqwa.
15:45But my financial dealings
15:47don't have taqwa.
15:49That's a problem.
15:51The second, one litmus test,
15:53whether we're living up to the first condition.
15:55Because you know, we get,
15:57in this ayat, we eventually get to a place
15:59where we can command the good
16:02and forbid the evil.
16:04When you command the good,
16:05it starts with just speaking up,
16:07but eventually ends up with, you know,
16:09you can stop, you have the power to stop it.
16:12This is how you get to the place
16:14where you have a power to stop it.
16:15And the step one is internal
16:17and that is you have to abide by Allah's word
16:19or everything else you do,
16:21Allah will deal with you no different
16:23than how He dealt with the Israelites.
16:25And what did He do with the Israelites?
16:26When they played with Allah's law,
16:28بُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ وَالْمَسْكَنَةُ وَبَعُوا بِغَضَةٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ
16:31They were humiliated,
16:32they were powerless,
16:33and they received the rage from Allah.
16:36So, وَلَمْ تَجِذَ بِسُنَّةٍ لَّهِ تَبْلِيلَ
16:39You're not gonna find any change
16:40in the way Allah does things.
16:41So, if I'm gonna say for myself,
16:43and yourself, and us as a whole,
16:45you know, the hundreds of millions
16:47and billions of us,
16:49let's start with step one,
16:50at least let's begin here and say,
16:53hey, I gotta bring taqwa back into my life.
16:56Starting with the worship and financial dealings,
16:58the next place would be the حُدُودَ of Allah
17:00in family,
17:02in my personal family life.
17:04You might not know this,
17:05but the term تِلْكَ حُدُودُ الله
17:08or the phrase حُدُودُ الله
17:09is referred to in the Qur'an
17:12except in one place in Surah At-Tawbah
17:14where it's mentioned generally,
17:16every other place it has to do with family law.
17:19The حُدُودَ of Allah.
17:21We think of حُدُود,
17:22what do we think of?
17:23Cutting the hand of the thief,
17:24we think of, you know,
17:26the punishments in Islam, right?
17:29The punishment of the قاتل and this and that and the other.
17:32In the Qur'an, where is حُدُود being used?
17:34Family law.
17:37So, money and family law
17:41will give us a pretty good idea of what taqwa looks like.
17:43Now, I started this khutbah by saying Islam is inwards
17:46and outwards.
17:48For yourself,
17:50do a study of the Musabihat of the Qur'an,
17:53for yourself,
17:54from Surah Al-Hadeed all the way to Surah Al-Tahreed,
17:5657 to 66.
17:57You know what you're gonna find?
17:58You're gonna find ayat about jihad,
18:00fighting, spending,
18:02the Muslim military,
18:04you're gonna find those ayat.
18:05And in the middle of those ayat,
18:07you'll find قَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّتِى تُجَادِنُكَ فِى زَوْجِهَا
18:10You're gonna find,
18:11يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَأَعَذِكُمْ نَارًا
18:13In the same surah,
18:15that Allah says,
18:16جَاهِلِ الْكُفَارَ وَالْمُنَافِقِينَ وَأُعْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ
18:19Fight against the kuffar and the munafiqeen.
18:21That's outwards.
18:22Same surah,
18:23Allah is saying,
18:24لِمَا تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَمَلْ مَاهُ لَكَ
18:25تَبْدَغِ بَرْضَةَ أَزْوَاجِتٍ
18:27Why are you making halal?
18:29What are you making haram?
18:30What Allah made halal for you?
18:31Because you're making your wives happy?
18:33A family issue?
18:35Isn't it?
18:36So what is Allah teaching us?
18:38Allah is teaching us,
18:39these two things go hand in hand
18:40but you can't separate them.
18:41The internal and the external.
18:43And the internal is taqwa.
18:45And taqwa, two big places we can look at ourselves.
18:48Are we living taqwa in our money matters?
18:51And am I living taqwa in my family matters?
18:54Those two places.
18:56Easy litmus test.
18:57Okay, now let's take the next step.
18:59And it's not all until you do this,
19:00you can't take the next step.
19:01No, no, no.
19:02These are concurrent things that are happening.
19:05They're not all,
19:06right now I'm working on financial and family,
19:08so don't burden me with the problem of the ummah right now.
19:11It's not like that.
19:13Because family drama will be with you for life.
19:15Like Ya'qub a.s.
19:17If you're gonna wait until it's all solved,
19:20then Ibrahim a.s. had family issues until the very end.
19:24Rasulullah a.s., most of his family disbelieved
19:27and was against him until Fatih.
19:30Nuh a.s. 950, he's got other things to do.
19:33So you have to deal with the internal
19:35while dealing with the external.
19:37These are concurrent.
19:38Okay, so that's,
19:39لا تموت النا إلا وأنتم مسلمون.
19:41The second thing Allah says is,
19:42وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَمْدِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا وَلَا تَفَرَّبُوا.
19:45Second step is,
19:46forget about the rest of the world,
19:47now look at the Muslims.
19:49Let's look at each other.
19:50Don't fall into disagreement with each other.
19:53And how will you do this?
19:54By holding on to Allah's book together.
19:58So now what Allah is giving us is a mandate.
20:01You and I have to become,
20:03I don't have a lighter word to use.
20:05You and I have to become obsessed
20:07with the Qur'an together.
20:10We have to develop a collective obsession
20:12with Allah's book.
20:14And that obsession is so powerful
20:16that our racial disagreements,
20:19our ethnic disagreements,
20:20our family disagreements,
20:22our fiqh disagreements,
20:25our historical disagreements,
20:27our national disagreements,
20:29they start becoming so small
20:31because there's something that binds us
20:33that is so powerful.
20:35I'll give you just an analogy of this.
20:37Like, you know,
20:38Democrats and Republicans
20:39can absolutely hate each other
20:41in this country, right?
20:43They're listening to different podcasts.
20:45They're listening to different radio stations.
20:47And atheists can have absolute disdain
20:49for fundamentalist Christians.
20:51The far left and the far right.
20:53But they're both, you know,
20:55they're both Dallas Mavericks fans.
20:57And they're both in the same stadium
20:59cheering for the same team.
21:01And they're both going crazy.
21:02And when they, you know,
21:04on the buzzer, they win a shot.
21:05They're giving each other a high five.
21:06What then?
21:07But you hate each other.
21:08No, no, no, that doesn't matter.
21:10More importantly right now,
21:11we're in the playoffs.
21:13These are the finals.
21:14This is more important.
21:16Something that is so
21:18captivating for them
21:20that they forget all of their...
21:22They could put all of those differences in a box
21:24for a stupid game.
21:26You would think about that?
21:27You think all the people
21:28that are in a stadium watching a sport,
21:30they're all politically, religiously,
21:32philosophically aligned?
21:34No.
21:36There could be people
21:37that took each other to court
21:38during the same stadium.
21:40But it doesn't matter.
21:41Right now, we're all on the same side.
21:43Go team.
21:45It's insane.
21:47But you know what?
21:48Allah has given us something
21:49far more powerful than a stupid team.
21:52Allah has given us His final word.
21:54And that word should inspire
21:56passion inside of us.
21:57And the more it does,
21:58the more it naturally
22:00brings people together.
22:02The ummah is right now
22:05obsessed with disagreement.
22:06I would argue the opposite.
22:07We're obsessed with disagreement,
22:08not with agreement.
22:10And the reason is
22:11the opposite of disagreement
22:12is not agreement.
22:13The opposite of disagreement
22:14and division is Quran,
22:16in the Quran.
22:18So our overwhelming disagreements
22:22and divisions
22:23are just a manifestation
22:25of how far from our
22:27actual alignment with the Quran,
22:29and how the Quran is no longer
22:32the conversation.
22:33The Quran is just a side reference.
22:36The Quran is just a book of dala'il
22:37from my point of view.
22:39I'm gonna show you your aqeedah is wrong.
22:41Let me bring these ayaat
22:42and show you your aqeedah is wrong.
22:43And this one will bring the other ayaat
22:45and show this aqeedah is wrong.
22:47We're using the Quran
22:48to slap each other,
22:49instead of actually surrendering
22:51before the word of Allah together.
22:53So our approach is actually
22:54my ideology comes first,
22:56and to support my ideology,
22:58I will bring the Quran.
22:59Instead of, my ideology is the Quran.
23:02So, instead of the Quran
23:04serving my thought,
23:05I'm using the Quran to serve my thought.
23:08If you understand what I'm saying.
23:10And that's our second problem.
23:12The first problem is dakwah.
23:14Concurrently,
23:15and that's a social, spiritual problem.
23:17The second problem is intellectual.
23:19The intellectual discourse of the Muslims
23:21now must be dictated, mandated,
23:23obsessively with the Quran.
23:26We have to bring it back
23:27into popular conversation.
23:29This last week, many of you attended
23:31me going through Surah Al-Ma'arij.
23:33And for many of you,
23:34that have been listening to the Rasul of Quran,
23:36good for you,
23:37this was just reinforcement.
23:38But for many of you,
23:39this is the first time you're actually
23:40taking the time to study a surah deeply.
23:43And as wonderful as that is,
23:45isn't that a tragedy?
23:47Isn't that a disaster?
23:49That the people that call themselves Muslim,
23:51the people of this Quran,
23:52they can be raised in a Muslim family,
23:55saying, La ilaha illallah,
23:56Muhammadur Rasulullah,
23:57salallahu alayhi wa sallam.
23:58And they can be 18, 20, 25, 30, 35 years old,
24:01and this is the first time they took the time
24:03to think deeply about the Quran like this.
24:05Or even have the opportunity.
24:07Whose fault is that?
24:08The kuffar?
24:10Did they do this?
24:11That's all us.
24:13وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًۭا
24:15وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا
24:17And that's why this ayah,
24:19this is the ayah about brotherhood,
24:21and about unity.
24:22You used to be enemies before this.
24:24فَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ
24:26يَعْنِي أَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ
24:28بِكِتَابِهِ بِحَبْلِهِ
24:30وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَى خُفْرَةٍ بِنَ الدَّارِ
24:33After this comes,
24:35now that we're unified,
24:36now we know how to think,
24:37the Qur'an teaches you how to think,
24:39how to understand the world around you.
24:41This is كتاب مبين.
24:43This is نور.
24:44نور helps you see.
24:46مبين is something that clarifies the world around you.
24:49Now you're able to engage
24:51in intelligent conversation
24:53with the outside hostile world.
24:55Now you're able to take their counter arguments against you,
24:58their propaganda,
24:59their hatred,
25:01and break it apart
25:02like Ibrahim a.s. broke apart
25:04the arguments of the idol worshippers.
25:06Now you're able to do that
25:08because now you're equipped.
25:09You're equipped with revelation.
25:11Ibrahim a.s. was equipped with revelation.
25:13Nuh a.s. was equipped with revelation.
25:15Now you're equipped with revelation.
25:18Now because you held on to the Qur'an like that,
25:21your personality,
25:22your thought process,
25:23your world view has evolved.
25:25And now you're ready to make da'wah.
25:28Now you can have conversation
25:30يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْوَلْتَكُمْ مِنْكُمْ أُمَّةٌ يَدْعُونَ إِلَى الْخَيْرَ
25:34I'm not giving you a full on tafsir of these ayahs
25:36but there's a logical progression
25:38that I just wanted to highlight.
25:40And once you do that,
25:42on just da'wah,
25:43I'm just going to mention one more thing
25:45because time's up.
25:47Just one more thing.
25:49Da'wah in the Qur'an interestingly
25:51is broken up into
25:53three target audiences.
25:56Three target audiences.
25:58So society,
25:59one way the Qur'an breaks up the society
26:01is it breaks it up into three audiences.
26:04One of those audiences is general average people.
26:08They just need to hear something good.
26:11Something, some advice that hits their heart.
26:14They need ma'idha hasana.
26:16That's what they need.
26:18And that's a huge population of society.
26:22So even as you're spreading the word of Allah,
26:24not everybody is debating with you.
26:25Actually most people say,
26:26Wow, that's really beautiful.
26:27Can I learn more about that?
26:29Can you tell me more about that?
26:30That's incredible.
26:31Where can I read more?
26:32Where can I find more?
26:33In fact, we're not even doing da'wah.
26:35And you know, these kids are picking up,
26:37these non-Muslim kids are picking up a copy of the Qur'an
26:40and talking about it on TikTok
26:42because it's speaking to them.
26:43They get the ma'idha hasana from it.
26:45But that's our job.
26:46Our job is to introduce them.
26:49ادعوا إلى سبيل ربك بالموعدات الحسنة
26:52The ma'idha hasana is for the masses of people.
26:55I call them the neutral masses.
26:57Even if they're against you,
26:59they don't really know why they're against you.
27:01And when they come into contact with this message,
27:03they're like, I don't even know why I was against that.
27:05I actually agree with this.
27:06I find reason in it.
27:08The second group of people
27:10is the people that would love to keep the masses,
27:13the first group,
27:14they would love to control those masses
27:16using their propaganda.
27:19You can call them the hawks.
27:21And these hawks, they're very vocal.
27:24They're very aggressive.
27:26They're very insulting.
27:28Every society has hawks
27:30for their ideology.
27:32And those hawks, you need to understand them.
27:35You need to understand their arguments.
27:37And some of us have to be equipped
27:39to respond to their arguments
27:40with something better than their arguments.
27:43Right?
27:44That's the hawks.
27:45And that's the last part of that ayah.
27:47وَجَادِلْهُمْ بِالَّتِيهِ يَا هُسَنِ
27:49That's another part of da'wah.
27:51But the middle part of da'wah,
27:53which I particularly chose
27:55to talk about this here
27:56because this is a university town.
27:58Many of you are university students,
28:00many of you are professionals.
28:02Allah says,
28:03أُدْرُولِدَ سَبِيلِ الرَّبِكَ بِالْحِكْمَةِ
28:05first, actually.
28:06And that's actually
28:07a really important part of da'wah.
28:09Every society has
28:12a certain population of people
28:14that are lower in education.
28:16They're lower in education.
28:18And then there's a smaller population of people
28:20that are higher in education.
28:23And they are in a certain intellectual elite status.
28:27Whether by way of university
28:29or other training or whatever,
28:31they are at a higher level of thinking.
28:33Right?
28:34They need something
28:36that engages them where they are.
28:39They need a conversation at their level.
28:42I need to be able to make da'wah
28:44to the sociology professor
28:46and the anthropology professor
28:48and my PhD mentor
28:50in the program of neuroscience.
28:52Those people,
28:53I need to be able to have a conversation with them too.
28:55They're not too smart for Islam.
28:58But Islam can be presented to them
29:00at the level of hikmah.
29:02And that's a different class of society.
29:06I mentioned three groups.
29:08The general public,
29:10الموعد الحسن.
29:12The hawks,
29:14الجدال.
29:15وَجَادِلْهُمْ بِالَّتِيهِ أَعْسَنُ
29:17And first and foremost,
29:19we need the smartest people in society.
29:21Quran actually began with al-hikmah.
29:23And you know what?
29:25This is the time.
29:26This is an opportunity.
29:27Now that this heinous,
29:30inhumane, satanic behavior
29:33and this crime has been exposed before the world.
29:36Intellectuals are starting to question
29:38their allegiance to western ideas.
29:41Their allegiance to,
29:42blind allegiance to capitalism.
29:44Or, you know,
29:45their fantastical allegiance
29:47to what they think is democracy, etc.
29:49This is a time to have very intelligent conversation
29:52with those intellectuals.
29:54Because the first change that happens in the world
29:57is not military change.
29:59The real change that happens in the world
30:01is actually a change in thought process and minds.
30:05If the Quran came,
30:08one of the things it did is
30:09it revolutionized how people think.
30:11And once that happens,
30:13now you're in a position
30:15that when you do amr bil ma'ruf,
30:17the intellectuals can't stop you.
30:19The masses are in agreement with you.
30:21The hawks have been silenced.
30:23Do you understand?
30:24You become more and more dangerous.
30:25And the Quran was targeting,
30:27hitting all these three with one arrow
30:29constantly, constantly, constantly.
30:31Which is why for Makkah,
30:32Islam became unbearable.
30:34It hit all three audiences.
30:36It became unbearable for them.
30:38This is the agenda
30:40Allah has given the ummah.
30:42When we lose sight of that agenda,
30:44when we don't live by this agenda,
30:46then what is the model in the Quran?
30:48Either you're doing this,
30:49or you are just like what Banu Iswa'il did.
30:52Those are the two.
30:54That's why right after this,
30:56Allah mentions them.
30:58وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ تَفَرَّقُوا وَاصْتَلَفُوا بِمْبَعْدِ مَا جَعَلَكُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتِ
31:02That's right after that.
31:03For a reason.
31:05Because this is the model.
31:08This is the revolution brought about
31:09by Muhammad Rasulullah ﷺ
31:11of how to transform the world.
31:13Or you can do what the Israelites have done before you
31:17and suffer the consequences that they suffered.
31:20This book is a wake-up call for humanity.
31:24But this crisis I pray is a wake-up call for the ummah
31:27and for every single one of us.
31:29That we see ourselves aligned
31:31with a very particular agenda.
31:33With a very particular focus.
31:35Simultaneously.
31:37And if enough of us have that awakening,
31:39if enough of us have that consciousness,
31:41Wallahi al-'Azim we are far too many
31:43to think ourselves as weak.
31:45Or far too many.
31:47And you don't need billions to bring about a change.
31:49Qur'an already taught us that.
31:51As-Seerah already taught us that.
31:53You just need enough strong hearts and minds.
31:56That's all you need.
31:57And Allah Azawajal bring those strong hearts and minds
31:59out of this and every other community.
32:01بَارَكَ اللَّهُ لِي وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ
32:03وَنَفَعَنِي وَإِيَانُكُمْ بِالْآيَاتِ وَالذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيمِ
32:05As-salamu alaykum everyone.
32:07There are almost 50,000 students around the world
32:10that are interested on top of the students we have
32:12in studying the Qur'an and its meanings
32:14and being able to learn that and share that
32:16with family and friends.
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32:19So if you can help sponsor students
32:21on Bayyinah TV,
32:22please do so and visit our sponsorship page.
32:24I appreciate it so much.
32:25And pray that Allah gives our mission success
32:27and we're able to share the meanings of the Qur'an
32:29and the beauty of it the world over.