Recite Quran, Fulfill Rights, Transform Hearts

Oh my. Alhamdulillah. Tonight,.

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As per usual, Saturday night, we have our weekly question and answer session. And as usual, we usually begin this half an hour. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept it and make it blessed. A blessed transfer of knowledge and inheritance from our prophet sallall.aii wasallam to our hearts. We usually begin with a small reminder, something to kind of get the juices flowing. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us he tells us to remind one another to remind why because the reminder is of benefit and consequence for the believers. Many of us we have a lot more knowledge than we probably give ourselves credit for in the sense that throughout our years most of us especially born as Muslims grew up in a Muslim household we've heard a lot of commonplace narrations verses a lot of things that are very well known and common place in our religion. However, years and years go by and the sharpness of these things starts to dull in our minds. This is why it is so important to constantly read the Quran over and over and over. Never a person's journey with the Quran never stops over and over and over. Every time they finish it, they turn it over and read it again. As a matter of fact, some scholars would advise that a person never leave on the exact end of the Quran. They would restart it before they end their final sitting of the evening or the day with it. Why? So that it is in a constant loop. And the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam commanded that we recite the Quran at least once a month. At least once a month. And alkari and Muslim the prophet sallallah.aihi Wasam. It was brought to his attention that one of his most devout companions and the scholars of the companions. He had just gotten married. But when his father went to visit him, he found that his wife was muted. and she wasn't dressed nice. She didn't look she was you know was taking care of herself. And usually this articulates a problem in the household. Why? Because naturally a woman will want to you know grab the attention or catch the eye of her husband and vice versa. And so he asked her what the issue is and she told him that Abdullah is one of the best men as a slave to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But he has no use for marriage or women. The guy is constantly fasting. He was praying all night every night. So he'd never sleep next to her. He is fasting every single day and he is reading the Quran every day once a day the whole Quran. And so the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam commanded him to lessen of that and the most he allowed him to fast every day is how much? Anyone know the narration? What is the maximum allowance for fasting for a person? How much? Very good. Which is fasting one day, breaking your fast the other. So every other day and the most a person can pray in the night is the same narration. The prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam mentioned the of of and that a person should sleep a part of the night and pray a part of the night. And in commanding him to recite the Quran, he said read it once a month, once every 30 days. In some wordings of this narration, once every 40 days. He said, He said, "I can do better than that. I can do more than that." He said then once every 10 days and he continued to go down 14 days, 10 days, 7 days, once a week until he said sai wasam that the most is that once every 3 days and anything faster than once every 3 days, a person is generally unable to unable to be consistent with that and second of all unable to contemplate the Quran properly because now they're in too much of a hurry trying to finish its recitation. So some of the scholars of Islam derived from this narration and took from this narration that a Muslim who is able to read the Quran has no excuse to not read it at least once a month once every 30 days should complete the mus the Quran. And if a person doesn't have the ability to do so then they should learn. There's nothing stopping a person today, whether they're blind or even if they're deaf, from learning the recitation of the Quran. We've got entire mah in braille. Now, literacy is at an all-time high worldwide. There's no reason a person cannot learn to recite the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and give it of his time. However, person should not be extreme in anything that he or she does and part of that is the recitation of the Quran. Person does not push himself until he burns out nor does he ignore the Quran until he forgets it. Now, so having said that, inshallah we will start with any questions. Now guys, if you don't have a question for me, I'm gonna ask you a question. And that's the one that's.

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Anyone has a question? Okay, I I'll start.

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Talk you gave last Thursday when you were talking about the taps of so the question I have is follow up to what Abu J asked which is that in this generation we have less scholars than previous generations and you said it was a prophecy from prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. but also you suggested that we can kind of fix that by having our each of the each family will send their best ch child to to become a scholar.

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Prophecy and also the possibility of kind of fixing that by sending children to become scholars. Yeah, the prophecy is not every prophecy is a prohibition. This is a very important point. Not every prophecy is a prohibition and not every prophecy is a command. What does that mean? Is it that every single time the prophet sallallah.aii wasallam gives a prophecy of the day of judgment? for instance, he says one of the signs of the day of judgment or the day of judgment will not come until such and such happens. Is that always a dis a dispraise of that thing? No, not necessarily. For instance, one of the things that is prophesized is widespread literacy. This is something that's going to happen which the scholars have told us is the modern vehicle. He prophesies that the vehicle and things vehicles and literacy and airplanes which are found in narrations. Are these all dispraised? The answer is no. These are not necessarily dispraised and vice versa. Not everything that is a prophecy is necessarily a command. So not everything that is prophesized is necessarily a prohibition. Nor is everything that is prophesized necessarily a command to do or be something. When we see that the prophet sallallah.aii alaihi wasallam prophesized that ignorance would become widespread. That in itself is not a command nor a prohibition. Rather we take the prohibition of ignorance, ignorance in our religion from other sources. So when we see prophecies that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us that the end of time people will have access to information no other time but simultaneously there will be widespread ignorance no other time. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't try to correct that and it doesn't necessarily mean that we can particularly avoid that. Why is he telling us this? He's telling us this for a number of reasons. Number one, so that we can try to push that off as far and as much as possible. Number two, so that we can correct it. Number three, so that we can expect it. And a person doesn't start to feel despondent, melancholy, and you know hopeless when they see these things. They see for instance widespread ignorance and they say, "Wow, I never thought that the of Muhammad would ever be this. I never thought things would be this." And start to have doubt in their heart. However, when the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam tells us there a time is going to come when these things will happen. This is all part of what? Part of the decree of Allah. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does whatever he wants. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. We do not base our actions around what Allah does or doesn't do or is or is not going to choose to do. We base our actions on what Allah has commanded us to do and we try to never become sidetracked with what Allah is doing and forget what we are supposed to be doing. That's what happened on the day of correct. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us the story of they became sidetracked with what Allah is doing and forgot about what Allah has commanded them to do. And this spelled destruction and failure. And so the point here is that widespread ignorance and especially amongst the Muslims, especially with regards to their own religion is something that we will fight against until the end of time with the last and final of our breath. But Allah does what he chooses. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And if he chooses to allow our efforts to be fruitful at any given time, then alhamdulillah. And if he chooses any given time for our efforts not to be fruitful, then that is his discretion. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. second of all, when we look at the decree of Allah, the decree of Allah, how do we know for sure when something is the decree of Allah? That's that's a real question I'm asking. How do we know for sure that something is the decree of Allah?

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Is the decree of Allah?

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Think about it. when we say Allah decreed this, Allah wrote this. This is written to happen. How do we know that that's going to that that is part of Allah's decree of Allah's? How do we know when it h very good? Who said that? Look at that. We've got our own theologian here, our homegrown theologian, mashallah, hiding in the cut. Now the only way for us to know something is the decree of Allah is either Allah tells us Quran and Sunnah or it happens and it becomes passed. There's no other way. Right? This is why we are taught that when something happens that we don't necessarily want to happen, what do we say?

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That's what's meant. We are explain we we when we when something happens that we are you know unpleased with something that we don't want to happen what do we say we are taught by the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam to say this is the decree of Allah and what he has chosen to happen what he has willed happened. What he wills he does. That's what we're taught. How do we know something is the decree of Allah? Only if it happens. That's the only way. But before something happens, we don't know if it's the decree of Allah. So we can fight for that thing not to happen. Yes, we push and we fight and we try and we plan to make sure that unpleasant thing does not occur. But once it happens and comes into existence, we know that this is something Allah decreed. And at that point, we never go back and say, "If only I did this, this would have happened. I should have done this. This would have happened." Who are you to change Allah's will? What does that mean? What hand is going to reach into the heavens and rewrite Allah's script? no hand. Right? And this is why we are taught by the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. He said, he said, "Seek aid in Allah in what you do and never give up and seek out and search and seek to fulfill and obtain that which will benefit you." in this life or the hereafter and never say to something that afflicts you, if only I had done such and such, such and such would have occurred. He said, "And rather say, this is the decree of Allah, and what he has willed, he has done. For indeed low if only in this context not all if only but in this context will only what open a door of the acts of a shan the whispers of a shan things regret and weakness and melancholy and depression and giving up this comes from a shaitan and if only I had done this is what opens those doors upon a person so we don't say that because that serves us no purpose at this junction. And so what does the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam teach us? That once it comes into existence, we concede to the decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But before that, no, we try our best cuz we don't know if that's been decreed by Allah or not. Which is one of the reputations of the misunderstanding people have with regards to Allah's decree. For instance, people say, you know, if Allah wanted me to pray, I would pray. If Allah wanted me to be good, he would decree that I'm good. How do you know he hasn't decreed for you to be good in the future? Have you seen that? Have you looked into the future in the past? Sure. But you can't use that as measurement. You haven't looked at the preserved tablet of Allah to see if he decreed or did not decree. The only way we know if Allah decreed a certain thing is if it happened. That's the only way. So we fight against these things. We fight against things that are unpleasant, unp that are painful, that are unnecessary. But once they come to pass, we don't look and say, "I could have done such and such." That is the belief system of the disbeliever. Because the disbeliever has a bloated overestimation of himself and his abilities. that the disbelievers say about someone who died if they would have listened to me, if they would have stayed with me, they would have they would be alive today. Allah said, if that's true, then why will you eventually die? If all we have to do to avoid death is listen to you, why are you subject to death? The answer is no one changes Allah's decree. But we don't know what it is until it already happens. Now, so that answers right. This is how we always harmonize between prophecy and command. The commandments of Allah and the prophecies of Allah and his messenger sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Any other questions inshallah? Yes. Okay. for this session. so I have one related question about it's about the dealing with other fellow Muslims brothers and sisters right. So I think they have in the day of Cayama there will be dealings with other Muslims if I have or some person has taken the rights of other Muslim he will come or she will come and say give me my rights back. Right? So in that in that in that light let's say if you're living in this world and we come from different culture this one basic example right and I'm inviting some brother and he has some expectations of you know giving some good food or dealings and then somehow he doesn't it or it is not up to his standard or he their standard.

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Hey you will say okay you didn't treat me well on that day you invited me I am expecting according to my culture such and such things but I'm I was not treated well I got hurt so that's one example another example between any two brothers there's some dealing happen say you told me I got hurt it was really bad and they don't talk to you know each they don't talk each other until the day of they die right so they essentially they didn't reconcile so that's another example will this be considered as you the rights that was not satisfied and that can be you know asked at the day of in that light.

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Of Allah on the day of judgment there's two types of judgment that will happen between people on the day of resurrection the first judgment is in physical rights the second judgment is after that after passing theat at the gates of paradise. We'll speak about both of them. So the first one is the rights which are the physical rights. What is oppression in the Arabic language? What does it mean in the Arabic language? In the Arabic language of which is translated as oppression but in the Arabic language the linguistic meaning of is to decrease something to subtract from something. This is called. Now when I oppress another person, I am taking from that which is not rightfully mine to take or I am not making them whole. This is what is meant. Now this is something that has to be what? Quantifiable. It can't just be left to I felt that it should have been this way. That's not necessarily something that can be quantified. Right? We're speaking about money. We're speaking about property. We're speaking about a person's blood, a person's body, a person's health. Something that can be quantified. A person's honor, his reputation. Right? Now, you gave an example of a person comes to your home for instance, you invite them as a guest. A guest has a right on his host or no. What's the answer? Yes. The guest has a right over his host. The guest has a right, a god-given right over his host. However, what are the what are the parameters of those rights? The parameters are that a person is treated with the average of what that person treats his own family, right? With the average of what that host has to offer with the average of what that host has to offer. That is your responsibility as a host. Would that be up to the standards of your guest? It it depends. depends on where your guest comes from, what social status he has, what you know what what class of person he is. And that is to be taken into consideration. If I invite a king or a scholar, it's not inviting a peasant. They're not the same. They are not the same. However, me as a host, what I have to offer is what I'm expected to give my guest is from the median of what I offer or sustain my family with. That is what is expected. If less than what that is given to a guest and if a person does not adequately honor his guest whether it be for the duration of the guest or or for the treatment of the guest. Yes, you will be asked about that on the day of judgment and a person could be judged by Allah and they will have to repay that person on the day of judgment. That is why in Islamic law, a guest has a right to to file a claim against a host who mistreats him. And Allah mentions guests in the Quran who were mistreated by their hosts. Doesn't he? You guys remember a story where guests were not treated by their hosts? Madim, correct? And Allah spoke about their hosts in a in with dispraise. The prophet sallallah.aii wasallam said whoever believes in Allah in the last day then he is to honor his guest. Okay. that that is the first type of judgment. And if it is a physical quantifiable right that is owed that is where the person will pay that or receive that. Now after that judgment is complete, we will all then go to cross the sur which is the bridge and it is a bridge over the hellfire and it has many descriptions in the sunnah and people will cross based on their righteousness and eagerness to to to goodness and righteousness. If people were quick to righteousness, they will be quick on the and if they were slow to righteousness, they will be slow across this bridge. However, upon crossing this bridge, there is another junction where there will be a reconciliate a reconciliatory judgment between the Muslim. This will be with regards to people's emotions. person you know is jealous of this person or a person has some kind of ill will towards his brother or a person was hurt by another in in a way that is not really quantifiable right it's just a feeling that they have and this was mentioned by Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala in Allah said And Allah will give them to drink a purifying drink said there is a lake on the gates of paradise that the people the Muslim will be given to drink from that will purify their hearts of all of this all of this animosity or any ill will towards one another. Then and only then will people be allowed to enter into paradise. Now so with that we have completed our 30 minutes for this evening.

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