Juz’ 12 Qur’an 30 for 30
In juz 12 of the Holy Qur’an, and particularly in Surah Yusuf, we learn
that our faith, our sincerity, and our compliance to the expectations
of Allah all result in reward in the afterlife, even if they lead to tests in
this life. Join Dr. Omar Suleiman, Sh. Abdullah Oduro, and guest
speaker Sh. Mustafa Umar to dive deeper into many profound life
lessons in this section of the Qur’an..
As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Welcome back
to Qur’an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala
Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. Before we get
started inshallah ta’ala, just a reminder to everyone, it’s been a while
since I’ve reminded you to donate inshallah ta’ala. Please do donate
inshallah ta’ala at the link below. And and benefit from the many
resources that we have. We hope that you’re enjoying inshallah
ta’ala the Judgment Day series as well as 30 for 30. And
alhamdulillah wa barak to me today we have a dear friend, someone
I’ve known for a very long time alhamdulillah and really really love.
And I’m happy that he’s joined our team finally alhamdulillah wa
barak to me, Sheikh Mustafa Omar. Sheikh Mustafa is the president
of the California Islamic University, a religious director at Islamic
Center of Irvine, recently joined as a senior fellow alhamdulillah wa
barak to me, is working on the least controversial topic of all time.
Sheikh Mustafa, being an imam, being someone on the ground,
obviously has interacted with a lot of the questions around sexuality
and gender, and some of the complications and the positions that
as Muslims we need to take inshallah ta’ala, and what that leads to
in terms of the social dynamics. So he promised it inshallah ta’ala. I
told him, I was like, man, if I reference this paper that you’re working
on, you gotta have it done inshallah ta’ala, because it’s like the issue
that everyone talks about, right? So it’s like we gotta get it done
inshallah ta’ala. So there’s pressure. So if it doesn’t come, then I’m
just gonna put your email on social media and be like, just email
SheikhMustafa is here, we’re happy to have you. Alhamdulillah, how
have you been? Alhamdulillah, I’ve been well, man. Alhamdulillah,
doing well and everything alhamdulillah. Everything’s from the
blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. How’s California?
California, I was just telling Sheikh, you know, like it’s kind of cold
today.
It’s 68 degrees, you know, so it’s still nice though. Alhamdulillah,
everything is well, you know, it’s going well. Maybe go to the beach
tomorrow then, you know, because it’s a little cold right now.
MashaAllah, mashaAllah. See that? That’s that.You see that? Alright.
He says 68 degrees, I’m like what? Sheikh Mustafa, quickly, because
I took some shots at Yassi Sehour yesterday and I felt kind of bad,
Sheikh Abdullah was like really hesitant. Sheikh Abdullah was like,
yeah, he’s going to get shut down. It’s the most controversial thing
we could have possibly done. You know, even more controversial
than your upcoming paper. Taking shots at pakoras and Nihari for
Sehour. I wanted to clarify and then I wanted to invite you too, but I
love that. So I love keema, I love Nihari, I love Halima iftar, I love that
stuff. I’m from New Orleans and so the spicy stuff, I love it. I was just
trying to make a point, it’s not good for you, Yassir Khoury.
Alhamdulillah, you’re right, man. It’s drowning in oil, man. You want
to defend your, what’s your Sehour item, Sheikh? What do you eat at
Sehour? No, no, no way. I’ll eat some yogurt, I’ll have like cream
cheese, sourdough toast and smoked salmon. I don’t do the oil,
man. I don’t do oil, I don’t do soda, I don’t do any of that stuff. It’ll kill
me, man. I’ve done it before and like in my chest, it’s just like, it’s
painful, man. It’s like suffering. It becomes like a second jihad, man.
I don’t want to deal with that. So, Alhamdulillah, I’m totally with you
on a blast. You’re not holding it down for your people, man. I’m sorry,
man. I depend on what I can. What about iftar? Do you eat that stuff
at iftar? You know, if when I’m invited and stuff, I will go ahead and
eat that stuff for iftar. But later on, sometimes if I overdo a little bit,
I’m like, you know what, that’s done for the week, man.
Because the taraweeh becomes painful then. So, you know, I’ll take
it easy there. You see what you’ve started? You’ve started this trend
of healthy imams and it’s just like gotten out of control now. Sorry.
You know, most of us try to look good in this beach, though.
Astaghfirullah. What have you done? All this healthy eating is a
problem. I’m not going to say it’s a problem. As soon as all this is
done. Let’s get some air fried samosas. Just bake the samosas, you
know. I mean there’s ways you can make it a little bit healthier and
still enjoy it, you know. There you go. Air fried samosas. All right.
We’re going to have to bring someone that’s going to have to refute
you in the next few days. But for now, I think we should move on to
the Quran, inshaAllah. JazakAllah khair for being with us. JazakAllah
khair for having me. Inna wa alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala
Rasulullah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala. So we are now in
Juz 12. And Juz 12, of course, you know, when you start to get into
these ajza’ you start to get multiple surahs. And of course we’re in a
part of the Quran which has multiple stories of prophets. And it’s a
part of the Quran, subhanAllah, that it’s right before the halfway
mark, these three ajza’ that you start to get through all the way up
until, you know, when you get to the midpoint of the Quran and you
get into Surah Maryam. But it really is something for the heart,
subhanAllah. And I was just reflecting on how yesterday, in fact, I
was talking about the ayah where Allah Azawajal says in Juz 11 that
ash-shifa’u min maafis sugur, that the Quran is a healing to the
heart. And in many ways this section about the prophets is healing
upon healing upon healing. However, because my part is focusing
on the akhira, the hereafter, I wanted to focus on a few ayat in Surah
Hud. Tomorrow, inshaAllah ta’ala, we’ll talk about some of the
akhira aspects with Surah Yusuf. But with Surah Hud, two small
sections of Surah Hud.
Number one, Surah Hud verses 15 and 16. Allah Subhanahu wa
ta’ala says, man kana yureedu alhayat al-dunya wazeenataha
nuwafi ilayhim a’malahum feeha wahum feeha la yubkhasoon That
whoever is seeking this worldly life and its luxuries and its beauty,
then we will pay them in full for their deeds in this life and nothing is
going to be left out. This is a very interesting ayah. And as the sahaba
mentioned, Ibn Abbas radiAllahu ta’ala anhuma mentions, that this
is speaking primarily about people that do the deeds of the akhira
for the sake of this dunya. Now, the hypocrites obviously are a very
specific group of people. And the hypocrites that descended into the
lowest level of hypocrisy were those that did the deeds of the akhira
to actually deceive and undermine in this dunya, to actually do harm
to the Muslim community. And so they weren’t even, you know, they
were not even Muslim, right? They were pretending to be Muslim for
the sake of wreaking havoc on the Muslim community, all while
seeking the worldly benefits of being Muslim, right? So there is
obviously a specific category here when it comes to hypocrisy. And
then you have those that are Muslim and they believe, but they do
actions of the people of akhira seeking the reward of this world. And
that is their intention. That’s what drives them. And they’re not trying
to rectify that. So it drives them and they’re not trying to rectify that.
And that’s an important thing because Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
talks to us about the value of mujahada, about the value of striving
against the self and doing our best in multiple places in the Quran.
So there’s a person that struggles with their intentions, and there’s a
person that has worldly intentions for these deeds, and that’s what
drives them and they’re not trying to rectify them. And of course, you
know, all of us will struggle with our intentions throughout our entire
lives.
Even Sufyan al-Thawri rahimahullah ta’ala. Imam Sufyan al-Thawri is
a school of ikhlas. I’ve given many khutbas about him, a school of
sincerity. And he talked about this, you know, that every single time I
treated my intention, you know, I found that it changed its color,
right? So it changes on you so much and you have to be very careful
because just like the heart is constantly fluctuating, the intention is
constantly fluctuating, right? Because the heart is the seeker and
the intention is the vehicle of that pursuit. So this is an ayah in which
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, man kana yureedul hayat al-dunya
wa zinataha Those who are just seeking out this worldly life and the
goodness of this worldly life, we’ll give it to them. Nuwafi ilayhim
a’maana We will give it to them and they’re not going to be cheated.
And this refers to people that do good deeds only for the sake of
praise. So many of the scholars said this is really referring to riyab.
This is referring to showing off. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
protect us, guard our intentions from seeking the praise of other
than Him. Allahumma ameen. But this is a theme on the Day of
Judgment constantly. People that show up on the Day of Judgment
and that make claims to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala that they should
be rewarded for certain deeds and they’re not seeing the reward.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says to them, look, you did this so
that people would say this and this about you. You wanted people to
say you were generous. You wanted people to say you were
knowledgeable. You wanted people to say you were courageous. You
wanted people to say all these things about you. And it was said,
right? So you don’t have any reward today because that’s what you
were seeking and you got what you wanted. Okay, idhhabu ila
allatheena kuntum tura’una fad dunya. Go to those that you used to
go seeking praise from in the world. See if they have any jazaat for
you today, if they have any compensation for you today. So this is
justice, right? That if a person is not trying to seek the pleasure of
Allah with their deeds and they’re trying to seek the praise of people,
Then don’t show up on the Day of Judgment expecting the reward of
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala when you were doing it for worldly
reward. Now, again, big difference between a person that is trying to
please Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and sometimes the whispers of
shaitan, sometimes the praise of people overcomes their intentions
and steers them away. This is not the same thing. May Allah
subhanahu wa ta’ala protect us, make us amongst those that strive
until our deeds are fully, sincerely for Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala and
no one else. Allahumma ameen. So Allah azawajal says,
olaikalladheena laysalahum fil aakhirati illa an-naar, wahawifa ma
sana’u feeha, wa ba’tilum ma kanu ya’manoon. Now as for those
that were just doing these deeds just for worldly benefit, these are
the people who will have nothing in the hereafter except for the
punishment. And their efforts in this life would have proved to be
fruitless and their deeds will prove to have been useless. So there’s
nothing left for them on the Day of Judgment because of everything
that they already got in this world. So this is the message that is
consistent in this section of ayat. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
protect us. Now again, the stern tone is for those that aren’t even
struggling. And of course, even for those that are struggling, to keep
on that struggle inshaAllah ta’ala until they get to that place which is
pleasing to Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. Another element of this ayah
of course is that those who do good for worldly good will be
compensated as such. They won’t be wronged. And of course some
of the scholars mentioned here, some of the hadith about those
who are non-believers, so they weren’t pursuing anything in the
hereafter, that their goodness is repaid in this life. So they may do
something that’s charitable and they’re not seeking the reward of
their charity in the hereafter. So their charity is given to them in this
life in some way.
There is some sense, some manifestation of goodness coming to
them in this life when they were seeking the goodness of this life or
when they were doing good things in this life. Now fast forward to
verses 98 and 99 and Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala gives us a picture.
And this is the fate of Fir’aun, the Pharaoh in the afterlife. The
Pharaoh, the Fir’aun in the afterlife. Now realize the Fir’aun is of
course the worst tyrant that has ever walked the face of the earth.
He is the example of tyranny that is given throughout the Quran. And
Allah has already talked to us about leaders and followers going into
the fire. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says about Fir’aun, Yaqdumu
qawmahu yawm al qiyamati fa awradahumun naa’ wa bi’sal wirdu al
mawroud That he will lead his people on the day of judgment into
the fire and they will follow him. And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says
bi’sal wirdu al mawroud that what a horrible place to be led into by a
horrible person. And so the followers of Fir’aun are following him.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala mentions, wa utbi’u fi hadhihi da’na
wa yawm al qiyamati bi’sal rifdu al marfood Allah subhanahu wa
ta’ala says and they were followed by a curse in this life and they will
receive another curse on the day of judgment. What an evil gift to
receive from an evil gift giver being Fir’aun in this regard. I’ll just end
with this. The scholars mention here a few things that the curse that
comes on Fir’aun and his people is that they were seeking a good
mention in this life. Right? And eventually, you know, he enjoyed
some temporary gain. He certainly enjoyed a palace in this life. He
certainly had his moments, but he was never happy because he was
cursed because he wasn’t blessed with what he had. So they were
never really fully happy as they were seeking that praise and that
prominence in this world. That’s number one. Number two, the
humiliation that follows after they have passed. Fir’aun is not
mentioned in praise now.
He’s only mentioned humiliation and he still has the punishment of
the hereafter. So he does not have the legacy he sought, nor does he
have the fate that he sought. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala protect
us from that evil. Allahuma ameen. May Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
make our intentions sincerely for his sake and not punish us in this
life or humiliate us in the next. Allahuma ameen. InshaAllah ta’ala I’ll
pass it on to Shaykh Abdullah. Shaykh Abdullah, you’re muted. Yes,
yes, yes. JazakAllah khair. Bismillah wa salatu wa salamu ala rasool
Allah wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa man wala amma ba’d. So when
talking about the dunya as he mentioned and cherishing the dunya
and allowing or embarking upon the dunya to the degree that you
may oppress others and ultimately oppressing yourself, Allah
subhanahu wa ta’ala even attributes some of the family from the
dunya. Al-mal wa al-banu nazinatu al-hayati al-dunya. Allah
subhanahu wa ta’ala mentions that money and children are from the
beautifications of this life. So depending on how we interact with
them, with what he has provided for us can be that which is to our
benefit or that which is to our detriment. So I wanted to cover with
you all in the chapter of Hud from verses roughly 25 to 49. Not all of
these verses, but this is the chapter of many prophets. But in
particular, I want to talk about Nuh alayhi salam. There was
something very extraordinary amongst many things extraordinary
about Nuh alayhi salam. But there was one thing when I first read it,
when I became a Muslim, was very, very interesting to me. And then
as learning the deen and learning from shuyukh and people of
knowledge and taking mentors and coaches, the very interesting
fact came to me. And I’m going to share that with you now,
inshallah. But if you follow me with verse number 37, starting with
verse number 37, where Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala orders Noah to
build the ark.
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala tells Noah to build the ark because we
know Noah was giving da’wah for a long period of time, 950 years
alayhi salam. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, Wasna’il fulka bi
a’yunina wa wahyina wa la tukhatibni fillatheena zalamu innahum
mughraqoon. Build the ark under our protection and with our
inspiration. Do not plead with me for those who have done evil, for
they will be drowned. So firstly, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says he
gives an order, but then right after the order, he shows his
manifestation of huyuz. Wasna’il fulka bi a’yunina wa wahyina. So
Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, bi a’yunina wa wahyina. So build
the ark with our a’yun, with our assistance, because there’s going to
be times when you will not know. Obviously, Allah is the hafidh and
he’s going to preserve you throughout. And then he says, wa
wahyina, some scholars say, telling him how to build the ark, you
know, but with planks and with wood. Fahamalnahu ala thati
alwahin wa dusur. As Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala mentions in the
chapter of Najm, if I’m not mistaken, he says, and we carried him on
that which was of planks and nails. So Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala is
telling him to build this with his assistance and with his inspiration.
So the wahy here, one could say it’s not revelation per se, and others
say that it could be revelation, but it’s actually instruction on how to
build the ark. In any case, after he says, do not plead with me for
those who have done evil, for they will be drowned. So he’s setting a
premise here. Don’t ask about those people because something is
going to happen to them. They are going to drown. And as some
scholars say, this ark, this flood was that which was subhanAllah,
covered the whole earth. And the only ones that existed were Nuh
and those that were on the ark with him. Then after that, in verse
number 38, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala says, wa yasna’u alfulka wa
kulla ma marra alayhi mala’un min qawmihi sakhiru minh. So he
began to build the ark.
And whenever leaders of his people pass by, they laughed at him,
saying, you may scorn us now. But then he said, you may scorn us
now, but we will come to scorn you. Qala in taskharu minna fa inna
naskharu minkum kama taskharuun. So when they scorned him, the
scholars mentioned that there was two types of ridicule here. And
this is interesting. The first of them was they would say, oh, you’ve
become a carpenter now. Weren’t you a prophet before? So now
you’re a carpenter. And then the second one was, why are you
building an ark? It’s dry here. There’s no water. So they started to call
him crazy, particularly one person, as Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala
mentions right after that, he says, hatta idha ja’a amruna wa farata
an-nur, qul nahmil feeha min kullin zawjain ithnayn wa ahlaka illa
man sabqa alayhi alqawl wa man aamana wa maa aamana ma’ahu
illa qaleel. Allah says here, when our command came and the water
gushed up out of the earth, we said, place on board this ark a pair of
species and your own family, except those against who the sentence
has been already passed. And that was particularly, the scholars
say, one of the two people was his wife. His wife didn’t believe his
wife was one of the people that would say he is crazy. There’s a
riwayah in Qurtubi where she even asked him, has your Lord guided
you? She asked him, amal yansuruka rabbuk? And then Noah would
say, naam qalat famata. She said, so when? Qal idha farata an-nur,
when the earth gushes forth its water. Some say an-nur is earth,
even though it can be understood as others’ difference of opinion on
that. Fakharajat taqooloo liqawmiha yaa qawm, wallahi innahu
majnoon. After he told her that, she went on and said, wallahi, he’s
crazy. He is crazy. So she’s one of the individuals that Allah
Subh’anaHu Wa Ta-A’la was speaking about.
And the second of them is who we’re going to cover. But before that,
let’s take a wakfah here. Let’s pause because when you are ridiculed
for your deen, there’s a statement, subhanAllah, any ridicule of your
compliance is a test of your reliance. Any ridicule of you being
compliant to what Allah and his Messenger said, to the best of your
ability, you’re trying your best and people make fun of you,
sometimes it can be family members. Any ridicule of that
compliance is a test of your reliance. Are you going to rely on Allah
and continue to be a person? To pray when your family’s not praying
or your friends or your close relatives? Are you going to rely on Allah
and wear and dress in a way that is showing that you love Allah and
your standards on based on what Allah says and not what society
may say or what society may view as beautiful, what society may
view as attractive, or are you going to rely on Allah because you rely
on him, your compliance is with him? That’s very important and
that’s exactly what all the Prophets went through. The sukhriya,
them making fun, the istihza, belittling them and talking about them.
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala continues in verse number 42 يَ
تَ ْج َو ِري ِه
َمْوج ِل بِ ِهْم فِى
ِجبَا
َم فِ ْعَز ل َو ى نُو ُح ابْنَهَُ َكا َن َو َكال نَا َد ْ
َل َم يَا بُنَي يَ ْر َك ْب ْعنَا
َو ْ
ِري َن َم َع تَكُم
َكافِ
ْ
Now ال
this is the second person that was from the people that Allah made
an exception of them being given the mercy because of their
disbelief. Noah’s wife was the first. The second is here. When he
talks about the ark, now we’re in the scene where the ark is moving.
Allah is talking at the, right now that the ark is on the water, the flood
has happened. And SubhanAllah, there’s so much to mention. If you
go into the chapter where Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala talks about the
تَ َق water
َم فَل ا ُء ْ
ْ
ى ال
َعل ْم ر َ
َد َ
ِدي ر أ قَ
ُق That the water came from the sky and
gushed from the ground and they met together at an amount that
Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala is well aware of. Meaning that it was a lot.
So here Allah says it sailed with them on waves like mountains.
I know Sheikh Mustafa is in Cali. If you stood by a mountain, it can
be very, very high. You can’t even see the tip of it. So imagine a wave
of water. What are you going to fear? That it may collapse on you.
Can you imagine? So he says It sailed with them with waves like
mountains and Noah called out to his son. His son was the second
person, brothers, mothers, fathers, aunties, uncles, grandmothers,
grandfathers, children. His son was the second. That’s what amazed
me. A prophet? The Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would tell
Abbas and Fatima, نِ
ْ
ْغ َم ِن ِش ا ْت َس َع َّما ل
ُ
for ask, said He أ َعْن ِك ِم َن ََّللاِ َشْيئًا
whatever you want from me. Ask for whatever you want from me. I
am not sufficed for you in front of Allah. Just because of our
bloodline doesn’t mean you get a one-way ticket or even transit to
Jannah. It is your actions, your actions, your actions. So here, that’s
what scholars SubhanAllah say and they also say this is tasliya for
the Anbiya that being that SubhanAllah that this could be that the
children of the prophets and they were in this fashion. It can happen
to to anyone. But when we’re looking here, Allah Subhanu wa Ta’ala
says here and Noah called out to his son who stayed behind, رِِّ ْيَونُب اَي
ُ
أ
َم ْعنَا
بْك َCome aboard with us and do not be from the disbelievers.
Come to the masjid. Many times we call our children. We think
sometimes as parents that we have full authority and control and we
think sometimes the first time they don’t listen to us or the 12th time
that they don’t wake up for fajr that they may be doomed. Having
that fear is natural because children, all of us are sons and all of us
are daughters and all of us have our demons that we’ve done in our
days. And Allah will be a’aleem. It’s important for us to remember
that when we may see some them may see them going off the surat
al-mustaqeem to continuously make dua for them but knowing
while you’re making dua that you have no ultimate control. Allah
Subhanu wa Ta’ala mentions after that he says but he replied I will
seek refuge in a mountain. This is what his son…
Said His son had it all figured out. His son said I will seek refuge on
a mountain to save me from the water. Then Noah said today there is
no refuge from God’s command except for those whom he has
mercy. The waves cut them off from each other and he was among
the drowned. And I’ll leave SubhanAllah that’s what really amazed
me is that SubhanAllah his son saw it’s in front of him and then he
says I will go to this mountain it will save me from this water that’s
like jibal. Can you imagine? And SubhanAllah after this Allah
Subhanu wa Ta’ala Noah asked him and says you know what about
my son there was a promise that you would save the mu’mineen and
this is where scholars say he did not know that his son was of this
level of disbelief alayhi salam. Allah says inna hu lais min a’alik that
he is not from your family SubhanAllah. He’s not from the family of
believers. He may be from your bloodline but that will not save him.
What were his actions? And I’ll leave you with a beautiful statement
Imam Malik rahimahu allahu ta’ala he had a lot of people waiting in
front of his house as was normal he had a haybah he had a presence
and he was a scholar in Medina. Imam Malik rahimahu allahu ta’ala
there were people waiting in front of his house to seek knowledge
from him so they saw that his son one of his sons had a humam had
a small like pigeon with him and he covered it and Imam Malik saw
the people that they saw that his son had a pigeon and Imam Malik I
mean he would not recite a hadith unless he was sitting down he
didn’t like it he was sitting down he was standing Imam Malik huwa
man huwa he was someone of very knowledgeable and had a
presence amongst the people and then he said SubhanAllah al
adabu adabullah la adabu al aba wal umahat wal khayru khayrullah
la khayru al aba wal umahat he said that the the manners is the
manners of Allah not the manners of the mother and the father and
all the good is the good from Allah not the good of the mother and
the father meaning that it will we can’t guarantee that the good
qualities..
Or qualities that we love most will be passed on to our children and
we can’t rely on that hereditary aspect when it comes to guidance
from Allah to know that the iman is what Allah places in their hearts
and there is within his sunnah gives each and every one of our
children at that age that he chooses the opportunities plural to
make the right choices it’s important for us as human beings as
fathers as mothers just to call them and to give dawah and that’s a
good prelude and segue to call people to that which is good
particularly our children at the same time knowing that it’s all in the
hands of Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala so may Allah Subhanahu wa
ta’ala make us of those that are pleased with his predestination and
make us of those that try our level best to do our best with the ones
that we ultimately give our best to which is our family for the sake of
time inshallah ta’ala uh Sheikh Mustafa I know you’re going to take
this into Surah Yusuf so just for the benefit of those that are viewing
uh Surah Yusuf is of course broken apart this juz and the next juz so
Sheikh Mustafa will start us off with an element that ties in very
closely with Sheikh Abdullah spoke about and we’ll continue with
Surah Yusuf tomorrow inshallah so yeah exactly what Sheikh
Abdullah was speaking about he’s talking about family and then he’s
talking about making dawah or inviting to the way of Allah
Subhanahu wa ta’ala and you know these two elements you find in
the life of uh the story of Prophet Yusuf and in his story as well so
what you find is that you know Yusuf and his father Prophet Yaqub
they went through a lot of family issues Yusuf’s brothers were
jealous of him they throw him into a well he ends up in a distant land
of Egypt he goes into another family and he’s trying to be nice to
them and you know he’s serving them and then he gets framed and
he ends up in prison so I want to start with Yusuf being…
In prison uh I am on chapter 12 this is Surah Yusuf uh verse 36 but
before we get into this you know it’s very important to understand
here you know a lot of people they’re thinking in their minds they’re
like you know I’m going through so many family problems got so
many challenges going on in my life you know I don’t have time to
worry about you know inviting other people to Allah I just got to
focus on myself only and I don’t have I just got to deal with my own
issues and my own problems but just look at the context here you
know Yusuf has just gone through this massive you know uh ordeal
with his family he has gone through his ordeal with kind of his his
new family he was put as he was put as a slave into somebody else’s
home uh now he’s in prison he’s probably you know normally people
would get stressed out they’re sitting there questioning themselves
just you know crying all the time and depressed and all that stuff
and Prophet Yusuf is still calling people to Islam with confidence not
letting any of these things deter him while he’s in prison so it says in
verse 36 he says and then these two young men these two people
they entered into the prison along with Yusuf when he was in prison
so one of them says says I had a dream that I was squeezing grapes
meaning that you know he was in order to make wine they used to
take grapes and they used to squeeze them in a certain way so this
one person is saying I had this dream where I was like making wine
by pressing these grapes and then the second one he says so the
second one he says that the other guy he’s like I had a dream where I
was carrying some bread..
On my head and these birds were coming and they were eating from
that bread so these two people they have these dreams and they
want to know what these dreams mean a lot of people you know
many people they have dreams sometimes and they’re trying to
figure out you know it’s been bothering me it’s been on my mind for a
while I wonder what that means and then the next part of the verse
says they said so they basically came to Yusuf and they said can you
tell us what the interpretation of this these dreams are tell us what
these dreams mean and the really the key part here is it says we see
that you’re one of these excellent people you know you’re one of
these good people now what do you think about this you know
they’re in prison these people have seen you know all different
people who you know uh you know go into prison they’ve seen
different people in their own lives and the fact that they chose Yusuf
to ask for this advice is very telling you know in fact one of one of the
um books that really got me interested in in this part of the story it’s
a book by uh Sheikh Abul Hasan Ali Nadwi when I was studying in
Nadwa you know I got this book a translation it’s a very small book
it’s called inviting to the way of Allah and I heard many people giving
raving reviews about it and they said this is a very small book it’s
pretty pretty slim but it’s so full of wisdom that you know even uh I
believe there was a statement of Sheikh Qaradawi who wrote a book
about Dawah as well he said my book on Dawah is much larger but
this book is so packed with wisdom he says you know I feel that
there’s so many benefits in there that I did not even put in my own
book so this book was fantastic and one of the things that Sheikh
Nadwi mentions he says when you look at this last part they came to
Yusuf to ask about something..
Because of his akhlaq because of his character because of his
manners because he was a role model for people you know the way
in which he was probably praying inside the prison the way in which
he would smile at people the way he would deal with people and
that’s a very important lesson because sometimes we say you know
what we want to spread the message of Islam we want to tell other
people that Islam is the truth we want to get them to understand
that there’s only one God we want them to get them to stop
worshipping idols or stop worshipping Jesus or something like that
but one of the most important things is to remember that when you
have good character people are going to come and they’re going to
be more interested in listening to you about any topic you’re willing
to talk about because then there’s an establishment of rapport
there’s a type of trust that they have with you so he said this is the
first part we must take into consideration is we must make sure that
we’re we’re living Islam where we have that you know Islamic
practice in ourselves and then you know the the next verse it talks
about Yusuf it talks about Yusuf he responds and Prophet Yusuf says
he says sure I can tell you the interpretation of these dreams before
your next meal even comes to you so like you know they used to get
meals in prison they’re going to be eating and he says you know
what don’t worry you know the need that you guys have for me with
the thing that you’re asking me to do for you I will handle it and I can
do it and don’t worry it’s going to be done so quickly it’s not even
going to take me a very long time before your next meal comes
you’re gonna you’re gonna have this uh you’re gonna be at ease and
you’re gonna get the interpretation so Sheikh Nadwi he explains he
goes why did Yusuf throw that in there like what’s the point of
mentioning you know meals coming or food or something like that
he says if you look at it from a psychological lens so when people
come and they’re you know they’re inquiring about something these
people have these dreams and they’re kind of worried says you have
to put a person’s anxiety you have to put their mind at ease so that
they’re able to properly listen to you you know if they’re stressed out
they’re going through something..
They’re like I’m curious I don’t I want to know what’s going to happen
these dreams are bothering me and you’re like let me tell you
something you should only worship Allah and should stop
worshipping all these other gods you should believe in Islam and
believe Islam is the truth they may not be listening fully so you need
to put their mind and need to put their heart at ease so that they’re
in a position to listen and by telling them that you know what I can
handle you came to the right person I got the credentials I can
handle exactly what you’re asking me to do and it’s going to be done
pretty quickly too it’s not even going to take a very long time and
then you’re going to get your food they’re thinking about oh wow our
food is great you know everyone anticipates food when we’re fasting
right now Hamza when we’re recording this even just just any meal
man any meal is pretty tempting right now right so Alhamdulillah he
puts their mind at ease and then afterwards he says he says you
know what he says that’s because you know I’m going to be able to
give you this interpretation because this knowledge of interpreting
these things is from the knowledge that my lord has given me so
then he said look just look at that you know he immediately makes
this transition from these people coming and asking him a question
and he’s going to answer them at the end but making that transition
is something that’s actually not very easy for people you know I’ve
struggled with this myself you know I know we live in a mostly
secular society you know I used to work as a computer programmer
and people tend to not want to talk about religion they’re like you
know you start talking about religion they’re like are you preaching to
me are you one of those guys that you know shows up at my door on
Sunday like knocking or some of you like one of those you know guys
with a book in their hand or something like that it’s hard to make
those transitions but Prophet Yusuf the way he does it and then later
on in the verses you know we’re not going to get into detail but later
on the way in which he starts talking about you know what this is a
religion that Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala has taught me this is
knowledge that Allah Subhanahu wa ta’ala has taught me I don’t
worship any of these idols that you guys…
Worship but actually I worship only one god and he starts explaining
you know the the dawah of tawhid he starts explaining what it
means to be a monotheist or only accept you know one god and
that’s the core religion of Islam you know so to recap the the
message here is number one even when you’re going through
difficulties you got to take care of yourself self-care is very important
but that doesn’t mean that you know you don’t think about oh I don’t
got time to talk to anyone about Islam I’m just going to focus only on
myself sometimes talking to other people spreading the message is
actually going to help you in the thing that you need uh solved in
your own family life or family problems number two is that when you
start you start with good character and then people are more likely
going to want to approach you you become approachable people
want to come and they trust you you establish a type of trust with
them so number two make sure you have the good high character
number three when someone is agitated or aggravated you put their
mind at ease by telling them something that’s going to kind of you
know let them calm down so that they can listen to you properly
right and then number four you make that transition from one topic
you may be talking about could be politics could be talking about
Palestine it could be talking about China could be talking about
technology and then all of a sudden you transition you say you know
what we’re big advocates of technology in Islam because of such
and such thing and now you found your segue into talking about
something that people would normally find you know uncomfortable
and now it’s a little bit more comfortable so we ask Allah subhanahu
wa ta’ala to help us to implement these things and to convey the
message of Islam and to understand his book in the in the correct
way and apply it in the best of ways I mean you can’t leave us on a
cliffhanger like that what is Islam technology how did you I want to
know I want to know what you do I actually want to shake it down
that route please so I I’ve done this several times you know I I try to
find anything so just technology you say you know what many
people they look at you know these religions that they’re…
Anti-progress you know in the dark ages people were talking about
you know there’s no scientific development the clergy and the
church always kept people back so I talked about you know what
you know how this phone got designed you know you got
mathematicians you know you got Jabir bin Hayyan you got Ibrahim
writing the book of optics that actually you know enables the usage
of this camera and then you start talking about science and you start
talking about you know rationalism you start going you know
advancement in science and then I brought it into Islam so that’s
just whatever I try to do I try to do man so it’s pretty good check up
though isn’t it yeah oh yeah that’s good I’ll show a lot we gotta we
gotta bring um Sheikh Mustafa in the convert resources how to do
that one about on a California beach done it done it done it Venice
beach man it’s not easy actually Sheikh Mustafa you have a book
from a on for converts a long time ago right it’s your for converse as
well I got a few few books for converts actually I got welcome to
Islam I got how to pray and a few others we seriously do need to
incorporate some of your materials inshallah you guys should go
over the big cheesy smile man he can’t even tell stop smiling sorry
I’m just I’m just I’m trying to think about this like these are these are
some serious ideas man I’m like what’s I’m gonna go talk to
someone on the street here in Texas and just be like hey see that
phone in your hand let’s see how it goes have you ever heard of you
know we gotta try whatever we gotta try whatever we can you know
you know the same the same conversations in California don’t work
in Texas this that’s true it’s a very different environment I mean I’ll
tell you the the craziest thing I’ve ever done is I actually wrote I was
trying to make dow with my computer science teacher when I was at
UCI and I’m like how am I gonna do this you know.
I wrote a computer program with the names of all the prophets you
know and I’m like hoping he’s gonna be like what in the world are you
doing how do I initiate a conversation with I think the most difficult
or uninterested guy in religion that was probably the most difficult
like dawa effort I’ve ever done in my life I have to say I admire on a
serious note I admire the the mindset that you have Masha’allah and
I think you you’ve worked through a lot of difficult situations you
know being where you are being an imam and I think let’s let’s be
real here that being an imam you know talking to people
subhanAllah constantly sometimes it’s the conversations you have
to have with the young people in your own community that are
completely just you know just just so you know I don’t want to use
the word lost just distant right it’s not just a one-way thing it’s a oneway thing it’s a one-way thing and I think that’s the most important
thing and that’s why I’m so grateful for the opportunity to be here
and to be able to like it’s like how do you bring them back to even
start to have the right conversation so I think being an imam you
know obviously gives you that that that place to start you know and
certainly having conversations with people that aren’t familiar with
Islam at all is a different challenge but zakalaka that was very
beneficial may Allah have mercy on it not what has to be a
document on and reward him for his effort a lot of the work that we
do honestly is building on some of these foundations that have been
established these small of a sudden these small little books that our
teachers wrote that you know how many we were able to develop
but it was it was it was their foundation so a lot of word them and
may Lord you shake Mustafa she’s a little bit like look here come on
Allah and we’ll see who we’ll see what our guests tomorrow is
having for Sukur because so far this is not
Welcome back!
Bookm..
About The Author
