0:01

Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa

0:03

Barakatuhu. This Ramadan,

0:05

we at Qalam are working to

0:07

support the Human Development Fund in

0:10

their One Ummah, One Plate Global

0:12

Iftar Campaign. Their

0:14

mission extends beyond borders, reaching families

0:16

in need across Africa, the Middle

0:18

East, and Asia. Countless

0:21

families in those regions, including refugees

0:23

and the improvists, struggle daily for

0:25

basic nourishment. To

0:27

your assistance, there are teams on

0:30

the ground providing essential food packages

0:32

to families in countries like Kenya,

0:34

Yemen, Somalia, Gaza, Pakistan, and more.

0:38

Ramadan should be a time of peace and reflection,

0:41

not hunger and hardship. HDF

0:43

is dedicated to providing daily Iftars

0:45

and food packages to families, each

0:47

designed to sustain them for the

0:49

month of Ramadan. This

0:52

act of kindness has the power to

0:54

multiply the reward of your own fasting,

0:57

offering much more than temporary relief. It's

1:00

a step towards breaking the cycle

1:02

of hunger and poverty. This

1:04

is your Ummah in need of your support.

1:07

Please visit hdfund.org

1:11

to learn more about our global

1:13

reach this Ramadan and choose where you'd

1:16

like to direct your support this

1:18

Blessed Month. As-salamu

1:26

alaykum, Rahmatullahi wa-warakatuhu. This is Abdun Nasser

1:28

Jengda and you're listening to the Qalam

1:31

Podcast. For a number of years

1:33

now, we've had a tradition at Qalam. During

1:35

the last 10 nights of the month of Ramadan,

1:37

Usdad Abdur Rahman Murphy and I, we

1:40

conduct a series at Qalam. This

1:43

is a part of the Nightly Qiyam program

1:45

that we host at Qalam during the last

1:47

10 nights of

1:49

the month of Ramadan. And in this series,

1:51

we pick a particular theme or subject that

1:53

we explore and reflect upon with

1:55

the rest of the community. For

1:57

Ramadan 2024, we chose Qalam. shows

2:00

the theme of inspiration, stories

2:03

of du'as from the Qur'an. We're

2:06

very pleased and happy to be

2:08

able to share this series with you. We

2:11

hope and pray that it's beneficial. And

2:13

as always, please continue to support all

2:16

the amazing work that goes on at

2:18

the Qalam campus by

2:20

going to supportqalam.com. Jazakum

2:23

Allah Khayran. May Allah

2:25

reward you for your contributions. Now

2:28

please enjoy the session. Bismillahirul

2:31

alhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu

2:33

ala rasulillah wa ala alihi

2:35

wa sashbihi ajma'in, as-salamu alaykum

2:37

wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Alhamdulillah.

2:41

Jazakum Allah Khayran. Welcome

2:44

welcome everybody. May Allah

2:46

subhana wa taala accept all of

2:48

your adaada. Welcome to everybody who

2:50

still thinks it's Ramadan. These

2:53

are the Ramadan warriors. May

2:56

Allah accept from yah. I

2:58

saw an Eid party tonight somewhere. Really? You

3:02

said you ran into an Eid party. I did. Literally

3:04

I was like, throw them a bomb still. They were like, Eid Mubarak.

3:06

I was like, we are. I'm

3:08

way behind. And Allah. No.

3:12

And so may Allah subhana wa

3:14

taala continue to grant

3:18

us opportunities to seek His forgiveness and

3:20

seek His blessings in the closing

3:22

moments of this blessed month of Ramadan. So

3:26

continuing on with our series here

3:29

for the last 10 nights where

3:31

we are talking about the

3:34

stories of dua'a in the Quran. And

3:38

the story of dua'a that we're going to

3:40

be talking about tonight is from

3:42

the life of the Prophet Musa'a Alihi

3:44

Sala. And

3:47

this particular dua'a

3:50

and the story that leads up to the dua'a

3:52

is in surah number 28, Surat

3:55

al-Qasas, which literally means the surah

3:57

of the stories. And

3:59

it goes in into a lot of detail about

4:01

different events from the life of Musa'a Alayhi

4:04

Salaam. And

4:06

I always struggle with trying to kind of

4:08

summarize everything. I'll try to summarize it best

4:10

I can, but it's also like a very

4:12

captivating story. And I'll

4:14

also start to, you know, chime in anytime

4:17

he feels it's necessary. So

4:20

Musa'a Alayhi Salaam, he

4:23

is born amongst

4:25

Bani Israel, the Israelites. They

4:28

are enslaved by the Pharaoh,

4:30

Fir'a'un, for hundreds of years,

4:32

generations on end. And

4:37

when Musa'a Alayhi Salaam is about to be

4:39

born, the Pharaoh has this dream where he

4:41

sees that a child born

4:43

amongst the Israelites will

4:45

one day grow up to

4:48

topple him. He becomes paranoid

4:52

and maniacal, and

4:54

he basically issues an order to

4:57

massacre every male child,

5:00

every baby boy that is born

5:02

amongst the Israelites. They're

5:05

murdering and killing babies. And

5:09

the mother of Musa'a Alayhi Salaam becomes very

5:11

concerned and worried. What's going to happen to

5:14

my baby? Allah

5:16

Subhana wa ta'ala inspires divinely

5:18

within her wa'uheena illa umi

5:20

Musa. Allah tells her

5:23

that nourish and

5:26

feed your baby. Faidah

5:30

khi fia'alayhi, when the

5:32

time comes and you feel like

5:34

you can hear them, that they're now

5:36

starting to come through your neighborhood, then

5:39

you take the baby, the boy,

5:41

you put him inside of a

5:44

basket, a container, and you

5:47

put it into the river, and

5:49

you float it down

5:52

the river Nile. And

5:56

trust Allah Subhana wa ta'ala says, trust

5:58

me. I'll take care of him.

6:01

I'll bring him back to you. I'll make him a prophet.

6:03

She does exactly that. Fir'a'oon's wife, the

6:05

Pharaoh's wife, who later on we learn more

6:07

about her. She becomes a very pious righteous

6:10

woman. The Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam says she's

6:12

one of the women of Paradise. She

6:15

finds him and

6:17

she immediately falls in love with him and is taken

6:19

by him. So she takes him

6:21

in and she raises him as one of her

6:24

own, like her own child. And

6:27

so Fir'a'oon can't really touch him. So

6:29

now Musa'Allahu Alaihi Wasallam grows up, the Quran

6:31

kind of fast forwards to Al-Amabala Ra'sud Dahu.

6:34

Now he's a grown man. And

6:36

he occupies this very interesting kind of place.

6:40

He knows that he is from amongst

6:42

the Israelites. I didn't go into the

6:44

detail, but basically Allah arranges that Musa'Allahu

6:46

Alaihi Wasallam, the baby, will

6:48

not nurse from any woman. Until

6:52

finally the sister of Musa, who's been kind of

6:54

like keeping track of where he is, she says,

6:56

I can bring you a lady who will be

6:58

able to nurse him because, you know, she's very

7:02

blessed in that way. You know,

7:04

she's very good with kids. And

7:07

she brings her mother, Musa's mother. And

7:10

when Musa'Allahu Alaihi Wasallam starts nursing from

7:12

her, then she gets hired,

7:14

she gets paid to nurse and take care of her

7:17

own baby. So now, but

7:19

nonetheless, it's known that Musa'Allahu Alaihi Wasallam

7:22

is from the Israelites. This young man

7:24

Musa, he is from the Israelites, like

7:26

ethnically, that's where he belongs to, the

7:29

Bani Sra'il. However, he lives

7:31

in the palace of the Pharaoh and

7:33

he was raised as kind of like the adopted

7:35

son of the Pharaoh. So

7:37

he has all the privileges of

7:39

the ruling class. But while it's

7:42

always there, there's always kind of

7:44

like a but or an asterisk

7:47

that basically says, but he does

7:49

belong to those people, the slaves.

7:52

And he grows up in this kind of place,

7:56

strange kind of place. The

7:59

Quran says, tells us that one day he

8:02

goes into the marketplace and he's strolling through

8:04

the marketplace and there is a man from

8:06

the Pharaoh's people and

8:08

then there's a man from the Israelites. Now

8:11

typically 99% of scenarios if a

8:13

man from Pharaoh's people and a man

8:15

from the Israelites are getting

8:17

into something and there's kind of a problem going

8:20

on between them, more than likely

8:22

99.9% of

8:24

the time the man from the Pharaoh's

8:26

people is probably oppressing

8:29

the man from Bani Israel.

8:31

That's how it works. Okay?

8:34

So Musa'a Alayhi Salaam sees that,

8:37

he walks over there and he goes, hey, why don't you

8:39

leave him alone? And the

8:42

man from Pharaoh's people, he's like, I

8:44

know who you are, your

8:46

Pharaoh's wife's pet. You

8:49

ain't one of us. You

8:51

can't talk to me like that. Just

8:54

because you get to live in the palace,

8:56

because the Pharaoh's wife is fond of you. You

8:59

don't get to talk to me like that. And he

9:02

gets up in Musa'a Alayhi Salaam's face and he's like pushing

9:04

him and shoving him and he's in his face. Even

9:08

our religion, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam taught us that we

9:10

have the right to defend ourselves. So

9:13

Musa'a Alayhi Salaam in the move of self

9:15

defense, he pushes him and shoves him off.

9:19

Now number one, Musa'a Alayhi Salaam is very strong

9:21

and number two, it's one of those freak accident

9:23

kind of situations where the guy falls

9:25

and then falls in such a way where breaks

9:28

his neck or something like that and the man

9:30

dies on the spot. So

9:33

Musa'a Alayhi Salaam did not murder anybody, but

9:36

he was involved in the freak

9:39

accidental death of the man. Okay?

9:43

So that happens. Not

9:46

a lot of people are around that one man from

9:48

Bani Israel who Musa'a Alayhi Salaam came to his aid,

9:50

he was there, he runs off. Of

9:53

course. He runs

9:55

off and then Musa'a

9:57

Alayhi Salaam is kind of like... I

10:00

don't know what to do in this situation. So he

10:02

leaves. A

10:04

few days later, Musa'a Alayhi Salaam is going through the

10:06

marketplace again and he sees

10:08

the same man from beneath Israel,

10:11

the same guy fighting

10:13

with somebody else in the marketplace. And

10:17

Musa'a Alayhi Salaam goes to

10:19

him, Musa'a Alayhi Salaam's nature is such, we

10:22

learn from another story in the Quran about

10:24

him, where he, when

10:26

something's wrong, he has to say

10:28

it immediately. And he's very blunt

10:30

about things. That's his personality, his

10:32

nature. So he

10:34

goes up to the man and he goes, you again? Why

10:38

are you fighting with everybody? Every

10:41

time, I've only seen you twice and both times you were

10:43

fighting with somebody. What's your problem? And

10:46

the man, because he

10:48

exposes how low of character he is,

10:52

he shouts out into a busy

10:54

marketplace, Musa'a, don't

10:56

kill me, like

10:58

you killed the other guy the other day. Everybody

11:02

there hears. Musa'a

11:05

Alayhi Salaam backs away and

11:08

then goes home. Sometime

11:12

later, one of the

11:14

ministers of the court of the Pharaoh comes

11:17

to Musa'a Alayhi Salaam and

11:20

he says to him that look, Inni

11:23

lakamid al-nasashin, I want what's

11:25

good for you. They,

11:28

inalmala ayat-samilunabika liyakotulukah

11:30

fahrouj. They're talking

11:32

right now, they just had a meeting. And

11:35

Pharaoh has always hated the fact that

11:38

he had to look at you as

11:40

the people who he oppresses and he

11:42

enslaves, but his wife just

11:46

raised you like her own, like a son. So

11:48

he has to put up with you, he's always

11:50

hated that. And now he feels like this is

11:52

his opportunity. They're going to kill

11:55

you, they're going to make an example out of you, you

11:57

need to leave now. You need to

11:59

get out of dodge. So that's

12:02

what Musa'a Alayhi Salaam does. Musa'a

12:04

Alayhi Salaam just takes off. And

12:06

he travels, and he travels, and he travels, and

12:09

he travels, and he travels, and he travels, until

12:11

he reaches this area that's

12:15

very lush and green. It's

12:18

like forests,

12:20

trees, rolling

12:22

hills, beautiful

12:24

place, but not home. He's

12:27

left everything behind, everyone behind. He doesn't

12:30

have anyone. He doesn't have anything. All

12:32

he's got is a shirt on his back. And

12:36

he arrives into that place. He

12:40

finds a tree. He sits

12:42

under the shade of the tree. And

12:46

while he's sitting there, he sees

12:50

that there's a well, and there's a crowd

12:52

of people there, and

12:55

they're all shepherds, because it's that kind of area,

12:57

right? It's all green and pastures

12:59

and things like that. So everyone there,

13:01

primarily they work as shepherds. They all

13:03

have animals and flocks. So

13:06

he's sitting there, watching a bunch of

13:08

people go to a well and pull

13:10

water for their animals. And

13:13

then he sees that behind from the crowd,

13:15

there's two young ladies that

13:18

are quietly standing there and waiting. But

13:22

the crowd is huge around the well, and they're just kind

13:24

of waiting there, and waiting and waiting

13:26

and waiting. And so while he's sitting

13:28

there under the shade of the tree, he sees

13:30

somebody who can use some help. So

13:33

he gets up and he goes to them, and he says that,

13:36

makhatvukuma, can

13:39

I help you with anything? Is everything okay?

13:42

And they say, yeah, they said that we're

13:44

waiting to get water to

13:47

provide to our animals. Well,

13:49

abunah shecham kabidim, before you ask,

13:51

why is somebody from the household,

13:53

why is our father or brother,

13:55

etc., not here instead of us?

13:58

Because that'd be more ideal. Well,

14:00

we don't have any brothers. And

14:02

our father is very elderly.

14:05

He can't do it anymore. So we help

14:07

out. And we have to do everything

14:09

ourselves. So Musa alayhi salaam says, let

14:12

me help you. They're like, no, no, no, we don't need

14:14

any. He says, no, I insist, let me take care of

14:16

this. And he takes

14:18

the buckets and then he's able to kind of get

14:20

in line and kind of, you know, push your way

14:22

into the crowd. And he's

14:24

able to get there sooner rather than later and fill up

14:26

the buckets for them and then bring them back to them.

14:29

And he's like, I can carry this to your home. And

14:31

they're like, no, no, no, we can carry the buckets. But

14:33

thank you very much for just kind of getting into

14:35

the line and pushing your way in there because we're

14:37

not going to do that. And

14:41

we appreciate it very much. And

14:43

they leave on their way. And Musa alayhi

14:45

salaam goes and sits back down under the shade of the

14:48

tree. And

14:51

while he's sitting there and his

14:54

stomach is growling, he

14:56

has been eating days. He's

14:59

sleepy, he's tired, he's falling asleep, dozing

15:01

off. He hasn't slept. He's been on

15:03

the run. He's a

15:05

fugitive. He

15:08

smells terrible. He's sweaty,

15:11

dirty, traveling for days

15:13

nonstop. Clothes

15:17

are messed up. And

15:20

he has literally nothing. He doesn't have a cup. He doesn't

15:22

have an extra shirt. He has nothing. And

15:26

he's just sitting under the shade of the tree. And

15:30

he makes dua to Allah subhanahu wa

15:32

ta'ala. And Nusad will elaborate on the dua.

15:37

But just it

15:39

won't make sense unless I just at least just mention the

15:41

dua. He says, my Lord, I am

15:44

desperately in need of whatever you can provide to

15:46

me. A

15:48

little while later, one

15:52

of the young ladies who

15:54

had helped with the water shows up

15:58

and stands kind of at a distance. and

16:00

says, excuse me, sir, can

16:02

you come to our

16:04

home? Our father would like to

16:06

speak to you. Because they went home and

16:09

their father said, how'd you get back so quickly? And

16:12

they said, well, there was this gentleman

16:15

and he helped us and he filled up the buckets

16:17

for us and all of that and he was very

16:19

respectful. He didn't crowd us, he didn't

16:21

make us feel uncomfortable. And

16:24

the father says, well, that's very nice

16:26

of him. Did you pay him

16:28

something? No, he wouldn't accept any payment. Well, then

16:31

can you go in, get him? At least let

16:33

me express my gratitude to him, invite him over.

16:36

So she says, our father would like to speak to you.

16:38

So he says, okay. So then

16:41

Musa'a Alayhi Salaam goes to their home

16:44

and he goes and he sits down and they have

16:46

dinner together and they talk and things like that, where

16:48

are you from? And after

16:51

some time, one

16:55

of the girls says to her father

16:57

that, why

17:01

don't you hire him, dad? We

17:03

have a big farm. We're

17:06

actually not making enough

17:08

as much as we could. We have a big farm, we own

17:10

a lot of land, but we can't

17:12

do it, you can't do it. Hire him, he'll

17:14

basically pay for himself. He'll

17:17

eat what he earns

17:19

himself. And

17:22

so the father says to Musa'a

17:24

Alayhi Salaam, he leans in, he says,

17:28

young man, you seem

17:30

to be honest

17:32

and have integrity and decency. I

17:37

have an idea.

17:41

He says, here's my idea. Number

17:44

one, you're going to

17:46

marry my daughter. As

17:50

long as you all like each other, of course. All

17:52

right. All the brothers just woke up.

17:54

Yeah, they're like, what? Who's daughter? Yeah.

18:01

And so as long as you

18:03

know y'all are

18:06

okay with it, but I'm saying that I'm

18:08

okay with it and I'd like

18:10

to facilitate you marrying my daughter. Number

18:13

two, I'm going

18:15

to give you a job. You're

18:17

going to work here on my farm. And

18:22

number three, of

18:25

course you'll have this relationship with me and

18:28

I'll teach you everything that I know. And

18:35

in one moment, Musa

18:37

al-Isalam, who had nothing and no one, he

18:41

just was provided a family. He

18:45

was just given a job, a

18:48

home, a roof

18:50

over his head, bread

18:52

on the table. And

18:55

he was provided a mentor, a teacher

18:59

that the narrations tell us, Abdullah ibn

19:01

Abbas radiAllahu ta'alaana tells us, it

19:04

was none other than the Prophet of God,

19:07

Shwaib Al-Isalam. So

19:09

in one moment, Allah gives

19:11

Musa al-Isalam a family,

19:13

a home, a job,

19:17

and a Prophet as

19:20

a mentor and teacher. And

19:25

Allah SWT basically provides him the

19:27

perfect life. And

19:32

something I'll share with you, Abdullah

19:35

ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'ala'anhu, great companion of

19:37

the Prophet ﷺ, he said, this

19:40

area, by the way where this whole story happened

19:43

is called Madyan. Abdullah

19:46

ibn Mas'ud radiAllahu ta'alaana says that after we read this

19:48

in the Quran and the Prophet ﷺ told

19:50

us about it, he said,

19:52

I traveled to Madyan. I

19:55

went there And I

19:57

searched around and I spoke to the locals.

20:00

Like the the religious people.

20:04

Who maintain these traditions?

20:08

Any said, I asked him where. Is.

20:10

The tree. Where. Most out

20:12

a salon sat and made that do I and

20:14

our and. And he said they

20:16

pointed me to a tree. And. He said.

20:20

That whole area looks one way

20:22

and then that tree is an

20:24

oasis. The

20:27

treat. Everything around it is remarkable Beautiful.

20:29

There's what, there's a spring bubbling up

20:31

over there. the trees you mongers has

20:33

the old this thing in the area

20:35

and it's like a lost hundred dollar

20:37

blessed and preserved it because of the

20:39

door are the most on a salon

20:41

made their and when he made that

20:43

to our a law center's mercy down

20:45

upon it. And it

20:48

make that place very very

20:50

special. From the

20:52

Mercy and the blessing of a Law

20:54

and Order. So that's the backstory. right?

20:57

She's. In this the the

21:00

most. Difficult moment of

21:02

his life. And inside

21:04

the most difficult moment of his life, he makes his

21:06

law. And. Then.

21:09

His. Life becomes an absolute

21:11

dream. And

21:14

now. Will. Spend a lot

21:16

time reflecting on and understanding what's the

21:18

do Odd that he made. I just

21:20

give you like a very basic rough

21:22

translation bullets get into it and deeply

21:25

reflect upon what do I he made

21:27

and what he was actually saying when

21:29

he said these words and how he

21:31

was communicating to a lot. Of

21:34

shallow enough alone from the Los

21:36

Also that I'm honestly last service

21:38

story is. layered

21:40

you know there's levels to

21:42

this as a sakes problem

21:44

most i said i'm a

21:46

chauvinist are mentioned is even

21:48

though he is chosen as

21:50

a messenger he has not

21:52

yet received the charge of

21:55

messenger ship this is all

21:57

happening before he's received the

21:59

official position and the official anointment of

22:01

being a messenger of Allah. But

22:03

one of the things that's interesting about this

22:05

story and even other stories of prophets, for example,

22:08

what was the title or the

22:11

titles that were given to the Prophet Muhammad

22:13

SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, before he received

22:15

Wahi was that he was known as a

22:17

Sadaq and Al-Amin. He was the one

22:19

who was always truthful and he was the one

22:21

who was trustworthy. And if you look

22:23

at the words actually that one

22:25

of the daughters of Sharaib describes Prophet

22:28

Musa with, she

22:30

actually says that you should

22:32

hire him because he is

22:34

two things. Number one, he

22:36

is strong and

22:40

he is also trustworthy. And

22:43

so this trait or these traits

22:45

of trustworthiness, of

22:48

honesty, of integrity, these

22:50

are things that by definition a

22:53

person who wants to be close to Allah and

22:56

a person who hopes and expects to be

22:58

taken care of by Allah, that

23:00

these are non-negotiables. A

23:03

Muslim person, the Prophet SallAllahu Alaihi Wasallam, he

23:05

said in many narrations in

23:07

different ways to the effect of a

23:09

Muslim cannot be a liar. A

23:12

Muslim cannot be a person who is dishonest,

23:14

who does not have the trust of the

23:16

people around them. And when you

23:18

see the way that Allah Tawada tells us the story

23:20

of Sayyidina Musa Aishaam, there are

23:22

so many elements and Shaykh

23:24

of course did a wonderful job telling

23:27

it that where Musa Aishaam was able

23:29

to maintain and demonstrate his integrity, even

23:32

in moments that could have become

23:34

precarious, they could have become dubious.

23:37

When you see someone who needs something,

23:40

forget the whole male-female dynamic, just anyone.

23:42

When you see someone who needs something and they

23:44

are unable to take care of their need, part

23:50

of the mind and part of the

23:53

way that the Nafs might work is

23:55

to leverage that vulnerability for your own

23:57

benefit. Yeah, what's in it for me? Di

24:00

Cui Bono who'd who benefits right if there's

24:02

somebody who's unable to reach something and they

24:04

call a of that of mentally rather for

24:07

me I'm every man has his price. right?

24:10

Yeah I can, I can grab it off the

24:12

top three. All the thought I know I'm talking

24:14

about you know this is ever want to ask

24:16

for help or something and there's a part of

24:18

each person's know that is like. You.

24:21

Know what can you do for me? right?

24:23

Are you gonna? Hook me up. Are

24:25

you gonna give this for me? Are you going

24:27

to take care of that for me when you

24:29

see was I said I'm here One of the

24:31

things that really sticks out about the story is

24:33

that before. Before. He

24:35

even calls upon a law In

24:37

this way. he does the right

24:40

thing. And. He does the

24:42

most generous, the most magnanimous think he

24:44

does it in pure sincerity. And.

24:47

The lesson from that is this. A.

24:49

Law rewards sincere

24:52

people. When. They do

24:54

things with zero attachment for any

24:56

reward whatsoever and sorts of in

24:58

San Ulla mentions the characteristic of

25:00

people who feed others. You. Know

25:02

feeding others and this is a crazy story.

25:04

We used to. Organize. And

25:06

we still do till today in some way

25:08

but more frequently we will go to Muscles

25:11

Slam downtown and they would have the weekly

25:13

of food distribution where they would have different

25:15

organizations that would sponsor or even cook and

25:17

they would box of food and then they

25:19

would handed out any one in south Dallas

25:21

can come and can get free food and

25:24

then there was even these rocks of clothing

25:26

that they would take donations it would clean

25:28

them, they would make them nice, they would

25:30

hang them up and people could com anybody.

25:32

Doesn't matter where you are, who you are,

25:35

where you're from. What religion they could come

25:37

to the masses? They could get a box of

25:39

fresh food and they could pick out some new

25:41

clothes. Prior. To them will be

25:43

new, be refreshed. Close rights and I remember

25:45

being there. And I member

25:47

we would sit at the tables and we

25:49

would talk and we would have conversations with

25:52

the people that were there and I remember

25:54

out of nowhere. One. Of

25:56

the guys who's they're not muslim he said i

25:58

like ya better than the church. Like

26:02

thank you say you're a Lucretia

26:04

arrival Ah but asked him I

26:06

said what makes you say that

26:09

He said because listen to this.

26:11

Human beings are so perceptive Like.

26:14

We can see and smell and sense things

26:16

from miles away. Integrity. Is

26:18

one of those like immutable traits he

26:20

said. I'll never forget. This is back

26:22

another ain't he says, he said. When.

26:26

We come here to get food is he had some

26:28

clothes. You. Guys don't make us do anything.

26:31

Like. We don't have to do anything. When

26:33

we go to the church. They.

26:36

Make us listen to a lecture. They

26:39

make us saying. They.

26:41

Make us pray with them. And

26:43

then after all of that. Then

26:46

they say okay food is served. And.

26:49

Again, Like is it. Is it like

26:52

the worst thing? Right? Yeah,

26:54

we could do that, right? Yeah, hes twenty

26:56

rock. I are always right. Is

26:59

it though? Is it the worst thing?

27:01

Emmy? Whatever. Like, you know it's a

27:03

it's It's a stylistic difference, right? I

27:05

mean, Obviously we're right. but anyway is

27:08

establishes their friends. I mean, I'm not going to

27:10

say that having trouble, pray and stuff is wrong

27:12

with you know it's distasteful and I think it

27:14

goes against the spirit of what Allah wants him

27:16

was message or want them. I have proof for

27:19

it. Because. And saw them

27:21

in Santa Lotta Auto. He describes when we

27:23

see people, he describes what people say, what

27:25

they say in them and their amicably was

27:27

the last line Lederman com Desire and Will

27:30

article. That. One of the

27:32

traits of these people who take care of those

27:34

in need as they say it's We have only

27:36

said you. For. The sake of a

27:38

lot alone land to determine com do that

27:40

and well as you could. We don't want

27:42

any reward anything that you can give us

27:44

we want nothing's and we don't wants you

27:46

to even thank us. I

27:48

don't even think us because we are just

27:50

conduit have a lot. We're.

27:52

just doing good because a lot allowed us to

27:54

do this in fact that a merciful classified is

27:56

had it's we are ring out of i have

27:59

shown below doesn't always that there's a

28:01

famous narration, Aliyyah dul-ul-ul-ya khaayr al-melyah

28:03

dul-ul-ul-ya dul-ul-sulfla, that the hand

28:05

that is above is better than

28:07

the hand that is below. The common narration that

28:09

people talk about when they talk about the virtues

28:12

of sadaqah, the one that is giving

28:14

is typically seen as the better than the one that

28:16

is asking. But there was an interesting commentary

28:18

that I remember Sheikh brought up to me one time. He said,

28:20

I want you to think of it in this way. He

28:23

said, when the person is

28:25

giving charity to the person who is asking, part

28:28

of the ethic of the

28:30

one who's being charitable is to preserve

28:32

the dignity and the honor of the

28:34

one that they're serving. Muslims

28:36

are never taught to demean and

28:38

diminish the honor of people, right?

28:41

That's why Aisha radiAllahu anha was

28:43

given the title, umplib. She

28:45

used to perfume

28:48

the coins and the money that she would

28:50

give in charity because she said

28:53

that it would go to Allah before it

28:55

went to them, but also it was an

28:57

honoring way of giving charity. You don't, my

28:59

mother and father always used to give sadaqah.

29:01

They used to go to the bank and

29:03

trade in crumpled bills for fresh crisp water.

29:06

Just thinking on that level. So

29:09

Sheikh of the Nasr said, he taught me,

29:11

when you give charity to somebody, don't make

29:13

them hold their hand out like this. You

29:16

understand? Can we see this? Camera, we got this,

29:18

okay. Don't make them hold their hand out like

29:20

this. Instead, because

29:23

then what they're doing is they're begging. We make

29:25

dua like this because we're begging, right? So

29:28

you're making them come to you saying, please give it to me. Instead

29:31

of giving it like this, instead of me

29:33

being like this, if Sheikh is donating the

29:35

phone to me, Sheikh hands

29:37

the phone to me like this

29:41

and gives me the honor of saying, thank you

29:43

very much. Aliyyah

29:45

dilluliyyah, khaierun, mein aliyyah dusufla.

29:48

The hand that is above is better than the hand

29:50

that is below. The one who is giving charity is

29:52

not better than the one who's receiving charity. In

29:55

Islam, we don't believe, we don't believe

29:58

that just because you're giving charity. you're

30:00

better than the person who's receiving it. We

30:02

never ever thought that. In fact, we

30:05

thank the ones who

30:07

take charity from us because if it

30:09

were not for them, we would not

30:11

be given the virtue of that deed.

30:15

And so now you have Sayyidina Musa,

30:18

Alayhi Salaam, who's in deep need.

30:21

I mean, Shaykh described it. He

30:23

is immersed in need. He

30:26

is on the run. He has nothing. But

30:29

he sees someone else who's in need. And

30:31

he could have pre-negotiated all of these terms.

30:33

I'll get you the water, but

30:36

I need a job and I want

30:38

to marry one of you. You pick. They

30:41

do it differently, old school, right? Maybe

30:43

bring it back. I don't know. Anyways, right? They

30:46

do it differently. He could have done that. He could have

30:48

done that. And for them,

30:50

they need water. But you know

30:52

what? That's not the ethic of a believer. We

30:55

don't attach conditions to our virtue.

30:58

We don't make our goodness conditional.

31:01

Then what are we doing? We're

31:03

transacting with Khayr? No.

31:06

We do it for the sake of Allah. Sayyidina

31:09

Musa, he does this for the sake of Allah. He

31:12

takes care of what they needed. They leave.

31:15

They're gone. He

31:17

doesn't even, I mean, to be honest, he doesn't even know who

31:19

they are. Didn't get a name. Nothing.

31:22

They leave. After they leave, he goes and

31:24

he sits in front of Allah Ta'ala, or

31:26

under the tree, under his Lord.

31:29

And he says what to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la? He

31:32

says that, oh my Lord,

31:34

Fakhala, Rabbi Inni, Lima and Zalta

31:36

ilayya, Minh

31:38

Khayrin Fakhirun. Oh

31:41

Allah, my Lord. You

31:44

know, sometimes it hits you as well when

31:47

you've just done something good. How

31:49

desperate you are. Like when

31:51

you help someone, you realize you also

31:54

need help. Sometimes

31:56

that's how it works. The world is so cyclical like

31:58

that. Like sometimes... You

32:00

don't have a job But you were able to introduce

32:02

your friend in a different degree or a different career

32:04

to someone who got them a job And then

32:07

they're like hey, thanks for hooking me up And

32:10

you're like I'm still broke You

32:12

know what I mean life is so peculiar like

32:14

that and it's at that

32:17

moment once you've demonstrated and proven your integrity

32:20

That your dua becomes unobstructed

32:24

Because you've shown Allah. Oh Allah.

32:26

I have nothing I'm not going

32:28

to use anything besides you to

32:30

solve my problems if

32:32

I were to leverage people and Hold

32:35

them hostage for the any good that I could

32:37

do if I were only gonna do favors if

32:39

people could return the favor Then

32:42

it's not me truly seeking anything from you. I'm

32:44

seeking it from them But

32:46

oh Allah, I wanted to demonstrate to you

32:48

that regardless of what I have or don't

32:50

have I'm gonna do the right thing and Then

32:53

after that Oh Allah I

32:55

hope that as a means of

32:58

my dua being accepted you accept this sincere

33:00

deed that I've done and What

33:03

is Allah promise Allah promises that

33:05

if you do the right thing and

33:08

you don't hold anyone hostage for your

33:10

goodness And then you seek from

33:12

Allah with humility Allah

33:14

ta'ala will not only give you what you're asking for he'll

33:17

give you much more Allah

33:19

ta'ala gave him Shaykh al-Nasir mentioned Allah ta'ala

33:21

gave him in this scenario a job

33:24

a family Right

33:27

not just a family not just a wife but also a

33:31

amazing father-in-law Right

33:33

an incredible like we talked about the in-law

33:35

joke in-laws this net but your father-in-law is

33:37

a prophet of God He's

33:40

still not yet been anointed. You see

33:42

Allah's wisdom. It's so amazing. He's still

33:44

not yet been given that title officially

33:46

He's chosen by Allah, but he's not

33:48

been activated as a prophet yet You

33:52

have a father-in-law who's a messenger of God

33:54

you now have a wife Who

33:57

is an incredible person raised by a messenger

33:59

of God? you now

34:01

have employment and interestingly enough SubhanAllah in

34:03

the discussion after she, you

34:05

know the daughter says to her father, hire

34:07

him who

34:10

we know from the hadith is Prophet Shurayib,

34:12

Aishaam, he says to Musa Aishaam that I

34:14

want to hire you for eight years or

34:17

you can make it ten if you want and

34:21

I've always found that interesting like why

34:23

was it that he said eight or

34:25

ten, like I need you for eight at least but

34:28

if you want you can do two more, it's like when you

34:30

sign a contract and there's an option clause right,

34:34

it's interesting because when you look at the way that

34:36

it's worded and the way that it's laid out he's

34:40

guaranteeing him not only eight

34:42

but he's saying that I can take care of you for even

34:45

longer than that you're always

34:47

gonna be taken care of, whatever

34:49

you need and

34:51

it's up to you, you decide imagine being

34:53

you went from a position where you had

34:55

no choice in your risk, you were broke

34:58

to now you have options, you have

35:00

a couple different options on the table I

35:02

can take this for eight years or I can take it for ten

35:04

years and maybe I can counter offer

35:06

and say let's make it twelve and

35:09

he says sure you went from nothing

35:11

to having more than something this is

35:13

the generosity of Allah and then

35:16

Musa Aishaam he agrees to the

35:18

terms, so that's between you

35:20

and me whatever term I fulfill, that's going

35:22

to be what I will keep my word

35:24

there will be no obligation on me beyond

35:26

that and he says Allah is a witness

35:28

to whatever we say and then SubhanAllah, Allah

35:31

Tawada skips ahead in the narrative, in the

35:34

story that

35:36

Musa Aishaam had completed his term and

35:39

at this point he's married, he

35:42

continues on his journey he leaves the

35:45

situation of work that he had with his

35:47

father-in-law and this is now

35:49

where Prophet Musa ends

35:51

up going into the sacred valley

35:54

of Atua and this is where

35:56

he sees off in the distance after perceiving

35:59

himself to be lost. What

36:01

he sees off in the distance on this hill,

36:03

on this mountain, is a fire. And

36:06

he says to his wife at the time, he says, let

36:10

me go and see what's

36:12

up with that fire because fire in

36:14

the wilderness typically means campfire, which

36:16

means people, which means guidance.

36:19

If I need to know where I'm going and I'm lost,

36:22

these people, they probably know where they are, where we are,

36:24

let me go ask them for help. And

36:26

he says, let me go over to

36:28

them, maybe they can

36:30

give us some directions,

36:33

right, they can give us some stuff. Oh,

36:36

adjidu al-nari hudah, or minan nari,

36:39

he says, oh, adjidu al-nari hudah, in a different

36:41

verse, he says, or maybe they can give us

36:43

some guidance from this fire. He thought he was

36:45

gonna get directions, what he actually got was he

36:47

died from Allah. He

36:49

goes to this fire and the

36:51

fire speaks to him, or the voice emanates from

36:53

the fire and speaking to him, and this

36:56

is Allah ta'ala, his first

36:58

now speaking interaction with

37:00

Musa, who we call Kedimullah, the one

37:02

who spoke, or the one who Allah

37:05

ta'ala spoke to. And

37:07

Allah ta'ala gives him now at this

37:09

moment the charge of messengership, but I

37:11

want to summarize with what Allah ta'ala

37:13

says in the end. Allah

37:16

ta'ala, he calls out to Musa and

37:18

he says, oh Musa, it is me, Allah,

37:21

the Lord of the Worlds. He

37:24

demonstrates through a miracle, Sayyidina Musa throws

37:26

down his staff, Allah ta'ala commands the

37:28

staff to move like a

37:30

snake, right, which will end

37:32

up happening at some point later in

37:34

the story with Prophet Furoh An. And

37:37

after he demonstrates this miraculousness

37:39

to Musa, Allah ta'ala does

37:41

something phenomenal. Allah

37:45

recounts the entire story

37:47

of Musa's life, the

37:50

entire story of Musa's life. I believe it's in Surah

37:52

Taha, yeah, it's in Shik change it for me. What

37:54

a wingman. Changes

37:56

it for me. Okay? So

37:59

he approaches And Allah ta'ala calls out

38:01

to him. He tells

38:03

him, I'm your Lord, take off your sandals

38:05

because you are in a sacred place now. You

38:08

know, when you come to the masjid, what do you do? Take

38:10

off your shoes because you're coming to me Allah subhanahu

38:12

ta'ala. And then

38:14

he says, I've chosen you.

38:16

So listen to what I'm going to, what

38:18

is revealed to you or what I have

38:21

revealed to you. I am Allah. There

38:23

is no God except for me. No

38:25

one worthy of worship except for me. So

38:28

worship me alone and establish prayer for

38:30

my remembrance. The hour is

38:32

going to come. My

38:34

will is to keep the time of that

38:36

and the location of the details hidden so

38:39

that every soul can genuinely strive

38:41

and be rewarded with sincerity for

38:43

their efforts. And then

38:46

Allah ta'ala, he continues the

38:48

conversation with Musa and he recounts the

38:50

entire history of what Musa alayhi wasalam

38:52

went through. He

38:54

tells him that I was there with you despite

38:57

the fact that you felt like you were alone when

38:59

you were going through the persecution of your

39:01

people. I was there with you when

39:04

you were struck with fear at that moment

39:06

when you had to become a fugitive. I

39:08

was there with you when you had to

39:10

hightail it and leave the community and find

39:13

safety and sanctuary. I was there with you

39:15

when you felt like you were lost. Every

39:18

step of the way, I know

39:20

about every single detail of that moment.

39:23

Why did Allah ta'ala restate all this to Prophet Musa

39:25

alayhi wa sallam in this way? Because

39:27

sometimes when we are alone or when we are

39:30

in need, we feel like Allah is not with

39:32

us. If Allah were

39:34

with me, I wouldn't be in this scenario. But

39:37

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells every

39:39

moment of weakness and vulnerability to

39:41

Prophet Musa. I want you guys

39:43

to think about yourself. Think of

39:45

your moments of weakness. Imagine

39:49

him telling you, I was with

39:51

you when you got rejected. I

39:53

was with you when you got fired. I

39:56

was with you when you got divorced. I

39:58

was with you when you lost. the child. I

40:01

was with you when your parents passed away. I was

40:04

with you. In one moment Allah

40:06

is recounting every difficult moment that Musa

40:08

al-Yisra' al- been through. And

40:11

then he finishes with what is maybe my favorite

40:13

ayah in the Quran. He says, all

40:15

of this, everything that you have been through,

40:17

has been a preparation

40:25

for me. This is

40:27

now when Musa became a prophet. The

40:29

tafseer of this verse, as short as

40:31

it is this phrase, wastanatuk al-inafsi, I

40:33

have fashioned you. All

40:37

of this was part of your preparation, linafsi,

40:39

for myself. The tafseer of

40:41

this is so powerful. Everything

40:43

you go through has a purpose. Every

40:47

moment of rejection, every moment

40:49

of difficulty, every moment of

40:51

prosperity, and every moment

40:53

of constriction, there is

40:55

something there that is preparing you for Allah.

40:59

Every second that you live is

41:01

preparing you for the next second. And

41:04

only the ones who are wise and

41:06

who are sincere are the

41:09

ones who will understand that what

41:11

they're going through is a preparation for Allah. You

41:14

know, one of the great challenges in our era

41:17

is to realize that life is

41:19

not pointless. Life is

41:21

not meaningless. It's meaningful. Every

41:24

single thing, every single day,

41:26

every single opportunity, whether

41:29

it's attained or missed, has

41:31

meaning. The gift

41:34

that we have is that we believe

41:36

in a book that was given to

41:38

us and brought to us by a messenger that

41:40

was sent down from Allah that

41:42

tells us that he promises

41:44

us that every single moment has meaning. But

41:47

not every human being has that. And

41:50

Muslims, because we believe that every moment has

41:52

meaning, we are different. And

41:55

we're able to be people that make the

41:57

right decisions at the right times

41:59

and do the right things in the

42:01

moments that call for them and avoid

42:03

those things that are evil when we

42:05

are tempted to do them because we

42:07

know that those moments are not isolated,

42:09

they are accumulated and what we do

42:11

ends up being who we are. And

42:15

this is what Prophet Musa's message and his

42:17

mission started as and obviously we know that

42:20

this was the preparation for him to

42:22

go and meet and face the ultimate

42:24

test for him which was to stand

42:26

in front of Fira'a'un and to challenge

42:28

him in the moment of the

42:31

greatest perhaps challenge of his life which

42:33

was to invite Fira'a'un and to teach

42:36

Fira'a'un about the true religion of Allah

42:38

and to contest his tyranny and his

42:40

kufr, his disbelief in front of everybody

42:42

which of course is an entirely different

42:44

story for another different time. But

42:47

this dua, this dua is

42:49

so remarkable because it begins

42:51

with sincerity, in

42:54

the middle it finds itself being an

42:56

admission of need and then

42:58

Allah ta'ala tells Musa that this

43:00

need that you are in is

43:03

actually part of your preparation and

43:06

if you didn't have need you wouldn't be prepared.

43:08

We ask Allah ta'ala to give us this perspective

43:10

and to be able to embrace the need that

43:13

we have as a means of preparation. Shaykh do

43:15

you have anything you want to share with us? In

43:18

closing I just wanted to mention that the

43:21

Prophet ﷺ in a narration towards the end of

43:25

his life he said a statement that

43:28

is so fascinating. The

43:30

Prophet ﷺ towards the end

43:33

of his life he said, adabani rabbhi fa'ah

43:35

sanat adibi. My

43:38

Lord taught me and he taught me well. My

43:41

Lord trained me and

43:44

he trained me beautifully. Sometimes

43:47

we're going through something but

43:50

it's preparing us for something so much greater.

43:54

But if I give up right now, if I

43:57

lose my cool. If

44:01

I opt out, I

44:05

don't know what I'm

44:07

depriving myself of further

44:09

down the road. I

44:12

could be destined for greatness.

44:16

Allah could

44:18

intend to utilize me for

44:21

something remarkable, earth-changing,

44:24

life-changing. But

44:28

I might end up sabotaging

44:31

my own self. Muzali-Islam's

44:33

situation was tough, no

44:36

doubt. He was on the

44:38

run, they were after him, he

44:40

had no food, he had no clothes, he had

44:42

no money, he had no supplies. That's a tough

44:44

spot. But

44:46

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala put him in that

44:48

spot so

44:51

that he could handle it correctly. Rabbi

44:53

Inni lima anzal ta'ilayi min khairin faqirun,

44:56

will I desperately need whatever you can give me

44:58

right now, whatever you will give me right now,

45:01

I'm in need of it. And

45:03

he put his faith and trust in Allah, and Allah

45:05

subhanahu wa ta'ala brought him through that beautifully,

45:08

the family, the job, everything we talked about. But

45:13

look what Allah destined

45:15

him for. Look where Allah brought

45:17

him. And

45:20

Huzdah said each of these stories is

45:22

a whole discussion unto itself, but look

45:24

where Allah eventually brought him. He's

45:27

standing in front of the ocean with 70,000 innocent

45:29

people trying to escape persecution, a

45:35

bloodthirsty horde in an army behind

45:37

them, and

45:39

in that moment, that

45:42

earlier moment taught him what to

45:44

do. He didn't freak out.

45:46

He didn't lose his cool. He didn't

45:48

run away. He didn't lose his hope.

45:51

He didn't lose his courage. But

45:53

he turned to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Allah told him what to

45:55

do. He walked out into

45:57

the ocean until the water was at his

45:59

job. and he took the staff in

46:01

his hand and he said in the name

46:03

of Allah and he struck the ocean with

46:06

his staff and the sea split. The

46:09

ocean parted. The

46:12

Quran says each side of the ocean was like a

46:14

mountain. When they

46:17

stepped foot on the floor of the ocean, the Quran

46:19

says, Ya Ba San. The

46:21

dirt was dry, it was dusty. Allah

46:24

made the water separate from the dust,

46:27

from the dirt on the floor of the ocean. Allah

46:31

prepared him for that moment through this

46:33

earlier moment. We will

46:35

all have our own moments. We

46:38

pray that Allah does not test us. But

46:41

this is life. Allah

46:44

is saying, I am going to test you. It's

46:47

going to happen. That's what this world is for. But

46:51

whenever you're in a moment, in

46:53

a test, think

46:55

about what could be waiting for us down the

46:57

road. What kind of greatness,

47:01

what kind of contribution, what

47:04

Allah has destined us for.

47:08

And that will make it easier to live through this

47:10

moment and handle this moment more correctly and properly. And

47:13

that's just training us for a much greater

47:15

moment. Adhavani rabbi

47:18

fa hanata tibi. My Lord

47:20

taught me, Allah trained me

47:23

and he trained me well, beautifully. Allah

47:26

train us and teaches beautifully. And

47:29

I know it's a

47:32

serious moment, but I can't help myself. I'm

47:35

like half expecting after we get done to go

47:37

outside and see a bunch of dudes sitting under

47:39

trees. But I had to.

47:45

They're like, Robby. He's

47:47

like, Robby, I forgot the rest of the

47:49

du'a. Robby marriage, marriage.

47:53

Fakir, fakir marriage. If

47:57

you do, if you do meet a potential father in law. don't

48:00

say you're fakir. That's a

48:02

good thing to say to Allah, but not to a father-in-law who's

48:04

asking if you can take care of her to his daughter. I

48:07

am fakir, I'll take care of her. But

48:09

you need to hire me for eight years. We

48:12

ask Allah ta'ala to accept from us and allow us to

48:14

take the lessons from this beautiful book and to apply them

48:16

to our own lives. We ask Allah

48:18

ta'ala to make these last couple of

48:21

nights of Ramadan be the nights that we benefit

48:23

the most from. May Allah ta'ala make these

48:25

moments that we see at the conclusion of

48:27

this beautiful month the sweetest

48:29

moments, Khitam of Ummisq, that

48:32

they have this fragrance of acceptance from

48:34

Allah and that we are able to finish

48:37

off all of the aspirations and goals that

48:39

we had for this month and

48:41

we're able to celebrate on the day of Eid knowing

48:43

that we did our best and that we

48:46

got up and we picked ourselves up and we

48:48

failed and we kept going and that Allah's mercy

48:50

and his forgiveness is greater than our mistakes. I

48:52

mean, I mean, arab al-Aminz, za'am al-Mukhayr, everybody.