مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتۡ مَا حَوۡلَهُ ۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ (١٧)
صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ (١٨)
And their likeness is as the one who kindles a fire; then, when it sheds its light around him, Allah takes their light away, and leaves them in darkness so they cannot see anything.
They are deaf, dumb and blind, so they are not able to return (to normality).
Surah al-Baqarah v17-18
The initial verses of the Qur’an al-Hakeem focus on one point, which is that human beings should come back to the Straight Path, which is the Straight Path of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Whoever comes off this path and deviates from this way, he is a deviated person, whatever generation he lives in. It is very essential for us to read these verses repeatedly, and to focus on them repeatedly. This is the generation of Fitan, of severe challenges, as explained in the Hadith which says that there will come a time when person will be a Mu’min in the morning, but by the evening he will be devoid of Iman; or in the evening, he will be a Mu’min, and by the morning, he will be devoid of Iman. In other words, true Iman will become like a game, and Deen will become like a drama. And in that generation, in that era, there will be a severe condition; it will be the worst of generations, close to Qiyamah. This is the generation in which Imam Mehdi and Isa alayhi salam and Dajjal will appear.
Why? Because there will a contamination and a mixture of those who have Iman with those who do not, and this will cause the people of Iman to think ‘Am I wrong? Maybe he is right.’ And this is how the waters will become muddied, and people will remain firm on their weakness and evil habits and will be open and resolute in carrying out wrong actions. Hence those with Iman will say ‘What is going on here? Am I right? How can so many people be wrong?’ This is also a very big point of logic that shaytan puts forward: ‘How can you be right on your own and everyone else be wrong? Is the whole Dunya a waste? Are they all wrong? Is it just you who is correct? You think you are the best, and that you are right and everyone else is wrong!’ This is a big attack of shaytan, a very big attack, and this will take place in that generation, in the worst of generations. That will be the generation of Fitnah, and what you will see very vividly is that people will not have understanding of Iman. They will joke with the Kalima, with the statement of faith, and people will try to implement Deen in the wrong way.
But alhamdulillah, we can see clearly, from the beginning of the Qur’an, that Allah ta’ala wants to save mankind from the severity of that generation. And Allah ta’ala has explained this very beautifully in the verse that I have recited. The example given is like that of a person who is lost in a jungle, and there is severe, intense darkness in that forest; and then suddenly a fire is kindled, by which, obviously, a person can then see his surroundings. So then the person who is lost and off-track has a very good opportunity to search for the right path, for the path that he wants to be on. The quality of fire and light – any source of light – is that it makes clear what is going on around it. The light of the fire makes the situation clear. If you go into a dark room, you will bump around, not knowing what is in front of you, but if even a small bulb is switched on, you will be able to see everything easily and will not bump into things. If there is darkness, you will bump into things; you will make mistakes. So with light, a person can clearly see the path and he won’t come off the track.
However, in the explanation that Allah ta’ala gives, even if there is fire or any source of light to make things visible, some people still don’t take benefit from this. So then Allah ta’ala says that we are wasting that light and that guidance; we are being ungrateful and disobedient. Allah ta’ala has made us understand this in a beautiful example. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given Iman to human beings, and the Kalima of Shahada is a great, Adheem statement that is a great assistance for a person in this world and the next. ‘Ash-hadu an La ilaha illa’llah, was ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Abduhu wa Rasooluh’ – this is such a great statement! La ilaha ill’llah – there is nothing greater than this. La ilah illa’llah, Muhammadur-Rasoolu’llah. SubhanAllah. All success is contained in this statement, in this declaration of faith. This is a complete statement of fact which is so weighty and valuable that it is stated in Hadith that if you put the whole universe, with the earth and the seven heavens and everything, on one scale, and just this Kalima on the other scale, this Kalima would be heavier. SubhanAllah! The Kalima will tip the scale. Understand the Hadith: if you put the whole Dunya on one side, with everyone stood on one side, mashaAllah, one person with this Kalima in his heart will be heavier. Allahu Akbar. If the whole world and everything it contains is on one side, a person with the Kalima ‘La ilaha illa’llah, Munahhandur-Rasoolu’llah’ will weigh more than the rest of the world and it contents! Its power will be greater, and nobody will be able to affect him. This is such a great, great asset, this La ilaha illa’llah. When a person recites this, the light from it goes to the Throne, and the Arsh starts to shake! My brothers, this is a massive and fantastic Kalima.
That is why this example has been given: { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬} Allah says ‘I gave you the Kalima, the belief. You didn’t know about belief, but I gave the Adhan into your ears. I gave you Iman in the womb of your mother and at the time of your birth, on the very first day!’ and then Allah ta’ala says { فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتۡ مَا حَوۡلَهُ ۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ}. ‘I have enlightened your heart with this Kalima, just like the person who was lost in the jungle until he got the light and found the path. Your Qulub were so elevated and high due to this Iman. I gave you the weight and the power and the energy with this Kalima, more than anything else in the world. The whole world started to recognize you – who is this man? Who is this woman? Who are they? What are they doing?’ Why? Because though we cannot see, there is so much Noor in this Kalima, so much light, intensity and radiance.
Hadhrat Abrar bin Aazim narrates that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that when a person with Iman goes into the grave, then he will be asked to testify, to confirm and to repeat this Kalima. Whoever confirms this Kalima and testifies that ‘My Lord was Allah and my Nabi was Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam’, then success is attained – job done. End of story! SubhanAllah. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has taught us the clear facts. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us this Kalima and this Deen that strengthens our Iman, SubhanAllah. Whoever stays firm and steadfast on this Kalima, by affirming it and testifying and taking hold of Allah’s Ahkam, saying ‘Oh Allah, You are my Lord; whatever You say I will believe, and I won’t believe anyone else’, this is testifying and accepting the facts. What else is it? And then saying ‘Muhammadar-Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam’ – ‘Allah, You are Ma’bood, You are worthy of worship, and none other, and Your Habeeb is Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam and I will follow him in everything and I will obey him. SubhanAllah. And I will testify, and I will confirm that I will fulfil Your orders. And how will I do that? By following Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’
The person who is firm and steadfast on this practice – now here, a big direction is given, because standing firm on the Path in the Dunya is the most successful action; to stand firm, to be steadfast on the Deen is the most important action. But here the Qur’an highlights those who are not steadfast – this is where we lose out. Allah ta’ala tells the human beings ‘I have given you the light, but your job, your task, was to remain steadfast. As for examples of steadfastness, Allah says ‘I will test you through shaytan, Nafs, environment, society, circumstances, ups and downs of life. Just like a ship in the ocean, sometimes it goes up with the waves and sometimes down. These ups and downs are in your life as well, oh human being. What we need to see is which human being remains steadfast.’ If there is wickedness and wrong around him, does he say ‘Oh no, I can’t do this. This is against the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, so I cannot do this action’?
This can occur in so may ways. Sometimes a Muslim is sent here or there where it will be difficult to do Amal, to practice - and it is Allah ta’ala who sends a person. Allah ta’ala wants to see whether you will continue to practice. And those who remain steadfast, Allah says ‘Who will remain steadfast with Iman, and will reject those things that take him away from the Deen, and reject the wrong things and remain steadfast and firm?’ Such a one will say to himself, ‘Just reject this life for a few days, because the real life that we will attain is in the Hereafter.’ So my brothers, he is the one who has testified and affirmed the statement of faith. Only that person will be able to say ‘I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam is His Prophet.’ That person has embraced this Kalima and has embraced the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in his life. It doesn’t matter what circumstances arise in his life, he does not shake or fall. If a person is steadfast like this and remains firm-footed, after he is lowered into the grave, the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, SubhanAllah, that a Muslim, when he passes away, will be asked these things, and if he was steadfast in the world, then he will also be steadfast in the grave. But the person who was not steadfast in the world, then he will not be able to answer the questions that are put forward to him in the grave. He will not be able to show his strength.
So how will a person give the answers in the grave? The Qur’an says, SubhanAllah { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا }. This is the example, where Allah ta’ala says ‘I gave you Iman, a light; and it was such a light that you could see everything!’ And even then, that person who saw the light of the fire did not accept the guidance. He wasted that light. He wasted that radiance. So Allah says ‘Oh Insan, you are wasting the life I have given you as well! Clearly, I gave you the light of the Deen.’ What light did Allah ta’ala give to us? SubhanAllah. Hadhrat Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, Allah’s Rasool, His Nabi’s light is what tells us what the Kalima is. And all of Allah ta’ala’s Ahkams and orders came to us via the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Say SubhanAllah! This light of Iman tells us this; this Hadith tells us this. This is the light that Allah ta’ala has put into us, the light of Iman.
{ مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬} Allah is saying ‘This Iman is the light that I put into your heart.’ And where is this light is guiding you to? To the right path { ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ}, to the Deen of Nabi al-Kareem sallallahu alayhi wasallam, who is the Prophet of Allah. All of Allah’s laws and principles and Ahkam came to us via the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He is our guide; he is our Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So we can only obey Allah ta’ala correctly when we follow and obey the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and put his lifestyle and example in front of us. He brought us education. He is the guidance for us in the world. If we don’t put his example in front of us, then how will we obey him and how will we follow him? We cannot follow Allah and obey Allah without knowing the details. So Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam brought the Deen and gave us our education. How can we leave him, and leave his Tariqa, and instead of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, replace his Deen with something else? And then we say we are strong Muslims! Imagine this. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam brought Ta’leem, education, ‘Ilm, so how can we then obey the Ghair, the strange way of life, in opposition to the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, whose teaching is completely opposite to that? So if we don’t obey, him, if we don’t imitate him or have his example in our lives, then we cannot succeed.
The person who takes the guidance of the Holy Prophet, the final Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, who has Yaqeen that he is the final and greatest Prophet and his way is the best, this is the proof of sincerity and honesty in the way of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And that person will never have any difficulty in this worldly life because he has the solution. Why? Because the education of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was complete. There is nothing in the world, no action in our lives, about which we cannot take guidance from the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is the path of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the Imam of the Ambiya sallallahu alayhi wasallam, so if he is telling us to eat like this, how can we eat in another way? If he is the head of the Prophets, Imam-ul-Ambiya, the Beloved of Allah the Lord of the Universe, and he teaches us how to sleep, then how can we sleep another way? If the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that we should trade like this, buy and sell like this, then how can another way be better?
This is our test of life: to stay on the path and to remain steadfast. But shaytan will come with his way, his advice, his methodology, and will say ‘Leave the Deen.’ Those people who listen to him are leaving the light of Islam, the light of the Sunnah, and are going in the other direction. Allah says that they are wasting their lives, and so Allah says ‘I will remove that light from them.’ Which light? The light of the Kalima and Iman. Allah says that it is lost from their hearts and then it is replaced by Nifaq, hypocrisy.
So the Qur’an is telling us that a Munafiq, a hypocrite, is that individual who leaves and shuns the teachings of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and follows the path and orders of shaytan. He believes that what shaytan says is correct – when you go out, do what you want. Immodesty – do what you want. No shame – do what you want. If he sits at home and send a woman out to work, they say that’s fine - in other words, doing the opposite of what Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam taught us. Everything is opposite. Nothing in our lives is such that we have the passion for the principles of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is asking, SubhanAllah, how will a person recite La ilah illa’llah in his grave, and how will he testify and bear witness that Allah is his Lord and that he worshipped none but Allah? How will he affirm that in the grave? And how will he confirm that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam was his Rasool? How can he do that if he lived a life that was opposite to his life? He can only confirm this if he lived in this world properly and steadfastly. Then he will be able to confirm the truth. But it will be impossible for the one who was a coward, illiterate and Jaahil, who in a second or a minute, sold his Iman. He moved from one country to another, and whilst on the plane, sold his Deen and changed his life. How many people have sold their Deen today, my brothers? This is what the Qur’an is telling us clearly, but we won’t accept.
I will present to you a statement of Hadhrat Ali karama’llahu wajh, who said that the heart of a Munafiq is harder than rock. You can tell him hundreds and thousands of verses from Qur’an and Hadith to no avail. It is our duty to share and explain the Deen. It may be that they do not accept it. Only that person upon whom is Allah ta’ala’s blessings will accept the Deen and Qur’an. Hadhrat Ali karama’llahu wajh, the door of knowledge, said that the heart of a Munafiq is harder than rocks and stones. Even rocks crumble and break down into dust, but a Munafiq’s heart will never absorb the Deen. Why? The Qur’an has told us. He will never accept Haq, the truth.
What has the light of Iman not demonstrated? Every action of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has become apparent. We can find out how to do Tawaf, how to go to the blessed Rawdha Mubarak, the blessed grave of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, how to go to Arafat, how to throw the stones, how to do Saa’ee, how to go to Muzdalifah, how to wear Ihram, how to do Talbiyyah. He knows how to sacrifice an animal when on Hajj. We know this because the light of Iman is in our hearts. If we know and are aware, but then we reject openly, this is Nifaq. If a person knows that an action is wrong but still does it, saying ‘What can we do? We have to live in the Dunya, we need success. We have to succeed, don’t we? We need to go that way. We can’t follow the path. How can we leave the women at home? It’s too hard. Everything goes!’ La Hawla wa la Quwwata illa bi’llah.
We say that our children are not sensible. How can our sons and daughters be sensible? How? Think about it. If there is so much Nifaq inside us, and if we give our children Qur’ans, and send them to Madrasas to become ‘Alims and ‘Alimahs, while there are so many non-Islamic items in our homes, so that when they come home they sit and watch films and dramas, then there are two opposite ideologies in their lives. They will say, ‘They tell us to read Qur’an, while they are watching films and dramas. We get Bukhari and Burkhas, while they go the cinema and watch films and dramas, and they have alcohol in the fridge!’ I am telling you the truth. The children speak among themselves and say ‘What is this two-faced condition of Mum and Dad?’ They realise that their parents are two-faced, because they preach on thing and practice another. I swear by Allah that it cannot be that children will not be affected by sitting them in front of the Qur’an and putting Sahih al-Bukhari in their hand. Will it not affect them? If they do not affect us, these are punishments. Why do they not affect us? Because the parents have Nifaq; they are giving the wrong lesson to the children. They tell the children to read Bukhari, but it doesn’t have an effect, because the parents say ‘Just read Bukhari, and then you can do what you want in the world. We will give you a car, and you can have boyfriends or girlfriends, no difference. It’s ok, you can do what you want. You are free, it’s ok. You have studied, you have learned the Qur’an, and have read all the verses, so we have fulfilled that tradition and we have shown people what you have become.’
Allah is asking ‘Is this your task in life?’ { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا} Allah says ‘I gave you light when you were in the darkness of the jungle. I gave you radiation, light, illumination. And you put Bukhari in the hands of your children and taught them Hifdh of the Qur’an.’ If Bukhari and Hifdh and Hadith studies do not rub off onto a child, then this is a punishment that Allah ta’ala has given. The mother and father will get a big punishment in the Hereafter for having been two-faced. They were studying Sahih al-Bukhari, and when they got home, there was something else going on there. Theatre and films at midnight. ‘Where’s Mum? Where’s Dad?’ they ask, and they find out that they’ve gone to watch a film or gone to this or that location. So the parents tell them to go to their classes, and then we see around us the stories of what happens thereafter. It is not just here; this happens in Pakistan and in all the so-called Islamic countries. The Qur’an tells us that we will see this. Today, the Qur’an is not telling us about Iman or Salah or worship, rather it is telling us about the real issue, about that group that has been let loose today and has proliferated. It is telling us about this group for whom there are big punishments. Corona is just a minor shake, a minor jolt; this is nothing at all. Allah says ‘You have been locked in your homes, you can’t shake hands, relatives can’t meet each other, shops and businesses are closed, but the story of life is continuing.’ This is nothing. May Allah forgive, may Allah forgive, may Allah forgive!
So this is Nifaq, hypocrisy. This is not from me – the Qur’an is explaining this to us. Why does Sahih al-Bukhari not have an effect on us? Why does the Qur’an not have an effect on us? How can the effect of the Qur’an take place in the house of a Munafiq? How can education of the Deen take place? Allah says in many places in the Qur’an that people are made wretched if their Niyyah is not correct, and here this is Amalan, this is a practical demonstration. You are practicing in opposition to what you are reciting. We think that we are running the show in the world. Do we think that our children are foolish or stupid? Don’t they have understanding and awareness and ‘Aql? They are saying ‘What’s going on here? Which Deen should we follow? Maybe this is the Deen, that we should study Bukhari, memorise the Qur’an, and also commit sins and do evil acts. Maybe those who do this are on the right path. We can do this and that; we can commit Haram actions and do worship as well. We can do right and wrong as well.’
Today, if we look around us, this is the Deen that people around us are practicing. Sahih al-Bukhari is learned, the Dars are given, and when the girl is in her final year and will be graduating, they say ‘When you graduate as an ‘Alimah, you can go and get a job in Sainsbury’s. Just put a strip of cloth on your head when you go and show the people that you are covering your head. That’s it, nothing more than that.’ La Hawla wa Quwwata illa bi’llah – amazing! What sort of Dar-ul-Uloom learning is that? What is the condition of people who can be forced to stay 2 or 3 metres apart in the Masjid? If Allah does not want the masjids to be filled, then how can they be filled? Why are there no people in the Masjids, in the Bait-u’llah, the Ka’abah, and all these places? It is not human beings who populate these places. It is due to the Noor of Iman that they are populated. If there is no Noor of Iman in the hearts of the people, then you can cry as much as you like at the walls of the Ka’abah. You are crying now, but where was your crying then? You would see people standing there, shrieking and crying as they stood there, but for what? What is this drama? Allah ta’ala says that this is the Munafiqeen. SubhanAllah, read the next verses – this is not me speaking, it is the Qur’an.
My brothers, if we recognize this bacteria within us, then leave this two-faced life today. If you want to be saved, then with honesty take out all the things that Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has defined as Haram from your lives. Otherwise, I swear by Allah – the Qur’an is testifying to this – there will be a bad consequence for you in the grave. Allah says that you will not be able to answer in the grave when the questions are put forward to you, because you were not steadfast in the world. Allah says that if a person lives the right path in this life, properly, then he will be able to be steadfast and answer the questions in the grave. I swear by Allah, no Ibadah will give us forgiveness. We think that we can do a Khatam or recite some verses on the grave, no! The fire will rage through the grave. The punishment for the Munafiq is worse than that of a person who has no faith. Allah says ‘I will punish the Munafiq more severely.’ You left behind such spoiled ‘Alims and ‘Alimahs. You made them Munafiqs, people of no faith, and you taught them that alongside Sahih al-Bukhari, you can also adopt the way of sin and evil as well. So the children have done this today. What else will they do apart from what their parents demonstrate? The children will do this. If they are taught wrong, they go towards wrong. Otherwise, a child could never be on the wrong path. How could the Qur’an not take effect on a child? But when the Munafiq picks the Qur’an up, wrongfulness comes into him. The Qur’an says that.
There are many people who have done Hifdh of the Qur’an who have no Iman. A non-Muslim came to me, an Englishman, and he had read and memorized many verses of the Qur’an. Does that mean that the Qur’an will affect that person positively? No, it doesn’t happen like that. So if you memorise the Qur’an and the praise comes, but in reality you are two-faced, then Allah says what punishment will be given?
{ مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتۡ مَا حَوۡلَهُ ۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ}
Allah ta’ala says ‘I then leave them in a darkness such that they cannot see anything.’ They cannot tell what is Haram, and they will do sins in front of women, and there will be evil and dirty films in the home. { لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ} Allah says that they become blind. When the father sees his daughter’s immodesty and nakedness, he says ‘Oh it’s ok; there’s nothing wrong with it.’ No shame is left; it is replaced by immodesty. Allah says { ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ}. Allahu Akbar! Allah says that they have become blind. Allah takes away the light that was around them and leaves them in darkness in which they cannot see. Allah tells us this in the Qur’an. ‘I gave them Bait-u’llah, and they could see everything with the light of Iman, but then they came towards sin and did Haram and immodest actions, despite their Bukhari and their knowledge of Qur’an.’
We say everything is allowed today. There is complete freedom. Young men and women gather together and praise each other and say that they are people on the right path. Allah says { ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ} Allah takes away the light, so they say ‘Oh no, it doesn’t matter if my wife goes here or there to this man or that man. This is fine.’ They accept it! There are many examples of this sort in this generation. They do not even have the Hayya and the shame that they mind going to a Ghair-mehram person, because the Noor has come out of their hearts. This is Nifaq, hypocrisy. If this your condition, if this is what you see in your lives, then Allah says, the Qur’an says ‘I have taken the light away from you. You are blind now. Your modesty will not come back, your immodest life will continue.’ { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} And this is not just in the world. You can continue to recite Qur’an and Hadith to them as much as you like, it will flow over them like running water. They are so drowned in their actions of immodesty that it is impossible for them to eliminate those deeds and for them to take those idols out of their homes.
It is very difficult for them to turn back. They say ‘If I turn back, what will happen to my kids, to my daughter? If I turn back to the Deen, how will I meet my relatives and my son and my daughter?’ Such a big net is thrown over that person’s life, because { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ}, Allah has stated ‘Deaf, dumb and blind, they cannot return.’ They are so immersed in their ways that it is impossible for them to turn back. { صُمُّۢ} – Allah says that they have become deaf. It doesn’t matter how much you go and speak to them, or what you recite to them. They will come to the Masjid and hear speeches and everything, but when they leave the Masjid, it is all the same - no change. Ramadhan comes, Laylat-ul-Qadr comes, but it is all just tradition and customs. ‘Oh, do Dua for me’, they say. Maulana Sahib comes, and lengthy speeches are made, and the lights are dimmed, and long Duas are made, and outside there are appeals for donations to the Masjid, which become like banks without a clue as to what is going on. Not one human being is reformed by Ramadhan, I swear. Not one person who has hypocrisy in respect of Islam changes. The Munafiq comes into Ramadhan as a Munafiq and he leaves as a Munafiq. They are Huffadh, Qaris, people who give speeches – everyone is just suspended, trapped, with no Sunnah and Shari’ah in their lives. Somebody earns Haram, another person is stuck in this trap, somebody is buying their house in a wrongful manner, somebody’s business is tainted by Haram. This is the case with all the wealth and businesses that you see in the world now, though they say ‘Oh, we are helping poor people; we are doing this and that.’
Wa’llahi, what is the position? How can you say this is Islam? Allah says { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ} – ‘You are deaf.’ In Ramadhan, they call a Qari or a learned person or this scholar or this Qari from abroad, and his beard is not even the right length! { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} They are deaf and dumb; you can recite the Qur’an for the whole month of Ramadhan and they will not change. They say ‘How can you say this? How can we leave the world, the good things? We have to live in the world – Islam is not strict. Shall we make our children lose out? We can’t commit excess upon them. If we make them pray all the time, that is excess; it is too strict.’ { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} ‘No, no, that’s enough. We have prayed Tarawih, 8 Rakahs is enough.’ This is such a fashion today, to pray 8 Rakahs for Tarawih. After 8 Rakahs, half the masjid empties. This is a sign of the Munafiqs, the hypocrites. Requests for donations is the one thing you see in Ramadhan. The whole of India and Pakistan comes here. On every road, you see them walking along with their bags, making requests for donations. What does this mean? All they do is collect donations { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ}. Deaf and dumb and blind – they do not know about Ramadhan or Hajj or anything righteous.
What a statement Allah has made: { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} They are deaf, dumb and blind, and Allah guarantees that they will not be able to return. They have drowned in their loss, and it is very difficult for them now to come back. Allahu Akbar Kabeera. This is the Qur’an, my brothers. What shall we read otherwise? Do you understand the Qur’an or not? Look at what Allah has said. We say ‘When Imam Mehdi alayhi salam comes, we will be saved.’ We think that we will assist and help? That will come afterwards. First to be dealt with will be the Munafiqs. Allah ta’ala has closed all the doors because of the game that has been played with the Deen. Allah ta’ala says ‘You have been two-faced!’ so the order is this, SubhanAllah.
I remember this point – what valuable points the Qur’an teaches us. Hadhrat Arif-bi’llah Qaadasa’llahu Sirrah, may Allah sanctify his soul, told me a statement that keeps coming back to me and vibrating between my ears. May Allah ta’ala give me the Tawfeeq to practice it. Hadhrat Dr. Arif bi’llah Abdul Hayy rahmatullah alayhi said to me ‘Look, Farooqui Sahib’ – these were his words – ‘Just remember one thing from me: if you want success, then generate Ikhlas. Without Ikhlas, you will have nothing, and it doesn’t matter how many thousand Mureeds you have, and what speeches you give and Hadith you read.’ Who is saying this? He is a great Friend of Allah, Hadhrat Dr Abdul Hayy, who spoke to me personally. Ikhlas. So if you become an ‘Alim for the sake of Allah, then I swear by Allah, there is no greater status than this. If you become an ‘Alim and a Hafidh for the sake of Allah, I swear by Allah, there is no greater status than this in the Akhirah. If you become a Qari for the sake of Allah, then there is no greater status than this in the Hereafter. Each Hafidh will forgive many other people; each Scholar, who are the deputies of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, will take various people into Paradise with them - if they have Ikhlas.
But if their function is to earn money in their role in the Masjid, and they want to use their ‘Ilm and their Qira’at to earn money, thinking day and night about money, business and shops, will this give success? Allah ta’ala says ‘I gave them light, I gave them Hifdh of the Qur’an, I made them Qaris, I allowed them to become high-level scholars. I gave them such light, but did they benefit from the light?’ What happened after that? { ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ} Allah says ‘They took the knowledge of ‘Ilm and Qira’at not for Me, so I took the light out of all of these things due to their wish to make shops and business and money and bank balances and buy cars. They did such actions – don’t ask!’ Allah says ‘I took the light out of all their actions.’ So many people use the Deen for the sake of bank balances. Allah says ‘I gave them the Noor, the light’ – such a great Noor, SubhanAllah, that it made them the deputies of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam. The Alimahs and the Huffadh, if they keep on reciting, they can go higher up in the levels in Jannah. The Qari who recites in a melodious voice will keep on ascending in the ranks of Jannah. Is this not enough for us?
But again we repeat the point, that if we make our children Hafidh and Qari, and then they come home in the evening and there is a theatre and drama being played at home, that Qur’an doesn’t have any effect. That is why the Deen and the Qur’an doesn’t have an effect on Hafidh Sahib and ‘Alim Sahib, because it was not for the sake of Allah. As soon as they graduate, they start looking and thinking ‘Where am I going to get money from? How shall I earn? What are the different ways I can earn?’ They have a title as if they are going to serve the Deen, and they even say ‘We are going to serve the Deen.’ How sad! The Qur’an is saying all this, which is why I am sharing these points with you.
The Qur’an is telling us this and the points are being shared so that we can sit in front of Allah and ask for forgiveness and avoid leaving this world as Munafiqs. How will a person leave as a Munafiq? Allah says ‘I have given you Noor, the light, this high status of light through which you can see everything, and you knew and were aware of the reality of the light that Allah ta’ala had given, this light of Iman that gave you understanding of Deen, that gave you understanding of the message. Did I not give you understanding of this message?’
Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh relates that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated ‘I leave two things with you. If you hold onto these two things firmly, then this light of Iman will elevate you.’ What were the two things? The Kitabu’llah and the Sunnat-e-Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He did not stop at the Kitabu’llah, but mentioned also the Sunnat-e-Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, his Tariqa, his lifestyle, his method. Did Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam not tell us? Did you not see this clearly in the light? Did you not know this? He said “أَحْسَنُ الْكَلاَمِ كَلاَمُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنُ الْهَدْىِ هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم” - that the greatest Kitab is what? The Kitabu’llah, which we have to use to learn the Akhams of Allah. Allah’s orders come in the Qur’an, that this is the life you should live. Yes? Allah ta’ala is explaining how you should eat and sleep and drink, and this is “هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم”. To implement and define and illustrate the Qur’an, who was there? The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Tell me, is there a better way than this? Can there be a better way to goodness than this? The Qur’an has given us the Ahkams, the orders, the instructions, the path, and then the practice is shown by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Can there be a greater path than this? “أَحْسَنُ الْهَدْىِ هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم” Did you not know? Were you not aware of this light? Did you not see these things? Alah ta’ala said ‘Everything is visible!’ Allahu Akbar! Allah says you could see everything – { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬} – but you shunned that light, and Nifaq came into your heart.
So my brothers, this is the story today. This is what is going on nowadays around us, the story of life in this present time. So that couplet comes to my lips again, Allahu Akbar. ‘Our own are not happy, and others are not happy, so we could not say anything to anybody else.’ How can a person say the wrong thing in front of the Qur’an? May Allah ta’ala give me, and the whole nation of the Muslimeen, in whose hands and in whose homes and in whose hearts Allah has given us the Qur’an, may Allah ta’ala give us the light of that Qur’an. May Allah ta’ala allow us to come under the shade and education and Ta’leem of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We have two things, and life should pass on the best path, that which the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said is the best, which is his Tariqa, his lifestyle. He has said this is the best, so bring that into your lives.
May Allah ta’ala give us the Tawfeeq to follow that path and that definition.
ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ
مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتۡ مَا حَوۡلَهُ ۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ (١٧)
صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ (١٨)
And their likeness is as the one who kindles a fire; then, when it sheds its light around him, Allah takes their light away, and leaves them in darkness so they cannot see anything.
They are deaf, dumb and blind, so they are not able to return (to normality).
Surah al-Baqarah v17-18
The initial verses of the Qur’an al-Hakeem focus on one point, which is that human beings should come back to the Straight Path, which is the Straight Path of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Whoever comes off this path and deviates from this way, he is a deviated person, whatever generation he lives in. It is very essential for us to read these verses repeatedly, and to focus on them repeatedly. This is the generation of Fitan, of severe challenges, as explained in the Hadith which says that there will come a time when person will be a Mu’min in the morning, but by the evening he will be devoid of Iman; or in the evening, he will be a Mu’min, and by the morning, he will be devoid of Iman. In other words, true Iman will become like a game, and Deen will become like a drama. And in that generation, in that era, there will be a severe condition; it will be the worst of generations, close to Qiyamah. This is the generation in which Imam Mehdi and Isa alayhi salam and Dajjal will appear.
Why? Because there will a contamination and a mixture of those who have Iman with those who do not, and this will cause the people of Iman to think ‘Am I wrong? Maybe he is right.’ And this is how the waters will become muddied, and people will remain firm on their weakness and evil habits and will be open and resolute in carrying out wrong actions. Hence those with Iman will say ‘What is going on here? Am I right? How can so many people be wrong?’ This is also a very big point of logic that shaytan puts forward: ‘How can you be right on your own and everyone else be wrong? Is the whole Dunya a waste? Are they all wrong? Is it just you who is correct? You think you are the best, and that you are right and everyone else is wrong!’ This is a big attack of shaytan, a very big attack, and this will take place in that generation, in the worst of generations. That will be the generation of Fitnah, and what you will see very vividly is that people will not have understanding of Iman. They will joke with the Kalima, with the statement of faith, and people will try to implement Deen in the wrong way.
But alhamdulillah, we can see clearly, from the beginning of the Qur’an, that Allah ta’ala wants to save mankind from the severity of that generation. And Allah ta’ala has explained this very beautifully in the verse that I have recited. The example given is like that of a person who is lost in a jungle, and there is severe, intense darkness in that forest; and then suddenly a fire is kindled, by which, obviously, a person can then see his surroundings. So then the person who is lost and off-track has a very good opportunity to search for the right path, for the path that he wants to be on. The quality of fire and light – any source of light – is that it makes clear what is going on around it. The light of the fire makes the situation clear. If you go into a dark room, you will bump around, not knowing what is in front of you, but if even a small bulb is switched on, you will be able to see everything easily and will not bump into things. If there is darkness, you will bump into things; you will make mistakes. So with light, a person can clearly see the path and he won’t come off the track.
However, in the explanation that Allah ta’ala gives, even if there is fire or any source of light to make things visible, some people still don’t take benefit from this. So then Allah ta’ala says that we are wasting that light and that guidance; we are being ungrateful and disobedient. Allah ta’ala has made us understand this in a beautiful example. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given Iman to human beings, and the Kalima of Shahada is a great, Adheem statement that is a great assistance for a person in this world and the next. ‘Ash-hadu an La ilaha illa’llah, was ash-hadu anna Muhammadan Abduhu wa Rasooluh’ – this is such a great statement! La ilaha ill’llah – there is nothing greater than this. La ilah illa’llah, Muhammadur-Rasoolu’llah. SubhanAllah. All success is contained in this statement, in this declaration of faith. This is a complete statement of fact which is so weighty and valuable that it is stated in Hadith that if you put the whole universe, with the earth and the seven heavens and everything, on one scale, and just this Kalima on the other scale, this Kalima would be heavier. SubhanAllah! The Kalima will tip the scale. Understand the Hadith: if you put the whole Dunya on one side, with everyone stood on one side, mashaAllah, one person with this Kalima in his heart will be heavier. Allahu Akbar. If the whole world and everything it contains is on one side, a person with the Kalima ‘La ilaha illa’llah, Munahhandur-Rasoolu’llah’ will weigh more than the rest of the world and it contents! Its power will be greater, and nobody will be able to affect him. This is such a great, great asset, this La ilaha illa’llah. When a person recites this, the light from it goes to the Throne, and the Arsh starts to shake! My brothers, this is a massive and fantastic Kalima.
That is why this example has been given: { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬} Allah says ‘I gave you the Kalima, the belief. You didn’t know about belief, but I gave the Adhan into your ears. I gave you Iman in the womb of your mother and at the time of your birth, on the very first day!’ and then Allah ta’ala says { فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتۡ مَا حَوۡلَهُ ۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ}. ‘I have enlightened your heart with this Kalima, just like the person who was lost in the jungle until he got the light and found the path. Your Qulub were so elevated and high due to this Iman. I gave you the weight and the power and the energy with this Kalima, more than anything else in the world. The whole world started to recognize you – who is this man? Who is this woman? Who are they? What are they doing?’ Why? Because though we cannot see, there is so much Noor in this Kalima, so much light, intensity and radiance.
Hadhrat Abrar bin Aazim narrates that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated that when a person with Iman goes into the grave, then he will be asked to testify, to confirm and to repeat this Kalima. Whoever confirms this Kalima and testifies that ‘My Lord was Allah and my Nabi was Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam’, then success is attained – job done. End of story! SubhanAllah. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has taught us the clear facts. Allah subhana wa ta'ala has given us this Kalima and this Deen that strengthens our Iman, SubhanAllah. Whoever stays firm and steadfast on this Kalima, by affirming it and testifying and taking hold of Allah’s Ahkam, saying ‘Oh Allah, You are my Lord; whatever You say I will believe, and I won’t believe anyone else’, this is testifying and accepting the facts. What else is it? And then saying ‘Muhammadar-Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam’ – ‘Allah, You are Ma’bood, You are worthy of worship, and none other, and Your Habeeb is Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam and I will follow him in everything and I will obey him. SubhanAllah. And I will testify, and I will confirm that I will fulfil Your orders. And how will I do that? By following Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam.’
The person who is firm and steadfast on this practice – now here, a big direction is given, because standing firm on the Path in the Dunya is the most successful action; to stand firm, to be steadfast on the Deen is the most important action. But here the Qur’an highlights those who are not steadfast – this is where we lose out. Allah ta’ala tells the human beings ‘I have given you the light, but your job, your task, was to remain steadfast. As for examples of steadfastness, Allah says ‘I will test you through shaytan, Nafs, environment, society, circumstances, ups and downs of life. Just like a ship in the ocean, sometimes it goes up with the waves and sometimes down. These ups and downs are in your life as well, oh human being. What we need to see is which human being remains steadfast.’ If there is wickedness and wrong around him, does he say ‘Oh no, I can’t do this. This is against the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, so I cannot do this action’?
This can occur in so may ways. Sometimes a Muslim is sent here or there where it will be difficult to do Amal, to practice - and it is Allah ta’ala who sends a person. Allah ta’ala wants to see whether you will continue to practice. And those who remain steadfast, Allah says ‘Who will remain steadfast with Iman, and will reject those things that take him away from the Deen, and reject the wrong things and remain steadfast and firm?’ Such a one will say to himself, ‘Just reject this life for a few days, because the real life that we will attain is in the Hereafter.’ So my brothers, he is the one who has testified and affirmed the statement of faith. Only that person will be able to say ‘I bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah, and that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam is His Prophet.’ That person has embraced this Kalima and has embraced the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam in his life. It doesn’t matter what circumstances arise in his life, he does not shake or fall. If a person is steadfast like this and remains firm-footed, after he is lowered into the grave, the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said, SubhanAllah, that a Muslim, when he passes away, will be asked these things, and if he was steadfast in the world, then he will also be steadfast in the grave. But the person who was not steadfast in the world, then he will not be able to answer the questions that are put forward to him in the grave. He will not be able to show his strength.
So how will a person give the answers in the grave? The Qur’an says, SubhanAllah { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا }. This is the example, where Allah ta’ala says ‘I gave you Iman, a light; and it was such a light that you could see everything!’ And even then, that person who saw the light of the fire did not accept the guidance. He wasted that light. He wasted that radiance. So Allah says ‘Oh Insan, you are wasting the life I have given you as well! Clearly, I gave you the light of the Deen.’ What light did Allah ta’ala give to us? SubhanAllah. Hadhrat Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam, Allah’s Rasool, His Nabi’s light is what tells us what the Kalima is. And all of Allah ta’ala’s Ahkams and orders came to us via the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Say SubhanAllah! This light of Iman tells us this; this Hadith tells us this. This is the light that Allah ta’ala has put into us, the light of Iman.
{ مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬} Allah is saying ‘This Iman is the light that I put into your heart.’ And where is this light is guiding you to? To the right path { ٱهۡدِنَا ٱلصِّرَٲطَ ٱلۡمُسۡتَقِيمَ}, to the Deen of Nabi al-Kareem sallallahu alayhi wasallam, who is the Prophet of Allah. All of Allah’s laws and principles and Ahkam came to us via the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He is our guide; he is our Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam. So we can only obey Allah ta’ala correctly when we follow and obey the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and put his lifestyle and example in front of us. He brought us education. He is the guidance for us in the world. If we don’t put his example in front of us, then how will we obey him and how will we follow him? We cannot follow Allah and obey Allah without knowing the details. So Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam brought the Deen and gave us our education. How can we leave him, and leave his Tariqa, and instead of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, replace his Deen with something else? And then we say we are strong Muslims! Imagine this. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam brought Ta’leem, education, ‘Ilm, so how can we then obey the Ghair, the strange way of life, in opposition to the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, whose teaching is completely opposite to that? So if we don’t obey, him, if we don’t imitate him or have his example in our lives, then we cannot succeed.
The person who takes the guidance of the Holy Prophet, the final Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, who has Yaqeen that he is the final and greatest Prophet and his way is the best, this is the proof of sincerity and honesty in the way of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. And that person will never have any difficulty in this worldly life because he has the solution. Why? Because the education of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam was complete. There is nothing in the world, no action in our lives, about which we cannot take guidance from the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. This is the path of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam, the Imam of the Ambiya sallallahu alayhi wasallam, so if he is telling us to eat like this, how can we eat in another way? If he is the head of the Prophets, Imam-ul-Ambiya, the Beloved of Allah the Lord of the Universe, and he teaches us how to sleep, then how can we sleep another way? If the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam said that we should trade like this, buy and sell like this, then how can another way be better?
This is our test of life: to stay on the path and to remain steadfast. But shaytan will come with his way, his advice, his methodology, and will say ‘Leave the Deen.’ Those people who listen to him are leaving the light of Islam, the light of the Sunnah, and are going in the other direction. Allah says that they are wasting their lives, and so Allah says ‘I will remove that light from them.’ Which light? The light of the Kalima and Iman. Allah says that it is lost from their hearts and then it is replaced by Nifaq, hypocrisy.
So the Qur’an is telling us that a Munafiq, a hypocrite, is that individual who leaves and shuns the teachings of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam and follows the path and orders of shaytan. He believes that what shaytan says is correct – when you go out, do what you want. Immodesty – do what you want. No shame – do what you want. If he sits at home and send a woman out to work, they say that’s fine - in other words, doing the opposite of what Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam taught us. Everything is opposite. Nothing in our lives is such that we have the passion for the principles of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam.
The Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam is asking, SubhanAllah, how will a person recite La ilah illa’llah in his grave, and how will he testify and bear witness that Allah is his Lord and that he worshipped none but Allah? How will he affirm that in the grave? And how will he confirm that Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam was his Rasool? How can he do that if he lived a life that was opposite to his life? He can only confirm this if he lived in this world properly and steadfastly. Then he will be able to confirm the truth. But it will be impossible for the one who was a coward, illiterate and Jaahil, who in a second or a minute, sold his Iman. He moved from one country to another, and whilst on the plane, sold his Deen and changed his life. How many people have sold their Deen today, my brothers? This is what the Qur’an is telling us clearly, but we won’t accept.
I will present to you a statement of Hadhrat Ali karama’llahu wajh, who said that the heart of a Munafiq is harder than rock. You can tell him hundreds and thousands of verses from Qur’an and Hadith to no avail. It is our duty to share and explain the Deen. It may be that they do not accept it. Only that person upon whom is Allah ta’ala’s blessings will accept the Deen and Qur’an. Hadhrat Ali karama’llahu wajh, the door of knowledge, said that the heart of a Munafiq is harder than rocks and stones. Even rocks crumble and break down into dust, but a Munafiq’s heart will never absorb the Deen. Why? The Qur’an has told us. He will never accept Haq, the truth.
What has the light of Iman not demonstrated? Every action of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has become apparent. We can find out how to do Tawaf, how to go to the blessed Rawdha Mubarak, the blessed grave of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, how to go to Arafat, how to throw the stones, how to do Saa’ee, how to go to Muzdalifah, how to wear Ihram, how to do Talbiyyah. He knows how to sacrifice an animal when on Hajj. We know this because the light of Iman is in our hearts. If we know and are aware, but then we reject openly, this is Nifaq. If a person knows that an action is wrong but still does it, saying ‘What can we do? We have to live in the Dunya, we need success. We have to succeed, don’t we? We need to go that way. We can’t follow the path. How can we leave the women at home? It’s too hard. Everything goes!’ La Hawla wa la Quwwata illa bi’llah.
We say that our children are not sensible. How can our sons and daughters be sensible? How? Think about it. If there is so much Nifaq inside us, and if we give our children Qur’ans, and send them to Madrasas to become ‘Alims and ‘Alimahs, while there are so many non-Islamic items in our homes, so that when they come home they sit and watch films and dramas, then there are two opposite ideologies in their lives. They will say, ‘They tell us to read Qur’an, while they are watching films and dramas. We get Bukhari and Burkhas, while they go the cinema and watch films and dramas, and they have alcohol in the fridge!’ I am telling you the truth. The children speak among themselves and say ‘What is this two-faced condition of Mum and Dad?’ They realise that their parents are two-faced, because they preach on thing and practice another. I swear by Allah that it cannot be that children will not be affected by sitting them in front of the Qur’an and putting Sahih al-Bukhari in their hand. Will it not affect them? If they do not affect us, these are punishments. Why do they not affect us? Because the parents have Nifaq; they are giving the wrong lesson to the children. They tell the children to read Bukhari, but it doesn’t have an effect, because the parents say ‘Just read Bukhari, and then you can do what you want in the world. We will give you a car, and you can have boyfriends or girlfriends, no difference. It’s ok, you can do what you want. You are free, it’s ok. You have studied, you have learned the Qur’an, and have read all the verses, so we have fulfilled that tradition and we have shown people what you have become.’
Allah is asking ‘Is this your task in life?’ { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا} Allah says ‘I gave you light when you were in the darkness of the jungle. I gave you radiation, light, illumination. And you put Bukhari in the hands of your children and taught them Hifdh of the Qur’an.’ If Bukhari and Hifdh and Hadith studies do not rub off onto a child, then this is a punishment that Allah ta’ala has given. The mother and father will get a big punishment in the Hereafter for having been two-faced. They were studying Sahih al-Bukhari, and when they got home, there was something else going on there. Theatre and films at midnight. ‘Where’s Mum? Where’s Dad?’ they ask, and they find out that they’ve gone to watch a film or gone to this or that location. So the parents tell them to go to their classes, and then we see around us the stories of what happens thereafter. It is not just here; this happens in Pakistan and in all the so-called Islamic countries. The Qur’an tells us that we will see this. Today, the Qur’an is not telling us about Iman or Salah or worship, rather it is telling us about the real issue, about that group that has been let loose today and has proliferated. It is telling us about this group for whom there are big punishments. Corona is just a minor shake, a minor jolt; this is nothing at all. Allah says ‘You have been locked in your homes, you can’t shake hands, relatives can’t meet each other, shops and businesses are closed, but the story of life is continuing.’ This is nothing. May Allah forgive, may Allah forgive, may Allah forgive!
So this is Nifaq, hypocrisy. This is not from me – the Qur’an is explaining this to us. Why does Sahih al-Bukhari not have an effect on us? Why does the Qur’an not have an effect on us? How can the effect of the Qur’an take place in the house of a Munafiq? How can education of the Deen take place? Allah says in many places in the Qur’an that people are made wretched if their Niyyah is not correct, and here this is Amalan, this is a practical demonstration. You are practicing in opposition to what you are reciting. We think that we are running the show in the world. Do we think that our children are foolish or stupid? Don’t they have understanding and awareness and ‘Aql? They are saying ‘What’s going on here? Which Deen should we follow? Maybe this is the Deen, that we should study Bukhari, memorise the Qur’an, and also commit sins and do evil acts. Maybe those who do this are on the right path. We can do this and that; we can commit Haram actions and do worship as well. We can do right and wrong as well.’
Today, if we look around us, this is the Deen that people around us are practicing. Sahih al-Bukhari is learned, the Dars are given, and when the girl is in her final year and will be graduating, they say ‘When you graduate as an ‘Alimah, you can go and get a job in Sainsbury’s. Just put a strip of cloth on your head when you go and show the people that you are covering your head. That’s it, nothing more than that.’ La Hawla wa Quwwata illa bi’llah – amazing! What sort of Dar-ul-Uloom learning is that? What is the condition of people who can be forced to stay 2 or 3 metres apart in the Masjid? If Allah does not want the masjids to be filled, then how can they be filled? Why are there no people in the Masjids, in the Bait-u’llah, the Ka’abah, and all these places? It is not human beings who populate these places. It is due to the Noor of Iman that they are populated. If there is no Noor of Iman in the hearts of the people, then you can cry as much as you like at the walls of the Ka’abah. You are crying now, but where was your crying then? You would see people standing there, shrieking and crying as they stood there, but for what? What is this drama? Allah ta’ala says that this is the Munafiqeen. SubhanAllah, read the next verses – this is not me speaking, it is the Qur’an.
My brothers, if we recognize this bacteria within us, then leave this two-faced life today. If you want to be saved, then with honesty take out all the things that Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam has defined as Haram from your lives. Otherwise, I swear by Allah – the Qur’an is testifying to this – there will be a bad consequence for you in the grave. Allah says that you will not be able to answer in the grave when the questions are put forward to you, because you were not steadfast in the world. Allah says that if a person lives the right path in this life, properly, then he will be able to be steadfast and answer the questions in the grave. I swear by Allah, no Ibadah will give us forgiveness. We think that we can do a Khatam or recite some verses on the grave, no! The fire will rage through the grave. The punishment for the Munafiq is worse than that of a person who has no faith. Allah says ‘I will punish the Munafiq more severely.’ You left behind such spoiled ‘Alims and ‘Alimahs. You made them Munafiqs, people of no faith, and you taught them that alongside Sahih al-Bukhari, you can also adopt the way of sin and evil as well. So the children have done this today. What else will they do apart from what their parents demonstrate? The children will do this. If they are taught wrong, they go towards wrong. Otherwise, a child could never be on the wrong path. How could the Qur’an not take effect on a child? But when the Munafiq picks the Qur’an up, wrongfulness comes into him. The Qur’an says that.
There are many people who have done Hifdh of the Qur’an who have no Iman. A non-Muslim came to me, an Englishman, and he had read and memorized many verses of the Qur’an. Does that mean that the Qur’an will affect that person positively? No, it doesn’t happen like that. So if you memorise the Qur’an and the praise comes, but in reality you are two-faced, then Allah says what punishment will be given?
{ مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬ا فَلَمَّآ أَضَآءَتۡ مَا حَوۡلَهُ ۥ ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ}
Allah ta’ala says ‘I then leave them in a darkness such that they cannot see anything.’ They cannot tell what is Haram, and they will do sins in front of women, and there will be evil and dirty films in the home. { لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ} Allah says that they become blind. When the father sees his daughter’s immodesty and nakedness, he says ‘Oh it’s ok; there’s nothing wrong with it.’ No shame is left; it is replaced by immodesty. Allah says { ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ}. Allahu Akbar! Allah says that they have become blind. Allah takes away the light that was around them and leaves them in darkness in which they cannot see. Allah tells us this in the Qur’an. ‘I gave them Bait-u’llah, and they could see everything with the light of Iman, but then they came towards sin and did Haram and immodest actions, despite their Bukhari and their knowledge of Qur’an.’
We say everything is allowed today. There is complete freedom. Young men and women gather together and praise each other and say that they are people on the right path. Allah says { ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ} Allah takes away the light, so they say ‘Oh no, it doesn’t matter if my wife goes here or there to this man or that man. This is fine.’ They accept it! There are many examples of this sort in this generation. They do not even have the Hayya and the shame that they mind going to a Ghair-mehram person, because the Noor has come out of their hearts. This is Nifaq, hypocrisy. If this your condition, if this is what you see in your lives, then Allah says, the Qur’an says ‘I have taken the light away from you. You are blind now. Your modesty will not come back, your immodest life will continue.’ { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} And this is not just in the world. You can continue to recite Qur’an and Hadith to them as much as you like, it will flow over them like running water. They are so drowned in their actions of immodesty that it is impossible for them to eliminate those deeds and for them to take those idols out of their homes.
It is very difficult for them to turn back. They say ‘If I turn back, what will happen to my kids, to my daughter? If I turn back to the Deen, how will I meet my relatives and my son and my daughter?’ Such a big net is thrown over that person’s life, because { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ}, Allah has stated ‘Deaf, dumb and blind, they cannot return.’ They are so immersed in their ways that it is impossible for them to turn back. { صُمُّۢ} – Allah says that they have become deaf. It doesn’t matter how much you go and speak to them, or what you recite to them. They will come to the Masjid and hear speeches and everything, but when they leave the Masjid, it is all the same - no change. Ramadhan comes, Laylat-ul-Qadr comes, but it is all just tradition and customs. ‘Oh, do Dua for me’, they say. Maulana Sahib comes, and lengthy speeches are made, and the lights are dimmed, and long Duas are made, and outside there are appeals for donations to the Masjid, which become like banks without a clue as to what is going on. Not one human being is reformed by Ramadhan, I swear. Not one person who has hypocrisy in respect of Islam changes. The Munafiq comes into Ramadhan as a Munafiq and he leaves as a Munafiq. They are Huffadh, Qaris, people who give speeches – everyone is just suspended, trapped, with no Sunnah and Shari’ah in their lives. Somebody earns Haram, another person is stuck in this trap, somebody is buying their house in a wrongful manner, somebody’s business is tainted by Haram. This is the case with all the wealth and businesses that you see in the world now, though they say ‘Oh, we are helping poor people; we are doing this and that.’
Wa’llahi, what is the position? How can you say this is Islam? Allah says { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ} – ‘You are deaf.’ In Ramadhan, they call a Qari or a learned person or this scholar or this Qari from abroad, and his beard is not even the right length! { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} They are deaf and dumb; you can recite the Qur’an for the whole month of Ramadhan and they will not change. They say ‘How can you say this? How can we leave the world, the good things? We have to live in the world – Islam is not strict. Shall we make our children lose out? We can’t commit excess upon them. If we make them pray all the time, that is excess; it is too strict.’ { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} ‘No, no, that’s enough. We have prayed Tarawih, 8 Rakahs is enough.’ This is such a fashion today, to pray 8 Rakahs for Tarawih. After 8 Rakahs, half the masjid empties. This is a sign of the Munafiqs, the hypocrites. Requests for donations is the one thing you see in Ramadhan. The whole of India and Pakistan comes here. On every road, you see them walking along with their bags, making requests for donations. What does this mean? All they do is collect donations { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ}. Deaf and dumb and blind – they do not know about Ramadhan or Hajj or anything righteous.
What a statement Allah has made: { صُمُّۢ بُكۡمٌ عُمۡىٌ۬ فَهُمۡ لَا يَرۡجِعُونَ} They are deaf, dumb and blind, and Allah guarantees that they will not be able to return. They have drowned in their loss, and it is very difficult for them now to come back. Allahu Akbar Kabeera. This is the Qur’an, my brothers. What shall we read otherwise? Do you understand the Qur’an or not? Look at what Allah has said. We say ‘When Imam Mehdi alayhi salam comes, we will be saved.’ We think that we will assist and help? That will come afterwards. First to be dealt with will be the Munafiqs. Allah ta’ala has closed all the doors because of the game that has been played with the Deen. Allah ta’ala says ‘You have been two-faced!’ so the order is this, SubhanAllah.
I remember this point – what valuable points the Qur’an teaches us. Hadhrat Arif-bi’llah Qaadasa’llahu Sirrah, may Allah sanctify his soul, told me a statement that keeps coming back to me and vibrating between my ears. May Allah ta’ala give me the Tawfeeq to practice it. Hadhrat Dr. Arif bi’llah Abdul Hayy rahmatullah alayhi said to me ‘Look, Farooqui Sahib’ – these were his words – ‘Just remember one thing from me: if you want success, then generate Ikhlas. Without Ikhlas, you will have nothing, and it doesn’t matter how many thousand Mureeds you have, and what speeches you give and Hadith you read.’ Who is saying this? He is a great Friend of Allah, Hadhrat Dr Abdul Hayy, who spoke to me personally. Ikhlas. So if you become an ‘Alim for the sake of Allah, then I swear by Allah, there is no greater status than this. If you become an ‘Alim and a Hafidh for the sake of Allah, I swear by Allah, there is no greater status than this in the Akhirah. If you become a Qari for the sake of Allah, then there is no greater status than this in the Hereafter. Each Hafidh will forgive many other people; each Scholar, who are the deputies of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam, will take various people into Paradise with them - if they have Ikhlas.
But if their function is to earn money in their role in the Masjid, and they want to use their ‘Ilm and their Qira’at to earn money, thinking day and night about money, business and shops, will this give success? Allah ta’ala says ‘I gave them light, I gave them Hifdh of the Qur’an, I made them Qaris, I allowed them to become high-level scholars. I gave them such light, but did they benefit from the light?’ What happened after that? { ذَهَبَ ٱللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمۡ وَتَرَكَهُمۡ فِى ظُلُمَـٰتٍ۬ لَّا يُبۡصِرُونَ} Allah says ‘They took the knowledge of ‘Ilm and Qira’at not for Me, so I took the light out of all of these things due to their wish to make shops and business and money and bank balances and buy cars. They did such actions – don’t ask!’ Allah says ‘I took the light out of all their actions.’ So many people use the Deen for the sake of bank balances. Allah says ‘I gave them the Noor, the light’ – such a great Noor, SubhanAllah, that it made them the deputies of the Rasool sallallahu alayhi wasallam. The Alimahs and the Huffadh, if they keep on reciting, they can go higher up in the levels in Jannah. The Qari who recites in a melodious voice will keep on ascending in the ranks of Jannah. Is this not enough for us?
But again we repeat the point, that if we make our children Hafidh and Qari, and then they come home in the evening and there is a theatre and drama being played at home, that Qur’an doesn’t have any effect. That is why the Deen and the Qur’an doesn’t have an effect on Hafidh Sahib and ‘Alim Sahib, because it was not for the sake of Allah. As soon as they graduate, they start looking and thinking ‘Where am I going to get money from? How shall I earn? What are the different ways I can earn?’ They have a title as if they are going to serve the Deen, and they even say ‘We are going to serve the Deen.’ How sad! The Qur’an is saying all this, which is why I am sharing these points with you.
The Qur’an is telling us this and the points are being shared so that we can sit in front of Allah and ask for forgiveness and avoid leaving this world as Munafiqs. How will a person leave as a Munafiq? Allah says ‘I have given you Noor, the light, this high status of light through which you can see everything, and you knew and were aware of the reality of the light that Allah ta’ala had given, this light of Iman that gave you understanding of Deen, that gave you understanding of the message. Did I not give you understanding of this message?’
Hadhrat Anas radhiAllahu anh relates that Allah’s Nabi sallallahu alayhi wasallam stated ‘I leave two things with you. If you hold onto these two things firmly, then this light of Iman will elevate you.’ What were the two things? The Kitabu’llah and the Sunnat-e-Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam. He did not stop at the Kitabu’llah, but mentioned also the Sunnat-e-Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam, his Tariqa, his lifestyle, his method. Did Rasoolullah sallallahu alayhi wasallam not tell us? Did you not see this clearly in the light? Did you not know this? He said “أَحْسَنُ الْكَلاَمِ كَلاَمُ اللَّهِ وَأَحْسَنُ الْهَدْىِ هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم” - that the greatest Kitab is what? The Kitabu’llah, which we have to use to learn the Akhams of Allah. Allah’s orders come in the Qur’an, that this is the life you should live. Yes? Allah ta’ala is explaining how you should eat and sleep and drink, and this is “هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم”. To implement and define and illustrate the Qur’an, who was there? The Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Tell me, is there a better way than this? Can there be a better way to goodness than this? The Qur’an has given us the Ahkams, the orders, the instructions, the path, and then the practice is shown by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. Can there be a greater path than this? “أَحْسَنُ الْهَدْىِ هَدْىُ مُحَمَّدٍ صلى الله عليه وسلم” Did you not know? Were you not aware of this light? Did you not see these things? Alah ta’ala said ‘Everything is visible!’ Allahu Akbar! Allah says you could see everything – { مَثَلُهُمۡ كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِى ٱسۡتَوۡقَدَ نَارً۬} – but you shunned that light, and Nifaq came into your heart.
So my brothers, this is the story today. This is what is going on nowadays around us, the story of life in this present time. So that couplet comes to my lips again, Allahu Akbar. ‘Our own are not happy, and others are not happy, so we could not say anything to anybody else.’ How can a person say the wrong thing in front of the Qur’an? May Allah ta’ala give me, and the whole nation of the Muslimeen, in whose hands and in whose homes and in whose hearts Allah has given us the Qur’an, may Allah ta’ala give us the light of that Qur’an. May Allah ta’ala allow us to come under the shade and education and Ta’leem of the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam. We have two things, and life should pass on the best path, that which the Holy Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam has said is the best, which is his Tariqa, his lifestyle. He has said this is the best, so bring that into your lives.
May Allah ta’ala give us the Tawfeeq to follow that path and that definition.
ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَـٰلَمِينَ