Quran Study 26 Nov 1982 By Dr Rashad Khalifa
Transcript
0:00 This is a sign from Quran.
0:01 I am using a map. This is the way in which God has made it and put a sign in it.
0:08 It is the proof from the Quran that is for this place.
0:16 What if there is an idol inside the mosque?
0:19 What does that mean?
0:24 What does that mean?
0:30 It's a little weird because I don't know anybody who is an Ahmadi.
0:33 There's no mosque.
0:35 Yeah, not many other people. There's no mosque.
0:38 That's what I'm saying.
0:39 Actually, it's not a mosque.
0:42 It's not a mosque. Why is there no mosque?
0:44 It's like saying there are only churches and synagogues.
0:50 There are only churches and synagogues.
0:56 You can count it as one of them.
1:01 How did you get there?
1:07 You have to find out.
1:34 If I am in Tempe, or Phoenix, or New York,
1:38 and I want to pray in the middle of the afternoon, I'll walk in any of these mosques and I'll go make my wudu and pray.
1:47 Just like at work, I'll go make my wudu and find a place to go pray.
2:01 Well, here we have a choice. A mosque where all they love is the minaret, for honoring people.
2:10 So, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I would run for my life. I would run for my life.
2:15 But in another place, there isn't that choice.
2:17 Right? Then it's just a matter of convenience. I pray where I am.
2:23 This one is here, so I can pray in it.
2:31 When we would go to the Ahmadiyya mosque here in Tucson, we would go to the idol of Imam Ahmad.
2:37 Let's move it up.
2:46 It is open 24 hours a day, so you wouldn't go there, you wouldn't go there, you wouldn't go there.
2:56 It's a real small place.
2:58 It looks like something of a miniature dome.
3:28 Yes, you say the Name.
3:33 See, what I'm saying is, maybe, like, you're in Los Angeles, and there is the Islamic Center of Southern California.
3:44 Well, of course, have you seen it? But maybe there are people who go there, who talk only about Quran.
3:49 But I went one time, and they just cut off the microphone, yeah, but the people got the
3:59 message, or some of the people did, yeah.
4:02 There are also some people who don't know how to do it, but they think they know how to do it.
4:07 I'm sorry if you need to think that, but I know how to do it.
4:10 Yeah.
4:12 It takes time, but we have a bunch of people that can do it.
4:15 So, it's very nice to know how to do it.
4:20 Yeah, yeah, I get it when I put the light on.
4:23 When I put the light on, there are lots of people in the kitchen who are like,
4:27 Yeah, we got the lesson.
4:32 There were three people who became very emotional.
4:37 They were yelling at me.
4:39 I'm very thankful for that.
4:44 Remember that?
4:46 I don't think anyone would forget.
4:54 And then I had, actually, a long discussion after that about the very thing that the brother was talking about.
5:00 When I tell them that I am a Muslim, I tell them that Muhammad is a Muslim too.
5:06 If I go to pray, I tell them that I am a Muslim. They say, no, you are not. Why?
5:19 I was going on with the names of Muhammad, that they give to Muhammad, they give him actual names of God, exclusive names of God, they give to Muhammad, like Al-Muhaymin, one of Muhammad's names.
5:32 This means Muhammad is the supreme being.
5:38 Taha is in a Surah, you know, you heard it today.
5:41 That's one of his names that are written in mosques on the wall.
5:45 A servant, a healer.
5:48 Yes, Muhammad, a servant.
5:50 I have a list here.
5:54 202 names.
5:55 God has 99 names.
5:59 Muhammad has 202.
6:02 How can they believe that?
6:08 Unbelievable, isn't it? I don't blame you if you don't believe me, but I have the list for you.
6:12 I don't know if you believe me, but I have the list for you.
6:21 .
6:31 It means Furqan, in fact. Or "the statute." It means the criterion, in fact.
6:36 When a person has faith, it is a law from God that enables him to distinguish right from wrong.
6:45 Well, lots more people are hearing that, that stuff that you say, from all the communication and stuff.
6:52 You say there's a lot of positive response from all of them.
6:58 So, you've been saying that you're getting a lot of positive response from all over the world.
7:04 Yes.
7:04 So, have there been any correspondence with people trying to do these things,
7:09 and they're mocked where they are?
7:12 The last one that was sent to me, I think, from Singapore.
7:17 Yeah.
7:17 This fellow who lost his friends.
7:20 Did you read it?
7:21 No.
7:23 You read it, don't you?
7:25 Some people read it.
7:27 They don't know about it.
7:29 That person, he said, chose
7:32 God.
7:34 And when he came to that point,
7:36 he gave up his friends and said,
7:38 "I need Your contentment."
7:41 See, when you see the truth,
7:43 there is nothing anybody can do.
7:45 It doesn't matter what they do.
7:47 You're willing to lose your neck
7:48 or die.
7:52 As for his friends, well, it's too bad.
7:55 You don't really care...
7:57 You have no choice anymore. Once you see the truth, you have no choice.
8:01 And you really don't care about pleasing people after a while, you know.
8:05 That's right, exactly. In fact, we see them as unfortunate,
8:09 these kinds of people.
8:14 That's why there's so much in the Quran about,
8:17 about, "Oh, I wish I didn't take this friend as a friend.
8:20 He took me away from the message after it came to me."
8:23 I've seen some people that...
8:24 and God says that many people are going to hell
8:27 because of friendship with some other people.
8:29 Well, that's because they put the friendship,
8:31 they'd rather keep the friendship than keep their belief.
8:34 Right.
8:34 We had a friend of ours, and he said,
8:36 "I lost a friend, but I'm happy I saved my belief."
8:38 You see that?
8:40 I see some people with...
8:42 I don't know, I suppose it's just a matter of time.
8:44 Sometimes when we don't see people respond,
8:48 I mean, you still have to be careful, because it does take time, because I see people that,
8:54 you know, they seem to be believing this, but they won't accept it. I mean, even as Muslims,
8:59 you know, as people have grown up with it, that they've been so turned off by, you know,
9:06 they actually, you know, don't accept all this stuff that we're against,
9:11 that they've actually kind of rejected the Quran, because they're still convinced that that
9:16 stuff is actually being taught there because it's been interpreted so, they'll read those verses
9:20 and they've been taught that that's what it means, so they reject it and reject it all
9:23 because it's a slow, hopeful process, because I think they're really good people there that
9:29 you know, in time, that they will. But I mean, I can see them saying, "I can't accept this," and they're
9:35 interpreting it in such a totally opposite way, because they can't even see the correct
9:39 interpretation. That means they're saying that these verses are non-existent. They're just
9:43 corrupt beliefs. So it's a confusing thing, I feel that I don't
9:47 know how to explain it.
9:48 I was talking to an Iranian who was talking about how
9:51 people in his country were prevented from reading the Quran,
9:53 which is put in the background. And I was trying to explain
9:57 there's this big growth around the Quran that has to be cut away
10:01 before the pure copy of the Quran can be used.
10:09 They put it up on the shelf and they don't read it anymore; they have to wash before touching it.
10:14 "You can't even translate the Quran into any other language."
10:18 They want to keep the Quran away from people.
10:24 "You can't just put it so holy that you can't translate it, you can't touch it, you can't look at it, you can't read it. We have other things."
10:30 "We have other things that were related to us from the past."
10:32 Right.
10:35 I mean, the fact that it's actually happened, you know,
10:38 it's true for people who have not had much education in the Middle East in their lives.
10:42 And the poor people in Morocco are just illiterate.
10:45 And they have their hopes and their cares and all sorts of things in their mind,
10:48 and also the sayings of the king, the big sayings of the king, like that.
10:52 The Dahir.
10:55 In other words,
10:56 the royal decree.
10:58 Dahir.
10:58 The name for a law made by the king.
11:03 This is put on the same level as the Hadith.
11:06 Or more importantly.
11:08 I mean, they put it, you know,
11:09 symbolically on the same level as the Hadith.
11:11 and sanctified by the Quran.
11:14 The king's picture is with words from the Quran
11:16 and his words are
11:18 therefore the word of God,
11:20 you know, indirectly, even when they mention the saints,
11:24 I thought that was the list of their iniquity.
11:26 We have the right, now.
11:30 But the Muslims, you know,
11:32 the head of the Islamic Da'wah Council in India is a,
11:36 is a guy like us.
11:38 Exactly.
11:40 They haven't found their guidance yet.
11:42 They don't have the proof.
11:45 Exactly like the Quran alone.
11:48 The head of the Islamic Da'wah Council in India, his name is Waheeduddin Khan.
11:56 What's his name?
12:00 Is he an Arab or Indian?
12:03 He's Indian.
12:04 He writes in English.
12:21 Okay, we're very late, so it was a very interesting discussion, so let's close it, go home, take
12:26 a good sleep, come back at six o'clock for Salat prayers.
12:32 Do you want a cake?
12:33 Oh, good, I'll have a piece. My soul is pleased.
12:35 Rukhansa Khan.
12:37 Rukhansa.
12:38 I have a question.
12:40 There is a verse, 2:133.
12:46 That's right.
12:47 And it says,
12:50 Baqarah, Baqarah, Baqarah.
12:52 It says, continue to worship your one God,
12:55 the God of your father Abraham,
12:58 the God of your father Abraham,
13:01 And, these are the fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac, the fathers.
13:11 This was to Jacob's sons, his children. To Jacob's children. The one talking is Jacob.
13:17 Right.
13:17 He's the God of your fathers.
13:20 Your fathers are Abraham, Ishmael, and Isaac.
13:23 Okay. Isaac was the great...
13:26 Isaac was Jacob's father.
13:27 Alright. Do you get it?
13:30 Yes.
13:31 And there are other verses, the hundred and thirty-fourth and the hundred and forty-first,
13:35 the identical verse.
13:37 Yes, yes.
13:38 Right?
13:39 Why is it repeated?
13:42 The Quran does this quite often.
13:45 Just to, for emphasis.
13:49 Yes.
13:53 Okay. Al-Fatiha.
14:22 Yes, although it may of course
14:24 ultimately be quite different from one country to another, depending on the dissatisfactions.
14:29 I think it has to do with the world that we live in, which is a world of revolutionaries.
14:33 When you're in a car, or a mountain, or whatever you want to call it. Now,
14:39 when you want to go to the Ka'bah, actually this is, this is a fact, the hills in Mecca,
14:45 where you have to drive around to go to the Ka'bah. Now, the shortest distance to the Ka'bah would be to
14:53 go this way. Even though the Ka'bah is dead straight, if you go up the hill or up the
14:57 mountain and then down, you'll go to the Ka'bah in a straight line. But you don't do that
15:02 when you go to the Ka'bah, you go like this. Therefore, the shortest distance, the right
15:08 Qibla according to them would be this way, even though the Ka'bah is here, because the
15:12 shortest distance is around the mountain or the hill. And the earth is the same way. And
15:20 between us and Mecca is part of the earth, part of the globe.
15:25 So it's like a hill between you and Mecca, and even though, if you want to go to the Ka'bah,
15:33 while you walk in this direction, you will still face this direction,
15:37 because your soul can go through the mountain, and through the wall.
15:43 Well, some of them, some of them, I cannot see with my own eyes, but if you follow, if you follow very well, you will see that there is a system.
15:58 You mean the software system?
16:01 Yes.
16:01 Did they go by the software system or how the plane goes?
16:04 Yes, but I can't follow that chart.
16:07 I told you, let's take the map and then go to it again, isn't it?
16:13 Oh, on the map?
16:14 On the map.
16:15 Right.
16:17 Let's find it out.
16:18 But they don't go by the map.
16:19 No, no, no.
16:21 Yes.
16:22 That's right.
16:23 It's a cheat.
16:24 But then the hadith says you have to take 20 minutes to the north.
16:31 Something that's 20 minutes, you have to take to the north east.
16:38 Of course, we told them they're wrong, but God doesn't want them to pray.
16:43 He said, God said, if you don't want to worship Me alone, I don't want you, you know,
16:48 praying in the right direction.
16:51 But we came to a point where the most important reason, the most important reason for praying
16:58 North-East was that the masjids in Tucson are praying East.
17:02 Yes, they're really doing that, kind of going over there.
17:06 I mean now, even if they find out that the right direction is, is what we're following,
17:12 they will find some other direction.
17:13 They don't want to find the right direction.
17:17 If the direction is from here, then we walk in a straight line.
17:23 But if we look in this direction, then we walk in another direction.
17:31 Did you see the point that Hamid is saying?
17:37 Let's get back together here.
17:39 Hamid was raising the point that if you walk in a straight line, you're going to hit Mecca.
17:43 But he flew.
17:44 So, if you fly from the south of Egypt, if you go on a straight line, you will hit Mecca.
17:49 Now, people who are praying right there, they're standing in circles around the Ka'bah.
17:55 and each position is part of a straight line.
18:00 Okay, now these straight lines are supposed to extend all over the Earth,
18:04 without any line cutting them.
18:08 Now what they are doing, for example, if they look in the North East,
18:12 they may, if they go that line, they may hit.
18:16 I don't think they will.
18:18 If they hit the Ka'bah somehow, that line will cut the straight lines
18:24 that are going from the Ka'bah.
18:28 Yeah, yeah.
18:29 You understand?
18:31 Then, just to be clear, about Abraham's place, or where he was,
18:35 when Abraham and Ishmael built the Ka'bah,
18:39 it says there's a focal point.
18:42 And the focal point has to be a point.
18:45 What's the point, you know?
18:46 Yeah.
18:48 But if you make a line that is curving,
18:51 what they're doing is a line that is curving.
18:54 They're not looking anywhere.
18:56 That couldn't happen.
18:57 Yeah, I mean the focal point would have to be the source of the ray, or something.
19:10 Anyway, so there is a commandment that we shall face it.
19:16 It is very important, but we cannot take it lightly.
19:23 I was in situations where people were praying this way, this and this way.
19:29 We had the Iranian group here in this mosque meeting every Saturday.
19:32 And they would face this way.
19:35 Yeah, you see.
19:38 Now they're exaggerating.
19:40 Now they're facing very north.
19:43 Those people there, I think, prayed that way.
20:04 It's interesting here, I just want to talk about...
20:08 Let's listen to God.
20:09 Let's listen to God.
20:12 I think one of the things that confuses people now
20:15 is that they are being handed all these little compasses
20:17 that have instructions on them,
20:19 which give these really weird directions.
20:22 They vary a lot around the world.
20:24 But here, we see, I mean, we see here that
20:29 he's saying, we saw you, Muhammad,
20:32 turning your face about the sky.
20:34 So he's using the sky as a guide to find his direction.
20:38 Now, it tells us over and over again in the Quran that the stars are there for guidance by
20:42 night, correct?
20:43 So, if we look for a direction on the surface of the Earth following the stars as a guide,
20:50 we have to be following those lines rotating around the Earth, so that reinforces the idea
20:56 of those lines of rotation, if it's not lines on the surface itself.
21:01 There is no way they can justify that Qibla in the North East, except by this kind of claim they have.
21:10 The only way, because Zuma and Tarek and the others were debating with that individual on an individual and group basis,
21:18 and they went together to the geography department, and all the answers came, this is the right direction.
21:24 Well, how long ago did this whole business start, I mean?
21:27 Where?
21:28 Yeah, here in Tucson, but I mean in most of the communities I've been in.
21:33 How long has this thing been going on?
21:36 No, there were no differences between East and West.
21:41 No, but it's all over the country, all over the world they're doing it.
21:47 It became general, because the MSA, as it all started here, the MSA issued directions to all the branches everywhere that they shall face North-East.
22:02 And, unfortunately, North-East in the United States. And, unfortunately, the United Muslim Group also started to follow that.
22:15 Yeah. Yeah. They make a point. It's only because of us.
22:36 It's funny, actually, but they go out of their way to point out that our prayer direction is wrong.
22:46 They don't want to pray in the right direction.
22:48 Now, I'm going to pass the globe around, bring the globe, and if I look at where Tucson, Arizona is,
22:53 and where Mecca is...
22:55 Can you be sure about these map projections?
23:00 Yeah, tell me about it.
23:02 It's natural. It's natural geometry, I'd say, anyway,
23:08 because of the position of the building.
23:28 I'm going to pass the globe around, and if you locate Tucson, Arizona on this string,
23:40 and then Mecca is right here. It's very slightly south of east to draw the line.
23:53 So I'm going to pass this around and you can look at Tucson and Mecca. It's very clear.
23:58 Now, Mecca is right here and Tucson is here. The shortest distance, if you follow this line.
24:08 It's like you put a needle right here that will come out here. And this will mark it
24:16 exactly our direction here. Because the soul goes through the earth. This material doesn't mean a thing.
24:22 Well we're not, I mean our prayers aren't going through the earth. They're just the direction of...
24:27 A point of faith. Right. Well nothing's going in the other way. That's just where we face.
24:32 We're just in performance of a commandment, that's all.
24:37 It's a commandment, and nothing's going to that location.
24:41 I don't know, maybe, maybe there is.
24:45 I thought along the same lines.
24:48 Please pass it again.
24:50 But you actually, if you concentrate enough, your soul actually will go there.
25:12 I have to tell you this, but don't let it freak you out, but it is part of the lessons that God teaches us.
25:20 At one time I was interested in the out-of-body experiences.
25:26 I think I mentioned that, and I tried it, but I don't recommend it to anybody.
25:30 But when I tried it, I went through the ceiling.
25:34 And I noticed that these walls don't mean a thing.
25:38 I could see my body down there.
25:42 And I learned from that that the soul does not stop.
26:20 The first time, I just tried to return to it.
26:24 What I experienced next was strange.
26:26 Of course, it's weird.
26:27 You feel like you're never going to get back to your body.
26:30 Pardon me, Doctor?
26:31 You feel afraid you're never going to get back to your body.
26:33 The fear is, you see, that you're not going to get back to your body.
26:37 And this reverses later on,
26:40 where you don't want to go back to your body.
26:42 Because your body is not feeling well, and you don't feel any of the pain.
26:47 It's a way to get rid of the headache or the pain.
26:52 It's only good for a while, right?
26:55 Like for two hours.
27:00 I mean, it's good for a while.
27:02 It's fine for the beginning.
27:04 The beginning is fine.
27:06 The beginning is fine.
27:08 Seriously.
27:09 I'm serious.
27:10 I'm serious.
27:11 I'm serious.
27:13 I'm serious.
27:17 I'm serious.
27:17 When you really concentrate on your prayer,
27:21 when you really concentrate on your prayer,
27:23 when you really concentrate on your prayer,
27:25 this ordinary station,
27:26 you had before prayer,
27:29 is forgotten temporarily.
27:31 And after this,
27:33 tahweel,
27:36 But after this tahweel,
27:40 I would like to raise a question.
27:45 I'm not so sure of the answer myself, but something that we can reflect on.
27:51 Let's concentrate.
27:52 Let's look at the verses now.
27:53 Yeah.
27:55 Now, it says here that, referring to the Qibla now, as the Ka'bah, it says here, 145,
28:08 However, even if you show the followers of previous scripture, every kind of miracle,
28:14 they will not follow your Qiblah.
28:15 However, before that, it says, even those who received previous scripture recognize
28:21 that this is the truth from their Lord.
28:23 Then 146, those who received previous scripture recognize this, just as they recognize their
28:30 own children.
28:31 The question I want to raise is this.
28:33 Is Allah not telling the Jews that in the final analysis, the right Qibla even for them
28:40 should be from their great-great-grandfather Abraham?
28:46 Because I note, this entered my mind recently, but I've never read any tafsir, wherein
28:53 the commentators say, this is telling the Jews now, that the Ka'bah is the first Qibla.
29:00 But the Jews are becoming also very nationalistic, they are still thinking of Al-Quds.
29:07 No, they don't have anything there now. They don't have anything.
29:09 The Qibla, I think, must be ascertained in the Sunnah of God now.
29:14 And they spread it.
29:17 Is it certain?
29:18 But they conquered the city.
29:20 So I'm just asking that question.
29:23 Is this telling the Jews that if they want to follow the real Qibla, they must move towards the Ka'bah?
29:32 Although I'm afraid now if the Jews come to believe that, they might decide to take it later.
29:37 Right.
29:38 Because we better not say it.
29:39 It becomes a holy land.
29:41 But it is the holy land for all. According to the Quran, many Jews are believers.
29:48 Many Jews are Muslims. Isn't that right?
29:51 Many.
29:51 Many.
29:52 Some Jews and Muslims.
29:53 Yes.
29:54 Some Hindus and some Buddhists.
29:55 Therefore that's also a holy land.
30:03 No, I'm not afraid.
30:05 They might invade it.
30:06 Nothing happens without the will of God.
30:12 This is the truth from your Lord.
30:14 Do not harbor any doubts.
30:15 Let's finish this subject with the knowledge that we have a commandment from God, and we
30:20 have to face the Qibla in Mecca, when we pray.
30:24 And it's a wonderful commandment because, as you see, we stand in one line,
30:29 facing the same direction. It's a very good organizational point.
30:34 You can imagine if we didn't have that, we'd be looking in a hundred different directions.
30:40 It would be very difficult.
30:49 Right. Right. Exactly. Right. That's the point.
30:54 We see that in Mecca, in the circle, you know, these people say,
31:01 I think in general that the most undisciplined people on this earth are Muslims.
31:05 But when they pray, they are the most disciplined people.
31:09 It's amazing, layer after layer, all of them, it is fantastic.
31:16 Did you see the movie?
31:18 Yeah, but I didn't know. I still don't know.
31:22 See, in the movie you see, but when you're there, you're part of the prayer, you have things to do.
31:28 You see, I had to miss a rak'ah just to see the movie.
31:31 And it's really dramatic.
31:32 You can't top it, and you'll see it's different.
31:36 You'll look, you'll look positioned.
31:41 Okay, so the only ones standing up are you,
31:44 are you two or them?
31:45 No, no, I'm standing up.
31:48 The only one.
31:49 Oh, you're not up there.
31:51 Oh, you can stand up there.
31:55 Did they call on you or anything?
31:58 They were coming to see me,
31:59 I think I'll have to do it.
32:07 Let's go to 2:148, page 16.
32:11 2:148 says, "To each is a direction.
32:14 Therefore, you shall race
32:16 towards righteous works.
32:19 Wherever you may be, God will bring you all together.
32:22 God is omnipotent."
32:24 "Wherever you may go, you shall turn your face,"
32:26 and there is a repetition, "you shall turn your face towards the Sacred Masjid.
32:32 This is the truth from your Lord. God is never unaware of anything you do."
32:38 "Wherever you may go, you shall turn your face towards the Sacred Masjid.
32:46 And wherever you may be, you shall turn your faces towards it."
32:50 So that the people will have no argument against you, except the wicked among them. Do not fear
32:56 and fear Me instead, that I may complete My blessings upon you, that you may be guided."
33:02 So you can see the repetition, indicating how important the commandment is, you see,
33:08 what is the message?
33:10 A blessing such as the sending of a messenger from among you,
33:14 to recite for you our signs, and to sanctify you,
33:18 and to teach you the scripture and wisdom, and to teach you what you never knew.
33:23 Therefore, you shall remember Me, that I may remember you, and be thankful to Me. Do not be unappreciative.
33:36 Any questions on this part? Yes.
33:39 Yes.
33:43 In the case of those, the Christians, the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Muslims and so forth.
33:52 Because 145 says that.
33:54 They will not follow your Qibla, nor should you follow their Qibla.
33:59 145 is related to that.
34:04 Yes, the direction of Mecca is for us. To each congregation is a law and a way, and we are not to follow their law.
34:24 So God says to the soul, "From Me is peace and righteousness." All of religion is peace and righteousness.
35:34 What's the time for prayer?
35:34 One minute is left. So it's about three o'clock.
35:37 Okay.
35:39 One minute for the prayer, so we can pray after we get back to our place, and finish this last part.
35:45 minute.
35:49 Okay, one minute is left.
35:52 Right, it's about six o'clock.
35:54 Okay, one minute.
35:56 Okay, so one minute is the last minute. So, do we have one minute left or are we done?
36:09 You may come to God because you want to be happy in this world and the Hereafter.
36:20 So after a year of praying five times a day, fasting the month of Ramadan, following God's
36:27 law, you still have problems.
36:31 Then you say, what is this? I came to
36:34 God because I want
36:35 to be happy. How come I have problems?
36:39 Then
36:39 you see, you're not a Muslim.
36:41 You didn't come to God. You're coming to happiness.
36:45 You must be proven
36:48 that you
36:48 know that God is the Master.
36:51 It doesn't matter what happens to you.
36:53 Happiness or misery or accidents.
36:55 You're coming to God.
36:56 What I mean is, it's a knowledge that is established in your mind, a conviction, that it doesn't matter what happens, it's not going to change.
37:05 Therefore, you must be proven, you must be shown that you have reached that conviction, and that is proven by steadfastness.
37:14 Steadfastness is very important. It may take 15 years, it may take 20 years, until you attain that steadfastness, it may take 2 months.
37:25 But the state of perfect happiness is not the object.
37:30 The object is belief in God, knowing that God is the Master.
37:35 In fact, when you say, why is this happening to me?
37:38 You're not a Muslim, you're not submissive, you're objecting.
37:42 You are objecting.
37:43 You're not a Muslim yet, and you don't deserve the perfect happiness.
37:48 Where there are no problems.
37:50 When you say, why is this happening to me?
37:52 I prayed my five prayers.
37:55 Because you haven't come to God, you have come to happiness.
37:58 This is your objective.
38:00 You want a life without any problems, so this is what you want, and this is what you're
38:07 worshipping.
38:10 Now, what are the choices?
38:13 You can be steadfast for 15 years, and then you attain the perfect conviction, the perfect
38:19 happiness that comes as a bonus, you see.
38:22 That's something on the side, not an objective.
38:26 It will come as a natural consequence, and you will be convicted that God is the only Master.
38:32 The other choice is to have, say, 15 years of misery, and then go on.
38:40 In other words, you be steadfast for 15 years and then attain perfect happiness,
38:45 or have the 15 years of misery plus eternal misery. That's the other choice.
38:52 There is no other choice.
38:57 So, steadfastness is very important.
38:59 Seek help through steadfastness.
39:01 You are steadfast. You are unshakable.
39:03 It doesn't matter what happens.
39:05 Something happens to you.
39:06 Why did this happen to you? I'm not going to pray today.
39:08 It's cutting your losses. Why do you pray?
39:13 When you are convinced, nothing is going to change that knowledge.
39:19 Okay, question's good.
39:19 Very good.
39:22 I was going to say, I was trying to think about the other thing.
39:26 I was trying to think about the other thing.
39:29 Sometimes, you know, we can talk about, I know when we disobey God,
39:32 we all act like a kid,
39:33 but I remember our first time seeing a child trying to get drunk,
39:36 I would say, I don't think there's anything tempting in that,
39:40 the first time that we did that,
39:42 you know, we all had a gift,
39:43 and we were told, you know, "Take care of that."
39:49 That's why the verses of the test came immediately after steadfastness.
39:55 Because God wants you to show the angels and to show Satan that you are convinced that He is the only Master,
40:01 and nothing is going to change that no matter what happens.
40:04 Extreme success, extreme failure, death, sickness, death of a world.
40:27 But then, it was like, I know, if I miss the Quran study, if I miss a beat, but then...
40:35 still, what I'm trying to say is, you don't want to, you don't want to, you don't want to.
40:39 I went through a 15-year test, and again, not submitting, but that same test was like a 40-year test.
40:46 So is that going to take you around the world?
40:48 You know, like if you think, "Oh wow, this happened, so then, okay, I'm in this test."
40:54 The test, in your case, was being far away without transportation. That's the test.
41:00 Now, so you have to struggle, you have to go around and find a ride and do what you can.
41:06 You have to do your best to go to the Quran study.
41:12 That's what you're supposed to do.
41:13 But then, if you can't find a ride, and there is no way you can make it,
41:18 then you satisfy the requirement, and then you submit to that.
41:22 You have to submit.
41:25 After you do what you're supposed to do, after you do your best,
41:29 and you cannot accomplish it, then you submit.
41:33 You don't object.
41:35 Some of us do a lot of this.
41:37 I get, I get students.
41:39 I always remember when I was teaching the young men and women,
41:42 the emotions involved are intense.
41:46 And I think this is the case when I talk to a student,
41:48 and I notice that there are other students who have the same feeling.
41:52 But something that kind of surprises me,
41:54 because I'm not the same kind of guy as probably other students,
41:57 is that I'm past that age, and they say,
42:00 "Well, you know, we don't have jobs, and we need more money, we need more money, we need more money."
42:08 "So a ton of money would be okay, but we don't have a lot."
42:11 We are told we should be patient, because it's good.
42:13 But sometimes it's really difficult.
42:16 It's a challenge.
42:17 You want your reward, but you didn't even work.
42:20 God is good for everything.
42:23 I even have to say that I'm happy that I've read this.
42:25 because I didn't get it before. But my faith didn't get worse because I didn't get it. My faith didn't get worse. And on the opposite, I think it's...
42:35 The teachings of the Quran, the meaning of the Quran will come to you at the right time, when you read it, at the time you need it.
42:42 It's like, you know, the Quran is never a boring book, but every time you read it, you get something new out of it.
42:48 And you say, "I've read this a million times, how come I never saw this before?"
42:52 Yes, yes. Because you were not ready for it.
42:55 But, but, you know, it's so important that I think that this is a, the real realization that needs to be achieved, I think.
43:04 The lesson that many of you would learn to see, perhaps, is how you relate it to your real life.
43:16 I think if you step back, you will see it's a good thing, that God trains in you certain qualities, some of the qualities you need.
43:31 For example, you can find yourself with a lack of wealth.
43:36 When you eat or drink, it's always sparse.
43:39 You can, you know, count the food.
43:41 And, uh, if you have, uh, a child, or if, you know, you could not have a child,
43:48 or if you're given a child, and then this child is taken from you,
43:51 then you are tried, and then you get your reward.
43:54 Or things like this, you know, and, uh...
43:58 And when you're successful, you're rewarded for it, that's all.
44:02 But the idea is, I'll give you a good example.
44:06 When you were young, you probably did this, I did this.
44:10 When you were young and not quite sure of your religion,
44:14 you know how the examination periods are really tough,
44:17 you know, they really make you pray to God.
44:19 And I noticed that I and my friends were more religious
44:22 during examinations than at other times.
44:26 You know, when you don't need God, you know, you don't pray as much, you're not as religious
44:31 or receptive.
44:32 But when you're in a squeeze, then you turn to God.
44:37 So, God says, you must be steadfast under all circumstances.
44:41 And we get an example in the Quran where people are riding a ship, and a storm comes,
44:46 and they're about to drown, and then they turn to God.
44:49 But here's what happens when they reach the shore.
44:51 As soon as they land safely, they forget God.
44:54 That's not steadfastness. Steadfastness means to think of God on the ocean, on the land, whether traveling or at home, in stormy conditions or in peaceful conditions.
45:09 Excuse me, we need to remember something that you said last week, too.
45:18 I think you need to remember
45:20 that the test is coming in difficult because you said about
45:26 you can't do this, you can't do that, so now you're thinking about
45:29 what you could use to do this test.
45:32 I think you need to remember that.
45:41 Yes. Everything you said. As long as the sun comes up and you can see it, you're still alive.
45:47 There are many things you have to think about. How much do you pay for this?
45:55 We give that great price, as we're doing by the way, and many times we waver after.
46:05 I think this thing about how easily we forget is, I think, very, very normal.
46:11 It should not be normal.
46:13 Like, this is what happens.
46:15 Allah, I want this letter, let's say, from my mother.
46:18 And every day you're missing it, praying, "Allah, I want this letter."
46:21 And after waiting three or four weeks, the mailman comes with the letter.
46:26 And when you see it, you forget Allah. You thank the mailman, you give him a tip,
46:33 and after reading the letter, then you realize you have thanked everybody except Allah.
46:41 It's very common.
46:43 No problem.
46:44 You have to also seek help through steadfastness and Salat.
46:49 If you are steadfast and you do your Salat, you're going to receive help.
47:13 Right.
47:19 and in 2:156,
47:22 when a disaster strikes them, they say, "We belong to God, and to Him we are returning."
47:27 So ultimately, in other words, the submitters say, "What does God want with me?"
47:41 When I got in trouble in Libya, and they threw me in the dungeon, I was very upset. I was
47:49 objecting for a couple of days.
47:53 Why, why, why did this happen to me?
47:56 And then I was, I didn't read any books, nothing. I was afraid I would forget the Quran, I was reading it continuously.
48:06 And then I came to a verse that said,
48:12 I was objecting violently, then I totally submitted.
48:20 You know, this is what God wants us to do.
48:22 This is what this verse means.
48:24 When it says that we belong to God, I said,
48:26 "Well, this is what God wants to do with me.
48:28 There's nothing anybody can do."
48:31 That's why you just have to accept it.
48:33 Okay, that's when I was talking about the first song to hear.
48:38 That's when I was talking about the first song to hear.
48:40 Is that okay?
48:41 No.
48:42 Okay, that first song.
48:43 I know it's not okay,
48:44 because we should keep that second song to sing with you.
48:47 But it was okay for us, us being human, to hang our heads for a while, as long as we could get back as quickly as we possibly could.
48:53 Right.
48:53 That was the second part.
48:54 It was the Quran that reminded me.
48:56 Okay, okay.
48:57 So that's what I was coming on to.
48:58 Thank God.
48:59 But that was the toughest test that I ever had in my life.
49:03 That was really, that was the toughest test.
49:07 But the rewards were beautiful after that.
49:13 And then just two days later, I was really honored. You know, the order from the president came and they kicked the doors, they beat up the jailers, and they had me in a government limousine and brought me into the, what they call, the People's Palace, where the second man in the country was.
49:35 The bodyguard gave me a big hug and asked me what happened, and he is the one who put me in.
49:46 They pretended like they rescued me.
49:48 But God was doing the whole thing.
49:51 But only after I submitted, and I had said this, and then this verse, I identified with this verse right away,
49:58 2:156. Look at it. If a disaster strikes them—to me that was the biggest disaster ever.
50:05 Because it's a place where there are no laws, there are no courts. They don't have to put you on trial any time.
50:11 They don't have to release you. They don't have to justify or give you any reason.
50:15 You don't know what will happen to you. And on the walls of the dungeon I saw those lines marking days and weeks.
50:21 People would put a cross each week, you know, and I didn't know how long they...
50:27 Yeah, really, I thought I'd never see my children again.
50:32 And it happened before. I mean, they took Imam Musa al-Sadr of Lebanon, and he disappeared.
50:39 He never came back again.
50:41 There's lots of speculation what happened to him.
50:43 Also, I know from experience that when they do this to you, even for one hour, you become an enemy of the state.
50:51 They won't let you go out to speak of the barbaric treatment against them.
50:55 The barbaric treatment and the barbaric cruelty in the dungeon and all the horrible things that happen to human beings over there.
51:04 They won't let you go. But it was no less than a miracle.
51:10 Yet it's very easy for God to do it.
51:12 So when we look at this verse again, 2:156.
51:15 When a disaster strikes them, they say, "We belong to God, and to Him we will return."
51:22 So this is exactly what I said by instinct. Alhamdulillah, all I said was, when God wants to do for me,
51:31 who's going to do anything about it? And I had a great sense of relief.
51:35 And only then I can imagine the angels working on my release.
51:40 They go and work on the people and make them make this rash decision of letting me go?
51:45 Unheard of.
51:49 Really, unheard of. I haven't seen anybody go in and come out.
51:55 Yeah?
51:55 Yeah?
52:07 The objection?
52:11 The objection is simply lack of faith in God.
52:15 When I was put in that disaster,
52:19 I just complained.
52:21 I forgot.
52:22 My faith in God was not strong.
52:24 I was objecting to the test. I was thinking, why is this happening to me?
52:31 That shouldn't happen to me. That was objection. That was bad.
52:36 Because for as long as I was flunking the test, I was in bad shape.
52:41 But when I made that statement, we belong to God and He can do anything with us,
52:45 I will submit. Then everything, the test was over. There was no point in continuing the test.
52:52 But had I continued with that attitude, why is this happening to me?
52:56 I would have remained there.
53:05 Okay, our next picture is Adam Baruni, he's getting up now.
53:11 Adam, want to take the Hajj pilgrimage?
53:16 Inga, why don't you take the Hajj pilgrimage?
53:17 This is the Adam, not the one I was talking about.
53:22 He's getting up. When did he stop getting up?
53:26 Huh? A couple of days?
53:28 Masha'Allah.
53:29 He's busy, you know. He's sitting there eating food, drinks and so on.
53:34 Throwing them up in the air and chewing on them.
53:37 He's having fun. Masha'Allah.
53:41 Okay.
53:42 Indeed, Safa and Marwah are among the rites of God.
53:49 So anyone who observes Hajj or `Umrah commits no error by traversing the distance between them.
53:57 If one volunteers to do more, then God is Appreciative, Omniscient.
54:03 As for those who conceal the revelations we send down, and the guidance,
54:09 after We have made them clear for the people in the scripture,
54:14 Except for those who repent, reform, and proclaim; I will redeem them.
54:18 I am the Redeemer, the Most Merciful.
54:21 Those who disbelieve, and die as disbelievers, upon them is the curse of God,
54:26 and the angels, and all the people.
54:28 They abide therein forever.
54:30 The retribution is never commuted for them, nor are they respited.
54:34 Your god is one god.
54:35 There is no god except He, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
54:41 The pagans had idols on Safa and Marwah,
54:46 and the Muslims had something against walking
54:49 between them. No, no.
54:52 Okay, I see. Hajj, like all worships in Islam,
54:58 came through Ibrahim.
55:02 And Safa and Marwah are two mounds where Hagar used to go up them to look and see when Ibrahim was coming.
55:10 Because he left them there, he left Hagar and Ishmael there.
55:13 And he'd go to Sarah in Palestine for a couple of months, and come to Hagar and Ishmael for a couple of months.
55:21 So she used to go up, and they were really in distress just before the discovery of water.
55:27 So she would go up and look for Ibrahim, and then go to this one,
55:31 because he came with the supplies. The supplies were running down.
55:36 And then the well of Zamzam sprung out from the earth.
55:40 And then caravans would stop and buy the water from them, and they became rich, etc., etc.
55:46 So, this is a commemoration of the fact that God will take care of you.
55:53 So some people just can't imagine that God will provide for you when you never expect.
56:02 When you put your trust in God, the verse says those who fear God will be provided for
56:09 when they never expect. And some people just can't imagine that.
56:13 So this symbolizes the fact that Ibrahim followed the instructions.
56:19 He took Hagar and Ishmael and put them in a barren desert, no plants, no water, nothing,
56:24 and said, "You're going to live here."
56:27 Can you imagine going in the middle of the desert?
56:29 Not like the desert where I'm going here.
56:32 If you've seen the desert in Yuma, between Yuma and El Centro, where it is just yellow sand dunes,
56:37 this is how Mecca looked.
56:40 And there were no plants, nothing, no water.
56:42 And this is the area that, as you see in other verses in Quran,
56:49 "I have settled part of my family in a plantless valley near your sacred house."
56:54 He left them.
56:55 He left them with some supplies.
56:57 This is the lesson that God selected for you.
56:59 Why?
56:59 Because God provided for them.
57:04 The water came out.
57:05 The caravans came.
57:06 The support really came.
57:08 With it.
57:10 God provided for them.
57:12 So, this Safa and Marwah business is a commemoration of that.
57:16 And it reminds you that God will provide for you and take care of you. He guarantees that.
57:23 When God says, "I guarantee you provision in this life," guaranteed.
57:27 All I want you to do is worship Me alone.
57:31 I'm going to take care of all your needs, and I just want you to make a decision.
57:36 Worship Me alone.
57:39 So, Safa and Marwah have the symbol for you.
57:44 The verse says: "Whoever volunteers good, God is Appreciative, Aware."
57:47 Right, what is this now?
57:52 I have the verse here, and I want you to see it.
57:54 Let's go further to it to see it. I can see it.
57:57 It's bringing it to like modern day times.
58:00 Right, because it's traversing the distance seven times.
58:06 So, but if you want to do it more, if you want to commemorate, because you commemorate God.
58:10 You say, "Allah is the greatest," all the time you are going back and forth, you are saying that.
58:14 You are saying, لَبَيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَيْكَ
58:17 It means, "I respond to you, my Lord, and I obey your commandments."
58:23 It's a big thing, so it says that if you volunteer more of this worship,
58:29 then you will be rewarded for it.
58:34 لَبَيْكَ اللَّهُمَّ لَبَيْكَ
58:36 Labbayk is an expression, like when a king calls a slave.
58:44 When the slave comes and says, "Labbayk."
58:46 It means, "At Your command."
58:49 Literally, "At Your command."
58:52 So you say that when you make the Hajj,
58:55 you always have to say that.
58:56 Labbayk Allahumma: "My God, Our God, I am Your slave."
59:02 You called me, and here I am.
59:06 I am truthful in my absolute obedience to You.
59:12 Beautiful words, yeah.
59:16 Yes. But this is what it says here.
59:21 Yeah, and you are told already.
59:28 Yes, but in other words, you are not to think of idols by doing this.
59:32 You are doing it because of My command. In other words, some people say if you're going around the Ka'bah, then the Ka'bah is your idol.
59:39 It was only because of that. It's like God telling the angels to fall prostrate before Adam.
59:46 But it wasn't for Adam; it was obeying the commandment of God who said it's okay to go around or traverse the distance between them.
59:59 And in this way, you are not idolizing the Ka'bah or idolizing Safa and Marwah.
1:00:04 Because it is a commandment from God.
1:00:07 Now, you see, God was telling us it's alright; the contrast is with Adam. It's okay, "I am telling you."
1:00:15 Yes, "I'm telling you."
1:00:19 And for voluntary worship, there is more reward.
1:00:25 Because these are authorized practices.
1:00:31 While we are on this subject, I must say that
1:00:33 all pillars of Submission are shown in this surah
1:00:36 in the sequence of the year.
1:00:38 The first one was the Salat and then the Ka'bah,
1:00:41 and then comes the fasting in the ninth month,
1:00:44 and now this is Hajj in the twelfth month.
1:00:49 So, you remember when we went through the fasting verses, do you remember? Yeah?
1:00:55 No, not fasting. It's next to...
1:00:58 Oh, is it?
1:01:01 Oh, oops. This is an oops.
1:01:05 So, I think the Hajj, yeah, Hajj comes after the fasting.
1:01:09 When you make the Hajj after.
1:01:10 Right.
1:01:10 So, this has to do with the Safa and Marwah.
1:01:15 Yeah.
1:01:17 Because Behrouz is not here, right?
1:01:19 Behrouz is not here.
1:01:21 Yeah.
1:01:22 Yeah.
1:01:23 Yeah.
1:01:24 Yeah.
1:01:24 Yeah.
1:01:25 Yeah.
1:01:25 Thank you.