Video: Introduction – Episode 01 – Stories of The Prophets – Dr. Mufti Ismail Menk (English)

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All praise is due to allah subhanahu wata’ala blessings and salutations upon muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam we ask Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala to bless him and all his companions and we ask Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala to bless every single one of us my beloved brothers and sisters in Islam it brings tears to the eyes in gratitude to allah subhanahu wata’ala for having granted us the acceptance to witness this blessed month tonight being the first night of the month of ramadan 1432 III 1432 years after the header of muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and we are seated here in the house of allah subhanahu wata’ala far away in the city of Cape Town in this beautiful Masjid Zeenat will Islam we ask allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala to accept everything effect of ours every one of us who has made an effort to come here this evening all the listeners all the viewers every single person we ask Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala to grant us all forgiveness and we ask Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala to lighten up our lives just like we noticed the difference when these lights were put on we ask Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala to increase us in norm and to grant us the full use of this month of Ramadan really it is a sacrifice it is a month of sacrifice it is a month where we will be abstaining from many things for the pleasure of allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala from a certain time to a certain time and in the evenings we will be sacrificing again to stand in long prayer solely for the pleasure of allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala remember it is an effort that will make us from amongst those who are successful those who are not prepared to put an effort or to make an effort what type of success do they expect may Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala accept our efforts this evening inshallah I have decided to embark on a series known as lessons from the stories of the prophets may peace be upon them all that are mentioned in the Quran and as you know it is very important to introduce a topic so tonight will be dedicated to the introduction and it is very important that we know what is it that allah subhanahu wa ta’ala expects from us we all know that we were created by allah we were created by allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala we call him Rob Bilal Amin we call him Lord of the Worlds and the word Rob does not have an English translation it would require a whole paragraph for us to understand what is meant by it and for this reason some of the scholars have said the term Rob includes the one who created the one who nourishes cherishes vines for protects the one in absolute control of all the aspects of ins of existence is known as a rubber so this is why when we say a boon we are referring to whoever made us and whoever is in absolute control Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala grant us the understanding before I commence it is very important for me to make mention of the fact that each one of us would like to achieve the pleasure of the one who made us and each one of us would like to achieve the paradise that he has prepared for us but where did we come to learn about this paradise from and where did we come to learn about the fact that there is life after death we came to learn of it from the creator himself when he created us he did not just leave us without giving us an instruction or a manual or sending us messengers to remind us what I mean manty Danilov Allah fear and heavy indeed there is no nation that has passed except that there has been a messenger who was sent to that nation a reminder a Warner the word Nadine in actual fact means a Warner one who wants to say oh man you are not in existence in order to enjoy your life you are actually here as an examination and the qualification of that examination will determine your status in the real life which is the life after death and this is why all the messengers of allah subhanahu wata’ala there they were more interested in the life after death and in the hereafter than this dunya none of them gave preference to this world it’s important for us to know this and it’s important also for us to know that when Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala created us and sent messengers and sent messages with those messengers there were two types of people that he sent one were those known Russell and the others were known as MBA there is a difference between a Rasool and Dana B so what is the difference one is a messenger and one is a prophet the one who has a higher status is a Rasul a messenger because every messenger is a prophet but not every prophet is a messenger and Here I am using the English language although I have used the word Rasool or the word messenger to refer to Rasool what is meant by this a Rasool is a person who came with a new Sharia with some law with a book with something that Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala gave him an instruction revelation and Allah said go and teach this to the people and go and warn them and so on that is known as a result a person who is a messenger given a message to go and deliver and a Nabi who is a prophet is one who also delivered the message of Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala but not given to him specifically but rather given to some message to some messenger who came before him so this is why when we look at her own alayhi salaatu wa salaam Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala speaks about him in the Quran and Allah says one a day in a human journey built or in a manual now Virginia what will happen I’m 18 ah-ha-ho Haroon and heavy Allah speaks about Moses may peace be upon him musa alayhis salaam and allah says we gave him or we sent with him Harun or Aaron may peace be upon him as in B which means as a prophet to help him so whose message was it it was the message of Allah given to whom given to Moses may peace be upon him but her own alayhi Salam was assisting that is a very simple verse if you’d like to know you can memorize that verse Harun and IBM if Harun alayhi Salam was in a B then it’s automatically known that a Rasool is higher than an avi may Allah Subhanahu wa ta ala grant us understanding so Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala sent two types of people but there is a third type of person who is neither a Nabi no era soul but he is a rasul over a soul which means he is a messenger of a messenger and who is that every single one of us Subhan Allah we are all messengers of Rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam we have the message it is our duty to learn it it is our duty to practice upon it and it is our duty to teach it to others this is why when the rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was sending one of his companions mahadeva job a lot of the allah who I know to Yemen and he asked him a few questions at the end of that he says alhamdulillah he levira Fattah rasul allah rasool allah he Lamia Baras Allah praise be to Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala who has granted acceptance to the messenger of the messenger of allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala to that which has pleased the messenger of allah subhanahu wata’ala so Allah guided maharaja bell of the allahu allah and allah subhanahu wa ta’ala obviously had sent muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam and muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in turn sent more eligible of the allahu allah and he has informed all of us but live oh and me wallow ayah go and convey the message even if it means a small verse so every one of us insha Allah we have that status may Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala accept us for that now it is important for us to also through the creation of man why Allah created us and how he created us it is impossible to know that except through revelation and this is what makes us believe us if you take a look at the Jewish Scriptures or the Christian scriptures the scriptures of the Muslims you will find there are some similarities when it comes to the stories of the previous nations and how time began and how men were was created and so on but we adopt and we follow the Quran because we believe that there is a lot of rusts that has crept into the previous scriptures they are debating amongst themselves as to what is authentic and there are so many different versions of the Bible’s and the scriptures that we have to discount them and we have to adopt what the quran has said because no doubt it is pure and it is pristine and there is no ways that anybody can argue with that may allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala grant his acceptance so allah subhanahu wata’ala created us and when he told us whatever he told us he told that to us through revelation so therefore a person who’s a non-believer or who does not believe in any of the heavenly religions they would not know what happened and if they were to tell you what happened it means they got it from a heavenly scripture no scientist can tell you that the first person created was created in this way and his name was Adam and nobody can tell you that then there was hawa and what happened so we need to be Muslim in we need to be submitters we need to be mock minene believers in the unseen and we need to know that these scriptures that have come they have come as a gift from allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala to us now if we take a look at the quran allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala has revealed this book and it is a very very blessed book and allah has given us the muslims a month known as sheryl quran it is the month of the quran and allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala has kept it the same month as the month of fasting and allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala speaks about a night in this month that is so powerful in it the quran was sent down from the preserved tablet to the lowest heaven Lajo acaba and this is why he says in xela who feel a little odd oh we have indeed revealed it in the night of decree lailatul cuddle translates as the night of tuck deal the night of decree when all that is going to happen for the next year is written by allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala it is called Elkader the night of decree we all call it the night of power because it also depicts the power of allah subhanahu wata’ala so it is important for us to know that there is no doubt in the book that allah has revealed and as Muslims we are fortunate to be from amongst those who follow a religion that makes it a duty upon us to study all the verses of the Quran not just a few verses and Allah says why he revealed the Quran we need to know this why did Allah reveal the Quran why did he create men why did he do this why did he do that the answers are in the Quran this is why Allah says Keith Urban it is a book that we have revealed allah iike to you o muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam mubarak hoon it is so blessed Liat that baru ayat a in order for its verses to be pondered upon so why did Allah reveal the Quran in order for its verses to be pondered upon that is the reason so how many of us have pondered over the verses of the Quran how many of us have understood why Allah revealed the Quran did he just reveal it that we can recite it no point in understanding or no interest in understanding it did he reveal it so that we can use it as a pillow we read it at night and then we put it away and go and sleep and the following morning we get up no take a look at what has happened to the Bible and to the other books very few followers of those books have read those books cover to cover but every one of us have heard the quran cover to cover by the will of allah this is why in the month of ramadan what are we doing great effort is required to prepare the taraweeh to come for the taraweeh to stand in the taraweeh it is not simple it is not easy to be standing for one hour trying to concentrate on the words that is a sacrifice that is an act of worship that is a gift that Allah has given myself in yourselves so treat it as a gift and understand that if we have not try to ponder if we have not tried to ponder over the verses of the Quran then we don’t even understand why it was revealed so every one of us needs to try our best to ponder over the verses of the Quran and insha’Allah this is what we will be trying to do during the month of Ramadan I encourage myself in yourselves to try our best to read a portion of the Quran in the language that we understand as well because without that we won’t be able to succeed imagine Allah sends with us a manual to say this is how you should operate yourself and we don’t know about that manual I decided to spend a few moments to explain the importance of this book because it is the month of the Quran and not only the recitation in the Arabic language yes that is important very important but more than that is to understand the Quran the message of Allah I have heard people saying it is haram to read the meaning of the Quran where did they get that from we want to know how can we behave like those of the previous scriptures and prohibit our people from trying to understand the word of the one who made them when Allah asks me after I’ve died and you that I sent a book did you read it did you try to understand it what will our answer be and then if you were to ask us how many books have you read and understood and we will be mentioning all the novels and all the little story books and fairy tales and bedtime stories that we’ve read we give preference to Harry Potter over the Quran its effect we give preference to all these other books over the Quran it’s a fact I think it’s about time we use this Ramadhan to change that we can change it and this is why we have reminders of this nature this is why we are standing up here reminding ourselves and yourselves to say it is about time yeah on metal Quran oh oh ma o nation whom the Quran has been sent to to try and understand this book I’ll guarantee you it will change your life I guarantee you it will raise you in spirituality without a better violet lock about that is the Book of Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala yes there are rules and regulations governing how to deal with a question that crops up on you in your mind whilst you are reading the meaning those questions need to be answered by the professionals that will amass those who know so when you come across a verse you will find if there is a question in your mind it would be wrong for you to answer it on your own go and ask the ala ma I read this verse I don’t understand it but there are so many verses in the Quran that are very easily understood the stories of the prophets which makes the bulk of the Quran that’s why we want to go into it this year very easily understood Allah tells us about nor Noah Allah tells us about Jacob about Joseph may peace be upon them all Allah tells us about loot locked may peace be upon him so it’s important insha’Allah for us to make an effort to try and read these stories to try and see why Allah revealed them why Allah sent them down for what reason and then inshallah we see how everything is connected when allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala sent messengers to mankind he selected the best he did not send messengers from amongst the West or the mediocre of community no aerosol or Anna B was always selected the best of them and this is why there are certain qualities that all the prophets had we need to know these qualities because if we’d like to continue the work of the messengers we need to try and learn from what Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala selected and chose may he choose us all to serve his course Allah says regarding some of his prophets in who can a mullah saw definitely he was chosen when Allah says in Allah buffalo how I believe our alla romana l-‘alameen Allah has chosen in the lajas papa his Papa means to choose in the last offer Adam Allah chose Adam alayhi salatu wassalam we believe that whenever we say the name of a messenger it is our duty to say may peace be upon them they have done a splendid job in fact muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa salam says that there is a curse upon the one who says muhammad without saying sallallahu alayhi wasalam may peace be upon him so some of these qualities the messengers were always truthful they never uttered a lie even prior to prophethood never utter the lie even prior to prophethood they were known by their people as truthful always one might ask what about Ibrahim alayhi Salam we’ll get to that in sha Allah it’s not actually a lie it was something and inshallah when we speak about ibraheem alehissalaam in a few days time we’ll get there they were trustworthy and they were known as trustworthy all of them so in order for us to be chosen by allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala we need to try our best to also be truthful and trustworthy because if a person is not truthful and utters lies there is a chance they become champions of the devil and Shaitaan Shaitaan becomes pleased with them we don’t want that so it’s about time we started telling the truth and it’s about time we were honest and trustworthy then all the messengers were trained in a specific way do you know what the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says Mirman begin in la hora Al Ghanim there was no Nabi except that he was a shepherd at one stage he looked after some sheep so Allah trained them Allah trained them with sheep with animals before they came to human beings because what is more difficult to look after animals or to look after human beings I see the smiles masha’Allah that someone have a doubt here may Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala open our understanding it is definitely more difficult to look after animals but in the Quran Allah describes certain people he says hola Inca Cal and I me Belem Alba there are certain people who are like cattle and in fact worse than cattle because with the sophisticated minds and brains and eyes and ears and noses that Allah has given mankind they still don’t want to hear they don’t want to see they don’t want to understand Allah says for those type of people can we equate them to cattle no they are worse than cattle allahu akbar may Allah not make us from amongst those so it’s important for us all to have the quality in us to want to propagate what we have we want to dish out what we have that is a quality the messengers had that quality they wanted to give the message they wanted to always spread the goodness they were not selfish with it so every time we learn something let us try and think ways of how to spread it to whom let me tell you to whom what as she wrote I can upon our beam there was a stage when muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was instructed to start primarily with his family members so we start with those around us we try and remind them we want to tell them may allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala make it easy for us then there is another quality of the messengers they were very intelligent Allah did not send him Star Allah people who were sick to a nation no Allah sent highly intelligent people look at me brahim alayhi Salam Allah says Subhan Allah that he had given him a rahim and hokhmah when Nobu wata Allah gave him so much Allah gave him prophethood Allah gave him wisdom Allah gave him authority when he was a young boy look at how intelligent he was he began questioning and he debated did you ever know that the messenger who has debated the most was ibraheem alehissalaam his debates are mentioned in the Quran Allahu Akbar he had the most debates from a young age he questioned he asked the questions and this is why for us when the young asked questions find answers for those questions sometimes they are innocent questions and we rattle out words of rebuke to these youngsters without even knowing that this might have shaped some negativity in the youngsters mind that will last forever because we did not answer the question so it’s important for us to try and look at the questions that are being asked and we need to ask questions as well there was a time when people used to say don’t ask know in Islam it is simple to understand we ask but we have Eman that when we are given an answer from Allah as a revelation we surrender to it then we are there are certain things we may never understand but we will try our best to and there are certain explanations for as long as those explanations are coming from revelation inshallah we surrender to them it’s important for us to know this so the MBR were always highly intelligent another quality of the prophets of allah subhanahu wata’ala physically they did not have any defect that was repulsive repulsive meaning changed people away rather when you looked at them you felt like getting closer Lajo acabar all the messengers were described as very handsome all of them and they were not only good-looking but they had this like magnetism do you know what Abdul I blew Salaam brother allahu anhu says about muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa seldom he says allah he when i saw the face of muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam i knew that this is not the face of a liar the other Sahaba of the Lama who described him and say come on Allahu Akbar as though he’s a piece of the moon subhanAllah and they have all said we have never seen anything more beautiful more handsome than Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam so those who did not see the light and who did not come closer to him they had to be really really rejected by Allah subhana allah tala for that to happen it is reported that it is enough for a person to look at muhammad salallahu alaihe wasalam or to be in his company in order to be totally rectified and known as a Sahabi and deserve after his name the word of the allahu anhu may Allah be pleased with him just by being with him for a moment as a movement as a believer but there were others who were fortunate and unfortunate who were they they were the likes of abu jahal and the enemies of islam who fought islam and they fought Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam they were fortunate in that they lived in his midst but they did not look at him with the eye of sincerity even once not even once so for that reason they did not receive that cleanliness they did not receive that spiritual level of Sahabi Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala again has chosen the Sahaba of rasulullah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam then there is another very important point that we need to know messengers were all protected by Allah from committing sin all of them were masoom in massaman meaning they were protected by Allah from committing sin now one might ask what about this deed that was done by Musa alayhi Salaam inshallah we will get to that what what about that which was done by the Sunnah be or that may be we will get to that insha’Allah they were protected by Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala from sin and we need to know that and we believe that and Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala thereafter has kept certain merits in these messengers the messengers whenever they spoke whenever they uttered whatever they said was inspired by Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala through divine revelation and we know this about Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam Allah says in surah Najam why play for an hour in Hawaii now our huy he does not utter anything from himself it is indeed revelation that was revealed it was revelation that was revealed so one might say well look once the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam looked away from abdul I have no mimic tumor of the Allahu I know and the Quran came and admonished him so people say well what was that Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala had a lesson for us in that because sometimes it is the plan of Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala to let something happen so that when the solution of it is shown or when the remedy of it is shown the lesson can remain up to the end we learn a lesson from that and no matter how high you are no matter how knowledgeable you are no matter how much you think you know when you are corrected take it properly and accept it and be happy that you are corrected when the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was corrected why was he corrected why did he make a mistake in the first place because had he not been made to make that mistake where in his Asuna would there be a lesson for those who make mistakes to learn from subhanallah so it was part of his perfection to make that mistake for us to have a perfect example to follow so that when you make a mistake you know what to do because when he did it he was also shown or he showed us what exactly to do I hope we’ve understood this then Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala has spoken about how the messengers none of them sought a reward none of them wanted money in return for their message none of them wanted to gain some form of popularity through their message no this is why in surat yaseen we know the verse where Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala speaks about a man who came from the innermost part of the city and he says it tabby room Elias alikoum Angela wahoo more to follow those who are asking no recompense from you they don’t want any reward from you follow those who are rightly guided may allah subhanahu wa ta ala grant us an understanding also it is very important to know that the messengers came with a direct message they did not beat about the bush when loop alayhi salam came to his people he told them directly abstain from homosexuality he didn’t say yeah you know now there’s something you guys need to worry about and there’s something we need to talk about no the messengers they came with a direct clear-cut message and they delivered it as it was given from Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala and we will see that in the Quran also we will know or we will notice that the messengers they had firm belief in monotheism they worship Allah alone if there was anyone who will ship anything with Allah or besides Allah they were not messengers of Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala they worship Allah alone and they believed in the unseen and they promoted the unseen and they gave preference to the hereafter over this life now the last question we have for this evening why talk about stories of the prophets in the Quran why why does Allah make mention of these stories when Allah answers the question who can there be better than Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala to answer the question and Allah says laka the canopy Kasim able eternally only Al Bab Makana adhesive Torah what I can the stiffener even a day what have silicone leash a Buddha or a metallic o me me known indeed in the stories of the previous nations and in the stories of the prophets are lessons for those would sound intellect Allah says it was not fabricated it was not at all fabricated but it is a lesson and the details of everything are made mention of for those who believe we need to believe so Allah says it is a lesson for us when the people of Noah may peace be upon him when the people of Nohr alayhi salatu wa salam transgressed how long did they transgress for for many many years what was the result we all know they were drowned in the floods they were destroyed so what will happen Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala is showing all of us that look it might appear to you that the forces of evil are winning and the forces of goodness are losing but Allah says don’t worry it’s just a matter of time when we pull we pull completely and Allah says always the winners are those who are in the force of goodness always maybe not immediately but ultimately and this is why Allah speaks about entry into Jannah and he says do you think it’s going to be easy to enter into Jenna do you think it’s going to be simple you think you’re going to enter Jannah without the tests this life is a test Allah says a massive a tamato halal Jan what am i tikka masala Vina follow me October alaikum must set woman Lucy Liu a tabula rasa Lena a man whom our maternal love la Ananas Lala every Colossus do you think you are going to enter Jena and that which afflicted those before you has not yet come to you they were tested and they were shaken and they were tested in so many different ways with trials and tribulations with war and sickness until the messengers from amongst them said when is the help of Allah going to come Metin for a messenger who is sent by Allah to say when is the help of Allah going to come and then Allah says then we said lo the help of Allah is very near Subhan Allah which means you are tested right to your peak I always like to give the example of a school the higher you go the greater the test the more difficult it is and remember your life is not in the school your life the real life that you are living is outside the school I mentioned this on Friday so those who don’t understand that the life in the school is just a test and they need to work as hard as possible whether they like the school or not whether they like the work or not whether they like the teachers or not whether they enjoy the Uni wearing the uniform or not they need to wear the uniform they need to work hard they need to try their best they will pay in order to attend the school and they must write the exams every so often and every time they write an exam they will have a higher qualification than the previous exam and when they graduate they will now with that set if we could be able to do whatever they want in the world the higher the qualification the more chances you have let us take that example and put it into our lives our life compared to the ocula and the life after death is like a school so we are in the school now we will have tests every year every second year we will have so many difficulties we will have to dress in a specific uniform in a specific way we will have to do certain things we will have to engage in things we may not like or they may be difficult to engage in and every time you write a test you have a certificate of a higher level and the greater the test the more the love of allah subhanahu wata’ala and then when we die what will happen we have the ultimate certificate we can do what we want thereafter in the Alcala when you have all A’s what will happen Allah will say or do follow having said enter into gender with peace here’s your certificate and Allah speaks about it in the Quran how he will give it in the right hand la acabar may he give us all our books in the right hand this is the month of Ramadhan we need to earn the forgiveness of Allah let us take this month seriously let us make an effort every day to fulfill the taraweeh correctly and to try and listen to a message or two on a daily basis to make an effort with the Quran to fast properly to try and change our lives bad habits need to be kicked out music CDs need to be changed with Quranic CDs and with the message of allah subhanahu wata’ala we will be asked life is too short so many people are dying there are people who have passed on just before the month of Ramadan where were they Allah did not accept them to see the month of Ramadan or we can word it differently Allah had mercy upon them and took them away may Allah open our doors indeed we are blessed by allah subhanahu wa’ta’ala to be gathered in his home there are people as we are speaking who are suffering across the globe and i am talking of muslimeen who are homeless who were wealthy moments ago but they are being bombarded on a daily basis whether it is in libya whether it is in afghanistan or pakistan or Iraq or Somalia or Sudan wherever it is on the globe in Palestine anywhere on the globe there are so many who are unable to gather in this manner that we have gathered here this evening so let us take this as a gift of Allah let us never feel too lazy because if we are not to seize the opportunities that Allah gives us they will stop at some point and we will not be able to them the opportunities may Allah Subhanahu wa ta ala grant us the ability to seize the opportunities when he has given them to us he says that I give you the opportunity of your good health you should seize it before it does not exist anymore or before sickness overtakes you your life before death overtakes you your wealth before poverty overtakes you your free time before occupation overtakes you your youth before old age overtakes you it’s important for us to make use of this inshallah we are we will meet here by the will of Allah Subhanahu WA Ta’ala tomorrow at the same time and we will commence with the stories of the creation of men and we hope and pray that Allah accept us all and grant us every form of goodness