Note: The following transcript was generated using AI and may contain inaccuracies.
There are people whose bad speculation goes so far that they sometimes even suspect the worst of their wife and think that their wife is in a relationship with another man—sometimes, all because of what? Su'u dhan. Stay away from what? Speculation.
Anything that's based on speculation—"I think," "I believe," "I assume" (دَعْلًا مِنْ هَذِهِ)—we don't want to hear all of this.
Surah Al-Hujurat is a surah that is Madaniyyah, meaning it was revealed after the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam migrated from the city of Mecca to the city of Medina. So any surah that's called Madaniyyah is one that came down after the Messenger salallahu alayhi wa sallam migrated. This surah has three instances of يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا.
The beginning, it starts with what? It starts with يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا. Who knows the first of the five يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا? So, inshallah ta'ala, the session will be interactive. I ask questions, you answer them, and that's how we're going to, inshallah ta'ala, reflect on this surah.
There are five يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا mentioned in this surah, and each and every one of them has significance.
"Hey, what's the first?" "Yeah, not in Surah Al-Hujurat. Surah Al-Hujurat—it's mentioned three times, five times."
What's the first one? The first ayah:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ.
That is the recitation we heard today: "يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا."
So the one that we heard was: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا. Good.
What's the second يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا in the order?
"Yeah, يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ."
So the first one is whose rights?
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ.
It’s about Allah and His Messenger.
That's the first right mentioned.
The second one talks about whose rights?
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلَا تُجَهِّرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَنْ تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ.
Whose rights? The Messenger (alayhi salatu wassalam). That's the second.
Then, the next يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا is:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا.
Now, here it talks about what? Who is it talking about?
It is speaking about which type of fasiq—addressing the believers: if a fasiq comes to you, it is an issue related to a fasiq.
The fourth one is:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَنْ يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِنْ نِسَاءِ عَسَىٰ أَنْ يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِنْهُنَّ وَلَا تَنَامُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِالْأَلْقَابِ ۖ بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الْإِيمَانِ ۚ وَمَنْ لَمْ يَتُبْ فَلَهُ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ.
This fourth one: the first part, إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ, is talking about the fasiq when he is present.
And لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ is talking about the believers when they are together.
What about the fifth, the last one?
The fifth one is:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا.
Now, it's talking about: when the believer is not with you, think well of your brother; don't backbite him.
So, inshallah ta'ala, this surah, as you can see, deals with what?
Mannerism (akhlaq).
And that's why I thought this surah, inshallah ta'ala, would be a good one for us to reflect on. Some scholars call Surah Al-Hujurat Surah al-Adab because it teaches us manners and how to carry ourselves as Muslims.
Especially when we live in non-Muslim lands, we often pick up bad habits and bad manners from those around us, and we forget that, as Muslims, we have a code of conduct.
We have a way that we should carry ourselves. The first mannerism we, as Muslims, must uphold is that we do not put anything or anyone before Allah and His Messenger.
The sign of the believer, brothers, is that Allah and His Messenger are number one.
In many places in the Quran, Allah tells us this. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says:
فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّى يُحَكِمُوكَ فِي مَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا.
That you are not a true believer until you make the Prophet ﷺ and Allah your judge in all matters.
Also, Allah says in another ayah, subhanahu wa ta'ala:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الْأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ.
"Obey Allah and obey the Messenger."
In another place, Allah says:
وَإِنَّمَا كَانَ قَوْلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذَا دُعُوا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَنْ يَقُولُوا سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا، وَأُولَئِكُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ.
What is the sign of a true believer?
The sign that you know this individual is a true believer is that when Allah and His Messenger pass judgment, all that you hear from him is, "I hear and I obey."
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَقُولَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَارَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ.
When Allah and His Messenger pass judgment in a matter, you have no choice.
Thus, Imam Al-Bukhari narrated in his Sahih from the hadith of Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه that the Prophet said:
كُلُّ أُمَّةٍ يَتْقُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ إِلَّا مَنْ أَبَى.
All of my Ummah will enter Jannah except the one who refuses.
The Sahabah were shocked. They asked, "How can somebody say that they don't want to enter Jannah? Is there somebody who doesn't want to go to that place?"
مَا لَعَيْنُ الرَّاتِ وَلَا أُذُنٌ سَمِعَتْ وَلَا خَطَرَ عَلَى قَلْبِ بَشَرٍ.
Is there somebody who doesn't want to enter Jannah?
They said the Prophet said:
مَنْ أَطَاعَنِي دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ، وَمَنْ أَعْصَانِي فَقَدْ أَبَى.
The one who obeys me will enter Jannah, and the one who disobeys me has refused.
So, to enter Jannah—to be among the people of Jannah—you are not allowed to put anyone's opinion before the opinion of whose?
Allah عز وجل and the Messenger ﷺ.
Are we all together?
Also, the Messenger ﷺ and the Sahabah were like that at the time of the Prophet; if he said something, they would do it.
Imam Abu Dawood narrated in his Sunan that one day, while the Prophet ﷺ was addressing the companions, Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was walking outside—imagine this: Abdullah ibn Mas'ud was not even in the masjid; he was coming into the masjid, and he heard the Prophet say, "Sit down."
He didn't wait to come in and be in front of the Prophet and then sit down; he sat exactly where he was standing when the Prophet said it because they believed that they had to follow the Prophet.
Salvation and prosperity lie in that, brothers.
Every conflict, any dispute that we have among ourselves—whether it be between two brothers, between a wife and a husband, or between children and parents—all the judgments are:
فَإِن تَنْعَزَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَارُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ، إِن كُنتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ، ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلًا.
Whenever there is a conflict or dispute, we will always find the solution in the Book of Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So that's what the ayah speaks about.
One of the things in this surah—because I can't go through all of it, inshallah—we're just going to shed some benefits on it.
Allah ta'ala, in the second يَا أَيُّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا, says:
يَا أَيُّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَفَعُّلُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ.
"Don't raise your voices over the voice of the Prophet."
When the Prophet ﷺ passed away, it means don't raise your voices over his narrations and the hadith when they are mentioned.
If somebody says to you, قَالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ ﷺ, then, فَأَرْعِهَا سَمِعَكَ.
Bring your ears close—just like when Allah says, يَا أَيُّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا—as Abdullah ibn Mithsa said, "Bring your ear close; listen attentively," because you're either going to be told something to do or to stay away from something.
So the believer wants to hear what the Prophet ﷺ says, and this is what the Prophet ﷺ was teaching the companions.
He told them:
يَا أَيُّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَفَعُّلُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلَا تُجَهِّرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ.
And do not address the Prophet ﷺ by his name.
Don't say يَا مُحَمَّد.
Don't say يَا مُحَمَّد.
Don't address him by that name, because Allah عز وجل—in the entirety of the Qur'an—did not call him by his pure name, his actual name.
Nowhere in the Qur'an did Allah say يَا مُحَمَّد.
When He called out the Prophet ﷺ, He either said:
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ آمِنْ or يَا أَيُّهَا الرَّسُولُ, or a description such as يَا أَيُّهَا المُزَّمِّلُ يَا أَيُّهَا المُدَّثِّرُ out of respect for him.
But you find all the other Prophets—Allah calls them by their names, for example:
يَا نُوحُ، قَدْ جَادَلْتَنَا فَأَكْتَرْتَ جِدَالَنَا، فَأَتِنَا بِمَا تُعِيدُنَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مِنَ الصَّادِقِينَ.
We find Ibrahim ﷺ, Musa ﷺ, Isa ﷺ, Dawood— all of the Prophets—they are called by their actual names, whereas Nabiullah Muhammad is not.
And this reflects the love and status of the Prophet ﷺ.
So we have to understand: our Prophet ﷺ is a maqam, and his position is unique.
And our Prophet, brothers and sisters, we must love him so much that, look at the Sahabah—this is how they felt toward him.
They really, really loved him because they followed the hadith:
لَا يُؤْمِنُ أَحَدُكُمْ حَتَّى أَكُونَ أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ وَلَدِي وَوَلِدِي وَالنَّاسِ أَجْمَعِينَ.
He was more beloved to them than anything—even their own selves.
Thus, when أُعْمَرٌ بِالْخَطَّابِ came to the Prophet ﷺ and said to him:
لَأَنْتَ أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ،
("You are more beloved to me than anything, except myself.")—this is what he said at the beginning.
Then the Prophet ﷺ said, "No, Umar, oh no, you must love me because it is a sign of Iman—more than anyone and anything."
So what happened? Umar realized what he said was not correct and said to the Prophet ﷺ, "Now, you are more beloved to me than even myself."
Then the Prophet ﷺ said, "Now, O Umar, your Iman is complete."
Are we all together, brothers?
Yeah. So loving the Prophet ﷺ more than and beyond everything—even your wealth, your children, your brothers, your cousins, your relatives—who do you love more?
You love the Prophet ﷺ.
وَلِذَٰلِكَ دِيْسِ آيَ، يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا، لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ.
When he came down, the noble companion تَابِتٌ رضي الله تعالى عنه, who had a very loud voice, said that in the gatherings of the Prophet ﷺ he would sometimes talk and raise his voice, and he thought this ayah was referring to him, because what did the ayah say at the end?
أَنْ تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ، أَنْتُمْ، أَنْتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ.
"Oh, this is serious now."
The consequences of raising your voice over the Prophet ﷺ will nullify your actions—and you don't even know it. This scared a noble companion, so he locked himself in his house and never came out. Look at the Prophet ﷺ: he was a very caring man, caring for his community. This is one of the things that amazes me about the Prophet ﷺ. All of his companions—he knew which one was missing; he was aware and asked about them. So he said, "Where is Taabit?" They said, "Oh Rasulullah, Taabit locked himself in his house the minute that verse came down." He was scared of the consequences of this verse: أَن تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ أَنْتُمْ أَنْتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ.
Then the Prophet ﷺ called him and said, "Bring him to me." Taabit was brought, and the Prophet ﷺ said to him, "Taabit, shall I tell you something?" Taabit said, "Yes, Rasulullah."
So he said, "Why did you go and lock yourself in your house?" Taabit replied, "Ya Rasulullah, I know I'm a man with a very loud voice. I know when I speak, you might have spoken and I might have overcome your voice—I might have been louder than your voice."
He said, "Ya Rasulullah, I'm scared أَن تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ أَنْتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ." The Prophet ﷺ said to him, "Don't worry, Taabit. You are not only going to be among the people of Jannah, but you are also going to die as a martyr."
And Taabit, who died as a martyr, is also from the people of Jannah.
Again, this shows us something else, brothers: when we read a verse in the Qur'an, we don't look at it to apply it to other people. We don't look at this verse and say, "I want to use this verse against so-and-so." Rather, we look at it and ask, "Where do I stand in this verse? How much of it am I implementing correctly?"
Because the Qur'an was sent down for us to fix our issues.
The third يَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا is:
يَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا.
If a fasiq comes to you with news, what do you do? You have to verify.
People fall into categories: if a reliable, honest person comes to you with news, you take it and trust him. But if a person who is a fasiq—a person who commits major sins or is consistent in committing minor sins—brings you news, you must verify the information.
We all fall into sin, but if a person repents from a major sin (التَّائِبُ مِنَ الذَّنْبِ كَمَا لَا ذَنْبَ لَهُ), it is as if he has never committed that sin.
We are talking about a person who is consistent in committing his major sins and also consistent in committing minor sins; such a person is a fasiq. If he brings you news, Allah says to verify the information.
Are we all together, brothers? You don't take it straight from the person's mouth.
What if a reliable person comes to you? You trust him and believe him. But if the person is unknown to you—as the scholars say, he also falls under يَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ—because he is unknown to you, you must also verify the information.
This is very important because many people don't verify information; they take it immediately.
Often, between a wife and a husband, many issues arise because someone else is spoon-feeding information with no basis. When you bring the two people together, your aim is to tell them that the information is not true—it is all fabricated.
So, Muslim brothers and sisters, if you follow Surah Al-Hujurat, al-Adab, al-Akhlaaq, wallahi, you will see a different kind of person.
يَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا—what will happen is that if you act on unverified information, you will incur a severe consequence:
أَنْ تُصِيبُ قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلْتُمُ النَّادِمِينَ.
You will regret what you do later; the consequences of acting on unverified information will lead to regret.
The fourth يَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا is:
يَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ.
Do not mock or belittle one another.
This is very common among Muslims, unfortunately. May Allah forgive us for our private and public sins.
Mocking another Muslim, belittling him, or ridiculing him—what does he think he is? This is not the sign of a believer.
A believer does not put down another believer. He always makes dua for him in secret.
He makes dua, saying:
اللَّهُمَّ ثَبِّتْهُ يَا رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ، اللَّهُمَّ أَسْكِنْهُ فِي جَنَّةِ الْفِرْدَوْسِ.
He wants the best for this person.
Are we all together, brothers?
This is an illness—مَرَضٌ مِنْ أَمْرَاضِ الْقُلُوبِ—a sickness of the heart.
Allah will not admit people to Jannah unless He cleans their hearts of such sickness.
That is why, just after people cross over the Sirat and before they enter Jannah, all these matters must be resolved:
وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ، إِخْوَانًا عَلَىٰ سُرُورٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ.
The hearts are cleansed so that when they meet each other in Jannah, all of that negativity has gone.
But as believers, we must try to fix these issues—don't ridicule or belittle another Muslim.
The ayah tells us something very profound:
عَسَىٰ أَنْ يَكُونُ خَيْرًا مِنْهُ.
This person whom you are putting down or mocking—who determined what they are in the eyes of Allah—may in fact be better than you.
Scholars have mentioned that a noble companion by the name of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud رضي الله تعالى عنه once climbed a tree, and the Sahabah saw that his legs were very small. They did not belittle him; they just laughed lightly.
What did the Prophet ﷺ say to them? He said, by Allah عز وجل, "Very tough, very tough; legs are heavier than your foot."
The Prophet ﷺ said, MashaAllah, that his leg—this small limb you are looking at—is heavier in the eyes of Allah than the mountain of Uhud, right? MashaAllah.
Have you ever seen the mountain of Uhud? Yes, it is a big mountain. Imagine his leg in the eyes of Allah.
So what the Sahabah did not realize is that the way Allah scales things and the way humans scale things is different. Our measuring is based on the apparent,
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُنظُرُ إِلَىٰ أَجْسَامِكُمْ وَلَا إِلَىٰ صُوَرِكُمْ وَلَكِنْ يَنظُرُ إِلَىٰ قُلُوبِكُمْ وَعَمَالِكُمْ.
No one else sees this except Allah.
So, whether this person is elevated or not—هَذَا بَيْنَهُ بَيْنَ اللَّهِ—you do not know what he does behind closed doors, how his heart is.
Does that make sense, brothers?
And if you look at the Sahabah, when the Prophet praised Allah for them in the Qur'an, He did not just praise their appearance. He praised their outward actions and their hearts:
مُحَمَّدُ الرَّسُولُ اللَّهُ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدُّو الْكُفَّارِ، رُحَبَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ، تَرَاهُمْ رُكَعًا سُجُودًا.
So when you see them, you see them in ruku and sujood, and then He said,
يَبْتَوُونَ فَضْلًا.
Their hearts are on another level—everything they do is for Allah عز وجل.
So Allah ta'ala spoke highly of their actions and their hearts, and He also said:
وَلِذَلِكَ يَأْتِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ رَجُلٌ سَمِينٌ بَدِينٌ.
A man who is big and tough—MashaAllah, he did i'tikaf in the gym, and he spent much time working out—will come on the Day of Judgment, and he will be placed on the scale
فَلَا يَزِنُوا عِندَ اللَّهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُضَةٍ,
meaning he will not weigh as much as the wing of a mosquito.
But when humans see this man, they will say, "Wow, this man is everything."
We all must remember: the Prophet taught the Sahabah that the way you view things is not the way Allah views them, (صَحّ).
Even Iblis got it wrong at the beginning, and that was his reason for leaving Jannah.
What did he say? He was the first one to do this. He said,
قَالَ أَنَا قَيْرٌ مِنْهُ.
"I am better than him."
"Hey, Iblis, why are you better?" This is the question.
"Hey, Iblis, why are you better than Adam?"
He got it all wrong. He thought that goodness and virtue were connected to what you are made of compared to what Adam is made of.
He said,
قَالَ أَنَا قَيْرٌ مِنْهُ، خَلَقْتَنِي مِنْ نَارٍ وَخَلَقْتَهُ مِنْ طِيلٍ.
So the point is that he got it wrong. He is weighing virtue wrongly; he thinks virtue is connected to what you are made of.
But the sad thing is that the plots and plans that Shaytan has for us, and the tricks that he uses against us, are the same old tricks. Even now, this Muslim or individual looks at another person and belittles him with the same things that Shaytan belittled.
Are we all together, brothers?
So we don't belittle our Muslim brothers. We always want our Muslim brothers to rise; we help them, support them, encourage them, and say, "We can do it."
The last and final point: Stay away from what, brothers? Speculation, assumption.
A lot of people believe a lot of things that they have made up—they didn't even hear it from anywhere; their brain just told them this.
For example, when he walked in, he didn't even give salams properly.
The brother came from a 9-to-5 shift; he was tired and exhausted. I know this brother—I know he is up to something.
All of it, when you follow it up, is based on speculation.
And this, my brothers and sisters, is something we really need to fix if we want to have a good relationship with our Muslim brothers, or even with our spouses.
There are people whose ضَنٌّ or سُوءُ الضَنّ—their bad speculation—goes so far that they sometimes suspect the worst of their wife, thinking that she is in a relationship with another man.
All because of what? سُوءُ الضَنّ.
There are men who have these issues. Why do they have it?
You are not following this verse:
يَا أَخِي، تَبَيَّنُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الضَّنِّ.
Stay away from speculation.
Upon you is what?
التَّتَبُّت.
Upon you is what?
يَقِيل.
Anything that is based on speculation—"I think," "I believe," "I assume"—(دَعْنَا مِنْ هَذِهِ). We don't want to hear any of that.
We are all together, brothers.
So if we follow these five يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا, can you already see what is happening now in Surah Al-Hujurat?
We haven't even gone through all of the other parts that the surah contains.
I want to mention one last verse, inshallah ta'ala, as a conclusion: the surah talks about something known as الأُخُوَّةُ الإِيمَانِيَّةُ (brotherhood of faith).
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا، إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ.
The believers are, what? The brothers.
So, perfect your brotherhood; perfect your sisterhood.
It's fascinating that the surah mentions brotherhood and sisterhood in the context of Muslims fighting:
وَإِنْ طَائِفَتَانِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ قَتَتَلُوا، فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَهُمَا، فَإِنْ بَغَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا عَلَى الْأُقْرَى فَقَاتِلُوا الَّتِي تَبْغِي حَتَّى تَفِيءَ إِلَىٰ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ، فَإِنْ فَاءَتْ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَهُمَا بِالْعَدْلِ، وَأَقَاصِطُوا، إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ.
Is that right?
So after it talks about brotherhood and how we should be together as brothers—after it talks about battle and fighting, even if two groups of Muslims are fighting each other—it reminds us that even if you lose a loved one because another Muslim killed him, remember: at the end of it all, he is still your Muslim brother.
Also, Allah mentions in Surah Al-Baqarah:
يَا أَيُّهِ الَّذِي لَا مُنْ كُتِبَ عَلَيْكُمُ الْقِصَاصُ فِي الْقَتْلَةِ، الْفُرْضُ بِالْفُرْضِ، وَالْعَبْدُ بِالْعَبْدِ، وَالْمُنْثَى بِالْمُنْثَى، فَمَنْ عُفِيَ لَهُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ شَيْءٌ، مُفَتِّمَعٌ، وَأَدَعْنُ إِلَيْهِ بِعْسَاسَ.
Allah is mentioning here, subhanahu wa ta'ala, the concept of قِصَاص—capital punishment and a Muslim being killed for another Muslim's murder. But in that context, what does Allah say?
فَمَنْ عُفِيَ لَهُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ—anyone who forgives his brother.
Can it get any worse? If somebody killed your family member, you can't get any worse, right?
Allah is still telling you that he is your brother; there is no way you can deny that.
He is your Muslim brother, who transgressed—of course, he has consequences for his actions—but he remains your brother at the end of the day. Are we all together, brothers?
So people are breaking brotherhood for something much less than that.
For what? For much less. People haven't even killed; they've probably just said something wrong, and now they are asking for forgiveness and rectification.
I ask Allah Ta'ala that He increases our understanding of the Qur'an.
Allah, the Qur'an, is full of gems, and anyone who opens their heart to it—فِيهِ نَبَأٌ مَا قَبْلَكُمْ، فِيهِ نَبَأٌ مَا قَبْلَكُمْ، وَخَبَرٌ مَا بَعْدَكُمْ، وَحُكْمٌ مَا بَيْنَكُمْ—is the decisive factor.
It is not a matter of neglecting it; anyone who turns away from it is like a tyrant against Allah's Book.
وَمَنْ ابْتَغَى الْهُدَىٰ فِي غَيْرِهِ أَذْنُهُ اللهُ، وَقَدْ تَكَفَّلَ اللهُ لِمَنْ قَرَأَ الْقُرْآنَ وَعَمِلَ بِمَا فِيهِ أَلَّا يَظَلَّ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلَا يَشْقَى فِي الآخِرَةِ.
Then He says:
فَإِمَّا يَأْتِيَكُم مِّنِّي هُدًى فَمَنْ اتَّبَعَ هُدَايَ فَلَا يَظَلُّ وَلَا يَشْقَى.
If you want the news and the stories of the nations that came before you, you will find it in the Qur'an. If you want to know the stories of those or the news of what is going to happen in the future—فِيهِ قَبْرٌ مَا بَعْدَكُمْ—it tells you about the Qiyam al-Sa'ah and other matters. It is also a judgment between us and settles all our issues.
Whoever rejects it, مَنْ تَرَكَهُ مِنْ جَبَّارِ قَسَمِهِ اللهُ، وَمَنْ ابْتَغَى الْهُدَىٰ فِي غَيْرِهِ أَذْنُهُ اللهُ.
Allah will not let anyone go astray who reads the Qur'an and acts upon it; He will make them among the inhabitants of Jannah.
So, let's ponder on the Qur'an and these gems.
Mashallah, I was told what Sheikh Muhammad is doing in his masjid for Fajr every morning—he reflects on the tafsir of the Qur'an, mashallah, over these verses recited in Salatul Fajr:
أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ أَمْ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِنَا قَفَالُهَا، أَمْ أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اِفْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا.
Ponder on the Qur'an; that's what we were told.
So, inshallah, 20 minutes after you pray Salatul Fajr, sit there for 20 minutes and take some benefit from a surah or a verse or a few verses—this, inshallah, can change your life.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ.
I ask Allah to forgive us for any shortcomings or mistakes. Anything I've said that was wrong or incorrect is from me and Shaytan, and Allah and His Messenger are both free from it.
سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَبِحَمْدِكَ، أَشْهَدُ أَن لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنْتَ، أَسْتَغْفِرُكَ وَأَتُوبُ إِلَيْكَ.
