Road to Victory in Light of Suratul Kahf

Fourth Trial: Fitna of Authority (Fitnat al-Sultah)

The next fitna that you will face during the end of time, the time that we are living right now, is fitna al-sultah - authority. Fitna, trials and tribulations from the authorities, from the government. And this is the next thing that you'll face. So how do you save yourself from all of these fitna, all these trials and tribulations? All of these things are addressed in Surah al-Kahf.

The last fitna is addressed in the story of Dhul Qarnayn. When the story of authority and also the story of Ya'juj and Ma'juj also is addressed there. So these are the fitan that will be addressed and that will occur. And that's why you have to be strong. You have to read Surah al-Kahf every single week, every single day - every single week at least once. Read it once at least on Friday, every Friday morning. Sit down and read Surah al-Kahf, and then you will be able to see through the deception. You will be able to raise yourself above this, this temporary life, the dunya, the trials and tribulations of that. And you will be able to humble yourself and seek knowledge wherever you find, wherever there is knowledge, and make time for that.

The Story of the People of the Cave

So the first story that Allah (glory be to Him) mentions in Surah al-Kahf is the story of the people in the cave. Now these people were being tortured. They were being tortured and they were being forced to even - they would have been killed. They were looking to kill them or stone them just because they believed in Allah. And so because of the trials and tribulations in their deen, just because they believed in Allah and they were different from the rest of society, they were being tortured.

Instead of compromise, instead of doing what everyone else is doing, worshipping whatever everyone else is worshipping, compromising in their religion, in the way of life, they instead fled to a cave. And in order to, to look to seek the mercy of Allah (glory be to Him). And that's why Allah (glory be to Him) says:

"They abandoned them in what they worship instead of Allah, seek refuge in the cave. Allah will certainly grant you mercy and provide you with help to safety to get out of this trouble." (Quran 18:16)

When to Stay and When to Leave

So there's a time - it's always better to intermingle with the people. It's always better to intermingle with the people and be patient with their adha, with their harm, if you can influence them, if you can spread this message. And so it's better for you to live in America. It's better for you to live in America than in Egypt, Saudi Arabia or in Kuwait or wherever it is, if you can spread this message, if you're here to convey the message of Allah, so that they can hear the word of Allah (glory be to Him). You being here to convey the message is better than you being in the Muslim country where everyone else is Muslim. It's better to be in non-Muslim country if you're here to convey this message, if you can influence others without being influenced yourself.

But if there comes a time when it's just too difficult, when the evil and the problems are so much that you are being influenced, that your children are losing Islam, that you yourself, you see yourself, your iman is just not there and you can no longer hold on to your deen, then you go.

But it's better to be in, just like the companions, like Abu Ayub al-Ansari. Abu Ayub al-Ansari, he was the host of the Prophet (peace be upon him) when the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to Medina. He hosted him and the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was his guest. He took care of him. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) passed away, when he became older, he decided to go out and convey this message in jihad. And he was in the gates of the area of present-day Turkey, Constantinople.

And so when he was there, he was already in that area and he was actually in his deathbed. And he told the people around him, he said: "When I die, I want you to take my body deep, deep, deep into enemy territory, as far as you can, into enemy territory. If you have to go at night to get deeper, then do so. And then bury me there because I want to be raised up there on the Day of Judgment."

You might say, why? Why would he want to do such a thing? He said: "Because on the Day of Judgment, when Allah asks me, 'Why did you do that, oh Abu Ayub?' I can say, 'I came here, oh Allah, to convey the message of La ilaha illa Allah.'"

That's what the companions had in their hearts. And that's who they were. And that's why we here are saying La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur Rasulullah. Otherwise some of us right now, maybe if they didn't have that zeal, that feeling of responsibility, if they were like us, the same type of attitude and so forth towards conveying this message, maybe we over here, we wouldn't be Muslim. Maybe this area over here, there wouldn't be a masjid here. But it's because of them, because of that attitude, that they want to convey this message.

So as long as you can still practice your religion and convey this message, then stay here. Staying here is better. But sometimes there will come a time when the fitna will be too great, when you will not be able to withstand it. You cannot save your children. You see them being lost. So you have to go somewhere. You have to get away from the influence of the city, of the people, of the society, in order to save your religion.

The Prophecy About Fleeing from Trials

And there will come a time that you need, you won't need to leave. There will come a time that the Muslims will need to leave, because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari)

"It's nearing. He said that time is nearing when the best wealth that you can have is a flock of sheep or goats, and you're just going from mountain peak to mountain peak, from mountain looking for pasture for your flock. You're going there, you're leaving the society because you want to save your religion, running away from the fitan." (Sahih al-Bukhari)

And so there will come a time when you need to do that.

The Situation of the People of the Cave

So in the story of the men, the people, the companions in the cave, these people had to do that because of the persecution that they were facing. That's why they said when they came out:

"Indeed if they catch you, they will stone you." In other words, they will kill you. "Or they will force you to leave your religion, and then you will never be successful." (Quran 18:20)

That's what these people were facing. And so that's why they escaped to the cave. They went seeking the mercy of Allah. They gave up their houses, with the air-conditioned houses, their houses and their palaces, their people, the place that they grew up in. They gave all of that to a small little place, a cave so small that when the sun shines through, it hits them. The rooms and palaces that they might have had, they left all of that because they knew it was important in order to hold on to the deen. They refused to compromise.

Solution to the First Trial: Good Companionship

And so the fitnah will come. But what is the solution? What is the solution that's mentioned here in Surah al-Kahf? What do you do to get away from this fitnah, fitnah in your deen? Allah (glory be to Him) mentioned when He speaks about them, He says:

Notice He said: إِنَّهُمْ فِتْيَةٌ - "These are young men." (Quran 18:13)

Not one. Not two. Plural. Group. Group. In times of fitnah, in times of trials and tribulations, when it comes to the deen, you have to look for good companionship. That is a requirement. You cannot handle it by yourself. You cannot withstand the fitnah by yourself. You can't just leave everybody. You have to work with each other, even if you have to work with each other to improve the situation that you're in. And you can't give in to whatever is happening.

And there are some people who will say, when those times occur, when we can't stop people, we just take care of ourselves. It doesn't matter what happens to everybody, everybody else. We just take care of ourselves. But that's not the thing to do. You have to hold strong together. And also you have to continue to remind each other and teach each other and improve whatever you can.

The Example of the Ship

You know the Prophet (peace be upon him) gave an example, gave an example for us, for those true Muslims who hold on to La ilaha illallah Muhammadur Rasulullah, who hold on to their deen. He said: It's like a ship in which there are people in the ship. There are passengers and people in the ship, and the ship has two decks. The

people on top, they have water. They have access to the water. They have access to the knowledge. They have access to this and that, and so they have it. But the people on the lower deck, the lower deck, they need the water too. They need that also.

So one of them says, "You know what? Why do we need to go upstairs and bother those people upstairs? Right? I mean if they are not sending us water, we can do it ourselves right here. Let's just dig a hole down here, right there. The water is right down there."

The people on top, if they don't take care of these people - these people are the example, like you know the sinners and so forth - don't take care of these people, the whole ship is going to go down. If you don't prevent them from doing that, if you don't take care of them also, the whole ship will go down.

Community Responsibility

And so in a society like ours, let's say you don't have children and you see some of the other children, you know, not behaving properly, you have to remind them also. Even if you have children and your children, mashaAllah, you teach them properly, but everyone has to pitch in. You can't just take care of your children, because when your children come to the masjid, who do they play with? Who do they hang around with? They hang around with the other guys, the other people also.

But nobody, if you do not take care of the community, put it upon yourself the responsibility, the sense of responsibility that you have to - in order to raise a child, like there is a saying, there is an African saying: "It takes a village to raise one child." To raise a child, it's true. If you take care of your children only, you don't, you prevent them from doing, you know, from wasting time, from watching these movies and things like that, mashaAllah, your kids are very good. But when they go to uncle, uncle's house, and they hang around with uncle's children, you know, or your friend's children, everything that you taught them has just gone down the drain.

So it takes the whole community. It takes the whole village to raise a child. So you have to be with good companionship. You have to help each other in times of trials and tribulations. Look for those people and be with them. And that will help, you know. Good companionship will help in that particular, in that matter, with that.

The Verse About Companionship

And that's why Allah (glory be to Him) says, after He finishes the story of the cave, what does He say? He says:

"And be patient with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and in the evening. They want nothing but the pleasure of Allah (glory be to Him). And do not look past those people. Do not look past those people." (Quran 18:28)

And so the fitna in the deen, you have to have companionship, the companionship. Look for those people who are sincere, that you see them in a masjid and be with them. And help each other and strengthen your bonds with those people. You need the good companionship to survive in times of fitna, in times of trials and tribulations. And this is, you know, it doesn't matter if these people are poor. It doesn't matter if these people don't have money. But if they're sincere, they love the deen, they love Islam, that's what's important.

So that's the first trial and tribulation. Is, first of all, to remember to have good companionship. And always remember the akhirah. And always remember the akhirah, and remember the hereafter. Remember the hereafter that will strengthen you inshaAllah.

The Second Trial: The Story of the Two Garden Owners

The second story - you can read these stories more. We don't have time to go in detail on each story, but most of us have already read them. Second story is the story of the two people, the two guardians. The one who is arrogant, he has been given everything. He's arrogant. And when it comes to the fitna, the maal fitna, the second fitna that you have is the fitna of maal, fitna of wealth. And this is one of the greatest fitna also.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

(Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

"Every single ummah has a trial, trials and tribulations. The trial and tribulations of my ummah, a specific trial for my ummah is fitna of maal, the wealth." (Sunan al-Tirmidhi)

And so in terms of trials and tribulations, you have to raise, you have to go above and beyond the temporary worldly matters.

The Story of Suhaib ibn Sinan al-Rumi

And that's why during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), when the companions were making hijrah, everybody was leaving. The Quraysh of course tried whatever they could to prevent people from leaving. Suhaib - Suhaib ibn Sinan al-Rumi was a companion who had come to Mecca. And he was amongst those, they called him Suhaib al-Rumi because he lived with the Romans. He was actually an Arab, but he was sold into slavery and he lived with the Romans and he spoke their language. So when he came to Mecca, he came as a slave. Came as a slave. But he was eventually free and he started doing some business. And so he did have some money. He did have some money.

When it was time to make hijrah to Medina, he was not able to leave because they captured him. They caught him. And they said to him: "Oh Suhaib, you think, do you think you can just leave? When you were a poor destitute person when you came to Mecca, you had nothing. You made money off of us. Now do you think you can just leave just like that? You think you can just leave just like that and take all that money with you? No. You're not going anywhere."

So Suhaib, he said - he rose above this temporary worldly pleasures and wealth. And so he told them, he said: "Is that what's preventing? Is that the reason why you're preventing me from going to Medina? Going to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him)? If I gave you all of my wealth, would you let me go? If I gave you all of my wealth, would you let me go?"

So they said, "Yeah, go ahead. Give it to us and we'll let you go."

So he told them, he said: "Go to my house. Under the doorstep, dig under the doorstep. That's where all my wealth is. Go and take it."

And so they went and they found exactly what he had said. So they let him go. They let him go. Then he reached Medina with nothing. He didn't have anything. The Prophet (peace be upon him) knew about his case and situation. It was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). And the Prophet (peace be upon him), when he saw Suhaib, he said:

"Suhaib رَبِّحَ الْبَيْعُ - He said, 'That was a very profitable transaction of Suhaib that you had made.'''

SubhanAllah, how could something be profitable? He just lost all his money. He just lost all his money. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) just said, "Wow, that's a profitable transaction." Why? Because he loved the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). Because he loved Islam. And all that money, those gold coins that were under his doorstep, it's nothing. If he cannot be with the Prophet (peace be upon him), it's worth nothing. He'll trade all of that to be with the Prophet (peace be upon him).

"Islam started strange and it will return back to being strange. So give glad tidings to the strangers." (Sahih Muslim)

A Warning for Our Times

There might come a time when they might come knocking on the door. You know, you came here as a poor destitute person. You're thinking about leaving, huh? We're not going to let you leave. You think you got rich off of us. You came here as a student, poor student. You got your B.A., Masters, Ph.D. You made money off of us. You think we're going to take that with you to your country? No. You want to go, go ahead. But you're not taking your money. We'll freeze your account. Ready to go? Or you can stay here. You can live like us. Which one are you going to pick?

There might come a time when something like that might happen. It happened during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in Mecca. A lot of people came here, very poor. Didn't have anything. Got rich off of us. You're thinking, just leave. Which one are you going to take? You want to leave with your deen? Or you want to

compromise and live the way that they live and throw away your deen? Which one are you going to pick? You might come to that point.

And so the fitna, the fitna that's mentioned here also, is fitna, the wealth, amal.

The Third Trial: The Story of Musa and Khidr

The third fitna: fitna al-ilm. The story of Musa al-Khidr. SubhanAllah. Every single one, we don't have time to go through many of these things, but every single one of them you can spend, you know, you can spend hours and hours and hours speaking about some of the benefits.

But another thing that's mentioned in Surah al-Kahf is the story of Musa al-Khidr. There are a couple of lessons here in times of trials and tribulations. The first thing, the first casualty in times of trials and tribulations is what? It's the truth. Truth and falsehood is murky. You don't know what the truth is. You don't know what you should do. You need knowledge more than ever before. You go looking for a sheikh and you can't find one that's trustworthy, that you can just talk to and he'll just give you and you just feel comfortable with. You know. So it's difficult. So you don't know what to do.

And then in this story also, there's another lesson here. In times of trials and tribulations, there's a lot of deception. And the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

"Near the Day of Judgment, there'll be years of deception where a person who is trustworthy will be deemed a liar, and a person who is lying will be considered trustworthy in times of trials and tribulations."

Lessons from the Story: Humility in Seeking Knowledge

And you know when you read the story of Prophet Musa and Khidr, what do you see? First of all, the first lesson here is that in order to save yourself in times of trials and tribulations, you have to have tawadu. You have to have humility. Be humble. Wherever you find knowledge, you learn from it and you take it. Even if you find any little knowledge that you can get, you try to learn from it. Be humble.

Prophet Musa (peace be upon him), when he was asked - the reason for his trip to start with was, what did he say? He said, they asked him, one of Bani Israel asked him: "Who is the most knowledgeable person on earth?"

Prophet Musa (peace be upon him), instead of saying, returning, going back to Allah (glory be to Him) with every question concerning that, he said, "You know I am." It's true that he's very knowledgeable, but that's not tawadu. That's not humbleness. He said, "Well I am, who else? Is there anybody else?"

So Allah (glory be to Him) told him: "No, you go, I want you to go to such and such a place, and then you'll find a servant of mine. Just go there."

And then when he went there, another lesson in times of trials and tribulations is what? In times of difficulties and trials and tribulations, appearance and reality are not always the same. Something that might appear to be correct might not be correct. Something that appears to be truthful might not be truthful. That might not be the reality. Appearance and reality are total opposites. But you have, how do you look past that?

The Incident with the Boat

What's the first thing that happened? Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) came with Khidr, and he followed him, went to learn from him. Said, "You know you won't be able to be patient," but you know he went anyways. He said, "You know, no I won't, just let me go follow you."

So he went, and what's the first thing that he did? They get on a ship, boat, and the people know Khidr, so they let him go for free. It's like they're riding without paying, and they bring him across. After they bring him to their place, what does he do? He scuttles. He makes a hole in their boat. It's like, man, he just, it just blew his mind away. Musa (peace be upon him) couldn't understand it.

It's like this, it's like you want to go to the masjid, right? You want to go to the masjid, and you're with your buddy. Like your buddy is right next to you, right? And you have another brother who you know. He's a taxi driver. And he sees that you're planning to go to the masjid. You know, you're planning to go to the masjid, but you don't have a car, and you're taking the bus. You're about to take the bus, right?

So he sees that. He says, "No, why don't you get in? I'm going to the masjid anyways." And so because he's your friend, he's going to the masjid. Of course, he doesn't charge you. So you get in the car, you get in the, on the taxi, in the taxi for free. You get into the masjid, and then your buddy next to you starts slashing his tires.

What are you going to say to this guy? What's going on? What just happened? Man, are you crazy or what? He just gave us a ride to the masjid, and you're going to slash his tires? What's wrong with you? And what would you do? This is exactly the same thing. Would you be quiet? Would you just like, okay, I'll be patient? Don't think that Musa was not patient, but this is something very difficult. You have to understand.

So he's seeing something like, this is a pious guy, you know. Somebody's going to the masjid with you. Somebody who prays five times a day, prays the sunnahs even. He's a very good brother. How could he do such a thing? How could he do such a thing? Prophet Musa (peace be upon him) couldn't understand it. That's why he couldn't, couldn't hold back. He couldn't, he's patient inshallah, you know. But that was just too much for him to handle. It's too much.

And so, what's the lesson here? But what is it? What happened in the end? Why did he scuttle the boat? Why did he make holes in the boat? Because there's a king who's taking these boats. And these people were poor. If they would have gone back to the ocean to fish or do whatever they needed with the boat to make a living, they would have lost the whole boat. But it's better for them to stay here today and fix this hole so that they wouldn't

go. At least they'll save their boat and they have their means of livelihood still. But Musa (peace be upon him) didn't understand that.

Understanding Appearance versus Reality

So in times of trials and tribulations, Allah is trying to teach us, you know what? Reality and appearance might not be the same. Like you might think something is bad, but it's good. You might think something is good, but it's actually bad. You might think this person is really bad. Dang, that guy is evil. Man, but he might be the opposite. And you might think, well, the media is telling you this guy is really good. He is trying to bring peace to the world, right? But you know what? He's the one that's causing all the problems. Maybe. Perception and reality might not be the same. You read Surah al-Kahf and learn from these lessons. These are just a little bit.

And the last lesson is the fitnah. So, what do you do? You get it from here? What do we learn from this? We learn this and also learn to be patient with knowledge. Seek knowledge and be humble in seeking knowledge.

The Fourth Trial: Authority and Oppression

And the fourth fitnah, and we'll go quickly through it because I know we're running out of time, is the fitnah of sultah - authorities and oppression. Oppression. From those who have power. People who use power, they use power incorrectly to oppress. So, what do you do? How do you get away from all of that? How do you free yourself from all that?

Allah (glory be to Him), after mentioning, if we only had time to mention more about the story of Dhul Qarnayn, it's very beneficial, but inshallah. Read it yourself and try to reflect upon some of these stories. How do you get away from this?

Allah (glory be to Him) says at the end of the story:

"Say, would you like us to tell you of the most, the greatest of loss in terms of deeds and actions that are done?" (Quran 18:103)

"Those who think that they're doing good, but in actual fact, they're not." (Quran 18:104)

Different reasons. Maybe it's because of lack of sincerity.

The Importance of Sincerity and Connection with Allah

So, sincerity is very important. Be sincere, Allah (glory be to Him) will help you and strengthen your connection with Allah. You have to strengthen your connection with all the times of trials and tribulations. Don't ever leave Salat al-Tahajjud, at night time. These are the times in which you need to be strong. You need to

strengthen your connection. You need to help from Allah (glory be to Him) more than ever. And so, it's ikhlas and think about the hereafter and doing good deeds and doing it correctly.

That's why Allah (glory be to Him) towards at the end of the surah, Allah (glory be to Him) says:

"Say, O Muhammad, indeed I am but a man, just like you, that's revealed to me, that there's no God except for the one. And whoever wants to meet Allah (glory be to Him), then let him do righteous deeds." (Quran 18:110)

What are righteous deeds? Deeds that are correct according to the Quran and Sunnah, and also sincere. وَلَا يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًا - "So sincerity is very important in these times."

Because when you're sincere, Allah (glory be to Him) will help you, and He will strengthen you.

Conclusion: Reading Surah Al-Kahf Weekly

So, these are just some of the lessons, just for just going over it. But, there shouldn't be any Friday, any week that should pass by, except that you read this surah. And if you haven't, if you have not memorized the first ten and the last ten, then start doing so right now. Because the trials and tribulations will be coming. Because the Prophet (peace be upon him) said, there's not a single year that comes except for the year that was before was better, or the year that comes after is worse, in another narration.

And so, we ask Allah (glory be to Him) to save us from the fitnah. We don't want the fitnah, we always ask for a'afiyah. That's why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said:

"Don't say, I want to see the Dajjal. I'll take it, don't, don't." (Sahih al-Bukhari 3024)

"So, don't ask - ask Allah to get free from all these problems, fitnah, ask Allah, supplicate to Allah. Don't want these things, don't want trials and tribulations, don't look for it. Don't seek problems, don't look for trials and tribulations. But if it comes, ask Allah (glory be to Him), not to test you, but when it comes, then be firm. When it comes, then be firm." (Sahih al-Bukhari 3024)

We ask Allah (glory be to Him) to keep us firm, and we ask Allah (glory be to Him) to benefit us from what we have learned, and also to teach us that which benefits us.

وَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَى نَبِيِّنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِهِ وَصَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِينَ وَجَزَاكُمُ اللَّهُ خَيْرًا