Beware of the Panting Dog
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-09T14:04:31.504975+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Beware of the Panting Dog - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Supplication
"[All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and the [best] outcome is for the righteous. And there is no aggression except against the oppressors. And I testify that there is no deity except Allah alone, without partners, and I testify that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger. O Allah, make us among those who believe and do righteous deeds and advise each other to truth and advise each other to patience. O Allah, make us firm at the time of death with the statement, "There is no deity except Allah." My Lord, expand for me my breast [with assurance] and ease for me my task and untie the knot from my tongue that they may understand my speech.]"
Allah's Method of Explaining His Signs
Towards the latter half of the surah that He Himself explains the ayat. You know, Allah oftentimes says that He reveals the ayat, but sometimes He also says things like
"- That is how we ourselves explain the signs." Al-Ayat is not just a reference to revelation, it's also a reference to reality. Allah explains everything around you, and every time He explains something there's a purpose. And so the purpose mentioned in this particular ayah is peculiar, He says
"- "So that they can come back."
The Purpose Behind Divine Explanations
What Allah is about to talk about now, He's going to explain some phenomenon, and the purpose of explaining it is to talk to people that have gone far away from Allah, and to bring them back. That's the purpose of it, and so He says
"- "So that they may return."
The Universal Nature of Quranic Stories
He says this peculiar story, oftentimes in the Quran Allah will tell a story, but He will not tell us the name of the characters. He will not tell us the details, He will not tell us the geographic location, or the dates, or the intricate history involved. In order for us to understand the full picture, it's very different from any book of history. As a matter of fact, the language here is so general it could apply to anybody. And yet Allah (جَلَّ وَعَزَّ) makes it very specific at the same time and says
"- "Recite to them the news of the one to whom we had given our miracles."
The Unlettered Prophet and Divine Knowledge
Now who in the world is this person to whom Allah gave His miracles? The first thing to note here is the word وَاتْلُ. Rasulullah (صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ) was sent to the unlettered people, the Meccans. And he himself is (النَّبِيِّ الْأُمِّيِّ) - the unlettered prophet. And so ulamaa comment, how is he reading on to them? The idea was this story and other stories like it, when Allah mentions the word وَاتْلُ He's actually telling the people of Mecca and by extension all of us that He's going to educate us with something that we had no idea of before.
The Living Nature of Quranic Teachings
And something that must be repeated over and over again because its relevance will be renewed. It's not just a story of old times, it's something that applies to you and me now. It's a living text, it's a living account. And that's why keeping it general is important. I told you Allah doesn't mention the specific names of the characters involved in this account. This person that Allah is going to talk about. Why? Because it's an archetype, what that means is it could be any one of you, it could be me. It could be our own story. Pay attention to it and see if it applies to you, I pay attention to it and I see if it applies to me.
The Gift of Divine Guidance
(الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا) - "Those to whom we had given our ayaat, our revelations." In other words, this is a person who was given by Allah access to his guidance. Some scholar who has been studying the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet (ﷺ) and the history of our deen and the divine law, the shari'ah for 50 years has been given the ayaat of Allah. But also someone who was sitting in a public library and opened up a translation of the Quran and read a couple of pages and became a Muslim, he's also been given the ayaat.
Universal Application of the Message
So Allah does not qualify here that he's talking about someone at a very high caliber of scholarship as opposed to someone who just knows a little bit about Islam. It's everybody and everybody, because Allah has given some to every one of us. As a matter of fact, especially the people sitting here listening to the Jumu'ah prayer, you have all, including myself, been given ayaat of Allah. At one level or another, it applies to all of us (الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا) Because even if you know just a little bit about the Quran, little bit about Allah's guidance, even if you just know like the first words of the Fatiha or all you know is (بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ) that is still from the ayaat of Allah. That is still something Allah gave you.
The Tragedy of Slithering Away from Faith
So the favor of Allah, the imtinaan of Allah in this ayah is established on everybody listening. It's not talking about someone that is distant from you or me (الَّذِي آتَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا) But then he describes the problem, the news of this person. Let me tell you about the account of this person who we had given our guidance to, our revelations to. We taught him something about this faith. Allah himself says he is the one who facilitated that learning. And then he says
The Metaphor of Shedding Skin
They say in Arabic that the word (انْسَلَخَ) is when an animal sheds a skin. Like a popular example would be a snake. Snakes shed their skin. And so only the foreskin is left behind. Like especially larger snakes, they do that a lot. And you have just the foreskin left. Now, even though that's the image of a snake, Allah wasn't talking about a snake. Allah was talking about a person who Allah taught religion to. Allah taught them something about his deen. He gave him some ayat. So what does that have to do with a snake leaving its skin?
The Hollow Shell of Faith
Allah is actually painting the picture of a person who kept the religion on the outside but slithered out of it from the inside. He removed it from the inside. So the religion was only something they wore, almost like a disguise. It didn't really impact them on the inside. Even if they were doing the practices of the religion like prayer, or eating halal, or saying salam, or dressing a certain way, that was all on the outside. But the inside had already left. There was no soul left in this person that is attached to the faith. It's just this artificial expression of the religion. It's like the shell without the egg, that kind of thing.
The Terrifying Image of Spiritual Emptiness
So Allah says, I want you to hear the news about someone who we gave access to our religion. They learned about our faith. And yet they just kept it on the outside and they slithered out of it. They slipped out of it. So it gives the impression that they're there in Islam, that they're sincere, they're practicing, they're learning, etc. But on the inside there's nothing left. What a terrifying image.
The Universal Nature of Spiritual Decline
Now let's talk about that at multiple levels. This could happen, like I told you in the beginning, it could happen to somebody who just knows this little about Islam. And this could also apply to someone who spent their entire life studying the religion. People that are very minimally knowledgeable of the faith and people that are even scholars of the faith. It could happen that at one point or another, and by the way, they say to distance oneself, they lose touch with what Allah had given them.
The Need for Continuous Connection
If a person loses touch with what Allah has given you, with the revelation that Allah has given you, no matter how much knowledge you and I acquired in our life, no matter how much you've read or studied, or worshipped, the nature of this religion, the nature of this revelation is that you cannot just have it and hold on to it without any effort. You can't say, I read the entire Quran two years ago and now I know what it says, it's good enough. You can't.
Divine Commands for Continuous Engagement
Allah says to the Israelites
"- "Hold on to what we've given you with great strength and keep remembering what's in it." And in another place he says وَاسْمَعُوا - "Keep listening, keep on listening." You have to put yourself in an environment where you're not just giving advice but also taking advice. You're not just, I already know this stuff. You have to review this stuff. You have to reconnect yourself with the religion over and over again.
The Danger of External Practice Without Internal Connection
Otherwise, from the outside you're still knowledgeable. From the outside you can still quote the ayat. From the outside you still seem like you're practicing. But from the inside your heart has been separated from the word of Allah, from the ayat that you were given. And so he says فَانْسَلَخَ مِنْهَا - he basically internally, emotionally, spiritually distanced himself from the revelation. So the outside is different now from the inside.
Shaytan's Immediate Pursuit
And when that happens
"- "Shaytan immediately got behind him and started pursuing him wholeheartedly." Now the idea of تبع in Arabic (تَبِعَ) means to follow someone. But when you say (أتْبَعَ) it actually becomes a kind of مُبَالَغَة - he followed him 100%. Like there was not a second that Shaytan would leave him alone.
Shaytan's Strategic Focus
We're learning something very interesting about Shaytan now. We're learning that the people who come towards Allah, who Allah gives guidance to, when they start slipping, Shaytan seizes the opportunity and he gets on your case. Like you become his main project. He drops every other distraction. He's on you فَأَتْبَعَهُ الشَّيْطَانُ. And so Shaytan will constantly poke at him. And now of course Shaytan is gonna give him suggestions that conflict with, that are the exact opposite of the ayat that Allah had given him.
The Corruption of Divine Guidance
Allah had taught this person, a man or a woman, the difference between right and wrong, the difference between being courteous and caring and honest and generous and between being selfish and self-righteous and deluded. All of these things. But Shaytan will come and take what he wants you to follow and he'll start making the revelation something distant from this person. And disobedience to Allah starts becoming beautified
"- "Shaytan beautified their deeds to them."
Going Astray Despite Knowledge
And so as he starts doing that, what does Allah say?
"- "Then he became from those who've gone off course." غاوين in Arabic is when someone was going on the right course and they took a turn and they just went off the wrong course. غاوين - you took the wrong exit on the highway and you can't even get back on the highway. That's غاوين.
The Shocking Reality of Spiritual Decline
Allah is describing a very scary phenomenon here. Shaytan's project in this story, in this account, is not people that have forgotten about Allah, that don't believe in Allah. He's not talking about those people. He's talking about good people who have the ayat of Allah and somehow they started slipping away, distancing themselves. And then Shaytan got them good. And when Shaytan is completely on your case, he will make you do things even other people that are not even religious they don't even do such things. And here's this person who's a person of faith, he's a person of religion, and he can stoop down to those levels. He can do things that weren't even expected of a non-Muslim. He can fall to those levels
"- "The lowest of the low."
The Missed Opportunity for Elevation
And so as the ayat, as the story goes on of this person who slipped out of the ayat and Shaytan got on his case, Allah mentions the tragedy. He says
"- "Had we wanted, we would have raised him because of the knowledge we had given him, because of the ayat that we had given him بها - because of them."
The Purpose of Divine Revelation
So Allah is saying that the ayat that Allah gave you, the point of them was to lift you up. The idea of lifting up is actually part of Quran's imagery. Other places in the Quran like Surah An-Nur, Allah will describe three kinds of creatures on the earth. There are those like human beings - like the human being stands up straight. He stands up straight. And then there is those who walk on four legs (يَمْشِي عَلَى أَرْبَعِ) - animals that walk on four legs. (وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَمْشِي عَلَى بَطْنِهِ)
"- "Those who walk on their belly" like a snake.
The Hierarchy of Creation
Now here you see already there's already an image of a snake mentioned. And the snake is closest to the ground. And a human being, as far as his face, his eyes, his body is furthest from the ground. The only thing touching the ground for us is our feet. Other animals, the ones that walk on their fours, they're constantly looking down. You notice because of the way their bodies are designed, they're constantly focused towards the earth. So the lowest of the animals is the snake.
The Human Potential for Elevation
And Allah is now describing had we wanted he could have been a human being standing up straight (لَرَفَعْنَاهُ بِهَا). Like Allah created the human being. And by the way, when human beings look up, they look
up at the sky. They have higher goals. We aspire to things that come from the heavens as opposed to like animals whose only pursuits are on the earth. They only look down. They're not looking up. They don't look forward.
"How can someone who just has his face buried into the ground be more guided than one who walks upright on a straight path?" This is the imagery of the Quran in these ayahs.
The Progressive Nature of Spiritual Growth
So he says had we wanted we could have elevated him. In other words, we could have made him even better and better and better. You know a little bit, you don't know much about the deen, you know just a little bit. But because of that little you know, Allah could have raised you to the next level. And then from there to the next level. And then from there to the next level. It's okay if you didn't compare to the imam or you didn't compare to the greatest scholars or the greatest worshippers. You yourself were on a trajectory to become better and better and better because of what little Allah had started you off with, what guidance Allah had given you.
The Fatal Turn Toward Worldliness
"However he became completely inclined towards the earth." أَخْلَدَ comes from the word خلود. Actually here interestingly it's the word إخلاد which is to make something permanent, not to be permanent but to make something permanent. أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ - meaning he made his entire همه, he made his entire ھواہ, he made his entire نفسه, all that he wanted, everything he ever wanted now became something having to do with this earth.
The Tragedy of Misplaced Priorities
Now this is a person who knows about Jannah. He knows about meeting with Allah. He knows about Judgment Day. And yet as they distance themselves, the only thing they think about, the only thing they love, the only thing that becomes their priority are things they can get in this world. Whatever desires they have of money, of wealth, of fame, of lust, that's all they can think about. They can't think about anything else or control. There's no concern about when they're going to stand in front of Allah.
What a tragedy that a person who would have revelation, who would know they should have better priorities in life, all they can think about is this now أَخْلَدَ إِلَى الْأَرْضِ
The Metaphor of the Panting Dog
And so as Allah concludes this parable, he says
"How can this person be described?" This person that first of all is acting like a snake. And now Allah is going to give even a worse example. He says
"His example is something like a dog." Like the dog.
That's already offensive as it is because a dog is one of the creatures that can on the one hand have loyalty. But Allah is going to describe - he's talking actually about a rabid dog or like a stray dog. We're going to see that from the language itself.
Comparison to Other Animal Metaphors
Now this dog that Allah describes - and you know in the Quran you get other examples of people and they're compared to animals. Like the Israelites who didn't do right by their book, they were compared to mules
- they were compared to mules. But this person, even worse, they're being compared to the dog.
The Constant Panting Regardless of Circumstances
And what does he say about this dog? He says
- "If you were to put something on this dog, if you were to burden this dog with something, tie this dog to a load and he has to drag the load, the dog is made to do work of some kind, carry something يَلْهَثْ - he's going to start panting."
They say يَلْهَثْ means breathing heavy and sticking your tongue out, literally panting. That's what the dog does when an animal sticks its tongue out and it's panting heavy. It actually means that it's exhausted.
- "And if you were to leave it alone, it'll start panting. It'll keep panting anyway. It'll stick its tongue out and drool anyway."
The Deeper Meaning of Spiritual Unrest
What in the world does that mean? What does that have to do with you and me and a person who had guidance that Allah gives this strange, strange image of a dog that is being made to do a lot of work and it's panting, or if it's left alone it's still panting? The idea of of panting, is actually a kind of disturbance. A creature, a human being, any animal doesn't pant until they're disturbed, overwhelmed, bothered, unsatisfied, thirsty. This is the image of someone that's unsatiated, unfulfilled.
Religious Discomfort
And so our ulema commented exhaustively on this. The use of the word حمل to load onto it, to put a responsibility on it, is used in the Quran for revelation. This person becomes like a dog when they hear about the religion now, they start getting bothered. Like, this is a religious person. This is a person who knows about the deen. But since they've shed away from it, now even when they hear a reminder about what's right and wrong in their faith, internally they don't like it anymore. They're bothered by it. They're disturbed. They can't even find peace in prayer, in the gatherings of Muslims, in learning. They can't. And so they want to get away from this company and they want to slither away to some dark company, some bad environment.
The Futility of Seeking Worldly Satisfaction
But when they go there, of course, they're still disturbed. They were hoping they could leave this place and find peace somewhere else. They don't find peace. Others have said this has to do with their unsatiated thirst. Like when they become worldly, then Allah جل وعز makes their thirst for the world unending. Shaytan got behind them. They allowed shaytan to get behind them. And now basically shaytan makes them want to consume and consume and consume even if there's no more to consume.
Examples of Obsessive Behavior
What in the world does that mean? It actually means a person who's - for example, they get obsessed with money. They get obsessed with desire, with lust. They get obsessed with food. They get obsessed with stuff. They're thinking about food when they're hungry. They're thinking about food when they're not hungry. That's all they can think about. They're throwing up from lunch and they're worried about where am I going to have dinner? And they get obsessed with stuff. They're buried under debt and they're thinking about what can I buy from my credit card now? What more can I get?
The Compulsive Nature of Sin
People become indulged in unhealthy things and they can't stop themselves. Like a dog can't stop itself from panting, whether there's a reason to or not, whether there's a need or not, whether it's justified or not.
The Final Verdict
And so as this hideous image is brought to a close, Allah Azzawajal says
- "That is the example of people who called or who considered our miracles a lie."
The phrase الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا in the Quran is used for disbelievers, not believers. And here in this ayah it's actually started off talking about someone who actually believed and then says these people at this point, they are no different as far as Allah is concerned than disbelievers.
The Point of Revelation
What's the point? You were given this revelation so you could live like a human being, not like an animal, not like you have an impulse and you follow it. If you couldn't do that, if you couldn't live up to that, then what's the point? How are you any different than anybody else? Just pretending to abide by revelation, to have reverence for the book of Allah on the outside and not abiding by any of its teaching on the inside الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا
The Call for Deep Reflection
And so I'm just baffled by how Allah Azzawajal concludes this ayah
- "Tell multiple stories so they can think." That's how Allah ends. Tell multiple القصص - the plural. In other words, this phenomenon is not one phenomenon. It's gonna happen over and over and over again. There are going to be people around you that used to be religious and then just disappeared, from just secretly not abiding by the religion to outright just not even abiding by it at all. There are going to be stories like this that are gonna happen all around you. Think about them لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ - "So they can think deeply."
Self-Reflection Required
Think deeply - am I heading down this path? Why does a person have to think deeply? Every time in Quran Allah asks you to think deeply, it's actually about yourself. Look up the word تَفَكَّر in the Quran. Every time it's actually about yourself. Somehow it comes back to you. When this ayah ends, instead of you and I thinking about some other horror story of somebody else, Allah is saying tell them those stories so they're not the next horror story. So they're not the next ones to fall down these traps.
Historical Examples
Among those who cited how this ayah applies, I'll leave you with this thought. There are people who Allah has made the study of the religion easy. Like this is even the stories of people at the time of Rasulullah. People who learned the Bible, learned Arabs who learned Hebrew, studied religion, became more convinced of the idea of one God. They were okay with all of that. But they weren't so sure about Muhammad Rasulullah.
The Test of Commitment
And they came and they said, you know (أسلمت بالحنيفية - "I'm okay with this one God concept. I like this concept. I don't like shirk either. But I'm not so sure about you. I'm not so sure if you're a messenger.") They would say to the Prophet (عليه الصلاة والسلام). And Rasulullah would challenge them and show them guidance and give them the proofs. And those people, it would become clear later on that their study and their infatuation and their interest in the concept of religion was something else, and their personal insides were something else.
The Prophet's Insight
And Rasulullah had the foresight, the insight actually, to catch it and say what you have on your tongue is not what you have in your heart. They're two different things. And they became some of the worst enemies of Islam.
Contemporary Examples
There are people to this day who slither out of the teachings. Like when I was doing some Islamic studies at a university, we had professors, non-Muslim professors, that are like - they've studied the Quran for decades. I mean they're very, very knowledgeable in Quran. And they're even as willing to go as far as to say it can only be divine. It can only be from God. It's not even human. You went that far. That's practically saying you're Muslim.
So I would just come out and say, so what's keeping you? "Well it's remarkable really, but it's a... it's something to consider, isn't it?" That's it. You can't take the next step. You can't do it because you've been given so many ayaat but you just don't want to make the commitment because it requires change. Because if you accept this, then you're going to have to make changes.
The Real Reason for Resistance
Allah says that's the real reason. People just want to keep doing whatever they feel like doing. That's the real reason. They just have some stuff in front of them and they want to be impulsive and do it and not think about the consequences. When you accept this religion, every time you say something, every time you do something, every time you're about to take an action, every time you're about to make a transaction, you're going to think about the consequences. You're going to stop yourself. He stopped himself from following whatever thought came in his mind. That's one of the things that this religion does. They don't want to do that.
The Danger of Superficial Engagement
They can find the religion interesting. They can study it, they can learn it. They can quote a lot about it. They can be fascinated by its learning. But that's it. And unfortunately that becomes the case of some people, even the regular Muslims. They love recitation of Quran. They love it. They love listening to talks. Have you heard this one's speeches? Have you heard that one's speeches? I downloaded all of them. You love listening to stuff. You love quoting stuff. You love collecting books. But living by that stuff? Let's just do inshallah. Let's just shut out of that. And keep our priorities no different than the priorities who don't have iman.
Closing Supplication
May Allah azza wa jal make us of those who aren't just artificially committed to our faith but from the outside and the inside we are wholly giving ourselves up before Allah. May Allah azza wa jal overlook our shortcomings and not make us of those who shaytan has gotten behind and we're not able to seek protection from him. May Allah protect us from the waswasah of shaytan. And I ask Allah azza wa jal that especially our young, our old, our men, our women, our children, that they are all given a genuine, a genuine love of the deen of Allah, the book of Allah, and a sense of appreciation for the revelation that has been gifted to every single one of us. That we hold on to it for dear life.
اللَّهُمَّ بَارِكْ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَعَلَى آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ كَمَا بَارَكْتَ عَلَى آلِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ إِنَّكَ حَمِيدٌ مَجِيدٌ
Final Verse and Call to Prayer
"Indeed, Allah orders justice and good conduct and giving to relatives and forbids immorality and bad conduct and oppression. He admonishes you that perhaps you will be reminded."
وَذِكْرُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَصْنَعُونَ
"Recite, [O Muhammad], what has been revealed to you of the Book and establish salah. Indeed, salah prohibits immorality and wrongdoing, and the remembrance of Allah is greater. And Allah knows that which you do."
"Indeed, salah has been decreed upon the believers a decree of specified times."