Fight the Qaroon Inside
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-08T17:32:46.668462+00:00 | Topic: Iman
Fight the Qaroon Inside - Khutbah by Nouman Ali Khan
Opening Praise and Declaration of Faith
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ، الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ خَالِقِ الْوُجُودِ مِنَ الْعَدَمِ وَجَاعِلِ النُّورِ مِنَ الظَّلَامِ وَمُخْرِجِ الصَّبْرِ مِنَ الْأَلَمِ فَمُلْقِي التَّوْبَاتِ عَلَى النَّدَمِ فَنَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى الْمَصَائِبِ كَمَا نَشْكُرُهُ عَلَى النِّعَمِ وَنُصَلِّي عَلَى رَسُولِهِ الْأَكْرَمِ ذِي الشَّرَفِ الْأَسَامِ وَالنُّورِ الْأَتَمِّ وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُحْكَمِ وَخَاتَمِ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالْكَاتِمِ سَيِّدِ وَلَدِ آدَمَ الَّذِي بُشِّرَ بِهِ عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ وَدَعَا لِبِعْثَتِهِ إِبْرَاهِيمُ عَلَيْهِ السَّلَامُ حِينَ كَانَ يَرْفَعُ قَوَاعِدَ بَيْتِ اللَّهِ الْمُحَرَّمِ فَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَعَلَى أَتْبَاعِهِ خَيْرِ الْأُمَمِ الَّذِينَ بَرَكَ اللَّهُ بِهِمْ كَافَّةَ النَّاسِ الْعَرَبِ مِنْهُمْ وَالْعَجَمِ
الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ وَلَدًا وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ شَرِيكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ وَلِيٌّ مِنَ الذُّلِّ وَكَبِّرْهُ تَكْبِيرًا وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي أَنْزَلَ عَلَى عَبْدِهِ الْكِتَابَ وَلَمْ يَجْعَلْ لَهُ عِوَجًا وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي نَحْمَدُهُ وَنَسْتَعِينُهُ وَنَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَنُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَنَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ وَنَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ شُرُورِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَمِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِنَا مَنْ يَهْدِهِ اللَّهُ فَلَا مُضِلَّ لَهُ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلَا هَادِيَ لَهُ
وَنَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيكَ لَهُ وَنَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولُهُ أَرْسَلَهُ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى بِالْهُدَى وَدِينِ الْحَقِّ لِيُظْهِرَهُ عَلَى الدِّينِ كُلِّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيدًا فَصَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ تَسْلِيمًا كَثِيرًا كَثِيرًا
أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَإِنَّ أَصْدَقَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَابُ اللَّهِ وَخَيْرَ الْهَدْيِ هَدْيُ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَإِنَّ شَرَّ الْأُمُورِ مُحْدَثَاتُهَا وَإِنَّ كُلَّ مُحْدَثَةٍ بِدْعَةٌ وَكُلَّ بِدْعَةٍ ضَلَالَةٌ وَكُلَّ ضَلَالَةٍ فِي النَّارِ
Recitation from the Quran
: قَالَ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ فِي كِتَابِهِ الْكَرِيمِ بَعْدَ أَنْ أَعُوذَ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
"Indeed, Qarun was from the people of Moses, but he tyrannized them. And We gave him of treasures so much that its keys would burden a company of strong men; when his people said to him, "Do not exult. Indeed, Allah does not like the exultant. But seek, through that which Allah has given you, the home of the Hereafter; and [yet], do not forget your share of the world. And do good as Allah has done good to you. And desire not corruption in the land. Indeed, Allah does not like corrupters."
وَرَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِّن لِّسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي اللهم ثبتنا عند الموت بلا إله إلا الله واللهم اجعلنا من الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات وتواصوا بالحق وتواصوا بالصبر آمین یا رب العالمین
Introduction to Qaroon
The Quran mentions a number of individuals, some of them are talked about more, some of them not as much. One of the people that is talked about from the nation of Musa (peace be upon him) is a man named Qaroon.
I've given khutbas about Qaroon before, but as I revisited these ayat, I realized that there are a lot of things to be discovered here and a lot of things that are worthy of being highlighted that I can benefit from myself. And as a result (فَذَكِّرْ إِن نَّفَعَتِ الذِّكْرَى - So remind, if the reminder benefits) (Quran 87:9). And so my intention is to hopefully benefit myself and insha'Allah in that process benefit all of you as well.
Qaroon's Background and Historical Context
In this series of reminders, I'm gonna try to stay on the subject of Qaroon, this individual. I'll tell you some things about him today and then start off and hopefully over the next few weeks continue talking about this person and what Allah teaches us about him.
First thing you should know about him is he's related to Musa (peace be upon him). So he's from Bani Israel. Some even call him a cousin or distant relative of Musa (peace be upon him). And when the Israelites are living under captivity, meaning the Israelites, the children of Israel are slaves of the Egyptian empire, of the pharaoh, because the Israelites were a very large population and they were the Muslims of that time and they lived in these ghettos, right? They were kept in these camps. So they could only stay there where the workers were kept as slaves.
Qaroon's Role as an Informant
And the only time they got out is to do work on the big city and then they'd go back into their encampments. Well, because their population was so big and it was constantly getting bigger, they were having children, there was a fear that they might start uniting and maybe planning a revolt against their masters. Because how long can you keep people slaves? Eventually they're gonna organize and wanna develop or fight for their own freedom.
So one of the ways the pharaoh wanted to keep them under control is he had some people within the Israelites that were from that community but he basically paid them off to spy on their own people. Okay, so everybody in the Israelites is a slave, nobody's making any money, but Qaroon apparently has a lot of treasure.
(إِنَّ قَارُونَ كَانَ مِن قَوْمِ مُوسَىٰ فَبَغَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ - The Quran introduces him as no doubt Qaroon was from the) nation, the people of Musa, meaning he was one of the slaves among Israelites (Quran 28:76).
But he was a criminal against them. The point of that is he was actually spying for the government of the pharaoh and he was informing who's doing what to keep tabs from the inside. Nowadays people have like security cameras, some people act as security cameras.
Modern Parallels
And there are lots of oppressive regimes in the world today that have that. They have people planted to keep track. The Muslim community is no different, especially in the United States, other parts of the world. There are people that are planted in masajid and things like that to keep an eye on us and whatever, because they're suspicious of us.
There's one time I remember, many years ago, this was a couple of years after 9-11, I was in a masjid in New York and we were making salah and this guy next to me, he made rukuh and his government ID fell
out of his pocket. And it was one of the authority's ID. And when we went to sajdah, you know, I'm sorry, my peripheral vision, I can't help it. So you're in salah, I messed up my salah because I was like, oh, three letters.
Anyway, so, but by the time we get up from sajdah, the ID has gone back in the pocket somehow. So the sajdah was a good maneuver for him to, you know, but then after the salah was done, he looked at me and he said, "Assalamu'alaikum brother," but I didn't say anything about you yet. So he just, it was straight up about it.
So there is such a thing, right? There is such a thing as, you know, people that work for another entity and they have to be planted to keep tabs or whatever. I don't want you to be paranoid. We have nothing to hide. We have absolutely nothing to hide. So it's fine.
Qaroon's Wealth and Status
But Qaroon's role was to do this and the government paid him good money to do it. The pharaoh paid him good money to do it. And as a result of that, everybody lives in the ghetto and he's got a mansion. And nobody's got even like clothes to wear. And he's got horses and he's got servants and an entourage.
And he's walking through this busted old neighborhood and people are like, "Whoa, look at him. Look at everything he's got. He's so rich." And so he sticks out like a sore thumb.
You know, in Texas you have this phenomenon. Other places where I used to live in New York, we don't have this phenomenon. In Texas you sometimes have old neighborhoods with old dilapidated homes. And somebody decides he's gonna demolish a home and build like a monster in the middle. And so you got these homes that are worth like $80,000 and all of a sudden a half a million, $700,000 old mansion in the middle of that and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
That's basically what Qaroon was. But he made a lot of that wealth because he was selling out his own people. (فَبَغَى عَلَيْهِمْ - Then Allah described he made so much money that he had to hire servants to carry) the... He had multiple vaults (Quran 28:76).
The Immensity of Qaroon's Wealth
He didn't just have one safe. He had vaults. And the vaults had such big doors that he had to hire strong men to carry the log that used to serve as the lock for the vault. To carry it and throw it over so he can open the vault so he can see his treasure.
(لَتَنُوءُ بِالْعُصْبَةِ أُولِي الْقُوَّةِ - A group that was mighty would be exhausted just opening his treasure vaults) (Quran 28:76). That's what the Quran describes.
The Timeless Advice Given to Qaroon
So this person, Allah, not only does he describe this sellout but it's really important what Allah teaches us about him. I don't want to mislead you. The series of these khutbahs are not gonna be about sellouts. They're going to be about the advice that is so timeless that Allah gave that some people who meant well for him and they gave him some advice. And Allah saw it fit that until the day of judgment we should be reciting this advice. We should be reciting this advice.
Which means this is timeless advice. This individual, this story is not about one person. This is a story about a kind of person. A type of person. And it's not even what he was doing with the pharaoh and all of that. It's actually what's going on in his head. Why is he the way that he is?
First Advice: Don't Live for Temporary Highs
His people tell him something very strange. The first bit of advice they give him is: (لَا تَفْرَحْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَرحِينَ - His people who meant well for him, the translation says, don't be happy. Allah doesn't love) those who are happy (Quran 28:76).
That sounds really bad. Because if somebody's happy and you're like, Allah doesn't like that. Here's the ayah: (لَا تَفْرَحْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْفَرِحِينَ - Don't be happy. Allah doesn't love those who get happy). This is a misunderstanding of the ayah.
So let's understand what farha means or farhan means. Actually this word in Arabic means to be overjoyed with laughter. Or to be overly excited and overly entertained. And the point is when people have a lot of money, their life is one exciting activity or an event to the next one, to the next one. Hey, we're gonna go to the beach this weekend. There's a wedding next weekend. There's a party this weekend. There's this tomorrow. There's this movie coming up. There's this. And every time, "Oh, that was awesome. And that that was awesome."
That's actually (لا تَفْرَخ Meaning, you're just looking for one high, to the next high, to the next high, to the) next... That's your whole life.
The Cycle of Empty Entertainment
Some people, mashallah, their whole life is one party, to the next party, to the next party. One dinner, one potluck, to the next one, to the next one, to the next one. They can't even take a breath in between. And they're just going from one thing to the next, to the next.
Some people, it's movies for them. Some people, it's sporting events for them. And they're fanatical fans. So these kinds of things, just one crazy experience to the next one, to the next one, to the next one. And that's all that life becomes. Every free moment you have is just looking for that exciting high.
And that, the first advice they give him is, life is more than these highs. How many weddings you're gonna attend before you realize it's the same thing? You know, people are like making videos and
picturing and picturing and they look exactly the same. They don't look any different.
They're still the same mind-thumping, you know, sounds in the background. Nobody can hear anybody talk. Everybody's staring at everybody else. Everybody's getting in line, eating the same food. And then, all meaningless conversation. And then you come back next weekend, same thing, next weekend, same thing, next weekend, same thing.
The Facade of Social Media Happiness
And just, you know, keep posting pictures of how happy you look. And it's all fake anyway. How many filters you have to go through? You know. And people are fighting on their way to go to weddings or arguing with each other when they're going to a party. But wait for the picture, they gotta look all happy. And then post it having a great time while they're miserable.
While they're utterly miserable. And they have to fake with each other. And so, like this idea of showing people how happy you are, how great your life is, how wonderful you look. Right? This facade you have to put up. And, you know, people have to put up. There's no point in putting up a facade.
Why are you looking for this next high and showing people, you know, why do you have to show it? (فخرج عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ فِي زِينَتِهِ is coming later on. He came out in front of his people, all decked out) (Quran 28:79).
He was trying to look real good in front of them.
Like his ride, his, you know, entourage, the look and feel. And he wants to show to people, look, look what I'm, look at the kind of fun I'm having. Look at the kind of life I'm enjoying.
Modern Day Qaroons
And guess what? The ummah is now flooded with many Qaroons who are just living from one moment to the next seeing what can they post on social media to show the world how epic their life is. So they can come out to their qawm and their zina. (فَخَرَجَ عَلَىٰ قَوْمِهِ فِي زِينَتِهِ And why? And what did people see) when they saw that? They're like (يَا لَيْتَ لَنَا مِثْلَ مَا أُوتِيَ قَارُونُ - I wish I had what he has) (Quran 28:79).
Man, look at where they are. Look at how they're dressed. Look at that car. Oh my God, they're having so much fun. I wish I could go there. I could be like that. I wish I could look like that. It's become all day just scrolling through other people's lives and then coming up with your own fake version of your life and putting that up and showing them.
This is why Qaroon is being talked about. There's a reason. Because people can get sucked into that fake life and their years will pass by and Allah did not create the human being. He did not put the human being on this earth to be entertained.
The Reality Behind Fake Happiness
He didn't put us here to have a few laughs and then to go back to being delusional and to be oblivious to what really this life is and what we have to earn here. Please don't understand. The ayat are not saying you shouldn't be happy. That's not the point at all. Actually people that run after event after event, you know what they're really doing? They're running away from their sadness.
They're actually realizing that none of these things are ever filling up their sadness anyway. So they have to keep getting the next one and the next one and the next one because there's a void inside. And maybe for a few moments they can forget. They can surround themselves with beauty and they can surround themselves with luxury and they can surround themselves with an entertaining environment so they can forget how ugly life really is.
And that they don't want to face. Don't become like that. I pray I don't become like that and I don't wish that on anybody else. That's the advice they're giving him. They see through it. His people see through it.
I mean you got all this stuff but, I mean what do you really have? What do you really have? You know it's remarkable how many wealthy, well-off, famous, admired, you know looked up to, good looking people, people from Hollywood or the music industry or the entertainment industry are so miserable on the inside. And how many of them commit suicide? It's a shocking thing. You would look at them from the outside and you would think they have everything a person could want.
But apparently all those things are not filling a hole inside. And it's leaving them to the point where, you know, suicides are being committed. And I went to college a long time ago and even when I was studying psychology, way back when, there were statistics that I was shocked by.
Back in the 90s there were statistics on Orange County, it was one of the wealthiest counties in the United States in California and had the highest suicide rates. The wealthiest places in the country had the highest suicide rates. Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Like this is the reality of running after fake happiness. It keeps creating, the hole keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. And nothing's filling it.
Second Advice: Pursue the Next Life Through What Allah Gave You
Then Allah describes, and this is the advice that I'll start with today. This was the, the first thing was don't live this, you know, high to high to high life. Don't do that, don't reduce your life to that, to this entertainment.
But the next advice is
And that is, you should pursue within whatever Allah gave you, the next life. That's a loaded term. Run after the next life within whatever Allah gave you. Now what in the world does that mean? It means a few
things.
Enjoying the Halal as Worship
The first thing it means is, Allah has made some things clearly halal for you. He's made some things halal for you. And He knows that the things that are halal for you are things that are good for you, that are beneficial for you, that are actually a blessing for you.
And when you enjoy what Allah has made halal, actually that in and of itself is an act of worship. In and of itself, enjoying the permissible, and thanking Allah for the permissible, is an act of worship. So when somebody gets a job, and it's a good job, it's a permissible job, then even when they're at their job, they're doing worship.
When they earn that money, that earning of that money is worship. When they buy good halal groceries, or eat food that's good permissible food, from that money, or buy clothes, that buying of the clothes didn't just benefit you in this life, that's actually an act of worship too. Because you're within what Allah gave you.
And every time you're doing that, you're not just benefiting yourself in this life, you're actually building your next life too. Because you're staying within the boundary of halal. When you do that, every act you do, that will give you happiness in this life too, but it will at the same time be building your akhira account also.
The Temptation of Haram
So why not do that? Why not stay within the halal? What does shaitan want you to do? Same thing he wanted our father to do, and our mother to do. You've got all these trees that are halal, but the one that will get you real good life, the one that will make you real happy, is that one that's haram. You've got a billion trees, but that one is gonna look juicier than all the rest.
And what's the devil gonna come to you and me and do? All the halal is available in front of you, it's open in front of you, it's easy in front of you, but he's gonna make the haram enticing. He's gonna make that look better. If you really wanna be happy, go after that.
And the advice given to him is, look, you have money, you have opportunity, within what Allah has given you, you should look for the next something that will benefit you in this life and in the next life. Earn in the right kind of way, spend in the right kind of way, spend time in the right kind of way. Everything that your body needs, and everything you need or want in this life, there's a halal avenue for it.
There's a good blessed avenue for it. When you go after that avenue, life will be good. Life will be good in this world and in the next world.
Addressing the Misconception About Religious Life
So,
Look at all the Islamic, oh, that guy looks depressed, he must be Islamic. Oh, these people look so sad, that must mean they're religious. Because the closer you get to religion, the sadder and sadder your life is.
I just want to live, I just want to breathe, I just want to enjoy my life, I just want to have some fun. There's no harm in me having some fun. And you know what Allah's response to that is
Meaning, Allah is saying, yes, stay within the halal, sure. Stay within the halal. But that doesn't mean you're going to have a bad life. That doesn't mean you're going to miss out on anything. There are some things Allah wants you to actually enjoy in this world.
This World as a Preview of Paradise
I've repeated this in many khutbahs before, I'll remind you as part of this discussion. Allah created this earth, and He put trees on it, but He put trees in Jannah too, right? He put rivers here, He put rivers in Jannah too. He put fruits here, He put fruits in Jannah too. He put spouses here, He put spouses in Jannah too.
He put meat of birds here, He put meat of birds in Jannah too. He put drinks here, He put drinks there too. He put mansions here, He put mansions there too.
Everything He describes in Jannah, that's so beautiful, palm trees, rivers, gardens, lakes, beautiful company, servants. All that stuff is here, isn't it? And when you think of it, you're like, well, you know, you realize, Allah made this world a preview of heaven. It's not even close to what heaven's gonna look like, but at least it gives you some idea.
At least it gives you some idea. Because if we never knew what a river is, or what a tree is, and what drinks are, and Allah said, I'll give you drinks in heaven, we'll be like, well, what's that? Why should I be interested? What are palm trees and waterfalls? Why should I even be interested in something like that?
And today what happens? When there's a waterfall somewhere, a beautiful waterfall, and anybody's building a house or a mansion on top of a hill, that overlooks the waterfall, that's some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Why? Because what Allah put in Jannah, people see that as Jannah here too.
Man, I wish I had a house like that. You see? So Allah made this world to actually give you a preview of heaven. So what He made halal on this earth (هُوَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ لَكُم مَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا - He put it for you to enjoy) (Quran 2:29).
And He says, (وَمَا تَشْكُرُونَ قَلِيلٌ - He says, how little you're grateful) (Quran 34:13). But you know what we do, what the devil comes and tells us is, well, if you stay within the halal, you're gonna miss out. There's some stuff you deserve.
You wanna be happy, here are some things that are gonna make you happy outside of that. Outside of that. And that's what He wants. And Allah wants us to stay within that and find our happiness because Allah is never going to make us miss out on what He wants us to be created for.
How can we be grateful if we're miserable? You're grateful when you enjoy a blessing. So Allah made the halal actually a means of enjoyment in this life and in the next life.
The Purity of Halal
Here's the other piece of this puzzle. When Allah gives us, He doesn't just describe halal as halal which is permissible. He describes it as tayyib.
Halal is described as good and pure also (Quran 2:168). Good and pure means it's good for you and it keeps you away from becoming impure.
What does that mean? That everything that isn't halal brings some kind of corruption, is bad for you and it brings some kind of disease into your life, problems into your life. It doesn't solve my problems, it makes them worse. Shaytan wants to manipulate my emotions and make the haram look good. But when I fall for that trap and I go after the haram, I will only get misery.
I'll never get happiness that way. No matter how much he tricks me, no matter how much I fool myself, I just won't find it.
Conclusion and Future Discussions
وَابْتَغِ and وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا We're gonna actually talk a lot more about وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا فيما آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ two more dimensions of these portions of the ayah in the subsequent khutbah to come.
But for today at least, I wanted to remind myself and remind all of you that life is very, very short. It's very, very short. And you and I have something to show before Allah.
We were created for a much, much higher purpose. We did not come on this earth to just find ways to escape our problems. We didn't come for that purpose.
We came on this earth for a much higher purpose of doing good. Allah has given us the ability to do a lot of good. And if we don't use our potential and our talent to do something good, we're actually only absorbing it, all of our energy is directed about at ourselves and not actually doing something good in this world.
We're missing out on the huge burden that Allah put on top of us. So I pray that we internalize that and we're able to really see for ourselves what good am I gonna leave in the world? What good am I gonna do? And how much of my thoughts are just about myself and what I want and what I need and how much of my time, energy and pursuits are actually about, one, staying within the halal, and two, actually doing something for others, actually spreading some kind of good, doing something of benefit. And I pray all of us become people of benefit.
You don't have to benefit millions. You can benefit one person next to you. You can benefit a child. You can benefit a family member. So long as you're being of some kind of benefit, then at least there's some purpose more than yourself, more than myself in this life. I pray Allah gives all of us that.
Closing Supplications
(Quran 33:56)