Islamic Center of Fredericksburg and Masjid Maryam
By Nouman Ali Khan | 2026-01-08T18:53:49.97812+00:00 | Topic: Quran
Friday Khutbah - March 15, 2019
Speaker: Nouman Ali Khan
Venue: Islamic Center of Fredericksburg and Masjid Maryam
Opening Prayer and Introduction
He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they have no knowledge of it. And do not fear that which we have no knowledge of. Indeed, hearing, sight, and heart, all of these are responsible for you.
The Lord opens my heart, and makes easy for me my affair. And I release a knot from my tongue, so that I may understand what I say. O Allah, make us firm when we repent.
La ilaha illa Allah (There is no god but Allah.
And so Allah mentions them in the beginning and at the end of the surah. So in the middle, a lot of what the surah has to do with is people that have knowledge of deen.
The Background Context
That are practicing. You know, unlike the mushrikoon of Mecca who have no background. You know, Allah says:
You came to warn a group of people whose ancestors were not warned.
Meaning for many generations, the mushrikoon had no knowledge. So they were, as opposed to that, the Israelites had knowledge. In any case, Allah says this remarkable ayah.
The Central Message: Don't Follow What You Don't Know
That's really what I wanted to share with you. And think about with you. Is this short ayah.
In which Allah gave us a commandment. Really a prohibition. Meaning Allah forbade us from something.
And usually when you think of, when you're forbidden from something, you think of an action. Like don't eat this. Or don't look at this. Or don't do this. Like they're actions. But here, Allah is actually speaking not only of action, but also of thought.
The Quran's Focus on Changing Our Thinking
And that's preventing us from thinking a certain way. Or letting our minds be used a certain way. Because the Quran didn't just come to correct our behavior.
As a matter of fact, before our behavior, the goal of the Quran seems to be to change the way we think. And that makes sense, because unless you change the way you think, and I change the way I think, our actions are not going to change. So really it's our minds that are being influenced by Allah.
Which is why you find in the Quran, when Allah criticizes people, He says:
So they think, so they understand. So they think, so they understand. Why don't you understand? Why don't they understand? Etc.
And that's constantly a call on us to use our minds. In any case, Allah says in this ayah, He says, don't become a follower, in a sense almost like a blind follower. Or don't become overly confident in what you don't have any knowledge of.
The Meaning of "Qafa" - Following Blindly
Qafa in Arabic is actually used for the back of an animal's neck. And when people used to ride the animal, then their eyes are constantly on this back of the neck. And wherever the animal turns, that's where your eyes turn.
And the scenery is changing, but that is one constant. It's kind of like the steering wheel in your car. Wherever you go, one thing is constant in your view, that's your steering wheel.
It's right there. You can't escape it. So the idea of the word Qafa is actually to follow something that you are just, it's a constant, it's always there.
Foundation-Based Thinking
And it's like it can't move. Everything else can change, this can't change. Now what Allah is commenting on here, subhanahu wa ta'ala, is that for some people, there are some kinds of ideas, or some assumptions, that are like the foundation of a building, they're always there.
And that everything else they think about is built on top of that. To make this easier to understand, let's look at it another way. Somebody walks into the masjid and says salamu alaikum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh.
Everybody heard it. Everybody saw the person, everybody heard it. But everybody, not everybody is thinking the same thing.
They're looking at the same thing, they're hearing the same thing, but one person is saying mashallah, he said salam. Some other guy is thinking, what does he think he is? Walking in and saying salam like that. I don't like to look at this guy's face.
Filling in the Blanks with Assumptions
People are processing things differently. Everybody's got their own base, and on top of that they're building their thinking, you understand? So Allah says, don't formulate opinions, or don't formulate thoughts based on something you don't fully know. What happens for human beings is, we know some bits of information, and we fill in the blanks with our assumptions.
We fill in the rest of the blanks with our assumptions. So if somebody is walking that way, or somebody came late, then, okay, now, for some people, as soon as they see they came in late, ah, some people, man, they can't even leave dunya behind. It's Jum'ah time, astaghfirullah.
These are the thoughts that are running in somebody's mind. In somebody else's mind, I don't know what just happened. I don't know if there was a death in his family.
I don't know if there was an accident. I don't know what trouble they're having. I pray they're doing okay.
That's another kind of thinking. But the second kind of thinking was based on what? I don't know. The baseline was, I don't know.
And because I don't know, I will not formulate other opinions. What I see and what I hear is not enough. What I see and what I hear is not enough.
Classical Commentary on the Verse
So Allah, azza wa jalla, builds on this idea in this short but profound ayah.
Don't become confident and follow. As a matter of fact, Ibn Manzur, the Islamic Arab, commenting on this word, he said:
Meaning, if you say, you know, you act as though you know the whole story, even though you don't.
Or you act as if, you know, I know everything but you don't. You just see one bit and you can fill in the rest with your imagination. And what happens when people get used to doing that is they become very confident in their assumptions.
Confidence in False Assumptions
Very confident. So if somebody comes to you, maybe somebody in your family, this person is no good. How do you know they're no good? I know people. No, how do you know? But I know. I know, okay? I wasn't born yesterday. I can tell from just looking at someone what's going on with them.
And so, this idea that you're so confident about sizing someone up just from the look on their face, or just from the way they're dressed, or just from one thing they said. Ah, you can say one thing and I know everything about you now. I got you, I'll figure it out.
This is:
And this is not just done in your personal life. This is done in the media. This is done in politics. This is done in academics. This is done in every sphere of life.
The Problem of Selective Evidence
You can take bits of information and create a story. Now, before I get to the rest of the ayah, again, I want you to visualize some things. You see, the way information works, the way knowledge works, I could quote one ayah, and I could quote another ayah, and another ayah, and another ayah, and give you a conclusion.
Right? And I could quote 5, 6, 7, 8 ayah or hadith, and at the end of those ayat and hadith, there's a conclusion. And if you don't know any better, you would think, man, he has all this evidence for his conclusion, because he proved his point using Quran and sunnah. But it's possible, and this is the part I really need you to pay attention to, it's possible for people to come up with a conclusion first, and then make a list of the evidences later.
Knowledge is supposed to be, first you come up with evidence, you think about the evidence, and then you come up with the conclusion. So the conclusion is supposed to be the last thing you arrive at. But in some people's mind, and I've seen this happen in the study of Islam, forget something else, even in the study of Islam.
Misuse of Islamic Knowledge
In the study of Islam you can have, somebody decides that women are inferior. Or women are bound to go to jahannam. Somebody decided that this is their thesis.
Now that they've made that conclusion, they're going to find bits and pieces of ayat and hadith from wherever they can find, and string together, and then give a speech, and it sounds like they've got so much to do to get to this conclusion. And all the hadith, all the ayat that contradict this conclusion, are somehow missing. They weren't mentioned.
But for someone listening, it sounds like they are following knowledge. This is also the antithesis of:
This is what they do in the media, don't they? They take one story, one soundbite, one snippet, one incident, one picture, then another one, then another one, then another one, and paint a picture about a group of people, paint an entire picture about a religion, and come at that conclusion. When you say, where did you get this conclusion? They say, look at all this evidence.
The Need for Balanced Analysis
And conveniently, all the evidence that contradicts this conclusion is missing. This is why, when you try to arrive at a conclusion, you and I are supposed to look at the evidence for something, and also with an open mind, look at the evidence against something, and really find a balanced view towards the end, and then say, okay, this is the conclusion one has to reach. What's Allah's remedy? Allah's remedy in this ayah is actually the remembrance, interestingly enough, it's the remembrance of Judgment Day.
It seems unconnected. It seems the ayah in the beginning was, don't follow something that you're not certain of. Don't make the false basis for your thoughts.
He says:
The Three Faculties: Hearing, Seeing, and Heart
Now we'll stop there for a second. He mentions three things. He says, hearing, seeing, and the heart.
He mentions three components. Hearing, seeing, and the heart. And these three are in order.
The first thing we're going to be asked about is hearing. And hearing is more important than seeing for human beings. As a matter of fact, the most important gift that human beings have been given is the Quran.
And the Quran is not something to see, the Quran is something to hear. Believers all over the world, their declaration of faith is we hear and we obey. We heard a messenger calling to the call.
Right?
Listen to it. The message is supposed to be heard before anything else. Heard before anything else.
The Primacy of Hearing in Understanding
And this is important. You would think, but the eyes are important too. Seeing is important also.
But the thing is, when you see someone, when you see someone and they have it open their mouth, you know nothing. You don't know if they're knowledgeable, you don't know if they're ignorant, you don't know if they're speaking the truth, or they represent the falsehood. You don't know anything.
The moment you hear what's being said, the moment you analyze what's being said, then really the true analysis is hearing. This is what makes us different from animals. Animals can just see and make a conclusion.
Animals can just see, but human beings don't just hear sounds. We process, we analyze. Allah says that what you listen to is going to be questioned.
Being Serious About Our Information Sources
You know what that means before we go any further? It means that you and I have to become very serious about where we get our information from.
What is it that we're listening to? Who is it that we're listening to? Why is it that we're listening to them? And even if you're listening to anybody, even if you're listening to the news, or to some lecture, or somebody giving a talk, or whatever you're listening to, in what way are you processing it? Are you processing it with the assumption that I already know what this guy's all about? I already know what these people are all about? Either you're overly in favor of something, like some people love a certain news channel, right? So even before the speaker speaks something, they already know he's going to tell the truth. This is absolutely true no matter what.
Because this is the channel that protects my country. You know, they've already made that decision. Or there are people that are so against, before the guy even opens his mouth, this guy's nonsense.
These people don't know what they're talking about. You haven't even heard, you've just seen, and you're like, you've written people off. No, whether you're against someone, or in favor of someone, be ready to stand against someone you're in favor of.
Ultimate Loyalty to Knowledge
Be ready to stand in favor of someone you might have been against. Maybe 99% you disagree, but the 1% you agree, you have to say, I agree. You can't just disagree with everything, because the ultimate loyalty is actually to ilm.
So, you know, for young students that study Islam, study deen, they develop a love of their teacher. Whoever they study Quran from, tafsir from, hadith from, fiqh from, aqeedah from, they develop a love of them. And out of love of them, if they said something, and it's not making sense to the student.
It's not making sense. I mean, you have this opinion, you have this conclusion, but I've read otherwise, or I've learned otherwise. And you're saying, well, now I have to choose between my loyalty to my teacher, or my loyalty to what I'm convinced of, and I should question.
The Right to Question and Learn
And some students say, I shouldn't even ask the question, because it's disrespectful to the teacher. And I say, how? If angels didn't understand something, they asked Allah:
Why are you putting a human being on earth? He's gonna spill blood.
They asked who? They asked Allah. And that's not disrespect. So how are you and I thinking, that questioning something, to get to knowledge is disrespect.
As a matter of fact, the greatest fuqaha in the ummah, all of them became great, because they disagreed with their teachers. That's how they became what they became. You know.
The Process of True Understanding
So that's a bit on the side about hearing. Then he says:
To look at something.
Now, there's a process Allah is telling us. The process is, first, you really have to analyze the information. And once you truly analyze the information, the way you see things is going to change.
I told you, when somebody walks in, everybody sees the same thing. But if they're thinkers, then they will actually end up seeing the same thing. They will not make assumptions.
They will not fill in holes, with what they don't know. So the way they look at reality, the way they understand events, is going to change. They're not going to jump to conclusions, towards or in favor of someone.
They're not going to jump to conclusions, against someone. They're not going to say, ah, I already know what happened. I'll tell you one interesting story.
The Story of Musa and the Lesson of Investigation
And then InshaAllah we'll conclude, because I know I am late. Musa alayhis salaam was a royal. He was raised as a prince in Egypt.
And the followers, his own race, the Israelites, were slaves. And they were treated like garbage. The police used to beat them up.
Quran even says:
That they used to let their women live, and kill the sons of the other, you know, Quran doesn't say every year, but every so often, because they didn't want too many boys. Because that would be too many population, they might stand up and fight against them. So they wanted to control the population of the slaves.
But let the women live, also means humiliate the women. And the men couldn't do anything about it. This is the kind of life they lived.
And they were tortured, and beat, and forced to do work. This is what they were used to doing. Musa alayhis salaam is in the street one day, empty street, it's Qaylula time, it's the afternoon time:
He sees a police officer, beating up a slave.
He sees a cop beating up a slave. Now this is not a new scene. You've seen this a thousand times.
You see, this happens everyday in Egypt. And it's been going on for centuries. Do you understand? And here he is, he sees yet another police officer, beating yet another, poor, slave, innocent guy.
And he decides to defend. And he throws, you know the story, he throws a punch, and the police officer died. He tried to stop it, he threw a punch, the police officer died.
Musa's Realization About Hasty Judgment
What's interesting to me, is what he said right after that. Immediately after Musa alayhis salaam punched him, Quran records, in Surah Al-Qasas, he said:
This is from the work of shaitan.
What he just did, he called it himself, work of shaitan. Why? He did the right thing. He stopped oppression.
These guys, these kuffar, they oppress my fellow Muslim brothers every chance they get. And here it is, another case of the same thing. What he realized, is that he didn't properly investigate every case is different.
So what if you saw it a thousand times? The number one thousand and one is a unique case, and it turned out that in this case actually, the guy was the criminal. The guy was a con artist, who actually ended up getting Musa alayhis salaam in trouble in the beginning. So what Musa alayhis salaam has taught us there, is not to jump to conclusions, and it's so easy to do so.
If emotions get fired up, you can just jump to a conclusion. So what does Allah mention? He says, seeing, hearing, and what was the last thing I said? The heart.
The Heart When Overwhelmed by Emotion
In Quran, in Arabic, the word for the heart is قَلْب. But another word for the heart is فُؤَاد which comes from the verb فَأَدَ to roast meat.
The word is used when your heart is overwhelmed. Like if you're really angry, or you're really excited, or you're really in love, or you're really full of hate, or you're really anxious, or you're really afraid, or you're really sad, when your heart is set on fire by an emotion, when you're overwhelmed by an emotion, then it's no longer called قلب it's called فؤاد. Allah is saying, that when you hear something, and you see something, and it fires you up, and because it fired you up, you acted a certain way.
You got emotional, you got riled up, and you acted a certain way. And then later on, when people do that, they say, you know what, I wasn't myself. I did that, I didn't mean it.
That wasn't me. This is not the normal me. When people get fired up, they say things, they do things, that they wouldn't normally do.
Accountability for Our Emotional Responses
Allah says, all of that is going to be interrogated. Meaning you're not going to be able to say, before Allah, Ya Allah, I was really emotional at the time, and that's why I did that. Allah says, I will ask you about what you heard.
I will ask you about what you saw. And I will ask you how you allowed your emotions to run crazy. And do whatever you want.
I will ask you about that. You will be questioned about that. Why? Because if we truly were people of listening, if we truly were people of analyzing, then our emotions would not be the first response, our thinking would be the first response.
How to Know If We're Following This Teaching
And that's really the conclusion of what I wanted to share with you. You see, how will you know that you're following this ayah, or not following this ayah?
Because this commandment of Allah is powerful. How will we know? Because when I said, it's reminding us of Judgment Day, because Allah says, Allah will question us on Judgment Day about this.
Did you follow this process? How do you know, and I know, if we're following this process? When you hear any news, or you're in the middle of a conversation, or you get some information, if you are the kind of person that quickly gets emotional, and has an immediate conclusion about what all of this means, before you say, hold on, let's think about this, hold on, let's analyze this, let's get the full picture before we jump to conclusions. If you don't have that, and if somebody in your family says, no, no, no, let's think about it. What do you mean think about it? You want to just sit there and do nothing?
We're not cowards.
We have to respond. We have to do something. If that's your reaction all the time, then you're in violation of this ayah.
Because then your fu'ad is being run in whatever direction it wants, and the sama' and basar are not being used to contain it. Not being used to keep it in check. And what happened when Musa a.s. saw something that upset him, and he took action, he called it what? The work of what? Shaytan.
Contemporary Examples and Lessons
The work of shaytan. That is the work of shaytan we saw in New Zealand today. Somebody who listens to bits and pieces of information, makes a conclusion in their head about who these people are.
Nobody will be willing to kill another human being until they completely dehumanize them. He's been following rhetoric and toxic information for months and months and months until it's built up in his head. In addition to all the other psychological disorders that must be going on, but we're reminded of an example.
May Allah give those shuhada jannah, and their families sabr that their loved ones are in jannah. But I have to say, what you see, the news reports that as extremism. The news reports that action as extremism.
Quran is telling us that that evil did not start in that masjid. That evil started when this person was given something corrupt to hear and corrupt to see over and over and over again until their heart became overwhelmed and they took that action. So there was something happening way before.
It's been boiling for a long time. And then it boils over and tips over. Every now and then when you see an extreme incident within the Muslims, within the non-Muslims, in any context, it is a result of this.
The Universal Problem of Emotional Reactions
It is a result of people not being able to gauge their emotions, control their emotions. Why? Because they're no longer a people of thought. They're no longer a people of critical thinking.
And this is something that non-Muslims are guilty of. This is equally something Muslims are guilty of. Equally something Muslims are guilty of.
We don't like to take a step back and just think before we pass judgment, before we make conclusions, before we take action. And as a matter of fact, anybody who says, let's stop before we take action. Let's stop before we say something.
Let's stop before we... Let's analyze. Maybe we're going to do more damage than good. Let's stop and do... No, no, no.
Why are you being a coward? We have to take action. We have to stand tall. We have to be brave.
The more emotional you get, the further you are from the truth. The further you and I are from the truth.
The Complete Verse and Its Balance
"Indeed, the hearing, the sight, and the heart - about all those one will be questioned."
Last reminder I share with you.
The ayah began:
"And do not pursue that of which you have no knowledge."
The ayah started with knowledge and ended with extreme emotions. Yeah? Why? Because those are two opposite things. Even if you have a lot of knowledge, if you're not able to control your emotions, that knowledge means nothing.
It means nothing. And even if you have a little bit of knowledge, but you're able to control your emotions, you're able to hold back, and be able to say, you know what? I don't have all the information. I'm not going to pass judgment.
You can take a step back and admit your ignorance. Then you're going to save yourself quite a bit of trouble. Quite a bit of trouble.
Closing Prayer
May Allah truly make us a people of thought. You know, people that use the gift of hearing, and the gift of seeing, and the gift of the fuad, in the way that Allah wants us to use it.
"Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest; there is no god but Allah; Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest, and to Allah belongs all praise."
"I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, hasten to prayer, hasten to prayer, hasten to success, hasten to success, Allah is the greatest, Allah is the greatest, there is no god but Allah."