Live Q&A | Nouman Ali Khan | Sh. Saifullah Muhammad

Opening Greetings and Introduction

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته. بسم الله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين. I'm here in Istanbul, and my friend Saifullah actually happened to be here.

So even though it's, what, one in the morning? Something like that. It's like almost two, I don't know. But we decided that we're going to hang out together, and I was meaning to do some question and answers from the Revealed app.

And I figured, why don't we just try to take a hack at it together, إن شاء الله. So once again, thank you all of you for sending in your questions. They've been very insightful.

Some of them are a little crazy, but that's also cool. Yeah, it lets us know if there's crazy things happening in people's minds. It's an insight into the ummah.

We're all one body, which means you're a part of my disorder, too. We're going to try to help you. Yeah, I'll help myself, إن شاء الله.

First Question: About Surah Al-Ma'un

So let's begin with the first question, get right into the swing of it. This is Surah Al-Ma'un. Let me read the question off.

I have a question about the fourth ayah for وَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ, وَيْلٌ being destruction or could be the worst part of hell. There's multiple interpretations. Okay, deeper low commentaries, you say that the word وَيْلٌ means the worst curse imaginable.

And prayer without sincerity, worse than no prayer at all. وَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ, okay. This kind of statement can push a person away from Islam.

Islam is a gentle and simple religion. If we're supposed to gradually bring people to Islam, give them hope and show kindness, then why did Allah mention the worst case scenario regarding salah? Especially when it is considered worse than not praying at all. In that case, a person might choose not to pray altogether because it seems better for them.

Response: Understanding Islam's Depth Beyond Simplicity

What do you think about this? I think a few things about this. The first thing about this that I think is when you say Islam is a simple religion, simple and gentle religion, then why does Allah say this and this and this? And the definition of Islam came from you. And then what Allah said has to conform to the definition you generated, right? So the way I perceive my religion, the whole point of scripture and the word of Allah is that it will dictate how I depict my religion.

Like it's going to define the parameters of my religion. So if I come up with Islam is simple and gentle, and then I come and read an ayah about hellfire or destruction of nations or whatever and say, well, that's not simple or gentle. So why did Allah do that? Well, why did you define it outside of the Qur'an and then try to fit it back into the Qur'an? So there's a reverse engineering there, which is a problem.

Does Islam have simplicity? Yes. Does it have gentleness? Yes. Is that the only two facets of Islam that define Islam? No, Islam is a lot more robust than those two characteristics.

And so is Allah. Allah doesn't just have the name Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim. He has many other names that depict many other aspects of Allah's divinity that don't, on the one hand, they don't reflect Ar-Rahman and Ar-Rahim the way you would just think simply mercy and love and care and gentleness all the time.

Understanding Context: The Elite of Mecca

Right. So that's one side of it. The other side of it, I think, is that the context is important. Right. Like who is Allah talking to essentially to make it super simple? Because I think you listen to the Deeper Look series. The elites of Mecca, the politicians and the billionaires, if you will, the 1% of that society was using religion as a performance.

And they were posturing themselves as people that pray, that people that represent the authority in religion because they're custodians of the Kaaba. And they were using that religious legitimacy to get away with basically sucking the blood out of the poor, which is what the surah is talking about, right? لَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ And then, you know, يَمْنَعُونَ الْمَاعُونَ Like they don't even want the minimum benefit to go to the poor.

And how timeless and relevant is that religion being used for political purposes just for posturing and the same people that are using it and posturing their righteousness are the same people that are bleeding humanity and the middle class and lower class dry. That's happening in societies around the world, right? So this is a timeless and very powerful message.

Avoiding Main Character Syndrome

And if someone feels like, well, if this is saying that insincere prayer means it's better not to pray, you're kind of missing the point of what the surah is talking about, right? So from a psychological perspective, not to take a shot at the one who's asking the question, but there's a mindset behind the question that I really want you to rethink. And that is that we have, again, not you personally, the person who's asking the question, but we've developed sort of a main character syndrome.

What that means is I'm reading the Qur'an and I'm trying to say that maybe it's personally talking about me. And on the one hand, it's supposed to feel like Allah is talking about me. But you have to apply that to yourself first by not putting yourself at the center.

First, you have to put the ayat at the center, the context at the center, the message at the center. And once you give that its due, then you place yourself in that context. If you start with putting yourself in the center and it revolves around you, then you say, well, I don't know why Allah is saying this.

I didn't do that. I don't know why Allah is saying that. I'm not feeling this way. It's too centered on yourself, right? So yes, we want to apply the revelation to ourselves, but that's step two. Step one is actually understanding what is he actually saying originally. And then within those parameters, how does this apply to me or how do I understand the world around me better?

And also I'll just add there's multiple layers to an ayat. So a lot of times we're skipping some layers. So that's why step by step understanding the ayat, understanding the context, understanding the context of the surah. A lot of times we talk about where are these surahs coming from, what's preceding it, what's coming after it. So a lot of times we take the ayat out of context and we can't really truly understand what's going on.

And then second thing, it's talking about worst case scenario because the people that we talked about are the worst of the worst. You're not talking about your average person who's coming and he's struggling with prayer. So yes, I mean, there is a leanness to Islam and a gentleness to Islam. But, you know, these are the people who Islam came to constantly time after time to remind them. And eventually, you know, you are going to get some harsh kind of rebukes of such people. And you should.

Overcoming Spiritual Anxiety

And the other thing that that reminds me of is that there is an over anxiety in many Muslim subcultures. This is not an original part of Islam, but it's something that developed. I've particularly noticed it in South Asian Muslims more. And that is there's a self, there's an over exhaustion of self criticism. So I prayed. I don't know if my prayer was sincere enough. I don't know if I was showing off. I'm not sure if my wudu was perfect.

And there's a constant questioning of the self and a constant anxiety of, you know, this must not have been good enough. And there's a spiritual side to that, which is good. But there's a psychological side to that, which is very bad.

And that is like, you know, sometimes many, many, unfortunately, many elders have raised their children, making them feel their grades aren't good enough, their clothes aren't good enough. Their sitting posture is not good enough. Their words weren't good enough. Their behavior towards guests wasn't. They're not good enough, not good enough, not good enough. Then they go to the khatib, unfortunately, and he's telling them that, you know, the people that were really great, that earned jannah, are all gone.

And the people that aren't good enough are sitting in front of me in the jumu'ah today. Like, who are you? You people? I don't know. You're the leftover recycled, not even recyclable goods. And that's why the ayat about fire and brimstone, right?

So, now in that, then you start reading the Qur'an and say, let me read the Qur'an in translation. And you've already got all this baggage about, I'm not good enough, nothing I do is good enough. My prayers aren't accepted. I mean, I went to hajj, I don't know if it's going to be good enough. I don't know if Allah will accept it or not. Like, you know, we have this kind of mentality.

And then whenever you read something about the kuffar or the worst enemy, you're like, Oh, Allah is saying I'm not good. He confirmed it. I'm so good. Why would he do that to me? Right? So, then there's the other extreme. You don't want to feel this harshness. So, then you want to subconsciously maybe even develop, no, Islam is gentle and kind. So, I don't have the tolerance to hear anything that contradicts gentleness and kindness. Because I need that. Because I didn't get it from the culture that gave me Islam. Not Islam itself, the culture that filtered Islam and gave it to me.

And that's why that, you know, وسطية, that kind of, that middle approach, right? You know, not too much left, not too much right. That's right. That's very important reading any of these ayahs. Because the Qur'an takes us in a roll course of emotions. There's going to be times that it elevates us and it motivates us. And there's some times that it's going to tell us that you fixed what you're doing.

Second Question: Good Life for Good People

Whoever does good, be they male or female, and they were a believer, then we shall give them absolutely a good, pure life, and we will absolutely reward them with the best of what they used to do, with their compensation based on the best of what they used to do.

Okay. السلام عليكم My question is, even though we are not the judge, but we see a lot of people whom we believe are good Muslims and do not see them doing anything terribly bad, but still, some have very difficult life and some have very easy life. So, we can conclude from their life ease, from their life ease, that they are relatively good Muslims than those Muslims who have very difficult lives. We should not judge, but as humans, thoughts do come.

Response: The Reality of Tests for All Believers

Well, we got to get rid of those thoughts, don't we? Let's put it this way. Allah says to all believers, He will test us with good and bad. Let's start there, right? So, now, let's take another step. There are people, there is Musa alayhis salaam's mom, who is a good person, and she is separated from her child, and hours later, she is reunited with her child.

And there is Jacob alayhis salaam, who is a great person, and he is separated from his child, and he is reunited with his child years later, right? Okay, then there is Ibrahim alayhis salaam, who Allah takes him in the most difficult situation, and gets him thrown in a fire, but he turns the fire cold. He makes the situation easy. It's the same Ibrahim alayhis salaam, who then has to leave his family in the middle of a desert.

So, like if the formula was, if you are a good person, only good things will happen to you, then Ibrahim alayhis salaam has really good things happen to him, and also really terrible things happen to him. And you find similar scenarios in the Qur'an, and you have, you know, someone who, everything is taken away from them. You have a prophet who has to live inside of a whale, and you have a prophet who Allah gives him more and more kingdom, and he is asking for even more kingdom, right?

So, if you come up with a formula, that if you are a good person, then good things will happen to you in this life, and your problems will be removed, then you're gonna have a hard time understanding what's going on in the Qur'an, because not a consistent picture is being painted of what happens to good people. Great things happen to them, and horrible things happen to them, right?

Allah is Teaching Through All Experiences

What then do you take away? Allah is teaching. Allah is teaching. And Allah is the best teacher. And Allah is the best teacher for every one of us. وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّهُ And every experience He gives me, is He's teaching me something. He decides which experience is the best possible lesson for me, and for what reason.

I don't decide the nature of the lesson. So, I don't decide that He's gonna give me ease, and test me through ease, or He's gonna give me difficulty, and test me through difficulty. And why He's doing that, that's مَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُطْلِعَكُمْ عَلَى الْغَيْبِ Allah will not be one to tell you why He's doing what He's doing, or inform you His secret plans.

But one thing's for sure, He's deciding the nature of all of these tests. He's deciding Yusuf should be deprived of his father, for decades. He's deciding that. And He's teaching, وَيُعَلِّمُكَ مِن تَأْوِيلِ الْأَحَادِيثِ He's teaching him through that.

So, there's a... If we understand the experiences we go through, as not only dictated by Allah, but a process by which we have to learn, and those were the lessons, like custom catered for us, then we're not gonna look for a formula, that if I do this, if I pray this much, or if I do this much istighfar, or I do that, then these problems will never hit me. Or this challenge... Because that mentality is really problematic.

Because then, when that stuff doesn't work out your way, it's like your prayers were wasted. And the opposite is happening here. Your mind is going towards, I'm seeing someone who's really good, but they're not having a great life, that must mean they're not really that good.

Would you have thought like that about Nuh alayhis salaam? Or, you know, Ashab al-Kahf who had to run away, and live in a cave? If they were that great, this wouldn't have been happening to them. That formula doesn't work. Or if Musa alayhis salaam was so great, why did he have to run away from Egypt, and be in exile? Right? So that mentality, it doesn't apply. It doesn't work.

What does work is, all of these experiences are Allah teaching us in different ways, and none of them can be constituted as a punishment or a curse, or a blessing really in the end.

Avoiding Prosperity Gospel

I think it's important to really go deep into where this question comes from, and where, you know, this is a very evangelical style of religion, where the pastors are constantly preaching about, Oh, God loves you, so He gives you this. God, you know, He cares about you so much, so He gave you a nice car. And we've really adopted that as Muslims, in the West for sure.

Yeah, prosperity gospel, right? 100% prosperity gospel. So I think, you know, stepping back and really unpacking that, and saying actually that's not the reality, and then, I mean, like you said, you constantly, you showed examples from the Qur'an, and also the seerah of the Prophet ﷺ. I mean, from the get-go, like he loses his father before he's even born, then his mother, right? Then, you know, every single person that's close to him, then his wife Khadija, his uncle Abu Talib, and then you're just like, you know, سبحان الله, that reality, that yes, there's going to be tests, good and bad, but there's also really beautiful moments in the seerah, where the Prophet ﷺ is very happy, and he's able to, you know, show that, and even, you know, the departure of his son Ibrahim, where he says, you know, we won't say except for that, which, you know, pleases Allah.

So this reality of, you know, dealing with both, and both are tests, and both way, when Allah gives you something, and it's good, that's a test in itself, and when something is difficult, that's a test, and like you said, Allah says, لَا يُسْأَلُ عَمَّا يَفْعَلُ وَهُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ. هُمْ يُسْأَلُونَ. سبحان الله.

Third Question: About Palestine and Migration

Let's do one more. I know there's lots of questions, but we'll just do three today, because attention span matters.

Tell them, my servants, that have believed, be mindful, conscious, of your Master. Those who have been patient shall only be compensated in the best possible way, without any limits. بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

Based on this commentary about the earth of Allah is vast, what about oppression of people like Palestinians or people of Gaza? What is the patience for them? Does this ayah relate to them? Are they supposed to have, leave the place and migrate to another land that is safe for them to practice their religion or stay in a place where they are in constant fear and danger?

Response: Above Our Pay Grade

Your question is well placed and also misplaced in my opinion. At least the answer to it is misplaced for myself and I'll tell you why. If I have to put myself in that situation and ask myself, the decision to stay or the decision to leave, does anybody have a right to comment on it? And does anybody have a right to say you should be leaving or you should be staying?

I'm not in that situation. That's not my family history or my roots and the decision to move or stay are such harsh and difficult challenges. There are many families that have left. There are many families that haven't left. Are we in a position to judge either one of them? Or are we supposed to say the Islamic solution is this one versus that one? I don't think we have the right to say that.

And we should ask Allah for relief and whoever understands that they need to go. There are Sahaba who migrated from Mecca and there are Sahaba who didn't migrate from Mecca. Are we judging the ones who did and the ones who didn't? We're not.

Are we saying the right thing to do was to stay or the right thing to do was to go? Like the Qur'an didn't pass judgment on those people that were with the Prophet ﷺ and like in his struggle and now they're in Abyssinia. So I think there are times where we should step back and say that's above my pay grade or that's not my place. The answer to this question is not my place. It's simply not my place.

May Allah make the trial of those who are going through a much tougher trial than you and I are going through. May Allah help them pass through that trial and may Allah keep us from passing judgment on them or for them. So that's my thoughts on that one.

I think beautifully said and a lot of times we tend to want to dive into things that we don't really have the answers to and like you said beautifully it's just above our pay grades. I mean I can't put myself in shoes of a family in Gaza or in Sudan who may be suffering.

The reality is very different and a lot of times we come from a place of privilege as well. You know coming from the west side. Even safety is a privilege. A hundred percent. Distance from war zone is a privilege. That's not a privilege many human beings are enjoying today that you know they don't just get to observe something as a video and then comment on it. They're living it. They're experiencing it. So like who are we to comment on their reality.

And the prophetic precedent says that you know when the permissibility of migrating to Abyssinia came and some sahaba wanted to migrate they did and you know like you said some stayed behind and the same thing in Mecca. There were sahaba that stayed behind when the Prophet ﷺ the sahaba migrated to Medina. So I think it's you know specifically for the people in those shoes and those people you know make it easy like you said for them.

Closing Remarks

Well thank you guys for tuning in for this brief few questions and answers. It was really nice to have Thank you for the opportunity. Yeah yeah yeah إن شاء الله we'll do many more of these. إن شاء الله

And Allah accept your worship and you know Ramadan's over but our relationship with Qur'an continues. And إن شاء الله I'll get another opportunity to share some thoughts with you again. And keep your questions coming. They're helping me think through things and teaching us something. And don't be offended because sometimes the answers are not what you were expecting.

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