God Is Not A Mystery | Sh. Ibrahim Hindy | Juz 25 Qur’an 30 for 30 S7 | Ramadan Series

Suppressing Our Da'wah

They suppress our da'wah, and they turn their algorithms against us, and they try to extinguish the words of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى. And when Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى says, this Qur'an is going to be, this light is gonna be extended. Doesn't matter what they do. And when we align ourselves with the words of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى, we gain some of this power as well.

There's gonna be numerous times when you hear the names of Allah, subconsciously we may think, well, how can He do that? Because we're thinking from a human paradigm. But for Allah, that's not even an issue, right? Because there's nothing like Him. There is nothing like Him.

When someone wraps the concept of God in so much mystery, and they use that as an excuse, right? To say like, I can never understand God. I can never, so why even try? I can never come close. What do you say to people like that?

Welcome to Qur'an 30 for 30

As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Everyone, welcome back to Qur'an 30 for 30. Alhamdulillah. I mean, we are in Juz 25. As tonight is an odd night and it could possibly be Laylatul Qadr. We encourage you, bi-idhnillahi ta'ala, to please donate to Yaqeen. Support the work that we're doing bi-idhnillahi ta'ala as well as the many noble causes that are out there. And keep us in your du'a as well.

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Introduction with Shaykh Ibrahim Hindy

We're blessed, alhamdulillah, to have with us Shaykh Ibrahim Hindy, walhamdulillah. How are you, Shaykh?

Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Shaykh, where do people think you're from, man?

People think I'm from anywhere. From India, first of all. Hindy, yeah, obviously. Because of Hindy and then, of course, I'm Canadian. But people might think I'm American at times because I talk about US politics a little bit. Alhamdulillah. I like to say I'm from the Ummah.

He's from the Ummah, insha'Allah. Also, like, I always think you're Palestinian because like Hindy, Dar Hindy is like a huge family in Palestine. We have a relationship, I mean, a few generations between us. Egyptians and Palestinians? Yeah. So, alhamdulillah. But of course, we are family first in Iman. Absolutely. Absolutely. Allahu Akbar. May Allah bless you, Shaykh.

Favorite Name of Allah

I wanted to ask you before we get started, in this very moment, what's your favorite name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?

Oh, subhanAllah. I would say that Allah is Kareem. Allah is generous. SubhanAllah, how many times that in life things are up and down and you just remember that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is being generous to you and often in ways that we're not even thinking about. So, alhamdulillah. I mean, in sickness and health and difficulties in life, you just remember Allah Kareem.

And I remember Shaykh Muhammad Arifi, he mentioned once he's in a taxi cab and the driver is not Muslim. And he keeps saying Allah Kareem, Allah Kareem. He's like, why are you saying this? And he said, I keep hearing it from the Muslims. He said, but it's so true. Every time in life, there's a problem. I just remember Allah Kareem. Allah is generous. MashaAllah. So beautiful. MashaAllah. Hayakallah, Shaykh.

I'm Not Like You, But I'm With You

So, alhamdulillah. We are in Juz 25. Sometimes there's just a sentence that I feel like summarizes. We're kind of doing an exploration of how Allah Azawajal talks about Himself, the Juz. And this one is, I'm not like you, but I'm with you. That's what I got.

This particular ayah, Surah Al-Shura, it's one of the most famous ayahs where we talk about Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that there is nothing like unto Him and He is the all-hearing, the all-seeing. And so, this is actually incredible because Allah Azawajal in the same short verse affirms His transcendence and His awareness. Right? So, nothing is like Him. But by the way, He's fully acquainted with everything. Right? Because hearing and seeing are the greatest forms of acquaintance. Right? So, I hear you and I see you. I'm not like any of you, but I hear and see all of you.

You also see in the same surah, Allah Azawajal says, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is gentle with His servants. He provides for whom He wills. And He is the strong, the mighty.

You don't typically think of لطيف and قوي in the same sentence. Right? Like لطف is gentleness and then قوة is strength. Right? And Allah Azawajal once again, He puts them in the same ayah. So, it's very, you know, subhanAllah, tender. Right? In the pairing like that gentleness does not cancel His power. His power does not cancel His gentleness. Just like transcendence does not cancel awareness. Awareness does not cancel transcendence. And this is who He is subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And then He says in Zuhruf, So, He is the one who is God in the heavens and God in the earth. Right? So, He is the one who encompasses all realms. Right? The seen and the unseen.

Every one of these words subhanahu wa ta'ala is so profound. Right? So, He is the wise. He is the knowing. Blessed is the one to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. Right? So, وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا In and of itself. Right? There is so much to talk about there. And then on top of that, He has the knowledge of the hour. No one else has the knowledge of the hour. Not a single one of His creations. And in that process, all of you will come back to Him subhanahu wa ta'ala.

And then just the name of the surah, الجَاثِيَة You know, the nations are on their knees. Everyone is before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on their knees.

To Allah belongs all praise. The Lord of the heavens, the Lord of the earth, the Lord of all existence. So it's just constantly putting it out there.

And then how does He end this particular part? Like every word, I just want to sit there and ponder upon it. To Him belongs, how do you even translate كبرياء? Like majesty, power. You can't. It's such a profound word subhanAllah with everything else that's there. But to Him belongs the glory, the majesty, the power. The honor in the heavens and the earth. And He is Once again, He is exalted in might, exalted in His wisdom.

So Allah praises Himself which happens in many of these ayats. But He praises Himself for His majesty and the power that doesn't remove Him. The power that we're all accountable to. The power by which He is still acquainted with all that we're doing now. And ultimately the power to forgive and to show mercy. And no one else can interfere. So it's such an incredible juz.

And of course Allah subhanAllah mentions His being beyond your imagination. But He also mentions how close He is to you. He's closer to you than your jugular vein. Even though He is as removed from you in terms of His names and His attributes and His essence as can be. So we ask Allah to allow us to not fail in that acquaintance and in that awareness. And to connect to that majesty. And to not be punished by that majesty. Allahumma ameen.

The Foundational Verse

Shaykh Abdullah, any thoughts you have on this?

SubhanAllah, I mean that verse is foundational. لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْبَصِيرُ And you mentioned it very eloquently how it's a foundational verse that when you study names and attributes of Allah subhanAllah this is one of the pillars. And your introduction to approaching your how you properly understand a name of Allah subhanAllah and His attribute.

And like how you mentioned Latif and Qawiyy because you know sometimes we as human beings as soon as we hear these two our subconscious says, wait, they're polar opposites for creation. Go back to that verse. لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ There's going to be numerous times when you hear the names of Allah not only when you hear them, but when you think of its actualization in your life subconsciously we may think, well, how can He do that? Because we're thinking from a human paradigm, a created form. How can creation be both of these things together? It would probably be difficult for a human being to manifest that simultaneously. But for Allah, that's not even an issue, right? Because there's nothing like Him. There is nothing like Him. And that's what's so beautiful here.

The Harvest of Dunya vs Akhirah

There's a verse right after Huyun Aziz. It's very beautiful. Whoever wants the Harth of the Akhira. And Harth is like the farmer. The one that invests and his investment is planting for something, putting a seed in the ground and waiting for something to happen. But even with that, he waits on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to irrigate, to provide this plant, this seed.

So Allah says, Whoever wants it and desires it from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we will increase him. But then He said, whoever wants Harth al-Dunya, whoever wants this worldly life, نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا Which is interesting here. نَزِدْ لَهُ We'll increase him and then نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا We'll give him this Dunya.

But that is kind of scary at the same time because if whatever you use in this Dunya is not for the Akhirah, then you need to beware. If you do not make a connection from what I am trying to get in this life, the faculties that Allah has given me, how am I using these faculties? Am I aware that there's a connection on what I have and what I use it for and what I obtain from what I've been given? Am I making that connection and that all this is from Allah and I'm trying to give it back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the different avenues and ways that He is furnished for me from Sadaqah, from righteousness, from being good to people, from forgiving people, from overlooking people's faults and from giving charity and things of that nature.

And you just do it for something temporary, Allah is going to give it to you and that's why the term of istidraaj always comes to my mind. It's like when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will give and grant people that want the Dunya and they're heedless. They're not even thinking about God. To where they reach a point of belying the message, belying God and being totally ungrateful and then being mutakabir. They reach the element of shaitan to where they're very arrogant upon what they have and it increases them in wanting more of the Dunya. And that is the chain reaction that if we don't watch ourselves, if we don't remember the greatness of Allah, the profundity of Allah's names and attributes and that they are not like His creation, we can fall victim to just relying on what we see in front of us.

SubhanAllah, that's so true that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is telling you if you want the Akhira and you're harvesting for the Akhira He will give you more, meaning He'll give you Dunya too. But if your heart is in the Dunya, He'll give you Dunya, no problem. But don't expect the Akhira. SubhanAllah, it's just a reminder for all of us to keep our intentions clear. And Allah will give you a good life inshaAllah in this world and in the next world.

And like you said sheikh, when we talk about the greatness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala one of the beautiful things about this shows Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions two of His names but He refers them to the Qur'an.

That this book, this Qur'an in our master record it is لَعَلِيٌّ it is the most high, it has the great highness in it, the most esteemed حَكِيمٌ, the most wise. And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through the Qur'an, He is reminding us of Himself subhanahu wa ta'ala. And He is reminding us to look to the greatness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by looking at the Qur'an itself.

The Power of the Qur'an

And I think sometimes subhanAllah, we feel a bit removed from understanding the real power of the Qur'an and if you understood the power of the Qur'an, you understand the power of its author. And I think sometimes if we don't speak Arabic or even if we do speak Arabic, those of us who speak Arabic, sometimes we're a bit divorced from the original Arabic.

And I'll give you an example. This is something that happens pre-Islam. Two poets. One poet says a line of poetry and the other one hears it. So the first poet says, that we have the white platters that shine in the morning and blood drips from our swords with our valor. This is pre-Islamic poetry. It's about our tribe is the best. We're the most generous. We have the platters. We're great warriors. We fight.

The other poet, she hears this and she says you made eight mistakes in what you said. He said one line. He said you made eight mistakes. He said how did I make eight mistakes? You said, but janafat is plural. It means five or six. You should have said the many, the tens and twenties and thirties. And then she said, you said that the plates are white. It's white. It means it's brand new. It means you haven't been serving people for a long time. It should be stained with food. So it should be red. And then she said, which is to shine. These plates are so amazing. These platters, they shine. But it's a quick shine. You should have said, it's a shine that fills the horizon east to west. And she goes through one by one and she picks all of these mistakes that he makes.

These two poets, by the way, are Sahaba. They accept Islam later on. Hassan ibn Thabit and al-Khansa radiallahu anhu. But my point is, look at how she hears one line. I said you made eight mistakes. These are the people who heard the Quran.

The Divine Nature of the Qur'an

And sometimes, you know, we tell our kids, when the Prophet, peace be upon him, would teach people and recite Quran, they would tell them, put your fingers in your ears. And we think, you know, we hear that story and we're like, maybe this is exaggeration. No. It's because when they heard the Quran, they knew this is not human. This is divine.

And, you know, subhanAllah, al-Waleed ibn al-Mughirah, one of the leaders of Quraysh, they went to him and they said, you are a master of poetry. Go, talk to the Prophet and hear his Quran and tell us, what do we say about this? Or give us poetry better than it. And he goes and he hears the Quran from the Prophet. He comes back. He said, you know, no one is more knowledgeable of language, of poetry than me. And what he said is not from a human.

He says that it has a sweetness, it has a freshness to it. And then he says:

It has an aboveness. It rises above and nothing can come above it. SubhanAllah. And that's how Allah refers to the Quran. That it is al-'Ali, that it is the high. It rises up above everything. SubhanAllah.

The Quran in Our Modern Times

And I think there's a lot we can take from that, subhanAllah, even from the perspective of how they try to silence us and silence our speech and silence our da'wah. And they suppress I'm sure Sheikh Omar, they suppress your Twitter account and they suppress our words and they suppress our da'wah. And they turn their algorithms against us. And they try to extinguish the words of Allah. And they increase all the accounts that are speaking against the Quran and insulting the Quran.

This light is going to be extended. It doesn't matter what they do. And when we align ourselves with the words of Allah, we gain some of this power as well. As we see, subhanAllah, with our brothers and sisters in Gaza, so much of their strength comes from the Quran. And when you are a huffadh of the Quran, as there are so many in Gaza, you are أَهْلُ اللَّهِ. You are the people of Allah, because you are people of the Quran. And this gives you a highness. This attributes you to something that is so great and so high, subhanAllah. And this is what allows them to survive no matter how difficult things are because you are attached to the words of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.

The Uniqueness of Allah and His Revelation

SubhanAllah, on that note, sheikh, there's something really interesting here, which is the fact that Allah azza wa jal is unlike any of his creation. And also his word is unlike the word of any other creation. And du'a to him is unlike du'a to anyone else. And revelation is unlike anything else. Some of that is obvious to someone who doesn't speak any Arabic or whatever it may be, that God is unique. There's a fitrah element to that. Like recognizing that. And that's why you'll see many people who embrace Islam and they'll say, you know, I just knew that God couldn't be this and couldn't be that. It never sat right with me. You know, this never sat right with me, this never sat right with me. It just always made sense. One God. Like Islam was so intuitive in that sense.

So Allah azza wa jal gives these three possibilities that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it's not for Allah azza wa jal to or for anyone to be spoken to by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala except for revelation or Allah azza wa jal speaks to them from behind a veil or Allah azza wa jal sends a messenger. That even the idea how come, you know, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't just speak to all of us the same way? How come we don't have these things? And by the way, this particular ayah also ends with the same names that we just spoke about, that verily he is عَلِيٌّ حَكِيمٌ.

The Mystery of God: A False Barrier

How come Allah azza wa jal doesn't just talk to all of us this way? How come Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't just appoint all of us in a particular distinction? Why this? Why that? I guess I'll pose this question to both of you inshaAllah ta'ala to maybe reflect upon when someone wraps the concept of God in so much mystery and they use that as an excuse to say I can never understand God I can never, so why even try? I can never come close. What do you say to someone who wraps God and wraps religion in so much philosophy and language in order to distance people? What do you say to people like that and how do you kind of reflect on that in the capacity of this juz' and beyond?

I think you know there is a capacity that God gives you. I mean the fact that he created you with these faculties to be able to ponder over his creation firstly knowing the fact that he is a creator and that he has created everything, but then on top of that he says he doesn't do it عَبَثاً and understanding that عَبَثاً means haphazardly or just for no apparent reason, there is a purpose.

So when totally cutting that off and saying okay as a result of you saying there's so many things we cannot understand or it's beyond our understanding or it's beyond our comprehension therefore what though? What is that really requesting from you? Because Islam is for you to know Allah but then that requests from you something. It requests from you to act. So what is your action? What do you want from this? Is it for you to just rest and not to do anything? What is the result of that?

And the ultimate result of it Islamically is for you to submit to him knowing that you will not fully you will not be able to totally encounter and encompass every single intricacy of those names and attributes, but the generalities of some of them you can understand which should promote or should provoke you to do actions of worship and submission to him. So the ultimate goal is submission to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so if you're submitting to him by the system he has given you, that's the goal. And the system that he has given you, these actions are a means to show that devotion to those abstract concepts that you are talking about.

Sometimes we subconsciously think we have to know the how of everything and that's not upon us. What's upon us is to just know the what and then to submit to that to the descriptions that he's given us to entice us, to encourage us, or to warn us. So ultimately, the Sharia is that which is there for us to...

I always mention this point when I embraced Islam, I used to ask him about, I used to believe in martial law in Area 51 and these types of things and new world order and when I became Muslim I was like, what's going to happen when Big Brother comes to us and the martial law and the aliens and he said, I don't know what the aliens, he said, the aliens better be making Salat, so it doesn't even matter if there's aliens, they're making Salat. It doesn't matter, all that he said, are they making Salat? Because I know Allah is in control of all of that.

The Need for a God Who Is Greater Than Us

But Sheikh, let me throw something back at you. A serious note on Dawah, and of course, Sheikh Rahim would love your feedback because this is something I'm sure you've heard and I'm sure you've heard as well, anyone that's doing Dawah and talking to people. We need a God that looks like us. A God that suffers with us. God had to come in flesh and be man in order to get man. That idea, and subhanAllah, even in the Ramadan series I talk about this idea that similarity is not always comfort.

Like, I need a God I can relate to. Well, when you talk to a friend that has the same problems as you, they can only help you so much because they got their own set of problems. You actually need a God that is غَنِي and حَمِيد and completely removed from problems. And not with your concerns in order to be able to solve your concerns. Acquainted, but not the same. That's not comfort. What do you say to someone who's like, we need a God that can suffer, that we can see, that we can feel with. So that we can actually relate. What would you say to someone that comes up to you and says that?

I mean, exactly what you just said. SubhanAllah, he's well acquainted, but he is not... You're going to seek a solution from someone that can provide it for you. And that would require them to have a little more knowledge, a little more power, a little more authority, a little more of those characteristics that you can somewhat rely on. But when it comes to creation, even our own parents at times, there may be some things that you would expect for them to do, but you realize after they were not able to do it, they're not fully capable of doing it. And I don't blame them, but now I realize they're not fully capable of doing it.

When it comes to Allah, he is capable of all things. So therefore, someone that's like you, well, they're like you in their limitations as well. Maybe in this particular aspect they may be able to help you because they have more experience, more knowledge, more years, but were they creator of that?

Understanding Allah's Perfect Balance

So when we look at the creator of all of these things, his faculties, it's important for us to know that if they're like us, they're going to have similar limitations. Not to discount the fact that there may be someone that's like you, that can help you along the way in a particular aspect, but they will never be, as they say, the end result that will help you at all times, in all situations, in every encounter that you may face. So I would say it's contingent upon their limited characteristics. So if you're relying on that person for everything, that's where it can be problematic.

I think, سبحان الله, there's these two extremes, where it's the one extreme of philosophizing God to the point of presenting God as because he's beyond our human understanding, it's so wrapped in mystery and sophisticated that they make the average person think you can't actually know God at all. And then the opposite extreme, which is we have to know God, in order for us to really know him, we have to make him not a deity anymore, make him a human being, make him flesh and bones, make him have human experiences.

Islam's Perfect Middle Path

And Islam is this perfect middle, this perfect وسط, that Allah reveals himself to us through his names and attributes, that we can understand him, that we can connect with him, that we can have an emotional relationship with him, while remaining the deity, remaining high above us, remaining in all of his glory and all of his greatness.

And سبحان الله, that's the perfect balance, because when you make him a human, as some people do, you lose his عظمة, you lose the greatness. All of a sudden he becomes a human being, well then he has the deficiencies of a human being. And if you make him so wrapped in mystery that's un-understandable, then people no longer have a relationship with him.

So Islam gives us this beautiful understanding of Allah, while telling us yes, there are certain things beyond our human capacity to understand about Allah, but we still know that he's الرحمن, and he's الرحيم, and he's الكريم, and he's اللطيف, he has all of these beautiful, amazing attributes of mercy, and kindness, and generosity, and power, and greatness.

Perfect Love and Perfect Power

You can turn God into a human, to say look how loving he is, and look how close he is to you. Okay, my mother is very loving, and she loves me, but she's not necessarily somebody I trust all the time. Even though she loves me, because she doesn't have the capacity to help me in everything, even though she loves me so much, and is so merciful.

And on the same time, if I have a problem, I might go to a lawyer, and he's capable to help me, but he might not love me. He might not have his interest, my interest at heart. I want the one who has the perfect love and mercy for me, and also the perfect capacity and power for me. So that's the person who's worthy of my توكل, worthy of my trust, worthy of my saying, I leave everything with Allah, and whatever he wants for me, I'm happy with.

Wisdom in Divine Mystery

There's a saying, that the Salaf used to say, like the one that delves too much into the قدر and predestination, is like the one that looks at the sun. And it covers numerous aspects. The sun, you know it's there, you know you rely on it, and you know it has an effect on you, but you know you don't know all the intricacies of it. But it does have an effect on you. And if you were to stare in the sun too long, it could harm you. So when it comes to delving into these issues too long, it could possibly harm you. What you see, you know that it's there, it can affect you. You trust in that, and سبحان الله. I think that's what's important.

The Month of the Quran

سبحان الله. I was talking about the Quran and the greatness of the Quran. One thing that we should never lose sight of, Ramadan, how amazing it is. It's full of mercy and full of بركة and full of closeness to Allah. This month is only this month because of the Quran. So this month is a reflection of the greatness of the Quran.

And the Quran, of course, is for us the whole year. But especially in this month, we should be connecting to it because realize every beautiful thing about Ramadan is only here because of the Quran itself. And so we don't want to be people who get invited to an occasion and have no idea what it's for. We don't want to be in Ramadan without understanding its true purpose.

May Allah allow you and all of us to accept, to be accepted and to attain the reward of ليلة القدر. اللهم آمين.