The Path to a Virtuous, Just Society

The Path to a Virtuous, Just Society

Omar Suleiman MASCON2017

Opening

Wow, that was weak السَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

So you're going to be seeing a lot of me today. Jumu'ah and then this and then the next session. And I want to just say subhanAllah that I'm so appreciative of each and every single person that has made it a point to not just come up and to say that I enjoyed this lecture, I benefited from this lecture, I attended this session. But one of the things that's been consistent in every single session is that people are actually able to say what they took from the session instead of just, you know, an empty word of praise or an encouragement but that I benefited from this particular point.

I just had the opportunity to meet that sister backstage. May Allah bless her and all of the huffadh that are graduating today from this beautiful Hifz program. May Allah bless Ahmad al-Shaykh and the Mass Qur'an Institute and Mass as a whole for the environment that they provided to being able to make this happen.

And may Allah make us all people of Qur'an. Allahumma ameen.

Our Relationship with the Qur'an

I always love to get a topic that's related to the Qur'an and I think that it can segue inshallah or it's a healthy follow-up to what I was just speaking about in khutbatul jum'ah of when we feel honored by something.

I want you to imagine meeting your Qur'an on the day of judgment. You know, nowadays we read most of our copies of the Qur'an from our iPhones or from our tablets or whatever they may be as opposed to the actual mushafs. And you used to be able to tell how much a person reads the Qur'an by the amount of wear and tear on the mushaf itself.

So if the pages are bent and dirty, if you look at some of the copies of the mushaf that maybe your parents read or your grandparents, some of them in the masjid that a particular person picked up every single day, you'll see that the pages are used by the amount of recitation that came from that book.

The Hadith of Meeting Your Qur'an

I want you to imagine if your Qur'an approached you on the day of judgment as a person, what would your Qur'an look like? This is a hadith from Ibn Majah that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah 3781)

The Qur'an would come on the day of judgment in the form of a pale man

Your Qur'an would show up on the day of judgment and would approach you in the form of this pale man, someone that you've never seen before. And you would think to yourself, who are you? What are you? And the Qur'an would actually respond to you and say:

I am the one that used to keep you awake at night and I used to keep you thirsty during the day.

That's for a person that used to read the Qur'an frequently and was truly as Sheikh Ahmed was mentioning (صَاحِبُ الْقُرْآنِ) a companion of the Qur'an. That you meet your Qur'an like a long lost friend on the day of judgment.

Finally, we can have a conversation. And the Qur'an approaches you in the form of a beautiful person because you beautified its recitation and its application in this dunya. Therefore, you are rewarded with its companionship in a personified sense on the day of judgment as you had its companionship in this world.

Self-Reflection Questions

What would it be like to meet my Qur'an? When's the last time I had the satisfaction of memorizing a portion of the Qur'an, of completing a khatmah, of actually reciting the entire Qur'an from front to back, outside of Ramadan even. When is the last time that I felt like the Qur'an rescued me in my moment of hardship, that I was able to find refuge in its words, in its instructions. When is the last time that the Qur'an was able to stop me from ruining myself and taking a dark path in life.

What is my relationship with this book? And we could talk on and on about it, and we'd never get tired of it, because this is a reminder that we always need to be reminded with.

The Qur'an as Our Protector

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) he said:

(Sunan at-Tirmidhi 2913)

The one who does not have anything of the Qur'an in his chest or in her chest is like a destroyed home, a ruined home.

What does that mean?

Is it not in the remembrance of Allah that the hearts find satisfaction and tranquility?

What greater remembrance of Allah is there than the speech of Allah, than actually reciting the speech of Allah.

And when the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said that to learn one ayah of the Qur'an during the day is better than praying thousands of rakats during the night, there's a reason for that. The Qur'an protects you, it guards you. It's your refuge.

Developing a Personal Relationship

It's got to be your personal companion. And we all know that when it comes to friends, usually the friends that your parents force on you don't turn out to be good friends. You hang out with them as much as you have to to satisfy your parents, but then you immediately as soon as you get the first opportunity back off of your friends that your parents forced on you.

The same thing is true with the Qur'an. There are very few people who take the initiative to develop a relationship with the Qur'an without some sort of real pressure from their parents or from their environment or from their school or whatever it may be. Very few people, that's why you don't find people in their adulthood, usually that decide that they're going to memorize the Qur'an and learn the Qur'an and make it a significant part of their lives.

It's usually something that comes into a person's childhood only. And alhamdulillah for the parents that acquaint us with the Qur'an. But you have to develop your own meaningful relationship with it and you've got to have your own unique dedication to it.

The Qur'an as a Book of Instruction

And you've got to read it like a book of instruction. When you are paying attention, to the verses of Allah, every single time you read the Qur'an, you will find something else of benefits. You might read the same ayah over and over again.

But this time the ayah means something different to you because of a new circumstance in your life or because you're paying more attention or for whatever reason you stopped at that ayah. The speech of Allah has not changed for 1400 years. But your life seems to change 1400 times a day.

And your circumstances are ever evolving. And when you get to retreat back to something that is a constant in your life to anchor you and to say, what does Allah want me to learn from this? Beyond the ahkam and the rulings and the creed that's derived from the book, what is it that Allah is calling me to do with this particular ayah? How can I actually absorb this particular verse in my life at this moment?

The Example of Imam Ash-Shafi'i

And that's why Imam Al-Shafi'i rahimahullah, who famously read the Qur'an twice a day in Ramadan. He used to dedicate himself only to the Qur'an in Ramadan. So he would finish his recitation once in the day, finish his recitation once in the night. And he said he never read the Qur'an, meaning in its entirety, except that he found something in it that he did not find in it in its previous recitation. A lot of times it hits you in accordance with a new circumstance in your life.

But you have to have that preparation and that anchor.

The Example of Umar ibn al-Khattab

Even Umar ibn al-Khattab (رضي الله عنه) as the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) passed away, which is the most devastating circumstance in his life. And many times we only go to the Qur'an. In fact, we only go to divine healing period when we face a hardship in life that we didn't anticipate.

There was no hardship in life that equal to Umar (رضي الله عنه) losing the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). It was worse to him than losing a child. It was worse to him than losing a spouse or losing a parent. This was the worst possible tragedy that could happen to him.

And when he reacted emotionally to that loss of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), Umar (رضي الله عنه) as he was standing up in the masjid and he was saying that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) did not die, and that the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) has simply returned to his Lord for some time and he will come back like Musa (عليه السلام). And he will take the hypocrites to account.

Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه) stood up and he recited the verse:

And Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وسلم) was but a messenger. Messengers have come and gone before him. If he dies or if he is killed, will you turn back on your heels?

What did Umar (رضي الله عنه) say? He said, "It was as if that was the first time I ever heard that ayah. It's like I never heard that ayah before." Because Umar (رضي الله عنه) never anticipated that to be a real possibility in his life, that he would live to see the death of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم). But now the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) had passed away. Now the verse had more meaning to him.

The Divine Conversation

And there is something about it. Reading that Quran, and knowing that you're in conversation with Allah. Knowing that every time you mention him, he mentions you. Every time you read his word, your words reach him.

The Beautiful Story of Ubayy ibn Ka'b

And I'm gonna end with this one conversation that is so beautiful. It took place between the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) and Ubayy Ibn Ka'b (رضي الله عنه). And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said to Ubayy, "Allah has commanded me to recite to you Surah Al-Bayyinah."

Now when Ubayy (رضي الله عنه) was commanded to recite Surah Al-Bayyinah, it's not like, "Oh my God, I have to watch my tajweed." I mean you think about intimidating. You have to recite Quran to the one upon whom it was revealed. You're gonna watch yourself. You wanna make sure you guard every part of it.

Ubayy (رضي الله عنه) cried. And as he cried, he said to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), "Did he really name me? Did Allah mention Ubayy?" And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said, "Yes, he mentioned you." And that took Ubayy (رضي الله عنه) to another spiritual place.

That Allah who revealed this Quran to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) though he revealed it only to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم), the Quran is not only the tool of communication for the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) with Allah. It's also our connection to Allah. We read it as if it's been revealed to us.

He also mentions us even though he only revealed it to him. He mentions those who he loves as well to the angels and they have a position with him. And no people are more beloved to Allah than Ahlul Quran.

The People of Allah

They are the people of Allah. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah 215)

They are the people of Allah, the friends of Allah, the favorites of Allah. Ahlul Quran, the people of the Quran.

Not people that recite it, but people that live it. Not people that only say it with their tongues, but people that absorb it with their hearts. It is very easy for each and every single one of us to recite the Quran.

And I'm not talking about the difficulty in Arabic in accordance with your own level, your own recitation level in that sense, in a technical sense. It's one thing to read it. But you know, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) mentioned that there would come a people that would recite the Quran and they would recite it frequently, but it would not pass their throats.

The Warning Against Superficial Reading

They would be extremists. And Ibn Abbas (رضي الله عنه) mentioned these people that he met, the Khawarij, these extremists, that appear in a new manifestation every generation. That they're reading the Quran like humming bees and their eyes were red, but they weren't absorbing any of it.

Any of it. And obviously they reacted in the most harsh and extreme way. If the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) mentioned:

The person who does not have the Quran in their chest

That the Quran does not transcend their entire body and inform their actions with each of their limbs. Like it did with the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم):

كَانَ قُرْآنًا يَمْشِي عَلَى الْأَرْضِ (Reference to authentic descriptions of the Prophet's character) He was a Quran walking on the earth

Then we can't claim to be of the people of Quran.

The Path to Becoming People of Quran

But if you meet Allah in this attempt to bring the Quran into your mind through memorization. To bring it into your hearts through reflection. To bring it into your limbs through practice. And to bring it on to your tongue through recitation.

You meet Allah as a person of Quran even if you die in the midst of that journey not having fully achieved or attained that memorization that you sought. Because Allah knows when a person is on a path to Him. And Allah is the one who will not only guide to that path.

But Allah will see the sincere seeker through that entire path. May Allah make us people of Quran. May Allah bless the huffadh today that are being celebrated.

Closing Du'a

Bless the Mass Quran institute and all the Quran schools and institutes that are here and around. May Allah allow this ummah to be revived by the Quran and by the practice of the Quran and the sunnah of Rasulullah (صلى الله عليه وسلم). Allahumma ameen.

Dear brothers and sisters, I'm gonna be back on the stage in less than an hour. We have a very special session inshallah ta'ala with our brother Ibn Ali Miller. So I don't... Even if you're hungry or whatever it may be, make sure that you're here for the next session as well inshallah.