Your Spiritual Report Card | Dr. Nazir Khan | Juz 29 Qur’an 30 for 30 S7 | Ramadan Series

When you regard Allah as great, no challenge is insurmountable, no outcome is improbable. Anything can happen by the will of Allah and you focus on whatever deeds you can do to earn Allah's pleasure. The believer sees the sin as a mountain about to crush him, whereas the hypocrite or the disbeliever sees it like a bug or a mosquito just shoot away, doesn't really bother me, and then you're confronted on the Day of Judgment with those deeds and like, whoa, this was a big deal.

Hold yourself accountable by weighing your deeds and Ramadan inshallah can serve as a catalyst for all of us for some new deed to do and some bad deed to leave off. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh everyone. Welcome back to Quran 30 for 30.

Introduction to Juz 29

We are in Juz 29 now. We are right at the end of Ramadan, the last of the nights. May Allah accept from all of you, all of us, may Allah grant us the reward of Ramadan, the reward of لَيْلَةُ الْقَدْرِ (Laylatul Qadr).

A reminder to all of you inshallah tonight could very well be Laylatul Qadr. This is maybe your last chance to really weigh in with your good deeds inshallah as much as you can and bid the night I we hope that of those good deeds will be to support the work of Yaqeen inshallah to continue reaching people around the world with no financial barrier whatsoever inshallah to invest in people's connection to Allah.

So even if you've donated already donate again if you can bid the night I make Yaqeen one of your good deeds inshallah as well as all of the great causes that you could be donating to. Alhamdulillah we are blessed to have with us Dr. Nazir Khan.

The Straight Path Book Discussion

We have the book that you wrote which subhanAllah I'm not exaggerating like this book the amount of feedback that I've gotten from it across the board like it is so profound because it's not just like academics that connect to it now what I love about this book The Straight Path is it takes Surat Al-Fatiha like you think about Quran 30 for 30 it takes Surat Al-Fatiha and then breaks down every modern ideology or many of the modern ideologies right through Surat Al-Fatiha like it kind of just not only reaffirms your belief in Allah and the Quran itself as the ultimate truth but it really guides you in the most relevant of ways through the major ideologies of the day and the isms and how Allah handles those and I know you put a lot of heart and soul into this book Alhamdulillah and enlightenment is not some like elitist concept in Islam right like anyone can connect with this and that's the beauty of it the Quran anyone can connect with it.

Sometimes you don't know you can't name the isms you can't name the ideologies that are all around you but you're being affected by them right sometimes you can't go deep into the tafsir of the Quran but if you're connecting with it from a place of tadabbur and reflection like you can withstand the impact so this is a very I don't want to say high level in the sense of inaccessible because it's not inaccessible but it puts the ideas of the Quran in conversation and then in domination of all the ideas that are out there in the public realm so can you tell us a little bit about this book?

SubhanAllah the journey with this book I was giving a number of lectures and workshops on Islam and modern ideologies modern isms because university students are finding that these different things are affecting them liberalism secularism atheism materialism and then we need to have our Islamic framework of how we respond to that in our Islamic worldview we need to understand it and so I was asked the question of well what resources do you recommend on this topic and I told people like well I'm summarizing from so many different sources I'm not aware of a resource and that's what gave me the motivation to put the time in and actually create something and I thought if I'm going to do a Quranic framework with dealing with this it's all there in Surat Al-Fatiha and the amazing thing about Surat Al-Fatiha everybody knows Surat Al-Fatiha we recited 17 times a day and yet it has this inexhaustible moral guidance within it like scholars have written books on Surat Al-Fatiha they've talked about how Surat Al-Fatiha gives us a lens to respond to every form of confusion and misguidance.

What really gave me the impetus to complete the book because you asked how long it took me to do it subhanAllah when the genocide in Gaza began and people were talking about how the mask has fallen we see the reality of these ideologies we see how they've contributed to the moral deterioration of our world we're witnessing a crisis of humanity that's when it became so clear we need to go back to our Islamic values and the Quranic guidance so I completed it in Ramadan of the two Ramadans previous but alhamdulillah it's finally now and printed.

Allah's Name Al-Fattah (The Opener)

What's your favorite name of Allah at this moment? The name of Allah that I always reflect on is الْفَتَّاحُ (Al-Fattah) the name that is the opener and one of the things that I always derive from this name is Allah gives us openings opportunities in every single moment of our lives to come closer to him and when the believer puts their trust in Al-Fattah they'll always be victorious.

Juz 29 Overview: The Foundation of Life and Death

Alhamdulillah we're in Juz 29 to summarize these shorter surahs in terms of the shorter Surahs is very hard obviously we know it starts with Surah Al-Mulk and it goes to Al-Mursalat but Allah opens up this with:

He declares that in his hand is all dominion blessed as he in whose hand is all dominion and he has power over all things. الْقَدِيرُ (Al-Qadeer) is not in response to a specific but it's indicative of the whole one of the blessings or one of the gems that the ulama mention of Tafseer is that when Allah uses الْقَادِرُ (Al-Qadir) he's usually responding to a specific claim like in this Juz as well Surah Al-Qiyamah:

Isn't he able to give life to the dead? Here Allah has power over all things and the most obvious thing that only God can do is give life and death رَبِّيَ الَّذِي يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُ (rabbi alladhi yuhyi wa yumeetu) right what Ibrahim alayhis salaam said he's the one who gives life and death and so Allah says:

He's the one who created life and death why the purpose of life and death is to test you to see who will put forth the best deeds that's the whole purpose the purpose of life was not life the purpose of death is not death the purpose is to put you through the test you come into this realm for the short period of time you have your deeds Allah knows is acquainted with what's happening within that creation he knows who he created he knows their motives he knows their intentions he knows the deeds that they do Allah is very well acquainted and at the same time this was your purpose and subhanAllah you'll find that Allah as he sort of lays out this foundation in this juz that he created everything all dominion belongs to him and of the things that he created were life and death so that he could see your deeds Allah then starts to mention the calling of the higher self and those that responded to the lower self and ended up with their consequences.

The Ascending Ways

So just a few things that came to mind as I was going through this juz you have Surat Al-Ma'arij right and Allah mentions:

Which is a very hard verse to translate to Allah belong the ascending ways I always tell people like the easiest ways to have an association Israa wal ma'araj right so that way you don't forget the ascension so to Allah belong the ascending ways when you think about like the last ten nights of Ramadan you're trying to put forth your deeds you're trying to have your deeds ascend to Allah the angels are descending and ascending with your deeds carrying them to Allah carrying your mention carrying your remembrance that's one of the benefits of this verse this verse alone could be the whole episode right مِنَ اللَّهِ ذِي الْمَعَارِجِ but the idea of things going up what are you sending up to Allah while you're here?

Al-Haqqa: The Reality

One of the things I was just thinking about is like then it comes to Al-Haqqa the reality the reality and this is actually incredible if you think about it Allah says he created he brought you here gave you life and death and he was acquainted with everything that you were doing and everything that you thought you were doing and all of your motives and all of your intentions and everything in between you're here for the short period of time you have these ascending ways like think of the visual of ladders that have been sent down ropes حَبْلُ اللَّهِ (hablullah) that's been sent down right it's all being sent down now ascend ascend with your deeds Al-Haqqa is now consequence right Al-Haqqa brings you to the other side of that right and it starts off with:

Like big picture Thamud and 'Aad and those oppressing peoples they denied this reality but then what it comes down to subhanAllah this is one of the most elaborate and poetic portions of the Quran where Allah mentions:

Those who are granted their books in their right hands and those that are granted their books in their left hand behind their back chained behind their back and the shame of the ones that receive their books in their left hand and behind their back and the celebration the relief the joy of those who now see the deeds that they were sending up and then in their books in their right hands so like one thing I was thinking about subhanAllah like what will your Ramadan in your book look like what will the deeds you're sending up right now look like on your scroll how beautiful do you think the page will be the qiyam that you're praying the Quran that you're reading how will it look with Allah who writes down everything and he's generous to those that are trying and so he extols these small deeds and magnifies them what does that look like on your page?

Right now you have these ascending ways to Allah الَّذِي بِيَدِهِ الْمُلْكُ (alladhi biyadihi al-mulk) right to him who belongs all dominion and then you'll have that moment where you get to go and you're either celebrating enjoy this is it this is my day this is my Ramadan this year this is my Quran this year or you have that shame behind your back and Allah was always acquainted the entire time and Allah brings you back to life and he will bring back those deeds:

He will bring back those deeds to where they are present in front of you replay how do you deal with Allah who is able who is in control who is recording and may Allah make our reality our haqqa to be a good reality on the day of judgment.

Time and Divine Dominion

SubhanAllah of these scenes that are painted from:

The angels and the spirit being Jibril will go up to Allah and the time frame is that which is not going to be with our immediate perception of time Allah even talks about time it's not what you would think it is it's far beyond your perception and your control of thought when it comes to what the reality will be on that day Allah is painting that picture for you and also the fact that there will be people that did not act accordingly the people that did not they acted in disobedience to Allah so you think about the fact that all this punishment will take place from الْمَلِكُ (Al-Malik) from the owner or the king and Allah as was mentioned previously is الْمُهَيْمِنُ (Al-Muhaimin) the one that has authority but you would think because of his mulk and his dominion and his power and his greatness that we will talk about his magnificence that there may be some form of oppression if we were to do qiyas on creation but the creator is a different reality and that's all when Allah mentioned his names in the previous juz mentioning all of these names is for us to think that he is far beyond his creation.

So when he talks about the unseen that which will eventually be seen and encountered that's where subhanallah particularly in this month of Ramadan when you're reciting Surat Al-Fatiha you're saying مَالِكِ يَوْمِ الدِّينِ (maliki yawm ad-din) this يَوْمُ الدِّينِ (yawm ad-din) this day that will take place as some mention the deen the recompense and that you Allah has given you all of these favors and with these favors what are you going to do with these favors because there will be a day where you have to read that book and hopefully through the grace of Allah:

This is the du'a that we will make in the last 10 days of Ramadan with the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam we would make Allah you are the one that pardons you're the pardoner you pardon from the sins that we may have committed so when it comes to this beautiful day of Ramadan and hopefully if it's Laylatul Qadr this night or these last 10 nights that we may look for the last 10 moments that we may look for that Allah pardon us to where that day comes and we read our book we think of these unseen times and that Allah forgives us for any of our shortcomings inshallah.

The Connection Between Theology and Ethics

The thing that came to mind just listening to what both of you shared is the connection that runs throughout this juz between theology and ethics right our relationship with Allah and our relationship with the creation of Allah so you think about for example in Surat Al-Qalam right the story of the people going to their garden right and Allah is mentioning what are they saying:

Don't let any poor person enter in upon you we have this wealth but we don't want to share it with others you think about the qualities that are mentioned in Surat Al-Ma'arij of the believers yes there's the salah that's mentioned the connection with Allah but also:

Those in whose wealth there is a known right for the beggar the one who is deprived and subhanAllah the other thing that's connected with this is the theology ethics connection we find in Surat Al-Qiyamah right right at the beginning:

What's the connection between these two things? I swear nay I swear by the day of judgment and I swear by the soul that blames itself the self-reproaching soul what's the connection between these two? The day of judgment is the external court on that day when Allah will judge each and every human being based on how they follow the guidance of Allah based on how they upheld the rights of Allah and the rights of his creation so the consequence of that what does that theology lead us to we need to undergo that ethical introspection وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ we need to have that internal courthouse so Umar ibn al-Khattab radiallahu anhu in his statement حَاسِبُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ قَبْلَ أَن تُحَاسَبُوا (hasibu anfusakum qabla an tuhasibu) right hold yourself to account before you're held to account on the day of judgment before your hisab is done on the day of judgment hold yourself to account in this world.

The Name Al-Azeem (The Great)

SubhanAllah the name الْعَظِيمُ (Al-Azeem) is a very profound and comprehensive name if you think about it this is also the name that appears at the end of Ayatul Kursi right the most high the most great الْعَظِيمُ (Al-Azeem) is the one who is the greatest the incomparably magnificent the powerful the supreme and this is a name that is descriptive of all of Allah's beautiful names and attributes but it's also an important theological foundation for us as believers.

Now in this verse that you highlighted from Surah Al-Haqqa it's so interesting because Allah could have just said about the person who receives the record and in their left hand you know he didn't believe in Allah why is the name الْعَظِيمُ (Al-Azeem) attached to this he didn't believe in Allah and what I want to point out is that this concept of regarding something as great this sits at the root of the difference between guidance and misguidance the difference between iman and kufr faith and disbelief it's not a question of how many deductive proofs for God's existence have you memorized what philosophical riddle have you solved to know about God's existence the difference is what have you regarded as great in your life do you regard as great and internalize the understanding of Allah's greatness and everything in the world around you points you back to the greatness of Allah or if you don't make ta'dheem of Allah what are you making ta'dheem of are you making ta'dheem of your nafs your ego your desires are you making ta'dheem of the entertainment industry the icons of the entertainment industry celebrity worship social media influencers social media likes fame popularity power wealth all these different things that people make ta'dheem of?

So the problem of people choosing kufr it's not a cognitive deficit it's not an intellectual puzzle it is an ethical failure that comes from a spiritual failure that comes from this inability this refusal this moral refusal to appreciate and internalize the greatness of Allah and that has so many different ramifications subhanAllah when you think about that aspect we talked about theology and ethics again in this verse you see those two paralleled right so the one who recognizes the greatness of Allah how does that transform them as an individual versus the one who makes ta'dheem of themselves right Allah follows that up with they don't even encourage the feeding of the poor because the poor is someone that you don't expect any benefit from so if you structure your worldview around gratification of your desires around pursuing pleasure there's no motivation there's no incentive to do something that is moral duty seem irrelevant to people.

And that's why when we talk about the genocide in Gaza right that's why people have this moral apathy it's like hey I'm just here to live my life to enjoy my life with entertainment if I see this I just scroll past I see a headline I just turn the page I see a news report I change the channel why do people have that attitude because they've been conditioned by this hedonism they've been conditioned by this egotism making ta'dheem of things that are not worthy of your ta'dheem and so this moral foundation that we get from regarding Allah as the greatest it puts everything into perspective in our lives and that's why throughout the Quran we see other things that the believer is able to appreciate as great because of their iman in Allah's greatness right the day of judgment mentions Surat Al-Haqqa itself elsewhere in the Quran Allah says the day that the great day the day when people will stand before Allah on the day of judgment so that's the immediate lesson that we take from those verses.

But even beyond the ethical transformation the spiritual transformation when you regard Allah as great no challenge is insurmountable no outcome is improbable anything can happen by the will of Allah and you focus on whatever deeds you can do to earn Allah's pleasure and that's why in times of calamity the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam taught us to say:

There's none worthy of worship except Allah the greatest الْعَظِيمُ (Al-Azeem) الْحَلِيمُ (Al-Haleem) the one who's most forbearing because of his greatness he can save us and rescue us from any difficulty and because of his forbearance he cares about us has the concern for us in spite of all our shortcomings in spite of all our deficiencies so subhanAllah that is one aspect that ties it together.

Your Spiritual Report Card

The other thing that I wanted to mention it talked about that scene that this comes in the context of people receiving their records on the day of judgment whenever I hear this verse being recited about the believer receiving their record in their right hand and they say I always remember something I heard 20 years ago from Shaykh Muhammad Ash-Sharif he had this captivating way of giving these examples and I remember he was standing there and he was saying just like a kid coming home with their report card right a kid has that excitement and they're like look at my report card look at my grades he said imagine on the day of judgment you're coming home you're coming back to your family and I can just remember his smile as he's explaining that example and I was just thinking subhanAllah like may Allah give us the opportunity to see him in that position saying on that day and subhanAllah the record of people's deeds Allah shows us role models in so many different ways and it's just something that may Allah enable us to be in that position of receiving the record in the right hand on the day of judgment.

Magnifying What Allah Orders

Just the ilham of Allah when mentioning think Imam Al-Qayyim mentions in his invocations how he mentions from the اسْتِقَامَة الْقَلْب (istiqamah al-qalb) from the uprightness of the heart is تَعْظِيمُ الْأَمْرِ وَالنَّهْي (ta'dheem al-amr wa an-nahy) is magnifying the one that is legislated ordered and prohibited and that's very very important because we have to take a step back and say okay what do I hold as magnificent in my life that's my rubric when we look on the flip side of guilt shame guilt is when you go against your own ways and rules you feel guilty but really whose rules are you following to where you feel guilty and doing that thing sometimes there's a realm of fitra we feel bad for doing something but what about do we feel bad for not praying for example whose rules are we really following even from an aspect of shame it's when you're not on a communal level you feel shame of doing something wrong because other people may deem it as wrong but when there's that shame فِي اللَّهِ (fi Allah) towards Allah that you're obeying because of the greatness of the sharia the greatness of the legislative system that he has given us how much are we following that where do we feel guilt in leaving that and abandoning that and that's what's important.

Even in the month of Ramadan Ramadan itself is a system that Allah has created for us is that guilt within leaving off certain aspects of it of those that may not be fasting Ramadan there's still an opportunity but recognizing the profundity of leaving that off abandoning it because we may have preferred our desires and one that prefers their desires because their desires as you mentioned hedonism just living and doing what you please and not fearing any consequence not even holding that yourself accountable in that regard and so the statement of Umar ibn al-Khattab is so beautiful hold yourselves accountable to who before you're held accountable by who when you constantly remember that he gives you the solution hold yourself accountable by weighing your deeds and Ramadan inshallah can serve as a catalyst for all of us for some new deed to do and some bad deed to leave off internally from the way that we think about Allah the way that we think about each other and then externally how we exemplify or act out that particular belief or world view on certain aspects of our lives so the name الْعَظِيمُ (Al-Azeem) like you mentioned it's couched within all the names and attributes and recognizing the greatness of and constantly doing reviewing ourselves and what we think and how we feel and our emotions and how that ties into what we view and what we do.

The Weight of Sins and Good Deeds

Amazing subhanAllah like even the idea of making your deeds extolling your deeds what you're talking about here that statement of Umar radiallahu anhu incredible way to put it this idea of the sin and belittling your sin the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam mentioned like not to belittle your sins and he gave this example of a person that is with a bunch of people and they're putting sticks into a fire until eventually the fire consumes them these small sticks and he also said don't belittle good deeds why because at the end of the day it's how great you see Allah so you see the sin as small because you don't see Allah's greatness and so when Al-Shafi'i rahim Allah says don't look at the smallness of your sins look at the greatness of the one that you've disobeyed then suddenly that sin gets extolled likewise with these good deeds don't look at the smallness of the good deed look at who you're doing it for the greatness of the one that you're doing it for so in Abdullah Mas'ud radiallahu anhu says in practical terms he says that the believer sees the sin as a mountain about to crush him whereas the hypocrite or the disbeliever sees it like a bug or a mosquito just shoot away doesn't really bother me and then you're confronted on the day of judgment with those deeds and like whoa this was a big deal right this was a big deed this was a big deal and this is the reality of these things because of who you're dealing with not just what you're dealing with so for the beautiful reflections that it was a blessing to have you.

Conclusion

I just noticed by the way the books I was looking at the cover but interestingly enough like you can't you probably can't really see it on the camera but you got all the isms on the side and then you have pointing upwards right the straight path to Allah so all these isms are kind of disappearing on the side and that's truly right the ascending ways phenomenal creative work by the team actually within the book as well every chapter has a diagram summarizing and kind of graphically displaying us to rise above our lowly ways and may Allah grant us the best of deeds may Allah grant us the highest level for those with our beloved Prophet so it is a pleasure to have you insights inshallah you'll keep us in your du'a on this 29th night once again please do donate inshallah if you haven't already.