 As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Bismillahi r-Rahmanir r-Rahim Wa-s-salat wa-s-salam ala Sayyidina Muhammad Wa-ala alihi wa sahbihi wa-salim Ya Rabbana laka al-hamdu kama yin baghi Lijalali wajeeqa wa-azimi sultanik Allahumma ftahlina ftuh al-arifin Allahumma salli ala Sayyidina Muhammad As-salamu alaykum last time We started with the story of Sayyidina Musa alayhi-s-salam and his journey to meet the one who is more knowledgeable than him Sayyidina Al-Khadir alayhi-s-salam And when he asked Sayyidina Al-Khadir to accompany him Sayyidina Al-Khadir told him you cannot you cannot be patient You don't know what I'm going to do You have your own way and I have my own way You might not understand what I'm going to do So how can you have patience? And then Sayyidina Musa said to him I am not going to ask you any question So I want to just to learn from you I'm going to see what's going to happen and I'm not asking you any questions So Sayyidina Al-Khadir accepted that Sayyidina Musa will accompany him in their journey And we saw that when they went on the ship Sayyidina Al-Khadir made a hole in it He damaged the ship that they used and that their owners were so generous they even did not take any money from them and in return to helping them use their ship Then we saw how they proceeded with their journey and they met a boy and Al-Khadir killed him And again that was so not acceptable to Sayyidina Musa And when he told him about it he said, I told you that you can have no patience with me Then the last thing that he promised Sayyidina Musa promised him If I ask you anything after this keep me not in your company So if I object to you anymore that's what will be it You have the permission to break this company And this is when Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said Rahmatullahi alayna wa ala Musa Laulabitha ma'a sahibihi laa apsaraal ajab May Allah, may the mercy of Allah be upon us and upon Musa If he had stayed with his companion we would have seen wonders So then they went on with their journey and when they reached it down they were so hungry, they needed food and they asked all the people for food They asked them for shelter, they refused And then they were walking when they found a wall about to collapse And Sayyidina Al-Khadir alayhi sallam set it up straight So Sayyidina Musa immediately said If you have wished surely you could have taken a payment for what you did And here Sayyidina Al-Khadir said this is the parting between me and you So that was it But before we depart I am going to tell you the reasons, the interpretations of what happened He said, this is the parting between me and you I am going to tell you about what you didn't expect And this is verse 78 So I will tell you the interpretation the explanation of those things over which you were not able to be patient As for the boat, it belonged to poor people working in the sea So I wished to make a defective damage in it Why? As there was a king who was in front of them and who seized every good ship by force Now let's talk deeply about the ayah So As-Safina, the ship was for Masa'keen Masa'keen are What's the difference between al-Miskeen and al-Faqir? Al-Faqir, both of them are poor But al-Faqir is the one who does not own anything And he is in need While al-Miskeen is the one who owns a little bit But what he owns is not sufficient for him So those people, the owners, they were the owners of this boat But they did not have enough money They did not have sufficient money So what happened? They were working in the sea So for someone who works in the sea, it means they lift up some goods People, they fish, they try to catch some pearls So this is the type of work they used to do in the sea When he said, فأردت أن أعيبها If we look at the verb فأردت أردت means I wanted to cause a defect on it But later, when he says وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِ We will come to that later, but I want to mention it here He says, وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِ So he made the action, the bad action, refer back to him أردت I wanted But later he said وَمَا فَعَلْتُهُ عَنْ أَمْرِ I did not do it by will So Allah ordered me to do it But that's of أدب That he caused the bad action, the defect damage that he did He made it just for himself, that he did that وَكَانَ وَرَاءَهُمْ Now, what does the word وراء means in the Qur'an? The word وراء in the Qur'an has four different meanings And this is the miracle of the Arabic language One word will mean several different things that are not even related How? So in one of the places here, in one of the ayahs, let's take this ayah This ayah, وَرَاءَهُمْ means in front of them So the king was at the shore waiting for them And this is similar to another ayah when Allah SWT says مِوَرَاءِهِ جَهَنَّمْ Hellfire is in front of him So the first meaning for وراء, which is in this ayah And in other ayahs here, mean in front of them Now, the other meaning The other meaning for the word وراء in Arabic is مِنْ بَعْدِ, which is after And we see this in the ayah when Allah SWT says وَمْرَاءَتُهُ قَائِمَ فَضَحِكَتْ فَبَشَّرْنَاهَ بِإِسْحَاقَ وَمِوْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ يَقُوبَ His wife was standing and she smiled Then we gave her good tidings of إس Relax وَمِوْ وَرَاءِ إِسْحَاقَ And after وراء إسحاقة يعقوب. So after إسحاق, يعقوب will be there. Now the third meaning is for the word وراء is behind. فنبذوه وراء ظهورهم. They threw the scripture behind their backs. They did not care. So the word وراء here means behind and the last meaning for the word وراء in the Qur'an means other than. فَمَنِ بْتَغَى which means غيرًا in Arabic. فَمَنِ بْتَغَى وَرَاءَ ذَالِكَ فَأُولَائِكَ هُمُ الْعَدُونِ If someone wanted something other than this, then those are the bad people, the transgressors. So here if we look into this ayah وَكَانَ وَرَاءَهُمْ مَلِكُونْ يَأْخُذُواْ يَأْخُذُواْ قُلْ لَسَفِينَ تِنغَصْبَ. So which one is better? When Sayyidina Al-Khadr said, I wanted to prevent that king from taking their boat by making it look faulty, by making it look defective. So he made a hole or he broke a piece of wood or something. Now, what would the result be? Those poor owners could benefit from their boat. So which one is better? To have a defective boat or to lose the boat by itself? So if Sayyidna Musa A.S. knew this explanation, he would have done the same thing to the ship. He wouldn't think that this is something strange. Why did you do that? Why did you harm the people who benefited you? Why did you harm the people who helped you? So this is what the meaning, the explanation of why Sayyidina Al-Khadr made that hole or made that defect in the ship. Then he moved to the second case. Now as for the boy, his parents were believers. Now look at the word Al Ghulam. Al Ghulam is a young boy who did not reach the age yet. So he is not ordered of doing the salawat and everything and the takalif. So he is not punished for anything. So when he dies at this age, then he dies as pure as he would be. Now, is it good for the boy to die at this age or is it bad? The mom and the dad were believers. And most of the time, children are trials for their parents. And this is what Allah swt mentioned in the Qur'an. He said, So be aware. How can a child be an enemy? A child can be an enemy when he is so demanding and the parents are not rich. Then the father would steal some money just to give his child what he wants. So in this case, this child was a trial and because of this child, the parent is going, the father is going to be punished. This is how the wives and children can be enemies. The same thing as for the wife, she would keep nagging and nagging and nagging for her husband. Get me this, get me that. My friend bought this ring. My friend got this car. Look at this one, look at that one. And he is not able to do it. So what he will do, he will steal to fulfill the needs of his wife. So he is punished because of his wife, who became his enemy. Now, Allah is saying, So this child, his parents were believers. And we feared that he would oppress them. He would overburden them by transgression and by disbelief. So out of their love to him, they will follow him. So it's a loose, loose case. And we intended that their Lord exchange them, substitute for them. And it's nearer to mercy for them. So Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, when he made Al-Khadr, kill this boy, he transformed him from the kufr, from the non-believing state that he will be when he will get older, which will lead to jahannam. So he transferred him from this position to killing him when he was young, when he was still pure and he entered the Jannah. His parents rejoiced when he was born and they grieved for him when he was killed. If he had stayed alive, he would have been the cause of their doom. So we have to look at things not from there, not outwardly, but look deeply. Within each and every calamity, there is some khayr. What is the khayr in what's happening? We might not understand it now, but later on, we will understand the reason. Most of the times, someone would beg Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la for something, and he would beg and beg and beg. And Allah, if it's destined, he will give it to him. But if not, then he will not give it to him. And later on, he would say, Oh, Allah did not give me this. Alhamdulillah. It would have been a disaster if I got it. So we never know where is the khayr. And that's why when we want something, we do not ask for it. We ask for the khayr. We ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la. We say, Ya Allah, if you know there is khayr in this thing that I would deeply want, just give it to me. If you know that there will be sharr in this, there will be some evil in this thing that I would deeply desire, then keep it away from me. And give me something that I would be content with and it will have all the khayr for me. So outwardly, what happened to the ship and to the boy is, it's not acceptable. But inwardly, it was all the khayr. Now, the third one is, as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the town. And there was under this wall a treasure with them. It was a treasure for those young two orphans. So you remember that the people of the city were all so stingy, were all so bad that they refused to give them anything to eat. And under this wall, there was a treasure. So if this wall falls down and the treasure is shown, then those bad people of the city would steal this treasure. So the orphan boys will lose their treasure. But when Al-Khadr, peace be upon him, built this wall again, he built it in a way that it will be good enough for the two orphan boys to get older and then to get out of their treasure. So doing this, Al-Khadr, peace be upon him, knew how to pay back those bad people of this place, of this town, because he did not allow them to steal this treasure. And their father was righteous. He was a good person. Now, look at this message. This indicates that righteous persons of spring will be taking care because of the good deeds of their fathers. And you always hear it. The father was a good person. Allah saved his children. The grandfather was a good person. He saved his offspring. And the word Abu Huma in the Tafsir might be up to the seventh grand-grand-grandfather or grand-grand-grandmother. So Abu Huma, Wakana Abu Huma Salihah, the father was righteous. And this is a message for us. We have to be righteous so that Allah will take care of our kids. We have to plant the seeds of goodness in our kids so that they will be brought up with goodness in their heart, with goodness in their mind, with goodness in their life. So they will be able, Allah will show them the right way to differentiate between what's right and what's wrong so they can choose the best. Of course, this is with the help of Allah SWT. So you Lord intended that they should attain their age of full strength and take out their treasure. Now, let's think of the father, the father now, the good father, the righteous father. He built the wall in a way that it will be good enough for a period of time that his children will grow up until they reach the age and then get their treasure. Now, who taught him how much of clay he should add, how much of water he should add, how much strength the wall should have? Allah SWT. When does someone reach the age? When he is able to produce, to give the same thing as himself. When he is able to get married and to give a child at that time, at that age, we will say that he got the age. Now, if you take a watermelon and you break it, so it might be either red and delicious and very sweet or it might be yellowish or any other color that's not so so ripe and it will not taste good. When will it be good and tasty, red? It will be like this when it is fully grown that the seeds inside are able to give more than what you are eating. So you broke once, you are eating one watermelon but imagine how many seeds are inside and each can produce watermelons. So this is when we say So why did I do that? That was a mercy of your Lord. I did not do, I did not damage this the shape, I did not kill the boy, I did not fix the wall just from my own from my own knowledge that I wanted to do that. No. So this is the reason why you could not, this is the interpretation that I just gave you of those things you could not be patient with and this is what Allah wanted me to do. Now if you look at the words Arada, Aradtu, Arada and Aradtu he he talked about the bad things Sayyidina Al-Khadr and he said I did that but he talked about the Khayr that it belonged to Allah SWT and as I just mentioned this is out of politeness. This was the story of Sayyidna Al-Khadr with Sayyidna Musa alaihi salam and we all know that I mentioned this last time that this whole journey happened because Sayyidna Al-Khadr was asked who is the most knowledgeable person and he immediately said I am. So Allah SWT told Sayyidna Musa alaihi salam that you are not the most knowledgeable. There is one person who is more knowledgeable than you. Sayyidna Musa wanted to know more and he asked Allah SWT to show him the way to go and reach and meet this knowledgeable person and also to tell to learn from him. So the whole story here indicates that the importance of seeking knowledge. When we know that there is some knowledge that we don't know and there is a lot that we don't know then we have to seek for it especially when it is sacred knowledge, when it is knowledge about our religion. We have to learn about the Fiqh of our religion. We have to learn about everything that is important for us to do our daily life correctly, righteously. We have to learn. We have to seek this knowledge and the more we learn the more we find ourselves how ignorant we are. The more we learn the more we see that there is a lot that we don't know that we have to learn and there is a special pleasure in seeking knowledge. When Allah SWT wants his servants to be closer to him then he makes them ulamaa and it's mentioned in the Qur'an those who fear Allah SWT are the knowledgeable people. So if you want to get closer to Allah SWT get more knowledge. Learn about the Qur'an. Learn how to read the Qur'an correctly. If you know how to read the Qur'an correctly memorize it. Don't say it's difficult. Just have the intention and Allah will help. If you come to Allah SWT walking he comes to you running. Remember this. Just have the intention and start the first step and you will get what you want. So learn about the Qur'an. Get connected to the Qur'an. Try to understand the meanings of the ayaat of the Qur'an. You will find it way more enjoyable to read the Qur'an when you understand it than when you do not. And always remember whatever you do to learn the Qur'an even if it is hard on you then Allah will double the reward for you. And this is what Sayyidina Muhammad SAW says A person who reads the Qur'an fluently will have every word but the person who reads the Qur'an and he struggles and pays more attention, he pays more effort and it's not easy for him to do that and he still does that he will have doubled the reward. Get connected to the Qur'an. This is the secret for a happy life. It is a complete system for our life. It organizes our life. It gives our life special taste when we follow the rules of the Qur'an. So the point is here we have to seek knowledge. We have to learn. When we know that there is a halaqah of zikr, it's our benefit to attend this halaqah. The angels will be surrounding this halaqah. The group of zikr will be surrounded by angels and they will mention your name up with Allah SAW and those who sit in a group of zikr whether they are remembering Allah, learning about Qur'an, learning about the Prophet, learning about the companions, those people are called friends for the sake of Allah and they will be on pulpits of happiness in the day after and they will ask Allah SAW, we used to meet with this person. We don't see him with us and Allah would say, go get him wherever he is and let him be with you. Those are the brothers and sisters for unbeds that are next to each other, that are facing each other. So Sayyidina Al-Khadir said to Sayyidina Musa SAW, they were talking about knowledge and then there was a bird who came to the sea and he drank a little bit a small drop of water and Sayyidina Al-Khadir said to Sayyidina Musa SAW, My knowledge, all I know, and all you know in comparison to what Allah's knowledge is is the amount of the small drop of water that this birdie just drank of this ocean, of this sea. We have to seek knowledge to be of the righteous people who fear Allah SAW the most, inshallah. Now, excuse me, we move on and to another story, which is the story of Dhul-Qurnain. What is this story? The next story starts with Weis Al-Unaqa and they ask you and Allah here is talking to Sayyidina Muhammad SAW. Now let's stop at this word and look at the questions that Sayyidina Muhammad SAW was asked in the Quran. The word Su'ila or Yesal was or Sa'ala, so from questioning the question was asked to Sayyidina Muhammad SAW 16 times in the Quran, 16 times. One of them was in the past tense and the others are in the present tense. They asked Sayyidina Muhammad SAW about the hour. They asked Sayyidina Muhammad SAW about the hour. So they asked Sayyidina Muhammad SAW 16 different questions. Some of them, about what they would spend, about the sacred months, do they fight it, about wine, about gambling, about the orphans, about the hour, which was asked so many times, about the anthal, what they gain in about the booties, they asked about the Ruh, the soul, the mountains. Each one of these questions was answered differently. 15 of these questions were answered by the word Qul. The answer started with the word Qul. But one of these questions was answered without the word Qul. The word Qul means say. So one of these questions, if they ask you about me, I am close. So there is no Qul. But let's have another example for the questions that are answered with Qul. So Qul, say when they ask you about the mountains, say this. When they ask you about the orphans, say this. What's the difference? When they ask you about me, about Allah, don't say anything. I am going to answer them. They just need to understand this. They just need to make their dua. And I will answer their dua. But for all other things, Qul. And some of these as say also does not only start with Qul, it starts with Fa Qul. So if you are asked, then say. So this is the questions in the Quran. Now they asked him, we know that Quraish wanted to know if Sayyidina Muhammad is a prophet or not. So they asked the scholars of the Jews in Medina, how can we know that? And they told him, asked him about the young men of the cave, asked him, asked him about the man who traveled extensively throughout the earth and asked him about the if he answered these three questions, then he is a prophet. So when they asked him about the Allah gave him the answer and we know that he did not answer Quraish when they asked him because he didn't have the knowledge. So he waited until Allah revealed the knowledge to him. So they are asking you about the Qur'an. Who is the Qur'an? Allah did not give us a name of this person, the one who travels extensively throughout the earth. So this means that it is not specified to a certain person. It might be any person because he is not given a name. Whereas when Allah SWT mentions the story of Maryam, he mentioned her name, Maryam, he mentioned her name, he mentioned the name of her father, he mentioned her story and the reason he mentioned this, her name and her father, it was very specific because what happened to her will not happen to anyone else. It's specifically for her. When Allah SWT says Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved, the wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut. We know Nuh and Lut were messengers. They were under two of our righteous servants, but they betrayed them. So those prophets did not avail them at all from Allah SWT. Do we know the name? No. Did Allah SWT mention the name of the wife of Nuh or the wife of Lut? No. It can be any wife who objects her husband, it can be any wife who objects the message, it can be any wife, it can be any person. When Allah SWT mentioned Syedna Zaid in the Qur'an, he mentioned him by name and he is the only companion whose name was mentioned in the Qur'an. So we have the name and this incident is about Zaid himself only. But here Allah SWT did not mention the name. So they asked Syedna Muhammad SAW about the story, about the time, what happened? So was he named Dhul Qarnayn because he had a crown and his crown had two horns? Or because he he traveled so to the east until he got into the sunset, sunrise area or to the west and he got to the sunset area. Some people say he is Alexander the Great, but that's not possible because the ayahs talk about a righteous person, insan or mu'min, a believer and Alexander the Great was not a believer. He was the student of Aristotle, the philosopher. So Allah SWT made it general. Why? Because this is what the any ruler who has the power of ruling people, he has certain descriptions that he should fall into. So don't ask about the name. If Allah wants us to know the name, he would have mentioned it. So what happens? When they ask you about Dhul Qarnayn, say, I shall recite to you something that is mentioned in the Qur'an. And we know that's mentioned in the Qur'an from the word Dhikra. Dhikra means a story that was mentioned in the Qur'an and that it will be preserved until the day after. So here is this story that's mentioned in the Qur'an. This story indicates and tells us that every good thing is going to last until the day of judgment. So inshallah we will be stopping here and next time we will go in, we will look in at the story of Dhul Qarnayn. Thank you.