 I begin in Allah's name the beneficent, the merciful, and all praise belongs to Him for granting us this life, this existence, and giving us the potential to exist eternally in His eternal abode of mercies that we get showered with pleasure and no pain as Allah does not hear any vain talk, anything negative. All you will hear is positive peace, peace, peace. And that's not possible without a being who is merciful. And while he has placed us on this earth temporarily so that you and I recognize His infinite mercy, so that you and I participate in His infinite mercy through this limited free will that we have in that we can dictate our own destinies. And I think it's very important for us to realize this latter part that while God is always merciful, His greatest mercy is to consider us worthy to participate in His mercy, meaning He has allowed us to reject Him, He has allowed us to negate Him, He has allowed us to negate His mercy, He has allowed us to cause havoc and destruction, while at the same time He has enabled us by which to reach very high stations of existence. How do we reach that stage? The question we ask is Ramadan is a month of blessing in which Allah mercifully enjoins upon us as a society to fast, while fasting is enjoined upon us year-round if we can, but not in a social level, at a social level where the community at large has been enjoined to do it within a specified period of time, ayyaman ma'adudat, meaning for a period of time, period of days. That amplification by which we all break bread together and we abstain from indulgences during the day on a societal level amplifies this very message of how you and I need to reach this high station of success by which we use our inner qualities that Allah has endowed us with. And Allah says, innah adaynahus sadeela imma shakira wa imma kafura. Indeed, we have granted this being with hearing and sight, whether they're grateful or not, meaning you do what you want with it, but here is the guidance. I love that. The fact that God talks to me, talks to you, talks to us as a community, He reflects upon, you know, wants us to reflect upon His mercy, He exposes His infinite grace and warns us of the impending failures should we decide to challenge them. And that requires mental cogitation, reflection, and often we're caught sometimes to wonder whether even God exists. And many a times people will ask, why didn't God just show himself somehow, you know, someplace, so that there'd be no argument. Little do we realize that in the infinite grace of God, when we look at the very notion of infinity and God being the infinite one, it's absurd, it's ridiculous to ask the infinite to become finite when the finite, which is you and I, is inherently, intrinsically dependent on the infinite. So what we're asking God to do is to give up His infinity, His strength, His what we call ubiquitous nature, meaning His omnipotence of being ever-present, almighty, right? He neither begets nor is He begotten, and there is no equal to Him. There is no equality to God. Yet we want to make Him equal. Yet we want to bring Him down to our levels. And then we're asking, why don't you come so that we are certain? And the Prophet said, man arafa nafsahu faqad arafa rabba. The Prophet said, indeed, the one who knows themselves will know their Lord, meaning Allah is so beyond the created that to demand Him to be created is absurd. And Allah says, if you truly understand me, you will look at my creation. Look man, Allah says, this is what God created. Allah says, Do you not see we made the skies without pillars that you can see? So true. Look at the earth following its course perfectly to the millisecond, its revolution around its own axis while it revolves around the sun, and the sun and the earth and all the planets are revolving around a bigger system. And not one surpasses the other. The sun does not outstrip the moon, nor does the night outstrip the day. Everything follows a prescribed degree. Allah says, is that not enough for you to realize that there is a maker, that there is a fashioner, that's the one who gives everything its values? Have you not considered that? Many a times we are so material and so base and so childish, what I call myopic, tunnel vision. We don't want to see broad. We challenge our own existence. We challenge the existence of the infinite. We challenge the purpose of life. Allah says, do it. I have allowed you. Whether you are grateful or ungrateful, it's your choice. And Allah says, whatever happens is yours. If you win it, it's yours. If you lose it, you own it, it's yours. That power by which God has empowered us to exercise our free will requires careful meditation, planning, introspection, future spection, what we call prognostication. How do I prognosticate? How do I predict the future? What's the prognosis of tomorrow? How do I get there? Allah says, how are you going to do it? First, you're going to examine yourself. Introspect. Aleykumman fusakum. Look at who you are. How you are blessed. If I took one hair out of your eyebrow, it could change the shape of your eyebrow. Our sisters especially are acutely aware of that. Brothers tend to be a little bit less, but there are brothers, masha'Allah, today. They're very careful about eyebrows, alhamdulillah. And that's good. Nothing wrong with that. But to appreciate even the way the hair strands move and the color of the hair and everything sort of defines you as a person and you smile when everything looks right. Allah says, He shaped you in the wombs of your mothers the way He willed. Not you. I had nothing to do with when my daughter was born. When my daughter was born, I held her. I said, I had nothing to do with the shape and the look of this child. Even what I contributed to this child was not mine. It was Allah who gave it to me, which I contributed. And the mother who contributed. Allah says, I shaped this child. I give this child these colors and this hair and these eyes. Do you think it came by accident? So this reflection is important for us at all times. Every single day, my brothers and sisters, I promise you, if you and I want to succeed in this world and if you and I want to reach high stations of the next world and to enter the high stations in paradise, you and I must, under all circumstances, indulge in constancy of reflections. When the mind is constantly reflecting, الذين يذكرون الله قياما وقعودا وعلى جنوبهم ويتفكرون في خلق السماوات والأرض standing, sitting and being on their side three positions that you and I are possible. Standing, sitting and lying on our sides. And they are reflecting on the creation of the universe. And then they realize, ربنا ما خلقتها دباطلن سبحانك فقن عذاب النّار Our Lord, You did not create this in vain. Glory be to You, save us from the fire of hell because this أول العلباب, the one deeply rooted in knowledge realizes that the mercy of God who have created us on this transient earth is nothing more than to make us acutely aware of His infinite mercy through the power of rejection, the negations, and that He is so merciful for sure He didn't create me for hell, for sure no creation, not even an insect has been created to enter hell, but rather for paradise, eternal abode. And when Allah creates something, He never takes it back to nothingness. That is the mercy of Allah, that His creating and createdness, meaning He's constantly creating anything that He creates, Allah says, I can take it back to nothing, but I don't, I'm merciful. So you and I are those selected creations, chosen. You know when you see a dog out there, you see a cat, they're all beautiful, pigs, horses, they're all beautiful creations of Allah. Some you eat, some you don't, some you ride, you know, some you use for other reasons. But at the end of the day, they're all beautiful. Allah says, I made you human. What did I do before I existed to be given the capacity to be a human being? Allah says, We honored the children of Adam. Indeed, we honored the children of Adam. We've given you capacities by which to float and go across the seas and to fly in the air and to take the particles of space and to use it to your benefit and to turn the lights on and to amplify. How little you are grateful when I give you a life, sight, hearing, a heart. How little you are grateful. How do we get out of this slumber of complaining, dejection, rejection, self-annihilation, as we say, to take ourselves towards destruction and to take ourselves towards destruction. How little you are grateful when I give you a life, as we say, to take ourselves towards destruction, you and I have to reflect. What's the power of reflection in its most powerful form? Is when you and I take account of the gifts God has given us. But what do I do with the gifts once I recognize them? Take it to eternity. As I mentioned the other day, Islam is the religion of what we call its futuristic thinking religion. It helps me plan my future. It's the roadmap to eternity. For everybody can give you a roadmap. You can go to motivational speakers who will give you a roadmap on how to become a millionaire and how to get a fancy car on your driveway. How to get mansions. How to be successful. How to become the president of a country. But it's transient and it plateaus. What do you do after that? Michael Phelps gets all those medals. Then he didn't know what to do. He lost it. He started getting into drugs. Into gambling. Got arrested for driving under the influence. A world-class swimmer who is so fine-tuned, who's one of the fastest swimmers in history, reaches a plateau and is ready to collapse. Why? Because the plateau does not exist in Islam. There is no plateau in Islam. Allah says, Ya yuhal insan, innaka kaadihun ila rabbika kadhan fa mulaqi. O mankind, keep struggling upon struggle till you meet your Lord. For there is an eternal journey. There is no slope zero to God. It's a constant rise. Constant till you meet your Lord. And then when you meet your Lord, it doesn't plateau. You have a constancy of growth eternally, forever. Infinitely, asymptotically approaching infinity, but you never become infinite. Forever. And in the process of that movement, you're getting closer and closer to God. Which is what? Closer and closer to the ultimate good. And therefore you and I are going to get closer and closer to becoming incredibly good. How? Future thinking. Planning. Shaytan's modus operandi is to make us short-term. Now. Children particularly, you will notice, lack the ability to have long-term thinking. Generally. But Allah says, وَمَا أُبَرِّؤُ نَفْسِ إِنَّا نَفْسَ لَأَمْمَارَةٌ بِسُّوا إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبْبِ وَمَا أُبَرِّؤُ I seek refuge from myself. The self which has a desire to deviate except by the mercy of God. So when you talk to children, they are very impulsive. I want it now. You're in the toy store, I want it now. The now factor is a survival mechanism. Children have it, it's not a negative. When children have the now factor, I need it now. I need you to feed me now. It's a survival mechanism. It's a good mechanism. But you will notice that if the child continues to live under the now and does not look at the future, such a child becomes an adult who we call happy-go-lucky. Happy-go-lucky people die early. They die due to diseases. They die due to abuse. They die due to recklessness. Because happy-go-lucky will do dangerous things without the notion of what will happen tomorrow if I get into an accident. They live for the now. Their devils live for the now. And shaitan's methodology is exactly that. Let them feel the now. While the now is very important, if it lacks quality with the eternity, then this is a dangerous now. The impulsive nature of wanting to have fun now and let's not look at the consequences tomorrow. People who date, who find a beautiful person of the opposite gender and they are impulsive. Oh, she's so beautiful. Now, go now. And shaitan says, I'll even dim the lights. I'll dim it. You know why lights are dimmed? Very interesting psychology. When you dim the lights, you don't see the edges of a person. You cannot see with clarity the actual face. In English, we call it obfuscation. When you blur the lines, shaitan is a master of blurring the lines. By your authority, I will fool them all. How? Blur the lines. And then add the rule full of music. The kind that makes you impulsive. The kind that gets you adrenaline flowing. The kind that makes your testosterone to flow because now you're in the heat of the moment. You don't care what will happen tomorrow. The pleasure is now. Nightclubs, bars are designed for those environments. If you ever studied the psychology of how those rooms are manufactured, they're designed exactly that. If you ever go and visit those bars during the day, they're ugly, filthy-looking places. There's nothing beautiful about it. But when they turn the lights off and they got the flashy lights on and the people are walking in dressed up to attract, the now starts to happen. And you say to that person, you're going to this club. Why? I want to have fun tonight. But what about tomorrow? I don't want to think about tomorrow. I'm frustrated with life. The more I think about tomorrow, I can't handle tomorrow. I want the now, the happy-go-lucky. The one who thinks long-term requires vision, planning, consequences. And then that same person who had the pleasure that night doesn't even want to look at that person who was so attracted to the night before and they're repulsed even by that. They don't even look at them. They run away and they tell them, I don't want to know your name. Goodbye. You know how insulting that is? When someone meets you and says, you know how insulting that is? Humans do this every day. And Allah is warning us. See? In Surat Al-Hashir. Yaihu al-Ladhi na'amanu, right? Allah swt is warning us. Yaihu al-Ladhi na'amanu. Have you taken account of what you're sending tomorrow? Be cautious. Be conscious and be cautious. Watch out. Shaitan looms. He needs a master of blurring the lines. And fantasy comes in. And as soon as you see a person who resembles what our fantasy has, we fill in the blanks. And we fill in it, in it, our fantasy. What we think it should be. And that's how Shaitan gets us. He says, ah, perfect. It's not real, but I've fooled you. Come. What does that work? It only works when we are short-term visions. Any wise person in the world will tell you, people who have long-term visions, they write their mission statements. You know, studies were done for a group of people. Where they looked at this group of people and only 3% of this group had written a mission statement. Mission. This is my mission. I wish to accomplish A, B, C. I wish to avoid X, Y, Z. Mission statement. Mission. That 3% that wrote the mission was so rich that 97% combined wealth was less than that 3%. Meaning the 3% was richer in the future, had more wealth than the 97% that didn't write its vision and mission. That 3% that wrote its vision and mission was wealthier. Understand, was richer than all the 97% combined. Why? Allah says, I have designed you that even if you don't consider me your God, even if you don't plan to come to paradise, even if you're utilitarian, where you just want to live on this earth and have fun on this earth, Allah says, the way it works is long-term thinking while you're on this earth. So people who don't believe in God necessarily, even people who are agnostic, has been proven that those who have long-term vision are superior than those who have short-term vision. It's common sense. And by the way, you want one, what we call slam dunk argument with atheism. It's right there. Atheists are masters of short-term vision. They negate, they reject, they cancel, they don't want to think of tomorrow, they don't know, I don't know, I'm an agnostic, maybe, could be, should be, not know, don't know. Try hiring a manager like that. You'll go bankrupt. But that's atheism. Atheist is looking at paradise. Atheist, a believer in God, is looking at the day of judgment. He or she is seeing themselves on the day of judgment. يَا يُنَّاسُ التَّقُوا رَبَّكُوا وَخْشَوا يَوْمَنْ لا يَجْزِي وَالِدٌ عَنْ وَالَدِيْ وَلَا مَولُودٌ هُوَ جَازٍ عَنْ وَالِدِيْ شَيْئَا إنَّ وَعْضَ اللَّيْ حَقْطْ فَلَا تَغُرَنَّكُمُ الْحَيَاتُ الدُّنْيَا وَلَا يَغُرَنَّكُمْ بِلَّهِ الْضَرُورِ Wow, such words of wisdom. The last few verses. Oh mankind, يَا يُنَّاسُ التَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ Be conscious, be cautious. Your Lord is warning you. On that day, father will not help the son, nor the son will help the father. Allah says, يَوْمَا لَا يَنْفَعُوا مَالٌ وَالَابَنُونِ إِلَّا مَنَطَ اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمِ On that day, nothing will help you. Your power, your looks, your degrees, your gender, your height, your size, your muscles, nothing is going to help you. إِلَّا مَنَطَ اللَّهَ except the one who brings their self in a state of tranquility. How do you become tranquil? Future thinking, future planning. Let me give you a scenario. And Allah says, يَوْمِنْ هُوَ فِي شَأَنْ فَا بِيَيْعَ لَا إِرَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِبَا Every day are my signs. Which of my bounties will you be lie me for? You will notice people who live by the hour, by the day, impulsiveness. I've seen marriages break because one spouse of both are living on the edge of now. I need my house now. I need my diamond ring now. I need my million dollar salary now. I need my fancy card now. And if I don't have it now, then I'm going into drugs. And I'm going into gambling. Do you ever see people who line up to buy lotto tickets? I've seen people line up. Here's 100 dollars. 100 tickets. 200 tickets. 500 tickets. Yeah, why? Well, reduce the odds. 400 million dollars. These days, by the way, lotto is close to a billion dollars. It's a scam. They're playing on our spirits. Whereas Allah says, هَمْ رُوَ الْمَيْسَرْ Gambling, alcohol and gambling are filthy institutions. There's some benefit to it, but they're filthy. رِدْسُنْ It's nudges. It's bad. Stay away from it. It's destructive. Why do people get there? Instant gratification. I got problems. I can't deal with it. Let me go get drunk and blast my brain. I got problems. Let me smoke something. I got problems. Let me snort something. I've got problems. Let me stick a needle in something. Why? I can't wait for tomorrow. I don't want to deal with the devil. And I don't want to deal with this bull that's charging at me right now. I want to be an ostrich. I want to put my head in the sand and I want to go to sleep with it. Allah says, go ahead, stick your head in the ground. The bull is still there. In fact, it's closer. Now it's going to hit you even harder. That's what life is, isn't it? So you find the person has short term. I can't wait. The pain is too much. But Allah says, every day there's a sign from me that if you only exercise patience and understand that there's a purpose in life and all things ultimately come to a good end. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un. Eternity is all good. Don't worry. Even when you die, you haven't become nothing. In other words, you do not become nothing. We're always something. We're always something. kullu nafsin da'iqatul maul means every self will taste death, meaning you will move from this state of existence to the next. But we lose hope. We cannot wait. We get angry. We argue with each other. Divorces take place because I want it now. The patient one who has a plan for tomorrow, day after tomorrow, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, legacy, seeing themselves on the day of judgment, seeing themselves with the prophets and the imams, that vision is where power lies. But let me give you a quick example. A bamboo. You know bamboo is one of the strongest materials known to man. Bamboo. People build houses with them. If you have a bamboo floor, it'll hardly ever break because bamboo is incredibly powerful. It's one of the hardest substances. You know that it takes five years to nurture the growth of a bamboo. When you plant a bamboo, you don't see anything. You have to keep watering it for five years. On the 58th starts to grow. Now imagine you had such a vision and other farmers in your neighborhood had regular trees and every day you're watering and nothing's coming out. They're laughing at, what are you doing? Where are the fruits of your labor? It's okay, coming. Ah, look at you, you see. You don't know. You're doing Salah, Dua. You go for Dua after time. Where's the gold falling from the sky? Show me. Where's your Mercedes parked outside? Where's the palace coming? You said, you know, you're asking Allah, may Allah bless you. Okay, where is it? They're laughing at you. They say, When is this day coming? Allah says, You asked, when is this day? Allah says, tell them that knowledge is with God. But it is around the corner. It is so quick, you won't know how quick it comes. Then Allah shows me a verse in the same Surah, Surat Al-Mulk, that this person now is being tossed in hell, ready to be tossed in hell. Because remember yesterday you asked, When is this day coming? Well, here it is. Here it is. You asked for it? Well, here it is. Oh my God, that was just yesterday. Yeah, go ask a 95-year-old person, a 100-year-old person, an 80-year-old person. You see that little kid there that's jumping around, doing somersaults and running and jumping on the wall? And the 90-year-old person says, Yesterday I wasn't like that. And you think I was there, 98 years ago. It's a long time. No, it's not. It's a split second. So the bamboo, after the fifth year, it shoots up 90 feet. Unbelievable. It becomes so tall, it sprouts all over. But researchers found out that the reason it can do that is it's working five years to build its foundation. And it's nurturing it with such solid precision that when it does shoot out, that substance can stand without cracking, breaking, and it can withstand all kinds of weather patterns. See, you and I need to have that lesson. That, Ya Allah, how do I nurture myself like the bamboo, where every day I do my salah, my dhikr, my charity, my forgiveness, my future thinking, my planning for my generation. And let not the world fool me into thinking, where are the fruits of your labor? Tell them I'm building it foundationally. Don't worry. When it comes, it's going to come so strong, you will wish you had it. That's long-term thinking. Planning. You know, Allah has shown us that Allah says in Allah, ma'as sabireen. God is with the patient ones. Why is Allah with the patient ones? Precisely for this. Allah says, I made you for the next world. Allah says, Nay, you love this world. There's nothing wrong to love this world. But how much did you grow with it? Where did you take it? Hereafter, it's better. And it's forever. This one ends. This one, you've got to give up. Your empires have to be left behind. In a heartbeat. In a heartbeat, you don't take one penny. Every one of us has visited funeral. Did you ever see the dead person have dollar bills and gold in their pockets? It's foolish. Everybody will laugh. In fact, that's more reason that if you want to put gold in this dead person, that a thief will come and take out the body and take it. Because there's nothing this body can do tomorrow to stop even a thief. Allah says, So future thinking. Let me explain briefly. Simple examples. Even in our innate nature. Stanford University did a study. You know, they had all these children of professors, five-year-olds, that needed to have a babysitter. So Stanford decided to do a study. They said, while these kids are here, let's see their capacities. Harvard, by the way, now is doing even more cutting-edge research. For infants, even babies in the wombs of their mothers, they're trying to understand their moral foundation. Babies born within hours are being tested for moral foundation. When Allah says, By the self, which we completed and perfected and taught it wrong and right. Scientists want to know, do these children really have this template of wrong and right, or do they evolve and develop it later on in time because of societal pressures? David Hume said no. There are no morals in us. We develop it because of experience. Scientists disproving people like David Hume said no. Children are moral even in the wombs of their mothers. And they understand the gravity of right versus wrong. So look at the right here. They asked these five-year-olds and said, we're going to give you one marshmallow. Simple solution. One marshmallow. Now, I want you to understand, for a five-year-old, ten minutes is like hours. You know that those of you who are parents. Five minutes is like eternity for a child. So they say to these children, we'll give you one marshmallow if you want it now. But if you wait 15, 20 minutes, I think it's just 15 or 20 minutes, we will give you two marshmallows. So to a child, a marshmallow is like success. So a group of them said, no, I can't wait. I'm now. I want it now. Give it to me now. Don't make me wait. Because as I say, a bird in your hand is better than ten in the bush. Shaitan talking. So the child takes the one. But there was a group of youth that said, no, if it means two, we will wait. So they waited. And they say they would bite their nails. They would do this. You know, like 15 minutes is forever. My God. But they have a vision. Two marshmallows. It's indelibly ensconced in their heads. Two marshmallows. I can see it. I can feel it. I can taste it. Two marshmallows. So they came back and that group took the two marshmallows. They followed these kids up to the age of 1890 and found out that all those who waited were successful, had the lowest level of anxiety, were not imbibing in drugs. Academically, they were advanced. Their ability that mental, their mental maturity was greater. Their ability to decide for complicated things was better, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. For five-year-olds, how about us when God has placed eternity upon us and says, if you think eternally and you abstain from the haram today and you think of the day of judgment and you imagine yourself being in paradise and you imagine the gifts that God is giving you there, what will happen to you? Or if you imagine yourself avoiding the pit of hell for your own foolishness and stupidity and if you imagine yourself dodging the bullet that could have taken you to an eternal abyss, isn't that something you should be thinking of the highest level? And I believe when you and I have that envision, then all these little visions of marshmallows and money and business, getting degrees, all will fall into place because the longest-term vision encompasses all the short-term visions. Salawat ala Muhammad wa ala Muhammad. Quick announcement, inshallah. I have a few more minutes left. I'm going to recite Surat Al-Waqi just as a vision is an image and I started it. When Allah says, I want us to imagine and I was hoping really to show some pictures here, just imaginations of paradise. When Allah describes paradise, the youth, يطوفوا عليهم والدان المخلدون you will see youth who never age and the eyes sparkle like pearls and emeralds and like rubies. You imagine it, what? Now the enemy of God will say, God, this God of yours is putting this little carrot in front of you to attract you. He's just making these imaginations. I asked the atheist, you go to work? He said, yeah. I said, why? Aren't you going for the carrot too? Every Friday? What if you don't get the carrot? You work? Look how they belittle. وَمِنَ الْنَاسْ مِنْ يَشْتَرِيْ لَهُوَ الْحَدِيفِ لِيُدِلَّ عَنْسَمِي لِلَّهِ بِغَيْدِ عَلْمِ Among mankind, they make frivolous talk to fool you. Allah says, look at them. They are after carrots. They want the glory and the beauty of life. Allah says, what makes sense? If not the eternal abode of happiness, then why even bother to build a palace on this earth when it'll all crumble anyway? Isn't that the dumbest thing you did? If it lacks eternity, why did you do it? It's not a smart idea. So when people say to us, oh God is drawing this lovely picture of paradise, say yes. Isn't this world beautiful? If you and I go see a lake and somebody whispers in your ear, by the way, that's man-made. I said, oh. You know, I bought this butter house. That's man-made lake. But the other guy says, well, I'm on this lake, but it's natural. It's been there for millions of years. Wow, that's even better. Why? What's wrong with man-made? Like a man-made diamond in a natural diamond. They look identical. You say, but the natural one is superior, hands down, because there was no what we call interference by human hands. Isn't that better? So when Allah says, when I created this universe, how beautiful it is that even on earth, when you go to fancy places and beautiful mountains and you see all the ravines and you look at the beautiful lakes and the beautiful creatures floating around and the sunrise and the sun sets. Isn't that beautiful? I said, oh my God, it's beautiful. Allah says, wait till I have what I have for you there. Allah says, when that time comes, and I decided a few, but look at how Allah is describing paradise. You know, as you know, on the day of judgment, three groups will be split. One will be the evil doers. One will be the good doers. And then there's a third group. Allah says, the foremost of the foremost. Those are the ones who are the closest to me. They will enter paradise without being questioned. Allah describes and I'll explain that. Then Allah says, on thrones decorated. Imagination, right? It's real. They will be prepared. They will be reclining on it. Facing one another. Looking at each other. You will see youth who never age. Biakbabim wa abarik wa kaasim min ma'in goblets, ewers of a cup of pure drink. You are sacheting yourself with this incredible pleasure of Allah saying. La yasadduna anha wa la yanzifun they shall not be affected with headaches nor will they ever get tired. Look how beautiful that thought is. No headaches? No tiredness? Wa faqiyati min ma'in yata khayyaron fruits of all kinds. They will love it. Wa lahmi tairein min ma yashdahun and they will be eating the flesh of fowl, meaning birds, as they desire. Wa hurun a'in pure maids. Ka'amthali lululul maknoon beautiful ones. The likes of hidden pearls. They will dazzle you Allah says. Jazaan bhi ma'kanu ya'amala You know I'm about to cry because it's such a beautiful expression of God. And I go to khadija aleyhi salam with this thought and I end with this. You know, the 10th of Ramadan was the day she became Shahida, she became martyred. And if there is a person who exemplifies a person who deserves this highest station that Allah has mentioned, it's khadija, the wife of the Prophet. And I end with her and I'll continue this discussion on Saturdays, you know tomorrow because we have a graduation at Wise Academy we have to postpone the lecture tomorrow because it's conflicting, but insha'Allah on Saturday we'll continue this discussion. And now there are 96 verses in Surat al-Waqya but if you see future planning, the way Allah discusses in Surat al-Waqya alone then if you and I haven't grasped this, oh my God, we're missing out on the greatest things. But I think about khadija aleyhi salam as the wife of the Prophet, as you know people say she was older than the Prophet. I don't agree with that. But there is not much historical evidence but I do believe she was given the short end of the stick because of the jealousies of people who came after her and they tried to demonize her or lessen her beauty that she was an old woman married many times with a lot of children. No, she wasn't. She was the most sought-after woman who was similar in age to the Prophet and she was so enterprising. Khadija became extremely wealthy even though her father was very wealthy and when he died as you know Khwailid ibn Asad was her father when he died he left her a good inheritance but she was an entrepreneur and I want us to end with this thought. Khadija, a woman in Arabia women were objectified girls were buried alive step-sons would inherit their mothers' objects and would give away to sell them women had no right they were third-class citizens fourth-class citizens here's a woman in that era where women are considered second-class, third-class, fourth-class and entrepreneur, brilliant cutting through all this ignorance and they say her caravan of wealth was so large she needed an army to carry it when she would send her caravans to Syria and other places she would bring the most profit because she was most honest and her products were top quality integrity and she was a distant cousin as you know second-third cousin of the Holy Prophet they were related very, very nearby but as a woman men were seeking her she would reject them all she hires the Prophet to work for her the messenger was only in his early twenties and the Prophet would take her caravan and he would bring even bigger profits than she brought before what's the answer? honesty honesty brings results not only does it bring good results in the wealth it brings good results in Akhira it brings good results even in relationships Khadija was so impressed with the Holy Prophet historians say that she proposed to him whether she did or the Prophet did it's irrelevant they were close in proximity and the marriage takes place and Abu Talib protects her but interestingly when people tell me Islam is a very male oriented religion it's very patriarchal etc and women are second-class citizens and God says God has put authority of the man on the woman he has to be the provider and therefore the woman is the receiver not Khadija Khadija the wife of the Prophet was so loved by the Prophet that she gave all her wealth to finance Islam so we say that the money that came to promote the religion of Allah came from a woman who was the wife of the Prophet who the Prophet loved so dearly that when he received the revelation the cave of Hira he comes to her and says Khadija I have received the revelation from the archangel Jibrail alaihi salam and she says to him I believe you O Muhammad O my husband and I bear allegiance that there is no God but one and you are the Prophet and the Prophet looks at her and says I have a difficult task ahead where the world is going to attack me but you are a consolation to me and they say the love that she had for him that in the early days she the Holy Prophet in Imam Ali alaihi salam three of them would pray by the Kaaba nobody else would pray the hype the drum beating like we all follow hype what's everybody doing? are they going there? I want to go there who is wearing what? ok I want to wear the hype we are all hype driven for now impulsive no future planning the Prophet, his wife and Imam Ali three of them you are looking at them who are these three people in a society full of what we call idolators they didn't care the Prophet was praying people say who is that? he says that's the man who calls himself a Prophet really? they would laugh some would throw stuff at him he says I don't care he says stop preaching Laila Allah the Prophet said you put the sun in one hand and the moon in the other I won't stop that vision that in Madinah armies you know man kan wa raita na sayed khulu na fideen ilahi afwaja people enter the religion of Islam in armies the Prophet said in my future thinking Khadija was there she suffered as you know there was a boycott they were kicked out of Makkah they went into this valley of Abu Talib known as Sheba Abu Talib they were not allowed to drink to eat to get food nothing they said they used to take leaves from the trees boil them and drink it just to satiate their hunger they used to hang rocks around their bellies just to silence the noise from their stomachs Khadija was there she had this little child called Fatima she nurtured her and she was going to become the agency of imamat whom Fatimatu wa abuha wa ba'luha wa banuha she's the one and Khadija suffered so much historians say the pain was so much she lost not lost she gave it all away to Islam and the Prophet said never did Khadija complain sometimes there would be slaves who needed to be freed and the owner would demand so many gold pieces the Prophet will welcome them there will be a tray of gold he says here go free yourself where did that gold come from? Khadija she freed thousands of slaves and she died tonight yesterday is actually the 10th when she comes out of Sheba Abu Talib as you know that treaty that was written by the Makkans to not deal with the Banu Hashim got eaten away by insects the only thing that remained was Bismi Ta'ali and the Prophet said this boycott is over and they came out of Sheba Abu Talib but the damage was done and I feel the pain of the Prophet in positive ways positive my Prophet you suffered Khadija you gave your life I want my daughter my spouse our women to be like you Khadija to be the mother of all mothers you the enterprising woman who was rich powerful beautiful enterprising submissive huh pure that she died she had nothing did she care? no because her vision was this if I walk out in Waqaa I see it I see it so clearly take all my wealth if that is to please Allah take it they said even the shroud there wasn't shroud some historians regard but the Prophet put her in the grave I have a vision of that how the Prophet must have taken down few feet into the earth and said you are my consolation and he said to the people no Khadija and I will be in paradise together you know the Prophet had many wives after Khadija he never married anyone when he was with Khadija all the other ones were for several reasons even for love but political he never said any of his otherwise will be with him in paradise forever though some will enter paradise but Khadija Khadija will be with me in paradise so when we have this vision us brothers sisters have a vision that my spouse, my children should live by these standards when we have children not for this world only but for the hereafter forever ala ala anum to Allah ala alqama of the alameen wasa ya'lamu alladina dalamu ayyaman qalabin yam qaliboon as you know that year the Prophet the Prophet cried it was the year of the year of grief because Abu Talib who was the uncle of the Prophet was also the one who passed away that year and the Prophet felt huge pressure but notice he didn't give up his faith he didn't lose hope he only got stronger insha'Allah you and I will get stronger insha'Allah you and I will have visions and insha'Allah you and I will be among those saabikun us saabikun wa akhiruddaun alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Raheem Allahumma ina nargabu ilayka fi daulat in kareemah tu'izzu biha l-islama wa ahla wa tudillu biha l-nifaqa wa ahla wa taj'aluna fiha minad du'at ila tu'atik wa l-qadat ila sabili wa tarzukuna biha karamatat dunya wa l-akhira assalamu alaikum jami'an wa rahmatullahi wabarakatuh insha'Allah we will have Salah for those of you wish to join us and we will also have iftar for those of you wish to join us we're honored to have you and those of you who will leave us we're honored that you've joined us tonight on saturday night assalamu alaikum