 As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu. Bismillahi wa alhamdulillahi wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulillahi wa ala alihi wa sahabihi ajma'in. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his companions, his household, all of those who have struggled and strove through the years in a way that the deen has come to us. May Allah bless every one of us as well and may Allah make it easy for us in this world and the next. My brothers, my sisters, we went through what Zakaria alayhi salam used to call out to Allah in terms of wording and we looked at how he constantly called out to Allah. This wording differed from time to time and that's why when Allah makes mention of these words in the Qur'an in different places, he always lets us know that the wording was different. When we call out to Allah, it doesn't mean that you have to use the same wording. You can word it slightly differently, sometimes it can be a little bit different, but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us that Zakaria alayhi salam called out to Allah for many years. He was old and at old age Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, We answered his call. We bestowed upon him the offspring he was searching for Yahya and we made pure or good or healthy for him. We restored his wife for him in terms of making her child bearing once again. That was the gift of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Now something very interesting is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about how he responded to Zakaria alayhi salam and what happened as a result. I'm going to pause for a moment because many of us, when we are given the favor of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we get so happy. We start telling the whole world about what we have and what Allah has bestowed upon us and we want to announce it and we want to actually make mention of it wherever we can. We need to be careful. There is a lot of jealousy out there. There are a lot of envious people out there. There are a lot of people who would be upset at your achievement. Not everyone is genuine, so you need to know how to deal with the matter. You need to know who to tell and how to tell them. So when it comes to Zakaria alayhi salam Allah says We want to give you glad tidings of a male child whose name will be Yahya. He has never had or there has been no one with that name before. So Yahya was a name given by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to the child of Zakaria alayhi salam. In the English language Yahya is equivalent to John. May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him. So this was the gift of Allah upon Zakaria and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says He asks Allah, oh Allah, I need a sign. What is the sign? He says, oh Allah, I would like a sign. You know, how am I going to face the people? So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says Your sign is that you should not be speaking to the people for three nights constantly. Three days in one verse, three nights, three days, three nights. You don't speak to anyone. Let the news calm down. Sometimes when the world says something, it may not be in the best of our interest to actually respond. We might want to remain silent. Sometimes it will die down on its own. You know, I look at the globe today and I see the amount of false news that floats across the internet at times and different platforms. It makes us sad and it makes us laugh as well sometimes. Sad because some people tend to believe it. But you know what? It dies down because people realize at a certain stage that this is not worth even speaking about. It's something that's not even wrong sometimes. It depends what it is obviously. But we tend to get so upset and angry. You see one negative comment about yourself and you cannot even sleep because oh, there was a negative comment. Hang on. There are people better than you who had thousands of negative comments that were even worse than the one that has been said about you and they slept like subhanallah, like nothing had happened. They thanked Allah. So don't worry. These difficulties, these times, sometimes the best way of dealing with it is remain silent. Remember Allah, perhaps don't try to clarify something where you think it might become a bigger matter than it already is. May Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us guidance. So it was a point I wanted to raise because when we ask Allah for something, when He gives that to us, let's not become arrogant and proud and let's not boast and brag about what Allah has favored us with. Sometimes we actually do this. So let's become conscious of this by the will of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. I then want to make mention of a dua of Isa A.S. You know Jesus may peace be upon him. Jesus may peace be upon him, Isa A.S. was a messenger of Allah who was filled with lots of patience, lots of wisdom and he loved the people around him and he really worked very, very hard and whenever he called out to the Almighty, he called out for everyone. He called out for all the people around him and he had a lot of compassion, a lot of mercy. He wanted to see everyone being forgiven by Allah and this is why when they started saying things and they started harming him and he called out to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala there was a stage and this is at the end of Surat Al Ma'ida. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala speaks about how this man, what a great man, Jesus may peace be upon him. He says If you are going to punish the people for fabrication, for lies, for their sins, for everything else that they may have done, if you are going to punish them, they are your worshippers. I mean you have every right to do what you want but if you forgive them, if you forgive them, indeed you are the most powerful Al Aziz and you are the most wise Al Hakim. So the power of Allah and the wisdom of Allah, he is saying that that would entail forgiving the people. Oh Allah, if you are going to punish them, you have the right to punish them but if you are going to forgive them, then you are the wise, you are the most powerful. That's a dua. It's actually a supplication made for the people by the Prophet Jesus, may peace be upon him. What I learned from this is something amazing. That a person who forgives someone, forgives someone for several reasons. One is because they know that they have no option but to forgive the person. That person is very strong, very powerful and I'd rather say, ah you know it's okay, I excuse them, I forgive them and we move on. Another is for the sake of Allah. We forgive them because we love Allah enough and Allah loves those who forgive others so I forgive them because I want the love of Allah. That's very Another is we have the ability to do whatever we have to, you know, to execute the retribution against the person who did wrong to us but with that power and authority and with that ability, we're still saying don't worry, we're all powerful but we're wise enough to forgive you. That's Allah. Allah forgives all of us knowing that he can punish us. SubhanAllah, he can punish us at any time but he says no, I'm forgiving, I'm ghaffar, I'm tawab, I am the one who forgives often. I am the one who always forgives, who accepts the repentance of those who return to me. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is definitely the most merciful, the most forgiving. It's something we learn that with the power and the ability, he still forgives us. We need to do the same inshaAllah when it comes to others. I want to move on to a huge chunk of this beautiful series known as the supplications from revelation. So we looked at a lot of the prophets of Allah, we looked at a lot of their du'as, we learned a lot from their du'as. You know, I don't want to go through every single du'a because I want you to pick up books to go and research the du'as of the Quran, read them, learn them, memorize them, understand them, and use them to call out to Allah in the way that the others have done before us. But what I'd like to do now is go through Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam's du'as. There are several types of du'as, several types of supplications. Those which Allah tells him, call out to Allah using these words, subhanallah, subhanallah. Allah is telling him call out to me using these words. I need to know what are those because if Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was instructed by Allah to call out to him using certain words, I need to use those words as well. So this is going to be making a huge portion of this beautiful series. Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, for example, Allah says to him, say, oh my Rab, increase me in knowledge. Now he was the most knowledgeable but Allah is telling him say, oh my Rab, increase me in knowledge. So now you find the Prophet peace be upon him making a du'a, calling out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saying, oh Allah grant me knowledge. And this is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to say, according to the hadith of Abu Hurairah, Rabi Allahu anhu in Sunnah ibn Maja and Sunnah Tirmidhi, he says, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam used to say, Allahumman fa'ani bi ma'allamtani wa allimni ma'anfa'uni wa zidni ilma. He says, oh Allah, benefit me from what you have taught me and teach me that which will benefit me and increase me in knowledge. Why did he say increase me in knowledge? Because Allah instructed him to say increase me in knowledge. Surely we should be making that du'a. Allahumman fa'ani bi ma'allamtani wa allimni ma'anfa'uni wa zidni ilma. Oh Allah, benefit us from the knowledge you have granted us, grant us knowledge that will be beneficial and increase us in knowledge. So these are some of the du'as and supplications of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam regarding knowledge. So my brothers and sisters, this just goes to show that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala had instructed Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam to make du'a, to teach us how to call out to him, what to ask from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We're going to go through a lot of these supplications and you will notice how it was not Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam who needed the things he was calling Allah for. He was asking Allah for. It was us who needed it more than anyone else. So if we are to follow that sunnah of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam by calling out to Muhammad, to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala with those words that were used by Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam or that Allah instructed him to use, surely it would be very, very powerful and beneficial for every one of us. And this is why the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, for example, he made a du'a to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by the instruction of Allah. Qul, Allah is telling him, say, O Allah, say, O Allah, if you show me what you have promised them, if you show me what they have been promised in terms of punishment, don't make me from among those who are the nation of wrongdoers. Don't make me from the wrongdoers. Don't let me be punished with the punishment of the wrongdoers. That's very interesting. So when the punishment normally comes, it would come and it would engulf everyone. It's up to me to say, O Allah, these people are doing so much of wrong. If you're going to punish them, don't punish me with them. Don't make me from amongst those who are punished. And you know, the powerful thing is Allah revealed a verse telling him and comforting him to say, O Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, Allah is not going to punish them while you're in their midst. If you're there, don't worry, punishment is not going to come. And from this we actually do learn that sometimes Allah holds back the punishment due to the presence of a person He loves there, such as Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, at the time of this, at the time of nubuwa, at the time when the people were harming, harassing, disbelieving, sinning, etc. And Allah says, for as long as you're there, we're not going to punish them. But there is another way of averting the punishment of Allah. If you notice something happening in your life and you have a slight feeling that this might just be the punishment of Allah and you want to quickly divert it from you, there is a way. We learn it from the verse of the Qur'an. This is Surat Al-Anfal. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, And Allah will not punish them while they are seeking the forgiveness of Allah. So you say, Astaghfirullah, O Allah, forgive me, O Allah, grant me forgiveness, O Allah, I return to you, O Allah, I turn to you, O Allah, forgive me. Allah says, We won't punish people who are seeking forgiveness. So that's very interesting because many of us, when things happen to us, we say, is this the punishment of Allah? Is it a test? Okay, we've spoken about that. But now I want to say, if you have a feeling that this may be the punishment of Allah, one of the first things you need to do, seek the forgiveness of Allah and the punishment will be diverted. The punishment will not come in your direction, anymore. It will go away because Allah promises you that He's not going to punish those who are seeking His forgiveness. What a beautiful verse that Allah grants us reassurance to say that He's not going to punish us while we are seeking the forgiveness of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Then another dua that was made by the Prophet ﷺ from the sunnah, from the hadith, he says, I ask you to grant me the ability to do good deeds. O Allah, make me do good deeds. Make me quit that which is evil, that which is wrong. O Allah, make me do good deeds and make me quit bad deeds. And O Allah, make me love the needy. Subhanallah. O Allah, make me love the needy. Why make me love the needy? Make me love the needy because if you would like to do good and be charitable, you need to have love and affection towards those whom you're going to help. You find people who have a good heart, they are close to those who are perhaps poor, those who are brokenhearted, those who have struggled and suffered. That's when they feel like helping even more. But when we don't like those who are in need, how are we going to reach out to them? So to be able to reach out to those in need, you need to have a feeling. That feeling, we're asking for it. O Allah, grant me the love of those who are in need, the love of the masakeen, the needy. O Allah, if you are going to punish your slaves, if you're going to punish or test, you know, with calamity, the worshippers, the people, then take me away without having punished me, without having tested me in that way. What a powerful dua of the Prophet ﷺ. This dua shows that he was calling out to Allah with something that Allah told him to call out to him with. So Allah says, O Muhammad, peace be upon him, pray that you are not from among those who are the sinful people. When the punishment comes, you are not from amongst them. He made that dua in the exact wording and he made the same dua with different wording. And from this, we actually learned that when we call out to Allah, we use different wordings, like I said at the beginning. And this was a dua of the Prophet ﷺ. O Allah, don't make me from those who are being punished. When the punishment comes, make me from those who are not from among them. And Allah reassured him by saying, don't worry, for as long as you're in the midst, they won't be punished. And Allah also said, for as long as they're seeking forgiveness, they too will not be punished. Now, I move on to another dua that the Prophet ﷺ was instructed to make regarding protection from the devil. So Allah says in Surah al-Mu'minun, say, O my Rab, I seek your protection from the whispers of the shaitan, of the devil, of satan. O my Rab, I seek your protection from the whispers of the satan. If I were to use those words, I would drop the Qul and I would say, because the Qul is referring to the instruction to Muhammad ﷺ say. So if I'm using that as a dua, as a supplication, I would say, O Allah, protect me. I seek your refuge from the whispers of the devil. And I seek your refuge from them even coming in my presence, from being close to them. Don't even bring them near me. And don't even let me be affected by their whispers. I don't want whispers, O Allah, nor do I want the devil to come near me. That's a powerful dua. So the Prophet ﷺ was being instructed to say this dua and he said it in so many different words. This was an instruction. He used this wording, but he even used other wording. Now, a lot of us are affected by the devil in the sense that he comes and tampers with us, whispers so many things, makes us sin, makes us have bad qualities and habits, contaminates our hearts with jealousy, envy, and so on and so forth. We need to constantly ask Allah, and I'd like to end this beautiful session by reminding us of the importance, the importance of the last surahs of the Qur'an. Now, there are verses known as Al Mu'awwidat. These are verses known as the verses of protection, protection from the devil, protection from shaitan, from evil, from the whispers of the devil, from magic, from jealousy, etc. Say, I seek the protection in the owner of the phalaq. You know, the daybreak, etc. And here Allah is talking of all his creation. He is the creator of all of that. So the Lord of that creation, I seek protection in him from the evil that he has made, from all the evil that is around, and so on. And the darkness of the night and the whispers, these last two surahs of the Qur'an, they need to be read without dropping the Qul. So we will read the whole surah, because it's a surah that we are instructed to read. So we will read surat al phalaq and surat al nas in their entirety. We will read it after every salah. We will also read it in the morning and in the evening, thrice each. So after every salah is once, but in the morning and in the evening, the sunnah is thrice each. After every salah, it's actually ayatul kursi that is of utmost importance. It's a verse in surat al baqarah that Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala has revealed. And in it there is power, there is cure, there is protection. So we read it with the intention of reciting the Qur'an. Yes, but even with the intention of dua, with the intention of supplicating unto Allah. If you read that ayatul kursi, it starts off Allahul ilaha illahu al hayyul qayyum. That ayah, that verse, if you read it thrice, it is so powerful you will definitely feel protected from the devil, from the whispers of the devil, from black magic, from that which people may intend to harm you with superstition. All of that you are protected from the evil eye, jealousy, envy. We must get used to reading ayatul kursi and the various other surahs which include the last two surahs of the Qur'an. These verses of the Qur'an and these surahs have in them a dua, a supplication of protection, to seek the protection of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. My brothers and sisters, no excuse we have to leave them out. People want the protection from the devil but they don't want to read these surahs. Sometimes we are affected by the devil and then we come to say, I've been affected by the devil, this is happening, that's happening and we don't realize we were taught the immunization of it but we'd never ever administered it. So what is the immunization of it? It is to repeat these surahs every morning, every evening, come what may. Fajr and Maghrib, you know the sunrise, sunset, thrice each, you must repeat this and after every salah you read your ayatul kursi and you seek the protection of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. So it would be throughout the day, spend a few moments to do this. It will not take you more than a few minutes to read this. Take your time and read it, you need the protection. It's like you know there are lions out there and you're wearing protective clothing before you go. No matter how many times you go out you must wear that protective clothing. The same would apply and even more importantly regarding matters of superstition etc. We must make sure that we've protected ourselves because Allah has given it to us. There are a few other du'as that inshaAllah we will be going through in other episodes but in the meantime I really call upon you to consider what we have said and to ponder over it to make an effort to practice upon it and inshaAllah I'm excited to get back to you with the next episode inshaAllah of this beautiful series that we have.