 Insha'Allah, for today's khutbah, I'm going to stay on a general theme that I've been talking about for the last month or so, and that is what does the Qur'an actually say with respect to the Holy Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Many of Muslims in the West that are not familiar with the Arabic of the Qur'an or Muslims who even are familiar with the Arabic of the Qur'an do not engage at a very deep level with the words of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. There's a story from the Ulama, the Hadith, which we were told that a rabbi one time came to Sayyidina Umar, radiAllahu ta'ala anhu, and the rabbi said, Sifli Habibak, described to me, you're beloved. So the rabbi knew that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was beloved to Sayyidina Umar. He just knew that. So he didn't say Sifli Muhammadan sallallahu alayhi wa sallam or Sifli Rasulallah, Sifli Habibak. And Sayyidina Umar said, how can I possibly do that? And the rabbi was taken aback by that. What do you mean, describe it for me? He said, I can't do it. He said, Sifli khuluqa Habibak just described to me his khuluq, his character then, just describe his character. He said, I can't do that either. So the rabbi, he goes to Imam Ali, Karamallahu wajah. He said, Sifli khuluqa Habibak, describe for me the character of your beloved. And even Imam Ali said, I can't do that. How can I do that? What a tremendous task. He said, why can't you do it? So Imam Ali, he asked the rabbi, he said, Sifli ad dunya, describe the dunya to me. Describe to me the beauty of the dunya, the beauty this and that of the dunya, the pleasure of the dunya. And he said, that's going to take till next week. How can I sit here and describe to you the dunya? And Imam Ali said, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said, mata'ud dunya qaleel. He said, no, Allah says in the Qur'an, the pleasures of the dunya are small. But about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, he says, wa innakala ala khuluqin azeem. He says, verily you. And we translate this last time, just to give a sense. Of course, there's no real translation of the Qur'an. But just to give a sense of what the Qur'an is saying here. Verily, verily you dominate vast character, magnificent character, the character of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. This is extremely important. Let's look at what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in the Qur'an. Allama iqbal, he said, that if you want to taste what the Qur'an actually teaches, approach the Qur'an like the Sahaba heard the Qur'an. How did the Sahaba hear the Qur'an? Like the first time that you hear the Qur'an. That's how you should approach the Qur'an so you can taste its meanings. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Verily, verily, laqad is a form of major emphasis in Arabic. So if you go back to your work after Jum'ah and somebody asks you, did you go to Jum'ah? And you say, I went to the Masjid. He says, I don't believe you. So then he said, Qad thehabtu. Qad, yes indeed I went. And he says, no, I still don't believe you. Laqad thehabtu. And he says, okay, I believe you now. Take it easy. Double emphasis. It's laam of tawqeed, of emphasis. And this harf is called harf, tahqiq for actualization. Laqad kana lakum. And kana is a verb in Arabic, the verb to be. And when it's in reference to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and its attributes, it's trans chronic. It's beyond time. It transcends time. Inna hu kana tawaba. Verily, he was, is, and will always be, tawaba. In Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he can honor a entity with the verb kana, which means that this entity is honored by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and is owned by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Laqad kana lakum fi rasulillah. So here's the idafa. The rasul is owned by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is idafa of tashrif or takreem, annexation of honor. Rasulullah, the messenger of God, fi rasulillah in the messenger of God. Why didn't Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala just say you have the messenger of God as uswa tunhasana? What is the significance of fi of this preposition? You have in the messenger of God, fi rasulillah. These are nuances in the Arabic that do not carry into the English or into any other language. The fi here, according to the exegits of the Quran, denotes exclusivity with the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, only in the messenger and immersion in the messenger. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is immersed in khuluk hasan, that he's immersed in uswa tunhasana, in a character, a comportment, an example that is beautiful. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala oftentimes in the Quran, again something that's often missed in translation, is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala describes the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam with indefinite nouns or adjectives, indefinite naqira. And according to Ibn Malik in the alfiyah, one of the meanings of the indefinite article, the tanween, is that this entity is unlimited, is unrestricted, is beyond comprehension, it's a way of praising. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, and this statement by itself is amazing, and every Muslim should have this memorized. When I go to churches, I tell them this is the equivalent of John 316. We see 316 everywhere, go to a sports, watch a football game, you see it written everywhere. What does it mean? This is the essence of our belief about the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, 21107 of the Quran, وما أرسلناك إلا رحمة للعالمين. So we have, if that, which is for strong tokyid, you have an affirmation after a negation, like لا إله إلا الله. The translation, there is no deity worthy of worship, that's not what it says. It says no God, but God. It's very strong, it's very emphatic. وما أرسلناك. We did not send you, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, in the second person in the Quran. He didn't say وما أرسلنا محمدا. كا كاف الخطاب. We did not send you, it's very personal, speaking directly to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. إلا, an exception for strong emphasis رحمة ناكرة. It's indefinite, unlimited mercy, unfathomable mercy, mercy that is not restricted, mercy to everything. Interestingly enough too, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, the Urlima point out, he uses a noun here, he doesn't use a verb. He didn't say وما أرسلناك إلا أن ترحم العالمين or something like that. We didn't send you except that you show mercy to people. Allah says you are mercy. You are رحمة. This is your that, this is your essence, that you're mercy للعالمين to all of the worlds. So he uses the indefinite oracle. The mercy of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is something that is unrestricted, something that is unbelievable. How he showed mercy. And we should study these examples from Seerah. We mentioned this the other day. It's very important that when we read the Seerah, sometimes we have to stop and we have to smell the roses as it were. We know the story of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam when he went to Ta'if and he was rejected from the city and stoned out of the city sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And he had to pass by these two lines that were kicking people, kicking and punching him and spitting on him and throwing stones at him sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. And he sat under the tree and we know the story that the angel descended and said give the word and this city is destroyed. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam he said, He said, No I have hope in their descendants. Think about this. Think about this. Ajeeb mercy of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. This vast character, this vast rahmatan, this unlimited, undefinable mercy of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. The other day a brother brought me his son, make dua for my son. So I make dua for the son. But what if I make dua for the children of that son who I haven't even seen yet. They're going to come in the future and I make dua, make supplication for the children of the children of the children of my Muslim brother. But what about if I made dua for the children of the children of the children of my enemies who have just stoned me out of the city and have just humiliated me. What kind of character is that? This is what the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam did. This is rahmatan lil'alameen, an unlimited mercy to all the worlds. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, one time he came into the Masjid and he saw a man and he was broken hearted in the Masjid and tears. And the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, what's wrong with you? And he said, oh I've done this and I've done that. He said, I don't want to hear it. Just come here. Just come over here. Let's sit, raise your hands, repeat after me. Pray this dua with me. Oh Allah, your forgiveness is more vast than my sins, my transgressions. Now stand up, your sins have been forgiven. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam had a deep concern for the ummah, not just for the ummah, a deep concern for all of humanity, sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. When he was repeating that verse all night long, all night long, into adhibhum fa innahum, ibaduk wa in taqthilahum fa innaka anta al-aziz wal hakeem. Our mother Aisha said that he recited this verse the whole night. Qamur Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the ayah min al-Quran layla, the entire night, he's reciting this verse. If you punish them, they are your servants, but if you forgive them, if you forgive them, then you are great and wise. And then she said he collapsed into sajda, collapsed, and she heard him say Allahumma umma ti, Allahumma umma ti. Praying for the ummah, Allahumma, what does it mean? It's a vocative address. The ulama say, when you say Allahumma, it means you're calling Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala by all of his names and attributes, the ones you don't, the ones you know, the ones you don't know. It's very troubling these days. We turn on the satellite television and we see these anti-Muslim shows. They're Christians, they have Jesus or Muhammad behind them. Let's talk about both. Let's compare the two. And as a Muslim watching Christians do this, it's very strange because that's not an equal comparison. Isa alayhi salam, according to them, is God. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, we don't believe he's God. He's a messenger of God. He's the best of creation. They should say Jesus or Allah. Right? But nonetheless, people like to make comparisons. Obviously Isa alayhi salam is rahmatan. There's no doubt about it. But there's a story in a Christian source, the Gospel of Matthew chapter 10. Isa alayhi salam tells us, according to a Christian source, he says, when he sends them out on preaching and healing for Dawah, for Khuruj, fisi bilillah. And he tells them that when you go to a city, if you should be rejected by that city, shake the dust of that city off your heels for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah will fare better on the day of judgment than that city. This is what he says, that if a city rejects you, shake the dust, meaning they're going to go to hell forever. The cities of the plains, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Qomalut, will have a better time on the day of judgment than those people. You want to compare? Look at the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam in Taif, who's not only rejected by the people. He's stoned out of the city, abused and reviled. His feet are soaking in his own blood. He loses consciousness. Sallallahu alayhi salam. Baal arujoo. No, I have hope in their descendants. This is khuluq and azeem, sallallahu alayhi salam. There's very interesting, beautiful books that we need to read about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. A certain type of literature called khasa'is or khususiyat al-nabuwa, the specialities or special properties of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. It's a book by Imam Izzuddin Ibn Abdul Salam, Rahimahullahu ta'ala, in which he lists the tafdeal of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, enumerating how the Prophet's greatness is greater than any other Prophet. And this is interesting because his son approached him one day and said, tell me about the greatness of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. And just off the top of his head, he was able to name these 42 things. How many things can we name? One of the things he mentioned were the miracles, the mu'ajizat of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. The mu'ajizat which we believe in, no doubt about it, we believe in them. And he says, look at the mu'ajizat of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam because they're adhar and they're akbar. They're more apparent and they're greater than the miracles of those who came before him, sallallahu alayhi salam. So Isa alayhi salam could raise the dead. And as the poet said, yes Isa alayhi salam bi ibnillah raised the dead. But the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, he raised nations, nations that were spiritually dead that did not have the zikr of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in their hearts. He said sallallahu alayhi salam, he said that the difference between one who is alive and dead is like the difference between the one who remembers his Lord and the one who doesn't, being spiritually dead, people walking around in their own coffins not remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And then they're dead and buried and who remembers them? Only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, if they remembered him, he raised nations sallallahu alayhi salam. Now there are some hadith, if you read Kitab al-Shifaq al Qadi iyyad, there's hadith Imam Bayi Haqi mentions, these are weak, some of them are weak, but there's hadith in these books. Hassan al-Basri relates, Rahimullah wa ta'ala, that a man came to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam and he said, my daughter has died in a certain wadi. She has died. Can you help her? The Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam goes there and he says, and she comes out. This is mentioned in our books, it's not a strong senate, but these things are mentioned. But the real miracle is seeing the transformation of societies in 23 years. This is unparallel in history that in 23 years, the way people think is different. It's not just the way people do business, the way people interact with each other, the way people think was transformed by the message of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, the way you eat, the way you sleep, the way you talk to your neighbor, the way you deal in politics, economics, all of these things have been changed in 23 years, raising the world from the dark ages into the light. This is a true Mu'adji that is everlasting of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. And he said, Jesus alayhi salam, he can heal the blind. And Imam Izzuddin Ibn Abdu As-Salam, he mentions this. Yes, it's mentioned in the Qur'an as well. But he mentions the miracle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam is more apparent than that. How is it more apparent? He says that Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqas relates that at the battle of Uhud, a companion in Qatada, his eye had actually been taken out of its socket and was resting on his cheek. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam not only did he restore the eyesight, but he actually put the eye back and it worked fine. And he had 20-20 vision. It's mentioned by Al-Uqayli in Qadi Ayyad Ashifah. Uqayli says, my father, he had grown old and a whiteness glazed over his eyes so he couldn't see. And the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, he took some of his blessed saliva and he wiped over my father's eye. He said, I saw my father at 80 years old threading a needle. At 80 years old, he was threading a needle. This is the mu'jizah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. He mentions Musa alayhi salam who struck the rock with his staff and springs gushed forth. A mu'jizah of Musa alayhi salam. But the miracle of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam is adhar. It's even more apparent than that. Because somebody might say, well, sometimes rivers gushed through rocks and so on and so forth. It was mentioned in the hadith, Adnas ibn Malik in Bukhari and Muslim, rigorously authenticated in hadith that once the Sahaba had a shortage of water, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam said, bring me a vessel. They brought him a vessel and he put his hand into the vessel. And he removed his hand. It's full of water. That water came through his fingers. Sallallahu alayhi salam. So the Fouqaha, they mentioned in the books of Feeq, they say, what is the greatest water in the universe? Oh, the Nile River. No, no, no, no. Zum, zum. Zum, zum is the greatest. No, there's fountains, springs and paradise. Salsabil, Tasneem. These are greater. The poet said, Afdalul miyayi ma'unqad naba'a bayna asabi'in nabi'in muttaba'a. He said, the greatest water, the most exalted, the holiest type of water is the water that gushed forth from the fingers of the obeyed Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa la alihi wa salam. His miracles were adhar. Another example. Fata ja'akum nurun wa kitabun mubeen. An indefinite article again. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala doesn't say to nawiru or something like that. He doesn't use a verb. He says, you are nur, a nur that is naqira, undefined, unrestricted. This is how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa salam. The indefinite article. When you start reading the Qur'an, you should notice these things. That the mushrikin and the kufar meaning ahlil kitab, Jews and Christians and mushrikin, they're not going to break away from their kufr until al-bayna comes to them. Clear evidence. Why is there a definite article here according to the exeggents? Because this is ahdiyah, meaning that they were already expecting someone to come. There was an expectation for al-bayna to come. This is why there's a definite article. But who is al-bayna? Rasulun min Allah. Rasulun, not Rasulullah. Right? Rasulun min Allah. It's naqira, it's indefinite. Meaning such a great messenger, undefined, unlimited, beyond comprehension. A great messenger, an unrestricted messenger, a universal messenger from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the meaning. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala uses this in the Qur'an many, many times in reference to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. We're not noticing these things when we read the Qur'an. The speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, not sometimes in da'awa. And I've done this myself. When we're speaking to like a Christian audience, we want to stress the importance of Isa alayhi salam. It's very important for us, for Christians and non-Muslims in general, even Muslims, to know that we love Isa alayhi salam. So one time I was on stage in an interfaith dialogue and I said, you know the Qur'an mentions the name of Isa alayhi salam five times more than the name of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. This is true. 25 times Isa alayhi salam is mentioned and five times the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam is mentioned. Four times as Muhammad and once as Ahmed sallallahu alayhi salam. But we have to remember that this might put a negative effect or an incorrect effect in the mind of the listener that we value Isa alayhi salam. We believe that Isa alayhi salam is greater or five times greater than the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. So that might give the impression to someone that I can just believe in Isa alayhi salam as I do and I'm fine. And they become complacent in their kufr. No, of course not. Why is the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam only mentioned a few times in the Qur'an? Because the Qur'an is being revealed to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. Allah SWT is speaking to him directly. If you take a short surah in the Qur'an. There's 11 references in this short surah to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. And how does Allah SWT speak to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam? This hamsa here is hamsa of taqreer. The hamsa of a rhetorical question. A rhetorical question. There's no there's no answer to be expected. Allah SWT wants to remind you of something. Don't you remember what happened to them? Everyone knows it's established. It's to remind the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. Alam nashrah. Nashrah is plural. First common. Plural. It's jam'un. This is nunu ta'zim. Allah SWT uses the plural when addressing the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam in the second person. Because this shows that the object that's being addressed is also ta'zim. It's also tafdil. It's also great. And that's the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. Alam nashrah laka sadrak. And this lam is lam uta'leel. That's brought forward to create tashweekh and anticipation. What is the maf'ul bihi? What is the direct object here? Have we not expanded because of you, your chest? Allah SWT expanded the chest, the sadr, the heart of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. And the earlier I point out Musa alayhi salam made dua. What did he say? Oh my Lord expand for me my breast, my courage, my heart. But Allah SWT did this for the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam? Bilal talab without even requesting. Allah SWT did that. This shows the greatness of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam, the magnificence of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. The Musa alayhi salam was at the edge of the Red Sea and the army of Fir'an was coming and in the Bani Israel they said we're about to be overwhelmed. We're going to be killed. We're going to be slaughtered. Kalla inna ma'ya rabbi sayahdeen. No way. With me is my Lord, ma'ya. He mentioned himself first, ma'ya rabbi, then his Lord. But when the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam was in the cave with Abu Bakr Sadiq and Abu Bakr Sadiq had fear, what did he say? Inna laha ma'na. He mentions Allah SWT first. Allah is with us. This shows, these are subtleties in the Arabic that pass by us many times. Very interesting, very beautiful. Allah SWT says in Surah Tawbah, والله ورسوله أحق أن يردوا هو that Allah and His Messenger, it is more befitting that you please Him. What is Him? Allah and His Messenger are two entities. Why is there a مفرد الغائب? Why is there a third person masculine singular, uh, phenomenal suffix? Allah mentions two, والله ورسوله أحق أن يردوا هو. Why who? Why not who ma? This is a grammatical error, a stoff that Allah, what does this mean? That means that there's an intimate relationship between Allah SWT and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. He's not just a delivery man. He's not someone who delivers the Risala and goes away, you never see him again, you never contact him again. There's an intimate relationship between Allah SWT and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam and between us and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. He said it himself, what did to, لو أنني رأيتوا إخواني. I wish I could have seen my إخوان. I wish I could have seen them. Not I wish, what did to. I would have loved to have seen them, loved, would, مودة. I would have loved to have seen them. أولسنا, they said أولسنا إخوانك يا رسول الله, aren't we your إخوان? The Sahaba said, he said no, you're my companions, as Habi. Who are the إخوان? Those who come after, who never saw me, but are willing to sacrifice their wealth and their families just to lay eyes on me one time. I wish I would, I would have loved to have seen them. Allah SWT uses a singular pronoun when speaking about himself and the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. A singular pronoun because he says, مَا يُتِعَ الرَّسُول فَقَدْ أَطَاءَ اللَّا whoever obeys the Messenger is obeying Allah. This is a subtlety that's lost in translation. This is a subtlety that's lost by the people of أهل الكتاب. Aisa alayhi salam makes a similar statement. The father and I are one. They say he's claiming to be Allah SWT. Astaghfirullah. He's not talking about اتحاد or حلول تجسد these types of things, mingling or union or divine incarnation. No, he's talking about a relational unity that the obedience to the Messenger is the same obedience to Allah SWT. You cannot obey Allah and disobey the Messenger. It's impossible. You cannot obey the Messenger and disobey Allah. Their obedience is the same. This is according to Imam Al-Qurtubi in his تفسير of this ayah. Why is there a singular pronoun used in this verse? This is what he says. Allah SWT, he takes an oath by the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. An oath by the life. There are people who read the Qur'an. This is what is aijib to me. There are people who read the Qur'an and they say the Qur'an says that the Prophet is only a delivery man. And all of these other things you say about him, this is a bid'a and it's kufr and it's haram and it's developed later. Do you know what the Qur'an says about the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam? Allah SWT says لعمركة. He takes an oath by the life of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. And رضي الله تعالى عنه who said that Allah does not take an oath by anything except that it's exalted. By your life. By your life. And ibn Abbas said I did not hear Allah SWT. They can oath by the life of any other person. Allah says وَلَيْلِ إِذَا سَجَةَ. What is duha? لَامُ قَسَمْ وَعُلْ قَسَمْ. What duha? I swear by the duha. وَلَيْلِ إِذَا سَجَةَ. And by the night when it is still. Imam At-Tabari said وَلَيْلِ إِذَا سَجَةَ is the face of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. وَلَيْلِ إِذَا سَجَةَ is the heart of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. Allah SWT is taking an oath by the life, the face, and the heart of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. مَا وَدْعَكَرَ بُقُوا وَمَا قَلَى Because what is the what is the sababun nuzul of this ayah? There was a fatra in the revelation. There was a break in the revelation. And the mushrikine were making fun of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. They said oh your your shaitan has left you. As Um Jummil said astaghfirullah. So the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam he he took all of this abuse. Allah SWT says it takes an oath by your face by your heart. Your Lord has not left you nor is he angry period. It's very interesting. قَلَى is في المتعدي This is a transitive verb which means it takes an object just like ودع is a transitive verb. There is an object مَا وَدْعَكَرَ Why? Because Allah SWT will never say will never even suggest that he hates the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam even when he's negating the statement. قَلَى means to hate to abhor something. So translations they don't do with justice. The Lord has not forsaken you nor is he angry with you. There is no you. Your Lord has not forsaken you nor is he angry period. He's not even going to suggest that he hates the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam. It's indefinite again. It's unrestricted. It's unfathomable that the khayr of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam in the next world you can't even think about it. It's indefinite. And soon will thy Lord give you something and immediately you'll be pleased by it. Immediately you'll be pleased by it. Soon will thy Lord give you something and immediately you're going to be pleased. But Imam Sayyuti says when this is revealed to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam he said I will never be pleased. While one person for my ummah is in the fire this is someone who has deep concern for the ummah. It's not someone who's delivered the message and took off. This is someone who has a connection with the ummah. This is someone that we have to have a connection with. It's very very important. Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala says Inna insana la fi khusr. What is asr? There's difference of opinion. If we study tafsir some say asr means the time of asr because this is when people come home and they start reflecting about their lives. Very reflective time of the day. Some say this is salat al asr which is the middle prayer according to many of the ulama. Some say fajr. The majority the jumhur say this is asr. The middle prayer. It's a reference to salat al asr. Some say it's asr in general. Time from the beginning of time. The creation of Adam alayhi salam until the end of time. Ibn Abbas says or I'm sorry Fakhradina Ghrazi. He says that this refers to the time of the messenger. The Zaman of Muhammad sallallahu alayhi salam. The best time in the time thereafter. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he takes an oath in the Quran by the life of the prophet, by the face of the prophet, by the heart of the prophet, by the Zaman the time of the prophet, and by the Makan of the prophet. When he says la'uqsimu bihaathal balad wa anta hillun bihaathal balad wa waladin wa ma walad. So the ulama they ask the question why does this surah begin with a negation? La'uqsimu. Why la'uqsimu? I don't swear or I do swear. So the ulama say Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that this city is so great. This is a sense of the of the meaning just to give a sense of it. This city is so great I don't even have to swear by this city. You Quresh you already know the greatness of this city. You know the the walad the walad and the walad Ibrahim and Ismail alayhi salam. You know what they did here? wa anta hillun and this is a hal according to one opinion of the first verse. Meaning you know the greatness of this city. You know the history of this city. You know Ibrahim you know Ismail alayhi salam you know their history. But yet you're trying to kill you're trying to make halal the blood of this messenger who is who is amongst you. This is the whole reason why you've been preserved. La'uqsimu bihaathal balad wa waladin wa ma waladin wa ma waladin. Why do you think that is? You have security, perennial security. Why? Because you're so great. Why do you have this security? Because of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam who is going to be raised amongst them. This is why. There's many other examples we can give. We're running out of time. Surah Teen Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says wa teeni wa zaitoon. Wa teeni wa zaitoon. So what is Teen? The fig. So many of the ulama. Abdullah ibn Abbas who is called the exeget of the Qur'an. The founder of the exegesis of the Qur'an. It says the Teen is a reference to Jabal Judi. Jabal Judi is the mountain, one of the lower peaks of the Ararat mountain system in Turkey. In Anatolia. And the Safina of Nuh alaihi sallam, that's where it stopped. And apparently there's a lot of figs in that area. So ibn Abbas says this is a reference to the Shari'a of Nuh alaihi sallam. Zaitoon. What is Zaitoon? A reference to Ibrahim alaihi sallam. Because in Jerusalem, and around that Palestine, specifically in Jerusalem, there are a lot of olives. There's a mountain just away from the Temple Mount called the Mount of Olives. Where apparently Isa alaihi sallam used to pray there. Jabal is Zaitoon. What's Teeni wa Zaitoon? Wa toori sinin. What is toori sinin? Mount Sinai. Where Musa alaihi sallam received the Shari'a. The Torah. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, again taking an oath by great things. I swear by the Shari'a of Nuh alaihi sallam, of Ibrahim alaihi sallam, and the Israelite prophets after him. Musa alaihi sallam and those after him. Wa haathal baladil ameen. And by this city, laqad khalaqna l-insana fi ahsani taqweem. We have created al-insan, which most of the exegetes take as something that's general. The human being in general has the best form. But some of the Mufasilin say this is a direct reference to the Prophet Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. Meaning the previous Shari'a, the previous Shari'as of the messengers. They all bore witness to the greatness of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. These are tafasir that's in our tradition. Nobody's making these things up. This is not some weird Sufi-Gufi type of tafseer. It's not some weird type of bid'a tafseer. This is in our tradition. We have to embrace our tradition. Our tradition has three aspects. Islam, Iman and Ihsan. This is what we have to implement as Muslims. Unfortunately, there's a polarization amongst many Muslims that are formalists or those who are... We have to take lessons from the Qur'an. We have to be balanced as the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was balanced. As al-Fatiha tells us to be a balanced nation. Balance. Where is this ayah? Right in the middle of Baqarah verse 143 out of 286. Right in the middle is not not an accident. We take our tradition. We love our tradition. And we follow the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. This is called it-tibaa. And I mentioned this many times in the past. It-tibaa is to follow the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam in his outward and inward manifestations. To follow him. Not just outwardly, not just inwardly. Both of these are false. Both of these are dalala. We're talking about outward and inward. It-tibaa of the Prophet. And it-tisam wa atasimu bihabillillah. It-tisam is the word that's used for a man who's drowning in the ocean. And they throw him a line. And he holds on to that line. That grip that he's holding that rope. That's called it-tisam. This is how we should hold on to the sunnah of the Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. The Prophet says, Hold on to my sunnah. And the righteous khulafa after me. Like you're biding on to it with your molars. This is a very interesting-yani majazi istiara. It's a metaphor. This is where you rip meat when you eat jerky. You know? It's very strong. Look at the metaphor he's using. Biding on to my sunnah. And it's inward and outward manifestations. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala give us a tawfiq. He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, Lord of all the worlds. As-salatu wa s-salamu ala Rasulillah. As-salatu wa s-salamu ala s-salam wa ala s-sadatina wa immatina. Abu Bakr, Omar, Arthman and Ali. And may Allah be pleased with us, the companions of the Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa s-salam. He says, He says, Subhanahu wa ta'ala, in the Book of the Exalted, after we say, We seek refuge with Allah from Satan, the accursed. From Allah and His angels, We pray to the Prophet. O those who believe, We pray to him, And we pray to him, And we pray to him, And we pray to him, Muqina Sharrama Qadayt. Rabbana la tuzib, Qulubana ba'dah idh hadaytana wahab lana milladunka rahma. Innaka anta al wahab. Rabbana a'atina fid dunya, Hasanatun wa fil aakhirat, Hasana waqina a'adha b'n'ar. La ilaha illa anta subhanaka, Innakunna min al-zalimin. La ilaha illa anta subhanaka, Innakunna min al-zalimin. La ilaha illa anta subhanaka, Innakunna min al-zalimin. Ya muqaliba l-kuluba al-Absa'a, Fabadqluban al-Aadinik. Ya Muqaliba Al-Qulub Al-Absa Al-Fabr Al-Qulub Al-A'la Ta'atik Wa-Sallallahu Alaa Sayyidi Muhammad Wa-Alihi Wa-Sahbi Wa-Sallam Wa-alhamdulillahi Rabb Al-Alamin Inna Allah Ya'amur Bil-Adri Wa-Ihsan Wa-Itair Al-Qurba Wa-Yanhaa Al-Fahshai Wa-Al-Munkari Wa-Al-Baghri Ya'ilakum Na'alakum Ja-Zakkarun Wa-Aqim Al-Sala Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, Ash-Hali Wa-Al-Na'il