 Barakatu. Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem in the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, most gracious, most merciful. Alhamdulillahi wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulillahi wa ala alihi wa ashabihi ajma'in. We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. His household, his companions, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless them all, and may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless every one of us, Ameen. My brothers and sisters, we know that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala allowed shaitan. He gave him a certain time. He allowed him to come onto earth, and he let him do to a certain extent what he intended to do. So shaitan has been created as a test for mankind. We always have a force within us that tells us not to do evil, and we have a force within us that tells us to do the evil. So we have the angels who encourage us to do good, and we have shaitan who discourages us from good and encourages us to do bad. So if we were to look at the verses of the Qur'an, we would come to realize very quickly that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has granted success to the one who can protect himself from shaitan. This is why every time we commence the Qur'an, what do we say? Allah says, وَإِذَا قَرَأْتَالْ قُرْآنَ فَا استَعِذْ بِالْلَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمَ. And when you read the Qur'an, then seek refuge in Allah from shaitan, the accursed. If you are protected by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from the shaitan, then you have succeeded. So the shaitan has some plans. The plan that he has is to deviate mankind by beautifying evil and making it look like it's good. So we have something known as our desires, our lusts, perhaps that which we feel would help us and benefit us in the short term. But Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has dictated that it is not good for us. If that is the case, leave it. It can never be good for you. Whatever Allah says is good for you will be good. Even if it has restriction in it. And whatever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says is bad for you, it is bad. Even if it seems very sweet, very tasty, and it seems like you want to get it done with. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us. In Surah An-Nur, and just to spend a moment on the meaning of this term, An-Nur, Nur is light. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is the ultimate light. Allah Nuru Samawati wa l-Arab. Indeed, the Nur is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Nur of the heavens and the earth. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's a beautiful verse. So if we look at the rules and regulations in the Surah, they are governing the behavior of a Muslim. The moral standards of a Muslim are discussed in the Surah because if you are to behave yourself, there will be a Nur that will emanate from within you and you will be able to feel the closeness to Allah. But if you let yourself loose and you let yourself go, it shows on your face to begin with and thereafter in your link with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So if we look at Surah 24, that is the Surah to Nur, verse number 21, Allah speaks of the footsteps of the devil, the footsteps of shaitan. Now to save myself from these footsteps, I need to know what they are. So Allah says, O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of shaitan. O you who believe, do not follow the footsteps of shaitan. For indeed, whosoever follows the footsteps of shaitan will order people to engage in immorality and evil. Now that means two things, shaitan encourages immorality and evil and those who follow in the footsteps of shaitan, they will encourage you to do that which is immoral and evil. So if you want to know whether you are in good company or bad, you just need to ask yourself, this company of mine, does it encourage me to behave immorally? Does it encourage me to become a person who is evil or to do that which is evil? If the answer is yes, you are following the footsteps of shaitan and if the answer is no, then inshallah you will be successful. So you want to know the path of shaitan, shaitan deviates in many ways, primarily by turning people away from worshipping Allah. Then when a person worships Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, shaitan tries to make him or her associate partners with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala because he knows that Allah will not accept that it is rejected. And then if a person has protected himself from association of partnership with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, shaitan makes him lazy to fulfill the obligations upon him. So you become lazy to fulfill your Salah, you are lazy to read the Quran, you are lazy to fast in the month of Ramadan looking for any excuse. You know I didn't fast today, a young man will tell you. And you say, why? He says, because I had a cough and Allah says, for mankana min kum maridan. You know I had a cough and Allah says, if anyone is sick they can fast on another date. What? A cough. We all have coughs by the way, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us goodness. So it is that sickness which stops you from fasting, that sickness wherein if you were too fast you would become more sick and it would hinder your cure. Then perhaps you do have a discount, yes indeed you do. But not just a mere cough or the fact that your nose is leaking slightly, you say, you know what my nose actually is running. So actually I am also going to run, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us ease. We shouldn't be doing that, so shaitan makes us lazy and after that there is another path of the devil that is mentioned in this particular verse. He encourages you to do that which displeases Allah. We say we love Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We say we love Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. We should not be doing that which displeases Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. That which would cause harm to Allah and His Rasul sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. We should protect ourselves from this. So this verse actually is a very important verse when it comes to saving ourselves because if we were to follow the path of the devil, say for example a person who just does as his desires dictate, what will happen? He gets scared, did someone see me, perhaps I might get caught, perhaps something is going to happen. Say a person who stole, a person who committed murder, may Allah protect us. That is evil, isn't it? It is evil. It is not a prophetic path to kill others. It is the path of the devil. Remember this. Some people say that Islam encourages you to kill, to murder, to harm etc. Not at all. In fact it is the path of the devil. Allah says the devil is he who encourages you to commit evil, al-munkar, that which everyone abhors, that which is unacceptable. This is from the devil. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us. So this is why we say that when a person perpetrates a crime, he does not sleep at ease. If a person steals, he might have money for a while but he will get caught soon and he is always worried, am I going to get caught? No one knocks on the door, your own relatives are knocking and you think it's the policeman so you won't sleep because you know I've done something wrong here. But if you did not do something wrong then you will become content even though you may not lead a life as per your liking but you need to know it is per the liking of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala you will definitely be a happier person. Let's move on. When we have been given wealth by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or goodness, one of the duties that is placed on our shoulders is that we share it with others. The more you share, the greater the chances of you entering paradise. If I've been given knowledge, there's no point in me keeping that knowledge because I will die with it and no one else will have it. And I'm not talking of something as basic as a cake recipe. No, I know those, the women are quite selfish with those. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us ease. The last time I asked someone, wow, this was lovely. I wonder what the recipe will be. They told me, well, if you want any, you better order them from me because we are not going to give you the recipe. Subhanallah, no problem. That's a minor issue. That is small. But what we are talking about is beneficial knowledge, whether it is to do with Deen or Dunya, whether it is to do with your religion or the worldly life. For example, you have knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah. Teach it before you waste your time. The hadith says, The best from amongst you is he or she who learns the Quran and he didn't stop there and teaches it. There's no point in learning it and you didn't teach it to others. You need to convey the message. Everyone wants it. It's a message of goodness. When you share it with others, you've become a person who deserves Jannatul Firdaus. And this is why even if you've discovered something in terms of worldly living, like you might have discovered or you might have invented some contraption or apparatus or some mechanism, share it with the world. Even if you've charged them a little bit for it, no problem because it is worldly. But share it. Share it as best as you can, as wide as you can. When you die, someone else will develop it to something else. You created ease for mankind. Trust me, Allah will create ease for you on the day of judgment. Whoever creates ease for others, Allah creates ease for them in the dunya and the akhira. That's a hadith of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So to have things is not a big deal. But to share it is the big deal. To be able to accrue wealth is not a big deal. A lot of people have earned a lot. But the winner is he or she who spends, spends. Because if you were to keep it, people are going to fight over it the minute you close your eyes. But if you were to spend it, it will have gone next to your name on the day of judgment. You will have been a person who was very, very generous, who had helped so many people. This is why Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam, whenever he had something, he quickly spent it. He spent it because he didn't want it with him. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala protect us. There are some from amongst us who are so miserly that they have the millions sometimes and the billions. You know, we've been billionaires. And this is why Zimbabwe is the only country in the world whereby almost everyone has tasted what it feels like to be a trillionaire, subhanallah. We were a whole country of trillionaires. And you know what? It's not a joke. I can even show you the notes if you want. But they no longer work. So yes, you have the millions. I tell you, some people are so miserly, they don't even spend on their wives and children. They don't even spend on their family members. They want to hold back so badly as though, you know what? They're going to earn some points by holding back. Spend the wealth. Come on, spend it subhanallah. Use the money. Why not? Don't waste. But use it. Spend it. Take your family on a holiday. Go and enjoy. You've got a million and you're living like a person who doesn't even have ten rands. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgive us. So it is absolutely important that we spend and this is how we will be able to save ourselves from loving anything more than the love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Sometimes we love our wealth more than Allah. Sometimes we love our family members more than the love of Allah. Sometimes we love our position and post more than Allah. Sometimes we love our time more than Allah. Look at how melodious the recitation of tarawih was tonight. Subhanallah, we took our time because I tell you, may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us acceptance. Like I said on the first day, wallahi a person reading the Qur'an in the dunya will never be able to read the Qur'an in a different way on the day of judgment because the hadith says when you read on the day of judgment, it will only be the way you used to read on earth. So if you used to race through it. You know, several years ago, we were trained, all of us, myself included, especially in the non-Arab world, we were trained to believe that tarawih is a race. The Imam is tops if he can finish everything in 20 minutes. He is the Imam. The whole world will say this man is tops. But they don't realize when he gets to the day of judgment, he's going to be stuck. Wallahi, Wallahi, it is something dangerous. I promise you. So when we encourage people to read quickly, we are damaging ourselves. Save yourselves from the punishment of the dunya and the Akhira by boycotting the Imam who wants to rush and speed through the Word of Allah in such a way that we don't even know what he's saying. He's insulting Rabbul Izzati wal Jalal. I'd rather not read the tarawih at all than to read behind someone who is abusing the Word of Allah. Do you get my point? Subhanallah. We love Allah. Spend a little bit more time. InshaAllah, on the day of judgment, we will be resurrected with those who love Allah, who love the Word of Allah, who had all the time for Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is why I said some of us, we love our time more than we love Allah because we don't mind making the Imam rush. Like I told you when we were young, we were trained to believe it was a race. Only now we realize that that is not true. It's the opposite. Tarawih is not a race. In fact, the quality of it is what Allah is interested in, not the quantity of it. Remember this. Even if you have not completed the entire Quran in your tarawih, but you have done whatever you have done with the most beautiful recitation filled with concentration for the sake of Allah, you have achieved a greater reward. May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala help us and guide us. So my beloved brothers and sisters, it's about time that we revisited this entire chapter of tarawih and the speed in tarawih. Going back to what I was saying, some people love so many things more than Allah, but they don't realize it. So in order to get our love of Allah far beyond the love of material items and position and wealth and so on, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reminds us constantly to spend in His cause. We heard a verse in the tarawih that was recited yesterday, a verse that struck me. Wallahi, I almost cried in Salah when I heard this verse. And I know I've heard it so many times, but Allah guarantees you. My brothers, my sisters, Allah says... Whatever you have spent in goodness, we will definitely compensate it for you in full and you will not be oppressed. You spent one rand, Allah swears that He will give it back to you, multiply it. Allah swears that He is going to give back to you whatever you spent far more than what you spent, not necessarily in cash, sometimes in cash. In my life, I've seen, you know, people give me bottles of perfume. One example, now if I were to keep these bottles of perfume, I would have a factory bigger than the perfume factory itself. So what I do normally, as you give me something, I'll give it to the next person. Good intention. It is permissible to give a gift as a gift to someone else and to give a gift as a gift and then be given as a gift and then be given as a gift until it goes back to the first person. It's a good sign. We used to believe that it's prohibited. No way. It's not. It's meritorious. You love something. Give it. Subhanallah. So when I give it away, every time I get another two, subhanallah, someone else gives me and then I give away two, I get another four subhanallah and whenever I talk about it, I stop getting them subhanallah subhanallah. So it's something amazing. Sometimes in cash, you give someone, you've helped them in a big way and Allah opens your doors wide open subhanallah, you got it. That's the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. But sometimes not in cash, sometimes in kind. You have good health. You have obedient children. You look at your spouse and the coolness of your eyes you feel because you helped people. And sometimes our lives are in a mess because we could have helped and we didn't help. We could have helped. It was easy. Allah says wa yamnaunal ma'oon. You know that verse where Allah says those who actually stop giving, even that which is basic, small, someone asked you something light, minor, and you had no reason not to give it. You know sometimes if we don't want to encourage beggars. We might not want to give. That's not necessarily a bad deed because you have a reason of not encouraging. But a person who never asks and suddenly they've asked you, sometimes they've got to a point where they have no option but to ask. You need to be able to vet and gauge and you need to know how much to give, where to give, how to give, etc. But you need to use your discretion because I tell you the day we are in need may Allah never ever make us from among those who need to go out to beg in order to survive. Subhanallah. Allahumma kfini bi halalika an haramik wa gnini bi fadlika amman siwak. That's a beautiful dua. O Allah, let sufficient be for me that which is halal such that I don't have to go into haram. And O Allah, you make me independent by trusting in you such that I never have to reach out to fellow human beings or anyone besides you. Amen. So my brothers and sisters Abu Bakr al-Siddique, radiallahu anhu, he used to give a certain man known as Miss T'ahibnu Athathah. He was a relative of his. He was a person who made Hijrah. He was one of the people who was poor and he was related to Abu Bakr. Now al-Siddique, radiallahu anhu. When a person is related to you, they have a greater right. So you need to look after your relatives who are poor and generally there will be a test. A test meaning sometimes you may have a little bit of conflict between you and your relatives for Allah to test you. Do you still fulfill their rights? Okay. Now they're going to do this to you. Do you still fulfill their rights? Now they're going to do that to you. Do you still fulfill their rights? Those are the tests. If you ran away, you failed your test. But if you fulfill the rights, having a big heart, then you have arrived at a level that is far, far higher than an ordinary human being. Because it's not easy to help someone who has harmed you. Do you agree? Can we help people? What do we want in return? A lot of people don't want anything besides, please don't harm me. You know, like I can give you another example of myself. And that is one day there was a man not too long ago who was doing something that was extremely evil and he was aiming at me. So I contacted him and I told him, my brother, I'm very surprised that you're doing this. The reason is, from my part, I know I've never harmed you. If anything, I've benefited you. Have I ever harmed you? No. I've only either benefited you or I have neither benefited you nor harmed you. Nothing. So either our relationship is at zero or it is above that. But from your side, you're harming me. What did I do to you to deserve that? Zero. Nothing. So why talk evil about me? Why say this about me? Why attack me for nothing? I tell you, it is difficult to help those who attack you. So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is telling Abu Bakr al-Siddique, radiAllahu anhu, that you know what? When this man started attacking your daughter and spread rumor about Aisha, radiAllahu anhu, the rumor we spoke about yesterday, then you took a Qasam. You swore an oath that you're not going to spend the money that you used to spend on him. So Allah says, you are higher than that. Subhanallah, you are higher than that. A person like you, who's been granted virtue, who's been granted wealth, should never take a Qasam that, Wallahi, I'm not going to spend on this person ever again. You are higher than that. You need to rise above that conflict and keep on spending. No problem. Now that's not easy. Do you agree? That's why Abu Bakr al-Siddique, radiAllahu anhu, was known as the best of those to tread the earth after the prophets of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, amazing. So we save ourselves from a lot of damage. You know when we hold a grudge, Wallahi, it pulls us down. It is a weight on our shoulders. It results in so much negativity. We have evil thoughts and it contaminates our entire system. Try your best to remove the grudge, as hard as it is, as difficult as it is. I always say, people say forgive and forget. I disagree with that, because it's not really possible for a human being to do the second part of it. I can forgive you, but if I forget, you might bite me from the same direction again and a mu'min is not supposed to be bitten from the same angle twice. That's a hadith. A mu'min is not supposed to be bitten from the same hole twice. So I will forgive you wholeheartedly, but I'm not going to forget it, because I don't want you to bite me again from the same angle. Therefore, I may not embrace you after I've forgiven you. You know, a sign that you've forgiven someone is not that you embrace them in a way that you return the relationship back to where it was. That is possible if both parties are genuine. But if both parties are not genuine, you might say, oh Allah, I forgive this person, but I don't want to have anything much to do with them from now on. Subhanallah. You're not wrong. Some people, like I say, are so toxic, you have to save yourself from such people, because the minute you interact with them, their habits, their character, their conduct, their thinking, their speech, everything is so negative that it has such a bad impact on you. You come back from them depressed. You might want to stay away. There's nothing wrong. If you have tried to change them and you did not succeed, you stay away from them. It's better for you. They are known as toxic people. So we're talking about saving ourselves. We have to save ourselves from two types of shaitans. One is the devil, shaitan, Iblis and his progeny. And two is shaitan from amongst mankind. There are devils, people whom unfortunately, very unfortunately, they don't want to mend their ways and habits. They steal, they pinch, they do it once, twice and ten times. If you don't save yourself from such people, you will regret. May Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, protect us. So Abu Bakr, al-Siddique, may Allah be pleased with him, when he heard this verse, immediately he decided to make amends and he decided to tell this young man, you know what? I'm going to spend on you again and he started once again. What did Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, tell him? Verse number twenty-two of Surat al-Nur. A person of virtue and the person whom Allah has granted ease in terms of materialistic living should not take an oath or make an oath not to spend on the relatives and the poor and those who have made hijrah, rather they should forgive and embrace. For indeed, do they not want the forgiveness of Allah? Allah is most forgiving, most merciful. Now you see the question at the end brings about a whole new dimension to this and it is connected to learning to treat others the way you want Allah to treat you. Did you hear that? So if you want Allah to forgive you, even though you've perpetrated heinous crimes, you need to learn to forgive others. Subhanallah, learn to forgive others. Subhanallah, when Allah sees that you are a person in your nature as difficult as it is, you find it within you to forgive. Allah will forgive you because his quality is far higher than yours. It is a quality of perfection. And when you have tried, that is a good enough excuse for Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, by his will and his mercy to forgive you. This is why Allah tells Abu Bakr al-Saddikh, the verses for all of us, but the reason of revelation was connected to this incident. And this is why it is mentioned in the set of verses connected to the story of the fabrication against Aisha, radiAllahu anha. And Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala says, Allah tuhibbuna inyaghfirallahu lakum. Wouldn't you like that Allah forgives you, therefore learn to forgive and embrace others? So if you forgive others, there is a greater chance that Allah will forgive you. But I want to make it clear that it is not necessary that you forgive others, especially when a person has perpetrated a crime once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, you forgave them once, twice, thrice. After that, you don't need to keep on forgiving. Remember this. So it is virtuous to forgive. It is encouraged to forgive. It is rewarding to forgive, but it is not an absolute duty. Remember that. Sometimes people say, look, I don't want to forgive. However, be careful, because if you don't forgive, you will go to the day of judgment and you will sort the matter out there. Many of us, shaitan makes us say, listen, I'm going to sort this matter out on the day of judgment in front of Allah. Have you heard people say that? Do as you please. I'm going to fix you on the day of judgment. Wait for qiyamah. Wallahi, be careful. That's a statement that's very dangerous because when you get to the day of qiyamah, what if you were wrong? Subhanallah. Too late, isn't it? What if you find that you were wrong? And Allah says, hang on, you were wrong. Then it's too late. You're going to say, oh, shaks. And that person's going to say, well, no more shaks. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala forgive us. So we need to know this, my brothers and sisters, learn to embrace, learn to forgive. Because if we do that by the will of Allah, we won't have the big problems of the day of judgment. It's not good enough to leave things for the day of judgment. Try your best to resolve them here. Yes, if it was impossible, you were a party who was willing, but the other party was not willing. You may be forced to leave it for the day of judgment. You seek Allah's forgiveness and you try your best to make amends. After that, what can we do? There is a day of judgment in order to judge. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala make it easy for us. So tomorrow we will go through verses of the Quran, also in Surah An-Nur. And as you've noticed, I'm taking my time. We're not in a rush. This year is a year with a difference. The reason is every time we come into Ramadan, we're rushing. This year we don't want to rush. Take it easy. We are fortunate. There are people in Europe who are listening to me right now. Trust me, they are still fasting. And they will only open their fast after a few hours. One of my friends contacted me today and told me, what time do you guys finish everything? I said, Isha tarawih and the post tarawih program finishes between half nine and quarter to ten every day. He says, what? We're only opening our fast at that time. We have to finish everything at quarter to one in the morning. I told him, are you serious? He says, yes. And guess what? I said, what? At two o'clock we're back in the Masjid. Subhanallah. What type of fasting is that? May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala make it easy for them. We who have a bonus, living in Cape Town, out of all places, Mashallah, Subhanallah. We ask Allah for beneficial rain, say Amir. May Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala grant us rain. One of the ways of achieving rain is to seek forgiveness of Allah, to quit sin. When we quit sin, Allah will bless us with rain. And this is in the Quran in many places, Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala makes mention of it. May Allah forgive us. Let's all seek the forgiveness of Allah. Let's all quit our bad ways and habits. And believe me, tomorrow we will have this rain, if not tonight. We seek the forgiveness of Allah. By seeking the forgiveness of Allah and quitting, cutting our bad ways and habits, promising Allah we're never ever going to go back into those bad ways and habits. Trust me, there will be an opening from the heaven. We will be granted not only beneficial rain, but sustenance as well. I'll say this, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him.