 Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem Wa Salatu wa Salamu ala Sayyidina Wa Nabiina Muhammadin Wa ala alihi wa sahbihi wa salim Ya Rabbana laka alhamdu kama Yemba ili jalali wa jihika wa a'zini sultanik Subhanakur Rabbana La ilaha illa antenas daqiruqa Walatubu ilayk Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem Today insha'Allah we will be going on last time we saw in Ayah 7 how Allah SWT said indeed we have made that which is on the earth a dormant for it that we may test them so there will be a test everyone in this dunya will be tested and the highest of those who are tested are the prophets so Allah SWT will test us all to see who is the one who can who will succeed in their in their tests who who is the one succeeding in the test who are the winners who are the who are those who will get the bounties of Allah SWT will get the reward at the end and who are the ones who will get the punishment indeed in the end we will turn all that is into all that is in this earth into a bare plane so there will be nothing on it all that Allah SWT has created in this universe is going to vanish we saw earlier when Allah SWT said إذا السماء فطرط so when the heavens break apart another verse إذا السماء شقر when the sky is split the center and when the stars plants are scattered إذا الشمس كورت when the sun is folded as a ball وَإِذَ النُجُومٌ كَدَرَةٌ and when the light of the stars go away وَإِذَ الْبِحَارُ سُجِّرَةٌ and when the sea is become a blazing fire everything is going to vanish from this earth from this universe وَإِنَّا لَجَاعِلُونَ مَا عليها صعيدًا جُرُزًا there will be nothing أم حسبت أن أصحاب الكهف والرقم يكانوا من آياتنا عجبًا so now Allah SWT is going to tell us the story of the people the companions of the cave the sleepers of the cave so we mentioned last time that Quraysh wanted to know this story as the Jews scholars told them to ask Sayyidina Muhammad SAW so Allah SWT is saying here or do you think that the companions of the cave or the sleepers of the cave and the inscription or the bearers of the inscription were among our signs a wonder so as we mentioned last session we have several stories in Surah al-Kahf so this is the first story that talks about the test of religion we said that everyone is going to be tested so there will be lots of testing in in this dunya so one of the tests might be the test of religion which is the story of the people of the cave another test might be the fitna of money the test of money the test of having wealth another fitna is the fitna the test of the knowledge if that knowledge does not lead to humility the fitna of power so there are so many fitna and Allah SWT gives a story about each of these fitna and he starts here by the story of Ashab al-Kahf so Allah tells the stories in the Quran and we all love to hear stories but Allah SWT the stories of Allah SWT are the best of all stories they are truthful so in these stories there are wisdoms and lessons so do not pass by these stories when you read them without knowing what is the wisdom behind each and every story benefit from all the stories do not say that these are the stories of old nations they are just stories no there is a wisdom there is a lesson with each and every story that Allah SWT tells us in the Quran so here we have the story of the young men so some young men were seeking refuge in a cave we don't know their names it's irrelevant we don't know the name of the cave it's irrelevant we don't know so many things so many things that each story would tell is not mentioned here Allah wants to once asked to know the story exactly just the main thing in the story so those young men believed in Allah they did not want to worship false gods same as what their people what everyone in their village used to do and there was a king who was a pagan and non-believer who wanted to persecute them so they flee they run away from him so Allah SWT is saying oh Muhammad if Quraish is asking about the story of the sleepers of the cave thinking that it is a wonder then tell them it's not a big wonder it's one of our miracles that are countless there are so many miracles that are much greater than this miracle is so when the young men when the youth retreated to the cave and said our lord went as a special mercy from yourself and prepare for us write guidance and make our affairs proper so as soon as they entered the cave they made it up so the word awa in Arabic means to seek a shelter to hide in so and the fitia are the young men at the beginning of their of age it's about late teenager till in the beginning of their 20s so these are the fitia so these fitia these young men run away flee from a problem that they were facing so they left the people they left to their families they left to their houses they left their sustenance they left everything behind and flee and run away where to the cave a place where there is nothing in so they left everything to nothing and they said so they asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for mercy they asked only Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for mercy because they realized that they knew there is no mercy from people so they said oh lord give us mercy directly from you guide us to the true and straight path to the path of Haql to the path that you choose for us that is the right path make our affairs firm and straight so they were fleeing because they faced a problem and the first thing they did when they entered the cave was to make dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala rahmatu kaya rabb so this is what we say when we have a problem mercy mercy and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala answers the call even to those who are not not Muslims once this is a story that was told to us there was a woman who was not a believer and she was even atheist she wouldn't believe in God and she was in a park and when they were in the park she had her two years old baby with her and she she was talking with others and this child just walked and walked and walked and wondered until he was literally on the street when his mom just looked and saw him she said out of a sudden oh my god so he was there was a fast car coming and it was about to hit him but Allah answered the call of the one who was in so much need for Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala she said oh my god and Allah immediately answered the call the car stuck just inches from that child when a sick person goes to the doctor he knows that he has something yeah and he what to say a very bad illness a serious sickness and he goes to the to the doctor but even when he goes to the doctor he makes dua and with this he would ask the help of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he Allah would heal him he knows that the the doctor himself is just a means but if Allah does not uh order the medicine to heal him then the medicine will not be effective and he knows that nothing can help him except Allah but the doctor is a mean that through that doctor he would get shifa but deep in heart he knows that only Allah is the one who is going to heal him and that's why he would make dua and sincere to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so dua is the weapon of the believer it shows complete dependence on Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and so many people if they want something from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that would wake up at night before pleasure because they know that this is the time that Allah is closest to to his servants they know that Allah said ask me and I will answer your prayers and they will make dua and they would talk to Allah and they would they would make sujood and they will along their sujood and they will talk to Allah they will tell him what they want and they will cry because they know only Allah is able to save them only Allah is going to help them so those young men when they get into the cave they the first thing they did they made dua and they said o lord grant us special mercy and give us guidance make our affairs proper so what did Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala say so we cast a cover of sleep over their ears within the cave for a number of years now we want to look at the words Allah cast a cover of sleep over their ears what does this mean so they fell into a deep sleep that no matter how loud the sounds are there they would not walk up they would not walk up the word barabna means to hit something with something else in a stronger way so the one who is hitting should be smart enough that he does not hit with his hand something that is stronger than him because he would be hitting himself when someone is when someone is angry he would hit the table or the wall but who will feel the pain now barabna this word means that Allah put a cover it's not the physical barab it's not the physical hitting it's the cover that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has put on their ears let's take an example now when a farmer works hard digging the land then he feels tired so what does he do to rest he stops for a minute so he stops even the tools are still in his hands if he gets tired of standing then he sits down but if he gets tired of sitting he gets enough when he falls asleep he will not feel anything but if there is a he will he will not see anything but if there is a sound next to him if something hits next to him then he will he would wake up so this is what happened to the sick person who is in pain so when he falls asleep then he stops uttering the pain words and everyone around him would say stop all the noise just whisper don't let him sleep let him rest but as soon as he wakes up he will start feeling the pain once again so it's the sound that will make him wake up Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wanted those young men to fully rest so he made them sleep deep sleep when a person sleeps he will not be able to see anything around him his eyes will not will not work anymore so he's not seeing anything but if there is a loud sound near him he will hear it and he will wake up so what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said he Allah covered up their ears he stopped their ears from hearing anything around them so to have full rest so they slept for years and years and years then we awakened them that we we might show which of the two fictions which of the two groups was most precise in calculating what extent they had remained in time so the word Ba'ath Nahum is to resurrect them and it is said to to those who die so Allah resurrected the death so as if that their long long sleep was like death we know that sleeping is like dying except that the one who sleeps wakes up again wakes up again in this dunya in this life while the one who dies will not wake up again until the day of judgment when we go to sleep our soul our soul our soul our soul leaves our body but it is still connected however when we die our soul leaves our body and the connection is cut off and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala explains this in surah al-zumar 42 when he says Allah takes the souls at the time of their death and when people when people asleep so he Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala withholds the souls for whom he decreed death their soul will not come back and restores and releases the other souls for a specified time it's not best time for them so they will wake again and we hear so many stories that so and so went to bed but never got up again so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has brought those young men back to see who has the most accurate information about them and of how many years they slept so Allah says so we are the one who will relate to you oh Muhammad their true real story indeed they were young men who believed in their in their Lord and we increased them in guidance so this is a summary of the whole story so Allah summarized the story in a few verses but now he in in this verse and on he is going to tell us their the story their story in detail so was idnahum huda Allah says in surah Muhammad ayah 17 and those who are guided he increased them in the guidance and gave them their righteousness so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would enlighten the inner side of those who are guided of those who follow the right path of those who obey the orders of those who get closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so Allah will give them give them something extra so let's take for example an example of a teacher when he when he notices that he has a very smart student in his class that he exceeds all his all his classmates then he gives him more attention and he explains more for him he gives him extra work and consequently extra credit so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he sees someone who is coming to him walking he comes to him running and he gets him closer to him so these young men broke away from their culture they broke away from their society they broke away from their king and from everyone who was worshiping the idols they stood up against the culture they stood up against everything against everyone they were open-minded they wanted to make a change they wanted to say the truth Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam says seven of the people will be sheltered under the shade of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when there is no shade other than his shade a young man a young person who is raising himself up in the worship of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala a young man a young woman who are doing their best to get closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala young people who are living righteously Ya Allah we ask you to protect our children Ya Allah we ask you to protect our kids we ask you to raise them under you care Ya Allah we ask you to enlighten their hearts Ya Allah we ask you to enlighten their path Ya Allah we ask you to enlighten their inner side we ask you Ya Allah to provide them with good companions good friends who will correct them if they do any mistakes we want good friends for our kids Ya Allah so these are young men together they were together they were friends they were companions they helped each other for the sake of Allah they helped each other to be to stand up against the culture Sayyidina Musa asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to to to send with him his brother so that they both would go to Firaum so Allah said We will strengthen you with your brother so being together having good companions is very important in this in this dunya we want to search for the good companions for our children we want to know who are the friends of our children their friends at school are called classmates they are not friends the friends are the ones who will advise them if they get wrong they will help them on the right path they will show them the right path they will correct them if they go astray this is the type of friends that we need for our kids a good friend a true friend is very important in this dunya one of the good people said tell me who you are and tell me who your friend is and I will tell you who you are so a person would be on the same path as his friend so know how to find your companion search for a good companion who will get you closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala be a friend with those who will if you look at them they will make you say they will force you to say Ya Allah they will remind you of Allah be a friend take a friend that person who would if you see you will remember Allah and who if he talks he will remind you of Allah don't just take a friend just to make you happy to make you feel good to make you know everything is vanishing in this dunya but the true friend is the one who will want who has the aim that he will be in paradise with you and in the day after there will be a shafa'a intercession for those who are who used to be good friends in dunya someone would say Ya Allah I haven't seen my friend we were we were together in dunya we're making a thicker together we wear we wear in dunya I haven't seen him you'd say he is in a fire he says I cannot leave him there he's saying go to him take his hand and go take him and he will be with you in jinnah true friends for the sake of Allah sincere relationship for the sake of Allah nothing else so there are these are young men who believed in their Lord and they were faithful they were true believers so Allah increased their guidance every single step we take to Allah Allah will make the next step easier if you decide if you if you decide to memorize the Quran it would be it might be difficult at the beginning but be patient Allah will make it easier and easier if you start if you start to memorize one line every day then later you will see you will find yourself memorized in two or three lines why this is a blessing from Allah SWT thank him he made things easier for you then you will you will feel that you will not be able to live without Quran without the words of Allah SWT you want to memorize it you want to understand it you want you want to know everything about the Quran you want it to be your your guidance in this dunya so man atani yamshi ateitu huhar wala this is what Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam says whoever comes walking to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then Allah will come to him running so remember with every good deed you do your iman goes up so the more iman you have the extra more iman you will get the closer you will get to Allah SWT how can we get closer to Allah SWT we have to have a few minutes every day to be with Allah SWT just sit alone talk to Allah SWT make wudu to pray to rakaz and talk to Allah get closer to Allah read his book know about the life of Sayyidina Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam know his seerah know about his companions this is how we get closer to Allah SWT so what happens to those to those young men Allah SWT says so we we made Allah SWT is saying we strengthened and we made firm their hearts and this is very important so they they said and when they stood up and said our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth we will never invoke any other deity than him why should we do so we would we would have certainly spoken then an excessive transgression so Allah showed that their hearts was terrified they were terrified they were scared they were scared of their community's threat that they're going to to be killed the king wanted to kill them so Allah comforted them and this word Rabatna we strengthened their heart this is what happened to the mother of Sayyidna when Allah when Allah SWT said to her so if you are scared then about your son that you throw him in the in the river so why if that did not happen so when she was scared that Fir'aun is going to kill her her son so Allah SWT inspired to her that suckle him but when you fear for him cast him into the river and do not fear do not grieve indeed we will return him to you and we will make him of the messengers so what happens her heart her heart became became empty she she was so so worried about her son she was about to disclose the matters to say it to them and Allah made her heart fast firm that she would be of the believers so Allah strengthened their hearts so when when they stood up to flee they they initiated the work of fleeing so they started the work and then Allah helped him if you want something from Allah do not say okay I believe in Allah and he will give it to me no you have to do something they fled away and then they asked Allah they did not stay still they did not just waited and and ask Allah to save them no Allah helped them and saved their hearts after they fled away after they made dua so they initiated the work and Allah helped after so these our people have taken besides him diaries they worshiped other gods than Allah SWT why did our people not prove their statements with their true authority they did not prove what they are saying they did not prove why they are worshiping other than Allah who does more wrong than the one who fabricates lies about Allah SWT so when you speak about Allah SWT you have to be careful with what you are saying do not say I think Allah means this and that there's no I think if you are not sure do not say it if you are asked a question and you don't know the answer say I don't know the answer don't be ashamed Allah SWT has assigned angels to write everything for you there will be records for you waiting in the day of judgment and everything everything will be recorded in their records so be careful what you are saying do not say a word that is Allah so when you broke away from your people go to the cave Allah will show you protection Allah will show you mercy Allah will show you protection Allah will guide you so he will be the guide and whoever goes astray you will find a guide for him and you would see when the sun rises so it will incline away from the cave on the right and when it sets it will pass away from them on the left while they are lying they are lying in that cave so this is what Allah SWT is saying so the sun is not going to affect them so while they are in that spacious place lying inside the cave so this was one of the signs of Allah SWT so if they if Allah SWT wants to guide someone then he will be guided but if Allah SWT wanted to get someone to let to go astray then you will never find any guardian to direct him you will never find anyone to guide him so it's all by Allah's will so Allah guides whoever he wants to guide we ask Allah SWT for guidance we ask Allah SWT to put us on the right path we ask Allah SWT to give us to give our children the the the wisdom to choose what is right and to be away from what is wrong Insha'Allah next session