 عوض بالله من الشيطان الرجيم بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم وبهين أسلعين صلى الله عليك يا سيدي يا مولاي يا رسول الله وعلى أهل بيتك المذلومين صلى الله عليك يا سيدي يا مولاي وابنى مولاي يا أبا عبد الله يا رحمة الله الواسأة وياباب نجاة الأمها يا غريب يا مبلوم يا أجشان كربلها ما خاب من تمسك بكم ولا منا من لجأ إليكم سادته يا ليتنا يا ليتنا كنا ماكم فنفوزة الله فوزا عليما قال الله العديم في محكم كتابه كريم والقول كالحق والاستقل قائنه عوض بالله من الشيطان الرجيم وقال الرسول يا ربي إن قوم التقض هذا القرآن محجورة أمنى بالله صدق الله عليه العديم إذا كنت أسألوا مرة أخرى لأشهر بأسواء أخوات وخير أخوات كنت أستطيع أن تجد أسواء بلطة إذا تتقرأ هناك مرة أخرى أرجوك أن تأكد مرة أخرى أخوات إذا كنت أشهر هناك مرة أخرى هناك مرة أخرى في المعارج أعلم أنه صحيح ولكنه يبدو محبس when you're seated next to each other هل هناك أشخاص أخرى؟ سرية هل هناك أشخاص أخرى مجددا؟ نعم هناك الكثير من الأحيان هناك الكثير من الأحيان أعلم أنه يعمل هناك إذا أستطيع أن أساعدك في مجددا أحد أحد نعم إمكانا أخير من الأشخاص أخرى في المجدد المجدد هو سيئات الإصلاحة ومجدد المعلم من الكثير من الأشخاص أنهم يعملون في مجدد المعلم يعملون في مجدد المعلم when it comes toward religious leaders or when it comes to an understanding of those most classical texts for most people when we talk about the whole of the Quran the whole of the Quran is something that is very valuable to us is something that we keep in our homes not just one copy but probably half a dozen copies for every single individual in the household we have Quran that is hung up on our walls in our living room and our bedrooms but for whatever reason the Quran is only seen as a ceremonial text because we feel that it is not accessible to us today when you come and take a look at what we have in terms of religious knowledge we have translations of not only the whole of the Quran but religious text all across the board that of نحج البلاغة and that of السهيفة السجادية and that of كتاب الكافي all of our most fundamental texts are translated into English language and languages really all across the world in order that people have an understanding of that which is before them but again for whatever reason when it comes toward discussing the whole of the Quran it is something that we read during the holy month of Ramadan but not something that many people understand and in fact people only see the Quran as valuable for a couple of different things for instance maybe the two most popular questions that I receive like via email like on a month to month basis is number one can you take استخار for me from the whole of the Quran and number two can you tell me what verses of Quran I should read you know for my cousin's wedding ceremony and I'm not exaggerating I probably get requests from each of those at least five or ten times a month tell everyone the same exact answer when it comes toward استخار understanding that you are your biggest استخار and number two choose any verses of the whole of the Quran at a wedding ceremony you try to bring blessing to the gathering and every verse of the whole of the Quran offers a sense of blessing but again we only see the Quran as a means of a ceremonial book something that we hang up on the wall during the month of Ramadan or in difficulties or in trials but otherwise we see it as something incredibly distant from us and when we take a look at the Quran itself and traditions of the Prophet and his family we see like what incredible emphasis that we have on the book of Allah it's literally the means and the mechanism by which we understand God by which he communicates with every single one of us because of a difficulty when it comes to translations or because for whatever reason we feel that we are not ready to read the whole of the Quran we are not ready to engage in religion and spirituality and so on and so forth again we distance ourselves from it not that the Quran is distant from us and really we see that this is something that comes from Shaytan when people say for instance I'm not ready for Quran I'm not ready to go for Haj to go and make Ziyarah like what does that mean that I'm not ready Allah SWT commands us to these things in order that it makes us sort of allow for the development of our hearts and our souls so there's an opportunity for growth are we ever going to be ready for an experience like that of performing the Haj pilgrimage every day you have to grow and every day you have to seek a new sense of closeness toward the Creator when we do to be ready our life is going to be a journey and maybe at the end of it finally we understand something when it comes toward the معرفة of the Creator for most people we probably haven't opened up the Quran and I don't mean this in a negative way but many of us we probably haven't opened up the Quran maybe since last month of Ramadan we're talking 3 or 4 months we have not opened up the Book of Allah SWT a man one day he comes to the Prophet and he says oh messenger of God I need some advice he says sure how can I help you he says I am going through financial difficulties he said what has hindered you from reciting 25 verses of the Quran every single day another man comes to the messenger he says oh messenger of God I need some advice he said I've been really really ill and nothing is working he didn't say that the anecdote or the antidote that allows for your financial growth or for your physical sort of health is that you read 25 verses of the Quran rather he states what has hindered you meaning the only thing that stops us from reciting the whole Quran is ourselves is our soul is our heart the ability that we do not have is what is known as توفيق meaning that there is a sense of divine providence divine support that allows people to actually engage with the book of Allah SWT and again I don't mean this to be critical I speak to myself before I speak to anyone else what is my relationship with the book of Allah SWT is it something that I read or is it not something that I read is it something that I just listen to for entertainment because I hear some guy with a really nice voice reciting it am I really trying to understand what it is that the Quran is all about and what is it speaking to me in regards to someone might state but I don't understand the Quran and the translations are so Shakespearean how do you expect me to understand anything about it well like I said before religious knowledge today is accessible on literally every single platform that you can ever imagine you're looking for a commentary of the whole Quran like you go online and you find one there is plenty of knowledge available but oftentimes again we like to create a barrier between ourselves and the book of Allah SWT and I'll say this not for any reason because we don't like the Quran but because probably the way that religion was taught to us or the way that religion was preached to us from when we were younger it was about reciting the Quran and reciting it correctly and if we recite the Quran incorrectly that's it you're just not good you're never going to be able to understand this book Sunday schools in our mosque spaces so on and so forth we've been told that if you do not recite it properly this is not for you or something is wrong with you and again what we're trying to do during the course of these days in which we are able to take the spirit of the value of say this Shahada Al-Hussain عليه الصلاة is really he states these days as a revitalization of our religion and of our spirituality and that has to begin and that has to end with the whole of the Quran in زيارة الناهية of Imam Al-Zaman he states to Imam Al-Hussain كنت للرسول صلى الله عليه وآله وَلَدَة وَلْ أُمَّةِ أَضُدَة وَأَنِ سَنَدَة he states oh my grandfather that to the messenger of God you are his son and toward this ummah you are its strength and toward the Quran you are its pillar understanding that they are not divorced from the Quran in any other way but also when you come and take a look at the life of Imam Al-Hussain on the night of أشورا when the battle was supposed to take place and we'll get into details about that on the night of أشورا Imam Al-Hussain عليه السلام he goes to أبل فضل أباس and he says oh my brother go toward the army of أمر بن سعاد and tell them to postpone the beginning of the battle until tomorrow during the day and أبل فضل أباس he says whatever you say oh my master and if you think about it strategically from a military standpoint if the battle were to transpire at night half a day earlier than what it actually did the army of Imam Al-Hussain عليه السلام would have had a little bit more energy were taking place during the night they were thirsty during the night is better than being under the sun and Imam Al-Hussain عليه السلام explains himself and he tells أبل فضل أباس the reason why I want this night is because I love to pray meaning that he gave everything in the way of the book of Allah but again for whatever reason we see this book is so distant from us so I thought that tonight very briefly I thought I'd make or offer a little bit of clarity in regards to what the Quran is because as much as we talk about the value of the Quran we still see ourselves as very distant from it we could talk about the merit of the book of Allah سبحانه وتعالى we could talk about the lessons and the values that it calls to we could choose specific verses and do its commentary and so on but when it comes toward a very bird's eye view of exactly what this text is I think it's a good place for every single one of us to start in order that we begin to again re-engage with the book of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and not only see it as something that I have downloaded on my phone it's diverse when I want to prove something to my friends or so on and so forth but rather it's something that is actually a part of our life because again when the messenger he tells these companions of his what has hindered you from reciting 25 verses of the whole of the Quran every single day I need to ask myself the question what really is hindering me from reciting 25 verses of the Quran every single day why am I so distant from the mechanism by which God covers darkness and pushes us forth into light the book that Allah سبحانه وتعالى sent down to the messenger as a means to bring us out of ignorance and into knowledge why is it that I am not engaged with the whole of the Quran and I want to reflect upon this conversation in three different dimensions the first dimension is in terms of asking the question exactly what is the Quran in terms of understanding how is it that we should read the Quran and thirdly in terms of recognizing the compiler of the Quran in and of itself so let's go to dimension number one in which you want to understand what is the Quran we as Muslims we understand that Allah سبحانه وتعالى reveals the Quran toward the messenger of God محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم through the archangel جبرايل and thus the Quran is defined in very sort of simple language as the word of God as revealed to Prophet Muhammad عليه السلام it's the word of God as revealed toward the prophet meaning it's not the words of the prophet again but it's the word of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and the prophet عليه السلام he is the divine representative of God on earth meaning he is not only the messenger but every word of his is the message in and of itself the prophet عليه السلام he's not a mailman who comes and drops off the Quran and he doesn't know exactly what's in it but he comes and he gives us the text because that's the word of God and he tells us how to apply the word of God in the way that we should practice it so for instance Allah سبحانه وتعالى tells us within the whole of the Quran to pray how do we pray we come and we take a look at the sunnah of the prophet عليه السلام his words, his actions his advices all as a means that clarify for us exactly what the Quranic values call to and that is how we understand what the sunnah of the prophet عليه السلام is but it's the words of the Quran that we have in front of us that are directly the words of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and the prophet عليه السلام he is the interpreter of those words of Allah سبحانه وتعالى it's also important to note that when we try to define the Quran the Quran is the word of Allah سبحانه وتعالى as spoken in the Arabic language meaning that the translation that we have of the Quran in front of us or the translations that we have in abundance that's not the Quran that's a translation of the Quran that does its best towards servicing individuals who don't understand the Arabic language but the word of Allah is that again which is in the Arabic language presented towards us within his book someone says okay how am I supposed to understand the Quran that you're telling me to understand that you're telling me to engage with if I myself don't understand the Arabic language you go and you see that across the world in the Muslim even during the early days as the expansion of Islam began to take place there were plenty of people who didn't understand the Arabic language and even during the time of the Prophet عليه السلام himself and even during the first 30 or 40 or 50 years after the advent of the messenger we see that Islam began to spread in Arabic speaking countries as we know them today but the Quran that we have in front of us is the Arabic that was spoken in the Qureshi dialect meaning the people of Hejaz so people outside of that small region they also didn't speak that same language meaning that for them it was also something that was distant so you can't say that I understand the Arabic language now all of a sudden I understand the Quran the true individual understands the Quran is the one who understands the language during that day if you go and you study English from 100 years ago it's a little bit different than it is now in fact some things that 18 year old kids say like on this college campus I have no idea I think I have translators from my students over here when I don't know what they're saying I say can you translate this for me in English because that language is rapidly changes so fast and in 100 years after that language is going to change even more so when we are in college and we take a course on Shakespeare for instance again those translations we always say are Shakespearean we don't understand the professor who can come and teach that language to us in order for him or her to identify the meaning of that which is beyond or behind that poetic prose and that text and so on and so forth but again that does not mean that we cannot engage with the whole the Quran if we don't understand the language it's about making an effort and it's about striving yes we go and we read those translations and we do our very best toward understanding the depths of the values that the Quran calls to and you read commentaries and you read books and like I said before knowledge is super accessible these days literally at our fingertips right and if you don't know what those resources are then let me know look it up I'm happy to sort of connect you to places where you can find that knowledge in order that you're able to understand the depths of the whole of Quran and through striving and putting forth an effort you see that الله سبحانه وتعالى he loves his effort and when you read the Quran in your own language don't think that it's not going to be something that is not going to be accepted by الله سبحانه وتعالى in a really beautiful hadith that I read the other day from the Prophet صلى الله عليه و عليه وسلم he states there is one who recites the Quran in their own language meaning a language different than the Arabic language the angels of Allah سبحانه وتعالى take that recitation and present it toward God in its original word so you put forth the effort and with Allah سبحانه وتعالى is the essence and is the beauty and is the reward of it but again it's about striving and putting forth an effort everything takes time you can't all of a sudden start to read a translation open up a couple of texts and everything is going to become clear to you life is a process and religion is a really really big part of that process you can't all of a sudden wake up in the morning and never taking a course in physics and saying that I want to sit in a PHD physics level class you're not going to understand anything you can't be upset when you leave that class and say how come I don't understand anything about physics you need to start with the prerequisites before you're able to understand the depths of the science in it of itself and you need to start slowly and if you try to overwhelm yourself you're going to keep on falling and you're not going to get back up and you're not going to strive to learning a little bit more and in a tradition from the Prophet he states إن أشراف أمتي هملت القرآن وأسحاب اللين that's surely the most knowable people are my ummah of my community are the reciders of the Quran or they're the carriers of the Quran and they're the people who spend the night in prayer and some of the commentators of this tradition they state that in Paradise الله سبحانه وتعالى of course last year I spoke a little bit about the reality of Paradise as God speaks to it within the whole of the Quran and I mentioned that there are different levels the highest level of Paradise is that which is within the proximity of محمد وآلم محمد that which we were seeking every night and every day and every moment of our lives and insha'Allah we'll get there but within Paradise there are going to be communities there are going to be villages there are going to be cities and the leaders and the mayors for instance are the governors of each and every one of these towns of each and every one of these villages are going to have certain characteristics not which of those individuals has the largest financial support from this you know company or that organization but Allah سبحانه وتعالى those who are the leaders of Paradise those who have the highest of rank are those who are the holders or the carriers of the Quran meaning those not only read it and recite it and memorize it but they are the ones who are engaged with it they are the ones who are immersed in it they are the ones who spend their nights and their days seeking the knowledge of that of the Quran and those who spend their nights in prayer so when we come toward understanding what is the Quran against the word of Allah سبحانه وتعالى as revealed toward Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم الله ما صلى الله عليه وسلم now how was it revealed toward the Prophet عليه السلام when we come toward the issue or the discussion around revelation we see that there are two different words that are spoken to within the Holy Quran about the revelation of the Holy Quran the first one of these words is what is known as الإنزال and the other one is what is known as التنزيل إنا بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم إنا أنزلناه في ليلة القدر that surely we revealed it on the night of Qadr the night of power during the holy month of Ramadan what is that it and that is unanimous according to all Muslims and then we have other verses of the Holy Quran in which الله سبحانه وتعالى states that he reveals these verses he reveals these chapters he reveals these insights at different times during the life of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم there are different occasions for instance a man comes toward the Prophet and he says oh Rasool Allah tell me when the day of judgment is going to be and at that moment جبراير goes from الله سبحانه وتعالى and he says oh messenger of God when that man asks you about the day of judgment tell him that that knowledge is with Allah سبحانه وتعالى someone comes toward the Prophet and he says what is the story of Yusuf that I hear my Christian friends and my Jewish friends talking about and Allah سبحانه وتعالى reveals the story of Yusuf so we come and we see that there are two sort of issues when it comes toward the conversation around revelation one is that Allah سبحانه وتعالى reveals the entirety of the Quran toward the heart of the messenger عليه السلام every year on the night of and on the other side that he reveals the certain occasions or the reasons for or as we have within the oronic sciences what is known as there are certain instances where the Prophet عليه السلام was brought forth that inside from Allah سبحانه وتعالى by the mechanism of the archangel جبرائيل to the Prophet عليه السلام in order that he is able to bring forth that wisdom to his contemporaries at that very moment so the Prophet عليه السلام he has that knowledge within his heart but again it gets sparked upon instruction from Allah سبحانه وتعالى everyone following so far so when it comes toward understanding then what is the Holy Quran is the words of Allah سبحانه وتعالى as revealed toward the Prophet it was revealed to the Prophet numerous occasions directly to his heart in its entirety and on other instances specific verses were revealed to him or we revealed to him upon occasion upon necessity or upon the command of Allah سبحانه وتعالى it's also important to note that when it comes toward the Holy Quran that we have to understand its verses in two different folds there are verses that are revealed in Mecca and there are verses that are revealed in the Holy City of Medina the beginning of the prophetic message takes place in the Holy City of Mecca and then the Prophet عليه السلام he migrates to the Holy City of Medina where eventually he passes away and he's burnt but the religion of Islam is born within the Holy City of Mecca and the Prophet عليه السلام's followers were very few during those days and again he's preaching to a community that was void of any sense of morality that was void of any sense of virtue so the themes that the Quran speaks to in Mecca were more toward speaking toward توهيد of Allah سبحانه وتعالى they were talking about prophethood and stories of previous prophets for instance they were talking about the day of judgment they were talking about reward they were talking about punishment they weren't talking about issues of law because the first step is to get people to believe and then telling them exactly how to practice oftentimes we do things really really wrong when we're trying to explain our religion to other people a lot of people during the last couple of days they ask me how can I explain أشورة how can I explain the Majlis of Imam al-Hussain عليه السلام to my friends how can I explain the poetry how can I explain the matam how can I explain the black how can I explain all of these rituals you can't all of a sudden start to explain rituals if they don't understand the anecdote of itself and how central it is to our theology toward our understanding that we see Hussain عليه السلام not only as the grandson of the messenger of God but the inheritor of the divine knowledge of the prophet عليه السلام and losing the grandson of the messenger of God is a loss for all of humanity because again he is the inheritor of the Qur'an he is the inheritor of prophetic wisdom so when it comes toward understanding ritual that's something that can only be discussed after we understand exactly who is Hussain and what he stands for within our tradition we start with theology and then we talk about practice in Mecca the verses of the Qur'an spoke toward theology believing in what? believing in God believing in the previous prophets believing in a day of judgment believing in punishment believing in respecting your parents and your neighbors and your friends and just being a good person and then after that you can talk about prayers you can talk about fasting you can talk about Hajj you can talk about Zakat and Homs and all of these other rituals and legalistic sort of commandments of Allah سبحانه وتعالى which take place in Medina so again when you come and take a look and you're reciting the whole of the Qur'an for instance oh people they're more likely to be revealed in Mecca when Allah سبحانه وتعالى oh those who believe most likely those verses are revealed in Medina then what is the Qur'an and when we're reading you're able to all of a sudden start to pick up upon these insights ask yourselves the question will this verse revealed in Mecca or Medina think about it contemplate is there any mechanism that allows for our hearts to develop out of the wisdom and out of the providence and of the miracle of the book about Allah سبحانه وتعالى in and of itself please recite one Salawat I don't know if it's possible but if I could ask the sisters to move forward one more time if it's possible there's a lot of people I can imagine that are still outside and if I could ask the guys to move toward my left to your right so that the sisters can take over the central space that would be helpful and this brings me then to the second dimension of my discussion and that is in regards to how should we be the reciters of the whole of Quran how should we engage with the book of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and the verse that I began with in chapter 25 verse 30 Allah سبحانه وتعالى He states He states He's quoting the prophet of God He states and the messenger will state when we go toward commentators of the Quran we come and we see that one group of commentators they state that these are the words of the prophet as he spoke in Mecca when people were not being receptive toward his verses meaning the verses of God as he would preach to them but within many commentaries within the school of Ahl al-Bayt including that of Tabattabai and Al-Mizan He states that this verse of the Quran is Allah سبحانه وتعالى foreshadowing what is going to take place on the day of judgment that on the day of judgment Allah سبحانه وتعالى will hear the complaint of the messenger of God وقال الرسول and the messenger states يا رب يا رب إن قوم التقذ هذا القرآن محجورة that oh Allah my community انه يشعر على أفضل عمل than any value any importance to this book that's going to be the complaint of the messenger of God think about how is it that we engage the book of Allah سبحانه وتعالى you need an istikhara I don't know if I should marry this person I don't know if I should get into this business I don't know if I should buy this vacuum cleaner I don't know if I should do this I'm not joking think about how silly that is انه يجب أن يطلق انجل العمازون وكما تنظر على المتابع سأقوم بعمل تحديد ذلك سيخ اريد ان اعرف ماذا يفعله في القرآن انا يجب ان يرغب افتح سورة الفاتحة افتح القرآن حمد لله افتح القرآن اوه سيحدث لك بعد قرآن انا يجب ان نفهم انه ليست مصر ان نتبع في المدينة مرحباً و that are really really fancy. What are we doing? How many apps of the Quran do you have on your phone? أتمنى أنك لديك أخوان. But if you have six and seven, you can probably go on your iPhones and see when the last time you open up those apps. And sometimes if you don't open up the app for a long time, you need to re-download it. So go and open up your phone and see when the last time you open up the Quran app. And if it has like that iCloud symbol next to it, that means you haven't read the Quran in a really long time. So open it up and read it. It's literally at our fingertips. Imagine five minutes a day. I say this all the time. Five minutes, no. One minute a day you recite the Quran. One minute a day. One minute a day in your commute, when you're going to work, when you're going to school before you go to sleep, when you wake up. Whatever. One minute a day. What's that going to do for you? Is it going to ruin your life? Is it going to be so difficult? Is that so challenging? I'm talking to myself before I'm talking to anyone else. One minute a day. 60 seconds. And then after one month, you increase it to two minutes a day. Then after two months, you increase it to three minutes a day. And then at the end of a year, you're at 12 minutes a day. That's amazing. If someone says 12 minutes a day, you're kidding me? No, man. That's how much percentage more than you started in day one. You made a step in the right direction, right? You can't quit immediately after all of a sudden you forgot one day. You skip one day. You start again. You read two minutes if you didn't recite. You recite yesterday. You start one minute. You're reciting for one week. For instance, you forget one day. No worries. After the day after that, read for two minutes. What's that going to take? Didn't go and do whatever it is you have to do. I speak to myself first. It's not that difficult. It's something that we create the habit of. Which is why when we come toward understanding the etiquettes of that, recitation of the book of Allah سبحانه وتعالى as we find within the traditions of the Prophet and his family. Number one, we do not want to be a people. We do not want to be those people who the messenger is complaining about on the day of judgment. That my people, they are those who had forsaken the whole of Quran. So let's engage with it. And we start. We start tonight. In the name of the Barakah of the Sayyid Al-Shahadah and Al-Hussain, that I'm going to start reciting the Quran. In the name of Hussain, I'm going to recite the Quran. In the name of the messenger of God, I'm going to start reciting the Quran. And I want his blessing and I want his Barakah to be as part of this recitation. That's it. And you start. You slip one day. You start again tomorrow. What's that going to take? You go and you see it again. When you go toward the traditions of the Barakah of the Bayt, that amongst the etiquettes of the whole of Quran, they're sort of in two-fold. The first-fold are those external etiquettes. And the second-fold are those which are the spiritual or internal etiquettes. When it comes toward the external etiquettes of engaging in the Quran, at the place where you sleep, keep the Quran next to you. Keep the Quran next to you where you sleep on your nightstand, for instance. Or in a drawer nearby or on a bookshelf nearby. You wake up in the middle of the night. You can't sleep. You flip the Quran and you'll read some verses. It's on your phone. Open it up. Read a couple of verses. You can't sleep, for instance. Your spouse making too much noise while you're snoring or they're moving around. Or in my case, my daughter kicks me in the face. Right? I wake up. I can't sleep. Read three verses. Read two verses. Sometimes you just can't sleep at night and you're tossing and you're turning. Maybe Allah SWT wants to hear your voice. You get up. You make although, say some prayers. Recite a couple of verses. This is one amongst the etiquettes of reciting the whole of Quran. Amongst the other physical etiquettes of reciting the whole of Quran as we find within our traditions and these are within Ahadith but they're not something that I'm making up. Is that you should have a good fragrance in your mouth when you're reciting the whole of Quran. Someone says that's so silly, right? What does Allah SWT going to do with that? No, it's about understanding again that our physical is a mechanism that really cultivates the spiritual. Right? That's why before you pray we're told to brush our teeth. You make wawoo. You put on fragrances. It creates a positive environment and a seriousness for that which you're about to engage. Right? That's why when you come to the measure list like where do you order it? Put on some cologne. That's why I said it should be nice to sit next to people. Right? And everyone started laughing and I started wondering oh man what's the reason why people don't want to sit next to people. I've given this ending last year I think during the Haram but in the last I'll say it again for those of you who are not here. I said there was once this lady her name was Zainab. Zainab she was a individual who lived in the Holy City of Medina during the time of the Prophet عليه السلام and she was someone who had real intense معرفة of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. This lady was really incredible and her profession was that she would go door to door towards selling perfumes. So it is said that one day she was walking in the streets of Medina and she reached the door of the house of the Prophet عليه السلام and she knocked the door and the messenger عليه السلام happened to be the one to open the door and she has this bag full of perfumes and fragrances and so on and so forth and the messenger عليه السلام says يا زينا تأترتي بيتي that oh Zainab you've made my house smell really beautiful and look at the response on this one she really understands the messenger this is what I'm talking about and we're talking about understanding the one that we are here to grieve over she responds يا رسول الله تأترت السماوات والأرض oh messenger of God and you are the one who was allowed for a beautiful fragrance to be eminent in this world and in the heavens she understands the messenger of God of course the fragrance of the messenger of God عليه السلام wasn't a fragrance that was of any cologne it was a natural odor that Allah سبحانه وتعالى instilled within him but he would tell us numerous times within Ahadith about the importance for instance about fragrance anyhow so amongst the etiquettes of reciting the whole Qur'an brushing your teeth putting on fragrance facing the قبل again all things that are physical reciting the Qur'an in a melodious voice someone says man I can't recite like Zuhair called Zuhair the voice of the community I call him the voice of God but someone said I was being shook so I said let's leave that for Morgan Freeman okay I'm being shook now bad joke besides not a lot so someone says I can't I don't have a melodious voice I don't have well you try your best recite it in a way that's loud according to our traditions loud enough for you to hear your own voice again because it creates something when you're listening to the Qur'an that you actually listen to it and you don't converse over it for instance listen to it in the car listen to it you listen to it while you're working on the computer don't talk toward the person next to you put it on mute and then continue that conversation that when you're reciting the Qur'an look at the verses because there's blessing for the one who looks at the verses and there are numerous other rituals in terms of that which we have recommendations when it comes toward the etiquette the adab of the recitation of the whole Qur'an and then those spiritual sort of etiquettes that is that before you recite the Qur'an ask Allah SWT for forgiveness that when you begin to recite the whole Qur'an and when you start to recite verses that speak toward paradise you say oh Allah give me paradise that when you recite verses that talk about punishment that again you're in a conversation because you understand that this is the way that God is speaking to you so you have to respond to God prayers is the way that we talk to God and the Qur'an is the way that God speaks to us so when God is saying that the believers they are the ones who get paradise and they sit on couches with the rivers beneath them you say oh Allah give me this and then when God talks about punishment you say oh Allah save me from this and then when Allah SWT says that there is there is a reward for those who are patient and there is a reward for the mu'mineen and the mu'taqeen you say oh Allah make me from amongst the patient make me from amongst the mu'mineen make me from amongst the mu'taqeen you read it and again you're in a conversation with it and then this brings me toward the third dimension of my discussion for tonight and that is in terms of who is the compiler of the whole Qur'an this conversation of itself could be an entire lecture in it of itself but because I received this question from a couple of people over the last couple of months I thought that let me just run through the different opinions in regards toward who compiled the whole of the Qur'an and how is it that we have this book in the way that we have it in front of us today because when you go online and you Google who compiled the Qur'an you're going to find a whole lot of information a lot of books and a lot of articles and there have been different polemical debates and discussions over the last several decades if not centuries in regards toward the compiler of the book of Allah and there are three different opinions that I want to just run by really really quickly because I know that my time is running out the first opinion is that the whole of the Qur'an was compiled after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ by the first Caliph Abu Bakr some will argue that Abu Bakr was the one who compiled the version of the Qur'an as we know it today within our hands that book that is on the shelves that book which is within our phones and so on and so forth by providing the first evidence for that is that soon after the passing of the Prophet ﷺ there were several battles that took place during the lifetime of the خرافة of the first Caliph and amongst those battles is what is known as the battle of Yamaama in this particular battle Abu Bakr he appoints Khaled Bin Walid to be the general of his army toward fighting a personality by the name of a man who claimed Prophethood after the messenger meaning again he claimed to be a Prophet and he stated that Muhammad is not the last Prophet but I am the last Prophet and he stated that he has the Qur'an himself and he began reciting lines of poetry and many people actually believed and followed him followed his words and believed that he was a Divinely Revealed Prophet so this battle transpires and upwards of 900 people if I'm not mistaken were killed during the course of this battle and amongst 400 people were 400 according to different reports memorizers of the whole Qur'an now I want to just take one step back and allowing for everyone to understand one thing back in that day when the Qur'an was being recited they didn't have people sort of type setting it right away they didn't have you know recorders on their phones to record the recitation of the Qur'an so the way that the Qur'an was compiled was for instance on the back of leaves on the bones of animals on the skin of animals and also by means of oral tradition back in that day this is how knowledge was sort of sent down and also there were some scribes people like those taking notes masha'Allah the true measureless goers of حسين or those who take notes in the measures benefit from it not that those view who are not doing it are not sorry I'm not trying to cause any drama but there were some people who that when the Qur'an was being recited they didn't all know how to read and how to write but those who did they put forth their best effort toward compiling and writing toward the best of their abilities so when 400 memorizes of the Qur'an are killed in one battle during the course of a couple of weeks for instance it's going to really strike fear within the Muslim community about really the sanctity of the book and really where the knowledge of the Qur'an is so Abu Bakr after the battle of Yamama he calls Zaid bin Thabit and he asks him to recite the Qur'an and he tries to create one official codex one official version that he would call the codex of Abu Bakr and thus many people they take the opinion that this was the first official version of the Qur'an as we know it today there are different sort of disputes and debates in regards toward this particular codex and Zaid الخوي in his work البيان في التفسير of the Qur'an he states that there are upwards of 20 Ahadith that state actually that the Qur'an was compiled before this but the reason why the first caliph did that was again because 400 memorizers of the Qur'an had been killed and in order to collect one volume of the Qur'an that was within sort of his hand as the leader of the Muslim world during that time that he wanted to have one official version for himself and that's why he asked Zaid bin Thabit to collect the Qur'an during the course of his خلاف A second opinion in regards toward the compilation of the Qur'an is that the Qur'an was compiled during the خلافة of أثمان ابن أفان the third caliph and the Qur'an as again we know it today is known as the Othmani version of the Qur'an or the Othmani codex many of us again may have heard that term for those of you who are familiar with the Qur'an or with early Islamic history with Qur'anic sciences or if you go to museum for instance for instance like those art museums and someone says why or what's the evidence to suggest that أثمان was the one who compiled the whole the Qur'an again as I mentioned earlier that the religion of Islam began to spread really really quickly during the first 25 or 30 years after the passing of the Prophet A.S. but even more so during the latter years of the life of the messenger A.S. and as I mentioned before the Qur'an is revealed within the Arabic dialect of the community of the messenger A.S. so as Islam began to spread you find that people would begin to recite the Qur'an within their own dialects and for those of you who have traveled to the Arabic world to the Middle East or if you've studied the Arabic language you'll see that every single community and every single culture and even within even within a country if you go to the north of that country their Arabic is different than the south of that country and even within tribes they speak differently and they utter words and they pronounce them differently when I was studying in the Islamic Seminary I would go and I would try to speak the Iraqi Arabic that my wife taught me and then they would know that I came from a really small village in the south and they say you're not from Kherbara because this is not the way that we speak but I said no just please give me the watermelon at $3 because I can't afford another dollar to spend they say well you know in Kherbara it's $4 and all my friends from Kherbara so you go and you see by just the way that you speak people are able to understand and they're able to pick it up that you're a little bit different so again as the Islamic Empire began to spread and the Muslim world began to expand you find that everyone would begin to recite differently and there was a real fear that misinterpretation of the words of the Quran were going to take place you know the dots the Fata and the Qesra and the Dhamma and the Vows of the Quran they were not present in the original version of the Quran in and of itself that was taught by Ali Ibn Abi Talib toward his companion Abu Aswad a daughter later on during the lifetime of Imam Amir al-Mu'mineen so what Uthman does is that he gathers together amongst the early memorizers of the Quran and he says that I want you all to write the Quran exactly the same way as you know it those individuals who were present during the time of the Prophet and who understood the dialect when the Quran was revealed again those early memorizers who lived during the time of the Messenger صلى الله عليه و عليه وسلم and he stated that there should be an official copy of the Quran one in Mecca one in Medina one in Kufa one in Yemen one in Baghdad and one in every sort of major center of Islamic learning and then he ordered that all of the other versions of the Quran should be burnt and many times people say that's so controversial how can he order the versions of the Quran to be burnt we even have traditions in which Ali ibn al-Ali صلى الله عليه وسلم said that if I was in that position I would have done the same thing so their second opinion is that the Quran as we have it in front of us was compiled during the time the third caliph of Man ibn Affan and the third opinion is that the Quran was compiled by the Messenger محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم during the course of his lifetime someone says what's the evidence for that we have numerous evidences and I don't want to get into all of them but just a couple of thoughts and on the day in which the Prophet عليه السلام he recites that famous sermon he states that I am leaving behind you I am leaving behind for you two things the book of God and my family you take a look at what is a book a book is something that is physically in front of you it's not something that is scattered scattered on different leaves on different animal skins on the bones of a cow or of a goat and so on and so forth but a book is a book furthermore we have traditions that tell us for instance that the Prophet عليه السلام says that the one who recites for instance سورة القادر the reward is this the one who recites سورة العصر is this the one who recites every chapter of the Quran for every single 114 of them the reward is this meaning that every single one of those chapters of the Quran had to have been defined and had to have been understood and had to have been designated by the Prophet عليه السلام and on numerous occasions during the end of the life عليه السلام we would see that certain people would even state حسبنا كتاب الله that it suffices for us that we have the book of Allah سبحانه وتعالى in front of us again كتاب الله unless it's important to understand that the opinion within the school of Ahl al Bayt عليه السلام is that the Quran was compiled under the tutelage and under the instruction of the Prophet عليه السلام toward the end of his life as he taught different traditions they didn't thought it and again I'll just conclude with this point because again I know that this conversation has a lot of information that the Prophet عليه السلام he would have not left behind us a community that was beginning to thrive during that day without any sense of understanding of the most important text that we have in front of us that the Quran that we have in front of us today the one that you open up every single day in front of you physically or the one that you open up electronically on your phones is that which has been taught to us exactly by the Prophet عليه السلام and thus there's a sense of value to it there's a sense of beauty in it so strive in terms of engaging with it and you will find that the Holy Quran with this unique blessing with this unique merit with this unique value will begin to speak to you in a way it's freely going to create the one spiritual wealth and this leaves me then to my conclusion that the Quran in and of itself is significant and the Quran in and of itself is our ultimate and our absolute guide but without the Quran excuse me with the Quran only and without the interpreters of the Quran we can sway a whole load of different ways which is why again the Prophet عليه السلام he states that I'm leaving behind two things one and my family بأهل البيت عليه السلام كتاب الله وإترتي أهل البيتي and if you hold on to these two things you will never go astray and you'll find again not 50 years my dear friends 50 years after the passing of the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم how far did people stray from the Holy Quran how far did people stray from the values that Allah سبحانه وتعالى speaks to and the interpretation of the messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم the only explanation the only explanation you come and you bring me a better explanation is that they forgot the ladder of those two way things they kill them and they isolated them and they abuse them one by one by one 50 years after the passing of the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم the grandson of رسول الله محمد حسين ابن عري ابن قالب merit after merit that we spoke about last night and virtue after virtue is there anyone in the face of the universe during that day that compared in terms of its merit to حسين yet you find that there were not 100 people to stand by him as he was surrounded by 30,000 people with their swords and with their arrows and if they didn't have swords and they didn't have arrows they would pick up the rocks on the burning desert of كربرا ready to strike the grandson of the messenger of God but we'll save those details for later tonight is the night of the second of محر a night where we traditionally recollect the leaving or the departure of Imam حسين عليه السلام from the city of his grandfather صلى الله عليه و آله because on the second of the month of محرم he reaches the holy city of كربرا but I'll speak about that tomorrow it is said that in the middle of the month of رجب in the year 60 after حجرة though a Mayid Caliph معاوية ابن أباسوفيان had died and his son يزيد ابن معاوية had taken control of the Muslim world and it is said that يزيد ابن معاوية by means of مروان ابن حكم and Damascus sends a letter toward the governor of مدينة a man by the name of وليد ابن أطباء that letter states that go to حسين the son of the messenger of God and tell him that he has two choices either that he pledges allegiance to يزيد and offers a sense of legitimacy for his government or kill him so they call حسين عليه السلام he comes toward the court of وليد ابن أطباء the governor of مدينة and he says what can I do for you he says معاوية has died he says we're all gonna die and then he says يزيد has taken over the Muslim world he is the خريفة المسلمين as he called himself and he has ordered that you pledge allegiance to him and if you do not do so then it's my responsibility to deliver him your head وطباء I remember he's the son of عليه ابن أطباء it's full courage and with full bravery and he says مثلي لا يباي أمثله that a man like me will never pledge allegiance to a man like Yazid and he says that if you think that you're going to fight me and if you think that you're going to deliver my head then I'm not here to cause any bloodshed I will leave إمام الحسين عليه السلام was foretold of this tragedy from his grandfather and he knew that this day was going to come so it is said that he goes toward his home and he let Zaynab عليه السلام his sister know that today is the day in which he was foretold by the messenger of God the day in which has to begin their striving of patience and understanding that this journey is a journey that's going to be very challenging and a journey that's going to be very lengthy so historical reports they state that إمام الحسين عليه السلام after he tells Zaynab عليه السلام to prepare the women and the children and the other men and the family to get ready to depart from Medina so they can go toward Mecca because they intended to perform Hajj before they eventually arrived in the city of Karbarah it is said that إمام الحسين عليه السلام he goes to make his last ziyarah of the messenger of God for those of you who have been for Hajj you know that there is nothing as difficult as the last glance upon the gravesite of the messenger of God صلى الله عليه وسلم لما تأتي منه when part of the world you're from there's something to the city of Medina there's some magnetic pull of attraction for those of you who have been there take your hearts there for just a moment there's something really unique about that city that offers you a sense of solace that offers you a sense of peace and every one of the members of Ahdal Bayt though their bodies are scattered in different parts of the world be it in Iraq or be it in Khurasan they always wished that they were within the proximity of the prophet عليه السلام so it is said that Imam Al-Hussain عليه السلام now he has to go and bid farewell to his grandfather Muhammad so it is said that he goes to the grave of the prophet he performs Turaka prayers and then he stands by the grave of the messenger of God and he calls out السلام عليك يا رسول الله peace be upon you messenger of God let me introduce myself to you in case you do not know me I am Hussain the son of Fatima I am Hussain the son of your daughter and look at the way that Hussain is speaking to his grandfather Muhammad he says oh messenger of God today is that day that you foretold me but it's so difficult to leave you it's so difficult to leave your proximity and it is said that as Imam Al-Hussain عليه السلام he was reciting some words to his grandfather the prophet عليه السلام that he fell to the ground and conscious as he was overcome by tears and in his dream he saw that the prophet عليه السلام came and he approached him and he said عليه السلام يا حبيب يا حسين he says oh my dear son Hussain in peace and blessings be upon you he says but remain patient because you have a responsibility and you have to attain that martyrdom that I have foretold of you and then he begins to tell Hussain exactly again what is going to happen and these are not my words my dear brothers and sisters but these are the words of a father to a son these are the words of a grandfather toward his grandson he says oh Hussain that you have to go when you have to leave Medina because I have to see all of those prophecies being fulfilled I have to see you alone in Kerbera I have to see you thirsty in Kerbera I have to see the horses trample of your body I have to see your body mixed in your own blood I have to see that effort that you are going to make in my way and you remain patient oh Hussain go before you leave Medina to go and bid farewell to your mother فاتمة الزحراء so at that moment تمام الفسين عليه السلام he awakes from his dream again he says السلام عليك يا رسول الله peace be upon you messenger of God and he gets up from Masjid and Nebawi and for those of you again who have been for Hajj for Umrah you know how بقي looks today it is said that he directs himself toward the grave فاتمة الزحراء عليه السلام and he begins to make small steps to bid farewell to his mother recollecting everything that she had to endure as he was standing by her side in that home when the door came and struck فاتمة الزحراء عليه السلام but I tell you my friends one narration it states that when إمام الحسين عليه السلام left the house of Zainab toward going to visiting his grandfather for the sense of pride he had courage he had bravery but when he directed himself toward the graveyard of بقي he was overcome by tears and emotion he could not say the words to bid farewell to his mother فاتمة الزحراء عليه السلام but I ask you my dear friends how could it be that only a few days later that إمام الحسين عليه السلام that man who is the grandson of the messenger of God he is surrounded by 30.000 people ready to shed his blood but I'll just leave you with this last point my dear friends إمام الحسين عليه السلام he begins to depart from the city of مدينة and he begins to direct himself toward مكة and he begins to go and performing that Hajj pilgrimage but there was one occasion during the course of these days before he arrived كربرا that إمام الحسين عليه السلام he sees one of the daughters of مصم ابن أقيل a girl by the name of حميدة this girl إمام الحسين عليه السلام was responsible for taking care of because he was her uncle and on that day he heard of the tragedy of مصم ابن أقيل his cousin who was killed so he goes toward حميدة and he takes her and he puts her on her lap and he begins to embrace her and he begins to hug her and he begins to kiss her she's 3 or 4 years old and Hamid says oh my uncle حسين why is it that you're treating me like this he says what do you mean I'm your uncle I love you he says this is the way that you treat orphans and at this moment إمام الحسين says oh Hamid my condolence is to you but I'm your father now because your father مصم ابن أقيل has been killed but I ask you about Abdullah how did they treat your daughters when you were killed on the night of the 11th of محر على لعنة الله على لعنة الله على لعنة الله على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله و على لعنة الله ونسأل الله سبحانه وتعالى to allow for our lives to resemble the lives of Muhammad and our death to resemble the death of Muhammad and Muhammad. ونسأل الله سبحانه وتعالى to never separate us from Muhammad and Muhammad. ونسأل الله سبحانه وتعالى by the blessing of Hussein عريس رام to allow for us to be the reciters of the Quran and the contemplators of it. ونسأل الله سبحانه وتعالى that we are able to uphold these gatherings and his remembrance moving forward. و الحمد لله رب العالمين وصل اللهم على سيدنا و نبينا محمد و على أهل بيته الطيبين الطاهرين. و رحم الله من قرأ صورة المباركة الفاتح. Please recite one Surah al-Fatah. But before that, one Salawat Ala Muhammad wa Ali Muhammad. و رحم الله سبحانه وتعالى.