 As-salamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh and welcome back to the next segment of this beautiful, beautiful series known as supplications from revelation. Bismillahi walhamdulillah wa salatu wa salamu ala Rasulillahi wa ala alihi wa sahabihi ajma'in. We praise Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala, we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his companions, his household. May Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala bless them and bless every one of us, grant us goodness in this world and the next. My brothers, my sisters, we were taking a look at some of the supplications of the prophet Ibrahim or Abraham may peace be upon him, alayhi salatu wa salam. And I made mention of how broad his supplications were, they were not just for himself, they were not only for his offspring but they included cities, they included the whole globe, they included you and I. They were for produce, they were for guidance and they had so many different angles and aspects. In his own life, he also went through hardship. Allah did not give him offspring for a very, very long time. Many of us, we get married, mashallah, we take it for granted and we expect to have children at a certain time, not realizing that sometimes one of two things happen. Well, initially those who get offspring, I'm not talking about those because that is quite normal. But one of two things happen to the rest. Sometimes Allah delays something. So while you think that you would achieve offspring or you would get children in the next so many years and Allah says, No, I wanted to delay, prolong further 10, 15 years. Then I will give you offspring. Why? It's Allah's plan. He wants you to come, become closer to him. He wants you to expand on anything else. He probably has chosen something else for you. You need to understand it, pick it up and work towards it. And you need to, you need to be a person who's happy with what Allah has chosen for you while trying to achieve what would really make you happy year. You are still happy with the decree of Allah and you know that he's done it for a reason. And some of these reasons we understand, some of them we don't. Secondly, sometimes Allah chooses not to give you at all. That also is the plan of Allah. So here's Ibrahim, he didn't have children years passed by. He still didn't have children and he made a dua to Allah. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Rabbi habelimina saliheen, Rabbi habelimina saliheen. O Allah, grant me offspring who will be pious, who will be good, who will be acceptable to you. Now when we ask for offspring a lot of the times and I've seen this with people who are asking Allah for children, you know, because Allah makes it, sometimes makes them or gives them a bit of a pause. They say, O Allah, grant me offspring, grant me children, grant me children. Add a clause to it. O Allah, grant me good children, pious children. Give me children who will obey you. Give me children who will please you and so on. Very interesting how to add something gives value to the dua. So don't just say, O Allah, grant me children. O Allah, give me children who will be the coolness of my eyes and always within your obedience. Or when it comes to money, wealth, people ask Allah, O Allah, give me, bless me with money. O Allah, I got to pay my bills. O Allah, I got a debt. O Allah, help me to pay my debt. Wait, add a clause to it. O Allah, grant me wealth that I can use to earn your pleasure. And then when you get it, use it to earn the pleasure of Allah. Because sometimes people say, O Allah, when you give me, I'm going to do this. I will build a Masjid. I will do this for the poor. I'm going to give so much percentage. I'm going, then when Allah gives you, it doesn't come because you say, No, I still need to do this. I need to do that. Don't be hypocritical. Call out to Allah. Ask him when you're asking him, add him in the equation in the sense that you're saying, O Allah, I want you to fulfill my need. And when you do, I would like it to be fulfilled in a way that I'm going to be able to do X, Y and Z for your cause. Now, I quickly want to distinguish between people who connect something that Allah will give them to something they will do if Allah gives them. That's not what we're saying. So you don't say, O Allah, if you give me children, then I'm going to give you this. O Allah, if you give me this, then I'm going to give you that. That is not the way forward. That is not actually correct. It's not right to say that. But what you say, O Allah, grant me those who are good. Grant me wealth that is blessed. Grant me wealth that I will be able to spend in your cause. I've already got a plan. It's all there. I just want that wealth to be able to do this. I want this wealth so that it can be part of what I'm going to do. There's a subtle difference between the two. I'm saying, O Allah, give me pious offspring. I'm not saying, O Allah, if you give me the offspring, then I'm going to do this for you and that for you. You see, one is called another when a person promises Allah that, O Allah, if I pass my examination, then I'm going to read, I'm going to give a charity. Allah says, I don't need that charity. So maybe you don't need to pass. You see, it's like we are saying to Allah, you need the charity. So if you give me this, I'm going to give you that. So the hadith of Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam in Sahih Al-Bukhari says that that nether is actually Makruh. It's not, it's detested. It is extracted from a person who doesn't want to do the deeds. Very interesting. I think some of us might never have heard of what I've just said now where you say, O Allah, if you make me pass my examination, O Allah, if you cure me, then I'm going to read the Quran once. Allah says you, I didn't ask you, meaning I'm not going to benefit from you reading the Quran. But the correct way of doing it is to say, O Allah, I've given the charity. I'd like you to help me to pass. So the charity is not connected to whether or not I'm you going to make me pass, but I'm pleading with you to make me pass because you are the greatest. You have it in you to make me pass. Indeed, I'm going to work as hard as I can. That brings me to another quick point when you are supplicating, when you're calling out to Allah, don't be lazy and don't let that be your only port of call. Because you say, O Allah, I want to pass. O Allah, help me to pass my examination, but you haven't worked, you haven't studied, you haven't tried. Allah says, well, I gave you all the tools of passing. I gave them to you. You didn't use them. So while you're calling out to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to ask him to make you pass, he has now given you the ability, the capacity, you work as hard as you can. And then, and then you will actually achieve that by the help of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. But if you cut it just and you just asked Allah, then Allah will also cut it, may Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala grant us guidance. Ibrahim Aleyhi Salatu Wa Salam, a beautifully words this, he says, Rabbi Habli Meena Salihin, O Allah, grant me pious offspring, those who will be the coolness of my eyes. I diverted a little bit to tell you that when you are calling out to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, you should make sure that you don't connect it to an act of worship you will do as a result of Allah giving you, but rather do that act of worship and call out to Allah. So this nether, it's called a nether, nether meaning a vow where you are vowing. You don't vow to Allah to say, if you give me, I'm going to give you, but rather you give and you do and you say, O Allah, I've done this. But what happens to those who have already made a vow? Well, if you've already made a vow, you need to fulfill it. You need to make sure that you fulfill it. You don't say, O Allah, if I pass, I'm going to go for Umrah and for Hajj and when you pass, you don't go for the Hajj or for the Umrah. Some people say, O Allah, if I pass, I'm going to fast for 60 days. Why did you make it so difficult? Just say, O Allah, I'm going to fast for three days and I'd like you to make me pass. So whether or not I pass, I'm still going to fast for the three days, but I'd like you to make me pass. There is a difference between the two and it's all connected to the greatness of Allah. If you understand that Allah is independent, you would understand He does not need your acts of worship. Rather, you need your acts of worship. May Allah make it easy. So when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala heard this dua'a of Ibrahim, alaihi salatu wa salam, at a certain point, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted him offspring. Allah granted him Ismail, alaihi salam. He was already old and when he got that child, he actually thanked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so much. He praised Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He thanked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and he says, O Allah, I thank you for having given me these children or these offspring at old age. And he made a dua'a for those children. This is Ibrahim, alaihi salatu wa salam. And he says, you see the term kibar is used, which means, you know, kibar means pride, but kibar means old age. So we're not talking of kibar, which is the pride, but we're talking of kibar. In old age, he was granted Ismail and Ishaq, alaihi salam. And then he makes a dua'a for these children of his and he keeps on asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, O Allah, I thank you for what you bestowed upon me. Let's listen to these beautiful verses. Verse number 39 onwards of Surah Ibrahim. He says, I thank Allah. I praise Allah. All praise is due to Allah who blessed me. Remember I said in one of the previous episodes that the term Wahab, the name of Allah, is used when asking for offspring for children because it's a gift of Allah. So he says, I all praise is due to Allah who blessed me, who granted me upon old age. My children Ismail and Ishaq. For indeed Allah is the all hearer of the prayers. Allah hears every single dua'a and supplication. Pause for a moment. This man's been asking Allah for so many years. He's now old, but the way he words it, he says, I thank Allah for giving me Ismail and Ishaq and I declare that Allah hears all prayers. Many of us, when we call out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, we call out to him once, twice, twice. Then we say Allah's not hearing. So he asked Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to protect us from uttering statements like those because Allah hears. Ibrahim Aleyhi salam is saying, inna rabbil asami'u al dua'a. And you know what? He's so happy. He's got Ismail. He's got Ishaq, two boys and he is saying, oh Allah, you are the one who hears the dua'as. Then he says, after that, what's the next most important thing? Oh Allah, you've blessed me with offspring. I asked you for offspring. I want you to make my offspring from among those who read Salah. Rabbi, maqima al Salah. Oh Allah, make me from those who establish prayer and wa min dhurriyati and from my offspring. Make them from those who establish prayer. Rabbana wa taqbal dua'a. Oh Allah, accept my prayer. Grant me acceptance. Listen to my prayer and accept it exactly as I'm asking for it. Now there are two things we learn. One is he's making a dua'a for his offspring. Two is he's starting with himself. Amazing method of Ibrahim Aleyhi salam. So when you're asking Allah, oh Allah, make my children pious. You need to be making an effort to be pious. Oh Allah, help my daughter to be able to dress appropriately, modestly, filled with values and morals of a very high level that you would be pleased with and you are not worried about it yourself. How is your dress code? How is your connection with Allah? How is your obedience? You need to make sure that what you want in your children, you instill within yourself. Do you want goodness from them? Instill it within yourself. You want them to quitsin, quitsin yourself. You want them to be the coolness of your eyes. You also need to obey Allah's instruction. Try to be the best possible person even to your parents. So this is something that we need to learn from Ibrahim Aleyhi salatu wa salam's beautiful dua. It's not just about him. It's about his offspring, but he starts off by saying, make me exemplary and my offspring as well. They can follow my example. How many of us we are not role models to our own children? We're not role models. We teach them to look at others to find role models yet Allah made us automatic role models by virtue of us being parents. So surely we need to call out to Allah for ourselves, make an effort and call out for our children. It's like how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala makes mention of a pious person in Surat al-Ahqaf and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, when the one who's conscious of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reaches the age of 40, which is the peak, why is the age of 40 always known as the peak? Because man's strength continues to climb. He gets to 40. He's at the top of the mount. After that, he starts going down. You have the first aches and swollen this and pain here and your eyesight starts failing you slightly until you get to 60, 70, 80 and then mashallah you return back to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. May Allah make it easy for us. So Allah says in the Quran, حتى إذا بلغ أشده وبلغ أربعين سنة speaking about a pious human being when he reaches his peak and he's reached now 40 years old. What should he be saying? He makes a dua he calls out to Allah at the age of 40 saying O Allah grant me the ability to be thankful for the favors you have bestowed upon me and that which you have bestowed upon my parents and O Allah help me grant me the acceptance to be able to do good deeds that would please you and make my offspring also those who are good pious and who will please you. So when a person reaches the age of 40, he now comes down. He's worried more about his own connection with Allah. He starts worrying about his children who are in their teens perhaps in their 20s. He's worried about them and he starts making dua to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala saying O Allah help them grant them guide them etc. Because now he knows he's going to be passing the baton on. So we make a dua for our offspring. We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to open their doors and remember here Allah says the one who arrives at the age of 40 when he is concerned about his relationship with Allah, he'll start supplicating for his children. Aslihli fi durriyati. That's a powerful dua. It actually means. Aslihli fi durriyati make the goodness within me in my offspring. So by correcting my offspring and making them pious, you've actually made me worthwhile as well. I've left behind progeny who will pray for me, benefit me by virtue of sadaqa jaria, which means it's a continued charity when you do good and you've left behind goodness. Allah will continue rewarding you for those who benefited from that goodness right up to the end of time. You have had to leave that goodness and then Allah will grant it acceptance. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is speaking about the importance of making dua for offspring and the importance of seeking forgiveness of Allah. Inni tubtu ilayk. I am indeed seeking your forgiveness. I have returned to you. I have repented to you or Allah. Wa inni minal muslimeen. And I am from among those who submits unto you. I submit unto you and I repent to you. Oh Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. This is the dua of Ibrahim aleyhi salatu wa salam that he has made for his offspring and Allah blessed him as a result of this and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala granted him so much and his offspring as well. Now he was so genuine in this calling out to Allah that Allah made it such that all the messengers to follow after Ibrahim aleyhi salam were from his family. Imagine if you look at those who called out to Allah the most they were the prophets of Allah subhanallah. You and I who need to call out to Allah more we've called out less than the Prophet Salam. We've called out less than Ibrahim aleyhi salam. Open the pages of the Quran. Look at the duas of Ibrahim. We will be ashamed of how little we call out to Allah when these people who were so close to Allah. They knew the value of the dua so they kept on calling out to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala day and night. Inna hum kanu yusari'unafil khayrati wa yad'unana raghab'un wa rahaba wa kanu lana khashiiin. Suratul Anbiya Allah is saying those messengers they used to make haste towards our obedience and towards goodness towards doing good. And they would call out to us they would call out to us with hope hoping that we would grant them and fearing the rejection of the prayer or fearing that whatever they wanted may not come. They knew that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala would give it but the timeframe the exact way of that dua being answered. I remember mentioning in one of the episodes how Allah always responds but sometimes not exactly with what you want sometimes with what he knows is better for you. It may not be precisely what you want but it's definitely something better for you. Let's look at another beautiful dua of Ibrahim alaihi salam. We can start it off inshallah. It is so beautiful because when he was young very young and he's faced his father. His father was disobeying Allah by worshipping everything besides Allah they threatened him that if you didn't follow by worshipping these idols and by doing what your father is doing we're going to deal with you in a very harsh way. So he spoke to them. He says how can I fear you yet you have not feared the Lord of the worlds and then he makes a beautiful dua. Let's listen to these beautiful statements that are recorded for us in Surat al-Shu'ara. He says All these deities are an enemy to me besides the Lord of the worlds. Everything besides the Lord of the worlds that is being worshiped. I've got nothing to do with those things for me they're enemies. Besides the Lord of the worlds who is the Lord of the worlds because it's easy for someone to look at someone and say that's the Lord of the worlds. That's the Lord of the worlds. So Ibrahim alaihi salam as young as he was he gives a description who is the Lord of the worlds. He says So he is the one who will guide me. The one who feeds me and the one who will quench my thirst and who quenches my thirst. Whenever I am sick or ill he is the one who cures me. The one who causes my death and then shall cause my resurrection. The one whom I have full hope that he will forgive my sin on the day of judgment. He is the Lord of the worlds. Then he turns to Allah and he says Oh my Lord grant me authority, grant me goodness, grant me wisdom and join me with the righteous. Join me with the righteous. Subhanallah. Here is a man who Allah has just chosen. In fact, he's a young boy still at the point where he made this dua. Rabbi Habli hukman. Oh Allah grant me that authority, grant me some form of power meaning to be able to convey your message and join me with those who are pious, those who are righteous and he doesn't end there. Allah makes mention of these duas. I want to say something. Imagine you and I made a dua and Allah made mention of it. It means it's a powerful dua. Allah must have loved it to make mention of it. Here are the duas of those whom Allah loved and he loved their duas. He loved their supplications. So use these words to supplicate unto Allah. Rabbi Habli hukman wa al-hikni bil-saliheen. Wa ja'alli lisana sidaqin fil-akhireen. And oh Allah, let me have a truthful tongue. In the others. Now that's a beautiful dua. What it means is oh Allah when others speak about me, let them speak about me with good words. When I'm gone and people will be talking about me, let them say nice things about me. Allahu Akbar. With us in our lives already people say nasty things and I think people cannot wait for us to depart so that they can live in peace sometimes. May Allah not make that happen to us, but it's a reality. We are asking here through the words that were used by Ibrahim alaihi salatu wa salam. Rabbi, we are asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wa ja'alli lisana sidaqin fil-akhireen. Oh Allah, make for me a beautiful remembrance in those who are to come after me. When we talk about Ibrahim alaihi salatu wa salam, there is something amazing you need to know. Every Salah when we are sitting in the tashahud in the last part of the prayer, we say oh Allah bless Muhammad sallallahu alayhi salam in the same way you have blessed Ibrahim alaihi salatu wa salam. That is a beautiful gift that Allah makes mention of and that's a beautiful supplication that we've just left you with by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We wish to continue in the next episode from where we've left off and inshallah until we meet again. Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.