 So Allah is far, far removed from attributes and characteristics of His creation. Allah is far removed from any injustice. Everybody in the Haram to Al-Zulma Al-Nafsi on my servants, Allah informs us in Hadith Qudsi, I have forbidden oppression for myself. We are made among you to be forbidden among others. So I have forbidden amongst you to not oppress one another. Now an obvious question arises, especially in our day and time, when people are obsessed with themselves. That, well, if Allah doesn't oppress, why does He let tsunamis wipe out people? That's a Rahma. That's a mercy. Because through the suffering, hardship, difficulty, or possibly the martyrdom of those people, they all go into gender. They're on the fast track into gender. So they're just cruising in. We're out there in the lanes where all the backup is, waiting our turn, looking for change. And so people who are asked those sort of questions forget the reality of our situation. This world is in our end. If this was the end, you could ask that question. But the end is jannah. The end is paradise. And so suffering in this world is our path to paradise. There's no justice, injustice in that. Because for our suffering, we're recompensed by Allah as shakur. So Allah as shakur, man yu'ati, tawab an jazeelan ala amalin qaleem. One who gives a great reward for little action. So really anything we suffer in this world relative to eternity and paradise is very small. So if we didn't get that great reward, everything we suffer this thinking of a thorn leads to our sins being wiped out from us. So anything we suffer is an expiation of our sins and a cleansing. So we're just asked to be patient in the face of suffering and not to be like people who don't believe in Allah. Who question Allah in the face of suffering or they just curse. Who knows what? Because they don't even believe in God. And many mussel just becomes a constant complaint and a constant sense of victimization. Why me? Why me? Why me? Because the believer says, why not me? So Allah is far removed from many actions associated with the creation. Subhanalladi, alladi huwa allah. So glorifying, exalted is the one, the one is Allah. Alladi huwa allah. Esra the abdihi who is carried his servant by night. Every Isra occurs at night. So Isra is the journey at night. So this Isra sometimes called the night journey. So when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions, subhanalladi esra the abdihi laylan. If every night journey, every Isra is at night, who I mentioned laylan. So the commentators, Fakhreddin Razi and others mentioned that this is the emphasize Allah's power that he took his prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam in a small part of the night. Esra the abdihi laylan, he took his prophet in a small part of the night. And it's related that when the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam left the house of Umhani. So the dominant opinion that min al masjid al haram from the sacred masjid was directly from Mecca, specifically from the house of his cousin Umhani, and when he left sallallahu alayhi wa sallam the door started swinging. So you know you go out and hinge the door swinging. When he came back, the door hadn't stopped swinging. Subhanalladi esra the abdihi laylan. So this is the emphasize the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We're going to come back to this issue, inshallah. Esra the abdihi with his servant. And so this goes back to what I was just mentioning about the believer and the orientation of the believer in relationship, in his or her relationship with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. It's a relationship of servitude. And we're honored with servitude. Those who don't believe in Allah, they don't practice this religion or any religion for that matter. They've been denied the opportunity of servitude. But the believer has been honored with servitude. And the fact that we're honored is associated with in this station where the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was taken where no human being has ever gone in this world and honored with that station to be brought into the Divine Presence. He's taken there under the description of his slavehood, his servitude. Esra, Allah says, with his beloved, his prophet, his messenger. Because the actualization of our servitude before our Lord is the highest station a human being can attain to. So the ulema, they describe this as, actualizing our servanship to our Lord. And so we're living in a time where it's actualizing our freedom from our Lord. For we determine what's haram or halal, this can't be haram because I like it. Masha'Allah, that's a wonderful standard for establishing Allah. There's like nine billion people, we have nine billion rulings on one issue potentially. Esra be abdihi. Alhamdulillah, Allah abdihi. Our praise is due to Allah who's revealed the scripture to his slave servant. So the final revelation to come to a human being that came to Muhammad, peace and blessings of Allah, upon him is mentioned in the context of his servitude. Because to the extent that we actualize our servitude to Allah, then we actualize the Lordship of Allah. It's an inverse relationship. As our servitude humbles us, our reverence for our Lord is elevated. And as our rejection of our servitude is elevated, our magnification of our Lord is deflated. Until for those who have no share of servitude whatsoever, atheists, there is no Allah. There is no God. Because why? There is no servitude and there's no slavehood within them. So we can literally translate that literally, abadah, abdah. I have not created the jinn or the humans except to be my slave servants, not to each other to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And I have to say this because even though the people that are tweeting out right now are perversions, but this is part of our deen. One of the reasons, I won't say it, you can ask me privately. People aren't ready for it. Allahumma salli ala Sayyidi al-Muhammad, ala aali Sayyidi Muhammad. So, asura abdihi laylan min al masjid al haram, from Mecca, from the immediate environments of the sacred masjid, but specifically from the house of Um Ani, bitt avitalib. Allahumma salli ala ilan masjid al aqsa to the furthest mosque. So the furthest masjid in Quds in Jerusalem, masjid al aqsa, and it's called aqsa furthest because of the great, great distance between that masjid and masjid al haram in Mecca. So then Allah says, So whose precincts we have blessed. Precincts meaning Bilad-i-sham, or the Levant, what we call today, the Levant. Palestine, Sham, Dubnan. So that whole area has been blessed. It's been blessed with natural beauty. So what was at the very heart of it? We get Palestine to the south. Dubnan to the north. Sham to the east. At the heart of it is a mountain called Jabal-i-sheikh. Beautiful snow-capped mountain there. Irrigates the entire area. From all of these lands, you can see Jabal-i-sheikh. Jabal-i-sheikh because he has white hair. Snow-capped. This land, and it's blessed because it's the land from which so many prophets emerged. May Allah preserve it and may Allah return it to its sanctity. It's been blessed historically so many great scholars have emerged from that area. Raqna Haulahu. Linuriahu min ayatina. To show him some of our signs. Linuriahu min ayatina. And so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam during this journey was shown signs of Allah's Qudr. And again, people weren't ready. They weren't prepared for those signs. The sign that he could go from Mecca to Jerusalem a sin through the heavens returned in the time that the door didn't stop swinging. He witnessed that sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. He was ready for that. Abu Bakr was ready for that. But a lot of the believers won. And they apostated. We'll return to that issue in conclusion. Because the hypocrites and the kufar, the mushriqin, the idolaters, they were ridiculing the Muslim. Now look what he's saying. Now look what he's saying. He said he went from here to Jerusalem a sin through the heavens and came back during the same night. Alhamdulillah. He was ready. And he found great consolation in that. After the hardship, after the death of Abu Talib, after the death of Khadija, radiAllahu anha, after the humiliation at Ta'it, after all he suffered, after the boycott, the blockade. This was a consolation for him to let him know Allah is in control and Allah will not forsake you. So he was ready. Abu Bakr was ready. If he said it, I believe it. Qatsatak. He became Abu Bakr at Siddique. The one who testifies to the truth. Siddique. He said it, I believe it. Because he said that a more miraculous occurrence, the descent of revelation, it's more miraculous than this. Alhamdulillah. Qatsatak. He said it, I believe it. But there were believers who want, they left their faith, but they came back. Because the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, he gave proof. So there's a caravan coming. Here's the description of the caravan. And when they saw the caravan, they returned to their faith. And we don't know their names. This is how our scholars honor the sanctity of the believer. That they wouldn't associate them with apostasy and defile their names and their reputations because they returned to faith. So this is one of the lessons we can take from these occurrences. So to show them some of our signs. Now, show some of our signs. Some of the ulema raised a theological question here. And that question is, why would not what Ibrahim was shown, alayhi salam, wa qaladika nuri Ibrahim, wa manakoo tassamawati wa l-awt. And we have shown, thus have we shown Ibrahim, Ibrahim, the unseen deeper realms of the heavens and the earth. Manakoo tassamawati wa l-awt. Where is the Prophet? Linauriahu salallahu alaihi wa salam. Linauriahu min min wa min l-taba'eed. Min is to part portion off. So some of our signs. Ibrahim was shown the unseen dominions and the deeper underlying meanings in the heavens and the earth. Manakoo tassamawati wa l-awt. The unseen realm, the realm of meanings behind this physical manifestation of things, the mulk. So the ulema say, no, the Prophet, salallahu alaihi salam, what he was shown was greater. Because he was shown something of the jabarut. Jabarut with Abi Talib al-Makki wa al-mul'awama. Yaani al-mussrifati al-asma'i wa s-srifati al-ilahiya. So he was shown something of the divine realm, salallahu alaihi salam, when he was brought into the divine presence. So as they say, the manakoo is the deeper meaning of the mulk, the world of manifest things. The manakoo, the world of unseen reality and the meanings of those manifest things. But the jabarut, the light from which those meanings emerge. And so the Prophet was shown something greater than what Ibrahim was shown because what he was shown was directly associated with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, was what Ibrahim was shown was directly associated with the creation of Allah. Ta'ala. Allahumma salli al-wasallam, wa barik ala Sayyidina Muhammad. Innuhu samir al-Basir. Barely he is the hearing. The seeing. So one of the commentators said, as-sameeru, the aqawali Muhammadin, salallahu alaihi wasallam, one who hears the speech and the words of Muhammad, salallahu alaihi wasallam. And so this is of significant thoughts. We mentioned this this morning in fact to the students that our following of Muhammad, salallahu alaihi wasallam, the attiba'una the Sayyidina Muhammad, salallahu alaihi wasallam, kaulin, wa thialin, wa halin. We follow him in his speech. So we try to adorn ourselves with prophetic speech. We don't talk like everyone out there. We don't talk like people in the street, unless we're talking to them. The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam, he would speak to people at their level. The Arabi came and dressed them one way, he respond accordingly. Himyari came from a tribe of Himyar who use alif meem as opposed to alif lamb. They don't say al-kitab, this is am-kitab. So one of them asked the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam هَلْ مِنَمْ بِرْرِمْ سِيَمْ اِمْ فِمْ سَفَرْ Is it righteousness to pass while you're traveling? هَلْ مِنَمْ بِرْهَمْ مِنَ الْبِرْ هَلْ مِنَمْ بِرْ اَصْصِيَمْ اَمْ سِيَمْ فِثْ سَفَرْ فِمْ سَفَرْ فَاجَابَهُ sallallahu alaihi wasallam لَيْسَمِنَمْ بِرْهَمْ سِيَمْ اِمْ فِمْ سَفَرْ It's not righteousness that you pass while you're traveling. So he knew all of the tongues. But in our speech with each other and in our speech with our family members we try to elevate each other by emulating the dignified, prophetically defined, divinely oriented speech of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. So not just his actions, but his speech. And we should cringe. We hear a Muslim just profanity. Well everyone uses these words. They're not profane anymore. That's the true thing. They're not profane anymore because our standards have been lowered so low by Shaytan. Some of you are old enough to remember when television first came on. You're not a point to anybody. You know who you are. If someone said a four letter word people would go and protest at the television station. When a woman wore slacks people were protesting. Mary Tyler Moore, the first female to wear pants on television. People were protesting. So then gradually not just slacks, the slacks got shorter and shorter and the language got more filed and more filed and more filed until now television, you know, anything goes. Anything literally. But it didn't start out that way. The bar was lowered, the bar was lowered, the bar was lowered, the bar was lowered, the bar was lowered and we all got used to jumping over the low bar. But as Muslims we should keep the bar high and just make sure our legs are strong so we can jump over it. We strengthen our legs with our salat and our zakah and our prayer and our night prayer and our Quran, our rod, our Qar. Jump over the high bar and don't lower the bar and then be proud of our weak legs. Look, I can high jump six inches. Mashallah. You should try out for the Olympics. No, I can high jump six foot five, six foot six. Mashallah. You must have some strong legs. Islam wants us to have strong legs not a low bar. So don't lower the bar. Strengthen your legs. Ka'ulan wa fialan wa halan. We should try to begin to approximate the prophetic states. We should begin. My sister, Alhamdulillah, great sister, you have Ph.D. That's wonderful. That's not haram, it's not blame-worthy. But some sisters should be striving to be like Rabia or Nafisa. We talk about this a few weeks ago. A couple weeks ago. Should be striving for the spiritual heights as much as our sisters strive for the professional heights. Again, nothing wrong with that. Sisters, don't get mad at me. I'm not trying to insinuate anything. I'm just saying. We should write spiritual heights. A'rifat ul-khayr. A'rifat ul-khayr. She was a woman in Andalusia who memorized the 10 kera'at and taught them in her house behind a veil. At one time, there were 5,000 women in Andalusia at one time that had memorized Sahih al-Bukhari. That's when Andalusia was strong. So we should have brothers and sisters trying to memorize al-Bukhari. Sahih al-Sit'ah. Lanhella Allah. My wife's teacher in Damascus her sister memorized Sahih al-Sit'ah in the Quran. She had a degree from Abinur and Jamid Dimash. That's 2 out of 3. His eyes are lighting up. Really? How did I mean that? Why? It's driving in their deen. Lanhella Allah. So to show him some of our sign where he is hearing the scene. So we mentioned and then he said, Okay, And he sees his actions purified from any corrupting dissimulation showing up and joined with honesty and with humility and humility and humility and humility with honesty and purity and humility and humility So we should be striving to be people of honesty and humanity and감 And peace fairness and righteousness and righteousness candles that. We should be striving to be people of purity, which means the impurities of the world that we bring into our heart via our eyes, things like pornography and all this thing, via our ears, corrupting music. When I came back from Syria, this was like the early 2000s. I was like almost went crazy. Unfortunately, I took it all. Most of the young people in the Masjid, they listened to 50 Cent. I'm like, what's 50 Cent? These are Muslim kids. And so a lot of you listened to 50 Cent, so you know what you were saying. Don't pretend otherwise. I'm like, these are Muslim kids. Listen to this stuff. I really, I was going crazy. Because when I left, there was no 50 Cent. There wasn't even a dime. There was a 10 Cent. Like within six or seven years, went from no dime to 50 Cent. No, think about it. Where's the sa fat? Where's the purity? When that's what's coming into our hearts. That's how no one will ever think that they're left. So some Fawwats, you took a different approach going through the Hadith and the Prophet saw this and the Prophet saw that. You all know that. Not, I think we did that last time. You could look it up online. But what are some Fawwats we can take from this? Number one, the Mi'araj is one, the foundational event in the Seerah for Muslim spirituality. Because this is the event where the Prophet was brought into the Divine Presence. Presence. The Hadhrat Ilahi. And the aspiration of every spiritual seeker and seeker is to enter into the Divine Presence. So we know it's possible because it was attained by our Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam is the most excellent example for us. One of the things that did happen during the Mi'araj, the ascension, the prayers were made obligatory. Five prayers, originally 50, but the law is merciful. Imagine 50 prayers like Fajr and Post Fajr and Post Fajr Fajr and Pre Dhuha, Post Dhuha. And they're all obligatory. He gave us five and then multiplied each by 10 and we get the reward of the 50, but we only do the five. But the greater point here is there is, there's a saying, some say it's hadith, but the ulama question that, but it's a saying that has circulated amongst the ulama and so we get weighed to it because they, they don't speak just idle. The Salah is the Mi'araj of the believer. The Salah is the ascension of the believer. In other words, there is no spiritual elevation for a believer without Salah. So people, they don't pray and they're sitting around, they're smoking hashish and they're reading a Mi'arabi in English translation. And Rumi, there's no spirit, that's just entertainment, that's spiritual tourism. A tourist, right? You go somewhere and then you come home. You don't stay. So you're just getting these feelings and then you go back to whatever you're doing. You don't stay. The journey is based on Salah, Salatu Mi'arajul Mu'min. Without that foundation, nothing else is of any benefit. Without that foundation of the Salah, nothing else is of benefit in terms of spiritual ascension. So this is one benefit that we take. And so as we said, probably the most significant legislative event of that ascension is the legislation of the five daily prayers. The second that is that the Qutra or the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala isn't limited and confined to what we consider to be intelligible. So the power of Allah transcends human reason. And there are things, when they got the satellite photographs of Saturn, they saw some of the rings were braided. They have no explanation. Physicists can't explain it. There are inexplicable things in this creation physically. They're physically inexplicable. And so at a deeper level, there are realities that transcend our human reason. Because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala fa'allu lima yurid does what He desires. And we can't do what we desire. Some people think they can, but they'll come to know. So Allah, the ability to take His prophet on this journey isn't deemed impossible because rationally, we can't comprehend it. How could that happen like that? When Allah desires something He birthed but says, be and it is. So it's not confined to what we consider to be rational and reasonable. Now there are rational poons in our religion, but ultimately there are realities that transcend our intellect. And this event was one of them and this event affirms it. The third is that the spiritual elevation built on the Salat, that's what we undertake. But ultimately, the gift of reaching our destination is a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And so subhanahu wa ta'ala the asra be abdihi laylan. He took his slave servant on this journey by night. We took our servant on this journey. We blessed these precincts. We showed him some of our signs. So this is all from Allah. It's a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So what we do is necessary, but it is not, you guys supposed to say sufficient. The Salat is necessary. The vicar is necessary. The sahbah, keeping company of righteous people is necessary. Controlling what we see, what we hear. Our tongues is necessary, but sufficiency is provided by the grace of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So the prophet, so why does Fafruddin al-Razi mention, Allah hears his speech and the excellent speech and Allah knows his pure and sincere actions. So he rewarded him with this gift of ascension. And so we strive to purify ourselves and we strive to be honest and we strive to be sincere. And we pray Allah rewards us with the gift of ascension, but we have to do the work. But the work is not sufficient. It's necessary, but not sufficient. Waladina jahad uffina. So that's what we do. Waladina jahad uffina. Those who struggle and strive for our sake, who guides through the path. We will guide them to our paths, the paths leading to us. And so the striving is necessary, but the sufficiency in terms of the idaya is a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Which linguistically makes sense because idaya and hadiyah, the guidance and the gift are from the same root. Nasha'Allah. Understand there's a couple people that took shahada. The shahada folks raise your hand in the new Muslims. Yeah, new Muslims. Salam alaikum my brother. I know the feeling and I converted also. You made the right move. This religion is amazing. I'm telling you, it never ceases to amaze. But it's a marathon too. It's not a sprint, it's like 10 seconds, it's over. Like a long and every single foot of the 26 miles is amazing. Allahu Akbar. So it's a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Fourth, fa'ida, benefit. Philistine is a blessed land. Masjid al-Aqsa and Philistine is a blessed land. And Allah is going to protect that man from those who through their greed, through their arrogance, through their enmity are defiling that man. Allah is going to bless that man. Allah is already blessed and Allah is going to purify him of all defilements. Just as he blessed alladhi ba'raqna ba'raqna haula. His free things we are blessed. And we mentioned the murtah, the ulema, al-kullul muslimi, al-muslimi haram, damuhu wa ma'luhu i'ribu. Every believer has a sanctity associated with himself or herself. In other words, an inviolable nature that cannot be transgressed against their life, their property, their honor. And so to protect the honor of those people who are pastated, when they return back to Islam, the ulema didn't mention their names. So their honor wouldn't be lessened by even a temporary association with disbelief. So that's a very serious lesson for us. Because we jump to defile on the honor of believers. I saw there must be a website out there like muslimdefilement.com. Find a muslim defile their honor. It's easy to do online. Just let your fingers get loose in the anonymity of your closet. And you'll cause it with your laptop. It's going for it. Every chat room, they give you two dearhams about why this or that person who gave their life trying to serve this community is a scoundrel. So those are some benefits. We'll stop here. So let's have some discussion, question and answers. Just pray that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala blesses us to realize the magnitude of these events that we come in with. That these are major, there's a physical history. So a secular historian only considers a historical event as something that can be substantiated by physical artifacts. Something written down so they look for carvings and bowls and things they can examine. Physical artifacts. They look for the ruins of the city. They talk about this ancient city, so they go and dig and they look for the ruins of the city so they can verify and deed this happen. But there's also a spiritual history for humanity. That's the journey of the human spirit through time once it's created. And these are milestones in our spiritual history. Yom ul alast, alastubi rabbikum khaldub ala. Am I not your lord when the spirits were extracted from the free temporal realm? Before chronology became relevant in creation. And they are asked, am I not your lord? And they testify certainly. So that no one on the day of judgment can ignorance. These are spiritual milestones. The creation of Adam, the journey of their progeny from there. And then the advent of the prophets, the emergence of Musa alaihi salam, Nualu alaihi salam, and the flood, the emergence of the Bani Israel from Egypt, from the advent of Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, the Miraj, the night journey, the hijra that occurred shortly thereafter. These are all spiritual milestones. And our being here is part of that spiritual history because there's a deeper meaning. It's not just we are physical beings in this physical place called America doing physical things, going to work and punching the clock and making whatever we make and hitting the keyboard. Those are physical events, but there's a spiritual reality associated with us being here. And in that sense, this Masjid could, well, there's some closer to the Pacific Ocean, Masjid al-Aqsa, the furthest part that in the furthest part of California, this is it. Once you get to Hawaii, you face west for Kibla. This is the furthest point we're facing east because South America, all of it is east of us, Chile, Peru, and the whole west coast of South America is east of us. We're the last community that's facing east for Kibla. Northeast, whatever east, southeast, you can choose your east. But this is the last community. You get to Hawaii, New Zealand, Australia, there are Fiji, they face west. So we're the furthest. There's a spiritual significance in that. As far west as you could go, there are major Muslim communities now. That's not in vain or in just. So any questions, comments, ahlam, salam, and marhaban, Bismillah. Yes, sir. Explain what? Of the Lord, the lights are the same. It was one light. No, it was one, not only in the sense the Prophet reflected, only in the sense the Prophet, that's what we say, the better is the most perfect reflection of the light of the sun. But the moon has no light. And the Prophet saw the sun's most perfect human reflection of the light of the law. He has his own door. But in that, that station. He's the light of the laws reflected in most human being could be. So in that sense, the light is the same. It's all the light of Allah directly and reflected. Yes, sir. He gave him a raise to the prayer is the ascension of the belief. We said there's no spiritual progress without the prayer. So yeah, amongst other things, he also the Rudi of women are yet he had to show him of our signs and to show him his power to let him know that you're not helpless at the mercy of these people that are forcing you out of your home, blockaded you in this valley outside of Mecca, led to the death of some of your most beloved companions. You were stoned that time. The tribes you're appealing to turned you away. Despite all of that, I am the all powerful. And I got your back. And so it was to assure him. And in the context of that, the prayer was emphasized for sure. But to let him know that, listen, this is, you see this, this is what's going to happen. Those people rejecting these people suffering over there and over there and over there. So it was to console the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, after all the losses, hardships, struggle that he had experienced that everything's going to be all right. Yes, there's nothing directly related from the Prophet, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. And so as I said, it's a night and it's a night in the sacred month of Rajab. And so the things one should ordinarily do, ordinarily do, but maybe does not do, to take extra attention to do them on this night. But there's nothing specific. Also, for example, Salatul Raghayib between Maghrib and Ishaa on the first Juma of Rajab, Imam Nawawi and many others consider that to be one of the most reprehensible bid'as a believer could engage in. So a lot of things that are associated do this, do that. They have no origin in the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. But as a night and we're supposed to do tahajjud and we're supposed to read Quran at night and we're supposed, so all the things we're encouraged to do anyway, it's good to like make sure we do those things. It's time to pray, the last time I was like, be it up. Yes, and everyone can you just wait 10 seconds, we can make a prayer inshallah. We could discuss that privately. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.