 السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته اسم الله الرحمن الرحيم في the name of Allah سبحانه وتعالى most gracious, most merciful الحمد لله رب العالمين all praise is indeed due to Allah سبحانه وتعالى the creator, nourisher, sustainer, provider, protector, cureer of one and all والصلاة والسلام على أشرف الامبياء والمرسلين نبينا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين we praise Allah سبحانه وتعالى we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم his household, his companions may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless them all and may Allah سبحانه وتعالى grant us his companionship in the Akhira may Allah سبحانه وتعالى bless our offspring as well and grant us all Jannah تلفردوس together with Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم my brothers and sisters if you were to look at social media you would find that over the last few years there are certain platforms that have grown and these platforms have made it easy for people to keep in touch unfortunately the terms used when keeping in touch with someone are not necessarily accurate I give you an example when you want to know what someone is doing on Twitter for example you have to click you have to press a button that button would then tell you that you are following them I'm sure you've come across that so it will tell you you have so many followers and you are following so many people you and I know that we don't necessarily follow them we just want to know what they're doing so the following means two or three different things to some people it's just like being nosy you want to know everything they do so you're following them some people want to be inspired by the person they are following so they take from them and this is why you find people's lives change when they follow the right people however for some they will even tell you that I will only retweet what I find interesting from those whom I follow and when I retweet something it does not mean that I endorse it this is what they make quite clear so you find the young people following thousands of people and thousands are following them but that doesn't mean whatever they say is done it doesn't mean they look up to them sometimes you follow a person because you don't like them and you want to know what they are doing that's quite nosy but that's what happens may Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'Ala protect us why do I say this? because my brothers and sisters we have sometimes reduced the statement follower of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم to whenever it suits us that's what we've done so we begin to abuse the term following all the way to the following of Allah and His Rasul I say I'm a follower of Allah سبحانه وتعالى and Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم it is in no ways equivalent or even close to the following that one may be doing in terms of social media but sadly it's become that where we take what suits us and we leave what doesn't so if I were to tell you my brother this is in the Quran this is in the Sunnah of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم this is the instruction of Allah this is the instruction of the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم if I'm a true follower I would make it my business to try my best to be real in what I've claimed so Allah سبحانه وتعالى speaks about this in Suratun Noor which is the 24th Surah of the Quran verse number 48 what does He talk about? He speaks about the disputes that we have amongst ourselves so as human beings it's only normal that I might have a problem with you you might have a difficulty with me perhaps a misunderstanding that might stem to the need of arbitration the need of judgment in our matter so for example if I have a misunderstanding with you it happens to be about money what will happen is if we cannot resolve it between the two of us we might need a third party to help us that third party would either make a decision based on what Allah has revealed through Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم the instruction of Allah and His Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم or He might decide to choose a different method if He chooses a different method then how can we call ourselves believers in Allah and His Messenger when we are not even prepared to use their solutions and to take their instructions as instructions and their prohibitions as prohibitions this is something quite clear so Allah says there are some people whom when they are called towards the solution of Allah or the judgment of Allah and His Messenger they turn away because it doesn't suit them they say no no no I'm not really interested but are you a Muslim yes I'm a Muslim but seasonal for this moment it doesn't suit me and Allah says if it is theirs for a moment they quickly come back hey hey hey that 500,000 rands is mine because you know what Allah says you know what the Hadith says you know what Sherry says et cetera et cetera now it suits you so suddenly there you are Allah knows that there will be people existing who alternate and who shift from pillar to post every now and again whenever it suits them they do this when it doesn't they do the other one so Allah says regarding the hypocrites verse number 48 Suratun Noor وإن يكون لهم الحق يأتوا إليه مذرين when they are called to the judgment of Allah and His Messenger you find a group from among them dispersing running away they turn away yet if the right was theirs and they were gaining by that they would quickly come back and say no I wanted the way Allah has decided that's what Allah says in the Quran so Allah says is there a disease in their hearts definitely the believers the very next verse Allah says in fact verse No. 51 إنما كان قول المؤمنين إذا دعو إلى الله ورسوله ليحكم بينهم أن يقولوا أن يقولوا سمعنا وأطعنا indeed the true believers the real followers those who follow to the letter to the tea when they are called to the judgment of Allah and His Messenger in their dispute they are the first to say سمعنا وأطعنا we have heard and we have obeyed that's it they realize that no matter what you are in a win win situation because if that was Allah's decision that's it it's going to be my way and if that was against Allah's decision it's not going to be my way and if I have lost materially because I followed what Allah said I know that all that material item belongs to Allah He will recompensate me and He will actually ensure that I achieve a reward in the hereafter so we've saved ourselves from the calamity of this world and we've saved ourselves from the disaster of the hereafter remember there was once a person who disputed or who was disputing just outside the doorstep of رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم سمع جلبة خصم بباب حجرته فخرج فقال it's a hadith of رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم he heard a dispute of people who were arguing outside his door he came out he saw what was happening he made a statement because obviously he was told to judge he says look I will judge on that which is apparent if any one of you is taking the right of your brother knowingly then you should know even if the judgment has been passed in your favor and in your heart you know it was not yours you have taken a red hot coal from the red hot coals of the fire of hell you can either take it or leave it it's up to you so when you have gone to whoever you wanted to choose to arbitrate number one you could have compromised your faith number two is you could be judged for yet it was against you I hope you understand this it's up to us to realize you want to save yourself better be honest let's rather give things up than to actually take that which is not ours it is reported in one narration that in that particular dispute both parties decided to leave the thing that they were arguing about one says brother it's yours the other one says no brother it's yours they left it there and they went away because they knew that you know what we're really confused here rather leave it and both of us will be saved in the Akhira imagine taking a scent that doesn't belong to you what would happen in the hereafter in this world you might enjoy it for a moment people rob each other of millions of rands and dollars they enjoy it for a while in the moment my brother my sister what will happen in the hereafter when that is multiplied and brought onto your shoulders may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never let that happen may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala never let that happen and this is why if someone knowingly goes against the instruction of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم he won't be able to save himself listen to verse number 63 the last verse of Suratun Noor Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says give a warning to those who go against his instruction whose instruction the instruction of the prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم that they will be tested very severely الفتنة or they will be punished in a very painful way wow may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala save goddess and this is why we say you want to be saved from the calamities of this world and the next engage in repentance seek a lot of forgiveness look into yourself remember this worldly life is very short the winner is he who actually gets the book in the right hand on the day of judgment and is told for you is Jannah that is a true winner in this world we may not know such people this is why we always say on earth there are some really famous people but they are not famous in the heavens and on earth there are some people whom nobody knows but they are so famous in the skies they are really superstars when it comes to the heavens may Allah subhanahu wa-ta'ala grant us Jannah الفردوس let's move on to the next سورة سورة الفرقان it is the criterion the distinguishing factor between right and wrong between good and bad between evil and goodness the distinguishing factor سورة الفرقان speaks a lot about the impact of your company the people you have around you they change your thinking they they close your brain sometimes they open up your thoughts sometimes they open up your thinking sometimes so who is around you who you allow yourself to interact with they play a huge role in the type of person you become remember this I as a counselor for the last 17 18 years I can tell you that a lot of people who have bad habits they have collected them from their friends a lot of those who smoke their friends smoke a lot of those on drugs their friends are on drugs the people they mix with have those habits so they develop the same habits without realizing so سورة الفرقان there is a lot that is spoken in it about the company you keep and different angles of the impact that it has let's start off point number one الله سبحانه و تعالى speaks about how there are some people who worship idols some people worship deities and gods besides الله سبحانه و تعالى and Allah says don't they think for a moment what should they think about listen to verse دون إي آلهة لا يخلقون شيئا وهم يخلقون ولا يملكون لأنفسهم ضرر ولا نفع ولا يملكون موتا ولا حياتا ولا نشورا الله says they have taken as gods besides الله سبحانه و تعالى those who cannot do any harm nor can they do any good neither for themselves nor for those who worship them imagine a person worshiping a stone if a person is worshiping a stone can they not ask themselves a question what does the stone do can it harm itself or protect itself from harm or benefit itself if not how will it benefit or protect or grant goodness to that which is besides it it's a question that Allah says you should ask yourself and you will be able to answer it then Allah says ضرن ولا نفعن and then Allah says موتن ولا حياتن they worship that which does not control death nor does it control life ولا حياتن ولا نشورن it does not control the resurrection and Allah سبحانه و تعالى speaks about the goodness and the evil this thing doesn't control anything how can you worship deities besides الله you worship Allah alone but sometimes because of the company because of how we've been brought up we don't even realize it so الله سبحانه و تعالى is calling us to ask ourselves the question and this is the type of question we will find in verse number 3 of صورة الفرقان immediately after that Allah makes mention of how some people again to do with your company at the time of Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم it is made mention of how some of the companions earlier on prior to سلم they used to create idols out of food stuff sometimes and when they were hungry guess what happened they began to consume the same God that didn't give them food may Allah سبحانه و تعالى grant us a deep understanding may Allah سبحانه و تعالى make us from those who worship him alone so الله سبحانه و تعالى says when we brought the goodness to them they began to find fault in the messenger in the Quran and in so many other aspects because they had no answer you see when you have no answer for someone what's the quickest way out just find fault in him just say for example that you know what this person is evil this person is bad so that no one has to listen to him or her no one has to actually think about what they are doing themselves is it right or wrong that's what they did at the time of the time of the time of the time of the confusion that الله says وقال الذين كفرون إن هذا إلا إفكن افتراه وأعانه عليه قوم آخرون the كفار at the time they said that this Quran is a fabrication that was created by محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم and some other people have helped him to do this because صلى الله عليه وسلم having had the help of all the eloquent people brought up something that was linguistically absolutely magnificent totally perfect they could not believe that he brought it so because they didn't want to listen to it they found fault now this is a fabrication this is a lie now remember إن صورة نور there was a rumor being spread about someone that was negative we are taught to say that which which is negative it's about the respect and reputation of a person there's no need to believe it but when it comes to what you are doing yourself at least ask yourself am I involved in this if I am I'm going to do something about it because I don't want to just find fault in the messenger just because I don't like the message no sometimes we have to change our lives I've spoken to so many people who've reverted to Islam and they say to come out of that comfort zone and enter the fold of what is right is absolutely difficult because sometimes you lose your family members you lose so many you embrace Islam they look at you as a spy sometimes and they don't even want to mix and interact with you you cannot even get married because they look at you with an eye of suspicion so how difficult it must be for those who revert to Islam this is why I spend a moment to say my brothers my sisters those who've reverted to Islam against all odds learn to embrace them learn to understand they are your brothers and sisters who have made a decision that is perhaps the most difficult decision and definitely the most important decision not only in their lives but regarding their here after as well so let's embrace them let's make it easy for them let's educate them let's help them let's try and bring them within if they would like to get married and they are both parties happy facilitated for them I know our families and it's very sad to say this but it's important it's the correct platform to say it I know our families whereby the boy and girl want to get married but because one of them is a revert they say no revert brother a revert is cleaner than you who was a born Muslim because when he accepted Islam he started a new slate at the age of 25 30 yours is dirty from the time you started all your business may Allah سبحان هو تعالة forgive us so what's wrong let's not be racist let's not be people who look at others with the eye of suspicion for what if they have reverted to Islam for as long as they've proven that they are decent Muslimين الحمد لله إذا أتاكم من ترضون الدين هو وخلقه فزوجوه here is the Prophet صلى الله رسل him we're not just mere Twitter followers No we follow him correctly when he says when someone proposes for your child and the level of their دين is good and their level of character is good let it happen if you don't let it happen there's going to be fit now there's going to be chaos there's going to be facade on earth in your little life your family will turn upside down why you block something that the messanger instructed you not to block that's where the problem is we are guilty of this in our society is as much as we say we're not racist sadly it raises its ugly head now and again may Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala forgive us take a look at the Sahab رضي الله عنهم who was better we or them they were far better they were all reverts by the way الله أكبر all of them so congratulations to those who who've reverted here on their own accord you have joined the ranks of the Sahab رضي الله عنهم in one aspect of your living and in one aspect of your Dean that's a tough one which means if a Sahabi had to come and ask for your daughter what would you say reverts I don't want to go as far as that but I could have in order to make you think may Allah Subhanahu Wa'Ta'ala help those young boys and girls suffering at the hands of their own parents because their parents are being ridiculous they don't realize what's going on behind the scenes and they just want to stick what will people say my brother what will Allah say what will the messenger say what type of an embarrassment are you going to be for yourself on the day of judgment when you have encouraged sin and you have discouraged that which was حلال just because you had an arrogance what will my family say your family is not worried about you you lead the way my brother my sister lead the way they will follow you they also have children in the same boat each one is saying what will our family say if you led the way they would say Masha'Allah you know we've been struggling for the last two years in the same way now that we saw what you did we're going to do the same سبحان الله you led the way you lead the way to Jannah as well may Allah سبحان هو تعال a grandest جنة الفردوس so they found fault with what they tried to find fault sorry they tried to find fault with the Quran by saying this is a fabrication it's a tale of a long time back and Allah سبحان هو تعال says no way that's not the case here's another of the rumors that they spread وقالو أساطير الأولين اكتتبها فهية تملا عليه بكرة وقصيلا they said that these versus are copied from the previous nations from others before them these versus are copied and they are being dictated morning and night to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم he's just coming and repeating them why were they saying this some of what is in the Quran is clarification of what has appeared in the previous scriptures the reason is they are from the same source but it's not exactly the same story they have learned from us I give you one example the mention of Isa عليه وسلام or Jesus may peace be upon him there is a great clarification in the Quran there is a whole Surah known as Surat Maryam there is a Surah which we read in Tarawih yesterday a few days back Ali Imran the family of Imran mention is made of Mary the Virgin Mary may peace be upon her Isa Jesus may peace be upon him there is a miracle that is not found in the Bible what is it that he spoke from the cradle they don't have that in the Bible so the Quran says he spoke from the cradle to clear and clarify the name of his mother he says إني عبد الله I am the worshiper of Allah wow that's a miracle the Christians are amazed by how the Quran speaks of the miracles of Jesus may peace be upon him but that requires one with an open mind to actually realize the respect that the Muslims have for Jesus may peace be upon him so الله سبحانه و تعالى says verse number 6 clarifying and clearing these rumors الله says قل أنزله الذي يعلم السر في السماوات والأر إن هو كان غفور الرحيم ما amazing Oh محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم أخبرهم أنه هو الذي يعلم السكرات من السماوات و السماوات الذي رفع هذا القرآن لذلك ستجد كل السماوات السماوات و السماوات في هذا خلال أن هو الله's خلال سبحانه و تعالى و هذا why verse number 32 I'm just فاست فاود the same صورة صورة فرقان الله سبحانه و تعالى يتحدث of another issue that was raised by and fault in the قرآن You know what they said I'm sure all of us have heard that the قرآن was not revealed all at once unlike the previous books the قرآن was revealed over a period of 23 years why you're allowed to ask why because obviously we want to know the reason is the قرآن was unique it came down with every incident that occurred they were versus that clarified it so that there was an incident in your life and you remember what someone said on that occasion it's far easier than me reciting to you all the rules and regulations and now you've just got to know them without knowing what happened when it happened if I were to tell you you know four years ago we met and there was a car accident and there was a policeman who came you remember what he did you gonna say yes I do I remember what he did because it was an incident so practically it happened in front of you and you saw how they practiced upon it that's one of the reasons why it was spread over 23 whole years also another reason was the people who are not prepared to accept the message so Allah decided subhanahu wa ta'ala to reveal it in doses there are different types of verses that were revealed in Makkah different types of verses revealed in Madina المنورة in were short and sharp connected to belief connected to the hereafter because they never believed in the hereafter but in Madina منورة longer verses with rules and regulations they were now Muslimin they were now ready to take the rules of Salah and Zaka this is why a lot of these pillars were actually made compulsory in Madina منورة Salah was فرض in Madina منورة although it was revealed earlier but it was not compulsory it was voluntary then it became compulsory the same applies and understanding so the كفار said وقال الذين كفروا لولا نزل عليه القرآن جملة واحدة why did this قرآن not come down all at once الله says كذلك لنثب تبي فؤادك ورتل ناه ترنتي لا amazing الله says in this way the way we revealed it it's to strengthen your heart in a way that subhan الله you recited beautifully melodiously like I explained earlier reasons of revelation and so many other factors that are taken into consideration so this was a clarification by الله سبحانه و تعالى regarding the قرآن and that is why to this day the قرآن no one can compete with not at all الله says right at the beginning he describes the قرآن صورت البقرة ذلك الكتاب لا ريبة فيه هدل المتقين there is no doubt in this book no doubt in it there is guidance for those who are متقين who are the متقين those who are conscious of their maker if you're conscious of your maker you will achieve guidance from the قرآن if you're not conscious of your maker forget about achieving guidance from the قرآن you can only achieve guidance if you're conscious if not you will be irritated صغفر الله by that because you don't believe at all a person needs to believe conviction you want to develop a connection with Allah here's the book go and compare it with all other heavenly books wallahi it stands out it is the only book to this day that has been memorized by billions billions over time maybe it might go into trillions and quadrillions if we were to count over time you might argue talking about today I'm talking about over the last 1400 years there were billions today subhan Allah I've received messages from Sierra Leone telling me about the Quran competition they have there that almost encompasses the entire country subhan Allah everyone is abuzz why the Quran look at all of us everyone of us has a relationship with the Quran we've been reading am I right I hope so we've been listening to we enjoy a beautiful recital والله for the sake of Allah when the recital is beautiful and clear you feel like you're engaged in an act of worship not in a war like I say you know when I was a little bit younger we used to go into some massage it you enter the Masjid it's like you in a war zone الله أكبر الله أكبر صمي الله Hey what's going on here relax I'm not in a war this is an act of worship it's supposed to be calm cool relaxing and you're supposed to enjoy it this is what the Quran is all about so الله سبحان هو تعال tells us about this beautiful book now I want to go into some of the comments they uttered against Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم I want to start off mentioning one and we'll continue tomorrow who was Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم he was not ordinary he was the best of creation the most noble of all messengers of الله how do I know that الله chose him and الله chooses الله raises some above the other and Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم was raised above all سبحان الله this is why we believe that when we follow him it's not just a following like you know retweeds are not endorsements no he's endorsed and we shall endeavor to follow سبحان الله but we have the correct understanding so we need to know this so they just said he's mad أستغفر الله أستغفر الله someone is telling you something you just say he's mad who is mad here وقال الظالمون إنتبعون إلا رجولا مسحورا the oppressors from who is bewitched he's bewitched he's mental I don't even want to say what they said had it not been mentioned in the Quran the term مسحور means bewitched he doesn't know what he's doing or saying أستغفر الله and Allah says as a result of these evil words they are uttering had they kept quiet and listened to what he was saying they would have digested it understood it their lives would have changed there were two types of people one those who looked at Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم with the eye of understanding and genuineness they became known as صحابة they were the best of those who tread the earth after the prophets and there were others in his presence who looked at him with the eye of enmity they never learned a thing from him in fact they witnessed against them on the day of judgment yet they were in his presence how unfortunate من الله سبحانه و تعالى forgive us إن شاء الله we will continue tomorrow صلى الله عليه وسلم و بارك على نبينا محمد سبحان الله بحمده سبحانك الله وبحمدك نشهد الله إله إلا أنت نستغفرك و نتوب إلي