 respected brothers, sisters, and elders. Alhamdulillah it is a great bounty and it's something we remind ourselves of every week. It is a great bounty and great na'amat of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he allows us to come back to his home and offer the Jumu'ah prayer and congregation. Many of us are deprived of this opportunity and we must make shukr and thank Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that he has chosen us for this and that he has made us fortunate enough and privileged enough to do this for it is not our own doing it is the doing of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as is each and everything in this dunya. It's true that you know in in today's time we're going through a lot of us are going through uncertainty we're experiencing a significant amount of hardship or difficulty whether it is because of the ongoing impact of COVID-19 or it is because of the tyranny the war and the oppression globally or whatever obstacles exist and are present in our daily lives just as you know sons as daughters as parents whatever it may be sometimes we feel overwhelmed sometimes you know the day the weeks the months it sometimes becomes unbearable and in it is in these times we wonder and we ask you know is Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala aware of what I'm going through or how do I communicate to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala what I'm going through or how do I kind of transition from this phase of difficulty to to the next phase of ease and comfort inshallah and as has been mentioned you know even before to understand Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sort of the nizam of this dunya we must engage with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the best way to engage with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is through his book the Quran this was Nabi Karim sallahu alayhi wasallam right someone who strived to live by its teachings and that is truly the key to our own success as well that how we can engage with the Quran inshallah today I want to talk about two surahs that most of us recite in our daily prayer surah falak and surah nas both of these surahs together are known as the verses of refuge the verses of protection and as I say verses that we commonly recite some of the youngsters are looking at me and saying well I read surahs all the time I read surahs all the time but these are also surahs hopefully that we're reading very very commonly and inshallah you know we'll go into the meaning of these surahs why they're important their historical significance but hopefully the ni'at and the dua we should all make today inshallah is that whatever we hear today hopefully it is a springboard for us to engage with the Quran on our own because there's so much to be talked about for each and every verse of the Quran that in a in a relatively short Juma there's only so much that can be said but the Quran is something that truly must be experienced you know between us and our creator and you know something that inshallah we do with with our families as well so inshallah let us use today to to kind of establish the foundation of that so we can continue to do that on our own inshallah surah falak and surah nas they most scholars agree that they were probably revealed in the makin period of Muslims and why that significant is because the makin period was one of difficulty for the Muslims right was one that they were going through a lot of oppression they weren't necessarily the majority at the time whereas surahs that were revealed in the in the Medina period have have were when the Muslims were in power so this was these surahs you know were brought to the Muslims at a time when they were struggling and there was great difficulty so if Nabi Kareem sallallahu alaihi wasallam and the Sahaba ikram a jama'een found comfort and solace in these surahs in that time that is a great sab'aq and a great lesson for us as well inshallah just some quick virtues of these surahs it is in Sahih Muslim it is mentioned that Nabi Kareem sallallahu alaihi wasallam said do you not see that there have been verses revealed to me tonight the likes of which we have not seen before and his companions asked you know what are they and then Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam said they are you know I seek protection or I seek refuge with the Lord of dawn surah falak and I seek refuge with the Lord of mankind surah nas and then in Ibn Kasir it is reported that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to make dua used to used to ask Allah subhanahu ta'ala and supplicate to Allah subhanahu ta'ala for protection from evil all sorts of evil and it is mentioned that when these verses of refuge were revealed he then changed his his his dua and would only recite these two surahs to protect himself from all sorts of evil and then finally it is mentioned aisha the law on her reports that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam when he ever he became sick he used to recite these two surahs and blow it upon himself and when he became seriously ill it is something that she used to do for him and you know they would and he would blow it on his hands and rub his hands on his body so you know many aunties do this to us when we're sick so this is actually a good this is actually legitimate this is something that Rasulullah sallallahu alaihi wasallam used to do and I showed the law on her used to do for him as well there's a lot of commonalities in these surahs and that's why we're going to talk about them as a group both of them start with I seek refuge in Allah subhanahu ta'ala Lord of Daybreak and Lord of Mankind Lord of Daybreak in Surah Falaq and Lord of Mankind or humankind in Surah Nas so both are establishing something right from the get go that iris I seek refuge from Allah subhanahu ta'ala and and that's a reminder right away for us right that Allah subhanahu ta'ala is in control of everything so when we're in difficulty or we're going through something or there's an obstacle in front of us and we open the Quran and we recite right it is automatically right away a reminder that I seek refuge with Allah Lord of Mankind Lord of Daybreak right Lord of the one who brings the Sun and then Allah subhanahu ta'ala continues Malikin nas ilahin nas in Surah Nas right he's he's re-emphasizing he's saying the sovereign of mankind and again the God of Mankind Malikin Nas ilahin Nas so he's really the first three verses of Surah Nas basically half of Surah Nas right is that you are seeking refuge in Allah subhanahu ta'ala and who is Allah subhanahu ta'ala he is the Lord he is the sovereign and he is the Lord of all of Mankind and then as the surahs go on the distinction that I really want to make between these two surahs is that they encompass all sorts of evil Surah Falak and Surah Nas combined talk about external evil as well as evil that is internal so in Surah Falak in the final verses of both surahs it says I seek refuge from him from the evil of an envier when he envies I seek refuge from an envier when he envies so Nazir is a very common thing right that we're aware of that the evil eye so an envier when he envies women shari hasi then either has said very very powerful and then in Surah Nas it says I seek refuge from the one who from the one who whispers into the hearts of humankind mean al jinnati one nas ilahin has been shows up a lady was we suffice to do it nas a lady you was we suffice to do it nas the one who whispers into the hearts of mankind this is referring to at least right the one who whispers and who leads leads mankind and jinn to to that which is just that displeases Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so automatically when we read both surahs together we are asking Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the protection of all evil inshallah both of them combined seek protection from all sorts and all forms of evil and this is why Nabi Karim sallallahu alayhi wa sallam we can see why he instructed the Sahaba ikram radi Allahu Anhu Majmain to recite it for themselves and he himself would recite these two surahs just to protect himself and a short but important note that I'll add here is that today many of us are living in a virtual world right whether that's because of work we're conducting business on zoom whether we're attending school that way whether we're on social media keeping touch with friends and family through social media we're behind screens a lot right and we're not necessarily face-to-face with people the way we used to be but this doesn't mean that even though it feels like an abstract or separate from reality it doesn't mean that our code of conduct changes right it still means that we the verses of refuge our reminder for us to act appropriately to act appropriately to protect ourselves from those that are envious and and the whisper and those that whisper the thoughts into humankind so no matter where we are whether we are face-to-face or in a virtual world we ask Allah subhanahu ta'ala to protect ourselves inshallah so times have been challenging that is a fact but we can take comfort in these words from Allah right because that was enough for Nabi Karim sallahu alaihi wasallam and inshallah in the second part we'll talk about when things are difficult you know we rely on these surahs but there's other reminders as well that inshallah we can instill in our daily lifetime so just some reminders building on the two surahs that we just discussed briefly in times of difficulty and in ease right our actions with Allah subhanahu ta'ala our relationship with Allah subhanahu ta'ala must be the same right we must ask Allah that he and make dua to him that he does not make us among those who only go to him when things are difficult right that we only turn to him or that we increase our ibadat or we increase you know our acts of worship only when things are hard for us because then Allah subhanahu ta'ala might look at us and say this this person this this this servant of mine only comes to me when things are difficult but when I give him or her good they are away from me so may Allah subhanahu ta'ala protect us from being among those people we outlined sort of some of the difficulties that we're going through today and at times we acknowledge that it can be very difficult but there's inshallah a few reminders building upon this that should help us remain steadfast inshallah number one is Allah subhanahu ta'ala is the knower of everything right as he reminds us in the beginning of surah falak and surah nas he is the lord of mankind he is the lord of daybreak he is the sovereign of everything he knows everything he knows who wronged you and he knows how you may have wronged someone else he is aware of the oppression that powers that be are inflicting upon this dunya upon mankind even upon animals and plants Allah ta'ala is aware of every single thing that is happening Allah subhanahu ta'ala is innately aware that when you interacted with a person and that person said something to you how hurt you felt or when you maybe mistakenly said something to a person how how how you met you must have hurt them or how they felt Allah subhanahu ta'ala is very innately aware of these things so that's something we must remind ourselves of we don't have to carry the weight of being judge and jury because this is the nizam of Allah subhanahu ta'ala that in this dunya difficulties will happen obstacles will be there but that there is the one guarantee that is fundamental to our deen right the guarantee is that we will Allah subhanahu ta'ala will be judge and jury in the akhira on the day of judgment this is fundamental to our belief we can put our faith and our trust in Allah and leave everything else and that is enough for us as Muslims he alone has the knowledge the answers and the solutions so it is with his wisdom this nizam this dunya and everything around us continues as it is for he truly is as we know from his names you know he is al fatah he is the supreme solver so when there is a problem and this is something we can relate to right when we have experienced a problem al fatah Allah subhanahu ta'ala comes and solves that problem for us and at times Allah subhanahu ta'ala solves it in a way that we we have no idea how this was solved we couldn't even think in our wildest imagination that it would be solved in this way but yet Allah subhanahu ta'ala solves it in his wisdom he is also al aleem then all knowing that we talked about he is also al basir right the one who sees everything he is also the one by his wisdom al qabid and al basit right the extender and the withholder so he will extend his mercy and he will extend his blessings when he deems it appropriate but you'll also withhold right if that is what is best for his creation at this time so again if we have faith in Allah and we know Allah and we engage with Allah subhanahu ta'ala our hearts will be at peace our minds will be content inshallah and just a small note that I want to end with inshallah you know many times our youth even even our adults here we have a little bit of trepidation engaging with the Quran right it's like oh man this is for the maybe the the sheikh or the hafez or the scholar I'm not I'm not super qualified maybe I should just you know read my last 10 surahs and that's about it and this is a this is a big misjudgment right we must engage with the Quran that is why Allah subhanahu ta'ala right the first verse is where Iqra'a bismi rabbika allah didn't ask us to worship Allah didn't ask us to do anything he asked us to read he asked us to read and recite that is the first command from Allah subhanahu ta'ala so it's a reminder for all of us that we must engage with the Quran and we must do so you know with our families because our families are our responsibility as well right we must do so on an individual level as well as on a familial level inshallah the Quran was sent for all humankind and we all have access to it in ways that are so easy compared to pre-four right we have so many translations in so many languages and now it's so easy to read it even even our youngsters can just pick up a a solid translation and mashallah be able to derive the meaning from it Ibn Masud I want to close with just two two points inshallah radi allah who mentioned that memorizing the Quran or becoming a being hafiz of the Quran is not memorizing its word it's not simply regurgitating the words of the Quran rather it is someone who establishes in their heart and acts upon what Allah subhanahu ta'ala made lawful and what Allah subhanahu ta'ala asked and stay away from that which Allah subhanahu ta'ala has made unlawful it is that unwavering sort of commitment to Allah that if Allah subhanahu ta'ala has said something I'm going to do it and without getting into the wise and the rationale and applying our own human logic to it it's just being the being in complete obedience of Allah subhanahu ta'ala and then finally there is an Imam new of Saunders from the East Coast he's a renowned scholar and reciter of the holy Quran he said something very beautiful that I just want to share with with the congregation inshallah he said a hafiz isn't someone who just memorized the entire Quran I would rather we call someone a hafiz or a hafizah who has memorized only the 30th Jews of the Quran and nothing else but constantly engages themselves in reciting the Quran and acting upon it and this is very true right that the true hafiz or hafizah of the Quran is someone who lives by it who acts upon it who uses it as a guide for their life so that inshallah they can be successful in this life and in the hereafter may Allah subhanahu ta'ala make us amongst the true hafiz and hafizahs of this world may Allah subhanahu ta'ala give us all the success in this life and in the next may Allah subhanahu ta'ala allow us to become close to him allow us to understand him and allow us to establish a relationship with the Quran so that we may be immensely successful in this dunya and the next