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Why Allah Sometimes Takes Something Away From You | Surah Al-Kahf | Nouman Ali Khan — Transcript

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0:00Once again, everyone, salaam alaikum wa
0:01rahmatullahi ta'ala wa barakatuh.
0:03Today I start speaking with you about
0:05ayah number 79 where Khidr alayhi salaam
0:08is going [music] to start giving Musa
0:10alayhi salaam the background, you know,
0:12information, knowledge of what was
0:14really going on behind the acts that he
0:16committed. The first act was he was on a
0:19ship boarding along with Musa alayhi
0:20salaam with some men that were on there
0:22and he goes to the bottom deck and
0:24starts ripping out its planks until the
0:27the ship starts getting flooded and it's
0:29going to capsize and they have to come
0:31back to shore. Now, the Quran will not
0:33give you explicit long-winded details.
0:36It'll be brief in the way it tells the
0:38story and you, you know, they say in
0:40Urdu they say
0:42>> [music]
0:42>> in Arabic they say
0:45the intelligent person can take a hint.
0:47What the Quran does a lot of times in
0:49the way it tells the story, it does not
0:50give you every single explicit detail.
0:53It [music] points to certain things and
0:55you can fill in the gaps yourself,
0:57right? There's a brevity. Brevity for
0:59those of you who don't know has nothing
1:00to do with bravery, it means briefness,
1:02right? So, it's there's a brevity in the
1:04style of Quranic storytelling. But, that
1:06brevity doesn't mean that the Quran is
1:08missing details. The Quran is expecting
1:11the listener to fill in gaps.
1:12>> [music]
1:12>> So, actually the Quran expects its
1:15audience to be thinkers.
1:17It it actually expects this. It doesn't
1:19expect you to just take something at
1:21face value and leave the gaps be. It
1:23wants you to fill in those gaps. And
1:25it's actually a way of the Quran raising
1:28the intelligence and the intellectual
1:30and the analytical capacity of its
1:32listener and of the one who's
1:34contemplating on it. Anyway, so he's now
1:36going to talk about the ship. That was
1:38the first incident.
1:39So, he's going back
1:40>> [music]
1:40>> and he's starting from incident one to
1:43two to three and we're only going to
1:44talk about incident one today. [music]
1:46So, he says here his words, first let's
1:48translate them.
1:50So,
1:52the ship it actually was the property
1:55of, that's one way to translate that,
1:57the property of some poor folks, masakin
2:03So, or helpless folks, you can even
2:05consider that masakin can be translated
2:07helpless folks.
2:09Ya'maluna fil bahri, that used to work
2:12in the sea. So, they were fishermen or
2:14they dove for pearls, whatever they did,
2:16but they were working in the sea and
2:18that's why they owned a ship.
2:21Fa arad tu an a'ibaha, thus So, they
2:24were they were poor and they worked in
2:26the sea, so they don't make a lot of
2:27money, they barely get by, basically,
2:29right? And then he says, fa arad tu then
2:31I intended an a'ibaha to damage it.
2:36I intended to damage it. A'ib actually
2:38means a fault or a flaw, so I needed to
2:40create a flaw or a fault in the ship, so
2:42it's faulty, so it doesn't function
2:44anymore.
2:45I wanted to make the ship dysfunctional.
2:48Arad tu an a'ibaha. Wa kana wara'ahum
2:50malikun.
2:51And this is I'm going to give you a
2:53shallow translation before we dive in
2:55and behind them there was a king.
2:58A king was behind them. Wa kana
3:00wara'ahum malikun. What What about that
3:03king king ya'khudhu kulla safinatin
3:06ghasba, that was grabbing onto every
3:09ship forcefully.
3:12He was seizing every ship forcefully.
3:14It's called commandeering. I I think the
3:16English term is commandeering, right?
3:18Sometimes in emergency situations the
3:20police might commandeer your vehicle or
3:22the the military might commandeer
3:23somebody's home. Right? And here you
3:26have a naval, you know, expanse and this
3:28king has declared some state of
3:30emergency and he needs to immediately
3:32expand his naval capacity, so he's
3:34taking whatever ships that are there
3:36that the public has and he's
3:37commandeering them for his naval,
3:39whatever mission that he has, right? For
3:41his for his
3:43for his expedition. So, this is the
3:45background. That's the only thing he
3:47says about the ship. So, let's dig a
3:49little bit deeper into this analysis
3:52from from Khidr, alayhis salaam and I'll
3:54say a couple of introductory comments
3:56that go back to the Hadith
3:58that talks about the story.
4:00Musa alayhis salaam was the recipient of
4:02the Torah.
4:03Khidr alayhis salaam is the recipient of
4:06something Allah calls wa allamnahu min
4:08ladunna ilman. We've given him some
4:10special kind of knowledge that comes
4:12especially from us. Some great knowledge
4:14ilman rubbama lit tafkhim lit ta'zim. It
4:17could be for magnification. Some great
4:19knowledge that comes only from us. So
4:21[music] there's the knowledge of
4:22revelation and there's the special kind
4:24of knowledge given to Khidr alayhis
4:26salaam. Now the words of Khidr in the
4:28Hadith are kind of important. He makes a
4:30tamthil and he makes a parable [music]
4:33between the knowledge of Musa which is
4:34the knowledge of Torah
4:36and the knowledge that he's been given
4:38and he looks at a bird that picks pecks
4:40its beak into the sea a couple of times.
4:44And he says what you have been given and
4:45what I have been given are nuqrah or
4:47nuqratain. They are just a drop from the
4:50sea compared to the knowledge of Allah.
4:53Compared to the knowledge of Allah. So
4:54what's he saying? The magnificent book
4:56of Allah Torah
4:58which was enough for prophet after
5:02prophet after prophet after prophet to
5:04not even get a new revelation to only
5:06reinforce Torah. It's a magnificent book
5:08of Allah. That book in its entirety
5:12counts for what?
5:14A drop from the revelation the wisdom
5:17that Allah could give. It's a drop.
5:20And on the other side whatever Khidr
5:23knows whatever Khidr knows is only what?
5:28A drop. So he actually doesn't know all
5:32of the keys to the unseen. He doesn't
5:35know the entire ocean. He only knows
5:37what?
5:38A drop. Now the the analogy of a drop is
5:41really interesting because a drop liquid
5:44a drop is inseparable from other drops
5:48in the sea until you pluck it out.
5:50Right? So, the drops are completely
5:53fused with one another and
5:54indistinguishable from each other until
5:57you pluck one out. Right? So,
5:59even though his is just a drop, other
6:02things are connected to it that he
6:03doesn't know about.
6:05Other things are connected to it. Now,
6:07let's think about that from a let's
6:08let's dive deep a little bit. He says,
6:10"First of all, as for the ship, it
6:12belonged to a bunch of poor people."
6:15Masakeen. Masakeen in Arabic is
6:17different from fuqara.
6:19Uh the I'm sure you're familiar with the
6:21word fuqara. Fuqara actually comes from
6:22the word faqara,
6:24which means the back to be broken.
6:26Faqara or iftaqara in Arabic is when
6:29someone has so much burden on their back
6:31that their back is the the the back
6:33creaks and it makes snapping sounds.
6:36Some of you that work out might pull a
6:37back muscle when, you know, deadlifting
6:39or something incorrectly or squatting
6:41incorrectly and you involved your back
6:43in it and you can it can hurt your back.
6:44Some [music] might Some might even, you
6:46know, injure their back severely when
6:47they're playing, you know, more rigorous
6:48sports like football or rugby or
6:50something like that, right? And And the
6:51back is one of the most powerful muscles
6:53in our entire body. It's a large muscle.
6:56So, breaking the back, it takes a lot to
6:58break the back. It's easy to break a
6:59pinky.
7:00It's easy to snap, you know, or or or uh
7:02you know, get get injured in your toe or
7:04something like that. The extremities.
7:06But, the larger muscles are harder to
7:07injure. Right? So, the breaking of the
7:10back means someone's completely
7:12completely overwhelmed where they
7:14couldn't hold the capacity of the load
7:16and they become incapable and that's
7:18that's they become fuqara. So, the faqir
7:21most mufassirun say or fuqaha even say
7:23faqir man laysa lahu shay. He has
7:26nothing. The guy has nothing.
7:29Completely, absolutely bankrupt would be
7:31a faqir. Nothing to his name. And then
7:34they say that they make a distinguish
7:36distinction between that and miskeen.
7:38You've heard the word miskeen before,
7:40right? In the ayah of the
7:42of sadaqa, the recipients of zakah,
7:45Allah makes a distinction between
7:46al-fuqara wal-masakin. He separates the
7:49two. Wa idhā idhā tafarraqa aw idhā
7:51ijtema'a tafarraqa. So, because they're
7:53mentioned together, that means they mean
7:54two different things. So, sometimes we
7:56say, "Oh, this is a miskin. This is a
7:58faqir." We use that interchangeably.
8:00But, the Quran seems to have made a
8:01distinction between the miskin and the
8:03faqir. So, what is that distinction?
8:06Some ulama comment on this. They say the
8:07miskin uh lahu shay'. He's got
8:10something. Lahu ma yamlik wa la yakfih.
8:14He owns something, but it's not enough
8:15for him.
8:16He owns something, but it's not enough
8:18for him. He's a taxi driver. He's got a
8:20car. He's making some money, but it's
8:21not enough to pay the rent. It's not
8:23enough to pay the electricity. It's not
8:25enough for the groceries. So, it's not
8:26like he owns nothing, but whatever he
8:28does own isn't enough [music] to get by.
8:31That would be a miskin. This it's barely
8:34enough for it's not enough at all. That
8:36would be a miskin. Now,
8:38uh Imam al-Alusi rahimahullah really
8:40didn't like that definition. So, he
8:41actually tried to vehemently in his
8:43tafsir oppose this definition of miskin
8:45and say, "No, because in this ayah
8:47there's kind of a fiqhi kind of offshoot
8:49debate that happened among the
8:51mufassirun." Because it says, "Fakanat
8:53lil-masakina ya'maluna fil-bahr." They
8:56were masakina. They were miskin
8:58>> [music]
8:58>> working in the sea.
9:00They're working in the sea. Now, why is
9:02that important? First of all, let me
9:03give you the etymology. I told you about
9:04faqr breaking back. Let's talk about
9:06miskin. These are ruba'i. They are
9:08four-letter roots. So, you might have
9:10heard, even if you don't know Arabic,
9:11many Arabic words the speaker talks
9:13about three letters that are in the
9:15root. Like, ilm is 'ayn, lam, and mim
9:17are the roots, right? So, miskin is
9:19actually a four-letter root. Mim, sin,
9:22kaf, [music] and nun. So, it's actually
9:24maskana or tamaskana yatmaskanu. It can
9:27come from that, too, right? [music] And
9:29the ruba'iyat, the four-letter roots,
9:32there's a really good theory that the
9:34four-letter roots are actually a fusion
9:36of two three-letter roots.
9:39So, like for example, you have in the
9:40Quran ba'thara, which is four letters,
9:42ba, ain, tha, and ra. Idha al-qubur
9:45bu'thirat.
9:46So, the scholars of etymology of the
9:49judhur will say this is ba'atha and
9:51athara together.
9:53Ba'atha and athara fused and became
9:55ba'thara.
9:56Miskin is masaka and sakana together.
10:00So, it's actually masaka, which means to
10:02stop, and similar or withhold, like
10:05amsaka, and then sakana is to to to
10:08pause.
10:10And from it they derive kind of a the
10:12root analysis of this word. And they
10:14basically suggest, I'll put it in simple
10:15words,
10:16you know, when someone is stopped,
10:19that's one because they got tired or
10:20they needed to get rest. That's why our
10:22homes, where we get our rest, are called
10:24sakana,
10:25right? Or [music] maskan, also.
10:27And when you're completely at rest,
10:29you're in a state of sakina.
10:31And when you're the tajwid was mentioned
10:33before we started, when you pause at a
10:35letter, it's called a sukun,
10:37right? And when the animal is
10:39slaughtered, it stops moving because you
10:41use a sikkin on it, right? The sikkin,
10:44the knife, is called a sikkin cuz it
10:46pauses the animal. It stops it from
10:48moving. So, the word sakana is for
10:50stopping.
10:51But masaka actually has to do with
10:53withholding.
10:55So, the I If you combine the two, and
10:56where do you get What What's the logic
10:58behind the word miskin? Somebody's no
11:00longer able to move, you know, to move,
11:02or somebody's no longer able to get out
11:04of their situation. They stopped. They
11:06were The car ran out of gas, for
11:08example. The car stopped. Sakanat.
11:10Right? It It came to a pause.
11:12>> [music]
11:12>> And now the guy doesn't have money,
11:14doesn't have a gas station nearby,
11:16doesn't have any resources. So, it's
11:17being He's being held in that helpless
11:19state. That's masaka on top of sakana.
11:22So, not only did you run out and you
11:24came to a stop, you came to a halt, now
11:27you're you're stuck in that situation.
11:29So, to give you a real-life example,
11:31somebody only makes money by driving an
11:33Uber or something, right? They're
11:34driving a taxi or an Uber, and then
11:36their eyesight goes away.
11:39Right? So, now the only means of income
11:40they had, they can't do anything about
11:42it. They lost their license, and now
11:44they can't get any other work cuz the
11:45the the means of their income was their
11:47ability to see.
11:48>> [music]
11:49>> Right? So, that's that that person
11:50becomes a miskeen.
11:53So, miskeen is different from faqir.
11:55Faqir has nothing,
11:57but the miskeen, according to this ayah,
11:59is interesting. Masakeena ya'maluna fil
12:02bahar.
12:03They're masakeen, but they work in the
12:05sea.
12:06So, they have a job or no?
12:09They have a job. A faqir may not even
12:12have a job.
12:13But the Quran gave a broader definition
12:16of a miskeen in these ayat.
12:18What's the broader definition? Somebody
12:20could be in a very bad financial
12:22situation, very bad family situation,
12:26very bad residential situation, even
12:28though they have a means of making
12:31money. You know what happens? Sometimes
12:33you say,
12:33"This guy these people on the street,
12:35they make a lot of money. I don't have
12:36to give them anything." "Oh, why are you
12:38giving this guy a tip? You know
12:39everybody gives them a tip. Don't you
12:40know?" So, you look at somebody like
12:42working in a restaurant or something and
12:44running around, you know, and you see an
12:46old man working like working at a
12:48grocery store or something. No, they
12:50have a job. You don't know how much they
12:51get. You You assume that they're doing
12:54all right. Plus, they even have a job.
12:56Why are you worried about that? What is
12:57the Quran pointing at? A kind of
12:59sensitivity we wouldn't have.
13:00>> [music]
13:00>> This person is not begging you on the
13:02street. He's not a sa'il, but he could
13:05be a miskeen.
13:06Because they're in this job and you
13:08imagine, sometimes you see people
13:10working in the grocery store, Muslim or
13:11not isn't even the issue. You see people
13:13working in the grocery store that are
13:14older than some of your parents.
13:16You see that. And the thought doesn't
13:18come to us, man, how much would it hurt
13:21me to see my father standing here?
13:23How much would it hurt me to see my mom
13:25standing at the grocery store aisle?
13:27Sometimes you see grandmas checking you
13:28out at the at the cash [music] register
13:31and she's standing there for 8-10 hours.
13:33When your mom is standing for 5 minutes
13:35to make you a roti, you say
13:37right? You have this like oh mom sit
13:39down relax. Your back's going to hurt.
13:41That's also somebody's grandma. That's
13:44also an old woman. She might be in a
13:45state of masqana.
13:47Right? So the idea just just because
13:49somebody has a job, they can't be
13:51miskeen is kind of broken here. And it
13:53doesn't have to be they're old. Are
13:55these young men or old men? They're
13:56probably young men that are fishing.
13:59So you don't have to be a certain age
14:01category to be miskeen.
14:03The Quran is actually
14:06making the believer sensitive to people
14:09in desperate situations
14:11>> [music]
14:11>> even when they're not posting their
14:13desperate situation online. Even when
14:16they're not wearing a poster or holding
14:18a sign that says feed me
14:20or help me with my rent because that's
14:22the most humiliating thing, right? So
14:23even another place in the Quran in
14:26Allah talked about some of the
14:28who were very self-respecting people,
14:30but they sacrificed everything in their
14:32loyalty to the prophet
14:39The for the for those who are Now what
14:40did I say about they own something or
14:42own nothing?
14:43They They're even worse than miskeen.
14:45They're even in a tougher situation than
14:46miskeen.
14:48And they have been encircled because
14:50they took the path of Allah.
14:52Because they took Allah's path, they
14:53lost [music] everything.
14:57And what does Allah say about those
14:59people? Allah says about these people
15:04They don't wrap themselves around the
15:06legs of people like a blanket begging
15:08for money cuz [music] you know there's
15:10an ancient culture of when people saw
15:12wealthy, the young the beggar kids or
15:15beggars, they would come and they would
15:16grab at the feet of those that have
15:18money. Some of you have traveled to
15:19Muslim countries where people do that
15:21even now. Allah says these are not the
15:23kind of people that are going to come
15:24and beg you.
15:28You're going to recognize them by the
15:30look on their faces, by their foreheads,
15:32by the mark of stress and anxiety on
15:34their face. You came to the masjid, some
15:36guy's praying next to you, and you
15:38should just be able to tell they have an
15:40anxiety. You don't even know the person,
15:42but they have an anxiety, and you'll
15:43come over and say, "Is everything okay?"
15:46Because they're not going to come,
15:47"Brother, can I borrow $10 because
15:49they're going to
15:50>> [music]
15:50>> shut down my water and electricity and I
15:52don't have enough to pay." They're not
15:53going to say that.
15:55They're not going to You have to have
15:56the sensitivity to to to see that in
15:58people. In the ayah, Allah says,
16:04>> [music]
16:04>> "The ignorant one will think these
16:06people have no need. They're okay. I saw
16:08them. They They even came to the masjid.
16:11The guy had a shirt."
16:12If he can afford a shirt, he's doing all
16:14right.
16:15It's not like his clothes are ripped.
16:18You know what? What we do is we assumed
16:19that people are okay.
16:22Just because they didn't beg.
16:24And Allah says people who make that kind
16:26of assumption without any sensitivity
16:27are actually jahil. In the ayah, they're
16:30jahil.
16:31So now, coming back to this ayah,
16:34uh Khidr Alayhis Salaam is telling Musa
16:36Alayhis Salaam, first of all, these
16:38people were miskeen. In other words,
16:39they were barely making ends meet, if or
16:42if not even making ends meet, and the
16:44only inkling of hope they had of making
16:46a kind of income is the ship.
16:49Alusi Allah says no, a miskeen probably
16:52doesn't own anything either. So he had a
16:54problem with Fakanaat li masakeen. One
16:57translation is they owned the ship. He
16:59said no, this Islam is not al milkiyah.
17:01It could be that the ship was at their
17:02service. They were renting it, or some
17:04other person owned it. So he tried to do
17:06kind of this
17:08analysis of this. And then he even came
17:09up with I don't know where he got it
17:10from, probably maybe some other that I
17:12didn't get to yet. He says that there
17:14were 10 of them. Five of them were
17:16paralyzed, or they were disabled in some
17:18way and the other five were working and
17:20the aggregate group was called masakin.
17:23So, you have to be impaired in some way
17:25to be called a miskin. So, you really
17:26held on to that view. But, the law here,
17:28the obvious of the ayah is actually they
17:30were just poor.
17:32That's that's clearly stated. And they
17:35were still working.
17:37So, one of the side benefits from this
17:39ayah is that just because people have a
17:40job doesn't mean they're not miskin.
17:43Doesn't mean they're not stuck. You
17:45know, there are people that can be
17:46working, working hard, 8 10 12 14 16
17:50hours a day for 20 30 years and have not
17:52have any savings, live hand to mouth.
17:55Right? You get You get people It's not
17:57far from here. I saw it myself. We used
17:59to be like that. My family used to be
18:01like that. And when when people live in
18:03New York, the guy guy's got a little
18:04corner shop in like Astoria or somewhere
18:07or in Jamaica or somewhere else and he's
18:09selling hats or scarves or t-sh New York
18:11t-shirts. I love New York. Let me tell
18:13you, he don't love no New York. But,
18:14he's selling those t-shirts. And you
18:16know, he's working there for 20 years
18:18and he still has still barely making
18:20rent at the apartment, barely saving
18:23anything to put his kids through an
18:24education, nothing.
18:26Right? And they they they they struggle
18:27that way for years and years and years.
18:30Right? So, they That would be an example
18:31of someone who's what? Miskin. I landed
18:34in LaGuardia and it was like 11:30 at
18:36night and there's a long list of cabs
18:38back then before Uber. Long list of cabs
18:41and they're trying to get a customer,
18:42right? And my hotel was right across
18:45from LaGuardia. So, it was a 2-minute
18:47drive. [music]
18:47And you can tell this guy's been waiting
18:49to get a customer for like an hour.
18:52Right? And if And then I got in his car
18:54as a Muslim guy. I got in his car and he
18:56said, "Where you going?" I was like,
18:57"Right there." And he just He took this
18:59breath like
19:02cuz he knew he's going to get like four
19:03bucks out of this ride.
19:05Right? Cuz he waited an hour hour and a
19:08half to get his turn.
19:09>> [music]
19:09>> And you know, somebody wants to go to
19:11Long Island, at least it'll be worth it.
19:12Or if somebody wants to go to Jersey,
19:13somebody wants to go to uptown,
19:15wherever, the Bronx, it'll be it'll get
19:17something out of it. This guy's, you
19:19know, using his gas money, staying away
19:21from home, 12:30 at night, and he's
19:23going to get $4 out of this wait. He
19:24probably spent more in gas just running
19:27the car.
19:28Right? So, when I saw him just take a
19:30breath,
19:31my heart sank. Like, I didn't want to
19:33say anything. So, I just started talking
19:35to the cuz you know they have the name
19:36in the back.
19:37So, I was like, "Your name is Muhammad?"
19:38He says, "Yes, my name is Muhammad." And
19:39we start talking, "How many kids do you
19:40have? This and that." We start making
19:42conversation. And then, you know, 2
19:44minutes later I'm at my hotel. Zakallah
19:46khairan, brother Muhammad. And I I gave
19:48him $40, right? [music] And he said,
19:51I was like, "This is for your kids. This
19:52is not for you."
19:54Cuz Eid is coming, right? This is Eid
19:55gift for you. And I tell you, kid you
19:56not, the brother started crying.
19:58And he begged me to take it back. I was
20:00like, "No, you don't take a gift back."
20:01Ar-raji'u fi hibatihi ka raji'u fi
20:03qay'ihi. Ar-raji'u fi qay'ihi. You're
20:05giving back a The one who takes back a
20:07gift is the same person as someone who
20:09takes back vomit.
20:11I can't take it back. Haram alayya.
20:14Right? But, you know what? When you can
20:16You don't have to like, "Hey, are you in
20:18a bad economic situation? Therefore,
20:20maybe I should give you a bigger" Don't
20:21mention it. No, you should just be
20:23sensitive to somebody's circumstance and
20:27try to develop that kind of little bit
20:28of courtesy towards others, right?
20:30[music] You guys go to a restaurant
20:33and you go you're the last customer
20:34there.
20:36Right? And they're they're closing up
20:37shop. And there's people that work there
20:38that have been working there all day.
20:40And first of all, you're not going to
20:42leave a tip.
20:43And second of all, you're going to make
20:44a huge mess. And these people want to
20:46get home, and you're just staying there,
20:47staying there, staying there. And you
20:49can see they're older, they're, you
20:50know,
20:51at least teach your kids to help with
20:52them
20:54and leave them a kind note, something.
20:55If you can't give sadaqa of money,
20:57qawlun ma'ruf an
20:59some some good word is also sadaqa.
21:02Right? Al-basmatu fi wajhi akhika
21:04sadaqa.
21:06You could smile in the face of your
21:07brother, that's sadaqa.
21:09Right? So, [music] we this is the kind
21:11of sensitivity that we have to develop.
21:12Anyway, there was no way for Musa Alayhi
21:14Salaam to know that these people are
21:15poor, apparently. Another interesting
21:17lesson, cuz Musa Alayhi Salaam would
21:19have picked up on it, right? He's
21:20sensitive to situations, like he was at
21:22Madyan when he saw those girls in need
21:23of help. So, even he couldn't pick up on
21:25the fact that they're masakin, he had to
21:27be told. Another lesson in that is
21:29>> [music]
21:29>> maybe a person looks totally normal and
21:32they're still not okay.
21:34You cannot judge what a person is going
21:36through just by their appearance.
21:38Right? You know, when a when a when a
21:40kettle is boiling
21:42and it's really, really hot,
21:45unless you hear it,
21:47you can't tell that it's scorching hot
21:49and you might touch it and you find that
21:50it's extremely hot. The cold one and the
21:52burning hot one look exactly the same,
21:54right? So, don't judge just by
21:57appearance and don't judge you look at
21:59someone they look fine, they're fine.
22:01How do you know they're fine? How do you
22:02know there's not a storm going on inside
22:04their minds?
22:05>> [music]
22:05>> Right? So, he now Khadir Alayhi Salaam
22:07is telling him fakana lil masakin
22:10ya'maluna fil bahri. It was for So,
22:12the sequence is really interesting. So,
22:14as for the ship, it belonged to poor
22:16people that were working in the sea.
22:18Felt good enough?
22:19Fa'aradtu an a'ibaha. So, I intended to
22:21damage it. That doesn't answer the
22:23question, that makes it worse.
22:26>> [laughter]
22:26>> Like, wait. Yeah, I'm going to explain
22:28to you why I did this. They were really
22:30poor, so I destroyed their livelihood.
22:33So, it builds up even more, like huh?
22:36We got This is actually called tashwiq.
22:38He wanted to build up the scene before
22:41he actually gives the rationale. You
22:43would imagine he would first say, "By
22:45the way, there was a king. He was
22:46grabbing [music] up all the ships,
22:48that's why I damaged it." So, that
22:50that's why I damaged it should have gone
22:52at the end, expected at the end. But,
22:54before he even gets to the reason,
22:56before that he puts it in the unexpected
22:59place. But, unexpected from the human
23:01point of view. From the human point of
23:03view, they were poor
23:05>> [music]
23:05>> and you damage their ship. La hawla wala
23:07quwwata illa billah. But from Allah's
23:09point of view, which is being taught to
23:12Khidr alayhis salaam and now he's
23:13teaching it, because they were poor,
23:16they were given the favor of damaging
23:18the ship.
23:19Their livelihood was dis- was damaged
23:23because they were poor. That's actually
23:25the it has awlawiyyah, it has priority
23:28in the ayah, even over the king. In
23:30other words, saving them from the king
23:32is secondary, looking out for them,
23:35doing a favor to them to by Allah is
23:37primary. From it we learn a profound
23:39lesson. It's an absolutely profound
23:41lesson. Sometimes Allah will plan a
23:45financial setback for you.
23:48A the loss of a job.
23:51The tanking of a business.
23:53Allah will will will will set you back.
23:56The loss of your degree.
23:59Or your inability to pay for school. Or
24:01whatever else. There's some hurdle will
24:03come in your way that will set you back.
24:07And it will be a traumatic experience.
24:09Out of nowhere they're they're they
24:10already got worries. They're masakeen,
24:12so they're worried about enough food for
24:13one day and now they're worried about
24:15being killed because they might drown
24:17and at sea and they somehow make it back
24:19to shore and then they're worried about,
24:21"Okay, forget it. Our livelihood is gone
24:23for good. Where are we going to get our
24:25risk now, right?" So the worry on top of
24:29worry, on top of worry, and yet all of
24:32that is a favor for from Allah.
24:34Fa aradtu an a'ibaha, so I intended to
24:36damage it.
24:38Wa kana wara'ahum malikun, and behind
24:40them there was a king. Now the word
24:42wara' led to an interesting discussion.
24:44Some of us would have said wara' means
24:45in front of them, meaning if they kept
24:47going forward they would have run into
24:48the the naval, you know, the the the
24:51seizure group that that checks on all
24:53the boats and just takes them. [music]
24:56Others take the more literal meaning of
24:58wara which is behind. Wara actually the
25:00the the the the use that's shai' that's
25:03common in the Arabic language is wara
25:05means behind. Right? [music] But they
25:07say, "Well, how could it be behind? Cuz
25:08it's the naval ship. They would have
25:09caught him so quickly." But Ibn Ashur
25:11has a really nice comment on it. So,
25:13I'll read that for you and translate.
25:20Wara is used for the direction of
25:22someone who is behind you that it's
25:24attributed. So, warai meaning right
25:26behind me.
25:29It's the opposite of in front of.
25:41So, basically, this is also istia'ara.
25:44Remember I said istia'ara yesterday? You
25:46borrow a term.
25:48When someone is wara of me, it means
25:51they are behind me and they are about to
25:53catch up to me. Like Allah says, "Wa min
25:56wara'ihim Jahannamu."
25:58"Wa min wara'ihim Jahannamu." Meaning
26:02right behind them is Jahannamu meaning
26:04it's about to catch up to them. Right?
26:06You know how they say the cops are on my
26:08back?
26:09The cops are on my back means they're
26:10about to what?
26:11Catch up to me. That's istia'ara.
26:13They're not on your back, but they're
26:14about to catch up to you. So, wara
26:16behind is being used here as the king is
26:19on the verge of capturing their their
26:22their ship. They don't even realize it.
26:24He's on the verge of getting to it. They
26:26can't even see him on the horizon. They
26:27don't know this initiative has been been
26:29launched. This is maybe a last second
26:31initiative from the king and the king
26:33doesn't care to see who's worthy, who's
26:36not worthy, is it injustice, is it not
26:38injustice. The king just issued a
26:39verdict. If there's a ship and it's
26:41working, I want it here.
26:43But should we take it from I don't care.
26:44Just bring me the ships.
26:46That's it. And how do we know the king
26:47is ruthless? Because he says, "Malikun
26:50ya'khudhu kulla safinatin." He's
26:53grabbing every ship. So, he doesn't
26:55discriminate. He just wants all of them.
26:57But, then the word added it adds a a
27:00layer of dhulm actually. Ghasban.
27:03Ya'khu Ya'khudhu kulla safinatin
27:06ghasban. That's the word at the end of
27:07the ayah. Ghasban is the hal here. And
27:09actually ghasiban would be expected cuz
27:12a hal [music]
27:13I know I'm getting grammar geeky with
27:14you, but a hal should be an ism fail.
27:16Ghasiban. But, ghasban is a masdar. One
27:18day you will understand this and it'll
27:19feel really good. I promise you.
27:21You will understand Make dua to Allah
27:23that Allah makes the learning of the
27:24language of the Quran easy for you. So,
27:26you can taste its beauty. So, you can
27:27enjoy its words. So, ghasban is a masdar
27:30which makes it a mubalaghah.
27:32That's a it's a kind of mubalaghah
27:34language. What that means in simple
27:35English is this.
27:37It means By By the way, let me tell you
27:39about ghasab. Then I'll translate.
27:40Ghasabtu al-jilda idhakadattu an
27:43sha'rihi aw wabarihi qasran bila atan
27:46fid dibagh wala i'mal finadan.
27:49Oof. Naz'u ash-shay'i min munatabihin aw
27:51maqarin bil ghalzi aw quwwatin aw
27:52qaharin. Basically, you know, when you
27:55you could shave hair.
27:56You could shave hair. You can also pluck
28:00hair, right? Like waxing or threading or
28:02something, right? Uh men don't know
28:05about that. Alhamdulillah. Women they
28:06know something about waxing and they
28:08bear all kinds of pain for, you know,
28:10whatever purposes. I didn't know about
28:12threading. I didn't know what that was.
28:13I went to a Turkish barber in Long
28:14Island and he's like wax
28:17thread? Thread? I was like I don't know
28:19what he's saying. I was like yeah. And
28:21he finished giving me my hair cut and
28:23he's like he's touching my cheek like
28:24this.
28:25I'm like what's he going to do with my
28:26cheek?
28:27And then he took out a string and he
28:29went ding ding ding like a guitar.
28:32And then he put the string over here and
28:33he went bro.
28:35And my life flashed before my eyes.
28:39My cheek turned tomato red and I was
28:41like
28:43And before I could say stop he was done
28:44on the the side, too.
28:46>> [laughter]
28:48>> That would be rasban.
28:51Rasban is without warning when you rip
28:54the hair out,
28:56when you tear the hair off of an
28:58animal's back, or you rip the hair
29:01violently off by grabbing it,
29:03which is an excruciatingly painful thing
29:06to do, right? That act is called rasban.
29:09And what it's telling us and in the in
29:11its most hyperbolized form is it's as if
29:14you've never experienced this kind of
29:16violent plucking. You don't even know
29:18what that is until you see this king and
29:20his forces in action.
29:23Like they are the very definition of
29:25this kind of yanking.
29:26In other words, they were just taking
29:28ships, killing anybody in their path,
29:30and probably even enslaving the people
29:32on board the ship. You're coming with
29:33us, too. The whole ship and its crew.
29:35Why do they have to expend If they're
29:37going to want the ships, then why are
29:39they going to expend money on the crew?
29:40Take the crew with you. Turn them into
29:42slaves. So, these these young men were
29:44headed towards a hell of a life.
29:47And Allah
29:48allowed for that ship to get damaged so
29:50that this king doesn't grab a hold of it
29:52and ruin their life. Ya'khudhu kulla
29:54safinatan ghasban.
29:56And in doing so, Allah has taught us
29:58some profound, profound things.
30:00It might be that a setback and a damaged
30:04experience a a terrible experience will
30:06put you in difficulty. But definitely,
30:08it might be that Allah will put you in
30:11difficulty to save you from a much
30:13bigger difficulty. That might be the
30:15case. But there are other questions.
30:18The other questions are what about all
30:20the other ships?
30:22Cuz the ayah says ya'khudhu
30:24kulla safinatan.
30:26And clearly, Allah rescued this one
30:28ship, but definitely, Allah did not
30:30rescue what?
30:32All the ships. There may be other
30:33masakeen ya'maluna fil bahar and their
30:35ship got seized.
30:37There may be others who didn't get this
30:39favor that these young people got.
30:41And you know what? What did I tell you
30:43about the drop?
30:45How did Alaihis Salam have one drop?
30:47But there remains an entire what?
30:49Ocean. For them, saving their ship was
30:53the best thing for them.
30:55For some others, getting it seized
30:59was the best thing for them. These
31:01people have to experience this setback
31:04as a rahman from Allah. Those people
31:06might have to experience a different
31:08kind of setback, getting taken. Getting
31:10taken into that that that navy.
31:13And then going to war and then ending up
31:15in a foreign place or all of that. That
31:17must be the rahman intended for them
31:19that looks like a disaster.
31:21So it looks like a disaster, but it
31:23means something else. And Khidr Alaihis
31:25Salam doesn't have access to all the
31:27stories.
31:28He doesn't have access to all the
31:29timelines. He just access has access to
31:31this. And even within this, within just
31:34taking that one ship and damaging it,
31:36there are masakeen on it. Not one,
31:40multiple.
31:41Each one of them has his own life,
31:44has his own family, maybe has his own
31:46children, maybe has his own parents.
31:48Isn't that one life and that one
31:50livelihood connected to multiple lives?
31:52Isn't there a lot more to the story? And
31:55maybe now that they don't have a a way
31:56to work, they each have to go their own
31:58way and find their own risk. Isn't this
32:00a more complex scenario? [snorts]
32:03But Khidr Alaihis Salam has been only
32:05given what?
32:06The drop.
32:08He can only tell you about this part.
32:10Look, this one act of damaging, from
32:13what I know, from what I've been told,
32:15cuz the file is way too classified even
32:17for me,
32:18but the little bit of it that has been
32:19declassified to me is that there's a
32:22king coming to grab their ships and
32:23that's why they were saved.
32:26This is giving us a picture of how
32:28complex Allah's plan is.
32:31How complex it is
32:32>> [music]
32:32>> and how we want it to be simple.
32:35We want the answers to be
32:36straightforward. Why did Allah do this?
32:39>> [music]
32:39>> Allah Azza wa Jal is taking into account
32:41every single drop in the ocean, not just
32:44that one drop.
32:45And even in this ayah, we're just
32:47getting a drop. We're not getting the
32:48entire ocean, even now. But at least we
32:51have some idea that everything that's
32:53happening and everything that's even
32:55beyond our control is actually part of a
32:57larger, much larger plan from Allah Azza
33:00wa Jal. There's another philosophical
33:02side of this that needs to be addressed.
33:04Is the king doing something just or
33:05unjust?
33:07The king is doing something unjust.
33:10The king is doing something unjust. And
33:12actually, at face value, so is Khadir.
33:15Khadir damaging a ship is also doing
33:16something unjust.
33:19Human beings are only able to see
33:21justice and injustice in between one
33:24domino and the next domino.
33:26Like, we can only see one immediate
33:28transaction or action as just or unjust.
33:32Allah Azza wa Jal sees the entire domino
33:35effect, all the multiple domino effects,
33:39and then decides what is not just or
33:41unjust, but what is rahmah.
33:43Allah Azza wa Jal did not create this
33:45world for justice, actually.
33:49There's a day that's coming that's meant
33:51for justice, which is what? Yawm ad-Din.
33:54The day of justice and judgment, perfect
33:56judgment. By definition, din cannot
33:59exist here, not in perfect form.
34:01It can't. We You You and I know that
34:04already. Rasul Sallallahu alayhi wa
34:06sallam did more good in this world than
34:08any other human being possibly could,
34:10but he didn't get the rewards of it in
34:12this world.
34:13There's no way his good was done justice
34:16in this world.
34:17Pharaoh took many lives, killed many
34:20children.
34:22But he drowned how many times?
34:24He drowned once. And until that day, he
34:27lived in a castle.
34:29His drowning is nowhere near the justice
34:32that he deserves.
34:34Among other declaring himself a god,
34:36trying to kill Allah's messenger, the
34:38list of his crimes is huge, but the
34:40physical worldly punishment is very
34:42little.
34:44This world was not designed for justice.
34:47This world was designed in some way or
34:50the other for Allah's rahma.
34:52Rahma is a broader concept than justice.
34:55And rahma, the mercy and the loving care
34:57of Allah, might actually even look like
35:00injustice.
35:02It actually might look like injustice.
35:04This is the sophisticated view of the
35:06reality of this life that the Muslim
35:09develops. So, the Muslim's faith does
35:11not get shaken when he or she sees
35:14injustice and says, "Where is Allah?"
35:16How come Allah didn't intervene? How
35:18come Allah didn't provide justice?
35:20Because he didn't provide justice, my
35:22iman is shaken. No, it's not shaken.
35:25It's not shaken. Does it mean we accept
35:27injustice? That's the the second part of
35:28this
35:29>> [music]
35:29>> complication.
35:31If if you and I are alive and we have a
35:33chance to oppose that king, should we
35:35oppose that king or just say it's the
35:37qadar of Allah, this was part of Allah's
35:38plan? No, we're going to oppose that
35:40king.
35:41If we have the ability to we'll stand up
35:43to that king.
35:44Musa alayhi salaam, when he saw a wrong
35:46happen, did he just stay quiet and say
35:47this must be the qadar of Allah, I
35:49should just stay quiet, or did he
35:50question it?
35:51He questions it.
35:53He questions it because Allah did not
35:55create a believer to have sabr in the
35:58face of injustice.
36:00Musa alayhi salaam was told with a
36:02guarantee, you cannot have sabr over
36:04this. Now, please understand this
36:06carefully. Musa alayhi salaam is
36:09the role model for sabr.
36:11He had sabr to live under Firaun. He had
36:14sabr to see Banu Isra'il enslaved. He
36:17had sabr to travel in the middle of
36:18Madyan in a desert. He had sabr to live
36:21away from his mother for 10 12 8 to 10
36:23years away. He had sabr to come back and
36:26hear the insults and the kufr of Firaun.
36:28He had sabr to deal with the several
36:30years and to, you know, with the
36:32antagonism of the Pharaoh. He had the
36:34sabr to deal with the the Israelites who
36:36questioned whether or not he's even a
36:38prophet. He had the sabr to deal with
36:40them and guide them even though they
36:42tried to kill him. Sabr, sabr, sabr,
36:44sabr, sabr.
36:45And when he comes before Khidr alayhis
36:47salaam, Khidr says, "Inna alayhis salaam
36:48says, "Innaka lan tastati'a ma'iya
36:50sabra." Excuse me, I am Mr. Sabr.
36:53How do I not have sabr? The How can I
36:56not have Musa alayhis salaam not have
36:57sabr? Do you understand he's the prophet
36:59of Banu Isra'il?
37:01That's a pretty sabr task job.
37:03Right? You have to have an enormous
37:05amount of sabr to deal with Banu Isra'il
37:07the way he dealt with them.
37:10So, how come he didn't have sabr?
37:11Actually, him not not having sabr is not
37:14a 'aib.
37:15Is not a criticism of Musa alayhis
37:17salaam. Actually, a believer in Allah is
37:20not supposed to have sabr over
37:22injustice.
37:24You're not supposed to say, "Oh, you
37:26know, you see if Allah sent a flood or
37:28an earthquake or, you know, something
37:31out of our control." We All we can do is
37:32sabr. But when a Pharaoh is doing
37:35something wrong, I'm not going to say
37:37I'm just going to stay quiet and and
37:38have sabr. I'm going to speak up against
37:40it. Musa alayhis salaam did exactly what
37:42he was supposed to do and that was not a
37:44'aib. That was actually an
37:46acknowledgement by Khidr alayhis salaam
37:48that you, because the kind of believer
37:50you are, aren't designed to have sabr
37:53over what you see as injustice.
37:56And from these ayat, we're not learning,
37:58"Oh, you shouldn't have sabr when you
37:59see injust when you see someone being
38:01killed or someone a ship being a people
38:03that property being damaged, just have
38:04sabr. Maybe it's one of those Khidr
38:06assistants that did it." That's not what
38:09we're being taught.
38:10We're actually being taught to be like
38:12Musa alayhis salaam.
38:14To be like him.
38:16And we're not supposed to have sabr in
38:18certain situations. That's why even
38:21Khidr alayhis salaam said,
38:23when he went met Musa alaihi salaam in
38:24the Hadith, he said, "Allah has given
38:27you ilm la yanbaghi li.
38:30It's not suited for me.
38:32Allah has taught Musa something not
38:34suited for me. And then he said, "Wa
38:36allamani ma ma la yanbaghi ka. And I he
38:39has taught me yanbaghi lak. He's taught
38:41me what something doesn't suit you. It's
38:43not meant for you.
38:45That's not That's knowledge is not meant
38:47for you.
38:48And he
38:49Khidr alaihi salaam is operating on a
38:51different revelation, different kind of
38:53instruction than Musa alaihi salaam. And
38:55we are on the side, we have to act in
38:58accordance with the revelations given to
39:00us by Allah Azzawajal, which is a
39:01continuation of what was given to Musa
39:03alaihi salaam before him. That's the the
39:05the the bottom line that I wanted to
39:06share with you about this ayah. That
39:08does not mean last just disclaimers. It
39:11does not mean that if you're going
39:12through a difficulty, it definitely
39:14means that Allah is saving you from a
39:15bigger problem. That may not be
39:17necessarily the case, but could it be
39:19the case? Yes.
39:21Could that be one reason? Absolutely.
39:24Could it actually be that you're going
39:26through a difficulty, but the benefit of
39:28that, the ease will not come to you,
39:30will come to a generation after you? Or
39:33come to some others after you, and that
39:34you might be an indirect beneficiary.
39:36That might be the case, too. Which is
39:38going to be the second story.
39:40The loss is going to happen, but the
39:41beneficiaries are later.
39:43Right? It's not direct beneficiaries.
39:45The other interesting thing here is,
39:47okay, the ship got damaged. The king
39:49comes, looks at the king's naval forces
39:51come, they look at the damaged ship.
39:53They don't have the time to fix it, cuz
39:54they got to go invade some other nation,
39:56right? So, they just leave it alone.
39:58They leave it alone. And the fishermen
40:01who were so upset that their ship got
40:02damaged, just imagine if you were one of
40:04them at the beach, hiding behind the
40:07trees when the naval forces came. And
40:09they saw the damaged ship, they moved
40:10on. And they look at each other, "Yo,
40:13I'm not that upset that the ship got
40:14damaged."
40:15Are they upset anymore?
40:17No. Imagine if it wasn't didn't get
40:19damaged. Oh God.
40:21I'm glad it got broken.
40:24They might not even know how Khidr did
40:25it.
40:26Right? They might not even And by the
40:28way, even if they know Khidr did it,
40:29let's imagine they know Khidr did it.
40:31They're like, it's a really good thing
40:32it got broken and Khidr can't come back
40:34and say, by the way, you're welcome. No,
40:36no, no, I we still hate you.
40:38You still damaged our ship. How would
40:39you know?
40:41Right?
40:42But actually they didn't know that Khidr
40:44It seems like he didn't know that Khidr
40:46damaged the ship.
40:47So now they now realize soon after that
40:50this was a good thing, right?
40:53So it may not be And because means right
40:55behind them, so maybe hours later,
40:56minutes later, they realize that this
40:59was actually a good thing.
41:01So it could be that something bad
41:02happens to you.
41:03It looks like a bad thing.
41:05And not too long later you realize that
41:07it's what?
41:09It's a good thing. You got a flat tire
41:11on the highway, you had to pull over to
41:12the side and you're like an hour stuck
41:15and then you get get the news that 30
41:17seconds ahead of you there was a massive
41:19car accident, 20 cars crashed, a lot of
41:21people died and you're like,
41:23that was the best flat tire of my life.
41:26Right?
41:27Cuz you'll find out immediately that
41:29that was a good thing.
41:30But it may be that something bad happens
41:33and you never get to find out that it
41:35was a good thing, which is going to be
41:37the next

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