بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Allah praised the true believers in [8:2]:
He described them with three descriptions:
1) "الذين إذا ذكر الله وجلت قلوبهم"
When they hear about Allah, His magnificence and greatness, their hearts tremble out of fear of Him.
There are narrations of some of the Salaf falling sick out of fear when they used to recite the verses of torment. And yet we repeatedly read those verses, but it has absolutely no effect on us. This is how soft their hearts were in comparison to ours.
If one of them was told "اتق الله" he'd drop whatever wrong he was doing, whatever was in his hand, out of fear of Allah.
2) "و إذا تليت عليهم ءاياته زادتهم إيمانا"
Their faith increases when the verses of Allah are recited. They react towards the verses.
How?
a) When they recite the Quran, they recite it with firm belief and certainty that the Qur'an is the speech of Allah, -that Allah spoke with these words-, and whatever Allah said is the truth. There's not a single atom of doubt in their hearts.
b) Whenever they come across verses wherein there's a command or prohibition, they follow and abstain immediately.
This is how their faith increased.
There are some verses which don't have a command or prohibiton, so belief is sufficient. But whenever there's an order or a prohibiton, they believe and submit. Submission is an action - you have to react; you have to do something.
If you don't react, it means your faith hasn't increased, and there's a problem.
Ibn Uthaymeen said, "If you see yourself reciting the Qur'an and there's no effect on your heart, it means your heart is sick and needs to be cured - with faith"
You have to cure your heart before it dies. And if it dies, nothing can revive it again. This is a very serious sign.
Look at yourself when you read the Qur'an. You may read one page or two, but how much has your faith increased?
If you are affected by the Quran, you're a believer. If you're not, you have to check your faith.
3) "و على ربهم يتوكلون"
They rely on Allah in all their affairs.
Assess yourself with this verse.
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Q. We said that the Salaf used to finish the Qur'an in 3 days, 7 days, and one month maximum, but we also said that they didn't pass 10 verses without acting upon it. How do we reconcile?
A. They're a different set of verses. The scholars recommend that you have more than one Mus'haf; one for Tadabbur, another for your daily recitation, etc.
How do we make Tadabbur?
You can ponder over:
a) A complete Surah.
This was the way of the Salaf. They didn't study أجزاء, but full complete Surahs.
Next week we'll be doing سورة الانسان. From now, start reciting it and listening to it repeatedly, no less than 30 times. And while you listen, try to make note of the repeated words, the repeated names of Allah, etc.
b) التفسير الموضوعي
This is where you pick a certain topic, then read the Qur'an from beginning to end, recording the places where this topic is mentioned. Then you study the verses and the context it's mentioned individually.
You can do this with the Parables, the Stories of the Prophets, The descriptions of people, the types of hearts in the Qur'an, Prophet Muhammed ﷺ, the نفس, etc.
Tadabbur of the Qur'an is a very wide topic, there's no end to it. It'll take up your entire life.
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The Hypocrites in سورة التوبة
Hypocrisy is one of the most serious and destructive sickness of the heart. Allah prepared a painful torment for them, as He said in [4:138]:
This came in the context of the verses talking about the hypocrites allying with the disbelievers, seeking العزة.
Usually in Arabic, البشارة is used for good things. You wonder why it comes in this context. According to the interpreters, Allah uses it as a way of scorning the hypocrites.
What are the main causes of hypocrisy?
The main cause is weak belief in Allah and the Day of Judgement.
The hypocrites don't know who Allah is by His names and attributes. If they knew Him by His name العزيز, they wouldn't seek honour and strength from other than Him. If they knew He is الرقيب, they wouldn't show Islam openly and conceal disbelief in their hearts. But they're not aware that Allah is observing and watching their hearts. They either have weak knowledge or none at all.
Another cause of hypocrisy is love of the Dunya. The hypocrites care about people more than they care about Allah. They try to have a good image in front of people, and if it happened that they made a mistake, they would try their best to justify their wrong action; falsely swearing, etc.
We need to remind ourselves again and again that who we are in front of the people doesn't matter. The people's perception of us doesnt mean anything. It's who we are with Allah that matters.
Therefore, hypocrisy nullifies the deeds of the person. No matter how great the deed they're doing is, whether it's big projects, building Masjids, Allah won't accept it. Allah also forbade the Prophet ﷺ to pray on them if they die. It's to that extent they don't deserve it. This isn't something trivial.
It's not enough to just study and learn about the Characteristics of the Hypocrites without applying it to ourselves. We have to ponder, reflect, present the information to ourselves, and come out with actions.
What is the remedy?
1) Strengthen your faith. Learn about Allah, study His names in detail. This is very very important.
2) Take account of yourself in every situation.
Ask yourself if what you said or showed was in conformity with what is in your heart.
E.g. You said I love you, I miss you, to someone. Did you really miss her and do you really love her, or did you just say it out of courtesy? We say words like this constantly, but do we really mean it?
Take account of yourself. And don't ever give yourself excuses. This is a clear description of the hypocrites. Just ask Allah to forgive you, and repent.
3) Bring the greatness and watchfulness of Allah to your attention.
Allah's aware of what we are thinking now, He knows everything in detail. We're like open books to Allah.
Repeat these concepts to yourself, because we forget.
4) Seek refuge with Allah from hypocrisy.
The Prophet ﷺ used to say:
5) Remember the evil consequence of hypocrisy and constantly remind yourself of their descriptions in the Qur'an, and take the means avoid them.
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