Nouman Ali Khan

Hypocrisy Nifaq

If You Are Grateful I Will Give You More

Worldly Success And Advices To Qarun

Khutbah 10.2012

The Qurans Remedy For Sadness

Bismillah (Q: What is your opinion about working with the Tablighi Jamaat?) Ans: My opinion on the matter is first of all I respect all movements and jamaats and for the Tablighi Jamaat I have tremendous respect. I also believe that going in the path of Allah takes different shapes and forms and that’s one of them. The whole point of today’s endeavour (series of lectures) was to encourage the Muslim youth to be involved in at least something. The deen requires us to be concerned with more than just ourselves. I t requires us to be concerned with others, so inshalah in whatever way that manifests itself I would highly encourage you to get involved. Q. Does your advice apply to the teacher-student role or just t the leadership-follower role? Q. How do I balance keeping my followers/students disciplined while applying all the nice leadership you gave? Some of the advice is universal and can apply to the teacher student but some of it doesn’t. But the leadership advice for you as a teacher does apply. For example the ability to be patient with students and working with them and finding the balance between courtesy and authority. This is because a leader at the end of the day is an authority, but he has to exercise it such a way that it doesn’t feel authoritative. The use of the word ameer in Arabic is very instructive in this regard. There are three words for this; amir, ammar and ameer. Amir is someone who commands you. Ammar is someone who keeps telling you what to do and ameer is someone who doesn’t tell you what to do, but you obey him anyway. It is an adjective which means they are in a position of authority but they don’t have to open their mouth for people to obey them; that’s what a real ameer is. So by the linguistic definition ameer means someone who doesn’t give a lot of instructions, they are followed anyway. That is the quality of a good leader. He doesn’t have to tell what people should do because out of respect for that leadership they do it anyway. But developing that relationship of respect takes time. We should try to strike a balance between becoming too chummy and friendly with students and the same time not becoming too harsh with them either. There is a very thin line between those two. Q. What is the best way to talk to or advise someone who may take your words as an attack on his beliefs and ways? Is dua the best option then to help them out? Look telling somebody about what wrong they are doing especially in family, you have to be direct; you can’t beat around the bush. But you have to be subtle at the same time, you have to find tact but at the end of the day the truth hurts and people are going to be offended, I mean there’s no way around that one. There isn’t going to be a nicer human being on earth than the Prophet (s) and even his family was extremely offended by Islam. So sorry that just comes with telling the truth, people’s feelings are hurt and they are offended by things you say but you have to maintain a respectful posture and you shouldn’t say those things over and over again. Find a good time to say it. If it works out, it works out, if it doesn’t just let it go. You don’t know when you say something to somebody maybe they don’t respond to you right away or respond negatively right away but the words stick in their mind and it takes them a year, six months or whatever and then those same words that you said to them may click. Everybody works on their own clock. So you do whatever best you can do and don’t worry about changing people because that comes from Allah’s azwajal. Q. What advice would you give MSA leaders who are facing bad najwa in their shura or facing differing opinions? Q. How would you deal with a shura person who does nothing you ask him to do? Ans: Listen to this series that should help a little. Other than that you cannot do much but be patient because these kinds of problems e...

[Joseph] said, "Appoint me over the storehouses of the land. Indeed, I will be a knowing guardian." (12:55) Al-Kahf:28 And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect. (18:28) Al-Hijr 87-88 And We have certainly given you, [O Muhammad], seven of the often repeated [verses] and the great Qur'an. Do not extend your eyes toward that by which We have given enjoyment to [certain] categories of the disbelievers, and do not grieve over them. And lower your wing to the believers. (15:87-8) Sura Shuara 215-220 And lower your wing to those who follow you of the believers. And if they disobey you, then say, "Indeed, I am disassociated from what you are doing." And rely upon the Exalted in Might, the Merciful, Who sees you when you arise And your movement among those who prostrate. Indeed, He is the Hearing, the Knowing. (26:215-220) Aale-Imran :159 So by mercy from Allah , [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah . Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]. Trustworthy and Fit For The Job The first ayat recited belongs to Sura Yusuf. Yusuf (as) come out of prison as a result of interpreting dreams and when he was brought before the king not only did he establish his innocence but he actually presented his resume. Yusuf (as) actually asked for the job. He wasn’t given the job, he asked for it. He basically said, ‘Make me the treasurer. I would like to be the treasury secretary of Egypt, and here’s why; ‘Innee Hafeezun Ameen.’ ‘First of all I’ll guard this responsibility meaning, I’ll take it seriously and I won’t sleep on the job. I won’t have lame duck sessions in my congress. I’ll be honest about my job and I know what I am doing. The current guys around you are a bunch of jokers, they will make a mess of this issue and it will create a fiscal crisis and people will die. So I need to take care of this business and I’ am qualified to handle it.’ Confidence So leadership is essentially about confidence. Too little and it’s not leadership but too much confidence and you have arrogance. But I before you take up a leadership role you need to understand that you and I are essentially abd or slaves to Allah which is the lowest position you can have. But when you realize that Allah has given you certain talents and abilities then it is your duty as a slave to use those talents to the best of your abilities. And if that means you have to take a position of leadership, so be it. If nobody is going to stand up and take the job, you have to take the job. That is not arrogance or greed but being true to what Allah has given you. Arrogance is when you are obsessed with holding your title or post and can’t let it go. The motivation Yusuf (a.s) has for leadership is because it is going to save lives not because he likes the treasury secretary or minister of finance post. He’s not in it for the titles. He wants to save lives. That’s true leadership. Not being in it for its own sake but for the sake of providing a service. If you truly believe you have something to offer in leadership, go for it. Allah has created some of you natural born leaders. Kids cut class when you cut class in school. You are a leader. People go to the restaurant you suggest. They don’t go to any other.

In The Name of Allah The Most Merciful, The Most Kind This session is based on verses 7 to 11 from Sura Mujadila. 58:7 Have you not considered that Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on the earth? There is in no private conversation three but that He is the fourth of them, nor are there five but that He is the sixth of them - and no less than that and no more except that He is with them [in knowledge] wherever they are. Then He will inform them of what they did, on the Day of Resurrection. Indeed Allah is, of all things, Knowing. 58:8 Have you not considered those who were forbidden from private conversation, then they return to that which they were forbidden and converse among themselves about sin and aggression and disobedience to the Messenger (s)? And when they come to you, they greet you with that [word] by which Allah does not greet you and say among themselves, "Why does Allah not punish us for what we say?" Sufficient for them is Hell, which they will [enter to] burn, and wretched is the destination. 58:9 O you who have believed, when you converse privately, do not converse about sin and aggression and disobedience to the Messenger (s) but converse about righteousness and piety. And fear Allah , to whom you will be gathered. 58:10 Private conversation is only from Satan that he may grieve those who have believed, but he will not harm them at all except by permission of Allah . And upon Allah let the believers rely. 58:11 O you who have believed, when you are told, "Space yourselves" in assemblies, then make space; Allah will make space for you. And when you are told, "Arise," then arise; Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do. Najwa This session is about something which destroys Islamic work and that is Najwa. Najwa is mentioned a couple of times in this passage from Sura Mujadila. Before we start the discussion let’s talk about the essence of najwa. Najwa means secret discussions with malicious intentions. How does Najwa develop? Sub-Groups Essentially in any organization there is a tendency for sub-groups to develop. Let us suppose there are six people in a committee and three of them are very close friends. So the six meet every week but three of them have dinner afterwards because they are close friends. And during the dinner they discuss the same things that were discussed in the meeting and share more opinions about it. What happens then is that you have a sub-group forming within the main group because they discuss a lot more with each and their opinion becomes solid so when they come to the meeting they already have a single opinion and they are very defensive about that. And anything that comes up against their way or opinion, they deflect it. So they have becomes like a lobby. What this does is that it disperses the unity and frankness of the gathering and of the decision-making and it cuts away at shura (mutual consultation) because in shura everybody has an equal access to give an opinion and everybody shares their opinion on the same platform. They do not meet afterwards and form blocs on the outside. This forming of a bloc on the outside is najwa. The linguistic meaning of najwa is to get away from or escape from the main body and become an independent entity. So a private meeting for malicious or evil purposes is what najwa is. Evil Assemblies Surah Al-fath talks about najwa that is catastrophic. That can destroy Islamic work. It can destroy the Islamic school, the masjid, or any organization. Because a few people discuss things which they should not discuss so they are breaking a trust because such meetings and what is discussed in them are a form of trust. So najwa violates that trust.

Giving and taking opinions in an organization O you who have believed, whoever of you should revert from his religion - Allah will bring forth [in place of them] a people He will love and who will love Him [who are] humble toward the believers, powerful against the disbelievers; they strive in the cause of Allah and do not fear the blame of a critic. That is the favor of Allah ; He bestows it upon whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.(Maida:54) So whatever thing you have been given - it is but [for] enjoyment of the worldly life. But what is with Allah is better and more lasting for those who have believed and upon their Lord rely. (Shuara:36) And those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, and when they are angry, they forgive, (Shuara:37) And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they spend. (Shuara:38) This session is about voicing your concern or opinion in an organization. You have a concern or an opinion that you’d like to give about something. What are the guidelines that we have to follow when we give our opinion? What are the ethics of giving our opinion? The first of the verses I would like to share with you in relation to this are from Sura Maida, ‘Those who have iman if anyone goes back on their religion Allah will replace them and Allah will bring another nation He will love them and they will love him. They will be extremely humble to the believers and severe against the disbelievers.’ (42:54) So before we give our opinion we must know what it means to be humble in our interaction with other believers. The Arabic word for humility comes from the word zulala. Zulala is what you walk over, for example a rug. So we have to let other believers walk over us. In other words we have to be extremely humble in our interactions with other believers but extremely tough with the enemy. Understand the context of this sura; victory of Islam has just happened. Makkah has just been conquered. We have to be tough with the Kafireen. Because they are working all out to stamp out the new Islamic state. That’s the attitude. But then Allah adds in relation to the topic of giving your opinion; ‘They struggle for the sake of Allah and they don’t fear the blame of anyone who casts blame.’ Please listen carefully. It says, ‘They don’t fear the blame of anyone who blames them.’ That is the criticism of anyone who criticizes them when they voice their opinion. They don’t look around and say, ‘What are people going to say if I say this? It’s in my conscious. I can’t sit on it. I feel like it’s wrong and I should say something but everybody around me is going to think I am weirdo or I’m a trouble maker or I’m causing problems so I should just stay quiet.’ No you shouldn’t just stay quiet. This peer pressure thing this is against the ethics in an organization. This is because organizations tend to develop momentum once they start going in a direction and they go full steam ahead. At that time you and your good conscious realize that there is something wrong with this direction but you don’t voice your opinion because everybody is too excited about continuing to go. Maybe it’s not the best direction but the train’s already left the station so to say. You should and you have to voice your concern no matter what other people say. You have to be courageous about voicing your opinion, but you don’t have to be a punk about it either. You don’t have to make trouble at a meeting by saying things like, ‘What we are doing is hypocrisy.’ There are respectful ways of voicing your opinion. There are decent ways like saying, ‘Look I am not too comfortable with this, I don’t mean to be trouble and I don’t want to be offensive but how can we justify this.’ This doesn’t seem right to me.

WMWT-3 VOLUNTEER DISCIPLINE Bismillahirrahmanarraheem The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger and, when they are [meeting] with him for a matter of common interest, do not depart until they have asked his permission. Indeed, those who ask your permission, [O Muhammad] - those are the ones who believe in Allah and His Messenger. So when they ask your permission for something of their affairs, then give permission to whom you will among them and ask forgiveness for them of Allah. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Sura Nur:62) Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day would not ask permission of you to be excused from striving with their wealth and their lives. And Allah is Knowing of those who fear Him. (Sura Taubah:44) Only those would ask permission of you who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day and whose hearts have doubted, and they, in their doubt, are hesitating. (Sura Taubah:45) And if they had intended to go forth, they would have prepared for it [some] preparation. But Allah disliked their being sent, so He kept them back, and they were told, "Remain [behind] with those who remain." Recitation of above verses and praises to Allah. In order to introduce this session I am going to share with you two passages which at first seem to contradict each other. I am going to read a part of the translation of an ayat from Sura Nur verse 62, then I am going to read something from sura Taubah ayats nos 44 to 45 and and it will seem as if they are saying the exact opposite of each other. So let’s start with, Sura Nur. It says, ‘Those who are asking you permission are in fact the ones who believe in Allah and his messenger.’ Surah Taubah says, ‘Those who believe in Allah and the last day, don’t ask your permission,’ and it goes further, ‘those who are asking your permission they don’t believe in Allah and the last day.’ Surah Nur says, ‘Those who ask your permission those are the ones who have imaan.’ Surah Taubah says, ‘Those who ask you permission are the ones who have no imaan!’ Then there is another contradiction, ‘If they ask you (to be excused) for whatever issue they have, don’t give them permission!’ Surah Nur says, ‘If they ask for permission, it’s a sign of imaan and if they are asking (to be excused) for an important matter, give them permission.’ Surah Taubah says, ‘May Allah forgive you, why did you give them permission?’ Surah Nur says, ‘Give them permission.’ Sura Taubah says, ‘Why did you do it?’ Surah Nur says, ‘If they ask permission that’s Imaan.’ Surah Taubah says, ‘They have no imaan.’ All these seem like contradictions. Opposite commands. How do we make sense of them and how are they related to Islamic work? Both passages are to do with seeking permission or an excuse from Islamic work. We are discussing them because they represent some of the most beautiful examples of Quranic wisdom on the issue of seeking permission from Muslim leadership. Now this first one in Sura Nur is awesome. The first part says, ‘The believers are only those kinds of people who have faith in Allah his Rasul (s). Whenever they are with him on some collective mission, (some task or some project and it’s talking about the companions of the prophet (s) may Allah be pleased with them) that is when they go with him on some mission or he assigns them to some mission or he assigns them to go scout some area or speak to some tribe or whatever and he sends five, six or ten or whatever number of them and he gave them a task it could be any task it doesn’t have to be military in nature. It could be any task. ‘They would not abandon (or leave) that task until they asked permission of the Prophet(s). As can be seen, this passage has great benefit particularly for us because it refers to any collective task. Let’s push that in to contemporary times and imagine we are in a...

In The Name of Allah The Most Merciful, The Most Kind 22:73 O people, an example is presented, so listen to it. Indeed, those you invoke besides Allah will never create [as much as] a fly, even if they gathered together for that purpose. And if the fly should steal away from them a [tiny] thing, they could not recover it from him. Weak are the pursuer and pursued. 22:74 They have not appraised Allah with true appraisal. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might. 22:75 Allah chooses from the angels, messengers and from the people. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Seeing. 22:76 He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them. And to Allah will be returned [all] matters. 22:77 O you, who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good so that you may succeed. 22:78 And strive for Allah with the striving due to Him. He has chosen you and has not placed upon you in the religion any difficulty. [It is] the religion of your father, Abraham. Allah named you "Muslims" before [in former scriptures] and in this [revelation] that the Messenger may be a witness over you and you may be witnesses over the people. So establish prayer and give zakah and hold fast to Allah. He is your protector; and excellent is the protector, and excellent is the helper. Explanation This passage is inspired by the last part of Sura Hajj and in it we’ll talk about the big picture. The Fly This passage begins with an address to humanity; ‘Ya ahu hanaas duriba masalun, ‘Oh mankind an example has been given.’ The first verse is talking about Allah’s power and the weakness of the human being. Fastamoola hu-An example is about to be given so listen carefully. It is in the passive or majhool form. There is no mention of the faail or doer; the one who gave the example. It says an example was given.’ The purpose of using the passive is to conceal the subject or the doer. The reason for doing so is that Allah is talking to a hostile crowd. Humanity doesn’t want to hear anything from Allah. So instead of saying Allah gave an example because that would turn people off who are not prepared to listen. They would immediately say, ‘I don’t want to hear this. I’m not interested.’ In comparison the audience in Madni Quran was predominantly Muslim so in those verses Allah says, ‘Darb Allahu masalun.’ Allah mentions his name when addressing the believers. So we pay extra attention not less, but here Allah highlights the speech or the content instead of the speaker like the famous statement of Ali ® ‘We judge the speech, before we judge the speaker.’ It’s very hard to do by the way. Because as human beings we tend to look at who’s talking, then we listen to what they have to say. We look at all the peripherals and its very hard for us to look past that and hear that something very good is being said by an unlikely source. This is the same reason it is hard for the father of Ibraheem (as) as to accept what Ibraheem (as) is saying even if Ibraheem (as) is speaking the truth. Ibraheem (as)’s father is thinking, ‘He’s just a kid. How can I listen to a kid?’ What does he know?’ So the content is undermined because it is coming from an unlikely or unexpected source. That happens to us too but that’s not the point, the point is that Allah gives us an example, so we should listen to it carefully. ‘No doubt it those that you are calling upon other than Allah (meaning false Gods). They won’t be able to create a single fly even if they all got together for that purpose. So the example Allah gives is the powerlessness of idols and the powerlessness of false kings. Kings who claim themselves to be gods. This seems like a historical thing. Thousands of years ago there was a Firaun who said, ‘Anna Rebuke Alalaa’, ‘I am your Supreme Lord.

O you who have believed, do not violate the rites of Allah or [the sanctity of] the sacred month or [neglect the marking of] the sacrificial animals and garlanding [them] or [violate the safety of] those coming to the Sacred House seeking bounty from their Lord and [His] approval. But when you come out of ihram, then [you may] hunt. And do not let the hatred of a people for having obstructed you from al-Masjid al-Haram lead you to transgress. And cooperate in righteousness and piety, but do not cooperate in sin and aggression. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is severe in penalty. (5:2) Sahih International He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus - to establish the religion and not be divided therein. Difficult for those who associate others with Allah is that to which you invite them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]. (42:13) And they did not become divided until after knowledge had come to them - out of jealous animosity between themselves. And if not for a word that preceded from your Lord [postponing the penalty] until a specified time, it would have been concluded between them. And indeed, those who were granted inheritance of the Scripture after them are, concerning it, in disquieting doubt. (42:14) So to that [religion of Allah ] invite, [O Muhammad], and remain on a right course as you are commanded and do not follow their inclinations but say, "I have believed in what Allah has revealed of the Qur'an, and I have been commanded to do justice among you. Allah is our Lord and your Lord. For us are our deeds, and for you your deeds. There is no [need for] argument between us and you. Allah will bring us together, and to Him is the [final] destination." (42:15) The intention of these talks is to create a resource for Muslims who are involved in any kind of Islamic work whether that be at a masjid, a school, a charity organisation, a student society like MSA a youth group like Youth Club, a religious Jammat or any sort of collectivism. Every Muslim knows that the Quran is a book of guidance for us. What a lot of Muslims don’t realise is that the Quran doesn’t give us guidance on individual worship or personal matters but it has guidance on all aspects of life. So Allah (swt) doesn’t just give us guidance just at the individual level but also at the collective level. At the level of the community and communal works. So in the efforts we make as a community we have guidance in Allah’s book for that. So these lectures are a glimpse into that guidance and they should hopefully bring barka or blessing into that work. 3 Types of Struggles So this first session is the overview or the laying of the conceptual framework and I want to begin by saying that all human beings are essentially involved in a struggle and that struggle is on many levels. For example the struggle to survive, to earn a living. This struggle is also common to animals for example the bird leaves its nest to find food for itself and its chicks etc. Another struggle above this occurs when your immediate needs or basic necessities are met. Maybe it has to do your family, your neighbours your community etc. For example you want to reduce crime in your neighbourhood. You want to make sure there are enough stop signs on the streets of your locality and you approach your councillor or county official for these purposes. So you become involved at a community level and you struggle for something more than just your personal needs. Along these lines you may also have people with political concerns like working for disadvantaged groups. This is something not just limited just to Muslims but applies to most humans in general.. Then there’s a struggle beyond that.

Can Fly (Back to You, Allah)” As Salam o alaikum WA rahmatullahi WA barakatuhoo. Alhamdulillah rabbil alamin…Insha’Allah, before I share with you some things about the Ayah I have picked for this talk, I want to tell you guys something about myself and Imam Siraj. Back in college – this is like 98-99-2000 time when I used to be in an MSA in New York city in Burlington college and you know how MSA has club hours (we had club hours on Thursdays – and we’re in NY city, and of course this masjid is in Brooklyn so a couple of us guys would go on Wednesday night because we knew there was no way to catch Imam Siraj that time on the phone, it’s impossible, so, we used to go to Masjid-e-eTaqwa for Zuhr - cut a class or two and go (I’m not, I don’t recommend it), so we’d go before Zuhr up to the security desk (there’s a real, big security officer there, so we say. “Is the Imam there? We have to ask him something about our MSA.” So Zuhr comes and there’s no Imam Siraj, “Aright guys, let’s wait until Asar.” We wait until Asr, Maghreb, and imam’s here. “Imam Sahib we got to talk to you! We’ve been here since Zuhr. Could you please come to our program tomorrow? There’s going to be only 4 of us, but that doesn’t matter. Imam Siraj would consistently, every time we came – we dragged him, and he’d consistently come to our program even though there were only 4 people sitting there. It didn’t matter to him. He just did it for us. He was this father figure for us and ever since then (and this is before I could grow a beard, mind you, okay. So, ever since then, he’s been picking on me at conferences consistently. He does not stop. And he has the right to do it. I’m not complaining. He’ll be like, “I LOVE YOU Nouman, really, really love you. But this is easier on me. But you know what he’d used to do back in the day? I’d be sitting, back in the audience somewhere, and in the middle of his talk – out of nowhere – he’d say, “Where’s Nouman? I know you here!” Oh God! 1. But anyhow, what I wanted to talk to you about in these few minutes is Insha’Allah o Ta’Allah. I have to give you guys credit for picking the weirdest titles for speeches you know. You’ve beat the MSA and other conferences in strange titles. “I Believe I Can Fly?” Are you serious? First time I thought, is this going to be about drugs? What is it really about? And the title of these speeches apparently for me is I love you, bro. So, you can basically take that anywhere you can. But I’ll take it to what I think is an appropriate discussion, an important one especially for young Muslims. Some of the older Muslims here have suffered as a result of that understanding, and internalizing some of these things in their lives. Look, I say this in a lot of my talks but the most important relationships you have are the relationships that are not in public; the most important relationships you and I have are in our homes; in our private lives. Even if you have a great reputation outside but have a horrible relationship with your brother, your own sister, your own parents, your own close friends – you don’t have good relationships with them, you end up in an argument them very, very quickly, very easily you lose your temper with them, or they lose their temper with you. Or you notice that everyone in your family is upset with you for some reason. Then there is a problem; then it doesn’t matter what the people on the outside think of you. It’s all hollow; it’s all empty because those relationships are just of acquaintances. These are just people who know about you,

Blessed Guest: Quran and Ramadan

Ramadan, a gift for Muslims A discussion by Nouman ‘Ali Khan The month of Ramadhan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion. So whoever sights [the new moon of] the month, let him fast it; and whoever is ill or on a journey - then an equal number of other days. Allah intends for you ease and does not intend for you hardship and [wants] for you to complete the period and to glorify Allah for that [to] which He has guided you; and perhaps you will be grateful. As-salamu ‘alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. (Arabic). inshaAllah wa Ta’ala, this evening I like to share with you as some of you probably already deciphered some reminders that will help me and you prepare for Ramadan. Ramadan is around the corner and it’s a good time to remind ourself of some important lessons in regards to it. I hope to do three things in this talk with you today. The first of those things is probably the most ignored in the conversation about Ramadan. The placement of the ayat of the Ramadan in the Qur’an, the Qur’an talks about Ramadan in one place, Baqarah that’s it Surah Baqarah and only mentions it one time but where is it mentioned and how is it part of the greater teachings of Surah Baqarah? How is it connected to everything that’s followed? It’s almost like a combination of several things. So I wana share with you, how we get to this point in Baqarah. So we get a gain of little bit of a bigger prospective. So we understand that Ramadan of part of the larger lesson and larger wisdom that Allah A’zza Wa Jal revealed in His book. That’s the first thing I would like to do. The second thing I like to do, is pay attention to the ayat themselves and may be extrapolate some lessons from the ayah itself in the way in which Allah talks about Ramadan. We all know what the month is, what its significance is but I wana highlight exactly how Allah Himself talks about it and may be help ourselves drive some benefits from that. Finally I wana share with you that in this passage, the six ayat that are the entire section of the Qur’an on fasting. Like the entire wisdom of fasting and the month of fasting, all of it captured in these six ayat in Baqarah. Within these ayat there is a particular offering from Allah, There is a gift from Allah embedded inside. There is an opportunity. So I wana talk about that opportunity inshaAllah wa Ta’ala at the end. So those are the three things I wana share with you today. Surah Baqarah is divided basically in two conversations. It is the biggest Surah of Qur’an but it’s divided in to two conversations. One of them is previous nation and their mistakes. Overwhelmingly, the first half of Surah Baqarah talks about Banee Israil, the children of Israil and the mistake they made. So the Surah talks about two conversations. One “Banee Israil” and the other “The Muslims”. The first half of the Surah deals overwhelmingly with Banee Israil, the sons of israil. How Allah favored them, how many monumental mistakes they made. There was a whole list of counts, just like a criminal goes to court and they say you are being charged with a count of this crime, this crime, this crime etc and at the end when all the crimes are listed what comes after that in court? The verdict. So we are expecting at the end of entire conversation [conversations of Surah Baqarah], what’s the verdict. Within that list of crimes, I wana highlight one thing. The jews of Madina rejected the Prophet (saw) by overwhelming majority on the basis that he was not from children of israil. He was not from the son’s of israil. He was from the son’s of ismail. That was their final basis. But toward the end of the conversation with the jews, you know when the crimes were being listed, Allah says fine. You don’t think he is from the son’s of israil then ...