Summary: The lecture was given on May 18, 2012, in San Antonio,TX. Lecture begins with insights from Surah Kahf, relating the downfall of a previous nation and comparing it to the mistakes Muslims make today. Continues and concludes with re-establishing our relationship with the Quran, realising it is a conversation between Allah and us, and practical tips to strengthen that connection.<br> <br> Our Relationship with the Quran<br> by Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan<br> Assalam o Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatu.<br> I want to start by saying that I am extremely happy and very excited to be here, Alhamdulillah.<br> It’s always good to meet new Muslims and see new faces, Alhamdulillah. We (myself and<br> students travelling with me) make lots of dua that Allah blesses this Masjid with unity, more and<br> more successful programs, and that you have something to offer to the women of this<br> community, and youth of this community, and children of this community, the elders of this<br> community, and that Allah brings the light of Islam to the greater area in this region through the<br> House of Allah.<br> I wanted to use this opportunity to talk to you about a surah that I’ve been meaning to talk about<br> for some time and share some blessings with you from the beginning of Surah Kahf. I’ll also<br> share some insights that some great scholars of the past have had with this remarkable surah.<br> Obviously, this is a great occasion to talk about Surah Kahf. A lot of scholars have talked about<br> this surah and it’s particularly relevant on Friday – anyone know why? Why specifically Friday’s<br> a good day to talk about this surah? It’s part of the Sunnah of the Prophet (pbuh) and part of it is<br> tradition, where different ahadith have mentioned reading either part of Surah Kahf, or all of it,<br> before the Friday prayer (Jum’a). Of those various instructions and teachings of the Prophet<br> (PBUH), is the idea that this surah has to do with protecting us from the fitna of Dajjal. So it has<br> something to do with protecting us from future troubles and difficulties. When you study those<br> ahadith, on an overview you do learn of some great trial, great war, great trouble that is coming<br> the way of humanity. You also learn of the great clash to come between the forces of good and<br> forces of evil before the world itself comes to an end and the entire saga of humanity is finished.<br> If those are the greatest wars to ever fall against humanity and the greatest troubles to ever come<br> to humanity, this surah offers somehow protection and counsel and preparedness to deal with<br> some of those greater struggles. The idea is that if you can prepare for those greater struggles,<br> you can deal with the troubles you are facing now too, before that time.<br> In the very beginning of this surah, Allah offers a really interesting warning. After describing the<br> greatness of the Quran, which we’ll talk about in a second, Allah gives us one of the reasons for<br> which this Book was sent:<br> <br> -to warn those that say Allah has taken a son. It’s very interesting as a chronology in the Quran<br> that Surah Israa, also called Surah Bani Israel, is the one right before this Surah. In the previous<br> surah, Allah talks in some length about Jewish history and the history of the previous nation that<br> was Muslim. From the ahadith of the Prophet (pbuh), we learn that this Surah has something to<br> do with the future of these Muslims - in other words, the past of the former Muslims, and then<br> the future of the current Muslims. It’s like a timeline that’s been created in these two surahs<br> together.<br> Now, in this surah specifically, Allah warns those who say that He has taken a son. He says<br> <br> One of the functions of this Book is to warn those who say Allah has taken a son. These are the<br>
