Reflections on Surah Al-Kahf — Lesson 3

Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.

Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.

And the fullest, most perfect blessings and peace.

Upon the one sent as a mercy to all beings.

And upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows.

So this is the third session.

From the sessions of this course which I ask Allah ﷻ to bless.

And we remain.

With the second reflection.

of the overall reflections on Surah al-Kahf.

Namely, that in Surah al-Kahf.

An explanation of the means of safety from the evils of tribulations.

And it was already mentioned that there are general means.

By them the Muslim is saved by Allah's leave.

from all the evils of fitan.

and by them he stays on the straight path.

And that there are means of safety from the evils of some trials.

So among the means of safety from tribulation is knowledge.

That a Muslim seek knowledge from the scholars.

And refer back to the scholars.

And not oppose the people of knowledge.

Being fooled by appearances.

And not base knowledge on his own reason.

And that he be patient.

To be patient with what he finds on the path of seeking knowledge.

And also be patient with the teacher.

Be patient and do not be hasty.

This is evident in the story of Musa AS.

And his journey, though he was a prophet of Allah.

in seeking knowledge. When he learned, AS.

that there was a man with knowledge he did not have, so he set out to seek it.

And he showed patience in doing so.

And with what happened to him with al-Khidr.

The third reflection in the overall contemplation.

In Surah al-Kahf, all good is in following those who follow the messengers.

and adhering to their path and taking their inheritance.

Which is knowledge.

Good lies in knowledge and learning.

And trials are only stoked by the devils of jinn and men.

and keep them from following the truth though it and its proofs are clear.

It is pride and following Satan. Allah ﷻ said.

"And We send the messengers only as bringers of good tidings and warners."

"And those who disbelieve dispute by falsehood to undermine the truth."

"And they took My signs and warnings in mockery."

The fourth reflection.

The foundations of goodness and its pillars are four.

The foundations of goodness and what goodness is built on.

And the pillars of goodness are four.

The first is soundness in religion through tawhid.

And righteous deeds and remaining steadfast in it.

This is the first of the pillars. It is their chief and condition.

So goodness cannot exist at all.

Only through soundness in religion.

And righteousness in religion is only through tawhid.

That Allah ﷻ be singled out in His Lordship.

and in His sole right to be worshipped and in His names and attributes.

And it is through righteous deeds.

And with the religion being sound, there must be steadfastness on it.

The religion itself must be sound.

And the servant is upright in religion.

So when the religion is upright for him.

And he takes the religion as transmitted from Muhammad ﷺ.

Then he must be steadfast.

in his faith.

This requires faith and guidance.

Guidance means that a person pursues the means to it.

And be keen to act, and put religion above all else.

If this is achieved.

This great pillar is attained.

Faith is indispensable.

A person needs guidance, and must take the means to it.

Among its means is seeking knowledge.

And be eager to act.

By being keen to obey Allah with light from Allah, seeking His reward.

And that he leaves disobeying Allah with light from Allah.

Fearing Allah's punishment.

If his foot slips, let him hasten to repentance and turning back.

And returning to Allah ﷻ.

And be keen to erase his sins with many good deeds.

And along with that, he should be keen on good character with people.

As the Prophet ﷺ said: "Fear Allah wherever you are."

"And follow a bad deed with a good one; it erases it."

"And treat people with good character."

Religion must come before everything else.

And this is very evident in the story of the People of the Cave.

And the second pillar is wealth.

and acquiring it well, and spending it properly.

The second pillar of goodness is wealth, for Allah made wealth a support.

And it must involve

Properly earning it and spending it well.

This too requires striving against the self.

Indeed, wealth has a great effect on the soul.

And the hardest thing for the soul is what relates to wealth.

And when money comes, rationalizations come.

So the matter requires striving against the self.

And adhering to what Allah loves in this matter.

And this is clear in the story of the two men.

I mean this pillar, this component of goodness, which is wealth.

by earning it lawfully.

And that he spend it well and properly is evident in the story of the two men.

The third of the supports and pillars of goodness is knowledge.

So goodness needs knowledge.

For knowledge is the path to knowing what is good.

And knowledge comes before goodness and before speech and action.

And this also requires humility.

The arrogant is deprived of knowledge.

And the absence of envy.

So that he seeks knowledge from one he knows has useful knowledge.

No matter how much knowledge he has.

And that a person realizes that no matter how much knowledge he attains.

Above every level of knowledge is one who knows more.

Above everyone who knows is one who knows more.

And the seeker of knowledge should entrust the reins

to trusted scholars

Even if he thinks contrary to what they say.

People remain well so long as they follow their scholars.

But if they oppose their scholars, evil will come upon them.

This is clear in the story of Musa AS with al-Khidr AS.

And the fourth element.

And the fourth pillar of goodness is authority.

No good can endure among people until their lives are stable.

And their lives will not be stable until they have a leader.

And they have an amir and they have a ruler.

For that reason, the scholars agreed. Rather, wise people of every creed did.

It is obligatory to appoint a ruler.

And people's welfare cannot be set right except under a leader.

And this is the component.

And it is one of the pillars of goodness.

It relates to the subjects and ruler.

As for the ruler, that his governance be a pillar of goodness.

He must strive for what is best.

And work for people's happiness in ways that do not harm them.

And that he should strive to benefit the subjects and take the means for it.

As for what concerns the subjects.

This requires hearing and obeying without disobeying Allah ﷻ.

and intense eagerness.

to preserve the ruler's authority.

and to treat him as befits his rank.

This is evident in the story of Dhul-Qarnayn.

Thus, Surah al-Kahf explains these foundations of goodness.

How badly people need to grasp this truth.

And what each pillar needs. If only people realized.

This matter: people would live well.

And many evils would be averted.

The fifth pause in the overall reflection.

In Surat al-Kahf, the true life is the life of the Hereafter.

And this world is a passing place, not a permanent home.

And a place to take provisions for the Hereafter.

So this world, with its adornment, is ever-changing.

Quick to vanish, and its adornment does not last.

Rather, either it departs from a person.

Or the person departs from it.

And what remains for a person is his deeds.

It is his companion in this world.

And it is his companion in his grave.

And on Judgment Day, he is repaid for it.

It leads to Paradise or the Fire. We seek refuge with Allah.

And when the monotheist enters Paradise by Allah's grace.

Then his rank in Paradise will be according to his deeds.

And a person's good lies in what pleases the Most Merciful in speech.

or deed.

Allah ﷻ said.

«And present to them the parable of worldly life».

«Like water We send down from the sky».

«Then the earth's vegetation mingles with it and becomes dry stubble».

"scattered by the winds. And Allah is over all things Able."

"Wealth and children are the adornment of worldly life."

"But the lasting good deeds are better with your Lord in reward and hope."

“And on the Day We move the mountains, and you see the earth laid bare.”

“And We gather them, leaving none out.”

“And they are presented to your Lord in rows.”

"You have certainly come to Us just as We created you the first time."

"But you claimed that We would never make for you an appointment."

"The Record will be placed, you will see criminals fear its contents."

"And they will say: Woe to us!"

"What is with this Book? It leaves out nothing small or great but counts it."

"And they will find what they did present, and your Lord wrongs no one."

These, dear brothers, are universal themes in Surat al-Kahf.

And as I said earlier.

Anyone who wants to ponder the Quran should first examine the surah's aims.

And in the surah's overall themes.

And link that to the verses that indicate it.

Thereby he gains comprehensive reflection.

And he will benefit from that greatly.

For general principles are most beneficial for a Muslim.

What most benefits a Muslim is mastering general principles.

For if he masters the general principles.

It becomes easy for him to refer the particulars back to them.

As for the detailed reflection on Surah al-Kahf.

We will not cover everything in the surah.

Rather, we will pause at matters of the highest importance.

The first reflection is on praise.

The phrase "Praise be to Allah" comes from Allah.

It also comes from Allah's servants. Praise be to Allah.

It comes from Allah. And it comes from the servants of Allah.

Allah's praise of Himself is His extolling of Himself

and His Exalted Essence for His immense blessings.

And Allah's praise of Himself for a blessing.

This shows that blessing's greatness, honor, and merit.

It also indicates the great impact of that blessing.

If Allah ﷻ praises Himself for a blessing, know its great virtue.

And know how great its impact is, and how great its honor is.

As for the servant's praise of Allah.

It is praising Allah with love and exaltation.

Praise to Allah from Allah's servants is their praise of their Lord.

with their love and veneration so it is necessary.

Praise must include love and reverence.

For if praise lacks love and reverence, it is commendation, not hamd.

It is commendation, not hamd.

Commendation may not come from love.

Nor may it come from veneration.

Both, then, are forms of praise.

And they differ: hamd must include veneration and love.

But commendation need not do so.

If a servant praises with love and reverence, that is hamd.

And if one's praise lacks love and reverence, it is only commendation.

So your praise of Allah is your praising Him for this blessing.

With love for Him and reverence. This is what you should keep in mind.

So if you eat a meal and praise Allah ﷻ for it.

So this means that you praise Allah for this blessing.

with love for your Lord and reverence for Him ﷻ.

So our Lord ﷻ says in the first verse:

“Praise be to Allah, Who sent down the Book to His Servant.”

“and made no crookedness in it. It is straight.”

Praise from Allah.

Of Himself ﷻ for these two great blessings.

The blessing of sending Muhammad Allah's servant and Messenger.

And the blessing of revealing the Qur'an.

The best messenger ever sent was Muhammad ﷺ.

And the best book sent down is the Qur'an.

The one granted success is he who combines the light of Qur'an and Sunnah.

and praises Allah ﷻ for this blessing.

As Allah ﷻ said.

Just as We sent among you a messenger from yourselves,

Reciting to you Our verses and purifying you.

And teaching you the Book and wisdom.

And teaching you what you did not

know.

And Allah ﷻ said: Indeed, Allah has favored the believers

when He sent among them their own Messenger, reciting to them

"His verses, purifying them, and teaching them the Book and wisdom."

"Though before they were in clear error."

And wisdom is the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

When the servant praises Allah for His blessings.

And he pairs this praise with love and reverence.

And when he praises Allah for a blessing.

Then that indicates its merit.

And its great honor.

The second point.

Allah's description of the Qur'an as straight.

And as free of any crookedness.

This means that it guides to Allah's straight path.

And leads to the desired goal.

And it contains pure goodness.

There is nothing objectionable in it.

Not in its wording nor in its meanings.

So the Quran is straight.

And what is straight is what leads to the goal.

There is no crookedness in it. The scholars said.

Allah ﷻ described the Quran with these two qualities.

And the Quran is His speech ﷻ.

Because something may appear straight.

But if a person pondered it and reflected on it.

he would find in it some crookedness.

So when Allah ﷻ described the Qur'an as upright, that is, straight.

And He negated crookedness from it.

It became clear that the Quran has no crookedness in it, apparent or hidden.

And that the more a person reflects on the Qur'an.

the more certain he becomes of the Qur'an's uprightness.

The third reflection: the function of the Noble Qur'an.

And the role of the Messenger ﷺ is to give glad tidings and warnings.

It is a call to goodness.

and explaining what Allah ﷻ has prepared in blessings for the righteous.

and forbidding evil and warning of Allah ﷻ's punishment.

for whoever takes the evil path.

Allah ﷻ said.

"All praise is for Allah, who sent down the Book to His Servant.

and made no crookedness in it.

“Straight, to warn of severe punishment from Him.”

Some scholars said this refers back to the Quran.

And some scholars said this refers to His servant and Messenger ﷺ.

And the principle:

Whatever the Quran can bear, with no contradiction in it.

Then it is taken to include them all.

So this refers to the Quran.

And it refers to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

"Straight, to warn of severe punishment from Him.

and to give good tidings to believers who do righteous deeds.

that they will have a good reward."

"Wherein they abide forever."

"And to warn those who say, 'Allah has taken a son.'"

The one granted success among the followers of Muhammad ﷺ.

is the one who undertakes this duty.

Whoever undertakes this duty.

Then he is keen to enjoin what is right in a proper way.

And forbidding wrong without wrongdoing.

He was keen to guide people to goodness and encourage them in it.

and clarifying evil to the people.

and warning them of it.

following the path of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

This is the way of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

Say, "This is my way: I call to Allah with...".

"Clear insight: I and those who follow me."

"Glory be to Allah ﷻ. And I am not of the polytheists."

This is the way of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

And the role of Allah's Messenger ﷺ.

Successful are men and women who walk the path of Allah's Messenger ﷺ.

The fourth reflection: the claims of the disbelievers.

And the atheists, no matter how they embellish them.

They claim to believe in science.

All of it is lies and slander.

Revelation proves it false. Reason refutes it.

By Allah, no matter what atheists claim.

that they believe in abstract science.

Then their speech is a lie.

And disbelievers' words, in general, are lies and falsehood.

Allah ﷻ said.

"They have no knowledge of it, nor did their fathers."

"Grave is the word that comes out of their mouths."

"They say nothing but a lie."

So they say nothing but lies.

Therefore the believers must know that the disbelievers.

They will never guide them to any good.

As long as they speak against religion.

By Allah, whatever opposes religion.

The disbelievers' words are false, evil, and bring no good.

Today they live in moral and intellectual decline.

They call people to what they call rights.

which in reality is disobedience. It is falsehood and evil.

Anyone who reflects on it will see this.

Their speech that contradicts Allah's religion.

A Muslim must be certain it is false and a lie.

And even if they say things with their tongues.

They are lying, and they know that they are lying.

The fifth reflection.

Allah willing, at quarter past eight, we'll stop, Allah willing.

The one who calls to Allah and to what is good.

He occupies himself with his duty and cares to complete it.

And improve it and beautify it.

Nor should he concern himself with enabling guidance.

For he does not possess it. Nor does any creature.

As Allah ﷻ said.

"You cannot guide whom you love, but Allah guides whom He wills."

"And He knows best those who are guided."

And being preoccupied with it.

It distracts from guiding others.

And it negatively affects the caller himself.

And it destroys him.

And it harms him and harms his health for no benefit.

Part of dawah etiquette.

The caller to Allah should only answer for what is required of him.

And he should not concern himself with what lies beyond that.

He must not busy himself.

With those who listen to him and those who do not.

He should not concern himself with his words' effect, even if he wants.

for people to benefit from his words.

Allah ﷻ said in the sixth verse.

"Then perhaps you would kill yourself over them."

"If they do not believe in this message, out of sorrow."

Perhaps you would kill yourself. Meaning: destroy yourself.

over them because they did not believe in this message.

And were not guided to goodness.

You may destroy yourself in grief over them, and in sorrow over them.

A Muslim may not destroy himself.

This clarifies the path

that the caller to Allah ﷻ should follow.

Part of the etiquette learned here is that

One who calls to Allah should not focus on people's reactions.

Nor on what they say.

To find people agreeing with you is difficult.

What is required of you is only to speak the truth.

And say what is good in the right way.

Therefore, our scholars consider this part of da'wah etiquette.

Do not preoccupy yourself.

with people's responses to what you say.

not with praise, lest it delude you; nor with blame, lest it crush you.

Therefore.

Among the sayings that Imam al-Albani RH used to repeat.

He would say, 'Say your word and move on.'

Say your piece and move on. Don't preoccupy yourself with people.

And this is a matter of great importance.

Perhaps we'll stop at this point.

We will continue tomorrow, Allah willing.

In sessions after Asr, after Maghrib, and after Isha.

Answering the questions, Allah willing, will be at the end of the session.

Or in the last session, if Allah wills—that is, tomorrow after Isha.

I ask Allah ﷻ to accept from everyone and to make these gatherings.

among what pleases Him about us, and what delights us when we meet Him.

Allah ﷻ is Most High and All-Knowing. Peace and blessings on our Prophet ﷺ.