Sūrat al-Zumar (39:1-4)
SESSION 1, DELIVERED ON 11/04/2018
There is nothing in Islamic forms and modes of worship that does not lead you to Allah ﷻ. ‘Ibādah in Islam is equal-opportunity.
In this lecture:
– Al-Dīn al-khālis (true faith)
-the ʿābid (ardent worshipper) and the ma’būd (Worshipped Being ﷻ)
– finding inner peace
– al-Wāhid (the One/Unique ﷻ)
– al-Qahhār (the All-Dominating ﷻ)
– the Word of Allah ﷻ and its recipient
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:5-6)
SESSION 2, DELIVERED ON 11/18/2018
The objective of creation is to serve the human being. This is something that the human being must observe.
In this lecture:
– the purpose of man
– Al-Ghaffār ﷻ (the All-Forgiving)
– submitting the intellect
– creation in Jannah and creation on earth
– acknowledging Tawḥīd (monotheism of God ﷻ)
– intellectual night and day
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:7-11)
SESSION 3, DELIVERED ON 11/25/2018
Allah’s ﷻ Divinity is independent of what human beings believe or do even as He ﷻ is pleased with their belief in Him ﷻ and displeased with their disbelief in Him ﷻ.
In this lecture:
– individual accountability
– the human conditions of distress and relief
– conflating the means with the Munʿim (Bestower)
– the onus of knowledge
– Lubb– the fruit of your ʿamāl (deeds)
– Taqwa (Allah ﷻ Consciousness) and ḥasanah (good deeds)
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:11-18)
SESSION 4, DELIVERED ON 12/02/2018
The object of worship should be one, and the reason for worship should also be one, namely ikhlās.
In this lecture:
– hidden shirk
– prophets (AS) as foremost Muslims
– the basis of leadership in Islam
– manifest loss and the Muslim worldview
– the language of indhār
– the layers of taqwā
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:19-22)
SESSION 5, DELIVERED ON 12/09/2018
The Qurʾān encourages and exhorts human beings to goodness. Honor for those who heed Allah’s ﷻ promise is in this life and the Hereafter.
In this lecture:
– the promise of Allah ﷻ
– creation as a vehicle to reach the Creator ﷻ
– true intellectual freedom
– Tawḥīd in telling the Artist from the art
– the mood and mode of submission
– dhikr and ghaflah (heedlessness)
– the most active act of submission
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:23-25)
SESSION 6, DELIVERED ON 12/16/2018
Allah ﷻ reveals and the prophet ﷺ repeats. And when the prophet ﷺ repeats, Allah ﷻ responds to his recitation.
In this lecture:
– the best of discourses
– the effects of recitation
–khashyah (subservience of Allah ﷻ)
– punishment as an effect of sin
– active submission
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:27-31)
SESSION 7, DELIVERED ON 12/23/2018
Human beings can’t match the Speech of Allah ﷻ because their knowledge and imagination is limited.
In this lecture:
– Eternal Speech
– the coining of similitudes
– Arabic as the Divine choice for the Qurʾān
– Taqwā (Cognizance of Allah ﷻ) and intellectual submission as a prerequisite to understanding
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:32-38)
SESSION 8, DELIVERED ON 01/13/2019
Arrogance and pride often stop human beings from accepting the Truth. In this lecture:
– universal truths
– the role of the Siddīq
– a mindset of looking for the Truth
– servanthood
– seeking solutions with tawakkul
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:39-45)
SESSION 9, DELIVERED ON 01/20/2019
Those who seek guidance or misguidance do so only to their own individual benefit or detriment.
In this lecture:
– seeking the Truth amid tribal and societal affiliations
– faith as an independent choice
– sleep and death
– the destructive psyche of resenting the mention of Allah ﷻ
– dhikr brings bashārah (glad tidings)
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:46-51)
SESSION 10, DELIVERED ON 01/27/2019
In the view of the servant, the shahādah is a testimony that Allah ﷻ knows everything there is to know, whether the servant knows it or not.
In this lecture:
– resolution and closure in the ākhirah (hereafter)
– tawḥīd (monotheism) and ethics
– the resilience and stamina of prophets (AS)
– the pursuit of eternal happiness
– the test in a niʾmah (blessing)
– a result-independent definition of success
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:52-59)
SESSION 11, DELIVERED ON 02/03/2019
In the view of the servant, the shahādah is a testimony that Allah ﷻ knows everything there is to know, whether the servant knows it or not.
In this lecture:
– resolution and closure in the ākhirah (hereafter)
– tawḥīd (monotheism) and ethics
– the resilience and stamina of prophets (AS)
– the pursuit of eternal happiness
– the test in a niʾmah (blessing)
– a result-independent definition of success
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:60-64)
SESSION 12, DELIVERED ON 02/10/2019
Allah ﷻ protects us from the fire if we protect ourselves from sin.
In this lecture:
– the preservation of the Qurʾān
– the treasures of the heavens
– rizq (sustenance) and duʿāʾ (supplication)
– Tawhīd (monotheism) as the essence of intelligence
– stupidity as the essence of shirk
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:65-70)
SESSION 13, DELIVERED ON 02/24/2019
By the principles of tawhīd, no matter how many good deeds a person does, if they commit shirk (polytheism), then they become ineligible for salvation.
In this lecture:
– waḥy-based knowledge
– after death
– ‘ibādah and shukr
– seeing the Divine above all creation
– intellectual freedom
– the trumpet
– shafāʿah (intercession)
Sūrat al-Zumar (39:70-75)
SESSION 14, DELIVERED ON 03/03/2019
It is from the niẓām (divine appropriation) of Allah ﷻ that He ﷻ does not send His ﷻ punishment without warning and without time to heed it.
In this lecture:
– arrogance in rejecting prophets (AS)
– the gates of Jannah
– the phenomenon of constant praise in Jannah
– maqam (ranks) and visitations in Jannah
– the ‘Arsh of the Rahmān and the angels around it
– energizing tasbīḥ
– the futility of analyzing inevitable truths
– submission through acceptance