Surah Al-Ahqaf: (the Wind-curved Sandhills)

• Everything has been created by Allah (swt) for a purpose, for a specified time. The world was not created in vain, for our wishes or for our desires.
• Prophet Muhammad (saw) was not someone  who knew about the unseen.
• Pride prevents belief
• Believe and remain firm. Deeds that are loved most by Allah (swt) are the ones that remain consistent and are continuous. No matter how small they are. As long as they are continuous for life. Isthakhim: consistent, steadfast, regular
• Guard your tongue and beautify your character, be steadfast
• It is very important that we don’t wrongly use our tongues.
• Iman cannot be correct unless the heart is correct. Heart cannot be correct unless the tongue is correct.
• Guard your tongue to protect your deeds. Lock your tongue.
• Be good to parents! Especially your mom who carried you and her hardship of 30 months. The sacrifices she makes and has made. Giving birth is such a huge risk. You are almost risking your life during this time. There is so much loss of blood etc. The right of mothers, is the most. Her body goes through so much during pregnancy and during labor and delivery. After that she nurses you, and then raises you. After you are born, mother has no life of her own anymore, because everything is about you, the baby, the child.
• Your mother, your mother, your mother, your father
• We can never repay our parents for what they have sacrificed
• Child grows and reaches maturity at about 40 years. Then they pray for their parents. Must pray for our parents regularly.
• Be fearful of using the blessings given to us in this life.
• Be grateful for everything that we have
• Long sand dune. Ahqaf: area where people of A’ad used to live.
• The jinns were passing Prophet Muhammad (saw) while he was leading Fajr prayer in Taa’if. They said, listen quietly. After returning to their people they, the jinn warned about the message  they had just heard, that they should all believe and submit. This is all it took for them to believe and submit.

 

Surah Muhammad: 

• Those who disbelieve and avert people from the way of Allah (swt), Allah (swt) will waste their good deeds. All efforts, good efforts, will be wasted fruitless.
• Good efforts lead to good results to those people who believe are righteous and believe in what has been sent to Prophet Muhammad (saw). Angel Gabriel brought him the message, and he brought him the sunnah to go along with it. We must mold our lives according to the sunnah, too.
• Suffering in the way of Allah (swt) is not actually suffering.
• If Allah (swt) wanted, He could have made Islam victorious and prophet Muhammad victorious, without battles or struggles. But then nobody would value this priceless message and belief. Nobody would understand its value if it was just handed down to us.
• Support the Deen of Allah (swt). Allah (swt) will then support you.
• There is no difference between disbelievers and grazing livestock
• Ayah 15: more descriptions of Jannah: rivers of water, unaltered. Rivers of milk, wine and purified honey. Fruits. Endless reservoirs.
• Compared to Hell: Drink will be scalding water that will sever intestines
• As you learn, Allah (swt) will increase you in guidance
• The greater the status, the more is expected of them. Prophet Muhammad (saw) was of the highest status
• We must always seek forgiveness for yourself and for others. Beg Him.
• The Quran is the solution, the answer for everything. Must reflect on the Quran. It’s a source of knowledge. It unlocks the hearts. Opens blind eyes. Opens the mind.
• Those who revert back to disbelief after being guided, means that the shaytan has affected them.
• If you dislike what Allah (swt) favors, Allah (swt) will waste your deeds.
• Clean your hearts
• Don’t waste your deeds! Don’t invalidate them!! Perform them correctly. Don’t follow them with sins. Doing good can be easy but preserving it is hard.
• Those disbelievers and those who avert from Allah (swt)’s path, and then die while disbelievers, will never be forgiven by Allah (swt). Never.
• Don’t preserve your energy by leaving the Quran. Don’t deprive yourself from and rewards. Do good for yourself. Don’t be greedy with your time, energy, money etc. in the way of Allah (swt)
• Restless stinginess: greediness, not spending where you need to spend.
• We were not sent to this world to worship this world. We were not sent here to make money, to live comfortably and to make our lives comfortable. No! We have been sent here to prepare our homes of the Akhirah. We can do this by spending what Allah (swt) has given us in time, money, energy etc. for good work and in the path of Allah (swt)
• Allah (swt) can and will replace us if we don’t do our job

 

Surah Al-Fath: (the Victory)

• Treaty of Hudaibiyah
• Dreams of the prophet were revelations. Prophet Muhammad (saw) had a dream: he saw that he and his people/companions were performing Umrah.
• After seeing this dream, Muhammad (saw) decided to prepare and go for Umrah. With 1400 Muslims. To Makkah. The mushrikeen became defensive obviously. As the muslims got closer and closer, mushrikeen kept sending groups to ward the muslims away. They thought that battles and fighting would perhaps deter the Muslims from entering Makkah. But Prophet Muhammad (saw) decide to take another route to Makkah. A more difficult route. He ended up at Hudaibiyah. The mushrikeen were ready for battle. But the muslims did not want to fight as they were in the state of Ihram, and were not prepared for battle. This was the first time people were being prevented from entering Makkah for the performance of Hajj or Umrah. It had never happened before.
• Eventually the mushrikeen agreed to sign a treaty with the muslims. The conditions were as follows: 1) That the muslims will return home and come back to Makkah the following year to perform Umrah. 2) that they will come for just 3 days. 3) That any person going from Makkah to Madinah, must return to Makkah. 4) That person any person going from Madinah to Makkah, could stay in Makkah. 5) That there would be no battle between the muslims and mushrikeen for 10 years
• The muslims had no choice but to these terms. They were of course very saddened this. How then could this be “a victory”?
• For a believer there is no failure in life. Because what may seem like a failure can turn into a victory. Trust Allah (swt). Every suffering will be a gain, a victory. Previous sins will be forgiven and your record will be cleaned.
• Muhammad (saw) who himself was perfect and free of sins, free of doing anything wrong would stand in prayer til his feet cracked, due to his gratefulness to Allah (swt). So then what about us? No action of ours is free of fault. How grateful are we then?
• Eventually the mushrikeen violated the treaty, which lead to the victory for the muslims.
• A believer must never think negatively or bad of Allah (swt). Never think that He has abandoned you.
• Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: that death should not come to you unless you are thinking positively of Allah (swt). Meaning: When do any of us know when we will die? Nobody knows. But this means that we should never think of Allah (swt) negatively, because we never know when we will die. For example: Even when going as far as for Umrah and Hajj, being stuck there, not being able to complete it, etc. In every difficulty, we must try to think positively of Allah (swt). Especially when we are near death.
• Believe, honor and respect Prophet (saw)
• Exalt Allah (swt) in the mornings and the afternoon. (tasbeeh)
• Where there is a will, there is a way. (Women are especially good at this). We should be extremely willing for the Deen of Allah (swt). Make time for Ibadah, and Allah (swt) will alleviate all your problems. Will cure your poverty. No time for Allah (swt), for Ibadah, then poverty will not end, will not be cured. Allah’s help is with us, when we give Him priority.
• Ayah 29: Sahabah, companions of Prophet Muhammad (saw) are described here.  They were constantly prostrating in prayer, striving for Allah (swt)’s pleasure. Their faces showed that they had not been eating, sleeping, or enjoying their lives or times. Their faces showed that they would busy their time in working hard for Allah (swt)’s pleasures. In the Gospel, their description is a plant which produces offshoots (branches) and strengthens them as they grow firm and stand upon their stalks.

 

Surah Al-Hujurat: (the Rooms)

• Don’t think or feel contrary to what Allah (swt) has commanded. Or to what Prophet Muhammad (saw) has taught. Don’t raise your voice or be disrespectful to Prophet Muhammad (saw)
• Keep quiet and don’t raise your voice in his masjid, in Madinah. Roza Mubarak, especially there. Don’t be disrespectful there, we must be careful of this, especially there. Deeds will become worthless if you are disrespectful. Adab (your manners, your etiquettes, your respect) beautify your duties.
• Investigate before taking any action, so that you don’t harm someone out of ignorance
• We should not ignore, if we observe two muslims fighting. Make a settlement between brothers. Believers are brothers. Never let disputes grow.
• What kind of charity does Allah (swt) love most? That you cause a resolution, mend a relationship between two people. Because you gave your time, your effort, your words of help and advice to help these two people. This is charity and it is most loved by Allah (swt)
• Making fun of each other is Wrong. Looking down on a muslim brother or sister is evil. We cannot attack the honor of one another. Don’t insult one another. Don’t retaliate. Be very careful when joking with one another, don’t call each other by offensive nicknames! repent!
• Avoid negative assumptions. Even a little bit of assumption, is a sin.
• Don’t spy or backbite against each other. Repel evil thoughts of others. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Repent!
• Gheebah: saying something about your brother/sister that he/she would dislike. Even if it is true. Slandering is even worse.
• When a person has more important things to worry about in his/her own life, he/she does not take interest in the mistakes of others. He/she is focused on correcting his/her own mistakes. He/she is busy trying to improve himself/herself.
• Spying on each other ruins relationships. Trust is essential. Show trust to receive trust. Never listen to other people’s private conversations.
• Don’t search each other for faults, because then Allah (swt) will search for your faults, and if He searches for your faults, He will disgrace you in your own house. Accusing others, leads to being accused yourself.
• Prophet Muhammad (saw) named the 6 qualities of a person, when he/she dies, Allah (swt) will admit to paradise. One these qualities is that he/she who stays home neither backbiting nor being a cause of anger or punishment for anyone. ( because those who over socialize, can destroy their own and others deeds)
• Don’t consider it a favor, that you are accepting Islam. This is Allah (swt)’s favor upon us that He has guided us to faith.

 

Surah Qaf: (the letter Qaf)

• Indeed the rain from the sky is blessed.
• Allah (swt) is closer to us than our own jugular vein.
• Everything we do and say in being recorded, we are not free. We are constantly being watched and recorded. By Allah (swt)
• Hellfire will demanding more and more. Will keep asking: are there more?
• We have endless sins, we need to therefore beg for forgiveness
• Jannah will be brought to the righteous. To those who repented
• The one repeatedly turns back to Allah (swt)
• The one who prays Salat-ul-Duha, is the one who want to turn to Allah (swt)

 

Surah Adh-Dhariyat: (the Winnowing winds)

• We are not free. We will be accounted for every single thing
• Doers of good, sleep a little of the night. The hours before dawn they ask for forgiveness. They give to the needy and poor. These are the people of Jannah.
• During the time of Tahajjud, Allah (swt) is offering forgiveness.
• Show respect and Adab (etiquette, manners) to guests.