Surah Yusuf (12) Through The Lens Of Karbala 8/8 - 10th Muharram 1435/2013

'A'udhu bil-Lahi, min al-Shaytan, al-rajim. Bismi-Llah, Al-Rahmani, Al-Rahim. Al-hamdulil-Lahi Rabbi 'l-Alamin,wa salla Allahu 'ala Sayyidina Muhammadin wa 'alihi, at-tahirin. [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa ali Muhammad]. "Ya sahibayi as-sijni, arbabum mutafarriquna khayrun ami Allahu al-Wahidu, al-Qahhar" (12:39), 'O my two cellmates, are the scattered lords, opposing lords better than one God, Allah who is One and who can run His Control over everything, His Will over everything?

Now, one very important lesson we learn from this interaction of Yusuf 'alayhi as-salam, with his cellmates, is that how friendly he is with these two people, and the way he tries to attract them, even he knows one of them is going to die soon, the other one is going to go back to the court of the king. However, he tries to attract them even in the last moment. This is what we see in Karbala as well, that Imam Husayn tried to make the people desist from their confrontation with him. He had, of course, no confrontation with anyone, he did not want to fight or oppose anyone.

The only thing that he did not want to do, was to give allegiance to Yazid, that is all. And we know why. Because if he gave allegiance to Yazid, he would have actually approved all those wrongs, and oppressions, and infidelities, and all those things he would had approved of that. So he did not want to give allegiance, but he did not want to fight Yazid, he did not want to fight those people. It is said that with that type of knowledge that he had, like the knowledge that Yusuf had here, that no food comes to you before I can inform what type of food are you going to eat today. He had that knowledge of looking into people and seeing what future generations of these men would be.

And just like what Amir ul-Mu'minin, we have reports from Amir ul-Mu'minin as well in the battles as well, that sometimes he had the opportunity to attack someone or to kill someone in the battle, Imam Husayn, 'alayhi as-salam. And he did not. He just turned away and went. Because they said he thought he knew, not thought, he knew that there are going to be good Mu'minun coming out of these of course, kuffar. "Yukhriju al-hayya min al-mayyit" (30:19). Allah brings life, life and live people, live Mu'minun from the dead who are there, the kuffar.

And this sort of interaction, even when he was, when he had lost all his companions and family, and he was alone, again he tried to convince the people not to kill him, because by, he knew by killing him what is going to become of them, that they are going to be eternally in hell, so he did not want that to happen.

The same here we see in Surah Yusuf, he is first of all, talking in a very friendly manner and trying to convince them that the way you worship, the way you conduct your faith and your dedication to spiritual beings is wrong because "Arbabum mutafarriquna khayrun ami Allahu al-Wahidu, al-Qahhar" (12:39).

First he mentioned something subjective. Subjectively, let alone what is in reality. Subjectively, is it good to submit everything to One Lord, who has All the Power? That is Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, or to submit to different lords to have different extent of powers, which one is better? Subjectively, if you wanted to choose? Let alone, what is the in the objective world, what is reality. If you wanted to choose to worship, what you would have worshipped? One Powerful Being in Whose Control, under Whose Control is Everything, or you would have worshipped different gods, different lords? You would have submitted to different beings and then these beings had different levels of power. You wanted to appease this one, the other one would become angry. You want to please that one, the other one would become displeased. Which one?

As we have in Surah Az-Zumar: "Daraba Allahu mathalan rajulan fihi shuraka'u mutashakisun, wa rajulan salaman li rajulin hal yastawiyan mathala" (39:29). Allah gives you the example of a slave. At that time of course, it was quite prevalent, people having slaves. Some people did not have enough money to buy one slave, so they put their money together, for example, two, three, four people and they said: Ok, we buy one slave and that poor slave should have work on different plains, on different fields, and different housework. And then they somehow divided the time between themselves. For example, from seven o'clock in the morning to eleven, he should go to one person, from eleven to three for another person and so on and so forth.

And then you can imagine the situation of such a slave. What a terrible situation this slave would have had. He wanted to leave a bit early to get on time, this one would become angry. He leaves on time, gets there a bit late, the other one gets angry. Allah gives you the example of man with "Rajulan fihi shuraka'u mutashakisun (39:29). There are partners and then these partners are fighting with each other as well over him.

What would be the fate of this person? The same thing here. If we believe that there are different powers in this world, different controls, different lords, which one is better, worshipping all these things or worshipping One Being which has the Supreme Power and Control?

Unfortunately, even when we believe in Tawhid, and when we believe in that one God, we also try to make somehow to make that Tawhid deficient. And we somehow rely on ourselves, rely on others, rely on saints, rely on certain powers in this world, which of course, again puts us in this difficulty, in this problem of worshipping different lords.

Now, subjectively, first of all, he is talking to them is a very good argument that he is putting forward. He does not talk about reality at the beginning. Ok, which one is better? If you wanted to choose a religion, what religion you would have chosen? It is like when we talk about God, One God and Trinity. I usually think if I am going to be offered two religions, let alone what the reality is, whether I would go for Trinity or I will go for Tawhid, for Tawhid. First certainly I would go for Tawhid. And the same thing, which one would you choose?

Now then after mentioning this, he comes to the reality, the real world. What is in reality? Objectively what is right? Subjectively, ok, which one would you choose? Now objectively, what is right? "In ma ta'buduna min dunihi illa asma'an sammaytumuha antum wa aaba'ukum, ma anzala Allahu biha min sultan" (12:40). What you are worshipping beside Him, in reality, are just names. These names you have called, you have given to these different idols or different powers, kings, saints, angels, whatever, these names you have given to them and you are worshipping it. It is all your own creation.

Sometimes some people say that God is man's creation, that is He is a creation of our mind, and therefore we have to avoid worshipping God, we have to be quite objective. Now is very, very difficult to imagine that God is creation of man's mind, because the creation that we see needs a Power behind it, the Wisdom behind it. But yes, there are gods which are creation of human mind, it is true.

The sociologists who talk about the origins of religion, talking about people creating gods because out of fear or out of different instincts, they are right in the, in this, in this sense that, yes, men create gods for themselves. And the Qur'an says these are just your creations, creations of your mind. You have named them in this way. This is for example, the gods and goddesses, for wind, for fertility, for water, for rain, for whatever, you name it, thousands of gods that we have had during the history. These are just names.

Now, there is one very important verse in the Qur'an, it is very important, if we look into our hearts. Because of course, we all believe in Tawhid, we all believe in one God, but do we really comply with the realities of this belief? With what really this means, do we comply with that? And that is why, that is for example, we do not have these knowledge, these powers, because we do not comply with the corollaries of our faith, with what our faith would call us.

You remember this saying of Isa 'alayhi as-salam, that if you have the extent you, if you have faith to the extent of seed of a mustard, a mustard seed, you can move mountains from their places. That is the real faith which complies with all the indications of or the corollaries of that faith.

Now, the Qur'an says: "Wa li Allah al-asma 'ul-Husna" (7:180). God has beautiful Names, "Fad'uhu bihaa" (7:180)-'call Him with those Names', "Wa dharu alladhina yulhiduna fi asma'ih" (7:180)-'leave alone those who deviate in His Names.' Now, what is the meaning of this? Of course, again, you see, we somehow trivialize everything. I mean, when we come to faith, to Qur'an, to Prophets, to God, we try to trivialize everything, isn't it? "Wa li Allah al-asma 'ul-Husna"" (7:180), it is towards the end of Surah Al-A'raf. Ok, Allah has beautiful Names, and in Ramadhan, in our Salah, we say Ya Allah, Ya Rahman, Ya Rahim, Ya Razzaq, there is the meaning of "Fad'uhu bihaa" (7:180). This is trivializing the meaning of these verses.

What really this means is that you should not deviate in the names of God in the sense that you attribute His Names or His Qualities to others and attribute the qualities of beings with shortcomings and limitations to Him. This is a deviation from Asma'u Allah.

For example, Allah is the One who Sustains. Now, if you give this attribute of sustenance to something besides God, anything, anyone, to yourself, because usually we think we are sustaining ourselves, to yourself, to a king, to an idol, to an Angel, to a Saint, to a Prophet, to an Imam. If you give this attribute to someone else, you have deviated in the Names of Allah and you have called with these names, others. So "Wa li Allah al-asma 'ul-Husna, fad'uhu bihaa wa dharu alladhina yulhiduna fi asma'ih" (7:180)-'keep away from those who deviate in His Names.'

Now, all those people who believe in idols, they are actually giving the names of Allah to other things. They give Names of Allah, for example, this gives, this sustains us, this fertilizes our lands, this gives us water. This gives us rain. They give the names of Allah to other beings. Now, this is just our naming. Whatever you do, wherever we go, in this world, in the next world, in reality, these belong to Allah. He is the One who sustains, no matter what you believe, what you say, what you do, what you call, He is the One.

Whatever you say beside this "In hiya illa Asma' un"(53:23)- 'These are just names you give to these powers or idols or whatever.'...'sammaytumuha antum wa aba'ukum" (53:23).-'It is not only you, it is the culture, it is a long-rooted culture in your tradition'..."ma anzala Allahu biha min sultan" (53:23)-'God has never, ever given any proof for that' ".. In il-hukmu illa li Allah" (6:57/12:40).'In everything, Hukm, is of course ruling. If you want life, if you want sustenance, if you want power, if you want knowledge, if you want whatever, 'Hukm belongs to Allah.'

Now one thing is that Allah has ruled that you should not worship [besides] Him, this is His Hukm. Allah has ruled that the Names do not, should not be attributed to anyone else, this is Hukm and "Amara an la ta'budu illa iyyah" (12:40). This is a very, very important statement here. 'He has commanded that you should not worship beside Him, anything beside Him.' "Amara an la ta'budu illa iyyah dhalika ad-Din al-qayyim. Wa lakinna aktharan an-nasi la ya'lamun" (12:40). 'This is the straight path, this is the religion which can hold, a right religion' "din al-qayyim."

Now, you know, Allah's Rulings are of two types, Allah's Rulings are of two types. When we come to story of Karbala also, we have this perplexed sort of confusion between these two rulings. Did Allah want, did Allah want this happen to Imam Husayn 'alayhi as-salam? Now, what sort of wanting? Did 'Ubaydullah Ibn Ziyad not say that Allah killed Husayn 'alayhi as-salam, to Zaynab, or to 'Ali Ibn al-Husayn, that Allah killed your brother, and said to Zaynab, Allah killed Husayn 'alayhi as-salam?

And it is right, Allah killed them, but 'Ali Ibn al-Husayn said that, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin said that, yes, I had a brother, because he said, 'What is your name?' He said 'My name is 'Ali.' He said, 'Did Allah not kill 'Ali Ibn al-Husayn in the battlefield in Karbala?' He said 'I had a brother, another brother who was called 'Ali. The people killed him.' Not, Allah did not kill him, the people killed him. Then he said 'No, Allah killed him.' Then he replied: "Allahu yatawaffa al-anfusa hina mawtiha" (39:42). Yes of course, Allah takes all the souls. That is right. If you say Allah killed him in that, in that manner, it is right.

However, we have two types of Will, Want, Order, Command of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. One is the, what we call 'Tashri'i' -'Legislative', that He Commands that you should do something, but you could disobey. That is Tashri'i. Or you should not do something, you do not comply. The other thing is 'Takwini'-Creational. When He wants something to be, it is. No one, nothing, can disobey this Command. Now, which type of Command in this, is this?

The exegetes, the philosophers, the mystics have actually argued which type of command is this? "Amara an la ta'budu illa iyyah" (12:40). God has Commanded that you should not worship anything beside Him. Is this legislative that you should, you could disobey? In a sense, yes. But some scholars say that no, it is not legislative, it is not Tashri'i, it is Takwini in the sense that His command is that nothing could be worshipped beside Him.

"Wa qadha Rabbuka," in Surah Isra'. "Wa qadha Rabbukka an la ta'budu illa iyyah" (17:23)- 'God has decreed that you cannot worship anything beside Him.' Now, which one is true? Both are true. Both are true, at two different levels. One level is that God says you should not worship anything beside Him, we worship other things. We worship idols, believing that they have powers, believing that they have control. We worship angels for example, believing that they have control or power. We worship Prophets believing that they have control and power. We are disobeying this. OK, in that sense, yes. This is tashri'i. You should not do that.

In another sense is why do you worship these things? You worship these things because of the qualities which belong to Allah and you think it belongs to them. You think that they have it. In a way you are worshipping God, and you think that you are worshipping something beside God. And in this way, the especially the mystics of the Ibn al-'Arabi School, they say that nothing in this world could be worshipped, but Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala. Because whatever you worship, you worship thinking that they have a quality which that quality belongs to Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala.

Because we are always after perfection, always after perfection. Now this perfection maybe in completion of our joys, this perfection may be in completion of our ambitions, aspirations and all these things and all these could be found in God. We, in vain, look for them in other places.

And if we do this in this world, we are in trouble in the next world. Not that Allah punishes us, we have a wrong idea of punishment of God. No, we cannot find Him. We become perplexed. We would swerve. The verse that I mentioned from Surah Al A'raf, "Wa dhara alladhina yulhiduna fi asma'ihi" (7:180)-'those who deviate in His names and attribute those names to other things, leave them.' Why? "Sa yujzawna ma kanu ya'malun" (7:180)-'they will be requitted for it. When they go to the next world, they want to call God, they cannot.

'Yawma yukshafu 'an saqin wa yud'awna Ila as-sujud, fala yastati`un' (68:42). 'They are called to humble themselves before God, they cannot do it. They want to do it, they cannot do it. They see the power of God, they see the glory of God, but they cannot do it.' It is not that God wants to punish them. They cannot do it. 'Yawma yukshafu 'an saqin wa yud'awna Ila al-sujudi fala yastati`un khashi'atan absaruhum tarhaquhum dhillah'(68:42)- 'They are very much horrified. They are so humiliated but they cannot do it.' 'wa qad kanu yud'awnu ila al-sujud wa hum salimun' (68:42) - they were previously called to do to humble themselves before God, they were healthy in their, in their soul spiritual construction. They were healthy. They could do it. Now they have come, they are disfigured in their soul, they are deviated in their construction and they cannot do certain things which are quite important in this in this life.'

So, two arguments Yusuf put forward here for his cellmates. One is subjective argument, and the other one objective argument. Subjective argument is that if you want to choose a religion, which would you chose? A religion which puts everything in one hand or religion which puts things in different hands, that is very complicated that is very difficult and you cannot, of course, please all these idols. Secondly, objectively, there is no perfection. There is no good quality in this world except for Allah.

'ya sahibayi al-sijni...' (12:39) -'Now he gives them after all this, maybe this took some time. He wants to give them the interpretation of their dream. '...amma ahadukuma fa yasqi rabbuhu khamrah' (12:41) -'one of you will get out of here will go back to the position that he had as the chief butler and will serve his lord, the king with wine,'. That is the person who saw- 'inni arani a'asiru khamra' (12:36).

The second one who said I saw that I was carrying bread on my head and the birds were eating from it, 'wa amma al-akhiru fa yuslabu...' (12:41)-the other one will be hanged, 'Fa ya'kulu al-tayru min ra'sihi' (12:41)-'and will be left there until the birds come and eat from his head.' That was the interpretation.

Now, as soon as he said this, the second man said, Oh, I lied, I did not, I did not actually see any dream. I just lied to you because that was a very horrible interpretation, wasn't it? I lied to you. 'Qudiya al-amr al-ladhi fihi tastafti'yaan'(12:41). 'It is all decreed finished.' You cannot withdraw your dream now and say, I lied. I did not see this dream. 'Qudiya al-amr al-ladhi fihi tastafti'yaan' (12:41).

"Wa qala li al-ladhi zanna annahu najin minhum" (12:42), 'and to the one that he believed that he is going to be released and saved and going back to the court.' 'udhkurni ‘inda Rabbik' (12:42). 'Remember me with your Lord'. Rabb here of course is the master, with your master because he was a slave. Remember me with your master. "Fa ansahu al-Shaytan Dhikr Rabbih" (12:42), 'and Shaytan made him forget that remembrance of Yusuf with their Lord.'

Now, many exegets here have slipped and said that it means that Yusuf 'alayhi as-salam, relied on this man for his release and said, 'Remember me with your Lord and Shaytan made him forget,' made Yusuf to forget the remembrance of his own Lord. This is very funny, very funny, because just in the previous verse he says: "Ya sahibayi al-sijni a'arbabum mutafarriquna khayrun ami Allahu al-Wahid al-Qahhar" (12:39).

And the, I mean the way some people look at these prophets and also in a couple of verses above it says, 'innahu min ibaduna al-mukhlasin'(12:24), 'he was one of the mukhlasin'. And several verses in the Qur'an explicitly mentions that Shaytan has no access to mukhlasin. 'Qala fa bi'izzatika la ughwiyannahum ajma'in (38:82); 'illa 'ibaduka al-Mukhlasin' (38:83)-'I cannot go close to Mukhlasin'. How is it possible that Yusuf had forgotten?

This type of interpretation of Qur'an, is like the way the Jews treated the prophets in the Bible. Certainly. Because the sentence itself has the capacity of the other meaning. And if we take this meaning opposing all other verses of the Qur'an, this is actually the tendency towards that biblical type of biblical type of looking at the prophets.

Now, what happened here? Yusuf told him, remember me, tell him about him, tell about me to your lord, and Shaytan made him forget the remembrance of or mention of Yusuf with the king. Now, there are a couple of verses in the Qur'an which talks about Shaytan making people to forget things. Now and we have other verses that, for example, prophets forget things like, for example, Musa 'alayhi as-salam when he encounters Khidhr. He forgot. "Qala la tu'akhidhni bi ma nasit" (18:73), 'do not put me on the spot because of what I forgot'.

Now is all forgetfulness due to Shaytan? No, some forgetfulness is due to Shaytan some forgetfulness is due to other higher causes. Now, probably because we do not have time. We leave this discussion for tomorrow night, inshaAllah, because of course the Ummah of the Prophet forgot about what the Prophet had advised about his family and was this forgetfulness due to Shaytan or due to other causes? InshaAllah, we will discuss that tomorrow.

Tonight, of course, is the night of Ashura. And it is a night when Imam Husayn 'alayhi as-salam, wanted to test the sincerity of his followers. He did not want any impurity to come in that army, because tomorrow in Ashura, he is actually making a history of Islam, isn't it? He and his followers, they are making a history of Islam. And he does not want anything impure to come in.

And when we go to Karbala and when we visit the Shuhada', we, of course, have the fullest respect in the sense that these were the purest people, the most sincere people who had nothing in their heart in the battlefield, in the battle of Karbala, but Imam Husayn 'alayhi as-salam. And of course, protecting Husayn because of the Prophet and following the Prophet, because of God, it was all God.

Therefore, tonight, Imam Husayn 'alayhi as-salam, on several occasions asked his followers that if anyone wants to leave, they can leave. First of all, Imam Zayn al-'Abidin, alayhi as-salam, says that I was ill in my tent when I heard that my father gathered the companions and started to speak with them and I came closer to listen and to hear what my father was saying.

And he said, of course, that very famous sentence that, "I do not know any companions, and any followers better than you and may Allah reward all of you. However, these people, these 30000 men who have gathered here, they are not after you. They are after me. And of course, I am not going to to concede to what they want. But you can now in this darkness of night, you can take your families if you have families or you just join each other and leave. And this darkness is the best opportunity for you to leave. First of all, the enemy would not see you. Secondly, you are not ashamed of me because of the darkness you can leave."

And we know that no one left and they started to actually show that dedication to Husayn 'alayhi as-salam, first Banu Hashim stood up, starting with 'Abbas Ibn 'Ali, Abu al-Fadhl 'Abbas 'alayhi as-salam, saying that, 'Going where? To do what? To live after you? Is this a life that we leave you here and go and live happily afterwards?'

And then the companions, Muslim Ibn Awsaja, Zuhayr ibn al-Qin. Zuhayr said that, "I would have loved that I was killed a thousand times, burned, and then came back to life. And by that thousand deaths, I could just protect you and your family". And then, of course, their sincerity was was proved.

The other incident which happened this night, was that Imam al-Husayn, 'alayhi as-salam, when everyone was busy with their other works, worshipping, preparing themselves for battle. He went on a reconnaissance sort of investigation. Went to the battlefield, examining the ground, seeing the ups and downs where they could have been ambushed and other things.

So when he was on this reconnaissance examination, Nafi' Ibn Hilal said that I went after him because he was getting close to the army of the enemy. And I feared that he may be attacked. So I was just walking behind him and suddenly he felt that I was following him, and said, Nafi', what is it? Why are you coming with me? And he said that I fear that these people may attack you in the darkness of night, so I want to protect you.

He said, Nafi', if it is only me and you. Will you not like, just leave and go into these mountains and hide? Again, that sense of purity which he wanted was not just like to leave and go to to these mountains. And Nafi' said, 'Ya, Ibna Rasul Allah, I have bought a horse for 1000 dirhams, and I bought a sword for 1000 dirhams.' 1000 dirhams was a huge money, you could buy a house with it. So what sort of horse and what sort of sword he had bought we do not know. [Nafi' said],'I bought all these just to prepare myself for this day. And now you are turning me away! And you say that you you can go how this is possible. How can I do this?' And how many incidents like this.

In fact, Imam 'alayhi as-salam did not start the battle tomorrow unless he was sure that all his followers were purely and sincerely doing that for the sake of God. As I said, because, you know, Karbala has become a huge event and inshaAllah, it will become more and more. The more the world knows about this, and especially the conscience of the pure people, even if they are non-Muslims, the more they know about it, the more they would be attracted. And inshaAllah, one day this event of Karbala will become that lamp which attracts many people to Islam if we have that opportunity and capability to actually convey that message of Husayn 'alayhi as-salam, to people. So he wanted that purity and it happened.

And tomorrow, of course, there are a couple of other pure people who joined Imam 'alayhi as-salam. And one of them was Hurr. When he [Imam] talked to the army of the enemy trying to convince them not to fight, and let him go back. And that khutbah is very famous, of course. Why you want to fight against me? Why you want to kill me? Have I killed someone of you? Have I taken any of your property? Have I done this? Have I done that? Don't you know that this, that I am the only grandson of your Prophet on the earth and why you want to kill me? Why do you want to add to made your hands, put my blood on your hands?

Well they did not listen, the only person who listened was Hurr, of course. When this happened Hurr, when of course Imam talked in this way, Hurr 'alayhi as-salam, went to 'Umar Ibn Sa'd and he said that the Ya Ibna Sa'd what you want to do with this man, what is your decision? And he said, I will fight and I will fight a battle in which the heads and arms would fly. He [Hurr] did not say anything because he knew that is futile to argue with Ibn Sa'd. He just came away from him, came to his own tent and gradually got closer and closer to the tens of Imam Husayn.

On his way was Qurrat Ibn Qays from his own tribe and he said, Have you watered your horse? He said, yes. He said again, have you watered your horse? And he says, I realized that he did not want me there. And I thought that he wants to just to get away from the battle. He does not want anyone to see him because he was the bravest man of Kufa. So I got away and he moved towards Husayn 'alayhi as-salam, and, you know, the rest of the story.

Coming to the Husayn saying that, "Ya Aba 'Abdillah, I am the one who stopped you on the way. I am the one who brought you to this place. I am the one who forced you to camp in this place, and I swear by God, I did not know that these people are going to do this to you. I thought that things would end happily. And if I knew that these people are not going to listen to you, as the grandson of the Prophet, I never would have done what I did. Now I want to repent. Do you think that my repentance will be accepted?"

And, of course, what we expect from Imam Husayn, who is the the the manifestation of the Rahma of Allah, said, yes, of course, your tawbah is accepted. Get down and be our guest.

Wa la hawla wa la quwwata illa bi Allahi al-Aliyyu al-'Adhim [there is no power and no strength except with Allah] [Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa Aali Muhammad].

We have some time for a question and answer any questions from either side. Salamun 'alaykum Shaykh. 'Alaykum as-salam. You said that Shaytan cannot go next to Mukhlasin, if that is the case, was Adam not pure?

The story of Adam is very different, because that has already happened before this type of life that we have. And it was an experience for Adam 'alayhi as-salam, which he learnt, that after he is coming out of that garden of him, he would, of course, never allow Shaytan to get close to him afterwards. So from the time he was on this earth, so to speak, on this Earth, in the sense that that Jannah went away from him, he was never attacked by Shaytan anymore because he was one of the mukhlasin.

As-salamu 'alaykum Shaykh. Adhama Allah ujurakum Shaykh. There is a question about one of the verses we mentioned today when Yusuf 'alayhi as-salam, was interpreting the dreams for both of them with the knowledge that he had from Allah of how to interpret dreams, then also that the words here indicate that he, he knew for sure what was going to happen, 'qudiya al-amru alladhi fihi tastafiyan' (12:41). But then the next verse 'wa qalaa li al-ladhi dhanna annahu najim minhuma.'(12:42). The word 'dhann' does it indicate then?

The word 'dhann' has two meanings. One is yaqin (certainty) and one is to suspect something would happen. And in the Qur'an, both meanings are used, for example, about the Day of Judgment, some people say that we had 'dhann' that we are going to meet our Lord. It means we have yaqin, we had yaqin. And in other verses, for example, we have the people they thought 'bal dhanantum an lan yanqalib al-Rasul' (48:12). And here, of course, it means yaqin as well. 'You were certain that the Prophet is not going to come back.' So here it means certainty as well.

Any questions from the sister's side?

Salam 'alaykum, you said that in terms of idol worship, that people worship idols that have manifestations of God's like characteristics. But God makes Himself quite obscure, and we only really sense Him through His manifestations. So can you really blame people for worshipping idols?

Well, I maybe I could not explain myself clearly. I did not say that they, these idols manifest God, or have manifestations. I said people think that they have qualities which belong to God. It is just an imagination. And what Yusuf says here is the same thing. 'illa asma'un sammaytumuha' (12:40) means just names you are given and that this is, for example, the goddess of rain or this the goddess of fertility. It is just names, there is no reality behind it. So Allah does not, of course, manifest Himself in these things.

Allah has manifested Himself in His creation, and that is where we find out about His reality. Now, Allah has not made Himself obscure. The point is, Allah cannot be detected by the senses in which, by which we we can experience the material things, because He is beyond matter. However, He has put in place another faculty in human being and that is what what is called heart, or soul, by which we can actually know, realise, understand the power of Allah, His names, His attributes.

However, it is like people having eyes but closing their eyes. Usually that faculty is not working in many people. Otherwise, Allah has not, of course, obscured Himself so that people could not realize who He is.

Salamun 'Alaykum. 'Alaykum as-salam. Shaykh, the question is not directly related to your talk, but it is about the day of 'Ashura. I was talking to a friend the other day, and he said there are many other events, such as he mentioned, the Jews have Yom Kippur, I believe on that day. I did not check and the other historical events and God forgives on that day and that people should fast. Now, the question is, are these coincidences or do they have a message that is linked to the day of Ashura in some way?

Well, day of Ashura is not mentioned to be a day of forgiveness or something like that or a celebration in that sense. We have other days, of course, like, for example, the nights of Qadr or the days of 'Eid. These are the days of celebration, forgiveness and asking for bounties of God.

And we have to realize that we are not the only creatures of Allah Subhana wa Ta'ala, and we are not the only human beings on the earth. From the beginning of this world, Allah has had human beings, has put certain days for them to, to follow and to follow in terms of asking for his forgiveness, doing repentance and all these things. And every religion has this. And interestingly enough, in many religions these days, sometimes are quite close to each other or these nights are quite close to each other.

But we have to realize that as Allah says, 'li kulli ummatin ja'alna shir'atan wa minhaja' (5:48). 'For every Ummah we have put a shir'ah, that is a path to follow in terms of law. And Minhaj, a path to follow, in terms of theology, in terms of forgiveness, asking forgiveness and all these things. So every Ummah has it and if we look for parallels, certainly we have not looked in vain. We have to find parallels in every nation.

Any other questions from the sisters' side? OK, I think we will end there.