Ramadan 2017 – Save Yourself – Part 2 – Episode 14

Mufti Menk

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Channel: Mufti Menk

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Episode Notes

Taraweeh Lecture at Masjidul Quds Gatesville Cape Town
Date : 8th June 2017
Topic : Save Ourselves Part 2
Speaker : Mufti Ismail Menk

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Salam aleikum wa rahmatullah wa barakato Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim al hamdu Lillah wa Salatu was Salam ala rasulillah Allah Allah He was happy he made. All praise is indeed due to Allah subhanho wa Taala blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, his household his companions We ask Allah Subhana Allah to Allah to bless them all. And to bless every single one of us, my beloved brothers and sisters. If we take a look at this beautiful month of Ramadan, it is already coming to an end we will notice that so much of it has gone by. This is because time does not wait for anyone. If we are not going to turn to Allah Subhana Allah to Allah, how do we expect

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that the mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala descends upon us he has given us a month of mercy, a month of change, it's our duty to call on that Mercy of Allah subhanho wa Taala by changing for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala. This evening inshallah, we will be looking at Seurat enamel, and that is the surah named after the end. And the reason why it is named after the end is because of the story of the end. And the whole army of ants that was faced by Sulaiman alayhi salatu was Salam in this beautiful surah and Allah subhanho wa Taala starts off the surah, pausing,

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la scene, these are letters that are separated, and this was in order to draw the attention of the eloquent Arabs Subhana Allah, those who are absolutely eloquent, they did not understand the meaning of power and seen separated. These are hopeful Nakata separated letters. When they heard this, they looked at this man who was absolutely eloquent and they were confused, they did not know what does he mean. And the message came immediately after that deal. To Lupo Annie wakita

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ob gyn, indeed these are the verses of the Quran and the clear book, a book that is so clear so Han Allah, Allah has kept its verses absolutely clear, because obviously, if they were not clear, then we would not be able to follow these verses. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says, These verses and this book, they will guide those who believe there are people who read the Quran, they don't believe in it. And if they read it with a sincere genuine heart in Sharla, they will get guidance from it. But for those who believe Allah subhanho wa Taala says, who doubt

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many guidance and glad tidings, guidance and glad tidings for the believers for those who believe and who are those who believe and levina yo Ki Moon Asana tune has

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been a hero to me, okay known those who fulfill their prayer, those who fulfill their Salah they establish their five daily prayers, and they give their Sokka and those who are convinced regarding the Hereafter, those who are looking forward to the hereafter. This means that if we do not believe in Allah, if we are not looking forward to the Hereafter, if we do not pray properly, if we do not establish our Zakah correctly, we will not achieve the Rama and the Buddha, from the Bushra from this particular Koran. When Allah says there is bushrod meaning there is good news for those who believe what we should realize and understand is, Allah describes the believers and Allah subhanho

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wa Taala says quite clearly, that these are the people who establish their prayer that gives occur and they believe in the Hereafter, which means if you don't do those three, you won't be able to achieve the good news from this particular Koran. And you won't be able to have the glad tidings. So it's important that we save ourselves from being discarded by Allah subhanho wa Taala. By believing in Him and by trying to earn his mercy through establishing our prayer and through earning his pleasure by giving the car etc. Now, obviously, Allah subhanho wa Taala also speaks about those who are disbelievers, those who don't believe in the Hereafter, what will happen to them? Allah says in

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Medina Allah you may know Naveen

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man, found me among

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those who do not believe in the hereafter. We have beautified their deeds for them in this world. They think they are doing good deeds, but Allah says they are blinded. They are blinded. They are doing they think they are doing good deeds but in actual fact, if they don't have belief, then they have not prepared for the hereafter. What is the point of leading a life filled with goodness

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Where you have forgotten about the Hereafter, so as soon as you die, you've never prepared for that eternal life that is about to come. We are taught to protect ourselves from the punishment of the hereafter by preparing for it from now, and this is why it requires a sacrifice coming for Salatu tarawih. Today for example, establishing our fast for example, throughout this month of Ramadan, reading the Quran abstaining from Haram. All this is an effort, it is through this effort that we save ourselves from the calamities and disasters of the hereafter. inshallah, now going to the story of dowload and Sulayman alayhi wa salatu wa sallam May peace be upon both of them. They were very

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thankful to Allah subhanho wa Taala. If we would like the mercy of Allah, whenever he has bestowed upon us something, learn to show gratitude, you know, if there is a beggar, you give him something, and he thanks you in such a way that he embarrasses you because what you gave him was so small, you will want to give him more because he is a beggar. And he you gave him something very minute. So this is why my beloved brothers and sisters, when we thank Allah for what he's given us, we should thank him so much for what is bestowed upon us because for him, it is minute he will give us much more like

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Shaka Rotem.

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Indeed if you're going to be thankful to Allah, he's going to grant you increase. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says in verse number 14 of this beautiful Surah Surah to NEMA. While according to Buddha Suleiman, and remember when we gave the Prophet Dawood and Sulayman knowledge,

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we gave them knowledge. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says, walk Allah, the two of them said something, what did they say? Imagine Allah says, We gave the two of them knowledge, knowledge was bestowed upon them by Allah. Now Allah subhanho wa Taala says, they said Alhamdulillah him levy for Maulana Allah.

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Allahu Akbar, they are thanking Allah subhanho wa Taala Alhamdulillah

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Allah Allah caffee him in a bad meanie, we praise Allah subhanho wa Taala All praise is due to Allah subhanho wa Taala who has favored us over a lot of his worship is from among the believers, they are thanking Allah. So you think Allah when Allah has given you the opportunity to stand in Salah Alhamdulillah Oh life Thank you for giving me the chance and the opportunity, the ability, the strength to come to the masjid to fulfill Salah for your sake, Allah, I thank you for giving me the ability to sacrifice to give in your path you gave me and in turn, I gave someone else Oh Allah, I thank you for granting me and so many different types of gratitude. We show gratitude not only by

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our tongues, but together with that by obeying Allah's instruction. Remember, one of the hypocritical ways of showing gratitude is just to say, thank you very much, thank you very much and then you harm a person behind them. That's not gratitude. I'd rather you don't say thank you, but you protect me from behind that would be more gratitude than a person who pays that gratitude on your face. And behind you there are attacking you remember this? So my brothers and sisters with Allah subhanho wa Taala we need to combine all of that which means we say Alhamdulillah to Allah subhanho wa Taala we thank you. Oh Allah subhanho wa Taala like Al Hamdulillah cashew coo. Yeah,

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what do you do, gentlemen, generic. We thank Allah subhanho wa Taala. And on top of that, when he has told us to do something, we will do it. When he told us to abstain from something, we will abstain from it. That is also gratitude to Allah. So if you just fulfill your Salah, it's already gratitude to Allah. If you stay away from harem, it is gratitude to Allah. But when Allah has given you one thing, another thing, a third thing, a fourth thing and you happen to transgress against the commands of Allah subhanho wa Taala How do you expect that to be gratitude?

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Imagine the person gives you 10,000 grants for example. And every day you speak bad about him or he told you please can you do me a favor? Can you get me something small from the side there and you refuse to get it once? twice, thrice something will happen to this man he might think you know what? This person I give I do so much for him. He does nothing. I asked him to do something he can't even do a small thing. While law he when it comes to Allah subhanho wa Taala he does not need it from us. We need it more than Allah subhanho wa Taala remember this? If we are to thank Allah The benefit is for us. If we show gratitude to Allah The benefit is for us. It is not for Allah subhanho wa Taala

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when we abstain from the prohibitions, we are protecting ourselves because Allah says he sets rules and regulations in order for us to be able to

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show gratitude to Allah subhanho wa Taala he shows, in fact, he sets rules and regulations for us in order for us to save ourselves from the Wrath of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So, my beloved brothers and sisters, let's remember this, this is Allah subhanho wa Taala he is most merciful, and he is teaching us that here are two slaves of mine. I made them profits, I gave them power, I gave them wisdom. I gave them a lot of wealth I gave him so much. And what are they saying? They are saying Alhamdulillah they are saying All praise is indeed due to Allah subhanho wa Taala. Now, this is something that is amazing because these two prophets of Allah subhanho wa Taala were bestowed with

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so much they could actually speak to the animals. Sulaiman alayhi salatu salam Allah says, well, Hoshi Rani sola, imana Juno domina Jean.

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See what binary for whom use.

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Allah had brought together the army of Sulaiman la salatu salam, from Jin kind from mankind, and from the birds from the animals, all these creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala, Allah says, We blessed Sulayman Alayhi Salam with all of these in the form of an army that was under his control. So he had the control of the creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala, to a great extent, given to him by Allah subhanho wa Taala. What did he say? Was he arrogant Imagine if you could tell the wind for example to blow and it started blowing. What would you do? You would want to show your friends that you know what, I can actually show you what I'm going to do wind blow, and then the wind starts

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blowing.

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What happens? You just want to boast with Sulaiman Ali Salaam, it was not about boasting, he was so grateful to Allah subhanho wa Taala. He was so humble, so humble, that even the ants meant so much to him. Imagine, Suleiman alayhis salam has been bestowed that which nobody was bestowed in that particular way. But he was so humble that he was bothered about the ends, we are not given even a fraction of what Sulayman a Salam was, and we are not bothered about fellow human beings. That is something shocking. We are not even bothered about fellow human beings dying across the globe. We don't even want to reach out to those in our own neighborhood who are homeless, perhaps, who don't

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have food and drink perhaps we are not even

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cared we don't even bother stung federal law. And who are we? We don't even have much ourselves. We are in need of the mercy of Allah. Look at the lesson. Sulaiman alayhi salam, what a powerful lesson. Whenever I read this, I always tell myself, This man was the most powerful of the time, and he was worried about the ends Subhana Allah, he was worried about the ends. That's why this whole sutra is called a number. Because the lesson is so great. That will lie it embarrasses us the way we operate in our own lives. So Allah subhanho wa Taala says quite clearly here, had

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Allah

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Subhana Allah

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when the army had got to the valley of the end.

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Now look at what happened in this valley. There were so many ends, they saw a huge army coming through instead of one running away and taking his friends. Allah shows us the unity in the ends. And the surah has a lot of unity in it. The surah actually shows us a lot Subhana Allah are in terms of being united and being together and the benefits of being together. So Allah subhanho wa Taala tells us here, all at one of these ends said Yeah.

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Hello, Misaki nachum

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Neiman Suleiman would you know do well

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on one of the ends, called out to the rest of the ants saying, oh, ants, enter your homes quickly. Enter your homes quickly, so that you are not trampled over by Suleiman and his army while they won't even notice that you were there. So the answer so insignificant while I'm walking while you are walking, do you notice the ends? The answer is no. A lot of the times you don't notice them, and we trample over them, we drive over them. This was Sulaiman alehissalaam. He heard the conversation one and telling not just his family, but the rest of the hands, that you know what, please get into your homes, I care for you. So now that I care for you, I want you to know

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that if you are not going to go into your homes, you might be trampled by Suleiman and his army without him. Notice.

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But guess what he noticed?

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So Allah says, out of gratitude, so a man Allah, his salatu salam marching along Fatah sama bar, he kept

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calling her verse number 19 of surah number, which is the 27th surah of the Quran. Allah says, He smiled. He smiled in laughter. He smiled in laughter at the statement of this end, because he heard it and guess what he did? He stopped his whole army. He stopped the entire army and Subhana Allah, he made room for the ants to get back into their homes. Subhan Allah.

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What did he say?

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at that juncture? Did he post did he brag? Did he show Did he say to people, hey, I'm a big man and so on. No, but instead you know what happened? Allah subhanho wa Taala says that this man said, Robbie, knee and ash cornea mattock, O Allah give me the ability to thank you for the favors you've bestowed upon me. He didn't say Oh, ally, thank you. No, Oh Allah give me the ability to be thankful to you because thankfulness is not just a statement, but it is a way of life. thankfulness is a way of life. Gratitude is a way of life. That's what it is. Your life will show whether you are grateful to Allah or not. So remember this my brothers and sisters, this is why Sulayman Alayhi Salam did not

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say Oh Allah I thank you directly but he said, Oh Allah give me the ability to thank you for everything you have given me. Number one, you need to recognize what Allah gave you. What did he give you? A lot of us we walk we breathe, we don't realize the breath we have the health we have the eyes we have the noses we have the ears we have the hands we have the feet we have the nails, we have the hair we have the organs, we have all this gifts of Allah subhanho wa Taala only in you before your clothing and your money and your food all of that is outside of you but what is inside of you? Allah says wafi fujikura of Allah to Busan don't you look within yourself to see the signs

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of Allah subhanho wa Taala he has bestowed you with so much show gratefulness. Be grateful gratitude to Allah subhanho wa Taala is your way of life. Here is a man and a salon. He says Oh Allah, grant me the ability to be thankful to you.

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Robbie OZ and ash Khurana Matic not just me allottee

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ie that which you have favored upon me and upon both of my parents, who was his father, Suleiman was the son that would was the dead? How do I remember that? Usually, the S is for the sun and the D is for the dead, simple way of remembering that wood was the dance. Sulaiman was the son. So Sulaiman alehissalaam is saying, Oh Allah, grant me the ability to thank you for the favors you bestowed upon me and upon my parents, that which you gave my parents Subhana Allah And on top of that, he wants to ask Allah subhanho wa Taala something even more?

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What my lasagna

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Tarnovo and Oh Allah give me the ability to do good deeds that will please you or Allah give me the ability to do good deeds that will please you Yeah, Allah Subhana Allah, Oh Allah give me the ability to do good deeds that you will be pleased with which means I want to please you. So make it easy for me to please you Subhana Allah. One is you're asking Allah subhanho wa Taala. To thank to grant you the ability to thank him and to his you asking him to grant you the ability to now do good deeds that will be pleasing to Allah subhanho wa Taala this is indeed the height of humility, the height of humbleness. This is why Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of such a powerful gift in

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Surah to nimble, why did Allah choose the ENT? to name the surah? He could have named it Surrattsville a man, he could have named it so these are prophets of Allah subhanho wa Taala know Allah surah to Naaman, because the lesson for you is that the end was so significant Subhana Allah Subhana Allah, my brothers, my sisters sulaimani salatu wa sallam, he makes this he continues he says, one other thing ni Bella matica fi by de casa de, O Allah, let me be granted entry in entry into the circle of the worshippers who are pious.

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At the film named Bella Matic through your mercy, grant me the entrance into pious worshipers, which means I must be known by you as one of the pious slaves of yours.

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Now let's pause for a moment my brothers and sisters today. If we are given so much power, money, wealth of a difference

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Nature, perhaps authority on land, and so much in terms of this worldly living? What would you expect a person who has all of that to do? Will he be concerned about the ends? Will he be concerned about the other creatures of Allah subhanho wa Taala? Will he be concerned? Will he be concerned about what Allah subhanho wa Taala has favored him with? Or

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will he be above everyone high, it's even difficult to meet him to talk to him. He won't even want to look in this direction or that he's not interested in anything. Subhana Allah with Sulayman alayhi salatu wa sallam he was humble. He says, Oh Allah subhanho wa Taala helped me guide me open my doors. And this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala bestowed upon him so much, my brothers and sisters, it's amazing how we learn lessons from this beautiful story of the ends, that the ends were bothered for one another, they cared for one another. They actually looked out for one another, not like us, if we are in trouble, we walk away, we're not worried about what happens to the rest of us.

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With the answer. They said, No, let's all go. Have you ever watched the ants? Have you ever seen how the ants operate? If they were to find a piece of food somewhere, they will go back and inform their the rest of their nation that I found food somewhere and then they will all walk in an orderly fashion, no matter how far it is to that particular place. Together, they will circulate, they will help to carry it and they will start moving it all together united because united they can achieve. I have seen ends and I'm sure you have seen ends carry things that are bigger than them. And they all moving with this thing. It's like you know when we move with the genesis of Han Allah and you

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see how many people are walking together, our agenda brings us together with them. The food and the goodness brings them together. Subhana Allah, this is the gift of Allah subhanho wa Taala. And this is why my brothers and sisters when you have goodness, learn from the ants to share that goodness with everyone. How much are you going to eat on earth? How much do you want on Earth, you have one kilo of food, you're not going to finish it, you're going to have only a few 100 grams. Share it with someone else you don't know if you're going to live tomorrow Subhanallah with us we become selfish. Let's learn from the story of the ants to save ourselves from selfishness to save ourselves

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from hatred on earth by sharing with people when you share the love and the bond increases between people. This is how we will be able to indeed earn the pleasure of Allah subhanho wa Taala. So my brothers and sisters if we are to look at Sulaiman Allah, his salatu salam, his life thereafter, Allah gave him so much of power and control over the jinn Cain Subhana Allah, the Jing kind as well where Subhana Allah He asked the jinn to do something and listen to what happened.

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There was the entire Throne of the Queen of Sheba known as welkeys and Sulayman alayhi salatu was Salam tells the jinn that he wants that throne to be brought in his presence. So the one says, I can bring it before you stand up and Allah subhanho wa Taala says, that was a fleet that was a fleet a fleet was a powerful gene. And if he says, and it can be he cabela Takuma Mima comic I will bring it for you before you get up from your seat. But you know what, there was another one who had knowledge of the book, another gin, who had knowledge of the book, he says, and gkv cabela

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de la koponen folk, I will bring it for you the tire thrown out, lift it up and bring it for you right here before your eye can blink.

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So as he blinked he saw it all day. Subhan Allah again, Sulaiman la salatu salam says,

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For Nia be, look, look at this man. Look at how humble he was. Everything he was given. He always thanked Allah He related it to Allah so Allah gave me more and more and more because he related it to Allah when we get something we related to our brains, our minds, our jobs, our people, guys around us. That's the reason why we keep on failing. Rather related to Allah. Allah gave this to me. Oh, ally, thank you. Oh Allah, look at what you've done for me. Yes, that was the gym kind. They had knowledge of the book and so on. But he says how do you know what Li abalone ash?

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For in order to test me am I from among those who thankful we're thankful? Or am I from among those who are showing in gratitude? So this is Sulaymaniyah. Salatu was Salam. He is saying himself that this that Allah has given me is a test. What is the test to see, am I thankful or do I show in gratitude my brothers and sisters, we pause, we pause in order to look at our lives once again. Everything you have is in order to test you whether you are going to thank Allah or you're going to show in gratitude

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It's up to you. You pass the test or you fail the test. Remember this Save yourselves from failing, by showing gratitude to Allah relating it to Allah learn from this man, what a great man, King Solomon. That's what he was known as King Solomon. And Malik Suleiman alayhi salatu wa sallam, he was a prophet and the king at the same time, a powerful man. And Allah subhanho wa Taala says, Look at what he is saying, Oh Allah, I am thankful to you. This is a test from Allah has I mean, this is from the favor of Allah upon me, in order to test me and Allah subhanho wa Taala says, woman shakalaka in Coral, NFC, whoever shows gratitude is indeed showing gratitude only for himself. Which

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means that will help you you are grateful, it doesn't help Allah it helps you. Woman Kapha in bhiwani,

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getting verse number 40 of the surah Allah subhanho wa Taala says, and whoever is ungrateful, indeed, your Lord or my lord is indeed independent. Ronnie, you carry him full with honor. Sometimes we are ungrateful, Allah says I'll still give you but for a period of time, you are ungrateful I'll give you so many people show in gratitude to Allah, Allah gave them the wealth of this world, what will be in store for them in the era, I tell you before we die, if we tend to Allah, then we can always build our palaces in the hereafter through Toba. But if we don't, it is us who stand to lose. So this is why Allah subhanho wa Taala has made mention of this beautiful story in this particular

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Surah Surah number for us to learn that you know what, no matter how much you have in terms of power, it should never ever make you feel that you are above everyone else because the day can come when everything can come crashing. May Allah subhanho wa Taala, grant us humbleness and humility. Then, there is something very interesting that Allah subhanho wa Taala makes mention of and that is this Queen of Sheba just before all of this had happened. Allah subhanho wa Taala sho gave her the opportunity to communicate with Sulaiman alayhi salatu was Salam. Suleiman Ali Salam sent her a letter and told her to worship Allah alone, and not to worship this the the sun that they were

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worshipping. So she received this letter. And she read it and she was so intelligent. She said something that we have a lesson to learn from today. When she read the letter, she called all her people, ministers, and she had a meeting. She asked them, What should I do? I received the letter she read the letter. It was two lines. The letter was two lines in Suleiman was in Ohio Bismillah R Rahman r Rahim. Allah Allah Allah Yo, Tony muslimin. He first said who the letter is from this is from Solomon. He started off by saying Bismillah R Rahman Rahim In the name of Allah, most Gracious, Most Merciful. And then he says

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that they needed to submit and surrender themselves to him because he was the authority there. He they knew that there is something amiss here. So the lady says to her people, in Elmo Luca EDA, hello, cornea, de Nuff said Oh, ha, la Lu zetta. avi letto, aka file on verse number 34 of the surah.

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She says when kings enter into a territory, when kings enter into a land, they turn it upside down, they destroy it completely. They destroy it, and they, those who are high become low and so on. They're not worried who you are, they come and there is destruction. Therefore, we will try and engage these people in dialogue. Subhana Allah, look at them the sense she had today on the globe, every small thing people want to fight and go to war. We don't realize learn from Sula to learn from this Queen of Sheba. belkis What did she do? She said, when a king or when rulers want to come into our land, they will trample over everything and destroy the infrastructure completely. The better

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thing for us to do is to engage them in dialogue to make sure that we resolve the matter in a different way. And that is what happened at the end. She ended up accepting the faith, and she ended up Subhanallah with Sulayman alayhi salatu wa sallam May Allah subhanho wa Taala bless us all until we meet again in sha Allah and continue akuto la Sol Allahu wa Sallim wa barik ala nabina Muhammad Subhan Allah Subhana Allah homoeopathic, the shadow Allah Allah Elantra sofiero kawana tunic