Transcription
The people that are occupying the land of Palestine today will endeavor to recreate the temple. When it is recreated, they will try to move to their next ambitions, which is the greater Israel. We have a Hadith with regards to this, that the building up of the B Mak will culminate in the destruction of Medina, and the ruin of Medina will spell out the start of the wars of Armageddon.
When will Jesus come back? What role and significance does Israel and Palestine play in the end of times? What do the scriptures say about Muslims re-entering Palestine? Today we'll be discussing the eschatology and the significance of Israel and Palestine in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. With none other than… it's a pleasure, it's an honor to have you rejoin us on your second podcast with One PA Network. How are you feeling?
Sheum, alhamdulillah, pleasure to be here.
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Wah, the last podcast we presented on this topic was one of our most viewed podcasts of all time: "Israel on the End of Times and the Red Cow Sacrifice." Wahaj, that was a revelation to so many of our viewers.
So do we have an update on this red cow? The red heifer sacrifice that a lot of the people were fascinated in?
So, I think everyone is still waiting for that. The people that want to carry it out are still waiting for an opportunity. Currently, it's not obviously an opportune time because, optics-wise, it will not look good.
Has it taken place? I’ve heard some rumors on the ground that it already has taken place.
I’m not aware; I'm not aware; I'm not aware, insha'Allah.
So, inshallah, we'll be diving right into the conversation at hand. But before we do, I think it's important for our viewers to familiarize themselves with a few key terms, which I believe will be reappearing throughout this conversation.
So we will be speaking about the Messiah, the Antichrist, and potentially the Mahdi. Those are three key terms. So if you can, basically define and walk our viewers through: Who is the Messiah? Who is the Antichrist? And who is the Mahdi?
So the Messiah literally means the anointed one. In the olden days, what would happen is when a person took office, they would be rubbed—anointed with oil—to kind of say that this is your role, and seriousness of it, and also the fact that you will be in this for forever, if you like, until you die. That was the anointing process of it.
You also have it in history; you'll see it in certain Arab wars before Islam. They would bring oil, which is scented, and they would rub it on their hands or dip their hands into it and shake an oath of allegiance into that. Because the oil in the scent would last a long time, since oil-based perfumes last a long time, it was to remind that this is ongoing and it's not a short-term commitment, and it is something that you are stuck to.
In the case of the Messiah, he is the one anointed into the office of prophet to serve God and lead his people.
So this is the Messiah. When we say "Dajjal," the two words denote that the "Dajjal" part is the fake, and "Messi" meaning the fake Messiah, the fake anointed person, or the false one, if you like.
So we believe, as some of the other faiths believe, that towards the end of time, the fake Messiah will come. They refer to him as the Antichrist; that's why "Dajjal"—as in the fake anointed person.
As with regards to Mahdi, the Mahdi is the rightly guided person who we are promised at the end of time. There are many Hadith with regards to him, of which four of them are authentic. The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) essentially said that even if one day is left before Judgment Day, Allah will extend that day until someone from my progeny comes into authority. His name will be on my name, as in his name will be Muhammad, and his father's name will be on my father's name, as in it will be Muhammad ibn Abdullah.
He will fill the Earth with justice as it was filled with injustice. So that is the Mahdi, the rightly guided one who we are anticipating, and others are anticipating—I'll say from Christianity, from Judaism, and of course Islam.
You mentioned that the Messiah is the anointed one and there is a false Messiah. According to the authentic Hadith, that would refer to the Antichrist, if I’m correct?
That's right, because the Quran clearly establishes that, so verily the Messiah, Isa (Jesus), the son of Mary, is the awaited Mahdi that came, and he will come back again as established in the authentic Hadith at the end of time.
I think this is probably a nice place to just introduce some of the other stakeholders in this. All three monotheistic or Abrahamic faiths are waiting for the return of the Messiah. In the case of our Jewish cousins, this will be his first coming to them.
I pray this is okay for me to enter into…
Yes, of course.
So our Jewish cousins believe that the Messiah hasn’t come yet because Jesus was a false Messiah, according to them. That's right.
So when he came—as in when Jesus came—they failed to see his truth and they failed to accept him. So, as such, they're in denial that he's the actual Messiah, and they're still waiting for the real Messiah to come.
One of the reasons they give is because we are not ready to receive him.
Yes. So how do you get ready to receive him?
The people of Israel need to return back to their faith and be strong enough to host him, and when the temple is rebuilt—which goes into the whole Red Cow story—and when he comes, they believe that he will reign, not just over Israel as we know it today, but over the Greater Israel, as we know some of their ambitions, and not the biblical Israel—which they say is from the Euphrates to the Nile—but he will reign over the world.
So this is the aspirational goal and this is the belief with regards to the Messiah that they have. At the same time, the Evangelical Christians have a prophecy of their own with regards to the Messiah. We see their posters and their placards all over the place. "Jesus will return! Jesus will return!"
That's right. It's a motivational driving point for them and their faith, and those people who follow them, obviously, because it's a big deal that the Messiah comes back on Earth. Their belief is that, again, the temple has to be built—the Temple of Solomon.
So they have a shared belief.
Yeah, and it seems to be a marriage of convenience here. So the temple will be built, and when the temple is built, the fake Messiah will come into the temple and place his idol there as a point of worship.
They believe that a fake Messiah will come and he will call people to worship him. And it will happen in the temple. So that's why the temple is a prerequisite for the Evangelical Christian and the coming of Christ, and that is why there's such support from the Christians of the United States for the Zionist nation.
Yes, because the Temple of Solomon must be built by the Jews, and it must be built for the Antichrist to come and call himself a God. Then they believe that when he does that, in agony, the people of faith will raise their hands to the heavens to say help, and then the actual Messiah will come—Jesus will return!
So in this, there's a bit of an irony because it seems that one is using the other for their own means out of it. Although our Jewish cousins believe in their Messiah, it seems, at least on the surface, that their Messiah might end up being the Antichrist of the Christian world. Through his coming, they will get their actual Messiah.
The Muslims obviously have their own, and I might add that the prophecies are very vague. They've had to do a fair bit of imaginative reading to come up with these details.
Yes, and then you come to the Islamic world, and our prophecies are—and I don't say this as a bias because I'm a Muslim—but the Islamic prophecies are very particular and they're very detailed. Little room for ambiguity.
So we also believe that he will come back, and we've got specific details with regards to it. So the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said that Jesus, the son of Mary, will come covered in two beige garments.
You see the detail here?
Yes, two beige garments, hands on the wings of two angels, near the white minaret on the eastern side of Damascus—a white minaret on the eastern side of Damascus.
Subhan Allah, his time when he uttered this, there was no minaret, and Islam did not extend to there—like Islam was not up to Syria. But as per prophecy, a mosque was built there. The minaret is there now, the white minaret, and we believe he will come there.
So these two main prophecies of these two faiths are the driving mechanism of what is happening around there and the endless support that we see.
Then the Islamic prophecy—unlike our cousins—we're not actually trying to persuade it into coming. We're not pushing it.
Yes, but we also know that it will happen as prophesied; it will come.
So you've mentioned the descent of Jesus (Isa) in the eastern side of Damascus. This is the return of Jesus. We Muslims and Christians share that he will return.
We also share a belief in the Antichrist. Who is the Antichrist in Islam and what do we know about him? What features, what signs did the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) inform us of?
The Antichrist is one of the major signs of the end of time. Yes, and the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) informed us that there is no trial or tribulation or calamity ever to have visited humanity from the time of Adam till the Day of Judgment greater than the calamity of the Dajjal.
There's no calamity, no trial, no tribulation to come upon mankind greater than that of the Antichrist. So regarding his features, the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) gave us certain signs.
For example, he said that he has had one of his eyes blotted out, so one of his eyes is not working; it has been, it is—like you get D when you pull your hand across the door—like as in it's like plaster, would you say—with plaster, like that.
And the other eye is flawed—it works, but it's flawed, a lazy eye perhaps. I don't know, but the Prophet gives descriptions of it, like a dried-out sultan, so it looks… So he seems to have ailments in both his eyes, and between his eyes then, on his forehead is written the word "kafir."
In one of the Hadith, the Prophet spaced it out, as in—he made it conditional to be able to read it: 'fiqh (faith).
So he says every person of faith will be able to read it, whether he can read or not. Normally in physics, you see something because light bounces on that object and then into your eyes. So in this instance, the light that will help you see the "kafir" is the light of faith.
So you will see it and then he will have a lot of challenges that will follow in his time when he comes. The challenges will shake faith to the core, and frankly, we will not be able to overpower him.
Death and destruction are written at the hands of the actual Messiah—Jesus (Isa).
And we believe that he will come for a specific period of time, and the first day of his arrival will be as long as a year, and then the second day will be as long as a month, and then a week, and then the rest of the days are normal days.
In those days that he’s here, he will traverse the whole planet, and he will come towards Medina as well. But we are taught through the words of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) that angels will stand guard around Medina and they will push him away.
So then he will make his way towards where the Muslims will be at the time—this is one of the hints of where all these conflicts will end up. They will be in, yes, Jerusalem.
And that is where he will meet Isa (Jesus). After that, it will spell the end of him at that time. I believe it's specified exactly where he will be.
That's right. So Babud is a place in Palestine and Jerusalem.
That's right, yeah. Muslims will be encamped in Jerusalem with the Mahdi that we spoke about, and they will be surrounded by the Antichrist and his forces outside, and obviously, they have no way of defeating them because his defeat is written at the hand of Isa.
It will be prayer time—some say it will be Fajr Salah and others say it will be Dhuhr—but irrespective, it will be prayer time. The command will be given for the Imam to lead.
The Hadith mentions that a darkness will spread.
Yes, all of a sudden it will become dark. Then when it lights up again, they will look, and he is amidst them. The Prophet described him; he will have hair as though he just came out of the bath, so he will be dripping wet.
Mhm, and beads of liquid, water, sweat droplets will roll off him, and he has a scent in it. Coincidentally, our Jewish cousins also believe in the scent of the Messiah; he will have a scent.
I think they've got their details mixed up a little bit.
So he will come, and because obviously, he was a prophet when he was in his first arrival, the Imam will move to make way for him to lead the prayer.
So he said he will lead one another in prayer as an honor that Allah has given to this.
Then he will lead the Salah, and when the Salah finishes, because they’re in a state of immense anxiety and surrounded by the enemies outside, when Salah finishes, he says, "Open the doors," as in the fear is finished; I'm here.
When the doors open and they’re surrounded, the Hadith say that wherever his scent reaches and his scent reaches as far as his eyes see, whatever touches his adversities, adversities will fall dead except for the Dajjal.
This will be like a miraculous victory, of course. Subhan Allah, of course!
Then he will call out to him that there's no escape. It is written that I'll strike you once.
So he chases him and catches him in this Babud, and he will finish the story of the Dajjal.
So just as a side point: is he returning as a prophet of God?
As with regards to the question of whether he will be a prophet or he will come as an ordinary man, the verses of the Quran and the Hadith of the Prophet establish that there are no more prophets after our Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam).
So no more after his time; the Deen has been perfected.
So a perfect thing can't have any additions or deletions, and as such, there's no need for another Prophet to come and add to it.
He will come, and he will follow the latest version of the religion that he came with himself.
You know you have "ithaat," so this is the latest version of the forms of Islam—if you like.
And the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said that he will modify certain aspects of the Shari'ah—like with regards to Zakat and things like that, if I remember correctly—but that is done on the tongue of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam).
The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said he will do this; it has been given authority to do this so it won't be his own ad hoc change. So it's still dictated through the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam).
So yeah, I think it's important to also note that there are Jews who actually oppose what Israel is doing and what the Jewish people are doing that are in charge of Israel right now to prompt the arrival of the Antichrist.
There are also Christians who are opposed to what’s taking place now, although the Evangelical Christians—there is a section of Evangelical Christians that support the state of Israel—there are many Christians that absolutely oppose the genocide, the violent occupation.
As Muslims—as you've mentioned—we are not doing anything to prompt the arrival of the Antichrist or the arrival of the Messiah.
But if I can ask you a question, are there any, I guess, sequences of events that are written to prompt the arrival of the Dajjal?
Specific sequences of events—you’ve mentioned something earlier about the building of the temple.
So not in our faith, but amidst our Jewish cousins and amidst the Christians, they have a belief, and also a knack to try to force prophecies to eventuate.
So one of the things that the Israelites are trying to do is their belief is, or at least some of them, that if they become worthy of the Messiah, the Messiah will come back.
Part of the things that will make them worthy is if they rebuild the Temple of Solomon.
Yes, and you did mention something about the people that build—if you could walk us through this specific story?
The Israelites, or our Jewish cousins, are bent on rebuilding the Temple of Solomon. And we have a Hadith with regards to this that the building up of the Temple will culminate in the destruction of Medina.
So when you try to marry this Hadith and the beliefs of the other faiths and also see what is happening on the ground today, one of the possible scenarios becomes that the Zionists or the people that are occupying the land of Palestine today will endeavor to recreate the temple.
Yes, and when it is recreated, they will try to move to their next ambitions, which is the Greater Israel.
Mhm, and because those that believe the Messiah to them is a global king, it is not a localized king. Like he will reign over the world.
You’ve mentioned something very powerful: that those that construct the temple will prompt the destruction of Medina.
So this is something very new to many of our viewers, including myself. If you can walk us through this, what exactly is this referring to? What is the destruction of Medina? What is the construction of Jerusalem? Where is this Hadith found just for our viewers as well?
So the Hadith is found in the authentic books of Hadith. And I think if anyone even searches the word Dajjal, some of the scholars from the past have declared this as weaker, but others have classified it as Hassan, and then others have classified it as authentic.
When you see the reality on the ground, there is merit to it.
Yes, could you just translate that? You’ve mentioned the Hadith in Arabic.
So the Hadith says that the building up of the Temple of Jerusalem or the mosque in Jerusalem, if you like—literally the "Bayt" means house—referring to Masjid Al-Aqsa.
So the rebuilding of that or the buildup of that will culminate in the destruction or the ruin of Medina.
And the ruin of Medina will spell out the start of the wars of Armageddon—mal the great wars—and the wars of Armageddon will result in or culminate in the opening or the victory of Constantinople.
One is Constantinople. Yes, there is a view that Constantine had two cities. One was Constantinople that he built, and the other one before this was modern Rome.
Okay, irrespective of how you look at it, the city of Constantine will fall open, and then that will bring in the age of the Dajjal.
But it is linked, I believe on a practical level to the story of Greater Israel, because the building of the temple will mean that they have gotten rid of all resistance around Jerusalem, and they have succeeded in building the Temple—and building up the areas around it perhaps—yes, and destroying Masjid Al-Aqsa.
Yes, and then with this will come a new phase where they will try—I believe this is my calculations—that they will try to create this notion of Greater Israel, which to them extends far beyond its current borders.
Mhm. And as part of that, Muslim cities near and around those areas will be attacked and destroyed.
We have a Hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) where he said the last city that they will be able to destroy will be the city of Medina.
So we know that it will be harmed and it will be destroyed.
The other Hadith gives an example of what will happen, how the destruction will look like.
The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) said: "You will leave Medina when it is the best it has ever been."
Mhm. So I read it as the buildings will be intact, the hotels will be there, the orchards will be there, and right now it is very beautiful to go there.
That's right.
So it keeps on developing—like the works around Medina keep on going.
When the Hadith says when it's like the best it has been, you ask yourself the logical question: Why have they left Medina?
Number one, the love of the Muslims for the city of Medina is self-evident; we travel thousands of miles to be there, even for a few days.
So no Muslim would forsake it, naturally.
And then secondly, there’s no—because the verse says there’s no earthquake, and nothing, because the verse says it’s when it’s on its best situation.
So it’s not physically destroyed; it’s not physically destroyed. The infrastructure is still there, the orchards are there.
Another Hadith says you will leave it and its fruits are hanging low, as in the orchards are all fine—for 40 years.
So why are they leaving?
There’s another Hadith which gives a hint of what might happen—a possible scenario.
And the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) says: "You will leave Medina when it is the best it has ever been."
For many people, it's puzzling; you will leave it for the beasts and the birds.
The Hadith continues that the last two to enter the city will be two shepherds from among the M, and he specifies the tribe M, and they will come with their flock into the city.
When they come into it, they will see it vacant; they will see it deserted.
There’s another reading of this Hadith; it could possibly mean that when they come into it, the animals will become wild. Like the tamed sheep will become wild.
Mhm.
By the time they leave the city of Medina and reach, you know, the limit towards which the guests were taken to in the olden days—like before they left the city they used to be walked out—this is called the place of goodbyes, the point of farewell.
When they reach there, both of them will fall down dead.
Mhm.
So if you think about it and analyze it, the city is vacant; it is built up so much so that the Hadith says that a wolf will come and urinate on the member, and no one will be there to stop it.
When the two people have entered it, either somewhere during the time or towards the end of its time, when they walk out of it, barely a few kilometers, they both fall down dead.
So upon thought and reflection, a possibility is that there will be either chemical warfare used onto the city, as in the air will become toxic, poisonous, or you know, physical walls and all that, that you touch; it affects you.
Or there’s a biological, specific towards humans, or a neurological one in which, you know, an agent is used that drives people crazy—into death—because the animals are possibly a reading that they become beasts.
So that is the culmination of it.
Okay, and this would obviously then trigger—you mentioned the battles of Armageddon—like post-apocalyptic wars and then the opening of Constantinople, whether that is whichever one it is, and then the arrival of the Antichrist that’s right.
We’ve mentioned a lot about the greater Israel.
Just to give a bit of, I guess, information on what the greater Israel is, we've seen recently Israeli soldiers in Gaza have badges with a map of the greater Israel.
We saw the finance minister—very different from the current borders—and they get very triggered about the quote from the river to the sea.
This is far beyond the river to the sea, and they’re calling for potentially taking over parts of Jordan, parts of Syria.
We saw the finance minister deliver a talk with a map of the greater Israel on it.
So walk us through this: What is the fascination behind it? What are they trying to do, and why?
I think this happens with a lot of nations—they try to create a glorious past, like "Make America Great Again."
That’s right.
You also have, for example, in Russia, there’s a thought of creating the Greater USSR, and there’s a thought of the Ottoman Empire, and there’s a thought of greater Israel.
The Greater Israel started—like its inception, you know, when the British mandate came into effect in 1918.
Everyone knew you hear this on Churchill's actual words that they will not be kept local; at that stage, they will expand.
They had—and this was about high-end weapons and a lot of wealth and money and international support.
They will push the Arabs out.
So it’s understood at the political world level amidst the great powers that this will eventuate.
So they are driven by not the 1948 borders, not the 1967 borders—they are driven by Greater Israel borders, which comes out of the statement of some settlers, which comes out in the statements of certain rabbis, which comes out in the statements of politicians.
So the next step of this greater Israel is the map you see on the shoulders of soldiers.
It goes way beyond the river, takes up pretty much all of Jordan and parts of Syria.
But even that is not the final version.
The final version of if they end up creating the Israel that they envision or that their book says they once had some access to, it will go from the Euphrates to the Nile.
Even that is on record. Even that is on record, as some of their rabbis and some of the leaders, saying we will take everything from Euphrates, including Mecca, Medina.
I feel like what they are doing right now—the ethnic cleansing they are conducting—it’s just a step towards it. But what will happen is that this ambition, this drive, this desire to grow and recreate a nostalgic past will cause a lot of destruction around.
But the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) told us that the last destruction will be that they will—I'm assuming it will be them—that they will inflict on the villages or the cities of Islam, as in the cities of Islam will be Medina.
So Medina will be the turning point and this turning point will culminate in the great wars.
So what, from the Hadith, what I understand—and there are great scholars, much greater than anyone that we know in person—for example, Muhammad al-Hasan.
He's of the same opinion.
He's of the same opinion.
Sorry, he's of the same opinion.
That the destruction of Medina will result in the awakening of the Muslim community to the point where they will gather around righteous leaders.
The Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) informed us that this matter will not end; Islam will not go under.
This business will not finish until twelve guided have come into existence.
There's obviously different beliefs on that—that they come from the time of Abu Bakr and you just count twelve there or you look for twelve righteous people in Muslim history.
Or will they come as a cluster at the end of time?
My belief is that they will come as a cluster at the end of time because the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) when he mentions the Hadith says the matter will not end, as in, towards the end of time, this is what will happen.
When the destruction of the last city of Islam happens—Medina—people will gather around the Mahdi, and twelve leaders will come one after the other.
You look at the other Hadith of the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) in which he prophesized—step by step as far as leadership or reigns are concerned.
So he said prophethood will be there for as long as Allah wants it.
Then Allah will remove the age of prophethood, and then the kingship will come.
Yes, the kingship will come, and they will stay righteous, prophetic guided for as long as Allah chooses.
In another Hadith, he says thirty years.
So Abu Bakr came, and Umar came, and Uthman came, and Ali came, and so on, and that was collectively thirty years.
That was collectively thirty years.
So it’s a long segment of time; it's not a specific few.
Then he says then there will come an age—you can translate the Hadith—where power will be shared within families, like brother to brother shoulder to shoulder, so the Banu Umayyah and the Banu Abbas.
And there’s also an element of injustice in the rule; like there is a calamity there.
Then he (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) says then there will come an age of tyrannical rule where people who have no worth and are not worthy hold an office.
By the whip and by force, they keep people in subjugation, and this age will continue, and then the end of this, then the age of truth will come again.
They will follow the footsteps of prophethood.
So this is not one reign; notice it was ages.
So an age will come again.
That age, I believe, will start at the when the last city, as the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) promised, because no more cities of Islam will be damaged after this.
Then the twelve rightly guided will come one after the other.
So you will understand that the Mahdi is the last of the twelve leaders that will come.
Will be the Mahdi.
Thank you very much for that.
Just to clarify and reiterate to our viewers, this twelve is the opinion of the scholars, and it is an allowable—like this is a permissible opinion to hold.
That’s right.
So with this reading and interpretation—
That's right.
But it’s interpretation that other scholars have gone into before me. It is not my own.
That's right.
All the things that I have mentioned here are not my own personal ones; they are of great scholars who are much more learned than us, and who are stars in the skies of Islam, and valid opinions to have.
Although it might differ from other people, but that's, I think…
Thank you very much for that disclaimer.
Lastly, for our viewers at home, this is a lot of information to take in; it's a lot of information to digest. A lot of this is outside of our control—kingdoms that come, empires that are built, empires that are destroyed over time.
This is out of our control.
Within our control as Muslims, what should we be doing to protect ourselves during the time of Isa, during the time of the Antichrist?
You know, one of the greatest trials to befall this Ummah—what should we be doing now to prepare?
So the Prophet (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), when talking about the fitna or the times of the Mahdi—which is what we have talked about—he directed us towards Surah Al-Kahf, and its recitation.
Recitation by itself is not the goal of the deed, because what is wanted is not the purpose—that's right; it's not the main aim.
So the purpose of recitation is so that you reflect and get lessons out of it.
Of the lessons you pick from Surah Al-Kahf are the lessons that we get from the lives of the young men who were in a society toxic to their beliefs—who had moved far away from righteousness and goodness.
Not only that, but the righteous were not allowed to exercise their faith in that space; they were not allowed to believe in one God, they were not allowed to pray as they wanted, and so on.
These young individuals stood out in history as being a people that had found guidance, and not only found it but were practicing guidance in a time of great misguidance.
Yes, so in their lives, or in their story, are lessons for us.
One of the lessons that we need to take is number one—
So, "Kahf" has different meanings: one is age. Yes. Second is characteristics of the age.
So we have in our country we say "Jabir Madi"—like yeah, characteristics of young men.
So of those characteristics, it means men that are capable, men that are free, and that these are the characteristics.
They’re honorable, they’re hospitable, they help the weak, the needy.
So as an institution of good, they were people with these characteristics. So we need to embody those.
We need to have courage; we need to have decency; we need to have nobility; we need to have goodness.
Then second, they were people with these characteristics that believed, and they were gone.
So we need to work on our Iman and our belief.
Then Allah says: We increased them in their guidance.
They were on a good path, but we increased them. The increase only comes through practice.
Yes.
Those who struggle in our path—we increase them in guidance.
So it means they believed and they were hard practicing that.
Then the next characteristic Allah says: We tightened their hearts, as in we instilled in them courage.
Because a lot of times, it's very hard to be courageous.
It’s very hard to stand up and say the right thing, and do the right thing, so a characteristic we need to have is this characteristic of courage that we need to instill in our children.
That’s another of the qualities that we should aspire to have.
Then the next one when they stood—so we need to stand.
We need to stand for the truth.
We need to stand for what is right.
We need to stand for Allah.
We need to stand to advocate for what is the truth and what is right, because this stance is what Allah ordered His Prophet as well: "Get up and warn."
So this—and He ordered him twice to get up, yes, to worship.
Then the second get up and warn, "Rise, stand, warn."
This standing of warning, as in the standing of Dawah, is what it culminated into.
Yes, when they got up and they said: "Our Lord, the one that created heaven and earth."
Every one of us. So when you stand, you talk about the greatness of Allah and the attributes, promote that in His teachings and His guidance.
And that is what our preparation for that needs to be—reading every Friday to the best of your ability.
To our viewers that can't read the full Surah, read the first ten, read the last ten, with contemplation, and trying to embody the lessons and trying your best.
Subhan Allah, I feel like if one lesson speaks out to me, it's finding that safe haven within the cave during times of trial.
You can imagine if the Dajjal comes and we witness his arrival—you don't want to be anywhere near him, you don't even want to test your Iman. You want to be as far away as possible in a safe haven.
Yes, so another thing that the Surah points out is that, they say: "So irrespective of which number it is."
There are people who have found a few brothers, whether that's three or five or seven—small community that holds their belief and strengthens one another through encouragement and getting to know one another.
So the rest of it is by the support of good people to have around yourself.
As difficulties increase, one of the ways to alleviate difficulties is by the support of good people to have around yourself.
So we shouldn’t overlook that as well.
Yes, so relying on Allah (subhana wa ta'ala), relying on our communities, having that fortification, that fortress, that base, insha'Allah, that will be a great means of protection.
It has been a pleasure joining us on this podcast; that was a lot to unpack—many of which many of us haven't heard before.
But it's important that we familiarize ourselves with what's taking place and understand that our strength, our courage, our resilience in these times will only come from Allah (subhana wa ta'ala).
Pleasure, pleasure to have been here.
And Allah grant you all success. Until next time.