We praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
we send blessings and salutations upon Muhammad
salallahu alayhi wasalam,
his household,
his companions.
We ask Allah to bless them all,
to bless every one of us,
to grant us goodness and to have
mercy on every one of us.
Ameen.
My brothers and sisters,
the Prophet Musa alayhis salam or Moses may peace be upon him
called out to Allah many times during his life.
Some of these are mentioned by
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in the Quran,
some of them are mentioned by Muhammad
salallahu alayhi wasalam in the hadith.
We went through one of the duas or two
of them when he had arrived in Median in
the previous episode and today I'd like
to go through another of the beautiful
duas of Musa alayhis salam that is so
powerful that every one of us actually needs throughout our lives.
It is a dua
mentioned in Surah Taha,
a supplication mentioned in the chapter known as Taha
in the Quran, verse number 25. Allah says
The term Qala at the beginning in Arabic means he said.
What is the meaning of it?
It means,
Oh my Rabb,
Ishrah li sadri,
you know, make clear for me my chest.
So make clear for me my chest.
Let me be confident.
Wayassir li amri and make my affair easy for me.
Wahlul uqdatam min lisani and untie the knot on my tongue.
Yafqahu qawli so that they can understand what I say,
my statement.
What a powerful dua.
It has got to do with anything that you're doing.
You want the confidence?
Rabb ishrah li sadri, wayassir li amri.
You want Allah to make the affair easy?
Rabb ishrah li sadri, wayassir li amri.
You want to be eloquent.
You want to be able to come across in
a way that the people can understand
what you're saying?
Wahlul uqdatam min lisani yafqahu qawli.
Oh Allah, untie the knot.
Now, Musa alaihi salam had literally a knot.
It used to or it is reported that he had a stammer,
a little bit of a stutter.
And he made a dua to Allah.
Oh Allah, you are sending me to the Pharaoh.
I need to talk to him.
You are asking me to convey your message.
I need your help because I stutter.
My brothers and sisters,
I want to draw your attention to something amazing.
A miracle.
In most cases of those who stutter,
when they're reading the Quran,
there's no stutter.
It's just amazing.
It's a miracle of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
In most cases, in some cases, it still happens.
But those who struggle speaking sometimes
and they happen to stammer, stutter, etc.
They have a problem with, you know, saying
the first word, the first few words.
When it comes to the Quran,
they say,
Bismillahir
rahmanir rahim,
alhamdulillahi rabbil alameen,
arrahmanir rahim.
You would never imagine
that this person has a problem speaking.
That's a gift of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
because it's the message of Allah.
It's the words of Allah,
especially when you understand the Arabic language,
but even for those who don't.
So when you are speaking with the words of Allah,
Allah makes it easier for you to convey the message,
because that message belongs to the owner of creation.
Subhanallah.
This is Musa alayhi salam.
What did he say to Allah?
Oh Allah, you're sending me to the Pharaoh.
Well, I want you to, you know, clear my chest.
You can apply it and use it in nearly everything that you are doing.
You start off your lecture.
You can read the dua.
You want to start off something at work.
You read the dua.
You want to start off.
You're speaking to someone.
You read the dua.
You have something to do.
You read the dua.
You have a task.
You read the dua.
Rabbishrahli sadri,
wa yassirli amri,
wahlul aqudatam min lisani,
yafqahu qawli.
And Allah gave that to him.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave it to him.
But there is another part of the dua that we may not call out to,
or we may not be calling out to Allah with,
because we don't have a brother called Harun.
But I want to show you Musa alayhi salam,
who had a brother called Harun.
By the way,
I do have a brother called Harun,
mashallah,
tabarakallah.
But what I make mention of here is.
Allah says that Musa alayhi salam called out to him,
even beyond that dua.
He says, waj'alli wazeeram min ahli.
You know, let me have someone with me
from my family who can assist me.
Harun akhi, my brother Harun, send him with me.
You know, you are asking me to do something,
but let me draw the help of my brother Harun.
Task him as well with me.
Ushdud bihi azri wa ashriquhu fee amri.
You know, let him,
you O Allah,
strengthen me through him being with me
and let him come and take part in this affair of mine
so that we can both declare your greatness
and glorify you and remember you a lot.
For indeed,
you are watching what we are going through.
And you know,
after that,
what Allah says,
and this is something that brings tears to the eyes again.
Qala qad ootita su'laka yaa Musa,
wa laqad mananna alayka marratan ukhraa.
He says,
O Musa,
we have given you what you've asked.
Amazing.
This was almost instant.
Musa alayhi salam is saying,
O Allah,
open my chest in the sense that,
you know,
clear my chest,
make it easy for me,
untie the knot and send my brother with me
so that we can do this thing here together.
And Allah says, OK, that's given.
Anything else?
SubhanAllah.
Allah says, OK, that's given.
Ootita su'laka,
whatever you've asked for me,
from me,
I've given it to you.
That's what Allah is saying.
And Allah saying,
we have bestowed upon you favours.
This is not the first favour of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala upon Musa alayhi salam.
So Allah is saying,
we've bestowed upon you the favours.
How many favours have we bestowed upon you?
Every one of us, we need to ask ourselves.
The favours of Allah that he has bestowed upon us,
what are they?
How many are they?
They are millions, billions, countless.
It is part of faith and conviction to consider and to think about
what Allah has given you and favoured you with and to search for it,
hunt it,
find it
and thank Allah for each thing,
as many things as you can.
That's a way that you will achieve increase because Allah says,
If you are going to show gratitude to Allah,
he will definitely grant you increase.
So to show gratitude, search for the gifts,
thank Allah for them.
And you will see what Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will do for you.
So this was a beautiful dua that Musa alayhi salam made.
When he went to the Pharaoh,
he spoke so eloquently.
I think the Pharaoh subhanAllah was thrown off his feet.
And this is why he felt threatened by Musa alayhi salam.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala help us
all and guide us in every single way.
I want to go through more of the dua of Musa alayhi salam.
This beautiful prophet of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He struggled also at the hands of his own people,
the Banu Israel.
So when it comes to Banu Israel,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us that
they did not obey every instruction of Musa alayhi salam.
They always cross questioned him.
They always asked him more and so on.
But Musa alayhi salam sought the protection of Allah
from the Pharaoh many times using different words.
Some of these words specifically mentioned the Pharaoh,
in which case we wouldn't be able to use that
exact dua because it makes mention of the Pharaoh.
But where the word Pharaoh is not in the verse or in the dua,
and it's a broader dua,
we may use that dua,
that supplication.
If we have a similar situation where
we need the protection from a tyrant,
from someone who's bad,
from someone who intends to harm us.
Listen to what Musa alayhi salam says.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala speaks about it in Surah Ghafir,
verse number 27.
And Musa said,
I seek the protection in my Rabb,
in my Lord and your Lord.
I seek that protection in our Lord,
mine and yours.
We have the same Lord, the same maker.
I seek protection in Him from every arrogant
person,
haughty person who doesn't believe in the reckoning,
the day of reckoning.
So two qualities,
a person who doesn't believe in the day of reckoning,
but they're not haughty,
they're not arrogant and so on.
Here, Musa alayhi salam is saying,
the one who doesn't believe and
he is arrogant,
he's proud,
proud to the degree that he belittles everyone.
He's harming us.
He's causing damage.
He's trying to cause damage.
He's saying,
I'm seeking the protection of my Lord and your Lord from
people who are arrogant and don't believe in the day.
Don't believe in the day of accounting,
the day of resurrection.
So there's no harm in seeking this protection.
In fact, it's healthy.
Inni udhtu bi Rabbi wa Rabbikum min kulli
mutakabbirin la yu'minu bi yawmin hisab.
This is a dua,
may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make
it for us such that we are protected
from those who are arrogant, haughty,
you know, those who don't believe.
In fact,
subhanAllah,
there are other duas that we will learn from the time of Muhammad
salallahu alayhi wa salam when we get to those
episodes where we will be covering the dua
of Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa salam.
And that's going to take up the largest chunk of our series,
alhamdulillah.
But I promise you,
there are so many powerful duas that we would feel
that it was tailor
made for all of us,
because you see,
the tests of Allah are quite similar in the lives of
everyone.
The magnitude of the test might be different,
but people are tested in a similar
way.
These are the same tests.
You see,
I want to draw your attention to something very
interesting.
My beloved brothers and sisters,
especially the younger ones.
When we have
examinations,
O levels,
A levels,
you can whatever other examinations in South Africa,
they call it the matriculant exams,
the metric exams,
whatever it is, people will tell you generally,
if you want to pass,
there is a secret.
Oh, wow.
So what's that secret?
Passed papers.
Wow. Have you heard that?
Passed papers.
Do as many passed papers as you can of geography.
Get them from the year 2000 right up to 2018.
18 passed papers,
2019,
2020,
whatever the year is,
do 20 passed papers and June and November,
June and November in the case of O levels or A levels.
They'll tell you do passed papers.
You'll never go wrong.
And then you're you know what?
When you've done all those passed papers,
the chances are as you're sitting with your examination.
Oh, wow.
There's a small change in the question,
but it's appeared somewhere because those examiners
need to ask you about a specific syllabus.
Right.
That syllabus is contained.
Right.
So the questions they're going to ask you,
if you've covered so many years of past papers,
you've covered the syllabus.
And it might be a slight difference in wording,
a small difference in angle if it's mathematics,
difference in the numbers.
But the gist of the question is the same.
And you say,
wow,
I did this just now this morning.
I did it and you happy smiling.
You know,
the examiner,
the invigilator might think you're cheating.
Can I tell you the example I'm giving
you with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala?
He has given us all the past papers we need to pass our exam.
These are past papers.
He's telling us about the prophets.
He says, look, they had issues.
They had problems.
This is how they dealt with them.
Your problems are smaller than theirs.
Do you have the time to go through these past papers?
If you do, good luck to you.
You're going to pass them.
If you don't, bad luck.
You're going to struggle.
You might fail.
Come back to repeat your exam.
You fail again.
Come back to repeat your exam until you've
done enough papers that are current,
that you wrote and failed and you
got the experience and you came back.
This is a gift of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So my brothers and sisters,
it's a beautiful way of looking at things that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala bestows favor upon us by telling us what happened to others.
This is why the hadith of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam,
he always speaks about how important it is to look at those who
have less than you so that you can appreciate what you have.
Musa alayhi salatu wassalam is seeking the
protection in Allah from the pride and the
haughtiness of those who are haughty and the wrongdoers,
etc.,
etc.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave that to him.
Now,
there is another dua that Musa alayhi salatu wassalam has made,
and this dua is to do with the seeking of
forgiveness for himself and his people,
Suratul A'raf, verse number 155.
He says, O Allah, you are our protector.
So forgive us and have mercy on us,
for you are the best of those who forgive.
You are the best of those who forgive.
So he's seeking the forgiveness of Allah.
We also need to seek the forgiveness of Allah.
In another verse,
Allah says that Musa alayhi salam said,
Verse number 151 of Suratul A'raf.
Look at how one is,
Allah is forgiving.
That's his quality, right?
His names are based also on forgiveness.
But to say you are the best of those who have mercy,
you are the most merciful of those who have mercy,
you are the best of those who forgive.
These are qualities.
Praise Allah.
We all have to praise Allah.
O Allah, you are the best.
There is no one, no one better than you.
O Allah, there are people who forgive.
You are the best.
You are the most forgiving of those who forgive.
You are the most merciful of those who have mercy.
Have mercy on me, O Allah.
Have mercy on me and my brother.
So what lesson I want to draw from this is,
look,
he's asking not just for himself.
In one dua, he says,
اغفر لي و لأخي, forgive me and my brother.
Let's make dua for our family members.
In this other verse, he says,
O Allah, forgive me and my people.
Forgive all of us.
It's not just me.
So this goes to show that, you know,
we're concerned about the mercy of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, not just for us,
but for all those around us.
And this is why Allah says,
Musa alayhi salam continues,
he says,
وَاكْتُبْ لَنَا
فِي هَٰذِهِ الدُّنْيَا
حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ إِنَّا
هُدْنَا إِلَيْكِ The dua is as follows,
وَاكْتُبْ لَنَا
O Allah,
write for us goodness in this world and the next.
That's the dua.
وَاكْتُبْ لَنَا فِي هَٰذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ
O Allah,
write for us,
decree for us goodness in this world and the next.
The dua stops there.
إِنَّا هُدْنَا إِلَيْكَ is separate from the dua.
So,
this is an amazing wording
because it was thousands of years
prior to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم,
and the man is making the same dua
that is mentioned in the Quran,
and it's something we are asked
to call out to Allah with.
And I'm mentioning that in a moment.
But it means, O Allah,
we want two goodnesses
in this world and in the next.
I believe that there is another world to come.
So I don't want you to solve my problems
only for this world,
but I want you to resolve my matters
for this world and for the next, both of them.
This dua is powerful because
it shows that you believe in the hereafter.
It shows that you're concerned about the hereafter.
So now let's fast forward to Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم's time.
Surah Al-Baqarah, Allah جل جلاله speaks about it,
verse number 200 and 201, where he says,
He's speaking about Hajj and the people who make dua in Muzdalifah,
and the people who are making dua during the season of Hajj,
and he says,
These people are saying,
or from among the people,
there are those who say,
O Allah,
grant us in the dunya,
in this world,
and they have no portion of the hereafter.
Nothing.
So they forget to ask about the hereafter.
The supplications from Revelation teach us
that we should not just be asking about goodness of
this world and then leave no portion for the hereafter,
but to balance the two.
Be conscious always of the fact that while
you're asking Allah for some goodness here,
you need to ask Him for goodness of the hereafter as well.
So Allah says,
from among the people,
there are some,
they don't know what they're doing.
They're only asking Allah,
O Allah,
help me,
give me a job,
grant me a spouse,
give me wealth,
give me health,
give me good offspring,
give me a beautiful house,
a beautiful car,
a beautiful this,
a beautiful that,
grant me,
you know,
whatever else in terms of the world,
and they forget to say,
O Allah,
forgive me,
grant me paradise,
make it easy for me in my grave,
and so on.
So the very next
verse,
Allah speaks about the ideal.
Allah says,
From among the people are those who say,
O our Rabb,
grant us goodness in this world and the next and save us
from the punishment of the grave.
Save us from the punishment of the grave.
Allah says,
those are the ones who will achieve a portion
of what they have earned.
So this is a beautiful dua.
Why?
It's divided into three.
Two of them regarding the hereafter and
the one portion regarding this world.
SubhanAllah,
if you're dividing this dua into three,
Rabbana atina fid dunya hasana,
wa fil akhirati hasana,
waqina a'dhaban naar.
O Allah,
grant us goodness in this world,
grant us goodness in the hereafter,
and save us from the punishment of the grave.
You would realize these two are connected to the hereafter,
and this one here is connected to this world.
It goes to show that true believers are more concerned about
the hereafter than they are about this particular worldly life.
So I would like Jannah,
you would like Jannah,
we would all like Paradise.
But in the interim, we need a few things here.
We will endure.
The richest of people have problems.
The poorest of people have problems.
The most handsome and pretty of people have problems.
The most healthy of people have problems.
These issues shall remain when you get to the hereafter.
No more problems.
Why?
You believed,
you sought Allah,
you did the right thing,
and you entered Allah's mercy.
But if you did not do the right thing in this world,
then the problems will begin in the hereafter.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us a deep,
a beautiful understanding.
This is why this dua has brought together so much of goodness.
Rabbana atina fid dunya hasana,
wa fil akhirati hasana,
waqina a'dhaban naar.
You know when we go to Makkah al-Mukarramah and we're
doing the tawaf of the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
it's a sunnah at a certain stage between
the rukun yamani and the hajar aswad,
which
is the last part.
You see the ka'bah is like a box, right?
Slightly rectangular.
Some say
it's exactly square,
but it's not exactly square.
It's shape, okay?
The last part of
it as you're circumambulating,
the sunnah is Rabbana atina fid dunya hasana,
wa fil akhirati
hasana, waqina a'dhaban naar.
Oh Allah, grant us goodness in this world,
grant us goodness
in the hereafter,
and save us from the punishment of the grave.
The punishment of the grave,
if you are saved from it,
what is to follow is going to be easier and lighter.
If you're
not saved from it,
what is to follow is going to be worse.
May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
grant us a saviour from the punishment of the hereafter.
So today what we learned is
we don't just pray for ourselves,
we pray for others as well.
We always look at the qualities
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we
call him with the best of those names.
He is the
best of those who have mercy, etc.
And also,
when we call out to Allah,
don't just call
out for this world,
but call out for the hereafter as well.
Here is Musa alayhi salatu wassalam,
imagine
he called out to Allah using similar words as
Muhammad salallahu alayhi wassalam later on.
Similar words as those that Allah tells
us to use during the period of Hajj.
And not just during the period of Hajj,
but these duas should be
with us every single day.
It's amazing how some of the Imams actually say,
even in Tashahud,
when we're sitting
and we're finished with our salawat upon
the Prophet salallahu alayhi wassalam,
it's a
time to make dua.
We say,
Allahumma inni zalamtu nafsi dhulman kathira,
O Allah I have wronged
myself in a great way.
Wala yaghfiru dhunuba illa ant,
and none forgives sins besides you,
faghfir li maghfiratan min indik,
so forgive me a forgiveness from yourself.
Warhamni innaka
anta alghafoorun raheem,
and have mercy on me,
for indeed you are the most forgiving,
most merciful.
Some of the scholars actually say you can add to that,
Rabbana aatina fidunya
hasana,
wafil aakhirati hasanatan waqina athabannar,
and some say you can actually replace it with that.
All of that is beautiful because they're all dua
taught to us by Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wasalam.
And these are duas seeking forgiveness,
seeking help.
When you seek forgiveness,
automatically you are asking for a good hereafter.
So we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless every one of us.
My brothers and sisters,
I'm excited about the next episode,
By the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
we're going to go through these supplications
from revelation in order for us to all benefit.
Until then,
Aqoolu qawlihaaza,
wasalamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.