SeekersNotes: Exploring the Qur’an with Shaykh Yahya Rhodus – Class 3 Notes

SeekersNotes: Exploring the Qur’an with Shaykh Yahya Rhodus – Class 3 Notes

Notes by Sister Shagufta Pasta

Exploring the Qur’an  (Week 3 Notes)

• 2^nd degree of taqwa : to set a barrier between yourself and unlawful things, whether they are internal traits of the heart like arrogance or outward actions like backbiting
• A higher stage of taqwa: not only have you left the haram, the disliked matters, but you leave the doubtful matters too.

Note: Another meaning of doubtful matters: matters regarding which there is a difference of opinion among scholars. In this stage of taqwa, you leave them out of scrupulousness

• Fourth stage: Did what you were asked to do with the permissible. Did you give you the right of gratitude to what you were given?

• Remember: to the degree that you don’t give thanks, the Day of Judgement will be lengthened. So we have to constantly remind ourselves to give thanks, to give thanks, to give thanks

• Zakat of having a car: give people rides when they don’t have a car
• Zakat of having a home: opening it to people to study
• Zakat of owning own medical practice: serving people who are underinsured, or not insured

• If you choose to leave the permissible out of a desire to prefer the next life, it is good.

• Example: permissible to speak to friends for four hours. But you know that if you spend four hours, things start to be mentioned that never would within first 30 minutes,or when food arises. Eventually speaking ill of people. So out of fear of being dragged to the impermissible, you leave the permissible.
• Sahaba used to leave 9/10 of the permissible out of the fear that it would drag them into the impermissible. That was their maqam. We need to respect that.

• 5th stage of taqwa: someone who strives to not have a thought come to their heart except that reminds them of the Divine presence. There are some people who are immersed in the Divine presence, that they don’t have any thought that doesn’t remind them of the Divine.

Allah says, “Truly for the God-conscious, there will be triumph.

• We are not able to understand the true nature of the Garden.

Three of the Seven Central themes of the Qur’an

1)    Return to the God
2)    Promises that Allah makes
3)    Threats and Warnings

• We need to be motivated as human beings. Fear is a deterrent, when used properly.To not do something out of fear though is a low level. Higher level to do something out of hope for reward.Higher level still to do it because it is the right thing to do. Because Allah deserves to be worshipped. Out of love and longing

• When we’ve pushed ourselves to the extend can’t push anymore, then that is when we will get what we want. Nature of nafs is that you have to tire it out. You see this in exercise, where the most important part of the pushup is the last rep, where you really push yourself. As Shaykh Hamza says, “practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent!”. There is a difference between benefit and excelling. In the spiritual path have to work at it before you see doors opening for you
• Paradise will be a place of purity, where you will only experience great things. There are some people in the world who you can’t stand to be around. No anxiety in jannah, no rancor, no hatred. All these things, completely removed in the next world.

Book recommendation: A Dictionary and Glossary of the Qur’an by John Penrice

• Start the process from now, try and memorise 10 root words of the Qur’an each week. See root word, see the derivatives in the book of Allah

• Note: difference between reward and gift. Reward is when you’ve done something and given a recompense. A gift is just given to you

• Q: Do our acts bring us to paradise? Do you earn Paradise through your acts? No, our acts do not enter us into Paradise. Entering paradise is solely through the mercy of Allah. We are supposed to expose ourselves to that mercy though.

• Part of the maqam of deen is understanding Lordship and what that means. Part of that is to humble us. There is so much sheer arrogance today. If the veil was removed and we saw people’s reality, we would see people in complete illusion and delusion.
• Reality is how Allah has chosen reality to be. We don’t have a choice in how Allah has chosen reality to be. But we become privy to certain parts of that reality through our submission.

• He is the Lord of everything and everything has its function and purpose whether we understand its purpose or not. Intelligent person seeks meaning in everything.

• If angels are not going to be speaking on Day of Judgement, what will this day be like? Only people who are going to speak are those who are given permisission to speak. From this, understand the station of Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. He is the one who will be given permission to speak who will only say what is right.
• Everything that they say on this day will be truth.

• See sometimes with children where they are so stunned that they will just tell you what happened. On the Day of Judgement we will be in such a state of awe, that we will just tell the truth. Will not be able to tell anything else.

• Verse 39; That is the Day of Truth (That is the True Day)
• The grammar of the Qur’an is essential and they are mistranslations because people don’t notice the grammar of the verses. Which is why the Qur’an cannot be translated, can just translate the meanings of the Qur’an. We are blessed, we have the Arabic Qur’an and the different recitations preserved through time.

• That is the day of Truth. Day when truth will manifest and falsehood will disappear.
• People will wish that they could turn into dust.
• We are absolutely certain that it is day that is going to come.
• We will behold everything we put forth in this dunya. We will behold everything we did of good.