Juma Khutbas

We continue with our topic of the three voices that speak to us and what to do about them. Over the last two weeks I spoke about the first of them which was Shaytaan.  Today we will speak about the second voice which is even more dangerous and that is the voice of our own Nafs (desire). And about the third voice which if we heed and obey, then we can never go wrong.

Nafs (نَفْس) is an Arabic word occurring in the Qur’an, literally meaning ‘self’, and has been translated as ‘psyche’, ‘ego’, ‘soul’, ‘desire’, and ‘breath’. In the context of this Khutba we will take the meaning as ‘desire’.

Abdullah ibn Amr (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ  said, “None of you (can) have faith until his desires comply with what I have brought.” (Nawawi 40 Ahadith)

Anas bin Malik (R) reported that Rasoolullahﷺ  said, “The son of Adam grows old, but two (desires) in him remain young: desire for wealth and desire for life.” (Muslim)

Islam is the name of a practice, not a theory. The one who practices Islam is a Muslim, not the one who only knows about Islam but doesn’t practice. Our eternal fate will be decided on the Day of Judgment based on what we did, not on what we knew. It is important to know because without correct knowledge, we can’t practice Islam correctly. The purpose of acquiring knowledge is not for its own sake but so that we can practice our religion. Practice starts with wanting to practice and that is why the right desire to please Allahﷻ by following the Sunnah of Rasoolullahﷺ is so important. It is essential for us to recognize our desire and see what it is trying to lead us towards and to correct that focus so that we can hope for Allahﷻ’s forgiveness and Jannah.

It is the nature of the self (Nafs) to lead towards sin. Allahﷻ told us:

وَمَآ أُبَرِّئُ نَفْسِىٓ إِنَّ ٱلنَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌۢ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ إِلَّا مَا رَحِمَ رَبِّىٓ إِنَّ رَبِّى غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Yusuf 12: 53   And I do not seek to free myself from blame, for indeed the Self is ever inclined to evil, except those shown mercy by my Rabb. Surely my Rabb is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” 

Anyone who thinks it can’t happen to him must remember that this is Yusuf (AS) speaking. If he says this about his Nafs, there is nobody living today who can say that he is more pious, stronger, or more blessed and protected than was the Nabi of Allahﷻ, Yusuf (AS). If he saw his Nafs as a danger, what must we do? This is the Law of Entropy in a manner of speaking. To be stronger, faster, more physically and mentally agile, to gain knowledge or skills, to have a good marriage or children, in short, to have anything of value, we need to make effort. If we do nothing, we just get weaker, slower, more disconnected with the world, more stupid and so on. Our nature is to regress, to slide down the slope. To be inclined to sin doesn’t mean that it is good. It is what will happen if we don’t take steps to prevent it. The good news is that it is all preventable. To prevent us from slipping, Allahﷻ sent His Book and His Messengerﷺ and commanded us to obey him and follow him in all aspects of life. We spoke about Shaytaan’s deception and that Allahﷻ told us that Shaytaan has no power us. He can only whisper and tempt but he can’t force us to disobey Allahﷻ. The Nafs, however, is a part of us. In Ramadan Shayateen are chained but the Nafs is free. The Nafs does whatever we have trained it to do. That is why childhood conditioning is so important. A child is never too young to learn. Children learn from the time they open their eyes. We fool ourselves that children don’t understand. Then we are horrified at what we taught them, even if inadvertently. If we have been trained to be obedient to Allahﷻ, the Nafs will be inclined to obedience.

We continue with our topic of the three voices that speak to us and what to do about them. Last week I spoke about the first of them which was Shaytaan. To complete that discussion, Shaytaan misguides and when the person accepts that misguidance, Shaytaan washes his hands of the responsibility. Allahﷻ told us about this and warned us against it.

كَمَثَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنِ إِذْ قَالَ لِلْإِنسَـٰنِ ٱكْفُرْ فَلَمَّا كَفَرَ قَالَ إِنِّى بَرِىٓءٌ مِّنكَ إِنِّىٓ أَخَافُ ٱللَّهَ رَبَّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

Hashr 59: 16   ˹They are˺ like Satan when he lures someone to disbelieve. Then after they have done so, he will say ˹on Judgment Day˺, “I have absolutely nothing to do with you. I truly fear Allah—the Rabb of all the worlds.”

Shaytaan works through fear. The most common form of that is fear of financial loss and poverty. Using this fear Shaytaan urges us to use all kinds of Haraam means to earn and safeguard wealth, like dealing in interest, buying and selling Haraam products, stinginess, and so on. Allahﷻ promised us His Bounty and Forgiveness if we resist Shaytaan’s deviation and stay away from what Allahﷻ prohibited.

ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ يَعِدُكُمُ ٱلْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُم بِٱلْفَحْشَآءِ وَٱللَّهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةً مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلًا وَٱللَّهُ وَٰسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

Baqara 2: 268   Shaytaan threatens you with ˹the prospect of˺ poverty and bids you to do shameful deeds while Allah promises you forgiveness and ˹great˺ bounties from Him. And Allah is All-Bountiful, All-Knowing.

About our provision, Allahﷻ assured us clearly many times:

وَفِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ رِزْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ

فَوَرَبِّ ٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ إِنَّهُۥ لَحَقٌّ مِّثْلَ مَآ أَنَّكُمْ تَنطِقُونَ

Zariyaat 51: 22-23   In the heavens is your sustenance and whatever you are promised. Then by the Rabb of heavens and earth! ˹All˺ this is certainly as true as ˹the fact that˺ you can speak!

قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّى يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِۦ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُۥ وَمَآ أَنفَقْتُم مِّن شَىْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُۥ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ ٱلرَّٰزِقِينَ

Saba 34: 39   Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Surely ˹it is˺ my Rabb ˹Who˺ gives abundant or limited provisions to whoever He wills of His slaves. And whatever you spend in charity, He will compensate ˹you˺ for it. For He is the Best Provider.”

قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّى يَبْسُطُ ٱلرِّزْقَ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيَقْدِرُ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ ٱلنَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Sabaa 34: 36   Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Surely ˹it is˺ my Rabb ˹Who˺ gives abundant or limited provisions to whoever He wills. But most people do not know.”

On the authority of Abdullah bin Abbas (R) who said: One day I was behind Rasoolullahﷺ [riding on the same mount] and he said, “O young man, I shall teach you some words [of advice]: Be mindful of Allahﷻ and Allahﷻ will protect you. Be mindful of Allahﷻ and you will find Him in front of you. If you ask, then ask Allahﷻ [alone]; and if you seek help, then seek help from Allahﷻ [alone]. And know that if the nations were to gather to benefit you with anything, they would not benefit you except with what Allahﷻ has already prescribed for you. And if they were to gather to harm you with anything, they would not harm you except with what Allahﷻ has already prescribed against you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.” It was related by at-Tirmidhi, who said it was a good and sound hadeeth. Another narration, other than that of Tirmidhi, reads: Be mindful of Allahﷻ and you will find Him in front of you. Recognize and acknowledge Allahﷻ in times of ease and prosperity...

Allahﷻ created us and sent us into this world for a short period of time. During this time, He promised to take care of all our affairs in return for which He gave us the honor of establishing His Deen on the earth.

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ

مَآ أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ وَمَآ أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلرَّزَّاقُ ذُو ٱلْقُوَّةِ ٱلْمَتِينُ

Zariyaat 51: 56-58   I did not create jinn and humans except to worship Me. I seek no provision from them, nor do I need them to feed Me. Indeed, Allah ˹alone˺ is the Supreme Provider—Lord of all Power, Ever Mighty.

Allahﷻ created us to know Him and to worship Him and to enable us to do that not only did He take care of all our needs, but He also gave us a system, the Deen of Islam, whereby every action of ours becomes an act of worship if it is done with the right intention and in the right way. Both intension and method are important, and one doesn’t nullify the need for the other. Allahﷻ sent us His Messengerﷺ to teach us by word and action how to apply Islam in our lives. That is the Sunnah of Rasoolullahﷺ which is the Field Book of the Qur’an. The orders are in the Qur’an. How to carry them out, we learn from the blessed life of Rasoolullahﷺ. If we do this, then every action of ours, from eating, to sleeping, to working, to studying, to marrying, to raising children; in short, every action that we do for our own benefit will be rewarded by Allahﷻ. We do the action to fulfill our need, but if we do it in keeping with the Sunnah, we will be rewarded for it.

It was narrated from Abu Dharr (R) that some people from among the Sahaba of Rasoolullahﷺ said to him, “Ya Rasoolullahﷺ, the rich people will get more reward. They pray as we pray, and they fast as we fast, but they give in charity from their excess wealth.” Heﷺ  said, “Has not Allah given you things with which you can give charity? Every Tasbih (Subhaan Allah) is charity. Every Takbeer (Allahu Akbar) is charity. Every Tahmeed (Al-hamdu-Lillaah) is charity. Every Tahleel (Laa ilaaha ill-Allah) is a charity. Enjoining good is charity. Forbidding evil is charity. Having intercourse (with one’s wife) is charity.” They asked, “Ya Rasoolullahﷺ, if one of us fulfils his desire, is there reward in that?” He said, “Do you not see that if he does it in a Haraam way he will have the burden of sin? So, if he does it in a Halaal way, he will have a reward for that.” (Muslim).

What more can we ask for? Live your life normally. Do whatever you like. Enjoy yourself. Set great financial, political, educational, family or community goals and achieve them. Become rich, famous, successful, and powerful. But do it as Allahﷻ ordered and as Rasoolullahﷺ showed us. And we can have all we desire in this life and Jannah when we meet Allahﷻ.  Rasoolullahﷺ was all these things and more. In a purely worldly context, Rasoolullahﷺ was the most successful human being ever. He took his people from being the weakest, least influential, most oppressed, and persecuted to becoming role models and undisputed leaders of their land in just 23 years. He inspired the creation of great empires which ruled the world for over a thousand years. His message permeated the psyche of the world and founded universities and educational institutions, spanning boundaries of time and geography. His model of life is a model of success for anyone who wants to use it, Muslim or not. And for the Muslim it is the ticket to Jannah. The biggest fact to note is that unlike the so-called ‘greats’ of the world, he did all this without wars, bloodshed, or oppression. He won hearts and minds over by his unbending commitment to truth and reason and his beautiful manners. In a world which is characterized by compromising tru...

We were talking about what built a man like Ibrahim (AS) who Allahﷻ loved and called him His Khaleel. It was this connection with Allahﷻ that built the man Ibrahim (AS) who when he was in his 80’s Allahﷻ blessed with a son, Ismail (AS). Then when Ismail (AS) was still nursing Allahﷻ ordered Ibrahim (AS) to take him and his mother Hajar (AS) and leave them in the barren valley of Bakka. Plot this route from Palestine to Makkah. Ibrahim (AS), and our mother Hajar (AS) walked that route. Who guided them? What route map did they follow? How did Ibrahim (AS) know that he had reached his destination? The stories of the Qur’an are meant for us to reflect on. To put ourselves in that place and ask, ‘What would I have done?’ The answer depends on my connection with Allahﷻ. On my Tawakkul on Him. My trust in Him. Real trust. Not a claim of trust. He left them. No explanation because that was part of the instruction. It was a test for both. She called out to him. ‘Where are you going, leaving us here?’ No response. ‘Did your Rabb order you to do this?’ He nods his head. ‘Then go. He will not allow us to perish.’ Ya Allahﷻ, Ya Kareem, where does this come from? This complete faith in You. Ya Rabb have mercy on us. This is a very tough standard to be compared to. Please cover us with your Grace and forgive us.

When he reached a place where his wife couldn’t see him, he stops and says:

رَّبَّنَآ إِنِّىٓ أَسْكَنتُ مِن ذُرِّيَّتِى بِوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِى زَرْعٍ عِندَ بَيْتِكَ ٱلْمُحَرَّمِ رَبَّنَا لِيُقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ فَٱجْعَلْ أَفْـِٔدَةً مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ تَهْوِىٓ إِلَيْهِمْ وَٱرْزُقْهُم مِّنَ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَشْكُرُونَ

Ibrahim 14: 37    O our Rabb! I have made some of my offspring to dwell in an uncultivable valley by Your Sacred House (The Ka'bah); in order, O our Rabb, that they may establish As-Salat, so fill some hearts among people with love towards them, and (O Allah) provide them with fruits so that they may give thanks.

Let us put ourselves in the place of Ibrahim (AS). Assuming we even get to where he is at, at this juncture, what is the dua we would make? The first thing that I would ask for would be safety for my family so that they can survive and not become a meal for the first predator that comes along. Then I would ask for food for them and shelter, so that they can continue to survive. But what is Ibrahim (AS) asking for? The totally amazing thing is that Ibrahim (AS) is not even asking for safety. What does he understand that I don’t? He knows, not just as information, but deep down in his being, that if Allahﷻ ordered him to do this, the safety of his family is a given. To ask for that would really mean that he didn’t understand who Allahﷻ is and would in a way be a lack of Adab. It would be like you leaving your child with me while you have to go away for a weekend and saying, ‘Yawar Bhai, please make sure that he is safe and cared for.’ I would consider that an insult and would hand your child back to you and say, ‘Please leave him with whoever you don’t need to say this to.’

Why is Allahﷻ telling us this story? What we wish for depends on our position and our knowledge. When I board a plane, I think about my seat, inflight service, a nice meal and then a nice snooze. The pilot also boards the same plane with me. What is he thinking? Seat, food, and snooze? Why is he thinking differently from me? Because he is the pilot. His job is not to ride in the plane but to fly it. His priorities are different because of his role and his knowledge. What is our role as Muslims? What did Allahﷻ send us to do? But what are we doing?

In Ibrahim (AS)’s language, first and foremost, note the Adab. He takes the responsibility for the predicament of leaving his wife and baby in a dangerous place, totally alone and defenseless.

We just finished Ramadan which Allahﷻ sent us to make us Muttaqoon. I remind myself and you that all the promises of Allahﷻ are for Muttaqoon. So, it is worth the effort to become a Muttaqi and benefit. In Ramadan we reminded ourselves that we are Muslim. That we have submitted our will to the Will of Allahﷻ, by following the order of Allahﷻ, we held ourselves back during the specified hours from things which are otherwise Halaal. This reinforces the meaning of being a Muslim – someone who submits to Allahﷻ. This is the secret to the greatest wealth – Ta’alluq Ma’Allahﷻ. It is this connection that Allahﷻ told us about in the story of His Khaleel, Ibrahim (AS). I want you watch this happen. Allahﷻ said:

وَإِذْ قَالَ إِبْرَٰهِـۧمُ رَبِّ أَرِنِى كَيْفَ تُحْىِ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ قَالَ أَوَلَمْ تُؤْمِن قَالَ بَلَىٰ وَلَـٰكِن لِّيَطْمَئِنَّ قَلْبِى قَالَ فَخُذْ أَرْبَعَةً مِّنَ ٱلطَّيْرِ فَصُرْهُنَّ إِلَيْكَ ثُمَّ ٱجْعَلْ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ جَبَلٍ مِّنْهُنَّ جُزْءًا ثُمَّ ٱدْعُهُنَّ يَأْتِينَكَ سَعْيًا وَٱعْلَمْ أَنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ

Baqara 2: 260    And (remember) when Ibrahim said, My Rabb! Show me how You give life to the dead. He (Allah) said: Do you not believe? He [Ibrahim] said: Yes (I believe), but to be stronger in Faith. He said: Take four birds, then cause them to incline towards you (then slaughter them, cut them into pieces), and then put a portion of them on every hill, and call them, they will come to you in haste. And know that Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise.

What always strikes me in this Ayah is how natural this conversation is. What does it say about the sense of Allahﷻ’s presence that Ibrahim (AS) must have felt that he simply asked a question. This is not a formal dua in Salah. It is just a natural conversation between two who know each other very well. It shows such a level of comfort that I can only marvel at it. Ibrahim (AS) must have been a young boy when he asked this question. Allahﷻ loved that so much that He answered him in such an affectionate way – ‘Don’t you believe?’ Ibrahim (AS) replied, ‘He [Ibrahim] said: Yes (I believe), but to be stronger in Faith.’ That is why Rasoolullahﷺ said about this response, ‘If Ibrahim could say this, then we have an even greater right to say it.’ So, Allahﷻ gave Ibrahim (AS) a whole project to answer his question. Take four birds of four different species. He is not asking him to get domestic birds, chickens, ducks, geese. Four wild birds. Then tame them so that they come to him when he calls them. Not put them in cages. Free flying birds. I always wonder why we don’t do this as a class project when teaching the Tafsir of this Ayah. To return to the story, this means that young Ibrahim (AS) must find the nests of four birds, learn about their lifecycle. Wait for their eggs to hatch and for the fledglings to be of exactly the right age. Too young and they will die. Too old and he will not be able to catch or train them. He must learn about what they eat. And he must do that for four different species. All this takes time. When it is done, he must slaughter the birds, chop them up, mix it all together, separate the mince into many piles and put one pile on each hill. Then he must return to the center and call them. Put yourself in his place and feel what he must have felt when he saw those birds come to him as if nothing had happened to them. Just thinking about it makes my skin tingle with excitement and awe. Imagine Ibrahim (AS) to whom it happened. This is the meaning of connecting to Allahﷻ. Feel Allahﷻ in your heart.

Think about this. Ibrahim (AS) was not the only one who asked this question. Allahﷻ told us about another man who asked the same question, but in a different tone, and how he was answered. Allahﷻ said:

أَوْ كَٱلَّذِى مَرَّ عَلَىٰ قَرْيَةٍ وَهِىَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا ق...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a Protestant Minister at the time of Hitler who opposed him and paid with his life. In his essay, ‘Costly Grace’ he says that Divine Grace (Fadhl of Allahﷻ) is something that we must pay for. We take it for granted, we feel we are entitled to it, we don’t even stop to express gratitude to the One who blessed us with it. That is why we don’t appreciate it and so we don’t benefit from it as much as we can do. How true are his words, that speak to us today.

I seek your indulgence to change the title to ‘Valuable Grace’, instead of ‘Costly Grace’. That is because for me, ‘cost’ is something you pay and see as a net loss. You paid the price, but you didn’t get the value you paid for. You are not happy with the deal. On the other hand, when you pay, say, $10 for a Chinese bowl in a thrift shop and then get it cleaned up and discover that it is original Ming pottery from the 5th century, and Sotheby offers you $100,000 for it, do you call what you paid, ‘costly’ or do you call it a ‘bargain’, and ‘valuable’? I define costly as something that is not worth the price. And valuable as something which is a bargain and worth far more than what you paid for it. Today you are here in the house of Allahﷻ. Is this a cost or a bargain? Your answer will depend on how you experience what you are getting out of it. If I offer you bumper stickers – I would rather be fishing, golfing, whatever – would you take them? Why or why not? I submit to you that one of the biggest and most costly casualties in our modern lives is the opportunity to reflect. Most of us don’t even know what that means or how to do it. We know that we must sit in silence, switch off our ‘babies’ and then what? We have lost our connection with our Creator and so we have lost ourselves. That is why the epidemic of our times is not Covid but mental illness, depression, despair, and suicide. When you are desperate and have nowhere to go, what do you do? I ask myself and you, ‘What is the Grace of Allahﷻ worth to us? What are we willing to pay for it?’

Recently I was privy to an email from the student body of an American university to their Chaplain about their Commencement, demanding that the Invocation and Benediction must be eliminated from the ceremony and that the name of God must not be mentioned in the Commencement address. Remember this is America with ‘In God we Trust’ on the dollar bill and the 1st Amendment. So, what happened while we were not looking? When I was growing up, we were warned never to use four-letter words. Looks like it is now down to three-letters. And then it will be down to two and one – Me and I. That is what we are seeing now. I still feel the pain when I think of that email. I remember thinking to myself, ‘What must Allahﷻ be saying about people to whom even his name is not acceptable?’ These are the people whose backs are breaking under the epidemic of mental illness, yet who refuse the only solution that works – remembrance of Allahﷻ. Allahﷻ said, ‘Verily in the remembrance of Allahﷻ is peace of the Qalb.’ Do we want a cure for our troubles? So why don’t we remember Allahﷻ?

We talk about searching for Allahﷻ. The great poet Allama Iqbal said:

Khizar Kyunkar Bataye, Kya Bataye, Agar Mahi Kahe Darya Kahan HaiWhy should Khizer say and what, if the fish were to ask, “Where is the water?”

Today we live in a world that is poised on the brink of the cliff of impending disaster. There are 5 matters that are of deep concern for me.

* The rise of religious fundamentalism (a pan religious phenomenon)

* The rise of populism (seems to be worldwide)

* The rise of narcissism (in our leaders and their electorate)

* The loss of values (much worse than the clash of values)

My brothers and sisters I want to remind myself and you that the meaning of being Muslim is to submit to Allahﷻ without question, without argument, without reservation or hesitation. To submit joyfully and eagerly. That is the symbol of our trust in Him. And that trust is what earns His pleasure and His help. That is why the iconic symbol of Islam is the Sajda – a state of total submission and helplessness, a symbol of total unhesitating obedience, a symbol of total trust and faith. A Muslim is one who submits. That is why there is no such thing as a non-practicing Muslim. The word ‘Muslim’ is a verb. Like the word ‘Musalli’, one who prays. Not one who knows how to pray or knows about the prayer but doesn’t pray. Or the word, ‘Sa’aim’, one who fasts. Not someone who knows about fasting but doesn’t fast. Or the word, Haaji, one who has done or is doing Hajj. Not someone who went there to help the Hujjaj or to make a movie about Hajj or a journalist who is reporting about the Hajj or the driver of the bus, transporting Hujjaj. All of them go to all the places that the Haaji goes to, but they are not considered to have performed the Hajj because they didn’t fulfill the rituals of Hajj. To be a Muslim, we must practice Islam. And that means to submit our will to the Will of Allahﷻ.

An immediate topic that is before us is that of women going for Hajj on their own without a Mahram. This is not restricted to Hajj but to women traveling without a Mahram. Is this permissible or not? Let me share with you what our scholars have said and leave you to take your own decisions. I ask Allahﷻ to guide us to what pleases Him.

I remind myself and you about the basic principle in Islam, that whatever Allahﷻ commanded directly in the Qur’an or through His Messengerﷺ is good for all time, because Allahﷻ’s knowledge is perfect and not based on the times. That is what makes the Qur’an and the Ahadith of Rasoolullahﷺ timeless and relevant across the centuries. I must remind myself and you that to open the door of expediency, or modernity, or present circumstances, is to open the door for the eventual destruction of Islam. This is nothing new. We have seen it happen in other faiths which also have the same Divine origin but where the leaders decided to change the Law which the Messengers brought and substituted it with their own understanding and desire. Every time and age will be faced with the same dilemma and challenge. The answer is also the same. Allahﷻ knows and I don’t know. So, I do what Allahﷻ and His Messengerﷺ told me to do whether I understand it or not, whether it ‘makes sense’ to me or not with my limited knowledge. I do that not because I am obeying blindly. But because I am obeying with knowledge, that Allahﷻ knows more than I do, knows the future, to Him is my return and because I trust Him totally, without any reservations and know in the depth of my soul that whatever He ordered, without qualification, is good for me. So, I obey and ask Allahﷻ to be my witness and to forgive my shortcomings.

وَمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَىٰكُمْ عَنْهُ فَٱنتَهُوا۟ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ

Hashr 59:7   Whatever the Messenger gives you, take it. And whatever he forbids you from, leave it. And fear Allah. Surely Allah is severe in punishment.

Let me remind you that we apply this principle in our lives every day with respect to any expert or specialist we deal with. We obey without question. Not blindly, but because we respect his superior knowledge and trust his judgement and believe that he has our best interests at heart in suggesting what he did. I ask, do we have the same trust in Allahﷻ?

There are two opinions regarding a woman traveling without a Mahram (husband or male relative she is not permitted...