Darkness to Light: Doctrines of Faith - Yasir Qadhi

the quran is allah's names and attributes and yet it is a subject that we hardly think about why what is what happens when you understand these names and attributes so that was an entire class that we did about the names and attributes of allah subhanho wa taala and what this does nothing increases the iman faster and more powerfully than knowing who allah is nothing it is like a direct shot of Iman into the heart when you know your Lord and you understand his names and attributes it increases your Iman like nothing else so that was at either to Al Queda 3 is called rays of faith and this was taught by my dear friend and colleague hadith the Sunni and Shia who need miss uni in his updated 3 class rays of faith he dealt with the other pillars of Eman you know that Iman has six pillars so al Qaeda 1 & 2 is basically the first pillar and that is who is Allah and how do we worship Him and that is basically like a lava so all of these first two updated sessions 50 hours roughly sorry 80 hours roughly the to update is 8 hours they dealt with simply understanding who is Allah and then learning how to worship Him and that is lada in the law and then the other pillars of Eman you all know belief in the angels belief in the prophets belief in the day of judgment belief in the books belief in paga those are the other pillars of Eman so they need to be discussed as well and that was al-qaeda 3 and this class that I'm now going to begin is actually the for the final of a series of al-qaeda classes and this class is called from darkness to light there's always a motif of light in our names hamdulillah because the Quran calls itself light and Allah calls the professor sunlight and Allah calls his religion light and Allah calls himself light nur on Elinor and so light is a common motif of our Quran when it comes to guidance and truth and all that is correct and it's an interesting story here a little of a personal story that both myself and Holly we are specialized in theology I have a masters from Medina in Islamic theology and he has a master's from Jonathan Imam and railed in Islamic theology so we both have a passion for theology so when it came to acne therefore I said I want to teach it he said he wants to teach it I said you're too busy let me teach it he said no no sure if you're doing a PhD listen let me teach it so we had a bit of a back and forth until finally we decided let's split it in half I will do one weekend and he'll do the other weekend and so we've been traveling around the country for actually the for every time we have acne therefore we both have to look at our schedules and see when we can both go to the same city back-to-back and so this class aptly the four raised as a pedo four is from darkness to light what does it deal with what is left after all of these pillars have have been dealt with well there are more aspects to theology as well not just the six pillars so what I will cover primarily is the issue of Iman what is faith which is Iman and what are the signs of Iman and what are the pillars of Iman and its opposite what is goofer and what is the reality of cofilin and the whole weekend will revolve around Iman and comfort and understanding Iman and comfort because a lot of people they think that Iman is faith Iman is to believe in Allah they think this is Amanda just to believe in allah subhana wa tada but they don't realize that if they were to define Iman in this fashion and manner then I beliefs becomes a movement think about it when you ask somebody what is Iman is that o to believe in Allah to believe Allah is the true Lord yet if you define a man in this manner at least does he not believe in Allah has he rejected Allah as a creator does it please believe in Allah ask you what is the evidence for this in the Quran he says cholera be ably speaking all are up be on vernian Iommi or bath on it beliefs says all my rub allow me to live until the day of judgment this da shows many things it shows that i beliefs by the words of the Quran acknowledges Allah as his rub and rub means my lord my master my Creator Rob means Oh yoo-hoo my master basically oh you who brought me out of nothing so it least acknowledges a lot to be his Rob and by making dua to Allah it leases worshipping Allah correct correct what is due out the Prophet SAW said I'm said adora who already bada dua is the essence of worship in another hadith adora moo-hoo Levada dua is the brains if you like or the gist the backbone of worship so here's a beliefs making dua to Allah and when you make doha you are worshipping and when you make dua you are acknowledging that excuse me that Allah has the power to give you what you want right when I beliefs is saying allow me to live oh Allah he is recognizing that only Allah can give him that power now subhanAllah isn't all of this Iman to believe in Allah to believe that Allah is your rub and Lord to believe that Allah created you to make dua to Allah to ask Allah for your needs isn't this all Iman isn't it yet Allah says in the Quran about Iblees Abba was stuck bara what can Ameer al-mumineen cavity it Allah says right he rejected he refused sorry he refused about was stuck bar and he was arrogant and he was of the caffeine nobody says it believes was a movement I hope nobody says this and just is a rhetorical question I'm saying that does it beliefs have faith actually yes he does does it beliefs have Iman no he doesn't I repeat does it beliefs have faith in Allah think about it what is the answer yes yet the Quran says is he a movement or Kathryn Kathryn clearly shows us that faith and Iman are not the same are you guys following me here right so this is a detailed discussion that insha'Allah Allah will be the form to basically tomorrow we're going to go into a lot of detail well then what exactly is Iman and what are the signs of Iman and what are the conditions of Iman and what are the pillars of Iman and what is the opposite of Eman why then was your beliefs not a movement when he had some pillars why was he not called a movement this is a more detailed in child ila class and that will be really the main subject of tomorrow and the day after tomorrow but what I wanted to begin with today is a very generic and simple inshallah beautiful lecture and that is to recognize and appreciate the blessings of Allah by giving us Eman and we will do so there are many ways of doing this what I decided to do for this class was to look at how Allah described giving the gift of Iman to the believers what verbs what adjectives what sentences did Allah used to describe the blessing of Iman when he gave it to the believers and when you look at some of the verses and some of the ayat and a hadith you understand that Iman is indeed the greatest blessing that Allah has given us even more than having created us even because imagine there are people who are created but they don't have Iman of what use is their creation of what good is their existence the biggest blessing that Allah has given us is that of Iman now brothers and sisters when Allah has blessed you with money and you have masha'Allah a hundred thousand two hundred thousand five hundred thousand five million what do you do with that money you value it you protect it you cherish it you're always conscious of it what does the businessman do the first thing in the morning he logs onto the internet looks at the stocks how much win lost one point two point zero one point up why because he realizes this is my blessing I need to monitor I need to check similarly when your health and may Allah protect me and you with good health when somebody has poor health he has glucose issues this issue his heart issues what happens all of a sudden he begins monitoring his health very carefully any time he goes to somebody's help oh I cannot eat that sweet because I need to take care of my health it's precious to me all I need to check my blood pressure nature check my glucose every few hours every few days is going to go to the doctor why he realizes what a blessing health is and he needs to protect that health now when we realize that Iman is the greatest blessing when we realize that there is no comparison to health and wealth versus Iman and yet we find ourselves never checking our Iman never analyzing our Iman never looking at the value of the stocks of Iman has my Iman gone up or down today then will LA he we need to reassess in our own lives what is the most precious thing to us what is the most blessed thing to us what do we really and truly value and Allah subhana WA Ta'ala tells us in the Quran that when a group of veterans who had just accepted Islam came to the prophet sallallaahu center they were boasting and they were trying to impress the prophecies and we've done you a big favor by accepting your religion we've done you a big favor you should be grateful to us that we accepted Islam and Allah revealed in the Quran surah al-hajj a-rod's llamo noona alayka and Aslam oh they think they're doing you a favor by accepting Islam Allah is describing their situation and scenario they think they're doing you a favor by having accepted Islam but allahu yamuna alaikum bel is an arabic word that negates what has preceded it remember this a beautiful simple phrase men and and you'll benefit inshallah for the rest of your lives the word Bell occurs many times in the Quran and what it means is Ben what it means is what has preceded is wrong and what will follow is what is right simple two letters in Arabic we don't have any equivalent in English Bell negates what has preceded and affirms what will follow so Allah subhana WA Ta'ala says well no that's wrong bad allahu a moon or they come rather it is Allah who has given you a favour who has shown you a favour why and how and Hakam lil Iman that he guided you to Iman in kuntum saw the clean if you are true in your claim to be believers in other words if you are really believers you would appreciate this blessing and you would recognize that Allah has blessed you with the greatest blessing by guiding you to Eman rather than taking it for granted like many of us do rather than thinking we're doing the oume a favor by giving charity by donating by showing our faces in the messages rather than thinking we are doing anybody else a favor Allah is saying if you truly have Eman you will recognize that the biggest blessing Allah has given you vanilla who Yamuna alaikum and had accumulate Imani in kuntum swaddling Allah is the one who has guided you to Eman if only you were truthful in your claim so the biggest blessing that Allah has given us is the blessing of Iman in another verse and this is surah Hajj odd verse 17 in another verse certain mujadara verse 20 certain mujaddid of verse 22 Allah subhana WA Ta'ala describes the believers in the Quran and Allah says Allah a Caqueta baffi hulu be him will Imam those are the ones Allah has written Eman in their hearts why I get a home biro Haman and Allah has helped them with a rule coming from him with a spirit coming from him now remember pointer to this lecture to describe how Allah is showing us the blessings of Iman in this verse Allah is saying in simple words that I have chosen some amongst you and I have personally written catawba in the singular Allah saying catawba Allah is doing the writing who is doing the writing Allah where is the writing being done fear Kulu be him my heart and your heart and what is being written Eman so the author or the writer is Allah this the tablet the paper the parchment is my heart and your heart and what is being written on it is Eman when we realize this blessing our heart should become soft at the remembrance of Allah we should appreciate that Allah has chosen my heart and your heart to personally inscribe and write who like a cuttable Allah is the one who has written fear Kulu be human EEMA and not just that were aida whom below him in and Allah has helped them with a rule coming from him what is this ruin scholars have differed some have said that this is the help the rule is the Quran because Allah calls the Quran ruin Allah calls the Quran ruin and by the way this is its own beauty just a quick tension a brief footnote here let me pause what I'm saying talk about this rule and Quran issue Allah calls the Quran ruie Allah says vaca dedica al haina alayka rue Haman ambreena and this is how we have inspired you with a ruin now the Quran is not a spirit the Quran is a book how can Allah call it the ruin because the Quran is what gives a spiritual life it makes our hearts alive and if we don't have the Quran spiritually we are dead and this is a common motif as well of the Quran that when you don't have Iman you are dead and when you have a man you are alive a woman can a mate and ah hyena give the example of someone who was dead and we gave him life that have seen of this verse give the example of someone who was not a Muslim and we made him a Muslim hence we resurrected him from the dead ie we gave him a spirit because a dead man does not have a spirit and when you have a man a spirit comes into you where does this spirit come from from the Quran and therefore the Quran has been called a Roy so getting back to this verse Allah is saying we have helped them with a rule coming from us and so many have said the rule here is the Quran others have said it is the teachings of the Prophet system others have said it is the protection of the Angels all of these interpretations are correct but the point here that I'm stressing is the blessing of Allah choosing to write Eman where in our hearts in surah hujrat verses 7 to 8 a loss of anna wa taala describes a man with other adjectives Allah says in the Quran why Larkin ilaha haba alaykum o e man was the yenna rufio you become had Bubba and zahana two more verbs once again who is the one doing these verbs why lack in Allah Allah is the one doing it what is Allah doing number one haba alaikum o Iman he has made you love Eman he has made Eman beloved to you the reason why we are so faithful Muslims and we love our religion is because Allah has made Imam beloved to us haba alaikum an email was a yenar Houthi who do become and Allah has beautified it in your hearts your iman makes you beautiful it is your iman that gives you dignity and Kurama Allah uses the word Xena Xena what is Xena mean Xena means beauty so Allah is saying that when you have Iman you become a beautiful person not physically beautiful because physical beauty is is irrelevant it skin a real beauty is the beauty of the inner soul real beauty is that of compassion tenderness mercy loving and caring about others and when you have Iman Allah is saying Eman beautifies you're who Lube your own and who is the one who gives you that beautiful Allah is a Janna who feel who you become Allah is the one who has caused Iman to dwell inside of you and beautify you it is as if inside of you there's a beautiful if you're like prism or light or nor and that is the blessing of EEMA it come from why lack in allahabad alaikum o Iman was the Janna who fee you become so Eman beautifies us Iman is also something that provides us nourishment in one tradition we are told that Iman is food the prophecies and calls Iman food in a hadith and sahib o haughty as i Muslim the Prophet SAW saw them said the car why would a man a person he will be described right now a person who has these characteristics has tasted the taste and if you like also the food or the nourishment of Iman because thumb comes from farm the same farm and Tom means that which nourishes and it also means that which has a taste so the profit system is saying if you have these characteristics Iman will give your youth arm and it will give you a taste so Iman has a taste and Eman nourishes what are the characteristics number one Monrovia billahi rabban whoever is pleased with Allah as his Lord the meaning here he worships Allah sincerely number two Wabun Islam adenine he is content with Islam as his way of life and you know what that means it means that you don't try to fit Islam into your schedule you make sure your schedule works itself into Islam you don't fit in an hour here in two minutes here and threes no no no that's not that's not being pleased with Islam as your Lord it means your whole lifecycle revolves around Islam and everything you do is because of and for the sake of and with the permission of and by the approval of this religion of Islam so number two what Islam adenine number three will be Muhammad in Salalah wylie he was seldom in a billion wa rasuluh and he is content with the Prophet Muhammad SAW solemn as his Navy and his Rasul meaning your life your lifestyle your manners your mannerisms your characters your characteristics all revolve around the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa send them and when that happens then you have shown that you love Allah and His Messenger so when you have these three characteristic what happens Eman becomes your food what does it mean a man becomes your food it means that your soul your roar will always be feeling energetic will always be having energy and optimism and you'll always have positive thoughts because you see we are composed of body and soul Rui and Justin and all too often we only take care of the body all too often we only take care of the body we eat we drink we nourish we go to sleep we exercise and we don't realize that if we don't take care of the soul the soul will wither away and die just like if we don't take care of the body the body will wither away and die and the soul is also something that Allah has created and every creation needs some type of nourishment it is only Allah who doesn't need nourishment right well who are you to remove all are you Tom Allah is the one who gives food and he doesn't need any food every created being every created being needs some type of energy nourishment even if it's not living the Sun needs atoms to burn or else it wouldn't be able to give us the light any chemical reaction needs matter inside of it or else it wouldn't happen our raw needs food what is the food of the ruin the food of the raw is given so when we have a man we're feeding the ROI now what happens when you feed the body you take care of the body you go to the gym what happens you're always stronger always fit you're always healthy correct so what's going to happen when you're feeding the soul nourishing the soul taking care of the soul your iman will give you an inner energy a contentment a happiness a peace and optimism a sense of positive desire a movement does not suffer from depression a movement is not worried about this dunya and what men is always happy and content and this is the greatest happiness how does he get this happiness because he has the nourishment of EEMA so the Prophet system is saying that whoever has these three characteristics a man becomes his nourishment and Eman is also described with a taste what is that taste well we have many tastes that we know of there's bitterness there is spiciness there is sweetness common sense iman should have a sweet taste and that's exactly what the Prophet SAW said him said it's exactly what he said that the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam said fellas when when could Nephi he was aa hallouwe tell a man who ever has three characteristics there's another had it not the first one another one whoever has three characteristics he shall taste hallouwe we all know what halwa is and iman is the greatest helloooo of all the hell was by the testimony of the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa send them that whoever has these three characteristics shall taste hallouwe tell a man what is what are these three characteristics and Yakunin allahu wa rasuluhu i have been a him in más abajo that he loves Allah and His Messenger more than he loves any other being when you hit Bal Markkula a bow and he loves his fellow Muslims for the only reason that allah azza wajal wants him he has a fellowship a camaraderie of brotherhood with the ummah and that he hates to return to cook for just like he hates to return to the fire of hell when allah has blessed you with money do you want to become poor again do you want to tell me so when allah has blessed you with iman don't you also hate to return to Kufa just like what Allah has blessed you with money you never want to go back down to where you started you never you make it a conscious point your whole life is dedicated that your money scale will rise upwards the graph is going to go higher you don't want to go back down so Allah is saying a sign of Iman is that the same should apply to Iman that every day should be a better day every week should be a higher week every month every year your going higher and higher you don't want to go back down there so when you have these three characteristics what happens iman begins to taste sweet life feels good and that is why brothers and sisters the McMinn is always a source of cheeriness and optimism the movement is always a person whom everybody loves he's not gloomy and depressed he's not he is the person whom allah Sojin has given the best of this world and the next the best of this world and the next it is only the McMinn who truly enjoys this world and no one will fully enjoy this dunya other than the movement because enjoyment and will la he brothers and sisters we in this room should know we in this country should know the most powerful the most luxurious the most magnificent country when it comes to this dunya our lifestyles the rest of the world will be jealous of the amount of food that we eat the type of cars that we drive and yet we know does that bring happiness to us does that make us now Kalash that said i'm done or are we always looking for happiness and other sources it doesn't matter how new of a car we drive how fancy of a house we live in how much money we make we're always looking higher and higher and higher and higher we're not going to find happiness in those things the mote ma'am whatever he has hummed in that's good ham didn't de allah has blessed me with whatever this is my car my house my family my wealth and hamdulillah and the prophecies that I've said true happiness is the contentment of the heart this is what true happiness is when you're content because when you're not content doesn't matter what you have you always want to more so when you have this iman what happens you taste hallouwe you taste the sweetness and that is exactly what Allah has ordered himself says in the Quran in surah taha Allah says in the Quran that my name is Mohammad Ahsan and means ekiden Oh with that wahoo a Moute min whoever does good regardless of his male or female and by the way another footnote of mine pause here another footnote of mine I have a habit of going into tangents and footnotes oh and my students all know this true equality of the Texas of the genders is equality in the eyes of Allah and this is what our religion gives as for equality when it comes to this world there is no competition men and women are not on the same skill that they need to compete with one another this is the whole problem of the Western world that they think men and women have the same ruler that you will measure you don't measure apples and oranges you just don't they're two different sweets each one has its own characteristics and Allah has made men and given them certain characteristics and they're good at what they're doing and Allah has made women and given them certain characteristics and they're good at what they're doing and society and the world and the Ummah and every family needs both of these genders in order to be a healthy and a happy family and society so Allah in this verse is pointing out true equality and that is equality in the eyes of Allah just because I'm a man and I do a good deed if a woman does the same deed barring other factors we will get the same reward and that is the ultimate equality then in the eyes of Allah spiritually men and women are the same and this is something we're not saying for any wishy-washy reason oh it is clearly in the Quran Muhammad Assad ahem means a Korean alone that doesn't matter male or female if you do good and you have Iman what is Allah say surah taha falen or yen who hayatun tayyiba we're going to grant him a sweet life how do you get sweet with sweets where does the sweetness come from from Iman it all fits in together Allah calls the life of the believer by gibbehh the prophets are some calls even had our you need the halwa to get the sweetness to get to deliver it's not going to happen without it and so when you have this Iman life becomes sweet this world becomes sweet and not because you become a multi-millionaire but because whatever money you have you're happy with it whatever Allah has blessed you with your content and that is the ultimate happiness moving on in another verse in the Quran surah Ibraheem verse 24 so there brahim verse 24 and I recited this in solitude motherland in the first rocket and mother I recited this Allah describes Eman like a beautiful and blessed tree have you not seen Allah says Adam tara KF adorable lahu methionine have you not seen how Allah has made a method a parable an example of the kalamata Heba haben abbas said the kalamata Heba is the kalam of Iman liya hai jalwa Kali Mata Heba is Leela herelet's Iman so Allah saying have you not seen the example of Iman of Kalamata Yaba like a beautiful tree whose roots are firmly established and whose branches tower in the skies imagine visualize here in California you have the redwoods right the famous trees in the world is here in California the most magnificent the most tallest trees the tree of Iman is a hundred million times larger than this because Allah is saying this tree it goes to the clouds without half is summer this is a tree and going all the way to the heavens and it is a tree to Teo cool aha cool again it is giving its fruits throughout the year now Allah is calling a man a beautiful tree whose roots go deep whose branches are in the sky and whose fruits are year-round perpetual and I believe that even in this message in a few years ago I gave a long talk about this very ayah is that not true do you remember was it not in this message it three four years ago hmm Irvine Masjid close enough your rivals know that these are positive rivals if it's not for Allah we're all believers hamdulillah these are good rivals and now you have a good Imam as well hamdulillah so you have even more cooperation in each other between the two messages so I gave a much longer talk an hour and a half I think just about this one verse explaining the powerbal explaining this example and that is the example of Iman and just two brief few minutes summary of that hour-long talk and you I think you'll find it online as well it's called the fruits of Iman the talk is called called the fruits of Iman and in that talk I summarized this parable Allah is saying Eman is like a beautiful tree what does this mean the tree is the basic building block of life on earth the tree is the basic building block of the entire system around us the whole world runs around starts with the tree even from grade 1 grade 2 the first thing we learn photosynthesis the tree takes in carbon dioxide gives out oxygen that's where the cycle of life begins similarly la ilaha illaallah is the basis of spiritual life without it there is no spiritual life the tree gives us the very air that we breathe without it we'd suffocate the tree gives us the fruits that we need without it we die the tree gives us the wood that we use to build our houses without it we would burn everything that is of essence look out beneficial the tree is and Allah is saying la ilaha illallah is your spiritual tree you couldn't live without it you couldn't breathe spiritually without it and Allah is saying la ilaha ilallah has deep roots what this means is what this means is that Iman is something that is firm it anchors you when a tornado comes you will even find cars turned upside down trees demolished but not uprooted the tree might be damaged but it's the roots can never be even the tornado cannot pull the roots of the tree out it can it can demolish houses but not uproot trees why because tree roots are one of the firmest things known to man and this is what allah is saying about what is Eman that when a person has Eman Eman anchors the person and the person now has stability in his life and that is why we find a very common phenomenon that a Muslim might go through phases of his life when he is not practicing he is practicing but if he's ever truly been a Muslim he's ever been praying and fasting then he's never going to go through a phase of his life where he rejects Islam whereas and this is something most of us who are not converts we don't understand we don't appreciate this point most of us who are born Muslims we don't appreciate this point that the average Christian the average Jew the average person of other faiths ask them do you really believe in your religion or is it more of a culture and custom it's something when you marry when you die when you divorce this is when you find attachment to your religion but are you going to change your lifestyle and that's why many people of other faiths don't have a problem rejecting their scripture mocking their God in their prophets this is not something that we as Muslims can ever do because we have Iman and another thing in our fourteenth centuries of history of Islam we have never come across a scholar or an atom or a half-filled somebody of knowledge researching through our religion and then say oh my god you know what I was wrong all along I should have been a Christian let me convert to Christianity well let me convert to Sikhism let me convert to Buddhism we never had an atom in our fourteenth centuries of history of Islam a half-filled of the Quran ever say you know what I was wrong it's actually the bhagavad-gita should have memorized let me go and memorize that now but let me ask you is the opposite a common occurrence do we find researchers from Christianity from Judaism from agnosticism from Hinduism from Buddhism from every ISM on the face of this earth do we find them embracing our faith this is a sign of EEMA is it not it is a sign of Iman I call Islam is a one-way street everybody comes in nobody has the need to leave everybody needs it this is the truth all solo habits its foundations are deep well follow Hafiz semaa the branches are towering in the sky and what this means I'm going to talk about this more tomorrow inshallah what this means is that Iman is not something that is private or hidden Iman is something that is shouting it's screaming its existence you couldn't hide Iman even if you wanted to hide it you couldn't because this is a tree that's going all the way to the skies with what are you going to hide it how are you going to cover it up you go and you find your brother drinking doing this doing that okay fear Allah don't you happy man oh my amount is here don't worry it's here see this is a delusion I'm not saying he's a kafir I'm saying for him to say so confidently I am strong Iman don't worry if Iman existed in his heart it would be shown in his limbs it would be manifested in his actions and that is why the true momin you can tell his Iman day and night well la you will tell him Oatman from the way he treats his wife and children from the way he buys in cells wallah he even from the way he drives his car you will tell him what min that's what Iman does to you and it is something that your whole life will change it's going to the sky's meaning it is something that is self-evident and apparent it is obvious there are other meanings here as well as something lofty and I and it's something that takes you to the heights of Jenna going up to the skies and it is something that is a benefit because the larger the tree the more the benefit so the more Iman you have the more you'll benefit society just like the large tree provides more shelter more shade more comfort similarly people of stronger Iman provide more shade to their community more comfort to their community more help to their community just like the large tree and then Allah says that it gives it fruits throughout the year by the permission of its Lord the tree of Iman is ever fruitful it never dries up the tree of Iman is always giving its fruits all the time throughout the year whenever you're feeling down whenever you need a little boost whenever you need some nourishment and energy spiritual you turn to the tree of Iman and with that Iman in allah azza wajal with knowledge of islam by reading the quran you will feel that upliftment that nourishment because the tree of iman is ever fruitful and the movement every mote mini shala me and you every one of us we have this tree walking with us inside of us we have it it's just that unfortunately we don't take advantage of it we don't water it we don't protect it from weeds we let predators prey on the tree just like if you let weeds eat your tree and you don't water it with the with the water of your good deeds you don't put sun sun shine the sunshine of your class and sincerity if you don't do this to the tree it's going to wither away and that many of us unfortunately we take this tree for granted and we don't realize that just like all trees it needs water it needs sun it needs to be protected from predators and the predators are sins because when you commit sins these are predators around the tree of Iman they will attack it they will attempt to shrink it they might even try to destroy it so that is surah ibraheem verse 24 and we talked about that in a much more detail in another lecture in another surah surah new verse 35 surah new verse 35 Allah subhana wa tada mentions one of the most mystical if you like verses of the Quran one of the most profound verses of the Quran and it is true to say that this verse it is ayat renewed it is called this verse is the most oft commented verse in the whole quran there have been hundreds of Mufasa rune scholars of tafseer who have written pamphlets books explaining this one verse there is no verse in the quran that has been commented on more with more varied opinions than this verse you all know the verse I'm talking about allahu norris emma watson art methadone or he kamischka and Fahad Misbah so Allah is the light of the heavens and earth the Powerball or the example of his light was it is as if it is a niche mish cats mish cat is a niche you guys have a niche here this is a type of niche this may rob is a type of me something that goes inside the wall a small carving inside the wall this is Mishka the method una commish cotton we have Misbah inside of it is a this as you can say so inside it is a light inside it is a lamp Misbah el mismo hoof is Lu jaja the Misbah or the lamp is inside crystal so similar to this imagine this were inside here you're getting a picture of what Allah is saying right imagine if this type of chandelier were inside here so Allah is saying methadone URI he kamischka this is the miss Kat fehime is vitamin spa is the light or the lamp I'll miss borrow fees do jaha the light is inside of the glass or crystal as you jaja the the crystal itself can ahah coca Bhandari the crystal itself is like a beautiful storage a bright shining star the crystal itself is like a bright shining star and now coca Midori you can do this lamp in the in the in the in the crystal this lamp in the middle where is this getting its oil from in the old days as you all know they would have wax they would have oil from which to light they didn't have the types of light we do so Allah is saying you could do the the oil of this light is coming from a tree that is blessed min Sheraton Mubarak cotton and it is an olive trees a tuna tin so all of these are adjectives of the tree men Sheraton Mobile cotton Zaytuna teen lash artesian well althought via it is neither found in the East nor found in the West it's a tree that is not of this world it is of then the tree of gentleness out of this world he a CAD is a to her you li l olam them says who now the oil is so bright and luminous that it is as if the oil will set a fire without even any match touching it the oil is so bright that it might as well be giving light itself so when you have the lamp that is alight and the oil that is alight what is the result neroon Aden or light upon light yeah did Lana nudie him and Yasha Allah guides to his light whomever he wishes well durable lava lamp added in a sandal ugh his parables to mankind so that and indeed Allah knows all things and I have given a much longer two-hour lecture I think it is on line I'm not sure I lose track of where these lectures go but I've given a two-hour lecture about the seed of I attend noon and I've explained what is all of these different parables unfortunately in this lecture I'm only quoting you all of these different verses for a broader agenda a broader topic so we don't have time to go into a lot of detail suffice to say however that the essence of this parable the strongest opinion this this parable that I given you the strongest opinion is that Allah is talking about the heart of the believer and the heart is the zoo jaha that is the crystal and the light in the crystal is the light of Iman and the oil that is being used for the crystal is the oil that is coming from the why of Allah it's neither eastern or western it is from the heavens the tree the tree of Iman the tree is giving this oil the olive tree which is neither Eastern or Western this is of course a parable there's no real lamp you understand it's a method it's a powerful that we're supposed to think about so our hearts are the zoo jaja and the light inside of it that is Iman Allah gives us this light but the heart of the believer the heart of the believer is the receptacle of this light so methadone oudy he Allah is saying the example of his nor even Abbas said the example of his nor ie the nor of Eman that Allah puts in the heart of the believer this is the interpretation of the verse according to even Abbas I repeat the best interpretation the strongest interpretation and the interpretation of even Abbas the companion is that this whole verse is about a man in the heart of the believer so allah azza wajal is saying that this iman allah has given it to you and it is making your hearts into a light and this oil is the oil that Allah provides from the why from the or on based on this surah noor we move to the next parable or example and we find once again a matching Surat al hashr verse 9 so little hatcher verse 9 so it's a hazard verse 9 Allah subhana WA Ta'ala says and this is a very deep verse and in order to understand it we need to explain like two paragraphs about one or two phrases so I'll recite the verse first one Lezyne a table without a well a man a man probably him your hip bounnam and Hodja it a him what are you doing a few so Duty him Hodja 10 min ma o - were you through nada and footsy him well o canopy him ha salsa this verse is a reference to the answer and the mahajan you all know the uncertainty Muhajiroun the ants are where the people of Medina the Mahajan where the ones were emigrated to Makkah from Makkah to Madinah now what did the answer do they gave their houses and their lands they gave their wealth and their property to the Muhajiroun and they did so you know when we give many of us when we give we feel in our hearts my god I gave 20 dollars I give $100 you know something in our hearts you know I should have given that much Allah is saying when the unsolder give wallah yet you do enough used to do to him Hachette a memory - they don't find any remnants of why did I give that much no they genuinely gave so the point of the verse is to praise the unsolder now how does Allah Juuso by using a phrase that is so eloquent I cannot even translate into English without giving a paragraph to explain one Lavina Tabo what would there are well Eman it's very profound and it's all Arabic Bilal and it's difficult to translate but let me try my best well v-net about what would doubt the ones who used to inhabit the houses one a man and a man these were the ones who won the Muhajiroun came they gave up what they wanted and they had no problems in their hearts now the problematic phrase here is inhabit Eman I repeat and those who inhabited the houses whose houses their own houses and they inhabited Eman this is what the verse says well Athena table what Daraa well Amana min calmly him they were the ones who loved those who did hijab and they gave them what is what is going on here pay attention is a very deep and profound but Allah in Arabic what is going on here is Allah is giving a beautiful example and Allah is using one verb to describe two phenomenon to illustrate these two phenomena are the same the first phenomenon is the unsought in their houses we all know that phenomena we all live in our houses the second phenomenon a man living in the hearts of the unsought I repeat two phenomenon Allah describes it in three words well like this is the the peak of L Aquila ket you couldn't possibly do this as a human this is the peak of eloquence one ladina table what would our well image just this phrase that's all it does not make literal sense there is metaphor there is ballad there's eloquence in these few phrases and what it means is just like the unsoldered we're living in their houses a man was living in them and the combination of the two was what allowed them to be so generous with their houses and and because they had a man inside they gave their houses outside to the Muhajiroun so the point here Allah is saying it is as if Iman dwells inside of your heart just like you dwell inside of your your house and Allah uses the same verb table wa even though like i said literally you would not understand it but this is but alga this is eloquence that allah azzawajal is setting up this beautiful example also moving moving on from the same if you like symbolism of light yet another blessing of iman that allah subhanho wa taala will give to us is something that also involves light Surat al-hadid verse 28 Surat al-hadid verse 28 Allah subhana WA Ta'ala says yeah you are latina Amenhotep ilaha well I'm Anubha rasool e he you to come kiff Lena me Rama t he welcomed new anthem Shana B he oh you who believe if you have taqwa of Allah and if you are righteous and pies basically Allah will give you a light that you can use when you walk welcome noon when you have Iman you will be given a light what will you do with that light time Sunnah be he you are walking with him now there is a literal understanding of the verse in this world and that is that ensures a literal I should say symbolic not literal sorry I'm at the opposite there is a symbolic understanding in this world and then there's a literal understanding in the next that's what I was going to say there's a symbolic understanding of this in this world when you have Iman you have light what is light do when you're driving on the road you have light what does light do it tells you how to move where to go if you have light you know where you are you know where your destination is and you know how to get there correct when you don't have light what happens you're stuck you can't do anything so the McMinn knows his road it is rotten was stuck him and he has the light and he will use this light in his life on the symbolic journey of life to get to the ultimate goal of the pleasure of Allah so this is at a symbolic level the verse is saying when you have Iman you know your purpose in life you have a vision you have a goal you know where to go but the verse has a literal meaning he shall give you a light that you shall walk with there is a literal meaning as well of this verse and what is this literal meaning allah azzawajal mentions it in the quran yahoo matheran meaning they will move Menotti yes I knew roham Dinah ad he will be a man him on the day of judgment we learned in the hadith traditions and from the Quran we learned from the Quran and hadith traditions that one of the final things that will happen is that Allah Azza WA JAL will fold up the Sun and destroy it in a sham soo cooler folder and destroy it and mankind will be on an earth Yama - but Dora Oh Delilah are they worth some hour they will not be in this realm or world and one of the final things that will happen will be that the creation all of them from the first to the last will be immersed in complete darkness there shall be no light at all there shall be no light at all and in this darkness you are expected to find your way to Jenna but there is an obstacle between you and Jenna and that obstacle is called the Seurat and the Seurat is the bridge and the prophecies and I'm said that this sellout this bridge is a duck koomina shot it is thinner than a piece of hair and it is sharper than a sword and Allah tells us in the Quran that we shall pass over this salat in which verse who can tell me in which verse who can tell me that allah azza wajal references the salat wa in min come Allah why did you have my shoulder very good mashallah where I'm in kamila what I do ha which surah maryam a pretty short medium but it might be wrong what a min kamila why to do her and there is none amongst you except that he shall cross over it Allah mentions in the horror on now question how do you expect to cross over a bridge that is didn't thinner than a hair sharper than a sword in utter darkness how here is where every single person's Iman will come back to benefit him just like it benefited him in this world and the ayah in the Quran that if you have Iman Allah will give you new runtime Sunnah be he literally our prophecies and I'm said your Eman will become your personal torch your body will begin to emanate like literally Eman will become a light for you and Allah mentions that the pinnacle of this or the height of this is yellow metal many know in one moment at the yes a new roham their their light is racing in front of them as far as the eye can see the Prophet SAS and said they shall see to the whole horizons and that is why those who don't have light the moon off your Koon Allah tells us what will they say wait wait for us let us use your light I don't have a torch can I use your torch Allah will say clay larger water I come get away from here you pretended to be Muslims the Morocco you pretended to have a light so you benefited from the light of the believers in this world but in the archer are known for Buddha verbena whom be sued Allah who Bob there shall be a wall between those racing forward with the light and those who don't have a light and those who don't have a light will not be able to penetrate that wall and that light by the way will not be all the same our professor son told us that the strongest of Iman the strongest of Iman shall be emanating light that the whole world can see and he can see entire horizon and he shall cross over he shall cross over the salaat the fastest as well and he said and the physics majors amongst you will find this interesting he shall pass at the speed of lightning why is that interesting for the physics majors we believe in physics we learn nothing is faster than the speed of light and in this hadith the Prophet SAS and I'm said he shall go like light interesting point for those physics amongst you but that's the side tangent which we don't have time to get into I have other tangents as well aliens and whatnot but we don't want to do that here do it so let's leave those and as for jinn stories no no no no we're not going to go into those tangents at all for the students you know what I'm talking about so Allah Azza WA JAL over the Prophet system is telling us that the the people will have Iman the light according to their Iman and the speed according to their Iman so much so that we learn that's the lowest person of Iman the lowest person of Iman his light will not even be continuous it will be flickering on and off and it will only come from his toe his toe his toe will flick on a little bit of light and he shall move one bit forward and then it will be immersed in darkness and he will not know whether the light will come back or not and he's waiting there in fear and trepidation and horror will I have another step or not and this is the lowest level of Iman and between these are millions and billions of dollars of levels the point being my Iman and your Iman the more we strengthened it in this world the more we will find it in the next the brighter it was in this dunya the brighter it will be in the next and this is of the blessings of Iman we just have a few points left inshallah I've just been told that there's a very important announcement tonight they make in ten minutes inshallah so please do stay for that a very important announcement as well mashallah today we have so many announcements coming Michelle hamdulillah and inshallah we preparing Isha after that ish Allah with other just two three points left I don't want to delay you for too long another way that allah azzawajal describes iman another way that allah subhanho wa taala describes a man is by praising those who call to Iman and by dividing basically the world into two categories those who call to Iman and those who respond to the call of man so there are those who are inviting others to Islam and then there are those who are simply they have accepted the invitation and both are good but no doubt the ones who call or hire and Allah subhana WA Ta'ala mentions this RAB bana in the nasa marina MO nadion you Nadine in Imani and Aminu Berube confer am and how many times does allah mentioned the word iman in this verse o our lord we have heard someone a crier and by this the primary meaning is the prophet sallallahu alayhi wa seldom and then every single day and every single atom and every single scholar who tries to walk in those footsteps and call the people to islam he will inshallah have a share of this calling to islam ravenna in Nessa marina moon adi o our lord we have heard a caller calling others to Iman and Alma nove Arabic on that you should have a man in your Lord for Amman so our Lord we have believed so allah azzawajal praises those who call to Iman and we hope that Allah makes all of us amongst them Iman brings about nothing but good in this world and the next in surah younus verse 98 in surah younus first 98 Allah subhana WA Ta'ala mentions the people of Yunus now a lot of us don't think about this point that you know sila his salam we all know the story of the whale when it comes to Eunice not many many amongst us neglects the next part and that is that when Yunus returned to his people his people actually believed and that is one of the exceptions in the history of mankind that people believed simply by preaching the general rule they don't believe by preaching look at our profit system the general rule they don't believe by preaching very few the intelligent is sincere there are the ones who convert the story of Yunus is one of the exceptions and there might have been other exceptions as well but this is the largest exception and Allah so it'll mentions that story in surah younus he says finola cannot Korea to an Armin at falafel ha Amano ha el alma Eunice why didn't the other towns your town Makkah 5 why didn't they have Eman and if they did Vanessa aha Iman oh ha their Iman would have benefited them would have brought good to them just like the people of Yunus when they believed allah azzawajal says when they believed we granted them blessings in this world and lifted up the punishment upon them vomit Dinah whom Allah hane we gave them meta means enjoyments and blessings and Allah Azza WA JAL says that why don't the people of the book believe if they do so laughs attack now Allah him Barack a team in a semi will open up the doors of the heavens with all the buckets all the blessings that they need in other words Iman does bring about material blessings as well both the quantity and the quality of one's life is affected by Iman and when you have Iman in allah azza wajal allah azza wajal will bless you in this world and the next and of the blessings of iman iman conquers all else and nothing can conquer it and by this we mean internally by this we mean when you have this iman nobody can conquer you internally externally that's a different story internally nobody can break your spirit nobody can get to you internally if you have Iman in a hadith in Timothy the Prophet sallallahu either he was seldom said I'll email you Yahoo while your allah alayhi iman conquers all and nothing can conquer it and this is what i'm i internally externally it is up to allah sometimes here sometimes there externally the muslims had better and they had ordered but internally the spirit internally the optimism the outlook a man conquers all else and nothing can conquer it and the final point that we'll mention and then we open the floor for questions and then make an announcement Shalala the final point we'll mention is that Iman is of levels and brand branches Iman is of levels and branches it is not just one thing see this is understanding now I believe understanding his lack of Iman Elysee has some elements that are necessary for Iman but he doesn't have all of the elements one element for Iman is faith but it is not the only element and that is something I cannot talk about now because that's a whole different topic you'll take us hours to talk about this in more detail that's the class tomorrow inshallah but to summarize this point the prophetess a time said Iman consists of 60 odd branches 60 plus branches Emad isn't just one thing Iman consists of 60 branches the highest is NIDA in the LA and the lowest is to remove a nuisance from the street you're walking you see a piece of glass you realize somebody might step on it you pick it up you throw it away this is Iman as I said even when you drive you can sense your Iman well like this is true how you react when somebody cuts you what you say your own driving will like it is true that your own driving is a manifestation of your email and the prophets of Sodom said so the highest is not ilaha ilallah the lowest is to remove something of irritation from the road and modesty is a branch of faith hiya modesty being ashamed having shyness not wanting others to see you doing sins being shy of doing any type of evil having higher of having the good manners and characteristics all of this is a sign of Iman therefore one should think what are these branches what are these branches how can I perfect these branches how can I increase the number of these branches and this isn't shuttle low to Allah one of the things that we'll be talking about throughout tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to conclude and open the floor for questions if we truly understood the blessing of Iman then we would be eager to understand it and to study it we would be eager to monitor it and check it up we would be eager to protect it and increase it just look at what we do with our money look at what we do with our wealth and our health and how much effort and energy we exert to protect it and to increase it is that not true in fact that is what we do for most of our day and yet what do we do to protect our Iman what do we do to increase our Iman what do we do to nourish our Iman what do we do to monitor our Iman and this is not a question I want you to answer to me I'm asking myself first and foremost and then I want you to ask yourselves this question as well and then think about how you can change your life and reorient your life so that the tree of Iman finds solid ground in your heart and that its roots go even deeper into your body and soul and that its branches are manifest in every single aspect of your life and then in sha allah wahda you can taste the fruits of this tree the nourishment of this tree the fail the Halawa the farm the catawba that allah does the zenith at allah beautifies all of this water shall go to either come when we perfect this tree of iman surah al-araf verse 43 allah tells us to make this drought alhamdulillah Allah da-da-da-da-da huama qu nadira nadiya Lula and Hadden Allah alhamdulillah we thank Allah Azza WA JAL we thank him we thank him from the bottom of our hearts we thank him a thankfulness that it is indicated by our lifestyles and our and our conforming to his Eman in his religion a thankfulness that is not just verbal but is emanating from the body and soul alhamdulillah we praise Allah Azza WA JAL and we thank him for having guided us to this Iman well McCune Adina petia and we could never have been guided to this Iman Lola and had an Allah unless Allah subhana WA Ta'ala had blessed us with this Iman brothers and sisters in Islam thank Allah for having guided you to Iman thank Allah Azza WA JAL for having blessed you to be a Muslim and a movement and then show your gratitude and appreciation for that blessing by living a lifestyle that is pleasing to Allah Azza WA JAL and is in conformance with them Sunnah of the messenger sallallahu alayhi wa seldom wha-hoo that I wanted in hamdulillahi rabbil alameen what sallallahu was said about the Wadi he was like the edge mine you want to make the announcement um-hmm yes for the sponaugle finish it yeah just use this you want to show yeah you're the MU activist so so share Muhammad is asking me do Q&A first and then we do announcements that way Perisher denouncement operation so a few minutes of questions and then we'll conclude with the ratio inshallah yes rather go ahead Pramila one of the points that you made is that with Iman comes a quantity and quality of material wealth as as well with it yet we know that you know some of the believers get tested the most in this life with their wealth and you know everything else that they have so how do solid eight the to it so I come for those people are leaving there's it's not an announcement there is a very interesting and very fascinating and very inspiring event that is about to take place shortly after we finish the Q&A you don't want to miss it you don't want to miss this one so I urge you to say if you have to go make call to come back quickly within ten minutes Centanni so that's a very good question and the response is when allah azza wajal mentions the material blessings generally he's talking at a societal level so Allah says why didn't the people of Mecca and the Quraysh accept Iman and we would have then McDonough Humira he and Allah says why don't the leaky tap accept Iman then we would opened up the doors of the heavens and earth so it is as if the indication is primarily when a society as a whole perfects Iman they shall have peace and stability and sale in this world but even this is a general rule and there are exceptions so the Sahaba suffered from droughts on some years and the Sahaba did not live as luxurious lives as a table your own did so there's no doubt that this is a general rule and there are exceptions even at the the state level if you like but at the individual level the movement Allah Azza WA JAL will always provide a way out for him of any mercy but he is in sometimes that way out will be material and financial and sometimes it will be other than that but every single situation and scenario the movement will always be a winner of that situation and he shall come out having gained reward from Allah other for the AL fara and having fortified his Iman it is not necessary that every time he gets more blessings of this dunya but it is a general rule not an exception it is a general rule and there are exceptions to the general does that answer your question okay I like to be fair here and brothers and sisters so if the sisters have a question how do we what is your methodology in this message to do days remember why oh you guys are technological I was going to say write it in paper and that you have a microphone mashallah okay so the sisters have a mic they can on No what were the three characteristics you said for a person to taste a man so the professor said have said Monrovia billahi rabban weapon islami dinan will be saucer Nabila rasullah whoever is content with allah as his Lord with Islam as his religion and with the Prophet Mohammad Ahsan as his prophet and messenger these are the three things okay Abdullah had a question speak out loud I'll repeat it mashallah yes so Abdullah mentions a very sad fact as for the statistic I don't know the statistic I don't know the statistic and I allahu allah it is true that sometimes people who accept Islam end up leaving it especially in this society of ours this was not common in early eras of Islam it was not common in medieval Islam it was not common in Islamic lands but in America and the Western world yes it is true that sometimes a person accepts and then he leaves how do we understand this phenomenon of course there is one issue and that is a lot of times we ourselves don't provide the necessary infrastructure and when the person converts he simply left and not taken care of and therefore what we would say Iman doesn't really take root in his heart he saw something intellectually attractive of Islam he accepted it but Iman didn't seep into his heart in an Islamic land and culture generally speaking a convert would be immersed in that culture and then find Islam and that's why we don't hear of this too often in classical or medieval Islam but in modern America it is true that a lot of people they they accept Islam and then after a year or two after five years they leave it and the problem really is the community and them and this shows us that we haven't done our job when it comes to people who convert how do we understand this in light of this verse as I said there's two ways to say this the first is that a man never truly entered their heart and the second there are certain people who will prefer this dunya over the alcohol like it beliefs so they will reject Iman knowing that they're rejecting it knowing that this is the truth and it's too difficult to follow and that is a difference between somebody who sincerely rejects Islam and goes to another religion there is a difference between sincerely rejecting which we would say really cannot happen at a level-one you've accepted Islam and then it versus not finding the infrastructure finding Islam difficult is wifely his family boycotts him this is a forget it let me just go back to my culture right that type of attitude is different and it is possible and Allah mentions in the Quran in Elodie Nomura thermocouple thermometer thermocouple right this is common phenomenon amongst the hypocrites as well so that is different and that is something that we as a community need to look out for when people do convert that we take care of their needs of Shaba good question back to the sisters any question for this issue sure this will happen to be the last or last question chawla where whoever Helen where is the question I cannot see the questioner go ahead we're waiting suspense is building Sarge X clarify I meant that there's one question left to tell if there is a question that someone wants ask okay unless the question is that's how to bring it up there's an awkward confusing inside about that there's time for one more question is Ella somebody has it someone in the back deep waters he asked me to clarify that when I said the movement does not get depressed obviously this is a lecture I need to go into a lot more detail I didn't mean a clinical depression I met a type of mental depression of course clinical depression is something that can be treated and there are medicines you take I'm not talking about that I'm talking about a depression that is basically a mental you yourself cause it right that's the type of depression I'm talking about if you have a clinical depression doesn't mean you don't have Iman so of course I mean there are a lot of phrases that are in a lecture like this you cannot have too many disclaimers but share my authority is correct in that in pointing this out and I should also say this as well Shahla go ahead somebody was the last so I come check logic mozilla um quick question what is the difference between faith and Eman earlier you mentioned that she thon had faith but he didn't have you men how every men is always translated as faith so how can we properly translate the word Amen are you coming to class tomorrow yes yes I am so you will be answered in five hours in Shaba that's the problem this type of thing there is no one word in English to translate Iman there is no one word in English to translate Iman and it is best to leave it as Iman but it is an Iman that is you can call it an action based faith because what it lease didn't have was submission to Allah he refused to submit to Allah beliefs was told do this it beliefs said no I'm not and that was good for that was good for he didn't reject Allah deny Allah existence deny the day of judgment deny the Prophet nope it beliefs believes Allah exists Allah is the Lord Allah sends Prophet Allah reveals books I beliefs believes in the day of judgment how could he not when he's making dua to Allah to allow him to live until the day of judgment right if you look at it the six pillars of Iman check check check check check except for the other one he has a an incorrect but even that he doesn't deny it he goes to the extreme of saying it's all your fault I didn't do anything right Bobby Bhima avoid any but still there's a perverted if you like acceptance of cutter he doesn't even deny that and that's it so check check check check half check at the bottom okay it please affirms all of these but he's not a movement why because when Allah told him do he said no and by refusing to submit with that arrogance you are not a movement you're not a believer you're not a Muslim and therefore this is something that requires more discussion and talk and disclaimers and that's why I don't want to give a lecture about it in half an hour because sometimes I'll cause more confusion you cannot teach some subjects in half an hour right so this is one of those that's why I have an academic class for that and I'm just inshallah you know tomorrow we'll talk about it in all of the details bathe in it I hate to either and with that we hand over the floor to none other than perhaps the most greatest dressed Imam of all of North America and should I go on her no ok so ok I don't want to embarrass him any more I'm dinner and they call me GQ subhanAllah this guy is like so now I come let's see does Ike a luck it I'll consider that a compliment

Channel: Digital Mimbar

Views: 111,050

Rating: 4.7708673 out of 5

Keywords: Darkness, to, Light:, Doctrines, of, Faith, Yasir, Qadhi

Id: JoUzru2Nf-A

Length: 78min 57sec (4737 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 23 2011