Stories Of The Prophets-01~Introduction To Stories Of The Prophets

in the name of Allah the most 

gracious the most merciful subul Excellence presents alhamdulillah listens 

from the stories of the prophets by mu introduction to stories of the prophets all praise is due to Allah subhanahu wa 

ta'ala blessings and salutations upon Muhammad sallallah alaihi wasallam we 

ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless him and all his companions and we ask Allah 

subhanahu wa ta'ala to bless every single one of us my beloved brothers and sisters 

in Islam it brings tears to the eyes in gratitude to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala 

for having granted us the acceptance to witness this blessed month tonight being the 

first night of the month of Ramadan 1432 hij 1,432 years after the Hijra of Muhammad 

sallallahu alaihi wasallam and we are seated here in the house of Allah subhanahu 

wa'ta'ala far away in the City of Cape Town in this beautiful Masid Z Islam we ask Allah 

subhanahu wa ta'ala to accept every single effort of ours every one of us who has made an 

effort to come here this evening all the listeners all the viewers every single person we ask Allah 

subhanahu wa ta'ala to grant us all forgiveness and we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to lighten up 

our lives just like we notic the difference when these lights were put on we ask Allah subahu wa 

taala to increase Us in new and to grant us the full use of this month of Ramadan really it is a 

sacrifice it is a month of sacrifice it is a month where we will be abstaining from many things 

for the pleasure of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from a certain time to a certain time and in the 

evenings we will be sacrificing again to stand in Long prayer solely for the pleasure of Allah 

subhanahu wa'ta'ala remember it is an effort that will make us from amongst those who are successful 

those who are not prepared to put an effort or to make an effort what type of success do they expect 

may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept our efforts this [Music] evening inshallah I have decided 

to embark on a series known as lessons from the stories of the prophets may peace be upon them 

all that are mentioned in the Quran and as you know it is very important to introduce a topic 

so tonight will be dedicated to the introduction and it is very important that we know what is it 

that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala expects from us we all know that we were created by Allah we were 

created by Allah subhanal we call him we call him Lord of the worlds and the word r does not have 

an English translation it would require a whole paragraph for us to understand what is meant by 

it and for this reason some of the scholars have said the term R includes the one who created the 

one who nourishes cherishes provides for protects the one in absolute control of all the aspects 

of of existence is known as R so this is why why when we say we are referring to whoever 

made us and whoever is in absolute control Allah subhanahu wa taal grant us the understanding 

before I commence it is very important for me to make mention of the fact that each one of us would 

like to achieve the pleasure of the one who made us and each one of us would like to achieve the 

paradise that he has prepared for us but where did we come to learn about this paradise from and 

where did we come to learn about the fact that there is life after death we came to learn of it 

from the Creator himself when he created us he did not just leave us without giving us an instruction 

or a manual or sending us messenges to remind us indeed there is no nation that has passed 

except that there has been a messenger who was sent to that Nation a reminder a Warner the 

word NAD in actual fact means a Warner one who warns to say oh man you are not in existence 

in order to enjoy your life you are actually here as an examination and the qualification of 

that examination will determine your status in the real life which is the life after death 

and this is why all the messengers of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala they they were more interested 

in the life after death and in the Hereafter than this dun none of them gave preference to this 

world it's important for us to know this and it's important also for us to know that when Allah 

subhanahu wa ta'ala created us and sent Messengers and sent messages with those Messengers there 

were two types of people that he sent one were those known as rul and the others were known as 

there is a difference between a rasool and a Nai so what is the difference one is a messenger 

and one is a prophet the one who has a higher status is a rasool a messenger because every 

messenger is a prophet but not every Prophet is a messenger and here I'm using the English 

language although I've used the word Ras or the word Messenger to refer to rasool what 

is meant by this a rasool is a person who came with a new sh with some law with a book with 

something that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gave him an instruction Revelation and Allah said go 

and teach this to the people and go and warn them and so on that is known as a rasool a person who's 

a messenger given a message to go and deliver and a Nabi who is a prophet is one who also delivered 

the message of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but not given to him specifically but rather given to 

some me to some messenger who came before him so this is why when we look at har Allah subhanahu wa 

tala speaks about him in the Quran and Allah says Allah speaks about Moses may peace be upon Him 

M and Allah says we gave him or we sent with him Haron or Aaron may peace be upon him as a Nai 

which means as a prophet to help him so whose message was it it was the message of Allah given 

to whom given to Moses may peace be upon him but Haram was assisting that is a very simple verse 

if you'd like to know you can memorize that verse if was a then it's automatically known that AOL 

is higher than a may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us understanding so Allah subhanahu wa 

ta'ala sent two types of people but there is a third type of person who is neither a Nai nor 

a rasool but he is a rasool of a rasool which means he is a messenger of a messenger and who 

is that every single one of us Subhan Allah we are all messengers of s alaihi wasallam we have 

the message it is our duty to learn it it is our duty to practice upon it and it is our duty to 

teach it to others this is why when wasallam was sending one of his companions to Yemen and he 

asked him a few questions at the end of that he says praise be to Allah subhanahu wa taala who 

has granted acceptance to the messenger of the messenger of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to that 

which has pleased the messenger of Allah subhanahu wa taala so Allah guided mu and Allah subhanahu 

wa taala obviously had sent Muhammad sahu alai wasallam and Muhammad sahu alaihi wasallam 

in turn sent and he has informed all of us go and convey the message even if it means a small 

verse so every one of us inshallah we have that status may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala accept us 

for that now it is important for us to also go through the creation of man why Allah created 

us and how he created us it is impossible to know that except through Revelation and this is 

what makes us Believers if you take a look at the Jewish scriptures or the Christian scriptures the 

scriptures of the Muslims you will find there are are some similarities when it comes to the stories 

of the previous Nations and how time began and how man were was created and so on but we adopt 

and we follow the Quran because we believe that there is a lot of rust that has crept into the 

previous scriptures they are debating amongst themselves as to what is authentic and there are 

so many different versions of the Bibles and the scriptures that we have to discount them and we 

have to adopt what the Quran has said because no doubt it is pure and it is pristine and there 

is no ways that anybody can argue with that may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us acceptance so 

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala created us and when he told us whatever he told us he told that to us 

through Revelation so therefore a person who's a non-believer or who does not believe in any 

of the Heavenly religions they would not know what happened and if they were to tell you what 

happened it means they got it from a Heavenly scripture No scientist can tell you that the 

first person created was created in this way and his name was Adam and nobody can tell you 

that then there was haah and what happened so we need to be Muslim we need to be submitters we 

need to be M Believers in the Unseen and we need to know that these scriptures that have come they 

have come as a gift from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to us now if we take a look at the Quran Allah 

subhanahu wa ta'ala has revealed this book and it is a very very blessed book and Allah has given us 

the Muslims a month known as Shah Quran it is the month of the Quran and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala 

has kept it the same month as the month of fasting and Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala speaks about a night 

in this month that is so powerful in it the Quran was sent down from the preserved tablet to the 

lowest heaven allahar and this is why he says we have indeed revealed it in the night 

of decree translates as the night of the night of decree when all that is going 

to happen for the next year is written by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala it is called Al 

the night of decree we all call it the night of power because it also depicts the power of 

Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala so it is important an for us to know that there is no doubt in the 

book that Allah has revealed and as Muslims we are fortunate to be from amongst those 

who follow a religion that makes it a duty upon us to study all the verses of the Quran 

not just a few verses and Allah says why he revealed the Quran we need to know this why 

did Allah reveal the Quran why did he create man why did he do this why did he do that the 

answers are in the Quran this is why Allah says it is a book that we have 

revealed to you oh Muhammad s wasam it is so blessed in order for its verses to be pondered 

upon so why did Allah reveal the Quran in order for its verses to be pondered upon that is 

the reason so how many of us have pondered over the verses of the Quran how many of us have 

understood why Allah revealed the Quran did he just reveal it that we can recite it no point 

in understanding or no interest in understanding it did he reveal it so that we can use it as a 

pillow we read it at night and then we put it away and go and sleep and the following morning 

we get up no take a look at what has happened to the Bible and to the other books [Music] very 

few followers of those books have read those books cover to cover but every one of us have 

heard the Quran cover to cover by the will of Allah this is why in the month of Ramadan what 

are we doing great effort is required to prepare the twi to come for the twi to stand in the it is 

not simple it is not easy to be standing for one hour trying to concentrate on the words that is 

a sacrifice that is an act of worship that is a gift that Allah has given myself and yourselves so 

treat it as a gift and understand that if we have not tried to ponder if we have not 

tried to ponder over the verses of the Quran then we don't even understand why it was revealed so every one of us needs to try our 

best to ponder over the verses of the Quran and inshallah this is what we will be trying 

to do during the month of Ramadan I encourage myself and yourselves to try our best to read 

a portion of the Quran in a language that we understand as well because without that we won't 

be able to succeed imagine Allah sends with us a manual to say this is how you should operate 

yourself and we don't know about that manual I decided to spend a few moments to explain 

the importance of this book because it is the month of the Quran and not only the recitation 

in the Arabic language yes that is important very important but more than that is to understand 

the Quran the message of Allah I've heard people saying it is Haram to read the meaning of the 

Quran where did they get that from we want to know how can we we behave like those of the 

previous scriptures and prohibit our people from trying to understand the word of the one who 

made them when Allah asks me after I've died and you that I sent a book did you read it did you try 

to understand it what will our answer be and then if you were to ask us how many books have you 

read and understood and we will be mentioning all the novels and all the little story books 

and fairy tales and bedtime stories that we've read we give preference to Harry Potter over the 

Quran it's a fact we give preference to all these other books over the Quran it's a fact I think 

it's about time we use this Ramadan to change that we can change it and this is why we have reminders 

of this nature this is why we are standing up here reminding ourselves and yourselves to say it is 

about time yeah Quran oh umah oh Nation whom the Quran has been sent to to try and understand this 

book I guarantee you it will change your life I guarantee you it will raise you in spirituality 

without a bat of isid Allah abbar that is the book of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala yes there are 

rules and regulations governing how to deal with a question that crops up on your in your mind 

whilst you are reading the meaning those questions need to be answered by the professionals the those 

who know so when you come across a verse you will find if there is a question in your mind it would 

be wrong for you to answer it on your own go and ask the I read this verse I don't understand 

it but there are so many verses in the Quran that are very easily understood the stories of 

the prophets which makes the bulk of the Quran that's why we want to go into it this year very 

easily understood Allah tells us about n Noah Allah tells us about Jacob about Joseph may peace 

be upon them all Allah tells us about L lot may peace be upon him so it's important inshallah 

for us to make an effort to try and read these stories to try and see why Allah revealed 

them why Allah sent them down for what reason and then inshallah we see 

how everything is connected when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent 

Messengers to mankind he selected the best he did not send messages from amongst the 

worst or the mediocre of community no a or a was always selected the best of them and this is 

why there are certain qualities that all the prophets had we need to know these qualities 

because if we'd like to continue the work of The Messengers we need to try and learn from 

what Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala selected and chose may he choose us all to serve his 

cause Allah says regarding some of his prophets definitely he was 

chosen then Allah says in Allah has chosen in Allah means to choose Allah chose Adam we believe that whenever 

we say the name of a messenger it is our duty to say may peace be upon them they have done a 

splendid job in fact Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam says that there is a curse upon the one 

who says Muhammad without saying sallallah alai wasallam may peace be upon him so some of these 

qualities The Messengers were always truthful they never uttered a lie even prior to prophethood 

never uttered a lie even prior to prophethood they were known by their people as truthful 

always one might ask what about ibraim Alam we'll get to that inshallah it's not actually 

a lie it was something and inshallah when we speak about ibraim alisam in a few days time 

we will get there they were trustworthy and they were known as trustworthy all of them 

so in order for us to be chosen by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala we need to try our best 

to also be truthful and trustworthy because if a person is not truthful and utters lies 

there is a chance they become champions of the devil and shatan shaan becomes pleased with 

them we don't want that so it's about time we started telling the truth and it's about 

time we were honest and trustworthy then all the messengers were trained in a specific way 

do you know what the prophet sallallah wasam says there was no na except that he was a Shepherd 

at one stage he looked after some sheep so Allah trained them Allah trained them with sheep with 

animals before they came to human beings because what is more difficult to look after animals or to 

look after human [Music] beings I see the smiles mashallah does someone have a doubt here may Allah 

subhanahu wa ta'ala open our understanding it is definitely more difficult to look after animals 

but in the Quran Allah describes certain people he says there are certain people who are like 

cattle and in fact worse than cattle because with the sophisticated minds and brains 

and eyes and ears and noses that Allah has given mankind they still don't want to 

hear they don't want to see they don't want to understand Allah says for those type 

of people can we equate them to cattle no no they are worse than cattle Allah abbar may 

Allah not make us from amongst those so it's important for us all to have the quality in us to 

want to propagate what we have we want to dish out what we have that is a quality The Messengers had 

that quality they wanted to give the message they wanted to always spread the goodness they 

were not selfish with it so every time we learn something let us try and think of ways 

of how to spread it to whom let me tell you to whom there was a stage when Muhammad 

sallallahu alaihi wasallam was instructed to start primarily with his family members 

so we start with those around us we try and remind them we want to tell them may 

Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala make it easy for us then there is another quality of 

The Messengers they were very intelligent Allah did not send people people who were 

thick to a nation no Allah sent highly intelligent people look at ibraim Alam 

Allah says Subhan Allah that he had given ibraim Allah gave him so much Allah gave him 

prophethood Allah gave him wisdom Allah gave him Authority when he was a young boy look at how 

intelligent he was he began questioning and he debated did you ever know that the messenger who 

has debated the most was ibraim Alam his debates are mentioned in the Quran Allah abbar he had 

the most debates from a young age he questioned he asked the questions and this is why for us 

when the young ask questions find answers for those questions sometimes they are innocent 

questions and we rattle out words of rebuke to these youngsters without even knowing that 

this might have shaped some negativity in the youngster's mind that will last forever 

because we did not answer the question so it's important for us to try and look at the 

questions that are being asked and we need to ask questions as well there was a time when people 

used to say don't ask no in Islam it is simple to understand we ask but we have Iman that when 

we are given an answer from Allah's revelation we surrender to it there we are so there are certain 

things we may never understand but we will try our best to and there are certain explanations for 

as long as those explanations are coming coming from revelation inshallah we surrender to them 

it's important for us to know this so the ambah were always highly intelligent another quality 

of the prophets of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala physically they did not have any defect that 

was repulsive repulsive meaning chase people away rather when you looked at them you felt like 

getting closer Allah abbar all the messengers were described as very handsome all of them and 

they were not only good-look but they had this like magnetism do you know what Abdullah says 

about Muhammad s Alam he says when I saw the face of Muhammad saham I knew that this is not 

the face of a liar the other describe him and sayb as though he's a piece of the Moon Subhan 

Allah and they have all said we have never seen anything more beautiful more handsome than 

Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam so those who did not see the light and who did not come closer 

to him they had to be really really rejected by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for that to happen 

it is reported that it is enough for a person to look at Muhammad sallallahu alaihi wasallam 

or to be in his company in order to be totally rectified and known as a sahabi and deserve after 

his name the word may Allah be pleased with him just by being with him for a moment as a mmin as a 

Believer but there were others who were fortunate and unfortunate who were they they were the likes 

of Abu jahal and the enemies of Islam who fought Islam and they fought Muhammad sallallahu alaihi 

wasallam they were fortunate in that they lived in his midst but they did not look at him with 

the eye of sincerity even once not even once so for that reason they did not receive that 

cleanliness they did not receive that spiritual level of sahabi Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala again 

has chosen the sahab of alaihi wasallam then there is another very important point that we need to 

know the messengers were all protected by Allah from committing sin all of them were meaning they 

were protected by Allah from committing sin now one might ask what about this deed that was done 

by mam inshah we will get to that what what about that which was done by this Nai or that Nai we 

will get to that inshallah they were protected by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala from sin and we need to 

know that and we believe that and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala thereafter has kept certain merits 

in these Messengers The The Messengers whenever they spoke whenever they uttered whatever they 

said was inspired by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala through divine revelation and we know this 

about Muhammad sah alaihi wasallam Allah says [Applause] in he does not utter anything 

from himself it is indeed Revelation that was revealed it was Revelation that was 

revealed so one might say well look once the prophet sallallah alai wasallam looked away 

from abdah and thean came and admonished him so people say well what was that Allah subhanahu 

wa ta'ala had a lesson for us in that because sometimes it is the plan of Allah subhanahu wa 

ta'ala to let something happen so that when the solution of it is shown or when the remedy of it 

is shown the lesson can remain up to the end we learn a lesson from that that no matter how 

high you are no matter how knowledgeable you are no matter how much you think you know when 

you are corrected take it properly and accept it and be happy that you are corrected when the 

prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam was corrected why was he corrected why did he make a mistake 

in the first place because had he not been made to make that mistake where in his Sunnah would 

there be a lesson for those who make mistakes to learn from Subhan Allah so it was part of 

his Perfection to make that mistake for us to have a perfect example to follow so that when 

you make a mistake you know what to do because when he did it he was also shown or he showed us 

what exactly to do I hope we've understood this then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has spoken about 

how the messengers none of them sought a reward none of them wanted money in return for their 

message none of them wanted to gain some form of popularity through their message no this is 

why in Surah Yin we know the verse where Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala speaks about a man who came 

from the innermost part of the city and he says follow those who are asking no recompense from 

you they don't want any reward from you follow those who are rightly guided may Allah subhanahu 

wa'ta'ala grant us an understanding also it is very important to know that the messengers came 

with a direct message they did not beat about the Bush when Lam came to his people he told them 

directly abstain from homosexuality he didn't say yeah you know now there's something something 

you guys need to worry about and there something we need to talk about no The Messengers they 

came with a direct clearcut message and they delivered it as it was given from Allah subhanahu 

wa'ta'ala and we will see that in the Quran also we will know or we will notice that the messengers 

they had firm belief in monotheism they worshiped Allah alone if there was anyone who worshiped 

anything with Allah or besides Allah they were not messengers of Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala they 

worshiped Allah alone and they believed in the Unseen and they promoted the Unseen and they 

gave preference to the Hereafter over this life now the last question we have for this evening 

why talk about stories of the prophets in the Quran why why does Allah make mention of these 

stories well Allah answers the question who can there be better than Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala 

to answer the question and Allah says [Applause] [Applause] indeed in the stories of the previous Nations 

and in the stories of the prophets are lessons for those with s intellect Allah says it was not 

fabricated it was not at all fabricated but it is a lesson and the details of everything 

are made mention of for those who believe we need to believe so Allah says it is a 

lesson for us when the people of Noah may peace be upon him when the people of noat wasam 

transgressed how long did they transgress for for many many years what was the result we all 

know they were drowned in the floods they were destroyed so what will happen Allah subhanahu 

wa ta'ala is showing all of us that look it might appear to you that the forces of evil 

are winning and the forces of goodness are losing but Allah says don't worry it's just a 

matter of time when we pull we pull completely and Allah says always the winners are those 

who are in the force of goodness always Maybe not immediately But ultimately and this is 

why Allah speaks about entry into Jenna and he says do you think it's going to be easy to 

enter into Jenna do you think it's going to be simple do you think you're going to enter Jenna 

without a test this life is a test Allah says [Music] Allah says do you think you are going to enter 

Jenna and that which Afflicted those before you has not yet come to you they were test tested 

and they were shaken and they were tested in so many different ways with trials and tribulations 

with war and sickness until the messengers from amongst them said when is the help of Allah 

going to come imagine for a messenger who is sent by Allah to say when is the help of Allah 

going to come and then Allah says then we said low the help of Allah is very near Subhan Allah 

which means you are tested right to your Peak I always like to give the example of a school 

the higher you go the greater the test the more difficult it is and remember your life is not 

in the school your life the real life that you are living is outside the school I mentioned this 

on Friday so those who don't understand that the life in the school is just a test and they need 

to work as hard as possible whether they like the school or not whether they like the work or 

not whether they like the teachers or not whether they enjoy the uni wearing the uniform or not 

they need to wear the uniform they need to work hard they need to try their best they will pay in 

order to attend the school and they must write the exams every so often and every time they write an 

exam they will have a higher qualification than the previous exam and when they graduate they 

will now with that certificate be able to do whatever they want in the world the higher the 

qualification the more chances you have let us take that example and put it into our lives our 

life compared to the and the life after death is like a school so we are in the school now we 

will have tests every year every second year we will have so many difficulties we will have to 

dress in a specific uniform in a specific way we will have to do certain things we will have to 

engage in things we may not like or they may be difficult to engage in and every time you write 

a test you have a certificate of a higher level and the the the greater the test the more the 

love of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and then when we die what will happen we have the ultimate 

certificate we can do what we want thereafter in the when you have all a what will happen Allah 

will [Applause] say enter into Jenna with peace here's your certificate and Allah speaks about 

it in the Quran how he will give it in the right handbar may he give us all our books in the right 

hand this is the month of Ramadan we need to earn the Forgiveness of Allah let us take this month 

seriously let us make an effort every day to fulfill thewi correctly and to try and listen 

to a message or two on a daily basis to make an effort with the Quran to fast properly to try 

and change our lives bad habits need to be kicked out music CDs need to be changed with quranic 

CDs and with the message of Allah subhah wa ta'ala we will be asked life is too short so many 

people are dying there are people who've passed on just before the month of Ramadan where were 

they Allah did not accept them to see the month of Ramadan or we can word it differently 

Allah had mercy upon them and took them away may Allah open our doors indeed we are blessed 

by Allah subhanahu wa'ta'ala to be gathered in his home there are people as we are speaking who 

are suffering across the globe and I'm talking of Muslim who are homeless who were wealthy moments 

ago but they are being bombarded on a daily basis whether it is in IA whether it is in Afghanistan 

or Pakistan or Iraq or Somalia or Sudan wherever it is on the globe in Palestine anywhere on the 

globe there are so many who are unable to gather in this manner that we have gathered here this 

evening so let us take this as a gift of Allah let us never feel too lazy because if we are not 

to seize the opportunities that Allah gives us they will stop at some point and we will not be 

able to then have the opportunities may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us the ability to seize 

the opportunities when he has given them to us he says that I give you the opportunity of your 

good health you should seize it before it does not exist anymore or before sickness overtakes you 

your life before death overtakes you your wealth before poverty overtakes you your free time before 

occupation overtakes you your youth before old age overtakes you it's important for us to make use 

of this inshallah we are we will meet here by the will of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tomorrow at the 

same time and we will commence with the stories of the creation of man and we hope and pray that 

Allah accept us all and grant us every form of [Music] goodness Allah Allah Allah Allah Allah Allah Allah Allah Allah