Lecture one:
1) There are two types of shirk: Major shirk/ polytheism which is to associate partners with or instead of Allah the Almighty in worship. And minor shirk which is riyaa or ostentation, to do righteous deeds not intending them to please Allah the Almighty but to impress His servants or show off to the people.
2) It is important to have Ikhlaas / sincerity and to do good deeds sincerely for Allah's sake.
3) Our main purpose in life is to worship our Creator Allah the Almighty, to strive to obey Allah's Commands to our best ability and to avoid what Allah the Most Wise made haraam / forbidden.
4) Another way to ensure the validity and acceptance of our good deeds is to make sure they are in proper accordance to the Sunnah of the beloved Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam.
5) As Muslims whose main goal in life is to worship only Allah the Almighty, we must abstain from acting as slaves to dinaar or wealth and evil desires. We must always prefer Jannah's eternal joys to this world's temporary pleasures.
Lecture two:
1) Allahu A'lam. Surah Al-Ikhlaas was revealed to the noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam when some people inquired and asked him to describe Allah the Almighty.
2) Allahu A'lam. One of Allah's Magnificent Names "As-Samad" means "The Self-Sufficient Master Who does not need anybody for assistance and Who has no partner nor child."
3) The rewards of reciting Surah Al-Ikhlaas is equivalent to reciting or reading one-third of the Noble Qur'an.
4) It is Sunnah or recommended to regularly recite Surah Al-Ikhlaas in the second Rak'ah of the two Rak'ahs Sunnah prayers before Fajr prayer and the two Rak'ahs Sunnah prayers after Maghreb prayer.
5) No one and nothing in the universe can ever be compared to Allah the Almighty Who is Above everyone and Above all things.
Lecture three:
1) Part of being sincere to Allah the Almighty and His noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam as Muslims is to be sincere and truthful also to the leaders of the Muslims.
2) It is better and safer to advise the leaders of Muslims privately or in a one-on-one manner instead of publicly scolding and humiliating them which could lead to fitna or chaos in the communities.
3) The Best of speeches is Allah's Word namely the Noble Qur'an and the best of guidance is that of the noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam.
4) Importance of consistently striving to read, study and implement the teachings learned from the Noble Qur'an which is a healing and source of mercy and guidance for the believers.
5) Reminder to enjoin right and good deeds for Allah's sake and to prohibit evil acts, and to remind one another to fear Allah the Almighty as mirrors to each other. If a Muslim can't prohibit or stop evil by his hand or physically, he should speak out against it and verbally warn those wrongdoers, and if he is unable to admonish with his voice or writing abilities then he or she must at least hate the wrongdoing from his heart.
Lecture four:
1) When Allah the Almighty wants goodness for some people, He Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala grants them understanding of the Deen and religion.
2) Importance of being sincere and truthful when seeking authentic knowledge of Islam.
3) Sincerely seeking authentic Islamic knowledge leads one closer to Allah's Love and the pathway to Jannah Paradise becomes easier since one is aware of one's responsibilities and duties to Allah the Almighty, what good deeds to do and what evil deeds to stay away from.
4) The term "Fiqh" in Arabic language means understanding or comprehending.
5) Importance of sincerely applying the lessons and knowledge that one has learned and sought for Allah's sake. Learning Islam isn't enough. We should also strive to practice what we preach for Allah's sake and put into action what we have learned.
Lecture five:
1) From being sincere to Allah the Almighty and His noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam is to know more about His beloved Prophet Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam and to derive lessons from the life of the noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam.
2) Importance of sincerely adhering to the Sunnah of the beloved Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam and to stay away from innovated religious matters or bid'ah and misguidance.
3) The reason why shaytan likes it when Muslims commit acts of bid'ah is that they can easily do Tawbah and repent from sinning while they insist on committing misguided acts of bid'ah assuming they are good actions when in reality they go against Allah's Commands and conflict with the beautiful Sunnah of the noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam.
4) Awareness and acknowledgment of the fact that the noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam is the leader of all Prophets 'alaihim as-salaam.
5) Success in both worlds and salvation can be obtained by striving to obey Allah and His noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam.
Lecture six:
1) One of the matters which lead to the hardening of one's heart is deliberate heedlessness or being purposely negligent of one's duties to Allah the Almighty. It is important to strive to maintain strong connection with Allah the Most Merciful through constant Dhikr, Du'as and studying of one's Deen Islam.
2) Stubbornly and pridefully committing sins knowingly can bring about the blackening or darkening of one's heart. The more sins one deliberately commits, the more dark stains or spots also known as the "raan" cover one's heart which could make it more difficult for the dark hearts to accept the truth, identify what's real, and welcome sincere advice.
3) Unnecessarily mingling with the wrong kind of friends or mixing with misguided or ignorant people can lead to hardening of one's heart. Also too much of enjoying the lawful things such as over indulging in permissible acts like eating and sleeping could lead to hardening of one's heart as they may imply that the person is more attached to this temporal dunya when they should give preference to striving to attain Jannah's entry.
4) There is a piece of flesh which if it is sound or good then the whole body becomes sound or good. It is the heart. When one's heart is pure and in good condition aiming to please Only Allah the Almighty, one's actions will reciprocally be busy in carrying out good deeds that can benefit one's soul in both worlds.
5) Importance of regularly remembering death and striving to be prepared to meet Allah the Almighty hoping for a good ending. May Allah the Most Merciful take us while He is Pleased with us and we've done enough good deeds that make us worthy of Jannatul Ferdaus. Ameen.
Lecture seven:
1) From being sincere to Allah the Almighty is to be sincere and truthful also to His servants and creation.
2) Importance of showing respect to the elderly, being merciful to the youngsters and striving to maintain good character for Allah's sake.
3) When you give advice or when a Muslim requests for advice, it is important that you give them honest, sincere and helpful advice while genuinely caring for their well-being.
4) Importance of trying one's utmost to fullfil the rights of Muslims one of which is to answer their salaams and respond to their invitations. If one is unable to attend an event or gathering, one should at least apologize and provide clarification regarding one's inability to be present.
5) A person's faith/Imaan is incomplete or deficient if they do not strive to love what is good for the believers. None of you truly believes until they love for his brother what they love for themselves. Allah the Almighty knows best.
Lecture eight:
1) Naseeha means "advice" or "sincerity" and to want what is best for the one you are advising or being sincere to.
2) Those in authority are the leaders and rightly guided scholars. It is important to be sincere and truthful to the Muslims and those in leadership positions, avoiding unjust rebellion and anything that could trigger fitna.
3) Safety and salvation in both worlds is also in trying one's best to obey Allah the Almighty and His noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam, and in avoiding rebelling against those with authority.
4) If an Imaam wants to advise the leaders of the Muslims, it is better that he gives sincere advice to the general rather than specifying and mentioning the leader's name thereby humiliating the leader and inviting fitna.
5) The saved sect or group or al-firqa an-naajiya are those sincere believers who strive to follow the Sunnah of the noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam.
Lecture nine:
1) If we truly love Allah the Almighty, then we must also love His noble Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam by following his Sunnah and beautiful character.
2) When 'Aisha RadhiAllahu 'anha was asked to describe the character of the beloved Messenger Muhammad SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam, she RadhiAllahu 'anha said that his character SallAllahu 'alaihi wa sallam was the Noble Qur'an which means that his overall character was in perfect alignment with the commands mentioned in the Noble Qur'an and with the noteworthy qualities mentioned in the Noble Qur'an.
3) From having good character is to patiently mingle with the people and be understanding, forgiving and lenient with them for Allah's sake, while trying one's utmost to abstain from unnecessary anger.
4) Part of having genuine good character is to enjoin right and forbid what is wrong. Virtues of Surah Al-'Asr in which the true believers are those who encourage each other to be patient and who motivate one another to be upon the truth, which is inclusive of good character.
5) One of the means to attaining and maintaining good character is to carefully choose good Muslim friends who genuinely portray actual good character without any deceit and fakery. A pious friend who truly fears Allah the Almighty and who strives to treat Allah's servants well can be a positive influence to one's overall well-being, faith/Imaan and good character.
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