An Evening in the Company of Nouman Ali Khan

Well-known and loved Islamic speaker Nouman Ali Khan was in Jeddah last week and spoke to a select audience at a local mosque in the run up to Ramadan. JB reader Zainab binte Shahid and Jeddah Blog writer Haris Ali were lucky to be present among the listeners, and they sent us their reviews of the event.

Eloquent and charismatic, Nouman Ali Khan.

Haris Ali

Being Nouman Ali Khan’s biggest fan (I graciously share this position with a several hundred million or so other Muslims), it felt surreal to walk into the lecture hall of the Islamic Education Foundation, and to see the Islamic Speaker in the flesh – in front of my eyes. It is difficult to explain; he surpassed my expectation in terms of his personality, sense of humour and warmth. Witnessing the Ustadh standing at the Mimbar, ready to deliver his speech on the topic of Ramadan, in my heart indeed, I felt I knew him personally.

His judiciously crafted words and the trustworthiness and sincerity in his voice was just the same as I had heard in his YouTube videos in my free time. After listening to his lectures online, I was so keen to understand and apply the concepts in my life, and to strengthen my Ibadah and Yaqeen.  I felt a greater insight into comprehending the meaningfulness of Allah Almighty’s words in the Qur’an, and the explanations of the Qur’anic stories were given so clearly and authentically, that any person would be keen to listen. These are the attributes that have lead a great many hearts young and old – to their settlement, in a world filled with so many unsettling questions.

Nouman Ali Khan speaking to the gathering at the IEF Centre.

Soon into the talk I realized that throughout my run of listening to the Ustadh speak, I had always been so moved by his knowledge and eloquence in Islamic Principles, true Muslim character, and how the Muslim community in particular must act with each other and with those outside it.

He spoke particularly on the occasion, about giving proper Da’wah to non-Muslims, inviting them to Islam through justice and reason, as Islam was a gift to us by our Lord, the Creator, and so it is our duty to respectfully and honestly propagate the True Word of the Merciful Creator, the Eternal to those who are but lost and in a deep abyss of darkness. The Ustadh conveyed, that we need not have endless resources, but only the assurance in our hearts from the Lord, Most Merciful to truly convey the message. As he quoted the Prophet Moses in the Quran, faced with the difficult task of confronting the cruel and self-important tyrant, the Pharaoh:

رَبِّ اشْرَحْ لِي صَدْرِي وَيَسِّرْ لِي أَمْرِي وَاحْلُلْ عُقْدَةً مِنْ لِسَانِي يَفْقَهُوا قَوْلِي

Rabb-ishrah li sadri, wa yassir li ‘amri, Wah-lul ‘uqdatam-min-li-saani, Yaf-qahuu qawlii

O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and boldness); Ease my task for me; And remove the impediment from my speech, so they may understand what I say
[Surah Ta-Ha; 20:25-28]

It was indeed a wonderful speech Mashaa’Allah, from Nouman Ali Khan (may Allah grant him and his family Paradise), telling us not to solely focus on ourselves this coming Ramadan the most blessed month of the Qur’an’s revelation, but to spread the brilliant message of Islam, and that is not difficult to do so, as we are in desperate need to ask Allah to ‘open our chests’ and so our task shall be made easy for us Inshaa Allah.

Nouman Ali Khan, inspiring generations.

Zainab binte Shahid

Assalam O Alaikum. My dream, no our dream just came true!! Our Beloved Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan aka NAK was here in Jeddah, and by the grace of Allah I got a chance to visit one of his lectures. Approximately one thousand people attended the event and the whole crowd was excited; I even felt butterflies.

As for those who aren’t familiar with Ustadh Nouman Ali Khan’s work, he is the founder, CEO And lead instructor at Bayyinah Institute, in Dallas.

He discussed topics regarding Ramadan, Dawah and our relationship with the Qur’an with the reference of Surah Taha and Surah Al-Kahf and their linguistic miracles.

He first told the story of Musa (a.s.) which is in Surah Taha. When Musa (a.s.) was sent to the Pharaoh to deliver the message of Allah (swt), Musa (a.s.) was worried that he would be unsuccessful due to the weight of the duty, but he took refuge in the vast grace of his Lord.

“(Moses) said: O my Lord! Expand me my breast;

   Ease my task for me;

   And remove the impediment from my speech.

   So they may understand what I say:” Surah Taha(25-28)

We learn from his story that we should always seek help from Allah in any difficult situation rather than seeking it from the people.

Ustadh Nouman also gave an example from our Prophet’s (saw) life. Princes used to come from Egypt to learn from the Prophet (saw). So when one came in to the Prophet’s congregation wearing those expensive clothing and jewels, seeing the poor people with torn clothes, he refused to sit with them, so Allah (swt) revealed to the Prophet (saw):

“And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect” Surah Al Kahf:28

He (swt) tells the Prophet (saw) not to even look at him and not to even turn his eyes and be with those who call upon their Lord.

Suppose if a man comes to your charity and gives you a big cheque to donate for a masjid, but says I don’t believe in zakat. You may think to yourself that if you engage in discussion with him to teach him about zakat, you won’t get the cheque. You might decide to set religion aside for ten minutes and and take the cheque and teach him later. But no, you can’t do that, not even temporarily. We should not choose the world over Allah. The lesson we learn from this is that we should not prefer worldly resources, rather use the Book of Allah as a resource and seek the company of the believers. Never to compromise Allah when it comes to worldly desires.

His suggestion on making Ramadan productive: choose a surah (chapter) of about 2-3 pages. Find a lecture on it online and recite it day by day and eventually you will start understanding it. By the end of Ramadan you will be one surah closer to Allah.

Everyone was given a free book “Basic Dawah 101” courtesy of the organisers, written by Ryan Fawzi Arab.