Abdul Nasir Jangda – Stories of the Prophets #28 Dedication
AI: Summary ©
The speaker discusses the dedication of Jesus to his son's beast and the importance of his father's mission to deliver the great miracle of human life. Isa Alaihi's dedication to Islam is seen as a source of blessing for humanity, and his actions, including his role as a messenger to the Israelites, are seen as a source of strength and success. The dedication of Islam to the mission of prophethood is seen as a means to fulfill a mission and hold onto it, as it is the same message that is repeated throughout the message of Islam.
AI: Summary ©
Inshallah, continuing with our series here in the
month of Ramadan,
the stories of the prophets from the Quran.
Today, inshallah, we're going to be
talking about,
in general, the story of the prophet Isa,
Isa Alaihi Salam. And in addressing the story
of prophet Isa Alaihi Salam,
we're going to go a little bit further
back because when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells
us about the story of Isa Alaihi Salam,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala starts further back
with the family that Isa alayhis salaam came
from.
And hence, the name of the Surah that
we're familiar with as well, Surat Ali Imran,
The family of Imran.
And
as we've been going through these different stories
of the prophets in the Quran,
every single day we've tried to focus on
a particular lesson that we can extract from
there,
something we can learn and implement.
And so the particular lesson
that we're going to be talking about today
from the story of Isa
is the story is a lesson rather of
dedication.
The Alur Imran, the family of Imran which
culminates
with Isa ibn Maryam, salam alayhima,
really embodies and personifies
the character and the quality, the trait of
dedication.
And Allah
starts to teach us this lesson of dedication
by going all the way back to the
grandparents of Isa Alaihi Salam,
Imran and his wife,
who is referred to as Imra Atu Imran,
the wife of Imran.
Some of the books like the Old Testament
mentions her name as Anne
or Hannah.
Nonetheless, Allah tells us
the wife of Imran, she said,
my lord.
She was expecting a child. She was pregnant
And she says, my lord, I devote, I
dedicate,
I vow, I pledge
to give
my child for your sake,
to free that child from any kind of
expectations,
social or otherwise,
familial or social, any kind of expectations or
obligations.
But this child will be solely and only
dedicated to you and only you,
Allah.
So accept this child from me
You are the one who hears all and
knows all.
When she gave birth to the child, the
Quran tells us,
She said, my Lord I have given birth
to a daughter
because
they were from the region that we know
as Palestine.
They were from Nasirah
Nazareth.
And so understanding
that the sacred
place there,
the place of worship for the people in
that region, and one of the most sacred
places on earth was a place that was
close to them. And that was Baytul Maqdis,
Jerusalem Al Maslul Aqsa.
And so the idea was that this child
that I am pledging for the sake of
Allah will go and will serve the house
of Allah and will serve the community there.
And so there was a natural assumption that
obviously a male child, the son will be
more capable of serving that role. Being a
in the masjid, cleaning the masjid, serving the
worshipers.
And eventually, one day if Allah has willed
so, then be able to lead the people,
and you know, teach the people, and so
on and so forth.
So she says, I have given birth to
a daughter.
But
Allah says something remarkable. Allah
says, Allah knew who she had actually given
birth to. That she was under estimating what
this would mean.
And
the
the male is not like the female
and while this is a bigger, larger philosophical
statement in the Quran that addresses a lot
of the chaos that we see in society
today. But Allah
at the same time in his infinite wisdom
is saying that at the that she was
underestimating
what role ultimately in the grand plan of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala this child could serve
by virtue of being a daughter and not
a son.
And she says, I named this daughter
Mariam.
And I ask you, O Allah, to protect
her and her progeny from shaitan.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells
us that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala accepted her.
And then she
she ended up in the supervision, the care,
and the tutelage
of her uncle, Zakariyah
a prophet of God. So she's
living in Baytul Maqdis. She's worshiping there. She's
studying there. And she has a prophet as
a teacher.
Subhanallah.
And then look at the dedication from the
very early days.
We talked previously
about Zakariya alaihi salam's dua for a child
even in old age
and an extremely old age. Well, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala tells us that it was Maryam's
dedication
that was an inspiration for Zakariya alaihis salam's
du'a. When he enters upon her and he
finds her
in the mihrab, in her place of worship,
her corner of the masjid worshiping Allah.
He found her with sustenance,
with provision, with food. The narration mentions that
she was eating
fruits. She was eating fruits that were out
of season and out of region.
And he says,
How'd you come by this?
This is from Allah, and Allah provides to
whomsoever ever he wills, however he wills. There
are no limits. There are no limitations upon
Allah. Allah can provide anything to anyone, anywhere,
anyhow,
anytime.
And so look at that dedication.
Now,
it goes forward, the story moves forward from
there where Allah
chose her.
Allah
has chosen you for a great mighty purpose
and that purpose is
that you will be the vessel
of the greatest miracle
that this world has witnessed
since the creation of Adam alaihis salam.
Like Allah created Adam alaihis salam from clay,
that miracle of human life,
you will be the vessel
of the next greatest miracle that humanity has
witnessed.
And that is that you will bear a
child that has no father.
And Allah
tells her,
He will be a prophet of God. He
will miraculously speak to people even as an
infant, as a baby, and he will be
a righteous prophet of Allah.
And so she bears this child
with devotion, with dedication.
And
when the time comes
for this child to come into this world,
she is
still dedicated to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
to the mission and the responsibility
and the task that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
has given to her.
And
once Isa alaihis salam is born
and she takes him back to the people,
she enters into the town
and they start berating her,
and they start
slandering her and accusing her.
She's not shaken in her dedication at all.
They start to say things to her like
You have done the most
horrific thing.
They invoke her family.
You shamed your family.
Your father was not an evil man.
Your mother was not a shameless woman.
What have you
done?
Look at her conviction,
her dedication. She pointed to the infant
and even they were baffled. They said,
how
do you expect us to speak to an
infant
that you are carrying in your arms?
And then, Isa alaihi salam spoke
miraculously.
I am the servant of God.
Allah has given me revelation and Allah has
made me a Prophet.
I will be a source of blessing for
humanity.
And I will continue to worship my Lord
and practice charity as long as I will
be alive.
And I will honor my mother.
I will not be a wretched man.
And I will always be blessed by Allah
That was Isa the son of Maryam.
And so again, you see the dedication and
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us more about
the dedication of Isa alaihis salam. Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala says, Then he served his mission.
He served his role.
He was a messenger to the people of
Bani Israel, the Israelites.
That I have been sent to you with
signs from my Lord.
He displayed miracles to them. All by the
will and the permission of Allah. With the
name of
Allah, He would take dirt or clay and
he would form it into the shape of
a bird. He would say the name of
Allah and he would blow into it and
it would come to life and fly away.
He would cure the blind. He would cure
the leper.
By the will and the permission in the
name of Allah.
He brought the dead back to life by
the name and the will and the permission
of Allah. And that dead person who came
back to life testified that indeed he is
a messenger of Allah.
And he did all of this
even though his own people,
he said, was from Bani Israel,
He's from the Israelites. He's from Bani Israel.
And his own people rejected him.
His own people rejected him.
Well, they slandered and accused his mother
of horrific things.
They called him a liar and a charlatan,
a magician in a soothsayer.
Somebody who's trying to deceive people.
But kept serving his mission.
He was dedicated.
And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala even tells us
that eventually what happened with Isa alaihis salam
is that he became the subject
of
the greatest lies
that humanity has ever concocted.
That the people that eventually would be known
as
the who are his own people,
they they slandered his mother, They called him
a liar,
and they painted him as a liar.
And then on the other side, the people
who did
initially accept and receive his message
but then they went too far
and they deified him and they called him
the son of God.
They called him God. They worshiped him.
And everyone went too far. Think about how
how they completely defied
and they completely betrayed
Isa Alaihi Salam. But you know how dedicated
is? Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in
the Quran, in this world about a conversation
that will happen on the day of judgment.
Listen to this conversation. Allah says,
Allah will say to Isa alaihi salam on
the day of judgment.
Did you tell the people
to worship you and your mother? Did you
tell them
to worship you?
He'll say, my Lord, all glory be to
you, perfect are you, O Allah.
Why would I ever do such a thing?
That I would say something that I have
no right to say.
If I would have said it, you would
know, O
O
Allah. You know everything that's in my heart,
and I do not possess your knowledge, O
You know everything. You are the knower of
all things, the unseen and the hidden and
everything.
The only thing I told the people,
What You commanded me to,
Dedication.
I told them to worship you, O Allah.
And that you are my Lord and you
were their Lord.
You are my Lord and you are their
Lord.
And I was a witness upon them. I
tried and I persisted so long as I
was alive amongst them.
But O Allah when You decreed and destined
that I would leave the world,
Then You remained
watchful over them.
And You are a witness over everything. Nothing
is concealed from You, O Allah.
And then Isa alaihis salam,
even on the day of judgment,
dedication.
Dedication.
He's still doing his job.
He's still a prophet and messenger in that
moment. What does he say next?
Oh Allah,
if you decide to punish them,
then they are your slaves, they are your
servants.
You may do with them as you will
and as you please.
But if you forgive them,
you are Almighty and All Wise and no
one can question you.
Our messenger, Muhammad he
was so inspired
by this dedication to the mission
of prophethood.
He was so inspired by this dedication of
Isa alaihis
salam
that it's narrated in the Sahih ibn Bukhari
that the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam 1 night
stood up to pray
as he would pray throughout the night.
And he read the verse into
Oh Allah, if you decide to punish them,
they are your servants
and you may do as you will.
But if you decide to forgive them,
You're Almighty and all wise and no one
can question you.
And the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam kept
on repeating this verse
over and over and over and over again
crying tears to the point where his beard
was soaked, his chest was soaked, his shirt
was wet with his tears, and he kept
on repeating this verse and over and over
again
until called the adhan for fajr.
Dedication.
And so
we have similarly been given
a task and a responsibility
to worship Allah, to serve Allah,
to serve the deen of Allah, to spread
the word of Allah.
And we have to find that purpose, but
not only just find that purpose and we
have to hold on to it and be
dedicated and devoted to it and committed to
it to our very last breath.
Inspired by this example of dedication
from Isa alayhi salam, our messengers sallallahu alayhi
salam and all the prophets of God. May
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala grant us that type
of dedication and devotion. May Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala allow us to remain dedicated to our
purpose and our mission for the remainder of
our lives.