Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – Qur’anic Reflections How to Reflect on the Qur’an
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Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh Bismillah al Rahman al
Rahim Al hamdu Lillahi wa Salatu was Salam ala Sayidina Muhammad
Ali or Safi edge marine and my bird Ramadan Mubarak to everybody
and welcome to this first reflection we ask Allah subhana wa
Taala to grant us an understanding of these verses of the Quran as
the month of Ramadan is the month of the Quran. Month of Ramadan is
the month of the Quran. That's why we ask Allah subhanaw taala to
make it easy for us and open it up for us and make it an inspiration
for us. This is what Allah subhanaw taala wants the Quran is
a message. The Quran is not just something for reciting it is
actually a message it has a discourse it has engagement, it
has communication, and that's what we're trying to receive from ALLAH
SubhanA wa Tada. So the verse that I want to discuss today is verse
13, of Surah two Shura, which is chapter 442. So chapter 42, verse
13.
Are all the bIllahi min ash shaytani R rajim Bismillah Al
Rahman Al Rahim.
Allah we are Gob li me Yeshua. Were de la he me, Yoni.
Allah chooses for himself whom He wills and guides to himself who
turns to him in repentance and obedience. Very short verse. And
Allah subhanaw taala is giving us two messages in here. One is that
Allah chooses, he tells us and he declares that Allah is going to
choose for himself whomever he wills, out of the human beings,
whomever he wills, Allah subhanaw taala chooses them.
And then he guides to him himself who turns to him so he's giving us
a reason. He's giving us a secret. He's telling us who is the person
that Allah subhanaw taala will choose. So he guides to himself
who turns to him in repentance and obedience. So there's two things
that are being mentioned here.
So Allah subhanaw taala chooses people and then He guides them.
Now, Allah subhanaw taala can choose whom He wills. But then
here he says, there's a way that you can be chosen, and we all want
to be chosen by ALLAH SubhanA wa Tada because Allah subhanaw taala
is our Creator. And we're supposed to love him more than anything
else. And if he chooses us, this will just become easier and then
there's just untold bounties bliss benefits to be achieved by that in
the hereafter as well. Allah subhanaw taala can elevate anybody
he wants, enable, enable whom he wants to raise the ranks of whom
he wants and give him guidance. Now, what does he mean by turning
to Allah subhanaw taala and repentance and obedience. That
means repentance and turning to Allah. So we've actually if we've
been distracted, you know this we have this concept in Islam called
Toba, right.
And Inaba. So the word here uses may you need from the concept of
Inaba, which basically means to turn back to come back. And the
idea of this is that when we sin, when we become negligent, when you
become a bit heedless, when we've been distracted, we've gone away
from Allah subhanho wa taala. So if we've been lacks in prayer, or
missed the prayer in covering or not abiding or not respecting our
parents, or whatever it is, that means that we've departed from
this. So now what we need to do is to go back to Allah subhanaw
taala. That's the concept of coming back to Allah subhanaw
taala. And coming back to Allah must be, must be sincere. So when
Allah says that we come back and return to him in repentance and
obedience, this must be a genuine seeker. So we must become a
genuine Seeker for Allah subhanho wa Taala that we want Allah, the
more genuine that our pursuit is our turning is and our focus on
Allah subhanho wa Taala is, the more Allah subhanaw taala will
give us another way to be genuine. There's a number of things about
this is to have humility, and self surrender, total obedience to
Allah and the straight path as far as possible. That's what's
required from us. Of course, Allah understands that we are weak, and
that's how he created us we are weak and we will make mistakes and
we will have issues but the best thing is that we continue to try
and Allah looks at that effort, Allah subhanaw taala absolutely
values, efforts and values, good things, every bit of effort that
that a human being makes towards his cause.
So the important thing here is to turn to Allah subhanaw taala
wholly so that he can choose us. You see, this is our first
reflection and what I would have mentioned here is that Allah
subhanho wa Taala tells us in the Quran, a number of things, right?
The whole point of the Quran is to give us information of how to live
in this world. It's all about preaching the truth.
It's about giving the right information about what we need to
do. And believe as believers. You know, in light of this verse, we
are actually obliged to accept all the articles of faith. I mean,
that's, I guess that's everybody understands that all the articles
of faith that we must believe in. We must believe in that. And, but
where do we get these articles of faith? That's what's important.
They must come from the Quran directly and from the Sunnah of
Rasulullah, sallAllahu, alayhi wasallam. These are sources so
anything which is supposed to be that we believe in needs to come
from the Quran and the Sunnah, right? Allah subhanaw taala
revealed the Quran in pure Arabic in clear Arabic Radha rbwm rubine
in clear Arabic And Allah subhanho wa Taala that makes it very, very
clear in the Quran, that we've actually made the Quran easy for
you to understand. Now I've had these questions before that if the
Quran is easy to understand, then why are the parts of the Quran
that are Morticia Behat there are ambiguous verses. For those who
were with us last year and the previous year you will understand
that there are a number of ambiguous verses in the Quran
whose meaning is very very difficult to ascertain fully 100%
Or at all. So if the Quran is easy to understand what exactly does
that mean? So I think I want to deal with that today just so that
we know where we are and how far out the board and this reflection
of the Quran can take us and how far are we allowed to go with
this? So it's the Quran is very very easy to understand what are
the Assam Quran Allah Vickery FOR HELP ME Medaka a number of verses
come come to mind in that regard. I'll just mention a few to you
right now. Allah Allah subhana wa Tada says in ML me know when Allah
Xena either the Kerala Hua Ji let Kulu boom were either too late
already him yeah to who's the tomb Iman? Where I know Rob be him yet
our karoun alladhina up Mona Salah Tomi Moussa Kona whom you own with
eco human me Nona. Hapa le whom da Raja to $9 be him one off hirato
what is school getting circle and fall, circle and fall? verses two
and three which speak about what kind of a submission and fear and
obedience that we need to turn to the Quran with and how one needs
to weep when the Quran is being recited. And there are a number of
verses. Likewise sort of Islamic verse 82, Allah subhanho wa Taala
says, One owners zero Amina poor Nima, who are she
who are meant to live many, what does he do it mean hasa this was
more specifically speaks about how the Quran has been revealed as a
shift.
Right as a cure as a therapy, and also as a source of mercy for the
believers. But you need to be a believer for this to be a shift
for you. Of course, it could be a Shiva and a cure for non believers
as well if they try it out. But there is a requisite which is that
you're guaranteed Shiva and cure if you're a believer. And
likewise, there's a number of other verses. So firstly, it's the
Quran is easy to understand, as Allah says, in ascertaining the
main beliefs that a Muslim needs to hold, that a human being needs
to understand, for them to get the best out of this world and to be
successful. So for example, the concepts of monotheism, though
heathen Allah subhanho, wa taala, to believe in the Oneness of Allah
to declare the Oneness of Allah, that is mentioned very, very
clearly over and over again, in a number of verses in the Quran.
When a person reads the Quran, it's not difficult at all, as
Allah says, It's not difficult at all to understand the main aspects
of what is required for a human being. And number two, the Quran
worldview, everybody needs a worldview, if you don't have a
worldview, about how you live this life, and what the world is all
about, and why we're here for then we're really not getting anywhere.
Everybody needs a worldview. And that worldview needs to be
correct. It needs to be accurate, it needs to be the right one that
Allah subhanaw taala once because he is the creator of the world, so
we need to get it from him. And the Quran is very, very clear
about that. So
the Quran is not complicated in that sense, right? And nobody can
read the Quran and say, I don't understand the basic truths. The
basic truths are obvious, they're clear as day as soon as you read
the Quran. And that's what Allah subhanaw taala means the basic
truths that we require for our life are absolutely clear in the
Quran, right? So anybody who reads the Quran, they cannot say that
they didn't understand it. Because the way the arguments as as we
covered covered two years ago, in our 30 Jews in 30 days in one hour
each, right how it was so clear that how towhid was mentioned in
so many places over and over again, reiterating, it's been
articulated completely in a very eloquent and effective sense so
that people understand it in a number of in a number of places
with a lot of vigor. Allah subhanaw taala declares the
these things. So that would mean that anybody who actually reads
the Quran and takes it to heart they could never engage in
polytheism like that would be an absolute no, it would be
impossible because of what kind of arguments and what Allah subhanaw
taala has presented there in. And that is exactly what happened at
the time of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wasallam that they were the
enemies, they wanted to hate the Prophet sallallahu sallam, because
obviously, he came with something that was different to what they
had been used to all of these centuries, their forefathers than
everybody else. So they didn't like him for that reason that has
a biased, they had a bias against him. But they couldn't help being
effected by the Quran, they had to literally shut their ears because
they couldn't be they couldn't help being affected by it. Now
look, it's very possible that people read the Quran, and then
they still stumble on some sin, they commit some errors, they
commit some mistakes, they have some transgressions, and so on,
they have a bit of apathy here and there, and they don't, you know,
discharge their religious duties, that's absolutely possible, they
may even fall into some wicked acts. But
you know, such a person, he may make some sins and so on, but he
can never never commit polytheism if they've really understood the
Quran. So, that message is very, very, very clear. Likewise, the
second most important thing, which is we have to know about is the
messenger ship, the prophets, Allah Lauryssens prophecy, the
duties of his office, the role that he played, what is required
from us, for him, what's his position, and why he came here,
and everything else. The Quran maintains extensive accounts of
not just the Prophet Muhammad Sallallahu, alayhi wasallam and
the various things that we can draw lessons from in here that
happened in his life, but also of the other prophets that we can
learn from, and again, going back to the Tafseer of the full Quran,
I mean, there were numerous stories of
all the prophets, right. For example, if I just signpost you
sorbitol Aarav solitudes, or to Shara. These three are especially
filled with the Stories of the Prophets.
So it's quite easy to actually access the Quran and consult the
Quran for guidance, right? Because no one has been able to contest
that truth that the Quran is not a guidance for me there's enemies of
Islam, there's the individual from Holland who was a sworn enemy
islamophobe and mashallah, he ends up becoming Muslim because the
mistake he made in his Islamophobic state you could say
is that he opened the Quran to try to find mistakes in it to try and
find issues with it, and mashallah, it just took him over.
And mashallah he becomes a Muslim. Right? That's how powerful the
Quran is in that sense. So, having said that, though, there are there
are contexts in the Quran, there are specialized contents in the
Quran complex issues, right, like I alluded to earlier, that it's
not easy for everybody to arrive at the absolute purport as to what
Allah subhanaw taala intended by them for everybody, Allah subhanaw
taala you know, as much effort as is made on the Quran, Allah
subhanho wa Taala reveals new meanings, you know, one is that
there's a clear meaning that everybody understands. And there's
a number of other deeper, more profound meanings that the
amorphous city and pick up that people pick up that Allah subhanaw
taala gives you that people gives to people. And that is the reason
why they say that, for example, Fick right jurisprudence is
complete pretty much except new issues. Likewise, a number of
other factors like the laws of grammar, the laws of morphology,
you know, related to the Arabic language, they're pretty complete.
However, the fsid is one area the Quran is one area, which is not
yet complete, in the sense that it can't be completed, because it's
Allah's words and infinite. So more and more Tafseer is are being
written have been written, and they will continue to be written,
written, but nobody can. But the one interesting thing here is that
in those complex issues, nobody can claim that they know the
meaning 100% Right. As long as it follows the spirit of the Quran,
and it doesn't. It doesn't contract any of the verses, and it
follows the general massage and spirits and rules of the Sharia.
That could be acceptable. I mean, we leave that to the magazine.
However, people need to be very careful about those verses and
going beyond the obvious. That's why, for example, Abu Bakr Radi
Allahu Anhu wants he exclaimed, right? He says, Oh Allah, which
refuge Can I have under the sky? Like what refuge is there for me
under the sky? Or which retreat? Can I take a shelter in? If I make
an unsubstantiated claim about any of the verses of Allah's book?
Because they were scared about this? They were frightened because
it's Allah's word. You don't want to misconstrue Allah's words. I
mean, if somebody makes countries your words, right, if they
misrepresent you, right? Most people would be quite agitated by
that. They'd be quite upset that look, that's not what I meant.
That's not what I was trying to say. Right You're misconstruing
the idea. Allah subhanaw taala
doesn't like it because it's a very important message that he's
he's providing
La ilaha illallah That's why even Amara the Allahu Anhu. Whenever
you know sometimes when he would make a statement about the Quran
about the meaning of the Quran, he would he would ask ALLAH SubhanA
wa Taala for protection. Right? That's why to grasp the absolute
essence and spirits of the Quran and the objective the Quran once
Atty. attitude needs to be one of respect and caution. Now, even if
you can't decipher the whole Quran, that's understandable, I
get calls from people where they've got a confusion about a
certain verse or a certain Hadith just a few days ago, I got that
question. And that's fine. But the approach needs to be this that
everything that Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran is
absolutely 100%. Likewise, everything mentioned in the Saheeh
generations is 100%. Now there could be absolutely a confusion
regarding of us, I have confusions about certain verses, I don't
understand what they mean. But just because I don't understand
what they mean, that doesn't shake my faith. I know that I can't
understand everything. So what I then try to do is I try to figure
it out. I tried to read different FCS, I tried to read from
different scholars. And you know, our scholars were all like that.
If you look at for example, Imam Lucy, one of the great professors
of about 200 years ago from Baghdad amazing to have seen he
has called Rural money, right? Ruhul money. That's the sort of
the spirit of meanings, right? It's an amazing Tafseer. It's a
very, very eloquent of Syria. It's a very profound, obscene number of
places. He says, this is something which confused me, this is
something which has confused me. And he says, I've still not been
able to find an absolutely
an absolutely certain answer to this. However, this is what my
research has led to, and then he'll give his proposal, his
thesis about what that particular verse or what that particular idea
in Islam means.
That's that's the other side of it. But Subhanallah, you know, we
get, you know, we get people saying, just because they can't
understand how this is affecting my faith, why should it affect
your faith, I think you're just approaching it in the wrong way.
As I said, again, there are clear verses in the Quran that are clear
to everyone and they give us our basic and most important guidance.
However, the Quran is also for many other things, too, for a
higher level of spirituality for higher level of understanding for
a higher level of connection, and that Allah subhanaw taala will
open up to whom he wishes, he won't necessarily open it up to
every one of us. That's why nobody can insist that one who is blessed
with the fear and consciousness of Allah subhanaw taala is probably
more likely going to be able to get more out of the Quran. Anybody
who does it for like an academic study. That's not what the Quran
is for. Yes, you can get some benefit from that. But that's not
really what the Quran is for. It's not for an academic study. It's
actually for an internal study for a personal
for a personal interaction, personal growth and enhancement.
And one needs to have fear so for example, there's a verse in
certain hasher verse 21, right, so the hash is chapter 59. Allah
subhanaw taala says, Lo
the
Jubilee Lara ADA hoo ha she motors are there I mean hush yet.
Subhan Allah had We sent down this Quran on a mountain, you would
surely have seen it humbling itself and rent asunder. That
means split by the fear of Allah subhanaw taala that's what the
Quran requires a fear of Allah that these are my Lord's words,
and I am hoping to get an understanding from him directly.
You see, when a person reads a Quran, especially a pious person,
a righteous person, they are shaken to the core of their being,
they trembling or at the realization that what is in front
of them is the word of Allah subhanaw taala right. And it's
such an attitude that helps one to derive guidance to the highest
degree, right?
That's why
there are Hadith would say that there will be people who will
recite the Quran, but they're gonna get nothing.
By that some cases the Quran is not even gonna go down their
throat to the heart when they recite because there's reciting
for the wrong reason. That's why there needs to be a particular
attitude to that Subhanallah the Quran is a boundless ocean of so
many different meanings and when it's just when you start looking
at the tough seers, and people how they've explained different verses
that you understand that the Hey, that's not something I would have
ever thought of, and you get amazed by it and then you look at
another one you're like, amazed by that. Subhanallah so
one should recite the Quran. You know, some of the most profound
places of reciting the Quran is in one's Knuffle prayer. That's why I
always encouraging Ramadan try to increase your memorization if you
don't know enough, what an amazing feeling it is and what a pleasure
there is in reciting Quran.
And besides the, you know the few soldiers that were always used to
reciting right in the Sunnah prayers in the form of prayer in
the Knuffle prayers, it's amazing Tahajjud prayer in the Sooners of
Asa in the Sooners, Allah, and so on. It's amazing, right? So
another thing that one should avoid with the Quran is that don't
don't seek to justify a meaning in your mind. So if I hold a certain
belief, I'm trying to find justification for it, that's not
what the Quran is there for either.
Subhanallah also, there's been a few people who said that they've
discovered a meaning of the Quran that nobody ever knew about
before. Right? That this is something that nobody and it's
been a hidden meaning or it's actually been a missed meaning and
it's so important, like certain terminologies of the Quran that
nobody's understood it for 1000 years. That's a major issue that
actually shows that Allah subhanaw taala somehow chose him specially
as some kind of pseudo prophet to come with a new idea. That's just
actually not very helpful. People have had meanings, but nobody can
insist that even this new meaning that they're talking about, right,
it may be just something totally off. I mean, sounds like a form of
deviance if somebody comes with a new meaning after 1000 1400 years
that nobody else is known otherwise, why would Allah
subhanaw taala just open it up to this particular individual. So
that doesn't sound right, right.
You see, you can read the Quran for your entire life and it's
Marvels will never end. Right its meanings never end. And you just
have to become more refined in your approach and Allah will keep
opening it up. You just have to keep reading the Quran. Allah said
you have to keep reading the Quran for that to happen. Subhanallah
So, in order to finish off now, when a person reads the book, they
need to have a specific state, right for Allah to choose them
because Allah says yes, Debbie la Hema yesha. Right? Allah subhanaw
taala chooses whom He wills, right.
And he will allow them that who have my unique who returned to
Allah subhanaw taala in obedience and in submission. That's why when
we read in the Quran, we need to have fear in our hearts. We need
to think that the Quran is speaking to me, I should not be
recently reading the Quran thinking, oh, yeah, that that's
referring to my friend or that's referring to my enemy? No, I need
to read this for myself is this how the Sahaba used to read it?
This is the Prophet salallahu Salam himself reading it that way
as well. And then you deliver whatever benefit you get from that
you can deliver it to others and you can share in the meanings of
that. So the Quran is there for us to reach our destination. And
Allah subhanaw taala selects with it. It's one of the ways one of
the most effective ways to get close to Allah subhanaw taala
because you're reading His words, and Allah will choose us from for
this insha Allah. That's why at the end of it, this is will be our
DUA and we make this to our over and over again. We say Dino Serato
Musa team Serato Allah Dena unanderra You him all you need to
know who will be already him when a board lien show us the
straightway the way of those whom You have bestowed Your grace on
whom you've bestowed Your Grace, and not the way of those who
earned Your anger, nor the way of those who went astray. So that's
our daughter, Allah, may Allah accept us during these reflections
and may Allah allow us to continue our reflections until we die, so
that we get to know Allah subhanho wa Taala much better. Well hear
that one and Al hamdu Lillahi Rabbil Alameen May Allah subhanho
wa Taala bless you Ramadan's. And may Allah make the Summerland
better than any before it as Salaam Alaikum Warahmatullahi
Wabarakatuh. The point of a lecture is to encourage people to
act to get further an inspiration and encouragement, persuasion. The
next step is to actually start learning seriously to read books
to take on a subject of Islam and to understand all the subjects of
Islam at least at the basic level, so that we can become more aware
of what our Dean wants from us. And that's why we started Rayyan
courses, so that you can actually take organize lectures on demand
whenever you have free time, especially for example, the
Islamic essentials course that we have on the Islamic essentials
certificate, which you take 20 Short modules and at the end of
that inshallah you will have gotten the basics of most of the
most important topics in Islam and you'll feel a lot more confident.
You don't have to leave lectures behind you can continue to live,
you know, to listen to lectures, but you need to have this more
sustained study as well. Just local law here in Santa Monica
when I have to live record