Adnan Rajeh – Quranic Reflections #13 Surat Ibrahim 1 – Surat Al-Nahl 79
AI: Summary ©
The speakers in Surah emphasize the importance of showing gratitude towards the creator and not just saying things that are true. They stress the importance of showing mercy towards oppressed individuals and not just saying things that are true. The speakers also discuss the struggles of people experiencing lack of function and lack of faith in their lives, and the importance of finding the "beauty of the universe" in the spiritual experience of the creator. They stress the need for recognition and value in the world and learning from the "beauty of the universe" in the spiritual experience of the creator.
AI: Summary ©
The nights they think is the what the 13th night? Yes, it's the 13th night, but the domino effect of Ramadan has begun.
It just runs from here. The speed at which Ramadan will be over is going to be extremely upsetting for many people.
It just keeps on running. The next week we'll be sitting here. We'll be talking about the schedule of the Hajjud in the first 10 nights.
Once you enter the 10 nights, it's just a matter of figuring out when Eid is going to be.
It's important that you continue to push yourself and hold yourself to the standard you've been holding yourself throughout Ramadan,
maybe even more, especially when you feel like it's slipping away and you don't know if Allah has accepted us or not.
May Allah grant us the acceptance and forgiveness and the freedom of punishment.
Today we start with the beginning of Surah Ibrahim. We go to the middle of Surah An-Nahl and then we continue after that.
Tomorrow we'll continue. The third cluster of Surahs from Ibrahim to An-Nahl, Ibrahim, the Hajjah and An-Nahl.
There are three Surahs and they talk about bounties. They talk about ni'mah, the concept of ni'mah.
It's a very important aspect of life. It's not a simple topic that people wonder, why does it require a cluster?
Well, for sure it does. Everything that Allah gives you is a ni'mah if you see it that way, which is what the Surahs do.
So the Surahs, each of them looks at the concept of bounty or ni'mah from different perspectives.
Surah Ibrahim looks at the concept of ni'mah from the perspective of the importance or the significance of showing shukr,
of being grateful for them, regardless of where they are coming from, regardless what to do with them.
If you have a bounty, the important piece is that you're able to show gratitude for them.
Because if you don't show gratitude, you lose them, regardless of anything else.
Like even if you were not religious, it's an important piece. You have to be able to show gratitude
and use what you have in a positive way before it is basically taken away from you.
And you find that at the beginning of the Surah, where I in shakartum, la azid anakum,
and you find it similarly towards the end of the Surah,
and the human being is oppressive of himself and lacks gratitude.
You find it in the story of Ibrahim A.S. where Ibrahim shows gratitude through his words.
Ibrahim A.S. is like towards the end of his life. He's just making all the adi,
Allah is showing us the different types of dua that he's making.
A lot of it, if not all of it, is just filled with a sense of gratitude
despite the difficulties that Ibrahim A.S. went through throughout his life.
And that's why at the end of the Surah, we find those heavy verses that talk about the oppressors of the Valimin.
So Surah Ibrahim talks about bounties from the perspective of the importance of showing shukr, of showing gratitude.
Surah al-Hijr, it looks at bounties from the perspective of the ability to acknowledge them.
You can't be grateful to something that you do not acknowledge as a ni'mah.
Meaning if you can't see it, if you can't see it as a blessing, then how do you show gratitude for it?
You have to be able to see it as a blessing. If you're taking it for granted or if you feel entitled,
then you won't be able to identify this as something good.
If you can't identify this as something good, then you'll never be thankful for it.
And that's what Surah al-Hijr covers.
And I did the tafsir of Surah al-Hijr after Fajr in Ramadan of 2000.
I want to say 18, I think, or 19, probably 18, probably 2018.
So on the weekends, when I do the tafsir of Surah after Fajr on the weekend,
so back in 2018 I did Surah al-Hijr and I covered it because it's such an important concept.
And it's very surprising or it takes you by surprise when you actually study the Surah, understand it,
that it's just telling you, are you able to see that this is a blessing?
If you can't see it, then you'll never be able to be grateful for it.
So be grateful for everything and then have the ability to see what you actually have.
That's why at the beginning of the Surah,
maybe these believers wish deep down inside that they could be Muslim.
Maybe you don't realize that what you have is such a big blessing
that other people wish they didn't have obstacles and barriers between them and between being a Muslim
and you don't have those barriers.
And then it just goes through all these different basic existence concepts.
We just talked about the existence of the cosmos and the earth and everything on it.
These are blessings.
If you don't see them as such, then you can't be grateful for them.
And we take a lot of things for granted.
And because of that you'll find, I think it's there.
Maybe we'll get to talk about it.
But it's the only Surah in the Qur'an that has a description of the creation of Adam
from Salsalin min hamah im masnoon.
Salsalin which is hardened clay.
Hamah im masnoon is rotten mud.
So he's made, this is what is described as hardened clay with rotten mud on the inside.
And Iblees, I told Allah in this very clearly,
I'm not prostrating and I'm not showing respect
because he's created from this weird mix.
And I'm from fire.
We're very different.
He hasn't done anything yet.
So there's no reason for me to respect him based on his merit.
He doesn't have merit yet.
If it's based on creation, well I am from pure fire,
from marij in minnar, which is smokeless fire.
It was very pure.
And he's from Salsalin min hamah im masnoon.
It's hardened clay with rotten mud on the midst of it.
Little did Iblees know that this is why Adam was special.
His potential came from the duality of his creation.
From the Ruh and from the soil of the earth coming together
and being born from it all.
That's Adam's potential.
So Iblees, his biggest problem was,
he wasn't able to see that that was why Adam was special.
So he made the mistake.
And throughout the Surah, the same stories are repeated,
people aren't able to see their blessings.
Lutus talked about here.
Because people stopped seeing the blessing of spouses,
of families, of functional families.
And they became, you know, in a crazy manner, * driven.
And they stopped seeing anything that was,
everything was sexualized in their brains.
And they stopped seeing the blessing of just having a spouse
and having a family, having children.
This is a big deal.
So that's what Surah Al-Haida talks about.
Your ability to acknowledge blessings.
And you have to ask yourself,
are there blessings in your life that you take for granted
or you're so entitled, you don't see them.
You don't even know that they're there.
You don't even notice that they're there.
Does Allah say, does He have to take something away before we see it?
Or are we able to be grateful and acknowledge a blessing
before it's gone, before it's lost forever
and you can never get it back again?
Surah Nahil talks about blessings.
But it looks at it from the perspective that they come from Allah.
Their source is one.
All the different blessings.
Even though the routes making it way to you,
this comes, a check through the mail from your work.
And this is from a family member.
And this is a Quran, help me with that.
But their source is one.
They all come from Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And thus they have to be used based on His rules,
based on His laws, according to His will.
And if you don't, then the whole system
is collapsed.
And that's the longest surah of the three.
The longest of the three just tells you,
look, all of the blessings are from your Lord, from Allah.
Do not lose that affinity.
Do not lose the attachment of seeing what you have
as coming directly from Allah,
which will allow you to use them according to what Allah,
subhanahu wa ta'ala, wants.
And that's what this cluster of surahs talks about.
It just talks about blessings and boundings.
Na'amah.
Everything you're given in this word is rizq,
until you see it as a na'amah, it turns into that.
Everything is provision.
Everything.
It becomes a na'amah if you see it as such.
If you don't, then it continues not to be.
And everything we have in our lives are na'amah.
Everything that we have is a na'amah.
So you have to make sure you're grateful.
You have to be able to acknowledge them so you don't lose track
of something that may be in the background that you've been entitled to
and that you've been taking for granted for a long time.
And then you have to always make sure that you see it from Allah,
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And those are the three surahs that we're going to be reading tonight.
So not to take any longer than we need to.
Let's start with the, do we have any?
Let me see.
People who voted on this or not.
I'm going to do whatever I want anyways, but...
Okay, let's do Ibrahim 12.
Ibrahim 12.
So in this story at the beginning of Surat Ibrahim,
after he talks subhanahu wa ta'ala about Musa,
alayhi s-salam, and Musa has a dialogue with his people.
After he does that, we have a story of a generic one
where it doesn't really point out exactly who the prophets are
or who the people are.
It's just a generic.
It's almost like this is the story of every group of people.
This happens every time the same thing.
And they say, and the disbelievers come to their prophets and say,
we have doubts.
We don't believe that what you have to say is the truth.
And the prophets say,
they say, well, you don't have any signs.
And the prophets say, well, we can't bring a sign if Allah does not give us one,
but He gives us one.
We'll show it to you.
And then at the end of what they're saying,
what the prophets are saying, they say this ayah here.
They say, why wouldn't we show dependence upon Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala?
And He is the one who has guided us our ways,
in the ways, in the paths that we have taken, He has guided us.
Suji Ibrahim talks about gratitude for blessings.
The response of the prophets in this story, within the Surah,
show you what they're saying.
They say,
why wouldn't we show dependence upon Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala?
And He is the one who has guided us our ways,
and the prophets in this story, within the Surah,
show you what that means,
what that translates into in terms of behaviors
and in terms of perspectives.
These prophets are being persecuted by their people,
oppressed, they're being called liars.
They're not making much progress.
And they're being told that if you don't stop doing this,
we're going to remove you from this land,
or you're going to have to change what you're doing.
Their response was,
We depend upon Allah, and why wouldn't we?
How could we not?
How could we not depend upon Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala?
And He is the one who guided us our ways.
Subhulana means the ways that we have been given,
which are the pathways of Islam, or the pathways of guidance.
And this is to me, a part of the Surah,
that reminds us of the importance of showing gratitude
for the blessing of guidance.
And I've talked about this month a few times now,
and I think it's a theme that is worthy of contemplation.
Guidance is a blessing.
It's a big deal if Allah, Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, grants it to you.
If you know where you're going with your life,
and you understand, you have clarity upon what you're doing,
and what path you're going to take,
and what is coming at the end of it all,
and why you're doing all what you're doing.
These questions, most people don't have authentic answers for.
They make up their answers as they go along,
and they come up with a philosophy of life that is personal to them,
that suits them, or suits wherever they're living,
or what their circumstances, or context is.
But you have been granted an authentic understanding of everything
that happens in the universe, and everything that occurs to you.
He granted you that blessing of guidance.
So Surah Ibrahim is not interested,
or doesn't talk a lot about just the wording of gratitude.
It comes at the end.
It comes at the end with the wording of Ibrahim A.S.
But rather about what you do that shows gratitude.
When he says,
Well, if you show gratitude, then he will give you more.
He'll increase you.
Well, how do you show gratitude for guidance?
You depend upon Allah.
You continue your job.
You continue to spread the message.
And even if you're threatened,
and even if you're losing status, and you're losing ground,
you continue to depend upon Him.
And why wouldn't we depend upon Allah?
And He is the one who granted us guidance,
and we know where we're going because of Him.
This blessing that He gave us, it requires from us.
It requires from us to continue to walk this path,
and show dependence even though you're threatening us
to take away our lives.
And indeed, we will show perseverance
towards the persecution and harm
that you are projecting towards us.
Why are we doing this?
Because He guided us.
We have to thank this blessing of guidance,
and that's how we'll do it.
We'll depend upon you,
and then we will show grit and perseverance as you harm us.
And that is the story, that should be our story as well.
Our story should be the same,
as individuals who Allah has granted the blessing of guidance to.
You have to show gratitude towards that.
It's not an achievement, it's not an achievement.
The fact that you're guided right now,
it's not an achievement, it's not an accomplishment.
It's a blessing.
See it as such, and if you see it as such,
then not only will you see no reason
not to continue to have tawakul as life gets difficult,
but you will continue to persevere,
no matter how difficult it becomes,
no matter how much harm you receive,
you'll continue to walk your path with perseverance
because He granted you this blessing,
and you don't want to lose it,
because you'll lose it otherwise.
Alright, let's do ayat number 8.
No, sorry, 42.
42, forgive me.
We're counting the votes instead of 42 of Surah Al-Tibrahi.
The end of this Surah,
we have this ayah that the least we can say about it is
it grants a certain degree of peace and calmness
when He says Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
and do not think for a moment.
Ta'asabanna here has an emphasis of the noon, right?
It's wa la ta'asab, but here He adds the noon to emphasize,
meaning do not for a moment think or assume
wa la ta'asabanna, that Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
ghafiilan, that Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, is oblivious.
That He's oblivious to what
amma ya amalul zalimun, what the oppressors are doing.
Don't think for a moment that there's someone
who's oppressing someone else on this planet,
and that Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, is oblivious to that active oppression.
Now when I was small it is,
no matter how microscopic the act of oppression is,
and some people will say I, you know, they was oppressed,
and there is no way for anyone to be able to see
what happened to me, no matter how I explain it,
it's just, it's gone, my haqta is lost, it's never lost.
It's never lost, if you've been oppressed,
even the slightest, to the slightest,
even if you tried to explain to me your oppression,
I wouldn't understand it because it's so detailed
and it's so delicate and there's no evidence to support it,
and whatever happened, happened before,
and there's no way to actually go back and verify anything.
If you're oppressed, even the slightest amount,
do not think that Allah, Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
is oblivious towards what the oppressors did.
Now why, why are they left to oppress?
And that's talking about small acts of oppression.
There are massive acts of oppression that are ongoing.
They continue to occur.
People in the hundreds, in the tens of thousands are dying.
Due to nothing but brutal oppression, to persecution,
this is very, these types of occurrences in the world
cause one of two things.
It either causes people to increase in their degree of iman,
or it causes them to lose it completely.
And I've seen this happen many times in the past
and I'm bringing it to your attention.
When people witness a very high amount of brutality,
when they see a concerning amount of lack of compassion,
and it's just very, there's a lot of harm,
a lot of blood that's ongoing.
When people see that, one of two things happen.
Either their level of iman increases in the skyrockets
and it changes them, and they become people who have causes
and they turn their lives around to be individuals
who live for righteousness and speak out against injustice,
or they lose their faith altogether.
And during what is called today the Arabic spring,
even though I don't know if it was a spring,
it seemed more of a, well, if it was a spring,
it was like this spring, the present that we have right now.
It wasn't a very nice spring, that was for sure.
So, what they called the spring, I saw so many people,
like I saw a change, I saw a shift in the level of today,
of iman, that happened in the Middle East.
It wasn't a good one, and it wasn't a good one.
Before it occurred, we actually, things were doing better.
But because the amount of blood that was spilled,
by our own selves, by people of the same land in Egypt,
and in Syria, and in Libya, and in Yemen,
there was so much blood spilled that continued for such a long time,
with almost no, just the amount of brutality that people saw,
because they were not prepared,
because they don't understand that this is a part of the difficult,
very difficult labor that this ummah is going through,
in order for it to turn things around again,
in order for it to stand up again,
after 350 years of just complete lack of function,
it's going to be difficult.
This path, unfortunately, has a lot of blood on it.
But people who understand that, they end up losing their faith,
because it was so brutal.
But this ayah here is designed to remind you
that,
Allah is not oblivious.
As for what the wrongdoers do,
and what your oppressors are doing,
He talks about them saying,
all that's happening here,
is that Allah is just postponing them.
He's just postponing them to a day where
eyes will bulge out of faces,
where they will walk crooked,
with their heads held down.
They're looking, but they can't really process what they're seeing.
What they are seeing is not being processed by their brain,
because they're so dazed,
they're in a state of shock,
where they can't even understand what they're seeing.
And their consciousness is just all over the place.
You speak to them, they can't respond.
They look at you, but they don't understand what they're saying.
You've seen someone like that, right?
For sure.
Anyone coming out of anesthesia after a long surgery,
they look at you and they have no idea what they're seeing.
They have no recollection of what was being said afterwards.
That's what happens.
That's how they walk around,
in a state of humility,
in a state of fear.
That's what He talks about.
You're scared that there's no pressure somewhere
that is going unnoticed? No.
They're just being postponed to a moment where they'll come,
and the fear that they'll be in will be
more than what they ever inflicted upon people
during this dunya.
So have a complete fiqh in that,
in Allah SWT's justice.
Let's do Hajr 14.
Is this working?
Is it good?
The first time I explained this ayah,
I was 16 years old.
It was one of the first times I was ever stood up in front of people
outside of children and said something.
It was recorded on this old VHS thing I saw.
It exists somewhere.
It's hilarious because the quality of the explanation
is so bad that it's just laughable.
I tried to explain and I did a very bad job
in trying to explain what this ayah meant.
It's one of the earliest attempts
of me trying to do a little bit of reflection.
As I pointed out,
it's interest when it comes to blessing
is your ability to acknowledge it.
Are you able to see a blessing?
Some people can't.
Some people only see the empty half of the cup.
That's how they are. They just can't see.
They just don't see it.
You're not supposed to be someone who is delusional
and only sees the full half.
What's missing or what's there?
What's there cannot go unnoticed.
It cannot go unacknowledged.
That's for sure.
As a Muslim, we're neither pessimists or optimists.
We have to be something in the middle.
We have to be realists where we see what exists in the cup.
What's missing so we can work towards it.
But we're able to acknowledge what's there.
So Allah talks about a group of people
who don't have that ability.
And this is the example that it gives.
There are some people that if you were to open the doors
of the cosmos for them,
and they went in a
in a Mi'raj.
A Mi'raj means it's not a straight line.
Someone's A'raj.
Someone who has a disability and they walk.
They don't walk straight. They walk with a limp.
So A'raj is when it's not a straight line.
It's a curved line.
They go up into the cosmos in a curved manner.
Which is exactly how you have to see.
You can't leave the earth in a straight line.
It has to be. And that's obviously a little nugget
for people who learn and go into science
and then hear the words of Allah SWT
and know that there's something there.
Always been there. Just a little nugget for you
to kind of keep your mind going.
How have you done for that?
Open the cosmos and put them on a
Superman-like ride.
Where they're just going to explore into space
to see the universe.
They'll say,
No, this is just
our eyes are shut.
Oh, someone has played a spell on us.
Someone is doing
This is not real.
This is not actually real.
They'll say,
No, this is someone,
someone has sealed our eyes shut.
It's too dark out here.
Too dark.
No, it's true in the universe outside,
in the space. It can be dark.
But you can see
All they could see is that it's dark
and they say
Someone has cast a spell on us.
There's nothing you can do to satisfy them.
Nothing will be enough. They'll never be happy.
No matter what you show them.
Even if you were to open the cosmos
and have them soaring into space to see it all,
they'll say
They just don't have the ability
to actually acknowledge blessings.
Be careful of being someone like that.
Whatever Allah gives you is never enough.
Nah, could have been better.
Yes, for sure.
Also could have been worse.
Like way worse.
Yes, there's an infinite amount of possibility
of something being better.
But there's an equally infinite amount
of possibilities of things being worse.
So with all these possibilities
that are not something that is
calculable or tangible for the human being,
I can't keep track of all of this.
Whatever you're given,
just make sure that you acknowledge it.
If it's good, acknowledge the good
that's in it.
Do not lose track of that.
Because if you do,
the end is never good.
The end is never positive
for someone who lacks the ability to see
what they actually have.
Because at some point you'll be taken away
and then you'll wish that you acknowledged it
when it was there. How many people have you met
who spend years upon years
regretting not having better relationships
with parents or siblings or relatives
or friends because they didn't
realize what a blessing that person was
to them in their lives. They didn't acknowledge it.
They took that person for granted time and time again.
They never felt it was worth, it wasn't important.
And then that person was taken away
and now the
the fact you eat, you have an appetite.
I work with people who don't have appetites.
They just want to eat.
They just want to have one meal where they're not nauseous.
Where they're not, they don't feel
like they're force feeding themselves.
You eat, Alhamdulillah, you have an appetite.
The food goes down, it sits there.
It's digested, it comes out the other side, it's fine.
Simple stuff.
The ability to see these things.
Just acknowledge that they're there.
Because if you don't do that, you can't be grateful.
You can't, you can't be grateful. And the more you do that,
the more grateful you are on a subconscious level.
And that changes the type of person you are.
It turns you into a much nicer person
and someone that Allah SWT
will love more.
Alright, let's do Hajjer 56.
They're all the same today.
The votings are all the same. 56.
I love this story.
Ibrahim A.S.
in the Quran is told
in small patches
all throughout the Mus'ha.
This part of the story
is only here.
His reaction, A.S.
when he was told that he was going to have
a child after the age
of 90.
Ibrahim A.S.
and he was very happy with it.
He loved this Ma'id very much and he put him
through the command of Allah SWT
to live.
He would go back
and build the Ka'bah with Isma'een.
Isma'een would be responsible for the Ka'bah
and all of Isma'een's descendants till today.
Well, maybe not today exactly.
But all throughout the history were there were people
who were responsible for Siddana
for the Ka'bah.
They were responsible for taking care of this bait
and the people who come to it.
And he lived, A.S., somewhere in
Palestine.
Some people say he was in Orsharim
in Jerusalem.
We lived there, A.S.
and he was getting old
and his wife Sarra
was also very old.
She's never had children before.
And that was established. That's why he married Hajar
and he had Isma'een. He didn't have a child.
And on their way, the Malaika
on their way to punish the people of
Sadum
the people of Lut A.S.
the people Lut was sent to
on their way they would stop
and they would tell him
we're offering you the good
we're offering you the good news
of a son.
So his answer was
so his answer was
you're telling me
you're giving me good news of a son
and I'm one foot in the grave
what good news is this
how am I going to take care of a son
how is she going to have a son
this is how
for a moment there
it happens to the best of us
for a moment there he lost sight
of
of the blessing that was coming his way
just for a second he lost sight
what I'm 90 he's 80
how are we going to have a kid
how am I going to take care of this kid
Qalum
so their answer was
Qalum
we gave you the good news
of something that is righteous
don't be
someone who has no hope
so he immediately said
and this is the trait
of a good Muslim
a Muslim even if for a moment
he lacks the ability to see
the blessing or the good within a situation
quickly they'll come back and say
no no alhamdulillah this is good
so his answer was
and who dares lose his hope
for the sake of their lord except those
who are misguided and deviant
no one does
and he was thankful
and from that son
came that son was a prophet
and his son was a prophet
whose son was a prophet
and from them came
Musa and Haroon and Dawood
and Sulayman and Isbnu Maryam
so for that moment
where Ibrahim was like
what good news is this I'm 90
not seeing it as a blessing for a second
and then being told that's not
how you should respond he immediately took it back
he quickly goes back he quickly
notices when he says something wrong
and he repents immediately on the spot
he's not too proud he doesn't bother him at all
he said
who dares lose his hope
and seeing the good in what Allah offers
except someone who is deviant
no I'm not like that
this thing that he thought was not going to be a blessing
from it came
22 prophets
that's the number that we have
in the Quran
from this child
would be a prophet and from him
most of the prophets would come from him
imagine if he didn't happen
all the prophets wouldn't be
Yaqul, the story of Yousuf
and Dawood and Sulayman and Musa
and Isa and Yahya and Zakaria
all these stories wouldn't exist to be good with
he just didn't notice it
sometimes that happens where
you're given something and you don't see the good
in it immediately and what do you know
what do you know
what do you know where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
you don't know who's going to be more beneficial to you
you don't know what's going to be actually better
good for you in the long run you don't know
just have the ability to see something
as khayr when it comes to you because it is
alright
let's do
Surah An-Nahl
Surah An-Nahl is just counting blessings
that's all it is
with a little bit of commentary in between
a little bit of commentary in between
a few examples and reminders
that's all it is
just telling you stop
one blessing counted after the other
the beginning of the surah that's all it is
it's counting blessings
here's what I did
here's what I created
all of it is helpful for you
in this ayah specifically there's a piece
of the word
the word
horses and mules and donkeys
they're
so that you may use it as transportation
wazina
wazina
they're pretty
they're just beautiful
they're beautiful animals to stare at and to look at
they are
I know that Arabs like to use the word donkey
for other usages altogether
but it's not fair honestly it isn't
if you grew up in a village
and you dealt with a mule or a donkey
they're extremely beautiful animals
and they're very very kind
and you will develop an affinity
towards these animals if you had one
if you own one of them they're very nice to have
they're very intelligent, they're very kind
they show a lot of compassion
wazina they're beautiful to watch
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala here in this ayah
and before that as well
is taking the moment
for us to say
I created it for you
and you write it
and you drink its milk
and you eat its
meat and you use its skins
and all this stuff
that's why it's there for all this
but also there's a piece of it
wazina that they're beautiful
there's an artistic
aspect to this existence
that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is acknowledging
and asking you to acknowledge as well
there's a lot of beauty around you
there's a lot of beauty, you see the beauty
I do this, I think I've shared this before
I'm pretty sure I've shared it a couple of times before
I don't like
scrolling much on social media
but what I do, I look up videos
of people who are
who are colorblind
and being given the glasses for the first time
I love to scroll
I love to watch that, I love it, it's my favorite thing
my favorite thing in the world is to watch someone
colorblind all their lives
and someone buy them one of those really expensive glasses
where they can see color
because once they put those glasses on
the look on their face is priceless
and the look they have towards everyone else is priceless
it's like you see this
you've been seeing this the whole time
and you're upset, what are you upset about
look at the beauty, you just find a
60 year old or 65 year old gentleman
who's probably never cried in his life
stand there with tears running down his face
and he just stares at the sky
just staring at the sky, not even looking at any
not even looking at a tulip or a nice painting
no, just staring at the sky
the blueness of the sky, the beauty of it
and we just don't
you don't see it, this is from Allah
this is from Allah
acknowledge the beauty of the blessing
and then certain Naha tells you
make sure you see it coming directly from Allah
these animals that you enjoy
and you benefit from
and they allowed us to become
what we are today
they are beautiful
look at them
and you create that which you do not know about
meaning there's more beauty
that you haven't even found out about
you have not accessed yet
how do we know that today
the beauty that exists within the universe
that we're a part of
the beauty in his creation is breath taking
it's overwhelming
we have not even scratched
the surface of the beauty
of what Allah has created for us
and it's just something
I find it difficult
for like I talk about this a lot
I don't think we've done anything about it
and I don't know how to do it because I just don't have that aspect to me
but the artistic
sense of the Quran
is very real, it's very heavy
the Quran can't be recited
as you would read
a novel or a
newspaper, you have to sing it out
like you have to have a nice voice
that's artistic, like you have to have
a nice rhythm to it
it has to be read like that, it's not optional
like I can't have someone stand up here and recite
just with nothing
no, you have to have build a tune
and those who don't have tunes, you have to sit with them and teach them to build a tune
because it has to be artistic and beautiful
the Quran is very
meticulous about that, it talks about
beauty, it talks about art
it talks about your ability, if you don't have the ability to
to embrace that
to absorb beauty
absorb art, that I don't think
you'll have the ability to actually fully appreciate
what the Quran is
and what the teachings of Allah are
they're beautiful, aside from them being
logical and beneficial
yes, I have to talk about that piece for you
and make sure that you have it clear, that it makes sense
and it's beneficial
and it's accurate, but aside from all that
it's beautiful
there's beauty in it
there's a symphony
that's being sung in the background that you just have to listen to
there's harmony to all of it
that piece is
going unnoticed
and it's very
in my opinion one of the reasons that
the youth don't connect with the deen
because they're lacking that
lens, they don't see the beauty of it all
and
we just have to figure out a way to help them see that
because it's extremely, extremely beautiful
and there's that profoundness
to it that is just breathtaking, that's worthy
of contemplation
let's do
66 of An-Nahl
people are still voting, but it's too late
you have to do this
do this throughout the day, don't do it
66 of An-Nahl
had to continue subhanahu wa ta'ala
this very interesting verse
exists
wa inna lakum
phil an'amil a'ibrah
and indeed you're granted
you have within an'am, within livestock
a'ibrah, meaning a point to reflect upon
something to notice
and to reflect upon, think about it
nusqi kum
mim ma fi butoonihi
mim bayni thartin wadam
we grant you
to drink coming from its bellies
between blood
and feces
forth is that which comes out of the
backside of an animal
and dum is blood
so he's saying, from their bellies
between
a mix of feces
and blood
if you think about it, that's what every creature
is made of
so between feces and blood
we grant you lebanan khalisa
pure milk
so lebanan khalisa is pure
it's not blood
and it's not feces
but it's running between them
but Allah has designed it
so it purifies from blood
and from feces you get this white
pure lebanan to drink
khalisa
khalisa
sa'igal lashshari being beautified and easy
for the person who wants to drink it
if Allah is doing that for you
then we are obligated
to do the same for him
as within these livestock
within these cows
and sheep
and camels and goats
Allah grants us
this pure
this pure drink
this full meal
of a drink milk
extracted from
just ongoing
blood and feces
and he makes sure it's pure for you to enjoy
make sure that what you offer Allah
has also purified
from all of the garbage that's surrounding it
on the inside forgive me for the lack of a better word
from all of the vanity
and the ostentation and the need
for recognition
and between all the envy
and the arrogance between all of it
get rid of it and offer Allah
something that is as pure
as the leban that he offered you
from these livestock
that's why he said
there is something to learn from the
it's a blessing
but learn something from them
that halis piece that purified piece
try to do the same
try to emulate that and make sure that what you're offering
Allah is not
because if he offered you milk
that was filled with feces and blood
you're not going to drink it
why do you think Allah doesn't accept a deed
that is mixed with something
with filth around it that it shouldn't be
I hope that was a benefit
and may Allah's peace and blessings be upon the Prophet Muhammad
and his family and his companions
May Allah's peace and blessings be upon him
Allah is the greatest Allah
Allah is the greatest
Allah