Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 125 – Importance Of Will In Islam
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Muhammad. Welcome to another lesson of our another
episode of our tafsir class A page by
page. Insha'Allah. Today we are on page 125
which is in the 7th of the Quran
Surah Al Maidah.
In the previous episode, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
mentioned to us a number of verses
concerning
certain issues with regards to the way that
the people should honor and
glorify
and show the sanctity of that which Allah
has made sacred. Like for example, the Kaaba,
the Haram. Allah has given to her a
sanctity.
The sacred months of the year, those 4
months in the Islamic lunar calendar that Allah
Azzawal has given to them a sanctity.
The animals that are going to be sacrificed
in the Haram and the garlands that they
will place around the necks of those animals
too
signify that these are animals that are going
to be slaughtered in the Haram. These are
all symbols of the origin of Allah azza
wa jal, symbols that therefore the believers should
honor and we've mentioned this before. I believe
that Allah
loves and it will be mentioned inshallah ta'ala
later on when we come to the tafsir
of Surah Al Hajj. Allah loves that we
honor the symbols of
religion.
The shayr of Allah are the open,
public symbols of religion.
The Kaaba, the Adhan, the Masjid, the Quran.
These are things that people see as symbols
of Islam and this religion and so therefore
to honor them
is from the piety of the hearts because
it is a symbol of your feet in
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala And so the believer
is someone who sees these and they honor
them in the way that Allah has
legislated that they should be honored. Not without
going not with by going to extremes
or innovating in the religion but in the
way that Allah has legislated.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala also mentioned to us
a number of important
principles
One of them being that that which is
pure and that which is impure are not
equal. So just as something which is filthy
and impure is not equal to that which
is pure, then likewise Iman and disbelief are
not equal. Likewise good deeds and evil deeds
are not equal. Likewise halal, wealth and haram
wealth are not equal. And so Allah tells
us to think about these things and ponder
over them and therefore
to find the means and the way to
Allah Azza wa Jal that will bring to
us salvation.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala also instructed the believers
that they shouldn't ask and question
concerning that which if it was made clear
to them will harm them. Because Allah kept
quiet, Allah did not reveal certain things and
make certain things incumbent.
But if people were to excessively ask about
that, it would become difficult.
Like for example, in the month of Ramadan,
the taraw we pray is a sunnah, something
encouraged to be done, and obligation.
Had the companions say, oh, messenger of Allah,
what about this? What about and that's why
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam as we know
in his lifetime didn't pray to our way
with the companions and congregation except on a
few occasions. And then he stopped because he
said I fear that if we continue to
do this, it will become obligatory upon you.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was
merciful to his ummah, knew that it would
be difficult, that it wouldn't be possible for
everyone to pray the Torah. We have prayed
in that way. Because just as we see
today,
in Ramadan,
when people are fasting, some people have to
wake up early, some people have work, some
people have school, some Not everyone can come
and pray tarawiyah. Not everyone can come and
even if they do come, not everyone can
come and stay and pray the full tarawiyah.
And so it's some optional prayer. It's something
which is rewarding and good and virtuous but
it's not an obligation so that it's easy
for people.
The Hajj, once in a lifetime,
Had Allah willed, it could have been every
single year. Had Allah willed, it could have
been multiple times in your lifetime. Had Allah
willed the zakah, it could have been an
annual, it could have been a monthly thing.
A monthly thing that you have to give
zakah. But Allah kept quiet or revealed certain
things without other things being made incumbent to
excessively ask concerning them, especially in the time
of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam because that
is the time of revelation still coming. The
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was told to command
the believers to be careful about that which
they asked concerning.
And then Allah ajazhu told us about some
of the practices of the Arabs, the idol
worshippers when it came to their animals And
how they would dedicate some of them to
the idols. They would forbid people to eat
from them, to ride them, to use them
for for work purposes.
And they would say these have been dedicated
to our idols because of some omen that
they would see within them, some things that
would happen and they would see that as
a sign that they need to be dedicated
to the idols. Allah has described that as
lies and fabrications that they invented and then
attributed to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
We continue today
from verse 104.
And that is the statement of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
Even though their forefathers knew nothing and were
not guided. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala after mentioning
that previous verse that we ended with in
the last episode
and that is that Allah Azzawaj said that
they ascribe lies to Allah, invent things in
his religion by saying that these animals are
dedicated to our idols, these animals are haram
for us to eat, consume, work and benefit
from and so on. Allah
says that now when they are said to
them, stay away from these practices,
stay away from these ignorant
issues that you are upon, rather come to
that which Allah has revealed
and come to what the prophet sallallahu alaihi
wa sallam is telling you. Allah Azzawajal calls
them to guidance.
They are in darkness,
they are in ignorance,
they are in the practices of idolatry and
idol worship and Allah says, come to light,
come to guidance, come to Islam.
They say in response,
rather
And this is something that you will find
throughout the Quran, inshaAllah, as we will see
throughout the Quran, you will see that the
previous nations whenever Allah Azzawajal sent to them
Prophets and Messengers, this was one of the
most common responses that they would give,
That our forefathers were on something, our elders
were upon something and we are happy with
that which they left for us. Even though
it is human nature, when it comes to
everything else, that usually people try to break
out the mold of their parents and their
elders.
And that's why you find that the younger
generation is always doing things that the older
generation didn't necessarily know or was familiar with
because trends change,
circumstances change, things change, things go in and
out of fashion. People are learning in a
different way, people are understanding things. Many of
us, our elders, people who are now in
their sixties, seventies, eighties, aren't so literate when
it comes to technology,
when it comes to gadgets, but for us,
it's something which is normal. And for our
kids now, 5, 6, 7 year old kids,
they're even more app even more,
able to use these gadgets than we are.
And so that is the way that people
are when it comes to work, when it
comes to profession, when it comes to career.
People always try to or often try to
break out the mold of their parents or
they try to do something different because everyone
wants to establish their own independence.
But when it comes to this issue of
religion, worship of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, then
no one is willing to look or question
or to see. That doesn't necessarily mean that
what your parents are upon is wrong all
the time, especially if they are Muslims. But
what it means is that you should at
least have the ability to analyze and to
see what they are upon.
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says here
that this was often the argument made by
them. The Quraysians and others would say, our
forefathers want something and that is enough for
us. And even today as Muslims
we see that there are many practices of
sometimes shirk and innovation and Bidaa within many
Muslim communities.
And when you go to people who are
intelligent, people who are smart, people who are
successful in their careers and in their lives
and you say to them that that's not
something which was sanctioned
by Islam. They will often respond with the
same statement. Our parents used to do it,
our grandparents did it, our elders did This
is what we found our elders upon. And
so it is similar.
Had they ever thought that perhaps their forefathers
knew nothing and were not upon guidance. And
so therefore for a person to be able
to understand
that sometimes our elders make mistakes, If they're
Muslims, they're upon good. Alhamdulillah.
But even then in the practice of Islam,
they may have made mistakes. They may have
false. Sometimes not even due to any any
shortcoming on their part, just their situation.
But if someone is a non Muslim, then
they need to question also the religion that
they're upon and what it means and what
what it is that they are that they
are worshipping Allah according to.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in verse 105 tells
us
Oh, you who believe you are responsible for
your own souls. If anyone else goes astray
will not harm you so long as you
follow the guidance, you will all return to
Allah and he will make you realize what
it is that you have done. Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala in this verse tells us that
the people that we should be most concerned
about first and foremost is ourselves.
Because it is the nature of some people
to worry about everyone else, to criticize everyone
else, to focus on everyone else
except themselves.
And so you find people that would always
look at the faults of others, the shortcomings
of others.
What others are unable to do or achieve,
and they don't really look at their own
shortcomings. They don't really self analyze. They don't
criticize themselves, but they look at everyone else
and their faults. And so Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says, alaikum and fusakum also from the
meanings of this verse is that there are
people who are going to
disobey you, people who are going to be
misguided, people who are going to turn away
from your religion, not accept your religion. Sometimes
those people may well be close members of
your family.
Unfortunately that's the case sometimes. Then the Prophet
of Allah alaihi wasallam, some of them have
close family members that rejected them. Ibrahim alaihis
salam's father rejected him, Nuh alaihis salam's son
rejected him. Nuh alaihis salam's wife rejected him.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi was salam uncle
rejected him. And so therefore there are people
sometimes in the closest family circles that we
have and the closest relationships that we have.
Those people are not going to be upon
your religion. They're not going to accept Islam.
They're going to turn away from your Allah.
As we just said, You
are responsible for yourself.
So long as you are guided, the misguidance
of others cannot harm you. And that doesn't
mean that you don't care about them, that
is not the meaning of the verse or
that you don't command good or that you
don't
enjoy the good and forbid the evil that
you don't guide, that you don't advise, that
you don't call people to Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. But what it means is that ultimately
it's their decision. Ultimately they will face the
responsibility
for that which they which they which they
decided and you will not be responsible for
that. Allah does not place upon you the
burden of others.
You don't take the burden of others just
as they don't take your burden.
And so the the the Muslim sometimes is
in a situation where the people that he
loves the most that are closest to him
that he really wants guidance for are just
not going to take guidance.
And that doesn't mean that you don't make
dua for them, that you don't try, you
don't you but sometimes a large decreed that
those people are not going to accept guidance.
For you, so long as you are upon
guidance, their misguidance will not harm me. That
is the most important thing that you must
remember.
And then you will all return to Allah
and he will inform you of that which
you have done.
In the next number of verses, Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala
gives to us commands concerning the issues of
leaving a will or a final will and
bequeathed something.
In verse
106, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
O you who believe when death approaches any
of you, let 2 just men from amongst
you act as witnesses to the making of
a bequest,
or 2 men from another people if you
are
adjourning in the land
when death approaches.
Keep the 2 witnesses back after prayer if
you have any doubts and make them both
swear by Allah. We will not sell our
testimony for any price even if a close
relative is involved. We will not hide Allah's
testimony for them we would
be we should be doing wrong.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us concerning the
issue of leaving the final will and testament.
When a person is about to pass away
or before they are about to pass away,
it is permissible as we know to leave
a final will and bequest something
up to a third in our Sharia. As
is mentioned in the Hadith of Sa'ad, ibn
Abi Waqas radiAllahu anha. That a third of
your estate you can give away to whom
so ever you wish to in charity
or as a gift, so long as those
people are not from your heirs. You can't
favor one heir over another by giving them
extra through this way. But to give in
general Sadaqa, to give it in charity, to
give gifts to certain people and so on,
that you may wish to honor and benefit,
that is something which is permissible up to
a third.
Sometimes a person, especially in the olden days,
when people weren't so literate and didn't write
things down and we didn't have contracts and
and solicitors and lawyers and so on, then
maybe it wasn't so normal for people to
have these things in their affairs. Even in
fact today, in our time, unfortunately, many families
you will find the case that people don't
set their affairs correctly or set their affairs
aright before they pass away. And often it
is then left to the children or the
family members that survive them to have to
understand and deal with all of these issues.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that it is
something which is good, that if at the
time before death or death is approaching you
and you fear for yourself, then you make
what is called a wussiyyah. A wussiyyah is
your final will, your final testament. Allah
says have 2 people be your witnesses
when you do that.
If 2 witnesses were trustworthy,
they should come and look upon this. That's
because generally in Islam, as we said, when
it comes to contracts, everything needs to be
witnessed. Because often in the past, contracts were
verbal, they weren't even written. And so therefore,
you have these 22 witnesses
that is that they come and they look
at what is being said and they bear
witness to that. And that's why even till
today, in many of of of that which
we do, the asl, or the origin is
that it is a verbal contract. Like, for
example, the nigah, the marriage.
That's why you have the verbal contract taking
place and you have the 2 witnesses. Today,
we sign as well because, hamdulillah, it's made
easy and we can sign and we can
have a contract that's signed and and attested
to. But the original
ceremony is still done and that is a
verbal statement. A verbal agreement.
And so the verbal agreement is stronger than
the written one. Because a person can write
something down and say I didn't read it.
I don't know her. But the verbal one
is you giving your word. You're taking a
testimony before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah says
But if you are travelling and journeying and
you cannot find 2 witnesses
who are from the Muslims because you don't
happen to be in a Muslim land and
they can't come because the origin of the
ruling would be that you would always favor
the Muslims in terms of being witnesses to
your to your, contracts. However, if you can't
find any Muslims, then 2 from any other
religion will suffice. So long as you think
that they are people who are trustworthy, people
of integrity and honesty, that is something which
is also permissible. For asa'baat kumusibatulmaut
at the time when you fear death. Meaning
if you're travelling, especially and you fear that
death is coming upon you, then you can
give this final will and you can make
this final testament and ask them to to
be a witness
upon it.
Now we come to the other side of
the equation, if you like. And that is
that now these 2 people are called forward
to give their testimony. This person has passed
away now. He's made these 2 people his
witnesses. He said this is what I want
to do with my state, my wealth. This
is what I want to bequeath it to.
Now he passes away. These 2 witnesses now
come
forth.
Bring them forth after a salah,
after a prayer. Why? Because when you just
prayed, stood before Allah, showed humbleness and humility
before Allah azza wa Jal, you are in
the act of worship. It is more likely
therefore that your testimony is going to be
given once you are still mindful of Allah,
still conscious of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And
so Allah
says to these people
or to us in general, bring them after
Rasara. Some of the scholars of Tafsir said
after Salatul Asr, because that is the time
that people used to venerate, that time of
the afternoon
as you go towards the sunsetting, that is
something which you should
honor. Allah Azzal honors it in the Quran.
Arabic and the middle prayer
is Asr prayer. Some of the scholars said
that brothers said any type of prayer.
And others said that if those two people
who are giving the witness testimony are from
the non Muslims, then you do it after
their prayer. The prayer that they honor and
that they venerate.
Because they should be more conscious of God
when it comes to giving this testimony as
a result.
That the testimony that we are going to
give, we don't seek any worldly price from
it. Because you do it as a favour,
you do it because you want to help
this person who is on their deathbed, you
don't expect to gain anything. He doesn't pay
you. He doesn't do something that will benefit
you in terms of a worldly sense. So
they say,
we don't want any price for this testimony,
even if that is a close relative.
So they are not favoring people. They are
not someone who goes and says to one
family member, look I can change and manipulate
the testimony if you're willing to give me
some of that. Wow. I will say that
he was going to give it to you
instead of who he actually gave it to.
It's possible. And so Allah says that these
are people who shouldn't do this. They shouldn't
want the dunya, they're not trying to curry
favor, not trying to favour one family relative
over another and they are people of integrity.
Allah says, and if it is discovered that
these 2, meaning the 2 witnesses
from the previous verse, if these 2 are
guilty of perjury,
2 of those whose rights have been usurped
have a better right to bear witness in
their place. Let us swear by Allah our
testimony is truer than theirs. We have said
nothing but the truth for that would make
us wrongdoers.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that these two
people now have come and they've just given
a testimony and they say
that we
or heard this person on his deathbed say
that he's going to give this amount of
wealth to so and so. For example,
£10,000
to so and so. If the members of
the family doubt this
because they spent their lives with this individual
that's passed away, and he's told them on
multiple occasions that I'm going to do this
with my wife. This is what I want
to spend doing. This is what I think
I will do and whatever. And that all
of a sudden has been changed very suddenly
and it looks suspicious to them. There's no
reason for them to understand why now it
has changed. They can also come and they
can give testimony.
And they can say at the same time
that we think that our testimony is is
greater, more righter, or more correct and stronger
than the testimony of these two people.
And if we are the ones who have
done wrong, then we will be from the
oppressors. And both of these people therefore are
taking a testimony by Allah, swearing Allah's name.
And the person who takes a testimony
by Allah in Allah's name and then makes
a testimony in that way and then there
is lying in it. They will have a
severe punishment from Allah
because it shows a lack of fear of
Allah azza wa Jal, lack of consciousness of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that is why
from the greatest sins that you can perform
is shahadatazur
giving a false testimony as the Prophet said
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam that it is from
the most major of sins
And the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam a number
of Hadith spoke about this. Shahadat azur is
when someone comes and they give a false
testimony, they swear an oath by Allah
and it is false.
They invoke Allah's name and they are witness
to something, they give a testimony and they
are false.
And we see this today unfortunately amongst the
Muslims. Sometimes in the smallest of things, someone
has a road traffic accident
and they are in the wrong, but they
are going to ask someone to come and
sign a witness statement to say that they
were the ones that were actually,
hit by someone else. They were the ones
that were actually the victim in this incident.
And this person wasn't even there. The witness
wasn't even there. They were at home or
travelling or whatever, but now we're going to
make this up. Like I've seen this on
a number of occasions. That's just a very
small example. I've had someone who were willing
to come and ask them to sign a
testimony that is false. False testimony is one
of the worst sins. Because not only are
you lying, not only are you invoking Allah's
name if it is done in a Muslim
court and is still a lie, but you're
taking the rights of others and you're harming
others for what? For some small,
benefit of the dunya. And so Allah
gives this gives this gives this an opportunity
or gives this something which is allowed to
happen in our religion. That these people can
come and they can and they can make
this testimony. As is mentioned,
from an incident that took place in the
time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam,
the hadith in Sahih Bukhari Abu bin Abbas
radiAllahu anhu. And that is that there was
a man from the tribe of Banus Salam
who was travelling with 2 men, Tamim Adari
and Adi Abu Badda.
The 3 of them were travelling together, and
the man from the tribe of Ben Musahem
died.
He made these two people witnesses and they
came back and gave their wealth out. However,
they found that there was
an item of gold that was missing from
his estate.
They later found that the item of gold
was in Mecca.
So when they went to Mecca, they found
this item of gold and they said to
this person where did you get this from?
He said, Tamim Adari and Adeeb Nubadah, they
are the ones who sold it to me.
So Allah Azzawajal didn't reveal these because those
family members had some doubt. Something's not right
here. There's something missing. This testimony is not
correct. And this is obviously before these people
become Muslims. To me, Madari and others eventually
become Muslims and they become from the companions
of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. However, this
is to show that testimony is something which
is extremely important. And so therefore if there
is doubt, they can give a counter testimony
believing that the first two witnesses purged themselves
or they were guilty of perjury and that
there has been some oppression committed here. Allah
Subhanahu Ta'ala says in the final verse on
this issue and on this page, verse number
108.
That will make it more likely that they
will give true and proper testimony
or fear that their oaths might be refuted
by others afterwards. Be mindful of Allah and
listen for Allah does not guide those who
break his laws. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
that that is better that which Allah
has mentioned that these people can come and
they can counter the testimony of those who
came before them. That is better in terms
of giving the true and proper testimony. And
that shows that this issue of being a
witness, of bearing testimony on whatever issue is,
issue of marriage, issue of divorce, issue of
inheritance, issue of business, whatever it is, it
is something which is extremely important
and it is a responsibility that should be
taken seriously
and it's not something which a person should
be laxed about or lazy concerning or negligent
concerning because Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will make
you a witness on your. He will draw
you, bring you forth and he will ask
you concerning that which you
which you were a witness for. And that's
because these are the rights of people. People's
wealth. People's honor. People's property. You're saying that
someone's so married and they're not married. So
and so divorced and get divorced. So and
so gave this inheritance. They didn't do it.
So and so did this business dealing. They
didn't do it. You're taking away the rights
of people. It's affecting them. It's affecting their
families. It's affecting their children. It's affecting their
wealth, it's affecting their honor, their reputation.
These are things that are serious and the
Sharia therefore takes them seriously and that is
why Allah ajazul concludes this verse by saying,
fear Allah and listen to that which Allah
Azzawajal has commanded you with for Allah does
not love those who break his laws and
who do evil. And with that, InshaAllah, we
come to the end of today's episode.