Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 127 – The Story Of MaIdah
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Welcome to another episode of the page by
page. Inshallah today we are on page
127 which is the final page in Surah
Al Maidah,
the 7th Jews of the Quran. In the
previous episode we mentioned that Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala begins
speaking about the favors that he bestowed upon
the prophet ri salallahu alaihi wasallam.
And this passage which was the one that
we began in the last episode and today's
episode inshallah ta'ala. All of it is to
do or most of it is to do
with this prophet of Allah peace alaihi wa
sallam.
And that is as that is because as
we said, he was the one prophet that
many people went to extremes in in terms
of breaking the covenant pledge with Allah ajawalla
worshipping him alone. If there was a prophet
that they broke that pledge with in terms
of elevating beyond his status, than it was
the prophet Isa alaihis salatu wasalam. Allah 'alrightal
in those verses that we covered in the
previous episode
reminded us of the many favors that he
bestowed upon Isa alaihis salam.
From his birth and to the fact that
he could speak in infancy
to the many blessings and miracles that Allah
allowed him to perform
From curing the blind and the leper, bringing
the dead back to life, giving life to
inanimate objects and so on. And Allah gave
him also from the greatest blessings that he
bestowed upon him is the blessing of having
believers
around him, his disciples that believed in Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
We continue today
from verse 113 which is now where we
begin
the story of the Maeda.
The story of the table spread after which
the Surah is named. In verse 112 Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says
And remember when the disciples said oh oh
Jesus son of Mary or Isa, son of
Mariam, can your Lord send down to us
a feast from heaven?
He said in response,
beware of Allah or fear Allah if you
are true believers.
The disciples of Isa
make this request from their Prophet,
they want to see a sign from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and they tell Risa alaihi
salam the sign that they want as well
and that is that they want to feast
from heaven. The word Maeda means a table
spread of food, That's what it means in
the Arabic language. Doesn't necessarily mean the tables
that we understand now. It means just a
spread of food. Whether it whatever it was,
a banquet of some type. They wanted this
to come down from heaven, they want to
taste from the food of Jannah,
not because they doubt Isa alaihis salam, Allah
has already told us in the last episode,
the final verse that we took that they
believed. They believed
Allah commanded them believe in me and my
messenger. They said we believe O Allah and
we are from the Muslims. So they are
not asking this out of any type of
doubt, any type of kufr or disbelief, any
type of hypocrisy, no. But they just want
to sign from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in
order to make their hearts even more firm.
As as we already mentioned in surah Al
Baqarah that the prophet Ibrahim alayhi salatu wa
sallamahu wa jal, O Allah show me how
you bring the dead back to life. And
Allah ajawajal said do you not believe O
Ibrahim?
He said in response, yes I believe O
Allah but I want to increase in my
faith and certainty.
And so this is the same thing here.
The disciples believe in Allah, they accept the
Prophet Isa alaihi wasallam as the messenger of
Allah, they don't worship him besides Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, but they want to sign from
Allah aza wa jal and that normally usually
may happen in some instances and circumstances because
of the persecution that they are going through,
the difficulty that they are going through, everyone
needs a sign from Allah azza wa Jal
in order to show them that Allah azza
wa Jal is with them and supporting them
and helping them. But that's not something which
should be dunum
because the people of true and strong iman
shouldn't need that type of open miracle, they
should see in everything the sign of Allah
azza wa Jal, that Allah is with them,
that Allah supports them, that Allah aids them
and helps them. The people of Iman don't
need signs from the sky. And that's why
even today as believers, sometimes that's what we
expect as Muslims when we make dua or
we have a big decision to make and
we're praying istikhara or whatever it may be,
we want to see a major sign, we
want to see a dream that is very
vivid and very easy to understand. We want
to see something outside as if there is
going to be a big arrow pointing in
one direction or another or an angel is
going to come and support us in some
way. That's not how it works. Allah Subhana
Wa Ta'la tells you that if you have
true iman and belief, then it's enough that
you should trust in Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la,
have patience with the decree of Allah Subhana
Wa Ta'la, work in terms of worship of
Allah azza wa Jal. And that is why
Isa alaihi salatu wa sallam responded and he
says
fear Allah, meaning this isn't something that is
worthy of being asked for by those people
who have high iman and high taqwa of
Allah Azzawajal. If you are true believers, you
don't need to ask this. They responded and
said
in verse 113,
They said we wish to eat from it,
to have our hearts reassured, to know that
you have told us the truth and to
be witnesses of it. They said O'risa we
are not doing this out of any type
of doubt, We're not saying this because of
any type of of of of hypocrisy, any
type of disbelief.
We simply want to eat from the food
of heaven. We want to be honored in
this way and we want this blessing of
Allah azza wa Jal. It is said also
that they had a need that the disciples
of Isa alaihis salatu wasalam were people who
were poor, they were people who were in
need, and so therefore they also wanted some
type of risk from Allah azza wa jal
that Allah should give them some sustenance.
And He would further reassure us, meaning that
we already have iman, what it does is
it strengthens our iman.
We already have iman but we want a
sign that will further strengthen our iman in
Allah
and we will know then by surety that
you are a person of truth, that you
have bought the truth and they have seen
already the signs of and the miracles of
Isa Alaihi
Salam. So they are already saying that we
believe in you but again it is further
reassurance,
it is further confirmation of what you have
brought and
we will be from amongst the witnesses upon
that. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then tells us
in verse 114:
the race salah to Islam then tends to
Allah
and mix
Jesus the son of Mary turned to Allah
and he said, oh Allah,
oh our Lord,
send down to us a feast from heaven.
So that we can have a festival, the
first and last of us and a sign
from you, provide for us, you are the
best of our providers.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala said
that Risa alaihi salaam then turns and makes
the dua to Allah Azzawajal
asking for what his disciples requested.
He said: O Allah our Lord,
send down to us a feast from heaven,
What these people are asking for my disciples,
Allah sent it down for us and we
said the word is a banquet,
it's a feast, it's a table spread of
food, Not necessarily a table but a table
spread meaning that there is food upon
upon it upon something that can be eaten
and devoured by those people that it is
being sent to.
And this day will be a day of
festival, an Eid, a celebration
for the first of us and the last
of us. And that is because this is
the sign they wanted to Allah from Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala that it would be a
momentous day,
a joyous occasion that Allah will send down
food from the heaven, food from Jannah, that
they will be able to eat
and partake in. Wala,
this will be a sign from you, a
further sign from you.
O Allah provide for us for you are
the best of providers and again
as we said that there are people who
were in need because of the poverty they
had and because of how poor they were.
And so this sign
is saying this miracle of Allah from you
would have a dual purpose, it would be
a spiritual sign, it would be a miracle
from you that would increase us in Iman,
increase us in belief
in you and at the same time there
would be a worldly benefit,
food that we can eat from sustenance provision
that we would also benefit from.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in verse 115 tells
us his response and he says,
Allah said, 'I will send it down to
you, but anyone who disbelieves after this will
be punished with a punishment that I will
not inflict upon anyone else in this world.
Allah
said to Isa Alaihi Salam, I will grant
you a dua. I will give to your
request as Allah often does with his prophet
The Prophet of Allah when they turn to
Allah in du'a, when they turn to Allah
in supplication, Allah answers them sooner or later,
one way or another, Allah responds to the
greatest of his creation from the humans, from
his Prophet and his Messengers Alaihi Wasallam. Allah
says here, O Aesa, I will send it
down for you. However there is a caveat,
there is a clause.
Whosoever disbelieves after this sign and this miracle
that I will punish him in a way
that no one else in the world has
ever been punished.
No one else in the world will be
punished like him. Meaning all of the people
with the disbelief,
his form of disbelief after this sign will
be far greater than any other type of
disbelief.
Because people disbelieve but they haven't really seen
a miracle or a sign from Allah. These
people demanded a sign, they requested a sign.
Allah gave to them that sign, then they
still be disbelieved.
From the people of the world that are
living at that time, these people will have
the worst of punishments.
They will be the ones that will be
punished in the worst of ways. And that
is what Allah does. As we have seen
in the previous nations, the stories of Ad
and Thamuz and others, that when they came
and demanded miracles from their prophets and Allah
gave to them the miracles that they demanded
and then they refused to believe after that
Allah destroys them. They are the worst of
people of that time and they are punished
in the most severest of ways. It is
said that the Qurays and some narrations came
to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam and they
said, O Muhammad if you want us to
believe, you want to see a miracle. But
the miracle that we want is for you
to move out these mountains from around Makkah
because Makkah is a valley surrounded by mountains,
which means that it's not a place of
cultivation, not like Madina which is flat. You
can grow stuff, they have day palm trees,
they have fields, they have farms. Mecca is
not like that, it's all valleys
and mountains. O Muhammad make the land flat
for us, allow us to have cultivation
and give to us gold that will come
from some of these places and then we
will believe in you. Meaning change the whole
geography of our land. Change everything that you
can see here and make it into a
different place and then we will believe.
And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam was
told by Allah that I will grant this
to have for you if you so wish.
But if your people disbelieve after this, I
will punish them in a way that no
one else has been punished.
And so the prophet
said no. Because he knew them that for
Quresh that would spell their destruction and their
doom. So likewise here it is the same
with Risa alaihi salat wa sallam.
They are asking for something that is a
major sign from Allah. Allah is really saying
that I can give you that sign, but
if you still disbelieve or some of you
disbelieve, you will be punished in the worst
of ways. And that is why the scholars
of tafsir then differ. Did Allah send down
this table spread or not?
Some of them said yes he did, because
he said he was going to send it
down, And so Allah Azzawajal then sent it
down for the people of east salatu wa
sallam. And others from amongst the scholars of
Tazeer were of the position that they changed
their mind. When Allah Azzawajal gave to them
this promise
that they could have the table spread but
alongside the threat of punishment, they then said
no O Allah, we don't want to have
that threat of punishment upon us because no
one knows what they are going to die
upon, no one has any guarantee that they
will always be upon iman. We may be
what we believe is today, And rest Allah's
agenda to keep our hearts firm and steadfast
upon his religion and to allow us to
die upon Iman, us and our families and
our children. But no one has that guarantee.
No one knows what tomorrow holds or next
month or next year. How many people are
Muslims and then they leave their religion and
how many people are born non Muslims and
then they accept the religion. And so therefore
that's not a guarantee. So some of the
scholars of tafsir were the position that they
said no O Allah, we don't want this
side anymore. After, if it comes with that
with that punishment, that's something that we don't
want to do. And the verse either way
doesn't tell us. It doesn't say that Allah
did then send it down,
The story then changes or the passage then
changes onto a different subject. Allah therefore knows
best but you will find among the scholars
that have seen those who held either one
of those 2 opinions that I just mentioned
and Allah knows best.
In verse 116 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then
says,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says so then Allah And remember when Allah
said O'iisa son of Maryam, did you say
to people
take me and my mother as 2 Gods
alongside Allah? He will say may you be
exalted. I would never say what I had
no right to say. If I had said
such a thing, you would have known it.
You know all that is within me, though
I do not know what is within you.
You alone have full knowledge of things unseen.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that,
as we said, Allah has a jajal will
question all of the prophets. He will ask
them, did you convey the message? Did you
do this? They will ask and question how
to account on that day. From those Prophets
and Messengers is Isa Alaihi
Salaam.
And that is because as we said when
it came to breaking the covenant of the
Prophets, the one that this was done most
with was Isa Alaihi Salaam. So Allah will
question Isa Alaihi Salaam, did you tell the
people to worship you and your mother besides
me? Did you say to people take me
and my mother Mariam as Gods besides Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala? Because the Christians as we
know believe
that Jesus is the son of God. So
they give him that status and from amongst
the Christians are those who also give Mary
Mary a very elevated status, almost close to
that status of divinity as well. And they
consider her to be
nearly on par with her son in that
regard. And so that's why you find amongst
the different denominations of Christianity, people who have
different beliefs in this type of thing. But
taking classes besides Allah azza wa Jal, meaning
Isa alaihis salatu wasalam is the son of
God, that is something which is common in
the vast majority if not all of them.
So Allah Azzawajal will question 'Isa salAllahu salam
and we have already mentioned in this Surah
how Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala has spoken about
this issue a number of times addressing the
people of Christianity that what you say concerning
the Trinity is false. What you can say
concerning Isa
is false. His mother. What you say concerning
is false meaning in terms of their divinity
and elevated station beyond that which Allah gave
to them. So Isa will now be asked
on that day, all of those people who
claimed that he was the son of God,
that he was to be worshipped besides Allah
aza wa jal, all of those people. Did
you command this, Oresa?
Did you say this
Orisa? Take me my mother as God besides
Allah Azzawajal, God as subhanak.
He will respond 'Glory be to you O
Allah.' The word Subhanak, SubhanAllah,
is to glorify Allah and elevate him above
all that which is ascribed of him of
that which is not worthy, that which is
not befitting. To exalt Allah and to glorify
him from that which is not befitting to
be ascribed to him Subhanahu wa ta'ala. He
will say, 'Glory be to you O Allah.
Allah. How could I say that which I
had no right to say?
You didn't give me the permission to say
that it's not the reality, it's not the
truth, it's not the message that I was
sent with. And the prophets of Allah, the
greatest of characteristics that they have is that
they are truthful, they are honest. Otherwise why
would Allah choose them to convey the message
if they are not going to be honest
and truthful and have integrity?
It wasn't befitting for me to make a
claim that I had no right to make.
O Allah had I said it, you would
have known because you are the all knower,
the all seeing, the all hearing, the all
knowing of all that is unseen. You know
everything oh Allah. You would know had I
said it.
You know all that is within me. But
I do not know what is within you.
Meaning Allah is the one who has knowledge
of everything. Allah knows everything, nothing is hidden
from him. Allah even knows what he concealed
in his heart. So he is saying, oh
Allah had I said it verbally,
openly you would have known. And had I
concealed it within my heart you would have
known.
Meaning even if I hadn't said it openly
but I'm doing certain things and people understanding
that from me or I'm Allah you would
have known of Allah
and so
Allah has knowledge of everything.
For you are the one who has knowledge
of all that is unseen.
Rather in verse 117 Allah
says
what he did convey,
I told them only that which you commanded
me to, to worship Allah my lord and
your lord. I was a witness over them
during my time amongst them. Ever since You
took my soul, You alone have been the
watcher over me, You are a witness to
all things. Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la says that
this is what he did command. He will
say as we said in the previous verse,
he will say I never told them to
worship me besides you O Allah, had I
said this openly, had I considered in my
heart, you would have known. What did I
tell them to do? That which You ordered
me to tell them to do.
Worship my Lord and your Lord Allah alone
without any partners.
And so long as I was amongst them,
I was there
to be a witness over them. I know
what they are doing, I can tell them,
I can engage with them, I can advise
them, I can enjoy the good and forbid
the evil.
When you took me up O Allah Azzawajal,
when you took my soul away from this
world,
you were the one who was a watcher
over them, I don't know what they did
after me. And that is why the Prophet
of Allah don't know the unseen. Once they
leave this world, they don't know what's going
on. People still think amongst the Muslims today
that the Prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam can come,
he can be present, he can know, he
can hear, he can hear your supplications, he
can intercede on your behalf? No. Because the
Prophet told
us that on the day of judgement people
will come from his
and they will be driven away from his
from his pond of water. From the water
that he will be given be honored with
to give to his people from his Ummah.
Certain people from the Ummah will be driven
away from it. And when he asks why
they are being driven away, he will say
you don't know what they did to your
religion after you died. That's what the angel
will say to him. You don't know what
happened after you died.
And so he will attest to that and
he will say I don't know what these
people did after
my death. Have they innovated my religion, changed
my religion, twisted my religion. I don't know
what they did. So none of the prophets
of Allah have that type of knowledge. And
that is why Isa Alaihi Salam is saying
here, O Allah you were the watcher over
them after I was removed from this world
and you are the one who is witness
over all things. In verse 118 Allah tells
us
continuing with this statement of Isa Alaihi Wasallam
that he says:
And if you punish them, they are they
are your servants. And if you forgive them,
you are the Almighty, the All Wise. The
prophet once
read this verse
and he repeated it over and over again
during the night prayer crying. Allah is saying
because this is what Raised Alaihi Wasallam will
say to Allah on the Day of Judgment
speaking about the reality
that all affairs are in the hands of
Allah, We are all the slaves and servants
of Allah. Allah may do as He pleases.
O Allah, if you choose to punish your
slaves, they are your slaves. You do as
you please. No one can withstand the command
of Allah, no one can oppose it, no
one can can do anything to rescind the
command of Allah is
decree. Subhanahu wa ta'ala. And
if you forgive them,
then you are the almighty, the all wise.
Meaning you are wise in whatever you choose
to do. Mighty in the sense that if
you punish, you do it from a position
of might and if you forgive, you do
it from a position of might. And that
is why Allah ajduja in this verse because
there is a verse on your
where people lived in shirk and a great
deal of evil and then Allah ajduja will
forgive the believers from amongst them. Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala combines between forgiveness and might because
certain people forgive in the dunya of me
and you and others. Sometimes you forgive people
from a position of weakness Because that person
is stronger or they're older or they're more
powerful or they're wealthier. And so when they
come and they see to you, I'm sorry
accept my apology.
Even if you don't want to sometimes you're
going to accept it. Or there's not really
much you can do about it anyway. Even
if you don't want to accept their apology
you saw it from a position of weakness,
you are forced to just accept it. But
when Allah 'azda wa jal forgives, he doesn't
do it from a position of weakness. Subhanahu
wa ta'ala, he could if he wish to
destroy all of us. And if he wish
to punish all of us subhanahu wa ta'ala,
but that is not from the justice of
Allah from his mercy. But those who He
does punish them or forgive
them, He does it because He is powerful
and able to forgive from a position of
might and from a position of power Subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
Allah Azzawaj then says in verse 119
Allah will say this is a day when
the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness.
They will have gardens graced with flowing streams
there to remain forever. Allah is pleased with
them and they with Him. That is the
supreme triumph.
On that day only the people of truthfulness
will benefit on the day of judgement. And
that is because the true people of truthfulness
are those who worship Allah, truthful in their
Aqeedah in their belief, truthful in their worship
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, truthful in all
of these demons and actions. And so they
were upon the Sirat and Mustaqeem, the path
that leads to Allah as a result Allah
will honor them. They
will have Gardens, Tajlimindaqtir
and Har under which rivers flow,
graced with streams,
They will remain therein forever.
And
the greatest of Allah's favors upon them is
that Allah will be pleased with them just
as they were pleased with him. As the
Prophet told us salallahu alaihi wasallam that Allah
will call the people of Jannah and he
will say what more do you want and
they will say oh Allah have you not
given us enough, You entered us into Jannah
and gave us all of its blessings and
you save us from the punishment of the
fire. What more could we want? So Allah
will say to them, today you will have
my pleasure and I will never be angry
with you again. And that will be from
the greatest travest of Allah will bestow upon
them.
That is the supreme triumph. In verse 120
which is the final verse of Surah Al
Maid Allah Azzawaj then concludes this Surah by
saying
to Allah. He has power of all things.
He does as he pleases subhanahu wa ta'ala.
He controls everything and all of us will
return to him subhanahu wa ta'ala. Stand before
him and be questioned about the covenants and
the pledges that we took that we would
believe in him. Worship him alone. That we
would live our life in accordance to his
sharia and his rulings that we would follow
the prophet
and his legislation. All of us will be
questioned about this covenant. Allah controls everything unto
him. We shall all return. And with that
we come to the end of this blessed
Surah, the tafsir of Surat Al Mahidah and
the end of today's episode.