Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 144 – The Parable Of A Constricted Heart
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AI: Transcript ©
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed
Satan.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.
Welcome to another episode of our Tafseer, page
by page.
Inshallah Ta'ala, today we are on page
144, which is in the 8th Juz of
the Qur'an, Surat Al-In'am.
In the last episode, we mentioned those verses
which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala told us
a number of important issues and principles with
regards to mentioning the name of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala over the food that we
eat and the food that we slaughter, that
we therefore make halal to consume.
Another practice of the Arabs who came before
the Jahili Arabs was that they would not
mention the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala over everything that they slaughtered.
They would slaughter in other than the name
of Allah.
They would slaughter towards their idols and towards
the other gods that they worshipped besides Allah
azza wa jal.
Or they would eat that which died of
its own accord without ritually being slaughtered and
therefore the name of Allah azza wa jal
also wasn't mentioned over it and they would
deem that to be halal.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says to us
that there are two types of people.
The one who has light and is alive
spiritually and physically and walks therefore across and
around the people with that light and guidance
from Allah azza wa jal.
Such a person is not equal to the
one who is spiritually dead.
To the one who is spiritually unaware of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and therefore denies
and rejects Allah azza wa jal.
Those two people are not equal in every
single regard.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then also told
us the importance of understanding how Allah azza
wa jal is the one who chooses his
prophets and messengers and how those prophets and
messengers from the sunnah of Allah azza wa
jal from the universal laws of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala is that he made for
them enemies and he made for them leaders
from amongst those enemies who would oppose them
because it was one of the ways in
which Allah azza wa jal raises the station
of the prophets and raises the station of
his messengers through the tests that they have
to endure and be patient with.
Today we continue from verse 125 and that
is the statement of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala اَجَعَلُوا
اللَّهُ الرِّجْسَ عَلَى الَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ When Allah
wishes to guide someone, he opens their *
to Islam and when he wishes to lead
them astray, he closes and constricts their *
as if they were climbing up to the
skies.
That is how Allah makes the foulness of
those who do not believe rebound against them.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this verse,
he gives this amazing example in the difference
between the people of Iman and Islam and
those people who deny Iman and Islam and
Allah azza wa jal in this particular verse
he focuses on the issues of the heart
of the chest of the heart and how
the one who comes to Islam and knows
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and submits to
Allah azza wa jal and lives their life
therefore in accordance to the commands of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala how Allah azza wa
jal expands for them their heart how they
live a life of peace and contentment and
tranquility how Allah azza wa jal from the
greatest blessings of having Islam and Iman is
that Allah azza wa jal gives to you
contentment and happiness in this dunya even if
you have very little of it in terms
of materialistic wealth you may not have a
great deal or a great amount but because
you have Iman, because you have Islam because
you have Ibadah and worship of Allah azza
wa jal because you are a person who
recognizes Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and submits
to him on a daily basis Allah azza
wa jal gives to you something that is
more valuable more precious than the wealth of
the dunya or other beauties of the dunya
and that is that Allah azza wa jal
gives to you tranquility of the heart because
how many people have the world and the
dunya and everything within it but when it
comes to their heart it's restricted when it
comes to their heart it's narrow when it
comes to their heart it's constricted and it
is something which each and every single day
they search for happiness and they think that
they will find it through money or through
fame or through power or influence or whatever
it may be but they find that none
of those things really fills that hole that
they find within their heart and that is
because that hole within the heart cannot be
filled except with the love of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala and his worship jalla fi
ula the Tauheed of Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala is what fills that heart or that
hole in the heart and that is why
Allah azza wa jal then says here فَمَن
يُرِدِ اللَّهُ أَن يَهْدِيَهُ يَشْرَحْ صَدْرَهُ لِإِسْلَامٍ when
Allah azza wa jal wishes to guide someone
he opens their breast to Islam he opens
up their heart to Islam and you can
imagine now when your heart is open it
is welcoming it is something which is able
to receive guidance and benefit from that guidance
that that is a feeling that is amazing
and the believer is someone who once they
taste the sweetness of that Iman it is
something which they continuously strive to maintain and
to attain and to preserve within themselves because
the alternate, the alternative and the other side
of that equation is as Allah azza wa
jal then says وَمَن يُرِدْ أَن يُضِلَّهُ يَجْعَلْ
صَدْرَهُ ضَيِّقًا حَرَجًا كَأَنَّمَا يَصَعَدُ فِي السَّمَاءِ and
those whom Allah azza wa jal wishes to
lead astray he closes up and constricts their
breast as if they were climbing up to
the skies if you were to ascend higher
and higher as you were climbing a mountain
or if you were to go up above
into the sky without any breathing equipment one
of the things that you find is because
the oxygen becomes less the higher up you
go in altitude the more difficult it becomes
to breathe and the more harder it is
therefore for your body to get the oxygen
that it requires especially because you are exerting
more effort as you are climbing and reaching
a higher altitude and because of that then
you feel a restricted you feel a type
of restrictedness within your chest you find it
more difficult to breathe you feel pain, you
feel lightheaded or dizzy all of those are
symptoms as a result of a lack of
oxygen a lack of being able to breathe
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us over
1400 years ago this very example but in
the spiritual sense that those people who don't
have Iman those people who don't have Islam
their hearts are being restricted and constricted within
their chest كَأَنَّمَا يَصَعَدُ فِي السَّمَاءِ it is
as if they are climbing up to the
trees or climbing up into the skies and
as they climb up into the skies what
therefore happens is that they are unable to
breathe and therefore they are unable to live
in a painless or a pain-free or
an easy way that brings to them tranquility
and happiness now the believer is someone whom
Allah azza wa jal makes things easy for
them that even in times of pain in
times of hardship in times of sadness they
find through those difficulties and challenges the path
that leads them to Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala and so even therefore even though on
the outside they are going through difficulty and
they are going through hardship Allah azza wa
jal makes their hearts steadfast and Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala gives to them tranquility and
gives to them peace and contentment and as
a result Allah azza wa jal favours them
and honours them in that way كَذَلِكَ يَجْعَلُ
اللَّهُ رِيتَ سَعَى لَلَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ that is
how Allah azza wa jal makes the foulness
of those who do not believe rebound against
them so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
because most people if not all people in
this world they are seeking a type of
contentment they are seeking a type of happiness
they are seeking a type of tranquility internally,
spiritually that is something which those people don't
find because everywhere they look for it it
is not the source of that tranquility or
the place where they can find that happiness
except for the people of Iman for Allah
azza wa jal guides them to that which
He loves and as a result they take
from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that contentment
and that peace and that tranquility Allah azza
wa jal then says in verse 126 وَهَذَا
صِرَاطُ رَبِّكَ مُسْتَقِيمًا قَدْ فَصَّلْنَا الْآيَاتِ لِقَوْمِي يَذَّكَّرُونَ
this is the path of your Lord made
perfectly straight where we explain our revelations to
those who take heed so if you want
to find that path that will allow your
chest to expand your heart to be open
for you to find that inner peace and
tranquility and contentment and happiness Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says this is the path to
it وَهَذَا صِرَاطُ رَبِّكَ مُسْتَقِيمًا it is the
straight path that leads to your Lord that
you need to find that straight path that
Allah azza wa jal mentioned to us at
the beginning of the Quran in Surah Al
-Fatiha the one that we repeat over and
over again the dua that we constantly make
to Allah azza wa jal اِهْدِيْنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
O Allah guide us to the straight path
or as we know from the scholars of
Tafsir that once you have been guided it
means to continue to ask Allah for steadfastness
and firmness upon that path that is straight
the straight path is the one that leads
to Allah azza wa jal as the Prophet
told us salallahu alayhi wa sallam when he
drew a line on the ground and then
that was straight and lines to the right
and the left he said this is the
straight path that leads to Allah and every
single one of those other lines to the
right and the left are the paths of
the devils at the head of each one
is a devil that calls to them they
misguide you and lead you away from the
straight path and so the believer is the
one who realizes therefore that the one that
Allah azza wa jal favors with tranquility and
happiness and peace and contentment is the one
who follows the straight path that leads to
him and if they do so and they
do that in a way that is pleasing
to Allah azza wa jal for them will
be the greatest of reward and from the
greatest of reward is Jannah and from the
many names of Jannah it is that it
is the home and the abode of peace
so just as Allah azza wa jal gives
to the believers peace and contentment in the
dunya because of their Iman and their worship
of Allah azza wa jal and their upholding
the Tawheed of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
Allah azza wa jal then gives to them
a similar reward on Yawm al Qiyam and
in the next life in verse 127 Allah
azza wa jal says لَهُمْ دَارُ السَّلَامِ عِنْدَ
رَبِّهِمْ وَهُوَ وَلِيُّهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ They should
have the home of peace with their Lord
and He will take care of them as
a reward for their deeds Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says that these are the people
that Allah azza wa jal will give to
them Jannah and Jannah as we know has
many names that you will find in the
Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu
alayhi wa sallam from its names is the
one that is mentioned in this verse here
127 and that is that Allah azza wa
jal calls it Darus Salaam the abode of
peace the believers they greet one another with
the words of Salaam peace Assalamu alaikum and
from the names of Allah azza wa jal
is that he is As-Salaam the bestower
of peace and from the names of Jannah
the abode of the believers in the hereafter
is that it is Darus Salaam the home
and the abode of peace the word peace
here means safety from every evil and harm
every evil and harm peace in the sense
externally and internally peace in terms of you
being safeguarded from harm and evil that can
approach you physically and peace in terms of
internal peace and contentment and happiness as well
that is what the word As-Salaam means
in the Arabic language so when you greet
someone as we mentioned before in this Tafsir
series and you say to them Assalamu alaikum
you are essentially making a dua for them
that Allah azza wa jal bestows upon them
peace gives to them safety from every harm
and from every evil and from every hardship
that Allah azza wa jal gives to them
goodness and happiness and then when they respond
and they say Wa alaikum assalam they are
essentially returning that greeting to you as well
the name of Allah azza wa jal is
As-Salaam because he is the one who
bestows that upon his slaves and his servants
subhanahu wa ta'ala and so when the
people of Jannah enter into Jannah it is
an abode of peace meaning that within Jannah
therefore there is no harm in Jannah there
is no evil in Jannah there is no
hardship in Jannah there is nothing that will
detract from the blessings and the rewards of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala but the person
in Jannah spiritually physically and psychologically in every
single way and sense they will have happiness
and they will have eternal bliss that is
the meaning of Dar al-Salam so these
people they sought in the dunya peace and
they found that peace through Allah azzawajal in
the worship of Allah azzawajal in the Tawheed
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala so on
Yawm al-Qiyamah Allah azzawajal will give to
them that peace in abundance and for eternity
as well wa huwa waliyuhum bima kanu ya'maloon
and he will take care of them as
a reward for their deeds he will be
their protector in this life and the next
and just as Allah azzawajal gave to them
and blessed them with Tawheed and Iman and
the ability to perform good deeds and worship
him in this life then Allah azzawajal will
give to them something similar in the next
life in terms of his reward subhanahu wa
ta'ala Allah azzawajal then says in the
next verse 128 وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعًۭا يَا مَعْشَرَ
الْجِنِّ قَدْ اسْتَكْثَرْتُمْ مِنَ الْإِنسِ وَقَالَ أَوْلِيَاءُهُمْ مِنَ
الْإِنسِ رَبَّنَا اَسْتَمْتَعَ بَعْضُنَا وَبَلَغْنَا أَجَلَنَا الَّذِي أَجَلْتَ
لَنَا قَالَ النَّارُ مَثْوَاكُمْ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا إِلَّا مَا
شَاءَ اللَّهِ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ On the
day he gathers everyone together saying O company
of Jinn you have seduced a great many
humans their adherents amongst mankind will say O
our Lord we have profited from one another
but now we have reached the appointed time
that you decreed for us you will say
your home is the fire and there you
shall remain unless Allah wills otherwise your Lord
is all wise all knowing Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala speaks that on Yawm al Qiyamah
وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمَ On the day that he gathers
everyone together Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will
address the people and he will address the
Jinn because these are the two creations of
Allah azza wa jal to whom Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala gave them free will and
therefore they have the ability to believe or
the ability to disbelieve the choice to believe
or to disbelieve and Allah azza wa jal
sent to them prophets and messengers and gave
to them revelation showing them the path towards
Allah azza wa jal and towards his pleasure
but there were many of them in fact
the vast majority of them refused to take
that path and they denied and rejected the
revelations of Allah azza wa jal so Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala will address them on
Yawm al Qiyamah and he will say O
Jinn O assembly of Jinn O people of
the Jinn يَا مَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ قَدْ اِسْتَكْثَرْتُمْ مِنَ
الْإِنسِ You seduced a great many of the
humans because the humans would go back to
the Jinn and they would do what the
Jinn wanted in terms of doing shirk or
committing kufr or acts that are displeasing to
Allah azza wa jal and the Jinn in
return would give to them or help them
with using the abilities that Allah azza wa
jal has given to them in terms of
snatching news of the heavens for the fortune
tellers or soothsayers or using some of the
other abilities that Allah azza wa jal has
given to them to do things that would
then allow those humans to also benefit in
terms of money or in terms of influence
or power or whatever it may be so
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will say oh
assembly of the Jinn قَدْ استَكْثَرْتُمْ مِنَ الْإِنسِ
you did a great deal of harm towards
the people you misguided them you turned them
away from the path of Allah azza wa
jal you caused them to do that which
is evil to disobey to disbelieve to do
a great deal of harm and Allah azza
wa jal says وَقَالَ أَوْلِيَأُهُمْ مِنَ الْإِنسِ but
their people or their adherents from amongst the
people will say from amongst the humans will
say رَبَّنَا اسْتَمْتَعَ بَعْضُنَا بِبَعْضُ oh Allah we
profited from one another as I said the
Jinn would profit from the humans because the
Jinn wanted them to be to worship them
or to obey them or to do certain
things that would please them and the humans
would oblige and they in return the Jinn
would give to them certain of their abilities
they would help them with certain abilities that
they possessed that Allah azza wa jal gave
to them and therefore increasing the influence of
those humans just like the Prophet told us
ﷺ about the fortune tellers the fortune tellers
would obey the Jinn they would do certain
things and they would say certain statements of
Kufr and Shirk that the Jinn would like
and they would be pleased with and in
return the Jinn would take from the news
of the heavens and they would mix it
with a great deal of falsehood and they
would present it to those human people and
those humans then give the fortune they tell
the fortunes of those around them and because
on the odd occasion they are correct or
right or some of what they say may
have an element of truth people believe them
they give them money they have power they
have influence in their communities and their societies
and so it was a mutual benefit that
they had from one another but the Jinn
for their help they wanted them to commit
Shirk for example or Kufr or commit some
major sins Allah azza wa jal says that
they will say so therefore oh Allah they
will say on that day our Lord we
profited from one another وَبَلَغْنَا أَجَلَنَا الَّذِي أَجَلْتَ
لَنَا but now we have reached the point
in time that you decreed for us meaning
now that we have come to this place
we know now that our actions will not
benefit us we know now that there is
no opportunity or scope for us to take
Iman to believe to turn back to you
now we have no excuse we have no
ability we have nothing that we can do
except to wait for your judgment and your
decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah
azza wa jal will then give them his
decree subhanahu wa ta'ala and he will
say قَالَ النَّارُ مَثْوَاكُمْ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا إِلَّا مَا
شَاءَ اللَّهِ قَالَ النَّارُ مَثْوَاكُمْ He will say
for you your abode, your home is the
fire and there you shall remain unless Allah
azza wa jal wills otherwise إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ
عَلِيمٌ Your Lord is all wise and He
is all knowing and so Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala will give to them His judgment
and His decree and as we know that
decree that is mentioned numerous times in the
Quran is that those who disbelieve and turn
away from Allah azza wa jal and commit
acts of kufr and shirk to them Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala will cast them into
the fire for all of eternity خَارِدِينَ فِيهَا
They will remain therein إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ
Your Lord is all wise all knowing He
knows what is befitting in terms of judgment
and that is from His wisdom and He
has knowledge intimate knowledge of what they did
and what their intentions were and the evil
that they did and so Allah azza wa
jal judgments are not based on ignorance but
rather upon perfect and full knowledge Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala says in verse 129 continuing
speaking about these people from the jinn and
the humans that did evil وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُوَلِّي بَعْضَ
الظَّالِمِينَ بَعْضًا بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ In this way
we make some evil doers have power over
others through their misdeeds we make them help
one another we make them allies to one
another and we give to some of them
power over others because the jinn had the
upper hand in this relationship between these humans
and the jinn the jinn were considered to
be more powerful to have the upper hand
and therefore the humans would worship them they
would obey them they would divert some type
of servitude to them or submission to them
and in return the jinn would become happy
and they would become pleased and they would
use some of their abilities that Allah azza
wa jal has given to them in order
to help those humans in return and so
Allah azza wa jal says that this is
from the way that these things happen that
in this way meaning the disbelievers one to
another you will always find that some have
power over the others and that isn't just
between these two creations but even in a
single creation meaning the humans as Allah azza
wa jal mentions in a number of places
in the Quran that on yawm al qiyamah
the people who are weaker from the disbelievers
meaning that they were the masses or just
the average people they will turn to their
leaders whether it's religious leaders or leaders in
the traditional sense and they will say to
them that it's because of you that we
disbelieved you were the ones who were leading
us you were the ones who were influencing
us you were the ones who were leading
us away from the path of Allah azza
wa jal that is always the case and
that is why it's not a sufficient evidence
or proof or justification to come on yawm
al qiyamah and say before Allah azza wa
jal oh Allah we only obeyed our forefathers
we only obeyed our leaders we only obeyed
our elders those are not sufficient evidences in
the sight of Allah azza wa jal or
proofs or excuses in the sight of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah azza wa jal
then says in verse 130 ya ma'shar al
jinni wal insi alam ya'tikum rusulun minkum yaqussun
alaykum ayati wa yunzirunakum liqaa yawmikum haza qaloo
shahidana ala anfusina wa gharrathumul hayatu al dunya
wa shahidu ala anfusihim annahum kanu kafireen O
company of jinn and humans did messengers not
come from amongst you to recite my revelations
to you and warn that you would meet
this day they will say we testify against
ourselves the life of this world seduces them
but they will testify against themselves that they
rejected the truth Allah azza wa jal will
speak to these people the jinn and the
humans on that day from the disbelievers and
he will say alam ya'tikum rusulun minkum did
my messengers and prophets not come to you
yaqussun alaykum ayati reciting to you from my
revelations wa yundhirunakum liqaa yawmikum haza and warning
you of this day that would come upon
you meaning the day of judgment meaning that
you have disbelieved and you rejected and you
denied but Allah azza wa jal gave to
you reminders and Allah sent to you prophets
and Allah gave to you revelation and Allah
azza wa jal sent to you reminders and
warnings that you may take heed and that
you may take benefit and listen and be
reminded and turn back to Allah azza wa
jal they will say in response shahidana ala
anfusina we will testify against our own selves
meaning that they will acknowledge that they rejected
that they denied that they turned away from
Allah subhana wa ta'ala Allah azza wa
jal says wa gharratuhumul hayatul dunya but it
was the life of this world that deceived
them deceived them by its trappings and its
enjoyments by its wealth and by its beautifications
wa shahidu ala anfusihim annam kanu kafireen and
once the evidence has been established against them
they will testify against themselves that they rejected
the truth that they were disbelievers that they
turned away from Allah subhana wa ta'ala
Allah azza wa jal then says in verse
131 thalika allam yakun rabbuka muhlika alqura bi
dhulmi wa ahluha ghafinoon your lord will not
destroy towns for their wrongdoing if they have
not been warned and Allah azza wa jal
says therefore from his justice from his kindness
from his mercy subhana wa ta'ala from
the kingdom or the kingship of Allah azza
wa jal is that Allah subhana wa ta
'ala does not punish a people until those
people have been warned if they were in
a state of heedlessness meaning they never heard
of Islam no prophet ever came to them
no revelation was ever given to them they
never heard of the religion of Allah azza
wa jal it is not from Allah azza
wa jal justice that you would punish people
without giving them the opportunity to learn and
to believe and to take iman and Islam
but if those people once that has come
to them and then they reject them Allah
azza wa jal may punish them Allah azza
wa jal may destroy them Allah subhana wa
ta'ala may do as he pleases with
them and that is why as the prophet
told us salallahu alayhi wasalam those people who
didn't receive revelation for one reason or another
no prophet came to them or maybe they
they spent their whole life in this world
in the level of of not having their
mental ability to understand they were insane or
for example a child that dies before puberty
there are all of those people Allah azza
wa jal will judge them in the manner
that he sees fit on yawm al qiyamah
and Allah azza wa jal will hold them
to account in a different way those people
are different to those people who hear about
Islam they heard about the prophet salallahu alayhi
wasalam they heard about the Quran or they
heard about the prophets that were sent to
them in previous nations and then they turned
away and that is why Allah azza wa
jal then says in the final verse that
we will take today verse 132 وَلِكُلِّن دَرَجَاتٌ
مِّمَّا عَمِلُوا۟ وَمَا رَبُّكَ مِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ everyone
is assigned a rank according to their deeds
your lord is not unaware of everything that
they do Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
that everyone of them will have their own
ranks just as the believers have ranks the
more the stronger your iman is the more
good deeds that you do the more worship
that you are engaged in the people of
Jannah are not all one level there are
a hundred levels in Jannah and Allah azza
wa jal will apportion people to those levels
in accordance to their iman and their righteous
deeds so likewise for the disbelievers there are
also darajat there are also rankings there are
people who did more evil who harmed more
who opposed more who did more haram than
others and so Allah azza wa jal doesn't
make all of them equal but there will
be those who will be given a greater
reward than others as there will be those
who will be given a greater punishment than
others وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَافِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ and your
lord is not unaware of anything that they
do and with that inshallah ta'ala we
will come to the end of today's episode
بارك الله فيكم وصلى الله على النبي محمد
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله
وبركاته بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم