Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer -Page 160 -The Story Of Prophet Lt
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The sh mattered aspect is a major factor in Muslims' history, with the consequence being a challenge for individuals who want to control their desire and avoid negative behavior. The importance of sh mattered is discussed, as it causes sh proposals to be used and is a major cause of anti-doping behavior. The transcript also touches on issues with people of Median, including fraud and dishonesty, and the importance of avoiding false accusations and not trusting people.
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I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the
accursed.
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most
Merciful.
Welcome to another episode of Tafseer page by
page.
Inshallah ta'ala today we are on page
161 which is in Surah Al-A'raf,
the 8th Juz of the Quran and it
is the final page of this Juz.
In the previous episode we mentioned the third
of the stories that Allah relates to us
in this Surah of the Prophets and Messengers
that were sent to the various generations or
to the various nations throughout the generations and
throughout time.
And that was the story of the Prophet
Salih A.S. who was sent to his
nation the people of Thamud.
And the people of Thamud were people that
Allah Azzawajal gave to them the ability to
carve out dwellings from mountains and he gave
them technological and engineering superiority that they were
able to turn their desert land into a
place that they were dominating, that they were
flourishing and thriving from the blessings of Allah
Azzawajal.
But when Salih A.S. came to them
and he called them to Allah Azzawajal and
he brought to them the sign from Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala of the she-camel,
they turned away and they rejected this and
they didn't want to know and they made
fun of him and they ridiculed his followers
and they claimed that they were people who
didn't need to follow the signs of Allah
Azzawajal.
And so then they went a step further
and they hamstrung the very camel that they
were told to leave because there is a
sign from the signs of Allah Azzawajal.
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala destroyed them.
So today we continue from verse 80 onwards
and we will be covering two Prophets.
The first of them is the Prophet Lut
A.S. and the second of them, we
will mention the first half of the story
and that is the Prophet Shu'aib A
.S. But we begin with the Prophet Lut
in the statement of Allah Azzawajal verse number
80.
وَلُوطًا إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَتَأْتُونَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مَا سَبَقَكُمْ
بِهَا مِنْ أَحَدٍ مِّنَ الْعَالَمِينَ We sent Lut
and he said to his people, how can
you practice this outrage?
No one in the world has outdone you
in this.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions the story
of the fourth of the Prophets that he
mentions in this Surah and that is the
Prophet Lut A.S. and the Prophet Lut
as we've mentioned before or pointed to before
is the nephew of the Prophet Ibrahim A
.S. and he was sent to the area
of what is in what is a Sham
today.
He went there and he called them to
the path of Allah Azzawajal and these people
just like the people of Hud were people
who transgressed in their own way and the
people of Salih were people who transgressed in
their own way then likewise the people of
Lut also transgressed in their own way.
But this transgression in all of these cases
is in addition to the major transgression of
Shirk.
So the reason why they're all punished is
because of their Shirk in Allah Azzawajal but
then as a result of that Shirk they
were also known for an evil that became
predominant amongst them or dominant amongst them and
it became something which thrived amongst them this
evil because of their Shirk in Allah Azzawajal.
So the people of Lut A.S. that
the people that Lut A.S. was sent
to it was something which was extremely abhorrent
to to Allah Azzawajal and that is the
that is what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
says and sent Lut A.S. to his
people and here the people are not mentioned
the name of his people are not mentioned
but rather they are known as the Qawm
of Lut just as the people of Nuh
are known as the Qawm of the nation
of Nuh.
So here these are the people of Nuh
A.S. and they practiced something he said
to his people how can you practice this
outrage and this outrage will be mentioned in
more detail in the next verse but essentially
it's homosexuality and this is a topic now
that is very sensitive in our time because
of the whole debate that goes on around
it for us morally as Muslims as part
of our religion and our religious beliefs and
what we understand and what we teach from
the book of Allah Azzawajal and the Sunnah
of his Prophet ﷺ it is a major
sin and it is something which we consider
to be not worthy of of practicing Muslims
or Muslims in any way in any case
but rather that is something which morally is
something which Allah Azzawajal has made apparent it's
something which people should stay away from and
not practice and at the same time it's
very important to know that our religion in
especially in the societies that we live in
doesn't preach hatred or violence just because we
speak out against something because the Muslims have
for many many years been speaking about many
things that we don't like for example in
the societies that we live in that go
against our religious teachings we don't like people
drinking alcohol we don't like people eating pork
we don't like people taking interest all of
these things are major sins in our religion
but we don't we're not considered to be
preaching violence against those people who do eat
pork for example who do take an interest
-based loan or mortgage from a bank who
may be drunk alcohol that's not our religion
it's not the way we practice so likewise
when it comes to homosexuality we practice we
preach against zina which is adultery if a
man or a woman cheats on a on
his or her spouse we speak against that
but no one considers to be calling for
violence against those people who are adulterers or
adulteresses so when it comes to homosexuality it's
very much the same we don't accept it
as a religious practice but that doesn't mean
that we're inciting violence or hatred or intolerance
towards anyone but we're telling you that in
terms of our religion our belief as Muslims
it's not something which is acceptable nor is
it acceptable that our our us or our
families or our children that we should be
obliged to think that it is acceptable for
us as a way of life and so
this is something which Allah mentions here and
he says that they were the first people
to practice this the people of Lut at
that time they were the first people to
come up with this sin and that shows
therefore that there is always there was always
a first of something when people disbelieve in
Allah or when they allow shaitan to overcome
them they will do things that people before
them never never did and these are practices
that for example for maybe 100 years 200
years 300 years some of these things that
have now become prevalent in our time people
will never imagine they were never able to
comprehend or think or even imagine that these
things would take place until society normalizes it
and it becomes something which becomes prevalent amongst
different societies and people and so there are
people always who don't like this who don't
appreciate it for themselves or their families or
their children they don't want that influence upon
them other people want to do that that's
fine that's their choice but you don't make
it obligatory upon everyone just as we wouldn't
make it obligatory upon everyone that they follow
our way either and so they did something
the people of Lut no one has done
this before you from amongst the creation of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala meaning from amongst
the humans and then Lut makes this even
clearer in verse number 81 you
lust after men rather than women you transgress
all bounds so he's saying addressing the men
that you would rather have relations with other
men intimacy with other men as opposed to
the women that Allah azawajal created for you
and that is because Adam was created in
the form of his spouse Hawa and from
that Allah decreed that that is the correct
pairing between a male and a female in
the bounds of marriage on the bonds of
marriage that is how a person should have
intimacy and that is how they should have
their progeny but you come instead and you
twisted this and men are going towards other
men women are going towards other women and
that is something which is beyond all bounds
that Allah azawajal has set for the people
who are who are doing this it is
important for us to understand also as that
everyone is everyone has desires it is one
of the major traps of shaitan that it
comes to people with desires some people their
desires are to do with wealth some people
is to do with intimacy and the opposite
gender some people is to do with power
some people do influence some people do with
drugs some people do alcohol everyone has different
desires depending on what it is that they
covet and what it is that they that
they want and Iblis knows every single person
to know what their desires are to have
those desires in and of itself is not
haram because Allah has created created us with
those desires but we are then commanded to
suppress the desires that are not good and
not not worthy Allah azawajal tells us to
control the things that are haram and then
we can let the other desires flourish if
they are halal that is or to use
them in the bounds that Allah azawajal has
listed for example like marriage and so therefore
Allah azawajal doesn't hold me or you account
for the desire simply having the desire and
in fact if you have that desire and
it's a challenge for you and it's a
test to learn to control it to learn
to not become subservient to it but rather
you are the one who controls your desires
as opposed to the desires controlling you that
is from the greatest acts of worship that
you can perform and extremely rewarding in the
sight of Allah azawajal and Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala criticizes in the Quran those people
who make their desires their gods do you
not see the one who has taken his
desires as his lord and his god so
they follow their desires wherever it leads them
to whatever evil one thing leads to another
and it continues to snowball in that way
but Allah azawajal tells us you have desires
you have haram tendencies that you're likely to
lean towards learn to control and suppress them
and when you do and by the way
that's not just to do with this issue
of homosexuality everything anger is an issue for
that's no problem jealousy is an issue for
you envy is an issue for you so
you must learn to control that desire you
must learn to manage it so that it
doesn't uh it doesn't come out and show
itself and manifest in ways that are not
pleasing to Allah azawajal or legislated by him
so this is why he is saying to
his people Lut alaihissalam that what you're doing
is an extreme evil how do they respond
in verse number 82 Allah azawajal tells us
the only response his people gave was to
say drive them out of your town these
men want to keep themselves chased they wanted
to exile him they didn't like him their
response wasn't to to speak to him about
this issue or to even engage in a
dialogue but they said and his family and
his followers take them out and drive them
out from your land these people want to
be people of chastity of modesty and modesty
is always good in every society because modesty
leads to people curbing their desires curbing their
tendencies in many of the societies that we
live in now anti-social behavior is a
major thing and one of the major causes
of anti-social behavior in all of its
different ways and forms is as a result
of people not curbing their desires of one
kind or another drugs drinking all of these
different types of issues that we have in
our in our communities and societies now these
are the one of the some of the
main causes of why you have anti-social
behavior and so people will say it's often
the government the police and others that we
need to clamp down on drugs in communities
we need to clamp down on people's drinking
habits we need to change the education of
the messaging around it that's what happens in
the community when people's desires are left uncurbed
and when you live in a society that
is extremely liberal and allows for people to
do so it affects people it affects the
family it affects society it affects communities it
affects the whole structure of the way that
that society is and should be and so
these and those people don't like that and
so they try to drive them out they
try to silence them and remove them and
that is what the people of Lut did
towards him or try to do towards him
so Allah responds in verse 83 and he
says we saved him and his kinsfolk his
family apart from his wife who stayed behind
Allah says that we saved him and we
saved the believers with him including his family
with the exception of his wife because his
wife was upon the way of his people
and this is now another example we've an
example of the Quran in Surah Al-A
'am when Allah mentioned the story of Ibrahim
and how sometimes the prophets of Allah and
the messengers of Allah some of their closest
family relations didn't accept them and believe in
them so Ibrahim his father rejected him and
turned away from him here now we have
an example of another prophet of Allah whom
Allah praises and his story is mentioned numerous
times in the Quran Allah says with regards
to Lut his own wife didn't accept his
own wife was upon the way of her
people and so when Lut was told to
leave with his family and his followers and
to run away from or to escape from
these people because the destruction and punishment of
Allah was going to come upon them his
wife was made the exception she would remain
behind and stay because she didn't believe in
him and she didn't accept him and so
the punishment that struck the people of Lut
also came to strike her and that is
what Allah says in verse concluding the story
of Lut and we showered upon them a
rain of destruction so see the fate of
the evildoers and Allah tells us elsewhere in
the Quran that Allah caused the ground to
be lifted upon them and them to be
turned upside down and stones of baked clay
to come and to strike them and to
destroy them and that is how Allah destroys
those people who turn away from the path
of Allah and they reject the prophets and
messengers we now come in verse number 85
to the story of the fifth prophet that
Allah mentions in the story in the surah
so we've had mention of the stories of
Nuh and Hud and Salih and Lut the
fifth of them is now Shuaib and his
people known as the people of Median Allah
says in verse 85 meaning
to the people of Median we sent their
brother Shuaib he said my people worship Allah
you have no god other than him a
clear sign has come to you from your
lord give full measure and weight and do
not undervalue people's goods do not cause corruption
in the land after it has been set
in order that is better for you if
you are believers Allah tells us about a
group of people known as the people of
Median and the people of Median in the
Quran are also referred to the Eka and
the Eka is a type of tree and
a wood that they used to or a
tree that they had in the area of
Median that they used to worship besides Allah
so they're referred to as the people of
Eka and they're also known as the people
of Median, Median being the name of the
tribe to them Allah sent the prophet Shuaib
and the people of Median are also an
Arab people and that is why the Arabs
knew of these people and some of the
scholars said that from the names of the
prophets that we have in the Quran four
are from four were directly sent to the
Arabs so the prophets Hud and Salih and
Shuaib and our prophet salallahu alayhi wasalam were
prophets that were directly sent to the Arabs
and Allah azawajal knows best but either way
Allah azawajal says that to Median we sent
to them their brother meaning their brother in
tribe in lineage Shuaib alayhi salatu wasalam he
came to them and he gave them the
same call that all of the prophets before
him Nuh and Hud and Salih and all
of the prophets came in Ya qawm i
'budullah ma lakum min ilahin ghairu, O my
people worship Allah alone you have no other
god besides him the call to the duheed
of Allah azawajal qad ja'atkum bayyinatun min
rabbikum a clear sign has come to you
from your lord and then what was the
major issue of these people so we said
the people of Hud it was their arrogance
the people of Salih they were given all
that technology and they turned away from worship
of Allah azawajal despite their many blessings the
people of Median now what is their major
issue and likewise the people of Lut were
their tendencies and desires that they couldn't control
but now what is the issue with the
people of Shuaib they were people who were
business people wealthy and rich but they got
their money and their wealth by cheating people
by being dishonest and deceiving in their business
and that is what Allah azawajal says be
give full measure and weight when you weigh
things in volume or in weight then give
correct accurate measures because the people of Shuaib
when it came to people buying from them
they would fiddle with their measures and weights
so they would give less and they would
take full payment and when it came to
them purchasing then they would give less and
they would take full payment and so they
would always fiddle with these things because money
is king it's all about money this was
their desire that they couldn't curb and control
money money money just like many people today
money is their fitna money by hook or
by crook one way or another i will
get money if i have to steal i
have to rob i have to cheat i
have to whatever i have to do so
long as i become rich and so long
as i get my money i don't care
and so people go crazy in the way
that they deal with people they trample over
their relatives over their family members over their
friends over the muslims over people in general
don't care how what who they harm or
what they harm so long as i get
money and i can buy whatever i want
to buy purchase whatever i want to purchase
and that is from the worst of tendencies
that people can have Allah azawajal says to
them be careful in the way that you
measure in the way that you weigh and
do not undervalue people's goods because when it
came to them purchasing from others they would
say it's not worth that much we're not
going to pay you full money for that
we're going to give you less but we
want the full amount and so they're both
ways profiting and they're harming others and then
Allah azawajal says and do not cause corruption
upon the earth after it has been set
in order because this is from the greatest
types of corruption when people start to cheat
in their business dealings then dishonesty becomes rampant
people cheating becomes the norm no one trusts
another person or the integrity of their products
or their word or their speech and then
the whole society because all of us need
each other in terms of our inter in
in terms of our dealings we need trades
people we need business people we need people
who are selling products but if all of
these people are being dishonest and then the
people taking their their their services on or
buying from them are also dishonest what does
that become in a society becomes mayhem and
chaotic and that is where every civilization every
society tries to manage this issue of people's
wealth and how they deal with it and
the laws that govern it and what you
can or can't do and what's legal or
not legal and what your rights are and
what your rights are not because otherwise the
whole thing just falls apart and that is
why the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasalam when he
went to the marketplace and he found someone
was selling good food on the top in
the basket of food but when he placed
his hand down at the bottom the food
wasn't very good so he's sending good produce
but when he goes and takes it when
the person says yeah that looks good i
want a kilo of that then they go
and they take it from the bottom of
the basket or the one that's in their
back and it's not the same quality the
prophet said sallallahu alaihi wasallam whoever cheats us
isn't from us it's not the traits of
the muslims that they cheat but rather the
traits of the muslim is that they would
make it clear that it's not the same
or they would give them the best of
what they have or they would be fairer
or they would be extremely uh they would
have a great deal of integrity in the
way that they conduct themselves in their business
dealings the prophet told us sallallahu alaihi wasallam
when two people buy or they have a
transaction between them if the two of them
are truthful and honest they give full clarity
give the full preach give the full picture
in that transaction allah will put barakah in
that transaction because he's honest yeah i know
i'm giving you this but look it's got
this fault here it's got this slight defect
here i may get less for that in
terms of price but i was honest allah
will bless that and then he said but
if they're dishonest and they hide stuff they
conceal stuff allah will take away the blessing
from any transaction that they do this person
has all that money but it's all haram
so their food is haram their clothing is
haram everything they do is haram and they
find only misery as a result of that
wealth as opposed to someone who earns it
in a halal way it may be slightly
less but allah will put blessing in it
in it for you and it will make
that good for you that is what allah
says that that is a type of corruption
upon the earth so be careful of this
in verse 86 allah azawajal then continues that
shuaib said to his people do
not sit in every pathway threatening and barring
those who believe in allah from his way
trying to make it crooked remember how you
used to be few and he made you
multiply think about the fate of those who
used to spread corruption allah azawajal says that
shuaib alaihi salam is saying to the people
of madinah don't sit in the pathways of
the people don't sit there threatening them barring
them from the way of allah azawajal diverting
them from allah's guidance and his message and
again this is one of those tactics that
we saw being played out throughout history and
also in the time of the prophet sallallahu
alaihi wasallam during the quraish used to go
out in public and follow the prophet around
saying don't listen to him he's crazy he's
a liar he's mad wouldn't they sit outside
and openly ridicule him sit by the kaaba
and say you can't come and pray you
can't worship they would publicly show their opposition
to islam and to the truth and to
the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam likewise shuaib is
saying to the people of madinah don't do
this you're stopping people from hearing allah's message
you don't want to believe don't believe but
don't be an obstacle in the path of
others from receiving that message and receiving that
guidance because there is a further harm a
further and higher level of transgression and oppression
these people want to come and believe in
allah or learn about allah azawajal and you
are making their path crooked for them turning
them away diverting them away using your wealth
and your influence to turn them away from
the path of allah azawajal but remember the
many blessings that allah bestowed upon you with
kuru is kuntum qaleel and for katharakum