Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 183 – Patience And Reliance On Allah

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The importance of following guidance and guidance in Islam is emphasized, along with the need for patience and consistency in facing challenges and struggles. The speaker emphasizes the importance of showing a spiritual strength and not just physical presence. The success of Islam in surprising the enemy and setting people on a course of action is also discussed, along with the difference between promised guarantees and reality. The segment ends with plans for future lessons and plans for future lessons.
AI: Summary ©
I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the
accursed.
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful.
I seek refuge with Allah from Satan the
accursed.
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the
Merciful.
O Believers!
When you meet a force in battle, stand
firm and keep Allah firmly in mind so
that you may prosper.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is still speaking
about the battle of Badr and some of
the lessons, some of the etiquette, some of
the principles that we can derive from this
battle.
And Allah azza wa jal in this verse
and the verses that will follow speaks about
the difference now between the approach of the
believers to that battle as opposed to the
disbelievers.
You had two armies on that day, the
army of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam
and the companions radiallahu anhu wa jama'in
and the armies of Quraysh.
The army of Quraysh with their leaders and
their chieftains and their nobility with their arrogance
and their might and all of the wealth
that they had to show an offer.
And the army of the Muslims that was
relatively speaking poor, relatively speaking not well equipped,
relatively speaking not as well trained perhaps in
battle as was the army of Quraysh.
But Allah azza wa jal isn't focusing on
just the physical or the tangible or the
materialistic things.
But rather Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala wants
to show us the spiritual side, the mindset,
the iman of the believers as opposed to
the thinking and the mindset of the disbelievers.
So here Allah azza wa jal gives us
one of those principles, ya ayyuha allatheena amanu,
O people of iman, O people of belief,
O people who believe in Allah azza wa
jal, idha laqeetum fia, when you meet your
enemy or a force in battle, fathbutu, then
stand firm, meaning be firm, be steadfast, be
patient upon that which Allah azza wa jal
has given to you or placed upon you
at that particular time.
And that is because you believe in the
promise of Allah azza wa jal.
And the people who fight for the sake
of Allah azza wa jal, Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala has given to them one of
two promises.
Either that they will have victory, and so
Allah azza wa jal will give them victory
over their enemies and from that victory they
get the spoils of war and what have
you.
And they therefore return back to their homes
with victory.
Or secondly that they will have martyrdom.
And if they have martyrdom then they have
the rewards that Allah azza wa jal has
promised them in their next life in Jannah.
That is one of the two that Allah
azza wa jal has promised them.
So therefore be firm, be steadfast, be patient
upon what Allah azza wa jal has decreed
for you.
And seek Allah's help, seek the help of
Allah azza wa jal by making dhikr of
Allah, by being mindful of Allah, by mentioning
the name of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And this even though Allah azza wa jal
is speaking about it in the context of
a battle, in the context of what is
the most difficult and perhaps hardest of circumstances.
The principle can be applied elsewhere.
And that is when you're going through trials
or you're going through hardships or there's something
that's taking place where you're finding difficulty, have
patience.
And have the remembrance of Allah azza wa
jal.
And this is a principle that is repeated
in the Quran.
For example in Surah Al-Baqarah we mentioned
that Allah azza wa jal says concerning the
believers, استعينوا بصبر والصلاة.
Seek Allah's help with patience and the prayer.
And the prayer is one of the greatest
forms of the dhikr of Allah azza wa
jal.
Because all the prayer is from the moment
you say Allahu Akbar to the moment you
make the taslim.
It is different forms of remembrance of Allah
azza wa jal.
Dhikr, recitation of the Quran, making dua to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
All of these are forms of dhikr of
Allah azza wa jal.
So likewise Allah azza wa jal is saying
here, when you have patience, when you're steadfast,
because you know what it is that you
believe in and you're willing to stand up
for what you believe in, and then you
remember Allah, you're mindful of Allah, you're making
dhikr of Allah azza wa jal, seeking His
help, لعلكم تفرحون.
Then you will be the people who will
prosper.
And Allah azza wa jal will give you
prosperity, will give you success.
And so from one of the greatest ways
of overcoming challenges and hardships and difficulties and
trials is to have patience and steadfastness and
to make the dhikr of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
And that is because the dhikr of Allah
azza wa jal gives to you internal spiritual
strength.
You see there is physical strength, and this
is what the Quraysh and the disbelieving army
was focusing on, the weapons and the people
and the horses and the armor, and that's
what they're focusing on.
Allah azza wa jal is saying to the
believers, you may not have that at your
disposal, but you have something which is a
weapon far greater, far more potent, far more
effective than that which the Quraysh had or
has.
And that is that your weapon is the
weapon of dhikr, of spiritual strength.
So you make dhikr of Allah azza wa
jal.
And when you make dhikr of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, it gives to you a
strength that will allow you to come closer
or to...
And we will see examples of this, for
example, when we come to the story of
the people of Hud a.s., the people
of Ad, that Allah azza wa jal mentions
in Surah Hud, that Allah subhanahu wa ta
'ala speaks about dhikr in this way, that
it gives you strength, allows you to worship
Allah azza wa jal.
And that is why you often see, for
example, in your masjid maybe, you will see,
for example, an elderly person, someone who is
maybe in their 70s or 80s, who doesn't
have very much physical strength.
Maybe they're not as strong as they once
used to be.
They're struggling with certain conditions and health issues.
But when it comes to sitting down for
an hour or two, they can sit down
for two hours and read Qur'an.
They can stand and pray and read all
of Taraweeh for an hour, an hour and
a half, and not have a problem.
They can have long times that are dedicated
to worship, and they have the stamina to
do so.
And you have at the same time someone
who's in their 20s or their 30s, much
younger, goes to the gym, works out, benches
and presses, and has all of that physical
strength, but after two rakahs of Taraweeh, they're
out.
They find it difficult, they're fidgeting, they can't
stand.
They finally ask them to read Qur'an
after a page or two, they just don't
have any more stamina left.
They just feel they can't carry on, they
feel like they can't continue.
The difference is that it's not always physical
strength that Islam is speaking about, but also
there is a spiritual strength, and that spiritual
strength is taken by the worship of Allah
azza wa jal, by ibadah, by dhikr, by
recitation of the Qur'an, by those things
that are pleasing to Allah azza wa jal.
And so this is something which Allah azza
wa jal is telling, commanding the believers also
to bear in mind.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then continues in
verse 46 وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَلَا تَنَازَعُوا فَتَفْشَلُوا
وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُمْ وَاسْبِيرُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الصَّابِرِينَ and
obey Allah and His Messenger and do not
quarrel with one another or you may lose
heart and your spirit may desert you.
But be steadfast or patient for Allah is
with those who are patient.
And then Allah azza wa jal gives this
command also to the believers, and that is
that they should obey Allah and they should
obey His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa sallam.
You want to overcome difficulty, you have a
problem in your family, in your marriage, with
your children, in your business, then be steadfast,
make dhikr of Allah azza wa jal and
obey Allah and His Messenger sallallahu alayhi wa
sallam, meaning stick to the halal and stay
away from the haram.
What does Allah want from you?
What does Allah command you to do especially
in that circumstance?
What did the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
enjoin upon you?
What did he advise?
What are the etiquettes that you should maintain?
That is what you should do.
وَلَا تَنَازَعُوا and do not quarrel with one
another, especially if there is a group of
you.
And you need to have unity because you
are facing opponents or an enemy, like for
example in the battlefield.
وَلَا تَنَازَعُوا do not quarrel with one another.
And you shouldn't need to quarrel if there
is leadership amongst you.
So the father is the leader of the
house, the husband is the leader of the
marriage, the ruler is the leader of the
Muslims.
These people are placed in that position of
authority, don't openly rebel or disunite from them.
Because if you do so, فَتَفْشَلُ you will
lose heart.
وَتَذْهَبَ رِيحُكُم and your spirit will desert you.
But if you maintain the correct etiquettes and
the correct rulings, so long as that person
is a commanding haram, they are not telling
you to disobey Allah, they are not telling
you to do something which is against the
Sharia, then you should listen to them and
obey them with an intention of keeping unity
amongst you and staying away from discord and
disunity.
That doesn't mean that you can't advise, doesn't
mean that you can't give people advice.
Even in the battle of Badr, the companions
advised the Prophet ﷺ.
The Prophet ﷺ came to the battle of
Badr and he chose a place and he
said, we're going to camp here.
One of the companions said, O Messenger of
Allah, is that a revelation from Allah?
If that's Allah's command then so be it,
we'll do what Allah tells us.
Or is that just something which you think,
O Messenger of Allah, you think it's a
good place, but it's open to other people's
suggestions.
The Prophet ﷺ said, no, it's just my
opinion.
Meaning someone else may have a better idea
and so there's a distinction.
Allah says something, the Prophet ﷺ commands something,
there's no space there for us to argue
or to debate or to try to know.
But where it's people's positions and their opinions,
then they should accept advice and people should
be willing to give advice.
He said, O Messenger of Allah, I think
it's better for us to take the watering
hole.
Let's go and make sure there's no other
watering holes, then we take the biggest one,
we keep that for ourselves.
So when the Quraish come, they don't have
access to water because the army, horses, people,
they need water in order to survive, especially
in the midst of a battle.
The Prophet ﷺ approved of his suggestion and
he took up his advice.
So there is unity, there is leadership, and
when you have that, then that is when
there is also success.
Wasbiru and be patient.
Allah is with those who are patient.
In verse 47, Allah speaks about the mindset
of the disbelievers, how not to be.
Allah says, وَلَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ خَرَجُوا مِنْ ذِيَارِهِمْ
بَطَرًا وَرِآءَ النَّاسِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ
بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ مُحِيطًا And do not be like
those who came out of their homes full
of conceit, showing off to people and barring
others from the way of Allah, for Allah
has full knowledge of all that they do.
Don't be like those people.
Don't be like the people of kibur, the
people of arrogance, the people of conceit, meaning
the people of Quraysh.
Why did the Quraysh come out?
Even when Abu Sufyan said to them, your
wealth is safe, I've managed to evade the
Muslims, it's okay, you can stay home, stay
in Mecca.
Why did they refuse?
Why did they insist on going out?
Because they were dying for an excuse.
They were looking for their opportunity to once
and for all defeat the Muslims and destroy
them.
And they went out with all of their
pomp and all of their ceremony, thinking that
no one can best them, no one can
overcome them.
These were our slaves.
These were the poor people in Mecca.
These were the people that we used to
look down upon.
These were the people that were the lowest
of our society.
And they think that they can face us
on a battlefield, fight us and kill us,
and we're the chieftains and the nobility and
the wealthy and so on.
So they came out full of conceit, batara,
waria and nas, and to show off to
the people, meaning to all of the Arabs
around them, that they should fear them also,
because the Arabs used to put the Quraysh
on a pedestal, they used to honor them,
because they were the custodians of the Kaaba,
they were the inhabitants of Mecca, they were
the people who used to look after the
pilgrims, and rightly so, they gave to them
a certain station, but it made them also
want to show off to the Quraysh, that
these people who are now saying, how can
the Quraysh not even keep their own house
in order, the Prophet shallallahu alaihi wasallam is
from them, Abu Bakr is from them, Umar
is from them, everyone splitting up in Mecca,
they can't even deal with their own people,
they want to show off and show to
them their power.
وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ And they also do
so, because they want people to stay away
from the path of Allah.
So rather the believer should be the opposite
of this.
What is the opposite of this?
The believer should be humble, they should have
humility before Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they
should be sincere, only wanting to please Allah
azza wa jal, not to show off to
others.
And they should be people who want to
bring people closer to the path of Allah,
as opposed to ward them away.
And that shows to you, Jihad is not
an end in and of itself, it is
a means to a greater end.
It's not just about the killing and the
fighting and the spoils of war.
Unfortunately some people have made it into today
that you just kill innocent people and kill
without any recourse or any type of justification
and you go and just...
This isn't the way that Jihad is performed.
There is a reason why Jihad was legislated.
And there are etiquettes and rulings and principles
that govern it.
And when people take it out of that
correct context and then use it in a
way that is incorrect, it causes harm to
the Muslims.
It causes harm to the reputation of the
Muslims.
It causes harm to the way people view
Islam and the religion of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
It distances people from the religion of Allah
azza wa jal.
And so we have to be people that
understand our religion.
Yes, Jihad is part of our religion, but
it has its place, and it has its
context, and it has its principles that govern
it.
So be people who bring others closer to
Allah, not people who ward them away from
Allah azza wa jal.
But this is the way that the Quraish
came out.
So look at the difference between the two
mindsets.
The believers coming out to worship Allah, to
please Allah, to be patient, to remember Allah
azza wa jal, to obey Allah and His
Messenger sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
And the Quraish are coming out to do
what?
To show off, arrogance, conceit, pride, to ward
people off from the path of Allah azza
wa jal.
And Allah azza wa jal knows exactly that
which is that which they intend and that
which they do.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then says in
verse 48, وَإِذْ زَيَّنَ لَهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ وَقَالَ
لَا غَالِبَ لَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَإِنِّي جَارٌ
لَكُمْ فَلَمَّا تَرَأَتِ الْفِئَتَانِ نَكَصَ عَلَىٰ عَقِبَيْهِ وَقَالَ
إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ
مِّنكُمْ إِنِّي أَرَى فَلَمَا لَا تَرَوْنَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ
اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ شَدِيدٌ عِقَابًا And Shaytan made their
foul deeds seem fair to them, and said,
No one will conquer you today, for I
will be right beside you.
But when the armies came within sight of
one another, he turned on his heels, saying,
This is where I leave you, I see
what you do not see, and I fear
Allah, for Allah is severe in His punishment.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, And Shaytan
came to the disbelievers, the Quraysh, on that
day.
And this is the other thing, because the
mindset of the Muslims is what?
Remember Allah, be with Allah, ask for Allah's
help.
And those who are not with Allah must
therefore be with Shaytan.
So Shaytan came to the people of Quraysh
on that day, and he said, لَا غَالِبَ
لَكُمُ الْيَوْمَ مِنَ النَّاسِ No one will overcome
you on this day.
No one can conquer you, because you have
the numbers, you have the weapons, you have
all of the military prowess that you need,
no one can come and stand before you.
So he came to them, and in some
narrations it is said that he came to
them in the form of a man.
And he was urging them on, and motivating
them, and inspiring them, and encouraging them to
go, because some of them were unsure, some
of them were in two minds, some of
them were like, Do we really need to
go and fight?
Do we need to go and put ourselves
out there?
Do we need to go?
And he was like, You have to, because
it's embarrassing.
You have to, because look at this, you
have to look at your numbers.
It's going to be in itself a cause
of shame.
When the Arabs realized that there was a
battle, and you stayed home.
That there was a chance to fight, and
you refused to do so.
And I will be right beside you.
It is said that the people of Quraysh,
there was a tribe that they had some
discord, some problem with.
And so many of the Quraysh feared that
if they were to leave Mecca, because all
of Quraysh was going to go and fight
the Muslims, meaning all of the men, and
all of the leaders and so on, the
only people left behind are the elderly, and
the women, and the children, and the weak.
If we all leave, then the other tribe
that we have problems with, may take that
opportunity to come and strike us, and to
attack us.
And that's something which was common.
A tribe leaves, and another tribe takes advantage
of that situation.
That's how tribal warfare works.
So some of them were hesitant in that
regard.
It is said that the leader of that
tribe, that they had problems with, was a
man by the name of Suraqah ibn Malik.
Some narrations it is said, that Shaytan came
in the form of this man, Suraqah ibn
Malik.
And he said, No one will conquer you
today.
I will be with you.
Meaning to give you assurances, that my people
will attack you.
If the leader of the tribe is with
you, and he is accompanying you, and so
on, then his people are going to betray
him, and come and attack you, whilst he
is giving you the assurances to the opposite.
And so they were happy with this assurance.
And they felt that this was the right
course of action, and so they set out
for the battle of Badr.
Allah Azza wa Jalla says though, What is
the difference between the promise of Allah?
Allah gave the believers a promise, and look
at the way that it turned out, in
the victory that Allah gave to them.
And Shaytan gave to the Quraysh a promise.
What happened?
فَلَمَّا تَرَأَتِ الْفِئَةَانِ And when the two enemies
came, faced one another, came within sight of
one another, نَكَسَ عَلَىٰ أَقِيبَي He fled and
turned away on his heels.
He ran away.
Why?
Because Shaytan, because he is Shaytan, he is
not really that man, Shaytan, he saw what
they couldn't see.
What did he see?
He saw as Allah Azza wa Jalla mentions,
the thousands of angels that Allah sent as
armies to help the Muslims and assist them.
And that's why he ran away and he
said, إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّنكُمْ I am free of
you.
I leave you.
I absolve myself of you.
My assurances mean nothing.
My promises are false, they mean nothing.
إِنِّي أَرَى مَا لَا تَرَونُ For I can
see that which you do not see, meaning
I can see what Allah has sent down
of His angels who are coming ready to
fight and to kill.
And Shaytan in essence knows the power of
Allah, is afraid of Allah Azza wa Jalla,
doesn't have the ability to withstand the power
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, and the
might of Allah Azza wa Jalla.
And that is why when Allah Azza wa
Jalla is mentioned, and His name is mentioned,
and Allah is remembered, Shaytan has no power.
And he says, إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهُ For I
truly fear Allah.
وَاللَّهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابُ Meaning, I fear Allah in
the sense that Allah will punish me, just
as He is going to kill a number
of people on the Day of Badr.
I fear that Allah may kill me on
this day, or may also cause my destruction
on this day.
So he fled from the battlefield.
وَاللَّهُ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابُ And Allah is severe in
His punishment.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then says, in
the final verse that we'll take in today's
episode, إِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ
غَرَّ هَأُولَٰئِ دِينُهُمْ وَمَنْ يَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ فَإِنَّ
اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ The hypocrites and those who
have sickness in their hearts said, these people,
meaning the believers, must be deluded by their
religion.
But if anyone puts his trust in Allah,
Allah is Almighty and All-Wise.
And here Allah Azza wa Jalla mentions now
also the hypocrites who are the third component
here.
And they were the ones who are always
discouraging the Muslims, always trying to cause discord
and disunity amongst them.
إِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ When
the hypocrites and those who have sicknesses, diseases,
illnesses in their hearts, they said, why?
What is their disease?
They have doubt in Allah Azza wa Jalla.
They don't really believe in Allah Azza wa
Jalla, the Prophet ﷺ.
They doubt in the promises of Allah Azza
wa Jalla.
They have no certainty in what Allah Azza
wa Jalla said in the Qur'an or
what the Prophet ﷺ said to us.
And so what do they say?
غَرَّهَا أُولَٰئِ دِينُهُمْ These people are deluded by
their religion, meaning the believers, they're deluded, they're
crazy.
They want to go and fight the Quraysh.
The Quraysh are going to be bigger in
number, better equipped, with better armor, with cavalry.
And they want to go and fight them.
Why?
Just because of this religion that they're saying,
this belief that they're saying, this thing that
they consider to be correct.
These people are crazy.
Why would you go?
Again, because the Munafiqun, what do they only
look at?
They only look at what is apparent.
They only see numbers.
They only see armor.
They only see weapons.
They only see what is tangible.
But Allah Azza wa Jalla is saying that
the difference between the believers and the disbelievers
is that yes, the believers also take their
precautions, they also look at what is tangible,
they also take what is the physical, practical
means, but at the same time they have
Iman in Allah, belief in Allah, trust in
Allah, hope in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And that is the difference between these two
people, these two groups of people.
And so they said, these people, these people
are being deluded by their religion that they're
willing to sacrifice their lives and their wealth,
even though they're most likely going to lose
because the odds are against them.
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
but the difference is, the believers trust in
Allah, they believe in Allah, they have certainty
about the promise of Allah Azza wa Jalla,
and they hold on to the words of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, then Allah Azza
wa Jalla is almighty, and he is all
wise, and that is why the believers Allah
Azza wa Jalla gave to them on the
day of Badr, this amazing manifest victory on
that day.
And inshallah ta'ala we will come to
the end of today's episode here, but we
will continue inshallah in the next episode with
further lessons as Allah Azza wa Jalla continues
to speak about the different things that took
place on the day of Badr.
We ask Allah Azza wa Jalla that he
makes us from those people who when we
read the verses of the Quran and we
study their lessons that we benefit from them.