Aqeel Mahmood – Lessons from Surah AlFil
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Before the coming of the messenger of Allah,
some incidents occurred
which signified the coming of a prophet and
a messenger.
And many of these incidents which occurred
we know of and we've read about them
and we've heard about them. And many of
us
know a particular incident which occurred
which
was revealed in a surah in the Quran.
A surah which many of us recite every
single day.
A surah which
many of us memorize
from a very young age.
Yet
even though we know this surah and we
may even know the we may even know
the story behind this surah,
sometimes we forget
some of the benefits and lessons that we
can take from this from this surah itself.
And this surah, brothers and sisters,
is the surah of Surah Tulfil,
the incident of the elephant.
And this incident which occurred,
it starts even before the incident of the
people of the elephant.
There was once a king
who was an oppressive king
and he was someone who was a polytheist.
And he ordered the killing of 20,000
Christians.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala mentions this story
in the Quran.
That the people of the ditch were killed.
In a fire which had lots of fuel.
In this incident
this massacre which took place
1 individual survived.
1 man survived this massacre
and he fled
to the Roman Empire because the Roman Empire,
they were Christians.
And so he tried to send a message
to the Caesar at the time for help.
When the Caesar heard about this incident and
heard about this man, he ordered a Najashi,
the Najashi of Abyssinia
to find out what happened and to help
this individual and to go after this king
who had massacred these 20,000 Christians. And this
Najashi it said was the father of the
Najashi who lived during the time of the
messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
Even Kathir, he narrates this whole story about
how the ashab will feel, how the companions
of this of the elephant and how this
story came about. And he says that
sent 2 people
into Yemen to find this king.
Abraha who we all know and Ariad another
person.
And they looked for this king. They searched
for this king to bring him to justice
for what he had done. And this king
he fled and it said that he drowned
in the sea.
And now Abraham and Ariad were ruling over
Yemen
but they would have disputes among themselves and
they would always fight one another and there
would be civil war taking place between them.
So one day they agreed
to have a duel, a 1 on 1
duel and whoever wins this duel will take
over and rule the whole of Yemen for
themselves.
And when they had this duel they had
the sea behind them so that neither of
them could escape. Ibn Kathir, he mentions the
story in Ibn Kathir in his book, in
his tafsir of the Surah.
So they had this jewel and Ariad had
the upper hand in this fight in this
duel. And he slashed the face of Abraha
and he cut his nose and he cut
his lip. When Abraha's guard saw what was
happening, he jumped in and he killed Ariad.
And so Abraha became the leader of Yemen.
And Najashi, when he heard this story, when
he heard what had happened, this incident which
took place, he became very angry. And he
threatened
to go to go onto the soil of
Yemen and to kill Abraha himself
and to cut the forelock of Abraha, meaning
to humiliate Abraha because of what he had
done. And Abraha out of fear of and
Najashi, his king,
he sent lots of treasures to the king
and and the king of Najashi the the
the Abyssinian king and Najashi. He sent lots
of treasures and he sent with him the
soil of Yemen and he cut his own
hair.
He humiliated himself and disgraced himself and cut
his own hair and sent that hair to
Anadash.
And he said I have given you
gifts and precious treasures
from Yemen and I've given you the soil
of Yemen and I've even cut off my
own hair for you so you won't even
have to come and attack me and hurt
me. And so when Najashi, when he heard
this he became pleased.
Abraha to please Najashi even more decided to
build a huge church.
Something
which would
be even greater than the Kaaba itself.
And so he built this church which was
known as Al Qulis
and they said it was called Al Qulis
because when the people would look up at
it, because of its huge size people would
look up at this huge building,
this huge wonder.
They would look up at this building and
their caps would fall off from their heads
because of its huge and sheer size.
And you all know the story of what
happened.
It said that a man from the Quraish
came and he was angry because
Abra had built this to compete with the
Kaaba itself and he defecated in the church
itself.
Abra as a result of this became angry.
And so he decided to set up and
mount a huge army to attack the Kaaba
itself. And in this army, ibn Kathir says
that there were 12 elephants
and his intention was to go to the
Kaaba
and use these elephants to demolish the Kaaba
itself
by attaching chains to the Kaaba
and then making the elephants
march away from the Kaaba and make the
hole of the Kaaba crumble
and destroy the Kaaba in this way.
He was making his way
towards Makkah to attack the house of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala and some of the arabs
they tried to fight him without any success.
When they arrived on the outskirts of Makkah,
they captured some camels. They said about 200
camels.
And when they captured these camels,
Abdul Muttalib was called by Abraha
because he was a leader of the Quraysh
and he was a representative of Quraish.
And so Abraha, when he saw Abdul Muttalib
come in, he was impressed by him. It
said that he was someone who was a
large man and he said that he was
someone who was handsome. So Abraha
was impressed by this individual, by his presence.
And when they started to speak, Abraha asked
him what do you want?
What do you want from me? And so
Abdul Mutlarib said to him I want my
200 camels back. So Abraha said to him
I've come here
to attack the house
of your God and when I saw you
come in I was impressed with you.
I was impressed with you with with the
way you were. But now that you've spoken
I've lost my respect for you because I
have come to destroy your house and you're
complaining about the camels. And you all know
what Abdul Muttalib said. He said as for
the camels, then they belong to me. I
am the lord of the camels. And as
for the Kaaba,
then his lord or its lord is going
to deal with it. And so Abra said
to him, nobody is going to be able
to stop me today.
And Abdul Muttalib said we shall see.
Abdul Muttalib, he left
and he ordered the people to leave
the city of Makkah and to flee to
a mountain.
And Abraha, when he got ready to enter
into Makkah and to attack the Kaaba and
to attack
the house of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he got his elephants ready. But the elephants
refused to move.
The elephants
refused to go towards direction of Makkah.
They refused to go towards direction of the
Kaaba itself.
When they would face the elephants towards the
east
or towards the west
or towards the south back towards Yemen they
will start to move.
But when they would be facing towards the
north, towards the Kaaba itself they would refuse
to move.
And the army and the soldiers they would
try many methods to make these elephants move.
They would whip it, they would use their
swords on those elephants, they would use staffs
with hooked edges, with hooked blades to dig
into the elephants, to lift them up, to
make them move. Even then they refused to
move because
they were under the orders of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala. The creator of the camels and
the elephants whom Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala had
refused that they would enter into Makkah and
destroy the Kaaba itself.
And then you all know what happened.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says
Do you not see? Do you not understand?
Do you not Can you not conceive
how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and what Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala did to the companions of
the elephant?
Don't you see? And then Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala make their plot into misguidance.
And he sent upon them
birds in flocks,
flock after flock. Continuously, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
sent birds upon them to attack them.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says
Didn't we didn't we make their plot and
send their plot into misguidance?
The word is used for something
which is done in secret. You know, a
plot is something which not everyone knows about.
Yet Abraha is
going
to Mecca in broad daylight with a huge
army that nobody can miss. So why is
it called a kaid? Why is it called
a plot? Where is the plot here? What's
so secretive about this?
The scholars, they say that
his intentions
were hidden
or some of his intentions were hidden.
And that the real reason that he wanted
to attack the Kaaba
was because
he wanted the trade route to go away
from the city of Makkah and towards Yemen
itself.
So that he would be successful. So that
there would be more money coming into Yemen
itself.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says
and we sent upon them birds in flux.
Says
that the birds that were sent,
they were birds from the sea.
They came from the direction of the sea
and he said that some of them had
the faces of predators. They had the faces
of predators and of lions.
And some of them it said that the
claws were like the claws of predators and
the claws of dogs.
And ibn Kathir says that
each bird had 3 as Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala says
That he
they these birds
these birds, they had stones of clay.
Says that the birds had 3 stones of
clay.
1 in their mouth and 1 each in
the paws.
1 each in the claws
of these birds.
And as a result of this, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala made them like chewed up straw,
like eaten up straw. They were thrown everywhere
on the battlefield.
There was nothing left of them. Some of
them tried to make their way back to
Yemen itself.
When the birds threw those stones, it said
that the wind,
a specific wind was sent down by Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala which increased the speed of
these stones.
And these stones
penetrated
the top of these soldiers and came out
of the other side. And this was the
punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala on these
people who intended evil on the house of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The symbol of Islam.
It said that Abraha was also afflicted
with this
illness,
with this punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And he made he was trying to make
his way back to Yemen, but he died
along the way and his limbs began to
fall off. Just like other soldiers, their limbs
began began to fall off.
And
as he made his way back towards Yemen,
it said that there was nothing left of
him except for the size of a chick,
a small
another say that his heart fell out of
his body.
That's how much the punishment of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala was
on those people who wish to attack the
symbol of Islam, the house of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
We were talking about the incident of the
people of the elephant
and how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala saved
his house,
the Kaaba,
the symbol of Islam from these people who
intended to do harm and to destroy the
Kaaba itself.
And this is a surah
which many of us know and many of
us recite and many of us have maybe
heard this story before. But I wanted to
mention
some lessons
from this surah.
Some practical lessons that we can take from
this surah of the people
of the elephant.
One of the things that the scholars mentioned
about this surah is they say that why
was this surah only mentioned once in the
whole of the Quran?
Such a huge incident.
Such a great incident. And it's only mentioned
once in the whole of this in the
whole of the Quran and specifically in this
surah which is only a few ayat. Only
a small number of ayat.
And the scholars they say the reason for
this is so that the Quraish
won't become arrogant, so that they won't become
proud,
so that they won't have this pride thinking
that they have dishonor, that they have disrespect,
that they were protected
by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and that they
are somehow in the right.
Sometimes
things happen to us. Good things happen to
us.
And we think
or we become
proud of what we have.
We have this pride in our hearts for
the things that we have and we forget
that all things happen
because of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And any
blessing that we've been given, any good thing
that we have, it's only because Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala was gracious enough that he gave
those things to us.
So an individual should always be thankful to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala for the blessing that
he's been given. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
in
if you're grateful for what you have, I
myself will increase you. Also from the lessons
that we can take
from this surah
is
the importance of supplication and the importance of
dua
and the effect of dua.
These people who are living in Mecca,
they made dua. They supplicated.
Abdul Muttalib himself
hung on to the doors of the Kaaba
and he would supplicate.
And he would say my lord this Kaaba
belongs to you and you are the only
one who can protect it.
The messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa sallam
when he was in Makkah, he was praying
by the Kaaba one day. And so some
of the elders of Jahiliya, some of the
elders of Quraish,
they were sitting there and one of them
said, which one of you
is willing to take
and he started to supplicate
against every single one of them who was
in the masjid at the time, who was
by the Kaaba at the time. And he
supplicated against them.
And this was in the city of Makkah.
This was before he was even in Madillah.
10 years later,
those very same people who he made dua
against,
they were killed at the battle of Badr.
10 years later,
the messenger of Allah alaihis salatu wa sallam
had patience when it came to making dua.
He wasn't someone who was impatient.
When one of us supplicates to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, don't be hasty when you're making
dua.
Don't be
hasty expecting a quick response from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
The messenger of Allah, alaihis salatu wa salam,
he said,
you'll be responded to
so long as you don't become hasty.
And you say
I made dua but I wasn't responded to.
When a person
complains after he makes dua, that's one of
the reasons why his dua won't be accepted.
A person when he supplicates to Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala, when he makes dua to Allah
a zawajal, he should have patience. He shouldn't
complain and he should continuously make dua. The
messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam, his
supplication was answered 10 years after he made
that supplication.
And this was the messenger of Allah alaihi
wa sallam, the best of creation.
Yet he had to wait 10 years before
his supplication was going to be answered. Also
from the lessons that we can take from
this surah is that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
will always help you even if nobody else
will help you.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will always help you.
There was no one who could protect the
house of Allah.
No one from the creation who could defend
the house of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Those
who tried, they were killed.
Yet Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala protected the house
of Allah
by sending birds from the sky,
by causing such
a severe punishment on those people who wish
to cause harm to his house.
We should always remember brothers and sisters that
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always there for
us. And we can always replicate to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. And that even if it
feels like nobody else is there to help
us, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is always there.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will never forsake an
individual so long as he has this sincerity
and he has faith in Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Also, this story tells
us that there is ease after hardship.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
Verily after hardship there is ease.
After hardship there is ease. A person will
have 2 E's after hardship.
And you look at this story
and you look at how it started with
something so catastrophic,
with something so violent,
with such a an evil thing which took
place.
A massacre
of 20,000
people.
As Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
that they were only killed because they used
to worship Allah, because they believed in Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Yet out of this incident,
out of this massacre which occurred,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent down one of
the signs which we still remember up till
today.
And as a result of which,
it signified the coming of the messenger of
Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam.
So sometimes
certain things happen.
Things which could which we can't even conceive.
At the time when these people were killed,
20,000,
maybe some people questioned their faith. Why didn't
anything happen?
Why didn't Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala save them?
He plans
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala is the best of planners.
There's no one who's better when it comes
to planning things than Allah
There's no one who is as perfect as
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when it comes to
worldly things.
And so this incident which occurred, even though
it was a massacre, even though it was
something,
you know, which we would think
was disastrous in our eyes,
there was good which came out of it.
And likewise today, brothers and sisters, when we
see things happening around the world,
we have to realize and understand
that there is a plan behind all of
these things
and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala does these
things which sometimes we don't understand.
We don't realize why these things are happening,
But there is some wisdom behind them whether
we understand them, whether we know them or
we don't.
Also from the lessons that we can take
from this Surah brothers and sisters
is the
sacredness
and the status of the Kaaba in Islam.
The fact that the house of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala
wasn't protected by any of the creation,
but it was protected by Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala himself. And this is exactly what Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala intended.
Because he wanted to show the people. He
wanted it to be a lesson for those
who come after. He wanted everyone to realize
the stages of the house of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. The fact that not
only was it saved, but the fact that
it was saved not by the creation
but by the creator himself.
He intended that no creation will be able
to defend it
so that the people will see that when
Allah
sends when he sends birds in flux that
the people will remember, that the people will
realize
the status and the symbolism
and the respect and the prestige that the
Kaaba holds. The fact that Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala is so powerful that he will defend
the Kaaba himself.
And this also shows us brothers and sisters
the power and the might of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala.
It should make a person fear the power
and the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
If Allah can
send a punishment like this
on this earth then we can only begin
to imagine the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala of those who disbelieve in him on
the day of judgment, in the * fire.
And we ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
protect us from his punishment.
So this surah brothers and sisters,
it should give us
lessons that we can take.
It should
tremble the heart when we recite. It should
make us ponder
the power of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
This surah which many of us know, many
of us recite,
maybe after this when we recite it we
can take lessons and we can look at
it from ways which we never even thought
of before.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
that we benefit from the words and from
the
and from the surahs that we recite from
his book.
So so so is Fufakam, straighten your rose.
Straightening the roses from the perfection of the
prayer, so make sure your rose is straight.