Aqeel Mahmood – Tafseer of Surah alAla Part 3
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AI: Transcript ©
So inshallah,
we're gonna be continuing with the tafsir of
Surah Al A'la.
And,
last week,
we or the week before, we covered
the name of Allah
at the beginning of this surah, which is,
at the beginning of this surah, which is,
at the beginning of this surah, which is,
which is, which is?
What's the name of Allah at the beginning
of this surah in the first aya?
Al-'ala.
So we talked about Al-'ala
and the class before we actually
discussed and went through the second aya of
this surah. So we've done the first 2
ayah and Insha'Allah we're gonna
speed things up a little bit Insha'Allah and
try to do half of the surah today.
So we mentioned last week and previously,
the last lesson and the previous lesson as
well,
how Allah
praises himself and also calls himself the Most
High. And also we talked about the 2nd
Ayah where Allah
he says
the one who has created
and then proportioned. And we said
creating
something and
proportioning something, designing something. There's a subtle difference
between the two because you can create something,
but in terms of the details, that's something
more specific, that's something slightly different, that's something
separate. So Allah not only did he create
everything, but he also
created
everything in immense detail. And
as Allah he says,
And in your own selves, don't you ponder,
don't you reflect and think about your own
selves, the creation of the human being itself,
and how this in and of itself is
a sign of Allah's
creation and also his proportioning and his design.
Allah
in the 3rd aya,
again, he's going through
his highness. So these are examples of his
highness, how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is far
greater
and,
better
and, the most perfect as opposed to the
creation which isn't perfect.
And from those ways that he is the
most high
and he has this name of Al A'la
or Ulu.
How Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is high and
perfect in every every sense of the word.
One of those ways also
is as Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says in
the next ayah,
And he is the one or he is,
the one who has measured.
And the one who has measured
fahada
and then guided. And Mujahid, one of the
famous tabi'in,
Rahima'ullah, and we did a lecture about Mujahid
himself, Rahima'ullah, the life of Mujahid ibn Jabbar,
the famous,
scholar from the Tabi'in.
We talked about his, his life.
When he talks about this specific ayah, he
says,
this means that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala guided
man
to distress
and happiness,
and he guided,
the cattle to their pastures.
So this ayah,
is similar to the ayah of Musa alaihi
salam when he was confronting and talking to
Firaun. And he said he spoke to Firaun,
and Firaun was asking him and having this
conversation about who is your lord? Tell me
about your lord because I only know one
lord. That's me. I am the the lord.
People should only be worshipping me and directing
their
towards me. So Musa alaihi salami said,
That our lord is the one who gave
each thing
gave each thing its form and its nature.
Meaning, he created everything in a specific way.
And then he guided it aright, meaning he
guided it to its correct path. Meaning Allah
has set a measure,
meaning he's given everything a specific proportion, a
specific,
he's designed and created things in a specific
way, and then he's guided the creation to
it.
So for example, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala the
messenger of Allah sallallahu wa sallam when he
talks in,
in Sahih Muslim
on the.
He says
that Allah
ordained the measure of all creation.
Before it was created,
before the creation of the heavens and the
earth were created, 50000 years.
Meaning Allah,
ordained
everything that was gonna be created and how
it was gonna be created. Everything to do
with the dunya and things that we see,
things that we don't see, the earth, the
galaxy,
the unseen,
everything which was going to happen,
everything which was going to take place, anything
which was ever going to happen was measured
and ordained by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
50,000 years before he created the heavens and
the earth.
And his
and
his his his throne was above,
the water was over the water. So in
this ayah, where Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala talks
about things which he has measured
and then things he has guided,
we can understand from this ayah
the importance and the benefit of
how
we should appreciate
everything that we see around us from the
creation of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You know,
there's so many things we see,
when we're driving to work, when we come
to the Masjid, things that we see in
our own homes, in our families, our children,
you know, in in our even our own
selves that we should,
appreciate
and many times we tend to neglect.
And also how Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, has,
blessed us with so many blessings that is
something which we can't even count, we can't
even enumerate.
And then
Allah, he says,
And he who brings out the pasture,
meaning he who brings out the vegetation
and the crops from the earth. So,
again, from the blessings of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, from the power of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, from the reason why he's Al A'la,
the most high, as he mentions himself in
the first aya, is because of his ability
and the his from his mercy that he
brings out vegetation and crops and fruits from
the earth itself for us to benefit from.
And again, this shows us the highness of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And at the same
time, just as Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala brings
it out of the earth and we benefit
from it, at the same time Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala is able to destroy it and
able to get rid of it just as
he was able to bring it in the
first place. And this is why Allah says
in the next ayah,
So just as Allah
brought out vegetation,
Likewise,
and then he makes it dark stubble.
Meaning it's something black, it's dried up, it's
altered. So ibn Abbas
he said what this means is that it
becomes dried up and altered.
So you have fruit which is out, subhanallah,
for,
you know, a number of days. A week
goes by, and the food goes bad. The
fruit goes bad. Vegetables, similar thing. You know,
you can't leave vegetables out for too long.
Otherwise, it goes bad. And so this is
from the blessings of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
and it shows
the appreciation which we should have with regards
to these types of blessings. And if you
imagine, for example, that fruits and vegetables went
on forever, and they never ever run out
or they never ever dried up, they never
ever went bad.
Okay? We wouldn't appreciate
the blessing of fruits and vegetables and crops
and food from this earth as much
because it's something we we would take for
granted. If you always had food in the
home, it never ever went bad. We wouldn't
appreciate these blessings as much. When they go
bad and they go off, we appreciate Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala's blessings even more. And this
is why, you know,
we've said before, you know, when you don't
have something
or you you only appreciate something when you
lose it. Once you lose something,
that's when you really and truly appreciate certain
things. And this is what Allah
is talking about the different vegetation. You know,
you you only have to begin to imagine
the types of fruits and vegetables that we
have at our disposal from the stores and
from the shops and supermarkets and groceries.
And even then,
we don't have access, and we don't we're
not accustomed to having certain fruits or vegetables
that may be the norm in other parts
of the world.
And fruits and vegetables can take on different
types of flavors and tastes and and the
way they look and the way they feel
and their textures and so on and so
forth. So even this specific detail
and this specific thing which Allah Azzawajal is
talking about
should really make us appreciate the blessings of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala with regards to his
creation.
And then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he says,
Allah
says, we shall make you recite
so you shall not forget it.
So, obviously, he's talking to her,
the messenger of Allah Subhanahu Wa Salam. He's
saying we're going to make you recite. We
are going to recite to you. You're going
to recite, and we are going to be
the ones who will make you recite
so you won't forget it. You're not gonna
forget what we're going to give to you
from the Quran, from the book of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Now at the beginning, Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is talking about the blessings
of Allah.
He's talking about his highness. He's talking about
the the vegetation. He's talking about how Allah
has created everything, proportioned everything.
And he guided everything, meaning to a certain
way, to be in a certain way, to
act in a certain way. Certain things were
decreed to be, you know, a certain way
or be in a certain place at a
certain time. So all of these things are
blessings from Allah.
And at the same time here, it's like
as if the whole dynamics of the Surah
of the Surah itself has changed. Meaning Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala now he sings,
Meaning we're gonna read the Surah, the Quran
to you. You're going to read the Quran
and we're not you're not gonna forget the
Quran.
We are going to make you recite. We
shall make you recite it and you won't
forget it. So what's the link between these
two parts of of the Surah?
Allah
in the first few ayaat, he's talking about
his perfection.
He's talking about the the in numerous blessings
or some of the things from the in
numerous blessings which he has blessed us within
this dunya.
And on top of these blessings of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
is the fact that, oh, Muhammad, we are
going to give you a Quran
and
look at the things which we've blessed you
with other than the Quran
which you have. What makes you think you're
going to forget the book of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala after seeing and knowing Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala is the creator of all things,
and he brings things to life from the
ground, and he causes things to become destroyed
if he wishes.
Meaning this book which we're going to give
you, this Quran which we're going to give
you and you're going we're going to make
you recite, you won't forget it. So Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala after talking about his blessings,
after talking about the things which he has
blessed,
us as the children of Adam alaihi salam
on this earth with,
he talks about how
this blessing of the Quran is something which
you won't ever forget
because it's another blessing from Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, the most high.
And also what's interesting is how Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala uses Al A'la,
how he is the most high and
the Quran is something which descends down
and SubhanAllah we don't know the distance.
We don't know the distance between Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala and this earth. But no doubt
it's something which is huge if you consider,
you know, certain things about the distance between
the heavens and the earth. We know for
example, the size of the angels.
Some narrations mentioned that,
one of the sizes of of of one
of the angels,
the distance between the earlobe and the shoulder
is 60 years travel.
So that's just between here and here. You
know, it's like, not even
a fraction of a second in, you know,
in, in in in our life with with
us as human beings, you know, between our
earlobe and the shoulder. So it just goes
straight. If that's an angel, then the distance
between the heavens and the earth is something
or between the between the between the earth
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is something be
which we can't even begin to imagine.
Now the point being, Allah
Allah is Alaa'ala. He is the most highest,
nothing above Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. And he's
sending that down this Quran to the messenger
of Allah
in an instant
directly.
There's no cut.
There's no, you know, lag with regards to
the message
going to the messenger of Allah Alaihi Salam,
through the angel Jibril Alaihi Salam.
And, you know, sometimes in some instances,
a certain question would be asked to the
messenger of Allah Alaihi Salam. Or an incident
would take place. And as soon as a
question was asked, for example,
the revelation would come down to the messenger
of Allah and
he would respond there and then on the
spot.
So
it really shows us the power and the
majesty of Allah and how
he's able to
respond to the the the the questions
of, of his slaves in an instant without
any type of delay.
We shall make you recite
so that you won't forget it. Informing the
messenger of Allah, alaihi salatu wa sallam,
that he is the one who is going
to teach him a recitation that he's never
going to forget. He's not going to have
trouble memorizing it or understanding it or preserving
it. And again,
this shows us also as Allah says in
the next ayah,
accept what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala may will.
Accept whatever Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala wishes for
you to forget, then you're going to forget.
Qatada,
Rahimahullah,
he said that the messenger of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala did not forget anything except whatever
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will. Meaning this is
the meaning of this specific ayah.
And one of the lessons we can learn
from this, especially those of us who are
learning Quran or memorizing Quran or trying to
understand the Quran, and we're in the process
of, you know, improving our recitation or memorization
of the Quran.
One of the lessons we can learn from
this is that
memorization is something which is from Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala
before anything else.
So
before, for example,
the specific teacher you may have, or the
amount of time that you put in, or
how many times you repeat whatever you're going
to do, or even the technique in which
you recite and memorize the Quran. Everyone has
a different technique, how they memorize Quran. We
read the page over and over again, read
an ayah, so on and so forth.
These things no doubt are important.
How to memorize the Quran,
techniques which are used to memorize and understand
the Quran,
you know, reading and learning the tafsir or
the meaning of the Quran
before memorizing the Quran in the Arabic language
in its original form. These all of these
things are important, and no doubt they they
they, have an effect on one's memorization.
But at the end of the day,
we are the ones who are going to
make you recite so that you won't forget
it. Meaning at the end of the day,
after all of these things, it's the decree
and will of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and
the might and the majesty and the power
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
which ultimately causes us to
memorize the Quran.
And this is why it's so important when
we memorize Quran, and in fact, when we
do any act of worship
that the goal should always be pleasing the
most high, pleasing Al A'la, Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
Even with regards to memorizing Quran.
Because ultimately, when one has this intention of
pleasing Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, everything else will
be made easy.
And this is why, for example, the same
can be said for, you know, people who
want to learn Arabic or things like this.
The goal should always be to please Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. You know, sometimes I hear,
brothers who ask me and advise me, they
want advice on what's the best book to
memorize Arabic from or to learn Arabic from.
And, of course, there's many books out there.
But really at the end of the day,
ultimately,
it doesn't really matter which book specifically you
use to learn Arabic.
Because at the end of the day, first
of all, each and every single one of
us is different with regards to how we
learn. Some of us learn by seeing things,
some of us learn by repetition, some of
us learn by, you know, hearing certain things
or writing or reading. Everyone has their own
technique.
But at the end of the day, the
goal and the objective every of every single
Arabic book, every every single Arabic textbook is
what up so that a person at the
end of it will learn
the Arabic language. So again, it goes back
to an individual
knowing his goal. What's his ultimate goal? What's
the objective? What's the end result? Whether you
do it from a specific book, whether you
do it through a teacher, whether you go
to a college, or even you do it
in university, for example.
The goal at the end of the day
is still the same. You don't have to
use a specific book. And sometimes, subhanallah,
you know, one of the traps of the
shaitan
is, that a person spends too much time
looking at how to memorize something or how
to learn something,
and he ends up not learning anything for
a period of time.
So, you know, months will go by, years
will go by, and you're still considering and
thinking about how to memorize and how to
do certain things, how to seek knowledge. Any
person, for example, will start to think, should
I go online and memorize Quran within Arabic?
Should I go to a teacher? Should I
do a book by myself? Should I find
somebody else? Should I go on Skype? Should
I do this? Should I do that? And
he doesn't actually end up learning anything over
a long period of time. And this is,
of course, from the tricks of the shaytan
because ultimately, over that period of time, you
haven't benefited. You haven't learned anything.
And the same can be said for other
things. For example, Ibn Josi,
one of the famous scholars,
of the past,
he wrote a book about the devil's deception,
tricks of the shaytan. And from the dev
from the deceptions of the shaytan
is that an individual
ends up becoming involved in,
listening to what other people have said and
beating himself in refuting other people.
And he basically spends all his time and
energy into refutations
and talking about what other individuals have said.
To the extent that he doesn't focus on
his own
nurturing,
you know, feeding his own soul because he's
so concerned and obsessed with what other individuals
are saying. No doubt there are certain situations
where a person has to refute another individual
because of his, you know, his false beliefs.
But
sometimes or in most cases, a person ultimately
should be focusing on himself and his own
iman and nurturing his own soul. His soul
needs feeding.
And that that soul won't be fed by,
you know, refuting other individuals. It's by performing
and perfecting one's ibadah and, you know, having
his relationship and connection with Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala closer.
So going back to this ayah,
we are going to recite to you. We
will make you recite
so that you won't forget, so you shall
so so you shall not forget.
Except for whatever Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala wills,
shows us that ultimately we have to put
our trust in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala whenever
we memorize in the book of Allah, azza
wa jal. Whenever we memorize the Quran, our
goal should be to please Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. He is the one who makes us
memorize and he is the one who causes
us to forget. And when we forget something
from the Quran, there's a reason behind it.
And there's a famous story of Imam Shafi'i
when
he complained in this famous poem that he
also wrote.
He said,
I complained to Waki
about my poor heft. And my my scholar,
Waki, the famous, scholar and teacher,
he said this is due to a sin
which you had committed in the past.
Meaning, you just commit the sin, and that's
why you're having difficulty memorize, memorizing and your
memory isn't as good as it was. So
he said, I thought about what he said
and I thought about maybe some sins which
I committed.
And I remembered one of the days I
saw
a woman's dress lift up, and I saw
the heel of her foot.
So that was his sin. That's what he
thought was basically and, subhanallah, compare this to
today and, you know, what we see around
us. So as a result of this, his
his memory became weak,
The point being that one's memory can be
affected
by the actions that he commits on a
day to day basis, his sins, the things
that a person does. So these are the
types of things which cause one's hifth, to
become weak.
At the same time,
every single individual, as we mentioned, like even
Imam Shafi'i Rahimahullah,
his memory was so strong. He would have
to cover one page,
while reading the other because he would sometimes
mix the pages up, and he would memorize
the 2nd page before the first page. So
he had photographic memory. He would read it
once and he would know it straight away.
So certain people are blessed like this. Certain
people have this blessing of having very good
memory. People even we know. Maybe we have
brothers and sisters or children.
So one of them is strong in his
memory, the other one isn't as strong. He's
weaker.
Or we have brothers and sisters, some of
them are strong in their hift, and others
forget everything.
You know, the it goes into one ear
and out the other. So even with regards
to individuals,
their strength of memory can differ from person
to person.
And so
you have one level where an individual's
memory
can differ.
Everyone's level of memorization and quality of memorization
can differ from person to person. And the
second level is the effort that a person
has to make
to memorize,
to preserve whatever he's memorized.
And again, as I as I mentioned, this
goes back to the
the the power and the might and the
decree of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and the
blessing of Allah to certain,
people from the children of Adam alayhis salaam.
As Allah
says accept whatever Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala rules
that you may forget.
And some of the scholars they said when
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says,
we are going to make you recite
so you shall not forget.
What this actually means or this ayah in
of itself,
they said
that
this
aya meant do not forget
what we teach you to recite.
We are going to make you recite
so that you don't forget.
Others they said this ayah, it means we
are going to make you recite
meaning so don't forget whatever we're going to
give you from the book of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala because
when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives something gives
the Quran to someone, it's an Amanah. It's
a blessing from Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. It's
a greatest gift anyone could have because it's
a speech of Allah. So it's a responsibility
upon an individual
to take care of this gift and this
and this trust and this, this this blessing
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
So you see how the meaning can change.
We are going to get make you read
it
so you won't forget it.
Or we are going to make we are
going to make you read it
so don't forget what we're going to give
you. And so the whole idea
in the second meaning is that a person
is careful about what he's been given,
and he's not he's not careless with regards
to what is memorized.
And this is why in the past, ibn
Umar,
it said it took him 8 years to
memorize Surah Al Baqarah.
8 years to memorize
Surah Baqarah.
And it wasn't because, obviously, he was weak
in his heft. He had trouble memorizing,
but it was because in those days when
they would memorize,
because it was something so serious, it wasn't
an issue of I've started this Surah and
I will have to finish it.
But it was more about taking their time,
understanding an ayah,
understanding the meaning of the ayah,
the rulings,
from
this ayah which they'd arrive, and acting upon
the ayah
on top of the memorization,
and then moving on to the next ayah.
So it was it was a process. It
was it wasn't just an issue of just
memorizing and memorizing and continuing until one memorizes
the whole Quran. But it's just like an
individual who has books on his head, he's
not benefiting from them.
It's an issue
of really contemplating
and
that aya in of itself
benefits him.
It's benefiting others because of the way he
behaves and the way he acts now that
he knows his ayah,
and he's rewarded for reciting it in the
best possible way.
And so the whole concept and the idea
of memorizing in the past was different.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala then says,
Verily he knows
what is apparent
and he knows what is hidden.
When a person memorizes Quran, Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala knows the intention of why he's memorizing
Quran.
His goal and his purpose. And this is
why the famous hadith of the messenger of
Allah SWAWSALAM
when he said that the 3 the first
three who will enter into hellfire.
Who will be the first re entering into
hellfire?
The one who would give charity.
The one who would the one who died
fighting,
jihad. And the third one, the one who
used to recite Quran.
And so,
they will come in front of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala, and he will say, why did
you recite Quran? What did you do in
your in your in your life when you
were living on this earth? And he will
say, Quran.
I used to recite Quran for you, oh
Allah.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala will say, you've
lied, rather you read Quran so people could
say he has a beautiful voice.
And some people said this. And so he'll
be dragged on his face until he be
until he'll be thrown into the hellfire.
So the intention of again, as I mentioned
before, it's important for us to know
why and the purpose of why we recite
in the book of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Verily Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, he knows what
is apparent and he knows what's hidden. He
knows
the creatures
that he's created
openly
and also what's hidden from amongst them.
And, you know, sometimes you see an individual
and he'll behave a certain way, but inside
he'll be feeling something else.
And Allah
knows the outward appearance of how we behave
with others, but he also knows how we
feel and what we think
and the way we've
in the way we feel inside our hearts
even though we don't express it outwardly.
Because Allah
knows all things. He knows what's apparent, and
he also knows what's hidden. He knows how
we behave outwardly with certain individuals
and how we feel inside with regards to,
certain individuals
or certain situations.
Whether those things be statements that we say,
things that we say,
out loud,
or whether they may be deeds, for example,
none of those things are hidden from him.
So even, for example, the things a person
does and says in front of others, and
then the way we behave
in in private,
Allah
knows
everything
and knows both of our circumstances
and the way we behave in both situations,
even though others may not see us when
we're sleeping or or or living privately or
staying somewhere where nobody else is around.
And so this is a lesson also for
for us with regards to our worship of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
That when we're worshiping Allah, and this is
a reminder for all of us, myself included,
that when we're worshiping Allah, it shouldn't just
be something that we're doing,
when other people are around.
And of course, no doubt when we're with
other people, our iman increases.
When we're in the masjid, when we pray
together in congregation,
when we're in the masjid, our salah improves,
our iman increases.
We want to, you know, worship Allah
maybe more than when we're in our homes.
That that that's sometimes the situation. But at
the same time we need to ensure and
make sure that our homes and where we're
living are places where the worship of Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is taking place regularly. And
this is why the messenger of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala he said don't make your homes
like graves like cemeteries,
Meaning pray in your homes.
Make your homes places where the the worship
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is taking place
on a regular basis.
So the home should be a place where
where a person is worshiping Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
And no doubt this is the case that
a person should be worshiping Allah in both
places, but at the same time, when he's
in the Masjid, his iman increases.
But having said that, we have to be
careful that we're not hypocritical with regards to
our acts of worship
and that we try as much as we
can to the best of our ability
to keep our acts of worship consistent,
whether it's in the presence of others in
the Masjid or whether it's in private.
And in fact, one of the best ways
of removing
the
the sickness of of ariyah, of showing off,
of hidden shirk as as the messenger of
Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam described it, is by
doing acts of worship in public
and doing the same acts of worship also
in private.
Because when you do the same act of
worship in public and in private,
then it removes that that that illness and
that stain of of showing off from the
heart.
Because then you're not doing it for a
specific reason. Meaning you're not doing it for
the sake of others, but you're doing it
for the sake of Allah.
Because you're doing it in private when nobody
else is watching and you're doing it in
public. When you recite the Quran, for example,
a specific way, you should recite the Quran
in that way also when you're on your
own.
Because it increases one's Khusho, increases one's iman,
and that stain and that, you know, the
whole, subhanallah, the famous hadith where
Ibn Abbas,
he talked about hidden shirk.
Hidden shirk, he described it as, you know,
a black ant on a black stone, you
know, in a dark night
where the moon isn't shown. It's a cloudy
night. Meaning, it's something which, subhanallah, you can't
see.
It's something which is hidden. Meaning, the people
themselves, they don't notice. They can't tell. You
know, when someone's praying, they can't tell they're
showing off.
And at the same time, sometimes, subhanallah, it
may affect you subconsciously.
Meaning, sometimes you don't even know.
It's something so so dangerous
that you may be behaving specific way when
you're in the presence of others,
and differently when you're on your own. So
how does one remove this? By doing acts
of worship
in public and also in private,
and remaining consistent in the way he does
those acts of worship. So if a person
prays a certain way for a certain amount
of time in public,
do the same thing in private.
And also consistency with regards to these types
of things.
Even the way we speak, you know, our
speech.
You know, a person sometimes, he'll
speak a certain way,
with people in the Masjid. He'll speak with
other and etiquette manners, but then when he
goes home, he'll speak a different way.
He won't have the same speech.
Okay? He won't have the same, you know,
beautiful speech and and the the the etiquettes
and the manners that he should have as
a Muslim when he talks to his family
members for example. And this doesn't even make
any sense. You know, as a Muslim, you're
an example to your family members.
You're all, shepherds, and you're all responsible for
your flock.
So the main
thing that a person,
should,
be,
that he's responsible for is his family.
And his main focus should be those that
he's responsible for making sure he's a good
example first and foremost for his family.
And this is why the scholars, they talk
about good etiquette and good manners.
And they say
that the most important thing
and the people that you should show the
best of etiquette and manners to is your
close family.
People you live with, your spouse, your children,
your parents, your brothers or your sisters,
those are the people that you should have
the best akhlaq and the best manners with.
Because they're the people who have the most
rights. You know, your parents for example, your
spouse, or your children.
Also, one of the reasons why you should
show the best etiquette and manners to your
close family
is because when you show the best manners
and etiquette to your family,
then naturally, that's going to come out when
you're with
your friends, your relatives,
your neighbors,
your workmates, your colleagues, and so on and
so forth.
Because it's natural, you're doing it around people
who are very close to you.
And thirdly, because it's very difficult to do.
Now that is something which isn't easy.
Why isn't it easy? Because you're so used
to being with them.
You're so used to acting a certain way,
you know, you you you let that shield
down, that guard down that you may have
when you go outside,
and so you can relax at home. And
you may do certain things which you may
not do outside, with your friends or, you
know, your relatives or people that you know.
But at the same time, if you show
that adab and those manners with your family,
that this will increase
the level of
your your akhlaq and your manners
as a whole.
And this is one of the best ways
in which a person can improve his manners,
you know, as a whole
with his family members and also with everybody
else from the creation.
So
Allah,
he says,
That verily Allah,
knows what is apparent,
and he knows what's hidden. He knows the
things that we do in public, and also
the things that we do in private. He
knows the things we say and the things
we do,
and he also knows what's in our hearts.
So a person, for example, could be praying,
yet his salah isn't ever going to be
accepted.
That salah he prays isn't accepted by Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala because his intention wasn't there.
So it takes 2 to tango as they
say, meaning he has to have the intention
and he has to also do the action
itself.
So they're both things which,
go hand in hand in order for Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala to accept those from the
slave. And then Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala he
says,
He says after talking about,
how he has blessed the the messenger of
Allah with
the book of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
except for whatever Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
we will make
good deeds and statements
easy for you.
Meaning the actions and the deeds that you
do as a result of your good deeds,
more good deeds are going to come easier
for you.
We are going to legislate
certain things that are going to be easy,
tolerant,
just
no difficulty or hardship in them.
And we can look at this in a
number of ways. First of all, when it
comes to Islam, everything about Islam is natural.
It's from the fitrah.
Why is this the case? Because it's from
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And who there's nobody who knows better than
Allah
himself.
So the way we worship Allah, the rulings
regarding marriage, the ruling regard regarding buying and
selling and other things, it's natural. And the
fitrah, the the nature of the human being
accepts
Islam and accepts,
you know, the the the laws of Islam.
Another way we can look at this ayah
when we are still
we will make things easy for you.
We will make ease easy for you.
We will make ease easier for you. Another
way this can be interpreted, brothers and sisters,
is that when someone
does a good deed
when someone does a good deed,
as a result of this, Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala may open up the doors
for more good deeds.
Meaning Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala makes your path,
makes the straight path and your path to
Jannah easy
when you do good deeds, especially on a
consistent basis.
So for example,
from the,
ways in which Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala may,
show or hint at how he's accepted your
deeds
is by
giving you the ability to be able to
repeat that good deed over and over again.
So a person reads Quran
once
in one day. The next day, he reads
Quran again. The next day, he reads Quran
a third time. The next day, he reads
more than he did the previous days. Every
single day, he's reading Quran.
He's able to come to the Masjid,
every single day for Isha. After a week
or 2 weeks or 3 weeks, he starts
coming for Maghrib every single day, as well
as Isha.
And he builds on this, and he gets
better and better. This is a sign from
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala that he's accepted your
actions. Why is this the case? Because Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has given you even more
good from that single good deed that you
did initially.
So Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
when you do one good deed, he opens
up the gates to other
good deeds as well.
And subhanallah,
the same can be the case with regards
to
sins.
So for example,
a person may commit a sin.
As a result of that sin and the
displeasure of Allah and the anger of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala over you because you committed
that sin,
you'll end up committing other sins
because of that's that previous sin, that single
sin.
So a person will lie for example. As
a result of his lie, more questions will
be asked from whoever he lied to, and
he'll end up having to lie even more.
And this is this is the case a
lot of the times, especially, like, you know,
when people interrogate in in the police station,
you know, you know, police officers. They interrogate
someone who doesn't have his story straight. They
keep asking, and he has he has to
make make up even more things. And eventually
his story crumbles.
Okay? So he makes things worse for himself.
So this is the case, you know, when
someone lies,
he has to end up covering that lie
with other lies. That's an example
of how Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala shows one's
displeasure,
shows his displeasure to one who is who
is lying, who is committing a sin, who
is disobeying Allah. You commit a sin, Allah
opens
other doors of sin for you to commit.
So you end up falling into even more
sin. And this is why brothers and sisters,
you know, when we have individuals
who are wealthy,
but they are they're oppressive.
There are people who hate Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala and the messenger of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. There are people who hate the Muslims.
There are oppressed in the Muslims wherever they
may be in the world. And we ask
Allah to ease their suffering. But it can
be anywhere. They can be any shape or
form. They can be certain individuals who we
may know, who we may not know. Allah
will give them certain status. He'll give them
a certain power,
a certain ability to be able to do
certain things. He'll give them
wealth.
And as a result of this, they're using
this to harm the Muslims.
And one may ask some question
and he may say why does Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala continue
to give these people this ability to be
able to harm
to harm the Muslims.
And based on this ayah,
we say when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gives
them this ability,
it's not a blessing.
It's not a means of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala rewarding them because they've done good.
But in fact, it's the opposite. And this
is why Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala he says,
don't think that what we're doing for them
is good for them.
Rather it's something which is
harmful for them. It's something evil for them.
Meaning just as when someone does a good
deed, Allah opens up doors of good.
Likewise, when they commit sins, when they disobey
Allah and in fact harm,
the the believers and the Muslims,
Allah Azzawajal is opening up even more doors
of sin as a means of
punishment for that person.
So it's not a reward,
but in fact it's a punishment.
And in fact the punishment is even worse
when Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala doesn't harm that
person or punish that person in this dunya.
Why is that the case?
Because if he's not being punished in this
dunya, what's what does that mean?
His punishment in the akhira
is going to be
even greater. It's gonna be worse.
And so in fact, when Allah subhanahu just
like for example the believer.
When a believer lives a simple life in
this dunya
and Allah doesn't bless him with wealth, Allah
doesn't bless him with status or with power
or with influence or with popularity,
and he's patient with this, he's going to
be rewarded
even more in the akhirah.
Isn't that the case? So likewise, with the
sinner,
the one who isn't punished for his deeds
in this dunya,
this individual, we should be, you know, we
should be wary and, you know, aware of
the fact that this person, he's going to
be punished even more in the akhirah.
Because of the fact that Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala hasn't given him anything in this dunya
from, you know, his punishment and from his
anger and his wrath.
So it's important for us to remember,
this, especially when we see things happening,
today in, Muslim,
in Muslim countries and in the Muslim world
and even in non Muslim worlds, in non
Muslim parts of the world where people are
suffering, Muslims are suffering as a result of,
you know, the government or other issues.
That at the end of the day, those
who harm
the Muslims,
ultimately, they're only harming themselves.
And as for the Muslim, as we mentioned
before,
he's ultimately benefiting. We know the famous hadith
that no harm, sorrow,
you know,
sadness,
even
anxiety
or any type of negative feeling, even the
pricking of a thorn.
Okay? None of these types of things afflict
a Muslim,
except that it's a form of expiation of
his sins.
So it's ultimately going to be beneficial for
the state of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala for
the Muslim.
But if for the disbeliever,
it's going to be a source of harm.
So when we see these types of things
happening,
these people being let off because of the
things that they're doing, then Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala has an even greater punishment in store
for them in the akhirah.
And this is something which we need to
remember on top of the fact that we
make dua, you know, for those people who
are suffering at the same time. That Allah
over, lift their burden and Allah,
makes them free from those difficulties that they're
that they're suffering from. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
after this,
he says,
Remind
because the reminder benefits.
Remind because
the reminder
benefits the slave.
Meaning when an individual
is reminded of worshiping Allah, of doing a
good deed, this is always going to be
a source of benefit for that person.
Whether he does that specific act or not,
there's going to be benefit in him.
Benefit in it for him.
So for example,
when you're in a in a group and
an individual mentions a statement of Allah or
a statement of the messenger of Allah,
or encourages them to do some act of
worship, or mention some type of Islamic benefit,
whatever it may be. Even though they don't
act upon that specific knowledge directly
or, you know, straight away or even maybe
it won't even register,
but over time,
it's going to benefit them, Insha'Allah,
in one way or another.
For example,
you being continuous
with regards to advising and helping others and
being a good influence and being a good
Muslim,
the next time simply that they see you
is going to have a positive effect on
them. Just like with us, you know, when
we see someone who is religious and practicing
and is a good brother,
you know, we're Insha'Allah, we're drawn to that
person. We wanna be with that person because
it does something to our hearts.
Because, you know,
good wants to mix with good.
And so when you're with good people, you
feel better, you feel good about yourself.
Even though he hasn't said anything or done
anything.
But it's just the nature of a human
being. It's the nature of iman.
So likewise, you know, when a person is
is advised or influenced with something, then it's
going to benefit him, and you simply being
in that company is going to have an
effect on that company.
But it's about being responsible
and taking the initiative
and being someone who is going to be
a source of good and a source of
positive,
you know, influence,
to others.
And this is where Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
says remind because ultimately,
the reminder is of some kind of benefit.
It benefits in one way or another. And
even if it doesn't benefit them whatsoever,
then ultimately, if you're sincere, it's going to
benefit you.
And this is something else we need to
remember with regards to doing good deeds.
You know, if we volunteer for a specific
charitable
project
and it's not something which we benefit from
financially,
ultimately, we should remember
that even if other people don't appreciate it
or don't remember it or maybe they won't
even benefit from it,
you're going to benefit yourself.
And, of course, you're looking out for number
1.
And so that's something which is very important
with regards to good deeds. When you do
certain things, you know, voluntarily,
you're doing it for yourself. That's the most
important thing.
All you can do is take care of,
you know, your own actions and your own
speech. And so when you do certain actions
for the sake of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
even if nobody else appreciates them or recognizes
them or notices them, maybe this in of
itself is a blessing from Allah.
Because if they do start to recognize your
your your the good that you're doing, it
may affect your
Ikhlas and sincerity.
And so sometimes people not recognizing what you're
doing is better for your own iman, for
your own sincerity, for your own heart, for
the purity of your own actions.
So sometimes it's a blessing from Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala that that's the case.
And,
that's why,
some of the,
companions like Ali Radiallahu an,
he said regarding this ayah, he said, you
do not tell people in any statement
that their intellects do not grasp except that
it will be a fitna,
a trial for some of them.
Meaning, even when you do give advice to
certain people, you have to be careful with
regards to what kind of advice you're giving
and to whom you're giving it to, and
what kind of capacity or situation or circumstances
you're giving that advice, and look at whether
it's going to benefit them or whether it's
going to harm them.
So a person has this this wisdom, you
know, he uses wisdom with regards to what
he says and how he says it and
who he, is saying it to. And he
also said, and
he also said, tell people that which you
know,
what did you like for Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala and his messenger,
Or would you like
it that Allah and his messenger were to
be rejected?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he then says,
Remind for the reminder only benefits the believers
and
The reminder
will be received.
The one who's going to register
it and benefit from it is the one
who fears, Yahshah.
The one who has khashya. The one who
is fearful of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Meaning
it's your job to
give the advice
so that people may benefit, and if they
don't benefit, you're gonna benefit.
And those who are going to benefit are
only those who have fear.
And also this goes to show with regards
to as we were talking about Quran, reciting
Quran, memorizing Quran, learning about Islam itself.
If a person doesn't have Khushu and the
fear of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
then ultimately
he's not going to benefit from
the dhikr,
from the speech of Allah, from the speech
of the messenger of Allah sallam. How do
we know this? Because of this ayah.
Meaning the the reminder is going to benefit
the one who fears Allah.
So if you don't fear
Allah, then the knowledge and, you know, us
gathering for this type of,
this type of knowledge or people learning Islam,
whether it's online or with certain people or
in certain schools or classrooms or abroad or
wherever it may be, that knowledge isn't going
to benefit individual. So inshallah,
we'll conclude here for today and we'll carry
on,
next week.
If there's any questions, then I'll do my
best to answer them. Insha'Allah.
So who can, remind us what we were
talking about with regards to those being attacked
in the Muslim lands?
What was the point of the of the
discussion?
Because, masha'Allah, you are all listening, you know,
you remember everything.
So we were talking about,
people who are being harmed
and how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala,
in this in this, in this Surah,
he says
that we will make though we will make
ease easier for you.
Meaning, we said when a person does a
good deed,
Allah opens up more doors for
good.
And the the opposite is also true. When
a person commits a sin, Allah will open
up more doors of sin. Why?
As a source of punishment. Just like a
person who is given more doors of good
is a source of reward.
And then the the the case,
this this case can be said or this
case is true for those who are who
are oppressing Muslims.
And so people who oppress Muslims, why doesn't
Allah stop them? Why does it continue? Because
when they commit sin, Allah opens the door
for them to commit more sin and it's
not it's not as a means of reward,
it's as a means of punishment.
This is what Allah
says, don't think that this is something which
is beneficial for them.
Rather it's evil for them. It's it's harmful
for them. They're gonna suffer as a result
of their actions.
So because they're committing sins in this dunya,
they're not being rewarded for it, it's actually
a source of even greater punishment on the
day of judgment.
Yeah. So with regards to those who are
being afflicted with this,
with this harm from those who are oppressing
them, then we've mentioned before as well, you
know, when somebody is being when something when
somebody is afflicted with something, with a problem.
Okay. If it's yourself,
then you say
that it's because of my shortcomings.
It's because of my sins that I'm now
being
tested by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Allah is
putting me through these trials. If it's somebody
else
that you know that's being that's going through
a calamity or a trial, you say Allah
is
testing him.
Why do we say Allah is testing him
when we talk about others not with ourselves?
Because we have good thoughts about others.
So when somebody is going through some difficulty,
we say Allah is testing that person because
he's a he's a he's of Iman. He's
someone who has Iman. But with us, we
don't say that. We don't say Allah is
testing because my Iman is so strong. You
know, I'm such a good Muslim. Allah is
testing me with all these tests, you know.
We don't have this idea. Why? Because we'll
get overconfident.
So a person stays humble, and he says
it's a result of my own shortcomings and
sins, but now I have this problem on
my head. Like, you know, Shafi'i,
his memory became weaker. What did he what
did he say?
He didn't say, yeah, I'm getting older now.
Maybe that's why, you know, Allah is basically,
testing because my man is so strong. He
was thinking about his sins. And so that
only added to his to his legendary status.
Okay. We'll conclude next we'll carry our next
week, Insha'Allah, and we'll conclude today, Insha'Allah.