Aqeel Mahmood – Year the Prophets Shuab
AI: Summary ©
AI: Transcript ©
Today, we're going to be,
talking
about the story of
a prophet from the prophets of Allah.
Shoaib alaihis salaam.
And Shoaib alaihis salaam story
is mentioned
in
2 different sections of the Quran.
And
And
they mentioned similar stories,
but with some details added in some details,
included
in
one that aren't mentioned in the other and
vice versa.
And
Shoaib alaihi salam
was a prophet of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
who came after
prophet Lut alaihi salam,
and
he was
sent as a messenger
to the people
in an area
which would be
considered to be the modern,
country of Syria.
Sham, that area.
And
the place where he was sent and his
people that, he was sent to,
they lived,
you could say, today on the border of
Syria and the east of Saudi Arabia, the
Hejaz area. So the Hejaz area of Saudi
Arabia, the the western area of Saudi Arabia
is Mecca, Medina, etcetera, that area.
And Syria is obviously
west of Saudi Arabia, and the land that,
Sho'aib was from was around there, around the
on the border of,
the Hejaz
and, modern day Syria or Sham.
And
a few things I wanted to mention before
we go into the story of Shoaib alaihis
salaam.
Other than where he came from,
is who specifically
was.
Because
there are
there's not that much that's mentioned about
the life of
and
with regards to his story as we mentioned,
there are 2
areas in the Quran which talk about it.
And
there are a number of
things which sometimes we,
confuse
with regards to Shoaib alaihis salam and who
he was.
First of all,
in a hadith of the messenger of Allah,
he told us about some of the attributes
and some of the characteristics
of Shoaib alaihis salam.
And it's a hadith in
I'm not sure of its authenticity,
but it's something which is mentioned. It's something
which is there.
Where the messenger of Allah sallallahu alaihi wasallam,
he talked about
and he said,
in fact,
He said in a hadith that
when the messenger of Allah
would mention
he
would say,
He would say that is
the
of the prophets.
And it said that he was somebody who
was eloquent
and,
very
well spoken,
and he was
in terms of speaking.
And that's why it said that he was
known as
because of his eloquence
of his speech.
Another thing
related to Shoaib alaihis salam
is a misconception
that,
many
have
related to,
the prophet,
and another that
was,
met by Musa alaihi salaam during his lifetime.
Musa alaihi salaam
in a narration or or aya. Ayat
in fact in Surat Al Kasas, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala talks about the story of Musa
alaihi salaam when he fled from
after he had killed that man from the
army
of who was harming someone from Bani Israel.
And he fled
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he talks about
the story in Surah Qasas about how he
went to a place and he went to
the well of Midian.
And this is the same name of the
people of Shoaib alaihis salam.
Allah says,
And to the people of Madyan we sent
them their brother Shoaib.
So here also
the term Madyan is mentioned. Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala, he says that when he came to
a well
in Madyan or the well of Madyan,
he saw
people there, a group of people there.
And they were taking water out of of
the well.
Okay. A large group of people. And maybe
some of you have heard the story, and
he found 2 women who were standing
alongside,
and they were standing away from the crowd.
And
he asked
them and they said he he said what
is what's what's going on here? Why aren't
you taking water from from the well like
everybody else?
And so they said
They said we're not gonna, get any water
out until the crowd disperses.
Now our father is an old man,
which is why we are here.
And so Musa alaihi salaam, to to cut
the story short, he went and he got
water for them even though he had just
fled from the rawn and he's distressed. He
has nowhere to go. He has no helpers.
No one to take care of him. No
one to help him except Allah. Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. He takes, some water out of
the well for them. He gives it to
them. They go to their father, and their
father is an old man, and he is
mentioned as being called Shoaib.
And so
some confuse
this Shoaib with the prophet Shoaib alaihis salam,
and there's an
opinion that's mentioned by Imam al Hasan al
Basri, one of the famous scholars of the
past,
who,
mentioned that this is the same.
Whereas the majority opinion is that it was
somebody else. It wasn't the same.
This which Musa alaihis salam, met. And they
gave a number of reasons, a couple of
reasons. First of all,
the time span.
So historians and scholars of tariq, scholars of
history,
they say that
up the distance or the time span between
prophet Musa alaihi salam and this prophet Shoaib
alaihi salam
is around 2000 years.
So
it's a time span which,
you know, wouldn't make sense
because of how long is between Shoaib alaihis
salam, the prophet of Allah, and Musa alaihis
salam. So it wouldn't make sense for them
to have met because of the huge amount
of time that's gone by after Shoaib alaihis
salam's, death.
Another thing which is also mentioned is the
fact that in this story which is mentioned
in the Quran, Surakasas of Musa alaihis salam,
getting water for these 2, these 2 women,
the daughters of Shoaib.
They mention a social issue,
which is that of course, Shuayb alaihi salam,
as we'll see in this story, Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala saved him.
And his people were punished as a result
of their sins.
And of course, the people they knew, those
who were with him who were saved, they
of course believed in him and they were
they were followers
of prophet Shoaib alaihis salam. They were Muslim.
And
the prophets and messengers of the past were
people who were loved. There were people who
were respected.
So some of the scholars they say it
doesn't make sense
that if he did live,
let's just say for 2,000 years, just for
argument's sake, let's say he did live for
that long and he had daughters,
and the daughters went to get water, people
would of course
give him and his family that respect that
he deserves as a prophet and as a
messenger of Allah.
And so the last thing we would expect
is that the the daughters would be there
and that they wouldn't be shown that respect
and that honor that they should be shown
considering that they're supposed to be the daughters
of Shu'aib, the prophet Shu'aib alaihis salaam. So
there's a couple of things which I mentioned
regarding
how this which
is mentioned in Surah Qasas,
that Musa alaihi salaam meant can't be the
same
which is the prophet of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
The people of Madyan,
the
land in which
was sent to,
they were Arab people who lived in
an area which is known as or was
known as Ma'an. And I mentioned that is
the part of the of Syria today.
And
they were individuals
who suffered from
many illnesses and,
diseases
which corrupted their hearts.
Mainly, of course, they would associate partners with
Allah,
and also they were people who were very,
greedy.
And they used to seek
wealth from
any means, by any means that they could.
Whether it was something legitimate or illegitimate, something
which is permissible or impermissible,
they would cheat and they would lie so
long as they were able to,
earn more money.
And as a result of this,
they led wicked lives, deceiving others, cheating others
of their wealth, and it was just the
lifestyle that they had.
And also they would give, whenever they would
sell something,
they would or even buy something, they would
try their best to cheat the the individual
that they were doing business with. So for
example, if they were selling something, they would
cheat the scales.
They would, give short measure. So if somebody
was buying something, they wouldn't give them
the amount,
that they paid for. They would give them
less than what they paid for. For example,
a kilo of of of wheat or whatever
the case may be, dates, whatever it is.
So if they bought a kilo, they would
measure it, but they wouldn't measure it properly
or they would have their own ways of
of cheating the customer. And so there maybe
they would give 750 grams, for example, just
as an example, using this this weight as
an example.
So they would give less than what, the
customer actually bought.
So this is something which was very common
and prevalent amongst the people of Shuayb alaihis
salam.
They would praise their goods also.
Anything which would make them get more money.
So they would praise their goods beyond
what they were actually worth.
Okay. They would say that it has this
and that, and they would say things about
their products, which
maybe weren't true. They would praise them beyond
their worth, and also they would hide their
defects.
So if there's any if there was anything
wrong with their products, if there was anything
wrong with their defects, they wouldn't tell, the
people that were buying it about those defects.
So they would hide certain things about those
products and things that they were selling. They
would,
praise their goods beyond what they were actually
worth and beyond the value that they actually
had. They would give short measure.
Also, he said that they would lie to
their customers
and completely just make make things up.
And, you know, when you hear,
these kinds of attributes of these people, it's
amazing how
similar it is to business today.
Like, it's something which is actually common today.
When you buy something, when you buy a
product,
you know, people praise those products more than
they're actually
more than they're actually worth.
You know, it's like
a phone or a car or whatever it
is that make it seem like the best
best thing since sliced bread is the best
thing ever. You're never gonna find anything as
as as great as this, and so they
praise it so much.
And
when you buy an when you buy something,
sometimes
or when even as as Muslims, when we
sell something that's unfortunate, sometimes we don't wanna
tell the other person about those defects.
That something may have. Or when we buy
something for example, we're not told about the
defects of whatever it is that we bought.
Let's say we bought a car, we bought
something else. We weren't told.
Okay. Even if it was something,
big in some cases,
we weren't we weren't told.
I remember once,
my brother, he bought he bought a car,
it's like a long time ago, and it
was like a it was his first car.
It was a Metro, like a red Metro.
And when he bought the car,
this is a long time ago, guys. Okay?
It wasn't like a few years ago. So
it's a long time ago.
He bought the car, and I can't remember
how much it was, but when we when
we got home,
you know, they have the mats
on on the where you put your feet,
the mats
by the pedals.
When they moved the mat, they found a
hole
where you could see the road.
It was like a big hole in the
car. So you can actually see
the roads, there's a big hole
in the car.
So and we weren't, obviously, we weren't told
we weren't told about that. The point being,
okay, sometimes people do whatever they can, try
to get rid of something. They'll praise it.
They'll say good things about it, or they'll
say things which maybe that the product isn't,
you
know worthy
of and even things as as big as
this, okay, they won't even mention, they won't
clarify,
they won't tell you before,
you buy it. And we'll mention some of
these things at the end insha'Allah about some
of the etiquettes of buying and selling, because,
subhanAllah,
it's something which these people, the people of
Shu'aib, alaihis salam, they were punished as a
result of this.
This is what's mentioned in the Quran.
Okay. This is what they did. These are
their sins,
that they would do these types of things
when it came to buying and selling.
So sometimes when we just think it's it's
nothing, it's minor, it's a small thing,
it's one of the reasons why these people
ended up,
ended up worshiping or ended up being punished
as a result of, them doing these things
and also not worshiping Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
So this story is mentioned
in the Quran. First of all in Surah
Al Aaraf
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as a result
of the sins of these people and them
being misguided. And of course they committed shirk,
they would worship
all kinds of things. It said that they
would also worship,
trees.
Because
in
Surah,
Surah,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, when he talks about
the story of shayb alaihi salam, he says
That the companions or the people of
they denied
their messenger
or their messengers. They denied their messengers.
And so
the scholars they say, what does aca mean?
They say aca means a tree which is
in a group of trees.
Okay? Or a thicket. A thicket is like
a group of trees bunched together.
So the people of the thicket. So there
was a specific tree which they gave devotion
to, and they would end up worshiping it
worshiping it. It said that,
this tree was a tree which maybe belonged
to a righteous person of the past, or
it had some kind of
attachment or connection to, you know, righteous people
of the past. And so, of course, like
people do when they give something too much
importance,
they end up showing more reverence
to these things which are of no benefit.
And even today, that's the case. You know,
with good luck charms and bad luck charms,
it's the same principle. It's the same thing.
You know, you you consider these types of
things to have certain powers and certain abilities
when they're just rocks or stones or leaves
or whatever the case may be.
So
they used to,
commit shirk and they used to worship,
trees and they used to commit, shirk and
disobey Allah
by cheating others
and and
making sure that they made profits even if
it was by Haram means. And in Surah
Al Arab Allah
he says
and to the people of Madin we sent
their brother Shoaib.
And so he told the people
He said, oh people,
my people worship Allah. You have no
God except him.
And then he said,
Verily there has come to you clear evidence
from your Lord.
So the first thing Allah says,
through the time of Shoaib alaihis salam,
is him telling his people that they should
worship Allah.
Meaning they were committing shirk. Then he says,
So fulfill the measure and the wait.
And don't deprive people of their due.
Don't give less than what they deserve, and
don't take, more than what,
they're supposed to give.
And don't cause corruption on the earth
after its reformation, after things have been rectified.
So of course the previous prophets and messengers
that came, the earth was rectified, and now
there's corruption again, once again on earth. And
then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says that said
to his people,
that is better for you if you should
be believers. So Shoaib alaihis salam,
he's telling the people first and foremost
to worship Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and not
associate partners with Allah. And then he goes
on to,
the
faults and the sins that they're committing and
addressing those sins, which is cheating the people,
not fulfilling the measure and the weight, and
deprive depriving people of their due.
And
maybe I've mentioned this before about the importance
of
calling people first and foremost to the worship
of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Because even with regards to etiquettes of how
we deal with other people and manners and
buying and selling and, you know, all the
other benefits which Islam,
comes with,
Sometimes a person may agree with the way
we sacrifice an animal, taking out all of
the blood, because as some of you may
or may not know, non Muslims, they don't
drain the blood out of their of their
meat. That's one of the differences between
us and them when we sacrifice our animals.
And so a person, he may hear about
what we do and how we, you know,
sacrifice the animal. He may be impressed. He
may even start to eat halal food because
of the way we slaughter our animals. Maybe
he likes the way we dress,
okay. Maybe it's a modest way of dressing,
for example. Maybe he likes the Ikhlaq of
a Muslim, etc, etc.
But ultimately at the end of the day
if the person doesn't believe in Allah, none
of those things are worth anything.
And also,
when a person
submits to Allah,
he's
automatically
submitting
to
specific things
related to Allah.
Meaning, he's
he's relate he's
submitting to
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala who is also
the most wise,
the most knowledgeable,
the the most powerful.
And so automatically
if a person starts to submit to Allah
and starts to,
believe in the existence of Allah,
then naturally anything which Allah ordains,
he's going to
agree with. He's going to accept.
Even if maybe some of those things he
may not understand, or he may have difficulty
understanding, or he doesn't, you know, he's not
fully on board with, but the fact that
he believes and obeys Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
straightaway,
by default,
he's going to accept anything which Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala says.
Whether or not he actually fulfills those obligations
are a different matter,
but the fact that he's believed in Allah
and he's believed in the messenger of Allah
salallahu alaihi wa sallam
is
more important than him agreeing with some of
the aspects of Islam, and he's impressed by
them,
and he doesn't become a Muslim.
So that's why, you know, this is fundamental.
Because when you
tell people about the worship of Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala, you're telling them about
everything that that comes with. You're telling them
about
everything
that Islam comes with once they basically accept
Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala
as the one and only true God. But
if they don't accept this then they may
just pick and choose and think that certain
things are okay and certain things aren't.
If they haven't really grasped grasped and understood,
you know, the the greatness and wisdom of
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. So Shoaib alaihis salam
here, he's calling them to the worship of
Allah.
And he's begging them begging them to be
mindful
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala's favors upon them.
Warning them of the consequences
of the evil ways.
But
what ends up happening is they start to
mock him. They start to make fun of
him. They start to,
mock,
what he's saying
and deny the message. Shoaib alaihis salam
remains calm, and he reminds them of
his kinship to them, as is mentioned
in,
other parts of the Quran.
And
that what he's doing isn't
for personal gain.
He's not doing it for his own benefit,
and this is mentioned
when,
Shoaib alaihi salam says in Surah
Ashura.
He
says
that I don't ask you for any payment
for what I'm doing, before I'm for for
what I'm calling you to.
My payment is only from the Lord of
the worlds.
So there's no financial gain in what I'm
calling you to. This is something
which I I'm not interested in the financial
rewards that I may be given because my
reward is with Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
And then
Shoaib alaihi salam,
he continues to
tell them about the things that they're doing
that's causing harm.
And he mentioned some other traits
other than them cheating other people as a
result of, you know, wanting to earn more
money.
They used to do even worse things or
even more things
to harm the people and to earn more
money.
So he told them
He says don't sit on every path
threatening and averting from the way of Allah
those who believe in him
seeking to make
it seem deviant.
So the scholars they said what this means
is that they would sit
in the pathways,
on the roads,
on the routes,
and they would wait for caravans to come,
travelers to come, and they would basically go
and they would force those caravans and those
travelers to give them their own wealth. Robbers,
basically.
Highway robbers.
So they would rob people of their wealth.
So it wasn't enough
that when they would trade with other people,
they would basically
cheat them of their wealth, they would take
more, and they would lie about their products
and, you know,
tip the scales so that they were
making more money. But they would also
rob those individuals who were traveling
on their roots, minding their own business, and
they would go out of their way. They
would rob those caravans, and they would take
money which didn't
belong to them.
Shoaib, he would say,
He says to them, and remember when you
were few and he increased you. Meaning Allah
was
the one who increased you in number.
He was the one who honored you. He
was the one who gave you the strength
that you have.
See how was the end
of those who caused corruption.
Look at the path. Look at those who
came before you, and what happened to them.
How Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala punished them.
And
then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says
that Shoaib alaihi salam told them
And if there should be a group among
you
who has believed
in that which I have been sent,
and
a group that has not believed
Then be patient until Allah judges between
and he is the one who is the
best of judges. So
is telling them
that if there should be a group of
you who ends up believing in that which
I have sent,
and a group that haven't
believed
have patience, oh you who have believed until
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala judges
between us. Because if there are individuals who
are believing in and
worshiping Allah,
they're basically individuals who are going against the
grain.
They're going against the norms of society.
They're going against what's considered to be, you
know, normal
and
perfectly,
you know, fine behavior
such as
cheating and,
you know, not being honest with regards to
trade, etcetera, etcetera, and worshiping whatever they were
worshiping. And so when you're going against the
norms, when you're going against society,
naturally it's going to be harder for you
to remain on that path which Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala has guided you to. And this
has always been the case. It's always been
the case and the same is today.
Just like the messenger of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala he told us that Islam is something
strange. It it began as something strange and
it would end as something strange. It would
finish as something strange.
So
when a person believes in Allah
and the worship of Allah
even though it's something which is
part of the fitrah.
Everything that Islam comes with is something which
is natural. It's something which makes sense.
But because of society and the corruption in
society,
an individual
finds it very hard to
express his faith
because
the majority of the people will find it
strange.
It's something which isn't the norm. And so
Shoaib alaihis salam
is telling them to have patience.
Because when a person has patience over the,
decree of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala over what
other people do or say towards him,
This is one of the strongest,
things
that a person can have and the most
rewarding.
Because impatience
will lead to a person becoming,
becoming rash
in the things that he says, in the
things that he does, in his behavior,
in his actions.
And so he'll end up doing and saying
things
which maybe he's doing
to appeal to those who don't believe in
Allah.
To appease those who don't worship Allah.
And as a result of this, he'll end
up giving up on the values
and the principles which he believes in as
a Muslim.
This is all as a result of a
lack of patience.
When you're patient with what Allah has decreed,
you're patient with the rulings and commandments of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
That's going to help you persevere in times
of difficulty.
So
the people of Shoaib, they responded and they
said,
the eminent ones, the respected ones. You could
say the politicians of that time.
Those who were the seniors, the elders.
Those are people looked up to and respected.
Those who were powerful.
Those who were of status, the eminent ones,
and they were arrogant.
From his people,
they
said,
we'll throw you out, oh Shoaib,
and those who believe
along with you.
From your town, from your city, or from
our city they said. They never said to
your city. They said our city.
From our city.
So now he's already become an outcast.
He's somebody who is not part of their
of their city. He's not their people anymore,
even though he's from amongst them. Even though
he's one of them.
Now that he's called to other than what
they were worshiping and what they are used
to and other than the practices that they
would do, now he's not even a a
part of their, you know, their town anymore.
He's not one of them anymore. So he's
become an outcast.
We'll throw you out of the city, of
our city, along with your people,
or you must return to our religion.
So either you leave
or
you
worship what we're worshiping,
you return
to our religion.
And so he replies and he says,
He says even if we're unwilling,
meaning even if we don't want to, you're
forcing us to do something that we don't
want to do. You're forcing us to worship
something that we don't want to worship.
Meaning they would rather these individuals
worship what they're worshiping
even though they weren't sincere. And
subhanallah, look at the justice of Allah
with regards to somebody who
becomes a Muslim, but he was forced to
become a Muslim.
If a person is forced to become a
Muslim, then he's not a Muslim.
Nothing
is
obligated upon that individual
because he didn't want to become Muslim in
the first place.
This is why Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He
says
there is no compulsion in religion.
And for us, this may seem like a
normal thing. It may something which makes sense.
You can't force someone to accept a religion
that he's not gonna he's not gonna abide
by, he's not gonna follow.
But if we look back in history,
you look at the the Christians
and and the Jews,
and how
they would force people to accept their faith
is something which was actually common. It was
very common
in their in their religions in the past.
I may only have to look at, for
example,
what happened to the Muslims in Andalusia in
Spain.
When the Muslims left,
those who could leave, the ones that were
left behind, those who left, they left. But
the the ones who were left behind from
the Muslims, they were forced to convert to
Christianity.
They were forced to become Muslim.
And it wasn't just enough for them to
say we we believe we were Christians.
They wanted to go into their homes. They
would go into the homes of the Muslims
to see
whether there were any artifacts or anything which,
you know,
showed or hinted that they were still Muslim.
So if there was if there were prayer
mats, if there was a mushaf, if there
were other things,
then
they would basically be punished, and they would
be forced to, you know,
have Christian emblems and Christian items of,
of of worship, crosses, etcetera,
to the extent that
they would check and they would see if
there was any
alcohol
in the households.
If there wasn't, then they would
they would basically assume this person isn't a
Christian.
And even pork,
sometimes in some cases, they would force people
to eat pork and drink alcohol just to
make sure that they weren't that they weren't
Muslim. That's the extent.
So, you know, when we think about it
from Islamic perspective, it's something which doesn't, it
doesn't make sense for someone to force another
to become Muslim.
But it's something which was rampant
in the past with previous religions.
So that's
why,
Shoaib alaihi salam, he says,
even if we were forced to, even if
we're unwilling
to worship what you're worship, you still want
us to.
And
he continued and he said,
that we would have invented against Allah a
lie. We would have made up something against
Allah if we decided to return
back to your religion
after Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has saved us
from it.
Meaning it's like as if we completely deny
what Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has sent down.
As if it's something which is made up.
As if it's something which isn't which isn't
true. It's not real.
And he says,
It's not for us to return to it
except that our lord, Allah should will it.
The only way that a person
will go back to that religion is if
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala decreed that it would
happen.
Meaning none of us
will come back to that faith that we
left to worshiping other than Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. Subhanahu
wa ta'ala. Upon Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala we
have relied.
Our lord
is the one we have relied upon. We
have trust in Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala And
then he makes dua. Shoaib alaihis salam supplicates
and he says,
Oh our lord decide between us and our
people with the truth.
And you are the best of those who
gives the decision, who makes the decision.
And so as a result of this, the
people of Shoaib, the people of Madyan,
they took the belongings of Shoaib. Of course,
this was greed. This is built in.
So
they saw this as an opportunity.
He's somebody who's not cast. He's not agreeing
with what we're doing. We'll take his wealth
as well. We'll take his belongings, his possessions,
his wealth, along with the wealth and the
possessions and belongings of his followers.
And then they drove him
out of the city. And so Shoaib alaihi
salam turned to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to
supplicate
and to ask for help. And Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala responded to his supplication.
And
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala,
he says in the Quran,
that the eminent ones, the respected ones from
his people.
They said
They said to the followers of
that if you follow
then rarely you are gonna be from the
losers.
Meaning if you follow this religion,
then you've lost.
Meaning this is something which is not it's
not something which is of of any worth.
It's something that if you continue to follow,
you're going to be destroyed.
You're you're harming yourselves.
And of course, subhanallah, nowadays,
this is what people say. This is a
typical tactic that's used, you know, of divide
and conquer.
You know? Critic criticizing Islam, criticizing
Muslims,
preying upon those who are weak in faith,
forcing them to leave Islam,
to, you know, have
to have a different
faith,
to have different to have different sets of
principles.
And so when other Muslims see Muslims leaving
Islam
and joining other faiths
or being atheists,
then it starts to put questions in their
house. They start to think, what's going on?
You know, why are people leaving? Maybe there
is something to this other religion
that other people are following.
And that's why, you know, you'll notice in
in in the media
how
people who leave Islam
are praised,
you know, and
they looked at
they looked up they looked up to us
heroes,
and they're, you know, they're shown all over
the media.
Like one of the cases of,
the woman who left Saudi Arabia,
and apparently she left Islam and apparently, I
was reading,
she posted
posted a picture of her eating pork for
the first time, and she you know, she's
like eating this. Okay. It's amazing or whatever
it is. And
strange things. But look at how much maybe
when you heard the story, maybe you some
of you heard about the story, and you
saw how prominent it was,
You know? How big of a story it
was.
You know? But,
I mean, there's many Muslims,
unfortunately,
who end up leaving Islam
from many nations.
From this country,
you have people leaving Islam.
You have people living Islam from Western countries,
but you never hear about those people.
You never hear about, you know, people living
Islam from other parts of the world.
So why did why was it such a
big deal?
It's it's all this, you know,
this this war
that's being played out
in the media. It's a propaganda war.
So Saudi Arabia, it's a Saudi Arabian woman,
So there must be some truth to Islam
being all messed up and being oppressive. It's
a woman on top of this. And so
they gave her so much, you know, respect
and admiration when she, you know, went to
went to Canada, I think it was. The
point being, this is a tactic which was
used from the beginning.
Look at how the people
are going now to the followers of shayeb
alaihi salaam, the Muslims.
And they're saying if you follow this man,
if you follow
you're gonna become people
If you follow you're gonna be from the
losers. You're gonna be you're gonna lose out.
You're missing out.
So it's something which was done in the
past.
So
then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
he says,
Allah talks about the punishment which occurred upon
these people.
He said, the earthquake so the earthquake sees
them and they became within their home corpses.
They became corpses as a result of the
punishment of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. Then Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala he says,
Those who denied
it was as though they had never resided
there. It's as if they never even existed.
Those who denied
they were the ones who were the losers.
Not the ones who worship Allah and
followed the message of
of worshiping Allah.
So the ones who disobeyed
and didn't worship Allah
They were the ones Allah
is saying
who were the losers.
And so,
in Kathir he mentions how,
from the punishments which they were afflicted with
by Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is that
a
cloud
burst
into,
flames,
which they were under as a result of
the severe heat that they were suffering from
prior to that.
So one of the punishments that they had
before this cloud was,
the heat was unbearable.
And as a result of this, they were
waiting for for rain.
And so when a cloud did come and
they saw a cloud, they rushed towards it
hoping that water would come.
And when they rushed towards this cloud, instead
of rain coming down from this cloud,
thunderbolts and fire came down from this cloud.
And
they heard a thunderous noise, even Kathir mentions,
from above,
which caused the earth under their feet to
tremble.
As a result of this, those who disbelieved
in shuaib alaihis salam, they were destroyed
and they were in a state of shock
and in a state of horror. Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala he says,
turned away from them,
and he said,
He said, oh my people I had certainly
conveyed to you the messages of my lord.
And I advised you.
So how could I grieve for disbelieving people?
I advised you according to the worship of
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Another punishment of Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala has come upon you. So
how is it that I can grieve when
I told you by the punishment of Allah
Subhanahu wa ta'ala that was going to befall
you and that was going to happen.
This is the section in Surah Araf which
talks about the story of Shoaib alaihis salam.
In Surah
the story is also mentioned with some details
that are mentioned in, in Surah Al Farf
or Surah Araf. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in
Surah Surah Araf he says,
The companions of the thicket or the tree,
they denied
the messengers.
When Shoaib
said to them, will you not fear Allah?
Now surah
before this part of the qur'a, before this
part of the surah,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the stories of
other prophets and messengers. So there are number
of stories of messengers which I mentioned and
prophets which I mentioned.
And
they all start with
The people of and then
the people of Luth, the people of Salih,
other people are mentioned. Other prophets are mentioned.
The people of Luth. So the people's name
the prophets
are mentioned
and how the people denied them and rejected
them.
And then in each of those instances
after Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions that verse
about how their people denied them,
and the prophets that were sent to them.
In the next verse, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
will say,
when their brother
said to them,
didn't you fear Allah? Don't you fear Allah?
So the people of the other prophets
when they advised them,
okay, they will tell them
When their brother would say to them, don't
you fear Allah? So the word brother is
mentioned in each of those instances.
Whenever the prophets are mentioned and their stories
and what they said to their people.
In this instance when
is mentioned,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala he says
is mentioned.
Their brother isn't mentioned.
Their brother isn't mentioned.
Allah says
when
Shoaib said to them,
don't you fear Allah.
Whereas in previous instances,
their brother is always mentioned. In in this
case and in only this case,
their brother isn't mentioned.
Allah moves straight to his name.
When he said to his people when said
he said to his people, don't you fear
Allah? Why is this the case? Why
isn't
his or their brother mentioned
in this case, just like it's mentioned in
the previous cases. Abi Kathir,
he says that one of the reasons why
is because
every time Allah mentions a previous prophet's,
nation before this,
Allah mentions the people.
He mentions the nation.
He mentions Thamud.
He mentions the other places
where these people were from. The land that
they were from.
And so Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he
mentions the prophets,
they
are brothers to those people because of the
land that they came from.
They're from the same land. So Allah will
say, it's
when their brother said because they are also
from the same land as their people.
In this case, there's a slight difference. What's
the difference?
How is Allah describing them?
The people of the thicket or the people
of the tree.
How is Allah describing them?
How is Allah describing them?
What is Allah mentioning? He's not mentioning this,
brother.
Very good. He's mentioning that they are committing
shirkuh as a result of them worshiping
this tree.
The acre was a tree that they would
worship.
And so Allah doesn't mention brother in this
case.
When Shoaib said to them not being their
brother because he wasn't their brother in what
they used to
worship, which is how they described. Whereas in
previous instances,
the land is specifically mentioned, the name of
the land.
And they are brothers because they came from
the same land in those previous instances.
So this just one example of the nuances
of the Quran.
The eloquence of the speech of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala. This small difference is that maybe
we don't really think about or understand or
realize, but it's there. And the more a
person looks into the Quran the more beautiful
and eloquent and detailed and specific the Quran
is. So he tells
him, don't you fear Allah.
I am someone who is a trustworthy messenger
to you and that's one of the traits
of all the prophets and messengers of the
past. Every single one of them was known
for his trustworthiness and his honesty.
That was a condition of the prophets and
messengers, that they were trustworthy honest people. Of
course our messenger was sadaqul amin, the truthful
trustworthy one.
Because if a liar became a prophet and
messenger, no one will believe them.
He could just be making it up like
he always makes things up,
you know, in his lifetime.
But when somebody's honest and trustworthy,
and they reach a mature age,
and they've never lied before,
why would they start to lie now? And
that's one of the things which makes us
which would make us realize
the integrity and the honesty of the messenger
of Allah alaihis salatu wa sallam. In the
first 40 years of his life, no one
had ever heard him
ever say a lie, ever utter a lie,
ever.
You know, by the time we're, like, 11,
12 years old, we've we've got a whole
list
of, you know, the last lies we've we've
we've said and made up, isn't it? Look
at look at look at how nobody could
ever think of a time when he was
ever caught lying,
or ever uttered a lie in his life,
even in his childhood.
That's, that shows us
why he was actually called a.
Why that that was actually his nickname.
The truthful trustworthy one. That was a nickname
he was given. If you said that, everyone
knew who you were talking about at that
you know, in those days.
So he was somebody who was trustworthy,
like all the messengers were.
So fear Allah and obey me.
I don't ask for any payment
in only Allah
the lord of the worlds.
Only he is
my payment and he will be the one
who rewards me.
Give full measure
and don't be of those
who cause loss
to others
by cheating them and not giving them full
measure.
And weigh with an even balance.
Don't weigh with a balance which is uneven.
Because obviously, if you're weighing with a balance
which is uneven, you're
showing them that there's they're buying more than
what they actually bought,
And so you're charging them more.
Don't deprive people of their due.
And don't continue
and abuse,
on earth and cause,
corruption
and spread corruption on
earth.
Fear he who created you
and the former creation.
He is the one who created you. He
is the one who created everything that came
before you. And so they replied and they
said,
They said you are only of those affected
by magic. So they're looking for reasons now
to deny this messenger.
Just like people do. They'll claim a person's
a liar. They'll claim he's a sorcerer. He's
a madman. He's a magician. He's a soothsayer.
He's just trying to get attention. He wants
power. He wants money, etcetera, etcetera.
So they say you're somebody who is affected
by magic. You're somebody who's a sorcerer.
Again, more excuses.
You're only a man just like us.
You're no different to us.
So one of the reasons why we're not
gonna listen to you is because you're a
human being.
Meaning, why didn't Allah send down an angel
so that we could believe?
And I've heard this argument used today in
today's time. People will say the same thing.
They'll say, if this is the truth,
why doesn't God show me an angel
So that I can
believe.
If this is the truth, then this I
should be able to see these kinds of
miracles.
So how does a person respond
when a person says this? Why doesn't God
show me an angel coming down?
Even Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us in
the Quran,
even if we were to show you an
angel, you still wouldn't believe.
Because if they did see an angel, what
would they say?
This is like magic, it's CGI, it's special
effects,
it's not real. You know, I'm seeing this
video on YouTube about an angel coming down,
it's not this can't be real.
So regardless of what you show them, there's
always going to be an element of
of doubt. There's always going to be something
that's going to crop up in their minds.
Okay? Making them,
you know, not believe in the truth, no
matter what it is that you show them.
So
they say only a human being like us.
And with we think you're among the liars.
So even though he was a truthful
individual,
he was trustworthy, he never lied ever.
They said now you're among the liars. You're
somebody
who lies. You're somebody who's not telling the
truth.
And also,
you know, the argument,
for
honesty,
for being honest and having integrity,
is shown here because
like we said, when a person has
honesty and integrity
and truthfulness on his side,
people naturally
will respect that individual.
That is, you know, even, you know, non
Muslims.
When you meet a non Muslim who's somebody
who's
has honesty and integrity and trustworthiness,
it's something which is a valued it's something
which is a value trait. This is why
Shoaib mentions it. That I am a trustworthy
person.
I'm somebody
who's,
a
a trustworthy person. I'm truthful.
I'm not somebody who's,
lying to lying lying to you. I
mean, I'm somebody who's trust trustworthy, somebody who's
honest.
So they said,
we think you're somebody
who is
a liar. You're making this up.
So then they say,
They go further and they say,
cause
a fragment from the sky,
something to fall from the sky to fall
upon us, if you are indeed from those
who are truthful.
They're saying if you really are a messenger,
a prophet of Allah, then cause Allah to
punish us right now. Cause Allah to punish
us for something to happen to us. And
the same thing is also used today by
some. They say if this is if we're
not believers, if we're not worshiping Allah,
if if that's the truth, then why don't
they why don't we get a punishment from
Allah? Why doesn't God kill me right now?
Why doesn't God punish me right now?
And
when we reflect on this statement,
we don't liken Allah to the creation.
But imagine somebody of immense power,
and a weak individual approaching that person of
immense power and strength,
and poking fun at that individual
and,
you know, trying to provoke that person to
to cause harm to him.
The person with that power and that strength
and that knowledge
and that ability to cause harm,
he won't just exert that that power straight
away. He's going to ignore him. He's gonna
say his pants
this person's crazy. You know, he's it's like
an older brother with a with with a
young with a younger sibling. It's like an
older sibling with a younger sibling. You know?
They provoke you and they poke you and
they'll say things and they'll do things and
they'll say, what are you going to do?
What are you going to do? And they're
ready to to run as soon as you
do something.
Yeah. But why doesn't the older person, the
stronger one respond
as a as a and as an act
of mercy?
Because he knows what he's capable of doing
to that younger brother or sister.
He knows what might happen.
Okay?
So we don't liken Allah to the creation,
but it's very
arrogant and foolish
and self obsessed to expect that Allah is
going to punish you specifically
as a result of you not worshiping Allah.
Who are you to
ask that Allah punish you?
You know? Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Allah won't be asked about what he did.
Okay. We'll be asked about what we did.
Human beings will be how to account for
what they did. And also from the rahman,
the mercy of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as
we know.
That my as Allah says, my mercy encompasses
and has has taken over my wrath,
my punishment.
So, you know, this whole argument is an
argument is it's very foolishness and arrogant statement
to make in the first place. So Shoaib
alaihis salam, he says,
my lord is most knowing
of what you do.
And also even if a person was punished
in this world, he wouldn't accept this from
Allah.
Even if it was a thunderbolt from the
sky,
they'd call it a freak occurrence.
Isn't it? One in a million chance it
was a coincidence.
If a person, all of a sudden, was
afflicted with some kind of illness or disease,
he'll say I was just I wasn't eating
healthy,
so I'm sick now. My lifestyle wasn't good
enough. If all of a sudden Allah takes
away his wealth, what's he gonna say? You
know, I made a bad
bad business decision.
You know, I was my wife left me
and I didn't have, you know, the the
strength to carry on with my life. And
so now it affected my business, and I
don't have any money. There's always gonna be
something
that the individual would end up saying
not to,
admit or accept,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala as the one who
caused him to enter in that into that
situation.
So they denied him. Allah says,
They denied him so the punishment of the
day of the black cloud sees them.
Verily this was the punishment of a terrible
day.
Indeed in that is a sign.
But most of them
were not to be believers.
And indeed your lord,
he is the exalted and he is the
most merciful. So
this is the story of Shoaib alaihis salaam,
mentioned in 2 different parts of the Quran,
and the lessons that we can learn
from this.
And you know one of the reasons as
I mentioned that they were punished was as
a result of,
the way that they dealt with others in
terms of their ethics
in
dealing with
them from a business perspective.
Buying and selling, and how they would behave,
how they would cheat and swindle and lie
and even rub,
just to earn more money. And look at
the punishment of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala upon
them as a result of this.
So, you know, nowadays
we live in a society where it's very
materialistic. It's all about money. It's almost like
as if nothing will ever happen unless we
have
money in order for us to do it.
So
as a result of people thinking that money
is the most important thing, they'll try and
do whatever they can to earn that money.
Even if it means something which is haram.
And
as we know, Islam has come to
protect
everything that
could potentially harm the Muslim
with regards to his acts of worship and
also his dealings with other people, Marriage and
divorce, buying and selling and everything else.
And I wanted to mention some of the
ethics
with regards to buying and selling and business
ethics from an Islamic perspective just so that
we're aware
that if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala punched these
people as a result of how they behaved
with others
regarding trade, then we also need to be
very aware
of
what it is that maybe we're falling short
on
from this list that I'll mention, so that
we can work on,
you know, improving
that aspect of our lives, and the harms
as a result of these things that maybe
we're not doing, or we are doing, things
which aren't allowed.
First of all, not buying and selling things
which are haram, which of course is something
that happens today. We have Muslims, you know,
they're selling things which aren't permissible,
al card in restaurants,
cigarettes and news agents, etcetera, etcetera. The list
goes on. And
when a person
ends up selling things which are haram or
buying things which are haram,
then
you're
sinning. That's a sin.
As a result of you sinning,
you're going to become unsuccessful.
Your sins
end up causing you to become unsuccessful
in the next life and also in this
life.
Whether it's financially,
whether it's psychologically,
whether it's spiritually,
you're not going to be content,
because you're involved in things which are haram,
things which are impermissible.
The scholars of the past,
they were so careful
about not doing anything haram,
not doing anything sinful, not committing sins,
that when they did fall into it, it
affected them.
It affected their spirituality. It affected them psychologically.
It affected their lives.
Scholars of the past, they would say, we
recognized
the effects of our sins
when we committed them on our wealth,
on our families,
and on our riding beasts,
meaning it would affect their wealth.
So if they run out if they had
problems with their wealth, if they got into
debt, if they lost money,
that they would that they wouldn't normally,
you know, lose,
they would think to the sins that they've
that they've committed,
what they've been doing the last few days.
If they went home, and all of a
sudden, the family just went off on them,
the wife just starts going off on on
that individual
as a big row, and now things are
very stressful,
and you're and you're anxious at home,
out of the blue, for no apparent reason,
they would think about the sins that they've
been committing or what they did wrong
in the past few days that caused this
to happen.
If something happened to their riding, their riding
beast, or whatever it was in their everyday
lives,
okay,
they would think about what they did.
1 of the scholars of the past, he
was walking to the masjid for Jum'ah prayer
or for for a salah,
and
his sandal broke.
His sandal broke as a result of him
going to the masjid, something minor, something we
don't think of. And he said that my
sandal has broken
as a result of me not performing rusal
for the day of Friday for jummah prayer.
Meaning, that's the detail in which they would
recognize
the it's not even a sin.
It was an extra act of worship that
they would do that they didn't end up
doing, and they recognized
the shortcoming
and the problems
that be befou them as a result of
them not doing those things.
So they're shoe breaking. So it was for
them it was it was it was a
direct connection, a direct link.
And that's how it should be today. A
direct link between,
you know, our lives and what's happening in
our lives with our family members, with our,
you know, our wealth, whatever the case may
be, and
our actions, the things that we're doing.
And if there's a if there's a consistent
problem in our life, and it's happening regularly,
and it's been happening regularly,
and it's a constant problem
that makes us anxious and stressed and worried,
and it's happening for a long period of
time,
most likely it's connected to a sin that
we've been committed for that for that for
also that amount of time.
For something long term that we've been doing,
we haven't thought about it. Maybe we've been
doing it for so long, we've we've thought
it's not something wrong. It's not something that's
bad. It's not something wrong in the first
place.
So it's something which ends up harming us.
Allah says whatever
you did,
whatever
befouled you from any calamities or disasters,
it's a result of what your own hands
have have earned.
It's as a result of what you yourselves
have done.
Another thing with regards to business ethics and
buying and selling is not sacrificing
our faith for the sake of money.
And I heard a story today, maybe some
of you had heard it. It was on
Facebook, one of the du'as.
He said that a famous or
there's
a famous group of law firms,
called the Golden Circle or accountancy firms or
something something famous.
And he left
a big job as a result of,
some,
obviously haram things that they were involved in,
and he was offered
a job. But one of the conditions was
that
you
have to go and mingle with some of
the
some of the the the higher ups
of the business, some of the corporate,
managers and and those
top executives.
Mingle with them. They wanna see how they
get on with you and, you know, have
some beer with them, drink with them at
the at the bar, and if they like
you, you've got the job. And so he
he said, no. I'm not gonna do this
because I don't drink. I'm a Muslim. And
so when his his agent called him and
asked him why he's not taking the job
and he explained he doesn't drink, he's not
gonna take the job,
He called back after the agent had spoken
to the interviewer and the the ones who
had,
offered him the job.
And he said, I just spoke to them,
and they've never experienced
in their
in their lives
as,
you know,
executives
and hiring people for their company are an
individual
who
didn't
give up their faith
for money
until now,
meaning he rejected and refused
to drink as a result of his faith.
They say we've never we've never experienced somebody
who's given up who's not given up their
faith for money. This is the first time,
and so it's a sign of integrity. So
you've got the job.
You've got the job as a result of
the integrity that you've had. So the point
being, okay,
when you
have trust in Allah,
Whoever fears Allah,
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will always find for
him a way out. Also
from the etiquettes of actually,
having barakah and blessing in our wealth is
remembering
Allah when we're buying and selling.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
when the prayer has been finished on the
day of Friday, when Allah talks about the
Friday prayer, he says
spread out on the earth and seek the
bounty of Allah
and remember Allah a lot
so that you are successful.
Meaning from the ways in which a person
can, you know, be successful from a business
perspective is by remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Also
being honest and not lying when buying and
selling. The famous hadith of the promise of
Allah when he talked about,
the the 2 parties involved in a transaction.
And he said the 2 parties involved in
a transaction have the option
of cancelling that transaction
until they part.
And then he said, if they're honest and
disclose any defects,
their transaction will be blessed. But if they
lie and conceal the defects,
the blessing of their transaction will be erased.
So when you're honest with the other person,
there'll be blessing in that transaction. It works
both ways.
If somebody was buying something and he's harsh,
he's rude, he's arrogant.
Okay? And maybe he's lying about, you know,
how much he sold a product for somewhere
else so he can get a cheaper, you
know, cheaper price, then there's not gonna be
no in whatever it is that he's buying.
Also,
showing leniency in buying and selling. Something which
we wouldn't expect
that there will barakah in our wealth as
a result of, but the messenger of Allah
SWAMI he said
May Allah have mercy on the person who
is easy going when he sells.
And when he buys.
And when he asks when he asks for
payment, when somebody owes him money. May Allah
have mercy on the one who is easy
going in these things.
So obviously if Allah's giving you mercy, showing
you mercy, Allah is going to give you
success in this life and the hereafter.
Also
increase in giving sadaqa. One of the ways
a person can become successful is by increasing
and giving sadaqah. The messenger of Allah sallallahu
alaihi wa sallam he said,
oh
businessmen.
Verily shaitan and sin attend the transaction.
Wherever the shaitan can try to trick you
into doing something haram or impermissible or making
some kind of shady deal or maybe there's
some condition or stipulations or you say something
wrong or you lie about the product or
whatever the case may be,
he will be there and he'll try his
best
to cause some corruption in that transaction.
So mix
your transactions
with.
Give
when you're buying and selling at the same
time,
so that it purifies that wealth. Also,
and finally the last thing, paying off debts
as soon as one is possible
and not delaying. The messenger of Allah he
said,
verily the best of you are those who
are the best in paying off debts. The
best of you in Islam
are those who are best in paying off
their debts, they don't delay.
So,
you know, we need to reflect on
our etiquettes when we're buying and selling. Whether
we own a business, whether we have individuals
who we employ,
whether we just buy and sell on Shpock
or on Ebay. You know?
How do we how careful are we when
we buy and sell? Do we show others
defects
in terms of,
the things that we're selling and what's wrong
with our products? Because there's barakah and there's
blessing and there's wisdom in the the the
rulings of Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala. When you
show somebody else the defects
of your product,
and you're selling it for a certain amount,
he's not going to try to look for
any more defects because you've already showed him
all the defects in the first place. As
a result of which, he won't be able
to ask for
a cheaper price.
So there's hikmah and there's wisdom
in all of these aspects of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala's
laws and commandments when it comes to buying
and selling, when it comes to transactions. We
ask Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that,
he gives us the ability to be able
to
show obedience to him with regards to buying
and selling and with regards to all of
our affairs.
If there's any questions, then I'll do my
best to answer them, Insha'Allah.
So the question is, what does it mean,
what does a hadith mean when he, alaihis
salatu wasalam, said Islam was strange and he
will return,
it began as something strange and he will
return as something strange. So
in the time when the messenger of Allah
was calling people to Islam,
people found it strange that
things were given rights that weren't
given rights
prior to that.
So slaves for example, women were given certain
rights.
This whole concept of worshiping one God when,
you know, Sheikh was something which was so
commonplace.
So it was something which people couldn't wrap
their heads around. Resurrecting,
the bodies on the day of judgment when
we're just, you know, dust.
All these things appeared, and they thought of
it to be strange.
And
again, from the sunnah of,
what,
he said that will come true is that
the same will be the case towards the
end of time. That is something strange, which
is happening today, you know. It's something which
isn't people find it strange, the way we
the way you behave and the way we
dress and the way we, you know, do
things. So it's something which
we see happening today.
Any more questions?