Bilal Philips – Quranic Reflections #14

			Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh My dear brothers and sisters, this is another verse from
the Quranic reflection series. And it is from Surah Al Baqarah Wakulla Amin ha rather than Hisashi
to Ma, while I talk Raba the shujaa
		

			and eat from the food of the garden
		

			from the garden of paradise freely as you wish, but do not come near to this tree.
		

			This verse addresses the essence of Islam submission to the will of Allah.
		

			The first point that reflection
		

			is that the halal and haram are not equal in quantity.
		

			The Halal is plentiful, like the garden, filled with trees,
		

			and the Haram
		

			are few
		

			like the one tree, which Adam and Eve were told not to eat from.
		

			That's the reality. Although people say everything in Islam is haram, Muslims don't have fun.
		

			Life as a Muslim must be very boring.
		

			But in fact, it's not the case at all.
		

			The Halal things are many, many.
		

			The haram things are few and they've been listed.
		

			So this is the reality.
		

			And those few things which have been forbidden, are for a reason.
		

			A reason you might know it might become a knowledge or reason which might be hidden, you might not
really understand why.
		

			But know that if Allah has forbidden something,
		

			it's not good for us.
		

			The second point of reflection is that for every haram thought, word, deed, or item, there are
millions of Halal alternatives.
		

			So we have on one hand,
		

			alcohol forbidden,
		

			made from fruit juices, fruits,
		

			we have so many fruits on the face of the earth,
		

			which are permissible
		

			in huge variations.
		

			The only ones that we're not allowed to drink are the intoxicating ones,
		

			because of intoxication.
		

			And
		

			the whole world knows, intoxication is not good for human beings. That's why even in America, it was
banned illegal for a number of years.
		

			So, common sense took them there
		

			and desire
		

			made them give it up. Although even till today, there are some states, some towns in different
states, you know, which remain
		

			alcohol free
		

			from back in the 20s. The third point of reflection
		

			is that Allah prohibited what is harmful to human beings. He didn't prohibit things just to make
life complicated and difficult for us.
		

			He created everything.
		

			And among those things which he created are some things which are harmful to us.
		

			Some whose harm is known, clear, well known. Everybody
		

			bears witness to it. And some whose harm is not clear. We don't
		

			really understand why but
		

			we believe
		

			that
		

			there is harm because Allah
		

			is merciful. He's kind he's gentle. He wants the best for human beings.
		

			So this is the third point that we should reflect on. When considering the halal and haram
		

			Baraka Luffy come. Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh