Ihab Saad – Day 2 Al Baqarah 2

Assalamu, Alaikum. Warahmatullahi wa, Barakatuh. Welcome to another

stop on our journey with the Quran, and today is the first day

of Ramadan, the first day of fasting. So congratulations to

everyone. We ask Allah subhanahu wa to allow us to witness the

whole month and we get out of it with complete forgiveness from

Allah subhanahu wa and emancipation from the El file.

Over the past couple of days, we on the first day, we talked about

an introduction to this series and about our journey with the Quran,

and then yesterday, we talked about the first Jews of the Quran,

and we are still with Surat Al Baqarah. So today, we're going to

continue our journey with Surat Al Baqarah. Yesterday, we talked

about, what is the importance of the name Al Baqarah, and what

should should it be a reminder of when we hear that word? And we

mentioned that in the large part of the Surah, Allah, Subhanahu wa

is giving us a comparison between the behavior of the believers, how

they should behave, and the behavior of another nation, which

is Ben Yisrael, to whom many prophets were sent, many messages

were sent, and time and time again, they forgot this message

and they rebelled against Allah, SubhanaHu wa and against all of

their prophets and messengers. So the reminder in the Surah is that

Allah, Subhanahu wa telling us not to be like them when we hear the

story or when we read the story about Al Baqarah, the lesson

learned is that do not be like Bani Israel and their behavior in

the Surah. What was the major behavior that was criticized in

the Surah, among the behaviors of Bani Israel, they were

literalists. They tried to take everything in the material sense

and try to interpret it in a very material and limited context.

That's why, for example, When Sayyidina, Musa Alaina Ari Salatu

was Salam commanded them to slaughter a cow, a cow, any cow,

would have worked. They kept insisting and asking about things,

about description, about color, about age, about different

characteristics, to the extent they made it too hard upon

themselves and as a punishment from Allah subhana wa taala, there

was only one cow that could satisfy these conditions, and they

ended up buying it from orphans for a very high price. So this is

the message that Allah subhanahu wa is sending to us. Do not make

things too hard unnecessarily, too hard upon yourself and upon

others. Rasulallah must always describe that whenever he were to

choose Salma masala between two things, he Salma Malay as would

choose the easier one, as long as it was lawful. So in that context,

Allah subhanahu wa is bringing our attention to focus on the

important things, and not only to focus on the literal meaning of

words, but to focus on the deeper meaning, the spiritual meaning, of

the words and of the events, rather than just the appearances.

So we find among the ayah that we recite tonight, inshaAllah in our

tarawih, Allah subhanahu wa is telling us about what should the

behavior of a believer look like? And many companions came to the

Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, asking him about good

deeds and good acts. And they were asking primarily about one

specific word, which is a very conclusive and comprehensive word

that gathers all the meanings of goodness and good things, good

behavior, good attitude, good worship, good everything. And that

word is Albir.

We notice that this word comes usually whenever we mention it in

a in a daily context, we talk about Birla Dain, being nice,

being kind, being thoughtful with one's parents, which is something,

of course, that is a commandment of Allah subhanahu wa, one of the

major commandments of Allah subhana wa Taala that usually come

in the Quran immediately after the command to worship Allah subhanahu

wa without any partners or associates. The next one would be

to be kind to one's parents. So when the companions of the Prophet

sallallahu alayhi wa sallam came different times asking about acts

of good behavior, good faith, good belief, good belief, good

treatment of others, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam one

day summarized all of these acts of being good into one thing. And

it's very interesting his Allah AJ did not say that to pray all night

or to fast every day, or to give some a certain amount of money in

charity or anything like that. But he's Allah AJ focused on a very

practice.

Here is what is bir is Wale akin Al biram and Amelie, first and

foremost, faith and belief in Allah subhanahu wa the Day of

Judgment. Well, mela ikatiwal kita Abu wa Nabi Yin and the angels and

the books and the prophets and messengers that ALLAH SubhanA wa

Taala has sent us

what Alma, alabida, will CORBA will, yet Am I will mess Akina,

abne sabili was Rob and now, apart from that faith, part that's deep

in the heart that only Allah subhanahu wa taala knows about,

what are physical signs and external signs of this bir, this

solidarity with mankind. Wa at Al, Mela, ala habihi, and they give

the money that they have earned the hard way, the the lawful way.

Insha Allah they give it. Although they love this money in light,

they love to keep it. Wa allahubi. And here, the word allahubi, as

the scholars have mentioned, means two different things, Allahu man,

so we give the money although we love it, and Allah, be He, Allahu

Subhana wa taala, because we love Allah subhanahu wa, and we prefer

the love of Allah subhanahu wa over any other material thing.

What? Al Mala, ALA, habihi, dawal Kurta, they give that money to

their relatives. Wali, Atama will mess akin and the orphans and the

destitute. Wab na Sabil, the people who are passing by and lost

their money and are in need of support, was say a lien wafer cob

was say Illin, those who are asking, those who are begging for

support when they are in real need, they cannot find any other

way but to ask other people, however humiliating that might be

wafer the in in the ancient times when there were slaves, again, one

of the acts of piety was to free these slaves For the sake of

Allah, Subhanahu

wa and then Allah subhana wa Taala is telling us after these external

exhibits and displays of faith of bir, ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala is

telling us about internal exhibits that only Allah subhanahu wa knows

about, Wa Al qama Salih establishing the prayer were at a

Zakat, and they give the charity that is prescribed in their money.

Well, MUFON abi, ahadihida ahadu, and again, another communal act of

bir when you promise, you fulfill your promise, was sabirina Phil be

say, what the RA and those who exhibit patience and endurance in

the times of hardship. They do not show panic, because they know that

everything comes from Allah subhanahu wa, if there's a

hardship, ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala will did to happen, and only Allah

subhana wa Taala will make it disappear. Was Sabrina say? What?

Barbara iwahinn al Bas, so Allah subhanahu wa is telling us about

different behaviors that can prove whether the person has this bir or

not, whether they are internal behaviors in the relationship

between the individual and Allah subhanahu wa, or external

behaviors that are related to the community around that individual.

The individual is not living by himself or herself or for himself

or herself. They're living for Allah subhanahu wa then helping

other members of their community

in this judge that we're gonna recite tonight, also we're gonna

find the word taqwa, or a taqwa, repeated so many times, and we

mentioned yesterday that the word Taqwa Allah, the fear of Allah

subhanahu

wa observing the Presence of Allah subhana wa taala. It's a very deep

word, and again, it's not literal, it's not materialistic. It's a

very spiritual word that one feels the Taqwa of Allah subhanahu wa so

Allah subhana wa Taala gives us what are the external signs of

this taqwa? What are the effects and the implications of this

Taqwa? Anyone can claim I am among the muttaqeen. I have the fear of

Allah subhanahu wa is the proof. The proof, again, is going to be

in the behavior, in the interactions. And Rasulullah

mentions, in the meaning of the Hadith, that whoever has a certain

character, or even a character flaw that they are trying to hide

from people

Allah subhanahu wa expose that flaw inadvertently to that

individual in their slips of the tongues or in the appearance on

their face. So again, however you try to hide a negative flaw.

Allah, Allah subhanahu wa will expose it if you're trying to

deceive people. We ask Allah subhana wa Taala to conceal our

defects, because every one of us has defects, as long as we are not

deceiving people claiming something that we are not. So

Allah subhanahu wa, on the other hand, tells us that again, if

someone really has piety. This piety and this mindfulness

observing the Presence of Allah subhana wa Taala is gonna be

exhibited in their actions. So ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala tells us

about this taqwa in events of war, in events of marriage, in events

of divorce, in events of nursing the babies in the events of a

woman who has asked for divorce while she's pregnant, she should

not hide that pregnancy from her husband in so many different

aspects, you'd be surprised that Allah subhanahu wa is attaching

that meaning of Taqwa to things that appear so mundane and so

daily in our lives, so

not not religious in the in the sense that some people think

religion is, because, again, Religion is much more than just

the exhibit of

of that piety, but it's the true piety that ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala

only knows about. By the end of the Jews, ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala

takes us on a trip with Ben Israel again and about one other act of

their rebellion against Allah subhanahu wa imbani, Israel,

people who came after Sayyidina Musa in the time of Sayyidina

Dawood and Sayyidina Sulaiman, when they were under oppression.

And they asked Allah subhanahu wa to send them a leader to fight

under whose leadership. And again, when this leader was named by

ALLAH SubhanA wa Taala again, they started rebelling against it. And

Allah subhana wa Taala is telling us about the end of that story,

the victory of the believers and the defeat of the non believers.

And Allah subhanahu wa gives us a standard Sunna of ALLAH SubhanA wa

taala, which is wala ULA inaz lafarud. Lefebilt, were it not for

this push and push back between different groups of people,

between truth and falsehood? Were it not for this continuous

struggle, the Earth would have collapsed and would have been

filled with corruption. So Allah subhanahu wa is telling us, You

believers, you followers of the truth, you are the safety valve

for life on this earth. We ask Allah subhanahu wa to make us that

safety valve. And inshaAllah, we're gonna pause here. We're

gonna stop here in our journey, and we're gonna continue tomorrow,

Inshallah, with the end of Surah Al Baqarah, and then the start of

Surat al yamran. So until that time, Inshallah, Asmaa Allah.